News Story not available

This story has been published on: 2022-10-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

This story is no longer available on our site.


 :  1000       

-  ,             , ,   1000         .
For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser
The Russian military suffered a setback in Syria when fires destroyed four Mi-24 attack helicopters last week, but U.S. officials tell Fox News the intelligence community believes it was an "accident," not an Islamic State terror attack.

The fires also destroyed more than a dozen trucks at an air base in Tiyas, roughly halfway between Homs and Palmyra.

On May 14, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russian base, known locally as "T4." Fighter jets belonging to the Syrian regime were also destroyed.

On Tuesday, the U.S. intelligence firm Stratfor published satellite images showing the destruction to part of the base including the charred remains of the Russian attack helicopters and a supply depot. Stratfor analysts said they believed the ISIS claims were valid.

U.S. officials told Fox News that intel teams more strongly believed an accidental fuel tank explosion caused the damage. It was unclear what could have triggered the blast, which set off secondary explosions on the runway.

"The Stratfor analysis is wrong," one U.S. official told Fox News. Another official said, "There is no indication that an ISIS attack took place."

When asked about the cause, another official said, "Refueling can be dangerous."

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Tuesday said all of Russia's helicopters were accounted for and the images of the scorched runway wereover a month old, the product of previous attacks by the Syrian regime and "terrorist groupings."

Major-General Igor Konashenkov added, "The rumors about the destruction of a group of Russian helicopters and two dozen trucks were created by the propagandists of [ISIS] who unsuccessfully tried to 'sell' this alleged piece of news about 10 days ago," according to TASS, a Russian news agency.

Bombings claimed by ISIS in Latakia and Tartus, Assad regime strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, killed more than 190 Syrians this week.
Despite Flipping in Surf 4 Times in a Year, Marines Say New ACV Is the Future of Amphibious Warfare

Some Marine veterans familiar with the vehicle and its operations have worried about the reliability of the ACV.
Matt Harvey showed improved velocity early in his outing last night, but his fastball faded and he was again hammered as batters got second and third looks. The Mets now face a tough call on their former ace.

Many columnists are calling for Harvey to be removed from the rotation, at least temporarily. (See, for example, here and here.) With Logan Verrett on hand, the club certainly has a viable fill-in.

Indeed, the Mets appear to be considering some kind of move, even if they arent ready to reach a decision. Right now weve got to think whats not just best for Matt, but whats best for us moving forward at the moment, said skipper Terry Collins (via ESPN.coms Adam Rubin). Theres a lot of things to consider.

As Collins hints, the devil is often in the details. In this case, the particular move to be made isnt clear. Harvey has maintained that he is healthy, and no apparent injury issues have been reported. But to send him to the minors otherwise would require passing him through optional assignment waivers. They are revocable, and usually are easy to secure, but teams also dont generally seek to send down assets like Harvey. Keeping him at the major league level while hes figuring things out, though, would mean either using him out of the bullpen or wasting a valuable roster spot.

*Note: since this post was published, Collins has stated that Harvey will make his next starter, as Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to tweet.

Its always interesting to take the temperature of MLBTR readers on matters like this one. If you were sitting in Sandy Aldersons GM seat, how would you handle Harvey? (Link for mobile users.)
Obama visits Detroit Diesel plant

President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd of workers, union representatives and lawmakers at Daimler's Detroit Daimler plant in Redford Township on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012.

((Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com))

DETROIT - UAW members at Detroit Diesel Corp. have "overwhelmingly" ratified a new, 5-year contract, the union said Wednesday.



The contract commits UAW Local 163 to building two displacements of a medium-duty truck engine for the Daimler Trucks subsidiary, which has about 2,000 workers.

The new agreement includes a $5,000 signing bonus and a $1 wage increase, as well as pension increases for eligible employees and increased company matching contributions for non-pension workers.

The agreement also reduces the amount of time an in-progression employee can reach top-tier wages by three years. It was ratified Tuesday.

"This contract not only recognizes the hard work and contributions that our members have made to the success of Detroit Diesel, but positions Detroit Diesel to be a premier employer in southeastern Michigan for years to come," UAW Local 163 President Ralph Morris Jr. said in a release.
MANITOU BEACH, MI -- After a fire destroyed the Manitou Inn, there wasn't a single commercial property in a small village along the west coast of Devils Lake in Lenawee County.

Now, David Gajda, whose sister owned the Inn, and Jose Malagon, of Los Angeles, have added a new commercial district, made some dilapidated homes livable again and put a sense of community back into the area.

"When we were kids, my parents had a place on the lake and as soon as school got out we packed our whole family up and moved them out to the lake," said Gajda, whose father worked for Ford Motor Co. "Back then, there was all kinds of stuff to do. When we came back a couple years ago, it was like 'Oh my God, there's nothing here.'"

The village, established in 1888, has a year-round population of around 3,000 and median household value of about $220,000, according to the pair's research.

Now, the Post Office is Jerry's Market, Howard Hanna has a real estate office in the village and the Manitou Inn is now the Manitou Bar and Grill.

While a daunting project, this isn't the duo's first time taking on a revitalization project. Gajda and Malagon were heavily involved with projects in Hollywood, South Beach and Times Square.

"It's kind of a formula," Gajda, who serves as the executive director of Hollywood Software, said. "An area with a rich historical past suffers economic downturn, somebody comes in with a vision and then the investors start coming in at the bottom and they kind of build the place up and reinvent it.

"We saw that here, but obviously on a much, much smaller scale."

Both touted Manitou Beach property values rising 250 percent and employment rising 1,000 percent. The number of visitors to the village is up 6,000 percent in the past five years, they said.

The two own 100 percent of the commercial district and as many as 40 to 50 commercial and residential properties in Manitou Beach.

"Buildings came up for sale around here, at the same time the economy tanked, so we said well, now's our opportunity to buy them, renovate them," Malagon, said. "We knew we needed to help the community, so we kind of started doing that where we had rental homes for people who couldn't afford the mortgage, but they could afford to pay rent."

"It's not the David and Jose show"

While Gajda and Malagon have admittedly put a lot of their own money into this long-term vision, they speak most fondly of the younger generation taking a hands-on approach within the community.

That includes Jennifer Gleckler, who was 19 years old when she opened Jenni's Coffee & Cream, 101 Walnut St., and bought a house just a few blocks away.

"We've invested a lot of money," Gajda said. "Now, we're looking for other people to come in invest and hopefully apply for more grants to help us finish the infrastructure.

"To make this work, it's not just the older generation that made it somewhere else and came back; it's also the younger people that can stay here, invest and keep it going."

The two joke how it would have been cheaper to demolish the 17th-century building housing the coffee shop, but the fear of karma drove them down the more expensive route.

The two try and do a big building or development each year, and the coffee and ice cream shops took up much of 2014.

"After the coffee shop, we started telling people you have to get the word out to get people to the area," Malagon said. "You can't just sit here and hope people will drive around the lake and stumble upon you. So, the tenants and residents got together, formed a committee and came up with the Festival of the Arts idea."

The art festival, now in its third year, is set for June 18 after blowing organizers away by bringing 4,000 people to Manitou Beach its first year and more in year two. This festival is one of eight new recurring events in the village, with the goal of instilling a sense of community into the area.

"Even if they just start taking pride in the neighborhood and start fixing their own homes and properties, it's going to be huge," Malagon said. "Eventually, hopefully, people will say I don't want to rent from you, I want to own my own property and business."

The next steps

One of the next things the duo hope to tackle is the disappearance of rental properties on the lake. They said people are buying cottages and either tearing them down or rehabbing them and all the lakefront rentals are vanishing.

"So what we're encouraging now, and starting to see, is creating what we call micro-resort-units," Gajda said. These are compact, built in, small resort units and we plan to put them into the market next year and see how it works.

"We need anywhere from 60-70 rooms in this area. We need to show that this is feasible, and people can make some money doing this."

Another challenge, Gajda said, is putting the 185-feet of public access on Devils Lake to use.

"It's not on U.S 12 or U.S. 223, so it's kind of like one of those hidden secrets," he said. "I actually kind of like that. We're playing off of the fact that it's not right on the main thoroughfare. You have to know about it.

"There are almost 8 million people within an hour and a half drive from here, or as we say, 'one car charge battery' away."
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI - Known as the crown jewel of the Great Lakes, Mackinac Island has incredible sites, and lots of activities. It also has some great places to dine at while you are "on island". These are the dishes worth seeking out on Mackinac Island.

Classic comfort food can be found at the Yankee Rebel Tavern. Their famous Pot Roast is slow braised with carrots, parsnips and pearl onions. Perfect for a chilly Michigan night.

The Grand Hotel offers many different dining options at the iconic hotel. Head up to the Main Dining Room located on the second floor and indulge in the legendary Grand Luncheon Buffet. A feast for the senses, the choices seems endless. Hand carved meats, fresh seafood, salads, cheeses, fruits and over 20 different desserts are offered every day from 12 to 2pm.

Mission Point Resort is a great place to stop for a for a break on your bike ride around the island. It's also worth a walk or ride down for lunch or dinner. They have several restaurants to choose from, but head to the Round Island Bar and Grill for a taste of their famous smoked whitefish dip. Served with pita chips for dipping, indulge while you take in one of the best views on the island.

Cawthorne's Village Inn is located just off of Main Street downtown, and has, hands down, my favorite dish on the island, their Planked Whitefish. It is a huge piece of perfectly flaky fish, surrounded by creamy mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. It's always piping hot and just about perfect. Did I mention it's huge? Don't hesitate to share, then you can still have room for dessert.

New this year to the island? Sushi at Sushi Grand. Brought to you by the Grand Hotel, this new restaurant is just opening this May as the one and only sushi joint on the island. You can both dine in and take out.

Best for breakfast? The Chuckwagon, where they've been slinging hash browns for over 60 years. Belly up to the bar and watch the short order cooks whip up a classic breakfast quick as they can. Get the classic breakfast, or venture out with the breakfast burrito, or the very popular breakfast sandwich.

Ice cream is a necessary part of any vacation. And the Grand Hotel sells more ice cream than anyone else on the island in the form of their famous "Pecan Ball". Creamy vanilla ice cream, crunchy pecans, and served in a pool of molten hot fudge. They serve over 60,000 pecan balls every year.

Hanging at the Stang? The Mustang Lounge is one of the iconic Mackinac Island bars, and one of only two places that stay open year round on the island. Order up their signature burger, a classic 1/3 pound patty with cheese, lettuce and tomato. Recommended with their very own beer, Mustang Golden Ale.

For over 100 years, you've been able to enjoy High Tea at the Grand Hotel. Served daily from 3:30 to 5:00pm, guests can enjoy petite sandwiches, scones and pastries, along with sherry, champagne, and of course, tea. Classical music surrounds you as enjoy your afternoon delight in the magnificent parlor.

On the island, fudge counts as both a gift and a meal. For something really fun, grab a slab from several different places around the island and do a taste test. Then pick your favorite to take home, or bring back as a gift.

The 1852 Grill Room at The Island House offers classic cuisine, and a gorgeous view over the marina. Their truffled mac and cheese is rich, creamy and over the top.

Need a cinnamon roll the size of your head? Marc's Double Oven Bakery has got you covered. Huge, freshly made buns, dripping with icing, along with many other baked goods can be found at this bakery located near the Arnold Ferry dock.

You may head to The Pink Pony, Michigan's most iconic bar (as named by Thrillist) to grab a rum runner and catch a live band. You can also get some great food there, including their crispy boursin stuffed chicken. Crunchy panko crust plays off the fresh pesto, and lots of veggies make you feel good. You can eat inside the Pony, or head out to their terrace overlooking the water and the docks.

Head to the other side of the island to British Landing on your bike, and make a stop at the Cannonball Drive Inn. Try their "world famous" fried pickles, which come quartered and breaded, fried and served with ranch dressing for dipping.

Millie's on Main offers an Upper Peninsula classic, the pasty. The

hearty UP favorite, with flaky crust and meat filling, is served with brown gravy and coleslaw.

Did we miss your favorite dish on Mackinac? Let us know in the comments. And be sure to check out our other articles about Mackinac Island, including classic spots for the first time visitor, and hidden island gems.

Amy Sherman is on the Life + Culture Team for MLive. She covers food, beer, travel and Michigan's Best along with John Gonzalez. Email her at asherma2@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Periscope.

Complete Michigan travel, destination and event information available via Michigan.org
ANN ARBOR, MI - Crime in northeast Ann Arbor is down overall, but crimes involving fraud and larceny from automobiles are up from last year, according to recent crime data collected by the Ann Arbor Police Department.

There were 117 reported cases of larcenies from motor vehicles between May 2015 through May 2016, up from 102 incidents in the same period between 2014 and 2015.

Reports of fraud - many of which have targeted Ann Arbor's elderly population - totaled 166 incidents between May 2015 through May 2016. Fraud in the same period between 2014 and 2015 were slightly less, coming in at 137 reported incidents.

The recent statistics were shared with the northeast Ann Arbor neighborhood watch group at its regular meeting Tuesday, May 24 at Clague Middle School, 2616 Nixon Road.

Ann Arbor Police Chief Jim Baird offered tips on how to prevent these types of crimes.

He said the upticks in both crime categories are concerning, but easily fixed with preventative measures.

"Almost all of these (larcenies) are a result of people leaving their cars unlocked, which should be an easy fix," Baird said.

In terms of fraud, Baird said it's something they've seen increasing over the last couple of years. Many of the fraud incidents have been some form of online victimization. Baird said this is due to online filing of income tax returns.

However, Community Engagement Sgt. Thomas Hickey said online hackers have evolved their tactics, taking advantage of college students as much as they target the elderly.

"This used be seasonal, but now it's almost weekly that we've had these issues going on," Hickey said. "And it's not just seniors. We've had some of our best and brightest at University of Michigan in filing fraud reports."

Only the Top 5 crime categories were presented at the meeting. Other top crime categories include general larceny, damage to property and various ordinance issues. Crimes related to the other categories were down across the board.

"In general, crime in cities has been dropping over the last decade nationwide," Baird said.

Amy Jones, police service specialist and neighborhood watch coordinator, added that other areas of the city saw similar fluctuations in the same categories. This includes data presented to western and downtown Ann Arbor neighborhood watch groups.

Data concerning other areas of Ann Arbor will be discussed at watch meetings in the coming months. Baird, who was appointed police chief in February after serving as interim chief since August, is scheduled to appear at those meetings as well.

Residents applauded police efforts to communicate with residents, including the department's push to expand its social media presence. Yet Praveena Ramaswami, who lives in the Bromley neighborhood, wondered if Ann Arbor police could do more.

She wants the department to not only reach out more often, but to lean heavily on watch groups in the process of solving crimes.

"What I'm asking is for (Ann Arbor police) to have more communication with the neighborhood," Ramaswami said. "What's nice about our area is that we're a connected community. We're your ears and eyes. Please use us to help gather information."

Ben Solis is an intern with MLive & The Ann Arbor News. Email him at bsolis@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @bensolis1.
YPSILANTI, MI -- Ali Attar felt the pressure of having all eyes on him going into the final round of Monday's Math Facts Challenge at Eastern Michigan University, but he rose to the occasion.

"I was a little nervous because I was being projected to the whole entire ballroom and everyone's eyes were on me and I didn't want to make any mistakes and embarrass myself," said the Central Academy eighth grader.

He stayed focused, though, and ended up winning for his grade level in the competition that has students face off head-to-head to see who can correctly solve grade level-appropriate math problems most quickly.

"I felt really happy and I felt like I accomplished something great," said Attar, whose team went on to win the middle school team award at the Math Facts Challenge. "I felt like I contributed greatly, and that made me feel good."

Math has always been 13-year-old Attar's favorite subject, but this was the first time Central Academy, of Ann Arbor, had teams compete in the annual Math Facts Challenge, which drew nearly 500 students in first through eighth grades from 19 charter schools across southeast Michigan.

"I was very confident going into it because our students are so strong with the equations," said Jared Meyer, Central's math teacher. "We didn't do much in class [to practice for the competition], but the students we picked who we had confidence in, we sent them home to prepare."

In addition to the team award, Central middle school students also won three first-place medals and two second-place medals. Bridge Academy East, of Hamtramck, won the elementary school team award.

Students from the Ann Arbor Learning Community, Central Academy's elementary grades, Global Tech Academy in Ypsilanti and schools in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Grand Blanc, Melvindale, Pontiac and Southfield also competed.

"The day went well and more schools were involved this year," said Malverne Winborne, director of the EMU Charter Schools Office, in a press release. "It was very positive and the students really enjoyed it."



Winborne hosted the event, along with founder Stacey Good, a first-grade teacher at Pace Academy in Southfield.

Lauren Slagter covers K-12 education for The Ann Arbor News. Contact her at 734-255-1419, lslagter@mlive.com or on Twitter @LaurenSlagter.


SUPERIOR TWP, MI - A poorly placed cigarette caused thousands of dollars in damage to a Superior Township home Tuesday.

Authorities were called by neighbors for a reported fire about 2:50 p.m. May 24 in the 8400 block of Barrington Drive, said Superior Township Fire Chief Victor Chevrette.

Fire officials believe a resident may have put a cigarette inside a cardboard box near the home, Chevrette said. The box caught on fire, and the fire then spread to the home and into the chimney chase. The fire also reached the fireplace in the house, causing smoke to spread in the home.

Firefighters had to open up part of the chimney to put the fire out. Fire departments from Ypsilanti Township, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Township also assisted Superior Township firefighters at the scene.

No one was home at the time of the incident and no one was injured, but an estimated $15,000 in damage was done to the home, Chevrette said.

Darcie Moran covers cops and courts for MLive and The Ann Arbor News. Email her at dmoran@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter @darciegmoran.
Sumpter Township.jpg

Police vehicles on scene of a possible barricade situation at Rawsonville Woods Manufactured Home Community, 10825 Rawsonville Road in Sumpter Township, on May 20, 2016.

(Darcie Moran | The Ann Arbor News)

Brad Fields, 26

SUMPTER TWP, MI -- A 26-year-old man who was reported to have assaulted his girlfriend and possibly shot her dog last week is now charged with aggravated domestic violence.

Brad Edward Fields was arrested on May 20 in Van Buren Township after what police believed was a barricade situation in Sumpter Township.

Police were called about 9 a.m. May 20 by Fields' 23-year-old live-in girlfriend to a home on Greenmeadow Drive in the Rawsonville Woods Manufactured Home Community, according to a release from the Sumpter Township Police Department.

The woman reported Fields had assaulted her multiple times throughout the night and possibly shot her dog. She also said Fields had informed her that he shot himself while they were apart earlier in the night.

"She observed blood soaking his pants near his left inner thigh and he showed her a hole in the pants that he described as being caused by the bullet traveling through," police said. "When she attempted to call 911, Fields allegedly took her phone and broke it to keep her from calling for help."

The woman told police she was able to get away, but said Fields threatened to shoot her if she didn't run fast enough.

Police believed Fields was armed and barricaded in the residence and, with the help of the Huron Township Police Department, they evacuated the area and attempted to make contact with Fields by phone and with a loudspeaker, police said. The Michigan State Police Emergency Support team was also called to the scene.

However, Fields had left the residence before police arrived at the scene, according to the release.

Fields made contact with a family member through a third-party phone, police said. After several conversations with a Michigan State Police negotiator and further investigation, they determined that Fields fled to Robson Road in Van Buren Township.

The Michigan State Police emergency team went to conduct surveillance in Van Buren Township while police confirmed that no one was in the Sumpter Township home, according to the release.

Fields then surrendered in the front yard of the Robson Road residence about 4:30 p.m. May 20.

"Once in custody, it was found that Fields had actually staged the self-inflicted gunshot wound by using an alternative substance to mimic the appearance of blood," police said. "He had also cut a small hole in his pants to make it appear to the victim that he had actually shot himself."

He refused to tell investigators why he had faked the gunshot wound, police said.

The woman was taken to a hospital for injuries to her head and torso, believed to be caused by punches, police said. The dog was found running loose with an injury to its hindquarter and was taken to a veterinarian, but the cause of the injury could not be determined.

Fields was charged with aggravated domestic violence, possession of a firearm as a felon and felony firearm, police said. He is also being charged as a habitual offender on his second offense.

He is being held on a $5,000 cash or surety bond, according to Wayne County Jail records.

Darcie Moran covers cops and courts for MLive and The Ann Arbor News. Email her at dmoran@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter @darciegmoran.
HAMPTON TWP, MI -- Dozens of Consumers Energy retirees and employees celebrated the last hurrah of the J.C. Weadock generating complex at the mouth of the Saginaw River, where many of them worked their entire careers.

An honor guard from the next-door U.S. Coast Guard Station Saginaw River lowered the plant's flag for the last time Wednesday, May 25.

"It is sad," said Sue Hewett of Bay City, who started work at Weadock full-time in 1982 in the lab testing the chemistry of boiler water. "They were like a family. There were people who were here for a lot of years."

The Weadock plant, opened in 1940, was Consumers Energy's longest-running coal-fired plant, said Dennis Dobbs, vice president of enterprise, project management, engineering and services for Consumers Energy.

At it maximum employment, 130-140 people worked at Weadock, he said. More recently, about 80-90 worked there. Some are retiring with the plant's closing and others are moving to other Consumers operations around Michigan, including the Karn Generating Complex, also at the Mouth of the Saginaw River.

The four generating units at Karn "are going to continue to operate for sometime now," Dobbs said. Two of the Karn units are coal-fired and the other two are oil- and gas-fired, he said.

The Weadock plant shut down six of its original eight generating units in the 1980s, Dobbs said. The last two units shut down April 16 this year.

"It marks really the end of an era" for coal-fired power plants, Dobbs said.

In interviews and in ceremonial remarks, Dobbs called attention to the smokestacks of Weadock, one of them "600 foot-plus-tall" -- which marked the mouth of the Saginaw River for recreational boaters on Saginaw Bay for decades.

The plant was named after John Cullen Weadock, who founded Consumers Power Co. in 1910. Weadock moved to Bay City with his family as a teenager, was the city attorney for a time and worked on a Saginaw River steamboat "tossing drunken lumberjacks overboard," according to a company history.

The Weadock plant's two units are among the seven coalfired generating units Consumers closed in mid-April.

"It's time, I guess," said Consumers retiree Tom Hall of Linwood, who once worked at the plant.

"It's all about the bottom line these days," said Dave Huntley of Pinconning, who began working at the plant in 1969 and retired 15 years ago.

Retiring the seven generating units around the state will reduce the company's carbon footprint 25 percent, reduce airborne sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates by 40 percent and cut company water use 40 percent, according to the company.
Kym Worthy Child Shootings presser

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy discusses rash of child shootings involving unsecured guns in Detroit on May 25, 2016.

DETROIT -- Curious children are coming across firearms horrifyingly often, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday.

Eight children have been killed or seriously injured over the last 17 months in shootings that involving loaded, unsecured weapons in Detroit homes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 69 children age 14 or under were killed accidentally by guns in 2013, the most recent year for which full data is available.

Worthy said it's more than a "huge" safety issue: It's a public health issue. She wants change.

"Often, these guns are legally owned. They're often unsecured. And most of the time, children know where they are, even if parents think that they don't," Worthy said in a rare press conference Wednesday. "And all of this is totally ... preventable."

Worthy said it "takes seconds to secure and unload a firearm."

The prosecutor, who has two 7-year-old children of her own, noted several such preventable cases.

Five-year-old Mariah Davis, while being babysat, found a loaded gun beneath a pillow while staying at her grandparent's home on the 19700 block of Oakfield about 9:40 p.m. May 11.

She shot herself in the neck and died.

Worthy charged the grandparents, Frederick Davis, 65, and Patricia McNeal, 65, with one count each of involuntary manslaughter, three counts each of second-degree child abuse and each with felony firearm possession.

Frederick Davis is a felon convicted of a 2007 drug crime. He absconded from parole in 2009, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections website, and is not allowed to own or live in a residence with a firearm under Michigan law. For that violation, he faces an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In another case, a 4-year-old boy found his 80-year-old great-grandfather's handgun and shot himself in the hand.

The child's 30-year-old mother, Andrea Drewery, and great-grandfather, Joseph Williams, now face charges of second-degree child abuse and felony firearm. They are expected to turn themselves over to authorities at 36th District Court.

Worthy said kids are "magnetically drawn to firearms." She referenced a "Dateline NBC" report that showed parents, who "swear up and down" their child wouldn't touch a gun, watch from behind one-way screen as their children do just that with a test gun on a table.

Dateline: My kid would never touch a gun

What Worthy wants done regarding kids and gun safety:

Pediatricians present parents with a series of questions, such as: What does your child eat, how much do they sleep ... is there a firearm in the home and is there a smoke detector in the home? "I'd like pediatricians to be able to take much more action and notify, even if its just for a few minutes ... educating parents on the dangers of guns being in their home," Worthy said.

"We need to have legislation that deters irresponsible gun storage practices." Worthy said current laws don't specifically address negligent storage of handguns in homes with children.

Worthy wants mandatory gun safety classes for anyone who keeps a gun in their home. Worthy said the mandatory education applies to CPL classes, but "when you own a gun in your own home, there is no such mandatory requirement that anyone have any education about -- even though it seems obvious -- gun safety."

National firearm manufacturers should safety enhancement technology like chamber-load indicators that notify holder when a bullet is in the chamber; and smart-gun technology, "that gun manufacturers have rebuffed," that uses palm-print and fingerprint analysis to ensure only the gun owner is able to fire it.

Continued gun-lock, buyback and safety education campaigns.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig, an advocate of legal gun ownership by responsible Detroit residents, garnered praise and criticism for his vocal promotion of gun ownership, and even appeared on the cover of a gun advocacy magazine.

"I like chief. I like him a lot. I like working with him. I think he's one of the better chiefs that Detroit has had. But I don't agree with that." Worthy said Wednesday. "... Reasonable people can disagree."
ANaiya Montgomery.jpg

A'Naiya Montgomery, 3, was killed in a March 27, 2016 shooting at a home on Riverview Avenue in Detroit. Three men are charged in the Easter morning attack.

A grand jury has indicted Diallo Davis, a 23-year-old Detroit man, in the Easter morning killing of 3-year-old Aniya Montgomery.

Davis, who has a prior 2014 felony for illegally carrying a concealed firearm, is one of four men charged in the killing.

The grand jury decision to charge Diallo was unsealed Wednesday.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office says Diallo and three accomplices -- 19-year-old Reginald L. Street of Detroit, 24-year-old Paul G. Kendall of Ecorse and 30-year-old Jonathan L. Burks of Detroit -- entered a home on the 168000 block of Riverview Avenue in Detroit about 2 a.m. and opened fire.

Two other victims in the shooting, 36- and 29-year-old men, were struck by gunfire inside the home, but survived.

Guards found Kendall dead in his Wayne County Jail cell April 20, according to the prosecutor's office. An autopsy determined he died of suicide by hanging.

Davis was arraigned on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, two counts of assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, discharge of a firearm in a building causing death, discharge in a building causing injury, being a felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm.

The final pre-trial conference for Davis' two living co-defendants is set for June 16.

Mirracle Murray

It's believed the Montgomery killing spurred the fatal shooting of 6-month-old Miracle Murray, who was in a baby carriage in her father's front yard during a drive-by shooting near Winthrop and Clarita in Detroit two weeks later.

The autopsy revealed Miracle suffered a gunshot to the back.

Her 24-year-old father also suffered gunshot wounds, but survived. It's not clear if the infant was an intended target.

Detroit police arrested two men in that case, but they were later released without being charged.
DETROIT -- Authorities cordoned off the entrance to an apartment in Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood with police tape shortly after a maintenance worker discovered the body of a child about 3 p.m. Wednesday.

"It's a suspicious death right now," Detroit Police Capt. Darin Szilagy of the 3rd Precinct said from the scene about 5:20 p.m.

"Our detectives are working and treat every suspicious death as if it could be a murder."

He said it could take several days to determine if the death is a homicide. The victim, estimated to be 2 or 3 years old, hasn't been formally identified. No other occupants were found in the apartment.

Police do not know how long the child has been dead. Authorities were searching for the father to conduct a "well-being check," but do not consider him a suspect at this time, Szilagy said.

The worker entered the unit to conduct "routine maintenance work," according to the police captain.

Another police source told WJBK-TV, Fox 2 News, the maintenance worker smelled a foul odor. He entered the apartment where he found the boy's decomposing body in a bed.

Szilagy said paramedics were dispatched to the same address on May 16 for a woman, believed to be the child's mother, "out front on the grass."

It's unknown whether she was unresponsive at that time, Szilagy said.

"She was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital and subsequently in the next day transferred out to University of Michigan Hospital," said the captain. "It's going to take us time to figure out why she was transported."

Szilagy did not enter the apartment, but said it was in "slight disarray" with "stuff scattered about."

No one had been detained for questioning as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"It's terrible," Szilagy said. "We don't want to see any type of a young person. It's senseless."
vehicles.jpg

The U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research and Development and Engineering Center will be testing radio equipment in late June along Interstate 69 in Lapeer and St. Clair counties to aid in development of driverless technology.

(Courtesy Photo)

LAPEER COUNTY, MI - U.S. Army convoys are set to roll down the interstate in Lapeer and St. Clair counties as part of a first-time testing of driverless military vehicle equipment on public roadways in the state.

If successful, officials say the technology that may save the lives of soldiers thousands of miles away.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC, and Michigan Department of Transportation met with residents in Imlay City and Capac on May 23 to discuss the testing scheduled for late June along Interstate 69.

Alex Kade, chief system architect in ground vehicle robotics for TARDEC, said six radio transmitters are being set up along the interstate to allow for groups of five vehicles -- one lead and four followers -- to broadcast speed, distance, and traffic issues as directed over the frequency.

The interstate will remain open to traffic during the testing period, with the stretch of roadway chosen in part due to its proximity to TARDEC's headquarters in Warren.

Scott Heim, test engineer for TARDEC, said there will be someone behind the wheel of each vehicle amounting to a commercial 18-wheeler that have been equipped with features from the driverless vehicle systems, such as adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist.

Data collected on laptops in each vehicle will be used to assess reliability of the radio communications system and conduct further tests including driverless versions.

Doug Halleaux, public affairs officer for TARDEC, said the advancement of driverless vehicles could allow for convoys of supplies to run 24 hours a day, while Kade added it may lower vehicle accidents and cut down on dangerous combat situations for soldiers.

"I think that was a big driving factor into getting us to start looking at this stuff, is to getting the guys out of vehicles they don't have to be in," said Kade of roadside bombs and IEDs troops have encountered overseas.

"There's certain situations soldiers have to be in (vehicles), combat situations, but if it's not necessarily a direct combat situation, a support role, why risk a soldier's life doing something like that?"

There has been some interest in the driverless technology from commercial outfits, Heim said, with Kade -- a former General Motors employee -- hoping the testing will provide some economic boost for the state.

"I think we want to do this, we want to get Michigan known as the automation hub," he said. "Automated vehicles are coming one way or another. If there's any business we can attract or industry we can attract showing them we're involved in this might help."
BENZIE COUNTY, MI - Blue Caribou Cafe, a family-owned restaurant in the Northern Michigan tourist town of Beulah, is going the way of the buffalo.

At least its name is.

Eric and Kelly Chorley have to change the name after Caribou Coffee, the nation's second-largest retail coffee-store chain, accused the couple of trademark infringement.

Caribou Coffee claims Blue Caribou Cafe is too similar. Same with the logos.

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Kelly Chorley said as she worked in the restaurant's bakery, getting ready for this weekend's traditional kickoff to summer.

"I don't know why they targeted me."

Her restaurant offers breakfast all day, a regular dinner menu, MOOmers Homemade Ice Cream, bakery items and an espresso bar.

It isn't easy starting a new business. And the couple, with five children, have worked long hours since opening two years ago. But it's a dream come true.

Then came Caribou Coffee.

Caribou Coffee Company Inc. and Arabica Funding Inc. filed a lawsuit alleging federal trademark infringement, unfair competition and cybersquatting, as well as a violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

Caribou says it has owned registrations in its name since 1992.

Chorley said the couple have already spent $5,000 defending the lawsuit and had to give up or go broke. If she had enough money, she thinks she could have prevailed in court.

Instead, she signed off on an agreement that carries stiff penalties if the eatery violates conditions in any way.

According to a consent judgment, the parties agreed that the Blue Caribou and Blue Caribou Design marks "are confusingly similar" to the Caribou registrations.

As part of the judgment against Blue Caribou Cafe, it is prohibited from using the term Caribou, or any variations, or designs that feature a caribou, or any animal resembling a caribou.

"Blue Caribou shall withdraw from public view, destroy, or alter all materials intended for use in commerce, including, but not limited to, web sites, social media accounts (including, but not limited to, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter), advertisements, promotional materials, letterhead, business cards, stationery, envelopes, prints, labels, bill heads, invoices, packages, catalogs, products, menus, napkins, cups and any other materials of whatever kind bearing the BLUE CARIBOU and Blue Caribou Design mark ..."

Blue Caribou also has to turn over its domain name, bluecaribou.com.

It does not have to destroy or alter internal business records, historical documents or documents not used in commerce.

But if it violates, it has to pay the plaintiffs $50,000 and submit to an immediate injunction to stop further violation of the consent judgment.

The phase-out period ends in early July, although it can keep the sign out front until September.

Caribou Coffee issued this statement: "Caribou Coffee started as a small business in 1992. We understand and respect the hard work that goes into realizing a business dream. We engaged in this litigation to protect our coffeehouse name and existing trademarks.

"We recognize the burden this transition is having on the Blue Caribou Cafe, and given this unique situation, have contributed to their GoFundMe fundraising page to help with their rebranding efforts."

In court documents, the plaintiffs said three letters requesting Blue Caribou Cafe cease using its designs went ignored before the company filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Now, as the busy season begins, the Chorleys are changing the name and logo on signs, menus and staff shirts while explaining the name change.

It has been a rough few months already. Eric Chorley suffered seven broken ribs in a November car crash, which kept him down for three months. They drained savings to pay workers to replace him.

"That said, we REFUSE to give up and give in to this bullying from a German based company that now owns Caribou Coffee ...," his wife wrote on the GoFundMe account.

"There HAS to be room in this country for the family-owned, small business, American Dream cafe still....and we will continue to stand up for that dream!"

The GoFundMe account has exceeded its $10,000 goal in pledges. The money is for legal costs and design changes.

Kelly Chorley said she hopes to have a new name within days after meeting with a business mentoring group in Traverse City.

She said she investigated the name when the restaurant opened nearly two years ago but found no problems.

Her youngest child, Katie, then 8, had designed what became the Blue Caribou logo - and name - for a second-grade art project.

"Blue rhymes with caribou, that sounds really cool," Kelly Chorley recalled thinking.

John Agar covers crime and other issues for MLiveE-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar
HOLLAND, MI -- A driver was ejected from a car and killed during a crash while fleeing police Tuesday night.

A Holland police officer spotted the vehicle speeding from an apartment complex on Stratford Way near 12th Street and attempted a traffic stop about 10 p.m.

Police said the driver refused to stop and continued north on Cypress Avenue. Pursued by the officer, the car turned left to head west on 8th Street, running a stop sign in the process.

The suspect's car continued on 8th Street past Waverly Road and through a red light into the U.S. 31 intersection. Police said the car struck two other vehicles on U.S. 31.

The fleeing driver was ejected.

No one else was seriously injured.

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department is handling the investigation. More information, including the driver's identity, will be released at a later time, police said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Local, state and federal officials will be available at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, to update residents and others on

chemical contamination that has forced tenants out of a Southeast Side building

because of vapors seeping inside.

The U.S. EPA, the Michigan DEQ and the Kent County Health Department will lead an informational session on exposure to tetracholorethylene levels that range from 4 to 8 times the acceptable level at 401 Hall St. SE, and 1168 and 1170 Madison Ave. SE. The health department on Thursday, May 19 issued an order prohibiting occupancy at the building due to the health risk.

The carcinogen is leaching from 413 Hall St., the site of a former dry cleaning business.

Wednesday's meeting will be held at the LINC gallery, 1167 Madison Ave. SE, and people with questions or seeking additional information can contact U.S. EPA on-scene coordinator Betsy Nightingale at 734-770-8402, or nightingale.elizabeth@epa.gov.

The elevated readings were discovered last week after examination of air tests conducted on May 5. The contamination was first discovered in January through soil sampling conducted when the property was sold. The Michigan DEQ installed four free-standing air filters in the basement and first-floor to try to mitigate the vapors.

Health officials located those who work and live at the building and tested 17 people for potential hazards. Authorities do not anticipate significant or prolonged health troubles based on the exposure, but blood and urine samples are now available as baseline figures.

Authorities evacuated one apartment tenant and the offices of nonprofits the Red Project, which offers needle exchange, overdose prevention education and HIV testing, and Seeds of Promise, a community empowerment organization.

The government agencies are looking for solutions, which in the short-term could involve changing the intake air for heating and cooling systems, venting the basement and installing more air filtration systems. Long-term remediation would likely require significant money and methods to clean up the site.

The dry cleaning business was in operation from the 1920s to 1995, the DEQ said. The site was then used for multiple commercial businesses.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The state Attorney General is asking for the public's help to identify cases of mistreatment of residents at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Attorney General Bill Schuette on Wednesday, May 25 said that an investigation into possible mistreatment of patients began in February, following a scathing state audit that chronicled improper care at the home.

Related: Audit: Grand Rapids Home for Veterans didn't investigate abuse, check on patients

The Michigan Auditor General's report revealed that vets home workers falsely claimed they were checking on patients after being alerted of possible falls, failed to properly investigate allegations of abuse and neglect, and took too long to fill prescriptions.

Schuette said he wants to hear from those who lived at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans over the last several years about potential physical or financial abuse that might represent "criminal misconduct."

He said witnesses to any mistreatment also may call his office.

Anyone with information can call the Healthcare Fraud Division at 1-800-24-ABUSE.

Related: 'Much work to be done' at Michigan vets homes as interim leader takes job full-time

The audit released in February showed that the home's provision of member care services had been insufficient.

Surveillance video showed only 57 percent of room checks and 67 percent of fall alarm checks were done, even though the home had produced documentation that the checks occurred. Supervisors signed off on 17 of 25 location check sheets for checks that didn't occur.

Since the audit's release, former Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Robert Redford took over the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency and made changes to care.

The vets home added five nursing positions and established a system to address complaints within 24 hours and to reach a total resolution within 72 hours. Caregivers are now creating and updating comprehensive plans for every patient.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison
LANSING, MI -- A growing number of Michigan Republicans are bullish on New York businessman Donald Trump's chances at turning a consistently blue state red come the November presidential election.

Although the latest poll data still shows likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton with a double-digit lead against Trump in the state, many are acknowledging that Michigan shouldn't necessarily be treated as a given as the general election approaches.

Political news website Real Clear Politics shows Clinton averaging a lead of 10.5 percentage points in polls pitting her against Trump conducted between Feb. 22 and March 24.

But Trump's campaign recently listed Michigan as one of its targets for the general election, and new national polling shows Trump and Clinton in a statistical dead heat.

In a recent interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Trump national convention manager Paul Manafort included Michigan on a list of Democratic-leaning states that could give Trump the possibility to expand the electoral map in his favor, listing independents, crossover Democrats and supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as potential Trump voters.

"We think the Democrats are the ones who are going to have a very narrow way to victory, and we think we're going to be successful," he told Tapper.

Bernie Porn, partner and president of polling firm EPIC-MRA, said based on the numbers so far, Michigan -- a state that hasn't carried a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, when George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis -- continues to lean Democratic. But he warned against taking that trend for granted, considering the unpredictability of the 2016 election so far.

"If I were the Democrats, I would not make any assumptions at this juncture," he said. "People have underestimated Donald Trump throughout the primary -- Democrats should not make that mistake.

"Assume it's going to be purple" -- at least until consistent polling data says otherwise, Porn continued.

Falling in line

Several prominent Republicans in Michigan have already jumped aboard the Trump train. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley endorsed the candidate this week, and U.S. Rep. Candice Miller told Politico earlier this month that she looks forward to a "President Trump" come next year.

Although the Republican Party is in a "healing process" following the primary, Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said the party is already making moves to coalesce behind the presumptive nominee.

Couple that with Michigan Republicans' energy, appetite to take back the White House and distrust of Clinton, McDaniel said, and the Republican presidential nominee could "absolutely" win in a state that currently boasts a Republican governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

The 2016 election also gives the Michigan Republican Party a chance to tap into new potential Republican voters -- independents, disgruntled Democrats, young people and others, McDaniel said.

"There's a recognition that the same old, same old seen from Washington over and over again is not changing things in our lives," McDaniel said.

Not all Michigan Republicans are convinced Trump could pull it off, however. Nearly 60 percent of voters in Michigan's Republican primary voted for another candidate -- 24.9 percent for Cruz, 24.3 percent for Kasich and 9.3 percent for Rubio -- and although Trump has begun making conciliatory moves toward the rest of the party, he still has his fair share of critics.

Jeff Timmer, who directed Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign in Michigan, said it takes an "extraordinary" Republican candidate to win a presidential election in the state, someone who can build coalitions and attract a wide variety of voters to the cause. He said he doesn't see Trump becoming that person or beating Clinton.

"For every voter he attracts, he repels more," Timmer said. "I don't think he can even lay a glove on her in Michigan ... Anything to the contrary is just his boasting and has no basis in reality."

Bringing out the 'Reagan Democrats'

In his pre-primary Michigan stops, Trump spoke before packed houses and heard thundering applause at nearly every talking point. One of those stops was in Warren, where Trump attempted to court a specific type of voter -- the blue jean-wearing, working-class types often referred to as "Reagan Democrats."

Former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson was one of the first in Michigan to publicly back Trump, announcing his support of the businessman in July 2015. In his mind, the general election race between Trump and Clinton in Michigan is a "done deal."

"She can't even beat Bernie Sanders in the primary -- how does she expect to beat Trump?" Johnson asked. "The people are looking for change, and that's not coming from Hillary Clinton's camp."

Johnson said Clinton's history and policies, particularly on trade issues and the Keystone XL pipeline, is going to put all the Midwest rust belt states into play.

"Trump is going to bring the voters out of Macomb County to vote for him the same way Reagan did," he said. "The blue collar working people there are out in support for Trump this go around."

But Brandon Dillon, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said the concept of a "Reagan Democrat" is outdated -- most of those voters are firmly Republican and are hard for Democrats to consistently count on, he said.

"There is some mythology that they usually vote for Democrats, and that is really not the case," Dillon said.

Dillon said Democrats would be "making a mistake" if they don't take Trump seriously, but said he is confident Michigan will stay blue and is working to keep it that way.

"Michigan is a state where if our voters turn out in a presidential year, we should win," he said.

The Sanders impact

Another potential factor people on both sides of the aisle are watching closely are the people who helped Sanders win Michigan's Democratic primary, particularly the younger voters who defied polling predictions and came out in droves to support him.

Clinton won only 10 of Michigan's 83 counties in the Democratic primary: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, Saginaw, Berrien, Alpena, Lake, Montmorency and Dickinson.

At the county-by-county level, Sanders boasted victories of up to 33 percentage points in other areas, doing particularly well in Isabella, Grand Traverse, Kent and Kalamazoo counties.

State Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, who endorsed Sanders prior to the primary, acknowledged that the current numbers show a Sanders presidential nomination is likely out of reach. He plans to support the Democratic nominee, but said the current elephant in the room for Democrats is that there are some Sanders supporters who aren't so loyal.

"I still believe Michigan is going to go Democratic and turns out in a big way," he said. "But I'd be lying to you if I said everybody here who's a Bernie Sanders supporter immediately flips over. She's going to have to work for it."

Working for it will entail a strong ground organization and an evolution on several issues, particularly trade, Wall Street and wealth inequality, he said.

"I think (Trump is) going to strike a chord if he's the only candidate having that discussion," Sen. Johnson said. "As Trump trumpets this conversation about bringing free trade back to our shores and situating it in states like Michigan that have lost so much, I believe that a lot of people might be listening."

Something to prove

U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, said Trump's recent list of Supreme Court nominations made it clear that his interests in Michigan were strong.

"Two of the 11 potential Supreme Court nominees were from Michigan -- don't think that's not a sale," she said.

Dingell said she sees why Trump is doing well -- he is playing into people's fears about national security, jobs and other issues that matter to the average person. To overcome his popularity, Dingell said Michigan Democrats need to join together and put up a united front against him.

"Nobody can think that their vote doesn't matter and they can stay home -- their vote is the difference for either candidate winning," Dingell said.

Clinton made a stop in Detroit this week and spoke to more than 3,000 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at the group's international convention, where she made little mention of Sanders in lieu of painting Trump as a bully whose policy proposals would harm the working class.

Kelly Rossman McKinney, co-founder of public relations firm Truscott Rossman and a Clinton supporter, said there is at least a possibility that Trump could overcome initial concerns and get a majority of Michigan votes. But she pointed out that Clinton has several influential supporters in Michigan, and is going to want to win Michigan badly to overcome one of her largest primary upsets.

"This was a state that she took for granted in the primary, and she was surprised -- and not in a good way," Rossman-McKinney said. "She has something to prove in Michigan now."

Lauren Gibbons is a political reporter on MLive's Impact team. She can be reached at lgibbon2@mlive.com.
Read more: Staffer testifies he recorded meeting because of Todd Courser's mental state

LANSING, MI -- A one-time employee of Michigan Rep. Todd Courser said it was common for legislative staffers to sign the names of their bosses for numerous purposes.

However, Joshua Cline, Courser's former legislative staffer who said he was granted immunity by the Michigan Attorney General's Office in the prosecution of two former lawmakers, testified he relied on Courser's direction in signing the backs of the bills.

"(Courser) said just get them submitted whenever they arrive," Cline said during day one of a preliminary hearing, where he was asked about "blue backs" of two bills, on which he signed the names of Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat.

Blue backs, he explained, are the blue pieces of paper on the backs of bills where the bill sponsor names go that are submitted to the clerk when introducing a bill.

Former legislators Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser face a total of six felony charges following an investigation of their in-office affair and the cover-up that followed.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 25 and May 26 of this week to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial.

Both were charged with felony misconduct in office, Courser with three counts, Gamrat with two; and Courser also faces a charge of perjury.

House rules dictate that bills to be introduced "must be signed by the member producing them" and the issue is relevant related to a misconduct charge, prosecuting attorney Gregory Townsend said.

Cline, the first of two former staffers called on the morning of May 25, said he had not read the rule.

Another former staffer of Courser's testified he spoke with Courser on the phone on the night on May 19, 2015, and they had a strange conversation.

"He said, Ben I need you to destroy me," former staffer Ben Graham said, and that Courser asked him to come to meet him.

Graham said he recorded the in-person conversation for fear of his personal safety.

They talked about text messages Courser said he received about his relationship with Gamrat, Graham said, spoke about Courser's personal issues Courser told him would likely be made public soon, and discussion about sending a false email.

Courser's attorney, Matthew DePerno argued the recording was illegal, and prosecutors disagreed.

Courser wanted to send a false email, Graham testified, "intentionally designed to deceive people into believing things that weren't true about him," such as drug use, and that he was caught outside a Lansing club with a male prostitute.

Graham testified Courser showed him an email on the computer and that it was meant to discredit other information that Courser said would be made public soon. Graham said it was uncomfortable and he wanted to leave and testified that Courser

"He said it would inoculate the herd," he said.

Hours later, he texted Courser and said he couldn't be involved in the cover-up, Graham said.

The false email was sent out and became public Aug. 7, Graham said.

Soon after, Graham gave the recording he made of his conversation with Courser to a Detroit News reporter. His attorney gave police a copy of the recording, Graham testified.

Graham also testified that he was never asked by Courser to go to the House Business Office to see if it was permitted for staff members to sign blue backs.

Courser, Gamrat testify before hearing

Before the preliminary hearing began, both Courser and Gamrat were called separately to testify about proposed evidence in the case.

Gamrat took the stand and testified she believed, because she was cooperative with investigators in answering questions while seeking censure, that no criminal charges would be filed against her.

"I was told a number of times there was no criminal activity found," Gamrat said, and returned to the phrase and similar phrases throughout the questioning.

"I thought I would keep my seat and the rest of the investigations would stop," she said.

Dareth Wilson, an attorney representing Todd Courser during the investigations, testified that she inferred there would be no criminal prosecution, based on communications with Michigan House investigators.

Courser testified that, during an investigation, he appeared and testified before a House Select Committee because he was seeking censure and he believed he would not be prosecuted in doing so.

In September, following a series of hearings, the state House voted to expel Gamrat, moments after Courser had resigned to avoid the same fate, making her just the fourth state lawmaker ever kicked out of office by her peers.

The Michigan State Police investigated the case and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced felony charges against Courser and Gamrat in February.

Attorneys indicated a total of eight witnesses would be called during the hearings, scheduled for May 25 and May 26.

-- Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook.
Capitol dome spring.jpg

Bills to criminalize coercing a woman into having an abortion passed the Michigan Senate Wednesday along mostly partisan lines.

(Dave Murray | MLive.com)

LANSING, MI -- Bills to criminalize coercing a woman into having an abortion passed the Michigan Senate Wednesday along mostly partisan lines.

House Bill 4787 and HB 4830 make it a criminal offense to make a woman have an abortion against her will. The bills assign the offense a variable class that could be a felony, and carry a fine of $5,000 to $10,000.

The Senate passed the bills 25-11, with Sen. Tory Rocca, R-Shelby Twp., voting with the chamber's 10 Democrats in opposing the measures.

The House approved the bills in March, and they were reported out of a Senate committee earlier this month.

The legislation is supported by Right to Life of Michigan, which argues the bills give teeth to abortion-related legislation from 2012. But Michigan branches of groups including the American Civil Liberty Union and Planned Parenthood oppose the legislation, saying it perpetuates a myth that women who seek abortions do so because they were coerced.

If the issue sounds familiar it's because versions of it have volleyed around the capitol for years, even passing through some chambers but falling just short of making it to Gov. Rick Snyder's desk.

On the Senate floor today, Democrats offered three amendments to the bill. They would have exempted the medical advice from doctors from counting as coercion, decreased the fines and made it a crime to coerce a woman into having a child as well. All failed along mostly partisan lines.

Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, introduced the amendment to make it illegal for women to be coerced into carrying children, as well, if they wanted to abort.

"If the will of this chamber is truly to help women... then we'd better make darn sure this bill covers all forms of reproductive coercion," Warren said.

But Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said that should be a stand-alone bill.

Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, said coerced abortion was already covered under other statutes and this legislation was political.

"Regardless of how you feel about Roe v Wade, these bills should be concerning," said Bieda, referencing the landmark U.S. Supreme Court abortion case.

Jones urged his colleagues to support the bill, and said at some point the legislature could even consider going further with the penalties.

"Let's send a strong message today to the pimps and the people out there human trafficking women that as they drag them across the parking lot they're facing large fines and let's consider sending them to prison too," Jones said.

The bills were assigned immediate effect. They would need a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.

Emily Lawler is a Capitol reporter on MLive's statewide Impact Team. You can reach her at elawler@mlive.com, subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter: @emilyjanelawler.
Voting booth

A lawsuit filed Tuesday takes aim at the new law that eliminates straight-ticket voting.

(File | MLive.com)

LANSING, MI -- A group of African American labor activists is suing in U.S. District Court to stop a new law eliminating straight-ticket voting.

The Michigan A. Philip Randolph Institute is being represented by former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, an attorney with Southfield-based Goodman Acker P.C. The group is suing Secretary of State Ruth Johnson in her official capacity and hopes to stop enforcement before November elections, Brewer said.

Public Act 268, which Gov. Rick Snyder signed in January, eliminates an option for voters to vote for all partisan positions by choosing either an all-Republican or all-Democratic option.

The law's supporters say it will increase voting on nonpartisan sections of the ballot and encourage voters to be educated on individual candidates. But Democrats and some local clerks say it will cause long lines and overturns the people, who had previously rejected an effort to eliminate the straight-ticket voting.

The lawsuit argues that the law violates equal protection afforded under the 14th amendment, the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Brewer said that long wait times disproportionately affected African American voters in more concentrated urban districts as well as those with disabilities, who would be impacted by longer lines.

"Even voters that don't vote straight party are going to get stuck in these long lines," Brewer said.

The plaintiffs are:

Mary Lansdown, a 77-year-old Flint resident and registered voter whose volunteers to register people to vote.

Erin Comartin, a registered voter in West Bloomfield Township who is concerned about the impact of PA 268 on her right to vote and the rights of others to vote.

Dion Williams, a registered voter in Detroit who uses the straight-party option.

They are suing Johnson in her official capacity, and seek to stop her from enforcing the law's provisions that ban straight-ticket voting.

While other states have eliminated straight-ticket voting, Brewer said that the law considers differences between states and Michiganders have a 125-year history of straight-ticket voting. In addition, voters shot down attempts to change that.

"No other state has the history we have here in Michigan," Brewer said.

In signing the bill, Snyder acknowledged the concern over long lines and asked the legislature to enact no-reason absentee voting. The bill to do that was once formally tied to the straight-ticket elimination, but was partitioned off and is now stuck in the Senate Government Operations Committee -- typically a place that bills languish.

This is the third lawsuit over a flurry of elections bills passed in a late-night session last December.

Two other lawsuits are in the works over PA 269 -- one over how unions collect political donations and one over a 'gag order' provision barring local governments from informational mass communications about a ballot proposal 60 days before an election.

Emily Lawler is a Capitol reporter on MLive's statewide Impact Team. You can reach her at elawler@mlive.com, subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter: @emilyjanelawler.
LANSING, MI -- Two staffers testified they were concerned that Todd Courser might kill himself, and an audio recording would provide protection if something happened during a private meeting.

Ben Graham, employee of former representative Todd Courser, testified before 54-A District Court Judge Hugh Clarke during a May 25 preliminary hearing that he made the choice to record the meeting after Courser beckoned him to his Lapeer law office on the evening of May 19.

The hearing is to determine if there was enough evidence to continue with the criminal case against former lawmakers Courser and Cindy Gamrat.

Courser and Gamrat face a total of six felony charges following an investigation of their in-office affair and the cover-up that followed.

Graham said he was also concerned for his own safety, so he recorded the meeting.

"Serious repercussions could have happened," Graham said when asked why he met with Courser that night. "I don't think telling your boss your afraid for your safety is a good career move, no."

"I thought he might possibly harm himself," Graham said. "If I was there with a smoking gun and body, the recording would help."

Asked if anyone told him to record the meeting, Graham answered, "no."

Graham said he and other staffers "had suspicions for a few months" about Courser and Gamrat's affair.

When he met with Courser on the night of May 19, the then-lawmaker wanted to send a false email, Graham testified, filled with false information about Courser using illegal drugs and engaging with a male prostitute, in an attempt to discredit stories about the lawmakers' affair, which was expected to be made public soon.

Graham later told Courser he would not send the email.

Courser and Gamrat sat feet apart during Wednesday's testimony, seated at the same table. Though their cases are separate criminal filings, they are having a joint preliminary examination. The preliminary examination continues Thursday in Lansing.

Both are charged with felony misconduct in office, Courser with three counts, Gamrat with two; and Courser also faces a charge of perjury.

Keith Allard also took the stand Wednesday and testified he worked for Cindy Gamrat and was Graham's supervisor. Allard described Courser as "extremely scattered" in the days leading up to May 19.

"They were conducting an extramarital affair and they had been discovered," Allard said.

"He was out of sorts in the office," Allard said. "He was falling over cabinets and unable to hold himself up."

He talked to Ben Graham on the phone about whether or not to meet with Courser on the night of May 19.

"It was a Catch 22," Allard said, adding it seemed unsafe to go there given Courser's mental state, but thought "Ex-Representative Courser was extremely abusive and might have retaliated professionally if (Graham) did not obey the order."

Ben Graham decided to go over, Allard said.

Courser's attorney, Matthew DePerno, asked about his concerns and why he thought the meeting should have been recorded.

"I feared there was a likelihood Courser was suicidal," Allard said. "He's been known to do elaborate schemes in the past. I feared for Ben. I didn't want him to be left in a room with a body and no (explanation)."

"I advised him, if I was in that situation, I would want to have a recording or something like that."

He said he heard portions of the recording in the early morning of May 20, played over a phone call with Graham.

Asked about bills' "blue backs" signed by a staffer, which relate to a misconduct charge against Courser and Gamrat, Allard testified Rep. Gary Glenn was introducing a similar bill at the time and Courser was trying to beat him to it.

"Mr. Courser decided he wanted to beat Glenn in submitting this information."

Gamrat wanted to be a cosigner, he said, and there was discussions about how much media they could get from the bill.

Courser wanted the bills submitted as soon as possible, Courser former legislative staffer JoshuaCline testified earlier on Wednesday, and co-workers emailed jokes about him running across the capitol lawn to submit the bills, he said.

Allard said Gamrat was in on a meeting about the bills and indicated she wanted to be a co-sponsor.

Cline who said he was granted immunity by the Michigan Attorney General's Office in the prosecution of two former lawmakers, testified earlier on Wednesday that he relied on Courser's direction in signing the names of Courser and Gamrat on the backs of the bills.

-- Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook.
JACKSON, MI -- Battle Creek fifth-grader Leila Overbeek spelled the word '"vinculum" correctly to advance in the preliminary round of 89th annual National Spelling Bee.

Merriam-Webster defines vinculum as: "A unifying bond," and " a straight horizontal mark placed over two or more members of a compound mathematical expression and equivalent to parentheses or brackets about them (as in a-b-c=a-[b-c])."

The word was on the list from the National Spelling Bee, which was given to participants three weeks ago.

All 11 Michigan natives spelled their word correctly in the first preliminary.

Despite battling the flu, Overbeek won the 2016 MLive/Jackson Citizen Patriot Spelling Bee on March 16. Now, she's one of 285 spellers in Washington D.C. for the competition.

Overbeek took the preliminary test Tuesday, May 24. The Lakeview Middle School student is number 119, with live results on Twitter posted under the hashtag #speller119. She was the third Michigan student to compete on Wednesday and is the only Michigander in the bee not in seventh or eighth grade.

"I don't think about the age, I just think about if I'm going to do well or not," Overbeek said.

The next round is from 1:15 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, with both being broadcast on ESPN3. No more than 50 individuals will advance to the finals, based on preliminary test scores and not misspelling any words in preliminary rounds.

The finals begin Thursday, May 26, at 10 a.m. on ESPN2 and continue Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

More than 11 million students participated in this year's spelling bee, with the 285 earning a trip to Washington D.C. Spellers must be 15 or younger and cannot be past eighth grade.

Overbeek visited the Smithsonian's National Zoo on Monday and Mount Vernon -- George Washington's home -- on Tuesday, with studying in between.
JACKSON, MI -- Twenty-nine graduates of da Vinci Institute High School walked across the stage at the Michigan Theatre to receive their diplomas, on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

The students were joined in the ceremonies by two graduates of Jackson Learning Lab -- Sutton's Bay Virtual Schools.

As part of the celebration, Brian Drummond, da Vinci Institute School Board president, presented a video of the da Vinci institute teachers showing off their dance moves and a senior slide show.

The graduates received their diplomas from Sandy Maxson, da Vinci superintendent/high school principal, and teacher Kim Mead. The graduates also received a rose from their teachers.

The yellow rose was given to the graduates as a sign of friendship.

"We are grateful they have shared their lives with us and are proud of them for the hard work and effort they have demonstrated." Maxson said.
The Jackson Police Department reports the following activates for Tuesday, May 25 with officers responding to 117 calls for service, 23 traffic stops and 3 arrests.

Officer Mosier visited T.A. Wilson School.

Officer Brant visited the Middle School at Parkside.

Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of W. Wilkins Street for a large fight in the area. A 20-year-old female was arrested for Disorderly Conduct.

Officers responded to Henry Ford Allegiance Health for a domestic assault victim receiving treatment for her injuries. The 48-year-old boyfriend was located and arrested for Domestic Assault & Battery 2nd Offense. He was in possession of suspected methamphetamine and charged for this as well.

Officer Elston arrested a 40-year-old female for an outstanding felony warrant.

Officer Galbreath handled a larceny of handgun report.

Police were dispatched to the 100 block of W. Mason Street for a domestic dispute. The male suspect fled prior to police arriving.

Officer Kruso investigated a counterfeit $50 bill being passed at the Shell Station located at 801 Wildwood Avenue.

Police were dispatched to the 200 block of Orange Street for the report of one shot fired in the area. Officers checked the area and found no evidence of this.
JACKSON, MI - A man accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl will face a jury in Circuit Judge Susan Beebe's courtroom next month.

Jackson County prosecutors presented enough evidence against James Ward, 54, during his preliminary examination in District Judge Michael Klaeren's courtroom May 25 to proceed to trial. He is charged with one count on first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a minor under the age of 13 and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

If convicted, Ward faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Ward is accused of using his hands to fondle and sexually penetrate the victim in her sleep on Oct. 24.

After a closed courtroom session, prosecutors said the victim testified she awoke to find Ward's hands under her clothes.

Ward was extradited from North Carolina while working as a long-haul truck driver.

Detective Sgt. Bryan Huttenlocker of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department testified Ward was difficult to get in contact with after the incident as he is a truck driver who frequently leaves the state.

Ward is currently lodged in the Jackson County Jail. Bond is set at $50,000.
The Michigan State Police Jackson Post provided the following activity log Wednesday, May 25:

Troopers were dispatched to a Norvell Township home for reports of a domestic violence. Troopers plan to forward information from the investigation to the prosecutor's office for review.

Troopers made a traffic stop on a vehicle in Jackson County's Tompkins Township. Further investigation revealed the driver of the vehicle, a 47 year old man, had a warrant for his arrest. He was lodged at the Jackson County Jail.

Troopers stopped a vehicle for failing to signal a turn in Blackman Township. The driver, a 22-year-old man, was operating under the influence of drugs. He was arrested and lodged at the Jackson County Jail.

Troopers responded to a larceny complaint in Tompkins Township. The stolen property was located and returned to the owner. Additional stolen property was allegedly recovered in what remains an open investigation.

Troopers initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding in Hillsdale County's Moscow Township. The driver, a 36-year-old Hillsdale man, was found to be driving on a suspended license. He was cited for the offense and released from the scene. An investigation revealed a passenger, a 35-year-old Hillsdale man, had a warrant for his arrest due to not making child support payments. He was arrested and lodged at the Hillsdale County Jail.

Troopers were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash in Hillsdale County's Somerset Township. A 23-year-old Hillsdale woman was issued a citation for failure to stop. The driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries and was transported to Henry Ford Allegiance Health.

Additional notes:

* Troopers are investigating a report of identity theft in Hillsdale County's Wheatland Township

* Troopers responded to six crashes in Jackson and Hillsdale counties

* Motor carrier officers arrested two fugitives
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI -- Quick question: If you're standing 30 meters away from the Shivering Timbers roller coaster at Michigan's Adventure and the wooden peak of one of its drops is about 45 degrees from eye level, how high is the peak?

If you can answer correctly, congratulations. You have as much physics knowledge as a middle school student.

Twelve schools brought more than 450 students from across the state for a day at the amusement park to apply mathematics, measuring skills and an understanding in physics to solve problems in a real-world setting. Physics Day was hosted in a partnership between the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District's Regional Math and Science Center and Michigan's Adventure, which opened the park early on Wednesday just for the students.

Michigan's Adventure is scheduled to open to the public Friday.

Center Director Kristin Frang said before the park visit, students must learn to measure distance, time, angles and acceleration. In basic terms, the conversion of potential energy at the top of a slope to kinetic energy as it falls is what drives a roller coaster, and all of the kinetic energy you need for the ride is present.

"There are a lot of teachers who come each year and tell us that this exercise makes concepts already being taught in class make more sense," Frang said. "There is an emphasis in giving students a sense of scale and proportion, so they know how objects act when they run into them in the real world."

Using measurement methods suited to the scale of an amusement park, students worked in small teams to solve physics problems especially designed for students in grades 5-8. Students built an altimeter for measuring angles and an accelerometer for measuring accelerations. Prizes were set to be awarded to teams with the smallest margin of error.

Oakview Elementary School teacher Kimberly Simmons brought a group of sixth graders in an after-school club to Physics Day for the first time this year. She said the event makes a fairly dry topic more interesting to her students.

"The workbook is challenging, but it gives the students a new perspective and allows them to start new conversations about math," Simmons said. "It will give them an experience they will remember for a long time."

North Muskegon Middle School eighth-grade students Kameron Kreigh and Eli Walsh sat down to answer their questions before getting in line.

"We're just going to get (the questions) knocked out," Kreigh said. "Then we'll hit the rides.

Malachi Barrett covers community news for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at mbarret1@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @PolarBarrett or on Facebook.
Industrial vehicles and heavy machinery held at Myanmars borders with Thailand and China for the past six months have been released by the Ministry of Commerce, which announced earlier this week that most restrictions on imports had been removed.





Companies can now bring in vehicles through the Muse 105 trading zone on the Chinese border and Tachileik and Myawaddy trade zones on the border with Thailand, though imports of pick-up trucks remain off-limits, the ministry announced on May 23.

Foreign companies were previously allowed to import up to 10 vehicles for business use each year, but the ministry has relaxed the rules, allowing up to 10 imports per licence. Companies can apply for more than one licence, depending on their requirements, the announcement said.

Local traders in the border areas with an Individual Trading Card will be allowed to import vehicles worth up to 30 lakh (K3 million) each day, or 150 lakh over five days  compared with 20 lakh per day in the past.

The ministry will allow all vehicles that have been held at the countrys borders since last December to enter the country, the announcement added. The trade, customs and road transport administration departments will coordinate to ensure they are imported systematically.

Earlier this month, Commerce Minister U Than Myint released 14,000 cars for import. They had been held at the borders since December.
Tanintharyi Region, the southern tip of Myanmar, abounds with natural resources and the problems associated with them.





Residents in the isolated region face over-mining by foreign companies, the proposed development of a deep-sea port, an oil refinery and a special economic zone, mechanised farming of rubber and palm oil, an illegal trade in timber, overfishing, migration, and coal-fired power plants.

All these problems and more are piling up in the in-tray of Chief Minister Daw Lae Lae Maw, the National League for Democracy MP for Thayatchaung township, Dawei district.

She spoke to The Myanmar Times in a recent, exclusive interview and identified two main priorities.

I will bring electricity prices down under K100 per unit across the region. I will also bring back two- thirds of our migrant workers, she said, adding that the regions natural resources should be used to develop the local economy, not extracted and sold overseas.

Tanintharyi is not connected to the national grid  residents and civil society groups have occasionally protested after being forced to pay up to K600 for one unit of electricity, which costs K50 in Yangon.

On average, power in Tanintharyi costs K300 per unit, and will only become cheaper if the national grid is extended. The alternative is to buy gas from Thailand.





There may be a certain attraction about the idea of a coal-fired power plant in a region notorious for charging the highest electricity prices in the country, but local residents oppose the idea.

Protests have already led to the shuttering of one such plant, in the southern city of Kawthoung, because of its impact on the environment.

In the chief ministers scheme of things, the promise of ecotourism is greater than that of coal.

I cant allow the building of coal-fired plants in my region. Daw Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi] asked me about this before I become chief minister and I told her I was opposed. I would rather try to get financing for gas turbines, as gas is plentiful here, said Daw Lae Lae Maw.

However, the regional government has no authority to block large projects approved by Nay Pyi Taw.

I want the regional government to play a role in deciding on projects in the region and I hope the central government will do nothing to harm the community, she said.

Recently, more than 2400 people from Launglon township in Dawei district wrote to the chief minister about a coal plant under discussions in Yamezu by a Myanmar-Korean joint venture called 24 Hour Mining & Industry Company, asking for clarity on the rules and regulations governing the project.

On a quiet stretch of coast just south of Dawei, villagers are protesting a multi-billion-dollar oil refinery to be built by military-run Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Chinese developer Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co.

It will be the first oil refinery the commodity-trading company has built and residents say they have been given very little information about the project, though it will dramatically change their lives.

Not too far from the refinery, a massive international development is being planned. The Dawei special economic zone will cover 27 square kilometres in its first phase, rising to an eventual 204.5 sq km, according to local activists.

Following the relocation of six villages, nearly K243 billion has been spent on compensating residents for the 12,000 hectares of community land included in the zone, though disputes over the amount of compensation and the quality of the land to which former owners have been relocated rumble on.

The zone was supposed to bring jobs and spur regional development. But though several major agreements have been signed since 2008, there seems little to show for the past eight years.

Any kind of investment has to take the effects on the local community carefully into account. With this SEZ, the compensation has not been managed systematically. If you relocate someone, you have to create a livelihood there, or how will they survive? said Daw Lae Lae Maw, adding that Thai companies had shown a different attitude to the problems raised.

Ko Lay Lwin, founder of the civil society group the Dawei Development Association, said the Myanmar government had adopted rules and laws that favoured foreign investors over its own people.

Myanmar has excess cheap labour, weak legislation governing environmental impact, outdated laws, and unclear compensation rules. The basic wage is still cheap at US$3.50 a day, he said.

The location of SEZs in Rakhine State and Tanintharyi Region was seen as a way by the previous government to attract migrant workers back home.

Ko Lay Lwin said, The intention was good, but the incentives offered for local labour are terrible. The investors never want local skilled labour. The government has to tackle existing issues before starting up new projects.

Mining projects, too, have pitted local people against powerful companies. Up to 27 mining companies were active in the region last fiscal year, looking for tin, tungsten and gold.

According to a regional government newsletter, five big sites covering almost 9175 acres (3670 hectares) and 11 small sites totalling 523 acres (213ha) are operational in Dawei district.

In Myeik district there are four big sites (1488ha) and 12 small sites (235ha) and in Kawthoung district, six small sites (71ha) are being mined.

Myanmar Pongpipat, Ngwe Tun Tauk and Delco, the biggest operators in Dawei district, face community opposition amid allegations that mining waste is harming the environment and destroying livelihoods.

Nine residents of Myaung Pyo village launched a suit against Myanmar Pongpipat over the Heinda tin nine years ago, said resident Daw Tin Hla.

But the company didnt respond. Weve been asking them to transport their waste elsewhere rather than throwing it in the creek beside the village, killing fish and destroying our crops. The company has paid no compensation.

The residents hope the new government will take action.

Meanwhile, Kan Pauk village residents are petitioning the regional government and the Resources and Environment Ministry to deal with the problems they say are caused by Delco.

Delco executives told regional officials they would dig out the creek that had been contaminated and remove the waste. We are waiting to see if they do so, said Daw Lae Lae Maw.

The company says it has launched a program to develop and regenerate the mine site, aiming to improve the environment and provide support to local communities.

Daw Lae Lae Maw said mining projects permitted under the previous government would now be scrutinised to ensure compliance with the new mining law and all other existing rules and regulations.
The second phase of a 2400-hectare special economic zone to the south of Yangon will be finished in July, with residential and commercial developments to follow, an official has said.





The first phase of the 400-hectare Zone A was finished last September and the second phase is almost complete, said U Thein Han, chair of Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development (MJTD).

More than 85 percent of the land in Zone A has been reserved by 69 light-industry manufacturers from across the globe, he said. Of these, nine are already exporting their products, ranging from car parts to garments and electronic gadgets.

Twenty-seven companies are preparing to begin operations and 33 more are starting to build factories, U Thein Han added. The zone became commercially operational and was formally launched last September.

Once the second phase of Zone A is finished in July, a company called Thilawa Property Development will build residential and commercial components on 35 hectares, including dormitories for workers, shop-houses, offices and a shopping centre.

Public infrastructure, utilities and other facilities to support the factories still need to be built.

The project is a joint venture between Myanmar and Japan  each government has a 10 percent stake while a consortium of nine local companies called Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (MTSH) controls 41pc and a Japanese private-sector consortium controls the remaining 39pc.





MJTD is a special purpose company set up by the investors to develop and operate the project.

Zone A has created jobs for 2221 people and will create at least 40,000 jobs by 2018, according to a document filed by MTSH to the Yangon Stock Exchange earlier this month.

On May 20 MTSH became the second company to list on the exchange. After just three days of trading its share price had risen by 75pc to K70,000 yesterday.

The company will require more capital over the next two years to start work on Thilawa Zone B, said project director U Thurane Aung. The board has not yet decided whether to raise new capital by issuing new shares through the stock exchange or by taking out a loan, he said.

Construction of Zone B is due to start at the end of this year. It will include another industrial park on between 500 and 700 hectares, according to the MTSH document.

Land selection, environmental impact assessment study and design are currently being carried out for the Zone B Project, the document said.

The development of the Zone B Project is still in its planning stages and there is no assurance that [it]  will materialise.

Translation by San Layy
The construction ministry has drafted an urgent plan to build 8000 low-cost housing units in Yangon to be sold for less than K10 million each to the citys low-income residents.





Housing will be built in Mingaladon and Dagon Seikkan townships, said U Min Htein, director general of the ministrys Department of Urban and Housing Development (DUHD).

He did not want to disclose the exact locations for fear that squatters would move to the area and demand compensation when construction began.

If trespassers move to the locations it will be difficult to start work. We will build the housing quickly, he said. The land in both townships is owned by the government.

Each of the 8000 apartments will be 400 square feet in size, in four-storey buildings of six rooms per floor, and five-storey buildings of eight rooms per floor. The project will take two years to finish, U Min Htein said.

It is a government priority to build new low-cost housing projects for less than K10 million, said U Yu Khine, a DUHD director. Trespassing problems will be solved by the Yangon minister.

Houses priced at K10 million would be slightly more affordable than low-cost housing built by the former government, but still well out of the price-range of the citys poorest residents.

Around 1.8 million of Yangons 5.21 million residents need housing, according to the 2014 nationwide census, while demand for new accommodation is 3.5 times higher than supply.





The government has tried to bridge the gap by building low-cost projects, but these are usually for-profit, and apartments are often snapped up by speculators.

Under the former government units were sold through a lottery system and buyers could pay in instalments, but were required to make a 40 percent upfront payment.

This ruled out everyone who really needed housing, said Daw Ohmar Myint, who submitted an application for a unit in the Shwe Lin Pan low-cost housing project, but was not successful. The new government should rethink the way housing is allocated and funded, she said.

I am renting a house at the moment. Though I have applied for every low-cost housing project, I have never won the lottery. I have read in the newspaper that many of the winners did not come forward to claim the apartments, she said.

I would ask the government to review the lottery system, and the cost of the initial payment and instalments. I hope that people without homes will get the 8000 new apartments.

The DUHD has forecast that to meet demand 100,000 apartments would need to be built each year  a target that is well beyond the governments capability and budget.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
Over a dozen people have been killed and as many as 200 itinerant workers may have been buried after a tailings collapse in jade-rich Hpakant on the night of May 23. Fourteen bodies had been removed from the rubble as of yesterday evening, according to those involved in the search and rescue.





The lucrative and shadowy sector has been plagued by a series of deadly accidents, mostly caused by slag heaps that collapse on itinerant miners searching for overlooked scraps of the luxury stone.

The latest disaster to strike the landslide-prone mining town occurred around 8:15pm, and was caused by heavy rain, according to Daw Nilar Myint, a deputy officer of the Hpakant township government. The site was being excavated by Yadanar Star Company, she added.

After the company had ceased operations for the day, as many as 200 freelance scavengers continued the search for precious stones on the banks of the mine, according to U Sin Wah Naw, a member of the Thingara social aid group which works in the area.

The survivors said there were about 200 people working the mine when the landslide happened, he said.

Authorities from Hpakant had estimated more than 50 jade hunters were excavating at the time of the landslide. Ten injured miners were sent to Hpakant hospital.

A final death toll has not been confirmed, but the search for the missing has been called off due to continuing heavy rain, said U Sin Wah Naw.

Daw Nilar Myint told The Myanmar Times that people had died because they and the company continued to mine for jade during a storm.





There were people who escaped the landslide with injuries. We got a list of 10 people who went to the hospital. There may be others who went to a private clinic by themselves, so we dont know yet the exact number of the survivors either, she said yesterday. She added that the victims had not yet been identified.

Hpakant administrators, police, a funeral service team, social aid workers and the fire brigade worked together yesterday with three backhoes from the Yadanar Star company to search for bodies until further rain threatened to prompt another slide.

Deaths are not uncommon at the mining outpost, especially near sites where migrant scavengers pick through loose rubble heaps amassed by excavating machines.

Last November, in one of the largest spills to hit the lethal and unregulated industry, a massive landslide buried a mining encampment and killed at least 114 people with around 100 still missing by the time the search was called off.

While Hpakants jade industry has become synonymous with corruption, lawlessness and drug addiction, it is also staggeringly profitable.

According to a report by international watchdog Global Witness, which calls the mines a dystopian wasteland, approximately US$31 billion worth of jade was unearthed by mostly military-backed mining companies last year. The figure for the last decade could be more than $120 billion.

The licensed jade companies are, in many cases, controlled by military junta figures and drug lords, and they have ripped through Kachin States jade lands with complete impunity. The recent frenzy of extraction that has made conditions so dangerous stems from their fear that a change in the political landscape may soon call time on their plunder, said Mike Davis, Asia director for Global Witness.

The new government should consider suspending the licensed jade miners until these companies have plans in place to mitigate their environmental and social impacts that meet international standards, and have taken steps to rectify the damage they have done in Hpakant, he said.

Area residents have staged protests in recent months calling for mining firms to improve safety measures, and an agreement with companies was reached in February to reduce the size of tailings piles.

The government has promised to increase oversight of jade mining following a visit to the area by U Ohn Win, the Union minister for natural resources and environment.

Up to 90 percent of the worlds jadeite is mined in Hpakant, feeding Chinas vast appetite for the green stone.

Translation by San Layy
Most labour disputes concern allegations of unfair dismissal, the Department of Labour Relations has disclosed. Of the 84 cases heard by the Arbitration Council so far this year, 65 were about claims that workers had been unjustly fired, officials said.





In addition, the council has taken up eight cases of low wages or salaries, six cases over regular attendance fees, one relating to moving the department, two working-hours disputes and one related to overtime.

In the first instance, employer-employee disputes are heard at the township level. Subsequent appeals can be heard at the state or region level and ultimately at the Union level, in Nay Pyi Taw, first by the capitals Arbitration Council, then at the Supreme Court. The disputes bodies were set up under the amended 2014 labour law.

Labour department director general U Saw Naing told The Myanmar Times on May 20, There are 15 arbitration boards, including in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw. The arbitration board and the arbitration council adjudicate the disputes.

Since the first labour law was passed in 2012, township adjustment groups have settled 3879 cases, state and region boards have heard 392, and the Arbitration Council 213 nationwide, according to departmental figures.

We dont have enough staff to cover every labour dispute, so each industry has to set up a disputes committee according to the law. Not all of them do, so we set up township-level mechanisms to resolve some disputes, he said.

Translation by San Layy
Residents who fear that their homes could be flooded if a natural reservoir broke its banks can breathe freely again, the government says. For the past several months, engineers have been urgently studying the vast natural pool, which was formed last July by landslips unleashed by heavy rains.





The natural reservoir is located near Kwili Creek, in Tonzang township, Chin State.

Addressing hluttaw on May 16, deputy agriculture minister U Tun Win said, Weve been examining in detail the possibility of building channels on either side of the reservoir and three dams on the Nayrizsara River, between the reservoir and the Yazagyo Dam downriver. This would be paid for out of the national Natural Disaster Management Committee fund. He said the cooperation of other ministries would be required to resolve the problem.

The deputy minister was speaking in response to a proposal made by Pyithu Hluttaw MP Daw Khin San Hlaing to repair the sluice gates of Mone and Kyee Ohn Kyee Wa dams before rainy season downpours increased the pressure on the reservoirs banks. She said she feared for the safety of villagers living below the dam, who would be at risk in the event of a breach in the reservoir wall.

The landslides that formed the reservoir took place after 30 inches of rain had fallen on the hills above Kwili Creek.

Investigations conducted in January and February this year had found that the height of the water in the reservoir had already fallen 10 feet because of seepage, the deputy minister said, adding that work would be begun before the onset of the rainy season, despite the difficulty of access for heavy machinery.

However, the minister also told members that the amount of water in the reservoir, located 32 miles (51.5 kilometres) from Yazagyo Dam, was only 12,500 acre-feet (544 million cubic feet), well within the capacity of the Yazagyo dam, which was 130,000 acre ft (5.7 billion cu ft). The dam would therefore be able to accommodate the water in the reservoir in the event of a breach of its banks, he said.

The deputy minister also told hluttaw the government was making other preparations for the rainy season, including repairs to the Mone and Kyee Ohn Kyee Wa dams on Mone Creek.





Translation by Thiri Min Htun
A Defence lawyer for two Myanmar men sentenced to death in Thailand has said he would not be surprised if the appeals process continues another two years.





Rakhine State natives Ko Zaw Linn and Ko Wai Phyo were convicted last December of rape and murder. Thai police were internationally criticised for poor handling of the case, including accusations of forced confessions, failure to secure the crime scene and improper testing of DNA evidence.

The defence team submitted a 200-page appeal on May 23, much of which addresses issues with forensic evidence, and included analyses from international experts.

The mothers of the two defendants flew to the Koh Samui court to submit the appeal and then visited their sons on death row at the high security Bang Kwang Prison in Bangkok, where the men have been held since January.

In its verdict, the court said on December 24 that the evidence against the Myanmar defendants proved their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

U Sein Htay, chair of the Migrant Workers Rights Network, which has been assisting the defence, said the appeal could take a year of hearings and then another year for a final decision if it ends up in the Supreme Court.

I think either side could end up submitting an appeal to the Supreme Court depending on which side loses the first appeal, he said.





It could be two years before the end decision. But I believe that they will be released.
As a discussion in parliament continued yesterday over proposed amendments to the law requiring citizens to report overnight guests, military and elected MPs found themselves on opposite sides.





Discussions started in the Amyotha Hluttaw on May 20, but due to time constraints five MPs who registered to speak had not been able to.

The bill proposes removing sections 13(g) and 17 of the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law, for the reporting of overnight guests and inspections, from the law. It would also scrap penalties for not complying with section 17.

Echoing comments made in the previous hluttaw session by one of his colleagues, military MP Colonel Hla Win Aung said national security would be in jeopardy if the bill was approved.

Removing the sections  means destroying the security fence of the country. You need to be aware of how big the danger of illegal Bengali immigrants is, he told parliament.

Col Hla Win Aung said he had heard that an al-Qaeda leader announced that a movement of Islamic extremists would target India, western Myanmar and Bangladesh, and that security should be a priority.

U Aung Thein, an MP for Bago Regions number 12 constituency, said the practice of registering overnight guests did not belong in a democratic country.

It is not in line with democracy. Most democratic countries dont adopt such laws because they have good security, he said.





The current law, which was an update from colonial-era legislation, was introduced by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs in 2012. Even if the ministry does not welcome the amendments, it will not be able to stop them because of the NLDs majority in the parliament.

Amyotha Hluttaw Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than announced that the Amyotha Hluttaw Bill Committee would take the comments into consideration.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
The sudden collapse of a K400 million drainage wall following days of heavy rain could undermine the foundations of several nearby apartment blocks and put nearly 600 residents at risk, locals fear.





Yangon MPs have called for an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the building of the wall, which the citys former mayor had guaranteed was safe.

The retaining wall of the drainage ditch between Aung Chan Thar and Min Oo streets in Sanchaung township collapsed on May 22 after two consecutive days of heavy rain. The ditch was repaired by Yangon City Development Committees Engineering Department (Roads and Bridges) in the 2015-16 fiscal year, at a cost of more than K400 million.

Pyithu Hluttaw MP U Bo Bo Oo, who represents the township, told The Myanmar Times that repair works had been carried out in October 2015, when the original V-shape of the abutment had been changed to a U-shape.

The six-storey buildings are only 10 feet [3 metres] from the point where the wall collapsed. These buildings will be at risk if soil erosion continues, he said, adding that the flow of water was very strong because the river flowed through the channel.

U Bo Bo Oo said residents had warned in January that the wall had tilted and might collapse. He said he had spoken up in parliament in February to request that the wall be reinforced.

At that time, Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint assured me that the wall had recently been repaired, and was strong enough. Now a 20-foot stretch of it has collapsed, he said.





Yangon Region MP U Thawdar Aung has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the repairs made to the wall, leading to possible action against those concerned.

YCDCs deputy head said the collapse was caused by eddies at a section where the old wall intersects with a new wall.

There are eight six-storey buildings and three two-storey buildings within a few metres of the site of the collapse.

It is less than 10 feet between the collapsed wall and my back door, said Ma Maw Maw, a ground-floor resident of Min Oo Street.

Since YCDC came to build the wall, we told them not to build it straight like a fence but with a slope. But they told us not to interfere in their business, she said. Now, they have said the collapse poses no risk to our buildings.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe and Thiri Min Htun
Poet Maung Saung Kha was sentenced to six months in prison yesterday for defaming former president U Thein Sein last year. Defence lawyer U Robert San Aung told The Myanmar Times that the ruling violated the right to freedom of expression.





Maung Saung Kha, 24, was arrested after posting a poem on his Facebook account saying that the presidents image was tattooed on his penis. A police major filed the case, and the poet was charged under section 66(d) of the telecommunication law, which prohibits actions that extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate and carries a potential three-year prison term.

In the offending poem, the narrator described his fictional wifes hostile reaction to the presidential image.

U Robert San Aung said the post did not mention the presidents name. The judge should have thrown the case out. The courts are not yet not free and fair. This verdict reminds me of the way the junta handled things, he said.

Maung Saung Kha walked free from Shwe Pyi Thar Township Court, having already spent more than six months in jail since his arrest last November.

Yesterday he expressed disappointment at the verdict, saying the judicial system had not changed despite the election of a new parliament and government.

Im happy to go home, but the verdict was unfair. I was in jail six months and 19 days, but I get no credit for the 19 days, he said.





Kachin peace activist Patrick Kum Jaa Lee, who was last year sentenced to six months for sharing a post about the military commander-in-chief that was deemed defamatory, has called for the release of all political prisoners.

Also last year, a National League for Democracy supporter, Ma Chaw Sandi Tun, 25, was arrested for a post comparing Senior General Min Aung Hlaings uniform with the colour of then-opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyis htamein. She received a six-month sentence under the same law and was released on March 30.

Despite the governments recent release of political prisoners, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says 64 people remain behind bars and 138 are awaiting trial under political statutes.

Additional reporting by Toe Wai Aung and translation by Thiri Min Htun
Imagine you are a parent with a large number of children and limited resources. Your oldest child is mature enough to move out of your home, but he does not want to. So he stays, consuming resources that his siblings desperately need. Is it right to allow your other children to suffer because their big brother is reluctant to strike out on his own?





A similar dynamic is playing out between the World Bank and the recipients of its International Development Association program. IDA supports equitable growth in poor countries by providing low-interest, long-term loans and grants to national governments. The program supports 77 of the poorest countries in the world  half of which are in Africa. It also provides assistance to one country that no longer deserves it: India.

At the end of the 2014 fiscal year, India officially graduated from the IDA program because it was no longer poor enough to qualify. The World Bank sets a threshold for receiving assistance, based on per capita gross national income (GNI). In the fiscal year 2016, the threshold is US$1215. Indias per capita GNI has exceeded the World Banks limit each year since 2010. In 2014 it was $1570.

India is also considered creditworthy, giving it access to international capital markets. And yet India continues to receive $3.2 billion per year in transitional support from the IDA program, even as other poor countries plead for more funds.

In the 2015 fiscal year, India was allocated 20 percent of the $14.6 billion provided by the IDA program, leaving the other 77 recipients to divide the remaining 80pc. There is no reason that India should be given this exceptional treatment. The IDA funds it receives would be better spent in sub-Saharan Africa, where the needs are greater and the financing options are more limited.

If Indias allocation were divided equally among the remaining IDA countries, each would enjoy an average funding increase of more than 25pc. Funding for just the top five sub-Saharan African IDA borrowers  Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana  would increase by about $1 billion. This would be enough to finance 4845 kilometres (3004 miles) of paved roads, the distance from South Africa to Kenya.

The World Banks 2016 graduation policy review states that the funds being given to India are intended to smooth its transition from receiving IDA by preventing a sudden drop in financing. India can handle the anticipated drop-off. It is substantially wealthier than its sub-Saharan peers, and it boasts nearly $400 billion in international reserves.





Some argue that, because a large share of the worlds poor live in middle-income countries, the donor community should rethink how funding is directed. Ravi Kanbur, a professor at Cornell University and a former World Bank chief economist for Africa, has called for resetting the IDA graduation policy. He points out that in a world in which inequality is increasing within states, using a countrys overall wealth as a gauge of poverty neglects millions of poor people.

I agree. And yet, according to the World Banks World Development Indicators, Indias poverty rate, at 21.9pc, is less than half that of sub-Saharan Africas 44.4pc rate  meaning that money is nonetheless better spent helping poorer countries in the region. The solution for countries like India is to find better ways to redistribute their wealth, so that more of their citizens can benefit from it.

Wealthy countries have more options to help their poor. India, in particular, has access to other sources of development finance, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the newly launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank. IDA should be reserved for poor countries for which regular market access is blocked. This is not about India per se. African countries like Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana are expected to graduate soon  and should be prepared to adhere to the same rules when they do.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim has urged donor countries to step up their support of IDA during this years triennial replenishment round, arguing that additional funding will be essential for us to work on our goals to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. He listed both Africa and South Asia as important areas of focus.

Sub-Saharan African leaders need to ensure that the World Banks words translate into action. They should lobby for accelerated and timely graduation for countries like India and make sure that the Bank lives up to its mission to serve poor countries. Allowing countries to hang onto IDA for years, as India has done, means there is little recourse for those with much larger needs.

If the World Bank did not send 20 cents out of every dollar of IDA funding to India, it would have ample resources to invest in Africa  even if donations remained flat. IDAs transitional support to India is scheduled to end in 2017. It is time for big brother to leave home for good.

 Project Syndicate

Mujobu Moyo is an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) research fellow at the Center for Global Development and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.
The transition from military rule and dictatorship to democracy is treacherous. In the past generation, not every nation that has embarked on that journey has arrived at its hoped-for destination, nor has every revolutionary leader delivered on the promise.





Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a champion of human rights and democracy who has taken most of the reins of power in Myanmar, no doubt has studied lessons from Lech Walesa, Boris Yeltsin and Nelson Mandela. In the weeks since her government assumed control, ending decades of military rule during which she was held under house arrest, she has moved gingerly and cautiously.

Beyond doubt, she realises the enormity of the obstacles facing her and threatening Myanmars transition, but at the same time she sees that popular expectations are running high. She has freed political prisoners and set a new tone.

Ma Thin Yu Mon, a human rights activist in Yangon, marvelled at the atmosphere she encountered in a public festival. Now we are really free, she said.

But Myanmars democratic trajectory is not assured. US President Barack Obamas administration properly recognised this last week with a calibrated easing of sanctions on Myanmar that left some in place, signalling a continuing concern over human rights abuses, ethnic conflict and the continuing influence of the military, which is trying to preserve undemocratic power through a constitution it wrote before allowing free elections.

One of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis most daunting challenges, therefore, is to deal with these powerful and unelected generals, who controlled one-quarter of the seats in parliament not subject to election and thus can block constitutional reform; who hold the key defence, home affairs and border affairs ministries; and who have grown accustomed to profiting handsomely from the nations bounty.

In the latest action, the United States has retained an arms ban, as well as sanctions on individuals and entities that are obstructing political reform, committing human rights abuses or engaging in illicit military trade with North Korea.

At the same time, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi faces a cauldron of ethnic tension and conflict. Among the most severe is the plight of the 1 million Rohingya, a Muslim minority who have been subject to persecution and misery, denied citizenship and crowded into squalid camps. Some 100,000 Rohingya were driven from their homes in 2012 in a wave of violence. Subsequently, many fled and lost their lives on rickety ships at sea. Nationalist Buddhists have insisted the Rohingya are not Myanmar citizens and call them Bengalis, as did the former military government.





Shockingly, after the US embassy expressed condolences recently for the loss of at least 20 people whose boat capsized on April 19, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi suggested to the new US ambassador that the United States should not use the word Rohingya. Ever careful, she may have been catering to Buddhist nationalists, but if so, it was an egregious error.

She must find a way to correct the mistakes of the past, not repeat them.

The Washington Post editorial board
The GSMA recently reported that Opera cleared another hurdle in its sale to a Chinese Consortium. The consortium includes internet firms Kunlun and Qihoo, as well as investment funds Golden Brick and Yonglian. It is believed by the board of Opera that the sale will increase the adoption of Opera in China and other emerging markets. Traditionally, Opera has been pushing to be part of an open mobile strategy. It may be that the migration will impact its use by smart phone companies in China.

You may remember, we recently interviewed Jon von Tetzchner, the founder of Opera, as he departed and started his new browser company, Vivaldi. Jon left when the move to sell Opera was set in motion. Jons view is that he always prefers to be building.

With a small development team, he is now implementing his vision in Vivaldi.

Vivaldi 1.0 is both a throwback and a look ahead. Its a Modern Classic designed to help our users get the most out of all the time they spend with their browser, Von Tetzchner said. Millions of people have already agreed that they want a better browser, one that puts them in control. Everything we build is in service of the user. We have no investors and their agendas to dictate our progress. Theres no exit strategy and were here to stay. All we want to do is give people a browser theyre proud to use and that were proud to call Vivaldi.

The questions that have to be asked are: Does browser control have any real value going forward, and does a Chinese browser mean something fragmented from the rest of the HTML5 W3C quest for full interoperability?

Jon Von Tetzchner will be a keynote at DevConFive on April 2.

Edited by Ken Briodagh
Hiplife musician, Criss Waddle says he was disappointed in Hiplife Grandpapa Reggie Rockstone for wearing Adldas track suit to the 2016 Vodafone Music Awards ceremony.

Reggie Rockstone who wore the track suit to the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) said he was wearing it in solidarity with dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale.

According to the AMG boss in an interview with Dr Pounds on Hitz FM, he did not know why a leader will also contribute to the Bie gya controversy between him and Shatta Wale, instead of resolving it.

When the issue started Prodigal of VVIP reach out so we resolved it, but Reggie didnt act right, he said.

He explained that Reggie Rockstone as a leader could have maintained peace between them.

As a Godfather of hiplife music, you cant be a man in your house and watch your kids misbehave, he said.

Criss Waddle said Reggie Rockstone was taking sides when he could have been the best person to resolve whatever differences they had, adding What kind of picture was he trying to paint when he wore Adldas?

The Bie gya controversy began when Criss Waddle first announced publicly that he was about to release a song titled Bie gya featuring Stonebwoy.

Shortly after that, Shatta Wale also released a song with same title.

When you speak the truth, people say you are disrespectful. Someone from VIP, Prodigal hit me up on FaceTime and was like he didnt like what was going on. Why do we even call him the Grandpapa? He doesnt act right. No grandfather will be at home with children and allow them to do whatever they want.

I lost respect for him when he did that, he added.
Demonstrations have been prohibited by authorities in DR Congo's restive North Kivu province in the east and in the second city of Lubumbashi in the south. By Junior Kannah (AFP/File)

25.05.2016 LISTEN

Kinshasa (AFP) - A Democratic Republic of Congo opposition group, angered by a court decision to let President Joseph Kabila remain in office beyond his term, on Wednesday vowed to hold nationwide protests in defiance of bans imposed in some regions.

"To publicly protest with strict adherence to the law is an inalienable right granted under our Constitution," the Citizens' Front, said in a statement.

Demonstrations have been prohibited by authorities in the central African country's restive North Kivu province in the east and in the second city of Lubumbashi in the south.

Nonetheless the Citizens' Front group said it would hold nationwide marches on Thursday to protest the Constitutional Court's ruling this month that Kabila can remain in a caretaker capacity beyond the expiry of his term in December.

The opposition group called the court's decision an "attempt at a constitutional coup d'etat by which the judiciary, under orders from political powers, has shamefully violated the law".

Kabila, who took power following his father's assassination in 2001, was elected president in 2006 and 2011 but is constitutionally barred from standing for a third term.

Political unrest has plagued the country for months, with concerns mounting at home and abroad that Kabila will delay elections due to be held late this year at the end of his second five-year mandate.

The president's supporters want the election delayed for two to four years, citing logistical and financial difficulties, but the opposition accuses Kabila of planning to amend the constitution in order to extend his rule.

- Counter-demonstration -

Three opposition groups, Dynamic, G7, and the Citizens' Front, had called for protests, in the capital Kinshasa and elsewhere.

So far only Citizens' Front has declared that it will defy the regional protest bans.

Julien Paluku, governor of violence-wracked North Kivu, told a press conference that no public rallies would be permitted in the province.

He said after 20 years of unrest in the region, it was not appropriate for people to take to the streets.

"North Kivu is in mourning", Paluku said. "According to our traditions, we don't mourn our dead by protesting in the streets."

He also justified the ban by claiming that the opposition groups calling for the demonstrations "do not legally exist."

The mayor of Lubumbashi insisted that the ban on demonstrations in his municipality must be observed.

"The decision of the constitutional court is unassailable," mayor Jean Oscar Sanguza told AFP.

Lubumbashi, the country's second city and its mining capital, is the stronghold of powerful opposition figure Moise Katumbi. The 51-year-old businessman is also Kabila's leading rival for the country's top job.

However he has been charged with undermining state security and is currently in South Africa for medical treatment.

In the capital Kinshasa, President Kabila's supporters plan to mount a counter-demonstration on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed "worry" over the "mounting pressure" faced by the opposition and civil society in DRC since the beginning of the year.

Referring to the country's documented recent history of human rights violations of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, the UN body demanded that the Congolese government allow Thursday's planned rallies to take place.

It also asked the country to "make sure authorities did not resort to unnecessary and excessive use of force during the demonstrations."
The Excellent Leadership Group (ExLA Group) under the auspices of the ExLA Group Gender Programme (EGGP) has officially launched an event website for the Young African Women Congress (YAWC) on Tuesday 24th May, 2016 in Accra, Ghana ahead of the upcoming Young African Women Congress scheduled for July 4-8 this year.

The website, www.yawcafrica.org is solely meant for the activities of the Young African Women Congress (YAWC) which is an annual programme by the Gender desk of ExLA Group.

The launching of the website officially marks the commencement of registration for the congress and will among other relevant purposes, serve the general public with event details of the YAWC 2016 including details of registration, confirmed speakers, promoters, schedule of congress activities as well as sponsors and partners.

YAWC 2016 will bring together 450 young educated women between the ages of 20 and 35 years from different countries on the African continent. It is scheduled over a 5-day span featuring renowned women leaders, educationists, feminist activists, politicians, artists, entrepreneurs and corporate executives across the African continent. Each day comes in at least three segments (Keynote Addresses, Group Discussions and Plenary Sessions) to address the subject tabled for the congress.

The Young African Women Congress (YAWC) 2016 takes off in Ghana from the Monday 4th to Friday 8th of July 2016 at the University of Ghana, Accra - Ghana under the theme: The Modern Woman Leader; Revising the Status Quo. Each delegate is required to pay a subsidised participation fee that will take care of her accommodation, feeding and other expenses.
Kinshasa (AFP) - Public demonstrations have been banned in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said, ahead of a planned opposition rally to denounce a controversial court ruling allowing President Joseph Kabila to remain in power beyond his mandate.

Protests were prohibited in North Kivu province in the east and the second city of Lubumbashi after the alliance called for nationwide protests following the Constitutional Court decision this month to let Kabila remain in a caretaker capacity after the expiry of his term in December.

Julien Paluku, governor of violence-wracked North Kivu, said no public rallies would be permitted in the province, according to a press conference broadcast online.

He said after 20 years of unrest in the region, it was not appropriate for people to take to the streets.

"North Kivu is in mourning", Paluku said. "According to our traditions, we don't cry for people in the streets, we don't cry for people by protesting."

He dismissed opposition claims that the state "does not exist legally" after the Constitutional Court's decision.

The mayor of Lubumbashi said the planned Thursday demonstrations would also be banned in his municipality.

"The decision of the constitutional court is unassailable," Jean Oscar Sanguza told AFP.

"I cannot authorise a march" against this decision, he added.

The three opposition groups, Dynamic, G7, and Citizens' Front, had called for the protests, which were also set to take place in the capital Kinshasa.

Kabila has been in power since 2001, when he took over after his father's assassination. The younger Kabila was elected president in 2006 and 2011 but is constitutionally barred from standing for a third term.

The president's supporters want the election delayed for two to four years due to logistical and financial difficulties, but the opposition accuses Kabila of planning to amend the constitution to extend his rule.
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AUPSC) and the Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an Informal Meeting, today in the morning, 23 May 2016, in New York, United States of America, ahead of their formal 10th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting. Ambassador Mmamosadinyana Punkie Josephine Molefe, Chairperson of the AUPSC for May 2016, and Ambassador Amr Abdelllatif Aboulatta, President of the UNSC for May 2016, co-chaired the Informal Meeting. The objective of the Informal Meeting, which marked the 10th anniversary of the annual AUPSC/UNSC consultations, was for the two sides to exchange views on crucial matters concerning their partnership and how to further improve it, including bringing innovations, in the process.

This interactive session took place against the background of an informal dialogue of the two Councils held in in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 23 January 2016, to exchange views on Burundi and Somalia, following the visit by the Security Council to Burundi.

The Informal Meeting provided an opportunity for the two Councils to look back to 2007, the year of the launching of their partnership, and to take stock of what they have been able to achieve to date, lessons learned and the challenges at hand. More specifically, the discussions during the Informal Meeting focused on the current state of the partnership and the way forward, as well as on reviews undertaken by the UN on its peace building architecture, the UN peace operations and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. In this respect, the two Councils underscored the need for effective implementation of the outcomes of these reviews.

The two Councils acknowledged that, whilst their partnership has generated some notable achievements, thereby contributing to preventing and resolving conflicts in Africa, there are still major challenges to be addressed in order to ensure the effectiveness of the partnership in the area of promoting peace, security and stability in Africa. Notably, key issues such as negotiation and setting of the agenda for the annual joint consultative meetings, and negotiation over the content of joint communiques, continue to be thorny issues between

the two Councils. Accordingly, the two sides expressed their willingness to listen to each other and to jointly continue to innovate and make improvements on these and other vital aspects of the Partnership.

They also expressed their willingness to convene more informal meetings with a view to both, strengthening the Partnership and to find solutions to some of those issues, including those that are seemingly perceived to be taboos within the context of the annual joint consultative meetings. In this context, the AUPSC underscored the imperative of the two Councils to opening joint discussion on issues that have remained taboo, including the situation in Western Sahara, which for Africa, is fundamentally an issue of decolonization; illicit financial flows, illegal exploitation of natural resources, illegal and clandestine supply of arms to belligerents and money laundering, which are issues that continue to contribute in fomenting violent conflicts and instability in Africa.

Finally, the two Councils emphasized the need to ensure follow-ups on the implementation of commitments that they have entered into in previous annual joint consultative meetings, and to continue doing so for commitments that may be made in future annual joint consultative meetings.
The South Africa Department of Science and Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Global Development Lab, the newest bureau within USAID, to support the growing partnership between South Africa and the United States in using science, technology and innovation as important tools for advancing development. The signing ceremony was held during the USAID Global Science, Technology, Innovation and Partnership Summit at the USAID/Southern Africa headquarters in Pretoria.

Signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding were: Dr. Phil Mjwara, Director-General, South Africa Department of Science and Technology; Cheryl L. Anderson, Mission Director, USAID/Southern Africa; and Ann Mei Chang, USAID Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the U.S. Global Development Lab.

Dr. Mjwara explained the significance of the signing.

I'm delighted that our partnership with USAID has reached this critical milestone of formalizing our relationship, which signals not only an intention to cement current gains around scientific research collaboration spanning the southern Africa region, social innovation, technical cooperation, and Human Capital Development, but also to grow the partnership in years to come, Dr. Mjwara said.

As DST, we value that our engagements are truly underpinned by a spirit of partnership and wish to see this continue as we deploy STI initiatives, under this MOU, to address our most pressing development challenges and fight poverty,he added.

Ms. Chang described South Africa as a leader in advancing the application of science, technology, and innovation.

Together withSouth Africa's Department of Science and Technology, our unique partnership is enabling collaboration and leveraging investments to source and accelerate solutions to the most pressing development challenges in South Africa, she said.

The U.S. Global Development Lab focuses its assistance on five regions, including Southern Africa, that work in partnership to use science, technology and innovation to address development challenges.

The Memorandum of Understanding recognizes the cooperation between DST and USAID under existing programs and facilitates new partnerships. Ongoing partnerships include Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development, through which South Africa works with USAID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency to support water smart agriculture, and the Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research, which supports South African researchers who are partnered with U.S. researchers in various fields of study.
The European Union Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, who is visiting Kenya from 25th-27 May 2016 to participate in the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 2) today visited the Ivory Burning site at the Nairobi National Park, where he met Dr Richard Leakey, Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Commissioner Vella said the European Union supports efforts and initiatives aimed at protecting wildlife, echoing his statement from 30 April 2016 when Kenya burned its stockpile of Ivory "The on-going slaughter of elephants throughout Africa must end. In this regard, we welcome the leadership taken by Kenya and by President Uhuru Kenyatta with these initiatives in favour of wildlife conservation."

During his 3-day visit, Commissioner Vella will hold bilateral talks with his Kenyan counterpart, Cabinet Secretary Prof. Judi Wakhungu, of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development Authorities.

The European Union recently launched an EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, an ambitious blueprint that aims to reduce the trafficked wildlife that enters the EU. The plan aims at greater enforcement, better cooperation, and more effective prevention on Wildlife Trafficking. The EU aims to use all its diplomatic, trade and development cooperation tools to the full to keep the issue on the global agenda.

Europe has provided more than EUR 500 million for wildlife conservation in Africa over the past 30 years. The EU remains a committed partner to the conservation efforts and the sustainable use of biodiversity on the African continent.

The EU is Kenya's largest source market for tourists who also frequent KWS parks
On May 18, starting at around 6:40pm, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit meeting for approximately 40 minutes with H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, who was paying an Official Working Visit to Japan. Key points from the meeting are as follows.

After the summit meeting, exchange of notes for two grant assistance projects (Project for the Construction of Advanced Research Center for Infectious Diseases at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship) were signed in the presence of the two leaders. The two leaders subsequently held a joint press conference and announced ajoint statement(English (PDF) [Open a New Window] /Japanese (PDF) [Open a New Window] ). Prime Minister Abe and Mrs. Abe then hosted a dinner, where participants touched on a broad range of topics related to the bilateral relations.

1. Opening remarks

(1)Prime Minister Abe welcomed the visit by President Mahama, who has a special connection to Japan, for the first time sincethe Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) held in 2013, and told that Japan hopes that this visit helps to significantly advance relations between the two countries.

(2)President Mahama expressed gratitude for the invitation to Japan and also offered words of condolence onthe earthquakes centered in Kumamoto. He also reflected on Japan-Ghana relations since the time when Professor Hideyo Noguchi conducted his research in Ghana and thanked Japan for its assistance to Ghana in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

2. Bilateral relations

(1)Prime Minister Abe explained that Japan hopes to further strengthen its relationship with Ghana, especially by promoting economic ties and strengthening cooperation in the field of health. He expressed his intention to work together towards the conclusion of the ongoing negotiation of an investment treaty between Japan and Ghana at the earliest possible timing and to start consultations for an avoidance of double taxation convention between Japan and Ghana among relevant authorities. He also explained Japan's intention to provide yen loan of approximately 100 million USD for the Construction of a New Bridge across the Volta River on the Eastern Corridor Project. Furthermore, he mentioned that Japan's various initiatives with Ghana in the field of health would provide a model for the reinforcement of the healthcare system.

(2)President Mahama commented that the new bridge over the Volta River is important for movement of people and goods between the south and north and that the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research is a leading research organization in sub-Saharan Africa, expressing appreciation for Japan's assistance. He also expressed interest in concluding a bilateral investment treaty and an avoidance of double taxation convention between Ghana and Japan at the earliest possible timing.

(3)President Mahama assured his participation inTICAD VI to be held in Kenya in August 2016and voiced support forJapan's Legislation for Peace and Security.

3. Cooperation in International Affairs

Both sides shared the intention to cooperate in international arena, including on topics such as United Nations Security Council reforms.
A $58 million water project for Konongo in the Asante-Akyem Central Municipality of the Ashanti Region cannot be opened for use.

This is because illegal miners have blocked flow of water upstream in a river and two tributaries, depriving the dam of water for treatment.

The Ghana Water Company has also been compelled to shut down one of its old treatment plants as a result.

The original 1 million gallons per day capacity Konongo Dam is built on River Annu and two main tributaries.

Government as part of the Konongo, Kumawu and Kwahu Ridge water project in what is commonly known as the 3K has expanded the dams capacity it to 3.6 million gallons.

But operations of illegal miners upstream are depriving the dam of maximum water intake for treatment.

According to water company officials, activities of illegal miners have destroyed water pumps at the dam and cause delay in the commissioning of the newly expanded dam.

Chief Manager, Ashanti Production, Ing Kwaku Awotwe says both quality and quantity of water is affected as illegal miners block and divert Atunsu and Peeni streams.

Its first of all depriving us of quantity, enough raw water for production and it is also affecting the quality of the raw water.

It is so turbid that we cannot treat the water now. So basically it has made the treated plant redundant because the raw material that is needed is being polluted upstream by the illegal miners. We have shut down the old treatment plant; the 1 million-capacity treatment plant because of quality of the water and quantity. Ing Awotwe said.

Illegal miners had abandoned their Atunsu site leaving uncollected heap of sand at the banks of Atunsu stream. But the brownish milky texture of the once sparkling clean water is visible.

Managing Director of Ghana Water Company, Fred Lokko called for immediate action to be taken stop the illegal miners from carrying further destructions.

It is not possible to fill the reservoir and as we speak, we cant even operate. It is a shame that if the government should spend as much as 58 million dollars and for there to be no water for the people, that would be a big shame. He said.

Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman- Mensah, and Regional Security Council members have been visiting the water treatment project site.

Dr. Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah has been calling for support from traditional authorities and stakeholder participation to end the menace.

He warned the area risks losing the project and future government- assisted water projects if the situation is not salvaged.

We are going to get 3.6 million gallons a day which will serve not only Konongo but Hwediem, Agogo, Domeabra and what have you.That project is costing us $58 million and therefore we should not and cannot; and must not allow just a few individuals in their attempts to make a living prevent a larger majority from getting access to good drinking water

Meanwhile, the Regional Security Council has announced a monitoring team would be commissioned to track down the miners.

Ashanti Regional Minister, Alexander John Ackon who doubles as chairman of REGSEC says the team will ensure the illegal miners do not come back.
ABOARD THE MS AQUARIUS (Italy) (AFP) - The sun beats down on a flat sea as a gentle breeze blows up from the Libyan coast but the Mediterranean idyll is soon to be shattered for the crew of migrant rescue ship the MS Aquarius.

Just after dawn the first call sounds around the bridge: an overcrowded dinghy is in difficulty 90 minutes away and the one-time German coastguard patrol boat is being sent to its aid.

"We are going to take on a full load today," predicts Alexander Moroz, the Belarusian captain of the vessel chartered by the charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help the international search and rescue operation in the waters between Italy and Libya.

The skipper's instinct proved right: Tuesday was a busy day. The Aquarius was one of 23 vessels deployed to help stricken migrant boats and by nightfall the Italian coastguard had counted 3,000 people rescued, bringing the total to 5,600 over the course of 48 hours.

On the bridge, SOS Mediterranee's rescue team get ready for action. Deployed since the end of February, the ship has already saved more than 1,000 lives but the crews rotate for missions of three to six weeks and many of those on board are here for the first time.

"You can never have enough experience to be ready for everything, and everyone has to start somewhere," says Christian Bahlke, the mission chief.

An experienced 59-year-old seaman, Bahlke has found a way of combining that experience with his desire to do something in response to the migrant drama.

Just after 10:00am the crew gets a first glimpse of the boat they have been sent to help, a tiny sliver of white on a horizon of a vast expanse of blue.

- 'Here there is life' -

Another boat has already distributed life jackets and provided first aid to a seriously sick infant, a two-year-old boy from Cameroon who has had no adequate nutrition for three weeks and is suffering from dehydration and a lung infection that is causing the MSF doctors concern.

Soon the Aquarius's lifeboat returns from its first sortie with 15 other children, some of them very young.

They are taken to a room reserved for minors where staff attempt to comfort and calm them as they wait for their mothers, who will be the priority for the lifeboat's next shuttle.

The barefoot women arrive looking exhausted, a little dazed as they are taken onboard. One greets everyone with a relaxed, happy air, another cries in silence.

The men are the last to be brought to safety, some of them very weak. They have to be found places on the bridge.

Franck Kameni, a 29-year-old from Cameroon, cuddles his 11-month-old son Josue. In a few words he recounts the ordeal they have endured -- being forced from place to place at the hands of people traffickers over the course of several months in Libya.

"Here there is life. Finally we are men again," he says before being interrupted by the roar of an Italian navy helicopter sent to evacuate the sickest boy.

His condition is now critical. Strapped to a stretcher and hooked up to a portable drip, the child is bound for the medical unit on board the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour.

- Crushed by exhaustion -

A little later the helicopter returns to pick up the infant's mother and a weary calm descends on the Aquarius. Crushed by exhaustion, the migrants crash out wherever they can find a space.

Italian midwife Angelina Perri checks on the children. Mary Jo Frawley, a Californian nurse, dishes out tablets for sea sickness.

Like many of the MSF team, both women have already spent time in crisis zones from Sudan to Nepal via the Ebola clinics of West Africa.

On the bridge, the captain is firing up the engine. The Aquarius has got new instructions from the coastguard control centre in Rome: pick up migrants saved in the morning by a tug boat from an offshore oil rig.

As the day has progressed, the sea has picked up and now the little tug is being buffeted around and getting the lifeboat near it is a complex job, fraught with danger. The transfer will take hours.

Once again there are many women and children among the rescued. All of them from West Africa or the Horn of Africa. All of them physically and mentally close to collapse.

The Aquarius crew are sweating like never before: by 7:30 pm there are 385 passengers on board, the biggest human cargo the boat has ever collected.

"We're full up," the captain tells the Coastguard and soon a new map is up on one of his screens showing the route to the Sardinian port of Cagliari.

The destination allocated from Rome is two days away: for the men, women and children on board, two days to a new life.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings.

25.05.2016 LISTEN

Former President, Jerry John Rawlings, has descended heavily on the countrys leaders saying they have done nothing to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.

According to him, those claiming to be living the ideals of the countrys first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, are doing the opposite of what he stood for, calling such people criminals.

The former President ranted in anger while he was addressing a delegation from the Association of Cuban Trained Ghanaian Professionals at his residence on Tuesday.

According to Mr. Rawlings, even though the country has good policies and strong institutions to drive the prosperity of its people, the current leaders have rather worsened their plight.

Mr. Rawlings however defended his 1979 coup.

We are worst today than we were before. You know we did out bit from the 80s. In 1979, we had no choice; people were angry and it was a time of rage. We had to handover but then we had to come back again in 81 or 82. We could have stayed on for another eight or sixteen just to work to consolidate situations very well and proper. And I made a suggestion to my colleagues that considering that people are becoming saturated with us or with me, let me let Justice Annan takeover and I can be his number 2 or step aside. He can serve four years or eight years then I could come back; and that will be sixteen years of consolidation because what we had noticed was that his characters will destroy anything and everything so lets not allow it.

He continued, Some of my comrades said no and that its never been done before. Is that not what Putin did recently? We would have been the first to do it here. That would have helped to consolidate because quote often we make reference to institutions but the institutions rely on the human factor and if those human entities are not bold enough to defy that which is wrong, that institution will be weak; am I lying? he asked.

So-called Nkrumahists are criminals

Can you believe that those of us, we dont even regard ourselves as Nkrumahists. Those who call themselves Nkrumahists are the worst offenders; criminals. From Mills till now, not even one single policy resembles anything Nkrumah stood for or believed in.

The Former President explained again why he thinks the late President John Evans Atta Mills was a disappointment as a president.

We did everything possible to lift up this country and thats why people kept wishing we were back. But as soon as we handed over; the guy turned the wheels one 180 degrees. Some of the most outrageous things were happening. I remember trying to tell M ills and giving him details about some of the issues but it surprised me though that for a brilliant man like him, [Mills] he couldnt see. He was so shallow. Crime perpetuates itself if you dont deal with it, and how Mills couldnt see through this is something I couldnt understand. It was so bad that even who had been misused to jail innocent people some in Ghana, some in Ivory Coast were on standby to escape and this as we were approaching the 2008 elections. But our brother Mils had been so badly persuaded. As he put it to me, he had been advised to let things be and the money will flow. Mills was disappointing. Some of your so-called intellectual creatures are dumb, he concluded.
Alhaji Idris Hassan, Chairman of the Supreme Council of workers, Cocoa Board Company Limited, said, they are beginning to have deep feeling and notion that some cabal of a sort are hiding behind the two mother Unions just to destroy Dr. Stephen Opunis image and good records as the CEO of COCOBOD.

He said, at every point in time one will hear Industrial and Commercial Workers Union [ICU] Secretary frequently mentioning the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations Hon. Haruna Iddrisus in their public reactions towards COCOBOD.

Adding that consistently, letters that comes to COCOBOD emanates from the sector Ministers office.

Alhaji noted that the COCOBOD Union is not accountable to the Minister because COCOBOD is an independent democratic organization that will have to deal with issues based on social partnership.

And we are inclined to believe that names that are going round like Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, calls for questioning. Weve been told and know, before Dr. Opuni was appointed some party functionaries and Ministers engaged some of the workers leaders wanting us to refuse or reject Dr. Opunis appointment as the CEO of COCOBOD, he stated.

Alhaji Hassan stated that We thought that would have been the end when they did not succeed and now that these things are happening, we are beginning to have the thinking feeling and notion that some of these people might be the cause of the rancor between COCOBOD and the two national Unions

The President has responded to the allegations raised against Dr. Opuni and you the Minister is calling him for a meeting, meeting for what? You are also accountable to the Presidency.

He posited that the problem with Dr. Opuni is that he is such a man that nobody can be pushed around.

Adding that, some Ministers are also complaining about Dr. Opuni refusal to attend to them when they come to COCOBOD.

COCOBOD is a state enterprise which not for NDC nor NPP and he has proven it within the short period that he has being in the industry, he emphasized.

Alhaji Idris Hassan emphasized that the two mother unions are making every effort to dint the image of the CEO of COCOBOD Dr. Stephen Opuni with lies and hatred because the two mother union are going lose huge revenue and membership from COCOBOD.

He pointed out the allegation that COCOBOD workers matched on the streets to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to present a petition to Hon. Haruna Iddrisu against Dr. Opuni is unfounded.

Secondly, the allegation that the CEO of COCOBOD Dr. Stephen Opuni has shown disrespect in relation to failure to honour invitations to address issues of Ghana Cocoa Board by the Minister is baseless.

He recollects that the ICU reported Dr. Opuni to President Mahama to give a detail explanation of the issues raised by the mother unions which he [Dr. Opuni] did just that.

According to Alhaji Idrisu Hassan, the Presidency responded to COCOBOD and Dr. Opuni that they are clear and satisfied with the explanation given by Dr. Opuni after they studied the merit and demerit of the issues raised by the two mother unions.

He said, after that, there came another invitation by the sector Minister Hon. Haruna Iddrisu expressing a desire to meet the Union Executives which they sat with some Directors at the Ministry to talk to the issues raised. The Directors, on behalf of the Sector Minister, said they were satisfied and that the Minister is yet to meet them in person for them to discuss the issues further which they waited.

Alhaji Hassan added that all of a sudden, there came a third letter emanating from the Sector Minister Hon, Haruna Iddrisu calling for a tripartite meeting of which it shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee.

He said Dr. Opuni and ICU were both invited to attend the meeting so as to resolve the impasse.

He noted that unfortunately, Dr. Opuni has another engagement in Kumasi of which he was unable to attend that particular meeting.

Besides that, Dr. Opuni is not COCOBOD and COCOBOD is not Dr. Opuni. Issues of this sort are discussed by management of COCOBOD and the Directors for decision to be taken. This issue of Dr. Opuni been invited to the meeting, I will say for sure that management would have not allowed Dr. Opuni to attend the meeting

Even if he had wanted to go, he was not going as a person but as the CEO of COCOBOD. The simplicity of it is, the issue that the Honourable Sector Minister wanted to address was not an issue Dr. Opuni needed to be invited in the sense that the issue happens to be an issue between the ICU, GAWU and COCOBOD, Alhaji Idris Hassan emphasized.

He said, besides that, as at the time the Sector Minister was writing to Dr. Opuni to attend the meeting, ICU had taken COCOBOD management and the Union to court for the second time which is still pending at the court.

So what are you going to discuss? Besides, if Dr. Opuni was going to attend the meeting he couldnt have answered anything apart from referring to the national union to enable him discuss issues that they will want him to discuss, he intimated.

According to him, by way of channel of communication, Dr. Opuni is not accountable to the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations. The Minister of Finance who is abreast with this issue is the one who Dr. Opuni must account to as far as COCOBOD is concerned.

However, if for anything at all they wanted the meeting to be convened, this could have been a meeting between the ICU and the COCOBOD union and not Dr. Opuni in person.

These issues are arising because of the clash of principles where administrative procedures ought to have been followed by the two mother unions, he stated.

He said they will be submitting individual signed withdrawal forms and membership forms to ICU in an indication that COCOCBOD workers are no longer with ICU as demanded.

He noted that same copies will be posted to the Chief Labour Officer to ascertain its workers decision to withdraw from the two mother unions [ICU and GAWU] has finally ended.

Alhaji Idrisu Hassan indicated that 4000 workers which is made up of majority in the cocoa growing areas have so far signed the union forms.

Alhaji posited that the issue that workers of COCOBOD were demonstrating against Dr. Opuni removal is a total hoax and deceit because it came to light at a press conference organized by the COCOBOD workers in Takoradi that none of their workers were part of the demonstration organized by ICU and GAWU.
25.05.2016 LISTEN

The concept of winner-takes-all is one that anyone with the slightest familiarity with politics in our part of the world should be familiar with. It is quite simple: the person or group of persons (in the case of parties) who win(s) gets to control the resources and exercise the power asscociated with the domain. Simply put, the winner calls the shots.

In the aftermath of the NDC Primaries in Bole-Bamboi however, this time-tested, often berated concept is under serious threat. This should normally be welcome news for the anti-Winner-takes-all coalition. But alas, their celebration is shortlived as soon as they learn of the new concept that couldreplace the devil we all know: Loser-takes-all.

The NDC Primaries in the Bole-Bamboi consituency took on added significance among the Gonjaland constuencies, largely because, it is the Presidents back-yard and each of the two candidates would have wanted the honour of the President potentially casting a ballot for them in November or December 2016.

Of course, the real prize on offer is a seat in Parliament that used to be occupied by the Gentleman who now occupies the highest office of the land. Plus the seat is a guaranteed safe seat for the NDC with Alhaji Achanso of the NPP deciding not to contest (Alhaji Sulemana Adams Achanso is the only NPP Candidate with sufficient name recognition in the constituency to pose any kind of problem for the NDC).

There were other fringe factors that made the contest a decidedly keen one. First, both candidates were from the same side of town, Nyimange; a magical place in Bole, with a political histroy of punching above its weight. Nearly every politician of any significance in Bole histroy has roots in Nyimange: E.A. Mahama, first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Territories, B.A. Saaka, Former District Commissioner of West Gonja District, Professor Yakubu Saaka, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under PNP (Limann) administration, Mahama Jeduah, MP from 1993 to 1997, J.D. Mahama, MP from 1997 to 2009 and current President of the Republic, and Joseph Saaka Akati, incumbent MP, 2009 to date. So there was a sense in which history beckoned, and the chance to join this A-List of distinguished illustrous Nyimange sons could not have been lost on the candidates and their supporters.

Again, the fact that the candidates are related by blood also played a part to heighten the tensions. To the best of my knowledge the candidates are cousins, both of them young and reasonbly successful in their respective careers, separated only by a small number of years in age. They attend the same funerals, weddings and child naming ceremonies (not the politically motivated ones). I am sure if they were not contesting each other, they would have been financing each other. One is a trained medical doctor who is currenly heading the National Ambulance Service, the other is a trained banker who is currently managing the Projects Unit of the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF). To an extent, this was an embarrassment of riches for Bole. If it was possible to have both men in parliament, Ghana and Bole-Bamboi would be the richer for it.

As individual human beings, Professor Ahmed Nuhu Zakaria and Alhaji Ussif Sulemana are both fine gentlemen. Both of them are extremely solicitous about other peoples problems and go out of their way to help, even at considerable sacrifice to themselves. Discretion does not allow me to list the number people Prof has helped and Alhaji has helped.

Regretably, in the run up to the November 2015 Primaries, the overzealousness of social media campaigners, who found fit to exegerate their own influence on the NDC primary electorate, over estimated the chances of their candidates, while doing nothing to actualize their dreams and ambitions. They filled the candidates ears with what they thought made them (the candidates) happy, while shouting down voices of reason who cautioned moderation. They enjoyed the comments on their Facebook and Whatsapp posts, basked in the praise of their fluency with the Queens language, without ever thinking to ask: Has anyone in Zantige, Baale or Tinyekura read my Facebook or Whatsapp post? I hate cliches, but there is one I cannot help in this case: Elections are won and lost at the Polling Station, not on Facebook.

It is foolhardy for any modern candidate to discount the influence of social media as an instrument for political mobilization. Barrack Obama won a whole US Presidential Election in 2008 on the back of Social Media. But this is Ghana, where when the lights go off and come back on people jubilate. Social Media can get you only so far; to achieve real success, you have to roll up your sleeves and do the heavy lifting of knocking on doors, shaking hands, kissing babies, and yes, sharing some salt.

I am sympathetic with Prof. Zakaria feeling a bit hard done by. But the people who let him down are those who gave him hope, telling him he was going to win without breaking a sweat, while doing nothing to secure him that victory. The people who let him down are those who took his money and chose to sit on social media and settle personal scores instead of going to work in the constituency, where the actual battle was being fought. If only they had spent a little less time tending their own egoes and a little more time pounding on doors in the constituency, the outcome might have been different.

In order to justify Profs investment in their gaping sycophancy, which turned out to be a giant trojan horse, they are continuing a campaign of misinformation and disimformation; blaming all kinds of people for their defeat. They are making any efforts to unite the party in the constituency impossible, at times openly threatening to sponsor the NPPs Veronica Alele Hemmeng in the General Elections.

Since the primaries have been over, they have blamed the Presidency for their defeat, and accused the NDC National Executivesofremoving the names of their voters from the register: everyone but themselves. Surely, if you blame othersfor your own shortcomings, you deny youreself the opportunity to learn useful lessons from your own mistakes in order to correct them going forward. Team Prof would not be the first to lose elections in NDC Primaries in Bole and they would surely not be the last. The difference is that, while others are prepared to accept their defeat and their own role in it, Team Prof is not willing to admit any part in their unsuccessful bid. As an independent observer who loves Prof. dearly, this disappoints me a good deal. It diminishes his grace and lowers his stature. It hurts me that, if this continues, Prof. may not only have lost the primary, he could also just lose his respect right along with it.

I am pretty sure that I would be maligned for this benign contribution to a subject matter that is bothering a lot of people. Even before they have finished reading, the sycophantic crowd is preparing to expend achres of facebook and whatsapp pages to denigrate me. I take comfort in the knowledge that when they point a finger at me, the rest will be pointing at them. If they want to know why Prof. lost, all they need is a mirror.

I have heard it suggested that the President needs to invite the Prof and assure him of a place in his next government, should the NDC retain power. I would say NO to that.

There is any number of reasons why the President should never do it. I love Prof. even though I have never met him. Evidently, he has been tremendously helpful to the youth of Gonjaland and continues to do more for the development of our youth. But suffice it to say, he needs to summon his humanity and let his personal judgmentovercome the voices of any advisors proferring this as a strategy. For what it is worth, it is a poor strategy to try to blackmail the President.

First, Prof. is not the only loser in the NDC primaries in November. If word gets out that a promise of such nature has been made to a losing candidate, we could have a stampede of losing candidates on the Presidents doorstep the next morning; to say nothing of the signal it would send that the President is prone to blackmail. The Commander-in-Chief of the Republic cannot not negotiate with anyone trying to blackmail him.

Second, while the concept of winner-takes-all is deficient, it is the devil we know. To make such an assurance to Prof. or any other losing candidate for that matter, would be tantamount to endorsinga new and obnoxious concept of loser-takes-all. It would demotivate the winning candidates and reward petulant mediocrity. With all its faults, majority rule is the prevailing concept of democracy. It is definitely better than Minority rule.If in doubt, try apartheid South Africa.

Nothing in this article is to be taken to mean a diminished view of Prof. Zakaria on my part. He is a man I admire a great deal. I admire his success as a person, and I admire his selfless commitment to helping those he can help. More importantly, I believe he is destined for greater things. But great things can be achieved in politics just as they can be achieved in other fields of human endeavour. He can take consolation in the knowledge that, many successful people start off in life as losers. J. A. Kuffour contested elections three times before becoming President, J.E.A Mills story is no different. Akufo Addo, the Standard Bearer of the NPP is contesting his umpteenth election in 2016. And yes, Alhaji Ussif Sulemana who won the Bole Primary this time around, lost at the first time of trying, as I understand it. He lost in 2011 to the incumbent, Hon. Joseph Saaka Akati.

If it be the will of God, you can be what ever you want to be. So let those entrepreneurs of political mud slinging who are making an industry out of this disputed primaries give way for peace to reign. There are people who have no connection to Bole-Bamboi Contituency, who have jumped into the fray and are making peace overtures between these two brothers impossible. Such people must be found and exposed. The sooner the better.

Issahaku Gbankuliso

P. O. Box 50 E/R

Tamale, N/R
President John Dramani Mahama has urged Africa to continue working to secure a better for future the next generation as Africa celebrates the 53rd African Union day today, May 25.

In a statement to commemorate the day, President Mahama also praised the role Ghana has played in the sub-region saying it had ensured a powerful and positive impact on the well-being of millions of people.

Africa is rising

President Mahama, the erstwhile Chairperson of the African Union's (AU's) High-Level African Trade Committee, hailed the strides Africa has made in political and economic spheres.

Africa is rising; there is no question about that. We are rising from violence and dictatorship to peace and democracy; we are transforming our economies from those based on the export of raw materials to modern ones, able to produce value added goods and services; we are rising from misery and absolute poverty to a place of hope and improved standards of living.

Africa needs opportunity not sympathy

Whilst acknowledging the difficulties that have plagued African countries, President Mahama insisted that Africa required more opportunities and not sympathy from the rest of the world.

Of course, things are far from perfect in Africa, and we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to sustainable solutions for our youth. However, our voice is now stronger and more respected in the world. We no longer need sympathy  we need fair partnerships and opportunities.

Below is President Mahama's full address commemorating AU Day

My brothers and sisters, today we celebrate Mother Africa. Over the last decade, African countries, like our beloved Ghana, have been working to improve further our democratic credentials and economic prospects.

I am happy that Ghana continues to lead this effort and is impacting our subregion and the continent. This in itself is ensuring a powerful and positive impact on the wellbeing of millions and millions of people.

Africa is rising; there is no question about that. We are rising from violence and dictatorship to peace and democracy; we are transforming our economies from those based on the export of raw materials to modern ones, able to produce value added goods and services; we are rising from misery and absolute poverty to a place of hope and improved standards of living.

The African middle class is the fastest growing middle class in the world today.

Of course, things are far from perfect in Africa, and we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to sustainable solutions for our youth. However, our voice is now stronger and more respected in the world. We no longer need sympathy  we need fair partnerships and opportunities.

Let us all continue on this path of transformation. Let us all keep working hard for a better future for our generation and the generations yet to come.

Let us all unite in our common prayer for a more open and inclusive Africa, where everyone would live a dignified and meaningful life.

May God bless Mother Africa, our forebears and all our brothers and sisters!

President John Dramani Mahama



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
African businessman and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu addressed two key events in Paris, France, this week.

Elumelu is the Chairman of pan-African bank, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) and of the pan-African investment company Heirs Holdings. He is also the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The first event titled The Big which held on Wednesday, May 25 (today), was being organized by Banque Publique dInvestissement(BPI) a state-owned investment bank.

The 2,000-person strong event brought together emerging French SMEs seeking to take their businesses to the next level by entering emerging markets.

During the event, Mr. Elumelu delivered a keynote, TED-style talk on entrepreneurship.

Speaking on his motivations for participating in the French Entrepreneurship summit, Elumelu said Our Foundations entrepreneurship programme is my commitment to developing Africas emerging business leaders, and UBA is fast-becoming an institution that supports African entrepreneurship.

BPI is similarly known as the French bank for entrepreneurs  a bank that provides the tools for French business people to deploy their international, and notably, African strategies  so this is a relationship that makes sense on so many different levels, ideally to derive commercial value while supporting employment, innovation and economic growth in Europe and Africa.

On Friday, May 27, Elumelu will co-chair with Mr. Gerard Larcher, the President of the French Senate, the Discover Nigeria event, the first ever investment forum to feature, attract and encourage French-based businesses seeking Nigeria as a destination for investment. The event is being organized by the French export promotion agency Business France.

A joint effort of Business France, BPI and the French Senate, Discover Nigeria will bring Mr. Elumelu together with established French entrepreneurs  100 French exporters already in the Nigerian market & some seeking to enter  to provide insight into opportunities that exist for Frances business leaders.

Mr Elumelu, the group Chairman of UBA feels that this is an important bridge to build saying UBA is now developing deep links and partnerships with French financial institutions seeking a pathway into Africa.

Elumelu will be speaking at the historic Palais du Luxembourg alongside Mr. Gerard Larcher.

On the purpose of his trip to France, Elumelu says While our Foundations entrepreneurship programme is my commitment to developing Africas emerging business leaders, and UBA is fast-becoming an institution that supports African entrepreneurship, BPI is similarly known as the French bank for entrepreneurs  a bank that provides the tools for French business people to deploy their international, and notably, African strategies  so this is a relationship that makes sense.
25.05.2016 LISTEN

Today marks an important day in the history of our continent. Today is a day for Africa ,a day of hope and strength and a day for revamping our desire in our African descent and for Unity .

The African Union Day is a moment of great magnitude in the institutional evolution of the continent.

The Desire of the African Union is to seek out and develop an integrated ,prosperous and peaceful Africa ,driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

Western prejudice of Africa has been without remorse and more profound in its devastation.

In the late 19th Century ,a German Philosopher ,Hegel ,stated that "Africa is no historical part of the world and it has no movement or development to exhibit "

In 1923 ,a distinguished British historian ,A .P Newton , gave his view that "History only begins when men takes to writing and that it is concerned almost entirely with written records and can only make use of material remains with which the archeologist and anthropologist are concerned and since Africans were non literate before European colonialism ,they could not have produced any worthwhile history "

Margery Perham ,another researcher wrote that until the Penetration by Europe ,the greater part of the continent of Africa was without the wheel ,the plough and almost store houses or clothes except for skins without writing and so without history "

We have come a long way as a continent and as Africans .

Many leaders have selflessly sacrificed their lives for the transformation of our individual and collective goals as Blacks .

What Newton said in 1923 was reechoed in 1962 by professor Hugh Trevor Roper who opined that "Perhaps in the future there will be some African history to teach but at present there is none ;there is only European History in Africa. The rest is darkness and darkness is not a subject of history..

Roper further argued that " In Africa there is only unrewarding gyration of barbarous tribes in picturesque but irrelevant corners of the globe ".

These opinions and comments stated above is not being given out as we celebrate our Africa Union day just for you to know how far we have come as people but to encourage and motivate you to understand and to know the tears and fears that have marked the struggle for liberation.

The focus of African Union has moved from supporting liberation movements as envisaged by the OAU but rather;

1.To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the peoples of Africa;

2;To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States;

3 ;To accelerate the political and socio- economic integration of the continent;

4; To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples;

5;To encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

6;To promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;

7; To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;

8 ;To promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments;

9;To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;

10; To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies ,among others.

The African Union has come a very long way, equally coupled with many challenges but in all ,the Union has contributed to the service of humanity.

As we celebrate this day ,let us show love towards our fellow blacks in all things we do .

Let us remember the sacrifice of our past leaders as well, for their service to the success of the African Story.

Let us remain focused for the future.

God bless Africa!!

God bless Ghana!!

Let us continue to believe in the power of the Black Power !

Black Is Power.

Africa Is Power .

SIGNED

RICHMOND ASARE TINKARO (RAT)

NUGS President (University of Ghana ) (2015/2016)

0543253243
By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, May 25, GNA - The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ms Hannah Tetteh has hailed members of the Ghanaian Peacekeeping force for their impressive performance in maintaining global peace and security.

She said the Ghana Armed Forces and other security agencies that have participated in peacekeeping and peace support operations have been known to maintain the highest standards of performance and excellence.

'We want to encourage them to continue to do just that,' Ms Tetteh stated on Wednesday, in Accra at a Flag Raising Ceremony to mark the 53rd Africa Union (AU) Day.

The event, which was on the theme: 'Human rights, with a particular focus on the rights of women', was attended by members of the African Diplomatic Community in Ghana, Members of the Council of State, government officials and retired diplomats.

The ceremony was held indoors at the premises of the State House due to threats of rainfall.

The Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity, which was transformed in 2002 to the AU.

Africa Day is being marked as a national holiday in six African countries: Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Ms Tetteh said it is unfortunate that it has come to the attention of the various member states that some of their officers on peacekeeping activities have not behaved in a manner in which they are expected to the treatment of females.

'If there is any country whose forces would be associated with any misconduct, especially as relates to the treatment of girls and women in countries where there are peacekeeping operations, they should not be the security forces of Ghana under any circumstances,' she said.

'In Ghana achieving gender equality and women rights are regarded as an important aspect of our human rights principles and a prerequisite for sustainable development,' she added.

She said Ghana's constitution guarantees gender equality and freedom of men and women, girls and boys, from discrimination on the basis of social or economic status and gender.

'The results of Ghana's efforts are evident in our recent achievements in performance in the international ratings such as the Human Development Index and the Gender Inequality Index.

'But even though we have made some progress, it is important for us to admit that there is a lot more progress that is yet to be made,' she stated.

She recounted that at the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the AU in 2013, African leaders took stock of the past and decided to chart a path for the Union over the 50 years.

'The path envisage was in consistence with the Pan-African vision, which is an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

'Subsequently they adopted sound declaration, which set out priority areas for the development of Africa over a 50 horizon, which culminated in what we now refer to as agenda 2063.'

Agenda 2063 is premised on seven main aspirations, mainly and prosperous Africa, based on inclusive growth and sustainable development.

An integrated continent, politically united, based on the ideals of Pan Africanism and the vision of Africa's Renaissance.

An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law; a peaceful and secure Africa and an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics.

It also seeks an Africa whose development is people driven, relying on the potential offered by people, especially its women and youth and caring for children and an Africa as strong, united and influential global player and partner.

Mrs Pavelyn Tendai Musaka, the Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Ghana and the Dean of the African Diplomatic corps hailed the AU for the choice of the theme for this year's Africa Day, which sought to empower women.

She said Africa is blessed with abundant natural resources and when properly explored would transform the continent into a major donor as opposed to the continent's being a donor recipient.

Mrs Muska lauded Ghana for granting visa free entry to African tourists, starting from July this year.

She urged other African countries to emulate Ghana's shining example.

GNA
Accra, May 25, GNA - The Convention People's Party (CPP) has saluted African Governments for maintaining the unity since the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU) in 1963.

Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, CPP Presidential Nominee for Elections 2016 said the celebration of the African Union Day should offer countries the opportunity to take stock of the progress made in the attainment of the aims and objectives of the organisation as enshrined in the charter.

The OAU charter was signed by 32 Heads of State and Governments of Independent African countries on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the principal objective of liberating the continent from the dehumanising shackles of colonialism and promoting unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among peoples of the continent.

He stated that in the age of globalisation, where labour, capital and production move across national borders with relative ease, often at the expense of poor countries like Ghana, it is important that Africa adopt policies that protect it against the harmful effects of globalisation while also taking advantage of its benefits.

The CPP Presidential Nominee in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the significance of commemorating the AU Day noted that Ghana should provide modern day leadership to turn the challenges of the new era into opportunities for achieving greater unity for continental economic co-operation and collaboration.

Mr Greenstreet therefore asked Ghanaians to continue to work solidly with fellow African countries. 'We must continue to provide the leadership role Ghana played on the continent's independence in the 1960s'.

The CPP Presidential Nominee cautioned African states to be mindful of the myriad of daunting problems confronting the continent, which include; armed conflicts, incursions of Boko Haram, refugees, the heavy debt burden and its concomitants of poverty, corruption, hunger, squalor and disease especially the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Mr Greenstreets urged African leaders to have the political will to actualise the ideals of the continent's founding fathers, the thrust of which was peace, unity and progress.

He said: 'Africa is tired of wars, crimes, corruption and bad leadership. It is a sad reflection of what our founding fathers staked everything, including their lives, to achieve independence for Africa.

'They could not have imagined that wars would threaten the peace and unity of the continent in so short a time. Their vision for Africa was one of sovereign independent nations that would fashion their own destiny but civil strife has racked most parts of the continent.'

He expressed dissatisfaction about the lack of cultural cooperation, such as exchange programmes in television and radio broadcasts, including documentaries from which we can learn and share common experiences but rather the continent is bombarded with foreign cultural materials'.

'We remain mindful of the role played by many non-Ghanaian Diasporans, such as W. E. B. Dubois and George Padmore.

'As Pan-Africanists, CPP believe that Africans, no matter where they were born or live, share common problems and aspirations,' he noted.

Professor Edmund N. Delle, CPP National Chairman and Leader also told the GNA that what Africa needs currently is investment in human capital and infrastructure, building the economic institutions necessary for a well-functioning market economy and initiatives to increase technical capacities: "these cannot co-exist with wars".

'To achieve these noble objectives, mistrust between government and opposition must be removed,' he said.

Prof Delle noted that the world is changing and Africa must develop faster. 'Our leaders must resign themselves to finding solutions to the continent's problems'.

GNA
25.05.2016 LISTEN

A few days ago Governments decision not to continue to bond nurses in the various government nursing training colleges sparked a wave of panic and anger amongst most in the nursing and health care community. This was the second and perhaps the final blow to what has supposed to be profession that so many young men and women troop to. The prospects of easily getting a job after school was for a long time of the reasons many trooped to the profession . The decision implies that from 2020/2021 the government will no longer be obliged to hire nurses after their rotation. The impact of this decision is far reaching and disastrous .First of all let's look at the history of the bonding

HISTORY

The decision to bond nurses and provide ready-made jobs for them was taking by Government several years ago primarily in an attempt to reverse the brain drain of the nurses to other developed countries. It's good to note that even with the current system of providing allowances and guaranteed jobs the brain drain still continued albeit with reduced numbers . Aside the Bonding there were other incentives designed to increases the intake and retain our nurses after completion. These

The allowance given to students during training Availability of jobs after school Relatively good salary ( single spine salary introduction) Cheaper or subsidized school fees.

Brain Drain of Ghanaian Nurses

Nurses who left in 2004. 700

Nurses who left in 2013. 107

Nurses who left in 2014. 192

All these factors made the profession attractive and encouraged young men and women to pursue a career in such a field. The Government and the nation benefitted by having enough nurses to post to all parts of the country to provide urgent and essential care to the inhabitants . As of Today , all these incentives have been negated. The increase in cost of living has nullified the single spine salary and the school fees has increased over the period.. In effect all the benefits and perks of being a nursing student and nurse have all but vanished.

SALARY

With the proliferation of private nurses schools in the country , the nation is already facing an epidemic of unemployed nurses. This coupled with the inability of government to employ even those who went to public school has created an atmosphere for them to be abused by private hospitals. Most private hospitals therefore are taking advantage of this development to underpay their nurses. For instance whilst diploma nurses in public sector take home at least 1000 cedes Their counterparts in private sector take home as low as 450 a month. Whenever supply outstrips demand the value depreciates and this is exactly what is happening in the nursing sector. The medical Profession is able to control this by regulating the number of admissions into medical school.

With these new directives some nurses trained in Government sector will have to join their colleagues in private sector in search of nonexistent jobs. Those who are lucky enough to be employed will be poorly paid . The others who are not so lucky will stay at home and or change professions. Indeed we currently have nurses who have decided to pursue other careers after nursing school simply because they could not get jobs.

QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE

NOW let's get this straight .The decision not to bond nurses any longer was not borne out of over staffing of hospitals or the Government no longer needing their services. On the contrary ,the nurse to patient ratio is still high, 1:1251 and Government still need nurses to work especially in Health centers and less deprived areas of our nation. A surgeon in Korlebu says sometimes there is no theatre nurse and Doctor will have to "scrub" to assist the surgeon in theatre . A nursing officer in Navrongo mr Salisu also complains of busy work schedule and how that's affecting both his marriage and his work.

The decision was primarily borne out of an IMF directive restricting Government to expand its wage bill. What this means is that Ghana needs more nurses but cannot afford them . In other words we have an APPARENT SHORTAGE of nurses. Secondly this new directive will push more nurses into the private sector. These are nurses who could have benefitted by working under supervision in public hospitals now being sent home or to find work in private hospitals where they may have to work without supervision.

The quality of teaching and training of nurses has always been better in the public nurses schools. Indeed most private nursing training school often search for an opportunity to do their clinical at teaching or public hospitals. The reason is simply because the public hospital have experienced matrons and senior nurses who supervise on a daily basis the work of these fresh nurses .

Governments control of these private hospitals is also limited. Government ,does have much say in the remuneration or practice of nursing in our private hospitals. These nurses are often left on their own with only the In-service training to upgrade their knowledge.

THE IMAGE OF PROFESSION

The image of the profession is already poor in the eyes of the public and I am afraid this decision will further worsen if this new directive is implemented. With the cancellation of allowances and ready-made job jobs the desire and ability to pursue the nursing career would be dealt a heavy blow. Nurses who are qualified and have passion for the job might not be employed. This will make it difficult for those in poor families to pursue the programme and rather open gate for those who are financially sound to pursue the program. Ironically these are the same people who refuse postings to deprived areas and prefer to stay in our big hospitals in the cities.

It's good to note that the reason why most nurses are seen as rude or unempathic in the eyes of the public is because some do not have the passion for the career chosen. This directive will increase the numbers of these nurses in the system.

Secondly a lot of nurses being pushed into the private sector where the monitoring is poor means that over time the general quality of nurses in our hospitals will reduced. There a lot of nurses in our private hospitals who are working without accreditation ( PIN). Unlike the government hospitals where junior nurses are supervised daily by more experienced nurses, the private healthcare facilities do not have such luxury and sometimes a newly graduated diploma nurse is made to head the entire nursing unit of the hospital/ clinic.

Over time due to poor surveillance and large number of nurses churned out yearly into the private sector, the quality of nursing will be affected. The results will be poor health care delivery to patients.

CONCLUSION AND PROPOSED SOLUTION AND RECOMMENDATION

The only entity that will benefit from this directive will be the private healthcare facilities .The nurses, the profession, and the nation will suffer as a result of this new directive. In order to still live up to the IMF expectations the following should be considered.

CONTROL THE ADMISSION

The Government through the NMC should rather control the number of students admitted into the various training colleges. The Government through the MOH should be able to predict and project the number of nurses that will be needed by the country in subsequent years and tailor the admissions into these school accordingly. Large number of nursing staff staying at home is a threat to the nation. Training the number that you can afford to employ is better than training large numbers and hoping that someone will employ the excess.

INCREASE SURVEILLANCE

The NMC in collaboration will HRA (Health Regulatory Agency ) should increase their surveillance of private hospitals and nurses. There is a lot of Private hospital especially outside capital being stuffed with unqualified and underpaid nurses. The impact of this on healthcare delivery is obvious. The NMC also need to as a matter of urgency regulate the activities of these private nursing schools. A lot of them do not have accreditation from the council and still continue to admit unsuspecting students .These students complete school and are not able to get license to practice as nurses simply because schools are not accredited. Secondly the council should restrict the number of private nursing schools to the barest minimum. Those without licence should be close as a matter of urgency.

INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS

The Government should make it easier for serious entrepreneurs who want to set up their own private hospitals. This is the only way that the job market for our nurses can be improved. Over the past few years the process of setting up and operating a health care facility has been made very difficult and frustrating. Some entrepreneurs therefore fear the prospects of setting up their own faculty. Government can offer incentives and Tax breaks for companies and individuals who wish to set up their own healthcare facility. Import duties on healthcare equipments should also be highly subsidized. This will encourage healthcare entrepreneurs to set up more healthcare facilities to employ some of these nurses . Again NHIS payments to these private hospitals should be paid early in order to improve their finances and ability to pay their nursing staff competitive salaries comparable with their colleagues in public sector.

INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS TO EMPLOY.

This proposal has been on the table for several years but is yet to see the light of day. This can and should be done in stages so that it does not put undue burden on the Government facility. The MOH can issue is a directive for each Government hospital to employ and pay at least 3 Nurses from their own IGF. Hospitals such as KBTH, 37 and Ridge can be enforced to employ even more. This will ensure that thousands of nurses are employed outside of the ministry's wage bill. The ministry will still bond these nurses but these nurses can be posted directly to these hospitals without having to wait for clearance from MOF .The hospitals will have to show proof of having employed these nurses before they qualify to receive equipments and other assistance from Government. These hospital can employ a large number of these nurses into the public hospitals.

For the Good of the profession , the Nurses and the nation I pray that Government will reconsider this decision and rather make use of some of the alternatives outlined above. If Government cannot reduce unemployment it should NOT increase it. The Nursing and Midwifery council and the Ghana Nurses and Midwifery Association should be work in the supreme interest of their members and do all that they can for the Good of the profession and the ordinary Ghanaian.

Dr Joseph Kofi Gyanteh

Hospital Management Consultant

Ghana Locum Group.
25.05.2016 LISTEN



The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has said it is unhappy that the Ghana Education Service (GES) tasks external examiners to set the End of Term Examination questions for pupils in basic schools.

It said teachers, head teachers and circuit supervisors must rather be equipped with the necessary skills and expertise to adequately assess the pupils at all levels because it was the surest way to give the pupils quality education and demystify examination in the country.

Mr. Mathew Adjarjah, the head of Professional Development Unit of GNAT, stated GNAT's position at an Assessment Training Workshop at Cape Coast for 120 Subject Teachers, drawn from five regions across the country, at the weekend.

The Association said the practice was an affront to the teaching profession, and it had the tendency of compromising professionalism, therefore, it must be discouraged at all levels.

Teachers don't set questions anymore, we are told that some people bring their own schemes and sometimes those schemes are in conflict with the GES approved ones, GNAT complained.

They have topics that are not in the syllabus and because of that some of the questions are irrelevant to the pupils.

The workshop, organised by GNAT, was aimed at upgrading the skills and knowledge of teachers on Assessment, Processes and Procedures in Writing Good Test items and the Use of the Assessment Results to improve teaching and learning in schools.

The beneficiary Regions are Volta, Eastern, Greater Accra, Central and Western.

Mr. Adjarjah said teachers played very critical roles in the assessment of pupils and the GES syllabus served as guide for them to prepare their planed lessons for the term and set questions at the end.

Therefore, that responsibility must not be taken away from them.

He said it was wrong for external examiners to set questions because they did not consider the peculiar environments of the schools.

Teaching is a profession, therefore, the teachers who are in the classroom must have a say on how the pupils are assessed, he said.

In any case when the required results are not attained, the whole society point fingers at the teacher but in taking the assessment decisions, the teachers are never consulted, he complained.

Mr. Albert Adusei, the Second National Trustee of GNAT urged the participants to make use of the new skills acquired to help improve students' performance and the quality of education in their respective Regions.

The participants were taken through topics such as Test Format; their uses and test planning, Preparation of Test Blueprint, Tables of Test Specification, Test Data Analysis and Uses and Utilisation of Test Results.

Some of the participants who spoke to the Ghana News Agency said the practice showed that the GES did not have confidence in its teachers, but they were competent enough to set the examination questions.

They said some teachers were becoming lazy as a result and appealed to the GES to consider ending it in the interest of the pupils and education in the country. GNA
25.05.2016 LISTEN

The difference between Kwame Nkrumah and Jaja of Opobo before him was that one tried to first build a Continental while the other tried to build an Economic independence. The Rooted Threats were knocked down. Man needs certain amount of money to live a simple decent life. How much is enough after that is subject to individual goals and wants not needs. People that are obsessed with growth and realization of a nation or people are not driven by money but motivated by self-esteem, actualization, freedom and independence. Not foreign glitters.

We have lost focus and political will to put our house in order by shopping for foreign forms of governments and economic theories knowing full well that our crooks would find loopholes on how to defeat their goals. Every form of government has failed us because we are not sincere. Our service in the government is based on how we can exploit the system rather than what we can contribute into it. Once we are caught defrauding the people, we raise hell: ethnic backing.

In a cultured community, anyone living above his means or salary is enquired to explain source of his riches. It is not about aggrandizement but how to take folks out of subjugation, poverty and suffering into a nation, as a country or continent. Only very few would believe that after Jaja of Opobo and Independence later, the chain of Africans economic dependence remained unlock. Ironically, the keys to the chains are not in the hands of our colonial masters but in the hands of African puppets whose taste and selfishness indebted us, draining African resources.

When we declared what are essential and non-essential commodities. World Bank and IMF are encouraging odious loans on us if we import non-essential commodities from their countries to boast foreign trade and create jobs overseas while our meager foreign reserves is depleted.

Honesty starts in each home. When kids bring what does not belong to him, the parents return it and make him face the consequences. When parent ignore their tempted children, they train them how to steal, as pen and armed robber. As constituencies put pressure on their politicians to bring home the national cake home, they are encouraged to loot, no matter whose or where it belongs. When we sing and anoint ill-gotten gains, we inspire them to live above their means.

So celebration of corruption with impunity has no consequences and no anger from the people. Its the first time in the history of Africa that people so marginalized, disrespected and rendered impoverished by their politicians would rather run out crossing deserts and sea than stand up and fight their oppressors. Africans fought on land against slave masters; they fought inside the slave ships and in the seas to regain freedom. But they cannot fight their oppressors at home.

It is so bad, the court of law seldom convict looters at home but the same looters are convicted abroad for similar offences! They do not care how much of their loot is lost to foreign bankers as commissions, to lawyers as fees and to sussies or donated to universities abroad. They make sure they steal enough to pay everyone off at home and abroad. Their desperation is so severe, they are willing to risk getting caught for money laundering and thrown into jail but not as our poor African children that are willing to risk deserts and seas to reach grim realities abroad.

Africans have been divided into at least two groups. One of the groups are willing to drive a hot shaft through their mothers ass to obtain foreign goods and services. They have good reasons, such as their country or continent is not an island and must live with the rest of the world. We must also be open to ideas as part of the world community and not regress back into dark ages. So whatever it takes, we must pay. After all, they have enough looted to pay for grandchildren.

Most in the other group are willing to sacrifice since they do not have as much to lose as their counterpart to begin with and they have been suffering no matter which party is in power. They have never made enough money to purchase exotic cars, houses at home or abroad but groan when taxis, buses, molue and okada increase their fare to meet increasing expenses. They have been listening to different economic theories, none of which had relieved their pains.

If you belonged to the first group and life is good, there is no reason to change business as usual and expose yourself to pain and suffering. You want to be part of world community and send your children to the best schools in the best country, no matter how well they are or not tolerated there. They may not even come back home. Oh, they may come back for grandpas burial. So all the dogo turenchi we invested in have no effect on you, your children or country.

Another group comes from both of the above two groups. They are ideologues, children of Lumumba, Nkrumah and Nyerere whose economic theories have been truncated in the past. These are people that are going to leave us stranded in the middle of the Red Sea allowing the ancient Egyptian soldiers to catch up with us or allow the sea to destroy us. They see the light at the end of the tunnel but we see darkness. Always telling us to sacrifice. For rest of our lives?

They call our friendly foreign investors vultures because they want to repatriate cash profits from their paper investment that never add value to industrial growth but give high returns to the shareholders on Bond and Wall Street. They call us emerging market where they can sink their pensions, hide their home profit from their governments and us. In fairness to them some are manufacturers that cannot import their machines, labels, sugar, water and technicians.

We have a bunch of robbers and traitors willing to sell Africans for foreign printed papers called promissory notes in exchange for our resources. It is worse than our great grandfathers in those days that sold gold in exchange for mirrors. There is no difference between manmade mirrors of those days that looked like miracles and manmade gadgets of today. In another fifty or more years, price of TVs, IPods, exotic cars, plastics, nylons, avian water, toothpicks will be as mirrors

Our known obsession for readymade foreign products, new or used, is unprecedented. Avarice and deep seated inferiority complex to acquire properties in foreign lands, where we patronize and pay their taxes while dodging the same at home, send our children to their schools, donate looted funds like drunken sailors to their universities while neglecting ours at home, is unheard of in any land that desire progress. Never had indigenous African standard theirs is always ours.
25.05.2016 LISTEN

Almost any Ghanaian in Ghana who relies on the use of electricity for one thing or the other, has been moaning about the extremely doubtful killer hikes in prices of the consumption of such commodities.

Officially, it is being explained away that the ridiculously high increment in prices of electricity bills is down to software problem. I find the official explanation completely absurd. For how long should it take Ghanaians to come out moaning before someone from the Ghana Electricity Corporation could volunteer that outrageous official explanation?

If it were in the civilized Western world, thus, Europe or America, whoever is in charge of the Ghana Electricity Corporation would either have resigned voluntarily or been forced to vacate his or her post long ago.

How could they sit comfortably, doing nothing when they are clearly aware of the software problem that has been robbing consumers of about ten times the actual money (bill) they are to pay for the consumption of electricity, should we accept their official explanation as anything credible?

Was the software not programmed by human beings? Did they not run the software to detect how effective it was to serve the purpose for which the Ghana Electricity Corporation was purchasing it prior to installing it and then going public with it? If those who bought that software had failed to run it to establish how effective or defective it was, then they are not fit to hold their current positions as Directors or whatever, of the Corporation.

It really gets to me when I see ignorant, kalabule, and educated-illiterates trying to take Ghanaians for fools through underestimation of our intelligence.

They have deliberately colluded with President Mahama who has eaten all the flesh off the bone to cheat Ghanaians; robbing us in a broad daylight.

Let us look at the knockdown effect their intentional robbery on Ghanaians has had on other sectors of the economy. The high electricity prices have culminated in some large, medium and small scale industries folding up because of their inability to afford the high electricity cost. This has resulted in the laying off of workers hence augmenting the unemployment and joblessness in the country. Has this joblessness not increased the armed robbery in Ghana, thereby vindicating the adage, The devil finds job for an idle hand?

This is President Mahamas Better Ghana Agenda for you. The astronomical hikes in electricity bills is a way forward for President Mahama to indirectly raise money for his 2016 electioneering campaign. He wants to rob the people to give the money to his bogus radio phone-in serial callers and people like the shameless Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Koku Anyidoho, Sam George and a host of others to throw dust into Ghanaians eyes in the hope of rigging election 2016. By acquiring such illegal money, he hopes to bribe some chiefs by buying them cars and also purchasing some peoples votes.

Whatever he does, he will lose election 2016, God willing. His days are numbered!

I call on Ghanaians to speak up against the obnoxious hikes in electricity bills. For how long are we going to sit on the fence while this unprecedentedly incompetent, clueless, and corrupt President takes Ghanaians for fools? He is mismanaging Ghana for his own parochial interest so it is about time we kicked him and his thieving NDC government out of power.

Any Ghanaian who has had enough of the roguish administration by President Mahama should please join me to campaign to kick him out of power come November 7, 2016.

Be honest with yourselves, oh fellow ordinary Ghanaians, to tell whether or not you are living in a Better Ghana or a Bitter Ghana.

President Mahama will be gone on 7 November 2016 whether he likes it or not. He can eat pusa kenten ma, he will still be voted out of the presidency.

For how long are we going to sit watching and twirling our fingers while President Mahama mismanages Ghana as though it is his personal property? Ghana is not his alone but for the entire citizens of Ghana so we must have a say in whatever direction he is taking the country even though as irresponsible as he is, he will not listen to our wise admonition as ordinary Ghanaians because we have not been Presidents of Ghana before. This is the trait of a clueless and a disastrously failed President!

Ghanaians, please do not allow the Ghana Electricity Corporation with their agents and assigns to use their pen or software to rob you pasaaa (beyond redemption).

Rockson Adofo
25.05.2016 LISTEN

In John Chapter 1 verse 46, Nathaniel asked Philip, Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Jesus was assembling his core group of twelve disciples in preparation for the start of his earthly ministry. He had called Philip from Bethsaida, who went and told his townsman, Nathaniel about Jesus. Philip and Nathaniel might have been close friends and Philip wanted to share the good news with him. We have found the Messiah of whom Moses wrote. As happens even today, Nathaniel, the city boy, asked rather contemptuously if anything good could come out of little, rural Nazareth?

Ghana at rock bottom

Increasingly, that is the question many Ghanaians, especially in the Diaspora, are beginning to ask of our country, Can anything good come out of our dear Motherland these days?

I have been prompted to write this piece because some of my friends in some parts of Europe and North America have reported their children coming home in tears because their friends have been teasing them about their president charging his telephone on camera at an international conference, placing his tea cup beside the saucer instead of putting it in the saucer and also telling fibs on camera about corruption in his country.

As if these were not bad enough, a Chief Executive Officer of a national institution shamelessly says two years after a senior officer died in his outfit, they are still waiting for the family of the deceased person to formally inform the institution of his death so they can take his name off the payroll. Habah, my people, what do you take the rest of us for? You might be daft to the extreme, but must you really drag the rest of us down the pits so cruelly?

Yes, there is Dum so in Ghana, but could the Ghana High Commissioner in London not charge the Presidents phone in in his plush official residence at Belgravia Square? And how about the hotel in which the President spent the night before the conference? Could the Presidents entourage have exported Dum so to that place too?

Will this President Mahama never cease to embarrass the people of Ghana? First there was his unrehearsed speech at an international conference in Accra, which was missing several pages because he had obviously not read through the final draft before he set off from his office. Then the [email protected] brochure that assigned Ghanas presidency to Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and now this. Who are the Presidents advisers? Do they and their boss not know that he is not supposed to use his phone so openly at an international conference, let alone charging it on the conference table? Where were his aides? If the Presidents telephone had to be charged at that time, could his aides not find anyone among the large delegation that accompanied the President to the conference to charge and watch over the phone at some discreet location?

Under Mahamas current economic conditions, I suspect that not many ordinary Ghanaians drink tea at home or even at work, but the Presidency too? Could it be that the President has already forgotten about tea drinking etiquette even at international gatherings? What a shame!

Tea or coffee drinking is not part of our culture, but surely he must have observed others place their cups in the saucers after sipping? How did it go so badly wrong for Ghana in seven short years?

Corruption charges

With Tullow providing expatriate jobs for otherwise unemployed British secretaries and cooks in Ghana at mouth-watering salaries, it was natural that David Cameron would not rock the boat about corruption in Ghana. Nigeria was a soft target. After all Nigeria is a Shells fiefdom, largely Dutch, so even if he offended that country, any backlash would be a Dutch problem, not a British one. Prime Minister Cameron definitely knows about the Embraer aircraft purchase, GYEEDA, SADA, Woyome, inflated road contracts, and all the stinky deals in Ghana whose stench rises all the way to the presidency.

Fortunately, being the Hausa scholar that he is, President Buhari (one African leader who is actually doing something about corruption in his country and beyond), fired his own back. Nigerian and Ghanaian politicians are buying houses, with cash, in London as if there will be no tomorrow. We pray that Cameron will fulfil his promise by naming and shaming those who steal the continents loans and grants and stash them in British banks or invest them in property in London and elsewhere. We shall be watching very closely.

Questions and answers

The story is told of an European who as part of his preparation towards his first business trip to Ghana decided to learn something about the country, its business ethics, culture, banking system, currency and places of interest, among other things. Finally, he asked his Ghanaian friend, I understand that in your country you answer every question with a question. In reply, the Ghanaian friend asked, Who told you so?

Mr President, have you ever taken a bribe before? You mean as President or as an individual? If President Mahama has since watched his performance at his interview with the BBCs Peter Okwoche, he must be having sleepless nights and cursing himself for agreeing to be interviewed in the first place. By now, even he should know that his facial expression and the movement of his lips as he answered the questions showed an uncomfortable liar, like a primary school child who has been caught cheating in school. That is why my friends children are having a horrid time in their schools.

Dead men on payroll

Under the terms of employment of most organisations and institutions in Ghana, when an employee dies either suddenly or after a protracted illness while still in active service, the organisation provides a coffin, an assortment of drinks and physical cash, to the bereaved family. There are substantial sums involved in these provisions and it is inconceivable that such sums can be expended by an organisation/institution without the approval of its chief executive officer.

Secondly, even though most institutions and organisations in Ghana now pay salaries through bank transfers, heads of department must still sign pay vouchers at the end of the month. Were they also sleeping on the job for 24 solid months while they waited for the dead employee to rise from the dead? And these incredible revelations were made to no mean institution than the Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. It is not surprising that the countrys economy is in such dire straits. There is stealing everywhere!

Our elders have a saying which translates loosely as, If you glean corn with chickens, they peck your feet. Our Parliament has made many strange decisions in recent times, there seems to be very little regard for it, for how else can anyone make such a dumb statement to the highest law-making body of an independent country and walk away scot free?

Can good things begin to come out of Ghana again? I wonder.

I shall return with my beaded gourd, God willing.

Naana Ekua Eyaaba has an overarching interest in the development of the African continent and Black issues in general. Having travelled extensively through Africa, the Black communities of the East Coast of the United States as well as London and Leeds (United Kingdom), she enjoys reading, and writes when she is irritated, and edits when she is calm. You can email her at [email protected] , or read her blog at https://naanaekuaeyaaba.wordpress.com/.
25.05.2016 LISTEN

One more corruption index in the National Democratic Congress repertoire of siphoning state cash was unveiled in Parliament at the weekend, when it emerged that the cost of the 5.7 kilometre Achimota-Ofankor stretch of the Accra-Kumasi Highway was inflated from GH40.4 million to a staggering GH128 million.

The original contract was awarded to the China Railway Corporation by the New Patriotic Party administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2008, but the contract could not be executed until the NPP was sent packing from the Castle in the December 2008 polls.

When the NDC took over, the contract was reviewed, sending the contract sum to a whopping GH128 million.

At the weekend, Parliament was dragged into the gargantuan scheme of what Mr. Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm, sitting at the Supreme Court, described as a create loot and share syndrome of this administration, when the Speaker, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, chided the Roads and Transport Committee for failing to exercise adequate oversight role in what The Chronicle can conveniently refer to as the Achimota-Ofankor Road scam.

The Speaker said, with such a huge overrun, the committee had failed Parliament and the entire nation.

According to the House, a number of unrelated expenditures ballooned the original cost of the project from GH40.4 to GH128 million. The unrelated expenditure included the purchasing of a BMW seven series saloon car at a cost of US$160,305 for the use of Mr. Joe Gidisu in his capacity as the sector minister at the time.

The car had a comprehensive insurance cover of US$6,672 a year, VAT on it was US$17,424.54, and attracted National Health Insurance Levy of US$3,484.91.

An obviously disappointed Mr. Doe-Adjaho said the usual lame excuse that there was no money to do proper due diligence on the project, before approving the budget for the project, was a lame excuse.

You don't need money to go round to be able to raise the red flag, because, every year, the committee recommends the appropriation of the budget for the ministry, and that in considering the estimates, due diligence could have been done to detect such expenses outside the normal budget.

Like Rip Van Winkle, American novelist Washington Irvings' fictional character, Parliament has slept for too long over this matter. Former Road Minister Joe Gidisu's BMW addition to the cost of the Achimota-Ofankor Road broke out in the year 2011, prompting deceased President John Evans Atta Mills to issue an order for the vehicle to be parked at the Castle, then seat of Government.

Unfortunately for the good people of Ghana, this is not the only time that Parliament has looked the other way when costs of delivering projects have been inflated. Since the return of the NDC to Government House, value for money has become a stranger to the way contracts are awarded, supervised, and executed in this nation.

From Waterville, Africa Automobile, Isofoton, and Woyome, through the former Ghana Youth Employment Agency to roads and school blocks construction, costs have hit the roof with our Honourable Members powerless to act. The Smartty's bus branding episode, and several allegations throughout the country of projects bloating in costs, tells the story of a rotten society.

The Chronicle is unable to fathom why Parliament has not interested itself in the ubiquitous US$250 million out of the US$1 billion Eurobond money that bungling state officials, including Mr. Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance, have deposited in a foreign bank account, and allegedly used to buy treasury bills from the government.

According to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the amount handed over to Mr. Terkper was the cedi equivalent. Up till now, nobody has been able to establish how much the cedi equivalent of the US$250 was, when it was handed over.

One mystery surrounding the transaction is that Mr. Terkper himself appears not to know that at the time the money was handed over to him it was in cedis.

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that corruption has found a new lease of life under the Mahama administration. The fact that the President himself went on a tour of the regions to account to the people, without talking of the cost components of the projects executed, gives broad hints about the sleaze that has dogged this administration.

Like Rip Van Winkle, Parliament has slept for too long on its job of policing government contracts.

The House has to wake up to its responsibilities to the state, or it would become irrelevant in the fight against corruption.
London (AFP) - A lawyer for Britain's government argued Wednesday it was too late to claim damages for 40,000 Kenyans who say they were tortured and abused by colonial officials during a state of emergency in the 1950s.

The case being heard at London's High Court pitches Britain's Foreign Office against Kenyans who allege abuse during the 1952-60 Mau Mau rebellion against British rule.

Britain announced in 2013 that it would compensate over 5,000 now elderly Kenyans in a deal worth nearly 20 million (26 million euros, $29 million) following a legal battle which lasted four years.

It also funded a memorial in Nairobi to the at least 10,000 people killed during the state of emergency.

But it did not accept legal liability for what happened and the current action, consisting of 27 test cases, is a separate process of civil litigation involving more claimants.

Outlining the Foreign Office's case, lawyer Guy Mansfield said all the alleged perpetrators were untraceable or dead, along with the relevant British politicians, civil servants and army generals.

"None of them can explain what happened during the emergency," he added.

"They too cannot now answer the grave allegations made against them."

On Monday, Simon Myerson, acting for the claimants, told the court that they had been subjected to "unlawful and unjustifiable conduct".

"It is bizarre, in 2016, to conceive of servants of the British government castrating men, either cold-bloodedly or in a frenzy of kicking and beating," he said.

Myerson added there had been "a cover-up on an industrial scale" of what happened.

While the case is expected to stretch into 2017, some of the claimants are expected to give evidence by video link from Nairobi from June 14.
New survey results published by Afrobarometer Wednesday show a lack of faith in the African Union (AU) and a limited public support for continental integration.

The survey released to coincide with African Union day which is being marked with holidays across the continent show that most Africans will father prefer hold on to their national sovereignties instead of yielding to the AU.

Although it shows limited public support for integration, it also sees wide variations by country and region. On average across 36 countries, a majority of Africans favour free cross-border movement of people and goods, but this is not the majority view in 15 of those countries.

Meanwhile, only one in four citizens say its easy to cross international borders. When asked to choose between respecting national sovereignty versus a regional role for states in protecting free elections and human rights in neighbouring countries, most Africans emphasize national sovereignty.

Also, the survey found that while a majority of Africans consider the AU and regional economic communities at least a little bit helpful to their countries, this is not the case in all countries, and about three in 10 citizens dont know enough about these organisations to have an opinion.

On Ghana the survey asked if there is support for free movement across borders. Ghana was second bottom on that list.

Ghana is one of the countries on the continent where there is least support for cross-border movement with only 57 percent support.

Ghana is only better than Cape Verde which scored last with just 43 percent. The country in West Africa with the most support for free movement across borders is Burkina Faso.

Only one in four citizens (26%) say it is easy or very easy to cross international borders to work or trade in other countries. Central and West African countries are most likely to describe crossing borders as difficult or very difficult.

Only one-third (34%) of respondents agree that governments should help guarantee free elections and human rights in neighbouring countries, while 58% instead emphasize the need to respect national sovereignty.

One of the most interesting findings is the answers to how much respondents know about AU.

The survey found that many citizens still know little about what the AU and what it is exactly doing: about three in 10 citizens say they dont know enough about the AU (30%) or their respective Regional Economic activities (28%) to assess their helpfulness.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected]
Lighting plays a crucial role in any countrys economy. And in Ghanas, City Lights, a pioneer in the sector, continues to be pivotal twenty-eight years after it was set up. But beyond just helping Ghanaians appreciate light and the importance of lightings in their homes and businesses, the company is also committed to building a first-class African brand, City Lights Managing Director Emmanuel Okeson tells MARTIN-LUTHER C. KING in this chat in Accra. He also fielded questions on the origins of the Ghanaian lightings giant as well as other vital issues.

Excerpts:

MARTIN-LUTHER C. KING: May we meet you?

EMMANUEL OKESON: My name is Prince Emmanuel Okeson, a Nigerian resident in Ghana and the chief executive officer of City Lights Limited. Ive been in Ghana for the past 30 years. I had very humble beginnings. I started my first company in Ghana, Unilove Farms Limited, in 1985. It was basically into agriculture, producing cash crops like pineapples for export. Prior to that, I was involved in west coast trade, which is trade across West Africa. It had to with moving Nigerian-made products to the west coast. The west coast trade takes you to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana. That was my route.

MLCK: Your base then was still Ghana?

EO: No, I started in Ghana in 1985, after two years shuttling between these three West African countries. But in 1985 I started in Ghana. I went into farming in 1984. But by 1985, the farm wasnt doing well, so I diverted into electrical, specifically lighting. That was how City Lights came into being. Actually, City Lights was set up in 1988; but prior to that time I had been doing other things like the farming and some other minor businesses.

MLCK: What triggered that diversion into lights?

EO: Prior to that time, of course you know Ghana went through economic challenges, but round about 1985, 1986 there was some kind of recovery made possible by massive in-flow of funds from outside, specially the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) etcetera. So there was some kind of economic recovery. With that phenomenon came demand for various products; construction started picking up; new companies started springing up while old ones were being renovated and refurbished. So all these put together created a demand for specialized lighting that was not available then in Ghana. So what I did was to conduct some sort of market research, some kind of feasibility study to find out what the market actually needed. That study revealed that lighting was one area that many people did not know about then. So I decided to specialize, to set up a company to specialize in lighting. Thats how City Lights was established. And since then, the company has seen exponential growth partly because it was the first on the scene. With very good strategy, we did very well until competition started coming in, and we had to re-strategize.

MLCK: What has the journey been like?

EO: Its been challenging, but also very interesting. As a foreigner, as a Nigerian in a Ghanaian environment, its been very challenging taking into account the traditional rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria; issues with relevant government agencies; securing the necessary permits was challenging because of the kind of laws that were in place then , particularly the old GIPC (Ghana Investments Promotion Council) law which were anti-foreigner, if I may put it that way. And we had issues with over-taxation, with foreigners targeted for special taxation. We also have issues with recruitment; human resource management was also very difficult because you were seen as a foreigner coming to take advantage of, or coming to exploit the local citizens. These created very huge challenges initially. But we were able to overcome, somehow.

MLCK: You have been able to carve a business niche for yourself and build a positive image, even as a Nigerian, in Ghana. How did you do it?

EO: First and foremost it its by identifying what the market needs, and then positioning ones self by way of branding. Because you identify what the market needs, the needs out there; next you identify who you are targeting, the category of people and customers that you are targeting; then you position yourself by way of branding, basically you are going to stand out. And, that is what we have done consistently over the years. When we came on the scene we realized that there was the need for quality lighting in the country (Ghana) and even beyond. And we set out a process of delivering this quality to the people, and also providing them with back-up support that they required so that people can get value for their money. Besides that, we also do some corporate social responsibility projects and interventions to make sure that those that are in our catchment area, the area where we operate, also benefit from our successes. So all these put together, I believe, have helped us to get by. But most importantly, is being a good corporate citizen, pay our taxes; dont cut corners, and always do what you think is right. Ill say all these put together must have contributed to where we are today.

MLCK: I understand your license covers West Africa?

EO: Yes, our license covers West Africa.

MLCK: Do you plan to launch out outside Ghana soon?

EO: Yes, as we speak right now, we are seriously working to open a show-room in Lagos (Nigeria) which should be opened before the end of this year. We are also working to open another in Abuja and Port Harcourt, both of which are scheduled to open this 2016. This same 2016, we are going to Liberia, Cote dIvoire and Sierra Leone. And, basically, we want to also contribute our own quota to Nigerias national development. You know we have problems with energy in Nigeria; we want to bring experience and expertise that we have developed over the years to the benefit of Nigerian consumers. The initial studies that we conducted in Nigeria suggests that Nigeria is just a sellers market, where the seller just brings in whatever catches his fancy and off-loads on the consumer. But we are coming to provide value for money, provide the products. Not only the products but, also, the consultancy. We want to provide consultancy to people to help them determine what they need, help them to save money, basically. So, its about saving money for the consumer. Thats what we are bringing to the Nigerian consumer.

MLCK: How do you assess the impact of your business, City Lights, on Ghanas economy?

EO: City Lights is just a very minute, very small company or a small player in the entire Ghanaian economy. But I think that in our area of specialization, we think we have contributed massively. Like I said, City Lights is a pioneer in the lighting sector of Ghanas economy. Today you can see so many lighting companies, just like City Lights. So we think that City Light has opened this line of business. Moreover, today we employ a lot Ghanaians. Also, because of us, people have come to appreciate the use of lighting in their daily lives. You know, lighting plays a very important role in the housing industry, nay, the entire economy, be it manufacturing, road and construction sector, hospitals, hotels and hospitality sector, you name it, lighting plays a very important role. And, prior to City Lights coming on the scene, people misused lighting thereby incurring huge energy costs. There were also health implications, because misuse of light can result to health issues. But City Lights has over the years helped people to appreciate light and then also the right application of lightings in their homes and businesses et cetera. Besides that, we also think we have created a lot of employment opportunities, both through those we employ directly and through our agencies. In that area, we think we have also played our part. Finally in the area of corporate tax, we also pay taxes to the government. And I think that is another area where we have done very well.

MLCK: How many people do you employ?

EO: Yeah, City Lights, as at today employs 92 people at our various locations. And this number would jump to about 300 in the months ahead. Because, apart from our expansion to other West African countries of Liberia, Cote dIvoire and Sierra Leone, we are also expanding internally here in Ghana. We are about opening six more outlets within Ghana. That will take our staff strength to 300 or thereabout.

MLCK: Do you employ Nigerians in Ghana?

EO: We will love to create employment opportunities for Nigerians in Ghana, but theres a legal issue with that. The issue has to do with not only work permit but also the quota system. Local businesses are not allowed to employ foreigners unless you can prove that you cannot get that expertise locally. Thats what the Ghanaian law says on that issue. But we are trying to find a way around that. However, we have four Nigerians currently working here at City Lights, at top managerial positions. But like I said, well find a way of creating avenues for more Nigerians to also come on board. Moreover, we think we can do even better by opening more outlets in Nigeria itself where we can employ a lot more Nigerians. In Ghana, we are trying to find a way of absorbing Nigerians who have gone to school here and graduated here.

MLCK: Indian and Lebanese companies here in Ghana, ironically, seem not to be restricted by this local law you talked about because I see many of them having lots of Indian and Lebanese workers. Why are you not toeing their line with respect to your compatriots?

EO: I think they have a way of doing that. We are trying to find out how they go about it; and, perhaps, copy from them.

MLCK: How do you see City Lights evolving in the coming years?

EO: The future is so bright; its fantastic. Sometimes I sit down and visualize what City Lights will be in the next ten years. We are looking at building an African company, an African brand. That is what we are looking at. In the next ten years, City Lights will be not only all over West Africa, but in other African countries. That is the kind of future we are looking at. Its definitely going to be very, very bright.

MLCK: Do you have plans of going into manufacturing?

EO: In fact as far back as 2004, we ventured into manufacturing. But at the end of the day, we realized that the cost of manufacturing locally were far too higher than the cost of importing. And so we shelved that option for the time being. But as the demand grows, we will revisit the option, especially if it will help bring down costs of the finished products.

MLCK: Thank you for your time, Prince Okeson!

EO: Thank you very much!
By Kwamina Tandoh, GNA

Accra, May 25, GNA - The Convention People's Party (CPP), on Wednesday, urged Ghanaians to mobilise for a radical change in the way governance is managed in the country.

According to the Nkrumahist party, a massive change in the political leadership of the country was needed to get Ghana back to the development path charted by its first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

The leadership of the party, made the call at the 53rd Anniversary of the African Liberation Day in Accra, organised by the CPP in collaboration with the Socialist Forum of Ghana.

Speaking on the theme: 'African Liberation, An unfinished Agenda', to mark the African Union Day, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, a member of the Socialist Forum of Ghana said, the country was in dire need of a national development agenda as poverty and economic hardship had engulfed the nation.

He said since 1992 governments had failed Ghanaians in all sectors of the economy, hence, his call for change to salvage the economy.

'It is our responsibility as Nkrumaists to change the paradigm and struggle and fight for change of government, which will allow us uplift the country to bounce back to its former glory,' Mr Pratt added.

He said Africa's liberation was an unfinished agenda as the resources of Africa was not exploited for its citizen's benefits, adding that, 'Governments over the past 20 years have signed and maintained the foreign exchange retention agreement with mining companies, therefore, 98 per cent goes to the Western world and two per cent remains in the country which hinders development'.

He said this development hindered the progression of the nation when its natural resources was spirited away.

However, he said, these must be utilised to the benefit of Ghanaians.

He called on African's to be committed to the struggle for total liberation that would allow the proper redesigning towards the path to development.

Mr Pratt urged African citizens to unite and represent a dynamic force in the global arena.

Professor Edmund Delle, Chairman of the CPP, assured members of a strong party and called on them to return to the party to join forces together for a successful election 2016.

Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), presently recognised as the African Union (AU).

GNA
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.
business Apple can set up stores without sourcing waiver: FIPB The FIPB has told Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion that there isnt enough material on record to justify the 'state-of-the-art tech' claim to exempt Apple from sourcing locally.
you are here:
business Tata Steel may shortlist 2-3 bidders for UK assets today: Srcs Sajid Javid, business secretary, UK, wrote in a tweet that he met Tata management in Mumbai ahead of the board meeting to discuss the sales process, learns CNBC-TV18.
On Monday, Flight Centre Travel Group [ASX:FLT] released a subpar trading update.

On Monday, Flight Centre Travel Group [ASX:FLT] released a subpar trading update. In their update, Flight Centre showed investors how great sales dont always translate into profits. Flight Centre is well on their way to beating previous annual sales of $1.4 billion. And their total transaction value for 2016 is expected to surpass 2015 figures by $1.4 billion.

Yet, even though sales are on track, profits are a different story. In 2015, Flight Centre reported a profit before tax (PBT) of $366 million. However, an upcoming key trading period (MayJune) may put 2016 PBT 25% below 2015 figures.

Trading results for the 10 months leading up to 10 April showed weakening demand. And Flight Centre has blamed the upcoming Australian Federal election, and next months UK referendum, as reasons for slacker demand.

Even though the expected figures from above would be Flight Centres third best ever, its below initial guidance of 48% from 2015 figures. Competitive prices are also expected to hamper their ability to hit some supplier targets.

Flight Centre is not alone in providing excuses for weaker demand. Qantas Airways [ASX:QAN] and Virgin Australia Holdings [ASX:VAH] have also blamed the upcoming election. While it may add to consumer uncertainty, it should do little to the bottom line. Yet, because its impact is not really understood, it makes for a good excuse.

Flight Centres shares have fallen by 13.15%, to $32.46 per share, since open on Monday. Year to date, shares are down 18%. But have they fallen too far?

Source: Google Finance

Is it time to buy Flight Centre?

I dont see Flight Centres shares soaring up any time soon. Yet whether its time to buy Flight Centre or not is purely up to individual investors.

Do you believe that the federal election, among other events, will hurt Flight Centres profits? If so, then its probably not an ideal time to buy. But if you think the opposite is true, get your chequebook out.

However, instead of looking at this as a negative, lets put our optimistic hats on.

Right now, you could probably get yourself a $900 flight to New York. Provided you looked hard enough and at the right time. Prices are at rock bottom. Sure, its not good for profits right now.

But think about the long term. If prices are at rock bottom, theres only one place they can go  up! Flight Centre has also made it clear that theyre investing in future growth. Under boss and founder Graham Turner, they have a long history of delivering for shareholders.

This could definitely hurt margins during the financial year 2017. Yet, Turner plans to deliver shareholders value over the long term. Keep in mind that its important to invest in businesses which expect to grow over the next 100 years. Trying to make a balance sheet look good from year to year isnt a sustainable business model.

Harje Ronngard,

Junior Analyst, Money Morning

PS: There are thousands of stocks in the ASX universe. Most of them arent really worth looking at. But it can still take a long time to find those that are worth the trouble. Thats why Money Mornings Publisher, Kris Sayce, has done the hard work for you.

In Kris report, The Five Best ASX Stocks for 2016, you wont have to quit your day job to analyse stocks. Just read Kris report to learn which five ASX stocks you should be looking at in 2016.

Kris will show you a sneaky way to play the Australian property market. Theres also a big iron ore and retail revival he shares with you. To get your free copy of Kris report, click here.
I am angry, and very ashamed. Here again the state of North Carolina is in the news for more hate. Is it ever going to stop? Our little local town of Glen Alpine has decide that it is okay to fly a flag, yes that Confederate Flag that is once again in the news, to honor the soldiers from the confederate war. This flag, as Hatie Rutherford stated, has a lot more meaning. It brings back the Jim Crow days. These are raw wounds that apparently are never going to be able to heal due to ignorant decisions to fly a symbol of hostility and hate that has been used for years to illicit fear among the African American residents, and in some cases other people or cultures.

Dont give me any lame excuses or statements that this flag isnt about hate that hate is only in hearts what a bunch of crock! It is totally disrespectful to use a symbol that has stood more for hateful reasons than good especially when other places have taken these flags down in a symbol of respect. I havent seen the town hang a flag for Juneteeth. Do these people agree that a flag should be flown for that celebration? How about a Buffalo Soldiers Flag? I wonder how many people know who the Buffalo Soldiers are, and their history. And what is this, Mr. Ice Cream Man says that we havent seceded and its okay as long as the American flag is on top. Really? It it sure is a slap in the face to our African American residents, all over again. And , no, the American flag doesnt make it right. The American flag represents how we all fought to establish a country of freedom, and many people lost their lives. Dont be using my American flag to excuse yourselves!
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the U.S- National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration have issued a La Nina watch for 2016.

El Nino refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. La Nina episodes represent periods of below-average sea surface temperatures across the east-central Equatorial Pacific.

Extended and strong El Nino occurrences have generally resulted in deficient Indian monsoons and sharp drops in agricultural production. Conversely, La Nina occurrences have led to bountiful rainfall and large above average increases in agricultural GDP growth rates which have translated into above average GDP growth rates as well.

In order to alleviate rural distress, India needs bountiful rainfall, with proper spatial and temporal distribution. Consequently, a La Nina event could provide a major boost to consumption, investment and GDP growth.

Given the historically strong positive correlation between La Nina years and Indias GDP/agriculture dependent/rural sectors, Deutsche Bank Markets Research analysed more than 30 years (since 1980-81) of monsoon data and associated key economic indicators to assess the impact of La Nina. The conclusions:

Bountiful rainfall in La Nina years.

Average annual rainfall in La Nina years (officially identified by the government - FY89, FY99, FY00, FY08 & FY11) has been 5.3% above long term average vs. a mean of 4.6% below long term average in non-La Nina years. The Indian Meteorological Department has forecasted 2016 monsoon rainfall to be 106% of long-term average assigning 94% probability to normal or above rainfall.

Robust performance of rural economy.

Consequently, rural economy has also posted strong growth during La Nina years. For e.g. Agriculture GDP in La Nina years grew at an average 7.8% yoy vs. an average of 2.3% yoy in non La Nina years. In the past two years agriculture GDP growth has averaged an anemic 0.4% yoy on account of an El-Nino influenced drought.

Food grain production growth in La Nina years averaged 9.6% yoy compared to an average 1.2% yoy in non La Nina years.

We also note that the positive impact of La Nina is amplified further if it is preceded by an El-Nino year, a situation similar to the current year. Based on long-term data of El Nino and La Nina events, there is significant statistical evidence of strong El Ninos being followed in quick succession by a La Nina.

GDP rises sharply in La Nina years.

The broader economic indicators i.e. GDP, private consumption and investments growth also exhibit similar trends in La Nina years, averaging 8.9%/7.4%/10.4% yoy growth - significantly higher than average growth of 5.8%/5.2%/7.2% yoy respectively in non La Nina years.

Rural interfacing stocks perform strongly.

We have also analyzed the price performance of rural-interfacing stocks during the past three La Nina years (FY00, FY08 and FY11) and conclude that most rural-interfacing stocks provided strong returns in La Nina years.

Positive performance is front ended to 1H.

As far as rural-interfacing stocks are concerned, the positive stock performance is largely front ended in 1H (Apr-Sep). This could be largely on account of an anticipation of good rainfall. However, several stocks tend to give up some part of 1H gains in 2H (i.e Oct-Mar). For e.g. M&M, Hero Motocorp, Shree Cement, Dabur, HUVR, Jain Irrigation, Coromandel have yielded following average returns in 1H and 2H of past 3 La Nina years: 25%/-4%; 16%/-15%; 73%/-23%; 42%/-12%; 17%/-3%; 31%/-4% and 85%/-13% respectively.

Importantly, most of these stocks have sharply outperformed Sensex during 1H of past 3 La Nina years.

Asian Paints and Shriram Trans Fin have provided positive average returns in both the 1H and 2H at an average of 40%/7% and 36%/28% respectively, outperforming Sensex in both the halves.

In addition to the likely positive monsoon rainfall, the governments renewed focus on rural India in the budget should compound the benefits. In the FY17 Union Budget, government had raised allocation to Ministry of agriculture by a sharp 94% yoy, while allocation to Ministry of Rural Development stayed at an impressive 4.4% of budgeted expenditure. There was also a clear thrust to rural infrastructure with allocation to the flagship rural road program budgeted to rise 33%yoy from Rs 142 billion to Rs 190 billion - the highest allocation under this scheme since FY12. The government also announced a 0.5% cess on taxable services for the welfare of farmers.

With rising likelihood of La Nina and an empirical record of rural-interfacing stocks performing well coupled with governments renewed focus on rural India, we believe that following stocks stand out as key beneficiaries of an increasingly likely normal/above normal monsoon rainfall: Hero Motocorp, M&M, Dabur, HUVR, Bajaj Corp, Shree Cement, Ultratech, SHTF, Jain Irrigation, Coromandel.

The above is an extract from the India Equity Strategy report Rising likelihood of La Nina: positive surprises ahead, by Deutsche Bank Markets Research.
Dr. David Persse was watching his 5-year-old grandson playing in the backyard recently when he noticed the child wasnt wearing mosquito repellent.

When he asked his son-in-law about it, he said the young man, whom he described as very intelligent, seemed to shrug it off, telling Persse: Hes not going to get pregnant.

The response didnt go over too well with Persse, who happens to be Houstons public health authority and the citys unofficial Zika czar. The doctor explained that if the boy got bitten, he could become a reservoir for the virus that could infect another mosquito that could infect apregnant woman.

Besides that, he said, we dont fully understand the Zika virus. If it can affect a developing fetal brain, perhaps it can do the same to a developing 5-year-old brain.

He could see in his son-in-laws eyes that he hadnt thought of that.

The exchange demonstrates how far public health officials have to go in educating the public about Zika, a virus that can cause microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with small heads and underdeveloped brains.

On Friday, federal health officials announced that doctors are monitoring 279 pregnant women with confirmed or suspected Zika infections in the United States and the territories.

As of Friday, there were 36 confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Texas, none transmitted by mosquitoes here, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Of those, 13 were reported in Harris County, and two in Fort Bend County.

With the Aedes Aegypti mosquito weeks away from breeding in the humid, post-flood Houston area, Persse and others are pleading with the public and officials who hold purse strings to take the threat seriously.

He worries that in Washington, theres bickering about a bill to fund research on Zika and related birth defects, and response teams to limit the spread and fight Zika in other countries. President Barack Obama asked for $1.9 billion in funding; the Senate approved $1.1 billion last week while the House allocated $622 million. The White House has called the House version woefully inadequate.

Its also three months late. The World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency in February.

This is different from an earthquake, Persse said. We can see this coming.

Frustration grows

He said he believes Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett understand the threat but lack money for the best response. The money is at the federal level.

You sense the frustration in my voice, Persse said. Once we have a child born in the U.S. with microcephaly, everybodys going to be pointing fingers and saying, Who didnt do something six months ago? 

Persse said the city has set up an incident command center, such as the ones for natural disasters, and has been knocking on doors to inform residents about the virus.

He said the city also has ramped up efforts to collect heavy trash on Saturdays, resulting in an extra 2,500 tons picked up over the last two months. He said about 1,400 tires, a favorite mosquito breeding ground, have been collected.

The city has worked with Metro and the county to put up signs about the 3-D Zika defense: drain, dress, Deet. In other words: drain water from places where it can pool, dress in clothing that protects skin from bites and use effective bug spray.

One big challenge, Persse said, is the self-centered thinking today. As a boy, he said, his parents and others were concerned about protecting the entire community from polio. Today, he said, we have a more narrow focus on our own families.

Weve got to be worried about all the kids in the community, all the pregnant women.

Sluggish response

Beyond that, its hard to change behaviors. Some of us arent used to cleaning out our rain gutters, for instance, or emptying our bird baths every week, or wearing insect repellent.

This is Houston. Were all used to getting mosquito bites, he said. Weve got to have a different attitude about it now.

Last week, Legacy Community Health Services began distributing packets of bug spray, condoms and virus information to patients at its federally qualified health center in the Gulfton area.

Most of our patients, spending $5 for a can of mosquito spray means they dont eat, said executive director Katy Caldwell.

A pregnant woman who contracted Zika in El Salvador is one of the clinics patients; so far, her baby shows no signs of abnormality, said Dr. Juan Franco.

Franco said every patient is screened for Zika and informed about it during visits. He said many arent aware the virus can be sexually transmitted.

Caldwell said shed like to see a more extensive response locally, on par with cities such as Washington D.C. and New York, which are conducting large-scale community outreach and handing out prevention packets.

The sluggish response in Texas reminds her of the HIV epidemic, another virus that wasnt well understood or taken seriously until too late.

We cant afford the same complacency, from our public officials, or from ourselves.

Obama suggested on Friday that Americans tell their congressional representatives to get on the job.

Its good advice for all of us
There is an old adage that knowledge is power. It sounds cliche, but it has inherent truth. I believe informed patients make the best decisions regarding their health. Im glad you enrolled in the course. Lets begin.

Among American women, breast cancer is the second most common cancer behind skin cancer.

About 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer during her lifetime. The American Cancer Society estimated that approximately 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in 2015. Additionally, 60,290 new cases of carcinoma in situ were diagnosed and 40,290 Americans lost their lives to breast cancer in 2015. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women, according to cancer.org.

A mammogram is a screening exam. Screening exams are used to identify a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms of that disease. It is important to use screenings when there is a high prevalence of the disease that youre trying to detect. This is why we screen women for breast cancer but not men.

Our goal as physicians is to detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stage. The Swedish Two-County Trial demonstrated a 20-year survival rate of approximately 87 percent in patients whose breast cancers were discovered when the tumors were less than 1 centimeter in size. This trial followed approximately 77,000 women who obtained yearly screening mammograms and 56,000 women who did not receive screening mammograms (control group). Both of these groups were followed for approximately seven years. This trial demonstrated a 30 percent reduction in overall breast cancer mortality and concluded that breast cancer mortality is a valid end point. Screening mammography does indeed reduce mortality from breast cancer, according to the trial.

We have recently added breast tomosynthesis. This new 3D technology gives us an even greater ability to find small cancers in some patients. Additionally, it decreases the number of false positive exams. It is the next big step forward in our fight against breast cancer.

It is important to address pre-test probability when designing and implementing a screening exam. The following is a list of common risk factors that increase pre-test probability.

-- The patients sex

Although breast cancer is occasionally seen in men, the overwhelming majority of cases are in women.

-- The patients age

As women age, the incidence of breast cancer increases.

-- Personal history of breast cancer.

-- Family history of breast cancer

Patients who have a first-degree relative -- mother, daughter, sister -- diagnosed with premenopausal breast cancer have an increased risk.

-- Genetic mutations

Certain genetic mutations, such as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation, have a significant increase in risk.

-- History of radiation exposure.

An example is a patient who has been treated for lymphoma.

-- Additional factors resulting in increased risk include obesity, never having children and increased breast density.

I am often asked what breast density means and what are the implications of having dense breasts. Breast density refers to the amount of glandular and supporting tissue relative to the amount of fat. The more glandular and supporting tissue a patient has, the denser a patients breast. Breast density has important implications. It limits the ability of a radiologist to see masses. It also confers a greater lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. In our practice we have found that ultrasound is a powerful screening adjunct in patients with dense breasts.

In the words of Lord Kelvin, If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.

The American College of Radiology and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggest women start yearly screening mammograms at age 40. The ACS and the American Society of Breast Surgeons suggest women 40 years of age have the ability to start yearly screening mammograms. They recommend yearly screening mammograms start at age 45. Anecdotally, I have seen many cases of cancer develop in a period of a single year. I have also seen many cancers in women under the age of 45.

Nationally 50 percent of eligible women get a yearly screening mammogram, according to the ACS. Statewide, 53 percent of women get a yearly screening mammogram. In Midland County, our internal data demonstrated a 31 percent compliance rate last year. This discrepancy has been the focus of our community outreach for a number of years. I am happy to report that 31 percent is actually an improvement, but it still woefully short of our goal. We will continue to measure in order to gauge our progress. We aim to find as many cancers as soon as we can to improve the health of our community.

I encourage all women to become knowledgeable and take control of their breast health. It is important to remember that the vast majority of screening exams are normal. Occasionally, we do find cancer. The sooner we find it, the better the chance for a successful treatment.

Dr. Noah Wempe is director of Allison Womens Imaging.
When kids get sick, many parents cant afford to miss work and take them to a doctor. So they often go untreated and miss class, which makes things worse.

Childrens Health in Dallas has created an alternative -- virtual visits.

Theyre offered in 57 schools in the region, with 30 more coming on line in August. They range from nine schools in Lancaster, south of Dallas, to eight schools in Denison, near the Oklahoma border. Eight charter schools participate, plus schools in Allen, Garland, Grand Prairie, Irving and Mesquite.

Childrens targets areas where many kids go to the emergency room for routine care. And it partners with schools that are eager and able to participate. Most of the students have insurance coverage through CHIP and Medicaid, government programs for low-income families.

This is one more example of how innovation is transforming health care. And its another application of telemedicine, a specialty that uses remote technology to connect doctors and patients. Such consults cost much less than a trip to the ER or urgent care center, and theyre growing rapidly in the private sector and some hospitals.

In the Childrens program, sick students go the school nurses office, which is outfitted with a telemedicine cart that has about $20,000 worth of technology. A doctor or nurse practitioner, who works from home or a Childrens facility, talks with students and conducts exams via a video conference.

Stethoscopes and other devices plug into the Childrens cart and stream video and data in real time. The school nurse coordinates the process, ensuring that doctors can see into patients ears and throats, and hear their heartbeats and breathing.

Childrens is wrapping up the second year of its school-based telehealth program, and nearly 3,400 students have been treated so far. Its too early to tell whether the program has reduced ER trips, a major goal. But other progress is clear.

"It helps me keep kids healthy and in the classroom," said Macey Dossey, a nurse at Galloway Elementary School in Mesquite. "Students and their parents love it."

With some conditions, such as fever and vomiting, students are required to go home. But many other problems are addressed in less than half an hour, she said. Among the most common conditions treated are upper respiratory infections, seasonal allergies, asthma and ear infections.

More schools want in, and others want Childrens to expand into more areas, such as behavioral health and obesity. Childrens is quick to say that it encourages students to see their primary care doctors. But in practice, follow-up appointments often occur in the school nurses office with the Childrens provider.

Many people believe that telemedicine is primarily a solution for rural areas, where doctor shortages are common.

"Wrong," said Julie Hall-Barrow, vice president of virtual health and innovation at Childrens. "You can be in a very urban location and still have barriers to access."

The response has been so strong that Childrens offers its telemed program to other hospitals. Wise Health System has signed on, using Childrens template and its own providers.

"Our program is probably a model for the country," Hall-Barrow said.

It shows how telemedicine can reach an underserved area in a cost-effective way, said Sandy Ahn, a health policy researcher at Georgetowns Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

"This is a great model because its exactly the purpose of telemedicine -- to increase access to local providers," Ahn said. "This could be a big step in gaining wider acceptance."

Ultimately, that may depend on whether telemedicine reduces costs in the system. If it leads to fewer ER visits and improves student attendance, such programs will be adopted quickly.

The Childrens effort is also notable for how it solved the economics and politics of the program. The first two years were funded through a state Medicaid waiver that encourages innovation. That waiver was set to expire before the state recently won a reprieve to continue for 15 months.

Federal officials want Texas to expand Medicaid, a key plank of the Affordable Care Act. But elected leaders have refused to consider expansion. With the waiver in doubt, Childrens wanted a way to sustain the program financially.

In last years Legislature, it helped push through a bill that allows certain providers to be reimbursed as if theyre the primary care physician. That means Childrens can be paid for the virtual visits by CHIP, Medicaid or private insurance.

Texas has some of the most restrictive rules on telemedicine in the nation. But this construct -- a school nurse and patient connecting with a doctor remotely -- is permitted. And Childrens now has a sustainable path forward.

The Legislature approved the school telemed bill by a combined vote of 174-1. The Texas Medical Association, which opposes some common telemed efforts, supported the bill. So did groups representing nurses, hospitals and business.

Lawmakers had many concerns initially, said Matt Moore, who led the legislative push for Childrens. They worried about fraud and abuse, patient security, doctors prescribing too many antibiotics and a surge in utilization.

"We just had to educate people," Moore said.

If it keeps paying off, maybe Texas will embrace telemedicine for the masses, too.

Twitter: @mitchschnurman

___

(c)2016 The Dallas Morning News

Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our nation. Millions of Americans have valiantly served our country, and thousands have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom -- their lives. It seems that many Americans have forgotten the real meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. We do not observe the day as we should.

Many people confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. Veterans Day is the time to honor all our service members -- living or dead. On Memorial Day we should honor our fallen heroes by the simple act of remembering them. Memorial Day is just one day out of the year that we can remember those whose feet will never tread on the earth again. The men and women who so bravely served our country had their own hopes and dreams for the future. They hugged their families and told them they would be back soon. Unfortunately, some came back to America by a lonely ramp at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before traveling to their final resting place. That was where their families got to glimpse at them one last time. For others, only the memories remain.
Before Tuesdays city council meeting, members were briefed about traffic wrecks, including the top five high-crash intersections.

Fairgrounds Road at Loop 250 south service road came in at No. 1. The northwest intersection of Loop 250 North and Andrews Highway and intersection of Midkiff Road and Wall Street tied for second. Midland Drive and Wadley Avenue and Andrews Highway at Midland Drive intersections rounded out the top five, city engineering officials said.

The main goal of recognizing these hot spots is to discuss possible solutions that could turn into future projects, city traffic engineer Michael Pacelli said.

The causes for wrecks at Fairgrounds and Loop 250 are because there arent any traffic signals. Fairgrounds has a stop sign and speed limits on Loop 250 service roads are higher.

Fairgrounds and Loop 250 is being widened to five lanes and Loop 250 may be extended into an overpass over Fairgrounds. The Texas Department of Transportation will host a public meeting about the project at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 2 at Sibley Nature Center, city officials said.

Schematics for possible safety improvements to the No. 2 intersection -- the northwest corner of the Andrews Highway/Loop 250 interchange -- are underway. The goal would be to use at least some TxDOT funding to make the improvements, Pacelli said.

In order to show this could be done out in phases, the city is doing schematics to show how improvements might be made to the interchange over time, he said.

Fatalities in city limits were down for 2015. There were 10 fatal wrecks last year, a sharp drop from 2014s 24 fatalities. So far this year, there have been four traffic fatalities inside city limits, Pacelli said.

No concrete plans were made to address a high number of congested areas on Andrews Highway near Midland Memorial Hospital. The main problem was a combination of several stop lights in a row and most drivers needing to turn left on Michigan, Illinois and Texas avenues in the mornings, Pacelli said.

Possible ideas to reduce congestion would be to add more access points to the shopping plaza that includes Chick-fil-A, Taco Villa and Walgreens, and to add a third northbound lane on Wall Street as the existing road would not need to be widened.

It makes it somewhat of a feasible project to undertake and be relatively cost-effective to do that, Pacelli said.

Rounding out the top 10 intersections, according to the 2015 traffic report on the citys website:

-- No. 6: Midkiff Road and Loop 250 North service road,

-- No. 7: southwest corner of Andrews Highway and Loop 250,

-- No. 8: Midkiff Road and Loop 250 South service road,

-- No. 9: Big Spring Street and Wadley Avenue and

-- No. 10: Midland Drive and Loop 250 South service road, and Garfield Street and Loop 250 South service road.

Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51
Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday during a book signing in Midland that a better statewide education system does not require more money.

The Republican governors comments followed the Texas Supreme Courts landmark ruling that the states current education funding system is constitutional. At the time, Abbott called the ruling a victory for Texas taxpayers and the Texas Constitution.

On Tuesday, when asked about the possibility of putting more money into education when the 85th Legislature convenes in January, Abbott said the goal is to focus on providing the best possible education for Texas children, not dedicating more money.

The Dallas Morning News, citing figures compiled by the National Education Association, reported in March that Texas schools are spending an average $9,559 per student in the current school year. That is well under the national average of $12,040 and ranks Texas 38th among the 50 states and District of Columbia.

The Reporter-Telegram, citing a different analysis, reported in April that in 2013 Midland ISD spent 33 percent less per student than the national average.

We have found from the states that spend more money -- that waste more money -- that they have a far inferior product, Abbott said during his appearance at Hastings. Money is not always the answer. You have to be smart. The focus is on educating children, not writing checks.

Abbott said that during the last session the state made strides on making schools better from pre-K to higher education. He said Tuesday that the decision by the Republican-controlled Supreme Court allows for state leaders to have greater latitude and that those leaders have to be smart, to focus and be strategic on providing the best possible ways to improve education.

Abbott was in Midland to sign copies of his new book, Broken but Unbowed, which he said will inspire people to rise above the challenges they face and achieve the fullness of life. He also said the book details how the nation is facing its own challenges -- specifically that the U.S. has abandoned the Constitution and that all branches of government are violating its design -- and Americans need to rise above the challenges they face.

The book outlines how the country can get back to its constitutional design, Abbott said.
In an attempt to intimidate his nephew, Aemond threatened to take out Lucerys' eye and later went after the young prince on dragon's back. The situation escalated to a bad one when Lucerys' dragon Arrax blew fire on Aemond's dragon Vhagar.
"If it requires removing all cabinet ...
Governor Brown at the Mother Lode Fair: Photo taken by: Tracey Petersen View Photos

Sonora, CA  Tuesday, Governor Jerry Brown tapped two local residents to fill empty seats on the 29th District Agricultural Association, Mother Lode Fair Board of Directors.

Fair CEO Stacey Dodge, expressing relief at the news, shares, We are really excited  it looks like, for the first time in quite awhile, that we will have a full board. However, she points out, We do have one director on our board right not who is awaiting a reappointment, and so we are still anxious to get her back on the board  officially  and that is Marge Kiriluk.

Asked if her office was able to provide any input into the new appointments, Dodge shrugs. Usually the Governor will call  or the appointment secretaryand ask for some input. He has not done that in a few years. While she admits that is a little bit disappointing, she remains pragmatic and positive, stating, From the sound of it, these two people are businesspeople  Micki Rucker and Albert Barreno  and we are looking forward to having them on the board.

Meet The New Members

For the past five years, Rucker, 63, a Twain Harte resident, has owned the Funky Junk Consignment Shop. Listed as a Republican, she currently also serves as vice president of the Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District and is a member both of the Sonora Chamber of Commerce and the Sonora Downtown Merchants Association.

Albert Barreno, 54, a Sonora-based business consultant also listed as a Republican has owned Barreno Enterprises LLC since 2013 and opened a Dickys BBQ franchise in Merced last year. He sits on the Friends of the Mother Lode Fairgrounds Board of Directors.

The positions are uncompensated and do not require Senate confirmation. They join board members Dan Brown, the interim board president; Missy Marino, interim vice president; Kiriluk; Jan Costa; Peggy Lee; Tom Miller; and Maren Paris.

Moving Forward Past Controversy

As reported here back in April, the board is facing some controversy due to claims of harassment by Dodge and the Fairs Office Manager Michelle OKeefe from board members Costa and Lee. Costa, Lee and others additionally made accusations about spending and alleged misappropriation of unbudgeted funds.

Just ahead of the the boards rather heated April meeting, one of the directors, Bryan Adcox, resigned without notice or providing a specific reason.

The board is next scheduled to meet this Wednesday at the fairgrounds, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Hillary Clinton and her team ignored clear guidance from the State Department that her email setup broke federal standards and could leave sensitive material vulnerable to hackers, an independent audit has found. Her aides twice brushed aside concerns, in one case telling technical staff "the matter was not to be discussed further."

Independent audit says Clinton ignored guidelines regarding emails

Email issue has brought up criticism of trustworthiness

Report says staff was told "the matter was not to be discussed further"

The inspector general's review also revealed that hacking attempts forced then-Secretary of State Clinton off email at one point in 2011, though she insists the personal server she used was never breached. Clinton and several of her senior staff declined to be interviewed for the State Department investigation.

Earlier this month, Clinton declared that she was happy to "talk to anybody, anytime" about the matter and would encourage her staff to do the same.

Opponents of her Democratic presidential campaign pointed to the audit Wednesday as proof that Clinton has not been truthful about her private email use and fresh evidence she is not trustworthy or qualified to be commander in chief.

A spokesman for Clinton, who served as the nation's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, declared the audit showed her email use was consistent with what others at the department have done.

Details from Clinton's email audit

The 78-page analysis, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, says Clinton ignored clear directives. She never sought approval to conduct government business over private email, and never demonstrated the server or the Blackberry she used while in office "met minimum information security requirements."

Twice in 2010, information management staff at the State Department raised concerns that Clinton's email practices failed to meet federal records-keeping requirements. The staff's director responded that Clinton's personal email system had been reviewed and approved by legal staff, "and that the matter was not to be discussed any further."

The audit found no evidence of a legal staff review or approval. It said any such request would have been denied by senior information officers because of security risks.

The inspector general's inquiry was prompted by revelations of Clinton's email use, a subject that has dogged her presidential campaign.

The review encompassed the email and information practices of the past five secretaries of state, finding them "slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership."

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon underscored that point Wednesday.

"The inspector general documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email," Fallon said, noting that the report says "her use of personal email was known to officials within the department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the secretary's server."

The audit did note that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had also exclusively used a private email account, though it did not name any other prior secretaries who had done so. But the failings of Clinton were singled out in the audit as being more serious than her predecessor.

"By Secretary Clinton's tenure, the department's guidance was considerably more detailed and more sophisticated," the report concluded. "Secretary Clinton's cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives."

Republicans: Clinton violated Federal Records Act

Republicans said Wednesday the audit shows Clinton was in clear violation of the Federal Records Act.

"The inspector general's findings are just the latest chapter in the long saga of Hillary Clinton's bad judgment that broke federal rules and endangered our national security," said Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. "The stakes are too high in this election to entrust the White House to someone with as much poor judgment and reckless disregard for the law as Hillary Clinton."

The State Department has released more than 52,000 pages of Clinton's work-related emails, including some that have since been classified. Clinton has withheld thousands of additional emails, saying they were personal.

Critics have questioned whether her server might have made a tempting target for hackers, especially those working with or for foreign intelligence services.

Separately from the State Department audit, the FBI has been investigating whether Clinton's use of the private email server imperiled government secrets. It has recently interviewed Clinton's top aides, including former chief of staff Cheryl Mills and deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin. Clinton is expected to be interviewed.

Clinton has acknowledged in the campaign that the homebrew email setup in her New York home was a mistake. She said she never sent or received anything marked classified at the time, and says hackers never breached the server.

The audit said a Clinton aide had to shut down the server on Jan. 9, 2011, because he believed "someone was trying to hack us.'' Later that day, he said: "We were attacked again so I shut (the server) down for a few min.''

The next day, a senior official told two of Clinton's top aides not to email their boss "anything sensitive," saying she could "explain more in person."

On CBS' "Face the Nation" this month, Clinton said, "I've made it clear that I'm more than ready to talk to anybody, anytime. And I've encouraged all of (my staff) to be very forthcoming."

The audit said three of her closest State Department aides - Mills, Abedin and policy chief Jake Sullivan - declined interview requests.
A Riverview woman lost so much weight, her dentures didn't fit properly. The same gym community that helped her toward her goal wanted to give Mary Hetzel her smile back.

Mary Hetzel went from 328 pounds to 159 pounds

Weight loss resulted in temporary dentures no longer fitting

Gym raised funds to purchase set of permanent dentures

At 348 pounds, Hetzel had diabetes and sleep apnea. Doctors told her to lose weight, or she was going to die.



She started working out at the Anytime Fitness in Riverview. Hetzel says the small community encouraged her and made working out fun. She now weighs 159 pounds.



Brian Kleinschmidt, the owner of the Anytime Fitness location, was so excited for Hetzel, he asked to take his picture with her.

Photo courtesy of Brian Kleinschmidt, Anytime Fitness



"I took a photo in the gym, and I noticed she wasn't smiling," said Kleinschmidt. "I asked to take one more. She took me aside and said 'I can't smile, I don't have any teeth.'"



All that weight loss meant her temporary dentures didn't fit properly.



"I was sad," said Hetzel. "I didn't like that I couldn't smile. Smiling is good for your soul."



A week later, a sign was hanging in the front of the gym with a picture of a mouth with no teeth. The members wanted to raise enough money to buy Hetzel a new set of permanent dentures. With each $100 the group raised, another tooth went on the smile.



Members, along with Anytime Fitness and the dentist, raised enough money to make it happen.



"You would have thought she won the lottery," said Kleinschmidt. "She started crying when we told her, and laughing. She was finally excited she could show that self confidence she has on the inside."



Hetzel received her new smile Wednesday. She didn't know her gym family was waiting with balloons at the gym to see her new set of teeth.



She walked in to a large group of people clapping, asking to see her smile.



"Everyone pulled together just to see me smile again," said Hetzel. "It's incredible. It's so indescribable how people just love you and they don't even know you. The world needs so much more of that."



Willie Hinson, a fellow gym member, was one of many who helped Hetzel's cause. He watched her walk in looking like a different person.



"I was ecstatic. I've never seen a more beautiful smile on such a beautiful person," Hinson said.


The KinderCare daycare on Goldenrod Road near Winter Park is protected by several walls and barriers.

However, it wasnt always this way.

Orange County approved ordinance tied to 2014 KinderCare crash

Requires new day care centers built on busy roads to install barriers

Ordinance sets up grant program to help new centers

"Whats the cost of a child? Whats the cost of a death, of an injury?" said Orange County Fire Rescue Chief Otto Drozd.

"When were talking $10,000 to $35,000 and were not impacting existing buildings, what were doing is encouraging them through grant dollars," Drozd continued.

In April 2014, 4-year-old Lily Quintus was killed and a dozen others were hurt when a hit-and-run driver named Robert Corchado caused another vehicle to crash into the busy KinderCare Day Care.

Corchado was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the deadly crash.

Two years later, county commissioners unanimously voted to approve the Lily Quintus Ordinance Tuesday afternoon.

[It creates] a state of greater safety for our children, so I think were going in the right direction," said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs during the public meeting.

"But I, like my colleagues here, have concerns about whether weve fully thought through the mechanism," Jacobs added.

The Mayors Task Force studied the issue, creating a new ordinance requiring certain new day care centers near busy roads to have protective barriers in place before they open.

Its expected to cost between $10,000 and $35,000 to comply with the new rules.

Existing daycares are exempt unless they renovate.

To me if we can save just one, then its worth any cost that we will incur," Drozd said.

County staff has set aside $200,000 in a grant program to help privately-owned day cares.

Each day care is eligible to receive up to $10,000 to pay for the protective barriers.

The day care crash barrier ordinance goes into effect June 1.
An ambitious, 20-year plan for Orange County that will remake hundreds of miles of sidewalks and roads more pedestrian, and disability, friendly.

20-year plan would fix cracked sidewalk pavement, add more ramps and enhance audible pedestrian signals

Upgrades meant to help pedestrians, especially those with disabilities

Orange County plan to cost $180 million

County Commissioners passed an Americans with Disabilities Act Infrastructure and Transition Plan Tuesday. The plan is expected to cost around $180 million.

In order to get the countys more than 2,800 miles of sidewalks to state guidelines, theyll improve cracked pavement, add more ramps, remove obstacles and enhance audible pedestrian signals.

Leaders hope the upgrades will help mobility, especially for those with disabilities or impairments.

It needs to be as safe as possible for pedestrians, let alone pedestrians who cant see, said Judy Mathews, who is an independent life skills and Braille teacher at Lighthouse of Central Florida.

The 37-year-old was born unable to see, only finding out she was blind when she was six or seven years old. Mathews cant see shapes or colors, only light, and relies on her guide dog, Keats, to be her eyes.

Keats and I have a really special bond, she said, as the pair walked through Orlando. We get on the city bus and he will find an empty seat for me.

Yet, Mathews says theres one problem: the lack of well-maintained sidewalks and audible pedestrian crossing signals in Orange County.

I cant stress enough the importance of having sidewalks, usable sidewalks, she said. It is frustrating and the dogs are trained to stop if theres crumbling sidewalk.

County leaders said that a vital part of their transition plan is community involvement. Through public meetings, emails and letters, theyll take stock of necessary upgrades and add them to their improvement list. The millions to fund the project will come first out of Orange County coffers then, potentially, state grants.

For Mathews and others, the price tag is worth it.

We want to make sure we can be as safe as possible and that we can get where we need to, she said.
The elderly man who crashed into an SUV and then a mother with a child in Daytona Beach Monday has Alzheimers and may have been suicidal.

Ray Beams, 85, struck an SUV Monday, and then hit a mother pushing a stroller on the sidewalk

Police say Beams was reported missing by his children in February

When found, police say he wanted to take his own life

A Port Orange police report shows Ray Beams' children reported the 85-year-old missing in February.

Once found, Beams allegedly told police he wanted to take his own life. He was distraught over losing his wife of 60 years last summer.

The report says Beams asked a police officer for his gun so that he could make it all go away.

Mike Hennessy, 64, lives across the street from Beam's home in Port Orange and remembers when his family was desperately looking for Beams.

"He had an episode, say three or four months ago, where everybody was out looking for him. The local cops and state police, and had helicopters hovering over," said Hennessy.

Police say Beams, who is diagnosed with Alzheimers, was driving a Mercury sedan Monday when Port Orange police were getting ready to report him missing again.

Police say he rear-ended a Chevrolet Tahoe on Williamson Boulevard, crossed a median into oncoming traffic, and ran over 24-year-old Christian Sims and her nearly 2-year-old daughter, Iris Barnes.

"A young mother and a child like that, you know, it's unbelievable to think. You don't know when to say take the keys and when not to take the keys," said Hennessy.

Mental health experts say the conversation about taking Beams' car keys away should've started when he first walked away from his home several months ago.

"Not just the keys get taken away but that car gets removed, because if you still see that car, you still have that. Again, they have Alzheimers, so they still think they can drive," said Council on Aging CEO Sarah Gurtis.

Gurtis says a person who shows signs of Alzheimers will not improve. The patient's condition can only get worse, becoming a danger to themselves and the public.

"I think after the last episode that should've been a tip off. If it was my dad I wouldn't let him drive," said Hennessy.

Sims is still at Halifax Hospital in serious condition, but she is improving and expected to recover.

Right now, police are not saying if Beams will face any charges. Their investigation is ongoing.
A Seminole County father says his family is too afraid to live in their home after someone shot several rounds of gunfire into it Saturday. The family was in their living room.

Family says someone shot into home on Saturday

Family believes the shooter is in conflict with who ever lived there before

Robert Hatfield says his family is lucky to be alive.

And they couldve died for nothing, said Hatfield.

The father returned to the home Tuesday night to describe the familys terrifying experience. Hatfield says several bullets just narrowly missed him, his wife and young son.

Hatfield says he has no idea who this shooter is. He says his family just began renting the home about a month ago. He says after Saturdays shooting, he found out the property had been shot at before. He believes whoever did it has a beef with someone they think still lives there.

Why are you shooting at innocent people? If you all had problems take it out on each other, not on innocent people, said Hatfield.

Hatfield says he cant afford to break his lease and move out. But he says his family cant stay at the house anymore.

They will not come back to this home, said Hatfield. They are fearful for their lives.

One of the Hatfields dogs was cut by flying glass during the shootout, but is doing OK.

We reached out to the Seminole County Sheriffs Office, but so far no word on who this shooter was.
Industry leaders are gathering in Cape Canaveral this week at the 44th annual Space Congress.

Space Congress discusses science, engineering and aeronautics

SpaceX discussed its progress with the commercial crew program

SpaceX hopes to send NASA astronauts to the ISS by 2017

Hundreds have come to town to talk about topics in the science, engineering and aeronautics field.

At the forefront: the work done so far, and what's to come in the commercial spaceflight sector.

"Our goal is to inspire a whole generation of space travelers," SpaceX Commercial Crew Director Benjamin Reed said.

Reed addressed the group as part of a panel discussion.

His grandfather worked on the Space Coast decades ago on the Apollo Program. He's proud his company is leading the way, and partnering with NASA to currently fly cargo and soon, crew, to the International Space Station. That frees up NASA to explore deep space.

"If we are going to open up this new space age, there has to be a whole bunch of players, lots of people doing it, lots of people working hard. So commercial spaceflight is the way to go in partnership with NASA, and other agencies, we're going to do it," said Reed.

"The commercial aspect just brings a whole new energy and enthusiasm," said Lisa Colloredo of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

She says with the private companies taking care of Low Earth orbit missions, NASA can reach to the stars.

"We can focus our energies and new technologies for deep space and Mars activities," Colloredo said.

SpaceX says they are on track for sending NASA astronauts to the ISS by 2017.

The next launch from the Space Coast is this Thursday. SpaceX will bring a communications satellite to orbit. The two-hour window opens at 5:40 p.m.
Dean Paterakis said he had held his silence long enough and Tuesday was his breaking point.

"Honestly, what they did to me is absolutely wrong. It was against my constitutional rights," said Paterakis.

Constantine Paterakis arrested after officials say he disrupted school board meeting

Members of School Board told him his comments were inappropiate

Paterakis says he still intends to run for School Board



His outburst during public comment at the Brevard County School Board meeting landed him in jail. Deputies quickly removed him, but Wednesday he shared what he had to get off of his chest.

"During my three minutes, I had brought up the issue with a teacher that showed his erect penis to a classroom of students at a high school a couple years back and he is still employed," said Paterakis.

But Paterakis claims he's not the one who started the disruption and he blames Chairman Andy Ziegler.

"They charged me with disrupting a school board meeting but as you can see from the video, its School Boardmember Andy Ziegler who disrupts the school board meeting," said Paterakis.

"I said if the conversation wasn't appropriate to be had at a school then it wouldn't be an acceptable conversation to be had at that meeting," Andy Ziegler.

Ziegler said he wasn't happy with his word choice and said what Paterakis claims happened with that teacher did not happen in the manner he mentioned.

"He started to speak in what I thought was an aggressive demeanor and started talking about things that was just barely crossing the line and there was a room full of students," said Ziegler.

Paterakis refused to leave, at one point falling to the ground and being dragged out by deputies. He continued to yell at the school board as he was escorted out.

Meanwhile, members of the crowd were cheering him on, yelling let him speak.





Brevard County Sheriff's deputies escorted Dean Paterakis from the Tuesday night School Board meeting.

But the school district spokesperson said it was unacceptable behavior and called this one of the worst disruptions.

Paterakis is running for school board for the fifth time, for district 4, and believes hes standing up for children's safety.

"I think this will really backfire on the powers to be," said Paterakis.

Paterakis bonded out on a $1,000 bond. He has a hearing on the case on June 20.

The Brevard County School Board narrowly approved moving forward with the LGBT protections in the districts nondiscrimination policy. A public hearing is set for July.
A juvenile black bear that caused a stir in Orlando's College Park neighborhood Tuesday continued to hang out after neighbors thought he was gone.

College Park bear hung out in tree for more than 5 hours

Bear was shooed out with paintball gun

Bear was spotted soon later about a block away

The bear huddled in an oak tree at a residence on Country Club Drive for more than five hours, drawing a crowd of onlookers, before a contractor with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shot at it with a paintball gun to shoo it down and away.

But it was soon spotted again about a block away.

Tim Wise, who moved into the neighborhood about six months ago, said he and his family love the area for the peace and quiet. So he said he was pretty shaken up when he noticed something up in a tree in his backyard.

It gave me the weebie jeebies, Wise said.

Wise snapped a couple of pictures before hurriedly heading back inside. The bear then continued its College Park adventure, heading into Bob Trulucks yard.

Truluck said he went into the backyard to find out what his dogs were barking at and quickly realized that was not the best idea.

(I was) walking around the corner, and there is a bear from me to you," he said. "I'm not the Bear Whisperer, so we left him alone.

The black bear finally scampered off, leaving residents wondering if and when it would be back.

FWC officials said if the bear is left alone, it will likely return to its home in the woods. There is no immediate plan to try to trap or tranquilize the bear unless it shows some form of aggression.


GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.
SpaceX scrubbed Thursday night's launch of a Falcon 9 rocket "out of an abundance of caution."

SpaceX will attempt to launch Falcon 9 rocket at 5:39 p.m. Friday

2-hour launch window will extend until 7:39 p.m.

Rocket carries THAICOM-8 satellite



The rocket was supposed to launch when the two-hour launch window opened up at 5:40 p.m., but the launch immediately went into a delay.

SpaceX announced around 6:45 p.m. that Thursday's launch was postponed until no earlier than Friday for additional data review.

In a tweet from SpaceX's verified account, the space agency said Falcon 9 and the spacecraft remain healthy.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said there was a "tiny glitch" in the motion of an upper-stage engine actuator. "Probably not a flight risk, but still worth investigating," Musk said.

SpaceX will again try to launch  and land  a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday.



The two hour launch window opens at 5:39 p.m.

The rocket is carrying a THAICOM-8 commercial communications satellite into orbit. Thaicom is one of Asia's leading satellite operators, and the satellite will provide broadcast and data services for Thailand, Southeast Asia, India and Africa.



After the launch, the first stage of the rocket will attempt to land on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship off the Brevard County coast. If successful, it would be the third such landing in the company's history.

This is the first of four launches for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station scheduled through July. United Launch Alliance is scheduled to launch a Delta IV Heavy rocket June 4 and an Atlas V rocket June 24.

SpaceX will also attempt to land its stage booster on a floating ship out in the Atlantic Ocean. The last two drone ship landings have been successful.



Then, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station on July 16.



SpaceX will attempt to launch this THAICOM-8 communications satellite Thursday afternoon, May 26, 2016. (SpaceX)
A Special Tropical Weather Outlook update was issued Wednesday morning to discuss the possibility that an extended area of low pressure north of the Bahamas may deepen somewhere off the Florida east coast late Friday.

Weather models show an area of low pressure, but are depicting a weak, possibly broad low. In weather terms, the atmospheric pressure in model runs don't drop this low below 1,005 milibars (and by then, it's near the South Carolina coast.) If it were to drop below 1,000 mb, we would be more concerned of a potential tropical/subtropical system.

We also have some pretty good shear and dry air in the atmosphere, which is not conducive for rapid deepening.

As of Wednesday morning, low pressure is forecast to begin developing Friday. The models differ on location, but it will be somewhere off the Florida east coast and north of the Bahamas. As it develops, it is expected to move north toward Georgia and the Carolinas this weekend.

Depending on where this low develops and how broad it is, we could be looking at a decent shot of showers and storms Saturday and Sunday, or a fairly dry holiday weekend.

If broad low pressure develops closer to the Florida coastline, anticipate higher-end rain chances. If it develops farther off shore or becomes a little more compact, expect dry air to be pulled over the peninsula lowering rain chances.

The main story: Don't cancel your holiday weekend plans.

In any case, expect a high rip current risk and rough surf on our east coast from Friday night into Memorial Day.
A school bus was involved in a four-car crash Wednesday morning on Culver Drive in Palm Bay, police said.



Pineapple Cove Classical Academy School bus was rear-ended



No students were injured

Police looking at 'possible DUI'



A Dodge Durango caused a chain reaction at a traffic light, hitting the car in front of it. The last vehicle in the chain was a Pineapple Cove Classical Academy School bus, which was struck in the rear, Lt. Mike Bandish of Palm Bay Police told News 13.



Although no students were injured, Bandish did say there were injuries for some of those in the other vehicles.

There are no details about the injuries as this is an ongoing investigation, Bandish said, but police will be looking at the cause of the crash as a "possible DUI."

The crash remains under investigation.


Four men have been taken into custody after a hours-long manhunt Wednesday for armed robbery suspects in Orlando, according to police.

4 men taken into custody in connection with armed robbery

Man robbed at gunpoint on International Drive, Orlando Police say

Suspected robbers fled to Conley Street, according to police

The incident started just before 2 a.m. in the 6200 block of International Drive, near Wet 'n Wild. Orlando Police said a woman was robbed at gunpoint by four men.

The men were seen jumping over a fence and into a getaway car. An Orange County Sheriff's Office helicopter was following them overhead and followed them to the 1100 block of Cypress Street. That's where police said a suspect ditched the car and went into an apartment on Conley.

SWAT teams were dispatched after police called for the suspects to come out of the apartment.

Police asked the public to avoid the area while the suspects were on the loose.

Just before 7:30 a.m., everyone in the apartment  four men, a woman and a child  surrendered. Four men were taken into custody; the woman was interviewed. The child was not hurt.

"Once we know that our suspects are in our apartment, our SWAT team comes out. We sometimes use a crisis negotiation team. We try to call them out, instead of SWAT making entry. I do know they were able to call them all out of the apartment," Orlando Police Sgt. Wanda Ford said.



Police say the getaway vehicle they used in the robbery was stolen.

Charges are pending.
MINNEAPOLIS - Xcel Energys commitment to clean energy is benefiting the customers and the environment in the communities it serves. By adding wind and solar power, retiring aging coal plants and expanding energy efficiency programs, the company has significantly reduced emissions and water consumption across its operations.

In 2015, Xcel Energys mercury emissions declined 85 percent, while sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions declined 67 percent at its plants, since 2005. Xcel Energy is on track to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30 percent by 2020 and has also cut water consumption by 30 percent at its operations, according to the companys newly released 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Customers today want clean, reliable and affordable energy solutions and the significant emission reductions weve achieved show were committed to delivering it, said Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy. Were investing in a diverse energy supply that is putting us on a path to a more sustainable energy future, without losing sight of cost.

In 2015, carbon-free energy sources made up 34 percent of Xcel Energys electricity supply and the company plans to grow its carbon-free energy sources to 43 percent by 2020. As the nations No. 1 utility wind energy provider for 12 consecutive years, Xcel Energy added four new wind farms in 2015, increasing its wind capacity 15 percent. The company expects wind to make up 24 percent of its electricity supply by 2020. Xcel Energy also expects to triple the solar energy on its system by 2020.

Xcel Energy also ended coal operations at the Black Dog plant in Minnesota and the Cherokee Unit 3 in Colorado, as the company works to reduce 25 percent of coal-fueled capacity it owns by 2018.

Xcel Energy also offers 160 programs to manage electricity and natural gas use. In 2015, customers saved more than one billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power more than 137,000 homes annually and 1.7 million dekatherms of natural gas, or enough to fuel more than 20,000 homes a year.

Xcel Energys Corporate Responsibility Report also details its corporate citizenship. The company contributed nearly $60 million in 2015 through energy assistance, volunteer efforts and grants.

Other highlights from the report include:

--Storm response that is among the best in the industry, with the company managing more than 50 major storm event in 2015 and restoring service to 90 percent of customers within 12 hours.

--A focus on military hiring, with veterans making up 9 percent of the companys workforce in 2015, and 10 percent of newly hired employees for the year.

--Improved employee safety with employee injuries down approximately 50 percent since 2010.
Special memorial services will be held in Lockney, Kress and Plainview on Monday to honor veterans and those who have died defending America.

In Lockney, Veterans Memorial Park will be renamed Hunter/Peralez Memorial Park in honor of a pair of Floyd Countys fallen heroes, Wesley Hunter and Johnny Peralez, who died in the Iraq War.

According to Jim Doucette, the program in Lockney will begin at 10:30 a.m. and be hosted by American Legion Post 141. Special music will be provided by Bob Hopkins and Friends from Amarillo. Keynote speaker is Lt. Col. Brad Sexton, U.S. Air Force (retired).

Formal dedication of Hunter/Peralez Memorial Park, located east of Lockney City Hall, will include a presentation on the two Lockney heroes, with the Post 141 color guard rendering military honors.

Following the dedication, free hamburgers will be served.

Doucette suggests that those attending bring lawn chairs and to pray for good weather.

Kress will hold its traditional Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. Monday at Kress Cemetery. If the event of inclement weather, the service will be held at Kress First Baptist Church.

Plainviews Memorial Day ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Monday at the gazebo at Plainview Cemetery on the east side of Joliet at Southwest Third. Judge Pat Hernandez is mistress of ceremonies with Kenneth Hooper the featured speaker.

Participating in the program will be the Hale County Sheriffs Department Honor Guard and Plainview High Jr. Naval ROTC. Local veterans groups will place wreaths at the Veterans Memorial.

Following that program, at 11:45 a.m. Monday, free hotdogs and hamburgers will be served to veterans and their families at Thirstys Dance Hall, 615 N. Ash, courtesy of the Rey Rosas family.

The public is invited to help 4-Hers, Keep Plainview Beautiful Committee and volunteers from Dulaneys in placing miniature flags on the graves of veterans in Plainview Cemetery and Memorial Park. They will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday. Help also will be needed to remove the flags at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 31.

The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 260 will be distributing poppies on Friday at Plainviews United Supermarket and Amigos. Proceeds benefit elderly, ill and handicapped veterans.
Whether you stream, buy or rent, heres a look at whats new or notable in home video. Movies are available on streaming sites such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu unless otherwise noted.

Zoolander 2: Yes, smart alecks, a movie that begins with the violent death of Justin Bieber can be all bad. Yet this unanticipated sequel to Ben Stillers hit 2001 fashion farce is bad in such unexpected ways that its almost compelling. Like its title character, Zoolander 2 looks pretty good but is quite confused. Its less a satire of the state of fashion than a quasi-religious conspiracy thriller a la The Da Vinci Code featuring a secret society of rock stars, an Interpol unit headed by a former swimsuit model (Penelope Cruz, untouched by time), a cavalcade of cameos and a bedroom scene involving, among others, Ariana Grande in bondage gear, Willie Nelson and a small hippo.

Also: The Finest Hours, Risen

Buy it now

Hail, Caesar!: The Coen brothers celebrate the spectacle and showmanship of classic Hollywood movies while also subverting them. The All-American sweetheart has been around the block a few times, and the screenwriters really are all commies. The message: Just because its phony doesnt mean it cant be powerful, too. George Clooney plays dumb, to excellent effect, as a big star kidnapped off the set of a biblical epic. He doesnt really seem to mind much, especially if he can get a cut of the ransom money.

Also: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

In theaters

Divine Access: A religious film for the perplexed rather than true believers, Divine Access hits the road with a reluctant guru (Billy Burke) who gains a following after squaring off with a TV evangelist on a public-access show. Prior to becoming locally famous, he pretty much had used the spiritual lessons he learned from his mother (Adrienne Barbeau) to pick up women.

Manhattan Night: Porter (Adrien Brody) is a reporter for a New York tabloid who never should have agreed to look into a filmmakers unsolved murder. Caroline (Yvonne Strahovski, TVs Chuck), the alluring widow who set him on the ruinous path, brings to mind the Glenn Close of Fatal Attraction. Based on the novel Manhattan Nocturne, a strong indication that the books literary qualities, like its title, have been toned down to showcase the storys tabloid thrills.

Television

Cop Rock: The Complete Series: Producer Steven Bochcos notorious folly, which combined gritty, Hill Street Blues-style police drama with original, Broadway-style musical numbers, is still a bizarre experience, even in the year of Hamilton. The clash of styles creates a weirdly anxious viewing experience: You brace for a shotgun blast and get a sappy show tune instead. Still, the pilot episode is required viewing for a couple of Randy Newman songs: a courtroom scene in which the jury sings its guilty verdict; and the heartbreaking Sandmans Coming, which would resurface in his musical Faust. (Shout! Factory DVD)

Also: Season five of HBOs Girls is now available on digital streaming services.
Four homes designed and built by teams of high school students at Construction Careers Academy sold for $104,250 to a buyer from California at public auction Saturday.

Like most homes, these have a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living space. Unlike most homes, it all fits in less than 155 square feet.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SAN ANTONIO  Investigators believe a shooting on the North Side Wednesday afternoon that caused a nearby high school to be placed on "soft lockdown" may have been the result of a drug deal gone bad.

Police were called out to a parking lot on Stahl Road just south of O'Connor Road around 2:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a man who had been shot in the head.

The shooting scene was across the street from James Madison High School, which was placed on a "soft lock down as a precaution," according to North East Independent School District spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor.

MORE: San Antonio politician working to rename elementary school in honor of Emilio Navaira

When police arrived they found a man suffering from a graze wound, and quickly transported him to the San Antonio Military Medical Center for treatment.

SAPD Sgt. Orlando Navarro said the bullet dug about a half of an inch into the victim's skull, but did not result in life-threatening injuries.

Navarro said investigators have identified a possible suspect in the case, but would not name him.

Several witnesses have been taken into custody for questioning. Neither the victim or suspect are students at the school, police said.

RELATED: Sheriff: Woman killed at Kerrville radio station in 'random act of violence'

Chancellor said the school conducted business as usual inside, but no one is allowed in or out during the soft lock down.

Parents of students at the high school were notified of the incident by automated phone calls just before 3 p.m. Another message sent to parents at 3:30 p.m. said the lockdown would be lifted at 4:05 p.m., allowing students to leave and parents to pick up their children.

Text "NEWS" to 72727 to sign up for breaking news from mySA

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
15 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Cincinnati-Style Chili

Cincinnati-style chili is celebrating its 100th birthday on Oct. 24.

By Danny Cross, Maija Zummo and CityBeat Staff Oct 24, 2022

Certain cities are in part defined by their native cuisines. Although at times stereotypical, one cannot debate the value of partaking in a hot slice of New York-style pizza in the Big Apple, a hunk of deep dish in Chicago or a greasy cheesesteak topped with Cheez Whiz in Philadelphia...
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Barbara Gervin-Hawkins won the Democratic nomination in Texas House District 120 and Javier Salazar captured the partys nod for Bexar County sheriff in Tuesdays primary runoff elections.

Gervin-Hawkins outpolled Mario Salas in the East Side district long served by former state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, who retired earlier this year.

Garnering 56 percent of the vote in complete returns, Gervin-Hawkins advances to the Nov. 8 general election ballot, with no GOP opponent but possibly an independent challenger ahead. The eventual winner begins a two-year term in January.

A special election process still is underway to fill McClendons unexpired term that ends December 31. Independent Laura Thompson and Democrat Lou Miller, who topped a four-candidate field on May 7, are headed to a runoff that Gov. Greg Abbott set for Aug. 2.

In the sheriffs race, for the chance to challenge Republican incumbent Susan Pamerleau, Salazar easily was the victor over Andy Lopez, capturing 73 percent of the vote. Salazar led four Democrats in the March primary, but was unable to avert a runoff with his 41 percent showing.

Salazar, a 23-year San Antonio policeman, said he benefitted from law enforcement support, though some initially feared reprisals.

RELATED: Gonzalez cruises to easy victory in the Democratic primary for open congressional seat

I understood their hesitation, but so many of them have overcome that fear and have jumped on board, Salazar said, adding that he plans to wage a positive campaign focused on his qualifications.

There are certainly some shortcomings in the current administration of the sheriffs office, and while that cant be ignored, theres no reason that it has to resort to personal attacks, he said.

Democratic voters selected Angelica Jimenez as their nominee in fall race for 408th District Court, where Judge Larry Noll is retiring. With 56 percent of the vote, she topped Gabe Quintanilla in the race for the district court bench that also is being sought by GOP candidate Leslie Sachanowicz.

In the fifth race on the Democratic ballot, Michelle Barrientes Vela got 53 percent of the vote to defeat Rudy Garza in the competition for Precinct 2 constable. Garza and Vela led a field of five candidates in the March primary, where incumbent Constable Val Flores finished fourth. The winner goes on the November ballot to face the GOP nominee, Kenneth R. "Randy" Menn.

The lone local race on Republican ballots resulted in a blowout, with Precinct 3 Constable Mark Vojvodich overpowered challenger Nathan Buchanan with 64 percent of the vote.

The statewide election also decided Republican and Democratic races for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission and two GOP contests for seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

In nearly complete results for the railroad commission, which regulates Texas oil and gas industries, Wayne Christian led with 51 percent over Gary Gates for the GOP nomination. Grady Yarbrough prevailed with 54 percent over Cody Garrett for the Democratic nomination.

In the GOPs statewide races for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Jay Wheless was narrowly trailing Mary Lou Keel, who had 51 percent, for the Place 2 seat. In the battle for the Place 5 GOP nomination, Scott Walker, with 58 percent, outdistanced Brent Webster.

jgonzalez@express-news.net

Twitter: @johnwgonzalez
EDINBURG  Vicente Gonzalez, a political newcomer from McAllen, defeated Juan Sonny Palacios, the scion of a well-connected political family, in the Democratic runoff on Tuesday for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa.

Gonzalez, a 48-year-old attorney, is headed to a fall showdown against Tim Westley of Selma, who defeated former Rio Grande City Mayor Ruben Villarrreal. With all the precincts in, Westley won 51 percent of the votes cast. Gonzalez is likely to be heavily favored in the largely Hispanic congressional district that votes overwhelmingly Democratic.

A lot of people wouldnt have believed this seven months ago, Gonzalez told the San Antonio Express-News. I think people wanted this new change.

RELATED: Gervin-Hawkins prevails in Texas House runoff



One of the most challenging situations is that Im not a politician, he said. This is my first time in politics and I had to introduce myself to the community.

What helped us from day one is we ran a grass-roots campaign, we knocked on more than 226,000 doors and expressed our message. It certainly resonated with the voters, and it looks like folks are with us. Well continue to offer an olive branch to our opponents, hopefully we can all come together, he said.

Gonzalez declared victory with 66 percent of the votes cast.

The skinny 15th Congressional District runs from the Mexican border to the San Antonio suburbs in Guadalupe County. It has had only two congressmen in the past 50 years. Hinojosa held the seat since 1997, but has stayed publicly neutral throughout the race.

Early on Gonzalez cast himself as the outsider up against the powerful Palacios family, whose members serve as county commissioners, district attorneys, judges and justices of the peace in deep South Texas.

One of Palacios cousins, Renee Rodriguez-Betancourt, won the 449th state District Court race. She is the wife of Edinburg Councilman J.R. Betancourt and the sister of Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricky Rodriguez.

Gonzalez touted his humble beginnings as a high school dropout from a military family who would eventually get a law degree. In a television interview Tuesday night, Gonzalez pledged to fight for improved health care for veterans and senior citizens.

Palacios finished second to Gonzalez in a six-way primary contest on March 1, getting nearly 19 percent of the vote. Gonzalez claimed 42 percent, but fell below the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Gonzalez had a relative lack of experience in the public arena faced sharp criticism from the Palacios camp for bankrolling much of his campaign with his own money. Gonzalez spent $1.7 million on the race compared with about $400,000 raised by Palacios.

The political victory of Gonzalez reflected the mood of the national electorate against establishment candidates, an observer said.

anelsen@express-news.net

Twitter/amnelsen
Raised in the small town of Ziegler, Illinois, Elizabeth Jane Betty Van Alstyne longed to spread her wings.

Attending Southern Illinois University, which was less than 20 miles from her home, Van Alstyne lived in a boarding house where her mother kept close tabs on her.

Chafing at the restrictive arrangement, Van Alstyne soon left school, moving to St. Louis, Missouri.

She wanted her independence, her daughter Sarah Sally Van Alstyne said.

Discovering that the Foreign Service was hiring secretaries, Van Alstyne and a friend made a plan to apply.

Although her friend bailed out at the last minute, Van Alstyne was hired, sailing to Tokyo where she worked for a general.

More Information Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Van Alstyne Born: Nov. 14, 1928, Ziegler, Illinois Died: May 18, 2016, San Antonio Preceded by: First husband Wilson C. Parker Jr.; second husband Miles "Mike" Van Alstyne; parents Louis and Ruth Hardin; two sisters, two brothers. Survived by: Daughters Peggy O'Connell, Sally Van Alstyne, and Suzy Van Alstyne; son Tom Van Alstyne; seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren. Services: Celebration of life from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Tienda Room at Los Patios, 2015 N.E. Loop 410. See More Collapse

She was very homesick at first, her daughter said. But she loved Japan  was ready for some adventure.

In addition to making life-long friends, Van Alstyne also met the military pilot who would become her husband, marrying in 1955 after a whirlwind romance, her daughter said.

Van Alstyne died May 18 at 87.

Starting her new life as a military wife, Van Alstyne became accustomed to moving frequently as her husband was sent to assignments in Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland and Michigan.

The family was living in Wiesbaden, Germany, when her husband was killed while on a training mission in 1964, leaving Van Alstyne to raise their three young children.

Deciding to move to San Antonio to be closer to her in-laws, Van Alstyne settled the family on the near North Side.

She wanted to have that connection with my dads family, Sally Van Alstyne said.

Remarrying in 1967, Van Alstyne and her husband had another daughter. Her husband had also adopted her three children.

Moving first to New York and then Dallas, Van Alstyne decided to return to San Antonio after she and her husband divorced a few years later.

Again a single mother, Van Alstyne become an executive secretary at Education Service Center, Region 20, continuing to make time for her children, but also stressing their independence.

She always encouraged us to be career-oriented, especially the girls, Sally Van Alstyne said. She told us to get a college degree  not rely on a man.

Kind-hearted by nature, Van Alstyne once brought a homeless pregnant girl to live with the family.

She invited her to stay  until she had the baby, Sally Van Alstyne said.  My mom made a habit of that throughout her life; she was the kind  that you were really lucky if she was your friend.

mheidbrink@express-news.net
Ive always been a quiet person who believes in hard work and giving back. These two traits were ingrained in me growing up in the Philippines.

But now, as a retired registered surgical nurse, I have discovered a new voice, and I am not afraid to use it. This voice allows me to disrupt aging by empowering me to live my best life regardless of age by being compassionate, active and strong.

While I grew up eating right and getting exercise, the activity of older Filipinos was basically restricted to the home and visits to the market, doctor or family. Older people usually stay with immediate family members.

Today, however, the aging process is changing before our eyes. Older men and women are staying more physically active and engaged, increasingly connected through technology, and reinventing the way they want to spend the next chapter in their lives. We are setting the tone for what it means to age by focusing on health, wealth and self.

Bob Jackson, AARP Texas director, put it best when he said: Aging is radically different than it was a generation ago. As a society, we need to challenge outdated beliefs and spark new solutions so more people can choose how they live and age.

Aging is a natural process that should be embraced. We are no longer defined by the outdated expectations of what we should or should not do at a certain age. We dont want to be defined by our age any more than we want to be defined by race, sex or income. Disrupting aging begins with each of us feeling good about aging and where we are in life.

I invite you to learn more about what you can do to disrupt aging by visiting www.aarp.org/disruptaging and by staying informed on what AARP is doing in San Antonio at www.aarp.org/SanAntonio.

Elvie Martinez Vengco is a Houstonian and AARP volunteer.
After months of hostile rhetoric in the U.S. primaries, Mexico has had enough. In a diplomatic and strategic shake-up, officials announced a new strategy to polish the countrys image abroad. They shouldn't have a hard time finding material, given our broad and fruitful bilateral relationship. But if Mexico really wants to change its image, it needs to start at home.

Americans concerns regarding Mexico began long before the current primary season. The recent incidents of bilateral bullying inflame emotions, especially when tied to sensitive domestic issues such as undocumented immigration or border security. Yet Americans pervasive perception of Mexico as corrupt, violent or overridden by cartels also stems from the countrys very real challenges.

If Mexico is serious about improving its image abroad, the first step is recognizing that the problem isnt just one of public relations but also of content.

The easiest and quickest move would be to embrace and strengthen the anti-corruption legislation that is languishing in Congress. This legislative bundle is part two of last years sweeping anti-corruption reforms, which changed 14 constitutional articles and established the National Anti-Corruption System (to coordinate national, state and local efforts), among other welcome changes.

However, this first wave of reforms created the framework and the secondary bills were supposed to put meat on the legislative bones. Now with the end of the recent congressional session, only five of the seven necessary bills ever appeared on the floor.

Even more disappointing, the citizen-designed Ley 3de3  demanding that Mexican officials publicly declare three things: wealth, conflicts of interest and tax records  has also disappeared. In its place is a government-proposed law that would require officials to make the same declarations but have their publication be optional.

These disappointing results stem from congressional jockeying, a void in political leadership, and a dogged (and somewhat perplexing) focus on the economy at the expense of almost everything else. Even as President Enrique Pena Nietos popularity rating has slid to a low 30 percent  presumably due to concerns over the countrys rule of law and recent uptick in violence  there has been little deviation in the administrations strategy and messaging.

It should be no wonder, then, that Mexico is in a bad mood, as Pena Nieto recently remarked. Its also no wonder that many Americans (and Mexicans) doubt that Mexicos government is committed to pushing and implementing any real reforms for the countrys toughest challenges.

Of course, no piece of legislation will be enough to fully tackle Mexicos rampant corruption or security challenges. Good laws are a requirement, but they are paper tigers without enforcement and funding  areas where Mexico is often found to be lacking. Take the anti-corruption unit within Mexicos attorney generals office as an example. In 2015, it had only 12 employees and a $1.5 million budget to root out corruption across a country  an especially Herculean task given that an estimated $100 billion is sliced off the countrys GDP each year from corruption-related activities.

Pena Nieto and the rest of the government should champion anti-corruption and other rule of law initiatives and reforms for Mexicans and their countrys future. Alleviating Americans concerns should be nothing but a happy byproduct of these efforts. Yet without politicians who listen to Mexicans and adjust priorities as realities evolve, the government is unlikely to project a better image at home or abroad. And, unfortunately, no public relations campaign will be able to fix that.

Antonio Garza is a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He is counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case. Reach him through tonygarza.com and Twitter @aogarza
Re: Alamo Bowl pay is out of control, Josh Brodesky, May 15:

A salary of $578,000 is a ridiculous amount to pay for a single annual event, especially when Sheryl Sculley, Robert Puente, Lynn Hickey and Eric Cooper work hard the year round with many different functions and many employees.

The bowl is a private entity that receives public support. But we, the taxpayers of Bexar County, should not be involved in any payment to Derrick Fox. The Alamo Bowl should be self-sustaining. If not, they should raise ticket prices. Taxpayers should be involved only with the operation of the structure. If Pat Frost and Lamont Jefferson want to pay more for his salary, then they should personally pay it. Mr. Fox appears to have growing reasons why his salary should increase every year. He will continue this until his job is evaluated.

Henry C. Holder

Waste of energy

Re: Bathroom controversy much ado about nothing, Editorial, May 17:

Thanks for the good editorial. Right on! What a waste of energy on that issue. Why doesn't Dan Patrick get a job where people buy into his prejudices? He doesn't represent this Texas voter, but, of course, I'm a Democrat! Hopefully, there are more and more of us in Texas!

Donna Dunaway, Boerne

Problem is Patrick

Re: Bathroom controversy much ado about nothing, Editorial, May 17:

This was about the best written editorial I have read in quite some time. It is such a nonissue I began to wonder why Dan Patrick was getting so lathered up about it. It finally dawned on me that he is so incredibly incompetent that he must be using the transgender bathroom issue to divert attention away from his other misdeeds.

Gee, Dan, you seem to be overly concerned with who is occupying a bathroom stall or who is standing next to you at a urinal. I dont think the problem is with the LGBT community. I think you are the problem! Do us all a favor and resign, otherwise, come next election, you will be summarily dismissed.

Richard E. Gohn

Courting votes

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton stated that she was going to close the coal mines and put them out of business, thus putting the miners out of work. After she realized the impact such a move would have on votes in coal country, she then stated that she would spend millions of tax dollars for retraining coal miners. Anyone, except a liberal, can see that she is trying to use taxpayer money to buy votes and to cover her actions in an effort to court environmental voters.

I am the son of a coal miner, and even I can see through her schemes. Those in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota, watch your back. Fracking is next on her list.

Jerry D. Schmidt, Bulverde

Hoops diplomacy

I read that Donald Trump would have no problem talking with the leader of North Korea if he becomes president.

If he visits the country, do you think Trump might take Dennis Rodman with him to show him around?

William W. Wimer

Insult to war dead

Re: Secession plank? State GOP walks it back, State, May 14:

While I am delighted the Texas GOP rejected the proposal to secede from the union, I am astonished anyone would seriously propose such a thing. It reminded me of a story I once heard about a TV reporter in Montgomery, Ala. He was reporting on some stupid bill the Legislature was considering, and he closed his report with, Thank God for Mississippi, indicating that, while Alabama was far down the intellectual chain, at least one state was worse.

As I recall from my second-grade history class, Texas tried to secede once, much to the disgust of then-Gov. Sam Houston. As a famous philosopher once said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Interestingly, his name was George Santayana, a name similar to the one bandied about in the aforementioned history class.

We must remember we are, above all, Americans. Our fathers and brothers, sons and daughters have died for this country, in company with comrades from every part of the union. It is a betrayal of their memory even to contemplate seceding from it.

Robert Bogard

Scapegoating

Simply stated, no matter the adequacy of school funding, the education or lack thereof falls squarely on the shoulders of parents who either care or don't care and students who either care or don't care.

Michael Gehri

Voters rule

A friendly reminder to the Democratic and Republican officials: The last time that I checked, the people speak through their vote in our democracy. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the candidate, it is not up to you to approve or disapprove their choice. Now we have a candidate that some of you elected officials do not approve of. Who do you think you are to tell the people that the candidate they voted for is not the right candidate?

When the people voted for you, I guess that vote was OK, and you approved of their choice. Now some of you are looking for an independent candidate to run against the man the people want. What kind of game are you guys playing? No wonder the people are tired of your antics. Voters are angry, and they will show their anger when your re-election comes up.

People, this is the United States, where voting is a great privilege. So please vote for the candidate of your choice! You will only aggravate the situation by not voting.

Lino Trevino Sr., Schertz
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

TTP/TTiP/TISA

In November 2014, Polish support for TTIP stood at 73 percent, only to drop to 66 percent one year later. In the Czech Republic support levels stood at 62 percent of Czechs in favour of TTIP in November 2014, and then plunged to 49 percent twelve months later. [BorderLex]. Public opinion in former communist EU member states is on average much more supportive of TTIP than the rest of the EU. TTIP signals closer ties with the United States, something that is key to national security in the eastern flanks of Europe. TTIP will likely lead to more imports of liquefied natural gas from the US, thus improving energy security in the region. TTIP also signals modernity and jobs. Economic studies back up popular opinion. A study by the World Trade Institute released in December 2015 estimates that Lithuania would be among the biggest winners of TTIP among EU member states, gaining 1.6 percent in economic output thanks to the deal. Slovakian exports could surge by 116 percent, so the study.

2016

The Voters

A Letter to a Bernie-or-Bust Voter [ Salon ]. I get it. I was just like you once. Shorter: Grow the **** up! If there is one Beltway genre I loathe above all others, its the Letter to _____ format. The condescension drips from the headline, and then just oozes all over everything as you read on. This is a splendid example of the type. #Messy

Two of the three largest gender gaps on record  11 points in 1994 and 10 points in 2012 and 2014  occurred in two of the worst years for Democrats nationally. This happened because Democrats performed horribly among men, winning just 42 percent each time [ Real Clear Politics ]. Democrats won the female vote in almost every election in the past 20 years (2010 is the sole exception, when Republican narrowly won among women). 2010?!

Those of us who do economics for a living turn to it to answer all the big social questions. To explain the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, we reflexively blame stagnant incomes that have left voters angry and frustrated. Lately, though, Ive come to question this approach. [ Wall Street Journal , Its Not the Economy, Stupid]. For all the shared prosperity, the 1960s was not a period of social tranquility or political cohesion. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. A year later the Republican Party nominated its most conservative presidential candidate ever, Barry Goldwater. From 1965 to 1968, race riots hit Los Angeles and major northeastern cities. In 1968, Lyndon Johnson declined to run for re-election, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, Vietnam war protests disrupted the Democratic National Convention, and Richard Nixon became president by prying white southerners from the Democratic Party. For many Americans, economic prosperity could not change the feeling that the world was coming apart.

There is no doubt that Americans want major changes in the way government operates, and they see Mr. Trump as much more likely to change business as usual in Washington. But this does not necessarily translate into support for his overall approach [ Wall Street Journal , Clinton Is Still the Favorite]. Hillary Clinton represents continuity, while Donald Trump represents change: advantage Trump. But Mrs. Clinton represents security while Mr. Trump represents risk: advantage Clinton.

Corruption

California

Chris Matthews seems to be going off message:

The Trail

Clinton has a new weapon against Trump: Elizabeth Warren [WaPo]. So the giant sucking pit of need that is the Clinton campaign has managed to deploy the Democrat Partys best explainer on economic issues as a low-road attack dog. Harry Reid: I think we should just kind of lay off Bernie Sanders a little bit [The Hill]. So Democrat internals on appealing to moderate Republicans say thats not gonna work after all? People forget that Hillary Clinton flew to New Hampshire, endorsed Obama and started campaigning for him very quickly. And so the question is how quickly Bernie will do that, [Obamas 2012 campaign manager Jim] Messina added [The Hill]. And people erase that Clinton cut a deal with Obama in Denver before she did that, and as a result became the Secretary of State and the annointed candidate of the Democrat Establishment in 2015. So wheres the deal now? To be fair, I like the idea of a truce (ending on November 8) between Sanders and Clinton a lot, and in fact when Clinton says I think what brings us together is Donald Trump. I think thats what brings us together (from the transcript of her recent interview with CNN) shes essentially proposing a truce, too. And Sanders, in his inimitable fashion, is fighting Trump by supporting down-ticket Democrats like Canova (Obama supports Wasserman Schultz) and getting some reasonable people on the Democrat Platform committee, as opposed to scumbags like Neera Tanden.  Bernie Sanders lists Hillary Clinton criticisms he doesnt raise [Sacramento Bee]. Bernie Sanders, responding to Gov. Jerry Browns concern about a scorched earth primary hurting Hillary Clinton, said Tuesday he has avoided hitting the likely Democratic nominee on major, major areas  and then proceeded to list them. Ive been asked 5 million times about the emails, and I havent said anything, Sanders said in a brief interview before a rally here. Ive been asked about the Clinton Foundation, didnt say anything. Bill Clintons personal life? Never said a word. So I dont think its fair to suggest that I am running a scorched earth policy. Sanders was responding to Browns apparent criticism of Sanders over the weekend, when he said, I dont think anybody should be seeking the Democratic nomination with a scorched earth policy. Ask a question, you get an answer. And a superb example of paralipsis, albeit induced, from Sanders! Hillarys summer of scandal [Politico]. And its only May.

Clinton Email Hairball

State Dept. watchdog: Clinton violated email rules [Politico]. (Clinton supporters in three, two, one: But everybody does it!). Some of the choicer details: Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary, the report states. At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Departments policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act. Clinton and her top staff did not cooperate with the investigation, which was requested by current Secretary of State John Kerry. She, her former chief of staff Cheryl Mills and top deputies Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin are among those who declined interviews. Kerry and his predecessors Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, however, did interviews. Sure is odd who testified and who didnt.

Stats Watch

PMI Services Flash, April 2016: Recent signs of strength in the economy do not include the PMI services index which slowed by 9 tenths to 51.2, only slightly above breakeven 50 to indicate monthly growth, but slowing growth, for the bulk of the nations economy [Econoday]. Growth in new orders, hit by weakness in investment spending, continues to slow and is among the weakest readings in the 7-year history of this series. Respondents in the sample say clients are unwilling to commit to new projects. Backlog orders are in outright contraction for the worst reading in two years.

International Trade in Goods, April 2016: The nations goods deficit widened to $57.5 billion in April vs a revised $55.6 billion in March, results that point to a widening for the overall trade deficit which will be reported next week [Econoday]. But the results do point to improvement in cross-border demand with exports up 1.8 percent in the month and imports up 2.3 percent. Exports of industrial supplies rose 5.1 percent reflecting in part higher prices for petroleum-based products. But exports of autos show special strength, up 4.5 percent, with exports of consumer goods up 1.0 percent. Foods also show strength, up 4.4 percent in the month. Exports of capital goods remain soft, at only plus 0.3 percent. But: The advance trade report for April yielded a much smaller than expected goods deficit of $57.5 billion. The trade gap had narrowed sharply in March, as both imports and exports of goods fell sharply. The presumption was that this reflected the timing of Chinese New Year, so estimates for April called for a significant backup as imports (and to a lesser extent exports) returned to more normal levels. However, trade flows remained restrained in April [Amherst Pierpont Securities, Across the Curve].

MBA Mortgage Applications, May 20, 2016: Purchase applications for home mortgages revived in the May 20 week, increasing by 5 percent from the prior week, while refinancing activity managed to post a gain of 0.4 percent despite slightly higher rates [Econoday].

FHFA House Price Index, March 2016: Home-price appreciation had been flat but now appears, after yesterdays very strong new home sales report and todays FHFA house price report, to be trending higher [Econoday]. Not that Im foily, but I cant help but put this wealth effect-y result in the context of the 2016 election. You never had it so good! Then again, if a substantial portion of the appreciation goes to private equity owners, and if much of the remainder is concentrated in already-doing-just-fine-thank-you blue zips, the effect may not be as great as its manipulators, if any, imagine.

Real Estate: So far in 2016, Chinese companies have purchased or are buying 47 U.S. properties worth $9.3 billion, according to deal tracker Real Capital Analytics. That makes them the most active foreign buyers in the U.S., with more than double Canadas $4.2 billion worth of deals [Wall Street Journal, Chinese Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Property]. By contrast, for all of last year Chinese investors did 71 U.S. deals worth $6 billion.

ETFs: [T]he biggest outflow was seen in the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Eurozone ETF (HEZU), where 6,250,000 units were destroyed, or a 7.7% decrease week over week [Forbes]. And on a percentage change basis, the ETF with the biggest outflow was the First Trust Taiwan AlphaDEX Fund (FTW), which lost 50,000 of its units, representing a 25.0% decline in outstanding units compared to the week prior. Im putting this here, even though it looks like it was generated by a bot (which the author bio does not disconfirm) because people who worry about such things worry about ETFs so Id like to track them. Can readers supply more sources that arent behind a paywall? Or use the contact form? Thank you!

Shipping: Singapore Exchange wins race to take over Baltic Exchange [Splash247]. For SGX, which has seen derivatives trading become enormously popular, the acquisition would be a huge coup. Its last attempt to buy an overseas exchange, the ASX in Australia, failed in 2011. And: the Baltic said that most of the structures of the institution would remain the same for at least five years following any sale [Splash247]. The Baltic Exchange produces the famous Baltic Dry Index.

Shipping: US container exports grow but far from blossoming [Journal of Commerce]. U.S. containerized exports rose in the first quarter of the year for the first time after declining for six successive quarters. Nevertheless, first-quarter growth of 3.2 percent is far from remarkable as it is compared to a very weak base in the first quarter of 2015. Exports for the full-year are expected to grow 1.3 percent compared with a previous forecast of a 1.5 percent decline. Looking forward, the trade will continue to experience headwinds through the rest of the year as global demand continues to be very weak, and the adverse effects of the severe U.S. West Coast port congestion in early 2015 continue to be felt in the form of waning trust from Asian buyers. Note headwinds as an airplane metaphor, a sure sign of bullshit. From actual, measurable congestion, we go to Waning Trust, the Confidence Fairys sketchy brother-in-law, I suppose.

Shipping: April saw the regions airlines carry 24.2m international passengers, a 4.8% increase compared to the same month last year, on the back of continued strong regional demand [Air Cargo News]. By contrast, said [Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA)], air cargo demand was flat, with volumes in freight tonne km (FTK) terms similar to those registered in the same month last year.

Shipping: Seven types of counterparty: part three [Splash247]. A few years ago at the annual dinner of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association I found myself sitting next to an eminent Greek shipowner  so eminent, indeed, that his family name is to be found in the law reports of shipping cases as long ago as 1921  who happily informed me that his hobby was litigation!

The Bezzle: Ethereum is the Forefront of Digital Currency [Medium]. A brilliant combination of technical brilliance and puffery. This caught my eye. Here is one reason for investors to back Ethereum over Bitcoin: Developer mindshare is the most important thing to have in digital currency. In other words, exactly as with Uber, political risk drives valuation.

The Fed: Yellen likely to wait until key June 6 speech to signal Fed path [MarketWatch].

Todays Fear & Greed Index: 72, Greed (previous close: 63, Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 54 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated May 25 at 11:40am. Feet jammed on the accelerator. Zoom!

Corruption

[S]ection 220 of Delawares corporate law, which can compel locally incorporated companies such as Domo to open up their books to shareholders. The law, little known in Silicon Valley, is a potentially valuable tool for thousands of tech workers who received stock awards to join fast-growing startups, as well as other small investors, who now question their shares worth [Wall Street Journal, Startup Employees Invoke Obscure Law to Open Up Books]. I smell business model

Our Famously Free Press

Americas decline:

Here's Time's full page ad in WSJ. There's just one small (expensive) problem with it. https://t.co/Q5JTR31rc2 pic.twitter.com/TdRytqvqfz  Elana Zak (@elanazak) May 25, 2016

Facebook is making some big changes to Trending Topics, responding to conservatives [WaPo]. That was fast!

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Facebook is not only watching, but also listening to your cell phone. It all starts with enabling your microphone feature in your settings. Once you do, choose your words carefully [News10]. One more reason smart people have dumb phones.

Google aims to kill passwords by the end of this year [Guardian]. Android users will be able to log in to services using a combination of their face, typing patterns and how they move. So thats the operational definition of identity. Swell.

Water

[T]oday, there are signs that the promise of the great dam has run its course [Econintersect]. But today, there are signs that the promise of the great dam has run its course. what is perhaps the most egregious failure for a system intended to conserve water, many of them lose hundreds of billions of gallons of precious water each year to evaporation and, sometimes, to leakage underground. These losses increasingly undercut the longstanding benefits of damming big rivers like the Colorado, and may now be making the Wests water crisis worse.

The Unsettlement

Greek port workers will strike again tomorrow for 48 hours, protesting privatisation of the countrys top two ports. Unions have warned of further strikes too [Splash247].

A Revolution of Values: Five Ways to Address the Value Gap [Progressive Army].

Guillotine Watch

Why Are So Many People Dying on Everest? [Bloomberg]. Ive read Into Thin Air, so the answer is there are enough people for whom the $74,000 per person fee is pocket change to fund a small industry of tour guides, who exploit the Sherpas to service the whacky aspirations of their clients. Meanwhile, the sacred form of Sagarmatha is clothed with frozen corpses, frozen shit, and discarded oxygen bottles, a splendid metaphor for our times. Next question.

Class Warfare

Rise of the robots: 60,000 workers culled from just one factory as Chinas struggling electronics hub turns to artificial intelligence [South China Morning Post]. The workers and peasants cant be happy about this. Then again, I imagine they can just join the service economy.

Networks offer many benefits for tackling wicked problems, in contrast to traditional hierarchal organizational approaches. Perhaps foremost, they can be formed as a co-owned space by stakeholders in the systemin this case, the food and agriculture system [Nonprofit Quarterly]. Thats true, but lets also remember that hierarchies are, by definition, networks with certain structural constraints. For example, I would bet anything that the participants at this Clinton Foundation event concieve of themselves as participating in a network, when the sycophantic markers of a hierarchy couldnt be more clear to an outside observer.

News of the Wired

Concordian Economics, Part 1: Introduction [Econintersect]. Interesting, if true. Seems like the economic equivalent of intergrating gravity into the Standard Model.

Unethical Research: How to Create a Malevolent Artificial Intelligence [Federico Pistono, Roman V. Yampolskiy] (original PDF). Skynet!

In Kampong Cham, a near-fatal ordeal for accused sorcerer [Pnomh Penh Post]. Sad.

The equations of love [Nature]. Clearly, the arts are superior when it comes to capturing the depths of love. Yet disarmingly easy maths powerfully captures the underlying drivers of stable alliances and transient dalliances.

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. And heres todays plant (Dan):

Speaking of a permaculture-y type of photography that sets plants in the context of whole, dynamic systems. How about beetles? Worms? Ants? Fungus? Readers?

* * *
By Roger Bybee, a three-part article, originally appearing in the May/June issue of Dollars & Sense. Parts 1 and 2 are available here and here.

The Pushback

In an age of fast-eroding economic security, corporate inversions have stirred vast public anxieties and outrage over corporations that seem both rootless and ruthless. Public anger over inversions is mounting, as household incomes continue to fall for tens of millions of Americans and worry about the offshoring of capital and jobs becomes more widespread. An August 2014 poll by Americans for Tax Fairness revealed that more than two-thirds of likely voters disapprove of corporate inversions 86% of Democrats, 80% of independents, and 69% of Republicans.

Surprisingly, one of the loudest voices to emerge against inversions has been Fortunes Allan Sloan. Sloan penned a cover story titled Positively Un-American, warning, We have an emergency, folks, with inversions begetting inversions. Even though Sloan advocates long-term changes that would tilt the tax system further in a pro-corporate direction, he called for immediate action by the Congress and President Obama to stem the tide of inversions. I still think we need to stop inversions cold right now, he wrote, to keep our tax base from eroding beyond repair.

Besides the drain to the U.S. tax base, Sloan expressed concern about the impact of inversions on Americans view of corporate America: It also threatens to undermine the American publics already shrinking respect for big corporations.

The recently announced Johnson Controls inversion dealt a major blow to public trust in Americas largest corporations, reflected in calls by Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton for stiff regulation on inversions.

Johnson Controls announcement gave Sanders and Clinton a chance to tap a strong vein of public sentiment. Lashing out at the company in a January 25 media release, Sanders called it and its new partner Tyco corporate deserters. Sanders declared, Profitable companies that have received corporate welfare from American taxpayers should not be allowed to renounce their U.S. citizenship to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Clinton blasted Johnson Controls on January 27 at an Iowa campaign stop, stating I will do everything I can to prevent this from happening, because I dont want to see companies that thrive, use the tax code, the gimmicks, the shenanigans  to evade their responsibility to support our country. She also began using a TV commercial aired in Michigan and elsewhere, showing her speaking in front of the Johnson Controls headquarters to denounce the corporations inversion.

A Cure Worse Than the Disease

Up until now, conservative Republicans control of the House of Representatives has blocked even modest legislation from gaining any traction, despite public outrage against inversions. Using the standard Republican soundbite about the high corporate tax rate driving U.S. firms and jobs overseas, Sensenbrenner, wrote in an op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Despite the negative effects the departures of these companies are having on the American economy, it is difficult to blame corporate leaders when you crunch the numbers.

Similarly, influential hedge-fund tycoon Carl Icahn, although acknowledging the dislocation and insecurity generated by inversions, exempted corporations from any obligation to the United States and laid the blame at the feet of Congress for failing to cut corporate taxes. Chief executives have a fiduciary duty to enhance value for their shareholders, he argued in a New York Times opinion piece. The fault does not lie with them but with our uncompetitive international tax code and with our dysfunctional Congress for not changing it.

Icahn expressed hope that the publics sense of urgency about stopping inversions could be shunted away from its current anti-corporate trajectory and instead stampede Congress into lowering corporate tax rates this year. He wrote in the New York Times, How will representatives and senators, with an election year approaching, explain to their constituents why they are out of work because their employers left the country, when it could so easily have been avoided?

In pressing for lower corporate taxes in the name of heading off more inversions, corporate and financial figures like Icahn and Republicans are backed by some influential Democrats and self selfdescribed liberals who share an elite consensus on corporations absolute right to switch their nationalities and to offshore jobs and capital. New York Times business columnist Jeffrey Sommer summarized this consensus in 2014, inadvertently illustrating the vast gulf between elite opinion and majority sentiment. At this stage of globalization, Sommer declared,  most American consumers, investors and politicians have tacitly accepted that if a company is profitable, doesnt violate the law and produces appealing products and services, it can operate wherever and however it likes.

Treating corporate investment decisions as sacrosanct regardless of their impact on the public welfare, key Democratic figures like Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are calling for a tax holiday on the foreign profits of U.S. corporations. They essentially seek to replicate the holiday declared in 2004 to encourage corporations to repatriate foreign profits to the United States by giving them a radically discounted tax rate. The tax holiday idea is a particularly counterproductive measure. First, tax holidays reinforce corporations use of tax deferrals as they create an incentive for the companies to wait for Congress to capitulate and offer discounted tax rates.

Second, these top Democrats backing of a new corporatetax holiday is particularly indefensible given the disastrous outcome of the 2004 holiday. Advocates said it would create 660,000 new jobs, pointed out David Cay Johnston. Didnt happen. Pfizer brought home the most, $37 billion, escaping $11 billion in taxes. Then Pfizer fired 41,000 workers.

A Real Solution

If corporate tax avoidance is to be stopped, the most immediate step is ending corporations ability to endlessly defer taxes on income which they claim to have generated overseas.

Offshore tax havens enable corporations to routinely engage in a practice called profit stripping. With this practice, taxable earnings in the United States are strippedwith costs allocated to the U.S. units and earnings attributed to firms foreign subsidiaries. This kind of accounting alchemy actually works, turning the black tax ink of profit into red ink of debt, Johnston explained. You appear as a pauper to government but valuable to investors.

Most of Americas largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, reported Citizens for Tax Justice. At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014.

This means a loss of an additional $90 billion to the Treasury, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, apart from the cost of inversions.

It is relatively easy to envision reforms that would give the U.S. tax code a badly needed updating suited to the current era dominated by the global operations of multinational corporations to foreclose maneuvers like inversions and the deferral of taxes on foreign earnings.

But serious action on inversions and major loopholes will likely prove impossible as long as our political democracy continues to be eroded by a torrent of campaign contributions from the multinational corporations exploiting the existing tax system.

Until that linkbetween those who write the big campaign checks and those who write our laws and tax codeis irrevocably broken, our political system will remain impervious to majority sentiment for stiffer taxes and restrictions on corporations inversions and the offshoring of capital and jobs.
Molecular filter is promising purifier for polyethylene production (Nanowerk News) In the current issue of Science ("Pore chemistry and size control in hybrid porous materials for acetylene capture from ethylene") an international research team reveals a way to reduce the energy demand in one key step of the process for the polymerization of ethylene. They describe how a class of so-called Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFS) can effectively and selectively adsorb acetylene from the ethylene feedstock. Rajamani Krishna of the University of Amsterdam's Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences contributed to the evaluation of the MOF performance.

Structure of a Metal Organic Framework.

Much of the world's plastic is made from ethylene gas, which is contaminated with acetylene gas. Removal of this contamination is essential because acetylene poisons the polymerization catalyst. The research now published in Science shows that filtering out acetylene using MOFs yields ethylene at the high purity that industry demands while sidestepping the current need to convert acetylene to ethylene via a costly, energy consuming catalytic process.

Porous crystals

The research focused on a family of MOF materials called SIFSIX, discovered in the 1990s. MOFs are porous crystals that under a microscope look a bit like a building under construction - lots of girders with space in between. The SIFSIX group gets its name from some of its girders, which are formed from silicon (Si) and six atoms of fluorine (F6).

When ethylene is passed through these MOFs, the fluorine attracts and captures most of the acetylene contaminant, letting the now-purified ethylene to pass unhindered.

Varying the size of the pores allows the MOFs to filter ethylene-containing acetylene in concentrations of anywhere from 1 percent to 50 percent, which are typical in industry. As a result the amount of acetylene in ethylene can be lowered to less than 2 parts per million (ppm), which is lower than the 5 ppm that polyethylene manufacturing requires.

Record selectivity and adsorption capacity

Professor Krishna of the Computational Chemistry research group at HIMS contributed to the evaluation of the SIFSIX material with regard to their performance under industrially relevant conditions. Not only are the SIFSIX materials superior to competing MOFs, they also display significant benefits in comparison to other filtering materials.
The parents of a 5-year-old North Naples girl whose genitals were wiped and photographed by a man at the now-defunct Ann Phillip Preschool settled their lawsuit today, ending in their daughter receiving nearly $243,000.

The settlement, $117,000 in present-day dollars, also includes payments to the girl's parents, her therapist, attorney's fees and costs, costs for a guardian ad litem, and a fund for educational or medical needs. Aside from the fund, the girl won't receive money until after college, when she's 23, and a larger payout at 28.

'There was a tremendous effect on the parents,' the parents' attorney, Ted Zelman of Naples, said after today's hearing to approve the settlement with Katherine Dinatale and the Naples Park preschool. 'There was guilt, there was anger. They weren't able to protect their child because they weren't told what happened to her.'

'The 5 year old is the hero here,' Zelman said, adding that if she'd said nothing, no one may have ever discovered what happened or found the cellphone photos that also showed another, 4-year-old, victim. 'This little girl is very verbal. ... The parents are very happy that this part of the incident is behind them.'

The lawsuit was one of two filed last fall against the preschool and Dinatale, whose stepson faces trial on molestation charges involving the two students and rape charges in an unrelated case involving a 9-year-old girl. The other lawsuit, which involved the 4-year-old student, was settled in March, with that girl getting $87,220 once she's an adult.

The names of all the parents and both children are being withheld due to the sexual nature of the case. These parents are named AB and CD in the lawsuit, which lists the child as Jane Doe.

Anthony J. Dinatale Jr., now 30, of Golden Gate Estates, was arrested March 25, 2009, and remains held on $3.4 million bond in the county jail -- the highest bond attorneys recall here. He faces life in the rape case and 15 years each in the cases involving the students. Sheriff's investigators say he deleted the cellphone photos of the two girls, but they were able to retrieve them, confronted him and he confessed.

Dinatale sold the school, on 102nd Avenue North, and it's now known as Noah's Ark Academy Naples. It's been under new management since July 13.

Dinatale's small preschool was closed for two weeks last spring while the Collier County Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Children and Families investigated.

Because this was a more than $15,000 settlement involving a minor, it required a judge's approval, which the couple received today, after attorney Jana Malen of Naples, the guardian ad litem assigned to protect the child's interests, agreed to the settlement.

'... Anthony Dinatale went into a separate door in a bathroom, where my clients' 5-year-old pre-schooler was going to the bathroom, took a picture of her and wiped her genitals,' Zelman told Collier Circuit Judge Cynthia Pivacek.

The girl immediately told her teachers that day, March 18, 2009, but they were afraid to tell the owner, Zelman said, because it was her stepson and they told a senior employee, who told Dinatale two days later.

'Mrs. Dinatale did not call the child abuse hotline,' Zelman told the judge. 'She told Mr. Dinatale and Mr. Dinatale promptly deleted the photos off his cellphone.'

'The parents realized something was wrong over the weekend and called the child-abuse hotline,' Zelman said, adding that the parents also spoke to Dinatale, who then called the state hotline, a requirement for teachers, child care and school owners, medical professionals and others who learn of abuse.

Zelman told the judge the $20,000 each parent will receive is due to the negligent infliction of emotional distress, their inability to help their child ? the youngest of three daughters ? because Dinatale didn't immediately alert them to what happened to her.

The money will go to the child after she turns 18, Zelman said, adding that the parents are middle-class, have the means to care for her, and didn't want her to get the money at 18, knowing what they were like then.

'They thought it was more important for her to get it after college,' he added.

She will get $40,000 when she's 23, then $200,000 five years later, he said, and $2,783.18 will be put into a restricted health, education and welfare account in case she needs further counseling or has a medical emergency before that.

Pivacek asked if the child needed more counseling, but Zelman said she'd undergone therapy and didn't require more now.

'How is your daughter?' Pivacek asked the parents, who sat at an attorneys' table before her.

'She seems OK,' the mother replied. 'You never know what will come up in the future, but she's a pretty strong kid.'

She said they agreed to the settlement, but didn't have anything further to say. Zelman told the judge the other child, age 4, whose photo was taken on March 6, 2009, didn't tell anyone.

'When Mr. Dinatale was approached by the deputies, he assumed he'd deleted the photos and they were gone,' Zelman said. 'But they were retrieved and they realized there was another victim.'

After the judge approved the settlement, the parents signed the agreement and left, declining comment. The attorney for Dinatale's insurer, Kim Howard of Fort Myers, wasn't in court.

Zelman said $100,000 will be used to purchase a single premium annuity, which guarantees the child gets $240,000 when she's an adult.

She underwent counseling, Zelman said, after she did a videotaped deposition for the related criminal case, where she was questioned in a room, surrounded by a prosecutor, public defender, himself, and her counselor. Because the parents are witnesses in that case, he said, they weren't allowed inside to comfort or hold her while she was questioned by attorneys, but the counselor was able to do that.

'That was very traumatic,' Zelman said. 'They're not very happy about that. That's why she needed to have counseling.'

The other child, a year younger, underwent psychotherapy, but didn't seem to be affected, her parents' attorney, Richard Weldon of Naples, told Pivacek in March. Her annuity was purchased for roughly $55,000 in present-day dollars and she'll receive payments of $17,444 on her 18th birthday, then yearly until she's 21, with a final payment at 25.

Zelman's lawsuit alleged Ann Phillip Enterprises and Dinatale were negligent and breached their duties by failing to maintain safe premises by having two doors to the bathroom, which allowed others to enter while a child was using it. It accused Dinatale and the school of allowing her stepson to linger in school while children were alone and unsupervised, despite knowing he acted strangely.

It also accused Dinatale of violating state law by not immediately reporting the abuse and alerting her stepson, giving him time to destroy evidence. The lawsuit says that prevented the parents from being able to provide immediate comfort to their child. He was about to file a motion seeking punitive damages ? which are meant to punish and set an example of wrongdoing ? when he reached a settlement.
Scene from the Collier school board candidate forum Tuesday, May 24 in Golden Gate. (Melhor Leonor/Staff)

By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News

Three of Collier County's five school board candidates attended a conservative group's forum Tuesday in Golden Gate, advocating a smaller federal role in local schools and more power for local school board members.

"I don't believe the federal government has any constitutional rights to tell you how to run our schools," said District 2 candidate John Brunner, who advocated for rejecting federal funds  $59 million  in favor of more local control. "It's 10 percent of our budget, 10 percent. You tell me we can't find 10 percent somewhere?"

District 2 candidate Louise Penta and District 4 candidate Lee Dixon also participated in the forum hosted by the Southwest Florida Citizens Alliance, which has backed conservative stances on local and national education issues.

Missing from the debate were District 2 candidate Stephanie Lucarelli and District 4 candidate Erick Carter. Carter said the forum would not be fair to all political views.

Click here to read social media updates from forum

Candidates were asked whether they believed the federal government ran local schools, whether they supported the hiring of an internal auditor, whether the superintendent works for the school board  topics local conservatives have debated.

School board members Erika Donalds and Kelly Lichter have pushed for the board to have more control over issues placed on the board's agenda, and to have more input on district affairs. Local conservative groups, including the Alliance, have sided with them. Other board members have advocated for the superintendent to have independence as the district's operational chief.

Tuesday, the candidates advocated for more board control.

"Perhaps with some help, [Superintendent Kamela Patton] ... could work more cooperatively and not be in the position she is now, running the school board," Penta said.

"We need to reassert our authority and go back to the hierarchy it's supposed to be," Dixon said.

The seats appearing on voters' ballots later this year are currently held by board members Kathleen Curatolo and Julie Sprague, who are not seeking re-election.

In Collier County, school board members must reside in the district that represents the seat they are running for when they file and through their term on the board. Board members, however, are elected by voters countywide and are supposed to represent the entire district.

District 2 contains schools in North Naples, including Veterans Memorial Elementary and Barron Collier High. District 4 includes Lake Park Elementary and Naples High.

The deadline to enter the school board race is June 24. School board elections will be held Aug. 30.
A turtle pokes its head up out of an algae bloom on the Caloosahatchee River Tuesday in Olga. (Photo: Sarah Coward/The News-Press)

SHARE

By Amy Bennett Williams, The News-Press

As a plume of foul-smelling, pea-green water tainted by potentially toxic cyanobacteria flows down the Caloosahatchee, state and county officials are silent on whether people should stay out of the river.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the beach at W.P. Franklin Lock on Friday, and Lee County Utilities' Olga Water Plant has stopped pulling from the river until conditions improve, said county spokeswoman Betsy Clayton.

How bad the river's slick will get and what its impact will be is an open question.

What isn't in doubt is that such blooms are fed by pollution washing into the river from its watershed and Lake Okeechobee, where more than 30 square miles are covered with the stuff.

Initially spotted last week along the LaBelle, Alva and Olga shorelines, the cause of the green water is a sudden bloom (not in the sense of flowering, but of the proliferation of "dense surface scum," as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency puts it) of the cyanobacteria Microcystis, also called blue-green algae.

Its moving steadily downriver and was detected west of Interstate 75 last week by underwater sensors that monitor's the river's condition.

Rick Bartleson, research scientist for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, which operates the sensors, identified Microcystis under a microscope, but can't yet say if the bloom is producing toxins.

"Our Beautiful Island and Fort Myers (sensors) are seeing some of that bloom going by," wrote Bartleson in an email "and also the increased turbidity from the high flow."

Meredith Maloney recently bought a kayak, but now hesitates to use it.

I live within a stones throw of the Caloosahatchee in North Fort Myers, and am reluctant to use the nearest launch and be exposed to its waters. I'm pretty down in the dumps about it and about the fact that I must travel greater distance to find more suitable, less polluted waters, said Maloney.

The organism occurs naturally in Southwest Floridas fresh water.

"We have had cyano blooms in the (Caloosahatchee) almost yearly," Bartleson said. When it blooms heavily, though, it can mean trouble.

Earlier this month, South Florida Water Management District staff noted a large algae bloom and a fish kill in Lake Okeechobee. A water sample showed a Microcystis bloom in the same place. Though commonly referred to as algae, there are many species of cyanobacteria, including Microcystis, all of which lack cell nuclei.

Their toxins can cause problems in people and animals ranging from itchy eyes and sneezing to liver failure and even death, if ingested in significant amounts. They can also kill fish and other water creatures.

Alva resident Nancy Hetrick Lee, who lives on the river, wonders if shes already seeing casualties of the bloom.

I don't know if this is from the green algae, but we've seen two dead turtles floating down the river this week  the first shes spotted in 16 years of living there, she says.

Reducing pollution in the river would reduce the frequency and severity of the blooms, says the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's Jennifer Hecker.

"The sadly routine algae outbreaks have resurfaced and will continue to do so until we buy additional land south of Lake Okeechobee needed to cleanse and redirect the damaging polluted discharges currently coming into the Caloosahatchee back to the Everglades, where they historically flowed and belong," said Hecker.

When blooms are reported, multiple state agencies respond as a team, with Florida's Department of Environmental Protection in charge of collecting samples to analyze.

Staffers took water Tuesday from the river near Alva and from Billys Creek, said spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller.

"The samples will be sent to the DEP lab in Tallahassee for algal bloom identification and toxin analysis," said Miller, who expects results before the end of the week.

In the meantime, Lee County's health department "has not issued an advisory related to potential health impacts of algae in the Caloosahatchee River ..." wrote administrator Angela M. Swartzman in an email.

She emphasizes the response is necessarily a careful, multi-step process, and much as the public might like an instant answer, that's not possible. Swartzman likens it to a physician seeing a skin lesion that to a trained eye, looks like melanoma. But without clinical confirmation, it would be irresponsible to make such a declaration.

The same scientifically systematic approach governs agencies' approach to events that potentially affect public health. Once the test results are available, if it turns out the water is dangerous, then the health department takes the lead in warning people, including posting signs at beaches and other waterfront areas, Swartzman wrote. The state maintains an online mapped database of reported blooms.

For his part, Bartleson cites a bit of common sense: "When in doubt, stay out."
E8, the famous offspring of Harriet and M15 from the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam nest in North Fort Myers, gets fed while recovering at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Tuesday. The eaglet is still in guarded condition after being knocked from it's nest by a great horned owl on May 13. It was found a week later by CROW employees and a volunteer. There is still weeks of recovery time left, but an eagle with this kind of injury has the potential of being released, according to CROW vets. (Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press)

By Chad Gillis, The News-Press

Missy Fox pries open a bald eaglet's beak, gently places a piece of fish in its mouth and raises the young bird's head to help it swallow.

Today's breakfast is grouper donated from a local restaurateur. Monday she fed it rats.

"We're still giving him soft food with no bones in it," Fox says, a veterinarian technician at the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, or CROW, on Sanibel. "But with some of the medicine, he sometimes doesn't want to eat."

The future hasn't been so bright in recent weeks for this young eagle.

He (the sex of the bird is unknown) was attacked in the middle of the night by a great horned owl on May 7 and was missing for a week.

Fox, wildlife rehabilitator Yvette Carrasco and a volunteer found and rescued E8 on Friday, May 13.

"We just randomly decided to go look for him," Fox says while squirting liquids into E8's beak. "We didn't think we'd find him, but we had the day off. So why not?"

Tuesday was the first time E8 has been available to the media.

E8, and his sibling E7, are the latest birds born under the watch of Harriet, a famous female bald eagle who has raised multiple generations of eaglets in front of millions of online viewers. The nest is on lands that belong to the Pritchett family of North Fort Myers.

"He's getting a little bit better everyday, but it's still a guarded diagnosis," said Allison Daugherty, a veterinarian at CROW.

Click here to watch the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam 

The Pritchetts unveiled the streaming video to the world in 2012, and nearly 53 million people have tuned in since. There are now three cameras pointed at the nest and adjacent areas, and viewers can switch between the cameras to get a better view of the famous birds.

Eagles typically mate for life, and Florida birds tend to start their reproductive cycle in October.

Ozzie and Harriet was the original couple, but M15 (a young adult male) killed Ozzie last year and usurped his nest. Ozzie himself was rehabilitated at the same facility from an earlier injury before being released and ultimately killed by M15.

Like all wildlife, E8 has had a rocky life so far. He was taken to CROW in February after his legs became entangled in fishing line.

Now he has a broken femur, but Daughtery said the CROW staff hopes he will continue to recover from the attack (great horned owls are known for trying to kill and eat animals that are two- to three-times larger than they are).

"He's been more active and is standing (in his cage), but he hasn't been eating on his own yet," Daugherty said.

The sibling, E7, is the bigger and stronger of the two birds, so there's a chance E8 would have been killed by E7 (it happens with eagles) or died from lack of food.

Now adult-sized, E7 is expected to fledge soon.

Daugherty said the timeline for a release is still uncertain because the broken femur must heal to the point that doctor's can remove the screws that now hold the bone together.

She's hopeful, though, that E8 will eventually roam Southwest Florida on his own power, perhaps even make a nest of his own one day.

"We're still not out of the woods," Daugherty said.
An Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

By Daily News Staff

A new case of travel-related Zika has been confirmed in Lee County, one of four new cases reported Wednesday by the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.

Two of the other new cases are in Miami-Dade and the fourth case is in Orange County.

That brings the statewide volume to 122 cases, all travel-related where infected individuals were of the country and diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus after they returned to the U.S.

In addition, 36 pregnant woman have been confirmed with Zika in Florida. State health officials do not disclose the counties where the pregnant women live.

Since the state began tracking Zika in February, there have been five cases in Lee and one in Collier, all travel-related.

About one in five people infected become symptomatic, which generally involves a low-grade fever, rash and joint pain. Pregnant women are at risk if their unborn babies are exposed to the virus, which can lead to birth defects. The state health department encourages residents to drain standing water in any containers, which is the breeding source for mosquitoes; cover exposed skin with long-sleeved shirts and pants, and to wear mosquito repellent outdoors.
SHARE Doug Hamilton, left, and Junior Liberal, right, share a laugh after Doug attempted to sit on Junior's lap during a break from bagging pamphlets for The Print Shop Tuesday at the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled Headquarters in Naples. The FDD is currently partnered with The Print Shop and Pravada to help it's members find employment. (Luke Franke/Staff) Todd Kleiber helps Dave Hamilton, owner of The Print Shop, load up his car with bagged pamphlets Tuesday outside of the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled (FDD) in Naples. The FDD is currently partnered with The Print Shop and Pravada to help it's members find employment. (Luke Franke/Staff) Doug Hamilton shows Betty Stark, Program and Special Events Manager at the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled (FDD), his paycheck while working Tuesday at the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled Headquarters in Naples. The FDD is currently partnered with The Print Shop and Pravada to help it's members find employment. (Luke Franke/Staff) Todd Kleiber, left, and Junior Liberal, right, both members at the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled (FDD), help to bag pamphlets for The Print Shop as part of a work program that is helping individuals with various disabilities find work Tuesday at the Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled Headquarters in Naples. The FDD is currently partnered with The Print Shop and Pravada to help it's members find employment. (Luke Franke/Staff) Related Photos Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled helps members find employment

By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News

Many of the eight individuals inserting green cards in clear plastic envelopes had jobs before.

Junior Liberal, 32, was a store greeter, but the store closed, and he was at a loss for nearly two years.

"I love what I'm doing," Liberal said. "It's better than staying at home. It keeps me busy."

Jeramy Wylie, 28, worked at a convenience store, and the job was OK except the frequent change in store managers.

"I didn't mind the stocking. I didn't mind the freezer," Wylie said.

The Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled in Naples, a nonprofit organization that strives to enhance the lives of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, helped arrange the assembly work with the envelopes and cards for eight of its members.

The work is with the locally owned The Print Shop at 2321 Davis Blvd. in East Naples. The workers get minimum wage and a boost to their self-esteem. They collectively aim to fill 6,000 plastic sleeves with the cards in each four-hour session three days a week.

The monotony doesn't bother the group with varying levels of intellectual or developmental disabilities, whether it is autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or something else.

"They are productive, punctual and self-confident," said Karen Govern, executive director of the foundation. "They take it very seriously."

The nonprofit organization knows that people with intellectual or developmental disabilities want to have meaningful lives with employment that fits their abilities, recreational activities to socialize, and potentially live independently, Govern said.

Like anybody else, it is finding a right fit, and employers may be missing an opportunity to fill positions, including part-time jobs, she said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the percentage of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are working is about one-third of the percentage of adults without disabilities.

About 20 percent of the workforce are people with disabilities, and their unemployment rate is 10.7 percent, according to the federal agency. That compares with an employment rate of 68 percent of people without a disability and an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent.

Last week the U.S. House Small Business Committee held a hearing on how small businesses can be pivotal for employing people with disabilities,

"For adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities or disorders, finding sustaining employment can be a real challenge," said House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, according to Autism Speaks in New York. "Yet across the country we are seeing examples of how small businesses, with their ability to adapt and accommodate, are able to provide employment opportunities to those who might not otherwise get a chance."

About 50,000 people each year with autism become adults, and employment is critical, according to Autism Speaks. Only 34 percent of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are employed, according to the national group.

The work arrangement for the eight members of the local foundation came about because one of the owners of the Print Shop, Dave Hamilton, has a steady order to fill with assembly packaging. His brother has a disability, and Hamilton knows his brother could do the work, along with other foundation members.

"They are doing a very good job," Hamilton said. "It's amazing how people look at my brother and (others) with disabilities. They are very smart."

He had to explain how they need to meet a threshold of how many inserts are done, but they are up to the challenge. Hamilton plans to give the group a second assembly job.

Another local company, Pravada, which creates private labels for cosmetics, needed someone to do assembling of boxes and labeling, and that work began in April with a foundation member, Govern said.

"I like this job better. I work for my brother," Douglas Hamilton, 39, said. He enjoys being around friends working three days a week, doing the work at the foundation's headquarters at 868 99th Ave. N. in Naples Park.

"We are a team," he said.

Stacy Bolesky has seen a difference in her son Stephen Giannasoli since he's been working for the Print Shop. Her 26-year-old son is partially paralyzed on his right side.

"He loves the camaraderie he has with his fellow peers," she said. "He likes the paycheck. It's given him confidence."
SHARE

By Maryann Batlle of the Naples Daily News

A 1,325-home gated community on east Corkscrew Road will be built after all.

Lee Circuit Court Judge Alane Laboda tossed a lawsuit that the Estero Council of Community Leaders filed to challenge Lee County's approval of The Place at Corkscrew, also known as Corkscrew Farms.

The Estero Council of Community Leaders and the Responsible Growth Management Coalition have no right to sue under Florida law, Laboda wrote in her eight-page order filed Tuesday.

The ECCL and the RGMC failed to establish any direct connection to The Place at Corkscrew property, according to the order. They are not neighbors to the site, which is about 6 miles east of the Interstate 75 interchange with Corkscrew Road.

Neither nonprofit could show "any active and continuing" activity  such as fishing, boating or kayak tours  on the property, either, the order states.

"An interest in the environment alone is insufficient to give standing," according to Laboda's order.

The ECCL and RGMC filed their joint lawsuit against Lee County in December. Cameratta Cos., The Place at Corkscrew's developer, added itself as a defendant.

At issue is growth in a rural area considered vital for the county's water supply.

Cameratta's land sits in a density restricted groundwater resource area, or DR/GR, which the ECCL and the RGMC argued should be protected under Lee County's planning rules.

In a statement, the ECCL's board of directors said it was disappointed by Laboda's ruling that the group has no legal standing to sue. The ECCL has been involved with conservation in the DR/GR for more than a decade, according to the statement.

"Our lawsuit was part of our continuing commitment to improve traffic conditions, safeguard our limited water resources and protect endangered wildlife through sound planning for future generations," ECCL interim Chairman Don Eslick said in the statement.

The ECCL said Laboda failed to consider the project's impact on traffic and that "the county did not require a DR/GR-wide traffic and water quality and quantity study" before approving the development.

The group said it is concerned "that recent decisions to allow development in the DR/GR may reduce the water supply" to residents in Estero and other areas in Lee County.

The ECCL's board is "reviewing its legal options" and will have 30 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Second District Court of Appeals, according to the statement. As part of its deal with Lee County, Cameratta Cos. has promised perks, such as the preservation of 700 acres, for permission to build up to 1,325 homes.

The Place at Corkscrew is an improvement to what is on the land now, said Chene M. Thompson, the private lawyer Cameratta Cos. hired in this case.

Cameratta Cos. can move forward without the worry of a lingering lawsuit, she said.

"We've always stood by our position that it is a very environmentally friendly project," Thompson said.

Michael Jacob, assistant Lee County attorney, said in an emailed statement that Laboda's order "is a win for Lee County property owners."

"Cases such as this and decisions like this allow property owners the ability to develop and use their property without the fear of gadfly litigation."
By Alexandra Glorioso of the Naples Daily News

As potential candidates continue to bow out of the open congressional race for U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson's seat, Dr. Paige Kreegel has decided to test whether he can raise the money he needs through a political action committee before entering the contest.

Naples businessman Francis Rooney and Sanibel Councilman Chauncey Goss are running for Clawson's District 19 seat following the congressman's surprise announcement that he won't seek re-election. Rooney, a wealthy 62-year-old GOP donor who has helped finance Republicans like President George W. Bush, presidential nominee Mitt Romney and presidential candidate Jeb Bush, said he is willing to tap into his personal fortune to fund his campaign. And Goss, 50, was the first candidate to jump into the race, in part because it gave him a fundraising edge.

Kreegel, a physician in Punta Gorda, said he's in "no rush at this time  27 days until filing deadline," so he won't decide whether he will run now. Instead, he's going to raise money for Values are Vital PAC. The same super PAC supported Kreegel in his run for the same seat two years ago, spending $666,270 on ads favoring him and a combined total of $750,502 on ads opposing Rep. Curt Clawson and Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, according to the nonpartisan research organization, Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, DC.

Kreegel, 57, finished third in that race, taking 25.3 percent of the vote, after Benacquisto who took 25.7 percent and Clawson who took 38.2 percent.

"No time really for traditional fundraising, and none at all for 'pressing the flesh', so the voters will get to know the candidates only via electronic media: TV, cable, radio, mailers, billboards," he wrote in an email. "That all costs money. One candidate is talking of self-funding, so working with the Values are Vital PAC to be sure that adequate funding will be made available to get the 'Message out.'"

Kreegel can coordinate legally with the PAC to raise money for his campaign, as long as he isn't an official candidate. He said he would cease all communication if he decides to announce but that won't be any time soon.

State Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, said Wednesday he will not run.

Caldwell met with Rooney on Tuesday to understand whether he championed term limits and Everglades restoration.

"He's a fan of term limits and I think he has a passion for the Everglades," he said.

Caldwell said he would continue to work on both issues from his position in the Florida House.

Two other potential candidates have not announced their plans: Michael Dreikorn, who ran against Clawson two years ago, and Byron Donalds, who ran for the seat four years ago and is a state House candidate.

Driekorn has said he is disappointed with the "establishment" candidates currently in the race. Dreikorn's surmise of Rooney runs contrary to how the former Ambassador to the Holy See is portraying himself. The very explanation Rooney gave for entering the race was that he was "about done supporting career politicians."

Dreikorn said Wednesday discussion among his friends in the party sounded more like a teaser to a political revolution than the typical behind-the-scenes process in a congressional race.

"There's a lot of talking going on. And the talking is more like what the Patriots of 1776 were doing versus the backroom dealings of a major party."
SHARE

Heidi Fahnestock, Naples

Conduct

I had hoped the candidates at a recent forum would present themselves in a respectful, dignified manner  outlining positive actions they have taken and wish to take for the taxpayers.

The candidates for Legislature did just that, conducting themselves with dignity, respecting their opponents' presentation.

Unfortunately, perpetually negative Collier County Commissioner Georgia Hiller, outside of a few words thanking the organizers, was anything but respectful and truthful.

Her 10-minute, inaccurate recitation about the incumbent clerk of courts' actions was clearly another political stunt orchestrated to take the focus off her own failure and the failure of the County Commission to rein in the county's inadequate purchasing controls.

Dwight Brock has served the taxpayers honorably for more than 20 years, currently overseeing a multidepartment staff, 20 of whom process more than 100,000 invoices annually.

Hiller failed to say anything about what she would do, what policy changes she would make, or why she is best suited to replace Brock.

However, by her negative presentation, she made it very clear that she would not protect the taxpayers, would not be an independent check and balance on county spending, and is only interested in rewarding bad behavior by paying businesses that fail to provide proper proof of work performed.

What's interesting is that Hiller supported Brock's role as the taxpayer's watchdog until she decided to run for his office. Go figure.
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.
WASHINGTON  The Federal Housing Finance Agency may face legislation or a lawsuit in the near future as it tries to force captive insurance companies to exit the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

The agency approved a rule last week that would require real estate investment trusts that gained membership and access to advances through a captive insurance company to leave the system within five years.

But the rule has engendered significant opposition from the Home Loan banks, the real estate investment trust and others that are weighing whether and how to fight the rule.

"We are evaluating possible next steps," said David Jeffers, senior vice president of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, which represents all 11 institutions.

One likely avenue is to seek relief from Congress, where lawmakers have already raised objections to the FHFA's membership rule.

"I would expect there will be push on the Hill to include mortgage REITs in the FHLB System," said Edward Mills, a policy analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

Congress has already expanded the membership of the Home Loan Banks several times and could do so again. Lawmakers laid the groundwork for such a move late last year when a bipartisan group introduced a bill to block the FHFA from implementing its membership proposal. They argued that the FHFA was overstepping its authority.

After the rule was finalized on Jan. 12, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, D-Mo., one of the bill's co-sponsors, said the housing agency "needs to comply with standards already set in law. Congress changes the law, not the FHFA."

Yet passing legislation in the current political environment is an uphill battle, particularly where the government-sponsored enterprises are concerned.

"There is nothing simple when it involves a GSE," Mills said.

Home Loan banks and captive insurers could simultaneously pursue a different strategy, howevertaking the FHFA to court.

Law firms have already challenged the legality of the FHFA's move. In a comment letter sent in October 2014 to the agency, Thomas Vartanian, a partner at Dechert LLP, warned that the agency's proposal to kick REITs out was unlawful.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act is "unambiguous in its mandate that 'any' insurance company may be eligible for membership in an FHLB," Vartanian wrote.

He claimed the statute does not make distinctions between life insurance companies and captive insurance companies that provide self-insurance for their parent company or REIT. He added that the agency also lacks the power to kick out existing Home Loan bank members.

Some said a lawsuit was likely.

"There are a number of parties who could challenge this rule, but mortgage REITs and their captive insurance companies would likely be the mostly favorably situated to have standing," said John Bowman, a partner at the Venable law firm, which also filed a comment letter in this rulemaking. "I am confident a judge would accept this case."

He noted that the Federal Home Loan Bank Act says an insurance company can be a Home Loan bank member. The FHFA's argument rests on the idea that a captive insurance company is not an insurance company, he said.

"I would argue among other things that the regulator acted outside its regulatory charter and their rule is legislative rather than regulatory," Bowman said in an interview.

Still, a lawsuit could also be an uphill battle as the courts normally show deference to the regulators. Even if a lawsuit prevailed, the outcome is uncertain. "The court could require the FHFA to go back and redo the rulemaking. Who knows want the result could be?" Bowman said.

The boards of directors of the 11 district FHLBs have "exclusive authority" over the termination of members under a provision included in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, Vartanian wrote.

But the FHFA disagrees, pointing to amendments to the financial modernization law that gave a bank's board of directors some "discretion" to terminate a member.

"In this case," the FHFA director "has adopted regulatory amendments implementing a provision in the [Federal Home Loan Bank] Act in a way that makes captives - including those that were previously admitted ineligible for membership," the housing agency says in the final rule.

"It is not plausible to suggest, as do the commenters, that Congress thereby stripped the regulator of its authority to require the removal of a member when doing so is necessary to halt a violation of the statute or regulations."

The FHFA argues that captives can be used as funding conduits for REITs and other entities that "Congress did not deem eligible" for Home Loan bank membership. The final rule is designed to close what the agency sees as a loophole.

There are currently 40 captive insurers in the Home Loan Bank System with $35 billion in advances.

But the Home Loan banks argue that captive insurance firms are critical to their mission.

"We are deeply disappointed that, despite our efforts, the FHFA has disqualified captive insurance companies from membership altogether," Matt Feldman, president and chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, said in a statement after the final rule came out.

"Captive insurance companies have been members of the FHLBC for more than 10 years," the statement said. "As members, they help deepen and diversify the flow of funds in the mortgage markets."

The Chicago bank does significant business with Redwood Trust, a REIT that owns a captive insurance company that belongs to the bank. The bank has said that the membership rule will not affect one of its key programs, under which Redwood Trust buys jumbo mortgages from Chicago Home Loan Bank members.

"The rule does not impact Redwood Trust as our partner for the MPF product," said a spokeswoman for the bank, referring to the Mortgage Partnership Finance program.

However, it appears the final rule will limit the ability of Redwood Trust's captive insurer, RWT Financial, to obtain new advances from the Chicago Home Loan bank.

"RWT Financial may not be able to obtain additional advances or increases to its borrowing capacity," Redwood said in a Jan. 13 statement.

RWT Financial has $2 billion in borrowing capacity and it already has $2 billion in outstanding Chicago Home Loan Bank advances, according to Redwood.

Current advances can "remain outstanding until the scheduled maturity, even if it extends beyond the five-year transition period," Redwood Trust said. However, the membership rule places limits on new advances during that five-year period.
WASHINGTON  Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt sounded alarm bells Wednesday about Home Loan Banks' reliance on short-term funding in the form of discount notes.

During a speech to the FHLB's director's conference, he noted that at yearend 2015, discount notes made up 54% of outstanding Home Loan Bank debt, compared to 43% in 2014 and 39% in 2013.

"Short-term funding requires more frequent debt rollover than longer-term funding and this could become a safety and soundness issue if liquidity dries up unexpectedly," Watt said. "The FHLBs and the Office of Finance are having ongoing discussions about how to address this issue."

Watt's warning alarmed Jaret Seiberg, a Washington policy analyst at Guggenheim Partners.

Forcing the FHLBs to rely on "longer-term financing will boost the cost of advances," Seiberg wrote in a note to clients. "That could be a negative for housing by raising the costs of mortgage lending that is supported with advances."

Watt also reiterated concerns regarding insurance companies and large bank members, saying that some FHLBs have large exposures to a few individual members.

"Across the system, the top four borrowers accounted for 24% of aggregate advances at the end of 2015," Watt said. "We continue to encourage you to exercise due diligence to establish conservative haircuts and controls over collateral pledged" to support advances.

Seiberg said the comments suggest "more scrutiny over big users of advances."

"That could result in big borrowers using the FHLB system for fewer advances. Anything that reduces volume risks raising costs for all borrowers," Seiberg said in his research report.

In his speech, Watt said that 2015 was a very profitable year for the FHLBs and they continued to build retained capital and increased their assets by 6% to $969.6 billion due primarily to increases in advances to member depository institutions.

He also told the directors that FHFA is developing a new exam guide to prompt greater racial and gender diversity within the ranks of the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

"We are developing diversity and inclusion examination activities that we will integrate into the Agency's supervision program," Watt said. "Our goal is to ensure that diversity and inclusion examination activities will be part of our regular examination work conducted for all regulated entities in 2017."

Watt said that FHFA has surveyed the 11 FHLBs, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, about their existing practices with regard to diversity and inclusion, as well as their supplier and workforce diversity programs and reporting procedures.

"FHFA staff followed up on the responses to the survey by visiting each FHLBank and the Office of Finance to interview officials, a process we are currently finishing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well," Watt said. "This information will be critically important in enabling us to establish benchmarks against which we can measure and evaluate each entity's progress going forward."

FHFA is also considering whether to provide guidance about incorporating diversity and inclusion in assessing Home Loan bank executive incentive compensation programs.

"I applaud the efforts already being undertaken voluntarily by the Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh FHLBanks to tie their executive compensation to specific diversity and inclusion goals," Watt said.
While the housing market in the South still has room for improvement, states and metropolitan areas in that region are showing the strongest growth, according to Freddie Mac's latest Multi-Indicator Market Index.

The national MiMi value in March was 83.8, an improvement of 1% from the previous month and 7.23% from a year earlier. Overall the index has risen 41% from the all-time low recorded in October 2010, but it remains well off from the all-time high of 121.7.

The highest scores were mostly in the West. The District of Columbia posted the top value at 102, with Hawaii, Colorado, Montana and Utah rounding out the top five. This is the first time that North Dakota was not among the top five states since the index launched in 2014.

But three of the five states with the highest percentage growth were in the Southeast. Tennessee's score rose 2.49% from March, followed by Mississippi, Oregon, Florida and Massachusetts.

On a metropolitan level, Chattanooga, Tenn., ranked first in terms of month-over-month improvement, with a 3.15% increase. Other cities ranking in the top five were Nashville, Tenn., Oxnard, Calif., Knoxville, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla.

Orlando was also the most improved city year over year, at 19.54%. Colorado's 15.54% improvement from a year earlier was best among states.

"Pent up demand for homes and near record-low mortgage rates are bolstering housing markets across the country," Freddie's deputy chief economist, Len Kief, said in a news release Wednesday. "The impact of rising house prices coupled with tight supplies of for-sale homes in many markets has the potential to make it difficult for the typical family to buy a home despite these low mortgage rates."
National action plans on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) are today the most common strategy used by 63 nations globally to show their commitment to the United Nations WPS agenda. While in the last few years there has been a proliferation of national action plans, implementation remains problematic.

Experts from public institutions, international organisations, academia and non-governmental organisations gathered for a workshop in Dublin, Ireland on 11 and 12 May to discuss national action plans as a strategy for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and other Resolutions related to Women, Peace and Security.

Michael Gaul, NATO Senior Advisor in the Emerging Security Challenges Division, stressed the importance of Women, Peace and Security in NATOs Strategic Objectives. Since 2013 the SPS Programme supports not only projects with a scientific focus, but also fosters activities related to human and social aspects of security, such as the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 agenda. Furthermore, he underscored the benefit of cooperation with Ireland, taking into account the outstanding Irish experience of developing, revising and partnering on national action plans on WPS.

The participants of the workshop highlighted the current challenges in terms of development and implementation of national action plans. Nora Owen, the independent chair of the group overseeing Irelands action plan, emphasised, We need to see more policy coherence among all governments departments, demarcated budgets, stronger monitoring and evaluation processes and more robust accountability mechanisms.

More women in leadership roles

Participants discussed at length the low number of women in leadership positions. Kersti Siilivask, Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association, explained, In Estonia, the low number of women in political leadership and within the military remains one of the main challenges today.

Mireille Affaa Mindzie, Policy Specialist, Peace and Security Section at UN Women, underlined, We need to see more women as appointed as peace mediators and in leadership positions.

Annika Schabbauer, Operation 1325 Sweden, highlighted the need not only to appoint women to senior positions but also men who respect gender equality and womens rights in senior positions in order to bring about change.

Svanhvit Adalsteinsdottir, Advisor to the NATO Secretary Generals Special Representative on WPS, similarly emphasised, Leadership is key  teach people to step up and speak for this agenda  when men hear other men speak about gender it makes a difference.

Case studies of national action plans in the field from West Africa, Liberia, the Republic of Sierra Leone, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were also examined in the workshop. Dr Sahla Aroussi, Coventry University, warned of a flat-pack or one-size fits all approach in Western states support for the adoption of national action plans in developing countries and the danger of overriding the important principle of local ownership in this process.

The importance of the continuous development and revisions of national action plans by states was also discussed in the workshop. However, despite the feeling of frustration in relation to the slow path of progress, participants highlighted the added value of these plans in many areas. Finally, the participants concluded that states should always keep the focus on the implementation and on fulfilling their commitments to gender equality as their ultimate responsibility.

NATO sponsorship

The workshop was jointly organised by Dr Sahla Aroussi (Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University) and Dr Melanie Hoewer (The Institute of British-Irish Studies, University College Dublin). It was sponsored by the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised Italys significant contributions to the Alliance during talks with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome on Tuesday (24 May 2016). For more than sixty years, Italy has been a driving force within NATO, the Secretary General said.

Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Italy for its contributions to NATOs Baltic Air Policing mission in the east and to Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean. He also welcomed that Italy will soon play a leading role in NATOs new Spearhead Force, which will enable the Alliance to respond rapidly to threats from any direction. He added that Italy makes major contributions to Allied missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and hosts a new cutting-edge capability in Sigonella: Alliance Ground Surveillance. This capability will increase NATOs capacity to monitor emerging challenges in the south.

During their talks, the Secretary General and Prime Minister Renzi discussed the next steps NATO will take at the Warsaw Summit to strengthen the Alliances collective defence and deterrence. The leaders underscored the importance of projecting stability beyond NATOs borders, helping local forces secure their own countries against violent extremism. Mr. Stoltenberg noted that NATO stands ready to support Libya with advice on defence and security institution building, if so requested and as part of UN-led efforts. He added that Libya will soon send a team of experts to NATO to identify how the Alliance could best assist.

The leaders also reviewed plans to deepen NATOs cooperation with the European Union. The Secretary General welcomed the Italian proposal for closer coordination with the EU in the Mediterranean. He noted that NATO is looking into how it can contribute to address common challenges and threats in the Mediterranean.
U.S. government censors scientific journals

U.S. government censorship of bus advertisements

(NaturalNews) You probably didn't notice that in the world of national TV news, only Fox News reported that Obama's national security communications expert Ben Rhodes had toldabout his "echo chamber." As reported by, this "echo chamber" utilized compliant national media to promote the Iran arms deal  misleading the public about the entire affair, including when the initial discussions actually began.It turns out that talks actually started back in July 2012, though the Obama Administration claimed they began after Hassan Rouhani's election in June 2013, almost a year later. Fox News appears to be the only mainstream news outlet prepared to report on the truth , and a similar situation occurred then Fox diplomatic correspondent James Rosen exposed the State Department for editing an on-camera admission by Psaki in 2013. Psaki admitted that it was necessary for the Obama Administration to lie to reporters about negotiating with Iran, because "diplomacy requires privacy to progress."The mainstream media is actually censoring news coverage that exposes the government for censoring the news  in a quite frankly confusing and disturbing web of lies and deceit. And government censorship seems in fact to be a very common occurrence.One example is the U.S. government's censorship of scientific experiments around H5N1 avian flu. According to, two journals and took measures to remove certain details from the research that "terrorists may try to use to create biological weapons." The controversial move was deemed necessary when Dr. Ron Fouchier from Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands deliberately created a deadly strain of H5N1 that could spread through mammals, including humans.Dr. Fouchier told reporters that the deliberate mutation of H5N1 had created "probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make. ... I can't think of another pathogenic organism that is as scary as this one."But the government seemed to be a bit too late in terms of pulling the sensitive information, since it had already been made public at various conferences, according to. It is believed that some researchers are still able to access the original papers in their complete form  meaning that the U.S. government is only censoring to certain people. And whilst this censorship might seem to be for a very valid reason, it does bring into question how many pieces of research the U.S. government has altered to prevent the public from knowing the full story.According to, despite objections from two of the conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. government can continue to censor speech in some parts of the nation, determining exactly what speech millions of Americans will or will not be exposed to during their commutes.The local court decision to allow the government to continue censoring what appears in the advertising spaces of buses, which are usually open to a wide range of other messages, was originally affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals  and now the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to intervene.With so much censorship taking place  even on social media  it is hard to know how much of the truth the U.S. population is being given access to. But it is clear that freedom of speech is an ideology that the U.S. government does not subscribe to.
Number one cause of accidental death

Big Pharma's dope dealing operation

(NaturalNews) Congress has just passed 18 bills created to address the nation's opioid epidemic, but is the government really serious about tackling the problem?Although the legislation passed overwhelmingly, there will be no funding available until 2017 for the various programs contained in the bills, and the big question is whether anything will be done to stop Big Pharma from over-supplying the country with dangerous and addictive prescription opioids.The number of overdoses from opioid drugs  including illegal heroin and legal painkillers  has tripled over the last 15 years. Nearly 29,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2014, and an estimated 44 lives are lost each day in the U.S. due to opioid use.Deaths from overdoses have now surpassed those from car accidents, making them the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.It may surprise some to learn that more than half of these overdose deaths are caused, not by black market heroin, but by prescription opioid painkillers that have become increasingly available to the American public over the past couple of decades.From the American Society of Addiction Medicine:"Of the 21.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2014, 1.9 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers and 586,000 had a substance use disorder involving heroin."In other words, the number of people who have a prescription opioid problem is more than three times that of those with a heroin problem  and this is happening at a time when there is more heroin than ever on the streets of America.From the National Institute on Drug Abuse:"Several factors are likely to have contributed to the severity of the current prescription drug abuse problem. They include drastic increases in the number of prescriptions written and dispensed, greater social acceptability for using medications for different purposes, and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies. These factors together have helped create the broad 'environmental availability' of prescription medications in general and opioid analgesics in particular."Doctors routinely over-prescribe opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin, and in quantities that can quickly lead to addiction.From"A new study finds that 99% of doctors violate federal guidelines when handing out prescriptions for narcotic painkillers."Nearly a quarter of physicians routinely give out a month's worth of powerful opioids when a patient complains of pain . This is enough to cause brain changes that lead to addiction."The research by the National Safety Council found only a third of doctors ask about a family history of addiction."The problem has reached the point where pharmaceutical painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin now cause more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined."Meanwhile, the FDA continues to suppress the use of natural painkillers , such as cannabis, while allowing addictive opioid drugs to proliferate.As Mike Adams, founder/editor of, and author of the new book Food Forensics wrote:"Once you realize how much money is being made from patented painkillers, you instantly understand why the pharmaceutical industry conspires with the FDA to suppress the legality of hemp and its astonishing healing properties. ..."Even as the U.S. government claims street drugs are so dangerous, the truth is that, and that's not just in the 'overdoses' category, either. All told, the pharmaceutical industry likely kills at least 100,000 Americans each year and probably many more."The most dangerous drug dealers in America are the big pharmaceutical companies, and the healthcare industry they control and profit enormously from. Is Congress really ready to take on Big Pharma and its apparent agenda to turn us into a nation of junkies?
Emaciated and weak, Yani the elephant visibly weeps as zookeepers lay her down



String of unexplained animal deaths at Bandung Zoo cause worldwide concern



(NaturalNews) A crude and crowded Indonesian zoo, where many animals have suffered premature deaths, has been temporarily closed. Established on the island of Java, the Bandung Zoo has been controversial in recent years, with neglected animals dying in filthy, overcrowded cages.The zoo has disposed of several animal carcasses in the past few years. Animal rights activists have dubbed the place the "death zoo." The latest animal to suffer an agonizing death was Yani the elephant. Since the zoo is overcrowded and doesn't have a veterinarian on hand, animals often get ill and are left to suffer. The zoo operates with little money. As the animals are taken from their natural environment and forced into tight living quarters, their will to live fades. The death of the animals' spirits can almost be seen in the dying look in their eyes.When zookeepers pulled Yani the elephant from her cage in a last ditch attempt to treat her, the only thing the majestic animal could do was to fall over and weep. Yani can be seen on camera, with puddles of tears forming around her eyes. It is apparent the animal was suffering greatly.Yani had been suffering for some time, and sores had overtaken her body. The zoo contacted outside veterinarians, but little could be done to save her.Bandung mayor Ridwan Kamil visited Yani before the great elephant passed away. "If they don't have the budget to manage [the zoo], they should seek support," said Kamil. Visitors to the zoo often report that the animals there look emaciated and weak.Femke den Haas of the animal rights group the Jakarta Animal Aid Network reveals, "Yani's case is really just the tip of the iceberg because many animals are dying in Indonesian zoos."In fact, Yani wasn't the first animal to suffer an unexplained death at the notorious Bandung Zoo . Just a month before Yani's death, a rare Sumatran tiger suddenly passed away due to poor living conditions. In 2014, the zoo also lost a giraffe. When they investigated the unexplained death, they found 40 pounds of plastic trash caught up in the animal's stomach. It's apparent that the zoo cannot even keep up with its own garbage.Petrus Riski of the Indonesia Wildlife Communication Forum notes that the best way to ease the overpopulation of animals in Bandung Zoo is to send some of them to other conservation institutes.The World Wildlife Fund reports that there are perhaps just 2,400 to 2,800 of these majestic Sumatran elephants left in the wild.(Photo credit: Getty Images)
Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds

British Museum, London. Until 27 November 2016.

In Egypt's Nile delta at Abu Qir Bay lie the remains of two cities. In 500 BC, Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion were crucial ports for trade with Greece and Greek settlement. Even their names reflect Greek mythological figures: Kanopos, pilot of Spartan king Menelaus's ship in the Trojan War, and the hero Herakles. The cities continued to flourish until at least the late fourth century AD, through Alexander the Great's founding of Alexandria in 332 BC, the Ptolemaic period of Greek rule that ended in 30 BC, and Roman rule. A colossal statue of Hapy, the ancient Egyptian god of Nile flooding, being raised from Abu Qir Bay. Credit: Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation/Christoph Gerigk

At some point, however, they began to sink. By the eighth century AD, the cities were submerged several metres under the Mediterranean sea bed, their precise locations lost for centuries. In the late 1990s, they were found as part of a technically challenging and scientifically sophisticated operation by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in Paris, directed by Franck Goddio. The team used side-scan sonar, nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometers and sub-bottom profilers to reveal slices through the geological strata beneath the sea bed, allowing them to begin partial excavation. Divers uncovered buildings, massive sculptures and a huge range of objects, from bronze incense burners to gold jewellery. More than 750 ancient anchors and 69 ships were also detected in the ooze, most of them from the sixth to second centuries BC, in Thonis-Heracleion's harbour.

An exhibition of this extraordinary trove, Sunken Cities, is the first large-scale show of underwater discoveries at the British Museum in London, and the most complete presentation of this complex EgyptianGreek society so far.

More than 200 IEASM finds are exhibited, denoted on the information panels by a hieroglyphic zigzag symbolizing water. Many of them were displayed in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Grand Palais in Paris in 200607, but much has been discovered since. Among the stone statues of deities and rulers in pharaonic or Greek dress is a 5.4-metre figure of Hapy, god of the Nile inundation, which greets visitors as it once greeted Greek sailors approaching the mouth of the Nile. Nearby are inscriptions in hieroglyphic and Greek on stone and gold, intricate jewellery in recognizably Greek styles and delicate lead models of votive barques used in the cult of Osiris. These exhibits are supplemented by objects from other sites, lent by a number of museums in Alexandria and by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, as well as the British Museum's renowned Egyptian collections (notably, those from the upstream ancient Greek port of Naukratis). Ethereal silent underwater film footage strategically positioned throughout the exhibition shows divers investigating and rescuing a few key objects, including a sycamore barge of Osiris.

Ancient Egypt was not isolated, but an outward looking, influential and inclusive society.

The hybrid culture on show may surprise, and at times confuse, visitors familiar with the art and objects characteristic of earlier Egyptian dynasties found at sites such as Luxor and Abu Simbel. Says exhibition curator Aurelia Masson-Berghoff: People sometimes assume that when two cultures mix, the essence of each is diluted and, as a result, weakened; Sunken Cities demonstrates the opposite. She notes that ancient Egypt was not isolated, as is sometimes thought, but an outward looking, influential and inclusive society. This is amply borne out in the history and culture of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. Alexander and his friend and general Ptolemy  who became Ptolemy I in 306 BC  worshipped at Egyptian shrines; and Cleopatra and her lover the Roman general Mark Antony presented themselves as the living EgyptianGreek deities IsisAphrodite and OsirisDionysus. A terracotta lamp with an Egyptian Isis motif, dating from the second century AD and on show from the British Museum collection, was found in far-off Roman Britain.

Ancient Egyptian science also appears. The black granite of a fascinating shrine from the fourth century BC known as the Naos of the Decades is heavily inscribed with hieroglyphs and a large figure of a lion. In submerged Canopus, it broke apart and the pieces spread far and wide: the roof ended up in the Louvre in Paris in 1817; the base and rear wall were found on site underwater in 1933 and deposited in the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. Amazingly, the IEASM team stumbled on four further pieces in 1999. Egyptologist Anne-Sophie von Bomhard examined the Naos, reconstructed after more than a millennium. Its external surfaces depict a calendar dividing the Egyptian year into ten-day sections ('decades'), connected with the successive rising of certain stars ('decans'). This proved that ancient Egyptian astrology was based on astronomical observations.

The exhibition discusses theories about why Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion sank without favouring any one cause, for lack of definitive historical or contemporary evidence. Possibilities range from tsunamis and earthquakes to floods, variations in sea level and geological subsidence, all known to have occurred in the region. There was, for instance, an earthquake in AD 796 or 797 that damaged the top section of Alexandria's Pharos lighthouse, according to ninth-century ADArab historian al-Tabari. These natural forces may have contributed to another, human-made, phenomenon revealed by core samples taken from the sediments under Abu Qir Bay: the liquefaction of the clay soils, triggered by pressure from the cities' heavy temple buildings.
Biophysicist Joerg Bewersdorf says that 2006 was fluorescence microscopy's annus mirabilis  a 'miraculous year' as momentous in its own way as 1905, when Albert Einstein revolutionized physics in the realms of relativity, quantum theory and atomic physics. In microscopy's case, the revolution consisted of three papers1,2,3 that, for the first time, gave scientists the power to peer down into the cell and track the behaviour of individual molecules. A combination of fluorescent labelling and light-sheet imaging yields a super-resolution view of structures inside a fixed (non-living) cell. Credit: Wesley R. Legant

Every molecule is a machine, a little nano-machine, Bewersdorf says. Proteins, in particular, are complex molecules that twist, flex, open and shut in a multitude of ways to perform the reactions necessary for cell metabolism and growth, sending messages and providing structure. That is what we are ultimately interested in understanding, says Bewersdorf: How do all these little machines work together for the global function of the cell?

Until scientists could observe that world, however, they had only the cloudiest idea of how to answer that question. Light microscopes were no help; beyond a certain magnification, diffraction causes light waves to spread out instead of converging to form an image. Any features closer together than about 200 nanometres, or about 40 times the width of a typical cell membrane, become a hopeless blur. Images made using electron microscopy can resolve fine structures  but they are static and almost impossible to obtain from a live cell.

The three laboratories that independently circumvented the 'diffraction barrier' in 2006 adopted a similar strategy: studying the sample with specialized fluorescence probes that can be selectively switched on, a few at a time, until all of the probes are captured in a series of images. Combining the data from those images builds a picture, in a similar way to an impressionist painter building up a scene with dots of colour (see 'Connecting the dots'). The three techniques  photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM)1, fluorescence PALM (FPALM)2 and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM)3  can differentiate between points just 20 nanometres apart, producing the sharpest-ever fluorescent images at the single-molecule level. Researchers have rushed to take advantage of these capabilities. At Bewersdorf's lab at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, for example, he has filmed proteins moving across the surface of living cells4. Credit: MicroscopyU.com

In the decade since 2006, the three techniques have inspired a wave of technological and methodological innovations. Researchers are designing fluorescent probes that shine brighter and are robust enough to image cellular processes as they unfold. They are also developing methods that cause less disruption to living cells. Several illumination strategies seek to reduce the visual noise caused by background fluorescence, whereas computational methods and strategies are allowing researchers to combine multiple imaging approaches to see molecular interactions in real time.

The big excitement over these past few years is that these technologies have become doable in living cells, says Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, a cell biologist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia. The time is definitely ripe for being able to image individual proteins using fluorescence.

Lasting longer, shining stronger

All three of the super-resolution microscopy techniques invented in 2006 rely on the light emitted by probe compounds such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), which was first isolated in a bioluminescent jellyfish. The genes for these probes can be inserted into the DNA coding for a cellular protein of interest. Then, when that protein is produced, it will have the fluorescent compound attached, and will reveal its presence by glowing.

The time is definitely ripe for being able to image individual proteins using fluorescence.

But these techniques have some severe limitations. A big one is that many of these probes can emit only a finite number of photons before they are irreversibly damaged by the intensity of the lasers that are used to excite them into emitting light. Even before this photo-bleaching effect takes hold, the probes are quite dim when imaged individually.

Synthetic versions of these probes known as organic (that is, carbon-containing) dyes are brighter, but they cannot be genetically encoded to their target and manufactured inside the cell. Instead, they are often linked with antibodies that can seek out the protein of interest. However, that combination can make the probes too large to pass through the cell membrane or bulky enough to interfere with a protein's function.

Probes are really limiting us and really defining to some extent where this technology can go, says Bewersdorf.

Fortunately, alternatives are emerging. Bewersdorf's group is working with two 'clickable chemistry' probes: SNAP-tag, from New England Biolabs in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and HaloTag, from Promega in Madison, Wisconsin. These technologies involve a short target sequence that can be encoded into the protein of interest and a dye molecule that clicks into place with its target protein through a simple chemical reaction. Bewersdorf and his colleagues demonstrated that the two tags can be used with organic dyes in living cells to achieve a resolution below 50 nm5  almost as precise as the 20-nm resolution of the original techniques, with the advantage that they combine the specificity and leanness of genetically encoded probes with the brightness of synthetic dyes.

Researchers have also turned to quantum dots, nanoscale semiconductors that are not only bright and stable for a month or more, but can also link to biological molecules. Diane Lidke, a biophysicist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, uses quantum dots in her lab's work on cell signalling. For her, the benefits outweigh the major disadvantage of quantum dots  their size. Commercially available quantum dots are surrounded by a shell that can link the dot to other molecules but that expands the dot's diameter to 1525 nm. They are quite large and bulky, she says, at least when compared with a fluorescent protein, which can be just 4 nm wide.

That pitfall means that researchers have difficulty getting quantum dots into the cell or other tight spaces, but they work well for the kind of extracellular, membrane-bound proteins that Lidke targets. In collaboration with her husband Keith Lidke, a physicist at the same university, she has developed a multiple-colour, fast, single-molecule tracking method that uses quantum dots to produce images on a custom microscope6.

Still, much of the cell's internal processes remain locked inside the membrane, difficult to reach with fluorescent probes.

Cracking open the cell

Getting past the cell's membrane is one of the most daunting hurdles that fluorescence microscopy faces. Even though it is only five nanometres thick, [the cell membrane] has had a few billion years of evolution to separate the inside of the cell from the outside, and it does this amazingly well, says Paul Selvin, a biophysicist at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.

Selvin's lab has developed its own version of quantum dots that are smaller, closer to 9 nm in diameter7. That size reduction helps him to slip quantum dots into the approximately 2040 nm gap between nerve cells, the synapse, where signalling molecules pass on messages to nearby nerve cells. Once in that cleft, the quantum dots can bind to and advertise the presence of receptors that facilitate memory formation. Selvin hasn't sent these smaller quantum dots inside living cells yet, but he says that this could be possible. Fluorescently labelled microtubules (green) and mitochondria (magenta) are blurred when seen through a conventional microscope (left). They are sharper when stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM, middle) is used  and sharper still (right) when an advanced version of STORM reveals structures in 3D. Credit: B. Huang Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 14, 1014 (2010)

Selvin's lab is also working on a strategy to punch holes in the plasma membrane and then quickly reseal them so that the cell isn't disturbed. We effectively drill little microscopic pores into the membrane that are about five nanometres, he says, using a bacterial enzyme called streptolysin O. That's just wide enough to let a fluorescent protein, even one linked to an antibody, slip inside and find its intracellular target. The method, which Selvin has yet to publish, then patches up those holes within 20 minutes.

Yet there is always the concern that the added probe could interfere with the target protein's typical function. An alternative strategy that doesn't impair the protein comes from Jie Xiao, a biophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Her probe molecules are genetically encoded, but instead of hanging on to the molecule of interest, they are cleaved by an enzyme as soon as they are produced and scurry off to a particular part of the cell membrane. That means that they no longer carry any information about the target molecule's position, but they are in a position where Xiao can count them precisely and thus get an exact tally of the proteins produced, while the proteins themselves are free to go about their business unencumbered. She calls the method co-translational activation by cleavage (CoTrAC)8.

Being able to quantify the absolute protein level in a living cell is very important, Xiao explains. Most of the time people use the fluorescence to indicate relative change. However, only a few of the gene-regulation proteins she studies are produced at a time, which makes them difficult to image with most super-resolution techniques. Furthermore, small changes in the exact number of those proteins can determine whether the cell changes states or not. The advantage of CoTrAC is that, by gathering probes for different proteins at different locations on the cell membrane, this technique can be used to count multiple protein products using the same fluorescence molecule and colour. This is a crucial ability when producing different probes can take varying amounts of time and may obscure the timing of cell processes.

Lighting the way

Crisper, striking images can come from brighter probes, but another way to make the probes stand out is to reduce the background light. You have many different planes that you observe simultaneously but you can see only one plane sharply  that in the focus plane of your camera, says Ulrich Kubitscheck, a biophysical chemist at the University of Bonn in Germany. But you still have the diffused background of everything else in the cell.

Non-target proteins can even have their own, natural, dim fluorescence that contributes to this noise. If that background can instead be kept in the dark, the contrast and clarity of images can be enhanced.

Therefore, researchers are constantly improving their illumination strategies. Kubitscheck's lab uses light-sheet microscopy to generate a very thin beam of precisely focused light that slices through the sample from the side. We have a glass chamber that is transparent from below and the sides, he says. By shining light through the side rather than the top of the sample, his group illuminates a section only 200300 nm thick and observes the sample from below. In this way, the group has seen RNA molecules as they are exported out of the nucleus through a protein complex called the nuclear pore and into the cytoplasm, where they go on to instruct protein synthesis9.

Microscopes equipped to carry out light-sheet imaging are commercially available from companies such as Leica Microsystems in Wetzlar, Germany, and Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen, Germany. Groups with the necessary expertise can even do as Kubitscheck's team has done and build their own, custom microscopes.

The next iteration of such selective plane illumination microscopy is called lattice light-sheet microscopy and hails from the lab of Eric Betzig, a physicist at Janelia who also developed PALM microscopy. The technology can generate an illumination plane 300500 nm thick, says collaborator Zhe Liu, a cell biologist at Janelia  but the real advantage of the method is the structure that the light takes. The lattice forms a three-dimensional grid that moves, illuminating successive sections though the sample. You can image for a much longer period of time because the [out-of-focus] molecules are being preserved, Liu says. Capturing 3D images is also possible. Liu first started using the technology three years ago, while Betzig was still developing it, to examine the organization of protein clusters that are necessary for maintaining a stem cell's ability to self-renew10.

Lattice light-sheet microscopy is not yet commercially available, although Carl Zeiss is working on a microscope. Until this goes on sale, groups that are interested in using the technology need to assemble their own custom microscopes. Alignment is tricky, Liu cautions, but Betzig and others provide workshops to help those willing to tackle the challenge.

Motion in miniature

These probes and illumination strategies can be combined for truly novel insights. Typically, the field has defined the structures in cells, says Lippincott-Schwartz. Now we are getting a handle on the underlying mechanisms that allow these structures to move and interact.

In her lab at Janelia, Lippincott-Schwartz and her colleagues are leveraging lattice light-sheet microscopy  which she calls a truly transformative technology  to look at the way cell organelles and proteins interact. She and her colleagues have watched enzymes repeatedly interact with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a network of membranes in the cell where proteins are synthesized and folded11. Canonically, the ER has been thought of as only a site of protein secretion, but these observations have really made me start thinking very differently about the primary or major function of this organelle, she says. The ER might be communicating with other structures more than was previously thought.

This kind of work requires expertise even beyond that needed to align and use the microscopes properly. Lippincott-Schwartz explains that it requires the appropriate algorithms to reconstruct the image from the data acquired by the microscopes. This is not just something you can pick up, she says. Typically, labs without substantial experience in super-resolution imaging and the statistical methods it relies on can turn to the specialized knowledge held by experts in the shared imaging facilities that some institutions have. But she also sees a need for standards related to image acquisition and analysis to be set for the field. Otherwise, there will be information that will be improperly interpreted, she says.

The complexity of single-molecule imaging means that clean data, controls and proper analysis are invaluable. If I could recommend something to people entering the field, says Antoine Triller, a neurobiologist at the Institute of Biology of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris who studies the movement of molecules in the synapse, it would be either to have a good background in statistical physics or to work with people with a very good knowledge in the field.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is slowly catching up with space industry giants such as SpaceX. They recently conducted a test for their Indian-made reusable space shuttle and according to the agency, the maiden test flight was a success.

The Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is a 7m-scale model of their reusable space shuttle. The test spacecraft was launched in Andhra Pradesh according to a report by BBC. The test flight was set at 70km (43miles) before the model has to head back to the sea. It also weighs around 1.75 tons said Quartz India.

NASA already stopped its Space Shuttle Program in 2011 and is currently using the SpaceX Dragon for its resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA is currently looking at reusable rockets and space shuttles to drastically lessen the cost of space missions.

ISRO had been active in space research and they are now ready to launch bigger space shuttles as exemplified with the test flight of their new Indian-made spacecraft.

The test flight lasted for about 13 minutes and was declared a success by ISRO.

"Mission has been accomplished and all the parameters and trajectories were fulfilled. The lift-off was sharp at 7am and then the vehicle landed in the Bay of Bengal," a spokesperson for ISRO said in an interview with Mint in New Delhi.

ISRO said that the test flight is a 'hypersonic flight experiment (HEX)' and the next batch of testing will focus on landing the space shuttle. Although the full version of the spacecraft will only be developed in 10-15 years, Indians are proud of the achievements they were able to accomplish. ISRO received praises from the members of the government.

Launch of India's first indigenous space shuttle RLV-TD is the result of the industrious efforts of our scientists. Congrats to them.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2016

Hearty congratulations to ISRO on successful launch of India's first Re-usable Launch Vehicle -Technology Demonstrator #PresidentMukherjee  President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 23, 2016

The spacecraft was able to reach 70km altitude and was able to land successfully on the Bay of Bengal.
The Zika epidemic, along with the birth defects that are associated with it, seems to be the government's fault, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday. The governments failed to control mosquitoes and to provide basic family planning assistance to young women.

"Let me give you a stern warning. What we are seeing now looks more and more like a dramatic resurgence of the threat from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The world is not prepared to cope," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told a meeting of the World Health Assembly according to NBC News.

Experts in Brazil claim that the country once eliminated the Zika dengue carrying mosquito Aeded aegypti, after which, the government simply abandoned the programme. As soon as the programs were introduced, the mosquitoes which are a highly successful species came back.

Chan also said that the deadly Ebola, in West Africa alone, has claimed more than 11,000 lives. Yellow fever in Africa shows how unprepared the government is.

Besides the severe epidemics, the new born babies are also suffered. They are born with incurable and devastating birth defects.

The warning issued by Chan highlights what the Obama administration has already told about the state of public health. According to them, there is no sufficient funding for public health, and this cutback comes at a time when more money should be put to protect kids from these new threats such as Zika.

Since summer is a treat for breeding mosquitoes, there will be a lot more of them. The administration is urging Republicans to brace themselves by funding their tools for the hard times that are to come.

Chan stressed that WHO has been trying to prepare and help the world to fight against these new outbreaks. This also requires the other countries to strengthen their internal health programs and then report their findings. However, the countries have paid little heed to it and have not implemented this advice well enough.
In the recently concluded Philippine National Elections, the seemingly ferocious Mayor of Davao City is now the presumptive President of the country. Rodrigo Duterte's iron-clad style of government had been widely accepted in his turf, Davao, and the whole country for that matter. And as his formal takeover is nearing, Duterte's decisions on some pressing matters have gained both approval and negation from the people just like his recently announced support for the use of medical marijuana.

In a country with Catholics dominating almost 80 percent of its population, it is safe to say that pressing issues concerning moral values are considered sensitive matters. The idea of allowing the use of medical marijuana in the Philippines had been opposed by various groups ever since the idea was presented to the public.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is adamant in their lobby to oppose the use of medical marijuana. Although there are people and organizations who also endorse the use of medical marijuana, a bill was actually filed in the Philippine Congress to legalize the use of medical marijuana in 2014.

"We are at this stage, we have Filipinos who need care, we should give them compassionate care - this medical cannabis. There are a lot of medicines, but they are expensive," said Rep. Leah Paquiz, co-author of the bill in an interview with CNN Philippines.

But until today, the bill remains untouched by the seemingly conservative majority in the congress. But the strong-willed Duterte is about to change that.

Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte or Digong as he is fondly called is uncompromising when it comes to the use of illegal drugs. He openly expressed his anger towards drug pushers and his intent to kill those who don't want to obey his commands but is openminded when it comes to the use of medical marijuana.

Although he said he would never allow the use of recreational marijuana, Digong is in favor of medical marijuana because of the benefits it can provide to those who need it. "Medical marijuana, yes, because it is an ingredient of modern medicine now. There are medicines now being developed or already in the market that contains marijuana as a component but used for medical purposes" said Duterte in an interview with ABS-CBN.

Duterte is open to the use of medical marijuana, but according to a report by Politics Today, he said that he will leave the decision to the concerned government department where the issue will be discussed in the proper venue acknowledging that the decision is not entirely up to him.

But despite his assurance that medical marijuana may be allowed in the Philippines, he reminded those who are planning to abuse the law that his rule against illegal drugs will apply. As Digong always say, 'either they follow the rule or they die'.
In hopes to facilitate better climate education for the children, the Portland Public Schools board have implemented drastic measures banning any teaching materials that deny or cast a doubt on climate change.

The resolution, passed last May 17, requires school district to remove textbooks and other teaching materials that suggest that climate change is not happening, or that states that human activities have nothing to with the changing climate.

The unanimously approved resolution also limit the use of words like "may," "might" and "could" in the district's curriculum, especially in science classes tackling climate change and its causes.

"A lot of the text materials are kind of thick with the language of doubt, and obviously the science says otherwise," Bill Bigelow, a former Portland public school teacher and current curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools magazine, told Portland Tribune.

Bigelow also mentioned that publishers of textbooks are yielding to the pressures from the fossil fuel industry.

"We don't want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry," Bigelow added.

According to the report from The Weather Channel, Gaby Lemieux, a student at Lincoln High School supported the bold move of the board.

"Climate education is not a niche or a specialization, it is the minimum requirement for my generation to be successful in our changing world," explained Lemieux.

On the other hand, Fox News reported about the ongoing petition of Oregon Institute of Science and Technology, which was signed by over 31,000 American Scientists. According to the petition, the proposed limits in greenhouse gases emission would harm the environment, hinder the advancement of science and technology and damage the health and welfare of mankind.

"There is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth," the petition read.

However, United States Environmental Protection Agency begs to differ. In a report from US News & World Report, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy noted that climate change is not just about the polar bears.

"It really is about direct public health issues like asthma and kids, like cardiovascular and pulmonary disease associated with air pollution," said McCarthy.


There is no doubt that social media has become a huge part of the daily lives of people. 59 percent of Americans use it, and people all over the world use social media in different manners. The question is, can it be an effective tool to spread awareness on the environment?

Some may only have the purpose of connecting with friends and relatives, while others may see it as an opportunity to fully express their selves.

In the past year, social media has been the place where people share their views on popular topics. Facebook offers groups and pages so that different people with similar perspective and favorites may mingle and share ideas with one another. Twitter and Instagram on the other hand has been utilizing Hashtags to connect people with similar cause and views. To build awareness or to promote a product on Facebook, people sometimes buy Facebook likes to gain more popularity quickly.



The Green Economy Post has given emphasize in the role of Hashtags in making the world a better place. According to their report, Hashtags are good at "helping users build a reputation on a specific topic, create or join conversations with others in green areas of specialty, promote a new product, build awareness about a cause, get the word out about an event, and alert people about a new blog posts or current events."







At present, environmental issues has also began surfacing in social media. Different non-governmental and volunteer groups use the wide connections of social media to publicize and spread their goals. Many governmental laws and resolutions have been criticized in social media, forcing authorities to reconsider their actions. According to a report by Huffington Post, social media has been widely accepted by the environmental sector. They use social media to connect people locally and cross-nationally on major environmental issues such as climate change. However, not everyone in social media share the same cause. The perfect example of this is the current division between those who believe that climate change is real and those who deny climate change.

"The liberal Salon magazine also questions Bill Nye's credentials as a "scientist" as he goes on Meet the Press:... https://t.co/NwyQbPqr6b  Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) April 19, 2016





Social media has become the battleground of the two contradicting sides, lashing and mocking each other's credibility and findings. Some people may also use social media to propagate incorrect and misleading information regarding specific topics.











Overall, social media has been very helpful in spreading environmental causes and projects. However, users should always try validating various social media posts, especially reports that may potentially affect their way of life.


May 23, Monday, United Nations Assembly was opened in Nairobi, Kenya to tackle some of the most critical issues facing our planet.

Hundreds of global decision-makers gathered in Nairobi to attend the UN Environment assembly. Expected attendees to attend the five-day global environmental assembly are environment ministers and representatives from 173 countries, scientists, campaigners and industry executives.

According to Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the global momentum to achieve green and inclusive growth has accelerated.

"We are holding this assembly against a backdrop of great strides in greening our economies. A global conversation will take place this week to discuss policies and practices that advance environmental sustainability," Steiner said in a report by CRI English.

UNEA 2 delagates will later adopt policy prescriptions that promote the green agenda in line with SDGs after the disscussion.

The aim of this event is to tackle the major global issues including air pollution that kills millions of people every year, illegal trade of wildlife, and global warming. Aside from that, the second session of UNEA-2 is talk call immediate action to improve human being environment and human health.

UNEA is the world's most powerful decision-making body on the environment. This year, leaders aim to pass a raft of resolutions for food waste, the fading health of oceans, the world's natural capital, and sustainable consumption and production, according to the official website of United Nations Organization.
NASA's mission to reach deep space calls for partnerships with the largest plane manufacturers in the world including Boeing, Airbus, and Lockheed Martin.

NASA tapped Airbus Defence and Space to Develop the Orion Spacecraft which will have the capability to transport human crew in deep space 'farther than they've ever gone before'. This week, the team of engineers began assembling the spacecraft to prepare it for its maiden mission in 2018.

In 2014, Airbus was tapped by NASA to build the European Service Module (ESM), a part of Orion Spacecraft which will take astronauts beyond familiar territory. Today, the Airbus team in Airbus Defence and Space's site at Bremen, Germany, is officially assembling the parts of the Orion Spacecraft.

"With the Orion Service Module, we are part of a historic space mission," said Francois Auque, Head of Space Systems in an interview with Space Daily. "We will make sure this mission is a success, working hand in hand with our customers ESA and NASA and our industrial partner Lockheed Martin Space Systems."

Orion is being built in Germany starting with the 'back-end' or rear of the spacecraft. NASA considers The Orion as one of their next generation spacecraft because it will target deep space where no man has reached before.

Some parts of the Orion already passed rigorous testing like the pressurized capsule which will house the crew inside the spacecraft. The developers are now moving to assemble the whole thing into one piece.

"What you see at the moment is just the primary structure, but over the coming months the empty space within it will be packed," said Philippe Deloo, ESA Supervisor of the project, in an interview with BBC.

The assembly team added that more parts are needed to be installed to complete the project including the propulsion system, the power system, the thermal system and the storage for consumables. According to BBC, this is the first time NASA went overseas to develop its spacecraft.

Airbus recognizes the difficulty and the pressure in creating NASA's Orion Spacecraft which assembly should be finished by 2017. Airbus officials say although the task is daunting, they are comfortable with the speed of the assembly process.
If you are visiting San Francisco and need to get back in Los Angeles for a morning meeting, the popular option is to sleep at a hotel and catch an early morning flight. This option can be costly considering how expensive hotel rates are in Frisco and $100 to $200 flight fare. One should always consider cheap alternative than this, especially those budget-oriented businessmen.

This routine will soon be changed because of 'Sleepbus,' a bus ride that combines comfortable amenities of hotels and exquisite night time travel experience for only $48.

Sleepbus boasts onboard amenities such as privacy screen for each bed, personal power outlets, reading light, WiFi, fresh luxury sheets, coffee, tea, seating areas, and a restroom. It also has an attendant to answer any of your needs and ensure you have comfortable travel.



Travel time will run about seven to eight hours depending on road condition and traffic. During this time you can easily catch the snooze you need to prepare for the next day. Passengers can also opt to sleep in until 9 am even with the early arrival. The main idea of Sleepbus is you sleep in a city and wakes up in another.

"It would basically be like you teleported to L.A. It would be cool," Tom Currier, founder and CEO of SleepBus, told Inc. Magazine.

According to the report from Geek, other buses offer the same travel time and will cost much cheaper. However, tossing a couple of dollars to get a bed for comfortable sleep instead of slumping over in a seat is worth every penny.



At present, SleepBus only services travelers from San Francisco and Los Angeles, but the company is seeking to get their hands in ten more additional buses to accommodate their growing demand and service other places as well. Tech Insider reported that fares are expected to rise from $48 to $65 each, once it restarts its services on August 15.


With the increased number of unmanned aerial vehicles also known as drones, there's no doubt that new heights in terms of aerial photography been reached. However, great power comes with great consequences, and various reports suggest that animals are suffering from drone intrusions. Because of this, conservationists are calling the attention of authorities to help protect animals from drones.

Experts say that filming animals using drones can cause disturbances in the wildlife in ways 'people are yet to understand'. That is the reason why researchers at the University of Adelaide's Unmanned Research Aircraft Facility (URAF) and the ConservatinDrones.org believe that the use of drones in filming the wildlife should be regulated.

"Hopefully, we can develop species-specific protocols so researchers can use drones as a powerful and low-impact ecological research tool," said Jarrod Hodgson of URAF, in an interview with Mashable.

They have used drones in their research and as experts, they understand that the animals should be protected during this era of technology. Jarrod Hodgson and Lian Pin Koh, the director of URAF and conservationdrones.org, published a 'Code of Conduct' to help protect the animals from invasive drone practices.

Recently, images of animals taken by drones proliferate in various social media platforms. They may look fascinating to watch, but experts say there are consequences linked to animal's excessive exposure to drones.

An eagle photographed by a drone pic.twitter.com/EFFn9HWrXW  Animal Life (@MeetAnimals) April 29, 2015

Rare drone footage of the largest animal that has ever lived: blue whale mom & calf. By @SocialPyramid https://t.co/xi3qH9Z4LC @NatGeoMag  Laura Helmuth (@laurahelmuth) February 4, 2016

In the paper entitled 'Best Practice for Minimising Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Disturbance to Wildlife in Biological Field Research', experts emphasized the importance of ethical treatment of animals.

Although there is no concrete proof yet how drones affect animals, scientists suggest that drone activities may hinder breeding patterns of animals.

"Wildlife may appear like they are not disturbed but there could be reasons why the animals visually appear undisturbed," said Hodgson in a statement published by ABC News. "A bird might be incubating an egg so it will behave on its nest and behaviorally it looks like it hasn't changed but in fact, it could be quite stressed" he added.

The authors of the study know how important the use of drones is to scientific research, but they also wanted to protect the animals from too much exposure to drones.

Ethical treatment of animals and civil aviation rules should be upheld while using drones in animal filming. The experts hope that other wildlife scientist and commercial drone flyers will abide by the code of conduct so as not to disrupt the animals' natural processes in exchange for great aerial footage.
May 19, Monday- EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed from the sky, and only pieces of the plane found.

Some pieces have been found, however, 60 people in the plane were presumed dead. Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations united, and each of them used their ships and planes in searching the Mediterranean Sea north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the plane's voice and flight data recorders, as well as more bodies and parts of the aircraft.

In a previous report, the Flight 804 disappeared en route from Paris to Cairo last week. Some debris of the plane such as vests, personal belongings, and parts of wreckage have been recovered.

Later on, some body parts of human remains have been found by officials, and they are now trying to identify and match them to victims families. Families of victims have nearly completed giving DNA samples to help officials identify the victims, EgyptAir's vice chairman Ahmed Adel said on Tuesday.

According to the officials in the morgue, it is too early to conclude the reason why the plane crash.

"Any high velocity impact leads to defragmentations, and this is not indicative of what caused the accident," Adel told CNN .

"Let's not jump to conclusions," he added.

Amid of confusing reports about the reason of plane crash, Egyptian forensics official clarified the cause of downing of the plane in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday.

The forensics official examined the remains of the passengers who died in the crash. The result of the examination suggested that there was an explosion on board of the plane because the body parts were very small in size and had burn marks.

"The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down," the official told Associated Press.
Recently, a Shetland sheepdog named Ollie was set to be euthanized because he was paralyzed and was slowly dying due to unknown reasons. Acting as saviors, the veterinarians attending to the dog found the cause of its ailment, which turned out to be ticks.

Ollie and his family are from Portland, Oregon. The dog went completely paralyzed after a camping trip according to a report by Huffington Post. His condition appeared to be at its worse that is why despite their reluctance, the family decided to euthanize the dog to spare him from further agony.

Dr. Adam Stone, a veterinarian from the Dove Lewis Animal Hospital said that the family have reached their limit and decided it's Ollie's time to pass because their pet couldn't walk, urinate of defecate.

Ollie was suffering for days and as a result, his family finally decided to do the inevitable.

"When his mobility was shot and he was paralyzed, it was just weird seeing him just laying there on the floor, knowing he had so much more life in him," said Ollie's owner Falline Fate in an interview with KPTV.

But the surprising turn of events favored Ollie because at the animal hospital where he was supposed to be put to sleep, a veterinary intern found a tick behind his ear which was identified as the cause of Ollie's condition. Few hours after, the dog is back on his feet.

Vet inter,n Neena Golden, was helping Dr. Stone when she found the tick behind the dog's ear. After examining the tick, the doctors found out that the tick causes 'tick paralysis' in pets. The animal hospital explained that tick paralysis occurs when the saliva from the tick gets into the dog's system for a prolonged period of time, according to a press release by Dove Lewis. It targets the dog's neurological system which causes the paralysis. But despite that, they said it is a completely curable condition.

Reports say that the dog started moving around a few hours after the tick was removed and was able to go on a bathroom break, completely devoid of paralysis.

Thanks to the vet intern, a four-legged soul was saved.
Authorities have discovered a colony of killer bees in Charleston Country for the first time in 15 years since 2001.

According to WSPA, the hive filled with killer bees was found just outside Charleston City in a domestic bee-keeping operation. After observation of inspectors from Clemson University, the captured killer bees were determined as a hybrid between Africanized and European honeybees.

Different from friendly honeybees, these killer bees have a bigger tendency to attack and sting people, not only one, but a hundred of times. The said strain of African killer bees was imported to Brazil five decades ago for an experiment to create species that would yield more honey, as per Charlotte Observer.

Fifteen years ago, another set of killer bees were discovered in South Carolina inside an airplane wing. That was the last time that a wild population of killer bees was documented in the state, until now.

This appears just to be a localized incident, but as a precaution we have depopulated the hive and are conducting a survey within a two-mile area to determine whether any Africanized honey bees remain, said Clemson inspector Brad Cavin, adding that more action will be made depending on the results.

Clemson estimated that there were about 1,000 bees present in the newly discovered colony. However, what poses as a danger is the tendency of these Africanized killer bees to get out in swarms, mate with local bee species and establish their own colonies.

Southwestern U.S. and Florida have been known to house populations of killer bees, but recent reports say that these killer bees are spreading to other states. There were reports of two small dogs being attacked by a swarm of killer bees in northern California. Six years ago, an elderly man from Georgia died after an Africanized killer bee bit him.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has once again blamed the outgoing president of the United States, Barrack Obama, for a tragic event that happened outside of the United States.

Last week, Trump assumed in his tweet that the sudden disappearance of EgyptAir is another act of terrorism. And surely enough, just a few hours after his tweet, Egyptian and US officials reported that the cause of crash is more likely a result of terrorism than a technical fault.





Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? Great hate and sickness!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2016



According to the news update of CNN, Greek officials said the plane swerved sharply then plunged from 37,000 feet to 10,000 feet after entering Cairo airspace. In a report, PoliticusUSA criticized Trump's move of blaming the Obama administration for the alleged terrorist attack. According to the report, it is odd that Trump is blaming the outgoing president for the crash that has no connection to U.S. because it contradicts part of his campaign, saying U.S. should not serve as the policemen of the world unless they are paid to do so.

While our wonderful president was out playing golf all day, the TSA is falling apart, just like our government! Airports a total disaster!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2016





Trump also uses the tragic event to mock his greatest enemy in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton.

"She and our totally ignorant President won't even use the term Radical Islamic Terrorism. And by the way, ask Hillary who blew up the plane last night - another terrible, but preventable tragedy," a press release read. "She has bad judgement and is unfit to serve as President at this delicate and difficult time in our country's history."

He also criticized Clinton in his series of tweets saying, "Look where the world is today, a total mess, and ISIS is still running around wild. I can fix it fast, Hillary has no chance!"

"Crooked Hillary Clinton looks presidential? I don't think so! Four more years of Obama and our country will never come back. ISIS LAUGHS!" further wrote Trump in his social media account.

Debris from EgyptAir Flight 804 was found by Egyptian military force. It has crashed in the Mediterranean with 66 souls onboard. Officials said they have found passenger belongings and parts of the aircraft 180 miles north of Alexandria. Before taking off Paris, the plane made a stop in Eritrea and Tunisia.


Amid investigation of EgyptAir flight 804 crash, a Canadian passenger was remembered for "kind heart."

Marwa Hamdy was the first Canadian passenger identified aboard EgyptAir flight 840. Her family and closest friends remembered her as a devoted mother and a kind-hearted person.

Haleh Banani, a friend whose children once attended the same school as Hamdy, said she moved to Egypt and enrolled at the American University in Cairo. After she graduated, she married an IBM employee and has lived in Egypt for the last two decades. Banani and Hamdy had became close friend as they bonded over the joys and challenges of parenthood.

"She was definitely a kind-hearted person, a spiritual person, dedicated to helping others," Banani said in a report by The Globe and Mail.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion confirmed there were two Canadians on board, and Medhat Tanious was the second Canadian passenger identified. Later on, Tanious's daughter and niece confirmed to CBC that he was on the plane.

Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations offered help to search the debris of the plane, in hope to find clues, and the bodies of the victims. Each country used ship and planes in searching the Mediterranean Sea.

Tanious flew to Paris for a surprise family reunion, and he was the father of three adult daughters.

"It's a hard time for us to believe what happened but we are here in church comforted and consoled by the Holy Spirit," Mr. Tanious' family said in a statement read by a priest during the evening service, in a follow up report by The Globe And Mail.

Flight 840 crashed and plunged into the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday en route to Cairo from Paris. After conflicting reports about the reason why the plane crashed, the forensics official confirmed that the explosion had caused the downing of the plane after examining the remains of the passengers. The forensic official saw burn marks on the body parts of the victims.

"The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down," the official told Associated Press.
The crash of the EgyptAir jet last Thursday might have been caused by an explosion as evidenced by the retrieved human remains, Egyptian forensics officials suggest.

The Associated Press quoted a senior Egyptian forensics official saying the remains that were recovered from the Mediterranean Sea where EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed showed signs of burns. The burns are small in size that an explosion could have caused the crash.

"The size of the remains points towards an explosion, the biggest part was the size of a palm," forensics official said in a news report. A total of 23 bags containing human body parts had been collected from the site.

The Egyptian forensic team was only able to collect 80 body parts, which were all very small and some showing signs of burns.

"There isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head," said the forensic official in a report from ABC News. He said that at least one part of an arm shows signs of burns - an indication that it might have belonged to a passenger "sitting next to the explosion."

However, the head of Egypt's forensic agency Hisham Abdel-Hamid dismissed the idea of a blast as "baseless" speculation, and that with the small number of human remains collected, it was too early to specify whether there had been an explosion.

Aviation experts have contradicting opinions regarding the matter. According to one aviation expert, such damage was unlikely if the plane had been intact when it hit the water. However, another said that water impact could have such a devastating effect on human bodies.

Egypt's investigative team said that the priority is to retrieve the black boxes and to recover more bodies.

EgyptAir Flight 804 flying from Paris to Cairo crashed last Thursday, killing all 66 people on board.
Heavy drinkers now have a reason to rejoice. This new ice cream bar from South Korea will help get rid of that nasty hangover.

A convenience store chain in South Korea has recently launched the Gyeondyo-bar, which literally translates as "hang in there." According to Reuters, it is said to be the first ice cream bar that can combat the after-effects of alcohol drinking.

The grapefruit-flavored ice cream bar is made of oriental raisin tree fruit, which is known in South Korea as a traditional hangover remedy and is even cited in Korean medicine books as early as the 17th century.

The Gyeondyo-bar was launched last Friday by the Withme FS convenience store, just in time for the weekend drinking spree. In a press release, Withme FS said that the ice cream bar's name "expresses the hardships of employees who have to suffer a working day after heavy drinking, as well as to provide comfort to whose who have to come to work early after frequent nights of drinking."

Drinking is a big business in South Korea, and so are hangover remedies. The uncanny industry generates about $126 million in annual sales. Hangover cures can be in the form of pills, beverages, and even cosmetic products that make women look fresh even after a night of booze.

There is also what they call the "hangover soup," which is a staple in every Korean restaurant.

Apart from the huge demand locally, South Korea's hangover remedies are also being exported.

Hut-gae Condition, one of the country's most popular locally produced hangover beverages, has also been quite big in China, Japan and Vietnam since it was exported in 2014.

South Koreans are the heaviest drinkers in Asia-Pacific, where the average Korean drinks 12.3 liters of alcohol per year, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report.

According to a study by the South Korean health insurance institute, the social cost of drinking, including lost production, hospitalizations and early deaths, is estimated at 9.45 trillion in 2013.
SAN FRANCISCO  Before Tuesdays game, manager Bruce Bochy shrugged when asked if he was concerned about a two-week slump by his lineup. The Giants were winning with pitching and defense, Bochy said, and that was just fine with a manager who figured the hitting would come around eventually.

Well, the lineup finally broke through  and once again the Giants got strong pitching and defense. It all added up to an 8-2 win over the Padres that was the 12th in 13 games for the Giants. The eight-run performance was the first for the lineup since a 9-6 win in Cincinnati on May 2.

Jeff Samardzija didnt have any clean innings, but he didnt really have any particularly tough ones, either. He put a runner on in each of the first five innings but didnt allow a run until the sixth, when Jon Jay ambushed the first pitch of the frame and dropped a homer into the arcade section in right field.

The Giants led 1-0 at the time on Denard Spans RBI single, and they would tack on a pair in the sixth. Joe Panik drew a leadoff walk and scored two batters later when Buster Posey smacked a double into the left field corner. Posey scored on Brandon Crawfords single to right.

Samardzija wouldnt make it out of the seventh, getting lifted after a single and walk with two outs. Josh Osich entered and made an error that loaded the bases. He went 3-2 on Alexi Amarista, but got an inning-ending grounder to second.

The Giants broke open a two-run game in the bottom of the eighth. Brandon Crawford hit a bases-clearing triple after a double and two walks, and Jarrett Parker followed that up with a two-run blast to dead center.
With less than two weeks to go before the high-stakes California primary, Hillary Clinton is campaigning at full speed in the Bay Area, with two pit stops slated for Thursday.

The Democratic presidential frontrunner's first appearance will be at a 1:30 p.m. organizing event at Parkside Hall in San Jose. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., according to the events website. She will then make her way to San Franciscos Hibernia Building for an event at 4:15 p.m. Admission begins at 2:15 p.m.

A news release by Clintons camp indicates that she plans to discuss higher incomes, lower healthcare costs and better education opportunities, among other topics. According to a new statewide field poll out Wednesday, likely voters rank jobs and the economy as the most important issues when choosing a presidential candidate.

Hillary and Bill Clinton have been tag-teaming California cities this week.

The former Secretary of State, who took the Washington Democratic primary Tuesday, spent three days in Southern California, where she appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

"Instead of dividing Americans, we need to unite Americans," Clinton said to supporters in Buena Park. She added: "Let's go out and win!"

Bill Clinton was spotted at fundraisers Tuesday in San Francisco and Fremont. Tickets to the East Bay event, hosted by a tech executive, cost between $1,000 and $10,000 based on access to the former president.

Hillary Clinton attended a rally in Salinas Wednesday afternoon and the couple is expected to attend a private event in Atherton later this evening. Former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and author of "Getting to 50/50" Sharon Meers and office developer Steve Dostart will host the gathering.

Admission ranges from $500 to $27,000. The kid-friendly event admits one adult and children under 16 for $1,000 while two adults and children under 16 can enter for $2,700.

Elsewhere in California, Trump continues his barrage on the Clintons.

The Republican presidential candidate took to Instagram Monday, vilifying the pairs marriage via two women who accused Bill Clinton of sexually assault. On Twitter, Trump questioned whether Hillary Clinton, who he accused of enabling her husbands alleged philandering ways, is "really protecting women."

For her part, Clinton also took Trump to ask during her Southern California rallies.

"When Donald Trump talks about the economy, he is talking about trickle down on steroids," she said. "He has put forth an economic plan by a billionaire for billionaires."

Clinton, who decided not to debate Democratic hopeful and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders before June 7, has been unable to shed the shackles that is her use of a private email server for official business during her stint as Secretary of State. An audit found that Clinton disobeyed the State Departments cybersecurity guidelines, officials said Wednesday, revealing that her staff twice brushed aside concerns that she was breaking federal rules.

Clinton, who has denied wrongdoing all along, has not yet commented on the audit results.

NBC Bay Area's Michelle Roberts contributed to this report.
A man wanted in connection to the murder of a woman found in a Concord park surrendered to authorities on Tuesday in Reno, Nevada.

Concord police said Erick Lamar Nelson was wanted for the May 16 murder of Poinsettia Parks in Newhall Park. The 25-year-old woman was found floating at the edge of a pond in the Newhall Community Park near the Boxer Boulevard entrance.

Detectives are in Reno conducting follow-up interview with Nelson. He remains in custody at the Washoe County Jail pending extradition to California, authorities said.

No other information was immediately available.

These 2 #Concord men say they found woman body @ Newhall Park.Hear from them in my report @ 11am on @nbcbayarea. pic.twitter.com/FAzmzxqEpO  Stephanie Chuang (@StephChuang) May 16, 2016
The issue of gun violence brought together lawmakers and city leaders from around the country Tuesday, including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

The gathering was in Washington, D.C., to aid White House efforts to reduce widespread gun violence by keeping firearms out of the hands of the wrong people. Lee, however, actually advocated for increasing the use of one type of gun - smart guns - and pushed to make San Francisco the testing ground for such weapons.

"We want to be one of the first cities in the country where our own police department would like to be a test bed for the rest of the country so we can test the technology, make sure its safe, make sure its smart," Lee said. "And then be able to proliferate that."

While there are no smart guns currently on the market, the technology is inspiring people of all ages. Kai Kloepfer, 19, began developing a smart gun when he was 15. Using a 3-D printer, Kloepfer is making a smart gun that would activate by fingerprint and then lock when the user loses their grip or sets it down.

"Im actually about a little less than a month from my first live-fire working prototype," he said.

"I personally dont want to live in a world where toddlers could find firearms and not even knowing what they are, could end up killing themselves or end up injuring other members of their family," Kloepfer said.

Kloepfer said he met with former San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr a couple of months ago, and they agreed smart guns could save officers' lives.

"Because if they drop the firearm or if the firearm is ripped out of their hands, its completely locked and unusable," he said.

It would also render stolen guns useless, an important factor considering the hundreds of firearms that have been stolen from law enforcement in the past decade, including about 10 from the San Francisco Police Department.

Kloepfer said he's about a year away from finishing his smart gun. His biggest hurdle, he said, is not the engineering - it's persuading people that smart guns are not gun control.

"They function exactly like a regular firearm," he said. "They dont allow the government to track it, know who is firing it  none of that info is stored. The owner has full control over their firearm. Were trying to create a product that helps the owner secure their own firearm."
Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. It asks a North Texas federal court to declare the directive unlawful in what ranks among the most coordinated and visible legal challenges by states over the socially divisive issue of bathroom rights for transgender persons.

The Obama administration has "conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights," the lawsuit reads.

Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously said "there is no room in our schools for discrimination."

The White House had no comment on the lawsuit. The Justice Department said it would review the complaint and did not comment further.

Texas' lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply. The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.

Pressed about whether he knew of any instances in which a child's safety had been threatened because of transgender bathroom rights, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said "there's not a lot of research" during a news conference about the lawsuit. He said he his office has heard from concerned parents, but didn't say how many, and said he did not meet with any parents of transgender students before drafting the lawsuit.

The states claim that the directive demands "seismic changes" in schools across the U.S. and forces them to let students choose a bathroom "that match their chosen 'gender identity' on any given day."

Two school districts joined the states in the lawsuit: one is the tiny Harrold school district in North Texas, which has roughly 100 students and passed a policy this week requiring students to use the bathroom based on the gender on their birth certificate. Superintendent David Thweatt said his schools have no transgender students to his knowledge but defended the district taking on the federal government.

"It's not moot because it was thrusted upon us by the federal government," Thweatt said, "or we were going to risk losing our federal funding."

The question of whether federal civil rights law protects transgender people has not been definitively answered by the courts and may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. But schools that refuse to comply could be hit with civil rights lawsuits from the government and could face a cutoff of federal aid to education.

The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other overs a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

Education officials in Arizona said campuses already had policies to protect students from bullying and discrimination "regardless of their gender identity." A small Arizona school district also joined in the lawsuit.

"The fact that the federal government has yet again decided that it knows what is best for every one of our local communities is insulting and, quite frankly, intolerable," Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas said.
The ex-husband of a missing Florida Air Force veteran has been arrested and charged with her murder, the Martin County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday.

Air Force airman Steven Williams, 30, is facing second-degree murder and child neglect charges. Williams has been ordered held without bond and court records don't indicate whether he has hired an attorney.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said Williams confessed to killing 30-year-old Tricia Todd  a mother and hospice nurse  and disposing of her body in a wooded area near Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Todd's body hasn't been found. Snyder said Wednesday crews were searching a 15-mile wide area, redoubling their efforts to find her remains.

Todd was last seen at a Publix grocery store in Martin County on April 27 prompting a large-scale, multi-agency search, NBC affiliate WPTV reported.

Officials said Todd was killed the night of her disappearance and that her 3-year-old child was nearby when she was killed. He had no accomplices in the killing or in disposing of the body, officials said.

Williams had been cooperating with authorities and even agreed to a polygraph test on May 3.

"Nothing in (William's) lengthy interview  and it was a long and detailed interview  nor his polygraph exam indicated that he was involved or had any additional information about Tricia Todd's disappearance," Snyder previously said.



He was also interviewed by a lieutenant, two detectives and an assistant state attorney in North Carolina, where he was stationed at an Air Force base.

Williams was seen on camera buying gas at around 1 a.m. on the day Todd went missing, later telling investigators that she asked him for it because the fuel in her car was running low, NBC News reported.

Officials said Williams was taken into custody Tuesday in North Carolina and was brought back to Martin County.

Williams had been assigned as a field training detachment instructor with the Air Force's 372nd Training Squadron. The Air Force said in a written statement Wednesday they are "cooperating fully with civil authorities in this case."



This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
The producer of an HBO series and another man are facing federal narcotics charges in the drug overdose death of a Long Island dermatologist who was found unconscious in the vestibule of a Manhattan apartment complex last fall, according to a criminal complaint.

Marc Henry Johnson, who was a producer on an HBO series called "The Deuce," and James Holder were arrested at their homes in Manhattan Wednesday by a team of Drug Enforcement Administration, NYPD and New York State Police investigators, sources said.

Their arrests come eight months after the death of Dr. Kiersten Cerveny, a Manhasset dermatologist who was found in the vestibule of Holder's apartment building on West 16th Street in Chelsea on Oct. 4.

Sources have previously said Cerveny and Johnson were in a relationship at the time of her death.

Provided to NBC 4 New York

According to the complaint, Johnson, 51, met Cerveny and another individual at a bar on the Lower East Side after texting about meeting Holder, 60, for "a pickup." While at the bar, he allegedly told Cerveny, who had been using cocaine before he arrived, he had more of the drug and offered to share it with her and the other person.

Later that night, Cerveny and Johnson left the bar together in a taxi and went to Holder's apartment, according to the complaint. They went upstairs and weren't seen again for hours.

The complaint alleges that Holder and Johnson emerged four hours later and dragged the unconscious Cerveny along the hallway to the first-floor vestibule. Holder left afterward and Johnson called 911.

Johnson allegedly refused to give the dispatcher his identity and didn't say what had happened to the 38-year-old. He left after paramedics got to the scene, according to the complaint.

Emergency medical technicians attempted to resuscitate Cerveny as they loaded her into the ambulance and took her to the Lenox Health emergency room in Greenwich Village. She died at the hospital.

Medical examiners ruled her death resulted from acute cocaine and alcohol intoxication.

Top Tri-State News Photos

According to the complaint, Holder -- who went by the nickname "Pepsi" -- had allegedly sold drugs out of his apartment since about 2013. He generally sold "hundreds," bags of cocaine costing $100, the complaint says.

"We believe Mr. Holder has been selling drugs in this city for a long time," said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

According to multiple media reports, Johnson stepped away from "The Deuce" after Cerveny's death. The show's executive producer, "The Wire" creator David Simon, called the death a "greivous tragedy."

"As evidence has yet to be presented it would be irresponsible to say more at this point," he said.

Cerveny, originally from Washington Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, had been an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College, according to a Dec. 12, 2009 announcement of her marriage to Andrew Cerveny Jr., also a dermatologist, in The New York Times. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and earned her medical degree at Tulane University.

She met her husband in 2004 while both were residents at the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans. They had three children together.

Information about whether the men had obtained attorneys who could comment on the charges wasn't immediately available.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More
Memorial Day weekend marks the anniversary of historic flooding that swept across much of Texas, claiming lives and ravaging the region.

One year later, Jonathan McComb still remembers with incredible precision the night his family slipped away in the floods of Wimberley.

"It was sunshine, we were in the river playing, barbecuing, radio playing, girls are laying out in their swim suits," McComb recalled.

Nightfall brought epic rains.

"In an instant it was on us, and there was nothing you could do and no way out," McComb said.

The Blanco River swelled 28 feet in an hour and a half, pulling the family's vacation home, where they were staying with the Carey and Charba families, from its foundation. The house was floating down the river.

"When we hit the bridge, it took the whole second layer off. It was an awful, awful sound," McComb said.

In the chaos, the families got split up. McComb remembers being alone in the cold river and praying.

"I'd been under long enough and I said, 'I'm going home, I know what happened to everybody else and I just, you know, I'm too tired. I have nothing left in me,' so I just went limp underwater," he said.

McComb said he struck a hard object, possibly a rock, and began fighting again and made his way toward shore. A stranger helped him and called an ambulance.

McComb spent several days in the hospital while search crews began looking for the bodies of his family and friends.

"There was always hope, but I knew the second that I wasn't with them, they were gone," he said.

McComb has spent the last year recovering at the family's home in Corpus Christi. His children's drawings and play table are set up just as they were. Their book bags still hang from hooks in the mudroom. Framed memories are everywhere and he has added some, too.

"They were all incredibly unique and beautiful and I miss them," McComb said of his family.

He said his young daughter, Leighton, came to him in a dream one night and brought him a sliver of peace.

"I said, 'What happened?' She said, 'We're OK. We got picked up by a man on the river and it was Jesus.' That was huge for me, hearing that," McComb recalled, choking back tears.

Honoring them, he said, means moving forward. McComb is renovating the master bedroom and bathroom  something he and his wife Laura had planned to do.

"A new start. Unfortunately. It's not replacing anything. It's starting over and beginning again. We are here for a reason. You don't really know what that reason [is]; you just continue to have faith and it will be presented to you at some point," he said.
Rumors have cropped up in the past few weeks regarding Sen. Dick Durbins potential run for Illinois Governor in 2018, although the senator has called the claims a waste of time and breath.

During a Monday appearance on Chicago Tonight, Durbin said he was satisfied in his current role as senator.

I have a great job to be the senior senator from this state, to be in Washington and help this state in different ways, and I have no other aspirations for any other office, Durbin said. And I would beg the people who are doing the speculation right now to cool it.

Lets focus on the immediate need to get a state budget. Lets not start talking about an election thats removed from the one thats coming up in November, the senator added.

Rumors began to swirl last week as a handful of unnamed sources speculated about Durbins run for governor.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has faced a tough first term since taking office in January 2015. The state has faced a lingering budget stalemate that hinges on the governors pro-business, union-weakening Turnaround Agenda. Negotiations remain at a critical point as the deadline looms for legislators to pass a state budget next week.

With the embattled governor likely to run as the incumbent on the Republican ticket in 2018, attention has shifted to potential Democratic candidates. The speculated list includes, among others, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and former Gov. Pat Quinn, according to the Sun-Times.

When pressed on the issue Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel failed to give specifics but stood behind Durbins work as a senator.

Hes been a great senator in helping bring resources back to Chicago on public transportation, on airports, on our parks and our all efforts, Emanuel said during a press conference kicking off the summer season of Night Out in the Parks. Im not sure why youre asking that except that he has time left of his tenure, but he has been a great advocate and a great public servant whether it was in congress and in the United State Senate.

Durbin's administration did not immediately respond to Ward Room's request for comment on this story.
Jack Black is probably best known for comedies like "School of Rock" and his voice work in the "Kung Fu Panda" films. So some fans may have been startled a year ago to see how he was affected by his encounter in Uganda with a homeless boy named Felix.

"People were very moved and also a little shocked to see me in that kind of context, because usually I'm just clowning around and making people laugh," Black told NBC's Joe Fryer in a segment that aired Wednesday on "Today."

Black's trip to Uganda was part of the first U.S. edition of Red Nose Day. He is returning this year  with a lighter segment  for The Red Nose Day Special, airing Thursday, May 26 (9-11 p.m. ET) on NBC.

Craig Ferguson will host the live, two-hour extravaganza, which will feature Black, Ellen DeGeneres, Paul Rudd, Key and Peele and many more celebrities.

Red Nose Day, a global movement to fight kids' poverty, has raised over $1 billion globally in the last 25 years.
One week after a suburban Chicago mom was sentenced to prison for allegedly killing her severely disabled daughter in a botched murder-suicide attempt her attorney says she is gravely ill and in the hospital.

Bonnie Liltz is suffering from complications related to cancer and has been transferred from Cermak Hospital at Cook County Jail to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, her attorney Thomas Glasgow said in court Tuesday.

Bonnie Liltzs weight has dropped from 95 to 89 pounds, Glasgow said. Shes been unable to properly digest any food that she was given in the Cook County Department of Corrections.

Glasgow argued that putting Liltz in prison could kill her, an argument he and family members made during her sentencing hearing earlier this month.

A judge agreed to delay Liltzs transfer to an Illinois prison, at least for now.

Judge Joel Greenblatt last week sentenced Liltz to four years in prison and two years' probation, exceeding prosecutors' recommendation.

Liltz, 56, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after she gave her 28-year-old daughter, who suffered from cerebral palsy, a number of medications before taking several herself in hopes that they would both overdose. Liltz, a two-time cancer survivor with ongoing major medical issues, recovered, but Courtney died June 5.

In a suicide note, Liltz wrote, "I am having difficulty breathing now. If I go first, what will happen to her? I don't want her to live in an institution the rest of her life. She is my life."

"I thought my intestines were failing and that I was going to die," Liltz said before she was sentenced. "The thought of her having to live in an institution was more than I could bear. The only place I thought you would be safe and happy was in heaven with me."

Liltz had previously pleaded not guilty in the case, but changed her plea after prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter. She faced up to 14 years in prison.

I cared for her, I washed her, I fed her and I loved her," Liltz said as she prepared to learn her fate. "I loved her like no one in this room can understand."

Friends and family have said Liltz, who has chronic, profound bowel issues as a result of ovarian cancer from when she was 19, could not survive in prison.

A jail spokesman declined to comment on the criticisms of her treatment, but insisted high quality safe care is the cook County Health systems highest priority.

Another hearing is scheduled for June 7.
An 8-year-old boy in Chicago has been named a national handwriting champion.

A 2nd grader at Saint Constance Catholic School on the citys Northwest Side, William Markevich, was selected out of 260,000 students nationwide as the Grand National 2nd Grade Handwriting Champion by education supplied Zaner-Bloser.

I worked pretty hard, William said. When I small my mom would help me write. She took my hand and helped me write letters.

Williams parents said they knew early on he would win the title because writing came so naturally to the young student, who began writing at just 2 years old.

He was able to stay focused for like 45 minutes so I just noticed that this child is special and he is, said his mother Maryna Shutovich.

The achievement marks a big milestone in an academic world where handwriting has been cut from curriculums nationwide.

It impacts reading, it impacts writing, it impacts their language skills and their overall academic performance, said Milicent Clyburn with Zaner-Bloser.
Undercover recordings played during the second day of testimony in Drew Petersons murder-for-hire trial revealed surprising plans Peterson allegedly had for when he got out of prison.

Antonio Smith, once Petersons cell mate at the Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois, secretly recorded the former Bolingbrook police officer for what is now the key piece of evidence in the latest case against the 62-year-old, who is accused of trying to have the prosecutor who put him behind bars, James Glasgow, killed.

The recordings played in court Tuesday were allegedly taken in November of 2014 and hint at the fact that Peterson would be able to win his appeal and be released from prison if Glasgow is dead.

In the conversations, Smith and Peterson discuss what they would do after their release from prison, with one plan including a drug operation fueled by the Mexican Cartel.

Peterson: I have a guy thats got a his family has property on the other side of Mexico. We land right there with a plane.

Smith: You know how to do that?

Peterson: "Yeah, Ive got a pilots license."

Smith: "You're not going to crash?"

Peterson: "No, no."

Smith: "What are you talking about? A cartel?"

Peterson: "Yeah, there is that guy who has got that cartel connections. They can get us into dope."

Though the recordings make no mention of actually killing Glasgow, there are references to him being dead or gone.

Smith earlier claimed he befriended Peterson while the two spent time in the prison yard, agreeing to a price of $10,000 to have Glasgow killed.

A public defender representing Peterson unsuccessfully sought to bar the secretly recorded conversations, arguing that the Will County judge who authorized the wiretap improperly met with the jailed informant.

Prosecutors claim they show Petersons hatred for Glasgow and his assistant states attorneys, also referred to as the ASAs.

If Glasgow is dead by Christmas, when will that put you out? Smith says on the recording. Approximately what do you think? Are you worried about his ASAs or anything?

No, theyre idiots, Peterson says.

Later, Peterson is heard saying, [Glasgow is] the one who got my kid fired. Hes the one thats had them screw my other kids and the colleges and stuff.

Peterson also tells Smith that if he gets out of prison with Glasgow alive, the Will County States Attorney will prosecute Peterson for the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

I thought they got you on Stacy? Smith said.

No Stacy is still alive, running around out there, Peterson said.

On Monday, however, Smith testified that Peterson admitted to killing his fourth wife, whose disappearance in 2007 prompted authorities to re-open the investigation into the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he enlisted another inmate between September 2013 and December 2014 to help plan the death of the Will County State's Attorney.

Even as he faces additional time in prison, Peterson is appealing his 2012 murder conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court. His defense attorneys previously contended that Stacy Peterson had left for another man and was alive. Peterson divorced Savio a year before her death.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Randolph County State's Attorney are prosecuting the latest case against Peterson, who faces a sentence of up to 60 years if convicted of both solicitation of murder for hire along with solicitation of murder.

It's not clear whether Peterson, who opted to not take the stand in his murder trial, will testify this time. Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker said the witness list has been placed under seal.

Should he testify, prosecutors will be able to question Peterson about his murder conviction, Circuit Judge Richard Brown has ruled. But they won't be able to discuss a 2003 attempt by Peterson to pay $25,000 to someone whom he asked to "take care of" Savio.

The judge has also granted a defense request to allow discussion at trial about the details of the confidential informant's own criminal history.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee began Wednesday and there are a number of Illinois spellers in the competition.

This years spell-fest will take place from May 24 to May 26 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

More than a dozen students from Illinois will be among the 200-plus contestestants fighting for the title of spelling bee champion.
A passenger was arrested on a Southwest Airlines flight at Chicago's Midway Airport Tuesday afternoon after allegedly making threatening statements toward a flight attendant, according to the airline.

A Southwest spokesman said a man on Flight No. 2205 from Baltimore to Chicago made threatening statements to the flight attendant during the flight.

"An off-duty police officer helped restrain the passenger until the aircraft arrived at the gate," the airline said in a statement. "Police met the flight and took the man into custody without further incident."

Video from a passenger on the flight showed Chicago police officers on the plane after landing. Southwest also said Chicago police boarded and arrested the passenger.

Chicago police did not immediately have information on the arrest.
A far southwest suburban school is investigating after a student recorded a bus driver apparently texting while driving.

Noah LaBarge, a sophomore at Ottawa Township High School, between Chicago and Peoria, captured the video that was posted to Facebook Tuesday, claiming he caught the driver texting while taking students home from school.

"So we had a sub today and i caught her texting 4 times when she was taking us home," LaBarge wrote in the caption.

The video  viewed more than 72,000 times  has prompted concerns from parents and students at the school.

"I started taking video because she was like starting to swerve and stuff and we knew you're not supposed to text and drive in Illinois," LaBarge told NBC Chicago.

Other students on the bus reported feeling the bus swerve periodically during the drive.

"She was on her phone and then I caught her swerving like 5 feet out and then come back in," said student Derek Rieuf.

In a statement, superintendent Michael Cushing said the school is investigating the incident.

"Ottawa Elementary and Ottawa Township High School are aware of the alleged incident, are actively investigating the alleged incident, and can confirm the driver is not on active duty while the investigation is ongoing," Cushing said in the statement.
Hillary Clinton and her Democratic allies dove deeper into Donald Trump's record Tuesday, launching a new round of attacks designed to paint the billionaire businessman as profiting off the housing crisis that hurt millions of Americans.

As she has for weeks, Clinton avoided all mention of primary challenger Bernie Sanders, even as both campaigned in California ahead of the state's June 7 primary. Instead, she focused on Trump, trying to use the presumptive Republican nominee's words against him.

"You know what happened in the great recession. Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing market crash before the great recession, he said, 'I sort of hope that happens,'" Clinton told union workers in Los Angeles.

"He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes."

Trump shot back in a statement, saying he's "made a lot of money in down markets."

"Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation."

Clinton's attacks were echoed by her campaign and Democrats across the country, who highlighted comments Trump made in 2006 saying he "sort of hopes" the housing bubble would burst because "people like me could make a lot of money."

"What kind of a man does that? Root for people to get thrown out on the street?" Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said of Trump in a speech Tuesday night. "I'll tell you exactly what kind  a man who cares about no one but himself. A small, insecure moneygrubber who doesn't care who gets hurt."

The new assault comes as Democrats try to hone their most powerful lines of attacks against Trump. More than half of Clinton's address in Los Angeles was devoted to criticizing Trump's foreign policy record, economic policies and personal finances, including his unwillingness to release his tax returns.

Clinton is attempting to turn her attention to Trump even as she continues to face a two-front war against both Trump and Sanders.

Sanders' campaign launched a $1.5 million ad buy in California on Tuesday and announced it would seek a recanvass in last week's Kentucky primary, where he trailed Clinton by less than one-half of 1 percent. The recanvass, which is not a recount, involves reviewing the election results but is unlikely to change the results or the awarding of delegates.

In California, Clinton hopes to make a statement in a contest that will effectively end the primaries and encourage the party to coalesce around her candidacy. Clinton is targeting Latino and black voters, who have typically backed her candidacy in high numbers, as she campaigns across the state.

Sanders, meanwhile, hopes that winning a large share of the state's 475 delegates will give him momentum heading into the party's Philadelphia convention in July. He is barnstorming the state, holding multiple rallies a day in hopes of connecting directly with grassroots supporters.

"If we win big in California, we're going to go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum," Sanders said to cheers at a rally on the outskirts of Disneyland. "And if we go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum, we're going to march out with the Democratic nomination. And if we march out with the Democratic nomination, Donald Trump is toast."

Entering the final contests in June, Clinton leads Sanders by 271 pledged delegates according to a count by The Associated Press, but the self-described democratic socialist has vowed to soldier on and amass as many delegates as possible.

Clinton holds a substantial lead with party leaders and elected officials, called superdelegates, and is on track to clinch the nomination through the combination of pledged delegates and superdelegates after contests in California, New Jersey and four other states on June 7.

But despite the math, some Democrats are concerned that Sanders' tactics could make it more difficult to unite in the summer. In an AP interview Monday, Sanders said the process of crafting the party's platform and holding its convention could be "messy," adding, "Democracy is messy."

He does not make as many references to Clinton in his stump speech as he did weeks ago. But in Anaheim, the crowd booed when he told them Clinton "has a number of super PACs and she is also raising significant sums from Wall Street."

Party leaders hope that as his path to the nomination continues to narrow, Sanders will tone down his attacks against Clinton.

"We should kind of lay off Bernie a little bit," Senate minority leader Harry Reid told reporters in Washington. "Bernie's a good man, he tries to do the right thing, and I think everything'll work out well."
In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, demonstrators at a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades. Authorities labeled it a "riot."

Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Meanwhile, Trump added to his list of victories Tuesday with a primary win in Washington state. He ran unopposed after emerging from a crowded field of candidates.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also won Washington state's primary. The victory might give her some momentum, but it won't get her any delegates. There were no delegates at stake in the Democratic primary. Washington Democrats already awarded their delegates based on party caucuses.

At Trump's rally in New Mexico Tuesday, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."

Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"

Trump later tweeted "Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd!"

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."

The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.w

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.
The family of a Windsor man killed in 2013 is pleading for the publics help after they offered a $250,000 reward leading to an arrest and conviction of the mans killer.

The reward can be seen on a billboard on I-91 North and South near Jennings Road in Hartford. On the billboard is John Chakalos face  the 87-year-old man found shot in the head and murdered inside his Overlook Drive home in December 2013 with no word on who committed the crime.

The Chief State Attorneys office Cold Case Unit told NBC Connecticut Chakalos family put up the billboards and are offering the reward.

Maybe itll lead to something," Said Joe Zotter, a neighbor and friend of Chakalos for the last 20 years. (He) always had a nice word to say about everything so you know its tough, it was really a shock to have something like that happen not only to John, but a neighbor across the street.

Since the murder, the home has sat vacant and hasnt been put up for sale, according to neighbors.

Now Windsor Police and the states cold case unit are hoping somebody knows answers as to why and who killed John Chakalos.

I hope they solve it because I mean its just awful to think hes just an old man living by himself and to think that happened is just awful. You never imagine that happening in your neighborhood, Said Megan Connelly, another neighbor.

If you have any information, youre asked to call Windsor Police or the States Cold Case Unit.
Police arrested a West Haven man on child pornography charges after Google alerted them that he was downloading porn to a Gmail account, according to police.

Google contacted West Haven Police in September, which led to local police working with State Police and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify Christopher Creta, 35, of West Haven, as the suspect.

Police investigated and said they found several pictures of girls between 6 and 12 years old performing lewd acts on men or posing with exposed genitals.

Creta was arrested and charged with illegal possession of child pornography.

He was held on $25,000 bond.

His family says Creta suffers from mental illness. Its not clear if he has an attorney.
One of the world's largest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates, is slated to receive $22 million from the state, in return for job and other investment commitments.

In return for the state's millions, the firm will invest a total of $525 million in Connecticut through jobs and facilities improvements.

The deal is a part of the First Five program, organized by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, meant to encourage and spur investment among major employers.

I still think that if we look at this from a taxpayer perspective and I view myself as a fiduciary of their dollars, that theyre going to get a great return on this investment" said Catherine Harris, the Commissioner of DECD.

The deal includes a low interest $17 million loan, $3 million for renewable energy sources and $2 million for training.

In return for the state funds, which will come in the form of bonds, Bridegwater Associates must retain the 1,402 that are already at the company's Westport headquarters and create an additional 750 jobs by 2021.

The company will also be eligible for $30 million in Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment Tax Credits over a ten year period.

They are absolutely well-paying jobs, well above your average in Connecticut, believe me," Harris said.

Bridgewater Associates did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans criticized the deal as unnecessary for a company like Bridgewater that manages more than $150 billion in assets around the world.

People have just had enough with ridiculous decisions that government makes and this is beyond the pale," said Senate Minority Leader, Republican Len Fasano.

Even though GE announced it was leaving back in January for Boston, Fasano said the circumstances now are very different. He said Bridgewater was already going to invest to stay, whereas GE was frustrated with the way that state had been run for a while.

What you need to do in Connecticut is say, 'What do we need to make people stay here?', so that they want to stay here, so that the business climate overall is good to be here because weve got control over our debts, and control over our taxes," Fasano said.

Smith said the state is getting a very high return on investment because the people who will eventually be employed by Bridgewater will pay income and local property taxes.

The deal more than pays for itself so that $17 million will come back to the state in a different form. If the company doesnt deliver, they dont create the jobs, they owe us back that funding, Smith said

The State Bond Commission will meet Friday where it is expected to approve the funds.
Connecticut's State Colleges and University System has partnered with some of the biggest employers in the state in an effort to create an employment pipeline post graduation.

The program consists of a 10-month certification program that could be completed at any one of the state's community college campuses.

The programs would provide a manufacturing designation for the student and they can be placed with a company like Pratt and Whitney, Sikorsky or Electric Boat, among many companies that are participating.

We believe its time for Connecticuts community colleges to maximize its contribution to Connecticuts economic future and to the future of our students," said CSCU President Mark Ojakian.

Electric Boat is slated to see a historic boost in hiring with thousands of more jobs set to be available as the company recently secured a $100 billion contract from the Department of Defense to build 12 new submarines.

Combined with commercial contracts with Pratt and Whitney, Gov. Dannel Malloy said he's comfortable linking the state's economic fate to those two sectors.

"Those contracts are in place," the governor told reporters following the event at Pratt and Whitney's Hangar Museum in East Hartford. "When you talk about the Pratt and Whitney engine which has literally never lost a competitive bid and has a 7,000 engine backlog, were going to be producing those engines for many many years to come.

One student, Sabrina Bouvier, will graduate from Quinebaug Valley Community College tomorrow. She completed the certificate program and says she feels for the first time in her life that she has a career path.

It hit me like an epiphany one day several months ago, you know going in and doing my usual thing. Something silly like cutting stock, and I kind of realized, wait a minute, I would love to do homework for work. This is great. This must be what it feels like to have a career, have a passion, and know where youre headed in life.

Maura Dunn, the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for Electric Boat, says her company is committed to hiring Connecticut graduates.

These skills matter to people. They get you a foot in the door.
A Massachusetts man suspected of planning out a home invasion in Willimantic in 1997 appeared in court on Tuesday and he is being held on $500,000 bond.

Jose Manuel Blanco-Dominquez, 57 of Lawrence, Massachusetts, is accused of orchestrating a home invasion on Chapman Street in Windham on June 25, 1997, in which two men, two women and two children were tied up with telephone cord and held at knifepoint while the intruders stole jewelry and cash, according to the arrest warrant application.

The motive, officials said, was that Blanco-Dominquez claimed the victims owed him $45,000 for drugs.

According to prosecutors, he dropped his alleged accomplices off and told them he would be waiting at a nearby gas station for them, but police were called to the home and arrested the suspects found there.

Blanco-Dominquez was on the run until Saturday, May 14, when Boxborough, Massachusetts police pulled him over after a check of his registration alerted police he had an active warrant against him.

He appeared with a translator in court on Tuesday to answer to charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and conspiracy and he is due back in court on June 10.
Driggs Elementary School in Waterbury has been evacuated after someone phoned in a bomb threat around 10 a.m.

Students spent about 40 minutes outside and then were moved to Kennedy High School, according to police.

State police responded to the school and determined there were no explosive devices. The students will be returned to Driggs Elementary to finish out the day, school personnel said.
Wednesday afternoon's episode of "Days of Our Lives" was preempted due to NBC News' special coverage of the announcement of a Kentucky grand jury's indictments in the Breonna Taylor case.

"Days of Our Lives" will now air Thursday morning at 3 a.m.

More: NBC 5 TV Listings
Mosquito season is underway and Dallas County Health and Human Services is reminding residents to take precautions to avoid exposure to mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile and Zika viruses.

"With recent and upcoming rains, as well as potential travel plans, we are reminding residents to use personal protection to avoid exposure to mosquitoes," said DCHHS director Zachary Thompson.

On Wednesday, the Dallas Bar Association held a public forum on mosquito-borne illnesses.

Among the panel were Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, Dr. John Carlo, former Dallas County HHS Health Authority and Sean Lemoine, a West Nile virus survivor.

"You're paralyzed. It's like you're on fire and you can't put yourself, but you're stuck there dealing with it," said Lemoine, as he described his battle with West Nile virus in 2009.

"It's important to get out and talk about it and remind people that this is real," said Lemoine.

The new threat this mosquito season is the Zika virus and the breeds of mosquitoes that carry the viruses are in Dallas County.

"We've got a lot of mosquitoes here, and there is always a risk when you have mosquitoes in your environment of mosquito-borne diseases," said Dr. Carlo.

"The Zika mosquito, a daytime biter, likes to bite inside your house and will follow you around. It likes to find an opening. It's an indoor-type of mosquito," Carlo added.

West Nile mosquitoes, on the other hand, like to feed on birds, Carlo said.

"It will also feed on your pets and also catch you at dawn or dusk at night," he said.

"As long as you can eliminate standing water, you're really doing the right thing to protect yourself," Carlo added.

Right now, Jenkins is looking to bring on a new tool to fight the aedes egypti mosquito, or the "Zika" mosquito.

He is exploring the option of making Dallas a test site for a British company that releases genetically modified mosquitoes, unable to produce offspring that survive past adulthood.

He told NBC 5 tests still need to be done to make sure it's the right route for Dallas County.

How to Protect Yourself From Mosquito Bites

Dress in long sleeves, pants when outside: For extra protection, spray thin clothing with repellent.

in long sleeves, pants when outside: For extra protection, spray thin clothing with repellent. DEET : Make sure this ingredient is in your insect repellent.

: Make sure this ingredient is in your insect repellent. Drain standing water in your yard and neighborhood: Mosquitoes can develop in any water stagnant for more than three days.

It has been recommended in the past that to avoid mosquito bites you should avoid being outdoors during Dusk and Dawn (the 4 Ds). While this is true for mosquitoes that commonly carry the West Nile virus, other types of mosquitoes that are more likely to carry Zika, dengue and chikungunya are active during the day. When outdoors, no matter what time of day, adjust your dress accordingly and wear insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus as your first line of defense against insect bites.
A large alligator found outside a Dallas' Steam Middle School early Wednesday morning has a new home, according to game wardens. [[380770541,C]]

Dallas police said an officer was patrolling the area near Steam Middle School on the 9300 block of South Polk Street just after midnight when he saw what he thought was a log.

As the officer approached, he realized it was actually a 6-foot alligator outside the school.

Dallas County Game Warden officials arrived at the school at about 4 a.m. and captured the gator. Game Warden Jamie Sanchez speculated that the gator wandered to the school from the nearby Trinity River.

Just your average everyday call in SC Division, report of a 7ft alligator at a school....hmmm yep its there. pic.twitter.com/geWqw4Mqj1  Dallas Air One (@DPDAir1) May 25, 2016

Authorities say they found a 6-foot alligator outside Steam Middle School in Dallas early Wednesday morning.

Officials said they were moving the gator to the Palmetto-Alligator Slough Preserve in Seagoville. They were unable to obtain a permit quickly enough, though, so they released the gator into the Trinity River in south Dallas County.

Alligators are native to North Texas and it is not uncommon to see them near streams and rivers. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, alligators sometimes move between habitats in the spring and summer.

Tips on what you can do if you see an alligator can be found here.

Dallas police officers help Texas Game Warden authorities capture a 6-foot alligator found near a middle school early Wednesday morning.
Neighbors in one Fort Worth community are asking for help to deal with students who are spilling over to park on their streets from nearby Carter Riverside High School.

They say the kids are speeding up and down their neighborhood roads and theyve had enough of the nuisance.

Standing at the corner of Gwynne Street and Primrose Drive in Northeast Fort Worth can give you whiplash, in a hurry.

And they go so fast that you cant even get their license plate. If you tell them to slow down, they scream obscenities at us, they throw trash out, theyve ended up in our yards, said neighbor Dana Lang.

This is where he kind of got stuck, said another neighbor, Naomi Dillard, pointing out tire ruts in a photo showing where two kids spun out in a yard while racing each other last year.

A 90-year-old woman was almost hit the other day while she was crossing, said Dillard.

Now neighbors are worried about a new proposal for the city of Fort Worth to reduce the number of parking spaces required at newly-built or remodeled schools.

Some neighbors think that could just drive more kids onto neighborhood roads.

Most of the cars like to park on the sides, where my dogs like to play and a lot of them like to speed off, said neighbor Justice Arista.

Her familys litter of five pit bull puppies is a brand new addition to protect. They already lost one dog that was hit by a car in front of the house and they never want that again.

Its kind of scary, if they see a dog, they might not stop because of how fast theyre going, said Arista.

But the school district says they cant do much about that.

They say 'well, theyre not out on school property,' said Dillard.

Thats why neighbors want more students permitted to park in designated lots, where school leaders can keep a closer watch.

Were trying to do something now before anybody gets hurt, said Lang.

City leaders stress that the proposal to require fewer parking spots would only apply to newly-built schools, not old ones like Carter Riverside. They say right now Fort Worth has the fourth-highest requirement in the country for parking spaces at new schools and that its more than necessary. City council will take up that issue in June.

Meanwhile, city and school leaders are slated to meet with neighbors near Carter Riverside next week to try to find a solution to their concerns.
Federal prosecutors say a Texas man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to U.S. agents about his support for a terrorist group.

Prosecutors say 38-year-old Bilal Abood of Mesquite was sentenced Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in October to making a false statement involving international terrorism to a federal agency.

Prosecutors have said that after being denied boarding of a 2013 flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Abood said he was traveling to Iraq to visit family.

Abood later traveled through Mexico and eventually reached Syria. U.S. agents interviewed Abood after his return and he denied supporting terrorist groups.

A search of his computer revealed his online oath to the Islamic State leader.
Every year, the Rotary Club of Fort Worth South honors outstanding members of the Fort Worth police and fire departments.

This year, the organization named Officer Damon Cole Officer of the Year and Lt. David Tompkins Firefighter of the Year.

"These men remind us of the countless heroic deeds and selfless service our community enjoys everyday from our police and firefighters," Rotary Club member Theresa Hocker said. "The Rotary Club of Fort Worth South is proud to recognize these outstanding individuals."

Cole spends his time off visiting critically ill children. He trades in his navy police uniform for a superhero costume like Superman, Iron Man or Batman. The Rotary Club said "his tireless work in brightening the lives of critically ill children."

The Rotary Club honored Tompkins after "his courageous and life-saving actions at the OSU Homecoming parade tragedy last November."

Rotary Club member Robert Carter shared more about Tompkins heroics:

"Lt. David Tompkins was attending OSU Homecoming parade with his family because his daughter is an OSU student. During parade a driver lost control of car and ran over several people. Lt. Tompkins went to aid of several including a small child, many of whom survived because of the fast actions of Lt. Tompkins. He also attended funerals of those who did not survive. This was BIG in Ok. newspapers, not so much locally. David's name was not known to anyone at FWFD for these actions. It took several weeks to identify Lt. Tompkins. He did not talk about it."
Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge, which asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful, follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The Obama administration has "conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights," the lawsuit reads.

Some conservative states have vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said "there is no room in our schools for discrimination."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announces a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

Texas' lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed the lawsuit at a book signing hours before the state's Republican attorney general was scheduled to formally announce the challenge at a Wednesday news conference.

"His lawsuit is challenging the way that the Obama administration is trampling the United States Constitution," Abbott told reporters.

The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day. The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other overs a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton schedules a news conference for Wednesday where he is expected to announce a lawsuit against the federal government over gender and bathroom use.

Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

Texas was a likely candidate to rush to the courthouse first. Abbott sued the Obama administration more than two dozen times when he was attorney general, a pace that his successor, Republican Ken Paxton, has kept up since taking office last year.
A judge has unsealed the case against an American ISIS defector whose identity is still hidden, NBC News reported.

The 27-year-old former Columbia University student, who is identified as Mo, spoke with NBC News last week  with the permission of prosecutors  about why he signed up with the terror group, the violence he saw and his desperate escape. Prosecutors acquiesced to revealing the defector's information after the interview.

Among other things, the case file details Mo's initial contact with the FBI in 2014. He told the FBI, "I just want to get back home. All I want is this extraction, complete exoneration thereafter and have everything back to normal with me and my familyPlease help me get back home."

FBI officials have told NBC News that Mo pleaded guilty to two terrorism charges that carry between 10 and 25 years in prison  though he could get less because of his ongoing cooperation.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are wrapping up a Southern California campaign swing Wednesday ahead of the run-up to the California primary next month.

Clinton spoke at an Orange County "organizing event" at the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 324 in Buena Park before heading north for a rally in Salinas. She also will appear on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" broadcast Wednesday after a guest appearance taped Tuesday.

Sanders was at a midday rally in Cathedral City in Riverside County, then returned to Los Angeles County for a late-afternoon event at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster. This will be the fourth consecutive day Sanders has campaigned in Los Angeles or Orange counties in advance of the June 7 California primary.

At his rally Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center, adjacent to Disneyland, Vermont Sen. Sanders was critical of the theme park's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co.

"Anybody here work for Disney?" he asked the crowd. "Anybody here making a living wage who works for Disney? Let us be clear, the $7.25 federal minimum wage is not a living wage, it is a starvation wage.

"I believe we should raise that starvation wage in every state in this country to $15 an hour. Life would be a little bit different for some of the employees here working for Disney if the minimum wage here was $15."

California's minimum wage is $10 an hour but will increase to $15 an hour by 2022 under legislation approved earlier this year.

Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown responded to Sanders' criticism.

"Mr. Sanders clearly doesn't have his facts right," Brown said. "The Disneyland Resort generates more than $5.7 billion annually for the local economy, and as the area's largest employer has added more than 11,000 jobs over the last decade, a 65 percent increase.

"These numbers don't take into account our $1 billion expansion to add a 'Star Wars'-themed land, which will create thousands of additional jobs across multiple sectors."

Wednesday marks the third consecutive day Clinton has been in Los Angeles or Orange counties. She spoke at fundraisers in Holmby Hills and Hancock Park on Monday, then held events Tuesday in South Los Angeles, Commerce and Riverside.

The former Secretary of State, coming off a win Tuesday in the Washington primary, told a crowd in Commerce Tuesday that she has a plan for job creation.

"We've got to get incomes rising," Clinton said. "We've got to get more good jobs. And here's how we're going to do it: We're going to do it by investing -- investing in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy. Because some country is going be the clean-energy superpower. It's going to be either Germany, China or us. I want it to be us."

The Sanders campaign released a new television commercial Tuesday that will run in California ahead of its June 7 primary election.

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump spoke at a rally Wednesday in Anaheim.
More shots have been fired in the war of words between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump.

The Massachusetts Democrat on Tuesday called the Republican presidential hopeful a "small, insecure moneygrubber" who doesn't care whom he hurts, as long as he can make money.

Warren accused Trump of rooting for people to lose their homes when he said in 2007 he's always made more money in bad markets than in good ones.

The senator's comments  made before the Center for Popular Democracy in Washington  are the latest in an ongoing battle between Warren and Trump.

[NATL] Highlights From the 2016 Campaign Trail

Earlier this month, Warren took to Twitter to bash Trump for his treatment of women. She accused him of "[building] his campaign on racism, sexism, and xenophobia" and pledged to "fight [her] heart out" to make sure Trump's "toxic stew of hatred & insecurity never reaches the White House."

Trump has fired back, calling Warren "goofy" and a "basket case" and saying she's been one of the least effective senators.
Two months after taking over landline phone, television and broadband operations from Verizon, an official from Frontier Communications is apologizing for service outages that have left many customers angry and disappointed.

Two weeks ago, company officials had a tense impromptu meeting with angry Frontier customers. Now, it is making promises to restore service and win back confidence even as complaints continue rolling in.

"We absolutely owe the customers who were affected an apology," said Melinda White, Frontier's area president of the west region, which includes California. "I sincerely apologize for this disruption."

White said the company did not know there would be software gaps at this level.

In the last eight weeks, the I-Team has received dozens of complaints about Frontier from people like Lynda Randall.

"It's very frustrating," Randall said.

Unable to use her phone even in an emergency, Randall said Frontier's customer service hasn't been able to help.

"There were many days that I was in tears talking to these people, because you just couldn't get through to them," Randall said.

White acknowledged communication issues further exacerbated customer dissatisfaction.

The frustration is then magnified by the fact that they reach out to us and they are not able to get a satisfactory answer, White said.

More people have complained about Frontier Communications to NBC4's Consumer Investigative Center than any other company.

Frontier customers have written in things like, "This compromises my home security monitoring," "They have no idea how to resolve," "I am furious with this company."

White said she and other company executives know they face an uphill battle when it comes to customer happiness.

"It's certainly not the way we were intending to enter the market," White said. "We understand that we have a lot in front of us to regain confidence."

She would not specify how many customer accounts were impacted, but said it involved hundreds of Southern California cities.

"We don't give statewide numbers," White said.

She said Frontier's software issues have been fixed, and promises to have service to all affected customers restored within the next seven days. The company will settle all refunds and credits with affected customers by the end of June, she said.

"We will be issuing credits for their time out of service as soon as we get them back on the system," White said.

The company also plans to hire 4,000 employees in California, many of them call service workers, and have them in place by the end of July.
A 12-year-old boy in San Diego County is now one of the worlds youngest Junior Master Scuba Diver, earning the certification on a recent trip to Fiji.

The Winston School in Del Mar hosted a pep rally Tuesday to celebrate student Tennessee Cumming's record-setting achievement, school officials said.

Cumming, who lives with his family in Rancho Santa Fe, officially became a Junior Master Scuba Diver on May 17, when school officials say he completed the required dives for certification by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) at the Korolevu dive site, a part of Rainbow Reef on the island of Taveuni in Fiji.

While there are plenty of Junior Master Scuba Divers, Cumming completed the certificate at a younger age than any other diver.

He turned 12 during that trip to Fiji.

The young diver is no stranger to challenges. School officials say Cumming has been several developmental disorders, including ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, oppositional defiance disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, as well as a processing disorder.

Despite these hurdles, he found an outlet in his passion for scuba diving.

The boy first took to this hobby through a Bubblemaker introductory diving program that he experienced on a family trip to Bora Bora, according to school officials. At the time, Cumming was only eight-and-a-half years old.

Each time he finished completing several dives on that trip, his parents say the boy would gleefully declare it was the best day of his life. They never heard him say anything like that before.

According to his parents, there was nothing Cumming seemed to enjoy so much before that, except building Legos and playing with his brother.

It isnt just about collecting certification cards for Cumming.

His so-called "Dive Nanny," Elizabeth Bethy Driscoll, says he is genuinely devoted to the sport of diving and becoming the best that he can be. She says he has repeated courses because they were fun.

Diving is an activity that truly brings Cumming joy, which makes his new status as the world's youngest PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver a special dream come true.
An Australian man who was arrested when he arrived at a Los Angeles-area hotel, allegedly to "buy" a 6-year-old boy for sex, faces a detention hearing on Friday.

Michael Quinn, 33, of Melbourne, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court Monday with traveling to the United States for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. The complaint also charges Quinn with attempted sex trafficking of a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Quinn was arrested Saturday by immigration enforcement agents and, after making his initial court appearance, was ordered jailed pending a detention hearing.

"Predators who travel overseas to sexually exploit children do not just victimize children in faraway lands," said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker.

"As this case shows, children everywhere are vulnerable to such predators, including children right here in Los Angeles.

"The Internet has helped to enable the child sex tourism industry by making the world a smaller place, but this case, and others like it by my office, show that such international predators can and will be brought to justice," she said.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the investigation began earlier this month after undercover agents encountered Quinn on a social networking site that caters to individuals with a sexual interest in children.

Quinn told an undercover agent that he was traveling to Los Angeles and wanted to "meet up with a dad who shares his young ones," according to the affidavit.

He explained to the agent he was hoping to meet "other pervs" in the U.S. and ultimately agreed to pay a human trafficker $250 to provide him with a young boy with whom he could engage in illicit sex, the document alleges.

On Saturday, Quinn allegedly went to a Los Angeles-area hotel expecting to meet with three fellow child predators for a party, during which the men would engage in sex with boys provided by the sex trafficker.

Quinn went to the hotel room not realizing the men inside were actually undercover operatives, the document states.

A short time later, another undercover agent, posing as the sex trafficker, arrived to collect payment for the children. After Quinn handed the sex trafficker his money, law enforcement authorities came into the hotel room and took him into custody, according to federal prosecutors.
Two different men were arrested after setting up blind dates on the social media app Grindr to lure two different victims before carjacking them in San Bernardino County, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.

Both suspects, 24-year-old men, were accused of carjacking two victims within 10 days of each other in Adelanto and Victorville.

The Victor Valley Sheriff Station began investigating after a suspected carjacker, identified by the Sheriff's Department as Steven Thomas, lured his victim to the intersection of Muskrat Avenue and Air Expressway in Adelanto on May 15.

Thomas was accused of using a gun to steal the victim's car and wallet.

Deputies said he was captured days later in Desert Hot Springs and arrested. Thomas was recently paroled for possession of stolen property, the Sheriff's Department said.

The second victim reported getting carjacked Monday near Yates and Ridgecrest roads in Victorville. Allan Soto, identified by deputies as the suspect, was accused of luring the victim to the spot then stealing the victim's car "using force."

Soto was taken into custody hours later.

Both victims got their cars back, deputies said.

The Sheriff's Department was encouraging people to be careful when using dating apps, and to contact any suspicious activity to 1 (800)-78CRIME.

Grindr says its app has "supplanted the gay bar and online dating sites as the best way for gay men to meet the right person, at the right time, in the right place."

"Grindr takes our user's safety extremely seriously, as well as their privacy. As part of both joining the app, and on our page, we educate users on best practices around safety. Its important to have fun, but be smart and do it safely. In addition, whenever an incident arises, we fully co-operate with law enforcement globally, while protecting user privacy within constraints of the law," a Grindr spokesperson said in an email.
A Lake View Terrace man was charged Tuesday with murdering his 78-year-old grandmother, who was bludgeoned with a hammer.

Joseph Max Kushner, 26, is scheduled to be arraigned June 9 in a San Fernando courtroom in connection with the death of Armida Custodio, whose battered body was found May 4 in her Lake View Terrace home.

The criminal complaint alleges that Custodio was killed between May 2 and May 4 and that Kushner used a hammer in the commission of the crime.

The woman's body was found by officers conducting a welfare check at her home in the 11300 block of Terra Vista Way, which she shared with her grandson. Two days later, the Los Angeles Police Department named him as a suspect in her killing.

Kushner, who was arrested Friday, faces up to 26 years to life in state prison if convicted, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The grieving father of a 19-year-old man who was killed after he chased down a robber, said his son was planning to get married in a week and warned him about recent violence in San Bernardino.

"They were about to get married. He was happy. I want a grandson," said Nelson Morales, the victim's father.

Christian Morales was with his fiancee when he was robbed in Lytle Creek Park around 8:30 p.m. on Monday. Christian followed the robber in his car and attempted to confront him in a cul de sac in the 1300 block of Poplar Street. The robber fatally shot Christian twice, San Bernardino police said.

Nelson believes his son was shielding his fiancee he was slain.

"If it wasn't because of him, she would be dead," he said.

San Bernardino police said they were looking for a man and a woman.

Christian's death was the 27th homicide this year in San Bernardino.

Nelson said he had recently discussed the increasing violence in San Bernardino with his family and told his son he did not want for him to be the next victim.

"You just took away my son's life. He was only 19, soon to be married. I hope you repent."

A description of the robbers was not yet released.
Police on Wednesday were searching for a Murrieta home burglar who returned to the scene of the crime to question a woman at gunpoint after he realized he'd left something behind.

The man burglarized the home in the 23000 block of Via Madrid between 7 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. Tuesday and left before the homeowner arrived, the Murrieta Police Department said. Officers arrived to investigate and left after processing the scene.

At 2:35 p.m., police again were called to the home, this time over a home-invasion robbery. Police said the man had held a woman inside at gunpoint, possibly with a semi-automatic gun, and had her lie down. The man questioned her about something he left behind, searched the home and fled, police said.

It was unclear if the man found what he was searching for.

The man was described as about 20 to 30 years old and about 5 feet 11 inches tall. He had short brown hair, was clean shaven and was wearing a button up blue or gray shirt with long sleeves.

He was driving a dark blue four-door newer car with dark tinted windows.

Anyone with information was asked to contact Murrieta police detectives at 951-461-6346 or jtherien@murrietaca.gov.
A 16-year-old boy was in custody Wednesday on suspicion of fatally stabbing a woman in her West Hills home, police said.

The woman's body was discovered around 4:35 p.m. Tuesday in the 7100 block of Shadow Ridge Court, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The victim was identified as 53-year-old Connie Cajulis. Cajulis was found suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to the LAPD.

Police said they believed the victim and the attacker knew each other.

The suspected attacker was found after he allegedly stole the victim's car and crashed a short distance away from her home, according to the LAPD.

The attacker was in stable condition at a hospital while in police custody.

Cajulis was a beloved booster for the Calabasas High School athletics program, and the school community was mourning her death Wednesday.

"We lost a mother," said Lauren Young, an assistant principal at the school. "We just lost a phenomenal lady."

Cajulis was remembered as the kind of booster mom who worked tirelessly, often with little recognition. She would sometimes stay until midnight, operating the snack bar at home games and making sure athletes had their dinner and equipment.

Young said it is as a friend that she will miss Cajulis most.

"She was the person that was here at campus almost every day, and always had something witty to say, and always made me laugh."

The 16-year-old accused attacker is believed to be a student enrolled in the district, and knew Cajulis. They say robbery was not a motive in the attack.
Belgian prosecutors said Wednesday they have questioned four suspected Islamic State group recruiters, who may have planned new attacks in the country.

All four suspects were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Two were ordered arrested by an investigating judge, but one of them was released with an electronic bracelet. The other two were released under strict conditions.

The statement said the four don't appear to have links to the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels Airport and subway on March 22, killing 32 people.

Prosecutors said initial findings of the investigation into the suspects indicated there may have been plans for attacks in Belgium, but provided no details.

Searches were carried out in the port city of Antwerp and at least two other locations, Ternat and Borgerhout.

The prosecutors said some of those detained were planning to go to Syria or Libya and join ISIS. All of the suspects are believed to have wanted to recruit people to go to those conflict zones, the statement said.

Belgium has been one of the most fertile recruiting areas in Europe for the extremist group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels as well as the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

No weapons or explosives were found in the eight sites searched on orders from an investigating judge, the prosecutors said in their statement.

They said no additional details would be made public in order not to hamper the ongoing investigation.

This Associated Press story has been corrected to give accurate details about the arrests. An earlier story erroneously reported that two of the suspects were ordered arrested, one was released under strict conditions and one was released with an electronic bracelet.
David Payne was waiting for her.

He rented a car his ex-girlfriend wouldn't recognize and staked out the parking lot in the dark for two hours.

He knew Jasmine Samuel, 25, would take her break at 12:30 a.m. from the overnight shift on the assembly line of a plastic packaging company.

When the slender woman emerged from the warehouse, talking on her cell phone, David leapt from the car and grabbed his gun, records show. He rushed toward her and shoved the pistol in her face.

"No David, why?!" she screamed.

He had told her before: "If I can't be with you, no one can."

They were an unlikely match. Jasmine, a single mother of two, started dating David, 62, in about 2010. Jasmine was bubbly and energetic, her family and friends said, the opposite of David's standoffish personality.

Their turbulent relationship is documented in an extensive investigative report by the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office. Jasmine's family also offered their account.

The couple lived three houses apart in a cozy south Apopka subdivision, a place where homeowners sit on their lawns in plastic chairs and wave to passersby as noisy ice cream trucks circle the block. But they really got to know each other through Jasmine's best friend, who was dating David's son.

There were things about David that Montina Samuel, Jasmine's aunt, never liked.

He rarely said hello to Montina and wouldn't make eye contact with her, she said. A burly man at 5 feet, 11 inches, David had a reputation, Montina said, of dating younger women and sometimes being violent. He spent five years in prison for kidnapping a woman in 1992, Orange County court records show.

Montina feared the worst.

Her sister, Jasmine's mother, was shot in the head when she was 19, killed by her ex-boyfriend.

Jasmine was just 18 months old in 1992 when her mother's boyfriend, Willie Smith, scooped her up from day care without telling anyone.

Montina awoke the next morning to the screams of Jasmine's mother, Degie Samuel, echoing across the courtyard of an Apopka apartment complex where they both lived.

Willie Smith beat Degie and shot her through a bathroom door, which she locked herself behind. He then pressed the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. He died three days later.

"He didn't want to let go," Montina said.

After the shooting, investigators found Jasmine at the house of Willie's mother. From that day forward, Montina raised Jasmine, who struggled with never knowing her mom. Her dad remained in the picture, but she didn't live with him.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 23, 2015  her mother's birthday  Jasmine said she didn't want her daughters, ages 9 and 5, to experience the same loss.

"I see a lot of people disrespect their mom in such a way that makes me sad because a lot of you will never know what it feels like," she wrote. "It's times where I wish I could hug her, pick up the phone and call her, or just even tell her how my dad is (doing) or how happy I am to be where I'm at today, but I can't."

By 2014, David had gotten Jasmine a better-paying job at a plastic packaging company where he worked. She and her daughters moved in with him. But the relationship began to go downhill in the following year.

David would take the truck they shared without telling Jasmine, leaving her stranded for hours or unable to get to work. He became increasingly jealous, Jasmine told her family, often using his control of the truck to control her. And one time, David showed her a loaded gun magazine and said, "I hope I won't have to use it on you."

They broke up in November. Jasmine and the girls moved to a new home in Ocoee.

At work, Jasmine tried to keep things normal. She sat with David at lunch to ward off any gossip. But the tension persisted. David implored his manager to drug test Jasmine, but he refused, knowing David just wanted to get back at her. Jasmine switched to the night shift and didn't see him as much.

About two weeks before the kidnapping, David threatened to kill Jasmine, she told her coworkers.

Investigators say he carried out his threat on Dec. 16, ambushing Jasmine at gunpoint outside her workplace.

David forced Jasmine to walk to her car and climb into the trunk. Trapped inside, Jasmine pulled out her phone and dialed 911. She frantically told dispatchers what happened.

"He said he is going to kill me!" she yelled.

Jasmine managed to stay on the line for five minutes. She offered bits of information  "he came in a rental car!"  but didn't say who she believed was the abductor.

A number of gunshots sounded and the line clicked off. Dispatch called back 21 times over the next 30 minutes.

No one answered.

It took 11 minutes to trace the location of her call and two more hours before Orange County Sheriff's deputies found the car four miles from where she was kidnapped. Inside the trunk was Jasmine's body, curled into the fetal position. Bullet holes riddled the back seat.

After a two-day manhunt, David was spotted sitting by himself at a Sam's Club cafeteria, looking sleepy.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if they get a conviction, court records show. David pleaded not guilty.

Friends and family of Jasmine set up a fundraising page to help with expenses for her daughters.

At the Marvin C. Zanders cemetery, a few blocks from the subdivision where Jasmine and David lived, there's a party happening.

Sparklers, a bright tablecloth and confetti  all the makings of a birthday bash  are sprinkled across a plastic picnic table. It's April 16, the day Samuel would have turned 26 years old. Her grave, already adorned with bouquets of flowers and photos, is nearby.

Montina calls it a "cupcake toast." Jasmine loved cupcakes, so everyone brought them for a feast. The wind is blowing, the sky sprinkling a light rain.

"These ain't the kind of parties I like, and I don't want to go these kinds of parties no more," Montina said. "The only reason I'm giving it today is because her girls asked for it. . This is part of their healing, so I honor them with that."

Jasmine's daughters join hands and sing a heart-wrenching ballad. They put Beanie Babies next to their mom's tombstone and hand out the balloons, which are launched into a darkening sky.

Montina will raise the girls as her own. Just as she did with Jasmine when her mother was killed.
Last week was the annual Legislative Fly-In to Washington, D.C. for our local Chamber of Commerce, taken in conjunction with the Nebraska Chamber. The group from Columbus was able to meet individually with the office of each member of the Nebraska delegation and interacted with them a number of times over two days.

Here are some of the issues specific to the Columbus region that we took up in our individual meetings with Congressional offices:

 Work force  There is no expectation that any significant legislation on immigration or any other related policy will come out of Congress this year ahead of the Presidential election. Having said that, we feel the conversations around work force are becoming more substantive, and the delegation is hearing the issue from constituents enough to take it seriously.

 Columbus quality of life center updates  Gave each office an update on all community projects currently underway.

 Transportation/federal highway bill  It was nice to be able to thank them for passage of a federal highway bill in the last session of Congress. That measure has cleared the way for conversations about transportation projects that have been off the table for years. It was just as much fun to be able to talk about dates for a ground-breaking this fall on the next section of the Highway 30 Expressway project.

 Government regulation  There is universal concern among the Nebraska delegation about government over-regulation in virtually industry and aspect of life. The question remains what Congress can, or will, do about it. The administrative branch continues to drive the agenda in the federal government and right now thats not very friendly to business or to families budgets.

Beyond the legislative meetings, the Columbus group also found time for meetings with U.S. Department of Education regarding early childhood development and with the Federal Highway Administration on a couple funding programs in the new highway bill that might be of interest to our region.

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce was represented by Chamber Board Chairman Bill Flint and Leadership Columbus Chairman Adam Urkoski. We again benefited from the partnership with the City of Columbus, represented by City Administrator Joe Mangiamelli and City Engineer Rick Bogus. Having both business and local government at the table is impactful on these visits, and we appreciate the time all these gentlemen took to represent Columbus.

Honestly, these visits can be a little depressing for those of us from Nebraska who are used to working together and getting things done. Believe me, none of us would want to run our families or our businesses the way our federal government runs today  and especially in a Presidential election year.

Having said that, it becomes clear in these meetings that we have Nebraska senators and congressmen who work hard and their staff members work just as hard. In fact, the vast majority of people working on Capitol Hill are smart, committed, decent people. The challenges come from the size of the system and from a lack of real world perspective that afflicts many in D.C.

Speaking of those challenges, next week the chamber hosts a seminar to help businesses handle new administrative requirements in the Affordable Care Act. Businesses will learn about penalties in the ACA and how to avoid them, and maybe some ideas to reduce cost and liability related to health insurance in todays environment.

The seminar is presented by local State Farm agents Annette Alt, Michael Brittenham and Shelley Stempek.

It will be 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. June 2 at Ramada-Columbus and will cost $29 for chamber members ($49 general admission) including lunch. Contact the chamber to RSVP at chamber@megavision.com.

There are challenges in D.C. to be sure and regulations like those found in the ACA are among the biggest. But, as Churchill said in 1947, Democracy is the worst form of government  except for all those others that have been tried.
Finding a place to park at many businesses in South Florida can be difficult. But a group of doctors said they're dealing with a parking emergency at a local hospital.

If you travel to Kendall Regional Medical Center during the week, you'll often find the parking garage full, cars parked illegally on the sidewalk and on the grass near the building's main entrance. The NBC 6 Investigators saw a truck driver back into a car as he was trying to park on the sidewalk across the street from the hospital.

Johanna Miranda parked three blocks away and walked her baby daughter to the hospital to be treated for a fever. "It's terrible, terrible," said Miranda.

"The parking situation has been critical," said Dr. Sandra Gotman.

Dr. Gotman is a podiatrist who works in the medical office building on Kendall Regional Medical Center campus. She said she receives at least two calls a day from patients saying they can't find a place to park.

"I'm already coming in to work thinking how many patients will call today to cancel because of the parking," Dr. Gotman said.

She's one of about a dozen doctors who work in the medical office building who are meeting together to try to find ways to fix the problem. They said their medical practices are in jeopardy due to the amount of patients cancelling services due to the parking situation. They're now consulting with an attorney to figure out what their legal options are to get more parking for patients.

"The patients are suffering because we're not seeing them," said Dr. George Pimiento, a gynecologist who works on campus.

The doctors said parking has never been easy but the current hospital expansion that's underway right now is making it especially difficult for drivers. They claim the problem has reached a boiling point over the last year.

Miami-Dade Officials with the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources said the hospital actually has about two hundred more parking spaces than the minimum law requires. County officials reviewed hospital blueprints for the expansion in 2015. The number of parking spots a hospital is required to have is based on the number of hospital beds and office space on the property.

"How an individual business operates its own parking and manages their own parking is something we don't control at this level," said Nathan Kogon of the Dept. of Regulatory and Economic Resources.

Hospital administrators wouldn't comment on camera about the issue. They told the NBC 6 Investigators parking is a top priority and they are planning a new parking garage that is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2017. A hospital spokesperson released this statement:

"Kendall Regional Medical Center is a fast growing regional teaching hospital. We are continually looking at ways to improve services and our patients' experience. Currently, we are focused on enhancing parking on campus. Over the past year we have added additional valet parking stations and now have three stations located throughout the campus. We now also have employee parking off site, to increase the availability of on campus parking for patients, visitors and physicians. Additionally, we have started the design process to construct a new parking garage, which should be completed by the 4th quarter 2017."

Some doctors said their practices can't wait that long for a parking remedy.

"It's a little too late," Dr. Gotman said.
Numerous students at Piper High School were hauled away by police in handcuffs Tuesday after a disturbance on campus.

What started as a food fight at the school in Sunrise, prompted class disruptions and a call to police.

Students posted videos on social media of what many are calling a senior prank that has many of them upset.

"It's really disrespectful and rude. We don't deserve this. I wish we could know better and stop the foolishness before the school year ends," one student said.

A spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools said students refused to go back to class, and seven were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Parents who heard of the behavior as they picked their kids up from school said they're disappointed.

"Piper High School is a much better establishment than what's being portrayed here and this is stupid kid B.S.," said Hiedi Handford, parent.

The last day of school for students is June 9.
A 2-year-old girl has died after choking on a window blind cord at a home in Oakland Park Wednesday, authorities said.

Oakland Park Fire Rescue officials said they responded to a home in the 4500 block of Northeast 15th Way around 12:30 p.m. and rushed the toddler to Holy Cross Hospital.

Broward Sheriff's Office officials later said the child died. Neighbors said a mom, dad and two children live at the home.

"Six sheriff cars pulled up and they were running as fast as they could into the front door," neighbor Michael Matheson said.

Matheson said the girl's father arrived moments later.

"He was running as fast as he could and he came around the corner and darted past all the sheriffs, about five second later he came out screaming," Matheson said.

The incident is under investigation but there is nothing suspicious, officials said.

No other information was immediately known.

This child's death is the third in Florida since August 2015, according to Linda Kaiser of Parents for Window Blind Safety. Kaiser started the nonprofit group in 2002 to support parents who lose children and educate consumers about the risks.

The group keeps tracks of deaths and injuries from window blind cords. They report 592 children have been killed or injured in these accidents since 1995, 36 in Florida.

Parents for Window Blind Safety petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2014 for mandatory standards for window blind makers.

CPSC in March announced its partnering with Canada to to come up with new standards to encourage cordless window coverings.

The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) encourages parents and caregivers to check window coverings for exposed or dangling cords. The group recommends replacing them with cordless window covering products or those with inaccessible cords.

The group says parents can identify products best suited for homes with young children by looking for the 'Best for Kids' certification on products.

PSA: In An Instant (Child Safety Film - Dangers of Corded Blinds)
Criminal charges have been dropped against a Palm Beach County doctor who had been accused of fondling female patients, NBC 6 has learned.

The sexual battery and battery charges against Dr. Manuel Abreu were dropped by prosecutors last week, court records show.

"Although there was probable cause for the arrest and charge of the defendant, the available evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution," Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg wrote in the documents.

Attorneys for Abreu said he has maintained his innocence at all times.

"Dr. Abreu has always had faith in the judicial process and has always been confident that justice would prevail. He is grateful that all charges against him have been dismissed and that he has been vindicated," attorney Walter Reynoso said in a statement. "He is also thankful to his wife, family and friends for their unwavering support and belief in his innocence. Dr. Abreu is happy to move forward with his life alongside his loving family."

Abreu, 46, was arrested on the criminal charges in March 2015. Seven women had also filed civil lawsuits against Abreu at or before the time of his arrest.
The Democracy Movement and a team of attorneys representing a group of Cuban migrants found on a Florida Keys lighthouse filed an emergency motion Tuesday afternoon.

The injunction asks a federal judge to determine if the American Shoal Lighthouse is U.S. territory. The ruling is crucial for 19 Cuban migrants who on Friday climbed on the lighthouse about eight miles from shore near Sugarloaf Key.

All 19, and two others who didn't climb the lighthouse, are hoping to stay in the United States under the wet foot, dry foot policy. The Coast Guard negotiated with the group for several hours until they came down. They have since been in a Coast Guard cutter awaiting their fate.

"We're relying strongly on the 2005 precedent with the 7 Mile Bridge, we're pretty much making an analogy to this case and stating that just as the federal judge ruled in the 2006 case they should do the same with the lighthouse," attorney Virlenys Palma said.

"We have always defended the integrity of the territory of the United States and we believe that lighthouse is an integral part of this great nation," Democracy Movement's Ramon Saul Sanchez said.

Only six migrants are currently listed on the motion because they've been identified by relatives in South Florida. The others can be added later.

Coast Guard officials told NBC 6 Tuesday that all of the migrants are in good health aboard the cutter. They are given food and water daily.
A former Florida police officer has been sentenced to life in federal prison after pleading guilty to several child exploitation and child pornography charges.

A federal judge in Fort Pierce imposed the sentence on 28-year-old Michael Edwin Harding, a former Port St. Lucie police officer.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Harding admitted to distributing videos and photos to internet chat rooms of young children engaged in sex acts. Many of the images were discovered during examination of Harding's cellphone, which authorities say he used to create his own child sex videos. More images were found on thumb drives and other devices.

The case is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide effort to combat child sexual exploitation led by the Homeland Security Investigations arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is returning to a leadership role in the education foundation he created.

Bush has been elected chairman and president of the board of directors of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Bush created the foundation shortly after he stepped down as governor in 2007, but he left the organization as he ramped up his campaign for president. Bush suspended his campaign in February after the South Carolina primary.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had taken Bush's place as chairman in January 2015. The foundation said in a release Tuesday that she will continue to serve on the board of directors.

Bush used the foundation as his primary way to stay involved in public policy after he left Florida's governorship. The organization remains influential with the Florida Legislature when it comes to education policy.
A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police officer fired for allegedly sending racist text messages and a video will not be getting his job back, an arbitrator has ruled.

James Wells was fired last March along with officers Christopher Sousa and Jason Holding following an extensive internal affairs investigation into the distribution of the racist materials. A fourth officer, Alex Alvarez, resigned during the course of the investigation and would have been fired, Police Chief Frank Adderly said at the time.

Wells claimed he never should have been fired and took his case to an arbitrator, who sided with the city in his firing.

According to a police report on the firings, the officers criticized co-workers' appearance and work ethic, and they "exchanged text messages that included derogatory comments toward Hispanics and homosexuals." The inappropriate material included images of President Barack Obama and fellow Fort Lauderdale police officers, the report said.

Alvarez's ex-fiancee reportedly released the text messages after a nasty breakup. Wells said he expected the messages to be private.

More than 40 cases linked to the four officers have been dropped, according to the Broward State Attorney's Office.
A man has been arrested in a head-on crash that killed a woman on Labor Day in Oakland Park last year, authorities said Wednesday.

Javier Landron, 47, was arrested Monday on charges including DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the September 7, 2015 crash that killed 44-year-old Audrey Williams Ives, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said.

Landron was being held without bond Wednesday, jail records showed. It was unknown if he's hired an attorney.

A witness told BSO he was heading westbound on Oakland Park Boulevard when he noticed a silver Toyota Tundra driving westbound in the eastbound lanes. The witness honked his horn and tried to get the driver's attention, but the attempts failed.

In the 1900 block of Oakland Park Boulevard, the Tundra, driven by Landron, crashed head-on into a Toyota Camry, which was driven by Ives, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said toxicology results showed Landron had a blood alcohol level of .16 the morning of the incident, above the state's .08 legal limit.
A 27-year-old area mans weeklong crime spree ended Tuesday afternoon in Hastings.

Members of the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force arrested Anthony Mattison around 4:30 p.m. after locating a stolen vehicle in Hastings and staking out the location.

Adams County Sheriffs Office Investigator Glenn Kemp, a member of the task force, said the arrest happened within a block of the Adams County Courthouse following a brief foot pursuit.

Mattison, who is being held in the Platte County Detention Facility, was apprehended a week after evading police in Columbus and leading the Nebraska State Patrol on a pursuit.

Hes been stealing vehicles all over, Kemp said, noting that Mattison faces charges in seven different jurisdictions across east-central Nebraska.

A warrant was issued for Mattisons arrest on theft by receiving stolen property, operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, possession of a controlled substance and habitual criminal charges in connection with the May 17 incident in Columbus that began with a complaint about a loud vehicle in the 2500 block of 47th Avenue.

Police believe Mattison was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS that sped away from the responding officer before crashing into a sign and pole at the intersection of 26th Avenue and 27th Street.

The suspect ran from the accident scene, but a 31-year-old woman who was a passenger in the vehicle identified the driver.

Authorities believe Mattison, who was wanted for probation violations, stole a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado from Ernst Auto Body in Columbus, although he hasnt been charged in connection with that theft, which is still under investigation. The vehicle was involved in a pursuit involving the Nebraska State Patrol before it was abandoned in Grand Island, where another vehicle was reported stolen a short time later.

Kemp said Mattison has been connected to a vehicle theft in Aurora and police chase in Kearney that ended when the suspect crashed on a rural road and escaped on foot. A vehicle stolen in Gibbon was located in Hastings, which led to the arrest.

The State Patrol, Adams County Sheriffs Office and Hastings Police Department assisted the task force, which also received information from Columbus Police.

Columbus Police Capt. Todd Thalken described Mattison as a tumbleweed. His most recent address was in Osceola, but he has family in Columbus.
South Florida police officers are cleaning up the streets. One by one, accused criminals were handcuffed and hauled to jail Tuesday evening, as part of Operation Save Our Streets.

City of Miami Police rounded up accused thieves and burglars in The Roads neighborhood of Brickell.

"If we see a spike in crime or some concern in the area, we want to focus our operations there to reduce and prevent crime in the future," said Freddie Cruz with Miami Police.

The biggest arrest Tuesday was 20-year-old Mike Mendoza. He's accused of breaking into downtown condos and stuffing backpacks with valuables.

Detectives said he and another suspected burglar are responsible for multiple crimes in the last few months.

"During this operation, we were able to put an end to this duo pulling off burglaries in the Brickell area," said Kenia Fallat with Miami Police.

Police had a makeshift processing center setup in the parking lot of a Publix supermarket off 13th Street near 2nd Avenue.

Officers conducted the operation over a span of 10 hours. They said they plan to do these once a month to quickly collect criminals.

The goal is to focus on robberies, burglaries, thefts, graffiti and other crimes within The Roads and surrounding areas.
An armed teen suspect was injured during a police-involved shooting in southwest Miami-Dade Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

The shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. in the area of Southwest 224th Street and Northwest 1125th Avenue.

According to police, officers tried to stop a vehicle that had been involved in a carjacking when one of the three people inside came out with a gun.

That suspect, a 16-year-old boy, was shot and taken to Kendall Regional Hospital, officials said. His condition was unknown but police said he had non-life suffering injuries.

The car took off again with two suspects inside but they bailed out after driving onto a field, officials said.

One of those suspects also pulled out a gun and shots were fired by police but no one was injured, officials said. A 15-year-old was taken into custody but the third suspect was able to run away.

Police searched for the third suspect for a couple hours before he was eventually caught. Two firearms were recovered at the scene, police said. It's unknown if any of the suspects fired any shots.

Two nearby schools, Pine Villa Elementary School at 21799 Southwest 117th Court and Mays Conservatory of the Arts at 11700 Southwest 216th Street, were placed on lockdown as a result of the incident.

No other information was immediately known.

Check back with NBC 6 for updates.
A woman was left in a coma after what should have been a routine plastic surgery. She did come out of the coma months later, but the damage was done. Now her family is asking for help with mounting medical bills.

Linda Perez was a beautiful, loving 18-year-old. But her life drastically changed three years ago.

"Our client was a healthy, independent woman when she walked into the Coral Gables Cosmetic Center for a routine procedure. She left in a coma and is now permanently brain damaged," said Mark Eiglarsh, Perez's attorney.

After undergoing a breast augmentation surgery back in 2013, the now 21-year-old can no longer eat, speak, walk or go to the bathroom by herself.

"Physically, she's no different than an infant who needs 24-hour care for the most basic of activities," Eiglarsh said.

Perez's mother Mariela said these past couple of years have been difficult and a burden on her and her daughter's six-year-old son. Her lawyers said they didn't file a lawsuit because it wasn't worth it financially.

"Because the surgical center didn't have any insurance and the anesthesiologist's insurance was minimal, my client recovered very little," Eiglarsh said.

Perez has been through a lot and will never be the same. Her family and lawyers are also trying to caution others to be careful and do extensive research before undergoing a cosmetic procedure.

"The public needs to know what they're dealing with. Most of these clinics do not carry insurance. People need to do their homework if they're going to be doing something like this," Eiglarsh expressed.

According to Perez's lawyers, court records also show the anesthesiologist for the procedure, Dr. Mario Albert Diaz, had some issues in the past.

"The anesthesiologist who handled this case was convicted in federal court for a number of crimes, including drug trafficking. He served 30 months in prison and was released to probation," Eiglarsh said.

NBC 6 reached out to the Coral Gables Cosmetic Clinic for a comment. Kubs Lalchandani, attorney for the clinic, released the following statement:

"CGCC is committed to upholding the highest standards of medical care and patient safety. For privacy reasons, CGCC cannot comment on any medical issues related to its patients and is unaware of any pending lawsuit regarding medical services provided at CGCC's facility."

If you'd like to help the family with medical expenses, click here.
Zoo Miami is mourning the death of their famous Komodo Dragon who once made an appearance on the "Late Show With David Letterman."

Khaos, who hatched at the zoo in 1998 and traveled the country with Communications Director Ron Magill has died, officials said Tuesday.

Magill recalled the famous visit to New York and the "Late Show" set in a statement Tuesday.

"Ill never forget when I put him on David Lettermans desk and Letterman totally freaked out not realizing what a gentle giant Khaos was," the statement read. "He was a very special animal that I was privileged to travel around the country with and he inspired countless people, children and adults alike, about the wonders of wildlife. He will be deeply missed."

The zoo had reported last July that Khaos was undergoing treatment and had been suffering from limited mobility in his hind quarters. The initial results from a necropsy didn't indicate a clear cause of death.

Komodo dragons are the largest species of lizard on earth and can grow to nearly 10 feet and close to 250 pounds. They're currently classified as endangered.
Seven adults and one juvenile have been arrested in the wake of Donald Trump's Wednesday rally in Anaheim after police declared an unlawful assembly of protesters outside the event.

The announcement to disperse or face arrest from a police helicopter came after shouting matches erupted between dozens of Trump opponents and a few Trump supporters outside the Anaheim Convention Center, where the candidate was speaking.

The protests began as a small but vocal group of people demonstrating amid a heavy police presence to guard against a repeat of raucous demonstrations at other Trump events.

The unlawful assembly was declared when a crowded gathered in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant after Trump's speech.

At one point a man with a megaphone screamed against immigrants who are in the country illegally and anti-Trump demonstrators threw plastic bottles. Police on horseback and on foot moved in close.

At one point a man with a megaphone screamed against immigrants who are in the country illegally and anti-Trump demonstrators threw plastic bottles. Police on horseback and on foot moved in close.

One group pummeled a Trump pinata, decapitating it. Some demonstrators with faces covered by bandannas shouted expletives against the Republican presidential candidate, while others stood quietly with signs reading "migration is beautiful" and "we are not rapists."

Authorities were not informed of any plans for large-scale protests but boosted staffing for Trump's noon rally at the 7,500-seat arena as a precaution, said Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

"We're hoping that people mind their p's and q's but if they don't, we're prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action," said Wyatt.

Demonstrators can protest peacefully so long as they don't block traffic or engage in violence, he said.

Last month, anti-Trump demonstrators took to the streets outside a similar event in nearby Costa Mesa, damaging police cars and throwing bottles. At least 17 people were arrested.

Two days earlier, supporters and opponents of Trump clashed outside Anaheim's city hall as elected officials discussed a proposed anti-Trump resolution. Police said five people were pepper-sprayed by a demonstrator during that confrontation.

The Republican presidential nominee has drawn thousands of ardent supporters to his events but also passionate critics of his plans to build a wall on the Mexican border and his comments about immigrants and Muslims.

His appearances have generated protests in other states as well, most recently Tuesday night in Albuquerque, N.M.m, when demonstrators outside a rally clashed with police. Officials said several officers were hurt by rocks and at least one person was arrested.

On Tuesday, Democratic party leaders urged any protesters to act peacefully and condemned Trump's proposals on immigration.

"He is a racist, he is a bigot," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters in a phone conference. "He can't just turn into a normal candidate."

A message was sent to a Trump campaign spokesperson seeking comment.

Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were also making stops in Orange County this week as California gears up for its June 7 primary.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LINCOLN  A legal battle over whether the death penalty question will be put to Nebraska voters in November reached the state's highest court Wednesday.

Death penalty opponents Christy and Richard Hargesheimer of Lincoln contend the petition drive that gathered some 169,000 signatures should be deemed invalid because those behind it had failed to disclose Gov. Pete Ricketts as a sponsor.

But the state and a pro-death penalty group both contend that even though Ricketts and his father contributed one-third of the $913,000 raised by Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and his close allies took roles to promote it, it didn't make the governor a sponsor.

Last year, the Hargesheimers sought an injunction to keep Secretary of State John Gale from placing the question on the ballot. In February, Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret dismissed it, and the couple appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

In oral arguments Wednesday, an attorney for the couple got 15 minutes to make his case for why Maret's decision should be reversed and to answer questions from the Supreme Court justices before attorneys for Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and the state got a shared 15 minutes to argue why the decision should stand.

Nebraska law requires proponents to file a sworn list of every sponsoring person, company or association of a referendum prior to gathering signatures but it does not define how one qualifies as a sponsor, and many of the justices' questions went to that issue.

Lincoln attorney Alan Peterson, who represents the Hargesheimers, made two arguments. One, that Ricketts was a sponsor; and two, that the statement wasn't sworn.

Asked how he would define sponsor, Peterson said a reasonable approach would be to define it as the primary initiating force.

He said to meet the requirements set out in the 2003 decision in Loontjer v. Robinson, "it seemed to us ... the public has to be informed who is behind the initiative or referendum."

"Who is the initiator, the instigator?"

But Assistant Attorney General Ryan Post argued that Peterson's proposed standard is "unworkable and would chill involvement in the democratic process."

He and Omaha attorney Steven Grasz, who represents the pro-death penalty group, said sponsors are those who assume statutory responsibility for a referendum once a petition process begins.

"It's a question of law. It's not a moving target," Grasz said.

He said the other side was "grasping at straws" in raising one additional issue: Alleging it was an error for Judge Maret to consider a sworn statement of petition sponsors in her decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

He said Peterson hadn't raised the issue of whether the document was sworn until a reply brief to the Supreme Court, so he couldn't raise it now.

"It's very clear that the decision in this case really had nothing to do with whether she took judicial notice of the document or not. It's a question of law and it was decided on the face of the complaint," Grasz said.

At most, he argued, it was harmless error, and therefore not worth a reversal.

Peterson said he raised the issue in response to a misstatement of facts. He argued the statement listing sponsors was not sworn because those who signed it were not under oath and that the judge was wrong to rely on it in reaching her decision.

"There is a difference," Peterson said, "and it is critical."

The Supreme Court took the case under advisement.

Last week, Maret heard arguments in a second suit involving the same petition. In that case, Beatrice attorney Lyle Koenig is challenging the title and explanatory statement, drafted by Attorney General Doug Peterson, that would appear on the ballot if it does go before voters.

She hasnt yet ruled on that case.
Elton John, Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Blake Shelton and Kobe Bryant are among more than 65 stars who have signed on for "The Red Nose Day Special."

The charity event, set to air Thursday, May 26 (9-11 p.m. ET) on NBC, raises money for children in need in the United States and around the world.

They join previously announced participants like Ellen DeGeneres, Jack Black and Paul Rudd. The special will be hosted by Craig Ferguson.

The special will feature Roberts recent trip to Phoenix to visit projects that take care of children who are facing serious health issues without the means to afford basic medical treatment, according to a news release from NBCUniversal.

It will also feature rapper Chris Ludacris Bridges visiting a food bank in Atlanta at a school where 50 percent of the students are living below the poverty line.

There will be plenty of music during the special, with John and Shelton set to perform special songs. Paul Shaffer will be on hand as musical director of the Red Nose Orchestra.

The Red Nose Day Special also will bring the laughs, with Tracy Morgan, Jay Pharaoh and Sarah Silverman among the many comedians scheduled to appear.

Red Nose Day has raised more than $1 billion globally in the last 25 years. It launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a special day to come together, have fun and make a difference for kids who are most in need.

In its inaugural year in America, more than $23 million was raised for the Red Nose Day Fund, with the money now at work in all 50 states across America and 15 countries through programs to keep children and young people safe, healthy and educated.

People are encouraged to get involved, have fun and raise money by buying red noses sold exclusively at Walgreens, organizing fundraising events and watching and donating during the television special.

For more information, visit www.rednosedayusa.com and follow @RedNoseDayUS on Twitter and @RedNoseDayUSA on Facebook and Instagram using #RedNoseDay.
I-Team cameras captured a tow truck that swooped in and moved a womans minivan after she parked it in a 7-Eleven in Brooklyn to go to the bathroom, pulling the vehicle away in less than 66 seconds.

I had to go to the restroom, said Xing Feng.

Feng is just one of the many people who have say they have fallen victim to predatory towing practices in New York City. Last year, the city received 1,400 complaints from people who felt like they were illegally towed from private parking lots.

Fengs car was towed last week after she stopped at the convenience store on Coney Island Avenue. She said she got a coffee at the store but went across the street because it didnt have a restroom. She was gone for less than five minutes, but her van was gone when she came back.

She called the number on a tow sign in the lot, and the tow truck returned with her van still onboard.

He told me I have to pay $217, cash. He wouldnt take a check, said Feng.

The Custom Towing driver declined to give his name, but told the I-Team that he was charging Feng for the tow and a charge to return her car to her. He called it a "consensual tow."

The company that moved Fengs car might have broken New York Citys rules about towing. Though drivers cant leave a private lot even for a minute without facing the risk of being towed, the companies that move the cars have to follow specific rules.

For one, every tow must be authorized by the owner or the manager of the store  and its not clear if Custom Towing did in this case. Tow truck drivers also have to bring the car to their towing yard at a cost of $125. The city says they cant charge extra to drive the car back.

If the driver returns to the parking lot while the tow truck is in the lot, they can only charge $65. And they have to accept at least two credit cards and provide receipts. But thats not the experience that many people  including Feng -- said they have had.

Nick Farajian says a Custom Towing truck ruined the bumper of his brand new Lexus, which has cost him $6,000 to replace.

He said that I wasn't parked properly, I said that's fine, give me a ticket but don't break my car," he said.

Farajian had gone inside the same 7-Eleven to buy water. He said that within minutes he walked out and saw his Lexus SUV on the end of a Custom Towing truck. He watched as the car came loose and fell in the middle of the busy street. Then, to add insult to injury, Farajian said the tow truck driver charged him $230 to have his car returned.

Vinny Torre and his wife, Lemonia, were fed up with what they saw and started a Facebook page for people to share their horror stories and exchange information.

People are getting double-charged, threatened for cash, and you see people crying for their car, said Vinny Torre of Brooklyn. Its not right.

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, which regulates tow truck companies, Custom Towing has 88 complaints on file for practices such as overcharging, demanding cash, not giving receipts and damaging cars.

Because there are so many complaints against Custom Towing, city officials are taking action. The DCA has notified the company that its licenses will not be renewed if it cannot dispute the allegations.

"For those who don't follow the rules, explained acting DCA commissioner Alba Pico, it's a way for them to make quick money and take advantage of consumers."

Custom Towing and 7-Eleven both declined to comment to NBC 4 New York.

If you feel like youve been improperly towed, you can call 311 or file a complaint online with the department of consumer affairs. Its important to keep all your receipts if you have them. Consumer affairs can try to get you your money back.
A private company that recruits test graders on Craigslist with no experience necessary is helping to score New Yorks all-important Regents Exams, the I-Team has found.

Last year, the New York State Education Department inked a contract with Measurement Incorporated, a North Carolina company, to score Regents field and pilot tests. That means the firm helps determine the grading scales  what amounts to top-level student responses and what amounts to sub-par student work. The firm also helps determine which questions end up on next months exams.

Though parents and students may assume certified teachers are the ones scoring those field and pilot tests, it turns out Measurement Incorporated hires some essay readers and math graders without educational experience.

In one Craigslist ad, the company offered $11.70 an hour for a Reader/Evaluator position. According to the ad, the job required a Bachelors degree in any field.

Henry Scherich, the founder of Measurement Inc., said some of the graders working on the New York Regents Exam were recruited using Craigslist ads.

Yes, we have advertised on Craigslist for people. Just like we put ads in the newspaper and with employment agencies, Scherich said.

He said it is not practical to exclusively hire teachers to grade standardized tests. But Scherich stressed all scoring staff must pass a placement assessment to demonstrate their competence. They must also have college degrees.

Teachers are in the classroom when we need them, so we ensure that we have college degree people, he said.

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education Inspector General found Measurement Inc. had difficulty verifying some of its scoring staff had bachelors degrees.

According the audit, the company was unable to provide adequate documentation that its readers obtained bachelors degrees for 29 of 249 essay readers working on a Tennessee state exam. That equates to about one in 11 essay readers without proper proof of their educational credentials.

Scherich stressed the federal audit of his company was 8 years old and he said 13 of the unsupported readers did have teaching certificates but those certificates were expired.

Does that make the certificate or the degree any less valid if it was expired? he wrote in an email to the I-Team.

On top of concerns about the qualifications of exam graders, Measurement Inc. is also facing trouble in another part of its business  the design and administration of online tests. Last month, education officials in Tennessee canceled a $108 million contract with Measurement Inc. after students were unable to complete an online test the company developed. Scherich said it is not clear his company was to blame for the glitch.

Jeanne Beattie, a spokeswoman for the New York State Education Department, characterized Measurement Inc. as playing a relatively small role in the administering and grading of Regents Exams. She said the company typically scores at least 400,000 essays and math responses. Those graded responses serve as models for local schools.

The chosen models are provided to educators across the state to help train them to understand, for example, what a score of 1 out of 5 looks like compared to a score of 3 out of 5 on the rubric, Beattie said.

New Yorks contract with Measurement Inc. is worth as much as $20 million and it expires in 2019. So far the state has spent more than $1.5 million.

Elliott Leinweber, an incoming New York City high school freshman, said he thinks anyone who grades Regents Exam responses should be a professional educator  especially because passing the Regents is a prerequisite for graduation.

I dont think we should have some random person that we found on Craigslist just going in, grading our test, who doesnt really understand children or understand learners in general, Leinweber said.
A Bronx man was arrested early Tuesday after he allegedly tried to join ISIS and later helped an undercover informant who he thought was trying to join the terrorist organization, according to a criminal complaint.

Sajmir Alimehmeti, 22, was arrested in the Bronx by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and is charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"Alimehmeti is charged today with actions that show a clear intention to support a terrorist organization that is hell-bent on murder and mayhem," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

According to the complaint, he tried to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS on two occassions in 2014 but was blocked each time by British authorities. Then, this year, he allegedly tried to help an undercover informant who claimed to be attempting to join the organization.

The complaint alleges that Alimehmeti first traveled to the United Kingdom in October of 2014 in an attempt to continue on to the Middle East but was denied entry to the country when British authorities at Manchester Airport found nunchucks and camouflage clothing in his luggage.

He tried again that December, according to the complaint, and was again stopped in the United Kingdom after British authorities at Heathrow Airport in London found images of ISIS and improvised explosive devices on his cellphone.

"As alleged, Alimehmeti continued his quest to support ISILs deadly terrorist agenda, after being denied entry into Europe with a bag full of military gear," said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton. "When he returned home, to the Bronx, he allegedly turned to helping others join the terrorist organization as he built his own arsenal of weapons."

Alerted by UK authorities, the FBI went to work, introducing Alimehmeti to undercover law enforcement informants who posed as ISIS recruits interested in traveling to Syria, according to court papers.

A year after the second attempt, Alimehmeti tried to get a new passport and claimed he had lost his old one, according to the complaint. But he allegedly told undercover agents that he already had $2,500 to travel to Syria but needed to get a new passport in a different name because his had rejection stamps from the United Kingdom and was "already in the system."

Late last year and earlier this year, Alimehmeti began communicating with undercover agents, according to the complaint. When meeting with the agents, the man allegedly expressed interest in joining ISIS, telling one who he thought was set to head overseas, "I'm ready f---ing go with you, man...You know I would... I'm done with this place."

He then bought that informant a phone to be used overseas and allegedly talked about "apps" that would encrypt his communications. He also bought two informants boots to use while fighting with ISIS at a sporting-goods store in Manhattan. The complaint also alleges that Alimehmeti also took one of the agents to John F. Kennedy Airport so the agent could fly to join ISIS.

According to the complaint, Alimehmeti played two ISIS-produced music videos that depicted prisoners being beheaded for the undercover agents. He allegedly told the agents that the videos helped him stay motivated while exercising.

Photos from the complaint show him posing in his Bronx apartment with what appears to be an ISIS flag. He also allegedly bought knives, steel-knuckled gloves, a pocket chainsaw, handcuffs and masks, and had MP3 files containing lectures by former al-Qaida official Anwar al-Awlaki.

The court papers said Alimehmeti told the undercover contacts he and his brother "had our own plan" to travel from Albania to Syria but that his brother had been arrested in Albania.

In a footnote, the FBI said in court papers that Alimehmeti's brother was arrested on weapons and assault charges in Albania last August.

At his initial court appearance Tuesday, Alimehmeti, who's also facing fraud-related charges, remained silent and stared at his feet as his team of public defense lawyers asked the judge to set bail at $200,000.

Defense lawyers Sylvie Levine and Sabrina Shroff insisted that Alimehmeti wasn't being charged for criminal action, but instead "conversation that was consistently prompted by undercover law enforcement."

But prosecutor Brendan Quigley said Alimehmeti's "repeated support for ISIS shows that he's both a flight risk and a risk to the safety of the public."

He also pointed to Alimehmeti's past arrests dating back to 2010, including robbery, assault, forcible touching and public lewdness. Alimehmeti has served probation and a year in jail for the crimes.

The judge, Gabriel Gorenstein, acknowledged the defense attorneys' claims that Alimehmeti was being charged without ever acting on his intentions, but said that those arent the charges, and that his willingness to join and support a known terror organization was enough to keep him locked away.

Alimehmeti is scheduled to appear again in court on June 7.

More than a half dozen individuals have been arrested since mid-2015 by the task force in New York and New Jersey on similar charges.

The investigation was conducted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, comprised largely of FBI agents and NYPD detectives, and the NYPD's Intelligence Division.
One day before the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission proposed new limits on driver hours, the I-Team used a hidden camera to see how long Uber and Lyft drivers really spend behind the wheel.

The drivers did not know they were being recorded and their candid responses suggest sleep often takes a back seat to profit.

"Some people, they dont sleep. They sleep in the car," said one Uber driver who had no idea he was being recorded.

Another driver said he worked all seven days last week. He struggled to recall just how many hours that added up to.

"Seventy. Seventy-one? Seventy-five hours," he estimated.

With fierce competition and downward pressure on fares, some ride-share drivers said they simply have to work longer to make the same pay.

But recent accidents are putting the risks of long driving hours into more serious focus. Last November, for example, 88-year-old Luisa Rosario was hit and killed by a yellow cab driver on a 16-hour shift, according to police.

The I-Team reached out to Uber and Lyft, two of the biggest ride-share companies in New York, to ask how they limit fatigued and drowsy driving.

Uber did not respond by the deadline for this article, but in the past the company has pledged to warn and even suspend some drivers who repeatedly drive for more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period.

Despite the pledge, one driver said it was easy to game the Uber's system.

"If you work 15 to 20 hours, they dont care," he said on hidden camera. "Theyll let you keep driving, they dont care.

Chelsea Wilson, a Lyft spokeswoman, said safety is the company's top priority.

"We currently do have time limits on the platform - for every 14 hours a driver is in driver mode, whether they are consecutive or not, a driver will need to take a 6-hour break," Wilson wrote in an email to the I-Team.

In late June, the TLC will formally consider a proposal to limit all drivers -- black car, yellow cab, green cab, and ride-share -- to 12 hours of driving in a 24-hour period and 72 hours of driving in a week. There would be a $75 fine for first-time offenders and 15-day suspensions for repeat offenders.

The number of black cars on city streets has increased, partly because of the huge popularity of Uber and Lyft, and the number of accidents has increased along with it. Between the summer of 2014 and last year, crashes involving TLC-licensed vehicles were up nearly 25 percent, from 2,800 to 3,200.

But former TLC commissioner David Yassky cautioned that most TLC drivers are safe and skilled, and that the statistics should be kept in perspective.

The number of collisions that a taxi or for-hire car gets into in a year is much less than a private vehicle, per mile driven," said Yassky, who supports the TLC proposal that aims to combat drowsy driving.
A New York City man captured on video smashing a wooden chair over the heads of two men inside a Dallas BBQ restaurant last year has been convicted in the attack, prosecutors say.

A state Supreme Court jury found Bayna-Lekheim El-Amin of the Bronx guilty of first-degree attempted assault and second-degree assault, the Manhattan district attorney's office said Wednesday.

Video of the May 2015 attack inside Dallas BBQ in Chelsea shows El-Amin flinging a chair over his head, then smashing it on the skulls of two men he had gotten into an argument with. Horrified bystanders scream as he walks calmly out the door.

The attack was so brutal that bystanders said they were afraid to confront the assailant.

"He had just stomped on someone's head and hit someone on the head with a hard chair," the man who put the video on YouTube told NBC 4 New York at the time. "The last thing anyone wanted to do was get involved."

Prosecutors said the 25-year-old victim was knocked unconscious and the 32-year-old victim collapsed onto a nearby chair. Both men suffered head, back and neck pain.

El-Amin turned himself in to police about a month after the attack.

The victims, who are gay, told media outlets at the time that El-Amin, who has also identified himself as gay, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at them. El-Amin's lawyer previously said his client was attacked first.

But District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a press release announcing the verdict, "There was no justification for this brutal attack."

El-Amin is expected to be sentenced June 14.
A federal judge has reopened a bankruptcy case for "Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member Teresa Giudice, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to bankruptcy fraud.

Giudice finished her 15-month sentence in December after she and her husband, Joe, admitted they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get $5 million in mortgages and construction loans.

NJ.com reports Teresa Giudice's attorneys on Tuesday told a federal bankruptcy court judge she has agreements to pay off all but two of her 29 creditors. Giudice had been trying to block the reopening of the case.

The newspaper says Judge Stacey Meisel's decision to reopen the case could mean unsatisfied creditors might be able to collect potential proceeds from a lawsuit she filed against her bankruptcy attorney.
A Manhattan high school student who was locked in a refrigerator by classmates told NBC 4 New York he's faced taunts since the incident and "I don't know who to watch my back from."

The 16-year-old boy, who asked not to be identified, was locked in the commercial fridge at Food and Finance High School on West 50th Street on May 6.

Three students were arrested after the incident, and students at the school said last week that it was a prank. But the boy who was locked in the fridge said he doesn't see it that way and that he's been ostracized since the incident.

"I feel like it's me against everybody at this point," he said on Tuesday.

The boy said no teacher was in the classroom when fellow students locked him in the fridge. He said they then pounded on the door with large chef's knives and threatened to kill him.

"They're real knives," he said. "I was thinking, 'What if they opened the door and they really wanted to kill me?'"

He added, "It was was pitch black, I just started freaking out."

After about 10 minutes, the boy said he called his mother. She in turn called the school. The boy was let out and three of the students were later arrested.

The boy missed several days of school after the ordeal and said that he can't sleep because he fears retaliation. He also said his doctor diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder and that students and teachers have mocked him.

"There are faculty that will say to me, 'Stay frosty,'" he said. "They think it's a joke. It's not a joke."

The boy's mother told NBC 4 New York she was outraged that students had access to chef's knives without supervision. She also said the Department of Education initially tried to downplay the incident, claiming students didn't have weapons because the knives are tools.

"Children were in danger if children were running around with knives and no supervision," the boy's mother said. "There was imminent danger."

The DOE again maintained that there were no weapons involved on Tuesday, however.

"The safety and security of students and staff is our top priority. The school followed protocol in responding to an incident that was reported and the students involved were disciplined appropriately," the DOE said in a statement.
A Bronx family is pleading for help finding the suspects who shot and killed a father of three as he was parked outside a corner deli.

"I hope that they catch who did it, I hope that his daughters can have closure," said Abraham Martinez, the grieving brother of Jose Ingles. "I think they need it the most."

Ingles, 37, was shot in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx on May 4. Police say surveillance footage shows Ingles double-parking his van outside of a corner deli, and a woman gets out to go to the deli. Moments later, two men come up to Ingles' vehicle, one on each side, and the suspect on the driver's side then opens fire on him.

The two men are seen running away on foot just before the woman leaves the store and also takes off.

Police released a sketch of a suspect in the shooting and spoke to the woman in the video, but no arrest has been made.

Martinez recalled talking to his brother days before the murder.

"I would have always loved to have said as sincerely as I could, that 'I love you,' if I knew it was going to be the last time I was going to talk to him," he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Talking about the war was something nobody did.

Growing up, Louis Henry Pieper never really knew about his fathers twin brothers, all Louis knew was he was named after the Creston brothers and they were no longer alive.

That generation just never shared anything about World War II. I dont know why, Louis said.

This changed a few weeks ago when Louis, who lives in Arizona, discovered a website created by a high schooler from Ainsworth. The website was dedicated to everything he never knew about his uncles Ludwig and Julius Pieper.

So many questions poured through Louis mind while a feeling of gratitude rushed over him.

I wanted to cry, he said.

Since sixth grade, 17-year-old Vanessa Taylor has taken part in a voluntary research project through the Nebraska History Day educational organization.

Even though Im young I can still have an impact on others by telling these peoples stories, the Ainsworth girl said.

Because of Taylors efforts to keep the Creston brothers memories alive, Louis and his three siblings, two cousins and the twins only surviving sister will travel from across the U.S. over Memorial Day weekend to pay tribute to their fallen relatives and thank Taylor for her efforts.

Itll be like a mini family reunion, said Louis, 61. She put all that good work, faith and effort into that article and I want to meet her. She made the effort now I can make the effort.

Taylors project ended last summer when she delivered a eulogy for the brothers at the site of the Normandy landings in northern France and visited their graves. So she was a little surprised a few weeks ago when she received a letter about the project.

(Louis) told how he saw the website and was really touched by it because hed never heard their story, she said. It was just so cool to see that I could have that kind of impact.

In January 2015, Taylor participated in the Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom Albert H. Small Student and Teacher Institute project.

With help from her teacher Nichole Flynn, they created a detailed account of the Pieper twins lives.

Through research and communication with the twins only living sister, who is in her 90s and living in California, Taylor was able to share their story on the website.

During World War II, the Pieper twins were two of 30,053 Nebraskans enlisted or drafted into the U.S. military. Of that number, 2,976 were killed, including Ludwig and Julius Pieper.

The twins served in the Navy, following in the footsteps of their older brother, who was Louis father.

The boys, who went by Henry and Louie, were two of six children born to German immigrants in 1925 in Esmond, South Dakota.

When the boys were about 8 years old, the family moved to Creston, where they are remembered today at the local museum.

Before leaving for the Navy, the twins graduated from high school and worked for Burlington Railroad near Lincoln.

As Taylor unfolded more details of their lives, it was as if the brothers were alive again.

They enlisted at the same age Taylor is now. Since they were so young, their parents had to give consent before they could serve.

Their first mission after attending radio school was to join a fleet of 60-75 ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean, transferring supplies and casualties from France to England.

But after only their third transfer trip, they were the first Creston youths to lose their lives in the war when their ship, Stardust, hit an underwater mine, killing the twins at age 19.

They were honored posthumously for their bravery as each received the Victory Medal and Purple Heart.

Henry and Louie Pieper gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country, but I am sure that their sacrifice was not made in vain. It is extremely hard for me to stand here and say that these 19-year-old brothers' sacrifice had a purpose, but this is how I must view it, no matter how difficult it is for me to understand. This is what they would have wanted, Taylor said in her eulogy. They were fighting to be together, and then, they gave the ultimate sacrifice while fighting for their country. I stand here with the blessing of their youngest, and only living sibling, Mary Ann, to tell the world about their sacrifice. I will never forget the sacrifice Henry and Louie made for their country, and the sacrifice they made for me.
A federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced a college student convicted of drug smuggling to probation, citing the "collateral consequences" she faces as a felon.

A jury convicted Chevelle Nesbeth, 20, of New Haven, Connecticut, of charges accusing her of smuggling 1.3 pounds of cocaine from Jamaica into John F. Kennedy International Airport last year.

She faced a maximum prison sentence of 41 months, according to court records.

However, Senior U.S District Judge Frederick Block sentenced her Tuesday to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 100 hours of community service.

In a 42-page opinion, Block wrote that judges should consider collateral consequences of a conviction when determining a sentence. He noted that Nesbeth faces restrictions on access to public housing, student loans and the right to vote in some states.

Block wrote that "the collateral consequences Ms. Nesbeth will suffer -- principally her likely inability to pursue a teaching career and her goal of becoming a principal -- has compelled me to conclude that she has been sufficiently punished.."

A probation report recommended a sentence of two years, followed by three years of supervised release. The report noted Nesbeth was a first-time offender, is enrolled in college, is employed and "has otherwise lived a law-abiding life and is at a low risk of recidivism."

The judge cautioned that collateral consequences wouldn't be appropriate punishment in every case.

Nesbeth's public defender hasn't commented on the sentence.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has already this year won a Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History and a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant. What more could he get?

The answer came Tuesday when the composer and writer of the Broadway smash "Hamilton" got a portrait unveiled at Sardi's, the legendary Broadway watering hole . The drawing will now hang alongside those of Whoopi Goldberg, Lucille Ball and Sally Field.

When asked how this honor was different, Miranda joked: "You can enjoy this with the best baked Alaska in town is the difference." His show is gunning for the best musical Tony Award on June 12.

Sardi's, located in the heart of midtown Manhattan's theater district, has been a magnet for celebrities, particularly in the years before and after World War II, and many of them, especially when they were appearing on Broadway, had their caricatures on its walls.

The one featuring Miranda  pictured wearing his Alexander Hamilton costume and a stern expression  will be placed near the entrance. (He inscribed it with a shard of one of his lyrics: "Look around, look around.") Over time, it will migrate up to higher floors as portraits get retired.

Some "Hamilton" cast members including Leslie Odom Jr. and Phillipa Soo as well as designer David Korins were on hand to celebrate the unveiling, including members of Miranda's family.

The groundbreaking, biographical hip-hop show tells the true story of an orphan immigrant from the Caribbean who rises to the highest ranks of American society, told by a young African-American and Latino cast.

Luz Towns-Miranda, his mother, said the walls packed with frames reminded her of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "This is Broadway's equivalent," she said. "Basically, he's being honored by Broadway."

Mom gave the drawing her thumbs-up: "I think it captures Hamilton's reflective, tortured self and his vision of this complicated, traumatized and genius individual, who was just non-stop," she said.

Miranda said he remembers coming to the restaurant for the first time at age 12 to celebrate his sister's high school graduation. "I remember looking up at the faces  the ones I knew and the ones I didn't," he said. "So it's very surreal. Very surreal."

Max Klimavicius, the restaurant's managing partner, said it wanted to honor Miranda back when he had success with "In the Heights" but scheduling never worked out.

"He is special to me in particular because I'm also an immigrant. I came here with nothing and ended up owning this place,' he said. "So to me, it has a lot of significance."
A Long Island woman who was arrested outside an Air National Guard base while taking pictures for a "Support Our Troops" website is accepting $1 million to settle a lawsuit for false arrest, her attorney said Wednesday.

Nancy Genovese, of East Quogue, claimed Suffolk County sheriff's deputies humiliated her in July 2009 while she photographed a decorative helicopter outside the base in Westhampton Beach.

She was charged with criminal trespass and spent four days in jail before posting bail. The charge was later dismissed.

A federal jury initially awarded Genovese $1.12 million. A judge later cut the amount to $700,000 after ruling the jury award "grossly excessive."

Attorney Frederick Brewington said Suffolk County then settled for just over $1 million to avoid another trial where she could have sought punitive damages.
A 27-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly smashing into several cars -- including police cars -- during a wild drive from his grandmother's house in New Jersey to the nearby police station, and back to his grandmother's, police say.

James Wnek, who arrived from Arizona several days ago to stay with his grandmother in Linden, took off in an SUV from her house Tuesday afternoon, immediately crashing into her empty car as he drove off, police said.

He headed to the police station a few blocks away, entering the garage through the exit and driving the wrong way up the ramp, according to police.

Wnek smashed into the police garage entrance, and when officers ran out to check out the commotion, he proceeded out of the garage and careened his way back to his grandmother's.

That's where he smashed into a police car stationed outside the house and jumped out of the car, police say and video shows. He jumped across his neighbor's fence and ran through the lawn before finally being apprehended and taken into custody.

That neighbor watched the takedown from his front steps.

"He jumped out of his vehicle, over my fence,' said Pat Cerra. "They all had guns pointed at him, right here."

Remarkably, no civilian was hurt in the entire ordeal, even as the school nearby had just let out.

"I'm glad he didn't come down our street because there are a lot of children out playing," said neighbor Deborah Barto.

Two officers were mildly injured when Wnek deployed pepper spray on them while he was being taken into custody, police said. Three cars were hit, including the police car at the station, a civilian SUV and the police car parked outside the man's grandmother's house.

A motive wasn't clear, and police couldn't immediately speak to his mental state.

Wnek's grandmother said he is a "nice boy."

"Two years, I didn't see him," she said. "He come to see me because I was old and tired and he wanted to see the grandma."

Wnek is currently being evaluated at a local hospital and will face charges, police said.
Jennifer Dumas sits on a sofa, her smiling 6-month-old girl on her lap. The room is full of bright toys and children's books. A rainbow-colored activity mat is on the floor, and Winnie the Pooh is painted on the walls.

It looks like any other nursery, except that there are bars on the windows and barbed-wire fences outside the austere brick building.

New York's maximum-security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility is one of the very few prisons in the U.S. that allow inmates and their babies to live together, a century-old approach that not all corrections experts agree is the best way to deal with women who are locked up while pregnant.

Mothers who get such a chance say it's better than the alternative: In most prisons, babies born behind bars must be given up within a day to a relative or foster care.

"Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you," the 24-year-old Dumas said as her daughter, Codylynn, gleefully rocked in a bouncy seat. "But it's actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I'm blessed to be able to go through this."

Nobody thinks raising babies behind bars is ideal, and some worry that the children could be scarred by the experience. But some advocates say that the practice allows mother and child to develop a vital psychological attachment, and that the parenting classes and other practical instruction help the moms stay out of trouble when they get out.

About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates.

Of the more than 100 women's prisons in the U.S., there are only eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, the U.S. is not among them.

Dumas was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year, along with her boyfriend, on charges they tried to steal a safe packed with $32,000 in cash and jewelry. Her baby was born just days after she took a plea bargain on attempted burglary charges that sent her to Bedford Hills, north of New York City in Westchester, for up to two years.

She is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nursery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rainbows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery currently has 16 babies, including a set of twins.

During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the moms go to school or vocational programs.

But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the moms know their babies can be taken away for such infractions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps.

"It's still scary," Dumas said. "At any given point if you do what you're not supposed to your baby could get sent home."

Some women have been dropped from the program from time to time for breaking the rules, but corrections officials and advocates said they could not recall any instances in recent years in which a baby was harmed.

Still, some argue that prison should be reserved for punishment and that women should instead consider putting their children up for adoption.

"The focus should be on what's best for the baby," said James Dwyer, a law professor at the College of William & Mary who has written a paper on the topic. "There is skepticism about these women being adequate parents."

Columbia University researcher Mary Byrne, who spent years studying mothers and children who started life in Bedford Hills, said that the youngsters formed critical attachments to their mothers and that a second study after they were released found they were no different from children raised entirely on the outside.

"Many people would assume any exposure to prison would cause problems ... they'll be exposed to violence and horrible people, it will scar them," she said. "But that's not what we found."

Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic nun who runs Hour Children, the nonprofit organization that operates Bedford Hills' nursery, put it more bluntly: "Babies belong with their mother. In a palace or a prison, they don't know and don't care as long as they feel loved and supported."

The nursery is operated under an annual contract with the state of about $170,000, the correction department said. It would cost $480,000 a year to put 16 babies in foster care, according to state figures.

Bedford Hills' recidivism rate for women in the nursery program is fairly typical of such programs, at 13 percent versus 26 percent for all female inmates at the prison, according to a report by the Women's Prison Association, an advocacy group.

Bedford Hills, situated on a wooded hill an hour north of New York City, houses the oldest continuously operating prison nursery in the country, opened in 1901.

There were many nurseries years ago, according to Elaine Lord, the former superintendent. But they fell out of favor amid a huge influx of prisoners in the 1980s and a shift in thinking that said the privilege of living with your baby was inconsistent with the concept of punishment.

Most of the nation's prison nurseries have cropped up in the past 20 years.

The nursery at the Indiana Women's Prison houses up to 10 mother-infant pairs for up to 18 months. In South Dakota, a child can stay only 30 days. In Washington state, it's three years. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated.

In Decatur, Kalee Ford, who is about 26 weeks' pregnant and in prison on a drug-related conviction, already has been accepted into the program and is taking prenatal courses. She said she wasn't the mother she could have been to her two other children because of methamphetamine. The program is giving her hope that she can clean up for good.

"I believe that everybody deserves at least one chance to fix mistakes that they've made," she said. "My children didn't do this, and they deserve to have me back."

At Decatur, Bedford Hills and other programs, mothers-to-be are selected based on their crimes and whether there is any history of child abuse.

Many advocates question why such women need to be incarcerated at all. Typically, women accepted into these programs are nonviolent offenders serving fairly short sentences  ideal candidates for less-expensive, halfway house-like programs that allow mother and child to stay together.

After their sentences are up, almost all of the mothers at Bedford go to a live-in halfway house in New York City run by Fitzgerald's organization that also helps with day care and jobs. Mothers say it's a golden ticket.

Dumas, who has a son on the outside, hopes to go there, too.

"It's a way to get on my feet, try being a parent again on the outside but with a safety net," she said. "I don't know anyone who gets that."
A Bronx man fought back when an armed man tried to rob him, wrestling the gun away from his attacker and shooting him, police say.

The gunman tried to rob the 22-year-old victim at home on East 220th Street in Williamsbridge Tuesday afternoon, according to police. There was some sort of struggle, and the victim managed to the gun away from the robber.

He then shot the robber, also 22, police said.

The shot robber was taken to Jacobi Hospital. It's not clear if he and the victim knew each other.
Sen. Charles Schumer is placing his Hudson Valley regional director on leave while authorities investigate drug charges against him.

The director, 32-year-old Cody Peluso, of Carmel, was pulled over by police on Monday in Stony Point and charged with three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to Stony Point Police Lt. Keith Williams.

Officers stopped Peluso for driving with a suspended registration. Police searched his vehicle and found two tablets of a prescription pain killer, one sedative and 200 anabolic steroids, Williams said.

Schumer was shocked and saddened by the news of Peluso's arrest, said Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for the senator.

Peluso is free on $100 bail and scheduled to appear in court in June.

A message left by The Associated Press at a number listed in public records for Peluso wasn't returned.
A hacker known as Guccifer, who claims he broke into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server, pleaded guilty Wednesday, NBC News reported.

Marcel Lehel Lazar, who's Romanian, entered guilty pleas to charges of identity theft and unauthorized access to protected computers before a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia. He could face up to seven years in prison.

Prosecutors said he broke into the e-mail and social media accounts of about 100 Americans, including members of the family of former presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush.

Lazar served time in a Romanian prison and was brought to the U.S. in late March to face federal charges.
COLUMBUS  Jolene Hoegerl has never doubted that she has a mental condition.

Shes just glad theres a place in town that welcomes people like her.

Hoegerl, 62, has been coming to Rainbow Center since suffering a mental breakdown 11 years ago.

But she didnt know what she was going to do in August 2015 when the local behavioral health provider talked briefly about closing its doors because of financial problems.

There's been some restructuring and downsizing of space and staff since then, and Hoegerl no longer has to worry about where shell spend her days.

Hoegerl was there Tuesday with a balloon in hand, helping Rainbow Center celebrate its grand reopening. The newer, smaller facility opened May 13 in the former Boulevard Place space at 17th Street and Howard Boulevard, just down the road from the previous location at 3602 16th St.

If it wasnt for them, Id be out on the streets because there aint no other place to go, said Hoegerl, who said she is schizophrenic and bipolar. Theyve helped me a lot just letting me come here every day, giving me a reason to get up every morning.

She not only takes advantage of the group therapies offered throughout the day, but she said the camaraderie from others like her gives her comfort in her surroundings.

During an average week, 75-100 adults with a behavioral health diagnosis receive services through Rainbow Center. The programs offered include day rehab for clients to developing daily living skills.

Day support is designed to provide participants with outreach services and encourage socialization. Community support meets clients where they live and recovery support promotes independent living for people like Hoegerl, who lives on her own.

Transportation, assistance with job searches, crisis navigators and group living facilities are also offered.

In August, the center faced possible closure when financial issues arose after Rainbow Center was audited by the Department of Health and Human Services. Deficiencies were found in the psychiatric residential rehabilitation services, causing the nonprofit to be hit with a $5,000 fine and placed on probation for a year.

The staff, which now stands at 11 people, created a long-term plan to get out of debt.

Bill Elton, assistant director of the center, explained that after the center sold its three buildings -- the Walles House and Boulevard Place group living facilities and the centers main site -- it was able to lease the Boulevard Place building to focus on reducing expenses.

Weve downsized staff, but were working on a clubhouse-type model where we really empower the members to be more hands-on where they lead different activities or helping out, Elton said. Were here to teach and help them be more independent.

Elton said the services provided by Rainbow Center are important to Columbus because they help those with behavioral health issues while also emphasizing that theyre still part of the community.

He said too many times there is a stigma that goes along with mental health issues, making those receiving services feel bad for their diagnosis.

Its nothing theyve done. Its not anything theyve chosen. It just happens, Elton said. The more they can talk about it and realize its just a part of life, the more they can focus on continuing on after that. Here we give people a chance to come together and do things together so theyre not just stuck at home in their apartment.
In the blue-collar neighborhood of Cheltenham Village, bordering Northeast Philadelphia, Bob Hoffman has owned and rented out a duplex for 30 years.

No longer burdened by a mortgage, Hoffman and his brother, who owns and rents out another duplex on Ryers Avenue, are able to keep rents low for their tenants. But thats becoming tougher, with local taxes now above $6,000 on each of their properties.

And thats before "the sewer issue," as Hoffman called it Tuesday while pruning some front yard bushes at his brothers property.

"My cousin lived a couple blocks from here on Beecher [Avenue]," Hoffman said. "He went to Chester County and has less taxes. He knew the sewer issue was coming."

Cheltenham Township, one of Philadelphias largest and most diverse suburbs, is about to embark on a 10-year sewer improvement project that the townships top official estimates could cost up to $80 million, or about $8 million a year.

That doesnt include the cost many individual property owners will have to pay up to $10,000, depending on lot size, to replace their sewer line laterals -- the pipe that connects homes to the municipal sewer system. Township Manager Bryan Havir said last week that the number of property owners who will have to replace their laterals will not be known until inspectors begin going door-to-door later this year.

With about 15,000 parcels in the township, inspections will take seven to eight years. The township plans to begin those later this year in Cheltenham Village and Glenside. In early 2017, inspectors will canvas the Wyncote and Melrose Park East sections. The schedule beyond that is not yet known.

The Montgomery County town is part of what state officials believe is a $30 billion infrastructure problem for Pennsylvania. State Rep. Steve McCarter (D-Glenside) said "inner-rim suburbs" -- those bordering metropolitan areas like Philadelphia -- across the state face similarly dire situations.

"Nobody wants to talk about whats underground and out of site," McCarter said. "But its going to cause a lot of consternation and disruption."

Brian X. McCrone/NBC10

Homeowners have taken to Facebook in recent weeks to begin venting their frustration -- and with hopes that a solution can be found to alleviate the four- and five-figure cost of full sewer lateral replacements.

A public hearing held last week gathered some 100 property owners, according to Debra Domsky of Woodland Avenue near Tookany Creek.

How did it go from the EPA to the state DEP to the township and now into the homeowners laps? she asked, sitting in the yard of the two-story attached house she bought 18 years ago.

Im lucky. You see the front of my house. Its probably six feet from the street to my steps. But look at that home up the street, with the steep, tall wall in front. The homeowner, shes freaking out. Shes a single mother too. Thats how I would have felt when I was younger, raising my son, barely getting by and trying to make it happen. It would have been devastating. It still is devastating.

Like many others, Domsky is now grappling with questions about an infrastructure problem 90 years in the making. Thats how old the township said many of the sewer pipes are -- in many cases, made of a material called vitrified clay.

An ordinance to put the inspections in motion is expected to be voted on by the township council June 15, but the extent and history of Cheltenhams sewer problem were aired in detail at a Public Works Committee meeting earlier this month.

Matt Chrobocinski, a sewer engineer with the firm Boucher & James, told of the Townships efforts to date to reduce Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) in the sanitary sewer system, why it needs to reduce I&I, and the importance of adopting a Private Sanitary Sewer Lateral Inspection, Maintenance and Repair ordinance, according to the minutes of the meeting.

One of the township commissioners then "noted that the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are requiring the Township to make significant and costly upgrades to its aging sanitary system in a tight time frame."

Havir, the township manager, said in an interview last week that the sewer I&I problem did not pop up suddenly. Instead, he said, the township has already spent millions over the better half of the last decade to improve system-wide performance.

"This has been in our corrective action plan since 2010," Havir said. "And the DEP is now asking we move this up under high priority. Basically telling us, were five years behind schedule."

The first four neighborhoods to be inspected have the worst I&I performance based on rate estimates, he said.

Property owners in Cheltenham Village and Glenside who inspectors find in need of lateral replacements or repair will have 120 days to complete the improvements, according to the proposed ordinance. In the years ahead, repairs in other neighborhoods will have between 60 and 90 days.

McCarter believes those time frames could be adjusted as the township begins to tackle the inspections.

"I think theyll be some adjustments in terms of time as we go along," he said.

Havir said the township has already begun improvements to the municipal system, but if it does cost another $8 million a year for "work being done in the public right-of-way as well as the inspection work," the township will have to issue bonds to pay for further improvements over the next decade.

"We dont have that kind of money sitting around in the pot," Havir said.

Havir and other township officials have promised a fervent outreach program to educate property owners in the summer and fall months about the massive, decade-long project. The municipal website already has posted numerous documents as well as the proposed ordinance.

Realtor Roy Hollinger, of Barandon and Hollinger Real Estate in Cheltenham Village, said, I guess I have to go to one of these (township) meetings coming up.

His real estate company has been around since 1939, he said, nearly as old as the vitrified clay sewer pipes now in need of replacement.

Only were not as decrepit, he said.
Local moms gathered for a "nurse-in" Wednesday at a Montgomery County YMCA where a woman says employees hassled her for breastfeeding her son earlier this week.

The nurse-in participants met at 10 a.m. at the Spring Valley YMCA in Limerick. Local mom Kate Haslam told NBC10 on Tuesday that she brought her 19-month-old son, West, to the Y for a toddler gym class Monday morning and stopped to nurse him in the classroom.

The nurse-in started outside, but the Y invited them in to nurse in their lobby. YMCA officials have said that Haslam's experience was a misunderstanding.

As she nursed West, Haslam said, an employee of the Y told her she needed to move elsewhere to breastfeed because she was making other people in the class uncomfortable. Haslam said two more employees eventually got involved, one even going as far as to tell her she needed to nurse in the locker room.

YMCA President and CEO Shaun Elliott said the incident was a miscommunication, however, and that Haslam was asked to move because she was sitting on a balance beam that kids in the class needed to use.
Local

Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Measures to restrict smoking at public beaches and ban it entirely at parks are scheduled for a vote in the New Jersey Legislature.

The Senate and Assembly are expected to give final approval Thursday to a bill that was vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie in 2014.

It would ban smoking at publicly owned beaches and parks.

The bill would enable municipalities to set aside 15 percent of the beach as a designated smoking area, but that would not apply to parks.

Senate President Steve Sweeney calls the bill a way to keep secondhand smoke away from non-smokers and children. He also says it will help keep beaches cleaner without thousands of cigarette butts discarded in the sand.
I'm staring directly toward the light at the end of the tunnel that is Memorial Day weekend, but we've still got a couple days to go. Fortunately, we can cure the mid-week blues with some great live music in San Diego. Wednesday at the Casbah, the return of Ivan & Alyosha should bring your spirits up, or head to the Observatory where Mayer Hawthorne will have the crowd feeling the groove of his neo-soul sound. At the Belly Up, reggae-fusion Sticky Fingers from Australia bring the party, or you can relieve some punk energy at Soda Bar with Angelic Upstarts. It's gonna be a great night and when it's over, and you've only got a couple days to go before the unofficial start of summer.

Wednesday, May 25:

Ivan & Alyosha, the Whiskey Circle @ Casbah

Mayer Hawthorne, Gabriel Garzon Montano @ Observatory North Park

Sticky Fingers, Bootleg Rascal @ Belly Up

Angelic Upstarts, Rat City Riot, Stalins of Sound, PSO @ Soda Bar

DJ L @ Bar Pink

Gilbert Castellanos Young Lions Series and Jazz Jam @ Panama 66

Through Being Cool Emo Night with DJs Derrek Hubbard and Stevn Oira @ The Office

Local Film Festival @ Whistle Stop

Pentagram, King Woman, Wax Idols @ Brick by Brick

Club Kingston presents Piracy Conspiracy with DJ Carlos Culture @ Winston's

Red City Radio, the Russian Girlfriends, Caskitt, Aim for the Engine @ Tower Bar

The Hathcocks, the Scatter Bombs, Midnight Rack, Bitch 'n Dudes @ Til-Two Club

Big Shot Dianne, So Bored, Spafish, the Meadows, Kan Kan @ Che Cafe

Enrique Bunbury @ House of Blues

Sawyer Fredericks, Mia Z @ Voodoo Room, House of Blues

The Details, Gina Sobel, Blaih @ Lestat's

Jose Sinatra & the Giggling Gigolos @ Java Joe's

Good Girl, Bad Boy @ 710 Beach Club (10 p.m.)

Tropical Wednesday with DJ Mo Lyon @ U-31

Open Mic with Jefferson Jay @ Winston's (6-9 p.m.)

Francois Sims & Groove Squad @ Humphrey's Backstage Live

WTF Wednesdays @ El Dorado

Color Til Monday, Jovias, Nothing Sacred @ The Merrow

Gino & the Lone Gunmen @ Tio Leo's

Open Mic/Open Jam @ 710 Beach Club

A.O.K. Musik @ Henry's Pub

Rosemary Bystrak is the publicist for the Casbah, the content manager for DoSD, and writes about the San Diego music scene, events and general musings about life in San Diego on San Diego: Dialed In. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
Police on Tuesday asked for the public's help in tracking down a man who sexually assaulted a 9-year-old boy in a bathroom at Jerome Park in Santa Ana.

The boy and his mother were at a birthday party at the park at 726 S. Center St. about 4:25 p.m. Sunday when the child went to the bathroom by himself and encountered his attacker, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

"The suspect had a short conversation with the boy in Spanish before he worked his way into the stall with the kid" and molested him, Bertagna said.

The suspect has short hair and a thin mustache and appeared to be 25 to 35 years old, Bertagna said. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue pants.

Anyone with information was asked to call investigators at 714-245-8343. Orange County Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips at 855-TIP-OCCS.
A pit bull who gained Internet fame when a 6-year-old boy read to him at a Los Angeles County animal shelter is one step closer to finding his forever home.

Pirate the pit bull won the hearts of people around the country after Jacob began visiting the Carson Animal Shelter to practice his reading.

Jacob, who lives in La Habra and has autism, would sit on a mat outside Pirate's cage and read to the dog every Thursday.

"He likes it... that makes dogs friendly," Jacob said.

Shelter workers shared Tuesday that Pirate was leaving the shelter with an experienced rescue worker who will train him for a permanent home.

"Be happy at your new home!" Jacob told his buddy Pirate.

A YouTube video posted by the shelter shows Jacob jumping for joy as Pirate is loaded into the car.

Jacob's mother said her son has loved books ever since he was a baby. He lost all verbal skills around the age of 2 and subsequently was diagnosed with autism.

His progress in learning seemed to stall  until his aunt brought him to the shelter. Jacob had a calming effect on the dogs, said his aunt, Lisa Ferranti, who rescues animals.

"If I read to the dogs, they will come out of their cages and find homes," Jacob said. "They have to find new homes because they are alone."

Jacob reads at a third-grade level after all his practice with Pirate.

Learn more about the Carson Animal Shelter on Facebook.
A retired U.S. Marine who pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend and dismembering her body with a machete will spend 26 years in prison, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Brian Brimager, formerly based at Camp Pendleton north of San Diego County, pleaded guilty in February 2016 to second-degree murder in the 2011 death of his girlfriend, Southern California resident Yvonne Baldelli.

Baldelli vanished five years ago when she traveled to Panama with Brimager. Her remains were found nearly two years after her disappearance on a remote island near Panama.

Brimager was sentenced in a San Diego courtroom Wednesday in front of dozens of Baldelli's loved ones, many of whom were in tears during the three-hour sentencing hearing. They addressed the court  and Brimager  directly, calling him "evil" and saying his lies over the years "tormented" Baldelli's family, prolonging the painful ordeal.

"Your life would have been easier if you just sent Yvonne home," Baldellis mother said. "You will have to answer to a higher power and I will never forgive you."

Baldelli's childhood friend, Adrienne Markes, called the slaying a "disgusting, heinous crime" that warranted the maximum sentence.

"The hardest thing Ive ever had to do was to fly to Panama to help her family search for her body. He was arrogant enough to think he could get away with it," she said of Brimager.

At the sentencing, prosecutors said Brimager published a social media post about the machete used to dismember Baldelli, which read, in part: "I bought it in the states before I moved down there...don't worry I only dismembered one stripper with it so it's hardly used:)"

Prosecutors said Brimager lacks remorse. Brimager offered the family an apology, but Baldellis loved ones called it a "hollow attempt to save himself."

The couple left from Dana Point, California, in September 2011 to stay on Isla Carenero, an island off the Panamanian coast accessible only by boat. Baldelli was last seen at a restaurant with Brimager on Nov. 26, 2011.

When entering his guilty plea, Brimager admitted he stabbed Baldelli in the back on Nov. 27, 2011, then used a machete to chop up her body. According to prosecutors, Brimager drugged and beat Baldelli, too, breaking her nose before he stabbed her.

After dismembering Baldelli's body, Brimager stuffed her remains into a military-style duffel bag and garbage bags, according to court documents. He then hiked 1 1/2 miles to another side of Isla Carenero, where he threw the bags down an embankment into the remote Panamanian jungle.

After the slaying, Brimager withdrew money from Baldelli's bank account and used it to buy drugs and alcohol, according to prosecutors. He also admitted to using a computer to communicate with Baldellis family members to conceal her death.

Brimager sent emails from Baldelli's laptop for about a month in an effort to convince her family that Baldelli was not only still alive but was happy and had traveled to Costa Rica with another man, authorities said.

"Those emails cruelly gave Yvonnes family false hope that their loved one was still alive," court documents state. "As the familys emails went unanswered, the pleas from her family became more desperate and heart-wrenching."

The emails, prosecutors said, caused the family to delay reporting Baldelli's disappearance to authorities for about two months because they thought she was still alive.

Court documents show Brimager also used the laptop to search for information on how to remove blood stains from a mattress.

Prosecutors said Brimager lied to investigators about Baldellis disappearance and told them she had taken her laptop while traveling. In 2012, he was found with Baldelli's computer in his possession, at which point Brimager changed his story but said he never used the computer to send emails.

Baldellis skeletal remains were found off the Isla Carenero coastline in 2013  21 months after her disappearance  by a Panamanian who found stumbled upon the duffel bag. Scientists identified Baldelli's body using DNA analysis on her skull and bones.

Brimager has been in U.S. custody since June 2013 on charges of obstruction of justice, giving false statements to a federal officer and falsifying records.

In April 2015, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego on a charge of foreign murder of a U.S. national. Brimager initially pleaded not guilty before reversing his plea in February 2016 after DNA evidence revealed Baldelli's blood to be under the handle of the machete.

In addition to his 26-year sentence, Brimager was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and to pay restitution of more than $11,000 to Baldelli's father.

'Voices for Yvonne'

Baldellis niece, Lauren Beyer, said all those delivering victim impact statements in the courtroom Wednesday were speaking as "voices for Yvonne."

"Life was much simpler before even hearing Brimagers name," said Beyer. "After he murdered her, he teased the family by acting like he was Yvonne. He has a dark soul. Why did he have to do this and carry it on for so long?"

Baldelli's father, James Faust, spoke of the hope he clung to after receiving Brimager's emails  and the pain he will endure for the rest of his life.

"I am traumatized by guilt and anger," he said. "I am ill physically and emotionally. I cant sleep at night."

"Its my understanding he cut her hands off and threw them over a cliff," he added. "Remorse is not in this man."

Lorraine Michelle Faust, Baldellis younger sister, said she "had not seen evil like this before."

"My sister was tortured for months before she was stolen from all of us," she said. "He is a monster."
LINCOLN  Nebraska Tourism officials will convene again this week to discuss the future of embattled State Tourism Director Kathy McKillip.

Members of the Nebraska Tourism Commission will hold a special meeting at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the lower level of the state Executive Building, 521 S. 14th St., in Lincoln. It is open to the public.

McKillip has taken the brunt of public criticism following a scathing, 79-page audit last month that questioned dozens of spending and documentation issues at the Tourism Commission, an independent state agency that was spun off from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development in 2012.

Commissioners placed McKillip on paid, investigative suspension May 13.

At the time, Commission Chairman John Chapo of Lincoln declined to say why she wasn't fired or suspended without pay, calling it a personnel issue.

People familiar with state employee discipline said it appeared commissioners were buying themselves time to lay legal groundwork for McKillip's dismissal.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, former Gov. Dave Heineman and the state's two main travel groups called for her to be fired following the April 29 audit report.

Auditors found the commission had overrun contracts with advertising firm Bailey Lauerman by $4.4 million over three years, paid someone more than $44,000 to deliver a 90-minute speech, and reimbursed an employee $18,511 to move from Sidney to Kearney.
A former Uber driver, accused of raping a passenger in February, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting five other victims, one who is believed to have been only 13 years old at the time of the attack, El Cajon Police said.

John David Sanchez, 52, was arrested March 29 on suspicion of raping an intoxicated person. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and posted bail.

Now, Sanchez faces five new charges of rape of an unconscious person and other felony sexual assault charges for incidents that occurred between 2011 and 2014 in the City of San Diego, El Cajon Police said Wednesday.

The initial victim was a woman who used the ride hailing app Uber on February 25 from a bar in North Park. The woman got into a silver 2012 Scion XB at approximately 2 a.m.

Court documents say the woman, who was too intoxicated to drive home to El Cajon, began to vomit in the car. The driver pulled over and got close to the woman, stroking her leg, court documents alleged.

About a block from the final destination, the woman began to vomit again. At this point, court records said the woman opened the door and began dry heaving  the driver again moved to the backseat and again tried consoling her. Police allege the driver raped the woman, telling her: you want this.

The victim reported the attack to police. She told them her drivers name was John and he drove a Scion. San Diego Police obtained Uber records and identified the driver as John Sanchez, according to court documents.

Sanchez has no criminal record, police said. He was terminated from his employment with Uber immediately after his arrest.

The new charges arent connected to the Uber app, police said.

Sanchez surrendered to El Cajon Police detectives at the San Diego County Jail at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Anyone with information can call Detective Mansour with El Cajon Police Department at (619) 441-5513 or tmansour@cityofelcajon.us. Individuals with information on this crime who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (888) 580-8477.
A woman who was secretly recording while giving birth by emergency caesarean section in September 2012 at Sharp Grossmont has filed a claim against the hospital for what she alleges is a "systemic and shocking breach" of her patient privacy rights.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital secretly recorded women giving birth and undergoing other surgical procedures between July 2012 and June 2013, in an effort to catch an alleged anesthesia drug thief.

The issue was initially uncovered by our media partner, inewsource.org.

Patient Melissa Escalera's claim says the hospital recorded approximately 15,000 videos of patients during surgery. It then turned some of the video over to other people, including attorneys and security guards, according to the claim.

Escalera told NBC 7, her 3-year-old daughter was born under emergency circumstances. Her water broke and her baby presented in a breech condition.

"When I arrived in an ambulance and was wheeled into the operating room on a gurney, my concern was with my daughter who was in distress, and coming 6 weeks early," Escalera said. "I was not planning on having a baby that September 4th day. It was a highly stressful and emotional time for my family and my doctor. No one ever asked me to record one of my most tender, life-changing moments. I would have never agreed to be recorded in that vulnerable moment."

"These video clips show Defendants' female patients unconscious, undressed on operating room tables and undergoing medical procedures," the claim states. "Because of the nature of these procedures, the video captured women while they were emotionally and physically exposed, often naked with their most genital areas visible."

The hospital did not immediately respond to request for comment about the claim being filed in San Diego Superior Court on Tuesday. For a prior story, the hospital declined an interview request, but said via a written statement that it is very sorry that this error occurred and that the privacy of these patients was breached.

The hospital also indicated patients consented to the video recordings through a generic patient admissions agreement since the issue involved patient safety.

"Like many U.S. hospitals, Sharp's Admission Agreement for Inpatient and Outpatient Services, which is given to each patient allows for the taking of photographs and videos of medical treatment for scientific, education, quality improvement, safety, identification or research purposes, at the discretion of the hospital and your caregivers and as permitted by law."

Numerous lawyers not involved in the case told NBC 7, the agreement doesn't circumvent the patients' constitutional rights to privacy.

The class-action claim does not specify a requested amount for damages nor name any other plaintiffs.

"Triggered by motion-detecting sensors, these cameras began recording events in these operating rooms whenever any person entered the room," the claim states. "These videos captured images of caesarean births, birth complications, dilation and curettage to resolve miscarriages, hysterectomies and sterilization procedures. Patients were undressed, exposed and at their most vulnerable during these procedures," the claim states.
A small school district on the U.S. Mexico border has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of debt with very little to show for it, according to a Grand Jury report issued Tuesday.

Now, the County Grand Jury issued a report suggesting the San Diego Office of Education "take a more active role in the oversight of SYSD's financial condition and controls until the District has posted a positive financial rating for several years in a row."

San Ysidro School District is one of the poorest school districts in California. It serves a population where at least one-fifth of its students are homeless.

Meantime, San Ysidro school administrators have very little accountability or documentation for how hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent.

Thats according to a Citizens Grand Jury report out Tuesday.

Every single person listed in terms of that Grand Jury report are no longer there, said Trustee Antonio Martinez. We have new administration and a brand new board.

Martinez said the district is now trying to clean up the problems.

The Grand Jury is not a criminal proceeding, but rather provides citizen oversight of public agencies.

Martinez said the findings are concerning.

The report found district administrators paid impermissible expenses for travel; destroyed documents, possibly illegally, to hide their mismanagement and have no records for how more than $370,000 was wire-transferred from a bond account.

I think ultimately whats most disappointing is that this community in San Ysidro deserves the best, and we need to give them the best, Martinez said. Its our job to clean up that corruption and we need to continue to do so.

The report says the school district borrowed $18 million in bond proceeds, failing to transfer about six million dollars back into the fund.

The good news is our current administration is already weeding out a lot of these issues, and a lot of the recommendations the report advises, we already began implementing, Martinez said.

NBC 7 first began reporting on financial issues at the small border school district back in 2012.

We uncovered the superintendent at the time had accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor seeking work with the district.

That administrator was charged and sentenced to two months in federal prison for threatening to withhold work from a contractor unless he gave the superintendent political contributions.

During our reporting on the San Ysidro School District series, NBC 7 revealed:

San Ysidro trustees made amendments to their campaign disclosures to account for the cash former Superintendent Manuel Paul received in a parking lot.

The FBI began investigating the cash exchange between the contractor and the superintendent.

A San Ysidro trustee was paying campaign money to a company she owns.

The school district considered paying legal fees for former Superintendent Pauls criminal legal representation.

The former Superintendent Paul burned documents on district headquarters

Paul continued running the district months after he resigned, according to district emails.

The district used bond funds to settle a lawsuit.

In response to todays Grand Jury report, the school district issued the following response:

The San Ysidro School District agrees with the findings of the San Diego County Grand Jury Report, which indicates there was poor fiscal management by former District leadership. The audit confirms what we have already discovered from our own internal assessments. It will take time, but thankfully we have a new Board of Education and administration in place that is wholeheartedly committed to not only correcting the errors of the past, but building a strong financial infrastructure for the future, while also building trust within our community and providing the highest quality educational opportunities for students.

Their full statement can be read here.

The Grand Jury report recommends the County Office of Education step back in to provide oversight to the small district.

The report says the County did not take an aggressive enough role to correct the problems.

The County Office of Education issued the following response:

We strongly disagree with the characterization of our fiscal oversight as anything other than rigorous and active.

Their full statement can be found and read here.
San Diego's Chief of Police promises "swift and decisive action" to those planning violence during Friday's visit by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

"We are not going to tolerate violence or disobedience to the law during this event," said Chief Shelley Zimmerman. "We will take swift and decisive action for anyone who causes an unsafe environment by engaging in illegal activity."

Law enforcement officials met with local media Wednesday just before violent confrontations took place outside the Anaheim Convention Center, where the candidate was speaking.

Shouting matches erupted between dozens of Trump opponents and a few Trump supporters.

Several people were detained after police declared the event an unlawful assembly from a police helicopter hovering above.

On Friday, Trump is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. inside the San Diego Convention Center.

SDPD wants to put anyone planning to protest the appearance on notice that it is illegal to block sidewalks or interfere with car and pedestrian traffic along the busy streets near the convention center.

"We have designated free speech areas for those wishing to participate in peaceful demonstrations. These zones have been designated to allow the participants to have a reasonable opportunity to communicate their message in a peaceful way to the intended audience," Zimmerman said.

Parking at the convention center will be limited to only those who have a ticket to the event, police said.

Registration for the event is available here. The campaign is accepting requests for two tickets per mobile number.
When the principal of Serra High School was hired in 2014, the San Diego Unified School District said Vincent Mays had received his Doctorate at Stamford Hill University. According to Mays resume found online, his Ph.D. is in Administration and Supervision.

But three teachers who are also union leaders at Serra High School question the legitimacy of Mays doctoral degree. They filed a complaint last week with the Districts Office of Quality Assurance asking the District to look into the matter.

In the complaint, they say Stamford Hill University does not have a faculty and it doesn't offer classes, and is a known diploma mill.

The Code of Ethics for the teaching profession states you cannot misrepresent your professional qualifications, Ralf Uebel said.

We really did not want to believe that potentially this is not a real degree. We looked at academic data bases, we looked at any person employed by Stamford as a researcher, and we didnt find anything. teacher Peter Oskin said.

Oskin says even if the school had closed, there would be evidence of its existence.

NBC 7 did find a Stamford Hill University website, and we searched records in Florida, where the website says the school is based. The Florida Department of Education says that university is not licensed and never has been.

The department is preparing to issue a cease and desist order for the university's website. A search of the states business licensing website found no records, past or present. A search of the U.S. Department of Education website also showed no records.

NBC 7 also searched online claims that Stamford Hill University could be based in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson from the U.Ks Higher Education Governance, told NBC 7, a university with the name Stamford Hill has never existed.

If the Ph.D. does not exist, that constitutes academic fraud and were in the business of education. Were trying to teach our students the value and importance of education, Uebel said.

Since last week, NBC 7 has been asking Mays and the district for comment. The district says Mays will not talk about this, because he feels it is the doing of disgruntled employees.

The district issued this statement: "These vicious personal attacks on Dr. Vincent Mays are shameful. He has devoted his life and professional career to the service of children, including more than a quarter century as a classroom teacher and an administrator. He has every necessary certification and more importantly the skills necessary to lead Serra High School. He has and will continue to have the full support of the district."

Mays earns a salary of $143, 612.64, according to the school district.

We are not disgruntled. We are looking out for the students, Nicholas Cincotta said, a teacher at Sierra High School.
A woman and her 3-year-old were killed in an Amtrak crash in San Leandro, California, Tuesday afternoon, after a train traveling from San Jose to Sacramento crashed into their SUV.

Capitol Corridor Train 532 struck the SUV on the tracks at 1:30 p.m. near Washington Avenue in San Leandro, according to Amtrak.

San Leandro police identified the victims as 30-year-old Vanessa Henriquez and her 3-year-old daughter, Saidy.

San Leandro Police Department spokesman Lt. Robert McManus said the SUV was parked on the track on the other side of the guardrail. "There is a construction zone which could have created some confusion," McManus said. Both mother and child died on impact, he said.

The family was in shock Tuesday. Jose Nelson Portillo confirmed to NBC Bay Area that it was his sister-in-law and niece in the SUV. He said the family has a boy with autism, and Hernriquez was on her way to pick him up.

One witness said the conductor tried to stop the train and was concerned when he got closer to the wreckage.

"I went down there, and the conductor came out of the train," said Weston Pokorny. "He said, 'Please tell me people got out of the car.' He was checking the train. I said no one got out of the car."

There were no injuries to the 39 people on board, Amtrak said. All passengers were transported by bus to an Amtrak station to continue on to Sacramento.

The maximum train speed in that area is 79 mph, but it was not immediately known how fast the train was going, Amtrak said.

"I dont know what speeds the Amtrak train was traveling at but do know that as they pass these rail passings they do go at a very high rate of speed which would explain why that car was trapped in the tracks," McManus said.

Emergency crews and paramedics could be spotted at the scene of the crash, which showed the SUV trapped underneath the train.

"The train basically dragged the car all the way down - it stopped pretty fast, but it was too late," a man who was eating lunch at a nearby restaurant told NBC Bay Area. "I suddenly turned around and heard this impact ... Wham!"

According to police, the train pushed the SUV to what appears to be an eight and a quarter of a mile down the train tracks.

"I heard the screeching and then bang," said Western Pokorny, who spoke with the conductor moments after the crash.

"He said, 'Please tell me they got out of the vehicle.' I said, 'No one got out the of the vehicle they are gone.'"

On Monday, a man was hit and killed by an Amtrak train traveling from San Jose to Sacramento in San Leandro, officials said. Train No. 528 was traveling from San Jose to Sacramento when it struck the man around 10:30 a.m. near Davis Street and Orchard Avenue, Amtrak said.

There were two more train-related accidents Monday. The first accident occurred at 6:45 a.m. when Caltrain No. 305 struck and killed a man in Burlingame. Also on Monday morning, a person was hit and trapped underneath a train at the BART Embarcadero Station in San Francisco.
A 7-year-old boy faced an armed robber head-on while shopping for a toy with his parents at a GameStop store in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Surveillance video shows two hooded men wearing masks rush into the video game store on 10100 Colesville Road on Friday, May 20, just before 9 p.m.

One suspect can be seen trying to grab the little boy before the boy punches the suspect in the stomach a couple of times.

"Well, he's tough. He's tough and, you know, I think instincts come out in situations like that," said the boy's mother, who did not want to be identified.

The pair of armed robbers ordered the boy and his parents, who were the only customers inside, to get against a wall near the store's counter, Montgomery County police said.

"It was scary. You're never prepared for something like that. You're not. So, you don't wish it on your worst enemy," said the boy's father, who also did not want to be identified.

The suspects then told two store clerks to get on the floor while they took cash and personal property, police said. They ran out of the store through the front door, police said.

No one was hurt during the robbery.

The boy's parents told News4 in D.C. they hope police catch the suspects to give their son peace of mind.

"When it's a young child, it's especially upsetting and infuriating for us because there's some innoncence that's lost there and there's some fear introduced into his life that, of course, he doesn't deserve," the father said.

Police described the suspects as two males in their 20s, about 5 feet 6 inches and 170 pounds. They were both wearing black hooded sweatshirts, black pants, gloves and masks.

Anyone with information is asked to call (240) 773-5070 or call anonymously at 1 (866) 411-8477.
Anyone who has been to a nightclub knows bouncers are there to keep people safe, check identification and make the evening peaceful. Some bouncers are expanding their duties by keeping an eye out for terror attacks.

Soft targets, like nightclubs, have been hit by terrorists in places around the world. Robert Smith, a nightclub security consultant, is teaching a group of D.C. club bouncers how they can help protect their establishments and the people inside.

The bouncers are taking a 12-hour class over two days to receive National Host Security Certificate training. Smith, a retired 20-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, said one of the things they look for is a convincing fake identification, usually made in China.

"When a bouncer is checking ID, not many self-respecting terrorists are going to use their own legitimate ID. They will go get a China fake," Smith said, referring to counterfeit IDs.

Last November, terrorists launched an attack at soft targets in Paris, hitting cafes, restaurants and a music venue. The director of the D.C. Nightlife and Hospitality Association supports the training, hoping it will help keep people safe.

"This training, programs like this, are how we ensure that our member businesses are prepared for any kind of scenario," said director Mark Lee.

The bouncers believe the training will help them serve as another front line in the war on terror.

"You don't want to see anyone [set] down a bag or... those things," said bouncer Vincent Andrews. "It makes me look at it twice."

Smith told the bouncers to take the fake IDs they come across and tell the person to call police in order to get it back.
Records show a man charged with trying to rape a woman last month on a Metro train outside the nation's capital had been identified as a suspect in an indecent-exposure incident that occurred earlier in April.

Police were in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant for 39-year-old John Prentice Hicks for indecent exposure when the alleged sexual assault happened April 12, Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly told The Washington Post.

Documents show Metro police used video recordings and a witness account to identify Hicks as the suspect who exposed himself April 2 on a train.

Hicks, of Washington, D.C., was arrested April 12 after a woman said she was attacked by a man with a knife. He faces charges including first-degree rape and was ordered held without bond Monday.

The victim told police she was asleep in the middle section of a rail car as it approached "either the Fort Totten or Takoma stations" about 10 a.m., according to court documents.

As the train continued, the documents say, the man she identified as Hicks approached her and asked her questions such as, "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Are you going to Glenmont?"

Hicks then displayed a folding knife while the train was at the Forest Glen Station, according to the victim's statement.

He then enveloped the woman in a "bearhug," the statement reads. He forced her to another part of the rail car where he attempted to have sex with her and forced her to perform oral sex all while the knife was in his hand, she told police. At some point, a struggle over the knife left the victim with a cut to her finger, she said.

The victim told police she worried Hicks would kill her if she did not comply.

The grisly incident allegedly occurred one day after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death at the Deanwood Station, and weeks after another teen was shot at the Deanwood station, which is along the Orange Line in Northeast D.C.
It is the unavoidable Achilles' heel in the reputation of George Washington and so many other Founding Fathers: that men who risked their lives to protect their nation's liberty were also slaveholders.

That dichotomy will be explored in a new exhibit at Washington's Mount Vernon estate, in a museum space previously dedicated to exhibitions featuring Washington's furniture, fineries and his penchant for dining on syrupy hoecakes.

The $750,000 exhibition, Lives Bound Together, will explore hard truths about Washington's life as a slaveholder, including an acknowledgement that Washington's adopted son likely fathered a child with one of the family's slaves.

Mount Vernon has not shied away from explorations of slavery: In 2007, the estate reconstructed a slave cabin on the grounds about a mile from the iconic mansion. And Mount Vernon has worked to maintain good relations with the descendants of Mount Vernon slaves, many of whom still live in the area.

Still, Mount Vernon director Curtis Viebranz said he occasionally hears criticism -- both from people who believe there is too much discussion of slavery, to those who say they won't visit Mount Vernon because they are offended at supporting what was, at bottom, a plantation fueled by slave labor.

He expects the new exhibit will inevitably draw criticism in one form or another.

"There might be some people of my generation who would prefer to leave him on his pedestal," Viebranz said. "Our challenge as an institution is to make the story of this man topical to the next generation of Americans... If we try to control the story, or direct it to an outcome, it will hurt us."

A centerpiece of the new exhibit, which will launch in October, is a display of Washington's handwritten list of slaves on the estate from 1799, likely written in preparation for his will. Washington freed his slaves in his will, upon the death of his wife, Martha. She ended up freeing the slaves before she died. Other slaves belonged to Martha Washington's family, and neither George nor Martha had any legal right to emancipate them.

The list, in Washington's bold, instantly recognizable handwriting, is a powerful connection to the man himself and the men and women who were registered as his property. The list also includes some commentary on the slaves.

Washington describes 28-year-old Tom as "a good mower and an excellent ploughman but unfortunately from some tumour in his head, it is feared that blindness, partial if not entire, will ensue."

Throughout the exhibit, Mount Vernon endeavors to tell the story of 19 slaves who lived on the estate. Washington's meticulous record-keeping helped in some of the reconstruction, but curator Susan Schoelwer acknowledged limitations: The slaves were largely illiterate, so any written records about them come from the whites who oversaw them.

"We try to explore their stories," Schoelwer said. "I would not presume to tell them."

Still, Mount Vernon is not totally reliant on whites' perspective to tell the story. Oral histories passed down by slaves' descendants fill some of the gaps.

For ZSun-nee Matema of Hagerstown, Maryland, the family history was whispered and talked around, but always present.

"My father's people told me that if everything were known about our family's history, it would topple the first family of Virginia," Matema recalled.

She didn't really know what to make of the cryptic comments. Matema always knew that she was a descendant of Caroline Branham, a slave who served as a house servant and was the person who found Washington ill in his bed the morning of his death in December 1799.

As she became more interested in her family's genealogy, she did her own research, which seemed to mesh with her family's oral history.

The scholarship is at the point where Mount Vernon, in the materials it is preparing for the exhibit, concludes that Caroline Branham's daughter Lucy was "likely fathered by George Washington Parke Custis."

That means Matema, in addition to being a descendant of Branham, is also a direct descendant of Martha Washington, since Parke Custis was also the grandson of Martha in addition to being the adopted son of George Washington.

Matema, for her part, said she credits Mount Vernon for its effort to tell the story of Mount Vernon's slaves as fully as it can, in the face of the limitations of researching an era when people were considered property.

"There will probably never be a full story told of the enslaved community," she said.
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.
Authorities arrived at a Rockville, Maryland, home, searching for one dog that bit someone at an adoption event. What they discovered was 5  dozen dogs living in horrible conditions.

Court documents showed officers found 66 dogs of all sizes in plastic airline crates covering nearly every inch of the floor at the house on Glen Mill Road. Choking and gagging as they made their way through the home, officers took photos of the conditions of the canines and their living conditions.

One photo showed a dog with paralyzed legs that had been sitting in its own excrement for some time. Another photo showed a dog whose matted fur weighed an extra half pound from being urine-soaked.

The document showed Katherine Tiong, 46, was the owner of the house and initially lied to officers. She said there were only about 20 dogs in the house before officers decided to look for themselves.

Tiong was found guilty on Tuesday of 66 counts of animal cruelty. They are misdemeanor crimes, but each carries a jail term.

A Facebook page for Forever Homes Animal Rescue, which shares the same address with the house, claims to be "helping dogs in high-kill shelters escape death and find loving forever homes. The posts, which stopped in August, contain photos of many dogs that match the description of those found neglected inside Tiongs home.

At least one of the dogs was so sick, it had to be euthanized. Some others have been treated and adopted out.
Well, The Washington Post certainly set off a firestorm with its published poll on whether the word "Redskins" offends Native Americans.

The Post went to a lot of trouble to describe how it located people self-identifying as Native Americans. The poll of just over 500 respondents showed nine out of 10 took no offense.

Some used the results as justification to back away from demands that team owner Dan Snyder change the name. Native American activists denounced the poll, declaring that no poll and no appeal to pride could erase the racist meaning of the name.

The New York Times was among several publications that picked up reporting on the poll. Times sportswriter Dan Barry allowed how offensive names can be muted over time: "Not long ago, for example, 'queer' was considered a pejorative for gays and lesbians; now it has become what linguists call a reclaimed epithet  a word adopted by a group in empowering defiance."

But Barry mostly quoted activists and academics about the racist history of the name and its lingering effects. The Barry article had 780 responses by the time the comment section was closed two days later.

The backdrop of this poll has important implications. If you believe city leaders, Snyder is serious about funding a new team stadium on the site of old RFK. But Snyder has said he would never change the team name. That's a sticking point because the entire D.C. Council has voted against the name, signifying that it would be a deal-killer.

 Huh? No. 1. The Daily Caller is a conservative news and opinion website. It focuses mainly on national and international political affairs. But on May 21, it put up a much-mocked story on seven reasons why the District of Columbia doesn't deserve statehood and why it would be "an epic disaster."

The No. 1 reason listed? "The city's mismanagement of the dysfunctional Metro system." Woefully, there is not even a hint that Metro is a regional transportation system.

The story also slams the city's history of corruption. If corruption were a standard for denying voting rights and self-government, many states  New York and Illinois come immediately to mind  would forfeit their statehood status.

The Notebook will give the rookie reporter some slack. His LinkedIn profile says he has worked for the Daily Caller only since January and that his previous job for three years (while in college) was as a conference center technician who set up ballrooms and audiovisual equipment. No professional journalism background, but again, you have to start somewhere.

 Huh? No. 2. Federal prosecutors may have given up their investigation to prove former Mayor Vincent Gray knew all about that dastardly 2010 shadow campaign.

But the upcoming prison sentencing of two key players in the scheme is keeping the scandal in focus for the media and, especially, The Washington Post. The Post has several reporters still trying to untangle the scheme and connect Gray to it.

But Gray's supporters are crying foul at the latest Post story. It fills in the blanks of some redacted court documents addressing what Gray knew or didn't know during the scheme at the time. The Post story has Gray's former girlfriend confirming she is the person in the documents emailing about the shadow campaign, suggesting she at the time told Gray about those concerns. (If true, that would tie Gray to having at least contemporaneous knowledge of the shadow effort, something he always has denied.)

The "huh" comes in when the former girlfriend, public relations veteran Linda Greene, talks to The Post for its latest story. Did Greene, in fact, tell Gray of concerns about "off the books" spending?

"I think I did," Greene told The Post. "I would say it's most likely I did. I can't say I definitely did."

Read that sentence again. No wonder the prosecutors were wringing their hands trying to indict Gray. As Gray's veteran campaign aide Chuck Thies so simply put it, "Summary: She said she said that she said something she said to him that maybe she didn't say or maybe he didn't hear."

Gray now is running for the Ward 7 council seat held by Yvette Alexander, a former ally. Greene has held a fundraiser for Alexander.

Gray's supporters contend the Post mashup is just another story trying to derail Gray's comeback. (A Post editorial on Gray slammed him again and endorsed Alexander, saying that although she hadn't been a very good council member, she was at least ethical.)

Supporters of Gray firmly believe prosecutors in 2014 derailed Gray's bid for re-election as mayor by getting Jeffrey Thomson  who financed the shadow campaign  to plead guilty and implicate Gray just a month before the primary won by Muriel Bowser that year.

The moneyman Thompson  who steadfastly has refused to make any public comment on the case  will be sentenced June 10 for his role in the shadow campaign and other corruption crimes. Gray's Democratic primary faceoff with Alexander is four days later, June 14. (The sentencing was set before Gray announced his campaign.)

 Clarification. It wasn't the bourbon. We promise. Reporting last week on the Bourbon & Bluegrass event at President Lincoln's Cottage, we bungled a key fact. The Lincoln Cottage is on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, but the cottage is independently run by a nonprofit. Find all you need (and maybe donate) at lincolncottage.org. Our apologies go to the hard-working folks who support the cottage.

Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is threatening to withhold funding from WMATA if the agency's safety protocols don't meet his standards.

McAuliffe signed the executive directive Tuesday during WTOP's "Ask the Governor" segment.

The directive instructs transportation officials in the state to create and staff a Metro Safety Commission. The commission would have the authority to oversee compliance with safety directives at WMATA.

"We've got to get WMATA in accordance with us and what we think are the important issues," McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe said officials in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., plan to create legislation regarding Metro safety, but that cannot be done until January 2017 when the legislative session begins.

McAuliffe, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced in a statement later Wednesday that the first draft of an interstate compact to create the Metrorail Safety Commission will be reviewed in coming weeks. The commission would have the power to suspend rail service, issue fines, compel Metro to take corrective action and prioritize spending.

The legislation will be introduced before the D.C. Council later this year and the general assemblies in Maryland and Virginia next year.

"I've had it," McAuliffe told News4's Mark Segraves. "I'm just not going to sit here for eight more months and worry about safety."

The governor said complaints about the system from residents prompted the directive.

"I can't take so many people contacting me saying they don't want to get on the Metro," McAuliffe said. "This is a huge economic driver of the Commonwealth of Virginia."

Metro Board Director Jack Evans has said D.C, Virginia and Maryland would have to come up with more money help fund Metro, but McAuliffe said he needs to know the money is being spent wisely.

"Don't come to me asking for more money until I and the Virginia residents know the money is being spent smart now. Don't ask for more money until we know the system is safe," McAuliffe said. "We want action. We want results."

On Wednesday, Evans gave a firey response to McAuliffe's executive directive and said he is frustrated by threats to cut Metro's funding -- especially those made by lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"I have to stress how annoyed I'm starting to get by comments from people who were in office at the time when this place went to rack and ruin and did nothing," Evans said. "And this is my system that I built back in the 90s and I am not happy about what happened with the last 15 years and anybody who had any responsibility for that - I am not happy with."

McAuliffe's threat comes just a week before the system kicks off its massive maintenance plan.

The agency's SafeTrack plan will start June 4 with 13 straight days of single-tracking on the Orange and Silver lines between Ballston and East Falls Church.
After a Virginia couples brand new SUV repeatedly stalled on them, so did their efforts to get any recourse, they told NBC4 Responds.

Before retiring, George and Joyce Vitello decided to treat themselves to a brand new car: A 2015 Jeep Cherokee Limited with a gas saving feature called engine start-stop (ESS) technology, in which the engine shuts itself at a stop and starts up again when you continue to drive.

But while driving through an intersection, the car stalled, George Vitello said.

The lights flashed and everything locked up, he said.

A short time later, it quit again, he said, and it happened multiple times.

As I made a right turn, the Jeep completely died, everything stopped, Vitello said.

When he took the car in, service records show that particular issue even happened to one of the technicians "in the service lane." The dealership replaced a fuel pump, but the car continued to have problems, Vitello said.

But the dealership could not duplicate the stalling issue and offered no recourse.

NBC4 Responds contacted Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which said it would continue to look further into the matter. Days later, the Vitellos said things started happening.

We stopped getting emails from the dealership, Vitello said. Now we got calls from Chrysler headquarters.

NBC4 Responds found similar complaints on safercar.gov. Other 2015 Jeep Cherokee owners described stalling problems, though the complaints are unverified.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it takes seriously its commitment to safety and continuously tracks the performance of its vehicles.

Chrysler said it agreed to provide the Vitellos with another vehicle "despite exhaustive testing." Last week, the Vitellos turned in their car and drove off with a brand new 2016 Jeep Cherokee that doesn't have ESS without spending another dime.

The company said it could not rule out unfamiliarity with the ESS technology as a possibility for the issues the Vitellos were having.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety administration said it is not investigating any stalling issues with 2015 Jeeps.

FCA US LLC provided the following statement:
What to Know Officers testified Alecia Schmuhl was coherent while Andrew Schmuhl appeared to be in and out of consciousness.

Andrew Schmuhl's lawyers are conceding he attacked the couple on that night but are using an "involuntary insanity defense."

Tuesdays court proceedings followed two emotional days of testimony by the victims, describing what they went through that night.

The third day of testimony in the trial of one half of a couple accused of kidnapping and torturing another couple in the northern Virginia home focused on the condition of the accused man in the case.

Andrew and Alecia Schmuhl were charged abduction and malicious wounding for the 2014 attack on a lawyer, Leo Fisher, and his wife, Sue Duncan, in a McLean, Virginia, home. The Schmuhls are being tried separately with Andrew being tried first. Alecia Schmuhl will be tried later this summer.

During testimony on Tuesday, Fairfax County police officers said they were called McLean home after a panic alarm was sounded inside the home. They found Fisher and Duncan inside, tortured and left to die, around 9:45 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2014.

About 30 later, officers chased a vehicle containing the Schmuhls on the Beltway. One officer testified that Alecia Schmuhl was driving while Andrew Schmuhl was in the passenger seat.

"I could see both passenger and driver talking to one another," the officer said. "It looked like they were arguing. I could see the passenger discarding his clothing."

The officer said the car was pulled over in a parking lot in the 7000 block of Commerce Street, and the two were arrested. Officers testified Alecia Schmuhl was coherent while Andrew Schmuhl appeared to be in and out of consciousness, didnt seem alert and admitted to officers to taking a handful of prescription pills.

The jury was shown video of Andrew Schmuhl being placed in the back of the police cruiser shortly after he was arrested. Police told the jury that Andrew Schmuhl was taken to the hospital for an evaluation.

Andrew Schmuhl's lawyers are conceding he attacked the couple on that night but are using an "involuntary insanity defense," saying their client was taking too many medications around the time of the attack. They said his wife was the mastermind of the plan, which was poorly executed by her foot soldier husband.

Tuesdays court proceedings followed two emotional days of testimony when Fisher and Duncan testified about how they were tied up, hit with a Taser, stabbed, shot and Fisher had his throat cut. The trial for Andrew Schmuhl is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Every weekday morning before dawn, Francine Milton drives past the intersection where her daughter was killed. She used to steer her Mazda onto side streets to avoid the triangle in Southeast D.C. where Alabama Avenue, Good Hope Road and Naylor Road meet. But, listening to the Christian radio station WGTS on her way to work, she decided to face her fear head on.

"I can't walk in fear," she said. "I have to dwell on the positive, and I have to speak life. That's what we have to do: speak life at all times."

Charnice Milton was shot and killed as she waited for a bus the night of Wednesday, May 27, 2015. The 27-year-old reporter was hit by a stray bullet within sight of Skyland Town Center, the huge development site leaders say could change lives in Ward 7 and Ward 8.

As the first anniversary of Charnice's death approaches, local leaders and her family say the tragedy shines a spotlight on the problems and possibilities of the neighborhood. They are working to catch her killer, prevent violence and bring new life to a troubled intersection.

A Final Message

Francine misses her daughter whenever she turns up her palm. The 55-year-old elementary school teacher was used to the feeling of her cellphone in her hand as she spoke with her only child. The mother and daughter talked on the phone or sent each other text messages almost every day, even when Charnice left home for college at Ball State University and graduate school at Syracuse University.

Charnice struggled with a severe stutter and symptoms akin to those of Asperger's syndrome, but earned a master's degree in journalism and returned home to cover the east of the Anacostia River communities she loved. This time last year, she had been looking for opportunities to live abroad.

The night she was killed, Charnice covered a community meeting near Eastern Market and then told her mother she was heading to their house in the Fort Dupont neighborhood of Ward 7.

"I got a text from her at 9:28," Francine said. "The text said, 'I'm on my way home.'"

She waited for her daughter to ask her to pick her up from a bus or Metro station, but her phone never lit up with a new message.

"That hour of not knowing where she was, it was one of the most painful things in my life," Francine said. "I never put the phone down that whole time."

NBC Washington

Then, at 11:15 p.m. Francine heard banging on the family's front door. It was a police officer.

Ten days later, the young woman was laid in a pink casket at Living Word Church in Southwest D.C.

Charnice had been waiting for her bus on Good Hope Road about 9:40 p.m. when a gunman riding in a group of dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle riders opened fire, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier said after the crime.

The shooter's apparent target pulled Charnice in front of him and used her body as a human shield, Charnice's stepfather, Ken McClenton, said police told him.

A police officer working as a security guard at a nearby business heard the shots and rushed into the street. He cradled Charnice in his arms, her mother and stepfather said.

Charnice was rushed to Prince George's Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead less than two hours later.

Year After Reporter's Murder, Family 'Speaks Life'

Fourteen people riding seven dirt bikes and ATVs were identified by police as persons of interest in the crime. Thirty-six blurry seconds of video show them zipping along streets, two people to a bike.

Nearly a year later, police have not announced any arrests, and traffic at the busy corner moves along.

A Crossroads

Charnice was shot at a location where signs of growth meet signs of dysfunction, just west of the dividing line between Ward 7 and Ward 8. About a mile east of the Anacostia River, the triangular intersection of Alabama Avenue, Good Hope Road and Naylor Road is home to two gas stations with bulletproof glass at the counters, a Safeway grocery store with a Starbucks inside and the 18.5-acre plot of land where Walmart had agreed to be the centerpiece of a retail and residential complex.

As Charnice wrote for Capital Community News, many District leaders and locals believed the Skyland development would create jobs and offer much-needed retail options east of the river.

But, Walmart announced in January the company had dropped plans for the store, stating they determined amid an evaluation of its stores across the country that the planned Skyland store would not be "viable."

Now, near the development site with a view of downtown D.C., residents avoid leaving home after dark and don't let their children play outside, ANC 8B Commissioner Paul Trantham said parents tell him as he walks the streets of his district.

The commissioner himself, who represents the portion of Ward 8 where Charnice was killed, said he often crosses the nearby border into Maryland to buy gas rather than visit the Good Hope Auto Center or BP station near the crime scene.

Colonel Boaz, a 63-year-old retiree, watches the scene every day from the McDonalds near the triangular intersection, drinking coffee with a group of a half-dozen seniors and looking out onto Good Hope Road. He said he sees signs of drug sales, drug abuse and prostitution almost every day.

In the course of one hour, generally Ill see one person who is under the influence of drugs and is asleep or on the verge of being asleep, and the working girls pass by, Boaz said.

Metropolitan Police Department data shows that in the past year, the number of crimes reported has dropped in ANC 8B, which includes the Skyland, Fort Stanton and Parklands neighborhoods.

The total number of crimes reported in the area fell nearly 10 percent this year through mid-May, compared with the same period the previous year. Violent crimes dropped more than 9 percent. Two people were homicide victims, compared with six victims the previous year. In 2015, the number of people killed spiked, at 15.

Trantham said people dont feel any safer.

We live like were in a war zone, he said.

Sitting in the grocery-store Starbucks where Charnice once interviewed him, the ANC commissioner said he was furious no one has been arrested in her death and residents live in fear.

"I do not believe the city is doing all that they could do. If they were, we would not continue to experience this violence in our community, he said, his voice rising.

The same thing has happened again, he said, referring to the March 6 death of Ivy Tonett Smith. The 39-year-old woman was shot and killed near where Charnice was gunned down, at another bus stop.

Searching for Solutions

Francine detailed what she and her husband want from police and D.C. officials at a recent Saturday morning meeting of Ward 8 religious leaders working to prevent violence and minister to victims. She stood at the front of an activity room at the Salvation Army building on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and read from a document her husband prepared for The Open Heart / Close Case Campaign, the project the family started to focus efforts on solving murders and finding missing people.

The family's message contained equal parts compassion and hunger for change.

Much work still must be done, Francine read. It is for love that we pray that even our enemies would someday know for themselves."

Francine called for the D.C. Council to discuss the number of detectives assigned to unsolved murders, and for full funding for victims services. She asked that each church east of the river hold a prayer event on violence and select a clergy ambassador to work with the U.S. Attorneys Office for D.C.

"There's never enough being done," she said.

Francine spoke surrounded by photographs of people killed in unsolved murders. The Anacostia Coordinating Council printed the police flyer for every cold case in Ward 7 and Ward 8 since 2010 and affixed the documents to poster-boards, as if for a school project. Scrolled above the photos were words of tribute: Angel of Joy. Remembrance. Always in Our Heart.

NBC Washington

Commissioner Trantham said he is calling for more police patrols of the Skyland area, and said he has asked officers to do more jump-outs, the controversial tactic in which officers storm out of an unmarked vehicle and surround a suspect.

D.C. police did not comment on the status of the investigation into Charnices death, but were expected to address reporters as the anniversary approached.

Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember LaRuby May said she has been working with police to get more officers on foot, bicycle and Segway in the Skyland area and throughout the ward. But she said she believes you cant police your way out of crime.

May is working to advance programs that treat violence as a public-health program. She voted in support of the crime bill signed by the mayor in March that would pair police officers with mental-health and housing-outreach workers. The plan aims to provide wraparound services to people at risk of committing or becoming a victim of a crime.

Weve got to look at the root causes of some of the crimes that are happening in our neighborhoods, May said.

She also is looking for ways to offer productive alternatives to young dirt bike and ATV riders, including by exploring the creation of a public dirt bike park.

As NBC Washington reported, May said she began speaking with a group of more than 50 riders last summer. She said riders she met attributed crimes to "one-off" riders, not members of their group. The councilmember said she believed members of the group of riders would report any major crimes, including Charnices murder, if they witnessed them.

"I am fairly confident that the group that I met with, if any of them knew who [shot Charnice] -- that information would be disclosed," she said.

The assurance gave McClenton, Charnices stepfather, little comfort.

One elected leader, so smitten with their abilities, is willing to vouch for the character of an entire group merely upon meeting them, he said. What a confidence one should have when a murder is unresolved.

Francine believes one of the 14 persons of interest spotted riding dirt bikes and ATVs will come forward. She believes it will be a young woman who is key to the case.

"I feel in my heart there's one who's really dying inside, who's not going to let this rest, the victims mother said.

D.C. police now have 14 persons of interest in the killing of local news reporter Charnice Milton. Theyre believed to be teenagers or young adults. NBC4s Jackie Bensen reports.

Transformation

As efforts to end violence and catch the gunman continue, community leaders and Charnice's family are cautiously optimistic about the transformation of Skyland.

Construction at Skyland Town Center is planned is begin next year, Gary Rappaport, CEO of the development firm Rappaport, told the real estate website Bisnow. The project will continue without Walmart, and the developers are seeking retail tenants now.

"Very soon, I think well be announcing that well be back on the site in full force," Chris Smith, CEO of development partner WC Smith & Co., told Bisnow.

People who live near the development need the jobs the shopping center will create, Trantham, the ANC commissioner, said. They also need stores and services demolished to make way for Skyland Town Center, including a laundromat and discount store, to be replaced.

Trantham said that alongside disorder, he sees upgrades in the neighborhood already, like street-sweeping machines making more regular passes on Alabama Avenue.

"There is a change coming up in Skyland, whether you see it or not, he said.

May said the complex will bring new life to the intersection.

Skyland and Good Hope will go away from being remembered as the corner where crime happened, she said. The intersection will become known as the connection to vitality.

Francine also said she sees potential in the location where Charnice was killed.

I could come through there and I could feel just darkness. But if you dont see the flower growing on the corner, you never see hope, she said. I pray it does become a place of hope.

Francine will throw a party on June 19, on what would have been her daughters 28th birthday. She will ask loved ones and members of the familys church to write down happy memories of Charnice, and shell place them in a pink-and-white box.

The next day, shell set off on a cruise alone.

Anyone with information on Charnice's murder is asked to call police at 202-727-9099. Tips can be submitted anonymously by sending a text message to 50411. A reward of as much as $25,000 is offered.
A plane made an emergency landing at Reagan National Airport Tuesday after a bird took out one of its engines, startling nearby neighbors.

Shortly before noon, a Memphis-bound Republic Airlines flight operated by American Airlines hit a bird as it was taking from Reagan, forcing the pilot to return to the airport.

A couple that lives off Foxhall Road in northwest D.C. told News4 they heard a huge bang and looked up in the sky. The plane was making a sound so loud and unusual, they thought it was going to crash.

"All of a sudden I hear this bang and I realized it was an airplane and I come out of the garage and I look up and I hear this plane going baaaaaaaa," Mike Harbold said.

Harbold is used to the sound of planes flying right above his home, but that was anything but normal.

For Harbold and his wife, Alexandra, it wasn't the first major plane incident with which they've dealt. They were in New York in 2001 when an American Airlines plane crashed just a few blocks away from where they were in Queens.

"What are the chances of something like that happening again?" Alexandra Harbold said. "You get used to hearing the planes and you don't think it's such a big deal, but when you've had that experience, any noise out of the ordinary you start to panic and you think you are got to relive this experience."

The plane landed safely and no one was hurt.

American Airlines has not replied to a request for comment.

Bird strikes happen frequently. More than 13,000 were reported in 2014, according to the FAA.

Most famously, a 2009 bird strike in New York City took out both engines on a plane, requiring pilot Chesley Sully Sullenberger to land on the Hudson River. All 158 passengers and crew members survived what is known as the Miracle on the Hudson.
A 10-year-old Brockton, Massachusetts, boy is facing criminal charges after police say he brought a loaded pellet gun to school and pointed it at another student.

The Enterprise reports that the boy was charged Monday with carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Investigators say he told them he borrowed the pellet gun from a friend because he wanted to look cool. Police say when another student at Davis Elementary School called the boy a curse word on May 4 he pointed the gun at him but didn't fire it.

The gun was seized and authorities initially didn't file charges because he was punished by the school. The boy was later charged because the dispute between the students continued.
A New Hampshire homeowner who shot a worker to death and then turned the gun on himself on Tuesday has died.

Family members announced Wednesday afternoon that 71-year-old Richard Verville had died. The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office issued a statement shortly thereafter confirming that Verville passed away at a Massachusetts hospital.

Verville allegedly called a service worker from City Fuel to his house on Currier Drive on Tuesday to service his heating system.

As the worker, Dan Rabideau, 59, was working on the heating system, Verville allegedly shot Rabideau and then shot himself in the head.

Rabideau had worked for City Fuel for the past three years, according to his wife and step-daughter. The attorney general's office said he died from a gunshot wound to the head.

necn

"For me, it was unreal," said Carol Rabideau, the victim's wife. "For someone to tell me my husband was killed... I couldn't put two and two together.

"I told my daughter, 'I need to go. I need to see where my husband took his last breath.'"

Kim Mattucci, the victim's stepdaughter, said, "Dan was like my second dad as far as I'm concerned. He was a father figure to me.

"He just came and did his job and someone who was unstable took his life for no reason."

Nearby homes were evacuated Tuesday after a state police explosive team was called in. SWAT teams and other police vehicles lined the streets and officers were seen in the woods holding long rifles.

Police Response in Londonderry, New Hampshire

Neighbors said Verville lived alone and often spied on them. The attorney general's office said he was apparently suffering from "significant mental health issues" at the time of the incident.

"He had put up cameras watching my neighbor's sons playing in their backyard and we could see from our bus stop every morning that some of the cameras would move positions overnight," neighbor Eileen Criscione said.

Neighbors said that when Verville moved in four years ago, he handed out a letter saying he was targeted by the government following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Verville's daughter-in-law, Kimberly Verville, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that her family is "deeply sorry for the tragic loss and all the pain and suffering that it has brought to the Rabideau family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all."

Police returned to Verville's Londonderry home on Wednesday as the investigation continued.

Police are still trying to figure out a connection between the homeowner and worker. Carol Rabideau said her husband did not know Verville.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Rabidea's family. Click here for more information.
Hundreds of volunteers showed up to plant 37,000 U.S. flags on the Boston Common in honor of fallen soldiers Wednesday afternoon.

The flags were placed at the Foot Soldiers and Sailors Monument near the Frog Pond and will remain in place through Memorial Day weekend.

Setting up 37,000 US Flags on Boston Common

A team of more than 450 volunteers planted the flags. Each one represents a Massachusetts service member killed in action since the Revolutionary War.

"It started seven years ago," said Diane Nealon, executive director of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, which organizes the event. "We were looking for a way to bring meaning back to Memorial Day."

Megan Van De Giesen lost her husband back in 2009 - he was killed while serving in Afghanistan. She's volunteered here ever since.

"What I think is amazing, there's people coming from all different areas," she said. "A lot of the people here aren't directly affected. They're just here to support the men and women who served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice."

She hopes the flags serve as a reminder about the true meaning of Memorial Day.

"My favorite part is taking a step back after and realizing the absolute beauty of it and the absolute sadness of it at the same exact time," Van De Giesen said.

It only took volunteers two hours to place all of the flags.

Learn more about the Memorial Day Flag Garden here.
JavaScript is disabled on your browser.

CORDIS website requires JavaScript enabled in order to work properly. Please enable JavaScript.
A 16-year-old student facing charges stemming from a fight at a Townsend, Massachusetts, high school that left a fellow student with serious injuries is set to be arraigned Wednesday.

Police say the fight happened Tuesday morning at North Middlesex Regional High School. The altercation apparently began following a dispute.

Authorities say one of the teens entered an administrative office, told school officials about the fight, and began slipping in and out of consciousness. He was hospitalized with serious head injuries.

The other teen turned himself into police and faces a charge of assault and battery with intent to do serious bodily injury.

Police aren't identifying the students at this time, but say the two are friends and started fighting after a dispute.

District Superintendent Joan Landers called the situation "deeply unfortunate," adding that fighting isn't tolerated at schools and that the district is working with authorities.
Days after a Massachusetts police officer was shot to death, about 1,000 community members gathered to honor him at a vigil.

It was an emotional evening to remember Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. of the Auburn Police Department.

There were candles, prayers, a moment of silence and signs of support at Lemansky Field, directly across from the police station.

"The people, they're showing up from not just Auburn, but from all over the local communities and I hope it brings some level of comfort to the family," said Maureen Morse.

Another resident, Christen Moreau, said she was pleased to see everyone rally together and support, not only the family, but also the police department.

Tarentino was killed in town during a traffic stop over the weekend - authorities say he was shot in the back.

Auburn Police say Jorge Zambrano, the man who shot Tarentino, got off five shots. The Boston Globe reports he was using a stolen gun.

"A police officer is a police officer," said one vigil attendee. "They are family."

And for this night, for those who came out, it was about remembrance and supporting one another.

"Our message is we want to let police know and let Auburn know that we're here for them, we want to be a blessing to them," said Dan Fontaine.

The Auburn Police Department has set up a memorial fund for Tarentino's wife and three children.

Donations can be sent to the Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. Memorial Fund at Savers Bank in Auburn.
A Massachusetts woman accused of tossing a soggy sandwich at a court officer has been arraigned on an assault charge.

The incident involving Jane D. McKenna, 46, of Worcester happened last month in the Worcester Trial Court, according to MassLive.com.

The news website reports Court Officer Daniel Padilla went into one of the cells in the courthouse and McKenna threw a sandwich at him. It is unclear why McKenna was in custody at that time.

Padilla said the sandwich had been soaked in toilet water before it hit him in the chest and neck area, and splashed on his face, says MassLive.

McKenna has been released on personal recognizance and will return to court in June.
Salesforce and Oracle have an interesting relationship. Even more interesting is the relationship between the companies' two founders, Marc Benioff and Larry Ellison, respectively.

Benioff is, after all, a former Oracle alum and a protege of Ellison. And the two have an interesting historysharing many perspectives (not to mention a penchant for kicking back in their respective Hawaiian bolt-holes). Indeed, the on-again, off-again war of words between the two has been excellent fodder for the peanut gallery. Who will forget the time Benioff's invitation to speak at Oracle Open World was removed?

+ More on Network World: Benioff backs Salesforce away from the cloud +

For a few years now, the technorati who watch these things have been amused by Salesforce's insistence, on the one hand, that legacy vendors cannot deliver innovative or agile solutions. On the other hand, we are all aware that Salesforce is actually built on top of an Oracle database. Indeed, at one point a thawing in relations between Benioff and Ellison saw Salesforce commit to the long-term use of Oracle.

All the while, however, speculation mounted that Salesforce was actively pursuing a resolution to its database issues and that a post-Oracle world would, at some point, come to pass.

"Project Sayonara"

That seems to be the case with recent reports of an internal Salesforce project allegedly named "Project Sayonara." According to the report, Pat Helland, previously a high-level Microsoft software architect, has been brought on to Salesforce in order to navigate a path to weaning the "No Software" company of Oracle.

Helland is no slouch when it comes to databases. He previously worked on Microsoft's SQL Server software, and he played a part in Microsoft's Bing search engine. His employment would gel with previous suggestions that Salesforce is trying to architect a migration from Oracle's database to PostgreSQL, an open source alternative. Helland has been with Salesforce for four years already, so this projectif it existsisn't a quick fix by any stretch of the imagination.

As one would expect, neither Salesforce nor Oracle is commenting on the story, and many tech pundits have argued the pros and cons of a shift. While it is true that PostreSQL would give Salesforce more flexibility in terms of how it deploys, and the distributed nature of its architecture would be an easy fix to many customer concerns around the location of their data, others point out the immense task in shifting a customer base en masse to a new technology. Salesforce suffered an extended outage recently alongside customer data loss and will be reluctant to do anything that might cause a similar situation in the future.

There are obvious technical reasons for a shift, but more fascinating are the business reasons. Clearly Oracle and Salesforce more closely compete than they did a decade or more ago. (Oracle, though a late entrant, is moving into the SaaS space.) But more interesting is the long-term situation with regard to Salesforce and Oracle. Ellison famously stepped down a few years ago from the CEO position and appointed two caretaker CEOs, Safra Katz and Mark Hurd. The general consensus is that these appointments are not final, however, and there has been quiet speculation that Benioff is, in fact, the heir apparent to take over the Oracle leadership when Ellison finally departs.

Indeed, an Oracle acquisition of Salesforce is both ludicrous and delightfully poeticand would see Benioff, Ellison's protege, return to the Oracle fold. All of that is, of course, total speculation, but it paints a fascinating potential picture nonetheless.

Whatever happens, one thing is certain: the Salesforce and Oracle story will deliver many more twists and turns in the months and years ahead.
We all know the stereotype of a mainframe programmer or admin: gray hair, graduated from college in 1965, drives a Chryslerand is about to retire, leaving a massive hole that his employer will find difficult to fill because no one under 60 knows how to use a mainframe.

Now, lets look at another stereotype: the millennial programmer. He/she is a few years out of college, with a degree in computer science, green or blue hair, and enough student debt to sink a yacht. The usual next step is to move to San Francisco, pay $2,200 a month to live under a staircase like Harry Potter and dream of joining a company that has a one-in-a-million chance of becoming the next Google.

+ More on Network World: Mainframes: A technological best bet +

Folks in that second category are trying to figure out what the next two years of their lives (let alone the next 40!) are going to look like. Sure, they could throw themselves into the startup world and hope to end up at a firm that will have a killer IPO six or seven years from now. Or they could try the road less traveled to become mainframe experts at the worlds top companies (including just about every financial institution), which are always looking for bright young talentand are willing to pay top dollar to hire and train the next generation of big iron leaders.

You mean those huge boxes with the tape reels from 70s movies?

I could have started this post by writing, Mainframes might not sound hip and sexy to you whippersnappers But the truth is mainframe skills are a pretty hot commodity among banks, insurance companies, government agencies and manufacturing giants. And while it might not be top of mind for the majority of younger comp-sci majors, thousands of the worlds largest organizations rely on mainframes for their processing needs. Today, some of these organizations face a challenge, as fewer young techies seek careers in big iron, leaving them with open positions.

3 reasons to consider a career in big iron

So, in a world of Java and Python, why bother to learn mainframes at all? Here are three big reasons why mainframing can be the ideal blue ocean strategy for your early years.

1. New blood is a premium

Between 60 percent and 70 percent of the mainframe community is estimated to retire within the next 10 years. This leaves banks and other companies relying on mainframes and having a lot of jobs to fill. These are big, successful companies willing to pay top dollar for top talent to take the reins from the expertsand these arent just entry-level positions. Todays 26-year-old newbie will have ample opportunities for advancement for decades to come.

2. Go where the jobs are

For young people seeking job mobility, the growing retirement rate among current mainframers means young engineers and programmers who know Big Iron will be able to get a job at any number of major companies.

Folks who want to see the world, live close to home or maybe just not pay San Francisco rent are in luck because companies are using mainframes all across the United States, Europe and Asiaand all of them are facing the same shortage of smart young engineers. If you want to work in Singapore for a few years, end up London or even stay close to your hometown, having mainframe skills means you can pretty much write your own ticket because youll always be in demand.

3. Work with your current skills

Lets face it: The main reason to go to college is to get skills that will help you enter the job market. And because mainframes are such a hot employment sector, a growing number of colleges are offering minors and certifications in mainframe technology.

You dont need to go back to school, however, to become a professional mainframer thanks to application modernization. Simply put, there are hundreds of tools on the market that let programmers and system administrators code in the languages they already know, such as C and Python, and have it easily integrated with other languages, including COBOL and PL/I.

For people just getting started in computing, it can be difficult to take a long view of ones career. After all, theres rent to pay and student loans to whittle down. But as someone who has worked in mainframes for over 25 years, I can tell you: The future has a way of sneaking up pretty quickly, and an on-demand sector of the tech market is an awfully nice place to be when you get tired of eating ramen with your five roommatesand tired of sporting green hair.
In a recent Network World column, guest author Susan Perschke discussed why she switched back to the Firefox browser, with its piddling low teens percentage of market share, from the dominant browser, Google Chrome.

Perschke illustrated many good reasons to use Firefox, all of them legitimate and valid, but I have two good reasons of my own. Firefox has two feature Chrome just doesn't have.

First is the URL bar. Its absence is what kept me away from Chrome in the first place. That and Chrome's constant failure to render certain HTML pages. I like being able to click the pulldown menu and see sites I visit infrequently but not enough to bookmark. My bookmarks are hard enough to manage without saving every page I visit.

That's minor. But the one feature I'm totally hooked on and keeps me with Firefoxbecause Chrome simply can't do it rightis vertical tab stacking. With horizontal tiling of tabs, you eventually reach a point where so many are open they are squeezed tight and you can't read them anymore. You have no idea what tab is what.

+ More on Network World: 10 things we love about the new Firefox browser +

With vertical stacking you can control the width, so the tab titles are always readable. You can have 40, 50 tabs open at once and all are easily readable. I use a widescreen 24-in. monitor, so the browser is windowed. There is plenty of room on both sides of the screen while leaving enough space to render web pages.

Chrome has plugins for vertical tab stacking, but they are nowhere near as good. The most popular extension, Tabs Outliner, floats outside the app and is clumsy. It doesn't have the simple elegance of Tree Style Tab in Firefox.

And the mighty Google itself has stopped trying to get vertical stacking to work. An engineer working on the Chromium browser said on a Chromium forum that the company has given up trying to implement it.

"After some experiments with vertical tabs in Chrome, we decided that most people who want vertical tabs really want tree-style tabs. However, the complexity of a tree-style interface in terms of usage is beyond what most users need or want, and in terms of implementation is more than passes the cost/benefit test for building into Chrome natively as an option," he wrote.

There is always the option of a third-party developer, including the developer of the Firefox tree tabs. It's the work of a single developer in Tokyo whose home page isn't terribly active, so it would appear he doesn't seem interested in porting to Chrome.

For me, Firefox does vertical tabbing far better than Chrome, and that is my primary reason for sticking with it. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, Chrome does an awful job of rendering some sites. City Data, for example, almost never renders right on the first load and a F5 refresh is needed.

So, for the foreseeable future, Firefox it istiny market share be damned. It does what I want, which should always be the basis for using a product, right?
Comments by Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins last week that the networking giant is open to collaborations with VMware in virtual networking raise the question: Just how would Cisco's ACI and VMware's NSX platforms could work together?

In an interview with CRN last week, Robbins spoke vaguely about potentially exploring collaborations between Ciscos ACI and VMwares NSX, but did not commit to any specific integrations of the two products, which have typically been seen as competitors in the market.

+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: VMware narrowing SDN gap with Cisco | The future of auto safety is seatbelts, airbags and network technology +

Gartner analyst Andrew Lerner says there are very few customers - he estimates less than 20 - who are using ACI and NSX together. Doing so could be expensive and in some cases unnecessary, which is why Lerner is skeptical of the seriousness of integration between these products. As it sits today, I view this largely as a marketing effort to drive adoption, Lerner said via email. Enterprises will pause in purchasing something if it is viewed as an either/or decision. However, if it is perceived as complementary, it reduces friction for the buyer.

There could be opportunities to use the technologies together though. "The decision between ACI and NSX is not mutually exclusive and there are certainly some scenarios where an enterprise would utilize them both, Lerner noted, adding that he would expect an organization to use the two virtual networking technologies in different parts of their network compared to using them one on top of another.

Fundamentally, the products are different, so there could be an opportunity for integration, says Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at ZK Research and a blogger for Network World. NSX is a pure network overlay software that is used to create networks and network services. ACI enables users to create policy-driven data centers. What you could have are Cisco ACI policies creating network profiles and controlling NSX overlays, Kerravala says.

Better integration of the two products would be beneficial to customers in that scenario. Both companies should think about giving customers multiple options, he said; doing so would create a rising tide that would benefit both companies, he believes.

Sugar Creek, an Ohio food processing company, has spoken openly about using both NSX and ACI in a complementary fashion. Read Network Worlds profile of how Sugar Creek uses ACI and NSX here.

Kerravala said there are third-party options on the market for customers who want to integrate these two products together, most notably converged infrastructure vendor VCE, which was created as a joint venture between Cisco, VMware and EMC. Cisco sold off its investment stake in VCE and it is now controlled by EMC. What I see more and more is that customers want to move to a multi-cloud hybrid world, Kerravala says. Complexity is high. Customers want turnkey solutions.

+ MORE VMware CEO hits on network virtualization reality, feuding with Cisco & the EMC Federation's future +

If customers want ACI and NSX to work together, then the companies should work to support that, Kerravala says. They both need to understand that if they did work together more customers would adopt it and they would both benefit, Kerravala says.

Neither Cisco nor VMware would comment on future collaborations, but a VMware spokesperson provided the following statement: Since introducing NSX, we have welcomed the opportunity to partner with all of the major networking hardware vendors including Cisco. VMware has maintained for some time now that NSX and ACI are not competitive, and partners and customers are proving this out in the market today.
Thousands of companies were turned into lawbreakers at a stroke the last time the High Court of Ireland referred a question about data protection to the Court of Justice of the European Union. And it may be about to do it again.

That means yet more uncertainty for companies processing European citizens' personal information in the U.S., as they struggle to keep up with the changes in privacy regulations triggered by the CJEU's response to the Irish court's last question.

Under EU law, citizens' personal information can only be exported to jurisdictions guaranteeing a similar level of privacy protection to that required by the 1995 Data Protection Directive.

+ ALSO: How tech vendors are reacting to the Safe Harbor ruling +

The Safe Harbor Agreement made by EU and U.S. authorities in July 2000 was supposed to make that guarantee for data transferred to the U.S..

Last October, though, the CJEU struck down the agreement, saying it did not adequately protect European citizens' personal information from massive and indiscriminate surveillance by U.S. authorities.

The Irish high court triggered that ruling by asking the CJEU to rule on some matters of law in a case pitting Austrian Facebook user Maximilian Schrems against the Irish Data Protection Commissioner.

Schrems had complained that, in the light of the revelations of Edward Snowden about the U.S. National Security Agency's surveillance of data held by U.S. companies, Facebook's handling of his personal information did not meet EU legal requirements. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has denied the accusations.

In the wake of the CJEU's ruling, the European Commission told businesses making transatlantic data transfers to use alternative legal mechanisms, such as standard contract clauses or binding corporate rules, to offer the necessary legal guarantees while it struck a new agreement with U.S. authorities.

But now the Irish Data Protection Commissioner wants the country's high court to ask the CJEU whether standard contract clauses suffer from the same inadequacies as Safe Harbor.

The Article 29 Working Party, which brings together data protection authorities from all EU member states, has been studying just that question since the CJEU's ruling in October.

To minimize the potential disruption to businesses, the working party will wait until the Commission has completed its negotiations with U.S. authorities on Privacy Shield, the replacement for Safe Harbor, before giving its verdict on alternative transfer mechanisms, it said in April.

That the working party feels the need to withhold its opinion of those mechanisms suggests it is not entirely happy with standard contract clauses either. But if it were to torpedo all the data transfer mechanisms allowed under the directive, there would be no legal way for businesses to send personal information from the EU to the U.S.

Facebook is taking the whole thing calmly. "There is no immediate impact for people or businesses who use our services," a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. "Standard contract clauses remain valid, and Facebook has other legal methods in place to transfer data between countries," she said.

That's certainly true for now, but a new ruling from the CJEU could change that.

Schrems, whose complaint to the Irish DPC triggered the whole legal process, expects the CJEU to invalidate standard, or model, contract clauses, for exactly the same reasons it struck down Safe Harbor.

"All data protection lawyers knew that model contracts were a shaky thing, but it was so far the easiest and quickest solution they came up with. As long as the U.S. does not substantially change its laws I don't see how there could be a solution," he said via email.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of light rain. Low 44F. S winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
As the 69th World Health Assembly discusses progress on the Global Vaccine Action Plan, a new data visualization platform--from the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH)--provides stark numbers on where shortfalls exist in vaccine introduction and coverage.

The Vaccine Information Epidemiology Window (VIEW-hub) incorporates data on Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and rotavirus vaccine. Despite their effectiveness in preventing pneumonia and diarrhea, these pathogens and the conditions they cause continue to be leading causes of death worldwide among children under 5 years of age.

VIEW-hub shows where children are unvaccinated because either their country has not introduced the vaccine, or the country's routine immunization services are not reaching them. For example:

42 percent of the world's infants (56.1 million) are not receiving Hib vaccine; 60 percent (80.7 million) are not receiving PCV; 76 percent (102.8 million) are not receiving rotavirus vaccine.

What's more, 72 percent of the global burden of pneumonia and diarrhea child deaths occur in just 15 countries--India, Nigeria, Pakistan, DRC, Angola, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Chad, Afghanistan, Niger, China, Sudan, Bangladesh, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania. The two countries with the greatest absolute burden, Nigeria and India, are in the early stages of introducing these vaccines.

"Asia, in particular, lags in rotavirus vaccine introduction," points out Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH, senior advisor at IVAC and chair of the Rotavirus Organization of Technical Allies (ROTA) Council. "No country in South or South-East Asia has introduced rotavirus vaccine nationally, and only three--India, Thailand and the Philippines--have introduced sub-nationally."

Even among countries that have introduced Hib, PCV and rotavirus vaccines, coverage is not reaching target levels. According to the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD), from WHO and UNICEF, at least 90% of children should be immunized in countries where the vaccines are available.

In Africa, for example, 44 out of the 54 countries have introduced the PCV vaccine. However, only 8 countries have reached very high coverage rates (90-100 percent); close behind are only 9 countries with high coverage rates (80-89 percent), based on the 2015 WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) for 2014. This suggests that governments have made progress in decision making, but are lagging in policy implementation.

"If the ultimate goal is to reach as many children as possible with vaccines, introduction data isn't enough," says Kate O'Brien, MD, MPH, Executive Director of IVAC, "we need to look at coverage, how many kids in the country are actually getting the vaccines. New policies to allow vaccines into a country's routine schedule does no good for children if they aren't actually receiving them."

With real-time data updates, VIEW-hub can be used to monitor introduction and implementation, and to develop strategies for accelerating progress on global and country levels. Data sources include the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, Gavi, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, government Ministry of Health websites and vetted media sources. VIEW-Hub is also monitoring vaccine impact evaluations, including for PCV and rotavirus vaccine.

Source: International Vaccine Access Center
The current special issue of Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors, Volume 18, Number 1 (all open access), is devoted to the evolution of neuroimaging technology, with seven articles chronicling the latest advances in this critical area. In addition, the journal's regular features include the article by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which discusses the key pillars of patent quality, and the NAI Fellow Profile, which focuses on biochemical engineer Dr. Frances Arnold (California Institute of Technology) and her important work in innovation, invention, and teaching.

In the issue's editorial, guest editor Robert H. Paul (Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis) leads off the discussion on the evolution of neuroimaging. Paul notes that, heretofore, "clinical applications in brain science have progressed at a glacial pace when compared to other medical disciplines." The recognition by the medical community of this lag in clinical applications, a problem that has only been exacerbated by an aging population at risk for degenerative brain diseases, has created a push for improved technologies. "Fortunately, technical advances in the field of neuroimaging offer new promise," he says.

Paul discusses the evolution and the future of neuroimaging investigation, particularly in clinical populations such as those with Alzheimer's disease, and reviews articles in the special issue.

"The articles highlighted in this issue describe cutting-edge applications...using diffusion tensor imaging, diffusion-based tractography, and positron emission tomography," says Paul. "Integration of these methods with new advances in computational science will inform mechanisms of healthy and dysfunctional brain mechanisms and ideally lead to new targeted therapeutic interventions."

The effort to find ways to detect and diagnose preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) has taken a big step forward with the use of positron emission tomography (PET) for imaging processes in the body when PET is coupled with a special 'tracer' that can detect clinically relevant aspects of AD when the tracer binds to amyloid plaques in the brain, an abnormality characteristic of AD. According to author Ann D. Cohen, the use of biomarkers such as Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) can reveal cognitive deficits seen in normal aging as opposed to those seen in AD. This distinction has become critical, she says, since the advent of AD prevention trials. Her review focuses on the use of PiB-PET across the spectrum of AD, from the earliest PiB studies where PiB retention in the brain was shown to be higher in patients when amyloid plaques were present than when they were not present. Prior to these findings, only post-mortem studies could confirm amyloid plaques.

"Neuromodulation is a growing industry that promises to treat many disabling psychiatric and other neurologic disorders," writes David F. Tate et al. The review article focuses on current findings concerning three commonly used neuromodulation methods: cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). "The effort to validate these methods using state-of-the-art MRI is in its infancy," say the authors. However, "there are a growing number of studies that demonstrate objective MRI findings that illustrate therapeutic effects." The authors review the potential benefits of using MRI in the study of the biological underpinnings of neuromodulation effects and make suggestions for future research.

Lauren E. Salminen et al. discuss the in vivo observation of human brain tissue using neuroimaging, specifically turning their focus on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which can be used to reveal subtle micro-anatomical abnormalities associated with a variety of diseases and also employed to delineate normal age-related changes in brain tissue across the lifespan.

The technique faces challenges, as "imaging artifact in DTI remains a significant limitation for identifying true neural signatures of disease and brain-behavior relationships," observe the authors. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contamination is a main source of error on DTI scans, they explain, so several methods that have been proposed to correct for the CSF contamination error are discussed. The paper also reviews what the authors call no-b-zero, or NBZ, approaches, which have been shown to be effective in suppressing the CSF signal in DTI data and subsequently reducing errors and improving measurement of the brain tissue. "This approach and related techniques have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of "normal" brain aging and neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases," suggest the authors.

The paper by Laurie M. Baker (University of Missouri-St. Louis) and colleagues reviews methods and applications of length-based fiber bundle analysis of cerebral white matter in vivo using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Specifically, quantitative tractography based on diffusion tensor imaging (qtDTI) technology has been developed to help quantify aggregate structural anatomical properties of white matter fiber bundles. Current and new applications are discussed, along with insights into brain organization and function as well as opportunities for improving methodology through more complex medical models. "Advances in diffusion weighted imaging technology have allowed researchers to characterize structural integrity of white matter tissue," explain the researchers. Further, "highly advanced DTI methods...have significantly improved the utility of diffusion tensor measurements to detect subtle white matter changes in both healthy and diseased populations."

Song Zhang discusses diffusion imaging tractography, a type of MRI widely used to probe the three-dimensional structure of fibrous tissue--such as the brain, heart and muscles--in vivo. The shape and size of neural fiber bundles in the brain white matter can be revealed through diffusion tractography, he says, which helps researchers examine the integrity of the neural bundles. Zhang reviews the background of the methodology and the applications and discusses how water molecules in biological tissues engage in random "Brownian motion" as a result of collision with other atoms and molecules. "The motion is restricted by microstructures in the tissues," writes Zhang. "For example, in white matter, water diffuses faster along the axons...because the motion is restricted by the tightly packed multiple myelin membranes encompassing the axons; this can be captured by diffusion MRI to explore the white matter structures in vivo."

"Brain-wide pathways of perivascular flow help clear the brain of proteins and metabolic wastes linked to the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases," explains Jacob Huffman et al. in a paper covering the biological relevance and clinical applications of the emerging field of perivascular flow dynamics. The authors also explain how the dysfunction of delivery and clearance systems may render the brain vulnerable to the accumulation of metabolic waste and proteins, such as amyloid B, which is related to Alzheimer's disease. However, they note that current techniques are unable to fully reveal the complex functional and anatomical features of clearance pathways. Their review also discusses the biological relevance of the glymphatic and perivascular clearance systems, the innovative technology that has defined those pathways, and the potential for advancing our understanding of degenerative brain diseases using new technology.

In a commentary titled "the Pillars of Patent Quality," United States Patent and Trademark Office writer Alex Camarota discusses the importance of patent quality in fostering innovation and the USPTO's efforts to strengthen it in recent years. Camarota notes that successful "transfer of knowledge to the public in exchange for limited monopolies" depends on the patent system's ability to "discern which inventions are legally entitled to protection in the marketplace while also protecting the ability of others to invent around and improve upon them." Camarota provides an overview of the USPTO's Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative, built around three pillars of improving patent examination policy and processes, metrics, and customer service. The article also briefly discusses the USPTO's exciting new forays into leveraging artificial intelligence and 'big data' to enhance patent quality and accelerate the examination process.

Biochemical engineer Frances Arnold, professor in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, inventor on 49 U.S. patents, and author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications, has been lauded for her pioneering work in "directed evolution," which allows for the engineering of proteins through the recombination or mutation of genes followed by a careful artificial selection process to choose desired traits. The resulting proteins have the potential to revolutionize how we solve problems in health care, agriculture, and sustainable energy, among other areas.

"I am interested in the evolution of chemical novelty--specifically, how do new enzyme catalysts arise from old ones," she tells T&I. "It happened a gazillion times in nature, but it's hard to capture evolution in the act."

This profile and Q&A with Arnold touches on her training in mechanical and space aerospace engineering, as well as on her observations regarding teaching, invention and innovation. As befits the scope of her work, her ambitions are equally expansive. "I am always looking for ways to make the products we need in a cleaner, cheaper, and more sustainable fashion, and for where that ability opens new opportunities to combat chemical waste, pollution and harm to the planet," says Arnold.
By Eleanor McDermid

A pooled analysis in The Lancet showing a U-shaped association between urinary sodium excretion and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has drawn criticism.

A statement from American Heart Association president Mark Creager (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center) described the study as "flawed" and reiterated the Association's call for "the vast majority of persons around the globe to consume less sodium".

The analysis by Andrew Mente (Hamilton Health Sciences, Ontario, Canada) and colleagues differs from previous research in that it addresses the CVD impact of salt intake according to the presence or absence of hypertension.

The research incorporates data from 133,118 participants of the PURE, ONTARGET, TRANSCEND and EPIDREAM trials, and suggests that high salt intake is linked to adverse CVD outcomes only in people with hypertension, whereas low salt intake increases CVD risk irrespective of hypertension status.

Salt intake was estimated based on fasting morning urine samples, extrapolated to 24-hour excretion by means of the Kawasaki formula. In a press statement, Francesco Cappuccio (World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nutrition, University of Warwick, UK) described the approach as a "flawed assessment" and also highlighted the issue of reverse causality, given the entire study population was drawn from clinical trials involving high-risk people.

He also noted the "statistical sin" of splitting participants into normotensive and hypertensive categories, a division he described as "biologically meaningless".

The researchers report that among patients with high urinary sodium excretion of at least 7 g/day, those with hypertension had a significant 23% increased risk of death and CVD events relative to those with moderate 4-5 g/day excretion. However, this association was not observed among patients without hypertension over a median follow-up of 4.2 years.

But patients with low sodium excretion, of less than 3 g/day, had an increased CVD risk relative to those with moderate excretion regardless of hypertension status, with risk increases of 34% and 26% for those with and without hypertension, respectively.

The associations persisted after accounting for blood pressure, and were also evident for death from any cause.

In a linked commentary, Eoin O'Brien (University College Dublin, Ireland) argues that the "provocative" findings should be given due consideration. In particular, he notes that, while the method of estimating salt intake is not appropriate on an individual basis, it has been validated against 24-hour urine collection and is therefore suitable for assessing average salt intake in large cohorts.

He says that "we must acknowledge that given the dependency of so many physiological systems on the sodium cation, it should come as no surprise that a low-salt-for-all policy would benefit some and disadvantage others".

"So rather than allowing contrary evidence to dispel the positive efforts that have been made to reduce the salt content of foods, we must now direct our efforts to formulating a policy that will benefit the majority in society without [compromising] the minority."

Licensed from medwireNews with permission from Springer Healthcare Ltd. Springer Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved. Neither of these parties endorse or recommend any commercial products, services, or equipment.
Designing an Ultrasound Sticker that can Image your Internal Organs

Professor Xuanhe Zhao

In this interview, we speak to researchers from the Zhao lab at MIT about their new ultrasound sticker that can provide non-invasive imaging of internal organs for up to 48 hours.
Five people have been killed after their car was crushed between two trucks in Kamareddy in Telangana. In the horrific accident, which has been caught on camera, the car is seen overtaking a truck from the left side at a crossing.



But the car fails to do so and hits the truck. Meanwhile, another truck coming from the opposite side also collides with the car and truck.



The car gets sandwiched between the two vehicles and is completely crushed between the two trucks resulting in the death of all its occupants.



The car was coming from Hyderabad and was going towards Nizamabad.



Those in the truck have been injured and admitted to a nearby hospital.



Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has expressed shock over the incident.




Under fire for postponing the joining dates of new hires from the management institutes, Flipkart has clarified that it was a "difficult decision" and the company "feels the disappointment of students". The company also claimed that it was undergoing a restructuring which was the reason behind deferring the joining dates.



"At the outset, let me share that this was a difficult decision for us to arrive at and we feel the disappointment of students. At the same time, it is important for us to land our campus hires into Flipkart at the right time and into meaningful roles which gives them opportunity to learn and grow. We are undergoing restructuring that will further consolidate our leadership in the e-commerce industry in India," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.



"Consequently, it becomes important to redesign the campus programme to align it with our new business focus. Completing our restructuring process and consequent redesign of our campus program in our best assessment will take the next couple of quarters and hence the revision of joining date to December is the earliest possible. You would agree that this is not the first time that campuses have faced such a situation," the statement added.



Justifying its decision to offer a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to every new campus hire, the company said, "We all live in a dynamic and evolving business environment that is changing rapidly. Taking a very empathetic view, Flipkart is possibly one of the very few companies to have offered the additional joining bonus of Rs 1.5 lakh. Please do look at this as a goodwill gesture of the company that cares about its future employees."



The e-retailer had selected 18 students from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad during the campus placement but later deferred the joining dates of the candidates claiming the company was trying to trim its expenditure.



Agitated by Flipkart's decision, recruits from IIM-A sent a strongly-worded email to the company. The letter, addressed to Chief Executive Officer Binny Bansal, Chief People Officer Nitin Seth and Executive Chairman Sachin Bansal among others, said that the delay in joining dates should be shortened.



But the company also added that it cannot change the joining dates. "We are not in a position to increase this and we will pay to student upon joining in December. Flipkart is committed and confident to onboard our campus hires in December. Please take this as an assurance. In addition, the revised offer letters with updated joining date will be shared in the coming few weeks. We are already in touch with respective campus SPOCs and will keep them informed as well."




I have actually undertaken the maximum reforms, Modi said, adding, I have an enormous task ahead for myself.

Modi claimed he brought in many changes which were regarded as difficult by the previous administration, but that did not satisfy critics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took on critics who accuse him of failing to pursue big bang reforms, saying he has set a path for accelerated growth that states now need to help navigate.In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on the eve of his second anniversary in office, Modi said he had opened up more of the economy to foreign investment and made changes to curb corruption.The interview was given ahead of Modi's visit to Washington in June where he is set to hardsell India's readiness for a more active role on the global stage.Modi also said he would look to states to further liberalise labour laws and that the changes should be in the interest of labourers and not just the industry.The PM expressed reluctance to sell state-owned enterprises, but pointed to progress in divesting minority stakes in them and to increasing the participation of private companies in sectors once dominated by the state.In any developing country in the world, both the public sector and the private sector have a very important role to play. You cant suddenly get rid of the public sector, nor should you, he told the Wall Street Journal. When I came to the government, I used to sit down with all the experts and ask them to define for me what is the big bang for them. Nobody could tell me, he said.
Pakistani Punjabs Law Minister Rana Sanaullah claims the evidence provided by India in the Pathankot terror attack is not enough for his country to launch an investigation. Elaborating on the reasons why no arrests have been made by Pakistan in the Pathankot attack case, Sanaullah said that the people named by India were not involved in carrying out the strike. According to Sanaullah, India has not given adequate evidence despite the JIT visit. He also admitted that in the past, the Pakistani state offered support to terrorist organizations like the Jaish E Mohammad and the Jamat Ud Dawa.



CNN News18: Why is there double standards in dealing with Zarb-e-Azb? You are going after groups like TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi but no action against Jaish-E-Mohammad or Jamat-Ud-Dawa?



Rana Sanaullah: My simple answer is that we are taking action against those who indulge in terror attacks against my citizens, my markets and my buildings. If anyone is not involved in those incidents I can't arrest them because I have to produce evidence in the anti-terror court. There is no Jaish or JuD attack in Punjab. Both have been banned and the persons who were with these organizations previously, but are now out of it, say they don't support terrorism anymore.



CNN News18: Why is there no arrest in the Pathankot case despite the strong evidence by Indian Government and the visit by Pakistani JIT to India?



Rana Sanaullah: How I can arrest them without any evidence? Those persons whom you are hinting at are not involved in terror attacks in Pakistan. If they are involved in terror elsewhere, we have to get enough evidence. Be it Pathankot or Mumbai, we are telling India to provide us with evidence. When Mumbai attack happened, India had accused Hafiz Saeed of being behind it. So we arrested him and produced him in court, but the court adjourned the matter. India was not able to provide any evidence. Eventually Hafiz Saeed was freed following the court order.









CNN News18: Recently in an interview you had said action can't be taken against JuD or JeM because state was involved with these groups in the past. Can you explain what you mean by state involvement?



Rana Sanaullah: I think the stance of all Pakistani governments was that we do support Jihad and war of independence in Kashmir. But morally and politically, we dont agree to any militant activities. But the people, non state actors or otherwise, they were involved in Kashmir and it is an open secret. You may remember when General Zia ul Haq visited India, his visit left a bad impression. Then Parvez Musharraf made a public statement that you call them terrorists, but for us they are Mujahideen. So support for terror has always been there.



CNN News18: Recently Hafiz Saeed addressed students at a prominent engineering college in Lahore. How and why does a global terrorist address the future of Pakistan? Doesnt this worry you?



Rana Sanaullah: Yes. We have banned all such persons. They can't address any university, nor can they gather a crowd. As far as this particular incident is concerned, I will cross check and get back to you.



CNN-News18: Recently Lashkar has started courts in Punjab to arbitrate on petty personal matters, property disputes etc. Doesnt this worry you? One day, they can pass strictures on the government or even the judiciary in Pakistan?



Rana Sanaullah: I asked the people concerned when such reports were published in the media. I even asked the person in JUD for further details. He assured me categorically that no such court exists. Once, three persons in JUD had asked a local fakir to decide on a matter. Since panchayat culture is very strong in Punjab, these incidents do happen. Thereafter, I repeatedly tried to locate the man who made the initial complaint but I couldn't trace him.


New Delhi: In a stern warning to the private power distribution companies, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday gave deadline of one week to them to address the problem of outages saying government will not hesitate to cancel their licenses if they fail to comply with the directive.



The message was conveyed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a meeting that was attended by representatives of the private distribution companies BSES, Tata Power (TPDDL) and also the chairman of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).



"Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal sets one week deadline for discoms to put an end to public inconvenience due to local electricity faults," Media advisor to CM, Nagender Sharma said in a tweet.



The city has witnessed large scale power cuts in the last few days mainly due to problem in transmission network of private discoms.



"Delhi govt warns discoms it won't tolerate public inconvenience due to their inefficiency & won't hesitate to take extreme action," Sharma tweeted.



Power Minister Satyendra Jain said the policy on getting consumers compensated for unscheduled black outs will be implemented within a week and that DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission) will issue a notification in this regard.



"The CM has given them (discoms) a week's time to take corrective measures while making it clear that strict action will be taken otherwise. We will not hesitate to consider cancelling their licenses.



"There's no shortage of power in the city but the outages are due to local faults. The compensation formula will be implemented within a week. DERC will notify this within a week. Discoms will decide how to implement it," Jain told reporters.



A senior government official said the discoms could not offer a "single explanation" behind the outages despite there being no shortage of power in the national capital.



"The government has categorically asked them to set their house in order as people of Delhi will not suffer for the inefficiency on their part," the official said.



Delhi's power demand hit an all-time peak of 6,188 MW on May 20, which is expected to rise by the month of July.



The peak load on Tuesday was relatively low at 4,834 MW, as the weather has slightly cooled down due to rain on Monday.
Residue on pottery from an archeological site has revealed the earliest evidence of beer brewing in China left from a 5,000-year-old recipe, researchers said Monday.



The artifacts show that people of the era had already mastered an "advanced beer brewing technique" that contained elements from East and West, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal.



Yellowish residue gleaned from pottery funnels and wide-mouthed pots show traces of ingredients that had been fermented together -- broomcorn millet, barley, a chewy grain known as Job's tears, and tubers.



"The discovery of barley is a surprise," lead author Jiajing Wang of Stanford University told AFP, saying it is the earliest known sign of barley in archeological materials from China.



"This beer recipe indicates a mix of Chinese and Western traditions -- barley from the West; millet, Job's tears and tubers from China."



The discovery indicates that barley made its way to China some 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.



Barley "may have been used as a beer-making ingredient long before it became an agricultural staple," the study said.



The archaeological site at Mijiaya, near a tributary of the Wei River in northern China, includes two pits dating to around 3,400-2,900 BC.



It contains artifacts that point to beer brewing, filtration and underground storage, as well as stoves that may have been used to heat and mash grains.



However, it is impossible to know exactly how the beer tasted, researchers said, because they do not know the ingredients' exact proportion.



"My guess is that the beer might have tasted a bit sour and a bit sweet," Wang said.

"Sour comes from fermented cereal grains, sweet from tubers."



Elite drink



Evidence of beer brewing has been found around the same time period in Iran and Egypt, experts say.



"The introduction of Middle Eastern barley into a Chinese drink fits with the special role of fermented beverages in social interactions and as an exotic ingredient which would appeal to emerging elite individuals," said Patrick McGovern, an expert on biomolecular archeology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology.



McGovern, who was not involved in the study, agreed the techniques used for brewing in China were advanced, and that "ancient peoples, including those at Mijiaya, applied the same principles and techniques as brewers do today."



They knew to use heat to break down carbohydrates, and the underground location of the brew site "is very significant," he added.



"A cool spot is important in controlling heat, which if it gets too high can destroy the enzymes responsible for the carbohydrate to sugar conversion," he said.



Lower temperatures would also have been important for keeping the beverage cool in storage.



Modern beer-makers such as Dogfish Head Brewery have tried to recreate some drinks from the past, and McGovern suggested offerings for any who might like to experience a flavor similar to the 5,000-year-old brew concocted in northern China.



"I would look to a variation on several of the Dogfish ancient ales," he said. "Maybe overlapping between Ta Henket, which includes barley and some exotic herbs and fruits, and Chateau Jiahu, representing an earlier phase of ancient Chinese brewing."




It's not just Prime Minister Narendra Modi but even the opposition particularly the Congress which will celebrate two years of his government. The government has made elaborate plans and the opposition isn't willing to take a backseat.



Modi now steps into that phase of his tenure where the countdown begins for the next Lok Sabha polls. He will be watched very, very closely and perhaps less kindly.



Congress and other parties plan to address several press conferences, organise demonstrations and even bombard social media ridiculing and questioning the government's celebration. The opposition knows it has nothing to lose but its steam.



Congress won 44 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 elections. Most of its members were crestfallen and to make it worse Rahul Gandhi took a sabbatical.



When he returned, he took on the Modi government with renewed aggression, even using catchy phrases like "Suit Boot ki Sarkar" and "fair and lovely". BJP was pushed on the back foot and it unleashed its top ministers to take on Rahul.



It was a tactical mistake as by doing so the BJP gave an importance to Rahul which Congress was looking for. Congress with its sheer numbers in Rajya Sabha and with support of the Left, SP and BSP at times stalled key legislations especially the GST.



Whether it was the Vyapam case, Kanhaiya Kumar or Rohith Vemula or the beef controversy, the opposition made the going tough. Parliament saw several adjournments and the entire "achche din" slogan seemed to derail.



If it's the Congress and others inside Parliament, then it is Arvind Kejriwal outside who is keeping the BJP on the edge. Another tactical mistake was when in response to Kejriwal's fake degree allegation against the PM the BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minster Arun Jaitely came out to brush aside the allegations.



The BJP has got some respite now with the Assam win but it is not good enough to ensure majority in Rajya Sabha, which is Modi government's big weakness.



Yet the government was able to pass important bills during the budget session. As long as it can push through its development agenda, the opposition may not have the edge in the remaining three years.
Months after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja alleged rapes happen daily at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he said that he stands by his statement. "I stand by what I said. Rapes happen daily at JNU. It is the hub of criminal activities," he said on Wednesday.



Hitting out at the MLA, JNU students say such comments hint at a propaganda against the varsity. "Do rapes happen in JNU? Yes, they take place. But they get reported freely here because we have a sexual harassment committee and all cases are investigated freely. Now why do these people pass such statements? Because they are against women's rights and they can't stand that women in JNU move around freely. These people have a problem with the liberal atmosphere," JNU Students Union leader Shehla Rashid said.



The MLA from Rajasthan had in February claimed that 3,000 used condoms, 500 used contraceptive injections, 10,000 cigarette butts and 50,000 pieces of bones were found on the university's campus every day.



Hundreds of social media users ridiculed Ahuja after the MLA from Ramgarh in Alwar had accused JNU students of "misdeed with our sisters and daughters".



The BJP MLA went on to claim that Students are mostly found taking drugs after 8 pm inside the campus. Those studying in JNU are not children, many are parents of even two children. They indulge in peace protests in the mornings and during the nights, they perform obscene dance, he said during a protest march on Monday in Alwar attacking JNU students.




At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party has formed its first government in a northeastern state with Sarbananda Sonowal taking over as the Chief Minister of Assam, its ally Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has reiterated its stand on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Maintaining a firm stand, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser advocated the need of AFSPA in conflict zones.



The Organiser, in an editorial, asserted that the Centre "should train and prepare state police to contain insurgency. Till then Army may be deployed and they should remain armed with AFSPA."



AFSPA is currently in force in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur and other disturbed areas of the northeast. The BJP is an ally in the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in J&K. While BJP has been firmly in favour of the act, the PDP wants its lifted in the state.



"These terrorists in league with pseudo-human rightists try to implicate Army jawans on fake grounds, even misusing girls for allurement. They try to drag jawans into court. The jawan is suspended and his life becomes miserable. The jawan is dragged into military Court and Civil Court as well. At this point of time, AFSPA comes at the rescue of such battling jawan," the editorial stated.







Backing AFSPA, the editorial further said that it is "because of Army being armed with AFSPA that the terrorists find difficult to get a shelter. The Army jawans chase them to their remotest hide-outs."



Hitting out at those opposing the act, the RSS said that there are people who "like Kanhaiya, support anti national activities in the name of free speech. They are ever ready to defend traitors in Parliament, fight in courts on their behalf and create opinion in favour of these terrorists."



Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar has been facing charges of sedition for organising an event to support Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.



The editorial also claimed that those Parliamentarians defending these people "are reported to be heavily paid by terrorist leaders for raising questions in favour of anti-national elements". The RSS, in its mouthpiece, also urged the government to investigate such Parliamentarians.


With Congress suffering a heavy blow in West Bengal Assembly elections which the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won by a thumping majority, the party is pondering over ways to tackle any possible rebellion.



All the newly-elected Congress MLAs in West Bengal have signed a written declaration on a stamp paper asserting that they would not leave the party. They have given an undertaking to not make any anti-party remarks too.



The Congress has often been accused of silencing dissenters within the party. Vowing to support the party decisions, the newly-elected members have affirmed that they would resign from the Assembly membership before opposing any decisions taken by the party leadership.



Congress leaders have, however, maintained that they have not signed the bond under any pressure. "There is nothing wrong in signing the declaration. We were not pressurised. Questions arose whether the elected MLAs will leave the party so to show our solidarity we signed a bond. The party high command did not direct us to do any such thing," said West Bengal Congress leader Abdul Manan.







Not missing a chance to target the Congress, the BJP said these are desperate measures by the party. "Allegiance is given but signing it on a paper is an issue. Congress has been talking about a lot of surgeries but no one has any idea what step will be taken under Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi," BJP leader Sidharth Nath Singh said.



"It's ridiculous, deplorable and against democracy. Such a thing would never happen in BJP. I think leaders should have the freedom to go their own ways if they disagree with the party," BJP leader Babul Supriyo added.



While the TMC won the elections with 211 seats in the 294-member assembly, the Left-Congress alliance was relegated to 76 seats. The Congress is the principal opposition party in West Bengal after winning 44 seats in the recently concluded elections.




Paris: Police raided Google's French headquarters Tuesday looking for evidence of "aggravated tax fraud," marking one of Europe's most conspicuous attempts yet to cast a US technology leader as a manipulative scofflaw.



The probe reflects an intensifying air of European indignation looming over Google and other US tech companies as they amass huge amounts of cash while reducing their tax bills through complex manoeuvres that shield their profits.



As it has consistently done when confronted about its tax strategy, Google issued a statement Tuesday maintaining that it complies with all laws. The Mountain View, California, company, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., also said it is cooperating with the French investigation.



Other major tech companies, including Apple and Facebook, also have been skewered in Europe for scrimping on their tax bills as the popularity of their products and services have lifted their fortunes during the past decade.



At the end of last year, the US technology sector had stockpiled $777 billion in cash, accounting for nearly half of the $1.68 trillion held by non-financial companies in the country, according to a study by Moody's Investors Service.



Just five tech companies  Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Oracle  accounted for $504 billion of that total. Nearly 90 per cent of the cash held by those five companies is being kept in overseas accounts, a strategy that has rankled some US lawmakers who want the money brought back to home so it can be taxed and help reduce the country's deficit.



It's easier for tech companies to legally lower their tax bills than manufacturers because their businesses revolve around patents, algorithms and other intellectual property that's easier to move around than a plant, says Steve Gill, a San Diego State University accounting professor issues.



"When a company is making shoes, it's pretty easy to tell where those shoes are being made," Gill says. "That's not the case with intellectual property. It doesn't really matter where a contract or algorithm sits. Tax laws have failed to adapt to this kind of environment."



France's investigation is focused on an Ireland subsidiary that enables Google to do business with customers across the European continent while minimising its taxes  a technique known as profit-shifting. European regulators increasingly are pressing companies to pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they do business.



The mounting pressure prompted Google to agree to pay roughly $140 million (130 million pounds) in British back taxes earlier this year and make changes in how it calculates its UK tax bill.



Apple reached a similar settlement in Italy late last year, agreeing to pay about $350 million (318 million euros) to resolve a dispute in that country.



Italian authorities also have examined Facebook's books to determine if the social networking leader should have been paying more taxes than it did.



The French government hasn't disclosed how much it believes Google might owe in back taxes, but it made an elaborate show of force in Tuesday's raid.



An anti-corruption unit and 25 information technology experts descended on Google's Paris office, according to France's financial prosecutor's office. French daily Le Parisien, which first reported the news, said the raid took place at dawn and involved about 100 investigators. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw officers still at the scene Tuesday afternoon.



The investigation, which began last June, is focused on "aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering," France's financial prosecutor's office said in its statement.



With all signs indicating more cash will be pouring into the technology industry, the sector seems likely to remain in the crosshairs of financially strapped governments seeking more tax revenue.



"You look where you think there is money to look for," says Richard Lane, a Moody's senior vice president who tracks corporate cash flows.
Melbourne: An Indian-origin aviation worker in Australia who was sacked in 2015 for posting pro-Islamic State messages on Facebook has told a court that his comments were "sarcastic".



Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work Commission' to argue that his dismissal was 'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking $7,000 in lost wages.



The Commission heard Singh had written "We All Support ISIS" above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney.



There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.



Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a "secret group".



However, two Aerocare employees who were Facebook friends with Singh, independently raised concerns about the posts with a manager.



Australian Federal Police, Perth Airport and the "client airline" of Aerocare were also made aware of the posts, and the airline requested Singh no longer be allowed to work around its planes.



After three meetings held over four days in October 2015, Singh was told that Aerocare was terminating his employment for breach of their social media policy, and demanded he return his airside security pass to Perth Airport for cancellation.



At the Fair Work Commission hearing, Singh argued the posts were "sarcastic" in nature and he did not support Islamic State.



He said he deleted the posts and his Facebook "alias" profile after meeting with his manager.



"There were concerns I understood and I addressed those concerns by offering to delete the posts and the profile but how they breached the social media policy, I don't understand," Singh told the Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.



Hughes asked if Singh was aware Australia was on high alert for a terrorist attack which was currently rated "probable".



"Absolutely and I support that," Singh replied. Commissioner Jennifer Hunt wanted to review transcripts and receive some further written submissions before making her decision in writing.



Singh maintained he did nothing wrong by posting "We All Support ISIS" on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism.


Kang the Conqueror - the powers and origin of the next big MCU villain

Here's everything you need to know about Kang the Conqueror, the next big MCU villain
GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us.
Cop dies in freak fall at Penal home

At about 1.30 am yesterday, Ag Cpl Russel Bahadur was found sprawled on his stomach at the bottom of the stairs. His wife of seven years Alana Rose made the shocking discovery when she went to check on him after seeing his car parked outside and he was not yet inside. Bahadur was assigned to the Penal CID. An autopsy performed yesterday at the Forensic Science Center, St James revealed that death was due to blunt force cervical trauma. His death has been ruled as accidental.

The accident, in which Bahadur broke his neck, has left relatives and friends in a state of shock.

Yesterday, Bahadurs sister-inlaw Amanda Medina spoke to Newsday on behalf of the family at their home at Penal Quinam Road, Penal. She explained. He had gone out to lime and as usual his wife couldnt sleep and kept looking out for him ever so often.

When she finally saw his car outside and he was not inside, she went outside to check on him and found him already dead. Medina said it appeared that no one heard any crashing sound or screams to alert them that something had gone wrong. She described her brother-in-law as a dedicated police officer who enjoyed his job and was also a family oriented man, a good father and husband. Head of South Western Division Snr Supt Nazrool Hosein told Newsday that Bahadur will be greatly missed in the Division.

He was a hard-working officer who was respected by his colleagues in the South Western Division and the community he served. He used to do his work diligently and without fear, never hesitating to complete any task assigned to him and will always go the extra mile, the Divisional Commander said. Bahadur leaves to mourn his wife and seven children ranging in ages between 16 and three years old. Funeral arrangements are being finalised and he is expected to be laid to rest under full military rites.
Dillon tells citizens, remain calm

The recording, which is one minute and five seconds long, has been circulating on social media for the past 48 hours and claims that militant Islamic group ISIS, intends to carry out the attacks.

The origin of the recording remains unclear and features a man of unknown identity who says that he first received word of the threat from his boys inside.

Try your best to stay out of the malls for the whole week, weekend and probably next week too.

This could just go crazy.

My boys from inside just contacted me and told me that they are planning a strike to hit the malls in Trinidad, either on Friday, Saturday or on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. The person went on to say that persons have already notified family members and friends of the supposed threat, but much of the details concerning the plot remain unclear. People have already called their families to let them know whats going on but its on the down low. Keep it moderate, its coming from the grapevine from inside the hole. Yesterday, Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, urged citizens not to get carried away with baseless rumours and advising the general public to report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities.

In a statement, Dillon assured citizens that this countrys intelligence agencies are working to determine the authenticity and origin of the recording.

Former Minister of National Security, Gary Griffith, called on citizens to be careful but not fearful in their activities.

I ask all citizens not to fall prey to tactics of fear by those who either want to cause such panic or simply feel obliged to spread such propaganda. Griffith then accused the National Operations Centre (NOC) of being incompetent, The NOC has failed the country yet again and all because of the relevant officials not understanding how such a system is designed to work to assist the public in such matters, and this lack of understanding has been further exacerbated by the NOC being subsumed within an intelligence organisation. Newsday visited West Mall in Westmoorings and Long Circular Mall in St James yesterday to get the thoughts of business owners and shoppers on the supposed threat. However most dismissed the supposed threat as a hoax.

I dont think its something for us to really worry about, I dont think theres much of a threat now that its gotten so much exposure from the media, one shopper said.

One business owner in West Mall, called the threats preposterous.

However, while most persons chose to disregard the threats as a hoax, others opted to remain cautious, It could definitely happen, there wasnt any heightened security when I came in this morning.

Im very careful right now and I have my eyes open, one West Mall shopper said.

At West Mall, there was no visible increase in security personnel in or around the compound, however two heavily armed police officers could be seen patrolling the car park of the Long Circular mall. Newsday contacted Long Circular Mall, manager, Roxanne Husbands, who said that the safety of business owners and shoppers remains a top priority to management.

We are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety and security of all our stakeholders.

We are aware of the threat and are currently liaising with law enforcement to ensure the security of our staff.
How did my baby die?

A weeping Lisa Marie Ramjattan went to the Forensic Science Centre (FSC) in St James seeking answers yesterday but left with no news as she was told to return today when the autopsy will be done.

Newsday understands baby Kristiano was fed at about 1.30 pm on Monday at the Step by Step daycare centre. Two hours later, the baby was dead. Kristian Aziz, could only hug his wife as they stood outside the FSC. He said on Monday afternoon, he and his wife went to the daycare centre to collect their child.

We were supposed to collect him for five oclock, but we said lets go for him early, so we reached the daycare at three oclock. Normally they would bring out the child and bring his bag, but this time they said he was inside and we could go pick him up, Aziz said. He said that when his wife went to take the baby out of a crib, she realised he was unresponsive. The panicked mother alerted Kristian and babysitters at the daycare.

Emergency services were contacted after efforts to revive the child failed and no pulse could be found. The baby was rushed to the Princes Town Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

These people have no idea how I feel right now, I dont have words to describe how it feels to lose my son. When you have a son and he smiles at you, it touches your heart.

The two months I had with my son were the happiest of my life, Aziz cried. The daycare centre remained closed yesterday as police continued their investigations into the death of baby Kristiano Aziz. Police have since seized baby milk, bottles and a cushion from the rocker to assist them in their investigations.

Newsday was told that the owner of the daycare center Chanmatie Deonarinesingh had to seek medical attention Monday afternoon after the the discovery of the baby boy who was only recently enrolled in the center.

Yesterday when Newsday visited, Deonarinesingh was not at home but her husband Reaz Ali and family friend and parent Hema Mohammed spoke to Newsday. Ali said his wife has been crying ever since the incident and has stopped eating. At 11 pm on Monday, he had to take her to a doctor.

We have nothing to hide, Ali said. She has been running this center for the past ten years and nothing like this ever happened.

We never expected this and we are very sorry. We are now awaiting results of the autopsy, he said. Newsday was told Kristiano was happy all day and at 1.30 pm, as normal, he was fed, burped and put to sleep.

Parents dont often come inside the nursery but his mother said she wanted to take a picture of the bedding because she wanted to buy one, Ali said. It was then they realised something was wrong as he was not responding. Ali said that on Monday night, scores of parents turned up at the center to offer support to the family
$82,500 pay for NGC chairman

Minister of Energy Nicole Ollivierre said Brooks total pay for his post at NGC as well as the nine related companies he sits on was $73,000 in Board fees and $9,500 in travel allowances.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has stated the question of inter- locking directorships at State boards will be reviewed.

Asked if this was the case, the Energy Minister said in relation to NGC the Government had indicated that there was a need to rein in its satellite entities.

Also during Senate Question Time, Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said retailers who raised prices when the VAT rate was lowered did not breach any rules.

Its not a breach, she told temporary Independent Senator Kriyaan Singh. The Ministry does not engage in price-setting.
The Bear Attacked, So She

'Popped It Right in the Nose'
Scientists have announced the discovery of pottery vessels at the Jijaya in northern China that reveals beer brewing clues that are 5,000 years old.

Archaeologists found ancient "beer-making tool kits" in underground established between 3400 and 2900 B.C.

The kits included funnels, pots and specialized jugs. The shapes of the objects show that they could be used for brewing, filtration and storage.

It's the oldest beer-producing facility ever found in China and the finhding shows that these early brewers were already using specialized tools and advanced beer-making techniques.

"This beer recipe indicates a mix of Chinese and Western traditions - barley from the West, millet, Job's tears and tubers from China," Jiajing Wang of Stanford University, who led a study, told the AFP.

"Our findings imply that early beer making may have motivated the initial translocation of barley from the Western Eurasia into the Central Plain of China before the crop became a part of agricultural subsistence in the region 3,000 y later," the authors wrote.

Wang and her team were able to remake the recipe by scraping a yellow residue off the inside of the remains, and analyzing it. Apart from barley, they found a variety of different grains, plus tubers like yams and lilies, which would make the sour beverage a bit sweeter.

They couldn't actually brew the beer because they don't know the exact ratio of the ingredients, according to The Washington Post.

Therefore it is not possible to know exactly how the beer tasted, researchers said, because they do not know the ingredients' exact proportion.

"My guess is that the beer might have tasted a bit sour and a bit sweet," Wang said.

"Sour comes from fermented cereal grains, sweet from tubers."
After finding burn marks and small human remains among the EgyptAir Flight 104, an Egyptian forensics expert said that an explosion had downed the plane. However, the head of Egypt's forensics unit dismissed the point.

"The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down," the official said, though he did not want to be named.

Part of an investigating team, the official has personally examined the remains at a Cairo morgue.

Head of Egypt's forensics authority, Hisham Abdekhamid, tried to walk back the official's comments, dubbing them "mere assumptions" and deciding that it was too soon to arrive at conclusions.

Egyptian navy said Friday that the debris shows the plane had plunged into water. The debris in Flight 804 includes luggage, seats and body parts. It had been found just 180 miles off the Egyptian city of Alexandria, when it was flying from Paris to Cairo. It disappeared from the radar on Thursday over the Mediterranean Sea. All the 66 passengers were dead.

"The conflicting reports emerged as search teams scoured the Mediterranean Sea, racing the clock in search of the planes' voice and data recorders before their signal batteries die in about 30 days," reported USA Today.

The military forces have reportedly found debris, including body parts, about 180 miles from Alexandria. Photographs that have been disclosed by the Egyptian Army reveal a remains of the devastation, including some mangled pieces of debris, tattered clothing and a life vest.
Biodegradable plastics are not degraded in the marine environment as previously expected to be, a United Nations report has found. This is contrary to popular belief of biodegradable plastic such as plastic bags and bottle being more susceptible to degradation.

According to the team of top environmentalists, who prepared the report, biodegradable plastics are not meant to solve the problem of ocean litter since most of the plastic content remains extremely durable for months.

Biodegradable plastics were once considered to be an alternative that could help reduce the tonnes of litter that settle down at the bottom of the oceans. However, the rate at which such self-degrading plastics break down primarily depend on the environmental conditions.

In fact, there is no scientific proof or evidence that biodegradation of such items could take place at a faster pace than any other non-biodegradable plastic made from unmodified polyethylene.

In a marine environment, UV irradiation is the primary weathering agent. While the radiation is quite pronounced along the shorelines of the sea or the ocean, its intensity decreases at the base. Therefore, plastic present along the shoreline degrades rapidly. However, the material present at the base of the ocean is subjected to "extremely slow" degradation due to reduced oxygen levels and temperature, in addition to decreased UV exposure.

According to the environmentalists, biodegradable plastics often require temperature around 122 Fahrenheit to completely break down into its individual constituents such as methane, carbon dioxide and water. This sort of temperature is usually present in industrial composters.

The team further believes that the "biodegradable" label itself encourages people to overuse them and pollute the water bodies. Such "microplastics" and the debris derived from low-density plastics tend to get distributed throughout the Antarctic and the Arctic with the help of water currents.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thiruvananthapuram:

CPI(M) strongman Pinarayi Vijayan was today sworn in as Chief Minister of Kerala heading a 19-member ministry of the party-led Left Democratic Front(LDF) that had 13 new faces including two women. 72-year-old Vijayan, who pipped his bitter party rival V S Achuthanandan to the top post in Kerala politics, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam at the Central Stadium here.

Hailing from a poor toddy tappers family, Vijayan, a first time Chief Minister, took the oath in Malayalam. A CPI-M Politburo member, he is the 12th chief minister of Kerala. Out of the 19-member cabinet, 12 including the Chief Minister are from CPI(M), 4 from CPI, one each from NCP, Janata Dal(S) and Congress(S). The outgoing Congress-led UDF had 21 ministers.

There are 13 new faces, including two women, in the Cabinet. Five ministers had held positions in previous LDF ministries. The CPI(M)-LDF had unseated the Congress-led UDF by securing 91 seats in the 140-member House in the May 16 assembly polls.

A huge pandal to accommodate at least 30,000 persons was put up at the stadium, adjacent to the state Secretariat. CCTVs erected at various places enabled the large crowd, who had gathered to view the ceremony streamed live.

The slight drizzle failed to dampen the spirits of the party workers who had arrived in buses and other vehicles from various parts of the state, especially the northern districts of Kasaragod, Kannur and Kozhikode, to witness the swearing-in ceremony, which began at 4 pm. In 2006 also, the swearing in of then Chief Minister V S Achutanandan and his cabinet colleague was held outside the Raj Bhavan.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, former Chief Ministers Oommen Chandy, V S Achutanandan, CPI(M) General Secretary Seetharam Yechury, Prakash Karat, 97-year-old K R Gowri Amma, who was Revenue minister in the EMS Namboodiripad cabinet of 1957, former union minister and lone member of BJP in the assembly O Rajagopal, religious and cultural leaders and film actors attended the function.

CPI(M) and CPI ministers took the oath and made solemn pledge, while other Front ministers took the oath in the name of God. The ministers who were sworn in by the Governor are (CPI-M)) Thomas Isaac, A K Balan, G Sudhakaran, E P Jayarajan, Kadakampally Surendran, K K Shylaja, J Mercykutty Amma, T P Ramakrishnan, A C Moideen, C Raveendranath and K T Jaleel (CPI-M-IND). CPI: E Chandrasekharan, V S Sunil Kumar, P Thilothaman and K Raju. Congress S: Ramachandran Kadannappalli. NCP: A K Saseendran JD(S): Mathew T Thomas.

This is also the first time that a swearing in ceremony is observing green protocol to ensure zero waste event. The capital city was a sea of red, with CPI(M) party flags and red buntings flying high in various corners. Party workers were dressed in red shirts and red caps.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might say sporting a purple lipstick at Cannes was a call taken by her cosmetic brand but Sonam Kapoor believes the Sarbjit actress opted for the shade because she wanted to be talked about.

Aishwarya, who completed her 15 years at Cannes this year, shocked one and all when she attended screening of a film swearing a purple lipcolour.

When asked what she felt about Aishwaryas purple lips outing and the flak it received, Sonam said the actress should be happy with the attention she got.

The whole idea of fashion and make-up is for people to discuss it and I guess she wanted to be discussed. She achieved what she wanted to achieve with it, which I think is great, Sonam told PTI.

When told that Aishwarya has called it LOreals prerogative, Sonam, 30, quipped, I dont think she walked for LOreal that day. There was an Amul ad on it, people were discussing it. I think it was great to do it on a 15th year, its cool. She was trending everywhere.

Sonam, who is also one of the celebrity faces of the cosmetic brand, said she liked the colour and felt Aishwarya carried it off with an aplomb.

When asked if she would ever try a shade like that, the Neerja actress said, I have done purple lipstick in the past, I have even done black for a shoot... People havent spoken about me!

One of Sonams red carpet appearance at the coveted festival, a saree-inspired long white gown, was also poked fun at.

Unfazed by it, Sonam, who found the gown her best outfit, said, There were just one or two people (who cracked jokes on the dress) but I think it was my most incredible look. I dont believe in taking anything personally. I dress for myself and I felt beautiful.

Interestingly, the actress stuck to just one designer brand, Ralph & Russo.

They (Michael and Tamara) are very good friends of mine. I spent New Years with them. I wanted to do something Indian-inspired and they kind of love India and love me. Thats why I did jhumkas and a saree-gown, which I think was incredible.

While fashion critics and young women keep a close eye on stars red carpet outfits at Cannes, for Sonam, the festival is about broadening her horizon as an actor by meeting international artists.

Meeting people across the world always broadens your horizon. Being a part of Indian film industry is like you are living in a cucoon. You dont feel like theres more to life than that.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Chennai:

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan has assured that the government is working towards resuming the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) project which has been proposed to be set up in Theni district of Tamil Nadu and has been lying in limbo. In January last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given his approval for setting up of the observatory at a cost of more than Rs 1500 crore.

Activists and political leaders in Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been protesting against the setting up of the observatory citing its possible adverse impact on the environment. I will personally look into the nitty gritty of the issue. Our Ministry will work towards a positive outcome, Dr Harsh Vardhan said through video conferencing, while addressing media persons across the country, as he was elaborating on the achievements of his ministry and the departments.



Hailing the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and calling it a globally benchmarked organisation he said, CSIR is ranked at 84th position among the 4851 institutions across the world and is the only Indian organisation among the top 100 global institutions. He cited the Scimago Institutions ranking world report.



Migration of scientific manpower has been checked to a great extent with increase in the capacity of laboratories and upgradation of research institutes, Vardhan said, underlining that science is back on track in the country. Claiming that India was entering into the new field of research, Vardhan said, We are the leading country in research in climate change and global warming.



Migration of scientific manpower has been checked to a great extent with increase in the capacity of laboratories and upgradation of research institutes, Vardhan told reporters while addressing them in the National Video-link Press Conference held in New Delhi. Stating that Indias challenges are many and solutions complex, he said ambitious plans have been made in new areas and the need of the hour is to move ahead and scale up.



We have moved from policy paralysis and worked with our brilliant scientific community to connect with our people and what India needs, the Minister said. Asserting that science is back on track, he listed key initiatives taken by his ministry in the fields of scientific weather forecasting, formulation of new vaccines, biotechnology, energy research and eco-system for innovation.

(With inputs from PTI)

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Scoot, the newly launched air carrier from Singapore Airlines, is offering tickets at a promotional fare of Rs. 5300 from Chennai to Singapore.

The airline is also offering a promotional fare of Rs. 13,500 from Chennai to Sydney. Scoot, the long-haul budget arm of Singapore Airlines launched its operations in India with flight services to Chennai and Amritsar from Singapore.

The airline will operate a daily direct service to the Tamil Nadu Capital from Singapore with a 335-seater Boeing 787-800 aircraft while Amritsar would have three-times-a-week operations service with a 375-seater B787-900 plane. Besides, it has already announced to launch services from Jaipur from October this year.

On the Chennai-Singapore route, Scoot will take place of SIAs another subsidiary airline Tigerair which has been operating 12 flights a week with narrow-body aircraft.

India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio, Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng said.

Scoot also plans to scale up frequency from Amritsar to four times a week, starting July 2.

With PTI Inpiuts
Patna:

Bihar police today claimed to have cracked journalist Rajdeo Ranjans murder case by arresting five persons in Siwan district. The police arrested five persons in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan and recovered a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles, Additional Director General of Police (ADG Headquarters) Sunil Kumar told reporters here.



The arrested were identified as Rohit Kumar, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Ishu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta, the ADG said. He said Rohit Kumar has admitted that he fired on the scribe resulting in his death. Search is on for some more persons involved in the crime, he added.



The police have also seized a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles used in the crime, he added. Rajdeo Ranjan, district bureau head of a leading vernacular newspaper, was shot dead by unidentified men when he was going on his motorcycle near fruit market on station road under town police station area of Siwan on May 13 evening.



The killing had drawn country-wide criticism for Nitish Kumar government as a reflection of the slide in law and order situation in the state.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Donald Trumps rally in New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump demonstrators clashed with police, hurling rocks and burning clothes at officers, the latest scuffle to hit the presumptive Republican presidential nominees campaign.

The unlawful assembly went on rampage, lighted fires and threw rocks at the police officers and their horses outside Trumps rally at a convention centre in New Mexicos Albuquerque as police resorted to launch smoke to disperse the violent crowd which overturned barricades and hurled rocks.

The protesters disrupted 69-year-old New York-based real estate tycoons speech several times yesterday. Most of the protesters were escorted out one by one.

Go ahead, get them out of here, Trump told one of them.

However, the police had a tough time in controlling the demonstrators who were protesting against the policies and rhetorics of Trump.

This is an unlawful assembly, Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik told protesters over a loudspeaker.

According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally. The police were in anti-riot gears.

In a series of tweets, Albuquerque said the protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police horses.

There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun. The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it is just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time, he tweeted.

While protests have not been a new phenomenon to Trump rallies, this is the first after he earned the Republican partys presidential nomination early this month.

Last month in California, pro- and anti-Trump protesters clashed with each other outside a city council meeting while in New York, a protester at a rally was shoved in the face twice by a Trump supporter.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most of his ministerial colleague are expected to attend an event at India Gate to be hosted by mega star Amitabh Bachhan on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the government.

The government is organising the eventZara Muskura Do (Smile Please) -- which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its achievements. The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan. Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show.

Programmes to mark the completion of Modi governments second year in office will also be held in various other cities. The government had formed a panel of ministers, headed by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and comprising Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, to supervise preparations for the show.

The panel has had extensive discussions regarding the government schemes which need to be highlighted. Last year, the Modi government had celebrated its first year in office with a tagline Saal Ek, Shuruaat Anek.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had asked various ministries to provide details of their achievements. BJP has also planned to hold over 200 events across the country between May 26 and June 10 to highlight the governments successes and Modi is likely to address rallies in different places, starting with an address in Saharanpur on May 26.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Seeking to provide equal opportunities to all children in the country, UNICEF launched today a new awareness campaign here with an impactful film offering insight into lives of the less fortunate children. Trending on social media as #FairStart campaign, the initiative uses strong messages and images related to UNICEFs key areas of priorities that include education, sanitation, early marriage, new born health and stunted growth among others.

What it really tries to tell us is that even though there are inequities and disparities around us, not necessarily everybody sees this. That is what this film is trying - to open up and say, look around you. It is around you wherever you go, Caroline Den Dulk, chief, advocacy and communication, UNICEF said.

Citing several data, Den Dulk pointed out - Currently, 6.1 million in India are out of school (SRI-IMRB Study for MHRD, Govt of India, 2014); around 10 million children are engaged in work in India (Census 2011) and close to 3,500 children die everyday before reaching the age of 5 years (2013 Report of Sample Registration System).

Besides, 42 per cent of tribal children in India are stunted in their growth and development (RSOC 2013-14) and about 564 million people still practice open defecation (UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Report 2015).

Girls in India deserve an equal chance in life too, but on an average 2.22 million girls marry every year in India and 23 per cent girls between the ages of 15 and 19 years experience physical or sexual violence, she said.

The campaign also aims to reach out and encourage changemakers to engage in debates and dialogues to bring about a change in the mindset of the larger public.

To make change happen a mind-shift is required. The #FairStart campaign aims at engaging the larger public in a debate for everyone to see that they have a role to play to make sure every child can have a fair chance in life, Den Dulk said.

The nearly 3-minute long film features in its backdrop nursery rhymes sung by children and highlights the stark disparities prevalent in the society.

While one relishes food in a restaurant, another barely manages two meals a day; while one child plays with a doll inside a car, another attempts to sell roses to make a living.

To realise the film, UNICEF worked with children from across slums in Mumbai to offer first-hand narratives of the lives of children who are full of potential but less likely to grow up healthy and safe, less likely to attend school, less likely to learn and more likely to be married as children. Participating children have contributed towards the film in various roles of camera man, art director, costume designers etc.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Mumbai:

Days after they claimed that no calls were made or received on Revenue Minister Eknath Khadses phone number from underworld don Dawood Ibrahims number, the Mumbai Police today said a probe into the matter is still on as some new elements have emerged in the case.



Neither calls were made nor received at the said number of the Minister during period September 4, 2015 to April 5, 2016, that we spoke about. But after that we got some new elements into which our investigation is on, Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar told reporters on the sidelines of an event at a suburban police station.



Padsalgikar, however, declined to divulge any further information on these new elements. He also parried questions on whether Khadse was given a clean chit by the Mumbai police. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had last week alleged that Khadse had received several calls from Dawoods wife Mehjabeen Shaikhs number between September 4, 2015 and April 5, 2016.



Khadse had dismissed the allegations as baseless, stating that the particular number was not in use for the last one year. Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Atulchandra Kulkarni had on May 22 said initial analysis of the cell phone number (belonging to Khadse) indicated that there were neither outgoing nor incoming calls from the number to that of the fugitive (Dawood) during the entire period of September 2015 to April 2016, as claimed in the (Aam Aadmi Partys) press conference.



Even Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had come to his colleagues rescue and termed the charge against Khadse as unsubstantiated. Earlier, the AAP had sought a thorough probe into the matter as it expressed surprise over the speed at which Mumbai police virtually gave a clean chit to the minister.



We trust Mumbai police but we are really surprised at the speed of the clean chit given to the minister Khadse. The charges are serious and deserve a through investigation, AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had told PTI.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Melbourne:

Unlike the declining populations of many fish species, the number of cephalopods - octopus, cuttlefish and squid - has increased in the worlds oceans over the past 60 years, a new study has found. The international team, led by researchers from University of Adelaide in Australia, compiled a global database of cephalopod catch rates to investigate long-term trends in abundance.

Our analyses showed that cephalopod abundance has increased since the 1950s, a result that was remarkably consistent across three distinct groups, said Zoe Doubleday, Research Fellow in the Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences.

Cephalopods are often called weeds of the sea as they have a unique set of biological traits, including rapid growth, short lifespans and flexible development, said Doubleday.

These allow them to adapt to changing environmental conditions (such as temperature) more quickly than many other marine species, which suggests that they may be benefiting from a changing ocean environment, Doubleday said. Doubleday said the research stemmed from an investigation of declining numbers of the iconic Giant Australian cuttlefish.

Surprisingly, analyses revealed that cephalopods, as a whole, are in fact increasing; and since this study, cuttlefish numbers from this iconic population near Whyalla are luckily bouncing back, Doubleday said. Project leader Bronwyn Gillanders said large-scale changes to the marine environment, brought about by human activities, may be driving the global increase in cephalopods.

Cephalopods are an ecologically and commercially important group of invertebrates that are highly sensitive to changes in the environment, Gillanders said. Were currently investigating what may be causing them to proliferate global warming and overfishing of fish species are two theories. It is a difficult, but important question to answer, as it may tell us an even bigger story about how human activities are changing the ocean, said Gillanders.

Cephalopods are found in all marine habitats and, as well as being voracious predators, they are also an important source of food for many marine species, as well as humans.

As such, the increase in abundance has significant and complex implications for both the marine food web and us, Doubleday added. The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Scientists have found evidence for widespread buried deposits of iron- and calcium-rich carbonates on Mars, which suggests that the red planet once hosted habitable environments with liquid water. Identification of these ancient carbonates and clays on Mars represents a window into history when the climate on Mars was very different from the cold and dry desert of today, said Janice Bishop of the SETI Institute in the US.

Carbonates beneath the surface of Mars points to a warmer and wetter environment in that planets past. The presence of liquid water could have fostered the emergence of life. The fate of water on Mars has been energetically debated by scientists because the planet is currently dry and cold, in contrast to the widespread fluvial features that etch much of its surface.

Scientists believe that if water did once flow on the surface of Mars, the planets bedrock should be full of carbonates and clays, which would be evidence that Mars once hosted habitable environments with liquid water. Researchers have struggled to find physical evidence for carbonate-rich bedrock, which may have formed when carbon dioxide in the planets early atmosphere was trapped in ancient surface waters. They have focused their search on Mars Huygens basin.

This feature is an ideal site to study carbonates because multiple impact craters and troughs have exposed ancient, subsurface materials where carbonates can be detected across a broad region, researchers said.

Outcrops in the 450-km wide Huygens basin contain both clay minerals and iron- or calcium-rich carbonate-bearing rocks, said James Wray, from the the Georgia Institute of Technology. The study has highlighted evidence of carbonate-bearing rocks in multiple sites across Mars, including Lucaya crater, where carbonates and clays 3.8 billion years old were buried by as much as 5 km of lava and caprock.

The researchers identified carbonates on the planet using data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), which is on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This instrument collects the spectral fingerprints of carbonates and other minerals through vibrational transitions of the molecules in their crystal structure that produce infrared emission.

The team paired CRISM data with images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera (CTX) on the orbiter, as well as the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on the Mars Global Surveyor, to gain insights into the geologic features associated with carbonate-bearing rocks.

The extent of the global distribution of martian carbonates is not yet fully resolved and the early climate on the red planet is still subject of debate. However, this study is a forward step in understanding the potential habitability of ancient Mars.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

South Korean tech giant Samsung today launched a new tablet device, equipped with iris-recognition technology, aimed at government and enterprises in India. The Android-based tablet Galaxy Tab Iris is priced at Rs 13,499. The tablet features a 7-inch screen, 1.2 Ghz quadcore processor, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB memory (expandable up to 200GB), 5MP rear camera and 3,600 mAh battery.

The tablet can be used by agencies using Aadhaar as an authentication mechanism. It can be used for a variety of applications in banking, eGovernance services, etc, Samsung India Vice President Sukesh Jain told reporters here. ( Also Read: Smartron launches t.phone in India: Price, specifications revealed)

The India R&D team has made significant investments in biometric technology research and this product leverages Samsungs knowledge in hardware design, biometrics and security for a high speed scan, greater accuracy and high reliability, he added. The company is in discussions with various government departments and corporates to deploy the devices at workplace, he said. ( Also Read: Meizu M3 Note launched in India at Rs 9,999, will be available from May 31 on Amazon.in)

Currently, Samsung is focussing on selling the tablet to enterprise customers as it believes that iris-based authentication still has more assisted usage. We expect banking sector to be among the front runners in terms of adoption. Telecom service providers would also benefit from such a solution, Jain said. (Also Read: Nokia makes a global comeback to the phone market)

TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said a lot of pilfering happen in government schemes as there is no way to authenticate the beneficiaries at a rural level and such a device that supports Aadhaar can be of help.
New Delhi:

Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator, in New Delhi on Wednesday.



Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate.



But going into tomorrows game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage.



KKR spanked Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.



Going by records too, KKR enjoy edge having won the tournament twice in the past 2012 and 2014 and finishing in the Play-offs in 2011.



Sunrsiers, on the other hand, managed to secure a play-off berth in 2013 and would be gunning for glory this time around. Tomorrows match will also give Sunrsiers an opportunity to avenge their defeats to KKR.



KKR have been led from the front by Gautam Gambhir, who would be desperate to prove a point to the national selectors after being ignored for the tour of Zimbabwe and West Indies despite scoring consistently in the ongoing IPL.



Gambhir is the leading scorer for KKR with 473 runs from 14 games with five half-centuries. His opening partner Robin Uthappa (383 runs) and Yusuf Pathan (359) too shone with the bat but they too were being ignored for national call-up.



But KKR's young batsman Manish Pandey, who has scored 212 runs from 11 games so far, has been picked up for the Zimababwe tour and would be eager to justify his selection with another fine outing with the bat.



It also remains to be seen whether KKR's go-to man Andre Russell has recovered from his injury.



The big-hitting Jamaican all-rounder, who has two man-of-the-match performances this season, missed their last two games because of a leg injury and KKR would pray for his recovery ahead of the do-or-die clash.



Just when it seemed KKR is getting no more success from his spinners, Sunil Narine and young Kuldeep Yadav sizzled with three and two wickets respectively to script the win against Sunrisers in their last game.



Sunrisers, on the other hand, did not have the best of outing in their last two games. The Hyderabad outfits confidence may have taken a dent due to defeats against Delhi Daredevils and KKR in their previous two matches.



The Sunrsiers have no option but to return to winning ways if they desire to make their maiden IPL final appearance.
New Delhi:

When it comes to the Narendra Modi government, there is a lot to say and discuss about. Though in the worlds biggest democracy one cannot expect overnight solutions to all problems, it definitely takes time for things to work out. Countrys stake in foreign relations, GDP, economy, basic amenities for common are major enough but we also cannot ignore the fact the manifesto promises are there that a countrymen wish the ruling government to fulfill.

The BJP government is to complete two years after a good start but it cannot be ignored that Indias bilateral ties with China and Pakistan still remain sour. On the other hand, Indias ties with US has warmed significantly, call it Modis frequent foreign visits but this has been successful.

During Modis Iran visit, the two countries signed 12 agreements including a milestone pact on developing the strategic Chabahar port which is likely to boost the ties between the two countries.

Since May 26, 2014, the day when Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister of India he started with a diplomatic master stroke by inviting the leaders of SAARC in his swearing-in ceremony. Achievements of the Modi-led government are a mixed bag.

When it comes to India-Sino relations, the Modi government failed to secure Beijings support for its efforts to gain membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Beijing also did not back India in the United Nations on banning Pakistan-based anti-India terrorists such as Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

Indias signing of Logistics Exchange and Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with US can also prove to be of immense importance in the coming years. Signing of this agreement is expected to open doors for Indias access to American military technology.

Above was an overview of some of Modi-led government as it completes two years in service. Here are some of the key achievements of the government:

Jan Dhan Yojana: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana can be viewed as one of the biggest schemes any country ever had. This Yojana is basically a National Mission to ensure access to financial services such as Banking, savings, deposits, credit, insurance and so on in an affordable manner for the citizens. It was launched by PM Modi on on 28 August 2014 but the scheme was announced on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014. Under this bank scheme most bank accounts were opened in just one week which makes it to the Guiness Book of Records.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana can be viewed as one of the biggest schemes any country ever had. This Yojana is basically a National Mission to ensure access to financial services such as Banking, savings, deposits, credit, insurance and so on in an affordable manner for the citizens. It was launched by PM Modi on on 28 August 2014 but the scheme was announced on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014. Under this bank scheme most bank accounts were opened in just one week which makes it to the Guiness Book of Records. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a national campaign which was officially launced on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi by PM Modi when he himself cleaned the road. SBA is Indias biggest cleanliness drive.

Cooking gas now under direct-cash-benefit transfer scheme , with potential saving of $5 billion annually in subsidies, plus Diesel prices de-regulated

, with potential saving of $5 billion annually in subsidies, plus Diesel prices de-regulated Launch of 'Make-in-India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' initiatives with focus on defence and electronics, primarily to create jobs

Foreign equity in rail infrastructure allowed, without limit.

Foreign equity cap in defence raised to 49 per cent; 74 per cent in case of technology transfer.

Fast-tracking of defence purchases: 36 Rafale fighters being bought, orders for several long-pending purchases placed.

Foreign equity cap in insurance and pension sectors increased to 49 per cent.

Nod for real estate and infrastructure investment trusts, with tax benefits.

Cabinet nod for Prime Minister's 100 Smart Cities Project.

Cabinet nod for Prime Minister's 100 Smart Cities Project.

Definitive steps forward in introducing pan-India goods and services regime.

Impasse in mining sector ended with passage of new bill for regulation and development.

Adoption of 14th Finance Commission recommendation on far-reaching changes in sharing of revenues between the Center and the States.

Single-window scheme for various clearances to steel, coal and power projects.

Price stabilisation fund set up for agri-commodities to check inflation.

Clarity in tax treatment on income of foreign fund whose fund managers are located in India , as also on transfer pricing for resident and non-resident tax payers.

Panel set up under law commission chairman on issue of minimum alternate tax.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Ise-ShimaWorld leaders gather in Japan ahead of G7:

US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan today for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima.

Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global economy.

Heads of state and government from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan were also making their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting. Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called soft targets such as theatres and stadiums. However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning and focused mostly on Japans domestic politics attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Britains David Cameron, whose countrys referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

Cameron was set for a one-on-one meeting later in the day with summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was also due today to meet Obama, whose visit to Hiroshima on Friday threatens to overshadow the summit itself. Obama will become the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the worlds first nuclear attack, on August 6, 1945.

Obama has spent the last few days in Vietnam, where on Tuesday he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism.

Frances Francois Hollande and Germanys Angela Merkel were expected to arrive tomorrow morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italys Matteo Renzi and Canadas Justin Trudeau.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Islamabad:

Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif today told the US envoy that the American drone attack on Pakistani soil to kill Taliban chief Mullah Mansour is detrimental to bilateral ties and counter-productive for the Afghan peace process.

US Ambassador David Hale visited the militarys General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the army said. The situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on May 22 came under discussion during talks between Sharif and the US envoy, it said.

While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the Chief of the Army Staff said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for the ongoing peace process for regional stability, army said. It is for the first time that army has spoken on the issue.

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yesterday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a US drone strike last week.

He had condemned the drone attack as violation of Pakistans territory and said it may lead to serious implication for relations between Pakistan and the US.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

On May 26, 2014, Narendra Modi took oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India after registering a massive win in the Lok Sabha elections that year. According to a recent survey, 74 per cent people still prefer Modi, the graph of Congress on the other hand, has continued to show a downfall. Now, as Modi has completed two years in office, here we list the major ups and downs:

UPs:

No charges of corruption

So far, the Modi government has a clean record when it comes to corruption and it has been one of its highest points. The NDA government has not seen any of its members getting tainted by any graft charge so far, unlike the UPA II which witnessed a number of corruption charges from the second year.



Foreign policy

Talking about the foreign policy, Modi government has performed quite well in the external affairs. The governments foreign policy has helped India achieve a global stature. Modi has reached out to big powers in the world including US, Russia and China, thus taking India to the farthest corners.



Initiatives for social and economic uplift

The Narendra Modi government has taken several initiatives, many of which are missions, in issues related to entrepreneurship, clean environment, social security and others. The aim of several initiatives is to nurture a skilled and enterprising work force. Though many have criticised some of the schemes as ineffective, but the Modi government has made an inclusive policy-making a popular means of governance.



Carrying forward initiatives of previous govt



The Narendra Modi government has not scrapped the initiatives that were taken by the previous Congress-led governments. The Aadhar and MGNREGA scheme have been adopted. This smart move by the NDA government has helped it gain both economically and politically.



Tackling subsidies

The Narendra Modi government has been focussed on tackling subsidies and improving agriculture and deserves a patting for the same. Giving up subsidies for the projection of a universal gain is realistic, though the results might not have been materialised.



Reaching out to people using social media and radio



Prime Ministers reaching out to the people of the country using social media and radio is another significant aspect of the Narendra Modi government. Modi has reached out to both urban and rural people with regular use of social media as well as the events like Mann Ki Baat on Radio.

DOWNs:

Govt is mostly about Modi

The biggest drawback of the NDA government is that it is mostly about Narendra Modi and a handful of individuals including ministers like Sushma Swaraj and Piyush Goyal.



Finance ministry has failed to deliver as per expectations

The finance ministry has not delivered as per the expectations. For instance, when it imposed tax on PPF, it generated huge controversy and criticism. The flip-flops have ended up in lost confidence by the investors in the economy.



Inability to take Opposition into confidence in Parliament

In Parliament, the Narendra Modi government has failed to take the Opposition into confidence. Each Parliamentary session witnesses Opposition and the government locking horns over some or the other issue. This ends up ruining the entire session, thus damaging the prospects of economic reforms (GST Bill).

Intervention of RSS in various issues

The RSS is using well the days of saffron rule to propagate its own thinking and way of life all across.



PM Narendra Modi's selective speaking

Prime Minister Narendra Modis choice of speech on issues has not gone down well with many. For instance, Modi did kept mum on the Dadri lynching issue but expressed his views on it only keeping in mind the Bihar election as supported BJP.

Overall, if we look at the ups and downs, after two years, the Narendra Modi governments record has been on the better side. With three years remaining, it will be interesting to see how it does in the future.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Srinagar:

A policeman was today killed as militants struck at the security guards of a former MLA in Pulwama district, about 35 kms from here, two days after three cops were gunned down in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.



The incident took place in Monghama village where the former National Conference MLA Ghulam Mohiuddin had gone to attend a marriage function, police said.



His Personal Security Officer (PSO) Shabir Ahmad and another guard were waiting in a private car outside the venue when three pistol-borne militants struck, a police officer said.



The militants tried to snatch the service rifle from the PSO which led to a scuffle, the officer said, adding in the process, Ahmad received minor injuries on the face.



Militants then fired a few shots, resulting in injuries to constable Riyaz Ahmad Ganie. He was hit in the throat and succumbed to his injuries later at a hospital, the officer said.



The militants fled from the site along with the weapon of the PSO taking advantage of the panic which followed the shooting, he said.



A hunt has been launched to nab the militants and recover the weapon, the officer said.



No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the incident which comes two days after three policemen were shot dead in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.



While two policemen were killed by militants in an attack at Zadibal locality of the summer capital on Monday, another policeman, who was guarding a protected person, was shot dead at Tengpora locality of the city the same day and his service rifle was also snatched.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Congress today sought to embarrass the Narendra Modi government on the association of Amitabh Bachchan with an event here on May 28 to mark its second anniversary at a time when the mega star is being probed in the Panama papers expose.



Would it be fair? ....What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad illegally when they see the Prime Minister sharing dais with the accused, partys chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.



Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star hosting the event which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not dilute the fight against black money.



He recalled that Prime Minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those guilty. During the poll campaign, BJP leaders had promised to deposit Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in the bank account of every individual once the black money is uncovered.



The government is organising the eventZara Muskura Do (Smile Please)-- which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its achievements.



The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan.



Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Dubai:

Dubai presented ambitious plans today for its hosting of the 2020 World Expo, the first in the Middle East, with organisers hoping to attract 25 million visitors.

Representatives of more than 100 countries gathered in the Emirati city for talks on the event, which Dubai won the right to host in 2013.

For the first time in the history of World Expos, each country will have an individual pavilion, enhancing the ability of nations to showcase themselves, organisers said in a statement.

The Expo site will cover 438 hectares (1,080 acres) next to Dubais smaller second airport, Al-Maktoum International, which opened in 2013.

Panel discussions and workshops were held during the two-day planning meeting aimed at providing potential participants with details on the Expo 2020 plan and highlighting business opportunities in the UAE for innovation, trade and investment, and knowledge transfer, the statement said. The fair will take place from October 2020 to April 2021.

For all the Latest Business News, International News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Hyderabad:

BJP president Amit Shah would address a convention of party functionaries here in Telangana on May 29.

He would address the functionaries from mandal (revenue unit) level as part of the BJPs outreach programme on the occasion of the NDA government completing two years in office, BJP stated in a release here.
New Delhi:

Amid controversy over reports that newly elected party MLAs in West Bengal were made to pledge their loyalty to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress today said that the written undertaking of allegiance to the party was a voluntary exercise by them.



No instructions in this regard have been issued by the AICC or the General Secretary In-charge. This is a voluntary exercise and nothing more should be read into it, partys chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters.



In reply to a volley of questions, he, however, said that during the last Assembly, 10 Congress legislators in the state were poached in violation of the Anti-defection law.



He suggested that if legislators by their own volition were doing it, it is a matter which will be looked after by the state leaders.



Reports from Kolkata had it that in an unprecedented move and much to the shock and surprise of many, the state Congress has made all the 44 MLAs in West Bengal sign an undertaking of allegiance to the party on a stamp paper of Rs 100 denomination.



The reports said in a meeting with the new Congress MLAs, West Bengal PCC Chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury made the proposal, to which all agreed. The state leadership is still apprehensive about at least eight MLAs who have won with a margin of less than 5,000 votes and in five cases, less than 3,000.



I do swear my unqualified allegiance to Indian National Congress led by Honourable Congress President Sonia Gandhi ji and Honourable Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi ji, the MLAs said in an affidavit to Congress President.



Surjewala also used the occasion to target the BJP accusing it of making attempts to lure party MLAs in Uttarkhand and Arunachal Pradesh through money power.



In Uttarkhand, the BJP got reprimand from the Uttarakhand High Court and Supreme Court. We are still awaiting verdict on Arunachal Pradesh.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Helsinki:

Microsoft announced today it would let go up to 1,850 employees and a Finnish union called it the end of the companys smartphone manufacturing business, bought from Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced plans to streamline the companys smartphone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs, it said in a statement, adding 1,350 of those jobs would be eliminated in Finland where its smartphones have been designed. The other 500 jobs will be cut globally.

Microsofts chief shop steward in Finland, Kalle Kiili, told AFP the decision means Microsoft will no longer design or manufacture phones. Microsoft will not be manufacturing (phone) devices, at least for the time being. It will do software, however, Kiili said.

Microsoft said the move would result in an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately USD 950 million (852.6 million euros) for the company. The decision means Microsoft scraps what was left in Finland of Nokias former glory as the worlds former top mobile phone maker.

Nokia was the worlds leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsofts Windows mobile platform which proved to be a flop. The Finnish company sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some USD 7.2 billion to Microsoft, which is closing the entire unit.

Nearly 2.4 million Windows Phones were sold in the latest quarter, around 0.7 percent market share overall. Thats a decrease from the 2.5 percent market share of Windows Phone during the first quarter of 2015, according to the US-based analyst group, Gartner Inc.

A week ago Microsoft announced the sale of its feature phone business for USD 350 million (310.5 million euros) to a new Finnish company HMD Global and its Taiwanese partner, FIH Mobile of FoxConn Technology Group, which will jointly begin manufacturing handsets and tablets under the Nokia brand again.

Microsoft had called up all its employees in Finland to hear the news which Kiili said left the crowd silent. We had rumours that something would happen but not that everything would go, he described. Employees at Microsoft Oy, a separate Microsoft sales subsidiary based in Espoo, Finland, would not be affected by the job cuts.
Rome:

A Milan court today sentenced a Pakistani and a Tunisian to six years in prison for threatening terror attacks in Italy via social media.

Tunisian Lassad Briki, 35, and Pakistan national Muhammad Baqas, 27, will be deported after serving their sentences, the judge said after agreeing to the maximum sanction requested by prosecutors.

The two men were arrested in July 2015 in Brescia in northern Italy on suspicion of setting up a Twitter account from which they posted messages threatening to attack iconic Italian monuments like Milans Duomo and the Colosseum in Rome.

The threats were accompanied by photos of the monuments and written in Italian, French and Arabic.

We are on your streets, we are everywhere, one post read. We are identifying the targets and await the X hour.

The sentences were handed down despite the prosecutor in charge of the investigation saying at the time of the arrests that there was no sign of even the beginning of a move (beyond words) to action.

The two men had however downloaded an online manual which covered the production of home-made explosives, carrying weapons and operating clandestinely on the Internet.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Jammu:

Claiming that the Mehbooba Mufti-led government has failed in all fronts including security and power sectors, Congress today said that its casual attitude is responsible for such a situation.



While the incidents of militancy are up in Kashmir during this governments rule, there are virtually dozens of protests by the people in Jammu region against unscheduled power and water supply cuts, Senior Vice President Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Sham Lal Sharma said .



The Congress leader was on a visit to Udhampur and Ramban districts during which he was further informed that people were undergoing hardships due to non supply of ration for the last six months.



He said the government is not serious to the issues of the people especially those living in far-flung areas.



Sharma assured the Congress leaders of the respective areas that the issues raised by them will be taken up at appropriate level soon.



In case these demands arent sorted out by the government, Congress will go on large scale protest against the BJP-PDP coalition government for their lackadaisical attitude, he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Chennai:

Welcoming the Centres decision to include three communities from Tamil Nadu in the Scheduled Tribes list, a demand made by the state in 2012, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today expressed joy over her governments efforts in this regard yielding result.



She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his cabinet approving the states pending demand.



Jayalalithaa recalled that her government had in 2012 written to the Centre, seeking to implement the Lokur Committee recommendation that Narikoravan, Kurivikkaran and Malayalee Gounder be included in the ST list.



In a statement, she said she had in 2013 wrote to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Narikoravas should be included in ST list to ensure that the nomadic community lives a life of dignity.



Todays Union Cabinet approval will pave the way for the Narikorava, Kuruvikkaran and Malayalee Gounder communities get all the welfare and live a life of dignity, she said.



I thank the Prime Minister for the cabinet approving the demand of the state government, which had been pending for the last few years, she added.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Two Pakistan-based Islamist groups with links to the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba and one of them blamed for the 2014 Peshawar school massacre were today designated as global terrorist outfits by the US.



The US State Department designated the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and Jamaat ul Dawa al-Quran (JDQ) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.



As a result, all property subject to US jurisdiction in which the TGG or JDQ have any interest is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them, it said in a statement.



TGG, based in Pakistans Darra Adam Khel, is linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban and blamed for multiple attacks, including the December 16, 2014, massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar, that left 132 schoolchildren and nine staffers dead the deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistans history.



The groups leader, Umar Mansoor, is also known as the mastermind of the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, that killed 20 and wounded between 50 and 60 others.



In addition to these attacks, the TGG is responsible for the 2010 kidnapping of a British journalist traveling to North Waziristan, Pakistan, and the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, Pakistan.



Peshawar-based JDQ pledged allegiance to now-deceased Taliban emir Mullah Omar in 2010, and has long-standing ties to al-Qaeda and LeT, the State Department said.



JDQ has been responsible for various attacks, including the infamous 2010 kidnapping and death of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Asked/Answered is a weekly feature for reader-submitted questions. Follow the blog online at www.cumberlink.com:

Can local municipalities negotiate cable television rates for residents?

To the first question, no, local municipalities do not have the ability to set cable television rates for its customers, according to Leslie Suhr, director of public affairs for the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs.

Prior to rule change in 2015, some local and state governments could set the rate of basic cable, however, the cable provider could appeal that local rate setting to the FCC, according to Bloomberg News.

Those requests generally garnered support from the FCC, with the regulatory body approving all but four of the 224 requests it received between 2013 and June 2015, according to Bloomberg News.

Municipalities do, however, collect a local franchise fee.

This fee is equates to a maximum of 5 percent of the gross revenue for basic cable service within the municipality, according to Suhr, and is paid for the use of right-of-way on public land by the cable company.

These fees can generate a significant amount of money for the municipalities.

Carlisle is expected to collect more than $200,000 in 2016 and has collected more than $1 million from the local franchise fee since 2011, according to an audit associated with the boroughs 2016 budget.

Send us your questions

Need an answer? We can help.

The Sentinel wants to know what you have always wanted to know.

Whether its politics, crime, history or just something youve always been curious about, if you have questions, The Sentinel will look for the answer and provide it in our online blog and as a weekly feature in the Sentinel print edition.

Shoot us an email at frontdoor@cumberlink.com, call 240-7125 or stop by the office to submit your questions.

The best questions will be featured in weekly Asked/Answered columns online and in print.
New Delhi:

A row erupted today over Amitabh Bachchans participation in the second anniversary celebrations of NDA government here on May 28 with Congress targeting him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the light of the mega stars name figuring in the Panama Papers expose.

After Congresss chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala raised questions of propriety in Bachchan hosting the event and asked what signal would it send to the probe agencies, the actor was quoted as having said it would be actor R Madhavan, and not him, who would host the event and that he is scheduled to anchor only a segment on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.

The 73-year-old star also said that he does not think they (Congress) are aware that he was not hosting the event.

BJP came out in strong defence of Bachchan for his association with the event despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union Ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child and attacked Congress for its mental disability in fuelling a row.

Would it be fair? ....What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad illegally? What signal are you sending? when they see the Prime Minister sharing the dais with Bachchan, Surjewala told reporters.

Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star hosting the event which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others would not dilute the fight against black money.

He recalled that the Prime Minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those guilty.

BJP leader and Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchans name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no effect if he attends the event.

See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things.

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action, he said.

The actors son Abhishek Bachchan also hit back, saying his father is only part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child.

It is not a political event. He is part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child. Thats not a political event, Abhishek told reporters.

The Panama Papersbased on an investigation by over 100 news organisations around the worldis a global list revealing offshore links of over 500 Indians, including Amitabh. Amitabh has denied links with any of the offshore companies.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Members of the Cumberland York Area Local Defense Group (CYALDG) addressed the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners during a finance meeting Wednesday, requesting funding and other consideration from the board for the development of a military value strategic plan in Cumberland County.

The plan requested $50,000 in financial support from the county to aid local military-related activities, with the possibility of a multi-year commitment. These funds would combine with state funds recently awarded to CYALDG for completion of the plan, according to Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation (CAEDC) CEO Johnathan Bowser.

The plan would focus on military value analysis in the community, a competitive analysis of how the county ranks against other military communities, a list of strategies to enhance local military value, an assessment of infrastructure and a list of compatible land uses, while also emphasizing public-private partnerships and community-military partnerships

We really see our group as being that voice for all things military as it relates to our installations and making sure that the public understands the value of those installations (and) we also want to communicate the value of our community back to the military, Bowser said.

Bowser said CYALDG selected Michael Baker International, an international engineering firm based in Pittsburgh, for the project due to the firms understanding of the central Pennsylvania region and their divisions dedicated to military work throughout the country.

They work for a lot of other a lot of other installations too, other groups across the country said Carlisle Barracks and Army War College Commissioner Neil Delisanti. So it is like we are using the smart guys to get (comparative) information about other installations.

CYALDG was established in 2014 after members of CAEDC and the Pennsylvania Military Community Enhancement Commission joined to coordinate, advocate, develop and implement recommendations to enhance the military value of the installations in the area. These installations include the Carlisle Barracks (including the Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC), Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg and Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Center.

According to Bowser, the military value strategic plan was raised partially due to an anticipated continued reduction of military jobs  across all units  culminating in a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) expected to occur in 2019. Excess capacity in installations was also listed as anticipation, based on a 2016 capacity analysis report from the Department of Defense which revealed a 22 percent increase in installation capacity.

BRACs that occurred in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2005 resulted in $12.5 billion in annual reoccurring costs savings. A potential future BRAC may produce as much as $2 billion in annual reoccurring costs savings.

That has been a driver for why there is a continued push for a future BRAC, to look at continual cost savings and seeing that they would be able to capture some of that cost, Bowser said.

One thing that has been debated is a lot of the environmental issues you would have with clean up (after closing an installation) and with the remediation, Bowser added. So it has been somewhat challenged as to how real some of these cost savings are once you do calculate the cost that it takes to remediate and clean up some of these sites.

The presentation also addressed Pennsylvanias funding for military efforts compared to other states. During the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the state funded approximately $400,000 in BRAC efforts. Furthermore, Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed $798,000 in BRAC funding for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Other states, such as Texas and Maryland, announced military projects based on millions of dollars in funding, with Marylands project reaching $139 million in total funding.

It appears to me from these slides that we have a number of states in competition with us that have been very proactive in terms of funding infrastructure and improvements to facilitate the retention of their military, said County Commissioner Jim Hertzler. This is something that should certainly be on the front burner for all of our state legislators.

Some CYALDG members criticized state legislators urgency and foresight in addressing the funding issue.

(Pennsylvania) is not doing very much, Delisanti said. Our state is focused on what I consider to be minor issues that get a lot of press. They dont have the vision to look (ahead). If you look at just the three installations here in Cumberland County we are talking about, youre looking at around 7,700 jobs. That is pretty good if you look at the numbers (and) the salary thats there. (Those jobs) go away, and what happens here? What is the rippling effect of other things in the community because those folks arent there anymore? We cant get people to raise their gun sights up and down the road.

County Commissioner Gary Eichelberger mentioned the boards consistency in meeting with state legislators on the subject.

We do have a regular regimen of meeting with our state legislators, so we have been consistent for years now with putting this issue in front of our folks, Eichelberger said. They are aware of it. We seem to have the first layer of preparation done, but it is hard sometimes to digest the fact that we have been around this before and there should be lessons learned. It is a little frustrating because we should be a lot more together.
Two Virginia men are in Cumberland County Prison after a drug trafficking arrest Tuesday in Lower Allen Township.

Lower Allen Township Police said officers stopped a vehicle for speeding and equipment violations while it was traveling on Route 15 north in the area of Rossmoyne Road on Tuesday.

The officer who stopped the vehicle detected an odor of marijuana coming from inside the passenger compartment, police said. K9 Rocco was deployed and alerted on the vehicle, as well.

A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed several ounces of marijuana packaged for sale, as well as other distribution paraphernalia items and a loaded .25 handgun.

Deshaun White, 23, and Jarrod Daniel, 20, were arrested and arraigned. White was charged with firearms not to be carried without a license and possession with intent to deliver, and Daniel was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The two are in prison in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 1.
New legislation looks to make life easier on teachers married to members of the military.

House Bill 2078 would speed up the process for military spouses when transferring their teaching certification into Pennsylvania from out of state or out of country.

Pennsylvania is one of only eight states that doesnt allow for expedited review of licenses, said state Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill, a York County Republican. Pennsylvania also does not reduce the cost of the license.

Hills concept for the bill was born from a conversation she had several months ago with a concerned constituent. Marie Hyson, a teacher of more than 20 years who had originally obtained her teaching certificate in Pennsylvania, says she ran into roadblocks when returning home to the state after years traveling the world with her husband, Todd, a Marine.

When I came back to Pennsylvania, where we live in Red Lion, I looked into Maryland as well, and Maryland had made it very, very easy for me to move my certification straight into Maryland, Hyson said. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, made it very difficult.

Hyson, who had taught continuously at schools in North Carolina and California, along with 16 years as an elementary school teacher on a military base in Okinawa, Japan, would need to undergo retesting and pay expensive fees for the ability to teach in Pennsylvania again. Discouraged by the requirements, which included being tested in algebra, which she hadnt done in years, Hyson made the choice not to teach.

Were going to close that loophole, make it faster for our military spouses, our veterans spouses, Hill said, and were going to make it less expensive.

Hill quickly gained support from others in the General Assembly including Democrat Rep. Pam DeLissio, who co-sponsored HB 2078 and took the message to the state Department of Education.

We had no idea this was even an issue, Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said.

In a rare bipartisan effort to move legislation quickly, HB 2078 was passed unanimously by the House Education Committee on Monday. For Hyson, its a move in the right direction for all military spouses, often uprooted and forced to resettle in new states, seeking a teaching job.

Im very excited to see what this will do, and Im hoping this will help open doors that I can get back into the classroom because thats where my love is, Hyson said. Its working with our children in this great state, in this great country of ours.
Chemical additive Potassium bromate is carcinogenic: CSE Study

Published: May 25, 2016

As per recent study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), chemical additive Potassium bromate (KbrO3) widely prevalent in bread and refined flour is carcinogenic.

The test was conducted by CSEs Pollution Monitoring Laboratory. It has found that 84% of the samples were found to be laced with carcinogenic and thyroid triggering chemicals, such as Potassium Bromate and Potassium Iodate.

These chemicals content were found to be on the higher then permissible limit in the sandwich breads followed by white bread, pavs, pizza bread and burger buns.

Following this, national food regulator FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has decided to remove potassium bromate from the list of permitted additives.

How and Why Potassium bromate is used?

Potassium bromate used as chemical additive in food items in the form of white crystals or powder. It is added to aid baking process as it strengthens the bread dough in order to raise it higher.

The KbrO3 powder bleaches the bread dough and increases its elasticity by making tiny bubbles that help the bread rise.

In India, the legal permissible limit to add Potassium bromate as chemical additive in food is 50 parts per million (ppm). Its High dosages are harmful.

Evidence of Toxicity: A study conducted in Japan in 1982 has found that potassium bromate causes cancer. Following this, many countries including Japan, Australia, China and UK have banned it. Some studies also have showed that potassium bromate is a genotoxic carcinogen i.e. a chemical agent that can damage genetic information, causing mutations.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Food safety  FSSAI  Potassium bromate  Science and Technology  UPSC

Latest E-Books
India, World Bank ink US$ 100 million loan agreement for Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization

Published: May 25, 2016

India and World Bank have signed the Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US 100 million dollars for Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project.

Objective of the project: (i) Provide city-wide access to a continuous piped water supply in the eligible cities in Karnataka. (ii) Strengthen the service delivery arrangements at the city level. KUIDFC is the nodal implementing agency for the project.

The project has four broad components: (i) Capital Investment Program (ii) Technical Assistance for Sector Development (iii) Institution Building and (iv) Project Management.

Key facts

The project will be implemented initially in the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad over a period of six years, and other eligible cities will join the project later.

Under it, Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation has hired a professional water supply operating company for improving the water supply system.

The municipality will retain its ownership over the water supply assets and shall also control of the service delivery set up.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Current Affairs 2016  india-world bank  Karnataka

Latest E-Books
Lawmaker says classified details of Irans capture and treatment of U.S. Navy sailors will truly shock the nation

(NationalSecurity.news) A member of the House Armed Services Committee says that when the American people find out how U.S. Navy sailors captured and briefly detained by Iranian naval forces last year were treated, they will be shocked and upset.

In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., said that the details of the encounter remain classified but that he and other panel members had recently been briefed about it. The details are currently being withheld from release by the Obama administration, which has been roundly criticized for its nuclear deal with Iran. Recent reports noted that high-ranking administration officials mislead the media over specifics regarding the deal.

Forbes hinted that it may be a year or more before details of the Iranian encounter are fully released to the American public, in which several U.S. sailors were captured at gunpoint.

Ive had a full classified briefing from military officials, Forbes told the WFB. It could be as long as a year before we actually get that released.

Details of the abduction are likely to start an uproar in the nation and call into question the Obama administrations handling of the incident, which many experts say violated international and maritime law, the news site noted.

I think that when the details actually come out, most Americans are going to be kind of taken aback by the entire incident, both how Iran handled it and how we handled it, Forbes said. I think thats going to be huge cause for concern for most Americans. Thats why Ive encouraged members of Congress to get that briefing so they do know exactly what did take place.

In recent days the Pentagon sacked the Navy officer who was supervising the two fast boats captured by the Iranians. Foreign Policy reported that Cmdr. Eric Rasch, who was the executive officer for Coastal Riverine Squadron 3, which included the boats that sailed into Irans territorial waters on Jan. 12, will be reassigned to another post, the Navy said in a statement. Rasch was removed due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command, it said; such outcomes often spell the end of a military career.

Protect your liberty with freedom food  Click here

Forbes hinted that Irans treatment of American sailors, which included a video of one sailor crying and forcing all of them to apologize at gunpoint, was probably much worse than what has been reported publicly.

I think clearly there were violations of international and maritime law that took place here, Forbes said. We [the United States] did almost nothing in response, in fact, to have Secretary [of State John] Kerry actually thank them for releasing our sailors after they way they captured them, I think was a slap in the sailors face.

For his part Forbes is pushing a new measure that would bolster sanctions on Tehran for its treatment of the U.S. sailors in order to hold Iran accountable for its aggressive behavior.

Reports at the time said one of the two U.S. Navy riverine craft broke down while transiting the Persian Gulf and as the crews tried to repair it they were surrounded by small Iranian navy craft.

The administration will not stand up and say this is just wrong, Forbes told the WFB. Instead of thanking them the administration should be standing up and saying its wrong.

In response, Congress has to take bold action to hold Iran accountable for its aggressive military behavior, Forbes said.

These kind of actions undermine stability in the Gulf, he said. And they raise the danger of inadvertent escalation.

More:

NationalSecurity.news is part of the USA Features Media network. Check out all our daily headlines here.

Submit a correction >>
State legislators and Connecticut residents have added their voices to the chorus of critics calling for a more thorough review of two proposed insurance company mergers.

On Wednesday, the Connecticut Campaign for Consumer Choice and state Rep. Gregg Haddad, D-Mansfield, released a letter to state Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade from 17 legislators concerned that merging companies may have a negative impact on both the cost and quality of care in Connecticut.

The letter was sparked by the proposed acquisition of Bloomfield-based Cigna Health Insurance by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and of the Humana insurance company by Hartford-based Aetna.

Neither merger is final, and the state insurance department is slated to have a public hearing on the Anthem-Cigna deal in the near future. Though Aetna, like Cigna, is based in Connecticut, the public hearing on that merger wont take place here because Humana doesnt participate in the states insurance market.

In the letter, the legislators urged that the review of both deals allow the public maximum opportunity to share their views about this merger.

In a conference call Wednesday morning, Haddad called for multiple public hearings, to increase the odds that people could attend.

Its not enough to have a single hearing held in the middle of the day, he said.

Premium prospects

Haddad said nearly every legislator has constituents who work in the insurance industry, so the possibility of job losses from the mergers is a major worry.

Were very concerned about what this merger means to our constituents and our economy, he said.

The Campaign for Consumer Choice also released a poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, showing many state residents werent aware of the possible mergers. Only 27 percent of the 834 Connecticut voters polled said they knew the five major national health insurance companies were attempting to merge down to three.

After being told by pollsters that the mergers would likely increase insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs, do nothing to improve quality of care and will limit your choices of doctors, hospitals and insurance plans, those surveyed were asked if they were concerned about the proposed mergers. Eighty-nine percent said they were either very concerned or somewhat concerned.

In an email, Department of Insurance spokeswoman Donna Tommelleo detailed the review process, which includes looking at possible corporate structure changes and financial information. She also cited the Insurance Company Holding Act, which requires the department to approve any merger, except under certain conditions  for instance, if it would substantially lessen insurance competition in Connecticut and/or create a monopoly.

Anthems acquisition of Cigna was approved by shareholders late last year. Aetnas and Humanas shareholders approved their deal a few months later. The $54 billion Cigna deal raised eyebrows, as Wade was previously a Cigna vice president and her husband is now an associate chief counsel for the company. The Aetna deal has also grabbed headlines recently, as the companys CEO announced at a recent shareholders meeting that there was no guarantee the company would stay in Connecticut.

Calls for transparency

The letter and the poll are the latest salvos against the two proposed mergers fired by the Connecticut Campaign for Consumer Choice. Formed in March, the group comprises members of the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group and the Connecticut State Medical Society. Members of these groups were also on Wednesdays call, and they continued to call for more transparency on the merger process.

The critics took a dim view of the fact that the public hearing on the Aetna-Humana deal wouldnt take place in Connecticut. Given that the merger would affect so many state residents, it seemed crucial to have a public hearing in the state, said Tom Swan, executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group.
/ contributed photo

NEWTOWN - A physical education teacher at Newtown High School whose initiatives brought students of all abilities closer together was named Teacher of the Year, the district announced Wednesday.

Kathleen Davey, a 17-year veteran at the high school, was behind initiatives that helped students with intellectual disabilities form friendships with mainstream students, according to a release.
On behalf of tens of thousands of women across Connecticut, who deserve access to quality diagnostics and health care, we urge you to sign into law HB5233, An Act Concerning Health Insurance Coverage for Tomosynthesis for Breast Cancer Screenings.

In considering this bill in committee and throughout the 2016 General Assembly Session, lawmakers learned that tomosynthesis, or three-dimensional mammography, saves lives by providing doctors with better and more accurate images to diagnose breast cancers. Indeed, the new technology is so much improved over two-dimensional images that it nearly eliminates false positives and the need for additional imaging.
NGT bans light and heavy diesel vehicles over 10 years in six major cities of Kerala

Published: May 25, 2016

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Circuit Bench of Kochi has banned light and heavy diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old in six major cities of Kerala.

These six major cities are: Thiruvananthapuram (state capital), Kochi (commercial capital), Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Order in this regard was given by the NGT Circuit Bench comprising NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar and expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan.

The bench issued the order while hearing a petition filed by Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) which had sought action against highly polluting diesel vehicles such as trucks and buses.

Besides, NGT also directed

State government not to register any diesel vehicle in the capacity of 2000 CC and more, except public transport and local authority vehicles.

If any vehicle is found to be violating this direction, it shall pay 5000 rupees as environmental compensation.

The compensation will be collected by pollution control board (PCB) or traffic police and they shall maintain separate account.

These funds should be utilized for betterment of environment in these cities.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Air pollution  Environment  Kerala  NGT

Latest E-Books
Addition of 4,870 acre Colorado Project to increase Fish Lake Valley lithium brine portfolio to 18,552 contiguous acres

Addition of 2,240 Acre San Emidio Project 100 km NE of Reno - home to Tesla's Gigafactory, to increase total Nevada lithium brine portfolio to 20,790 acres

Company has assembled the largest contiguous land position in Fish Lake Valley , Esmeralda County, Nevada

VANCOUVER, May 24, 2016 /CNW/ - American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: Li) ("American Lithium" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding share capital of 1067323 B.C. Ltd. ("1067323"), an arm's-length privately-held British Columbia based mineral exploration company. At the closing of the acquisition, the Company's total Nevada lithium brine portfolio will increase to 20,790 acres (8,413 hectares), including 18,552 contiguous acres (7,508 hectares) in Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County, and 2,240 acres (907 hectares) in Washoe County.

1067323 holds the rights to acquire a series of 193 placer and 44 lode claims, over 4,870 acres (1971 hectares) in Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada (the "Colorado Property"). Additionally, 1067323 holds the rights to acquire the San Emidio property ("San Emidio Property"), representing a series of twenty-eight (28) placer claims, over 2,240 acres (907 hectares) in Washoe County, Nevada. The Company will issue 6,000,000 common shares to acquire all of the outstanding share capital of 1067323.

American Lithium CEO, Mike Kobler commented, "In acquiring the Colorado and San Emidio properties, we have increased our Nevada portfolio of highly prospective lithium brine projects to over 20,000 acres. The acquisition of the Colorado property completes our Fish Lake Valley acquisition strategy at 18,550 contiguous acres and positions American Lithium as the dominant claim holder in this important lithium brine basin. The acquisition of the San Emidio property located in north Nevada now moves us to the next stage of our strategy as we begin to diversify our asset base by identifying and acquiring the best lithium properties in the state." Mr. Kobler continued, "The San Emidio property was the focus of extensive exploration programs carried out over a four year period including a gravity geophysical survey completed in 2011, which indicates that an earlier discovered near surface lithium brine anomaly occurs on the west side of a basinal low. The proximity to a feature of this nature and the presence of lithium in the brines are criteria that are necessary for the formation of a Silver Peak style lithium brine deposit."

San Emidio Project

Project generator Lithium Corporation completed exploration programs on the San Emidio property from 2009 to 2012, including sediment and brine geochemical studies, gravity geophysics, and two phases of direct push drilling. Anomalous lithium values were detected during the brine sampling program with assays ranging from trace to the highest lithium value of 80 mg/L. The gravity survey defined a basinal depression proximal to the San Emidio lithium in brine anomaly, similar to that seen in the area of the producing brine field in Clayton Valley, which is a direct analog of the San Emidio prospect. The direct push drilling confirmed the presence of lithium in the brines and outlined a lithium-in-brine anomaly approximately 1 km wide, and more than 5 km long, within which anomalous lithium enriched brines with concentrations ranging from trace up to 23.7 mg/L were encountered at depths ranging from 24 to 39 meters subsurface. As is the case at Clayton Valley, lithium concentrations in brines at San Emidio may be reasonably be expected to increase at depth.

To acquire an eighty (80%) interest in the San Emidio Property, 1067323 is required to make payments of cash and common shares, and incur exploration expenditures, as follows:

An initial cash payment of US$100,000 .

. Incurring exploration expenditures of not less than US$600,000 , consisting of US$100,000 on or before the first anniversary, an additional US$200,000 on or before the second anniversary, and an additional US$300,000 on or before the third anniversary.

, consisting of on or before the first anniversary, an additional on or before the second anniversary, and an additional on or before the third anniversary. Issuing 300,000 common shares of the Company, with 100,000 common shares issuable following the acquisition of 1067323, 100,000 common shares issuable on or before the first anniversary, and 100,000 common shares issuable on or before the second anniversary.

Once 1067323 has earned an eighty (80%) interest in the San Emidio Property, it can acquire the balance of the property, subject to a two-and-one-half (2.5%) percent net smelter returns royalty, through the payment of US$1,000,000.

Colorado Property

To acquire a one-hundred (100%) interest in the Colorado Property, subject to a one (1.0%) percent net smelter returns royalty, 1067323 is required make the following cash and common share payments:

An initial cash payment of C$200,000 (paid).

(paid). Issuing 400,000 common shares of the Company following the acquisition of 1067323.

All securities issued in connection with the acquisition of 1067323, the San Emidio Property and the Colorado Property, will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. Closing of the acquisition of 1067323 remains subject to a number of conditions, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and such other conditions as are customary in transactions of this nature.

Michael Collins, P.Geo. is the Company's designated Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

ABOUT American Lithium Corp.

American Lithium Corp. is actively engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of lithium deposits within mining-friendly jurisdictions throughout the Americas. American Lithium holds options to acquire Nevada lithium brine claims totaling 20,790 acres (8,413 hectares), including 18,552 acres (7,508 hectares) in Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County, and the 2,240 acre (907 hectare) San Emidio Project in Washoe County. The Company's Fish Lake Valley lithium brine properties are located approximately 38 kilometers from Albemarle's Silver Peak, the largest lithium operation in the U.S., approximately 3.5 hours from the Tesla Gigafactory. American Lithium is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol "Li". For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.americanlithiumcorp.com.

On behalf of the Board,

American Lithium Corp.

Michael Kobler, Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE American Lithium Corp

For further information: contact Michael Kobler at [email protected]
TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Canada Bread Company, Limited today announced plans to close its bakery in North Bay, Ontario on August 5, 2016. Products made at the North Bay bakery can be produced at other bakeries in Ontario and Quebec where there is available capacity with improved speed and efficiency.

"Our industry is under mounting competitive pressure to become more efficient and this means we have to make very difficult decisions," said Jennifer Park, Vice President, Operations, Canada Bread. "While this is the business reality, it is hard to make the necessary changes, particularly in a community where we have such a strong presence. We are doing everything possible to ease the impact on our people."

Affected associates will receive severance packages, as well as personal counselling and ongoing outplacement services and workshops. They will also be encouraged to seek employment at other Canada Bread facilities.

We expect to gradually wind-down operations in North Bay with the transfer of production to our other facilities and will cease production on August 5, 2016. The majority of production will be consolidated at Canada Bread's bakeries in Ontario and Quebec.

The bakery in North Bay is a 30,000 square-foot facility that employs approximately 62 associates. The bakery produces buns, rolls and sliced breads.

About Canada Bread

Canada Bread Company, Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo since May, 2014, is a leading producer and distributor of packaged fresh bread and bakery products with brands such as Dempster's, Villaggio, POM, Bon Matin, Ben's, Healthy Way, McGavins and Vachon. In business for more than 100 years, the Company operates 19 bakeries and employs approximately 4,500 associates across Canada. It distributes its products through a network of more than 1,200 routes operated by more than 1,150 independent operators and some Corporate Associates. For more information, please visit www.canadabread.com.

SOURCE Canada Bread Company, Limited

For further information: To coordinate an interview with a Canada Bread spokesperson on Wednesday, May 25, please contact: Sylvia Sicuso, Communications Manager, 416-626-4316/647-273-1162, [email protected]
World Bank launches Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility

Published: May 25, 2016

The World Bank has launched Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility (FEP) to help countries and health agencies fight deadly disease outbreaks.

FEP is a financing mechanism designed to quickly mobilize funds to tackle global disease outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk.

It was unveiled at the G-7 Finance Ministers Summit held in Ise-Shima, Japan. Japanese Government has committed to donate $50 million dollars to it, becoming the first donor.

Key facts

It was designed and built by World Bank in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the private sector reinsurance companies etc.

PEF is meant to work almost like an insurance policy, but it will be mainly to protect against deadly disease outbreaks by ensuring surge funding to response efforts.

The funding will be disbursed according to a complex trigger mechanism and activation criteria based on four categories of infectious diseases.

It will provide coverage up to US 500 million dollars for outbreaks of infectious diseases most likely to cause major epidemics for an initial period of 3 years.

The major epidemics covered under PEF include new influenza pandemic virus A, B and C, MERS, SARS, Ebola, Crimean Congo, Marburg, Rift Valley, Lassa fever, etc.

The insurance window under it will combine the funding from the reinsurance markets with the proceeds of catastrophe or Cat bonds (World Bank issued pandemic bonds) as well as a complementary cash window.

It will be for the first time World Bank Cat Bonds will be used to combat infectious diseases.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Congo Fever  Diseases  G7  Japan  Public health  UPSC  World Bank

Latest E-Books
For the second time in one month, United Kingdom and Australia yesterday jointly deported 40 Nigerians for various immigration offences.

For the second time in one month, United Kingdom and Australia yesterday jointly deported 40 Nigerians for various immigration offences.The deportees comprising male and female arrived at the hajj camp area of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 7:25am with chartered aircraft.Information gathered by our correspondent indicated that chartered aircraft with the registration number ZTA -4741 repatriated into the country 36 Nigerians comprising 29 males and seven females.Also, Air Seychelles with the registration number SND-1 brought four males into the country for similar immigration offences.Apart from Nigerians that were deported by the two countries, some citizens of Africa especially from Ghana, Liberia and Egypt were equally deported alongside the Nigerians.The returnees were received by various agencies such as Immigration that checked their identities to ascertain their nationalities, Police, National Agency for Protection and Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, and other relevan t stakeholders.A source close to the terminal who didnt want his name in print told our correspondents that some of the deportees were violent when officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, attached to the international wing of the airport attempted to collect their fingerprints for data purpose.The source told our correspondent that others who didnt kick against the fingerprinting were swiftly attended to by the officers and were allowed to leave the airport after the completion of their documentations.When our correspondent visited the hajj and cargo terminal where the deportees used as exit, they wore sombre look and refused to speak with our correspondent.Some of them waited for any available means to get out of the airport without attracting much attention to themselves while others talked in trickles.The deportees it was gathered were returned from their host countries for overstaying their visas and other immigration offences.The Public Relations Officer, NIS, Mr. Ekpedeme King confirmed the deportation with our correspondent on phone, but could not give much details.He said that the service was still awaiting more information from its Lagos office as at the time of filing in this report.Sometime in April, 48 Nigerians were jointly deported by UK and Switzerland Governments for several residing in their countries illegally.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed the appeal that was lodged before it by the detained leader of the Indigenou...





The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed the appeal that was lodged before it by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.Kanu and two other pro-Biafra agitators, David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu, had gone before the appellate court to challenge what they termed strange procedure adopted in their trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.The trio who are answering to a six-count treason charge the federal government preferred against them, in their consolidated appeal, alleged bias against trial Justice John Tsoho who not only declined to grant them bail, but also permitted the prosecution to shield the identity of eight witnesses billed to testify in the matter.Justice Tsoho had equally rejected application praying him to discharge and acquit the three defendants in line with section 351(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.Meantime, in a unanimous judgment on Wednesday, a three-man panel of Justices of the appellate court led by Justice Abdul Aboki, dismissed th defendants appeal as grossly lacking in merit.The appellate court further declined to order the release of the defendants on bail on the premise that allegations against them are grievous and serious.Justice Aboki who read the lead judgment, said it was not in doubt the 1st defendant, Kanu, has dual citizenship.He said Kanus possession of both Nigerian and British passports increased the likelihood that he could jump bail if released from detention.On the procedure adopted by the trial court, the appeal court panel maintained that Justice Tsoho had the discretion to decide how the proceeding should be conducted.The lower court has the power to exercise its discretion on the matter and the exercise of such discretion by the trial judge did not amount to denial of fair hearing to the defendants.The issues are resolved against the appellants. Ruling of the trial court is hereby upheld, the appellate court held.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Wednesday adjourned the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki, till June 1, to enable defence con...

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Wednesday adjourned the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki, till June 1, to enable defence continue cross examination of the first prosecution witness.Saraki is standing trial at the CCT on a 16-count charge of allegations bordering on false asset declaration and money laundry prepared against him by the Federal Government.He had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.Earlier, the prosecution witness, Mr Micheal Wetkas, told the tribunal that Sarakis name did not appear on the title document of any of the properties in Maitama District, Abuja.Wetkas, who was cross examined by the defence counsel Paul Usoro (SAN), said the properties located at Plot 2481 Cadastral Zone and 2482 Cadastral Zone were allegedly owned by Saraki.He said the Commission believed that the property belong to the defendant because when his wife Toyin Saraki was invited to the commission for questioning she confirmed to EFCC that the company, Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited which bought the property belonged to her husband.He also told the tribunal that the Power of Attorney of the properties was made in 1992, 10 years before Saraki became governor of Kwara.He said the Power of Attorney was issued in the name of one David Baba Akawo and Allied Properties Ltd.He, however, admitted that Saraki name did not appear on any of the documents relating to the transactions on the property.Even though the document came in the name of Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited, we believed that the properties belong to the defendant because the company belongs to him.NAN reports that there was a mild drama when the lead defence counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), asked the court for an adjournment.The request was opposed by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), insisting that the defence had spent 10 days cross examining one witness.However, a member of the tribunal Mr Emmanuel Atedze, urged Jacobs to be considerate and fair to the bench.He reminded Jacobs that the court had to wait additional one hour for him and his witness before they arrived.Rotimi, however, explained that his witness had been in the box for 11 days, saying it was the longest cross examination he had ever witnessed.Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, adjourned hearing in the case till June 1 for continuation of cross examination.
There is tension in the Ekiti State civil service over the five month salary arrears owed workers. The workers are also aggrieved over...

There is tension in the Ekiti State civil service over the five month salary arrears owed workers.The workers are also aggrieved over governments failure to pay last December deductions.The state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC) have issued another 48-hour ultimatum to the government to pay the December deductions or face an industrial action.Labour had last Tuesday issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to pay deductions or face a strike but this was overshadowed by the national strike called by NLC, which began last Wednesday.The workers are angry with the labour leaders for giving preference to agitation for deductions rather than the salary arrears.The December 2015 salary was paid to workers in March but only the net was paid without deductions to cooperatives, check off dues to unions, among other miscellaneous payment totaling N512 million.The state TUC boss, Odunayo Adesoye, told reporters that labour leaders are meeting at press time to discuss what would be the next line of action, consequent upon another 48 hours ultimatum issued to the governor to comply with the early demand.Some workers, who pleaded for anonymity, slammed labour leaders for taking it easy with the government when many of them had turned to beggars.But a worker, who identified himself as Ojo Ajewole, said: The labour leaders are no longer representing our interest but only fighting for their own benefit.How can they be requesting for the payment of only deduction in December salary when five months salaries have not been paid. This is unheard of. They are advocating for the payment of deductions, so that check off dues to unions can be paid for their own enjoyment, he alleged.Adesoye described the allegation as unfounded, saying only N12 million of the aggregate of the deductions will go to trade unions and their affiliates.He said: What we are advocating for is the payment of the deductions, so that cooperative societies will be viable enough to lend money to workers to confront the present hardship.We were at the meeting for the sharing of the last state allocation, where we agreed that subventions to the State University, College of Education and College of Science and Technology, Ijero-Ekiti should be paid, while the next allocation will be for the payment of other workers.We were in that meeting, we participated, we knew the financial position of the state and it was difficult for us to turn around and fight the government on why salaries are not paid.The main reason why we issued ultimatum to government on deduction was that, we agreed at the meeting that all deductions on December salary be paid and on that we stand.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has demanded explanation from Governor Ayo Fayose over his alleged involvement in the ...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has demanded explanation from Governor Ayo Fayose over his alleged involvement in the sale of a land to former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd).The party challenged Fayose to explain to Ekiti people how he got N650million to purchase the land allegedly transferred to Badeh, who is standing trial over alleged fraud in property acquisition in Abuja.The opposition insisted that Fayoses response becomes imperative, following his alleged refusal to declare his assets publicly.A witness in Badehs trial, Mustapha Yerima, on Monday in a Federal High Court, Abuja, testified that Fayose was the owner of a N650million land that variously changed hands, landing finally in the laps of the former Chief of Defence Staff.In a statement in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the partys Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said Ekiti people would want to know the details of the governors properties and how he acquired them in the face of several allegations of illegal fund transfers.Fayose has refused to tell Ekiti people the details of his assets after he was sworn in and of course we have been vindicated in our claim that the governor was involved in the arms purchase fraud through which billions of naira was ferried to Ekiti to rig his election.This is also a confirmation of alleged keeping of billions of Naira in alleged specially-designed safe made in South Africa where proceeds of frauds are kept in Afao-Ekiti.Olatunbosun also accused the governor of callousness and insincerity in the treatment of Ekiti people, particularly workers, who he owed five months salaries.He urged the EFCC to beam its searchlight on Fayoses activities and investigate the states finances, as the governor had allegedly received funds on behalf of the state that could not be traced to any account.
A prosecution witness and contractor, Mr. Mustapha Yerima, on Tuesday told a Federal High Court in Abuja, how he attempted to cover up a f...

A prosecution witness and contractor, Mr. Mustapha Yerima, on Tuesday told a Federal High Court in Abuja, how he attempted to cover up a former Chief of Air Staff, Alex Badehs ownership of a shopping mall in Abuja valued at N1.8bn.He told Justice Okon Abang that he spilled the beans and declared Badeh as the true owner of the property after the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission confronted him with chilling evidence.The EFCC is prosecuting Badeh alongside a firm, Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on 10 counts of money laundering involving an alleged fraudulent removal of about N3.97bn from the Nigerian Air Forces account.The anti-graft agency accused Badeh of using the fund to buy and develop landed assets in Abuja for himself and his two sons between January and December 2013.Yerima, a contractor who said he built the property for Badeh, is the fourth prosecution witness in the ex-Air Force chiefs ongoing trial. He had commenced his testimony on Monday, telling the court how Badeh purchased the land on which the mall was constructed.Yerima also said Badeh made further payments to his company, Right Builders Limited, for the construction of the mall through third parties as well as from the account of the Nigerian Air Force, putting the total value of the property, inclusive of the worth of the land, at N1.8bn.Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the witness said on Tuesday that at the stage when he was putting finishing touches on the construction of the property, some operatives of the EFCC invaded the site of the project located along Aminu Kano Crescent, Abuja.He said the EFCC operatives invaded the premises on the assumption that the property belonged to the ex-National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), who was then under investigation and now being prosecuted on charges of diversion of funds meant for procurement of arms.He said at that time, a former Director of Finance and Account of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Aliyu Yishau (retd.), who was serving as the middle man between him and Badeh and overseeing the project, had retired and had handed over the coordination of the project to ex-Air Force chiefs son, Alex Badeh (Jnr.).Yishau, who was the first prosecution witness (PW1), had testified about how he allegedly helped Badeh to divert N558.2m from the account of the NAF monthly for more than 13 months.He had also testified earlier that Badeh bought a house at 19 Kumasi Crescent, Wuse II for Alex Badeh (Jnr.) for N260m, with N60m spent to renovate it, while N90m was expended in furnishing the property.While testifying on April 27, 2016, Yishau had also said Badeh bought another N320m house in Abuja for his last son, 28-year-old Kam.Yishau had also told the court how he helped Badeh to use the proceeds of the alleged monthly diversion of N558.2m to develop several other landed assets, including a shopping mall in Abuja worth N1.8bn.Yerima, the fourth prosecution witness, added on Tuesday that at the time the EFCC operatives visited the site of the shopping mall, he handed over all documents, including the deed of assignment and power of attorney relating to the property, to one Mr. Timothy Muje, who was introduced to him by Yishau as Badehs lawyer.The witness said when the EFCC operatives visited the site of the mall, Yishau, Muje and the younger Badeh asked him to tell the EFCC operatives that the mall belonged to his (Yerimas) company, Right Builders Limited.But he said he had to confess that the true owner of the property who was Badeh, when the EFCC operatives confronted him with chilling documents.Justice Abang adjourned the trial till June 14, 15 and 16, for the cross-examination of the witness by the defence lawyers.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has denied ever saying as the then Governor of Lagos State that if...

Fashola, who was speaking during a programme on the Nigerian Television Authority Network on Tuesday, which was monitored by NE, urged those crediting the statement to him to stop peddling falsehood.The minister challenged anyone with a recording of where he had boasted that he could provide regular electricity to Nigerians within six months to publish such, insisting that he had only promised that he could supply a community in the Lekki area of Lagos with power from an Independent Power Project in the state within six months with the permission to do so.He said, I have heard that I said that electricity problem will be solved in six months. I have never made the statement. Anybody who has a video of where I said this should please make it public. The point I made was when I was handing over the Lekki IPP because we had about 10 megawatts of power there.
First civilian governor of Lagos State Lateef Jakande yesterday said he was pleased with the governments efforts to provide quality edu...

First civilian governor of Lagos State Lateef Jakande yesterday said he was pleased with the governments efforts to provide quality education.Jakande, whose administration from 1979 to 1983 provided free primary and secondary education and built over 300,000 classrooms, said he was satisfied that the seed he sowed had blossomed.Addressing pupils of Unique Blossom School, Ikorodu, during a visit to his Ilupeju, Lagos home, he said: I must commend the Lagos State government for carrying on the battle.Akinwunmi Ambode, who succeeded Babatunde Fashola, has been carrying on the work which he did and I must say Im very happy that the seed I sowed has germinated into a big tree.Jakande advised the pupils to obey their teachers and follow their hearts.The future is yours. Nigeria is a great country and there is hope for every child, he added.The children, who were led by the proprietress, Mrs Abimbola Animasaun and several teachers, presented the former governor a portrait done by one of their teachers.Mrs. Animasaun said the excursion was motivated by the childrens quest to know the person behind Lagos landmarks, such as Jakande Estate and Jakande Bus Stop, among others.So, I said since Baba is alive, they should see him for themselves and have memories thatll last them for a lifetime, she added.During the question and answer session, a pupil, Ademiji Theophilus, asked the 86-year-old if he would accept a political appointment.Laughing, Jakande replied: At my age, I can only counsel the Buhari government.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to drop manual conduct of voting in 2019 general elections, it was learnt ye...

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to drop manual conduct of voting in 2019 general elections, it was learnt yesterday.Its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this during a meeting with executives of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs), who visited him at the commissions headquarters in Abuja.Prof. Yakubu noted that the commission was working to replacing the manual process with modern technology in the conduct of local elections.He said: We can no longer continue to conduct elections manually in Nigeria. We must introduce modern technology as being done in other countries. Very soon, the use of technology for the conduct of local elections in the country will be mandatoryIt will make the process transparent and very open as it should be. The use of smart card, otherwise known as Card Reader machine, has come to stay, though it requires a lot of resources. We see we can do it because it adds value and more credibility to the electoral process in the country. Some states have been using it in the conduct of their elections. We are seeing how we can make it to go round, he added.He assured the SIECs of the commissions collaboration during his tenure as part of efforts to deepen democracy.We will continue to collaborate and cooperate with SEICs and other organisations in improving election management in the country, he added.The forums chairperson, Mrs. Gloria Ukpong, who is also the chairperson of the Akwa Ibom State SIEC, said the forum could learn from INEC chairman.We had great and beautiful memory under the former commission and we want the relationship to continue. We can learn many things from the commission under you and take them to our states.The introduction of Card Readers at the national level is a welcome development. Only Sokoto State had implemented it. It allows for more transparency.If we use the same voters register to conduct elections at the state levels, why cant we come together for discussion on how we can also be using the Card Readers. It requires a lot of resources, which the states may not be able to bear the cost, she said.
The Central High School Class of 2016 will be graduating on Thursday with commencement exercises beginning at 7 p.m. in the schools T.J. Foulon Fieldhouse.

Principal Brad Coleman and Class President Jake Bridges will be delivering the opening remarks after the processional of graduates into the fieldhouse. The concert choir will sing "We're All In This Together, followed by the announcement of those students going into the military and awards and scholarships earned by graduating seniors.

Nina Russell, class salutatorian, will give an address, followed by Valedictorian Kaitlyn Moore.

Russell was recently accepted into the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine for its six-year bachelors degree-M.D. degree program. Out of more than 1,000 applicants nationally, only 115 students were accepted into this prestigious program.

Coleman will be presenting the Class of 2016 prior to the awarding of diplomas by members of the Central Board of Education.

Three graduates, Jonathan Goheen, Heather Dickinson and Kaitlyn Moore, have also already graduated with an associate degree from Mineral Area College.

They graduated (from MAC) on May 12, which was our prom day, said Coleman. All three of those students had plans when they entered this high school and knew we had the Jump Start program with MAC. They all three wanted their associates degrees.

Jonathan  is featured in the MAC newsletter this month because hes the first high school student in the area to graduate with a technical degree in electrical engineering. His plans are to go to Missouri S & T (Missouri University of Science and Technology) to further his education. So were real proud of him.

Kaitlyn Moore wants to be a history teacher and I think she wants to stay in the area. And then our third one, Heather Dickinson, shes been accepted into evangelical college and shes looking to go into the ministry.

In addition to graduating from both Central and MAC all three are in our top 10 percent of this class, said Coleman. Kaitlyn Moore is our valedictorian.  Its an impressive group of students who have worked hard to achieve high levels.

Centrals baccalaureate service will be held this evening at 6 p.m. in the fieldhouse.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, today (Wednesday), signed the Memorandum of Understanding with investor on the much talked about...





Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, today (Wednesday), signed the Memorandum of Understanding with investor on the much talked about construction of the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge project.Lagos State Government had recently marked no fewer than 800 structures and shanties for relocation to allow for the construction of the project.Earlier Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, disclosed that: Previously, we had 10 alignments but we have narrowed it down to one and the reason was that most of the past alignments we had could lead to the relocation of over 3000 structures and shanties, but with the alignments we have now, it would not take more than 800 structures and changes.This was one of the things we were doing in-house on the project. From the new alignments, Johnson said the bridge would traverse from Ajah to North-West direction towards the lagoon shoreline to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu, noting that The approximate length of the road/bridge is 37.9 Km with a design speed of 140 km.The significant and value of the proposed construction lies in its capacity to rapidly decongest traffic within Lekki Corridor and redistribute traffic towards Lagos Mainland which serves to meet increased future road infrastructure demands as well as complement the on-going efforts in meeting up with megacity status for Lagos State.
Negotiations over Jose Mourinho's image rights are delaying him becoming the new Manchester United manager.

United do not use Mourinho's name against the exhaustive list of items that Chelsea have registered - from aftershaves to mobile phones.

United pay Chelsea for a licence so they can use Mourinho's name on club merchandise

United ask Mourinho to buy the trademark back

United challenge trademark if they can prove it has not been used by Chelsea

Negotiations over Jose Mourinho's image rights are delaying him becoming the new Manchester United manager.Mourinho is expected to replace sacked Louis van Gaal, with talks ongoing between his agent Jorge Mendes and United officials.But it has emerged that Chelsea still own the 'Jose Mourinho' name as a trademark - meaning United may need to pay a six-figure sum for the rights.However, the issue will not scupper any deal, which is expected this week.Discussions will now enter a third day, despite the deal to bring the 53-year-old former Chelsea boss to Old Trafford being largely complete. On Wednesday, Mourinho told waiting reporters at his home in London that he was going to Portugal.Chelsea registered both the name Jose Mourinho and his signature as a European trademark in 2005, meaning they can use it to sell merchandise such as toiletries, technology, clothing and jewellery.Sports lawyer Carol Couse told BBC Sport it was "really unusual" for an individual not to own the trademark to their own name."Chelsea could be earning revenue every time someone uses Mourinho's name. It could prevent United from exploiting his signature," said Couse, of law firm Mills & Reeve."One of the things United will be looking to acquire is not only Mourinho's image but also his name."If United had a brand of Mourinho clothing it would be in breach of the trademark Chelsea currently own."Mourinho cannot override the trademark, so the options are:"That would be pretty costly," said Couse, who estimated the fee for a licence as "hundreds of thousands of pounds"."Look at the value of the deals that have been done for Mourinho to date. What would be the value of a Jose Mourinho watch?"He has managed Inter and Real since then. They have either acquired the rights from Chelsea or managed the use of his name."If Chelsea didn't grant a licence, every time United used Jose Mourinho's name in a commercial capacity against those products, Chelsea could sue Manchester United. I would suspect United would rather just pay a licence fee."(BBC)
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has agreed personal terms with Manchester United, according to reports.Lawyers for both parties are still in negotiations over a number of image rights issues, which must be resolved before a contract can be signed.The length of Mourinho's contract and his salary have now been agreed after positive talks between United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and Mourinho's agent, Jorge Mendes.However, dialogue is ongoing regarding the image rights conflicts, and it remains unclear whether or not these issues will be concluded in time for Mourinho to put pen to paper on his contract on Wednesday.Both United and Mourinho are tied to numerous commercial partnerships, and must pay careful consideration to the pre-existing commitments to their respective sponsors when Mourinho becomes United's manager.There is common ground for Mourinho and United in their respective deals with adidas. The incoming United manager is a global ambassador for the kit suppliers, whose 750m, 10-year deal with United, came into effect in 2015.
Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has described members of the Niger Delta Avengers as criminals. Gen. Buratai admonished the ...

Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has described members of the Niger Delta Avengers as criminals.Gen. Buratai admonished the communities to expose Niger Delta Avengers members who have been bombing pipelines and other oil installations.The army chief spoke on Monday night in an interview with reporters at the 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, after the inauguration of soldiers accommodation and 500 KVA generator, donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).Gen. Buratai was accompanied by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Enugu, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and the Commander of 2 Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Steve Olabanji; among other top army officers.He said: Whatever these criminals (Niger Delta Avengers) are doing is a criminal act. We will deal with them accordingly. We are looking at all the areas that we should address and we are doing that, including the criminals in the name of Niger Delta Avengers. They are not avenging anything. They are criminals.Nobody has offended them (Niger Delta Avengers). They have their own criminal intentions and we will deal with them accordingly. They have been attacking our troops locations and killing our soldiers. We will not tolerate that. We will deal with them accordingly, according to the law.We will look for them (Niger Delta Avengers), wherever they are. That is how we will treat them. They are not agitating for any enclave or any state. They are just committing criminal acts. That is how we see it.Gen. Buratai urged the peace-loving people to expose the criminals in their midst, who are destroying national assets and attacking troops.He said: They (Niger Delta people) must be patriotic enough to come out. I want to assure them that they have nothing to fear, once they perform their basic civic responsibilities.Everybody in the Niger Delta and indeed across the country should expose these criminals, who come out to destroy national assets and also to attack military personnel who are doing their lawful duties in their areas.
The Joe Ajaero-led faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Wednesday that labour would not sign any agreement on a new minimu...





The Joe Ajaero-led faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Wednesday that labour would not sign any agreement on a new minimum wage, if it was not implementable.Ajaero said this at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, while explaining the terms his group had reached with the Federal Government following the recent withdrawal of subsidy on petrol. The subsidy withdrawal has resulted in the increase of the cost of petrol from N87 per litre to N145 per litre.According to the NLC factional leader, the ability to pay the proposed new wage is the purpose of any minimum wage agreement, stressing that no labour leader will sign an agreement that cannot be realistic.He said that since his group proposed N90, 000 while the Ayuba Wabba-led group demanded for N56, 000, government had the prerogative to come out with its own position. If the government comes out with its position, we, the labour movement can crosscheck and counter it, if necessary, before the agreement is signed, Ajaero said.He said that the minimum wage was a proposal based on the economic index, which could force the government to reduce its workforce, if necessary. Ajaero said that there would be a sub-committee that would look into an increase in wages for the manufacturing sector, to enable it to be able to cater for the welfare of employees in the sector.The factional leader also said that only the Board of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had the prerogative to fix the prices of petroleum products. Even if Organised Labour and Nigerians were able to compel the government to reduce the N145 Petrol price to N50 per litre, it would have been illegal, he noted.Ajaero, who recalled that the Board of the PPPRA had not been reconstituted for the last four years, however, called for its reconstitution within two weeks. Also speaking, Mr Igwe Achese, President, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), stressed the need for the country to build new refineries.He called on government to ensure that existing refineries were fixed, to enable them perform optimally and pave way to end the importation of petroleum products. According to him, labour will ensure that the N5 trillion palliatives promised by the government are implemented, to alleviate the pains of Nigerians from the withdrawal of subsidy.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to be patient and give the administration more time to ac...

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to be patient and give the administration more time to achieve its objectives.Making the appeal while answering questions at the forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Amaechi said:We encountered challenges; were we expecting to encounter those challenges? yes; did we think that we will meet the quantum or volume of those challenges? We didnt anticipate that things were this bad. We thought you go to government and there would be money for you to run government and others. Now you have the situation where there is no money to run government.I hate to use the word difficult; I hate to use the word impossible but we met things close to difficult and impossibility. That is why Nigerians are impatient; they want to see results and for them, change is not about change in structure, it is about change in their pocket. Because their pocket is getting dried and they wanted us to put some more resources in their pocket. Because of the structural changes that we want to put in place is not getting all that they want to get. What I usually say to people is that we beg you to give us time; we will achieve our objective if you give us time and we will both thank God for that opportunity. He gave an assurance that money recovered from the ongoing corruption fight, would be used to provide infrastructure. According to him, the government has started paying contractors not appointed by the current administration, noting that such action represents service delivery to the people.
In its renewed determination to rid the society of crimes and all forms of criminality, the police have arrested five of the Fulani herds...

In its renewed determination to rid the society of crimes and all forms of criminality, the police have arrested five of the Fulani herdsmen involved in the midnight raid on Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State in April.The suspects were arrested by operatives of the IGPs Intelligence Response Team (IRT) based on credible technical intelligence.The arrested suspects were identified as Mohammed Zurai, Ciroma Musa, Sale Adamu, Suleiman Laute and Haruna Laute.A Gionee L88 mobile phone with memory card containing the video recording of the massacre in the community was recovered from the suspects.Also, the team arrested a three-man syndicate of deadly bank robbers and kidnappers and recovered arms, ammunition, dynamites and rifle servicing tools from them.The gang members, Gogo Daniel Ume, Ikado Michael and Ifeanyi Kalu had been terrorizing Rivers, Imo and Enugu State, respectively.Items recovered from them include three AK-47 rifles; 1 LAR rifle; 310 rounds of live ammunition; 12 rifle magazines; rifle servicing tools; cache of dynamite explosive; 1 Toyota Highlander Jeep; 1 Toyota Venza jeep; and 1 Ford Edge Jeep.
Aggrieved prospective corps members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch A, Stream II, Wednesday, protested the President Mu...

Aggrieved prospective corps members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch A, Stream II, Wednesday, protested the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal governments decision to postpone their orientation program indefinitely due to lack of funds.The prospective corps members stormed some privately-owned media organizations in Ibadan, Oyo State, to send home their displeasure.The prospective corps members were said to have submitted their protest letter to Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State for onward delivery to the Presidency. The protesters, it was gathered visited Splash FM, Fresh FM and PETA FM, as well as Tribune newspaper, all in Ibadan, where they complained about their idleness following the governments decision. They appealed to the federal government and the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Kazaure to come to their aid, stressing that they are tired of staying at home aimlessly.The protest was peaceful as no violence was recorded. Recall that last week, the management of NYSC announced an indefinite postponement of the prospective corps members orientation program, citing logistics as the reason. The program had already been postponed before and was slated for May 21 before being suspended indefinitely
Due to delay and postponement of Batch A, Stream II orientation course by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), angry prospective corps...





Due to delay and postponement of Batch A, Stream II orientation course by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), angry prospective corps members are planning to stage peaceful protests in Lagos today.NYSC had announced the postponement of the Orientation Course which was initially slated for May 21st, 2016 to a yet to be determined date.It made the announcement on its website, as well as via text message to prospective corps members.NYSC Management regrets to inform you that 2016 Batch A Stream II Orientation Course in all states including Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in stream I has been postponed due to logistic reasons. A new date will be communicated to you in due course. Please accept our sincere apologiesThe postponement is coming two days after the NYSC said that the Federal Government has released funds for the orientation course.In reaction to this the would be corps members have mobilized themselves for a protest.A prospective corps member hinted Nigerian Bulletin that the protest is to air their grievances to the government and other authorities concerned.This will be the first time in record that prospective corps members will be embarking on such a demonstration over uncertain mobilization and orientation date.Letter Addressed to Area F Police Command reads:
On Sunday May 22, 2016, T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), made some shocking revelations on his Emmanuel TV stat...

While some embrace his prophecies, upholding him as an end-time prophet, others are highly sceptical. Despite mixed reactions to his prophecies and purported miracles, Joshua has a huge following worldwide, with his YouTube Channel having over 350,000 subscribers and 2.2million following him on Facebook.

On Sunday May 22, 2016, T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), made some shocking revelations on his Emmanuel TV station concerning Nigeria and the world at large. The prophet spoke on many issues including the recent EgyptAir crash, African politics and agriculture, even warning of a terrorist attack in the United Kingdom.He read out a transcript of the prophecies he had given during his New Years Crossover Service, highlighting particularly the national food scarcity. On each point read, he expanded further, detailing what Nigeria and Africa are to expect in the nearest future.FOOD SCARCITYThere will be large scale scarcity, shortage of food. As a state, country, continent, we have to go back to the farm to arrest, to alleviate the forthcoming situation, he read. Further expanding on the details of the prophecy, he said, It is only a shortage that you are experiencing now; you have not experienced large scale.  Giving further insight, he proclaimed, This one that I am saying now, scarcity, large scale, it's a proverb. Whatever you can do from now till December - all of your money you will use to buy food - you will not have enough to buy.Advising those in the real-estate business he said, If you are the type planning to build a house now, stop it for the mean time. If you are in the business of buying land, stop it for the mean time - look for another business. Stop it for the mean time until February next year. Use that money on the need of people now.Giving a sombre warning, he said, I'm preparing you. Get ready; lager scale scarcity is coming!In the last few days, Nigerians have woken up to the stark reality of the rising food scarcity. Several reports were released on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday detailing the extent of the current national food woes. Tomato ebola, violence from fulani herdsmen, missed harvests and rising transportation costs have all been attributed as the cause of the food shortage and spiralling food prices.On the rise of "tomato ebola", Kaduna state agriculture commissioner, Manzo Daniel, said: "This is only the beginning of a disaster if we dont take drastic measures because the disease is fast spreading across the north.NIGERIA'S ECONOMYOn the economic plight Nigerians are facing, Joshua read from his beginning of year prophecies: The president will do everything to reject devaluation of the naira  which is a good idea from a good leader. But there will be overwhelming pressure which he will not be able to resist. Nigeria, we are in a valley. The future is crying for help.Expanding on the valley, Joshua said: I explained that we are in a valley but it is not the valley of the shadow of death. There is no snake or scorpion, it's different. When you are in the valley you will cry and cry but you will still get out of the valley.You have to continue to cut your coat according to your size. Don't just continue to spend your money on something that won't be able to help you. Spend your money on something that the whole world will be looking for - food, shelter.AFRICAN POLITICSMoving on the political climate in Africa, Joshua noted: African leaders should quickly arrest the political situation. 50% of counties that do elections, at least 45% of them will face crisis. More African countries will be under siege by terrorists because of pros and cons in choosing leaders. Mishandling of electoral processes will create a conducive atmosphere for terrorists.UK TERROR WARNINGJoshua also claimed to have seen an attack in the United Kingdom. He said: Pray for the United Kingdom like the railways, people, and crowds where people gather because I'm seeing some funny people in their country. But I am seeing with prayer and proper security it will be avoided but there will be a sign or trace that this happened but it will not happen the way that it was supposed to have happened but they will know that something happened there.The day following Joshua's warning, 27 schools had to close nationwide in the UK due to a bomb scare. Apparently, anonymous repeated calls were made to each school, warning of explosive devices. The callers told the receptionists that "if the school called the police the bomb would be detonated immediately". The threats continued on Tuesday with more schools being evacuated.ANOTHER PLANE INCIDENTOn the Egypt Air crash, Joshua said: Egypt has happened and the other one I am seeing is very close and I am going to say the country and the place. This one that I am seeing now is bigger than the one that happened. This one is very close now.Every airport security must be tight. You should be careful who you employ to fly as a pilot or flight attendant because they too will apply for this kind of job and they will be patient enough; if it is one or two years they will be patient until the achieve their goal.The cleric dishes out national and international predictions on a regular basis, using the platform of his Sunday services, broadcast live on his Emmanuel TV.
The St. Francois County Commission met in regular session Tuesday and made several approvals for the road and bridge department from hiring new employees to preparing the new south barn property.

Highway Administrator Wendell Jarvis requested approval to hire up to four new employees for the road and bridge department. He said in 2000 they had about 45 staff working at the county barn.

That is when we did our own paving, building our own bridges and we have gotten away from that over a period of time, said Jarvis. We are contracting the paving out now, but we are getting back in to the precast culverts and we are finding ourselves short on manpower.

Jarvis said the further they get into these precast culverts, they see that it is going to really benefit the county by building them and setting them.

I have been looking at the culverts in areas where I think we are going to be using these precast and placing them, said Jarvis. Its going to take extra manpower to build what we need to build in-house and we are talking a six or seven-year period.

Associate Commissioner Gay Wilkinson said he would like to point out that the county can purchase these box culverts, but its almost more than double the cost that they can generate by making their own and its worth the effort.

Associate Commissioner Patrick Mullins said there are two companies that build those and one is in Iowa and the other company in out of Illinois.

As Wilkinson and Jarvis stated, we feel we can build them cheaper and save the county money, said Mullins.

Jarvis said he has dealt with both of those locations in the past and he had visited one of their sites where he got some ideas. He said their guys can build these things and save the county a lot of money and replace a lot of these culverts.

Mullins said he has several projects right now on hold and they deal with their county park. He added he has asked Jarvis recently about a couple of projects he would like to move forward on and they dont have the manpower.

So we are on a hold pattern and these extra additional men, it would be a benefit to our county, said Mullins.

Gallaher added they are also looking at a few retirements coming up down the road. Jarvis confirmed they will have two to three within the next year.

Wilkinson said right now they have five mowers mowing and they cant keep up with them. He added if they get a day behind they will never catch up.

Our manpower is stretched at this point and we can utilize it, so I think it is worth it, said Wilkinson.

Jarvis said with the new location and the move, they have to continue doing the roadwork and maintaining the roads.

With moving out there we are going to need some extra manpower, said Jarvis. I budgeted for new hires and they will be coming in at $11 an hour.

He added when they hire someone they look at what they are best at. They work them on every piece of equipment and every position they have.

We figure out what they are best at and thats what we push them to and they take off and go, said Jarvis. We have a variety of jobs and pretty much find the guy and get the best out of it.

Also during the meeting, Jarvis recommended the single bid they received from Williams Alarm LLC out of Farmington for security cameras on the new county barn property.

The bid was for $6,400 and we are going to utilize some of the equipment we have at the barn now at the new location, said Jarvis. I also have two quotes for fencing since we didnt receive any bids on that.

Jarvis said he went out and got quotes and recommended to the commission they go with the lowest one, which is $26,735 from Birch Fencing.

Presiding Commissioner Harold Gallaher said the south barn is now officially the county's and all the paperwork has been finalized.
Protests at a Donald Trump, US Republican presumptive candidate, rally turned violent Tuesday night, with protesters throwing burning T-sh...

Protests at a Donald Trump, US Republican presumptive candidate, rally turned violent Tuesday night, with protesters throwing burning T-shirts, rocks and bottles at police and police horses, police said. They overturned trash cans and knocked down metal barricades used to keep protesters away from the convention center entrance.The air outside was thick with smoke, shouting, and profanity as hundreds of protesters swarmed the intersection outside the Albuquerque Convention Center, the scene of the rally. Some hung out of cars stopped in the middle of the street, revving their engines and flying Mexican flags out windows. Others held signs that called Trump a racist and fascist.Hours after protesters lined the sidewalk outside the rally, holding signs opposing the presumptive Republican presidential nominees immigration rhetoric, the streets of downtown Albuquerque remained flooded with raucous people antagonizing the police officers trying to break them up.As the Trump rally let out, supporters clashed with the protesters waiting outside. Members of the two sides hurled insults and at one point, some began to shove each other on the sidewalk.Police formed a line outside the convention center, armed with batons and canisters of pepper spray. Several mounted police joined them as well. Protesters challenged the lines of police and were eventually pushed back onto the sidewalk.Albuquerque police wearing riot gear also rode through the streets on horseback late Tuesday night, attempting to push protesters out of the downtown area. It was unclear whether these protesters were among the people who stood outside the Albuquerque Convention Center earlier in the evening while Trump held a campaign rally inside.
Peter Obi, former Anambra Governor has revealed how he stopped former President Olusegun Obasanjo from sleeping in the state during a prop...

Peter Obi, former Anambra Governor has revealed how he stopped former President Olusegun Obasanjo from sleeping in the state during a proposed state visit.According to reports, Obi made the disclosure at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) during the 2016 edition of the Biennial Chinua Achebe Memorial Lecture, organised in honour of the late literary icon, by the institutions Faculty of Arts.He said, I told him, Mr president, you can come in the morning and go in the evening because I dont have a place for you to stay. ''
DEAR HARRIETTE: I visited my aunt this Mother's Day. She is in her 80s now and lives alone since my uncle passed away about five years ago. Her children live in Canada, so I thought I'd pay her a visit, since they are too far away.

Upon entering her apartment, I saw a small dog bolting around. She told me she had gotten it about a year ago. I love animals and have a dog, too; however, the smell of feces in the apartment was pretty bad. I noticed small piles on the floor and some urine stains. I tried my best to ignore it, but my aunt caught me staring and admitted she doesn't take the dog out as frequently as she should.

Her love for the dog is obvious, but I really don't think she can care for it. She prides herself on being independent, but I think she needs help with this dog. I doubt she'd ever want to give it up because she would feel lonely, but the state of her apartment is pretty foul. What should I suggest to her? I don't want to leave the situation without trying to help. -- Pooped, Baltimore

DEAR POOPED: You could have started cleaning up the dog dirt, and you still can. If you can afford it, hire a housekeeper and go back to visit your aunt. Tell her you want to help her get her house tidy again, and then engage your aunt while the cleaner does the work. Beyond that, recommend that your aunt hire a dog walker. To reduce the accidents in the house, someone has to take the dog out. Contact her children immediately. Tell them the situation, and ask for their support to take care of their mother. Ask them to pay for the dog walker and a regular cleaning person. It is unhealthy for her to be living in the company of urine and feces. Keep checking in on your aunt.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm the oldest out of three boys with a recently widowed mother. Each of us has his own career, and we live at varying distances from where our parents lived. Our father died at the beginning of last year, and since then, I've seen Mom struggle to keep up the house. Our house has always had issues, but our dad used to be around every day to help manage that.

While I understand the house has sentimental value, I think it may be a good decision for her to downsize to a smaller house or a condo. I spoke with my brothers and we agree, but we haven't broached the topic with our mother yet. How can we do this in a respectful manner? -- Drama-Free House, Philadelphia

DEAR DRAMA-FREE HOUSE: If possible, go together to visit your mother. Propose that she move. Position it with the pros and cons that you have observed. Of course, it is the family home, but home really is wherever she is. (That was my mother's thinking when she moved after my father's death, and it worked for all of us.) Point out the many challenges she faces with the house, as well as the potential for easier living in a smaller place that has amenities, like a condo. Offer to help her pack and move. It may take a while for the idea to grow on her. Keep reminding her of the benefits.

Lifestylist and author Harriette Cole is president and creative director of Harriette Cole Media. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
Joseph Brodsky Article

Joseph Brodsky: A Virgilian Hero, Doomed Never to Return Home

by Bengt Jangfeldt*

All my poems are more or less about the same thing  about Time. About what time does to Man.  Joseph Brodsky

Rebel Poet

It is impossible to speak about Russian literature without taking into account the society in which it was written. This is especially true for the 20th century, when five Russian writers were awarded the Nobel Prize. When the emigre writer Ivan Bunin got it in 1933, the Swedish Academy was reproached for not having awarded the prize to the pro-Soviet Maxim Gorki; Boris Pasternaks prize, in 1958, was fiercely attacked by the Soviet authorities as a political, anti-Soviet act; Mikhail Sholokhovs, seven years later, was criticized for being, in its turn, a conciliatory gesture toward the Soviet regime; and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyns award (1970) was conceived in the same vein as the prize to Pasternak.

Iosif Brodskiy photographed by his father, Alexandr Brodskiy, on the balcony of their apartment in Leningrad in 1958.

Photo: Courtesy of Mikhail Miltchik, St. Petersburg

When Joseph Brodsky was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1987, times were changing. The Soviet Union was opening up, but the authorities were still not able to cope with the fact that a Russian writer had got the prize, and it was announced with great delay.

Iosif Brodskiy was born in Leningrad in 1940 and died in New York in 1996 as Joseph Brodsky. Between the two spellings of his name lies one of the more dramatic human and poetic destinies in 20th century Russia  a country rich in drama.

Iosif Brodskiy grew up in the Soviet Union, first during the Stalinist era, then under the milder political climate of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. He started to write poetry at the end of the 1950s, but like everybody else who refused to accept the Soviet aesthetic norms he encountered great difficulties and could only publish a few poems.

Brodskiy revolutionised Russian poetry by introducing themes that were taboo in the Soviet Union, first of all metaphysical and Biblical ones. And he did it in a verse that was both innovative and exceptionally varied. Influenced by his Russian 18th century precursors (first of all Derzhavin), as well as by Polish poets (Galczynski, Norwid) and the English Metaphysicals (Donne, Herbert, Marvell), Brodskiy enriched Russian literature with a new ironic sensibility. The conspicuous use of literary reminiscences and allusions could perhaps be seen as a result of his growing up in almost total cultural isolation, where every alternative voice was eagerly absorbed.

In the Soviet Union such things did not go unpunished. The young poet was regarded as a rebel and a parasite: he was arrested and, after a parody of a trial, in 1964 exiled to northern Russia to think better of it. This he did, but not in the way the authorities had wished. During his exile he developed his poetic technique and ripened as a poet. And thanks to protests from Soviet and Western intellectuals, he was set free in 1965, before the end of his term. He returned to his hometown, Leningrad, where he stayed until he was sent into foreign exile in 1972  this time without trial and for good. He settled in the USA, where he became Joseph Brodsky, an American citizen, and where he lived until his death twenty-four years later.

In the USA, Brodsky continued to write poetry in Russian, and also translated many of his poems into English. If he never reached the same poetic peaks in English as in Russian, he developed instead into a brilliant essayist in English. As a writer Brodsky thus had two identities, and it was in his capacity as one of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century and a major essayist in the English language that he was acclaimed by the Swedish Academy in 1987 for his all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity.

Time Is Greater than Space

His first collection of essays, Less Than One, was published in 1986. Some of the best essays were devoted to his great predecessors in Russian poetry  Osip Mandelstam, Anna Akhmatova, and Marina Tsvetayeva. In an essay on Tsvetayeva, Brodsky formulates his view of the poet as a combination of an instrument and a human being in one person, with the former gradually taking over the latter.

Brodskiys study photographed on June 4, 1972, the same day he was exiled from the Soviet Union.

Photo: Courtesy of Mikhail Miltchik

The poet, transformed gradually into an instrument for his poetic gift, has no choice  and the recognition of this exclusiveness determines his path. By constantly listening to his own voice, constantly developing his language, constantly taking the next stylistic step, he becomes more and more isolated.

Brodskys words about Tsvetayeva are a self-characterisation. Brodsky the poet is led farther and farther away from the literary mainstream by language itself. And Brodsky the man, grown up in a society with whose values he cannot reconcile himself and which refuses to accept him, is, like Tsvetayeva and Mandelstam, forced into a growing social alienation. The exile to northern Russia and his expatriation eight years later are but outer confirmations of an inner process that in other countries would have taken less dramatic turns.

In the poem Lullaby of Cape Cod (1975), Brodsky describes his move to the USA as a change of Empire. However shattering this experience may be, it changes nothing in essence. Empires have always existed and resemble one another, if not in detail (one empire can, of course, be more repugnant than the other), then at least in structure  and as regards mans place in this structure. Although Brodsky was heavily marked by his Soviet experience, he had no illusions about other political systems being able to provide a perfect alternative. The big enemy is not space but time.

It is Brodskys approach to time that determines his worldview. What interests me and always has interested me most is time and its effect on man, how it changes him, grinds him On the other hand, this is just a metaphor for what time does to space and the world. Time reigns supreme  all that is not time is subjected to the power of time, the ruler, the owner. Time is the enemy of man and everything man has created and holds dear: Ruins are the triumph of oxygen and time.

Time clings to man, who grows older, dies and turns into dust  times flesh, as Brodsky calls it. Key words in his poetry are splinter, shard, fragment. One of his books of poetry is called A Part of Speech. Man  in particular, a poet  is a part of a language that is older than he and will live on after time has settled the account with languages servant.

Man is attacked both by the past and the future. What we experience as unpleasant and negative in life is, as a matter of fact, a cry from the future, which is trying to break ground in the present. The only thing that prevents the future and the past from merging is the short period constituted by the present, symbolised by man and his body in Ecloque IV: Winter (1977):

 What sets them apart is only

a warm body. Mule-like, stubborn creature,

it stands firmly between them, rather

like a border guard: stiffened, sternly

preventing the wandering of the future into the past. 

On the personal level, Brodsky views life as a one way street. A return to what has passed  an earlier life, a woman  is impossible. In December in Florence (1976), about Dante and his hometown, about the poet and exile, Florence is double-exposed with another city  Leningrad. There are, writes Brodsky,

 cities one wont see again. The sun

throws its gold at their frozen windows. But all the same

there is no entry, no proper sum.

There are always six bridges spanning the sluggish river.

There are places where lips touched lips for the first time ever,

or pen pressed paper with real fervor.

There are arcades, colonnades, iron idols that blur your lens.

There the streetcars multitudes, jostling, dense,

speak in the tongue of a man whos departed thence.

In spite of all Communism, Leningrad, that is, St. Petersburg, remains the most beautiful city in the world. The return is not impossible primarily because of an unpalatable political system  which a superficial reading might suggest  but by deeper, psychological factors: A man moves only in one direction. And only from. From a place, from a thought that has entered his mind, from himself that is, constantly away from what has been experienced

The individuals journey in time and space is matched by a similar development toward non-existence on the historic plane. Not so much because of the threat of atomic bombs or other acts of war but because societies and civilisations are subject to the same time war as the individual. To Brodsky, the big threat comes from the demographic changes leading to the peril of Western, that is, individual-based, civilisation. A recurring theme is the diminishing role of the Christian world  to Brodsky, as to Osip Mandelstam, Christianity is first and foremost a question of civilisation  in favour of the anti-individualistic pathos of an overpopulated world. Thus the individuals future merges with the worlds: the death of the individual with that of individualism.

Language Is Greater than Time

Against all-devouring Time, which leads to the absence of both the individual and the world, Brodsky mobilises the word. Few modern poets have stressed with such intensity the words ability to withstand the passing of time. This conviction recurs frequently in Brodskys poems, often in the last lines:

I dont know anymore what earth will nurse my carcass.

Scratch on, my pen: lets mark the white the way it marks us.

(The Fifth Anniversary, 1977)

Thats the birth of an eclogue. Instead of the shepherds signal,

A lamps flaring up. Cyrillic, while running witless

on the pad as though to escape the captor,

knows more of the future than the famous sibyl:

of how to darken against the whiteness,

as long as the whiteness lasts. And after.

(Eclogue IV: Winter)

Brodskys belief in the power of the word must be seen against his view of time and space. Literature is superior to society  and to the writer himself. The idea that it is not the language but the poet who is the instrument is, as we have seen, at the core of Brodskys poetics. Language is older than society and, naturally, older than the poet, and it is language that keeps nations together when the centre cannot hold (with Yeatss words).

Joseph Brodsky (left) and fellow Nobel Prize Laureate Derek Walcott in the park of Alfred Nobels home at Bjorkborn, Sweden, 1993.

Photo: Bengt Jangfeldt

Men die, writers do not. A poet who formulated the same thought with similar pregnancy was W.H. Auden in his In Memory of W.B. Yeats (1939). It was the third and last part of this triptych that made such an indelible impression on Brodsky (he describes it in the essay Less Than One) when he first read the poem during his exile in northern Russia:

Time that is intolerant

Of the brave and innocent,

And indifferent in a week

To a beautiful physique, Worships language and forgives

Everyone by whom it lives 

Language, in other words, is superior not only to society and the poet but to time itself. Time worships language and is thus lesser than it. There is a strain of a romantic fatalism in this assertion, but in Russia, a country where people, in Pushkins words, are always mute, the writer has always occupied a unique position. This emphasis on the dominance of language is thus not an expression of aestheticism; in a society where language is nationalised, where language is political even when it does not speak of politics, the word possesses an enormous explosive force.

Poetry Is Greater than Prose

In Brodskys aesthetical hierarchy, poetry occupies the first place. The concept of equality is extrinsic to the nature of art, and the thinking of any man of letters is hierarchical. Within this hierarchy, poetry occupies a higher position than prose This does not mean that poetry is better than prose but is a logical conclusion of Brodskys view of the hierarchy Language-Time-Space. Time is greater than space, but language is greater than time. To write is essentially to try to regain or hold back time, and for this purpose the poet has at his disposal means that the prose-writer lacks: meter and caesuras, syntactic pauses, stressed and unstressed syllables. An important means of restructuring and holding back time is rhyme, which refers back but also creates expectation, that is, future. Song is, after all, restructured time, says Brodsky (in his essay on Osip Mandelstam), or simply, speaking of Auden, a repository of time. And if language lives by the poet, does then not time live by the poet, in his poems?

In order best to move with time, the poem should try to imitate times monotone, try to make it resemble the sound produced by a pendulum. Brodskys own voice is described as almost inaudible:

I am speaking to you, and its not my fault

if you dont hear. The sum of days, by slugging

on, blisters eyeballs; the same goes for vocal cords.

My voice may be muffled but, I should hope, not nagging. All the better to hear the crowing of a cockerel, the tick-tocks

in the heart of a record, its needles patter;

all the better for you not to notice when my talk stops,

as Little Red Riding Hood didnt mutter to her gray partner.

(Afterword, 1986)

The poets voice, more muffled than the birds, but more sonorous than the pikes, as it is characterised in the poem Comments from a Fern (1989), is so subdued that it almost erases the difference between sound and silence, and so close to times rhythm one can get  a rhythm that the poet can approximate with the help of meter. When Brodsky stresses the importance of classical forms, he is not just being conservative; he does it with a belief in their double function as a structuring element and upholder of civilisation; the assertion of the absolute value of these stylistic means are thus not primarily a question of form but an important part of what could be called Brodskys philosophy of culture.

Linear Thinking

Joseph Brodsky wrote poetry for the better part of his life, and the history of his publications is a reflection of the political system he grew up in. His first books were selections from his poetry published by friends and admirers in the West and were forbidden reading in his home country. In the Soviet Union, his first book was published only after the Nobel Prize. A full-scale publication of his works, including Russian translations of his essays, was made possible only after the fall of the Communist dictatorship in 1991.

One consequence of Brodskys idea that a person moves only in one direction  from  was that he never went back to his homeland. His thinking  and acting  was linear. From the age of thirty-two he was a nomad  a Virgilian hero, doomed never to return home.

When asked why he did not want to go back, Brodsky answered that he didnt want to visit his home country as a tourist. Or that he didnt want to go on an invitation from official institutions. His final argument was: The best part of me is already there: my poetry.

* Bengt Jangfeldt has been specializing in Russian literature for 30 years. His doctoral thesis (1976) treated the relationship between the Soviet State and the literary avant-garde during the years of the revolution, 1917-1921. This work was later supplemented by a series of archival editions.

Professor Jangfeldt has collected and published the correspondence between Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik (in Russian in 1982 and 1991, in English in 1986: Love is the Heart of Everything) as well as the literary legacy of the great Russian linguist, Roman Jakobson (Russian edition 1992, English edition 1997: My Futurist Years). During the last ten years he has been focusing on the historical ties between Sweden and the St. Petersburg region. This work has resulted in several books, including Svenska vagar till S:t Petersburg which in 1998 was awarded the August Prize (the Swedish equivalent of the Booker Prize). His last books include an authorised biography of the Swedish author and doctor Axel Munthe (En osalig ande, 2003).

Bengt Jangfeldt has translated many of Joseph Brodskys works into Swedish, the poetry from Russian and the prose from English. In 1988, he was awarded the Letterstedt Prize for Translation by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for rendering into Swedish Brodskys book of essays, Less Than One.

First published 12 December 2003

To cite this section

MLA style: Joseph Brodsky: A Virgilian Hero, Doomed Never to Return Home. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Tue. 25 Oct 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1987/brodsky/article/>
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
Which New Orleans Saints position battle interests you the most? Live chat at 1 p.m.
Community

Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place.
EVANSTON, Ill. --- A dark and image-free night of audio compositions reflecting on the soundscape of the Indian subcontinent; a screening of Ridley Scotts classic science fiction film Blade Runner; and three consecutive evenings of short documentaries produced by the inaugural class of graduates in Northwestern Universitys MFA in Documentary Media program are among the special June events that will conclude Block Cinemas spring 2016 programming.

Hosted by Northwestern Universitys Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, all of the programs are free and open to the public.

BLOCK CINEMA ADMISSION

Unless otherwise noted, general admission to Block Cinema is $6 for the general public or $4 for Northwestern faculty, staff and students, students from other schools with valid IDs and individuals 60 and older. Quarterly passes are $20. Tickets are available one hour before show time and space is limited.

The following Block Cinema events will take place in the James B. Pick and Rosalyn M. Laudati Auditorium at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, on Northwesterns Evanston campus.

BLOCK CINEMA JUNE 2016 SCREENINGS

 LISTEN, my heart, to the whisper of the world.., 7 p.m. Thursday, June 2, FREE. LISTEN, my heart,.. is a collection of audio compositions reflecting on the soundscape of the Indian subcontinent. The works are presented in a darkened cinema hall as a 5.1 surround soundtrack with no projected images. Curators Alexis Bhagat and Laurent Rosati describe the experience as one in which the cinema screen is a window for shared dreams. Our soundscape program begins high in the Himalayas, at the sacred shrine of Muktinath, with its one hundred springs of water. From Himalayan peaks, the water of the Yamuna flows to the plains. Artists works will include Michael Northams Mnemonic Debris: Aggregates, Hildegard Westerkamps Into the Labyrinth, and Iain Armstrongs Annapurna Pastoral: One Hundred Springs. The program will be preceded by a 6 p.m. reception in the Block Museum lobby. It is presented by the Center for Global Culture and Communication, School of Communication, department of Asian languages and cultures, Asian Studies Graduate Cluster, Screen Cultures Program and the department of radio-television-film.

 A&O Films Presents Blade Runner, 7 p.m. Friday, June 3, FREE (Ridley Scott, 1982/2007, United States, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Digital Cinema Package (DCP), 177 minutes). In the noirish Los Angeles of 2019, Detective Rick Deckard searches for dangerous renegade replicants (extremely detailed androids) who wish to prolong their life. Released in the post-Star Wars science fiction boom, in which studios were trying to replicate the franchises success, Blade Runner wasnt immediately embraced by audiences or critics. In the 34 years since its release, the film has inspired other filmmakers and left an indelible mark on the science fiction film genre. Block Cinema will be screening The Final Cut, which is director Ridley Scotts preferred version of the film, having supervised its 2007 construction.

 MFA Documentary Media Showcase, Program 1: Seekers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, FREE. Northwestern Universitys new MFA in Documentary Media Program will present its first annual thesis film showcase June 8-10. During the course of three nights, the inaugural class of 12 graduate students will screen four different selections of engaging short documentaries each evening. Each of the following three MFA programs will be preceded by a 6:30 p.m. reception that is open to the public.

Program 1, Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Jasmine Huff, 2016). This film provides director and filmmaker Jasmine Huff with a chance to learn about the legacy of her father, James Huff, an important African-American artist living with the effects of a massive stroke. In her quest to piece together her family's story, she employs a collage of filmed conversations, archival footage and animation. Wise Medicine (Deborah Libby, 2016). A short documentary exploring the modernization of indigenous healing practices, Wise Medicine follows a small group of strangers seeking healing knowledge from Shipibo curanderos (indigenous shamans who have the gift of healing both physical and mental illnesses with medicinal plants or trees) at a plant medicine school in Peru. At the Amazonian jungle camp, the initiates are pushed to their limit as they experience firsthand the challenging plant medicine ceremonies they are being trained to facilitate. Meanwhile, in Chicago, a woman named Amara has returned from Peru to open a modern shamanic healing studio where she struggles to find balance during a major life transition. Deborah Libbys film is a raw and evocative portrait of individuals who choose to look outside of their culture for more meaningful sources of healing when modern medicine fails to meet their needs. 1/80 of Zhang Tianyi (Shuhan Fan, 2016). When Zhang Tianyi, a 25-year-old Mao Zedong fan, graduates with a law degree from Peking University, his job prospects are dim. He is one of 8 million young Chinese who compete for new jobs in Beijing every year. Rethinking his career choice, he opens a rice noodle restaurant inspired by street food from his native Hunan province. Within a year, he is a millionaire who owns multiple restaurants and has attracted more than half a million social media followers. Director Shuhan Fan uniquely captures the energy and density of modern China through the story of this young entrepreneur. Emerald Ice (Jesseca Simmons, 2016). Using only excerpts from her poetry, the docu-fantasy Emerald Ice takes the viewer on a journey of the imagination to explore contemporary American poet Diane Wakoskis fearless meditation on intimacy and mortality. Starting from Wakoskis kitchen table, director Jesseca Simmons cinematic curation drops the audience in the middle of a California orange grove that leads to momentary glimpses of the expansive worlds existing inside this beloved poet, in hopes to give more credence to our own multitudes. The two-hour program will include a 20-minute talk by the Northwestern student filmmakers.

MFA in Documentary Media Showcase, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, FREE. Program 2: Accented Cinema. The following student films will be followed by a conversation with the filmmakers and Professor Hamid Naficy, from Northwesterns department of radio/television/film: Abuelita Outside (Miasarah Lai, 2016). From the window of her apartment, Maria sings fragmented melodies to the East River. Filmmaker Miasarah Lai returns to the New York Citys Lower East Side to chronicle her grandmother's everyday experiences with Alzheimers and her caregivers. Forgotten histories are parceled out from the few objects of Marias past, exploring the memories embodied by her daily routine and playing the rhythms with which she communicates. Marias home served as the familys backbone for 47 years, but rumors of the city selling these housing projects, now coveted real estate, threaten to get Abuelita Outside. Fragments (Carlos Cova, 2016). Emir Kamenica and his family were among the hundreds of thousands of refugees that fled Bosnia amid armed turmoil more than 20 years ago. Now living in Chicago, Emir revisits his memories, recounting the outbreak of the war and its profound effects on his familys life. Seeds (Brittany Shyne, 2016). An ethnographic portrait of a centennial African-American farm that blends the visual richness of the South to illustrate what it means for generational farmers to have a place called home. Using lyrical black and white imagery, the film takes a pensive look at how times are changing, and where hands that have once toiled the soil are now consciously being replaced by industrial apparatuses. Chosen People (Qihui Wu, 2016). A subtle meditation on relations between history, memory and identity lensed through a leisurely tour of the inner landscape of a black church and intimate interaction with the churchgoers. The two-hour program will include a 20-minute talk by the Northwestern student filmmakers.

MFA Documentary Media Showcase, Program 3: Intimate Strangers, 7 p.m. Friday, June 10, FREE. Big Rapids (Justin Reifert, 2016). A personal film addressing the abuse of prescription opioids (such as Vicodin and Oxycontin) through director Reifert's 34-year-old brother's struggle with addiction. When his brother is forced to move home with their parents, differing attitudes towards addiction and recovery ignite old tensions and threaten to divide the family. Friends for Sale (Rafie Drencheva, 2016). In todays technology-driven world, you can buy everything online, even your friends. Friends for Sale follows filmmaker Drencheva on a personal journey through the growing practice of friendship rental, questioning who uses these services and why and what this says about human interaction in the digital age. The Dismantled Heart (Sara Reed, 2016). Reeds essayistic short film is an experimental quest to battle a kaleidoscope of wounds brought about by the one event she spent her entire childhood running away from -- divorce. It is an offbeat and intimate portrayal of the aftermath of heartbreak. Our Skin (Joao Queiroga, 2016). A late night call takes an unexpected turn as two unlikely strangers gain the courage to be intimate with one another. Between gender, sexuality and post-traumatic stress disorder, their fleeting encounter unveils deeper truths about alienation and the human need to connect. The two-hour program will include a 20-minute talk by the Northwestern student filmmakers.

For more information, call the Block Cinema Hotline at 847-491-4000 or visit the Block Cinema website. More information also is available on Northwesterns new Arts Circle website.
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern University professor, entrepreneur and world leader in nanotechnology research and its application, received the international 2016 Dan David Prize in the Future Time Dimension at an awards ceremony May 22 at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Mirkin was honored for his innovative research in nanotechnology and medicine, which holds great promise for improvement of our world. The Dan David Prize specifically recognizes his invention of spherical nucleic acids, which couple human DNA and nanotechnology and could improve diagnostics and medical treatments.

The ceremony was an extraordinary honor, celebration and experience, Mirkin said. The Dan David Prize is a major milestone for my research group and Northwestern science, engineering and medicine at large. Having President Schapiro on stage at the awards ceremony made it an especially rewarding and memorable event.

In addition to Mirkins family, a small group of Northwestern officials attended the ceremony. They included President Morton Schapiro; Robert McQuinn, vice president for alumni relations and development; Nim Chinniah, executive vice president; Philip Harris, vice president and general counsel; and Michael Bedzyk and Monica Olvera de la Cruz, professors of materials science and engineering.

The Dan David Prize annually awards three $1 million prizes for outstanding achievements in the three time dimensions -- past, present and future. This year, the future time dimension prize recognizes innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Mirkin, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, shares the $1 million future time dimension prize with Paul Alivisatos, University of California, Berkeley, and Sir John Pendry, Imperial College London. Alivisatos and Pendry also attended the May 22 ceremony.

Mirkin is a pioneer in a unique frontier. For the past two decades, he has been repackaging and chemically modifying DNA, the genetic blueprint of life, and its sister nucleic acid, RNA, in new forms and tacking them on to nanoparticles in a quest to achieve new breakthroughs, especially in the health sciences. His work has led to the invention of 3-D structures called spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) that have chemical and physical properties that are radically different from what is found in nature.

SNAs are being used to develop extremely sensitive medical diagnostic systems that can, for example, locate cancer cells, concentrate stem cells within a specific area or study how new drugs affect the inner workings of cells. SNAs are also promising in the development of new therapies. They are nontoxic and can enter cells and flip genetic switches -- causing a cancer cell to die, for instance.

Additionally, SNAs can cross barriers, like the skin or the blood-brain barrier, opening the door for the development of many new treatments for diseases such as melanoma, glioblastoma multiforme (a type of brain cancer) and Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases. Because of these unusual structure-dependent properties, SNAs have the potential to positively impact tens of millions of people who suffer from diseases with known genetic links.

SNAs as topical agents for treating psoriasis are now in human clinical trials; several more clinical trials are expected to commence in the next 18 months.

Dan David Prize laureates donate 10 percent of their prize money to graduate students in their respective fields, thereby contributing to the community and fostering a new generation of scholars.

Mirkin is the founding director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN). He also is a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and professor of chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering.

The IIN currently represents more than $800 million in nanotechnology research, educational programs and supporting infrastructure. The work reaches into virtually every industry, including health, energy, electronics, security and defense, and the environment.

In addition to spherical nucleic acids, Mirkin also is the inventor and chief developer of three pioneering nanoscale fabrication and analytical tools: Dip-Pen Nanolithography, Polymer Pen Lithography and Beam-Pen Lithography. He is the founder of three companies, Nanosphere, AuraSense and Exicure, all aimed at transitioning advances in nanotechnology to the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The worlds top-cited researcher in nanomedicine and one of the most widely cited chemists, Mirkin has been a member of President Barack Obamas Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology since 2009. He is one of very few scientists, engineers and medical doctors to be elected to all three branches of the U.S. National Academies -- the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine.

Mirkins contributions have been recognized with more than 100 national and international awards, including the NIH Directors Pioneer Award, the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize and the 2015 inaugural $400,000 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research.
For a third straight year the NRL, in conjunction with the Australian Library and Information Association, has taken part in the National Simultaneous Storytime.

Now in its 16th successful year, the NSS is an exciting event aimed to promote the values of reading and literacy via a new book each year that explores themes relevant to Australian school children.

Taking part in this year's event was George Rose, who is currently an NRL Ambassador involved in helping out with community-based programs focussed on education.

The former Roosters, Sea Eagles, Storm and Dragons prop was joined by NRL Education Officer Stacey Taranto in a reading of the children's story I Got This Hat as part of a live feed that was watched by over 70 schools across Australia and New Zealand.

"I've always been a big supporter of education and I'm still studying at the moment so I always encourage people to make the most of their school time and always strive to be better," Rose told NRL.com.

"I think this is great to encourage kids to enjoy reading at a young age because it makes it a lot easier for them when they grow up."

Wednesday morning's National Simultaneous Storytime event wasn't the first time Rose had been involved in an NRL inspired reading program.

The 33-year-old former front-rower used to be a Reading Captain while at the Sea Eagles, which involved him encouraging school children to not only read, but also enjoy it.

"I've been involved with the Rugby League Reads for a long time," he said.

"When I was at Manly, we used to go to schools once a week and go and read with the kids. It was making reading fun because obviously learning at school isn't always fun, so it's great to find ways to make it more enjoyable for the kids.

"We found that it was getting a lot of young boys and girls involved in reading and you could see that they were having fun as well."

Great to see @l_brooks7 helping out with the National Storytime Reading today at Concord Library! pic.twitter.com/EeGksfJygW  Wests Tigers (@WestsTigers) May 25, 2016

Wednesday morning's event was the third year the NRL had participated in the event, but the first time the reading had been conducted via Livestream.

The 2014 reading of Too Many Elephants and last year's The Brothers Quibble were both well received but didn't have access to the same reach as this year's event.

In partnership with digital education providers ClickView, Wednesday's reading was watched by more than 70 schools from across NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.

According to Stacey Taranto, Education Officer at the NRL, the partnership has paved the way for the NSS to be seen by more students than ever before.

"Rugby league is a national game so we want to reach as many schools and education spaces as possible," she said.

"This has really opened the door for us for how many schools and libraries can access it.

"I think our video conference last year only had five or six school but because they've got such a big database of thousands of schools, they've given us a digital platform to connect on a much larger scale.

"The schools can just have a smart board and a laptop and they just go onto the ClickView website and they can just watch from there."

The NRL's reading programs continues to grow each year and have been well supported by the 16 clubs.

Players from a number of clubs took part in Wednesday's book reading at local schools, libraries and other places in the community to help spread the message about the importance of reading.

One of the key learning materials used to motivate students is the Rugby League Reads magazine, which includes a teacher's resource designed to turn the stories into interactive lessons.

The upcoming edition of the biannual magazine will include a feature on Parramatta Eels forward Peni Terepo and his life as a butcher outside of rugby league, as well as recipes, stories and life advice.

"Lessons and activities have been designed for each of the articles so teachers can use them in their classrooms. It's aimed at years 3-6 but it can be used for lower secondary students who might be struggling with reading," Taranto said.

"We get a lot of amazing feedback from schools. The magazines get quite worn out because they're shared between the students who all want to read the stories."

This video first featured on titans.com.au
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Editor's Note: John McDonald of Roseburg, a combat veteran and member of the Oregon National Guard, is the president of the Douglas County Veterans Forum.

As the executive director of the Community Cancer Center, Tammy Hagedorn understands responsibility. The Douglas County institution has been providing quality cancer care for more than 30 years and, with Hagedorn at the helm, looks forward to many more.

I attribute the core values I learned in the military to my success as the director, and as a person, explained the 49-year-old Hagedorn. Integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do.

Hagedorn grew up in Newberg. She had a typical childhood for the time thats not really so long ago.

My parents were amazing, said Hagedorn. My dad was a steelworker, and my mom took care of the kids. Mom had a job here and there, but she took care of us growing up. Dad had the strong hand, and mom had the nurturing heart.

Hagedorns best friend was Sharon, a military brat whose family moved to Newberg after her father retired from the Air Force. After graduating high school, Hagedorn wondered what to do with her life. College seemed too expensive and out of reach.

My friend said we should join the military, said Hagedorn. When I went to the processing station, she went with me. We joined on Jan. 29, 1986, and went through basic training together.

I remember them yelling at us to get off the bus, it was like two or three oclock in the morning. They were separating the squad, drawing lines between us  we got in the same squad by the skin of our teeth. Our last names were so close that our beds ended up right next to each other.

The first time we got separated was at the end of basic training. That was hard.

Nearly every position was open to Hagedorn when she enlisted in 1986. Although her recruiter suggested she choose a career in security she knew that wasnt for her. After scoring high on her exams, Hagedorn was assigned as an administrative specialist. During her eight-year career she spent two years in Germany, and the remainder at Offutt Air Force Base, in Nebraska.

Germany was great, said Hagedorn. I was a little nervous, since it was the first time Id been outside Oregon, apart from basic training. But I was able to see Berlin, and saw East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell. I remember it being a very grey, and sad place.

I worked for some really great people in Nebraska, she added. They took me under their wing when I came in. They gave me the discipline to follow rules, exhibit self-control, and respect authority and the worth of others.

It was a great foundation for what we do here at the Cancer Center. We dont think of people as numbers when they come through the door, we call them by their first name.

College didnt seem so out of reach after Hagedorn left the military. She earned her certification in oncology and radiology, and began looking for a job as a radiological tech.

It was a hard field to break into, remembered Hagedorn. Thankfully, the Community Cancer Center was looking for a staff radiologist, and I was looking for a way to get back to Oregon. Ive been here ever since.

Hagedorn joined the center in 1999, and worked a variety of positions over the years: staff radiologist, lead, NTO Chief and Director of Clinical Services. In 2013, the center started looking for a new director. After a series of extensive interviews, the board of directors chose Hagedorn.

First year was a rough ride, said Hagedorn. We were purchasing new equipment and upgrading our linear accelerator. It lets us provide top of the line, breakthrough technology, like what you could get at OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland).

Also, the board required me to get my bachelors degree, so I was going to school part time. My goal was to get a bachelors in business administration, specializing in leadership organization and management. It was tough, but I did it.

Hagedorn is also involved in the local community. She is a member of the Roseburg Lions Club, active in the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and the American Women Veterans Association.

I like to give back to the community, explained Hagedorn. Everyone has been so good to the Cancer Center, and have provided so much for us. This building alone  people raised over $2.5 million.

I try to be an advocate for veterans cancer care in the community, she said. There were a lot of issues getting local care for local veterans. Now the VA has a cancer liaison, and shes been a great resource for our veterans.

With the little free time she has left, Hagedorn enjoys spending time with her husband, Bill Hagedorn, and riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The military brat from high school and basic training? Thats Sharon Muth who now lives in West Richland, Washington. She and Hagedorn are still best friends.
Congressman Pete Visclosky told the International Trade Commission that more than 13,000 steelworker layoffs were unacceptable during a hearing Tuesday in Washington D.C. on cold-rolled steel, which is made in Northwest Indiana.

Congress took bipartisan action last year to improve our trade laws, and we will not now complacently watch to see what happens next, Visclosky said. The trade cases currently before the International Trade Commission are the front line in the battle against illegal steel imports. The Congressional Steel Caucus will continue to fight every day to make sure that the ITC and all of the executive branch trade agencies aggressively enforce our trade laws and hear the valiant voices of the American steel industry and steelworkers.

The International Trade Commission will soon decide whether Chinese and Japanese imports of cold-rolled steel have hurt American steelmakers, a finding thats necessary to impose tariffs as high as 522 percent. The federal agency also is considering trade cases against hot-rolled and corrosion-resistant steel.

Visclosky, Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Tim Murphy and other members of the Steel Caucus are urging the International Trade Commission to aggressively enforce recently passed trade laws intended to protect Americas troubled steel industry.

U.S. steel mills shipped 12 percent less metal last year than in 2014, while imports captured as much as 44 percent of the market share for pipe and tube. That led to layoffs nationwide and the idling of mills like East Chicago Tin.

This past year, the Congressional Steel Caucus shepherded historic trade enforcement legislation and opened new markets to American-made steel products, Murphy said. The legislation is in place, the International Trade Commission has the tools at their disposal, but now they must take action to hold foreign competitors accountable and protect American jobs."
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Authorities were investigating the discovery of a womans body Wednesday along U.S 421 in LaPorte County in what could be a homicide.

Its too early to know exactly what transpired, but its suspected the victim was struck by a hit-and-run driver, LaPorte County police Capt. Mike Kellems said.

The woman did not have identification, though investigators think she is from the Porter County area, Kellems said. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

U.S 421 was closed from U.S 6 to U.S 30 to allow investigators to comb for evidence and to preserve the suspected crime scene.

It appears the female was hit by a vehicle judging by how the body was positioned and other evidence he would not disclose because of the ongoing investigation.

Kellems said the death was initially viewed as suspicious as part of standard operating procedure.

Anytime we got a scene like this and were not sure what happened and it was not witnessed, we treat it as a homicide until we determine otherwise, Kellems said.

Police were called about 2:30 p.m. when a passer-by discovered the body in a roadside ditch about a quarter mile north of U.S 30.

Kellems said its believed the victim was struck between 1:55 and 2:15 p.m.

Anyone who may have witnessed a white woman walking in the area of Wanatah or any vehicles stopped along U.S. 421 north of U.S. 30 during that time frame is asked to call detectives at (219) 326-7700, ext. 2443 or 2539.
VALPARAISO  An 18-year-old Boone Grove High School student was discovered with six knives in her purse Tuesday after making a comment in class about shooting everyone at the school, according to Porter County police.

Riley Gavigan, of the 10 block of Lourdes Street in Morgan Township, faces a misdemeanor charge of possessing a knife on school property.

The situation came to light when a teacher overheard Gavigan say to a fellow student in her classroom that, Im about ready to shoot everybody in this school, said Sgt. Jamie Erow, public information officer for the sheriff's department.

The teacher told Gavigan that the comment was inappropriate and contacted the schools office, Erow said.

Gavigan was brought to the office and a search of her purse revealed four folding knives, one straight blade knife and a small key-like knife, Erow said.

Gavigan reportedly told police she collects knives and had forgotten she had them in her possession. She said she carries knives as protection after being assaulted a year earlier, Erow said.

Gavigan said she made the comment about shooting everyone because she was frustrated that she would not be having some of her final exams waived, police said. She also said she had no intention of carrying out the threat.
CROWN POINT  Sophia Ibarra rocked back and forth Wednesday in a courtroom gallery as she watched the man who admitted to stabbing her son being taken into custody.

A tearful Ibarra told Lake Criminal Court Judge Samuel Cappas she finds it difficult to go on without her son, Jesus "Chuy" Ibarra.

"He was killed by him, and he also killed a part of me," she said.

The person she was referring to was Marco Antonio Gonzalez, 20, of Hobart, who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, a Class B felony, in the homicide of her son. Cappas sentenced Gonzalez to two years in prison followed by four years in community corrections. Gonzalez also will have to serve an additional three years on probation.

He had originally faced charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter and battery, which were all dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Ibarra, 19, of East Chicago, was stabbed Oct. 19, 2013, during a fight outside a Family Express located on 2 E. Old Ridge Road in Hobart.

Defense attorney Larry Rogers said Gonzalez and his friends had taken a break from playing video games to buy snacks at the gas station.

The incident started when Ibarra and his friends began talking to girls at the gas station. That led to a verbal confrontation between Ibarra's group and Gonzalez's group.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Jatkiewicz said the verbal confrontation escalated to a fight that included one of Gonzalez's friends who was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds. She said Ibarra and his friends didn't have weapons.

Gonzalez, who was 17 years old at the time, admitted to pulling out a switchblade from his back bag during the scuffle and using it to stab Ibarra at least once.

People who were with Ibarra drove him to Methodist Hospitals Nortlake Campus in Gary, where he later died.

Sophia Ibarra said her son had been working to better his life. He had gotten his GED and was accepted into Ivy Tech Community College.

Daniela Ramirez described her cousin, Jesus Ibarra, as someone who remained positive, taught her to stand up for herself and showed her that a person can redeem himself even after making bad decisions.

"He was taken away from this world way too young," she said.

Gonzalez's grandmother, Alma Gonzalez, and his mother, Rosalyn Gonzalez, testified that Gonzalez constantly thinks about what happened and has become depressed.

"He's not a bad kid, and that's what he is  a kid," Alma Gonzalez said.

Wearing a purple button-up shirt with a tie, Marco Gonzalez apologized to the Ibarra family for their loss.

He tearfully asked the court for a second chance, explaining he wanted to be a happy teenager again.

"I just want my life back," he said. "I want to go to college with my friends."

Jatkiewicz had asked Cappas to impose a 15-year prison term. She argued Gonzalez made conscious decisions that led to Ibarra's death.

Pointing to Gonzalez's criminal history as a juvenile, Jatkiewicz said the courts already had given him a chance. She said Gonzalez was arrested twice while he was out on bail in the case.

Before handing down the nine-year sentence, Cappas said the circumstances of the crime were aggravating factors. He determined Gonzalez's age and slender build were mitigating factors.

"I don't believe the defendant went out expecting to take a life that night," Cappas said.

A tearful Gonzalez whose face had turned red looked back at the gallery before bailiffs escorted him out of the courtroom.
GARY  A man found slumped over the wheel of a vehicle Tuesday night died from his wounds, police said.

Officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of Virginia Street about 7 p.m. after a passer-by riding a bicycle noticed the man and called police, Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

Police found the man in the drivers seat with a gunshot wound to his leg, she said.

Its possible the shooting was accidental, she said.

It was unclear how long the man was in the car before the passer-by saw him, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. John Basaldua at (219) 881-1210. To remain anonymous, call (866) CRIME-GP.
Porter County police said a bomb threat Wednesday morning at Liberty Elementary School proved to be unfounded.

Someone called the school, 50 W. County Road 900 North in Liberty Township, at 10 a.m. and left a message in the schools voice mailbox, Porter County Sheriffs Sgt. Jamie Erow said.

The voicemail sounded like a computer-generated voice stating there was a bomb in the building and would detonate if 911 was called or the building was evacuated. Following procedure, Liberty Elementary was immediately evacuated, Erow said.

The school staff, school resource officer, the Porter County Sheriffs Office and Porter County Bomb Team conducted a sweep of the school and found nothing suspicious. The children returned to their classes once the building was declared safe.

The Duneland School Corp. said Wednesday afternoon the districts security personnel and Porter County sheriffs police were notified immediately of the threat. A search turned up nothing, and no students or staff were in danger, according to a district news release.

The Porter County Detective Bureau tracked the threatening phone call to an East Chicago address, but determined no calls were made from that phone during that time and no one there is suspected of being involved.

Erow said there have been a series of bomb threats made throughout the Lake County and Porter County areas in the last month, but this threat is not believed to be related.
HAMMOND  A 32-year-old Valparaiso man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for one count of enticement of a minor and two counts of child pornography production.

The U.S States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana announced Wednesday the sentencing of Zachary Berkshire, who will be required to register as sex offender upon his eventual release from prison.

Berkshire used a computer and a cell phone to contact a minor between the ages of 12 and 15 years old between June and August 2014, according to a U.S. States Attorney news release. Berkshire persuaded the victim to meet him at a park in Northwest Indiana to engage in sexual activity.

Despite knowing the victim was under the age 15 and after he had sex with her in the park, Berkshire continued to maintain contact with her online and via text message, according to the release.

In January 2015, Berkshire also sent text messages to the victim requesting close up pictures of her private parts which he received. During the investigation, a second victim was found to be targeted on Aug. 12, 2013, when Berkshire recorded her with a hidden camera in a bathroom of his house without her knowledge.
EAST CHICAGO  The East Chicago School Board has named Paige McNulty the next superintendent of the School City of East Chicago.

The board voted Monday night to promote McNulty from assistant superintendent, a position she has occupied for little more than a year, Jesse Gomez, a board member, said.

She will replace Youssef "Dr. Joe" Yomtoob, who announced last month he will retire July 31.

Im excited and honored to have the opportunity to continue on with the positive initiatives that we have put in place in East Chicago," McNulty said in an email to The Times on Tuesday.

"Our district is moving in the right direction, and I am confident we will continue to make positive improvements in our students' lives. I am looking forward to working with the community and the school board to service all of East Chicago.

Yomtoob was not available Tuesday afternoon for comment.

McNulty said during an August 2015 guest appearance with Jim Dedelow, morning host of WJOB AM, that she has a doctorate in educational leadership, she grew up in Indiana, graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1987 and spent the bulk of her career with Illinois schools before coming here last year.

She will be taking over one of the most challenging school districts in Northwest Indiana. Most of its enrollment of 4,800 students qualifies for free meals under the federal government low-income family meal subsidies.

The district's ISTEP pass rate and graduation rate are well below the state average. It received a D letter grade under the 2014-15 school accountability program.

Yomtoob had been grooming McNulty as the next superintendent and recommended last month that the School Board look within his current leadership team rather than at an outside candidate.

Yomtoob, who has more than 50 years as an educator, leaves East Chicago after two years in which he made numerous cuts and consolidations, shrinking its budget deficit to about $3.4 million from $6 million and reconfiguring elementary and middle school buildings.
GARY  The Gary Site Plan Review and Development Committee turned down a request Tuesday from a proposed charter school to make improvements at the ARC building on West 35th Avenue, near the Village Shopping Center.

Last month, the committee deferred the request saying it needed more information.

Chrissy Hart, founding executive director of Steel City Academy, which received approval from the Indiana Charter School Board a year ago to open a charter school in Gary, wanted to move forward remodeling a portion of the building to create eight classrooms.

Hart, formerly an administrator at Lighthouse Academies, said she wanted to offer classes to students in seventh and ninth grades, adding a grade each year until it offered classes to students from pre-K through 12th.

After the 4-to-1 vote to deny the request, Hart said she was disappointed.

"I'm going to explore other facilities and opportunities, and figure out what's the best pathway," she said. "I'm disappointed for sure. I think the committee had real concerns about the location. My next step will be to find a location. I'm hoping we'll have an opportunity to find something that will work."

Hart said she had a contract to purchase arrangement with the ARC, which would have continued to share office space with the new charter school.

While there were a few people who came out to speak in favor of the charter school, including Jim Nowacki, who said he believes the charter should be treated just like any other school, several people spoke against it.

Those in opposition said the location is more industrial, doesn't have a playground area or location for teenage students to let off steam, is near a police gun range and is secluded.

Gary resident Jacqueline Lee said the charter school experiment is not working.

"We are allowing people to come into our community and say we can teach your children better than you can," she said. "Now, they're talking about putting our kids into a building that used to house mentally handicapped children and adults. It's all about divide and conquer. That's what they're doing in our community."
PORTAGE  Members of the National Veterans Awareness Riders are riding across the nation this week to honor the memories of men and women who have served in the armed forces.

It wouldn't be a trip for them without a stop at Portage High School.

"They put on a fantastic program for us," said Dan Kuepker, of Rolling Prairie and the Indiana state coordinator for the NVAR. "You can't get much better kids to show their patriotism like they do."

Some 55 motorcycles rolled into Portage High School, accompanied by the Portage Police and Fire departments, as well as their own support vehicles. They left Sacramento, California, last week on a 10-day ride ending Friday in Washington, D.C. Once in Washington, they will participate in the annual Rolling Thunder Ride through downtown to raise awareness about Americans still held prisoners of war and missing in action.

During the stop at PHS, members of the school's Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps welcomed them. Four drill teams performed.

Kuepker thanked them and presented a new MIA/POW flag and certificates of appreciation to the school. Members then presented the 13 seniors in the corps with ride pins from the organization.

The visit is just as important to the students as it is the riders, said JROTC Cadet Cmdr. Amanda Kirka, a senior who has enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

"It means a lot to us. Not only did they serve our country, they motivate us to do the same," she said, adding having them watch the program was an inspiration to JROTC members.

In addition, the riders talked individually with the seniors, all of whom are either going into the military or going to college.

Kuepker said the riders stop at hospitals, nursing homes and schools along the way to visit veterans and talk to youngsters.

They were to spend Tuesday night in Michigan City before heading to the State Veterans Home in West Lafayette on Wednesday morning.
Democratic newcomer Jim Harper is seeking to unseat incumbent Republican State Sen. Ed Charbonneau.

Harper, of Valparaiso, said he is running to bring new energy and independent leadership to the State Senate.

Over the past four years, Indianas reputation and economy have suffered as the Legislature and the Governor advanced an extreme agenda, he said. In the Senate, I will always put Hoosiers interests ahead of loyalty to party leaders in Indianapolis.

Harper, who received his law degree with honors from Georgetown University, practices in Porter County. He serves on the board of a nonprofit law firm that provides free and reduced-cost legal services to veterans, as well as the Hilltop House, a Valparaiso non-profit that provides early-childhood education and other services to Porter County families.

He is son of Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper and Bob Harper, a local attorney, who has served as a Porter County prosecutor and commissioner.

Charbonneau ran unopposed during the primary election earlier this month.
VALPARAISO  The City Council at its June 13 meeting will vote on whether to enact a wheel tax to pay for road improvement projects.

During its last session the Indiana Legislature granted cities over the population of 10,000 the ability to enact an annual fee on vehicles for the purpose of road repair, construction and maintenance. The wheel tax, which was recently adopted by the Portage City Council, is an on-going annual fee that is raised through payments of vehicle registrations.

Its a very modest fee, Mayor Jon Costas said of the wheel tax, which was introduced to the City Council during its Monday meeting. Were going to come out ahead. Better to fix our roads then to repair our cars.

The wheel tax would collect $25 per passenger vehicle and $40 per commercial vehicle registered within the city. The tax would be $12.50 for motorcycles, recreational vehicles and personal trailers.

Costas said current annual road revenues for Valpo are about $1.8 million  a good portion of which comes from trash collection fees. The city needs about $3 million to $3.5 million to adequately maintain its roads.

Costas said based upon the most current information from state sources, the proposed wheel tax will generate about $1 million annually for city road repair and maintenance. He said the new road funds could also be used to match other state funds for road maintenance.

Councilman Robert Cotton expressed some trepidation about enacting a wheel tax this soon without considering other funding sources for roads, saying there have been a rash of wheel taxes and called for the city to not do it right away.

Cotton brought up an example with Hobart, whose city officials this month decided to hold off on considering a wheel tax.

Valparaiso City Engineer Tim Burkman said a wheel tax would be a sustainable effort toward getting the funds needed for city roads. He said there is a curve in a life cycle of pavement in a road and as you slip further on that curve, it becomes more expensive and more difficult to rehabilitate that road.

You end up spending more money in the long-term as opposed to if you invested in the short-term, he said. As a result Im fully supportive of finding any sort of sustainable income that we can to further our pavement preservation program and I think we can use the wheel tax and frankly much more.

The June 13 City Council meeting will include a public hearing on the proposed wheel tax. If adopted by the council, the wheel tax will go into effect Jan. 1.
LANSING  Longtime Lansing Elementary School District 158 board member Charles Taylor is facing charges of battery and criminal damage to property as a result of an alleged road rage incident that occurred May 6.

The Lansing Police Department responded to the 2400 block of Thornton-Lansing Road at about 8 p.m. regarding an accident with no injuries.

Police later determined there had actually been no accident, but instead an alleged verbal argument between Taylor, 42, and John Drux, 54, of Homewood.

The statements given by the two motorists to police differed in details, according to the police report.

Both men told police they were driving on Thornton-Lansing Road when the alleged road rage incident occurred.

While Taylor told police Drux was driving his motorcycle erratically in front of him while on a cellphone, Drux said Taylor had cut him off, according to the police report.

Both men stopped and an argument ensued. Taylor told police Drux drove his motorcycle toward him, striking his arm with its windshield in the process, the report said.

Drux told police he parked his bike and the two started arguing before Drux made a U-turn in front of Taylor's car in an attempt to leave the scene.

Drux told police Taylor grabbed him and pushed him off his motorcycle, causing both he and the bike to fall and resulting in damage to the 2016 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic, according to the police report.

Drux refused medical assistance though he complained of back pain, and Taylor was arrested after police inspection of the motorcycle showed handprints on the front of it and fingerprints on the windshield that seemed to back up Drux's story.

Taylor posted bond and received a court date for the misdemeanor offenses.

The topic of Taylor's arrest did not come up during the monthly D.158 School Board meeting held May 18.

As the board moved to closed session, Taylor stopped reporters before they had a chance to question him regarding the incident.

"I have no comment," Taylor said. "I cannot make a comment. I'm sorry."

After the meeting, D.158 Board President Robert Wood said the school board has no current plans to address the matter.

"In this country we have a standard that every citizen is considered innocent of any charge until proven guilty, so that's where we're at," Wood said.
CHICAGO  The 20th annual Cinco de Mayo Senior Health and Resource Fair took place in early May at the Victory Center, 9233 S. Burley Ave., hosted by the South Chicago Senior Coalition.

More than 200 visitors were give free information and services by 33 vendors and service providers.

Some of the providers represented at the fair were Advocate Trinity Hospital, 10th Ward Alderman Sue Sadlowski Garza's office, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Chicago Department of Public Health, Cook County Hospital, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, Illinois attorney general and state treasurer's offices, Office of the City Clerk of Chicago, Pace RTA, Illinois secretary of state and the Lions of Illinois Foundation hearing van.

Of the 44 participants who took a hearing test, seven had hearing loss.

Attendees had access to health tests and social and financial support services.
INDIANAPOLIS  A Michigan City native will be the running mate of John Gregg, the Democratic candidate for governor.

His campaign announced Wednesday he has chosen state Rep. Christina Hale, who is completing her second term representing the north side of Indianapolis in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Gregg said in a prepared news release, "In Christina Hale, Ive found a partner who shares my commitment to working across the aisle to get things done."

Gregg, a former university president and Indiana House speaker, said, "Throughout her career, Christina has demonstrated that she is a consensus builder, a problem solver and someone who isnt afraid to take on the tough issues. Thats exactly the type of leadership Indiana needs."

Gregg said Hale has worked with Republican majorities on legislation to support small business, fight crime, combat sexual assault, lower utility rates and bring attention to the states water and sewer infrastructure needs.

She currently serves on the Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development; Insurance; and Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications committees.

Hale stated in the news release, "I know John Gregg to be a good man and a great leader. He is committed to finding solutions and getting the work of the people done and so am I. We share an ambitious vision for all Hoosiers to create solid economic opportunities and strong schools, while responsibly addressing the ever-pressing needs of our failing infrastructure and our states drug and crime problems.

Prior to serving in the state legislature, Hale worked at Kiwanis International, a global service organization as a communications officer, in various roles within state government and as a newspaper reporter.

A graduate of Purdue University, Hale was born and raised in Michigan City. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, Chris, and has an adult son, Owen.
CALUMET TOWNSHIP  A 24-year-old man was killed and three others were injured Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash on Cleveland Street, officials said.

Adonis Florence was headed north in a black 1997 Honda Accord when he crossed the center line and drove into the path of a silver 2004 Volvo sedan about 10 a.m. near 46th Avenue and Cleveland Street, officials said.

The driver of the Volvo, a 26-year-old Hammond woman, was extricated from her car by the Lake Ridge Fire Department and taken to a local hospital, Lake County sheriff's spokesman Mark Back said. The woman later was flown to an Illinois hospital for further treatment.

The woman's passenger, a 37-year-old Griffith woman, was found outside the vehicle in critical condition and taken to a local hospital, police said.

A passenger Florence's car, a 7-year-old Hammond boy, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Florence died at the scene from blunt force trauma, according to the Lake County coroner's office.

The coroner's office said Florence lived in Gary. The Sheriff's Department said he was from East Chicago.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation, Back said.
CHESTERTON  Environment as a discussion by Chesterton residents is a perfect fit given the towns proximity to the Indiana Dunes, Serena Sutliff said.

Living in Chesterton you cant help but love the Indiana Dunes where you can hike, you can swim and you can appreciate the plant life, Sutliff said.

Sutliff, who serves as curator of the Westchester Township History Museum, led off the environmental discussion by providing a history of the Indiana Dunes beginning in the late 1800s when different companies began mining sand dunes to make glass.

The event, which was attended by about a dozen residents, was held at the Westchester Public Library Center as part of the NWI Next Conversation in the bicentennial year series.

Doug Ross, politics/history editor at The Times, served as moderator for a 60-minute discussion, which touched on first impressions of Indiana Dunes, ways to better protect the environment, and how to better educate young people about the areas environmental and recreational treasure.

Several participants also spoke pointedly about their being opposed to alcohol sales at the renovated historic Dunes pavilion and asked why the Times seemed to be leading the charge.

Why is The Times trying to promote it? resident Diane Bates asked.

Ross said The Times Editorial Board felt the DNR wasnt going to put more any money into restoring the crumbling pavilion and that the liquor license was key for the project to go forward and be funded by Pavilion Partners.

Earlier this year, a new law was passed by legislators downstate allowing the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to obtain state park alcohol permits for any or all of its parks without having to follow most of the procedures typically required to get state permission to sell beer, wine or liquor, including local review.

Pavilion Partners, which has a 35-year lease with the DNR to renovate the pavilion and operate dining and event spaces there, twice was denied an alcohol sales permit last year by the Porter County Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Under the new law, which takes effect July 1, the DNR must be issued a permit if it requests one.

Nearly 10,000 Region residents signed petitions urging the General Assembly and the governor to reject the plan for alcohol in the park, citing the potential for drunks on the beach, increased drownings and new competition for nearby businesses.

Do you realize how long it took to get 10,000 signatures and have it totally ignored? Chesterton resident Jean Edgemon asked.

Edgemon said she worries that if plans for the banquet center go forward there will be other development including a casino.

Many, including Bates, believe the Indiana Dunes should be kept as natural as possible and more accessible.

Id like more access for the public. Thats our gold mine, Bates said.

Sutliff posed the question about public access versus its impact on the Indiana Dunes.

We talk about public access but it has an impact as well. Should there be a line drawn? Sutliff said.

During Sutliffs discussion on the history of the Indiana Dunes, she spoke about how several companies including the Ball Brothers Co. began mining the dunes to use the sand to make the blue colored fruit jars.

Sutliff spoke of botanist Henry Chandler Cowles, a professor at the University of Chicago, who visited the Indiana Dunes for research and wrote a paper that led to efforts to preserve the lakeshore.

Other groups that pushed to have the Indiana Dunes set aside as a state park included the Prairie Club, a group that passed through Gary in the early 1900s and fell in love with the Indiana Dunes, Sutliff said.

Once the National Parks Service was commissioned by Congress in 1916, the Prairie Club pushed to make the Indiana Dunes preservation a national effort.
One of the hottest races this year is the U.S. Senate contest pitting Democrat Baron Hill against Republican Todd Young. It's operating in the shadow of a crazy presidential race -- and in the shadow of the past.

Hill was in Northwest Indiana again last week, hoping to build name recognition and sat down for a one-on-one interview.

In 2010, Young defeated Hill in the 9th Congressional District in southern Indiana. Hill remains a congressman, hoping to move from the House to the Senate.

Knowing he was defeated once already by Young, what makes Hill confident he can win again?

"The political atmosphere and climate is different in 2016 than it was in 2010," Hill told me last week. That mid-term election saw a Republican landslide.

Political action committees will be pouring money into this race, hoping to sway voters by making broad generalizations about both candidates.

It's up to voters to look beyond the party labels and see what each candidate really stands for.

The economy is a big concern, and Hill has plans including putting more money in people's pockets.

Hill talks of the Great Recession, including the federal stimulus package and saving the automobile industry, the Cash for Clunkers program, tax credits for home buyers and others as "policies that got us out of that mess."

"That stopped the bleeding and got us back on track again," Hill said.

But that doesn't mean Hill isn't concerned about the federal deficit and debt.

Some Republicans have been talking lately about increasing military spending despite the federal law that limits both military and domestic spending.

Hill reminded me he was author of the pay-go bill intended to prevent the federal government from spending more than previously budgeted without a tax increase or a corresponding cut elsewhere.

The foreign trade issue is going to be worth scrutiny. It's an area where the past doesn't necessary predict the future well.

"I've always been a free trader," Hill said.

But he wants to look at how the past deals have played out to ensure Americans get a fair deal.

"The facts are we've got a global economy, and we've got to play in it," Hill said.

Hill is especially concerned about the steel industry, he said, because steel is vital for the weapons of war.

"You can't group steel in with corn and soybeans," Hill said.

We can't rely on foreign countries to supply steel if we need to ramp up production in a hurry. Think of World War II and how the Region was vital to supplying steel for tanks and other weaponry. Think of the steel needed for ships after Pearl Harbor.

And while you're thinking about this country's past, think of its future.

"There's two visions of America," Hill said. "There's one one vision that Donald Trump is painting -- a nation that is degrading to women, to minorities, to Latinos, to people on disability. Whoever would have thought a presidential candidate would stand up and say, 'We're going to ban Muslims from coming into this country'?

"Now if that's the nation we want, we're going to throw some 200-odd years of history away and kick the Statue of Liberty into the harbor. Is that the vision we want?

"We've got a choice to make. Do we want that vision, where you've got people in foreign lands scratching their heads and wondering what is America becoming in this election, or do we want to stand up for what we've always believed in  that is, America is for everybody?"

After Nov. 8, we'll see which vision prevails  and which U.S. senator will help shape the nation's future.
In the dark of night Saturday, Lowell police Cpl. Aaron Crawford raised his flashlight and focused on the eyes of a familiar face.

The odor of alcohol and involuntary eye movement Crawford said he observed from the 48-year-old Lowell man were telltale signs of an intoxicated driver. As a cop who regularly ranks among Lake County's leading officers for making drunken driving arrests, Crawford knows the signs all too well.

But on this night, at a special roadside safety checkpoint set up on Lowell's Commercial Avenue by the Lake County DUI Task Force, more than the signs of intoxication triggered Crawford's memory.

The corporal recalls this man's face from a previous drunken driving arrest. Court computers confirm it  a 2013 guilty plea to operating while intoxicated.

Normally this man, Roger Moreno, 48, of Lowell, would have faced a misdemeanor drunken driving charge for his admitted decision to drink at home and then go out for a drive Saturday, police said.

But the 2013 OWI conviction, a portable alcohol breath test showing a 0.227 blood-alcohol count  nearly three times the legal limit  and Moreno's refusal to submit to a more reliable breath test at the police station brought a felony charge Saturday night.

Police had the tools to level the full weight of the law in Moreno's case, because a previous drunken driving arrest led to an operating while intoxicated conviction.

However, we know in hundreds of Lake County cases, the prosecutor frequently cuts deals with offenders, pleading down drunken driving cases to lesser misdemeanor counts of reckless driving.

Those deals are an affront both to public safety and the specialized efforts of Region police officers who work to pull intoxicated drivers from our roadways.

A Times review of 2014 OWI cases revealed Lake County police officers arrested 827 alleged drunken drivers. But in 477 of those cases, or about 58 percent of the time, plea deals allowed alleged offenders to plead guilty to the lesser count of reckless driving.

Prosecutors in Porter and LaPorte counties took a harder line, pushing for OWI convictions in 81 percent and 64 percent of their drunken driving cases, respectively.

In a recent high-profile case, politically connected Region union official Randolph "Randy" Palmateer was arrested on charges of drunken driving at a Hammond police enforcement checkpoint in March. It was Palmateer's second such arrest since 2011.

In both cases, Lake County prosecutors allowed Palmateer to plead guilty to lesser reckless driving charges.

Such deals mark a sharp turn away from the public safety to which Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter is elected to serve as champion.

Carter repeatedly has argued his office isn't soft on OWI. He has said the plea deals are an acceptable tool for moving cases through a clogged court system.

"It makes it look as if they think it's not that big of a deal," Indiana Mothers Against Drunk Driving lead victim advocate Lael Hill told me Tuesday.

"This is a big deal. It's a criminal act that regularly causes violent tragedies."

In 2013, 198 people lost their lives in Indiana cases in which at least one driver had a blood-alcohol percentage over the legal limit of 0.08.

Crawford and 13 other officers of the Lake County DUI Task Force spent five hours in the special roadside safety checkpoint Saturday night, hoping to reduce such statistics.

Members of the same task force set up a similar net in Hobart on Friday, pulling in vehicles four at a time and observing drivers for known signs of drunken driving.

The combined Friday and Saturday checkpoints yielded four drunken driving arrests and 15 other traffic-related arrests or citations.

Special traffic and OWI-related enforcement patrols will continue through the Memorial Day weekend, several Region police officials said.

During the Saturday night operation in Lowell, one driver threw his car in reverse and attempted a U-turn on Commercial Avenue  presumably to avoid justice because of multiple past driving violations.

Lake County prosecutors take a similar sharp turn away from justice with their penchant for drunken driving plea deals.
The Whats Killing The Poor in Indiana article from May 8 is the latest in The Times' articles on the effects of poverty, all of which impact state social services.

Many have voiced negative opinions regarding the extent to which government should be involved with welfare rights of the poor. While society debates the definition of "rights," a democratic society and government is ultimately responsible for the common good.

It is in the best interest of society, i.e. the common good, to fully provide a free and appropriate public education. This is the only way the cycle of poverty can be broken and the burdens on state social services reduced.

An appropriate public education means bringing all children  regardless of economic disadvantage  to a level of achievement that will result in capabilities to acquire adequate employment sustaining independent living. Anything that interferes with that goal is ultimately not in the best interests of society.

Indiana has many policies that interfere with the best interests of society. Kindergarten (the new first grade) is not mandatory. Preschool for the most disadvantaged is inadequate. The charter school choice experiment has provided needless quantity without control for quality.

Private school vouchers have enabled student segregation based on religious and academic discrimination. Hundreds of millions in funding have been shifted away from schools serving the most disadvantaged students of poverty. Obsession with testing is a priority over helping students and improving schools.

Advantaged children receive years of preschool education, technology and internet in the home, academic tutoring and programs in communities that can pass referendum funding.

Disadvantaged children of poverty do not receive preschool education. There is a lack of funds for internet, technology, tutoring, transportation and access to services in communities that cannot even collect the taxes they are due, much less pass a referendum.

How can the common good not include addressing these inequities through public education? To break the cycle of poverty, education tax dollars should be used to address these inequities first.

National politics has revealed the rise of the disenfranchised public and the effects of the ever widening income gap. Adequate funding for public schools has become dependent on the wealth of the community. Indiana citizens must look to the next election and decide which candidates truly represent the common good.
We've seen some victories in recent attempts to level the playing field and bolster the American steel industry, upon which much of Northwest Indiana's fortunes still rely.

But there's still a long way for our federal government to go in staving off effects of the dumping of cheap Chinese and other foreign steel into our markets.

The practice of these foreign companies infusing illegally subsidized steel  for less than it could be sold in their home countries  into the U.S. economy has shown detrimental results.

China alone has caused an international steel import crisis that has caused more than 13,000 layoffs in the United States, according to industry experts.

We were encouraged last week when the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its desire to slap tariffs as high as 522 percent on Chinese steel to attack this epic problem.

The federal government plans to impose new duties on cold-rolled steel imports  the type that goes into cars and appliances. This is one of the major products made at Northwest Indiana steel mills, so this federal action helps many of our workers and their families.

We're also encouraged Gov. Mike Pence has joined the conversation, asking U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to investigate a series of allegations made by U.S. Steel regarding violations of international trade laws by China.

And U.S. House Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., continues his long-fought crusade against these trade injustices. Last week, he helped secure a requirement that the U.S. Department of Defense only buy certain products that are made in America, including steel.

But as of earlier this week, Visclosky still awaited an answer to a request he made earlier this month for a meeting with President Barack Obama on the matter.

The White House needs to take this trade matter seriously and bring all of its resources to bear. Obama certainly should meet with Visclosky, vice chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, and the caucuses Chairman Tim Murphy.

For all of the noise and rhetoric in politics  often revolving around social issues that effect small percentages of our population  unfair practices in the steel trade hold a wide impact over many lives and families.

It's time for a concerted effort from Washington.
As the push to reform the criminal justice system gains steam around the nation, one Brooklyn court is celebrating a milestone in giving addicts a second chance. NY1's Dean Meminger says the treatment court is being hailed as a success.

One by one they shared stories of desperation and despair.

For this woman, drug addiction led to one horrible situation after another.

"I got hit in the face with a two by four and lost 25 teeth," she said.

This man spoke about his willingness to sell a kidney, so he could have money for drugs.

Eventually they were all arrested and hauled into Brooklyn Treatment Court.

They spoke about how that moment helped them to turn their lives around as the court celebrated its 20th anniversary.

"Nobody knew if this would be successful," said Judge Jo Ann Ferdinand. "Could you really mandate drug addicts to get treatment? And help them in their recovery?"

Judge Ferdinand has been the court's sole judge since it opened, one of the first treatment courts in the country.

She has sentenced more than 5,000 people to treatment instead of prison. More than 3,500 have completed the program.

Alberto Rodriguez is one of them.

"When I wind up in Rikers Island and I was like you have to be kidding me, this is not you," Rodriguez said. "You got to do better. BTC brought me back from under that darkness."

Participants must complete more than a year of court monitored treatment, be drug free and in school or working, or they will be sent to jail.

"Success is not only their success, not only the court success, but the rest of the community will benefit," said Judge Ferdinand.

Kicking a drug or alcohol addiction is definitely not easy. The people who graduated from this treatment program say they were taught to believe in themselves.

"Being locked up for what, ten dollars, that was low," said Keith Swinton. "Then Brooklyn Treatment Court came along."

"And they helped me to see what was broken and see how I can fix it with their help," said Margarita Garcia. "And I think that in itself is what really worked."

Right now about 250 people are participating in the treatment court looking to end their addictions.
Police are searching for a man they say tried to rape a 21-year-old woman in Brooklyn over the weekend.

It happened on 2nd Street near 7th Avenue in Park Slope around 4:30 a.m. Sunday.



Investigators say the woman was walking when the suspect grabbed her from behind and inappropriately touched her before pushing her to the ground and taking off her clothes.

She was able to fight him off.

Police say he ran into a dark-colored Acura.

Those who spoke with NY1 say they're shocked.

"I've lived here for about 15 years. I have small kids. It is a neighborhood that feels incredibly safe, like a real community and I've never worried about anything like that happening," said one Park Slope resident.

"I've been away at college, so coming back and kind of having to change my habits has been a little off-putting, but yeah, I have to be very careful now, 'cause I usually walk from the train, the Q rain, so it's very scary," said another.

The suspect was last seen wearing light colored shorts and a light colored shirt.

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.
As the MTA prepares for another public meeting on the overhaul of the L line, a new survey finds a clear preference by riders for how they want the repairs to proceed. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.



From one end of the L line in Canarsie to the other on Manhattan's West Side, the choice of riders is clear: fix the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, and fix it fast.

"I would say that if you could do it quicker, the better. Eighteen months," said one commuter.



That's the option that would halt all L service west of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn for a year and a half to repair corrosion caused by the storm. It's emerged as the preferred choice in a survey by the Riders Alliance.

"Riders' preferences were clear in our survey. 77 percent of the L train riders we surveyed prefer the 18-month full shutdown option," said Nick Sifuentes, deputy director of Riders Alliance.



The other option being considered by the MTA would stretch the repairs over three years to allow for limited service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The transit agency says that choice would create longer waits for trains and even more crowding on the fastest-growing line in the system.

"We've been calling it in my household the 'Lpocalypse.' It just, everything about it would be horrible," said one commuter.



The advocacy group also surveyed riders on how they want the sta te-run MTA and the city to ease their pain during the lengthy repair job. The survey found suppport for dedicated bus lanes on the Williamsburg Bridge and 14th Street, more bike share stations and additional ferry service.



Riders also want additional service on lines that link Brooklyn and Manhattan, like the A, C, J, M and Z, which all connect to the L.



"If the MTA does its work correctly, it could leave commuters with a host of robust alternatives that will serve them well during the shutdown, and hopefully beyond, too," Sifuentes said.



The transit agency expects to settle on a repair plan within three months. And after public meetings in Williamsburg and in Chelsea, the agency wants to gather more input from riders who'll be affected by the work, which is to start in 2019.



The MTA has scheduled its next public meeting on the L train repairs for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Beraca Baptist Church, 9602 Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn.


Cue a sad, sweet country song: Nashville and its queen bee, Connie Britton, bid us farewell. Wayward Pines brings Jason Patric on board. And spend some time with the young lovelies of Sense8, that bizarrely pleasing collaboration between the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski.

Whats on TV

NASHVILLE 10 p.m. on ABC. This series finale is titled Maybe Youll Appreciate Me Someday. Well forever appreciate Connie Britton, who, as Rayna, goes mama bear for the last time when she discovers that a neer-do-well from her past has weaseled his way into her daughter Maddies life. (She also performs Together We Stand with her littlest cub, Daphne.) And Hayden Panettiere, as Juliette, addresses a death with the help of Deborah Roberts of ABC News. Meanwhile, in real life, more than 90,000 fans have signed a change.org petition to save the show by asking another network to pick it up for a fifth season.

WAYWARD PINES 9 p.m. on Fox. A fresh round of psychological shenanigans begins as Dr. Theo Yedlin (Jason Patric), the towns newest resident, wakes up from suspended animation to find himself in the middle of the rebellion that ended Season 1.
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
ALBANY  With days slipping away in the legislative session, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo offered a new a la carte ethics package on Tuesday, despite there being seemingly little appetite for such fare.

The target of Mr. Cuomos effort was the so-called L.L.C. loophole, which allows donors to funnel almost unlimited amounts of money to political candidates through multiple limited liability companies. Beneficiaries include the governor himself, who has received ample donations via such avenues.

On Tuesday, however, Mr. Cuomo said he would advance eight bills to close the loophole before the end of the session in mid-June, including one that would apply only to races for governor.

It is a menu selection, said Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, adding that the governor-only option was to show that Im willing to go first, and Im willing to go it alone.
On Sunday, Donald Trump pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in the RealClearPolitics average of the five most recent national polls  albeit by 0.2 points. Political realists and polling experts tell us not to overreact to every twist and turn of the numbers, but there is an unmistakable trend here, and it is not one Democratic strategists like the look of.

Once again, we are faced with a rising Trump. Once again, we have to wonder what is going on.

Hillary Clinton, a Yale Law graduate whose resume includes stints at the Childrens Defense Fund and the House Judiciary Committee working on Watergate, spent more than a decade as first lady of Arkansas, eight years as first lady of the United States, eight years as a senator and four years as secretary of state serving as one of the presidents principal foreign policy advisers. She collected more than 17 million votes in 2008 as the first woman to ever come close to winning the presidential nomination of a major party; she has been named 12 times by Forbes as one of most powerful women in the world and found 20 times by Gallup to be the woman Americans admire most in the world.

How could a candidate with as much baggage as Trump be neck-and-neck with one of the most admired, best credentialed and most broadly experienced nominees in the history of the Democratic Party?

The reversal has come quickly, as my colleague Nate Cohn pointed out on Tuesday. Last year, on July 15, Clinton led Trump 53.3 to 33.7 in the RealClearPolitics aggregation of polls. As recently as March 23, she had a solid 11.4 point lead, 50.4 to 39.0, over Trump.
I recently asked a good friend where her boss stood on Donald Trump.

This wasnt an idle question. Her boss gives big money to Republican candidates. Hes both power broker and weather vane. And she talks politics with him all the time.

But she has no idea about him and Trump. She hasnt inquired, because she doesnt want to know. Shes fond of her boss. She respects him. But what if hes made peace with a candidate who called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States, mocked a disabled journalist, belittled John McCains experience as a prisoner of war, praised Vladimir Putins thuggish leadership style, complimented the Chinese government on its brutal handling of the uprising in Tiananmen Square, made misogynistic remarks galore and boasted during a debate about the size of his penis?

She cant go there.

I understand.

I have many relatives who loyally vote Republican, regardless of their excitement about the particular nominee. Theres a definite chance that some of them back Trump. So I steer clear of talk about this election, though weve spoken plenty  and placidly  about every other election.

One of these relatives routinely pushes back at any Trump-negative columns I write, and Ive convinced myself that hes just baiting me and playing devils advocate. Ive never said to him, point blank, Are you actually voting for Trump? And I wont. Its my goal to get to and through Election Day without learning the truth.
The fact that Mr. Obama has now ordered an attack in Baluchistan, rather than the border region where Pakistan has tolerated previous American operations, raises a big question: Does he intend to expand the American mission in Afghanistan, now focused on training and advising Afghan forces and ensuring that Al Qaeda cannot rebuild?

There are 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan, a number that is scheduled to drop to 5,500 by the end of the year. Military commanders appear likely to recommend against such a reduction. In Vietnam on Monday, Mr. Obama insisted that we are not re-entering the day-to-day combat operations that he declared an end to in 2014. But he is under pressure in Congress and elsewhere to significantly step up the fight. That would be a questionable choice for which he has not yet made a case.

Mullah Mansours taxi was obliterated from the sky as he returned to Pakistan from Iran. News reports said he went there for medical treatment, but one expert told The Times that Iran has been quietly helping the Taliban for several years, as a hedge in case the militants regain power in Kabul.

Pakistan complained Monday that the strike had violated its sovereignty. But much like the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 in a Pakistani garrison town, the attack might not have been necessary had Pakistan cooperated in the first place and worked with the Americans to defeat the Taliban.

The killing is certain to worsen relations between Pakistan and America, which are already frayed. Other effects are less predictable. The Taliban moved quickly on Wednesday to name Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, a deputy to Mr. Mansour with strong religious credentials, as the new leader. One hopeful possibility is that he and other Taliban leaders will now feel more threatened, thus more amenable to peacemaking. Conversely, the Taliban, which now suffers from internal divisions, could continue in their aggressive ways. A third possibility is that it could lose fighters to the Islamic State. In any case, studies suggest that killing terrorist leaders usually does not mean an end to the violence.
Good afternoon, the elusive artist Terence Koh said over the phone earlier this week. Hed called to discuss his new show, which opened at Andrew Edlin Gallery over the weekend. Im inside the bee chapel. Im lying down and looking straight up at the ceiling. Theyre really busy today because its sunny.

The Beijing-born, Canadian-raised enfant terrible was once the poster boy of aughts excess  a decade ago, he gold-plated his own feces and sold them at Art Basel for about a half-million dollars; he also once, rather infamously, told T, I am the Naomi Campbell of the art world. But the past few years have brought a different turn: He discontinued his gallery representations and, in 2014, moved to a mountaintop in the Catskills. The relocation was widely construed as a ceremonial retirement of sorts, but Koh insists the opposite: I never had any intention of quitting the art world, I just moved to a different part of the world, he says. It was something that happened naturally. He has since lived peacefully in what he describes as a personal Eden dusted with goldenrod and apple trees. In the branches of one, he built a hut and called it a bee chapel, which would become the titular heart of his new exhibition.
An Ohio law that curtails early voting and prevents people from registering to vote and casting ballots on the same day illegally discriminates against black voters, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, ordering a crucial swing state to change its rules before the fall elections.

Democrats had challenged the law, describing it as one in a long series that Republicans in several states had enacted to suppress voting by blacks and Hispanics, who are more likely than others to vote early and to vote Democratic. Republicans denied that charge, saying the law combated voter fraud. Judge Michael H. Watson, of Federal District Court in Cincinnati, wrote in his findings that voter fraud was very rare and that the law did nothing to prevent it.

It is unclear what effect the ruling will have on turnout. Republicans would not say immediately whether they would appeal, but they noted that even with the provision the judge struck down, Ohio had one of the longest early voting periods in the United States, starting four weeks before an election.

Early voting in Ohio grew out of the 2004 election, when people stood in line for hours to cast ballots, particularly in heavily minority and Democratic urban areas. Thousands went home without voting. George W. Bush carried the state by 2.1 percentage points. If he had lost it, John Kerry would have become president.
The Senate measure would generally require that victims be notified of the results of rape kit tests, including any DNA matches, as well as toxicology reports that could show whether they had been given a date-rape drug, for instance. It would codify existing protections from the Violence Against Women Act that prevent victims from being charged for those exams, meaning that the right could be upheld in court.

The bill would also ensure that rape kits would be preserved without charge for 20 years or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever comes first. Statutes of limitations vary greatly: Wyoming does not have one for felony sex crimes, while the cutoff in Illinois is three years if the victim does not report the crime within that time, Ms. OConnor said.

The fight for greater protections has played out most publicly on college campuses and in military courts-martial. And highly visible examples like the accusations against the comedian Bill Cosby  who faces trial on charges of sexual assault after a judge ruled on Tuesday that the case against him could proceed  have helped bring attention to the cause, Ms. OConnor said.

Congress has been working its way through a handful of bills to improve the treatment of victims.

This month, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a criminal justice bill that included a provision to eliminate the heavy backlog of rape kits awaiting testing. And Democrats on the Senate health committee, led by Senator Patty Murray of Washington, have been pressing for a bill to improve medical services for victims, including the development of the first national standards for care after assaults.

The biggest hurdle for the measures, as it has been for nearly all legislation in Congress in recent years, is the cost. Conservatives in the House have balked at most any bill that calls for new spending, as some of these would.
COMMERCE, Calif.  With two weeks before Californias delegate-rich primary, Hillary Clinton stopped here on Tuesday and went on the attack against a rival. Just not the one she is currently running against.

Mrs. Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont each courted voters in California, which has more delegates to divvy up than any other state, but their appearances showed how differently they are approaching the coming contest. Both have harshly criticized Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but while Mrs. Clinton has made him her main focus, Mr. Sanderss hopes are centered on an upset victory in the primary.

California, the nations most populous state, would be a prize for Mr. Sanders, who is hoping for a marquee victory that he could showcase heading into the partys summer convention in Philadelphia. But however lustrous a victory might be, it would be largely symbolic given Mrs. Clintons nearly insurmountable delegate lead, and she is spending her time building a case against Mr. Trump.

At a rally in Los Angeles County, Mrs. Clinton continued to try out different attacks against the billionaire businessman, touching on subjects including his business acumen, his foreign policy views and even his reality-show catchphrase.
Four years ago, one of Chinas largest agricultural importers sent representatives to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., hoping that meetings with elite party officials might yield business opportunities. The company, the Dandong Port Group, was particularly focused on the governors in attendance, according to an interview with Dandongs general counsel broadcast by Chinese state television.

If you really want to influence, lets say, U.S.-China policy, he said, its almost worth it to have emphasis and influence on the state level.

The meetings, arranged by a former South Carolina governor, marked a period of expansion in the United States for Dandong and its affiliated companies, involving negotiations with officials in Washington, Arkansas, South Carolina and Virginia. But now, the companys widening influence is coming under scrutiny by federal prosecutors, who are examining the relationship between Dandongs wealthy and connected chairman, Wang Wenliang, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, a Democrat who was elected in 2013.

A federal law enforcement official said the inquiry included $120,000 in contributions that a New Jersey construction firm controlled by Mr. Wang made to Mr. McAuliffes 2013 campaign and inaugural committee. That official and a second law enforcement official, both of whom asked for anonymity to discuss the matter, said it was a preliminary inquiry of Mr. McAuliffes campaign donations, and they provided no detail about the nature and scope of any potential violations being scrutinized.
MEXICO CITY  Luis H. Alvarez, a leading figure in the conservative National Action Party in Mexico who dedicated his life to the fight for democracy there, died on May 18 at his home in Leon, Mexico. He was 96.

The cause was complications of pneumonia, his nephew Fernando Alvarez said.

Mr. Alvarez, who was originally a textile executive, was steadfast in his efforts to end the long rule of Mexicos Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI.

In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for president against that partys candidate, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, in what seemed like a quixotic campaign.

Almost three decades later, with the ruling party still immovable, he rallied opposition in Chihuahua, his home state, to protest voting fraud, undertaking a long hunger strike that helped focus international attention on the Mexican oppositions struggle for democracy.
RIO DE JANEIRO  Brazils interim president, Michel Temer, announced an array of proposals on Tuesday aimed at restoring confidence in the sickly economy of Latin Americas largest country.

Seeking to draw a contrast with Dilma Rousseff, the suspended leftist president whom Mr. Temer maneuvered to oust this month, he said he would try to repeal nationalist oil legislation, curb public spending and shut down a sovereign wealth fund.

Still, Mr. Temers televised briefing was light on detail as to how he planned to win approval in a fractious Congress for an array of measures like overhauling a crisis-ridden pension system that allows Brazilians to retire at an average age of 54.

While announcing the measures, Mr. Temer, 75, who is two weeks into the job, expressed frustration with his critics, contending his government was the victim of psychological aggression.
KABUL, Afghanistan  For the second time in less than a year, senior Taliban leaders have convened in the Pakistani city of Quetta to deliberate how to replace a dead supreme leader.

Unlike last summers gatherings, where some leaders arrived in convoys of hundreds of vehicles to choose Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour as the successor to their founding leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, Taliban figures described the tone of the meetings over the past three days as decidedly low-key, and even shocked.

They described how the American drone strike that was said to have killed Mullah Mansour in Pakistans Baluchistan Province on Saturday also destroyed the perception that the protection they had received for years in their Pakistani havens could be permanent. Some angrily accused Pakistani intelligence agents of selling out Mullah Mansours location to the Americans.

Taliban spokesmen and commanders were happy to jump on the phone last summer, first to reject news of Mullah Omars death and then to project an image of unity behind Mullah Mansour. This time, there has been mostly silence. Several commanders and participants who could still be reached said the days of heedless cellphone communication in Baluchistan were gone  another casualty of the American drone strike that some officials said was aided by Mullah Mansours repeated use of a small collection of phones.
Israels internal security minister ordered the police on Tuesday to stop giving the bodies of Palestinians killed while committing attacks against Israelis to their families for burial, after online video appeared to show a large crowd at the funeral of a man who killed a rabbi last year.

The order by the minister, Gilad Erdan, contradicted an announcement this month by the Israeli authorities that they would follow a recommendation from the countrys Supreme Court to return the bodies of nine Palestinians to their families before the start of Ramadan, which begins in June.

Mr. Erdan announced the decision in a Facebook post in response to the video made on Monday at the East Jerusalem funeral of Alaa Abu Jamal, a Palestinian who was fatally shot by the police in October after he rammed a car into a group of civilians and then killed a rabbi with a meat cleaver. The video appeared to show a crowd chanting anti-Israel slogans at the funeral.

Mr. Erdan said the number of people visible in the video violated an agreement made by Mr. Abu Jamals family to restrict the number of mourners to 40 and to ensure that the event did not become politicized.
The evergreen sweetness of George Balanchines 1962 ballet of A Midsummer Nights Dream has many sources. Theres the Mendelssohn music that Balanchine chose, abuzz with summer sounds and the confusions and harmonies of love. Theres Balanchines expert storytelling, with its honeyed comedy and deft interweaving of fairies and mortals. Theres the embodiment of so many of those fairies by children (students from the School of American Ballet), one of the most enchanting uses of children in all of ballet.

Yet this Dream, in which fairies and mortals alike are frequently dozing off or being put to sleep by magic, can itself drift toward sleep. And so it was at the David H. Koch Theater on Tuesday, when New York City Ballet began its annual weeklong run of the work.
One hundred years after the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich shook up the art world with the first exhibition of his Suprematist paintings, museums across Europe, from Austria to France to Spain, are celebrating his legacy with a series of exhibitions.

In his works, Malevich depicted planes of color speeding across an expanding cosmos, seeking to render moments of what he called supreme worlds floating through time and space. His use of purely abstract forms broke with centuries of artistic tradition. Malevich introduced his vision to the world in the winter of 1915-16 with a show in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) called The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10.

The Zero-Ten show is one of the most important exhibitions in the history of Modernism, said Matthew Drutt, who last winter recreated it for the Fondation Beyeler museum in Switzerland. As the great powers sought to destroy each other in World War I with fearsome new weapons like tanks, poison gas and armed airplanes, Malevich was envisioning a postwar utopia visible only in the new world of abstract art, Mr. Drutt said.

The Swiss show also traced the arc of Malevichs influence on generations of artists, including Piet Mondrian, Mark Rothko and the installation designer Olafur Eliasson.
Bonnie Bishop

Aint Who I Was

(Thirty Tigers)

A few years ago Bonnie Bishop had what many Nashville songwriters would consider an enviable break, when Nashville  the unctuous prime-time soap opry, now on its way to cancellation but then a rampaging hit for ABC  featured one of her songs as an anthem. It was The Best Songs Come From Broken Hearts, a signature tear-jerker for Rayna James, the fictional country star played by Connie Britton. In one of the shows more cathartic moments, she performed the song as part of a vital comeback, reactivating a voice that shed feared lost.

Ms. Bishop, 37, has an analogous story to tell on Aint Who I Was, her soulful but subtly calculating new album. You could throw a dart at the track list and come up with a song about wrenching renewal: I had to fall, lose it all/To see the truth, she sings on Looking for You.

This motif of reinvention hits home for Ms. Bishop, who spent more than a decade bouncing around Nashville and the touring circuit before she hit a wall. Shed already had her Nashville moment; one of her other songs, Not Cause I Wanted To, had been recorded to heavy acclaim by Bonnie Raitt. But Ms. Bishop, feeling wrung out, retreated home to Texas and redirected her energies to writing short fiction. Her return to music was apparently far from assured.

She found her way back with a hand from Dave Cobb, who has become a Nashville power player from the outside in, with albums by Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. Mr. Cobb produced Aint Who I Was with an emphasis on the warmth and grain in Ms. Bishops voice, and on her footing as a performer. The band sounds lean and sure behind her, and she matches the vibe: on Be With You, by Tim Krekel and Mr. Stapleton, she even brings an unselfconscious ease to the line Dont you know I wanna to be your man.
HONG KONG  The Alibaba Group, the e-commerce giant, said Wednesday that it was under investigation by United States securities regulators over its accounting practices, a potential setback for a company long seen as a symbol of Chinas growing technological might.

The investigation  disclosed in a stock filing  appears to focus on how Alibaba deals with a web of companies in which it owns stakes or has some say in the operations. The company said the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating how Alibaba accounts for affiliated companies, including a logistics venture, and how it treats related-party transactions.

It also puts under scrutiny Alibabas handling of Singles Day, a one-day shopping event in China that the company says gave it the world record for most online sales volume in a day. Alibaba said it had provided the commission with information about how it reported data from that event.

Alibaba said that it was voluntarily cooperating with the commission, and that the investigation was not an indication it had violated any law.
Meg Whitman is letting fuzzy math sully an otherwise clever deal.

Ms. Whitman, the chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, plans to spin off and merge its information technology services business with its rival the Computer Sciences Corporation. HP Enterprise is trumpeting a combination of cost cuts and other benefits worth almost $14 billion today. A rough Breakingviews calculation suggests the potential of creating value of a little over half that  and even that may be generous.

HP Enterprise, the corporate computing arm that was spun out of Hewlett-Packard last year, is effectively shedding what is left of Electronic Data Systems, the information technology services company that Hewlett-Packards former boss, Mark Hurd, bought in 2008 for nearly $14 billion. Hewlett-Packard wrote down the value of its services business by $8 billion four years later. The unit logged $20 billion of revenue last year but made only about $1 billion of operating profit before special items.

Ms. Whitman has dressed the deal up well. HP Enterprise shareholders will receive a $1.5 billion dividend. And because the deal is structured as a so-called reverse Morris Trust, HP Enterprises shareholders will be handed their 50 percent share of the new company without having to pay any tax. The new entity will also assume around $2.5 billion of debt and other liabilities from HP Enterprise  half of which will be supported by C.S.C. shareholders.
OTTAWA  The amount of pollution created by vapor from Canadas oil sands, which contributes to climate change, ranks on par with most major cities in North America, according to a new study by the countrys environmental regulator that was published on Wednesday.

While the connection between the oil sands carbon emissions and climate change is well documented, the study, which was funded by the regulator, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and appeared in Nature, is the first to track the vapor produced in the process and the extent of the pollution that results. It also adds the particularly weighty voice of the Canadian government to the debate.

In recent months, the government, under the leadership of the new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has reversed course on global climate change. While the countrys economy depends heavily on resources like the oil sands, Mr. Trudeau has made climate change a priority on his agenda.

The study was published just as several major oil sands operations were trying to reopen after being evacuated because of a massive wildfire in the Fort McMurray, Alberta area. Earlier efforts to restart operations were abandoned after the fire swung north and reached the perimeter of Suncors and Syncrudes large mines and plants. Large fire breaks prevented any damage, however.
LONDON  Prime Minister David Camerons campaign to keep Britain in the European Union was bolstered on Wednesday by a report from one of the countrys most authoritative economic research bodies, which concluded that a withdrawal from the bloc would lead to up to two more years of public spending cuts or tax increases.

A frequent critic of government economic plans, the research body, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, this time delivered some welcome news for Mr. Cameron. The think tank echoed the conclusions of several leading international organizations that the shock and uncertainty produced by a British exit  a so-called Brexit  would shrink the economy.

Voters in Britain are to decide in a referendum on June 23 whether to remain in the 28-nation European Union. The economic risks of a departure have been highlighted repeatedly by those who want to remain, while supporters of a withdrawal have focused increasingly on issues such as the need to curtail immigration and regain national sovereignty.

The verdict of the Institute for Fiscal Studies is significant because the body has a track record of contradicting government claims on the economy, and its intervention provoked an angry response from campaigners for an exit, who sought to question the institutes independence on the issue.
For estate lawyers and probate judges, knotty conflicts about the mental competence of a benefactor, even charges that someone has exerted undue influence, are far from uncommon.

But the unfolding battle over Sumner M. Redstones wishes is in a class by itself, if for no other reason than so much is at stake: the control of a media empire worth $40 billion, including the holdings of Viacom and CBS.

In this case, the courts must sort out not a deathbed will but the mental acuity of Mr. Redstone, a media mogul who will turn 93 on Friday. He suffers from declining cognition, is fed through a tube and communicates with great difficulty, often through a nurse or speech therapist who interprets his utterances.

These are often very difficult cases, Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, a psychiatrist at Columbia University and expert in competence assessment, said of disputes over late-life directives. It can be hard to determine whether a person has the capacity to make these decisions, and questions regarding undue influence are if anything more difficult to assess.
In a bid to continue aggressive digital expansion while controlling costs, The New York Times will offer voluntary buyout packages to members of the newsroom and several business departments at the end of the month, the company announced on Wednesday.

Members of The Timess executive committee, including Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the newspapers publisher, and Dean Baquet, its executive editor, said in a memo to employees that the buyouts were a part of the companys larger mandate to build a more digitally focused newsroom and to reach its stated goal of doubling digital revenue by the year 2020.

These plans will no doubt lead to new initiatives and investments, the memo said. At the same time, we will also need to make tough decisions about what to stop doing. Wherever we can reduce costs without damaging the values, and value, of Times journalism, we will do so.

In an interview, Mr. Baquet characterized the buyouts as a big step toward building The New York Times of the future. He said The Times was not planning layoffs this year but would take other measures to cut costs in some areas and dedicate resources to other areas.
I walk around the perimeter feeling my two sockless feet in my loafers. I havent worn heels in more than two years. I pause to look at a pair of heels with sculptural leather pineapples at the Achilles ($975) and some sandals with bright pompoms ($825). I pick up a shoe as I would an $80 mug. Lift it, flip it, tilt it, think: Why? I dont know what Im considering; theres nothing to do with a shoe if you arent going to try it on.

But Im wearing track pants, and my feet are unpedicured. They feel hot. The fact that Im imagining the reception of my feet and legs is a female labor that is exhausting. The labor of beauty, the expectation of looking finished for an external gaze, is in me, not in the space. But I cant shake it, and I leave.
On a quiet stretch of the Upper East Side, at the slightly numinous, palindromic address of 17 East 71st Street, just down the block from the Frick Collection, a glass window displays a folding screen, a sculptural column and a single pair of womens shoes, composed with the painstaking precision of a Braque still life. A gallery? A furniture showroom? No. According to the small sign by the door, barely visible to passers-by, it is the Rows first New York store, which opened discreetly last week.

At the Row, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen have made discretion, abstention and quiet the cardinal virtues. They generally abjure interviews and stage their collections in presentations in their tastefully designed showrooms or privately, for clients. Many of the women who buy their clothes, which are elegant and faintly monastic, are decades older than the designers, who are not yet 30. And many of them, they have said, are unaware of the Olsens earlier fame.

The label is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year (it has collected handfuls of industry awards along the way), but the New York store is only the Rows second, following one in Los Angeles. For the New York store, they wanted a townhouse, uptown, not on Madison but off Madison Avenue, a list that Mary-Kate, dressed in a Row blazer and shirt over threadbare vintage jeans, ticked off from her perch on a sofa on the stores third floor. For the right space, a former Japanese tea shop and later denim store, they were prepared to wait.
Could it be that Alzheimers disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brains attempt to fight off infection?

Provocative new research by a team of investigators at Harvard leads to this startling hypothesis, which could explain the origins of plaque, the mysterious hard little balls that pockmark the brains of people with Alzheimers.

It is still early days, but Alzheimers experts not associated with the work are captivated by the idea that infections, including ones that are too mild to elicit symptoms, may produce a fierce reaction that leaves debris in the brain, causing Alzheimers. The idea is surprising, but it makes sense, and the Harvard groups data, published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, supports it. If it holds up, the hypothesis has major implications for preventing and treating this degenerative brain disease.

The Harvard researchers report a scenario seemingly out of science fiction. A virus, fungus or bacterium gets into the brain, passing through a membrane  the blood-brain barrier  that becomes leaky as people age. The brains defense system rushes in to stop the invader by making a sticky cage out of proteins, called beta amyloid. The microbe, like a fly in a spider web, becomes trapped in the cage and dies. What is left behind is the cage  a plaque that is the hallmark of Alzheimers.
A federal judge in Brooklyn, in an extraordinary opinion issued on Wednesday that calls for courts to pay closer attention to how felony convictions affect peoples lives, sentenced a woman in a drug case to probation rather than prison, saying the collateral consequences she would face as a felon were punishment enough.

The judge, Frederic Block of Federal District Court, said such consequences served no useful function other than to further punish criminal defendants after they have completed their court-imposed sentences.

The judge noted that there were nearly 50,000 federal and state statutes and regulations that imposed penalties on felons.

Those penalties  denial of government benefits, ineligibility for public housing, suspension of student loans, revocation or suspension of drivers licenses  can have devastating effects, he wrote, adding that they may be particularly disruptive to an ex-convicts efforts at rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
A Queens lawyer was accused on Wednesday of stealing nearly $600,000 from a deceased clients estate, including profits from the sale of the Slave Theater in Brooklyn, a significant venue among civil rights activists.

The lawyer, Frank Racano, 54, was charged with one count of grand larceny for allegedly writing himself checks from the estate of the client, a longtime Brooklyn civil court judge, John L. Phillips Jr., who owned the Fulton Street theater before his death in 2008.

Judge Phillips bought the theater, a former vaudeville and movie house, in 1984 and filled it with murals of black leaders like Marcus Garvey and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After a black man was killed in Howard Beach, Queens, in 1986, activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton began to organize rallies and other events at the Slave regularly.

At a time when Harlem was still the traditional center of New Yorks black community, the Slave became a touchstone of black activism in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Now, like much else in Brooklyn, it is scheduled for redevelopment.
If you think Santiago Calatravas transportation hub and shopping mall looks like a bird (or a stegosaurus), you might find 3 World Trade Center next door reminding you of an upside-down Popsicle, with the stick at the top.

Its surprising profile  which is only temporary  results from a construction technique rarely used in New York office towers. The concrete core of the 69-story skyscraper is rising ahead of the steel columns and beams around its perimeter, sometimes 20 or more floors ahead.

On most office towers, structural completion is marked by a topping out in which the uppermost beam, signed by the workers, is raised to the buildings pinnacle. Things will be different in June at 3 World Trade Center.

There will be a ceremony with workers signing the concrete bucket that will be hoisted to the top of the tower, said Dara McQuillan, the chief marketing officer of Silverstein Properties, which is developing the building.
KARACHI, Pakistan  The American killing by drone strike of Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, may seem like a fillip for the United States ally, the embattled government of President Ashraf Ghani. But it is unlikely to improve Kabuls immediate national security problems, and may create more difficulties than it solves.

This raises doubts about the American approach  the so-called decapitation strategy  in carrying out such targeted killings against the Taliban leadership.

Commenting on the death of Mullah Mansour during his visit to Vietnam this week, President Obama said, Mansour rejected efforts by the Afghan government to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that has taken the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children.

So runs the official line from the White House: Because Mullah Mansour became opposed to negotiations, removing him became necessary for new peace talks. Yet the notion that the United States can drone-strike its way through the leadership of the Afghan Taliban until it finds an acceptable interlocutor seems optimistic, at best.
She also promised a detailed account of how Mr. Morales, Bolivias first indigenous leader, had evolved from a good guy to a menace. Evo Morales was not the monster that he is today, she said. She and her lawyers also said she has damaging information about the presidents right-hand man, Juan Ramon Quintana, the minister of the presidency.

But whether any of this intriguing material will be allowed to surface  and whether Ms. Zapata will get to defend herself and name names  is now in doubt. Last week, the government jailed her defense lawyer, Eduardo Leon, and an aunt, Pilar Guzman, who had corroborated her assertion that Mr. Moraless son was in fact alive. Mr. Leon, a prominent lawyer, has attended court hearings wearing a sign with the words political prisoner.

Meanwhile, Mr. Moraless allies in Congress have been peddling bills that would curtail freedom of the press and regulate social media. What they fail to see is that Mr. Moraless defeat in February resulted from damning facts, not critical news coverage. And they are clearly nervous about the insider account of corruption Ms. Zapata stands to tell if she gets her day in court.
SEATTLE  Never mind Terminator-like killer robots. Artificial intelligence researchers are grappling with more realistic questions like whether their creations will take too many jobs from humans.

Eight years after leading artificial intelligence scientists said their field did not need to be regulated, the question of government oversight has re-emerged as the technology has rapidly progressed.

On Tuesday, at an event sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, legal specialists and technologists explored questions about autonomous systems that would increasingly make decisions without human input in areas like warfare, transportation and health.

Still, despite improvement in areas like machine vision and speech understanding, A.I. research is still far from matching the flexibility and learning capability of the human mind, researchers at the conference said.
If youre reading this article voluntarily, youre probably not a millennial, because everyone knows millennials dont read news. In fact, theres a pretty good chance you look down on millennials. Perhaps you consider them entitled, indulgent, needy and a little too much to bear  or maybe youre simply skeeved by their weird headgear, strange hieroglyphs and intricate courtship rituals.

I can predict all this because I work in the news media, and one of the primary functions of the media these days is to traffic in gleefully broad generalizations and criticisms of millennials, the more than 75 million Americans born about 1980 to 2000. Although millennials are now the largest demographic group in the country (sorry, boomers), and though they are more racially diverse than any other generation in American history, they are often depicted on TV, in movies and music, and in the news (including The New York Times) as a collectively homogeneous cliche.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in corporate America, especially in the technology industry, which has long been obsessed with the dubious idea that young people are in the cultural vanguard.

Corporations like LinkedIn and Oracle are now hiring an army of millennial consultants who charge as much as $20,000 an hour for their expertise on how to manage and market to young people, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The consultant bonanza follows a trend that has been shaping the business world for the last few years  millennials, executives believe, are coming for every industry, and businesses that do not appease them risk being trampled by them.
If European regulators get their way, Netflix may soon have to do more than just offer Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with French subtitles.

European officials proposed on Wednesday a new set of rules that could force Netflix and other video streaming services to carry a minimum amount of local content in individual countries, as well as to help pay for its development. The plan is intended to help level the playing field with national broadcasters, which are already required to fund television shows and other programming in their home countries.

It is part of a broader effort to regulate how the 500 million people in the region can buy, get access to and consume online services like video streaming and messaging applications.

The changes form the building blocks for Europes broad plan for a single digital market, a strategy that officials say they hope will help bolster the regions sluggish economy. American technology giants are likely to be the most affected at first, since players like Apple, Facebook and Netflix still dominate much of the online world for Europeans.
The summer travel season will soon be upon us, with notions of escape, unplugging and faraway lands.

But while the idea of disconnecting from technology when abroad seems relaxing, the stress of visiting a foreign country without a smartphone connection can quickly counteract the benefits of a digital detox. After landing in an unfamiliar place, you may realize that an inability to look up mobile maps or places to eat on a phone can be crippling. Relying on a printed tourist guide may feel primitive and immediately inform muggers that you are holding lots of cash.

So what to do? There are two ways to take your cellphone abroad and get data  the frugal way and the pay-full-price way. The inexpensive method involves some tinkering and planning ahead, while the full-price way is easy but requires paying even more money to your carrier.

First, the full-price option. For many years, American wireless customers have been able to pay extra to their carrier for international roaming, or the ability to seamlessly use a foreign network. Among other options, AT&T sells an international package with a modest amount of data (800 megabytes, enough to last about a week) for $120, and Verizon Wireless charges $10 a day for roaming in many countries. And in recent years, T-Mobile USA and Sprint began offering free international roaming, but with a caveat: The data speeds are very slow.
WASHINGTON  The head of the Transportation Security Administration, facing fierce criticism over long lines at airport security checkpoints, said Wednesday that passengers would probably continue to experience longer than normal wait times because of an expected increase in summer travel.

In an effort to ameliorate delays, Peter V. Neffenger, the T.S.A. administrator, told members of the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency was promoting screeners from part time to full time, reassigning hundreds of behavioral detection officers to help on security lines and shifting bomb-detection dog teams to larger airports. Mr. Neffengers testimony comes just days before millions of Americans are expected to travel over the Memorial Day weekend. The agency has come under fire recently, with some passengers reporting hourslong waits to get through checkpoints.

Many airlines say the delays have caused passengers to miss flights.

This is not a new rodeo, said Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and chairman of the committee. Why didnt we see this coming?

Mr. Neffenger said the long lines were a product of higher-than-forecast passenger numbers, staffing shortages and changes in a program that allowed people who had not signed up for background checks to use expedited security lines. The agency tightened security procedures after federal auditors managed to get fake bombs and weapons past screeners, which has also contributed to the long lines.
Celebrities often land on Capitol Hill to testify about world atrocities, advocate medical research or defend the rights of musicians. Now, the chefs are coming to press for new food policies.

On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee, typically consumed with things like farm subsidies and food stamps, will hold its first full hearing concerning the roughly 70 billion pounds of food wasted annually in the United States.

Hunger groups are increasingly looking at ways to rescue excess food from its inevitable path to garbage piles, get it into low-income communities and come up with incentives to prevent waste throughout the system. Sometimes, for instance, carrots that are misshapen and not great for markets or restaurants simply go to waste.

According to the Food Policy Action Education Fund, American consumers, businesses and farms spend $218 billion a year on growing, processing, transporting and throwing out food that is never eaten.
ALBUQUERQUE  Donald J. Trump is unlikely to win the general election unless he improves his dismal standing among Hispanics and women. But his efforts to win over those two crucial constituencies is off to a rocky start.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Trump purposefully attacked Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, who in addition to being the most prominent Hispanic woman in American politics, also happens to be the chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association.

Appearing at a campaign rally in Albuquerque, the largest city in Ms. Martinezs state, Mr. Trump unleashed a blistering assault on the governor, who skipped the event, by saying she was not doing the job.

He faulted her by falsely asserting she was allowing Syrian refugees to settle in the state, and blamed her for Albuquerques unemployment numbers as well as the increase in the number of New Mexico residents on food stamps.
WASHINGTON  Ever since talk radio, cable news and the Internet emerged in the 1990s as potent political forces on the right, Republicans have used those media to attack their opponents through a now-familiar two-step.

Political operatives would secretly place damaging information with friendly media like The Drudge Report and Fox News and with radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh  and then they would work to get the same information absorbed into the mainstream media.

Candidates themselves would avoid being seen slinging mud, if possible, so as to avoid coming across as undignified or desperate.

Yet by personally broaching topics like Bill Clintons marital indiscretions and the conspiracy theories surrounding the suicide of Vincent W. Foster Jr., a Clinton White House aide, Donald J. Trump is again defying the norms of presidential politics and fashioning his own outrageous style  one that has little use for a middleman, let alone usual ideas about dignity.
She went on to argue that Mr. Trump was rooting for people to lose their jobs and be kicked out of their houses.

Ill tell you exactly what kind of a man does that, Ms. Warren added. It is a man who cares about no one but himself. A small, insecure money-grubber who doesnt care who gets hurt so long as he makes a profit off it.

Ms. Warrens attacks on Mr. Trump echo those leveled by Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, who has seized on comments that he made a decade ago when he suggested that the collapse of the housing market was a good investing opportunity. Ms. Warren has been a frequent critic of Mr. Trump on social media and has been increasingly taking him on in public forums.

On Tuesday night, Ms. Warren also suggested that Mr. Trump pays no taxes while reaping the benefits of American public infrastructure. And she hit him for saying that he would undo the Dodd-Frank financial regulation legislation, wondering if Mr. Trump could even name three things about the law.

Donald Trump is worried about helping poor little Wall Street? Ms. Warren said. Let me find the worlds smallest violin to play a sad, sad song.
Donald J. Trump and Speaker Paul D. Ryan spoke by phone on Wednesday night, hours after reports circulated that Mr. Ryan, the highest-ranking elected Republican, was on the verge of endorsing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

But the call was set up days ago, according to one person briefed on it who was not authorized to speak publicly. And aides to Mr. Ryan made clear that he would not offer an endorsement in the call.

Any such anticipation is absolutely untrue, said Zack Roday, a spokesman for Mr. Ryans political operations. The purpose of the call tonight is for the two of them to continue their conversation about unifying the party. We never gave any indication that the call was about an endorsement.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump did not respond to an email seeking comment. News of the call was first reported by Bloomberg Politics. Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg Politics and ABC News, citing sources close to the Trump campaign, said that Mr. Ryan was going to endorse Mr. Trump.
WASHINGTON  The State Departments inspector general on Wednesday sharply criticized Hillary Clintons exclusive use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, saying that she had not sought permission to use it and would not have received it if she had.

The report, delivered to members of Congress, undermined some of Mrs. Clintons previous statements defending her use of the server and handed her Republican critics, including the partys presumptive nominee for president, Donald J. Trump, new fodder to attack her just as she closes in on the Democratic nomination.

The inspector general found that Mrs. Clinton had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business with department officials but that, contrary to her claims that the department allowed the arrangement, there was no evidence she had requested or received approval for it.
WASHINGTON  Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require major presidential candidates to publicly disclose their three most recent personal income tax returns, a challenge to the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, who has resisted releasing his filings.

Mr. Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is trying to goad Republicans, including the committee chairman, Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, and the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, into defending Mr. Trump, giving Democrats a legislative rallying point.

But Mr. McConnell and Mr. Hatch, as leaders of the majority, are likely to ignore the bill.

Mr. Wydens measure, called the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, would apply to Democratic and Republican candidates, but both of the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have disclosed their tax returns.
OTTAWA  All of Toronto is talking about the daring breakout. Mayor John Tory went to the scene of the escape on Wednesday to quiz officials about their plans. Everyone in town has one eye out for the fugitives, but no one wants to meet them in a dark alley.

Whos on the loose? A pair of capybaras.

The animals, native to South America, are the worlds largest rodent  picture an oversize tail-less beaver, or maybe a 125-pound guinea pig. A small zoo in High Park, on the citys west end, already had one and was taking delivery of two more, a mating pair bred in Texas, when they bolted early Tuesday morning.

A passer-by reported glimpsing them in the area Tuesday night, but when Mr. Tory arrived on Wednesday, park officials seemed no closer to recapturing the as-yet nameless young lovers. The mayor was left to look over the zoos remaining capybara, Chewy, who sat in the grass in an otherwise empty fenced-in enclosure.

Image A capybara in Venezuela. Credit... Jorge Silva/Reuters

Mr. Tory said a dragnet was being mounted. We are deploying the full resources of the zoo team, and others that they have brought to the cause, he said.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Their forbidden young love forever dislodged their lives, sending them into exile in the high mountains of central Afghanistan, briefly to Tajikistan and even to jails in order to find protection from vengeful family members who sought to kill them in the name of honor.

Now, more than two years after a young Afghan couple from different sects, Zakia and Mohammad Ali, eloped against the wishes of their families, they arrived in New York City late on Tuesday on a 90-day visa granted by the American Embassy in Kabul. The couple plan to apply for asylum with the help of an international aid group.

Life had long before lost any sense of normalcy for the couple and their 17-month-old daughter, Ruqia.

Zakias family members were forced out of their village when she eloped, and they constantly pursued the couple. Hailing from the Tajik ethnicity and Sunni sect of Islam, they see her love and subsequent marriage to Mohammad Ali, an ethnic Hazara and a Shiite, a dishonor worthy of her killing.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Faced with a choice between two obvious candidates to take over the Taliban  one the young son of the insurgencys founder, the other chief of the Haqqani terrorist network  a small slice of the groups leadership instead chose none of the above on Wednesday.

Breaking four days of silence after their previous leader was killed by an American drone strike, the Taliban announced that a lesser-known deputy of the group, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, a conservative cleric in his 50s, would take over and continue the groups war against the Afghan government.

Despite a lack of military credentials, Mawlawi Haibatullah became seen during a hasty series of leadership meetings as a throwback to core religious values and a possible figure to unify around after months of leadership struggle and violent schisms, according to insurgent commanders who were briefed on the selection process.

For Afghan officials and their American allies who are struggling to hold back an aggressive Taliban offensive this year, that is unlikely to offer any immediate comfort. Any idea of joining peace talks is a deeply divisive one within the Taliban ranks, and the statement announcing Mawlawi Haibatullahs selection emphasized victory and omitted concession.
DHAKA, Bangladesh  A Hindu store owner was hacked to death in his shop in northern Bangladesh on Wednesday morning. A social media account linked to the Islamic State later said that the killing was carried out by the groups fighters, but the police said they had arrested a suspect who had a financial dispute with the victim.

The victim, Debesh Chandra Pramanik, was alone in his shoe store shortly after 6 a.m. when he was attacked by unknown assailants, the police said.

His wife, who had stepped out to get flowers, returned to find him dead with wounds on his neck, said Ashraful Islam, the police superintendent in Gaibandha district.

Mr. Islam described the shoe salesman as a totally innocent person. Mr. Islam said he hesitated to ascribe any motive in the killing, because, as he put it, killing by hacking is an old style of killing people in our country.
HONG KONG  China is abuzz with craft brewing, with small-scale operations popping up around the country and churning out beer tasting of everything from goji berries to green tea.

But like many things in China, whats new isnt that new. In this case, its about 5,000 years old.

A group of researchers in China and the United States have analyzed pottery vessels discovered at a site in Shaanxi Province and determined that they are the first direct evidence of a beer-brewing operation. And the ingredients they discovered are as eclectic as any trendy brewpubs: broomcorn millet, tubers and a grain known as Jobs tears.
BEIJING  Dark, featureless, defiantly drab, it accompanies President Xi Jinping almost as constantly as his bodyguards.

Of the many mysteries about Chinas president, the most evident may be the navy blue, zippered windbreaker that he wears like a second skin.

Mao popularized the tunic suit with a tight collar that now bears his name. Deng often wore the Mao suit, while his successors embraced Western business attire.

But Mr. Xi has become so attached to his windbreaker that it might now be called the Xi jacket.

On a recent trip to the countryside, he wore it next to a villager who appeared elated to meet the national leader while wearing a matching jacket. But he has also rocked the jacket in more formal settings, like a recent meeting in a Beijing lecture hall on the role of philosophy and the social sciences.
BEIJING  An article by a Chinese military official suggesting that Taiwans new president was extreme and emotional because she was unmarried provoked an outcry on Wednesday, undermining the ruling Communist Partys efforts to win allies across the Taiwan Strait.

The article, written by a senior scholar for the Peoples Liberation Army, described Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwans first female leader, as a single woman politician who was prone to a radical style because she lacked the burden of love, family and children. It also questioned her loyalty to China because of her familys ties to Japan.

The article, written by Maj. Gen. Wang Weixing of the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing and posted on Tuesday on the website of the International Herald Leader, a newspaper affiliated with the state news agency Xinhua, was roundly denounced as sexist and promptly removed from major mainland news sites.

It is discrimination against women and being single, Sun Xingjie, a lecturer at Jilin University in northeast China, wrote in a commentary published by Sina, a news portal. Putin divorced during his presidency. Has Russias strategy changed since?
JAKARTA, Indonesia  The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, signed a decree on Wednesday authorizing chemical castration for convicted child sex offenders and requiring those released on parole to wear electronic monitoring devices.

The new punishment comes in response to the brutal gang rape and murder in April of a 14-year-old girl on her way home on the island of Sumatra. Seven teenage boys were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime, which prompted national outrage and revived previous calls for chemical castration as a punishment against child sex offenders.

Mr. Joko told a news conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, that he had signed a decree amending the countrys 2002 law on child protection to enable judges to hand down the punishment at their discretion.

The inclusion of such an amendment will provide space for the judge to decide severe punishments as a deterrent effect on perpetrators, Mr. Joko said.
JAKARTA, Indonesia  Thousands of children working in Indonesias tobacco industry, one of the worlds largest, are being subjected to nicotine poisoning and exposed to pesticides, according to a report released Wednesday that called for establishing traceable supply chains to discourage the use of child labor.



The report, published by Human Rights Watch, based in New York, said that many Indonesian children working on tobacco farms, mostly on the countrys main island of Java, suffer from nausea, vomiting, headaches or dizziness, all of which can be signs that nicotine has seeped into the skin.

The children, who usually work without protective clothing, are also exposed to pesticides, and they face the additional hazards of doing heavy labor in extreme heat using sharp tools, the report from the rights group said.

Kids are handling tobacco in their bare hands, and it can soak into the skin, Margaret Wurth, a childrens rights researcher for Human Rights Watch and one of the reports authors, said in an interview in Jakarta before its release.
HAPCHEON, South Korea  When President Obama visits Hiroshima this week, a small delegation from South Korea plans to gather around an obscure monument there dedicated to a group of victims who endured more than their share of misery, yet whom few remember.

As many as 220,000 people were killed by the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Japan, most of them Japanese civilians. But 40,000 to 50,000 of the dead were Koreans who had been taken to Hiroshima or Nagasaki against their will as forced laborers, or had settled in the cities after fleeing deprivation in their occupied homeland.

Those who survived and returned to South Korea after the war were then shunned and denied medical care, partly to avoid upsetting the official view that the nuclear attacks were necessary to liberate Korea. Some were banished to leper colonies.

In the debates prompted by Mr. Obamas coming visit, few have as many claims to an apology  from Japan, from the United States, even from their own government in South Korea  as these Korean survivors. Their unique experience illustrates the complicated, emotional politics of memory and morality that Mr. Obama must navigate when he becomes the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima on Friday.
ISE, Japan  Eleven United States presidents have served since President Harry S. Truman decided to drop an atomic weapon on Hiroshima, and none has set foot in that traumatized city in the 71 years since, at least not while in office.

President Obama intends to end that streak with his visit on Friday, a decision that speaks volumes not only about his presidency but also about the increasingly worrisome struggle among powers great and small in East Asia.

Mr. Obamas predecessors had good reasons to avoid Hiroshima. None wanted to be seen by American voters as apologizing for a decision that many historians even today believe, on balance, saved lives. And there were worries about how such a visit would be viewed in China, South Korea and other countries in Asia that suffered from the brutal World War II killing machine that was Imperial Japan.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam  President Obama told a gathering of young Vietnamese on Wednesday that the country need not worry about losing its most talented people, but then he proceeded to describe conditions for emigration that fit Vietnam perfectly.

The places that lose talent, its where theres a lot of corruption, Mr. Obama said in Ho Chi Minh City at a town-hall style meeting of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, a United States-sponsored mentoring program.

Mr. Obama said that people despair of having to pay bribes to start businesses or do the things they want to do, so they leave.
An international feud between a celebrated Hollywood actor and an Australian government official, already a strange spectacle, keeps getting stranger.

In one corner is the actor, Johnny Depp, who said on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday that the official looked as if he had been inbred with a tomato.

In the other corner is Barnaby Joyce, Australias deputy prime minister and agriculture minister. He said on Wednesday that he was inside Mr. Depps head, like Hannibal Lecter, the killer cannibal in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Why, a fair person might wonder, would a high-ranking Australian official and a cooler-than-thou actor descend into name-calling across oceans? Why did it lead to perhaps Mr. Depps worst acting performance ever, in the form of a video apology? Does it have something to do with a threat to kill healthy dogs? Valid questions, all. Lets catch you up.
The French Parliament on Wednesday approved a law that gives the police and judicial authorities new powers to detain terrorism suspects, put people under house arrest and use deadly force to stop attacks.

The Senate, Frances upper house of Parliament, approved the bill by a show of hands. The National Assembly, the lower house, had already approved it.

The measure is the latest in a series of legislative changes that the government of President Francois Hollande has pushed through to give the authorities greater policing powers after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last year, sometimes prompting debates over civil liberties.

Here is a summary of new powers introduced by the law, and other recent changes and proposals designed to increase the authorities antiterrorism powers.
An underground water pipe burst in Florence, Italy, creating a 200-yard-long sinkhole that buried dozens of cars in the early hours of Wednesday.

The sidewalk collapsed on the Lungarno Torrigiani, a road alongside the Arno River that is not far from the famous Ponte Vecchio, part of the citys historic center, a Unesco World Heritage site.

Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, wrote on Twitter that no injuries had been reported and that firefighters had been sent to the scene.

According to The Associated Press, Mr. Nardella said the sinkhole had been caused by a large gash in the pipe, which is two feet in diameter and is one of the main sources of water for the surrounding neighborhood. There was no leak in the banks of the Arno, the mayor said.
LONDON  On Dec. 29, 1170, four knights loyal to King Henry II crept up on the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in the citys cathedral and murdered him with their swords after he clashed with the monarch.

More than eight centuries later, a bone fragment believed to be from Beckets elbow traveled this week from Esztergom Basilica in Hungary, where it had been kept for centuries, back to England, where it will make several stops before returning to the site of his assassination.

Medieval scholars say the reasons for how and why the bone fragment wound up in Hungary are still a matter of debate. But at a time when Britain is contemplating whether to leave the European Union and Hungary is being accused of failing to uphold European values, the relics journey to England is being touted as a symbol of European unity.

It is also seen as a testament to reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has refused to acknowledge any ties to the two men, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sgt. Aleksandr Aleksandrov. The Ukrainian authorities placed them in a glass cage during a trial in Kiev, as examples of the little green men, a reference to the thousands of soldiers without insignia on their uniforms in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian court in April sentenced both of the men to 14 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.

Mr. Poroshenko pardoned the pair, saying it was necessary to gain the return of a Ukrainian soldier from captivity.

Lieutenant Savchenko, a minor celebrity even before the war as the first woman to become a combat pilot in Ukraine, had been serving as an infantry soldier with a volunteer unit in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine when she was captured by rebel fighters. The Russian authorities say she then escaped from her captors and slipped into Russia posing as a refugee; Lieutenant Savchenko said she was taken to Russia as a prisoner of war.

A Russian court convicted her of serving as an artillery spotter and directing fire at a rebel checkpoint where a Russian television journalist and a sound technician were killed. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison for murder. Lieutenant Savchenko vigorously denied the charges and, at one point, went on a hunger strike to protest the trial, which she dismissed as a farce.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia went on television with the widow and a sister of the slain Russian journalists to say they had asked him to pardon Lieutenant Savchenko as a humanitarian gesture.

I want to thank you for this position, and express hope, that the decision  dictated most of all by humanism  will lead to an easing of the tensions in Ukraine, Mr. Putin said. He made no mention of Captain Yerofeyev and Sergeant Aleksandrov. Mr. Putins spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, referred to the pair as citizens, and said Mr. Putin had no plans to meet them.
UNITED NATIONS  More than a decade after the end of Liberias last civil war, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift the remaining sanctions against the West African country, enabling it buy arms on the global market and ushering in a new era of normalcy for a long-brutalized land.

A resolution to rescind the remaining sanctions ended a gradual easing of restrictions on Liberia. The Security Council acted late last year to lift travel bans and asset freezes against several individuals and entities. The Council had earlier lifted the ban on Liberian timber and diamonds.

Liberian warlords had traded in the countrys natural resources for years, turning a land of abundance into one of the worst killing fields of West Africa.

The Council vote was in many ways a vote of confidence in Liberias ability to maintain peace. The war ended after Charles G. Taylor, Liberias warlord-turned-president, stepped down and left the country in 2003. He was convicted by an international court for war crimes in connection with his role in the conflict in Sierra Leone, Liberias neighbor.
Thank you for reading!

To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99.
CAIRO  The Egyptian authorities expelled a French journalist this week, an unusually harsh step that highlighted the crackdown on press freedoms by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian and French officials said on Wednesday.

The journalist, Remy Pigaglio, had worked in Egypt for almost two years and had residency permits and media accreditation that allowed him to do so legally, according to an article in the French newspaper La Croix, one of several outlets that Mr. Pigaglio contributed to. Egyptian security agents detained him at the Cairo airport on Monday as he was returning to Egypt from a 10-day vacation. He was held for 30 hours before security agents deported him without giving a reason, La Croix reported.

Egypts authorities have arrested and prosecuted scores of Egyptian journalists over the last two years, but they have generally been reluctant to take action against foreign journalists, fearing unwanted international scrutiny. It is even more unusual for the government, with its emphasis on procedural rules, to take action against international correspondents who have been accredited to work in Egypt.

Mr. Pigaglios expulsion threatened to strain relations between France and Egypt at a time when the two countries are cooperating to locate the debris of EgyptAir Flight 804, which plunged into the Mediterranean last week during a flight from Paris to Cairo. Investigators are searching for the airplanes cockpit data and voice recorders  the black boxes  to explain the flights descent soon after it crossed into Egyptian airspace.
GAZA CITY  Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules Gaza, called on Wednesday for the resumption of the death penalty for certain crimes. Several Palestinians convicted of collaborating with Israel or of murder are now facing execution.

In a terse statement, Hamas called on the competent judicial authorities to undertake their duties. The statement was widely seen as a green light to begin executions, because Hamas officials had been arguing for days about reinstating the death penalty.

We found it was important to implement the death penalty rule to maintain civil peace in society and to prevent cases of murder, said Yehia Mousa, a Hamas legislator in Gaza.

The death penalty exists in America, he said. Killings warrant the death penalty.

We have three or four cases that are ready for the death penalty, Mr. Mousa said, adding that the executions would be carried out in police stations.
What I find most fascinating about these books is that here is Michael, taking a hard look at Bachs works to see what ethical problems they might present, especially with regard to anti-Judaisim. And there is Lauren, inventing a work of Bach that seems more anti-Semitic than almost anything Bach actually wrote. Is it possible that Lauren is muddying the very waters that Michael is trying to clarify?

LAUREN BELFER I would say no. It just creates a context for how I came to this idea. When I was growing up, World War II was very close. I lost family members in the war. When I see articles in the paper about lost works of art being rediscovered, I always follow the story.

About 10 years ago, I received an announcement for a class about the music of Bach, part of a Swarthmore College program that brings faculty members to New York to teach classes for alums, and I just had a feeling I should sign up. As it turned out Michael was offering the class, though I didnt know him at the time. Not knowing very much about Bach at that point, I was overwhelmed at how gorgeous the music was. And yet when we began to study some of the sacred music, I was quite taken aback by how some of the pieces lash out at Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and it was hard for me to reconcile the glorious, exalted music that meant so much to me with these other pieces that had ethically problematic subject matter.

And then one evening after class, as I was walking to the subway, I suddenly thought, Well, what if I found a work of art that had been stolen in World War II? And then I thought: But everybody finds stolen paintings. What if I found something different, a musical masterpiece by Bach? And what if it had an ethically problematic libretto, so that the people who found it had to struggle with what to do with it? And that was the jumping-off point for the story.
Harriss critics also charge that she has failed to take on prosecutorial misconduct  a responsibility that is core to the attorney generals job, Simon says. In 2015, judges called out her office for defending convictions obtained by local prosecutors who inserted a false confession into the transcript of a police interrogation, lied under oath and withheld crucial evidence from the defense. Talk to the attorney general and make sure she understands the gravity of the situation, federal appellate Judge Alex Kozinski instructed one of Harriss deputies in court last year. Harris says that as a career prosecutor, she takes allegations of misconduct very seriously. My office evaluates each case based on the facts and the evidence, she told me.

Harris has also been criticized for her response to accusations of misconduct by prosecutors and sheriffs deputies in Orange County. Two years ago, Scott Sanders, an assistant public defender in Orange County, discovered hidden records showing that sheriffs deputies in the local jails were placing coveted informants in cells next to inmates who were awaiting trial  and for decades maintaining a secret database about them. The district attorneys office also appears to have repeatedly failed to disclose evidence from its own files on some informants. Defendants were convicted based on the testimony of informants whose credibility, the secret records showed, prosecutors and the police questioned, unknown to the judge and jury. One informant labeled unreliable helped convict a man who was executed in 1998 for a murder he insisted he did not commit. Last March, following the revelations about the database, a judge described the performance of the Orange County district attorneys office, in the murder case before him, as sadly deficient and instructed Harris and her office to take over the case.

Harris could have conducted a far-reaching inquiry. Instead, she appealed the judges order on behalf of Tony Rackauckas, Orange Countys controversial district attorney, while promising a narrower criminal investigation into the case at hand. When I asked about it in January, Harris said, Were not walking away. But John Van de Kamp and Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine, have effectively given up on Harris by asking for a federal investigation, in a letter to the Justice Department signed by roughly two dozen former prosecutors, law professors and advocates. All the parts of the criminal-justice system failed here, for a very long time, Chemerinsky says. As far as I know, shes not doing anything about it. In January, Rackauckas invited the Justice Department to investigate, saying there was no evidence of sensational wrongdoing.

Aspects of Harriss policy record point to the limits of the smart-on-crime philosophy, for her and other Democrats. They also most likely reflect the power of Californias police, sheriffs and local prosecutors, a force in statewide elections. Harris has had to work particularly hard to win their favor, ever since she was San Franciscos district attorney. Being a black woman made her stand out then too: 95 percent of the countrys roughly 2,400 elected district attorneys are white, and 83 percent are men. State Senator Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, who has endorsed Harriss Senate campaign, argues that running for office as a black woman, youre held to a different standard. And Harris has had to contend with the aftershocks of perhaps the boldest move of her career.

In April 2004, four months after she took office in San Francisco, a 29-year-old police officer, Isaac Espinoza, was shot and killed on patrol. The citys police union urged Harris to seek the death penalty for the suspect. Three days after Espinozas death, Harris announced that she would not. More than 2,000 uniformed police officers packed St. Marys Cathedral for the funeral. With Harris in the front row, Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of the states most powerful Democrats, took the pulpit and called for the death penalty. Waves of cops rose to their feet and applauded. Shyamala sent white roses to her daughters office with a card that read Courage! Harris held firm, and Espinozas killer received a sentence of life in prison. Our members never forgave Harris, says Gary Delagnes, then the president of the union.

Harris felt the reverberations of that anger statewide when she ran for attorney general for the first time in 2010. Only one law-enforcement group endorsed her, and she barely squeaked by her Republican opponent. Once in office, she made a point of building bridges, and some of the law-enforcement leaders I spoke to praised her support (as they saw it) for Rackauckas in Orange County and the distance she has kept from sentencing reform. They also said she reassured them on the death penalty. In 2014, Harris appealed a federal judges decision striking down Californias system of capital punishment as unconstitutional. By the time of her re-election campaign two years ago, she had the endorsement of four dozen law enforcement groups, and she won easily.

Some of Harriss critics in California are betting that if shes elected, her Senate seat will be secure enough  Democrats have held it since 1968  that shell have the freedom to move beyond what she has tried in her home state. Shell be an ally to progressive change on criminal justice, Simon told me. Im not saying that based on her record. Im saying that because shell see that the future isnt some money for re-entry services or letting out nonviolent drug offenders. The future is challenging the draconian nature of our entire system.

Cory Booker, the Democrats strongest voice in the Senate on criminal justice, takes the long view. I know some people might think shes not checking every box on the list for criminal-justice reform, he told me. Still, I see her as a valued activist and ally.
I am torn between the urge to generalize and the need to recognize diversity. Each scarecrow has its own personality. Some wear waterproofs (always a good idea in rainy Yorkshire). One looks like a cross between a melting ice cream and a condom at that critical juncture when the would-be wearer realizes (a chicken-and-egg situation if ever there was one) that the penis might not attain a viable rigidity. Which seems a good moment to raise the issue of pronouns. Its easy to speak in the plural of they and them. But given that each scarecrow is singular, should we speak of it, he or she?

Most seem masculine, none more so than the lewd character slumped in a chair and red in the face  well, what do you expect when youre caught masturbating in the middle of a winter field? The reason for this chilly expediency is that scarecrow women are so hard to come by. As far as I can make out, theres only one real looker: decked out in a pink body stocking, revealing sparkly grass skirt and green wig, the whole ensemble glamorously polished off with silver necklace and pink pompoms. Talk about all dressed up and nowhere to go. The (doomed) party atmosphere is heightened by the fact that this is one of only a couple of pictures taken at night.

The Danish photographer Henrik Saxgren published a series of photographs called Unintended Sculptures featuring structures that, viewed in a certain light, from a given angle, might be considered works of art. The scarecrows could be regarded as folk art, but this ignores an important dimension of their being. For their aesthetic and practical value seems inseparable from some ritual or religious purpose, as if they are leftovers from seasonal rites that have been forgotten. Looking at Mitchells pictures I am reminded of the Guy Fawkes effigies  also made from discarded clothes, bulked out with straw or waste paper  we used to wheel around in old baby carriages or carts in the weeks leading up to Bonfire Night, when they were burned. T.S. Eliots poem The Hollow Men (We are the hollow men/We are the stuffed men/Leaning together/Headpiece filled with straw) is preceded by a line slightly misquoting what we used to call out: A penny for the Old Guy. (We never said old. Did we get it wrong  inconceivable  or did Eliot?) Conscious only of wanting money, we were mouthpieces or conduits for larger forces  what Eliot would have called tradition  that continue to find explosive expression every Nov. 5.

Like these effigies, and unlike statues, the scarecrows are far from permanent, let alone immortal. So it is appropriate that Mitchells photographic record does not aspire to the taxonomic rigor associated with, say, Bernd and Hilla Bechers gridded images of industrial structures. Its more like a bunch of street portraits, done slowly, in fields. Time, in its physical manifestations  rain, wind and sun  takes its toll. The snowsuit becomes smeared in what looks like blood, as if it has barely survived some frosty and atrociously extended ordeal. A bloody wound suggests that crows have begun to peck away at its Promethean liver. Eventually the clothes rot away, so that the scarecrows acquire a Lear-on-the-heath air of tragedy: Off, off you lendings! The difference is that whereas Lear discovers that beneath the clothes are poor naked wretches, these guys are their clothes. Patched together not from stolen body parts but lent clothes, there is, nevertheless, a Frankensteinian quality to them: They are, by definition, scary.

As the scarecrows collapse in on themselves, its as if they end up consuming their own body fat just to stay alive  if that is the word, which clearly it is not. One photograph resembles a police view of a crime scene: in it, a scarecrow ends up flat on its face, decomposing like the remains of a murder victim. Another looks as if he has been lynched. This sacrificial quality becomes more pronounced as the skeletal structure is laid bare by time. Eventually all thats left is a wooden cross with a few tatters blowing in the wind.
When Constance Wu landed the part of Jessica Huang, the Chinese-American matriarch on the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, she didnt realize just how significant the role would turn out to be. As she developed her part, Ms. Wu heard the same dismal fact repeated over and over again: It had been 20 years since a show featuring a predominantly Asian-American cast had aired on television. ABCs previous offering, the 1994 Margaret Cho vehicle All-American Girl, was canceled after one season.

I wasnt really conscious of it until I booked the role, Ms. Wu said. I was focused on the task at hand, which was paying my rent.

The show, which was just renewed for a third season, has granted Ms. Wu a steady job and a new perspective. It changed me, Ms. Wu said. After doing a lot of research, she shifted her focus from self-interest to Asian-American interests.
An even better way to take advantage is to use both of the permitted open jaws. Instead of flying from New York to Berlin and open-jawing from Prague back home, you can also open-jaw at your destination. If youve been meaning to visit your mother in Chicago (hi, Mom!), you can fly to Berlin, then from Prague to Chicago on the return for the same 60,000 miles. You pay to get back to New York.

You can get even more creative by combining the stopover and open jaws. Remember that initial sojourn in London? The above itinerary with two open jaws  New York to Berlin, and Prague to Chicago  can have a stopover in London built into it for, thats right, the exact same number of miles.

Heres where things get fun: You can manipulate these rules to essentially wrangle a free one-way ticket anywhere in the United States. Lets take our original itinerary, New York to Berlin. You can still use one of your open jaws and return to New York from Prague. (Well have to forgo the stop in London  were using our stopover stateside.) Now, use New York as your stopover, and resume your trip anywhere in the country (using the second open jaw) at any point in the coming year. You read that right: Even if youve lived in New York City your entire life, you can treat it as your stopover, and resume that trip anytime, anywhere in the United States, for up to a year later.

Lets say you know you want to go to Alaska next spring: Fly New York to Berlin, Prague back to New York, and then New York to Anchorage in, lets say, April 2017. The cost will be  you guessed it  60,000 miles. You can spend a few more miles and go somewhere like Honolulu or Cancun. That will run you slightly more  65,000 miles  but its still a great bargain to fly to Hawaii or Mexico for only 5,000 extra miles.
SANTA ANA  Police are looking for a man who touched a 9-year-old boys genitals while he was using a park bathroom.

The boy was at a birthday party Sunday afternoon with his mother at Jerome Park, when he entered the restroom and a man followed him in shortly after, according to a bulletin Tuesday from the Santa Ana Police Department.

Police said the man, about 25 to 35 years old, and boy had a short conversation in Spanish then he touched the boys genitals before leaving.

The victim said he didnt know the man and described him as having short hair, a thick mustache and was wearing a white T-shirt and blue pants.

Authorities ask anyone who may have seen the suspect to call detectives at 714-245-8343.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
ORANGE  Theres a new Orange County bus in town that looks different from the rest  its wrapped with a decal of California poppies. More importantly, it runs and rides differently.

Serving Route 53 from Anaheim to Irvine, Route 72 from Tustin to Huntington Beach and Route 145 from Santa Ana to Costa Mesa for the past few weeks, the vehicle is the Orange County Transportation Authoritys first zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric bus.

A relatively new technological invention, the bus converts chemical energy stored by hydrogen fuel cells into electricity, emitting only water as it operates. Its devoid not only of greenhouse gas emissions that diesel vehicles spew, but also of loud mechanical noises.

Everyone, notice how you can hear each other? Jaimie Levin, west coast operations director of the Center for Transportation and the Environment, said during a demonstration ride. Theres like a million conversations going on.

More than a dozen other transportation officials and congressional representatives were aboard the bus on Monday as it traveled from the OCTA headquarters to the westbound 22 freeway and back.

The only sound you hear is the compressor running the A/C, said Karim Kassam, vice president of commercial for Ballard Power Systems, the hydrogen fuel cell engine manufacturer.

You dont hear that throttle of a diesel bus, you dont have that shaking, Kassam said as the bus accelerated from a standstill. From a ridership point of view, overall its a better user experience.

OCTA board members approved a $2.6 million two-year demonstration period with the bus in December, making the transportation agency the fourth in California to operate a hydrogen fuel cell electric bus. It joined SunLine Transit Agency in Riverside County, AC Transit in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and UC Irvine, which has a hydrogen fueling station that the OCTA bus will use.

OCTA has applied for funding from the California Air Resources Board for 10 additional buses like its pilot.

They are recognized as a big transit agency and their involvement is huge. Their voice from an industry standpoint is critical to give legitimacy to this technology, said Levin, whose nonprofit received a grant from the Federal Transit Administrations National Fuel Cell Bus Program for OCTAs first bus.

While OCTA is testing the zero-emission technology to see if it fits into its fleet, it has already taken strides toward building an eco-friendly transit system. Of its approximately 550 buses, 97 percent run on clean-burning natural gas and the entire fleet is expected to be converted by the end of the year.

The hydrogen fuel cell electric bus can run for more than 200 miles on one fill-up through all types of terrain and temperatures, and unlike battery cell vehicles that can take several hours to charge, it can be refueled in five to seven minutes, Kassam said.

Frankly, this bus, OCTA chairwoman Lori Donchak said, is a game-changer.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7762, jkwong@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @JessicaGKwong
A race to replace termed-out Assemblyman Don Wagner in the conservative 68th Assembly District feels crowded  especially for GOP candidates.

Five Republicans, one Democrat and one independent will face off in the June 7 primary, in which any voter in the district may vote for any candidate regardless of the voters party affiliation. The top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

Former Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and Irvine Mayor Steven Choi are leading the pack in campaign fundraising, allowing them to send out mailers and post signs throughout the district, which encompasses Lake Forest, Tustin, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim, Irvine and Orange plus surrounding unincorporated communities.

Sidhu has raised $274,049 in total contributions (excluding loans) and Choi $220,664, according to the latest campaign finance reports, which run through April 23. They are far ahead of the third-place candidate, former Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly, whos raised $25,818.

Sidhu and Choi could use their finances to boost their name recognition in the low-profile race, said Scott Spitzer, associate professor of political science at Cal State Fullerton.

Very few people care about state Assembly positions; most people dont even know the name of their representative, Spitzer said. Money raises your profile.

But some say Sidhu and Chois ties to the Republican establishment could backfire, fueled by an anti-establishment sentiment in the presidential election. Donald Trump supporters, who tend to be anti-establishment conservatives, might affect the Assembly race if they turn up to vote in the primary, Spitzer said.

I think its going to help me, said Pauly, a Tea Party favorite who has openly criticized county GOP leadership as well as council colleagues. This is the year of the outsider. People are looking for a change agent. I have definitely been that.

Other lesser-funded candidates are relying on grass-roots campaigns to win the support of targeted voters.

Republican Konstantinos Kostas Roditis, serving on the Anaheim Cultural and Heritage Commission, proposes giving homeowners the option of paying an 8 percent, one-time tax and never paying property tax as long as they continue to own their property.

Brian Chuchua, the only candidate with no party preference, said he decided to run for the Assembly to make sure veterans get their cemetery at the former El Toro Marine Base.

Republican Alexia Deligianni-Brydges didnt return the Registers repeated phone and email requests for an interview.

Sidhu, Choi and Pauly adhere to the same fiscal conservative values. They bash Democrats in the Legislature for driving businesses out of California with high taxes and excessive regulations.

Sidhu said hes the only candidate who owns businesses with nearly 100 employees and understands the pain of small-business owners. Choi emphasizes that hes the only candidate with mayoral experience.

Pauly, who acknowledges her blunt honesty, made headlines for calling two Muslims speaking at a local event unadulterated evil and for comparing Obamacare with sodomy.

If five Republicans split the vote, Sean Jay Panahi could monopolize the Democratic vote and advance to the general election.

Panahi, a civil attorney whod never run for any political office, said hes satisfied with how Democrats in the Legislature are leading the state. Hes the only candidate who has shown support for Californias bullet-train project.

I believe Californias made the turn and its doing better, Panahi said.

Republicans make up about 43 percent of voters in the 68th District, with Democrats at about 29 percent, according to Californias secretary of state.

When theres only one Democrat in a race like this, it really increases the chance theyll make it to November, said Jodi Balma, a political scientist at Fullerton College.

Balma pointed to the nearby Assembly District 55 primary in 2014 as an example. Republicans had an 8-point advantage in voter registration, but the field of three Republicans and one Democrat resulted in a candidate from each party making the November ballot. Republican Ling Ling Chang easily won that race.

For the top Republican vote-getter, its like the good old days, where in a safe seat you just have to win the primary to win in November, Balma said.

Contact the writer: 949-445-6397 or tshimura@ocregister.com
BUENA PARK  On the second day of a four-day swing through California, Hillary Clinton took the stage at a Buena Park union hall and focused attacks on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The final test is whether the (next) president will unify us, the Democratic front-runner told a pumped-up crowd of 500 that nearly filled the room.

Ive seen a lot of evidence that Donald Trump is a divider, not a uniter. We have a decision to make whether were going to move ahead together or build walls instead of bridges.

Among those listed as being targets of Trump were women, Muslims, the disabled, Great Britain and two Republicans, Sen. John McCain and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

He is scapegoating everyone, she said. Thats good for reality TV. But youve got to work with people.

Clintons California visits come as rival candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is barnstorming the state  including two Orange County visits in the past five days  as he pushes for a strong June 7 primary showing.

Analysts say its virtually impossible for Sanders to catch Clinton in the delegate race, but Sanders believes a strong showing in the remaining states will give him the leverage to woo superdelegates who have previously indicated support for Clinton.

Some California polls have shown Clinton with a double-digit lead over the Vermont senator, but a Public Policy Institute of California survey released Wednesday evening showed the two neck and neck in the state. In polling of likely Democratic voters and independents who planned to vote in the Democratic primary, Clinton led Sanders 46 percent to 44 percent.

Comparing Clinton, Sanders

Clinton, who was introduced by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, did not attack  or even directly mention  Sanders in her 35-minute speech. But her platform displayed more similarities than differences between the two.

Clinton and Sanders share proposals for large-scale public works program to rebuild the countrys infrastructure and put more people to work. Both want a path to citizenship for those living here illegally.

Both want more attention to mental health and addiction problems. But though Clinton wants to improve Obamacare, Sanders wants Medicare for all Americans.

Though Sanders has called for tuition-free public colleges and universities, Clinton will push for tuition-free community colleges and tax credits for unions that have training programs.

She also touted her own experience as secretary of state and called for a massive project to power all homes with renewable energy within eight years.

But her shots at Trump sparked the strongest response from the crowd Wednesday.

Donald Trump has put forth an economic plan by billionaires, for billionaires, she said.

The crowd responded with boos.

She also reiterated her attack on Trumps comments suggesting that he sought to profit from the housing crash. He defended those comments Tuesday, saying its the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation.

In the crowd

John Nelson and Dan Stifler, both 32, found standing-room spots near the speaker dais and took their shirts off, prompting Clinton to say she would keep her eyes elsewhere.

Afterward, they called Clinton the perfect candidate.

Youd have to be stoned to believe Bernie Sanders, Nelson said.

Others agreed with Nelsons and Stiflers assessment of Clinton and their skepticism of Sanders.

Shes the most qualified person who has ever run for this office, her husband included, said Santa Anas Mark Wagner, 57. I dont think half of the stuff (Sanders) talks about can get done. (Barack) Obama had the same problem.

Laguna Beachs Barbara McMurray, a marketing consultant, voted for Obama in 2008 but is siding with Clinton this time.

I felt like she had to get the secretary of state job under her belt, said McMurray, 56. She did that job and did it well.

She said she liked Sanders but was growing frustrated with him for remaining in the race long after he appeared to have a chance at the nomination.

I like everything that he says but when you drill down, there doesnt seem to be a lot of detail of how hes going to do the things he wants, like breaking up the banks, she said, adding that she was optimistic that the party eventually would unify behind a single candidate.

If we dont, were going to have much bigger problems, she said.

If Clinton and Trump are the nominees, it will be a matchup between the two most unpopular candidates in the history of ABC/Washington Post election polls, dating back to 1984.

An ABC-Post poll released Sunday showed 53 percent of Americans view Clinton unfavorably and 60 percent view Trump unfavorably.
With input from the public and from City Council, mapping of voting districts for future City Council elections is taking shape in San Juan Capistrano.

The City Council got its first look May 18 at a map drawn by consultants based on public interaction at two community workshops. Council members suggested some modifications and asked the consultants to try to keep homeowner associations and established neighborhoods intact.

The consultants, from the demographics firm Q2 Data and Research, said that cant be avoided in some cases as each district must, by law, have about the same population. The demographers use census blocks to determine population and often that requires boundary lines to be along streets, with homes on each side.

The council hired Q2 Data to collect community input and draw a district map that the citys elected leaders will consider adopting on June 6. The goal is to divide San Juan into five districts in time for the next council elections Nov. 8.

Its in response to a lawsuit that claims the citys historic practice of electing five council members at large is unfair to the Latino minority. Latinos comprise close to 40 percent of the citys population.

The city chose not to fight the lawsuit based on City Attorney Jeff Ballingers counsel. He said lawyers for Latino advocacy groups have been suing and winning California Voting Rights Act judgments, and that the courts have established a low threshold for lawsuits to prevail. He suggested the city avoid piling up legal fees and not defend the lawsuit.

The demographers presented a map to the council May 18 and will work on refining it based on comments at the council meeting. The map will be shown at a community outreach meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 1 at the Community Center, 25925 Camino del Avion. There, the public can help with further refinements that Q2 can present the council at 5 p.m. June 6 at City Hall.

The council will consider finalizing a map that evening.

Council seats held by John Perry and Sam Allevato are up for election in November. Under terms of a lawsuit settlement agreement, one of those seats will be filled by the district that has the largest Latino population. Selection of the other district to take part in this years election is undetermined.

The three other City Council seats will be filled in 2018 elections, electing a representative from each of the three other districts.

Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127
Santa Ana police are searching for a U-Haul containing a familyspersonal and household possessions that was stolen between Sunday night and Monday morning.

At around 9 p.m. Sunday, a man locked his rented U-Haul in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn & Suites at 2721 Hotel Terrace but discovered the next morning that it had been stolen, according to a bulletin released Tuesday by the Santa Ana Police Department.

The family had been staying at the hotel. Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department said they were moving from Sacramento to Arizona.

It had their whole lives in it, he said. They were going to Arizona to start their new life.

Bertagna said the family of four, including two children, had stopped in Santa Ana to visit relatives.

He said they were concerned about the computers, photos and the childrens toys and clothes that were among the stolen property.

The victim had the keys with him at the time of the theft and told police no one had permission to drive or use the vehicle. Authorities said the familys entire household and personal possessions were in the stolen U-Haul, which has minor crash damage near the left rear wheel.

The rental is a 2015 white and orange Ford E-450 van. Its about 20 feet long with an Arizona license reading AG38205. Bertagna said there was no surviellance footage in the area where the van was parked at the hotel.

Anyone with information about the theft or who sees the U-Haul is asked to call Detective V. Standke at 714-245-8442 or email vstandke@santa-ana.org. After hours, call 714-245-8700.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
While stage and film adaptations of Robert Louis Stevensons 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde abound, its a sure bet none can match Jeffrey Hatchers 2008 script for visceral power and getting to the heart of the original.

Playwright and screenwriter Hatchers utterly fascinating stage version hinges on a creative choice that resonates with Stevensons themes of psychological duality and the interplay of good and evil: using four different actors to portray Mr. Hyde.

This approach cant succeed without a firm hand at the directorial helm, arresting technical effects and, of course, formidable performances from the entire cast.

Local audiences can revel in a thoroughly masterful staging by Staged Cinema Productions at Maverick Theater, where director Brian Newell has assembled a stellar cast whose work magnifies the considerable assets of Hatchers blueprint.

Its 1883, and Londons impoverished areas are seeing a wave of savage, brutal murders of young women.

Dr. Henry Jekyll (Brian Kojac), a prominent scientist, recalls a previous slaughter where the killer had no memory of his deeds. That prompts his lawyer friend Gabriel Utterson (David Herbelin) to press him to explain his connection to the rough, cruel Edward Hyde.

Whats striking is just before we meet Utterson, Herbelins snarling, simian Hyde has trudged onto the stage. And each time this production delivers Herbelin, Mo Arii, Mark Coyan and Ryan Young first as those in Jekylls circle, then as Mr. Hyde, it amplifies the storys theme of duality.

Newells cast of seven portrays a total of 16 roles with an impressive range of character traits and dialects and, more crucially, a great deal of conviction.

Kojacs dignified, gentle Dr. Jekyll is imbued with gravitas and a marked degree of world-weariness, and Coyan, Herbelin, Young and Arii lend their respective characterizations of Hyde with distinctive colorations.

Young and Kojac deftly sketch the mutual disdain of Sir Danvers Carew and Jekyll, and Youngs Hyde seems to relish in his evil. Of the four Hydes, though, Coyans is the most forceful, with his reddish face, Cockney dialect, sinister growl and harsh, mocking laughter.

Alexandra Burkes Elizabeth Jelkes, the hotel chambermaid who meets both Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego, is refreshingly level-headed and clear-eyed. Her passionate love of Coyans Hyde is surprising but fully convincing.

Newells staging bisects the theaters floor with a wide, raised ramp perpendicular to the actual stage that creates two blocks of seats whose front rows place viewers in the lap of the action.

As if the acting and direction werent enough to maximize the remarkable script, FCLO Music Theatres beautifully crafted period costumes and Newells modular set design pieces and lighting and sound effects seal the deal.

The fact that Mavericks first-rate production capitalizes on Hatchers brilliantly crafted, utterly compelling script makes it a gripping, thoroughly absorbing piece of stagecraft not to be missed.

Contact the writer: emarchesewriter@gmail.com
ANAHEIM  Austin Barry stood outside of the Honda Center on Tuesday looking for a little redemption and a job.

Just eight days out of prison for a robbery conviction, the 24-year-old Mission Viejo resident was among 200 former offenders who attended the Orange County Re-entry Resource Fair, which connected felons with employment opportunities, legal advice and drug-treatment programs.

Im looking for a fresh start, which is kind of hard for any person with a record, said Barry, who served a 2 1/2-year sentence at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

The second annual fair was sponsored by nonprofit Orange County Re-Entry Partnership; BI Incorporated, which operates the countys two probation and parole reporting centers; and the Orange County Public Defenders Office, which had attorneys on hand to help ex-offenders fill out paperwork to try and get some felonies reduced to misdemeanors under the states Prop. 47.

The job fair aimed to help attendees avoid committing future crimes, said Meghan Medlin, board chairwoman of the nonprofit.

It can be hard for them to navigate the system, she said.

Barry, bearded and wearing a white dress shirt, made his way from table to table, gathering brochures.

He once held a well-paying job as a support tech for a software development firm. Now, he would be satisfied with an entry-level job as a hotel clerk or a laborer.

Im open to anything, Barry said.

Its definitely hard, he said. A person may look good on paper. But when employers run a criminal background check, it shuts down the job interview.

Scott Jeffrey, 37, of Anaheim, doesnt have any felony convictions but went to the resource fair seeking help in staying sober and for legal assistance for several outstanding bench warrants.

Jeffrey led a double life: as a Southern California Edison employee earning $100,000 a year, and as an alcoholic who turned to cocaine and then methamphetamine, he said. Jeffrey lost his job and girlfriend and became homeless.

It was horrible, said Jeffrey, who began taking illegal narcotics about five years ago. It isolated me from family.

Then in February Jeffrey became the first addict to participate in Drug Free Anaheim, an initiative by Mayor Tom Tait. The program encourages chronic drug users to walk into Anaheim police headquarters and get a free ride to a rehabilitation center.

Drugs were also at the root of 27-year-old Daniel Escobars difficulties. The Santa Ana resident has been in and out of the Orange County jail system a dozen times, he said, most recently for methamphetamine distribution.

I came to the resource fair because at this point in my life I want to make changes and need help, said Escobar, adding he hopes to find employment as a laborer.

A popular spot at the fair was at a booth operated by Crown Ace Hardware, a Huntington Beach company that has 16 stores in California and Arizona.

Two years ago, like other businesses in an international push called Ban the Box, Crown Ace removed the box from its job applications, which prospective employees had checked if they had a criminal record.

Since then, Crown Ace has had success in hiring ex-offenders to work in its stores, said Dean Bramlett, the companys human-resource manager.

Our company believes in helping the community, she said. Everyone deserves a second chance.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
Its 10 a.m., and bartender Trevor Kawamoto is making his first cocktail of the day.

That may not seem unusual until you discover hes doing this at home.

But dont worry  the bartender isnt on a binge; hes on a quest.

Today, Kawamoto will conclude what he calls his Cocktail Challenge, a 365-day mission to invent a new cocktail every day for a year.

It might sound silly when you hear Kawamoto say he chose his journey to test his endurance and imagination, to stretch his profession. Were talking booze here, right? A drinks a drink.

But when you see (and taste) the magic created by Kawamoto  who favors porkpie hat, white shirt, suspenders and bow tie when on the job  you become a believer.

Standing behind a 5-foot-long black-and-gray bar in a corner of his Costa Mesa apartment, Kawamoto launches into whipping up No. 359 in the Cocktail Challenge.

He sets up a silver jigger, two shakers, a strainer and a fruit squeeze. He slices a lemon and crushes the fruit. The fragrance of citrus fills the air.

California is a culinary dream, says Kawamoto, who moved here three years ago from Washington, D.C. You can step outside and get fresh citrus, fresh strawberries.

Modern mixology, as its called these days, is about far more than the standard martini, Cosmopolitan or Old-Fashioned. The perfect cocktail combines therapy, psychology and, arguably, alchemy.

It also requires leaving a customer with a smile. Sure, providing something that gets customers a little tipsy helps, but understanding the obscure history of cocktails helps even more.

MAD MIXER

Kawamoto and has been tending bar since he was in college at the University of Maryland. He says the television series Mad Men helped spark the current resurgence of cocktails.

He also is fond of the Prohibition era, as it relates to cocktails. Thats right, Prohibition.

Cocktails started in the mid-1800s, but they really came into their own during the Roaring 20s, according to Kawamoto. Thats when rum runners ruled and Al Capone ran Chicagos speakeasies.

Heck, Capone and his boys even had their own drink, the South Side. Its made of gin, lime juice, mint and syrup to help smooth out the rough bite of bootleg booze.

Kawamoto explains that gin is a personal favorite because of the unique taste from juniper berries. He scoffs at vodka because it is nearly odorless, tasteless and, ahem, boring.

As he talks, Kawamoto cracks a raw egg and separates it until all the egg white is in the shaker.

Kawamoto, who works at Hatchs tiki bar in Tustin, says the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail was the worst thing that ever happened to cocktails. Juggling shakers behind your back, he explains, is about showmanship, not fine drinking.

The problem is 80s-era habits die hard and some customers still expect to relive their Big Hair days. Sorry, Van Halen fans, this self-described Mad Mixer doesnt juggle.

The West Coast, he says, is still trying to catch up to the wonderful drinking culture of the East Coast.

As he picks out some Angostura from among the dozens of vials of tinctures and bitters near his bar, Kawamoto suggests that rum, sherry and gin are poised for a comeback in Southern California. He scans another shelf and, into the shaker, tosses a splash of Demerara, large-grained raw sugar.

He considers a line for his blog: My interpretation of this cocktail whose eminence is imminent will go down as a classic.

He is a confident bartender.

ART OR CRAFT?

Kawamotos blog reveals hundreds of colorful cocktails, many with sculpted garnishing. His presentations rival the art of skilled sushi chefs.

Yet Kawamoto scoffs at the idea that what he creates is art. Im more of a craftsman, he says, like a wood carver.

I mention a friend whose latest hobby is setting fire to wood chips and capturing smoke in a brandy snifter. To me, it looks nuts. But Kawamoto says my pal is on to something.

He pulls out a cinnamon stick, lights it, drops it in a glass and covers it with another glass, snuffing out the flame and containing the smoke. He points to tiny drops on the sides of the glass. They are oils from the smoke.

Drawing customers into the world of rarefied cocktails involves sight, smell and taste. Even the shape of the glass is important.

Then Kawamoto laughs at himself. I sound incredibly pompous.

Still chuckling, Kawamoto pulls down a shallow goblet. He looks over a shelf that stretches nearly the length of the bar and is jammed with bottles of liquor. He selects Lemon Hart rum, 151 proof.

The Trinidad Sour, Kawamoto writes in his blog, came to light at a place called the Clover Club in New York by the mischievous hands of one Giuseppe Gonzalez.

Gonzalezs drink packs a powerful punch. But Kawamotos version hits even harder.

FORGETING TROUBLES

We talk about the dark side of bartending: drunks.

If someone gets killed, Kawamoto says, you put the bullet in the gun.

The bartender says hes not shy about calling an Uber or someones friend or even taking car keys. He adds that boorish behavior is exceptionally rare in his establishments.

He picks a syrup, this one made from almonds and rosewater, called orgeat. He pours in the rum. He shakes, not stirs.

Kawamoto slowly pours the concoction into the shallow goblet. At first, the liquid is deep maroon with white flecks. Soon, it transforms. The bottom is maroon, but nearly translucent. The top is snowy white.

Once you step behind the bar you are onstage and you have the responsibility to give the customers a show, Kawamoto says.

But its not about flair, he adds. Its about showing them a good time, making them forget how crappy their day was.

Cheers.

Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
In an effort to defeat Orange County Board of Education Trustees Robert Hammond and Kenneth Williams in the June 7 election, Susan Mercer, president of Orange Countys largest teachers union, the Santa Ana Educators Association, last month had letters placed in all district teacher mailboxes, endorsing her unions preferred candidates for the OCBE. Mercer and her union oppose Hammond and Williams because they have approved establishing public charter schools and expanding parental school choice.

Several Santa Ana teachers who received the endorsement letters blew the whistle on what they believed was illegal electioneering at public expense, as I detailed in a recent column in this newspaper.

Mercers response, printed last week as a letter to the editor, was to deride my words as baseless accusations, and declare her right to use teacher mailboxes maintained by a taxpayer-supported school district mailboxes to distribute informational flyers that I contend amount to campaign materials. She wrote that our agreement with Santa Ana Unified School District includes a provision for this use.

However, on May 6, Mercer was sent a letter from SAUSDs legal counsel, James Romo, reminding her of California Education Code Section 7054. That law reads: No school district or community college district funds, services, supplies or equipment shall be used for the purpose of urging the support or defeat of any ballot measure or candidate, including, but not limited to, any candidate for election to the governing board of the district.

Those words are clear, and were affirmed by a 2009 decision by the California Supreme Court. The ruling upheld prohibitions on electioneering for or against ballot measures or candidates at public expense unless everyone is allowed equal access. Its a landmark decision known as the San Leandro case. Even the California Teachers Association has posted it on its website.

Romos letter to Mercer specifies that violating Section 7054 can be either a misdemeanor or felony punishable by fines, jail time, or both.

Romos letter also addressed Mercers contention that the OCBE candidate endorsements were a permissible use of district teacher mailboxes. Although the current collective bargaining agreement with the SAEA speaks to the Associations access to school mailboxes, the contract cannot be read to supersede the Education Code in this particular instance. If you have a different interpretation, please let me know the basis for your rationale.

Thats pretty clear. Theres nothing baseless in that. If Mercer doesnt like the law, maybe she should try to change it.

In response to this clear violation of state law by their teachers union leader, SAUSD administrators and board members seem either asleep at the wheel or too scared to challenge Mercer. To date, neither SAUSD Superintendent Rick Miller nor Board of Education members have responded to my requests for comment  except for Trustee Cecilia Iglesias, who quickly demanded action. Not surprisingly, Mercer has targeted Iglesias for defeat on June 7.

Several voters also are now demanding a response on Mercers actions from Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. Michael Fischer of Orange said, I want fair elections. Candidates supporters need to play by the same rules.

Do words enshrined in law matter? The state high court has spoken, and even some of Mercers members have had enough. Will Rackauckas act?

Staff opinion columnist Gloria Romero is an education reformer and former Democratic state senator from Los Angeles.
Re: Amin David, founder of Los Amigos of Orange County, dead at 83 [News, May 23]: Thank you for the article on Amin David. Amins litmus test for choosing to help someone was they were members of the human race, not a particular affiliation. Always gracious, his efforts were big and small, and spanned well beyond his weekly breakfasts.

Like many, I would see him worshipping at St. Anthony Claret in Anaheim. Faith and the love for his family, two hallmarks of those who have adopted this land as their home. Amin was a giver to all.

He is now helping to organize the pearlies above.

Len Beckman

Anaheim

Commencement condemnation?

Re: Obama uses commencement speech for partisan attack [Letters, May 22]: On Sunday, four letter-writers expressed their partisan outrage over President Obamas entirely truthful comment at Rutgers that Ignorance is not a virtue. They even used hyperbolic rhetoric such as calling Obamas comments an attack and saying that he lashed out. Evidently, to them the truism that ignorance is not a virtue is now open to debate.

Interesting also that at no time did President Obama mention Trump by name. That notwithstanding, when Obama mentioned the word ignorance ironically everyone knew, including his own supporters, exactly who he was referring to. That fact says all you need to know about Trump and his vacuous positions. Thanks Mr. President for giving such sound advice to the college graduates.

Ted Stulz

Anaheim Hills

  

The letters from Obama haters concerning the presidents speech at Rutgers would be amusing if it werent so sad. Should we infer that these people believe ignorance is a virtue?

Phil Enns

Laguna Woods

Arming enemies

Re: Obama announces lifting of arms embargo on Vietnam [News, May 23]: President Obama has assured Vietnam that they will have access to any of our military equipment and hardware. What for? They beat us. I lost buddies in that worthless war and now Obama goes over there like nothing happened. I predict he will get nothing in return other than some clothes, now made in Vietnam.

Leonard Musgrave

Orange
IDOMENI, Greece  It grew to the size of a small town, becoming a symbol of Europes closed border policy for migrants and refugees. On Tuesday, Greek authorities began to dismantle it.

Starting at dawn, police moved more than 2,000 people out of Idomeni, the sprawling makeshift camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, and sent in bulldozers to begin erasing the tent city.

The move definitively dashed the dreams of the thousands who had camped there for months in the hope of eventually being able to reach the continents wealthy heartland.

The refugees  many from Syria and Iraq  had stubbornly resisted government efforts to leave the site voluntarily, braving torrential rainfall and winter weather.

On Tuesday, they were placed on buses and taken to newly built shelters set up by the army and local authorities as the government promised to clear the site of the remaining 6,500 people over the next week.

More than 700 police officers were deployed in the operation. Authorities posted helicopter footage of the evacuation on the Internet but journalists were banned from approaching the site.

Emad Hawary, a 50-year-old Syrian, fled on foot with his wife and two daughters to avoid being transported out.

The police were everywhere and it was quite scary, he said after seeking refuge at a nearby gas station. We dont want to go to a shelter. Its just another field.

Hawary said the family was still determined to reach northern Europe and their son who is already in Germany.

The prospects of that are dim, however.

At its peak, when Macedonia shut its border in March, the camp housed more than 14,000, but numbers have declined as people began accepting authorities offers of alternative places to stay.

Most were living in small tents pitched in fields and along railroad tracks, or in large marquee-style tents set up by aid agencies to help house people. Greek authorities regularly sent in cleaning crews and provided portable toilets, but conditions were precarious at best, with heavy rain creating muddy ponds.

Recently the camp had begun taking on an image of semi-permanence, with refugees setting up small makeshift shops selling everything from cooking utensils to falafel and bread.

In Geneva, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said the evacuation appeared to be taking place calmly, and the U.N. refugee agency was sending in more staffers.

As long as the movement of people from Idomeni is  voluntary in nature (and) were not seeing use of force, then we dont have particular concerns about that, he said.

It often does help to move people into more organized sites, when theyre willing to move to those places, he added.

The government opted for tougher action after creating more shelter space in recent weeks at former army facilities and disused industrial sites. It also wants to reopen the countrys main freight rail line to the Balkans, which runs through the camp and has been closed for two months.

The government will not use violent means. Its a very large operation and everything must be kept safe, Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman on immigration, told private Real FM radio.

More than 54,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in financially struggling Greece since countries further north shut their land borders to a massive flow of people escaping war and poverty at home. Nearly a million people have passed through Greece, the vast majority arriving on islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

In March, the European Union reached an agreement with Turkey meant to stem the flow and reduce the number of people undertaking the perilous sea crossing to Greece, where many have died when their overcrowded, unseaworthy boats sank. Under the deal, anyone who arrives clandestinely on Greek islands from the Turkish coast after March 18 faces deportation to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

But few want to request asylum in the country, which has been struggling with a deep, six-year financial crisis that has left unemployment hovering at around 24 percent.

Melanie Ward of the of the New York-based humanitarian agency the International Rescue Committee said Tuesdays police action was a result of European Union reluctance to follow through with commitments to relocate refugees from Greece to other member states.

What is happening signals the start of the establishment of medium- to long-term camps on European soil, she said.

Why, two months after the EU-Turkey deal, has so little progress been made on the asylum and relocation process? she added.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Two rare coins expected to draw between $18 million and $27 million for coin collector D. Brent Pogue failed to sell Tuesday at auction.

The coins, the Sultan of Muscat-Childs-Pogue 1804 silver dollar and an 1822 Capped Head Left Half Eagle, were marked passed at the Sothebys event.

They failed to meet the consignors reserve price, the minimum bid that the consignor wanted for the coins, said Brian Kendrella, Stacks Bowers Galleries president, on Wednesday. The consignor loved these two coins and had very high expectations.

The 1804 silver dollar received a bid of roughly $10.6 million and the 1822 coin received a bid of almost $7.3 million.

Kendrella would not reveal the coins reserve prices, but said that the bids were close.

The auction netted nearly $17 million for 61 other coins sold in part four of the Pogue Collection series. Pogue, who has a home in Corona del Mar, is a renowned collector who specializes in early American coins.

I dont know that any collection will live up to what Pogue has put together, Kendrella said.

The 1804 silver dollar was a gift from the U.S. to Said bin Sultan Al-Said, the sultan of Muscat and Oman, in 1835. It is one of the five rarest coins in the world, according to Stacks Bowers Galleries in Santa Ana, which was hosting the event through Sothebys in New York City.

The coin has only been sold twice: once in London in 1917 and again in 1999 when the Pogue family bought it for $4 million.

Pogues Collection is considered by many to be the best collection of early American coins to be auctioned. The first four Pogue auctions netted roughly $85 million.

A fifth and final auction is scheduled for September. Kendrella said the Sultan of Muscat-Childs-Pogue 1804 silver dollar and the 1822 Capped Head Left Half Eagle would not be auctioned and would instead return to the seller.

Highlights from the Pogue collection so far have included the 1808 Quarter Eagle coin in the first trove that sold last May. It became the most valuable 19th-century U.S. gold coin when it fetched $2.35 million.

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
BARCELONA, Spain  Protesters supporting squatters in Barcelona clashed with police again Tuesday, less than 24 hours after demonstrators set trash containers and vehicles ablaze in confrontations that left at least 15 people injured.

The activists want squatters allowed back inside a vacant bank branch they occupied for years before they were evicted and the latest clash came after they managed to use tools to pry open a small hole in the metal doors sealing the entrance to the bank.

Riot police then moved in, beating back protesters with their batons. The demonstrators, numbering in the hundreds, responded by throwing rocks at police but were driven a few blocks away. No injuries or arrests were immediately reported.

On Monday night, about 500 people marched peacefully in the upscale neighborhood. But a police official said the demonstration turned violent around 10 p.m. when some protesters set garbage containers on fire.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of police policy, said that 14 of those hurt were officers and that the sole demonstrator injured was also arrested. Officers only kept track of injuries reported by ambulances sent to the scene, meaning it was possible that more people sought medical assistance elsewhere for injuries, the official said.

During the first night of mayhem, riot police clashed with demonstrators who burned a trash truck and damaged other vehicles.

Businesses in the neighborhood and at least one store were ransacked during the chaos of the first protest that ended after midnight Tuesday.

The protesters have pledged to hold five consecutive nights of demonstrations in their bid to get the squatters bank into the bank branch, which was being used as a community center for the group.
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department intends to seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, S.C., Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday.

The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision, Lynch said in a brief statement that said the department had considered all relevant factual and legal issues.

Roof, 22, is awaiting trial on federal hate crime charges in connection with the June 17 shooting at Emanuel AME Church, which contributed to a national conversation about race relations and also led to the removal of a Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse.

Roof is also charged with nine counts of murder in state court, and South Carolina prosecutors have already announced plans to seek the death penalty when he stands trial next year. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson has said she wants her case to be tried first.

Roof, who is white, appeared in photos waving Confederate flags and burning or desecrating U.S. flags, and purportedly wrote of fomenting racial violence. Survivors told police that he hurled racial insults during the attack. He was arrested a day after the shootings when a motorist spotted his Confederate license plate.

Federal prosecutors charged Roof with hate crimes one month after the shooting, saying he was motivated by racial hatred and a desire to commit a notorious attack when he opened fire inside the church.

To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race, Lynch said at the time.

Though the Justice Department says its committed to seeking the death penalty, federal executions are exceedingly rare. The last time a federal defendant was put to death was in 2003.
Rizza Barnes, UC Irvine Law Schools public relations manager, died unexpectedly Saturday night.

Barnes, 41, was in her kitchen talking with her husband when she collapsed. She died of a brain aneurysm that doctors described as not survivable, said her husband, Marcus.

Colleen Taricani, assistant dean for communications at the UCI law school, called her a kind and sweet person.

People I dont even know are emailing me and calling me to cry and grieve with me about her death. The entire campus of UCI  which is like a small close-knit town really  is in mourning, Taricani said.

Barnes joined UCIs Law School in July 2014 with more than 12 years experience in university public relations. She previously served as director of publications at the USC Gould School of Law and as the communications director for the Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and the Graduate Division, both at UCI.

Barnes, who immigrated from the Philippines at age 11 and grew up in Norwalk, also had a career as a journalist: as a sports writer at the Los Angeles Daily News and as an editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A 1996 graduate of USCs Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, she was a Trojan fan.

She loved sports, her husband said Tuesday. She was an avid reader, a good dancer. She was very kind and intelligent. Most of all, she was a devoted mother.

She was everything.

Taricani said this of the woman she called her right arm in the office: She was the kind of rare employee who makes your job easier, and since we spend an estimated 30 percent of our lives at work, that counts for a lot. She understood our mission, was clever, gracious and hard-working. I ran most everything by her because her opinion was so valuable.

She would like that she has her own hashtag, #RememberingRizza, and she would like that our Facebook post about her death performed 80 percent better than all our other posts, Taricani wrote in an e-mail.

A Fundly page has been started to raise money for her memorial service, which has not yet been scheduled.

Barnes is survived by her husband, Marcus, her son, Julian, 9, her stepson, Jordan, 25, and her parents, Marilou and Narciso Yap.

Staff writer Roxana Kopetman contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
Some people in the crowd at a graduation ceremony at California State University, Fullerton, shouted at the commencement speaker after she talked about presidential candidate Donald Trump and gave a brief section of her address in Spanish.

Its really sad, the commencement speaker, Maria Elena Salinas, an anchor for Spanish language broadcast network Univision, said Tuesday. And its a testament to what has happened in our country. Our country is really divided.

Salinas gave a keynote address Sunday morning and was presented with an honorary doctorate, and spoke some words in Spanish to the parents of graduates. The student body is 40 percent Hispanic, and she felt the speech was well-received; several students thanked her afterward for addressing their parents in their native language. University leaders had encouraged her to say a few words in Spanish, she said; the school is a national leader in the number of Hispanic graduates it produces.

But when she spoke to the College of Communications in a separate ceremony later that morning, the reaction seemed quite different.

Denise De La Cruz, a graduating senior who wrote about it for OC Weekly described it this way:

  

Salinas speech was well-received until it became a little too Latino-centric for some and blatantly anti-Trump. The Univision broadcaster began specifically congratulating Latino journalism graduates for what seemed like a large chunk of her speech. She then began speaking in Spanish. This left non-journalism grads and non-Latinos/non-Spanish speakers feeling excluded. Parents in the audience and even students in the ceremony began demanding Salinas switch to a more inclusive tone by shouting phrases such as, What about us?!

Tensions worsened as Salinas began offering advice to journalism students to use the tools of media to rebut political figures such as Donald Trump. Thats when folks began yelling things to Salinas such as, Get off the stage! and Trash!

  

On Tuesday, De La Cruz said she has gotten a mixed reaction to what she wrote, with some who were in the audience saying they didnt feel any tension or hostility from the crowd, and others who appreciated her writing about a very awkward moment.

I would say it was tense throughout the speech, De La Cruz said. I looked around and a lot of graduates were visibly upset  some were muttering criticisms.

There were probably hundreds of graduates there, so I cant speak for everyone there, she noted, but definitely . . . the row where I was seated there were upset people and you could hear heckling from the crowd.

On Tuesday evening, a spokesman for the university wrote in an email, I did not attend the ceremony for our College of Communications, but I am aware that some in attendance had concerns about comments made by Maria Elena Salinas.

We believe that higher education thrives when diverse perspectives are shared and discussed, including views expressed by guest speakers. The Universitys inclusive environment demands that an array of viewpoints be voiced, and that resulting discourse is honored and supported. It is our hope that as graduating Titans continue to celebrate their well-earned success, an openness to diverse ideas stays with them for a lifetime.

Trumps campaign rhetoric about building a wall along the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration and other blunt comments  such as saying Mexican and Central American immigrants are bringing drugs, murder, and rape to the United States  have made him a divisive figure. Supporters welcome his ideas as straight talk, and opponents hear bigotry.

A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Salinas said Tuesday that she could hear some yelling but she didnt know what the people were saying. A student told her later that some were upset. She said the dean of the college told her beforehand that they had just started a student-run Spanish-language newscast, and that students would love it if she spoke Spanish. She only spoke for a few minutes, and switched to Spanish briefly to encourage students interested in going into Spanish-language media and to tell them she has a scholarship for them, and the rest of the remarks were to all students, she said.

In a video, a varied response can be heard from the crowd.

Salinas said: . . . they blame us so much for so many things, that now theyre even blaming us, the media, for creating Donald Trump. Imagine that. Yells can be heard from the crowd. Isnt that terrible? But we didnt, right? Who did it? she asked rhetorically. I dont know. Who did it? But theyre to blame.

More yelling can be heard.

If you allow me to say a few words in Spanish, she said, and someone called out, No!

When she spoke in Spanish, wishing students well on their future in this country, her words were followed by cheers and applause. She expressed pride in their accomplishment, then switched back to English and said its wonderful to speak two languages, to more cheering.

Then she asked if they would allow her to do something important. Someone yelled, No! and another voice yelled, Get off the stage!

She took a selfie  stopping to urge the crowd to smile  and said she was excited to take with me today this very positive energy from each and every one of you. She closed with Spanish, to more applause and yelling.

She said Tuesday that she is sorry if a few students felt left out. But that provoked other people to go on social media and say very nasty things, Salinas said. Its a shame.

Salinas wondered if she had given her speech two years ago, would there have been the same reaction,or is it just that the atmosphere is so heavy right now? she said. What I have seen on Twitter is really going out of control. A lot of insults. That really does come from the presidential race. When you have people insulting you and #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, you have to wonder, she said, referring to a Trump campaign slogan.

Since the speech, she said she has received a lot of ugly comments on social media, including people telling her to go back to Mexico (she was born and raised in California) and worse.

Its really sad that people can turn such a special moment into a racial war, she said. Because it seems like that is what has happened. I dont think I insulted anyone by saying a few words in Spanish to the parents. The whole speech was directed to everyone. . . . I think the message is, we have to cool down the intolerance right now, we really do. This is ugly, whats happening in the country.

Salinas just did a two-part series on xenophobia that aired Thursday and Friday. It all came down to the campaign, and the negative rhetoric of the campaign. . . . Two days after my xenophobia series aired, this happens. Its really sad, whats happened to our country.

On social media, one graduate wrote that it wasnt racism  they were upset that she was talking to just one ethnicity rather than addressing the whole student body.

Another said that students were annoyed that she was inserting divisive politics into a speech meant for all graduates.
PARIS  Police raided Googles French headquarters Tuesday looking for evidence of aggravated tax fraud, marking one of Europes most conspicuous attempts yet to cast a U.S. technology leader as a manipulative scofflaw.

The probe reflects an intensifying air of European indignation looming over Google and other U.S. tech companies as they amass huge amounts of cash while reducing their tax bills through complex maneuvers that shield their profits.

As it has consistently done when confronted about its tax strategy, Google issued a statement Tuesday maintaining that it complies with all laws. The Mountain View, California, company, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., also said it is cooperating with the French investigation.

Other major tech companies, including Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., also have been skewered in Europe for scrimping on their tax bills as the popularity of their products and services have lifted their fortunes during the past decade.

At the end of last year, the U.S. technology sector had stockpiled $777 billion in cash, accounting for nearly half of the $1.68 trillion held by non-financial companies in the country, according to a study by Moodys Investors Service.

Just five tech companies  Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp.  accounted for $504 billion of that total. Nearly 90 percent of the cash held by those five companies is being kept in overseas accounts, a strategy that has rankled some U.S. lawmakers who want the money brought back to home so it can be taxed and help reduce the countrys deficit.

Its easier for tech companies to legally lower their tax bills than manufacturers because their businesses revolve around patents, algorithms and other intellectual property thats easier to move around than a plant, says Steve Gill, a San Diego State University accounting professor issues.

When a company is making shoes, its pretty easy to tell where those shoes are being made, Gill says. Thats not the case with intellectual property. It doesnt really matter where a contract or algorithm sits. Tax laws have failed to adapt to this kind of environment.

Frances investigation is focused on an Ireland subsidiary that enables Google to do business with customers across the European continent while minimizing its taxes  a technique known as profit-shifting. European regulators increasingly are pressing companies to pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they do business.

The mounting pressure prompted Google to agree to pay roughly $140 million (130 million pounds) in British back taxes earlier this year and make changes in how it calculates its U.K. tax bill.

Apple reached a similar settlement in Italy late last year, agreeing to pay about $350 million (318 million euros) to resolve a dispute in that country.

Italian authorities also have examined Facebooks books to determine if the social networking leader should have been paying more taxes than it did.

The French government hasnt disclosed how much it believes Google might owe in back taxes, but it made an elaborate show of force in Tuesdays raid.

An anti-corruption unit and 25 information technology experts descended on Googles Paris office, according to Frances financial prosecutors office. French daily Le Parisien, which first reported the news, said the raid took place at dawn and involved about 100 investigators. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw officers still at the scene Tuesday afternoon.

The investigation, which began last June, is focused on aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering, Frances financial prosecutors office said in its statement.

With all signs indicating more cash will be pouring into the technology industry, the sector seems likely to remain in the crosshairs of financially strapped governments seeking more tax revenue.

You look where you think there is money to look for, says Richard Lane, a Moodys senior vice president who tracks corporate cash flows.
Soldier deaths in the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine jumped to the most in a year as the latest cease-fire unravels and after President Petro Poroshenko warned the security situation is deteriorating.

Seven government servicemen were killed and nine were wounded in fighting with pro-Russian insurgents during the past 24 hours, Oleksandr Turchynov, who heads the National Security and Defense Council, said Tuesday. The military said rebel shelling and explosives caused the fatalities.

Two years since it began, the conflict thats killed more than 10,000 people and jolted the post-Cold War order is no closer to a resolution. A 2015 peace accord sealed in the Belarusian of Minsk hasnt been implemented. The latest round of four-way talks between Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France failed to reach a breakthrough last month in Berlin amid friction over issues such as the status of the rebel-held lands and local elections.

The separatists have significantly increased the intensity of shelling on Ukrainian troops, Turchynov said in a statement, accusing them of using heavy arms banned under the Minsk pact and setting up firing positions in residential districts of seized towns.

Poroshenko discussed the most recent unrest, which follows Aprils new attempt at a truce, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French leader Francois Hollande by phone Tuesday morning. He called for the deployment to the conflict zone of police from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which currently has monitors in the are though complains access is limited.

Cease-fire violations in Ukraine are a very urgent issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later Tuesday on a conference call with reporters.
Orange County supervisors and the Newport Beach City Council took a few minutes before their Tuesday meetings to do what the state Assembly recently refused to: honor John Wayne.

Last month, the Assembly voted against Assemblyman Matthew Harpers resolution to declare May 26, the actors birthday, John Wayne Day, with opponents citing what they called racist remarks made by the actor against African Americans and Native Americans as reason to deny him the honor.

Newport Beach council members voted 7-0 to recognize Wayne, one of the citys most famous residents, with a John Wayne Day. Councilman Kevin Muldoon proposed the resolution, calling Wayne a consummate American hero.

In Newport Beach, hes recognized as a great member of the community, said Muldoon, who shares a birthday with Wayne. Hes a personal hero of mine.

Wayne died in 1979 and is buried in Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar.

Following the Assembly defeat, Harper approached Orange County elected officials, representatives from Supervisor Michelle Steels office said, and pointed out that the county also had no day honoring Wayne.

Steel took up the cause, and on Tuesday gave a favorable presentation to honor Wayne on Thursday  his birthday. Two of Waynes children were present.

As an immigrant from Korea I watched John Wayne do heroic things on the screen, and after arriving I was able to see his heroic action off the screen, as well, Steel said. I believe he was a great American. I had no concerns going into this.

Supervisors took no action on Steels presentation.

Son Ethan Wayne, who lives in Newport Beach, didnt believe the recognition should be controversial. The City Council just wanted to recognize a person from their community whos remembered fondly, he said.

Not everyone thinks of Wayne as a heroic figure.

Hes not a real-life hero, theyre celebrating a fantasy, Newport Beach resident Jim Mosher said at the city meeting.

The legacy of Wayne, once celebrated as an American hero, has tarnished in recent decades. When it came time for the California Assembly to vote on Harpers resolution last month, some elected officials pointed to the actors 1971 Playboy magazine interview as evidence that he should not be publicly celebrated.

Wayne told Playboy: I believe in white supremacy, until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I dont believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

Wayne also called Native Americans selfish for trying to keep land from white settlers.

Ethan Wayne, however, said: I dont know anyone whos given more opportunity to Native Americans from the 1920s to 1979 than John Wayne, referring to the film industry.
DANA POINT  Capt. Chris Pica has been on the water for most of his life and said hes seen more humpbacks whales at this time of year than ever before.

We used to see maybe one or two sporadically from spring to fall, now were seeing huge numbers almost daily, he said. In the late 1980s and 90s youd never see them. Then in the early 2000s wed see one or two mixed in with blue whales and fin whales. In just the past few years, theyve started to increase.

Pica, 52, of San Clemente has been a whale watch and sport fishing boat captain for Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching for 27 years.

Dana Wharf is Dana Point Harbors oldest business and just last week celebrated 45 years.

As of Tuesday, Pica said he and other boat captains have counted 152 large baleen whales so far this year, with more spotted daily. Last year at this same time, 43 were counted.

Pica and Capt. Dave Anderson, who operates Capt. Daves Dolphin Safari and Whale Watch from Dana Point Harbor, say this year could top last years record-setting tally of 253 whales, which was up 53 percent from the year before.

In 2014, there were 178, and in 2013, just 17 of the behemoths were spotted.

Similarly, researchers off the coast of San Francisco reported this week that they are counting higher numbers also  in some cases logging as many as 30 to 60 humpback sightings a day.

Experts arent sure why numbers are increasing but are happy the whales  once a rarity off the California coastline  might become year-round residents.

It could be warmer waters, prey or climate change. Researchers believe the baleen whales are following prey.

There arent just occasional sightings of a couple of whales. Captains and boaters are seeing pods.

In 2013, Todd Mansur, a boat captain for Dana Wharf for 30 years, got some of the first looks.

He was amazed when he saw a massive black and white flipper rise out of the sea about two miles off the Dana Point Headlands.Two humpbacks were rolling, throwing their flippers and rubbing up against each other.

One was about 55 feet long, the other was a little larger. Mansur said likely the pair were courting.

His sighting then, was one of less than a dozen Mansur remembers seeing off the coast of Orange County in 30 years.In 2014, a humpback took up residence in the waters off Dana Point and Laguna Beach for several months.

Before 2014, the Orange County coastline was much better known for its blue and gray whale sightings.

But with an increase in sightings come reports of entanglements.

This February, a juvenile humpback, hogtied and struggling off the coast of La Jolla became the first whale successfully disentangled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations disentanglement team that includes Anderson and Pica.The whale had been spotted just a day before struggling off Newport Beach.

In 2015, NOAA reported that there were four humpback whale disentanglement efforts. Ten more whales were spotted but could not be found and helped.

The higher number of humpbacks have also made them victim to ship strikes.

Last August, researchers from The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito reported that a 38-foot humpback whale carcass was found at Esplanade Beach in Pacifica.

Researchers from the center and The California Academy of Sciences discovered that the whale had injuries consistent with a ship strike.

By examining marine mammals that wash up on our shores, we are able to learn more about how we can prevent future deaths, said Dr. Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center.

The incident in August happened just after NOAA requested that large ships slow down inside the shipping lanes beyond San Franciscos Golden Gate to reduce the threat of ship strikes on endangered blue, humpback and fin whales.

Humpbacks feed in colder waters and migrate to warmer climates for mating and calving.

Theyre spotted off the Orange County coastline when they go north in search of food or head south to Mexico to mate and give birth.

About 800 humpbacks are found off California in summer, mostly north of Point Conception.

I would say for sure were up this year from any year Ive ever seen, Anderson said. Because this is the third year and it continues to rise I believe humpback whales which used to be found mostly above Point Conception are now regular inhabitants of Orange County.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or twitter:@lagunaini
James Phillips, from Three Forks, Montana, has been collecting shed antlers for over half a century now. The 66-year-old takes long hikes in the foothills of the mountains, looking for antlers to take home. Over the last six decades, he has collected over 16,000 individual pieces that now cover virtually every inch of a specially constructed 30 x 64 foot building known as Antlermans Shed.

Antlerman recalls that his passion for collecting sheds began in 1958. I, as a ten year old, took a short walk from my parents homemade trailer up a creek into the timber, he wrote on his website, Antlerman.com. I stumbled onto an old set of elk antlers and packed them back to camp. A few days later I hiked a little further and brought home a couple old white elk antlers. To this day, when I find a shed I get the same rush as I did then. Antler hunting is in my blood.

Phillips, who used to be an employee of the Montana Talcum Company, would spend all his free time hunting for shed antlers of various species of the deer family, including mule deer, whitetails, and of course, elks. Over the years, I have traded antlers for antlers, he wrote. During the 80s I sold 600 brown elk and 1500 deer sheds to help put three daughters through college. But hes never bought a set himself  everything he owns is something he found himself. Pound for pound, I have packed every antler you are going to see.

I have put up a 30 by 64 building to house my collection and spent two and a half years setting up the inside the way I wanted the display, he added. I have over 16,000 antlers displayed in it now. Inside the building, Phillips has organized several Table Tops and Side Tables that are completely filled with various sheds, ranging from large mule deer antlers and antlers with several points on Table Top 1 to some of his largest shed sets on Table Top 12. Entire skulls are displayed along poles, and every inch of the walls and ceiling are covered with antlers as well.

The building pretty much looks like a jungle of antlers, but Phillips has no plans to stop collecting them any time soon. Hes rightfully earned himself the title of Antlerman and is considered a cult hero among a growing number of shed collectors who have recently discovered his lifetimes work. He keeps a detailed diary of every single shed-hunting trip hes taken since 1969, and he never gets tired of looking at his vast collection. I go out into the horn shed a couple of times every week, he said. And each time I always see something new.

Photos: Antlerman.com

via Messy Nessy Chic, Wide Open Spaces, Outdoor Life
The Pontics are a group of ethnic Greeks who prospered on the shores of the Black Sea between the years of 1914 and 1923. Over 350,000 of their population perished at the hands of the Ottomans, Kemalists and neo-Turks during the Greek Genocide, and those who remained were forced to leave their homeland to seek refuge in Greece. But even today, this small community manages to keep its age old traditions alive. One of their most notable customs is the yearly Picnic with the Dead.

Every year on the Sunday after Easter, also known as St. Thomas Sunday, several Pontic Greek families in the village of Rizana make their way to the local cemetery to picnic on the graves of the deceased. Many of them bring along folding tables and chairs, table cloths, traditional meals, vodka, flowers, and candles to set in the midst of the marble gravestones. No one is allowed to cry as the day is seen not as one of mourning, but of celebration in honor of the departed. Family members are seen smiling and greeting each other, Christos anesti (Christ has risen), while children laugh and play amidst the graves.

Photo: VICE Greece

The tradition is believed to go back as far as the Homeric epics, but it has been kept alive to this day by the Pontic Greeks. Thousands of Greeks left Pontos and the former Soviet countries in the early 1900s, explained Stefanos Oflidis, president of the Association of Repatriated Pontics. Most of us are ordinary people, but honoring our ancestors is very important to us.

Oflidis, who works as a dental technician in the nearby city of Thessaloniki, explained how to the present cemetery used by the Pontic Greeks for the Picnic with the Dead came to be. We settled in western Thessaloniki, and in the following years, our dead were buried either in Evosmo or in neighboring municipal cemeteries, he said. Due to a lack of space, three years later their bodies had to be exhumed. Thats not our idea of honoring the dead, so to avoid that, we started looking for a space where our dead could be permanently buried.

Photo: VICE Greece

Soon after, his father Alexandros began to look for a new cemetery space, and this became the number one priority for the newly formed Association of Repatriated Pontics. A villager in Rizana, Lefteris Tepetidis, finally agreed to donate 15 acres of his own property to the cause, in memory of his son who died young. In the following years, the Pontics buried their dead, built a church, and tended to the cemetery.

In recent years, Oflidis admits that the participation in the ritual has been dwindling. There arent as many relatives coming on a day like this as there used to, he said. Many Pontics have gone to work in Germany, or they cant afford the trip from Thessaloniki. Still, the Association does arrange for a bus on that day.

Sources: VICE, Greek Reporter
The Wall Street Journal May 23 spent 3,500+ words arguing whether cellphones should have warning labelsof course they should. Missed was the galaxy of pulsed radiation threats to all and especially children.

WSJ has thrown a bone to the electro-magnetic field (EMF) threat. But a much better use of the space would have been covering the four hours of detailed, scientific-based research on radiation presented May 22 at the Left Forum in New York.

Its not worth arguing about cellphones. Dont press them to your ear, dont carry them in a pants or breast pocket, dont put them in a bra, and dont use them in a car or other moving vehicle. Switch cordless phones for landlines and have a wired computer, mouse and keyboard.

Arguing in the WSJ article for warning labels was Joel Moskowitz, Ph.D., director, Center for Family and Community Health, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, while saying the risks are not great enough to warrant warnings was Dr. Larry Junck, a neurologist and professor, Univ. of Mich. Health System.

Joel Moskowitz Larry Junck

Junck would like to see more statistical evidence of cellphones causing brain cancer while Moskowitz says there is enough to make people take simple precautions. Another type of cancer linked to cellphone use is cancer of the salivary (parotid) gland.

Routers Are Big Problem

Bigger radiation problems than cellphones and far less susceptible to ready solutions include the pulsed radiation from industrial-strength 5 GigaHertz routers commonly found in schools and designed to go through cement, brick and cover the campus. They are higher wattage and configured to serve hundreds of users simultaneously.

Students and teachers in the U.S. experience such bombardment throughout the school day. The Library of Paris, largest facility of its type in France, barred Wi-Fi in 2008. The move was led by the staff which did not want to be irradiated all day long.

Especially susceptible to EMF damage are children, babies and fetuses. A panel May 3 in Baltimore featuring Devra Davis and other EMF health advocates discussed this.

WJS would do well to publish the 54-part description of EMF dangers and solutions compiled by Camilla Rees, founder of electromagnetichealth.org, who spoke at the Left Forum May 22. It is the most comprehensive overview of the dangers of EMF.

New York Apartment Dwellers at Risk

New Yorkers and others should pay close attention to Rees since Time Warner, Comcast, Cablevision and other cable suppliers are forcing new 5 GigaHertz routers on unsuspecting customers, this writer included.

Apprised of this new danger (radiation pulsing 24/7 billions of times a second), we contacted Time Warner and had them turn off the 5GHz and 2Ghz lights on the router. Other customers of the cable companies should do the same.

A technician came to our home and found high levels of radiation throughout the apartment and particularly near windows. The highest apartments get the most radiation from hundreds of cell towers atop apartment buildings. WSJ should urge real estate interests throughout the country to look into this.

We immediately shut down Bluetooth on our MacBook and unplugged the landline phone that had a wireless companion. An antenna on the landline part spewed radiation 24/7 and was the same as a cordless phone.

Left Forum Blasted Corporate Interests

Wi-Fi and computer technology, both with dangerous aspects, permeate school, libraries and public government which have made a huge financial and intellectual commitment to their use and dont want to walk away from it, panelists told the Left Forum. Doing so would be biting the corporate hand that helped finance so much of the technology, they noted.

Radiation from space is a topic that deserves exploration by WSJ.

Google has plans to launch 200,000 Wi-Fi balloons at 62,500 feet under a program called Project Loon.

Space X plans 4,000 satellites 750 miles high.

OneWeb says it will hoist 648 satellites, drones and lasers.

Outernet plans low orbit microsatellites.

Global Union Against Radiation Deployment from Space (GUARDS) has a website with descriptions of health and environmental hazards of high-altitude radiation for commercial purposes.

Virtually the entire global population will be irradiated non-stop by 2020 whether they like it or not, says retired Canadian Army Captain Jerry Flynn, who spent6 22 years in its Electronic Warfare unit.

He wants the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to pursue criminal investigation of government and health authorities who ignore the many threats from pulsed radiation found in schools, hospitals, libraries and other public places.

Rise in Autism Found



Flynn says there has been an explosion in autism in children in Canada that appears to mirror the explosion in wireless technology.

In the U.S., he wrote May 22 to Prime Minister Justine Trudeau and members of the Canadian Parliament, the rate of autism in children was one in 25,000.

In 1970, he said, it had climbed to one in 2,500; in 2000, one in 150, in 2004, one in 125, in 2008, one in 88, and in 2013, one in 50 and one in 27 in populated cities.

Quoted are statistics compiled by the Australian ADHD Foundation.

Asks Flynn: Why does no one connect todays tragic explosion in Autism in children with the comparable explosion in wireless technology? Each and every wireless device emits hazardous low-level, pulsed, non-thermal radio/microwave frequency radiation.

He includes cellphones, wireless utility meters, cordless phones, GPS satellites and cellphone towers. They never shut off, he said.

Tragically, he said, for all Canadians, the Government of Canada refuses any dialogue whatsoever on pulsed non-thermal wireless radiation, which scientists have long linked to Autism and a host of other neurological diseases, as well as diseases of the central nervous system and immune system.

People and politicians need to realize that the non-thermal radiation, while invisible, is cumulative, said Flynn.
The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.
Henkell & Co snaps up remaining 40% of Copestick Murray

German firm Henkell & Co has purchased the remaining 40% of Copestick Murray shares, two-and-a-half years after buying the initial 60%.

Robin Copestick, who will continue as managing director at Copestick Murray, said he was now looking to the future with huge optimism and excitement.

Henkell & Co.-Gruppe is one of Europes largest wine and spirits producers and is the market leader for sparkling wine in Austria, Sweden, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Canada.

It is also the leading Prosecco supplier to the US and the market leader for still wine in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Andreas Brokemper, chief executive at Henkell & Co, said: We are very pleased with the progress of Copestick Murray since we purchased 60% of the company in September 2013. As a result all the interested parties agreed that the time was right for Henkell & Co. to wholly own Copestick Murray.

This new arrangement will allow Copestick Murray to keep progressing and become one of the leading wine companies in the UK. It will also help the company to focus on making Mionetto one of the top Prosecco brands in the UK and to continue the fantastic global progress of I Heart wines.

Copestick added: We are all very happy with this news. When Paul [Murray] and I created the company in July 2005 we could not imagine that the company would become as successful as this. We are proud of the achievement, very grateful to the very many key staff who have contributed to this success and we feel very fortunate to have found such a great partner in Henkell & Co. I am looking to the future with huge optimism and excitement.

Copestick Murray announced record turnover and profit in 2015 and exports to 30 different international markets as well as supplying the UK with leading brands such as the I Heart range.

It recently bolstered its portfolio with wines from Chilean producer Aresti and believes it can help the firm become a major player in the UK market.
Nebraska Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Chair, Paul Cohen, a retired Air Force Brig. Gen., welcomed some 16 civilian employers to 'Bosses Day' at Offutt Air Force Base. This employer orientation tour and others like it go far to help civilian employers better understand and appreciate the military missions of their Guard and Reserve employees.

The safety and security of every American citizen rests more heavily than ever upon the wide shoulders of National Guard and Reserve Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen.

Of that there can be no doubt.

Many of the country's part-time military personnel have stepped forward without complaint for multiple deployments to very dangerous duty stations on the far side of the globe for as much as a year at a time with nary a complaint.

Deployments, while vital to the nation for a multitude of reasons, present as many challenges to the civilian employers and Guard or Reserve families left behind than to those who are deployed themselves.

Enter the organization Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

An under-the-radar, almost entirely volunteer agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, ESGR stands beside and behind both the civilian employers who must deal with staff absences that can be both long and frequent, as well as with the men and women who are deployed themselves.

To accomplish its mission to educate both sides of the equation and also to nurture mutual understanding between all involved, ESGR has at its disposal a multitude of trained, dedicated volunteers who offer outreach assistance in multiple aspects of this vital - yet always challenging - military/civilian dynamic.

In recent months ESGR sponsored a Boss Lift out of Lincoln during which employers rode Blackhawk helicopters and learned much about their Guard and Reserve employees' important mission to evacuate battlefield wounded by air and under fire if need be.

More recently, just more than a dozen Omaha employers spent a day learning, understanding and better appreciating all that their Guard and Reserve employees are doing for their country during absences for training or deployment overseas.

Cohen welcomed the group at its morning briefing on the grounds of Offutt Air Force Base, a military installation of some 4,000 acres where 10,000 military and civilian employees work.

"It's vital to our defense," Cohen told the Omaha bosses, "that those folks have your support."

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kelmis rattled off numbers to quantify the level of reliance the United States places on its part-time military forces.

He said 2,000-plus reserve sailors are deployed "around the globe" on any given day.

The Navy includes approximately 47,500 reservists in all and so far this year has provided at least two of them to perform military honors at 21,441 veteran funerals nationwide.

Naval reservists at Offutt, he explained, have responsibility for all military burials in Nebraska. In the last full fiscal year in-state services numbered 389. So far this fiscal year the count is 227 and climbing.

The much more extensive overall mission of the Navy Reserve, he said, is, "Mobilization readiness. That's what we're all about."

In his remarks, Air Force Col. Mark A. Hopson acknowledged the country's reliance upon stand-by forces will only grow. In wars now and those to come, he said, there will be less separation between active duty and reserve soldiers.

"That's the wave of the future," he said. Already, in fact, "You can't tell the difference. We all work together."

Hopson said, "Depth of experience is what the Guard and Reserve brings."

That's a perfect complement to active duty military personnel who "bring breadth of experience."

Successfully stitching two very different lifestyles and sets of obligations together depends entirely upon both sides - civilian and military - pulling together with each other. Tugging their shared soldier in opposite directions, ESGR volunteers will quickly confirm, is a recipe for the likely failure of both.

On the military side, said Hopson, "We try to be really, really flexible. Life ebbs and flows and we know that."

Maj. Gen. Richard Evans described what he termed the "three-legged stool" that Guard and Reserve men and women must somehow balance. One leg is military, another is the civilian employer and a third is to effectively provide for the needs of his or her own family.

"The military," said Evans, "works to provide predictable schedules" to help shore up its leg of the stool.

The relationship between Guard and Reserve soldiers and their civilian bosses, said Evans, is enormous.

"There's no doubt," he said, "Individual employers affect the mission of their military employees.

The military, he said, looks to the Guard and Reserve, "As a flex force to be part-time until needed  then full go."

ESGR's one and only mission is to foster knowledge and understanding as well as to serve as the bridge that connects the disparate elements of these doubly-dedicated Americans' employment relationships.

A wealth of information and advice is available for the asking at http://www.esgr.mil/ or by calling the Lincoln office at 402 309-7303.

Inquiries about this news release are best directed to: steve.moseley@yorknewstimes.com; Nebraska ESGR Public Affairs Director

Group photo by Ryan Hansen, Public Affairs Director, 55th Wing
Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly...
NEW YORK  Monsanto rejected Bayers $62 billion takeover bid, calling it incomplete and financially inadequate.

However, the seed company suggested Tuesday that a higher bid might be accepted, saying that it remains open to talks.

Monsanto Co. Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant also said in a written statement that the initial offer failed to address potential financing and regulatory risks.

Bayer, a German drug and chemicals company, made an all-cash bid that valued Monsantos stock at $122 each. Bayer previously said that it planned to finance the acquisition with a combination of debt and equity, the latter to be raised largely by issuing new shares.

A combination of the two businesses would create a giant seed and farm chemical company with a strong presence in the United States, Europe and Asia. Both companies are familiar brands on farms around the globe. Bayers farm business produces seeds as well as compounds to kill weeds, bugs and fungus. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, produces seeds for fruits, vegetables and other crops, including corn, soybeans and cotton, as well as the popular weed killer Roundup.

Twitter eases rules about message limits

Twitter is about to get a little less complicated.

The company said its getting rid of some of its rules, which can be confusing and sometimes alienating to new users of its social-media service.

For example, to direct a post to someone on Twitter and let other people see it, you have to put punctuation  .@  before the persons user name. If you want to reply to a tweet or have a conversation with several people, their user names would count in your post against the 140-character limit on messages.

In the coming months, those rules will fade away, Twitter said Tuesday in a blog post. People also will be able to retweet themselves if they feel that a post went unnoticed or if they want to add commentary to something they wrote. Media attachments, such as photos, GIFs, videos and polls, will no longer count as characters against the limit.

The companys product, notoriously difficult for newcomers to understand, has been steadily tweaked over the past couple of years to be more intuitive. Twitter updated its login page to include examples of popular tweets, for example. Still, the San Francisco-based company has had trouble expanding and retaining its base of about 310 million monthly active users, making further changes necessary.

This is a part of our overarching and ongoing strategy to refine our iconic product, Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland said.

New York, Dominos in tangle over alleged wage violations

MELVILLE, N.Y.  Dominos Pizza Inc. and three New York-area franchisees are being accused by the state of using a flawed software system that underpaid many employees.

The lawsuit, announced Tuesday by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, is unusual in that it claims that Michigan-based franchiser Dominos employs the workers jointly with the three franchisees and therefore is jointly accountable for the allegedly short paychecks.

The case resembles a long-running legal battle over a contention by the National Labor Relations Boards general counsel that fast-food giant McDonalds Corp. could be jointly liable with its franchisees for unfair labor practices.

At some point, a company has to take responsibility for its actions and for its workers well-being, Schneiderman said in a statement about the new lawsuit. As alleged in our complaint, weve uncovered rampant wage violations at Dominos franchise stores and intensive involvement by Dominos headquarters that caused many of these violations.

The three franchisees own a total of 10 stores.

Attorney Martin Silver, representing franchisee Schueb Ahmed, said there was no intent to cheat any workers. Any underpayments, if any, were the result of a misunderstanding by (Ahmeds company) and its accountants of the proper way to calculate certain salary with regard to tips and overtime.

A spokesman for Dominos, Tim McIntyre, said in an email that the company contends that its franchisees have sole responsibility for paying their employees. He also said Dominos offered proposals over the past three years to allay the attorney generals concerns, none of which were accepted.
Omahan Tharein Potuhera is showing smarts and swag at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The eighth-grader from St. Wenceslaus Catholic School punctuated his correctly spelled words with a dance move known as dabbing.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton helped to popularize the move: a dramatic thrust of the hands to ones side, head dipped to the forearm.

Potuhera, 14, said Wednesday that his buddies back in Omaha put him up to it. They promised to pay him if he did the move on TV.

The aspiring defense attorney said he checked the rulebook to make sure such demonstrations were allowed.

Now videos are popping up on the Internet featuring Potuhera doing the move.

Potuhera advanced to Thursdays finals after a solid showing in preliminaries Tuesday and Wednesday.

He was thrilled to advance.

It felt amazing, he said.

He is one of 45 surviving spellers. The bee started with 285 of the best spellers from all 50 states and several countries.

He turned in a perfect performance in the preliminary oral spelling rounds Wednesday.

He correctly spelled the words nominal and propinquity.

Nominal means existing as something in name only; not actual or real, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

Propinquity means nearness of blood or nearness in place of time.

Scores from the two oral rounds were combined with scores from Tuesdays written, multiple-choice spelling and vocabulary test to determine who advanced to Thursdays final rounds.

The bee is being held at National Harbor, Maryland.

Oral rounds will continue Thursday as the 45 finalists are narrowed to a dozen or so spellers. Those kids will compete in the final rounds televised Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The bee features spellers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Japan, Jamaica, Guam, Ghana, Canada, Bahamas, American Samoa and military schools in Europe.

Potuhera said he planned to study a bit Wednesday night, then get a good nights rest.

His trip to the bee is sponsored by the Omaha World-Herald.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com
In addition to preparing kids for college and the workforce, Nebraska school officials point to another factor in their decision to start keyboarding earlier: state testing.

Kids need to be able to get on the computer at an earlier age, and not only type, they need to be able to think and compose, said DeLayne Havlovic, an Omaha Public Schools curriculum supervisor for business and information technology.

Theyre anticipating a day in the not-so-distant future when paper-and-pencil tests for elementary students will be replaced by online tests that require students to type their responses to writing prompts.

You cant just circle, fill in the blanks, you cant do multiple choice anymore, said ReNae Kehrberg, an OPS assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. So weve got to prepare our kids at a much younger age to be able to keyboard, just to be able to be successful on the state test.

This year, officials field-tested an online writing task for students in grades 5, 8 and 11. Nearly 20,000 third- and fourth-grade students in 122 districts across the state piloted a similar online test feature. Testing officials will analyze whether the online component affected test score patterns.

A research team also sat in while some students took a practice test and then quizzed them on the experience.

We asked students, What are you thinking right now? Is this hard for you to do?  said Valorie Foy, the director of statewide assessment and accountability. We probed what they were thinking, how they were responding, whether they were intimidated by the task.

The Nebraska State Board of Education will decide this summer on the future format of a state language arts test.

In Gretna, teachers were asked how their students handled the online writing task this year. It was a mixed bag, said Rex Anderson, the districts director of curriculum and instruction.

Some kids chose to write less because it meant they could keyboard less, because keyboarding was getting in the way of writing, he said. The kids are kind of in that transitional shift, where theyre having to learn how to print, to read and to think, and now were asking them to do a dexterity skill along with it.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1210, erin.duffy@owh.com
Even in this era of novel therapies for multiple myeloma, for patients with newly diagnosed disease, autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) after chemotherapy provides benefits in terms of disease progression and extent of response, compared with chemotherapy alone. The benefit of ASCT was especially pronounced among certain groups of high-risk patients.

Novel proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulators have dramatically increased the complete response rate and significantly extended progression-free survival and overall survival in previously untreated multiple myeloma patients, Dr. Michele Cavo, head of the Seragnoli Institute of Hematology at the University of Bologna School of Medicine in Italy, said at a presscast in advance of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

But questions remain about how these newer agents perform, compared with high-dose melphalan (HDM) followed by ASCT, traditionally seen as the standard of care for younger and fit patients with newly diagnosed disease.

EMN02/HO95 is a large, prospective, multicenter, intergroup, randomized phase III study that addresses this question, as well as single vs. double ASCT and the use of consolidation therapy or not. The study includes patients 65 years old or younger, and the trial protocol involves induction therapy with bortezomib (Velcade)cyclophosphamide-dexamethasone (VCD) and subsequent collection of peripheral blood stem cells.

Patients were then randomly assigned to receive bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone (VMP) or HDM as intensification therapy in centers that had a single ASCT policy. For those centers doing double (tandem) ASCT procedures, the randomization was to VMP vs. HDM + single ASCT vs. HDM + double ASCT.

Patients in each treatment arm then underwent another randomization to consolidation therapy with bortezomib-lenalidomide (Revlimid)dexamethasone or no consolidation. All patients received lenalidomide maintenance until disease progression or toxicity. At the time of a preliminary analysis of trial data in January 2016, results from the second randomization to consolidation or no consolidation therapy were not yet complete. This first prespecified interim analysis was performed after at least 33% of the required events had occurred.

Early results show ASCT benefit

Early results on 1,266 patients (VMP, n = 512; HDM, n = 754) show that a median progression-free survival (PFS) was not yet reached after a median follow-up of 23.9 months from the first randomization (to VMP vs. HDM+ASCT), the primary endpoint of the trial.

In the overall patient population, patients achieved a significant 24% benefit in PFS when given HDM+ASCT up front (hazard ratio, 0.76 vs. VMP), and this benefit extended to certain patient subgroups, as well.

PFS benefit with bortezomib-based ASCT was of relevance for patients at high risk of early relapse, in particular for those with revised ISS [International Staging System] stage III and high-risk cytogenetic profiles, who had a relative reduction in the risk of progression or death of 48% and 28%, respectively, Dr. Cavo said.

Other predictors of longer PFS were ISS stage I (HR, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.28-067; P less than .0001), standard risk cytogenetics (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.41-0.78; P less than .0001), randomization to the HDM+ASCT arm (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.45-0.82; P = .001), and less than 60% bone marrow plasma cells (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.48-0.99; P = .014).

More patients receiving ASCT up front had a significantly greater reduction in tumor volume of at least 90%, as indicated by the composite of very good partial remission, complete response, and stringent complete response, which was achieved in 74.0% in the VMP arm and in 84.4% of the HDM+ASCT arm (P less than .0001).

For patients at low risk of relapse, Dr. Cavo said longer follow up will be needed to compare the different arms of the study, and future analyses will delineate the effects of consolidation or no consolidation therapy and the use of the VMP regimen, compared with single or double ASCT.

ASCO president Dr. Julie Vose said that even with effective novel agents available, older, proven approaches still retain their value. This study demonstrated that combining the best of both worlds  initial therapy with a novel agent followed by stem cell transplant  resulted in the best patient outcomes, she said.
What Opposition should learn from Sushma Swaraj---one of Modi govt's silent heroes

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to be popular two years after taking charge but the story will be incomplete if we do not give due credit to those silent heroes in Modi's government who have helped him maintain its popularity.

The most prominent of those silent heroes is perhaps Sushma Swaraj---India's external affairs minister. Only the second woman to hold the important post, Swaraj can give Modi's rank as the best minister of his government a tough competition, thanks to her no-nonsense, hard-working and result-oriented approach.

Sushma Swaraj has never failed Indians in distress abroad

Beginning with the evacuation of Indian nurses from conflict-hit Iraq, Swaraj's tenure in the last two years has seen India successfully rescuing its nationals from various countries of West Asia besides individuals facing problems in countries like South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Germany and others. Indian even got requests from over 20 countries to evacuate their nationals from Yemen last year.

And it is just not about reaching out on the ground. The minister promptly addressed the issue whenever an Indian national found himself or herself in the middle of a crisis anywhere in the world and brought the matter to the notice of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Besides the rescue ops, Sushma has always given prelude to Modi's diplomatic feats

The rescue missions accompanied Swaraj's regular job of opening more diplomatic avenues across the globe and paving the way for PM Modi to accomplish diplomatic feats. As Swaraj said after completing a year in office, her tenure spoke of :fast-track diplomacy" and said it had three faces---proactive, strong and sensitive.

Swaraj's quick response to Maldives' water crisis in December 2014 and how she ensured India rushing drinking water to the maritime neighbour when it needed it the most is also one among the several examples of her high points in the last 24 months. It was in fact of those rare instances when India made it faster than China to respond to a challenge.

The way Sushma has written her story as the foreign minister is a lesson for Opposition as well

But it is not just the performance as the foreign minister which has given Swaraj an edge over many other ministers in the NDA government. In fact, the way Swaraj has paced her innings in an era when the entire government is identified with a single man, it could be a lesson for the Opposition leaders who are running out of patience with Modi---provided of course they are willing to learn.

Sushma Swaraj never competed with Modi but made her own space through hard work

Swaraj, who was known to be close to Lal Krishna Advani during the days when the BJP was divided over the rise of Modi through the ranks, shifted the focus once the latter became the PM. She has kept a low profile and has not played with the media to promote herself.

She knows fully well that India's foreign policy decisions are now orchestrated in the PMO and not the MEA and played it smartly by giving Modi the front space and focusing on the operations herself. She never made it an issue of personality clash which could have ruined all the hard work she has put in.

Sushma has done what Hillary did after 2008

Swaraj's tactical retreat resembles her with Hillary Clinton, who after losing the presidential race to Barack Obama in 2008, served as the secretary of state under him and earning a lot of good name.
Attacks on African nationals in India: Is Modi govt lacking soft skills in foreign policy?

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

The repeated instances of attacks on African nationals in various parts of India in the recent past do not augur well for the renewed vigour with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reset his foreign policy.

The latest incident of murder of a Congolese national and other "attacks and harassment" of African students in different corners of the country has invited sharp reaction from the African diplomatic community and it has decided to boycott the Africa Day celebrations in protest.

Only making promises not enough

Although the Indian government has been assuring that the safety of the Africans in India will be looked into, but it seems the promises are now failing to convince the foreigners.

The Modi government has sought to woo the 54-nation African continent and encourages more students from Africa to study in India. But the ground experience is proving to be contradictory for the Africans, thanks to the climate of fear and insecurity.

Softer skills of managing people-to-people contact also matter besides hard goals

The story is not meeting a happy ending because the Modi government seems to be not interested in addressing the softer skills of foreign policy. It is true that New Delhi has shown renewed interest in Africa for economic and geopolitical gains.

One of the major objective of India while it reaches out to Africa is to compete with China in the race to tap the vast resources of that continent. India's relation with Africa has grown manifold since the early 2000s, including the tenfold growth of the bilateral trade to over $70 billion in less than 10 years.

Modi's foreign policy is more based on muscular nationalism

But there is more to the muscular nationalism than the Modi government is espousing in its foreign affairs conduct. It's not wrong for the Modi regime to assert its presence across the globe but it is equally important that it addresses the soft aspects of ensuring security of foreign nationals residing in India.

The Modi government may want to erase the name of Jawaharlal Nehru from the history of the country's foreign policy but as we saw in the India-Africa Foreign Summit held in October last year that still a number of African leaders remember India's first prime minister as the architect of India-Africa partnership.

Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy is still remembered because he stressed inclusive principles

And they do it because of Nehru's legacy as a democrat who emphasised on international cooperation and by that---one also means besides economic cooperation, ending racial discrimination, protecting human rights and accommodating cultural differences.

Though the nature of relationship between India and Africa has diversified since the anti-imperial vision of the Bandung Conference of 1955, but there are more challenges to this relationship---a major one being racial attacks.

India's hard foreign policy designs in Africa have not delivered on the promises and the Modi government is perhaps putting all its focus on seeing the grand projects through to boost India Inc. but the lack of an equally important engagement with the protection of life of the nationals from Africa could jeopardise the entire plan.

In foreign policy, people-to-people contact is as important as formal state-to-state dealings. Nehru had envisioned this need. Can Modi also?
For family of this terror suspect from Bengaluru, the worries never end

Feature

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

When he returned to India 7 years back, his family had heaved a sigh of relief. This is Dr Sabeel Ahmed who was deported from the United Kingdom after his brother Kafeel Ahmed had carried out a suicide attack at the Glasgow Airport on June 29 2007.

Kafeel and Sabeel are the sons of two doctors who reside at the Banashankari area in Bengaluru. The mother, Dr Zakia Ahmed was shocked to hear the news of her son, Kafeel being involved in a terror plot in the United Kingdom. Dealing with the news of her son's death in the attack, she had another worry on hand and that was her other son had been detained by the UK police.

All she said at the time of her son's return from the UK was that she was happy he was back. The worries have now returned to haunt the family. A Delhi court has issued a proclamation notice against Dr Sabeel Ahmed who is in Saudi Arabia in connection with an alleged al-Qaeda recruitment plot.

Never ending troubles:

When the news of the Glasgow bombing broke out, the entire media fraternity from Bengaluru and other parts of the country camped outside the Banashankari house of Kafeel and Sabeel. It was the mother Dr Zakia Ahmed who spoke with the media and all through she put up a brave face although it was clearly that she was shaken from within.

She kept telling the media that she was awaiting the return of her son Sabeel. When Sabeel was deported and finally arrived in Bengaluru at around 3 AM, the media chased him from the airport to his house. At his home after a three hour wait, the mother came out to speak to the media. As she was about to say anything one journalist hurled a question, " how does it feel to be the mother of a terrorist." With a very grim smile and a nod of her head, she went back inside the home thus ending any chance of a quote or byte for anyone of us.

Sabeel's family told him that it would be better if he went to Saudi Arabia and took up a job which he did. He is said to be working in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. However the worries for the family did not end there. An assassination plot was unearthed by the Bengaluru police. The case was transferred to the NIA and the name of Dr Sabeel emerged. He quickly denied the allegation and in a media release categorically denied any wrong doing.

His name cropped up once again during an investigation being conducted by the Delhi police. The police have alleged that an accused Abdul Rehman during his interrogation had named Sabeel. The police is investigating a case relating to a al-Qaeda recruitment plot. The court has issued a proclamation notice against Sabeel and 11 others.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 9:39 [IST]
Rs 64.5 lakh fake currency heist in West Bengal- NIA frames charges

Feature

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The National Investigation Agency probing several cases relating to the circulation of fake Indian currency has chargesheeted three more persons. Yet again in this case the three persons are from Malda in West Bengal which has become the landing point for fake Indian currency pumped in from Bangladesh.

The three persons to be chargesheeted are Mohammad Dalim, Islam and S K Salim. It was the case of the NIA that these persons had procured fake currency valued at Rs 64,65,000 from Bangladesh. They were working in close association with their counterparts in Bangladesh to procure fake currency and circulate it in India.

The NIA says that Malda in West Bengal has become the main landing point for fake currency in India. Almost 80 per cent of the fake currency has been landing in Malda and from here it is circulated across the country. Investigations have shown that for every Rs 100 of fake currency, the operative gets Rs 40. It is a 60:40 ration at which the fake currency is sold at investigations had also learnt.

Standard Operating Procedure:

An Indo-Bangladesh task force had been formed to counter the menace of fake currency. The two nations have met thrice so far to discuss modalities on curbing the problem. The last meeting was held in New Delhi on February 23 2016.

During the meeting a standard operating procedure had been adopted by both the sides.

The Standard Operating Procedure included the following:

Sharing of Intelligence inputs and investigative leads between established points of contact.

Maintaining database on all dimensions of FCN trade and exchange of information on the same by both sides.

Mass awareness program shall be conducted by Central Banks of both the countries in the vulnerable areas to sensitize people about the risk of FCN.

Joint Training and Seminars will be organized by both sides on various aspects of identification of FCN and challenges in detection, investigation, and prosecution of FCN related cases.

The capabilities of Forensic laboratories shall be enhanced through mutual collaboration between the forensic experts on both sides.
Air India connects Bhopal with Hyderabad via Jabalpur

India

oi-PTI

Hyderabad, May 25: National carrier Air India commenced operations to Hyderabad via Jabalpur from Bhopal under its 'Connect India' programme yesterday, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening regional connectivity.

Flight AI 9863 on Bhopal-Jabalpur-Hyderabad shall operate four days a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Air India said in a statement.

The flight will take-off from Bhopal at 0845 hrs and reach Jabalpur at 0950 hrs. It will take-off from Jabalpur at 1020 hrs for its onward journey and will arrive in Hyderabad at 1220 hrs.

The return flight AI 9864 will take-off from Hyderabad at 1250 hrs and will reach Jabalpur at 1450 hrs. The flight will leave Jabalpur at 1520 hrs and will touch down at Bhopal at 1625 hrs, it said.

Air India will commence another direct flight AI 9867/9868 between Bhopal and Jabalpur from June 16.The flight will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it said.

PTI
Amit Shah names SP as main rival in UP, claims will win key state

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 25: BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday named Samajwadi Party as its main rival in the next year's assembly election in Uttar Pradesh even as he exuded confidence that his party will form the government in the key state.

Shah also rejected the contention that the party was on a sticky wicket in Gujarat following the violent Patidar quota agitation, claiming that it will win a two thirds majority in the state, where polls are due next year end.

Revealed! BJP's plan to replicate Assam 'success mantra' in UP polls

He dismissed reports that the BJP brass was mulling over removing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and said the party had not discussed the issue.

In an interaction with journalists, he said it had not been decided yet whether to name a chief ministerial candidate for UP, a tactic it successfully deployed in Assam, saying all states are different.

"It is certain that BJP will get a majority in UP," he said, adding the party had a strong base in the state where it won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. His strong expectation from UP was not linked to the party's win in Assam, Shah said, adding the key Hindi heartland state was "easy" even before the polls in the northeastern state.

Asked about the party's election agenda for Uttar Pradesh, Shah said development would be the top priority as the entire state was in a "mess" from "top to bottom" under Samajwadi Party's "misrule".

Shah said he considered SP as the BJP's main adversary because of its larger support base than Mayawati's BSP. The saffron outfit has been trying to wean away Dalit votes from Mayawati-led BSP.

To a query whether he was under pressure to deliver UP to the party, he said "There is always pressure for me".

Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's plan to contest the UP polls, he said if Nitish factor worked, it would only benefit BJP. He was apparently referring to the split of secular votes the presence of Kumar's JD(U) in the electoral fray could cause.

Shah, who led party to victory in several states but under whom BJP suffered massive losses in Delhi and Bihar, also rejected the contention that it was at a disadvantage in Uttarakhand following its failed bid to topple the Harish Rawat government.

"There is a massive anti-incumbency wave in the state. We will come to power whenever polls are held," he asserted. The hill state will go to the polls with UP next year. Asked about the likely reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers, he said it would happen whenever it has to.

PTI
Assam: Man convicted for close links to Peoples' Liberation Army

India

oi-Vicky

Assam, May 25: A special court in Assam convicted one person for his close association with the banned Peoples' Liberation Army and sentenced him to 8 years of rigorous imprisonment.

AsemIbotombi Singh alias Angou was found guilty for his close association with People's Liberation Army (PLA), a proscribed terrorist organisation under the UA(P) Act, 1967 and his activities as a cadre of PLA and also procurement of identity documents under false identity.

The Court at Guwahati recorded statement of the accused AsemIbotombi Singh, where the accused confessed his guilt. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Odisha on May 28 2012 and was later lodged in the Guwahati central jail.

According to the court order the accused is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and also pay a fine of Rs. 5,000.

During the investigation it was found that Angou had close links with the Peoples' Liberation Army an outfit banned in India. He was a cadre in the outfit and had also secured fake documents to create identification cards, the investigations had also learnt.

OneIndia News
BJP comes out in defence of Amitabh's association with 2nd anniversary programme

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 25: BJP on Wednesday came out in strong defence of megastar Amitabh Bachchan for his association with an event to mark the second anniversary of Modi government despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union Ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child which the megastar will attend on May 28 and attacked Congress for its "mental disability" in raising a row over it.

Big B to host PM Modi govt's 2-year anniversary event at India Gate

BJP leader and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no affect if he attends the event to mark two years of Narendra Modi government on Saturday.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things.

"Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm," he said when asked about Congress' charge that the actor's presence will not 'go down well' with probe agencies.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for Congress to be "jealous about".

BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said the row created by Congress "only reflects its mental disability" as its own leaders are embroiled in corruption and are out on bail.

Party MP Paresh Rawal said the Congress is "issue-less" and is thus creating an issue and dubbed it a "bogus issue" like the row created over the return of awards by writers and litterateurs in the wake of Dadri lynching incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues are expected to attend the event 'Zara Muskura Do' (Smile Please) at India Gate to be hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the NDA government.

PTI
Danish woman's rape: Delhi court reserves verdict

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, May 25: A court here on Wednesday set June 6 for delivering its verdict in the 2014 Danish woman's gang rape case.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar reserved the order after defence counsel and prosecution concluded their final argument.

Arjun, Raju alias Chhakka, Mohammad Raja, Mahendra alias Ganja, Raju alias Bajji and Shyam Lal were accused of robbing and raping the Danish woman at knife-point near New Delhi railway station in January 2014 after she sought directions to her hotel in Paharganj in central Delhi.

Shyam Lal died in February in the Tihar jail here and proceedings against him in the case were abated.

Three minors are also facing proceedings before the Juvenile Justice Board in the case.

Police said all the accused are vagabonds who took the woman to an isolated spot near the Divisional Railway Officers' Club close to the railway station, took away her belongings and then raped her.

IANS


Doctors in govt hospitals in Delhi to go on strike

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 25: Doctors in government hospitals in Delhi will be on strike on Thursday demanding increase in their salaries and allowances. They also threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 1 if their demands is not fulfilled.

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), an umbrella organisation of 15,000 resident doctors across 41 government hospitals in the national capital, has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revise the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which they termed were "particularly discriminating to doctors".

"We will be on strike tomorrow for a day. If our demands are not fulfilled even after that, we will go on indefinite strike from June 1," said Dr Narayan Dabas, Convenor, FORDA.

Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry Arun Panda today held deliberations with Medical Superintendents of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung hospitals and later said "our hospitals have put in place contingency plans so that all emergencies, trauma cases are taken care of.

"Senior doctors will handle the situation tomorrow. We are still trying to make them (FORDA) see reason. RML has cancelled all leave.

Senior doctors have been asked to come and attend patients. Hospitals think they can handle the situation. All trauma and emergency will be taken care of.

The MS of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung have also talked with FORDA," Panda told PTI.

PTI
Shocking accident caught on cam: Speedy car hits bike, kills one on the spot

Caught on camera: Cop 'accidentally' fires at at mobile shop employee in Amritsar

Haryana offers land to Army for medical college in Panchkula

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Chandigarh, May 25: The Haryana government has offered land to the Indian Army for setting up a medical college in Panchkula, near Chandigarh.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made the offer to Lt. Gen K.J. Singh, GOC-in-C Western Command, while presiding over the Civil-Military Liaison Conference here on Wednesday, May 25.

Panchkula, 15 km from here, is adjoining the Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir.Khattar said the land for the army's medical college would be provided by the Haryana government.

IANS


My aim is to make India a developed country in one generation: PM Modi

IIMC administrative body reconstituted

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 25: The IIMC society which looks after the overall management and administration of the premier journalism school, has been reconstituted for the period 2016-18.

According to a statement released by the institute, the committee includes Information and Broadcasting Secretary Ajay Mittal, representatives of I&B, Finance, HRD, Science and Technology and External Affairs Ministries, educational institutions and social science organisations.

Eminent members include senior scribes like Kalyani Shankar, R Rajagopalan, Prashant Mishra, Umesh Upadhaya, Rajiv Deshpande, Shishir Gupta, Anil Padamnabhan and Sanjay Singh, the statement said.

IIMC DG K G Suresh is the ex-officio member secretary of the society. The Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, representatives of agricultural universities, organisations of state governments and IIMC faculty are also among the members.

PTI
Induction of Congress MLAs into BJP is death of Parrikar's legacy, says outgoing Goa deputy CM

Swaraj, Parrikar, Ananth Kumar: BJP has lost some of its tallest leaders recently

Manohar Parrikar thanks PM, Irani for approving Goa IIT

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Panaji, May 25: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani for approving Goa's first IIT centre.

"Goa takes one more step towards becoming a knowledge centre," tweeted Parrikar who is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and a former Goa chief minister.

Earlier this month a team from the HRD ministry was in Goa to inspect a 280-acre site at Loliem in South Goa, which had been shortlisted for setting up the premier educational institution.

Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said that the upcoming Indian Institute of Technology in Goa would be mentored by IIT Mumbai.

IANS


In a case of bad karma Taliban outs Pakistan on what India had always said on Azhar

Meet Taliban's new chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, May 25: There is very little known about the new chief of the Taliban Moulavi Haibatullah Akhunzada. He was a deputy to Mullah Akthar Mansour who was killed in a drone strike and after much deliberation by the Taliban, he was chosen as the leader.

It appears as though the Taliban decided to go in for a low key personality. Moreover this is the for the second time in one year that the Taliban faced issues regarding succession.

Mullah Mansour was appointed Taliban chief after the death of Mullah Omar amidst protests and divisions within the outfit.

Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada:

The very fact that there is very little known about the role of Haibatullah in the recent years itself is an indication that he is a low profile operative. He was part of the Taliban administration before they were removed from power in 2001.

A religious cleric, Haibatullah was the one who would issue the decrees on behalf of the Taliban.

Mullah Mansour- An uncomfortable Taliban commander

Haibatullah Akhand served as a deputy to Chief Justice Mullah Abdul Hakim Akhand. He would supervise the administration of the Taliban courts when their government was in power at Afghanistan.

The next time that his name started doing the rounds was when Mullah Omar died. There was a succession issue and after much debate and protest Mullah Mansour was appointed as the Chief of the Taliban. At that time, Haibatullah was made the deputy chief. The decision to appoint him as the chief was taken at a meeting held in Pakistan.

So far there have been no protests within the Taliban ranks. The task ahead for Haibatullah is a tough one. He is heading a fractured Taliban. Moreover he would need to carry forward the peace process that was started by Mansour.

Many feel that the Taliban is likely to spin out of control and the peace process would adversely affected as the outfit will look to avenge the death of Mansour.

OneIndia news

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 11:56 [IST]
Jammu admin withdraws order allowing residents of more than 1 year to become voters

Kashmir edition of Kumaon Literary Festival to begin in Srinagar next week

In J&K's Kupwara, IED detected and diffused

Winter makes an early entry in Kashmir with snowfall, heavy rain

Mehbooba Mufti gets notice to vacate official bungalow 'meant for J&K CMs'

Militants kill civilian in Kashmir

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, May 25: Separatist militants on Wednesday killed a civilian who was abducted late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

"Militants today (Wednesday) morning killed a civilian identified as Liyaqat Ali Chatwal in Rajwar forests," a senior police official told IANS.

"He was kidnapped Tuesday night from Watsar village where he had gone to meet his sister."

A probe has been launched to investigate the murder, the official added.

IANS
Partial Solar Eclipse updates: See stunning photos of Surya Grahan from Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna and more

Modi's best men will oversee speedy implementation of Chabahar Project

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, May 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced after signing Chabahar port deal with Iran that history had been created.

For India this is a very crucial project as it opens up a route to Afghanistan. However what India must also bear in mind is that there should not be any delays in implementing the project.

The Prime Minister is likely to appoint a ministerial committee to oversee the progress of the project for which India has said it will provide 500 million US dollars.

[The importance of Chabahar port explained in 5 points]

The project which was conceived over a decade back was stuck due to delays largely due to sanctions being implemented on Iran.

History created, but speed matters

While this deal does script a new chapter in the relations with Iran, India must also ensure that no time is wasted in implementing this project.

Some US senators have already questioned this project. "We have been very clear with the Indians about continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

Officials say that India is determined in completing this project in quick time. There were various issues in the past decade a major one being sanctions being imposed on Iran.

However with the sanctions gone, India would have no problem in implementing the deal in quick time. The Prime Minister is expected to put his best men on the job and even appoint a ministerial committee to ensure that the project is completed soon.

Stamp on Afghanistan

For India connectivity through Iran is very crucial. The Chabahar project would facilitate trade between India and Afghanistan in a big way.

The route via Pakistan to Afghanistan is blocked for India. Pakistan would never allow any trade activity with Afghanistan.

This Chabahar project provides for a route to Afghanistan. This would essentially mean that the trade route between India and Afghanistan via Iran would be open and un-opposed.

The port will allow India to bypass Pakistan and reach out to the global markets.

Further this project would also counter China's growing influence on the Indian Ocean. China is currently developing the Gwadar Port in Pakistan which is also 100 kms away from the Chabahar port.

This port would help in evolving bi-lateral investments with Iran. The railway line to be set up by IRCON International will help transport good to Afghanistan. The rail line would also link India to Iran's railway network.

OneIndia News
Kantara row: FIR against Kannada actor Chetan Kumar for hurting religious sentiments

Karnataka Governor gives assent to ordinance increasing SC/ST reservation

'Kantara' box office collection: Rishab's flick to join $1-million club in US; check day-wise collection

Cop booked for raping cousin over 5 years

Solar eclipse to be sighted in Bengaluru for 45 minutes: Report

News Flash: PM Modi chairs 12th interaction through 'Pragati'

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, May 25: Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala. Get all the latest national and international news updates of Wednesday, May 25 here:

11.40 pm: Sri Lanka to set up office to probe people missing in Tamil conflict.

11.00 pm: Delhi: Complaint filed in Tilak Marg police stn against Ajay Devgn over his film Shivaay's posters for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

10.20 pm: Ayodhya Bajrang Dal chief arrested after a video showed its activists training with weapons at a "self-defence camp".

9.35 pm: Final tranche of 25 Netaji Files to be released on May 27th by the Ministry of Culture.

9.00 pm: China: President Pranab Mukherjee visited Hua Lin Temple in Guangzhou, earlier today

China: President Pranab Mukherjee visited Hua Lin Temple in Guangzhou, earlier today pic.twitter.com/FrNot3Mbs2  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

8.20 pm: Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal keeps Home, Revenue and DM portfolios. Himanta Biswa Sarma gets finance, planning and development, tourism

7.55 pm: Possibilities for closer cooperation are limitless.Realising full potential of our relationship is shared responsibility: President Mukherjee.

7.28 pm: Pinarayi Vijayan takes charge as Chief Minister of Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram: Pinarayi Vijayan takes charge as Chief Minister of Kerala pic.twitter.com/KENCCdC6gn  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

7.10 pm: US President Barack Obama arrives in Japan for G7Summit beginning tomorrow.

7.05 pm: Pulwama attack: Policeman succumbs to injuries in Srinagar.

6.45 pm: Police seizes 95 packets of cannabis worth Rs.1.5 crore from Balod district in Chhattisgarh.

6.43 pm: Chandel (Manipur) Ambush: Army Chief Dalbir Singh visits 29 Assam Rifles battalion

6.25 pm: PM Narendra Modi chairs his 12th interaction through 'Pragati' platform.

6.23 pm: Terrorists attack NC leader Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir's convoy in J&K's Pulwama, one policeman injured.

6.10 pm: Attack on National Conference leader in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama.

6.00 pm: He (Amitabh Bachchan) is part of a function where hes talking about educating the girl child, thats not a political event, says Abhishek Bachchan.

5.40 pm: We condemn murder of our leader Sudesh Paswan, President's rule should be imposed in Bihar, says LJP.

5.39 pm: We did not ask for it, it was a spontaneous reaction from our MLAs, says Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,Congress on loyalty bond.

5.16 pm: Rain and hailstorm in Gurugram after sudden change in weather.

5.11 pm: Former Head Constable of Delhi Police Satyawan convicted by special CBI court in a bribery case.

5.00 pm: Then Chief Manager of Canara Bank, D. R. Naik sentenced to two years imprisonment by Special CBI judge in a cheating case in Chennai.

4.50 pm: We respect Digvijay Singh,but the then Government and party took decision after probe which NHRC and Court also later approved, says Congress at Batla House.

4.35 pm: RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to attend Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata.

4.34 pm: Air India plans to buy 100 more aircrafts over the next 4 years, plans to connect 32 regional cities ,says Ashwini Lohani, CMD Air India.

4.33 pm: LDF's Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as the CM of Kerala.

4.21 pm: Pinarayi Vijayan sworn in as Kerala CM.

4.15 pm: Decision was probably taken in view of certain Cong MLAs' defection from the party the last time: Congress Sources on "WB Cong loyalty bond"

4.00 pm: No response from Pakistan on the supplementary Letters Rogatory sent by NIA, says NIA Sources on Pathankot Attack.

3.45 pm: LDF's Pinarayi Vijayan's swearing-in ceremony as Kerala CM via ANI's Facebook Live feed

3.30 pm: NIA collecting more information regarding attack in Pathankot, JeM as an organization and its role in the attack, says NIA Sources

3.15 pm: Ram Jethmalani will be candidate for Rajya Sabha from RJD.

2.53 pm: Dadri lynching case: Next date of hearing in Noida court on June 6.

2.47 pm: Two Students studying M Tech have been arrested by the Bengaluru police for sending threat mails to the Bengaluru International Airport.

2.25 pm: Samajwadi Party candidate Amar Singh files nomination for Rajya Sabha in UP.

2.10 pm: Bengaluru Police arrest two engineering students for making hoax threat calls to Kempegowda International Airport.

1.30 pm: Delhi court reserves its order for June 6 in Danish woman gangrape case.

1.15 pm: FIR registered in Najafgarh(Delhi) Air Ambulance crash landing case.

1.00 pm: It is a very good scheme, we will review it after 3 months to see how it is working-Maneka Gandhi on Nirbhaya Scheme.

12.18 pm: Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal chairs a cabinet meeting in Guwahati, Assam.

12.17 pm: NEET A student in Gujarat files a Caveat in SC demanding that if ordinance is challenged in SC, he must be heard.

12.55 pm: Death of an African post-graduate student in Delhi is unfortunate and we condemn it, says Vikas Swarup, MEA.

12.36 pm: SIT was formed in the case of Siwan journalist murder case. 5 people who were arrested gave their statement and confessed, says Sunil Kumar (ADG).

12:31 pm: PM Narendra Modi to chair meeting with Council of Ministers today evening.

12:16 pm: Chaghan Bhujal and Sameer Bhujbal's judicial custody extended till June 7.

12:10 pm: Three time BSP MLA Abdul Mannan and his brother ex-MLC Abdul Hannan expelled from BSP.

12:01 pm: AIADMK nominates R Vaithilingam, Navaneethakrishnan, Vijayakumar and SR Balasubramaniam to upper House, Rajya Sabha.

11:55 am: J&K assembly withnesses high drama; Engineer Rashid questions Handwara killings, 'Rollback AFSPA'.

11:40 am: SC refused to entertain bail plea of Saradha chit fund scam accused Manoranjana Sinh's bail plea. Court asked her to approach Calcutta HC.

11:30 am: I have already said that encounter was not fake. If someone says something otherwise, then it's his responsibility to prove it: Shivraj Patil (Former Union Home Minister) on Digvijaya Singh's comment.

11:25 am: SC agrees to hear J&K Traders Association plea against J&K HC order on food adulteration.

11:11 am: A suicide bomber hits vehicle carrying court employees in Kabul, killing 10: Afghan official.

10:56 am: PM Narendra Modi likely to visit Pakistan for SAARC Summit on 9th & 10th November: Sources.

10:48 am: 5 people arrested in connection with Siwan (Bihar) journalist Rajdeo Ranjan murder case.

10:40 am: Afghan Taliban confirm death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in U.S. drone strike, appoint successor.

10:31 am: Any activity that violates the idea of secularism is condemnable, the authorities were late in filing FIR: Congress leader Rita Bahuguna on Ayodhya camp.

10:25 am: Police register case against Bajrang Dal activists under section 153 A for Ayodhya self-defence camp.

10.20 am: In Uttarakhand, 12 died and 8 got injured after a bus fell into a gorge on its way from Masi (Almora) to Ramnagar, rescue operation underway.

10.15 am: Afghan Taliban confirm death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in US drone strike, appoint successor.

10.10 am: Heavy downpour and strong winds in Varanasi.

10.05 am: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to dedicate buses with safety measures for women under Nirbhaya Scheme to public, in Delhi today.

10.00 am: Kerala CM designate Pinarayi Vijayan meets Governor P Sathasivam ahead of swearing-in ceremony.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala CM designate Pinarayi Vijayan meets Governor P Sathasivam ahead of swearing-in ceremony pic.twitter.com/pzptjZI627  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

9.50 am: German bakery blast case convict Himayat Baig attacks Yug Chandak murder case convict Rajesh Daware in Nagpur Central prison.

9.40 am: Sensex up by 320 points, currently at 25,626.42, Nifty at 7858.40.

9.30 am: FIR registered against Bajrang Dal u/s 153A IPC (promoting enmity b/w diff groups),matter being investigated-Sankalp Sharma, SP City Faizabad.

Heavy traffic on Uppal road in Hyderabad after a truck turned turtle, road being cleared for vehicular movement pic.twitter.com/y5NQkrwzXl  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

9.15 am: Heavy traffic on Uppal road in Hyderabad after a truck turned turtle, road being cleared for vehicular movement.

China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration to us: President Pranab Mukherjee in Guangzhou pic.twitter.com/Wd16omIyq3  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

9.00 am: President Pranab Mukherjee addressing India-China Business Forum in Guangzhou, China.

8.50 am: Youth shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Wader Bala area of Handwara (Kupwara, J&K) this morning.

8.45 am: TN CM Jayalalithaa writes to PM Modi thanking him for promulgation of ordinance exempting state boards from NEET at UG level for this year.

8.30 am: Newly elected MLA from Tamil Nadu's Thirupuramkundram constituency S M Seenivel passes away, was hospitalized for more than a week.

Newly elected AIADMK MLA from Tamil Nadu's Thirupuramkundram constituency S M Seenivel passes away pic.twitter.com/U4HGOlPyRC  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

8.15 am: President Pranab Mukherjee meets Governor of Guangdong, Zhu Xiaodan in Guangzhou (China).

President Pranab Mukherjee meets Governor of Guangdong, Zhu Xiaodan in Guangzhou (China) pic.twitter.com/9KS4NOUPU9  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

8.00 am: Union Cabinet meeting to take place at 12:30 pm today.

7.45 am: Light showers in Delhi this morning, temperature comes down to 28 degree Celsius.

Light showers in Delhi this morning, temperature comes down to 28 degree Celsius. pic.twitter.com/TKasiTQFtL  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

OneIndia News
Woman, her two children mowed down by train; Suicide not ruled out

Rajasthan CM greets Modi on 2nd anniversary of his government

India

oi-PTI

Jaipur, May 26: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Wednesday greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of the second anniversary of the NDA government at the Centre and said the country is "emerging as a world power in cultural, political, strategic and economical sphere under his leadership".

"Efforts made to uplift villages, the poor and farmers have significantly changed the scenario in the country," she said.

J&K governor praises PM's peace initiative with neighbours

'Gramoday se Bharat Uday' campaign and schemes like 'Pradahan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana' have proved that the government at the Centre is doing innovations to bring smile on the face of the poor, Raje was quoted as saying in a release here on Wednesday night.

The Centre has adopted zero tolerance policy against corruption and the result is that people have seen responsive governance during these two years, she said.

PTI
Seventh Pay Commission: Government employees threaten strike from June 2

India

oi-Jagriti

Bengaluru, May 25: Nearly six lakh Karnataka government employees have threatened to go on strike and stage protest seeking implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.

They will observe strike on June 2, informed Karnataka State Government Employees' Association (KSGEA) president B.P. Manje Gowda.

The protest will be organised as Karnataka government is yet to take a decision on bring pay scales on a par with Central government employees, reported the Hindu.

"Govt should ensure ensure that there is no disparity in the salaries of Central and State government employees," said Gowda.

Seventh Pay Commission: Govt employees to get better pay scales than proposed earlier

The Central government is all set to implement the recommendations of Seventh Pay Commission anytime soon.

In Janurary, Government had appointed Empowered Committee of Secretaries under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to process the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 19:28 [IST]
Smriti Irani should focus more on her ministry: Congress

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 25: Congress on Wednesday reacted sharply to Union minister Smriti Irani's dig at Rahul Gandhi over the electoral loss in Assam, warning that ego of those in power destroys them.

"Ego is the biggest enemy of those in power... Our earnest request to her (Irani) is that she should focus more on her ministry instead of always targeting the opponents, show them in poor light and ridiculing the opposition," party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

New education policy soon: HRD minister

In a tongue-in-cheek remark, he said Irani is very well educated and one does not know from which all universities she has got qualifications.

In an online ugly spat with Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, Irani had remarked that losing Assam was Rahul's forte.

PTI
In Andhra, power staff to not use mobiles during work hours from Oct 1

Telangana govt advises farmers to reduce cultivation of cotton

India

oi-PTI

Hyderabad, May 25: Telangana government has advised farmers in the state to reduce cultivation of cotton as there are possibilities of growers not getting a remunerative price for their produce.

The government has asked the farmers to go for growing of pulses, soybean instead of cotton. "The area generally under cultivation of cotton in the state is 16.72 lakh hectares.

In 2015-16, acreage under cotton was 17.73 lakh hectares," Telangana Agriculture Department said in a statement.

Traders may not purchase cotton in the wake of the central government's decision to abolish subsidy on tax imposed on cotton exports as per the WTO pact agreed at Nairobi, it said. This may lead to the farmers not getting a remunerative price for their produce, it added.

The statement noted that farmers are not getting expected yields due to the scanty rainfall at present and that the resistance of BG-I and BG-II seeds to pests is also coming down while the cost of cultivation is also rising.

In view of these factors, the government advised the farmers to reduce cultivation of cotton to 60 per cent and go for cultivation of pulses and soybean instead.

The state government has ordered state-run seed supply agencies to provide 8.50 lakh quintals of seeds of pulses and others on subsidy, it said.

PTI
Tough Road ahead for Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal

News

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Sarbananda Sonowal was sworn in as Chief Minister of Assam yesterday. The win of BJP in Assam is attributed to lot of hard work put in by RSS and party members for more than two decades.

Today BJP has pan-Assamese identity as it has forged alliance with local political parties. BJP tied up with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and a few smaller political parties for 2016 Assam Assembly Election.

Now that the victory has been achieved and the government in place it is definitely not going to be a bed of roses for the new CM of Assam. Here are the issues that he will have to sort out to ensure that he delivers on what he has promised.

Sealing border

Sarbananda Sonowal in an interview mentioned that, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had given a two-year time frame for permanent sealing of the border. He added that his government will work towards finishing within that time frame the border sealing work, including the riverine border. One must say this will be easier said than done.

Avoid communal clashes

Assam is land of many communities. The lack of trust has resulted in clashes between local Bodos and Muslims who have roots in Bangladesh and this has troubled the state since 1950s. The latest clash had resulted in 77 deaths and displacement of 400,000 people in the state. For Sarbananda Sonowal it will be a daunting task to do the balancing act and maintain peace in the state.

Optimal utilisation of natural resources

Assamese tea makes day for crores of Indian each day but the tea plantations are not the only major source of revenue for the state. The state is rich in petroleum supplies however this has till date not helped the state in becoming a developed state. For the new CM it will be most important that he optimally utilises the natural resources of the state for the growth of Assam without destroying the environment.

Unemployment

To reap the benefit of demographic dividend the new CM will have to make sure that young graduates each year are absorbed into gainful employment. The faulty education system of the state is blamed for graduates that cannot be absorbed by sectors like Indian Railways and Indian Oil Corporation. Vacancies in these sectors are filled by eligible candidates from other states and youth of Assam has to migrate to other states in search of jobs.

Modernise agriculture

Agriculture contributes to one third of total GDP of the state however, it employees around 70% of the population of the state. This itself is the proof that agriculture in the state needs to be modernised on a war footing. First thing on the mind of the new CM should be floods that badly affect the families dependent on agriculture by destroying the crops.

Develop industries

Industries can help increase employment rate in the state and also as the state is located in such a manner that it is easy to use the state for trading with the neighbouring countries. By developing proper infrastructure facilities Assam can develop industries which are based on petroleum and also industries based on herbal products and cane and bamboo products among many other industries. It will completely depend on the new CM how he creates conducive environment for industries to flourish in the state.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 11:39 [IST]
Upset with professor, students threatened to attack Bengaluru airport

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, May 25: Two students have been arrested for sending threat mails to the Bengaluru International Airport. The M tech students of the East West college to be arrested are Raghavendra and Hoysala.

There were two mails that were sent out by the students on March 22 and May 6. The mails were sent from the system of a professor. They had even created fake email ids to send out the mail.

The police during the probe learnt that the mails were sent out to take revenge on the professor.

The students alleged that the professor was giving out good marks only to the girl students. They also accused the professor of giving them poor marks.

The students decided to teach the professor a lesson. They decided that they would send mails threatening to attack the airport in the name of the professor.

They created fake email ids and sent mails to the airport. The accused duo sent two mails one on March 22 and another May 6 threatening to attack the airport.

The police launched an investigation and it was later found that these students had sent out the mails in order to get the professor in trouble.

OneIndia News
Will marry a virgin in heaven, Batla House accused Sajid said before dying

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, May 25: Bada Sajid, the Indian Mujahideen operative who appeared in a video last week had dreamt about marrying a virgin in heaven.

This man who appeared in a video claimed to have been released by the ISIS is heard threatening India with dire consequences. Intelligence Agencies had confirmed that he had died while fighting in Syria.

Bada Sajid against who there are a host of allegations including providing shelter to those accused who were part of the infamous Batla House encounter in Delhi originally hails from Sanjarpur in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the NIA he had participated in the Indian Mujahideen bombings at Delhi, Ahmed and Jaipur in which over a 100 persons had been killed.

I will marry a virgin in heaven:

Bada Sajid originally with the Indian Mujahideen had fled the country after the serial blasts. Originally from Uttar Pradesh, he left for Mumbai where he worked with a diamond merchant.

He is believed to have joined the Indian Mujahideen at the insistence of Atif Alim an operative in the IM.

According to the NIA he had fled the country after the blasts in 2008. He is said to have gone to the UAE and then to Pakistan.

However his journey to Syria is not very clear, but the Intelligence Bureau had picked up information based on the various messages put out by operatives.

The death of Sajid while fighting in Syria too came through the various handles operated by the ISIS.

Following his death there were a series of tweets stating that Sajid had attained martyrdom.

One of the tweets read that he had been waging jihad against India since he was 12.

Another tweet claimed that he had dreamt before his death of marrying a virgin in heaven or a hoor-ul-ayn.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 8:25 [IST]
Bernie Sanders calls for recounting of Kentucky primary

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, May 25: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has requested a recount of the votes for the Kentucky state primary held last week in which the winner was party front-runner Hillary Clinton.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Grimes announced that the Sanders campaign has asked for the re-canvass by requesting verification and recount of each ballot box and absentee ballot in all polling stations and counties, EFE news reported.

"My office is notifying all county boards of elections that Senator Sanders has requested a recanvass, and we are reminding them of the laws and procedures to be followed," stated Grimes.

According to the first count, Clinton won the Kentucky primaries, held on May 17, by only 1,924 votes.

The difference was so marginal that both Clinton and Sanders landed the same number of delegates in Kentucky, 27, something that is not expected to change after the re-canvass.

In case the new results favour the Vermont senator, it would only serve as a symbolic victory.

It is practically impossible for Sanders to clinch the Democratic nomination since the former US secretary of state is leading the race by 3 million votes but he has said on several occasions that he will remain in the race until the July party convention and that he will fight for each vote in the states that have not yet gone to the polls.

IANS


Even if not contesting 2020 polls, Hillary Clinton will not be entirely out of scene

Hillary Clinton says Julian Assange must 'answer for what he has done'

Hillary Clinton declines to debate Bernie Sanders ahead of California primary

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, May 25: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has declined an invitation to debate rival Bernie Sanders ahead of the California primary.

The Clinton campaign said that it will not participate in a Fox News debate that Sanders had agreed to, saying that the focus has shifted to battling the Republican nominee in the general election, who is presumed to be Donald Trump.

"As we have said previously, we plan to compete hard in the remaining primary states, particularly California, while turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses," Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's spokeswoman, said.

"We believe that Hillary Clinton's time is best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California and preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands."

This seems to contradict the agreement that Clinton and Sanders made in February to have four more debates with one another. Only three debates have been held so far, with the latest being held in New York in April.

"I am disappointed but not surprised by Secretary Clinton's unwillingness to debate before the largest and most important primary in the presidential nominating process," Sanders said in a statement.

"I hope Secretary Clinton reconsiders her unfortunate decision to back away from her commitment to debate," Sanders added.

The Vermont senator also said that Clinton shouldn't be so presumptive about the status as the Democratic, noting his string of recent victories in the states of West Virginia, Indiana and Oregon.

During a rally at a high school in Santa Monica, California, Sanders said that Clinton refusing to debate was a snub to the people of California.

"I think it's a little insulting to the people of California - the largest state," Sanders said at a rally in Santa Monica, California. "She is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she is going to help California address the major crises we face."

"I also would suggest that Secretary Clinton may want to be not quite so presumptuous about thinking that she is a certain winner," Sanders added, noting his victories in several recent primaries.

The debate would have been held by the conservative-leaning Fox News network, which said that it was disappointed Clinton declined its invitation.

"The decision, they say, has nothing to do with Fox," Fox News anchor Brett Baier said Monday night, according to CNN.

IANS
Netanyahu joins forces with ultra-nationalist to expand govt

International

oi-PTI

Jerusalem, May 25: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined forces today with a hardline nationalist who is set to become defence minister, forming a government considered the most right-wing in the nation's history.

Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party will add five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previously wafer-thin majority if the coalition deal is given parliamentary approval as expected.

Lieberman, who has spoken of harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists", will take over the key role of defence minister after being sworn in.

The two men, who have in the past been bitter rivals, announced the deal at a ceremony at parliament, with Lieberman pledging to be "balanced" and saying he was committed to "responsible, reasonable policy."

Netanyahu said that "we are joining hands now to march Israel forward." The move to hand the defence ministry to the 57-year-old hardliner has sparked deep concern among Israeli centrist and left-wing politicians, as well as among some of Netanyahu's Likud party colleagues.

Religious nationalists from the Jewish Home party already hold key cabinet positions in Netanyahu's government. Moshe Yaalon, a Likud member who resigned as defence minister on Friday and who has also served as armed forces chief, warned of a rising tide of extremism in the party and the country as a whole.

Former Labour prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak went further, saying Israel's government "has been infected by the shoots of fascism." The Palestinian leadership condemned Lieberman's move into the government.

"The existence of this government brings a real threat of instability and extremism in the region," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP, adding that the appointment would "result in apartheid, racism and religious and political extremism."

Others say that Lieberman is above all a pragmatic politician who aspires to be prime minister one day, noting that he will face opposition from the security establishment if he seeks to carry out some of his most controversial ideas.

An example of his provocative style was recently on display in comments directed at Ismail Haniya, Islamist movement Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip. Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".

AFP
North Korea dismisses Donald Trump's offer to meet Kim Jong Un

International

oi-Jagriti

Washington, May 25: North Korea has dismissed Donlad Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's offer to meet Kim Jong Un. His offer has termed as propagnada and nonsense.

Donald Trump expressed his wish to meet North Korean leader Kin Jong-Un in an interview to the Reuters.

Trump said he would talk to Kim to dissuade him from going forward with the nuclear programme---something which has emerged as a serious security concern for the international

I think his idea of talk is nonsense," So Se-pyong, Pyongyang's ambassador to the United Nations was quoted as saying when asked whether Pyongyang would welcome a visit by Trump.

Donald Trump wants to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

"It is up to the decision of my supreme leader whether he decides to meet or not,"added the ambassador.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 13:44 [IST]
No comment on Pranab Mukherjee book before reading it: Former Union Minister

President Mukherjee meets top Communist Party official

International

oi-PTI

Guangzhou, May 25: Economic policies, particularly those designed to attract foreign direct investment in India, were today the focus of discussions President Pranab Mukherjee had with a senior Chinese Communist party official here on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

Hu Chunhua, Party Secretary of Guangdong province, hosted a lunch in honour of the President and the two also discussed federal-provincial relations in China, centre-state relations in India and the historic cultural relationship between the two countries.

The Communist party official evinced keen interest in the economic policies of India, especially those relating to foreign investment. Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the President explained to him the new initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' in the context of foreign investment.

Mukherjee recalled one of his earlier visits as External Affairs Minister to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong which has a USD one trillion economy, and his opening of the Indian Consulate here.

The President was told that after the Japanese and Koreans, Indians accounted for the largest foreign population in Guangdong and their role is very much appreciated.

Earlier in the day, the President visited the Hualin temple, which shares the closest link to Bodhidharma. Legend has it that the temple was built in 527 AD during the Liang dynasty soon after the arrival of Indian monk Bodhidharma who later founded Zen Buddhism in China.

The Chinese side appreciated the President's gesture of visiting the temple that provided the basis for a discussion on the cultural relationship between the two countries historically.

PTI
Protests turn violent outside Trump's rally; clashes erupt

International

oi-PTI

Washington, May 25: Donald Trump's rally in New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump demonstrators clashed with police, hurling rocks and burning clothes at officers, the latest scuffle to hit the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's campaign.

The "unlawful assembly" went on rampage, lighted fires and threw rocks at the police officers and their horses outside Trump's rally at a convention centre in New Mexico's Albuquerque as police resorted to launch smoke to disperse the violent crowd which overturned barricades and hurled rocks.

The protesters disrupted 69-year-old New York-based real estate tycoon's speech several times yesterday.

Most of the protesters were escorted out one by one. "Go ahead, get them out of here," Trump told one of them. However, the police had a tough time in controlling the demonstrators who were protesting against the policies and rhetorics of Trump.

"This is an unlawful assembly," Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik told protesters over a loudspeaker. According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally.

The police were in anti-riot gears. In a series of tweets, Albuquerque said the protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police horses.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun. The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it is just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time," he tweeted.

While protests have not been a new phenomenon to Trump rallies, this is the first after he earned the Republican party's presidential nomination early this month.

Last month in California, pro- and anti-Trump protesters clashed with each other outside a city council meeting while in New York, a protester at a rally was shoved in the face twice by a Trump supporter.

PTI
US election 2016: Donald Trump wins Washington primary

International

oi-Shubham

Washington, May 25: Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday bagged the Washington state primary, taking his tally to 1,209. It means he now needs just 28 of the required delegates to clinch the nomination. A Republican candidate has to have 1,237 delegates to get the nomination.

Trump won at least 40 of Washington's delegates while four more are yet to be decided, which means his tally will go even higher. [Bernie Sanders wants recounting of Kentucky result]

The US presidential primaries will witness their next Super Tuesday on June 7 when California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota will go to poll. One presumes it will be more than enough for Trump to seal the deal on that occasion. [Violence erupts at Trump's New Mexico rally]

Trump became the GOP's presumptive nominee in April with a decisive victory that saw his remaining two rivals---Ted Cruz and John Kasich---quitting the race and concluding months of talks about the potential of a contested convention.

Oneindia News
US keeps "very close" watch on India-Iran ties

International

oi-PTI

Washington, May 25: The US is "watching very closely" India's growing ties with Iran after it recently pledged USD 500 million for developing the Chabahar port and will see if its legal parameters and requirements are being met, the Obama Administration has told lawmakers.

As of now, there is no military or counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries that could be a cause of concern for the US, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing.

She said the US is "watching very closely" India's relationship with Iran.

"We also track very closely what their economic engagement is and make sure they understand what we believe are legal parameters and requirements," Biswal said. [Modi's best men will oversee speedy implementation of Chabahar Project]

"With respect to the announcement in the Chabahar port, we have been very clear with the Indians on what we believe are the continuing restrictions on the activities with respect to Iran and what we have done," she said.

She was responding to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Iran visit from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Modi's visit, that saw the signing of a bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port for which India will invest USD 500 million, came months after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following Tehran's historic nuclear deal with the Western powers over its contentious atomic programme.

"Obviously nothing appears to be in violations of our agreements. But how do we see India as partner in fighting extremism and financing terrorism?" Cardin said as he expressed concerns that India's economic relationship with Iran would further boost Tehran's alleged activities to support various terrorist groups.

She said that India's burgeoning ties with Iran are driven by ever growing energy needs and using the Persian Gulf nation as a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Biswal in her answer said that "they (Indians) have been very responsive and receptive to our briefings, to what we believe the line are. And we have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place.

"But with respect to India's relationship with Iran, which I do believe is primarily focused on economics and energy issues, we do recognise that from the Indian perspective that Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia."

"For India to be able to contribute to the economic development of Afghanistan, it needs access that it does not readily have across its land boundary. And India is seeking to deepen its energy relationship with the Central Asian countries and looking for routes that would facilitate that.

"That said we have been very clear with the Indians what our security concerns have been and we would continue to engage them on those issues," said the US official.

PTI
World leaders gather in Japan ahead of G7

International

oi-PTI

Ise-Shima (Japan), May 25: US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan today for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima.

Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global economy.

Heads of state and government from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan were also making their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months. Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums. However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters. Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

Cameron was set for a one-on-one meeting later in the day with summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was also due today to meet Obama, whose visit to Hiroshima on Friday threatens to overshadow the summit itself. Obama will become the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the world's first nuclear attack, on August 6, 1945.

Obama has spent the last few days in Vietnam, where on Tuesday he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism. France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive tomorrow morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

AFP
Woman, her two children mowed down by train; Suicide not ruled out

Rajasthan: Kept in the sun for long, angry camel kills owner

Jaipur

oi-Shubham

Jaisalmer, May 25: It's not just the human beings who are feeling the heat of the ruthless Indian summer. Last Saturday (May 21), a camel in Rajasthan attacked its owner and severed his head in anger for he had kept it out the entire day with its legs tied. A Times of India report said.

When Ujaram of Mangta village in Barmer district in the state's western part went to untie it after suddenly remembering amid entertaining his guests that he had kept it outside the entire day, the angry animal attacked him.

About 25 villagers took six hours to calm down the camel which reportedly lifted Ujaram by his neck and threw him on the ground. It chewed his body and severed the head.

The animal had attacked Ujaram in the past as well, said the villagers.

The extremely high temperature in parts of Rajasthan have made the desert ships jittery. A few days ago, a camel tried to get rid of a jawan riding on its back while running for the shade. Armymen stationed at the border with Pakistan are facing a tough time taming the camels in the adverse weather conditions.

Oneindia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 11:53 [IST]
Bengal: Congress makes new MLAs sign loyalty bonds

Kolkata

oi-Shubham

Kolkata, May 25: The Congress took a unique step in West Bengal to prevent defection by asking its newly elected 44 MLAs to sign bonds that they would not leave the party under any circumstances and remain loyal to the top leadership.

The Congress had won 42 seats in the 2011 Assembly election in alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Of the 42 MLAs, 11 joined the TMC later. This year, the Congress has won 44 seats after contesting the polls jointly with the Left.

The party has alleged that the TMC, which won 211 seats of its own, is now trying to allure some of the Congress legislators to join it. The state Congress chief, Adhir Chowdhury, called a meeting on Tuesday wherein he asked the MLAs to sign the affidavits saying they would not engage in any anti-party activities and would remain loyal to the party.

Thirty-nine MLAs signed the bond as some went out before the exercise started, reports said. They, however, were made to take oath on remaining loyal to the party.

However, the Congress might not be completely successful to prevent defection despite taking this measure, said party insiders.

Oneindia News
International Missing Children's Day on May 25: Bengal presents sorry picture in India

Kolkata

oi-Shubham

Kolkata, May 24: West Bengal is not as safe for children as it is often thought to be, particularly for minor girls, if one were to go by the recent data. Going by the data shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs during the parliamentary session, West Bengal was among the four states which together accounted for more than 60 per cent of the missing children in the country.

Bengal reported 14,671 cases of missing children in 2014, which is over 21% of total cases

To be more accurate, the state of West Bengal reported 14,671 cases of missing children in 2014, which is more than 21 per cent of the total cases reported in India.

In other words, one in every five missing children in India is from West Bengal. Maharashtra (13,090), Delhi (7,599) and Andhra Pradesh (7,072) follow suit.

Even though the state has recorded a miniscule 7.4 per cent decrease in the number of missing children during 2010-14, the scenario falls far short of expectation.

Bengal among Top 5 in kidnapping & abduction

Looking at the scenario from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data lens, West Bengal was among the top five states in the country in Kidnapping & Abduction (K&A) of children and accounts for six per cent of such cases in the country. Cases related to kidnapping and abduction of minors in the state has grown by 608 per cent over the last five years.

Number of K&A cases in 2010 was 332 and over the last five years, it rose to a whopping 2351 in West Bengal.

61 per cent missing children in 2010-14 are girls

Another big area of concern is the gender skewing among missing children, as the MHA data reveals. During 2010-2014, out of the 3.85 lakh children who went missing across the country, 61 per cent were girls. A year-wise look at the gender-break up of missing children yields the following graph. We see that the share of girls is constantly 60 per cent or more over the years.

The situation is worse in West Bengal. The data on the missing children data from 2014 shows that 70 per cent of the children who went missing in that year were girls.

40% of missing children each year remain untraced

Further analysis shows that around 40 per cent of the missing children each year remained untraced.

Almost 75% of cases related to procuration of minor girls are concentrated in four states in East and North-east

A recent trend analysis done by CRY (Child Rights and You) based on the NCRB data also shows that almost 75 per cent of the cases related to procuration of minor girls across the country are concentrated in just four states in the eastern and north-eastern region (West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Odisha) thus making this area a virtual hub of trafficking of minor girls.

West Bengal alone accounts for more than 40 per cent of the cases registered under Procuration of Minor Girls in India.

What CRY authorities said

Atindra Nath Das, Regional Director, CRY East, said: "It's good that the state has recorded a decrease, however small it might be, in the number of missing children. But, Going by the current trend reflected in the government data, West Bengal along with some other states continue to show worrying trends in cases related to missing children."

"There is a close linkage of missing children to organized crime. The magnitude of missing children in India and available on-ground evidence gathered by CRY over the last three and half decades indicate that large number of missing children are actually trafficked, kidnapped or abducted."

Elaborating further, he added: "The Optional Protocol on Trafficking which states that trafficking is an organized crime has been recently signed by India (India signed the Protocol in December 2002, and ratified the same on 5th May 2011) thus acknowledging the link between missing and trafficked children."

However, according to Das, "these crimes can be prevented by all means. To achieve this, the most important step is to strengthen the existing safety-net for protection of children, and also to bring forth an overall protective environment for them, both in letter and spirit."

"On-ground experience also goes on to show that many of such cases are not duly reported, thus the actual magnitude of the issue can never be fully reflected from the existing data-base.

Even though the government's recent initiatives like 'Track Child' and 'Khoya-Paya' web portals are aiming at maintaining real-time data of all missing children containing extensive identification details to facilitate matching of missing and recovered children, the care-givers and the community should become more proactive in recording all such cases and take immediate action," he said.
Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000

Bihar scribe murder: Nitish Kumar will fully back SIT probe, says JDU minister

Patna

oi-Shalini

Patna, May 25: In a fresh development in journalist Rajdeo Ranjan murder case, the Bihar Police on Wednesday (May 25) arrested five people from Uttar Pradesh. Four suspects were arrested earlier.

Several raid were conducted by the police in Siwan jail in connection with the case. Also 17 mobile phones and 20 SIM cards have been seized.

Speaking to OneIndia Shyam Rajak, the state's food minister, said: "The Nitish Kumar government had given consent to conduct a CBI probe in the case as per the demand by the victim's family. Now, we have ordered the SIT probe to find out the Rajdeo criminals. "

"Our government is always active to curb the crime in Bihar," Rajak said.

JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told OneIndia: "The BJP always wants to defame our government but we have conducted probe into the case. Several raids have also been done and two bike have been recovered by the police."

Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Sunil Kumar assured that the weapon of offence will be examined by ballistic experts. He said more arrests will be made.

"The SIT was formed to probe into the case and till now, five people who have been arrested gave their statements and confessed to the crime. Interrogation will be on for the next 10 hours," Kumar concluded.

On May 13, 42-year-old Rajan was allegedly shot dead by criminals near the railway station in Siwan. Rajan, who was the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, died on the spot as two bullets hit him on his head and neck.

OneIndia News
Jammu admin withdraws order allowing residents of more than 1 year to become voters

Kashmir edition of Kumaon Literary Festival to begin in Srinagar next week

Mehbooba Mufti gets notice to vacate official bungalow 'meant for J&K CMs'

J&K: 2 scribes show disrespect to National Anthem & National Flag at army event

Srinagar

oi-Preeti

Srinagar, May 25: Two journalists were asked to leave an army event by a senior army officer, as they were sitting when the National Anthem was being played and the Indian National Flag was being unfurled.

According to reports, the shocking incident took place on Tuesday, May 24, when a parade of recruits was passing at the regimental centre of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment.

The event was also attended by the Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation and senior PDP leader Syed Basharat Ahmed, besides senior bureaucrats.

The two journalists who allegedly showed disrespect were identified as Kashmir Reader correspondent Junaid Nabi Bazaz and a correspondent of the newspaper Rising Kashmir.

In his defence, "The army had invited us to cover the event, not to participate in it. When the Indian anthem was played, I was jotting down notes for my story."

A senior Army Colonel Burn reportedly told them, "All people here stood up for the anthem and the flag except you. We don't need people like you here, so leave."

A report published in Kashmir Reader reported that an Army spokesman Colonel NN Joshi apologised to both journalists for Burn's behaviour.

OneIndia News
 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
Upworthy 05 Sep 2022

Russia is one of the few countries to have maintained an embassy in the Afghan capital after the Taliban took over the country more..
Rumble 22 Oct 2022

Mr. Eds Appliance Repair Albuquerque offers the most competitive dishwasher rates for dishwasher repair your area. Here are some of..
Mediaite 28 Oct 2021

The settlements resolve claims by 14 plaintiffs in civil cases that arose out of the shooting, where a white supremacist killed..
Eurasia Review 18 Oct 2022

By Yossi Mekelberg*



Considering Alex Jones callous behavior toward the families of the 26 people  among them 20..
Bristol Post 23 Oct 2022

She spoke to us about her role, her family, women in the industry and whether she listens to Florence and the Machine's music
AFP English 05 Oct 2022

For decades, residents of Japan's southern island of Okinawa have strongly opposed the US military bases in the region, seeing them..
KSTU - Scripps 06 Aug 2021

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Chad Daybell in the upcoming trial for the man accused of killing his..
Rumble 25 Oct 2022

The U.S. State Department has joined a globalist movement pushing for rules for the internet, with the new Declaration for the..
USATODAY.com 25 Oct 2022

A local election official in a rural Washington state county is in a tight race with a candidate who parrots former President..
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

The state of Connecticut has committed $22m to Bridgewater Associates, one of the worlds largest hedge funds, in return for jobs and other investment opportunities. The commitment was made as Bridgewater is expected to invest around $525m to the state through jobs creation and facilities improvement, said NBC Connecticut.

Catherine Harris, the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), said, "I still think that if we look at this from a taxpayer perspective and I view myself as a fiduciary of their dollars, that theyre going to get a great return on this investment."

The DECD has entered into a First Five Program with Bridgewater with the aim of encouraging and spurring investment in Connecticut among major employers.

The $22m deal includes a $17m loan carrying low interest, $3m renewable energy sources and another $2m for training purposes.

For its part, the hedge fund is expected to retain around 1,402 currently employed at the Bridgewater's Westport headquarters and must also create an additional 750 jobs by 2021. Harris added, "They are absolutely well-paying jobs, well above your average in Connecticut, believe me."

Bridgewater gains license in China

Two weeks ago, the $154bn Bridgewater became the ......................

To view our full article Click here
Opalesque Industry Update, for New Managers - Malta has addressed one of the biggest issues in European fund management  the speed to market - with its new Notified Alternative Investment Funds (NAIF) framework, according to Jeremy Leach, Chief Executive Officer of the Managing Partners Group. Malta, together with Luxembourg, is one of the first two jurisdictions in Europe to adopt the new framework and the move is likely to expand its share of the alternative investment funds (AIF) market, marking yet another step in the countrys move to becoming a leading financial centre. Under the NAIF framework, product providers are directly regulated rather than their products, so new funds can be launched without the need for pre-authorisation by the regulator. The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) will maintain an updated list of NAIFs in good standing on its website while the AIF manager assumes full responsibility for the NAIF. Speaking ahead of the annual Finance Malta Conference on 25/26 May, Jeremy Leach commented: Asset managers often complain that regulation is strangling them. European regulators are notoriously slow in getting authorization and it is the biggest frustration most financial groups have. Time to market is critical when you have competition and the delay with getting authorization through various authorities is commercially compromising. This move by Malta is a game changer. It sends out the message that the MFSA is amenable to speeding up the time taken to launch products and it will enhance its share of the European fund market. This new framework is easier, quicker and cheaper without any compromise to the regulatory framework. Malta has a number of advantages that are supporting its emergence as one of the worlds most important financial jurisdictions. These include its membership of the European Union and the Commonwealth, its tax framework, both domestically and internationally with 65 tax treaties with other countries and the legislation it has put in place around securitsations means it is the only EU jurisdiction outside of Luxembourg that has the legislation in place to offer these flexible tools. While some other EU financial centres might attempt to get into the securitisations market, it is far easier for smaller jurisdictions to establish the necessary laws and there are very few principalities that have the same passporting rights as Malta and Luxembourg, according to Leach. Managing Partners Group intends to offer securitisations and alternative fund management services to the pan-European market and Maltas Securitisation Act has been a key factor in its decision to locate there, as well as its other attributes. The company currently manages funds with a gross value of $500m. For more background on Malta, please refer to the Opalesque Malta Roundtable and the Opalesque.TV video "How non-EU managers can access Europe without being licensed under AIFMD".
It recently occurred to me that if one were to just step back a bit and objectively examine the basic tenets of the assumption by the mainstream media (and perhaps the public at large) that the candidacy of Hillary Clinton simply makes more sense to Democrats than that of Bernie Sanders, then what I think we'd find is a victory of image over substance of truly historic proportions. Each of the below has already been discussed in the media to some extent. But I believe that seeing them listed, all together, may perhaps make that case, once and for all.

1. Hillary Clinton is the most qualified/experienced candidate now running, and perhaps ever.

This is from a February 2016 post at the Daily Kos

"Bernie Sanders served as Mayor of Burlington Vermont from 1981 to 1989, a period of 8 years. He was then elected to the House of Representatives in 1991, where he remained until 2007, at which time he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Sanders was re-elected to the Senate in 2012, and has continued to serve in that capacity to the present day. By my accounting, that is 32 years in actual elective office.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has just six years as a US Senator to show for experience as a duly elected representative, and her tenure as Secretary of State lasted five years, from 2009-2013 (it may just seem longer).



So, in terms of what is generally referred to as "public service", Hillary Clinton can only claim 11 years experience as compared to Bernie Sanders' 32; a difference of 21 years, or about one-third the amount of time.

Even if we add into the mix the various posts she held during her husband's 8-year presidency (none of which she was elected to or needed confirmation in order to occupy), the grand total comes to 19 years, which is still 13 years less than Senator Sanders. (During the 12 years Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas, Hillary worked as a full partner in a law firm.) But if we do so, we'd probably be obliged to include Senator Sanders' teaching of political science at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1989, and at Hamilton College in 1991.

In all fairness, which one has the most actual experience?"

2. Hillary Clinton has won 3 million more votes than Bernie Sanders during the primaries.

This myth was nicely put to rest by OEN's own Editor-in-Chief Rob Kall recently (Rob's Article). To sum up in Rob's own words:

"Technically, it's accurate, but that's because of the nature of the primary election in many states where there are caucuses. In Caucus states, a lot less people participate in the voting because of the time involved. But those delegates represent millions of people... If you do the math on all the caucus states, Bernie's wins could easily represent populations that exceed Hillary's 2.5 million votes, not even including the primary state votes he won."

3. Hillary Clinton has accomplished more in her public life than Bernie Sanders.

From the Huffington Post:

"Here's the truth: Hillary Clinton got very little done during her eight years in the United States Senate, while Bernie Sanders amassed an impressive record of accomplishments in both the House and Senate. Sanders began racking up legislative accomplishments in the House of Representatives, where a 2005 analysis of legislative data revealed that he had passed more amendments in the House than any other Member of Congress over a ten-year period. In 2005, Rolling Stone called him the " amendment king ." But as Politifact notes: "In comparison, Hillary Clinton passed zero roll call amendments during her tenure as a senator from New York from 2001-09." And from the New York Times "Yet in spite of persistent carping that Mr. Sanders is nothing but a quixotic crusader -- during their first debate, Hillary Clinton cracked, "I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done" -- he has often been an effective, albeit modest, legislator. He has enacted his agenda piece by piece, in politically digestible chunks with few sweeping legislative achievements in a quarter-century in Congress. Over one 12-year stretch in the House, Mr. Sanders passed more amendments by roll call vote than any other member of Congress. In the Senate, he secured money for dairy farmers and community health centers, blocked banks from hiring foreign workers and reined in the Federal Reserve, all through measures attached to larger bills." Yes there was her famous, noble attempt to pass health care reform early in her husband's first term as President. But she was not successful. Plus, she certainly had her triumphs and failures as Secretary of State. But no one could point to any (or all) of her successes, from 2007- 201,2 as proof of her being significantly "more accomplished" than Senator Sanders has been during his genuinely distinguished career. 4. Hillary Clinton has a better chance of beating Donald Trump in the general election. This is of course the easiest to debunk since the most recent polls have Ms. Clinton statistically tied with Donald Trump (and declining) in national match-ups, and Sen. Sanders with as much as a 15-point lead. NBC/WSJ Poll. The argument that Sanders has not yet faced the GOP head-on yet seems to me particularly disingenuous. That would simply imply that Madam Secretary either has no other substantive criticism to be leveled at Senator Sanders and the GOP has vetted her opponent to an extent she is incapable, or she personally prefers having Bernie hounding her all the way to the nomination. In addition, Sanders has a higher approval rating from his constituents in Vermont than any other Senator has, in any other state, in America. This would indicate that in his 32 years in elective office, no opponent, from any party, has ever been able to meaningfully tarnish him.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.



Palmyra, Great Colonnade and Monumental Arch

(Image by Arian Zwegers) Details DMCA



The legitimacy of Canada's government needs to be questioned, as long as it continues to hide its barbaric foreign policy decisions beneath a mantle of egregious lies and deceptions. Informed consent requires truth and transparency, not lies and degeneracy.

Currently, we are imposing illegal sanctions on Syria; we are supporting mercenary terrorists invading Syria; we are supporting a Wahhabi dictatorship and the growth of Sharia law; and we are supporting criminally corrupt corporate media messaging. All of this is being done without the informed consent of Canadians.

An article published in The Lancet|Global Health, "Syria: end sanctions and find a political solution to peace", enumerates the toll exacted by these sanctions on the people of Syria:

"The economic losses of the country at the end of 2014 stood at US$143" 8 billion, with more than 80% of the population living in poverty, of whom a third (32. 6%) were in abject poverty, unable to obtain even basic food items. More than half of the population (52. 8%) is displaced, of whom a third are internally displaced. Life expectancy has been reduced from 75. 9 years in 2010 (one of the highest in the region for countries not part of the Gulf Cooperation Council) to 55. 7 years in 2014--a loss of 20 years. The unemployment rate rose from 15.5% in 2011 to 55.7% in 2014, with more than 3 million losing work within the first 2 years of the conflict. The cost of basic food items has risen six-fold since 2010, although it varies regionally. With the exception of drugs for cancer and diabetes, Syria was 95% self-sufficient in terms of drug production before the war. This has virtually collapsed as have many hospitals and primary health-care centres."



Once we add to this the fact that Western-sponsored terrorists deliberately destroyed more than two-thirds of Syria's public hospitals since 2011, it becomes clear that NATO and its allies are targeting innocent civilians, as they did during the sanctions preceding the illegal invasion of Iraq.

We should stop supporting all terrorists in Syria. Sustainable evidence has demonstrated for years that ALL of the terrorists are trying to destroy Syria, and that the West and its allies support them all, including ISIS. Constant efforts to rebrand the terrorists -- Is it "IS', "ISIS", or "ISIL"? -- serve to confuse mass-media consumers, a powerful strategy in the propagandist's toolbox. Beseiged Syrians call all of the invading terrorists "Daesh".

Afra'a Dagher explains in "Syria's Two Front War":

"In Syria fighters call themselves the 'Free Syrian Army' or 'Islamic state fighters' or Daesh or by any other name that suits them. There is nothing 'magical' about this. It is just a kaleidoscope of names intended to cause confusion. In reality it is always the same people calling themselves by these different names."

Canada's Defense Minister, Harjit Sajjan, should be offering unqualified support for Syria against the terrorists, not unqualified support for terrorists against Syria.

Another seemingly self-evident point is that we should be supporting the growth of pluralism, democracy, and international law globally, whereas in reality we are supporting the opposite. Wahhabi Saudi Arabia is a chief financier for Daesh, and a chief proponent in the expansion of Sharia law in Syria. Not only are we selling armaments to Saudi Arabia, but we also support its efforts to destroy democratic, pluralist, non-secular Syria in favour of an imposed puppet Wahhabi regime.

Finally, we should support, rather than suppress, truthful, evidence-based reporting on Syria. Instead, we are supporting criminal, mainstream media (MSM) lies about Syria. Ample sustainable evidence demonstrates that the democratically-elected, reformer President Assad, was not, and is not, a brutal dictator; that he does not "kill his own people"; that it is not a "civil war"; and that the "initiating" demonstrations were neither "peaceful" nor "organic". (Peaceful demonstrations were hijacked, hybrid-war style, by armed, foreign-funded al Qaeda militants.)

The foundation for these dangerous lies include intelligence agencies, and well-funded, embedded "NGOs" such as the White Helmets. The author explains in "Why do people in the West still believe the official lies about Syria?":

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Such generosity is generally not on display in Asia. Certainly in the South China Sea region. With disputes that refuse to fade away from Vietnam to the Philippines and Indonesia, the Chinese revolutionary liberalism with Yuans finds expression elsewhere - in Pakistan, which has become the all-weather friend that loves not to spare the land of Confucius from its jihadi adventurism, and in Maldives, the Indian Ocean island nation that falls on the Xi Jinping's Maritime Silk Road.

There is no free lunch. The Soviet brand Communism paid a dear price by ignoring the maxim of the post-Marx world. Mao's China is not cut in the same mode, though it has just vowed not to revisit his cultural revolution (1966-76). "Neither shall we walk the closed and fossilized road of old, nor shall we tread the evil path of changing flags and banners," People's Daily said in an editorial published on May 17 to mark the 50th anniversary of what undoubtedly has become its ideological albatross. From this thesis flowed The Global Times assertion a day later that "the Cultural Revolution can never occur again in China."

Have these thoughts of present day market oriented reformist Confucius impacted the world opinion? The jury is out in the open.

What is not in dispute is that the Bamboo capitalist has ventured into the maritime highway as the new East India Company. The Chinese venture is emulating in some ways the East India Company of yore that had started off as a merchant and ended up as a colonial master.

The difference between the two is that the present day avatar is not interested in regime change. Its interest is land, business and strategic depth (LBS).

Like in Male.

In Dec 2014, China donated USD 500,000 besides rushing tonnes of bottled water to the Maldivian capital to overcome the crippling drinking water crisis in the city caused by a fire in its water treatment plant. While two military aircraft took to the skies from China with 40 tonnes of drinking water left for Maldives on Dec 7, 2014, a Chinese navy ship with water purification facilities began its journey towards Male to "provide drinking water to residents once it is docked".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman remarked: "What China has done fully showcased neighborhood diplomacy of sincerity, amity and mutual benefit". True to its professed 'no questions asked' policy, China left water distribution and related work to locals.

This water-centric largess was one of those rare Chinese grants that are targeted at garnering diplomatic variant of TRPs. Mostly China likes to do its charity below the radar. Like the USD 3, 36,000 grant by the Chinese embassy in Male a few days ago. It had no specific target. Nor any specific purpose. It is not mentioned on the embassy's web site either.

It is a grant for Maldivian Gold Jubilee celebrations, Chinese officials said. But the celebrations were over more than a year ago. The 50th Anniversary of Independence of Maldives was a grand, gala affair during June --July 2015. The Maldives Embassy in China even hosted a reception on July 18, 2015 with the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr Liu Jianchao as the Guest of Honour.



A local media report recorded the event thus: "The Reception hosted with the assistance of companies in China and Maldives, also featured Maldivian food and music. Special Maldivian gift packs were presented to invitees which included a gift containing sand from the Maldives. A lucky draw was also held with a grand prize of a holiday package in the Maldives."

So it cannot be anybody's case that the Chinese had missed to join the great celebration. What prompted the Chinese to offer a suo moto Golden Jubilee grant, (GJG)?

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


Netra Halperin

(Image by Netra Halperin) Details DMCA



My guest today is Netra Halperin, executive producer of Peace Films. Welcome to OpEdNews, Netra.

Joan Brunwasser: You recently wrote a piece at OpEdNews called Hillary Clinton & Rep. Nita Lowey, the Probable Causes of Brooklyn Voter Purges. But you live in Hawaii. What's your interest in what goes on all the way across the country, over in the Big Apple?

Netra Halperin: My interest is in the presidential election. Of course I have my favorite candidate, whom I want to win, but what is most important for me is that the election be fair. If we can't even have fair elections, than all the hype about "freedom and justice for all" is just that--hype. It's painful to see my country operate with such a level of hypocrisy.

JB: Fair enough! So, what's got you bent out of shape regarding the presidential election? Are you talking generically about our presidential elections or specifically about the current one?

NH: I am disturbed by the election fraud happening NOW, in the 2016 Democratic Primary. There has been evidence of rampant election fraud in New York, Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Illinois, Maryland, Iowa, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wyoming. And there are already signs of attempts to disenfranchise "no party preference" voters in California.

JB: I'm assuming that "no party preference" voters refers to independents. You're making a pretty strong claim, Netra. If you're correct, you are justly incensed. Can you get this sad story rolling?

NH: The New York Board of Elections (BOE) has acknowledged that 126,000 voters were wrongly purged from the Brooklyn voter rolls (and up to 260,000 statewide). The day after the April 19th primary, the NY Attorney General, NYC Comptroller and NY Governor all declared that they would be investigating the matter. Also, Chief Clerk Diane Haslett Rudiano and Deputy Clerk Betty Ann Cenzio were suspended--both of whom claimed that the purges were a "mistake."

People need to understand that there is no possibility that these purges were accidental. According to the rules of the BOE, one employee is not able to purge voters on his/her own. The first employee can propose to purge certain voters' names--because they have left the district or died. And then the second employee, from the other party, must confirm it. Thus, the Democratic and Republican clerks did this TOGETHER.

JB: This was a bipartisan purging of Democratic voters? I didn't know that. Let's speculate here about motive, for both the Democratic and Republican clerks.

NH: We postulated that the Brooklyn Democratic machine, between 2013-2014, wanted to prepare to massage voter rolls for the 2016 election to ensure a Clinton win. Brooklyn Democratic power brokers (including Canizio) hatched a plan with long-time Clinton ally, Congresswoman Lowey and her daughter, to gain the Republican, Haslett Rudiano's cooperation in their plan. Lowey's developer daughter, Dana Lowey Luttway took Rudiano's rat-infested neighborhood blight brownstone off her hands at four times its value. In 2013, Rudiano had listed her brownstone at 118 West 76th St. for $1.5 million, however Lowey's daughter purchased it for $6.6 million in 2014, --or a $4 million "incentive" to cooperate!

JB: That's a whole lot of moolah, and brings several questions to mind. I read somewhere that when this deal went through, Rudiano's run-down brownstone was not even on the market. Is that true?

NH: Yes. On April 21, 2013, Haslett Rudiano listed her brownstone for $1.5 million. Two months later, on June 20, 2013, without it being sold, she delisted it. This is the only public listing of the property. Then approximately one year later, on August 18, 2014, she sold it for $6.55 million to Dana Lowey-Luttway, daughter of NY Congresswoman Nita Lowey. As I said before, this is over four times the asking price!

JB: Indeed! Second question: Were massive renovations done on the property before the new, improved sale price was offered and accepted? Were any renovations at all done?

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
It's been nearly seven years since the November day in 2009 when Maj. Nidal Hasan, a major and a psychiatrist in the Army, walked into a room at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas, and fatally shot 13 people, then injured more than 30 others -- all unarmed soldiers but for one civilian. The shooting produced more casualties than any other on an American military base and was the deadliest domestic military attack in U.S. history.

Why, then, is it still classified as "workplace violence" rather than a terrorist attack?

That question is being raised by Kathy Platoni, a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army and a survivor of the Fort Hood Massacre, as well as by noted psychologist and veterans' advocate Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., founder and director of The Welcome Johnny and Jane Home Project.

"Given that 'terrorist' is understandably such a scare word, what explains the classification of a terrorist's killings of and injuries to so many in the Fort Hood Massacre as simple 'workplace violence?" That classification certainly lowers the profile of the Massacre and what has followed, including the neglect of those who were injured or emotionally traumatized directly or by losing loved ones," Caplan says.

In a recent letter to veterans' advocates Dr. Platoni, who like Dr. Caplan has a doctorate in psychology, says "the maltreatment of the victims of the Fort Hood Massacre continues to be a national disgrace. We have been betrayed and left to our own devices to heal, despite the promises of the Department of the Army, and the current administration, to assure that all the victims of this enormous tragedy have been restored to health and that all requisite benefits are awarded. It's been seven years and we are still fighting to obtain our due."

An article by Dr. Platoni in T ime Magazine published in April pointed out that "The Fort Hood Massacre was unequivocally and indisputably an act of terrorism [but] the Army prosecuted the shooter on murder charges, not terrorism ones. It considered it to be the act of a disgruntled employee even though the shooter had messaged for years with a member of al-Qaeda before the attack."

Platoni explained that neglecting to call the massacre terrorism meant that "it took almost six years for the U.S. to award Purple Heart medals to the victims and the families of the fallen. They were only awarded these medals last April after Congress broadened the requirements for recipients to include attack where 'the individual or entity was in communication with the foreign terrorist organization before the attack.'"

Further, according to Dr. Platoni, at that time the Secretary of the Army had agreed to grant special compensations to the wounded in action and the families of those killed in action. But to date many of those endowments have not been provided in full. "These special compensations will never be paid retroactively to the date of the Fort Hood Massacre, but only to the date of the Purple Heart ceremony," she says.

Perhaps even more shockingly, some of the people wounded at Fort Hood have been paying for medical treatment out of their own pockets as they try to recover physically and emotionally from the terrorist attack.

"How much longer it will take for full benefits and entitlements to be delivered remains an unknown," Platoni says. "It's egregious neglect."

In March of this year a memorial was dedicated to the memory of those lost at Fort Hood in Killean, Texas. But as Dr. Caplan says, "the sequence of events began with bizarre and disturbing attempts to minimize what happened and the neglect of those whose lives were tragically altered that day."

I've written before about the military's neglect of those who serve in the U.S. military, whether they are physically or emotionally wounded combat veterans, long-suffering wives who lovingly care for them, or women vets whose sexual assault has been disbelieved, pathologized or covered up. It's a disgraceful tradition that has a long history. For example, where is the recognition of the women who ferried planes or broke codes or nursed soldiers in Bataan and Coregidor during World War II but never received full military honors because they weren't in direct combat?

It's a tradition I would like never to have to write about again. But it seems the military is far from resolving the often disgraceful treatment that our military personnel get, or the care they don't get despite how much they deserve it. That's why advocates like Dr. Platoni and Dr. Caplan continue to cast light on great gaps in a system that likes nothing better than monuments, medals, and the sound of self-congratulation in lieu of any serious attempt to address its shameful systemic deficits.
Reprinted from Consortium News

In other words, the question would be where the battery stopped before firing one of its missiles, assuming that this Buk system was the one that fired the missile. (The map below shows the location of Makiivka in red, Almaz-Antey's suspected launch site in yellow, and the general vicinity of the Dutch Safety Board's 320-square-kilometer launch zone in green.) However, even assuming that this Buk battery was the one that fired the missile that destroyed MH-17, its location in the video is to the west of both the site where Almaz-Antey, the Russian Buk manufacturer, calculated the missile was fired, around the village of Zaroshchenskoye (then under Ukrainian government control), and the 320-square-kilometer zone where the Dutch Safety Board speculated the fateful rocket originated (covering an area of mixed government and rebel control).

The fleeting image of the missile battery and its accompanying vehicles, presumably containing an armed escort, seems to have been taken by a car heading west on H-21 highway in the town of Makiivka, as the convoy passed by heading east, according to the private intelligence firm Stratfor and the "citizen journalism" Web site, Bellingcat .

A newly posted video showing a glimpse of a Buk missile battery rolling down a highway in eastern Ukraine has sparked a flurry of renewed accusations blaming Russia for the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 killing 298 people. But the " dash-cam video " actually adds little to the MH-17 whodunit mystery because it could also support a narrative blaming the Ukrainian military for the disaster.

Another curious aspect of this and the other eight or so Internet images of Buk missiles collected by Bellingcat and supposedly showing a Buk battery rumbling around Ukraine on or about July 17, 2014, is that they are all headed east toward Russia, yet there have been no images of Buks heading west from Russia into Ukraine, a logical necessity if the Russians gave a Buk system to ethnic Russian rebels or dispatched one of their own Buk military units directly into Ukraine, suspicions that Russia and the rebels have denied.

The absence of a westward-traveling Buk battery fits with the assessment from Western intelligence agencies that the several operational Buk systems in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, were under the control of the Ukrainian military, a disclosure contained in a Dutch intelligence report released last October and implicitly confirmed by an earlier U.S. "Government Assessment" that listed weapons systems that Russia had given the rebels but didn't mention a Buk battery.

The Netherlands' Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) reported that the only anti-aircraft weapons in eastern Ukraine capable of bringing down MH-17 at 33,000 feet on July 17 belonged to the Ukrainian government. MIVD made that assessment in the context of explaining why commercial aircraft continued to fly over the eastern Ukrainian battle zone in summer 2014.

MIVD said that based on "state secret" information, it was known that Ukraine possessed some older but "powerful anti-aircraft systems" capable of downing a plane at that altitude and "a number of these systems were located in the eastern part of the country," whereas the MIVD said the ethnic Russian rebels had only MANPADS that could not reach the higher altitudes.

Ukrainian Offensive

On July 17, the Ukrainian military also was mounting a strong offensive against rebel positions to the north and thus the front lines were shifting rapidly, making it hard to know exactly where the borders of government and rebel control were. To the south, where the Buk missile was believed fired, the battle lines were lightly manned and hazy -- because of the concentration of forces to the north -- meaning that an armed Buk convoy could probably move somewhat freely.



The Russian Buk missile system

(Image by SOROS SUPIM, Channel: SOROS SUPIM) Details DMCA



Also, because of the offensive, the Ukrainian government feared a full-scale Russian invasion to prevent the annihilation of the rebels, explaining why Kiev was dispatching its Buk systems toward the Russian border, to defend against potential Russian air strikes.

Just a day earlier, a Ukrainian fighter flying along the border was shot down by an air-to-air missile (presumably fired by a Russian warplane), according to last October's Dutch Safety Board report. So, tensions were high on July 17, 2014, when MH-17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, broke apart over eastern Ukraine, believed downed by a surface-to-air missile although there have been other suggestions that the plane might have been hit by an air-to-air missile.

At the time, Ukraine also was the epicenter of an "information war" that had followed a U.S.-backed coup on Feb. 22, 2014, which ousted democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych and replaced the Russian-friendly leader with a fiercely nationalistic and anti-Russian regime in Kiev. The violent coup, in turn, prompted Crimea to vote 96 percent in a hasty referendum to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia. Eastern Ukraine and its large ethnic Russian population also revolted against the new authorities.

The U.S. government and much of the Western media, however, denied there had been a coup in Kiev, hailed the new regime as "legitimate," and deemed Crimea's secession a "Russian invasion." The West also denounced the eastern Ukrainian resistance as "Russian aggression." So, the propaganda war was almost as hot as the military fighting, a factor that has further distorted the pursuit of truth about the MH-17 tragedy.

Immediately after the MH-17 crash, the U.S. government sought to pin the blame on Russia as part of a propaganda drive to convince the European Union to join in imposing economic sanctions on Russia for its "annexation" of Crimea and its support of eastern Ukrainians resisting the Kiev regime.
Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future

More than 1,500 environmental, labor, faith, consumer, LGBT, health, peace, business, social justice and other public interest organizations representing trade and democracy "stakeholders" sent a joint letter to Congress urging them to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The letter begins:

"Dear Representative/Senator: "We urge you to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a binding pact that poses significant threats to American jobs and wages, the environment, food safety and public health, and that falls far short of establishing the high standards the United States should require in a 21st Century trade agreement."

The Hill has the story in "Labor, environmental groups call on Congress to oppose TPP":

"The groups, which include faith and advocacy organizations, argued in a letter sent to Capitol Hill on Monday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would kill U.S. jobs, hurt the environment and endanger food safety. "'The TPP would make it even easier to ship American jobs overseas to wherever labor is the most exploited and environmental regulations are the weakest, so it's little surprise that certain corporations support this pact,' said Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, which organized the letter. "'Civil society is unprecedentedly united against the TPP, however, due to the pact's significant threats to jobs and wages, food safety, public health and the environment,' Stamoulis said."

The letter breaks out several areas of concern, including,


(Image by Egberto Willies) Details DMCA



I often hear from many of the people I blog about either by email or electronic message. This one, however, was a shocker. Tania Vojvodic, the 'scary' Trump supporter called me.

Yesterday I came across Tania's Facebook post where she was beside herself that the NRA endorsed Trump. In the video, she did not only display elation but a vile disdain for Hillary Clinton and for politicians not jumping onto the Donald Trump Express. Watch her video and read the blog post here.

While writing a blog post about Bernie Sanders lashing out against Disney, I got an alert on my Facebook Page. It was a message from Tania Vojvodic. It turned out she is not only a Trump supporter here in Texas but a Team Trump 2016 National Team Leader and Texas Congressional District Co-Chair for Donald Trump. The post went semi-viral, so I wasn't all that surprised to hear from her. I was surprised by her message.

Mr. Willies, should I call you now or respectfully, call you in the morning? I do look forward to speaking with you. Regardless of our differences of opinions, I'm sure that we can have a very decent conversation. Don't you? I look forward to enlightenment!!!

Well, I respectfully asked her to call now. I intended to write a blog post on the media, but I figured blogging about her would be more interesting and add more to our political discourse.

Tania was made aware of my post about her via someone on the Trump team. It made me wonder if she was coaxed into getting in touch with me. She told me no one on Team Trump asked her to call. That said, given the person she is I wonder if they may have known she would want to.

But I digress momentarily. Too many people are taking a potential Trump win for granted. The fact that Team Trump is granular enough to 'put out social media fires' should scare the $hit our of Democrats.

Tania was very easy to talk to, and the vile sentiments that came out in her video were nowhere to be found. She attributed it to a type of bravado after winning something. After all, the conservative NRA endorsed her candidate.

My goal in speaking to Tania was not to try to convince her that Trump is a bad guy and a con. To be clear, that is what I believe. I wanted to listen to her to understand what made her a Trump supporter. I wanted to earn her respect so that she felt free to tell this left wing liberal how she became a Trump admirer, supporter, and surrogate.

Tania's story is different than most. She had a personal connection with all things Trump from the age of fifteen when she was accepted into a Teen Pageant. She bonded with the Trump image ever since. In other words, she was a 'Trumpeter' throughout Trump's 'ideological changes.' As such, she is comfortable accepting his utterances as policies that will make life better for Americans.

Tania's connection to Trump allows her a comfort to dismiss his misogyny, sexism, racism, and all the isms he has articulated. Then again so has Omorosa, Mike Tyson, and his national spokesperson Katrina Pierson. Tania has met and engaged with Trump's sons as she has campaigned for him throughout the country. That type of familial relationship can be blinding.

Tania believes, rightfully, that the Republican Party is broken. She sees Trump as the non-political person that can restore it. She said she was a Christian, who had a dream that told her Trump will be the next president.

There is much more that we spoke about including our respective families. I did more listening than talking throughout because I really needed to understand how her mind relative to Trump actually works. And you know what? I get it. I don't agree with it. But I get it.

A very intelligent friend and neighbor of mine, an engineer, is a Trump supporter. A friend and volunteer at the liberal KPFT 90.1 FM radio station where I do my show Politics Done Right, is considering voting for Trump. I know many others who will not say that they will vote for Trump out of a sort of shame, but the direction of conversation leads one to believe they are leaning that way. The disdain many have for both parties allows their psyche to morph Trump into what they want him to be disregarding just about all of his otherwise fatal flaws. That said, we must not forget the white supremacist and racists that believe Trump is a ticket to the greatness they once had before those other people came and took it away.

I enjoyed speaking to Tania Vojvodic. She was not scary. The totality of a person cannot be judged from a video clip or a few mistakes. She agreed to read my blogs and listen to my radio shows and give DailyKOS & OpEdNews a read. I hope she will read and listen with an open mind.

I hope to talk to Tania throughout the campaign to see if she has a change of heart. After discussing many socio-economic issues with her, it was evident that she is ideologically fungible like most Americans are if given the latitude.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Republicans are handing their presidential nomination to a know-nothing billionaire bully, Donald Trump -- the worst nominee in modern times. How did Republicans get to be so stupid?



Of course, "stupid" is subjective. But by most standards, Republicans fit the bill. In September, Public Policy Polling found that "66% of [Donald] Trump's supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim... 61% think Obama was not born in the United States." The same poll found that 54 percent of all Republicans believed the President to be a Muslim. (In September, Donald Trump suggested Obama is a Muslim.)

In 2013, then Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal warned the GOP to "stop being the stupid party." Jindal said Republican candidates should "stop insulting the intelligence of voters" with offensive and bizarre statements." However, Jindal didn't listen to his own advice; on May 10th, Jindal endorsed Donald Trump. Stupid is as stupid does.

It wasn't always like this. Fifty years ago, Republicans seemed wrongheaded but intelligent. What has happened to the Grand Old Party? Its transition to the stupid party had four stages:

1. Republicans adopted an anti-intellectual strategy. Political historians have noted the long-term political consequences of Richard Nixon's "Southern strategy" which peeled Southern white voters -- particularly evangelical Christians -- away from the Democratic Party. What hasn't received as much attention is the fact that Southern evangelicals are not intellectual: they believe in the literal true of the Bible; for that reason, they believe the universe was created in seven days and decry evolution and science. Writing in The Weekly Standard, Henry Olsen observed the GOP Southern strategy caused the "dumbing down of conservatism." "Evangelicals have long shied away from engagement with the less-devout world" as a group they tend to lack intellectual curiosity and rigor."

In September, writing in the Daily Beast Ana Marie Cox observed, "Trump and [Ben] Carson are winning a huge slice of the GOP base because of [their] prideful ignorance, which to voters signifies not just a rejection of the establishment or elites but a release from the hard work of having to think."

Now the Republican nominee is Donald Trump, an anti-intellectual. For example, early in May, Trump cited a National Enquirer article linking Ted Cruz's father to the JFK assassination. Trump's policy positions are incoherent and GOP voters don't care.

2. Republicans accepted racism. When the GOP adopted the southern strategy, they tacitly accepted racism. With Trump this racism has come out in the open.

Writing in Psychology Today, David Niose linked anti-intellectualism and racism: "Critically thinking individuals recognize racism as wrong and undesirable, even if they aren't yet able to eliminate every morsel of bias from their own psyches or from social institutions. An anti-intellectual society, however, will have large swaths of people who are motivated by fear, susceptible to tribalism and simplistic explanations, incapable of emotional maturity, and prone to violent solutions."

Ana Marie Cox commented on the state of today's Republican Party: "You can't spend 40 years tacitly making racists feel welcome in your party and expect the intellectual atmosphere not to suffer, or for that anti-intellectualism to stay bounded with race."

In 2015, Donald Trump brought racism out of the GOP closet. He damned "political correctness" and brought his hate-filled bigotry into mainstream political discourse.

3.Republicans enabled hate. Writing in Mother Jones, David Corn observed that starting with Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential campaign, GOP politicians and their cohorts in the conservative media launched a campaign of hatred towards President Obama (and scorched-earth obstructionism of his agenda): "It's been a long run of Republicans accepting, encouraging, and exploiting uncivil discourse, anti-Obama hatred, and right-wing anger."

The New York Times observed that Donald Trump feeds into this hatred by encouraging violence at his rallies.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Bernie Sanders indicated in early May that his campaign was "going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform that calls for a $15 an hour minimum wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free, and passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of climate change."

Win or lose in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders said, "we intend to win every delegate that we can so that when we go to Philadelphia in July, we are going to have the votes to put together the strongest progressive agenda that any political party has ever seen."

Sanders has won a sufficient number of delegates -- and a sufficient opening in the debate -- to influence the shaping of that agenda. And his representatives on the convention's newly selected platform-writing committee share a commitment to make it profoundly progressive.

Take the issue of climate change, as an example. Sanders has secured a place for author, activist, and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, on the 15-person Platform Drafting Committee -- which is responsible for outlining the platform that will eventually be approved at the party's late-July convention in Philadelphia.

McKibben will have plenty of allies -- among the Sanders-aligned members of the drafting committee, among members who are aligned with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, and among members who are seeking to strike a balance between the two campaigns. It is fair to say that the drafting committee has a progressive majority.

The boldness with which that majority will act upon its progressive inclinations remains to be seen, however. There will be plenty of pressure on the committee from the campaigns, from party leaders, from interest groups, and from grassroots activists. It is a good bet that there will be wrangling over domestic policy (perhaps with regard to a 15-dollar minimum wage, and almost certainly with regard to banking reform) and foreign policy (regarding everything from trade issues to Israeli-Palestinian relations). But this is a far more engaged and activist committee than was anticipated, and it has the potential to write a platform that reflects the demands of new movements and of a political moment that has seen the Sanders campaign pull the debate to the left.

Click Here to Read Whole Article
The four Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- provide skimpy biographies of Jesus, with huge time gaps. We meet Jesus in brief citations as a newborn, a six-year- old in Egypt about to return to Nazareth, a twelve-year-old at the Temple in Jerusalem, and at age thirty, when his spiritual mission begins as he is baptized by John the Baptist. Not much fodder for a reliable psychological profile.

The controversial second-century Infancy Gospel of Thomas offers some additional details about Jesus up to age twelve. But the purported supernatural powers of the child Jesus fly in the face of the earlier canonical Gospels' depiction: "The text [Infancy Gospel] describes Jesus as a brilliant child, performing a number of miracles in Nazareth, completely contradicting the portrayal of the Nazoraeans as described in Luke Chapter 4. Luke describes the natives of Nazareth responding in shock to Jesus' initial messianic teaching, seemingly unfamiliar that Jesus was anything more than a poor carpenter's son."

The New Testament tells us even less about Jesus' mother, Mary. We first meet teenage Mary when she is visited by the Angel Gabriel and told that she will conceive and bear a child by the power of the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:26-35; Matthew 1:18-25). Despite Mary's pregnancy, Joseph, a Jewish carpenter to whom she is betrothed, accepts her (Matthew 1:24). Next, Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant in her old age in answer to the prayers of her pious husband Zacharias, a priest in the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 1:38-40).



Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem, where Jesus is then born. In the Gospel of Matthew's account Mary, Joseph, and infant Jesus escape to Egypt to evade King Herod's decree to kill all male children in Bethlehem two years of age and younger (Matthew 2:16).

Six years later they return to Nazareth. In a brief mention we learn that Mary, Joseph, and the family traveled to Jerusalem each year to celebrate Passover (Luke 2:41). On one return trip after Passover, when Jesus was twelve, Mary and Joseph noticed that he was missing. They turned back to Jerusalem and found Jesus in the Temple debating rabbis on the Torah (Luke 2:39-52). In another mention, Mary and the family think Jesus is mad when he is giving a sermon in Nazareth (Mark 3:20-21). The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus and Mary attended a wedding in Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle: turning water into wine (John 2:1-3).

We next encounter Mary as one of the witnesses to the crucifixion (Mathew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25).While it's not explicit in the Gospels, Mary, mother of Jesus, may have been one of the Mary's or "other women" at Jesus' empty tomb (Luke 24:10). If so, that would have been her final appearance in the Gospels. At the beginning of Acts of the Apostles, the New Testament book that follows the Gospels, there is a brief mention of Mary attending a prayer session in Jerusalem with the disciples after the crucifixion (Acts 1:12-14). Then Mary disappears from the story.

The controversial non-canonical Secret Infancy Gospel of James, dated to the mid second century, purports to fill in some details of Mary's birth and early life. However, the additions have been contested for inconsistencies and practices that are at odds with Judaism and with Mary's later life in a rural community of working-class trades people. Even so, the Infancy Gospel's report of Mary's birth to her elderly parents Anna and Joachim and Mary's life growing up in the Temple in Jerusalem still do not provide an informative biographical profile that illuminates who she was as a person.

Despite the paucity of information about Mary she has emerged as a towering figure in Christianity. She has inspired countless books about her life. Amazon lists over forty-one thousand volumes--and these are only the more contemporary ones. Devotional books abound.

Who was Mary? What was she like in her daily life? What were her beliefs and personal qualities? We can speculate--as many have--but known biblical sources give us little information to go on. We could learn more about a casual acquaintance than we know about Mary by posing the simple request: "tell me something about yourself."

However, one aspect of Mary's life consistently stands out in the Gospels: She is a dedicated practicing Jew.

The few events documented about her are steeped in Judaism. Her pregnancy forecasts the coming of the Jewish Messiah. In accordance with the Torah mandate, Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day following his birth. Afterwards, Mary performs the postpartum Temple purification rituals, also prescribed in the Torah (Luke 2:22). When Mary, Joseph, and Jesus return from exile in Egypt we are told that she and the family traveled to Jerusalem every Passover (Luke 2:41)--an arduous seven-day journey over rough terrain.

The wedding in Cana that she attended with Jesus was obviously a Jewish wedding, attended only by Jews. Jews of the era did not associate with non-Jews. That Mary took a special interest in this Jewish wedding is reflected in her concern that the wine was running out. In every activity we see Mary's Jewish signature.

Given Mary's well established Jewish identity it is surprising that she is not portrayed as such in the trove of artworks of the Medieval and Renaissance eras, when Christian art flourished. Instead, she is depicted as a Christian, with no trace of Semitic features, dress, or surroundings. Mary's Jewish identity, which dominated her life, vanishes in these artworks, replaced by northern European characteristics and backgrounds. I have written extensively about the omission of Jesus' connection to Judaism in artworks. The disconnection of Mary from her Jewish heritage is part of the same falsification.
Reprinted from Wallwritings

Sixty-two years after the U.S. Supreme Court banned racial segregation in U.S. public schools, the United Methodist Church ended its 2016 General Conference by voting 559-157 to continue investing its funds in U.S. corporations profiting from operations in illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories.

This do-not-divest vote rejected an effort by some delegates to the UMC General Conference to halt all investments in three American corporations profiting from Israel's immoral and illegal behavior.

There are brothels in the state of Nevada which profit from what the vast majority of Methodists would consider to be immoral conduct. Some of these brothels would, no doubt, welcome church funds to sanctify their businesses.

Tell me, fellow Methodists, what is the difference between investing church funds in brothels and putting church funds to work in illegal Israel settlements built on Palestinian land?

While we reflect on your answer, remember that brothels in eight Nevada counties are legal under Nevada law, while the existence of Israeli settlements on stolen land violates international law.

By its vote, 559 to 157, to underwrite illegal occupation, did the Methodist delegates (559!) sanction immorality?

We will sit here and thumb through John Wesley's book of sermons while we wait for your answer.

Meanwhile, we need to consider a history that links two tracks, secular and religious.

The Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools to be illegal 62 years ago. Meanwhile. over on its religious corners, the Methodist Church continued to practice segregation in its national organizational structure.

They retained that institutional segregation for 14 more years.

It happened this way:

In 1939, the people who called themselves Methodists, not a biblical term but a derogatory term used by opponents ("these people are so methodical"), sought to unify three branches of the denomination, initially torn apart in the 19th century over slavery.

The 1939 merger was proposed to unite the Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Initially split up by the historical circumstances of race, the new denomination was not about to give up segregation, the prevailing custom of the Old South and in many parts of the rest of the nation.

The Methodists chose to continue their segregated ways in their new structure by creating a new Methodist Church, divided into five regional jurisdictions, and the Central Jurisdiction, which was set aside exclusively for African-American churches.

The Central Jurisdiction was devised to segregate African-American churches, bishops, pastors and members. There were exceptions, of course, but for the most part, especially in the Old South, the old segregated pattern continued.
Republican despair over the fact that Donald Trump has managed to become, for all intents and purposes, the Republican nominee for President, shows one striking thing: for one man, one vote, to ensure enlightened governance, democracy has to be backed up by a very high quality compulsory education system.



Couch Potatos

(Image by richmooremi) Details DMCA



Donald Trump won more primary votes than any other American candidate ever, forcing the Republican establishment to anoint him as their candidate, against their better judgement. But if we limit voter education to television reality shows and video games, we should not be surprised if anger over government failings leads a lot of ordinary people to vote for the candidate who encourages them to carry a gun. Donald Trump didn't become a billionaire by being a couch-potato or toting a gun, but his message is clearly designed to appeal to such voters.

That message is the equivalent of Hitler's appeal to disenchanted 1920's and thirties German voters, who longed for past glory, and it's a stinging indictment of a century of compulsory eduction. Television was already a wonderful means of mind control, and when its appeal began to fade, video games and smart-phones came along to pick up the slack. Technology opens up a world of unlimited information if one cares to look for it, but obsessive use of computers and its offshoots leaves little time for independent thinking, which requires a silent environment without too much visual stimulus.

In mid-nineteenth century America, education was seen as the key to democracy: voters needed to master the three r's ( r eadin', w r itin' and ' r ithmetic) to make meaningful decisions in the voting booth. But at some point, the decision was made to invest in advertising in order to sell more stuff, rather than in schools, filling the coffers of manufacturers while emptying minds. Most progressive analysis since the end of World War II has focused on the ever-growing role of publicity in consumer choices; but advertising also plays a crucial role in the willingness of voters to pay attention to what goes on beyond their neighborhood or town - not to mention their ability to do so meaningfully.

The American population can be divided into two main groups: an overwhelming majority that hardly knows there is a world beyond our borders, and a very small minority - probably no more than 10% - that pays attention to international developments.

That is why a year-long presidential campaign - longer than those of any other country, by far - holds Americans spell-bound, mindless of wars or natural disasters occurring elsewhere. And when someone like Donald Trump comes along bragging about his commercial - not academic, scientific, artistic or spiritual - accomplishments, large numbers of voters, especially men who have seen their dreams of success (those promised by television ads) fade away, leaving as only recourse with which potentially to alter reality access to a gun, literally rise up, as we have seen at countless rallies, giving him the primary votes needed to become the candidate of a Republican Party whose 2012 candidate was the milk-toast Mitt Romney.
Or How Corporations Profited Billions on the Backs and Bodies of American Soldiers

By Renee Babcock and Grace Novak

During the Iraq War, several corporations made billions in government contracts, as more and more of the military's operations relied on private contractors. And while the public is told that these wars will protect us, all too many American service members have faced unspeakable abuses over seas at the hands of these careless war profiteers.



In his book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers , former US Marine and Army sergeant, Joseph Hickman reveals a toxic scandal that the military and their corporate partners want concealed. Throughout Iraq and Afghanistan Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR), a former subsidiary of Halliburton, operated more than 250 burn pits at US military bases. They are large, acres-wide open-air pits burning 24 hours built to cheaply dispose of thousands of pounds of waste daily, including batteries, asbestos, plastics, pesticides, mustard gas, and even human corpses, to name a few of the toxic products burned.

Instead of building incinerators to safely dispose of the waste, Halliburton, the company where Dick Cheney was CEO before ascending to the White House, cut corners and used this deadly--and cheap--method of industrial, hospital, and general waste disposal in burn pits; helping them to profit "nearly $40 billion" from government contracts during the Iraq War. The result? The mistreatment of soldiers in deadly operating environments.

Independent studies conducted on local civilian populations exposed to the burn pits revealed large increases in cancer, leukemia, birth defects, and other carcinogenic diseases. Veterans exposed to the pits are reporting the same health consequences, and according to the book, the rate of having a child with birth defects is three times higher for exposed service members. It is estimated that tens of thousands of soldiers were exposed to this toxic environmental hazard during the wars.

What's worse, the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other agencies continue to deny any connection between the burn pits and the veterans' medical conditions. They claim that there is insufficient scientific data to conclusively link them. Yet, in 2015 Congress removed burn pits research from the DoD's research list , even as more veterans exposed to the pits come forward with rare respiratory illnesses, high blood pressure, and other ailments. The VA is denying medical treatment to the thousands of service members claiming illnesses related to burn pits. And like in the all too similar case of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam veterans, the soldiers and their families are coming together to create a burn pit registry to demand justice when rightful care is being denied. But for some veterans, like 1st Sgt. William Krawczyk , it is already too late.

With his book, Joseph Hickman brings into light a powerful topic that has yet to be brought up by any presidential candidate or Obama's administration. In his Interview with Salon, Hickman reveals how the government protects these corporate criminals:

"There's a lawsuit against KBR out there right now, and the biggest hurdle for the KBR lawsuit is [that] DoD will not speak against KBR for their misuse of the burn pits. And you can't sue the government under the Feres Doctrine. A soldier can't sue the government for his injuries, but he can sue a private contractor. But as long as the U.S. government stays solid on the issue and won't speak out against KBR, it kind of creates a legal limbo where it's their word against this massive corporation. The best testimony they could have is DoD saying, "Yes, you [were] mistreated [by] these burn pits."





But really, can the DoD even do that? Because they didn't have any regulation in place for seven years on what they could burn or where they should be located or anything else. The DoD staying solidly aligned with KBR while soldiers are suffering is criminal."

It is clear that our government cares more about protecting its corporate military contractors and is intent on squashing the story while the VA denies medical coverage to veterans seeking treatment.

This issue involves multiple departments and corporations, and our government officials must take responsibility for holding these corporations accountable. The VA is under-budgeted and can't take care of the veterans that have suffered under wartime conditions and what's worse for these veterans is that the DoD won't speak out against KBR in this issue.

"They've have grown to the point where they feel that the government can't operate without them. These companies have that arrogance."

Because corporations like KBR are protected by the presidential administration and the congress members who take their money, and because they can claim "corporate constitutional rights", they are more easily absolved of responsibility and can get around laws designed to protect the environment and the people living in it.

When a major multi-national corporation like Halliburton and its former subsidiary KBR with its obviously close links to powerful officials (former Vice President Dick Cheney) and the military is allowed to run roughshod over deployed troops and veterans, it really is time to examine and understand the system propping up this highly officious and harmful behavior.

It isn't hard to follow the money that goes into a politician's (re)election treasury and the policy that comes out of Congress, but it's harder to understand the connection to corporate constitutional rights. It is necessary to remember that all corporations are constitutionally shielded from liability, which is clearly an advantage that human beings just don't have. In addition, corporations have assumed additional rights--through the courts--intended for natural persons. Corporations began their march towards personhood in 1886 when they secured 14th amendment equal protection rights. In addition, they maintain Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights and the same First Amendment rights to free speech humans do, along with the right to not speak.

The Buckley vs. Vallejo case in which the Supreme Court equated money with free speech enabled corporations to speak through the use of their treasuries. More recent decisions like Citizens United and the McCutcheon case have literally opened a floodgate of corporate speech, drowning out the voices of We the People. Veterans, their children and children's grandchildren, and most definitely the innocents caught up in War, simply cannot be heard over the billions of dollars spent during election cycles.
In many states, duly elected Sanders delegates have been prevented from becoming National delegates going to the Philadelphia Convention. We believe that this may be a strategy to weaken Sander's position at the Philadelphia Convention We suspect foul play by the Democratic National Committee and/or Clinton campaign operatives. We do not believe for a moment that Bernie Sanders is personally aware of or has authorized these tactics. How can a party based on inclusion allow for such exclusions to take place across the country? After my initial story "Silenced Before We Could Speak", more Bernie supporters from several different states posted their experience with being excluded.

Bernie Sanders, if you are reading this, we at least deserve an explanation of why we are being excluded from getting a chance to represent our constituents at the Philadelphia Convention and being told it was your staff that orchestrated it.

Nicholas Lash, a Bernie supporter in Nevada states "They excluded me completely and many others from the national list with no reason other than getting their minions in, or at least giving it their best shot" Lash claims that at the county convention, he was asked his name by a party head before they went to the backroom and "presto" he was excluded, but made alternate from their undemocratic selection in the backroom.

Apparently, according to a post on the Sanders Reddit site, the 201 Delegates for Sanders in Tennessee were decreased to 12 all white males. After receiving the list, the TN Bernie director was asked about what happened, he stated that it was no one's business, to stay out"

Another supporter who shall remain anonymous states that the Washington State Democrats have been given the go ahead to scrub delegates names off of the list at will.

Zachary Haver, another Washington delegate posted a video saying "Today was the 9 th Congressional District Democratic Caucus, and I was running to be a delegate to the DNC, but my name was not on the ballot"

These are just a few of the stories coming out of these so called "Democratic" caucuses. For a party in desperate need of youthful energy and esteem, intellect, and innovation, they sure are being exclusionary and Undemocratic in my humble opinion.

This is just the beginning, the two party system needs to be brought out into the light and be revealed as the scam it has become. Lip service, fund raising, and obeying the establishment is what the two party system seems to entail and a system like that goes against the very definition of a true democracy.
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.
johnwk said:





5/24/16



According to US officials, the administration has deals in place to send approximately two dozen longtime Guantanamo detainees to about half a dozen countries.





Our Constitution commands Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.





The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.





Are those who Obama is releasing not sworn enemies of the United States?





So, why on earth is our Republican controlled House, at the very least, not drawing up articles of impeachment for Obama who has, at every turn, spat upon our Constitution and worked to destroy America from within?





JWK









Obama is the worst President ever! . Here is a LIST of Obamas evil doings! See: Obama releasing 2 dozen more Gitmo detainees 5/24/16Our Constitution commandsAre those who Obama is releasing not sworn enemies of the United States?So, why on earth is our Republican controlled House, at the very least, not drawing up articles of impeachment for Obama who has, at every turn, spat upon our Constitution and worked to destroy America from within?JWK Click to expand...

Amen! but this will fall on deaf ears, as the secular humanists continue to push their agenda of one world order! Their goal of demoralizing good, and decent people is well under way, and nearing the point of no return. Patriots of these United States will not go gently. Many of these tolerant people are good people who have let common sense be overruled by emotion. Many even some here are just plain evil
Arabian Child partners with Edarabia.com to raise awareness about quality in early childhood Education

Edarabia.com Partners with Arabian Child

www.edarabia.com

www.arabianchild.org

Arabian Child, a leading early childhood organization, partnered with Edarabia.com, the Middle Easts premier education community to help raise awareness about quality standards in early childhood programs; nurseries, preschools and kindergartens.Arabian Child is a private not-for-profit organization that has trained thousands of teachers, parents, and police officers in the Middle East Region, and they have recently launched a new quality improvement program called JAWDA for nurseries, preschools and kindergartens, in UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Programs enrolled in JAWDA receive a tier level certification indicating the quality of the service provided to children and families in their community; Tier 1 to Tier 5 (Tier 5 indicates the highest level of quality).Founded in 2005, Edarabia.com is the largest online education network and a trusted resource for parents and academic professionals. The website will develop a list of the top nurseries, preschools and kindergartens in the GCC indicating the tier level that they have achieved through the JAWDA program.JAWDA, which means quality in Arabic, is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for other service-related industries, quality ratings will be awarded to programs that meet defined program standards that go beyond the minimum licensing requirements.Through Edarabia.com, parents will be able to compare nurseries on the basis of their Jawda tier level and make an informed decision when choosing the right institution for their child.Professionals will also be able to benefit from JAWDA resources that will be available through Edarabia.com to help them learn about quality standards and conduct self-assessments and prepare for quality improvement plans.It's an important association for Arabian Child who view their strategic partnership with EdArabia as a way to educate parents, and professionals about quality in early years.Samia Kazi, the General Manager of Arabian Child adds: JAWDA combines the international best practices in early years settings integrated with the local culture and Arabic heritage, helping to prepare our children to their fullest academic potential while respecting our culture, and maintaining citizenship and moral values. We are very proud to partner with Edarabia.com to raise awareness about JAWDA in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. It is a unique partnership whereby Arabian Child provides innovative educational resources and leverages on Edarabias long-standing network of institutions and its dedicated audience of parents and teachers.We are truly honoured to partner with an organization as esteemed as Arabian Child. Their commitment to improving the quality of early childhood education is unmatched in the Middle East. We look forward to working closely with the team to serve this community and develop new value-added solutions that are of benefit to parents and their children. said Farid Gasim, Founder of Edarabia.com.About Edarabia.comEdarabia.com is the Middle East's largest education site; enabling students, parents and teachers to compare and select the right institutions. Founded in 2005 (formerly as IQEA.org), the site has become a trusted source in the field of education. Visitors to the site can follow the latest industry news, upcoming events, job listings, research updates, compare college ratings and add reviews. Edarabia.com covers all levels of education including but not limited to universities, colleges, schools, nurseries, language institutes, training academies, music schools, online universities and much more. Address: iRise Tower, TECOM, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +9714 3453033Email: press@edarabia.comAbout Arabian ChildArabian Child is a leading early childhood education, care, service, and consultation organization in the Middle East. Its primary focus is in childcare advocacy and training, and is a leading contributor to quality improvement of early childhood education in the Middle East. Arabian Child actively and consistently works to improve the quality of early childhood education by providing professional training, supporting early childhood professionals, policy makers and other practitioners. Arabian Child contributes to family education by hosting important workshops for families on positive parenting and providing invaluable child protection courses. Arabian Child is a private not-for-profit organization.Headquarters: Knowledge Village, Block 6, F05 & F06 Dubai, UAE. +971 4 435 6933 info@arabianchild.orgEdarabia.comRm.19C15 iRise Tower, Tecom,Dubai, United Arab Emiratespress@edarabia.com+9713453033
Public safety LTE infrastructure expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years

https://marketreportscenter.com/reports/278411/the

https://marketreportscenter.com/reports/278411/the

https://marketreportscenter.com

Worldwide: Latest report from our business partner indicates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016.Considering its thriving ecosystem, spectrum flexibility and performance metrics, LTE has emerged as the leading candidate for public safety mobile broadband networks. In addition, with the recent approval of the MCPTT (Mission Critical Push to Talk) voice standard as part of 3GPP Release 13, LTE has also become an attractive substitute for providing LMR-like voice services.The Qatar Ministry of Interior made headlines when it deployed a private 800 MHz LTE network in 2012. Since then, numerous public safety LTE networks have sprung up across the globe, including the UAE, China, Laos, Turkey and Kenya. Several early adopter LTE deployments are also operational in the United States, as part of the planned FirstNet nationwide public safety broadband network. While most initial public safety LTE investments are limited to small scale networks, nationwide rollouts in the United States and South Korea are expected to trigger significant large-scale investments throughout the globe.Driven by the thriving ecosystem, SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years. By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers.The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the global public safety LTE market, besides touching upon the wider LMR and mobile broadband industries. In addition to covering the business case, challenges, technology, spectrum allocation, industry roadmap, value chain, deployment case studies, vendor products, strategies, standardization initiatives and applications ecosystem for public safety LTE, the report also presents comprehensive forecasts for mobile broadband, LMR and public safety LTE subscriptions from 2016 till 2030. Also covered are public safety LTE service revenues, over both private and commercial networks. In addition, the report presents revenue forecasts for public safety LTE infrastructure, devices, integration services and management solutions.PDF sample download:The report covers the following topics:- Business case for public safety LTE and mobile broadband services, including key benefits and challenges- Technology, economics, trends, commercial commitments and deployment case studies- List of public safety LTE engagements worldwide- Public safety LTE infrastructure, devices and applications- Industry roadmap, value chain and standardization initiatives- Spectrum allocation, deployment models and funding strategies- Profiles and strategies of over 260 ecosystem players including public safety system integrators and LTE infrastructure/device OEMs- TCO analysis of private and commercial public safety LTE deployments- Military and tactical LTE deployments- Public safety LTE base station (eNB) form factor analysis- Exclusive interview transcripts from 5 key ecosystem players: Ericsson, Airbus Defence and Space, Sepura, Aricent and Parallel Wireless- Strategic recommendations for vendors, system integrators, public safety agencies and mobile operators- Market analysis and forecasts from 2016 till 2030For more information about this reportKey Questions AnsweredThe report provides answers to the following key questions:- How big is the public safety LTE opportunity?- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?- How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?- What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?- Which regions and submarkets will see the highest percentage of growth?- How does standardization impact the adoption of LTE for public safety applications?- When will MCPTT and proximity services see large scale proliferation?- What is the status of private LTE rollouts and public safety MVNO offerings across the globe?- What opportunities exist for commercial mobile operators and MVNOs in the public safety LTE market?- Is there a market for 400 MHz LTE networks?- What are the prospects of tactical, vehicle-mounted and airborne LTE eNB platforms?- How can public safety agencies leverage unused spectrum resources to fund private LTE networks?- What strategies should system integrators and vendors adopt to remain competitive?Key FindingsThe report has the following key findings:- SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years.- By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers.- Following the Qatar Ministry of Interiors private 800 MHz LTE network deployment in 2012, multiple private LTE rollouts are underway by security forces throughout the oil rich GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, including the Abu Dhabi and Dubai police forces.- Driven by nationwide public safety LTE network rollouts in the United States and South Korea, the North America and Asia Pacific regions will account for nearly 70% of all public safety LTE investments over the next four years.- Almost all major LMR industry players are leveraging partnerships with established LTE infrastructure OEMs such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Samsung, to offer end-to-end LTE solutions.- Consolidation efforts are continuing to take place throughout the industry, particularly among the largest LTE infrastructure OEMs and public safety system integrators.Connect for more details:Sam CollinsMarket Reports Center1-646-883-3044 (US)info@marketreportscenter.comAbout Market Reports Center;Market Reports Center is an e-commerce platform obliging the needs of knowledge workers, experts, professionals who are subject to market research information for their work, or to make strategic business decisions. We are dedicated to create a comprehensive offering of market research which is accurate, credible and affordable.Market Reports Center currently has more than 2,00,000 plus titles and 30+ Publishers on our platform and growing consistently. We cover more than 35 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Construction, Agriculture, Food, Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.House 421 Hudson Street New York, NY 10014, USA
Turkey EU membership opens possibility of cheaper citizenship by investment to the EU

The recent announcement that the European Commission is allowing Turkish citizens unlimited access to the 26-nation Western European Schengen Area from June 2016 has been seen as sign that full Turkish membership of the EU could be just months awayIn reward for its help in dealing with the ongoing Middle-Eastern migrant crisis that has engulfed much of Europe, Turkeys 79.5 million citizens have been given access to Europes 26-nation Schengen zone, starting from June 2016. The decision is based on Turkeys about-turn on its initial stance on Middle Eastern migrants, and agreeing to take back the migrants who had crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece.The European Commission agreement means that Turkish citizens will be able to travel visa-free throughout Europes 26-nation Schengen zone for 90 of any 180 day period, or 180 days of the year. Turkey will now have the same visa-free access to the Schengen zone as North America (USA and Canada), Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. The only difference between Turkeys Schengen access and that of an E.U member state is that Turkish citizens cannot live and work within that region without a specific visa.What Exactly Is The Schengen Zone?The Schengen Area, (often referred to as the Schengen zone) is the area that encompasses the 26 European countries that signed the Schengen Agreement of 1985. These countries have abolished passport control at their mutual borders, in effect turning the Schengen region into a United States of Europe. Only a handful of countries outside of the E.U have visa-free access to the Schengen zone, and Turkey are set to be the latest addition.The 26 nations that make up the Schengen Agreement are (in alphabetical order):Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.All European Union countries except the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania are part of the Schengen zone. Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein are not E.U members, but are also part of the Schengen agreement.Why You Need Turkish Citizenship NowTurkey has been fighting for E.U membership for some 30 years, but this sudden turn of events means that their acceptance as a full E.U member state is closer than ever, and could come as soon as late-2016. Now is the ideal time to acquire Turkish citizenship, and via 2ndPassports.com it can be yours in just three weeks.Turkish passport holders already have access to 122 countries worldwide, including those of Latin America and Central America, Southern African nations, Eastern European countries, plus several countries from Asia and South East Asia. The Turkish passport is also accepted by all of the Caribbean nations including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, making it an excellent passport for business and granting an owner access to the discreet banking services and tax shelters the Caribbean is so famous for. Access to the Schengen Area increases the visa-free power of the Turkish passport to a highly respectable 148 nations. This figure will increase even further when Turkey is granted full E.U citizenship.With E.U membership, Turkish citizenship will suddenly be highly desirable among high net worth individuals from the Middle East, Africa and Asia who hail from countries that suffer from crippling passport restrictions. These people need dual citizenship and an E.U passport to grant them freedom of movement, thus streamlining their business dealings.Turkish Citizenship By Investment?Because the demand will be there, and Turkey will be keen to cash in on it and bring in as many wealthy investors from the Middle East as it can, look for the Turkish government to instigate their own expensive Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program soon after they are granted E.U membership, following the business models practiced in many E.U countries like Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece and Malta.While CBI programs offer a valuable lifeline (sometimes literally) to individuals who are desperate to improve their business opportunities and their freedom of travel with ownership of a passport to an E.U country, they are normally expensive and require a period of residency in that country. Acquisition of Turkish citizenship through 2ndPassports.com right now will come at a fraction of that price, requires no residency and will be delivered in just three weeks.If you wish to obtain Turkish citizenship, or you are interested in any of the Citizenship by Investment programs available in Europe and the Caribbean, visit 2ndPassports.com for more information. There you will find full details of the very best CBI programs currently available. You can contact 2ndPassports.com by WhatsApp or Telegram for more information or a quote. If you prefer, you can phone or Skype and speak directly to an expert representative.2ndPassports.com are the world-wide market leaders in the procurement of second passports and dual citizenship for high net-worth individuals from the business and investment world. Each year more and more frustrated businesspeople whose passport restricts their commercial opportunities turn to 2ndPassports.com for their long-respected expertise and hands-on assistance in achieving their dream of second citizenship and economic freedom.2ndPASSPORTS55 Ermin StreetWRECCLESHAMGU9 1WHUNITED KINGDOM
Is 3D Printed Titanium Fatally Flawed?

HASIT VIBHAKAR

San Diego, CA - (M2 Presswire  May 24th, 2016) - Titanium has become a firm favorite for the medical and aerospace industries, but a worrying report from Carnegie Mellon University suggests that 3D printed titanium could be fatally flawed.Deep X-rays have revealed a porosity to the material in 3D printed titanium that can be traced back to its powder-based production method.Carnegie Mellon University is one of the world leaders in 3D printing research and has produced some stellar research over the years. It took the most common form of titanium, Ti-gAI-4V, to the U.S. Department of Energys (DOEs) Argonne National Laboratory. There it analyzed the material with so called deep X-rays, or intense synchrotron x-rays, and an advanced rapid imaging tool.Like any other metal, titanium has a certain amount of fatigue resistance until it cracks or breaks, said Hasit Vibhakar. The more porosity in the printed metal, the more its resistance to fatigue is decreased.Titanium is now preferred for prosthetics, bone implants and airplanes. That is due to its reliability, resistance to corrosion and outright strength. So this is a worrying premise.3D printing titanium alloys has been hailed as a technical revolution. It reduces waste, cost and allows us to produce tailored designs for joint replacements, dental implants and more. Current powder-based printing methods result in a more porous metal, though, which means its more likely to fail than forged alternatives.Its less of a concern in a hip replacement or other bone implants, because titanium in any form is certainly stronger than the bone it replaces. Aerospace components have to endure massive stress, though, and it is this kind of force that could present a problem. With so much riding on each and every part, it might make some companies reconsider using 3D printing for mission critical components.Titanium powders are generally used in combination with a Selective Laser Melting printer or an Electron Beam Melting process. This study focused on EBM and the way it melts the powder.Inevitably, gas is trapped in the resulting liquid layer and creates pore-like bubbles that can range from a few microns to a few hundred across. They are randomly distributed, too, which means it only takes a few large pores to line up and you have a potential fault line.We can observe hundreds or even thousands of pores at a high resolution of about two microns, Hasit Vibhakar said ominously.The power, speed and spacing of the beam can all have an impact on the porosity. Each technique has its own benefits, but these new findings could mean that we change the way we print titanium and other metals.Unmelted powder can increase porosity, but too much powder can leave deep voids. So there is a sweet spot that can minimize the amount of pores in the titanium. According to the researchers, though, it is almost impossible to eliminate them.This study has potentially grave consequences for the industry as a whole and it certainly means that mission critical components may have to be checked more often for any signs of a failure. But there is a potential solution.The CMU team will now look at the powder itself to see if there is a way to reduce porosity at the powder stage. Even changing the compound could be an option.Technology has moved at a frightening rate in the 3D printing world and we are inevitably going to find issues along the way. Now CMU has identified this one, the industry will almost certainly find the solution, stated Hasit VibhakarAbout Hasit VibhakarHasit Vibhakar is a proactive, performance-driven middle market executive with 20 years + progressive expertise in C-level leadership and problem solving for additive manufacturing, advanced CNC manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, supply chain, technology services, and startup operations. Proven track record of enhancing enterprise value and shareholder value. Experienced at building small cap and middle market companies.Hasit Vibhakar is an Industrialist specializing in strategic direction and growth. A seasoned c-level business executive with many years of proven track record of building enterprise value and shareholder value. He has successfully started eight technology, industrial and manufacturing enterprises and all have been successfully acquired at premium multiples in the industry. Prior to being a serial entrepreneur he has been employed with leading aerospace, telecom, technology, industrial and supply chain based companies.Unitron MediaA Public Relations AgencyMark Gomez4570 N. First Ave , Suite 120Tucson, AZ 85718
Rapid Prototyping and 3D Printing Making a Mark in Dentistry

Hasit Vibhakar

San Diego, CA - (Open PR - May 24th, 2016) - Like many other branches of medical science, the various forms of additive manufacturing such as rapid prototyping and 3D printing are making a significant position in dentistry. Today, millions of orthodontic braces, dental crowns, bridges, etc. are being made with the help of 3D printing. These are being produced with the help of game changing industrial 3D printers which cost over a million US dollars. In the past, dentists have relied on an investment casting method for the small metal bits in false teeth. The process involves creating a persons individual tooth model out of wax, putting it inside a ceramic casing, melting wax, and finally pouring this molten metal into the cavity or cast it has left. After the cast is opened, the new metal teeth can be extracted. Not only is this process around five thousand years old, it is also intensive in labor, very tricky, and not a hundred percent accurate. This is where the contribution of 3D printing comes into play. With rapid prototyping and 3D printing, dental implants and surgeries are becoming more accurate and less of a hassle for both doctors and patients.Surgical UseAt University of Louisville School of Dentistry, specialists have developed a digitally aided surgery protocol that involves 3D scanning of patients jaw, gums and teeth, making a set of temporary teeth through CNC milling and finally 3D printing the templates and surgical models required. The specialists are testing out a fully digitized approach to computer-aided dental surgery. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry published an article where the researchers described the fully digital surgical procedure in detail. They believe that this technological advancement could be greatly beneficial for a hassle free surgery experience.In order to test the efficiency of the 3D scanning and printing protocol, the team employed it in replacement of two teeth of a female patient at the School of Dentistrys clinic. First, the patients mouth was 3D scanned to obtain the required digital information as opposed to traditionally taking an impression of the teeth in a physical mold. The scanning process is definitely a lot less invasive and more accurate. After obtaining this information, the team began the process of designing the restoration teeth. For this, CAD software was used followed by CNC milling. Then, using some 3D printed templates and models of the mouth, the surgeon placed all the dental implants without any disruption in the gum flaps of the patient. This welcome initiative had the patient in all smiles, due to the less invasive nature of the surgical procedure.ApplicationsNot just the mouth, 3D printed products have also made their way into the human body through hearing aids, artificial limbs etc. More than sixty million custom hearing aid shells and molds have been manufactured using 3D printing in the last sixteen years. Many have been fitted with various 3D printed orthopedic implants, titanium jawbones, hip replacement joints and other prosthetic limbs. Also, around one hundred thousand knee replacements have been performed using 3D printed surgical guides every year.The healthcare industry as a whole is swiftly adapting to the new technology that involves additive manufacturing. No human being is built the same, hence the need for customized production of teeth, limbs and other body parts. 3D printing can offer exactly that, being run on CAD software that instructs printers to build objects just as designed. Layer by layer, the material is printed according to the medical scan provided as the CAD file. This type of software proves to be cheaper and faster to replace than the tools used in traditional factories- designed to build identical products from an assembly line. Hence, customization remains the main strength of rapid prototyping and 3D printing.The Current MarketAdditive manufacturing in medical science is still a tiny sector compared to the huge machine tool market of seventy billion dollars. However, 3D printing is advancing rapidly in a wide range of sectors including healthcare. According to the estimates the growth of 3D printed services and products last year was 26%, whose net worth is around $5.2 billion. This large figure happens to be the tip of the iceberg as McKinsey, a management consultancy firm demands that the economic growth can be as much as $550 billion every year by the year 2025.This is due to the fact that 3D printing provides low prices, better quality products, unprecedented lower production time and of course, better health for patients.Overall, using 3D printing for teeth implants and surgeries is going to bring unprecedented revolution in the healthcare sector.About Hasit VibhakarHasit Vibhakar is a proactive, performance-driven middle market executive with 20 years + progressive expertise in C-level leadership and problem solving for additive manufacturing, advanced CNC manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, supply chain, technology services, and startup operations. Proven track record of enhancing enterprise value and shareholder value. Experienced at building small cap and middle market companies.Hasit Vibhakar is an Industrialist specializing in strategic direction and growth. A seasoned c-level business executive with many years of proven track record of building enterprise value and shareholder value. He has successfully started eight technology, industrial and manufacturing enterprises and all have been successfully acquired at premium multiples in the industry. Prior to being a serial entrepreneur he has been employed with leading aerospace, telecom, technology, industrial and supply chain based companies.Unitron MediaA Public Relations AgencyMark Gomez4570 N. First Ave , Suite 120Tucson, AZ 85718
South Australia $6 billion major projects commitment

http://www.saconference.com.au/

www.expotradeglobal.com

24th May, Adelaide, SA: More than $6 billion worth of major infrastructure projects are currently underway or scheduled to begin in South Australia over the 2016 period, precedent to the growing number of infrastructure development opportunities within the state.Significant projects include the $985 million Northern Connector Project which aims to construct 43 kilometres of new motorway, connecting the recently completed Northern Expressway and South Road Superway links.South Australia has also been chosen as the location to construct Australias next fleet of submarines at Adelaide's Osborne shipyards from local steel, as part of a $50 billion contract with France.The 12 new submarines are due for completion early 2030, expected to create 2,800 local jobs, as well as an additional 2,000 jobs from the construction of a fleet of frigates announced days earlier.Featuring a world-class maritime industry, these developments are testament to South Australias prominent Defence industry. Furthermore, the government has plans to extend the states Defence industry as outlined in the 2016 Defence White Paper.The 2016 Defence White Paper outlines a fully-costed, affordable and achievable plan to ensure the safety and security of the Australian people, including plans to provide an additional $29.9 billion towards Defence spending over the next decade.As part of discussions into these reports and projects, the 9th Annual SA Major Projects Conference 2016 will be taking place at the the Adelaide Convention Centre on the 10th & 11th of August for delegates to network and share ideas on the states latest infrastructure development projects.The conference will include topics on Boosting Tourism Infrastructure for Kangaroo Island, the O-Bahn City Access Project, Adelaide Festival Plaza Redevelopment, the Adelaide Conventions Centre Redevelopment, as well as the Torrens Road to River Torrens Project.The Darlington Upgrade Project is another significant South Australian project which aims to upgrade the North-South Corridor over the next decade, with the South Australian government committing $620 million towards the project.The upgrade is expected to connect rapidly expanding industrial and residential growth areas in the north and south of the state, providing new opportunities for economic development.The South Australian government has also released a public report into the viability of the states role in the nuclear cycle via the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, established by the government in March 2015.Released in May 2016, the findings suggested 12 key recommendations including, the exploration, extraction and mining of uranium, the disposal of international used fuel and intermediate level waste, as well as the generation of electricity via nuclear fuel.The two day conference is a networking and learning opportunity for project managers, operators, contractors, consultants and investors from within the infrastructure and construction industry, to capitalise on the infrastructure pipeline within South AustraliaThe 9th Annual SA Major Projects Conference 2016 is being held on the 10th & 11th of August at the Adelaide Convention Centre.About ExpotradeExpotrade is a global conference and event organizer with its head office based in Melbourne, Australia. Expotrade has delivered some of the largest, most successful B2B industry conferences and events in the areas of infrastructure, major projects, sustainability, technology & architecture. For almost 10 years, our unique blend of knowledge, experience and flexibility has accomplished an array of consistently top quality events. Today, Expotrade events enjoy such a distinctive edge, they are amongst the best patronised in the calendar.For more information, visitSuite 1, Level 1, 2 Brandon Park DriveWheelers Hill VIC 3150 Australia
Data Center Construction spending will increase by average $2 billion every year. AECOM, DPR Construction, Holder Construction, Jacobs Engineering, and Turner  who will have the largest pie?

Data Center Market Research by Beige Market Intelligence

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-ict-market/data-center-construction-market-report/

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-ict-market/data-center-construction-market-report/

Beige Market Intelligence has recently published a report titles Strategic Assessment of Worldwide Data Center Construction Market  Till 2021. The report has indicate some great analysis which will help the key players in the market.On average the data center construction market will globally add $2billion every year. The growth is good but the question is who will take the larger pie of this $2billion every year or $12 billion by 2021.There is intense competition amongst construction vendors in the global data center construction market. Many data centers are currently being operated by enterprises, including CSPs, public and private sectors organization worldwide. The count is expected to increase during the forecast period due to the growth of data and data center emerging as a backbone of the business. There will be a rapid growth in collocation facilities in the near future as well. Several stakeholders of data center such as architecture providers, engineering service providers, and construction firms are involved in the race for attaining projects. Most of the vendors are looking to construct data centers that can support varying computing and storage demands for future.Few vendors have been in a long time partnership with a particular enterprise, for its data center construction. Vendors with expertise in building green data centers are likely to be preferred. Some of the key vendors operating in different geographies are AECOM, DPR Construction, Holder Construction, Jacobs Engineering, and Turner Construction. These includes, architectural, engineering, and construction service firms.To order free sample of the report, please clickComing back to who can be the winner, so the answer is the company which has or can immediately build its solid presence in South-East Asia, Latin America, Nordic region, GCC, and Middle-east Africa. Europe and North America will not contribute much to the growth of data center construction market. In fact, the North America will de-grow. No point for all the vendors to focus there. The Gold pot is in Nordic and South-east Asia. If the vendors want to capture the larger pie of growth then they should focus on these regions.Data Center construction spending in Nordic will double during next 5 years. South-east Asia will go spend almost $5 billion every year by 2021. GCC and Middle East will also spend more than 100 percent what they are currently doing.Demand for Tier 3 and 4 data center in Nordic, GCC, Middle-east Africa, and South-east Asia will attract more spending. The spending in all these regions will be across electrical, mechanical, and general construction.Jacob Engineering seems to be in a better position  in terms of presence in the high growth regions. Having said that, other vendors like AECOM, DPR, Holder Construction, Turner are not far away. In fact, Beige Market Intelligence predicts that the wave can turn anywhere. The key would be to move first and get the local advantage.To read the full report, please visitPlease contact Beige Market Intelligence atMail: contactus@beigemarketintelligence.comUS: +1 347 903 9949UK: +44 20 323 99499APAC: +91 99 012 75473Beige Market Intelligence: We are a new-age provider of competitive business intelligence, working across various industry verticals. Our expertise and knowledge ensures that the market analysis Beige provides is comprehensive, detailed and complete. The analysis helps our client organizations become aware and make educated decisions, as far as investing or devising a marketing strategy is concerned. The actionable insights delivered through our market research provide a comprehensive market analysis for every level of market segmentation in an industry. Beige Market Intelligence is a quality driven high end Market Research organization. Our team of experts ensure the analysis you receive is not just analyzed and smartly presented, but is completely customized based on the clients requirement. Our deliverables guarantee our current global client base does not look beyond Beige when it comes to any kind of industry and market analysis.Name of the company: Beige Market IntelligencePostal Address: Chinnapanahalli Main Road,Doddanekundi Village, Bangalore Bangalore KA 560037, IndiaPress Contact: Jency Jacob (media@beigemarketintelligence.com)
Beige Market Intelligence Predicts Bluetooth Smart Market Worth $3 Billion by 2021

Bluetooth Smart Market Research and Market Size by Beige Market Intelligence

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-ict-market/bluetooth-smart-report/

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-ict-market/bluetooth-smart-report/

Bluetooth Smart Market is a new market research report recently published by Beige Market intelligence with a worldwide coverage as well as a segmentation by device type (Bluetooth smart device, Bluetooth smart ready device) by shipment (classic Bluetooth module shipment, Bluetooth smart module shipment, Bluetooth smart ready module shipment) by application (automotive, consumer electronics, healthcare, home automation, industrial automation, retail and wearables) and by geography (APAC, EMEA, Latin America, and North America). The market research report provides growth trends, analysis and forecasts for the period 2016  2021 and predicts the market to be worth close to US$ 3 billion by 2021.Industrial IoT is one of the largest end-markets for Bluetooth Smart. The market is expected to extend from personal area networks (PAN) to wider area networks (WAN). The Industrial Internet Consortium was founded in March 2014 to bring together the organizations and technologies necessary to accelerate the growth of Bluetooth smart within this sector. The organization is backed by companies such as AT&T, Cisco, Intel and IBM.To order a free sample copy of the report, please clickAPAC to contribute to more than 50 percent of the revenue in the Bluetooth Smart Market in 2021The demand for Bluetooth smart modules in the APAC region is driven by the rapid growth of organized retail in the region. As the regions growth centres such as India, Indonesia, China and Thailand ease their FDI policies in multi-brand and E-commerce retailing, an influx of investments into the regions retail sector is expected to exceed $20 billion during the forecast period. The high adoption of wearables will also add to the growth for Bluetooth smart in the region especially in the fitness segment with an emphasis on healthcare.Healthcare sector expected to contribute to close to US$ 100 million of the Bluetooth Smart Market in 2021The healthcare sector consists of devices such as hearing aids, blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors, smart drug delivery devices and thermometers. All of these are expected to contribute to the growth of the market. Continuous glucose monitors are a significant segment in healthcare sector owing to the growing prevalence of diabetes in the emerging economies of Latin America and Asia Pacific. Within the healthcare sector, North America is expected to contribute to the most of the Bluetooth smart market.To know more about Strategic Assessment of Worldwde Bluetooth Smart Market, please visitClose to 4 billion Bluetooth Smart Ready Modules to be shipped in 2021With the introduction and realization of Internet of Things (IoT) in every aspect of a consumers life, ranging from health, fitness and wellness to retail and smart homes, Bluetooth Smart technology is turning out to be the de-facto standard for wireless connectivity. Bluetooth smart has also enabled the rise of several low cost pieces of hardware that eventually established new application segments itself. One such device, whose horizon of application is constantly expanding is beacons. Shipments of beacons, working on proximity sensing is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 50% between the period 2016-2021.Key Vendors in the Bluetooth Smart MarketThe Bluetooth Smart market has a number of large players that are playing a pivotal role in the market. These companies are Broadcom, Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR plc), Dialog Semiconductor, Nordic Semiconductor ASA, Silicon Labs and Texas Instruments (TI).Other vendors operating in the market include Apple, Bluegiga Technologies, Blueradios, Cypress Semiconductor, Lapis Semiconductor, Marvell Technology, Mediatek, Microchip Technology, Murata, NXP Semiconductors, STMicroelectronics, and Toshiba.Please contact Beige Market Intelligence atMail: contactus@beigemarketintelligence.comUS: +1 347 903 9949UK: +44 20 323 99499APAC: +91 99 012 75473Beige Market Intelligence: We are a new-age provider of competitive business intelligence, working across various industry verticals. Our expertise and knowledge ensures that the market analysis Beige provides is comprehensive, detailed and complete. The analysis helps our client organizations become aware and make educated decisions, as far as investing or devising a marketing strategy is concerned. The actionable insights delivered through our market research provide a comprehensive market analysis for every level of market segmentation in an industry. Beige Market Intelligence is a quality driven high end Market Research organization. Our team of experts ensure the analysis you receive is not just analyzed and smartly presented, but is completely customized based on the clients requirement. Our deliverables guarantee our current global client base does not look beyond Beige when it comes to any kind of industry and market analysis.Name of the company: Beige Market IntelligencePostal Address: Chinnapanahalli Main Road,Doddanekundi Village, Bangalore Bangalore KA 560037, IndiaPress Contact: Jency Jacob (media@beigemarketintelligence.com)
IQ4I Research & Consultancy published a new report on PCR Technologies Global Market  Forecast To 2022

Polymerase Chain Reaction is a process in which multiple copies of desired DNA sequence is obtained in a short period of time. This technique involves three steps namely denaturation, annealing and extension which are repeated at every cycle to obtain the required gene amplification. PCR technology global market is advancing at a steady rate. As estimated by IQ4I Research, PCR technology global market is valued at $XX million in 2015 and expected to grow at a CAGR of XX% to reach $15,421 million by 2022. Currently, PCR technology has its applications in clinical diagnostics, industrial applications, and biomedical research.The factors driving the growth of this market are increasing demand for innovative technology supporting early and accurate diagnosis of life threatening disease, rising demand for PCR in genetic and molecular testing, expiry of key players PCR patents, rising investments in the field of companion diagnostics, advent of digital PCR, increasing RT-PCR based food safety testing, increasing affinity for automated high throughput and robotic systems and multiplexed analytical strategies for improving sensitivity and speed of PCR technology. However, few factors like high cost of commercial PCR assays in the clinical diagnostics, lack of awareness and requirement of skilled labour, and development of alternative technologies are hampering the market.The PCR technologies global market by products is segmented into instruments, reagents and consumables and software. Reagents and consumables holds the largest market revenue of $XX million in 2015 and expected to reach $XX million in 2022 at a highest CAGR of X% followed by instruments. Instruments include traditional and real-time thermocyclers while reagents and consumables include enzymes, dNTPs, template DNA, primers and probes, buffers, master mixes, nuclease free water and others (tracking dye and wax beads). Software in the PCR market comprises Primer designers and sequence softwares, PCR data analysis software and others.By application, the market is segmented into clinical diagnostics, industrial applications, and others (Pathogen detection and dentistry). Clinical diagnostics are further divided into infectious and non-infectious diseases. Infectious disease includes hepatitis B & C, tuberculosis, HIV and others. Non-infectious diseases include prenatal diagnosis, tissue typing, cancer therapy, genetic typing for hereditary disease, blood screening and others. Industrial applications are divided into agricultural biotechnology, environmental, applied testing, animal husbandry and biomedical research. Applied testing includes forensic and food safety testing while biomedical research includes DNA sequencing, genotyping, biomarker discovery, gene expression and genetic mapping, DNA cloning and others. Among the applications, industrial applications of PCR holds the largest share with revenue of $XX million in 2015 and is expected grow at a CAGR of X% to reach $XX million in 2022. Clinical diagnostics is the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of X% from 2015 to 2022. The latest application of PCR is seen in cell-free DNA technology which used in prenatal diagnosis of disorders.By Technique, the PCR market is segmented into standard PCR, real-time PCR, reverse transcriptase PCR, digital PCR, assembly PCR, multiplex PCR, hot start PCR and others. Among the PCR techniques Real Time PCR/qPCR holds the largest share with revenue of $XX million in 2015 and is expected grow at a CAGR of X% to reach $XX million in 2022. Digital PCR (dPCR) is the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of XX%. The real-time PCR, nested PCR and digital PCR technique is used where the point mutations are analysed using qualitative real-time PCR by using specific allele probes to analyse the genetic disorder that the foetus has developed. Droplet digital PCR is one of the new and alternative technologies for qPCR for the quantification of DNA templates. The massive portioning of the sample is the main aspect of this technology making it unique from other PCR technologies.The PCR end users are segmented into hospitals and laboratories, pharmaceuticals, CROs and biotech companies, academics and others (Blood banks). Among these Pharmaceuticals CROs and biotech companies accounted for XX% share and is growing strongly at a CAGR of X%.The PCR technology global market based on geography is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the world. North American region commanded the largest revenue market of $XX million in 2015 and expected to reach $XX million by 2022 at a CAGR of X%.Analytik Jena (Germany), Applied Biosystems (U.S.), Eppendorf AG (Germany), Agilent Technologies (U.S.), Auxilab S.L (Spain), Chai Biotechnology (U.S.), Biogenex (U.S.), DaAn gene (China), Seegene (South Korea), New England Biolabs Inc. (U.S.), Premier Biosoft (India), Diatherix (U.S.) and Bibby scientific limited (U.K.) are some of the emerging players in the PCR technologies market.The major key players in the global PCR market include Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Inc. (U.S.), Agilent Technologies (U.S.), BioMerieux SA (France), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Qiagen N.V. (The Netherlands), Promega Corporation (U.S.), Merck KGaA (Germany), Hoffman-La Roche (Switzerland), Takara Bio, Inc (Japan), and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc (U.S.).We are a team of highly qualified consultants and market researchers, committed to help clients make strategic decisions by providing relevant and firmly reliable Intelligence support. We enable our clients to identify the market opportunities with best-in-class market intelligence reports.With world-class research capabilities, we deliver high level strategically analyzed consulting and custom research assignments to our clients at a reasonable cost and time frame. With fact-based insights and accurate market forecasts, we enable our clients to understand and respond to the market dynamics with an edge over their competitors.IQ4I Research and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.No- 11, Industrial Suburb, 1st Stage, West of Chord Road,RajajiNagar, Bangalore- 560010
Global Market for Essential Oil to Reach 9.80 billion by 2022, Growing at CAGR of 9% by 2020

http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/essential-oil-market-z38554

http://goo.gl/tXVBPb

http://goo.gl/231jHE

http://www.marketresearchstore.com

Essential oils are also known as volatile or ethereal oil or aetherolea. An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. It is extracted from the vast variety of plants and herbs like orange, corn mint, eucalyptus, citronella, pepper mint, lemon, clover leaf, lime, and spearmint, etc. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products.Browse the full "Essential Oil (Orange, Corn Mint, Eucalyptus, Citronella, Pepper Mint, Lemon, Clover Leaf, Lime, Spearmint) Market for Medical, Food & Beverage, Spa & Relaxation, Cleaning & Home, and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014 - 2020" report atGlobal essential oil market is mainly driven by increasing demand from natural and organic care products due to increasing health issues among the consumers. Development in organic product industry attracts the attention of consumers and manufacturers. Sharp rise in demand for natural aromatic flavors and fragrances in cosmetics, perfumes, as well as spa and relaxation applications is anticipated to foster the demand for essential oils. However, availability of synthetic substitutes and high prices of essential oils will be major concern for manufacturers.Orange, corn mint, eucalyptus, citronella, pepper mint, lemon, clover leaf, lime, and spearmint are the key product segment of essential oil market. Orange was the leading segment, which accounted for more than 35% share of the total volume consumption in 2014. Orange oil possesses exhibit excellent medical benefits like antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and antidepressant. Corn mint oil is one of the fastest growing products. Corn mint oil provides numerous health advantages.Get Request Sample @On the basis of applications, the essential oil market has been segmented as medical, food & beverage, spa & relaxation, cleaning & home and other. Food & beverages was the largest application market for essential oils and accounted for over 30% share of the total revenue generated in 2014. Food & beverages industry is expected to witness robust growth during the forecast period. This in turn expected to foster the demand for essential oils in the years to come. Spa & relaxation is also one of the significant outlets for essential oil market.Global essential oil market was dominated by the Europe in terms of both volume and revenue. Upward trend in natural cosmetics and beauty products, medicines, and nutraceuticals coupled with strong demand from aging population from developed countries such as Germany, UK and France is mainly driving demand for essential oils in the region. Essential oil market in Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness rapid growth as compared to other regions. North America was the second largest regional market for essential oils followed by Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Get Illustrative Sample before buying:Some of the key players in global essential oil market include Biolandes, Sydney Essential Oils, HRF, The Lebermuth Company, Young Living Essential Oils, doTerra, Essential Oils of New Zealand, Sydella Laboratoire, Farotti Essenze, Moksha Lifestyle Products, West India Spices Inc., Falcon, and Ungerer Limited.Zion Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@marketresearchstore.comWebsite:
It looks like Obama just got a rude welcome from Shinzo Abe, the Japan Prime Minister on his apology tour. The Japanese Prime Minister says he has NO PLANS to visit Pearl Harbor to reciprocate what Obama is doing in Hiroshima:Read more: BREAKING: Japanese Prime MInister LECTURES Obama, says he?s not going to Pearl Harbor  The Right Scoop -
Seven-day Needleless Connectors Market to Witness Robust Growth in the Forthcoming Years

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/acute-care-needleless-connectors-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=4230

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

According to a research report, published by Transparency Market Research (TMR), on the global acute care needleless connectors market for , the market is likely to register a CAGR of 10.20% between 2014 and 2020.The research report, titled, Acute Care Needleless Connectors Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, estimates this market to reach US$972.0 mn by the end of the forecast period.Read More:Needleless connectors are utilized to connect catheters to syringes or IV systems. The increasing incidence of injuries from needlesticks to healthcare professionals and patients has augmented the prevalence of blood-borne diseases. As needleless connectors allow the easy administration of medicines as well as convenient withdrawal of blood intravenously, the demand for acute care needleless connectors has been rising significantly across the world since the last few years.According to the report, the global market for acute care needleless connectors market has experienced a sturdy rise in the recent times. The rising prevalence of diabetes, chronic pain, and cancer has propelled the demand for acute care needleless connectors globally.In this research report, the global market for acute care needleless connectors has been studied on the basis of the type of design, mechanism, dwell time, and the region. Based on the type of design, the market has been segmented into simple connectors and complex connectors. The complex connectors segment led the overall market in 2013 with a majority share. However, the simple connectors segment is likely to register a faster growth rate over the forecast period.Based on the mechanism, the worldwide acute care needleless connectors market has been categorized into the neutral fluid displacement segment, the negative fluid displacement segment, and the positive fluid displacement segment. In 2013, the positive fluid displacement segment acquired the leading position in the overall market with a share of approximately 34%. However, the neutral fluid displacement segment is estimated to register the highest growth at a CAGR of 11.0% during the forecast period, notes the market report.By dwell time, the market has been grouped into seven days connectors and the other than seven days connectors. Over the forecast period, the other than seven days connectors segment is likely to register a higher growth rate than the seven days connectors.On the regional basis, the global acute care needleless connectors market has been classified into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. North America emerged as the leading regional market for acute care needleless connectors in 2013.The high awareness regarding these connectors among healthcare practitioners, infrastructural advancement in the healthcare industry, and the rapid rise in the geriatric population have driven the North America acute care needleless connectors market significantly over the last few years. However, Asia Pacific is projected to record the fastest growth in the overall market during the forecast period due to rising incidence of chronic diseases, states the research report.Request For Custom Research:B. Braun Melsungen AG, Vygon SA, RyMed Technologies LLC, Nexus Medical LLC, ICU Medical Inc., CareFusion Corp., Becton Dickinson and Co., and Baxter International Inc. are the key international producers of acute care needleless connectors mentioned in this market study.The global acute care needleless connectors market is segmented into:By Design TypeSimpleComplexBy MechanismPositive Fluid DisplacementNegative Fluid DisplacementNeutral Fluid DisplacementBy Dwell Time7 DaysOther than 7 DaysBy RegionNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of WorldAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact us:Mr. Sudip STransparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email:A sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global and Chinese Parking Assist Systems Market Trends, Size, Survey, Demand 2011-2021

http://www.profresearchreports.com/parking-assist-systems-industry-2016-global-and-chinese-analysis-market

http://www.profresearchreports.com/request-sample/18315

http://www.profresearchreports.com

The Global and Chinese Parking Assist Systems Industry, 2011-2021 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Parking Assist Systems industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Parking Assist Systems manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2011-2016 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Parking Assist Systems industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export.The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2016-2021 market development trends of Parking Assist Systems industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out.Get Free Sample Copy Of Report At:Table Of Contents:Chapter One Introduction of Parking Assist Systems Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Parking Assist Systems1.2 Development of Parking Assist Systems Industryl1.3 Status of Parking Assist Systems IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Parking Assist Systems2.1 Development of Parking Assist Systems Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Parking Assist Systems Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Parking Assist Systems Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.1 Company A3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2011-2016 Production InformationChapter Four 2011-2016 Global and Chinese Market of Parking Assist Systems4.1 2011-2016 Global Capacity, Production and Production Value of Parking Assist Systems Industry4.2 2011-2016 Global Cost and Profit of Parking Assist Systems Industry4.3 Market Comparison of Global and Chinese Parking Assist Systems Industry4.4 2011-2016 Global and Chinese Supply and Consumption of Parking Assist Systems4.5 2011-2016 Chinese Import and Export of Parking Assist SystemsChapter Five Market Status of Parking Assist Systems Industry5.1 Market Competition of Parking Assist Systems Industry by Company5.2 Market Competition of Parking Assist Systems Industry by Country (USA, EU, Japan, Chinese etc.)5.3 Market Analysis of Parking Assist Systems Consumption by Application/TypeChapter Six 2016-2021 Market Forecast of Global and Chinese Parking Assist Systems Industry6.1 2016-2021 Global and Chinese Capacity, Production, and Production Value of Parking Assist Systems6.2 2016-2021 Parking Assist Systems Industry Cost and Profit Estimation6.3 2016-2021 Global and Chinese Market Share of Parking Assist Systems6.4 2016-2021 Global and Chinese Supply and Consumption of Parking Assist Systems6.5 2016-2021 Chinese Import and Export of Parking Assist SystemsChapter Seven Analysis of Parking Assist Systems Industry Chain7.1 Industry Chain Structure7.2 Upstream Raw MaterialsEnquire About Report At:Contact Us:James Jorden5320 SW Macadam Avenue,Suite 100,Portland, OR 97239,United States.Direct: +1-971-202-1575Toll Free: +1-800-910-6452Hong Kong Office : 852-301-84916Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975Web:Email:help@profresearchreports.comProf Research Report is a high end market research & consulting firm that offers current and future market intelligence across 30 industrial verticals such as energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc through is quality database. Prof Research Report has successfully utilized technology to manage complex and massive market related database, which offers research reports of high analytical value.5320 SW Macadam Avenue, Suite 100, Portland
Specialty Silica - Advanced technologies & growth opportunities in global Industry by 2024.

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11183

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Silica or silicon dioxide is chemically a colorless and crystalline compound and is the most abundant mineral in the earths crust. Silica is widely found in form of quartz and is the major constituent of sand. It is also found in various living organisms. Specialty silica is used across a wide range of applications such as ink and coatings, rubber, plastic, agriculture and feed, electrical and electronics, personal care, food and beverages, and others. The rubber industry has been one of the leading application segments in the global specialty silica market. Amorphous silica, along with carbon black is used as reinforcing filler in rubber, especially in the manufacturing of tires. In the coming years, the rubber industry is expected to contribute significantly toward the growth of the market.The major types of specialty silica are fumed silica, precipitated silica, colloidal silica, silica gel, and fused silica. Fumed silica, better known as pyrogenic silica, contains microscopic droplets of amorphous silica while precipitated silica is produced by precipitating a solution containing silicate salts. In colloidal silica, nonporous, spherical, and amorphous silica particles are suspended in a liquid phase. Silica gel is a granular and porous form of silicon dioxide produced synthetically from sodium silicate. Fused silica is usually added to glass to lower its melting point. Precipitated silica is extensively used in the rubber and inks and coatings industries and is among the largest product segments in the market.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure:Global Specialty Silica Market: OverviewIncreasing applications of specialty silica in the automotive sector have propelled the growth of the global specialty silica market. Around 20% of the fuel consumption of a vehicle is due to the rolling resistance of tires. Specialty silica is widely used in tires to offer better rolling resistance and traction, thereby making the vehicle more fuel efficient. Rapid expansion of the electronics industry has fueled the demand for silica gel, which is used to absorb moisture from electronic products. All these factors will propel the growth of the global specialty silica market.However, the availability of greener alternatives to products such as fumed silica is expected to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast horizon. Fumed silica is produced through an energy-intensive and environmentally-hazardous process that releases corrosive hydrogen chloride gas. Greener alternatives to fumed silica are manufactured from bio-wastes such as rice hulls.Global Specialty Silica Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global specialty silica market has been segmented into four key regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. The growing demand from Asia Pacific is expected to significantly contribute toward the growth of the market during the forecast period. Rise in per capita income across the emerging economies in Asia Pacific has fueled the demand from the automotive sector. Major automotive companies have shifted their focus toward Asia Pacific owing to the rising demand and availability of cheap labor. The rapid growth of the automotive industry has driven the demand for tires which, in turn, has augmented the regional specialty silica market.Some of the key players in the global specialty silica market are Akzo Nobel N.V., Evonik Industries AG, PPG industries, Nalco Holdings, Wacker Chemie AG, Cabot Corporation, and Qingdao Makall Group Inc. The key players are focusing on increasing their production capacities to meet increasing demand for specialty silica across various end-use industries.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip.S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Conformal Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11243

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Conformal coating is a special type of coating applied to electronic devices in order to protect them from external factors such as heat and rain. These form a protective layer shielding electronic circuits from moisture and chemical contaminants and help prolong the life of electronic devices.Various coating methods are used to protect electronic components from external conditions and contaminants. The most popular methods include spray application, brush coatings, and conformal coating dipping. Regionally, the global conformal coatings market has been segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. The opportunities for expansion exhibited by these regions are examined extensively in the report.The report on conformal coatings presents a quantitative and qualitative assessment of various factors and government policies influencing the global market. It is compiled with the intent of updating the stakeholders about the prevailing market dynamics and its outlook. The report also includes details pertaining to the investment feasibility in the market and opportunities for new entrants.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure:Global Conformal Coatings Market: Key Opportunities and ThreatsThe global conformal coatings market has reported significant growth in the past couple of years. Growth trends exhibited by the market are expected to continue in the next few years. The expansion of the electronics industry, especially in emerging economies, is likely to boost the conformal coatings market. Conformal coatings ensure better moisture and dielectric resistance; these are key factors increasing usage in the electronics industry.Based on material type, the acrylic conformal coating segment is expected to dominate the market in the near future. Acrylic conformal coatings are easy to apply and the easiest to rework. Additionally, these provide high resistance from abrasion, chemicals, and moisture; take less time to cure, and are available at low cost. These are the key factors encouraging the use of acrylic conformal coatings across industries.Apart from the electronics industry, demand for conformal coatings is increasing in the automotive electronics segment. Electronics installed in vehicles are exposed to chemical contaminants, harsh working conditions, moisture, dust, and vibration. These factors necessitate the use of conformal coatings on automotive electronics to ensure their better performance and longevity.Automotive manufacturers strive to offer high quality and reliable smart vehicles at competitive prices. This prevalent trend in the automotive industry in turn is bolstering demand for conformal coatings in the industry.Global Conformal Coatings Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, North America dominates the global conformal coatings market. The market in the region is expected to expand at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. High demand for conformal coatings in industries located in countries such as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. contributes to the growth of the conformal coatings market in North America. The U.S. holds the largest market share in North America.Enterprises operating in the global conformal coatings market witness lucrative opportunities in Asia Pacific. The strategic initiatives adopted by companies to gain customers have proven beneficial for the expansion of the conformal coatings market in the region. The rapid expansion of the electronics industry in the region has also contributed to the growth of the conformal coatings market in Asia Pacific.Global Conformal Coatings Market: Vendor LandscapeIn order to study the prevailing vendor landscape in the market, the report profiles companies such as Henkel, Electrolube, Cytec Industries, Inc., Dymax Corporation, Chase Corporation, and DuPont. These companies are studied based on their financial overview, product portfolio, and strategies adopted.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip.S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
High Temperature Superconducting Fibers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11393

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Superconductivity, an attribute that allows a material to show almost zero resistance to electric current flowing through it, is becoming a much sought-after advantage in newer materials used in various industries. Some of the most inherent challenges associated with electric power transmission and storage can be nullified with the use of superconducting materials, as has been evidenced by the scientific community over the last century.This has stirred a greater degree of interest in high temperature superconducting fibers in recent years. As emergent uses of high-temperature superconducting fibers in industries such as transportation, electronics, energy distribution and storage, and healthcare come to the fore, this market is expected to register a significant increase in size. However, the markets growth will be curbed to some extent as challenges related to the integration of fiber optics with superconducting fibers still persist. Although there have been several experiments involving the use of yttrium barium copper oxide as the core material for superconducting fiber, widespread commercialization has only recently begun to gather steam.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :The demand for high temperature superconducting fibers is expected to demonstrate a healthy rate of growth thanks primarily to the many end-use industries that are showing a heightened interest in using this novel material. With numerous academic and commercial research activities underway in the market, it is expected that more superconductivity breakthroughs will occur. Over the forecast period of the report, the adoption of high temperature superconducting fibers could rise dramatically in sectors such as electric energy generation, transformation and storage, and transmission.Global High Temperature Superconducting Fibers Market: TrendsWith an ever-increasing emphasis on energy conservation against the backdrop of rising electricity prices and depleting fossil-fuel reserves, high temperature superconducting fibers provide a viable solution. Moreover, the demand for electric and electronic components with high endurance levels has necessitated the development of power cables that can transmit energy at high speeds and storage systems that demonstrate unprecedented efficiency. The energy sector also has the need for generators and transformers that can offer failsafe performance even under demanding conditions. As the demand for high-temperature superconductors grows in the energy and electronics sectors, the high-temperature superconducting fibers market will also experience growth.Both commercial entities in the market and academia are focusing on the development of novel superconducting materials. Governments, on their part, are also backing such research initiatives. While such developments will positively impact the market, they will only do so in the long run as research projects could take as many as two decades to achieve commercialization.Global High Temperature Superconducting Fibers Market: Regional and Competitive OutlookTMR expects the Asia Pacific region to register the fastest rate of growth in the global high-temperature superconducting fiber market over the forecast period. This regions growth will largely be defined by the brisk pace of industrialization in countries such as India, Korea, and China as well as a few other South East Asian countries where the contract manufacturing sector is developing well. The demand for high temperature superconductors is projected to remain higher than that of low temperature superconducting fibers.The market will also remain dynamic in developed countries in North America and Western Europe, where energy-related research activities are receiving generous funding from governments.The competitive landscape of the global high temperature superconducting fibers market is becoming progressively dynamic with companies vying to bag new orders, especially from the energy industry. Companies that are currently at the forefront of the global high temperature superconducting fibers market are Hyper Tech Research, Inc., American Superconductor Corporation, Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc., SuperPower, Inc., and Superconducting Technologies, Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip.S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Prefabricated Building System Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11396

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Global Prefabricated Building System Market: OverviewPrefabricated building systems entail modular components such as frames, panels, doors, roofs, walls, and windows. From setting up industrial facilities to building homes and commercial spaces, prefabricated systems are extensively used in developed countries. However, with developing countries now beginning to adopt prefabricated building systems because they offer cost-efficiency.These systems are prefabricated so as to save both time and space while assembling them at the desired site. By helping save time at the construction site, prefabricated building systems help cut down on the cost of repeatedly transporting material and labor to the construction site.With companies in this space focusing on developing structurally robust structures that can withstand severe weather conditions, the adoption of prefabricated building systems has only received a boost.Prefabricated building systems are available in the form of skeleton systems, panel systems, combined systems, or cellular systems. A prefabricated panel system may typically comprise ready-to-use components such as cellular systems, flexible partition elements, and other kinds of three-dimensional structures. On the other hand, a skeleton system features structural elements such as columns and beams and roofing components. Combined prefabricated building systems feature a combination of one or more such systems. A variety of materials are used for constructing prefabricated building systems; these include: Steel, composites, fiber, wood, and glass.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure:Global Prefabricated Building System Market: DriversThe factors currently driving the demand for prefabricated systems are: The establishment of special economic zones where new corporate offices are coming up, the need for convenient alternatives to conventional construction techniques, fast-paced urbanization in emerging regions, and growing investor interest in the real estate sector worldwide. The development of the real estate industry in countries in Asia Pacific and the burgeoning demand for prefabricated building systems in the GCC region will have a positive impact on the growth of this market.Global Prefabricated Building System Market: TrendsThe commercial use of additive manufacturing is expected to lend a large growth opportunity to the global prefabricated building systems market. Already, companies are using novel materials and manufacturing techniques to differentiate their offerings from their competitors. The thrust on energy efficiency has led to the adoption of new designs and concepts, such as micro homes made using energy-absorbing materials.However, there are perceptions among consumers that prefabricated buildings are not as strong as those constructed from the ground up at the actual site. Companies are working to change this perception by introducing new prefabricated building systems that offer strength and lightness in equal amounts. This has paved the way for the use of new alloys, which will help the global prefabricated building system market register a double-digit growth rate.Global Prefabricated Building Systems Market: Competitive LandscapeCompanies in the global prefabricated building system market are currently exploring the use of new materials and fabrication technologies to make prefabricated building systems lighter, easier to assemble, yet high on the strength quotient. Among the companies that have registered an established presence in the global prefabricated building systems market are: Ritz-Craft Corporation, Inc., Algeco Scotsman, Lindal Cedar Homes, Inc., Modern Prefab Systems Pvt. Ltd., and Champion Home Builders, Inc.Companies try and cater to varying customer requirements by offering similar products to suit different load bearing requirements and a choice of standard and custom made prefabricated building systems.This report studies the companies contributing to the growth of the global prefabricated building systems market in detail and offers insights into what the leaders are doing differently.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip.S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Local San Diego Homeless Charity Helping Bags Expands into Los Angeles

Helping Bags Helps Lives

Helping Bags is an established charity for the homeless in San Diego founded August of 2014 by Evan Pickens and has been 99% self-funded. Helping Bags has handed out hundreds of free bags to the homeless every single month. As we've continued our mission and staying true to our cause we've learned a lot about many different types of people and how they got into the situation they've found themselves in. We've been lucky enough to help a few along the way with driving them to homeless shelters they couldn't walk to and providing them with a list of government services they didn't know were available.We're eager to keep this going in San Diego while also very excited to expand into the Los Angeles area. Both cities will receive free bags of goods for the homeless on the last weekend of the month. We've learned a lot in San Diego so everyone at Helping Bags is excited to see what Los Angeles will share.Helping Bags hopes to reach other cities shortly and bring awareness to the every growing homeless epidemic.Helping Bags was created in San Diego to help the homeless by handing out once a month bags filled with necessities to live on the street such as bottle of Helping Bags water, box of raisins, throat lozenges, new pair of heavy duty socks, toilet paper, toothbrush & toothpaste kit, bar of soap, bandages, and an organic food bar.Helping Bags1940 W. San Marcos BlvdSan Marcos, CA 92078
TKA myfare rfid world tag for asset tracking systems(gyrfidstore)

RFID Disc Tags are widely used for inventory tracking system or Automatic production systems. The RFID Disc Tag can also work on metal surface with anti-metal layer on it, also can be attached to goods surface by adhesive layer. There are abundant size options from 12mm to 50mm. GYRFID presents several types with different material and size to suitable customers application.DIP Series- PVC Disc Tag, PVC Laminated, thickness of 1.0-1.2mmDIT Series- Clear PVC Disc Tag, clear PVC Laminated, thickness of 1.0-1.2mmFOT Series- Foil Tag, Clear PVC Sealed, Thickness of 0.45-0.7mm.STE series  Epoxy PVC Sticker, the surface covered by epoxy, thickness 2.0mmTKA series- ABS Token, ultrasonic welding ABS type, various size options.TKPPS series  PPS Token, ultrasonic welding, mini size 12mm.Features:TKA - 20/22/25/28/30mm, thickness 2.0mmTKA301 - 30; Hole 3; thickness 3.0 mmTKA302 - 30; Hole 5; thickness 4.0 mmTKA305 - 30, hole 5, thickness 2mmTKA305 - 30, hole 8, thickness 2mmTKA401 - 40; Hole 5; thickness 4.2 mmTKA501 - 52; Hole 5; thickness 8.0 mmTKA505 - 50, hole 5, thickness 2mmTKA323/273 - 32/27,hole 3, thickness 3mmTKPPS - 12, thickness 3mmMaterial: ABS ultrasonic weldingColor options: Black/ White/ Yellow/RedWater Proof: YesNotes: can be with anti-metal layer and 3M layerPersonalization Support: Silk-screen printing logo Thermal transfer printing Serial Number or UID Barcode printing and QR code printing, Photo printing Laser UID or Number Chip encodingApplication: NFC payments Patrol Guard Systems Logistic management Parcel tracking Inventory Control Automatic production management Asset tracking Device embeddedIC options:125KHz RFID: EM4200, EM4102, EM4100, GK4001; T5577; EM4305; Hitag1, Hitag2, Hitag S256  13.56Mhz ISO14443A: NXP MIFARE Classic 1K, MIFARE Classic 4K, MIFARE Ultralight, MIFARE Ultralight EV1, MIFARE Desfire 2K, MIFARE Desfire 4K, MIFARE Desfire 8K, MIFARE Plus, Fudan FM11RF08; NTAG203, NTAG213, NTAG215, NTAG216; LEGIC MIM256, LEGIC ATC1024, LEGIC ATC2048 13.56Mhz ISO15693: ICODE SLI; ICODE SLI-X; Tag-it 256, Tag-it 2048 840-960Mhz UHF: Alien Higgs, Monza 3, Monza 4D, Monza 4QT; NXP UCODE G2iLAbout GYRFID STOREGYRFID Store is a brand of Go Young International Ltd, which is an online purchase platform of the RFID products.GYRFID Store sells a wide range of Cards and RFID tags embedded with 125KHz, 13.56Mhz, 868Mhz-915Mhz, as well as the personalization to apply in access control and industrial management. We also provide the accessories like lanyard, card holders, badge, ibuttons for office daily usage. We also welcome the personalization like serial number printing, offset printing, encoding service etc.GYRFID Store is located in Shanghai, China mainland. We have customers all around the globe and can ship products all worldwide.GYRFID Store will help you to make the best choices for your RFID system requirements. Shop in GYRFID Store will make your purchase much reliable and flexible.Should any of these items be of interest to you, please let us know. We will be happy to give you a quotation upon receipt of your detailed requirements.ADD:Rm1516, Qiangjin Building, QiXin Rd No.1318 ,Shanghai, 201100, China
Level Crossing Removal Project gains traction

http://www.vicinfrastructure.com.au

www.expotradeglobal.com

25th May, Melbourne, VIC: The Victorian government has embarked on an ambitious plan to remove 50 of the states most dangerous and congested level crossings around Melbourne.With 18 removals currently underway, the Victorian government has allocated $2.4 billion as part of the Victorian Budget 2015-16 towards the removal of at least 20 level crossings by 2018, with further plans to remove all 50 level crossings by 2022.Melbourne currently has 172 level crossings, compared to the only three remaining in Sydney. Melbournes level crossings are also some of the most deadly within the country, claiming 139 lives between 2002 and June 2012.The Victorian government estimates the project will deliver significant safety improvements for drivers and pedestrians, as well as enable trains to run more often and on time.A dedicated Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) has been established to deliver the program, which aims to oversee the planning and delivery of each level crossing removal in a coordinated and efficient way.Crossings along the Dandenong line can remain closed for up to 30-40 minutes per hour during the peak traffic times, exacerbating traffic congestion.Committee for Melbourne, a prominent non-profit organization, has even called for the initiative to be extended to a $17.2 billion program to remove all of Melbournes 172 level crossings over the next 20 years.In discussion of the Level Crossing Removal Project and other prominent transport infrastructure projects, the 8th Annual Victorian Transport Infrastructure Conference will be taking place at the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre as an opportunity for delegates to share ideas on the states most significant transport infrastructure projects.Presentations on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project will feature at the conference, with Evan Tattersall, Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne Metro Rail Authority, providing an overview of the $10.9 billion project.Work has already finished on one level crossing removal, situated on the Glen Waverly line intersecting with Burke Road. Current works are being carried out in Blackburn, Clayton and Noble Park.Other prominent projects to be discussed at the conference include the Western Interstate Freight Terminal, the Sky Rail Project between Caulfield and Dandenong, the Western Distributor, as well as the Port of Melbourne Port Capacity Project.A joint Melbourne University-RMIT study entitled The Benefits of Level Crossing Removals reviewed more than a century of level crossing removals in Melbourne, concluding elevated rail produced more benefit than compared to underground rail.The two day conference provides highly valuable networking opportunities where project managers, operators, contractors, consultants and investors can learn about what projects are in the pipeline for Victoria and capitalize on the business opportunities being created.The 8th Annual Victorian Transport Infrastructure Projects Conference is being held on the 15th & 16th of June at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.More info at:About ExpotradeExpotrade is a global conference and event organizer with its head office based in Melbourne, Australia. Expotrade has delivered some of the largest, most successful B2B industry conferences and events in the areas of infrastructure, major projects, sustainability, technology & architecture. For almost 10 years, our unique blend of knowledge, experience and flexibility has accomplished an array of consistently top quality events. Today, Expotrade events enjoy such a distinctive edge, they are amongst the best patronised in the calendar.For more information, visitSuite 1, Level 1, 2 Brandon Park DriveWheelers Hill VIC 3150 Australia
Rapid Change: Ceresana Analyzes the Global Market for Printing Inks

Market Study: Printing Inks  World

www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/industry/printing-inks-world/

www.ceresana.com/en

Printing is declared dead. Yet, ink on dead trees is still a good business. According to a new market study by Ceresana, the global market for printing inks, which includes toners for electrophotography, will increase its volume to about USD 25.7 billion until 2023. In 2011, it had been at a level of less than USD 20 billion. However, not all manufacturers can benefit from this growth. The printing industry is undergoing some radical changes: While traditional businesses decline, online printing plants are seeing a rapid ascent; traditional printing processes are replaced increasingly by digital publishing.Indians still Favor Hard CopiesIn large parts of Western Europe and North America, digitization has already advanced; circulations of newspapers, magazines, and books decrease significantly. However, there are some regions of the world where increasing numbers of newspapers are printed. India is one of these exceptions: Ceresana forecasts that the demand for inks for newspapers in this country will grow by over 9 % per year in the upcoming eight years. Yet, publication printing will decrease everywhere on the long term.Packaging as Means of SalvationPackaging printing is gaining importance for manufacturers of printing inks. There is no digital replacement for packaging. Demand even increases: The labeling obligations become stricter; internet increases demand for shipping packaging. In the case of North America, Ceresana expects demand for printing inks for packaging to grow by 1.7 % per year until 2023. We expect conductive printing inks to gain importance for intelligent packaging and printed electronics in the upcoming years.Digital Printing Ousts CompetitorsThe requirements for printing plants increase constantly. There is a trend towards smaller circulations, a higher number of printing orders and personalized contents in an ever shorter time which favors digital printing that does not need printing plates. Digital printing systems can fully demonstrate their strengths in the case of job printing of advertising inserts and other occasional printed materials. Digital production also starts to prevail in label printing, in other packaging applications, as well as in book and newspaper printing. Currently, especially inkjet printing systems account for high growth rates.Printing GreenerGrowing environmental awareness leads to an increased promotion of development of UV and other radiation curing printing inks. Demand for these new products develops very dynamically which is a disadvantage for conventional inks based on solvents. This leads to a reduction of contamination caused by volatile organic compounds and enhances characteristics such as higher stability and/or heat resistance, improved cleaning properties and reduced flammability. Sales of UV-curing printing inks will presumably rise by 13% p.a. Printing inks based on water are gaining market shares as well.The Study in Brief:Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the global market for printing inks, including forecasts up to 2023. Revenues development as well as production and consumption volumes are analyzed for each individual region.Chapter 2 examines the 17 largest countries of the market in more detail. Data on demand, revenues, production, import, and export of printing inks is provided. Demand is split by the printing processes offset, gravure, flexography, digital printing and other printing processes and is analyzed in detail. Furthermore, demand is split by 6 application areas.Chapter 3 analyzes the application areas of printing inks in particular on a country and regional basis: newspapers, magazines, books, commercial printing, packaging, as well as other applications.In chapter 4 demand for printing inks split by printing processes is given. Data on demand development is analyzed for the 6 world regions Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.Chapter 5 provides profiles of the largest manufacturers of printing inks  clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, and profile summary. Detailed profiles of 93 manufacturers, such as Agfa Graphics N.V, Altana AG, Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd, DIC Corporation, Flint Group SA, Huber Group, Quad/Graphics, Inc., Sakata Inx Corporation, Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA, and TOYO INK SC Holdings Co., Ltd., are provided.Further information:Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector. For more than 10 years, Ceresana has been supplying several thousand customers from 60 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 100 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts in the following markets: Chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and construction materials.Learn more about Ceresana atCeresanaMainaustrae 3478464 ConstanceGermanyPhone: +49 7531 94293 10Fax: +49 7531 94293 27Press Contact: Martin Ebner, m.ebner@ceresana.com
Its Not Fair Obama Apologizes For Western Civilizations Contributions To Climate Change?It?s Not Fair? Obama Apologizes For Western Civilization?s Contributions To Climate Change - BreitbartThe blaming US tour continues.. Add this to his other list of accomplishments in degrading the United StatesApology to France and Europe ("America Has Shown Arrogance")Apology to the Muslim World ("We Have Not Been Perfect")Apology to the Summit of the Americas ("At Times We Sought to Dictate Our Terms")Apology at the G-20 Summit of World Leaders ("Some Restoration of America's Standing in the World")Apology for the War on Terror ("We Went off Course")Apology for Guantanamo in France ("Sacrificing Your Values")Apology before the Turkish Parliament ("Our Own Darker Periods in Our History")Apology for U.S. Policy toward the Americas ("The United States Has Not Pursued and Sustained Engagement with Our Neighbors")Apology for the Mistakes of the CIA ("Potentially We've Made Some Mistakes")Apology for Guantanamo in Washington ("A Rallying Cry for Our Enemies")I never had a doubt that the evil creature known as "obama" hates America and will continue to do everything in it's power to destroy America.Obama is guilty of multiple counts of treason, and I'm angry as hell that NONE of our worthless elected criminals have stood up to do their jobs and impeach the scum.
Neurostimulation Devices Market size worth $13.7 Billion by 2023: Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/436

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/neurostimulation-devices-market

www.gminsights.com

Neurostimulation Devices Market size is projected to grow from USD 4.58 billion in 2015 at over 14.5% CAGR; according to the latest research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Growing geriatric population proportion and presence of high unmet medical needs pertaining to chronic diseases, and introduction of technological advancements is likely to drive the global neurostimulation devices market size.Get Research Report:Sacral nerve stimulator is identified to be most attractive usage segment, forecast to grow at highest CAGR of 19.7%, from 2016 to 2023. Spinal cord stimulators dominated the market in 2015, accounting for over 57% of global revenue. These devices were the first kind of neurostimulation devices to be commercialized and therefore, hold a competitive edge over the rest of the devices in terms of market penetration rate.Moreover, the introduction of technologically advanced products such as MRI safety and Bluetooth enabled devices, and the cost effectiveness exhibited by these devices in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALY) should drive the growth of this market.Asia Pacific is expected to offer neurostimulation devices market lucrative growth opportunities in the coming years, due to presence of high unmet needs, rapidly developing healthcare infrastructure, and rising disposable income. Regional revenue was USD 636.4 million in 2015, with 17.9% CAGR growth target from 2016 to 2023.To access sample pages or view this report titled, Neurostimulation Devices Market Size By Product [Deep Brain, Gastric Electric, Spinal Cord, Sacral Nerve, Vagus Nerve], By Application [Pain Management, Epilepsy, Essential Tremor, Urinary and Fecal Incontinence, Depression, Dystonia, Gastroparesis, Parkinsons Disease], Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2023 in detail along with the table of contents, please click on the link below:Key insights from the report include: Global neurostimulation devices market size estimates were USD 4.58 billion in 2015, and forecast to attain CAGR of 14.7% up to 2023 and exceed USD 13.5 billion. Spinal cord stimulation products dominate the global market, with over USD 2.6 billion revenue in 2015; these were among the earliest commercialized technologies in the industry and thus enjoy strong penetration. Gastric electric stimulation & deep brain stimulation devices are also perceived to be attractive avenues for growth. However, the nascent nature of these technologies leaves room for further investigation and R&D. These niche segments may lead to a rise in R&D spending and a dynamic IP landscape. Europe neurostimulation device market revenue is set to exceed USD 2.8 billion by 2023, at 16.6% CAGR. Pain management application segment was estimated at USD 3.05 billion in 2015. This market size can be attributed to rising global chronic pain disorder prevalence along with growing neurostimulation device adoption for pain management due to strong therapeutic value. The threat of new entry in the market is low, mainly due to capital intensive nature of the market. Moreover, the companies entering this market need high capital investments to set up manufacturing and research & development facilities. Neurostimulation devices play an important role in providing therapeutic solutions for depression and obesity and therefore a rise in the prevalence of such diseases is expected to drive demand. Minimally invasive transdermal neuromodulation technology by Neurowave and MRI safety incorporated devices by Medtronic will drive industry innovation. Rapid economic development in APAC and LATAM will strengthen the platform for the growth of this market by enhancing buying power of consumers.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Global Market Insights Inc.8, The GreenSuite #4594Dover, DE 19901United StatesWeb:
Why choose iPhone app platform for enterprise mobility?

http://mobisoftinfotech.com/services/mobile-app-development-company

iPhone app is widely used and is considered one of the finest phone in the world. When it comes to selecting the enterprise mobility, opting for iPhone app can be the best option that one should always consider.Pune, Maharashtra, March 25, 2016: Its a known fact that iPhone are one of the best smartphones in the market today. The company is known for coming up with innovating and appealing devices that makes our life easier. The company is considered as the trend-setter who revolutionize the smartphone industry with constant evolution.The increasing popularity of iPhones have certainly increased the number of iPhone apps in the market. Today, there are lot of companies with experienced iPhone app developers who are determined to provide quality product to their clients. When it comes to enterprise mobility, no industry should neglect this fact, since most of their employee might be using iPhone.The companies are coming up with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) strategy that calls for a mobility application for iPhones. However, this is no it, one developing an iPhone enterprise app can help in lots of ways; which are mentioned below:1) Quality and Experience: Passing the Apples requirement to upload the app on Apple App Store is pretty high, which ensures that the application uploaded is quality-wise good. Apple has maintained its standards since years and is still continuing it, which makes it demanding. Its strict adherence to the quality makes it one of the best app stores in the world.2) Business app: Apps have become a powerful medium for businesses to reach masses and engage with their potential clients. In this race to be ahead of the competitors, iPhone app developers agree to the choice of businesses since iOS is a lucrative platform than others.3) Software security: No company would like to opt for insecure software when it comes to sharing confidential data. Since, Apple is known for the amazing service they provide to the customer's, enterprise opt for iPhone enterprise app to maintain the security they enjoy otherwise.4) Scalability: Companies today would like to develop their own app and would like to get engaged with users. When it comes to enterprise app, iPhone app developers should be strong enough to provide a product that will help the business grow by keeping their employees engaged.For more information log on toAbout the Company:Mobisoft Infotech is a Houston based company that provides mobile, web and cloud solutions to startups, SMEs and enterprises. It addresses their issues with latest mobility solutions.With the help of innovation, companies can maintain their strong foothold in the competitive world. Mobisoft delivers customized innovative solutions to organizations thus helping them meet their specific requirement.1811 Bering Dr, Suite 200,Houston,TX,USA,77057
Global Portable Generator in Construction Industry 2016 Market Size, Shares, Applications, Research & Competitive Analysis

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=722445&type=E

Global Portable Generator in Construction Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.This research report focusing on the Global Portable Generator in Construction Market has been compiled using primary and secondary research methodologies. For a detailed analysis of the market, the research report uses Porters five forces analysis to point out the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products or services, the threat of new entrants, and the threat of established rivals. This analysis addresses a range of problems and issues that might be present in the global Portable Generator in Construction market to help the businesses and readers formulate strategic moves to maximize their profits. The report also assesses the feasibility of the new investments that are likely to flow into the market, breathing life into several projects in the coming years.The investigative approach taken by this report provides an exclusive insight into the market segmentation. The global Portable Generator in Construction market has been segmented on the basis of application, service, technology, product, and geography. The segmentation allows the readers to understand the factors that are likely to drive these segments and the ones that will hamper the growth of certain segments in a given geographical location. The report has also factored in the economic indicators, important market highlights, market size, and forecast.The research report dedicates a special chapter to the competitive landscape of the global Portable Generator in Construction market. It delves into the nitty-gritties of the financial overview, investment outlook, research and development activities, business and marketing strategies, branding ideas, and expansion plans of the important players of in the global Portable Generator in Construction market. This chapter also provides clarity on matters of management styles of these companies and the changes that market enthusiasts need to expect in the foreseeable future.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @QYResearchReports.com is the trusted source of market research reports among clients that include prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs, and private equity firms. Our market research reports focus on categories including but not limited to: Chemicals, Energy, Alternative and Green Energy, Machinery, Manufacturing, Glass, Pharmaceuticals and Materials.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Global Auto-Injectors Market to Reach US$2.5 bn by 2020, Increasing Incidence of Anaphylaxis to Drive Demand

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4199

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/global-auto-injectors-market.html

Auto-injectors are mostly spring-loaded syringes used for injecting oneself with a preloaded, single dose of a drug. These injectors are easy to use and are generally utilized in the case of multiple sclerosis, anaphylaxis, or rheumatoid arthritis. The growing prevalence of anaphylaxis and allergies from food have fueled the demand for auto-injectors globally. Apart from this, the implementation of favorable reimbursement policies by various governments across the world is also propelling this market significantly.Download Report Brochure For Industry Insight:The research report presents an in-depth analysis of the global market for auto-injectors. It studies the market on four fronts: The type of product, manufacturing design, application, and the region. Based on the type of product, the market has been categorized into fillable (reusable) auto-injectors and prefilled (disposable) auto-injectors. The prefilled auto-injectors segment enjoys a higher demand than the fillable auto-injectors segment on account of the ease of usage provided by prefilled auto-injectors.By manufacturing design, the market has been classified into standardized auto-injectors and customized auto-injectors. The standardized auto-injectors segment dominated the overall market in 2013. However, analysts anticipate the customized auto-injectors segment to record the fastest growth during the forecast period, states the report.Application-wise, the market has been grouped into rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, anaphylaxis, and other applications. In 2013, the demand for auto-injectors was the highest from the anaphylaxis segment.Regionally, the research report has segmented the worldwide market for auto-injectors into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Rest of the World. North America led the global market in 2013 with a share of 70%. The increased prevalence of anaphylaxis and the rise in the disposable income of individuals, enabling them to afford expensive treatments, have fueled the demand for auto-injectors in this region significantly. The presence of a favorable reimbursement environment has also boosted this regional market in the recent past.Asia Pacific, however, is projected to emerge as the most promising regional market for auto-injectors over the forecast period. The rising incidence of multiple sclerosis and anaphylaxis in Australia and New Zealand, together with favorable reimbursement options in New Zealand, is likely to propel this regional market considerably during the forecast period. The growing awareness regarding novel treatment methods and increasing disposable income of people are also expected to drive the Asia Pacific auto-injectors market in the coming years, notes the research study.Browse Full Report With TOC:Ypsomed Holding AG, Unilife Corp., Scandinavian Health Ltd., Sanofi, Novartis International AG, Mylan Inc., Biogen Idec, Becton, Dickinson & Co., and Antares Pharma Inc. are the major international players in the global auto-injectors market profiled in this market report.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Mr.Sudip.STransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
capitol_interior_denis.JPG

Oregon's state Legislative Revenue Office issued a long-awaited report this week on the bill's impacts.

(Denis C. Theriault/The Oregonian)

The ballot measure currently known as Initiative Petition 28, would create a "gross receipts tax" in Oregon similar to one levied in Washington. That is, it would tax businesses based on their total sales - not just profits.

The tax is written to exempt certain industries, "benefit" corporations that formally commit to socially responsible practices, and businesses with annual sales below $500,000.

Main story: Proposed tax could reshape Oregon business, politicsOregon's state Legislative Revenue Office issued a long-awaited report this week on the bill's impacts. Key findings:

The measure would generate about $3 billion a year in new state revenue.

Oregon's per-capita tax burden would rise from 28

The tax would reduce Oregon employment growth by more than 20,000 jobs between 2017 and 2022. It would reduce growth of private-sector employment by more than 38,000 jobs in that time but increase the growth rate of public-sector work by nearly 18,000 jobs.

The tax, which falls heavily on retailers and wholesalers, would mimic a sales tax in its effects. That would push up prices for Oregon residents.

It would also produce higher wages because it would result in government jobs that pay higher average wages than the jobs Oregon would lose.

IP28 would bring some stability to Oregon's famously volatile tax base, because a tax on revenue is more dependable than a tax on personal income.

The tax could make Oregon's economy more productive by boosting public spending and improving education.

Corporations might be able to dodge the tax by reducing investment in Oregon or by finding loopholes in the law to disguise their revenue or capitalize on exemptions in the law.

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway
capitol_exterior_michelle_brence.jpg

The campaign will feature a pair of intractable issues not on the ballot but inescapably central to the discussion: The structural funding crisis in Oregon's retirement program for public employees, and its chronically low level of support for public education.

(Michelle Brence/The Oregonian)

By Dana Tims & Mike Rogoway | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Oregon could be headed for the biggest change in its tax structure in generations with a November ballot measure that would begin taxing many businesses based on sales rather than just profits.

The tax would fall most heavily on retailers and wholesalers, according to a widely anticipated analysis out Monday from the state Legislative Revenue Office. The report found it would function much like a sales tax by pushing up the prices Oregonians pay at the cash register.

Initiative Petition 28, as it is known until it gets a formal ballot number, could generate upwards of $6 billion in new state tax revenue in each two-year budget cycle. As a percent of income, it would vault Oregon from the middle-of-the-pack in business taxes to among the nation's highest.

It would reduce employment growth by more than 20,000 jobs over five years, but boost average overall wages by shifting work from private sector jobs to better-paying government jobs. The measure would dedicate most of the additional revenue to public education, health care and senior services.

Seven years after a bitter fight over measures 66 and 67, which hiked taxes on businesses and personal income, Oregon is gearing up for months of political combat over IP 28.

The campaign will feature a pair of intractable issues not on the ballot but inescapably central to the discussion: The structural funding crisis in Oregon's retirement program for public employees, and its chronically low level of support for public education.

"This is the big battle for us in the fall," said Paul Gronke, a political science professor at Reed College in Portland. "There's a lot of money and momentum behind it and huge forces arrayed against it, as well. It's a good way for this debate to be fought. May the best side win."

Key findings from the analysis of impacts of the proposed tax.Assuming the measure qualifies for the ballot - backers turned in more than 130,000 signatures, knowing they need only 88,184 - the ensuing fight promises to dominate the general-election campaign.

Monday's legislative report paints the landscape for the debate. It describes the measure as a series of trade-offs, bringing financial stability to the state's coffers and providing additional state revenue in exchange for diminished economic activity.

"IP 28 essentially acts as a consumption tax, pushing up the price level but only modestly affecting the real economy," according to the report. "It is important to note that these results do not indicate IP 28 will trigger a decline in Oregon's current economic activity but rather it will modestly dampen the state's projected growth in employment, income and population."

Oregon business taxes, now about 38 percent of all state tax revenue, would rise to more than 45 percent under IP 28, the report finds. The effects vary considerably by industry and business:

Taxes paid by Oregon retail businesses totaled $70 million in 2013, according to the report, but would have been $605 million had the new tax structure been in place.

The finance and insurance industry would have paid $351 million, up from the $75 million the sector actually paid in 2013.

The manufacturing sector generated $42.2 million in state taxes in 2013. That total would have been $203 million under IP28.

Even within industries, though, certain businesses would pay more than others under the proposal.

"Corporations that manufacture tangible goods in Oregon and export to markets outside the state will be relatively unaffected," according to the report, because Oregon's underlying business tax structure exempts them. Intel, for example, makes billions of dollars worth of microprocessors in Hillsboro every year but sells virtually all of them in other parts of the world.

A manufacturer that sells products within the state, though, might pay considerably higher taxes.

That tax structure does not work the same way for services businesses like a software company. According to the report, IP 28 will allocate their sales to Oregon, even if a customer is outside the state.

Oregon tech companies rarely take positions on statewide matters, but the Technology Association of Oregon announced earlier this month that it will oppose the measure. The organization said its 31-member board, which includes executives from Intel, Puppet, Urban Airship, Smarsh and Zapproved, voted unanimously to fight the initiative.

Oregon businesses are open to tax reform, according to Diane Fraiman of Voyager Capital, a venture capital firm that has helped fund Portland's high-tech renaissance. But Fraiman said IP 28 comes without identifying why the state needs $6 billion, specifically, or how to spend that sum.

"I have no doubt that the Legislature can spend lots of money," she said. "But in my world, where would you ever write a check to fund a business that has no plan?"

Underlying the debate is Oregon's chronic inability to address its $22 billion unfunded liability to the Public Employee Retirement System and a longstanding gap between what the state pays for public education compared to the funding levels in most of the nation.

After the Oregon Supreme Court threw out PERS reforms last year, new forecasts indicated public-employee retirement costs will consume $1.6 billion in the state's next two-year budget cycle. That's roughly equivalent to a quarter of the money the tax measure would raise.

With further PERS reform apparently off the table in Salem, projections indicate Oregon can expect cost increases of more than a half-billion dollars in upcoming budget cycles, which could gobble up as much as 9 percent more of the proposed new taxes each time.

Meanwhile, Oregon schools continue to lag the nation in many performance metrics. That's what's driving much of the support for the tax measure.

"Given the needs, we've reached the moment where we can't wait any longer," said Katherine Driessen, spokeswoman for A Better Oregon, the coalition of educational non-profits and public employee unions backing the measure. "We felt it was time to let voters have their say."

Oregon ranked 37th in the nation for per-pupil school funding in 2013, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The state funded its schools 15 percent below the national average that year, according to the data, but its position has likely improved somewhat since then as Oregon added full-day kindergarten and boosted overall education spending as it emerged from the Great Recession.

Prior efforts at bridging the divide between budget hawks with an eye on PERS costs and education boosters seeking to improve the state's schools have come to naught. And that's left Oregon facing a divisive fight over the next five months, which could chart Oregon's course for decades to come.

Some political leaders hold out hopes that a legislative compromise can still be crafted to head off a battle that could leave scars and ill feelings for a long time. But with many legislators focused on their own re-election efforts, it appears increasingly unlikely a mediated solution will be feasible.

"It's a long shot politically," said Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, who as chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee stands behind a less ambitious revenue plan that also would have led to far less acrimony. "Unfortunately, the rhetoric on both sides is escalating."

He warned that the measure's complexity and nuances will likely be lost on most voters, and that further consideration in the legislative arena would be preferable to the ballot measure.

"We're going to get the biggest tax policy debate in decades over bumper stickers and sound bites?" Hass said. "That's just no way to run a state."

-- Oregonian reporters Ted Sickinger and Betsy Hammond contributed to this article.

-- Dana Tims

503-294-7647; @DanaTims

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway
cars interstate 5 portland

Cars travel north on Interstate 5 near the South Waterfront in Portland on March 5, 2016.

(Elliot Njus/Staff)

Low prices at the pump are expected to entice more people to travel over Memorial Day weekend.

AAA Oregon/Idaho said it expects holiday travel on the West Coast to increase 2.4 percent over last year, with about 6 million people getting away for the weekend. That would be the highest level since 2005 and the second-highest on record.

Gas prices are the lowest they've been ahead of a Memorial Day weekend since 2005. In Oregon, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded last week was $2.46. A stronger job market and rising wages are also expected to boost travel.

Most routes are expected to be clear. The Oregon Department of Transportation is halting work on some projects during the holiday weekend to avoid delaying travelers.

Most Memorial Day travelers travel by car, but AAA said it also expects a 1.6 percent increase in air travel over last year.

That comes as air travelers are already experiencing long lines at airport security. Hiring at the Transportation Security Administration hasn't kept up with the growth in passenger volume.

Portland International Airport officials are warning passengers to arrive two hours before scheduled departure.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
Man makes teens

caught breaking

into house call 911

COOS BAY  A Coos Bay homeowner made teens caught breaking into his house call 911 to report themselves.

KATU-TV reports the three 14-year-old boys were all taken to the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center on Sunday on charges including burglary, trespassing and possession of marijuana.

The Coos County sheriff's office says the man was armed when he discovered the boys burglarizing his home.

Emergency dispatchers say he made one of the teens call police and report the burglary in progress.

Mayor places police

chief on paid leave

PORTLAND  The Portland mayor has placed Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea on paid administrative leave after information emerged that the chief may have misled an investigator about his involvement in an accidental shooting while hunting in eastern Oregon.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward told them O'Dea indicated to a deputy responding to the scene that his friend accidentally shot himself April 21 during a hunting trip.

Ward says O'Dea never identified himself as a police officer and didn't tell responding deputies that he had fired the shot from his rifle.

O'Dea on Friday acknowledged to the public that he'd shot and injured a 54-year-old friend in the back.

Oregon State Police and the state Justice Department are investigating.

Mayor Charlie Hales has appointed Assistant Chief Donna Henderson to serve as acting chief.

Fire scorches nearly

5 square miles

HERMISTON  The Hermiston Fire Department says a wildfire has scorched nearly 5 square miles and burned several buildings at the former Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Fire Capt. J.W. Roberts says the blaze that began Monday has scorched multiple bunkers, or igloos, where chemical weapons were once stored.

The East Oregonian says the fire has burned more than 3,000 acres and was about 30 percent contained as of Monday afternoon.

The depot no longer stores chemical weapons and the incineration plant used to destroy them has been torn down.

Roberts says the spark of the fire may have come from an Oregon Army National Guard member training with an "artillery simulation round" though the state military department considered the cause under investigation.

Multiple vehicle crashes were reported on Interstate 82, shutting down traffic for several hours Monday. Four people were taken to local hospitals.

Ex-sheriff's captain

pleads guilty to theft

BEND  A former Deschutes County sheriff's captain accused of stealing more than $200,000 from the county and using the funds to buy gifts for an ex-colleague with whom he had a romantic relationship has pleaded guilty in the case.

The Bend Bulletin reports that Scott Beard pleaded guilty Monday to charges of theft and money laundering.

Beard, who was fired in February, is accused of stealing the money between 2014 and 2015 while he oversaw the finances of a regional drug task force.

An indictment alleges he gave at least $100,000 to former sheriff's office employee Krista Mudrick, who is charged with lying to investigators.

Beard said in court Monday he was seeing a counselor for issues with post-traumatic stress disorder. His attorney declined to comment on the plea hearing.
Bardot-21.jpg

Inside the former Brasserie Montmarte space, under construction to become Park Avenue Fine Wines and Bardot.

(Matt Gonzalez)

After more than a year of sitting empty along downtown's Park Avenue, the historic Brasserie Montmarte restaurant will soon be home to two new side-by-side tenants.

Park Avenue Fine Wines, a premier wine shop from Neil Thompson and William Oben, will take over the space with Bardot, a wine bar from the same owners. Both are set to open the first week of July.

The wine shop will offer a selection of high-quality, Northwest wines alongside rare and collectible bottles, European imports and some local and imported beers. The shop will focus on customer service and act as a steward for the neighborhood, Thompson said.

Bardot, the sister wine bar, inspired by the "60s sexiness" of Brigitte Bardot, will pour local wines, beers, cider and sake in a marble and wood-outfitted room. Food will likely be a menu of light snacks.

"Our intention is to be a place for people to start their evening," Thompson said. "We want to be a concierge for the restaurants in the neighborhood. We want to help [guests] secure a seat, give them advice on where to go and help them continue their evenings."

The downstairs dining space will be turned into a private dining and event space for chef pop-ups, winemaker events and special dinners.

The 37-year-old French restaurant first opened in 1978 with customer-drawn crayon art on the walls, black-and-white checkered floors, nightly jazz and a solid food menu. It closed and reopened two more times before shuttering for a third and final time in April 2015.

Park Avenue Fine Wines and Bardot will be located at 626 S.W. Park Ave. The wine store and wine bar will open the first week of July. Park Avenue Fine Wines will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday - Saturday; Bardot, 4 to 10 p.m., Monday - Saturday.

-- Samantha Bakall

sbakall@oregonian.com

Follow @sambakall
Ashwin Sivakumar, a geography whiz and sixth-grader at Oregon Episcopal School, is competing in the national finals of the 2016 Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C., Wednesday after tying for second in the competition's preliminary round Monday.

The national finals begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday and will be televised on public broadcast stations Friday evening.

Ashwin, an avid bird-wacher, also represented Oregon at the national bee last year but fell just short of making the top 10.

During this year's preliminary rounds, one student aced every challenge, while Ashwin and three other contestants missed just one question, according to Ashwin's dad, Sam Sivakumar.

There is a lot at stake in the final competition, and not just geography bragging rights.

The first prize winner will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and an all-expenses-paid trip for him or herself and a parent on an expedition to southeast Alaska aboard a National Geographic ship. That will include a stop at Glacier Bay National Park, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The second- and third-place winners will receive a $25,000 or $10,000 college scholarship.

Today's final round will be moderated by humorist and journalist Mo Rocca.

The bee was developed by the National Geographic Society in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States.

The finals will be aired at 8 p.m. Friday and repeated starting Saturday on public television stations.

Like Ashwin, six of the other finalists are Americans who trace their ancestry to India. The past four first-place winners of the national geography bee have also been Indian-American: Rahul Nagvekar in 2012, Sathwik Karnik in 2013, Akhil Rekulapelli in 2014, and Karan Menon in 2015.

-- Betsy Hammond
For the first time since last fall, the Portland State University board of trustees managed to hold a meeting Wednesday that didn't spiral out of control following student protests.

Trustees called a special meeting to hear from students, a small contingent of which had successfully shut down three consecutive meetings with vocal outbursts.

In March, students and local activists took over the most recent meeting, forcing trustees to reconvene in an undisclosed location to approve tuition increases. At a December meeting, the trustees left after students shouted down the volunteer board. Trustees later called into a separate conference line to resume the business.

But on Wednesday, the trustees and students met for two hours with little drama.

A few dozen students sat quietly as trustees introduced themselves and spoke about their interest in higher education and what they've learned about PSU in the past two years.

Students then spoke for about an hour, with trustees chiming in with questions or comments periodically. Trustees listened to students talk about the university's healthcare requirement, the effect of tuition increases, how students are affected by the housing crisis, their calls for a more inclusive faculty and curriculum and the still controversial decision in 2014 to arm campus security officers.

By the end, it seemed the parties had struck an uneasy detente.

"We were able to have some dialogue, rather than us just listening to students," Pete Nickerson, the trustee's chair, said following the meeting. Nickerson was heartened that trustees were able to respond to student questions, and he called the good-faith effort from the board to hear student concerns "unprecedented."

"But it's still woefully short of what both sides need," he said of the relationship. "There's still a lot of misunderstanding. There's still a lot of mistrust."

Olivia Pace, a student who has been one of the faces of the activist group, said a wide gulf remains between the board and students. "He wants more communication," Pace said of Nickerson, with whom she spoke following the meeting. "I understand that, and that's necessary."

But Pace, who led a walkout May 10 to protest the armed security officers on campus, said she thinks the board wants there to be "an easy fix" to the differences.

Her view: It's more about the systemic issues. Students and faculty and staff should have "the absolute last and final say on the decisions that are made." Pace said.

The most hot-button issue for students consistently at odds with the board remains the 2014 decision to create an armed PSU police force.

A panel of students expressed concern about the armed police not having enough training. They also worried about the effect, both real and implied, on minority students.

"If I see a campus security officer I turn and go the other way," said Desiree' DuBoise, an African-American student and Portland native. "This is when I'm on my way to class. I'm here to learn."

Earlier this month, PSU had said it had no plans to revisit the decision to arm its police force.

After the meeting, Pace said there's still much disagreement. "You have black students saying, 'this doesn't make me feel safe,'" she said of student concerns about armed police on campus, "and white people coming back and saying, 'but we think it's safe.'"

Pace predicted that as long as that continues, the relationship between the board and students "will be pretty similar."

The trustees hope to schedule a follow up meeting to hear from students later this year.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Lake Trashed

In this Feb. 22, 2008, file photo, boats are seen docked on Lake Shasta, Calif. The National Forest Service says workers cleaned up half-mile wide swath of trash on May 25, 2016, left behind by about 1,000 campers following an annual trip to the lake by fraternity and sorority members last weekend.

(Rich Pedroncelli/AP file photo)

You trash it, you clean it.

That's one of the seemingly obvious responses to the mess left by a group of University of Oregon students and fraternity members at Shasta Lake over the weekend. But, according to a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson, it's not that simple.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the scene is too much of a biohazard for volunteer help. The condoms, tampons and human waste left alongside coolers, sleeping bags and upwards of 90 tents need to be handled by 25 forest service employees on Slaughterhouse Island.

A group of UO students and local residents had volunteered to help with the effort but were turned away by the forest service.

The university and the national chapter of Lamda Chi Alpha are investigating the incident. The UO chapter of the organization has also been suspended.

"The manner in which the forest was left was absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful," UO Vice President for Student Life Robin Holmes said in a statement.

Here is what a group of University of Oregon students left (they are gone) on Slaughterhouse Island on Lake Shasta. Way to represent your school... Please feel free to share this post. Posted by Jennifer Cox on Sunday, May 22, 2016

--Eder Campuzano

503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
Rabbi Joey wolf.jpg

Rabbi Joey Wolf has served Havurah Shalom for 30 years. In May 2016, he was named one of America's most inspirational rabbis by The Forward, a national Jewish news outlet.

(Courtesy of Joey Wolf)

Portland rabbi Joey Wolf likes to keep a low profile. He's not one to seek media attention or promote himself on social platforms.

So it came as a big surprise when he found out The Forward, a national Jewish news outlet, had chosen him as one of America's most inspirational rabbis.

"I was totally shocked," he said.

Wolf has been a rabbi at a Reconstructionist congregation in Northwest Portland called Havurah Shalom for 30 years, and he plans to retire next May.

He was one of 32 rabbis honored by The Forward this year, thanks to a nomination from Beth Hamon, who wrote:

"Rabbi Joey -- cerebral, deep, a bookaholic -- has somehow managed to get this shpilkes-addled, not-so-erudite bike punk musician to care about Israel, strive to make a difference for the less fortunate in her own community and abroad, and dig deeper into a Torah that previously felt like it was shutting me out because of my orientation and gender -- and to find my story and my place in it. The only awful thing about Joey is that he will retire next year. I am grateful and blessed to call him my rabbi and my friend."

"I'm delighted," Wolf said.

So was his congregation. Wolf gives thoughtful advice and has been a devoted teacher, said Shelley Sobel, a co-president of the congregation. Being a rabbi isn't an easy job, she said -- it requires leadership and service, teaching and listening -- and she's excited to see Wolf honored for his great work.

With retirement in view, Wolf said he's doing a fair amount of reflecting these days. This honor made him reflect even more:

"What did I do here? What have I accomplished? What does it mean to be spiritual in an incredibly technological 'secular' society? How does one get after spiritual issues in a world like our own that's hurtling toward all kinds of incredibly big problems?"

-- Melissa Binder

mbinder@oregonian.com

503-294-7656

@binderpdx
Marijuana edibles

Effective June 2, adults 21 and older may walk into a medical marijuana dispensary and buy marijuana-infused edibles, extracts and topical products. The expanded sales are part of the state's slow rollout of its recreational marijuana program, which is not set to officially launch until later this year.

(The Oregonian/OregonLive )

Dave McNicoll has a few words of advice for those planning to try marijuana-infused edibles for the first time: Take a bite, not too much, and wait.

McNicoll's group, the Oregon Responsible Edibles Council, has launched a public education campaign aimed at preventing novice marijuana consumers from eating too much all at once.

The campaign is called "Try 5," as in 5 milligrams of THC, and encourages consumers to start with a low dose when it comes to marijuana-infused snacks and treats.

Or as they say in Colorado, start low and go slow.

The campaign comes just weeks before the latest major development in Oregon's recreational marijuana program: Starting June 2, anyone 21 and older may walk into a medical marijuana dispensary and buy marijuana-infused edibles, extracts and topical products, like balms and lotions.

The expanded sales are part of the state's slow rollout of its recreational marijuana program, which is not set to officially launch until later this year. Lawmakers last year gave dispensaries the go-ahead to start recreational sales early by selling a limited amount of cannabis flowers, plants and seeds to anyone 21 and older. This year, lawmakers added pot-infused edibles, extracts and topical products.

Until now, marijuana-infused treats and foods have been available only to medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. Makers of these products said they welcome the expanded customer base but worry that rookie consumers will overindulge on tasty snacks and treats only to regret it hours later when their potent effects set in.

McNicoll's group has spent about $5,000 on the campaign, which includes posters, some produced on hemp paper, T-shirts and buttons that he hopes to distribute to all of the nearly 350 dispensaries selling on Oregon's recreational market.

McNicoll said his group wants to protect people from having a lousy experience on their first cannabis-infused edible.

"We want to be very proactive," said McNicoll, whose Eugene company Dave's Space Cakes makes mini chocolate cupcakes. "We want to show the state that we care so much about this issue and we are trying to be as safe as possible. We are willing to fund it ourselves."

Edibles pose a challenge for state regulators in states with legal marijuana, like Oregon, Colorado and Washington. The products are popular and often potent. Even a bite-sized candy can pack a punch. Onset is often delayed by an hour or two, prompting inexperienced consumers to eat more and compound the effects.

Even for experienced cannabis consumers, a strong dose of an edible can be too much.

"My max is 5 milligrams," said Leah D'Ambrosio, who owns Sconed, a Portland company that makes cannabis-infused toffees. "If I have more, I am done. If I ate an edible that was 10 milligrams, I would be so high."

State regulators have spent a lot of time in the past year crafting rules for the sale of marijuana-infused edibles and ultimately settled on concentration limits half of what Colorado and Washington allow. That policy decision was guided largely by public health concerns about novice consumers and children who might unintentionally consume pot-infused treats.

Though the Oregon Health Authority established a 5 milligram serving size for edibles that will be sold on the recreational market once the Oregon Liquor Control Commission takes over regulating sales later this year, the package limits under the so-called early start program allow for more potent products.

Under state rules for early sales, dispensaries may sell a single-serving, low dose edible that contains up to 15 milligrams. Packages may contain multiple servings, but they don't have to be marked off for consumers.

Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the health authority, said it would be a challenge for manufacturers to make consistent 5 milligram products because the low potency level can be difficult for labs to measure.

He said state officials hopes processors "would clearly delineate smaller 5 milligram serving sizes within that low-dose package. And they don't have to aim for 15 milligrams. They can go lower."

That's unlikely, said McNicoll. After all, when it comes to marijuana, potency sells. He said he expects most products on the early start market will come in a 15 milligrams.

McNicoll said the state's decision to allow the higher concentration limit makes his message even more essential for novice consumers.

"It's more important to get that out now: 15 (milligrams) is going to be too much for some people," he said. "People need to know they don't need to eat the whole candy bar."

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
Obama's visit to Hiroshima: Though passionately written and heartfelt, Richard Hill's op-ed is needlessly naive in conclusion. Security does not come solely by "making community," as Mr. Hill portends, and the context of a Japan that desired empire and military domination should clearly tell him that. Their aggression and ethnic arrogance made it impossible for any peaceful "connectedness" or "global village," unless others surrendered to fly the flag of the rising sun. Community meant only a capitulation to all things Japanese.

Sadly, and seemingly ignored by Hill, is that mankind didn't stop producing Axis-like evil in 1945. Today's despots have no more desire for the community Hill defines than our World War II enemies did in 1940. That is why security must encompass both the idealism of hope and the realism of fear. It considers the disciplines of humanities and history. It says, really: The world changes but the world stays the same.

I'm OK with Mr. Hill's global village as long as I'm the strongest guy in the village.

Scott Smith

Wilsonville
Teaching climate science: "RESOLUTION: (Portland Public Schools) will abandon the use of any adopted text material that is found to express doubt about the severity of the climate crisis or its root in human activities."

I last heard talk like this was when I was teaching high school science in Texas in the 1970s. Then the call was to teach "creation science" in the science classrooms.

A similar call was answered by our school board, who now require that we remove the language of doubt from classroom discussions of climate change. This is the opposite of science, which is based on skepticism.

The scientific method, which is the fundamental tool of science, requires that a theory be tested by making predictions, then testing the predictions against observation. If the predictions fail, as the climate alarmist predictions consistently have since the 1970s, then there is a flaw in the theory.

The good folk of the school board are unaware of the broad interdisciplinary body of research that supports skepticism of the theory of human-caused climate change and has debunked the 98 percent consensus. The school board now requires that, instead of the language of doubt, our science classrooms use the language of faith -- otherwise known as the language of religion.

I saw this before in the 1970s -- except this time the religion is climate alarmism, and it is in service of a political agenda.

"Climate justice" is a political agenda, not a scientific one. This plan intends to politicize our school science classrooms and stamp out the healthy skepticism that is needed for good science to flourish.

Valerie Hunter

Southeast Portland
Medical malpractice and its impact on those involved is at the heart of "Love Alone," the latest Majestic Reader's Theatre production.

The drama, written by Deborah Salem Smith, has two performances Sunday.

"A family loses their mother in a routine surgery that should have ended without a problem," says director Wendy Cortright. "After the accidental death, we watch the family and doctor deal with the consequences."

Shocked and grief-stricken by Susan's death, her life partner, Helen Warren (Marc Kemper), and their daughter, Clementine (Gaylen Sinclair), want answers from the hospital about what went wrong. They are met with silence, so they file a lawsuit against the doctors.

Dr. Becca Neal (Anissa Teslow Cheek), the anesthesiologist, confronts her feelings about losing a patient, even as the lawsuit threatens her career, reputation and mindset. Her relationship with her husband (Jan Korvick) becomes strained.

Clementine is open to forgiving doctors for the mistake, but Helen seeks justice.

"We watch as each side goes through their own type of grieving process beginning with denial, going through anger, depression, isolation and ending with acceptance. Even renewal," Cortright said.

"When the play was written and originally produced in 2012, the issue of marriage for all, including same-sex marriage, was not what it is today," Cortright said.

Helen, Susan's life partner for 20 years, isn't able to take any action against the hospital, because she was not considered family.

Although the play is fictional and somewhat dated, Cortright says "Love Alone" is an all too real and familiar story.

"I know people who have had this happen in their families. I think it is a story that needs to be told and will speak to many. We will all be patients and know patients," Cortright said.

The cast is filled out by Jeff F. Ryser, Jordan Wolfe and Bernadette Feyerherm.
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.
Dutch Bros. will celebrate the opening of its newest location in Lebanon, 500 Market St., on Thursday.

And as part of the celebration, the company will donate the days proceeds to the Lebanon Skate Park.

The new location will offer all 16-ounce drinks, including specialty coffee, smoothies, freezes and Blue Rebel energy drinks, for $1.

Proceeds from the grand opening will be used to support the parks expansion.

Dutch Bros. is the countrys largest privately held, drive through coffee company, with more than 260 locations and more than 5,000 employees in seven states.
LEBANON  Pioneer School kindergarten teacher Maureen Holt has been named the state's Teacher of the Year for the elementary division of Oregon's Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Holt is to receive her award, which comes with a plaque and $400 cash, at a special all-school assembly at 10 a.m. Thursday.

She was nominated for the award through the Albany chapter of the VFW. Commander Ed Rose said members of Post 584's auxiliary suggested Holt after working with her to put on Pioneer School's annual Veterans Day banquet.

"I was thrilled, of course. It's an honor anytime you're recognized," Holt said. "I don't feel I did anything out of the ordinary."

Holt is the second Pioneer teacher to receive the statewide honor. Tonya Cairo, now principal, received the VFW elementary-level Teacher of the Year award as a fifth-grade teacher in 2011.

Holt, Cairo said, is one of the teachers who has continued the Veterans Day banquet after Cairo moved into the principal position, helping to keep the program alive.

Holt's father, now gone, served in the U.S. Army. She visits Lebanon's International Order of Oddfellows Cemetery each Memorial Day to pay her respects to veterans.

It was wonderful to read the nomination forms for her award, she said. "I'm really humbled by all the letters people put together ... I'm feeling the love."

Some of the cash award might be used to pay back an investment she made in a computer/TV screen for her classroom, but Holt said most of it likely will go right back into the school's Veterans Day banquet. The annual event subsists on donations and raffle sales.

Holt worked more closely with the Veterans Day events at Pioneer when she taught third grade. She was asked to take a kindergarten class this year.

With the younger students, she talks about patriotism a little more simply  but she still talks about it.

She makes sure her students know the importance of honoring and respecting the flag during the morning recital of the pledge, and that they take care of their classroom and each other as part of being good community citizens.

Even though the majority of her students have never experienced the direct effects of war, many of their neighbors and family members have, she said. If nothing else, Lebanon's first veteran's home is right next door to Pioneer.

Honoring veterans "is important just to keep it in our minds and not forget the sacrifices many people have made," she said.
Midland Public Schools put on its first job fair in several years Tuesday, drawing more than 500 applicants for about 40 positions to a four-hour event at the H.H. Dow High School gym.

Were excited about how many people we have here, MPS Superintendent Michael Sharrow said as he observed the lines of applicants waiting to meet with principals and other administrators for brief interviews.

The lines moved quickly, and some applicants emerged from their interviews with white cards  meaning they moved on to the next stage of interviews.

Morgan Counseller of Holt, seeking a position as an elementary school teacher, was among those getting a white card.

I have an interview, so that means it went well, Counseller said, adding that in her five-minute interview, I tried to get in as much as I could.

She graduated a year ago from Michigan State University and has been student teaching since.

Mikel Williams, a recent Alma College graduate who wants to teach middle school math or science, also said his interview Tuesday went very well and he came away with a white card.

Williams, a Lansing native who also is certified to teach grades K-5, said he is excited about the prospect of teaching middle school students. He said he also has attended job fairs at Michigan State and Central Michigan University.

While waiting for his five-minute interview, Matthew Novak said that he moved back to Midland from Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

A 2004 Dow High graduate, Novak said he got his college degree from CMU and taught fifth and sixth grade in Arizona. More recently, he has been volunteering in a kindergarten class at Carpenter Street Elementary School.

I moved back here to be closer to family and put down some roots, Novak said.

Nathan Yurgaites, also from Midland, is currently a youth pastor and substitutes for MPS as a physical education teacher. He was hoping to land a full-time physical education teaching job.

Megan Henry of Novi, who is seeking a science or Spanish teaching position at the secondary level, was pleased with her experience.

Its a quick interview but I think it gave them a good idea of what kind of teacher I am and what kind of person I am, she said.

Paige Portious of Grand Rapids, a recent graduate of Alma College, said she had seen the flyer for the event and thought it would be primarily a time to gather information. She was pleasantly surprised that an interview was included, and was happy with the short and sweet interaction with an administrator.

Portious is seeking an elementary school teaching position.

Associate Superintendent Brian Brutyn said it was great to see such enthusiasm and passion for our kids.

MPS officials decided to recruit aggressively in light of numerous retirements at the end of the current school year. Some 42 teachers, with a total 1,053 years of service, are retiring.

Sharrow also noted that certain areas are particularly short-staffed, with a need for five Spanish teachers and five music teachers. There also are openings for speech-language pathologists and social workers.

Tuesdays process included the administrators interviewing applicants, and then filling out an evaluation form. The superintendent said those who made the cut for the next interview should know quickly whether they are hired.

We hope to fill all of our positions before students leave in June, he said.

The last day of school for students is June 16.

Sharrow and other administrators also have gone to several job fairs at universities around the state and even out of state in the recruitment drive.

Prospective teachers can find more information about the MPS application process at www.midlandps.org/Pages/Human%20Resources/Employment-Opportunities.aspx.
Michigan residents would see better access to dental care if the state meets the goals unveiled as part of the 2020 Michigan State Oral Health Plan.

The plan, released by the Michigan Oral Health Coalition in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, identified three key action areas  improving access, education and collaboration among providers  and will act as a roadmap to developing better oral health initiatives across Michigan over the next five years.

Millions of Michiganders  including children and pregnant women  struggle each year to access the critical oral health care they need, said Carol Lutey, the director of child and adolescent dentistry at Mott Childrens Health Center in Flint, and the chair of the Michigan Oral Health Coalition Board of Directors. Poor oral health can lead to serious health risks. Todays plan offers policymakers and experts a clear path to a healthier Michigan.

Poor oral health is closely linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. The dangers of poor oral health are especially serious for pregnant women and their children, and have been associated with pre-term birth and low birth weight.

The Michigan Oral Health Coalition and MDHHS have identified three goals to dramatically improve oral health in Michigan by 2020:

 Goal 1: Increasing access to oral health care among underserved populations;

 Goal 2: Increasing awareness of the importance of oral health to overall health; and

 Goal 3: Increasing integration among oral health, medical, & social service providers.

According to numbers released in the 2020 Michigan State Oral Health Plan, 25 percent of pregnant women do not see a dentist at all during their pregnancy, while 41.6 percent did not even have their teeth cleaned in the 12 months prior to pregnancy.

While poor oral health can occur across all age, ethnic and income groups, some Michigan populations are at particular risk. According to the most recent available numbers:

 55.3 percent of Michigan families earning less than $20,000 annually had no preventative dental care in the last year.

 51.9 percent of kids age 5 and under had no preventative dental care in the last year.

 37 percent of Hispanic adults and 45 percent of African-American adults received no preventative dental care in the last year, compared to 29 percent of white residents.

Tackling the problem will require a statewide commitment to improving access, educating children and their parents, and helping oral and general health care providers to better collaborate in their patients care, said Christine Farrell, oral health director with MDHHS.

The new plan calls for increasing the number of oral health care providers in Michigan, and increasing professional collaboration with other healthcare providers. Health care integration will help reduce both oral health diseases and other poor health outcomes.

Additionally, the 2020 Plan calls for the creation of new county-based advocacy networks across Michigan and collaboration with Michigans 900 public school districts to find ways to connect with children to promote the importance of good oral health practices.

Simply educating our children about the importance of brushing their teeth and flossing daily can make a real difference that lasts a lifetime, said Edward Cox, M.D., a Grand Rapids pediatrician.

To view the plan, visit www.mohc.org.
To the editor:

Who is Tim Brown, and is he a credible information source?

This is from Tim Browns web page as he describes where he lives.

He resides in the U.S. occupied Great State of South Carolina. This speaks volumes, and this is whom Chris Stevens is using as a source for his Is Trump or Obama the problem? editorial.

Tim Brown has written that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are both constitutionally ineligible to be President. Furthermore, Brown says Cruz is a Canadian serving in the U.S. Senate illegally.

Tim Brown of Freedom Outpost calls John McCain an insane traitor.

Tim Brown also says, and I quote, The way the Islamic-Marxist Obama administration attempted to deceive the American public about the Ft. Hood shooting. These are the words without facts describing our president from a source that Chris is using.

I encourage every reader of the MDN to go to Tim Browns Freedom Outpost.com and see what is posted. He is a genuine conspiracy theorist. He presents his views and opinions as facts; and the 1,063 lies President Obama is said to have made are statements taken out of context and re-worded to present a completely different meaning. Go to Fact Check or Snope.com and look up Obama 50 lies. They lay out how it is done. Facts and creditable sources are not to be frequently found in this editorial.

CHARLIE RUSSIAN

Sanford
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department.

Sunday, May 22

12:51 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at North Saginaw and Stark roads for drunken driving.

3:41 a.m.  Police made an arrest in the 2500 block of Abbott Road, and wrote a citation for minor in possession of alcohol at the same location.

5:15 a.m.  A Lee Township man, 32, was arrested for domestic assault and tampering with a communication device. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

10:33 a.m.  Gasoline, valued at $30, was stolen from a Coleman gas station.

11:30 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at East Patrick Road and Washington Street for driving on a suspended license.

12:14 p.m.  Gasoline, valued at $39, was stolen from a Coleman gas station.

12:21 p.m.  A deputy was sent to West Blakely Road for a report of a loose horse, which was returned to its enclosure. Temporary repairs were made to the enclosure, and the owner spoken to. A report recommending the owner be cited is being forwarded to Animal Control.

2:14 p.m.  A deputy investigated a case of neglect involving a woman, 25, and her son, age 7, in Jerome Township. Child Protective Services was notified.

4:45 p.m.  A deputy investigated a hit and run traffic crash.

4:51 p.m.  Deputies investigated a report of trespassing in Lee Township.

5:51 p.m.  Police investigated an assault and home invasion in the 5000 block of Russell Street.

9:39 p.m.  A deputy stopped a vehicle in Midland and arrested the driver, a 24-year-old Larkin Township man, for a felonious assault that occurred in Alma. The man was handed over to Alma Police.

9:48 p.m. A deputy was sent to the emergency room to investigate an assault. The victim, a 27-year-old man, said the incident occurred while he was fishing with others in Edenville Township. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

11:14 p.m.  A Lee Township woman, 26, was arrested in that township for driving on a suspended license. She was stopped for a traffic violation.

Saturday, May 21

5:55 p.m.  A 45-year-old Geneva Township man called with concerns about people shooting exploding targets. The deputy informed the man the targets are legal and to contact his township supervisor if he thinks there should be an ordinance.

7:48 p.m.  Someone let the air out of a vehicles tires while it was parked in Mills Township.

9:39 p.m.  A deputy was sent to a Homer Township park for a report of four teens who might have been using drugs. The teens were gone when the deputy arrived.

11:34 p.m. A deputy backed Coleman Police during a traffic stop for drunken driving. The stop was the result of a be-on-the-lookout report in Lincoln Township.

Friday, May 20

12:02 a.m.  Gasoline, valued at $47.25, was stolen from a Greendale Township gas station.

5:49 a.m.  A Freeland man, 23, was arrested in Ingersoll Township for drunken driving.

11:59 a.m.  A Pinconning man, 64, reported he was contacted by a person who told him to buy $2,000 worth of iTune gift cards and call with the account and pin numbers. The man was informed the contact was a scam and not to follow the instructions.

6:06 p.m.  A Bay County man, 33, was stopped for driving 77 mph in a 55 mph zone in Larkin Township. He was arrested on a Bay County felony warrant for fraud.

8:59 p.m.  Lawn ornaments, valued at $32, were stolen from a Lincoln Township homes yard.

9:52 p.m.  A Geneva Township homes mailbox was damaged.

10:18 p.m.  A Big Rapids man, 33, was arrested in Lee Township for driving on a suspended license.
The Republic of Korea air force held a combined, joint improvised explosive device disposal training on May 18, 2016, at the ROKAF IED training center.

The training brought together EOD technicians from the U.S. and ROK to train on the disarming and disposal of IEDs.

The days events consisted of a demonstration by ROKAF EOD members, showcasing their tactics for responding to an IED terrorism situation.

It was pretty exciting. They blew open a window and fast roped in and took care of a device, said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Parrish, 8th Civil Engineer Squadron quality assurance NCO in charge.

Parrish gave a presentation to his ROK counterparts on tactics and techniques used to disarm IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After the presentation, ROK EOD technicians tested their skills by disposing of mock IEDs that EOD technicians from 51st Civil Engineer Squadron, U.S. Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and ROK military constructed.

They have quite a few different procedures than we do, said Parrish. It was kind of neat to see how they adapted.

The training concluded with an evaluation on how each team disposed of IEDs and lessons learned from each scenario.

When it comes to EOD or IEDs, both the U.S. and Korea could actually collaborate together really well, as well as stick with our prime objective of protecting the lives and welfare of our citizens, said ROKAF Chief Master Sgt. Sungien Cho, Air Training Command IED training center senior enlisted leader.
Some young people start counting the days until they can retire on their first day of work.

Not Ann Aylward, who turns 90 on Thursday.

Aylward has worked in the business office at Triumph Northwest since 1963 and showed up five days a week until a year ago, when she cut back to two.

They are very good to me here, both the management staff and the fellas on the floor, the 1944 Albany High School graduate said. Everyone treats me wonderfully.

Aylward said she would have liked to have gone to college, but her family didnt have enough money and she really didnt know what she wanted to do after high school.

I was always interested in math and science and in those days, women were pushed toward secretarial school, she said. Really, I should have been a forest ranger. I have always liked to hike, fish and camp.

Aylwards father, Joseph, a mechanic, and her mother, Mary, moved to Albany from Wisconsin after World War I. They are of German stock and Ann said she is named after her grandmothers, Anna Marie.

After high school and with World War II nearing its end, Aylward landed a job with the former Silver Wheel Motor Freight Company in downtown Albany.

She went on to work at Bordens Dairy and Northwest Poultry being landing a job in 1963 at what was then called Northwest Industries.

I knew the controller at the time and thats how I got the job here. I actually interviewed for a job at Orement, she said.

Northwest Industries was founded in 1960. Aylward said the early years were lean, but we always paid our bills.

She worked in payroll and accounts payable.

In 1983 Northwest Industries was purchased by Alco Standard Corporation. Ten years later, it was one of 13 companies purchased by Triumph Group Inc., which is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Triumph Group has 47 specialized manufacturing companies that service aerostructures, aircraft components, accessories, subassemblies and systems.

Longevity runs in the Aylward family genes.

Ann and her brother, Patrick, 81, live together. He is retired from Wah Chang. They have two sisters who also live in Albany, Zita Roden and Melba Saylor, both in their mid-80s.

Aylward said for decades her work was all done manually.

Oh, when I think about all the work it took to keep records by hand, she said. I really enjoy computers, even though I dont have one at home.

Although she never married, she helped rear two nieces and a nephew and called that extremely rewarding.

We never had a lot of money, but we had a lot of fun going camping and fishing, she said. Its been a good life, I really cant complain.

And just as she's been committed to her job, Aylward is dedicated to giving blood to the American Red Cross. She proudly saves a Democrat-Herald from the late 1980s that featured her photo as she gave her 14th gallon of blood.

She has added another 15 gallons since then.

Aylward said she has no plans to retire any time soon.

I love what I do and I plan to keep working as long as they let me come to work, she said.

Judging by managements opinion of her, Aylward will be working for a long time to come.

Ann has always lived life younger than her years, said finance department officer Clyde Forrest. She has always been very active and engaged in life and avid hiker in her younger years. She loves working with the people here at Northwest.

Forrest said the company is the social center of her life. All of our long-term customers and vendors know her by name and treat her like a friend. She has been the voice of this company for as long as I can remember. She was the wonderful first impression. Our customers still ask about Ann. She is one of the longest tenured employees with Triumph Group. She is just the sweetest woman there is. She always handled the A/P and the A/R and payroll for Northwest and was a pleasure to work with.
She has a key role in the Pacific Commands effort to shape and maintain regional security by developing diplomatic, economic, and military policies. This includes building and maintaining military-to-military and political-military relationships among the 36 nations within the Pacific region.

What influenced you to join the Army?

A lot of it was the influence of my dad, who is from Maui and grew up on a plantation in Paia. During World War II, there were bases, runways and training areas on Maui. He joined the Army after high school and was stationed in Japan before going to Vietnam. Dad settled on Oahu when he came home, and watched a lot of movies about the military  what struck me was the heroic acts of people. That really drew me to the military -- I wanted to challenge myself and be part of something bigger than myself. Its remarkable to do so in the act of service. Thats what I learned from him. I went through ROTC at the University of Hawaii and loved every minute of it.

Growing up, I liked bringing people together in groups, but true leadership is always challenging. How do you motivate people? How do you instill loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, personal courage?  those challenges and the people who serve also attracted me to the military. Youre serving with like-minded people -- service brings us together. The brotherhood and sisterhood of military service members is amazing.

Who are some of the role models that have influenced you?

I would definitely say Senator Daniel Inouye, a Japanese-American who volunteered to serve in World War II and served in the 100-442nd Regimental Combat Team. He lost his right arm in Italy fighting against the Germans, and received the Medal of Honor. He had been hit with a grenade, and with his good hand, he had taken a grenade that was still gripped in his dismembered hand and threw it into an enemy machine gun nest. Its that kind of courage, presence of mind - that kind of strength that just inspires me. He was in recovery for a very long time, and it was during that time that he decided he would continue to serve, so he ran for office. He became the longest-serving member of Congress, the most senior senator serving prior to his death a few years ago. So talk about a life of service, all the way until his last day.

I also admire Myron Pinky Thompson. He was a Punahou graduate before he joined the Army in 1943. He lost his eye on the beaches of Normandy, and as he was healing, he reflected on his life and also decided he would continue to serve. He got his degree in social work to help the underprivileged population of Hawaii. He worked for the Department of Human Services, became a director of the Liliuokalani Trust, and a lot of different benevolent organizations. Thats a life of service -- very inspiring. Even in the face of danger and being injured, it can change your life for better or worse; they chose that path of service. They felt gratitude for the chance to livethats the spirit of a true warrior.

Which assignments were really memorable to you?

When the 29th Brigade, Hawaii National Guard was deployed in 2004, that was the first time the unit was deployed since the 1968 call-up for Vietnam. I was the first female S2 (Military Intelligence Officer) for the Brigade, so Im really honored to have been given that opportunity. We had the mission in Iraq and I ran the Joint Intelligence Center for LSA (Logistics Support Activity) Anaconda. We had a joint intel center that looked at the problem sets in and around securing the base and protecting attacks. That was Operation Iraqi Freedom 3, and we north of Baghdad along the Tigris River. OIF 3 was the height of Improvised Explosive Device attacks, and that was pre-surgeit was an interesting time.

What does heritage mean to you and how will you reflect on it this month?

My mom is from Japan and my dads family line is Hawaiian, Portuguese, Tahitian, Chinese and English - very mixed. I feel as Senator Inouye did, who said that one day he hoped we dont have to have a hyphen when speaking of Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Asian-Americanshow about if were simply called Americans? But his comment was that maybe we havent fully arrived yet, though weve come a long way.

Its great to celebrate the contributions of people of all backgrounds; sometimes in our history we dont necessarily hear about those of Asian-Pacific Islander heritage. . Many around the US may be unfamiliar with the Filipino guerrillas during World War II and their contributions; you can go around history classes in the United States and youre not going to learn about the 100 Hawaiians who fought in the Civil War that were recruited from here when it was the Kingdom of Hawaii. Some are often surprised to hear that Hawaii was a kingdom before it became a territory. I think its worthwhile to reflect on contributions made by people like General Shinseki, former Chief of Staff of the Army who was born and raised on Kauai.

As far as your heritage, is there anything that you draw from that culture that helps you along in the day-to-day of your life or career?

Being from Hawaii, we can look at our organizations as an Ohana, which fosters a sense of unity. PACOM is our family and we care about people because its the people who make a difference. We focus on our equipment sometimes, and we need to; but its the people who use the equipment, who fly those planes, pilot those ships  people write the plans, conduct the missions, negotiate and they are the ones who matter. I really believe that.

I think since were in Hawaii those values of Aloha are in-line with our values in the military, because it focuses on unity, humility and selfless service.
ROBERTSON BARRACKS, NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia -- Marines and sailors with Company B, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force Darwin, simulated casualty evacuations in a training area outside of Roberson Barracks, Northern Territory, Australia, on May 20, 2016.

We were on a basic patrol, said Sgt. Joseph R. Slizewski, a rifleman. A couple hundred meters in one of our guys in the rear stepped on an [improvised explosive device].

Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick L. Perez, a hospital corpsman, acted as the casualty.

I had an amputated left leg, a sucking chest wound on the left side of my chest and a possible traumatic brain injury from the blast, said Perez, from San Francisco, California.

Marines made sure their first priority is to maintain fire superiority at all times.

We dont want to take any more casualties, said Perez. Of course second is to do everything you can to save that life.

First responders apply lifesaving aid and then move the casualty away from the blast site to a safer spot all while spinning up a nine-line medical evacuation request. Meter by meter Marines move the casualty towards the landing zone, setting up security around the casualty for protection.

Weve got to take care of our boys, said Slizewski, from Omaha, Nebraska.

Marines requested medical evacuation support from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367s UH-1Y Venom helicopters.

I try to figure out where the [landing zone] is in relation to the aircraft and what is the quickest and safest entry, said 1st Lt. Mark A. Betzel, a utility pilot. Flying is always challenging whether its [casualty evacuation] or any other mission set.

As a utility helicopter, the UH-1Y conducts a wide range of missions. They can provide offensive air support, intelligence and surveillance, command and control, tactical insertion of troops and in this case, fly far and fast making the difference between life and death.

They were really fast getting down and getting out, said Slizewski. He said he had never worked with this specific aircraft before but was impressed with how spot on the pilots were.

In real scenarios, pilots will fly the casualty to medical services nearby. Crew chiefs onboard are not trained as corpsman, therefore getting patients to a higher echelon of medical care is critical for their survival, said Betzel, from Elyria, Ohio.

Going on a Huey is one hell of a ride, said Perez, They took good care of me and Ill always take care of them. Were all looking out for each other and I trust them with my life.

Preforming this training in an unfamiliar environment during MRF-D, a six-month deployment of Marines and into Darwin, Australia, creates a new learning experience for the service members.

The Marines realize the importance of this training and they really put their heart and soul into this, said Slizewski, a squad leader.
WASHINGTON  The United States has lifted the ban on arms sales to Vietnam, eliminating one more vestige of the Cold War, President Barack Obama said in Hanoi yesterday.

The move is part of the presidents emphasis on U.S. relations with partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

The United States and Vietnam will cooperate more closely on regional security issues, Obama said during a news conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

As part of our engagement with [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and the East Asia Summit, were working together to advance regional security and stability, he said. Vietnam has welcomed American navy ships to your ports. Our militaries are conducting more exchanges and partnering on maritime security.

Deepening Cooperation

The deepening cooperation includes providing patrol boats and training for Vietnams coast guard and exercises that will make it easier for Vietnamese and American service members to work more closely together in the event of a humanitarian disaster.

I can also announce that the United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some 50 years, Obama said. As with all our defense partners, sales will need to still meet strict requirements, including those related to human rights. But this change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War.

The president stressed the need for stability especially in the South China Sea, where a number of countries -- China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia -- have competing claims on reefs and islands.

International Norms

The president emphasized the need for international norms and rules to be followed in the region, and said freedom of navigation and overflight must continue in the international waterway. He also said disputes in the region must be resolved peacefully, through legal means, in accordance with international law.

I want to repeat that the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and we will support the right of all countries to do the same, Obama said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter supported the presidents decision on eliminating the arms embargo on Vietnam. Bilaterally, this allows us to make yet further advances in what really is an historic military-to-military relationship with Vietnam, he said during an in-flight interview on the way to New Haven, Connecticut. I think this will particularly be reflected in the maritime domain, which is one of the areas that we work most closely with Vietnam in.

Carter visited Vietnam last year and was the first American official to tour the Vietnamese fleet in Hai Phong harbor. Im glad that we took a number of steps there, and Im glad the president has decided to increase it further, he said.

China Worrisome

China is worrisome to the states of the region, the secretary said. The move is a reflection of the fact that more and more countries in the region are coming to the United States more and more, to do more and more with us because of their general concern with the security environment in the region, he said.

Southeast Asia has benefited greatly from the stability of the region, brought about in part by the American presence there, he said.

The secretary did emphasize that the move in Vietnam is not directed against China. Nothing we do there is directed at China, but there's no question that China's actions there -- particularly those over the last year -- have heightened concern in the region, and thats another factor which causes [Vietnam] to want to work with us, he said.

The Chinese have literally built islands on reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea and has built airstrips and ports on the islands and placed radar stations, support buildings, solar arrays and lighthouses on them. The South China Sea is a crucial international waterway through which trillions of dollars of commerce passes each year.
More than 40 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Peacekeeping Operations Interim participated in a convoy escort simulation May 24, as part of the annual, multinational peacekeeping exercise, Khaan Quest 2016 in Mongolia.

The course was designed to reshape the protocol of how armed forces deal with locals while on deployment or participating in U.N. missions. It also introduces new tactics, tailored to achieve the Global Peace Operations Initiative programs goal through peacekeeping.

It is a challenge in a peacekeeping mission when you have platoons that have done missions that are very different, said Staff Sgt. Richard Murphy, a convoy escort instructor from the Alaska National Guard. Its quite the balancing act, between being tactical and peacekeeping. They almost have to unlearn everything that they have learned in the past.

Six different scenarios were set in place in front of the Philippine platoon: meeting Non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives requesting assistance, an ambush, negotiating with Mongolian locals to pass through a checkpoint, delivering the NGOs package, navigating through civil unrest, and what protocols to take when encountering an improvised explosive device. Each scenario tested the soldiers ability to apply the skills they learned in the classroom to execution in a field simulation.

I think the training went okay, however there are some points to learn, said Maj. Pablo Masa-ad, the platoon leader for the Armed Forces of the Philippines Peacekeeping Operations Interim. We thought we knew everything but when you actually simulate and execute new tactics, unexpected events happen. We learned how to adapt to the situation and complete the mission.

Convoy escort is one of 11 simulations designed to enhance tactical and combat capabilities of participating uniformed services during Khaan Quest 2016.

The goal for each course is to increase interoperability between our partners and allies, said Capt. B. Munkhbayar, of the Mongolian Armed Forces and senior instructor of the convoy escort course. Our training will benefit us when we deploy and when we have to work together during U.N. missions.

Khaan Quest 2016 is an annual, multinational peacekeeping operations exercise hosted by the Mongolian Armed Forces, co-sponsored by U.S. Pacific Command, and supported by U.S. Army Pacific and U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. Khaan Quest, in its 14th iteration, is the capstone exercise for this years Global Peace Operations Initiative program. The exercise focuses on training activities to enhance international interoperability, develop peacekeeping capabilities, build to mil-to-mil relationships, and enhance military readiness.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

Statement Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Washington, DC

As prepared

Introduction

Thank you, Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin, for inviting me to testify today on the progress and expectations of the U.S.-India relationship. The White House announced last week that President Obama will host Indian Prime Minister Modi on June 7th. The Prime Minister has also been invited to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress during that visit.

So this hearing provides us with a timely opportunity to take stock of the U.S.India relationship. Sixteen years ago, when another Indian Prime Minister, Atal Vajpayee, had the honor of addressing the U.S. Congress at the dawn of this new century, he set out a vision that the United States and India  based on our our shared values and common interests  would forge a natural partnership that would help to shape the century to come.

Since that time, and over the past eight years, we have seen a tremendous amount of progress across every major dimension of our relationship, including our strategic, economic, defense and security, and energy and environment ties. When President Obama welcomes Prime Minister Modi to Washington next month, we will be able to say with confidence that relations between our two great democracies have never been stronger, even as both sides recognize there is much more to be done.

Strategic Relations

The strategic partnership between the United States and India is anchored on the premise that our two democratic, pluralistic, and secular societies share not only many of the same attributes but also many of the same aspirations. It is that premise which has led President Obama to characterize the relationship as a defining partnership of the 21st century.

India is the worlds largest democracy, Asias fastest-growing major economy, and soon-to-be the most populous nation on Earth. How India grows its economy, evolves its strategic doctrine, asserts its interests and values, and projects its growing economic, military, and political power will have important consequences not just for 1.25 billion Indian citizens, but increasingly for the rest of the planet. That is why the U.S.-India partnership is of such extraordinary importance for the United States and one that will, I believe, shape the future of geo-politics and economics in the 21st century.

Mr. Chairman, as we reflect on the ambitious trajectory of this important relationship, one must give credit to the previous administrations in the United States and India, and to the U.S. Congress, for setting us on this path. The historic U.S.India Civil Nuclear Agreement of 2008, signed by President Bush and Prime Minister Singh, and passed with bipartisan support in Congress, not only made possible civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India, but laid a foundation on which we have built a strategic partnership that has made both countries safer and more prosperpous.

The U.S.India Strategic Dialogue, launched by Secretary Clinton in 2009, has expanded dramatically in the past seven years and now includes high-level bilateral dialogues and working groups spanning policy planning, global leadership, finance and economics, commerce, transportation, aviation, space, climate change, maritime security, energy security, infrastructure, cyber policy, defense policy, political-military relations, homeland security, the oceans, East Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the United Nations. There was no hyperbole in Secretary Kerrys statement last year that we may do more with India  on a government-to-government basis, than with any other nation.

The impressive bilateral architecture of the U.S.India partnership reflects the investment both countries have made in building ties between our people, our industries, our governments, and our security establishments. It has created a platform for an unprecedented level of cooperation meant to grow our respective economies and make our citizens more secure.

India represents a key part of the Administrations Asia policy. To be sure, Indias Act East strategy and the U.S. Rebalance to Asia are complementary and mutually reinforcing, promising to bring greater security and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific region. And at a time of new challenges from both state- and non-state actors to the modern international rules-based order, India has increasingly taken a strong stand in defending a system that has sustained global security and prosperity for over seven decades.

Nowhere is this expressed more clearly than in our Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, issued by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi last year, which enshrined our mutual commitment to safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea.

And India has provided the world with an excellent model of how a large power can peacefully resolve territorial and maritime disputes with its smaller neighbors. By accepting the results of international arbitration on disputed maritime claims in the Bay of Bengal, India  along with Bangladesh and Burma  created a template for others to follow.

Taken together, it is clear that a strong and long-term strategic partnership with India is the best way we can ensure open and secure access to the global commons across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Economic Relations

Yet, for India to be a strong and capable strategic partner, it must have the economic strength to back up its growing global leadership. Our fast-growing economic partnership is based on the understanding that deepening the trade and commercial ties between our two countries will advance opportunity and prosperity for both of our peoples.

Growing commercial ties will empower Indias young and inventive workforce, contributing to regional prosperity, globally-significant innovation, and sustainable development of Indias cities  over 60 of which boast more than 1 million citizens. And growing trade between our nations will create more jobs in the United States and offer U.S. firms access to one of the most important foreign markets of this century.

And the economic data supports this premise. Bilateral trade in goods and services has expanded from $60 billion in 2009 to over $107 billion in 2015. U.S. exports to India increased by nearly 50% over the same period, supporting more than 180,000 U.S. jobs. While many trade barriers still remain, agricultural exports, in particular, have grown substantially and almost quadrupled in value over the past decade, reaching an all-time high last year.

Indian foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States nearly tripled between 2009 and 2014  making it the fourth-fastest growing source of FDI into the United States  and U.S. FDI in India increased by nearly 30 percent over the same period. Last year, U.S. investors stakes in Indian equities surpassed those in Chinese equities for the first time, rising to $12 billion.

Today, well over 500 U.S. companies are active in India, a country whose middle class could grow to half a billion people in the next 15 years. American companies have focused their investments on the opportunities that a growing India represents for the future of their businesses.

Companies like Corning, which built a new factory there in 2013  and Ford, whose 460-acre plant was created with a $1 billion investment  will be positioned to access not only the vast Indian market, but will use these platforms to grow their exports across Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

As India seeks to build the infrastructure to power its economy, it is looking directly to the United States to attract the technology and private capital it needs. A McKinsey report from 2010 concluded that approximately 70 to 80 percent of the infrastructure of the India of 2030 has yet to be built. This represents a tremendous opportunity for American companies with infrastructure expertise.

For example, General Electric was awarded a deal worth $2.6 billion to provide Indias railways with 1,000 locomotives. That is the largest deal in GEs 100-year history in India, and marks a doubling of the companys investment there in just the last five years.

And we are working actively to find new commercial opportunities: the Department of Commerce, for example, is supporting work by the Harvard Business School and the Ahmedabad Institute of Management to better enable U.S. companies to identify markets in India for exports of products and services, by developing a cluster map compatible with our current, U.S.-based cluster map. By making more efficient and data-driven investment and business decisions, our companies and regions will be more competitive in developing export strategies that maximize benefit.

We are also working to bring more Indian investment to the United States. More than 200 Indian companies now have operations here, up from just 85 about a decade ago. According to a study released last year by the Confederation of Indian Industries, just 100 of those companies have together invested more than $15 billion in the United States, supporting over 90,000 jobs, and 84 percent of those companies plan to invest more here in the next five years.

And through a partnership with diaspora entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, the Department of Commerces SelectUSA initiative will help Indian entrepreneurs get the data and support they need to expand their operations in the United States, bringing more innovation, jobs, and prosperity here at home.

Despite these gains, there is still much to be done to get two-way trade much closer to its potential. While Indias business climate has improved - India climbed four places on the World Banks Ease of Doing Business survey last year - our companies still struggle with an over-burdened and inefficient legal system for adjudicating commercial disputes and with a variable  and at times inconsistent  regulatory environment and tax code.

Among steps India can take to attract more companies would be to negotiate a high-standard bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the United States, which would send an important signal to U.S. investors that India is not only open for business, but also open to liberalizing its trade and investment practices. And while India has made some progress in improving the ease of doing business, its economy cannot achieve its full potential without strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights and creating a more transparent and predictable regulatory and tax regime. While these issues are some of the most challenging in our relationship, they are also some of the most important for both countries to get right.

It is for these reasons  both the remaining challenges and the bright opportunities  that we have elevated our commercial relationship by expanding our annual U.S-India Strategic Dialogue to include a commercial component. We are using the S&CD  as it is now called  to expand our commercial engagement in four areas: ease of doing business, standards, infrastructure, and innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the key private sector vehicles informing the S&CD is the U.S.-India CEO Forum. In addition, the Trade Policy Forum, the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership, and myriad other working groups address these commercial and economic issues, as well as chart an ambitious future for our bilateral economic ties.

Defense and Security Relations

Of all the areas that define the future and help frame the stakes for a strong U.S.-India partnership, none is more prescient and important in my opinion than our defense and security ties. Without ensuring the safety and security of our democracies, the other areas of cutting-edge cooperation would simply not be possible.

Our defense and security partnership with India is critically important to securing U.S. interests in Asia and across the Indo-Pacific region. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta noted several years ago that India is a lynchpin of the U.S. Rebalance to Asia. And it is no surprise that Secretary Carter refers to the U.S.-India defense partnership as an anchor of global security.

India now conducts more military exercises with the United States than with any of the other 23 countries that it holds bilateral exercises with. These military exercises have grown not just in number, but also in complexity. Our bilateral army exercise Yudh Abhyas, for example, has evolved from a squad- and platoon-level exercise to the company- and battalion-level. Our annual naval exercise, MALABAR, last year mobilized over 8,000 personnel, including a U.S. Carrier Strike Group, U.S. and Indian submarines, and P-8 surveillance planes. Reflecting our close cooperation, we now also welcome Japan as a regular participant in the MALABAR exercise.

The benefits of our enhanced coordination were on display during relief operations after the tragic earthquake that struck Nepal last year, when the U.S. and Indian militaries jointly worked together to rescue stranded civilians and deliver badly needed food, water, and shelter to those affected by the disaster. And last year, our two countries signed a renewed 10-year Defense Framework Agreement, which will provide new avenues for strengthening cooperation between our militaries. Were also now working with India to jointly train peacekeepers in African countries.

And, as you probably read after Secretary Carters recent visit to India, we are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow our armed forces to use each others bases for resupply and repair. We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean.

In recent years, the United States has become one of Indias largest defense suppliers, totaling nearly $14 billion and up from less than $300 million eight years ago. These sales include C-130 and C-17 transport planes, Poseidon (P-8) maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. The deal for those helicopters was just finalized last September and will support thousands of American jobs. These deals not only increase interoperability between our armed forces, they also help buttress the growing economic ties through partnership and cooperation between our nations.

To that end, in 2012 we launched the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), which includes the joint development and production of new defense products. We also have DTTI working groups on jet engine technology and aircraft carrier development. The carrier working group marks the first time the United States has lent support to another countrys indigenous carrier development program, and we hope to see a day in the not-too-distant future when the U.S. and Indian navies  including aircraft carriers  operate side-by-side to promote maritime security and protect freedom of navigation for all nations.

The Maritime Security Dialogue provides an important channel to discuss such cooperation  it was launched under the auspices of the our Joint Strategic Vision and met for the first time this month, co-led by the Departments of Defense and State. All of these efforts are built toward enabling India to become a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean region and beyond.

We have also expanded our cooperation with India to combat terrorism and violent extremism, and continue to work toward finalizing a bilateral agreement to exchange intelligence and terrorist watch-list information. This cooperation, which includes regular trainings through the State Departments Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, as well as joint sponsorship of terrorist designations at the United Nations, has made both our nations more secure.

Energy and Environment

In addition to our security partnership, the size, scope, and nature of Indias energy market will have a profound impact beyond its borders. With over 400 million people without reliable access to electricity, and the needs of a growing economy increasing by the day, the stakes for Indias widespread adoption of clean energy technology have never been greater.

What some people may not realize is that how India chooses to fuel its growth will have enormous, transformational effects on the health, well-being, and sustainable growth of the country, of the Indo-Pacific, and the entire globe. India does not have to choose between growth and sustainability  Secretary Kerry often says that the development, scaling, and adoption of clean energy technology represents a multi-trillion dollar business opportunity.

This is why many leaders in both our countries have posited that our cooperation on energy and environment can have dramatic consequences for how global growth is supported in the coming decades. And our energy ties are reflecting this. For instance, this year saw the first shipment to India of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), providing more of a low-carbon alternative to oil and coal for powering Indias economic rise.

India is also looking to increase its civilian nuclear power capacity, and we are confident that U.S.-built nuclear reactors will contribute to that effort. We are very encouraged by the progress made over the last year. In particular, India ratified the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which was an important step toward creating a global nuclear liability regime.

Now it is up to individual companies  and our leading U.S. firms can count on our support  to help ink contractual agreements that will bring civil-nuclear power to India. As President Obama has stated, we are hopeful that this year will see deals for U.S. companies to build new reactors, providing clean, reliable energy that can support the needs of megacities on the scale of Mumbai or Delhi, even on the hottest day. I am confident we will see progress on this critical part of our partnership soon.

Clean and renewable energy is where our cooperation can have the greatest effect, and where many of our efforts are focused, including joint research and development, supporting early stage innovative technologies, and exploring new approaches to clean energy financing and mobilizing private sector funding.

Our Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE), which was launched in 2009 and expanded in 2015, now includes cooperation on smart grids and energy storage in addition to solar, biofuels, and building efficiency. Super-efficient air conditioners alone have the potential to offset the need for over 100 power plants by the year 2030.

We are also working together through the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation  a global clean energy R&D initiative  to accelerate the research, development, and adoption of clean energy technologies. Since 2009, weve helped mobilize more than $2.5 billion to develop clean energy solutions in India. These investments have demonstrated the promise and potential of renewable energy in the country, and it now has some of the most ambitious renewable energy goals in the world  175 gigawatts of capacity by 2022, including 100 gigawatts of solar.

India is also playing a more prominent role in combatting global climate change. Indias leadership was essential to the successful conclusion of the COP21 negotiations in Paris. Through the U.S.-India Climate Change Working Group, initiated in 2014, were expanding cooperation on issues like adaptation, forestry, and air quality.

Our joint U.S.-India space collaboration includes a bilateral expansion of cooperative satellite-based Earth observation efforts to support regional and global goals. This space cooperation between the U.S. civil space agencies: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Indian Space Research Organization includes joint work on satellite missions that will help the international community better understand the connections between climate change and natural disasters as well as provide weather observations in near real-time to the global forecasting community.

In addition, since 2008, NOAA and India's Ministry of Earth Science have collaborated on research projects to monitor climate patterns in the Indian Ocean and better forecast tropical cyclones and monsoons.

And at the sub-national level, some Indian states have opened lines of communication with California on reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, and we are working to increase engagement between other states and cities in the U.S. and India.

Conclusion

Underpinning all elements of our relationship are our people-to-people ties, which have grown stronger than ever throughout this Administration. Our efforts to promote tourism have paid off handsomely, with the number of Indian visitors to the United States going from less than 550,000 in 2009 to over 960,000 in 2014, while their spending nearly tripled over the same period, to $9.5 billion.

The number of Indian students studying in the United States increased over 30 percent from 2009 to 2015, reaching over 130,000 and bringing an estimated $3.6 billion into the U.S. economy. The Fulbright-Nehru exchange program, which builds life-long bridges among our young scholars and academics, has tripled in size since 2009. And through the Indo-U.S. 21st Century Knowledge Initiative, launched in 2012, we have built 32 new partnerships between our institutes of higher education, ranging from efforts to improve mental health care to developing more sustainable aquaculture systems.

Overall, our long-running U.S. government exchange programs have graduated over 15,000 alumni from India, including six current and former heads of state, 35 members of parliament, 11 chief ministers, and other leaders in business, civil society, academia, and the arts.

In his speech last year at Siri Fort, New Delhi, President Obama said that our nations are strongest when we uphold the equality of all our people. To build that strength, we have a range of dialogues, engagements, and private conversations about human rights with Indias government. Our U.S.-India Global Issues Forum, led earlier this year by Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall, focused on a wide range of issues including transparency and governance, countering violent extremism, migration and refugees, trafficking, and LGBTI rights. Our Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Susan Coppedge, just returned from India, where she had a fruitful exchange with the government on how it combats trafficking, and also shared U.S. efforts on prosecution, protection, and prevention. And we are always looking for new ways to partner with India to advance human rights, strengthen democratic institutions, and support societies that are more inclusive, secular, and tolerant.

Taken together, the progress we have made over the past eight years in our strategic, economic, defense and security, and energy and environment ties has truly ushered in a new era of relations between the United States and India, strengthening the foundation of a partnership that will help ensure that the Indo-Pacific region and the world is a more peaceful and prosperous place. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
HONOLULU  Representatives from more than 20 nations throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region gathered in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, to kick off the 4th annual LANPAC Symposium & Exposition May 24.

The "world-class international event highlights the role of land forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and their contributions to the joint force in peace and war," according to the website of the event sponsor, the Association of the United States Army.

"This symposium will illustrate the importance of land power in the Pacific, as well as the role of American land forces in engaging allies to build partner capacity and effectiveness in response to requirements of the commander, U.S. Pacific Command," said retired U.S. Army Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, President AUSA. This year's theme is "Assuring Stability and Security -- Strengthening Land Force Teams."

The three-day symposium provides an opportunity for multiple land forces commanders from the U.S. Army Pacific; U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific; and Special Operations Command Pacific, alongside joint and regional partners, to discuss and showcase the critical role of Pacific land forces which extends over an area that spans nearly half the world's surface area and holds half the world's population.

"The most important reason for the Marines to be here at the LANPAC conference is to discuss the importance of amphibious operations in this theater throughout the entire range of military operations. We need to make amphibious capability truly joint," said Lt. Gen. John Toolan, Commanding General, MARFORPAC.

The focus of this year's annual event will concentrate on current regional perspectives; Amphibious Capabilities & Development for Land Forces; Land Force & Maritime Domain Awareness; Readiness: Preparing for War & Preventing Conflict in Phase Zero; Land Forces in Air and Missile Defense & Emerging Capabilities; Force Projection and Sustainment of Land Forces; and Using The Humanitarian Competencies of Land Forces.

"Some of these panel topics -- just their title alone should stimulate all sorts of thoughts and questions," said Gen. Robert B. Brown, USARPAC Commanding General. "At least I hope so, because it is these types of open and honest discussions that help us sharpen our minds and strengthen our relationships -- across professions, services, and countries. That's what this week is all about."

According to AUSA, Hawaii's central location has brought two dozen representatives from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, including representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga and the United States. That's nearly double the previous year's attendance, according to the Army's professional association.

This year's LANPAC marks the first time for several other forums, to include the Pacific Instrumentation Forum, where discussion will focus on how simulations can enhance multinational unit training through live, virtual and constructive training from multiple locations; a Medical Forum, where participants will discuss roles and responsibilities of the health sector; and an Intelligence Forum, where members of the intel community will share best practices on how land forces can collectively provide intelligence support to maritime domain awareness.

Live coverage of the panel discussions, and archived video of past meetings, can be found on the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/USARPACPAO. Additional coverage can be found on the USARPAC Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/USARPAC and Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/USARPAC.
Last Wednesday, Bernie Sanders had lunch at the Chieftain, a cozy pub near the San Francisco Chronicle. In days gone by, it served as a lunch spot for parched journalists. Earlier, Sanders had addressed a rally in San Jose; he had another scheduled in Vallejo, California, that night. When he exited the Chieftain by a back door onto Howard Street, passers-by shouted out his name.

A man who hailed Sanders as his "hero" asked the Democratic presidential hopeful to pose for a photo. There were more selfies with more fans who could not believe their luck in stumbling upon a potential president. No jacket, no tie, two pens in his shirt pocket, Sanders took his time heading toward the motorcade.

I had raced down Fifth Street to catch the scene. After all, how often do San Franciscans have a chance to see one of the three top remaining candidates in a presidential race mingling with strangers? Supporters didn't have to pay $250 to $27,000 for a ticket that would put them in a banquet hall with front-running Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton also has held some rallies open to the public and free, but her modus operandi is hardly strictly grass-roots.

In those few moments, it was easy to see why Sanders has caught on with young voters. As Sanders told Chronicle staff writer Joe Garofoli on Wednesday, "if you want a candidate who is out working and speaking with people rather than hanging out raising money from millionaires, I think the choice is pretty clear."

The choice between Sanders and Clinton is stark: Rumpled versus professionally styled. Poll-defying versus poll-tested. "One of the poorer members of the U.S. Senate" versus one half of a $111 million-net-worth couple. Insurgency versus establishment. Enthusiasts versus operatives.

At the Chronicle editorial board this month, Sanders was personable, but he was disappointing on substance. And it had happened before.

On April 1, Sanders met with the New York Daily News editorial board. He stumbled over questions about how he would break up the big banks. "How you go about doing it is having legislation passed or giving the authority to the secretary of treasury to determine, under Dodd-Frank, that these banks are a danger to the economy over the problem of too-big-to-fail," he answered. Probed further, Sanders said he didn't know whether the Federal Reserve has the authority to break up the banks, but he thought the administration "can have" that power. In other words, he had given little thought to the mechanics and had no plan to execute his big dream. He failed to demonstrate even the slightest understanding as to which agencies have the authority to do what he wants done or how a bank breakup might affect the economy of (say, just for the sake of argument) New York.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza described the meeting as "pretty close to a disaster," with "the Daily News pressing Sanders for specifics and asking him to evaluate the consequences of his proposals, and Sanders, largely, dodging as he sought to scramble back to his talking points."

By the time Sanders made it to San Francisco, he was on notice that editorial boards expect more thoughtful answers. He had more than a month to bone up on his signature issue. But when the Chronicle's business editor, Owen Thomas, asked Sanders whether he would break up Wells Fargo, Sanders said he could not answer definitively. He moved to his talking points -- "three out of four of the largest banks today are bigger than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail" -- railing against the revolving door. He asserted that Section 121 of Dodd-Frank gives the treasury secretary the power to "determine which banks, if they failed, could cause systemic damage to our economy" and that he "would break them up." But according to Fortune magazine, that provision gives that authority to a large board on which the treasury secretary sits.

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't a man who has been railing against the big banks from sea to shining sea know which banks are so big that he would have to sic the government on them to pare them down to size? Sanders boasted that he would not name a treasury secretary who has worked at Goldman Sachs. The question is: Would he appoint someone who understands how Goldman Sachs works?

Likewise, Sanders had no real plan to work with Congress to push through the legislation to advance his revolutionary goals. He said he has learned that it is impossible to work with Republicans. But no worries. If voters send him to the White House, then there will be a "political revolution" that pressures Congress to work with him.

That tells me that if elected, Sanders is destined to fail.

He hits Clinton for being too close to Goldman Sachs  and he's right. So how does he work with Democrats in Congress?

I've talked to people who watched the video of Sanders meeting with the Chronicle editorial board. They have asked me why campaign staffers didn't do a better job of prepping the candidate. Actually, that should not be necessary. Sanders has been a member of Congress since 1991. Income inequality is his pet issue. He should not need staff to explain to him what banks are doing wrong and what the government can do to correct the imbalance.

Electing Sanders to fix what ails Wall Street would be like hiring me to fix your car.
BLOOMINGTON  The Bloomington Police Department is seeking help from the public in locating a runaway juvenile.

Marshun D. Collins, 16, was reported as a runaway on May 7, after he left a family member's residence in Bloomington. He was last seen on May 8 in Normal.

Collins is an African-American male who is 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs approximately 160 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about his location is asked to contact Bloomington police Detective John Atteberry at 309-434-2548 or jatteberry@cityblm.org.
BLOOMINGTON  Summer vacation was so close on Tuesday, Gabrielle Dickerson could taste it.

It tasted like a fruity snow cone.

Today is fun because we get to play and have snow cones, said Gabrielle, a third-grader at Sheridan Elementary School in Bloomington.

Tuesday marked the final day of school for Bloomington District 87 and McLean County Unit 5. To celebrate, Gabrielle and her classmates enjoyed a field day in the hot sun, cooling off with frozen treats and water games.

Gabrielle teamed up with her fellow third-grader Alijandra Ramirez in a game of water volleyball as they tossed a wet ball over a net and caught it on pillow cases. The girls said they were eager to go swimming and move on to fourth grade.

Learning division this year was pretty cool, said Alijandra. Im excited to learn new stuff in fourth grade.

The girls mothers volunteered to help with the field day. Becky Ramirez said she has really seen her children improve academically this year, including her son, who has autism.

My son really excelled in his verbal skills. Ali was below in reading and now shes at the right level. Im like, Yes! We made it. Their hard work has paid off, said Ramirez.

She said she is excited for the kids to be home more over the summer so they can plan trips to museums and the movie theater.

Sandra Dickerson said life has really changed in the past few years for her daughter Gabrielle and fourth-grade son, Garrick.

We moved here from Chicago in 2014 and life really turned around for them. The principal and teachers have opened the door and always offered a hand, said Dickerson. Both my son and daughter were pushed to do better this year, and they have grown.

She hopes to take her kids on an educational trip to Washington, D.C., this summer while President Barack Obama is still in the White House.

Dickerson said she appreciated the anti-bullying efforts at school this year.

Its not just a sign on the wall. They have activities and teachers talk about bullying. Thats wonderful as a parent because I know my children feel secure. Its a great community here, she said.

Other activities run by parents and teachers at Sheridan included a refreshing water bottle launch and chalk drawings on the blacktop. While doodling a yellow sun on the pavement with some students, Sheridan music teacher Leah Crews said there are plenty of ways students can keep their minds sharp over the summer.

Kids can always take classes at Bloomington Parks and Recreation, play educational games online and keep reading instead of just watching video games, said Crews.

In Normal, Sugar Creek Elementary School students celebrated the last few hours of school with a sock hop dance in the gym. Kids raised their arms to the "YMCA" song, wiggled to the "Hokey Pokey" and danced in a conga line.

The students also attended an awards ceremony, including fifth-graders Morgan Sutter and John Woodward, who were applauded for being respectful students. They will move on to junior high school in the fall.

Im nervous and excited. Its a big change but it means more freedom, said Morgan.

Im excited," said John. "Ive heard sixth-graders have more lunch choices."

Nicole Combs said the day was bittersweet as it marks the end of her first year as principal at Sugar Creek.

This group of kiddos has taught me a lot. The students really go out of the way to help each other, even the littlest ones, said Combs.

Her advice for students soaking up summer vacation is to "read, read, read.

"The library offers wonderful summer programs and its not hard to pick up a book, said Combs.

Combs said teachers are excited for the change to start and dismissal times coming to Unit 5 schools in August.

We have compiled a list of before- and after-school providers for parents to use, she said. Were happy it will mean more learning time in the morning for elementary students.
LINCOLN  Two firefighters and a civilian were injured Wednesday after a passenger van collided with a fire tanker truck in Lincoln.

The firefighters, from Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District, were taken to St. John's Hospital in Springfield. The van's driver was extricated by firefighters from Lincoln and Lincoln Rural, and taken to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln.

Lincoln Rural Fire Chief Chris Buse said none of the injuries was considered life-threatening. "Thank God that no one was injured badly," he said.

"This is a prime example of why people need to obey Scotts Law," Buse told The Pantagraph. "Were on our way (to a call and) our tanker came into the intersection with lights and siren and a vehicle did not yield and collided with our tanker."

The tanker, which carries 2,000 gallons of water, rolled onto its side and came to rest partially on the van. The accident occurred at the intersection of old Route 66 and Woodlawn Road. Southbound Route 66 remains closed.

The firefighters were responding to a brush fire along Interstate 55 at Elkhart when the accident occurred.

"There are countless times weve had close calls on the interstate, but not one right down the street from our station," Buse said. "The bad thing is that this is going to be tough because that was our only tanker."

Scott's Law is a state law that requires motorists to slow down and pull over for emergency vehicles using their lights and sirens.
NORMAL  It's official: Connect Transit will roll out new bus routes this year.

Some areas of Bloomington-Normal will lose service in mid-August with the debut of a new map, Sunday service and more frequent weekday service. Connect Transit's board of trustees approved the changes Tuesday.

Routes to south Bloomington and north Normal were eliminated, but riders there could receive a compromise: buses running to those areas during peak hours only, a $30,000-per-year investment. The board is expected to vote on that idea in June.

Connect Transit negotiated with ride-hailing service Uber to provide on-demand rides to and from bus routes, but that deal was scuttled after members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 762 of Bloomington-Normal, which represents Connect Transit drivers, came out in opposition last month.

"It's not a perfect solution, but we believe it is a (positive) change in progress," said ATU President Jim Riordan during Tuesday's meeting. "ATU endorses the new route changes."

The board met three weeks ago to vote on the new map, but members tabled the vote due to last-minute changes to the new map. Normal City Manager Mark Peterson, who serves on the board but doesn't vote, said the delay was fruitful.

Members of the public disagreed, including a woman who shouted an expletive at the board during Peterson's comment. Connect Transit General Manager Andrew Johnson said no routes changed between the vote to table and Tuesday.

"If those things (that were problems three weeks ago) weren't tweaked in the last three weeks, are you going to approve the same thing?" said resident Bonnie Johnson. "There will be a lot of people unhappy."

Connect Transit worked with transportation consultant Nelson/Nygaard of San Francisco for more than a year on the new map and schedule, which are intended to make the system more efficient, understandable and easy to use.

The changes are expected to increase Connect Transit's budget from $11.5 million to $14.5 million. Part of that increase will come from new sales tax revenue: Bloomington and Normal will pay Connect Transit a combined $1 million, and that money will bring in $2 million in new state and federal grants.

As part of the overhaul, Connect Transit also will introduce new fare boxes on its buses, which take effect June 3, and a new Connect Transit-branded smartphone app that will let riders view routes and track buses in motion.

Because of the boxes, Connect Transit will consider discontinuing its current $29 monthly ride pass, introduce a $36 30-day pass and add new $3 one-day and $10 seven-day passes. The board is set to vote on those changes July 26.

Johnson said the 30-day pass would be more valuable because it's not restricted to a calendar month, as monthly passes are.

Prices for Connect Mobility, which offers on-demand bus service to elderly and infirm passengers, wouldn't change under the new plan.

Mike McCurdy, vice chairman of the board, said he hopes the new app will be easier for riders to use. Connect Transit currently offers mobile services through Doublemap, an app that is named for its developer and doesn't run smoothly.

Johnson said labeling the app "Connect Transit" will make it easier to find.

Peterson said he looks forward to monitoring how the changes work out, especially over the next six months. Board member Judy Buchanan agreed.

"That has got to be our (pledge) going forward," she said. "We're not done."
LeROY  Ground will be broken Thursday on a McLean County Habitat for Humanity home, the first outside of Bloomington-Normal in 20 years.

We are very excited about building in LeRoy and have been amazed at the amount of support the local churches and community are providing for this effort, said McLean County Habitat for Humanity Family Services Manager Toni Molck.

The property at 203 N. Main St. includes two lots. Two houses eventually will be built, Molck said.

Ken Downey of LeRoy and his three children have been selected to move into the first home.

Its a great family and Ken is very excited about this and is anxious to get started, Molck said.

The property was donated by former Central Illinois resident Joe Moore, a retired Army veteran who lives in Newport News, Va.

My original plan was to donate it to a group that assists disabled veterans or veterans who need rehabilitation services or something along those lines, he said. Most of those groups wanted money, but not the land. I finally called Habitat for Humanity and it worked out.

It took about two years to complete the proper paperwork and get the lots rezoned from commercial to residential, but construction should begin soon, Habitat for Humanity officials say. The property was previously zoned for commercial because of its close proximity to U.S. 150.

The property has been in the family since about 1955, Moore said. He purchased it from his mother in 1985 and, at one time, there was one home on each lot. One was destroyed by fire and torn down.

When the home caught fire, it didnt destroy it, but it was heavily damaged and it was old to begin with, he said. The only way to rebuild it was to restore it to the current code and it just wasnt worth it. We tore both down.

Moore said he is happy that the property will be used for something positive.

It makes me feel good because I was paying property taxes on something I couldnt use, he said. I think the family will really love it and that is good enough for me.

Moore hopes to attend Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony, along with his daughter, Debbie Denlow of St. Joseph.

"I am so proud of him for doing this," Denlow said. "It might not be a Vietnam veteran or someone in the Army, but there are going to be two homes on that property to people who really need them."

The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. The name of the second family has not been announced.
SPRINGFIELD  Amid howls of protest from Republicans, the Democratic-led Illinois House passed a spending plan for next year Wednesday without considering any of the pro-business legislation GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner wants as part of a deal to end an historic budget stalemate.

The Democrats' defiance of the governor's wish for a compromise escalates a dispute that has left the state without a spending plan for 11 months. Republicans yelled and booed after Democrats abruptly stopped debate and called a vote on the budget, passing it 63-53. Seven Democrats voted "no."

"What just happened in the House of Representatives is something which I've never witnessed in my many years here, but I would just say it's a very sad and a dark day for Illinois democracy," said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.

Democrats put the whole budget in a single bill in an attempt to force Rauner's hand. The governor's office has suggested that he would veto the plan if it reaches his desk, which could jeopardize education funding and prevent schools from opening in the fall.

Illinois is the only state in the nation still without an agreed budget for the current fiscal year. The acrimony on display Wednesday signaled the gridlock could extend into a second fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

After meeting Rauner in his office Wednesday, House Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan said he would proceed with his own plan. Madigan said the governor's suggestion to have groups of lawmakers negotiate a budget agreement is going nowhere.

"My advice to the governor today is that he and his agents are not being persuasive in the working groups," Madigan said.

The groups have been discussing possible changes to collective bargaining policies and how injured workers are compensated by employers, among other things. Rauner has said those changes are needed to improve Illinois' economy and that he would support a tax increase to close a $5 billion deficit if he gets some of his demands.

The stalemate has highlighted the bitter rivalry between Rauner, a wealthy former venture capitalist elected on the promise to weaken unions, and Madigan, who has served as speaker for more than 30 years and controls much of the machinations of the Legislature.

Democrats have repeatedly said that Rauner's proposals on unions and workers' compensation would be devastating to the middle class and have shown little interest in debating those issues at the state Capitol.

Illinois has operated without a budget since July after Rauner vetoed the out-of-balance plan Democrats sent him. But they also sent him education funding in a separate bill last year that Rauner signed, ensuring that schools would open. About 90 percent of Illinois' spending has been on autopilot due to court orders requiring payment in critical areas, such as Medicaid insurance for the poor and salaries for state workers.

The Democrats' budget proposal would fund everything except what's already covered under court orders. The state would be spending $13.5 billion from its general fund, which is comprised of taxes. With federal funds and other money included, the total budget would be $47.5 billion.

A huge chunk of the funding would go to public schools, which would receive a total of $11.2 billion. Rauner has repeatedly said school funding should be a top priority to ensure schools open in the fall, and what Democrats are proposing one-ups his suggested funding increase of $55 million.

Democrats want to add $700 million, targeting most of the money for poorer districts.

The governor's office blasted the Democrats' overall budget idea, saying an analysis shows their plan is $7 billion out of balance. A full veto would throw schools into chaos this summer and force some to use reserves to open.

Republican leaders who met with Madigan and Rauner on Wednesday were visibly irritated. Democrats have supermajorities in the House and Senate.

"My sense is (Democrats) have absolutely no interest in trying to save the state from going off the deep end," said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno.

After lawmakers adjourn on May 31, three-fifths support in each chamber will be needed to pass anything.
SPRNGFIELD  Hundreds of Exelon employees and supporters filled the state Capitol rotunda on Tuesday to rally in support of legislation the company says is essential to the future of two financially struggling nuclear power plants.

Exelon has said it needs legislative action on its Next Generation Energy Plan in the next week to prevent the closure of its nuclear plants near Clinton and the Quad Cities. In part, the bill would extend low-carbon-emissions subsidies similar to those enjoyed by the wind and solar power industries to nuclear plants.

State Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, is sponsoring the legislation, which also includes changes to rate structures for customers and measures the company says would increase energy efficiency and jump-start solar power in the state.

Trotter thanked those who attended the rally and encouraged them to press other lawmakers to support the bill.

Theres a saying down here in Springfield: If you dont get up and shout, you will be left out, he said.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, represents the Clinton Power Station, which he said provides 1,900 great jobs in Central Illinois.

This is not a partisan issue, Rose said. Clean, efficient, cheap power for the people of Illinois is an Illinois issue, and this bill keeps our power rates low.

The bill also has the backing of organized labor because the plants provide thousands of high-paying jobs for highly skilled workers and millions of dollars in tax revenue to local governments and schools, said Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO.

We cannot afford to see a nuclear plant close, Carrigan said.

Despite the push for support, whether the bill will be called for a vote before the scheduled end of the spring legislative session May 31 remains an open question.

Democratic state Sen. Mattie Hunter of Chicago, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee, said at a committee hearing last week that the bill needed more work before it would be ready for a vote.

Trotter said discussions among interested parties, including environmental and consumer groups and downstate power company Ameren Illinois, are ongoing. He said he and his staff are reviewing a proposed amendment suggested by Ameren.

Critics say Ameren customers would bear some of the cost of saving Exelons nuclear plants but wouldnt enjoy the benefits of new energy efficiency programs that will be available to customers of Commonwealth Edison, Exelons northern Illinois utility.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, also a Chicago Democrat, issued a statement Tuesday in strong opposition to the bill.

This proposal would force consumers to pay more only to boost the companies profits further, Madigan said in the prepared statement. The legislature has more important matters to address than padding ComEd and Exelons profits.
Years before Justin Trudeau embarked on a political career and became Canada's prime minister, he worked as a teacher in British Columbia. Some of his students and co-teachers have shared what he was like as a part of the academe and they have nothing but good words for the progressive leader.

Per the Liberal Party Canada, Justin Trudeau taught French and Math after he earned his Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. This was in the late 90s and he was at least a teacher for 10 years.

One of his students remarked in a discussion thread on Reddit that Justin Trudeau subbed for the French teacher and made the subject far more interesting. But what struck most with tyltu, the Reddit member, was when 9/11 happened and Justin Trudeau decided to discuss with his students about the impact of that unforgettable incident to the world. "He also reminded us not judge a group based on the actions of a few extremists," tyltu wrote in the Reddit thread.

Another student shared that girls as young as sixth grade were already "swooning" over Justin Trudeau. One time, while trying to discipline a student in his class, he supposedly "drew a moustache on a friend for not paying attention." Reddit user shiSSen said that she has a video tape of Justin Trudeau attempting to "dirt-board" in school as a dare from one of the students, but he "ate shit harder than anyone I've ever seen," and got his clothes all soiled with mud.

Other students describe Justin Trudeau as an eccentric, goofy, friendly and energetic teacher. One student remembered that what another teacher shared. Justin Trudeau would often eat lunch alone and rarely socialized with faculty, though he was friendly overall. They basically didn't bother him too because they knew Trudeau's father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Huffington Post reports that Justin Trudeau was likeable to both staff and students. When he won the elections in October 2015 and became Canada's leader, they were naturally proud, especially because he started off as a teacher.

Still a teacher at heart, a father, Mark Robins, recently shared how Justin Trudeau connected with his son Brograhn, who was struggling in school. The meeting took place before the elections and Trudeau apparently spent a few minutes chatting with the boy. He shared a photo of that moment, with a signed message form the prime minister on Facebook. The message Justin Trudeau wrote was that he's pulling for the boy to do better in school.
Science is being pushed to curriculum peripheries in the primary levels, leaving students ill-equipped for the demands of secondary school. Despite being core requirement, science alongside foreign language subjects are being de-prioritized to favor English and math.

Science, Foreign Language Preparations for GCSE

According to BBC News, Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw cites intention by the UK government to have new 2016 secondary school students fully tested for English Baccalaureate subjects. These will be during the students' qualifying GSCE come 2020.

The English Baccalaureate suite assesses student qualification for math, history, geography, English, foreign language and science. English Baccalaureate suite is a means by which the UK government aims to improve the academic achievements of the student populace.

Ofsted Guilty Of Marginalizing Science, Foreign Language In Primary School Level

However, TES reports that Sir Michael Wilshaw admits that the aim is not effectively supported, especially in preparations for science and foreign language qualifications. According to the chief inspector, hours that ought to be allocated for learning science and foreign language and arts are sacrificed for math and English and Ofsted is partly to blame.

This creates an imbalance, not just in relation to the standards of GCSE and similar qualifying requirements but also in the balance of the curriculum. Science is supposed to be a core subject for both primary and secondary schools.

The 2015 GCSE results reflected a concerning reality on the science and foreign language education both in primary school and secondary level. As little as 74% qualified in science for English Baccalaureate, despite this subject being core to primary and secondary education. The 2015 GCSE result also showed that less than half of the assessed pupils learned foreign language.

Restoring Priority To Science And Foreign Language In Primary School Level

Sir Michael Wilshaw acknowledged that the balance of science and language inclusion needs to be restored in the primary school level. If the English Baccalaureate is to an effective rather than superficial standard, schools must be allowed to restore equal priority to science and foreign language in the primary school level.

The general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, Russell Hobby, agrees with the call to restore allocation for science and foreign language in primary schools. Russell Hobby highlighted that science, foreign language and arts are just as essential to a primary education.
Applying Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the center of the Earth is estimated to be younger than its surface by two and a half years. This age difference between core and surface calls for the application of lessons on gravity in relation to time.

Gravity And Time Relativity Determine The Age Of The Earth

According to Science News contrary to earlier postulation, the time difference between the center of the Earth and its surface spans years. A 1960 proposal by physicist Richard Feynman asserted that mere days compose the difference between regions of the Earth.

Taking Albert Einstein's General Theory Of Relativity Into Account

Both the study recently published in the European Journal And Physics and the 1960s suggestion by scientist Richard Feynman took into account the principles of relativity as theorized by Albert Einstein.

The general theory of relativity as posited by Albert Einstein suggests spacetime curving or warping in relation to the strength of gravitational pull. Where gravity is strongest, time slows down and vice versa.

Time Relativity And Gravitational Effect Illustrated

An illustration cited by The Daily Mail is the difference between the movement of a clock in a speeding jet and the movement of one that is on the ground. The clock ferried by the jet will always display time faster than the clock on the ground.

The new study by author Ulrik Uggerhj of Aarhus University in Denmark and his team applied this toward calculating the age of the Earth. When a clock is placed at the core of this planet and another clock is simultaneously placed aboveground, the core clock evidences time passing more slowly than the surface clock.

Ulrik Uggerhj and his team, in fact, used findings by Richard Feynman as the premise with which their study assessed time and gravity relationship in determining the age of the Earth's core. The research team considered the factor of density difference between the Earth's crust and the core.

Calculations eventually yielded the two and half year difference between the Earth's core and surface. Thanks to gravity and the relativity of time, the heart of the Earth is more youthful than its mantle.
Here's one universal law no one can contend with: humans need water to live. This leads some to question why the world pays little attention to the growing water crisis, especially in America, a country that uses water more than others.

According to CNBC, Environment Protection Agency released data that only 9 of the 50 U.S. states have reported safe water supply with normal levels of lead content. In the last three years, states have reported unacceptable levels of lead in the water their residents consume everyday.

The most extreme recent water crisis is in Flint, Michigan that the world took notice of in 2014 when the state government's cost-cutting measures led to poisoned drinking water. In 2014, many boil water advisories were called because coliform bacteria was detected in Flint's water supply. Fast forward to 2016 and the water contamination in the area remains unresolved in the middle of legal battles and corruption issues (via CNN).

It's not only in Michigan where boil water advisories are issued by authorities. The Huffington Post used Google alerts and found out that there had been 142 boil water advisories in 27 states from Feb. 22 to March 22. What exactly is a boil water advisory and what is causing it?

According to American Water, a boil water advisory is either mandatory or precautionary. Nevertheless, both imply the same thing: water supply is contaminated and is not safe to drink without boiling it first.

Boil water advisories are often caused by water breaks because of weather, pipe material and their installation conditions. The age of the pipes is also seen as a factor (via The Huffington Post).

For The Huffington Post, the accumulation of boil water advisories all over America present a much bigger problem than just loss of profit for small enterprises, additional miscellaneous costs for the boiling water process, or repairment of pipes. It means that water infrastructure in the U.S. is seriously screwed; and the government must act upon it immediately to avoid the long-term effects on U.S. health care and consequently, the economy.

According to American Water Works Association, funding on improving the water system can amount to $1 trillion between 2016 and 2035. The problem is the money isn't enough but if the situation continues to prevail, the gap between projected cost and the available money will become wider (via Huffington Post).

Huffington Post presents the suggestion that state governments must increase water rates of residents to meet the discrepancy. It will add burden to consumers but the investment goes a long way in solving the American water crisis.

What can you suggest to the government that they can do to address the American water crisis? Share your thoughts below in the comments section!
Ever wonder why former contestants of "The Biggest Loser" regain massive amounts of weight after being booted out from the show? Well, according to former contestants, that's because the show stops giving them illegal weight-loss drugs once they're eliminated.

Show Partly To Blame For Post-Show Weight Gain

New York Post recently published the findings of a government-funded health study which sought to explain why majority of "The Biggest Loser" contestants end up regaining the weight they lost on the show. A number of ex-Losers have since spoken publicly to dispute the study.

They claimed that the study was impartial and failed to account the show's hidden tactics. Some former contestants said it's not entirely their fault why they regain so much weight so quickly. They revealed that the show secretly encouraged them to take illegal drugs and subjected them to dubious medical exams off camera.

"People were passing out in Dr. H's office at the finale weigh-in," said Season 2 contestant Suzanne Mendonca. "On my season, five people had to be rushed to the hospital. He knew exactly what we were doing and never tried to stop it."

All Were In On It

Dr. H is the nickname of the show's resident physician Rob Huizenga, but it wasn't only him who was in on the questionable scheme. Another source claimed that one of the show's trainers, Bob Harper, provided contestants with Adderall pills which promoted rapid weight loss while increasing a person's energy levels. The drug has been banned by the US Food and Drug Administration since 2004.

In a separate interview with Fox News, Mendonca revealed that the show threatened to exclude her if she didn't gain more weight first. She had to put on an extra 20 to 40 pounds before being accepted as one of contestants for Season 2.

Producers Defend Show Against Damaging Allegations

Endemol Shine North America responded to the accusations by saying that "The Biggest Loser" has always prioritized the safety and well-being of all its contestants. In an email sent to Fortune, the show's producers said, "We prohibit the use of any illegal substances, in addition to the many other rules and procedures of the show that are designed to ensure safety."
Years of bullying have led a 13-year-old girl from Ohio to end her life. Parents blamed the school district for not taking any action against the alleged bullying, one thing which might have saved the straight-A student's life.

Suit Against School District

Parents of Emilie Olsen filed a lawsuit against Fairfield City School District for having been negligent in thwarting the bullying that was happening against Emilie. In an 82-page federal lawsuit, Emilie's parents alleged that the school district should be made responsible for cutting the life of Emilie because they did not take the necessary steps to prevent the bullying that Emilie was going through.

Washington Post reported that those acts of bullying perpetrated against Emilie might have been prevented if school officials at Fairfield Intermediate and Middle School intervened and became more responsive. According to reports incidents of bullying against Emilie were witnessed by school teachers yet nothing was done to protect the poor child.

Verbal And Physical Bullying

Emilie suffered from both verbal and physical acts of bullying. Kids in her school were picked on her sexual orientation. They called her gay and would make awful posts about her on social media. At times posts telling her to kill herself were openly made. In bathroom stalls, the same messages were found.

One incident that left many questions in the minds and hearts of Emilie's parents was the time that Emilie was berated and slapped by another girl right under the nose of a teacher. Instead of taking action against the offender, all the teacher did was to let the students go back to their classrooms.

Death Is The Answer

Fed up with the way she was bullied online and in school, she fatally ended her life on December 11, 2014. She shot herself with a gun right at their home.

A more recent case happened in Mahhattan where a 17-year-old student killed herself by jumping onto the train tracks after being bullied by her classmates, Daily Mail reported. The girl was called stupid and ugly, and was often picked upon by classmates.

With more students killing themselves due to bullying, school districts need to look into the matter and make serious efforts to arrest the problem. This is one growing concern that school districts should not neglect.
A Chinese tech billionaire launched what is regarded as the world's biggest education prize, amounting to $7.8 million. Called as the "Yidan Prize," it will be given to the right individual or group whose work in the field of education shines above the rest.

The prize awaits educators from all over the globe. Although not necessarily a competition, the committee can accept applications from individuals or teams whose contribution can be considered as "outstanding." The prize money can then be used to fund projects which will be for the good of many.

Charles Chen Yidan

This remarkable move is the brainchild of a Chinese tech billionaire, Charles Chen Yidan. He is a co-founder of Tencent, acclaimed as among the world's biggest websites. This website provides Internet services in China and also the much-needed social networks.

According to TES, the $7.8 million prize will not be allocated to one individual or group only. The said amount will be divided into two categories. The first category is Education Research, while the second category is Education Development.

Half For Each Category

With this in mind, each category will receive half of the $7.8 million, amounting to $3.9 million. The winner from either category will receive half of the $3.9 million in cash. The remaining half will be divided into three years, which will be used to fund projects that the winner has.

Ejin Sight said that Chen Yidan spent three years in setting up the $7.8 million education prize. He said that he was greatly influenced by his grandmother, who was illiterate. What struck the tech billionaire the most about his grandmother was that despite the fact of her illiteracy, she was very kind and friendly.

Importance Of Studying

He said that his grandmother's friendliness was from the heart. Chen also said that his grandmother recognized the importance of studying. The words of Chen's grandmother must have made a huge difference in the life of Chen and must have also contributed to his success.

Aiming for a Nobel Prize, the Yidan Prize may become the Nobel Prize for education. It will challenge the Global Teacher Prize, which awards $1 million yearly to an outstanding teacher. With the amount involved in the Yidan Prize, it might just become the Nobel Prize for education.
A high school senior with cerebral palsy walked for the first time to receive his diploma. He surprised all his classmates and even school officials who all witnessed this achievement.

Fox News said the Okmulgee High School student Micah McDade stood from his wheelchair and walked to receive his diploma last May 20 in a ceremony in his hometown Oklahoma. The senior has been bound to his wheelchair since he was born because of cerebral palsy.

It was noted that the student was seen being wheeled into the stage but was asked to stand when he was about to receive his diploma. He was assisted by a school official and a walker while the crowd cheered him.

Goal in life

Both his parents, as per Fox News, were in tears as they watched their son take his first couple of steps and receive his high school diploma. One of McDade's goals in life was to walk.

According to Okmulgee News, life was not easy for the young student as he had to undergo surgeries and physical therapy to overcome his illness and someday be able to walk. Some of his doctors have shut down the idea that he could walk but McDade proved them all wrong.

The student said to have prepared for this special where he planned to show everyone he could walk. He was successful and even walked the across the stage with the diploma inside his pocket.

Viral video

Daily Mail said the video (see below) of McDade walking on the stage became viral online and has been shared about 200,000 times by netizens. Even the announcer during the graduation could not help but feel emotional.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've been doing this a long time," the announcer said. "That is the best ever!"

Okmulgee News explained that cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects a person's capacity to move. This is caused by a hampered brain development during pregnancy or birth.
Adults can feel like babies again. Strollers tailored for grown-ups were featured in a stroller-company's promotion campaign and allowed parents to try the strollers they plan to buy for their babies.

Today reported that Contours, a company which makes strollers, made a large replica of their product to make people experience riding a stroller along the street. Many tried the baby stuff while others simply got amused with the thought of this giant stroller.

It was explained that the stroller company will not release this type of stroller but just wanted to cater to a market which can actually give them feedback about their product. Babies, who are the main users of this product, cannot really tell their moms what they want in a stroller.

First-hand experience

Tom Koltun, the president of Contours' parent company Kolcraft, told The Sun that they came up with the idea to make parents experience first-hand the feel of their strollers. "We created the test ride so adults could experience first-hand how each Contours Stroller is carefully designed with a baby's joy and comfort in mind," he added.

Many parents around the globe got interested with the clip which got more than 130,000 views two days after it was posted. Its caption got parents more hooked to the promotion since it highlighted the inability of babies to actually say what they like.

Comfortable stroller

"Gurgles and coos are notoriously difficult to interpret - making it difficult for babies to tell us what they like," read the description of the video. It added that they had the giant stroller custom-made to enable parents to feel the comfort their product provides babies.

The Sun said the video also gathered various comments from moms who want to be pushed while riding a stroller. "Now it's their turn to push the stroller!! Lol!" read a parent's comment quoted by the same report.

What do you think of this baby gear for grown-ups? Share your thoughts on the comment section below.
Did aliens really bring down EgyptAir MS804 flight last Thursday? Well, it seemed that latest reports were pinpointing the mysterious crash to a UFO that was allegedly seen by the pilots, who were flying from Bodrum to Istanbul last Thursday night.

EgyptAir MS804 Vs. UFO

The search for EgyptAir Flight 804 still continues despite several contradicting reports and updates about the final moments of the aircraft. Among those controverting reports was the claim that the pilots saw an unidentified flying object (UFO) with green lights before the crash, Daily Mirror notes.

Based on the report of local Hurriyet Daily website, the pilots saw the UFO close to Istanbul's Silivri district when the aircraft was at about 17,000 feet at 11:30 p.m. on May 19. After an hour, the EgyptAir MS804 crashed in the Mediterranean between Turkey and Egypt.

"An unidentified object with green lights passed 2 to 3,000 feet above us," Turkish pilots reportedly told the Air Traffic Control at Istanbul. "Then it disappeared all of a sudden. We are guessing that it was a UFO."

Pilots' Encounter With UFO

Unfortunately, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority said it did not spot any image in its radars that would confirm what the EgyptAir pilots described. But according to Al Alarabiya, the EgyptAir pilots' UFO sighting was not the first time it has ever been reported.

In fact, the former pilot of U.S. President Barack Obama, Andy Danzinger, has shared his own UFO encounters in a 2015 interview. Danzinger admitted that many pilots had shared their UFO stories too, saying all pilots virtually believe in UFOs.

EgyptAir Crash Mystery

Even though various media outlets have reported the shocking and extraordinary theory that aliens may be responsible for downing the EgyptAir MS804, mystery still surrounds the cause of the crash, which has killed all 66 people on board. But the crash might be due to an "emergency descent" aimed at putting out a fire, Daily Mail reports.

The "distress call" claims from Captain Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair to the air traffic controllers, however, were denied by EgyptAir. The Turkish airlines spokesperson said the pilot did not contact Egypt air control prior to the incident.

EgyptAir MS804 Wreckages Found

Five days after EgyptAir MS804's mysterious crash en route from Paris to Cairo, some debris from the plane such as life vests, personal belongings and parts of wreckage have been recovered. In addition, some fragments of human remains have also been found.

Egyptian officials are trying to identify and match the fragments found to the victims. EgyptAir's vice chairperson Ahmed Adel told CNN on Tuesday that the families of the victims have almost completed giving DNA samples to help with the identification.

Do you believe the aliens are responsible for the mysterious crash of EgyptAir MS804? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
College students part of fraternities or sororities have shown immunity to alcohol interventions according to a new analysis of a two-decade worth of data. These fraternity members are less likely to reduce their alcohol consumption even after intervention.

Alcohol Intervention Immunity

A new analysis published by the American Psychological Association reveals that college students involved in fraternities and sororities exhibit an impressive amount of immunity when it comes to alcohol intervention, Daily Mail reported. Worse, some fraternity brothers are found to drink more after an intervention.

Researchers at Brown University Medical School and Rhode Island's Miriam Hospital published a study in Health Psychology showing that fraternity brothers are unlikely to change their minds after attending an alcohol education seminar. Based on 15 previous studies conducted between 1987 and 2015, there was no difference between students who undergone interventions and those who didn't

"Current intervention methods appear to have limited effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among fraternity and possibly sorority members," Washington Times quoted lead researcher Lori Scott-Sheldon in a statement. Scott-Sheldon is an associate professor at the Brown University Medical School and a senior scientist at the Miriam Hospital.

What Led The Researchers To This Hypothesis?

Pulse Headlines said that the 15 different studies involved data from 6,000 fraternity members and sororities. The data include a one-on-one interview with college students that almost lasted for an hour. During this time, students learned alcohol education including risk factors of alcohol consumption.

The results show that fraternity members may have what psychologist call "sleeper effect", which gives out results in longer time frames. More so, researchers believe that the intervention falls on deaf ears since Greek culture associates sexual and social success to drinking.

Additionally, based on the explanations provided by the students, drinking has improved their social and sexual life. Since interventions are not effective on fraternity brothers, it is suggested that stronger interventions may be needed.

"Stronger interventions may need to be developed for student members of Greek-letter organizations," Scott-Sheldon said. Meanwhile, the data was too small to make a conclusion about sorority girls.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said that more than 1,800 college students died from drink-related causes in 2014. More so, many universities are fighting off the effects of uncontrollable drinking such as sexual abuse while on campus.

What do approach should be done to address this problem? Let us know through your comments below. Meanwhile, check out this video to know more about the effects of alcohol to your body.
Is there no hope for "Iron Man 4?" Based the latest reports, Robert Downey Jr. may not be reprising his role as billionaire superhero Tony Stark in the much-anticipated "Iron Man" sequel to give way to his movies, "Sherlock Holmes 3" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

Why 'Iron Man 4' Has To Happen

Despite the reports that Robert Downey Jr. may not be reprising his role as Tony Stark, Movie Pilot shares the reason why "Iron Man 4" has to happen. According to the publication, it would be great if the upcoming "Iron Man" sequel will follow Pepper Potts as she becomes the badass superhero Rescue when she wore an armored suit designed by Stark for her in the comics.

"As the name suggests, Potts gets some serious agency when she's out there saving the world," Movie Pilot's Jack Carr wrote. "For a female character with such a presence in Iron Man's world, it feels like the logical next step that Rescue should come out to play, giving Pepper a chance to show her mettle outside of Stark Industries and the lab."

Mel Gibson To Direct 'Iron Man 4'?

As Robert Downey Jr. expressed his interest to doing more "Iron Man" films in the future, the 51-year-old "The Avengers" actor reportedly wanted veteran actor Mel Gibson to direct "Iron Man 4." In fact, "Iron Man 3" director Shane Black told Uproxx that he believes Downey Jr. wants Gibson to helm the next sequel.

No Hope For 'Iron Man 4'?

Meanwhile, many Marvel fans still want to see Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 4." However, the sequel may take a backseat as he will be in "Sherlock Holmes 3" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which both may be happening this year, Collider confirms.

In spite of some scheduling issues between Downey Jr., Jude Law and Guy Ritchie, producer Joel Silver has confirmed that "Sherlock Holmes 3" production will be happening in the fall of 2016. The"Iron Man" star has also confirmed during the "Captain America: Civil War" press tour that he has already talked to Ritchie about the "Sherlock Holmes" sequel.

As for "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Robert Downey Jr. will also appear as Iron Man in the highly-anticipated reboot. Tom Holland, who debuted as the web slinger in "Civil War," will reprise his role for "Spider-Man: Homecoming," with Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, Tony Revolori and Laura Harrier joining the cast while Michael Keaton will take on the role of the villain, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Do you think "Iron Man 4" will be happening soon? Share your thoughts below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
There are a lot of rumors surrounding the upcoming movie "Fifty Shades Darker" stars, Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele) and Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey). The latest hearsay is the Northern Irish actor and the daughter of Melanie Griffith alleged relationship ends.

According to Australia Network News, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan have been plagued by stories that they have an affair. The buzz gets strong when "How To Be Single" star surprised the "Once Upon A Time" actor with sweet greetings on his birthday.

To recall, Dakota Johnson filled Jamie Dornan's trailer with colorful balloons and shared it on Instagram. Hence, some think that the two stars have a "secret affair" with her action.

Family man Jamie Dornan and wife Amelia are seen with their newborn for the first time https://t.co/mXWlyeEKub pic.twitter.com/DBV2eTeQGs  Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) Mayo 18, 2016

However, Jamie Dornan quickly denied the allegations as he recently spotted enjoying a day out with his family, Amelia Warner and two kids. It has been known the 33-year-old English actress is based in London, but she went her way to visit his husband in Vancouver, where "Fifty Shades Darker" is filming, The Bitbag reported.

Jamie Dornan is trying his best to give his family an ample amount of his time so she won't have a reason to get jealous, particularly to Dakota Johnson. The on-screen couple has been doing a lot of bed scenes in "Fifty Shades Darker," but he's explaining everything to his wife to make her understand that they are only working.

In other news, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are already done doing "Fifty Shades Darker" major scenes. They already finished their production of the helicopter, engagement and wedding sequences.

In fact, photos of Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as their respective characters on the set of "Fifty Shades Darker" now emerge, as per Vine Report. Christian Grey is carrying Dakota Johnson in his hands while they are wearing their bridal suits and sharing a passionate kiss.

"She's becoming Anastasia Grey right now," the snap's caption. "Fifty Shades Darker" is set to be released on Feb. 10, 2017.
A mother from Rutherford, New Jersey has come up with an innovative way of using breast milk. She's fashioning breast milk jewelry or keepsakes so that moms will have something to mark the precious times they have tirelessly breastfed their growing babies.

Ann Marie Sharoupim, 28, was inspired to create breast milk jewelry after learning that moms wanted something to "preserve the sweetest, closest moments they had with their little ones," per the New York Post. Initially, she created a dozen breast milk jewelry pieces, but through word-of-mouth and Facebook shares, the demand for the keepsakes grew.

Breast Milk Jewelry: How To Have One Created

Sharoupim then launched Mamma's Liquid Love online to address her growing customer base. The process for ordering breast milk jewelry is pretty simple and organized. Moms should send Sharoupim at least an ounce of breast milk that must be packed in medical-grade containers, and then they can choose from the jewelry designs. Sharoupim already has specific items on her site, but she can try doing custom-made pieces as well.

Price range for the breast milk jewelry is from $45 to $100 and will depend on the design and type of jewelry. Payment is made online and the order processing takes about 6-8 weeks.

Breast Milk Jewelry To Last Forever

It took Sharoupim months to perfect her breast milk jewelry creation and as a pharmacist, she has ideas on what will make the human liquid embedded in the jewelry last forever. She's particular about the quality of her pieces, too.

"I take the responsibility of handling your milk as seriously as I do in my professional career," she assures her clients on her website's FAQ. She guarantees her clients that she's into "precision and exactness" in her line of work because making mistakes as a pharmacist can cause a life. She applies the same care and caution with the breast milk jewelry.

Breast Milk Jewelry: Let The Experts Do It

Parenting reports that it's not that easy to create your own breast milk jewelry, even if you have the knowledge and skill for crafting. One mom shared that she attempted to DIY this and her breast milk spoiled on the resin. "It smelled and turned orange."

It's also not easy to find breast milk jewelry on crafting sites like Etsy because it has a no selling policy for "human remains." However, some moms still feel pretty weird about breast milk jewelry and would rather spend for a nice lingerie after they are done with the breastfeeding stage.

Would you want your own breast milk jewelry or do you think this is not a good idea? Let us know in the comments!
Thinking of something refreshing to do with your kids this summer? If you're a New Yorker, you don't have to go far outside the city because just at New York Historical Society, The Art and Whimsy of Mo Willems exhibition is currently open and promises to take you into an art immersion you and your kids will enjoy.

Organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, children's book author, Mo Willems showcases ninety of his works that include original art, preliminary sketches, animation cells and sculptures. You and your kids may be familiar with the vast art collection because every piece of it came from Mo Willem's most famous series such as Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant and Piggie.

Moreover, not only do you have a treat for the eyes, your kids can join and participate in story hours, sketching tours, movies and more. New York Historical Society prepared all of these to fully let you live the Mo Willems experience.

You'd come out of the exhibit knowing more about Mo Willems' life and career in New York. Because if anything, his characters and the worlds their stories revolved in, were deeply influenced by his perception of and experiences in New York.

Below are the details of family programs you can expect as soon as you decide to pay a visit:

Mo Willems Story Time: From Elephants to Knuffle Bunnies

Tuesday  Friday, through September 23, 2 pm

Free with Museum admission

All Ages

Every weekday, Mo Willems books will be read once the clock strikes at 2 pm. Your kids will get to experience anew Mo Willems' brilliant mind.

Mo Willems Sketching Tours: Dont Let the Pigeon Draw in the Galleries!

Saturday, May 21; Saturday, June 11; Sunday, June 19; Saturday, June 25; 2 pm (and other select Saturdays and Sundays through September 23)

Free with Museum admission

All Ages

They've prepared educators to guide you and your family to the 90-work solo exhibition of Mo Willems' work. Unleash your kids drawing prowess because you will all get the chance to sketch some of Mo Willems characters.

Mo Movies!

Sunday, June 19; 1 pm (and other future dates)

Free with Museum admission; advanced ticket purchase required

All Ages

Even though Mo Willems' can't come to scheduled movie screenings in person, you can still enjoy watching his most popular stories come to life on the big screen. Discover more about the adventures of Knuffle Bunny, the Pigeon, and Elephant & Piggie, and the Naked Mole Rat. You'd also get exclusive, behind-the-scenes films on selected Sundays.

Team Mo: Trixie Takes Over!

Friday, June 3, 6 p.m.

$10 (Members $8)

All Ages

The little girl who lost her Knuffle Bunny in Mo Willems picture book series, is inspired by Mo's real-life daughter, Trixie. Under ten bucks, it's your chance to see her and Mo Willems, and maybe, ask a few questions running on your mind.

This time, Trixie shows everyone her creative direction. Team Mo is a film project she did to highlight and honor her dads life and career

Mo Willems Family Weekend

Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5, All Day

Free with Museum admission

All Ages

If you want the ultimate family bonding, visit the exhibition on the said dates because this is the weekend your kids will get their hands busy. They will be taught how to sketch Mo Willems' characters into New York street scenes, build wire sculptures, listen to stories, and get tattooed with a Statue of Pigeon.

Plus, Elephant and Piggie are paying a visit to New York Historical Society. You wouldn't want your kid to miss the opportunity of meeting them.

Mo Signs!

Saturday, June 4, 2 p.m.

Free with Museum admission, but a signing ticket will be required (signing tickets will be distributed on the day of the event starting at 1:15 p.m.)

All Ages

During the Mo Willems Family Weekend, Mo himself is coming over at the New-York Historical Society. Bring your books for conversation starters and signatures from the well-acclaimed, children's book author.

Note from the organizers: this event is free with Museum admission, but will be ticketed to accommodate the anticipated crowds. Tickets will be passed out on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 1:15 pm. For the signing, one book from home/unlimited books from the Museum Store will be allowed. There will be no personalization and no signing of board books or stuffed animals.

Museum Admission

Adults: $20

Teachers and Seniors: $15

Students: $12

Children (5-13): $6

Children (4 and under): free

*Pay-as-you-wish Fridays from 6 pm  8 pm.

So what do you think about it? Will you take your kids to support Mo Willems' work and be immersed into his art? Share your views in the comments section below!
A student from the Graham Park Middle School in Dumfries, Virginia, was accosted and handcuffed by a county police officer after he was accused of stealing milk from the cafeteria on May 10. He was charged with larceny and was suspended by the school. However, his mom is outraged by what happened since the boy is in the free lunch program. The milk he apparently took is actually free.

"I don't have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning," said Shamise Turk via WKRC Cincinnati. She expressed anger and frustration over the incident involving her son, Ryan, and believed that school authorities went too far.

The officer who caught the boy "stealing" a carton of 65-cent milk said that Ryan was actually disorderly during the reprimand. He apparently tried to hide the milk and attempted to pull back from the officer, which is why they had to put cuffs on him, per Pix 11. But Ryan denied he was concealing the milk and he was only reacting to the officers because they should be recognizing that he wasn't stealing the milk due him.

Criminal indoctrination? Ryan Turk black teen arrested for stealing free school milk https://t.co/3gdGdK5Gly #Graham Park Middle School  Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) May 25, 2016

Ryan was then sent to the principal's office as he was cuffed, but because he was fidgety and pulling on the strings of his pants, the police also tried to search him for drugs. He's now suspended because of the theft, his disrespectful behavior and for using his cellphone while in school. Ryan is awaiting his trial at Juvenile Court.

The school stands by their disciplinary action on Ryan, but his mother defends that her son is sitting at home because of a "ridiculous" 65-cent accusation. The Turk family is fighting against the system via the appeal.

Do you believe that the schools sanction on Ryan Turk was too much? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Education plays a major role in children's life, but with the wars happening here and there, refugee kids have been denied to have a proper learning. Hence, the United Nations announced their plan to launch an education fund called "Education Cannot Wait" at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul to help the children in conflict zones.

What The Educational Fund Aims?

The educational fund aims to help the children affected by wars, natural disasters and other kinds of crisis. However, UNICEF together with Save the Children activists explained that education still lacks support.

The United Nation is eyeing to get 100 major institutions, companies, governments and international groups to support the educational fund. "Education is so important because it is the only foundation and stability in these children's life, where they can recover from the conflict," UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth told ABC News.

The United Nations intend to give proper education to the 18 percent of children affected by conflicts by 2020. By 2030, the U.N. is looking forward to help every child distressed by difficulties.

The Importance Of Education

A proper learning can lead a revolution to strengthen the world to stand up with its responsibilities to preserve its international law. This is also supported in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Huffington Post noted.

"Education Cannot Wait" will quickly give an aid to children whose education is disturbed when emergency, war or disaster ignites. Children's education has been suffering because of the lack of support and the crisis happening around the world and so this education fund is badly needed.

"Education Cannot Wait" values the importance of learning and it plans to make sure that every child's schooling will not be interrupted of any emergencies. It eyes to give children opportunities to have a good future that gives hope.

Education & War

Children are the most affected with wars happening in the world. Their education is suffering, childhood is gone and future is ruined, TIME cited.

School kids are obliged to join the armed forces; they are abducted and turned into slaves. The teachers, on the other hand, are kidnapped and killed.

From 2009 to 2013, there have been school and university attacks happened in over 70 countries. There is about 40 percent of kids living in areas affected by wars, they are the children refugee who are often out of school and don't have an entry to proper learning.
Extremely premature babies may be facing several difficulties later on in their lives. Low income, poor health and less sex life are reportedly tied to premature birth.

A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that preemies with low birth weights are more likely to remain single and become unemployed, or have lower incomes. They are also in danger of developing chronic health problems than their counterparts who were born with normal birth weights, the Huffington Post reported (via Reuters).

Researchers from the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada examined 189 adults between 1977 and 1982, with 100 of them born as premature babies weighing less than 1 kilo, while the remaining 89 were born normally and weighed over 2.5 kilos.

Problems Encountered By A Preemie

During their mid-20s, both of the groups have similar achievements and life conditions, but that changed when they got older. Between 29 and 36 years old, many premature adults became unemployed while some only earned less than $20,000 annually.

In addition, half of the premature adults were single or unmarried, while 20 percent of them had never had sex. Only two percent out of the group which was carried to full-term had never had sexual intercourse.

Dr. Saroj Saigal, the lead author of the research, said neurological disabilities can be blamed for the differences between premature and full-term adults. Personality differences also play a part, with premature adults less likely to be go-getters as opposed to their full-term counterparts.

Nearly one out of 10 babies born in the U.S. are preemies, who were born before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Premature babies often have breathing, vision, hearing and feeding problems. They also have high chances of developing cerebral palsy and developmental delay, the U.S. National Library of Medicine listed.

Is Premature Birth Preventable?

A company in Utah is developing technology touted to aid in determining premature births. During the past five years, Sera Prognostics has been working on finding patterns within a woman's protein that could help them know if some females have high chances of delivering their babies early, Fox 13 reported.

To do this, Sera Prognostics draws blood from women during the 19th week of their pregnancy. Sera Prognostics CEO Greg Critchfield said mediations will be done if a woman proves to be a high risk for premature birth. If the company becomes successful with its endeavor, pregnant women will be able to keep the baby in her uterus until it reaches full-term and gets born healthy.
This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions
In July 2014 Foxconn threw cold water on speculation that robots were going to be used in the manufacture of the iPhone 6. Months later Foxconn's CEO Terry Gou spoke at the opening ceremony of The World Assembly of Jin Merchants in Taiyuan. While Gou continually and faithfully promises that Apple will be the first to benefit from their future robotic assembly, it wasn't to be in 2014. Gou went on to promise that the robotics industry would play a crucial role in the world's third industrial revolution. Today we're learning from the South China Morning Post that Foxconn along with other Chinese industrialists have invested heavily in robotics.

"The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000, thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs," said the department's head Xu Yulian. No specifics were given in respect to how many, if any, robots are being used to make Apple products. Earlier this month CNBC reported that Foxconn was hiring earlier than usual in the iPhone cycle.

An ad on Foxconn's home page read: "Foxconn Zhengzhou is hiring a large number of ordinary workers. Welcome to join Foxconn: Age between 18-40. Overall monthly salary: 3,800 renmimbi. Start working immediately." In a longer version of the ad, potential workers are encouraged to "hurry to apply," and warned that the company's jobs hotline may be busy because "so many applicants are dialing in."

The report further noted that more companies are likely to follow suit in bringing in robots to their factories. As many as 600 major companies in Kunshan China have similar plans, according to a recent government survey.

Foxconn, which has been keeping quiet about its robotics projects, opened its robot testing lab in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to reporters from the South China Morning Post last year.

They noted that "Its Chinese factories, including those in Shenzhen, are already filled with over 50,000 fully operational industrial robots, as well as hundreds of thousands of other pieces of automated equipment, said Day Chia-Peng, general manager of Foxconn's automation technology development committee."





Foxconn's CEO Terry Gou at a trade event in China posing with Pepper the robot last year. Pepper was in a Verge report just yesterday. This time Pepper was getting a job at Pizza Hut. Maybe one day he'll be making cars for Apple.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments.
Huawei Technologies Co. filed a patent infringement case against Samsung Electronics Co. in the U.S. and China after the two weren't able to reach a licensing deal over the use of technology fundamental to how mobile networks operate.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, Huawei claims Samsung infringes as many as 11 patents related to the industry standard for fourth-generation mobile devices. It's seeking cash compensation. In the public portion of the complaint, Huawei doesn't seek any order to block sales of Samsung products in the U.S.

The public version of the complaint, as noted in full below, is heavily redacted to mask confidential information and the second reason behind the lawsuit. The docket reads: "Plaintiff's Complaint for (long Redaction) and Patent Infringement.





The patents cover communications networks and software to operate LTE networks established through international standard-setting organizations, Huawei said in the complaint. Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of networking gear, said it's offered to charge Samsung a fair and reasonable rate but Samsung refuses to pay.

"We have a good history of licensing and cross-licensing of our peers," said William Plummer, a Huawei spokesman. "We hope that Samsung will do the right thing."

The Patents-At-Issue in this Action

8,369,278 Method and apparatus for sending control signaling

8,416,892 Method and apparatus of transmitting a random access preamble

8,483,166 Method and apparatus for accessing legacy networks through temporary ID of evolved network

8,812,848 Method, system and device for negotiating security capability when terminal moves

8,644,239 Method and apparatus for allocating and processing sequences in communication system

8,885,587 Method, base station, and user equipment for feeding back ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation

8,885,583 Conditional uplink timing alignment in a mobile station device of a radio communication system

8,639,246 Method, terminal, and system for cell reselection

8,412,197 Method, terminal, and system for cell reselection

8,996,003 Method, terminal, and system for cell reselection

8,724,613 Method and device for service time division multiplexing

Below is a full copy of the Huawei lawsuit courtesy of Patently Apple for you to review.

Patently Apple: Huawei Device USA, Inc, Huawei Technologies vs. Samsung Patent Infringement Case

The Korea Herald report that "Samsung Electronics on Wednesday hinted that it might file a counter-suit against Huawei, which has sued the Korean company in the U.S. and China for infringing its technology patents.

Ahn Seong-ho, head of Samsungs intellectual property division, told reporters after a weekly meeting of Samsung CEOs in Seoul that "We will take countermeasures, including a lawsuit."









About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments.
A week ago Patently Apple posted a report titled "Foxconn Subsidiary Buys Microsoft's Entry-Level Feature Phone Business and Vietnam Plant." Our report clarified that Microsoft was getting out of 'Feature Phone Business' not out of smartphones. Our cover graphic illustrates on the kinds of feature phones that they're dropping. Many in the press are incorrectly reporting today that Microsoft is getting out of the consumer smartphone market entirely which is incorrect. It sounds more like Microsoft is taking Apple's path in the market at creating high value smartphones instead of chasing the bottom of the market. In an email to employees, Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group, insisted that the company isn't exiting the mobile-phone business. Microsoft, which still makes three phones in its Lumia line, will continue to "develop great new devices," the Wall Street Journal reports. Myerson added that "We're scaling back, but we're not out."

The company intends to focus its mobile-phone efforts in areas where the company has "differentiation," Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. That includes businesses that want to use Microsoft's technology to manage and secure devices on their corporate networks. Mr. Nadella also touted the company's Continuum feature, which enables a smartphone running Windows 10 to function as a surrogate PC when connected a video monitor and keyboard.

The layoffs will hit hardest in Finland, Nokia's home, where 1,350 jobs will be cut, Microsoft said. The company said the charges include about $200 million severance payments.

As we noted in our last report, Microsoft's Ballmer once laughed at Apple getting into the mobile phone space and then in a panic bought into the business via their Nokia deal which was an absolute blunder. Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella began cleaning up the Ballmer debacle last July and today's move finally ends an ugly chapter for Microsoft.

Whether Microsoft's premium line of smartphones launching later this year under the Windows brand will be more focused against Apple's iPhone is unknown at this time. The move now opens the door for smartphone makers to adopt Windows for their low to medium market phones to differentiate themselves from Android. Whether that strategy will gain any traction in the future is an open question. Though the Windows platform would offer consumers less malware, timely updated software and access to business software which isn't Android's strong suit.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments.
Kurdish Political Prisoner in Iran on Hunger Strike to Protest New Charges

05/25/16

Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Mohammad Sediq Kaboudvand, a prominent Kurdish human rights activist who is in his ninth year of incarceration at Tehrans Evin Prison, has gone on hunger strike to protest the new charges that have been brought against him.



Mohammad Sediq Kaboudvand



Kaboudvands wife, Parinaz Baghban Hassani, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that he started the hunger strike on May 8, 2016 because since last winter he has been summoned to the Judiciary three times and each time formally charged with new accusations.

He is on hunger strike to protest these false charges and because his multiple prison sentences have not been combined [under Article 134 of Irans New Islamic Penal Code], added Hassani.

Article 134 allows for only the longest sentence to be served in cases that involve convictions on multiple charges.

Kaboudvand, the former president of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and editor of Payam-e Mardom (Peoples Message), a Kurdish-Persian publication, was recommended for conditional release in February 2016 by the chief warden of Evin Prison, but the prosecutor refused to consent.

The new charges against Kaboudvand accuse him of sending a message to the people of Kobani-a city in northeastern Syria with a predominantly Kurdish population-congratulating their successful defense against an onslaught by Islamic State fighters, and calling for peace between Kurds and the Turkish government. Kaboudvand has also been accused of writing a university paper about the human rights situation in Irans prisons.

My husband is in prison, said Baghban Hassani. How could he be sending messages to Kurds and Turkey?

As for his university thesis, first of all, it has not been completed, and secondly, its about Turkey and Minorities and has nothing to do with Iran, she added. They have also accused him of propaganda against the state, but he has rejected all these charges.

Kaboudvand was arrested on July 1, 2007 and sentenced to 11 years in prison for acting against national security and propaganda against the state. The sentence was reduced to 10 years upon appeal.

During his imprisonment Kaboudvand has been denied furlough (temporary leave granted to most inmates in Iran), regular visitations and proper medical treatment.

Political prisoners in Iran are singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care.

In 2009 Kaboudvand was named International Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards and granted the Hellman/Hammett Award, which recognizes persecuted journalists, by Human Rights Watch.

Baghban Hassani told the Campaign that during a visit with her husband in Evin Prison on May 16, 2016, he said the new indictment against him had been handed to the Revolutionary Court, but its content had not been revealed to him.

Hassani Baghban also expressed concern about Kaboudvands health, which severely deteriorated after a 60-day hunger strike in 2012.

His prostate problem is serious, she said. Before he started his hunger strike he was twice taken to the hospital where doctors examined him and noticed [his prostate] had enlarged to a worrying degree and said it could be cancer.

He was due at Tajrish Hospital [in Tehran] for more tests on May 17, 2016, but when we went there they said he had not been transferred, she added. He doesnt have a phone, so we wont know what happened until our visit on Monday [May 23].
U.S. Examining Whether Indian Port Deal With Iran Violates Sanctions

05/25/16

Source: RFE/RL

U.S. senators have questioned whether India's deal to develop a port in Iran violates international sanctions, and the State Department said it is examining the question. "We have been very clear with the Indians [about] continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 24.



Iran's Chabahar Port-Iran

(photo by ISNA)



India on May 23 pledged $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to gain trade access to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The route is currently blocked by India's archrival Pakistan.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, but some restrictions to trade remain.

Biswal said India's relationship with Iran is focused on economic and energy issues, and the administration recognizes India's need for a trade route.

"Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn't have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian military cooperation with Iran, which might be of concern to the United States.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops

These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now
Down, but not out: Microsoft is laying off another 1,850 staff from its smartphone hardware business, but says it isnt leaving the market completely.

Whats left of the old Nokia business in Finland will be hardest hit by the latest round of lay-offs, with up to 1,350 jobs to go. Microsoft will cut up to 500 more globally, it said Wednesday.

Since it bought Nokias mobile phone activities in 2013, Microsoft has been managing a business in decline. The majority of the staff it acquired from Nokia are gone, and the companys mobile phone market share has stagnated.

Last week, the company sold off its feature-phone business, and hinted that while it would continue to update software for its Lumia smartphones, it would develop no new Lumia hardware. But no new Lumia hardware doesnt necessarily mean no new smartphones.

We will continue to develop new devices and adapt Windows 10 for small screens, support Lumia Phones such as the Lumia 650, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, and phones from our OEM hardware partners like Acer, Alcatel, HP, Trinity and Vaio, where were seeing good traction, a Microsoft representative said in a statement, when asked if the Microsoft Lumia smartphone brand was officially dead. We have nothing to share about our future product roadmap.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company will continue to innovate across devices, an ambiguous phrase that could mean more hardware is on the way. The company is rumored to be working on a Surface Phone, a companion to its series of Surface tablets that could arrive next year.

Nadella also promised innovation in cloud services across all mobile platforms.

But the companys phone efforts will be focused where it can differentiate its offering from the competition, he said.

He highlighted security and manageability as two key areas where Microsoft has something to offer phone buyers, be they consumers or enterprises.

Development will also continue on Continuum, he said. This can turn compatible high-end phones such as the Lumia 950 or 950XL into presenting tools or even computers by connecting them to a keyboard, mouse and external screen. Some say Continuum is a threat to Apple and Android phone makers; others are less enthusiastic.

As a consequence of the latest lay-off plans, Microsoft will set aside $200 million for severance fees and write down the value of its More Personal Computing business, resulting in a total charge of around $950 million, it said. It expects to make most of the lay-offs by year-end, with the remainder going by mid-2017.

This story was updated at 9:20 AM with a comment from Microsoft.
Satellite-based data centers with room for petabytes of data may start orbiting Earth as early as 2019. But when it comes to keeping secrets safe from the long arm of the law, the black void may not be far enough.

Cloud Constellation, a startup in Los Angeles, is looking upward to give companies and governments direct access to their data from anywhere in the world. Its data centers on satellites would let users bypass the Internet and the thousands of miles of fiber their bits now have to traverse in order to circle the globe. And instead of just transporting data, the companys satellites would store it, too.

The pitch goes like this: Data centers and cables on Earth are susceptible to hacking and to national regulations covering things like government access to information. They can also slow data down as it goes through switches and from one carrier to another, and all those carriers need to get paid.

Cloud Constellations system, called SpaceBelt, would be a one-stop shop for data storage and transport, says CEO Scott Sobhani. Need to set up a new international office? No need to call a local carrier or data-center operator. Cloud Constellation plans to sell capacity on SpaceBelt to cloud providers that could offer such services.

Security is another selling point. Data centers on satellites would be safe from disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, and tsunami. Internet-based hacks wouldnt directly threaten the SpaceBelt network. The system will use hardware-assisted encryption, and just to communicate with the satellites an intruder would need an advanced Earth station that couldnt just be bought off the shelf, Sobhani said.

Cloud Constellations secret sauce is technology that it developed to cut the cost of all this from US$4 billion to about $460 million, Sobhani said. The network would begin with eight or nine satellites and grow from there. Together, the linked satellites would form a computing cloud that could do things like transcode video as well as storing bits. Each new generation of spacecraft would have more modern data-center gear inside.

The company plans to store petabytes of data across this network of satellites. All the hardware would have to be certified for use in space, where its more prone to bombardment by cosmic particles that can cause errors. Most computer gear in space today is more expensive and less advanced than whats on the ground, satellite analyst Tim Farrar of TMF Associates said.

But the idea of petabytes in space is not as far-fetched as it may sound, said Taneja Group storage analyst Mike Matchett. A petabyte can already fit on a few shelves in a data-center rack, and each generation of storage gear packs more data into the same amount of space. This is likely to get better even before the first satellites are built.

Still, Matchett thinks the first users to jump on SpaceBelt might be financial companies looking for shorter delays getting messages around the world. Cloud Constellation says its satellites could transmit information from low Earth orbit to the ground in a quarter of a second and from one point on Earth to another in less than a second. Any advantage that financiers could gain over competitors using fiber networks, which usually have a few seconds of end-to-end latency, would help them make informed trades more quickly.

But if you do put your data in space, dont expect it to float free from the laws of Earth. Under the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the country where a satellite is registered still has jurisdiction over it after its in space, said Michael Listner, an attorney and founder of Space Law & Policy Solutions. If Cloud Constellations satellites are registered in the U.S., for example, the company will have to comply with subpoenas from the U.S. and other countries, he said.

And while the laws of physics are constant, those on Earth are unpredictable. For example, the U.S. hasnt passed any laws that directly address data storage in orbit, but in 1990 it extended patents to space, said Frans von der Dunk, a professor of space law at the University of Nebraska. Looking towards the future, that gap could always be filled.
Vietnams state owned pharmaceutical corporation Vinapharm will hold an initial public offering (IPO) to sell over 40 million shares on June 22 at a starting price of VND10,000 ($0.45) per share.

The parent company of Vinapharm will offer 42,557,000 shares, making up nearly 18 percent of the company's charter capital, which is expected to reach VND2.37 trillion (more than $106 million) after the IPO, according to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

The Ministry of Health is the major stakeholder in the company with 154 million shares, accounting for 65 percent of its charter capital.

Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation is holding an IPO following the state divestment scheme. Photo by tuvangpp

Vinapharm was established in 1971 and was transformed into a single member joint stock company in 2010.

The companys revenue reached VND16.6 trillion (over $744 million) in the first six months of 2015, an increase of nine percent compared to the same period in 2014.

Vinapharm's export turnover reached $7.86 million during that period, falling 17 percent on-year. The corporation's pre-tax profit hit VND505 billion (nearly $23 million) in the first six months, falling five percent compared to the same period in 2014.

Vinapharm is currently the owner of prime real estate in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with 3,280 square meters on the capital's Lang Ha Street and 2,670 square meters on Nguyen Huy Tuong Street. It also has land on Dien Bien Phu Street in Ho Chi Minh City.

Image caption: Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation is holding an IPO following the state divestment scheme.
Democrat Hillary Clinton ripped the Republicans economic policies and GOP front-runner Donald Trumps candidacy during her speech at UC Riverside on Tuesday evening.

Trump may have started out as entertainment, but now its really concerning, she said.

She vowed to stand up to Trump, saying just because he has the bully pulpit doesnt mean we want a bully in the White House.

She also praised the prosperity of the 1990s when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president.

And then along came the Republicans again with a failed economic policy, she said, adding Republicans let Wall Street ruin the economy.

She blasted Trumps statements on foreign policy, including suggesting that Japan and South Korea obtain nuclear weapons, as well as his call for temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.

People are listening to Donald Trump and theyre wondering, what is going on in America? she said.

Trump only cares about climate change when it affects his golf courses, she said.

If elected president, Clinton said she will work to find common ground, noting how she got GOP votes for childrens health insurance following the failure of health care reform in the 1990s.

At the same time, Clinton said she would stand her ground on abortion rights, LGBT rights and voting rights. And she said she would fight for immigration reform and tougher gun laws.

She called for creating jobs through building infrastructure and clean energy projects. And she vowed to fight for equal pay for women, saying that if you have a female loved one who works, equal pay is your issue.

She touched on the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino when she talked about how she would protect Americans. Were not all that far from San Bernardino, are we? Clinton asked rhetorically.

Clinton took the stage at the Johnson Family Practice Center  also known as the former physical education building around 6:15 p.m.  hours after Bernie Sanders addressed a packed Riverside Municipal Auditorium.

State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, who called her the next president of the U.S., was one of the introductory speakers.

In his speech, Roth bragged about UC Riversides medical school and the universitys selection as the new site of the California Air Resources Board testing lab, saying, Contrary to what people tell you, weve got problem solvers here in California.

Other pre-Clinton speakers included Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro, who praised what he described as her long history of respecting tribal sovereignty.

The next choice for president couldnt be more clear, Macarro said. Hillary or a reality star who filed for bankruptcy four times.

Clinton spent the start of Tuesday in Los Angeles, speaking with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, and at an event at a union hall in Commerce.

With Riverside rallies by both Clinton and Sanders and a San Bernardino rally for Sanders, only an Inland appearance by Trump could have made the day more noteworthy for area politics.

Its pretty crazy they both came, said UC Riverside student Andrew Allevato, 21, of Clinton and Sanders.

The Southern California push for votes continues Wednesday, May 25, when Trump holds a noon rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, and Clinton and Sanders also will hold state campaign events.

While Trump is the lone Republican remaining, theres still a battle for the Democratic nomination ahead of the states June 7 primary. Clinton leads Sanders by 271 pledged delegates, a lead that grows to more than 760 delegates with the addition of superdelegates  party officials and elected leaders who can support the candidate of their choice.

The math heavily favors Clinton as the Democratic nominee. But Sanders has vowed to take the fight to the Democratic National Convention in July, and hes barnstormed the state in hopes of beating Clinton in California, although recent polls show her in the lead.

Sanders has repeatedly criticized Clinton for her connections to Wall Street and the contributions shes received from wealthy donors.

On Tuesday, Republicans picked up that theme in their response to Clintons Southern California swing.

While Clinton might be able to gather enough cash from top dollar Hollywood fundraisers to keep her overextended campaign going in a protracted primary fight against socialist Bernie Sanders, the fact is Californians cant afford the bill of another four years of these liberal policies that have increased healthcare costs, Republican National Committee Spokeswoman Natalie Strom said in an emailed statement.

Clinton didnt mention Sanders by name during her rally. But she asked for voters help in the primary and in November.

Elections have to end and people have to work together to solve problems, she said.

 Staff Writer Aaron Claverie contributed to this article.
DRESSED TO SHOW HER SUPPORT FOR CLINTON

Debbie Boyd, 58, of San Diego went the extra sartorial mile in support of Hillary Clinton, dressing in patriotic clothing with red, white and blue peace-sign necklaces and a decorated white hat.

She also had a decal of Clintons H cube logo affixed to her face.

Boyd, a former Republican who put in 20 years in the GOP, said she supports Clinton over Sanders because shes more qualified and more experienced.

And shes a Democrat, she added, getting in a subtle jab at Sanders, who has called himself a democratic socialist.

Following the speech, Boyd got Clintons autograph. Positively beaming, she showed off the signature Hillary Rodham Clinton on the blank page of a childrens book that recounts Clintons rise to U.S. secretary of state.

I was just excited. I wanted to pinch myself, Boyd said.

Avery Mizra, 10, of Long Beach also sported an H cube logo, one of several that Boyd passed out while on line. Avery, who left school to participate in the event, said she supports Clinton over Sanders because of the former New York senators support for the environment.

Hes focusing more on other things, Avery said.

MUSIC AT RALLY RANGES FROM HAPPY TO CRAZY

Seems these days that music has become an integral part of political campaigns, setting the mood and communicating the message.

The soundtrack for Clintons event included Happy by Pharrell Williams, which played as the crowd entered the gym. The upbeat tune provided a discordant clash with the shouts from a loud group of protesters that called Clinton a war criminal and held up signs that called her Killery.

The other songs on the playlist included Shake It Off by Taylor Swift and Princes Lets Go Crazy. Clinton took the stage to Rachel Plattens Fight Song and left the stage to the same selection.

PROTESTERS DO THEIR BEST TO BE DISRUPTIVE

The arrival of the protesters, who gathered in a cordoned-off pen near the gyms entrance, was slowed momentarily by Perry Chastain, 68, a Riverside man who stood in front of their banner as they tried to move forward.

Chastain, who was quickly ushered away by other Clinton supporters, said he was riled up because he felt the protesters were out of line.

We dont go to their events and disrupt everything, he said, calling their chants juvenile.

A short while later, a different Clinton supporter tried to start some sort of dialogue with the protesters  I can chant too!  but he was drowned out.

Members of the crowd who couldnt get into the gym  which Clinton estimated at 1,500  stuck around to listen to the audio of the speech, and hundreds hugged a metal barricade hoping she would pop out and greet them before leaving.

The protesters stuck around too, and Clinton ended up leaving without shaking hands with the outside crowd.

David Igler, 79, of Loma Linda said he thought the protesters went too far, saying that it was bad form to use a megaphone and bongos as part of their protest.

RELATED

CASSIE MacDUFF: Now that youve found us, dont be a stranger!

Live coverage of Sanders, Clinton Inland visits

Bernie Sanders promises change in Riverside speech

What people were saying about Hillary Clinton rally

Sanders takes aim at Disney during speech in Anaheim

Clinton, Sanders are about to put Inland Empire on the political map

Poll says Clinton over Sanders for president, Harris and Sanchez for Senate

Where to go Wednesday to see the presidential candidates
They ignored the Inland Empire throughout the presidential primary campaign, even when one of them came to Southern California to raise funds.

But when the Democratic presidential candidates finally showed up in Riverside on Tuesday, did it have to be on the same afternoon?

As a columnist, I was determined to get to both events. It was no small feat, considering street closures, full parking lots and long lines of supporters who showed up early but still couldnt get into the venues.

I was able to persuade a gruff Secret Service agent to allow me into Riverside Municipal Auditorium just five minutes before Bernie Sanders was supposed to arrive.

I wasnt the only Inland resident hoping to see both candidates.

Redlands Area Democratic Club President Kristen Washington had to forgo the Sanders event to hear Hillary Clinton speak at UCR. She was one of an estimated 2,500 people who had to listen to the speech from outside the gym (capacity: 750).

Despite protesters shouting into megaphones and banging on drums, Washington said she was able to hear Clinton over outdoor speakers.

We were cheering and hanging on every word, she said.

Washington told me she was especially heartened by Clintons emphasis on good, strong union jobs, the kind that will help struggling Inland Empire families rebound from the recession.

If any difference stood out between the two events, it was that Clintons event was deliberately disrupted several times.

The disruptors blended into the crowd inside the gym until Clinton began speaking. The first time she mentioned presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump, one of them yelled, Lets go, Bernie!

Later, when she said she wanted to raise the federal minimum wage, several other disruptors started yelling; they were quickly ushered out.

Even before the event, two people in a white Mercedes-Benz drove around the campus repeatedly holding a Trump campaign sign, honking and shouting at Clinton supporters.

You didnt see any of that at the Bernie Sanders event, neither from Clinton supporters nor from Trump supporters. Does that mean they think he has no chance, so why bother?

Neither event started on time.

And both had supporters lined up three and four deep for several blocks waiting to get in. Many at both venues were left outside. That didnt dim the enthusiasm for either candidate.

Outside the Sanders event, Nicole Wormley, 19, of Fullerton said it was exciting to attend even if she wasnt able to get inside. It will be her first time voting in a presidential election, she said, adding that all of her friends but two prefer Sanders over Clinton.

Her grandfather, Dennis Wormley, 68, of Los Osos, attended with her. He said he was glad to see so many young people getting involved with the election.

He, too, said he plans to vote for Sanders. No doubt, he said, adding that he is encouraged with the support Sander has gained. I havent seen these ideas in American politics get this far, ever, he said.

When the candidate finally arrived  to chants of, Bernie, Bernie  it soon became apparent why his supporters are so ardent about him.

He talked compassionately of places hes visited during his campaign  Pine Ridge Indian reservation, lead-contaminated Flint and hard-hit Detroit, Mich., heroin-afflicted Baltimore, impoverished Puerto Rico.

Across town, Clinton whipped up the crowd citing Trumps unpredictability and saying the stakes couldnt be higher in this election.

She also drew loud cheers when she said the past 25 years show our economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House.

Richard Goodwyn, 76, of Palm Springs was there in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank. He said the last political rally he attended was for Bill Clinton in Decatur, Ga. He supports Hillary Clinton because shes good on the issues, including the rights of minorities and the LGBT community, he said.

Sanders and Trump are both bombastic bullies, Goodwyn said, adding that Clinton is the one who has all the experience domestically and internationally, as a former US senator and Secretary of State.

When somebody asks a question, she answers, backed up by all her experience, he said, adding that Sanders and Trump fall back on generalities.

Mary DiFiore, 87, of Perris, said for a woman of her age, there was no question that she would support Hillary, adding that Sanders started out fine but hes gotten a little goofy.

UCR sophomore Eric Kubler, 20, said he came to Clintons rally to learn about her because he opposes Trump.

I mean, this is the future leader of the United States, he said. I just want to know what shes about.

The audience at UCR Tuesday was champing at the bit to see its candidate, while introductory speakers dragged on. After the second speaker, people groaned when a third was brought on stage.

In all, seven people spoke before the candidate finally took the stage. Each successive speaker  even actors Jason George (Greys Anatomy) and (Mary Steenburgen (wife of Ted Danson)  got sighs of exasperation. The people came to see Clinton!

That wasnt the only miscalculation the Clinton campaign made in Riverside Tuesday.

I guess we should have gotten a bigger room, Clinton acknowledged, after saying she hoped the 1,500 people who couldnt get in would be able to hear her outdoors (they did).

Whoever the nominees will be, I hope the candidates return to the I.E. before the November election. A region with 4.4 million people should be too big to ignore in presidential politics.

RELATED

Live coverage of Sanders, Clinton Inland visits

Bernie Sanders promises change in Riverside speech

Security will be tight for Clinton, Sanders events

Sanders takes aim at Disney during speech in Anaheim

Clinton, Sanders are about to put Inland Empire on the political map

Poll says Clinton over Sanders for president, Harris and Sanchez for Senate

Where to go Wednesday to see the presidential candidates
BUENA PARK  Three weeks through May, the Democratic nomination is close enough for Hillary Clintons loyal Orange County supporters to secure it themselves.

Many gathered early Wednesday outside a Buena Park union hall that holds about 550 people, a couple of hours before the front runner was scheduled to speak. A few supporters chanted Im with her! Im with her! while others offered signs of allegiance and words of conviction.

Shes the most qualified person who has ever run for this office, her husband included, said Mark Wagner, 57, of Santa Ana.

A New England native, Wagner said he loves Bernie Sanders, but feels Clinton, a hero of his late mothers, better fits the office.

I dont think half of the stuff (Sanders) talks about can get done, Wagner said. Obama had the same problem.

Voting in her first general election this November, 19-year-old Bailey Grebbin, of Dana Point, said a number of her peers and professors at Vermonts Green Mountain College support Sanders. Still, she is steadfast in her support of Clinton.

Grebbin cited Clintons support of college students already with loan debt. Im already in college, I already have debt, so free tuition doesnt really help me, she said.

Dawn Rabonza, 59, of Lakewood, had just gotten off work at a nearby Ralphs before stepping in line for the rally.

A 31-year Army veteran, Rabonza called the media bias in their coverage of Clinton, saying she takes reports of voters negative opinions of Clinton with a grain of salt.

When asked about Clintons odds against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a general election, she said: I hope he doesnt have a chance. Hes an idiot. The man with the money thinks he can do what he wants, not necessarily.

Clinton only needs to hold on to her current superdelegates and win 90 more pledged delegates to secure the nomination. Californias June 7 primary, with 475 Democratic delegates to be distributed on a congressional district basis, offers her a prime opportunity to do so.

Sanders and many of his ardent backers brush aside analysis showing that its almost mathematically impossible for him to win the Democratic nomination, saying a big win in the June 7 California primary could give him leverage to woo superdelegates away from Clinton.

If Clinton and Trump are the nominees, it will be a match-up between the two most unpopular candidates in the history of ABC/Washington Post election polls, dating back to 1984.

An ABC-Post poll released Sunday showed 53 percent of Americans see Clinton unfavorably, and 60 percent see Sanders unfavorably.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com
She called him Mr. Cosby and considered him a trusted friend and mentor.

But 20 minutes after Bill Cosby offered her three blue pills and told her to take them with the wine he had set out, Andrea Constands legs began to wobble like jelly, her eyes went blurry and her head began to throb.

Cosby helped her to a couch in his living room, where she later realized he violated her as she lay helplessly in a stupor, she told police in 2005.

On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania judge ordered the 78-year-old Cosby to stand trial on sexual assault charges on the strength of Constands decade-old police statement.

Cosby could get 10 years in prison if convicted in the case. A trial date was not immediately set.

They are the only criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the barrage of allegations that he drugged and molested dozens of women over five decades. He is free on $1 million bail.

One of the women who has come forward with allegations is Judy Huth of Canyon Lake. She filed a civil lawsuit in December 2014, contending Cosby sexually abused her in 1974 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles when she was 15.

The mansion was the site of Huth attorney Gloria Allreds deposition of Hugh Hefner last week, a preliminary step before a suit is tried in court. Allred is also representing Constand and several dozen others who have accused the entertainer of sexual misconduct.

The Press-Enterprise does not normally identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes unless they agree to be named publicly, which Constand and Huth have done.

Cosby, who appeared in court looking less frail than he did when he was arrested five months ago, seemed unfazed by District Judge Elizabeth McHughs decision.

Mr. Cosby is not guilty of any crime, and not one single fact presented by the commonwealth rebuts this truth, his lawyers said in a statement afterward.

Allred called the judges ruling fair and said she was looking forward to the trial.

Cosbys lawyers argued unsuccessfully that having a police officer read Constands statement instead of putting her on the stand would be third-hand testimony and would deprive him of his right to confront his accuser. But reading a police statement into the record is common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania.

In his own 2005 statement to police, excerpts of which were also read in court, Cosby said Constand never said no as he put his hand down her pants. He told police the pills were over-the-counter Benadryl that he takes to help him sleep.

Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle also questioned why Constand continued to see the comedian and even returned to the house to meet with him after the alleged assault.

In addition, the defense seized on discrepancies in the three police statements Constand gave, including her shifting memory of precisely when the encounter occurred.

Cosby settled with Constand for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying behind closed doors about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

But prosecutors reopened the criminal case last year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosbys sealed testimony in Constands lawsuit was made public.

Cosbys lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that a previous prosecutor made a binding promise a decade ago that the comic would never be charged.

He is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and is trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.
Three claims totaling more than $30 million were filed Monday with San Bernardino County on behalf of three children of a Lake Arrowhead man killed in the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

The claims were filed on behalf of three children from shooting victim Michael Wetzels first marriage. They seek a total of $30 million in damages and a total of $168,009 for past and future medical expenses and future child support, according to the claims.

We really at this point dont have any comment on the matter, said attorney William A. Skoog, Jr. Tuesday on behalf of the family.

Michael Wetzel, 37, was a supervising environmental health specialist for the county.

County spokesman David Wert said the county will carefully consider each claim and act in the best interest of everyone involved.

The claims are the ninth, 10th and 11th filed to date. The deadline for filing claims with the county is June 2  the six-month anniversary of the deadly attack at the Inland Regional Center that claimed the lives of 14 people and left 22 others wounded.

A claim is a precursor to a lawsuit and must be filed within six months of the event that prompted it. If a claim is rejected by a city or county, the claimant then has six months to file a lawsuit.

Wert could not say if the county is expected to see more claims filed by the June 2 deadline.

No one can anticipate these things, he said.

On Friday, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the states largest workers compensation insurer, filed a claim with the county seeking more than $53,000 on behalf of shooting victim Larry Daniel Kaufman, the IRC employee killed in the attack. The 13 others killed were county employees.

Kaufmans boyfriend, Ryan Reyes, said Monday in a telephone interview that the workers compensation benefits being sought from the county were for one of Kaufmans dependants, whom Reyes would not identify.

Gina Simons, spokeswoman for the State Compensation Insurance Fund, also would not identify Kaufmans dependant on Monday, but did say dependants are not exclusive to children and spouses and can extend to parents or other individuals, even those who are not blood relatives.

In January, three family members of shooting victim Sierra Clayborn filed claims with the county seeking $204 million in total damages. Each surviving family member sought $68 million. The claims were rejected on Feb. 1, Wert said.

On Dec. 22, Michael Wetzels widow, Renee Wetzel, filed claims with the county on behalf of herself and her three children totaling $58 million. She sought $3 million for loss of wages and $25 million in general damages, as well as $10 million in general damages for each of her three children.

The county rejected Renee Wetzels claim on Feb. 1, Wert said.
A man who burglarized a Murrieta home on Tuesday, May 24, returned to the same home later when the victim was present and police are now searching for him.

The burglary is believed to have happened at the home in the 23000 block of Via Madrid between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to a news release from Murrieta Police. The suspect or suspects left the scene before the victim made it home, and officers processed the scene.

Then, about 2:35 p.m., police got a call regarding a robbery at the home, but this time the victim was there, the release said.

The man pointed a gun  possibly a semi-automatic  at the female victim and told her to lay down, that he had forgotten something earlier. He questioned the victim before searching the home and then fleeing the scene, the release said.

The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic man between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a thin build. He has short brown hair, no facial hair and is 20 to 30 years old. He was last seen wearing a button up blue or gray long-sleeved shirt, the release said.
Rusty Bailey can point to a lot of good things that have happened in Riverside during his first term as mayor.

An effective effort to reduce homelessness among veterans. The state Air Resources Boards selection of Riverside as the site for new labs and offices that will bring about 400 jobs. The opening of the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Good job growth overall. An increasingly vital downtown.

Plus, Riverside was ranked by Forbes as Americas eighth-coolest city  for what thats worth.

Unfortunately, he must also face something very bad thats happened lately: The city suddenly discovered that it has a structural budget deficit it needs to overcome.

The Press-Enterprise Editorial Board endorses Mr. Bailey for re-election based on the good job hes done in his first term, with one caveat.

Riverside gives its mayor a limited role: presiding over meetings without having a vote on issues except to break ties or to cast a veto, representing City Hall to its constituents and to businesses and organizations outside the city. In a way the mayor is Riversides cheerleader in chief, in which Mr. Bailey has excelled.

But in a second term, we will look for Mr. Bailey also to lead the council  non-voter though he may be  through the discomforting but crucial exercise of righting Riversides fiscal ship. In other words, he must become a cheerleader for fiscal responsibility.

He has shown an early sign he can do that by backing off on his quest to bring streetcars back to Riverside, citing financial realities. Thats a start.

There are worthy challengers. Councilman Paul Davis makes a good case for his economic-development credentials and is a proponent of outsourcing city services where possible. Nancy Melendez, the just-retired assistant director of the Riverside Community College District Foundation, emphasizes the need for more communication and collaboration between the city and all its stakeholders. Vivian Moreno is an interesting challenger, a City Hall critic who maintains the blog thirtymilesofcorruption.com. Ms. Moreno uncovered a Proposition 218 violation  the citys shuffling of utility revenue to the general fund  which resulted in a $10 million settlement; she is a valuable city watchdog.

None of the challengers would do a better job than Mr. Bailey in Riversides mayoral role.

Mr. Baileys impressive list of supporters among business, education and political leaders shows he has the solid support of his community. He must now draw on that support to guide the council toward fiscal responsibility for the sake of all Riverside residents and businesses.

Riverside voters should re-elect Mayor Rusty Bailey.
The worlds largest cashew exporter plans to imports 870,000 tons of cashew worth $1.1 million to provide materials for its processing industry.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association, said at a meeting on May 23: Vietnam is the leading cashew exporter as well as importer in the world. However, our cashew industry is not strong.

The chairman added that domestic cashew suppliers are only able to provide 50 percent of the raw materials processing factories need while the rest has to be supplemented with imported nuts from Cambodia and African countries.

This year, the price of cashew imports from Africa has gone up by 16 percent against last year. One trader said that some Vietnamese enterprises have offered higher prices to buy up more material, causing price hikes in the African market.

In addition, cut-throat competition from enterprises in China, India and the Ivory Coast has made it difficult for Vietnamese firms to buy cashew from Africa.

Vu Thai Son, chairman of Long Son Joint Stock Company, Vietnams largest cashew processor, said: Countries that export cashew have offered a minimum selling price, so Vietnam, the largest importer in the world, should discuss and offer maximum purchasing prices. Only when our enterprises unite will Vietnam cashew industry achieve sustainable development.

Since 2015, the import price of raw cashew has surged from $100 to $150 per ton, causing many Vietnamese traders who had previously fixed prices in their export contracts to suffer losses.
With great fanfare, state education officials released data last week showing a rise in high school graduation rates for six straight years.

While celebrating the increase, Inland school leaders are touting a lesser known  but equally significant  measure of academic progress.

The number of high school graduates completing courses required for admission to University of California and Cal State University campuses continues to climb in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, state Department of Education results show.

http://cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js

Of Riverside Countys 30,039 graduates from the class of 2015, almost 40 percent completed the so-called A-G classes, an improvement from 28 percent in 2010.

San Bernardino County had 28,564 graduates, almost 34 percent of whom met the requirement, up from 24 percent during the same time.

Despite the growth, both counties lag below the state average of 43 percent.

Were making good progress, but weve got a long way to go, said Kenn Young, Riverside County superintendent of schools. It was not a high priority in our county for a long time. The importance has been ramped up significantly over the past half a decade.

He said the measure is more important than high school graduation rates because it puts quality behind the diploma.

Students must pass 15 high school courses with a grade of C or higher to be eligible for attendance at a UC or Cal State. The subjects are history/social science, English, math, science, foreign language, arts and a college-preparatory elective.

This is just as important as ensuring theyre going to graduate, said Christina Goennier, assistant superintendent of instructional services for the Beaumont Unified School District. This ensures theyre going to have options after they graduate. Graduation should not be the final destination.

The districts rate more than doubled from 18 percent in 2010 to 40 percent in 2015. This year, 49 Beaumont High School students were accepted at UC Riverside, 20 of whom have enrolled, she said.

She attributed the increase to an expansion of Advancement Via Individual Determination, a college preparation program, to include elementary and middle schools along with high school. Students also receive tutoring opportunities at lunch, after school and on Saturdays. Teachers are trained to offer consistent grading practices and learn skills and strategies to help students succeed.

District officials also conduct an annual review of student transcripts to find out what courses theyre taking and if more classes are needed that meet the college-entrance requirement.

All math, science, social studies and language arts classes at Beaumont High School comply with the mandate.

Many parents who didnt attend college arent familiar with what their kids need to do to qualify. A D in algebra may be good enough to graduate from high school, but universities wont accept it, she tells parents.

In San Bernardino County, the Rialto Unified School Districts A-G completion rate soared from 9 percent in 2010 to 36 percent in 2015. All subgroups, including English learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged kids and ethnic minorities, also increased.

The district makes sure students are in the most rigorous courses and receive support from counselors and teachers to be successful, said district spokeswoman Syeda Jafri.

The district is very pleased with the improvement, Jafri said. We are very proud of all the work and the collaboration of our team that has made this possible.

Robin Ellison, a counselor at Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, confronts some kids who want to kick back and take easy classes their senior year. They have to be talked into taking a harder class such as advanced algebra before they graduate.

They think, I want to work or Im just going to go to community college, Ellison said. Theyre young and often change their mind. We want to keep as many doors and options available to them when they graduate.

Rancho Verde is part of the Val Verde Unified School District, whose rate more than tripled from 15.5 percent in 2010 to 49 percent in 2015. Its the largest jump of any Riverside County district during that span.

Were very proud of that, Ellison said. Its something we plan on improving each year.

Taking the college-mandated classes also saves kids time and money because they tend to do better on placement exams required by community colleges, she said. Failing a placement exam requires students to take non-credit remedial classes before they can take credit-bearing courses.

Counselors and sometimes administrators meet with parents whose kids are reluctant to take college-required classes. Parents must sign a form opting their children out of the classes if they refuse.

Elliott Duchon is superintendent of the Jurupa Unified School District, which dropped from 29 percent in 2010 to 26 percent in 2015, state data show.

Duchon noted the raw number of graduates completing A-G courses climbed from 354 to 373 from 2014 to 2015, but the percentage dropped because there was a larger increase in the percentage of graduates, which went from 82 to 89 percent, during that time.

A-G classes are becoming a default curriculum in high school, and counselors are putting students into the courses unless theyre clearly not ready for them, Duchon said.

Officials are broadening the range of classes that meet the requirements by adding fine arts, law and other subjects. The district also analyzes data of what classes kids are taking and passing. Counselors get kids on the right track if theyre missing a math or English course, for example.

I think the reality is more kids can and should pass these classes, Duchon said. They end up being a major stumbling block to getting into college for a lot of students and were trying to turn that around.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are campaigning throughout Southern California ahead of the states June 7 primary. Heres where to hear them.

HILLARY CLINTON

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Buena Park on Wednesday, May 25, part of a quick-hit tour of the state as part of the campaign for Californias June 7 primary.

Clinton will be at the UFCW Union hall in Buena Park, 8530 Stanton Ave., at 10:15 a.m. Doors open at 8:15 a.m.

BERNIE SANDERS

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, will continue his swing through Southern California on Wednesday and Thursday, hosting rallies in Cathedral City, Lancaster and Ventura.

Hell start Wednesday in Cathedral City, where he is expected to speak around noon at the Big League Dreams ballpark, 33700 Date Palm Drive, Cathedral City. Doors open at 10 a.m.

From there, he goes to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, 2551 W Avenue H, Lancaster. Doors Open at 4 p.m.

On Thursday, Sanders will speak to supporters at Ventura College, West Field, 4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Doors open at 10 a.m.

DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will make a rally stop at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday.

The rally, scheduled for noon to 2 p.m., will be held at the Anaheim Arena.

RESERVATIONS AND TICKETS

Tickets or RSVPs are required to attend many of the events. To apply, go to the respective campaign websites at www.hillaryclinton.com, go.berniesanders.com or www.donaldjtrump.com.
Africa Day 2016 is being celebrated in furtherance of the African Unions theme for this year: Human Rights with a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women.



This demonstrates the commitment of Africas leaders to place women  as key drivers and enablers  at the front and centre of all efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Unions Agenda 2063.



Both frameworks share similar strategic principles, with a focus on people, prosperity, environmental sustainability, justice, human rights and mutually accountable partnerships. The alignment between the global and the continental agendas calls for a harmonized approach in planning, implementation and monitoring.



Under Agenda 2063, Africas priorities include investing in its people, with an emphasis on women and youth; developing manufacturing and agro-processing; building transport, water, sanitation, energy and ICT infrastructure; domestic resource mobilization and stemming illicit financial flows; ending conflict; promoting human rights; and expanding democratic governance.



Africa also has the opportunity to pursue industrialization in a more environmentally sustainable manner, including through climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy and arresting deforestation. I encourage African nations and their partners to spare no effort in advancing these priorities. The United Nations is committed in its support.



Africas economic prospects are good, despite the uncertain global economic landscape. Growth is projected to increase to 4.4 per cent in 2016, from 3.7 percent in 2015. I urge Africas leaders to use these gains to address rising social and economic inequalities, and ensure that no African is left behind.



This is crucial for tackling root causes of conflicts, terrorism and violent extremism, and fostering peace and stability. I also commend Africas bold initiative on Silencing the Guns by 2020, which is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063s First Ten-Year Implementation Plan.



The successful implementation of these new agendas will require a renewed partnership for development cooperation among African governments, UN entities, the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Agency, the Regional Economic Communities and the development partners.



The private sector also has a key role to play in creating jobs, promoting innovation in technologies and services, and supporting the massive infrastructure transition needed to fulfil Africas sustainable development objectives.



On this Africa Day, I urge all stakeholders to rally behind the transformative vision set out in the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063. What is good for Africa is good for the world.

Source: ghanabusinessnews.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former Commissioner of Police, Chief Ikechukwu Aduba, Tuesday, fired at the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, over his comments that Nigeria was a fantastically corrupt country, saying that corruption in Nigeria originated from Britain.



Aduba was also not happy at the way President Muhammadu Buhari reacted to Camerons insult, which he described as cowardly.



His words: Corruption in Nigeria originated from Britain whose exploitative tendencies started when they came to colonize us uninvited. Over the years, Britain has remained a hiding place for corrupt Nigerians.



British banks are harbouring stolen funds from Nigeria and using same to develop their economy. Corrupt Nigerians are buying up streets in Britain to the eternal joy of British Estate business. According to him: The comments of British Prime Minister, David Cameron that Nigeria is a fantastically corrupt country can be justifiably termed as outrageous, undiplomatic and naive to the core.



He should dust his books on ancient and contemporary history and seriously study them. Having done this, Prime Minister David Cameron should book an appointment with Queen Elizabeth II for tutorials on the history of British Empire, he said.



Part of the tutorials Cameron will receive from the Queen will dwell on British conquest of Nigeria (1900-1960), towards the end of 19th century, European countries converged in Germany on the invitation of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the German leader to discuss on the amicable balkanization of Africa among European powers.



This unholy Convention was later known as Scramble for and Partition of African in History. African Countries, Nigeria inclusive were subjugated with a combination of deception (Treaties) and superior firepower. In 1900, the British hoisted the Union jack at Lokoja. This signified British official presence in Nigeria after years of economic and religious co-opertion between both countries, he said.



Aduba continued: In 1914, there was amalgamation of Nigeria under Lord Frederick Lugard with his wife Flora Shaw, a journalist with Times of London christening the areas around the Nigeria River, Nigeria. From1900 to 1960, Nigeria was under the general tutelage of Britain. Colonial era was a period of wanton economic exploitation of Nigeria by British Empire. Our raw materials (palm produce, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, hides and skins) were exported at exploitative prices to Britain."



Since example is better than precept, Royal Niger Company, an amalgam of British firms bought palm produce worth two hundred thousand pounds (E 200,000) at the cost of thirty five thousand pounds (E35,000) worth of goods specifically paid in special cheques usable only in the companys shop. Apart from raw materials, the British looted our art treasuries (Bini and Ife Bronze works, woodcarvings, totems and artifacts.



The most expensive cars and jewelries in Britain are being bought by dubious Nigerians to the benefits of their economic status. Somebody should tell Prime Minister David Cameron that those living in glass houses should not cast stones. If a country like Denmark had made the disparaging remark about Nigerias corruption, one could swallow the insult but not Britain, a country that turned imperialism into an art form in the past, he asserted.



The ex-police chief admitted: Nigeria is corrupt and nobody is trying to cover the fact. However, generalizing the issue of corruption and painting all Nigerians with one tarnished brush is unacceptable. Research show that since corruption became prevalent in Nigeria, two per cent of the population is controlling 80 per cent of the nations wealth.



If you add this revelation to the fact that the present All Progressives Congress, APC administration is without doubt fighting corruption aggressively enough, the comments of British Prime Minister was untimely and a deliberate provocation on Camerons part. This brings us to the reaction of President Muhammadu Buhari.



The president took the comment with a pinch of salt and went as far as concurring with his British counterpart. Some Nigerians are even praising him for his composure and, diplomacy under such a verbal bombardment. As far as I am concerned, his reaction was ungallantly, insensitive and cavalier.



Posterity will look at his reaction from different perspectives, but when all is given and taken, it is generally accepted that the best form of defence is attack.



The unwarranted insult is for all Nigerians, the President inclusive, he said. Aduba asserted: Corruption is totally abhorrent to me and any measure that can be taken to stop it in Nigeria should be initiated holistically, it is only Nigerians that can solve the problem, no outsider, least of all Prime Minister David Cameron should castigate us because he is part of the problem.



If Nigeria were to be commodity, the inscription on the surface would be Made in Britain.

Source: vanguardngr.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional area, Togbe Amenya Fiti V, has said Aflao is a beautiful lady he is offering any political party to marry.



Although the Volta Region is known to be a strong support base of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the traditional ruler, during a courtesy call on him by the New Patriotic Party leader, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, stated he would not endorse any political party in the 2016 election.

The chiefs reaction was said to be a response to certain allegations making rounds that he had promised President Dramani Mahama 100,000 votes from his area.



Offering the beautiful Queen



Apparently referring to the 100,000 voting population in his area, Togbe Fiti said, I have the votes, I have the people, I have the numbers. Aflao is a beautiful lady I am putting on a table for handsome men like you (Nana Akufo-Addo) to come and take, adding I will never hide my beautiful queen.



He disclosed that when President Dramani Mahama visited him recently, he told him that Aflao was open to all political parties and therefore he would not give his support to any party.



I have the numbers, parties should come and campaign and get the numbers; I am not saying I will give the numbers to a particular party, no, he said and further added, I am here for everybody no matter your colour or party. I will not differentiate between party A or B.



He told Nana Akufo-Addo he had given him the entry permit to come into the town, campaign and give them the message about what you can do, assuring him that and by the grace of God you will break through.



Nana Addo to marry beautiful Aflao



The NPP flag bearer, in response to the chiefs message, said he was ready to come for the beautiful queen and even marry her, a statement which drew laughter from the crowd.



He appealed to the chiefs and the queenmothers to help him with the beautiful lady.



Nana Akufo-Addo said statement from his detractors that he was anti-Ewe should be ignored, stressing that Aflao would see great development in terms of industry under his government.



He indicated that Aflao is a symbol of ECOWAS trading point and therefore with the establishment of industries, it would be easy to make exports to neighbouring countries such as Togo, Benin and Nigeria.



Nana Akufo-Addos visit was part of a four-day tour of the southern part of the Volta Region.





Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
International law and research, non-profit, and non-partisan think tank, Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has named its flagship international criminal justice center after Mr. Justice Emile Francis Short, a former Judge of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).



The center, called The Justice Emile Short Center for International Criminal Justice (Emile Short Center) will conduct research into international criminal justice, advocate for justice for victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, deploy public outreach programs to educate the public, and provide training.



Mr. Short, who was also Ghanas first Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), served as a Judge on the Rwanda Tribunal for five years, from 2004 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2011 after his nomination by President Kufuor was approved by the United Nations General Assembly. The tribunal tried army commanders, former ministers, and party stalwarts for their role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.



Executive Director of ACILA, Mr. William Nyarko, said that Mr. Shorts contribution to ensuring justice for victims of the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died, informed the decision to name the center after him, adding that the center is ACILAs modest contribution to Mr. Shorts untiring efforts at securing justice for victims of Rwandas genocide.



Commenting on the naming of the Center after him, Mr. Short said that he appreciated the honour done him and expressed the hope that the Center will play a critical role in providing greater understanding and appreciation of the work of the International Criminal Court, especially the role that Africa can and should play in promoting international criminal justice.



In 1994, the world witnessed the unprecedented killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus but failed to act. Surviving victims of the genocide spoke of the horror at seeing their family members and friends murdered with machetes. In an interview with the Daily Graphic after serving on the Rwanda Tribunal, Mr. Short recounted some of his experiences on the Tribunal saying it was both a challenge and an opportunity to assist in securing justice for victims of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.



It was a challenging task because we were dealing with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Lawyers from all over the world appeared for the accused persons. It was a stimulating intellectual experience for me. It was the first genocide trial in Africa. I had to listen to horrific stories about rape, mass killings, etc., he said.



The Emile Short Center, to be situated in Accra, Ghana, where Mr. Short currently resides, will also have a library. ACILA is incorporated under US law as a 501 (c) (3) research and education, non-profit and non-partisan think tank. It also recently incorporated under Ghana law, where it is deploying its programs on international human rights, international criminal justice, rule of law and anti-corruption to Africa. ACILA also monitors African States compliance with international and regional instruments to which they are States Parties.

Source: Adjoa Afriyie/Modernghana.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
One of the more bizarre digital media stories of the past year has been the Gawker/Hulk Hogan stoush over the publication of a sex tape featuring Hogan sleeping with Heather Clem, the ex-wife of his friend, radio personality Bubba The Love Sponge. This deeply weird yarn culminated in a successful lawsuit which awarded the Hulkster a fairly staggering $140 million, which is a, uh, large amount of money for Gawker Media.

The question of where Hogan was getting the dosh for the lawsuit kept coming up during and after the trial. Gawker founder Nick Denton alleged in a New York Times editorial that it was somebody in Silicon Valley:

If youre a billionaire and you dont like the coverage of you, and you dont particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, its a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases.

Hes talking specifically about Gawkers tech industry gossip vertical Valleywag, which spends most of its time pissing off Californian tech people by reporting on the shitty things they do and say in private. Well, turns out Denton was right: the Hulksters legal campaign was bankrolled by PayPal founder, early Facebook investor and Donald Trump surrogate Peter Thiel.

But who among us who has not secretly funneled millions to a reality television professional wrestler to sue a media outlet over a sex tape?  Parker Higgins (@xor) May 24, 2016

Forbes worked out over a months-long investigation that Thiel  who is worth an estimated $2.7 billion  has been secretly covering the expenses of Hulk Hogans lawsuits against Gawker.

Thiel despises Gawker, and he may have a legitimate reason for it. One of Gawkers more notorious editorial directions was once outing closeted gay public figures, and they did it to him in 2007. At the time, Denton (who is also gay) defended that particular outing in the comments section:

The only thing thats strange about Thiels sexuality: why on earth was he so paranoid about its discovery for so long? If Silicon Valley is the bastion of tolerance it likes to believe, and if the tech industry cares only about money, its surprising that Thiel would have kept his personal life a secret from journalists and his closest colleagues, for so long. He was so paranoid that, when I was looking into the story, a year ago, I got a series of messages relaying the destruction that would rain down on me, and various innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, if a story ever ran.

Thiels response was to compare Gawker to terrorists, describing Valleywag as the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.

So there you have it. What looked like a truly American battle between a horny pro-wrestler and a tabloid is actually the staging ground for an insanely rich tech dude to get revenge. Beauty.

Source: Forbes.

Photo: YouTube.
Everyone whos ever rented before has either done this dance, or knows someone who has. The dreaded house inspection is coming up, but your furry little mate isnt exactly on the lease. So youve gotta scrub the house clean of all traces of dog or cat, and ship your mate off to a secure location for the day and just hope and pray your real estate agents arent allergic.

The hard default in the current rental laws means that landlords, almost universally, will deny renters the ability to have pets in the house practically by default.

But theres a growing push, particularly among animal welfare officials, for laws to be changed to give renters more power and responsibility when it comes to pet ownership; changes that will see a rental property that allows pets become the rule, rather than the exception.

The RSPCA across multiple states is behind the push to get current laws softened, due to the large number of people giving up their beloved pets simply because their living arrangements suddenly change.

In Victoria, 340 cats and 290 dogs were handed in to the RSPCA in 2014/15 by owners who could not get permission to have the animals live with them in their rental home, and could not find alternative accomodation arrangements for them.

In New South Wales, that number shoots upwards to 584 dogs handed in over the past year, over a quarter of the 2,020 pooches surrendered to the organisation.

With the growing issue of housing affordability forcing many people into renting for longer and longer periods of time, the issue of keeping pets is starting to become more of a pressing one.

The NSW Residential Tenancies Act is currently up for review, and pet ownership is one of the issues being addressed. A report is due into NSW Parliament by late June.

The Tenants Union of NSW is firmly behind a shift in attitudes towards pet ownership in rental properties, particularly given the current housing affordability crisis, as policy office Ned Cutcher details:

The decision to keep a pet should have no bearing on the legal or financial foundation on which your home is established.

Keeping a pet is a personal choice and adults shouldnt have to ask permission for it. Landlords refusing pets is a common complaint and a growing issue. The simple fact is more people are renting for longer, people are having to put off getting pets, having families, getting on with their lives because they havent managed to achieve the dream of home ownership. This is something that is the new normal. Our national attitudes toward whether you own your home or rent your home sort of needs to catch up.

RSPCA Victoria has suggested the possibility of introducing pet bonds as a means of relaxing landlords attitudes towards pets (paying over and above ticketed bond price as an surety; a thing which is currently very illegal).

Though a nice idea, its unlikely the extra money will change the mind of landlords by themselves, much in the same way that offering to pay overs on rent usually doesnt secure you a property whilst house hunting.

Instead, softened laws are crucial to ending the stress of trying to find a pet-friendly property by shifting the default back in favour of the tenant, rather than the landlord. As Cutcher noted, the laws protecting landlords against damage to their property already exist. Its merely a matter of trusting adult tenants with their own responsibilities.

It should be up to the tenant to make the decision and wear the consequences of that decision, the rules are already adequate to protect landlords and their properties.

Proposed laws being considered by the NSW Government could soon see people living in strata housing simply inform a body corporate of the presence of a resident pet via a written letter; timely, given that statistics suggest half of the NSW population will be living or working in strata buildings by 2040.

If the laws do indeed change, its obviously not going to change the mind of any stubborn landlord who is staunchly anti-pet; theres always likely going to be loopholes in the lease agreement that allow landlords to veto pet residents.

However, shifting favour back to the tenant, in this particular instance, feels like the smart thing to do. Not only to improve peoples quality-of-life and allow them some semblance of life progress, even in the face of a growing housing crisis, but also to prevent more innocent animals from having to be surrendered simply because an investor isnt super keen on a few extra paws.

For now, youll have to keep your four legged friends a secret. But with any luck, it wont be for too much longer.

Source: News.com.au.

Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty.
HCMC Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong grants former U.S. Senator Bob Kerry, Chairman of the FUV Board of Trustees, Vietnam's formal approval for opening the university. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Cong

Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV), the first American-style private university in Ho Chi Minh City, will be operational from September this year with a Master in Public Policy.

HCMC Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong on Wednesday granted former U.S. Senator Bob Kerry, Chairman of the FUV Board of Trustees, Vietnams formal approval for opening the university in a ceremony attended by Secretary of State John Kerry.

The U.S. government has committed to contribute more than $20 million to the new university. HCMC has made 25 ha of land available for the university in District 9.

Previously, Vietnams government had approved in principle the universitys legal status, its own seal and bank account, while putting the schools education and training program under the management of the Ministry of Education and Training, according to a decision signed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam. The university will also be supervized by the city's Peoples Committee.

The new university will be built on the foundation of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program, a collaboration between the Harvard Kennedy School's Vietnam Program and the University of Economics, which is "widely regarded as Vietnam's preeminent school of public policy," according to a statement by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) supports three core initiatives, including the Master in Public Policy program and executive education, research, into complex policy issues confronting Vietnam and policy dialogue, through discussion with Vietnamese policymakers and participation in the public policy discourse in Vietnam, according to the program's website.

The transition from FETP to a more ambitious university was first mentioned officially in a joint statement issued by President Barack Obama and former Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang in 2013, and later was reiterated during Kerrys visit to Vietnam in December the same year.
Beyonce

Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday, May 20, 2016, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Daniela Vesco/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images)

(Daniela Vesco)

Some Pittsburgh police officers might not want to work the Beyonce concert, but the Bureau of Police said that's just part of the job.

Heinz Field had requested that the city of Pittsburgh provide police assistance, or secondary detail, at the performance Tuesday, May 31. They will have to compensate the city for the service, and officers have a choice of whether to accept the job or not.

Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Chief Cameron McLay said in a news release Sunday, May 22, that they already have enough off-duty police officers who had volunteered to work the concert. He said it didn't need any on-duty officers.

He had sent an internal memorandum which said on-duty officers might need to help with traffic control at the concert, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety Department public information officer Sonya M. Toler.

Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of the Police Lodge No. 1, disputes this, saying the memorandum didn't specify that officers would be on duty.

He said it called for officers to work the performance if there weren't enough volunteers. If off-duty officers were required to work the concert, Swartzwelder said that would be a breach in the contract between the city and the police department.

He said some officers didn't want to work Beyonce's concert because they didn't like "what she had to say."

Toler said Swartzwelder must have "misunderstood what was in writing, or he has something else going on."

"On duty officers always are used for traffic for large events," she said in an email to PennLive.com. She did not forward a copy of the memorandum, stating that "internal communications are not considered public information."
Photo-of-1-year-old-abused-by-babysitter-goes-viral.jpg

The parents of this abused one-year-old boy named Jacob are taking their pleas for justice for their son to social media. Find out who they blame for the boy's injuries.

(screen shot via 6ABC)

The parents of an abused one-year-old boy are taking their pleas for justice for their son to social media. This, after the Oregon couple claims that their quest for real justice regarding a male babysitter accused of abusing the boy has been stymied.

6ABC in Philly reports that Alicia Quinney and Joshua Marbury trusted their son with a babysitter, only to return home to find the boy crying on the floor and the man entrusted to watch their children asleep on the couch.

The man, a family friend, said he fell asleep and didn't know what happened.

But it wasn't until the next morning that the full extent of the one-year-old Jacob's injuries became apparent -- including what appears to be a hand print on his face -- prompting the parents to go to a local hospital and then to police.

However, more than two months after the incident, there has not been an arrest, 6ABC reports, with police allegedly telling the parents that the one-year-old was unable to tell them what happened.

According to Sherwood, Oregon, police, the male babysitter was questioned, but not arrested.

This has prompted the parents to post the picture, along with their story, on Facebook.
Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 8.12.05 AM.JPG

(PennDOT)

A crash is slowing traffic along the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Dauphin County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Pennsylvania.

The crash was first reported before 8 a.m. Wednesday, just north of Exit 72, the exit for Linglestown in Lower Paxton Township.

Traffic was moving by the accident site at about 8:10 a.m., but backlogs remain for several miles, as far back as Exit 77, the exit for Route 39 in West Hanover Township, according to traffic cameras.

For more traffic information, follow live traffic updates, accident reports and road closures below from PennDOT, Total Traffic Network and other Twitter sources.

Get a look at conditions on local roads -- via PennDOT traffic cameras -- anytime here on PennLive. For Pennsylvania Turnpike updates and possible travel delays visit the Turnpike website here.

Tweet us at @pennlive with any incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
WILLIAMSPORT -- A Centre County couple has been accused of altering mortars used in commercial-grade fireworks shows to increase their explosive power and volatility.

James and Christina Woodring are named in a five-count indictment returned Tuesday by a U.S. Middle District grand jury in Scranton that charges them with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute explosives and the manufacture of explosives.

The government is seeking forfeiture of four weapons, approximately 390 rounds of various caliber ammunition and about $3,000 in currency.

This is the second time James Woodring, 50, has been accused by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of illegal fireworks activity.

A 2010 indictment alleges he sold fireworks that contained more than 5,200 pounds of explosives. He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation for a year.

Court documents in that case state he had had a license to possess and display fireworks but not to sell them.

The new indictment alleges the Woodrings purchased commercial-grade fireworks outside Pennsylvania and transported them to their home in Centre Hall.

They sold the altered mortars without a license to do so, the indictment charges.

James Woodring is accused of buying mortars on May 1 and, after altering them, selling 19 of them on May 12 in York County for $240.

The indictment also alleges that between last Monday and Wednesday, he arranged to sell approximately 40 altered mortars for $520.

Christina Woodring, 34, is accused of helping her husband to alter mortars in anticipation of their sale.

James Woodring alone is charged with distribution of explosives, illegal possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony and possession of a stolen gun.

He is accused of illegally possessing a semi-automatic pistol, shotgun, pump rifle and another rifle. The pistol had been reported stolen, the indictment states.

James Woodring Tuesday was placed on home detention with electronic monitoring pending trial in Williamsport. His wife was released on personal recognizance.
A Vietnamese residential area in Ukraine was raided on May 23 by special forces intent on breaking up an immigration racket, according to the website of the General Prosecutor's office of Ukraine (GPU).

The GPU yesterday explained that the reason for raiding the Vietnamese Lang Sen (Lotus) village was to arrest a Southeast Asian criminal gang.

The agency said it was a "special campaign to eliminate an organized criminal gang from Southeast Asia that was operating in Odessa.

"These criminals are involved in illegal trade deals, counterfeit money and papers, illegal currency exchange, and smuggling weapons, drugs and people," said the statement.

Cash and weapons seized in Lang Sen. Photo by GPU

The GPU also accused some Vietnamese people in Lang Sen of resisting the task force. It said the force used guns to suppress the violent response from locals. Minor clashes broke out between the Vietnamese residents and the task force during the raid, and weapons and cash were seized.

Earlier, around 20 people, believed to be a Ukrainian task force, searched the apartment of a Vietnamese national in Lang Sen at around 2:00 p.m. on May 23, according to Ukrainian media.

They are said to have smashed through the door and wrecked the apartment before breaking into to metal safes to seize money, jewelry and other assets without a search warrant or explanation.

Destroyed safe at a Vietnamese's apartment in Lang Sen. Photo by Vietnamese in Ukraine

People were forced to lie on the ground and any who resisted were restrained, but no one was arrested.

Angered by their actions, a group of Vietnamese people used cars to block the road as the task force was leaving the scene. The armed forces opened fire while the Vietnamese crowd responded with stones, bricks and bottles.

Le Thai Ky, a Vietnamese citizen living in Odessa, said the force only confiscated regular household goods, including fake $100 bills that are burnt during religious ceremonies.

Yesterday morning, about 200 Vietnamese people in Odessa staged a demonstration in front of the provincial procuracy building. They unfurled large banners saying: "The procuracy, please save us" and "President, please help us." Many Ukrainian journalists were at the scene.

Around 200 Vietnamese in Odessa protested in front of the GPU on May 24. Photo by Le Thai Ky

Deputy Director of the Provincial Procuracy Arthur Dobroserdov has spoken with a representative of the Vietnamese community. He said the authorities that carried out the raid had handed over search warrants and records for each house searched.

Dobroserdov said that lawyers representing the Vietnamese community should collate that paperwork and submit it for the procuracy to investigate.

On Tuesday, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Hong Nam summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Aleksei Shovkoplias to his office in Hanoi to discuss the issue.

Nam said the raid was a serious incident and asked the Ukrainian authorities to clarify the cause and objective of the incident, and return the belongings that were seized to their rightful owners.

The deputy minister also asked Ukraine to tighten security measures to ensure the safety of Vietnamese people living in Lang Sen.

In January, a Ukrainian task force also conducted a surprise raid on dozens of apartments in Lang Sen, smashing doors and arresting a number of Vietnamese people. Ukraine's security services said the raids were part of an investigation into illegal immigration.

Lang Sen is a residential area with about 300 apartments, which were mostly paid for by Vietnamese people living in Odessa.
A 23-year-old Ukrainian man who posed as a Harrisburg High School student now has more legal trouble, this time of the federal variety.

A federal grand jury in Harrisburg on Wednesday indicted Artur Samarin - a.k.a. Asher Potts - on charges of passport and Social Security fraud for allegedly using his fake name on government documents.

The charges come as Samarin faces criminal charges in Dauphin County Court, where he is accused of theft and tampering with public records. He also is facing two sex crime charges at the county level for allegedly having sex with an underage female student.

According to U.S. Middle District Court filings, Samarin in December made a false statement in applying for a passport by claiming his name was Asher Potts and that he was a U.S. citizen born on Sept. 3, 1997. He is actually a Ukrainian citizen who was born in 1992, investigators contend.

The feds claim Samarin made the same false statements to the Social Security Administration in November.

Samarin is in Dauphin County Prison in lieu of $240,000 bail pending his next court appearance in the county case on June 14.

He was arrested in February after authorities said the discovered that Samarin, a stellar student at Harrisburg High, had created a false identity to stay in the U.S. after his visa expired.
Michael Nutter

Mayor Michael Nutter speaks during a news conference Monday, March 23, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is not feeling the Bern.

As the Sanders campaign continues to feud with Democratic Party leader and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a #DumpDebbie movement has started trending on social media.

Bernie Sanders and Wasserman Schultz first sparred after a rowdy Nevada convention when she condemned the behavior of his supporters and said he didn't go far enough to rebuke their actions.

Sanders said the party leader has been more favorable to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's campaign.

But Nutter, whose city is hosting the Democratic National Convention in July, defended Wasserman Schultz and slammed Bernie Sanders in a CNN interview. He is a political commentator and contributor on the network.

"This is like someone who comes to your house, says they don't like the food, your TV is too small and I'm not particularly thrilled with what your kitchen looks like and then walks out complaining," said Nutter, now a CNN contributor. "She's been leading the party, he just became a Democrat and now suddenly believes that he should be in charge."

Meanwhile, Democratic senators are discussing whether the party committee should dump Wasserman Schultz "because she has become 'too toxic' in the ongoing Democratic civil war," according to CNN.

"There is a lot of sentiment that replacing her would be a good idea. It is being discussed quietly among Democratic senators on the floor, in the cloakroom and in lunches," a senior Senate Democratic source told CNN on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks among lawmakers.

What do you think? Should Democrats #DumpDebbie?
Harrisburg Council Caucus.jpg

Harrisburg City Solicitor Neil Grover (standing at right) advises council members during a caucus meeting prior to Tuesday night's legislative session.

HARRISBURG- Harrisburg city council members Tuesday night voted down the mayor's pick to fill an expired seat on the city's water authority board.

The nomination to appoint Charla Plaines to the Capital Region Water board failed on a 4-3 vote, leaving the seat to Bill Cluck until the mayor chooses another nominee.

The vote at the council's legislative session represented the second time council members voted on Plaines' nomination. At the May 10 legislative session, the vote for Plaines ended in a 3-3 tie, with councilwoman Destini Hodges absent.

Council President Wanda Williams, who has publicly supported Plaines, brought up the resolution again Tuesday to give Hodges a chance to weigh in.

Hodges then cast the deciding vote that torpedoed Plaines' nomination. There was no council discussion before the vote. Also voting no were Ben Allatt, Shamaine Daniels and Westburn Majors, who previously served with Cluck on the water authority board.

Jeff Baltimore and Cornelius Johnson joined Williams in supporting Plaines, the state's reentry coordinator with 30 years of public service.

Although Cluck clung to his seat, it's unclear for how long. Mayor Eric Papenfuse said after Tuesday's meeting that he planned to find another nominee, but he didn't provide a timeline.

Council members have previously said both Plaines and Cluck were qualified for the position and they resented having to choose between the two volunteers.

When Plaines agreed to be nominated, she said she had no idea it would be controversial or a competition. Normally, such nominations are not. But after Papenfuse nominated Plaines, Cluck surprised the mayor by lobbying to retain the expired seat.

A vote for Plaines would have added diversity to the board, the mayor previously said, because of her different skill set. Papenfuse said he is trying to diversify the city's volunteer boards. But many council members have an affinity for Cluck, even though they disagree with him at times, because he helped launch a forensic audit of the incinerator, challenges the mayor and reads every line of every document placed before him.

Daniels previously said she supports Cluck because his level of attention to detail is exactly what the water authority needs.

Cluck attended Tuesday's meeting but declined to comment. Plaines did not attend the meeting.
Obama obamacare affordable care act

President Barack Obama speaks in Nashville, Tenn., about the Affordable Care Acton Wednesday, July 1, 2015.

(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

As Highmark seeks 2017 rate hikes averaging nearly 40 percent for Affordable Care Act plans, an executive predicted premiums will flatten out after next year.



The medical costs of ACA customers have been increasing by about 11.5 percent annually, compared to eight percent for non-ACA customers, according to Alexis Miller, the senior vice president of individual and small group coverage for Highmark.



The magnitude of the higher costs for ACA customers came as a surprise to Highmark and most other insurers. That's because the ACA customers they took on beginning in 2014 typically had been uninsured. It meant insurers didn't know their medical histories, and the customers had a pent up need for medical care that was beyond what most insurers predicted. Many insurers misjudged and set premiums that were far too low.





That was especially true of Highmark, which began with some of the lowest ACA premiums in the nation, and which lost about $600 million on ACA customers in 2015. Highmark is still trying to catch up.



But with several years' experience with those customers, combined with other Highmark initiatives to hold down costs of ACA customers, Highmark expects that rate increases after 2017 will conform to changes in the actual cost of medical care, Miller said.



Highmark has about 125,000 ACA customers in 2016, down from about 270,000 in 2015.



Miller says Highmark remains fully committed to the ACA market, and will continue to offer plans in every county it serves. It has established care management teams around the state to work with ACA customers to help them stay healthier and hold down their costs. Highmark believes such steps, along with setting premiums at the correct level, will lead to a "sustainable" ACA market, Miller said.



Highmark is far from the only health insurer to request sharp premium increases for 2017. The requests, which just became public, average 23.6 percent for individual plans and 7.9 percent for small group plans, according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.



However, the insurance department must review and approve the final rates, and can whittle them down substantially. Final rates aren't expected to be known until late summer. Eighteen health insurers plan to sell individual plans in Pennsylvania next year, down from 19 this year, and 20 plan to sell group plans, down from 23, according to the insurance department.
Tomorrow, Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will represent the Commission at the Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg.
Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use.

This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it.
Those seeking to understand why millions of Americans support Donald Trumps anti-government positions need look no further than the power exercised by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

New York has been one of the slowest growing states for decades and Mr. Schneiderman apparently wants to keep it that way. On Tuesday Mr. Schneiderman announced that he is suing Dominos Pizza because he believes that 10 Dominos franchise pizza stores in New York underpaid their workers. He alleges that the national company Dominos is the joint employer of the workers employed by the franchises, and so they are responsible for the underpayment.

The suit is brought not against the restaurants that supposedly committed the offenses, but against the deep-pocket parent company, Dominos. Businesses like Dominos will be reluctant to invest in New York with the likes of Mr. Schneiderman abusing governmental power. Voters worried about the governmental abuse similar to that from Mr. Schneiderman are lining up to vote for candidates like Mr. Trump.

The franchises supposedly paid lower than minimum wages; did not pay the required overtime; abused the tip credit; and didnt reimburse employees for the use of their cars and bicycles while delivering the pizza.

The Attorney Generals press release claims that the parent company Dominos knew that the payroll reports generated by the companys computer system were flawed, leading to underpayment. Furthermore, according to the suit, the company played a role in the hiring, firing, and discipline of workers; pushed an anti-union position on franchisees; and closely monitored employee job performance through onsite and electronic reviews. 

Maybe. But blaming the parent company, rather than the franchise, is an attempt to destroy American franchised business.

New York State law holds that a company is a joint employer of a franchise business if it either has control, or has authority to control, employees of a franchise in a variety of ways. Since the nature of a franchisor is that it sets certain standards, including dress of employees and the look of the store, practically all franchised businesses will be potential targets of Mr. Schneiderman.

This suit is the logical extension of the National Labor Relations Board decision released in August in which the Board expanded the concept of joint employers. Now, its far easier for employees of franchised business to be classified as employees of the parent company.

The NLRBs suit against McDonalds USA opened in New York City in March. In that lawsuit, workers at 86 restaurants complained that they were unfairly disciplined in retaliation for communicating with unions, including facing threats, fewer work hours, and job loss. Although the charges could have been settled with the franchises for under $100,000, the NLRB chose to sue the parent company, a suit that is costing millions of dollars.

Under prior NLRB precedent, if a firm did not exercise authority over the employees of its subcontractors then it was not counted as an employer. Now the NLRB is saying that if a firm just possesses the authority to control its subcontractors employeeseven if it does not use this authoritythen it is a joint employer. This is similar to New York law.

Millions of franchises such as Jiffy Lube, Dunkin Donuts, or H&R Block are at risk of being told that they are joint employers with parent companies. What Mr. Schneiderman and the Board fail to note is that franchises are the most efficient way of providing some services. Franchises make it easier for people to start their own businesses, and independent contractors can move from one employer to another at will, or work for multiple employers at one time. The franchise model has dramatically expanded the number of small businesses in America.

The NLRB is attacking McDonalds. Mr. Schneiderman is attacking Dominos. In addition, with its $15 minimum wage, New York is already disadvantaging its fast food operations. When big government is on the prowl, the loser ultimately is not business. The biggest losers are workers who will have fewer jobs and consumers who will have fewer inexpensive eating options.

Americans are not stupid. They see their neighbors and their own families struggling to make ends meetyet government bureaucrats in Washington and Albany and state capitals across America have nothing better to do than try to put American pizza and burger restaurants out of business.

Ordinary Americans understand that the Schneidermans and the NLRB are trying to hurt them, not help them. Many of these ordinary Americans have had enough of big government bureaucrats and are voting for Mr. Trump.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, directs Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute. You can follow her on Twitter here.

Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, e21 delivers a short email that includes e21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the e21 Morning Ebrief.
brightcove.createExperiences(); Kim Kardashian West and Kanye celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and what a fancy celebration it was!

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, 35, took to her website and app on Wednesday to share some private details about their anniversary trip to Italy.

We went to the Teatro dellOpera in Rome to support the legendary designer Valentino Garavani  who created the costumes for the Sofia Coppola-directed La Traviata  and his partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, her post began. We had our wedding brunch with them two years ago, so we wanted to celebrate our anniversary with them, too.

The couple tied the knot in May 2014 with a week-long celebration that ended at Florences Forte di Belvedere.

While I was still in London, I went to the Vivienne Westwood couture house to find the perfect dress for this special event, she continued. I woke up in London and got ready for the opera, praying that my hair and makeup would last through the flight to Rome and be intact for the big premiere. I wore the dress with an archival pair of Westwood platforms  they were so comfortable! I usually dont wear platforms like this but I loved them.

The reality star opted to wear a special pair of jewels for the big night, saying: I chose the beautiful Lorraine Schwartz earrings that Kanye got me for my birthday!

But their big night out didnt end there! The Wests were able to squeeze in an intimate meal before heading in for the evening.

After the event, we had a private romantic dinner  just Kanye and I  to celebrate our anniversary, she wrote. Such a memorable evening!

Keeping Up with the Kardashians airs Sundays (9 p.m. ET) on E!
EJPS receives COPS School Violence Prevention grant

The district was one of eight in the state to receive funding for improving safety technology throughout the buildings.
Strike by french oil workers shut down at least five refineries

AFP



Pickets at the Fos-sur-Mer refinery on 23 May 2016. French strike hits refinery output in labour reform showdown.

MARSEILLE/PARIS

Petroleumworld.com 05 25 2016

France's Socialist government drew battle lines with one of the country's biggest trade union's on Tuesday over labour market reforms as a strike by oil workers forced at least five refineries to halt or slow down operations.

Riot police fired tear gas and water canon to break up a picket line blocking access to Exxon Mobil Corp's refinery outside the southern port city of Marseille, as scores of petrol stations nationwide ran dry of fuel.

"Enough is enough," said Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

The pre-dawn swoop drew a sharp riposte from the hardline CGT union, which wants to force President Francois Hollande's government to rethink the labour reforms designed to make it easier for companies to hire and fire employees.

The CGT described the police operation as an act of "unprecedented violence" as it and other unions served notice of a June 3-5 strike by air traffic controllers that will dovetail with walkouts by state rail employees, port workers and staff on the Paris metro and suburban rail networks.

The CGT, traditionally one of France's most powerful and influential trade union groups, says the reforms will unravel France's protective labour regulations, allowing firms to lay off staff more easily in hard economic times and by providing further exemptions from rules on pay and working conditions.

CGT boss Philippe Martinez vowed to push on with the strikes until Hollande withdraws the legislation.

"We'll see this through to the finish," Martinez said. "This is a government which has turned its back on its promises and we are now seeing the consequences."

Total S.A., said on Tuesday that it had shut down its Gonfreville and Feyzin refineries, was in the process of halting operations at two others and was reducing output at a fifth refinery.

The company's chief executive said the strikes could make it reconsider investments in its French plants.

Total's U.S. rival Exxon Mobil Corp. said its two French refineries were operating at normal levels, but damage to the road and terminal tracks at the southern Fos-Sur-Mer plant meant trucks could not load.

FUEL PUMP QUEUES

Hollande, plagued by dismal popularity ratings a year from elections and an unfulfilled promise to lower a jobless rate stuck at about 10 percent, says labour reform is crucial to creating new jobs.

The president blamed the fuel blockade on a small minority of people.

In parts of France, motorists swamped petrol stations, some using real-time mobile phone applications to learn where they could refill without queuing for hours or being turned away.

The panic-buying amid fuel rationing in parts of France will compound the troubles of Hollande and his government as they strive to convince voters that "things are getting better".

"The Prime Minister said there is no problem, but he doesn't see this spreading in Paris and maybe the rest of France," said Katharina Lefevre, who queued for two hours to buy fuel.

Emergency stocks could keep fuel stations open for up to two months if tapped, according to experts. But Valls said pickets aimed at halting distribution would not be tolerated.

Hollande, France's most unpopular leader in recent memory, has said he will only run for re-election if he hauls the jobless rate down.

The International Monetary Fund said France's economy was not recovering quickly enough to cut unemployment and debt significantly, and would not do so without further reforms.






Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela ink a final agreement to develop joint gas fields



T&T and Venezuela sign historic energy agreement/CNC3



PORT SPAIN

Petroleumworld.com 05 25 2016

Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela on Monday signed and agreement which finally put Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago to develop together the natural gas in the Loran-Manatee field at the countries maritime border.

Trinidad & Tobago Energy Minister, Nicole Olivierre and Venezuela Ministry of Energy, Eulogio Del Pino signed the deal with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on attendance at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's, Port-of-Spain.

Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago in 2007 signed a unitization and unit operating agreement for the development and production of the Loran Manatee cross-border natural gas fields that the two countries share.

The Loran-Manatee field has an estimated 10.25 trillion cubic feet of gas, of which 73.75 percent belongs to Venezuela and 26.25 percent to Trinidad.

Speaking to the press the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said We have agreed and signed the relative memoranda which allows Venezuela and TT to now direct operating companies to proceed on our cross-border initiatives, He said this could see the monetisation of cross-border gas, Venezuelan gas in Trinidad plants and together, TT and Venezuela can approach the international market.

The agreement contemplate that Venezuela and Trinidad will form a consortium company to operate the fields and in 3 months will have to put forward a development plan to the two governments to commence the developing phase.

The companies license to operate the Loran Manatee field are on Trinidad side, BG now under the Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, and on the Venezuelan side Chevron and PDVSA.



Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre disclosed

Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre said that the memoranda could also allow TT access to the gas from the Venezuelan Dragon field, located north of Paria peninsula on Caribbean next to Trinidad North Coast marine area gas fields. She said a pipeline could be constructed from the Dragon Field to the Hibiscus platform, to supply gas from Dragon into TT 's gas pipeline system.

What is new about this arrangement is we now purchase gas directly from Venezuela, she said. This will benefit Trinidad under current shortfall of natural gas.



Sources: Newsday, Trinidad Express, Trinidad Guardian, Petroleumworld en Espanol






The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde welcomed students from the International Marketing and Regional Integration programs of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, or IRIC, to the James Baldwin Information Resource Center, or IRC, to acquaint themselves with the functioning of the center, and to have access to relevant resources for their academic research work.

The James Baldwin Information Resource Center is a component of the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde. It is a public lending library for students, academia and the general public, and a reference/research center, which provides comprehensive and authoritative information on the United States.

Embassy Affairs Officer Roberto Quiroz II congratulated the students on their admission into such a prestigious institution as IRIC.

This is an effort the United States of America is proud to offer Cameroon in a support role, he said. The real credit for all efforts go to Cameroon and Lake Chad Basin nations because they are leading all security efforts. All Cameroonians must be proud of how their sons and daughters in uniform have not hesitated to defend their homeland and fellow citizens against Boko Harams attacks, which have victimized innocent civilians and targeted women and girls.

Mr. Quiroz said, Boko Haram will be defeated, so that Cameroonians can build a future of peace and prosperity through their own talents and ideas.

He also underscored other areas of partnership between both nations, including the protection of refugees fleeing violence, U.S. support for a vibrant civil society, growing private sector to create jobs, and a free media, and joint efforts to protect wildlife.

Mr. Quiroz also explained how diplomacy is an instrument of advancing good governance goals adding that public perception of their performance as IRIC students and future diplomats and civil servants is very important as well.

Congratulations in your achievements, he told the students.As future leaders in your fields, your first and foremost priority will be to advance the interests of Cameroon. That is a great responsibility.

The United States is proud to work with its partner Cameroon for the benefit of both nations, the region, and Africa.
Sometimes you can be too smart by half  which is an antique phrase expressing the idea you can outthink yourself.

VisitPhiladelphia  the nonprofit tourism marketing and public relations agency for the five-country area  Wednesday announced a push for the area around Independence Hall that would use the non-glitzy, but durable and accurate handle of Historic Philadelphia.

CEO and President Meryl Levitz acknowledged too often too many visitors see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the Independence Visitor's Center and vanish, missing a lot.

Historic Philadelphia runs from Vine to Lombard, 7th to the Delaware  which is the prime reason Philadelphia is where it is.

Thank you, big river. You're looking cleaner in recent years and there are attractions blooming on your shores.

In their rush, tourists miss everything from the National Constitution Center to the myriad restaurants, museums, bars, art and boutique shops that pepper the area. Historic Philadelphia aims at curing that.

The key event was the re-opening of the Second Bank of the United States Building in the 400 block of Chestnut, which was, well, you know the second (federally authorized) bank of the United States. Another example of not outthinking yourself.

I'm not sure Mayor Kenney didn't fall into that trap.

Since he began running for mayor, and since then, when talking about his background, he always says he was born and raised and has always lived in Philadelphia and expects to die here.

Wednesday he said he would "probably" die here. I haven't heard him qualify that before. No point asking his press secretary  Lauren Hitt doesn't talk to me. No, really. I'll have more to say about her failure to do her job in the future.

In talking about America's history, Kenney said as a lad he frequently visited the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall, where it was kept  out in the open, on a table, with no security  before moving into its pavilion for the 1976 Bicentennial.

He said he loved running his fingers over the bell and sometimes squatted down and stuck his head into the bell (which might explain some things about his behavior).

The bell was moved to its new home on New Year's Eve 1975. It was a dark and stormy night. I know, because I was there. (The bell can no longer be touched because its finish was being worn down by the slight moisture and acid on millions of visitors' hands.)

In talking about the Declaration of Independence, Kenney said the line about "all men are created equal" fell short because it did not offer equality to black people, nor full citizenship  by voting  to women.

Anyway, he was right about that and it's a part of our history that bears repeating because it is true, and also because it has been fixed. Most of America's problems get fixed, usually without violence.

That was the best part of Kenney's day.

Despite a heart-rending pro-tax editorial in the Daily News, and a "story" in the New York Times saying high soda taxes should be imposed by the federal government, City Council President Darrell Clarke said a three-cent-per-ounce tax was DOA.

Which probably made Kenney wish he could stick his head in the Liberty Bell again.
ELKO  Early voting in Nevadas primary begins Saturday, and voters will have plenty of chances to learn about local candidates this week.

The Elko Area Chambers Government Affairs Committee is hosting a candidate forum Wednesday for the District 3 County Commission race, and Thursday for the Department B Justice of the Peace primary. Both will begin at 6 p.m. in the Turquoise Room at the Elko Convention Center.

Prior to Wednesdays forum the Elko Daily Free Press will host a meet-and-greet for 2016 candidates, beginning at 4 p.m. in the Turquoise Room. All candidates for any races in the primary or general election are invited, along with voters who would like to meet them and discuss the issues one-on-one.

Candidates for the District 3 commission seat being vacated by Glen Guttry are Jeff Dalling, Jonathan Karr and Ralph Sacrison. All are Republicans, and the top vote-getter advances to the General Election.

Candidates for the new justice of the peace position are Elias Goicoechea, Will Lehmann, Anthony Leiker, David Loreman, Andrew Mierins and Dennis Parker.

The top two vote-getters in this nonpartisan race will advance to the General Election, unless one of them takes more than 50 percent of the vote.

GAC Chairman Matt McCarty said the panel welcomes questions from the public for either of these forums. Email your question to gac@elkonevada.

The Free Press is also publishing campaign statements this week from candidates who choose to submit them. Statements are limited to 400 words and should be sent to editor@elkodaily.com.

Nevadas primary election is June 14.
May 24

Adrian J. Berry, 31, of Elko was arrested at 13th Street and Fairgrounds Road for domestic battery and disturbing the peace. Bail: $3,495



Ryan G. Dell, 32, of Las Vegas was arrested at the Las Vegas City Jail for failure to appear after bail for a misdemeanor. Bail: $814



Donald R. Glidden, 30, of Elko was arrested at College Avenue and Idaho Street for domestic battery and disturbing the peace. Bail: $4,280



Deanna L. Hancock, 21, of Elko was arrested at 1111 Idaho St. for failure to appear on a traffic citation. Bail: $860



Timothy C. Herring, 34, of Elko was arrested at Silver and Fifth streets for DUI and failure to yield right of way with left turn intersection. Bail: $1,335



William G. James Sr., 56, of Spring Creek was arrested at 3920 E. Idaho St. for failure to appear after bail for a misdemeanor. Bail: $1,365



Shauna E. Johnson, 24, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail for revocation of bail. Bail: $2,500



Anthony J. Martinez, 19, of Spring Creek was arrested at 1400 Mountain City Highway for possession of a controlled substance and two counts of use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $6,280



Clancy D. Mavity, 31, of Reno was arrested at Devils Gate Ranch for failure to appear after bail for a misdemeanor. Bail: $2,140



Colan D. McConnell, 30, of West Wendover was arrested at the West Wendover Police Department for failure to appear after bail for a misdemeanor. No bail listed.



Joshua M. Pearson, 40, of Salt Lake City was arrested on Interstate 80 for failure to appear after bail for a felony crime of uttering a forged instrument. Bail: $5,500



Jeffrey O. Swain, 46, of Carlin was arrested at 416 Bush St. for disturbing the peace. Bail: $352



Crue Trujillo, 27, of Ely was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant for duty to stop at an accident with an attended vehicle or property, and a driver or passenger failing to report an unattended vehicle or property accident. Bail: $2,280



Christopher M. Veesart, 29, of Elko was arrested at 1111 Idaho St. for failure to appear on a traffic citation. Bail: $1,210
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has applauded a 3p a kilo pig sector price rise introduced by southern factories while remaining sharply critical of other processors for not doing the same.

IFA pigs committee chairman, Pat OFlaherty (pictured above), said it was very positive to see the southern factories adding 4c (3p) to supplier prices.

However, on the other hand it was infuriating that not all processors passed back this increase, showing a complete lack of support to farmers, he added.

European prices again moved upwards with a noted stronger trade in Southern Europe as the holiday season gets underway. Both Spain and France have now edged ahead of the German price.

It is imperative that any improvements in trade are fairly reflected by all processors in producer prices going forward.

Ireland is currently on 101% of the EU average price, as reported to the EU for the week beginning May 9, 2016.

Factory pig throughput in Republic of Ireland export plants for the week ending May 14, meanwhile, was 64,150 head, which was 14,242 more than in the corresponding week in 2015. Slaughterings in ROI export plants are 7.1% ahead of the same period in 2015.

Get Our E-Newsletter - Pig World's best stories in your in-box twice a week See e-newsletter example Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy
ELKO  Elko County will be experiencing a brand new event this summer. The recently created Western Heritage Festival will take place the first weekend in August.

Part of the trail committee organizations intent was to bring more people to Elko and draw people together to celebrate their heritage, said Dr. Kurt Alleman. This will boost the economy and be an annual event. We hope it will be as big as the Gathering.

The group has been working all year, brainstorming different segments for Elko, Carlin and Wells. The event is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, Aug. 4, with a parade and dinner in the park. Later that night, movies will be shown behind the museum.

On Friday there will be a mountain man rendezvous in Carlin at the city park. Participants will be wearing pre-1840s dress. Throughout the day there will be hatchet and knife throwing competitions, a black powder shoot, and a poker shoot fundraiser. In the evening Wells will host a Mark Twain Chautauqua at the combined school.

On Saturday the California Trail Center will be holding an ancient gun demonstration and short hikes on the actual California Trail.

Saturday afternoon in Elko will be a multi-cultural day. The Mexican Folkloric Ballet and the Elko Arinak Dancers will perform their ethnic routines. There will also be a demonstration of Latter-day Saint handcarts that were used to move smaller items along the trail during the migration.

On both Thursday and Saturday Daniel Kuhn will be presenting talks about the railroad and its importance in settling Northern Nevada.

Its going to be a full weekend of fun things to do, said Alleman. We will be advertising all over the West, including Sacramento, Twin Falls, Salt Lake City, Reno and Boise.

Saturday will be the grand finale with a mining claim office set-up in Wells. This will be a fun experience for children and adults.

At night an old-fashioned street dance is going to be held in the Elko corridor. Southwind will be playing all through the evening.

Our first attempt is to have it become an annual event. There is a lot of great history here, Alleman said.

A committee of about 20 people has been toiling away at this novel, western jamboree. As the months progress the committee will need more volunteers from the community. Anyone interested in helping can contact Dr. Alleman at 738-5351.
Out and About Audio Article Atascosa County Anti-Bullying Rally Oct. 19 Poteet Strawberry Festival grounds, main pavilion, 6-8 p.m. Guest speaker Batman & Co. and...

JISD Supt. McAllister announces retirement Audio Article The retirement of Jourdanton ISD Superintendent Theresa McAllister was announced at the meeting of the school board held on Oct....
The newspaper community in Nevada is a rather small clique of writers and editors, competing against each other for the hot news scoops and heart-tugging feature stories and precious pearls of political punditry. It is the competition that makes all the papers just a little better than they otherwise would be.

Writers and readers are a little poorer when one of the stars of the journalism craft in the state feels he must walk away in order to maintain his integrity and creditability.

A month ago, John L. Smith, who has written a general interest column four or five days a week for more than 30 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, resigned.

The situation offers readers a rare glimpse inside the nuanced world of Nevada newspaper journalism, which seldom gets any coverage and where credibility is often a matter of perspective, motives are suspect and excuses can replace sound judgment and diligent editing.

Smith was among a handful of writers at the Las Vegas newspaper who unearthed the identity of the papers new ownership in December  Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and generous donor to Republican political candidates. All have since left the paper.

In a December column, Smith commented that Adelson is precisely the wrong person to own this or any newspaper.

In January, shortly after Adelson named a new publisher for the newspaper, Smith was told he could no longer write about Adelson because the casino owner had once unsuccessfully sued Smith over a couple of sentences in a book about casino executives called Sharks in the Desert. Smith protested but reluctantly followed orders, though he had written often about Adelson over the years since the suit was thrown out in 2008 as baseless.

Then a month ago, the newly ensconced editor of the paper, Keith Moyer, appeared at a weekend meeting of the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists to talk about the future of the paper. According to Twitter feeds posted during the meeting, Moyer publicly declared, I personally think it was a conflict for John to write about Sheldon, and, As long as Im editor, John wont write about Sheldon Adelson.

Smith replied with a Tweet: Wasnt I also sued by Wynn? referring to a lawsuit by casino executive Steve Wynn over an ad for a book about Wynn called Running Scared that was dismissed by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001.

The following Monday, Moyer told Smith he could not write about Wynn either. The next day Smith resigned, leaving a letter on desks in the newsroom saying in part: I learned many years ago about the importance of not punching down in weight class. You dont hit little people in this craft, you defend them. In Las Vegas, a quintessential company town, its the blowhard billionaires and their political toadies who are worth punching. And if you dont have the freedom to call the communitys heavyweights to account, then that commentary tag isnt worth the paper on which its printed.  If a Las Vegas columnist is considered conflicted because hes been unsuccessfully sued by two of the most powerful and outspoken players in the gaming industry, then its time to move on.

One mans conflict is another mans job well done.

Adelsons suit said Sharks made false implications that he was associated with unsavory characters and unsavory activities.

Adelson asked that the case be dismissed when Smiths attorney, Don Campbell, obtained confidential Gaming Control Board records. In short, Adelsons claims were about to be exposed for what they were  false and vindictive, Campbell said at the time.

Wynn sued when an ad for Running Scared, an ad Smith did not write, said the book details why a confidential Scotland Yard report calls Wynn a front man for the Genovese crime family.

The book itself reported that the New Scotland Yard report was not entirely accurate and was politically motivated and largely based on investigative efforts of U.S. authorities who did not reach the same conclusion.

Ive always lectured reporters that every story should have a WSIGAD  why should I give a damn.

You may have never read the Las Vegas newspaper and never heard of John L. Smith, but all the journalists in the state know of his plight, and, when they contemplate covering the rich and powerful, there will be a hitch in their gait that will affect the news you get. Thats why you should give a damn.

Disclosure: I edited Smiths columns for more than 20 years.
*** Include a contact email address if you want a response *** Please tell us about the problem you are having...



See your usage details You will also be sending us basic usage details to help us fix this problem.

Details about your session

Javascript: not enabled.

Submit my Problem

Please tell us about your problem before you click submit.

Thank you for flagging this problem, we very much appreciate your time and helping us improve the site.
A woman walks her baby in Barcelona. Massimiliano Minocri (EL PAIS)

The financial crisis that has hit the Spanish economy since 2008 drags on. The macroeconomic data is steadily improving, but many Spaniards still face severe hardship.

The latest Eurostat figures show that 28.6% of Spaniards are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, a slight improvement on the figure of 29.2% for 2014.

The recession has left deep scars on Spanish society. Some 6.4% of Spaniards say they face severe material shortfalls, meaning for example that they cannot afford to take a summer vacation, eat meat or fish for at least two days a week, put the heating or air conditioning on, or pay for a washing machine.

Older people who do not own their own homes face serious risks of falling into poverty

A detailed look at the data produces a picture of the most vulnerable to the impact of the recession: young foreigners with only secondary education who are jobless, unmarried but with a child or dependent, and resident in Andalusia are most likely to fall into poverty, says Spains National Statistics Institute (INE). Average household income fell last year by 0.2% to 26,092, says the INE.

The population at risk is a relative indicator that measures inequality. It doesnt measure poverty as an absolute, but simply how many people have low income in relation to the rest of the population, says the INE in a press release issued on Tuesday. It measures poverty in terms of households with less than 60% of the average income. Last year, that translated into 8,000 for single income homes, and 16,000 for households with two adults and two children aged under 14.

Sign up for our newsletter EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here.

The figures show that children are at the greatest risk of falling into poverty. Some 28.8% of the population aged under 16 is at risk of poverty, says the INEs latest survey. It adds that although the number of over-65s at risk of poverty is relatively low, older people who do not own their own homes face serious risks of falling into poverty.

Almost 14% of Spanish households find it very hard to reach the end of the month, a drop of 2.4% on last year. Four in 10 families lack the resources to deal with unexpected expenses, while 40% of households cannot afford to go on holiday.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Since Republicans discovered that lower turnout helps their chances of winning elections  see 2010 and 2014  they have made a widespread effort to make it harder for some Americans to cast their ballots.

A total of 22 states have enacted tough voter restrictions in the last six years, whether its cutting early voting hours or eliminating same-day registration. In 17 of those states, 2016 is the first year these strict laws will be in place for a presidential election.

Today, a Republican federal judge is hoping to hit the brakes on Republican efforts to restrict voting in at least one of those states: Ohio.

Federal Judge Michael Watson of Columbus said the restrictions  Senate Bill 238  adversely impact African-American voters in the state. The judge called the law a violation of both the Consitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The court finds that SB 238 results in less opportunity for African Americans to participate in the political process than other voters, Watson said, according to a report by The Columbus Dispatch.

Watson ruled that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Attorney General Mike DeWine, both Republicans, must stop enforcing the reduced voting periods that GOP Gov. John Kasich signed into law in 2014.

A spokesperson for the attorney general said Watsons ruling will be repealed, The Dispatch noted.

If the decision stands, Ohioans will be able to cast their ballots 35 days prior to this years general election, including the Golden Week when voters can register and vote on the same day.

In the event that the voting limitations are restored, the nearly 15,000 African-American voters who registered and voted on the same day in 2012 would be denied the same opportunity in 2016  enough votes to turn a close election in one of the most pivotal swing states in the country.

Of course, turning a close election was the plan all along, wasnt it?

For now, at least one state  a critical one  is protected from Republican efforts to suppress turnout to win elections.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

*The following is an opinion column by R Muse *

As more than a few Americans have likely noticed, the election of the first African American as President did not signal the end of racism in America, and they probably comprehend if anything, it incited once-closeted racists to come out of the woodwork. In fact, coupled with Republican and conservatives deliberate disenfranchisement of people of color, the Republican outrage that a Black man is in the White House made being blatantly racist quite a popular stance among conservatives; Donald Trumps popularity bears out that assertion.

Additionally, when conservatives on the Supreme Court dismantled the Voting Rights Act, although they concluded that racism is non-existent in America, it simply gave racist Republicans vindication they wanted to hear that their race-driven vote-suppression and gerrymandering was warranted and constitutional.

On Monday, the eight-member Supreme Court did an about face and dealt some serious blows to racist Republicans in Virginia and employers who think discriminating on the basis of race is an exceptional American trait and constitutional. There was another ruling dealing a blow to racist prosecutors in Georgia, but that is the subject of another article on the patently racist American criminal justice system.

The case known as Green v. Brennan was a critical ruling that should send a strong message to victims of workplace discrimination that not only do they have rights, they can win restitution against racist employers after leaving toxic workplaces. The man who had put up with serious racial discrimination at work, Marvin Green, was a mail carrier who made the mistake of claiming to an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor that his supervisor used racism to discriminate against him. Apparently, Green was supposed to tolerate the discrimination and keep his mouth shut or suffer retaliation from the supervisor.

But since Mr. Green did not suffer in silence, his Postal Service supervisor launched a retaliatory crusade that created such a hostile workplace environment that he could endure no more harassment and quit his job. After stepping away from his job, Mr. Green again met with an EEO counselor and complained he was the victim of a constructive discharge; a term that means the workplace had become so hostile that he was essentially forced to resign.

Unfortunately for Mr. Green, a judge summarily dismissed his case on grounds it was not filed in a timely manner and an appellate court affirmed the ruling. According to federal law, any constructive discharge plaintiffs are required to contact an EEO counselor within 45 days of the matter alleged to be discriminatory. In Mr. Greens case, he contacted the EEOC the second time after he resigned, and after the 45 day cutoff since his employer first actively discriminated against him. The lower courts did not deny that all the horrible facts in Greens complaint were correct, but they still dismissed his complaint and case because of the 45 day rule.

The Supreme Court reversed the lower courts ruling with only one dissenting voice: Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Sotomayor wrote for the majority and explained that the matter alleged to be discriminatory in a constructive discharge claim necessarily includes the employees resignation. She also remarked that according to the standard rule governing statutes of limitations, the limitations period commences when the plaintiff has a complete and present cause of action; not after the initial instance of racial discrimination takes place.

As explained by Mark Joseph Stern at Slate, what Sotomayor means is that the 45-day period begins when the plaintiff can file suit and obtain relief. Green could not have filed suit while he was still employed, especially when doing so would have incited more intense harassment from his supervisor. Also, a worker may only sue for constructive discharge when working conditions become so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employees position would have felt compelled to resign. Green could not have sued for constructive discharge under any circumstances while he was still employed.

Accordingly, Greens constructive discharge claim was valid because he initiated a complete and present cause of action within the 45 days after he had actually quit his job. Obviously, no employee would file a discrimination claim while still at a job, and as evidenced by the increased harassment Mr. Green suffered just for talking to an EEO counselor. Green filing an official claim or lawsuit while under the racist supervisor would have invited further mistreatment and hostility. The justices understood that the only reasonable way for a discriminated-against employee to pursue a legitimate claim was after they had left a toxic, bigoted workplace. It was the right and fair decision by the High Court and sends a message to employers, supervisors, and even co-workers that racial discrimination is not only not to be tolerated, there is a monetary cost for racism in the workplace.

The second case dealt with another kind of racial discrimination against people of colors right to a voice in their government, and it put an end to Virginia Republicans complaining they cannot gerrymander themselves to electoral victory at disenfranchised African American voters expense.

The case, Wittman v. Personhuballah, concerned Republican state legislators redrawing a majority-black congressional district to put as many Black voters in as humanly possible. That 2012 gerrymandering reduced the minorities voting power and some of those minorities sued for redress and won in district court. The suit before the three-judge district court resulted in a decision that the nearly entirely minority district constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. So the court intervened and appointed a special master to redraw the districts on nonracial grounds.

After that ruling, the newly-elected Democratic attorney general rejected Republican demands to defend the GOPs racist districting maps so several of the Republican congressmen decided that they would uphold and defend the racist maps and attack the court-ordered new maps. Obviously, the old racist maps unfairly favored them electorally and the new maps were fair. In what is a surprising ruling, the High Court reached a unanimous decision that none of the three congressmen had the legal authority to challenge the new (court ordered) maps; their appeal to the Supreme Court was summarily dismissed without a peep of dissent.

Although the dismissal in Wittman does not put the brakes on racial gerrymandering, it does in fact give a fair amount of weight to any future lower courts order to either redraw electoral maps fairly, or submit to a court appointed special master to redraw districts on non-racial grounds. It is a precedent that may have an impact on other Republican states willing to silence minority voices and reduce their voting power.

None of the SCOTUS rulings against Americas neo-racists are considered landmark decisions. But they are victories, albeit small, against the institutional racism thats making a comeback after hard-won victories on Civil Rights have been systematically dismantled by Republicans and the once-conservative majority on the Supreme Court. If nothing else, at least employees plagued by discrimination, racial or otherwise, will not have to labor in a toxic environment to preserve their right to file a discrimination claim, and Republicans can no longer go to court to purge minorities from their district to maintain an unfair electoral advantage.

All Americans should rejoice that besides dealing a blow to racism in the workplace and elections, for the first time in several years the High Court actually ruled as if all Americans have to be treated equal. Now if Republicans would get on board, or a get a clue, maybe America will start becoming what the Founders intended; a country where everyone is entitled to the same equal rights.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Donald Trump cant stop lying to Americas veterans. Trump claimed to have raised $6 million for veterans groups, but when confronted about the real fundraising total, the Republican nominee ignored the video evidence and said that he never claimed that $6 million was raised.

The Washington Post reported:

Trump also said he had never actually promised that the fundraiser had raised $6 million. I didnt say six, Trump said. In a video of the event, Trump tells the crowd at the end, We just cracked $6 million! Right? $6 million. When asked about that quote, Trump said, Well, I dont. I dont have the notes. I dont have the tape of it.

Here is video of Trump claiming that $6 million had been raised:

https://youtu.be/9jWb1v8lnjw

Trumps new lie to vets came on the same day that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) claimed that Trump would be good for vets, It cannot be status quo. Things need to change. I think that Donald Trump can be that positive disruption.

There is no real plan to help veterans. The Republican pitch to voters is that Trump is just going to shake things up. Judging from Trumps inability to keep a basic promise to donate money to vets, the shakeup will be bad.

Donald Trump doesnt take his commitment to veterans seriously. If Trump cant respect the sacrifices of those who put their lives on the line for their country, he cant be trusted to be Commander In Chief.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

A Republican poll of Wisconsin released today showed that the states loathing of Donald Trump is real as Hillary Clinton leads the Republican nominee by 12 points.

A new Public Opinion Strategies (R) poll of Wisconsin found Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 43%-31%. The poll suggests that Trumps poor showing in the Wisconsin Republican primary was not a mirage. Wisconsin voters dont like Donald Trump.

The bigger problem for Republicans is that Trump could cost them a Senate seat. Former Sen. Russ Feingold is leading incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson consistently in the polls. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Feingold up by 5.7%. With Trump showing no upside in Wisconsin, Johnson could be facing an impossible climate in November.

Much has been made in the media of Trumps bump in the national polls, but Trump still does not lead in a single state that President Obama won in 2012. If Trump doesnt flip any Obama states, he cant win.

The Badger State was never a good fit for Trump, and it could end up being a textbook example of how the Republican nominee will cost Republicans seats up and down the ballot in 2016.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Yes. Donald Trump can go too far even for the mainstream media. An MSNBC panel Tuesday condemned Trumps predilection for conspiracy theories, and CNNs Jake Tapper came down hard on Donald Trump for one in particular  pushing the conspiracy theory that the Clintons murdered their friend Vince Foster by saying there was something fishy about it.

But the stink is all of orange dye.

As Harry Reid said Tuesday, To show how desperate he is, he brought up yesterday the suicide of [Vince] Foster. Even though suicide is a tragedy, its not a tragedy for Donald Trump. No indeed. It is an opportunity for more appalling remarks and unfounded accusations.

Speaking on The Leader with Jake Tapper, Tapper called it a bizarre and unfounded conspiracy theory and that to say Fosters death was anything but the suicide it was ruled to be by at least six investigations (including one by CNN) is ridiculous and, frankly, shameful.

The park service police concluded that year that Foster committed suicide. But that did not stop conspiracy theorists at time from concocting unfounded allegations.



Now that first investigation was followed by an investigation by CNN in 1994 concluding, Fosters death was due to suicide and that alternative scenarios had no credibility. Other investigations reached the same conclusion, one by independent counsel in Robert Fiske in 1994, two by Congressional reviews in 1994 and 1995, another by independent counsel Ken Starr in 1997.

For the record, another mainstream media outlet, NBC News, also responded to Trump and says case closed, as does Glenn Kessler this morning at The Washington Post.

Watch courtesy of Media Matters for America:

JAKE TAPPER (HOST): Once again, journalists are in the unhappy predicament of trying to decide whether and how to cover false allegations raised by a candidate for the president of the United States. This time, in the midst of Donald Trumps attacks against the Clintons using various scandals and accusations from 1990s, Mr. Trump has repeated an outrageous and long-ago debunked falsehood about former Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster a friend, of Bill and Hillary Clintons until his tragic suicide. In July 1993, Foster, who suffered from depression, drove to Fort Marcy Park in Virginia, walked into the park with an old revolver, and shot himself in the mouth. The park service police concluded that year that Foster committed suicide. But that did not stop conspiracy theorists at time from concocting unfounded allegations.



Now that first investigation was followed by an investigation by CNN in 1994 concluding, Fosters death was due to suicide and that alternative scenarios had no credibility. Other investigations reached the same conclusion, one by independent counsel in Robert Fiske in 1994, two by Congressional reviews in 1994 and 1995, another by independent counsel Ken Starr in 1997.



So, one would think case closed, right? Wrong. Donald Trump, in an interview appearing in todays Washington Post called the circumstances surrounding Vince Fosters death very fishy, and said, I dont bring fosters death up because I dont know enough to really discuss it. I will say there are people who continue to bring it up because they think it was absolutely a murder. I dont do that because I dont think its fair. Right, except, of course, you just did that, Mr. Trump. You lent credence to a bizarre and unfounded conspiracy theory. Though, youre right, its not fair that you did that, certainly not to Mr. Fosters widow or their three children. To be clear, the notion that this was a murder is a fiction borne of delusion and untethered to reality and contradicted by evidence reviewed in at least six investigations, one of them by Ken Starr, hardly a Bill Clinton defender. To say otherwise is ridiculous and, frankly, shameful. Again, this is not a pro-Clinton position or an anti-Trump position. It is a pro-truth position.

Donald Trumps strategy is right out of the Republican textbook. Throw everything you can at your enemy because you dont have to prove anything, you only have to create doubt. As Jason Easley wrote here yesterday, his attacks prove there is no boundary Trump has been afraid to cross.

Joan Wash believes that bringing Vince Foster into the context of the general election is ridiculous and it is going to backfire, and we would like to believe shes right, that Trump can go too far not only for mainstream media figures but also for voters. But the mainstream media is partly to blame  for Trump, and also for refusing to let go of Vince Foster. As Newsweek said all the way back in 1994, many people in the news media simply wont let Foster rest.

Especially not when there is a Clinton to be attacked. And so far, Trump has had no problem convincing supporters that his lies are anything but a refusal to be political correct. Even more sadly, rare cases like this excluded, the mainstream media has seem convinced of that too. Lets hope this push-back becomes less the exception and more the rule.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

CNN did what more media outlets need to do. The network showed a graphic and discussed some of Trumps completely false conspiracy theories.

Video:

From @NewDay this morning a partial list of Trump conspiracy theories, beginning with birtherism https://t.co/AHNJdRks1R  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 25, 2016

During a panel discussion on CNNs New Day, the complaint offered that even when the press calls him out, Trump repeats these conspiracy theories over and over again.

CNNs Brian Stelter said, I think the best example of that was last fall. We saw that about six months ago and his statement about thousands of Muslims cheering in New Jersey on 9/11. No evidence of that, and lots of contrary evidence to prove its not true. And yet, when he was confronted by the facts, he did double down on that.

CNN then showed a list of Trump conspiracy theories, and Stelter added, I think the one at the top of this list is really important. The birther controversy from several years ago was the very first from Donald Trump. It was a preview of what was to come this year.

Chris Cuomo pointed out that birtherism is one of the few things that Trump wont talk about anymore, and he calls it old news.

Donald Trump has spent weeks on his Twitter account whining about how unfair CNN is to him. Trump spends days obsessing over his cable news coverage and angry tweeting at the networks about stories that he doesnt like, but very slowly there is a shift taking place in some corners of the media.

Trump is starting to be treated less like a sideshow ratings grab, and more like a person who could be the next president. There are few things that will be more damaging to Donald Trump with the broader electorate than his conspiracy theories.

Republicans all use conspiracy theories while they are running for office because they appeal to their base voters who get information from the conservative media outlets that keep the conspiracy wheels spinning.

The conspiracies that Trump has trafficked in for years need to be examined as a part of his candidacy. It is heartening to see at least one program devote a segment to some of Donald Trumps most outrageous lies.
Federal Reserve official Janet L. Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi. KAZUHIRO NOGI (AFP)

As if the European economy did not have enough to deal with, with stunted growth levels, a seemingly endless crisis in Greece and a global slowdown, the European Central Bank (ECB) has detected another risk: the populist movements mushrooming across the continent.

In its latest Financial Stability Review, the agency headed by Mario Draghi has alerted that growing popular support for these movements could delay what it views as necessary reforms. And the three countries where the political risk is higher are Spain, France and Greece.

The report comes just one day after an ultraconservative party, the FPO, nearly managed to take the presidency in Austria

Reform implementation may have become more difficult, as political risks have increased considerably in almost all euro area countries since the onset of the global financial crisis, reads the report, which was released on Tuesday.

These rising political risks at both the national and supranational levels, as well as the increasing support for political forces which are seen to be less reform-oriented, may potentially lead to the delay of much needed fiscal and structural reforms, adds the document.

While the ECB does not specifically mention any political parties or countries, a graph illustrating the text and entitled Political risk ratings in individual euro area countries shows Spain, France and Greece at the top.

The graph also shows that in the last eight years, political risk has increased in 18 of the 19 members of the euro zone.

Twelve criteria to measure political risk L.D. The conclusion that Spain, France and Greece are the euro zone members with the highest political risk was based on 12 criteria: government stability, socioeconomic conditions, investment profile, internal conflict, external conflict, corruption, number of military serving in public office, regional tension, law enforcement, ethnic tension, democratic accountability and bureaucracy.

The highest political risk levels are attributed to nations where the economic crisis has spawned new political groups on the left (Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece) and the right (Front National in France and Golden Dawn in Greece), who question Brussels prescription for economic recovery.

This may cause renewed pressure on more vulnerable sovereigns and potentially contribute to contagion and re-fragmentation in the euro area. warns the report.

In other words, the ECB is alerting to the risk that the rise of populism might add to the European debt crisis.

The report comes right after an ultraconservative party, the FPO, nearly managed to take the presidency in Austria at elections last Sunday. Nationalists were only 31,000 votes shy of their goal, evidencing that the country is politically divided in half.

This is the first time that the ECBs financial stability report has mentioned populist movements as a risk to the European economy. In Germany, Deutsche Bank did something similar when it issued a report last year that mentioned right and left-wing movements in Germany, Britain, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Austria, Greece and Spain. Although these parties defend very different policies when it comes to issues such as immigration, they all share a rejection of new measures towards European integration.

English version by Susana Urra.
Varios vecinos de Catatumbo (en el departamento colombiano de Norte de Santander) protestan por la erradicacion de cultivos de coca, en 2013. Raul ARBOLEDA (AFP)

More information Desaparecen dos periodistas colombianos que investigaban el paradero de Salud Hernandez-Mora

Two Colombian journalists disappeared on Monday night in Catatumbo (northeast Colombia) while reporting on the area where Salud Hernandez-Mora, a Spanish correspondent for El Mundo newspaper, disappeared on Saturday. Diego Velosa, another reporter who also went missing for several hours, said they were all abducted by National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels. Velosa has since been freed.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Defense Ministry have confirmed the disappearances and said authorities began a search operation for Diego DPablos, an RCN news reporter, and his freelance cameraman Carlos Melo.

The Defense Ministry and media told EL PAIS the reporters were traveling alone and did not ask for military or police protection

On Monday, the RCN crew and other journalists from various Colombian media outlets descended on the small town of Filogringo near El Tarra, the town where Hernandez-Mora was last seen. The Defense Ministry and media told EL PAIS the reporters were traveling alone and did not ask for military or police protection. While working in the area, a group of people who identified themselves as ELN members detained them. The rebels took their equipment and cellphones.

Four hours after, Diego Velosa, a local correspondent for Caracol Television, was freed. The journalist spent the night in a nearby town and traveled to El Tarra on his own the next morning, where he contacted his editors and told them his story. I was with a local female journalist and a cameraman. When we were ready to broadcast, they asked us to come with them and held us up for a long time, Velosa explained. The reporter said he did not see the RCN crew but his captors told him they had been detained.

We were able to talk to him a little bit and he told us that he was able to convince his abductors that he was not an enemy, that he was only doing his job and that is why they freed him, Caracol Television told EL PAIS. This newspaper was unable to reach Velosa by phone for further comment.

Velosa has become the unofficial spokesman on the case along with El Tarras police inspector and the ombudsman. All these sources say that the ELN probably kidnapped the reporters. We cannot confirm it but we are considering the possibility of a kidnapping, RCN news chief Claudia Gurisatti said. The military told us security conditions were not easy, the ombudsman confirms that the area is very hostile but we decided to go alone as we did two weeks before when we were working in the area without any problems. We believe in freedom of information.

Sources at the Defense Ministry said they were unable to confirm if the search operation for Hernandez-Mora had been able to reach the areas of Catatumbo under the control of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Popular Liberation Army (EPL), ELN and Los Pelusos, a drug-trafficking gang that evolved from paramilitary groups.

The director of police said there was a reward of $32,640 for information regarding the missing Spanish reporter

On Tuesday afternoon, General Jorge Hernando Nieto, the director of police, said that Norte de Santander was offering a reward of 100 million pesos ($32,640) for information regarding the whereabouts of the missing Spanish reporter.

President Santos ordered General Alberto Jose Mejia, army commander and the chief of the Colombian police, to travel to the area to coordinate the search. Officials said the operation is 100% humanitarian, while Mejia added that there were troops, police officers and airmen combing through Filogringo.

They have told us that we have not acted swiftly but thats not true. We have complied with security protocols in order to establish critical areas where to take action, Mejia explained. The army says there have been actions [taken] by unmanned aircraft and other types of intelligence operations over the last few days. Military and police have asked for caution and understanding. We do not know if they have disappeared or have been kidnapped, General Nieto said. We are not certain of the facts. We are working to find them safe and sound.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon running network selling food rations An investigation has been opened into the resale of products in Lebanese supermarkets

The headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) is currently conducting an internal investigation into fraud related to the resale of troop food rations, which later turn up on supermarket shelves. Alerted by local consumers, the Lebanese Economy Ministry has launched its own probe to find out how these products ended up in retail establishments. Consulted on the matter by EL PAIS, both the Unifil spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, and the ministrys director general, Alia Abbas, confirmed that the investigations are underway but declined to provide any details, underscoring that the case is classified. Unifil has taken the appropriate measures, which are internal to the mission, and in close coordination with the UN General Headquarters, says Tenenti in an email.

A Unifil soldier waves to a school bus in the south of Lebanon in December. MAHMOUD ZAYYAT (AFP)

According to testimony obtained by this newspaper from three international and three local Unifil employees, the clandestine ring involves Lebanese drivers and businesspeople, and also UN peacekeepers in charge of food shipments in at least five of the 21 distribution points that the mission uses to provide food for its 10,000 or so soldiers.

Two sources claim that the profits from the illegal resale of provisions is in excess of 4 million

R. D., a worker for a food-supply subcontractor who was fired on suspicion of involvement in the ring, and another individual who had ties to the underground organization, both claim that the profits from the illegal resale of troop provisions over the last five years is in excess of 4 million.

Unifil food has been sold in Lebanese supermarkets for decades, says Munir G., a resident of the southern city of Tiro, located 20 kilometers from the headquarters of the UN mission that oversees the ceasefire on the border with Israel. They dont even bother removing the labels.

But four months ago, one consumer protested after seeing noodles on sale bearing the warning: Not for sale. For UN internal consumption exclusively at an establishment outside Beirut called Charcuterie Aun.

Months before that, frozen shrimp packages with the same warning were sold at Al Janoub supermarket, in Tiro. We lodged a complaint with the consumer protection department at the Economy Ministry, says Sandy Isa, who used the website Al Taharri, specializing in fraud cases in Lebanon. The products were pulled immediately, but they have not given us any more information to date.

Weve opened an investigation, confirms Tarek Younes, director of the Anti-Fraud and Consumer Protection unit at the ministry. Younes says the case was brought to the attention of the ministrys director general, Alia Abbas. The latter told EL PAIS that details of the case are confidential.

A photo taken by a Lebanese consumer showing packets of noodles on sale in the supermarket Charcuterie Aoun, on the outskirts of Beirut, and supplied by AlTaharri.com.

But a ministry worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said that three people from Unifils Security Unit  the department in charge of internal investigations  visited Abbas twice in the last four months. They wanted to know what information and evidence there was, said this source.

Between 2006 and 2015, an Italian company named Es-Ko has secured contracts worth billions of euros to buy and distribute provisions to Unifil troops. In 2012 this contractor was awarded 132 million to bring food and water to five UN missions abroad. In order to operate in Lebanon, Es-Ko hired a local company to manage personnel. The Italian firm is responsible for getting provisions from the central warehouse in Kasmiyeh to the 21 distribution points where the various battalions operate. Between 2007 and 2015, R. D. worked for the Lebanese subcontractor and was one of four people in charge of supervising distribution under Es-Kos orders. His superior was transferred elsewhere after his contract in Lebanon ran out. Both employees in charge of the driver team left the country after being fired and accused by the company of participating in the clandestine trading.

In 2010, R. D. reported the irregularities he had observed to his immediate bosses and to Es-Ko. They told me that they needed proof, so I decided to make my colleagues believe that I was going to take part in the fraud, he says, insisting that he never personally profited despite being accused of it by his employer.

They told me that they needed proof, so I decided to make my colleagues believe that I was going to take part in the fraud Former food-supply worker R. D.

R. D. says that the ring was operative between 2010 and 2015. Testimony obtained from six local and international Unifil workers, both civilian and military, confirms R. D.s claims. These other sources pointed at international soldiers in charge of receiving food shipments at five distribution points under the command of the battalions from Italy, Ghana, Nepal, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Far from being an isolated case, these six workers, who have ample experience at the mission, indicated that this is a deep-rooted system. The soldiers in charge of signing for food shipments at each distribution point are substituted every four to six months. This rotation means at least 50 peacekeepers have held the position between 2010 and 2015.

Confidential UN reports revealed by WikiLeaks discuss earlier fraud cases at the Lebanese mission, where an internal audit from 2007 found that senior officers of the contingent of one troop-contributing country, including the Commanding Officer, had put into place a system whereby they fraudulently overstated their fuel requirements by making false statements about their travel activity and forging data about fuel consumption by generators. The senior officers then sold the excess fuel thus generated to local buyers. They also sold United Nations rations to local shops and supermarkets, using local and contingent interpreters as middlemen.

Photos of products on sale in Lebanon, supplied by AlTaharri.com.

The estimated loss incurred by the United Nations as a result of these and other illegal activities was $1.5 million [1.35 million], according to this report. A 2009 audit confirmed the bad practices.

Sitting inside a Beirut cafe, R. D. details the way the system works. Each battalions purchase orders are received at the central headquarters where Es-Ko operates in partnership with a Unifil official. The food rations are distributed weekly by subcontracted drivers who use seven trucks with a load capacity of 80 tons. Products are divided into frozen goods (mostly imports), dry food, and fruit and vegetables bought in Lebanon. The doors of the trucks are sealed upon exiting the warehouse using a code that is reflected in the delivery slip. These documents detail the amounts and products that were loaded onto the trucks and they have to be signed by the soldier in charge of accepting the shipment, after checking the contents. Two workers confirm that these delivery slips were signed and therefore authorized by Unifil soldiers at reception points during these years.

Before leaving the warehouse, drivers send delivery messages through WhatsApp to the UN peacekeeping troops in charge of the distribution points, who check them against existing stock at the bases. Afterwards, they tell the driver which products and amounts will remain in the truck after unloading the necessary items, says R. D. After leaving the military base, drivers sell off this remainder to local buyers with whom they have previously negotiated a price.

Were talking about at least 13,000 a month per distribution point, estimates R. D. These figures affect five of the 21 distribution points, and represent 4 million over the course of five years, or 5.7% of the annual budget of 14 million earmarked for provisioning Unifil soldiers.

A Lebanese worker who participated in the scheme, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed this figure and said that the profits are shared out among international soldiers and Lebanese drivers.

A Lebanese worker said that the profits are shared out among international soldiers and Lebanese drivers

Its not fraud, but rather a business using excess food and whose income can double or triple the monthly salary of 870 that drivers make, says this source.

As for the shop owners, they obtain a high-quality product, tax-free, and for prices that are as much as 50% below their real value, according to a confidential UN report investigating a similar pattern in Liberia and disclosed by WikiLeaks.

After identifying decomposing stock lying in warehouses, several UN audit reports noted that there is an excess of food rations destined for troops. This recurring surplus encouraged the development of a clandestine food diversion network that has proven very lucrative to a handful of international soldiers and local workers in the distribution chain.

Ghana (which has 870 peacekeepers) and Italy (with 1,206 troops and currently at the helm of the detachment) are the most active battalions in this illegal resale, sources said.

This newspaper attempted to reach the heads of the five battalions mentioned by the sources, as well as Unifils Food Rations and Internal Security departments. All queries were systematically channeled to the Unifil spokesman in Lebanon, Andrea Tenenti, who replied in an email and declined to provide any details, alleging that we cannot speculate until the investigation is completed.

38 years in Lebanon March marked the 38th anniversary of the UN presence in southern Lebanon. Deployed below the Litani river, 10,500 soldiers and 1,000 civilians from 40 countries perform peacekeeping duties along the border with Israel, a place where Hezbollah operates. Unifil has helped reduce violence in a border area that has seen 15 years of civil war and 18 under Israeli occupation. The last conflict dates back to 2006, when confrontation between the Israeli army and Hezbollah killed 1,191 people, most of them Lebanese civilians. Spain has been participating in the mission since 2006 and contributes 612 soldiers. It is also one of the candidates to take over from Italy at the helm of the detachment.

On one occasion, just a few days after a delivery, Ghana soldiers began complaining that they were hungry because their refrigerators were empty, says R. D. An internal probe was launched in the Ghana battalion after noodle packages were resold to local stores, adds a Unifil worker. It turned out that the Malaysian soldiers resold the noodle surplus thanks to mediation from Ghana peacekeepers, who have a wide network of local clients.

In response to an email query dated March 24, 2016, Eleanor Burns, director of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), directed this newspaper to the annual audit reports available since 2013 on their official website. However, these reports are not accessible. According to three international and local Unifil workers, the internal audit initially scheduled for September has begun six months ahead of time, and it is being unusually comprehensive compared with previous years The reiterated fraud highlighted by internal reports shows the need to implement oversight measures to control the real state of fuel and food stocks.

Typically, local sellers are most interested in frozen goods because of their higher retail sale price. Shrimp is in high demand. This product led to the current investigation after UN shrimp rations were found inside local supermarkets. The annual budget for shrimp consumption by peacekeepers is nearly 500,000.

On April 9, 2015, R. D. and two other distribution-chain supervisors were fired when Es-Ko and the subcontractor began taking measures against a fraud that had been reported five years earlier. R. D says that no UN soldier has contacted him in connection with the ongoing probe. Until now, there is no evidence that any soldier has been sanctioned. But the Italian company and the suspect drivers continue to work as associates of the Kuwait company KGL, in charge of supplying food to Unifil since 2014.

English version by Susana Urra.
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
A 33-year-old man is behind bars today after authorities say he was caught stealing metal late Tuesday night.

The investigation began when a Rochester police officer on routine patrol about 11:15 p.m. spotted a flashlight beam behind a business in the 3800 block of Ninth Street Northwest.

The officer turned out the headlights on his squad car and made his way around the business, said Capt. John Sherwin, where he found James Allan Denker on all fours behind an air conditioning unit.

Denker, who is homeless but stays in Rochester, was cutting radiator piping from three large commercial cooling units, the report says. More scrap metal was allegedly found in the vehicle Denker was using. The estimated value was $5,000, prompting suggested charges of felony theft and possession of burglary tools, Sherwin said.
A Rochester woman accused with her husband of spending several thousand dollars of a relative's money without permission was sentenced Monday in Olmsted County District Court.

Jennifer Mary Krahn, 51, was placed on probation for five years and forbidden from acting as power of attorney for anyone. She was ordered to complete 50 hours of community work service in lieu of a $500 fine; restitution is reserved until a July hearing.

She pleaded guilty in March in Olmsted County District Court to one count of felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. In exchange for the plea, three identical counts were dismissed.

Her husband, Michael Thomas Krahn, 56, was also charged with four financial exploitation charges. He pleaded not guilty in April and is due back in court July 7.

The investigation began when a family member reported concerns about the finances of the victim, claiming the couple was using the victim's money "to support their expensive lifestyle," the complaint says.

ADVERTISEMENT

The victim lived at a senior living facility after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, requiring assistance with basic needs.

According to the criminal complaint, the Krahns were responsible for the bills and expenses of the victim, and both had access to the victim's accounts.

An investigator noted several suspicious transactions and withdrawals from the accounts, court documents say, including the use of credit cards. The victim reportedly told officials the couple hadn't been told they could use the money for themselves.

The Krahns are accused of spending $30,294.28 from August 2012 through April 2014. They were charged in July 2015.
Prosecutor in police shooting to enter alcohol program

MINNEAPOLIS  The prosecutor whose office won a recent conviction in the high-profile case of a Minneapolis police officer who killed an unarmed woman says he will be entering a treatment program for alcohol issues.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman issued a statement Friday saying he was evaluated for alcohol issues and agrees he needs treatment. Hell be entering a program Monday.

Freeman announced last week that he was taking a medical leave, but didnt say why.

His Friday statement says he has also worked to stabilize his "unacceptably high blood pressure." He says hes determined to reclaim his health and hopes to be back to work in mid-June.

ADVERTISEMENT

Last month, a jury convicted Mohamed Noor of murder in the 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who called 911 to report a possible crime.

Minnesota seeks to add Purdue Pharma owners to opioid suit

ST. PAUL  Minnesotas attorney general is asking a state court for permission to add the owners of drugmaker Purdue Pharma to a lawsuit that seeks to hold the company responsible for the opioid addiction crisis.

Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma makes OxyContin and has been the subject of legal action in nearly every state.

Attorney General Keith Ellison wants to add eight members of the Sackler family to Minnesotas lawsuit. He says the Sacklers, who own and operate Purdue, were involved in deceptive marketing tactics and strategies to sell more opioids, despite knowing the risks.

If a judge approves, Minnesota would become at least the 11th state to take legal action against one or more members of the Sackler family.

A family spokeswoman issued a statement denying the allegations, calling the lawsuit a misguided attempt to place blame where it doesnt belong.

Man holed up in hotel surrenders to police

ADVERTISEMENT

BROOKLYN PARK  Authorities say a standoff at a Brooklyn Park hotel ended after more than six hours when a man suspected of assaulting his girlfriend surrendered to police.

SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were called to the La Quinta Inn early Friday after a woman reported she was being assaulted by her boyfriend and threatened with a gun. Police say the standoff began at 3:30 a.m. and ended when the man was arrested at about 9:50 a.m.

Authorities say the woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Police say the 31-year-old suspect was not carry9ing a gun but it was unclear if there were any weapons in the room.

The suspect, who has not been formally charged, has previous convictions for drug possession, motor vehicle theft, aggravated robbery, making terroristic threats, drunken driving and burglary.

Jail inmate accused of running prostitution ring

MORA  An inmate at the Kanabec County Jail is charged with running a prostitution ring from his cell.

Thirty-eight-year-old Daniel Ellington is charged in Washington County District Court with two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of promotion of prostitution.

Prosecutors say Ellington communicated with a prostitute by text and "promoted and profited" from her activities in Woodbury last month.

ADVERTISEMENT

East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force director Imran Ali says Ellington was 100 miles away and incarcerated, yet was promoting prostitution and profiting from it. The task force began investigating after a Woodbury detective found an online ad entitled "Blonde Bombshell."

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Kanabec County Sheriff Brian Smith says Ellington used a jail-issued iPod to text and paid a certain price for each message.

 Associated Press
A cold weekend in May has put vintners in a major setback while preparing for the upcoming wine season.

The weekend of May 14-15, temperatures dipped to below freezing for most of southeastern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin. This ruined large portions of grapes for many local wineries.

"The cold turned the water in the shoots cells to ice, killing the tissue," said Amaya Atucha, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant horticulture professor.

John Falconer, who owns the 12-acre Falconer's Vineyards in Red Wing, said he lost nearly his entire crop after the mercury dropped below 30 degrees for four hours.

"It looks so terrible," Falconer said. "(The cold) took everything. Mother Nature slapped us this year."

ADVERTISEMENT

Falconer said he estimates they lost about 75 percent of their entire crop for this upcoming season. "The buds were just too exposed," said Falconer. "It was more cold than the buds could handle."

Steve Johnson, head of the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association, said generally, each lost acre of grapes amounts to a loss of about $7,000 to $8,000 and 3,000 bottles of wine.

Justin Osborne, the winemaker at Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery in Spring Valley, said "every winery is different."

Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery only lost about 10 percent of their total crop, according to Osborne.

"There's a few spots here and there, but overall, we will be just fine," Osborne said.

Osborne talked about the importance of one degree versus two degrees, and how it can make a huge difference for grapes. For example, 32 degrees with slight wind could be sustainable for crops. However, 31 degrees with no wind could damage crops. Fortunately, Four Daughters had wind that chilly weekend, which helped saved their crops from permanently frosting.

Wineries already have started their 2016 season with or without their abundance of grapes. Those that were damaged from the freeze out will have to source their grapes from other growers to generate 2017 inventory.

The freeze shouldn't lead to any immediate, large-scale wine shortages for consumers. The freeze-out was extremely localized, UW-Madison's Atucha noted.

ADVERTISEMENT

What's more, Wisconsin and Minnesota produce just a small fraction of U.S. wine; Wisconsin has only about 110 wineries and Minnesota has only about 50. By comparison, California, by far the nation's top wine-producing state, has about 4,000 wineries.
WASHINGTON  A Florida sixth-grader has won the 2016 National Geographic Bee.

Twelve-year-old Rishi Nair of Seffner, Florida, won the top honors Wednesday at the 28th annual Bee in Washington.

Minnesota's representative in the bee, Lucas Eggers, a 13-year-old seven-grader from Rochester, finished in the top 10.

Nair clinched the win by correctly answering "Galapagos Islands" to the question: "A new marine sanctuary will protect sharks and other wildlife around Isla Wolf in which archipelago in the Pacific Ocean?"

Nair gets a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to Alaska and Glacier Bay National Park and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society

ADVERTISEMENT

Second-place was 14-year-old Saketh Jonnalagadda of Westford, Massachusetts. Third place went to 12-year-old Kapil Nathan of Hoover, Alabama.

Fifty-four state and territory winners took part in the preliminary rounds of the 2016 National Geographic Bee on Monday. The top 10 finishers in the preliminary rounds met in this morning's final round, which was moderated for the first time by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca.

Besides Eggers, the six other finalists who each won $500 were Grace Rembert, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Bozeman, Montana; Rishi Kumar, a 10-year-old fifth-grader from Ellicott City, Maryland; Pranay Varada, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Irving, Texas; Samanyu Dixit, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Matthews, North Carolina; Thomas Wright, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Mequon, Wisconsin; and Ashwin Sivakumar, an 11-year-old sixth-grader from Beaverton, Oregon.

The bee has been taped and the final round will be broadcast on National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD at 7 p.m. Friday.
I went for two reasons. One: I thought I could learn a little something. Two: I thought they could maybe use the attendance boost.

I was right about the first part. Really, really wrong about the second.

By the time I arrive at the Conley-Maass building for Saturday morning's "Historic Walking Tour," there must be nearly 75 people milling about, chatting and sipping coffee. Sponsored by the Rochester Conservancy, the tour will be led by native Rochesterites John Kruesel and Kevin Lund. Which is another reason I wanted to attend. Because if you're going to spend an hour or two learning the city's history, you want these two men telling the tales.

Lund and Kruesel start the tour by introducing the Rochester Conservancy, which is dedicated to "heritage, education and growth." Then, from our vantage point on 4th Street Southwest, they point out historic buildings within eyeshot.

There's the Patterson Dahlberg building, the city's first brick building, on the corner of Broadway and 4th Street. The Hotel Francis across the street, built in 1918. And, of course, the Conley-Maass building, where we stand.

ADVERTISEMENT

Traci Downs, one of Conley-Maass' current owners, tells us that the building was on its way to demolition, but "will now be thriving." It's scheduled to open late this summer, and, among other things, will house a restaurant.

Our formidable group then heads down First Avenue, stopping at the now defunct Creative Salon "the oldest building on Main Street." (Fun fact: First Avenue was called "Main Street" until 1918.) The building, which is slated for demolition, was an automobile dealership when it was built in 1908. And not just any auto dealership, but the first in what would become Rochester's "Automobile Row" by 1911. On this block alone, we're told, there was once four auto dealers, a parts store, and two service stations.

We move down the street to the intersection at Historic Third. This, Kruesel tells us, was "Saloon Alley" back in the day. Which is easy to picture since Grand Rounds, The Tap House, The Half Barrel, and The Doggery claim much of the block today.

Kruesel points down the block, across Broadway. "There, on the east side," he says, "were livery stables and the East Side Rails. That was the red light district." Well, then.

We continue a few steps to Old City Hall. The stately Art Deco building, erected in 1932, is another property once in danger of demolition. That is, until Jeff Allman bought it and turned it into apartments. He lets us inside. It's as cool as you'd imagine  with high ceilings, tiled floors, and this amazing, 25-foot split staircase.

I decide that Jay and I should probably sell our house and move our family here. I'm actually in the middle of a pretty elaborate daydream in which I spend my afternoons playing ukulele on the front steps when we file out to continue the tour. We pause on the corner of Second Street and First Avenue, and Kruesel points out where the "marble, just beautiful" Masons building used to stand.

Our next stop is Peace Plaza, where our guides give us the history one of Rochester's most recognizable landmarks, the Chateau Theatre. In the 1970s, they tell us, it was dangerously close to being razed to become a hotel.

"Don't assume anything is safe because it's historic," Lund says. "You are in charge of the community you want. We have to fight for this."

ADVERTISEMENT

We continue to Center Street, then wind around Mayo Civic Center to Mayo Park and make our way to the Doctors Mayo Memorial Amphitheater. It's seen better days. Dandelions grow high next to patches of dirt. The grass is the kind that time (and the lawnmower) forgot.

Lund tells us how the amphitheater was built as an "everlasting tribute" to the Mayo Brothers  and was the original and intended home of their statues. The ones that were later moved in front of the Civic Center. So maybe not so everlasting.

It's a point Lund and Kruesel drill home. Lund talks about the need for a heritage/preservation ordinance  which Rochester doesn't currently have. Kruesel reads a quote by Lord Acton: "History is not a burden on the memory, but an illumination of the soul."

He's right. I feel pretty illuminated.

To learn more about the Rochester Conservancy, seek out "Rochester Conservancy" on Facebook.
PLAINVIEW  Supporters of the $18.28-million proposal to improve Plainview-Elgin-Millville schools and add an auditorium were glum Tuesday when results were read about 9:35 p.m.  yes, 795 votes; no, 1,731.

"I figured it would be close," said Superintendent Gary Kuphal.

Several others said they were surprised by the 68.5 percent who voted no. More than half the district's voters cast ballots. There were so many that ballots filled the vote-counting machine and election judges later had to manually put in all the extra ones. There were also scores of absentee ballots to be added so it took about an hour longer than expected to get results.

The district was asking voters to approve money to improve security in all four of its school buildings, add an auditorium/performing arts center to the high school, expand some classrooms, improve locker rooms and make other improvements.

"We're disappointed, there's no doubt, and you can see the others are disappointed," said School Board Chairman Mike Hamilton. "The talk on the street is the performing arts center was the real issue."

ADVERTISEMENT

Many people had wanted the center split off into a separate vote, he said. And the big no vote said "people don't want to see their taxes increased," he said.

Hamilton said the board and administration will have to evaluate why such a large number of voters said no.

One who wasn't surprised was Patricia Rahman of Elgin, who called for a no vote on her Facebook page. She said many of things were needed such as better classrooms "but I'm sorry, we did not need the $5 million performing arts center and this extra gym," she said.

It's good to have security, but there's no air-conditioning at two school buildings in Elgin, so they open doors when it's hot, allowing anyone can walk in, she said. That seemed backwards to her.

She and her husband George Rahman, a member of the school board of the former Elgin-Millville district, once farmed and know how hard the P-E-M proposal would have hit farmers. "They took the brunt of this," she said.

Kuphal said previously that the board had thought about splitting off the center, which would have cost about $5.5 million, but decided everything on the ballot was needed.

After hearing the vote, he said "either there was not enough information or the timing was wrong."

What the next step is won't be known until the board meets to discuss options, he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's possible to use existing funding sources to do a few things, such as improve bathrooms "but it will be hard to do the big things," he said.

School board member Sue Tangen said "we are very disappointed, as we felt we brought to the voters the needs of the students. We felt every part of the referendum was important to our students. So very disappointed,"

When the vote was announced she hugged or commiserated with several students who were in the gym. Some had publicly advocated for a yes vote.

Also standing glumly when the vote was read were students Brady Bennett, a junior; Matthew Feils, a freshman; and Hope Brighton, a sophomore. They said they have been in theatrical productions for many years and really wanted a much better place to practice and perform.

The facilities in the Elgin building where they practice and perform is in "very poor condition," Brighton said.

"The auditorium is really important to all three of us," Bennett said.

Afterward, he echoed the adults' thoughts. "I'm disappointed in the difference (of the vote)," said junior Brady Bennett said. "I thought more people would have been more supportive of something that would have been beneficial to the school."

Feils said he thinks there was misinformation, often spread by word-of-mouth, that may have hurt.

ADVERTISEMENT
PLAINVIEW  Residents in the Plainview-Elgin-Millville School District overwhelming opposed an $18.28 million referendum on Tuesday by a 1,731-792 vote.

If it has been approved, the district would have used the bond issue money to improve the facilities and teaching environment at PEM schools.

The district proposed to split the bond money into three components: 37 percent to safety, security and accessibility, 33 percent to student learning and activities; and 30 percent to performance and community space.
Two days after a threat was made against Franklin Elementary, Washington Elementary received a similar threat from a phone call.

Washington Elementary received a threat via an automated recording shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to Rochester Public Schools' Facebook page .

Rochester Police Department investigated, and issued an all clear around 10:30 a.m., according to the RPS Facebook page. Washington Elementary was evacuated, and students and staff were sent to John Marshall High School.

Threats were received at schools across the country Monday, including at Franklin Elementary, which authorities said could be linked to 'swatting,' an anonymous online way to send threatening messages to schools in phone messages using electronic voices, often prompting a huge police response.

The latest threats led to the evacuation of schools here in Minnesota, as well as some in Colorado, Utah, Delaware, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Media outlets in the United Kingdom also reported evacuations.

ADVERTISEMENT

On Monday, in Rochester, students and staff members from Ben Franklin Elementary School/Montessori were evacuated after a bomb threat came in at 11:58 a.m. as an automated recording received on the main office phone.

"There was a phoned-in threat of some sort," said Rochester Police Capt. John Sherwin. The threat "sounded credible" enough to evacuate, he said.

The students and staff waited at Mayo High School while police and fire personnel searched the elementary building and the surrounding grounds. RPD's two explosive-sniffing dogs were brought to the scene.

About 1:35 p.m. Monday, law enforcement issued the all-clear, said Brenda Lewis, assistant superintendent of Rochester Public Schools, sending the students back to class.

No injuries were reported.

On Tuesday, Sherwin said local authorities spoke with the FBI Monday after the incident.

"We believe it may be linked to the others around the country," he said, "but obviously, when it first comes in, no one knows that."

RPS said it will continue to use Skylert family message system and Facebook to keep parents updated on Wednesday's incident.
Vazgen Sislyan: Are soldiers meant only for parades? (video)

Vazgen Sislyan, a member of the ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia), has visited Artsakh several times after last months deadly skirmishes along the Line of Contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces. I watched our soldiers defending the countrys borders with true jealousy. They are fully conscious of what they are doing. I do not want the cheap rumours about the four-day war to reach our servicemen. They are excited and we are confident that they will defend our country, Vazgen Sislyan said on May 25. He is surprised to hear that the authorities are classifying the territories lost in the war as strategically important or unimportant lands. They say the lost territories were important strategically or tactically. You cannot dub your own lands. They importance is not significant because they are in your homeland. The ASALA fighter says the the military-political leadership of Armenia should think of ways to return these lost territories. Besides, we also need to liberate Shahumyan and Getashen. Vazgen Sislyan is also surprised to hear that Armenia is not going to return the lost territories for it does not want to lose more soldiers. Are soldiers meant only for parades? We have soldiers on the frontline  it does not matter whose sons they are  my friends, relatives or mine. They are soldiers and they are offended to hear such statements.
WINONA  The Winona Planning Commission put the brakes on the Winona Family YMCA's plan to sell its existing property Monday night.

By a 4-3 vote at its regularly scheduled meeting, the planning commission denied the YMCA's request to change the block where its current facility is located from "traditional neighborhood" to "downtown fringe" as designated by the city's comprehensive plan.

The YMCA is hoping to sell the property to Kwik Trip, which plans to develop the site as a gas station, said Derek Madsen, CEO of the Winona Family YMCA. The property sits diagonally across the intersection of Huff and West Fifth streets from Windom Park.

"There's a clear message from neighbors and those with affection to the park they did not want a Kwik Trip gas station near the park," Madsen said. The meeting room was overflowing with residents watching and giving input to the commission.

The sale of the property is a key part of the YMCA's plan to move from its current location to a facility it plans to construct on a 5.5-acre parcel adjacent to Winona Health.

ADVERTISEMENT

City Planner Carlos Espinosa said city staff had prepared an analysis for the comprehensive plan designation.

"The development of interstate bride project to the north of the property has resulted in the removal of a number of residential properties," he said. "The neighborhood has changed from a residential character to more of an entrance to the city, which is more appropriate for commercial land use designation."

In fact, the YMCA at its current location would require a conditional use permit if the organization sought to make any changes to its current facility, Espinosa said.

"The Y is permitted because it was established (in the neighborhood) prior to the establishment of our zoning code," he said. In its current incarnation as a fitness facility, the YMCA should be in a location for business zoning.

The planning commissions vote serves only as a recommendation to the city council, which could make a decision at its next meeting on June 6. Espinosa said he will provide the same report to the city council that he did to the planning commission noting the changing nature of the neighborhood.

If the city council does not allow the zoning change for the property, Kwik Trip's commitment to the YMCA's plans are in jeopardy, Madsen said. The company's total commitment is among the top three financial contributions to the new $13 million facility, with part of that commitment coming from the sale and part from a philanthropic gift to the YMCA.

Madsen said the YMCA leadership will continue to reach out to the community and community leaders to tout the benefits of its new facility and the importance of the sale of the old YMCA.

"Voting against the change to 'downtown fringe' significantly limits the prospects of potential solutions," he said. "For the property to be redeveloped, no matter who buys it, the zoning needs to be changed."
Naira Zohrabyan: Have volunteers gone to Karabakh or sat on the sofa in their homes? (video)

During the extraordinary sitting of the Armenian National Assembly convened by the government, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Artem Asatryan presented legislative changes which supposedly will regulate labour problems of volunteers who are on the Karabakh frontline. Under the proposed changes, volunteers should not have problems with their employers, moreover no one can dismiss them while they are in Karabakh. Naira Zohrabyan, Head of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction, welcomed the initiative saying it is necessary to find out who has gone to Karabakh and who sat on the sofa in their homes. Should the person bring a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office to justify his absence or can you offer other options? Sadly, some employers claim that their employees left the country for personal reasons telling them that they had been on the frontline, she said. Hrant Bagratyan from the Armenian National Congress (HAK) did not like the wording of the bill. I shall refer to it in my speech, he said. Artem Asatryan said that they would discuss all disputable issues. Lawmaker Edmon Marukyan said he had submitted proposals in written form and in a statement. I propose that the state subsidize private companies so that they will not suffer great losses and can hire temporary employees to replace volunteers during their absence, he said. The minister promised to consider all observations and recommendations.
We should not lose more soldiers to return the lost territories - says Karabakh war veteran (video)

No matter how many agreements on ceasefire you conclude, the war will not end unless Baku or Yerevan fall, Vova Vartanov, Commander of the First reconnaissance-sabotage group, said on May 25. If Baku falls, Turks will create new states, but if Yerevan falls, new genocide and deportation will threaten us. I think this is another reason for our soldiers to fighter better than Turks do, because we have no other option, we have no right to lose, the Karabakh war veteran said during a press conference. Vova Vartanov says the war started in 1989 and still continues.  and it will not end unless Baku falls. Speaking about the territories that Armenia lost in the four-day war, Mr Vartanov said these lands are expensive for us, but not as much as the lives of soldiers. We cannot take these territories the way that Turks do, but their return and advancement are a necessity for us from the political perspective. I think we should not lose 200-300 soldiers to take back these territories, he said adding that though these lands are not important strategically, they are important tactically.
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
Azerbaijan secretly attacked our 'sleeping positions' - says lawmaker (video)

Republican lawmaker Arakel Movsisyan returned from Karabakh three days ago. This time he was not on the frontline but he again visited military positions. The MP keeps the 'memories' of the frontline on his table, under glass During the four-day war in April, Mr Movsisyan was in the military positions in Jabrail and saw Armenian army losing the long-debated 800 hectares of land. We won this war, he says. There is no need to hurry, says the Republican lawmaker. Tomorrow we may wake up to find that our boys have returned these 800 hectares. And there will be no more talks about concessions and the return of the five regions for Karabakhs independence. We can move ahead. Just forget about those lands. Those are our territories. If we capture another five, then we may concede one Arakel Movisyan then began enumerating Azeri lands that he would like to come under Armenias control. Mirbashir, Tartar, Navtalan, Nakhichevan, Kirovabad, Getashen  No matter which of them becomes ours. The more we capture, they better for us. Only after that can they [Azeris] come and negotiate with us over the return of lands. This is already planned. Lawmaker Rustam Gasparyan says there is no need to 'make a tragedy' out of the lost territories.  because Azerbaijan, as is peculiar to it, secretly attacked our sleeping military positions And what did they gain? They only captured several heights The tragedy would happen if Azerbaijani troops could penetrate into the country at the depth of 10 kilometers. But they were only able to take some 800 hectares. These 800 hectares is half of a village, he said. The MP added that Azerbaijan had lost more than 2000 people for those 800 hectares. At the same time, Mr Gasparyan did not exclude that Armenia might take back those lands. The lawmaker does not blame the political leadership of Armenia and Karabakh for the loss of these 800 hectares of lands.
MANKATO  Though the Minnesota Legislature failed to pass bonding and transportation bills during the regular session, the session did give hope to area communities seeking money to expand U.S. Highway 14 into a four-lane stretch of road from Rochester to New Ulm.

Lawmakers set aside $85 million in general fund money as part of a $1 billion public works bonding bill to buy right-of-way land along Highway 14 from New Ulm to Nicollet and from Owatonna to Dodge Center.

The deal would have given $40 million for the 12-mile New Ulm-Nicollet stretch and $45 million for Owatonna-Dodge Center, also a 12-mile stretch.

"It's a big appropriation," said Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato. "The problem, of course, is the amount out of the general fund, but it was one-time spending. And that's why the Senate was willing to take it, because it wasn't an ongoing commitment from the general fund."

It's also the kind of appropriation area communities have clamored for during the past few decades. Local leaders have pushed state officials to consider Highway 14 funding for years, but the Minnesota Department of Transportation has focused on projects with more needs that were shovel-ready.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We need it," said New Ulm Mayor Bob Beussman. "It's as close as we've gotten, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."

Beussman, also the president of the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership, has lobbied area lawmakers for years to secure specifically dedicated funding for Highway 14.

That tactic hasn't worked in recent years. Lawmakers have moved away from putting money toward specific projects like that in recent years, said Sheran, because they want state officials to review projects in an objective manner.

"We've been working for a long time to avoid specific designations," she said.

Despite that, area officials say the local need for Highway 14 dollars is too great to waste this potential chance at direct funding.

Beussman said potential economic deals to bring businesses to New Ulm have fallen through in part due to the difficulties companies face in shipping their products through a two-lane stretch. What's more, the two-lane parts of Highway 14 have a higher rate of accidents and fatalities than its four-lane locations.

"All the signs point to needing to address this road in a serious way and as soon as possible," said Patrick Baker, Greater Mankato Growth's director of government and institutional affairs.

Baker is one of scores of officials and lobbyists who pushed for lawmakers to adopt a comprehensive, long-term transportation funding package this session  one that would hopefully include funding for Corridors of Commerce, a state program that has given more than $14 million to Highway 14-related projects over the past two years.

ADVERTISEMENT

Many area lawmakers agreed Corridors of Commerce was important to our area, which is part of the reason why Highway 14 was singled out for separate funding.

"This is our chance," said Rep. Clark Johnson, DFL-North Mankato.

Johnson called the land acquisition funding a "pathway for completion of Highway 14," but he also acknowledged it would be difficult to move forward even if the current bonding proposal was passed this year in a special session.

The bill's language omits key provisions concerning engineering and planning once local communities acquire right-of-way land, essentially making the funding next to useless in moving the projects forward.

Still, local officials are ready to use the money should it be included in a bonding bill this year.

The only way that will happen is if Gov. Mark Dayton calls a special session. Dayton remained noncommittal on a special session for bonding and transportation on Monday, however. The governor said his office was busy preparing to review tax and supplemental budget bills this week, which he promised to make decisions on within two days of receiving them.

Dayton previously said he woudn't call a special session this year if lawmakers weren't able to agree on long-term transportation funding. He told reporters Monday afternoon he had yet to decide on a course of action but promised he wouldn't call for a special session within the next two weeks, to remove potential political games with the tax and budget bills.

However, he did say not having a bonding bill in place this year would be "a serious setback" for Minnesota's economy.

ADVERTISEMENT

Beussman, lawmakers and other local officials hope he'll call a special session to avoid that  and especially to avoid squandering potential Highway 14 funding

"It's crucial," Beussman said. "There is no overstatement of how valuable this road is going to be."
We see that you have javascript disabled. Please enable javascript and refresh the page to continue reading local news. If you feel you have received this message in error, please contact the customer support team at 1-833-248-7801.
Efforts to search for solutions to our global-warming problems are being stoned-walled by a vast majority of Republican Congress men and women. I am baffled by how these climate deniers can overlook the changes taking place on our planet  glacial melt and rising ocean temperatures and sea levels that are already beginning to rise on portions of our east coast.

For the deniers, the issue is political and not environmental. Republicans again have displayed their 7 1/2-year-old do-nothing philosophy. This time, that tactic could result in serious consequences for this country and the world.

In December, a meeting was held in Paris on climate change. President Barack Obama was at that conference and said, "Traveling around Europe, I talk to leaders of governments, and they are arguing about a bunch of things. One thing they are not arguing about is whether the science of climate change is real and whether or not we're going to have to something about it."

Major nations of the world were gathered, and there was not a single political party that opposed doing something to address climate change, but, back in this country, Republicans continued to turn a blind eye to the problem. The presumptive Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, doesn't believe in climate change even though scientists throughout the world tell us the crisis could soon be irreversibly headed toward catastrophe.

Here's a chilling thought: If Trump is elected to the presidency, according to a commentary by Gary Sargent in the Dec. 4, 2015, Washington Post, "a GOP president taking over in 2017 could either pull the U.S. out of any such deal or could conceivably weaken or roll back Obama's Clean Power Plan to curb carbon emissions."

ADVERTISEMENT

Ted Cruz has said that climate change is a religion and not a science. Even worse, Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, acknowledges climate change might be real but opposes any action to deal with it. By the way, Rubio represents a state in which it has been reported that the Atlantic Ocean is already overtaking property on its east coast, which for centuries was well beyond the ocean's reach.

Another aspect of global warming needs to be addressed. According to a 2012 report commissioned by the governments of 20 nations, climate change kills 400,000 people a year worldwide, mostly through hunger and the spread of communicable diseases. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause about 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria and heat stress.

The U.S. Department of Defense says, "global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership and weak political institutions that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries."

Perhaps denier politicians in Washington, D.C., will have a change of mind on this matter when they see the Atlantic Ocean slowly flooding the streets of our nation's Capitol.

By then, it will be too late.

Darrell Larson, of Austin, is a member of the Post-Bulletin's Community Editorial Advisory Board.
We have reached many milestones and witnessed plenty of success stories at the Guam Department of Labor during my current tenure, but I will b Read moreGDOL wants to be a part of your employment solutions
A combination photo shows a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) handout of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un released on May 10, and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump posing for a photo after an interview with Reuters in his office in Trump Tower, in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 17. Reuters
Conspirator turned government informant Abdirahman Bashir completed his testimony during his fifth day on the stand yesterday. Defense counsel Bruce Nestor represents Abdhirahman Daud and is the best lawyer at the trial. He aggressively cross examined Bashir about his role promoting the trip to San Diego that culminated in the arrest of Daud and Mohamed Farah. (Ruled Omar was arrested in Minneapolis.) Bashir worked with the FBI to promise fake passports to Daud and Farah that were, in their minds, intended to facilitate their travel to Syria through Mexico.

Nestor made the point that Bashir egged defeandants on. When financial obstacles to defendants travel appeared, Bashir worked with the FBI to keep the operation moving forward. He never discouraged them from traveling. He questioned the manhood of anyone who backed out. All this was intended not just to impugn Bashirs credibility, but to lay the ground for a defense of entrapment.

Under the instruction that Judge Davis will give the jury, the prosecution has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt either that defendants were willing to commit the crime charged before they were Bashir began to work with the FBI, or that neither Bashir nor the FBI persuaded or talked the defendants into committing the crimes charged. If you find that the government proved at least one of these two things beyond a reasonable doubt, Judge Davis will tell the jury, then you must reject the defendants claim of entrapment.

The covert recordings that Bashir made of defendants in early 2015 belie the defense of entrapment. They show defendants ardent desire to travel to Syria and join ISIS to wage jihad by any means necessary. Moreover, in their effort to join join ISIS in Syria, the fake passports scheme constituted the third time around following their previous failed attempts in the spring and fall of 2014. The entrapment defense is highly unlikely to fly.

Bashir is the governments star witness. His testimony was well prepared and credible, supported by the recordings and other corroborating evidence. His evidence is the linchpin of the case.

Defendants co-conspirator Abdirizak Warsame took the stand in the afternoon. Like Abdullahi Yusuf, he has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and is testifying under a cooperation agreement in the hope that Judge Davis will exercise leniency in his sentencing.

With the courtroom full of family and friends of defendants, the tension is thick when Somali witnesses testify voluntarily against defendants on behalf of the prosecution. Before Warsame began his testimony following the afternoon break, Judge Davis emerged to warn the mother of one of the defendants to behave. Summarizing yesterdays proceedings, Star Tribune reporter Stehen Montemayor leads his story with this moment.

I would add this point. I believe that Judge Davis seeks to prevent an incident that will prejudice either side in the trial or that might result in a mistrial. Having previously presided at trials raising similar issues in the past, Judge Davis is determined to maintain order and decorum in the courthouse and the courtroom.

Assistant United States Attorney Julie Allyn conducted the direct examination of Warsame. He is a terrible witness. Extracting his testimony is like pulling teeth, except perhaps more painful. So far, anyway.

Allyn accordingly resorted to leading questions to get the testimony she sought to elicit from Warsame. Leading questions are not proper form on direct examination. When defense counsel objected, Judge Davis expressed extreme displeasure on this point in front of the jury. When the problem recurred, he called a sidebar conference with counsel during which I am quite sure he forcefully reiterated his views. Warsaws testimony continues today.
Heather Mac Donald, writing in the Wall Street Journal, describes the crime wave that is sweeping the nation, and attributes much of it to the Ferguson effect. She notes that even some who initially denied the Ferguson effect now admit that the phenomenon is real.

Mac Donald points to Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, who was an early and influential critic of the Ferguson effect. Rosenfeld changed his mind after taking a closer look at the worsening crime statistics. The only explanation that gets the timing right is a version of the Ferguson effect, Rosenfeld said recently. These arent flukes or blips, this is a real increase.

Mac Donald also points to a study in the Journal of Criminal Justice. It found that homicides in the 12 months after the Michael Brown shooting rose significantly in cities with large black populations and already high rates of violence. This is precisely what the Ferguson effect would predict.

The experience of Baltimore and Chicago further support the Ferguson effect. Mac Donald writes:

A study of gun violence in Baltimore by crime analyst Jeff Asher showed an inverse correlation with proactive drug arrests: When Baltimore cops virtually stopped making drug arrests last year after the rioting that followed the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, shootings soared. In Chicago, where pedestrian stops have fallen nearly 90%, homicides this year are up 60% compared with the same period last year. Compared with the first four and half months of 2014, homicides in Chicago are up 95%, according to the police department. Even the liberal website Vox has grudgingly concluded that the Ferguson effect theory is narrowly correct, at least in some cities.

The importance of proactive policing, which is what the Ferguson effect deters, is sufficiently obvious that even liberals understand it. Today at an AEI conference on sentencing reform, Steven Teles, a leading proponent of softer sentencing, expressed his concern that the sentencing reform movement, which has carried the day in some states, will be set back if the crime rate continues to rise and/or if those released pursuant to the reforms commit horrific crimes.

Teles therefore stressed the importance of coupling softer (he calls it smarter) sentencing with measures to prevent crime, including proactive policing. In other words, sentencing reform, an important agenda item for the left (and for some conservatives), might not be sustainable without the kind of policing the left castigates  and thereby deters.

But the same mindless accusations of racism that the softer sentencing movement relies on also undergird the virulent attacks on the police that produce the Ferguson effect. Thus, were quite unlikely to get both a soft sentencing regime and policing that will help society cope with the consequences of having vastly more criminals on the street.

By the way, the AEI conference, at which Mac Donald spoke compellingly, is worth a post of its own. I will write one tomorrow.
I dont think weve commented yet on the report by Eliana Johnson that Newt Gingrich is under serious consideration as Donald Trumps running mate. Elainas report is consistent with what Ive been hearing.

Gingrich would, I think, be an odd choice. But then, this is an odd year.

If Trump needs the support of any one group to win the presidency, that group is white women. The billionaire can expect virtually no support from African-Americans. From Hispanics, hell be lucky to get to 30 percent. He therefore will have to carry the white vote overwhelmingly, but cannot if he doesnt do reasonably well with white women.

Is there a potential Trump running mate who white women like less than Newt Gingrich? I cant think of one.

Trump also needs to win over traditional conservatives. Would Gingrich help with this cohort? Perhaps. He was once Mr. Conservative. Though too flaky to maintain this title for long, many conservatives are likely to find Gingrich palatable, especially compared to some of the other alleged VP prospects.

Thus, selecting Gingrich might enable Trump to convince conservatives hes likely to govern mostly from the right. Im no Gingrich fan, but if Trump picks him I will be a bit less worried about the tycoon from a policy perspective.

Picking Gingrich would be a good sign in another sense. The former Speaker reportedly is bombarding Trump with policy proposals and other forms of advice. If Trump taps Gingrich for the vice presidency, it would be an indication that he is willing to learn and unafraid to work with an egotistical policy wonk. Say what you want about Gingrich, he is not a yes man.

What Trump needs, though, is someone who can help him appeal to white women. His running mate need not be female, but he shouldnt be someone who puts women off.

In my opinion, he shouldnt be Newt Gingrich.
Grant Starrett is running for Congress in Tennessees Fourth Congressional District. A year ago, I introduced Grant to our readers and explained why I intend to support him.

Grant is a rising conservative star. Hes a graduate of Stanford, where he founded the Stanford Conservative Society and grew it to over 500 members, and of Vanderbilt Law School, where he was president of its Federalist Society.

He was the Students for Mitt Chair in Romneys 2008 Presidential campaign and the Coalitions Coordinator in the 2012 Romney campaign. He has taken a lead role in Tennessees judicial wars, fighting trial lawyers and activist judges to restore constitutional order to Tennessees judicial selection process.

Grants opponent, Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais, is neither rising nor reliably conservative, and hes no ones idea of a star. His lifetime ratings from Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, Club for Growth, Citizens Against Government Waste, and National Taxpayers Union range from 76 percent to 79 percent  not good enough for a Tennessee congressman.

Conservative Review gives DesJarlais a 83 rating. It notes:

DesJarlais has been careful to make sure he votes more conservatively during election years. . .A more careful look at this record, however, reveals more than a few constitutional blind spots. DesJarlais history on budget items is a mixed bag, to say the least. He has championed fiscal sanity when convenient, but opposed a balanced budget amendment when the legislation finally came to a vote. . . . The Congressmans tragic hypocrisy on the score of traditional values issues and the sanctity of life proves near impossible for conservatives to stomach. Even DesJarlaiss supposed economic sensibility and willingness to fight for the Constitution are now slowly being revealed as an election year mirage. It is difficult, at this time, for the conservatives to understand what, if anything, Rep. DesJarlais truly believes in given the severe conflict between his actions, rhetoric, and his record.

(Emphasis added)

Last year, DesJarlais voted for $33 billion in Obama defense cuts.

As for immigration, Des Jarlais recently said this:

But one thing we could do and its a solution I think would work, is you give a timeframe to everyone who is here illegally to come out of the shadows, identify em, I want to be an American but Im here illegally and I acknowledge that, so if we have a system of deportation, fine, but we need to identify these folks, and after that timeframe, anyone who is picked up who does not have the card saying Im here illegally, you deport them straight away. They need to go home because theyre not even trying to play by the rules.

In other words, if illegal immigrants have a card that says they are here illegally, they will not be deported. This is amnesty for anyone who gets the card. Even aggressive advocates of amnesty typically demand that illegal immigrants do more than just obtain a card.

In the Tennessee presdiential primary this year, DesJarlais endorsed Donald Trump. Grant endorsed Ted Cruz. This speaks volume.

Des Jarlais has also been plagued by personal scandal. This too matters.

The U.S. House needs reliable, principled conservatives, not squishy, scandal-ridden ones. We saw in 2006 what happens when entrenched Republican incumbents become embarrassments. DesJarlais is an embarrassment.

You can support Grant Starrett by contributing here. I just did.
Nollywood actress, Rita Edochie, said she was a victim of sexual abuse many years ago and called on parents to regularly communicate with their children.

Edochie revealed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Edochie, who was a guest at a seminar to end violence against children, told NAN that she was sexually violated at a young age by a family friend.

I was a victim of sexual abuse; that was when I was in primary six; I was going to the hospital and somebody called me.

The boy used some diabolic means and sexually violated me; when I could not see my period, I refused to tell my mother, because she was very strict.

I love sharing my experience because at the end of the day I succeeded; If I had not succeed, I would not have been able to be saying it, Edochie said.

She explained that the pregnancy was about seven months before her mother noticed it.

Edochie added that her mother was shocked at the pregnancy because she thought her being strict would not allow such a thing to happen.

My mother asked how it happened and I told her everything; my brother picked a knife and wanted to kill me, but my mother stopped him.

It happened that the mother of the boy that violated me was my mothers friend; the boys mother was surprise but the boy denied.

My mother took me to hospital to abort the pregnancy with a planned of taking me to my grandmothers place at `Ogede to stay for one week before returning home.

I told her I may lose my life in the process; and because she loved me, she then aborted the planned abortion; I feel it was God that spoke through me.

According to the actress, my mother took care of the baby while I went to school; if not for my mother I would not be where I am today.

The veteran actress called on parents to communicate regularly with their children and make them their best friends.

Parents should always listen to their childrens complaints on happenings both in and outside the home.

(NAN)
With the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) already taking steps to reverse the recession in the Nigerian economy, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said there was no better time to diversify the economy than now.

The president was speaking at the 56th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in Dutse.

Represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, the president said his administration was determined to ensure the long-overdue fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian economy.

He said Nigeria had depended on the oil and gas sector, which accounts for more than 75 per cent of governments revenue, for too long, pointing out that with the current dwindling crude oil prices, there was need to reform and diversify the countrys economy.

With the current challenge, for the country to survive, we must harness our natural resources, particularly in agriculture and solid minerals sectors, with about 44 mineral resources available in commercial quantities across the country.

Apart from these natural resources, he said Nigeria was capable of producing more yam, cassava, cashew nut, shea nuts and kola nuts than the rest of the world.

The president said it was disheartening that every year Nigeria spent more than $3 billion on importation of steel, despite the huge iron ore deposits in the country.

To promote a healthy partnership with the private sector, he said government would create the environment that would encourage a Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan.

Apart from championing the cause of the micro, small and medium enterprises, the president his administration would take steps to attract long-term domestic and foreign investments to the country.

(NAN)
The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved at the Azerbaijani Supreme Courts decision today to free investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, who had been imprisoned on trumped-up charges since December 2014.

The court converted Ismayilovas jail term into a three-and-a half-year suspended term, Reuters reported.

The Baku Court of Serious Crimes in September 2015 sentenced Ismayilova to seven-and-a-half years in prison on tax evasion and embezzlement charges that CPJ considers to be retaliation for her reporting on corruption.

Todays ruling ordering Khadija Ismayilova freed is cause for celebration, but does not erase the rank injustice of her imprisonment for a year and a half on retaliatory charges, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. We call on Azerbaijani authorities to remove the conditions on her freedom, and to release all journalists imprisoned for their work immediately.

According to CPJ research, Azerbaijan ranks among the 10 most censored countries in the world. Azerbaijan held eight journalists in prison on December 1, 2015, when CPJ last conducted its global census of journalists jailed worldwide.
The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday named one of the deputies of its former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, to succeed him, after confirming Mr. Mansours death in a U.S. drone strike at the weekend.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Talibans main Spokesman, said in the statement, in Peshawar (Afghan), that Mr. Mansour would be replaced by Haibatullah Akhunzada.

He said Mr. Akhunzada, was named in a United Nations report last year as the Talibans former chief justice.

Mr. Mujahid said Sirajuddin Haqqani, Head of a Feared Network and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, would serve as deputies.

The announcement, following a meeting of the Talibans main shura, or leadership council, ended days of confusion during which the Taliban declined to confirm the death of Mansour in a drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.

The spokesman said all the shura members have pledged allegiance to Sheikh Haibatullah in a safe place in Afghanistan.

All people are required to obey the new Emir-al-Momineen (commander of the faithful).

Mr. Mujahid said Mr. Akhunzada, who is 60 years of age, and a member of the powerful Noorzai tribe, is from Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan, the heartland of the Taliban.

He said he was a close aide to Mullah Omar, and is understood to share Mr. Omars aversion for publicity, including the leaking of any photographs of him.

Some members of the Taliban believe Mr. Mansour may have been traced and later killed because a photograph of him was shared after his appointment as leader in 2015.

A senior Taliban said on condition of anonymity that senior members of the insurgent group had been keenly aware of the need to appoint a candidate who could bring disparate factions together.

Such leader should also be able to repair the splits that emerged last year when Mr. Mansour was appointed.

He, however, said there was no immediate indication of whether the appointment would lead to a shift in the stance of the Taliban, which under Mr. Mansour ruled out participating in peace talks with the government in Kabul.

(Reuters/NAN)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, on Wednesday signed an emergency decree on child sex offenders to be chemically castrated and planted with microchips.

The regulation was issued following no less than two rape and murder cases in which the victims were teenagers.

Extraordinary crime requires extraordinary measures, Joko said, announcing the new law at the presidential palace.

The government has described recent attacks on teenagers as a crisis.

Mr. Joko said in his address that the attacks had disturbed public order.

The decree also allows judges to hand down life sentences or death sentences to people convicted of child rape, Mr. Joko said.

He said that the minimum sentence would be 10 years.

Convicts can be micro chipped for easy monitoring by authorities and their names may be published, he noted.

This month, a court on Sumatra Island sentenced seven teenagers to 10 years in prison for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in April.

In another case that sparked outrage this month, two men were arrested on the outskirts of Jakarta for allegedly raping and killing an 18-year-old girl by assaulting her with a wooden hoe.

(dpa/NAN)
A former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abubakar Lawal YarAdua, bought a posh home worth 890,000 in London using a secret offshore company he registered in the British Virgin Island.

Documents retrieved from the Mossack Fonseca database, exclusively obtained by German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with PREMIUM TIMES and other media organisations around the world, showed the offshore company to be Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited.

Mr. YarAdua bought the house in 2008, while serving as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC.

He became NNPC GMD in August 2007, and was removed from office in January 2009.

In April 2008, eight months after he became the GMD of NNPC, Mr. YarAdua used a London residence address at Beechwood Hall, Regents Park Road, London N3 3AT to register an offshore company, Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited in the British Virgin Island.

British Virgin Island is a tax haven favoured by corrupt public officials, money launderers, celebrities and businessmen dealing in illicit finance.

Mr. YarAdua, while serving as a public official violated Section 6(b) of the Code of Conduct Act which says a public office holder shall not, except where he is not employed on fulltime basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.

To cover his track, Mr. YarAdua prepared a corporate smokescreen by appointing two front companies to act as directors of Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited.

Documents sighted by PREMIUM TIMES showed that on November 7, 2008, Mr. YarAdua was sole director of Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited.

He resigned on the said day but appointed two companies, Gudson Limited and Roselle Limited as directors of his company.

Additional documents scooped from the Mossack Fonseca files exposed how Mr. YarAdua utilized his Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited to secure a loan from Dexia Private Bank Limited in Jersey.

This he used to purchase a property worth 890,000 in London. Dexia Private Jersey Limited, Hydrocarbon Assets Investment Limited and Mr. YarAdua signed the loan agreement on November 18, 2008.

It was effected on December 2, 2008.

The property, until now a secret, is located in a freehold estate at 28A North Crescent, Finchley, London N3 3LL. It was registered under the title number NGL624398. A freehold property refers to outright ownership of a property and land on which it stands. The owner of the land has no time limit to his period of ownership.

Reinstated as director and signatory to account



Following his exit from NNPC, Mr. YarAdua returned to Hydrocarbon to reclaim his position from the two directors holding who held fort for him.

In 2010, the two Directors, J. Nizbeth Maduro, representing Gudson Limited and Bryan Scatliff,e representing Roselle Limited returned the power of attorney to Mr. YarAdua who soon became the authorized signatory to a bank account moved from Jersey to Luxembourg within the same bank, Dexia Banque International.

A meeting of the Board of Directors of Hydrocarbon Hydrocarbon Assets Investments Limited was held in August 2010 at the Registered Office of the Company, Akara Building, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

Three resolutions were reached, one of which was to grant as is hereby granted a Power of Attorney in favour of Lawal Abubakar YarAdua of passport No. A01418738 of 28a North Crescent, London N3 to act in accordance with the powers described on the page annexed hereto.

The meeting also resolved to approve and authorize Mr. Lawal Abubakar YarAdua of 28a North Crescent, London N3 to be authorized signatory on the account to act individually and to sign all the documents and account opening forms in connection with the account with Dexia Banque International A Luxembourg.

I didnt know what I did was wrong

When Mr. YarAdua was contacted, he initially claimed his lawyer registered the company on his behalf, but later admitted he incorporated the company to buy a house in London.

He suggested that PREMIUM TIMES report on the matter was an attempt to embarrass him.

This is just an attempt to embarrass me, Mr. YarAdua said on telephone. My children were there (London) and instead of paying rent, somebody advised me that I could get a loan and then I decided to take a mortgage so that when my children finished schooling I could sell it off, I didnt know the implication.

When asked why, as a public office holder, he registered a secret company, and owned a foreign account in violation of the law, Mr. YarAdua said he was unaware that it was wrong for Nigerian public servants to take those actions.

Honestly, I was not aware, he said. Go ahead and embarrass me.

Mr. YarAdua and the Code of Conduct

By his action, the former NNPC boss may have violated Nigerias Code of Conduct law and could be arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special court that tries public officers for any contravention of the Code of Conduct for Nigerian public officers as spelt out in the Fifth Schedule of the Nigerian constitution.

The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) were established to enforce a high standard of morality in the conduct of government business, and to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability.

The former official could be charged for failing to declare the company and its associated assets and for operating foreign accounts while being a public officer.

The offences violate sections of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
The Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has dismissed the application filed by the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, asking for permission to travel abroad for his medical treatment.

The counsel to Mr. Metuh had on May 23 informed the court of an application dated May 16 seeking permission to allow Mr. Metuh travel to the United Kingdom for five weeks to attend to his failing health.

The counsel, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, had also asked the court to permit the release of Mr. Metuhs passport so that if the first application is granted, he (Mr. Metuh) would be able to travel for the proposed treatment of his ailing spinal cord.

The trial judge, Okon Abang, had on that day said the court would decide on Mr. Metuhs application on May 25.

Mr. Abang had also asked both counsel on May 23 whether his court had the jurisdiction to grant the second application by Mr. Ikpeazu, seeking for the release of Mr. Metuhs international passport.

After listening to the arguments of both counsel, Mr. Abang stated in his ruling, Wednesday, that the application seeking the release of Mr. Metuhs international passport should not have come to his court in the first place.

He noted that the decision was made with regards to the nature of Mr. Metuhs trial and that the court cannot hold back its decision.

Mr. Abang further said the present condition of the defendant should not be a reason for the law to be compromised.

Proceedings in a court of law is not based on sentiments, the judge said.

The court cannot set aside its decision. I have no jurisdiction to do so.

He added that since the court cannot grant Mr. Metuh his second prayer, there would be no need to consider the application for Mr. Metuhs trip abroad.

Having dismissed prayer two, it is not important to discuss the merits of prayer one, Justice Abang said.

Discussing prayer one amounts to an academic exercise.

The judge said Mr. Metuh had the prerogative of approaching the Appeal Court to request for the release of his passport, adding that when the higher court decides on that, he would then have to consider the merits of the first application.

In case I am overruled in Court of Appeal, with respect to prayer 2, I will still make findings with regard to prayer 1.

He said the medical report by Mr. Metuhs doctor, Ugwanyi Ugochukwu, did not include any reason why Mr. Metuh cannot have his treatment done in Nigeria.

Although Mr. Abang noted that he would not argue with Mr. Ugochukwu regarding the said report, he would not agree that Mr. Metuh could not be treated in Nigeria if the applicant does not provide such evidence before the court.

Their is no evidence brought forth by Mr. Metuh that none of the teaching hospitals in Nigeria can treat him of his sickness.

We have so many teaching hospitals here that can treat such illness, Mr. Abang said.

He said the court also had a duty to consider the rights of the prosecution.

The prosecution has expressed fear that he will disappear. In a case like this; the court must be extremely careful. It must balance the competing rights of the defence, and that of the prosecution, before making its decision, Mr. Abang held.

More to come
The Federal Government on Wednesday named the chief executives of six agencies under the Ministry of Information and Culture.

The appointments were announced in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.

The new appointees are Ishaq Modibo Kawu  Director-General, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Mansur Liman  Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN); Yakubu Mohammed  Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

Others are Garba Abari  Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Bayo Onanuga  Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Osita Okechukwu  Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON).

The new appointees replaced the chief executives of the parastatals who were removed on February 15, 2016.

Ishaq Modibo Kawu  Director-General, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC)

Before his appointment, Mr. Kawu was the Chief Executive Officer of Abuja-based media firm, Word, Sound and Vision Multimedia Limited.

He holds a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication and Masters Degree in Political Science. Mr. Kawu has deep and varied experience having reported for Radio Nigeria, Radio France International, Radio Netherlands and BBC World Service.

He was one of the pioneer staff of Radio Kwara, pioneer general manager of Kwara State Television Authority and editor of Daily Trust Newspaper. He was later appointed chairman of the Daily Trust Editorial Board. It was from there he started his own company, Word, Sound and Vision Multimedia Limited. He is from Kwara State, North-central Nigeria.

Mansur Liman  Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)

Mr. Liman was the head of the British Broadcasting Service, BBC, Hausa Service.

Garba Abari, Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA)

Garba Abari was born on the December 15, 1955 in Potiskum, Yobe State, North-east Nigeria. He had his early education at the Central Primary School, Potiskum and Fika Government Secondary School also in Potiskum.

He holds a Ph.D in Political Science and has taught at the College Of Basic Studies, Maiduguri and the University Of Maiduguri. Before being appointed DG of NOA, Mr. Abari was a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Maiduguri.

He is a member of many professional bodies including the Nigerian Political Science Association, African Political Science Association, Nigeria Society of International Affairs and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group.

Osita Okechukwu  Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON)

Mr. Okechukwu is an indigene of Eke community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State in Nigerias South-east. He is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, UNN, having bagged a Bachelor of Science degree from the institution.

Mr. Okechukwu is a former governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the South-East spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

During an interview shortly after Muhammadu Buhari became president, Mr. Okechukwu said that his support for the president was not for personal gains.

My unalloyed support for President Buhari in the presidential campaign elections of 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 was more than personal. I mean sincerely that it is more of national than personal interest, he had said.

Bayo Onanuga  Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Mr. Onanuga was born on June 20, 1957 in in Ijebu-Ode, South-east Nigeria. He attended Ijebu Muslim College, Ijebu-Ode, Federal Government College, Odogbolu and the University of Lagos where obtained a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications.

After graduation, Mr. Onanuga worked as client service executive at Practions Partners, and later joined Ogun State Television in 1982. He joined the Guardian Newspaper as a sub-editor in July 1983 but in January 1985 moved to National Concord as senior features writer and later same year as senior correspondent for the weekly magazine, The African Concord.

He was appointed editor of African Concord in 1989. In April 1992, he resigned his appointment and with his colleagues found The News Group in 1993.

Mr. Onanuga had remained editor-in-chief of The News Group before his latest appointment. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a member of the World Association of Newspapers.

Yakubu Mohammed  Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)

Not much is known about him at this point. We learnt he was a former executive director at NTA, and currently Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Bauchi State Governor.

EDITORS NOTE: We initially thought the Yakubu Mohammed appointed to run NTA was that of Newswatch. But we have since learnt it is a different person. This post has been updated to reflect the new information.
The Kogi State government says the state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Onuh Edoka, is a ghost worker, and has fired him.

Mr. Edoka was one of about 9000 people sacked following a screening exercise to weed out illegal workers from the 21 local government areas of the state.

Mr. Edoka, who serves as head of both the Medical Health Workers Union and the NLC in the state, said he was employed in 1989, and currently serves as a Disease and Surveillance Officer in the state.

He said he was baffled by the result of the screening exercise headed by Paul Okuntimo, a retired general, who gained notoriety for his role in the incarceration of the late activist, Saro Wiwa.

The Generals committee claims that I submitted the wrong bank statements. But they only asked for my statement of accounts for the past two years which I submitted, Mr. Edoka said in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.

Speaking on behalf of the state chapter of the NLC, Mr Edoka said the workers union would take to the streets to challenge the governments actions.

The government just got a bailout based on the current staff strength. Suddenly they want to retrench workers to divert the funds even though some of these workers have not been paid for over 23 months, he said.

The NLC is saying that these people are not ghost workers. They are living beings and we are ready to bring them out on the streets of Lokoja so that the world can see that they are not ghosts but real workers of Kogi state, Mr Eboka said.

The government said the screening process was transparent and designed to identify persons who gained employment or obtained promotions fraudulently.

Gbenga Olorunpomi, a media aide to Gov. Yayaha Bello of Kogi State, said some of the workers who failed the screening exercise did not furnish the committee with the required information.

For example, many of them refused to supply their BVNs [Bank Verification Numbers]. This automatically brings up the question of why they dont have BVNs if they dont have anything to hide, he said, adding that the current list is merely a preliminary list and that the said workers would be given the opportunity to rectify any deficiency.

The governor has assured the people that no legitimate worker in Kogi state will be sacked. But there are some people who got into the system fraudulently. For those people, we have no apologies, Mr. Olorunpomi said.

A new list, which will clarify the reasons for the screening failure, is expected to be released within the week.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) would not sign any agreement with government on a new minimum wage that would not be implementable, its factional leader, Joe Ajaero, said on Wednesday.

Mr. Ajaero was talking on the terms his group reached with the Federal Government following the recent withdrawal of fuel subsidy, which pushed up the price of petrol from N86.50 per litre to N145 per litre.

He said the ability to pay should be the basis of any minimum wage negotiation or agreement, pointing out that no labour leader would sign any agreement that would not be realistic.

The factional labour leader said although his group proposed N90, 000, against N56, 000 by the Ayuba Wabba-led faction, government still had the prerogative to come up with its own proposal of the package it would be able to pay.

If government comes out with its position, the labour movement can crosscheck and counter it, if necessary, before the agreement is signed, Mr. Ajaero said.

The minimum wage proposal was based on a realistic economic index, which could force government to reduce its workforce, if necessary, he noted.

Mr. Ajaero said a sub-committee would soon be constituted to look into an increment in wages for the manufacturing sector, to cater for the welfare of employees in the sector.

On the new prices of petroleum products, Mr. Ajaero said only a properly constituted Board of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had the prerogative to fix fuel price in the country.

The last time the Board of the PPPRA was reconstituted was four years. Therefore, even if organised Labour and Nigerians were to compel the government to reduce the N145 petrol price to N50 per litre, it would still be illegal, he argued.

He called for the reconstitution of the Board within two weeks.

The president, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, said the only lasting solution to the problem was for the country to build new refineries to guarantee local refining, rather than import.

Mr. Achese called on government to ensure that existing refineries were fixed, to enable them perform optimally and pave the way to end of importation of petroleum products.

He said Labour would ensure that the N5 trillion palliatives promised by the government were implemented, to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy. (NAN)
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court to deny a bail application by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr. Kanu is facing treason charges, alongside two others, Benjamin Madubgwu and James Nwawuisi, at the Federal High Court Abuja.

Mr. Kanu had on May 5 approached the appeal court through his counsel, Chucks Muoma, challenging the decision of the Federal High Court to deny him bail.

Mr. Muoma had asked the court to determine whether the ruling by Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court was not an aberration of Mr. Kanus fundamental rights as stipulated in the Constitution.

Mr. Muoma also prayed the Appeal Court to determine whether or not Mr. Tsoho was right in making Mr. Kanus dual citizenship an excuse for refusing him bail.

According to Mr. Muoma, the ruling was granted as though it was the first appellant alone that made the application for bail.

In its ruling however, a three member-panel, led by Justice Abdul Aboki, held that the lower court was right in relying upon Mr. Kanus dual citizenship, as a basis for denying his application for bail.

The court said the chances of Mr. Kanu returning to his other country was high, and that the laws of his other country may prevent the trial from reaching its logical end.

The court also ruled that the charge against Mr. Kanu and the other defendants was grievous and involved a threat to the state, therefore an application for bail would not be entertained.

Mr. Aboki also stated that the Federal High Court acted within its jurisdiction in the said ruling, and hence affirmed the ruling of the court.
Good afternoon and thanks for joining us.

This Wednesday, the Code of Conduct Tribunal is resuming with its prosecution of the president of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, over alleged false and anticipatory assets declaration.

Cross-examination of star prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas, which has been underway for over a month, is now continuing with tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, having taken his seat at 12:20 p.m. No reason was given for this delay.

PREMIUM TIMES will provide live updates about the activities and extra-activities in and around the tribunal in real-time.

Mr. Sarakis trial, legal experts say, is one of the biggest in the history of Nigeria.

Therefore, if, for some reasons, you just started paying attention, or became lost somewhere along the way, read the timeline of the trial and numerous tactics the Senate President had deployed to stop here and what you need to know about the proceeding here.

Mr. Saraki has taken his seat.

Both defence and prosecution teams have been introduced.

But prosecution witness, Mr. Wetkas, is still being expected. Rotimi Jacobs, lead prosecutor, appealed to the chairman to give Mr. Wetkas 10 mins to arrive.

Mr. Umar subsequently adjourned sitting till 1:00 p.m.

13.53: The tribunal chairman is back on seat at 1:40 p.m., 40 minutes late.

Mr. Wetkas has arrived and the cross-examination has finally resumed.

Defence counsel, Paul Usoro, is questioning Mr. Wetkas on count number 6 of the prosecution charges.

The count has to do with a property located at Maitama, Abuja, which Mr. Saraki owned but allegedly failed to declare in 1993.

14.47: Mr. Usoro is still leading Mr. Wetkas in cross-examination. The current issue is about a property Mr. Saraki allegedly purchased in 1993 but failed to declare in his assets declaration form in 2003 when he became governor of Kwara State.

There is a disagreement over where the property is situated and if Mr. Saraki owned it.

Mr. Usoro is grilling Mr. Wetkas about if the property is at Plot 2481 Cadastral Zone or 2482 Cadastral Zone.

Mr. Wetkas read a letter from Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency which informed the EFCC that the property was transferred to Mr. Saraki using a power of attorney.

Mr. Usoro then attempted to ask further questions about the property, but the tribunal chairman weighed in: Youre making the records untidy, Mr. Umar chided Mr. Usoro.

15.13: Mr. Usoro said the power of attorney was made in 1993, 10 years before Mr. Saraki became governor. He said the power of attorney was issued between one David Baba Akao and Allied Properties Ltd, a company that Mr. Saraki allegedly owned.

Dino Melaye, Rafiu Ibrahim and seven other senators are here with their president for todays hearing, which makes is 21st day of the trial.

16.24: The defence counsel, Mr. Agabi, requested an adjournment till tomorrow. Mr. Umar balked, saying the hearing should continue till 6 p.m.

But after Mr. Agabi explained that he would become too tired and that he would become so weakened by the proceeding that he now snores whenever he tries to take a nap, the chairman adjourned till tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.

19.23: The defence team is requesting another adjournment, but the prosecution team is raising an objection.

Mr. Jacobs argues that the cross-examination of Mr. Wetkas is dragging for too long, which, he said, is unnecessary. Mr. Jacobs says there are other witnesses still waiting to testify.

This angers the co-chairman, Williams Atedze, who said Mr. Jacobs has no right to railroad the tribunal. Do you think whenever I enter into my office to do something, I went to see my girls? He queried. His colleague, Mr. Umar, then quipped: Only God knows

Mr. Atedze said there are other cases the tribunal is currently handling that require them to adjourn Mr. Sarakis case.

The defence counsel, Mr. Agabi, request an adjournment. Mr. Umar balked, saying the hearing should continue till 6 p.m. and resume tomorrow.

But after Mr. Agabi explained that he had become too tired and that he had become so weakened by the proceeding that he now snores whenever he tries to take a nap, the chairman adjourned till Wednesday, June 1.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the increment in the pump price of petrol as one of the gifts of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians to celebrate his one year in office, describing the presidents one year in office as a colossal waste.

In a statement titled; Petrol Price Increment as Buharis 1st Year Anniversary Gift to Nigerians which he personally signed, the governor said the Federal Government was indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy.

The statement reads; Despite his electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it, President Muhammadu Buhari increased the price to N145! With this increment, Buhari has further impoverished Nigerians.

Nigerians should be reminded that on April 14, 2015, President Buharis ally and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Tam David-West, told Nigerians that Gen. Mohammed Buhari (who was then President-elect), will reduce the fuel pump price from N87 to N40 per litre. Buhari did not debunk this statement made by his friend and major supporter.

Also, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan reduced the petrol pump price from N97 to N87 per litre in January 2015, former Lagos State Governor who is now Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola said N10 reduction of the petrol pump price was too low and that Nigerians will get a better deal under Buhari. Fashola tweeted on January 18, 2015; On PMS price reduction by N10. Now they listen. Oil the raw material drop over 50%, N10 is just about 10%. Good try but Nija can get a beta deal.

In rewarding Nigerians for electing him as president, President Buhari opted to increase petrol pump price by N58.50!

The first justification of the increment was removal of subsidy. But Nigerians were later stunned when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo said pump price of petrol was increased because Nigeria was broke!

In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

Simply put, the Federal Government is indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy. Buhari is no doubt acting like the proverbial Agbalowomeri Baale Jontolo (Aking that exploit his extremely poor subject to further enrich himself).

It is on record that on May 2 this year, the federal government, in the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Template released in Abuja, told Nigerians that it was subsidising petrol at N12.62 per litre.

In 2012 when the Dr Jonathan removed fuel subsidy and increased petrol price to N141 per litre, crude oil was selling at $111 per barrel.

If not wickedness, how can petrol price be increased to N145 per litre when crude oil is now selling at $49 per barrel?

Increasing petrol pump price by N58.50 when the federal government claimed it was subsidising the product at N12.62 per litre is clear wickedness on the part of President Buhari.

In the history of Nigeria, increase in price of petrol has never been as high as it was done by Buhari, putting Nigerians in severe hardship as the product affects every sector of the economy.

Too bad, those who opposed removal of fuel subsidy in 2012 and funded the Occupy Nigeria protest are the ones canvassing support for this Buharis wicked one year anniversary gift to Nigerians.

The labour unions are now completely cowed, dashing completely hope of the common people of Nigeria.

Interestingly, this is not the first election promise by APC/Buhari that have been jettisoned since they got into office. The N5,000 unemployment benefits promised the downtrodden was derisively put down by this President as largesse with the president spurning the emotional plea of his own wife to the contrary. To add salt and insult unto injury, he traveled abroad to make the statement.

Despite the mindless and indefensible hike in fuel price, the commodity is still not available. Minister of state for Petroleum says there is no forex to pay for fuel import; yet there is forex to indulge Buharis foreign-trip profligacy.

Presidential spin doctors and APC chieftains labouring to hoodwink the people speak glibly of how so-called deregulation will make products available, reduce cost through competition and the interplay of market forces as well as encourage private sector to build more refineries. But thank God who loves Nigerians so much, the lies of

these people was by divine arrangement, I suppose, revealed by no less a person than the junior minister Ibe Kachikwu himself when he said importation of fuel continues till 2019.

Nigerians should be reminded that the manner of hardship being faced now was also faced during Buharis first coming as a military dictator when people had to queue for essential commodities. Now, Nigerians cant even afford common tomato to prepare soup.

So Nigerians you have heard the truth: Under Buhari/APC, it is almost certain that our suffering will continue till 2019.

Nigerians, remember I warned you before Buhari was elected; I have been warning you since Buhari became president and I am warning now that if nothing is done urgently, the economy of Nigeria will collapse.
Olisa Metuh, the former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, has a corruption case to answer at the High Court, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled Wednesday.

The appeal court dismissed an application filed by Mr. Metuh, challenging an earlier court ruling that quashed his no-case-submission.

Mr. Metuh had filed a non-case submission at the High Court, arguing that he had no case to answer, and that he should be discharged.

His lawyer, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, said that evidences against his client were insufficient to prove a case against him.

He said it was up to the prosecution to prove that N400 million received by his Mr. Metuhs company was paid for illegal purposes.

After arguments, Justice Okon Abang of the High Court dismissed that application.

Mr. Metuh challenged the ruling at the appeal court, which also dismissed the application on Wednesday.

In a unanimous judgement, a three-member panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki said Mr. Metuh ought to open his case and proceed with his defence, as he had done.

Where a no case submission is adduced, the appellant should explain exactly what happened, the judge said. There is need for the appellant to offer an explanation on the prima fascie case established against him.

The court therefore dismissed the application for lacking in merit.

But speaking with journalists after the ruling, Mr. Ikpeazu said his client had the legal prerogative to appeal, even at the Supreme Court.

He said his client had opened his defence already at the Federal High Court and that there were issues in the Appeal Court ruling which the defence team was not comfortable with.

After due consultation with our client, I will instruct our team on the next action. Our client has the right of appeal all the way to the Supreme Court.

Chief Metuh had shown sufficient evidence that he was not aware of the source of the N400 million made available to him by the former president and he has shown his willingness, since the commencement of this matter, to refund the said sum even when there is no guilt knowledge (mens rea), Mr. Ikpeazu stated.

On an earlier ruling in the day by Mr. Abang, denying Mr. Metuhs application to travel abroad for medical treatment, Mr. Ikpeazu said what was important was the health of Mr. Metuh.

Even the constitution recognizes the fact that an accused should be alive and fit to face trial and defend himself, said Mr. Ikpeazu.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Muhammad Bello, has sacked the director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, Baba Lawan.

The minister appointed Oluwatoyin Olanipekun as replacement.

The minister also removed all heads of department as well as Heads of Unit under the board and directed their deputies to immediately take charge.

The Minister made these changes on Wednesday after he and the FCT Permanent Secretary, Babatope Ajakaiye, met with the former management team of the AEPB.

Mr. Bello directed the Director of the FCT Establishment and Training who was also part of the meeting to issue the new appointees with their appointment letters.

He warned that lackadaisical attitude to work must be stopped forthwith as Abuja must be rid of filth, street beggars, street hawkers and all other environmental nuisances immediately.

The Minister said a lot of things were not going on well at the Board and further warned the new team to work to change the tide immediately.

He said that the former Director and his management team should ensure all handing over processes are completed by Friday.

Meanwhile, the Minister has also directed that the former management team of the Board to be constituted into a Special Task Force on the Recovery of N9.8 billion Debt owed AEPB.

Mr. Bello instructed that the new Task Force be headed by the former Director of the Board and was given eight weeks to do the recovery into FCT administrations coffers.

At the meeting, the Minister also approved the appointment of Abdullahi Adamu Monjel, a retired Air Force Squadron Leader, to head a special team of 200 security personnel drawn from the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to assist in the enforcement of environmental laws in Abuja.

The Minister was however quick to warn the new management and special team to conduct their duties within the ambit of the law.

Mr. Bello further warned that the FCT Administration would not tolerate any act of abuse of fundamental human rights of the residents in the discharge of their duties.

He urged them to diligently do their job by following and applying the law and due process.

The new Acting Director, Oluwatoyin Omolola Olanipekun, was formerly the Deputy Director, Environmental Degradation & Development Monitoring in the Abuja Environmental Protection Board.
Senator Abubakar Tanko Ayuba has died at the age of 71.

His nephew and deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn NaAllah, who confirmed the death to our PREMIUM TIMES, said Mr. Ayuba died around 5:05pm on Wednesday at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) after a protracted illness.

Yes, my uncle, Senator Abubakar Tanko Ayuba has died.We are making preparation for his burial according to Islamic right, he said.

Late Senator Ayuba is survived by a wife and children, among whom is the current Kebbi State Commissioner for Justice, Rakiya Ayuba.

He served as a senator representing Kebbi South in 2007 and was a the military administrator of Kaduna State between 1990 to January 1992.

The chairman of the Kaduna Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Garba Muhammad, and Muhammadu Magoro, a senator, were among those who traveled to Lagos to prepare for the burial.
The Ebonyi Police Command has confirmed the retrieval of the corpse of a Second Republic Senator, Offia Nwali, from a pond behind his house.

George Okafor, the Commands Public Relations Officer (PPRO), made the confirmation to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki on Tuesday.

He said Mr. Nwalis corpse was found in a pond at the back of his building in his hometown of Ameka, Ezza South Local Government Area, at the weekend.

We cannot establish whether he drowned inside the pond or whether he was killed but investigations have commenced to unravel the mystery behind his death.

We have not made any arrest so far but we assure the citizens of the state that we would ensure that the matter is investigated to its logical conclusion, he said.

Meanwhile, Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has described the death of 74-year-old Nwali as a monumental loss to the state and nation.

Mr. Umahi, who commiserated with Mr. Nwalis family during a condolence visit on Tuesday, described him as a great scientist and patriotic Nigerian.

His death is shocking to all citizens of the state as his life which was full of mysteries, embodied truth and commitment to the states cause, he said.

The governor, who was accompanied by the Secretary to the State Government, Bernard Odoh, and top government officials, urged Mr. Nwalis children to immortalise him.

You should live just and principled lives which your late father epitomised during his sojourn on earth .

The state government would assist the family during his burial and afterwards while upholding the legacies he left behind, he said.

Mr. Nwalis first son, Oguzor, said that his corpse had been deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki mortuary.

Oguzor described his father as a legend, noting that his love for the unity of the state, Igbo race and Nigeria, knew no bounds.

Mr. Nwali was one of the first Africans to obtain a doctorate degree in Computer and Analytical Studies from Harvard University, U.S.

His return to Nigeria in 1972 was facilitated by a former Inspector General of Police, Muhammadu Yusuf, as he was appointed Chairman of the School Board by the then East Central State Government.

He represented Abakaliki Senatorial District at the National Assembly from 1979 to 1983 and was the first individual to submit a written request for the creation of Ebonyi on Oct. 10, 1979.

Mr. Nwali lost his entire family in a Forker 28-plane crash at the Enugu Airport in 1983 but later remarried.

NAN also recalls that the Police Command in Ebonyi on Monday confirmed the retrieval of the corpses of two students of Federal Government College, Okposi in Ohaoazara Local Government Area , from a stream in the area.

(NAN)
A Lagos Island Customary Court on Wednesday has dissolved the 17-year-old marriage between a transporter, Haruna Amunikoro, and his wife, Alimotu, after he complained that his wife built a house without informing him.

Granting the husbands request, the court President, Awos Awosola, said that the effort of the court to reconcile the parties failed, as Mr. Amunikoro insisted on divorce.

The marriage between the two parties is hereby dissolved with effect from today in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Court Law, 2011, Order 3, Rule 7, as amended.

The custody of the first child and only son, Anus, 15, is awarded to the father while that of the two girls, Simiyat, 10; and Aishat, 7, remains with the wife.

The petitioner should pay the childrens feeding allowances of N10,000 on a monthly basis through this honourable court and should also be responsible for the children school and hospital bills.

However, both parties are granted unhindered access to the child/children at any reasonable time of the day, he ruled.

Mr. Awosola also ordered the petitioner to give the respondent N250,000 compensation within seven days of the judgment with which to start her new life.

Mr. Amuniloro, 42, who resides at No. 91/93 Odunfa St., Lagos Island, in his petition, told the court that his wife, a trader, bought a plot of land in Ikorodu and built a bungalow on it without letting him know.

My wife has also started giving out tricycle and motorcycle to riders and they pay for them on instalment, which is the same business that I do.

I have warned her severally to stop the business but she would not listen. On two occasions she has stabbed me with a kitchen knife and a scissors.

My wife is not sincere with me. She hides so many things about herself from me. I cannot cope with her secretive ways any more, please separate us, he pleaded with the court.

Alimotu, who did not deny the allegations, said she started being secretive with her husband because of the sudden change in his behaviour and his infidelity.

She told the court that their marriage which was once blissful took a different turn in 2012 when they rented their own apartment.

We were staying in my husbands family house before we rented our own apartment in 2012, since then my husband has been unfaithful to me.

He brings different kinds of women into our matrimonial home and sleeps with them on our bed.

Whenever I confronted him, he beats me. On three occasions my husband beat me to a pulp and stripped me naked.

I joined him in doing the same business because it is a lucrative one, but since I started it, I have had no rest of mind, she said.

Alimotu, who had consistently prayed the court to reconcile them as she still loved her husband, however, pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage without further delay.

Since I have been begging my husband and his family for so long and nothing positive have come of it, please dissolve the marriage so I can go on with my life, she said. (NAN)
It's springtime and South Jersey's favorite turtle, the diamondback terrapin, will soon emerge from back bays and creeks to lay eggs in sand or soft earth above the tide line.

As usual, the terrapins' many fans are working to welcome them and reduce the sad occasions when pregnant turtles wander onto roadways and are crushed.

An Eagle Scout last month helped create two turtle nesting islands behind the Sea Isle City library. They're part of a Historical Society Memorial Garden that also got new plants and a water feature.

Earlier this month, 85 volunteers for the Margate Terrapin Rescue Project - including 20 from the Vineland High School Interact Club - installed and repaired barriers along the side of the Margate Causeway to keep terrapins from getting onto the road.

For nine years the organization has worked to counter terrapin habitat loss and reduce roadway mortality. When nest-seeking terrapins reach the insurmountable barrier, they turn back from the highway and dig nests on the marsh side.

Then last week, the state Department of Environmental Protection suspended indefinitely the harvest season for diamondback terrapins. That might seem like good news to the thousands of terrapin supporters in the region, but it is more suspicious than good.

For starters, the DEP could decide at any time to allow harvesting of terrapins to resume. Its track record suggests it can't be trusted to fully protect them.

In 2013, a turtle harvester used a commercial dredge to take 3,500 overwintering diamondback terrapins from two South Jersey locations - and sold them to a Maryland facility for shipment to Asian markets.

The DEP's response? The next year it allowed the terrapin harvest to proceed, and then after several months ended it a bit early. We said then the state was wrong to simply manage the terrapin population and its exploitation, and should protect the turtles permanently like other treasured wildlife species in New Jersey.

And the year after that? The DEP allowed another terrapin harvest, and ended that early as well.

Allowing South Jersey terrapins to be harvested and sold for soup and as pets is unacceptable.

Maryland doesn't do it - it enacted a law prohibiting the harvest of terrapins in 2007, which is why its processor grabbed South Jersey turtles for profit. Connecticut also bans their harvesting and collection.

We think the latest DEP pause in terrapin harvesting, while it "develops management strategies," is an attempt to stop the permanent protection of diamondback terrapins that is working its way through the state Legislature.

At the urging of students at Manahawkin's Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, state legislators representing Cape May, Atlantic and Cumberland counties sponsored a bill to designate the turtles as a nongame species, which would make it illegal to hunt or catch them.

In March, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee unanimously voted in favor of the bill. In April, the state Assembly passed the bill unanimously.

The full Senate should approve this permanent protection for diamondback terrapins, and Gov. Christie should sign it into law.

The state DEP has lost credibility on terrapin protection, and the Christie administration will too if it thwarts the level of protection other states have provided.

Our view
With more brands slapping on eco-friendly promises that may, or may not be true, can sustainable marketing be a bigger part of the solution ...
ITC - Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division has been part of the PrintWeek Awards in the previous editions and will continue to be so. T...
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.




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

ALTAIR GOLD INC. ("Altair" or the "Company") (TSX-V: AVX; Germany FRA: 90A; ISIN: CA0213702008; WKN: WKN A14WVP) Mr. John Huguet, Chairman of the Board, is pleased to announce the signing of a Binding Letter of Intent, with an arm's length company, to acquire 100% of Epic Mining Corp. which in turn owns 99% of Panamericana SAC. Panamericana SAC owns a resource property in Peru covering approximately 900 hectares.

Through the acquisition, Altair will hold 100% of the rights, title and interest in the 900 Ha Lejin property. 700 Ha of the Leijin property is surrounded on three sides by HudBay Minerals Inc.'s holdings adjacent to their Constancia Mine in the Province of Chumbivilcas in southern Peru. HudBay invested $1.7 billion in the construction of the Constancia Mine and achieved commercial production in April 2015. The Constancia Mine is an open pit operation with a 22 year life primarily extracting copper with additional molybdenum and silver credits. Limited sampling conducted on the Lejin property has detected traces of alteration suggesting the potential for copper mineralization. On closing of the acquisition the Company will consider an exploration program to test targets on the properties.

The terms for the acquisition are that the Company will, on closing, issue 500,000 common shares and pay $60,125. A portion of the common shares issued will be subject to a voluntary trading restriction in addition to the statutory hold period of four months from closing. A total of 300,000 shares will be subject to voluntary trading restrictions as follows: 100,000 restricted from trading for six months; 100,000 restricted from trading for nine months; and 100,000 restricted from trading for twelve months. On closing the Company will pay a finder's fee of 54,905 common shares of the company. Closing of the transaction is subject to acceptance of filings with the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. C. Ulansky, P. Geo., a Qualified Person, has reviewed and verified the technical contents of this release.

To learn more about Altair, please visit http://altairresources.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

"John Huguet"

John Huguet, FCPA, FCMA

Chairman and Independent Director

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.

Contact

#1305 - 1090 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6E 3V7

Tel: +1-604-685-9316 | Fax: +1-604-683-1585



SOURCE Altair Gold Inc.
SEOUL, South Korea, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- K-ICT Born2Global (B2G) will be hosting "K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" with 15 of Korea's most fascinating startups which will pitch their business models to top global VCs, accelerators and a live audience.

Promising Korean startups, including leading companies in areas such as AI, wearables, big data, IoT, edu-tech and healthcare will present at the Demo Day.

"B2G has K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016 with the purpose of introducing selected Korean startups with high potential successfully expanding to the global market," said Jong Kap Kim, Chief Executive Director of B2G said. Kim added that, "After the Demo Day, we plan to continue in solidifying the network channels between the Korean startups and VCs, accelerators of the European market. We would like for everyone to take advantage of this Demo Day and create invaluable relationships that can bring mutual success in business."

In addition to 15 pitch sessions, there will be opportunities for attendees to network and have one on one consulting with European VCs and accelerators.

The Demo Day is a public event open to anyone, so please RSVP and direct your inquiries to ysong@born2global.com. Accelerators, investors, journalists and government representatives may email the same address for the Demo Day admission pass.

"K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" will be held at the Catalogne Paris Montparnesse (address: 40 Ruedu Commandont Mouchott, Place Catalogne, 750104 Paris) on June 3, 2016, with the public program running from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Consulting and mentoring session for the entry into the European market will be held from 2:00 to 6:00pm.

One of the selected startups form the Demo Day will be awarded with Yorkshire Accelerator Award and gain membership to the UK-based accelerator.

"K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" hosted by B2G is sponsored and supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea.

B2G has previously held Demo Day events in Singapore, Japan, China, US (NY/SV/LA), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. Last year, the Demo Day was held in Lille, France. Through the first Demo Day in France, Korean Bio-Tech startups and VCs from the healthcare industry had a chance to connect and build strategic relationships.

B2G

Founded in September 2013, B2G is a major Korean government agency under the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) contributing to the national startup ecosystem and beyond. Each year, B2G selects over 100 startups with high potential for entering the global market. B2G provides services such as professional consulting in law, patents, accounting, marketing, investment and business development. Additionally, B2G gives training services to startups by hosting conferences, seminars and meetings.

Over 60 startups are selected to reside in the business space "K-Global Startup Hub" and receive consulting services at the Startup Campus. The Startup Campus in Pangyo is the "Silicon Valley" of South Korea, emerging as the latest hot spot in the thriving startup ecosystem. The 582K square feet Startup Campus is the future home for tech startup stars to connect with the global market.

B2G Metrics

Continuously expanding its global channel partners, B2G has over 100 partners all around the world.

B2G has significantly contributed building a strong foundation for successful investment opportunities for startups. B2G has brought investment of over US$133.2 million for 62 startups.

B2G's experts have provided 4,537 consulting services to 2,921 startups, resulting in 358 overseas patent applications, 198 overseas business contracts and alliances with 26 overseas incorporations.

Information on startups presenting at the Demo Day

Amadas (www.amadas.kr)

Smart door lock that can be remotely controlled via a smartphone app.

Bagel Labs (www.bagel-labs.com)

Platforms for size data and use data collected by the Bagel smart tape measure to connect businesses to consumers in various ways.

Ciot

An IoT security service company, producing a hardware security module to secure IoT platforms.

Daliworks (www.daliworks.net)

ThingPlus (Thing+, https://thingplus.net), IoT cloud platform enabling customers to build faster, cheaper, reliable and scalable IoT services.

Dreamsquare (www.mytalentx.com)

Connecting college talent with the right career opportunity by utilizing AI HEURI.

Huinno (www.huinno.com)

Innovative healthcare technologies that continuously, accurately, and quickly measure clinically-relevant biometrics.

Impressivo (www.impressivo.net)

3D touch sensor for wearables, IoT devices and VR/AR interfaces.

Innomdlelab (www.innomdlelab.com)

TipTalk: Smart watch strap that turns your fingertip into a phone.

iPlateia (www.iplateia.com)

Cross-media solutions to enhanced audio recognition technology.

Nare Trends (www.xspark.co.kr)

Remote monitoring and protection system for electrical arc fires.

SoTIS (www.sot.is)

Light-weight security S/W for IoT device authentication & data protection.

Stratio (www.stratiotechnology.com)

World's first Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) imaging available to the mass market.

Vuno (www.vuno.co)

Applying deep learning to solve big problems: Currently, innovating medicine.

WELT(www.welt.life)

World's first smart belt (a Samsung spin-off company).

12CM (www.12cm.co.kr)

O2O services through Echoss Smart Stamp & cloud platform enhancing customer loyalty.

About Born2Global

Established in September 2013, Born2Global is the major vehicle under the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, to support Korean startup companies in early stages that aims want to expand across international markets. Born2Global has been providing consulting services in various fields covering training, investment, law, patent, accounting, and marketing to nurture global startup companies and also develop a domestic startup ecosystem and support system designed to form a virtuous cycle.

For more detailed information on the Born2Global, please check out www.born2global.com.

RELATED LINKS

http://www.born2global.com

CONTACT:

Jina Lee

jlee@born2global.com

SOURCE K-ICT Born2Global Centre
PARIS, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Expansion of Seremban plant will increase capacity to meet growing construction market demands in Central Malaysia, North Malaysia and Sabah regions

Bostik, the specialty adhesives business line of Arkema, has expanded its cementitious product manufacturing capacities, based on its world-class Polymer Modified Binder (PMB) technology, at its Seremban plant in Malaysia. As a leading global adhesive specialist for construction, consumer and industrial markets, Bostik will be able to serve growing construction market demand in the Central Malaysia, North Malaysia and Sabah regions.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371291 )



With the significant expansion of its production capacities in Seremban, Bostik has increased its manufacturing presence in Malaysia, enabling it to better serve construction customers in Central Malaysia, including Kuala Lumpur, North Malaysia and Sabah.

This extended site manufactures cementitious construction products including ceramic tile adhesives, tile grouts, floor levelling compounds and wall finishing products. Production is based on Bostik's world-class Polymer Modified Binder (PMB) technology which remains a focus of its ongoing innovation, research and development activities.

This expansion, just two years after Bostik opened its second Malaysian manufacturing plant in Johor Bahru to serve the Southern Malaysia and Singapore markets, is an important step in Bostik's development plans in Malaysia.

This investment highlights Bostik's strategy to expand in high growth regions and develop innovative products to meet market demand. "We are pleased and excited to continue Bostik's global development and, with this capacity expansion, we are strengthening our operations in Malaysia," explained Jeffrey Merkt, Bostik Senior Vice President of Asia. "This allows us to respond more quickly to changes in market demand and to continue to supply high quality products to the construction sector."

The plant was officially inaugurated at a special ceremony last month.

About Bostik, an Arkema company

Bostik is a leading global adhesive specialist in construction, consumer and industrial markets. For more than a century, it has been developing innovative adhesive solutions that are smarter and more adaptive to the forces that shape daily lives. From cradle to grave, from home to office, Bostik's smart adhesives can be found everywhere. With annual sales of 1.6 billion, the company employs 4,800 people and has a presence in more than 50 countries. For the latest information, visit http://www.bostik.com .

About Arkema

A designer of materials and innovative solutions, Arkema shapes materials and creates new uses that accelerate customer performance. Our balanced business portfolio spans high-performance materials, industrial specialties and coating solutions. Our globally recognized brands are ranked among the leaders in the markets we serve. Reporting annual sales of 7.7 billion in 2015, we employ approximately 19,000 people worldwide and operate in close to 50 countries. We are committed to active engagement with all our stakeholders. Our research centers in North America, France and Asia concentrate on advances in bio-based products, new energies, water management, electronic solutions, lightweight materials and design, home efficiency and insulation. For the latest, visit http://www.arkema.com

SOURCE Bostik
In 2015, over 99% of the UK's 5.4 million companies were small or medium-sized businesses, each employing fewer than 250 people[1]. However this month's BIBA conference programme highlighted once again the significant issue of underinsurance within the segment.

The appointment reflects Chubb's strategy of meeting the different needs of brokers and clients within its core customer segments and its commitment to giving additional focus to the SME segment in the UK and Ireland.

In her new role, Ruth will have overall management responsibility for Chubb's SME portfolio in the region. She will also focus on digital engagement and new technologies, working with key brokers and other business partners to target new business opportunities. Ruth's current focus on customer innovation will also be a key driver in designing new products for the sector.

Ruth's career spans 16 years in insurance and financial services, including five at Chubb. She joined legacy ACE as UK and Ireland Marketing and Communications Manager in 2010 before assuming her current customer strategy role in January 2013. Ruth previously held marketing roles at Equity, Fusion, CLS and EY.

The appointment is effective 1 June 2016 and Ruth will continue to be based in London reporting to David Robinson, Executive Vice President, Europe and President, UK and Ireland.

David Robinson, Executive Vice President, Europe and President, UK and Ireland, said:

"Innovation and new technologies are driving change in the way small businesses obtain insurance protection. This new role reflects Chubb's commitment to anticipating what our brokers and clients need from us  both in terms of the products and how we deliver them.

"Ruth's strong marketing expertise, innovative mindset and propensity to challenge the status quo will be instrumental in creating new ways to support our brokers with SME portfolios. I greatly look forward to working with her in this important new role."

About Chubb

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. The company is distinguished by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength, underwriting excellence, superior claims handling expertise and local operations globally.

Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: new.chubb.com

[1] House of Commons Briefing Paper  Business Statistics/December 2015.

Related Links

http://www.new.chubb.com



SOURCE Chubb
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research, the global VoIP services market was valued at US$ 85.9 Bn in 2015 and is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 9.5% over 2016 - 2024, to reach US$ 194.5 Bn by 2024.

Currently, the global VoIP services market is mainly driven by factors such as low maintenance cost with higher flexibility and minimum staff support, along with wider connectivity, increasing internet penetration in semi-urban and satellite cities as the internet is a basic tool and a global platform to make a business grow fast and in a more economical way. However, factors such as fluctuations in internet quality may affect market growth and can be a prominent restraint. During peak hours, the network may be congested due to many subscribers using internet services in a locality through single-cable network line and unsatisfactory contract proposals are some of the major factors expected to restrain growth of the global VoIP services market during the forecast period.

Browse the full VoIP Services Market report at http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/voip-services-market.asp

In this report, the global VoIP services market has been segmented on the basis of call type, end use, configuration, services, and region. The APAC VoIP services market is expected to account for the highest market value share in the global VoIP services market by 2024 end, followed by Europe. The Latin America VoIP services market is expected to be the fastest growing market over the forecast period. Growth of the Europe VoIP services market is primarily attributed to the introduction of a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. Also, expansion of the unified communication market in Belgium is expected to support growth of the VoIP service market in Europe over the forecast period. The VoIP services market in Europe is expected to increase at a CAGR of 8.4% in terms of value over the forecast period.

The North America VoIP services market is expected to witness moderate growth over the forecast period; it accounted for 27.0% value share of the overall market in 2015 and is expected to register a moderate CAGR of 8.5% in terms of value over the forecast period. Increasing adoption of bring your own device (BYOD) policy is a major factor expected to drive growth of the VoIP services market in North America.

The report provides detailed information about various market trends and offers analysis and insights about the potential of the global VoIP services market. Furthermore, the VoIP services market is segmented on the basis of call type into international long-distance VoIP calls and domestic VoIP calls. International long-distance VoIP services segment is estimated to be the highest contributor to the global VoIP services market in terms of value share by 2016 end, followed by domestic VoIP call segment.

The VoIP services market has also been segmented on the basis of end use into Individual User and Corporate User. Individual User segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the end-use category over the forecast period. The segment is expected to increase at a CAGR of 9.2% over the forecast period in terms of revenue.

To View Sample Report: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4710

Key players in the global VoIP services market include Vonage Holdings Corporation, 8x8 Inc., ShoreTel Nextiva Inc., RingCentral Inc., West Corporation, Verizon Communications Inc., Thinking Phone Networks, Inc., Inphonex LLC, and Phone Power LLC.

To View Full Report TOC: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4710

Contact

Persistence Market Research

U.S. Sales Office:

305 Broadway, 7th Floor

New York City, NY 10007

United States

USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353

Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/persistence-market-research-&-consulting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/persistence_mkt

SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.
HELSINKI, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

BaseN, Global IoT Operator, is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Johan Helsingius as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors as of May 23, 2016. He has served as a board member since 2002.

Johan Helsingius founded the first major commercial ISP in Finland, EUnet, and co-founded the first pan-European ISP, EUnet International. He held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at largest pan-European IP Carrier KPNQwest. He has received the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award and serves in the GNSO Council of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

'Julf is uniquely qualified to lead our industrial strength Board', says Pasi Hurri, Founder, President, CEO and largest shareholder of BaseN. 'His broad technological understanding and entrepreneurial mind are especially valuable now when we strongly boost our global spime operations.'

In addition to Mr. Helsingius, Mr. Berndt Karsten, Mr. Jan Inborr and Mr. Mika Salonen were appointed by the Annual General Meeting to continue in the Board of Directors.

About BaseN

BaseN, established in 2001, is the inherently scalable computing Platform for hosting billions of spimes, the core objects of the Internet of Things. Spime is the permanent logical brain and memory of any physical Thing. BaseN currently handles close to one million spime transactions per second, and enables the transformation from physical products to intelligent services in any industry. http://www.basen.net



Media contact:

Pasi Hurri, CEO, BaseN, pasi.hurri(at)basen.net

Johan Helsingius, Chairman of the Board, BaseN, julf(at)basen.net



SOURCE BaseN Corporation
As enterprises strive to grow their business, security is a top concern. They need a simplified approach. Cloud applications, mobile employees and BYOD policies have forced enterprises to change their approach to defending the perimeter. If you add to this the complex legacy security architectures in place, ballooning security budgets, the tumultuous threat environment and a shortage of qualified security professionals in the industry, enterprises are facing a true challenge. These factors drove Level 3 to build ESG, a secure, efficient solution that leverages Level 3's global fiber footprint, network capacity and comprehensive next-generation security services in its cloud-based gateways. ESG is available globally starting June 30.

Use Case: Redefining the Security Perimeter

With ESG, customers can move the security perimeter from their enterprise or data center to the Level 3 network, simplifying their security infrastructure and realizing operational efficiencies and cost savings.

For example, without ESG, a customer who purchases an on-premise firewall will typically purchase two boxes for each location for redundancy. Along with the initial hardware purchase, the enterprise also will need to pay for maintenance and personnel to manage the box. For an enterprise with multiple locations, these costs add up.

ESG breaks the hardware dependency cycle by moving security to the network. No matter where an employee or office is located, traffic is routed to one of Level 3's globally dispersed gateways, where a collection of security services can be accessed.

Competitive Differences:

ESG uses Level 3's network to provide carrier agnostic, network-based security protection  data on any device at any location through any connection or carrier can be secure.

From anywhere in the world, customers can leverage Level 3's global IP backbone capacity, more than 42 Terabits per second (Tbps), and rich interconnection agreements to access security tools hosted in gateways.

ESG offers multiple carrier-class security services for customers, including anti-malware with sandboxing, data loss protection, application awareness and enforcement and next-generation firewall

ESG is backed by Level 3's threat research, providing actionable intelligence for customers.

Customers select the individual security controls within the gateways they need.

ESG leverages its cloud-based architecture to "future-proof" customer security environments by breaking the hardware dependency cycle.

Key Benefits:

Single Viewpoint: Through Level 3's customer portal, users can view their entire ESG ecosystem, enabling access to a multitude of reports and gateway performance metrics.

Rein in Cost: Security spending has ballooned to 21 percent of IT budgets across most industry sectors, more than doubling over the past two years, according to a March 2016 Forrester report. ESG is an adaptive solution enterprises can use to offset costs and reduce capital investments.

Forrester report. ESG is an adaptive solution enterprises can use to offset costs and reduce capital investments. Uniform Global Security Policy: A network-based security solution is the key to: Simplified management of firewalls and security controls Around-the-clock protection; customers have access to Level 3's 24/7 Security Operations Centers and professionals Decreasing operational complexity to make the most of lean security teams Establishing a flexible environment to enable users to add new controls on demand Scalable deployment of security solutions around the globe The solution offers add-on professional services to help companies assess vulnerabilities, prioritize which technologies are needed to address their most serious risks and assist customers with their migration from premise firewall to the cloud.



Key Quotes:

Frank Dickson, Security Analyst, Frost & Sullivan

"ESG is part of a macro trend within security, moving from a product focus to a solution focus. ESG leverages Level 3's extensive telecom infrastructure to address the key network security pain points of enterprises today: escalating security costs, complex security ecosystems and a scarcity of trained security professionals. By redefining the security perimeter, customers have the ability to apply and leverage an integrated collection of security tools and professionals within the Level 3 network, removing the need for constant on-premise hardware updates while controlling IT budgets. The future is in the cloud; ESG provides a solution for enterprises to strategically leverage the cloud to simplify their security architecture while improving efficacy in the process."

Anthony Christie, Chief Marketing Officer, Level 3

"With today's global launch of Enterprise Security Gateway (ESG), Level 3 continues to enhance our network-based enterprise security solutions portfolio. With ESG, enterprises can fundamentally shift their security perimeter to the Level 3 network cloud where customers can then access a state of the art collection of security solutions, tools and technical expertise. ESG reinforces Level 3's commitment to our customers where everything we do is intended to allow them to grow their business faster, operate their networks more efficiently and to do both in a secure fashion."

Additional Resources:

About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

 Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Level 3 Communications, Level (3) and the Level 3 Logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and elsewhere. Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statement

Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: increase revenue from its services to realize its targets for financial and operating performance; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; avert the breach of its network and computer system security measures; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; manage the future expansion or adaptation of its network to remain competitive; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact Information





Media: Investors: Ashley Pritchard Mark Stoutenberg +1 720-888-5950 +1 720-888-2518 ashley.pritchard@level3.com mark.stoutenberg@level3.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prn/20140908/144115

Related Links

http://www.level3.com



SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc.
ISTANBUL, May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The World Humanitarian Summit has identified key opportunities that exist for more effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders but clear implementation strategies are now needed if we are to better deliver to affected populations in crises, ACT Alliance has said.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371637 )



The alliance, an international faith-based humanitarian and development network of 140 members working in over 100 countries, had a strong delegation of attendees at the Summit which took place on 23-24 May in Istanbul.

ACT Alliance General Secretary John Nduna, welcomed the many statements from member states, fellow NGOs and other stakeholders and at the Summit echoing the commitments the alliance has made towards improved humanitarian response, particularly those relating to increasing the involvement of local and national responders in crises.

"We are pleased that the WHS has seen such support and leadership particularly around the Grand Bargain which saw commitment to increasing funding to local and national responders as directly as possible, and a real understanding of the importance of cash based systems in meeting people's needs," said Nduna. "Local and national responders are the parties that have the closest access to communities, and as ACT Alliance we have also committed to significantly increasing the proportion of our members' humanitarian funding that goes directly to local and national members and their partners, for both humanitarian response and emergency preparedness."

"The Summit has highlighted the opportunities for collaboration among actors for a more effective humanitarian response, and now we as an international community must transform the discussions at this event beyond words into action, in the form of clear implementation and monitoring strategies," he said.

ACT Alliance, which through its global membership responds to around 25 emergency situations around the world each year from natural disasters to conflict-related crises, also welcomed views across stakeholders at the Summit supporting the preservation of humanitarian principles and International Humanitarian Law, with Nduna saying: "The WHS has highlighted the importance of maintaining humanitarian action and recognising the uniqueness of humanitarian action in and of itself."

Notes to Editors:

ACT Alliance 'Commitments toward the World of Humanitarian Summit' http://actalliance.org/act-news/whs2016-commitments/

SOURCE ACT Alliance
CALGARY, Alberta, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

"Apabetalone, a selective bromodomain extra-terminal (BET) protein inhibitor that significantly decreases abundance and activity of complement proteins"

Resverlogix Corp. ("Resverlogix" or the "Company") (TSX:RVX) announces that new data was presented at the ERA-EDTA Congress in Vienna, Austria in a poster titled: "Apabetalone (RVX-208), a Selective Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal (BET) Protein Inhibitor, Decreases Abundance and Activity of Complement Proteins in Vitro, in Mice and in Clinical Studies". The Company is also pleased to announce the formation of an International Renal Clinical Advisory Board (RCAB) for the future development of apabetalone into expanded renal indications.

New Complement Data Announced at ERA-EDTA Congress - Vienna, Austria

The immune system is the body's way of protecting itself from attacking foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, illness, and disease. The complement cascade is part of this protective response, however pathological activation of the cascade underlies multiple human diseases including several inflammatory, autoimmune, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases.

New data demonstrated that when exposed to apabetalone, primary human liver cells significantly downregulate the expression of complement components. This was observed at both the gene expression and protein level, and occurred at steady state (when unstimulated) and when the cells were stimulated with factors known to cause inflammation and immune response activation. This is particularly important in conditions where these factors are overactive or present in excessive quantities. Moreover, in an apabetalone treated mouse model, where mouse liver cells are replaced with human liver cells, reductions in expression of components C4, C9 and MBL2 mRNA of the complement cascade, decreased by 36 percent, 46 percent and 61 percent respectively. To establish if the observed decrease in protein abundance affected activity, hemolytic assays were performed on 11 plasma samples from patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline, and after 26 weeks of apabetalone treatment. Results showed a significant decrease in activity of approximately 26 percent (p<0.01) in both assays. No increase in infections was reported in phase 2 trials.

This effect of apabetalone treatment on complement component expression and cascade activity may have an impact on the pathologic activation of this cascade in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). The potential of apabetalone for the treatment of high-risk diabetes and CKD patients is currently being explored in the Company's Phase 3 BETonMACE clinical study.

Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Chairman of the RCAB, stated, "BET inhibition with apabetalone represents a novel and compelling approach for diabetes and CKD treatment. This data in combination with previously published findings on novel biomarkers and pathways affected by select BET inhibition with known roles in CVD and CKD such as, coagulation, vascular calcification and inflammation, provide a potentially unique and multifactorial approach to disease reduction. The RCAB intend to examine expanded opportunities in renal disease where patients have a significant risk for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as death, stroke, heart failure and myocardial infarction".

"This new data is an important step for the Company as we continue to develop our proprietary BET data for high risk CVD patients and apply these learnings into additional indications in kidney and renal orphan diseases," said Mr. Donald McCaffrey, President and CEO. "The data showing that select BET inhibition is modulating key pathways and proteins known to play a role in renal disease, is directly responsible for attracting world-class leaders in the field of renal disease research to help expand and direct our efforts."

Members of the Resverlogix International Renal Clinical Advisory Board:

Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh (Chair): Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh is Professor and Chief, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at University of California, Irvine. Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh is the founder and director of the Harold Simmons Center for Kidney Disease Research and Epidemiology. Among his numerous appointments in the renal field Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh is Associate Editor of several peer-reviewed journals including Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (NDT), American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD), Cardiorenal Medicine (CRM), Seminars in Dialysis, sarcopenia and Muscle (JCSM), and a member of the editorial board of Journal of Kidney International (KI), Journal of American Society Nephrology (JASN), Nature Reviews Nephrology, American Journal of Nephrology (AJN). Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh has authored 3 textbooks and over 500 peer reviewed publications.

Dr. Carmine Zoccali: Dr. Zoccali is a specialist in Renal Diseases (Pisa University) and Hypertension. Dr. Zoccali's appointments include: Director, Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Renal Transplantation, Ospedali Riuniti, Reggio Cal, Italy; Chief, CNR-IBIM Clinical Epidemiology and Pathophysiology of Renal Diseases and Hypertension; Professor, Postgraduate Schools of Nephrology, Palermo, Catania and Messina Universities. Dr. Zoccali's current editorial positions include: Editor in Chief, Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation, Academic Editor, (Nephrology) PlosOne, and Editorial Board member, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Editorial Board member, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (cJASN) and Editorial Board member, Kidney International (KI). Dr. Zoccali has over 402 papers in international peer-reviewed, Pubmed indexed journals.

Dr. Marcello Tonelli: Dr. Tonelli is Associate Vice-President (Research) at the University of Calgary. Dr. Tonelli was the recipient of the 2013 United States National Kidney Foundation Medal for Distinguished Service and the Kidney Foundation of Canada's 2013 Medal for Research Excellence for changing nephrology practice in Canada and beyond. Along with the two other team co-leads, he received a Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research Award from the CIHR-CMAJ in 2013 for his work with the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration. He was elected a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012 and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2014. He was named a "Highly Cited" researcher in 2015 by Thomson-Reuters, corresponding to a rank in the top 1% by citations of all researchers worldwide for field and publication year.

Dr. Vincent Brandenburg: Dr. Brandenburg is Nephrologist, Associate Professor and Senior Consultant at the Department of Cardiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Vascular Medicine, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Germany. Dr. Brandenburg has been leader of the German Calciphylaxis registry (http://www.calciphylaxie.de) since 2007. He is a board member of the ERA-EDTA scientific working group Chronic Kidney Disease - Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD). Dr. Brandenburg has authored or co-authored over 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals. These articles have had the primary focus upon chronic kidney disease - mineral and bone disorder, cardiorenal syndrome, and calciphylaxis. He is a member of the German and European Societies of Nephrology and the Societies of Cardiology.

Dr. Srinivasan Beddhu: Dr. Beddhu, MD is a tenured Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. Dr. Beddhu received his medical degree from Stanley Medical College, Chennai, India. His clinical and research interests include hypertension, chronic kidney disease progression and complications and end-stage renal disease. Dr. Beddhu's research is funded primarily by NIH grants. He has served in several national committees including NIH panels, American Society of Nephrology Research Committee and NKF clinical practice guidelines committee. Dr. Beddhu has published about 100 articles including peer-reviewed publications, editorials and book chapters.

Dr. Mathias Haarhaus: Dr. Haarhaus is a Consultant Nephrologist at the Department of Nephrology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, where he is head of the Bone and Mineral Program. His research at the Division of Renal Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, mainly focuses on the link between skeletal disorders and cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease, with a special focus on alkaline phosphatase. He is an active member of the Chronic Kidney Disease - Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD) working group of the European Renal Association - European Dialysis and Transplantation Association (ERA-EDTA) and a member of the Guidelines Committee of the Swedish Society of Nephrology.

About Resverlogix

Resverlogix is developing apabetalone (RVX-208), a first-in-class, small molecule that is a selective BET (bromodomain and extra-terminal) inhibitor. BET bromodomain inhibition is an epigenetic mechanism that can regulate disease-causing genes. Apabetalone is the first and only BET inhibitor selective for the second bromodomain (BD2) within the BET protein called BRD4. This selective inhibition of apabetalone on BD2 produces a specific set of biological effects with potentially important benefits for patients with diseases such as high-risk cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), Alzheimer's disease, Orphan diseases, and peripheral artery disease, while maintaining a well described safety profile. Apabetalone is the only selective BET bromodomain inhibitor in human clinical trials, currently in a Phase 3 trial BETonMACE in high-risk CVD patients with type 2 DM and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

Resverlogix common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:RVX).

For further information please visit http://www.resverlogix.com.

Follow us via: Twitter @Resverlogix_RVX (https://twitter.com/resverlogix_rvx), or on our blog at http://www.resverlogix.com/blog

This news release may contain certain forward-looking information as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation, that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions. In particular, this news release includes forward looking information relating to the potential role of apabetalone in the treatment of CVD, DM, CKD, complement component expression, Alzheimer's disease, Orphan diseases, and peripheral artery disease. Our actual results, events or developments could be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We can give no assurance that any of the events or expectations will occur or be realized. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions and risk factors including those discussed in our Annual Information Form and most recent MD&A which are incorporated herein by reference and are available through SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations

Email: ir@resverlogix.com

Phone: 403-254-9252

SOURCE Resverlogix Corp.
HANNOVER, Germany, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Aucotec AG founds new subsidiary in Korea and once again exceeds the previous year's turnover

Aucotec AG, the software company based in Hanover, Germany, has once again enlarged its family by founding Aucotec Korea Ltd. After last year's expansion with two new wholly owned subsidiaries in Sweden and Poland, this year's founding of the new subsidiary is further proof of Aucotec's growth strategy.

The company, which has succeeded in increasing its turnover by almost 80% over the last six years, has been relying for a long time on its global presence. The Seoul-based subsidiary evolved from its cooperation with an experienced CAE sales partner, with which Aucotec had started its involvement in Korea. The partner relied completely on Aucotec's modern software platform and was named "Engineering Base Ltd" after the system.

Important customers acquired

"The partner's success was impressive, and we were not only able to achieve convincing turnover in South Korea, but also acquire hugely important customers," explained Markus Bochynek, Executive Officer for Sales at Aucotec AG upon signing the founding contract in May. This decision of a world market leader in the electronic device sector has already stirred interest among other large companies in the region in Aucotec and its engineering system.

"The major rating agencies see South Korea as being one of the most important global players over the next three decades," said Bochynek. The country has enormous potential and has a very high ranking in terms of trustworthiness and plant safety. "This is also very important to us because we are fully and completely aware of our responsibility towards our employees and business partners," emphasized Aucotec's Executive Officer.

Fastest growing new subsidiary

The Korean subsidiary initially welcomed six highly qualified employees to the Aucotec family, but is already planning to expand due to the level of orders received. "The figures clearly indicate that Aucotec Korea will go down as the fastest growing new subsidiary in our company history," said Bochynek. "This is confirmed by our global presence strategy and local customer support.

With the new subsidiary, the number of employees increases to around 250, while another almost 100 work for Aucotec at minority shareholdings and partners. Last year, the figure had already risen by 10%, with approximately 35% growth in Germany in only six years. Yet again in the financial year 2015/16, the engineering specialists managed to exceed the record turnover of the previous year, as they have succeeded in doing every year since 2011*.

* Final figures are not currently available, but the continued increase in turnover is already certain.

Links to the images:

(These images are protected by copyright. They may be used only for editorial purposes in connection with Aucotec.)

https://www.aucotec.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Company/JKi/Pressemitteilung/Bilder/Markus_Bochynek_und_Roy_Lee.jpg

https://www.aucotec.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Company/JKi/Pressemitteilung/Bilder/Markus_Bochynek_und_Roy_Lee_II.jpg

Roy Lee (at the right), Managing Director of Aucotec Korea, upon signing the contract in Seoul with AG Executive Officer Markus Bochynek ( AUCOTEC AG)

Markus Bochynek, Executive Officer for Sales at Aucotec AG ( AUCOTEC AG)

If printed, we would appreciate receiving a copy. Thank you very much!

Aucotec AG has over 30 years of experience in developing engineering software for the entire life cycle of machines, plants and mobile systems. The solutions range from flow diagrams via control and electrical engineering for large-scale plants to modular harness design in the automotive industry. Aucotec software is in use all over the world. In addition to its headquarters in Hanover, Aucotec operates six further sites in Germany as well as subsidiaries in China, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Poland, Sweden and the US. A global network of partners ensures local support throughout the world.

AUCOTEC AG, Oldenburger Allee 24, 30659 Hannover

Press and Public Relations, Johanna Kiesel (jki@aucotec.com ), +49(0)511-6103-186

SOURCE AUCOTEC AG
DUBLIN, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Alcoholic Beverage Market in the US 2016-2020" report to their offering.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349511LOGO )



About Alcoholic Beverages



Alcoholic beverages are broadly categorized into three types: beer, spirits (distilled beverages), and wine. Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. It is brewed from malted cereals, predominantly barley and wheat, which are mashed and the resultant liquid fermented with yeast. Hops are then added as a preservative and to impart flavor.



The analysts forecast the alcoholic beverages market in the US to grow at a CAGR of 3.51% by revenue, during the period 2016-2020.



Covered in this report

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the alcoholic beverages market in the US 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue from the retail sales of alcoholic beverages in the country. It also includes the market size based on volume, which has been calculated based on the retail consumption of alcoholic beverages.



The report, Alcoholic Beverage Market in the US 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.



Key vendors

- Anheuser-Busch InBev

- D.G. Yuengling & Son

- MillerCoors

- Pabst Brewing

- The Boston Beer Company

- Bacardi

- Beam Suntory

- Brown-Forman

- Diageo

- Pernod Ricard

- Bronco Wine Company

- Constellation Brands

- E.& J. Gallo Wine Company

- Treasury Wine Estates

- The Wine Group



Other prominent vendors

- Altitude Spirits

- Blue Ice Vodka

- Fifth Generation

- Gruppo Campari

- Harpoon Brewery

- Heaven Hill Brands

- Lagunitas Brewing

- Matt Brewing

- McCormick Distilling

- Minhas Craft Brewery

- North West Distillery

- Oskar Blues Brewing

- RS Lipman

- Two James Spirits



Market drivers

- Increasing number of wineries, breweries, and distilleries

- For a full, detailed list, view the full report



Market challenges

- High taxation

- For a full, detailed list, view the full report



Market trends

- Increasing demand for craft beer

- For a full, detailed list, view the full report



Key questions answered in this report

- What will the market size be in 2020 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.



Executive Summary:



The author Announces the Publication of its Research Report - Alcoholic Beverage Market in the US 2016-2020



The author recognizes the following companies as the key players in the Alcoholic Beverage Market in the US by category: Beer - Anheuser-Busch InBev, D.G. Yuengling & Son, MillerCoors, Pabst Brewing, The Boston Beer Company; Spirits - Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Brown-Forman, Diageo, Pernod Ricard; Wine - Bronco Wine Company, Constellation Brands, E.&J. Gallo Wine Company, Treasury Wine Estates, and the Wine Group.



Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Altitude Spirits, Blue Ice Vodka, Fifth Generation, Gruppo Campari, Harpoon Brewery, Heaven Hill Brands, Lagunitas Brewing, Matt Brewing, McCormick Distilling, Minhas Craft Brewery, North West Distillery, Oskar Blues Brewing, RS Lipman, and Two James Spirits.



Commenting on the report, an analyst from the team said: The market for craft beer is on the rise. The craft beer market in the US was valued at $19.6 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $45.4 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 18.3% during the forecast period. Craft or locally brewed beers have a distinctive taste compared with regular beers and are sometimes made from different ingredients and flavors. These are brewed and served in bottles, cans, and kegs. Consumer preference for craft beer has grown and evolved in the US and is an important factor that has contributed to the demand.



According to the report, a key market driver is the rising number of wineries, breweries, and distilleries around the US. Younger consumers increasingly seek variety and exclusivity in alcoholic beverages. This is apparent in their demand for locally brewed beverages like craft beer and flavored alcoholic beverages. In an attempt to cater to this rising demand, existing vendors and new entrants alike have invested in new wineries, breweries, and distilleries. California is the largest state in terms of the number of wineries, with over 4,000 wineries.



Further, the report states that a challenge to the market could be the high taxes levied on spirits and alcohol.



The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.



Key Topics Covered:



PART 01: Executive summary

- Highlights



PART 02: Scope of the report

- Market overview

- Top-vendor offerings



PART 03: Market research methodology

- Research methodology

- Economic indicators



PART 04: Introduction

- Key market highlights



PART 05: Market landscape

- Market overview

- Market size and forecast by revenue

- Market size and forecast by volume

- Five forces analysis



PART 06: Market segmentation by product

- Beer market in US

- Spirits market in US

- Wine market in US

- Alcoholic beverage consumption: Top 10 states in US



PART 07: Market segmentation by distribution channel



PART 08: Market drivers



PART 09: Impact of drivers



PART 10: Market challenges



PART 11: Impact of drivers and challenges



PART 12: Market trends



PART 13: Vendor landscape

- Competitive scenario



PART 14: Beer: Key vendors

- Anheuser-Busch InBev

- D.G. Yuengling & Son

- MillerCoors

- Pabst Brewing

- The Boston Beer Company



PART 15: Spirits: Key vendors

- Bacardi

- Beam Suntory

- Brown-Forman

- Diageo

- Pernod Ricard



PART 16: Wine: Key vendors

- Bronco Wine Company

- Constellation Brands

- E. & J. Gallo Winery

- Treasury Wine Estates

- The Wine Group

- Other prominent vendors



PART 17: About the Author



List of Exhibits

Exhibit 01: Product offerings

Exhibit 02: Production of beer: Value chain

Exhibit 03: Spirits production: Value chain

Exhibit 04: Production of wine: Value chain

Exhibit 05: Overview of alcoholic beverage market in US

Exhibit 06: Alcoholic beverage market in US by revenue 2015-2020 ($ billions)

Exhibit 07: Alcoholic beverage market in US by volume 2015-2020 (billions of liters)

Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis

Exhibit 09: Alcoholic beverage market in US: Product segmentation by revenue 2015-2020

Exhibit 10: Alcoholic beverage market in US: Product segmentation by volume 2015-2020

Exhibit 11: Beer market in US by revenue 2015-2020 ($ billions)

Exhibit 12: Beer market in US by volume 2015-2020 (billions of liters)

Exhibit 13: Market share of craft beer in total beer market in US by revenue 2014-2019

Exhibit 14: Beer imports in US (billions of liters)

Exhibit 15: Beer market in US: Segmentation by product

Exhibit 16: Spirits market in US by revenue 2015-2020 ($ billions)

Exhibit 17: Spirits market in US by volume 2015-2020 (billions of liters)

Exhibit 18: Import of distilled spirits in US (millions of liters)

Exhibit 19: Spirits market in US: Segmentation by product 2015

Exhibit 20: Spirits market in US: Segmentation by price

Exhibit 21: Disposable income in US 2012-2015($)

Exhibit 22: Wine market in US by revenue 2015-2020 ($ billions)

Exhibit 23: Wine market in US by volume (billions of liters)

Exhibit 24: Wine market in US: Segmentation by product

Exhibit 25: Alcoholic beverage consumption: Top 10 states in US 2014

Exhibit 27: Alcoholic beverage market in US by distribution channel 2015

Exhibit 28: Number of convenience stores in US 2011-2015

Exhibit 29: Alcoholic beverage market in US: Percentage of open and closed states

Exhibit 30: Percentage share of millennials in US population

Exhibit 31: Per capita disposable income in US 2012-2015 ($)

Exhibit 32: Per capita expenditure on alcohol of population over 15 years ($)

Exhibit 33: Number of wineries in California 2011-2014

Exhibit 34: Number of wineries and breweries in US 2012-2015

Exhibit 35: Top five states in US in terms of number of breweries 2015

Exhibit 36: Impact of drivers

Exhibit 37: Comparison of state excise tax on spirits 2007-2013 ($ per gallon)

Exhibit 38: Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 39: Number of craft breweries in US 2012-2014

Exhibit 40: Top five states in US with highest number of new breweries 2014

Exhibit 41: Market ranking of top five beer manufacturers in US

Exhibit 42: Market ranking of top five spirits manufacturers in US

Exhibit 43: Market ranking of top five wine manufacturers in US

Exhibit 44: D.G. Yuengling & Son: Business segmentation

Exhibit 45: Product segmentation

Exhibit 46: Pabst Brewing products

Exhibit 47: The Boston Beer Company: Business segmentation

Exhibit 48: Beam Suntory: Product segmentation

Exhibit 49: Pernod Ricard manufacturing facilities

Exhibit 50: Product segmentation

Exhibit 51: Treasury Wine Estates in US

Exhibit 52: Wines brands in US

Exhibit 53: Product portfolio of Wine Group



Companies Mentioned



- Altitude Spirits

- Anheuser-Busch InBev

- Bacardi

- Beam Suntory

- Blue Ice Vodka

- Bronco Wine Company

- Brown-Forman

- Constellation Brands

- D.G. Yuengling & Son

- Diageo

- E.& J. Gallo Wine Company

- Fifth Generation

- Gruppo Campari

- Harpoon Brewery

- Heaven Hill Brands

- Lagunitas Brewing

- Matt Brewing

- McCormick Distilling

- MillerCoors

- Minhas Craft Brewery

- North West Distillery

- Oskar Blues Brewing

- Pabst Brewing

- Pernod Ricard

- RS Lipman

- The Boston Beer Company

- The Wine Group

- Treasury Wine Estates

- Two James Spirits



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9qphqc/alcoholic

About Research and Markets:

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716



SOURCE Research and Markets
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced that 10 students pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) will receive award scholarships of $10,000. These young men and women are recognized for their admirable commitment to continuing their education and serving their communities, despite facing adversity.

Honeywell wholly funds the scholarship program through Honeywell Hometown Solutions, its corporate citizenship initiative. In partnership with Horatio Alger Association, the Honeywell Scholarship program is available to college freshmen enrolled at Honeywell Partner schools or Horatio Alger Collegiate Partner schools. To qualify for the Honeywell Scholarship, applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0, exhibit strong character and academic promise and display perseverance in overcoming significant personal adversity.

"We are pleased to present the Honeywell Scholarship Program for the third consecutive year in partnership with Horatio Alger Association," said David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell who was inducted as a Horatio Alger Lifetime Member in 2014. "There is a growing need for our nation's young people to pursue STEM fields, and the partnership between Honeywell and Horatio Alger Association enables students interested in these professions to overcome life challenges and further their education. I am honored to make a difference in the lives of these inspiring students and proud of the intellect and determination exhibited by the 2016 class of Honeywell Scholars."

In addition to the 10 recipients of the Honeywell Scholarship, Horatio Alger Association also announced that six students have been selected for Honeywell's summer internship program. The program selects Horatio Alger Scholars who are entering their senior year of study to participate in a prestigious internship at various Honeywell locations across the country. Internship assignments range from cross-business projects and individual research assignments to design and innovation development. Honeywell has set a goal to convert 60 percent of these interns into full-time employees.

The 2016 Horatio Alger Honeywell Scholarship recipients have maintained an average GPA of 3.65 while coming from households with an average annual income of $20,535.

"The partnership between Honeywell and Horatio Alger Association is a wonderful example of the unwavering support and dedication that Association Members provide to our Scholars," said Byron D. Trott, president, Horatio Alger Association. "David Cote is an outstanding leader and an exceptional role model for America's youth. We are grateful for his generosity and continued support of the Association's important mission to ensure the American Dream for future generations."

Horatio Alger Association was founded in 1947, and since 1984, it has administered one of the nation's largest privately-funded, need-based scholarship programs. The Association has awarded more than $125 million in undergraduate, graduate and specialized scholarships to students from across the United States (including all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) and Canada. In 2000, 16 years after the establishment of its National Scholarship Program, Horatio Alger Members began funding scholarships concentrated in each state to further the Association's mission of helping deserving young people pursue their collegiate goals.

For a complete list of the 2016 Honeywell Scholars, please click here. For more information about Horatio Alger Association please visit https://www.horatioalger.org. To engage on social media, please "Like" the organization on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/HoratioAlgerUS).

About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans:

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, the Association awards more than $12 million annually in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships across the United States and Canada and provides college support and mentoring services to its Scholars. Since 1984, the Association has awarded more than $125 million in college scholarships to more than 22,000 deserving young people. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

CONTACT:

McKenna Young

484-385-2913 (office)

[email protected]

SOURCE Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.horatioalger.org


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Twelve percent of banking CEOs surveyed say they do not have insight into whether their institution's security has been compromised by a cyber attack in the past two years, according to KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm. KPMG's 2016 Banking Outlook Survey also shows that there is a clear disconnect between how the C-Suite views cyber security versus the next tier of executives.

The full report: "The Need For Speed," can be accessed at: http://www.kpmg.com/us/2016bankingindustryoutlooksurvey.

KPMG surveyed 100 bank executives -- representing banks in excess of $20 billion in assets  and found disparities around the awareness of hacks, company vulnerabilities and top concerns in the event of a breach at the bank.

While 12 percent of CEOs don't know if they've been hacked in the past two years, the lack of awareness only grows when compared to the next level of executives. Approximately 47 percent of banking executive vice presidents and managing directors reported that they didn't know if their bank had been hacked, and 72 percent of senior vice presidents and directors stated that they didn't know.

"Banks are under an onslaught of attacks from bad actors, so the fact that 12% of banking CEOs reported that they don't know if they've been compromised is troublesome. Cyber is a business bottom-line issue: a true CEO issue," said Charlie Jacco, Financial Services Cyber Leader at KPMG. "While CEOs may be more privy to information regarding the exact number of cyber technology deployment and hack attempts, all employees should know and be in lock-step on their bank's greatest vulnerabilities and concerns as it pertains to how that bank views cyber security. The data shows, on a leadership level, a strong difference in opinions."

Greatest Vulnerabilities in Your Organization's Data Security



Top Vulnerability Second Vulnerability CEOs - Sharing Data with Third Parties (49%) - External Attackers (47%) EVP  MDs - Sharing Data with Third Parties (59%) - External Attackers (56%) SVP  Directors - External Attackers (72%) - Sharing Data with Third Parties (28%)

Top Concerns in the Event of a Breach



Top Concern Second Concern Third Concern CEOs - Financial Loss (26%) - Reputation (21%) - Litigation (21%) - Job Security (21%) - Regulatory Enforcement (12%) EVP  MDs - Reputation (53%) - Financial Loss (25%) - Regulatory Enforcement (13%) SVP  Directors - Reputation (60%) - Financial Loss (24%) - Regulatory Enforcement (4%) - Job Security (4%) - Litigation (4%)

"A disconnect around cyber strategy among senior executives, can create great gaps in protections and deprioritize important tasks exposing banks to increased cyber risks," says Jitendra Sharma, KPMG's Advisory Line of Business Leader for Financial Services. "Naturally, banks are the top industry attacked by hackers due to the amount of funds flowing through the institutions. Since banks are under increased security pressures, it's more important than ever that they employ a strong, top-down internal strategy to better protect themselves against bad actors."

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's member firms have 174,000 professionals, including more than 9,000 partners in 155 countries.

Contact:

Michael Adorno

KPMG LLP

O  201-505-6461

[email protected]

@mikeadorno

SOURCE KPMG LLP

Related Links

http://www.kpmg.com/us


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Four times a year, the Belief Awards honors the very best weddings around the globe produced by top wedding planners. After poring over more than 260 submissions, a group of judges carefully narrowed the finalists down to 12 winners. On this edition, a great variety of weddings received the awards  from destination weddings to local ceremonies.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371475

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371476

Winning a Belief Awards is one of the highest honors a wedding planner can receive. "We are excited to celebrate such a top-notch group of professionals for the Belief Awards 3rd edition. Each of the wedding planners recognized is committed with quality and expertise," says Giovana Duailibe, executive director of Belief.

Meet the winners by continent

Belief Awards has two main categories - Wedding Concept, featuring great wedding experiences, and Special Photo, created for a unique moment, detail or design. Wedding planners from 16 countries worldwide submitted their projects. The winners were:

Africa

South Africa

Victoria Jackson: she planned a romantic wedding on the countryside and was awarded on the Wedding Concept Category.

America

Ecuador

Carolina Muzo: she is one of the winners in the Wedding Concept Category. For this edition, she presented a romantic daytime wedding.

Guatemala

Ingrid Labbe: she attends national and international weddings. Ingrid was a winner on both categories  Wedding Concept and Special Photo.

Astrid Labbe Bianchi: she works together with Ingrid and was awarded on the Special Photo category with a beautiful Hindu wedding.

Mexico

Cecilia Pineda Rosas: she was one of the winners on both categories of Belief Awards with a luxurious nightly wedding.

Guadalupe Alvarez: she had two photos awarded  both of them showing traditions from Mexican weddings.

United States

Carolee Higashino: on this edition, she had a picture of a couple in a beautiful Hawaiian landscape awarded.

Asia

Thailand

Jeanette Skelton: she received an award for a stunning Asian beach wedding.

Europe

Italy

Serena Ranieri: she came up with an impressive wedding which included a circus presentation.

Valentina Lombardi: she impressed the juries with an amazing snowy wedding.

Portugal

Rui Mota Pinto: he presented a wedding at an incredible and luxurious venue.

Middle East

Lebanon

Nemer Jreige: he was one of the winners on the Wedding Concept category, with a great work of lighting and decor.

About Belief International Wedding Planners

Based in New York City, Belief Wedding Planners is an international network for wedding planners. Belief's main goal is to uphold the highest standards in wedding planning, by encouraging professionals to develop their careers. As just the best wedding planners are approved to be part of the group, Belief is also a reliable source for brides and grooms who are planning destination weddings all over the world.

CHECK OUT THE RESULTS OF THE THIRD EDITION OF BELIEF AWARDS AND GET INSPIRED!

Media contact:

Marina Pastore

(516) 698-7943





SOURCE Belief Wedding Planners

Related Links

http://www.beliefweddingplanners.com


IRVINE, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- When is a headlight more than just a headlight? When it pierces through the night, letting oncoming traffic know exactly what you're driving without having to see any other part of the vehicle. When it's as much a status symbol as it is a safety system. And when it comes equipped on the 2016 Mazda CX-9, the only midsize, three-row crossover SUV in its class1 with standard LED headlights and tail lights.

2016 Mazda CX-9 Lights the Way with Class-Exclusive Standard LED Lighting

With its signature lighting, CX-9 carries a sense of presence usually reserved for much more expensive vehicles. Its high-tech LED lighting has the added benefit of greater visibility and more even light distribution than previous-generation systems, too.

As with all of the SKYACTIV-generation vehicles, the 2016 CX-9 was created using "Monotsukuri Innovation"bundled planning with each design and engineering departments working alongside market research to create their ideal family crossover.

"From a design perspective, the LED lights allowed for a slim contouring of the lamps demonstrating the appropriate stealth attitude of the front fascia," said Julien Montousse, director of design, MNAO. "The LED connection to our light-up 'Signature Wing' from the grille widens into a five-point shielda look that clearly signifies CX-9 as taking Mazda upmarket."

From an engineering perspective, CX-9's low-beam headlights produce 900 lumens per unitabout twice the output of a comparable halogen headlight. Overall, CX-9's headlights are about 35-percent brighter than a standard halogen unit and can throw light 10-percent farther than a comparable xenon HID unit.

Because of the LED headlight's versatility, engineers were able to package both low- and high-beam lights in a single housing for a clean look. Additionally, LED headlights run cooler than either halogen or xenon headlights, offering what is expected to be greater long-term durability.

"LED lights are a perfect marriage of form and function, allowing Mazda's designers greater creativity and our engineers more space underneath the sheetmetal to lower vehicle weight and strengthen vehicle body structures," said Kelvin Hiraishi, director of engineering, MNAO. "Best of all, they provide drivers real, tangible benefits that customers can see and use."

Under Mazda Corporation's safety philosophy, LED headlights were seen as a solution toward reaching an ideal amount of lightilluminating the road as if it were daylight outside.

LED tail lights work in similar fashion, lighting up quicker than traditional halogen bulbs in emergency situations as to help prevent rear-end collisions.

Not limited to the exterior of CX-9, Grand Touring and Signature models feature all-LED interior lighting, including overhead and accent lights that complement CX-9's horizontally swept door and dashboard panels.

"People could drive any ordinary crossover for years and never fall in love with it," said Montousse. "With CX-9, we wanted to create more than just a family vehicle; we wanted to create an experience. Every time you get behind the wheel, from the Nappa leather and rosewood details to the white glow of its lighting, we wanted to make drivers and passengers feel special. I believe we succeeded."

The 2016 Mazda CX-9 is on sale now with a starting MSRP2 of $31,520.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com.

___________________________________

1 The class is defined as non-luxury 2016 model year midsize, three-row, crossover sport utility vehicles available for sale in the United States.

2 MSRP does not include $900 for destination and handling ($945 in Alaska) or additional taxes and fees. Dealers set actual sale prices.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371660

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131205/MM28870LOGO

SOURCE Mazda North American Operations

Related Links

http://www.mazdausa.com


Chief Joseph G. Yahner , Phoenix ;

, ; Gregory A. Thomas , President, NOBLE;

, President, NOBLE; Chief David O. Brown , Dallas ;

, ; Chief Antonio Brooklen , Miami Gardens, Fla. ;

, ; Deputy Chief Vicki Foster , Charlotte-Mecklenburg , N.C.; and

, , N.C.; and Assistant Chief Mattie Provost , Houston .

Alan "AP" Powell, Founder, Checkered Flag Run Foundation said: "We are enthusiastic about the second year of The Bridge Forum after a critically acclaimed first year with terrific leadership that literally comes to the table."

Kerwin V. Brown, President & CEO of Black Chamber of Arizona said: "The significance of police participation is considerable given the perceptions of community policing in many parts of the country. The Bridge Forum is a dynamic gathering we are proud to host in Arizona, and deliver it as a model for other parts of the country."

Special guests include Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton; Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery; Carlyle Holder, President, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice; Lamont Robinson, Vice President, Supplier Diversity, Nielsen; Byron T. Jones, Chief Financial Officer, University of Phoenix; Cloves C. Campbell Jr., Chairman Emeritus of NNPA, Director of Arizona Commission on African-American Affairs; and Gregory A. Thomas, President of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

Topics include community engagement, multicultural awareness and conflict management. The invitation-only event seeks to improve police and community relations in the wake of officer-involved shootings.

In 2015, James A. "Spider" Marks, Executive Dean CSCJ, University of Phoenix and Major General (US Army Ret.) was moderator with police from Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Miami Cleveland, Miami and Oakland.

About Checkered Flag Run Foundation ("CFRF"). Founded by U.S. Army Desert Storm veteran Alan "AP" Powell, the mission is to deliver diverse educational programs that impact underserved students. Access to quality educational opportunities ensures every student getting to cross the "finish line".

About the Black Chamber of Arizona ("BCA"). The mission of BCA is to improve the economic development of business entrepreneurs and the communities they serve.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372129

SOURCE Checkered Flag Run Foundation

Related Links

http://www.thebridgeforum.com


PUNE, India, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "3D Concrete Printing Market Product Type (Walls, Floors & Roofs, Panels & Lintels), Concrete Type (Ready-Mix, High-Density, Precast, Shotcrete), Software (Design, Inspection, Printing), End-Use Sector (Architectural, Industrial, Domestic) - Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, The market is projected to grow from USD 24.5 Million in 2015 to USD 56.4 Million by 2021, at a CAGR of 15.02%.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 181 market data Tables with 44 Figures spread through 193 Pages and in-depth TOC on "3D Concrete Printing Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/3d-concrete-printing-market-10362292.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The 3D Concrete Printing Market is projected to witness significant growth in the next few years with the increasing demand for new constructions all over the world due to rapid urbanization and industrialization with increased investments in the infrastructural developments in emerging markets. The 3D concrete printing process saves between 30% and 60% of construction waste, can reduce production time by 50% to 70%, and reduce labour costs by 50% to 80%. Growing interest in green construction and the significant savings that 3D concrete printing provide, compared with traditional buildings methods, have increased the demand for this technology.

Use of walls in construction sector is projected to increase during the forecast period

Walls made using 3D concrete printers are capable of creating concrete objects with great detail and precision, making it possible to conveniently construct advanced concrete walls with the push of a button. Moreover, walls that are constructed on-site using 3D concrete printer result in zero waste and are less time consuming. Thus, walls are account for a large share in the construction sector as compared to other product types. 3D concrete printing uses energy-efficient technologies, which has gained increased momentum and exposure in the construction market. Potential advantages of 3D concrete printing include quicker construction, lower labour cost, and lesser waste generation.

Domestic construction segment is projected to be the fastest-growing segment of 3D Concrete Printing Market during the forecast period

3D Concrete Printing Market, by end-use sector, is classified into three segments, namely, domestic construction, industrial construction, and architectural construction. The domestic construction segment accounted for the largest market share in 2015 due to the rising demand in residential and commercial construction, increasing demand for eco-friendly and smart constructions, increased investment in commercial developments, and growing urbanization. 3D concrete printing is transforming the domestic construction segment, with a less expensive process and affordable housing solutions. Lower material usage and lower labour costs create a less expensive construction method, which in turn creates lower-cost buildings.

Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=10362292

Asia-Pacific to play a key role in the 3D Concrete Printing Market

The growth in Asia-Pacific region is driven by factors such as the rising environmental concerns, increasing awareness towards sustainable construction, efforts towards standardization, expanding application segments, increasing urbanized population in China and India, along with the growth in disposable income in these countries are driving the growth of the Asia-Pacific 3D Concrete Printing Market.

At a global level, companies such as DUS Architects (the Netherlands), Fosters+Partners (U.K.), and WinSun Global (China) are providing 3D concrete printing services. Large construction players such as LafargeHolcim (France), Balfour Beatty PLC (U.K.), Kier Group PLC (U.K.), and Carillon PLC (U.K.) have scope to enter into 3D concrete printing services.

The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors influencing the growth of the 3D Concrete Printing Market such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. A detailed analysis of the key industry players has been conducted to provide insights into their business overview, products & services, key strategies, new product launches, agreements, and recent developments associated with the 3D Concrete Printing Market.

Browse Related Reports

Vacuum Insulation Panels Market by Core Material Type (Silica, Fiberglass, others), Type (Flat, Special Shape), Raw material (Silica, Fiberglass, Plastic, Metal, others), Application (Construction, Cooling & freezing devices, Logistics, Others) - Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/vacuum-insulation-panel-market-93263160.html

Precast/Prefabricated Construction Market by Product Type (Floors & Roofs, Walls, Columns & Beams, Others), Construction Type (Modular, Manufactured, Others), End-Use Sector (Residential, Non-Residential, Infrastructure, Others), Region - Trends & Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/prefabricated-construction-market-125074015.html

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.

We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.

Contact:

Mr. Rohan

Markets and Markets

UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ

Magarpatta city, Hadapsar

Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India

1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets



SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
FT rankings are renowned worldwide for its stringent criteria and high standards. The 2016 ranking lists 85 customized programs and 75 open-enrollment programs throughout the world. Key indicators for customized programs consist of corporate surveys, ten indexes rated by companies that commissioned executive courses, and five criteria reported by business schools.

The college became the worldwide leader in Value for Money, a rating for the program's design, teaching and materials, and likelihood of Future Use, which measures the clients' willingness to reuse the same program or re-commission the same school for other customized programs in the future.

ACEM also scored high in such areas as Follow-up (No.2 in the world), which evaluates the extent and effectiveness of follow-up offered after the course participants returned to their workplaces, along with Preparation, Program design, Teaching methods & materials and Faculty (all ranked No.7).

'Executive education is an effective platform for ACEM to undertake social responsibility and support business development. The program aims at educating innovative leaders capable of pioneering in today's business practices and shaping the future of the world. We help enhance corporate competitiveness and promote economic development by fostering better executives,' said Dean Zhou Lin.

Executive education offers non-degree programs in business training either tailor-made for corporate customers or available to all managers. ACEM is dedicated to facilitating collaborations between universities, governments and businesses and establishing creative education models. From analyzing macro-economic policies to adopting supply-side reform, from Internet+ and industry upgrading to shifting business models in the age of new media, from talent rearing and long-term incentive building to applying cutting-edge technology to day-to-day company management. ACEM has provided first-class executive training to more than 1,000 companies and 80,000 students.

ACEM's executive program let participants learn to resolve disputes between official policies and business operations, reflect on the pros and cons of government decision making and company transformation, and search for viable solutions and creative management ideas. The research and consulting arm was set up, conducting an in-depth survey of companies and timely analysis on hot business issues under the support of an elite team of experts, and forging productive strategic partnerships with many new clients.

The program has also been admitted as the latest member to The International University Consortium for Executive Education, a global consortium of business-school-based executive education organizations aiming at enhancing global organizational performances.

Following the One Belt One Road Initiative launched by the Chinese government, the executive education team has also successfully held four highly-praised ASEAN CEO Programs in Singapore, helping local businessmen gain a better understanding of the Chinese market. Programs in places such as Malaysia and Indonesia are in the pipe line.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371893

SOURCE Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, and Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu will headline the World Leaders Plenary at the AJC Global Forum 2016.

The AJC Global Forum is the advocacy organization's signature annual event, currently bringing together more than 2,600 participants from across the United States and 70 countries around the world. This year's Global Forum marks 110 years since AJC's founding, and the attendance is the highest in the agency's history.

"Our annual Global Forum is a unique, energizing, highly informative experience, a must for engaged Jewish advocates," said AJC CEO David Harris. The AJC Global Forum will take place June 5-7, in Washington, D.C. The program is available at www.ajc.org/globalforum.

Among the other world leaders who will speak during the 48-hour conference are Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Corker (R-TN); MK Isaac Herzog, chair of the Zionist Union and head of the opposition in the Israeli Knesset; Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer; Ilir Meta, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament; and Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator on combating anti-Semitism.

Yossi Klein Halevi, Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, will kick off the AJC Global Forum on June 5 with an address on the "Jewish World of Tomorrow," followed by a panel discussion with Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic; Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations; and Julia Ioffe of Politico.

For the seventh annual AJC Global Forum "Great Debate," U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) and Republican strategist Dan Senor, author of Start-Up Nation, will make the case for which political party Jewish voters should favor in this year's elections.

Confronting rising anti-Semitism will be addressed by MP John Mann of the British Labour Party, recipient of AJC's Jan Karski Award in 2009, and the mayors of Baltimore, MD, Newton, MA, and Thessaloniki, Greece, three of the 497 U.S. and European mayors who signed AJC's Mayors United Against Anti-Semitism statement.

Leading Israeli journalists will discuss the future of the Jewish state. They are Boaz Bismuth of Israel Hayom, Herb Keinon of The Jerusalem Post, Amir Oren of Haaretz, and Dana Weiss of Israel TV Channel 2.

Three college students will share their experiences confronting the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel on campus: Anthony Berteaux of San Diego State University; Daniella Greenbaum of Barnard College; and Jonathan Kamel of Northwestern University.

The ongoing mistreatment of Israel at the UN will be explored by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon in conversation with AJC CEO David Harris. Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor will also be participating in several sessions.

During the Global Forum, AJC will present its prestigious Moral Courage Award to three remarkable individuals:

Vian Dakhil , a Yazidi member of Iraq's Parliament, whose impassioned speech to fellow lawmakers in August 2014 garnered international attention to the ISIS genocide of the Yazidis.

, a Yazidi member of Parliament, whose impassioned speech to fellow lawmakers in garnered international attention to the ISIS genocide of the Yazidis. Michel Bacos , the pilot of the Air France jet hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda , 40 years ago, who refused to obey the terrorists' directive to leave with the released non-Jewish passengers, and instead stayed with the Jewish, mostly Israeli, hostages.

, the pilot of the Air France jet hijacked to Entebbe, , 40 years ago, who refused to obey the terrorists' directive to leave with the released non-Jewish passengers, and instead stayed with the Jewish, mostly Israeli, hostages. Tzvi Har-Nevo , the lead navigator in the July 4, 1976 , Israeli commando Entebbe rescue operation that freed 91 passengers and the Air France crew.

In addition, a special highlight each year for AJC Global Forum attendees is the opportunity to engage with top officials directly in a series of private dinners. This year there are more than 40 such dinners with ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Among those participating in this year's AJC Global Forum will be all 50 consuls general of Mexico serving in the U.S.; diplomats from many countries stationed in Brussels and Israel; student leaders from the European Union of Jewish Students, World Union of Jewish Students, and other international student groups; a large delegation of Muslim students from Azerbaijan; and hundreds of members of ACCESS, AJC's young leadership program.

Moreover, AJC Global Forum attendees will participate in informational and training sessions before leaving the hotel on Tuesday afternoon for advocacy sessions on Capitol Hill.

Earlier on Sunday, June 5, before the AJC Global Forum officially opens, AJC ACCESS members will gather for a round of sessions. In addition, more than 130 college and university students attending the AJC Global Forum will convene for an afternoon of workshops dedicated to their particular concerns.

AJC, founded in 1906 and with headquarters in New York, maintains 22 regional offices across the United States, 10 overseas posts, and 32 international associations.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


Home-sharing companies represent an evolving economy, which creates new protection needs for homeowners considering renting out their homes on a temporary basis. With participation in the home-sharing economy expected to quadruple over the next few years, Allstate is preparing to help customers be better protected when they choose to be home-sharing hosts.

"This new level of protection is a continuation of Allstate's innovative spirit when it comes to personalizing the customer experience and being a leader in our industry," says Allstate Senior Vice President of Product Management Julie Parsons. "We're excited to be first-to-market with this unique coverage option that can help our customers be a part of the home-sharing economy."

Pending regulatory approval, here's how Allstate's HostAdvantageSM endorsement will work:

It helps fill some of the personal property protection gaps that may exist in a typical homeowners policy for customers who occasionally rent out their homes to temporary renters. The endorsement will help protect homeowners from unexpected out-of-pocket expenses. For example, if a home-sharing renter destroys some furniture or steals electronics.

The homeowners deductible still applies, but hosts are covered for their personal property up to $10,000 per rental period, subject to the policy terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions.

per rental period, subject to the policy terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions. HostAdvantage protection can be added to an Allstate homeowners policy for around $50 per year in the initial six states.

While some home-sharing companies like Airbnb or HomeAway may have coverage options for their hosts, Allstate's HostAdvantage targets the specific needs of its customers who participate in home-sharing and provides a trusted brand that enhances a customer's current homeowner policy. Allstate anticipates making this protection available in additional states in 2017.

"Generally speaking, home insurance is pretty broad with respect to coverage for the house itself, so many losses that might occur in an occasional rental situation could be covered," says Parsons. "But, personal property coverage doesn't necessarily work the same way. So, if your tenants decide to throw a party and damage your stuff, you'll want to know what might be covered in advance."

Allstate offers a few tips to keep in mind for anyone who chooses to occasionally rent out their home to temporary tenants:

Consider making an "owner's closet" in your home where you can lock up any valuables or home goods you don't want your tenants to have access to while they're in your home.

Make sure you have an updated record of your personal belongings in the home. Allstate has a free tool called Digital Locker that allows you to take an inventory of the contents in your home and store it electronically so you have a record if anything happens. Any consumer can use Digital Locker, not just Allstate customers.

Take the opportunity to have a coverage review session with an Allstate agency owner before renting out your home.

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance offered through its Allstate, Esurance, Encompass and Answer Financial brand names. Now celebrating its 85th anniversary as an insurer, Allstate is widely known through the slogan "You're In Good Hands With Allstate." The Allstate brand's network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services to customers in the United States and Canada. In 2015, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate, its employees and agency owners gave $36 million to support local communities. Allstate employees and agency owners donated 230,000 hours of service across the country.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130404/MM88193-b

SOURCE Allstate Insurance Company

Related Links

http://www.allstate.com


AGOURA HILLS, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH), a leading provider of high quality single-family rental homes ("the Company"), today posted the revised "Home Price Appreciation Factor" and "Home Price Appreciation Amount" through March 31, 2016, as those terms are defined in the final prospectuses for the Company's 5% Series A, 5% Series B and 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares (NYSE: AMHPRA, AMHPRB and AMHPRC). The computations of these amounts are based on the results of the House Price Index of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, known as the Quarterly Purchase-Only Index, or POI, specifically the non-seasonally adjusted "Purchase-Only Index" for the "100 Largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas" as of March 31, 2016, which was released May 25, 2016.

Based on the weighting among our top 20 markets established under the terms of our 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares, cumulative home price appreciation for the period from June 30, 2013 to March 31, 2016 was 17.15%, resulting in a Home Price Appreciation Factor of 8.58%. The Home Price Appreciation Amount on our 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares through March 31, 2016 was $2.144.

Additionally, based on the weighting among our top 20 markets established under the terms of our 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares, cumulative home price appreciation for the period from December 31, 2013 to March 31, 2016 was 14.08%, resulting in a Home Price Appreciation Factor of 7.04%. The Home Price Appreciation Amount on our 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares through March 31, 2016 was $1.761.

The computation of these amounts appears at the end of this press release and has also been posted to the "For Investors" page of the Company's website (www.americanhomes4rent.com). The Company anticipates announcing the next update to these amounts in approximately three months.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of March 31, 2016, we owned 47,955 single-family properties in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements relate to beliefs, expectations or intentions and similar statements concerning matters that are not of historical fact and are generally accompanied by words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "potential," "plan," "goal" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Examples of forward-looking statements contained in this press release include the anticipated timing of the next update of the Home Price Appreciation Amount. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the Company's management considers these expectations to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations, unless required by applicable law. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see the "Risk Factors" disclosed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K in the Company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

Measurement of Aggregate HPA Amount Per 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Share (1) March 31, 2016





June 30, 2013 March 31, 2016 Metropolitan Statistical Area Relative Weighting Applied in Determining HPA Actual POI Value (2) Assigned Baseline Value Actual POI Value POI Value Relative to Jun 30, 2013 Baseline Dallas  Plano  Irving, TX 4.754% 194.12 100 243.47 25.42% Fort Worth  Arlington, TX 4.754% 180.86 100 214.83 18.78% Indianapolis, IN 8.880% 164.50 100 179.26 8.97% Greater Chicago Area, IL 7.679% 182.20 100 194.16 6.56% Atlanta, GA 7.545% 174.20 100 210.35 20.75% Nashville, TN 6.390% 230.70 100 276.00 19.64% Houston, TX 6.312% 241.20 100 282.95 17.31% Cincinnati, OH 6.119% 166.30 100 179.23 7.78% Salt Lake City, UT 5.495% 323.90 100 369.36 14.04% Tampa, FL 5.361% 209.60 100 263.40 25.67% Charlotte, NC 5.354% 186.80 100 219.19 17.34% Phoenix, AZ 5.270% 232.50 100 285.88 22.96% Jacksonville, FL 4.776% 211.70 100 252.14 19.10% Las Vegas, NV 4.371% 133.30 100 178.96 34.25% Raleigh, NC 4.040% 197.10 100 228.09 15.72% Columbus, OH 3.167% 178.90 100 198.92 11.19% Orlando, FL 3.036% 180.00 100 225.47 25.26% Tucson, AZ 1.867% 206.70 100 225.44 9.07% Greensboro, NC 1.789% 161.00 100 170.51 5.91% Austin, TX 1.550% 316.10 100 397.43 25.73% San Antonio, TX 1.490% 226.50 100 262.17 15.75%











Cumulative HPA



0.00%

17.15%











HPA Factor (50% Cumulative HPA)



0.00%

8.58%











HPA Amount







$ 2.144



(1) The Actual POI Value and HPA Amount for each quarter since the issuance of the 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares are available on the Company's website on the "For Investors" page.

(2) Actual POI Value as of June 30, 2013 represents the value as published in the POI for each market as of October 18, 2013 and will remain constant for purposes of calculating the HPA Amount, notwithstanding any subsequent revisions by the FHFA.

Measurement of Aggregate HPA Amount Per 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Share March 31, 2016





December 31, 2013 March 31, 2016 Metropolitan Statistical Area Relative Weighting Applied in Determining HPA Actual POI Value (1) Assigned Baseline Value Actual POI Value POI Value Relative to Dec 31, 2013 Baseline Dallas  Plano  Irving, TX 4.754% 198.79 100 243.47 22.48% Fort Worth  Arlington, TX 4.754% 186.40 100 214.83 15.25% Indianapolis, IN 8.880% 165.40 100 179.26 8.38% Greater Chicago Area, IL 7.679% 185.58 100 194.16 4.62% Atlanta, GA 7.545% 179.66 100 210.35 17.08% Nashville, TN 6.390% 237.75 100 276.00 16.09% Houston, TX 6.312% 251.00 100 282.95 12.73% Cincinnati, OH 6.119% 166.16 100 179.23 7.87% Salt Lake City, UT 5.495% 323.59 100 369.36 14.14% Tampa, FL 5.361% 218.28 100 263.40 20.67% Charlotte, NC 5.354% 193.47 100 219.19 13.29% Phoenix, AZ 5.270% 247.72 100 285.88 15.40% Jacksonville, FL 4.776% 216.03 100 252.14 16.72% Las Vegas, NV 4.371% 149.08 100 178.96 20.04% Raleigh, NC 4.040% 198.65 100 228.09 14.82% Columbus, OH 3.167% 180.44 100 198.92 10.24% Orlando, FL 3.036% 181.11 100 225.47 24.49% Tucson, AZ 1.867% 216.99 100 225.44 3.89% Greensboro, NC 1.789% 157.21 100 170.51 8.46% Austin, TX 1.550% 317.68 100 397.43 25.10% San Antonio, TX 1.490% 227.56 100 262.17 15.21%











Cumulative HPA



0.00%

14.08%











HPA Factor (50% Cumulative HPA)



0.00%

7.04%











HPA Amount







$ 1.761



(1) Actual POI Value as of December 31, 2013 represents the value as published in the POI for each market as of April 1, 2014 and will remain constant for purposes of calculating the HPA Amount, notwithstanding any subsequent revisions by the FHFA.

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

Related Links

https://www.americanhomes4rent.com


SUNNYVALE, California and RA'ANANA, Israel, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Anodot, the real time analytics and automated business incident detection company, has been named a "Cool Vendor" in Analytics in the 2016 Gartner report.

Each year, Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, identifies new Cool Vendors in key technology areas and publishes a series of research reports about them. Anodot is one of five companies identified in the report as "innovative vendors that are redefining the types of analysis that it is feasible for organizations to perform. They are doing so by providing high levels of automation or extending analytics' reach to new classes of user and new types of decision."

Anodot's automated business incident and anomaly detection platform enables business analysts to uncover outliers in vast amounts of streaming data without manually setting thresholds or prioritizing which metrics to track. Identifying anomalies quickly can provide early notice of market shifts, niche use cases, or leaky revenue pipelines. The SaaS solution is based on patented machine-learning algorithms that isolate issues and correlate them in real time to alert users to a need for action.

"We feel it is a great honor to be recognized as a Cool Vendor by Gartner together with Cognitive Technology, OnlyBoth, ThoughtSpot and Veriluma," said David Drai, CEO and co-founder of Anodot. "Business and IT users are overwhelmed with traditional business intelligence dashboards and millions of data metrics, and it can take them days to learn that they are bleeding potential revenue. Today, companies like Wix, Credit Karma and dozens of others are using Anodot to pinpoint performance issues and business opportunities, gaining the real time insights they need to save revenue, keep their business running smoothly, and keep their customers happy."

For example, as discussed in this case study, before using Anodot, Wix's data analysts spent a great deal of time scrutinizing reports and graphs manually to try to detect issues in vast amounts of data, but important issues were sometimes identified hours to days after they had occurred.

To read the full report "Cool Vendors in Analytics, 2016," authored by Gareth Herschel, Whit Andrews, Rita L. Sallam, Lisa Kart, Marc Kerremans and Cindi Howson, 19 May 2016, click here (requires Gartner subscription).

Drai continued, "In the age of Big Data, machine learning is a must have, and with our patented algorithms, Anodot is disrupting traditional BI."

Gartner Cool Vendor Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Anodot

Based in Sunnyvale, Calif. and Ra'anana, Israel, Anodot is disrupting the static nature of the Business Intelligence (BI) market with a unique technology for real-time analytics and automated anomaly detection for big data. Using patented machine learning algorithms, Anodot automates the discovery of outliers in vast amounts of data, isolates issues and correlates them across multiple parameters. Operating in real time, Anodot delivers business insights immediately, predicts events before they happen and supports rapid business decisions that help maximize revenues and production for Web-based, e-commerce, ad tech, IoT and manufacturing businesses.

For more information or for a free trial, visit http://www.anodot.com

Anodot Contact:

Amy Kenigsberg

K2 Global Communications

[email protected]

+1-(913)-440-4072 (+7 ET)



SOURCE Anodot
In addition to honoring this year's graduates of Kindergarten and 8th grade, high achieving students from all grades were recognized during the ARVA Honors Ceremonies, which also took place on May 20.

"We're proud to celebrate the advancement and outstanding achievements of all of our students at the end of this school year," said Scott Sides, Head of School at Arkansas Virtual Academy. "We are particularly excited to see our Kindergarteners and 8th graders graduate to the next chapter in their educational careers. ARVA students are proof that a combination of hard work, the right tools and the support of families and teachers leads to academic growth."

ARVA combines online instruction and hands-on curriculum with the support of Arkansas-licensed teachers who are available online and by phone. ARVA is the only school in the state to offer the complete K12 Inc. curriculum, and strives to create a balanced approach in educating its students. Through a diverse catalog of math, language arts, science and history courses, ARVA students have access to a more individualized learning plan in order to chart their own course for educational success.

More information about the school, upcoming events and how to apply can be found online at http://arva.k12.com.

About Arkansas Virtual Academy

Arkansas Virtual Academy is a full-time online public school serving students in grades K through 12. As part of the Arkansas public school system, ARVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ARVA, visit http://arva.k12.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371725

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150420/199822LOGO

SOURCE Arkansas Virtual Academy

Related Links

http://arva.k12.com


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch today honored the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force during the annual Missing Children's Day ceremony.

The Attorney General presented 11 members of the Arizona ICAC Team with the Attorney General's Special Commendation Award, which recognizes the extraordinary efforts of an ICAC task force or affiliate agency for making significant investigative or program contributions.

"The selfless and heroic acts that we recognize today are proof that vigilance and compassion can stand as bulwarks against the dangers faced by our children," said Attorney General Lynch. "I am inspired by the courage of our award recipients and proud to stand with them as we work for a safer and more just future for the young people of America."

The Arizona ICAC team received the commendation for arresting Roxanne Chapin, a Phoenix woman who was sexually abusing and exploiting her two young sons and videotaping and sharing the abuse with others. Investigators examined Chapin's cell phone and extracted numerous images of the abuse and several thousand communication records from email, private chats, social media and other communications, which they used to track down other sexual predators in the United States and other countries.

Chapin's arrest in January 2015 has led to four children being rescued from sexual abuse, the capture of six registered sex offenders and the arrest and indictment of more than 30 individuals in 14 states, the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden. Chapin was sentenced to 35 years in prison with lifetime probation and must register as a sex offender. The investigation is ongoing.

The following task force members were recognized for their contributions to the investigation:

Detective Frank Angel , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Sergeant Jerry Barker , Arizona ICAC Commander, Phoenix Police Department

, Arizona ICAC Commander, Police Department Detective Michael Bosworth , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Detective Patricia Fimbres , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Detective Michael Fiore , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Detective David Haddad , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Detective Kellie McGhee , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Detective Eric Oldenburg , Phoenix Police Department

, Police Department Prosecuting Attorney Erin Pedicone , Maricopa County Attorney's Office

, Attorney's Office Special Agent Candace Rose , Federal Bureau of Investigation, Phoenix

, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detective Randy Snyder , Pinal County Sheriff's Office

In addition to ICAC team, the Attorney General recognized the efforts of five other individuals for their extraordinary efforts in protecting children. The Attorney General also recognized Michael Wu, a fifth grader from Walnut Elementary School, Walnut, Calif., as the 17th winner of the Annual National Missing Children's Day Art Contest.

The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol E. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime. Additionally, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). More information can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

Related Links

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch today honored a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus driver during the annual Missing Children's Day ceremony.

"The selfless and heroic acts that we recognize today are proof that vigilance and compassion can stand as bulwarks against the dangers faced by our children," said Attorney General Lynch. "I am inspired by the courage of our award recipients and proud to stand with them as we work for a safer and more just future for the young people of America."

Attorney General Lynch presented Walter "Tim" Watson with the OJJDP Administrator Missing Children's Citizen Award, which is given to a private citizen for unselfish actions to safely recover a missing or abducted child.

While Watson was driving his bus route on June 5, 2015, he received an emergency message from his dispatcher to watch for a man who had just kidnapped a small boy from a local library. Realizing the descriptions of the man and child matched two of his passengers, Watson pulled the bus over under the pretense of looking for a lost backpack so he could get a better look at the suspect and child. His suspicion confirmed, he alerted authorities and slowly proceeded along his route, allowing police time to arrive at the transit station to arrest the kidnapper as he got off the bus. The boy was rescued and returned safely to his family.

In addition to Watson, the Attorney General recognized the efforts of five other individuals and an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for their extraordinary efforts to protect children. The Attorney General also recognized Michael Wu, a fifth grader from Walnut Elementary School, Walnut, Calif., as the 17th winner of the Annual National Missing Children's Day Art Contest.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

Related Links

http://www.ojp.gov


The school is located in Villa Verde, received 1,900 boxes of oatmeal, the equivalent to one month's supply, to guarantee breakfast and snacks for the 156 students that go to the school.

Similarly, the brand donated bags of different Avelina products, to the parents and the school, with the goal of providing good nutrition to the children with special conditions and from low-income families' homes.

Edward De Valle, president of LINKS World Group, on behalf of his company and the De Valle family offered welcoming words, highlighting: "The De Valle family, on behalf of our company, is working on a social responsibility plan for this school, which includes education, health, and infrastructure. Today we came with Avelina, to reinforce the investment we will make and what better way to do it with this brand, as oatmeal is a nutritious food and it is our desire, that these small children receive good nutrition, with a product that is easy to prepare and is healthy for their development."

Meanwhile, Omar Angulo, Avelina's regional manager in the Dominican Republic, was in charge of explaining the preparation process of oatmeal to each of the parents that received the gift.

"For Avelina, it is a great pleasure to contribute to your children's nutrition. On this day, we have brought you a gift that contains our product in their various flavors and product lines. You only have to add water or milk and it does not require sugar. So it is a meal that contains all the vitamins and minerals that children need," Angulo said during his speech.

Begdy Belen, campus director who works with children with mental disabilities such as Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, amongst others, expressed his thanks to Avelina and LINKS and said that in the 38 years of continuous work for the school, it is the first time they have received a donation of this kind.

"We received with much appreciation this donation and we hope this visit keeps repeating itself. Thank you again for collaborating with the nutrition of our children, because they need good food due to their special conditions. It is the first time we have been given a donation of this nature and believe me this will be of much benefit to these children, which come from very humble families," said Belen.

During the delivery, Edward De Valle highlighted that in the following day Avelina will remodel the playground area of the school and install the Avelina Park, which will feature new swings and slides.

Other Donations

Significantly, also in the city of Santo Domingo Avelina and LINKS donated 22,250 boxes were distributed to the foundations: Ninos de la Merced; Hogar Betesda; Fray Jose Maria Guerrero Foundation; Hogar de Ninas Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia; Fe y Alegria; Instituto Dominicano de Estudios Virologicos; Madre Teresa Todas Foundation; Education Center Santo Nino Jesus y Kaisha Salome Foundation, amongst other institutions.

About Avelina

Avelina is an oatmeal brand from Venezuela and distributed in the country by Dominican Food, Doma S.R.L, that has four product lines: traditional, whole flakes, instant, and fortified, along with a flavored line.

About LINKS

LINKS World Group, a communication and marketing agency in the United States, with a presence in Dominican Republic and more than 50 countries around the world; its main markets are in North America, the Caribbean, South America, Asia and Oceania.

LINKS has been built to provide our clients solutions that are intelligent, innovative, and with a high impact on the world of marketing and corporate communications.

Video - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/PRNA/ENR/Avelina-vid.mp4

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372126

SOURCE Avelina
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aytu BioScience, Inc. (OTCQX: AYTU), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on global commercialization of novel products in the field of urology, announced today that its shareholders voted to approve a proposal authorizing the Company's Board of Directors to amend Aytu's certificate of incorporation to effect a reverse split of the Company's common stock, which is expected to enable Aytu to meet the initial listing requirements of a national stock exchange.

Specifically, Aytu shareholders authorized the Board of Directors to effect a reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding common shares at an exchange ratio of not less than 1-for-4 and not more than 1-for-12. The final ratio and timing will be determined by the Company's Board of Directors in relation to Aytu's stock price, in an effort to retain maximum value for shareholders in advance of the planned uplisting. The changes are expected to occur during the first half of fiscal 2017, which for Aytu corresponds to the six month period ended December 31, 2016, to be followed by the uplisting of Aytu's common stock onto one of the primary national exchanges.

Josh Disbrow, Chief Executive Officer of Aytu BioScience, Inc., stated, "A key component of our capital markets strategy has been to uplist Aytu's stock to a national stock exchange as quickly as possible, and in line with our overall growth. Having now built a robust portfolio of complementary urology products with demonstrated revenue growth, preparing Aytu to list on a national exchange represents a significant step toward building long-term shareholder value by increasing visibility, liquidity, and interest among a broader and more diverse shareholder base."

About Aytu BioScience, Inc.

Aytu BioScience is a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on global commercialization of novel products in the field of urology. The company currently markets two products: ProstaScint (capromab pendetide), the only FDA-approved imaging agent specific to prostate cancer, and Primsol (trimethoprim hydrochloride), the only FDA-approved trimethoprim-only oral solution for urinary tract infections. Aytu recently acquired exclusive U.S. rights to Natesto, the first and only FDA-approved nasal formulation of testosterone for men with hypogonadism (low testosterone, or "Low T"), which the company plans to launch in July 2016. Additionally, Aytu is developing MiOXSYS, a novel, rapid semen analysis system with the potential to become a standard of care for the diagnosis and management of male infertility caused by oxidative stress. MiOXSYS is commercialized outside the U.S. where it is a CE Marked, Health Canada cleared product, and Aytu is conducting U.S.-based clinical trials in pursuit of 510k de novo medical device clearance by the FDA. Aytu's strategy is to continue building its portfolio of revenue-generating urology products, leveraging its focused commercial team and expertise to build leading brands within well-established markets.

For Investors & Media:

Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.

Joshua Drumm, Ph.D.: [email protected]; (212) 375-2664

Janine McCargo: [email protected]; (646) 604-5150

Forward Looking Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this presentation, including statements regarding our anticipated future clinical and regulatory events, future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are generally written in the future tense and/or are preceded by words such as "may," "will," "should," "forecast," "could," "expect," "suggest," "believe," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," or similar words, or the negatives of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are just predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual events or results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: the success of the strategy to list the common stock on a national securities exchange, the potential future commercialization of our product candidates, the anticipated start dates, durations and completion dates, as well as the potential future results, of our ongoing and future clinical trials, the anticipated designs of our future clinical trials, anticipated future regulatory submissions and events, risks relating to gaining market acceptance of our products, obtaining reimbursement by third-party payors, our anticipated future cash position and future events under our current and potential future collaborations. We also refer you to the risks described in "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of Aytu BioScience, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the other reports and documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

SOURCE Aytu BioScience, Inc.
"The Dr. Oz Show" is proud to lead the Books Across America effort to give more children access to books and a chance at a brighter future," said Dr. Oz. "Too many children in our country lack this basic resource. Through our partnership with UPS, NWA, Scholastic, First 5 California, and individuals' generous donations, we not only are distributing books, but helping to educate parents and caregivers about why talking, reading, and singing to children regularly is critical to their healthy brain development."

Participating The UPS Store locations nationwide will collect book donations from individuals who drop them off. Women, Infants and Children (WIC) will distribute the books to families participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at various clinic locations in partnership with NWA. Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributer of children's books, educational, and entertaining children's media, will kick off the program by donating 1,000 new books to the campaign.

"Research has proven that children who read in their adolescent years have better brain development and perform far better in school," said Noel Massie, U.S. Operations Manager, UPS. "UPS is thrilled to play an integral role in this effort, and donating books couldn't be easier  just bring them to any participating The UPS Store location."

On, May 25, "The Dr. Oz Show" announces their support of "Books Across America" in a segment where Dr. Oz discusses current research in brain science, which indicates that more than 80 percent of a child's brain growth is completed by age three. This makes the first three years of life critical for mental stimulation through talking, reading, and singing, which helps billions of neurons inside the brain make strong connections that last a lifetime.

"The benefits to children of the simple acts of talking, reading, and singing beginning in infancy can be life long," said First 5 California Commission Chair George Halvorson. "These everyday, simple moments between children and their parents and caregivers can help develop and strengthen the brain to create healthy, strong minds and futures."

Anyone wishing to donate new or gently used books written for children ages 0 to 5 can bring the books to participating The UPS Store locations and place them in a dedicated collection box clearly identified with a "Books Across America" poster.

About First 5 California:

First 5 California was founded to educate parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers about the critical role they play during a child's first five years  with the overarching goal of helping more California kids grow up healthy and ready to succeed in school and in life.

For more information about First 5 California as an organization, visit www.ccfc.ca.gov. To see First 5 California's parent resource website, visit www.first5california.com.

About The National WIC Association:

NWA is the education arm and advocacy voice of the more than 8 million mothers and young children participating in WIC and the 12,200 service provider agencies of the nation's premier public health nutrition program  the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). For more information about NWA, visit www.nwica.org.

About UPS:

UPS is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the web at ups.com and its corporate blog can be found at longitudes.ups.com.

About The Dr. Oz Show:

Currently in its seventh season, the three-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning syndicated daily series "The Dr. Oz Show" is hosted by the four-time Emmy Award-winning Dr. Mehmet Oz, accredited health expert, best-selling author, and world renowned cardiac surgeon. "The Dr. Oz Show" is an informative hour that offers audiences the opportunity to learn about a wide range of health and wellness topics. Tackling the balance of mind, body and spirit, Dr. Oz calls on specialists from a variety of disciplines for expert advice on how viewers can be their best selves.

Dr. Oz, the world renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, served as health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" since 2004, sharing advice with viewers to help them live their best life from the inside out. Dr. Oz has co-authored six New York Times Best Sellers including "YOU: The Owner's Manual". Dr. Oz launched his magazine The Good Life with Hearst Corporation in spring 2014. He has a regular column in O The Oprah Magazine.

Dr. Oz is a professor of Surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and performs 100 heart operations annually. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents.

Cleared in over 99% of the country, "The Dr. Oz Show" is produced by Harpo Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Television. "The Dr. Oz Show" is executive produced by Amy Chiaro and co-executive produced by Stacy Rader.

For more information, visit http://www.doctoroz.com/.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371826

SOURCE First 5 California
HOUSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sisters Network Inc. (SNI) is heading to Detroit, Michigan to host the 15th Annual National African American Breast Cancer Conference. The three-day conference themed, "Awareness to Change" will be held on October 21-23, 2016 at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. Sisters Network is the only national African American breast cancer survivor-run organization in the United States.

Honorary Conference Chairs are Lisa A. Newman, M.D., MPH, FACS, FASCO. Director, Breast Oncology Program, Henry Ford Health System and Vernice Davis-Anthony, BSN, MPH, CEO, VDA Health Connect. Conference Chair is Karen E. Jackson, Founder/CEO, Sisters Network Inc. and Co-Chair, Mary Waters, President, Sisters Network Greater Metropolitan Detroit Chapter. Conference Title Sponsor is Henry Ford Health System.

The 3-day national conference hosted during National Breast Cancer Awareness month kicks-off with a surprise celebrity guest and a special presentation on Why Breast Health Matters. Plenary sessions, workshops focusing on triple negative and Metastatic breast cancer, breast reconstruction, treatment, clinical trials, and life after breast cancer are just a few offered. Registration is $150.00 and on-site registration is $200.00. Breast cancer survivors, clinicians, and the community may register at www.sistersnetworkinc.org or call 1-866-781-1808.

Members of Sisters Network national team will head to Detroit for a series of strategy planning meetings on May 24-25 with Detroit medical and community leaders.

"It's time for black women to wake up and take ownership of their health and be a part of the movement for change, Breast Health Matters," said Karen E. Jackson, Founder/CEO, Sisters Network Inc. "The goal of our national conference in Detroit is to not only be informative, but to also serve as call to action for African American women from around the nation to put their health first."

Black women have the highest breast cancer death rate of any racial/ethnic group. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among African American women according to the latest data from the American Cancer Society. The incidence of breast cancer among women under 45 is higher for African American women compared to white women.

"As a breast cancer survivor and former Michigan legislator, I know first-hand that Detroit, one of America's poorest cities, is ground zero in our fight to stop the silent suffering and deaths of African American women from breast cancer," said Mary Waters, President, Sisters Network Greater Metropolitan Detroit Chapter. "Poverty and systemic issues are roadblocks to early detection that saves lives which is why I am elated that Detroit was selected as the host city for Sisters Network Annual National African American Conference," added Waters.

Register now at www.sistersnetworkinc.org or call 1-866-781-1808.

ABOUT SISTERS NETWORK INC.

Sisters Network Inc. founded in 1994 by two-time breast cancer survivor Karen E. Jackson, is a leading voice and only national African American breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States. Sisters Network is governed by an elected Board of Directors and assisted by an appointed medical advisory committee. Membership includes over 40 survivor- run affiliate chapters in 22 states nationwide. The organization's purpose is to save lives and provide a broader scope of knowledge that addresses the breast cancer survivorship crisis affecting African American women around the country.

SOURCE Sisters Network, Inc.
WOODBURY, N.Y. and NIWOT, Colo., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Janam Technologies LLC, a leading provider of rugged mobile computers that scan barcodes and communicate wirelessly, and Buckeye Mountain, a company that develops, deploys and manages mobile technology for the railroad industry, announced today that Janam's XM2-RFID for Rail mobile computer is a recommended mobile computing hardware for Buckeye Mountain's Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) Quick Read application.

Buckeye Mountain has been designing, installing and supporting innovative solutions for the railroad industry for more than 15 years. With its focus on providing a customized approach to address customer needs, Buckeye Mountain works closely with Class I railroads to ensure they have a rugged and reliable solution to perform detailed railcar inspection and maintenance functions, as well as asset tracking. Buckeye Mountain selected Janam's XM2-RFID for Rail mobile computer because its size, battery life, tag reading performance and computing power provide enormous improvements over what's available in the market.

KEY FACTS

Buckeye Mountain selected Janam's XM2-RFID for Rail because it is the lightest, fastest and most affordable RFID-reading solution for the railroad industry.

Buckeye Mountain helps rail and intermodal companies accurately and efficiently track and monitor equipment. The XM2-RFID for Rail is specially-designed to read the unique AEI RFID tags required on all railcars in North America and used globally as well.

and used globally as well. The XM2-RFID for Rail offers best-in-class read range and provides Buckeye Mountain's customers with the power and performance needed to excel in freight and rail operations.

With its integrated 1D/2D barcode scanner, the XM2-RFID for Rail provides Buckeye Mountain customers with a versatile solution that addresses virtually all data capture needs.

SUPPORTING QUOTES

Harry B Lerner, CEO, Janam Technologies

"We enjoy working with partners that share our passion for disrupting the status quo in industries that crave innovative and cost-effective solutions. Our partnership with Buckeye Mountain focuses on helping rail organizations manage their operations more efficiently and more economically, with real-time access to business intelligence."

Matthew D Hunter, Principle Sales, Buckeye Mountain

"Janam's XM2-RFID for Rail is exactly what the industry has been demanding. It is small, lightweight, powerful and comes with a battery that runs all day long. Combined with our intuitive software, the XM2-RFID for Rail provides the flexibility and affordability needed to make AEI RFID reading technology more accessible to rail and freight operations of all sizes."

SUPPORTING RESOURCES

Learn more about Janam: www.janam.com

Learn more about the XM2-RFID: www.janam.com/products/details/xm2-rfid-for-rail

Follow Janam on Facebook: www.facebook.com/janamtechnologies

Follow Janam on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/janam-technologies

Follow Janam on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JanamTech

About Janam

Janam Technologies LLC is a provider of rugged, handheld computing devices for mobile workers. Janam combines deep industry knowledge with advanced technologies to deliver products and accessories that increase productivity, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. Specializing in purpose-built mobile computers that scan barcodes and communicate wirelessly, Janam offers products that are designed to run mission-critical applications in retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and logistics. For more information, visit www.janam.com.

About Buckeye Mountain

Founded in 2006, Buckeye Mountain is a leading technology company in the U.S. focused on the railroad industry. The company provides rugged mobile computing equipment and services as well as software and wireless solutions designed to improve railroad efficiency, profitability and safety from its Akron, Ohio location, its headquarters in Colorado and the Buckeye Mountain Kansas City Service Center.

Products or services mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070115/NYM008LOGO

SOURCE Janam Technologies LLC

Related Links

http://www.janam.com


IRVINE, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CalAtlantic Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAA) today announced the pricing of its previously announced public offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup, Mizuho Securities USA Inc., BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as joint book-running managers and BNP Paribas Securities Corp., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Comerica Securities, Inc. and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. acted as co-managers for the notes offering.

The notes will pay interest semi-annually in arrears at a rate of 5.250% per year and will mature on June 1, 2026, unless earlier repurchased. The notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company's subsidiaries that guarantee the Company's outstanding notes.

The Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds of the notes offering to repay or repurchase the Company's 10 34% Senior Notes due September 2016, and, pending the use of the net proceeds for such purpose, for general corporate purposes, which may include land acquisition and development, home construction, repurchases of the Company's common stock and repayment of the Company's debt.

The closing of the notes offering is expected to occur on May 31, 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Company has an effective registration statement (including a prospectus and a preliminary prospectus supplement for the offering to which this communication relates) on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement (including the preliminary prospectus supplement for the offering to which this communication relates) and other documents the Company has filed and will file with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the offering. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC web site at www.sec.gov. Alternately, copies of the prospectus supplement and related base prospectus related to this offering may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions at 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717 or toll free at (866) 803-9204.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

CalAtlantic Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAA) is a combination of Standard Pacific Corp. and Ryland Group, Inc. and offers homes in 41 Metropolitan Statistical Areas spanning 17 states.

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the expected closing of the offering and the intended use of the net proceeds from the offering. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or circumstances, and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors many of which are out of the Company's control and difficult to forecast that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that may be described or implied. The Company cannot be certain that the offering will be completed on the terms discussed above, or at all. For a discussion of certain other risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting the statements contained in this news release, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no, and hereby disclaims any, obligation to update any of the foregoing or any other forward-looking statements. The Company nonetheless reserves the right to make such updates from time to time by press release, periodic report or other method of public disclosure without the need for specific reference to this news release. No such update shall be deemed to indicate that other statements not addressed by such update remain correct or create an obligationto provide any other updates.

Contact:

Jeff McCall, EVP & CFO (949) 789-1655, [email protected]

SOURCE CalAtlantic Group, Inc.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cal/OSHA has cited Big & Deep Ag Development Company for serious safety violations following an investigation into a November 13, 2015 explosion in Bakersfield that killed a bulldozer operator and destroyed a nearby residence, resulting in injuries to the occupants including serious burns and smoke inhalation.

Big & Deep had been hired to prepare land near Wible Road for planting almond trees, an activity known as "soil ripping." In this case, the field was being ripped to a depth of 5.5 feet. PG&E had previously placed flags in the ground to identify an underground high pressure pipeline in the area in response to Big & Deep alerting the utility to the planned dig.

Cal/OSHA's inspectors found that Big & Deep, also known as Jeff Alexander Farming, had not trained the bulldozer operator on the hazards of underground utilities or warned him about the location of a natural gas pipeline near the area he was working. During soil ripping operations, the bulldozer's attached shank pierced the "high priority" pipeline resulting in ignition of natural gas under pressure.

"Employers are required to train workers to recognize and avoid hazards that could endanger their lives," said Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum. "Big & Deep Ag Development was aware of the pipeline's location and failed to protect their employee and nearby residents from the danger."

Cal/OSHA issued a total of three workplace safety citations to Big & Deep Ag Development Company, with proposed penalties of $40,250. Two of the citations are serious, with one being serious and accident-related. These involved Big & Deep's failure to train the bulldozer operator, or to correct unsafe workplace conditions. This employer had pierced the same gas line on a different piece of property in October 2014. That incident did not result in any injuries. A third citation, classified as willful, was issued because the permit to conduct this work had expired.

A serious violation is cited when there is a realistic possibility that death or serious harm could result from the actual hazardous condition. A willful violation is cited when the employer is aware of the law and violates it nevertheless, or when the employer is aware of the hazardous condition and takes no reasonable steps to address it.

Cal/OSHA helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA's Consultation Services Branch provides free and voluntary assistance to employers to improve their health and safety programs. Employers should call (800) 963-9424 for assistance from Cal/OSHA Consultation Services.

Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR's Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734). The California Workers' Information line at 866-924-9757 provides recorded information in English and Spanish on a variety of work-related topics. Complaints can also be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices.

Members of the press may contact Julia Bernstein or Peter Melton at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR's press releases or other departmental updates.

https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDIR

https://twitter.com/CA_DIR

https://www.youtube.com/user/CaliforniaDIR

http://www.dir.ca.gov/email/listsub.asp?choice=1

The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR's Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department.

SOURCE California Department of Industrial Relations, Cal/OSHA

Related Links

http://www.dir.ca.gov


LIMA, Peru, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Camposol S.A. (the "Company") announced today that following the expiration of its offer to exchange Existing Notes for New Notes announced on April 11, 2016 (the "Exchange Offer"), the Company has received valid tenders that were not withdrawn from 73.75% of holders of Existing Notes, representing US$147,490,000, of the aggregate US$200,000,000 principal amount of notes outstanding. A total of US$52,510,000 principal amount of Existing Notes was not tendered in the Exchange Offer. The Exchange Offer expired at midnight, New York City time, on May 24, 2016.

The Company also announced that the settlement of the Exchange Offer is scheduled for Friday, May 27, 2016. On the settlement date, holders of Existing Notes who validly tendered their notes will receive for each US$1.00 of Existing Notes tendered, US$1.00 of New Notes plus the payment of a Participation Fee equal to 1.00% of the principal amount of Existing Notes tendered. The New Notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 10.50% and will mature in 2021 and will have the benefit of the Collateral provided by the Peruvian Trust Agreement, as described in the Exchange Offer Memorandum, dated April 11, 2016, as amended, that was prepared by the Company in connection with the Exchange Offer.

The Company further announced that after settlement of the Exchange Offer, it may contact holders of Existing Notes who have not participated in the Exchange Offer in an effort to obtain additional exchanges for New Notes. Any such additional exchanges, if accepted, would require the Company to issue additional New Notes under the New Notes indenture. In addition, the Company is seeking extensions of its existing lines of credit in an effort to address its short-term liquidity and working capital requirements.

The Exchange Offer and the New Notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). As a result, holders within the United States or who are U.S. persons were eligible to participate in the Exchange Offer only if they are "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act ("Rule 144A"). Offers and issuances of the New Notes to non U.S. persons outside the United States were made in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act ("Regulation S").

D.F. King & Co., Inc. acted as Information and Exchange Agent, in connection with the Exchange Offer.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NEITHER AN OFFER TO PURCHASE NOR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL OR EXCHANGE ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH OFFER IS PROHIBITED, AND SUCH SECURITIES MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD OR EXCHANGED IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THE COMPANY DOES NOT INTEND TO REGISTER ANY NEW NOTES IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO CONDUCT A PUBLIC OFFERING OF SUCH SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION. THE EXCHANGE OFFER IS MADE SOLELY PURSUANT TO THE EXCHANGE OFFER MEMORANDUM DATED APRIL 11, 2016, AS SUPPLEMENTED BY THE SUPPLEMENT DATED MAY 5, 2016.

The Exchange Offer was made solely pursuant to the Exchange Offer Memorandum, as supplemented by the Supplement, and only to such persons and in such jurisdictions as are permitted under applicable law.

None of the Company, the Dealer Managers or the Information and Exchange Agent has made any recommendation as to whether holders of Existing Notes should tender Existing Notes or participate in the Exchange Offer.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements and information that is necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. No assurance can be given that the transactions described herein will be consummated or as to the terms of any such transactions. The Company assumes no obligation to update or correct the information contained in this announcement.

This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The New Notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such New Notes will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

About Camposol

Camposol is the leading agro industrial company in Peru, the first producer of avocados and soon the first producer of blueberries in the world. It is involved in the harvest, processing and marketing of high quality agricultural products such as avocadoes, asparagus, blueberries, grapes, mangos, tangerines and shrimp; which are exported to Europe, the United States and Asia. Camposol is a vertically integrated company located in Peru, offering fresh and frozen products. It is the third largest employer of the country, with more than 13,000 workers in high season, and is committed to support sustainable development through social responsibility policies and projects aimed to increase the shared-value for all of its stakeholders. Camposol was the first Peruvian agro industrial company to present annual audited Sustainability Reports and has achieved the following international certifications: BSCI, Global Gap, IFS, HACCP and BRC among others.

SOURCE Camposol S.A.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CB&I (NYSE:CBI) today announced it will participate in two upcoming investor conferences.

The company will meet with investors at the KeyBanc Capital Markets Industrial, Automotive & Transportation Conference in Boston on Wednesday, June 1, 2016. Presentation materials used at the conference will be posted on the Investor Relations page of www.CBI.com.

The company will present to investors at the Credit Suisse Engineering & Construction Conference in New York on Thursday, June 2, 2016, at 9:20 a.m. Eastern time. A live webcast of the company's presentation, along with presentation materials, will be available on the Investor Relations page of www.CBI.com.

About CB&I

CB&I (NYSE:CBI) is a leading provider of technology and infrastructure for the energy industry. With over 125 years of experience and the expertise of more than 40,000 employees, CB&I provides reliable solutions to our customers around the world while maintaining a relentless focus on safety and an uncompromising standard of quality. For more information, visit www.CBI.com.

Important Information For Investors And Shareholders

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding CB&I and represents our expectations and beliefs concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. When considering any statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or use or contain words, terms, phrases or expressions such as "achieve," "forecast," "plan," "propose," "strategy," "envision," "hope," "will," "continue," "potential," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "should," "could," "may," "might" or similar forward-looking statements, we refer you to the cautionary statements concerning risk factors and "Forward-Looking Statements" described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our Annual Report filed on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2015, and any updates to those risk factors or "Forward-Looking Statements" included in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, which cautionary statements are incorporated herein by reference.

Investors: Scott Lamb, +1 832 513 1068, [email protected]

Media: Gentry Brann, +1 832 513 1031, [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130430/DA04155LOGO

SOURCE CB&I

Related Links

http://www.cbi.com


MADISON, Wis., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), a FUJIFILM company, today announced an agreement with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from 85 people in the MJFF-sponsored Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). The collaborators will provide the cells to the scientific community in concert with rich available clinical and imaging data on these study volunteers in service to their shared goal to provide resources to accelerate the development of new therapies.

Key Points

This Golub Capital iPSC PPMI Sub-study is funded by nationally recognized credit asset management firm Golub Capital, led by Lawrence and David Golub ; David Golub is a member of the MJFF Board of Directors.

In connection with Indiana University , 85 iPS cell lines will be derived from PPMI volunteers [with and without Parkinson's disease (PD)] and banked in Indianapolis .

Generation of iPSC lines from individual patients will allow researchers to look at how diversity between patients influences the causes and progression of PD; this research could potentially lead to the development of treatments for particular subgroups of patients.

PD is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that affects 5 million people worldwide and as many as 1 million in the United States . PD has no cure, and current treatment options only address some symptoms.

iPSC technology provides unique advantages for improving understanding of PD.

Quotes

Mark Frasier, PhD, Senior Vice President, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, said, "This collaboration builds on the contributions of PPMI volunteers and the technical expertise of CDI to generate valuable research tools. Our Foundation's continued commitment to open-access data and biospecimens speeds discovery toward greater understanding of Parkinson's disease and development of novel therapies."

Kaz Hirao, CDI Chairman and CEO, said, "Our partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation builds on our proven expertise in iPSC generation and looks ahead to the development of innovative clinical applications for these cells. Both by expanding access to research tools and by evaluating new avenues for cellular therapy, we are eager to help in the search for therapies that could provide long-lasting benefits for patients with Parkinson's disease."

Leadership Support

This pilot project, called the Golub Capital iPSC PPMI Sub-study, is made possible through leadership support of The Michael J. Fox Foundation by Golub Capital, a leader in credit investment management managing over $15 billion of capital with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Charlotte.

About Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a FUJIFILM company

Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a FUJIFILM company, is a leading developer and manufacturer of human cells used in drug discovery, toxicity testing, stem cell banking, and cell therapy development. The Company partners with innovators from around the world to combine biologically relevant human cells with the newest technologies to drive advancements in medicine and healthier living. CDI's technology offers the potential to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from anyone, starting with a standard blood draw, and followed by the powerful capability to develop into virtually any cell type in the human body. Our proprietary manufacturing system produces billions of cells daily, resulting in inventoried iCell products and donor-specific MyCell Products in the quantity, quality, purity, and reproducibility required for drug and cell therapy development. Founded in 2004 by Dr. James Thomson, a pioneer in human pluripotent stem cell research, Cellular Dynamics is based in Madison, Wisconsin, with a second facility in Novato, California. For more information please visit www.cellulardynamics.com and follow us on Twitter @CellDynamics.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including: healthcare, with medical systems, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics; graphic systems; highly functional materials, such as flat panel display materials; optical devices, such as broadcast and cinema lenses; digital imaging; and document products. These are based on a vast portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic, software and production technologies. Fujifilm is committed to environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding more than $525 million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world.

For more information, visit us on the Web, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Tony Russo, Ph.D., or Lena Evans

Russo Partners, LLC

(212) 845-4251

(212) 845-4262

[email protected]

[email protected]

Lisabeth Weiner

Lisabeth Weiner Consultants, Inc.

(312) 252-7360

(312) 485-6211 (cell)

[email protected]

SOURCE Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a FUJIFILM company

Related Links

http://www.cellulardynamics.com


WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of West Hollywood hosted a Grand Opening celebration on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 to mark the completion of its Automated Garage and Community Plaza at West Hollywood City Hall. More than 500 community members attended to enjoy hosted tours of the garage and parking bays, which contain art murals.

"We're very excited about the completion of the Automated Garage," said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister. "It is located in an area of the City that has been in need of additional parking, and it will help to fill that need. The technology is amazing  and kind of fun, too! I drove in facing one way, but my car came out facing the other way ... how does it know?!"

The City of West Hollywood is thrilled to embrace automated parking as an innovative solution to the challenge of creating sufficient parking. The garage requires a much smaller physical footprint than would a conventional parking structure with a similar capacity. The space savings nets more than 7,000 square feet for a Community Plaza and an entry service area for community events.

In March 2014, the City broke ground on the project; construction was finished in spring 2016. It is the first municipal project of its kind on the West Coast and it includes a 200-space parking garage that matches the height of the adjacent City Hall building. There is less tailpipe pollution than a conventional garage; with no idling or circling, the predicted reduction in CO2 emissions for the garage equals taking 92 cars off of the road each year or planting 67,000 trees.

The Automated Garage contains four bays for entry and exit.

Each bay features a hand-painted mural by artists including Art of Chase, MONCHO1929, Bronwyn Lundberg, and Kim West. The garage features a fixed-art installation by renowned public artist Ned Kahn, with a grid of clear marbles in front of a glass pane that reflects moving parts inside the garage. The structure also contains photovoltaic solar panels, features the use of a sustainable material made from recycled bags, and uses drought-tolerant landscaping.

The project includes a Community Plaza, which is a tranquil space with trees, benches, a water feature, and a stage for events. The plaza holds a large-scale triptych art-banner installation, which is a collaboration of artist MONCHO1929 and West Hollywood City Poet Steven Reigns.

The Automated Garage was designed by LPA, Inc., a sustainable design architecture firm, which has completed numerous award-winning public and private buildings throughout Southern California. The automated system that stores and retrieves vehicles was designed, manufactured, and installed by Unitronics, an international leader in automated parking systems. The structure was built by T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc., a San Diego-based contractor that has built numerous parking structures, and private and municipal buildings around Southern California. Construction management was provided by Heery International, Inc. a nationwide firm that for more than 40 years has been dedicated to sustainable design and construction practices.

Details  www.weho.org/automatedgarage

Garage Photos  https://flic.kr/s/aHskzDL9ww

Grand Opening Photos  https://flic.kr/s/aHskAtutwZ

Videos  1. "Inside View"  https://youtu.be/H6BQuggpWWg

and 2. Time Lapse"  https://youtu.be/Y459nLgXphg

For more information, please call (323) 848-6375.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160420/357961LOGO

SOURCE The City of West Hollywood

Related Links

http://weho.org


SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ClearSlide, the leading Sales Engagement Platform, announced today it received five awards at the prestigious 14th annual Stevie American Business Awards. ClearSlide earned two Silver honors in the Business/Government category, and Bronze recognition for Business Services Company of the Year, Business-to-Business Product, and Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year.

"Given the impressive competition, we are thrilled that ClearSlide was recognized in five important categories," said Dustin Grosse, CEO, ClearSlide. "Our entire team has worked tirelessly to innovate and deliver a platform that provides sales, marketing, and customer success teams more modern capabilities and the engagement insights they need to thrive. This is further evidence of our market leading position."

The ClearSlide mobile app won a Silver Stevie in the Business/Government category for enabling remote presentations. ClearSlide Mail received Silver recognition in the Business/Government category for optimizing sales productivity. These awards establish that ClearSlide is transforming the business selling, empowering salespeople to be productive and successful anytime, anywhere.

For demonstrating continuous innovation over the last 12 months, ClearSlide received two Bronze Stevie Awards: Company of the Year (Business Services) and Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year (Up to 2,500 Employees). In addition, ClearSlide Mail was honored as a Bronze winner in the Business-to-Business Products category.

"Entries to the Stevie American Business Awards grow every year," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "The widespread support of this program made the 2016 competition that much more intense among finalists. The judges were deeply impressed by the winner's accomplishments and we congratulate all of the winners on their commitment to excellence and innovation."

The Stevie American Business Awards are the premier business awards program in the U.S. They were created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide. The ABAs are the only national, all-encompassing business awards program in the United States.

More than 2,100 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year's competition. The awards will be presented to honorees during a gala banquet on Monday, June 20th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

About ClearSlide

ClearSlide is the leading Sales Engagement Platform that powers valuable, genuine business conversations and enables sales, marketing, and customer success teams to achieve better business outcomes. ClearSlide improves customer communications (phone, email, face-to-face) by providing real-time visibility and analytics for sales and marketing leaders. As a result, customers achieve higher seller productivity, increased sales management effectiveness, and stronger customer-facing messaging. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, ClearSlide serves thousands of customers, including Comcast, LinkedIn, Medtronic, Rackspace, SurveyMonkey, The Economist, Thomson Reuters, and more.

The ClearSlide platform gives sales and marketing leaders ability to interact with insight by seeing the real-time activity of their teams and deep analytics about the types of content that ultimately is most impactful with customers. For sales professionals, ClearSlide allows for easy communication with customers and prospects, whether online or in-person, using ClearSlide's web-based and mobile applications. Please visit www.ClearSlide.com for more information or follow the company on Twitter @ClearSlide.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160523/370999LOGO

SOURCE ClearSlide

Related Links

http://www.ClearSlide.com


AUSTIN, Texas, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Combined Agents of America, LLC (CAA) at its annual board meeting May 10  12 in Dallas, Texas, announced its newly elected 2016-17 Management Committee, including CAA's new president of the board Mack Purifoy, and new secretary David Wellmann. CAA continues to seek out like-minded, growth-focused independent agencies in the central region of the country, including Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. CAA places a high commodity on integrity, well-operated business models, profitability and synergy with its current 53 members.

"I've got three ways to describe our new president, Mack: excited, fresh, and out of the box. Looking forward to an exciting next couple of years with Mack at the helm leading CAA in a new direction of expansion and growth," said Roger Luttrell, CAA chairman and president of Benton Luttrell Company, headquartered in Van Alstyne, Texas.

"CAA membership has made being in this ever-changing and challenging industry of insurance a privilege both personally and professionally for almost two decades. This year as we attract new members, we look forward to the continued growth and success of being one of the leading and original insurance aggregators in the United States," said Mack Purifoy, AAI, CIC, CAA president and owner of Purifoy & Company Insurance, Temple, Texas.

Each CAA management committee member is elected to serve a staggered two-year term and is selected by its board of members based on their leadership abilities and contributions to the organization. The new 2016-17 Management Committee includes:

President  Mack Purifoy , AAI, CIC, owner of Purifoy & Company Insurance, Temple, Texas .

 , AAI, CIC, owner of Purifoy & Company Insurance, . Chairman of the Board  Roger Luttrell , CIC, president of Benton Luttrell Company, headquartered in Van Alstyne, Texas .

 , CIC, president of Benton Luttrell Company, headquartered in . Executive Vice President Trent Richmond, senior vice president of Garrett Insurance Agency, Inc. Kerrville, Texas . Richmond serves on the National Agency Council with Nationwide Insurance.

Trent Richmond, senior vice president of Garrett Insurance Agency, Inc. . serves on the National Agency Council with Nationwide Insurance. Central Region Vice President  Rick Elliott is the owner and president of Elliott Insurance Group (EIG), Louisburg, Kansas .

 is the owner and president of Elliott Insurance Group (EIG), . Secretary  David Wellmann , CIC, president of Wellmann Insurance Agency, Inc., Brenham, Texas .

 , CIC, president of Wellmann Insurance Agency, Inc., . Treasurer  Pete Bibby , managing partner of Bibby, Brilling & Associates, LLP, Dallas, Texas , with another location in Ennis, TX (dba Arden Insurance Agency).

 , managing partner of Bibby, Brilling & Associates, LLP, , with another location in (dba Arden Insurance Agency). Past President  Bill Martin , president of Grona Boles Martin Bloxsom Insurance, San Antonio, Texas . Martin serves on the Liberty Mutual Agents Advisory Council, and the Liberty Mutual Executive Council.

CAA's member agencies convene on a quarterly basis to knowledge share, discuss industry issues, review its relationships with insurance carriers, and assess CAA operations. Highlights from the recent board meeting include:

Central Mutual Insurance Company presented CAA with the Diamond Partnership Award. Diamond Partnership agencies represent the highest echelon that can be awarded to a partner. The award represents all of CAA's exemplary qualities such as their belief in long-term partnerships, relationship building, and the understanding of the value that Central brings. In 2005, CAA wrote $14 million in premium with Central and eleven years later now writes in excess of $40 million .

in premium with Central and eleven years later now writes in excess of . Insurance carriers and other groups participating in trade show included: Central Insurance Company, CRC Wholesale Group, AmWINS Brokerage, Chris-Leef General Agency, McClelland & Hine, Med-James, Inc., Myron Steves , Nationwide Financial Services, Nationwide Commercial Ag, Southwest Risk, U.S Risk Insurance Group, Inc., and Tejas American General Agency (TAGA), and

, Nationwide Financial Services, Nationwide Commercial Ag, Southwest Risk, U.S Risk Insurance Group, Inc., and Tejas American General Agency (TAGA), and Myron Steves hosts lunch at DoubleTree Hilton.

About Combined Agents of America, LLC

Founded in 1997, Combined Agents of America, LLC (CAA) is based in Austin, Texas, and is comprised of 53 independent insurance agencies located throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. By funneling the agencies' combined premiums, CAA brings larger volume commitments to insurance companies, while empowering its members to realize greater benefits from insurance companies, vendor discounts and other incentives. In 2015, CAA generated more than $763 million in property and casualty premiums, and currently works with 18 of the largest insurance companies in the nation. CAA is ranked #6 on Insurance Journal's Top 20 list of largest agency partnerships in the nation for 2015. All CAA member agencies remain independent and are recognized by insurance companies as a key component to their future growth and goal commitments. Additional information is available at www.combinedagents.com .

CAA member agencies include: Aars & Nelson Insurance Agency, Barnard Insurance Agency, Bartlett, Baggett & Shands, Benchmark Insurance Group, Benton Luttrell Company, Bigham-Kliewer-Chapman-Watts Insurance Agency, Bibby Brilling & Associates LLP, BRIA Insurance & Risk Consultants, Bosworth & Associates, Bryan Insurance Agency Ltd., Brownrigg Insurance Agency Inc., Cravens Warren & Co., Crockett Insurance Service, DFB Insurance Group LLC, Ed Berrong Insurance Agency, Ed Weeren Insurance Agency Inc., EFGI Insurance & Bonds LLC, Elliott Insurance Group, Evans-Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency Inc., First Insurance Services, First Texas Insurance Services LLC, Fouts, Davidson, Burks Agency LLC, Fuqua Ruth Typer Insurance, Henry Norris Insurance Agency, Inc., Garrett Insurance Agency, Inc., GBS Insurance Agency Inc., Grona Boles Martin & Bloxsom Insurance, Hill County Insurance Agency, Hutcherson Insurance Group, ICI Insurance, Insurance Net Inc., JHC Insurance Agency Inc., J. S. Edwards & Sherlock Insurance Agency, Keller-Leopold Insurance, Inc , McCorkle Commercial Insurance Agency, Mr. Insurance Agency, Inc., NTX Insurance Group, Inc., Pierson-Fendley Insurance Agency, LLC, Pinnacle Insurance Group Inc., Porter Insurance Agency Inc., Purifoy Insurance Agency, LTD, SBS Insurance, The Shropshire Agency Inc., Siegeler Insurance Agency, Inc., Southern Star Insurance, Strong's Insurance Inc., United Agency, Walthall-Sachse & Pipes, Inc., The Weatherby-Eisenrich Inc., Wellmann Insurance Agency, Inc., Western Insurance Agency, Whorton Insurance Services, and Wood-Dulohery Insurance, Inc.

Press Contact:

Courtney R. Holder

Tel: (512) 627-0779

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110627/DA26292LOGO

SOURCE Combined Agents of America, LLC

Related Links

http://www.combinedagents.com


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, May 26, elected officials and leaders in senior affairs will join Connected Living, a Boston-based social impact company, in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building to announce a campaign to "Connect One Million Seniors" and their families. The campaign is dedicated to bringing the benefits of digital social networking to the 17 million seniors nationwide who have been left out of the conversation through the Connected Living mobile app.

The luncheon's speaking program will address the importance of using mobile technology to bring meaningful social connection to an aging population and underscore the fact that everyone deserves a connected life regardless of age, education and socioeconomic background. Speakers will include Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), George Vradenburg, Chairman, UsAgainstAlzheimer's, Rick Grimes, President & CEO, Assisted Living Federation of America (Retired), Larry Irving, Co-Founder, Mobile Alliance for Global Good, and Sarah Hoit, CEO & Co-Founder, Connected Living.

"As a nation, we are facing an epidemic affecting many of our seniors who are aging in isolation. Seniors do want to connect and when they do everyone's life is more enriched with their voice, wisdom, purpose and it also brings incredible peace of mind to the family. We see every day, the ultimate outcome of being connected is a happier and healthier life," said Sarah Hoit, CEO & Co-Founder, Connected Living.

The Connected Living app provides an intimate, secure place for family members to connect and share both social and other important data. Functionality includes:

Private social networking platform

Peace of mind features: location monitoring, battery life, steps tracking

Automatic push notifications

Geolocation and geofencing

"The Connected Living mobile app is a terrific tool to keep families in touch and intact. It has the potential to make a positive impact on the 5 million individuals, and their families, living with Alzheimer's disease today. By 2025 the number of people 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will escalate to an estimated 7.1 million with nearly 80% of those people living in their own home," says George Vradenburg, Chairman UsAgainstAlzheimer's.

Connected Living has successfully put mobile devices in the hands of residents in senior living communities across the country, proving how being connected contributes to a happier and healthier life. Now, with the Connected Living mobile app, the company strives to heighten "peace of mind" for multigenerational families by enabling all ages to stay connected despite geographic distance and busy schedules.

The Connected Living mobile app is available in the App Store for iOS devices. Android is scheduled for release in the summer. For more information on the "Connect a Million Seniors" campaign and to download the Connected Living mobile app, visit https://app.connectedliving.com.

About Connected Living, Inc.

Connected Living, Inc. is a social impact company founded to bridge the "digital divide" for the 17 million seniors in the United States who have been left out of the daily conversation. The company is dedicated to creating transformational technologies that enable people to connect, contribute, and lead healthier lives.

Contact: Lori Moretti

[email protected]

Office: 617.536.3400

SOURCE Connected Living, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.connectedliving.com


"Naloxone is a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdose and by expanding availability of this medication, we can save lives and give more people a chance to get the help they need for recovery," said Tom Davis, RPh, Vice President of Pharmacy Professional Practices at CVS Pharmacy. "By establishing a physician-authorized standing order that allows our pharmacies to dispense naloxone to patients without an individual prescription, we strengthen our commitment to helping the communities we serve begin to address the challenges of prescription drug abuse."

Expansion of the company's naloxone program will begin with New Mexico in late May; followed by Louisiana in early June; Florida in early July; Colorado, Idaho and Oregon in mid-July; and Washington in early August. Naloxone is already available without a prescription at CVS Pharmacy locations through standing order or collaborative practice agreements in 23 states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

"Expanding access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone is a critical part of our national strategy to stop the prescription drug and heroin overdose epidemic  along with effective prevention, treatment, and enforcement," said Michael Botticelli, Director of National Drug Control Policy. "Thanks to efforts on naloxone like those announced today by CVS Health, more Americans will have access to this lifesaving drug."

The move to expand access to naloxone builds on CVS Health's longstanding commitment to help communities address and prevent drug abuse through education, outreach and safe medication disposal. Patients visiting CVS.com can find recently launched drug abuse prevention resources for themselves and their families. The company has also launched a community outreach program called Pharmacists Teach, which brings local pharmacists to high school health classes to talk to students about the dangers of drug abuse. More than 80,000 students have already been part of the program. High schools across the country can learn more about bringing Pharmacists Teach to their school here.

CVS Health has also joined with the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids for the Medication Disposal for Safer Communities Program, which has donated more than 500 drug disposal units to police departments around the country. The program gives members of the community a safe and environmentally friendly way to dispose of unwanted medication and has already collected more than 35 metric tons of prescription drugs. Police departments across the country can apply to receive a drug collection unit from the program here.

"CVS Health has been a leader in the work of helping communities prevent prescription drug abuse," said Marcia Lee Taylor, President and CEO, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. "In addition to proper disposal of unwanted medication, increasing access to naloxone is a critical public health priority that allows patients and their families to prevent opioid fatalities and recognize when people need help working towards recovery from the disease of addiction."

About CVS Health:

CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Through its more than 9,600 retail pharmacies, more than 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 80 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year, and expanding specialty pharmacy services, the Company enables people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com.

Media Contact:

Erin Shields Britt

Corporate Communications

401-770-9237

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140905/143585

SOURCE CVS Health

Related Links

http://www.cvshealth.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dashlane, an award-winning password manager and leader in online identity management, announces the closing of $22.5 million in a Series C round of funding. The round is led by TransUnion (NYSE: TRU), a global leader in information solutions, including credit monitoring and identity protection, and also includes participation from previous investors Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. The round brings Dashlane's total funding to date to $52.5 million.

"Today marks an important milestone in our path forward as an identity management company," said Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. "Our mission has always been to make identity and payments simple and secure everywhere. This new round of funding, combined with the strategic relationship with TransUnion, will strengthen our ability to achieve this vision by giving us the capital to accelerate our roadmap, as well as the ability to further integrate new powerful services for our users."

The friction and security challenges of digital identity lie as much in logins and passwords as in the way individuals provide their payment information to digital merchants and services. Consumers are worried about their payment details being stolen when they buy online and frustrated when they see valid transactions being declined. This new round of funding and strategic additions to the board will increase Dashlane's ability to solve these core challenges of digital identity for both consumers and businesses.

Dashlane and TransUnion will work together to create innovative services for their respective customers. These integrated services will focus on credit monitoring, identity and fraud protection, credit information and breaches. TransUnion will also help Dashlane expand its distribution through TransUnion's multiple partner channels in the U.S. and globally. As part of the round, John Danaher, president of TransUnion Consumer Interactive, will join Dashlane's board.

"We are impressed by Dashlane's capabilities from a product and technology standpoint," said Danaher. "Dashlane's mission is straightforward, and the company is uniquely positioned to benefit from the ever-increasing need for simple, secure digital identity solutions. We feel TransUnion, with its vast array of credit and identity protection services and its global consumer reach, can help accelerate Dashlane's growth even further."

The round of funding comes as Dashlane is expanding its network of partnerships with large financial institutions. Dashlane recently announced a partnership with Banamex, the largest bank in Mexico and a subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc., and will announce more partnerships with leading banks and payment networks in the coming months.

The company can also announce that Carl Pascarella, former CEO of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), has joined its board as an independent director. "Dashlane's ability to facilitate payments and help reduce fraud is uniquely relevant for financial institutions," said Pascarella. "I am excited to have an opportunity to lend my experience to help the team at Dashlane accomplish their vision for secure information and online payments." On the addition of Mr. Pascarella, Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit states," Carl immediately understood the potential we had to make checkout easier and more secure. His decades of experience, including 12 years as CEO of Visa, and his unique network will allow us to make a major impact in the financial services world."

Dashlane, which launched its product in April 2012, was the first company to introduce numerous innovations in digital identity management, such as secure password sharing, emergency access, and its landmark Password Changer. In the past few months the company has expanded the capabilities of its product to serve the needs of the business world and will introduce more business-focused services in the near future.

Dashlane helps more than 5 million consumers in over 150 countries manage their digital identities. The company has also facilitated $6 billion in e-commerce transactions to date.

About Dashlane

Dashlane makes identity and checkouts simple with its password manager and secure digital wallet app. Dashlane allows its users to securely manage passwords, credit cards, IDs, and other important information via advanced encryption and local storage. Dashlane has helped over 5 million users manage and secure their digital identity. The app is available on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, and has won critical acclaim from top publications, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Dashlane is free to use on one device, and Dashlane Premium costs $39.99/year to sync between an unlimited number of devices. Dashlane was founded by Bernard Liautaud and co-founders Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron, and Jean Guillou. The company has offices in New York City and Paris and has received $30 million in funding from Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at Dashlane.com

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

Information is a powerful thing. At TransUnion, we realize that. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways information can be used to help individuals make better and smarter decisions. We help uncover unique stories, trends and insights behind each data point, using historical information as well as alternative data sources. This allows a variety of markets and businesses to better manage risk and consumers to better manage their credit, personal information and identity. Today, TransUnion has a global presence in more than 30 countries and a leading presence in several international markets across North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through the power of information, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies and families and safer communities worldwide.

We call this Information for Good. www.transunion.com

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) invests in early-stage, hyper-growth startups, partnering closely with entrepreneurs to build durable businesses. BVP is a global firm with offices in Menlo Park, Cambridge, New York, Mumbai, Bangalore, Herzliya, and Sao Paulo. With $4.5 billion under management, BVP invests anywhere from $100,000 to $75 million in innovative companies like LinkedIn, Yelp, Skype, CornerstoneOnDemand, Pinterest, Box, and Twilio. Over 100 BVP companies have gone public. Learn more at bvp.com and follow us on Twitter @BessemerVP.

About First Mark Capital

Based in New York City, FirstMark Capital invests in ground-breaking companies that are creating new markets with innovative technology solutions or fundamentally changing existing markets by applying a fresh approach and new business model. A venture leader with more than $2 billion in capital commitments, FirstMark's team of investment and operations professionals have decades of real-world experience and leadership in core technology markets, making the firm uniquely qualified to offer industry insight, relationships and the operational expertise to build lasting businesses. Select historical investments include: Riot Games (Acquired by Tencent Holdings); Duck Creek Technologies (Acquired by Accenture); Netgear; Boomi (Acquired by Dell); First Advantage (Acquired by First American Corporation); StubHub (Acquired by eBay); Netegrity (Acquired by CA); Flarion (Acquired by Qualcomm); OutlookSoft (Acquired by SAP); Vallent (Acquired by IBM); and Navic Networks (Acquired by Microsoft). Current investments include: SecondMarket, Knewton, Pinterest, OpenGamma, Shopify and Lumos Labs. For more information, please visit: www.firstmarkcap.com.

About Rho Ventures

Rho Ventures (www.rho.com) has a multi-stage investing strategy focused on high-growth companies in large markets. Rho Ventures' investments span new media, healthcare, IT, communications, energy technology and other disruptive technologies. Rho Ventures brings nearly 30 years of venture experience, combined with its partners' deep sector expertise and its far-reaching network to assist each portfolio company. This approach has allowed Rho to participate in the growth of some of today's most innovative and successful companies, including Active Power, Capstone Turbine, Ciena, Compaq Computer, EverydayHealth.com, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences, IntraLinks, iVillage, MedImmune, ReachLocal, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Tacoda. Rho Ventures is currently investing from Rho Ventures VI, a $510 million fund. The firm has offices in Palo Alto, Calif., New York and Montreal, with investments across the globe.

SOURCE Dashlane

Related Links

http://Dashlane.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

DataWeave Private. Ltd entered into a partnership with Tokyo based Aucfan Co. Ltd to chart its entry into the Japanese market. The two companies also signed a partnership to enable sellers on Aucfan's platform 'aucfan pro', with cross-border intelligence, by which, Aucfan's clients in Japan can get access to global data aggregated from E-commerce websites.

Aucfan Co., Ltd is the operator of aucfan.com, Japan's largest online shopping and auction bulk search and price comparison website. DataWeave has a real-time analytics platform that aggregates and analyzes data such as price, availability and product information from public domain sources globally.

DataWeave is an emerging technology company that provides competitive intelligence to brands and retailers, based on data available in public domain. DataWeave's proprietary technology enables access to real-time analytics on: pricing, assortment, promotion and competitive intelligence. DataWeave is looking to enter the Japanese market by leveraging Aucfan's extensive experience working with consumers, small businesses and brands in Japan. While DataWeave would get access to a ready set of customers to target, Aucfan's existing customer base would benefit from DataWeave's global coverage to facilitate their expansion strategy in overseas markets.

Recently, DataWeave, announced expansion of its presence in the US market and acquisition of customers in North America. Within one year of commencing operations in the Seattle office in the US, DataWeave has won several clients, which includes retailers and brands. The office's primary focus areas are business development and customer advocacy for North American customers. North America is a more mature market compared to Asian markets and DataWeave has the technology to serve this demanding market.

For large enterprise customers in Japan, Aucfan plans to leverage its partnership with DataWeave to support the launch of online shopping websites and marketing activities by brands in categories of cosmetics, home electronics and apparel. With the combination of Aucfan and DataWeave insights, customers can conduct comparative analysis across categories on E-commerce sites in North America and ASEAN.

DataWeave's platform has coverage of over millions of products across publically available E-commerce sites in India, SE Asia, Australia, parts of Europe and North America.

For more information on Dataweave, please visit: http://www.dataweave.com/

Aucfan is Japan's largest auction bulk search/price comparison website: http://aucfan.com/

Contact:

Prateek Malhotra

BoringBrands

+91-9711882494

[email protected]

Inquiries about this Press Release:

Yuka Hiruta

Public Relations Manager

+81-3-6809-0951

[email protected]



SOURCE DataWeave Private Ltd.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and MENLO PARK, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQX: DMPI) ("DelMar" and the "Company"), a company focused on developing and commercializing proven cancer therapies in new orphan drug indications, today announced the successful completion of an End of Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Our End-of-Phase 2 meeting was an important milestone for the Company as we advance the clinical development of VAL-083," stated Jeffrey Bacha, chairman and CEO of DelMar Pharmaceuticals. "We are pleased with the FDA's guidance on our Phase 3 trial design in patients with glioblastoma who have failed prior therapy with temozolomide and bevacizumab (Avastin), and we look forward to finalizing the trial design and initiating the study as quickly as possible."

DelMar's advanced development program will feature a single randomized Phase 3 study measuring survival outcomes compared to a "physicians' choice" control, which, if successful, would serve as the basis for a New Drug Application (NDA) submission for VAL-083. The control arm will consist of a limited number of salvage chemotherapies currently utilized in the treatment of Avastin-failed GBM. The final pivotal trial design will be confirmed with the FDA following further discussions with the Company's clinical advisors.

The FDA confirmed that it will consider the totality of data available, including data obtained from DelMar's other planned clinical trials in related GBM populations, when assessing the NDA. The FDA also noted that DelMar can rely on prior US National Cancer Institutes (NCI) studies and historical literature to support non-clinical data required for an NDA filing and that DelMar will have the option to file under a 505(b)(2) strategy, which allows a sponsor to rely on already established safety and efficacy data in support an NDA.

"There is a major unmet medical need in refractory glioblastoma," said Mr. Bacha. "The encouraging data from our clinical trials to date, combined with historical data from prior clinical trials from the NCI, suggest that VAL-083 has the potential to improve therapeutic outcomes for GBM patients who currently have no viable treatment options. We are now one step closer to achieving that goal."

About VAL-083

VAL-083 is a "first-in-class," small-molecule chemotherapeutic. In more than 40 Phase I and II clinical studies sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, VAL-083 demonstrated clinical activity against a range of cancers including lung, brain, cervical, ovarian tumors and leukemia both as a single-agent and in combination with other treatments. VAL-083 is approved in China for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and lung cancer, and has received orphan drug designation in Europe and the U.S. for the treatment of malignant gliomas. DelMar recently announced that the USFDA's Office of Orphan Products had also granted an orphan designation to VAL-083 for the treatment of medulloblastoma.

DelMar has demonstrated that VAL-083's anti-tumor activity is unaffected by the expression of MGMT, a DNA repair enzyme that is implicated in chemotherapy resistance and poor outcomes in GBM patients following standard front-line treatment with Temodar (temozolomide).

DelMar conducted a Phase I/II clinical trial in GBM patients whose tumors have progressed following standard treatment with temozolomide, radiotherapy, bevacizumab and a range of salvage therapies. Patients were enrolled at five clinical centers in the United States: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN); UCSF (San Francisco, CA) and three centers associated with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute (Nashville, TN, Sarasota, FL and Denver, CO) (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01478178). DelMar announced the completion of enrollment in a Phase II expansion cohort in September, 2015.

About Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most malignant form of brain cancer. Approximately 15,000 people are diagnosed with GBM each year in the U.S., with similar incidence in Europe. Standard of care is surgery, followed by either radiation therapy, or radiation therapy combined with temozolomide. Approximately 60 percent of GBM patients treated with temozolomide experience tumor progression within one year. More than half of glioblastoma patients will fail the currently approved therapies and face a very poor prognosis.

About DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded to develop and commercialize new cancer therapies in indications where patients are failing or have become intollerant to modern targeted or biologic treatments. The Company's lead drug in development, VAL-083, is currently undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. as a potential treatment for refractory glioblastoma multiforme. VAL-083 has been extensively studied by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and is currently approved for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and lung cancer in China. Published pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that VAL-083 may be active against a range of tumor types via a novel mechanism of action that could provide improved treatment options for patients.

For further information, please visit www.delmarpharma.com; or contact DelMar Pharmaceuticals Investor Relations: [email protected] / (604) 629-5989. Connect with the Company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.

Safe Harbor Statement

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, clinical studies and future product commercialization; and, the Company's business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, our current reports on Form 8-K.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/265198LOGO

SOURCE DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.delmarpharma.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Demandbase, the recognized leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire data science company Spiderbook. Spiderbook automates the identification of companies that are likely to buy, including those that are already in-market for a company's products and services. It then determines the right buyers within those accounts and uncovers buyer-specific insights to recommend personalized messages for sales teams to use. The combined offering extends Demandbase's leadership position in the rapidly expanding ABM category with the only end-to-end platformhelping companies identify, target, engage and sell to target accounts.

"Demandbase has significantly improved how we attract and engage our target accounts," said Nick Ezzo, vice president of demand generation for Host Analytics. "Last year, we tested Spiderbook to help us identify the right accounts to target while delivering the right contacts and insights to the sales team to help close those accounts. The combination of Demandbase and Spiderbook gives us a complete ABM platform, and we are excited to see the new innovation that they will deliver together."

Click to tweet: [email protected] signs an agreement to acquire @Spiderbook to create the only end-to-end #ABM platform http://demandb.se/SBABlog

"Over the last several years, we have evaluated multiple solutions to help our marketing and sales teams more efficiently identify the accounts most likely to buy our own products," said Chris Golec, founder and CEO of Demandbase. "Spiderbook's technology was simply head and shoulders above anything we tried, and we heard similar feedback from our mutual customers. We were so impressed with the results generated, scalability of the technology and their team, that we decided to join forces to bring the most robust and comprehensive ABM solution to the marketplace."

The addition of the Spiderbook technology will now make it possible for Demandbase to use machine learning and data science at scale to analyze billions of web pages for signals that map to the keywords, interests and profile of its customers' target accounts. Spiderbook also extends the Demandbase offering with the technology to identify the right people to target at these accounts and recommends the right messages.

"We have watched Demandbase create and grow the ABM category. They are clearly the dominant force within Account-Based Marketing," said Alan Fletcher, CEO of Spiderbook. "By joining Demandbase, we can now reach more B2B marketers and bring more value by having our solutions fully integrated."

Founded by Oracle veterans and a team of data scientists, Spiderbook uses advanced machine learning and linguistics expertise to discover new accounts displaying intent, uncover qualified opportunities and find the most relevant buyers within target accounts. Sales teams can then easily choose relevant information from their dashboard to populate personalized emails. Spiderbook employees will be joining Demandbase's team at the company's headquarters in San Francisco.

"B2B marketers are evolving their Account-Based Marketing strategy to what we call Account-Based Everythingthe coordination of personalized marketing, sales development and sales efforts to drive engagement and conversion at a targeted set of accounts," said Craig Rosenberg, chief analyst at TOPO. "The Demandbase acquisition of Spiderbook extends their account-based platform into sales development and sales and allows organizations to move closer to realizing this vision and ultimately see significant lift in pipeline and revenue."

Recently named a Gartner Cool Vendor, Demandbase is experiencing phenomenal growth in ABM deals. Closing its biggest quarter ever, Demandbase now has over 300 customers including some of the world's largest technology, manufacturing, healthcare and financial services companies in the world. Last month, at the largest ABM thought leadership conference in the world, the Demandbase Marketing Innovation Summit, the company announced Account-Based Marketing Automation, a significant partnership with Oracle Marketing Cloud, launched the ABM Leadership Alliance and unveiled the latest State of ABM report with SiriusDecisions.

About Demandbase

Demandbase, the leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), has been introducing ABM solutions to the market since 2011. The company offers the only end-to-end ABM platform account identification, account-based advertising, B2B website personalization, account-based marketing automation, sales insights and integrations into CRM so that ABM results are optimized around sales activity. The Demandbase B2B Marketing Cloud is the only subscription-based ad targeting and web personalization solution that let marketers connect campaigns directly to revenue. The B2B Marketing Cloud is powered by patented technology, which allows companies to identify in real-time the accounts they value most and personalize their digital marketing efforts to them. Enterprise leaders and high-growth companies such as Adobe, GE, Salesforce.com, Oracle, Box, CSC, DocuSign, Dell and others use Demandbase to drive ABM and maximize their marketing performance. The company was named a Gartner Cool Vendor for Tech Go-To Market in 2016. More information can be found at https://www.demandbase.com or by following the company on Twitter @Demandbase.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150330/195496LOGO

SOURCE Demandbase

Related Links

http://www.demandbase.com


MILWAUKEE, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half (56%) of job seekers across the globe say an employer's brand/reputation is more important today than it was five years ago. The feeling is even stronger in China (72%) and Mexico (62%). This is according to a global study of job seekers conducted by ManpowerGroup Solutions, the world's largest RPO provider, part of ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN). Insights into the importance of employer branding are shared in a new paper, "Brand Detectives: The New Generation of Global Candidates."

More than half of job seekers across the globe say an employer's brand is more important today than it was five years ago, according to new research from ManpowerGroup Solutions, the world's largest RPO provider. Learn more at www.manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/candidatepreferences

Click the link to download Brand Detectives: The New Generation of Global Candidates: http://manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/candidatepreferences/

Millennials are the most brand-driven candidates, ranking company brand in their top three motivators, along with compensation and job responsibilities. These 25- to 34-year-olds also research companies "the Millennial way." Social media is the number one way to find information about a company in China; in Mexico, 43% of job seekers use social media for brand research.

"The Google generation does not have to rely on what potential employers tell them about a company; they have instant access to news articles, social networks and employer review sites," said Kate Donovan, Senior Vice President of ManpowerGroup Solutions and Global RPO President. "Today's job seekers recognize they spend a significant amount of their lives at work, and as such, they want to ensure they align themselves with organizations that have great brands and a satisfying culture."

The paper highlights three ways companies can improve their hiring processes to better attract and retain today's top talent:

"Bar Raisers": Identify current employees with good leadership principles who can participate in the interview process  to market the company to potential recruits and recognize which candidates have the most potential. The Recruiter Proxy: Companies new to the idea of building their employer brand can utilize recruiters and staffing agencies to represent the company, conveying the brand to candidates. "Company Camp": Maximize your company's unique selling points early on in the process. Consider inviting candidates to visit the campus, meet current employees and experience the culture firsthand.

Also in the paper are 10 tips for companies to use current employees to appeal to brand-driven candidates, some of which include:

Steer the conversation: Smart companies will demonstrate trustworthy behavior and open, honest communication when potentially negative issues arise.

Smart companies will demonstrate trustworthy behavior and open, honest communication when potentially negative issues arise. Own the content on review websites: Use employer review websites to acknowledge imperfections and talk about the company's core values. This can reduce long-term damage to employer brand.

Use employer review websites to acknowledge imperfections and talk about the company's core values. This can reduce long-term damage to employer brand. Incorporate testimonials: Use photos and videos of employees to animate testimonials, celebrate employees and put a human face on the company.

Use photos and videos of employees to animate testimonials, celebrate employees and put a human face on the company. Arm every employee with the brand message: Transform employees into a mini-army of brand ambassadors by making sure they understand the essence of the employer value proposition.

"HR professionals who use current employees to serve as ambassadors for the companyboth in real life and on social networking sitestap into the most credible and influential source of information for potential new hires," Donovan said. "Those who choose not to utilize these important resources risk being left behind."

To download "Brand Detectives: The New Generation of Global Candidates," click here: http://manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/candidatepreferences/

About ManpowerGroup Solutions

ManpowerGroup Solutions provides clients with outsourcing services related to human resources functions, primarily in the areas of large-scale recruiting and workforce-intensive initiatives that are outcome-based, thereby sharing in the risk and reward with our clients. Our solutions offerings include TAPFIN-Managed Service Provider, Strategic Workforce Consulting, Borderless Talent Solutions, Talent Based Outsourcing and Recruitment Process Outsourcing, where we are one of the largest providers of permanent and contingent recruitment in the world. ManpowerGroup Solutions is part of the ManpowerGroup family of companies, which also includes Manpower, Experis, and Right Management. More information at www.manpowergroupsolutions.com.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is the world's workforce expert, creating innovative workforce solutions for nearly 70 years. As workforce experts, we connect more than 600,000 people to meaningful work across a wide range of skills and industries every day. Through our ManpowerGroup family of brands  Manpower, Experis, Right Management and ManpowerGroup Solutions  we help more than 400,000 clients in 80 countries and territories address their critical talent needs, providing comprehensive solutions to resource, manage and develop talent. In 2016, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the sixth consecutive year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup makes powering the world of work humanly possible: www.manpowergroup.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371718

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110330/CG73938LOGO-a

SOURCE ManpowerGroup

Related Links

http://www.manpowergroup.com


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "We are pleased to welcome Cynthia A. Telles, Ph.D. to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health," said Augustine C. Baca, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the nation's leading health advocacy working for the best health outcomes for all. Mr. Baca added, "Dr. Telles brings decades of knowledge, experience, and commitment to health with a special emphasis on the mental health issues of the Hispanic Community." Dr. Telles commented, "While there have been great advances in health we are still not where we need to be with respect to the mental health of all communities."

Dr. Cynthia Telles is the director of the Spanish-Speaking Psychosocial Clinic of the Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, and a clinical professor with the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Telles serves on the boards of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and serves on the Executive Advisory Board of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc. Dr. Telles also serves on the Los Angeles Airport Commission.

Dr. Telles is a founding board member of the Public Policy Institute of California, and previously served on the boards of the California Endowment (as board chair from 2004 to 2006), Sanwa Bank, Americas United Bank, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. She served on the boards of General Motors, the Pacific Council on International Policy, a non-partisan international affairs organization, the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, and the California Community Foundation (Immediate Past Chair).

Dr. Telles was appointed by President Obama to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Throughout her career, Dr. Telles has received many awards and commendations from organizations and governmental entities across the Nation. Dr. Telles was selected by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the Nation in 2006 and in 2010.

Dr. Telles received a bachelor of arts degree from Smith College and a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Boston University. She has published extensively in mental health, particularly with respect to the assessment and treatment of Hispanic populations.

About the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (The Alliance)

The Alliance is the nation's foremost science-based source of information and trusted advocate for the best health outcomes for all. For more information, visit http://www.hispanichealth.org or call the Alliance's Su Familia National Hispanic Family Health Helpline at 1-866-783-2645.

SOURCE National Alliance for Hispanic Health

Related Links

http://www.hispanichealth.org


Recruiting is becoming more sophisticated and data-driven, following a similar trend that has played out in the sales and marketing functions over the last decade. Talent teams and recruiting departments require the same level of advanced technology that other business units possess, and Entelo is increasingly recognized as a leader in that area.

"At Campbell Soup Company, talent acquisition helps drive growth," said Nicole Wormley, Sr. Manager, U.S. Talent Acquisition at Campbell Soup Company. "Automating the process, for both outbound candidates and inbound applicants, is as important as automating other functions across our company. With Entelo our sourcers are both more effective and more efficient  Entelo has enabled our recruiter team to develop more advanced and automated recruiting processes."

Entelo's newest technology, Entelo Stack, uses data science, machine learning, and directed scoring to automatically rank inbound applicants, making recruiters and hiring managers dramatically more productive and effective while improving key metrics such as quality of hire, time to hire, and cost per hire.

"At HubSpot, we think about talent acquisition as a strategic driver of our growth and place great value on making that process as effective as possible," said Becky McCullough, Director of Recruiting, North America at HubSpot. "Entelo has enabled our recruiters to find, qualify and engage with a diverse talent pool in more efficient ways and has enabled HubSpot to develop more sophisticated and scalable recruiting practices."

Entelo Stack includes capabilities to prevent bias in hiring by anonymizing applications and resumes coming into a company so that recruiters and hiring managers can focus on the skills and experience an applicant has, instead of being biased by the race or gender implications of their name. With Entelo Stack organizations gain a competitive advantage, ensuring that Entelo customers respond the fastest when top candidates apply.

"In such a competitive talent market, speed to engagement can often make the difference between whether we bring on a new team member or not," said Ron Storn, VP, People at Lyft. "Entelo makes us better. It allows us to engage all applicants and candidates faster. Speed is a competitive advantage and we've proven that it drives better results."

"At Entelo, it's our goal to be at the cutting edge of innovation in the recruiting industry," said Jon Bischke, Entelo's CEO and co-founder. "Last year was a banner year for us. We delivered major enhancements to our Search and Track solutions and we launched Stack. We are honored that so many companies, across all industries, choose to partner with Entelo to help them drive their recruiting initiatives and gain competitive edge."

"Entelo has tapped into a pattern we've seen evolve successfully over the past decade  innovation transitioning from one functional area within a company to others," said Jason Pressman, Managing Director at Shasta Ventures. "In this case it's targeting, messaging, automation, and engagement, which have been adopted in sales and marketing, now being applied to talent acquisition. The market opportunity for a next-gen talent acquisition solution is huge, and Entelo has already established itself as a new leader. We are excited to help them scale further, both in the U.S. and international markets."

As part of today's news, Entelo announced the following statistics about its growth:

Q1 2016 sales growth of 588% over Q1 2015

Recent customer wins including Ameriprise Financial, Atlassian, Avery Dennison , Campbell Soup Company, Capital One, Cummins, Dell, Frontier Communications, Genentech, Oracle, Owens Corning, PG&E, SurveyMonkey, The Honest Company, Trinet and TripAdvisor.

, Campbell Soup Company, Capital One, Cummins, Dell, Frontier Communications, Genentech, Oracle, Owens Corning, PG&E, SurveyMonkey, The Honest Company, Trinet and TripAdvisor. Over 425 customers, including 15% of the Fortune 100

55% quarter-over-quarter growth in usage of Track, Entelo's email engagement and analytics solution for recruiters

About Shasta Ventures

Shasta Ventures is an early-stage venture firm investing its fourth fund in consumer technology, enterprise start-ups and connected hardware. Shasta aims to partner with bold, creative entrepreneurs who have exceptional instincts and insights into the needs, desires and behaviors of the people who use their products. The firm is based in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.shastaventures.com, or follow us on Twitter at @shasta.

About Entelo

Entelo is a new and better way to recruit. The Entelo platform combines machine learning, predictive analytics, behavioral listening and social signals to help recruiting organizations identify, qualify and engage with talent. To learn how leading companies like Facebook, Cisco and UPS are building their teams using Entelo, visit www.entelo.com.

Contact

Nicole Conley

650-422-3156

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371841

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371842

SOURCE Entelo

Related Links

http://www.entelo.com


CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- E.ON Climate & Renewables North America (EC&RNA), Allianz Capital Partners (Allianz), and State Street Corporation (State Street) today announced tax equity financing in exchange for partial interest in the Colbeck's Corner, LLC Wind Farm (Colbeck's Corner).

"We are delighted to partner with Allianz and State Street on the Colbeck's Corner transaction," said Dr. Verena Volpert, Senior Vice President, Group Finance, E.ON SE. "EC&RNA produces quality renewable energy projects which continue to attract strong interest from established investors such as Allianz and State Street."

"Allianz is delighted to be partnering with E.ON and State Street on the Colbeck's Corner wind project. We look forward to co-operating to ensure the success of the project and, hopefully, to working together on other investments in future," said David Jones, Head of Renewables at Allianz Capital Partners.

Located in Carson and Gray counties, 37 miles east of Amarillo, Texas, Colbeck's Corner is a 200.48 megawatt wind farm. Colbeck's Corner has 112 GE 1.79-100 turbines that can create enough electricity to power approximately 64,000 homes. EC&RNA has developed more than 3 gigawatts of wind projects in the United States since 2005.

"Wind farms such as Colbeck's Corner produce clean, reliable, and affordable homegrown American energy for many years," said Patrick Woodson, Chairman, EC&RNA. "Equally important, projects like these create much needed immediate and long-term economic impact through temporary and permanent jobs and increased tax revenue to rural areas. We appreciate the assistance of our landowners and area officials leading up to the commercial operation of Colbeck's Corner."

A team of nearly 240 construction workers completed the Colbeck's Corner project, and 16 personnel, including skilled technicians, are stationed on-site day-to-day. During the next 25 years, Colbeck's Corner is projected to generate more than $32 million in property taxes combined for Carson and Gray counties. This additional revenue will support essential county services and local schools.

About E.ON

E.ON is one of the world's largest energy companies serving 33 million customers with power, gas, heat and energy solutions., with annual sales of 112 billion and more than 58,000 employees E.ON, headquartered in Germany, plays a leading role in the development of the renewable industry worldwide and is already active in onshore and offshore wind as well as in photovoltaic. E.ON currently operates over 4.5 gigawatts of renewable capacity including large hydro. Since 2007, E.ON has already invested more than 10 billion and will continue to expand the share of renewable energy in E.ON's power generation portfolio. It is E.ON's ambition to further industrialize the sector and professionalize its operations, in order to reduce the cost of renewable generation and make it ever more competitive. To this end, E.ON works with a wide range of partners and is always open to discuss potential cooperation with committed technical experts and financial investors alike. For more information, please visit www.eon.com.

About Allianz Capital Partners

Allianz Capital Partners is the Allianz Group's in-house investment manager for alternative investments. With offices in Munich, London, New York and Singapore, Allianz Capital Partners manages around EUR 14 billion of alternative assets. The investment focus is on direct investments in infrastructure and renewable energy as well as private equity fund investments. ACP's investment strategy is targeted to generate attractive, long-term and stable returns while diversifying the overall investment portfolio for insurance companies of the Allianz Group.

allianzcapitalpartners.com

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $27 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2 trillion* in assets under management as of March 31, 2016, State Street operates in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide, including the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, visit State Street's website at www.statestreet.com.

* Assets under management include approximately $33 billion as of March 31, 2016, for which State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of SSGA, serves as the distribution agent.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kevin Gresham, VP, Government Relations & External Affairs, E.ON North America

512.695.0920, [email protected]

Mani Pillai, External Communications, Allianz Capital Partners

+44 7881 8660 59

[email protected]

State Street

Julie Kane, State Street, +1 617 664 3001

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131212/DA32721LOGO

SOURCE E.ON Climate & Renewables North America

Related Links

http://www.eon.com


LIMA, Peru, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ferreycorp S.A.A., a company organized as a sociedad anonima abierta under the laws of the Republic of Peru ("Ferreycorp"), hereby announces the commencement of its offer to purchase (the "Tender Offer") for cash up to U.S.$100,000,000 aggregate principal amount (subject to increase by Ferreycorp, the "Maximum Tender Amount") of its outstanding 4.875% Senior Guaranteed Notes due 2020 (the "Notes"), upon the terms and subject to the conditions described in the Offer to Purchase dated May 25, 2016 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offer to Purchase") and the accompanying Letter of Transmittal dated May 25, 2016 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Letter of Transmittal" and, together with the Offer to Purchase, the "Offer Documents").

The following table sets forth certain terms of the Tender Offer:



Per U.S.$1,000 Principal

Amount of Notes Title of Notes CUSIP and ISIN

Numbers Aggregate Principal

Amount Outstanding Aggregate Maximum

Tender Amount Tender Offer

Consideration Early Tender

Premium Total

Consideration 4.875% Senior Guaranteed

Notes due 2020 CUSIP: 31529UAA8 US31529UAA88 ISIN: P39238AA1 USP39238AA11 U.S.$282,333,000 U.S.$100,000,000 U.S.$992.50 U.S.$30.00 U.S.$1,022.50

Subject to the Maximum Tender Amount, the amount of Notes that is purchased in the Tender Offer on the Settlement Date (as such term is defined in the Offer to Purchase) may be subject to the proration arrangements applicable to the Tender Offer.

Ferreycorp will only accept for purchase Notes in an aggregate principal amount up to the Maximum Tender Amount. Ferreycorp reserves the right, but is under no obligation, to increase the Maximum Tender Amount at any time, subject to compliance with applicable law, which could result in Ferreycorp purchasing a greater aggregate principal amount of Notes in the Tender Offer. There can be no assurance that Ferreycorp will increase the Maximum Tender Amount. If Ferreycorp increases the Maximum Tender Amount, Ferreycorp does not expect to extend the Withdrawal Deadline, subject to applicable law.

The Tender Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on June 22, 2016 (such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Expiration Date"), unless earlier terminated. You must validly tender your Notes, and not validly withdraw, at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 8, 2016 (such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Early Tender Date") to be eligible to receive the Total Consideration (as defined below) for such Notes. You must validly tender your Notes at or prior to the Expiration Date to be eligible to receive the Tender Offer Consideration (as defined below) for such Notes. You must validly tender your Notes at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 8, 2016 (such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Early Tender Date") to be eligible to receive the Total Consideration (as defined below) for such Notes. Holders who validly tender their Notes will be eligible to receive, as applicable, the Total Consideration and the Tender Offer Consideration, plus Accrued Interest (as defined below), which will be payable in cash. Tendered Notes may be validly withdrawn from the Tender Offer at or prior to, but not after, 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 8, 2016 (such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Withdrawal Deadline").

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Tender Offer, the consideration for each U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will be U.S.$992.50 (the "Tender Offer Consideration"). Holders of Notes that are validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Date and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will receive the Tender Offer Consideration plus the early tender premium for each U.S.$1,000 of U.S.$30.00 (the "Early Tender Premium" and, together with the Tender Offer Consideration, the "Total Consideration"). Holders of Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date, but on or prior to the Expiration Date, and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will receive the Tender Offer Consideration, which will not include any Early Tender Premium. No tenders will be valid if submitted after the Expiration Date. All Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will also redeem accrued and unpaid interest on those Notes from the last interest payment date with respect to those Notes to, but not including, the Settlement Date ("Accrued Interest").

The Tender Offer is not conditioned upon the tender of any minimum principal amount of Notes. The Tender Offer is subject to the satisfaction of the General Conditions (as defined in the Offer to Purchase).

The Tender Offer is open to all registered holders (individually, a "Holder," and collectively, the "Holders") of the Notes. The Tender Offer commences on the date of the Offer to Purchase and will expire on the Expiration Date, unless extended or earlier terminated by Ferreycorp. No tenders will be valid if submitted after the Expiration Date. If a nominee holds your Notes, such nominee may have an earlier deadline for accepting the offer. You should promptly contact the nominee that holds your Notes to determine its deadline. The Tender Offer is open to all registered Holders of the Notes.

Ferreycorp will purchase Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Expiration Date and that Ferreycorp chooses to accept for purchase, subject to all conditions to the Tender Offer having been either satisfied or waived by Ferreycorp, promptly following the Expiration Date (the "Settlement Date"). The Settlement Date is expected to occur on the second business day following the Expiration Date. Notes accepted on the Settlement Date, if any, will be accepted subject to the Maximum Tender Amount and proration, each as described in the Offer to Purchase.

Acceptance for tenders of any Notes may be subject to proration if the aggregate principal amount for the Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn would cause the Maximum Tender Amount to be exceeded. Any Notes tendered pursuant to a Tender Offer that are not accepted and purchased by Ferreycorp as a result of the operation of the proration provisions applicable to the Tender Offer shall be promptly returned to the relevant tendering Holders following the Expiration Date.

Notwithstanding any other provision of the Tender Offer, Ferreycorp's obligation to accept for purchase, and to pay for, any Notes validly tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer, is conditioned upon the satisfaction of the General Conditions (as defined in the Offer to Purchase). The General Conditions to the Tender Offer are for the sole benefit of Ferreycorp and may be asserted by Ferreycorp regardless of the circumstances giving rise to any such condition (including any action or inaction by Ferreycorp). Ferreycorp reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to waive any and all conditions of the Tender Offer, at or prior to the Expiration Date. The Tender Offer is not subject to a minimum principal amount of Notes being tendered.

Withdrawal rights with respect to the Notes will terminate on the Withdrawal Deadline, unless extended pursuant to applicable law. Accordingly, following the Withdrawal Deadline, any Notes validly tendered (whether before, on or after the Withdrawal Deadline) may no longer be validly withdrawn. For the withdrawal of a tendered Note to be valid, such withdrawal must comply with the procedures set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

Subject to applicable law and the terms set forth in the Offer to Purchase, Ferreycorp reserves the right with respect to the Tender Offer to: (i) extend or otherwise amend the Early Tender Date or the Expiration Date; (ii) increase the Maximum Tender Amount without extending the Withdrawal Deadline or otherwise reinstating withdrawal rights of Holders except as required by law; (iii) waive or modify in whole or in part any and all conditions to the Tender Offer; (iv) modify or terminate the Tender Offer; and (v) otherwise amend the Tender Offer in any respect. In the event of the termination of the Tender Offer, the Notes tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer and not previously accepted and purchased will be promptly returned to the tendering Holders.

If you do not tender your Notes or if you tender Notes that are not accepted for purchase, they will remain outstanding. If Ferreycorp consummates the Tender Offer, the trading market for your outstanding Notes may be significantly more limited. For a discussion of this and other risks, see "Certain Significant ConsiderationsThe Tender Offer may adversely affect the market value, and reduce the liquidity of any trading market, of the Notes" in the Offer to Purchase.

THE OFFER DOCUMENTS CONTAIN CERTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT SHOULD BE READ BEFORE ANY DECISION IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE TENDER OFFER, IN PARTICULAR, SEE "CERTAIN SIGNIFICANT CONSIDERATIONS" IN THE OFFER TO PURCHASE FOR A DISCUSSION OF CERTAIN FACTORS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER IN CONNECTION WITH THE TENDER OFFER.

None of Ferreycorp, its board of directors, the Dealer Manager (as defined below), the Tender and Information Agent (as defined below) or the Trustee (as defined in the offer to purchase) with respect to the Notes or any of their respective Affiliates is making any recommendation as to whether Holders should tender any Notes in response to the Tender Offer. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to participate in the Tender Offer, and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to purchase the Notes in any jurisdiction in which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such offer under applicable securities or "blue sky" laws.

Neither the delivery of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer shall under any circumstances create any implication that the information contained in this announcement or the Offer to Purchase is correct as of any time subsequent to the date hereof or thereof or that there has been no change in the information set forth herein or therein or in Ferreycorp's affairs since the date hereof or thereof.

The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to sell any securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities (other than the Notes). Any offering of securities will only be made by an offering document.

D. F. King & Co., Inc. is acting as the tender agent and as the information agent (the "Tender and Information Agent") for the Tender Offer. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as Dealer Manager (the "Dealer Manager") for the Tender Offer.

For further information about the Tender Offer, please log-into the website www.dfking.com/ferreycorp. Alternatively, please contact the Tender and Information Agent D.F. King & Co., Inc., Attn: Peter Aymar, at 48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10005, telephone number: (877) 478-5041 (toll-free), (212) 269-5550 (collect) or email [email protected]. Requests for documentation should be directed to the Tender and Information Agent.

SOURCE Ferreycorp S.A.A.
KPMG and CB Insights release their latest quarterly fintech venture capital (VC) report, highlighting a rebound in funding and deals.

TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - After a significant pullback in funding in Q4'15, mega-rounds lifted quarterly investment into VC-backed fintech companies by over 150 percent, according to the Pulse of Fintech, the quarterly global report on fintech VC trends published jointly by KPMG International and CB Insights.

According to the new report, global investment in private fintech companies totaled US$5.7 billion in Q1'16, with US$4.9 billion specifically invested in VC-backed fintech companies across 218 deals, a 96 percent jump compared to the same quarter last year. The rise in funding was tempered by the fact that three mega-rounds accounted for 54 percent of VC fintech investment in Q1'16. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, VC-backed fintech deal activity rose 22 percent in Q1'16.

KPMG International and CB Insights will discuss findings from the Pulse of Fintech report, investment trends and key players in fintech during a live webinar on 31 May, 2016 at 11:00am EDT. Register here.

"Global VC investment into the technology sector may be experiencing a bit of a pause, however fintech, propelled by some very large mega-rounds, has proven to be an exception to the rule," said Warren Mead, Global Co-Leader of Fintech, KPMG International. "Investors are putting money into fintech companies all over the world  from the traditional strongholds of China, the US and the UK  to up and coming fintech hubs like Singapore, Australia and Ireland."

Anand Sanwal, CEO at CB Insights, added: "While fintech startups continue to attract large investment both in the US and abroad, and investors gravitate to areas yet untouched by much tech innovation including insurance, recent events and public market performance suggest that growth-stage fintech fundraising will be harder to come by moving forward in 2016."

Key highlights from the Pulse of Fintech:

Q1'16 saw a big rebound in funding to the fintech sector, with total investment in fintech companies hitting US$5.7B . Globally, VC-backed fintech companies drew US$4.9B in funding, rising from just US$1.9B in Q4'15.

. Globally, VC-backed fintech companies drew in funding, rising from just in Q4'15. VC-backed deal activity rose dramatically quarter over quarter. Q4'15 saw fintech deal activity fall to the lowest point since Q2'14. This drop reversed course in a big way in Q1'16 as VC-backed fintech deals rose to a new quarterly high of 218 globally.

Larger deals spurred fintech funding growth in Q1'16. Q1'16 saw 13 US$50M+ rounds to VC-backed fintech companies, a slight rise from the 10 US$50M+ rounds in Q4'15, but a drop from the 18 mega-rounds in Q1'15.

Asia saw funding to VC-backed fintech companies jump to US$2.6B in Q1'16 from just US$0.5B in Q4'15. This dramatic rise came on the back of the US$1B+ mega-rounds to JD Finance and Lu.Com.

North America sees funding bounce back

North America saw both fintech funding and deals rebound following a major drop in Q4'15, as VC-backed fintech companies raised US$1.8B across 128 deals, an increase of 80 percent in funding quarter-over-quarter.

Deal activity to VC-backed fintech companies in North America is on pace to reach a new high in 2016 at the current run rate, as the 128 fintech deals registered over the three-month period was the largest quarterly total since Q2'15.

Chinese mega-rounds propel Asia fintech funding

Following a drop off in Q4'15, fintech investment in Asia reversed course in Q1'16 to hit a new high of US$2.6B.

China accounted for US$2.4B of Asia fintech funding and 49 percent of fintech funding across all geographies, primarily as a result of US$1B+ funding rounds to JD Finance and Lu.com.

Europe fintech deals rise; no spike in funding

Europe saw VC-backed fintech deals reach a five-quarter high, rising from 37 in Q4'15 to 47 in Q1'16. Europe fintech funding remained almost level with Q4'15's total at US$0.3B. UK funding rounds to WorldRemit and LendInvest pushed UK funding to account for over half of Europe's fintech funding total.

CB Insights' Sanwal commented: "Fintech investment in Europe has certainly been less overheated than in other markets, which has resulted in an increasing appetite for fintech investments in the region by cross-border investors both from the US and Asia."

Corporates participate in over 20 percent of deals for fifth straight quarter

Corporate investors continue to play a large role in the fintech ecosystem, with global deals to VC-backed fintech companies standing at 24 percent + in three of the past five quarters. Of note, Europe saw an upswing in corporate fintech investment during Q1'16 as corporate participation in deals to VC-backed fintech companies rose from 8 percent in Q4'15 to 21 percent in Q1'16.

Brian Hughes, Co-Leader, KPMG Enterprise Innovative Startups Network and Partner, KPMG in the US said: "Q1'16 was a strong quarter for venture capital investment in the fintech sector, characterized by 13, US$50M plus rounds to VC-backed companies globally, including billion-dollar rounds by Lu.com and JD Finance. However, recent challenges at several high profile, publicly-traded fintech companies, may well dampen private investor enthusiasm moving into Q2."

About KPMG Enterprise

You know KPMG, you might not know KPMG Enterprise. KPMG Enterprise advisers in member firms around the world are dedicated to working with businesses like yours. Whether you're an entrepreneur looking to get started, an innovative, fast growing company, or an established company looking to an exit, KPMG Enterprise advisers understand what is important to you and can help you navigate your challenges  no matter the size or stage of your business.

The KPMG Enterprise global network for Innovative Start-ups has extensive knowledge and experience working with the start-up ecosystem. From seed to speed, we're here throughout your journey. You gain access to KPMG's global resources through a single point of contacta trusted adviser to your company. It's a local touch with a global reach.

About KPMG's Global Fintech Practice

KPMG's Financial Services practice has launched the global fintech practice in order to leverage international investment activity and capability development in fintech across KPMG member firms. Warren Mead and Ian Pollari, partners with KPMG in the UK and KPMG in Australia respectively, have been appointed as global co-leads of the practice, along with a leadership team including partners from countries including the US, UK, Israel, China & Hong Kong, India and Australia.

About KPMG International

KPMG is a global network of professional services firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 155 countries and have 174,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

About CB Insights

CB Insights, backed by RSTP and the National Science Foundation, is a software-as-a-service company that uses data science, machine learning, and predictive analytics to help our customers predict what's nexttheir next investment, the next market they should attack, the next move of their competitor, their next customer, or the next company they should acquire. The world's leading global corporations including the likes of Cisco, Salesforce, Castrol, and Gartner as well as top tier VCs including NEA, Upfront Ventures, RRE, and FirstMark Capital rely on CB Insights to make decisions based on data, not decibels.

SOURCE KPMG International
ARMONK, N.Y., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that FleetCor, a leading provider of fuel credit card and specialized payment products, processing approximately 1.9 billion transactions during 2015, will use IBM Cloud services to help support its growth into new markets.

With global commercial card purchases projected to grow by 13 percent last year to over $1.79 trillion, the industry is accelerating in the digital age, and companies like FleetCor are remodeling their IT environments to integrate new payment solutions and increased workload capacities. FleetCor will be leveraging IBM Cloud Managed Services for z Systems  which extends the scalable and security-rich transaction processing capabilities of the IBM z Systems mainframe to a hybrid cloud environment  to meet new business demands such as increased secure transaction processing with new data insight capabilities.

"Achieving scalable, secure processing to support FleetCor's growth while applying new data insights from our card payment solutions to clients' business needs are indispensable," said John Reed, Global Chief Information Officer of FleetCor. "Our partnership with IBM will enable greater cost savings, enhanced security, and improved logistics to further operational efficiency."

IBM Cloud Managed Services for z Systems gives clients access to the z Systems mainframe in a securely designed partitioned virtual environment, delivering the system's leading security, scalability and availability in a hybrid cloud model. Predictable pricing models, shared infrastructure for software, server, disk and tape needs, and cloud-based provisioning of customizable computing resources for any size business, allows IBM clients to account for the types of increased customer demand and enterprise data management that FleetCor currently faces.

"As we continue to develop our company for future growth in an increasingly competitive industry, our products and services need to meet the variety of challenges that thousands of our customers and partners face," said Waddaah Keirbeck, Chief Technology Officer of FleetCor. "The IBM Cloud is one of the pillars of our strategy platform to innovate our IT infrastructure."

"The importance of secure and reliable specialized payment providers is fundamental to global commerce today, and FleetCor is a proven leader in this area," said Philip Guido, General Manager of IBM Global Technology Services, North America. "IBM Cloud and mainframe offerings deliver the tools to support FleetCor as it continues to build upon its position in its industry and transform for the future."

About FleetCor

FleetCor is a leading global provider of fuel cards and workforce payment products to businesses. FleetCor's payment programs enable businesses to better control employee spending and provide card-accepting merchants with a high volume customer base that can increase their sales and customer loyalty. FleetCor serves commercial accounts in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand. For more information, please visit www.FLEETCOR.com.

About IBM Global Technology Services

IBM Global Technology Services offers end-to-end IT consulting and business services supported by an unparalleled global delivery network that is transforming its business to lead in an era of Cognitive and Cloud. As a cloud services integrator, GTS is managing the services and underlying infrastructure in an integrated and unified way. It is modernizing clients' IT environments to help them meet the increasingly complex customer demands. GTS provides clients with innovative technology solutions that help them to improve their business processes and in turn, profitability.

Media Contact

Scott Cook

IBM Media Relations

(720) 395-2360

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO

SOURCE IBM

Related Links

http://www.ibm.com


CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest public accounting, consulting and technology firms in the U.S., was ranked seventh on the Fortune 50 Best Workplaces for Recent College Graduates list, released yesterday. The list, determined and compiled by Great Place to Work, recognizes organizations that excel in providing great employee experience in areas important to recent graduates, as well as new job growth and new graduate hiring rates.

"Campus hires are an essential part of our firm's success, and we value the diversity and fresh ideas they bring to our firm," said Julie Wood, Crowe chief people officer. "Many of the things we do to create a great environment for our people are a reflection of what they, including our most recent new hires, have told us is important to them." For example, the firm implemented a new mobility strategy in December as part of its approach to attracting and retaining the best talent. The new strategy allows personnel to work where they'll be most productive and introduced a more casual approach to dress, in line with the nature of work that needs to be completed on a given day.

According to Fortune and Great Place to Work, randomly-selected employees from approximately 600 organizations were surveyed about workplace traits, such as development opportunities, the purpose and meaning behind work and the promotion process. Two-thirds of each organization's score was based on this employee feedback, with the remaining portion based on hiring and job growth rates. According to Crowe's Great Place to Work review, the firm ranked 95 percent or higher on great challenges, great atmosphere, great rewards, great pride, great communication and great bosses.

"The work at Crowe is challenging and serious, and yet there is an element that everyone working with you cares about the end result and your well-being," said 2015 college graduate and Crowe employee Devon Stone. "The addition of the mobility strategy enforces that. Not having to travel two hours to the office every day not only saves me time and money but makes me more productive."

To learn about open internships and full-time positions, visit Crowe Careers.

About Crowe Horwath

Crowe Horwath LLP (www.crowehorwath.com) is one of the largest public accounting, consulting, and technology firms in the United States. Crowe uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities while also helping clients reach their goals with tax, advisory, risk and performance services. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the country's best places to work. Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 120 countries around the world.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090902/CL69632LOGO

SOURCE Crowe Horwath LLP

Related Links

http://www.crowehorwath.com


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Freedom Watch International Explains how Venerable Dhammajayo is now facing imminent arrest after the court issued an arrest warrant on May 18th, 2016. Temple officials representing the embattled Thai monk assert that the monk is not a flight risk and will remain at the temple.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371708LOGO

Venerable Dhammajayo, the 72-year-old abbot of Wat Phra DhammakayaThailand's largest Buddhist templeis being accused of money laundering and receiving stolen property. Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, the former Chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) made donations to the temple in the form of checks, and was investigated for alleged embezzlement of funds, in which a portion were traced to his donations to the temple.

Venerable Dhammajayo's supporters raised the equivalent amount of money for the credit union once it was discovered that the donation was linked to the allegations. The credit union dropped all civil charges against the temple in response and issued a letter of appreciation to the supporters. Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) continues to pursue criminal action against Venerable Dhammajayo.

Temple officials state the illicit checks were handled by the temple finance department, not the abbot, and that the abbot did not know the source of the checks since they were received in the open public among a crowd of thousands of donors.

The warrant was issued after the abbot failed to appear for a summons on May 16th, 2016. The temple had sent representatives to DSI two days earlier to request a location change from DSI to the temple's special care unit due to complications from the abbot's chronic medical illnesses. His condition was confirmed by a panel of doctors, who prescribed him rest and abstention from long-distance travel. The temple also invited DSI to send their own physicians to verify his condition. DSI did not respond to the request and sought an arrest warrant when the abbot failed to appear for the summons. The warrant was granted by the court and DSI gave the ailing abbot until May 26th, 2016 to turn himself inor face arrest.

On May 22nd, 2016, Wat Phra Dhammakaya responded to DSI's refusal by allowing members of the media to see the abbot's condition for themselves from a monitor broadcasting live footage from just outside the abbot's special care unit. The temple spokesperson held up copies of the day's newspaper in front of a video camera to affirm the date of the visit and quell any rumors that the temple was releasing previously taken footage.

In addition, the temple brought in medical specialists from Germany to examine his condition. The German specialists released a statement confirming the diagnosis by the panel of Thai doctors previously issued.

The actions of DSI have prompted the supporters to contact numerous human rights organizations about the case. Recently, a petition to the White House was started in an attempt to spread awareness of this case in the United States. Freedom Watch International was also formed as a result of the case, and has made a plea for the Dhammakaya abbot to be treated fairly.

The case has polarized Thailand, with many known critics of Wat Phra Dhammakaya coming out to voice their opinions. Some critics have pointed to the White House petition as proof he will flee to the United States. Thai university professor Dr. Mano Laohavanich, who has made incendiary remarks against the temple in the past, such as accusations of the temple having ties to the Nazis, has also come out about the issue. Dr. Laohavanich accused the abbot on Thai television of planning to flee, claiming that the abbot has a lifetime visa to the United States.

Temple officials have denied this claim, stating that the United States does not currently offer a lifetime visa and the abbot does not have a passport.

On May 22nd, 2016, Dhammakaya officials held a press conference to reaffirm that the abbot will not flee. They stated that he has no means to, as he does not own a passport, and is too ill to travel. Officials again requested that DSI send their own physician to verify the abbot's condition.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Freedom Watch International

Related Links

http://freedomwatchinternational.org


TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FreshBooks, the #1 cloud accounting software designed exclusively for service-based small business owners, today announced the release of the FreshBooks Card Reader for Android. FreshBooks' first piece of hardware, the Card Reader helps small business owners accept credit card payments from anywhere using their mobile device.

Offering the most up-to-date EMV security technology, the FreshBooks Card Reader provides dual chip-and-swipe capability to protected small business owners from fraudulent transactions. Credit card information is not stored on the device and is encrypted for security. EMV capability is more important than ever before following the recent liability shift from credit card companies to business owners in October 2015.

This release follows the launch of the FreshBooks Card Reader for iOS earlier this year. In February, FreshBooks noted that more than 68% of the Card Reader's earliest users were already using EMV chip technology and similar high adoption rates are expected for Android users.

"Chasing checks is never fun and there's enough to worry about when you're running your own business," said Mike McDerment, co-founder and CEO, FreshBooks. "Whether you're a plumber, lawyer, graphic designer or dog walker  getting paid for your work shouldn't be a hassle, and it shouldn't come with risk to your business. The FreshBooks Card Reader is designed to make it simpler than ever before to quickly and securely accept credit cards from your clients on the go."

Another plus for busy small business owners, the Card Reader is fully integrated into FreshBooks' cloud-based accounting software, so with each transaction, payment information is automatically captured; invoices are instantly marked as paid, clients receive a payment notification, and reports are updated. Additionally, the Card Reader will be supported by FreshBooks' award-winning customer support team, and powered by FreshBooks Payments, so users can accept Visa, MasterCard and Amex cards from their clients.

"Small business owners are some of the busiest people on the planet," said McDerment. "It's important that when they need help with something as critical to their business as getting paid, that they're able to reach help within a couple telephone rings. Quick access to competent and friendly support is the foundation of FreshBooks."

The FreshBooks Card Reader recently received a 4.5 out of 5 star review from PCMag, and is covered by a one-year warranty through FreshBooks. The device is available in the US for $29 USD.

To learn more about the FreshBooks Card Reader and how to order, visit the FreshBooks blog.

About FreshBooks

FreshBooks is the #1 cloud accounting software designed exclusively for service-based small business owners. The company has helped more than 10 million people process billions of dollars through its easy-to-use invoicing, time-tracking, expense management, and online payments features. Recognized with six Stevie awards for best customer service in the world, the company's mantra is to "execute extraordinary experiences everyday." Based in Toronto, Canada, FreshBooks serves paying customers in 120 countries. www.FreshBooks.com

Contact:

Lindsay Lapchuk

PR Manager  FreshBooks

[email protected]

(416) 780-2700 x 367

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371975LOGO

SOURCE FreshBooks

Related Links

http://www.freshbooks.com


LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Summary

The Future of the Chinese Defense Industry - Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2020 published by Strategic Defence Intelligence, provides readers with a detailed analysis of both historic and forecast Chinese defense industry values, factors influencing demand, the challenges faced by industry participants, analysis of industry leading companies and key news.



Key Findings

- The Chinese defense expenditure recorded a CAGR of 12.51% between 2011 and 2015, and valued US$144.3 billion in 2015.



- The country's total defense expenditure during the forecast period is expected to be US$997.1billion.



- The average share of capital expenditure is expected to be 32.8% over the forecast period against an average share of 33.1% during 2011-2015.



- Over the forecast period, the country's budget for homeland security is expected to be US$169.6 billion cumulatively.



- The key areas of investment are expected to be fighter and multi-role aircraft, submarines, helicopter, naval vessels, and missile defense systems



Synopsis

This report offers detailed analysis of the Chinese defense industry with market size forecasts covering the next five years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for the industry, key market trends and challenges faced by industry participants.



In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following:



- Chinese defense industry market size and drivers: detailed analysis of the Chinese defense industry during 2016-2020, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for the industry. It also provides a snapshot of the spending patterns and modernization patterns of the country



- Budget allocation and key challenges: insights into procurement schedules formulated within the country and a breakdown of the defense budget with respect to the army, navy and air force. It also details the key challenges faced by the defense market participants within the country



- Porter's Five Force analysis of the Chinese defense industry: analysis of the market characteristics by determining the bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyer, threat of substitutions, intensity of rivalry and barrier to entry



- Import and Export Dynamics: analysis of prevalent trends in the country's import and export over the last five years



- Market opportunities: details of the top five defense investment opportunities over the coming 10 years



- Competitive landscape and strategic insights: analysis of the competitive landscape of the Chinese defense industry. It provides an overview of key players, together with insights such as key alliances, strategic initiatives and a brief financial analysis



Reasons To Buy

- This report will give the user confidence to make the correct business decisions based on a detailed analysis of the Chinese defense industry market trends for the coming five years.



- The market opportunity section will inform the user about the various military requirements which are expected to generate revenues during the forecast period. The description includes technical specifications, recent orders and the expected investment pattern by the country during the forecast period.



- Detailed profiles of the top domestic and foreign defense manufacturers with information about their products, alliances, recent contract wins and financial analysis wherever available. This will provide the user with a total competitive landscape of the sector.



- A deep qualitative analysis of the Chinese defense industry covering sections including demand drivers, Porter's Five Force Analysis, Key Trends and Growth Stimulators, latest industry contracts etc.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/1120938/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


10 zones covering the entire industry chain

CPhI & P-MEC China 2016 will reach an unprecedented scale by covering all exhibition halls at the Shanghai New International Expo Center and setting up 3 outdoor temporary halls (T1-T3). Over the past 16 years, CPhI & P-MEC China has built an important world-facing trade platform based on API export and is also looking to the future and the industry's development, actively assisting enterprises in transformation and upgrade. It spares no effort to extend the vertical industry chain, helping enterprises conduct layout for the future, and promotes the core momentum for the next phase of industry development. The two hot theme exhibitions running within the event, BioPh China and ICSE China 2016, will gather new R&D technologies and new products in halls E2 and T2. NEX China 2016 will be expanded to 16,000m2, with nearly 400 quality natural extract brand enterprises who will appear in halls E3-E4 and T2. The excipients & dosage zone featured by CPhI China has also taken shape after 2 years' development and will be assembled in Hall E3, joining together nearly 100 pharmaceutical excipients & dosage enterprises.

Concurrently, P-MEC & InnoPack China 2016 will be held in halls W5-N4; it will centrally showcase high-quality production system technologies and innovative production equipment including pharmaceutical machinery, pharmaceutical packaging machinery, packaging materials, environmental protection equipment/process, cleaning system, laboratory instruments and pharmaceutical logistics equipment and more. At the same time, it will deepen the exchanges among industry insiders through a colorful series of themed activities.

Create a fresh visiting experience with brilliant conferences and themed activities

CPhI & P-MEC China, an exhibition always standing at the forefront of the international pharmaceutical industry, will conduct a series of activities themed, "The Year of Central and Eastern Europe Countries". Global pharmaceutical entrepreneurs will gather in Shanghai and offer in-depth analysis on the future of the pharmaceutical economy, providing more Chinese enterprises and Central and Eastern European pharmaceutical enterprises with the best opportunity to foster trade cooperation.

In the R&D sector, the hot 3rd China BioPh Outlook Summit will discuss market analyses and policy changes of the biopharmaceutical industry, innovative pharmaceutical development technologies and cross-boundary technology fusion and development, among other topics. The host will also organize the "CPhI R&D Alliance" and launch an "R&D Day", both planned for the first time. The tailor-made "R&D" route for professionals from pharmaceutical R&D and technology application areas will let visitors explore the infinite "R&D" information within the show.

In addition, a series of high-quality conferences and innovative activities will be held onsite, including CPhI International Agencies Updates and Q&A Session; CPhI, ICSE & P-MEC China Innovation and Development Forum; Nature Ingredient Conference 2016; Discovery Tour for Natural Extracts; Innovative Biologics Packaging Solutions Discovery Tour & Showcase Show; and InnoLAB-Live Laboratory Showroom for Latest Equipment & Solutions, amog others.

Please visit www.cphi.com/china for more conference information as well as show updates. We look forward to your participation.

CONTACT:

Tina Zheng

Phone Number: 86-21-64371178

Email: [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160523/371255LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121014/HK92339LOGO-d

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160223/336230LOGO



SOURCE Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
DUBLIN, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Simulation Learning In Higher Education Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the global simulation learning in higher education market to grow at a CAGR of 18.5% during the period 2016-2020.

A noteworthy trend which could have a big impact on the market is the increasing demand for virtual lab simulations. As STEM-related careers have started attracting more students, higher education institutions are unable to provide all the students adequate laboratory access due to the limited nature of laboratory infrastructure and equipment. Lack of government funding is also a major constraint for educational institutions when it comes to equipping laboratories with the latest instruments. Therefore, the demand for virtual laboratories from institutions and individual learners is witnessing substantial growth due to the cost-saving potential of online learning.

According to the report, a key growth driver for this market is the inclusion of simulations in new learning methodologies. Its use in online and blended learning will help students learn better by mimicking real life situations very closely.

Further, the report states that one challenge that could hamper market growth is the constraints related to schedules and batch sizes.

Key vendors:

Forio

InfoPro Learning

McGraw-Hill Education

Pearson Education

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by product

PART 07: Geographical segmentation

PART 08: Market drivers

PART 09: Impact of drivers

PART 10: Market challenges

PART 11: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 12: Market trends

PART 13: Vendor landscape

PART 14: Other prominent vendors

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rd85vg/global_simulation

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716





SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


With National Tire Safety Week set for May 29 through June 4, Harvick and Goodyear collaborated to raise awareness on the importance of proper tire maintenance. As always, consumers can head to any of Goodyear's Tire & Service Network locations to receive free tire checks.

"I trust Goodyear's tires and expertise," said Harvick. "Goodyear gains a substantial amount of knowledge producing tires for the grueling conditions we face on the track and they continue to apply that knowledge to consumer tires in innovative ways."

Tire tread depth is a key indicator of a tire's potential performance and consumers should monitor their tread depth on a consistent basis. For more information on proper tire maintenance or to find new tires, visit your local Goodyear Auto Service location or head to www.goodyear.com.

Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs approximately 66,000 people and manufactures its products in 49 facilities in 22 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com.

SOURCE Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Related Links

http://www.goodyear.com


ARDEN HILLS, Minn., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Mark Dayton and Land O'Lakes, Inc. President and CEO Chris Policinski today announced a new public-private partnership to protect and improve water quality across Minnesota. This new partnership is the first of its kind in the nation, partnering the State of Minnesota with Land O' Lakes and local farmers across Minnesota to improve water quality stewardship standards on their farms.

"I thank Land O'Lakes for their leadership in improving the quality of water in Minnesota," said Governor Dayton. "By working together, we can improve the quality of our water for future generations of Minnesotans. I urge businesses, farmers, and landowners across Minnesota to follow this model of responsible stewardship."

The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program is a voluntary program for farmers and landowners to take the lead in implementing conservation practices that protect and improve the state's water resources. Since its inception in 2014, the program has certified over 150 farms totaling more than 83,000 acres. Together, the program keeps over 6.5 million pounds of sediment out of our rivers, while saving nearly 9 million pounds of soil and 4,500 pounds of phosphorous on farms, each year.

Now, through a groundbreaking public-private partnership with Land O' Lakes, announced today, the agricultural cooperative company will work to expand participation in the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program through their ag retail network across Minnesota.

Altogether, Land O' Lakes' seed and crop protection business, Winfield US, serves nearly 1,300 independently owned and operated agricultural retailers that operate thousands of retail locations across the United States, with approximately 300,000 farmers in their system representing close to 100 million acres. The company's leadership and participation in this nation-leading conservation effort will make a positive and significant difference toward improving the quality of water in Minnesota for generations to come.

"Water is a finite resource, and we are pleased to partner with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the State of Minnesota on this first-of-its-kind public-private partnership to protect and enhance water quality across the state," said Chris Policinski, President & CEO, Land O'Lakes, Inc. "Through our tools, insights and technology, we work to enable prudent management of water resources in our operations, on our member farms and through partnerships such as this to ensure a sustainable future for food and agriculture."

Over the past year, Governor Dayton has made improving water quality in Minnesota a top priority. This session, Governor Dayton proposed a $220 million proposal to ensure safe, clean, and affordable water for everyone, everywhere in Minnesota. And Governor Dayton has been highlighting the serious challenges facing Minnesota's water supplies, convening the first-ever Governor's Water Summit in February, hosting Water Action Week in Minnesota last month, and calling for a Year of Safe Water Action beginning this summer, to inform Minnesotans about our water challenges and gather input and ideas to bring to the legislature in 2017.

"We are pleased to partner with Land O'Lakes. This important partnership will be critical to expanding conservation and water quality protections to more farms across the state," said Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson. "The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program has already demonstrated the ability to achieve improved water quality outcomes, and this partnership will only continue to enhance those efforts."

About The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program

The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program is a voluntary opportunity for farmers and agricultural landowners to take the lead in implementing conservation practices that protect our water. Those who implement and maintain approved farm management practices will be certified and in turn obtain regulatory certainty for a period of ten years. After a successful pilot phase in 2014-2015, the program is now available to farmers and landowners statewide. To date, the program has certified over 150 farms totaling more than 83,000 acres. More information is available at MyLandMyLegacy.com.

About Land O'Lakes

Land O'Lakes, Inc., one of America's premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2015 annual sales of $13 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 203 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 94 years of operation, Land O'Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production including LAND O LAKES Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition and Winfield US. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Land O'Lakes, Inc. corporate headquarters are located in Arden Hills, Minn.

Office of Governor Mark Dayton

& Lt. Governor Tina Smith

Office of the Governor & Lt. Governor, Communications Department

116 Veterans Service Building, 20 West 12th Street, St. Paul, MN 55155

T: 651-201-3400 | E: [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151110/285980LOGO

SOURCE Land O'Lakes, Inc.; Governor Mark Dayton

Related Links

http://www.landolakesinc.com


COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In the midst of on-going social debate about the safety of e-cigarettes, Holistic-Vape, a cutting edge company, announced its plans to introduce its newest vapor formula. Aptly named, NoNic is the company's latest breakthrough formula, which contains no tobacco products of any kind. NoNic is made from pure herbs and plants extracted and blended together in a one-of-a-kind process and is designed to calm addictive cravings while offering that "little buzz" that smokers love. After testing the formula with the company's current customers, and receiving glowing results, Holistic-Vape plans to introduce NoNic to the public online in June 2016. The vapor industry is under the classification of tobacco products because the products contain nicotine, which NoNic does not, thereby making them exempt from the new regulations.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371724

"We have carefully set ourselves apart from the competition with our holistic approach to our formulas," says Judy Henry, owner of Holistic-Vape. "While the majority of the e-cigarette industry has concentrated on the development of a ridiculous array of flavorings, huge plumes of vapor, and a "throat hit" created by combining nicotine with propylene glycol to drive huge profits, we have been searching for the right combinations to enhance a healthful life experience."

"When we first started in 2012, many companies were making up to 1,000 percent mark ups on unlabeled Chinese juices while we were working with some of the most brilliant minds in the fields of naturopathic medicine, science, biology, and herbs to develop something we felt would be a much better alternative," adds Henry.

Holistic-Vape has been working with herbal formulas for the past four years and has become known and respected for their Happy Lungs formula, which is a combination of pure herbs that have been used for thousands of years to support lung health. While flavoring is a huge part of this market, all of Holistic-Vape's flavors are directly extracted from fruit, coffee or chocolate beans, suspended in glycerin of red palm, and contain no artificial chemicals. Most of the companies in this industry use baking flavors loaded with sugars and Propylene glycol to hold in the flavors. Holistic-Vape was the first company to take a strong stand against the use of Propylene glycol and synthetic chemicals because of the associated health concerns.

The vapor industry in the United State has grown at an annual rate of 115 percent from 2009 through 2012. Sales in 2013 surpassed $1 billion and reached $2.7 billion in 2014. Analysts, including Bonnie Heroz from Wells Fargo Bank, who specializes in this industry, predicts that industry revenue could reach $50 billion by 2025. With the newly released FDA regulations, NoNic looks like it will be a game-changer.

Holistic-Vape is poised for international growth and excited about making a positive impact. In an industry exploding into the billions of dollars in revenue, this company has literally no competition. Interested investors should contact Judy Henry at 208-215-0395, or email [email protected].

About Holistic Vape

Holistic Vape (formerly Guilty Pleasures Organics LLC) was founded in 2012. This cutting edge company formulates and develops pure herbal vaporizing liquids that offer an alternative to smoking through vaporization. For more information, visit www.holistic-vape.com.

Holistic-Vape makes no claims of healing or quitting smoking through the use of their formulas, but instead, looks to its customers to form their own conclusions.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Holistic-Vape
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) will recognize and honor the outstanding achievements of two esteemed innovators in the healthcare and business world at the hospital's 33rd Annual Tribute Dinner on Monday, June 6, 2016 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.

The hospital will present Chitranjan Ranawat, M.D., orthopedic surgeon, with the Lifetime Achievement Award. For the past 50 years, Dr. Ranawat has been performing hip and knee replacements at HSS and has dedicated his professional life to the education and training of residents, fellows and surgeons.

Aldo Papone, senior advisor at American Express, will also be honored in celebration of his business accomplishments and for being instrumental in constructing the HSS brand through strengthening the connection between the hospital and the community.

Tom Brokaw, senior correspondent at NBC News, will host the black tie gala. Guests will include political leaders, respected medical professionals and business executives as well as celebrities and athletes from the community.

"We are pleased to recognize the business achievements of Mr. Papone, a true trailblazer in the marketing world," said Louis A. Shapiro, president and CEO of HSS. "Our Board of Trustees has benefited from Mr. Papone's leadership for more than three decades and we continue to look to his expertise and guidance in support of HSS and its mission."

"We are honored to have Dr. Ranawat on our Joint Replacement Service as he is a pioneer of the modern-day knee," said Todd J. Albert, M.D., surgeon-in-chief and medical director at HSS. "Dr. Ranawat helped develop the first total knee replacement prosthesis at HSS in the early 1970s and has played an integral role in solidifying HSS as innovators of joint replacements."

Aldo Papone

Mr. Papone is currently a senior advisor to American Express. He joined the organization in 1974, ultimately serving as chairman and CEO of Travel Related Services and on the boards of American Express and American Express Bank. He has been credited with elevating the company's advertising in the 1980s and was named to the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2014.

A popular speaker on branding and marketing, Mr. Papone authored his first book, The Power of the Obvious: Notes from 50 Years in Corporate America, in 2005 and followed with The Power of Reinvention in 2012.

Mr. Papone has served on the HSS Board of Trustees for 33 years including 14 years as co-chairman. He was also a founding benefactor of the HSS Big Apple Circus Benefit for pediatric care.

Chitranjan Ranawat, M.D.

Dr. Ranawat is an orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, joining the hospital in 1966. He is responsible for many innovations in total knee and hip designs that are used across the world.

He completed residencies at M.Y. Hospital in India as well as St. Peters Hospital and Albany Medical Center, prior to his fellowship at HSS.

Dr. Ranawat was the recipient of The Padma Bhushan award by the president of India and The Sir James Tod Award by the Maharana of Mewar, both in 2011. He was named in New York Magazine's "Best Doctors in New York" from 1980 to 2015.

He is the author of 346 scientific peer-reviewed publications, 11 editorials, 19 book chapters and 3 books. Dr. Ranawat has received 8 Lifetime Achievement Awards and still continues to focus on research, education, patient care, innovation and mentoring young orthopedic surgeons.



The event will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner to follow at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, please visit www.hss.edu/2016gala.asp. To purchase tickets, please contact Julie Spero at 212-245-6570 ext. 21 or [email protected].

About Hospital for Special Surgery

Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics, No. 3 in rheumatology and No. 7 in geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report (2015-2016), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center three consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. HSS is an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at www.hss.edu.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150205/173659LOGO

SOURCE Hospital for Special Surgery

Related Links

http://www.hss.edu


PEARL RIVER, N.Y., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunter Douglas, the leading manufacturer of custom window fashions in North America, has established the Hunter Douglas Fellowship in Breast Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In underwriting the graduate fellowship with a donation of $250,000, Hunter Douglas builds on a strong legacy of corporate and social responsibility.

"It's rare in today's world to find anyone who doesn't know someone  a family member, friend, co-worker, or business acquaintance  whose life hasn't been affected by breast cancer," said Ron Kass, President & CEO of Hunter Douglas, Inc. "We are supporting this graduate fellowship to assist in the development of leading edge, less invasive treatment protocols and to help breast cancer patients return to normal everyday life more quickly. Memorial Sloan Kettering is one of the world's preeminent centers for cancer care and research, and we are excited that their work holds such promise for controlling and, ultimately, curing the disease."

Jose Baselga, MD, PhD, Physician-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering, said "We are most grateful to Hunter Douglas for its generosity in establishing this fellowship focused on breast cancer, which will help us recruit and retain the most outstanding young physician-scientists in a vital area of cancer research. This kind of corporate commitment makes a meaningful difference in the pace and progress of our work, benefitting patients here at MSK and far beyond the Center's walls."

About Hunter Douglas: Hunter Douglas is the worldwide leader in custom window coverings and a major manufacturer of architectural products. For 70 years, the company has been at the forefront of innovating intelligently designed products that seamlessly integrate form with function. The company is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada.

Hunter Douglas Inc. is headquartered in Pearl River, N.Y. Learn more at www.hunterdouglas.com

SOURCE Hunter Douglas

Related Links

http://www.hunterdouglas.com


DETROIT, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An expansive and strategically located parcel of vacant land on Detroit's eastside  primed and promoted as among the centerpieces of the state's automotive industry resurgence  will gain a major new tenant in the ongoing campaign to attract manufacturing jobs to the city, Gov. Rick Snyder and Mayor Mike Duggan announced today.

Flex-N-Gate owner Shahid Khan said his company will invest $95 million in construction and capital costs for a facility that will supply parts to Ford Motor Company. Potential additional investment in the project could push the project to at least $100 million. Khan said the project will create at least 400 and up to 650 new jobs in Detroit over the next three years; at full capacity, up to 750 total jobs could be added.

Flex-N-Gate has committed to meeting Detroit-based hiring and contracting thresholds outlined in Executive Orders 4 & 5 (2014) and to develop a comprehensive hiring plan in conjunction with the City's Human Rights Department and Detroit Employment Solutions, Corp., to help ensure jobs for Detroiters.

Flex-N-Gate, is a top global auto supplier of exterior trim components, aluminum and steel modular stamped body in white and chassis assemblies, lighting and other OEM automotive products.

On Tuesday, the project received two critical approvals. The Michigan Strategic Fund board approved a $3.5-million Business Development Program grant to incentivize the Urbana, Illinois-based auto supplier to expand its Michigan operations. Also on Tuesday, the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC) approved the sale of 30 acres in the industrial park to Flex-N-Gate. The sale is the initial step in building the automotive parts manufacturing plant on the site.

"We're proud that Flex-N-Gate is investing in Detroit, and in the people of Detroit," Snyder said. "Detroit's resurgence is an important part of the Michigan comeback. Companies around the world recognize that our state is the global leader in automotive, and with good reason. We have a talented workforce that is passionate about keeping our state at the center of the industry for generations to come."

Mayor Duggan said this investment was made possible because of a strong partnership between the State and City to attract the project. He also praised Flex-N-Gate for its commitment to local hiring.

"Nothing is more important to our city than creating jobs for Detroiters," said Mayor Duggan. "The fact that Flex-N-Gate has committed to such a strong local hiring and contracting plan shows the company's deep level of commitment to being a partner with the community."

Khan also praised the new partnership.

"Our news today from Detroit is further evidence that the United States auto industry is strong, promising and experiencing exceptional growth," said Shahid Khan. "Building a new plant from the ground up within the Detroit city limits will be a milestone moment for Flex-N-Gate, made possible thanks to our partnership and collaboration with Ford, the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan.

"We couldn't do this alone," said Khan. "Their collective support and vision to convert a neglected urban area into a manufacturing center that will create hundreds of new, sustainable and well-paying jobs here in Detroit has been nothing short of spectacular. We are grateful and looking forward to seeing this project become a reality."

"We are proud to work with Flex-N-Gate, the City of Detroit and State of Michigan, to bring good paying jobs to the city. We value our relationships with suppliers, and appreciate the commitment Flex-N-Gate has made to Ford Motor Company and the local area," said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford group vice president, global purchasing.

The 189-acre I-94 Industrial Park is under control of EDC. Since 2000, EDC has overseen the property acquisition, clean up and development of the land. The Park's first major new tenant, LINC Logistics, opened a new $30-million, $500,000-square-foot facility immediately adjacent to the Flex-N-Gate site earlier this year.

This new multi-layered investment provides a major boost to the I-94 Industrial Park, and is the culmination of a collaborative effort among the city of Detroit, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which administers incentives and programs on behalf of the Michigan Strategic Fund. MEDC also serves as the state's chief business attraction and marketing agency along with directing the Pure Michigan campaign.

"The expansion of Flex-N-Gate's presence in Michigan demonstrates the broad range of productive possibilities for private investors and job creators when local and state economic development teams work with one of the state's bedrock automotive companies and a privately owned auto supplier," said MEDC CEO Steve Arwood, who noted Flex-N-Gate is among 81 of the top global auto suppliers that have North American headquarters or tech centers in the state.

"Michigan's automotive industry is driving the standards of manufacturing, research and in preparing for the challenges of the exciting path leading to the future of transportation in the 21st century," he said.

From 2009 through the second quarter of 2015, automakers and auto suppliers have made $16 billion investments into Michigan, accounting for about 20 percent of auto-industry investment in North America. Since 2009 through the end of last year, 175,000 manufacturing jobs have been created in Michigan, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Designation of a Renaissance Zone for Flex-N-Gate is expected to be addressed at the August meeting of the Michigan Strategic Fund board.

"I'm excited to have this project and these jobs come to the East Side of Detroit and I'm looking forward to working with Flex-N-Gate and the community to make sure this project is successful," said Detroit City Councilmember Scott Benson, who represents Council District 3, where the new facility will be located.

SOURCE Flex-N-Gate
BERKELEY, Calif., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The following letter is from Berkeley Endocrine Clinic:

To the Patients of Berkeley Endocrine Clinic:

On April 22, 2016, Berkeley Endocrine Clinic's office was subject to a spam email which went to our email recipient list. Though no patient information was affected by that correspondence, we sent a notification email to all individuals on our email list, informing them of the spam as a courtesy. Inadvertently, our recipient list for the notification email on April 22, 2016 was not hidden.

As a result, Berkeley Endocrine Clinic's office email recipient list, which potentially included a patient's first and last name, and their email address, was potentially exposed to others on the email list. No other information was involved.

While this incident did not involve financial information nor social security numbers, please be assured that we take this matter seriously. We have reviewed our administrative steps for all correspondence, and added additional safeguards to ensure such an incident does not happen again.

Given the nature of the information potentially exposed, you may want to change your email address.

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We understand how important confidentiality and trust is to our physician-patient relationship. Please contact 1-510-883-9005 or 3000 Colby Street, Suite 203B, Berkeley, CA 94705 to discuss any concerns or questions you may have.

SOURCE Berkeley Endocrine Clinic
DALLAS, Texas, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Aragon announced the selection of Intelledox, a leading global digital transformation company, as a 2016 Hot Vendor in Advanced Digital Transaction Management (DTM). Intelledox was included for its ability to deliver end-to-end process management through creation of process-based documents that pull data from multiple sources and generate new or updated documents and contracts.

Led by CEO Jim Lundy, Aragon defines DTM as "driving the shift to fully automated business processes, allowing enterprises to quickly get started with Digital Transformation." DTM essentially is about streamlining business processes by keeping document processes fully digital. Aragon further defines DTM as a technology that automates and streamlines internal and external document-centric business processes while delivering significant ROI via both hard and soft dollar savings.

What makes Intelledox "hot" is the ability to import data to generate a document, enabling Digital Document Delivery as well as its ability to extract data at the end of a process. This makes for a closed loop approach and enables a guided and intuitive digital engagement experience.

Jim Lundy, Founder and CEO of Aragon Research said, "DTM is transforming business processes across various industries including Healthcare, Financial Services, and Banking etc. 70% of large enterprises will have a DTM initiative underway or fully implemented by the end of 2016. When combined with eSignatures, Intelledox offers an Advanced DTM solution set, capable of dealing with complex document assembly and data insertion and extraction that others often are challenged to match."

Intelledox President Rodney Frye said, "We are honored to be selected by Aragon Research as a 2016 Hot Vendor for Advanced DTM. Intelledox provides end-to-end digital transaction management and integrated compliance with integrations from DocuSign and client internal systems. Aragon's report is a testament to the momentous shift we are noticing in the DTM and BPM sector and further emphasizes the need for end-to-end digital processes."

Each year, Aragon Research selects Hot Vendors across multiple markets that are doing something truly new or different. They may have new technology that expands capabilities, a new strategy that opens up 2016 Hot Vendor markets, or just a new way of doing business that makes them worth evaluating.

Download the Aragon Research Report here: http://info.intelledox.com/aragon-dtm-2016

About Aragon Research

Aragon Research is the newest technology research and advisory firm. Aragon delivers high impact advisory, interactive research and consulting services to provide enterprises the insight they need to help them make better technology and strategy decisions. Aragon Research serves business and IT leaders and has a proven team of veteran analysts. For more information, visit www.aragonresearch.com.

About Intelledox

Utilizing Responsive Web Design, Intelledox's Adaptive Engagement solutions help companies rapidly develop and deliver mobile-ready business processes. Insurance, Financial Services, Government and Enterprise customers worldwide deploy the Infiniti platform to enhance customer engagement, increase customer satisfaction, streamline efficiency, and drive down operational costs. With North American Headquarters located in Dallas Texas, Intelledox has offices in New York, Toronto, London, Singapore, Sydney and Global Headquarters in Canberra Australia. http://www.intelledox.com.

For further information, please contact:

Neville Braganza

Marketing Manager

[email protected]

Image Attachments Links:

http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=271036

SOURCE Intelledox

Related Links

http://www.aragonresearch.com/


MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- International Paper (NYSE:IP) today further solidified their ongoing commitment to improving food safety throughout the supply chain. The Company announced the Shelbyville, Ill. facility has achieved food safety certification by exceeding the standards of the benchmarking procedures as dictated by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). International Paper further declared the goal of meeting or exceeding the GFSI standards at all their U.S. Foodservice Facilities by the end of 2016.

GFSI is a non-profit, international benchmarking organization created to standardize food safety rules and has been rapidly recognized as the 'gold standard' for international food safety. These global specifications promoted by GFSI address food, packaging, packaging materials, storage and distribution. Certification is a very stringent and demanding process that requires a facility to organize its Quality Management System (QMS) to address components in the manufacturing process such as procedures, policies, work instructions, document control and record maintenance. Supplier owned audits are a significant part of the process as well.

"Safety as a whole is an ingrained part of our everyday operations and our number one priority," stated Tracy Pearson, Vice-President and General Manager of International Paper's Foodservice Business. "We are proactively doing our part to ensure we have the systems in place to eliminate food safety risks in the packaging arena and continue to provide a top quality product."



Requests for GFSI-benchmarked audits have been quickly growing which is no surprise given the scope of the initiative touches all aspects of the food industry. Many large retailers and foodservice industry brands are calling for this type of certification as a pre-requisite to doing business. Tracy Pearson commented, "International Paper continuously strives to exceed our commitment of excellence to our customers. As the needs of our customers continue to grow, we are well positioned to meet those needs."

About International Paper

International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global leader in packaging and paper with manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Russia, Asia and North Africa. Its businesses include industrial and consumer packaging along with uncoated papers and pulp. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., the Company employs approximately 55,000 people and is strategically located in more than 24 countries serving customers worldwide. International Paper net sales for 2015 were $22 billion. For more information about International Paper, its products and stewardship efforts, visit internationalpaper.com.

About IP Foodservice

Based in Memphis, Tenn., International Paper's Foodservice business is a leading global marketer and manufacturer of single-use packaging for the foodservice industry. The company's paper cups, food containers, plates and accessories are found in leading chain restaurants around the world. The company has a solid record of bringing innovative products and brands to market including Hold&Go, Cold&Go and ecotainer, a commercially compostable product line made from fully renewable resources along with products made from FDA-compliant, post-consumer fiber. The foodservice business has operations in Kenton, Ohio, Shelbyville, Ill., and Visalia, Calif., Shanghai and Tianjin China, Winsford, UK and Bogota, Colombia. For more information on our product, visit ipfoodservice.com.

About IP Foodservice Shelbyville, Ill.

Built in 1974, the Shelbyville facility currently has more than 900 employees in cup producing, printing and distribution facilities. .A leader in innovation for sustainable foodservice packaging, Shelbyville provides top-quality products for customers in theater, hospitality, supermarkets, convenience stores, and fast food that include hot & cold cups, food containers and buckets, popcorn containers, paper plates, plastic lids and printed plastic cups.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20020701/IPLOGO

SOURCE International Paper

Related Links

http://www.internationalpaper.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:

To: All Persons or Entities who purchased XenoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNPT) stock prior to May 23, 2016 .

You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of XenoPort, Inc. to Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC. Under the terms of the transaction, XenoPort shareholders will receive $7.03 in cash for each share of XenoPort stock they own. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/xenoport-xnpt

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Joseph Levi, Esq.

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120409/MM84375LOGO

SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Related Links

http://www.zlk.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:

To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Xura, Inc. (NASDAQ: MESG) stock prior to May 23, 2016 .

You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of Xura, Inc. to affiliates of Siris Capital Group, LLC for $25.00 in cash per share. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to: http://zlk.9nl.com/xura-mesg or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Joseph Levi, Esq.

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120409/MM84375LOGO

SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Related Links

http://www.zlk.com


NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro has announced new tour dates in the United States through the end of 2016. The tour kicks off in Honolulu, HI on June 29 and will take him to over 50 cities, with stops in Louisville, KY, Hilo, HI, Tacoma, WA, San Diego, CA, Key West, FL, Milwaukee, WI, Buffalo, NY and many more, with more dates to follow. Jake will also perform at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in July and will travel to Japan for nine shows during the first half of October.

Tickets are available here: http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/tour/

"I'm looking forward to the upcoming shows this year," said Shimabukuro. "I have a new setup for my electric ukulele that gives me access to new sounds and timbres that I never incorporated before. I'll be performing lots of new material as well as new arrangements of old songs. A few of my favorite moments in the show include an ukulele and bass duet of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"  and a ten-minute version of "Dragon," which utilizes a looper, analog echoes, finger tapping, and heavy metal distortion. I always try to maintain a balance of traditional music with the edgier modern sounding pieces. Every show is a little different, which keeps things fresh and exciting. The most important thing is everyone has a great time and walks away with a smile."

Accompanying Shimabukuro on tour will be longtime bassist Nolan Verner. They will perform songs from Jake's most recent albums, Live In Japan (2015) and Travels (2015), favorites from his 15-year career, and several songs from his upcoming album, due later this year.

Released in February 2016, Shimabukuro's "best of" live collection Live In Japan (Hitchhike Records/eOne) is a two-CD collection featuring career-spanning favorites, including a 10-minute classic reworking of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which currently has over 14 million views on YouTube.

Travels, Shimabukuro's latest studio album, casts the spotlight on Shimabukuro's diverse artistry, from lilting self-penned compositions, to modern interpretations of beloved Hawaiian standards. As a special treat, the disc also includes a memorable pair of pop nuggets from the 70s: A sweet rendition of "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5, and a witty, Hawaii-meets-East L.A., take on "Low Rider" by War (the latter featuring rare vocals by Jake).

Jake is currently in the studio in Nashville writing and recording a new all-original album due out later this year.

Jake Shimabukuro 2016 Tour Dates:

Jun 29  Blue Note Hawaii  Honolulu, HI

Jun 30  Blue Note Hawaii  Honolulu, HI

Jul 01  Blue Note Hawaii  Honolulu, HI

Jul 05  Festival International de Jazz de Montreal  Montreal, Quebec

Jul 08  Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheatre  Arvada, CO

Jul 26  The Rev Room  Little Rock, AR

Jul 28  W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre  Louisville, KY

Jul 29  Evans Amphitheater  Cleveland Heights, OH

Jul 31  Door Community Auditorium  Fish Creek, WI

Aug 02  Upton-Morely Pavilion  Interlochen, MI

Aug 05  The Palace Theatre  Hilo, HI

Sep 07  Pantages Theater  Tacoma, WA

Sep 09  The Mountain Winery  Saratoga, CA

Sep 10  Humphreys Concerts By the Bay  San Diego, CA

Sep 13 - Key West Theater  Key West, FL

Sep 15  Ponte Vedra Concert Hall  Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Sep 16  Plaza Live Orlando  Orlando, FL

Sep 18  Charleston Music Hall  Charleston, SC

Nov 06  The Pabst Theater  Milwaukee, WI

Nov 07  The Center for the Performing Arts  The Palladium  Carmel, IN

Nov 10  Stone Mountain Arts Center  Brownfield, ME

Nov 17  Kleinhans Music Hall  Buffalo, NY

Nov 19  Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center  York, PA

Nov 20  Music Center at Strathmore  North Bethesda, MD

Nov 21  Tin Pan  Richmond, VA

Nov 29  McCallum Theatre for Performing Arts  Palm Desert, CA

About Jake Shimabukuro:

He has elevated the ukulele from a beloved Hawaiian folk instrument to a world-class vehicle, fearlessly traversing boundaries and putting his inspired touch on everything from island standards, to popular tunes and, most recently, classical symphonic concertos.

No wonder Rolling Stone called him "one of the hottest axemen of the past few years [who] doesn't actually play guitar."

Even Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has voiced his admiration saying, "Jake is taking the instrument to a place that I can't see anybody else catching up with."

Viewed by his peers as a musician's musician, Jake's discography includes collaborations with a wide range of artists, from Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Buffett, Jack Johnson and Cyndi Lauper to Ziggy Marley, Dave Koz, Lyle Lovett and Bette Midler  with whom he performed for the Queen of England in 2009.

In recent years, Jake's sizzling live performances have made him a hot commodity on national TV, guesting on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Good Morning America and the Today show. He's wowed audiences at SXSW, Bonnaroo, the Playboy Jazz Festival and the cutting-edge TED conference.

Jake was the subject of an acclaimed 2012 documentary, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings, and, in 2015, made history with the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra when he performed the world premiere of Byron Yasui's Concerto for 'Ukulele & Orchestra, Campanella.

http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/

@JakeShimabukuro

https://www.instagram.com/jakeshimabukuro/

https://www.facebook.com/jakeshimabukuromusic

https://www.youtube.com/jakeshimabukuro

SOURCE Jake Shimabukuro

Related Links

http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Kalorama Information, the world market for medical devices reached $381 billion in 2015. Though these are challenging times in the market, there is still plenty of opportunity for success for companies that remain optimistic and seek innovation. Toward that end, in search of new growth prospects medical device companies spend a higher percentage of their revenue on research and development (R&D) than do companies in other industries. Also, in addition to R&D outlays, many device companies are merging to build revenue growth and present combined offerings to hospital and physician customers. The seventh edition of the healthcare market researcher's report, The Global Market for Medical Devices, covers the broad range of the medical device market, commenting on these and other drivers of the overall market.

The definition of a medical device is a broad one. A medical device is a product that is used in treatment, diagnosis, or injury repair in a patient that does not achieve its effect through chemical action or metabolism in the human body. Most importantly these are devices that are regulated. This is a scattered market in which hundreds of companies worldwide participate. Despite this, fifteen companies earn 40% percent of the revenue in this market and much of the revenue is earned in a few discernible categories, cardiovascular, respiratory, patient monitoring, wound care imaging and orthopedics being top areas.

The Global Market for Medical Devices, 7th Edition, can be found at Kalorama Information: http://www.kaloramainformation.com/redirect.asp?progid=88734&productid=10058730.

"Even with slight growth in the market, prospects in medical devices in the aggregate are more promising than, for example, in the current pharmaceutical industry, challenged by patent expirations and regulatory activity," said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. "Although the largest component of the medical device market is in the United States, the majority of sales are non-U.S., and considerable future growth is occurring in other markets."

One of the most significant drivers of all healthcare services is population and specifically, the population of older persons. The aging of the population increases a host of statistical events that lead to more medical device demand, such as injuries, surgical procedures, hospital admissions, and chronic disease. The population is aging in the largest healthcare market of the United States, which alone is significant. However, other significant world healthcare markets are dealing with the challenge of aging populations, including those of Europe, Japan, and China.

The coming years will test the strategies of device companies to innovate and develop emerging markets as some of the traditional sources of revenues will be challenged. Reimbursement reduction schemes in the U.S. and Europe will disrupt even the most innovative of device companies able to develop products that can command higher prices. The United States remains the largest market for medical devices, but growth in device sales will be slower in the long term due to cost-cutting measures, group purchasing consolidation, and reimbursement challenges. Various activities in the European market are ongoing, from the revision of the Medical Devices Directives (MDD) to European collaboration in the field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA). These need to keep moving forward to safeguard patient access to medical technologies and innovation in Europe.

In terms of market leadership, Medtronic has moved to the top of the device market due to its merger with Covidien, completed in 2015. This market share change is also due to the device company asset sales of Johnson & Johnson, now second in the market. GE Healthcare, Philips, Boston Scientific, and St. Jude Medical are also among the top companies. The coming years will test the strategies of these and other device companies to innovate and develop emerging markets as some of the traditional sources of revenues are challenged.

The seventh edition of Kalorama Information's Global Market for Medical Devices contains: an overview of medical devices and their regulation in several world markets; market size estimates and forecasts to 2020 for the global market, the United States market, and several country markets, including China, Japan, India Brazil, Germany, Canada and other nations; an index of bellwether device companies; markets for specific categories of medical devices; a look at market drivers and limiters; and company profiles of major device concerns.

As part of its coverage, the report finds that a few trends in the global market are continuing and some new trends have developed as well. Revenue growth at major companies has changed and so have most revenue forecasts, including Kalorama Information's. Outlined in the report is the host of mergers and acquisitions have occurred in the market as well, as players seek to purchase growing operations.

The Global Market for Medical Devices, 7th Edition, can be found at Kalorama Information: http://www.kaloramainformation.com/redirect.asp?progid=88734&productid=10058730.

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama's and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog at www.kaloramainformation.com.

Contact:

Bruce Carlson

(212) 807-2622

[email protected]

www.KaloramaInformation.com

http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150831/262422LOGO

SOURCE Kalorama Information

Related Links

http://www.KaloramaInformation.com


Former Maryland State Senator, Frank Kelly, is now the Chairman of Kelly & Associates Insurance Group and Frank Kelly III, the eldest son of Janet and Frank, serves as CEO of the KELLY companies. Frank and Janet Kelly's other sons, John, David and Bryan, are key leaders in the business serving in chief roles as well as presidents of KELLY's entities and divisions. "My brothers and I are grateful to my parents for placing their faith in God and starting this business 40 years ago. They laid a solid foundation that we have been privileged to build upon, lead and grow over the years," said Frank Kelly III. "We are also thankful for the devotion, commitment and hard work of the People of KELLY who serve our clients, vendors and brokers with excellence on a daily basis."

The organization is still family owned and run and now employs more than 450 people serving companies that range in size from sole proprietors to corporations with more than 20,000 employees. Based in Baltimore County since its inception, it recently moved its headquarters to Sparks, Md. in 2015. It also has offices in Rockville, Maryland and Wilmington, Delaware.

Kelly & Associates Insurance Group has won recognition as Maryland's largest Employee Benefits Administrator by The Baltimore Business Journal for 13 consecutive years, and was awarded the Family Business Award of Excellence through the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program in 2013.

About KELLY

Kelly & Associates Insurance Group is one of the companies housed under the KELLY brand. KELLY is one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing providers of benefits administration and technology, broker and consulting services, as well as payroll and workforce management solutions. KELLY works with thousands of employers of all sizes, as well as select agents and brokers. KELLY is a mission-driven organization committed to conducting business in a manner that honors God and produces a positive impact on our world. KELLY employs more than 450 people and is headquartered in Sparks, MD.

CONTACT: Katie Lochte, 1-410-891-3021, [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372261

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372260

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372259

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372258



SOURCE Kelly & Associates Insurance Group
PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- INTTRA, the world's ocean shipping electronic marketplace, and Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global transportation and logistics company, are pleased to announce that INTTRA will become Kuehne + Nagel's exclusive provider of service to submit its VGM information to ocean carriers and thus facilitate compliance with new container weights requirements. As of July 1, only containers with a verified gross mass will be cleared to be loaded onto a ship under the International Maritime Organization's Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Verified Gross Mass (VGM) amendment.

The INTTRA eVGM Service, is designed to be the industry's most efficient and flexible service for VGM compliance. The unrivaled scope of INTTRA's network creates efficiency by enabling the exchange of VGMs with multiple carriers in a standardized way through a single channel. In addition, the INTTRA eVGM Service maximizes flexibility by facilitating VGM submission under multiple weighing and container packing scenarios without requiring changes to the process of booking containers or providing shipping instructions.

"Kuehne + Nagel has been consistently at the forefront of technology adoption and leveraging standardization to improve operational excellence," said Inna Kuznetsova, INTTRA's President and Chief Operating Officer. "We are very pleased to expand our longstanding partnership with Kuehne + Nagel at this critical time for ocean shipping."

"The INTTRA eVGM Service reflects how closely INTTRA has worked with the industry to understand and comprehensively address the technology needs created by SOLAS VGM," said Otto Schacht, Executive Vice President, Sea Logistics, at Kuehne + Nagel. "Their solution gives us a broad range of options for submitting VGMs to our global ocean carrier partners. This solution in combination with Kuehne + Nagel's own VGM customer portal will contribute to an efficient and reliable communication of VGM data from shipper to carrier.

INTTRA's eVGM Service is available in two versions  for Carriers and Shippers. Users can transact in a range of EDI and Web service formats as well as by email. Anyone interested in learning more about INTTRA eVGM solutions can write to [email protected].

About INTTRA

INTTRA is the world's ocean shipping electronic marketplace, information and service provider. INTTRA's innovative transaction and information products, combined with the scale of our network, empower our customers to trade with multiple parties and leverage ocean industry information to improve their business. We work with over 50 leading Carriers and NVOCCs, over 110,000 freight forwarders and shippers, and more than 100 software alliance partners to streamline and standardize the shipping processes. Over 650,000 container orders are initiated on the INTTRA platform each week, representing 24 percent of global ocean container trade.

About Kuehne + Nagel

With over 67,000 employees at more than 1,200 locations in over 100 countries, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world's leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in the seafreight, airfreight, contract logistics and overland businesses, with a clear focus on providing IT-based integrated logistics solutions. Further information can be found at www.kuehne-nagel.com.

SOURCE INTTRA
CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lake Toback, a top divorce and family law firm in the state, is pleased to announce that associate Sean M. Hamann, Esq., will be presented with the Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service for his work in Salazar-Garcia V. Galvan-Pinelo, a case that dealt with interpretation of Mexican law in relation to the Hague Convention.

Hamann will receive the award at the Seventeenth Annual Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award Ceremony on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

Lake Toback is a premier firm specializing in the skilled management of child cases, including custody, visitation, and paternity. Hamann concentrates his practice in complex family law litigation, particularly in matters of financial disputes, child custody and support. He has drafted appellate briefs before the First District, Second District, and Third District of Illinois, as well as the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as appeared at the trial level throughout the state and in the Manhattan Family Court.

The Federal Judge on the case, Hon. Edmond E. Chang, nominated the attorneys on both sides for their impressive pro bono work throughout the extensive litigation. The case was an international custody dispute regarding which country, Mexico or the United States, had jurisdiction and whether the child at issue was properly in the US.

Along with Hamann, Marc Kadish and Joseph Callahan from the law firm of Mayer Brown, will also be recognized with the award. Mayer Brown was appointed by the Court as pro bono attorneys for the defendant and asked Lake Toback to co-counsel, due to their expertise in family law.

"It is truly an honor to receive this award," says Hamann. "It is a tribute to the hard work put forth, on both sides. At Lake Toback, we strive to work as hard as we can to secure favorable outcomes for all of our clients, knowing that when they come to us, it is oftentimes for the most important litigation they will face in their lives. I am grateful to Judge Chang and the selection committee for their recognition. While there were many qualified nominees, this award signifies the dedication that we have for each of our clients, regardless of their station in life," he says.

The law firm of Lake Toback serves clients throughout Illinois, but is focused primarily on those in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Will Counties. For more information about Lake Toback, visit www.laketoback.com

SOURCE Lake Toback

Related Links

http://www.laketoback.com


CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexco Cable, a family-owned and ISO 9001:2008 certified manufacturing business in Chicago, launched it's new website today in an effort to better serve both new and returning customers.

"We wanted to update our online catalog, but we also wanted to make our website more user friendly and modern," said Lexco Cable Product Manager, David Karbin. "We aim to create a user experience that makes buying wire rope assemblies approachable to novices while informative and helpful to engineers and procurement departments."

With the new website, visitors have the opportunity to easily look through products offered by Lexco Cable, view assembly examples in a gallery, engage with resource guides and other educational material, and connect with experts if they have questions or would like to request a consultation.

There are also two unique tools, the "Build a Custom Wire Rope Assembly" and "Fabricate a Cablecraft Push-Pull Control". These functions allow a user to input all of the desired variables of their assembly or push-pull control, allowing for easy quoting and production start-up. The process is streamlined and straightforward, which Karbin hopes will resonate with current and potential customers, and provide meaningful results.

Over the past 50 years, Lexco Cable has grown from a small shop on Chicago's West Side to the current facility with more than 48,000 square feet of production space serving customers from across the nation and across the globe.

A respected wire rope assembly manufacturer, Lexco Cable's production capabilities extend across the wire rope and cable spectrums. Lexco serves its loyal customers in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to manufacturing, farming, transportation, railroad, lumber, aerospace, fishing, and security.

The company is proud to share its expertise through its new online platform. Visit Lexco Cable's new and improved website, www.LexcoCable.com, today.

ABOUT LEXCO CABLE

A 3rd generation family-owned and operated business, Lexco Cable was founded as a hardware store and Schwinn bicycle franchise by Harold Karbin in 1952, after his return home from the Korean War. Lexco Cable has experienced strong and steady growth since then, expanding into cable and wire rope assembly manufacturing after Harold Karbin invented a bike lock using aircraft cable. Today, Lexco Cable supplies a huge variety of custom cable and wire rope assemblies, bungee assemblies, push-pull controls, and more, to clients across the globe.

SOURCE Lexco Cable

Related Links

http://www.lexcocable.com


Dr. Yegoryan, an adjunct professor in the mathematics department at Woodbury University, and his son Hayk, an associate with McKinsey & Company in Chicago, teamed on Intermediate Algebra, published this month by Cengage Learning -- their fourth textbook in the last five years. Education publishing giant McGraw-Hill bought the previous three textbooks -- Elementary Algebra, College Algebra and Business Math.

"It was my son's idea to publish textbooks," Dr. Yegoryan said. "At the time, he was a student at MIT and residing in Boston. He suggested working on the textbooks together, so we collaborated virtually at first, via emails, though we didn't divide the work into specific portions for each of us to tackle." Instead, they created a shared file in Dropbox, posted their initial drafts there, and continued developing material whenever they could find a convenient time.

'We like working together on books  collaborating became an excellent way for everyday communication," he recalled. The Yegoryans spent about a year on the development of each book. They have also published supplementary math books for schools and tutoring centers.

"We give all sales rights to publishers because we are really not interested in the market dynamics of it," Dr. Yegoryan said. "We simply hope that our textbooks help students master the necessary skills in math to become better at what they want to be. We also hope that our books will be picked up by many individuals, and we think that there's a lot of value that these books offer to private schools or tutoring centers. These types of schools tend to have a very skill-based focus on math education, which closely mirrors our own philosophy."

Dr. Yegoryan earned a PhD. in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics at the Yerevan Physics Institute & St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. Hayk graduated from MIT in 2010, when he was only 21, with two degrees  a B.S. in Physics from M.I.T.'s Physics department and a B.S. in Management Science from M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management. He went on to earn an M.S. in Managerial Economics from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

About Woodbury University

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. With campuses in Burbank/Los Angeles and San Diego, the university offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Liberal Arts, along with a Master of Business Administration, Master of Arts in Media for Social Justice, Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Interior Architecture (MIA), Master of Science in Architecture (MSArch), Master of Leadership, and Master of Arts in Media for Social Justice. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as an MSArch degree with a concentration in Real Estate Development and Landscape + Urbanism. Woodbury ranks 15th among the nation's "25 Colleges That Add the Most Value," according to Money Magazine and is a 2014-2015 College of Distinction. Visit woodbury.edu for more information.

Media Contact:

Ken Greenberg

Edge Communications, Inc.

(323) 469-3397

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371575

SOURCE Woodbury University

Related Links

http://woodbury.edu


INDIANAPOLIS, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) will attend the Goldman Sachs 37th Annual Healthcare Conference on June 8, 2016. Enrique Conterno, Lilly senior vice president and president of Lilly Diabetes, will participate in a fireside chat at 1:40 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.

A live audio webcast will be available on the "Webcasts & Presentations" section of Lilly's investor website at http://investor.lilly.com/events.cfm. A replay of the fireside chat will be available for approximately 90 days.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels. F-LLY

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The traditional cadastre  a public land registry typically used to track ownership and property taxation  is being reimagined throughout Latin America as a powerful tool to promote fiscal stability and guide urban planning initiatives, including building resilience in the face of climate change, according to new research published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Advances in technology and data crowdsourcing have made this new multipurpose cadastre possible, say Diego Alfonso Erba and Mario Andres Piumetto, authors of Making Land Legible: Cadastres for Urban Planning and Development in Latin America. Successful implementations of the multipurpose cadastre in cities in Colombia, Brazil, and other countries have demonstrated its benefits to policy makers, write the authors, both veteran land surveyors with years of experience in research and practice in this burgeoning field.

A territorial cadastre is a public registry that manages information relating to parcels of land. In much of Latin America, cadastres are structured under the orthodox model imported from Europe long ago, which accounts only for economic, physical, and legal characteristics. This model has several limitations: it is typically restricted to private properties; much of the information may be out of date and incomplete; and it does not encompass key parcel-level data needed for urban policy decisionssuch as information on transportation, infrastructure, and utility networkswhich is scattered among several unconnected institutions and in different formats.

A multipurpose cadastre is based on a partnership of stakeholders committed to generating extensive, precise, detailed, and up-to-date information about a city. It shares alphanumeric data and maps as well as human and financial resources, and can be implemented at the national, regional, or local level at reasonable cost. The use of camera-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, can provide extensive information quickly.

Orthodox land cadastres are implemented by public agencies using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and updated with information from periodic surveys. In contrast, a multipurpose cadastre is built within a spatial data infrastructure system. Its component parts are updated continuously with data obtained from urban observatories and other sources. Both systems can be implemented with free software applicationsone of the keys to the success of the multipurpose cadastre model.

Latin America -- with vast uninhabited areas and extensive urban sprawl, the Amazon jungle and increasing deforestation, and tremendous wealth and crushing poverty existing side by side -- is a unique testing ground. Part of the legacy of colonization is a lack of accurate records, which continues to facilitate illegal land occupations that persist to this day and strongly conditions urban policiesparticularly those related to tenure security and tax collection practices.

Although it does not define land policies, a multipurpose cadastre is a key instrument for that purpose. The data integration provided by the model is the most direct way to identify and monitor the economic, physical, legal, environmental, and social characteristics of parcels and their occupants. Planners need this information to manage the growth of cities, define strategies for financing urban development, and to reduce informality and analyze the impact of government interventions. The information is also critical for disaster preparedness and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

Making Land Legible describes the evolution of cadastres, and surveys the adoption of the multipurpose model and associated benefits. The authors also spell out best practices to facilitate a shift to multipurpose cadastres, including building land value observatories that involve the greatest number of partners possible; implementing assessment methods based on econometric and geostatistical models that can correlate assessment maps with the real estate market; mandating the georeferencing of parcels and requiring updated blueprints on each real estate transaction; and incorporating data on public properties and informal settlements in cadastre maps.

About the authors:

Diego Alfonso Erba is a land surveyor engineer specializing in cadastres and geographic information systems. As a fellow in the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's Program on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from 2004-2013, he taught and researched on cadastres in Latin America and developed LAC's distance education program. As an independent consultant, he has worked with local, regional, and national governments in several countries in Latin America. He has authored and/or edited several books and papers on multipurpose cadastres and, more recently, on 3-D cadastres.

Mario Andres Piumetto is a land surveyor specializing in geographic information systems and cadastres. He is part of the teaching faculty in the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and professor at the School of Surveying at the National University of Cordoba, Argentina. He was formerly director of cadastre of the city of Cordoba. Currently, as an independent consultant, he works on cadastres, geotechnologies, and land taxation. He has coauthored several books and papers on cadastres applied to urban land policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is an independent, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to help solve global economic, social, and environmental challenges to improve the quality of life through creative approaches to the use, taxation, and stewardship of land.

SOURCE Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Related Links

http://www.lincolninst.edu


TUSTIN, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MAPLE Business Council is marking its first anniversary as Southern California's business community for connecting the region with Canada. Launched in May 2015, MAPLE promotes cross-border investment, trade and entrepreneurship through its membership-based network of executives, entrepreneurs and investors. In its first year over 20 organizations in Canada and Southern California have joined MAPLE as a member or sponsor.

"We are delighted with the response to our bridge-building mission," said Robert Kelle, co-founder and chairman of MAPLE Business Council. "We want to thank our members, sponsors and partners for their support in our inaugural year and look forward to growing our community together."

MAPLE was founded in 2015 to provide Southern California with a business community focal point for cross-border opportunities with Canada spanning foreign direct investment and trade across business sectors. In 2014, there was over $46 billion in cross-border trade between Canada and Southern California. Canada represents the 2nd largest trading partner with the state and is one of the top sources of foreign direct investment. In its first year, MAPLE expanded its charter to include the support of cross-border entrepreneurship opportunities as it engages with innovation communities in Southern California.

"Our organization is based on connecting people and ideas together," said Stephen Armstrong, co-founder and chief marketing officer of MAPLE Business Council. "Our members are connecting together individually and through our events in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties and represent thought-leaders across a wide span of business sectors."

MAPLE recently hosted a mayoral delegation from Waterloo, Canada accompanied by the CEO of the region's economic development corporation to introduce the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor to Southern California. MAPLE also just collaborated with EY Canada on a tax briefing for finance executives held at Canada House in Los Angeles. In 2015, the organization met with entrepreneurs and business leaders in Toronto, Waterloo and London and will be visiting additional Canadian markets in its second year to host meetings and receptions promoting cross-border collaboration.

"We are launching new programs to complement our member networking events and our Cross-Border Leadership series," said Robert Kelle. "With MAPLE now taking root in our region, we are excited to build on our foundation thanks to the support of our members and sponsors."

About MAPLE Business Council

MAPLE Business Council is a non-profit organization promoting investment, trade and entrepreneurship between Southern California and Canada and among Southern California business with ties to Canada. For more information, please visit www.maplesocal.com and follow at @maplesocal

SOURCE MAPLE Business Council

Related Links

http://www.maplesocal.com


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Minnesota farmers had a seat at the table Wednesday at a White House Business Council meeting on trade opportunities that may become available with the recent change in Cuba policy.

The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association were among the groups invited from business sectors that included agriculture, energy, hospitality and communications.

Even with the trade embargo in place, U.S. agriculture exports have been allowed to Cuba under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act. Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced new regulations designed to make it easier for U.S. companies to do business in Cuba.

"It was a positive exchange of ideas, and I believe Cuba represents an emerging market for Minnesota agriculture," said Paul Simonsen of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. Simonsen visited Cuba in December with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

According to the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba totaled $300 million in fiscal year 2014. U.S. soybean meal shipments were the second-largest category behind poultry meat, totaling $75 million in FY 2014. Together poultry and soybean meal accounted for nearly 75 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba.

"With increased U.S. tourism in Cuba, I believe there could be tremendous potential for Minnesota soybean farmers, possibly an additional market for specialty soybeans or soybean oil," said Simonsen.

While in Washington D.C., Simonsen is also scheduled to meet with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) to discuss trade relations with Cuba. Klobuchar and Rep. Emmer have been leading the effort in Congress to lift the trade embargo.

Soybeans are a $3.1 billion industry in Minnesota, with agriculture being the second largest employer in the state. For more information, please visit https://mnsoybean.org/msrpc/

ABOUT MINNESOTA SOYBEAN RESEARCH & PROMOTION COUNCIL:

The Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) is the elected board of soybean producers from Minnesota who direct investments of the state's checkoff dollars in program designed to increase profitability to Minnesota soybean farmers.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150819/259663LOGO

SOURCE Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council

Related Links

http://www.mnsoybean.org


CHICO, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Association of Managed Service Providers, (MSPAlliance - www.mspalliance.com), has issued a call for speakers for MSPWorld 2016 Fall Conference (www.mspworldconference.com), the leading, best-attended event focused on managed services and cloud computing. MSPWorld will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada October 9-11, 2016.

Speakers are encouraged to submit session abstracts that address cutting edge, thought provoking topics that would be of interest to industry professionals and consist of instructional and educational content. Proposed speakers are advised that all submissions should be vendor-neutral, as the selection committee will not accept marketing or sales oriented pitches of any kind.The MSPWorld 2016 Fall Conference agenda will focus on the following topics:

Managed Services Leadership Courses

Financial and Business Topics Facing Cloud and MSPs

Managed Services Professionalism & Ethics

Vendors Evaluation & Selection

Managed Security

Managed Storage

Cloud Infrastructure Development, Management, and Provisioning

Managed Services NOC & Help Desk Practices

Marketing & Sales Practices for MSPs

Managed Services Pricing Models

Certifications  What You Need To Know About Your Partners & Vendors

MSPWorld 2016 Fall Conference will delve into the most pressing channel and end-user issues that MSPs and their customers confront every day. When providing your session abstract please provide the following information:

Speaker name

Contact information for the speaker

Session Title

Brief synopsis of the session and what the audience will learn from the session

Relevant experience of the speaker

The deadline for speaker submissions is June 30, 2016. Speakers should submit their entries to [email protected]

About MSPAlliance

MSPAlliance is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry. Established in 2000 with the objective of helping MSPs become better MSPs. Today, MSPAlliance has more than 30,000 cloud computing and manage service provider corporate members across the globe and works in a collaborative effort to assist its members, along with foreign and domestic governments, on creating standards, setting policies and establishing best practices. For more information, visit www.mspalliance.com

CONTACT

Celia Weaver

Email

530-891-1340

SOURCE MSPAlliance

Related Links

http://www.mspalliance.com


MCKINNEY, Texas, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MyTelemedicine, a national telemedicine and technology service provider, announced that its secure, cloud-based telemedicine platform offers support for multiple languages. Currently, the platform is available in English and Spanish; other languages can follow. Anticipating customer needs, MyTelemedicine used an internationalization process in building its platform, which means it can support additional languages.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371622LOGO

"We broadened the scope of our availability to consumers who otherwise would be stuck at the language barrier," said Jesse Roach, MyTelemedicine's co-founder and Chief Technical Officer. "We made the possibility of having an international clientele a reality."

The Affordable Care Act has ushered more patients into the healthcare system, including some among an estimated 30 million non-English speaking patients. They face difficulty navigating a complicated health system  on top of the challenges inherent for those whose first language isn't English. Besides patients and their families, healthcare providers and support staff also struggle with the language barrier. MyTelemedicine is bridging that critical gap.

Rey Colon, MyTelemedicine's CEO, said the comprehensive support his company offers to Spanish-speaking patients distinguishes MyTelemedicine from its competitors. "What is being offered in the market today does not provide an authentic Spanish experience from start to finish. The ability to speak to a doctor in Spanish is just part of a patient's experience." To provide Hispanic members with a complete and tailored experience, one should have access to an application that allows them to manage their personal health records, initiate consultations by Telephone and Video, manage dependants, and have round-the-clock access to customer care  all in Spanish. "We offer a complete Spanish user experience because that's what Spanish-speaking patients need and expect," he said.

MyTelemedicine's current and prospective partners will benefit from the chance to deliver a proven, cost-effective telemedicine solution to the Spanish-speaking market through MyTelemedicine or their own private-label brand. The number of Spanish speakers in the U.S. is projected to reach 60 million by 2020.

About MyTelemedince

MyTelemedicine developed a proprietary, secure and HIPAA-compliant telemedicine platform that works in the cloud and lets healthcare providers consult with patients remotely. Our Advanced API technology allows third-parties to integrate and offer a customized telemedicine experience to support their brand identity. Physicians can perform on-demand consultations with members anywhere via telephone and video technology. Patients get advice, recommendations and a diagnosis, which may include a prescription for common illnesses. Learn more at mytelemedicine.com.

Contact:

Michael Banks

469-640-6105

SOURCE MyTelemedicine Inc
SALT LAKE CITY, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Beverly Malone, CEO of the National League for Nursing (NLN), will kick off Western Governors University's (WGU) new lecture series next week, discussing Leadership in Nursing. Dr. Malone's lecture will take place Wednesday, June 1, at 7 p.m., at the Salt Lake City Library. The lecture is free and open to the public, who are requested to RSVP at www.wgu.edu/sagetalks_registration.

Since 2007, Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, has served as the CEO of National League for Nursing, the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education with 38,500 individual and 1,300 institutional members. Throughout her career she has worked as a surgical staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, director of nursing, and assistant administrator of nursing. She was ranked amongst the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine in 2010 and 2015. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine, joined the board of the Kaiser Family Foundation, and served on the Advisory Committee on Minority Health, a federal panel established to advise the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

WGU's new lecture series, Sage Talks, is named after the university's mascot and has been created to provide personal and professional development, inspiration, and continuing education opportunities to the community. The series will feature leaders and innovators in fields represented by each of WGU's four colleges: business, education, healthcare, and information technology. Lecture topics will be centered on leadership, new innovations and disruptions, and how education shapes the future.

About WGU

Established in 1997 with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, WGU now serves nearly 70,000 students nationwide and has more than 63,000 graduates in all 50 states. Driving innovation as the nation's leading competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. It has become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals and families, and enabling the workforce needed in today's rapidly evolving economy. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and was featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. The University's 2015 Annual Report is now available online.

Follow WGU:

http://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/western-governors-university

http://twitter.com/wgu

http://www.youtube.com/WesternGovernorsUniv

http://google.com/+wgu

http://news.wgu.edu/news/news.xml

Contact for media inquiries:

Joan Mitchell  VP of Public Relations

801-428-5463

[email protected]

Contact for enrollment information:

866-225-5948

wgu.edu

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151012/276234LOGO

SOURCE Western Governors University

Related Links

http://www.wgu.edu


Nationwide recognizes the shared connection that this important population has to the company's mission and the talent they bring to the table, and since 2012, the company has added 1,000 veterans to its workforce.

Amy McBride is the company's 1000th veteran hired since 2012. She works in Nationwide's commercial insurance claims office in Harrisburg, Pa., as a nurse case manager.

"The same integrity that is drilled into you in the military is very important in my job at Nationwide," said McBride. "And the emphasis that the military puts on punctuality, teamwork and respect applies to my role as well."

Ruben Minor, Doug Huber, Christina Lowhorn, Jason Dominguez and Angel Leija are all current associates who joined the Nationwide family after dedicating their time and talents to honorable careers in the military.

"We are proud of all of our Nationwiders and in particular the military veterans who have served our country," says Gale King, chief administrative officer. "We are honored to have them join Nationwide and help us make a difference for our members and communities."

Nationwide, a national insurance and financial services provider, is a company with a noble purpose of delivering on a promise to protect members and business partners for more than 90 years. In 2015 alone, the company delivered on this promise by paying more than $16.1 billion in claims and other benefits during the year.

"When the country experiences a natural disaster or severe weather conditions, or when financial markets are in despair, people are in jeopardy of losing everything they've worked for," said Rocky Parker, Nationwide's vice president of talent acquisition. "It is during these moments of critical need that our associates work to meet a critical need for our members, business partners and associates."

"Nationwide is still hiring in several office locations across the country and expects to continue to fuel its talent pipeline with more veterans because of their natural tie to culture and mission," said Parker. "Part of what makes Nationwide a great company is that we value making an impact within our company and the communities we serve. We are committed to bringing talent on board from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Our veteran associates offer a unique set of skills, knowledge and talents that make them a great fit at Nationwide."

Members of the military and veterans are encouraged to learn more about Nationwide by visiting the company's career page, viewing potential career opportunities and submitting applications online here.

Nationwide and NASCAR pay homage to fallen soldier

Nationwide unveiled a patriotic paint scheme that will be featured on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet for the May 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The most notable feature of this paint scheme is that the car's windshield will display the name of Lance Corporal Aaron Reed, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, who served as a member of Lima Company and was killed in action on August 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq.

Lance Corporal Reed's mother, aunt and sister and Lance Corporal Travis Williams, the only surviving member of Aaron's squad, will join Nationwide and the Reed family at the race in Charlotte, N.C.

"Featuring Lance Corporal Reed on Dale's car is our way of honoring his memory as well as thanking him and veterans around the world for their service and sacrifice," said Mike Boyd, Nationwide's senior vice president of marketing. "We thank Dale Jr. for helping us remember this fallen soldier, and we pay tribute to members of the military and veterans for their service to this great nation."

About Nationwide

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, On Your Side, and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Contact:

Brandi Martin

(614) 249-3243

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371957

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160106/319751LOGO

SOURCE Nationwide

Related Links

http://www.nationwide.com


ATLANTA, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Proving that quality never goes out of style, Church's Chicken announced the recent opening of its newest location in San Antonio, TX  the community in which the brand originated 64 years ago. Located at 13323 Culebra Road, the new restaurant is expected to meet an ever-growing demand in the area for Church's signature hand-battered fried chicken, honey-butter biscuits, and home-style sides.

This restaurant also marks the third Church's to open in just three years for local businessman and franchise owner, Sean Nooner. Nooner opened his first new restaurant in September of 2013 with another location following a year and a half later.

"San Antonio is evolving quickly as a major Texas destination to live, work, and play," said Nooner. "We're eager to serve all of these new residents the great taste of Church's Chicken."

Bill Schreiber, Vice President of Worldwide Business Development at Church's Chicken agreed. "Texas matters to us for many reasons  our history, our recipes, our brand experience, and our approach to hospitality are all connected to Texas. Being the first choice for quality fried chicken and signature honey-butter biscuits in Texas is a distinction we want to continue to honor for decades to come."

Besides the always-popular menu, the new Culebra Road restaurant will also feature the Church's brand's new STAR Image design, which includes new interior seating options, new exterior design and color palettes, and contemporary lighting inside and out.

"We believe the strongest brands, the ones with the most loyal followings, are those that know how to adapt to what their customers expect," continued Schreiber. "This new San Antonio location is proof you can be fresh and new without abandoning the classic quality and service that the Church's brand is known for. We think guests will enjoy it greatly."

About Church's Chicken

Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,650 locations in 25 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at wwww.twitter.com/churchschicken.

Contact: Tara Hamp

305-631-2283

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372048LOGO

SOURCE Church's Chicken

Related Links

http://www.churchs.com


NEW YORK and CHEVY CHASE, Md., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New York REIT, Inc. ("NYRT") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The JBG Companies and certain of its private funds (collectively, "JBG") to contribute substantially all of their properties to NYRT resulting in a REIT with a best-in-class management team and a premier property portfolio in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area. Upon completion of the transaction, whereby NYRT will acquire substantially all of the properties and the management business of JBG, the combined company, to be renamed JBG Realty Trust, will form an estimated $8.4 billion enterprise value REIT, making it one of the largest REITs owning high quality office and mixed-use properties in urban-infill locations. The transaction will be tax-free to NYRT shareholders. The combined company will be headquartered in Chevy Chase, MD with a regional office in New York City.

The combined company's portfolio will span over 14.5 million square feet of office, residential and retail properties across the gateway markets of New York City and Washington, D.C., concentrated in transportation served, urban-infill submarkets. Approximately 22% of the portfolio, by rentable square feet ("RSF"), will be located in New York City, with the balance of approximately 78% located in premier submarkets within the Washington, D.C. Metro area. The combined portfolio includes over 9.7 million RSF of high quality office assets, approximately 1.0 million RSF of retail assets, and approximately 4,500 residential units. In addition, a meaningful portion of the company's assets are in mixed-use districts involving a high density mix of commercial and residential buildings with anchor, specialty and neighborhood retail.

The combination transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the NYRT stockholders of the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction. JBG has received all required approvals for the transaction from its owners and JBG Fund Advisory Committee members. The Board of Directors of NYRT has approved the combination agreement and recommends that its stockholders approve the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction.

Under the agreement, JBG will receive 319.9 million shares of common stock and operating partnership units of NYRT in exchange for the direct and indirect interests in the contributed JBG properties and the contribution of its management company (which equity consideration is subject to adjustment for certain cash payments and the possible exclusions of a limited number of designated properties if required consents are not obtained). Upon closing of the transaction, NYRT stockholders at the time of completion will own approximately 34.8% of the combined company's shares and units and JBG equityholders will own approximately 65.2%.

As part of the transaction, NYRT's external management contract will be terminated upon closing and the combined company will be internally managed by JBG's current management team. W. Matt Kelly will be named Chief Executive Officer, David Paul will be named President and Chief Operating Officer, James Iker will be named Chief Investment Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer, and Brian Coulter will be named Chief Development Officer. Michael Happel, NYRT's current President and Chief Executive Officer has agreed to assist in the transition and will serve as a consultant to the combined company for a transition period.

Upon closing, the new Board of Directors of the combined company will be comprised of nine members, a majority of whom will be independent. The new Board of Directors will include: Michael J. Glosserman, to be named CoChairman, Robert Stewart, to be named CoChairman, both of whom are current executives of JBG, W. Matt Kelly, Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Z. Jamie Behar, Managing Director, Real Estate & Alternative Investments, General Motors Investment Management Corporation (retired), Scott A. Estes, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Welltower, Inc., Alan S. Forman, Yale University Investments Office, Director, Real Estate Investments, Glenn H. Hutchins, Chairman, North Island and CoFounder of Silver Lake, and Randolph C. Read, currently Chairman of the Board of NYRT. It is anticipated that Mr. Hutchins will serve as the Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors.

Pro forma for the combination, the Yale University Investments Office and JBG employees including senior management, the two largest stakeholders in JBG, will own approximately 10% and 15%, respectively, of the combined company.

Randolph C. Read, Chairman of the Board of NYRT, commented, "We are extremely pleased to be able to announce this transaction with The JBG Companies which is nothing short of transformative for New York REIT. This combination creates a substantial REIT in New York City and Washington, D.C. We believe that the expertise of the JBG management team is recognized throughout the industry and that this combination will provide the NYRT stockholders with a unique opportunity to participate in the value creation potential that this combination will bring."

W. Matt Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of The JBG Companies, commented, "This combination creates a stabilized real estate platform focused on two of the world's gateway markets. We have been actively evaluating ways to bring our unique capabilities and strategy to the New York City market for some time and believe the portfolio of the combined company will provide tremendous opportunities for value creation. We believe the combined company will be positioned for strong stockholder returns with an attractive, stabilized in-place portfolio combined with substantial growth potential. We are extremely excited to be joining forces with NYRT."

The JBG Companies

Established in 1960, JBG is one of the premier real estate companies in the Washington, D.C. Metro area and owns one of the largest high-quality portfolios of urban-infill office, multifamily and retail assets in the region. JBG has investment, development (and redevelopment), operations, and private capital raising expertise across multiple property types and has a particular focus on mixed-use assets in infill markets. JBG's primary approach to value creation involves a series of complementary disciplines in a process referred to as "Placemaking", involving strategically mixing high-quality multifamily and commercial buildings with anchor, specialty and neighborhood retail, in a high density, thoughtfully planned and curated public space environment.

JBG expects to contribute 72 operating properties with an aggregate of more than 11.3 million RSF, predominantly located near major transportation nodes in some of the most attractive high-barrier submarkets in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. In addition to its operating portfolio, JBG is also contributing its management company, an approximately 1.2 million RSF construction pipeline, an approximately 1.4 million RSF pre-development pipeline and a land bank with an estimated potential density of approximately 14.8 million square feet, providing the combined company with compelling value creation opportunities.

JBG's management team is a proven steward of investor capital and has a long track record of creating value for investors through numerous economic cycles. From the beginning of 1999 through December 31, 2015, JBG has raised over $3.6 billion of discretionary fund investment capital for nine real estate investment funds and has invested in more than 250 assets on behalf of these funds. JBG's realized investments during this period have generated a levered IRR of 36.6% p.a., and an equity multiple of 2.3x. Preqin Ltd. has named JBG as one of the top Consistent Performing Closed End Private Real Estate Fund Managers every year since 2011, the only real estate fund manager to receive this designation in each of the past five years.

Transaction Benefits

The combination of NYRT and The JBG Companies is expected to create an industry-leading REIT focused on New York City and Washington, D.C., whose stockholders will benefit from the following attributes:

Enhanced positioning from a combination with a premium, urban-infill, transit-oriented portfolio with substantial embedded growth.

Leadership from a premier management team with a track record of value creation through market cycles, a proven history as a best-in-class fiduciary, and a significant investment in the combined company.

Expanded platform capabilities from a fully internalized management structure with strong shareholder alignment, with management and employee ownership in the combined company of approximately 15%.

Plans to reduce the leverage of the combined company following closing without dilution through a combination of the disposition and/or recapitalization of certain properties through strategic joint ventures to facilitate growth.

A new credit facility of up to $1.5 billion led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch to refinance certain indebtedness, pay transaction costs, and provide additional liquidity for the Company.

Alongside the addition of JBG's contributed high quality Washington, D.C. Metro area portfolio, the combined company will maintain a dedicated New York City presence with the existing NYRT on-the-ground asset management and investments team remaining in place. Integration of NYRT's New York City platform will be led by Todd Rich, a JBG partner and member of its management committee who was formerly with Tishman Speyer in its New York, London, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. offices prior to joining JBG. Building upon the existing NYRT portfolio, the combined company intends, over time, to acquire and redevelop or develop a concentrated collection of high-quality, mixed-use properties in New York City neighborhoods in which the firm's Placemaking capabilities can drive attractive value creation opportunities.

Following the close of the transaction, the combined company intends to pursue strategic joint ventures, recapitalizations, and the disposition of select non-core properties in order to repay certain outstanding debt obligations, enabling the company to take advantage of opportunities to create value without the need for equity issuances. In addition, the combined company intends to obtain a new senior unsecured credit facility of up to $1.5 billion to be led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is expected to be completed in conjunction with the closing.

NYRT Strategic Process

This transaction represents the conclusion of a strategic process NYRT has been conducting to consider all options to maximize long-term stockholder value. These options included consideration of an outright sale of NYRT for cash or stock, a sale of individual assets, a sale of all or substantially all of NYRT's assets through a plan of liquidation approved by NYRT's stockholders, continuing operations as a standalone entity, and acquiring assets and bringing in new investors for minority or majority positions. After this extensive review process, and with the assistance of its legal, tax and financial advisors, the Board concluded that the combination with JBG was in the best interests of NYRT and its stockholders.

James L. Nelson, an independent director of NYRT, commented "I am extremely pleased with the thorough and robust strategic review process that the board of NYRT conducted in analyzing a wide range of scenarios to create long-term stockholder value. Throughout the process, the Board maintained an overriding focus on what we reasonably believed to be the maximum value for NYRT's stockholders over the long term. I believe this transaction with JBG accomplishes that goal."

Approvals

The completion of the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement is subject to certain conditions, including (i) NYRT stockholder approval of the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units, (ii) the expiration of applicable waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, (iii) the receipt of certain third party consents, and (iv) the combined company closing on a new credit facility.

In connection with the proposed transaction, NYRT expects to file a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC. After the SEC completes its review of the proxy statement, NYRT will mail a definitive proxy statement to its stockholders, and stockholders will vote at a special meeting on a date to be announced, for the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction. NYRT expects the transaction will close by the end of 2016, if approved by its shareholders.

Advisors

The Eastdil Secured group of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to NYRT. Proskauer Rose LLP acted as legal advisor to NYRT and Venable acted as Maryland counsel to NYRT. BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisors to JBG. The Advisory and Consulting Group of Green Street Advisors acted as a strategic advisor to JBG. Hogan Lovells US LLP served as legal advisor to JBG.

Conference Call

NYRT and JBG will host a conference call today, May 25, 2016 at 5:30 P.M. ET to discuss this announcement.

Dial-in instructions for the conference call and the replay are outlined below. This conference call will also be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed by all interested parties through the NYRT website, www.nyrt.com, in the "Investor Relations" section.

To listen to the live call, please go to NYRT's "Investor Relations" section of the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register and download any necessary audio software. For those who are not able to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call on the NYRT website at www.nyrt.com.

Conference Call Details

Live Call

Dial In (Toll Free): 1-888-317-6003

International Dial In (Toll Free): 1-412-317-6061

Canada Dial In (Toll Free): 1-866-284-3684

Participant Elite Entry Number: 5562559

Conference Replay*

Domestic Dial In (Toll Free): 1-877-344-7529

International Dial In (Toll Free): 1-412-317-0088

Canada Dial In (Toll Free): 1-855-669-9658

Conference Number: 10086995

*Available one hour after the end of the conference call through May 25, 2017.

Supplemental Information

On the date hereof, NYRT has filed a Current Report on Form 8-K containing additional information about JBG and the properties and other assets to be contributed directly or indirectly in the combination transaction that has been provided to NYRT by JBG, certain risks and uncertainties newly applicable to NYRT due to its entry into the combination agreement and other information related to the combination agreement and the combined company. This filing can be found on NYRT's website at www.nyrt.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

About NYRT

NYRT is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE that acquires income-producing commercial real estate, including office and retail properties, in New York City. Additional information about NYRT can be found on its website at www.nyrt.com. NYRT may disseminate important information regarding it and its operations, including financial information, through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About The JBG Companies

The JBG Companies are investors, owners, developers, and managers of real estate properties in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. JBG is a mixed-use specialist that invests almost exclusively in urban-infill, transit-oriented real estate. The diverse portfolio controlled by JBG encompasses over 22 million RSF of urban-infill commercial and multifamily properties and a land bank with substantial estimated potential density. Additional information about JBG can be found on its website at www.jbg.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements NYRT makes. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding stockholder liquidity and investment value and returns.

The words "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "plans," "intends," "may," "will," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the combination agreement; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against NYRT related to the Combination Agreement or any of the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement; the failure to satisfy the conditions to completion of the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement, including the failure to obtain the required approval of NYRT's stockholders; the failure of the combined company to consummate its contemplated deleveraging strategies and refinance NYRT's current credit facility following the completion of the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement; risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations of NYRT; risks and uncertainties related to businesses conducted by JBG that are not currently conducted by NYRT, including owning and acquiring properties in Washington, D.C., real estate construction, development and pre-development, and asset management; the impact of current and future regulation; the ability to continue to qualify as a REIT; the effects of competition; the ability to attract, develop and retain executives and other qualified personnel; changes in general economic or market conditions; and other factors, many of which are beyond NYRT's control, including other factors included in NYRT's reports filed with the SEC, particularly in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of NYRT's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the SEC on February 26, 2016, NYRT's latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, filed with the SEC on May 10, 2016 and NYRT's Current Report on Form 8-K with respect to the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement, filed with the SEC on May 25, 2016, as such Risk Factors may be updated from time to time in subsequent reports. NYRT does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Additional Information about the Proposed Transaction and Where to Find It

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of NYRT or the solicitation of any vote or approval. Elements of the proposed transaction will be submitted to the stockholders of NYRT for their approval. In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company expects to file with the SEC relevant materials, including a definitive proxy statement which will be mailed or otherwise disseminated to NYRT's stockholders when it becomes available. NYRT STOCKHOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

Investors may obtain free copies of the proxy statement and other relevant documents filed by NYRT with the SEC (when they become available) through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed by NYRT with the SEC are also available free of charge on NYRT's website at www.nyrt.com.

Participants in Solicitation Relating to the Transaction

NYRT, JBG and their directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from NYRT's stockholders in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding NYRT's directors and executive officers can be found in NYRT's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the SEC on February 26, 2016. Information regarding JBG's executive officers can be found in NYRT's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 25, 2016. Additional information regarding the interests of such potential participants will be included in the proxy statement and other relevant documents filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction when they become available. These documents are available free of charge on the SEC's website and from NYRT's using the sources indicated above.

Contacts

SOURCE New York REIT, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nyrt.com


LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Newsweek's award-winning Middle East Editor, Janine di Giovanni, has today been awarded the 'Courage in Journalism Award' from the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), a Washington-based organisation which is dedicated to strengthening the role of women journalists worldwide.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160120/323988LOGO )



The IWMF 'Courage in Journalism Award' celebrates female journalists who have overcome threats, oppression and the glass ceiling in their pursuit of the truth.

"These courageous journalists have faced seemingly insurmountable security threats and personal challenges in reporting on global issues and often, their impact on women," IWMF Executive Director Elisa Lees Munoz said. "It is an honor to celebrate their commitment to press freedom and their service to other women in their industry with our annual Courage Awards."

di Giovanni is based in Paris and has been working for Newsweek since October 2013. In recent months, di Giovanni has written extensively about Syria - having visited the country numerous times, at great risk to her own life. A selection of her work for Newsweek ranges from visiting Kurdish fighters in Northern Iraq on the front line of the fight against ISIS, to a deeply reported piece on The Syrian Civil Defence Force, known as The White Helmets, which consists of former students, teachers, vegetable sellers and farmers that put their lives at risk to save civilians in the ongoing conflict. Her latest book, "The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches From Syria" was published earlier this year.

Jim Impoco, Global Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek said: "Janine is one of the most passionate reporters I have ever worked with, always determined to shed light on the human suffering of those caught up in conflict and disaster. At a time when journalists are targets, no one exhibits more courage than this lovely, talented, informed and ever curious person we are proud to have as part of our team at Newsweek."

di Giovanni has contributed to many other publications and she works for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in tandem with Newsweek to write advocacy reports brought to the Security Council about the plight of Syrian children with no education and Syrian refugee women.

With a particular focus on human rights abuses and war crimes, she is also part of a stabilization unit with the government of the UK - an interdepartmental agency - as well as an associate fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy and the New America Foundation. In addition, she is a senior policy manager and adviser to The Syria Project, at the School of Public Policy at Central European University.

di Giovanni's focus on the human cost of war has involved her attempting to give war a face for over two decades now, while she has worked in a variety of conflict zones in exceptionally difficult and dangerous circumstances - from Sarajevo, to Chechnya, to Iraq and Afghanistan. Back in 1990, she went to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising).

di Giovanni is an advisor on the Syrian conflict for the UNHCR and lectures at universities such as Harvard, Princeton and the LSE. She was recently voted by Action against Armed Violence as one of the world's 100 people working to reduce armed conflict.

For more information on Janine di Giovanni's many other awards, publications, consultancies, and other achievements, please visit http://www.janinedigiovanni.com or her Newsweek author page.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is a premier news magazine and website, bringing high-quality journalism to readers around the globe for over 80 years. Newsweek provides the latest news, in-depth analysis and ideas about international issues, technology, business, culture and politics. In addition to its online and mobile presence, Newsweek publishes weekly English print editions in the United States, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia as well as editions in Japanese, Korean, Polish, Serbian, Spanish and Czech. Newsweek is owned by IBT Media. For more information, visit: europe.newsweek.com or corp.ibt.com.



Contacts

Sharon Ezzeldin: +44(0)7920769665

[email protected]



SOURCE Newsweek Europe
The properties are located in Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Kansas, as well as Nova Scotia, Canada. "The assets are mostly vacant field offices Halliburton identified as surplus after consolidating some of their operations," said Fontana Fitzwilson, Executive Vice President of Williams & Williams. "Halliburton directed us to sell these properties absolute - without reserve prices - because they want the market to bid with confidence at these auctions," Fitzwilson added.

Among the properties up for auction are trucking terminals, warehouses, development land, plus a barite mine in Nova Scotia.

The auctions will be open to the public and bids may be placed in person for most properties, or online for all properties. Online bids can be placed at AuctionNetwork.com, a sister company to Williams & Williams.

Fitzwilson said the high bidders will required to make a non-refundable 10% down payment immediately after the auctions, and close in 30 days. For more information and to request diligence packages please visit https://www.williamsauction.com/halliburton

About Williams & Williams:

Williams & Williams ( www.williamsauction.com ) is a worldwide real estate auction firm and the leader in global live and interactive auctions. A full-service brokerage with an operating footprint in all 50 United States and U.S. Territories, Williams & Williams also cooperatively partners with residential, commercial and land brokers to auction properties throughout the United States and abroad.

About Auction Network:

www.AuctionNetwork.com is a subsidiary of Williams, Williams & McKissick, LLC, whose holdings include Williams & Williams. Auction Network is a 24-hour global broad-band television network that lets bidders participate from anywhere in the world during live and online auctions.

About JLL

www.JLL.com (Jones Land LaSalle Inc.) is a leading global professional services and investment management firm specializing in real estate. Our expert teams provide integrated services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying, developing or investing in real estate. JLL is characterized by its growth orientation, operational excellence, financial strength, premium brand, collaborative culture and high ethical standards.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140604/94458

SOURCE Williams & Williams

Related Links

http://www.williamsauction.com


FELTHAM, England, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nomad Foods Limited ("Nomad" or the "Company") (NYSE: NOMD), today issues the following trading update for the three month period ended March 31, 2016.

Reported Results

Nomad Foods is presenting as reported consolidated operating results and financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2016. Nomad Foods did not have any operations in the comparative period for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2016

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was 547.1 million, resulting in a 42.2 million profit after tax, which includes exceptional items of 23.1 million.

was 547.1 million, resulting in a 42.2 million profit after tax, which includes exceptional items of 23.1 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2015 , revenue was nil, resulting in a loss after tax of 144.4 million.

, revenue was nil, resulting in a loss after tax of 144.4 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 , earnings per share were 0.23 compared to a loss per share of 2.89 in the three months to March 31, 2015 .

As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted Results

Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2016

Nomad Foods is presenting As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2016. As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2016 includes the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period, adjusted for exceptional items and non-cash foreign currency translation charges/gains.

For comparative purposes, Nomad Foods is presenting Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2015 includes the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period, the reported results of Iglo Foods Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (the "Iglo Group") for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and the reported results of Findus Sverige AB and its subsidiaries (the "Findus Group") for the three months ended March 31, 2015. The Pro Forma As Adjusted results have been normalised for the differential in trading days (excluding the additional day for the leap year in 2016) between year-on-year periods, transaction-related items, exceptional items, foreign currency translation charges/gains and taxation.

Please see the non-IFRS reconciliation tables attached hereto and the schedules accompanying this release for an explanation and reconciliation of the As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information to the reported results of Nomad Foods.

Financial Information  in millions, except per share data As Adjusted for the

three months ended

March 31, 2016 Pro Forma As

Adjusted for the

three months ended

March 31, 2015 Difference % Revenue 547.1 570.8 (23.7) (4.2%) Gross profit 167.5 178.7 (11.2) (6.3%) Gross margin 30.6% 31.3% (0.7%) (2.2%) EBITDA 99.6 105.6 (6.0) (5.7%) EBITDA margin 18.2% 18.5% (0.3%) (1.6%) Profit for the period 52.8 58.2 (5.4) (9.3%) Basic and diluted earnings per share 0.29 0.32 (0.03) (9.4%)

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 decreased by 23.7 million, or 4.2%, to 547.1 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted revenue of 570.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 . Adjusting for currency impacts, the exit from Russia , an additional trading day in Q1 2016 due to the leap year and the business acquisition of La Cocinera in Spain , the like for like decline was 6.1% - a 0.9% improvement on the rate of decline in the fourth quarter. As has been the case in the past few quarters, the decline in sales was driven by Nomad's three largest markets, namely the UK, Italy & Germany , although each of these markets again showed reduced rates of decline year-on-year compared to the prior quarter.

decreased by 23.7 million, or 4.2%, to 547.1 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted revenue of 570.8 million for the three months ended . Adjusting for currency impacts, the exit from , an additional trading day in Q1 2016 due to the and the business acquisition of La Cocinera in , the like for like decline was 6.1% - a 0.9% improvement on the rate of decline in the fourth quarter. As has been the case in the past few quarters, the decline in sales was driven by Nomad's three largest markets, namely the UK, & , although each of these markets again showed reduced rates of decline year-on-year compared to the prior quarter. As Adjusted Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2016 declined by 11.2 million, or 6.3%, to 167.5 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted Gross profit of 178.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 . The decrease is primarily driven by lower sales volumes.

declined by 11.2 million, or 6.3%, to 167.5 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted Gross profit of 178.7 million for the three months ended . The decrease is primarily driven by lower sales volumes. As adjusted Gross margin for the three months ended March 31, 2016 declined by 0.7% to 30.6% from the Pro Forma As Adjusted Gross margin of 31.3% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 . This was driven by a slightly adverse product mix and the dilutive effect of the La Cocinera acquisition.

declined by 0.7% to 30.6% from the Pro Forma As Adjusted Gross margin of 31.3% for the three months ended . This was driven by a slightly adverse product mix and the dilutive effect of the La Cocinera acquisition. As Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2016 decreased 6.0 million, or 5.7%, to 99.6 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA of 105.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 . This was due to the reduction in gross profit discussed above, which has been partly offset by lower advertising and promotion expenditure as the Company re-phased advertising spend to align with the anticipated launch of the new advertising and lower indirect costs year-on-year due to synergy realization and benefits from Nomad's lean reorganization programme. EBITDA as a percent of As Adjusted revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 fell 0.3% year-on-year to 18.2%.

decreased 6.0 million, or 5.7%, to 99.6 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA of 105.6 million for the three months ended . This was due to the reduction in gross profit discussed above, which has been partly offset by lower advertising and promotion expenditure as the Company re-phased advertising spend to align with the anticipated launch of the new advertising and lower indirect costs year-on-year due to synergy realization and benefits from Nomad's lean reorganization programme. EBITDA as a percent of As Adjusted revenue for the three months ended fell 0.3% year-on-year to 18.2%. As Adjusted profit for the three months ended March 31, 2016 decreased 5.4 million, or 9.3%, to 52.8 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted profit of 58.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 .

decreased 5.4 million, or 9.3%, to 52.8 million from Pro Forma As Adjusted profit of 58.2 million for the three months ended . As Adjusted basic and diluted EPS is 0.29 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Pro Forma As Adjusted basic and diluted EPS of 0.32 for the three months ended March 31, 2015 , a decrease of 3 Euro cents year on year, or 9.4%, due to the decrease in As Adjusted profit discussed above.

Management Comments

Stefan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods' Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We managed to successfully slow the rate of sales decline for the second successive quarter amidst challenging market conditions, whilst maintaining margins and cash generation consistent with our internal outlook. As we continue to implement our strategy and our actions reach the market place in the second quarter and through the balance of the year, we expect progressive quarterly improvement to the top line trend. We remain highly confident of delivering our forecast synergies from combining the Findus and Iglo businesses, and I am pleased with our progress to date on both integration and footprint consolidation. Optimizing our factory footprint is a critical part of achieving our objective of being a lean manufacturer and the consultation process regarding our Bjuv plant remains on track. We are committed to long-term value creation and I am encouraged with our teams' hard work and progress."

Noam Gottesman, Nomad Foods' Co-Chairman and Founder, commented, "We continue to believe that Stefan and the whole Nomad team have identified the correct strategy and are making the right decisions. We are encouraged by a number of early wins and pleased with our progress to date. While our immediate priority remains stabilizing our top line, we continue to build and improve upon our strong foundation to support long-term value creation."

Conference Call

A conference call with members of the executive management team will be held to discuss the results with additional comments and details.

The conference call is scheduled to begin at 8:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. To participate on the live call listeners in North America may dial 800-306-6784 and international listeners may dial 913-312-0940.

Additionally, the call is being webcast and can be accessed at Nomad's website at www.nomadfoods.com under Investor Relations. A replay of the conference call will be available on the Company website for two weeks following the event and can be accessed by listeners in North America by dialing 877-870-5176 and by international listeners by dialing 858-384-5517; the replay pin number is 5913941.

As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted Financial Information

As Adjusted financial information presented in this press release is based on the historical financial statements of Nomad Foods. Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information presented in this press release is based on the historical financial statements of Nomad Foods, as well as the historical financial statements of the Iglo Group and the Findus Group and has been prepared to reflect the acquisition of both the Iglo Group and the Findus Group and the changes in the financing structure associated with the acquisition of both Groups. As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements of Nomad Foods included in this press release.

The As Adjusted and Pro Forma adjustments presented herein are based upon certain assumptions that Nomad Foods believes to be reasonable. As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information is presented for informational purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the combined financial position or results of operations that would have been realized had the acquisition of the Iglo Group or the Findus Group occurred on an earlier date, nor is it meant to be indicative of any anticipated combined financial position or future results of operations that the combined group will experience. As Adjusted and Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information is not compliant with SEC rules and does not reflect the cost of any integration or benefits from the acquisition of the Iglo Group and Findus Group that may be derived in the future.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Nomad Foods also utilizes certain additional key performance indicators described below. Nomad Foods believe these indicators provide an important alternative measure with which to monitor and evaluate the Company's ongoing financial results, as well as to reflect its acquisitions. Nomad Foods' calculation of EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA and As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax may be different from the calculations used by other companies and comparability may therefore be limited. EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA and As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax are non-IFRS measures and you should not consider them an alternative or substitute for Profit and Loss after tax as a measure of operating performance.

EBITDA is Profit/Loss before tax for the period before net financing costs, depreciation and amortization. As Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA adjusted to remove the impact of exceptional items, charges relating to the Founders Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount, charges relating to the redemption of warrants and other similar items. Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA is As Adjusted EBITDA further adjusted to add the results of the Iglo Group and Findus Group to the reported results of Nomad Foods for periods when the Iglo Group and the Findus Group, respectively, were not owned by Nomad Foods. As Adjusted Operating cash flow before tax is As Adjusted EBITDA adjusted for share based payment charges, working capital movement, movements in employee benefits and provisions and capital expenditures.

We believe EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA and As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax are useful indicators and can assist securities analysts, investors and other parties to perform their own evaluations. Accordingly, the information has been disclosed to permit a more complete and comprehensive analysis of our operating performance. EBITDA and similar measures are used by different companies for different purposes and are often calculated in ways that reflect the individual needs and circumstances of these companies. You should exercise caution in comparing EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA and As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax with similarly titled measures of other companies. EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA and As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax are not measures of liquidity or performance calculated in accordance with IFRS and should be viewed as a supplement to, not a substitute for, our results of operations presented in accordance with IFRS.

About Nomad Foods Limited

Nomad Foods (NYSE: NOMD) is a leading frozen foods company building a global portfolio of best-in-class food companies and brands within the frozen category and across the broader food sector. Nomad produces, markets and distributes brands in 17 countries and has the leading market share in Western Europe. The Company's portfolio of leading frozen food brands includes Birdseye, Iglo, and Findus. More information on Nomad Foods Limited is available at http://www.nomadfoods.com.

Nomad Foods As Reported Statements of Profit or Loss (unaudited) Three months ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015



Three months ended March 31, 2016  millions Three months ended March 31, 2015  millions Revenue 547.1 - Cost of sales (379.6) - Gross profit 167.5 - Other operating expenses (80.0) (0.2) Charge related to Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount & Warrant Redemption Amount - (143.6) Exceptional items (23.1) (0.6) Operating profit/(loss) 64.4 (144.4) Finance income 15.6 - Finance costs (21.3) - Net financing costs (5.7) - Profit/(loss) before tax 58.7 (144.4) Taxation (16.5) - Profit/(loss) for the period attributable to Parent Company 42.2 (144.4)











Basic earnings/(loss) per share



Profit/(loss) for the period in  millions 42.2 (144.4) Weighted average shares outstanding 183,122,903 50,025,000 Basic earnings/(loss) per share in  0.23 (2.89)







Nomad Foods As Reported Statement of Financial Position As at March 31, 2016 (unaudited) and December 31, 2015 (audited)





As at March 31, 2016  millions As at December 31, 2015  millions

Non-current assets





Goodwill 1,688.3 1,676.8

Intangibles 1,728.6 1,729.6

Property, plant and equipment 308.7 318.2

Deferred tax assets 59.5 60.6

Total non-current assets 3,785.1 3,785.2









Current assets





Cash and cash equivalents 667.9 618.7

Inventories 284.6 319.6

Trade and other receivables 136.5 118.7

Indemnification assets 66.3 77.8

Capitalized borrowing costs 4.9 5.0

Derivative financial instruments 3.3 4.7

Total current assets 1,163.5 1,144.5

Total assets 4,948.6 4,929.7









Current liabilities





Bank overdrafts 433.0 432.6

Derivative financial instruments 5.2 1.4

Current tax payable 120.1 97.7

Trade and other payables 400.9 422.3

Provisions 83.8 86.7

Total current liabilities 1,043.0 1,040.7









Non-current liabilities





Loans and borrowings 1,469.1 1,491.1

Employee benefits 191.3 168.9

Trade and other payables 1.6 1.6

Deferred tax liabilities 333.3 339.3

Total non-current liabilities 1,995.3 2,000.9

Total liabilities 3,038.3 3,041.6









Net assets 1,910.3 1,888.1









Equity attributable to equity holders





Share capital - -

Capital reserve 1,800.5 1,762.4

Share based compensation reserve 0.3 0.1

Founder Preferred Share Dividend reserve 493.4 531.5

Translation reserve 81.3 84.5

Cash flow hedging reserve (0.8) 1.1

Accumulated deficit (464.4) (491.5)

Total equity 1,910.3 1,888.1

Nomad Foods As Reported Statement of Cash Flows (unaudited) For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and the three months ended March 31, 2015





For the three months ended

March 31, 2016

 millions For the three months ended

March 31, 2015

 millions

Cash flows from operating activities Profit/(loss) for the period 42.2 (144.4)

Reconciliation of profit/(loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:





Exceptional items 23.1 0.6

Non-cash charge related to Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount - 143.6

Share based payment expense 0.2 -

Depreciation and amortization 12.1 -

Finance costs 21.3 -

Finance income (15.6) -

Taxation 16.5 -

Operating cash flow before changes in working capital, provisions and exceptional items 99.8 (0.2)

Decrease in inventories 31.5 -

Increase in trade and other receivables (20.4) -

Decrease in trade and other payables (18.1) -

Decrease in employee benefits and other provisions (1.3) -

Cash generated from/(used in) operations before tax and exceptional items 91.5 (0.2)

Cash flows relating to exceptional items (16.5) -

Tax paid (1.1) -

Net cash from/(used in) operating activities 73.9 (0.2)









Cash flows from investing activities





Purchase of property, plant and equipment (5.7) -

Purchase of intangibles (0.1) -

Purchase of portfolio investments - (320.6)

Net cash used in investing activities (5.8) (320.6)









Cash flows from financing activities





Interest paid (19.0) -

Interest received 2.4 -

Net cash used in financing activities (16.6) -









Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 51.5 (320.8)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 186.1 402.2

Effect of exchange rate fluctuations (2.7) 45.4

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 234.9 126.8





Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank of 667.9m less bank overdrafts of 433.0m (March 31, 2015: cash at bank of 126.8m, bank overdrafts nil).

Nomad Foods As Adjusted Financial Information (In  millions, except per share data)

The following table reconciles As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2016 to the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period.

As Adjusted Profit and Loss (unaudited) Three Months Ended March 31, 2016

 in millions, except per share data As reported for the three months ended March 31, 2016 Adjustments

As Adjusted for the three months ended March 31, 2016









Revenue 547.1 -

547.1 Cost of sales (379.6) -

(379.6) Gross profit 167.5 -

167.5 Other operating expenses (80.0) -

(80.0) Exceptional items (23.1) 23.1 (a) - Operating profit 64.4 23.1

87.5 Finance income 15.6 (13.2)

2.4 Finance costs (21.3) -

(21.3) Net financing costs (5.7) (13.2) (b) (18.9) Profit before tax 58.7 9.9

68.6 Taxation (16.5) 0.7 (c) (15.8) Profit for the period 42.2 10.6

52.8









Weighted average shares outstanding(d) 183,122,903



183,122,903 Earnings per share 0.23



0.29























(a) Adjustment to add back exceptional items which management believe do not have a continuing impact. See table 'EBITDA and As Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited) three months ended March 31, 2016' on page 8 for a detailed list of exceptional items. (b) The Company's adjustment to eliminate (13.2) million of non-cash foreign exchange translation gains. (c) The Company's adjustment to reflect the tax impact of the above at the applicable tax rate for each exceptional item, determined by the nature of the item and the jurisdiction in which it arises. (d) Weighted average shares outstanding includes shares issued as a dividend against Founder Preferred Shares in January 2016.

Nomad Foods As Adjusted Financial Information (In  millions)

The following table reconciles EBITDA and As Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2016 to the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period:

EBITDA and As Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited) Three Months Ended March 31, 2016







 in millions As reported for the three months ended March 31, 2016



Profit before tax 58.7



Net financing costs 5.7



Depreciation 10.5



Amortization 1.6



EBITDA 76.5











Exceptional items:





Transactions related costs 1.0 (a)

Costs related to management incentive plans 1.2 (b)

Investigation of strategic opportunities 3.8 (c)

Cisterna fire costs 0.3 (d)

Integration costs 4.2 (e)

Remeasurement of indemnification assets 12.6 (f)









As Adjusted EBITDA (g) 99.6









Share based payment charge 0.2

Working capital movement (7.0)

Decrease in employee benefits and other provisions (1.3)

Capital expenditure (5.8)

As Adjusted operating cash flow before tax 85.7









(a) Costs incurred in relation to completed acquisitions.

(b) Adjustment to eliminate long term management incentive scheme costs from prior ownership.

(c) Costs incurred in relation to investigation of strategic opportunities for the combined group following acquisition by the Company and other items considered non-recurring.

(d) Incremental costs incurred as a result of an August 2014 fire in the Iglo Group's Italian production facility.

(e) Costs recognized by Nomad Foods relating to the integration of the Findus Group.

(f) Remeasurement of the indemnification assets recognized on the acquisition of the Findus Group, which is capped at the value of shares held in escrow at the share price as at March 31, 2016.

(g) As Adjusted EBITDA margin 18.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2016.



Nomad Foods





Pro Forma As Adjusted Financial Information





(In  millions, except per share data)













The following table reconciles Pro Forma As Adjusted financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2015 to the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period:













Pro Forma As Adjusted Profit and Loss (unaudited)





Three Months Ended March 31, 2015

 in millions, except per share data As reported for the three months ended March 31, 2015 Add Iglo Group unaudited results for the three months ended March 31, 2015 Add Findus Group unaudited results for the three months ended March 31, 2015 Combined Adjustments

Combined Pro Forma As Adjusted for the three months ended March 31, 2015

Revenue - 397.5 159.7 557.2 13.6 (a) 570.8

Cost of sales - (258.5) (124.2) (382.7) (9.4) (b) (392.1)

Gross profit - 139.0 35.5 174.5 4.2

178.7

Other operating expenses (0.2) (62.8) (23.0) (86.0) 1.6 (c) (84.4)

Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount & Warrant Redemption Amount (143.6) - - (143.6) 143.6 (d) -

Exceptional items (0.6) (20.6) (2.1) (23.3) 23.3 (e) -

Operating (loss)/profit (144.4) 55.6 10.4 (78.4) 172.7

94.3

Finance income - 0.4 2.1 2.5 (0.9)

1.6

Finance costs - (69.7) (9.5) (79.2) 58.8

(20.4)

Net financing costs - (69.3) (7.4) (76.7) 57.9 (f) (18.8)

(Loss)/profit before tax (144.4) (13.7) 3.0 (155.1) 230.6

75.5

Taxation - 7.5 (0.9) 6.6 (23.9) (g) (17.3)

(Loss)/profit for the period (144.4) (6.2) 2.1 (148.5) 206.7

58.2



















Weighted average shares outstanding(h) 50,025,000









179,287,439

(Loss)/earnings per share (2.89)









0.32





































(a) Adjustments to (i) increase revenue by 14.7 million for the differential in trading days between year-on-year periods, (ii) eliminate (0.5) million of intercompany trade between the Findus Group and Iglo Group for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and (iii) a Nomad Foods accounting policy alignment to reclassify (0.6) million of advertising and promotion expenses from other operating expenses for the Findus Group three month period.

(b) Adjustments to (i) increase cost of sales by (9.3) million for the differential in trading days between year-on-year periods, (ii) increase depreciation expense by (0.6) million net to reflect purchase price accounting (PPA) adjustments to the fair value of property, plant and equipment and (iii) eliminate 0.5 million of intercompany trade between the Findus Group and Iglo Group for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

(c) Adjustments to (i) reflect (0.6) million incremental amortization on the increase in the fair value uplift of brands and customer lists recorded as part of the Findus acquisition PPA (there was no increase in the value of definite life intangible assets as part of the Iglo Group PPA); (ii) reflect a reduction of 0.3 million of amortization based on the fair valuation of intangible assets acquired with the Iglo Group; (iii) eliminate a 1.4 million Findus prior ownership corporate charge; and, (iv) adjustment to Findus results for Nomad Foods accounting policy alignments to reclassify 0.6 million of advertising and promotion expenses to revenue and increasing expense by (0.1) million, net, relating to the capitalization of new product development costs and related amortization.

(d) Adjustment to add back a Nomad Foods 143.6 million non-cash charge relating to the Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount & Warrant Redemption Amount.

(e) Adjustment to add back exceptional items, which management believe do not have a continuing impact. See table 'EBITDA and Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited) three months ended March 31, 2015' on page 10 for a detailed list of exceptional items.

(f) The Company's adjustment of 41.5 million to restate net financing costs to reflect the new debt structure put in place with the Iglo Acquisition and the financing of the Findus Acquisition and eliminate 16.4 million of non-cash foreign exchange translation charges.

(g) The Company's adjustment to reflect the tax impact of the above at the applicable tax rate for each exceptional item, determined by the nature of the item and the jurisdiction in which it arises.

(h) Pro Forma As Adjusted weighted average shares assumes all shares issued in connection with the acquisitions or for which the proceeds were used to complete acquisitions were issued as of January 1, 2015. All other adjustments for weighting are based on actual issuance date.



Nomad Foods

Pro Forma As Adjusted Financial Information

(In  millions)





The following table reconciles EBITDA and Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2015 to the reported results of Nomad Foods for such period:





EBITDA and Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited)

Three Months Ended March 31, 2015















 in millions As reported for the three months ended March 31, 2015 Add Iglo Group unaudited as reported for the three months ended March 31, 2015 Add Findus Group unaudited results for the three months ended March 31, 2015

Combined Pro Forma As Adjusted for the three months ended March 31, 2015

(Loss)/profit before tax (144.4) (13.7) 3.0

(155.1)

Net financing costs - 69.3 7.4

76.7

Depreciation - 6.3 3.4

9.7

Amortization - 0.7 0.4

1.1

EBITDA (144.4) 62.6 14.2

(67.6)















Exceptional items:











Transactions related costs 0.6 - - (a) 0.6

Costs related to management incentive plans - 20.1 - (b) 20.1

Investigation of strategic opportunities - (0.2) - (c) (0.2)

Cisterna fire net costs - 0.7 - (d) 0.7

Restructuring costs - - 1.2 (e) 1.2

Other costs - - 0.9 (f) 0.9















Other Adjustments:











Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount & Warrant Redemption (g)







143.6

Iglo & Findus Group (h)







6.3















Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA (i)







105.6













(a) Includes costs incurred in relation to completed and potential acquisitions. (b) Adjustment to eliminate long term management incentive scheme costs from prior ownership. (c) Strategic review costs incurred at Iglo Group under prior ownership considered non-recurring. (d) Incremental operational costs incurred as a result of a fire in August 2014 in the Iglo Group's Italian production facility which produces Findus branded stock for sale in Italy. This is shown net of insurance income received from insurance claims. (e) Restructuring costs incurred by the Findus Group in relation to various countries. (f) Other costs recognized by the Findus Group, mainly relating to an emissions permit penalty. (g) Adjustment to eliminate a 143.6 million non-cash charge related to the Founder Preferred Shares Annual Dividend Amount & Warrant Redemption Amount. (h) Adjustments (i) increase EBITDA by 5.4 million for the differential in trading days between year on year periods, (ii) to reflect accounting policy alignments between Findus Group and Nomad policies; specifically expensing (0.5) million of capitalized new product development costs and internal labor costs and (iii) eliminating a 1.4 million prior ownership corporate charge. (i) Pro Forma As Adjusted EBITDA margin 18.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimers

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are based on the Company's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts, including expectations regarding (i) the Company's ability to expand its presence in the frozen foods market; (ii) the success of the Company's strategic initiatives; (iii) completion of successful acquisitions in the same and adjacent categories; (iv) the reduction in the Iglo Group's debt levels; (v) the future operating and financial performance of the Company; and (vi) the success of the unified Findus brand. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including (i) economic conditions, competition and other risks that may affect the Company's future performance; (ii) the risk that securities markets will react negatively to actions by the Company; (iii) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits to the Company of strategic opportunities; (iv) the successful completion of strategic acquisitions; (v) the limited liquidity and trading of the Company's securities; (vi) changes in applicable laws or regulations; and (vii) the other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's public filings and any other public disclosures by the Company or the Iglo Group. Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of such statements and, except as required by applicable law, neither the Company nor the Iglo Group undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

No Offer or Solicitation

This release and referenced conference call is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or an invitation to subscribe for, purchase or exchange, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance, exchange or transfer of the securities referred to in this press release in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

SOURCE Nomad Foods Limited

Related Links

http://www.nomadfoods.com


BRONX, N.Y., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Many young adults with abdominal obesity exhibit a readily detectable risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD), yet the vast majority don't know they're at risk, according to a study of nationwide health data led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers that was published online today in the journal PLOS ONE.

Einstein researchers analyzed health data on nearly 7,000 non-pregnant young adults. They found that 11 percent of obese Mexican Americans have albuminuria (elevated levels of the protein albumin in the urine), which signals that the kidneys aren't functioning normally and that a person faces a heightened risk for developing CKD. This is four times the prevalence in Hispanics of normal weight. About six percent of whites and blacks with abdominal obesity had elevated levels of the protein.

An estimated one in three Americans is at risk for developing CKD over the course of their lifetime, usually later in adulthood. "Even though chronic kidney disease typically manifests in older people, the disease can start much earlier but often is not recognized early on," said study leader Michal L. Melamed, M.D., associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology & public health at Einstein and attending physician, nephrology at Montefiore Health System. "Because treatment options for CKD are limited, prevention is the best approach for those at risk. A healthier lifestyle in young adults will go a long way toward promoting kidney health later in life."

Previous studies had suggested that abdominal obesity may damage kidney function even beforeand perhaps independent ofkidney damage associated with hypertension and diabetes, which are both associated with obesity.

"In this study we wanted to evaluate whether obesity is associated with CKD even in an otherwise healthy young adult population and to identify risk factors that may promote this association," said first author Harini Sarathy, M.D., formerly a resident physician at Jacobi Medical Center, an Einstein clinical affiliate. "We also wanted to see whether race or ethnicity plays a role in linking abdominal obesity with CKD, as studies have suggested."

The Einstein researchers found that excess albumin was present even in the urine of obese individuals with normal blood pressure, glucose levels, and insulin sensitivity, confirming a direct connection between obesity and the albuminuria associated with kidney disease. These findings also suggest that obesity should be considered an independent risk factor for CKD and that doctors should be testing for kidney damage when evaluating obese young adults.

The Einstein researchers analyzed health data on 6,918 non-pregnant adults ages 20 to 40. The data were gathered between 1999 and 2010 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The participants self-identified as non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, or Mexican-American. Abdominal obesity (defined as a waist circumference 102 cm (40 inches) in males and 88 cm (35 inches) in females) was present in 45 percent of blacks, 40 percent of Mexican-Americans, and 37 percent of whites.

The study also found that among all young adults with albuminuria, fewer than 5 percent had ever been told they have kidney disease. "Clearly, clinicians and public health officials need to do more to identify and treat young people at risk for early progressive kidney disease so they can adopt the behavioral changes to prevent CKD from occurring," said Dr. Melamed.

The paper is titled "Abdominal Obesity, Race and Chronic Kidney Disease in Young Adults: Results from NHANES 1999-2010." Other Einstein authors were Gabriela Henriquez, M.D., Matthew K. Abramowitz, M.D., Tanya Johns, M.D., Amy Skversky, M.D. and Frederick Kaskel, M.D., Ph.D. Additional authors include: Holly Kramer, M.D., M.P.H., of Loyola University Health Sciences Center, Maywood, IL, Sylvia E. Rosas, M.D, of Joslin Diabetes Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, and Juhi Kumar, M.D., M.P.H., of Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY.

The project was supported in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (R01 DK102952, K23 DK084339, R34 DK102174M, T32 DJ007110, K23DK102925 AND K23 DK099438), and by the American Society of Nephrology.

The authors declare no financial conflict of interest.

About Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2015-2016 academic year, Einstein is home to 731 M.D. students, 193 Ph.D. students, 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 278 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,900 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2015, Einstein received $148 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Through its extensive affiliation network involving Montefiore, Jacobi Medical CenterEinstein's founding hospital, and three other hospital systems in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island, Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook , and view us on YouTube .

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120531/DC16559LOGO

SOURCE Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Related Links

http://www.einstein.yu.edu


MAUMEE, Ohio, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA), an accredited, full-time online public community school, will celebrate the Class of 2016 at a graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 28, 2016 in Canal Winchester, Ohio. The OHVA community, including teachers, staff, parents and students, will gather to celebrate the group of about 750 seniors who will graduate this year.

The Class of 2016 has earned a combined total of more than $1.2M in college scholarship. Graduates have been accepted to universities across the state and the country, including Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, and University of North Carolina.

About 15 members of the Class of 2016 have been OHVA students since Kindergarten. Twenty-nine graduates are members of the OHVA chapter of National Honor Society.

"The Ohio Virtual Academy Class of 2016 has reached new heights," said Dr. Kristin Stewart, Senior Head of School at Ohio Virtual Academy. "With dedication and diligence, they have worked hard to make the most of all that our online education model and individualized curriculum have to offer."

Jordan Henson of Urbana is the OHVA Class of 2016 Valedictorian, and Lilly Sweitzer of Akron is the Salutatorian.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Dr. John W. Hodge, president and co-founder of the Urban Learning and Leadership Center (ULLC), an organization focused on student achievement and reduction of the achievement gap. The student speaker will be Class of 2016 graduate and Student Council President Monica Slaven, who has been an OHVA student since 5th grade.

"We chose OHVA because of the flexibility that allowed me to do my schoolwork at any time of the day," Monica said. "I live on a farm, which means my schedule could change any minute, and often does. On top of that, with OHVA I have been able to get a jumpstart on my college career while still in high school, by taking part in the College Credit Plus program."

Before the high school graduation, OHVA will hold a ceremony to recognize its 8th graders who will enter high school in the fall.

Open to all students who reside in Ohio, OHVA combines online instruction, hands-on curriculum and the support of Ohio-licensed teachers to cultivate an individualized education for each student. The school's curriculum is designed to let students discover and nurture their own learning style in order to ensure they achieve mastery of topics and skills. OHVA gives advanced learners the ability to progress faster through subjects in which they excel. Teachers work closely with each student's parent or guardian to identify the best path for success.

OHVA provides opportunities for advancement in STEM education and membership in various student clubs, including the OHVA chapter of the National Honor Society. Student can apply for the College Credit Plus program, which enables qualified students to earn college and high school credits at the same time by taking college courses from community colleges or universities. OHVA encourages students to take advantage of this program offered through the Ohio Department of Education, and works with students to make sure they know the options available to them. Dual-enrollment in career and tech programs is also an option for OHVA students.

The online curriculum is rigorous and engaging, including courses in language arts/English, math, science, history, world languages, art and music, as well as elective and Advanced Placement courses for high school students. College- or career-minded students can choose from a broad range of profession-focused courses in order to gain a competitive edge for the future, discover their path after high school or explore a possible college major.

To learn more about Ohio Virtual Academy, visit the school website here.

About Ohio Virtual Academy

Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA) is an accredited, full-time online public charter school authorized by the Ohio Council of Community Schools (OCCS) that serves students in grades K through 12. As part of the Ohio public school system, OHVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about OHVA, visit http://ohva.k12.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150316/181958LOGO

SOURCE Ohio Virtual Academy

Related Links

http://ohva.k12.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicom Health Group today announced the leadership team for TBWA\WorldHealth, the new agency created by the combination of two Omnicom healthcare specialist agencies, Corbett and LLNS. The leadership team is comprised of senior executive talent from Corbett and LLNS and reports to Sharon Callahan, CEO of TBWA\WorldHealth, and Robin Shapiro, Group President, North America.

"This new management team brings together a proven group of business leaders dedicated to driving creative excellence, client satisfaction and business growth," said Ed Wise, CEO of Omnicom Health Group. "Under Sharon and Robin's leadership, the team has already hit the ground running and is delivering results in terms of new client wins and agency awards."

"I couldn't be more pleased to be leading this team of professionals," said Sharon Callahan. "We're united by the common TBWA culture and a commitment to bring DISRUPTION, TBWA's proprietary creative engine, to the healthcare field.

Shapiro added, "Each member of the team is a fearless leader, collaborator and mentor. And in the spirit of TBWA's commitment to women leadership, we are excelling in this arena."

Members of the new leadership team are:

Meaghan Onofrey , Managing Partner  formerly a Senior Vice President with Omnicom Group, Meaghan's career-long passion is healthcare marketing. She is an experienced leader of integrated, cross-disciplinary teams, and will focus on leading client relationships, as well as taking on operational responsibilities for Strategy, Business Development, PR and philanthropy. A trained sociolinguist with undergraduate and Master's Degrees from Georgetown University , Meaghan remains focused on creating successful brand lexicons.

 formerly a Senior Vice President with Omnicom Group, Meaghan's career-long passion is healthcare marketing. She is an experienced leader of integrated, cross-disciplinary teams, and will focus on leading client relationships, as well as taking on operational responsibilities for Strategy, Business Development, PR and philanthropy. A trained sociolinguist with undergraduate and Master's Degrees from , Meaghan remains focused on creating successful brand lexicons. Kristen Gengaro , Managing Partner  formerly a Senior Vice President, Director of Client Strategy and Development with Corbett , Kristen has spent her career working to advance science and the practice of healthcare. She is an experienced global leader, moving clients and teams toward marketplace successes. She will lead client relationships as well as have operational responsibility for Project Management, IT, events and office services. Kristen received a BS in Biology and a BA in History of Science & Medicine from Yale University , and worked previously as a research scientist.

 formerly a Senior Vice President, Director of Client Strategy and Development with , Kristen has spent her career working to advance science and the practice of healthcare. She is an experienced global leader, moving clients and teams toward marketplace successes. She will lead client relationships as well as have operational responsibility for Project Management, IT, events and office services. Kristen received a BS in Biology and a BA in History of Science & Medicine from , and worked previously as a research scientist. Paul J. Pfleiderer , PhD, Chief Strategy Officer  formerly a Senior Vice President, Director, Market Strategy and Development with Corbett , Paul is passionate about inspiring brand strategy. He will lead the agency's efforts to bring DISRUPTION to healthcare, and create a best-in-class strategy team. Paul launched Corbett's Medical Strategy Group and previously worked as a scientist at Columbia University and Albany Medical College .

 formerly a Senior Vice President, Director, Market Strategy and Development with , Paul is passionate about inspiring brand strategy. He will lead the agency's efforts to bring DISRUPTION to healthcare, and create a best-in-class strategy team. Paul launched Medical Strategy Group and previously worked as a scientist at and . Jamie Pfaff , Chief Creative Officer  formerly the Executive Creative Director with Corbett , Jamie has used his strategic skills and creative judgement to build brands for many of the world's largest healthcare companies, helping clients earn record-breaking sales and top industry accolades.

 formerly the Executive Creative Director with , Jamie has used his strategic skills and creative judgement to build brands for many of the world's largest healthcare companies, helping clients earn record-breaking sales and top industry accolades. Dan Chichester , Chief Digital Officer  formerly the Chief Creative Officer with LLNS, Dan's knowledge of interactive, emerging next-gen communications, including influencer networks, 3D printing, augmented reality and other progressive technologies, has allowed him to creatively engage with both consumers and healthcare professionals in innovative and effective ways.

The new TBWA\WorldHealth team has already recorded its first award win for its outstanding work in launching Harvoni, Gilead's ground-breaking treatment for Hepatitis C. The agency won Best Launch Campaign for Harvoni at the 27th Annual Med Ad News Manny Awards.

About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

About Omnicom Health Group

Omnicom Health Group (www.omnicomhealthgroup.com) is a global collective of communications companies with more than 3,200 dedicated healthcare communications specialists. It provides marketing services to the health and life-science industries through a combination of specialized agencies, customized client solutions, and collaborations with other Omnicom network agencies. Organized around four customer groupshealthcare professionals, patients, payers, and medical, evidence and regulatory stakeholdersOmnicom Health Group serves more than 100 clients in over 55 offices worldwide.

About TBWA Worldwide

TBWA Worldwide (www.tbwa.com) is a top ten ranked global advertising network that holds Disruption at its core to develop business-changing ideas for the brand it works with. TBWA has 11,100 employees across 323 offices in 97 countries and also includes brands such as AUDITOIRE, BEING, Digital Arts Network (DAN), eg+ worldwide, The Integer Group, TBWA\Media Arts Lab and TBWA\WorldHealth. TBWA's global clients include Accenture, adidas, Apple, Energizer, Gatorade, GoDaddy, Henkel, McDonald's, Michelin, Nissan, Pernod Ricard, Pfizer, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Airlines, Sotheby's and Vichy.

SOURCE Omnicom Health Group

Related Links

http://www.omnicomhealthgroup.com


"Our fans were the inspiration for the new Everyday line. They've been telling us that they want to enjoy our chocolates year-round, so we found a way to move them out of the box and into a bag for easy, everyday snacking and sharing," said, Marjolaine DeClaviere Vice President of Marketing at Russell Stover. "Our chocolates have added joy to special occasions and holidays for decades. Now we can offer that same joy anytime, anywhere, every day."

Everyday chocolates come in the following varieties:

Barks and Pretzels , including Pistachio Bark, Crunchy Caramel Bark and Double Dipped Pretzels with Sea Salt

, including Pistachio Bark, Crunchy Caramel Bark and Double Dipped Pretzels with Sea Salt Fruit-Flavored Bites with pomegranate, orange or blueberry centers enrobed in luscious chocolate, perfect for snacking or sharing with friends

with pomegranate, orange or blueberry centers enrobed in luscious chocolate, perfect for snacking or sharing with friends Sugar Free Bites are fruit-flavored bites with no sugar, fewer calories and all the taste. Try all 3 flavors: cranberry, orange and blueberry

are fruit-flavored bites with no sugar, fewer calories and all the taste. Try all 3 flavors: cranberry, orange and blueberry Favorites are inspired by decades' worth of feedback from happy customers. These tried and true recipes include Milk Chocolate Pecan Delight, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Milk Chocolate Caramel and Dark Chocolate Mint Patties

are inspired by decades' worth of feedback from happy customers. These tried and true recipes include Milk Chocolate Pecan Delight, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Milk Chocolate Caramel and Dark Chocolate Mint Patties Minis are smaller bite-size versions of Russell Stover favorite recipes: Dairy Cream Caramel, Pecan Delight, and Coconut

The Everyday line highlights significant innovations for Russell Stover. More than 90 years after the company was founded, the launch of the Everyday line represents the company's snack category debut with its first-ever use of re-sealable bags and snackable bite sizes. Additionally, the Everyday Pistachio Bark is one of the first confections of its kind to use pistachio nuts, representing a true innovation in the dark chocolate and nut category.

"We've gotten an extremely positive response to the Everyday line from our customers and from consumers," said DeClaviere. "It is a true testament to Russell Stover's customer-focused commitment to innovation and creativity. We look forward to continuing to serve long-term fans of the brand in new and exciting ways, while introducing the products to new customers and generations."

Everyday chocolates can be found at leading retailers including Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Walmart, Target, Rite Aid, Ahold, Kroger and many other major retailers.

About Russell Stover Candies

Kansas City-based Russell Stover Candies was started in the Denver, Colorado home of Russell and Clara Stover in 1923 and their handcrafted in small batches approach is still in use today. The company is the largest producer of boxed chocolates in the United States. Russell Stover Candies includes Whitman's and Pangburns brands, and is part of the Lindt & Sprungli family of companies. To learn more about Russell Stover Candies, visit www.russellstover.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372014

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372013

SOURCE Russell Stover Candies

Related Links

http://www.russellstover.com


On April 28, 2016, two of the largest corporate pawnbrokers, Cash American and First Cash, announced their intent to merge. This merger signals the success of corporate pawn shops in the US market, and it puts enormous pressure on the 12,000 independent pawn shops that populate the United States. But how does it impact consumers?

Corporate pawn shops have created positive competitive pressure in the US. However, growing consolidation has consumers wondering whether competition will be reduced, leaving them worse off. To answer this question, PawnGuru looked at how most pawn shop regulars use shops today. Pawn consumers are disproportionately underbanked and financially vulnerable, leaving them with little negotiating power or ability. They rarely have the luxury of comparison shopping, effectively forcing them to take the first price at the first shop they visit.

However, PawnGuru's database of 40,000 items shows massive disparities between pawn shops. A previous PawnGuru study shows that the average offer for an item varies by nearly 260%, and as much as 475% in some categories, e.g., jewelry. Thus, the real challenge pawn consumers face is getting immediate access to a wide range of offers. The corporatization of pawn has had a relatively small impact on access so far.

To improve consumer welfare, both independent and corporate pawn shops need to be more transparent and accessible. That means bringing them online. The overwhelming majority of pawn shops regulars have smart phones. They rely on the mobile internet to get vital information every day. This is the standard in nearly every other retail industry why should pawn be any different?

Consumers should submit their items online for free to multiple local pawn shops using PawnGuru's website. With over 1,500 shops signed up, PawnGuru is active across the United States.

To learn more about protecting consumer welfare in pawn, payday and banking, check out the report at: Pawn shops are anxious, but consumers have the most to fear

(https://blog.pawnguru.com/2016/05/20/pawnshops-consumers-anxious/)

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160520/370381

SOURCE PawnGuru

Related Links

http://www.pawnguru.com


An early adaptor of the Panasonic evidence management systems, Brazos County (Texas) Sheriff's Office has been a pioneer in using video equipment in their everyday duties. Their experiences have helped to shape what police around the country now consider standard equipment. "The Arbitrator in-car video and body-worn cameras have become a key staple in keeping our community safe," said Lieutenant Thomas L. Randall, Brazos County Office of the Sheriff. "In 2006 we installed video cameras in our cars. In 2011 we started planning for body-worn cameras and in 2013 we began our body-worn camera beta test with full deployment in 2014. Now body-worn cameras have become a natural part of our jobsexpected by the public and courts. Having a digital evidence management system that pulls in video from dash cameras and body-worn cameras makes it even easier for our officers."

Home to the world-renowned Texas A&M University, Brazos County is a bustling community of more than 200,000 residents located in east-central Texas. The Brazos County Office of the Sheriff is responsible for operating the county jails, investigating crimes, controlling traffic and performing other duties throughout the county's unincorporated areas.

Brazos County, along with other police departments around the country, have shared their experiences using body-worn cameras with Panasonic through feedback in customer councils that involve engineers, manufacturing and product development experts. Feedback has enabled changes to be made in both the hardware and software making body-worn cameras easier to operate for officers and safer for the general public.

"Collaborating with Brazos, as well as our other customers, has made it possible for us to evolve our Arbitrator body-worn cameras to fit the needs of all police officers around the country," said Greg Peratt, Vice President, Business Security Group, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America.

The new Arbitrator body-worn camera is the next generation in evidence collection, featuring HD video; a compact, lightweight and rugged design; and seamless integration with the industry's best back-end video evidence management system.

Both Lt. Randall and Greg Peratt spoke about advanced evidence management at a "Lessons from the Field" presentation at the IACP Law Enforcement Information Management Conference in Dallas.

More information about the Arbitrator Body-Worn Cameras can be found at Arbitrator360.com. Visit Panasonic's booth #215 at the IACP Law Enforcement Information Management Conference on May 23  25 in Dallas.

Panasonic Solutions for Business and Public Safety

Panasonic delivers game-changing technology solutions that deliver a customized experience to drive better outcomesfor our customers and our customers' customers. Panasonic engineers reliable products and solutions that help to create, capture and deliver data of all types, where, when and how it is needed. The complete suite of Panasonic professional solutions for government and commercial enterprises of all sizes addresses unified business communications, mobile computing, security and surveillance, retail point-of-sale, office productivity, visual communications (projectors, displays, digital signage) and HD video production. Panasonic solutions for business are delivered by Panasonic System Communications Company of North America, Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation.

All brand and company/product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies. All specifications are subject to change without notice. Information on Panasonic solutions for business can be obtained by calling 877-803-8492 or at us.panasonic.com/business-solutions/.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371921-INFO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160513/367536LOGO

SOURCE Panasonic

Related Links

http://business.panasonic.com


PHOENIX, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Summer has arrived in earnest and for many Phoenicians, that means hunkering down inside the air-conditioned comfort of their homes. For others, it means time for fun and adventure has come at last. While the Valley of the Suns suffers under brutally hot temperatures for 3-4 months out of the year, that does not mean recreation and activity in the city must grind to a halt. Parker & Son, who stands, is firm support of summer recreation, believes that just the opposite is true.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160513/367308LOGO

As soon as April, individuals across the Valley of the Suns dash out of their homes and dive into their pools. Whether eager aquatic enthusiasts are spending time splashing around at private residences or they are heading out to one of Phoenix's countless public pools or water parks, there is an incredible amount of fun to be had. Parker & Sons notes, even when having fun, it is important to stay safe. If individuals are going to be spending time outside by the pool, sunscreen is absolutely essential. It is also very important to stay hydrated. Finally, when spending time in the water, individuals should never put themselves in a position they are not comfortable with regarding their swimming ability. It is further advised to always swim with a buddy.

A second popular way to beat the heat and enjoy summer fun is to simply escape the Valley of the Sun. There are several temperate, beautiful, and fun destinations within a few hours commute of Phoenix. Flagstaff, the one-time capital of Arizona, offers cool breezes, bountiful hiking opportunities, and a friendly community that is eager to welcome weekend travelers. Payson and Prescott are other popular destinations for those looking to head out of town to beat the heat and find some summer fun. Arizona features hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest which offer amazing recreation opportunities for individuals willing to explore them.

"Summer sure is hot, but that doesn't mean it can't be a time to have fun. In fact, summer may be the busiest season of the year in terms of recreation. When you are out having fun, you want to return to a home that is comfortable and cool. Don't forget your HVAC needs. For tune-ups, repairs or installations call Parker & Sons at (602)273-7247 today," said Josh Kelly of Parker & Sons.

About Parker & Sons

Keeping You Comfortable With Expert Heating, Cooling & Plumbing Service Since 1974. Parker & Sons has been serving homeowners and businesses in Arizona for over 40 years and is recognized nationally.

Contact Information

Josh Kelly

602.273.7247

[email protected]

http://parkerandsons.com

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Parker & Sons
HARRISBURG, Pa., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania will celebrate the creativity of artists with a disability with its second statewide art contest, Art: the Universal Language. Artists of all ages are encouraged to submit images of their paintings, drawings, photos, 3-D items, or multi-media pieces.

Artistic expression offers unique opportunities for people to appreciate and understand the talent and perspectives of Pennsylvanians with a disability. A team of judges will choose winners based on originality, imagination, visual interest, and skillful use of materials.

The art contest is a collaboration between the Department of Human Services (DHS), The Arc of Pennsylvania, PA Mental Health Consumers' Association, Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

"The creation of art in all forms provides the ability to communicate one's creativity, personality, and passions in a very unique and individualized way," said First Lady Frances Wolf. "I commend the Department of Human Services, the Council on the Arts and all of the partners that made this contest possible. And I wish the best of luck to all those participating."

When the contest was held in 2014, artists submitted more than 350 works of art, including textiles, watercolors, oils, sculpture, jewelry, photographs, and mixed media pieces.

Information, contest entry form, and winning artwork from the previous contest can be found here.

Deadline for submitting materials is Monday, August 15, 2016. Winners will be honored at a ceremony this fall.

MEDIA CONTACT: Rachel Kostelac, 717-425-7606

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
"These exemplary employees have demonstrated strong leadership and initiative," said PFPA Director, Steven Calvery, to the workforce. "They should be justifiably proud of their achievements."

Ron Kirkemo, a policy analyst with the Policy and Planning Office, was recognized for developing standard operating procedures, directives, and documents in support of the PFPA mission. Kirkemo assisted PFPA directorates in the development of key directives on access control, systems verification and validation, Unmanned Aerial Systems defense, and continuity of operations.

"It's an honor that your supervisors feel strongly enough about you to submit you for an award in the first place," says Kirkemo, who is very appreciative of his supervisors' support.

What inspires Kirkemo each day comes from his time in Europe, "where I helped provide security for the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team," says Kirkemo, pointing to an autographed team picture in his office. "While the team visited Germany, they trained in the local pool."

"I became close friends with the team and saw first-hand the challenges they overcome each day. I saw blind people swim the 200 meter freestyle and people swimming without their legs. Looking back at what they were able to achieve, these guys provide me with inspiration that I draw on today."

Rick Bolgiano earned 2015 Officer of the Year recognition for his work while assigned to the Policy Office. There, he helped formulate critical Agency policy on challenging issues, for instance weapon carry, use of force, and active threat response. Bolgiano was also the driving force behind PFPA's new Ethics Guide.

Bolgiano was grateful for the support he received from his co-workers. "They were patient with me . . . I didn't have any experience in PFPA Policy or DoD Policy, but with the Lord's help and guidance I did well," he says. "I wanted to make a difference. I'm grateful because getting this award shows that I did make a difference."

Lieutenant Reggie Kim, selected as Lieutenant of the year, serves as the Supervisory Police Officer of the Special Events Unit. He has served as the incident commander for numerous high-profile special events held at the Pentagon. He reviewed and administered Pentagon special event access requests, requiring detailed coordination and excellent diplomatic and communication skills. Kim's leadership and outstanding dedication inspires trust and confidence up and down his chain of command.

For Kim, mission success can only be achieved through teamwork. This ultimately is what inspires him each day. "Whatever task that I need to accomplish will be accomplished with a team who shares the same mission and who will answer the call of duty," says Kim.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371606

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160210/331801LOGO

SOURCE Pentagon Force Protection Agency

Related Links

http://www.pfpa.mil


SAN JOSE, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Perspica announced the integration of its operational intelligence solution with Amazon Web Services to provide a complete view into application infrastructure across public and hybrid cloud environments. Perspica provides past, present and predictive analytics that go beyond monitoring to prevent and minimize the impact of application outages.

Click to Tweet

Automated, self-learning solutions that analyze and provide operational intelligence into ever-changing applications and infrastructure topologies are essential in the transformation of today's digital, virtualized and hybrid cloud environments.

Extending operational intelligence to Amazon Cloud  Perspica's integration with AWS extends its unprecedented insight into hybrid cloud environments. Perspica supports all major AWS services including EC2, EBS, ELB, SQS, SNS, Route 53, S3 and DynamoDB with the latest release.

 Perspica's integration with AWS extends its unprecedented insight into hybrid cloud environments. Perspica supports all major AWS services including EC2, EBS, ELB, SQS, SNS, Route 53, S3 and DynamoDB with the latest release. Incident Replay for federated applications  Applications may be deployed in private and public clouds or may be federated across these cloud environments. Perspica's Incident Replay is a time machine for data  including performance data, logs and topology  and is now available for applications with these multiple deployment models. Perspica delivers the ability for DevOps and TechOps teams to visualize all layers of the application stack in one place.

 Applications may be deployed in private and public clouds or may be federated across these cloud environments. Perspica's Incident Replay is a time machine for data  including performance data, logs and topology  and is now available for applications with these multiple deployment models. Perspica delivers the ability for DevOps and TechOps teams to visualize all layers of the application stack in one place. Five analytics engines provide unprecedented intelligence  By running concurrent machine learning engines that include topology, behavior, anomaly, problem and predictive analytics, Perspica helps maintain service levels and prevent future costly outages.

Dennis Drogseth, vice president with Enterprise Management Associates, said: "Taking Advanced IT Analytics (AIA) into the public cloud is a key requirement as IT organizations increasingly divide their business services between public cloud, private cloud and legacy infrastructures. Perspica's rich combination of analytics and topology for service dependency insights is a perfect fit for helping to manage and optimize critical business applications and their supporting infrastructure in this hybrid world."

Dan Maloney, CEO, Perspica, said: "In order to ensure the availability, reliability, performance and security of today's mission-critical applications, new approaches must be employed to provide customers the intelligence they need to power their businesses. While enterprises are moving to the hybrid cloud, it is still like the Wild West due to the lack of visibility and insights needed to ensure that companies are meeting their service level agreements. Adding AWS to the Perspica solution provides our customers the out-of-box integration and automation needed to drastically reduce costs as well as the visualization and intelligence they need to maintain service levels for both DevOps and TechOps teams."

About Perspica

Perspica is disrupting the IT operations industry with its Incident Replay, a time machine for big data, allowing IT professionals to gain the visibility they need to see service outages or degradation in real time and discover previously unknown issues automatically. By harnessing the power of the Cloud, Perspica provides a SaaS solution with complete visibility and detection of infrastructure issues and immediate root cause diagnosis. Perspica is funded by March Capital, The Fabric and The Hive. To sign up to try Perspica's Incident Replay for free visit www.perspica.io.

Editorial Contact:

Shannon Tierney

Nadel Phelan, Inc.

(831) 440-2409

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/354043LOGO

SOURCE Perspica

Related Links

http://www.perspica.io


FDA Grants Biohaven Orphan Drug Designation for BHV-4157 for the Treatment of Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA)

TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Portage Biotech Inc. ("Portage") (OTC Market: PTGEF, Canadian Securities Exchange: PBT.U), is pleased to announce that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Limited (Biohaven)'s orphan drug designation request covering BHV-4157 for the treatment of Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA). This is Biohaven's second orphan drug designation approved by the FDA.

Spinocerebellar ataxia is a rare, debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that is estimated to effect approximately 150,000 people in the United States. Standard of care treatment is supportive and no medications are approved for this debilitating condition. BHV-4157 is a new chemical entity (NCE) that modulates glutamate, one of the most important neurotransmitters in the brain that is present at more than 90% of all brain synapses. Agents that modulate glutamate neurotransmission may have therapeutic potential in multiple disease states involving glutamate dysfunction, including ALS, Alzheimer's disease, Rett syndrome, dementia, dystonia, tinnitus, anxiety disorders, and affective disorders like major depressive disorder.

Declan Doogan M.D., CEO of Portage and Chairman of Biohaven's Board of Directors, commented, "This is an important step forward in the development of BHV-4157 and for patients with SCA. We are pleased to confirm orphan status and the regulatory path for this new agent"

Robert Berman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Biohaven, commented, "Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia develop debilitating loss of control of voluntary body movements potentially progressing to a wheel-chair bound state and increasing difficulty with muscles related to speech and swallowing. By modulating glutamate, which is believed to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of SCA, we believe that BHV-4157 has the potential to help patients living with this devastating rare disorder."

Before the end of 2016, Biohaven expects to initiate a randomized clinical trial of BHV-4157 in patients with hereditary SCAs. The study will enroll approximately 120 patients in the U.S. and will evaluate acute symptomatic treatment in this patient population. The trial is expected to support a New Drug Application (NDA) in SCA.

About Biohaven

Biohaven is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company engaged in the identification and development of clinical stage compounds targeting the glutamatergic system and other neurological pathways. Biohaven has licensed intellectual property from Yale University, Catalent and Massachusetts General Hospital. Biohaven is owned by a group of investors including Portage Biotech Inc., Yale University and other private investors. The company's first drug candidate, BHV-0223, is a novel formulation of a glutamate-modulating agent, being developed under FDA 505(b)(2) guidelines. The FDA cleared the company's Investigational New Drug application (IND) in August 2015. Biohaven has completed a PK study in humans with BHV-0223 and is planning to launch a pivotal bioequivalence study by 4Q2016. Biohaven's second compound, BHV-4157, is a New Chemical Entity (NCE) across neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. The company plans to advance other glutamatergic approaches and is actively exploring licenses for additional compounds.

For further information, contact Dr. Vladimir Coric, the Chief Executive Officer at [email protected]

http://www.biohavenpharma.com

About Portage:



Portage is engaged in identifying, financing and developing novel therapeutics in indications with high unmet medical need. Portage plans to add 5-7 other opportunities to its portfolio either by direct investment into a company, spinout from academia, or through the creation of an SPV with another company or management team.

Apart from Biohaven, Portage also has fully owned subsidiary, Portage Pharmaceuticals Limited (PPL). PPL has successfully validated a new proprietary cell permeable peptide platform technology that has been shown to efficiently deliver an active pharmacological agent or cargo into a cell without disrupting the cell membrane. PPL will be advancing its lead candidate, PPL-003, to an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the topical treatment of dry eye disease and uveitis. PPL recently completed a study in a rat model of dry eye disease in which a topical PPL-003 solution achieved highly significant efficacy and a more rapid onset of action than topical 0.1% dexamethasone.

Portage has also invested in Sentien Biotechnologies Inc., a Boston based private company developing an extracorporeal bioreactor for the delivery of cell therapies.

For further information, contact Kam Shah, Chief Financial Officer, at (416) 929-1806 or [email protected] or visit our website at www.portagebiotech.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal and Canadian securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including statements that are based on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding the Company's plans and objectives, expectations and assumptions of management are forward-looking statements. The use of certain words, including the words "estimate," "project," "intend," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "will," plan," "could," "may" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements including receipt of regulatory approvals and market conditions. The forward-looking statements are made as of this date and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Portage Biotech Inc.

Related Links

www.portagebiotech.com


WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club on Wednesday applauded the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan's decision to order the release of award-winning journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

Ismayilova has been imprisoned for a year and a half on charges widely seen as retaliation for her investigative reporting into the finances of the country's ruling family. She is expected to be freed Wednesday.

A reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ismayilova gained domestic and international attention for her exposes on corruption tied to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's family.

Ismayilova is a 2015 recipient of the National Press Club's John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award. Club leaders have worked behind the scenes in Washington for months to press for her release, in addition to publicly drawing attention on multiple occasions to her unjust incarceration. The U.S. State Department has also worked hard for her release, and members of Congress have filed bipartisan resolutions on her behalf.

"We are thrilled Khadija will soon be reunited with her family," said NPC President Thomas Burr. "Khadija has been unflagging both inside and outside of prison in her commitment to advocating for government accountability and press freedom around the world. She truly is an inspiration to journalists everywhere."

The Azeri Supreme Court overturned convictions against Ismayilova for misappropriation of property and abuse of power but allowed convictions to remain in place for tax evasion and unlawful business activities, the Guardian newspaper reported. The court ordered her prison sentence of 7 1/2 years be reduced to a suspended term of 3 1/2 years.

"Although these allegations made against the presidency have been denied, everything that she has been saying has now been confirmed in the Panama Papers," said Amal Clooney, legal counsel to Ismayilova, in a YouTube video uploaded Tuesday. "As a result of her work, the government has taken a series of measures against her.... There wasn't a shred of evidence presented at trial that implicated her in any of these crimes."

The National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. Through its Press Freedom Committee, the club works to promote freedom of expression and transparency at home and abroad. The National Press Club Journalism Institute, a non-profit affiliate, equips news professionals with the skills to innovate, leverages emerging trends, recognizes innovators and mentors the next generation.

Contact: Rachel Oswald, [email protected]; 202 486 9173.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO

SOURCE National Press Club
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivoom, a mobile media company that enables brandsafe storytelling with consumers at scale, has announced a new user-generated marketing partnership with the Princeton University Office of Communications that will encourage the creation of mobile, consumer-generated and -distributed content with brand filters and custom calls-to-action automatically included in each video shared. This new partnership enables Princeton to reach constituents including current students, alumni, incoming freshmen and even prospects across digital channels. The move coincides with a broader trend in education where universities are trying to engage and activate their audiences on the platform that matters most  mobile. Princeton will use Vivoom as a vehicle to interact with and engage its large and highly passionate audience, with Princeton-branded user-created videos.

Over the past decade, Princeton  like other leading universities across the United States  has invested in creating and fostering large social networks, websites and even their own mobile apps. Vivoom allows Princeton to activate and engage their community in a new and unique way, enabling their audience to create and share videos with custom Princeton filters. The content creator can then share their work with fellow classmates, friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, email or SMS. With Vivoom, Princeton retains the rights to the videos and can re-publish them at Princeton's various events or on their website and social channels. Vivoom also allows Princeton to flag and immediately remove any inappropriate or off-brand videos regardless of where they are shared.

"In today's day and age, it can be challenging for universities to break through the noise on social media to reach alumni and students," said Katherine Hays, founder and CEO of Vivoom. "Princeton University has a large and passionate community and this partnership provides a brandsafe platform for the university to engage with students and alumni. We're excited to launch the first campaign during Princeton's famous and unparalleled annual reunion weekend."

"We are thrilled to add authentic, high quality user-generated video as a means to engage our alumni community," said Daniel Day, assistant vice president for communications at Princeton. "We anticipate a high level of engagement using the Vivoom platform at Reunions and then at commencement and throughout the year at other major events."

Day added: "Our prospective applicants, current students and alumni already engage with each other across a range of different social media platforms. With Vivoom, we can reach our community members via email, Facebook and Twitter. Video creators are then free to share their videos however they like, again via Facebook, Twitter and SMS. We're confident this flexibility will maximize both participation in content creation, and viewership."

The first campaign will launch at Princeton University's upcoming Reunions weekend to be held May 26-29, 2016 and attracts nearly 25,000 alumni, family and friends back to campus for community service projects, alumni-faculty forums, dinners and more. This new partnership enables Princeton to use the platform for campaigns throughout the year and may include sporting events, alumni engagement campaigns as well as other University events. Vivoom's unique and patent-protected platform allows Princeton to promote and celebrate its storied brand in this new and impactful way.

About Vivoom

Vivoom is a mobile media company that enables brand-safe storytelling between advertisers and consumers at scale. The company has built a platform that allows brands to put people at the center of their entire mobile marketing process  from content creation, to targeting and distribution  and then provides the reporting, moderation, curation and republishing capabilities brands need. This innovative mobile marketing model generates high-quality mobile content at scale that is authentic, highly relevant for consumers and brands, 100% brand-safe and outperforms all other mobile marketing options. Located in Cambridge, MA, Vivoom is funded by Insight Venture Partners, Stage1 Ventures, and Boston's Converge VP. Learn more at www.vivoom.co.

About Princeton University

Princeton University is a vibrant community of scholarship and learning that stands in the nation's service and the service of humanity. Chartered in 1746, Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational institution that provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. More than 1,100 faculty members instruct approximately 5,200 undergraduate students and 2,600 graduate students. The University's generous financial aid program ensures that talented students from all economic backgrounds can afford a Princeton education.

Contact:

Lisa van der Pool

781.966.4142

[email protected]

Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150803/254338LOGO

SOURCE Vivoom
FREMONT, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- US broadband subscribers will soon get a better picture of the internet service they are receiving, thanks to a partnership between Procera Networks and a North American ISP. Subscribers will be able to see how their operator stacks up against the FCC's recently introduced core metrics like bandwidth, latency, and packet loss, and also find out where their operator's network is particularly strong in delivering a range of online services  from video streaming to real-time gaming.

The change comes from Procera Networks, a leader in network and subscriber intelligence. The company's PacketLogic network intelligence platform has been chosen by a North American ISP to ensure high quality broadband services for the operator's rural customers across bandwidth-limited last mile connections. Procera's ScoreCard and Fair Split QoE management technologies, powered by its PacketLogic platform, make this a reality and were the competitive differentiatiors that enabled Procera to win this highly contested opportunity.

Fair Split ensures available network bandwidth is divided equally between active subscribers to prevent bandwidth starvation, and uses advanced queuing technology to maximize the throughput delivered. ScoreCard measures throughput, latency, and packet loss, across the network to help the operator ensure they are consistently delivering a high Quality of Experience, even during periods of high congestion. It's also the technology that gives subscribers a better picture of the operator's overall service. Combined, the two platforms deliver a powerful toolkit for operators to score highly on the FCC's Broadband Labeling Iniative.

"Today's subscribers are looking for more than speed when it comes to the operator they choose," said Cam Cullen, VP of Global Marketing at Procera Networks. "Operators are now being challenged to better manage the subscriber experience and deliver a competitive differentiator through the quality of their service offerings, which depends on being able to visualize the performance of their network in areas that matter most to subscribers."

Procera's PacketLogic platforms are the vehicle for delivering an enhanced subscriber experience to broadband subscribers. PacketLogic is designed to support analytics, traffic management, and enforcement use cases, and powers Procera's ScoreCard and Fair Spilt technologies.

"Broadband operators are struggling to measure the actual subscriber experience using their current tools," said Alexander Havang, CTO at Procera Networks. "Maintaining network quality in the era of network neutrality is crucial, making ScoreCard a vital tool for measuring QoE and Fair Split essential for maintaining high QoE during peak usage times."

Procera is exhibiting at the Big Communications Event in Austin, Texas (24th  25th May), the company will be located at stand No 217. Cam Cullen, VP of Global Marketing at Procera Networks, will be speaking at the event on the Wednesday afternoon. He is participating on a panel entitled 'Virtualizing the Network Infrastructure: Integrating Analytics in Virtualized Networks.'

About Procera Networks, Inc.

Since its inception in 2002, Procera Networks has become a leading subscriber and network intelligence provider. The continued development of its award-winning ScoreCard and eVolution technologies, in addition to the benefits its solutions hold for network operators around data insights, traffic management, and policy control, lets Procera meet the ever-changing needs of service providers both today and in the heavily virtualized future. For more information, visit http://www.proceranetworks.com or follow Procera on Twitter @ProceraNetworks.

Press contact

Dan Parris

EarlyWMC for Procera Networks

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160217/334055LOGO

SOURCE Procera Networks, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.proceranetworks.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network that are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network  it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/alertswire

EXPERT ALERTS

Economic Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life

Bundled Payment Programs

Talcum Powder Now Linked to Ovarian Cancer

MEDIA JOBS

Healthcare Reporter  POLITICO Pro (DC)

Reporter  E! Entertainment (CA)

Business Producer/Writer  ABC News (NY)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

Five Ways to Engage Digitally Empowered Audiences

High-Tech Reporting Tools to Make You Feel Like a Happy Chewbacca

PR Newswire Media Moves

EXPERT ALERTS:

Economic Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life

Seth Tuler

Associate Professor

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

"Global climate change is causing oceans to warm and sea levels to rise, thus causing changes to the habitats and migration habits of marine life. In turn, the changing environment under the sea is impacting aquaculture, creating a ripple effect that impacts communities on the shore that rely on fishing for their livelihood, all the way inland to grocery store aisles and restaurant menus."

Tuler is an associate professor in the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is also co-director of WPI's Bangkok Project Center as well as WPI's Boston Project Center. Tuler is founder and researcher at the Social and Environmental Research Institute. As a social scientist, he develops tools to analyze human impacts and examines ways to mitigate or adapt to changing environmental conditions. Tuler is based in Worcester, Mass.

Website: http://www.wpi.edu

Contact: Kerry O'Brien, [email protected]



Bundled Payment Programs

Deirdre Baggot R.N., Ph.D.

Principal

ECG Management Consultants

Bundled payment programs is a relatively recent topic of media coverage, thanks in part to the enactment of CMS' Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model in April 2016. Yet while the topic is just starting to get national press, behind the scenes few understand how deep into the bundled payment paradigm CMS and other payors are. The untold story here is that bundled payments are one of the only payment innovation models that have objectively demonstrated improved quality and reduced costs -- and public payors, commercial payors, and employers have big plans for bundled payment programs far beyond joint replacements. Says Dr. Baggot: "While bundled payment programs won't revolutionize healthcare on their own, they will contribute to the system's positive evolution. In fact, bundles represent one of the few approaches in healthcare today that have proven to decrease costs while improving outcomes -- ushering in a system that ultimately rewards value over volume. The true value of bundles, however, comes from the opportunity to improve communication and bridge gaps in the continuum that have long plagued care delivery -- gaps that have prevented Americans from getting the care we need and the outcomes we deserve."

Based in Denver, Dr. Baggot has been invited to testify before Congress on the efficacy of bundled payments, was appointed expert reviewer by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the Bundled Payments for Care Initiative, and has served as the lead for the Acute Care Episode (ACE) Bundled Payment Demonstration. She has also been a featured expert on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "Planet Money."

ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/deirdrebaggot

Website: http://www.ecgmc.com

Contact: Kimberly Miller, [email protected]



Talcum Powder Now Linked to Ovarian Cancer

Eileen Kroll

Attorney and Registered Nurse

Cochran, Kroll and Associates

For decades, women have been using talcum powder products. However, evidence presented in lawsuits against major manufacturers of talcum powder shows that the talc powder used in these products can enter the body through the vagina and travel to the ovaries. In February 2016, a jury in St. Louis, Mo., awarded $72 million to the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer after using talcum powder products for feminine hygiene. In May 2016, a jury in St. Louis, Mo., awarded $55 million to a woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using talcum powder products for feminine hygiene for approximately 40 years. "Evidence presented at these two trials shows there is an association between an increased risk of ovarian cancer and use of talc products for feminine hygiene. The public needs to be made aware of these developments."

Website: http://www.CochranLaw.com

Contact: Scott Lorenz, [email protected]



MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

Healthcare Reporter  POLITICO Pro (DC)

Reporter  E! Entertainment (CA)

Business Producer/Writer  ABC News (NY)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]

FIVE WAYS TO ENGAGE DIGITALLY EMPOWERED AUDIENCES. Content isn't being pushed out into the void anymore. Until recently, news organizations could afford to economically disengage from their audience, and journalists could set their focus on deadlines. But, it's no longer just about the product of journalism: http://prn.to/22nBKGQ

HIGH-TECH REPORTING TOOLS TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A HAPPY CHEWBACCA. A man who "put the 'ah' in Yahoo and the 'ooh' in Google," predicted tech trends would return to those that dominated a decade ago. According to Sree Sreenivasan , Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, that means podcasting, email newsletters and blogging are hot. He shared his "sneaky new high-tech reporting tools" at the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) recent writer's conference in New York : http://prn.to/1szYFSI

, Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, that means podcasting, email newsletters and blogging are hot. He shared his "sneaky new high-tech reporting tools" at the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) recent writer's conference in : http://prn.to/1szYFSI PR NEWSWIRE MEDIA MOVES. Updating your contact lists? Here's who's in and who's out at Prevention, Advertising Age, Politico, South Florida Business Journal, Business First, American Banker, Mashable, Dallas Morning News, Houston Business Journal and more: http://prn.to/1TERy1Y

PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire.

SOURCE ProfNet

Related Links

http://www.profnet.com


VIENNA, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Injectable biosensors that become one with the body's tissue may one day replace the clinical lab for making our body chemistry continuously accessible for improved personal wellbeing in health and disease. Promising a new era in digital health, Profusa, Inc., based in South San Francisco, Calif., today debuted its injectable Lumee biosensor technology at the Pioneers Festival held at the grand Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Ben Hwang, Ph.D., Profusa's chairman and chief executive officer, showcased the company's tissue-integrated sensors for long-term, continuous tracking of body chemistry in a talk entitled, "Beyond Fitness Trackers: Let Your Body Speak." Hwang explained how the capability to provide a continuous stream of live data could have the power to revolutionize the relationship we have with our bodies and transform the entire healthcare ecosystem  from individuals, to care providers and payers.

"Most of us only get a once-a-year peek at what's happening inside our body when we visit our doctor," said Hwang. "Yet the most valuable and important information comes from having a 'conversation' with your body in order to make timely choices when your body data is available in real time and when it matters. We believe our technology can impact the entire spectrum of stakeholders in the healthcare system to fundamentally alter the way they do things."

The company's biosensors will have applications for consumer health and wellness, as well as the management of chronic diseases such as peripheral artery disease (PAD), diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"Our tissue-integrated biosensor technology meets three key criteria for continuous monitoring: First, the data needs to be clinical-grade so that you and your healthcare provider can make medical decisions about your health and wellbeing. Second, the user experience needs to be seamless so adoption can fit into any workflow environment. And finally, the technology needs to be accessible at a reasonable cost in a form function that's easy to use," added Hwang.

Tissue-integrating Biosensors

With grant support by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA, a U.S. Department of Defense agency), the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and other funding agencies, Profusa's technology and novel bioengineering approach overcomes the effects of the largest hurdle in long-term use of biosensors in the body: the foreign body response. Placed under the skin with a specially designed injector, each tiny biosensor is a flexible fiber, 3mm-to-5 mm long and approximately 500 microns in diameter. Rather than being isolated from the body, Profusa's biosensors work fully integrated within the body's tissue  without any metal device or electronics  overcoming the effects of the foreign body response.

Each biosensor is comprised of a bioengineered "smart hydrogel" (similar to contact lens material) forming a porous, tissue-integrating scaffold that induces capillary and cellular in-growth from surrounding tissue. The smart gel is linked to a fluorescent light-emitting molecule that continuously signals the presence of a body chemical such as oxygen, glucose, or other biomarker.

Optical Reader

Adhered to the skin's surface or held by hand, a separate optical reader is used to read the fluorescent signal from the embedded biosensor. The reader sends excitation signals through the skin to the biosensor, which then emits light proportional to the concentration of molecules of interest. The data can be relayed to a smart phone for an encrypted personal record and historical tracking. Data can be shared securely via HIPAA-compliant digital networks with healthcare providers.

Lumee Oxygen Sensing System

Profusa's first medical product, the Lumee Oxygen Sensing System, is a single-biomarker sensor designed to measure dissolved oxygen in the tissue. The system is being commercialized as the only long-term monitoring technology that guides therapeutic action and measures tissue oxygen levels during the treatment and healing process for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Pending CE Mark, the Lumee system is slated to be available in Europe in 2016 for use by vascular surgeons and wound-healing specialists.

PAD affects 202 million people worldwide, 27 million of whom live in Europe and North America, with an annual economic burden of more than $74 billion in the U.S. alone. As the disease advances, patients can experience significant leg pain with impaired mobility (claudication), and in its most severe form, critical limb ischemia (CLI), gangrene and limb amputation.

About Pioneers

Pioneers, based in Vienna, Austria, is a global relationship builder in technology that provides infrastructures and services to facilitate meaningful business relationships within its juried community. These services inspire, empower and connect the most promising early-stage technology companies with corporations, investors, industry experts, and international media with the goal to increase their rate of economical success and positive impact on society. For more information, please visit www.pioneers.io

Profusa, Inc.

Profusa, Inc., based in South San Francisco, Calif., is leading the development of a new generation of tissue-integrated sensors that empowers an individual with the ability to monitor their unique body chemistry in unprecedented ways to transform the management of personal health and disease. Overcoming the body's response to foreign material for long-term use, its technology promises to be the foundational platform of real-time biochemical detection through the development of tiny bioengineered sensors that become one with the body to detect and continuously transmit actionable, medical-grade data for personal and medical use. See http://www.profusa.com for more information.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151215/296354LOGO

SOURCE Profusa, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.profusa.com


CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For many, the fast-approaching summer months are hectic, and a simple, quick  yet satisfying  breakfast recipe is essential in the morning. That's why The Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., is encouraging fans to explore the deliciousness of overnight oats  a cool, convenient way to help start the day off right.

Overnight oats are prepared in three easy steps but can be enjoyed in endless flavor varieties, and offer 100 percent whole grain goodness to help kick start the morning. In a portable container, simply combine Quaker Old Fashioned Oats with milk, yogurt or any dairy alternative, add a layer (or two) of preferred toppings, and place in the refrigerator to soak before heading to bed. The next morning, a satisfyingly chilled, on-the-go breakfast will be ready to enjoy. Plus, the dry oats prepared with 1 cup of fat-free milk provides 15 grams of protein to help fill you up.

For nearly 140 years, Quaker has delivered the goodness of oats through its core foundation of hot cereal offerings. Now, the brand is taking oats out of the pantry and into the refrigerator with the resurgence of an age-old tradition: overnight oats. As the leading expert in oats, Quaker helped revitalize overnight oats in 2015 and continues to be at the forefront of the trend that's here to stay. According to the latest Food Trends report from Google, the cool morning meal is on track to make a big splash in 2016, and Quaker will share new overnight oat recipes, tips, how-to videos and other inspirational content throughout the summer to help oatmeal lovers continue to uncover all the "chilled" ways to enjoy Quaker Old Fashioned Oats.

"Last summer, we saw overnight oats take over the Pinterest community, and people are now searching for overnight oat recipe inspiration twice as often as they were a year ago," said Joe Silverman, senior marketing director, Quaker Foods North America. "We're excited to see families continue to have fun with the versatility of oats, especially since this on-the-go breakfast provides such an easy solution for busy mornings and a tasty way to enjoy oats."

Based on a recent Pinterest Guided Search, berries, bananas and peanut butter are among the most popular overnight oat toppings, but the trendy breakfast can be prepared and layered in countless flavor combinations. The same Pinterest Guided Search also showed other popular flavors associated with overnight oats include fun toppings such as pumpkin, peach, cherry and chia seeds.

Overnight oat fans can also get inspired with Amazon Alexa, the brain inside the Amazon Echo, to learn more about the popular breakfast trend. Quaker has built its own "skill" for Alexa, available through products like the Echo speaker, which allows consumers to prompt the hands-free device to "open Quaker" and receive step-by-step instructions for overnight oat recipes. The skill, which is the first of its kind, made its debut in March at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and is now available to the public, offering five overnight oat recipes.

For more overnight oat inspiration like the popular Mixed Berry or Peanut Butter recipes, visit www.QuakerOvernightOats.com, www.Facebook.com/Quaker or follow the brand on Pinterest @QuakerOats.

Suggested Tweets:

Easy breakfast #hack: soak your @Quaker Oats overnight with your favorite toppings! Learn how: http://bit.ly/QuakerONO

[email protected] believes the best mornings can start while you sleep. Simplify your morning with overnight oats: http://bit.ly/QuakerONO

believes the best mornings can start while you sleep. Simplify your morning with overnight oats: http://bit.ly/QuakerONO Try overnight oats for a convenient way to turn Zzz's into Mmm's! Learn more from @Quaker here: http://bit.ly/QuakerONO

About The Quaker Oats Company

The Quaker Oats Company, headquartered in Chicago, is a unit of PepsiCo, Inc., one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies. For more than 135 years, Quaker's brands have served as symbols of quality, great taste and nutrition. Holding leadership positions in their respective categories, Quaker Oats, Quaker Rice Cakes and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars are consumer favorites. For more information, please visit www.QuakerOats.com, www.Facebook.com/Quaker or follow us on Twitter @Quaker.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2015, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose  our goal to deliver top-tier financial performance while creating sustainable growth and shareholder value. In practice, Performance with Purpose means providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; finding innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and reduce our operating costs; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where we operate. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. Follow PepsiCo:

CONTACT:

Brianna Swan Jane Watts Quaker Oats Zeno Group 312.821.1885 312.755.5463 [email protected] [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371756LOGO

SOURCE The Quaker Oats Company

Related Links

http://www.quakeroats.com


ATLANTA, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, Joe Bonamassa, and Sixthman are proud to present Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea III, year three of the incredible four-day floating music festival featuring Bonamassa and some of the most celebrated names in blues. This year's festival will journey across the Caribbean aboard Norwegian Jade on February 6-10, 2017, sailing from Tampa, Florida to Costa Maya, Mexico. Guests will enjoy performances from some of the biggest names in music, while discovering new favorites among emerging blues artists on multiple stages throughout the ship. From rare artist collaborations to intimate gatherings with musically inclined cruisers, the festival will have something for everyone to enjoy.

Joining the 2017 festival are Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman, Grammy-nominated vocal powerhouse Beth Hart, California folk-rockers Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, modern blues phenom Joanne Shaw Taylor, guitar virtuosos Anders Osborne and Eric Gales, American roots sister act Larkin Poe, Blues Music Award's Best New Artist Album winner Mr. Sipp, and more.

The Lineup:

Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman Band, Beth Hart, Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Anders Osborne, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, Eric Gales, Larkin Poe, London Souls, Mr. Sipp, Mingo Fishtrap, Honey Island Swamp Band, Homemade Jamz Blues Band, Muddy Magnolias*, Blind Boy Paxton*, King Solomon Hicks*

*indicates Ignite Artists

Music enthusiasts can pre-register for the sailing HERE before cabins are available on June 23, 2016. Once onboard, fans can expect to enjoy three performances by Joe Bonamassa, multiple artist collaboration shows, activities with many Blues Alive at Sea artists, commemorative lithographs signed by Bonamassa, dozens of live performances by living legends and emerging blues talent, and opportunities to jam with fellow cruisers. Between fun in the sun in Tampa and Costa Maya, guests can get their kicks at sea aboard Norwegian Jade. Norwegian Jade offers Norwegian's signature Freestyle Cruising experience, along with six stages of live music, 13 bars and lounges, 19 dining experiences, one outdoor pool, hot tubs, an expansive menu of spa treatments and much more.

"We have some amazing return acts and some legendary new artists this year, including one of my favorites of all time, Gregg Allman; Jaimoe from the The Allman Brothers Band is bringing his jazz band, a great player named Anders Osborne is joining us, and many more new additions. It's going to be a lot of fun. And that's why we do it. It's all about the music and the comradery between the bands!" said Bonamassa.

As in prior years' sailings, 2017's festival will feature a special stage for Ignite Artists. The artists chosen for this stage are innovative trailblazers with roots in blues, taking the century-old tradition of blues music and interpreting it in exciting new ways. One of the missions of Keeping the Blues Alive is to foster the newest wave of talent who need to be heard by all music lovers and will carry the torch for the next generation of music enthusiasts. This stage gives these young, new artists a platform to introduce their music to a wider audience.

Video recap from 2016's 2nd annual Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea: https://vimeo.com/165438651

Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea's sold-out 2015 maiden voyage and 2016's Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea II saw the floating music festival sail to beautiful locations like Key West, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, while entertaining over 4,000 blues aficionados with performances by many of today's best blues artists, including John Hiatt, Robben Ford, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Blues Traveler, Beth Hart, Ana Popovic, Vintage Trouble, Marc Broussard, Shemekia Copeland, Joanne Shaw Taylor, and many more.

The sold-out festivals raised a combined $75,000 in donations for Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, which helps to fund scholarships and music programs for students and teachers across the country. Both festivals were such overwhelming successes that Bonamassa and Sixthman couldn't wait to sign up for a third in 2017.

For the Best available Cabins, sign up for Pre-sale here: www.bluesaliveatsea.com

Double occupancy staterooms on Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea III begin at $999 per person, plus taxes and fees. For more information about booking your vacation, visit us online at www.bluesaliveatsea.com or call Sixthman directly at 877-379-9170 between the hours of 10AM EST and 6PM EST.

Connect with Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruisers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram #BluesAliveAtSea.

About Joe Bonamassa:

Joe Bonamassa has established himself as one of the premier guitar virtuosos of his generation, and distinguished himself as an incisive and compelling songwriter, a gutsy and soulful vocalist, as well as one of the most popular touring-and-recording artists around, averaging over 100 sold-out shows worldwide each year while amassing a body of work that spreads the already deep waters of the blues-rock form. Still in his 30s, the Grammy-nominated bluesman has already racked up more #1 Billboard Blues Albums than any other artist in history  16 and counting  and all on his own label, J&R Adventures. His brand-new studio solo album, Blues of Desperation, is a galvanizing set of 11 originals that landed at #5 on the Billboard Top Album Sales, his highest charting yet. http://jbonamassa.com/

About Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation:

Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation fuels the passion for music by funding programs and scholarships for students and teachers who possess the desire, but lack the resources or access to achieve their potential within music education. Through generous corporate sponsorships by industry powerhouses Ernie Ball Strings, Guitar Center, J&R Adventures, and individual donors, KTBA has been able to fund music projects reaching over 38,000 students with over $114,000 donated so far. We accomplish this by making weekly donations to music projects in education and scholarships all over the country. http://keepingthebluesalive.org/

ABOUT SIXTHMAN: Since 2001, Sixthman has pioneered themed cruise experiences, creating intimate shared encounters for bands, brands, and their fans. We are proud to be celebrating our 15th year and the accomplishment of executing 94 festivals, hosting over 207,000 guests for 835,000 days on vacation at sea with world class artists such as KISS, Kid Rock, John Mayer, Zac Brown Band, Train, Pitbull, Paramore, Florida Georgia Line, Diplo, Joe Bonamassa, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 311, Lyle Lovett, Barenaked Ladies, Sister Hazel and for brand partners such as Turner Classic Movies, VH1, SiriusXM's Outlaw Country, Walker Stalker Con, truTV and others along with Sixthman curated festivals,The Rock Boat and Cayamo! Our festivals at sea bring non-stop performances, artist collaborations and a truly immersive music vacation experience with fan/band interactions throughout the voyage and in port. Our home ports of call include Miami and Tampa Florida with dream destinations to the Virgin Islands, Belize, Honduras, Mexico and the Bahamas. For more information, visit www.sixthman.net and connect with us @SXMLiveLoud. LIVE LOUD.

SOURCE Joe Bonamassa

Related Links

http://jbonamassa.com


ORLANDO, Fla., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ruth's Chris Steak House presents a special "Cakebread Cellars" James Beard House inspired menu on June 16 at 108 participating restaurants across the country. The menu, which was originally created and served for a prestigious James Beard House dinner, will be available for one night only featuring the best wines from Cakebread Cellars paired with five tremendous Ruth's Chris courses.

"We invite our guests to indulge themselves on June 16 with this special menu that Ruth herself would be proud to serve. Unwavering attention to details and serving the finest selections are qualities we share with the Cakebread family," said Cheryl Henry, Senior Vice President and Chief Branding Officer of Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc.

"Since we started making wine back in 1973, Cakebread Cellars has been known for our elegant, balanced wines and our hospitality. We are pleased to be partnering with Ruth's Chris Steak House for an evening celebrating good wine, great food and wonderful people," said Dennis Cakebread, Chairman of Cakebread Cellars. Dennis Cakebread will be attending the dinner in person at the Denver Ruth's Chris Steak House.

The featured "Cakebread Cellars" menu includes:

First Course: Wedge Salad with Roquefort Dressing paired with Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay Napa Valley

Second Course: BBQ Shrimp and Cheese Grit Cakes paired with Cakebread Two Creeks Vineyards Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Third Course: French Onion Soup with a Gruyere Cheese Puff Pastry paired with Cakebread Cellars Merlot Napa Valley

Fourth Course: Filet and Lobster Tail accompanied by Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Honey Butter and Potatoes Au Gratin paired with Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Dessert: Banana Cream Pie and Chocolate Truffle paired with Croft 10 Year Old Tawny Port

The Ruth's Chris "Cakebread Cellars" dinner pricing, times and dates vary by location with an average price of $120 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are required for this event. For a complete list of participating restaurants, and to make reservations, visit: http://www.ruthschris.com/promotions/cakebread-dinner.

Two future national pairing dinners include:

Grey Goose Cocktail Dinner - Thursday, August 18

- Thursday, August 18 Stags' Leap Winery - Sunday, October 16

Guests attending the pairing dinners are invited to share their experiences at #ThisIsHowItsDone.

About Ruth's Chris Steak House

Ruth's Chris Steak House was founded by Ruth Fertel 50 years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ruth had a recipe for everything  from how to prepare her signature sizzling steaks to how to treat her guests. This timeless formula is a testament to how one neighborhood eatery has become the largest collection of upscale steak houses in the world, with more than 140 restaurant locations around the globe. Ruth's Chris remains true to its heritage, helping guests make their best memories on 500-degree sizzling plates. This is how it's done at Ruth's Chris Steak House.

About Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay

One of the richer, weightier Cakebread chardonnays in recent years, the 2014 vintage is redolent of creamy golden apple, Asian pear and honeydew melon with complementary coconut and sweet oak scents. Fresh and lively on the palate, with rich citrus, apple, melon and tropical fruit flavors, it culminates in a long finish featuring pleasing mineral and spice tones.

About Cakebread Cellars Two Creeks Vineyards Pinot Noir

2014 Two Creeks Pinot Noir displays fresh, fragrant aromas of ripe black cherry, raspberry and rose petal with background hints of sandalwood and oak toast. Rich and vibrant on the palate, its succulent Bing cherry, wild berry and plum fruit leads to a long, flavorful finish featuring enticing cherry, spice and mineral tones. Delicious now, this elegantly structured, cool-climate pinot noir will benefit from up to five more years of bottle aging.

About Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Merlot

Fragrant ripe black cherry, red plum and blackberry aromas, complemented by whiffs of black tea, oak and chocolate, introduce this bold, beautifully structured merlot. Rich and plump on the palate with lush cherry, plum and red currant flavors framed by firm, yet fine-grained tannins, it culminates in a long finish accented by zesty tea-leaf spice tones. Delicious now, this youthful merlot will benefit from another 5-7 years' aging.

About Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet

Luxurious dark cherry, boysenberry, blackcurrant and black fig aromas, with scents of oak toast and dark chocolate, introduce layers of rich, deeply concentrated, yet elegant flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, fig, currant and fresh cherry. The wine's vibrant acidity, supple, seamlessly integrated tannins and impeccable balance contribute to a round, plush mouthfeel, leading to a long, savory finish marrying rich boysenberry fruit, French oak spice and a hint of dark chocolate. Remarkably delicious young, this classic Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon will develop even greater allure with another 710 years' bottle age.

About Croft 10 Year Old Tawny Porto

With an attractive, tawny color and amber rim, this wine shows full, complex aromas of mellow spices along with walnut, butterscotch and fine oak notes against a background of rich, jammy fruit. On the palate, the wine is silky and round, full of ripe fig flavors.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150217/176194LOGO

SOURCE Ruth's Chris Steak House

Related Links

http://www.ruthschris.com


WAYNE, Pa., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryan & Maniskas, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in United States District Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of purchasers of DeVry Education Group Inc. ("DeVry" or the "Company") (NYSE: DV) common stock during the period between February 24, 2011 and January 27, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period").

DeVry shareholders may, no later than July 12, 2016, move the Court for appointment as a lead plaintiff of the Class. If you purchased shares of DeVry and would like to learn more about these claims or if you wish to discuss these matters and have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights, contact Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or to sign up online, visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dv.

DeVry provides educational services worldwide through a number of subsidiaries, including DeVry University, one of the largest degree-granting higher education systems in the United States. Through its five colleges, DeVry University offers programs in healthcare, business, technology, accounting, finance and law.

The Complaint brings forth claims for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (i) DeVry University engaged in a multi-year deceptive marketing and advertising campaign; (ii) DeVry University overstated its students' ability to find employment after graduation (iii) DeVry University overstated the potential income its students could earn after graduation; (iv) and as a result, DeVry overstated its growth, revenue, and earnings potential by concealing the true employment prospects of DeVry University graduates to investors and potential students.

On January 27, 2016, the FTC shocked the market when it filed suit against DeVry for engaging in deceptive practices by purposefully misrepresenting the benefits of obtaining a degree from DeVry University.

Also on January 27, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education issued DeVry University a Notice of Intent to Limit DeVry's participation in programs authorized pursuant to Title IV of HEA, after finding that DeVry was in violation of federal law.

As a result of these shocking disclosures, DeVry's common stock price dropped 15%, or $3.65 per share, from $23.68 per share on January 26, 2016 to $20.09 per share closing on January 27, 2016wiping out over $230 million in the Company's market capitalization in one day, on unusually heavy volume.

Over the next several trading days, DeVry's stock price continued to trade lower, closing at $18.08 on February 2, 2016. In total, from January 27, 2016 to February 2, 2016, DeVry's stock price share price dropped $5.66 per share, or 24%, wiping out approximately $360 million of the Company's market capitalization.

If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than July 12, 2016, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Ryan & Maniskas, LLP or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.

For more information regarding this, please contact Ryan & Maniskas, LLP (Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire) toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or by email at [email protected] or visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dv. For more information about class action cases in general or to learn more about Ryan & Maniskas, LLP, please visit our website: www.rmclasslaw.com.

Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is a national shareholder litigation firm. Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is devoted to protecting the interests of individual and institutional investors in shareholder actions in state and federal courts nationwide.

CONTACT: Ryan & Maniskas, LLP

Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire

995 Old Eagle School Rd., Suite 311

Wayne, PA 19087

484-588-5516

877-316-3218

www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dv

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121112/MM11729LOGO

SOURCE Ryan & Maniskas, LLP

Related Links

http://www.rmclasslaw.com


VANCOUVER, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Rye Patch Gold Corp. (TSX.V: RPM; OTCQX: RPMGF; FWB: 5TN) (the "Company" or "Rye Patch") is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement (the "Acquisition Agreement") to acquire 100% ownership of the Florida Canyon gold mine (with the Standard gold mine) located in Pershing County, Nevada, for total consideration of US$15 million in cash and 20,000,000 common shares of the Company payable at closing, subject to adjustment for outstanding liabilities, plus certain contingent payments . The Company has also signed a commitment letter for a US$27 million credit facility (the "Credit Facility") with Macquarie Bank Limited ("Macquarie Bank") to fund the proposed redevelopment of the Florida Canyon mine. The Company has engaged Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. ('Macquarie Capital") and Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord Genuity") with regard to a proposed equity financing to fund the cash portion of the purchase consideration.

Florida Canyon Mine and Proposed Restart

The Florida Canyon gold mine is fully permitted, has been in continuous production since 1986 and is currently producing gold from its existing leach pad facilities. The Company proposes to redevelop the mine, including constructing a new heap leach pad and waste storage facility as well as mining a planned expansion of the Florida Canyon ore body. Rye Patch expects Florida Canyon to achieve commercial production from the new leach pad in Q1 2017.

Mine Development Associates ("MDA") completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Company with an effective date of March 16, 2016, (the "PEA") for the Florida Canyon gold mine. The PEA was completed based on a US$1,000 per ounce gold price for the first two years and a US$1,150 per ounce gold price for the remaining life of mine and will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this news release.

PEA and Acquisition Highlights:

Average production of approximately 75,000 ounces of gold per year for 8 years;

US$1,000 per ounce of Au for years 1 to 2 and US$1,150 per ounce of Au used for years 3 to 8;

per ounce of Au for years 1 to 2 and per ounce of Au used for years 3 to 8; Pre-tax NPV (7.5%) of US$65.43 million , with a 41.5% IRR;

, with a 41.5% IRR; Cash cost per gold ounce is calculated at US$759 per ounce;

per ounce; Fully permitted expansion;

Commitment letter executed for a US$27 million Credit Facility;

Credit Facility; Significant potential synergies with existing Oreana Trend assets; and

assets; and Tremendous exploration and further development potential.

Table 1: PEA Gold Price Sensitivity Analysis (AFTER TAX) % of Base

Case NPV 7.5% (US$mm) IRR (%) Gold Price Yr 1 & 2 US$/oz Au Gold Price Yrs 3 - 8 US$/oz Au 100% $45.845 34.4% $1,000 $1,150 110% $80.194 53.8% $1,100 $1,265 120% $114.543 73.4% $1,200 $1,380

See "Preliminary Economic Assessment on Florida Canyon Mine" below for further details on the PEA and, specifically, the cautionary language regarding the preliminary nature of the PEA in that it is based on Inferred Mineral Resources and not mineral reserves. The Company's decision to place the Florida Canyon mine into production is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and the Company cautions that historically such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

All mining and ancillary equipment required to operate the Florida Canyon mine is in place together with a team of high quality experts experienced in mining a lowcost operation with a successful 30year history.

Following the restart of Florida Canyon, Rye Patch will have cash flow from both a producing mine and from its existing NSR royalty along with a pipeline of nearby, advanced-stage projects to ensure future growth. Significant operational synergies exist with Florida Canyon and the nearby Lincoln Hill and Wilco resource projects. Oxide resources at Lincoln Hill and Wilco represent additional volume that would contribute to increasing future gold output.

William Howald, the company's President and CEO, commented, "This is truly a unique and transformational opportunity that has fantastic synergies with our existing projects at Lincoln Hill, Gold Ridge and Wilco located 30 kilometres to the south. We are creating a new and exciting company with anticipated initial annual production of 75,000 ounces gold expected to begin in 2017 with the potential to expand the existing Measured and Indicated Resource of 1.1 million ounces. Florida Canyon provides Rye Patch with a solid foundation from which to grow and significant exploration upside in and around the mine and throughout the district."

Mr. Howald concluded by saying, "This acquisition represents a tremendous opportunity for both existing and new Rye Patch shareholders to realize significant value."

Macquarie Bank Credit Facility

To partially fund the proposed redevelopment of the Florida Canyon gold mine, the Company has executed a commitment letter with Macquarie Bank for a US$27 million Credit Facility for the Company's wholly owned US subsidiary, Rye Patch Mining U.S. Inc. ("Rye Patch U.S."). The Credit Facility will bear interest at LIBOR plus 8% per annum and includes a hedging facility. Repayment of the Credit Facility will be amortized over the first four years of production following the restart of the Florida Canyon mine, subject to prepayment from a percentage of excess free cash flow from the mine, with the final repayment date expected to be no later than December 31, 2020.

In connection with the Credit Facility, Rye Patch is to issue Macquarie Bank warrants with a five year term for the purchase of such number of common shares of Rye Patch that is equivalent to conversion of 10% of the Credit Facility amount at an exercise price equal to the lesser of (a) a premium of 25% to the volume weighted average price of the shares traded on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") for the 20 days preceding the issue date of the warrants, and (b) the most recent price of which shares of Rye Patch were issued. The Credit Facility is subject to customary fees and covenants.

Rye Patch U.S.'s obligations under the Credit Facility will be guaranteed by the Company and certain material subsidiaries. In addition, Macquarie Bank will be taking a first ranking security interest over all of the properties and assets of the Company and its material subsidiaries, including the Florida Canyon mine property and assets as well as shares of the subsidiary companies that hold the property and assets.

Acquisition Agreement

The acquisition of the Florida Canyon mine is being made pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement dated May 24, 2016, among the Company and Rye Patch U.S., and Jipangu International Inc. ("JII"), Imlay Mining Co., Ltd. ("Imlay") and ADMGold Co., Ltd. ("ADM Gold"), whereby Rye Patch U.S. will acquire all of the outstanding shares of the companies which own the Florida Canyon mine and related assets (including the nearby Standard gold mine). The Acquisition Agreement includes the following provisions:

Consideration payable under the Acquisition Agreement to ADMGold and/or affiliated entities on closing is comprised of US$15 million payable in cash and issuance of 20,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch, provided that approximately US$6.55 million of the cash consideration will be held in escrow pending the determination of outstanding tax and other liabilities.

payable in cash and issuance of 20,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch, provided that approximately of the cash consideration will be held in escrow pending the determination of outstanding tax and other liabilities. Within 60 days of commencement of commercial production at the Florida Canyon mine by Rye Patch U.S. as operator: Rye Patch U.S. is to pay additional consideration to ADMGold of US$5 million in cash (the "Cash Contingent Consideration"), subject to adjustment depending on the amount of outstanding liabilities to third parties that have not then been settled or waived and postponement in certain circumstances, and Rye Patch is to issue to ADMGold warrants exercisable for 15,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch at US$0.50 per share for a twoyear term from date of issuance. The Cash Contingent Consideration payable to ADMGold may be alternatively satisfied by the issuance of: US$2.5 million worth of common shares of Rye Patch at a price per share equal to the greater of U.S. $0.20 and the volume weighted average trading price of the shares for the 20 trading days prior to the commencement of commercial production, and An unsecured debt obligation for US$2.5 million (subject to adjustment for outstanding liabilities) maturing five years after commencement of commercial production, subject to mandatory prepayment from certain levels of uncommitted free cash flow from the mine, and bearing 4% interest per annum in the first year and 9% interest per annum thereafter with interest to be paid quarterly in cash. Should this debt obligation not be fully paid when due, ADMGold may elect to convert the amount owing into common shares of Rye Patch at a price per share equal to the greater of U.S. $0.20 and the volume weighted average trading price of the shares for the 20 trading days prior to ADMGold's conversion notice.

The contingent consideration will be subject to intercreditor agreements between ADMGold and Macquarie Bank, including ADMGold having a second priority security interest (to the extent of US$2.5 million ) over the same property and assets that will be subject to Macquarie Bank's first ranking security interest.

) over the same property and assets that will be subject to Macquarie Bank's first ranking security interest. Closing of the acquisition is anticipated to occur on or before July 31, 2016 , subject to regulatory approvals and satisfying conditions of closing under the Acquisition Agreement. Conditions in the Company's favour include completion of the Credit Facility for not less than US$25 million and completion of an equity financing of not less than US$30 million which the Company is currently negotiating.

Florida Canyon Mine Location and Background

The Florida Canyon mine is located half way between Lovelock and Winnemucca, Nevada, and approximately 30 kilometres north of the Company's Wilco, Lincoln Hill and Gold Ridge projects. The mine sits immediately adjacent to Interstate 80 and is located approximately 210 kilometres northeast of Reno, Nevada.

Currently, the mine is producing from its existing leach pad facilities. The Company proposes to construct a new heap leach pad and waste storage facility to complete a planned layback of the existing pit area. Initial production from the new leach pad is expected within six months and commercial production growing toward 75,000 ounce of gold per annum is expected three months later. The expansion is fully permitted, and the Credit Facility from Macquarie Bank will be used for the build out.

Rye Patch expects to have cash flow from a producing mine and from its existing NSR royalty along with a pipeline of advanced-projects to ensure future growth. Significant operational synergies exist with Florida Canyon and the nearby Lincoln Hill and Wilco resource projects. Oxide resources at Lincoln Hill and Wilco represent additional volume that could contribute to increasing future gold output. The infrastructure at Florida Canyon is capable of reducing capital and costs for the Lincoln Hill and Wilco projects by utilizing the existing assay lab, carbon stripping plant, refinery, and management, thereby potentially reducing the timeline to production for these assets.

Preliminary Economic Assessment on Florida Canyon Mine

Table 2 summarizes the base case production and financial parameters used in the PEA.

Table 2: Summary of Base Case Assumptions Gold Price (US$) $1,000 (yrs 1&2) $1,150 (yr 3 to 8) Average Annual Gold Production (ounces) 75,000 Pre-Production Capital Costs (US$) $25.2 million LOM Sustaining Capital (US$) $23.9 million Strip Ratio 1.47:1 Pre-Production Period (years) 0.5 Mine Life (years) 8 Cash Cost per Gold Ounce (US$) $759 PRE-TAX Life of Mine NPV at 7.5% Discount Rate (US$) $65.4 million Internal Rate of Return 41.5% AFTER-TAX Life of Mine NPV at 7.5% Discount Rate (US$) $45.8 million Internal Rate of Return 34.4%

The Company cautions that the PEA is preliminary in nature in that it is based on Inferred Mineral Resources which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be characterized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The Company's decision to place the Florida Canyon mine into production is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and the Company cautions that historically such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

PEA Overview

MDA prepared the PEA as an open-pit mining project based solely on the Measured and Indicated Resources reported in the March 16, 2016, PEA. Caterpillar 992 and 993 wheel loaders and 785 haul trucks will be used to mine the ore body. Material would then be transported and processed through a two-stage crusher and crushed to -38 mm (-1.5 inches). The ore will be placed on the newly constructed South Heap Leach Pad Facility ("SHLP") using 777 Caterpillar haul trucks. Metal would be recovered onsite and sold as gold-silver dore. All necessary mine infrastructure and equipment is on the mine site.

The average annual production is expected to be 7.2-million tons (6.5-million tonnes) at a contained gold grade of 0.013 ounces per ton (0.445 grams per tonne). Based on gold recovery, it is anticipated that the mine will produce and sell an average of approximately 75,000 ounces of gold annually for an eight-year period.

Certain metric references in this news release have been converted from imperial amounts indicated in the PEA.

Mineral Resources

In March 2016, MDA completed a National Instrument 43-101-compliant PEA report for the Florida Canyon mine titled "Technical Report - Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Florida Canyon Mine, Pershing County, Nevada USA. In their analysis, MDA reported mineral resources at a cut-off grade of 0.006 oz Au/ton (0.2 grams of gold/tonne) for oxide material and 0.034 oz Au/ton (1.16 grams of gold/tonne) for sulfide material (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). Sulfide resources were restricted to an Inferred only classification. These reported resources, in the form of the resource block model, were used as the basis for determining mineable gold in the PEA.

Table 3.1: Florida Canyon March 16, 2016 Measured and Indicated

Oxide Resources (0.006 oz Au/ton cutoff grade) Item Tons X (000's) oz Au/t Ounces Au X (000's) Measured 79,635.4 0.013 1,035.3 Indicated 4,566.7 0.02 91.3 Measured + Indicated 84,202.1 0.013 1,126.6

Table 3.2: Florida Canyon March 16, 2016 Inferred Resources (0.006 oz Au/ton oxide and 0.034 oz Au/ton sulfide cutoff grades)

Inferred Item Tons oz Ounces Au

X (000's) Au/t X (000's) Oxide 350.8 0.015 5.3 Sulfide 7,115.0 0.055 391.1 Total Inferred Resource 7,465.8 0.050 396.4

The current resources at Florida Canyon are based on a grade block model produced by Reserva International LLC ("Reserva") in 2009. The oxide and sulphide resources were re-calculated in 2012 using a change in resource cut-off grade and an updated topographic surface. The current Measured, Indicated, and Inferred oxide resources were recalculated for this report based on an updated December, 2014 topographic surface and a $1200 gold price, and are restricted to that material above the 0.006oz Au/ton cut-off grade that occurs inside an optimized pit using the PEA estimated costs and process recoveries.

Florida Canyon drillhole spacing is generally 100ft x 100ft (30m x 30m) or less, and the gold domains are based on 20ft (9.1m) drill hole composites generated from capped sample interval gold assay values. The polygons were drawn enclosing two or more pierce points of the grade being modeled in a manner consistent with the orientation of mineralized bodies at Florida Canyon based on experience. These polygons were assigned a rock code based on the grade and location (Main or RTE) and validated for preparation of a block model.

The bench interpretations were used to code the drill composites and model blocks to each particular domain using the 50% majority-rule. The full block model has been re-interpolated using the new gold domain definitions, the complete drillhole data set through February 2009, and revised variography. A three-dimensional block model was built using Gemcom software by Mr. Tim Carew, P. Geo., principal of Reserva International LLC. The 2009 block model contains 333 columns, 261 rows, and 135 levels; the model block size is 30ft x 30ft x 20ft (9.1m x 9.1m x 6.1m) vertically.

The Measured oxide resource for Florida Canyon is classified as those model blocks defined by at least five composites within one-half the distance of the variogram range, and use a maximum of two composites per drillhole. This implies a minimum of three drillholes is also required.

The Indicated oxide resource for Florida Canyon is classified as those model blocks defined by at least three composites within the full distance of the variogram range, and use a maximum of two composites per drillhole. This implies a minimum of two drill holes is also required.

MDA did not audit the sulfide model as it is not part of the current mining plan. Some material modeled as sulfides were included in the optimized pit, but were treated as waste in the mine schedule.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Mine Planning

A PEA provides a basis to estimate project operating and capital costs and establish a projection of the potential mineable resource including measured, indicated and inferred categories as permitted under National Instrument 43-101. A Whittle pit optimization was performed using estimates of operating costs typical of operating surface mines using heap leach processing in northern Nevada and using metallurgical recovery based on 30 years of recovery history and column leach test work performed on material from the Florida Canyon mine. The ultimate pit shell was determined using a gold price of US$1,150 per ounce and only the Measured and Indicated oxide resources shown above in Table 3.1 were used for production scheduling.

No inferred material was used in the financial modeling. The strip ratio for the economic pit is 1.47 tons of waste for every one ton of ore.

Metallurgy

The Florida Canyon mine has been in continuous operation since 1986, and a total of 2.2875Mozs of gold have been produced from the operation. For the 30-year period, gold recoveries have reached an average of 68.3% on a combination of crushed and run-of-mine ("ROM") material (recovery of 50% for ROM and 71% for crush). The Company's PEA contemplates placing only crushed material on the new heap leach pad, thereby increasing the average recovery from 68% to 71.1%. Approximately 63.8 million tons (57.9 million tonnes) of new ore will be sent to the new SHLP, and 93.7 million tons (85 million tonnes) of waste will be stored in the new South Waste Rock Storage Facility. The ore material will be placed on the SHLP at a rate of 7.2 million tons (6.5 million tonnes) per annum and will be the basis for recovering metals from the Property. The crushed material gold recovery is expected at 71.1% of total placed. Recovery is expected over 30 to 45 day period, on a declining curve, from the date placed on the pad.

Capital Costs

Each capital item has an associated quote or bid to substantiate the cost. The capital required to build the expansion includes US$5.834M for mining equipment and deferred maintenance, US$2.735M for a crusher move and upgrade, US$7.208M for new leach pad, pond and piping construction, US$3.781M for contingency and US$0.9M for miscellaneous. The total capital requirement is US$28.985 million including contingency.

Operating Costs

Operating cost assumptions were based on similar scale surface mining operations using heap leach processing in northern Nevada, and process cost estimates for key consumables are based on the available metallurgical test data, power consumption data and prevailing costs for key materials in similar Nevada mining operations. Operating cost per ton of material processed are summarized as follows:

Table 4: PEA Pit Optimization Parameters Item Item Value

(dollar amounts in US$) Mining Cost Rock $1.35 to $1.65 per ton depending on location Mining Cost Fill $1.35 per ton Processing Cost Crushing and Pad Placement $1.10 per ton processed Processing Cost Leaching $2.60 per ton processed Processing Cost G & A Cost $0.50 per ton processed Process Recovery

68% Minimum Grade

0.006 ounce per ton Gold Price

$1150 per ounce of gold Royalty

5.75% Selling Cost

$5.00 per ounce sold Interamp Pit Slope Rock 45 degrees Interamp Pit Slope Fill 37 degrees

Economic Analysis

MDA chose US$1,000 per ounce for gold in years one and two, and US$1,150 per ounce for gold for years 3 through 8 as the base case economic scenario. The base case pre-tax economic results for the metal price assumptions are as follows:

Table 5: Pre Tax Projected Economic Results

Base Case

(dollar amounts in US$) Gold Price $1,000 (yrs 1&2); $1,150 (yr 3 to LOM) Net Cash Flow $117.2 million NPV @ 5% Discount Rate $79.3 million Internal Rate of Return 41.5% Operating Costs per Ounce of Gold

Produced (Life-of-Mine) $759

Infrastructure

Everything needed for a mine is on the mine site. The Florida Canyon mine is adjacent to a major transportation and services corridor. The mine is within one mile of Interstate 80, the Union Pacific Railroad, and NV Energy transmission lines. All requirements for energy, water and process materials are available, and services are established. Nevada has a large, well-established gold mining industry. Services, supplies, manpower, housing, equipment and venders are readily available within the state.

The existing waste rock storage facilities are in the process of closure and have been reclaimed, and the existing leach pad is at capacity

A new 300 acre (121.4 hectare) heap leach facility (SHLP) is fully permitted. The SHLP is divided into three cells each covering 100 acres (40.5 hectares). The first cell will be constructed with initial production anticipated in late 2016. The pad location and attendant facilities are fully permitted.

The process facilities consist of five sets of carbon in columns with a maximum capacity of 9,000 gpm. An ARD plant, carbon acid wash, an elution and stripping circuit, electrowinning and refinery circuit, carbon handling and regeneration circuit and an assay lab with a metallurgical lab are on site. The facility has the capacity to produce over 180,000 ounces of gold per year.

A crusher and an agglomeration and conveyor plant are presently located at the Standard Mine. The crusher and associated facilities will be moved and upgraded. The crusher capacity will be increased from 5.0M tons (4.5M tonnes) per annum to 7.2M tons (6.5M tonnes) per annum. A new lime silo for lime storage and dosing ore will be constructed.

Ancillary facilities include a maintenance shop with offices. The maintenance shop has two bays with room to work on four Cat 785 haul trucks within the bays. An administration building includes offices, meeting rooms, and a training room. There is an assay laboratory with a metallurgical lab, a technical services office for the geological staff, a security office and guard shack, and lay down yards.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The Florida Canyon mine PEA was prepared by Mine Development Associates under the direction of Neil B. Prenn, PE, and incorporates the work of a number of industry-leading consultants, all of which are Qualified Persons (as defined under National Instrument 43-101) and are independent of Rye Patch. Neil B. Prenn has reviewed and approved this press release.

Regulatory Approvals

The Acquisition Agreement, Credit Facility, and the transactions contemplated therein are subject to applicable regulatory approvals, including TSXV approval.

On behalf of the Board of Directors|

'William Howald'

William C. (Bill) Howald, CEO & President

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the timing and completion of the Acquisition Agreement, the Credit Facility and an equity financing, future plans and objectives of the Company, proposed operations of the Company including mine development, future events and conditions and other statements that are not historical facts, all of which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results, programs and financial position could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Company's control. These factors include: the failure of the Company to satisfy the conditions in the Acquisition Agreement or the Credit Facility including mine redevelopment plans and production results to complete the contemplated transactions; the availability of funds; the financial position of Rye Patch; the timing and content of work programs; the results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; the reliability of calculation of mineral resources; the reliability of calculation of precious metal recoveries; the receipt and security of mineral property titles; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; fluctuations in metal prices; currency fluctuations; and general market and industry conditions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that the Acquisition Agreement, the Credit Facility and an equity financing and related transactions will be completed on the terms and within the time disclosed herein or at all.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Rye Patch Gold

Related Links

http://www.ryepatchgold.com


HERZLIYA, Israel, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The Report Reveals Top SDK Players per Category and Country, as Well as Industry Averages and Relevant Benchmarks

SafeDK, the one authority for all things SDKs, has released today the first Mobile SDKs Trends report in the Android Market in the Android Market based on a deep analysis of tens of thousands of free Android apps and hundreds of SDKs.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/806560 )



The mobile apps ecosystem has been growing exponentially, largely due to the prosperity of 3rd party mobile SDKs. Hundreds of thousands of app publishers are building millions of apps, using SDKs to enable advanced analytics, monetization and engagement, capabilities additional innovative features.

The report looks at April 2016 data, coming from over 30,000 Android apps, including popular free apps that are regularly at the top of the charts, and hundreds of SDKs that are active internationally (both by large and small players).

Some of the key trends covered in the report:

"We are very excited to be releasing the report that reveals mobile SDKs trends and benchmarks for the first time, and we plan to continue publishing it on an ongoing basis, for the benefit of the whole mobile app ecosystem. While SDKs play a huge role in the mobile app development arena, till today there were no related statistics and trends information out there. This information can help publishers make more educated decisions as to which SDKs they should keep on their radar and consider using. Our goal is to bring a new standard of transparency to the industry by making this information accessible and public, just as we do with our SafeDK Marketplace. This information can also serve SDK players, helping them understand their position and market share and learn about the competition", says SafeDK CEO, Orly Shoavi.



To download the full report: http://mobile-sdk-data-trends.safedk.com/full-report-2016

About SafeDK

SafeDK is a complete mobile SDKs management platform enabling app publishers to build better, safer apps. SafeDK covers the entire span of the app development cycle, from finding the top rated SDKs in the SafeDK Marketplace to ongoing monitoring and real-time control of the SDKs. SafeDK was founded in September 2014 by Orly Shoavi and Ronnie Sternberg, and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel. The company is funded by StageOne VC and top strategic Angel investors, including Eddy Shalev, Marius Nacht, and Kaedan Capital.

For more information visit: www.safedk.com.

SafeDK on social channels: FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, YouTube



Contact for press inquiries:

Tsipi Joseph, G2M TEAM

[email protected]

+972-52-811-3423



SOURCE SafeDK
BOSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Bank celebrated the relocation of one of its Manhattan branches today from the Flatiron District to a more visible and highly trafficked location just outside Union Square. The Bank marked the occasion with a $5,000 donation to the pioneering non-profit organization, Third Street Music School Settlement, the nation's longest-running community music school located just a few short blocks away from the branch in its new East Village neighborhood.

Santander executives and team members attended the grand opening and ribbon cutting to officially open the new Union Square area branch at 13th Street & Broadway  just seven blocks south of the branch's former location in the Flatiron District at 251 Park Avenue South & East 20th Street.

Elsie Leon-Cruz, region president for the Santander's Metro New York/Northern New Jersey region, commented, "As the gateway to downtown, the vibrant Union Square area is an ideal location for our newest branch. Staffed with a knowledgeable team of Santander bankers, whether you want to open an account, apply for a loan or you just have questions, people can feel comfortable walking in to the branch knowing our team members are here to help you achieve your financial goals and provide you with a great customer experience. We look forward to welcoming new and existing customers."

Leon-Cruz added, "At Santander, we recognize the importance of investing in our neighborhoods. Music and the arts are the lifeblood of this community so it seemed only fitting to celebrate our first day in the area by making a donation to the Third Street Music School Settlement, an incredible community organization that provides music and arts education to over 5,000 students at its East Village school and in more than two dozen public schools across New York City."

Valerie G. Lewis, Third Street Music School Settlement's Executive Director said, "As the nation's longest-running community music school, Third Street Music School Settlement welcomes Santander Bank to the community. We are so pleased to receive a generous gift from Santander Bank to support the work we do providing music and arts education to those who seek its enrichment. Third Street truly looks forward to partnering with Santander Bank on future endeavors together to serve our friends and neighbors."

Conveniently accessible to several mass transit stations and bus lines, Santander's Union Square branch occupies a 2,300 square foot, street- level space on a busy street corner visible from Union Square Park. The full-service branch features a new design aimed at improving the customer experience with an open layout and comfortable meeting "nooks" where bankers can meet with customers to discuss their financial needs. There is also a 24-hour zone with two full-service ATMs. The branch will continue to introduce new technologies as they evolve to help customers meet their banking goals.

Santander's Flatiron branch closed for business on April 29th and customers were previously notified by letter. The Union Square branch officially opened to customers on May 2nd.

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's top retail and commercial banks by deposits and a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A. - one of the most respected banking groups in the world. With its corporate offices in Boston, Santander Bank's more than 670 branches and nearly 2,100 ATMs are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank's 9,400 employees are committed to helping our 2.1 million customers make progress toward their financial goals with the support of our call centers, interactive online banking platform and easy to-use mobile app. Madrid-based Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) serves more than 117 million customers in the U.K., Europe, Latin America and the U.S. Through its local affiliates, including Santander Bank, Banco Santander is the largest corporate contributor to higher education in the world, investing over $165 million annually in colleges and universities across more than 20 countries, including the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.

SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.

Related Links

http://www.santanderbank.com


RACINE, Wis., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, SC Johnson expanded its global ingredient transparency program and industry-leading website whatsinsidescjohnson.com across Europe, offering consumers a comprehensive list of product ingredients for such iconic brands as Glade, Mr Muscle, Raid, Pledge, Duck and Autan. This makes SC Johnson the first major consumer packaged goods company to list specific fragrance ingredients for products sold in Europe, and marks an important step in the company's long-term efforts to transform ingredient transparency.

"We believe consumers should know a product's ingredients so they can make educated choices about what they bring into their homes," said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. "Providing ingredient transparency allows for straightforward dialogue about specific ingredients."

Johnson added that in a recent survey(1) the company conducted with European consumers, they found that a full two-thirds said it was important for consumer packaged goods companies to be transparent about ingredients. "Clearly this is an important issue in Europe. We are finding it is equally important globally as well."

The company's whatsinsidescjohnson.co.uk ingredient website is mobile friendly and helps consumers in Europe easily access and understand ingredient information. The site now includes the majority of more than 3,000 products sold by SC Johnson in 25 countries across Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom; with more to come. The website also provides a listing of specific fragrance ingredients for many of the products sold, versus simply listing "fragrance" or "parfum."

Making Information Easy to Access and Understand

For many years, companies selling products such as air fresheners, household cleaners and pest repellents in Europe have listed their ingredients on websites to comply with the law. The challenge for consumers has been ease of access and ease of use with these types of sites. Consumers visiting these sites can often end up more confused than they were before. In fact, the SC Johnson survey in Europe found that less than one-third of consumers believe they have sufficient information about ingredients in cleaning products and air fresheners.

SC Johnson goes far beyond the EU regulatory requirements of providing basic product information with the whatsinsidescjohnson.com website, which provides an easy-to-understand list of ingredients for each product and background information on why certain ingredients are used. The products are organized by language and brand with images of the actual products by country, making them easily recognizable and accessible with just a few clicks.

Disclosing Product-Specific Fragrance Ingredients and SC Johnson's History of Leadership

The whatsinsidescjohnson.com website lists product-specific fragrance ingredients for many of the products sold, going beyond the industry standard of disclosing a small number of specific allergens and then simply listing "fragrance" or "parfum." In fact, in disclosing product-specific fragrance ingredients, SC Johnson shares more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas.

"Fragrances play an important role in many of our products, and disclosing the ingredients of which they are composed helps build consumer trust, and is ultimately good for our business," said Johnson. He illustrated this point by noting that in the same survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents said that disclosure of ingredient information would positively impact their perception of a company and their purchase decision.

Historically, fragrance ingredient lists have been considered trade secrets, closely guarded by fragrance suppliers and consumer product companies. In its efforts to increase transparency, SC Johnson has been working with suppliers since 2008 to increase transparency of fragrance and non-fragrance ingredients alike. Key transparency milestones include:

2009: Launched U.S. ingredient disclosure program, followed soon after by Canada.

2012: Published SC Johnson Fragrance Palette, the complete list of approved ingredients for SC Johnson products.

2014: Published list of ingredient restrictions for transparency about how SC Johnson makes ingredient choices.

2015: Introduced product-specific fragrance disclosure, sharing more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas.

2016: Launched Glade Fresh Citrus Blossoms Collection with 100 percent fragrance transparency.

2016: Launched European ingredient transparency program at whatsinsidescjohnson.com.

Legacy Milestones

For more information about SC Johnson ingredients, visit whatsinsidescjohnson.com. To learn more about the SC Johnson Greenlist program and other examples of the company's responsibility and leadership, download the SC Johnson 2015 Sustainability Report.

SC JOHNSON INGREDIENT TRANSPARENCY Q&A

1. Why did SC Johnson launch this program in Europe?

A. SC Johnson has expanded its global ingredient transparency program to Europe as its latest step in ongoing ingredient transparency leadership. Product ingredient information is available online and via mobile access in a way that is user friendly for consumers. The company goes beyond current regulation and industry standards and includes product-specific information on fragrance ingredients.

2. How is SC Johnson going beyond the rest of the industry in terms of fragrance disclosure?

A. SC Johnson is the first major consumer packaged goods company to list specific fragrance ingredients for products sold in Europe, sharing more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas. This goes beyond the industry standard of disclosing just a small number of specific allergens and then simply listing fragrance or "parfum."

3. Why does SC Johnson use fragrances in its products?

A. Consumers enjoy fragrances for many reasons. Fragrances freshen the air, eliminate unwanted orders, and offer that just cleaned ambiance that many families desire. SC Johnson also makes some fragrance-free products for those who prefer them.

4. What countries are included in this European launch?

A. Today's launch includes the following European countries in their respective languages: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. In the coming months SC Johnson will complete the European rollout with Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, TANA, BAMA, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 130-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

[1]SC Johnson commissioned Ipsos Operations GmbH to conduct an online survey of European adults in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. This survey was fielded between March 25-27, 2016. The margin of error for this study (n=1,000 per country) is at most +/- 3.7% at a significance level of 90%.

SOURCE SC Johnson

Related Links

http://www.scjohnson.com


CINCINNATI, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP) will host an investor meeting focused on its digital strategies and operations on Wednesday, June 29.

Speakers include Scripps Chairman, President and CEO Rich Boehne, Chief Digital Officer Adam Symson and leaders from Newsy, Midroll, Cracked and Scripps local market digital operations. Topics will include the over-the-top video and audio marketplaces, programmatic and other digital advertising, the outlook for digital content and the Scripps approach to emerging opportunities in digital media.

The event, open to investors and analysts, will be held at The Warwick New York Hotel, 65 W. 54th St., New York City. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m., and the program will run from 9-11:30 a.m.

Seating is limited. To attend, email [email protected]. To listen, find an audio webcast, both live and replay, at www.scripps.com under Investor Information.

About Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of television, radio and digital media brands. Scripps is one of the nation's largest independent TV station owners, with 33 television stations in 24 markets and a reach of nearly one in five U.S. households. It also owns 34 radio stations in eight markets. Scripps also runs an expanding collection of local and national digital journalism and information businesses, including multi-platform satire and humor brand Cracked, podcast industry leader Midroll Media and over-the-top video news service Newsy. Scripps also produces television shows including "THE LIST" and "The Now," runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and serves as the long-time steward of the nation's largest, most successful and longest-running educational program, the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way."

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company

Related Links

http://www.scripps.com


WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Scuderi Clean Energy (SCE) today announced it has filed a United States patent application for a new method of utilizing a combined heat and power (CHP) system to produce electricity for the wholesale market.

CHP, or cogeneration, is the simultaneous production of two or more forms of energy from a single device. A CHP system is typically an on-site electricity generation system, which captures the heat that would otherwise be wasted to provide useful thermal energy (such as steam or hot water) that can be used for space heating, cooling, domestic hot water and other industrial processes. In this way, a CHP system can achieve overall efficiencies of 80%, compared to 35% efficiencies when power is coming solely from the grid.

Unfortunately, traditional CHP systems are sized to meet the heat load requirements of the site and only partially meet the electricity load requirements. Since the electricity generated is only secondary to the heat produced, the electrical efficiency of the system is not a primary design consideration. With these traditional methods, it has historically been very difficult for CHP systems to sell power competitively into the wholesale electricity markets.

The Scuderi Clean Energy method offers advantages and alternatives over traditional systems by providing a way of utilizing a CHP system to produce electricity for the wholesale market. One key element is that its high efficiency system does not depend on heat load in order to be economically viable.

"Scuderi Clean Energy CHP systems are dual output power generators," explained Nick Scuderi, president of Scuderi Clean Energy. "The system does not need a minimum heat load to size its engines, but can instead oversize the design, run at higher full-load efficiencies and provide constant power to the grid while providing all the heat and cooling needed

About Scuderi Clean Energy

Scuderi Clean Energy, LLC, (SCE) a wholly owned subsidiary of Scuderi Group, Inc., was formed in October 2015 to market Scuderi Engine Technology to the power generation industry. SCE holds a worldwide license on the Scuderi Engine Technology patent portfolio for the power generation industry. The Company currently has over $60 million worth of power projects under contract in Massachusetts and New York. All projects are for power generation utilizing conventional engines with the patented Scuderi control system. For more information, visit www.scudericleanenergy.com.

Media Contact:

Bill Wrinn

Scuderi Clean Energy

Ph: 978-559-1970

Email

SOURCE Scuderi Clean Energy

Related Links

http://www.scudericleanenergy.com


DALLAS, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) proudly welcomes Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to its company headquarters to share his personal journey with Employees. From being the first Asian Pacific American mayor of a major U.S. city to co-founding the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Mineta has spent his career breaking glass ceilings.

"Norman Y. Mineta has made tremendous contributions to the United States throughout his career, and we're excited for him to share his personal journey with our Employees. He is a phenomenal role model and his life story illustrates how preparation, determination, and perseverance can overcome both cultural stereotypes and systemic obstacles," said Ellen Torbert, Southwest Airlines' Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion. "Southwest is honored to have someone who has blazed trails in the Asian American community speak to and enlighten our Employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month."

Mineta served as United States Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton and as United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush. To learn more about Mineta's powerful story, visit Southwest Airlines' blog, NUTS About Southwest.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

In its 45th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 50,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest operates more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season across a network of 97 destinations in the United States and seven additional countries. Service to Long Beach, California, the carrier's 98th city, begins June 5, 2016.

Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. The Company operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi providing gate-to-gate connectivity. That connectivity enables Customers to use their personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as more than 20 channels of free, live TV compliments of our valued Partners. Southwest created Transfarency, a philosophy which treats Customers honestly and fairly, and in which low fares actually stay low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some airlines may allow free checked bags on select routes or for qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. In 2014, the airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. The new aircraft livery, airport experience, and logo, showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees to connect Customers with what's important in their lives.

From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 43 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2015 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Related Links

http://www.southwest.com


NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of A. M. Castle & Co. (NYSE: CAS) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the board of directors of the company. To obtain additional information, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/amcastle-cas

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120409/MM84375LOGO

SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Related Links

http://www.zlk.com


Mr. Durack is a biomedical engineer, inventor, and successful technology entrepreneur. He began his career in 1979 at the Coulter Corporation, a world leader in IVD instrumentation. Until 2013, he served as CEO and CSO for iCyt Visionary Bioscience, a biomedical design engineering and product company which he founded in 1995. In 2009, iCyt was acquired by the Sony Corporation and renamed Sony Biotechnology. Mr. Durack is an angel investor in technology startup companies and serves as a Business Mentor with the Chicago Innovation Mentor program.

Mr. Durack is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and served several years as a Technical Counselor for the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry, which presented him with their Distinguished Service Award in 2014. In 2015, he received the Carleton and Sigrid Stewart Award from the Great Lakes International Image and Flow Cytometry Association.

Over his 36-year career Mr. Durack has edited a book, written multiple book chapters, and authored several peer-reviewed publications in the field of cytometry. He has 29 issued US patents and more than a dozen pending patent applications. He attended Purdue University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. Mr. Durack has recently served as adjunct bioengineering faculty at the University of Illinois and taught classes in entrepreneurship for the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the School of Engineering at the University of Illinois.

"The addition of Gary to our team is a significant step in the growth of our company," said John Vozenilek, MD, FACEP, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Simulation for SIMnext. "He brings a proven expertise that enhances our core ability to work with clinicians and institutions around the world to create portable simulation and training solutions. He has a deep knowledge of innovation process management, as well as lean manufacturing and product distribution methodologies. With him driving the vision for our team, we are poised to accelerate and expand the role SIMnext plays in the healthcare simulation industry."

SIMnext is undergoing a period of rapid growth fueled by the global launch of multiple products worldwide, as well as increased awareness for the value simulation training is bringing to the global healthcare industry. As the demand for SIMnext products and services continues to grow, Mr. Durack will add deep commercial, strategic, and operational experience to the executive management team. As part of the strategic alignment, TEKMILL will provide additional product engineering bandwidth, leveraging its product development, manufacturing, and distribution capabilities, accelerating the introduction of several new simulation products.

"I am very excited to join the SIMnext team. The opportunity to help drive the strategic vision for this truly unique business model is a distinct honor," said Mr. Durack. "Our focus is on further establishing SIMnext as the industry leader in portable simulation training solutions while expanding our network of clinical, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and distribution partners. Because the clinical hub of OSF HealthCare, one of our members, is headquartered in Peoria, SIMnext is ideally positioned to leverage resources from Peoria, Champaign, and Chicago. From this fast-growing 'Healthcare Innovation Triangle' SIMnext will deliver simulation and education products and services to hospitals, academic institutions, and simulation centers around the world."

SIMnext's corporate offices are based in Peoria with the core of its product development and manufacturing capabilities located in Champaign near the campus of the University of Illinois. The company also holds a chair as a member of the MATTER healthcare incubator (www.matterchicago.com) in Chicago.

ABOUT TEKMILL

The TEKMILL provides product design, fabrication, and small scale manufacturing services from its facility located in the Research Park at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The company was founded by Peter B. Fox, a successful entrepreneur and real estate developer, and Gary Durack, now CEO of SIMnext.

For more information on the company, please visit www.thetekmill.com.

ABOUT SIMnext

As the medical simulation training industry continues to grow, the demand for realistic, accessible product solutions is growing with it. SIMnext is working directly with clinicians and guided by real-time patient data to provide the bridge between learning environments and real-life clinical experience.

SIMnext is built on a culture of open, agile exploration with partners that enable our team of engineering, medical, and business experts to aggressively pursue answers to complex healthcare simulation and training problems. Through this model we are able to offer our partners and clients fully tested, nuanced products that are the key to developing expertise. It is our continuing goal to relentlessly pursue, discover, and implement leading-edge technologies and designs that will actively affect how training and simulation are used to improve patient outcomes and add to the overall wellness of the healthcare industry.

For more information on the company, please visit www.simnext.com.

CONTACT

David Greiner

Mobile: +1 (312) 882-7823

Email: [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371851

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371859LOGO





SOURCE SIMnext, LLC

Related Links

http://www.simnext.com


SiteLock Full Website Security Set Now Available to Ingram Micro Cloud Channel Partners in the U.S.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SiteLock, the global leader in website security solutions announced today an agreement with Ingram Micro, the world's largest technology distributor and a leading master cloud service provider.

Through this relationship, the SiteLock Find, Fix, Prevent, and 911 solution sets are now available to channel partners via the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace in the United States. SiteLock's comprehensive, cloud-based website security solutions will ensure websites are running safely through malware detection, testing, automatic malware removal, web app firewalls, and more.

In today's digital world, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and efficient. With over 4,000 cyber-attacks every day, 170 attacks every hour, and nearly three attacks every minute, it's important to prepare companies to defend against an inevitable cyber-attack.

"We are one of the only security solutions providers to offer complete, cloud-based website protection and we couldn't be more pleased to grow our business with Ingram Micro. With their deep knowledge in technology solutions as a whole, we believe our product will only enhance their cloud portfolio," notes Tom Serani, Executive Vice President of Business Development for SiteLock.

"With cybersecurity now a growing issue for anyone with an online presence, the increased user demand for cloud-based website security offers a significant revenue opportunity for channel partners," says Tarik Faouzi, vice president, Global Cloud Partners and Solutions, Ingram Micro. "We are excited to round out our Online Presence portfolio in the Cloud Marketplace with the addition of SiteLock, and deliver greater business value to our channel partners through a holistic end-to-end cloud offering that encompasses everything a business needs to build a professional caliber online presence."

About SiteLock

SiteLock provides comprehensive, cloud-based website security to all businesses. The company offers a suite of products that help businesses defend against malicious activity and harmful requests. Founded in 2008, the company currently protects over eight million users worldwide. For more information, please visit SiteLock.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/277072LOGO

SOURCE SiteLock

Related Links

https://www.sitelock.com


Princeton, N.J., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Soligenix, Inc. (OTCQB: SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, announced today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has exercised an option for the evaluation of RiVax to fund animal efficacy and toxicology studies. The overall objectives of the contract are to advance the development of Soligenix's thermostabilization technology, ThermoVax, combined with the company's ricin toxin vaccine, RiVax, as a medical countermeasure to prevent the effects of ricin exposure.

The exercised option for contract #HHSN272201400039C will provide Soligenix with an additional $3.2M in funding (total awarded to date under this contract: $16.7M). If all contract options are exercised, the total award of up to $24.7 million will support the preclinical, manufacturing and clinical development activities necessary to advance heat stable RiVax with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"The exercise of this and other recent options demonstrates the positive and productive collaboration between NIAID and the Soligenix team," stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Soligenix. "With over $8M in new option awards for 2016, we look forward to accelerating our work with NIAID and engaging the FDA to advance the RiVax program. We thank the NIAID team for their continued support and contribution to the Soligenix development program."

About Ricin Toxin

Ricin toxin is a plant toxin and potential biological weapon because of its stability, high potency, and availability as a by-product of castor oil production. Ricin comes in many forms like powder, mist, or pellet. Ricin can also be dissolved in water and other liquids. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the lethal dose in humans is about the size of a grain of salt. Ricin toxin illness causes tissue necrosis and general organ failure leading to death within several days of exposure. Ricin is especially toxic when inhaled. Ricin works by getting inside the cells of the body and preventing the cells from making the proteins it needs. Without the proteins, cells die, which is eventually harmful to the whole body.

There are currently no effective treatments for ricin poisoning. The successful development of an effective vaccine against ricin toxin may act as a deterrent against the actual use of ricin as a biological weapon and could be used in rapid deployment scenarios in the event of a biological attack.

About RiVax

RiVax is Soligenix's proprietary recombinant subunit vaccine developed to protect against exposure to ricin toxin. With RiVax, Soligenix is a world leader in the area of ricin toxin vaccine research.

RiVax contains a genetically altered version of a RTA chain containing two mutations that inactivate the toxicity of the ricin molecule. A Phase 1A clinical trial was conducted with a formulation of RiVax that did not contain an adjuvant. This trial revealed dose dependent seroconversion as well as lack of toxicity of the molecule when administered intramuscularly to human volunteers. The adjuvant-free formulation of RiVax induced toxin neutralizing antibodies that lasted up to 127 days after the third vaccination in several individuals. To increase the longevity and magnitude of toxin neutralizing antibodies, RiVax was formulated with an adjuvant of aluminum salts (known colloquially as Alum) for a Phase 1B clinical trial. Alum is an adjuvant that is used in many human vaccines, including most vaccines used in infants. The results of the Phase 1B study indicated that Alum-adjuvanted RiVax was safe and well tolerated, and induced greater ricin neutralizing antibody levels in humans than adjuvant-free RiVax. In preclinical animal studies, the Alum formulation of RiVax also induced higher titers and longer lasting antibodies than the adjuvant-free vaccine. Vaccination with the Alum-adjuvanted RiVaxO formulation in a large animal model provided 100% protection (p<0.0001) against acute exposure to aerosolized ricin, the most lethal route of exposure for ricin. The protected animals also had no signs of gross lung damage, a serious and enduring ramification with long-term consequences for survivors of ricin exposure.

The development of RiVax has been sponsored through a series of grants from both NIAID and the FDA, which were granted to Soligenix and to the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) where the vaccine originated. To date, Soligenix and Dr. Ellen Vitetta and colleagues at UTSW have collectively received approximately $25 million in grant funding from NIAID for development of RiVax and related vaccine technologies. RiVax would potentially be added to the Strategic National Stockpile and dispensed in the event of a terrorist attack.

About ThermoVax

ThermoVax is a technology that is designed to eliminate the standard cold chain production, distribution and storage logistics required for most vaccines. Cold chain requirements add considerable cost to the production and storage of current conventional vaccines. According to the Biopharma Cold Chain Sourcebook of 2010, 98% of all vaccines (with a total value of $20.6 billion) require shipment through cold chain. Elimination of the cold chain would also enhance the utility of these vaccines for emerging markets and for other applications requiring but lacking reliable cold chain capabilities. Further, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 50% of all global vaccine doses are wasted because they are not kept within required temperature ranges. NIAID has also highlighted the priority of technologies for biodefense vaccines that focus on broad spectrum approaches including vaccine adjuvants and temperature stabilization for long shelf life, rapid onset of immunity, and surge capacity for production. For vaccines that are intended for long-term stockpiling, such as for use in biodefense or in pandemic situations, the utilization of ThermoVax has the potential to facilitate easier storage and distribution of strategic national stockpile vaccines in emergency situations.

The technology utilizes precise lyophilization of protein immunogens with conventional aluminum adjuvants in combination with secondary adjuvants for rapid onset of protective immunity with the fewest number of vaccinations. RiVax is extremely labile in liquid form requiring careful management under refrigerated conditions at 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). By employing ThermoVax during their final formulation, it is possible to produce stable and potent vaccines that are capable of withstanding temperatures at least as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to one year.

The underlying technology has been developed by Drs. John Carpenter and Theodore Randolph at the University of Colorado. The vaccine technology has been developed to date in collaboration with SRI International, the University of Kansas, the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, and the Tulane National Primate Research Center under the sponsorship of the cooperative grant from NIAID.

About Soligenix, Inc.

Soligenix is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need. Our BioTherapeutics business segment is developing SGX301 as a first-in-class photodynamic therapy utilizing safe visible light for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, proprietary formulations of oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate (BDP) for the prevention/treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders characterized by severe inflammation including pediatric Crohn's disease (SGX203) and acute radiation enteritis (SGX201), and our novel innate defense regulator technology dusquetide (SGX942) for the treatment of oral mucositis.

Our Vaccines/BioDefense business segment includes active development programs for RiVax, our ricin toxin vaccine candidate, OrbeShield, our GI acute radiation syndrome therapeutic candidate and SGX943, our melioidosis therapeutic candidate. The development of our vaccine programs incorporates the use of our proprietary heat stabilization platform technology, known as ThermoVax. Currently, this business segment is supported with up to $57 million in government grant and contract funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

For further information regarding Soligenix, Inc., please visit the Company's website at www.soligenix.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect Soligenix, Inc.'s current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities, including but not limited to, potential market sizes, patient populations and clinical trial enrollment. Statements that are not historical facts, such as "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "potential," or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from what is expressed in, or implied by, these statements. Soligenix cannot assure you that it will be able to successfully develop, achieve regulatory approval for or commercialize products based on its technologies, including dusquetide (SGX942), particularly in light of the significant uncertainty inherent in developing vaccines against bioterror threats conducting preclinical and clinical trials of vaccines, obtaining regulatory approvals and manufacturing vaccines, that product development and commercialization efforts will not be reduced or discontinued due to difficulties or delays in clinical trials or due to lack of progress or positive results from research and development efforts, that it will be able to successfully obtain any further funding to support product development and commercialization efforts, including grants and awards, maintain its existing grants which are subject to performance requirements, enter into any biodefense procurement contracts with the US Government or other countries, that it will be able to compete with larger and better financed competitors in the biotechnology industry, that changes in health care practice, third party reimbursement limitations and Federal and/or state health care reform initiatives will not negatively affect its business, or that the US Congress may not pass any legislation that would provide additional funding for the Project BioShield program. Positive results from the Phase 2 study evaluating SGX942 does not ensure that the follow-on Phase 2/3 clinical study will be successful. These and other risk factors are described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Soligenix's reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K. Unless required by law, Soligenix assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

SOURCE Soligenix, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.soligenix.com


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Spero Therapeutics, LLC, a biopharmaceutical company founded to develop novel therapies for the treatment of bacterial infections, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to acquire worldwide rights to VXc-486/VXc-100 and a portfolio of innovative antibacterial compounds targeted at bacterial gyrase (GyrB) and/or topoisomerase IV (ParE).

Under the terms of the agreement, Spero will make an upfront payment to Vertex for portfolio rights and assume responsibility for drug development and bringing the compounds to market. Vertex will be eligible to receive future development and commercial milestones, plus royalties on any therapeutic products resulting from the agreement.

"We believe that the Vertex molecules have immense potential for the treatment of drug-resistant infections," said Ankit Mahadevia, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Spero. "We are working to rapidly advance them into the clinic for multiple applications treating patients with serious bacterial infections."

About Spero

Spero is a biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of novel treatments for bacterial infections and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company's pipeline of anti-infective agents is one of the most unique in the industry. Spero is pioneering an entirely new therapeutic platform; this approach has yielded multiple molecules that enhance the utility and potency of many classes of existing drugs to include possible utility against Gram-negative pathogens. Spero's DHFR program is exploring the expansion of a novel antifolate's antibacterial spectrum to treat trimethoprim resistance isolates including Gram-negative pathogens. The investors in Spero include Atlas Ventures, SR One, MRL Ventures, Lundbeckfond Ventures, The Kraft Group, Osage Partners and The Partners Innovation Fund. For more information, please visit www.sperotherapeutics.com

SOURCE Spero Therapeutics

Related Links

http://www.sperotherapeutics.com


LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive Summary

The global business jets market was worth USD 20.9 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.86% to USD 33.8 billion by the end of 2020. It is forecasted that the global demand for new business jets will reach 9,100 by 2025. Over the next decade, North America is expected to lead the market for new jets followed by Europe & Africa. It is the small and medium jets segment that will drive the demand for new business jets. The business jets sector is facing turbulence due to economic difficulties in Europe, China, and Brazil.



While both North America and Europe have a comparable size of economy, the private jet flight activity in North America is 3.5 times larger.At the end of 3Q 2015, North America accounted forapproximately 66% of global deliveries in the private jet market, up from 45% of the market share before 2008.With emerging markets experiencing pressure, North America has steadily gained market share in the past 3 years. In Europe, it is expected that, new aircraft deliveries will be offset by older jets exiting the market which will result in almost zero net fleet growth through 2020.



It is projected that in the next decade, the business aviation industry in India will grow three times and emerge as the third largest aviation market by 2020. Although the corruption crackdown and the new government's policies have slowed the economic pace of China, outlook is still bright. The Greater China area is expected to take delivery of 2,420 business jets in the period 2013 to 2032.



The Middle East business jets market has a promising outlook although currently the business jets fleet in the area represents just 3% of the world total. With the region's GDP projected to rise at an average of 3.8% over the next two decades, the prospects of the business jets sector are bright. Saudi Arabia has the biggest fleet of business jets in the Middle East at 188 aircrafts followed by Turkey at 157 and UAE at 135.



Why should the report be purchased?

The report 'Study of the Global Business Jets Market 2016' highlights key drivers of and trends emerging in the global business jet market. The current market scenario and future prospects of the sector has been examined in detail. The North America, Europe, China, India and Middle East's business jets market have been studied in detail. All key global players in the business jets industry including Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Bombardier Inc., Cessna Aircraft, Honeywell International Inc., Embraer S.A., Boeing and Dassault Aviation have been profiled. The report contains latest industry leader's opinion.

Research methodology and delivery time



Smart Research Insights has conducted in depth secondary research to arrive at key insights. Data collected from key public industry sources and publications has been scanned and analyzed impartially to present a clear picture of the industry. All recent developments which impact the sector dynamics have been captured and used to support the research hypothesis.



The report is available as single-site single-user license. The delivery time for the electronic version of the report is 2 business day as each copy undergoes thorough quality check and is updated with the most recent information available. The dispatch time for hard copies 2 business days, as each hard copy is custom printed for the client.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3007369/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


HOUSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Superior Energy Services, Inc. today announced the results of its 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on May 24, 2016 in Houston.

The stockholders elected Harold J. Bouillion, David D. Dunlap, James M. Funk, Terence E. Hall, Peter D. Kinnear, Janiece M. Longoria, Michael M. McShane, and W. Matt Ralls to serve as directors until the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Also, the Company's Board of Directors, at the recommendation of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, approved the election of James M. Funk to serve as lead director of the Board until the next Annual Meeting.

In addition to electing directors, the stockholders approved an advisory vote on executive compensation, approved the adoption of the 2016 Incentive Award Plan and ratified the appointment of KPMG LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.

About Superior Energy Services

Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:SPN) serves the drilling, completion and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide through its brand name drilling products and its integrated completion and well intervention services and tools, supported by an engineering staff who plan and design solutions for customers. For more information, visit: www.superiorenergy.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Vincent, VP  Investor Relations,

(713) 654-2200

SOURCE Superior Energy Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.superiorenergy.com


NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Drivers and warehouse workers at the state's largest Anheuser-Busch distributor, Dichello Distributors, went on strike Sunday night over the company's lack of a fair contract offer. The 91 workers, members of Teamsters Local 443 in New Haven, are now on a strike line outside company headquarters and the distribution of beer in the state is at a standstill.

The company's latest offer consisted of an average wage increase of 12 cents per hour over a 10-year period  far too low considering the long-term tenure of many of the workers and the profitability of the company.

"Many of our members have been working at Dichello for 15, 20 or more years," said Daniel Flanagan, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 443. "They are dedicated and are a crucial part of what has made this company the success it is today. It's insulting that the company would offer such a small wage increase in this contract. We are standing strong with our members on the picket line at Dichello."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Daniel Flanagan, (203) 624-5185

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/IBTLOGO

SOURCE Teamsters Local 443
SAN DIEGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Telecom Brokers' portfolio of leading edge technology providers just got a little bigger today. The Orange County based telecommunications consulting firm has been steadily growing since 1998. The addition of Effortless signals not only a new partnership for the two companies, but also shows Telecom Brokers' readiness to fuel the steady uptick in business' desire to offload the IT department's routine tasks like adding new users, upgrading software, and making simple changes to the individual users in the company. The private all-in-the-cloud model Effortless provides is one their clients claim not only saves them money on staffing, but adds additional security and freedoms they never thought possible.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372281LOGO

Nancy Ridge, Executive Vice President of Telecom Brokers said, "one of the key areas Telecom Brokers and its partners serve is the SMB market. They represent one of the biggest segments of our business yet have been under-served by cloud providers. Effortless will fill that need. They bring the technology, the know-how and the focus to our SMB customers."

The relationship Effortless promotes is one that alleviates a company's need for the demand on IT staffing. Even the migration is covered by the Effortless team. "Our clients don't need IT staff to do the nitty gritty anymore." said Benjamin Gayheart, Founder and President of the cloud computing and security firm headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. "With our 24-hour support and proactive monitoring of the entire business network, IT staff at the company can now focus on business-advancing projects."

The company got started in the Las Vegas gaming industry, and has grown to serve SMBs across the United States and reaches industries not just in gaming, but also healthcare, legal, retail, insurance, hospitality, construction, manufacturing - and the list goes on. And their rapid growth is not at the cost of their clients; says longtime customer and famed Vegas CIO Richard Faircloth, "I am thrilled to say that Effortless is vital to our all-new resort and remains a part of the new Tropicana Las Vegas family."

Effortless was born from the need to bring cost savings to clients during the 2008 economic downturn, a time that required decreasing costs for businesses all while upholding even more stringent compliance requirements. Gayheart says, "we got our start in one of the highest regulated industries out there - the casino gaming industry. Even before it was mandatory we were delivering the compliance requirements of PCI, HIPAA, and HITECH in our solutions to casinos up and down the strip. It was natural for us to expand to healthcare and other regulated industries with the compliance practices we have in place. Last year we even became SSAE 16 Certified."

In addition to the Desktop-as-a-a-Service (DaaS) product Effortless Desktop, Effortless created a product it calls Effortless Defense. This came about as the need grew for and advanced layer of security for clients of Effortless Desktop. This product provides an added layer of security that goes beyond the expected firewall, SPAM filter, and anti-virus. It is included with every Effortless Desktop and available as a stand-alone Security-as-a-Service offering.

About Telecom Brokers

Founded in 1998, Telecom Brokers is a full service Technology Distributor and provider of telecom consulting and procurement services. Since then, the company has assembled a deep telecom portfolio across 60+ providers with access to 130 more, providing partners with superior access to the most compelling products to offer their business customers. In addition to traditional telecom voice, data and Internet products, including CLEC services and MPLS, the company offers a rich store of highly vetted next-generation offerings. These include convergent, cloud-enabled services and many hosted applications. These options, along with the expertise of the management and sales team, allow the flexibility needed to create custom solutions for each partner or customer that best fits them financially, operationally and strategically.



About Effortless

Effortless is an innovative Cloud and Security Provider, which migrates entire business infrastructures into the cloud. Effortless customers are businesses around the world that increase efficiency and save money by utilizing the solutions tailored to their business needs. Effortless brings customers into the cloud with a customized Flightplan. They start with an IT audit; then, a private cloud is built using ClearSky Environment Technology. When the cloud has been tested and approved, Effortless migrates clients' desktops, servers, applications, and the entire business network into the Effortless Cloud. Clients and their staff access this via high-level encryption from almost any Internet-enabled device. Effortless' pay-as-you-go model provides a virtual desktop solution, which includes advanced security that goes beyond web/spam filtering, anti-virus, and firewall to include signature, anomaly, and heuristic based detections. Plus, they include back-up and disaster recovery services (full redundancy and offsite servers), USA-based tech support, and much more. The company is SSAE 16 Certified and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, with additional offices and representation around the United States.

Contact their Channel Manager, Sonya Meline at [email protected], for more information or to schedule an interview.

For a quick video from Channel Partners News, about Effortless, see here: http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/videos/2016/03/effortless-office.aspx

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Effortless | Telecom Brokers
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis

Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Japan: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in Japan's cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including check payments, payment cards, cash transactions and credit transfers during the review period (20112015).



The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20162020). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.



The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.



Summary

Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Japan: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into Japan's cards and payments industry, including:



- Current and forecast values for each market in Japan's cards and payments industry, including debit and credit cards



- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, cash transactions, checks and payment cards. It also includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments



- E-commerce market analysis



- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing Japan's cards and payments industry



- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards



- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards



- The competitive landscape in Japan's cards and payments industry



Scope

- This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Japan's cards and payments industry.



- It provides current values for Japan's cards and payments industry for 2015, and forecast figures to 2020.



- It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting Japan's cards and payments industry.



- It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.



- It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.



Reasons To Buy

- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data related to Japan's cards and payments industry and each market within it.



- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in Japan's cards and payments industry.



- Assess the competitive dynamics in Japan's cards and payments industry.



- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Japan.



- Gain insights into key regulations governing Japan's cards and payments industry.



Key Highlights

- The Japanese government undertook a number of initiatives to encourage electronic payments during the review period (20112015). As part of its Regional Revitalization policy launched in June 2014, the government urged banks to enhance the scope of domestic automatic teller machines (ATMs) to make them compatible with overseas-issued payment cards, due to a rise in inbound tourists. In January 2016, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced plans to launch a mobile payment (m-payment) app for foreign visitors. Consumers can register passport and credit card details in the app, and make payments at retail outlets using mobile phones.



- To increase convenience for foreign travelers, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Bank announced plans to make their ATMs compatible with foreign issued credit cards. Presently, only a few banks in Japan provide ATMs that accept overseas cards for cash withdrawals. As part of the plan, Mitsubishi UFJ will install 1,000 ATMs over 20162020. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking also plans to install 1,000 ATMs by the end of March 2017.



- The government aims to welcome 20 million tourists a year by 2020, but is expected to surpass the target well before this date, as a total of 19.7 million tourists visited Japan in 2015. To encourage tourism, the government abolished tax for foreign travelers on confectionery, cosmetics, food, alcohol and medicinal items from October 2014. According to the new law, tourists spending US$47.2 (JPY5,000) or above at specified merchants are eligible for the tax exemption.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03755025-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The City Council of the city of Newport Beach, California and County of Orange officially adopted a resolution today declaring May 26, the birthday of the enduring American icon John Wayne, as "John Wayne Day." Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Muldoon was instrumental in delivering the accolade in the late actor's name.

Remembered as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, Wayne is a symbol of self-reliance, determination and patriotism. A loving family man and great friend, Wayne was an avid adventurer - a hunter, horseman and fisherman. Nearly forty years after his death, his legacy is still alive in Newport Beach, the place he called home for the last 15 years of his life and visited since high school. His beloved yacht, Wild Goose, is anchored in Newport Beach Harbor and the airport in Orange County bears his name as John Wayne Airport. It's also the place where he was laid to rest, at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar.

"John Wayne was a true American icon, and beyond that, a Newport Beach local whose interests and values mirror everything that makes this community so special," states Kevin Muldoon, Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem. "He symbolized all that is great in America and our city so it is only fitting that we should honor such a great man."

"John Wayne is a local hero for those of us in Orange County," adds Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel. "He helped so many while he was alive and even after his passing continues to improve the lives of others through the legacies created in his honor, like the John Wayne Cancer Foundation that has made groundbreaking advancements in cancer research."

"Newport Beach is a community that my father loved," says Ethan Wayne, President of John Wayne Enterprises, John Wayne's son. "I know that if he were here today he would be humbled by such an incredible honor and excited that the legacy that he built will be forever remembered on 'John Wayne Day.'"

John Wayne still remains one of America's most renowned larger than life luminaries whose name appears at the top of the Harris Poll's annual listings of America's favorite movie stars' year after year. With a career spanning over five decades John Wayne appeared in more than 175 films. The incredibly versatile actor starred in just about every genre but it was the Western, the American cinema, where Wayne made his lasting mark. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award, winning the Oscar for Best Actor in 1969 for True Grit. Wayne was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and in 1980 President Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. In his memory, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation was founded in 1985 by Wayne's children and is an organization that brings courage, strength and grit to the fight against cancer.

SOURCE John Wayne Enterprises
MINNEAPOLIS, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This year on May 29 (aka National 529 Day), the Minnesota College Savings Plan is celebrating the 20th anniversary of 529 college savings plans. Named after section 529 of the Internal Revenue code, "qualified tuition program," 529 plans were intended to make it easier for American families to save for college.

How plans help families save

It's no secret that the cost of college has risen over the years. Most experts predict the trend to continue with some studies estimating costs over $300,000. 529 college savings plans, like the Minnesota College Savings Plan, help parents save toward that cost. For example, Minnesota College Savings Plan accounts can be opened with just $25, and have options to make saving simple including direct deposit, the ability to contribute online, and the option to let friends and family members gift to your child's account.

Participants may not wind up saving the entire amount of their child's tuition. But, the more a child has saved by college, the less he or she will need to borrow in the form of student loans. That means the amount of debt they have to repay after graduation could be far less than if he or she had no college savings.

529 plans are popular

Data from the College Savings Plans Network's recent 529 Report show that over the last 20 years 529 college savings plans have grown in popularity. In 1996, the first year they were in use, families invested $2.4 billion in the plans. Today, 529 plan assets total around $253.2 billion. Individual account size  how much each family has saved  has also grown over the years. In 1996, the average amount saved was around $9,600. Today it's closer to $20,190. Part of the reason for the increase is that any earnings in the accounts have the opportunity to grow free from state or federal income tax meaning more money stays (and potentially grows) in your account.

Celebrate 529 Day with the Minnesota College Savings Plan

It's never too late to start saving for your child's higher education expenses. Getting started with the Minnesota College Savings Plan, Minnesota's Official College Savings Plan, can be done in about 15 minutes with just $25.

With a variety of investment options to choose from and low fees, the Minnesota College Savings Plan makes it easier for more families to save for college. For more information or to open an account, visit www.mnsaves.org.

About the Minnesota College Savings Plan

The Minnesota College Savings Plan, Minnesota's official 529 college savings plan, makes it easier for families to save for higher education expenses. It takes just $25 and 15 minutes to start a Minnesota College Savings Plan college savings plan and fund saved can be used at colleges, technical schools and grad schools nationwide. Additionally, funds may be used for books, supplies, or other qualified expenses  not just tuition. Ranked as the fifth lowest fee direct-sold 529 plan in the nation by Strategic Insights, the Minnesota College Savings Plan was also named as one of the nation's top performing direct sold 529 plans by SavingForCollege.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371970LOGO

SOURCE Minnesota College Savings Plan

Related Links

https://www.mnsaves.org


CANTON, Ohio, May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TimkenSteel Corp. (NYSE: TMST) today announced the pricing of its previously announced registered public offering of $75.0 million aggregate principal amount (or up to an aggregate of $86.25 million aggregate principal amount if the underwriters of the notes offering exercise their over-allotment option in full) of its 6.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2021.

The company expects to close the notes offering on May 31, 2016, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The notes will be TimkenSteel's senior unsecured obligations and will bear interest at a rate of 6.00% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on December 1, 2016. The notes will be convertible at the option of holders in certain circumstances and during certain periods into common shares of the company, cash, or a combination thereof, at the company's election. The conversion rate will initially be 79.5165 common shares of the company per $1,000 principal amount of notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $12.58 per common share of the company), subject to customary adjustments. The notes will mature on June 1, 2021, unless earlier repurchased or converted in accordance with their terms prior to that date. TimkenSteel will not have the right to redeem the notes prior to maturity.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the notes offering to repay a portion of the amounts outstanding under its asset-based revolving credit facility.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC has acted as sole bookrunner for the notes offering. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as co-manager for the notes offering.

The notes offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and an accompanying prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the notes offering may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone (800) 831-9146, or Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., attention: Prospectus Group, 60 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005-2836, email: [email protected], telephone (800) 503-4611.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the notes or any other securities, nor will there be any sale of the notes or any other securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is effective.

About TimkenSteel Corporation

TimkenSteel (NYSE: TMST) creates tailored steel products and services for demanding applications, helping customers push the bounds of what's possible within their industries. The company reaches around the world in its customers' products and leads North America in large alloy steel bars (up to 16 inches in diameter) and seamless mechanical tubing made of its special bar quality (SBQ) steel, as well as supply chain and steel services. TimkenSteel makes all of its steel in the United States and operates warehouses and sales offices in four other countries. The company posted sales of $1.1 billion in 2015 and was named Steel Producer of the Year by American Metal Market.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding TimkenSteel's current expectations and beliefs as to the closing of the notes offering, as well as other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management's judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. All information set forth in this release is as of May 24, 2016. TimkenSteel does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances. Risk factors and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include, among others, our ability to successfully complete the proposed notes offering. Information about certain other potential factors that could affect our business and financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements are included from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140130/CL55315LOGO

SOURCE TimkenSteel Corporation
BOSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia held a three-hour hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, filed May 9, against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) by the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) and its coalition of sanctuaries and chimpanzee experts, to stop Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Yerkes) from exporting eight (now seven) captive chimpanzees to an unaccredited zoo in the U.K., Wingham Wildlife Park (Wingham). The Yerkes' permit is the first of its kind since FWS's June 2015 decision giving captive chimpanzees full U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections.

During the hearing, attended by lawyers for NEAVS, the U.S. government, and Yerkes, Judge Jackson repeatedly expressed skepticism about FWS's position that the permit would "enhance the survival" of the chimpanzee species, as required by the ESA, because Yerkes and Wingham promised to make financial contributions to launch a new program regarding human health, the specifics of which are not even defined. The Judge questioned whether that arrangement satisfies the stringent test governing the export of an endangered species, when the export itself has nothing to do with conservation, and is being permitted to allow a commercial zoo to display chimpanzees for profit.

The case concerns the export of Agatha, Elvira, Faye, Fritz, Lucas, Tara and Georgia to Wingham, Kent, England. Now, Yerkes cannot move ahead with its transfer of the chimpanzees until the Court rules on the case. Although Yerkes originally told the Court it needed a decision on the motion by the end of May otherwise it would be "too hot" to transport the chimpanzees, at the end of the hearing, it agreed to halt the export until September to allow the Court the opportunity to look at the full record in the case before deciding the merits of NEAVS's claims.

Sadly, NEAVS and other Plaintiffs, including former Yerkes' employees, learned that one of the younger chimpanzees, Abby, who would have turned 21 on May 11, died in February "during a veterinary procedure" at Yerkes. This information was revealed in a footnote to Yerkes' brief in the case and was not mentioned by FWS despite several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests NEAVS has filed since February to gain information about the export.

Reacting to Yerkes' surprising capitulation to halt the export, and allow the full case to go forward in the fall, Theodora Capaldo, NEAVS' CEO, stated, "It is clear that the Judge has serious questions about what has gone on here, and particularly the FWS's use of a 'pay-to-play' arrangement that would allow facilities to engage in unlawful activities with an endangered species as long as they pay someone money in the name of "conservation." She added, "It is becoming increasingly bizarre that Yerkes insists on sending these seven chimpanzees to Wingham when the world's leading chimpanzee experts have explained that this arrangement will set a dangerous precedent for the commercialization of an endangered species, and no less than five U.S. sanctuaries have come forward and offered to give these chimpanzees a new home. In fact, a sanctuary a mere 90 minutes from Yerkes' campus will welcome them."

While Wingham complains that if it can't get these chimpanzees, its new $2 million facility will remain "empty," it is aware, from both the European Endangered Species Programme and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, that there is a surplus of captive chimpanzees already in Europe in desperate need of new homes. Although Yerkes assured the Court that Wingham has no "present intentions" of breeding the seven chimpanzees, Wingham's reluctance to take a bachelor group from Europe, and instead work hard to acquire the Yerkes' chimpanzees -- males and females of breedable ages -- casts serious doubt on such representations. It is also well established that having baby chimpanzees on display is a gold mine for zoos. Indeed, Yerkes did not dispute NEAVS's estimate -- included in court papers Wingham stands to make at least $2.7 million more each year from exhibiting the Yerkes' chimps, and far more if it is successful in producing infants.

However, a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned that the consumer "market" for endangered apes, including chimpanzees, is driven by "private and public zoos that are not members of [zoo] associations" that "are known to exploit apes commercially by arranging photograph sessions and having the apes perform and other unethical actions" -- precisely the kind of commercial "Experiences" that Wingham offers with its existing species that has caused such alarm among the chimpanzee conservation community.

Among individuals who submitted comments to FWS vehemently opposing the proposed export are: Dr. Richard Wrangham, Professor, Harvard University and Founder, Kibale Chimpanzee Project; Dr. Richard Leakey, Chairman, Kenya Wildlife Service and United Nations Great Apes Survival Partnership Ambassador (GRASP); Doug Cress, Executive Director, GRASP: Michele L. Stump, Esq., Chair, Pan African Sanctuary Alliance; the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums; the British and Irish Association of Zoos & Aquariums; the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance; the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria; the European Endangered Species Programme; and, 27,000+ public comments posted on the Federal Register.

According to Dr. Wrangham, if the export is allowed to go through:

FWS's authorization [would] foreshadow an alarming picture. The Yerkes/Wingham plan [would] threaten to grievously wound a consensus that has protected endangered species from commercial exploitation. It [would] herald a vision of range countries having an easier route to take endangered species from the wild, under the guise of conservation. Institutions worldwide could pay to acquire chimpanzees, an endangered species, in the name of "conservation."

In responding to yesterday's developments, Jen Feuerstein, one of the Plaintiffs who attended the hearing, expressed deep sadness at the news of the unexpected death of Abby, who Ms. Feuerstein had cared for as a young chimpanzee when she worked at Yerkes, and vowed to continue to, "be a voice for Abby and the other members of her social group" and to do everything in her power to ensure that these chimpanzees end up in a U.S. sanctuary, "where they can live out the remainder of their lives in peace and without being commercially exploited."

Briefs will be filed by all sides during the summer. Judge Jackson plans to issue a ruling at the beginning of September.

NEAVS et al. are represented by Katherine Meyer, of the Washington, D.C. public interest law firm, Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP.

Contact:

Nancy Finn, Director of Communications

(o) 617 523 6020 (c) 781-258-5813

SOURCE NEAVS

Related Links

http://neavs.org


Quaternary care services are those complex inpatient and outpatient services that generally are provided only in selected settings such as the University of Michigan Medical Center hospitals in Ann Arbor. Some examples include those selected transplant services, highly specialized pediatric care, and certain cancer clinical trial services that Ascension Michigan and Trinity Health do not offer.

Together Health is a statewide physician-led clinical network of health care providers, formed in 2014 by a partnership between the Michigan ministries of Ascension and Trinity Health and thousands of physician partners.

According to Dr. Eathorne, the addition of UMHS to the network gives patients in need even greater access to comprehensive, specialized care: "The University of Michigan has highly renowned physicians and services. This new provider agreement brings UMHS' nationally ranked health care expertise to our members throughout the state where Together Health Network operates."

The agreement allows for UMHS to provide those quaternary care services generally not available in the communities served by the hospitals and physicians associated with Ascension and Trinity Health.

This partnership with UMHS helps Together Health to round out its clinical integration strategy to provide patients access to comprehensive care across the continuum. It also paves the way for further, broader clinical collaboration efforts between UMHS and Together Health.

Seventy-five percent of Michigan residents live within a 20-minute drive of a Together Health Network provider. The network includes 25 hospitals, hundreds of ambulatory centers operated by Ascension and Trinity Health, and a dozen physician organizations across the state. For a complete list, visit www.togetherhealthnetwork.org.

According to UMHS President David Spahlinger, MD, joining Together Health is beneficial in several ways. "Our health care providers will have access to more hospital and ambulatory partners across Michigan. This will benefit both our clinical practice and our medical training programs. This is a great benefit to our patients, to our doctors, nurses and other caregivers, and to our students."

About Together Health Network

Together Health Network provides advanced care coordination services through competitively-priced health plan products. It offers patients and employers a combination of high quality and low cost, with an exceptional experience of care. The Network's objective is to improve both health and care for Michigan residents by facilitating relationships within its network of physician organizations, health systems, insurers, patients, and health providers. At the core of Together Health Network's culture are clinicians connected by a common purpose and meaning; they lead with a team-based care approach, based on a shared commitment and vision of positive outcomes. It is estimated that 75% of Michigan residents are within 20 minutes of one of the network's 25 hospitals and thousands of ambulatory centers and physician offices. For more information, visit http://www.togetherhealthnetwork.org.

About University of Michigan Health System

For more than 160 years, the University of Michigan Health System has been a national leader in advanced patient care, innovative research to improve human health, and comprehensive education of physicians and medical scientists. The three UMHS hospitals have been recognized numerous times for excellence in patient care, including national rankings in many specialty areas by U.S. News & World Report.

The UMHS includes a 1,000-bed hospital complex and more than 40 clinical care facilities. In addition this academic medical center includes the top-ranked U-M Medical School, a 1,900-physician faculty group practice, numerous research laboratories, $470 million in research grants, and highly regarded training programs. For more information visit: www.uofmhealth.org.

About Ascension Michigan

The Michigan Ministries of Ascension include Borgess Health in Kalamazoo, Crittenton Hospital Medical Center in Rochester, Genesys Health System in Grand Blanc, St. John Providence in metro Detroit, St. Joseph Health System in Tawas and St. Mary's of Michigan in Saginaw and Standish. Together, the health systems employ more than 25,000 associates and are a major economic driver in the state, with $1.4 billion in payroll each year. In fiscal year 2015, Ascension Michigan provided more than $260 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty.

Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable.

About Trinity Health  Michigan

Trinity Health  Michigan is a leading health care provider and one of the state's largest employers. With more than 24,000 full-time employees serving numerous counties, Trinity Health  Michigan provides the full continuum of care for Michigan's residents through eight hospitals, including the five hospitals of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Howell, Livonia and Pontiac, and the three-hospital Mercy Health, operating in Grand Rapids and Muskegon.

Throughout Michigan, Trinity Health operates numerous ambulatory sites, seven home health agencies, four hospice agencies and 21 senior living facilities, which include skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, memory care facilities and independent senior living communities. It also manages 10 additional senior living facilities, including low-income housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Nationally, Trinity Health is a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich., with operations in 22 states. Trinity Health employs about 95,000 full-time employees, has annual operating revenues of $15.9 billion, assets of $23.4 billion, and returns about $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371747LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/372101LOGO

SOURCE Together Health Network

Related Links

http://www.togetherhealthnetwork.org


In Wake of Panama Papers, Companies Can Now Publicly Disclose and Access Beneficial Ownership for Greater Transparency, Expedited Due Diligence

ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TRACE International, a worldwide leader in advancing commercial transparency and raising anti-bribery compliance standards, today launched TRACEpublic, the first global registry of beneficial ownership. Developed in direct response to the risks inherent in secret company ownership, highlighted by the Panama Papers, TRACEpublic enables companies to voluntarily and publicly provide their ownership information as a means to enhance corporate transparency and facilitate meaningful due diligence. Although identifying the beneficial owners of third party intermediaries, joint venture partners, distributers, suppliers and agents is a basic due diligence requirement, in most countries this information cannot be easily obtained. Calls for greater transparency and full disclosure underscore the need for a global registry of beneficial ownership.

"TRACE has been collecting beneficial ownership information as part of our due diligence process for 15 years," said Alexandra Wrage, president and founder of TRACE International. "After the Panama Papers broke we realized we needed to provide companies with a way to make this information available to the public, if they chose to. While some countries are establishing their own national registries or advocating for their development, TRACEpublic is the only global registry and allows companies to voluntarily distance themselves from the reputational stigma of secret companies. It also provides multinational companies with a starting point for due diligence."

TRACEpublic is a well-timed solution to the current groundswell of concern that companies often do not identify and document 100% of all beneficial owners for their third parties to determine potential legal and reputational risks. The registry is designed to collect and make publicly available the beneficial ownership data of thousands of companies around the globe. Companies may list their beneficial ownership or search the database at no cost. Users need only the name of a company or one owner to conduct a search.

A beneficial owner is any individual or entity that enjoys the benefits of owning an asset, regardless of whose name the title of the business, property or security is in. Hiding, disguising and misrepresenting companies' beneficial ownership structures is a standard practice of companies that engage in illegal business activities, including bribery, tax evasion, embezzlement and money laundering. Increasingly governments around the world  including the United States, United Kingdom and Denmark  are requiring companies to disclose beneficial owners at the time of incorporation and restricting the use of anonymous companies. TRACEpublic provides companies with a platform to voluntarily share their beneficial ownership information regardless of country of headquarters. The information displayed includes: legal name of entity, common name if different, company website, type of entity, city, country of headquarters, ownership information including percentages and the date ownership information was last updated. Companies are required to provide 100% of beneficial ownership.

Companies that conduct or contemplate conducting business with a private company, partnership or sole proprietorship can initiate due diligence on participating business entities after identifying these entities' beneficial owners on TRACEpublic.

For more information about TRACEpublic or to register a business, go to https://tpms.traceinternational.org/TRACEpublic.

About TRACE

TRACE International and TRACE Incorporated are two distinct entities with a common mission to advance commercial transparency worldwide by supporting the compliance efforts of multinational companies and their third party intermediaries. TRACE International is a non-profit business association that pools resources to provide members with anti-bribery compliance support while TRACE Incorporated offers both members and non-members customizable risk-based due diligence, anti-bribery training and advisory services. Working alongside one another, TRACE International and TRACE Incorporated offer an end-to-end, cost-effective and innovative solution for anti-bribery and third party compliance. For more information, visit www.TRACEinternational.org.

SOURCE TRACE

Related Links

http://www.traceinternational.org


WOODSIDE, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United in Purpose and My Faith Votes today jointly announced the collaborative organization of "A Conversation About America's Future with Donald Trump and Ben Carson," to be held June 21, 2016 in New York City.

Carson, My Faith Votes honorary chair, will give leadership to a guided discussion between Trump and diverse conservative Christian leaders to better understand him as a person, his position on important issues and his vision for America's future, while also enabling him to better appreciate matters of importance to the influential and substantial faith community.

"This moment is perhaps the most critical in the history of our nation, and people of faith can make a crucial difference for our children and grandchildren by exercising their civic duty to cast an informed vote based on a biblical worldview," said Carson. "The goal is that coming out of this meaningful 'conversation,' the faith leaders and Mr. Trump will be more informed about each other and would know one another better, and that he would see their unity in seeking God's direction for the future of America."

This meeting, closed to media, will be neither a fundraiser nor a political or campaign event, nor will it engage in debate. Carson will open with a brief address on the importance of unity, but apart from participating in dialogue with attendees, Trump is not expected to make formal remarks.

"Christian leaders are deeply concerned about the state of our nation after years of government policies and political correctness that have begun to radically and adversely affect the ability of Christians to live out their faith within America's political and cultural landscape," said Bill Dallas, United in Purpose CEO. "Our hope is that as we gather together there can be unity of spirit within the Church in America, even as each individual makes his or her own decisions as to who will be the future leaders in our government."

Each of the prominent Christian leaders in attendance has their own, diverse opinions, positions and constituencies. Having a direct, private conversation with Trump is a part of the process of hearing and being heard by him about issues of faith that affect all people. The group will not be making any joint or collective endorsements, decisions or statements.

"Our priorities for this meeting are to strengthen relationships and build unity, with an objective to simply have a conversation about the prospects of our nation and the continuing influence of Christian believers and their biblical worldview," said Sealy Yates, chairman of My Faith Votes. "We wish to talk with specificity to Donald Trump about issues of faith and the role of faith in the civic arena. And, we wish to assure him of our prayers for his family and him. This will be a friendly meeting of people of faith who are genuinely, prayerfully concerned about the future of America."

Not intended to be political in nature, the June 21 event will be attended by leaders of virtually every one of the nation's most significant denominations, Christian ministries and policy organizations, as well as many pastors of America's leading churches.

United in Purpose and My Faith Votes are both inclusive non-partisan organizations committed to bringing about cultural change in America based on Judeo-Christian principles and motivating and mobilizing people of faith in the democratic process through responsible citizenship.

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Larry Ross for United in Purpose | [email protected] | 972.267.1111

Johnnie Moore for My Faith Votes | [email protected] | 434.426.5310

SOURCE United in Purpose

Related Links

http://unitedinpurpose.org


US President Barack Obama talks with outstanding young entrepreneurs (Source: VNA)



The US leader spoke at the Dreamplex Co-Working Space at the Miss Ao Dai Building in the citys District 1 and saw products made by young Vietnamese, including virtual games created for people with nerve injuries, a smartphone-controlled laser cutter, and other innovations.

Dreamplex, which now has 60 start-ups, is a place for young entrepreneurs. Though the business model is popular in the US, Europe and Asia, it is fairly new to Vietnam.

Next month at our global entrepreneurs summit, something that I have been hosting now for several years, I will welcome eight Vietnamese entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley so they can learn from some of the best entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the world, Obama told the audience at Dreamplex.

Dreamplex is not only home for digital entrepreneurs like you, but it is also a place where you can share ideas and work together and build a community that supports each other, he added.

Incubators like this allow Vietnam, alongside its emphasis on entrepreneurship, to see more start-ups happening in this country than ever before.

Obama said that entrepreneurship was the fuel for prosperity that puts rising economies on the path to success.

Its what gives young people, like so many of you, the chance to channel your energy and your passion into something that is bigger than yourselves, he said. It allows us to go across countries and cultures to solve some of the worlds biggest challenges.

Ultimately, what makes start-ups and entrepreneurs successful is good ideas and human capital. Obviously, investors are important and infrastructure is important. But the most important thing is people. The culture of entrepreneurship has really begun to grow in Vietnam, he said.

The world is taking notice, said Obama, who noted that a leading global venture capital firm called 500 Startups had just launched a USD100 million fund in HCM city.

Three young entrepreneurs, Hang Do, Vice President of Seedcom, Le Hoang Uyen Vy, Managing Director of Adayroi, and Khoa Pham, Director of legal & corporate affairs for Microsoft, took part in a panel discussion with the US President after his speech at Dreamplex.

Obama spoke about the interconnectness of todays world and the global marketplace, and the need for every business to think globally. With good products and business strategies, companies can now reach billions of people, he noted.

Pham told the President that he returned to Vietnam to give the same opportunities to Vietnamese that he had received in the US.

He praised the spirit of entrepreneurship in Vietnam, saying that it had inspired him to return and continue to work with Microsoft in the place of his birth.

Obama told the entrepreneurs that the 12-country TPP trade agreement represents a huge portion of the worlds marketplace creating standards for trade and commerce that are fair, that create a playing field that has high standards, including intellectual property protection, he noted.

He closed his message with encouraging words for the countrys dynamic entrepreneurial community.

My message the other day is that I believe in you, America believes in you, and we will keep investing in your success. Ultimately, its the inventors and dreamers people like those that Ive just met, those who we will hear from soon and all of you in the audience, who are going to shape Vietnams future in the decades to come, he said.

I think that if you had any doubt about the outstanding future of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, then all those doubts have been pushed away because of the outstanding presentations by these three individuals. Give them a big round of applause, Obama said at the end of the talk with the young business people.

Relations between Vietnam and the US are at a historic high following the establishment of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership in 2013 and the celebration of 20 years of diplomatic relations in 2015.

Trade between the two countries has nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops USD45 billion.

US exports to Vietnam increased by 23 percent in 2015, the largest increase of the USs top 50 trade partners, and only one of two markets with double-digit growth.

At the same time, the US remains Vietnams largest export market, growing 24 percent year-on-year.

Economic ties between the two countries are poised to expand even further with the implementation of the TPP agreement, which would hold nearly 40 percent of the worlds GDP, accountable to the highest labor, environmental and intellectual property rights standards of any previous trade agreement, while leveling the playing field for workers and businesses, the US State Department said in a press release.

The US has committed to helping Vietnam continue on its path of economic reforms, including efforts required to fully implement its commitments under the TPP through technical assistance, the department said./.
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Alliance for Terminating ISIS / Al-Qaeda is sponsoring a meeting to establish a common ground for unity among nations and governments around the world to terminate these evil terrorist organizations.

The meeting will take place on the 2nd of June from 8:30 and 11:00 a.m.

The event will be held at the Press Club 529 14th St. NW in the Murrow Room, Washington D.C.

Our guest speakers include:

Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban: Syrian politician and currently political and media adviser to the President of Syria.

Bassam Al Hussaini: The Iraqi government liaison for the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces). The Hashd al-Shaabi has taken a prominentand many would say problematicrole in the fight against the Islamic State ISIS. Bassam has served in the office of the prime minister of Iraq since 2005 as a point man on problems that others are afraid to approach. Bassam is not a member of any political party, yet he has been the only senior advisor to serve three prime ministersIbrahim Jaafari, Nouri al-Maliki, and Haider al Abad

Imam Hesham Al Huseini: Imam representing the American Muslim perspective on the controversial issues within the Republican Party. He was also the founder of the Iraqi opposition movement against Saddam Hussein. He was invited in 2007 to the Democratic National Convention to speak about the views of American Muslims.

Ahmad Maki Kubba: GAFTA founder and president will be speaking about the vision, spirit, and goals of the organization. He had been a strong opponent to Saddam Hussein's regime, having gone through political imprisonment, severe torture, finally escaping a death sentence issued by the Iraqi regime in 1979. He founded the American Iraqi Counsel, leading the fight against the regime at its strongest point. He was honored by Governor Jeb Bush on March the 8th, 2005. Governor Jeb Bush stated that "people often talk broadly of the importance of the fight for liberty, Maki shows us what it means for our friends and neighbors, both here and abroad."

Non-profit EIN: 46-5700365

Website: www.GAFTA.Net

Email: [email protected]

Phone:(727)422-6525

SOURCE The Global Alliance for Terminating ISIS / Al-Qaeda
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Valpak, a leader in local print and digital coupons, announced today it is looking to further grow its brand in Columbia, South Carolina. The company currently mails to as many as 100,000 households in Columbia but is looking to expand the reach to 150,000 homes that will receive consumer savings in the signature Blue Envelope. To make this possible, Valpak is seeking a sales-driven entrepreneur to acquire the franchise and help strengthen the local Valpak market.

According to the University of South Carolina, South Carolina's retail trade employment growth nearly doubled statewide in 2015, marking a significant opportunity for Valpak's expansion in the region. Additionally, in 2015, CNBC ranked South Carolina's cost of doing business and the state's workforce 22nd best in the nation, based on the cost of taxes, utilities, wages, workers' compensation, and commercial rent.

"In recent years, Columbia has experienced impressive economic growth, specifically in the business and professional services sectors," said Shak Turner, Valpak's director of franchise sales. "When business is good, consumers will spend -- it's that simple. As a leading direct marketing company, it's exciting to know Valpak can assist local businesses in their own economic growth by offering services through our popular mailer, along with our vast suite of digital advertising tools."

Additionally, Columbia boasts the nation's largest Army training facility, Fort Jackson. Valpak's impressive veteran incentive program, including waived start-up fees for qualified, honorably discharged U.S. military veterans, provides a savings of $32,500 and makes it easier for veterans to start their own franchise business and receive training at no direct cost.

A leader in cooperative direct mail, Valpak mails coupons to nearly 39 million demographically targeted households per month in 45 states and four Canadian provinces. Today, in addition to its flagship Blue Envelope, Valpak offers its advertisers an impressive portfolio of digital advertising products including valpak.com, Smartphone apps, Google partnerships, website development, mobile web optimization and reputation management.

With more than 25 million Americans using couponing apps each month, Valpak's digital offerings have been a big draw for new franchisees. Digital coupon use is on the rise, and ample gains are projected in 2016. In the past year, Valpak's print offerings have also expanded with on-envelope advertising and circulars.

Ideal candidates for Valpak franchise ownership should possess a desire to join a trusted, industry-leading brand, work within a proven franchise system, develop relationships with local businesses and have a comfort level with selling new, digital technologies. Franchisees should also possess a minimum liquidity of $75,000, and a minimum net worth of $150,000.

For more information on Valpak franchise opportunities, please contact Shak Turner at [email protected] or 727-399-3091 or visit www.valpakfranchising.com.

About Valpak

Based in St. Petersburg, FL, Valpak is one of the leading direct marketing companies in the U.S. and Canada. We provide print and digital advertising through a network of 160 local franchises. From mailbox to mobile phone, Valpak brings exciting local business offers and opportunities to millions of consumers. Each month, our well-known Blue Envelope of savings is mailed to about 39 million demographically targeted households in 45 states and in four Canadian provinces. Our digital suite of products, including valpak.com, reaches more than 110 million users. Founded in 1968, Valpak is owned by Cox Target Media, a subsidiary of Cox Media Group in Atlanta.

CONTACT:

Samantha Rego

Valpak

727-399-3139

[email protected]

Sloane Fistel

Fish Consulting

(954) 893-9150

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150212/175295LOGO

SOURCE Valpak

Related Links

https://www.valpak.com


VALLEY FORGE, Pa., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard announced today that Michael Rollings will join the $3.5 trillion investment management firm next month as Chief Financial Officer and head of its Finance Division. Mr. Rollings most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of MassMutual Financial Group.

"We are pleased to welcome to Vanguard a finance professional the caliber of Mike Rollings. He will bring considerable experience and perspective to Vanguard's senior leadership team, along with deep knowledge and expertise to a critical function," said Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb.

Mr. Rollings, 52, will assume leadership of Vanguard's Finance Division from Managing Director Glenn Reed, 63, who will remain a member of the firm's 11-person senior leadership team and head Vanguard's Strategy Division. Mr. Rollings will be responsible for all of Vanguard's finance functions, including middle-office investment operations, investment product accounting and administration, and internal audit.

After starting his career in banking in New York City, Mr. Rollings joined MassMutual in 2001 to lead the firm's Capital Markets division, and was named Executive Vice President and CFO in 2006. He received a B.S. degree in business administration from Georgetown University and holds a postgraduate degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

About Vanguard

Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. As of April 30, 2016, Vanguard managed more than $3.5 trillion in global assets. The firm, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, offers more than 325 funds to its more than 20 million investors worldwide. For more information, visit vanguard.com.



Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150225/177983LOGO

SOURCE Vanguard

Related Links

http://www.vanguard.com


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare technology public relations and marketing agency, announced that Tara Stultz has joined the agency in the role of senior content and account director. Stultz will develop and create PR and marketing content and manage accounts for multiple healthcare technology-focused clients to drive brand awareness and introduce new programs, products, and services.

Stultz has more than 20 years of healthcare content, marketing and PR experience, including technology, business of medicine and numerous clinical specialty areas. She has worked closely with healthcare IT, managed care, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, major health systems, medical societies and others.

Before joining the Amendola team, Tara ran a healthcare communications firm. Previously, as executive editorial director of the Healthcare Group at Advanstar Communications, she co-launched a content marketing division focused on integrated multimedia programs. She also served as editor/editorial director of several national healthcare publications and websites. Under Tara's leadership, these titles consistently earned top readership rankings and won numerous national editorial awards.

Stultz is a recipient of the Healthcare Businesswomen Association's "Rising Star" award. Her writing has earned the American Business Media's Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honor in the field of specialized journalism.

"I was familiar with Tara's work at Medical Economics and Managed Healthcare Executive and knew she would make an immediate impact to our PR and marketing programs," said agency CEO Jodi Amendola. "I could not have imagined how truly talented she is. From day one, our clients have been raving. She knows the industry and provides superior strategic guidance and content. She is a welcomed addition."

Stultz first connected with members of the Amendola Communications team when she served in editorial leadership roles at well-known trade publications such as Medical Economics and Managed Healthcare Executive. "I soon grew to know them as the very best in the marketing and PR business when it comes to positioning clients as thought leaders and increasing awareness of their brands," she said. "Later, when I transitioned to a career in marketing and PR, I continued to admire Amendola's work  and now I'm lucky enough to be a part of this talented team."

Stultz received her bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

To download Tara's photo, click here.

About Amendola Communications

Amendola Communications is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation by PRSourceCode for four years running, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and healthcare IT industries. Amendola's seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry's "A Team", visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Media Contact

Jodi Amendola

Amendola Communications

480.664-8412, ext. 11

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/MM99055LOGO

SOURCE Amendola Communications

Related Links

http://www.acmarketingpr.com


HOUSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the growing trend of sustainability, outdoor gear brand VITCHELO (http://vitchelo.com/) has developed numerous products that embody respect for the natural world. The V800 Plus headlamp, for instance, is a great example of forward-thinking and sustainable product development. The headlamp helps consumers enjoy the great outdoors  or accomplish any number of tasks  all while making a minimal impact on the environment.

"Our customers have come to expect that VITCHELO will always provide them with reliable, durable and practical gear, and we're pleased to add sustainable to that list of attributes," says Gui Laurent Verrier, Marketing Director. "When we think of sustainability, we think of the entire product lifecycle. It's more than just manufacturing processes  we aim to give consumers products that will add real benefit to their lives, and remind them of the importance and value of the outdoors."

Verrier explains how products that only see occasional use don't fit the sustainability bill. That's why multipurpose tools are nearly always superior to single-purpose tools, which can get lost in the clutter of a garage all too easily. VITCHELO has discovered, thanks to input from its customers, that the V800 Plus  along with the company's other headlamps  has a multitude of uses that its designers didn't necessarily consider.

Many people have found the V800 Plus is a great tool for night running. Even in a well-lit neighborhood, there are dark areas, and a quality headlamp adds a measure of safety. Other consumers have put their headlamps to good use rooting around in dark attics, garages and basements. Without the burden of holding a flashlight or hand lantern, they're able to find what they need more quickly and more safely. Finally, amateur and professional photographers alike have discovered that the red LED light on VITCHELO is ideal for nighttime photography. Red light does not interfere with night vision the way white light does.

In the design of the V800 Plus, VITCHELO has sought to give consumers a product that will prepare them for anything  not sputter out when the going gets tough. The V800 Plus incorporates several key features that make it a smarter choice than other headlamps. From a sustainability perspective, the most important of these is the lockout button. Anyone who has carried a headlamp in a bag or backpack has probably had the experience of it accidentally turning on. With the V800 Plus, that's impossible when the lockout button is engaged. The headlamp also includes boost and dimming functions, which add to its versatility.

VITCHELO continues to build on its success, developing innovative and sustainable products that deliver countless benefits to consumers around the world.

About VITCHELO

The VITCHELO Brand is synonymous with an escape time to time from complicated daily routines in order to recharge oneself and feel more alive. It also stands for better quality products, comfortable and easy to use solutions, outstanding customer care, and affordable Camping & Hiking gears.

The VITCHELO Blog offers "How-Tos", tips, and educational columns on ways to build and cultivate an outdoor lifestyle, along with special monthly giveaways and contests.

Our community is made up of people who want to get away from their daily routine to experience the outdoors with their family, friends and anyone in search of a much more meaningful connection with nature."

Contact:

James Lissaint

Moma Group Limited

10685-B Hazelhurst Dr. #7213

Houston, TX 77043

(888) 996-8677

Email

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371802LOGO

SOURCE VITCHELO

Related Links

http://vitchelo.com


TEL AVIV, Israel, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Votiro, a global provider of secure email gateway solutions with patented Zero-Day Exploit Protection technology, announced today the completion of a $4 million financing round led exclusively by Redfield Asset Management. The capital will be used to expand Votiro's team and continue the rapid growth of the Company's patented solutions and product portfolio. As part of the investment, Mr. Wrix Gasteen will join Votiro's board as Executive Director, Asia Pacific based in Singapore.

With the sophisticated nature of today's cyber attacks, secure email gateway solutions struggle to properly protect organizations from malicious email. Most cybersecurity solutions are designed to combat known threats, but when unknown threats-such as zero-day or undisclosed exploits-penetrate an enterprise's network, the cost and the harm to the company's reputation can be devastating.

By disarming threats in all files attached to incoming email messages, Votiro's neutralization technology prevents zero-day exploits from penetrating an organization's network. To neutralize unknown and zero-day threats, Votiro processes all attachments and removes all active code. The cleansed attachments, which preserve the integrity and functionality of the original files, can then safely continue on to the organization's email server.

"With sandbox security solutions easily evaded, the need for an innovative and signature-less security solution has never been more crucial," said Itay Glick, CEO and co-founder of Votiro. "This new capital will enable us to continue strengthening our offering and expanding our global reach in strategic markets."

"We believe that as cyber attacks increase, Votiro's comprehensive and easy-to-deploy technology, which addresses a major security gap, is becoming a must in any company's cybersecurity strategy," said Gaelan Bloomfield, managing director of Redfield Asset Management. "Votiro has a strong, innovative and very talented team."

About Votiro

Votiro provides organizations with protection against undisclosed and zero-day exploits that are used in cyber attacks. The company's secure email gateway and patented Zero-Day Exploit Protection technology cleanse incoming files of potential cyber threats. Founded in 2010, Votiro is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with sales offices in the United States and Singapore. Over the last year, Votiro has experienced significant growth and is now protecting hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of employees.

For more information about Votiro, see http://www.votiro.com and join us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Media Contact:

Idan Yatziv

+972-52-330-9099

[email protected]



SOURCE Votiro
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cameron Geiger, senior vice president  Walmart Technology, has been appointed to the GS1 US Board of Governors. He will help guide the GS1 US strategy for driving adoption and usage of GS1 Standards within the retail industry as it faces new opportunities in the age of digital and physical store convergence. GS1 Standards are used to uniquely identify products, services and locations globally, and are the most widely used information standards in the world.

Mr. Geiger is a 15-year Walmart veteran who has held several executive leadership roles at Walmart and Sam's Club in IT, sourcing and merchandising. Prior to joining Walmart, Mr. Geiger was a management consultant at Kurt Salmon Associates. As a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he also served seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Geiger is a Trustee for the American Indian College Fund and provides board training and strategic planning facilitation for local boards in Northwest Arkansas. Mr. Geiger was honored as the Sam Walton Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 for progress in sustainability. He previously served on the GS1 US Board of Governors from 2012-2013.

"Cameron joins the GS1 US Board of Governors during an exciting time of change in the retail industry," said Bob Carpenter, president and CEO of GS1 US. "As more companies seek to stay competitive in an increasingly digital and data-driven business environment, Cameron can provide important real-world insights for leveraging the power of standards to help the industry address the growing consumer demand for a seamless shopping experience across all channels."

The GS1 US Board of Governors includes executives from 20 leading organizations including: Campbell's Soup Company; The Coca-Cola Company; eBay Inc.; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson & Johnson; Macy's, Inc.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; McKesson Corporation; Premier Inc.; Procter & Gamble; Publix Super Markets; PVH Corp.; Quality Supply Chain Co-op, Inc.; QVC, Inc.; Sysco Corporation; Wakefern Food Corporation; and Wegmans Food Markets. The full list is available at www.gs1us.org/about-gs1-us/corporate/board-of-governors.

About GS1 US

GS1 US, a member of GS1, is an information standards organization that brings industry communities together to solve supply-chain problems through the adoption and implementation of GS1 Standards. More than 300,000 businesses in 25 industries rely on GS1 US for trading-partner collaboration and for maximizing the cost effectiveness, speed, visibility, security and sustainability of their business processes. They achieve these benefits through solutions based on GS1 global unique numbering and identification systems, barcodes, Electronic Product Code (EPC)-enabled Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), data synchronization, and electronic information exchange. GS1 US also manages the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). www.GS1US.org

SOURCE GS1 US

Related Links

http://www.gs1us.org


DENVER, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pulse Beverage Corporation ("Pulse") (OTCQX: PLSB), makers of Natural Cabana Lemonade/Limeade, and Coconut Waters and PULSE Heart & Body Health functional beverages, announced today that Weis Supermarkets is now offering, in its cold-box produce section, Natural Cabana Lemonade/Limeade in six flavors and Natural Cabana Coconut Water in two flavors at all 160 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia. Weis Markets was founded in 1912 and employs more than 18,000 associates. Weis's vision is to become the #1 supermarket in its communities by offering the most inviting buying environment in the industry while saving its customers time and money and building its brand to premier status.

Robert E. Yates, CEO of Pulse, stated, "This is another major northeast US supermarket chain that will carry our lemonade, limeade and coconut water in its cold-box produce section. We will ship our products directly to Weis's warehouses. Weis's supermarkets are in high population areas and will give our brand exposure to new consumers."

About The Pulse Beverage Corporation

Pulse Beverage Corporation is an emerging beverage company that offers natural beverage brands that are great tasting, good-for-you, refreshing, and low-calorie. Combining all-natural ingredients, essential vitamins and minerals, Pulse's line of beverages provides consumers with high-quality, healthy alternatives at a reasonable price.

For more information, please visit: www.pulsebeverage.com or email [email protected].

Follow Pulse Beverage on Twitter at https://twitter.com/drinkpulsebev .

Become a Pulse Beverage Facebook Fan at https://www.facebook.com/PulseBeverageCorporation .

Forward-Looking Statements http:/ir.pulsebeverage.com/forward-looking- statements

Contact:



Tom Nelson

[email protected]

1-480-326-8577

SOURCE Pulse Beverage Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pulsebeverage.com


HOUSTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Willbros Group, Inc. (NYSE: WG) today announced that the Company will be attending the 2016 Credit Suisse Engineering & Construction Conference to be held in New York City on June 2, 2016.

Michael Fournier, Willbros President and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present on Thursday, June 2nd at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Central Time). A live broadcast of the presentation and the accompanying slides will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.willbros.com.

Willbros is a specialty energy infrastructure contractor serving the oil and gas and power industries with offerings that primarily include construction, maintenance and facilities development services. For more information on Willbros, please visit our web site at www.willbros.com.

CONTACT:

Stephen W. Breitigam

VP Investor Relations

Willbros

713-403-8172

SOURCE Willbros Group, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.willbros.com


US President Barack Obama and Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang at the joint press conference

following their talks on May 23rd (Photo: VNA)

The following is the full text of the Vietnam-US Joint Statement.

At the invitation of the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Tran Dai Quang, President of the United States of America Barack Obama paid an historic visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries and to advance their shared vision for the future. On the occasion of the visit and the May 23rd, 2016, meeting between the two leaders, the United States and Vietnam adopted this Joint Statement.

Both sides noted with satisfaction the rapid, substantive, and comprehensive growth of US-Vietnam relations over the past year, guided by the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership of 2013 and the Joint Vision Statement issued during the historic visit to the United States by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen PhuTrong in July 2015.

The common interests of the United States and Vietnam continued to expand through intensifying the exchange of delegations at all levels and maintaining dialogue mechanisms; promoting economic growth thanks to enhanced trade and investment relations; deepening cooperation in education, science and technology, health, security and national defense, people-to-people ties, human rights, humanitarian, and war legacy issues. The increasingly enhanced U.S.-Vietnam relations have positively contributed to the joint efforts of the international community in maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and respect for international law in the region, and building a rules-based region. Together, we are addressing regional and global challenges, including climate change, sustainable development, global health, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, peacekeeping, and wildlife trafficking.

Toward that end, the two countries reaffirmed their obligations to observe the UN Charter and commitments to respect international law, their respective political systems, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The United States and Vietnam also committed to strengthening and developing the ASEAN Community, and working with the international community to respond to global challenges . Both sides committed to work together to advance the Comprehensive Partnership in the following areas:

Strengthening Political and Diplomatic Ties

Both sides pledged to continue to exchange delegations at all levels, especially high-level delegations, and to strengthen dialogue between agencies of the two governments. The two sides also intend to expand annual high-level dialogues between their two foreign ministries to discuss measures to strengthen the Comprehensive Partnership and discuss other issues of mutual interest. The two sides concurred that strengthening mutual trust plays a crucial role in enabling a sustainable, healthy, and long-term friendship and cooperation.

Advancing Economic Ties

The two countries resolve to focus on fostering economic cooperation, including trade, investment, science and technology, human resource training, and climate change. The two sides stated that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is economically and strategically important, and would promote trade and investment between them, accelerate inclusive economic growth, and create jobs. The two sides reaffirmed their commitments to seek early ratification and full implementation of this high-standard agreement, including commitments on investment, business facilitation and development, intellectual property, textile, services, labor, and environment. The United States pledged to support Vietnam through robust technical assistance and capacity-building programs to effectively implement and meet the high standards of the TPP. The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that economic growth is inclusive and creates opportunity for all, which is furthered by fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable economic development. The two sides highlighted that development cooperation continues to be a driving force in the bilateral relationship. Both countries pledged to promote bilateral trade and investment, and would continue to work toward access for industrial, agricultural, and aquacultural goods. The United States and Vietnam committed to consult through the enhanced bilateral Working Group in a cooperative and comprehensive manner regarding Vietnams desire to be recognized as a market economy. Both countries welcomed the conclusion of major commercial deals on the occasion of the visit, such as VietJets purchase of 100 Boeing aircraft and Pratt & Whitney engines, as well as a wind energy MOU between GE and the Vietnamese government.

Deepening People-to-People Ties

Both sides affirmed their support for the enhancement of people-to-people ties to strengthen mutual understanding, cooperation, and friendship between the two peoples. The United States welcomed the Vietnamese governments approval of the Peace Corps to teach the English language in Vietnam. The United States and Vietnam hailed the establishment of Fulbright University Vietnam, which will be a world-class Vietnamese university. Both sides welcomed the bilateral arrangement granting one-year, multiple-entry visas for short-term business and tourism travelers from both countries. Both sides highly valued and recognized the success of the Vietnamese-American community and their active contributions to the promotion of bilateral ties.

Enhancing Security and Defense Cooperation

The United States and Vietnam reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding on Advancing Bilateral Defense Cooperation in 2011 and the United StatesVietnam Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations signed in 2015, giving priority to humanitarian cooperation, war legacy, maritime security, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Both sides reiterated they would continue to strengthen cooperation in the fields of security, combating transnational crime, and cyber security. Vietnam welcomed the US government decision to fully lift the ban on the sale of lethal weapons to Vietnam. Vietnam welcomed US maritime security assistance  including through the Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, and Foreign Military Financing  and looked forward to working with the United States to enhance Vietnams maritime capabilities. The US and Vietnam signed a letter of intent to establish a working group for the Cooperative Humanitarian and Medical Storage Initiative (CHAMSI), which will advance cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The United States reaffirmed its support for Vietnams peacekeeping efforts with an aim of assisting Vietnams first deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces by 2017.

Both countries expressed their satisfaction with their joint efforts to advance humanitarian and war legacy issues. In particular, the United States valued Vietnams active cooperation to support the humanitarian mission of providing the fullest possible accounting for U.S. personnel still missing from the war. Both sides agreed to continue their cooperation on unexplored ordnance removal. Vietnam welcomed cooperation leading to the successful conclusion of the first phase of dioxin remediation at Da Nang International Airport, with the final phase already underway. The United States committed to partnering with Vietnam to make a significant contribution to the clean-up of dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa Air Base.

Promoting Human Rights and Legal Reform

Both countries pledged to continue supporting the promotion and protection of human rights in conformity with their own constitutions and respective international commitments. The two countries welcomed the results of positive, frank, and constructive dialogues on human rights, especially the 20th round of the US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue in April 2016, to narrow differences and continue to build trust. The United States welcomed Vietnam's ongoing efforts in improving its legal system and undertaking legal reform in order to better guarantee the human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone in accordance with the 2013 Constitution. Vietnam informed the United States of its plan to revise, amend, and draft laws, including the Law on Religion and Belief, Law on Association, the Amended Law on Legal Aid, the Amended Law on Legal Record, and Law on the Promulgation of Administrative Decisions. Both sides recognized the contributions that social and religious organizations continue to make in the fields of education, healthcare, and social services in both countries. Both sides encouraged further cooperation to ensure that all people  regardless of gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation, and including persons with disabilities  fully enjoy their human rights. The United States and Vietnam welcomed a letter of agreement on law enforcement and justice sector assistance.

Addressing Regional and Global Challenges

The United States and Vietnam reaffirmed their shared commitment to the peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes, including full respect for diplomatic and legal processes, without resorting to the threat or use of force in accordance with the UN Charter and international laws, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Both countries underscored the commitments of parties to the disputes to refrain from actions that aggravate or broaden the disputes and recognize the importance of strictly implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) and working to accelerate negotiation with substantive results toward the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct (COC). In this regard, both countries expressed serious concerns over recent developments in the South China Sea that have caused tensions, eroded trust and threatened peace, security, and stability. Both countries recognized the imperative of upholding the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea, called for non-militarization and self-restraint in addressing disputes, reaffirmed shared commitments under the Sunnylands Declaration, and committed to working closely with other ASEAN partners in implementing this Declaration.

The United States reaffirmed its commitment to actively coordinate with and support Vietnam in successfully organizing APEC 2017.

The United States and Vietnam reaffirmed their commitment to addressing climate change and implementing the Paris Agreement. They shared a desire to see the early entry into force of the Agreement, and are both committed to formally joining the Agreement in 2016. The United States and Vietnam pledged to take a number of practical actions to advance climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as enhance transparency and capacity building in the U.S.-Vietnam Climate Partnership, including in the Mekong River Delta. Future work will build on the results of collaboration between the United States and Vietnam in implementing programs under the Lower Mekong Initiative. The United States pledged its continued support for Vietnam in responding to the latters worst drought in over 90 years and salinization, and in advancing sustainable economic development in the lower Mekong basin. As a development partner of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the United States expressed its commitment to supporting cooperation among MRC members and between MRC members and other regional mechanisms in using, managing, and developing trans-boundary water resources in an effective and sustainable manner.

The two countries expressed support for an expanding civil nuclear partnership as we seek to reduce emissions from the global power sector, the signing of the Administrative Arrangement under the U.S.-Vietnam Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy ("123" Agreement), and the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation. Both countries welcomed the successful outcomes of the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit and pledged to continue to work together to strengthen the global nuclear security architecture. The two sides intend to establish the U.S.-Vietnam Joint Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation to facilitate the implementation of the 123 Agreement.

The two countries committed to sustain their successful cooperation and joint leadership under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), particularly with respect to collaboration on the emergency operations centers and outbreak detection and response in humans and animals, as well as implementation of a national road map to achieve each of the GHSA targets. The United States pledged its support to improve Vietnams capacity in coastal medicine. The United States and Vietnam committed to work together regionally and globally to prevent, detect, and respond to epidemic threats, and both countries affirmed to undertake a joint evaluation of these efforts in 2016.

Both countries also reaffirmed their commitment to combating wildlife trafficking and protecting biodiversity under the new U.S.-Vietnam Partnership to Combat Wildlife Trafficking.

Deepening a Long-Term Partnership

Both sides agreed to further enhance the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, making it deeper, more substantive, and more effective in order to better serve the interests of the two peoples for peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the world./.
ST. HELENA, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Woodfiberclay.com, a family-owned online homewares store, announced the launch of its website. A first of its kind located in Napa Valley, owners Lisa Toller and Kelley Burnett created the company to showcase handcrafted items by independent makers, vintage finds, and sustainable, fair-trade goods made of natural materials.

Vintage, handcrafted and modern homewares

"Our aim is to encourage people to express their personal style in their living spaces by mixing natural materials and textures from different eras and different parts of the globe," said Toller. "We carry ceramics made in California by Amanda Wright and A Question of Eagles, as well as woven baskets from Africa, textiles from Fog Linen in Japan and Auntie Oti in India, walnut trays handmade in Pennsylvania, and sheepskins from Black Sheep (White Light) in Canada."

Added to the mix are vintage finds that the pair source from their travels. Burnett has an eye for midcentury, Danish and California vintage, while Toller collects rugs from the Southwest and artifacts from the Rocky Mountains.

"We include vintage items in the mix for the story each piece tells," said Burnett. "And vintage is a great way to re-use and re-purpose. Selling items that last, patina, and wear well with time are an important part of reducing our footprint on the planet."

A maker in her own right, Burnett is an accomplished illustrator and ceramicist whose work is sold nationally and internationally. She will be creating a line of art and pottery that will be sold exclusively at woodfiberclay.com.

In addition to the online store, Wood Fiber Clay is planning pop-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first one will be held at Velo Vino in St. Helena on Saturday, July 16th, from 11 am to 4 pm. Wood Fiber Clay is currently constructing a by-appointment-only studio in St. Helena with completion slated for the Fall. For further information, contact [email protected] or visit the website at woodfiberclay.com.

About Us

Based in St. Helena, CA, Wood Fiber Clay, LLC was created by Lisa Toller and Kelley Burnett, an aunt and a niece, to showcase handcrafted items by independent makers, vintage finds, and sustainable, fair-trade goods made of natural materials. For further information, contact [email protected] or visit the website at woodfiberclay.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372197

SOURCE Wood Fiber Clay

Related Links

http://woodfiberclay.com


Through this partnership, Zack Academy will promote ClickSafety's online anytime courses: OSHA 10-Hour & 30-Hour Construction, Lead Awareness, Asbestos Awareness, NFPA 70E for Managers and Electricians and others. These courses provide training for workers and supervisors on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of safety and health hazards in construction workplaces.

"We are excited to add another high-quality provider into our extensive listing of training companies," said Zachary Rose, Founder and CEO of Zack Academy. "ClickSafety is a premier provider for all OSHA courses and this further bolsters our catalog while also enhancing it with online anytime courses."

Veronica T. Viviani, Account Manager for ClickSafety commented, "By partnering with Zack Academy, we are able to continue to expand our reach to a broader audience of construction professionals and further our mission of creating a culture of safety within the industry."

About Zack Academy:

Zack Academy is a leading online marketplace for career-oriented training and certification courses, offering classes and seminars across the United States in areas including software and programming training; construction; contractor licensing and renewal; lead, asbestos and mold certification; LEED exam prep; stormwater and water management; solar training; cleaning/restoration/water damage; business practices; analytics; and more. Zack Academy provides a one-stop shop for career and certification training in partnership with hundreds of local training companies across the United States.

About ClickSafety

ClickSafety is a leader in online training solutions for the construction, environmental and general industries. It has delivered award-winning interactive safety training to more than 10,000 organizations worldwide, and was the first to offer both the OSHA 10-Hour and OSHA 30-Hour safety courses online. ClickSafety's course library has more than 300 courses  with more than 55 courses available in Spanish  developed by certified safety professionals and certified industrial hygienists. Key products include OSHA regulatory training for general industry and construction, as well as several web-based applications that manage risks associated with training large groups of employees, subcontractors and contract laborers.



Release Contact:

Peter Sfraga

Marketing Manager

646-564-3792

SOURCE Zack Academy

Related Links

https://www.zackacademy.com


MINNEAPOLIS, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IDC Health Insights has named Zipnosis an IDC Innovator in U.S. Virtual Care.

Zipnosis was one of four companies recognized in the recent report  IDC Innovators: U.S. Virtual Care Solutions, 2016 (doc# US41117616, May 2016). IDC Innovators are defined as companies with under $50 million in revenue that offer "an inventive technology and/or groundbreaking new business model."

IDC Innovators reports present a set of vendors chosen by an IDC analyst within a specific market that offer an innovative new technology, a groundbreaking approach to an existing issue, and/or an interesting new business model. It is not an exhaustive evaluation of all companies in a segment or a comparative ranking of the companies. IDC INNOVATOR and IDC INNOVATORS are trademarks of International Data Group, Inc.

Zipnosis offers health systems an industry-leading white-labeled telemedicine platform, providing patients convenient access to care. Leveraging existing health system clinical capacity, patients can be treated through video, telephone or adaptive online interviews. When a lab test like strep is needed, patients are directed to visit a clinic with expedited service using the ZipTicket boarding pass.

"We are thrilled to be recognized as an IDC Innovator in the virtual care market," said Jon Pearce, CEO and Founder of Zipnosis. "The recognition is especially appreciated because Zipnosis is not a traditional telemedicine provider  we sell a virtual care platform to health systems who brand it for their patients, use their own clinicians, and leverage our integration with electronic health records. We've stripped out the clinical overhead for physicians and made it easy for them to conduct a virtual visit in two minutes with no typing. Not only is it fast and convenient for patients and clinicians, but diagnosis and treatment is highly adherent with clinical guidelines and best practices."

Zipnosis addresses recent critiques of telemedicine quality

Unlike many telemedicine companies, the Zipnosis platform enables healthcare organizations to use their own clinicians to provide virtual care. That approach is starkly different than the alternative "outsourced" model that came under scrutiny this month after stories in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times covered two separate peer-reviewed studies that questioned the quality of care and adherence to clinical guidelines delivered by outsourced video- and phone-based telemedicine physicians.

By contrast, a Zipnosis study of 1,760 patient virtual care visits at two large health systems found that the company's adaptive online interview model resulted in 95 percent adherence to clinical guidelines in the treatment of acute sinusitis.

ABOUT ZIPNOSIS

Zipnosis partners with health systems nationwide to provide a white-labeled telemedicine virtual care platform, offering patients convenient access to care while improving clinician efficiency. Patients can be virtually treated for more than 90 conditions using evidence-based adaptive interviews, phone or video, or when a rapid test like strep is needed, directed to visit a clinic with expedited service using the ZipTicket boarding pass. Based in Minnesota, Zipnosis has more than seven years' experience and data to help our partners rapidly launch and scale a market-leading virtual care solution. For more information, visit www.zipnosis.com.

Media Contact:

Todd Stein

Amendola Communications for Zipnosis

916-346-4213

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160511/366800LOGO

SOURCE Zipnosis

Related Links

http://www.zipnosis.com


IRVINE, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zymo Research Corp. announced today the final stage of testing for their new reference materials that help researchers obtain the most accurate and unbiased workflows from sample collection to analyses. The rapid growth of the study of microbiomes has increased the demand for researchers to have standard methods to improve the reproducibility and quality of the data being generated. Biases inherently exist at every step of the measurement process including collection and extraction techniques; therefore, there is a great need for the adoption of reference materials to identify and eliminate measurement bias.

A Zymo Research Corp. scientist creating the ZymoBIOMICS(TM) Microbial Community Standards.

Dr. Graham Threadgill, Vice President of Marketing for Zymo Research Corp., noted, "With the recent White House announcement on the formation of the National Microbiome Initiative (NMI) we feel Zymo Research is in a unique position in this market space to enable stakeholders participating in this initiative to answer fundamental questions about microbiomes. We want to test the ZymoBIOMICS standards in the 'real world' with 'real customers' to obtain their feedback of the product. Our new ZymoBIOMICS standards will allow researchers to get consistent quality data by eliminating data bias."

To find out more about Zymo Research's beta test and/or to sign up to participate in the trial, go to http://www.zymoresearch.com/beta-test/zymobiomics-standards. Participants will receive a free sample of ZymoBIOMICS Microbial Community Standards and a DNA Mini Kit. The data received from the pre-release testing will allow Zymo Research to integrate customer input into the final product that will be officially released in June at the ASM Microbe 2016 conference, June 17-20, 2016, in Boston, MA.

Zymo Research Corp. will host a webinar on June 9, 2016 at 9:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm EDT. Speakers include Ryan Kemp, Director of Nucleic Acid Solutions, and Dr. Shuiquan Tang, Scientist, at Zymo Research. The speakers will provide information how reference materials improve the quality of data generated from microbiomic studies. Go to https://www.labroots.com/ms/webinar/standardizing-microbiomics to register. There will be time slotted to answer participants' questions.

About Zymo Research Corporation

Zymo Research Corporation is a privately held company based in Irvine, California, USA. Since its inception in 1994 it has been serving the academic and biopharmaceutical scientific communities by providing DNA and RNA purification products. Their goal is to help scientists reduce time in the lab by eliminating steps and making the entire DNA/RNA extraction process simpler and faster. In addition to the nucleic acid purification products, Zymo Research also offers genetic, epigenetic and transcriptome analysis services. Zymo Research provides high quality products that are simple to use yet robust in their performance.

For more information, please visit: www.zymoresearch.com. Follow Zymo Research Corp. on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Zymo Research Corp., the stylized logo, tagline "The Beauty of Science is to Make Things Simple", and ZymoBIOMICS are trademarks of Zymo Research Corp. and are registered with the USPTO.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372357

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160506/364743LOGO

SOURCE Zymo Research Corp.

Related Links

http://www.zymoresearch.com


Name : pulp-docker

Product : Fedora 24

Version : 2.0.1

Release : 1.fc24

URL : https://github.com/pulp/pulp_docker

Summary : Support for Docker content in the Pulp platform

Description :

Provides a collection of Pulp server plugins and admin client extensions to

support Docker content.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

Update Information:



Update to Pulp 2.8.3, a security and bugfix update. ---- CVE-2016-3111:

Protect the RSA keys during and after install (#1325693).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

References:



[ 1 ] Bug #1337309 - pulp 2.8.3 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337309

[ 2 ] Bug #1337311 - pulp-puppet 2.8.3 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337311

[ 3 ] Bug #1337312 - pulp-rpm 2.8.3 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337312

[ 4 ] Bug #1337315 - pulp-ostree 1.1.1 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337315

[ 5 ] Bug #1337316 - pulp-docker 2.0.1 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337316

[ 6 ] Bug #1337317 - pulp-python 1.1.1 released

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337317

[ 7 ] Bug #1325693 - /etc/pki/pulp/rsa.key is installed world readable

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1325693

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-



This update can be installed with the "yum" update program. Use

su -c 'yum update pulp-docker' at the command line.

For more information, refer to "Managing Software with yum",

available at https://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/.



All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the

GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at

https://fedoraproject.org/keys

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

_______________________________________________

package-announce mailing list

package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org

http://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org


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
New Delhi, May 20 : The union cabinet on Friday gave its nod to an ordinance to defer, for one year, implementation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), which has been made mandatory for medical entrance across India following strong objections from some states, sources said.

The ordinance, which puts on hold the Supreme Court's May 9 ruling ordering the implementation of NEET from this year, was cleared in a cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, official sources said.

This step of the government has come a great relief for thousands of students who were preparing for medical examination across the country this year, but the Congress said this was a highly "inappropriate" decision and it should be reconsidered.

"It is the most unfortunate, most inappropriate decision taken by the government to issue the ordinance. There is no other reason other than that the powerful medical lobby has influenced this government and they have succumbed to it," said senior Congress leader P. C. Chacko.

"Cabinet decision should be reconsidered and we do not subscribe to the decision taken by the government," he added.

Many states and members of parliament, across spectrum of political parties, had raised concern over the apex court ruling. Amid protests by the students and states, union Health Minister J.P. Nadda also convened a consultation meeting of the state health ministers over the issue.

Earlier, declining the plea by some states to allow them to hold common entrance tests under their respective laws and that of the private medical colleges, the Supreme Court refused to modify its April 28 order making NEET mandatory for admission to under-graduate medical courses across the country for the academic year 2016-2017.

The Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India had in December 2010 amended the then statutory regulations to provide for a single NEET for admission to the MBBS/BDS course.

However, the notification was struck down on July 18, 2013, by the apex court, which in a split verdict of 2:1, held that NEET was flawed both procedurally and substantially.

The NEET was restored on April 11, 2016, when the five-judge constitution bench of Justice A. R. Dave, Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice R.K. Agrawal, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice R. Banumathi, recalled the July 18, 2013 order.
Jerusalem, May 20 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he "regrets" the resignation of Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, amidst a move to replace the latter with an ultra-nationalist politician to enlarge his coalition.

On Friday, Ya'alon announced he had decided to leave the government to take time out of political life, citing "lack of confidence" in Netanyahu.

In a live broadcasted statement, he said the ruling Likud party was taken over by "extremist and dangerous elements" after Netanyahu reportedly decided to replace him with the hawkish Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu ("Israel Our Home") party.

Netanyahu released a counter-statement, saying he "regrets" the resignation.

"I think he should continue being a full partner in the country's leadership by heading the foreign ministry," he said in a video statement released by the Prime Minister's Office.

"I greatly appreciate the work we did together, day and night, for the security of Israel," he added.

He said the proposed change in the distribution of portfolios "was not due to a crisis of confidence between us, but due to the need to expand the coalition in order to bring stability to the government so we can tackle challenges ahead".

Ya'alon's leaving was widely perceived as a loss of a voice of moderation in Netanyahu's right-wing cabinet, which includes the Likud ruling party, the far-right Jewish home faction, and Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties.

Netanyahu and Lieberman's factions were in intensive negotiations on Thursday to finalize the details of the deal, which would pave the way for Lieberman's party into the cabinet, expanding the coalition government from 61 to 67 in the 120-member parliament.

Lieberman demanded the defence ministry portfolio from Netanyahu in order to join his coalition, as well as promoting a law that would seek death penalties to Palestinian attackers of Israelis.

Ya'alon, considered a moderate member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, slammed Netanyahu's "loss of moral compass on basic ethical questions" on Thursday.

Ya'alon and Netanyahu have had disagreements recently, with the former taking a more moderate tone regarding the military conduct amid a wave of unrest between Israelis and Palestinians, which claimed the lives of at least 203 Palestinians and 28 Israelis, whereas Netanyahu and the far-right Jewish Home party from his coalition have adopted a more hawkish approach.
Tehran, May 23 : India and Iran on Monday, the second day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to this Persian Gulf nation, signed 12 agreements, including three on development of the Chabahar port for enhanced connectivity.

A bilateral contract on the Chabahar port between India Ports Global Pvt. Ltd. and Arya Bandar of Iran envisages development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and five berths with cargo handling (multipurpose and general) capacities.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between India's Exim Bank and Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation for a line of credit from India of $150 million to develop the Chabahar port.

A confirmation statement was also signed between the Exim Bank and the Central Bank of Iran for availability of credit of up to Rs.3,000 crore for the import of steel rails and implementation of the Chabahar port project.

These apart, agreements were also signed in the areas of science and technology, culture and railways.

An MoU between the external affairs ministry and Iran's ministry of foreign affairs seeks to create a joint secretary/director general policy dialogue as well as encouraging new institutional mechanisms between think tanks on both sides.

Another agreement was signed to extend the cultural exchange programme between the two countries for the period 2016-2019 covering the areas of culture and arts, radio, TV, mass media and cinema.

An MoU between the Foreign Services Institute of the external affairs ministry and the School of International Relations of Iran's ministry of foreign affairs is intended to enhance cooperation between the two parties for training of diplomats and exchange of eminent speakers.

An implementation protocol between India's Department of Science and Technology under the ministry of science and technology and Iran's ministry of science, research and technology fleshes out the specific cooperation between the two sides pursuant to the 2003 MoU and covers areas like exchange of experiences, seminars, and conferences.

An MoU between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Islamic Culure and Relations Organisation (ICRO) of Iran provides for institutional mechanisms for cooperation between ICCR and ICRO and lays down the modalities for cooperation.

An MoU between the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) of India and the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) seeks to establish a framework of cooperation between ECGC and EGFI in supporting and encouraging foreign trade and foreign investment between India and Iran and, where appropriate, the supply of goods and services from their respective countries as part of a project to a third country.

The objective of another MoU signed between India's Nalco and the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation is for the two parties to jointly explore the possibility of manufacturing aluminium metal by setting up of a smelter on joint venture basis in Iran and/or entering into tolling arrangements with smelters in Iran or any other form of business collaboration including sale of alumina.

An MoU between India's Ircon and Iran's Construction, Development of Transport and Infrastructure Company (CDTIC) will enable Ircon to provide requisite services for the construction of Chabahar-Zahedan railway line which forms part of the transit and transportation corridor in the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to be signed later on Monday.

Services to be provided by Ircon include all superstructure work and financing the project which will be around $1.6 billion.

The aim of a 12th MoU between the National Archives of India and the National Library and Archives Oirganisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to facilitate exchange of information and knowledge in the field of archival matters through exchange of manuals, guidelines, rules, publications and other special literature on archival topics.
Damascus, May 24 : The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and allied militant groups on Tuesday unleashed a campaign against the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria's Al-Raqqa province.

The move comes just days after the US and the SDF put forward a plan for capturing Al-Raqqa, Xinhua cited a monitor group as reporting.

Citing what it described as "trusted sources", the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF, which is a newly formed Kurdish-led group supported by the US, along with fighters from Arab tribes, unleashed an offensive against IS positions in the northern countryside of Al-Raqqa province.

The province fell to the IS in late 2013 and was later declared by the group as their capital in Syria.

The fighters started moving toward northern Al-Raqqa from the southern countryside of the border city of Tal Abyyad and the countryside of Ein Issa in the northwestern rim of Al-Raqqa.

The SDF are engaged in major battles against the IS under heavy airstrikes from the US-led anti-terror coalition, said the Britain-based watchdog group.

The observatory, which depends on a wide network of activists on ground, said the offensive aims at its initial stage to strip the IS from a triangle connecting Tal Abyad, with the Division 17 and Ain Issa.

It added that the offensive in its initial stage does not include pushing deeper into Al-Raqqa.

General Joseph Votel, head of US Centcom, secretly visited northern Syria on Friday for 11 hours, during which he met commanders of the SDF and other US-backed rebel groups, including the Liwa Thuwar Al-Raqqa.

The visit was aimed at coordinating the US-led coalition and rebel plans in taking back Syria's northern province of Raqqa.

Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said in a special report on Sunday that a plan for unleashing an attack on Al-Raqqa was put forward during the meeting.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the TV said the attack is expected to be launched with the participation of 12,000 fighters.

The conferees also discussed the requirements of the military offensive and the needs of the fighting groups, said the report.

An agreement was reached to focus on the Arab fighters who will attack to alleviate the fears of Turkey from any expansion of Kurdish fighters near the Turkish borders, it said.

It said the meeting between Votel and the rebels came just days after a meeting between the Brett H. McGurk, the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, and Saleh Muslim, the head of the Kurdish Democratic Union in the countryside of Ayn al-Arab.

The report said the meeting discussed the same issue.

The 500 US soldiers, who have recently crossed into Kurdish areas in northern Syria, will directly take part in Al-Raqqa battle, said the report.

Even though the timing of the battle was not declared, the IS seemed to have anticipated the move, asking civilians in key areas in Raqqa to move toward IS-controlled towns in the countryside of that province.

Reports said the terror group also went on arrest raids for young men to oblige them to fight among its ranks.
Moscow, May 25 : The Russian Defence Ministry has denied reports that Islamic State militants destroyed four Russian helicopters at an air base in Syria's Homs province.

"All Russian combat helicopters currently stationed in the Syrian Arab Republic, are performing routine tasks destroying terrorists. There have been no losses among the personnel of the Russian air base there," Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in an official statement on Tuesday, reported RT online.

Stratfor, a private intelligence and analytical company, previously reported that Russian helicopters and supply trucks were destroyed in an Islamic State attack, basing the data on a comparative analysis of satellite images of the T4 airbase in Homs province.

The Syrian Air Force base, according to Stratfor, had been used by Russian helicopters which were providing support to government troops during fighting for the liberation of Palmyra.

On May 14, IS announced that four Russian attack helicopters and 20 supplies trucks were destroyed by fire. Around the same time, according to Stratfor, Syrian government sources reported "random explosions" in the T4 base area.

The analysis of satellite images taken on May 14 and 17 prompted the intelligence company to conclude that four helicopters were actually destroyed at the base, as well as trucks, with a Syrian MiG-25 also being damaged. Stratfor claims that the nature of the damage seen in the satellite images indicates that the base fell under attack.

Konashenkov, however, stresses that "the authorship of rumors about the destruction of Russian combat helicopters and trucks belongs to IS agitators, who unsuccessfully tried to sell this alleged news some 10 days ago."

Concerning the pictures of the Syrian air base, the Defence Ministry representative noted that "burned aircraft and automotive electronics, as well as numerous craters from missile explosions have been there for more than one month" and are the result of heavy fighting in the airfield area between the Syrian government troops and terrorists."
Srinagar, May 25 : Separatist militants on Wednesday killed a civilian who was abducted late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

"Militants today (Wednesday) morning killed a civilian identified as Liyaqat Ali Chatwal in Rajwar forests," a senior police official told IANS.

"He was kidnapped Tuesday night from Watsar village where he had gone to meet his sister."

A probe has been launched to investigate the murder, the official added.
New Delhi : India is going through severe water shortage in several states. The scarcity is mainly due to the dry season, but it has been exacerbated by our inability to manage water resources, and ignorance. Of course, added to that is our lack of understanding, or respect, for our environment.

The water shortage is being perceived as drought. Dry condition is a natural phenomenon, which is bound to happen three to four times out of ten seasons. Drought is a man-made condition. Despite these being two distinct concepts, it is often wrongly used synonymously.

The present water scarcity is due to less than average rains for two consecutive years. However, the adversity has increased several folds due to human factors like water mismanagement, policy failures, improper water distribution and inadequate management of public water sources.

To make the situation more complex, the water scarcity is now being presented as a natural disaster.

According to official statistics of the Central Government, about 330 million people have been affected by drought in 10 states in India.

The nature of water shortage in each area is location specific. For instance, in Maharashtra, lack of irrigation facilities and wrong crop selection is one of the main reasons. Sugarcane is grown in Maharashtra despite lack of irrigation, and where, all the other crops are monsoon fed.

The central government has come up with several "solutions" including the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) which is a crop damage insurance scheme where farmers pay a premium of 1.5 percent of the value of a crop.

A relief package of Rs.3,049 crore has been sanctioned by the Central Government to Maharashtra for drought relief aid, while the Maharashtra government has itself granted about 10,000 crore to farmers.

Water trains to Latur have been pressed into action.

The main drawback of the solutions is that they are dole-oriented. Instead of getting to the root of the problem or foreseeing the causes and working on them, a symptom-based remedy is being offered to the people.

These kind of solutions only provide temporary relief and take us a step backwards economically. There has also been lack of political will on this issue. For instance, the India Meteorological Department's prediction of a second consecutive drought was ignored for a private company's prediction of a normal monsoon. It has also been alleged that the lack of national attention is because it is not affecting urban consumers.

In India's 6,000-year-long rich history, we have not only learnt to adjust to diverse environmental conditions but have also developed traditional knowledge. The management of our water resources through water harvesting and the use of local wisdom can any day beat concepts like National Water Grid, whose by-products happens to be a string of environmental problems, the most notable of them being a drop in water table, fragmentation of habitats and biodiversity loss.

The problem arising out of water resource mismanagement can be tackled through efficient utilisation of water through new, advanced and efficient methods, including sprinkler and drip irrigation.

Additionally, cropping patterns should be changed. For instance, in major parts of Punjab and Haryana, crops like paddy, wheat and sugarcane are dominant and use more water compared to other competitive crops like maize, rapeseed-mustard seed and vegetables.

But it is extremely difficult to bring change because farmers get better returns from high water-intensive crops than low intensive ones. It has been suggested that Punjab's groundwater depletion problem could be easily resolved, if its export of virtual ground water in the form of rice could be reduced or stopped through the policy tool of making energy prices market-determined. This is likely to work in areas largely dependent on groundwater for irrigation purpose.

Further, rain-water harvesting and groundwater recharging is necessary. In many areas, the groundwater table is falling due to over-exploitation. Capturing, collecting and storing available rainwater and/or surface run offs during wet season can prove to be a significant tool to turn around the situation. In traditional practices, collected rainwater was used resourcefully but these were forgotten (or neglected) with the development of modern facilities like canals and groundwater extraction.

Some other traditional methods in India include diversion channels called Kuhls in Himalayan region to make use of hill streams and springs; underground tanks called Kunds in desert areas and tunnels dug through hillocks where there is seepage of water, used in South India.

Apart from these, several new scientific methods such as check dams, roof-water harvesting, recharge pits, recharge wells, vertical recharge shafts and lateral trenches with bore wells help.

Water problems are unknown in places where water harvesting has been a part of culture of the people -- Ralegaon Siddhi, Sukhomajri and many areas of Rajasthan.

In urban areas, allowing more open areas and protecting the green belt can do what a lot of technology cannot. Also, weather prediction can help farmers know beforehand the situation they have to cope with.

Nature is man's friend and not his adversary. Application of traditional wisdom and modern technology can aptly address the man-made disaster of droughts.

(25.05.2016 - K. Siddhartha is an educationist, earth scientist, author and trainer. He can be contacted at ksiddhartha1@gmail.com)
New Delhi, May 25 : The Indian government, seeking to woo the 54-nation African continent, was expected to answer some tough questions from the African diplomatic community who have decided to stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations in protest while seeking strong action on the part of the government over the murder of a Congolese national in the capital and other "attacks and harassment" of African students and others in various parts of the country.

Even as the Modi government wants more African students to come and study in India, African heads of missions, who met in emergency session Tuesday, said the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi was forcing the African heads of mission " with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," a statement by Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday night.

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said.

Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

According to Woldemariam's statement, Oliver and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend on that fateful day.

On the way back, the statement said, Oliver flagged an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away from him. However, as he tried to board the auto-rickshaw, three Indian men standing nearby boarded it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed.

"They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly," it stated.

"One of the Indians picked up a large stone from the roadside and hit Oliver on the head."

According to the statement, a passer-by who stopped to help the Congolese was also beaten up and the attackers fled the scene when they saw that Oliver was unconscious.

Oliver was rushed to a private hospital where he was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre but he died on the way.

Woldemariam stated that the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators".

In January this year, a mob in Bangalore allegedly attacked and stripped a Tanzanian girl after dragging her out of the car in which she was travelling along with her three friends. Her friends were also beaten up.

The incident took place after a woman was mowed down on the outskirts of the Karnataka capital on January 31.

Following this, a high-level team from New Delhi, including the high commissioner of Tanzania, went to Bangalore.

A senior police officer and some policemen were suspended and over 10 people arrested.

In his statement on Tuesday, Woldemariam said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said.

He also called upon the media, civil society, think tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans in India.

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 here, Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the event be postponed.

"They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom of Lesotho," the statement said.

"This is because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slained African students in the last few years, including Oliver," it added.
Washington, May 25 : Protesters lit fires, smashed a door and threw rocks outside a Donald Trump rally on Tuesday night in the state of New Mexico -- the latest scuffle to follow the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign.

The scene outside Albuquerque's convention centre was chaotic as police ushered protesters away from Trump's event and into the nearby streets, CNN reported.

The protesters had broken a glass door to the convention centre. Some taunted police and jumped on police vehicles as officers in riot gear and on police horses moved them away from the convention centre's exits.

Trump had already left the event.

The scene was reminiscent of the violence between Trump supporters and protesters in Chicago in March.

This time, though, police kept protesters and Trump supporters apart, and did not arrest or clash with the protesters.

Despite initial word of gunshots, Albuquerque's police department said on Twitter that there was "no confirmation" of gunshots.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun," the department tweeted.

Inside Trump's event, protesters disrupted him sporadically. At least three were forcefully removed by police after they refused to leave.

A group of a dozen protesters in the grandstands around the stage where Trump spoke unfurled banners that read 'Undocumented Unafraid' and 'We've heard enough'. Another banner accused Trump of being a fascist.
Kabul, May 25 : The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced a new leader to replace former chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan.

In an online statement, the Taliban acknowledged Mansour's death for the first time and named Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor after he was unanimously voted by the leadership council members, Khaama Press reported.

The statement further added that leader of Haqqani terrorist network, Sirajuddin Haqqani and late Taliban chief Mullah Omar's son Mullah Yaqoob were appointed as deputy supreme leader of the group.

Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's Balochistan province of Pakistan on Saturday.

The group's leadership council started negotiations for the appointment of Mansoor's successor a day after he was targeted in the airstrike.

Earlier reports suggested that Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob were the possible successor of Mullah Mansoor.

The Taliban on Tuesday said the death of its leader will not have any affect on the group's insurgency.

The US Department of Defence first informed about the attack on Mulllah Mansoor but his killing was later confirmed by the Afghan security institutions including the National Directorate of Security.
New Delhi : Book: Multi-party Democracy in the Maldives and the Emerging Security Environment in the Indian Ocean Region; Publisher: Pentagon Press (in association with IDSA), Price: Rs.750; Pages: 192 India would like democracy to prevail in the South Asian region but must tread with caution on the Maldives to prevent a chill in bilateral ties as the transition to democracy there has coincided with greater rivalry in the IOR (Indian Ocean Region), a new book on the subject says.

"Though India would like democracy to prevail in its neighbourhood, as democracy brings moderating influences over countries and societies, its approach should be such that does not bring chill in bilateral relations," says Anand Kumar, an associate fellow at the defence ministry-funded think-tank Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Noting that the Chinese "smartly say" that they respect the system of governance chosen by other countries, Anand Kumar, who has a doctorate from New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), writes: "This approach allows them easy entry in any country and helps them promote their interests."

"India should also play a role in promoting democracy only when it is demand driven," the book says, adding that president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 30 long years till the first democratic elections in 2008, "actually tilted toward China under the pressure of the democratic movement in his country. He felt that a democratic India would not be the best bet for his political survival".

According to the author, "India needs to tread further cautiously in promoting democracy on the Maldives as the democratic transition in the country has coincided with greater rivalry for control of the IOR. Now, China has emerged as a major power and is unwilling to depend on the US for the protection of its 'overseas interests' which no longer remain limited to the protection of the SLOCs (sea lanes of commerce)".

At the same time, from the Indian perspective, to counter increasing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean, welcoming increased presence "may not be a very judicious idea", says Anand Kumar, whose first book, "Return from the Precipice: Bangladesh's Fight Against Terrorism", was published in 2012.

Increased US military presence in the IOR would not necessary be "benign" or to India's advantage as this "may only create further complications for the Indian foreign policy towards the Maldives and worsen rivalry among external powers in the region", the book contends.

In an environment of intensifying competition in the IOR, India's effort "should be to take greater responsibility commensurate with its status as a major regional power with potential to become a global power".

"India should build its naval power in such a way that gives the impression that it is a net provider of security in the IOR. For this, India needs an effective national maritime security strategy that creates synergy between its foreign policy, the strength of the Indian Navy and the domestic defence and maritime industry, which, in turn, can create lasting friendly relations with all littorals in the region," says Anand Kumar.

As for democracy in the Maldives, the book laments that it "is not in a healthy state but, still, one can draw solace from the fact" that it "has not reverted to the autocratic path by renouncing the present constitution".

On Thursday, Mohammad Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president who assumed office on November 11, 2008, but was deposed on February 7, 2012, was granted refugee status in Britain, where he is convalescing after taking "leave" from prison back home.

Nasheed was convicted in March 2015 under the Anti-Terrorism Act for arresting Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed while President and jailed for 13 years.

Anand Kumar reacted sharply to the developments in the country since 2012.

"As far as democracy goes, it has definitely suffered a setback. Democracy, in fact, is at the cross-roads in the Maldives. There is a strong tendency (on the part of President Abdullah Yameen) to move towards authoritarianism. All his opponents are in jail. Even if the parties contest (the next election), they cannot challenge him," Anand Kumar told IANS.

"The framework of democracy remains, but its nature has undergone a transformation," he added.

(25.05.2016 - Vishnu Makhijani can be contacted at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
Mumbai, May 25 : Celebrities like Shabana Azmi, Farah Khan and Manish Malhotra have wished their "dearest" friend Karan Johar, who turned 44 on Wednesday.

Karan's friends and colleagues have wished him a year full of love, success and good health.

The son of acclaimed producer Yash Johar made his directorial debut in 1998 with the blockbuster romance "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji. He went on to make drama films like "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna".

He was lauded for his counter-terrorism drama "My Name Is Khan". These, along with the several successful films he has produced under the Dharma Productions banner, have established him as one of the leading filmmakers in the Hindi film fraternity.

Currently, he is shooting for his upcoming film "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil", which features actors Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma in pivotal roles.

Here is what celebrities had to say:

Shabana Azmi: Happy birthday Karan Johar. Stay happy. Lots of love.

Farah Khan: Happy birthday Karan Johar. Oh ho just when I was ready to party with you you've gone to London. Friend forever.

Manish Malhotra: Happy Birthday my dearest best friend Karan Johar stay wonderful and incredible always.

Varun Dhawan: Happy birthday Karan Johar. Lots of love. Looks like the health retreat has done you good. Hope you have the best year ever.

Arpita Khan Sharma: Happy birthday Karan Johar. Wish you loads of success and great health. Have a fabulous day and year ahead.

Dia Mirza: Happy Birthday Karan Johar! May all your dreams come true...love love love.

Bipasha Basu: Happy birthday Karan Kohar. Keep making everyone happy with your genius mind, wit and energy! Stay blessed! Love and hugs!

Neha Dhupia: Happy birthday Karan Johar. Enough with the awesomeness now...Please stop getting better year after year! The world isn't ready big love!

Darshan Kumaar: Happy Birthday Karan Johar. Have a great one.
New Delhi, May 25 : Having launched schemes to improve incomes, speed up governance, foster cleanliness and improve social security, the Narendra Modi government is now seeking to enhance the footprint of its initiatives to reap electoral dividends in a clutch of assembly elections next year.

The first year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, which assumed office on May 26, 2014, saw the launch of several initiatives. Now, there appears to be a thrust on consolidating the schemes and taking them to the people. There is also growing focus on schemes meant for the poor and the rural sector.

However, Key legislation such as the Goods and Services Tax bill have been stuck in parliament due to the BJP's constant tussle with the Congress and its lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha. The government's critics have also raised questions over the efficacy of the schemes and their implementation on the ground. Dissonance caused by controversial remarks of some BJP leaders and fringe elements have also sought to take focus away from governance. But the BJP's victory in the Assam assembly polls appears to have handed it back the political momentum it lost after successive defeats in the Delhi and Bihar assembly polls.

Modi has set out ambitious targets including Housing for All by 2022, a clean India as part of Swatch Bharat Mission by 2019 and giving free cooking gas cylinders to 50 million families living below the poverty line under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana by 2019 - the year of next general elections.

With jobs and employment a major concern in a country where an estimated 65 percent of population is below 35 years of age, the government has launched missions such as Skill India and Make in India and given focus to improve physical infrastructure in rural and urban areas.

The government has used the direct benefit transfer and Aadhar to cut down on leakage of subsidies.

It has taken steps to boost investment, strengthen higher education, enhance the share of solar and renewable energy and step up agricultural growth.

Former cabinet secretary T.S.R Subramanian said initiatives such as Digital India, Aadhar, crop insurance, micro-finance and health insurance have the potential to transform India.

"If one gets money at reasonable rates (through micro-finance), India will transform in 10 years. Make in India will come from small factories, this the government has understood," Subramanian told IANS.

He said the Modi government was short of talent but was more decisive and "clearner" compared to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

Senior journalist and political commentator H.K. Dua said the Modi government has done well on foreign policy and has been active as far as economy was concerned and results were expected to flow in a year.

"On the social front, they have not been very wise. Fringe elements...they have been stirring the pot too much. I have a feeling they have learnt lessons from Delhi and Bihar. They were not as shrill in Assam. If that continues it is good for the country," he said.

The Modi government took a major decision last year by creating the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in place of the Planning Commission, which had been formulating five-year plans for the country's development since it was set up in 1950.

Modi launched "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" (save the girl child, educate the girl child) as part of the government's move to improve skewed sex ratio.

With air pollution and climate change emerging as the key areas of focus, the government launched the Air Quality Index. India's ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) include reducing emissions intensity per unit of Gross Domestic Product by 33-35 percent of 2005 levels by 2030.

The government has aimed to double farmers' income over the next seven years and has come up with a slew of initiatives including Soil Health Card Scheme. The government hopes to issue over 140 million soil health cards by 2018.

The Digital India initiative seeks to make citizens digitally literate and bring internet and e-governance to all sections of society. As part of efforts to improve governance, the government has launched PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation), a multi-purpose, multi-modal platform aimed at addressing the common man's grievances.

Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Yojana and Start Up India and Stand Up India schemes to boost entrepreneurship.

The social schemes - Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) - two insurance products and one a pension product - are mainly targeted at the unorganized sector and economically weaker sections.

Other initiatives of the government include "Namami Gange" programme, which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river, gold monetization schemes to reduce the country's reliance on importing gold, Smart Cities Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. (AMRUT) and Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) aimed at development of rural growth clusters.

As part of its plans to expand higher education, the government has approved setting up of more IIMs and AIIMSs in the country.

The government also issued a notification to implement the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for defence forces personnel.

(ATTN EDITORS: This is the third in a series of stories on the two years of the Narendra Modi government)

(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)
May 25 (IANS) Bihar Police on Wednesday arrested five shooters involved in journalist Rajdeo Ranjan's murder.

Ranjan, Siwan bureau chief of Hindi newspaper Hindustan, which is part of HT Media, was shot dead at a busy market near Station Road on May 14 .

A joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Siwan district police arrested the five shooters, a district police said.

According to police officials, arms and motorcycles used by shooters in Rajan's killing were also recovered.

Police in Siwan said that Ranjan's killing was part of a pre-planned conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Bihar Director General of Police P.K. Thakur said that police have identified the shooters involved in the killing of the journalist.

Protests against the killing continued in Patna and also in other parts of the state.

The protesters, including mediapersons, have demanded justice for Ranjan's family of Ranjan.

The Bihar government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already recommended a CBI probe into the journalist's killing
Srinagar, May 25 : Divided Kashmiri separatist leaders have found a new cause to join hands against the government's purported plans to set up enclaves for migrant Hindu families and soldiers who retire serving in the restive state.

This is for the first time after the 2008 Amarnath land row that top separatists -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yaseen Malik -- have agreed to form an "issue-based alliance" and stop the government from "engineering demography" of India's only Muslim-majority state.

Malik, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, is said to be the mastermind of the "new found unity" of the otherwise divided separatist leaders, a source told IANS.

The JKLF chief first met Geelani at his upscale residence in Srinagar on Monday and a day later the two had a meeting with the Mirwaiz.

Geelani, who broke away from the Hurriyat Conference in 2003 over "ideological" differences with the Mirwaiz, said it was imperative to "fight together, but peacefully" and not play "mute spectators to the government's plan to change the demography of our state".

Geelani said the separatist leadership was not against any plan to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits, who fled the valley in early 1990s at the start of the Pakistan-sponsored armed insurgency.

"But, why separate enclaves? We will welcome them but not in settlements. They have their homes here. The government's approach is immoral and undemocratic. Our unity on this issue shall continue," the 86-year-old chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat told IANS.

The Mehbooba Mufti-headed PDP-BJP government has, however, ruled out exclusive colonies for retired army soldiers.

But a 2015 proposal note of the state government says the divisional administration in Kashmir has agreed to allot "173 kanals (some nine hectares) of land on payment in the old air field area (in Srinagar) for some 26 officers, 125 junior commissioned officers and 900 others".

Naeem Akhtar, state education minister and the government's spokesperson, denied and said no land has been marked for "sainik colonies" and "there is no question of making separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits".

The Mirwaiz said "the situation" had brought them together as the government was planning to do away with the "the special status" of the state.

He alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had traded interest of Kashmiris for its "lust of power".

"The PDP has given the control and power of running the state to the BJP," the Mirwaiz told IANS.

Malik said since the government was playing "foul" with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the separatist leadership needed to stay together to foil its "dangerous plans".

He refused to divulge details of the planned agitation but said that they have called for a complete valley-wide shutdown on Thursday against separate settlements.

Even mainstream parties like the opposition National Conference have sided with the separatists in opposing the plan of separate colonies for retired troopers.

(Ruwa Shah can be contacted at ruwa.s@ians.in)
Kolkata, May 25 : The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has ordered sampling and testing of bread products across the city after a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reportedly found certain harmful chemicals in bread, buns, pavs, pizza bases and other commercially-sold bakery items, an official said on Wednesday.

"We held a meeting with our food safety officers on Tuesday and asked them to collect samples from various city pockets. These samples would be sent on Wednesday to the central government lab (Central Food Laboratory) in Kyd Street and one other lab at Barasat for testing," Atin Ghosh, Mayor-In-Council member (health), told IANS.

The CSE on Monday released a report which said that Indian bread manufacturers use potassium bromate and potassium iodate for treating flour while making bread.

Potassium bromate is known to be a category 2B carcinogen and is already banned in Britain, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Sri Lanka, among other countries.

Following the report, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said on Monday that it was already considering to take potassium bromate off the list of permitted additives following recommendation of a scientific panel.

The FSSAI said it was also examining the evidence against potassium iodate before taking any decision on disallowing its use.
Guangzhou, May 25 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday invited Chinese entrepreneurs to participate in the 'Make in India' initiative and said India was committed to providing "conducive atmosphere" for investment from China.

The president, who is on a four-day visit to China, said India believes that there is "great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among our nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges".

"To realize the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. India is committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China," Mukherjee said.

"We believe that stepping up our two-way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship initiatives of Government of India," he said.

The president said India is ready to facilitate more collaborations between the two countries.

"India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," he said.

Mukherjee also stressed that India is a "young nation" and "our primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development".

"We are steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in our country. China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us," he said.

Mukherjee arrived here on Tuesday and will be also travelling to Beijing.
Lahore, May 25 : A school was attacked by angry locals in Lahore city of Pakistan during a protest against sexual assault on an eight-year-old boy by his teacher and the boy's subsequent disappearance.

Police reached the school on Tuesday as the protestors' gathering swelled and they intensified the agitation, Dawn online reported.

According to reports, a teacher in the school sexually assaulted a boy and fled from the scene. When the boy's parents found their child too was missing, they called more people who attacked the school.

They also beat up the school security guard and chanted slogans against the boy's assaulter as well as the management.

When police tried to disperse them, the protestors pelted stones at them. Police retaliated by charging at the crowds with batons.

The situation remained tense for a few hours and more police deployments were called as the protestors attempted to set fire to the school, an eyewitness said.

After hours of negotiations, police managed to disperse the protestors, assuring them of strict action against the teacher and recovering the boy.

A police source said the teacher was already taken into custody.
Madrid, May 25 : Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale has taken a dig at rival Atletico Madrid saying none of its footallers will make it into Real's starting team.

The two Madrid giants are set to battle it out in the Chamipions League final in Milan on Saturday.

Atletico finished just two points behind Real in the La Liga this season with FC Barcelona becoming the champions. Antoine Griezmann was the star of Atletico with 32 goals in all competitions.

"To me, no Atletico player would feature in Real Madrid's team," Bale was quoted as saying by goal.com on Wednesday.

Welshman Bale netted against Atletico when they had met in the Champions league final in 2014, which Real won 4-1.

This year he has scored 19 goals in 30 games but has failed to get on the scoresheet in the Champions League so far.
New York, May 25 : Days after the news that Apple sold fewer iPhones for the first time ever in the first quarter this year, a new report says that smartphones in the US posted half the growth in 2015 when compared to the previous year.

The number of reported smartphones in the US last year grew to 228 million from 208 million in 2014 -- an increase of 9.6 percent, thestreet.com reported quoting the industry organisation CTIA-The Wireless Association.

The 2015 growth rate is nearly half the 18.9 percent from the year before, the report added.

"As your denominator gets larger, your growth rate gets smaller," Robert Roche, CTIA's vice president of research public affairs, said in a statement.

Angelo Zino, an analyst covering Apple at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said Apple can increase sales domestically by improving their gadgets.

News reports of Apple possibly switching its iPhone display from LCD displays to OLED screen displays can also boost sales, Zino added.

Hit by slower growth in the sale of its flagship products iPhone, iPad and Mac globally, Apple's revenue dropped for the first time since 2003 as the tech giant released earning reports for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 in March.

Eevenue was down in both Americas and China -- Apple's two biggest territories. It declined around 10 percent in the Americas and 26 percent in China.

According to reports, the company is looking for new growth markets like India.
Jerusalem, May 25 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, an ultra-nationalist legislator, signed a deal on Wednesday to expand the governing coalition.

Lieberman's party Yisrael Beytenu, or 'Israel Our Home', was brought in and Lieberman was offered the post of defence minister as the new political partnership was signed in parliament.

The partnership is expected to further increase Netanyahu's slim lead in the Israeli parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.

Netanyahu vowed that his new government will "pursue peace with Palestinians", whilst "ensuring the security of Israeli citizens".

"My policy has not changed," Netanyahu said.

Lieberman, known for his hardline stance on security matters, said: "We are all committed to peace with our neighbours."

Lieberman is replacing Moshe Ya'alon, who resigned on Friday claiming that extremists have taken over Israel.

Ya'alon, considered as a strong voice of moderation in the far-right government, said he no longer trusts Netanyahu after the latter offered his post to Lieberman in a bid to expand the coalition.

Lieberman is a Jewish immigrant from Russia and many of his supporters are of Russian descent.

He secured $360 million in the deal in order to increase the pension stipends of Russian veterans.

Surprisingly however, Lieberman, known for disliking Netanyahu, expressed his willingness last week to engage in coalition talks after the prime minister had reportedly reached an agreement with the centre-left Zionist Union.
Abu Dhabi, May 25 : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is slated to participate in the 19th session of the Arab-German Business Forum, which opens in Berlin on Thursday.

A UAE delegation, headed by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, minister of economy, will attend the two-day forum.

The UAE is Germany's main economic partner followed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

More than 600 policy makers, business people and experts from both the Arab world and Germany are expected to take part in the forum to discuss ways of boosting Arab-German economic ties.

The forum is organised by the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce in cooperation with the Arab League General Secretariat, General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab countries.

In a statement, Al Mansouri said bilateral relations between the UAE and Germany are growing consistently, especially on the trade and economic levels, especially given that both countries enjoy many promising industrial, investment and commercial opportunities.

The minister also pointed to the remarkable growth rates and trade volume between the UAE and Germany, with non-oil trade between them reaching $15 billion in 2015.

Germany is also the sixth most important trading partner of the UAE, and has a growth rate of 3 percent compared with 2014.

Non-oil exports from the UAE to Germany during the same year totalled $485 million, growing by 8 percent compared with 2014, while re-exports from the UAE to Germany amounted to $672 million, a growth of 9 percent during the same period. Imports also grew by 2 percent.
New Delhi, May 25 : Bollywood's outspoken actress Richa Chadha has come out in the open about her battle with bulimia, which began when she was asked to "gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips" for her showbiz journey -- something which led her "confidence to evaporate".

She spoke about the eating disorders that exist among industry members -- a "best kept secret" -- at a TedX Talks, a platform that helps people share ideas that will motivate and inspire others.

Richa, who has found popularity with unconventional roles in films like "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!", "Fukrey", "Gangs Of Wasseypur" and "Masaan", spoke about how she thought she was beautiful and intelligent as a child, but her self-confidence took a beating when she headed out to chase her Bollywood dreams.

As a part of the TEDx Talks, Richa, whose latest release is "Sarbjit", said: "Till I lived in Delhi, with my parents, I always felt beautiful and intelligent. It was only when I became an actor that I felt my confidence evaporate.

"Self-doubt exists in everyone's minds. But I do feel actors have it a lot worse. We deal with rejection on many levels on a daily basis. While we deal with civilian (yes, that's what I call people that don't work in showbiz) issues, we also have to listen to, in my cheeky humble opinion, people that aren't so blessed themselves tell you that you are very unsuitable looking."

Sharing some secrets, she said: "I was told I should gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips, get a b**b job, lose the puppy fat, grow my hair out, or cut it, get highlights, or fake eyelash extensions, squat for a bigger b**ty, get fake gel nails, run in heels, wear spanx, pout will talking, focus on dilating the pupils, and listen attentively.

"I crumbled under the pressure like a wrecking ball had hit me."

Bulimia, she said, was the "Big B" that she had to deal with.

"Anyone know what that is? It's when you consistently hate what you look like, and compulsively induce vomiting, throw up all the food you eat, accompanied often by binge eating, general anxiety and sadness and believing basically that you are unworthy.

"What are the implications of it? You become drastically unhealthy, low on nutrition, with lack of sleep and basically over time have little zest for anything at all. I hated myself, gained weight in a strange way and felt like a failure.

"Eating disorders are the best kept secret of showbiz."

The TedX Talk featuring Richa will be showcased online next week.
New Delhi, May 25 : Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday said she has formed no opinion on triple talaq as yet and would rather wait for consensus to emerge on the issue.

"I have no opinion on triple talaq nor should I have till a political consensus is reached on the issue. The law ministry should decide on it," she told reporters here.

The issue of triple talaq has gained traction after a woman in Jaipur was divorced by a letter she received through speed post. She has filed a petition challenging the issue in the Supreme Court. Various women's organisations and Muslim intellectuals have also spoken out against the practise.

On the Kerala rape and murder case of a Dalit woman, Maneka Gandhi said she hopes the new state government will look into it and added that it was the state government's call to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The investigation by National Commission for Women has clear evidence of a nexus between police and a person suspected in the murder. He has political connections and the (previous) Congress government did not take any action though the victim's mother implicated him," she said.

The 27-year-old woman was found murdered on April 28 at her home near a canal in Perumbavoor by her mother, a labourer. The body was badly mutilated and there were injuries on her private parts, according to police.

The crime is being compared with the rape-cum-murder of Nirbhaya that shook the Indian capital, and much of the country, in December 2012.
Agartala, May 25 : Income Tax authorities have served notices to several Tripura ministers and legislators belonging to Left parties for allegedly not providing returns to the IT authorities, officials and party leaders said here on Wednesday.

"Income Tax authorities under the directions of the union finance ministry have served notices under section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to several Tripura ministers and MLAs to provide details about their income," an official of the Income Tax (IT) department here told IANS on condition of anonymity.

He said: "The ministers and legislators have to personally meet the IT officials in Guwahati and submit details about their income. This is not a serious issue. It is a routine affair."

The official said that the ministers and MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) have to explain about their total income and the income shown in the affidavits submitted along with their nomination papers during the last assembly elections in February 2013.

So far three ministers, PWD and Health Minister Badal Chaudhury, Forest Minister Naresh Jamatia, Social Welfare Minister Bijita Nath and Tripura assembly member Keshab Debbarma have received the IT notices.

The IT official said: "All the ministers and legislators who did not submit the IT returns are supposed to get the same notice and have to personally meet the IT officials in Guwahati."

Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 empowers the income tax authorities to conduct inquiries. It provides powers to summon persons or witnesses, examine them under oath, compel production of books of account and documents and issue commissions.

Confirming the receipt of the IT notice for the first time, CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) Tripura state committee secretary Bijan Dhar said that as per the law all the ministers and MLAs would do the needful in response to the IT notice.

"Currently Tripura's Left Front ministers are getting salaries on an average Rs.40,000 and the MLAs Rs.30,000 per month. According to our party guideline, all ministers and MLAs belonging to CPI-M have to deposit their full salaries to the party fund and in return the party gives them Rs.14,000 per month as allowance," Dhar told IANS.

Dhar, a CPI-M central committee member, said the ministers and MLAs while submitting affidavit along with their nomination papers during the last assembly elections in February 2013 had shown the allowance given by the party.

He said that already MLA Keshab Debbarma in response to the IT notice went to Guwahati to meet the officials.

The Tripura assembly last month passed a bill hiking the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers, speaker, deputy speaker and legislators by 15 percent.
Srinagar, May 25 : Pro-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested in summer capital Srinagar on Wednesday on the eve of a protest shutdown called by the separatists against a proposed colony to house ex-servicemen in the valley.

The JKLF chief was arrested from his party's Abi Guzar area office adjacent to the city centre Lal Chowk.

"He has been taken into preventive custody and lodged in Kothibagh police station to maintain law and order in the city," a senior police officer told IANS in Srinagar.

Earlier in the day, police placed Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, under house arrest in his uptown Nigeen residence in Srinagar city.

Mirwaiz Umer, Malik and senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani have called for a protest shutdown on Thursday against the alleged setting up of a Sainik (ex-servicemen) colony by the central and state governments in the Valley.

The separatists have also called for post Friday prayer protests in the Valley the day after.

State government spokesman and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar had last week denied that a Sainik colony was being set up anywhere in the Valley.

The state government has been maintaining that the request for allotment of land for setting up an ex-servicemen colony by permanent residents of J&K had been received and as yet no land has been allotted anywhere for the proposed colony.
Imphal, May 25 : The suspension of former Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio from the ruling Naga People's Front by party president Shurhozelie Liezietsu has sharpened Rio's feud with incumbent Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang.

While Liezietsu has accused Rio of violating party discipline, the former chief minister has trashed his suspension from the party, saying he is not afraid of any such action. Liezietsu has asserted that he has acted in accordance with the party rules.

Observers here say that hostility between Rio and Zeliang has sharpened since Rio, now a member of parliament, has raised the possibility of his returning to the state's politics.

In recent times, Rio, who was Nagaland chief minister thrice, has, in fact, fuelled that speculation by reiterating that Nagaland remains his constituency.

However, the Zeliang-Liezietsu camp has sought to make that difficult for Rio by levelling allegations that he was instigating revolt against the incumbent chief minister of the party.

In the 60-member Nagaland assembly, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland commands 52 members. The NPF with 38 members is the largest party within the alliance and in the house.

Rio was the main architect of the alliance when the outfit was floated with an aim to contest elections in the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur. In the last assembly elections in Manipur, the alliance won four seats in the 60-member house.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised on the educational qualification of Chief Minister Zeliang. It has been alleged that no document has been produced to prove his qualification.
New Delhi, May 25 : A court here on Wednesday set June 6 for delivering its verdict in the 2014 Danish woman's gang rape case.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar reserved the order after defence counsel and prosecution concluded their final argument.

Arjun, Raju alias Chhakka, Mohammad Raja, Mahendra alias Ganja, Raju alias Bajji and Shyam Lal were accused of robbing and raping the Danish woman at knife-point near New Delhi railway station in January 2014 after she sought directions to her hotel in Paharganj in central Delhi.

Shyam Lal died in February in the Tihar jail here and proceedings against him in the case were abated.

Three minors are also facing proceedings before the Juvenile Justice Board in the case.

Police said all the accused are vagabonds who took the woman to an isolated spot near the Divisional Railway Officers' Club close to the railway station, took away her belongings and then raped her.
New Delhi, May 25 : The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval to a law on setting up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country.

The approval to the amendment to The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, will also facilitate conversion of the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, to an IIT.

The new IITs will come up at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Palakkad in Kerala, Dharwar in Karnataka, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Goa and in Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The approval will bring the six new IITs and the ISM within the ambit of the Act of 1961 and declare them as institutions of national importance," a government statement said.
Srinagar, May 25 : A policeman was killed on Wednesday when militants attacked a National Conference (NC) leader's security guard and snatched his service rifle in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

"The militants attacked the security guard of NC district president Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir in Manghama village today (Wednesday) afternoon and decamped with his service rifle," a senior police officer told IANS here.

The deceased policeman Riyaz Ahmed Ganai was in civies and standing alongside the NC leader's security guard at his (Ganai's) cousin's marriage when the guerrillas struck.

The NC leader had gone to the village to attend the wedding function.

On Monday, three policemen, including an officer, were killed and the weapon of one policeman was snatched in two guerrilla attacks in Srinagar.
New Delhi, May 25 : With African heads of mission demanding strong action from the Indian government in the wake of a Congolese national's murder here, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Wednesday met the dean of the African diplomatic corps and a few representatives of the envoys.

According to sources, during the meeting with Eritrean Ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, and other diplomats, Singh strongly condemned the criminal act and assured them that the strongest legal action would be taken.

Masonda Ketada Olivier, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run.

On Tuesday, Woldemariam in a statement on behalf of all the African heads of mission, sought strong action by the Indian government against the perpetrators of the murderous attack on Olivier.

The African envoys also said they would stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26.

The sources said on Wednesday that Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung and Delhi Police chief Alok Kumar Verma have been spoken to and they were pursuing the matter.

Stating that Singh assured the heads of African missions of the Indian government's full support, the sources said Singh would also do an outreach event with African students along with embassies concerned to reassure them of their safety.

"It was also decided that the minister of state would meet the African heads of mission every three months," they said.

"On the issue of the ICCR's Africa Day event, Singh impressed upon the African heads of mission the need to continue the tradition but also said that we would be guided by the African heads of mission in the matter."

While the heads of mission were supposed to revert back to the Indian government on this, it was also decided that Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, who handles relations with Africa, would attend the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the African missions here on Wednesday evening.
New Delhi, May 25 : The Africa Day event being organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) here that came under cloud following the murder of a Congolese man in the national capital, will finally be held on Thursday as scheduled.

It was reliably learnt on Wednesday that the ICCR has received the green signal from the authorities concerned to go ahead with the event.

Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run, according to Delhi Police.

On Tuesday, a meeting of all African heads of mission sought strong action by the Indian governmenton the killing and said that the African envoys would stay away from the ICCR's Africa Day event.

The stand at the meeting was spelt out in a statement by Eritrean Ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission in the capital.

Woldemariam said the envoys requested that the event be postponed, and that the African nations also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except for a cultural troupe from Lesotho.

"This is because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver," the statement said.

On Wednesday, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, in a meeting with Woldemariam and a few other African envoys, assured them of the safety and security of African nationals in India. He also impressed upon them the need to continue with the tradition of the Africa Day celebrations.

The Day commemorates the establishment of the African Union in 2001 which replaced the Organisation of African Unity established on May 25, 1963.
Kolkata, May 25 : Lambasting the Trinamool Congress for "unleashing terror to eliminate the opposition", the Left Front and the Congress on Wednesday collectively called for a massive people's movement to 're-establish democracy' in West Bengal.

Participating in a two-day sit-in demonstration against post-poll violence, leaders from both the camps batted for the continued relevance of the Congress-Left Front tie-up.

"Despite winning 211 of the 294 seats, the violence unleashed by Trinamool has continued unabated and has only intensified after the assembly polls. Polls also took place in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but it is only Bengal where the ruling party has unleashed brutal attacks on the opposition," said Left Front chairman Biman Bose.

"We have to teach them a lesson. There is no other way out. We have to build up a massive resistance across the state and sustain it for a long time. The people's alliance that we had forged for fighting for democracy will continue till democracy is re-established in Bengal," said Bose.

Expressing a similar view, Congress leader Abdul Mannan alleged the violence was a result of Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "conspiracy to eliminate the opposition".

"Mamata is determined to eliminate the opposition only because we have been raising the uncomfortable truth about Trinamool being neck deep in corruption.

"This violence can be countered only through a people's movement. That is why the alliance has now become more significant," said Mannan.

Among the leaders present at the sit-in were Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Mohammad Salim, Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty and state Congress general secretary O.P. Mishra.

Mishra said the Congress will boycott Banerjee government's swearing-in ceremony on May 27 as a mark of protest. The Left too has threatened not to attend the ceremony to be held in city's Indira Gandhi Sarani.
New Delhi, May 25 : The National Green Tribunal will take up on August 2 the arguments on plea for contempt proceedings against spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for his alleged statement terming the environment compensation imposed by the green tribunal as politically motivated.

The Art of Living (AoL), founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has maintained that the foundation has not flouted any environment norms while organising the World Culture Festival (WCF) or caused any damage to the Yamuna floodplains where the three-day event was held.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asserted that it has powers to move contempt proceedings against anybody disobeying its orders.

"The Tribunal has power to punish the people disobeying its orders. Section 19(4) of the NGT Act vests the power of Civil Courts in us. We can issue contempt notices," Justice Swatanter Kumar, the chairperson of the NGT and former Supreme Court judge, said while responding to queries of Art of Living (AoL) counsel.

The NGT had asked the AoL to pay Rs.5 crore as environment compensation for the damage the World Culture Festival (WCF) had caused to the fragile Yamuna floodplains' eco-system in March this year.

Even after two months of the completion of event, the foundation is yet to pay the entire amount, although it had paid a part of it (Rs.25 lakh) before the commencement of the event.

The court has also directed the principal committee it had appointed in March to "assess the damage incurred by the WCF to the floodplains" to submit its report by June 8.

The wrath of the green court has come after Ravi Shankar's statement in an interview where he reportedly had said the fine imposed on him was politically motivated.

Environmentalist Manoj Misra filed a contempt notice in the NGT against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the basis of the statement, and the court on Wednesday said it will hear the arguments from both the sides on the issue from August 2 onwards.

On its part, the AoL has maintained that neither has the foundation flouted any environment norms while organizing the WCF nor has it caused any damage to Yamuna floodplains.

"The Art of Living was prepared with replies to applications on enzymes and alleged statements by Sri Sri to some media. However, the NGT gave three more days to file the replies," the foundation said in a statement released here.

"It may be stated here the allegations by Manoj Mishra regarding Sri Sri's comment on the NGT are baseless. The petition was based on unverified newspaper reports," the AoL said, adding it "has the video of the speech that clearly shows that no such comment was made by Sri Sri".

"It was yet another malafide attempt by Misra to malign and tarnish his (Sri Sri's) image by false claims," the AoL said.

Meanwhile, Misra's lawyer Ritwick Dutta told IANS that the green court has asked the AoL to file its reply on the his contempt notice.

"Since the NGT has asked them to file a reply to our notice and they too have agreed, it is clear that contempt of the NGT's earlier order has been established prima facie, the quantum of which will be decided over the period of time," Dutta said.
Madrid, May 25 : In order to accommodate the flow of fans who are heading to Milan to watch the Champions League final on Saturday, as many as 218 additional Milan-bound flights with 46,317 available seats have been added from Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport, the main international airport serving the Spanish capital.

The airport announced in a statement that this was to the flow of fans who will go to the Italian city to watch the final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on Saturday, reports Efe.

The 218 extra flights have been added to the regular 105 flights.
Mumbai, May 25 : Hundreds of fisherfolk on Wednesday held a 'sea rally' to protest against the site selected for the proposed memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast.

The fishermen, in around 150 big and small boats that sported black flags, demanded that the state government re-consider the memorial site in view of probable damage to marine wealth in the region.

"We wish to clarify that the fisherfolk are not against the memorial that aims to honour Maharashtra's great son, but we are definitely opposed to the site where it is going to be constructed," said Paramparik Machhimar Seva Samiti president Rohit Pande.

He said the sea belongs to the fishing communities but the government has not taken them into confidence over the issue, compelling them to protest.

Some fishing communities' groups spoke to the government collectively and individually, but failed to get any satisfactory response, Pande claimed.

He said besides affecting their livelihood, other related issues pertaining to safety and security needed to be considered.

The statue would be located around a kilometre into the Arabian Sea off south Mumbai's western side, with a driveway on one side and a small channel left open near the Raj Bhavan vicinity for the fishing boats to enter and exit.

Moreover, the islet selected for the memorial may not be sufficient and the project may entail reclamation since the islet submerges during high tide.

After securing pending clearances, the Maharashtra government plans to go ahead with the construction of the Rs.2,000 crore memorial that includes a 190-metre tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The Statue of Liberty outside the New York harbour is around 96 metres tall.
New Delhi, May 25 : Six members of an inter-state gang were arrested following a shootout in Bankarwala area of West Delhi, Delhi Police said on Wednesday.

According to police, Pradeep Solanki -- wanted in several cases of murder and extortion -- was arrested from West Delhi's Nangloi area on Monday night.

After getting a tip-off from Solanki, police raided a flat in the Bankarwala area and arrested five more gangsters, who arrived there in a white Toyota Fortuner vehicle, after a shootout.

Those arrested were Pradeep Rathi aka Tota, Ashok Gehlot, Manjeet Khandewala, Sumit aka Polu and Satender aka Bhinda.

The police also seized six sophisticated pistols and 23 live rounds from their possession.

During interrogation, it was found that Manjeet was involved in the killing of former MLA Bharat Singh in Najafgarh area here last year, police said.

Others were involved in cases of murder, extortion, robbery and under the Arms Act, the police said.
New Delhi, May 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on May 26 to mark the completion of two years of his government whereas the BJP plans to reach out to people to convey its achievements.

The party on Wednesday released seven handouts on the government's achievements in the past two years in various fields. The booklets, divided into seven themes, were released at an event attended by party chief Amit Shah.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a power-point presentation at the function, where Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu were also present.

BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma said that apart from Modi's Saharanpur rally, events will be held in 200 big cities during the "development fortnight" to be observed by the party.

The BJP's elected representatives will stay in their respective constituencies to convey the government's works.

"In seats where there are no elected representatives of the BJP, its office-bearers and former MPs will reach out to the people," he said.

Sitharaman said there was "not a word of corruption" against the government.

"This is purpose-driven, performing government. The uncertainty is over. It is a responsive government," she said.

The handouts under the title "Mera desh badal raha hai, aage badh raha hai (my country is changing. It is progressing)" carry Modi's photograph on the front as also his quotes.

The government work has been divided under seven broad themes -- 'Building infrastructure for a modern and futuristic India', 'Empowering nari shakti', 'A new governance paradigm', 'Government of the firsts', 'Empowering the poor', 'Prosperous farmers for a prosperous India' and 'Unleashing an era of youth and development'.

As part of the party's plan to reach out to the people, Shah will address a press conference in the national capital while all union ministers will take part in programmes in different parts of the country.
Mumbai, May 26 : Actress Sonam Kapoor and international star Sir Ian McKellen inaugurated the Kashish Film Festival, here late Wednesday.

"I'm here for Kashish, and I'm here because I strongly believe in what this film festival stands for, that it's a basic human rights; it's not about being lesbian, gay, female, male, transsexual, anything, it's about being able to be who you want to be and somebody who is just themselves. I'm a strong supporter of basic human rights," Sonam said.

McKellen is also a homosexual, who is known for his work in films such as 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit'. He was present along with superstar Aamir Khan to discuss William Shakespeare at the MAMI Film Festival a few days back.

"I just want to say how happy I am to be at Kashish; it's my first visit to Mumbai. I made many friends already and I hope this evening to make many more. I've come to Mumbai to celebrate Shakespeare and to celebrate the connections between the United Kingdom and your country. And I've also come to support those who want to get rid of section 377 (which criminalizes homosexuality)," McKellen said.

Kashish Film Festival is the South Asia's biggest LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) film festival and this is the seventh edition of the festival.
Tokyo, May 26 : US President Barack Obama extended "sincerest condolences and deepest regrets" over the murder of a Japanese woman by a US military-affiliated civilian, here at a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Wednesday.

Responding to a strong statement of protest from the Japanese prime minister, Obama said the murder was a "tragedy" and considered "inexcusable", and pledged to continue to cooperate fully with the investigation to ensure that justice is done under the Japanese justice system, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 20-year-old victim was raped and strangled by a former US Marine in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture last month, whose body was dumped in a forested area.

At the meeting, Abe raised a formal protest over the tragic death, saying that he felt profound resentment for this self-centred and despicable crime. He also urged the US to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again, according to a press conference after the talk.

The US president is here for the Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit that is set to kick off Thursday.
Helsinki, May 26 : Microsoft said on Wednesday that it would lay off 1,350 people in Finland, as a result of its plan to streamline its smart phone hardware business.

"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms," said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, Xinhua news agency reported.

The redundancies in Finland were part of its overall plan to cut 1,850 jobs worldwide, and the company would record an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million, said the company in an announcement.
Geneva, May 26 : Muslim school students in the Swiss canton of Basel cannot refuse to shake hands with their female teachers on religious grounds, otherwise their parents will face fines, local authorities have ruled.

"The public interest with respect to equality between men and women and the integration of foreigners significantly outweighs the freedom of conscience (freedom of religion) of the students," the department of education, culture and sport in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, northern Switzerland, said on Wednesday, RT online reported.

According to the department, if students refuse to shake hands, it means that they involve others "in a religious act."

"The social gesture of a handshake is important for the employability of the students later in their professional lives," it said.

Thus, if such an incident happens, the parents of a student who refuses to shake hands will have to pay a fine of up to 5,000 francs ($5,046), the legislation states. Also the child may face "educational, useful, necessary and proportionate" measures.

The ruling comes almost two months after a controversial case in the northern Swiss municipality of Therwi, Basel canton, when two male pupils, aged 14 and 15, refused to shake hands with their female teachers. They said this went against their religious beliefs.

The boys argued that Islam does not permit any physical contact between members of the opposite sex, unless it is between family members.

The school then passed a controversial ruling, saying that the students will no longer have to shake hands with female teachers. On Wednesday the authorities said they abolished the ruling.

Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga then said that "shaking hands is part of our culture" and Christoph Eymann, who heads the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education added: "We cannot tolerate that women in the public service are treated differently from men."

The 'shaking-hands' incident is not the first of this kind in Switzerland. In November, the Swiss canton of Ticino said women wearing the burqa or niqab would be faced with a fine of up to $9,790, after the government made it illegal for them to wear the veils in public.

The law makes no exceptions for tourists. People visiting Ticino will be informed at airports and by customs officials at the Italian border that it is unlawful in the canton to hide their face.
Health park Pharmacy With adherence packaging, quality assurance is the most important consideration.

Since May of 2015, Health Park Pharmacy, a community-based pharmacy serving patients throughout North Carolina, has collaborated with a number of community providers, including Well Care Home Health, Transitions LifeCare, Southern Long Term Care Facilities, Humana at Home, Wake Key Care, Community Care of North Carolina, and Duke Raleigh Hospital, to reduce hospital readmissions with a solution they call Project Harmony. Project Harmony is a pharmacy-driven care transition solution developed by Health Park to prevent the prescription deficits that often occur as a patient moves from one level of care to another.

In their latest effort to ease transitions in care, reduce hospital readmissions, and bring affordable, quality care to the patients they serve, Health Park sought a technology partner to help scale their solution with a high degree of quality assurance. After conducting thorough due diligence, Steve Adkins, owner of Health Park Pharmacy, decided TCGRx offered the most impressive pharmacy technology solutions.

According to Adkins, A key component of Project Harmony is compliance packaging. Health Park Pharmacy is thrilled to be the first community pharmacy in North Carolina to implement TCGRxs state-of-the-art pharmacy automation tools: the new ATP 2, automated tablet packager, and the InspectRx medication inspection system. With adherence packaging, quality assurance is the most important consideration. AdherePac (adherence packaging generated by the ATP 2) is truly precision medicine, representing the future of healthcare. In fact, its optional InspectRx employs the same technology used by the FBI for facial recognition. Together, they help us provide a level of quality assurance and accuracy unmatched by any other pharmacy in our state.

Well Care Home Healthranked one of the top ten percent home healthcare agencies in the USis foregoing a significant revenue stream by partnering with Health Park Pharmacy. Rather than charging patients for medication management solutions of their own, they are connecting their patients to Health Park to provide more value to the patients they serve. Putting their patients needs ahead of profit has placed both Health Park Pharmacy and Well Care Home Health in an enviable position within the healthcare field.

Through Project Harmony, the Health Park Pharmacy staff works to bridge communication gaps between hospitals, rehab facilities and primary care physicians. They use the ATPs AdherePac to sort and organize medications by day and time to eliminate patient confusion about their prescriptions, and to deliver those medications right to the patients door. According to Adkins, Health Park is proud to utilize this new technology to bring better, more affordable care to patients in North Carolina.

This pharmacy care model provides a much needed safety net for complex patients trying to maintain their independence at home, and has resulted in significant decreases in the number of hospital readmissions for Heath Parks patients; reducing readmissions from one in four to one in forty.

About Health Park Pharmacy

Health Park Pharmacy is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has been in business for 10 years. Owner, Steve Adkins, takes pride in providing the highest level of quality patient customer service. With over 25 years in the pharmacy business, Steve began as a deliery driver for his local pharmacy, moving into a pharmacy technician role. He moved to North Carolina in 2001, opened Hpp in the Fall of 2006 starting Health Park Pharmacy, providing one-on-one patient care, and beginning SimplifyMyMeds in 2007. With over 1,200 patients currently enrolled in the med synchronization program, Steve and his team are able to create a well-developed, customized medication regimen for each customer. He works with his patients and their physicians, giving clear visibility to potential medication-related issues that may not have presented prior to all parties being fully engaged with each other. His goal as a pharmacist, is to educate and empower patients, in order to improve their health.

About TCGRx

TCGRx is a leading supplier of pharmacy automation, offering scalable solutions that range from simple packaging technology to enterprise-wide perpetual inventory management. TCGRx solutions are specifically designed to make pharmacies and their processes more efficient. The company provides comprehensive work flow automation, including design and consultation services, to offer in-patient, out-patient and long-term care pharmacies a fully featured, integrated solution. With a strong presence in pharmacy markets throughout the U.S. and Canada, TCGRx is headquartered in Powers Lake, WI. For additional information, visit http://www.TCGRx.com, find us on Facebook, or contact us at 262.279.5307.
Notes from Susie Susie and I discovered that it is possible to be at peace and maintain a heart of gratitude while navigating lifes low places. We also learned that no matter how well we plan and prepare, we must always walk by faith and not by sight.

Celebrating Grace, Inc., has released a new book titled Notes from Susie: Choosing Gratitude in Lifes Low Places. The book chronicles Mark and Susie Edwards inspirational journey, sustained by timeless hymns of faith, in which they demonstrated joy and thankfulness while fighting the ravages of Susies cancer.

Susie and I discovered that it is possible to be at peace and maintain a heart of gratitude while navigating lifes low places, Mark Edwards said. We also learned that no matter how well we plan and prepare, we must always walk by faith and not by sight because our circumstances can change in a heartbeat.

Susie Edwards was a prolific writer of personal notes who cherished Christian hymns. Her profound gratitude and abiding sense of peace were evident in the frequent Facebook updates that she and Mark, her caregiver husband, posted to literally hundreds of people during their two-year journey.

The regular updates by Susie, Mark and other family members soon turned a page originally meant for information into a page of inspiration using hymn texts as devotionals. The Facebook group grew, and there was an overwhelming call for the posts to be compiled into a book for caregivers, friends and family of terminally ill patients.

Following Susie's death, Celebrating Grace, Inc., approached Mark to publish a book based on the Facebook updates of their journey. Notes from Susie is a collection of their reflections. It is an honest look into how one couple, completely devoted to each other and joyful together, meet head-on one of lifes greatest challenges by drawing on the support and power of prayer, scripture, hymns and the large cloud of witnesses surrounding them.

Throughout their journey, the Edwards lived out the great truth that the words in our mouths can become mediations of our hearts. They also gained fresh insight about how knowing hymns and living into them are not necessarily the same thing.

Behind the updates, the epilogue offers a this is what I make of it all, this is what were learning and where we go from here chapter. Their daughter Weslee and son Nathan also share how they navigated their own pain and loss to help their young children through their first major life tragedy.

Notes from Susie offers hope and inspiration for anyone who is struggling, has faced or will confront one of life's low places. Additional information, including a brief video, is available at http://www.NotesFromSusie.com. Notes from Susie can be purchased on the website as well.

About Mark Edwards

Mark Edwards served as minister of music at First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, for thirty years. He retired in October 2007 and became the vice president of Celebrating Grace, Inc. Edwards shepherded the production of the Celebrating Grace Hymnal (released in March, 2010) and led the committee of composers and arrangers that produced more than 1,500 choral, orchestral and keyboard accompaniments for congregational singing. In July 2013, he retired from Celebrating Grace, but remains as an advisor and consultant for many of the Celebrating Grace projects and products.

-30-
Monarca Collection Pineda Covalin is an invitation to travel along the roads of Mexico and Latin America

Pineda Covalin is an invitation to travel along the roads of a Mexico and Latin America that peers at the modern world through the eyes of its own history, traditions, cultural plurality, ethnic multiplicity, and fertile imagination.

Furthermore, it is a well-deserved homage to the anonymous creators of past and present times who have captured the cosmogony of Latin America in the fantastic designs that symbolize what we are as a nation today. Pineda Covalin reveals this nations spirit with a colorful palette of brilliant designs that evoke the culture of all its regions; it defines a plural territory where the richest expressions of Mexican art flourish alongside each other. The collection that we present is a combination of fashion and art. A fusion in which multiple currents converge to show that globality is also an opportunity for discovering the tremendous wealth that identifies the small village.

In words of Fernando Montes de Oca, Pineda Covalin's GM for the US: "Our project is to preserve the collective memory of Mexican design, a particular way of recognizing what we have inherited, and a different way of speaking about what belongs to us and what makes up the beauty and intensity of our people".

Pineda Covalin was founded in 1996 by Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalin. The companys main purpose is to expand the richness of the Mexican and Latin American culture and traditions all over the world through fashionable products such as ties, purses, scarves and shoes, with diverse patterns on silk.

The new e-store in the US, carries large inventory of products based on the design stories like:

Monarch Butterfly

"In the Mexican Prehispanic cultures the Monarch Butterfly symbolized the soul, fire and movement, concepts that they captured in the literature and left in their archaeological pieces. Although at the beginning of the spring season, the Monarch Butterfly begins its journey towards Canada, during the winter season, we can admire the butterfly in its ecological reserve in Angangueo in the state of Michoacan."

Istmo Tehuana

"Ever since the beginning of the 20th century, the new urban culture in Mexico required symbols to demonstrate its wealth. With the Mexican Revolution, this need became even more urgent. The figure of the Tehuan women awakened the desire and dreams of those who saw them, and their features could well have represented the grandeur or the new nation. Tehuan clothes are some of the most attractive, picturesque, striking, elegant, and seductive in Mexico. They have maintained their current for 100 years. Ornaments, usually include colorful, bright and striking floral motifs, the design of which inspired these clothes."

Through these 20 years, Pineda Covalins products have been introduced into diverse countries and sceneries, presenting different collections all over the world in diverse events and runways in Mexico City, Miami, New York, Scottsdale, Chile, Sao Paulo, Peru, France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, South Africa, India, Indonesia, China, Japan and Australia. These presentations have confirmed Pineda Covalins as a recognized creative and original concept and an ambassador of the Mexican culture and fashion.

Now you are welcome to enjoy our products and designs in the US at our e-store
We are proud to partner with Telia Carrier which re-inforces the strategic importance of Montreal as a critical telecom hub between North America and Europe.

Metro Optic, a leading high-speed connectivity provider in Montreal, is pleased to announce that Telia Carrier has established its first significant presence in Montreal at Metro Optics interconnection hub at 875 St. Antoine. Telia Carrier owns and operates one of the worlds most extensive fiber backbones and according to Dyn Researchs global backbone rankings, AS1299, Telia Carriers global IP backbone is currently ranked top two. Telia Carriers rapid growth and ascension through the rankings was recently highlighted in Dyns Bakers Dozen.

We are proud to partner with Telia Carrier which re-inforces the strategic importance of Montreal as a critical telecom hub between North America and Europe, said Michael Bucheit, CEO of Metro Optic.

Telia Carrier will offer wholesale IP transit, Ethernet and IPX services for carriers, content and cloud providers. It will join a network of 30+ domestic and international carriers at the fiber-densest site in Montreal.

Note the associated release from our partner Telia Carrier.

As one of the leading providers of 100G services, Telia Carrier enables Montreal customers to connect to its AS1299 fiber optic backbone, one of the largest in the world, at the highest speeds available in the region. Montreal is a major media hub for the French Canadian market, and the region's low power costs are also a draw for content providers and cloud technology companies. Montreal is uniquely positioned as a key aggregation point for international traffic, from both the US as well as transatlantic directly to Canada from Europe via east coast Canadian cable landing points.

"Telia Carrier is dedicated to delivering a responsive, connected experience to address the continued demand in the Canadian market," said Art Kazmierczak, Director of Business Development, Americas at Telia Carrier. "By moving to Montreal, in addition to already being in Toronto, Telia Carrier strengthens its presence in a high-growth IP transit market in Canada, and reinforces our commitment to meeting customer demand for consistent and reliable performance worldwide."

Telia Carrier was the first carrier with a 100G enabled backbone in both Europe and North America in addition to owning and operating the #1 ranked Global IP backbone. The company enables worldwide connectivity by connecting more than 200 Points of Presence (PoPs) across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East including 62 PoPs in North America alone.

About Telia Carrier

Telia Carrier owns and operates one of the world's most extensive fiber backbones. Our mission is to provide exceptional network infrastructure and services  empowering individuals, businesses and societies to execute their most critical activities. By working close to our customers, we make big ideas happen at the speed of fiber.

About Metro Optic

METRO OPTIC is an independent provider of datacenter-neutral high-speed fiber solutions. Since its inception, Metro Optic offers specialized telecommunications services and solutions to medium- and large-sized businesses, telecom carriers and wholesalers and datacenter operators. Its carrier-neutral datacenter at 875 Saint-Antoine is the fiber-densest interconnection center in Montreal.

Media Contact: Howard Oliver, Metro Optic Inc., 416-568-5254, info(at)metrooptic(dot)com.
We are proud to partner with Telia Carrier which reinforces the strategic importance of Montreal as a critical telecom hub between North America and Europe.

Metro Optic, a leading high-speed connectivity provider in Montreal, is pleased to announce that Telia Carrier has established its first significant presence in Montreal at Metro Optics interconnection hub at 875 St. Antoine. Telia Carrier owns and operates one of the worlds most extensive fiber backbones and according to Dyn Researchs global backbone rankings, AS1299, Telia Carriers global IP backbone is currently ranked top two. Telia Carriers rapid growth and ascension through the rankings was recently highlighted in Dyns Bakers Dozen.

We are proud to partner with Telia Carrier which reinforces the strategic importance of Montreal as a critical telecom hub between North America and Europe, said Michael Bucheit, CEO of Metro Optic.

Telia Carrier will offer wholesale IP transit, Ethernet and IPX services for carriers, content and cloud providers. It will join a network of 30+ domestic and international carriers at the fiber-densest site in Montreal. Montreal complements its presence in Toronto and underscores Telia Carrier's commitment to North American expansion.

"Telia Carrier is dedicated to delivering a responsive, connected experience to address the continued demand in the Canadian market," said Art Kazmierczak, Director of Business Development, Americas at Telia Carrier. "By moving to Montreal, in addition to already being in Toronto, Telia Carrier strengthens its presence in a high-growth IP transit market in Canada, and reinforces our commitment to meeting customer demand for consistent and reliable performance worldwide."

As one of the leading providers of 100G services, Telia Carrier enables Montreal customers to connect to its AS1299 fiber optic backbone, one of the worlds largest, at the highest speeds available in the region. Montreal is a major media hub for the French Canadian market, and the region's low power costs are also a draw for content providers and cloud technology companies. Montreal is uniquely positioned as a key aggregation point for international traffic, from both the US as well as transatlantic directly to Canada from Europe via east coast Canadian cable landing points.

Telia Carrier was the first carrier with a 100G enabled backbone in both Europe and North America in addition to owning and operating the #1 ranked Global IP backbone. The company enables worldwide connectivity by connecting more than 200 Points of Presence (PoPs) across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East including 62 PoPs in North America alone.

Note the associated release from our partner Telia Carrier.

About Telia Carrier

Telia Carrier owns and operates one of the world's most extensive fiber backbones. Our mission is to provide exceptional network infrastructure and services  empowering individuals, businesses and societies to execute their most critical activities. By working close to our customers, we make big ideas happen at the speed of fiber.

About Metro Optic

METRO OPTIC is an independent provider of datacenter-neutral high-speed fiber solutions. Since its inception, Metro Optic offers specialized telecommunications services and solutions to medium- and large-sized businesses, telecom carriers and wholesalers and datacenter operators. Its carrier-neutral datacenter at 875 Saint-Antoine is the fiber-densest interconnection center in Montreal.

Media Contact: Howard Oliver, Metro Optic Inc., 416-568-5254, info(at)metrooptic(dot)com.
Rick Bridwell, Bank of America Market Executive, presented a $20,000 check to Nick Hallack, President and CEO of Medisend. "BOA is proud to invest in a stable future for these deserving young men and women," says Gillian Breidenbach, Senior Vice President and the Local Market Development Manager for North Texas.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has awarded a grant to the General Richard B. Myers Veterans Biomedical Technology Program to help provide veterans a pathway to employment and successful careers in healthcare. On Wednesday, May 4th, Rick Bridwell, Bank of America Market Executive, presented a $20,000 check to Nick Hallack, President and CEO of Medisend, parent organization and home of the General Myers Veterans Program.

The General Myers Program aligns perfectly with Bank of Americas focus on workforce development and education, and our initiative to help veterans become permanently employed in good jobs with career advancement opportunities, says Gillian Breidenbach, Senior Vice President and the Local Market Development Manager for North Texas, BOA is proud to invest in a stable future for these deserving young men and women.

The General Richard B. Myers Program educates and trains veterans to manage diagnostic and therapeutic medical equipment for hospitals, manufacturers and service providers in a five-month bootcamp program that prepares them for positions as professional BMET technicians. Classes take place in new classrooms and state-of-the-art training laboratories at Medisends campus located in North Dallas. Veterans also benefit from Medisends industry partnerships that provide workshops, and seminars in leadership, as well as job opportunities. Graduates of the Myers Program are currently employed at organizations such as Baylor, Scott and White Health, Becton-Dickenson, VHA, DaVita, and the US military.

We are proud to serve as a career pathway for our veterans, and at the same time fill a very real skills gap in our communities. The General Myers Program offers superior training and assistance in job placement for veterans, benefiting healthcare employers and patients with professional excellence and passion to serve. We thank Bank of America for supporting us in this mission, says Hallack.

For more information on the General Richard B. Myers Veterans Biomedical Technology Program, go to myersbmet.org or call 214.575.5006, extension 112.
Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities Youth Achievement Award Winners Grace Taskinsoy, Caragon Olles and Sophia Gross Each year, it is a heartwarming experience to remind parents, students, educators and the public about the immense strengths and talents of so many young people who struggle with learning disabilities and ADHD. Past News Releases RSS Smart Kids with Learning...

Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. honored three students at its Annual Gala on Saturday, April 30 at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, CT. These young women were selected from over 130 applicants from across the United States for their achievements in empowering students with learning disabilities and ADHD.

Jane Ross, Executive Director of Smart Kids, said, Each year, it is a heartwarming experience to remind parents, students, educators and the public about the immense strengths and talents of so many young people who struggle with learning disabilities and ADHD. We are delighted to congratulate the 2016 award winners. Maria Prorok, chair of the selection committee, added, We had such a difficult time choosing our award recipients this year from so many impressive applications. What a joy to see so many kids with learning disabilities achieving so much.

Grace Taskinsoy of Fountain Hills, Arizona was presented with the Fred J. Epstein Youth Achievement Award. The 17-year-old senior at Scottsdale Preparatory Academy was diagnosed with dyslexia in her freshman year in high school after years of academic struggle. Grace worked with Arizona State Senator Kelli Ward to develop legislation to help children like her. Grace testified in front of the Arizona Senate Education Committee and wrote her testimony for the House Education Committee. The bill, which passed 84-1 and was signed into law in April 2015, enables teachers to get continuing education credits to learn about dyslexia, and helps children with dyslexia be promoted with their class and get extra reading support.

Sophia Gross, Special Recognition Winner from Conshohocken, PA, is an 18-year-old senior at AIM Academy. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD in first grade, Sophia has worked hard to fight the stigma surrounding learning disabilities. Sophia co-founded Opportunity Rise that uses branding and custom apparel to advocate for children with learning disabilities. Sophia will attend Temple University in the fall.

At the age of 13, Junior Achievement Award winner Caragan Olles from DePere, WI has achieved much already despite her dyslexia. The 8th grader at Our Lady of Lourdes High School, with her brothers help, founded Bright Young Dyslexics to provide support to K-12 students with dyslexia. Bright Young Dyslexics has raised over $35,000 to fund assistive technology and tutoring for children with dyslexia. Caragan said, I want every dyslexic student to succeed. Dyslexia shouldnt be the thing holding anyone back.

Additional Honorable Mentions were awarded to Shaya Barry, Larkspur, CA; Jenna Calderaio, Jupiter, Florida; Nathan Hartley, Naperville, IL; Taylor Howard, Lutz, FL; and Zachary Jordan, Palatine, Illinois.

About Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc.

Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. is a Westport-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the parents of children with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit disorders (ADHD) via its educational programs, award-winning website and blog, and free e-newsletter at http://www.SmartKidswithLD.org. The organization also educates the public about these childrens gifts and talents. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and Anne Ford are Honorary Board members and Henry Winkler, Golden Globe award-winning actor, director and author, serves as the organizations Honorary Chairman.

For more information, visit http://www.smartkidswithld.org/
We are encouraged to see high school students taking their futures seriously and committing to pursuing  and funding  higher education. -- Mary Morris, Chair, College Savings Foundation

60% of high school students across the country are saving for their higher education, up from 51% in 2015 and the highest level since 2010, according to the College Savings Foundations seventh annual How Youth Plan to Fund College survey of high school students across the country. Of those students saving, 20% say that the primary way of saving is utilizing a 529 college savings plan.

For an Executive Summary of the survey results with charts and graphs see http://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org/pdf/2016StudentSurveyExecSummary.pdf

High school students may be modeling good habits in the family: 62% say their parents are saving as well.

American families are giving saving a big vote of confidence, said Mary Morris, CSF Chair. We are encouraged to see high school students taking their futures seriously and committing to pursuing  and funding  higher education.

Almost all (89%) high school students surveyed plan to contribute toward all or at least a portion of their education costs  up from 75% one year ago and also at the highest level since the surveys inception.

How High Schoolers Will Fund College:

More students are tapping into multiple resources to pay for college, including financial aid, loans, and scholarships, as well as working  right now and during college:

Financial aid: 56% are planning on receiving financial aid and 35% believe they may be eligible to receive some aid to attend college. Over 90% of respondents realize that financial aid awards often include student loans that will require repayment over time.

Student loans: 71% say they plan to or will possibly borrow money outside of financial aid  up from 55% last year. Of those students, three-quarters are concerned about paying back their loans; and 45% think theyll be paying them back for 6-10 years.

Scholarships: 85% plan to or believe they may receive a scholarship.

Employment: 53% already have jobs to accumulate savings for higher education. Looking forward, 63% intend to work while attending college, 31% may work while in college, and of those, 82% envision working part time while at school.

Saving: Not only are more students saving, their saving discipline is having an impact: 78% of savers have accumulated more than $1,000.

High school students are also knowledgeable about saving strategies. In a new question asked this year, it is interesting to note that 37% of all students knew that saving in a 529 college savings plan could fund graduate education and lifetime learning.

How Parents and Families are Helping:

The lines of communication between parents and their children on the topic of college funding appear to be wide open. More students (86%) have talked with their parents this year about their involvement in funding college than in the past, up 14 points from 72% in 2015.

Of the 62% of parents who students report are saving, 29% are saving primarily through 529 college savings plans. In comparison to last years survey, parents are saving dramatically more: 68% have saved over $5,000; a full ten percentage points ahead of 58% in 2015.

Parents also seem to be using sound strategies to boost savings. 57% of students say their parents save a fixed amount per month, up from 52% last year; and nearly half (47%) said their parents started saving sometime between the students birth and through elementary school, showing a recognition of the positive impact long-term, methodical saving can have on meeting savings goals.

Extended family is also a growing source of support in college funding. 59% of the students expect to receive some money from relatives (grandparents, uncles/aunts) and 23% of students said they are aware that relatives save utilizing a 529 college savings plan.

A Spotlight on High School Savers:

An analysis of the 60% of students who are saving money for higher education reveals that parents who save have children who save. The students who are saving are also working and plan to work in college.



94% of high school savers are talking to their parents about their involvement (more than the 89% of those surveyed).

Substantially more of their parents are saving (79% of high school savers versus 62% of all students surveyed).

More savers parents have accumulated more than $5,000 (75% versus 68% of all surveyed) and are more likely to save a fixed amount per month (66% versus 57%).

Year over year, substantially more high school savers are already working (74% compared to 53% of youths surveyed) and intend to continue to work while attending college (71% versus 63%).

The 2016 How Youth Plan to Fund College survey reached over 500 sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school across the country via Survey Monkey, with parental permission.

The College Savings Foundation (CSF) is a Washington, D.C.- based not-for-profit organization helping American families achieve their education savings goals. http://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org
Construct-A-Lead is an online construction lead service that helps contractors, service providers, manufacturers and suppliers gain information on all large scale construction projects. The service features apartment construction, hotel construction, retail construction, medical construction, school renovations & more, including those hard-to-find private project leads, to help bid on construction, from planning stage- completion.

Construct-A-Lead, the Construction Industrys most comprehensive construction lead service, reported today that the following Medical construction projects will have the necessary approvals and will go forward. Businesses will have ample opportunities to provide construction bids and other services relative to these projects

Interested parties are invited to visit construct-a-lead.com and sign up for a test drive. This a no obligation, no credit card necessary sampling allowing customers 5 live construction reports over a 3 day period. Users are encouraged to view and track projects, online, an example of which is listed below. Reference the Project ID to utilize the new site features and to obtain direct contact information for each construction lead:

New Lenox, IL  Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center- Plans call for a new multi-specialty ASTC in 13,849 square feet of space. Construction start: Q1, Q2, 2017, $11,000,000. Project ID: 1370606

Fridley, MN - Unity Hospital  Plans call for the renovation & upgrades to the emergency room and inpatient mental health unit, and the relocation and expansion of a mental health clinic. Construction start: Q1, Q2, 2017. $50,000,000 Project ID: 1370577

San Pedro, CA  Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center - Plans call for an emergency room expansion. Construction start: Q4, 2016. $8,000,000 Project ID: 1369788

Augusta, GA  The Claiborne at Augusta Plans call for the new construction of a 104-unit seniors housing community to feature 70 assisted living units and a 34-suite memory care facility. Construction start: Q4, 2016, Q1, 2017. $18,000,000. Project ID: 1370567

Myrtle Beach, SC  Grand Strand Medical Center - Plans call for constructing a freestanding emergency department. Construction start: Q2, 2017, $8,900,000. Project ID: 1370375

Hialeah, FL  Mount Sinai Medical Center - Plans call for the new construction of a 20,000 +/- SF, free-standing emergency department & medical office in a three story building. Construction start: Q1, Q2, 2017. $15,000,000. Project ID: 1370571

Construct-A-Lead.com is an online construction projects database, helping contractors, service providers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and businesses in related industries gain information on all large scale commercial construction projects.

The service features hotel construction, office buildings, retail construction, medical facilities, school renovations] and much more, to help bid on construction including those hard-to-find private project leads, from planning stage through completion. Construct-A-Leads daily updates of commercial construction project leads are an ideal solution for those who want to put their product or service into commercial, government and religious structures.

For more information, visit Construct-A-Lead.com online or call 855-874-1491.
Sendero, a management consulting firm known for its purpose driven culture and dedication to clients, was chosen as a winner of the 2016 North Star Award by Communities Foundation of Texas Entrepreneurs for North Texas (EFNT).

The North Star Award recognizes companies who show a powerful commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the North Texas community through implementing civic-minded policies, providing opportunities for their employees to volunteer, and demonstrating exemplary commitment to good corporate citizenship.

Senderos locally-focused business model enhances their ability to make a difference in their communities. The companys employee-created, employee-driven Sendero Cares committee helps coordinate the efforts and talents of employees as good corporate citizens. Through contributions of time, energy, creativity, and resources, Sendero works to make their communities the best places to live, work, and raise families. Working through EFNT and directly with various nonprofits, Senderos employees enrich their own and others lives. They support numerous organizations -- including Camp John Marc, Chases Place, The Family Place, Beas Kids, Best Buddies, and Junior League -- and continue to add more as employees share their passion for an organization.

Sendero is a company that genuinely cares about the communities in which they live. Their commitment to giving back is evident in their policies, in how they empower their employees to give back, and in their willingness to partner with their clients to do good, says Catherine Cuellar, Director of Entrepreneurs for North Texas. Their companys culture is evident in all the work they do with us.

Sendero was presented the award at the 2016 Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Ring of Entrepreneurs Awards ceremony. Dr. Bobby B. Lyle was inducted into the Entrepreneurs for North Texas prestigious Ring of Entrepreneurs. He joins a circle of legendary philanthropic entrepreneurs. The event was the most highly attended ceremony yet. Civic leaders, community activists, and past honorees were among the many that applauded the honorees.

About Sendero

Sendero, a management consulting firm renowned for its culture and people, provides expertise delivering strategic planning, technology enablement, organizational effectiveness, and analytics solutions across multiple industries. Sendero helps businesses grow and thrive by bringing deep capabilities, driving alignment among stakeholders, and executing critical initiatives. To learn more about Sendero, please visit http://www.senderoconsulting.com.

About Entrepreneurs for North Texas

Entrepreneurs for North Texas (EFNT), a program of Communities Foundation of Texas, makes it easy for businesses to create a thriving culture of good corporate citizenship developing leaders through service. Entrepreneurs for North Texas supports 100 members with turn-key corporate affairs programs strategically aligning each companys mission and values with employee volunteerism, in-kind contributions, and sponsorship opportunities.

About North Star Recognition

This recognition goes to those in the EFNT community who have demonstrated a powerful commitment to making a meaningful contribution to our neighborhoods and to strengthening EFNT's network of good corporate citizens. Through their generous contribution of time, energy, creativity and resources, these award winners make North Texas the best place to live, work, and raise our families

About EFNT Ring of Entrepreneurs

The EFNT Ring of Entrepreneurs is an elite group of business leaders honored for their outstanding contributions to communities locally and internationally. These individuals exhibit a passionate commitment to corporate culture and philanthropy and have made an indelible impact on society. This prestigious group of legendary business leaders including Garrett Boone, Trevor Rees-Jones, Ebby Halliday Acers, Craig Hall, Ray Hunt, Herb Kelleher, Jim Keyes, Bill Lively, Ross Perot, T. Boone Pickens, and Roger Staubach.
Roll-Kraft, a leading manufacturer of tooling for the tube and pipe and roll forming industry, is pleased to announce the addition of several positions across three of its locations.

Matthew Shuck has joined the company in the position of Director of Continuous Improvement. He will focus on meeting the companys performance goals and will oversee the Roll-Kraft rework facilities in Frankfort, Illinois, and Houston, Texas. He comes to Roll-Kraft from Wahl Refractory Solutions, where he was the Director of Operations. Previous to that, he was Operations Manager at Resco Products and Plant Manager at Minteq International. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio State University.

Chet Stanford has joined the organization in the position of Shop Supervisor at Roll-Kraft Texas in Houston. He previously worked for R&M Energy in the positions of CNC Lead Machinist and Assistant Supervisor. He has considerable experience in running several types of machines.

The company welcomes Kevin Henry to the Maintenance department. In addition to his previous maintenance experience at Seacrist Maintenance, he has also worked in Shipping and Receiving at Gabriel Brothers and TPC Wire and Cable.

Larry Sansom has joined Roll-Kraft as an Engine Lathe operator. He is an experienced operator who formerly worked for National Acme. His experience includes ID/OD grinding and working with close tolerances.

William Bill Sitarz joins the company as a CNC Machinist at RKN in Frankfurt, Illinois. He previously worked at Cummins Allison, Progressive Railway Services, and Suburban Machine. He has considerable experience in operating engine lathes, grinders, CNC mills, and CNC lathes.

Andrew Rebera now holds the position of Performance Support Specialist. He is in Inside Sales and will look for efficiencies in reducing the time involved in the quoting process. Rebera has a Bachelor of Science degree from Gannon University and a working knowledge of AutoCad, which will benefit him in his efforts.

Eric Remp comes to Roll-Kraft as an NC Soft machinist. He has completed the 620-hour Kennametal/Manufacturing program at Auburn Career Center in Concord Twp., Ohio. He has also held previous positions as CNC machine operator at Quality Machine and at Kennametal Manufacturing.

Roll-Kraft is encouraged by the increased interest in manufacturing positions, shown by the upcoming generation. The company continues to list career opportunities on its website and is always looking for exemplary talent.

Roll-Kraft has its headquarters in Mentor, Ohio, and maintains other facilities in Frankfort, Illinois (Roll-Kraft Northern), Houston, Texas (Roll-Kraft Texas), and Ontario, Canada (Roll-Kraft Ltd.). Calls to the companys main line, (888) 953-9400 or (440) 205-3100, are greeted by a live operator who can assist callers in quickly reaching a technician, engineer, or sales staff, who can provide immediate assistance. The companys fax number is (440) 205-3110.

Learn more about Roll-Krafts products and services by visiting the companys website at roll-kraft.com. For easy and immediate contact with Roll-Kraft that transcends time zones and working hours, simply complete and submit an online form and Roll-Kraft will respond.
There are several reasons I chose to join CoesterVMS, including the fact that the company has designed its entire appraisal process with the mortgage specialist in mind. Estrella said.

CoesterVMS, a national appraisal management company, has hired Oscar Estrella as a regional market leader. Estrella, who has nearly 20 years of mortgage industry experience, is responsible for expanding CoesterVMS footprint on the West Coast.

As one of the fastest growing AMCs, we are excited to have Oscar join us because he has the experience and industry knowledge that we want in that effort, said Brian Coester, CEO of CoesterVMS. We want lenders to feel comfortable knowing that we have people like Oscar working on their behalf to ensure they have the best experience possible when it comes to getting accurate, timely valuations.

Estrella has extensive experience in several aspect of the mortgage industry, which will be invaluable in his new position at CoesterVMS. Previously, he was responsible for the sales of mortgage loans to potential borrowers, call center operation and client relationship building at several institutions, including Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, IndyMac Bank and Genpact, Inc.

There are several reasons I chose to join CoesterVMS, including the fact that the company has designed its entire appraisal process with the mortgage specialist in mind, Estrella said. From streamlined cloud-based technology, to dedicated account managers, CoesterVMS is committed to making the appraisal experience the best in the industry. Among all the appraisal management companies with which to work, CoesterVMS was my first choice.

About CoesterVMS

CoesterVMS is a nationwide appraisal management company that specializes in providing comprehensive management of appraisal operations for mortgage lenders. CoesterVMS in-house appraisal management solution combines the best service with the most advanced technology on the market. CoesterVMS guarantees all appraisal reports to fully comply with all regulations and guidelines. The company's Cloud Control appraisal management technology is the only software of its kind to be built on the award-winning Salesforce.com platform, and its Coester-Mer service is earning the company a reputation for the best customer service in the industry. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CoesterVMS was founded as a local appraisal company and has since grown to a formidable nationwide force in the appraisal management segment. For more information please visit CoesterVMS online at http://www.CoesterVMS.com.
The Chinese translation of this guideline released by the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) provides important information to nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, cardiologists, internal medical physicians and technologists in their native language. This translated version is a collaboration of ASNC and the Chinese Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (CSNM).

I am pleased with the collaboration between ASNC and CNSM on this important translation of the Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) guideline, said Dr. Brian Abbott, ASNC President and an author of the original English version. Dr. Yaming Li and CSNM have been instrumental in the undertaking of this project and this Chinese translation will expand our educational outreach to physicians in China.

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world. During the past two decades major strides have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Nuclear Cardiology has played a pivotal role in establishing the diagnosis of heart disease and in the assessment of disease extent and the prediction of outcomes in the setting of coronary artery disease.

Dr. Yaming Li, President of CSNM, said After decades in development, nuclear cardiology has become a mature branch of clinical nuclear medicine, with gains and acceptance in clinical practice. I am sure that this Chinese version guideline on MPI will definitively play an important role in the development of Chinese nuclear cardiology.

The SPECT Chinese guideline will be posted on the official websites of CSNM and ASNC, and physicians and technologists in China can freely download the document and use it as a daily reference in their practice. Also, CSNM has a yearly continuing education program on MPI and nuclear cardiologists will use this guideline as a teaching tool for the students.

This new guideline will be highlighted at the 60th Anniversary of Nuclear Medicine in China conference that will be held in Xian from May 20  23, 2016. Dr. Abbott will be presenting on the topic of "Nuclear Cardiology: Applications in Clinical Practice.

Grant support for the Chinese translation was provided by INVIA Medical Imaging Solutions but they did not have any educational or editorial input into the content of this guideline.

To download the Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography 2010 guideline (Chinese version), go to http://www.asnc.org/guidelines.

About ASNC

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) is the recognized leader in quality, education, advocacy and standards in cardiovascular imaging, with nearly 4,000 members worldwide. ASNC is the only society dedicated solely to advocacy issues that impact the field of nuclear cardiology and is working with success to influence regulations to fight onerous private health plan policies -- adverting reimbursement declines and fighting for improved payment and coverage. ASNC is dedicated to continuous quality improvement, education and patient-centered imaging, illustrating the ongoing commitment as a leader in the field of nuclear imaging and improving patient outcomes. ASNC establishes standards for excellence in cardiovascular imaging through the development of clinical guidelines, professional education, advocacy and research development. ASNCs members are comprised of cardiologists, radiologists, physicians, scientists, technologists, imaging specialists and other professionals committed to the science and practice of nuclear cardiology. http://www.asnc.org
LockeBridge Investment Bank announced today that it has acted as the exclusive financial advisor in the sale of Winning Proposals, Inc. to WP Ventures, LLC. Based in Vienna Virginia, Winning Proposals has supported the government contracting community with support services on over 1500 bid responses For more than 25 years the Company has provided personnel such as proposal writers, proposal managers, editors, graphics, pricing specialists, and capture management experts to companies seeking to do business with the Federal Government. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to Mr. David Claiborne, President of Winning Proposals, Inc., We had asked LockeBridge to advise on structuring and negotiating an offer from a strategic buyer, which had expressed an interest in an acquisition. Only now do I really recognize that closing a transaction is a complex process involving substantially more than negotiating a good price. Not only did LockeBridge structure a very favorable deal and manage all the steps to closing, they provided services far beyond the transactional requirements focusing on the personal interests and wealth creation of the owners.

Scott Waxler, LockeBridge Managing Partner states, Winning Proposals was actually a subsidiary holding of a pension fund with multiple layers. Our objective was to create a transfer that would result in deferring materially all taxes while at the same time meeting the Sellers post-closing income needs.

About LockeBridge

LockeBridge is a Boston based investment banking advisory firm offering seasoned domestic and international expertise to owners of middle market companies. Our successful transaction experience includes expert representation in the sale, merger and acquisition of businesses to and for strategic buyers, financial partners, private investment groups, and publicly traded companies from around the world.
Denville law firm Einhorn Harris today announced that Theodore E.B. Einhorn, Founder of the firm, has been selected for New Jersey Law Journals 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. Einhorn is one of 25 lawyers throughout the State to earn this recognition. In addition, the New Jersey Law Journal has selected Einhorn Harris Partner, Bonnie C. Frost as one of three finalists for their Attorney of the Year Award and has named Partner, Timothy J. Ford to the New Leaders of the Bar list. All three Einhorn Harris attorneys will be recognized for these accolades on June 15 at the Law Journals Professional Excellence Awards Dinner at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.

All of the lawyers and support staff, here at Einhorn Harris, are so proud and excited to learn of our Founder, Mr. Einhorns Lifetime Achievement Award, says Einhorn Harris Partner, Patricia M. Barbarito. He is the heart and soul of our firm and has set the bar for Einhorn Harris high standards through his determination, ethical practices and passion for the legal profession. We are equally thrilled that Bonnie Frost and Tim Ford are following in Mr. Einhorns footsteps and being recognized for their hard work and dedication to their clients, Barbarito says.

The attorneys selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award have each helped shape the law in New Jersey, whether through their work on the bench, their work in-house, building a firm or any other means. Einhorn has practiced in Morris County and throughout New Jersey for over 58 years. He has served as counsel for various private development applications and has handled rezoning, site plan, subdivision and variance approvals including high-rise office buildings; office/warehouse buildings; office condominium buildings; skilled nursing facilities and continuous care centers; hotels; residential subdivisions; and regional and local shopping centers. Additionally, Einhorn was counsel to Saint Clares Hospital in the landmark case of Karen Ann Quinlan. Einhorn has represented the Township of Denville, served as a member of the Morris County Ethics Committee, and as Chairman of the Judicial Selection Committee of the Morris County Bar Association.

Bonnie C. Frost, who joined Einhorn Harris in 1985, was selected as one of three finalists for the New Jersey Law Journals Attorney of the Year Award, which is intended to recognize an attorney who had the greatest impact on the law, the legal profession or cause of justice in New Jersey over the past year. One winner will be chosen from the three final candidates at the awards dinner on June 15.

Frost earned the Attorney of the Year Award nomination for her advocacy in two matters of significance to the family bar. In Quinn v. Quinn, Frost argued that the courts lack the power to alter the terms of separation agreements between divorced parties. Frost appealed the trial courts decision to suspend, rather than terminate alimony, arguing that the terms of the couples Property Settlement Agreement mandated that alimony be terminated. On May 3rd of this year, the Appellate Division affirmed and alimony was terminated.

Frost also advocated before the Appellate Division In the Matter of the Adoption of a Child by J.E.V. & D.G.V., in which the justices granted certification in December 2015 to consider whether an indigent parent facing termination of parental rights under New Jersey's Adoption Act has a right to appointed counsel. This matter is still pending before the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Frost has practiced in the field of matrimonial law and domestic relations, handling various cases such as divorce, custody, domestic violence, paternity and adoption and has had over 30 published opinions in the area of family law.

Timothy J. Ford is one of 47 attorneys in the state who have been selected as the New Jersey Law Journals 2016 New Leaders of the Bar. Ford joined Einhorn Harris in 2007 as an Associate and was elevated to Partner in January 2016. He practices in the areas of employment law and general litigation, representing employers and employees in matters including wage and hour claims, employment agreements, unemployment, severance, restrictive covenants, employment benefits, wrongful termination, sexual harassment and discrimination. He represents private and public employees in New Jersey state and federal courts as well as various administrative courts and agencies throughout the state.

Ford is a member of the New Jersey and New York State Bar Associations, the Morris County Bar Association and the Morris County Chamber of Commerce. He is a former co-trustee for the Young Lawyers Section of the Morris County Bar Association and has served as a trustee for the past three years. Ford also volunteers as an attorney mentor with the Valley View Middle School Mock Trial Club and assists in the Clubs participation in the New Jersey Bar Foundation Law Adventure Program.

###

ABOUT EINHORN HARRIS

Established in 1961, Einhorn Harris, based in Denville, New Jersey, is a comprehensive, full-service law firm devoted to serving a broad range of legal needs. In its more than 50 years in business, Einhorn Harris and its attorneys have earned a reputation for dedication to the community. The firm specializes in many areas of practice including Family, Criminal and Tax Law; Accidents/Personal Injury; and Commercial Litigation. http://www.einhornharris.com.
"The data makes it incredibly clear that acces to information is key to addressing the truck parking shortage."

The shortage of available truck parking spots at public and private facilities along the National Highway System will continue to worsen as commercial vehicle traffic grows and thousands more drivers convert to electronic logging devices (ELDs) ahead of the Dec. 2017 enforcement deadline.

By accurately tracking compliance with hours-of-service rules, ELDs have made it critical for drivers to plan ahead and locate available truck parking at facilities for required 30-minute breaks and 10-hour off duty periods, among other daily activities.

More than 30 percent of all Class 8 drivers in the United States now have transparent access to truck parking availability by using the Trucker Path Pro mobile app to optimize their daily trip planning.

According to analysis by Trucker Path, creators of the leading trip-planning app, 12 percent of truck parking locations along the NHS are empty during peak hours on weekdays from 11 pm to 4 am, and 24 percent have empty spots, for a total of 36 percent availability.

Trucker Path Pro has more than 400,000 active users that provide in excess of 136,000 weekly updates on parking locations. The company combines real-time updates from the crowdsourcing app with three years of historical data to predict availability at locations by day of week and time. The information has been verified as more than 90 percent accurate.

The data makes it incredibly clear that access to information is key to addressing the truck parking shortage," says Ivan Tsybaev, founder of Trucker Path. Our crowdsourcing technology obtains updates from multiple users at each location to verify parking status and deliver highly accurate, real-time trip planning tools to professional drivers."

Trucker Path Pro also gives drivers ratings on truck stop locations along with turn-by-turn GPS navigation, fuel prices, and weigh station status (open or closed), among many other useful tools. The top-rated truck stop locations, based on 26,405 driver reviews received during the first quarter of 2016, are listed below. Each location had at least 10 reviews in this period and all had a perfect rating of 5 stars:



Kent Kwik, Alamagordo, N.M. (US 54 and 82)

Hixton Travel Plaza, Hixton, Wis. (I-94)

Freds Fuel & Food, Gilman, Ill. (I-57 and US 24)

Petro, Brazil, Ind. (I-70)

Pilot, Lincoln, Ala. (I-20)

Warren Travel Plaza, Warren, Ind. (I-69)

Pilot, Austintown, Ohio (I-80 and I-680)

Loves, Cumberland, Md. (I-68, US-40 and US-220)

Busy Bee, Live Oak, Fla. (I-10 and US-129)

Trucker Path Pro is available to company drivers and owner operators as a free download on iOS and Android devices. Trucker Path also offers a free optimized freight marketplace supported by a large community of freight companies and motor carriers. Freight companies and motor carriers can download Truckloads on their mobile devices and also access a web version at http://www.truckerpath.com.

About TruckerPath

In early 2013, Trucker Path, a Silicon Valley-based company, released a crowdsourcing trip planning and resource locator mobile app called Trucker Path. This was followed by the release of Truckloads, an online marketplace specializing in connecting freight companies to carriers, in late 2015.

By March 2016, there was over 1 million downloads of the Trucker Path app, and the community of Trucker Path active users had grown to over 400,000 or 30% of all Class 8 truckers in the United States. The core Trucker Path application for iOS and Android platforms provides information for truck operators, including locations of truck stops, weigh stations and car wash facilities specialized for trucks. Information gathered on the location of these stops was based on user-generated input and ratings. Each location can be given a star rating by users.

Trucker Path is based in Mountain View, California with additional office in TX. In June 2015, Trucker Path raised $20,000,000 of capital which makes in total $21,500,000 of funding to-date. For more information, visit http://www.truckerpath.com
HireGenics, an ACS Group operating brand and global provider of workforce management solutions to mid-market and Fortune 1000 companies, has become a National Corporate Plus member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) based on the recommendation of Abbott Laboratories, Inc.

Corporate Plus is an exclusive, unprecedented membership program of the NMSDC for the highest caliber of minority-owned business enterprises that have proven their ability to handle national contracts for major corporations. It is designed to recognize their national capabilities, bring them to the attention of all National Corporate Members, and expand their participation in the NMSDC network. Out of more than 12,000 NMSDC-certified minority business enterprises, only 84 companies have earned the Corporate Plus designation.

We are delighted that HireGenics has become a National Corporate Plus Member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council through the recommended action of Abbott Laboratories, Inc., said Joset Wright-Lacy, President of NMSDC. The increased participation of HireGenics and other outstanding national minority businesses in the NMSDC network is a source of great pride and encouragement for all of us.

HireGenics became a certified Minority Business Enterprise through the NMSDC in 2010, and we are so honored to reach this new milestone by becoming a Corporate Plus member, said Raj Sardana, CEO and Chairman of ACS Group, parent company of HireGenics. As an equal-opportunity firm that embraces and learns from the diversity within our workplaces and the markets we serve, we could not be more thrilled with this recent designation.

ACS Group is one of fastest growing staffing and business solutions firms in the United States. The company is ranked as the 9th Largest U.S. Staffing firm (Staffing Industry Analysts), the #1 Fastest Growing Upper Middle Market Company in Georgia (Georgia Fast 40), a recipient of Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Diamond Award for the 5th consecutive year, and a Georgia MSDC Titan Award winner.

About NMSDC

The National Minority Supplier Development Council advances business opportunities for certified Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American business enterprises and connects them to its corporate members. As one of the country's leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. The NMSDC network includes a national office in New York and 23 affiliate councils across the country. There are nearly 1,800 corporate members throughout the network, including Americas top publicly-owned, privately-owned, and foreign-owned companies, as well as universities, hospitals, and other buying institutions. The affiliate councils certify and match nearly 12,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase their products, services, and solutions. For more information about NMSDC, visit the website at http://www.nmsdc.org.

About HireGenics

HireGenics, a part of the ACS Group, is a global provider of workforce management solutions to mid-market and Fortune 1000 companies. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, HireGenics provides workforce risk mitigation and talent optimization solutions and currently manages approximately 12,000 consultants working in a variety of job skills and labor categories. In addition to Employer of Record Services, Agent of Record Services, and Curative Talent Clouds, HireGenics also provides automated payroll services to ensure compliance, MSP services to optimize the contingent labor process, and procurement strategies that effectively manage deliverable-based projects or services spend. We also specialize in independent contractor and small supplier (or non-preferred vendor) compliance, management, and strategy services. For more information on HireGenics, please visit http://www.hiregenics.com.

About ACS Group

ACS Group is a premier provider of IT Consulting, Engineering Consulting, Healthcare Solutions, Talent Solutions, and Workforce Management Solutions to Fortune 1000 companies globally. ACS Group conducts business through four operating brands  AIC, Analysts, ComforceHealth, and HireGenics  each with a specialized business focus. Our operating brands have provided targeted services and solutions for more than 50 years. ACS Group has grown to over $700 million in revenue with more than 12,000 employees and consultants worldwide. Recognitions include: #1 Fastest Growing Company in the State of Georgia (2014); Ranked by SIA as the Second Largest Minority-Owned IT Consulting Company in the U.S. (2015); and winner of Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Diamond Award (2016). ACS Group is a certified MBE organization, and an NMSDC Corporate Plus member, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with offices across the U.S. and India, and an international presence in Canada and Latin America. For more information on ACS Group, please visit http://www.acsicorp.com.
Stern's Real Time Device for Bed Bugs Real time monitoring is the future for the pest control industry. This new product advances innovation while cutting personnel and treatment costs. Douglas Stern, Managing Partner

Stern Environmental Group, of Secaucus, New Jersey, working in conjunction with a specialized technology firm will be selling the device branded as Sterns Real Time Monitoring (RTM) Device. Stern Environmental Group will sell the first monitoring product which is geared to bedbugs to the hotel and motel industry, colleges for use in dormitories, shelters, and nursing homes for real time bedbug monitoring in May 2016.

The launch of this first product heralds a new era of real time pest control monitoring for the pest control industry. For additional information on Stern Environmental Group and Sterns RTM device, please visit http://www.SternEnvironmental.com.

Visualization technology used in this device solves the problem of the high personnel costs associated with routine inspection of pest control traps. The first product to be sold using this specialized, cloud-integrated, real time technology will be targeted to the monitoring of bedbugs. By cutting the cost of personnel needed for the weekly inspection of old technology bed bug monitors and glue traps by pest control and housekeeping personnel, these devices will quickly provide a return on investment. The initial bedbug monitoring devices price is scheduled to be under $100. Stern Environmental Group believes that this new cloud-based monitoring technology will have many uses, including monitoring of stored product pests and has larger devices available to monitor for rodents and pest wildlife.

Sterns RTM (Real Time Monitoring) for bedbugs is palm-sized and has two traps consisting of heated, closable pest containment drawers, a lure compartment with dispenser, and LED alert trigger light. When powered on, Sterns RTM device for bedbugs, continuously captures images of the two heated containment drawer chambers. Using proprietary visualization technology the device recognizes if a pest has entered into one of the two chambers, minimizing false positives.

After a pest is detected, Sterns RTM device turns on an external LED alert light and sends an alert message to the Cloud along with images from the drawer compartments. It may also be programmed to close the drawer compartment doors. Using the cloud software, the client can configure to receive the images and alerts by email and/or text message. The alert along with additional details is recorded in the devices cloud control panel. The device is small, yet technologically powerful, measuring 3 and 5/8 inches wide by 3 inches tall and  of an inch deep. It connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi.

Ushering in a new era in pest control, Sterns RTM for Bedbugs, is the first pest monitoring device that allows for real time monitoring using Wi-Fi connectivity and image visualization technology. Although this relatively inexpensive device may not be right for every commercial situation, Douglas Stern, Managing Partner of Stern Environmental Group says, Real time monitoring is the future for the pest control industry. This new product advances innovation while cutting personnel and treatment costs. By knowing which rooms need further inspection and/or treatment as well as providing proof of infestation at early and manageable stages, the device allows the propertys management to solve pest problems quickly and to save money in personnel and treatment costs.

For additional information on bedbugs and sales of the Sterns Real Time Monitoring device for bedbugs and the associated technology contact Douglas Stern for an equipment demo. Stern Environmental Group is a top expert in bedbug extermination and provides commercial and residential treatment services in the New Jersey and metropolitan New York City region. Please visit http://www.SternEnvironmental.com for more information on this new innovative technology solution for college dormitories, and the hospitality industry.

About Stern Environmental Group:

Stern Environmental Group, LLC is a licensed and insured bedbug extermination firm and pest management company. Operating in New York City, New Jersey, New York, and parts of Connecticut and Long Island, New York for over 12 years, Stern Environmental Group has become a leader in bedbug control, pest control and pest management solutions in the New Jersey, New York, and New York City.
Thailand has one of the most robust biotech industries in the ASEAN market, which is underpinned by incentives and our Governments unwavering support of the Life Sciences sector.

Thailands Board of Investments New York office, announces the participation of a Thai delegation at BIO 2016 in San Francisco. Located at booth number 7301, representatives from the Thai Government, research organizations, and the private sector will be available to answer questions and discuss the Thai biotechnology and life sciences sector.

Deputy Secretary General of the Thailand Board of Investment, Ms. Ajarin Pattanapanchai, will be representing the Thai Government at the BIO Convention along with colleagues from the Board of Investments U.S. offices. Also attending will be The Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS), represented by Dr. Nares Damrongchai, the CEO of TCELS. Dr. Songpon Deechongkit, the Managing Director of Siam Bioscience Co, Ltd. will be on hand to brief companies on the assets and life sciences ecosystem in Thailand.

Some of the categories of Thai companies and organizations in attendance at the Thailand Pavilion include:



Biopharmaceuticals

National Biopharmaceutical Facility

Austria Nova Thailand

Siam Bio Science Co.

ACLIRES Bangkok

Greater Pharma

Medical Services

Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS)

Natural Products & Cosmetics

Cosmetics and Natural Products Research Center

Wanithai

Medical Devices

National Nanotechnology Center

Silicon Craft Technology Co., Ltd

Supporting Agencies

Thailand Board of Investment

Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS)

Thailand has one of the most robust biotech industries in the ASEAN market, which is underpinned by incentives and our Governments unwavering support of the Life Sciences sector. Two of our areas of specialization are in agricultural biotech and public health. Thailand boasts over 200 biotech firms with a combined market value of over $2 billion and has led on ground-breaking research ranging from the nutritional enhancement of core crops, to diagnosing viruses in shrimp, and researching mosquito borne illnesses.

There are 11 Thai companies and organizations participating at BIO. One of these is Wanithai, which is conducting R&D with crocodile blood for use as a food supplement in the treatment of Anemia, Asthma, Diabetes Mellitus, and Cancer.

Also in attendance is ACLIRES Bangkok, an independent phase I-IV Clinical Research Organization and Siam Bio Science Co, which specializes in oncology, autoimmune diseases, hematology and metabolic disorders.

About BOI

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is the investment promotion agency for Thailand that facilitates foreign direct investment. BOIs services are free of charge and customized to help business succeed in Thailand. For more information, please visit http://www.boi.go.th and http://www.thinkasiainvestthailand.com/web/indexen.php.
Lady Collins She is far more playful than she was before the stem cell treatment. The stem cell treatment has been life changing for my fur baby.

Lady had been battling arthritis since the age of two and at the age of eight she tore her cruciate ligament in her left knee. Ladys owner Hannah sought the help of Dr Jeff Christiansen of Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions , a central Florida board-certified veterinary surgeon, to repair her cruciate ligament and help with the pain of Ladys arthritis. Dr Christiansen suggested that in conjunction with the surgical repair of Ladys cruciate ligament, that he also perform Stem Cell Therapy in her other joints affected with arthritis. Dr Christiansen has used stem cell therapy with VetStem, for cruciate ligaments, meniscus injuries, as well as osteoarthritis of the hips and other joints for many years. He has treated over 70 patients with VetStem Cell Therapy since 2012.

Dr Christiansen performed a simple surgery on Lady to collect fat and sent it overnight to VetStems lab in California for processing. Once processed the stem cells were quality checked and the injectable doses of Ladys stem cells were sent overnight to Dr Christiansen at Aloha Pet and Bird Hospital. Within 48hrs of collecting the fat sample from Lady, Dr Christiansen was able to inject stem cells into her left hip and left knee as well as both carpi along with an intravenous dose to begin the healing process.

Ladys owner Hannah is very happy with the outcome, she said Prior to the stem cell treatments, Lady had a hard time going from a sit-to-stand position and would go outside for no more than 10 minutes at a time. Now she goes on 30-50 minutes walks. She is far more playful than she was before the stem cell treatment. The stem cell treatment has been life changing for my fur baby. I would highly recommend stem cell therapy! Lady has several doses of stem cells stored with VetStem, so should she need additional injections in the future they are available for her.

Stem cell therapy can be an alternative for pets that are unable to take anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) or have digestive issues, as well as pets that need long-term pain management. Because the stem cells come directly from the patient risk is low, and the procedure is natural. Stem cells are regenerative cells that can differentiate into many tissue types as well as being able to reduce pain and inflammation thus helping to restore range of motion and stimulate regeneration of tendon, ligament and joint tissues (http://www.vet-stem.com/science.php). In a study using VetStem Regenerative Cell Therapy on dogs with osteoarthritis of the hip joint it was found that regenerative cell therapy as provided by VetStem (adipose-derived stem cells) decreases patient discomfort and increases patient functional ability.

Even if a pet is not an immediate candidate for stem cell therapy, but is undergoing an orthopedic or other type of surgery with Dr Christiansen, he offers the ability to collect a small sample of fat to process and save for the future. When stem cells are needed, this small sample is grown to get enough cells to use for treatment. VetStem has the ability to cryo-bank stem cells and grow them in the future to provide doses when needed. This service is called StemInsure for dogs, and provides the insurance for a pet to have a lifetime of stem cell therapy available from a single sample collection.

About Dr. Christiansen and Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions

Jeffrey S. Christiansen, DVM, DACVS graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. He completed his surgical residency in 2001, following an internship, and in 2002 he became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Dr Christiansen has been practicing in Brevard County since the beginning of 2006 and runs Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions. In addition to stem cell therapy, some special areas of interest to Dr Christiansen include artificial urethral sphincter (for incontinence), juvenile pubic symphysiodesis (for prevention of arthritis secondary to hip dysplasia), prophylactic gastropexy (for prevention of gastric dilatation-volvulus, commonly referred to as bloat), subcutaneous ureteral bypass (for obstructions between the kidney and bladder in cats), ureteral stenting (for obstruction between the kidney and bladder in dogs), and urethral stenting (for urethral obstruction), tibial tuberosity advancement (for tears of the cranial cruciate ligament; ACL in people) and tracheal stenting (for tracheal collapse).

About VetStem Biopharma

VetStem Biopharma is a veterinarian lead company that was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the profession. This privately held biopharmaceutical enterprise, based near San Diego (California), currently offers veterinarians an autologous stem cell processing service (from patients own fat tissue) among other regenerative modalities. With a unique expertise acquired over the past 14 years and 12,000 patients treated by veterinarians for joint, tendon or ligament issues, VetStem has made regenerative medicine applications a therapeutic reality beyond the realm of research. The VetStem team is focused on developing new clinically practical and affordable veterinary solutions that leverage the natural restorative abilities present in all living creatures. The companys stated mission being to extend and enhance the lives of animals by improving the quality of recovery in acute conditions, but also by unlocking ways to slow, stop and ultimately revert the course of chronic diseases. In addition to its own portfolio of patents, Vet-Stem holds exclusive global veterinary licenses to a portfolio of over 55 issued patents in the field of regenerative medicine.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions

Dr Jeff Christiansen

jchristiansen2(at)cfl(dot)rr(dot)com
Endurance Vehicle Protection: 2016 Bronze Stevie Award Winner Endurance shines a light on a car owners hot spot  definitely a high value consumer treasure supported by a caring corporate culture.

Endurance Vehicle Protection was named the winner of two Bronze Stevie Awards for Customer Service Department of the Year and the Company of the Year at the 2016 American Business Awards, adding to Endurance's list of past year Stevie Awards wins.

The American Business Awards are the nations premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations  public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.

Nicknamed the Stevie Awards, stemming from the Greek word meaning crowned, the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Monday, June 20th.

More than 3,400 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Live Event of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. Endurance was nominated in the the Customer Service Department of the Year and the Company of the Year categories.

"Ever since Endurance's very first Stevie Awards nomination, we have been honored to accept one of these prestigious awards, even when facing some exceptionally stiff competition. And that is all thanks to every single hard working employee at Endurance" noted Endurance President, Jordan Batt. "Winning another of these American Business Awards as it allows Endurance foster even greater customer relationships and maintain our record for ethical business practices."

More than 250 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this years Stevie Award winners. This year's judges summarized Endurance's win by saying "Endurance shines a light on a car owners hot spot  definitely a high value consumer treasure supported by a caring corporate culture."

Endurance takes home these two Bronze Stevie Awards to add to a collection of two Silver Stevie Awards and one Gold Stevie Award from the previous years. The judges were extremely impressed with the quality of entries we received this year. The competition was intense and every organization that has won should be proud, said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2016 Stevie winners are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About Endurance:

Founded in 2006, Endurance Warranty Services LLC strives to be the most customer-driven company in the industry and believes that protecting consumers from exorbitant repair bills is the key to their success. Endurance, the exclusive extended coverage provider of Cars.com, is the only company industry-wide that is both A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau and Gold-Certified by the Vehicle Protection Association. By delivering world-class customer service to every customer, current or future, Endurance continues to reign as the premier provider of vehicle protection in the nation. Visit us online at http://www.EnduranceWarranty.com

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
Piper Kerman, Bestselling Author and Prison Reform Activist We have enormous numbers of people who go into the criminal justice system who need an opportunity to come back to the community safely and successfully. That is all about second chances, it's about empathy, and the opportunity for redemption.

Author Piper Kerman, whose memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Womens Prison inspired the award-winning Netflix television series of the same name, will speak in the Waldorf Astoria's Grand Ballroom on Monday, July 18, at 1:30pm followed by a book signing in the same location. Hosted by the Council on Accreditation (COA) in conjunction with its 2016 Conference, tickets are available for $20 here. Greenlight Bookstore will be onsite with copies of Kermans memoir available for purchase.

Kermans book chronicles her 13 months in a federal womens correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut on money laundering charges following a brief dalliance with drug trafficking ten years earlier. The book explores the experience of incarceration and the lives of the women she met while in prison, including their friendships, families, mental illnesses substance abuse issues, and codes of behavior.

Since her release, Kerman has worked tirelessly to promote the cause of prison and criminal justice reform. She serves on the board of the Women's Prison Association, which provides preventative services for at-risk women, works to create alternatives to incarceration, advocates against practices like shackling during childbirth and serves as a consultant for Spitfire Strategies. She has worked on a number of criminal justice issues, including public defense reform, juvenile justice reform, and the legal challenge to the "stop and frisk" laws in New York.

For individuals interested in further exploring best practices that address the needs of those impacted by criminal justice issues, on Monday, July 18, COA is offering three, 90 minute long educational sessions under the conference track, Supporting Incarcerated Individuals and their Families. This track includes facilitative and interactive presentations from the Womens Prison Association, the Center for Community Alternatives, San Diego County Child Welfare Services, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, Prince Georges County Department of Social Services, and Children of Promise, NYC. A Monday-only registration is available, to learn more about the 2016 COA Conference, please visit the event website.

ABOUT THE 2016 COA CONFERENCE

The 2016 COA Conference is a triennial event that will bring together the best and the brightest leaders in the human services field, who share a commitment to promoting best practices in service delivery for at-risk populations. This years theme is The Power of Collaboration.

ABOUT COA

Founded in 1977, COA is a nonprofit accrediting body of over 2,200 behavioral health and social service organizations and programs in the US and Canada. In partnership with the human services field, COA researches and publishes best practice standards and engages organizations and programs in a comprehensive review with the goal of strengthening and improving their capacity, administration and management functions and service delivery.

Connect with us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Benchmark Hospitality International Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the oldest, largest and most important youth mentoring organizations in the United States, and their mission aligns very effectively with our ownto Be The Difference in all areas of life and living.

Inns have always served not only as havens for weary travelers, but also as centers of community life. At the local inn, business was done, information exchanged, meetings and celebrations held. From its inception, the U.S.-based hospitality management company, Benchmark Hospitality International, has honored this tradition, giving back to the communities in the 40 domestic and global destinations it serves.

Now, through its corporate outreach program, Hometown Hospitality Caring for Our Communities, Benchmark will partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) in a nationwide initiative to support the nonprofit organizations efforts to help children reach their full potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with volunteer mentors. As part of the new partnership, Benchmark locations across the United States will provide in-kind contributions worth more than $100,000 to 19 BBBSA agencies in cities across the United States. These in-kind contributions will vary depending on the Benchmark property and the needs of the local agency, but may include vacation packages, gift certificates, or meeting space for local agencies and the children and families they serve.

Benchmark's Hometown Hospitality outreach program embodies the spirit of the company's core values and Be The Difference culture. Hometown Hospitality encourages and enables the company's employees to seek leading roles in their communities, participate in social, cultural, and educational initiatives driven by their property, and fully engage with partner organizations events and programs.

Mentoring our employees and supporting their career development is a cornerstone of Benchmarks culture, as is a commitment to responsible corporate citizenship, says Alex Cabanas, CEO of Benchmark Hospitality International. Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the oldest, largest and most important youth mentoring organizations in the United States, and their mission aligns very effectively with our ownto Be The Difference in all areas of life and living. Mr. Cabanas also notes that Benchmarks family-oriented culture and diverse workforce will bring added dimension and skills to the new partnership.

We greatly value partners such as Benchmark Hospitality International that support our network and strongly believe in our mission, says Pam Iorio, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. This partnership will help our affiliates focus their resources on helping match more children with strong adult mentors.

About Hometown Hospitality Caring For Our Communities

The Hometown Hospitality Caring For Our Communities program of Benchmark Hospitality International advances the philanthropic endeavors of the leading hospitality management company through employee volunteer programs, in-kind donations and community outreach activities. Benchmark believes that responsible corporate citizenship recognizes the inalienable link between a healthy and vibrant community and the health and well-being of a company and its employees. Hometown Hospitality embodies and personifies the spirit of Benchmarks core values and Be The Difference culture. Hometown Hospitality Caring for Our Communities encourages and enables Benchmark employees globally to seek leading roles in the communities in which they live and work and the world community as well by supporting social, educational, and cultural programs, either through property-developed initiatives or through partnering with existing organizations and providers.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters ensures that the children in its program achieve such measurable outcomes as educational success, avoidance of risky behaviors, higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships. This mission has been the cornerstone of the organizations 111-year history. With over 300 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves nearly 170,000 children (Littles), their families and 170,000 volunteer mentors (Bigs). Learn more at http://www.BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

About Benchmark Hospitality International

Benchmark Hospitality International is a recognized global leader in the management and marketing of resorts, hotels and conference centers. The companys two distinctive portfolios of properties, Benchmark Resorts & Hotels and Personal Luxury Resorts & Hotels, represent the finest in guest-dedicated hospitality in unique destinations across the United States, in the Caribbean and Japan. Benchmark Conference Centers maintain the highest standards for certification in meeting excellence. Benchmark Hospitality was launched in 1980 as an independent company and today operates worldwide from offices in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, and regional offices in New Jersey, Washington State, Japan and Chile. For additional company information visit http://www.benchmarkhospitality.com. To become a fan on Facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/BenchmarkResortsandHotels, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BenchmarkHotels.
We provide practicing oncologists, clinicians, and researchers with practice-changing knowledge that can be applied immediately. -Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Congress Chair

ESMO 18th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, the premier 4-day global event highlighting the most relevant developments in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies will be an unparalleled educational experience for the 3,500+ healthcare professionals attending. Organized by Imedex, a global leader in education, the event will take place on 29 June  2 July in Barcelona, Spain.

"Attendee interaction with industry-leaders, education, new data, and a focus on practical aspects such as translational data are what fuel this Congress's success," said Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Congress Chair. "We provide practicing oncologists, clinicians, and researchers with practice-changing knowledge that can be applied immediately."

As there are currently hundreds of ongoing phase III clinical trials, the field of GI malignancies is continuously evolving. The Scientific Committee has curated a phenomenal list of presenters and topics for this year's scientific agenda. Keynote lectures will address the ever-changing landscape with which healthcare professionals are faced.

As a reflection of the superb quality rightly associated with ESMOs premier World Congresses on Gastrointestinal Cancer, we can once again look forward to an exceptional duo of Keynotes. Adam J. Bass, MD will deliver genomic-driven insights into the complex biology of gastric cancer aimed at ultimately spurring the development of more powerful anti-cancer therapies, and Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP will further explore the role of BRAF in colon cancer biology with emphasis on potentiating current BRAF inhibitors through combinatorial strategies to overcome acquired resistance, said Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, Congress Vice Chair, ESMO President-elect.

Looking toward the future, Philippe Rouanet, MDs keynote Robotic Surgery: Is it Becoming a Reality in GI Cancer? will showcase the technological future as it relates to this therapy area of oncology.

We are excited to continue our relationship with ESMO and bring such a valuable annual experience to the global GI community said Chris Bolwell, COO of Imedex. This is the 18th year, and our longevity in the medical education field continues to strengthen the Congress.

ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer gives healthcare professionals and researchers tremendous updates and education from which to move forward in effectively treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers, said Mario Dicato, MD, Congress Chair.

2016 marks the 18th annual Congress, and will be chaired by Mario Dicato, MD, Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, and Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD. As in the past, the Congress will be certified and organized by Imedex, an industry leader in providing CME programs in live conference settings and online. Attendance is expected to push 3,500 this year, and will likely be the largest annual gathering thus far.

About Imedex

Imedex is an industry leader in providing accredited, independent continuing medical education to health care professionals. We develop high quality scientific programming that translates the latest research into clinically relevant information. The activities have exceptional organization and outstanding educational value, with a proven sustained impact on disease management. Our programs focus on improving patient care around the world. With over 50,000 e-learning experiences annually and more than 100,000 live meeting attendees, since 2001, Imedex truly educates the global healthcare community. At Imedex, education is the best medicine. For more information on Imedex visit http://www.imedex.com.

About ESMO, European Society for Medical Oncology

ESMO is the leading European professional organization for medical oncology. Comprising more than 13,000 oncology professionals from over 130 countries, we are the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment.

Founded in 1975, ESMO has European roots and a global reach: we welcome oncology professionals from around the world. We are a home for all oncology stakeholders, connecting professionals with diverse expertise and experience. Our educational and information resources support an integrated, multi-professional approach to cancer treatment. We seek to erase boundaries in cancer care as we pursue our mission across oncology, worldwide. http://www.esmo.org

About the Congress Chairs

Mario Dicato, MD

Congress Chair

Head of Internal Medicine and the Division of Hematology and Oncology

Luxembourg Medical Center

Head, Research Laboratory

Luxembourg Foundation for Research on Cancer and Blood Diseases

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD

Congress Chair

Professor of Internal Medicine

University of Leuven

Head, Digestive Oncology Unit

University Hospital Gasthuisberg

Leuven, Belgium

Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD,

Congress Vice Chair

ESMO President-elect

Head, Medical Oncology Department

Vall dHebron University Hospital

Director of the Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology

Barcelona, Spain
The Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) is pleased to announce its newly elected volunteer board members and officers for 2016-2017.

The Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) is pleased to announce its newly elected volunteer board members and officers for 2016-2017. The annual board election process has been in place since the RBMA was founded in 1968 with all board members serving on a volunteer basis.

Jim Hamilton, MHA, CMM, FRBMA, succeeds Suzanne Taylor, BS, FRBMA, as president. Mr. Hamilton is the administrator and business manager for Medical Imaging Physicians, Inc., an 18-radiologist practice in Dayton, Ohio. In his over 32 years in radiology, Mr. Hamilton has managed hospital-based practices and imaging centers and was the CEO of his own billing company. He has served on the RBMA Board of Directors previously, as well as on numerous RBMA committees. Ms. Taylor, who is vice president of operations for Management Services Networks Central Region, continues her service to the board as immediate past president.

Thomas C. Dickerson, Ed.D., FACHE, is president elect and midwestern director. For 19 years, Dr. Dickerson has served as the chief executive officer for Clinical Radiologists, S.C., in Springfield, Ill. He is also president of Professional Business Services of Central Illinois, Inc., a medical billing company. Within the RBMA, Dr. Dickerson has served as board treasurer and director-at-large. In addition, he has served on the RBMA Common Body of Knowledge Task Force and the RBMA Finance Committee.

Christie James, MS, FRBMA, continues in her role as secretary and eastern director. Ms. James brings over 27 years of radiology practice management and revenue cycle management leadership experience, which includes working for academic and private radiology practices. She is the current president of the RBMA New England Chapter, current chair of the RBMA Programs Committee and past chair of the Payor Relations Committee.

Sarah Mountford, RCC, CPC, is the new RBMA board treasurer. She previously served on the board as a director-at-large. Ms. Mountford is a client services manager for Zotec Partners and has over 15 years of experience in radiology billing and practice management. She chairs the Finance Committee and serves on the Bylaws and Programs Committees.

Michael Gonzales, FRBMA, is the new parliamentarian and also continues as western director. He is the Director of Client Relations for PBS West in Reno, Nev., and has more than 15 years of experience in radiology practice revenue cycle management. He previously served on the board from 2009 to 2011 and was RBMA California Chapter president from 2010 to 2012.

Mark O. Bernardy, MD, FACR, continues as the American College of Radiology director on the board. He is involved in ACR economic activities currently serving on the ACR Coding and Nomenclature committee and chairing the ACR Managed Care committee.

Additional director-at-large and regional director positions are as follows:

Tim Barrett, CPA, is director-at-large and southern director. He has 34 years of business management experience and helps lead Radiology Associates, LLC, a 29-physician practice in Baton Rouge, La. He has served on the Finance Committee, Data Committee and now chairs the Chapter Committee.

Keith E. Chew, CMPE, FRBMA, is director-at-large. A former RBMA board president, he is managing director, strategic positioning and consulting solutions and senior vice president of Integrated Medical Partners, LLC (IMP).

Carol A. Hamilton, MBA, FACMPE, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is director-at-large. She helps lead West County Radiological Group, Inc., in St. Louis, Mo.,and has special expertise in human resources. At RBMA, she has participated on the Membership Committee and is current chair of the Educational Materials and Products Committee.

Jennifer Kroken, MBA, continues as a director-at-large. She has been active at RBMA as a committee member, chair, speaker and frequent contributor to the RBMA Bulletin magazine since 2001. Ms. Kroken helps lead Healthcare Resource Providers in Lewisville, Texas, and is an expert in revenue cycle management, process improvement and medical billing.

Michael Langenberg, CPA, continues as a director-at-large. Mr. Langenberg helps lead Association of University Radiologists, PC, in Knoxville, Tenn. He has worked on both the RBMA Alternative Payment Models Task Force and Payor Relations Committee. He currently chairs the Information Technology Task Force.

Brandon Selle, MBA, continues as a director-at-large. Mr. Selle is practice administrator for Northeast Missouri Imaging Associates in Hannibal, Mo., and an administrator of a billing company serving this group. He chairs RBMAs Communications Committee.

The Radiology Business Management Association is a national not-for-profit association providing members with applied business information and intelligence applicable in any radiology setting. The RBMA has approximately 2,300 members involved in various management capacities in private practices, academic radiology groups, imaging centers and hospitals. The RBMA continues to be recognized as the leader for radiology-specific educational programs, products and services, publications and data. Learn more about the RBMA leadership at rbma.org.
No one should permit race, gender or economic standing to restrict their life

When the Superintendent of the New Castle Area School District announced the appointment of Dr. Jacqueline Respress as Principal of a combined New Castle Junior/Senior High School, it would be the first time in the Districts 150-year history that a female has been chosen to lead the senior high school, and the first time an African American has reached this pinnacle.

In her new book, My Fathers Faith, author Dr. Jacqueline M. Gaither Respress blends personal narratives, research on education and spirituality, quotes and scriptures to first, show how the strength of her Christian beliefs, passed on to her by her father, have sustained her through lifes trials. Secondly, Dr. Respress uses her own story to map out a hopeful path for anyone experiencing obstacles in life.

Throughout My Fathers Faith Dr. Respress shares gripping stories such as the miracle of her sons birth, from weighing only 2 lb. 10 oz. to growing strong and healthy and eventually going on to earn a PhD from Baylor College of Medicine.

My Fathers Faith is my story of faith in action, said Dr. Respress. As a child, I was fortunate to have spiritual parents who taught me the power of faith and faithfulness.

Dr. Respress is a lifetime educator who has worked in her community to provide educational, financial and spiritual support to children and their parents. After having a fulfilling career as an educator, Dr. Respress retired from the New Castle Area School District to care for her 91-year-old mother full time.

No one should permit race, gender or economic standing to restrict their life, said Dr. Respress. In spite of the outward tests, the strength to go on is hidden within each of us.

My Fathers Faith

By: Dr. Jacqueline M. Gaither Respress

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7792-3

Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse

About the Author

Dr. Jacqueline M. Gaither Respress, now retired, earned a masters degree in education and a doctorate in educational leadership. Her career in education includes positions in western Pennsylvania as a teacher, principal and part time professor. She and her husband, Rev. Torrance Respress, live in the Houston metro area.

# # #

For review copies or interview requests, contact:

Megan Hardesty

317.602.7137

mhardesty(at)bohlsengroup(dot)com
With more than 7,000 Tempo Timesheets customers and a variety of teams using JIRA, we are providing businesses with better visibility over all of their work initiatives and cost centers, enabling better teamwork and smarter decision making.

Tempo, a global leader and developer of time-tracking, resource planning, and financial management software add-ons for Atlassians project management products, JIRA Software, JIRA Service Desk, and JIRA Core, today released the 8.0 version of the award-winning Tempo Timesheets solution to the Atlassian Marketplace, its largest release to date. The extended Tempo Timesheets product better enables businesses and teams, including those working in Agile, to manage time spent for accounting, payroll, billing, and accurate forecasting through one single, purpose-built solution.

Wrapped in a simplified, intuitive user interface, Tempo Timesheets helps software, IT, services, and business teams plan, track, and report on time spent on JIRA projects and tasks, including for customer projects and accounts.

We are excited to offer our customers a comprehensive solution that provides deeper insights into the business revenue cycle to help support growth, said Vidar Svansson, CPO at Tempo. With more than 7,000 Tempo Timesheets customers and a variety of teams using JIRA, we are providing businesses with better visibility over all of their work initiatives and cost centers, enabling better teamwork and smarter decision making.

The Tempo Timesheets release ships with new features and enhancements to popular features, such as expense, revenue, and team utilization reporting. Tempo Timesheets integrates with other Tempo products, including Tempo Planner for high-level and granular planning and resource management, and Tempo Folio, for project and portfolio financial management.

At Atlassian, we are excited to support Tempos continued growth, said Paul Friesen, Head of Product Marketing, Atlassian Ecosystem & Marketplace. "We believe in enabling teams to work efficiently and effectively, and Tempo Timesheets has helped many businesses achieve this goal.

Key Highlights of Tempo Timesheets 8.0 Release:



Time and Expenses Report: Get detailed overviews of revenue and price rates associated with work performed, capturing expenses associated with project tasks in JIRA for accounting and customer billing.

Team Utilization Report: Gain insights into how teams are spending their time on projects and tasks to calculate costs and measure business value.

Revenue Report: Track revenue and project performance directly in JIRA. Set revenue targets and monitor progress in real-time, including expenses logged by team members.

Custom Price Rates: Define price rates based on team roles and expertise. Custom price tables provide flexibility to model pricing based on contracts, including client or account discounts.

Unaccounted for Hours: Ensure that all employee work time spent in JIRA adds up for accurate accounting and billing.

Office 365 Calendar Integration: In addition to Google Calendar integration, Tempos free mobile app now enables users to quickly convert Office 365 Calendar events into registered worklogs in JIRA.

Availability and Pricing

Annual Tempo Timesheets 8.0 licenses are available for server versions of JIRA, starting at $10 per year for 10 users, and can be purchased through the Atlassian Marketplace. Tempo Timesheets offers enterprise and JIRA Data Center support, with upgradeable license tiers serving more than JIRA 10,000 users. Free 30-day Tempo evaluations are available for server and cloud through the Atlassian Marketplace.

Tempo offers all teams with a valid Tempo Timesheets license easy time tracking on the go with a free mobile app, available for Android and iOS. Learn more: tempo.io/mobile

Over the upcoming months, Tempo will launch a next generation of cloud products for Atlassians JIRA Connect technology to provide new growth opportunities for mobile and other Atlassian cloud products, including a new breed of Tempo features and solutions.

About Tempo

Tempo is a leading provider of sophisticated software solutions for Atlassian JIRA that help boost the productivity of technical and non-technical teams, offering seamless integration, flexibility, and real-time visibility into work initiatives for strategic alignment and decision making. More than 8,600 customers from a wide range of industries worldwide, ranging from small startups to large-scale enterprises including Amazon, BMW, Pfizer, HomeAway, PayPal, Hulu, Dell, and Disney trust Tempo to collaborate, plan, budget, track and work smarter. To learn more about Tempo, visit http://www.tempo.io.
Networking events can sometimes be uncomfortable, speed networking takes some of the pressure out of it because youre introduced to every person at the event.

Midland IRA is a self-directed IRA administrator that gives clients the option to invest in an array of alternative assets within a tax-sheltered account. The company is not a fiduciary so in an effort for investors to meet one another Midland IRA is holding a speed networking event on Thursday, May 26 at 3:00 in Fort Myers.

Midland IRA would like to play matchmaker. The self-directed IRA administrator does not refer clients to other companies or clients to other investors which is why the company holds networking events to bring clients and businesses together. Instead of speed dating Midland IRA has organized speed networking. Speed networking is the same concept as speed dating where individuals get a few minutes to meet each blind date in the room. Rather than meeting blind dates, participants will get the chance to network with every potential business relationship in attendance.

Networking events can sometimes be uncomfortable, says Dave Owens, President and CEO of Midland IRA. Speed networking takes some of the pressure out of it because youre introduced to every person at the event. Participants are encouraged to bring a lot of business cards as well as any informational material to be passed out to attendees.

Event: Midland IRA Speed Networking

Date: May 26, 2016

Time: 3:00-4:30 pm

Location: Rasmussen College 9160 Forum Corporate Pkwy, Room 302, Fort Myers, FL

Cost: Free to attend

Register: To register email Brenda Whetsell at bwhetsell(at)midlandira(dot)com

About Midland IRA

Midland IRA is a self-directed IRA administrator that provides tax-deferred and tax-free investment opportunities, superior customer service, and educational tools to assist investors in realizing the maximum benefits possible within IRAs. Midland IRA makes it easy to use self-directed retirement plans to invest in assets that the individual investor knows, understands, and can control. Midland IRA is also a 1031 exchange qualified intermediary. To learn more, visit www(dot)MidlandIRA(dot)com.

About Dave Owens

Dave Owens is president of Midland IRA in Fort Myers, Chicago, Miami, Gainesville, New England, and the Florida Panhandle. Owens opened the Fort Myers headquarters in 2003. His background as a certified public accountant, combined with a long history of personal retirement self-direction, provides his audiences and clients with solid advice and practical solutions to their IRA investment questions. Dave holds a BS in accounting from Purdue University. He also earned the prestigious Certified Exchange Specialist designation through the Federation of Exchange Accommodators.
It is incumbent upon us all to keep a watchful eye, be accountable, and be advocates for the safety and well-being of those least able to protect themselves

While young children, girls in particular, are often warned of the dangers of strangers, sometimes it is family members or trusted individuals who harm them. When entangled in a web of abuse, having an advocate and a path forward are extremely important.

Lorraine Sherman Mason, whose career has been in social work, understands the global need for young girls to be encouraged to speak up for help and educated on the steps to take when they find themselves in harmful situations, such as sexual abuse.

Based on my experience in the field, I know its hard to know what to do in certain situations, which is why I want these young girls to be aware and educated, Mason said. A recent trip to Africa and Hong Kong further drove home the point that girls all over the world were subjected to similar abuse at the hands of many  strangers and family alike.

Mason works with foster homes, nonprofits, private agencies and through volunteer work to make children aware of the importance of keeping safe, recognizing unsafe situations, identifying advocates and speaking up against perpetrators and enablers.

Her new book, Who Will Speak for Me?, presents a variety of scenarios and possible solutions, including examples of people to trust, to not only illustrate to young readers the importance of speaking up, but to also show adults that the responsibility lies with everyone to listen to, encourage and protect the young girls of the world.

It is incumbent upon us all to keep a watchful eye, be accountable, and be advocates for the safety and well-being of those least able to protect themselves, girls and children in general, Mason said. I hope this book will help give all girls a voice and teaches them to speak up for their safety, no matter who or what is harming them.

Who Will Speak for Me?

By Lorraine Sherman Mason

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2270-2

Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Archway

About the author

Lorraine Sherman Mason worked tirelessly as a licensed clinician and advocate for children in the Texas foster care system after earning her masters degree in social work. She assisted in the opening of Central Pennsylvania's first grief center for children and their families. Currently living in Bellaire, Texas, Mason is a married mother of three, a blogger, freelance writer, a Time contributing editor and author of Sassywood Man and Other Folklores.

# # #
Sanford Harmony, an innovative social-emotional learning program that reinforces positive peer interactions among children, will soon expand to Los Angeles after-school education, enrichment and recreation programs run by LA's BEST. The agreement with California-based National University, which is leading the PreK-6 Sanford Harmony programs expansion, means that LAs BEST will ultimately integrate the program at nearly 200 school sites serving 25,000 children.

National University is a private nonprofit university with a strong tradition preparing and educating PreK-12 educators, and the University is actively collaborating with other higher education institutions, schools and organizations to expand Sanford Harmony nationally. The program provides easy-to-use lesson plans and resources at no cost to educators that encourage communication, collaboration, and celebrating differences among students.

The agreement, which was officially announced at Sundays LAs BEST Annual Family Brunch Event, involves introducing the program to LAs BESTs after-school programs at schools that are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest system. It complements current efforts led by National University, which have resulted in Sanford Harmony being adopted in more than 8,500 classrooms around the country, representing over 180,000 students in 20 states.

We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Sanford Harmony at National University to introduce this worthy program that has already demonstrated significant impacts in classrooms around the country, said LAs BEST President & CEO Eric Gurna. The mission of Sanford Harmony aligns strongly with our emphasis on engaging activities that help children create values, build skills and solidify peer and adult relationships.

LAs BEST safe and supervised after-school programs, which are aimed at children between the ages of 5 and 12, serve Los Angeles elementary schools in neighborhoods most vulnerable to gangs, drugs, crime and at schools with the lowest student test scores.

Sanford Harmony was inspired by businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, who saw a need for developing strong social and emotional skills in children as a way to improve relationships between adults. The PreK-6 research-based program, which includes classroom lesson plans, storybooks and activity prompts, was originally developed at Arizona State University and has been found to encourage positive attitudes toward school, increased academic performance and empathy as well as reductions in stereotyping and aggression.

We are so very pleased to be partnering with LAs BEST to bring Sanford Harmony to after-school programs throughout the City of Los Angeles because together we can help children develop important life skills that support student development and achievement, said Dr. David Andrews, President of National University.

Thanks to the generosity and vision of Mr. Denny Sanford, Sanford Harmony is creating a foundation that will last a lifetime and impact generations to come, said Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, Chancellor of the National University System which includes National University.

National University, which has the 10th largest school of education in the country, is now leading the national expansion of the program through collaborations with other universities, a group called the Sanford Education Collaborative that is introducing the program to schools within their own regions. The program expansion phase involves public and private schools, as well as organizations such as local Boys and Girls Clubs and Head Start programs.

About LAs BEST

LAs BEST was created in 1988 by Mayor Tom Bradley to address an alarming rise in the lack of adequate adult supervision of children during the critical hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The program serves over 25,000 kids at 194 elementary school sites in Los Angeles in neighborhoods most vulnerable to gangs, drugs, crime and at schools with the lowest student test scores. The mission of LAs BEST is to provide a safe and supervised after school education, enrichment and recreation program for children ages 5 to 12 in the City of Los Angeles. LAs BEST offers engaging activities that help children develop values, build skills and solidify relationships with adults and among their peers that collectively inspire children to want to learn more. http://www.lasbest.org/

About National University and the Sanford Education Center

National University, founded in 1971, is the second-largest private, nonprofit institution of higher education in California with 30,000 students and more than 150,000 alumni. The University, an affiliate of the National University System, offers programs through two Colleges and four Schools, ranks as having among the Top Ten largest schools of education in the country. The University is also the home of the Sanford Education Center, established in 2014 through the generous support of philanthropist T. Denny Sanford to provide innovative programs in the nonprofit and PreK-12 sector. The Center, in coordination with universities and organizations around the country, is leading the national expansion of three initiatives: Sanford Harmony, Sanford Inspire and the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy. Learn more about the Centers initiatives here: http://sanfordeducationcenter.org/
The initial supplemental type certificate (STC) was received from the FAA allowing installation of the SD Wi-Fi Hub on Citation CJ3 aircraft. Meeting the connectivity needs for customers with airframes of all sizes was the driver for the development of the SD Wi-Fi hub. Receiving the first STC paves the way for the availability of the product, said Ken Bantoft, chief technology officer.

Introduced worldwide during the Aircraft Electronics Association Convention 2016, the SD Wi-Fi Hub packs big technology into a small, easily-installed package. More than a wireless access point, it is the gateway for all voice and data communications on the aircraft. At 1.6 pounds, the Hub has the smallest and lightest router form factor in aviation.

Meeting the connectivity needs for customers with airframes of all sizes was the driver for the development of the SD Wi-Fi hub. Receiving the first STC paves the way for the availability of the product to the marketplace, said Ken Bantoft, chief technology officer for SD.

The SD technology team is working with its dealers and MROs to expand the availability of STCs for other airframes.

Citation and CJ3 are registered trademarks of Cessna Aircraft Company. Use of the name of that company and its trademarks are for identification purposes only. SD makes no claim to Citation or CJ3, and use here does not imply endorsement by Cessna Aircraft Company.

About Satcom Direct: Satcom Direct (SD) provides global connectivity solutions for business and general aviation, military, government, and heads of state aircraft, as well as operations in areas with connectivity limitations such as remote locations, large scale events, and disaster recovery. SD is a technology innovator. Since 1997, its teams have worked to advance the technology of connectivity, making SD the first in the marketplace to deliver numerous advancements and capabilities. The company is a premier Inmarsat Distribution Partner (including Jet ConneX), Iridium Service Partner, ViaSats preferred reseller, and the Exclusive Service Provider for SmartSky Networks.

The SD world headquarters and primary operations center is located in Melbourne, Florida, with additional office locations in the United States, Canada, UK, UAE, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa. For more information regarding SD, visit http://www.satcomdirect.com, e-mail sales(at)satcomdirect(dot)com, or call U.S. +1.321.777.3000 or UK +44.1252.554.460.
SelectHub Human Resource Management Leaderboard SelectHub's software selection platform helps HRM buyers earlier in the buying cycle complete the necessary research to align their organization's key requirements and business needs with the best fitting solution.

SelectHub, the leading provider of technology selection management (TSM) software, today released their 2016 update for their Human Resource Management Software Leaderboard  featuring the top HRM systems rated on the 20 core features most organizations look for in HRM software.

Ten HRM vendors top SelectHubs Leaderboard, outperforming more than 50 competing platforms. In-depth analysis is provided by SelectHub for each of the 10 leaders  highlighting strengths and weaknesses  and describing how each system meets the top criteria of organizations and business analysts evaluating HRM software.

Workday, Infor HCM, Kronos, SAP SuccessFactors and Epicor HCM are among the top-rated solutions on the latest edition of the SelectHub HRM Leaderboard.

HRMS software selections, especially at medium-sized and larger enterprises, involve a budget of 6 figures or more. Yet, there is a lack of credible vendor comparison data publically available. Our analysts have distilled the most crucial requirements of HR departments, and directly mapped those to the capabilities of the top 10 HRMS platforms that our users short-list in their selection projects, stated Ram Karan, SelectHubs VP of Customer Success. The resultant leaderboard provides a meaningful jumpstart to companies looking to implement HRMS software often saving them weeks of research.

The SelectHub HRMS leaderboard analyzes core HR features including recruiting, applicant tracking, scheduling, time reporting, payroll, AP/AR automation, employee performance management and more. SelectHub calculates its HRM system rankings across the above functional categories, using information compiled from ongoing software selection projects and RFPs managed through their software selection project management platform. SelectHub then validates scores with third party industry and research firms to assure the accuracy of the HRM system ranking methodology and findings. The full HRM software leaderboard and scoring is available for free here.

With human resource management software adoption on the rise, SelectHub's software selection platform helps HRM buyers earlier in the buying cycle complete the necessary research to align their organization's key requirements and business needs with the best fitting solution, said Bill Vallente, Vice President and General Manager, HCM at Infor.

A free interactive leaderboard is available as part of SelectHubs software selection platform and is customizable based on an organizations specific HRM software requirements. SelectHub users can collaborate with internal and external decision makers, shortlist software vendors based on their unique requirements, execute RFIs and RFPs and manage the overall software evaluation and procurement process. Comprehensive leaderboards for other leading enterprise software categories such as customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI) and enterprise resourcing planning (ERP) are also available.

About SelectHub

SelectHub is a cloud-based software selection management platform streamlining software selection and making IT sourcing more agile and collaborative. The platform supports a comprehensive set of evaluation stages from requirements gathering to vendor shortlisting, demos and user trials, RFI/RFPs and contract negotiation. SelectHub customers include Hunter Douglas, Advanced Energy, QEP Resources and the State of Colorado. To learn more, please visit http://www.selecthub.com.
MAN ON FIRE: Teachr walks away from his banner drop in LA rush hour. A fascinating study of art, politics, and dissent.  Jason Leopold, Senior Investigative Reporter for VICE News, on WHERE ELSE BUT THE STREETS

The Stone Malone Gallery, one of Hollywoods top art galleries according to CBS-LA, welcomes a one-of-a-kind art show opening Saturday May 28th, Where Else But The Streets. This group art show of top political street artists, running for a week before the California Primary on June 7th, celebrates the release of the new photo journal, "Where Else But The Streets: A Street Art Dossier," by John Wellington Ennis, now out from Rothco Press.

Artists from the book are featured in the gallery show, including Shepard Fairey, Teachr, Free Humanity, Lydia Emily, Plastic Jesus, Morley, All The Girls Love Earl, Toolz, Sabo, The PSA Crew, among others. Shepard Fairey will be exhibiting four new works for sale, previously released as limited-edition prints calling for campaign finance reform. Fairey designed the movie poster for Enniss money-in-politics documentary "PAY 2 PLAY: Democracys High Stakes" and his artwork also appears in the film. The award-winning lithograph of the Obey Giant "PAY 2 PLAY" poster will also be on display at the gallery show and available for sale.

Says Ennis, Its especially exciting to celebrate the book release here on the Melrose strip, where most of the street art in the book and the film went down. Artwork will be priced for both street art fans and interested collectors.

Enniss new street art book is an off-shoot of his documentary, which includes top L.A. street artists Alec Monopoly, Free Humanity, Lydia Emily, Teachr, Gregory Siff, and others. After releasing the film, Ennis realized that not only did he still have numerous interviews with street artists left over, he also had amassed a trove of photographs from a particularly vibrant period of street art in Los Angeles, 2010-2012. From the release of the hit documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop through Occupy Wall Street, the streets were lit up with creative displays, recounted through interviews, photo spreads, and short documentaries on the artists accompanying the ebook version.

Artists featured in the book include: Alec Monopoly, Free Humanity, Lydia Emily, Teachr, Kai Aspire, Morley, Burn One, Thank You X, WRDSMTH, All The Girls Love Earl, Thrashbird, Skullphone, Plastic Jesus, Sabo, Phone Jacks, Gregory Siff, Toolz, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Mr. Brainwash, Banksy, and more. Check out whereelsebutthestreets.com to see short films of the street artists and to order the book. Photos from the book will also be on display at the gallery, including early photos of Alec Monopoly working, whose art world ascent is chronicled in the book. Jason Leopold, Senior Investigative Reporter for VICE News calls the book, A fascinating study of art, politics, and dissent.

Signed copies of the book will be available at the gallery opening party, sponsored by Jack Daniels and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Music provided by Proper Propaganda from Radio Free Brooklyn. There will be poster giveaways for the first 50 in line and gift bags of stickers for the first 15 in line. The show opens at 7 pm, this Saturday, May 28th, at Stone Malone Gallery on 7619 1/2 Melrose Ave., LA, CA 90046, and runs for a week. For inquiries, contact John Wellington Ennis at ennis(at)shootfirstinc(dot)tv or call the gallery at 313.782.7070. Artwork from this event will be available to purchase online at stonemalonegallery.com when the show opens.
We practice our C.O.R.E. Values, balance hard work and play, and theres a supportive, familial atmosphere here. Receiving this award is quite an honor. - Jeff Tapolci, CEO

ABG Capital, a business management firm and technological and software innovator, was listed on Inc. Magazines inaugural 50 Best Workplaces. This is the first such measurement of American companies with up to 500 employees that deploy state-of-the-art techniques to keep their staff happy and productive.

Working with employee engagement and culture experts Quantum Workplace of Omaha, Nebraska, Inc.s list is a magnifying glass on how innovative companies can truly raise the bar in hiring and keeping the best talent.

We hear it over and over again from the fast-growing businesses we cover: The biggest challenge that any business owner faces is finding and keeping the best people. Thats why building a workplace culture that allows your staff to grow with your company is absolutely crucial, explains Inc.s President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. Recipients of the Inc. Best Workplaces Awards have done so in spades. They should be celebrated and emulated.

We have a unique and lively culture in this office, said Jeff Tapolci, CEO. The people and their personalities make it one of the best workplaces. We practice our C.O.R.E. Values, balance hard work and play, and theres a supportive, familial atmosphere here. Receiving this award is quite an honor.

The 2016 Inc. Best Workplaces Awards assessed applicants on a collection of multiple choice, scaled, and open-ended items. Responses were evaluated by the research team at Quantum Workplace. Core components of the scoring include company practices around management, employee recognition, performance communication, benefits, and other elements of the employee experience. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies. The minimum revenue required for 2015 is $2 million, in business at least three years, with a full time employee count ranging between 5 and 500.

About ABG Capital

ABG Capital is a privately held business management company located in Pittsburgh, PA. ABG Capital supports its portfolio companies growths and successes by offering aggregated back office services such as accounting, administrative, legal, IT, software development, HR, and marketing communications. Offering these services allows for the portfolio companies to have a competitive advantage as well as an equation for quick paced success. For more information, please visit the ABG Capital Blog.

About Inc. Media

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of Advertising Ages The A-List in January 2015, and the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 13,000,000 today. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com/.

About Quantum Workplace

Quantum Workplace is an HR technology company that serves organizations through employee engagement surveys, action-planning tools, exit surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, performance evaluations, goal tracking, and leadership assessment. For more information, visit http://www.quantumworkplace.com.
Acadian Managers, LLC (Acadian) announced today it has entered into an agreement with Spinnaker Insurance Company (Spinnaker) to underwrite and market Spinnakers Homeowners and Dwelling Fire products in Louisiana through Acadians network of over 250 agents. Spinnaker will be Acadians exclusive insurance carrier rated A- or better by A.M. Best Company for Louisiana business.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck Louisiana in 2005, many highly rated carriers withdrew from or significantly reduced their writings in the state. Acadian was formed to bring higher quality paper back to the market. Last year, Acadian entered into a similar agreement with Ocean Harbor Casualty Insurance Company.

We are delighted to make Spinnakers products available to Louisiana agents and consumers. This agreement represents a significant step in the recovery of the Louisiana property insurance market said Mike Toffoli, Acadians President.

Acadian plans to begin offering Spinnaker products in the voluntary market in the early fall and will work with Spinnaker during the next round of Louisiana Citizens Depopulation.

Learn more about Acadian Managers LLC at http://www.acadianmanagers.com. Learn more about Spinnaker Insurance Company at http://www.spinnakerins.com.

Spinnaker is an A.M. Best Company A- rated P&C carrier that offers admitted insurance products in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Spinnakers competitive strategy is to utilize Program Administrators to access niche markets around the country, focusing on short-tail business (with an emphasis on homeowners, renters, and small commercial) and certain specialty lines.
At the end of the day, its about technology and team; neither can do the job without the other and were grateful to have the best-of-breed of both.

Ashley Distler and Bryant Hutson join leadership at RowdMap, Inc. alongside Melanie Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer, formerly with Eliza, Sprigley, Health Dialog, Solstice Capital, and the Human Genome Project; Dr. Henriette Coetzer, Chief Clinical Risk Officer, previously with the National Health Service (United Kingdom), Towers Watson, the British United Provident Association (BUPA), Health Dialog, and Healthways; Joshua Rosenthal, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, formerly with Eliza and Sprigley and a Fulbright recipient at the Sorbonnes International think tank (EPHE) and member of the Data Access and Use Group of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCHVS), the committee established by Congress to serve the Department of Health and Human Services on health data, statistics and national health information policy; Burak Sezen, Chief Information Officer, previously with Eliza, Sprigley, Health Dialog, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young; Kim Spalding, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, formerly with Tech Republic, Narrowcast, and Ernst & Youngs Entrepreneurial Services; and Marshall Votta, Chief Market Officer, formerly SVP at Leverage Health and VP, Network Development NaviNet.

Both Ashley and Bryant have served RowdMap, Inc. for over two years as Senior Client Strategists, working with health plans and providers in 48 states, covering over 100MM patients and members. Ashley and Bryant have effectively scaled our efforts to serve both payers and providers over the past two years. They are leading the efforts with leading payers and providers to identify, quantify and reduce low-value care and move to value based arrangement. Theyve proven extraordinarily adept at everything from interpreting complex information to formulate strategy, then helping clients use the information on the ground, training client teams and literally standing side by side with clients in their operations, said Melanie Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer at RowdMap, Inc.

Ashley brings tremendous experience from time at Presence Health, a leading hospital-based clinical delivery system, where she worked on clinically integrated networks. She also brings deep financial and operational experience, having served in finance, contracting and supply chain leadership roles at the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and clinical experience from work at the SIP, Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Ashley holds a Master of Health Services Administration and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare (MHSA/MBA) from Xavier University and a BA in Economics from Centre College.

Bryant brings deep experience from time at Optimity Advisors, a specialized management consulting firm focusing on strategy and analytics in health care, where Bryant served several national plans and regional affiliates, PBMs, government payers and health care service companies across the country. Bryants work focused on the impact of the Affordable Care Act across all major product and lines including Medicare, Medicaid, Large and Small Group Commercial, Exchange and Marketplace business segments. He also brings strategic experience from his time at the Corporate Executive Board, where he researched and created best practices in technology for Fortune 100 companies. Bryant holds BS degrees from Cornell University in Communication and Information Science.

RowdMap, Inc. may be somewhat unusual in that we serve both payers and providers equally. Both parties use government benchmark data as a third-party foundation from which they can have a meaningful conversation, said Ashley Distler, Vice President, Provider Strategy at RowdMap, Inc. In many markets, we are serving both health plans and providers of different types. By identifying, quantifying and reducing low-value care, economic models can work for both payers and providers moving into value-based care and risk-arrangements, said Bryant Hutson, Vice President, Payer Strategy at RowdMap, Inc. One of our goals has been to bring the information out to the market in a very careful, controlled way in which both payers and provider can win together. Rather than the typical antagonism one sometimes finds between payers and providers, were seeing leaders from each actor in the delivery system work together to benefit members and patients, creating a truly virtuous cycle, said Marshall Votta, Chief Market Officer at RowdMap, Inc.

Ashley Distler and Bryant Hutson join recent additions to RowdMap, Inc. Marshall Votta, Chief Market Officer; Josh Holmes, Vice President of Business Development and Laura Sandman, Market Operations at RowdMap, Inc. Weve been extraordinarily fortunate in building a team that has seen, and more importantly sustained, marked growth over the past years as weve moved from covering a handful of states and several hundred thousand members and patients to the vast majority of the country and roughly one in three americans. When you are fundamentally changing the way payment flows in a delivery system there is stunning opportunity, but also tremendous challenges in helping clients seize that opportunity. At the end of the day, its about technology and team; neither can do the job without the other and were grateful to have the best-of-breed of both, said Melanie Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer at RowdMap, Inc.

About RowdMap, Inc. :

An Ernst and Young EY Entrepreneur Of The Year winner, RowdMaps Risk-Readiness benchmarks help health plans, physician groups, and hospital systems identify, quantify, and reduce no-value care that physicians delivera central tenet of successful pay-for-value programs.

Through practice pattern and referral analysis, RowdMaps benchmarks identify the health care entities that manage unwarranted and unexpected variation in care. This variation leads to more than $850 billion in no-value care annually. Payers and physicians use RowdMaps physician and population health benchmarks to create strategies that put these highest performing physicians at the center of networks and then design products, organize clinical programs, and coordinate sales and marketing around them. RowdMaps platform comes preloaded with benchmarks for every physician, hospital, and zip code in the United Statesno IT integration required. RowdMap's Risk-Readiness Platform works across all market segments and has significantly larger returns than traditional medical economics approaches.

For more information, please visit http://www.RowdMap.com
Six WWI crewmen lost at sea during a training mission in 1942 will receive Military Honors similar to this on Memorial Day, marking the first time their are recognized for their service and sacrifice. One of the most gratifying things we do at Eternal Reefs is provide closure to families, said George Frankel, CEO of Eternal Reefs. Thats exactly what well do on Memorial Day as we honor the memory and sacrifice of these six WWII heroes.

On Memorial Day, after nearly 74 years, six WWII Army Air Corp airmen who died in a B-26 Marauder training crash on Nov. 16, 1942 off the Florida coast will be recognized for their service with Military Honors in Ft. Meyers, Fla. Of the crewmen, only Pilot Donald Vail and Co-pilot Fred Dees were ever recovered and identified. The remaining four men (noted below*) will be honored for the first time this Memorial Day. The fallen crewmen were (alphabetically):



Lt. Fred Dees, Jr., Co-Pilot from Burgaw, N.C.

S. Sgt. William G. Kittiko, Top Turret Gunner from McKeesport, Pa.*

Lt. Louis Mikes, Bombardier from Queens, N.Y.*

S. Sgt. Milton Newton, Crewman from Davidson, Nashville, Tenn.*

S. Sgt. Richard Treat, Crewman from Marblehead, Essex, Mass.*

Lt. Donald Vail, Pilot from Macomb, Ill.

The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 30, 2016 at VFW Post 10097, 17770 Pine Ridge Road, Ft. Myers Beach, Fla. 33931.

Eternal Reefs, Reef Innovations and the Reef Ball Foundation have partnered with Underwater Historical Explorations. Ltd. (UHE) and VFW Post 10097 in Ft. Myers, Fla. to honor and memorialize these men. A UHE dive team discovered the crash site in 2008, more than 42 miles offshore Ft. Myers, Fla., researched the flight history, and notified remaining family members at that time. The six-man crew was aboard the first of eight B-26 planes from the 480th Bomb Squadron, 336th Bomb Group, lost in training accidents between Nov. 16, 1942 and Nov. 15, 1943. In all, 47 airmen died.

Inscribed plaques will mark large memorials that will be placed on the ocean floor crash site at a later date by a UHE dive team.

Seven memorials in total will be placed at that underwater crash site and noted as sacred ground in recognition of the sacrifice of the airmen. One memorial weighing approximately 1,300 pounds and standing 3 high by 4 wide will commemorate the entire crew. Six separate memorials, about 700 pounds each and 2 by 3, will honor the sacrifice of each individual man. For an image of the plaques, visit http://www.facebook.com/eternalreefs.

Im just interested in respecting the dignity of my uncle and his crewmates, said Mark Casey, nephew of Top Turret Gunner Kittiko. After all these years, I want to be sure the honors are bestowed correctly and their service and sacrifice is properly recognized.

Caseys late mother, Abigail Kittiko Casey of White Oak, Pa., recalled memories of her brother William (Bill) Kittiko when the UHE notified the families of the discovered B-26 Marauder wreckage in 2008.

"Bill was not one to have a big discussion about something," she told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2008. "He made up his mind to do something and he told you."

Abigail, two years younger than Kittiko, was a high school senior when the plane disappeared and told the Post-Gazette she remembered the series of telegrams in late 1942 that impacted her family, first saying her brother was missing and another that they were still searching.

One of the most gratifying things we do at Eternal Reefs is provide closure to families, said George Frankel, CEO of Eternal Reefs. Thats exactly what well do on Memorial Day as we honor the memory and sacrifice of these six WWII heroes.

About Underwater Historical Explorations, Ltd.

The mission of Underwater Historical Explorations, a non-profit organization, is to promote and participate in the underwater research, search, investigation and salvage of underwater wreck sites of significant historical value. Our primary goal is to gather and retrieve information of historic value of each wreck and wreck site in a professional and lawful manner. The excavation and salvage of each site including the retrieval of artifacts and cargo will be accomplished consistent with our goals of advancing and confirming written history of these sites; also to seek out historically known but as of yet undiscovered wrecks. Learn more at http://www.uhexplorations.com. Read reports of the B-26 Marauder discovery at the UHE website as well as in news reports from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Santiva Chronicle, 12 News NBC-TV AZCentral.com, and the Ft. Myers News-Press.

About Eternal Reefs Inc.

Eternal Reefs, Inc. is a Sarasota-based company that provides a creative, environmentally-enhancing way to memorialize the cremated remains of a loved one. The company incorporates cremated remains into a concrete mixture used to cast artificial reef formations. The artificial reefs are dedicated as permanent memorials while also bolstering natural coastal reef formations. Since 1998, the company has placed more than 1,500 Memorial Reefs in 25 locations off the coasts of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Gulf Coast and Panhandle) and Texas, substantially increasing the oceans diminishing reef systems. Memorial reefs can only go in properly permitted locations by the U.S. Government. Reef Innovations and the Reef Ball Foundation are strategic partners with Eternal Reefs. Learn more at Eternal Reefs Inc. at http://www.EternalReefs.com.

# # #
Officiating at the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be Occoquan District Supervisor Ruth Andersen, along with other local officials and business leaders.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty will hold a grand opening celebration for its Lake Ridge Branch office on Thursday, June 2 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 2253-A Old Bridge Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. The public is welcome to join the festivities.

The event will include a contest drawing, where the winner of the drawing will receive a discounted commission fee on the listing side. According to Lake Ridge Branch Manager Jim Evans, the Sell4Free* contest will save a seller thousands of dollars when selling their house. Professional listing photos are also part of the contest package.

This is a great opportunity for one lucky homeowner to pay only half the commission cost if they sell their home with BHHS PenFed Realty and we will feature it with the talent of a professional photographer, said Evans.

Officiating at the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be Occoquan District Supervisor Ruth Andersen, along with other local officials and business leaders. Plenty of refreshments and appetizers will be offered to attendees.

In addition to the contest, a raffle will be held for multiple prizes with proceeds going to a local charity called the Colbys Ride Foundation. Founded in honor of 11-year-old Colby Smith who died in a biking accident. The foundation is committed to providing bicycles and helmets for underprivileged children in the community.

Come join BHHS PenFed Realty for an enjoyable community celebration. For additional contest rules and information, visit Celebrate.PenFedRealty.com.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty is a full-service real estate company with annual sales volume of $2.8 billion, with 1,700 sales agents, and 50+ offices providing complete real estate services nationwide. PenFed Realty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PenFed Credit Union (PenFed). PenFed is a financial institution with $20 billion in assets and more than 1.4 million members. PenFed Realty is also a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerage network, operated by HSF Affiliates LLC. Visit PenFedRealty.com. Equal Opportunity Employer: m/f/v/d. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Disclosure:

*Only one contest entry per household. Entries can be submitted online, through the mail, or in person. You need not be present to win. For additional contest rules and information, visit Celebrate.PenFedRealty.com.
We are very pleased to welcome Brad to HealthScape Advisors, said Steven Young, a Managing Partner at HealthScape Advisors. Brad brings significant experience advising healthcare provider clients throughout the country. As the transition to value-based care within the healthcare delivery system accelerates with the implementation of MACRA, we believe that continuing to add professionals with deep experience from a provider perspective will complement the support that we provide to health systems, large provider groups, and carriers. We look forward to working with Brad to continue to enhance the insights and solutions that we provide to our clients. Our efforts will focus on payer / provider collaborations, workflow change management, MACRA and APM optimization, as well as other emerging areas that will aid in industry transformation.

Brad is a proficient strategic advisor, with years of experience leading strategic and operational engagements for his clients. His expertise includes enterprise growth and financial planning, service line distribution for integrated delivery networks, health reform preparedness, emerging payment models, population health management and insurance exchanges.

Prior to joining HealthScape Advisors, Brad served as a Vice President for the Sg2 Consulting team. Before his career at Sg2, he held leadership roles in surgical services at Loyola University Health System and the University of Chicago Medical Center. During his tenure at Loyola, he oversaw the business operations of 35 inpatient and outpatient operating room suites. Brad began his career in the health care provider strategy and operations practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP and completed an administrative fellowship with Advocate Health Care.

Brad holds a BA in political science and sociology and MA in sociology from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, as well as an MPH in health policy and administration from Yale University in New Haven, CT. He is a current fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and an active member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

About HealthScape Advisors:

HealthScape Advisors is a management consulting and solutions firm committed to advancing the business of healthcare. They bring healthcare executives market-leading insights and actionable strategies that create sustainable value so companies can grow, perform, and transform.
The transparency, shared infrastructure and efficiency offered by distributed ledgers wont just help corporate earnings--they will help save peoples lives.

BTC Media, a leading digital currency and blockchain-focused media group, announces its inaugural health care blockchain event, Distributed: Health, to be held in Nashville, Tennessee on October 3, 2016.

The conference will be held in Nashvilles downtown Symphony Center.

A 24-hour Hackathon preceding the event will host teams from around the world, competing to build the best new blockchain health care application.

For the last three years we have seen blockchain technology embraced by the banking world as it has sought to solve core problems with trust, interoperability and efficiency, said BTC Media CEO David Bailey. Those same pain points exist in health care. The transparency, shared infrastructure and efficiency offered by distributed ledgers wont just help corporate earnings--they will help save peoples lives.

Distributed: Health speakers and panelists will represent large enterprise innovators as well as tech startups who will not only conceptualize but demo new health care applications in development.

Blockchain technology addresses impossible problems by connecting entire industries to shared infrastructure, which allows participants to exchange data with strong guarantees around confidentiality and integrity, said Micah Winkelspecht, CEO and founder of Gem, who recently launched Gem Health for blockchains and health care and will be a conference sponsor. Theres a clear opportunity for this infrastructure to shorten and optimize revenue cycles, ensure continuity of medical data and establish global health identifiers.

Nashville was chosen for the event based on its central importance as a U.S. health care capital. The city is home to industry giants and leading innovators, with one in eight Nashville employees working in the health care industry. This is an effort that must be built in collaboration with the industry, and that means starting in Nashville, Winkelspecht said.

Distributed: Health attendees will include professionals from major health care providers and leading industry startups as well as insurers, medical suppliers, manufacturers, developers and academic and policy groups worldwide.

After a great deal of research, we are convinced that blockchains are a tool that can offer real cost savings and efficiency gains to the health care industry, said Josh Rosenblatt, Principal at Blackline Payments Advisors, another sponsor of the event. Nashville is the epicenter for many of the health care companies that stand to gain the most. This conference should kickstart that conversation, allowing companies to learn what blockchains are, and why their corner of the industry should care.

For more information or to register, visit https://godistributed.com/health/.

About BTC Media:

Headquartered in Nashville, BTC Media LLC is the publisher of Distributed, Bitcoin Magazine and yBitcoin. BTC Media is the worlds largest provider of multimedia educational and informational resources about the digital currency and blockchain industries.

Contact:

John Riggins

901-871-6586

john(at)btcmedia(dot)org
Lodi Grapes

A beloved Lodi summer tradition, Lodis Certified Farmers Market returns in May, under the leadership of the Lodi District Chamber of Commerce. Every Thursday beginning May 19th through September 1st, from 5 pm to 8:30 pm, the best fresh produce California has to offer will be available for purchase. Residents and visitors can also grab a bite, order a drink, meet-up with friends or make new ones in a laid back family friendly atmosphere located in Downtown Lodi.

The Farmers Market will also have free bike valet available during the market.

Visit Lodi! is the official source for information and help in planning a trip to Lodi, California. For more information, http://www.visitlodi.com or call (209)365-1195.
Our goal for the new site was to provide ways for our customers to more easily find what theyre looking forwhether thats a specific product or solutions for their specific industry.

Pacific Office Automation has been a leader in providing business workflow solutions in the West for forty years. The company, with locations in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho provides printers, copiers, software, and other services to support workflow processes. Its new site makes it easier for businesses to select products that fit their operations unique needs.

Our goal for the new site was to provide ways for our customers to more easily find what theyre looking forwhether thats a specific product or solutions for their specific industry, said Doug Pitassi, Pacific Office Automation President.

According to Pitassi, the site is designed for easier navigation, improved product information, and greater industry-specific guidance. For example, the new Industries page features product ideas for small businesses, specifically in the legal, healthcare, government and non-profit, and education realms.

We learned it was very important to our customers to find answers to their questions about document and workflow management that were specific to their industry, said Pitassi. Providing a new venue for business owners to get those answers was a top priority when building the new site.

The sites technical product descriptions have also been revised to be more accessible to site visitors, with descriptions containing less technical jargon and more information about the products functionality.

In addition, a design facelift lends the site a more modern look. New site features highlight the role of Pacific Office Automation as an all-encompassing problem solver for its clients.

Were excited to launch something that has more broad appeal to the everyday user, and that houses more helpful information for our customers, said Pitassi. We believe our new site succeeds in capturing the POA difference, and our expertise. Weve grown a lot in the past year--in 2015 alone we saw a 10% increase in employees. Our hope is that our site will help us as we continue to grow and support our clients needs.

About Pacific Office Automation

Pacific Office Automation (http://www.pacificoffice.com) is a leader in managed printing solutions and document management software. Since 1976, POA has grown to become the industrys largest independent dealership with 20 locations throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. The company is also one of the largest independent distributors, carrying brands such as Sharp, Konica Minolta, Toshiba, Ricoh, Lexmark, Xerox, Muratec, Canon and HP copiers, printers, faxes and multifunctional devices. POA believes in providing custom print solutions that are fast, efficient and secure so customers can confidently say, Problem Solved.

###
Unlike online sales for baby products, brick and mortar retailers are not succeeding as well in online vitamin sales.

The online retail channel is the top outlet for sales of vitamin and mineral and supplements (VMS), hitting $2 billion and surpassing Walmarts vitamin sales of $1.7 billion in 2016, according to the 2016 TABS Analytics Vitamin and Minerals Supplements study. Vitamin specialty, which includes Vitamin Shoppe and GNC, ($1.5 billion); Costco ($1.3 billion); and CVS ($1.2 billion) round out the next three largest outlets for annual VMS sales. TABS Analytics found that VMS sales were up three percent compared to 2015 and were being driven primarily by increases in pricing. TABS Analytics estimates the annual U.S. VMS retail market to be $12.8 billion.

The study, which is now in its seventh consecutive year, was conducted in April 2016 by Caravan, part of ORC International, and surveyed 1,017 geographically and demographically dispersed adult consumers between the ages of 18 and 75. The purpose of the study was to determine: how many types of vitamins and nutritional supplements were purchased, what types of vitamins and nutritional supplements were regularly purchased (three or more times per year), and where vitamins and nutritional supplements were regularly purchased.

Amazon continued to lead all online domains with a 35 percent share of purchase occasions (a proxy for share). Notably, pure play domains (online retailers without brick and mortar stores) dominate online sales with a 78.1 percent share compared to brick and mortar online sales share of 21.9 percent. Four pure play domains had an increase in share compared to 2015: Vitacost (+4.4 percent), Puritans Pride (+3.3 percent), Swanson (+2.4 percent) and Bodybuilding (+1.5 percent).

The survey revealed that online brick and mortar domains lost a significant amount of share to pure play domains. However, four online brick and mortar domains posted gains in share over 1 percent including Vitamin Shoppe (+2.5 percent), Target (+2.5 percent), GNC (+2.4 percent), and Costco (+1.2 percent). In all, there were seven online domains that dropped in share compared to 2015: Drugstore.com (-6.4 percent), Walmart (-2.8 percent), CVS (-1.8 percent), EBay (-1.8 percent), Amazon (-1.6 percent), Vitamin World (-1.5 percent), and Walgreens (-1.1 percent).

Although online regained share losses from 2015, its high water mark was 2014 when it had a share of occasions of 10.8 percent, said Kurt Jetta, Ph.D., president and founder of TABS Analytics. The studies we have done over the last several years point to online sales in several consumer packaged goods sectors having peaked and are now flattening out. Given their relatively high share in eCommerce, Vitamin sales, like baby product sales, are a frontline category for gauging eCommerce success for brick and mortar retailers, particularly for Walmart, Walgreens and CVS. Unlike online sales for baby products, brick and mortar retailers are not succeeding as well in online vitamin sales. Brick and mortar online vitamin sales account for only 22 percent of online transactions compared to 40 plus percent in online baby product sales.

Decrease in Heavy Buyers Ominous for Category

A key trend that TABS VMS studies have uncovered is that beginning in 2012, there has been a decline in the number of heavy buyers (those who purchased more than three types of vitamins in a year) and this continued into 2016. Heavy buyer penetration peaked at 40 percent in 2012. But in 2016, heavy buyer penetration dropped to 30 percent. This large drop in heavy buyers occurred in the mass market channels, which has caused mass market penetration to decline for the past two years. Specialty stores and online stores have held onto their heavy buyer base and also gained light buyers. This is the first time since 2010 that TABS has tracked a shift in the Vitamin market away from mass market and towards Specialty Brick & Mortar. However, mass market is still the most-shopped channel with 65 percent of buyers shopping in it exclusively, while only 14 percent of all buyers shop exclusively at non-mass channels (online or in specialty stores). The study found that 55 percent of all shopping visits are to Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, online retailers and food stores.

The decline in heavy buyers is particularly noticeable among women. The percentage of female heavy buyers has gone from 45 percent in 2012 to just 32 percent in 2016, a noticeable drop of 13 percentage points. Despite this drop in heavy buyers, overall purchase incidence among female buyers has increased to an all-time high of 82 percent, driven by more light buyers.

The 2016 VMS study also found that heavy buying among younger consumers (ages 18 to 54) has dropped from 25 percent in 2015 to 21 percent in 2016. However, consumers 55 years and older are twice as likely to be heavy buyers (43 percent).

The softness were seeing in the VMS market compared to previous years is directly linked to the decline in heavy buyers, said Jetta. This has been isolated to the mass market as specialty and online have held their heavy buyers and picked up volume as a result. The bigger heavy buyer declines are occurring with women and younger buyers between the ages of 18 to 54. Since heavy buyers respond well to category innovation and retailer promotions, these two areas should be a primary focus for manufacturers and retailers going forward.

Ninth Annual Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Study Webinar

TABS Analytics will be hosting a free webinar today at 2 p.m. Eastern to present the results of the study. Registration is available online here.

About TABS Analytics

Operating since 1998, TABS Analytics, formerly TABS Group, based in Shelton, Conn., is a technology-enabled analytics firm. Its mission is to simplify and improve the way analytics are conducted in the consumer products industry. Primary services are TABS CatMan Advantage, an outsourced category management solution, TABS WorldView, a global business intelligence tool, and TABS Promo Insight, a cloud-based software and consulting service that helps companies measure, plan and optimize trade spending. For more information please call 203-446-8837, email press (at) tabsanalytics (dot) com or visit http://www.tabsanalytics.com
A second literary award is presented to the biography, Blue Skies Buddha Some recount seeing light flow from his hands, others saw him levitate, and yet others tell of his practical nature.

Mystic Buddha Publishing House today announced that its #1 Kindle best-seller, Blue Skies Buddha, the biography of Rama  Dr. Frederick Lenz, was named a winner of the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing in the Spiritual category. The biography describes an American teacher through the eyes of his students, family and colleagues and presents the basics of Buddhism.

According to Publisher Roger Cantu, This is the second literary award received by 'Blue Skies Buddha,' a book that deserves full recognition." "Blue Skies Buddha" was selected as a Finalist by USA Book News for Best Books of 2015 in both the Biography and Spirituality: General categories. The second edition of the book in 2016 made it eligible for the Hoffer, which it won in the Spiritual category.

Said Cantu, "The appeal of 'Blue Skies Buddha' is nicely summarized in The U.S. Review of Books: 'A biography of the spiritual leader, Rama, this book details the life and teachings of a man who not only brought his followers to a keener awareness of mysticism, but also urged them to take an active role in the contemporary world, urging participation in activities such as digital software development and even presidential politics. The book provides varied stories from students, family members and associates. Some recount seeing light flow from his hands, others saw him levitate, and yet others tell of his practical nature. Rama, whose legal name was Frederick Phillip Lenz, cautioned his students not to view him as a teacher, but to see everything in life as a teacher.'"

Author Liz Lewinson states, I am honored to be a recipient of the Eric Hoffer Award and hope it will inspire many people to sample the book. I wrote the book for people who never encountered a teacher like Rama but who would enjoy and benefit from learning what and how he taught. It was a great adventure to encounter him.

The Eric Hoffer Award honors the memory of the great American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting salient writing, as well as the independent spirit of small publishers. Since its inception, the Hoffer has become one of the largest international book awards for small, academic and independent presses.

"Blue Skies Buddha" is available in print and ebook formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores worldwide. For further information on Blue Skies Buddha, contact info(at)mysticbuddha(dot)com or visit http://www.blueskiesbuddha.com.
Evolution Labs S360 toolset promises to be an excellent addition to the technology we use to ensure admitted students have an extremely positive, personalized experience from the point of admission to their first day on a Pace campus

Evolution Labs today announced that Pace University has selected its S360 engagement products to change the way admitted students and their parents experience the post-acceptance and matriculation period. S360 enables colleges to immerse prospective, admitted and current students in highly engaging web and mobile-based experiences designed to foster a stronger affinity between student and school and to impact matriculation outcomes and student success. Pace launched the S360 Yield and Parent Yield modules this spring to all admitted students and their families.

Pace is a leader in offering students a highly personalized education that includes an individualized student development plan and one-to-one mentoring, said Peter Kraft, Co-founder at Evolution Labs. We believe the S360 platform is the perfect match for universities who believe that tailoring content to individual tastes and needs is essential when communicating with todays Millennials.

S360 provides prospective, admitted and current students with highly individualized content tailored to the criteria and interests they find most relevant to their own college search  from academics and faculty to campus location, as well as size and personality of the school. As admits learn more about Pace through expert-written topics, engaging videos and surveys, they can also interact and shadow current students, view official as well as unofficial social media feeds and share their interest in Pace by connecting program features with their preferred social networks  all on a single platform. S360 also utilizes a proprietary algorithm designed to determine propensity of admits on a multifaceted spectrum that considers academic, financial and lifestyle fit. Engagement insights are delivered back to the school in real time, arming them to make better communication and enrollment decisions.

Evolution Labs S360 toolset promises to be an excellent addition to the technology we use to ensure admitted students have an extremely positive, personalized experience from the point of admission to their first day on a Pace campus, said Henry Baker, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management at Pace. The platform will help us strengthen the responsiveness and support we provide admitted students and their parents by giving them access to information and resources, including social content and student ambassadors.

About Pace

Pace University is a comprehensive, independent University with campuses in New York City and Westchester County. Nearly 13,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, School of Education, and College of Health Professions. http://www.pace.edu

About Evolution Labs

Evolution Labs is changing the way students engage with schools and the way schools engage with students. Its proprietary software platform helps schools recruit, enroll and retain students and their parents (driving inquiries, apps, yield and retention). The companys S360 engagement platform provides institutions with technology and a highly immersive content experience to better connect with students while driving more successful educational outcomes.

Learn more at http://www.evpco.com.

Media Contact:

Luciano Gomez

859-537-0211

lgomez(at)evpco(dot)com
Margaret Wooding Baker has been named the new dean of USFs School of Nursing and Health Professions (SONHP) after a national search. Maggie is dedicated to teaching, scholarship, and public service, and this was essential as we selected our new dean, said Donald Heller, provost and vice president of academic affairs for USF.

The University of San Francisco (USF) has named Margaret Wooding Baker dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions. She will lead a team of more than 100 full-time faculty and staff, and serve as a member of the universitys Leadership Team. Baker will begin her role as dean in late August.

Baker comes to USF from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she is the associate dean for academic affairs and an associate professor in the Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems department in the School of Nursing. She worked previously for the State of Washington as a senior health policy analyst, is a member of the states Nursing Action Coalition, and is past president of Washingtons Council on Nursing Education.



Baker will report to Donald Heller, provost and vice president of academic affairs for USF. Maggie is dedicated to teaching, scholarship, and public service, and this was essential as we selected our new dean, Heller said. She is especially qualified to help USF educate the next generation of health professionals in our ever-evolving health care system.

This year, Baker will complete the Executive Nurse Fellows Program, a prestigious, three-year executive nurse leadership program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help identify solutions to the countrys most pressing health issues.

I was drawn to the University of San Francisco because of the mission, vision, and values that bring alive the research, teaching, and community engagement I saw in USFs School of Nursing and Health Professions, said Baker. I knew of the fine work of school under the world-class leadership of Dean Judy Karshmer. I am honored to accept this appointment and look forward to working closely with the students, staff, faculty, and community partners to learn what matters most to them and how, together, we will take the school to the next level of success.

Baker holds three nursing degrees: a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, an M.S.N. from Otterbein College in Ohio (administrative track), and a B.S.N. from Russell Sage College in New York. Bakers research interests and community work center around elder abuse and mistreatment. Other passions include quality improvement, leadership, and advances in nursing education. USF selected her following a national search.

USFs School of Nursing and Health Professions enrolls approximately 825 undergraduate and 750 graduate students in 11 academic programs, ranging from public health and health informatics to nursing leadership and clinical psychology. U.S. News and World Report rated its clinical nurse leader graduate program one of the best in the country in 2016, and the school offered Californias first doctor of nursing practice degree (DNP) in 2006.

For more information and to request an interview with Dr. Baker, please contact Anne-Marie Devine Tasto, USF senior director of media relations, (415) 422-2697 or abdevine(at)usfca(dot)edu.

About USF

The University of San Francisco is located in the heart of one of the worlds most innovative and diverse cities, and is home to a vibrant academic community of students and faculty who achieve excellence in their fields. Its diverse student body enjoys direct access to faculty, small classes and outstanding opportunities in the city itself. USF is San Franciscos first university, and its Jesuit Catholic mission helps ignite a students passion for social justice and a desire to Change the World From Here. For more information, visit http://www.usfca.edu.

###
Hobsons, the leading college and career readiness, admissions and enrollment, and student success company, today announced a new partnership with Pike County School District in Zebulon, Georgia, to provide counselors, students, and families with technology to support the college exploration, planning, and application process.

Research has found that measures of college match  including academic fit, affordability, size, and culture  have a significant impact on a students success in college and beyond. Today, expanded Broadband access and improved technologies are making it easier for counselors to help students find the right match.

Beginning in Fall 2016, the Pike County School District will be the first public school district in the state to use the Naviance by Hobsons platform district-wide. The district will use Naviance to help its middle and high school students explore their interests and strengths, discover the connection between academics and career paths, uncover new college and scholarship opportunities, and create plans to achieve their goals.

Georgia is nationally recognized for its pioneering College and Career Ready Performance Index, which sets standards to ensure that students across the state graduate ready for success in college or a career. Naviance will help Pike County to track student readiness across the district to inform a district-wide strategy.

We want to ensure that our students are able to compete for seats in the best-fit universities and for careers that require critical thinking and creative problem solving, said Pike County Superintendent Mike Duncan. We are glad to be partnering with an edtech company that shares our deep commitment to student success and see Hobsons as a tremendous resource for our students and families.

Naviance is used by nearly 9,000 schools and districts in the United States, and enables school counselors, educators, and parents to work together to help students prepare for postsecondary education.

Georgia has a long track record of innovative efforts to ensure equity and access in higher education. We look forward to partnering with Georgia districts like Pike County to support the extraordinary work of counselors, said Stephen M. Smith, President of Advising and Admissions Solutions at Hobsons. We are committed to ensuring that all students have the chance to consider a wide range of options, and develop the skills they need to be successful in school and in life.

###

About Hobsons

Hobsons helps students identify their strengths, explore careers, create academic plans, match to best-fit educational opportunities, and reach their education and life goals. Through our solutions, we enable thousands of educational institutions to improve college and career planning, admissions and enrollment management, and student success and advising for millions of students around the globe. Hobsons works with more than 12,000 schools, colleges, and universities and serves more than 13 million students.
After selling out all 10 of its Canadian building regions in less than three months, Alairs unique business model is now taking a firm hold in the United States with the announcement of its fourth American territory in South Carolina, facilitated by the signing of veteran contractor Jennings Smith of Summerville, SC. Smith brings with him a team of project managers and 15-years of hard-earned business success with Reality Construction as Alair launches in the state in May 2016.

As the founder of Reality Construction, Smiths decision to join the growing network of homebuilders at Alair was anything but black and white. Smith feared he would have to abandon his brand and the relationships he built throughout his years of custom home building and remodeling experience. But, as he learned more about Alairs unique franchise concept, he realized he had the unique opportunity to maintain and grow his current client base, and continue working with the elite group of contractors and veteran project managers hes worked so hard to build.

Alair is doing something no one else in the industry is doing: combining the shared knowledge and experience of the top contractors in North America with a unique system of transparency for customers, Smith said. As we learned more about the value this system would bring to both my existing project managers and our customers, the choice to become Alairs newest partner became an easy one to make.

People are worried we are going to try and sell them a franchise when we first reach out to them, said Alair Regional Partner, Dave Young, who is working with Smith to launch new projects across South Carolina. But, if we approach someone, its because weve identified a characteristic that we seek in potential partners. We speak to them about their growth goals and the challenges they face in their current business model and offer a solution. Thats helping us to drive new growth at an incredible rate.

Smiths passion for helping clients identify their dream homes and then make them a reality helped him immediately stand out from other contractors in the state. His roots run deep in South Carolina as an eighth generation Charleston native and the Clemson University graduate is eager to develop new properties under the Alair umbrella.

Alair has identified more than 20 potential independent offices in South Carolina in its development plans, but the brand works carefully and deliberately to select the proper partners. Alair recognizes that its network is only as strong as the owners it selects, so the brand works to partner with driven contractors who have both a strong portfolio of work and the character and desire to be an important part of a growing movement in the industry.

We work diligently to identify demographics and market trends before we even set a timeline for expansion, said Young. Thats fully dependent on finding the right people. There are thousands of builders and remodelers in South Carolina who face risks and challenges with their current business. Out of those thousands, we are seeking those that want to take their company to the next level and have the passion and commitment to strive for a better way to serve their clients.

South Carolina represents the first part of a two-pronged development focus for Young, along with neighboring North Carolina. Anchored by the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham regions, Alair aims to open an additional 20 locations across the state, and is now in final talks with a potential partner to develop in the Charlotte market.

The ability to partner with experienced, local contractors is the key to building Alairs growing influence on the industry, said Young. That local expertise connects us to the communities we serve, and its driving us toward more rapid success than ever before in 2016.

Since its inception in 2006, Alair Homes has quickly distinguished itself as the market leader in custom home building and renovations across Canada. Through partnerships with highly qualified and motivated entrepreneurs like Smith, the brand is poised to build upon its strong track record of success in the United States.

Alairs proprietary Client Control system builds a transparent partnership between homebuilder and client by eliminating the traditional ways of conducting construction business. In the past, contractors have either operated under a fixed price or charged cost-plus, a pricing model with variable costs added to a flat fee. Client Control eliminates the choice between the two by allowing customers to maximize involvement in the home building and renovation process, from breaking ground to turning the key.

Alair Homes has also set itself apart by developing a unique 100 percent customer-funded homebuilding model, which leaves franchisee capital untouched by construction costs and keeps business investment low. Alairs successful corporate infrastructure, proprietary software and marketing initiatives put franchisees on the fast track to success.

For franchise opportunities, please visit: http://www.alairfranchise.com/

ABOUT ALAIR

Founded in 2007, Alair has built a construction management network of outstanding and experienced business owners to complete more than 1,800 premier custom home and renovation contractor projects. With the unique Client Control approach, Alair shares every aspect of projects with customers, keeping them informed throughout the entire building process. As the only builder in North America that performs all custom home projects exclusively using the Client Control method, creating value and quality in everything that they do is the cornerstone of the Alair culture and philosophy. Currently serving prominent communities in Canada, Alair is rapidly expanding throughout the U.S. Armed with the experience of longtime construction and building professionals, Alair is a one-stop shop for home renovation and remodeling, and was honored in 2016 by the Canadian Franchise Association as one of the country's best new emerging franchise systems. For more information please visit http://www.alairhomes.com. To learn more about franchise opportunities please visit http://www.alairfranchise.com.
The New Jersey local office of UNCF will hold its fourth annual Mayors Masked Ball on Friday, June 24. More than 300 business, education, and civic leaders including Mayor Ras J. Baraka will gather to raise funds to help provide New Jersey students the necessary resources to get to and through college.

I am elated to host the fourth annual Mayors Masked Ball, Baraka said. As a graduate of Howard University, a historically black college and university, I understand the importance of UNCFs work. I am a dividend of the organizations commitment in providing quality education for minority students and work diligently to pay it forward for the next generation of leaders.

Vaughn and Marnie G. McKoy serve as event co-chairs. Masked Award recipients are Elnardo and Samantha Webster, Community Baptist Church of Englewood and Johnson & Johnson for their generosity in providing hope and opportunity to deserving minority youth. Sponsors to date are PSEG, Fountain Baptist Church, Suez, Berger Organization, PNC Bank, Gibbons PC, Johnson & Johnson, Community Baptist Church of Englewood, Becker LLC and Hayward Industries.

WHO: New Jersey local office

WHAT: Newark UNCF Mayors Masked Ball

WHEN: 6 p.m., Friday, June 24

WHERE:

Newark Club

1085 Raymond Blvd.

New Jersey, NJ 07102

For tickets or more information about the New Jersey local office Mayors Masked Ball, please visit: http://give.uncf.org/NewarkMayorsMaskedBall

Follow this event @uncf #MMBNJ

About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nations largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF awards more than $100 million in scholarships annually and administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities. Learn more at http://www.uncf.org/ or for continuous news and updates, follow UNCF on Twitter @UNCF
Thank you MSPmentor for recognizing all the fantastic work OneNeck coworkers do every day. Our employees dedication, combined with dynamic, growth-oriented customers, equals a top 10 finish for the second year running.

OneNeck IT Solutions ranks among the worlds most progressive Managed Service Providers (MSPs), according to the Penton Technologys just released MSP 501 list and study. In its ninth year, the MSP 501 list ranks companies and organizations from around the world, with diverse technology and business backgrounds. This year, OneNeck came in at number eight on the list of 501 managed service providers.

Thank you MSPmentor for recognizing all the fantastic work OneNeck coworkers do every day, said Phil LaForge, president and CEO of OneNeck. Our employees dedication, combined with dynamic, growth-oriented customers, equals a top 10 finish for the second year running.

The complete 2016 MSP 501 list is available at MSPmentor. In addition to honoring OneNeck, this years MSP 501 list and study showcases the top:



MSPs in North America;

MSPs in Europe, Middle East and Africa;

MSPs in Asia, Australia and New Zealand;

Small business MSP list, comprised of organizations with 10 or fewer employees;

Vertical markets pursued by MSP 501 companies;

Tools companies are leveraging to run their businesses; and

Technologies they provide to customers.

OneNeck offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware and top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin.

On behalf of Penton and MSPmentor, I would like to congratulate OneNeck IT Solutions as an MSP 501 honoree," said Aldrin Brown, Editor in Chief, MSPmentor. The managed service provider market is evolving at a rapid pace and the companies showcased on the 2016 MSP 501 list represent the most agile, flexible and innovative organizations in the industry.

The 2016 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by MSPmentor and its partner, Clarity Channel Advisors. Data was collected online from March through April 2016. The MSP 501 list recognizes top cloud service providers based on a variety of metrics, including recurring revenue, growth and other factors. In addition to a ranking on the MSP 501 list, every company that participated in the study has been assigned a score reflecting its intrinsic value. The measure, known as the Total Service Provider score, evaluates an MSPs mix of revenue from various activities, including consulting, cloud, reselling and managed services.

Visit oneneck.com for more information.

OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, employs nearly 550 people throughout the U.S. The company offers hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware and top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. OneNeck's team of technology professionals manage secure, world-class, hybrid IT infrastructures and applications for thousands of businesses around the globe. Visit oneneck.com for more information.

TDS Telecommunications Corp., headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, TDS Baja Broadband LLC, and BendBroadband. Combined, the company employs 3,400 people. Visit tdstelecom.com.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS] a Fortune 1000TM company, provides wireless; broadband, video and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 6.1 million customers nationwide through its businesses U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecommunications, OneNeck IT Solutions and BendBroadband. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employs 10,400 people. Visit tdsinc.com.

About Pentons channel brands

Pentons channel brands (penton.com), define emerging IT markets and disrupt established IT markets. The brands channel-centric online communities include MSPmentor (MSPmentor.net), The VAR Guy (TheVARguy.com), Talkin Cloud (TalkinCloud.com) and the WHIR (thewhir.com).

About Penton

Penton is an innovative information services company that empowers nearly 20 million business decision makers in markets that drive more than 12 trillion dollars in purchases each year. Our products inform with rich industry insights and workflow tools; engage through dynamic events, education and networking; and advance business with powerful marketing services programs. Penton is the way smart businesses buy, sell and grow. Headquartered in New York, Penton is privately owned by MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co., LP. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit http://www.penton.com or follow us on Twitter @PentonNow.
For a record seventh time, Clickstop has been honored by the Corridor Business Journal (CBJ) as one of the top 25 Fastest Growing Companies in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area.

Clickstop owns and operates several online brands, including its flagship brand US Cargo Control. Nearly 20 employees attended an awards breakfast May 17 at the Cedar Rapids Marriott where they learned the company ranked #14 with a growth of 70.93%.

During the event, CBJ Publisher John Lohman recognized Clickstops consistent growth and acknowledged that no other company has made the list as many times. Rankings are determined by revenue growth over the three previous years.

Clickstop debuted on the list at #4 in 2009, followed by a #5 ranking in 2010 and #4 in 2011. In 2012 the company landed at #3  its highest spot to date - with a growth of nearly 200%. Other appearances include #15 in 2013 and #23 last year.

Clickstop CEO Tim Guenther says he is honored to again be ranked among some of the regions most successful companies.

Clickstop has become known for fast growth and workplace culture, Guenther said. Growing consistently is a challenge, and each Fastest company should be happy about the growth theyre experiencing.

Guenther launched the company in 2005, selling load securement supplies on the website USCargoControl.com. Over the past decade, Clickstop has grown from a handful of employees to more than 130. Over 40 jobs were added in 2015 alone, and the company is expected to match that number in the current year.

Three years ago, the company began assembling securement straps and other equipment for its US Cargo Control brand. A multimillion building expansion, which will add both office and manufacturing areas, is scheduled for completion this fall at Clickstops headquarters in Urbana.

Clickstop will also be recognized by the CBJ in June, when the publication announces its ranked list of the areas Coolest Places to Work.

###

About Clickstop, Inc.

Clickstop is the parent company of a suite of brands based in Urbana, Iowa. Its focus on great workplace culture has landed the company multiple work environment-focused awards including two first place achievements as the Coolest Place to Work. Clickstop serves diverse markets that include the moving and cargo control industry, energy efficient insulation products, and home organizing solutions. For more information visit Clickstop.com.

About US Cargo Control

US Cargo Control is a leader in the cargo control industry, specializing in lifting slings, cargo control, rigging equipment and moving supplies. Focused on offering quality products, timely delivery, and outstanding service, customers can purchase products on the companys website, USCargoControl.com or by phone at 866-444-9990.
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) will host its inaugural Wisconsin Governors Luncheon on Thursday, June 2. More than 150 business, education and civic leaders including Gov. Scott Walker; Dr. David Wilson, president of Morgan State University and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University for Wisconsin-Extension; and Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, will gather to speak on college affordability, increasing access to higher education, and degrees in Wisconsin as a way to grow the middle class, wages and prosperity. The fundraising event will help provide the necessary resources to get Wisconsin students to and through college.

Higher education plays an important role in preparing students for the workforce and helping individuals realize their unique potential, Walker said. One way to expand opportunities for students pursuing higher education is by supporting organizations such as UNCF that offer scholarships to hardworking students.

The commitment of Governor Walker is admirable, Lomax said. It is vital to the Wisconsin community that we come together to raise awareness of the ongoing fight for quality and affordable education, thus enriching the lives of young people on a quest for better futures.

Gerard Randall, Jr., executive director of Milwaukee Partnership Academy, is chair of the event.

WHO: UNCF

WHAT: Wisconsin Governors Luncheon

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Thursday, June 2

WHERE: Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center

One John Nolen Drive

Madison, WI 53703

For tickets or more information about the Wisconsin Governors Luncheon,

please call: 414.372.6700

Follow this event @uncf

About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nations largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF awards more than $100 million in scholarships annually and administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities. Learn more at http://www.uncf.org/ or for continuous news and updates, follow UNCF on Twitter @UNCF.
The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is focused on improving the health of New Jersey residents and our Kids Oral Health Program initiative is going to help improve oral health for young New Jerseyans with a higher level of risk

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey today announced the Kids Oral Health Program (KOHP), a $500,000 two-year pilot initiative to improve oral health-related awareness, education, prevention and treatment for young people. The program also includes funding to support professional development for health care providers and promote best practices in 10 New Jersey counties where dental health needs among children are acute.

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is focused on improving the health of New Jersey residents and our Kids Oral Health Program initiative is going to help improve oral health for young New Jerseyans with a higher level of risk. Cavities and dental decay are among the most common, most preventable and most treatable chronic conditions for kids in the United States. The rate of untreated tooth decay in children and teens from lower-income households is twice that of higher income families. Early education and intervention can change this and thats what this grant program is all about, said Robert A. Marino, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Chairman & CEO and Horizon Foundation Chairman.

The Foundation  which is the philanthropic arm of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey  will award the grants to New Jersey-based 501 (c) (3) non-profit organizations for the two-year period.

The Kids Oral Health Program is a great opportunity to help dental professionals serve and help kids most in need. Most oral health diseases can be prevented, but many young people suffer pain and disability because of poor nutrition and lack of access to dentists, said state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, who is also a practicing dentist with offices in Pleasantville, NJ. These grants will help to educate families about the importance of oral health and treat more children.

The New Jersey Dental Association, representing nearly two-thirds of New Jersey dentists, proudly supports the Kids Oral Health Program and its objectives to better educate children, their parents and health care practitioners on the importance of good oral health. Dental disease is the most common childhood disease in America, yet is largely preventable. Routine dental hygiene, regular dental visits, fluoride treatments and dental health awareness are critical factors for healthier children. We look forward to working with The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey in improving oral health in our state, said Dr. Gregory LaMorte, DDS, President of the NJ Dental Association.

Background:

Hispanic/Latino and black children are about twice as likely as white children to have untreated tooth decay in primary teeth. Because of hectic schedules, low-income caregivers often find it difficult to fit in routine dental appointments for themselves or their children or they fail to understand the importance of maintaining regular preventive dental appointments.

For information on KOHP eligibility, timeline, areas of focus, a list of counties to be served and to submit an application go to http://www.HorizonBlue.com/kidsoralhealth

About the Foundation:

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is committed to working alongside those who can help us improve our neighbors health, inform their health decisions and inspire them to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. The Foundations new funding pillars are Caring, Connecting and Creating. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is the sole member of The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, both of which are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information please visit Community.HorizonBlue.com.

###
Sgsco is a global leader in package production and related marketing services with a strong history as a provider of design-to-print graphic services.

Representatives from the top food and beverage companies in the U.S. and Canada gathered in Washington, D.C., at the 28th annual Federal Food Regulatory Food Label Conference hosted by Prime Label Consultants (PLC), experts in food-labeling regulation and compliance. PLC and their exclusive partner, sgsco  a global leader in package production and related marketing services  offered resources and urged companies to begin taking steps now to ensure compliance by 2018 with the new Nutritional Facts label changes announced last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The impact of the new regulations extends beyond packaging, said conference keynote speaker Aidan Tracey, CEO of sgsco. Since packaging is at the center of the marketing mix, any change to labeling or marketing claims cascades to all other printed and digital media.

Tracey encouraged attendees to utilize the resources developed by PLC and sgsco, which include a video series outlining the requirements for the Nutritional Facts changes and a free guide, 7 Steps to a Successful Transition. The materials can be accessed free of charge via an opt-in newsletter, here.

The materials were created to educate and provide U.S. and Canadian food and beverage companies, manufacturers, designers, printers and converters with insight and step-by-step instruction to address the most significant nutritional labeling changes in a generation.

Early planning and intelligent prioritizing are the keys to an efficient and effective execution of these new government regulations, said Christina Bechtold, CEO of PLC. We look forward to helping companies understand these sweeping mandates, navigate compliance and optimize these changes to build their brands.

Through the exclusive partnership established between PLC and sgsco, companies have an unmatched resource for label creation and compliance. The goal of the partnership is to create efficient systems and services to help the food and beverage industry comply with these new regulations while maintaining brand value.

About the 28th Annual Federal Food Regulatory Food Label Conference

PLC, the host of the Federal Food Regulatory Food Label Conference, brings together experts from the FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Federal Trade Commission to provide valuable insights into compliance and regulatory labeling issues. The 2016 conference, held May 23-25 in Washington, D.C., features more than 75 PLC breakout sessions. Approximately 350 food marketers from leading consumer packaged goods companies are expected to attend. More information can be found at http://www.primelabel.com/conference#Banner .

About sgsco

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, sgsco is a global leader in package production and related marketing services with a strong history as a provider of design-to-print graphic services. Comprising a collective of companies and people, sgsco offers many of the worlds leading CPG, Pharma, Retail and Printing companies a full spectrum of innovative packaging solutions that streamline the capture, management, execution and distribution of graphics information in all channels. A strong global infrastructure, built around the SGS production engine, provides the opportunity for sgscos 3,200 professionals to share worldwide learning, insights and understanding to create unique physical and digital solutions for all customers. To learn more, visit http://www.sgsco.com.

About Prime Label Consultants Inc.

Prime Label Consultants Inc., headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a full-service food-label consultancy with more than 3,500 clients worldwide. Established in 1972, PLC employs a team of food technologists who help food and beverage manufacturers and retailers navigate nutrition and label compliance. For 28 years, PLC has hosted a food label conference in Washington, D.C., which has served to be the key forum for information exchange between the government and the food industry. To learn more, visit http://www.primelabel.com.
I believe in Spring Arbor University. It is the place I received an education that fostered transformation spiritually, academically and relationally within me. Its my pleasure to now be a benefactor.

Spring Arbor University is pleased to announce Steve Castle 05, 12 as the new director of alumni relations, effective June 1. Irene Price-Greiner, director of alumni relations for the past 13 years, retired in May. Castle joined the Office of University Advancement in June 2014 as the coordinator of alumni relations and special events.

I believe in Spring Arbor University, says Castle. It is the place I received an education that fostered transformation spiritually, academically and relationally within me. Its my pleasure to now be a benefactor, joining the longstanding heritage of those who have gone before me. My desire is that all alumni, whether they are 22 or 100 years old, living 10 miles or 10,000 miles from SAU, be empowered to engage with us by utilizing their time, talent and treasure to build into the SAU family. Castle believes SAU alumni serve as agents of transformation in the communities in which they live and work, and with nearly 40,000 alumni scattered around the globe, the opportunities to affect change are truly limitless.

Castle completed his bachelors degree in 2005, studying elementary education, history, and exercise and sport science. In 2012, he completed his masters in business administration. Previously, Castle was the resident director of Ogle Village and Parks Drive Apartments at SAU. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member, teaching CORE 100 & 200 and leading Cross Cultural Studies trips to Uganda and Zambia. Before moving back to Spring Arbor in 2009, Castle was a teacher at paragon Charter Academy in Jackson, Michigan, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, Africa, from 200608. He and his wife, Heather (Metzger 05), reside in Parma, Michigan.

SAU Executive Vice President Doug Wilcoxson shares, I am excited for Steve as he continues the care that has been demonstrated through the alumni office by Irene for many years. Steve brings new ideas for engaging alumni in areas for which they are passionate so that students for generations will experience the transformation that SAU provides.

Alumni may contact Castle at 517-750-6687 or scastle(at)arbor(dot)edu to connect with alumni resources and to continue their involvement with SAU.
Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year, recently welcomed The Coffee Shelf to the growing community of independent coffee houses, cafes and bakeries that serve Crimson Cup beverages. Located at 130 Amicks Ferry Rd. in the lakefront community of Chapin, South Carolina, the store celebrated its grand opening on May 10.

I wanted to create a warm and relaxing setting for our community while combining my twin passion for books and coffee, said Coffee Shelf Owner Jerry Caldwell. Customers can page through the latest bestsellers, cookbooks, comic books and more while enjoying hot, iced and frozen espresso-based drinks, including lattes, mochas and cappuccinos. Fresh-baked muffins, pastries and cookies round out the menu.

Were excited to welcome The Coffee Shelf to the Crimson Cup community, said Founder and President Greg Ubert. Training entrepreneurs like Jerry to create unique, independent coffee shops is a big part of our success as a specialty coffee roaster and coffee franchise alternative.

Caldwell retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 20 years as helicopter pilot. After working as a sales person in the aircraft industry for a number of years, he decided to take on the challenge of becoming his own boss.

He turned to Crimson Cup and its 7 Steps to Success coffee franchise alternative program to learn how to open his own independent coffee shop. Based on Uberts book Seven Steps to Success in the Specialty Coffee Industry, the program provides everything new business owners need to open and operate a successful coffee house.

As a coffee roaster and coffee franchise alternative, Crimson Cup believes our success is based in our customers success, Ubert said. As a result, we support coffee shop owners at every step  from scouting a great location and writing a coffee shop business plan to choosing equipment, hiring staff and providing comprehensive training and marketing support.

In client surveys, Crimson Cup has found that 85 percent of coffee-shop customers completing the 7 Steps to Success training program have been in business for five years or longer. By comparison, federal government statistics show that half of all new restaurants  including independent coffee shops  close within three years of opening.

Caldwell said he chose Crimson Cup because of the roasters outstanding coffee and its Friend2Farmer direct trade program, which supports small coffee farmers and their communities by paying a higher-than-market price for their coffee and investing in education and other initiatives. He plans to add brew bar features in the future so that the shop can offer hand-poured craft coffees from around the world.

In the weeks since The Coffee Shelf first opened its doors in April, it has become a fixture in the local community. "I want this to be a place where people go and remember they've been here," Caldwell said. An open seating area with plenty of chairs invites customers to sit and enjoy their favorite books and beverages. The Coffee Shelf also has space for book clubs and book-signing events, and Caldwell plans to hold poetry slams and music nights.

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced specialty and craft coffee in small batches. The company also teaches entrepreneurs to run successful coffee houses through its coffee franchise alternative program, which includes a coffee shop business plan. Crimson Cup coffee is available through a community of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 29 states, Guam and Bangladesh, as well as the companys own Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com.
Its great to be able to give back to local communities and reward students on their success. We look forward to continuing the "Report Card A" program for many years to come" - Keith Hoogland, Family Video President

Throughout June, students from kindergarten through college can receive a free movie or game rental at Family Video for each final A grade or (equivalent mark) they achieve in a core subject on their year-end report card. The company expects to give away over one million movie and game rentals this summer. Additionally, all Family Video affiliated Marcos Pizza locations will give the A student a small 1 topping pizza; one per student.

What started 30 years ago as a simple way to reward local students has now become one of Family Videos most anticipated programs. Since its launch by company founder, Charles Hoogland, the "Report Card A" program expands to 772 movie and game rental stores and 129 selective Marcos Pizza restaurants located in 19 states and Canada.

Although the scale of the rewards program has grown, its purpose remains the same: celebrate students who put in the time and effort to achieve success in the classroom. Support from the local communities Family Video serves helps make "Report Card A" and other programs successful year after year.

Having kids of my own in school and watching them get excited about receiving an A makes me realize how important our "Report Card A" program is. I believe that academic excellence is something to be celebrated, said Keith Hoogland, Family Video President. Its great to be able to give back to local communities and reward students on their success. We look forward to continuing the 'Report Card A' program for many years to come.

Giving back to the community has been at the core of the Family Video business. In addition to the Report Card A program and the hundreds of local charity events, their annual "Round It Up for Lymphoma" campaign has raised $5.85 million in the past five years. All proceeds are donated to cancer research and patient education. Thousands of turkeys and hams are also purchased, packaged with meals, gifted to needy families during the holiday season.

###

About Highland Ventures, Ltd.  http://www.familyvideo.com

Highland Ventures, Ltd. is the parent company to five national brands: Family Video (772 Locations), Hoogland Foods (dba Marcos Pizza) (129 locations), Stay Fit 24 (10 locations), Digital Doc (39 locations) and Legacy Commercial Properties. Highland Ventures operates over 920 retail locations across the United States and Canada. It has developed more than 650 retail strip centers under their commercial properties division, with tenants ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local community retailers.
Wanting to help addicts and their family members, author Geri Petito releases her debut book, Im Not an Addict  Im Just an Ass!: Id Rather Be a Smart Ass Than a Dumb Ass! (published by Archway Publishing), offering a sarcastic, humorous and loving look at the difficult topic that is addiction.

I have been wanting to write this book for about 15 years, Petito says. My heart aches every time I hear about another life lost to addiction. I felt it was time for me to share my story in hopes of saving lives with a new approach to addiction  My approach is a slap on the face with a kiss on the cheek.

Petito explains that addiction is one of the most common issues with which most families deal. My book is designed to help them overcome their fears through prayer and healthy thinking. Allowing them to realize they have the power to change!

An excerpt from Im Not an Addict  Im Just an Ass!:

Twenty five years ago, on July 27, 1991, I made a decision to stop using drugs. I was what you might call a functioning drug addict. My own family never knew I used, and most of my friends had no clue either. But then that day came when I knew I was becoming out of control. So, I checked myself into a rehab facility and stayed there for the full thirty days. It changed my lifeor, I should say, I changed my life! I have been clean and sober ever since, but not just physically; I have been clean and sober mentally as well. Yes, my friend, mental sobriety is a real thing. It involves making sound, thoughtful choices.

Im Not an Addict  Im Just an Ass!

By Geri Petito

Softcover | 5 x 8in | 70 pages | ISBN 9781480830424

E-Book | 70 pages | ISBN 9781480830431

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Geri Petito, originally from Long Island City, New York, moved to Robbinsville, New Jersey, at the age of 13. Petito owns MsNiteOwlPoker league and writes an organic health blog. She has a daughter and two grandchildren.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the leading self-publishing company worldwide, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit http://www.archwaypublishing.com or call 888-242-5904.
Acturus is gearing up to launch the 12th year of its Bartender/Influencer and Popular and Emerging Drinks Study the results from which provide insights about alcohol-beverage industry brands, category dynamics, and popular and emerging drinks from the view of both bartenders and consumers. The past 11 years have provided a spotlight on trends that accurately predict the winners and losers in this wildly dynamic and cluttered space. This trend data represents the secret to distinguishing which ideas enjoy the highest probability of becoming a trend vs. a fad prior to supplier investment. Leveraging this trend data is essential for success, and Acturus uniquely provides the necessary insights to allow brands the ability to avoid heavy investment until a potential, short-lived fad proves it has staying power. Getting this 360 x 360 view (i.e., both sides of the bar) of the on-premise is crucial. While consumers are responsible for making the purchase, bartenders frequently start and lead trends, which makes understanding their role invaluable.

There are currently 800,000+ bartenders working in the US. After 11 years of alcohol-beverage research, Acturus has determined each bartender interacts with approximately 700 consumers each week and creates tens of thousands of touchpoints for your brand. Bartenders make a recommendation during 44% of these interactions. Discarding this side of the bar, or only focusing on consumers, is short-sighted and doesnt harness the true power and value of the bartender.

For the past 11 years, our research on both bartenders and consumers has enabled brands to understand their performance from a true 360 x 360 perspective. Acturus is able to bridge the powerful connection between buyers and their influencers to deliver a richer understanding of the how and why of the recommendation and purchase decision, greatly enhancing the benefits of traditional research.

2015 Popular and Emerging Drinks

The Popular Drinks Study asks over 800 bartenders annually to rank the most popular brands as well as the most popular drinks, shots, shooters (mixed shots), cocktails, flavors, and other categories and drinks differentiators. Additional information is provided to participating suppliers on rankings by account type, markets, demographics, ethnicity and life style among both bartenders and clientele that enable them to make more informed strategic decisions on how optimize drinks strategy. The most often recommended brand results for 2015 include:

Straight Shots

Patron maintains top mention for the sixth year in a row, followed by Fireball which for the first time in the past 3 years shows distinct signs of plateauing. Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Jagermeister round out the top five.

Mixed Shots

The top five continue to be the blue chip shots: Lemon Drop, Kamikaze, Jager Bomb, newcomer Vegas Bomb, and Washington Apple.

Cocktails

The Margarita retains its most popular cocktail spot with the Martini moving into number two. In fact, Margarita has been the ranked the most popular drink for 10 of the last 11 years. The Moscow Mule has continued its rise, and Sex on the Beach makes its first return since 2010.

Simple Mixed Drinks

Rum & Coke returns to the top spot, as Whiskey & Coke slides back to number two. Rum & Coke has enjoyed the #1 spot for 10 of the last 11 years. Various combinations of vodka mixed drinks round out the remaining top ten with carbonated mixers the most common (tonic, soda, Red Bull, ginger ale, etc.)

Consumers and Bartenders: the whole picture

Bartenders have a very good pulse on both their consumers, and the trajectory of the category as a whole. At the end of the day, bartenders are also consumers themselves, and serve as powerful influencers of brand success or failure in the on-trade. says Kevin Moran, Co-CEO of Acturus.

The role of the bartender has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, now seen as a profession, not just an interim job. The emergence of the professional bartender is key, and must be understood by suppliers as training and education does- and has been proven to - make a long-term difference.

Bartenders are staying in their positions longer. As their role develops, so do the skills that are required of them. The elevation of the career has improved the consumer experience (and expectation) as more educated bartenders continue to introduce Premiumization into their craft.

The customized research strategies Acturus provides are designed to help clients understand not only the alcohol beverage consumer, but also the influencer at the point of purchase. Acturus'' ability to combine years of experience and 11+ years of beverage-alcohol trend data across hundreds of brands in spirits, beers, ciders, wines and champagnes categories amongst bartenders and consumers (and wait staff, sommeliers and retailers), creates a 360 x 360 perspective and the company uniquely qualified to optimize clients business and brand performance.

The 2016 Bartender/Influencer Study and Popular and Emerging Drinks Study will launch in July and August respectively.

For more information, about our alcohol/beverage studies visit us at http://www.acturus.com/case-studies/global-research-that-raises-the-bar/ or call Kevin Moran at 480-595-4754 ext. 1221.
James W. Austin During the campaign, Duterte pledged to set up a revolutionary government and ignore the Human Rights Commission. Past News Releases RSS Attorney James W. Austin Examines...

According to a May 18, 2016, Wall Street Daily article, the recent election of nationalist Rodrigo Duterte as president of the Philippines bodes well for the country. However, according to attorney James W. Austin, a leading legal authority on U.S.-Philippine immigration issues, if Duterte makes good on his campaign promises, the number of Filipinos seeking asylum in the United States could rise.

During the campaign, Duterte pledged to set up a revolutionary government and ignore the Human Rights Commission, said Austin, who was in Manila for the election.

According to a May 9, 2016, AP article on Yahoo! News, Duterte pledged to kill suspected criminals and end crime within six months. Although U.S. asylum law does not protect foreign criminals, it may protect people wrongfully targeted by their own government. Because of this, and president-elect Dutertes campaign promises, Austin, who has a blog focusing specifically on Philippine-U.S. immigration issues, believes more Filipinos will seek asylum in America, as the U.S. is a close ally of the Philippines and has historically been the country of choice for Filipinos fleeing injustice. Even the countrys outgoing president, Benigno Aquino III, spent his youth as an asylee in the United States.

However, the Duterte victory was gained only with a 39% plurality of the popular vote, said Austin. Without a strong mandate, ruling by edict will be difficult.

About James W. Austin, Austin & Ferguson, LLC

James W. Austin represents the immigration interests of reputable companies around the United States. Since 1991, he has practiced immigration law exclusively. Mr. Austin is also an adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. For more information, please call (816) 356-7100. The law office is located at 4240 Blue Ridge Blvd., Suite 315, Kansas City, MO 64133.

About the NALA

The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361.
Recently, 10 Best SEO released a new monthly award for the Best Local SEO Agency. The first-place winner in this category for May 2016 is Digital Current, which has proven itself to be a true leader in the industry.

Over the years, 10 Best SEO has been proud to give out awards acknowledging Internet marketing companies that operate in excellence. Now, they're pleased to announce a new award: Best Local SEO Agency. This award acknowledges the top local SEO business agencies and rewards them for consistently providing clients with the customized, cutting-edge digital services they deserve. Business owners who are interested in improving their conversion rates and optimizing relationships with clients should note that the following companies can help them realize the goal by offering amazing digital services.

The top-reigning winner of this months award is Digital Current, an Internet marketing agency based in Mesa, Arizona. As the best local SEO business, Digital Current excels at providing their clients with diverse, dynamic search engine optimization services. These SEO services ensure that the business owner's brand will attain excellent ranking in the search results. The techies of Digital Current also maintain a customer-oriented approach to online advertising, meaning that clients can count on having their opinions and business ideology acknowledged and respected.

Another amazing Internet marketing company that has earned this award is WebpageFX, a top local SEO agency based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This digital firm is known for providing clients with the detail-oriented SEO services that empower them to connect clients with local customers. This marketing work helps brand owners optimize their level of visibility, build relationships, and expand their sphere of online influence. The WebpageFX professionals are also pleased to provide clients with several other brand-building marketing services, including web design and development.

Third on the list of top local SEO businesses is Boostability. It has distinguished itself as an incredible online advertising agency that provides clients with the excellent digital marketing services they need to keep their companies in full bloom. Boostability knows the power of target market research, and they conduct the background work necessary to attain a comprehensive understanding of the client's primary audience. They also utilize cutting-edge local SEO techniques to ensure that the business owner's brand is being effectively advertised to members of the local community. Additionally, Boostability offers client-centered services that keep the brand owner's needs and interests at the center of the marketing campaign.

For more information about the award winners, please visit http://www.10bestseo.com.
Limiting working spousal coverage is an attempt to shift a portion of these increasing costs back to the spouses employer, as opposed to making even more drastic cuts to benefit levels for all of their own employees.

Conrad Siegel Actuaries, delivering comprehensive employee benefits services, today announced the results of its annual Medical and Prescription Drug survey, an employee benefits survey measuring how Central PA businesses manage health benefits.

The survey, which was conducted in December 2015, indicates that employers are turning to consumer directed health care and are tightening spousal rules as cost containment strategies.

As employers health insurance costs rise, they are continuing to drop or put restrictions around spousal coverage. Limiting working spousal coverage is an attempt to shift a portion of these increasing costs back to the spouses employer, as opposed to making even more drastic cuts to benefit levels for all of their own employees, said Rob Glus, partner at Conrad Siegel Actuaries. We also continue to see employers offering more consumer directed health care plans as a natural course for cost containment.

Continued Cutbacks & Surcharges on Spousal Coverage

Thirty-three percent of employers have some form of spousal coverage provision for medical and prescription drug insurance. Of those who have a provision, 52 percent of employers do not allow spousal coverage if a spouse has health insurance access through their own employer. This percentage increased from 31 percent in 2014 and 25 percent in 2013. Of employers who do offer spousal coverage, 27 percent required a surcharge to cover the spouse, compared to 16 percent in 2014. The average surcharge in 2015 was $2,288, which increased from $1,730 in 2014.

Employer Premium Sharing Remains Steady

The survey revealed that employer premium sharing remains steady (as a percentage of overall premiums), as employers change the benefit plan design instead of shifting more premium costs to employees. In 2015, only 11 percent of surveyed companies did not require employees to pay any amount of plan premiums. The average percentage of the medical premium that employees paid for single coverage in 2015 was 15 percent, which has remained relatively constant over the past several years. The average premium share for family coverage was 20 percent in 2015.

Consumer Directed Health Care Plans Increase

Consumer directed health care plans are generally high-deductible health plans that include Health Savings Accounts (HSA), Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA), Medical Expense Reimbursement Plans (MERP) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). The HSA programs are tax-preferred medical savings accounts where employees can contribute and withdraw money for out-of-pocket medical, prescription, dental and vision costs. The HRA programs, commonly offered with high-deductible health plans, are tax-advantaged plans where employers set aside pre-tax dollars for employees to pay for health care expenses.



Overall, 50 percent of employers offer a plan with either an HSA or an HRA account option. This is up significantly from last year at 41 percent.

In 2015, 24 percent of employers offered a HSA to their employees. This increased from 2014, when 20 percent of employers offered an HSA.

Of employers who offer a HSA, 79 percent fund at least part of the account.

The average employer funding for individuals in an HSA account is approximately $769, and the average funding for families is $1,337. This is down from $847 and $1,560 in 2014, respectively.

In 2015, 26 percent of employers offered a HRA or a MERP to employees. This increased from 2014, when twenty-one percent of employers offered an HRA.

The average employer funding for individuals in an HRA account is approximately $1,743, and the average funding for families is $3,204. This is down from $1,916 and $3,194 in 2014, respectively.

In 2015, 47 percent of employers offered a FSA to employees, the exact same figure as the prior year.

Over 110 companies of all sizes responded to the survey with 65 percent coming from organizations with more than 100 employees. Companies that responded to the survey were from both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations in a wide range of industries including Education, Healthcare, Social Assistance, Government, Manufacturing, and Finance.

Conrad Siegel Actuaries maintains one of the largest, most comprehensive regional employee benefit databases available in central Pennsylvania. Through its regional employee benefits survey program, Conrad Siegel Actuaries is able to benchmark the best practices surrounding local employer benefit programs.

For more information about the Conrad Siegel Actuaries Health & Welfare Survey or to participate, please contact the Benefit Survey Team at benefitsurvey(at)conradsiegel(dot)com.

About Conrad Siegel

Conrad Siegel Actuaries, named the 2015 Best-in-Retirement Business Award winner by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc, is one of the largest and most respected employee benefit firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. Recognized as both an industry leader and a trusted advisor, the firm stands apart by offering independent, fee-based services backed by careful attention to detail. Conrad Siegel partners with its clients to offer a comprehensive source for all employee benefit needs. For more information, please visit http://www.conradsiegel.com.

Conrad Siegel Actuaries and its employees are independent of and are not employees or agents of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab). Schwab does not prepare, verify or endorse information distributed by Conrad Siegel Actuaries. The Best-in-Retirement Business IMPACT Award, part of Schwabs IMPACT Awards program, is not an endorsement, testimonial endorsement, recommendation or referral to Conrad Siegel Actuaries with respect to its investment advisory and other services.
Maine Municipal Association Salary Survey by Dynamic Benchmarking We didnt know how our members would react to a new (salary survey) format. Were so pleased with their obvious willingness to participate without hesitation.

Dynamic Benchmarking, a provider of customized online benchmarking and reporting solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of a new, interactive benchmarking tool for the Maine Municipal Association (MMA). The Municipal Salary Survey will compile data and provide customized reporting on salary and benefits for up to 13,000 municipal officials and employees in the state of Maine.

MMA is a voluntary membership organization offering an array of professional services to municipalities and other local governmental entities in Maine. Of the 491 towns and cities in Maine, 486 are MMA members.

Our organization not only provides legislative advocacy at the state capitol for our members, we are also a key training and informational resource, comments MMA Director of Communication and Educational Services, Eric Conrad. Benchmarking has been a part of our member services for 55 years and we felt it was time to update and modernize our salary survey process.

The Municipal Salary Survey had traditionally been conducted completely on paper. Questionnaire forms would be mailed out to, and returned by, members with their answers all compiled by hand into an Excel spreadsheet. Results would ultimately be published in a 200-300 page report accompanied by an Excel spreadsheet compact disc.

It was a very tedious and time consuming process, adds Conrad. When the individual who headed this project retired, we saw it as an opportunity to explore new processes.

It was at this time that the MMA staff saw a demonstration of a benchmarking solution that Dynamic Benchmarking had created for another municipal association. They were immediately intrigued and went on to hire Dynamic Benchmarking to upgrade their benchmarking process.

We could tell right away that it would be a great process, states Conrad. The Dynamic Benchmarking team not only exhibited expertise in benchmarking, but also a willingness to learn about the ins and outs of our industry.

Compensation in municipalities can be quite complicated because of the variety of job functions each entity encompasses, Conrad continues. Add the numerous differences found in the operations of a small town versus a large city, and everything in between, and you have a wide range in the data being reported and the needs of each individual member. We were so pleased at how quickly Dynamic Benchmarking grasped these complexities and provided solutions that were ideal for our members.

The new Municipal Salary Survey has brought the entire data collection and reporting process online, virtually eliminating paper from the process. While previously, members were provided with a printed report and an Excel spreadsheet, they can now create customized reports on the fly in a variety of formats using the data sets that are most relevant to their individual needs.

Response to the survey has been overwhelmingly positive with over 120 members already having supplied data. In fact, twenty-five members completed the survey on day one of data collection.

We didnt know how our members would react to a new format, says Conrad. Were so pleased with their obvious willingness to participate without hesitation.

The survey will be open for data collection until June 30, 2016, at which time MMA will review data for quality and ultimately open the platform for reporting. MMA also plans to demonstrate the platform for members at its Human Resource and Management Conference in June.



About the Maine Municipal Association

The Maine Municipal Association (MMA) is a voluntary membership organization offering an array of professional services to municipalities and other local governmental entities in Maine. MMA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization governed by an Executive Committee elected from its member municipalities. Founded in 1936, MMA is one of 49 state municipal leagues that, together with the National League of Cities, are recognized at all governmental levels for providing valuable services and advocating for collective municipal interests. For more information on MMA, please visit http://www.memun.org.

About Dynamic Benchmarking

Dynamic Benchmarking is a New Hampshire-based startup that delivers real-time benchmarking and data analysis solutions with the features and capabilities of custom software in a format that is easy to use and quick to deploy. Founded by a team of women entrepreneurs, Dynamic Benchmarking combines powerful, web-based technology with unparalleled industry expertise and customer care to provide best-in-class, peer-to-peer data comparison for small business, associations, large enterprises and any organization looking to tap into the knowledge of the crowd. Dynamic Benchmarking builds web-based solutions that are flexible, scalable and allow for meaningful comparison of financial and operational performance in a dynamic and interactive manner. For more information, please visit http://www.dynamicbenchmarking.com.
Straight Outta' South Africa Half Price is one of the most talented bands Ive come across in all my travels, so I want to bring their music stateside. I dont know if it will be well-received, but to be honest I dont really care. Robert Rose stated.

AIM Tell-A-Vision Groups Punk Outlaw Records announced the signing of their first band from the African continent with Half Price. Hailing from musical hot spot Cape Town, South Africa, Half Price has been rocking the African music scene for over 15 years. The band has toured extensively in South Africa and until now U.S. audiences had yet to hear their potent sound or explore African punk music in general. A concept thats kind of nuts because when thinking of punk music, one automatically thinks of Africa.

Featuring powerful rock hooks channeling Ozzy Osbourne, AC-DC, NOFX, Rancid, Offspring and several other bands youve probably never heard of, Half Prices music adds just a touch of Ska and Reggae for songs that have razor sharp lyrics ranging from bitingly serious (corruption, inequality, H.I.V., etc.) to fall down funny (people borrowing and ruining your stuff, partying with friends and family, etc.).

The quartet that make up Half Price have been more focused on having a good time than exporting their raw, yet somehow simultaneously slick sounds to U.S. shores. However, when veteran indie TV producer and Punk Outlaw Records owner, Robert G. Rose, was in South Africa filming his popular and rapidly growing international television series, Raw Travel, Rose insisted on meeting the band. He subsequently tricked them into playing his favorite songs over and over while pretending to film them for Raw Travel - Incredible Cape Town.

Rose later signed Half Price because he was so impressed by their comradery and level of musicianship. The band also plied him with a huge wad of South African currency, which looked like a ton of money at the time, but turned out to be worth just $6 U.S. Dollars. But a deal is a deal, so Rose worked with the band to curate 16 songs from Half Prices hefty repertoire and the result is Straight Outta (South) Africa, the album debuting on all the major digital sites including iTunes, Google Music, Amazon Music, CD Baby, and more.

Full, as well as instrumental only, versions of songs from the band will also be featured on Raw Travels upcoming Season 4 sound track debuting October 2016. Visit http://www.PunkOutlawRecords.com to hear Half Prices music, see videos and find out more info on the band. For information on Cape Town or South Africa, Google or Wikipedia is probably best.

Half Prices Cape Town, South Africa based members are: Homo Pete supplying main vocals and guitar, Emo Mawk on guitar and back-up vocals, Kyle "The Machine" on drums, The DFG playing bass guitar and backing vocals as well as some other crazy Africans on various tracks.

Half Price is one of the most talented bands Ive come across in all my travels, so I want to bring their music stateside. I dont know if it will be well-received, but to be honest I dont really care. Robert Rose stated. Its more about staying true to what you believe in and I believe in Half Price. I also believe messages put forth in this collection of songs will ring true to fans as well.

ABOUT HALF PRICE:

Since 2001, Half Price has caused havoc in South African music circles. Their unique style of punk rock has been accumulating followers and detractors in equal amounts. Theyve been banned from various venues and have had their applications to festivals burned. Yet, like a bakkie (a South African 4 wheel drive truck) careening out of control, theyve been bravely plowing forward refusing to back down. They claim to be 90% politically incorrect and 10% politically incompetent. The distinct backgrounds underlying the Half Price social movement has resulted in a truly unique style of music, which is both rocking and catchy.

Half Price has been spreading their high octane, and dangerously infectious party punk rock, touring extensively in Southern Africa and Europe. This relentless touring schedule has solidified a core following around South Africa. Half Price strictly adheres to a We do what we want, when we want, how we want ethos and is a mantra that their fans agree with and completely endorse. More information on the band at Punk Outlaw Records

ABOUT PUNK OUTLAW RECORDS:

Punk Outlaw Records is a digital record label and publishing company with a focus on distribution and promotion of socially conscious punk, ska, reggae, rockabilly and psychobilly and other music forms from around the world. The labels mission is to facilitate musics ability to bring social awareness and change to some of the worlds most pressing issues. More info at Punk Outlaw Records.

ABOUT RAW TRAVEL

Raw Travel is an adventure travel and lifestyle television series currently heading into its 4th season airing in over 150 U.S. Cities (93% of the U.S.) via broadcast affiliates (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, CW, My, etc.), in a dozen or so territories and on a variety of outlets internationally in Europe, Africa, Asia and more. Raw Travel showcases the rapidly growing wave of socially and environmentally aware, independent travel. The series weaves together themes of ecotourism, voluntourism (giving back) with underground music and authentic culture in a way unique to television. More information can be found at http://www.RawTravel.tv and viewers are encouraged to visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/rawtraveltv and http://www.RawTravel.tv/wheretowatch for updates on complete listing of cities, affiliates and time slots in the U.S.

ABOUT AIM TELL-A-VISION GROUP

AIM TV is an independent content, production and distribution company founded by media executive and entrepreneur Robert G. Rose. AIM TV aspires to produce and distribute positive, compelling content that reflects its mission of presenting Media That Matters. Visit http://www.AIMTVGroup.com for more information.
Level Mount Flat Panel TV Mounts Consumer favorites such as Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Vizio, Toshiba, Sharp, TCL and a myriad of other television brands are all readily compatible with Level Mount TV Wall Mounts.

The Level Mount brand has long been touted as an industry defining solution for enhancing your television watching experience. By providing an abundance of versatility and convenience, TV wall mounts from Level Mount (by Elexa Consumer Products) offer a seamless approach to maximizing the amount of space surrounding any size or brand of television. The new online store called http://www.LevelMount.com (designed and operated by eCommerce company eAccess Solutions) showcases the full Level Mount brand line of TV mounts, desktop and projector mounts in an easily navigable and intuitively designed online format. The Level Mount Store allows consumers to purchase Level Mount products while being able to browse through a collection of instructional videos, online tutorials and FAQs.

The Level Mount Stores online catalogue includes full motion, fixed and tilting TV mounts along with an array of other specialty mounts for projectors, tablets and PCs. The entire Level Mount line utilizes a unique do-it-yourself approach that allows owners to swiftly and easily install their TV Wall Mount to their preferred television of choice. Mounts come equipped with all of the necessary hardware and include a Built-in-Bubble that simplifies the method of measuring and locating the ideal installation spot on your wall. A minimal number of basic tools and a few short moments is all you need to begin your Level Mount experience. All Level Mount products are VESA compliant and feature a lifetime warranty. Level Mount also includes adapter plates or extender arms in all of its products to support non-VESA compliant TVs as well.

Consumer favorites such as Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Vizio, Toshiba, Sharp, TCL and a myriad of other television brands are all readily compatible with Level Mount TV Wall Mounts.

Cantilever Mounts are available for purchase at the Level Mount Store and serve as an excellent addition for owners of extra large televisions that exceed 100 lbs. Specialty wall mounts are also available as Desktop Mounts, Projector Mounts and Tablet Mounts. Specialty Wall Mounts borrow the same maneuverability properties featured in TV Wall Mounts and will allow owners to pivot screens for the optimal viewing angle.

While small screens have multiplied, wall mounted TVs and flat panels still remain the primary focus for consumers in a home says David Bean, CEO of eAccess Solutions. He would further reinforce the movement towards wall mounted TVs by pointing out the limitations presented by small screen TVs. Theres simply no small screen substitute that can mimic the experience of big picture and surround sound.

Larry Beger, CEO of Elexa Consumer Products would also suggest that homeowners would be limiting themselves by not utilizing their surrounding area to its fullest extent. Todays open floor plans demand full motion wall mounts. The Level Mount team understands that theres only so much available space in any given room. We design mounts that maximize function within that space. The ability to drastically increase the amount of viewing scenarios in the home setting is exactly what makes a TV wall mount such an important purchase.

ABOUT ELEXA

Elexa, established in 1993, is the consumer products division of TWS Ltd., a technology company based in Hong Kong and China. Elexa has long-standing relationships with a wide variety of major retailers in the U.S. market.

ABOUT EACCESS SOLUTIONS, INC.

Founded in 2001 eAccess is a turnkey global eCommerce provider for high value brands. Our award winning eCommerce platform, highly rated customer service and diverse omni channel product marketing capabilities dramatically increase DTC sales for brands without creating channel conflict. Read more at http://www.eAccess.com
u[sonic] - Ultrasonic Wind Sensor "The Lambrecht line of products provides even more high quality diversity to RainWise's already solid foundation of weather monitoring equipment," said Carsten Steenberg, CEO of RainWise.

RainWise, Inc. is pleased to announce its partnership with one of Germany's most respected industrial grade meteorological manufacturing companies, Lambrecht Meteo. RainWise, Inc. now has exclusive distribution rights in the United States for Lambrecht Meteo products.

RainWise, Inc. is now on exclusive terms to promote, market, sell and supply Lambrecht Meteo products within the territory of the United States. RainWise, Inc. will be selling Lambrecht stand alone weather sensors as well as complete weather stations that are ideal for building automation, wind power plants, airports, traffic data, universities, offshore capabilities and more. "We are excited to have exclusive distributorship in the United States. The Lambrecht line of products provides even more high quality diversity to RainWise's already solid foundation of weather monitoring equipment. With this partnership, we feel that RainWise, Inc. and Lambrecht Meteo will remain high on the list of cutting edge weather monitoring equipment manufacturers for years to come," said Carsten Steenberg, CEO of RainWise, Inc.

Lambrecht Announcement

Lambrecht Priority Products

RainWise, Inc. is a leading global provider of precision high quality, innovative meteorological measurement and monitoring solutions based in Trenton, Maine. Our rain and temperature gauges, monitors, sensors and related software are 100% made in the United States and offer an exceptional 2-year warranty. Celebrating 40 years in business, RainWise, Inc. is known as an industry pioneer with creation patents for the original tipping bucket rain gauge, the 1st digital consumer weather station and the 1st wireless consumer weather station. Current advancements in Online Dashboard Technology has allowed us to provide custom solutions for clients like the Weather Underground, NEWA and the Maine Forest Service. http://www.rainwise.com

Lambrecht, incorporated in 1859, is internationally experienced and has over 20,000 satisfied customers in more than 150 countries. Their team of employees continues to adapt to developments and challenges of global markets, where renewable energy and weather services will play an important role. Wind turbine, shipyard and marine industries have relied on Lambrecht meteorology for decades.
In our business, nothing is more important than building the right team, Our people have been the key to our success.

One of the Kansas City areas fastest-growing companies will celebrate a landmark anniversary next month.

June 2, 2016 officially marks 30 years for Shamrock Trading Corporation, a family-owned business that has grown into a leading service provider for the trucking and shipping industries. Founded in 1986 in a one-room Lenexa office, Shamrock employs more than 360 people at its headquarters in Overland Park and does business in over 26 countries.

Strong customer focus and a willingness to adapt to a changing marketplace have been instrumental to Shamrocks success. The company began as a transportation brokerage and consulting firm, and has added services over the years that include finance, transportation logistics and business offerings geared toward small trucking fleets. Today, Shamrocks family of companiesRyan Transportation, RTS Financial, RTS Carrier Services and RTS Internationalare headquartered in the renovated Shamrock Towers at 95th and Metcalf in Overland Park.

Shamrock founder and CEO Bill Ryan credited the companys people and unique culture with driving solid growth for 30 years.

I have always believed that its better to have great people and a mediocre business model than to have a great business model and mediocre people, Mr. Ryan said. As it turns out, our business model has been pretty good and our people have been outstanding.

Hard Work and Resourcefulness

Growing up on a farm in western Kansas, Bill Ryan learned the value of hard work and entrepreneurship. It was a tough environment. There were so many things that were hard to control, Mr. Ryan said. The weather, fluctuating commodity prices, etc. You had to be smart to survive. After college, Mr. Ryan moved to Kansas City and started his career in the trucking industry. He later founded Ryan Transportation Service to create solutions for shippers. His Lenexa-based freight brokerage company initially served agricultural and commodity shippers. We built the company one customer at a time, he noted, and worked hard every day to create value for the long term.

As the company grew, Shamrock and its affiliated companies eventually expanded into three office buildings in Lenexa. In 2012, the company purchased and began renovating the former Glenwood Place office towers in Overland Park. Today more than 360 Shamrock employees work at the headquarters with room for expansion. The company expects to add another 600 employees over the next five years.

Best Place to Work

While well-known in the trucking industry, privately-owned Shamrock has kept a low profile in the Kansas City area for most of its 30 years. In 2015, however, the company received recognition from The Kansas City Business Journal as one of the regions Best Places to Work.

Shamrock has created a culture that offers employees the intimacy of a smaller company, but with a benefits package that can compete with much larger corporations. Shamrock pays 100% of the health care, vision and dental premiums for employees and their dependents. To incent long-term employee tenure, Shamrock makes significant contributions to the companys retirement plans after one year of service, which includes a robust 401(k) plan and an employee stock ownership plan. The company also provides its employees with AAA coverage, gym memberships, and a Fitbit Wellness program.

People are looking for an opportunity where they can make an impact, said Lea Nickell, Shamrocks director of human resources and recruiting. Our incentive-driven compensation and benefit plans enable us to attract talented candidates, but what keeps them here is the realization of personal and professional growth.

Shamrock regularly promotes from within and 25% of the companys workforce received promotions over the past 12 months. It is so gratifying to watch the development of our employees, said Ms. Nickell. To look back and see what they have built and achieved in a short amount of time is amazing.

One enduring legacy of Shamrock is that every employee is valued and can contribute directly to the companys success each day. Though the company adds many new workers each month, CEO Bill Ryan still participates in the interview process for new employees.

In our business, nothing is more important than building the right team, Mr. Ryan said. Our people have been the key to our success.

For more information about Shamrocks 30th anniversary, contact Stephen Roth at (913) 890-6654 or sroth(at)shamrocktradingcorp(dot)com.
World Molecular Imaging Society The people that should attend the ADDMI session at WMIC 2016 will be multidisciplinary  it is not a cliche when we say this really is a team sport, and a respectful collaboration between functions will improve probability of success.

The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) welcomes a new interest group ADDMI - Advancing Drug Development through Molecular Imaging. The focus of ADDMI-IG will be geared towards how using molecular imaging can help address some of the current drug discovery and development pipeline issues. Through ADDMI-IG WMIS will provide a platform for productive discussions about the implementation of molecular imaging in the many stages of drug development, as well as a platform to address clinical manufacturing issues and Phase 1 clinical trials. Like all WMIS interest groups, ADDMI is open to any WMIS member looking to pursue a common goal and expand the field of molecular imaging.

By founding this interest group, we hope to bridge the gap between how academia and industry use and implement imaging to help answer both different and complimentary scientific questions that drive decision-making in drug research and development (R&D), said Shil Patel, Ph.D., Biogen, and WMIS founding Co-Chair, ADDMI-IG. We will emphasize that fostering early relationships across both internal functions and between institutions will allow real drug discovery problems to be solved in a timely and realistic manner  from manufacturing, IP, operational deployment, standardization and much more.

Molecular imaging techniques offer a unique, essential and non-invasive insight into target expression, pathway activity and drug distribution; revealing spatial and temporal information that can aid in improved drug discovery and development. In an evaluation by Merck between 2006 and 2009 in Phase 2 trials, molecular imaging had a significant impact on 24 go and no go decisions and represented a savings of $272 million.

ADDMI-IG will host a spotlight session during the 2016 World Molecular Imaging Congress in New York City. This session will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 8 am until 9:30 am. The session is titled, Use of Imaging Biomarkers in Drug Discovery and Development, and will feature the following presentations:

Presentation 1: Smarter Drug Discovery Using Imaging Biomarkers

Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D., Biogen

Presentation 2: Tau PET Imaging: A Potential Paradigm Shift in Alzheimers

Disease Drug Development

Eric Hostetler, Ph.D., Merck & Co. Inc.

Presentation 3: Providing Radio Tracers for Use in Driving Drug Development Programs in Industrial or Academic Settings

Neil Vasdev, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

The first ever ADDMI-IG session will help show how smart partnerships between pharma, specialized CROs, and academic groups leverage these metrics to make data-driven decisions that provide a higher probability of developing the right drug for the right patient through the R&D process, from preclinical to clinical and also through post marketing stages.

The people that should attend the ADDMI session at WMIC 2016 will be multidisciplinary  it is not a cliche when we say this really is a team sport, and a respectful collaboration between functions will improve probability of success, said Daniel Bradley, Ph.D., Biogen, founding Co-Chair, ADDMI-IG. Many of the speakers have learned the hard way  through failures, so this session will open peoples eyes to the details of what can make a program succeed or fail. This session will be a great opportunity for attendees to ask those important questions.

Join WMIS and ADDMI today to be involved in the formation of this interest group and attend the pioneering session at WMIC in New York. For more information, please visit the WMIS website at wmis.org or contact Lauren Whitman at lwhitman(at)wmis(dot)org.

ABOUT WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY

The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. The education and abstract-driven WMIC is the annual meeting of the WMIS and is held in conjunction with partner societies including the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) and the Federation of Asian Societies for Molecular Imaging (FASMI). WMIC provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: http://www.wmis.org.

###
If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity.

PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move.
SPF head: auction to sell Odesa Port-Side Plant could be held in third decade of July

An auction to sell 99.567% shares of public joint-stock company Odesa Port-Side Plant could be held in the third decade of July, Head of the State Property Fund (SPF) Ihor Bilous has said.

"In July will be the auction [to sell] Odesa Port-Side Plant, in the third decade of July," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday.

Deputy SPF Head Andriy Haidutsky noted that the fund is waiting for the publication of the government's decision to approve the starting price and conditions of the privatization of Odesa Port-Side Plant made last week.

"We hope that during the week we will announce the auction date," Haidutsky said.

At a meeting on May 18 the government approved the starting price of 99.567% shares in Odesa Port-Side Plant at UAH 13.175 billion ($521 million at the current exchange rate). The tender will be held only if two bidders take part (one is a nonresident). Companies from Russia would not be allowed to participate in the auction.
Cookies

What are cookies ?

How do we use cookies?

How to control cookies?

Managing cookies in your browser

see what cookies you have got and delete them on an individual basis

block third party cookies

block cookies from particular sites

block all cookies from being set

delete all cookies when you close your browser

X

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. For this purpose, Google Analytics uses"cookies", which are text files placed on your computer.The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website - standard internet log information (including your IP address) and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form - will be transmitted to and stored by Google including on servers in the United States. Google will anonymize the information sent by removing the last octet of your IP address prior to its storage.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website and compiling reports on website activity.We not use, and not allow any third party to use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of visitors to this site. Google may transfer the information collected by Google Analytics to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google`s behalf.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.You may refuse the use of Google Analytics cookies by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.Cookies are also used to record if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site, so that you are not asked the question every time you visit the site.You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services.
The importance of stoking childrens enthusiasm for reading and for frequenting their local libraries are among Kate DiCamillos passions as a reader, novelist, and literacy advocate. So she is well suited to her role as 2016 National Summer Reading Champion for the Collaborative Summer Library Program, a title she is reprising from 2015, when she was named the first-ever Champion for this annual initiative. Up and running for more than 20 years, CSLP is a nonprofit consortium of librarians from around the country working together to provide a unified summer reading theme and materials to enable member libraries to offer high-quality summer reading programs to their communities at the lowest possible cost.

Offering a nod to the 2016 Summer Olympics, this years CSLP theme  On Your Mark, Get Set... Read!  will be featured on an array of resources (all available in English and Spanish) for libraries to use in their summer reading programming, including program ideas, booklists, posters, clip art, and activities for four age groups, from babies to adults. CSLP reaches approximately 15,000 member libraries annually across the country.

DiCamillo, two-time Newbery Medalist (for The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses), Newbery Honoree for Because of Winn-Dixie, and former National Ambassador for Young Peoples Literature, is a perfect spokesperson for this summer reading program, noted Sherry Siclair, CSLPs executive director. Kate is so sincere about her love for libraries and librarians, and it clearly shows through all of her interactions, she said. Kates stories are also great in that they connect with a broad age range, from young readers to adults. CSLP is so lucky to have her voice to encourage summer reading, and we are so grateful for her efforts to keep kids reading.

DiCamillo agreed that this position is an ideal fit for her, given the key role that her local public library played in shaping her as a reader. Its hard for me to overestimate how important the library was to me when I was growing up, she recalled. I am super lucky that I had a mother who took me to our town library often. It was such a magical place for me as a kid  a place of possibility, safety, and promise. The time I spent at the library made me know I was a reader, and recognizing that opened up a vault for me.

DiCamillo kicked off the promotion of 2016s CSLP on May 13 during a live Webcast, which was held at the Edgewood School in Woodridge, Ill., and viewed by more than 50,000 students at 975 schools across the nation. The author has also compiled a list of top 10 reasons to join a library summer reading program and a list of her favorite recommended summer reads for 2016, available on the CSLP Web site. The author is also talking up the joy of reading on her current 20-city tour for her new book, Raymie Nightingale, which Candlewick released in April. The novel, in which three girls form an unlikely friendship during a local summer talent competition, centers on Raymie, who hopes that her winning the contest will bring back her father, who recently abandoned the family.

DiCamillo observed that her new novel is her most autobiographical to date. Kids always ask me where I am in my novels, she explained. Since I wrote Because of Winn-Dixie in the first person, many readers assumed that Opal was me, but I tell them that Opal is much smarter and kinder than I am! As I traveled around the country as National Ambassador for Young Peoples Literature, I talked about how I became a writer, and about myself as a kid, and one thing that came up again and again in my mind was the impact of my own father leaving our family, so I worked that into Raymie Nightingale, which I found deeply satisfying.

As she visits schools and bookstores promoting Raymie Nightingale, DiCamillo is quick to plug the importance of taking advantage of all that local libraries have to offer kids, especially during summer vacation. For me, being the CSLPs National Summer Reading Champion is all about hoping that kids and their families will get the chance to feel the same way I do about their own local libraries. Kids and libraries belong together all year long, but the summer is particularly special  a time of freedom and fun in reading. And that freedom is one of the reasons I love reading as much as I do.
Ukraine ships third batch of new Oplot tanks to Thailand

Ukraine has shipped a third batch of 10 new main battle tanks (MBT) Oplot assembled at Malyshev Plant (Kharkiv) to Thailand under a contract signed in 2011 worth over $200 million.

The third batch recently arrived to the Sattahip Naval Base by sea.

The batch was prepared for shipping to the customer in December 2015. The next batch shipment to Thailand is scheduled for 2016.

Ukraine seeks to finish the contract in full by late 2016.

"Delivery of 29 more tanks under contract will be finished this year if the military agency agrees it," the source said.

The Oplot tank has been developed by the Kharkiv-based Morozov Design and Engineering Bureau. The first two Oplot tanks entered service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May 2009. An over $200 million contract for the delivery of 49 Oplot tanks to Thailand was signed in 2011. The Malyshev company started implementing the contract in April 2012. Investment in the tanks' serial production amounts to $30 million, according to the company management.

Experts estimate the Oplot tank has an 80% processing complexity coefficient, one of the world's highest among new combat vehicles. The tank has advanced systems of protecting communication and control gear, including an active system for countering smart weapons, as well as night vision instruments and a remote- controlled machine-gun.
North Carolina and Illinois add new bookstores; a Silicon Valley store is singled out for its tech prowess; and more.

Book World to Open in DeKalb, Ill.: The Upper Midwest chain wants to open its 45th store this fall in a 7,000 sq. ft. space in the Junction Shopping Center and is seeking a special permit to add signage. Unlike many of its other locations, this Book World would not sell tobacco. The shopping center was once home to Junction Book Store, which closed in 2002 after 33 years in business.

Red Door Books & Art Opens in North Carolina: The Saxapahaw new and used bookstore, which sells original art, gifts, and jewelry by North Carolina artists, opened earlier this month and is already extending its hours so that it can be open seven days a week. The back room meeting space and courtyard area are still being completed. The bookstore plans to use them for painting classes to open mic events.

Keplers GiftLit Receives Technology Award: The Menlo Park, Calif., bookstore, received this years Small Business Majoritys Technology Innovation Award for its monthly subscription service. http://www.giftlit.com Their innovative and successful approach that combines bookselling with value-added services for its patrons has reinforced Keplers role as a sustainable cultural and intellectual hub, Small Business board chair Celia Canfield said.

B&N College to Operate Campus Stores at 14 More Colleges: Barnes & Noble College has added 23 new campus stores and virtual bookstores for an additional 140,000 students and their faculty, including Georgetown University and Colorado College.
Roma Downey, the actress best known for her role on the television series Touched by an Angel during the 90s, writes the foreword in a new book about angels by pastor and author Jack Graham. Also, Joyce Meyers offers tips on fighting anxiety with Worry-Free Living. Check out more of Junes biggest religion titles here.

Nonfiction

June 1

Walking to Jerusalem: Discovering Your Divine Life Purpose by Chris Hill (June, David C. Cook, $21.99, ISBN 978-1-4347-1014-7). Drawing on his own remarkable life story and the biblical journeys of David, Hill, senior pastor of the Potters House of Denver, Colo., offers a new perspective on how Gods purpose unfolds.

June 7

Reports from the Zen Wars: The Impossible Rigor of a Questioning Life by Steve Antinoff (Counterpoint, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-61902-731-2). Four decades ago, Antinoff experienced what he calls a negative satori, a fundamental and irrefutable realization of himself that only enlightenment could resolve. Sharing his experience of a lifetime of study of Zen in Japan, Antinoff paints portraits of practitioners, scholars, and teachers he met along the way.

Our Pristine Mind by Orgyen Chowang (Shambalah, $19.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-6118-0327-3). A Tibetan meditation master introduces his Pristine Mind meditation and personal teachings.

Executing Grace by Shane Claiborne (HarperOne, $16.99 paper; ISBN 978-0-0623-4737-4) explores justice, retribution, and scripture to appeal for the abolition of the death penalty. 60,000 copies

More Than Rivals by Ken Abraham (Revell, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2722-2). This is the true story of two boys of different races in the segregated South forge a friendship that transforms their town.

Is You Okay? by GloZell Green (HarperOne, $23.99; ISBN 978-0-06-245942-8). YouTube star Green's memoir includes details of her rise to fame. 100,000 copies.

The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right by Lisa Sharon Harper (WaterBrook, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-6014-2857-8). Harper, senior director of the Christian magazine Sojourners, highlights the Bible's message of peace, well-being, and wholeness.



Worry-Free Living: Trading Anxiety for Peace by Joyce Meyer (Faithwords, $12 paper; ISBN 978-1-4555-6616-7) is a how-to on ridding one's self of fear and worry by relying on God's peace as it is found in scripture.



June 14



Tears to Triumph: The Spiritual Journey from Suffering to Enlightenment by Marianne Williamson (HarperOne, $25.99; ISBN 978-0-06-220544-5). The bestselling author makes a case for the important role pain and suffering has on healing and in our spiritual lives. 65,000 copies.

We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel by Herb Frazier, Bernard Edward Powers Jr. PH.D., and Marjory Wentworth (Thomas Nelson, $26.99; ISBN 978-0-7180-7731-0). Compiled by three South Carolina writers, the book features interviews and commentary from people who knew the nine church members slain at a prayer meeting on June 17, 2015.



June 15

Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels by Richard B. Hays (Baylor Univ., $49.95, ISBN 978-1-4813-0491-7). In this sequel to Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Hays asks what it might mean for present-day readers to attempt to read Scripture through the eyes of the early Evangelists. $10,000 planned marketing campaign.

June 21

Angels by Jack Graham (Bethany House, $19.99, ISBN 978-0-7642-1330-4). Pastor and bestselling author Graham describes angels, revealing their roles, what they do, and why it matters. 20,000-copy announced first printing, foreword by Roma Downey.

Dont Go to Bed Angry: Stay Up and Fight by Dee and Ron Dearmond (Abingdon, $14.99 paper; ISBN 978-1-4267-9093-5) gives married couples permission to fight, explaining that the real issue is not the conflict, but how conflict is dealt with.

The Book of the People: How to Read the Bible A.N. Wilson (Harper, $26.99; ISBN 978-0-0624-3346-6) Wilson brings a human touch to his argument for the spiritual, philosophical, and artistic importance of the Bibleto secular readers and readers of faith alikeby examining how readers and thinkers have approached the text.

The Spirit Contemporary Life: Unleashing the Miraculous in Your Everyday World by Leon Fontaine (Waterbrook, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-601428-69-1). Fontaine, pastor and former EMT, offers spiritual care and healing through the Spirit contemporary way of living, which promotes a supernatural connection with God.

Fiction

June 7

No Other Will Do by Karen Witemeyer (Baker, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-7642-1281-9). Founder of a women's colony Emma Chandler must admit she needs strong fighters when the town is threatened. Once she asks Malachi Shaw, whose life she once saved, to help, danger mounts, and so does the attraction between them.

The Ringmasters Wife by Kristy Cambron (Thomas Nelson, $15.99; ISBN 978-0718041540) Rosamund Easling, the daughter of a British earl, follows her beloved horse across the Atlantic to join the circus and meets the ailing, inspiring Mable Ringling, based on the real-life art collector.

Delilah by Angela Hunt (Baker, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-7642-1697-8). Abandoned and forced to beg for food to survive, Delilah vows revenge on the men who have taken advantage of her. When she meets Samson, she knows he is the key to her victory.

June 27

Like a River from Its Course by Kelli Stuart (Oxford, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-8254-4414-2) A novel exposing the ugliness of WWII in Ukraine and the beauty of hope.
Kyiv authorities seeks to start the demonopolization of the heat power market in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on a radio station on Tuesday, his press service has reported.

"We intend to begin demonopolizing the heat power market in Kyiv. We seek to revive city-owned Kyivteploenergo created 10 years ago. We have carried out all the required preparatory work to launch the project," Klitschko said.

He said that the top priority task for Kyivteploenergo will be servicing of the heating network and heating equipment. Kyiv's City Council will decide on the volumes and zones for servicing.

Klitschko said that the concession agreement signed by Kyiv City Council and Kyivenergo will expire in 2017.

He said that by the start of the heating season all houses in Kyiv will be equipped with heat meters.

Klitschko said that the meters will help cut payments by 30%.

He said the Kyiv City Council is also focusing on energy saving.
The former suburban Chicago police officer can be heard telling Antonio Smith "there was no turning back" on the hit, in recordings played Tuesday in a southern Illinois courtroom, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. He is also heard saying he hoped to get "some booze" to "celebrate that night."

Peterson is accused of plotting to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow in retaliation for his 2012 conviction in Kathleen Savio's death eight years earlier. He has pleaded not guilty.

Smith told authorities of Peterson's efforts to find a hit man and was enlisted as an informant. The Chicago gang member known as "Beast"  who is serving a 40-year sentence for attempted murder, home invasion and robbery  was expected to continue testifying Wednesday.

The secret recordings, made over three days in November 2014, include no direct mentions by Peterson of trying to kill Glasgow, who testified on Monday at the trial's start. Peterson's public defender has dismissed the recordings as fanciful prison boasts.

Peterson, 62, is serving a 38-year sentence and faces another 60 years if convicted in the current case. His first-degree murder conviction is under appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. Prosecutors say Peterson hoped to win a reversal of the case once Glasgow was dead.

"You know this (expletive) gonna be all over the news," Smith says in the recordings. "This is about to be huge."

"But the first thing they will identify him as the guy that got me," Peterson responds. "That's what he's known for, the guy that prosecuted Drew Peterson."

Told by Smith that his uncle  whom he never actually called  would commit the crime by the next month, Peterson suggested that Glasgow's death would be a "nice Christmas present."

The recordings show that Peterson also discussed selling drugs in Mexico if he gets out of prison, as well as his fears that Glasgow would also charge him in the death of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who remains missing.
SILVIS -- Al Perez never expected police would honor him for the investigation into his son's killer.

But on Tuesday, numerous law enforcement agencies applauded the Villa Park man for his unrelenting perseverance and cooperative work with more than a dozen others involved in the investigation.

"The determination and drive from the Perez family helped maintain the focus and energy of this investigation," Illinois State Police Maj. Robert Atherton said at a news conference at TPC Deere Run in Silvis.

Mr. Perez's son, Emilio, was killed March 8, 2014, in a hit-and-run accident on Interstate 88 near Joslin. Al Perez said he and his wife, Lauren, knew they had to help law enforcement officers catch the offender, no matter how impossible solving the case seemed to be.

"It wasn't an option not to," Mr. Perez said Tuesday.

The family passed out fliers, rented billboards and continually updated the media about the case. They also urged people to use tip lines, such as QC CrimeStoppers, to share any information they had about their son's death.

One such tip led police to a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Maria Romero, 42, of Rockford. On Sept. 2, 2014, Ms. Romero told police she had struck Emilio Perez on I-88. She later was sentenced to two years in prison.

"I can tell you that Al and Lauren's encouraging efforts certainly provided inspiration for our investigators," said Illinois State Police Special Agent Brian Masters. "At times ... it was as if Emilio was right there with Al as he became engaged and consumed in this investigation."

Mr. Masters, one of the first law enforcement officials at the scene the night of the hit-and-run, has formed a friendship with the Perez family.

"On that terrible night, March 8, 2014, a million things were going through my head," Al Perez said Tuesday, recalling the first time he met the officer. "But when I looked into Brian Masters' eyes, I knew that the words he was saying came from his heart and that he was a father like me, who felt my pain.

"He has shown us continued support to this day," Mr. Perez said.

Maj. Atherton on Tuesday also presented certificates to Mr. Masters and other members of the investigative team who were involved in the case. Then Mr. and Mrs. Perez were presented with an unexpected plaque for their efforts, nearly moving Al Perez to tears.

Mr. Perez said he thought about his son every day, adding that the investigative team helped him and his family find the closure they needed.

The Perez family continues to work on ways to keep their son's memory alive. They have created the Emilio Perez Foundation, which hosts an annual Whistle While You Walk/Run 5K that funds scholarships for high school students.
Private schools in the Quad-Cities are reporting an increase in enrollment.

Academics, economics, job transfers and faith were cited as fueling enrollment numbers. Private school officials said no one reason can be cited because each school and each family is different.

Assumption High School and All Saints Elementary/Middle schools in Davenport saw enrollment increases even through the recession. Andrew Craig, president of Assumption High School, attributed the increase primarily to a tuition assistance program begun 12 years ago.

"We were able to not just weather the storm, but increase enrollment," he said.

The combined kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment for the schools rose from 1,843 in 2008 to 1,909 for the 2015-16 school year, Mr. Craig said. The tuition assistance program, he said, has been key in driving the increase.

He also said administrators and faculty "keep the faith component at the forefront and back it up with strong academics and extracurriculars."

Robert Pagel, principal at St. Paul's Lutheran School in Moline, said those fundamental aspects of private education are part of the reason families are attracted to it. He also cited safe environments, smaller class sizes and Christian education as a few reasons for families' decisions to pursue private education.

Mr. Pagel said enrollment at St. Paul's Lutheran has remained relatively steady, hovering at about 50 from 2011 to 2014. This year, however, it rose to 62.

Quad Cities Christian School Principal Mark Sullivan also believes the environment, class size and Christian education offered at private institutions are contributing to the enrollment growth. Mr. Sullivan said the Moline school's recognition by the Illinois State Board of Education, higher test scores and improved curriculum and academics also contributed to recent enrollment increases.

"We had a big growth spike in 2013, and [enrollment] has remained steady since then," he said.

Enrollment jumped from 68 in 2012 to 112 in 2013, Mr. Sullivan said, with the school expecting another spike from 104 this year to 125-130 for the 2016-17 school year.

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy in East Moline also is expecting a 10 to 15 percent rise in enrollment, according to the school's president, Scott Turnipseed.

"The enrollment increase is due to the fact that families are looking for a faith-based school to provide their students with a quality education in their Catholic faith and in the academics that will lead to future success," he said.

Disappointment in the public school system also is a contributing factor, said Connie Drumm, president of Temple Christian School. Since the 2011-12 school year, the Moline private school has seen a 30 percent increase in enrollment, Ms. Drumm said.

"Many [parents] are not happy with the public schools," she said, adding the Common Core curriculum, new restroom rules and discontinuation of teaching cursive handwriting are contributors to that disappointment.

Alleman High School Principal David Hobin said his school has not seen spikes in enrollment but has seen student numbers remain steady at about 450 for the past five years. He said the Rock Island Catholic school focuses on keeping enrollment costs down for its students.

"We've done a good job in raising tuition money so people who want to come can afford to," Mr. Hobin said. "We have scholarships for all students."

The school annually offers more than $400,000 in tuition assistance, Mr. Hobin said. He added some families considering private education may not know the extent of financial assistance available.

"I think they see how much tuition costs and don't ask," he said.

Enrollment at Rivermont Collegiate College Preparatory School in Bettendorf also has remained steady, according to Karen Roebuck, its director of admissions and marketing. The school has had about 200 students per year since 2009, she said, with a dip in enrollment this school year to about 180.

Ms. Roebuck said Rivermont's enrollment goal is always about 200 students, which she expects will be reached again because of large domestic and international interest in the school. She said she believes this interest stems from the rigorous, individualized curriculum and small class sizes at Rivermont.

She attributed this year's enrollment decline to job transfers and layoffs, especially at large companies such as John Deere and Alcoa. She said, when families with multiple children move from the Quad-Cities because of parents' job transfers or other opportunities, they leave "large holes" that are hard to fill.

"[By July or August] those other families that were interested have already signed up somewhere else," Ms. Roebuck said.

Ms. Roebuck expects higher enrollments at Rivermont for the upcoming year and beyond.

"We're looking at people being on our wait list for next year," she said. "We're beginning to get interest for the 2017-18 school year."

Jordan Catholic School in Rock Island chose to not disclose enrollment numbers, but Janine Parr, its director of advancement, said enrollment has increased during the past few years.

"With the weight of the economy, parents thought they couldn't afford [private education]," she said, "and they're feeling that less."

The economy's improvement has made private school seem more "feasible" to parents, Ms. Parr said, leading some to pursue the benefits they see in private education.

"They want an environment that's caring, that's safe, that is building moral character," she said.

Ms. Parr said Jordan Catholic teaches students to be strong community leaders through service, what she said is a "hallmark" of Catholic education. She also said the large amount of communication between parents and faculty helps draw families to Catholic schools.
It befits academic life at one of the countrys premier public universities.

But the tower is best known as the perch from which a former Marine sniper carried out what is widely considered the nations first mass shooting.

In that sense, the inscription speaks to a different quest for truth: the truth about who killed the killer that August day 50 years ago.

The question still hangs over the man who has long been celebrated as the hero. It hangs over the family of the man who went to his grave believing he deserved more credit.

None of them, it seems, will ever be free.

Long before Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, there was the UT Austin tower.

On Aug. 1, 1966, a clean-cut architecture and engineering student named Charles Whitman wheeled a dolly full of guns and ammunition on to the tower elevator, made his way to the observation deck and began shooting at people 27 stories below.

By the time it ended 96 minutes later, 14 people were dead and more than 30 wounded. Derailed by mental illness, Whitman had started his rampage the day before by killing his mother and his wife.

The death toll would surely have been higher had it not been for two police officers.

Ramiro Martinez was a 29-year-old sergeant and had been on the force for six years. He was off duty when he heard on the noon news that a shooting was in progress, and rushed to the scene with his .38 service revolver.

On the metal stairs leading to the observation deck, he stopped briefly to help a woman who was bleeding badly and struggling to breathe. Then he forced open the door that Whitman had barricaded with his dolly.

As he rounded the tower, he looked back and saw a familiar face: Houston McCoy.

McCoy, a 26-year-old patrolman who had been on the force three years, had been working his beat near campus when a dispatcher called him to the scene. Carrying a shotgun, he had entered the tower through a maintenance tunnel and made his way to the top.

When the two men rounded the corner together, Whitman came into view. Both officers fired their weapons.

The next thing that is known for sure is that Martinez left the tower first, yelling, I got him!

At a news conference the next day, Police Chief Robert Miles credited Martinez with shooting Whitman, calling him the hero of the day.

I had a job to do and thats what I was going out there to do, Martinez told reporters as camera flashbulbs went off around him.

In 2006, the city designated Aug. 1 Ramiro Martinez Day. The county later named a building for him. At the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum in Waco, a display case features his revolver.

Austin needed a hero, and Martinez embraced the role.

In his home office in New Braunfels, an hours drive south of Austin, 79-year-old Martinez pored over the old newspaper clippings, the transcripts of the emergency calls, the autopsy report of the shooter.

He pointed to a grainy photograph of himself, taken minutes after the killing ended, his uniform stained with the blood of victims he helped.

Its all there  all the evidence of the day that came to define his entire life.

The reason I got the publicity a lot of the time was I was willing to speak to the media, Martinez said. I felt like this was therapy for me, not to keep it bottled up.

In his telling, he unloaded his six-shot revolver  hitting Whitman before McCoy got him with his shotgun  then grabbed the shotgun and fired a final shot as the sniper was still moving.

That was the story that stuck.

Martinez went on to have a long career as a Texas Ranger. Retired now, balding and trim, he still has a troopers stiff posture.

Pacing his office in black ostrich Texas Ranger boots, Martinez pointed out awards for bravery covering one wall and bristled at the suggestion that McCoys shots may have hit Whitman first.

I knew what I was hitting, he said, carrying a file into the dining room and spreading it on the table as his wife, VerNell, stood nearby. When I look at the autopsy report I can see where I was hitting him.

Then, for a moment, he seemed willing to allow that maybe the truth is more complicated.

Now, Im not going to stand here and say I fired the fatal shot, he said. I dont care who fired the fatal projectiles. I just care that the job was done.

His wife has heard it all many times. It doesnt matter which bullets killed him, she said. Why make such a big deal about it?

But Martinez cant let it go.

Time doesnt go by that I dont wake up at night and its still going, he said. The tower is there. Fifty years and its still going.

Monika McCoy cannot escape it either.

By the time she was born  five years after the tower shooting  her father had already left the police force for a better-paying job as a civilian flight instructor with the Air Force and moved his growing family back to his native West Texas.

The youngest of his four children, Monika McCoy grew up on 300 acres along the San Saba River, 170 miles west of Austin. Her parents were always taking in strangers passing through.

Her father hunted for arrowheads, barbecued goat, made his own venison jerky and sausage  and spoke little about the tower shooting.

A discerning person will know the truth, he used to say. Old photographs of him in his police uniform fired his daughters imagination. He looked stoic, she thought.

The shootings clearly remained on his mind. He took refuge in Winston cigarettes and Lone Star beer.

It was the designation of Ramiro Martinez Day in 2006 that finally persuaded Houston McCoy to tell his side of the story. By then he was in a nursing home with lung disease.

His daughter helped him research the shooting and post his account online. It took them five years.

According to the account, Martinez quickly emptied his revolver before McCoy aimed his shotgun at Whitmans white headband and pulled the trigger.

As the first shot would prove to be instantly fatal, I saw him alive for only a split second before he was dead and of no more danger, he wrote.

At that point, he said, Martinez jerked the shotgun from my hands, and while yelling, ran to the motionless body and fired point blank.

Martinez then forcefully threw my shotgun onto the floor, began jumping up and down and waving his arms, and repeatedly hollered, I got him!

McCoy died within a month after publishing his account. He was 72.

His daughter, who has continued to dedicate herself to setting the record straight about her fathers role in stopping the carnage, said the hero-status that Martinez achieved would not have bothered her if her father and others who helped that day were also honored.

It would have never mattered if it was portrayed as a team effort, she said.

She has carried on his legacy in another way as well. Three years ago, she became an officer with the Austin police force.

Now 45, she works her fathers old beat in the shadow of the tower.

On Aug. 1, the 50th anniversary of the shooting, a new Texas law is set to go into effect expanding gun rights on college campuses.

The tower has loomed in the background of bitter debate over the law, which with few exceptions requires public schools to honor state-issued concealed weapons permits.

Some gun rights advocates testified in hearings with state lawmakers that armed citizens improve public safety.

But opponents argued that the new law would increase the likelihood of accidental or mass shootings.

In an interview, Martinez called the new law stupid and unlikely to deter crime. Its opening up a Pandoras box, he said.

During the tower shooting, some armed citizens on the ground shot at Whitman. That restricted his movement, Martinez said, but also put him and McCoy in danger.

Monika McCoy said that since shes a police officer, she cant comment on the politically charged law.

As for mass shootings, she has yet to respond to one. But she keeps track of them  89 so far this year across the country  and has the same reaction each time.

Most people read the news and move on with their lives. But she thinks about the effect it will have across generations.
Meng Brings NASA Astronaut To Queens On October 17, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) brought NASA astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim to Queens where he met and spoke with students at Francis...

Celebrating Columbus The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens (FIAO) held their annual Columbus Day parade in Astoria, on Saturday, October 8, during Italian Heritage Month. The...

Russo-Elling Mourned More than 300 first responders lined up on Thursday night to honor FDNY EMT Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, as her body was placed into a waiting...
A preliminary agreement on the possible opening of the trade representative office of China's Heilongjiang Province in Kharkiv region has been reached during a meeting of Head of Kharkiv region Ihor Rainin with a Chinese delegation.

"The trade representative office of Heilongjiang Province in Kharkiv region will be a base for permanent communications between your specialists with representatives of our business. You will be able to monitor economic processes in the region," the press service of Kharkiv's Regional Administration reported, citing Rainin.

He said that all organization issues linked to the opening of the representative office will be tacked by the administration.
"I think it would be bad for us as a party, but I think it would be worse for the general public," UK Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake told Tova O'Brien

4 hours ago
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry predicts that Ukraine's GDP will grow by 3.5% in 2017, and not by 4% as it was projected earlier, Deputy Minister Yulia Kovaliv told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"I want to specify: 3.5% is our expectation for GDP growth for next year," she said.

Kovaliv added that GDP would grow thanks to the increase in consumption and industrial production growth.

"Consumption will grow. We have increased social standards from May 1. Later they will be increased by 10%. Pension taxation is revoked. We see growth of industrial production by 3.7% in the first three months of this year. We have not seen this for the past two years," she said.
Rail projects to receive funding, which are classified as high-priority projects, include electrification and upgrading of the Szombathely - Nagykanizsa line (the first phase of which is already underway), together with modernisation of the Vamosgyork - Mezonyarad section of the Budapest -Miskolc line, the Szantod - Balatonszentgyorgy section of the Budapest - Nagykanizsa line, the Puspokladany - Apafa section of the Budapest - Debrecen - Zahony line, and the Debrecen - Mateszalka line.

Electrification projects include:

Puspokladany - Biharkeresztes

Szeged - Hodmezovasarhely - Gyula

Mezozomor - Satoraljaujhely, and

Szabadbattyan - Aszofo (Budapest - Tapolca line).

Modernisation of the Budapest - Esztergom line will continue with electrification of the entire route and reconstruction the section between Rakosrendezo and Angyalfold, partially on a new alignment, with track-doubling planned for the Angyalfold - Ujpest stretch.

The rollout of ETCS Level 2 will continue with the extension of the system to the Bajansenye - Boba, Ferencvaros - Lokoshaza, Ferencvaros - Szekesfehervar, Sopron - Szombathely - Szentgotthard and Szajol - Debrecen - Apafa lines.

Other IKOP projects include rebuilding Szekesfehervar and Szombathely stations and several stations along the shores of Lake Balaton.

National passenger operator MAV-Start will receive a further 15 EMUs, each with capacity for 200 passengers, while a tender will be launched for 30 new EMUs with a capacity of 300-600 passengers, which could be double-deck trains. Gyor-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway (GySEV) will also receive funding for 10 new EMUs through the programme.

Among the urban rail projects set to benefit from IKOP, the Szeged - Hodmezovasarhely tram-train project is regarded as high-priority, with funding allocated for infrastructure and vehicles. In Budapest, tram Line 1 will be extended from both termini, metro Line 3 will be upgraded and a further 22 CAF trams will be ordered.

Intermodal public transport centres will be developed at stations in Debrecen, Nyiregyhaza, Kaposvar, Miskolc, Szekesfehervar and Tatabanya.

The government has also decided that special rules will be introduced to manage any cost overruns on these projects.
The Hurontario Street LRT in Mississauga is expected to provide significantly improved transit for one of Ontarios largest and fastest growing cities.

The City of Mississauga, Ontario, population 713,443 in 2011, is located immediately west of Toronto. Incorporated in 1974, it includes a number of former towns, such as Port Credit, Streetsville, Cooksville, Malton, etc., that have grown together over the years as development took over former farmland.

Public transit is furnished by Mississauga Transit, an all-bus system, three GO Transit regional/commuter rail lines, and various GO bus routes.

However, this picture will change in the near future, with the opening of the 12-mile Hurontario Street LRT line in 2022. Construction has been approved and is scheduled to commence in 2018.

Hurontario Street, also designated as provincial Highway 10, is Mississaugas main north-south corridor. It extends northward to the adjacent city of Brampton and beyond, ultimately terminating at the Georgian Bay city of Owen Sound. In Mississauga, Hurontario Street is chiefly a minimum of six lanes wide, and much of it is characterized by high-density residential and commercial development along its length.

The LRT will extend from Port Credit GO Station, just north of Lake Ontario, to Gateway Terminal, at a shopping mall at Steeles Avenue West, just inside Brampton. It was originally planned to continue up Hurontario, into downtown Brampton, several miles northward, but this extension was rejected by that citys Council in 2015.

A short loop, as shown on the accompanying map, diverts the LRT into Square One/Mississauga City Centre, which, in addition to Ontarios largest shopping mall, includes the citys municipal offices and office and residential towers. A major bus terminal for Mississauga Transit and GO Transit is also located here. It may be expected that certain trains will serve the Square One complex, while others will continue along the main line.

The LRT will connect with two GO Transit rail lines: on the Lakeshore West Line at Port Credit (the former CN Toronto-Hamilton line); and on the Milton Line at Cooksville, situated on CPs Toronto-Windsor route. It also crosses four major highways, including the Toronto-Buffalo QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), and Montreal-Toronto-Windsor Highway 401. Several important east-west thoroughfares are also crossed.

The alignment is to be entirely surface-running, in a center reservation, with 22 stations. High-traffic stations, in addition to the GO train facilities, are forecast as Gateway, Rathburn and Main (at Burnhamthorpe Road, Square One).

The main line running time is forecast to be approximately 40 minutes. The LRT is expected to attract some 22,500 a.m. boardings by 2031, or 31.9 million annually.

The Province of Ontario is funding 100% of the capital cost, through Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency. The actual form of project delivery has yet to be decided. Consideration will be given to the Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) method.

The LRV model, design and builder has not been selected at this time. However, the LRV will be a low-floor articulated car approximately 90 feet long. Operation is initially be in two-unit consists; provision is being made for three-car trains in the future. Each LRV is to have a capacity of approximately 200 passengers.

The Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF) is being designed to accommodate 44 LRVs for the launch of service. The facilitys design will accommodate an ultimate 74 LRVs, with expansion.

The preferred site for the MSF is on a parcel of provincially owned land bounded by Highway 407 to the north, Hurontario Street to the west, a power line corridor to the south and Kennedy Road on the east. This facilitys location will be near the LRTs northern terminal.
Tunisian public broadcaster ONT has signed a multi-year capacity contract with Eutelsat to carry a free-to-air satellite (FTA) TV platform across North and West Africa.





Following the deal, a package of ten Tunisian TV channels will be broadcast via the Eutelsat 7 West A satellite located at 7/8 West.The launch of this national project is a vehicle for Tunisia's sovereignty in the field of broadcasting. Viewers will be able to enjoy a diversified and quality line-up of Tunisian content, said Noomen Elfehri, Tunisia's Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy.Dhaker Baccouch, chairman and CEO, ONT, added: In selecting the Eutelsat 7 West A satellite, we are providing viewers with improved image quality and we are equipped to scale up our new platform with further channels.Michel Azibert, chief commercial and development officer, Eutelsat , said: With this new contract the ONT is strengthening its portfolio of capacity on Eutelsat, adding to resources already leased on three of our satellites, Eutelsat 12 West B, Hot Bird and Eutelsat 36B, for newsgathering and broadcasting to the general public.
Former colleagues of Russian tycoon Polonsky arrested in absentia - report

MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI)  Ex-managers of the Mirax Group were arrested in absentia by a Moscow court in relation to embezzlement criminal case launched against former owner of the company, Sergei Polonsky, Kommersant reported on Wednesday.

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has issued arrest warrant in absentia for former first vice-president of the company Dmitriy Lutsenko, former chairman of the board Maksim Temnikov and a member of the board Alexei Adikayev, Kommersant has reported.

According to the newspaper, charges brought against ex-managers of the Mirax Group are similar to charges brought against Polonsky himself.

Polonsky, head of Potok Group (earlier Mirax) has been charged with fraud in absentia in the case of embezzlement of 5.7 billion rubles ($75 mln) from the Kutuzovskaya Mile residential community interest holders in the summer of 2013.

In May 2015, Cambodia, where Polonsky was escaping the Russian law enforcement, extradited him to Russia. In June, experts found the businessman sane.

If convicted, Polonsky could face up to ten years in prison. Polonsky has pleaded not guilty.
Ex-Russian investigator recognized as victim in defamation case against Navalny

MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) - Former Russian Interior Ministry investigator Pavel Karpov told RAPSI on Wednesday that he had been recognized as victim in a defamation case against Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny.

Karpov has been already questioned in this case.

A criminal case against Navalny has been launched following the petition filed by Karpov.

Karpov, who has been put on the sanctions list over Sergei Magnitskys case, turned to police over videos which accuse former investigator of committing heavy and especially grave crimes including embezzlement, kidnapping and murder of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management.

Magnitsky who worked for Firestone Duncan and represented Hermitage Capital was arrested after accusing Russian officials of $230 million fraud, and died in prison under suspicious circumstances.He was posthumously found guilty of tax evasion by a Moscow court in July 2013.

According to Karpov, Navalny regularly shares links to the videos created by Hermitage Capital Management CEO William Browder.

Moscows Meshchansky District Court has recognized information disclosed in these films as untrue and tarnishing honor and dignity, Karpov said.
The supervisory board of Naftogaz Ukrainy will hold the second meeting in two weeks, head of the supervisory board Yulia Kovaliv has told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The meeting will be in two weeks, the agenda is now being formed," she said.

As reported, the supervisory board of Naftogaz Ukrainy at the first meeting on May 12 considered personnel and procedural issues: First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yulia Kovaliv headed the holding body.

The government began the corporate governance reform in Naftogaz Ukrainy in 2015 according to OECD guidelines. The economic ministry hired Odgers Berndtson recruitment agency to select candidates for post of independent members of the Naftogaz supervisory board.

In late March, the names of independent members of the Naftogaz supervisory board became known. These are persons having considerable experience of work at international oil and gas companies, namely British citizens Marcus Richards, Charles Proctor and Paul Warwick.

First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yulia Kovaliv entered the authority from the Cabinet of Ministers, while former Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn from the presidential administration.
Former Russian regional MP gets 3.5 years in prison for fraud

MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul)  Former MP of the Varnensky village in the Chelyabinsk Region, Sergei Novikov, has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for large scale fraud, the Investigative Committees regional department reported on Wednesday.

A court has found Novikov guilty of committing fraudulent activity and ruled him to pay 46 million rubles ($686,000) to 44 victims.

According to court, in 2011-2014 Novikov as an employee of the organization that was giving away credits to local residents was not transferring money to people who have signed off for the credits. He also used money of his victims to return with interest, but did not return the funds back.
Russia appeals against ECHR ruling on compensation for Navalny - lawyer

MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  The Russian Justice Ministry has appealed against a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that granted compensations in amount of 56,000 euros and 30,000 euros for opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his accomplice Pyotr Ofitserov respectively in Kirovles embezzlement case, Navalnys lawyer Vadim Kobzev told RAPSI on Wednesday.

The Government appealed against the ECHR ruling on Kirovles case of February 23 at the last moment. Accordingly, it will not enter into effect until ECHR holds to dismiss or examine this complaint. The grounds for the complaint are unclear yet. In all likelihood, it is some technicality. It is apparent for anyone that the Strasbourg Courts decision is very clear,  Olga Mikhailova, Navalnys lawyer, explained.

On February 23, 2016, ECHR published a ruling regarding Kirovles embezzlement case, claiming that Navalnys and Ofitserovs rights on a fair trial were violated. However, ECHR did not find a political motive in this case. ECHR ruled to compensate Navalny with 48,000 euro of legal costs and Ofitserov with 22,000 euro. Additionally Russia is to pay 8,000 euro each in damages.

Opposition politician Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence in July 2013 for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company. In May, Moscow's Lyublinsky District Court increased a probation period for him to 5.5 years in the case. Ofitserov received a four-year suspended sentence. Earlier, Vyacheslav Opalev, the former Kirovles CEO had sustained a conviction in the same case.

According to investigators, while serving on a voluntary basis as an adviser to the Kirov Region governor, Navalny allegedly organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber from Kirovles between May and September 2009. He presumably acted in collusion with Vyatka Timber Company Director Pyotr Ofitserov and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov.
As we see a surge in inflation globally, it is now critical that everyone is aware of the implications this will have along every step of the insurance and reinsurance value chain.
Reprinted with permission from Stratfor.

Next week, OPEC will hold its first meeting since talks on freezing production between the bloc's major producers and their non-OPEC peers fell apart in April. The June 2 convention will also mark the first time OPEC members have come together in Vienna since Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi stepped down, making way for Khalid al-Falih to take his place. Both events have raised questions about what direction Riyadh's oil policies will take in the months ahead, and how they will affect the kingdom's relationships with its fellow producers.

By all accounts, Saudi Arabia seems prepared to move forward with its original plan to protect its share of the global oil market, allowing concerns about low oil prices to take a backseat. Deviation, at this point, is not really an option; Riyadh's strategy has firmly committed the kingdom to riding out fluctuations in the market over the next five years. Saudi Arabia will have no choice, then, but to redouble its efforts to dramatically restructure its economy away from excessive spending and an overreliance on energy revenues. But whether the House of Saud will be able to get the country's younger generations on board with what is likely to be a painful economic adjustment remains to be seen.

A Painful but Logical Strategy

When oil prices plunged from $115 to $80 per barrel between June and November 2014, many of the world's oil producers and companies hoped that OPEC would step in to fix the situation. By collectively reducing their output, perhaps the organization's members could bring the market into balance and nudge prices back up. But Saudi Arabia, which has historically dominated the bloc, had other plans. Al-Naimi chose to increase production instead, intending to maintain Saudi Arabia's sizable share of the global oil market. By March 2015, Saudi output had risen by 660,000 barrels per day and oil prices had fallen even further, reaching as low as $45 per barrel.

Riyadh's choice was rational. After all, high oil prices  and the pursuit of more costly shale and the tight oil plays they encouraged  were one of the primary reasons new supplies flooded the market in the first place, putting downward pressure on prices over time. The technological advances that opened the more challenging basins to exploitation also reversed the seemingly terminal decline in U.S. oil production. (In January 2011, U.S. output was 5.5 million bpd; four years later, that figure had jumped to 9.3 million bpd.) Indeed, within the same quarter that Saudi Arabia chose not to scale back its production, U.S. output rose by 400,000 bpd, an astronomical amount considering annual demand for oil worldwide grew by just over 1 million bpd.

Moreover, shale projects tend to have different timelines than their more conventional counterparts. Oil and natural gas production often does not begin until several years after companies' final investment decisions are made. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, it takes an average of eight years for production to start after an offshore discovery is made. By comparison, shale resources can be tapped more quickly (even within a few months) but decline more rapidly once they come online. As a result, shale projects are more sensitive to short-term fluctuations in energy prices.

It thus made sense for Saudi Arabia to risk immediate financial pain by giving low oil prices time to edge shale producers out of the market, especially since cutting Saudi output could have easily subsidized such producers even more. At the time, U.S. shale companies were financially healthy and enjoyed access to plenty of cheap credit. There was no guarantee that they would not be able to continue ratcheting up production unhindered amid higher oil prices, until logistical bottlenecks or exhausted geological potential got in the way. In fact, estimates of the U.S. oil industry's maximum potential varied considerably. Some, including PIRA Energy Group and Rystad Energy, projected that U.S. shale crude oil and condensate production alone could increase by another 4.5 million bpd by 2020 if prices stayed above $100 per barrel.

With this in mind, Riyadh's best option was simply to wait for the market to rebalance itself. An adjustment of that kind would not be quick, but with over $700 billion in reserves, the kingdom could afford to hold its ground for several years. Raising Saudi production in the meantime would merely accelerate the corrective process.

That is not to say the wait-and-see approach would not come at a high cost. Even at prices of $60-$70 per barrel, some shale plays were still economically feasible to develop, and below that shale producers proved extremely resilient. As they continued to become more efficient, shale oil production kept rising until it peaked at 9.6 million bpd in June 2015. Meanwhile, other oil projects that were locked in before prices crashed continued to come online, adding to the global energy glut. The gap between supply and demand worldwide grew until the final quarter of last year, stopping only when output outstripped consumers' needs by 2.5 million bpd.

Coming to Grips With Reality

No matter what avenue Riyadh had taken at the end of 2014, it could not have softened the inevitable blow to its oil revenues. Fewer funds were simply part of a new reality that Saudi Arabia would have to adjust to, likely for at least the next five years or so. For a country that had become accustomed to the lavish spending high oil income enabled, that would be no easy task.

When oil prices topped $100 per barrel, Riyadh was able to count on receiving over 900 billion riyals ($240 billion) a year in revenue. But now, with prices unlikely to surpass $50 per barrel within the next few years, the kingdom can expect to collect only about half that sum. Its annual expenditures far exceed that amount; in 2014, they totaled about 1.1 trillion riyals. If oil prices continue to hover around $40 per barrel while Saudi Arabia's spending remains about the same, the result will be a budget deficit of about $150 billion each year. Against this sizable shortfall, Riyadh's $587 billion cushion in foreign exchange reserves no longer looks so large.

It is no surprise, then, that Riyadh's primary focus over the past year has been curtailing its spending and increasing its revenues from other sectors, though its Vision 2030 plan also emphasizes greater transparency and structural reform. The Saudi government has already reduced its natural gas, gasoline, electricity and water subsidies  all of which have become significant sources of tension among the Saudi public, even though the cuts lowered Riyadh's bills by 975 billion riyals in 2015. This year, Saudi officials hope to tighten their belts even more to meet a budget of 840 billion riyals.

But Riyadh has a history of spending beyond its budgeted needs, and sticking to its 2016 budget will likely prove to be just as difficult. Redefining the government's social contract with its citizens by funneling less money toward welfare programs will heighten the risk of political tension. At the same time, threats to Saudi Arabia's security do not appear to be shrinking any time soon, nor do the crises in Yemen, Syria, Iraq or Lebanon seem likely to stabilize in the near term. And yet the country's 2016 budget allocates only 213 billion riyals toward military spending, far less than Riyadh doled out in 2014 and 2015.

Still, the immediate constraints to adopting greater fiscal austerity measures will not be the most difficult or costly challenges facing the Saudi government. In the longer term, the structure of the Saudi economy  and the oil industry at its center  will have to undergo a fundamental change. This will not be easy or cheap to do, especially since obstacles to severe cutbacks in military or social spending will make expensive economic infrastructure and development projects more vulnerable to delays or cancellations in the short term. In theory, the envisioned $2 trillion Saudi Public Investment Fund and public-private partnerships are intended to liberalize the domestic economy in a way that protects these strategic projects from being shuttered, but it is not yet certain whether they will be effective.

The Kingdom Will Not Budge

Although Saudi Arabia is unlikely to change course on its policy, it could make a few subtle corrections in the coming years as it gets its spending under control. In fact, because the kingdom's actions have already begun yielding consequences for some of its competitors, Riyadh has dialed back its aggressive production hikes aimed at pushing more expensive producers out of the market. Since March 2015, Saudi output has averaged about 10.28 million bpd. Riyadh needs prices only to stay below about $50 per barrel for its strategy to work; continuing to raise output and force prices even lower would only drain its coffers faster and get in the way of its objectives. As a result, Saudi Arabia has shown itself far more willing to cooperate with other oil producers when prices are at $20-$30 per barrel than when they are near $50 per barrel.

And though Riyadh's strategy is working, it does not want to jeopardize its success. The global oil market is righting itself, albeit slowly, and it is possible that the current oversupply could become an undersupply by the end of 2017. Excess oil supplies have fallen, hovering between 1 million and 1.5 million bpd, and the Energy Information Administration predicts U.S. production alone will drop by another 500,000 bpd in the third quarter of 2016. Furthermore, low oil prices have led to the delay or cancellation of nearly $400 billion in new projects that now may not come online until after 2020, pointing to the possibility of a substantial oil shortage emerging within a few years.

Taken together, these developments make it likely that Saudi Arabia will avoid any significant upticks in production in the near future. Rather, it will probably hold its output steady at around 10.5 million bpd for most of the rest of the year, with the exception of a slight bump during the summer to meet higher electricity demand. Indeed, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin al-Nasser has said his country will make only limited increases in production this year compared with 2015.

But the same cannot be said for the long term. As global demand for oil rises and delayed investments create gaps in supply, Saudi Arabia will find ample opportunity to ramp up its oil production and exports. Nor will it be the only producer to do so. Riyadh's approach does not differ much from that of the Gulf Cooperation Council: By 2020, Kuwait hopes to raise production by 1 million bpd, while the United Arab Emirates aims to increase its output by nearly that amount. Whether or not they meet their goals, both countries  as well as Iran and Iraq  will try to secure a greater share of the oil market throughout the rest of the decade. Though these countries' strategy diverges from those of their OPEC peers, many of whom want to freeze or reduce global production, they have not changed much over time. For Saudi Arabia's part, its attitude toward OPEC has remained relatively consistent: When a crisis in demand causes prices to fall, Riyadh will use the bloc to stabilize the market. But those are not the circumstances of today's environment. Shale production has led to a substantial shift in supply  not demand  and unless the global economy falls into recession over the next five years or so, Riyadh will be unlikely to cooperate with its OPEC rivals to cut production.

Beyond 2020, the picture is less certain. Given the looming oil shortage, prices could eventually recover to as much as $70-$80 per barrel, if not higher. If they do, Saudi Arabia  facing less pressure to fix the flaws in its economy  will be more likely to slow its diversification and restructuring efforts.

For now, though, Saudi Arabia will push ahead with its reforms. And this time, it may have more success. Historically, the reforms have been heavily tied to Saudi Arabia's young prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and his ability to connect with Saudi youths could be the key to the policies' implementation. The country's younger generations have come to expect the type of government-subsidized support and employment that their predecessors experienced, and the promises of greater transparency and accountability woven throughout Vision 2030 are designed to communicate to the kingdom's youth that Riyadh is putting a better future in place for them.

With an eye toward reassuring its population, the House of Saud is keenly focused on ensuring that the country's younger citizens are along for the potentially tumultuous ride ahead. Saudi Arabia needs their buy-in and wants them to trust that the government's reforms will benefit them, even if they are uncomfortable in the short term. Should Riyadh gain Saudi youths' support for the social aspects of the reform as well as the economic ones, the government is far more likely to continue implementing them if, or when, oil prices recover.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West returned to Italy for their second wedding anniversary.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 35-year-old reality star and 38-year-old rapper celebrated the occasion in Rome, where they attended the opening night of Sofia Coppola 's La Traviata on Sunday.

The couple married in Florence in 2014.

"My ring shined so bright for our love in Rome while we celebrated our 2 year anniversary in Italy, the country we got married in! #Blessed," Kardashian wrote the next day.

"Happy 2 year anniversary to the love of my life! You make me so happy! I love you so much!!!" she added to a photo of herself smiling and embracing West.

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star stunned in a white Vivienne Westwood gown at the La Traviata premiere.

Coppola is directing a production of the Giuseppe Verdi opera at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, with costumes by Valentino.

Kardashian and West, who share 2-year-old daughter North and 6-month-old son Saint, left Rome for London to attend the Vogue 100 gala Monday evening. The couple's wedding anniversary falls on Tuesday, May 24.

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!

Kardashian recently made her post-baby magazine debut on the June cover of Vogue Australia. She later shocked fans by documenting a pregnancy scare on Snapchat and explained her reasoning in another video.

"Some people were asking me why I could Snapchat the pregnancy test on the airplane," the star said. "I just thought it was, like, funny, because I've been so private before and what do I really care if I was pregnant again?"

"I didn't get my period this month so I was just really confused and I couldn't stand to be, like, on a while plane flight for 10 hours not knowing," she added. "So that's why I decided to put it on Snapchat, and I'm not pregnant!"

Kardashian and sister Kourtney Kardashian brought their respective daughters, North and Penelope, to Disneyland last week. The siblings star on E! series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
"The Real Housewives of New Jersey's" seventh-season trailer featuring the post-prison return of Teresa Giudice was released by Bravo on Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The preview sees the 44-year-old reality star reunite with her family and adjust to life after prison. Giudice also clashes with co-star Jacqueline Laurita , who is returning as a series regular this season.

"I was dreaming about this moment for the past 11 and a half months," Giudice says of her return home.

"I'm going to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. I just want to leave the past in the past and look to a brighter future."

Giudice and husband Joe Giudice pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014 and were sentenced to 15 and 41 months in federal prison, respectively.

The reality star completed her sentence early in December, while Joe entered prison in March.

"She was so happy to see him," a source told People of Giudice's first visit to Joe the next month. "It was a very emotional visit. Joe is doing well, but really misses Teresa and the girls."

Giudice's sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga, is also returning as a series regular.

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!

Season 7 will also star newcomers Dolores Catania and Siggy Flicker and is scheduled to premiere July 10 at 8 p.m. ET.
We actually have no idea who did this, if it's a one-off, a joke, a staunch supporter of presidential candidate Donald J. Trump or just someone who is a master of political trolling. But there it is: the Donald Trump AR15 lower.

Would you run a Trump lower, like maybe this one from TacSoup?

Here's an interesting take on things from one of the more articulate and level headed websites out there, the Libertarian Reason.TV.

When 57 percent are saying you suck, something has gone wrong with the selection process, hasn't it? If the Democratic Party and the Republican Party lived up to their various feints toward libertarian rhetoric, they would certainly blunt the appeal of most third-party candidates but certainly anybody put up by the LP itself. The refusal to do so will likely be the undoing of one or both of them. Consider the fact that Hillary Clinton is not just an unregenerate hawk on foreign policy. She is an all-in drug warrior and a hater of the sharing economy who, like Donald Trump, has called for Internet censorship. On the either side of the aisle, Trump's mass-deportation plan implies the creation of a your-papers-please police state and his trade policy is good old American protectionism on steroids. Exactly where he stands on most issues is anybody's guess (on foreign policy, he's promised both bomb the shit out of them and get other countries to fight their own battles).

You can read more of that article here.
PJSC Tatneft has opened an electric charging station in Kazan, the company's press service said.

It is located on the territory of the Khimgrad technopolis. There is a Terra 53 rapid charge station at the filling station, which allows one to rapidly charge 24kWh batteries by 30%-80% in 15 minutes. The station also sells traditional types of petroleum products.

The press service said during the presentation of the filling station, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov announced the need to develop electric transportation.

The company told Interfax that this is the first charging station in Tatneft's retail chain.

As at the end of Q1 2016, Tatneft's filling station chain including 692 filling stations, including rented ones, of which 565 were in Russia, 110 in Ukraine and 17 in Belarus.
Lawyer for Russian citizen Alexandrov convicted in Ukraine may file pardon petition for him

Valentyn Rybin, a lawyer for the Russian citizen Alexander Alexandrov convicted in Ukraine, says he might file a pardon petition for his client on his own, on the strength of him being Alexandrov's defense lawyer.

"I do not exclude myself from the circle of entities who can file a pardon petition," Rybin told Interfax on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Oksana Sokolovska, a lawyer for Yevgeny Yerofeyev, another Russian convicted in Ukraine, had said neither Yerofeyev, Alexandrov, nor their defense teams would file pardon petitions and that this would be done by other entities entitled to file such petitions.
SHARE This photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows the bright yellow guitar used by Prince to perform such tunes as "Cream" and "Gett Off" that is going up for auction. Heritage Auctions is selling one of the late artist's "yellow cloud" electric guitars beginning June 24 with an opening bid of $30,000. The guitar was one of several custom guitars Prince used in the 1980s and 1990s. (Matt Roppolo/Heritage Auctions via AP)

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A bright yellow, uniquely shaped guitar used by Prince to perform such tunes as "Cream" and "Gett Off" is going up for auction.

Heritage Auctions is selling one of the late artist's "yellow cloud" electric guitars beginning June 24 with an opening bid of $30,000. The guitar was one of several custom guitars Prince used in the 1980s and 1990s.

"I've been a Prince fan since I was a little kid, and that guitar always stuck out to me because it was super cool and stylish," said current owner Richard Lecce, who bought it for about $30,000 over a year ago from Heritage Auctions.

The instrument features a serial number and comes with a letter of authenticity from Prince guitar technician Zeke Clark, who noted that the guitar's neck was broken in France in 1994 and later repaired.

"Unfortunately, as morbid as it is, when people pass, their items become more valuable," Lecce said. "I think something as valuable as this could be too risky to continue to have in my possession."

Lecce, who doesn't play any musical instruments, said that other than posing for a few photos with the guitar when he first received it, he has kept it in pristine condition.

Prince employed other similarly shaped guitars in various colors. The instrument's flowing form went on to become part of the musician's iconic symbol.

Other items up for auction in Beverly Hills, California, include Prince record-sales awards and an original demo tape featuring the songs "Just as Long as We're Together," ''My Love Is Forever" and "Jelly Jam."

Another "yellow cloud" guitar is currently on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Prince was found dead April 21 at age 57 in his Paisley Park recording complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

___

Online:

http://entertainment.ha.com
Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight

A tow truck driver attempts to move a big rig that flipped Wednesday on Shasta Caverns Road.



SHARE

UPDATED at 5:30 p.m.

California Highway Patrol officers said they've opened up a lane on Shasta Caverns Road to evacuate people from Lake Shasta Caverns. The road will be closing again to remove an overturned big rig.

UPDATED at 2 p.m.

An overturned big rig has closed Shasta Caverns Road, which happened shortly before 11 a.m. this morning, according to California Highway Patrol.

The road leads to Lake Shasta Caverns, where approximately 70 children from two different schools were visiting on a field trip. The children and their chaperones are waiting for the road to clear up so they can head home.

Approximately 60 children are from Redding's Boulder Creek Elementary School and 18 from Orland's Capay Joint Union Elementary School.

Matt Doyle, general manager of Lake Shasta Caverns, said the plan is to take the children of Boulder Creek Elementary over to Bridge Bay by boat, where another school bus will be waiting to take them home.

Scotti Gleason, principal of Boulder Creek Elementary, said they have already notified parents about the temporary delay and the plan is to get the kids home faster by having another school bus sent out.

Jim Scribner, principal at Capay Joint Union Elementary School, said his students and the chaperones would have to wait for the road to clear up in order to return to Orland.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A big rig accident at the Shasta Caverns Road offramp on northbound Interstate 5 is blocking both lanes of the roadway, the California Highway Patrol is reporting.

The accident happened shortly before 11 a.m., with a small amount of diesel fuel spilling from the big rig, which overturned.

There are no reports of any injuries.

But the crash has temporarily stranded at least two school buses with children touring Shasta Caverns.

A CHP spokeswoman said there is no time estimate on when the roadway will be cleared.
SHARE

By Nathan Solis of the Redding Record Searchlight

Water is becoming an issue for the proposed Dollar General store planned in Shingletown.

One one hand, there may not be enough available for fire suppression. On the other hand, the area on Highway 44 near Emigrant Way where it would be built is prone to flooding during storms, the Shasta County Supervisors learned during their regular meeting on Tuesday.

Embree Asset Group plans to build the 9,100-square-foot store across from the Shingletown Library. The county Planning Commission has already approved it and the supervisors were scheduled to vote on it on Tuesday, but decided to delay making a decision for a week because they felt the fire suppression issue hadn't been vetted fully.

"I find it odd the report does not address this," Supervisor Les Baugh said about the information on the project provided to supervisors.

Senior Planner Leo Salazar told supervisors Dollar General plans to install a large water tank to help provide water to help fight fires.

Baugh, whose district includes Shingletown, also asked about flooding in that area. Stormwater has flooded Shingletown Library in the past, according to Marilee Strom, president of the library.

Salazar and Dollar General's engineer said they believe a drainage plan proposed for the project will keep water out of the store as well as away from protected wetlands to the east of the project. The plan includes leaving much of the 1.5-acre site undeveloped and installing a detention basin that would control water flow, Salazar said.
Photo from Facebook University of Oregon paraphernalia, tents and other items were left behind on Slaughterhouse Island in Lake Shasta over the past weekend.

SHARE

By Nathan Solis of the Redding Record Searchlight

Both the University of Oregon and a fraternity issued apologies over a trashed campground on Lake Shasta, where a group of college students partied over the weekend.

At least 90 tents and trash were left behind on Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The abandoned party scene has since been tackled by Forest Service staff, who hauled away large amounts of trash from the Slaughterhouse Island Campground.

The University of Oregon said parties at Lake Shasta are not sponsored or condoned by the school.

Spokeswoman Phyllis Swanson with the U.S. Forest Service said several groups have offered to clean up the mess left over the weekend at Slaughterhouse Island, including members of a fraternity whose logo was found on a drink cooler at the campground.

The University of Oregon chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity issued a statement on its Facebook page Monday evening, calling the scene at Lake Shasta "absolutely unacceptable."

The fraternity said in its apology that it suspended activities until disciplinary actions are put in place. It did not mention what kind of discipline it would dole out or how many of its members were at the party.

The fraternity offered to send members to clean up the mess, but the Forest Service turned them down, telling them the campground needed to be cleaned sooner rather than later, Forest Service officials said. Forest Service officials wore protective gear and took other precautions while cleaning.

"Honestly, I don't think the conditions of this mess  I don't know if it would be something people would volunteer for," said Swanson.

Along with camping tents, clothing, drink coolers, food and items bearing the University of Oregon logo, Swanson said there was human excrement and other bodily fluids found in the campground and in tents.

With staff time and fuel costs to ferry the garbage from the campground, Swanson estimates cleanup costs are approximately $10,000. The Forest Service and the university are in talks about the incident. Swanson said she did not know if the Forest Service will try to recoup the cost of the cleanup from the university or the fraternity.

Lake Shasta is currently 92 percent full, a drastic change to last year when water levels were low enough to make boat ramps and other launches unusable.

Swanson said there will be no changes in policy to renting camp sites, despite the mess left behind by the college party.

"People are welcome to camp here," she said. "We just want them to clean up. Whether it's a family of five or a crowd of a thousand, they have to learn to pack it in, pack it out."

The Forest Service will begin talks to educate universities whose students visit national parks, but first local Forest Service staff will start to set up campgrounds for the Memorial Day weekend.
SHARE

Hang onto your hats  Gov. Jerry Brown has yet another idea to reduce the prison population.

This time he wants to allow those incarcerated for nonviolent offenses to earn early release by completing education and rehabilitation programs. He figures that they should be rewarded for showing intent to better themselves and get out of a life of crime.

He submitted nearly 1 million signatures late last week to get the initiative on what will be a crowded ballot in November.

If voters approve the measure in November, it would fundamentally change the state's sentencing laws. Instead of a mandatory sentence, those serving time on nonviolent crimes could shave years off their sentences by getting a GED, taking anger management classes and other rehabilitation programs offered in prisons.

"By allowing parole consideration if they do good things," the governor was quoted in the Los Angeles Times, "they will then have an incentive  to show those who will be judging whether or not they're ready to go back into society."

He admits that sentencing laws he put in place last time he was governor 40 years ago haven't worked out well for the state.

"What I didn't take into account was that if you tell someone on the day of sentencing, 'You have 5, 10 , 15 or 50 or 60 years and you can't do anything to change that,' you do take away incentive and you do create more violence in prison and you do create more rule breaking," he told the Associated Press. Brown said his proposal, among other things, would allow inmates to earn time off their sentences "by good behavior, by really changing your life."

We wholeheartedly support rehabilitation programs as an essential part of the justice system. We've got to try to turn people around. And in some cases, the programs do help some former inmates find a new path. But a recent study by the Public Policy Institute found that the programs now in place have not significantly reduced recidivism.

And let's get real: not all inmates who go through a program or obtain education will emerge into a crime-free life. Keep in mind, this would be available to inmates serving their current terms for non-violent offenses. They could have past violent criminal convictions on their records, but if their last crime was theft, then they could get out early.

Local governments are still reeling from increased property crime after Prop. 47 was implemented in 2014, and increased auto thefts after AB109 went into effect in 2011. Local law enforcement and probation departments across the state are scrambling to keep up with the influx of inmates released into their custody under AB109 as well as the latest burst of property and drug crimes under Prop. 47.

For those very reasons, the California District Attorneys Association vows to fight the measure.

"With crime rates rising dramatically across the state of California for the first time in decades we believe the voters will be extremely reluctant to pass a measure that allows violent felons who have committed crimes along the likes of domestic violence, human trafficking, rape of an unconscious person and assault with a deadly weapon to be let back out on the streets before serving the time sentenced by a judge," California District Attorneys Association chief executive Mark Zahner said in a statement.

This initiative is another attempt by Brown to ensure that federal judges don't order the release of more inmates to avoid crowded conditions. He also wants to change the system to speed up the parole process to avoid future overcrowded conditions.

It's nice, we suppose, to have a governor who believes in the best of people, even hardened criminals. Give them an incentive to prove that they can turn themselves around, and they will do so, Brown believes.

We're not that optimistic. Maybe it's because locally we see criminals get second, third, fourth and even more chances and still steal cars, vandalize businesses or break into homes. How many parolees have promised the parole board that they will not reoffend on release, but then end up back in prison? Why do you think we're having to deal with overcrowded jails in the first place? It's not a lot of those inmates' first rodeo.

While we acknowledge Brown is trying to do what he must under court order to reduce prison overcrowding, we don't think the residents of this state can take much more of these kind of solutions.
SHARE

Shasta Dam was created to provide water for irrigation, flood control, electricity and as a side benefit, recreation. That dam as well as other dams were created to solve not only current problems but also foreseeable conditions.

In the 1960s a study was completed to determine the feasibility of moving water from the Columbia River, south through Oregon and into California. At least two pumping stations would be required. It would provide Oregon farms and ranches with irrigation and not infringe upon the other needs of Oregon or Washington. A series of natural waterways and canals would bring water to Lakeview, Oregon, enter California and into the Pit River at Davis Creek, (just north of Alturas, Modoc County). It would then travel through a series of hydro-electric dams ending up in Shasta Lake via the Pit River arm. The costs associated with pumping stations would be partially offset by the electricity generated by downstream dams.

The proposed Allan Camp Dam, on Pit River, would inundate four ranches in Stonecoal Valley, (also in Modoc County) just north-east of Adin. It was to provide irrigation for farms and ranches in Modoc, Lassen and Shasta counties. The entire system would not affect salmon in any way. The construction of that dam would be far less costly than raising Shasta Dam and in part, would alleviate the increasing problems regarding the Sacramento River.

The main problem, is the lack of leadership and common sense at both the state and federal levels. The proposed reservoir west of Maxwell sounds better than raising Shasta Dam but it costs more to pump into it than can be recovered by one generation plant, unlike down-hill flowing water through a series of smaller generating plants. The initial cost will be very high. The continuing cost will be high and may even surpass the costs of desalination facilities. It's certainly more expensive than raising the gates on Shasta and resurfacing the dam face if and when necessary.

Another problem is environmentalists, who will demand dam removals to protect salmon while ignoring the real problem of over-fishing, (think Japan, Poland and China) and protecting the main consumer of salmon, (think seals, etc.). The major reduction in salmon numbers began with the protection of seals and sharks, not with the building of all dams. This statement may be checked by comparing dates and salmon counts. The water bond "think farce" fails to actually provide immediate remedial action. In all probability, most of those monies will be spent to provide water to southern cities. The building of smaller dams, raising the gates and moderating the releases from Shasta is best.

Chaland Scrivner lives in Redding.
Deepak Lal looks into the economic origins of cow slaughter bans and their questionable utility

In the mid-1960s I and a group of friends from Oxford rented a house from Robert Graves, the poet and resident icon in the village of Deya in Majorca.

During one of his frequent evening soirees, he had us riveted describing his search for a hallucinogenic mushroom that he thought was the source of the drug soma used by the ancient Brahmins.

He believed that these mushrooms were to be found in the dung of the Bos Indicus, which explained why Indian cows were sacred!

Unconvinced by this, many years later I was to provide my own economic explanation for the sacred cow in The Hindu Equilibrium.

The first task was to show, on the basis of contemporary Indian livestock surveys, that contemporary Hindu attitudes to cows were not uneconomic by examining whether the stock and sex distribution of livestock could be shown to be determined by simple economic models.

This turns out to be the case.

For the observed sex ratios of the bovine populations (defined as males per 100 females), and their changes between ages 0-3+ years, there is a simple explanation.

These sex ratios are slightly above unity at ages 0-1, then fall dramatically from ages 1-3, and remain steady and higher from age 3+.

This pattern is determined by the different economic functions of cows and bulls.

The latter are mainly required for traction and ploughing.

Given the expected number of deaths of bulls, and the numbers required to maintain the steady-state stock of bulls for given land resources and cropping patterns, the surplus infant bulls will be culled, with the intermediate sex ratio declining.

Cows are required for milk and as producer goods for breeding cows and bulls for the future.

Nature determines the sex ratio at age 0-1.

As there is a random element in the efficiency of particular cows as breeders, only when they are teenagers will this be known.

The non-breeders will then be culled, leading to a rising sex ratio.

Thus, the Hindus have been culling their bovine population to maintain an optimum stock for millennia.

But, given the ban on cow slaughter, this culling was done through slow starvation, which as V M Dandekar argued powerfully is uneconomic as compared to slaughter.

(Problem of numbers in cattle development, Economic Weekly 16, 5-7, 1964).

He wrote: The carcass of a healthy and well fed animal has many uses and is thus of much economic value.

The same animal put through a long process of starvation eats up much of its economic value and finally leaves behind a carcass with nothing but bones and much inferior hide.

But, though uneconomic today, would a ban on cow slaughter have been irrational for the ancient Hindus? It needs to be noted that this ban evolved gradually during Vedic times (see N M Brown, The sanctity of the cow in Hinduism, Economic Weekly 16, 5-7. 1964).

There is no absolute prohibition on cow slaughter in the early Vedic literature, nor in the Manu Smriti or the Arthashastra.

It was not till the later Puranas were written (probably reflecting conditions about the fifth and sixth centuries AD) that bans on cow slaughter became firmly established as part of the Hindu moral code.

D D Kosambi (The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline, 1981) argues that, once private property in land and livestock had been established, the common practice in the early Gangetic settlements of requisitioning cattle without payment by feuding warriors, for the Vedic Yagna fire sacrifice, became uneconomic.

The later Hindu ban on cow slaughter and beef-eating drove this predatory behaviour of the upper castes out of fashion.

The lower castes did eat dead cattle. Which was their charge for the free disposal of dead cattle.

So what needs to be explained is the emergence of the ban on cow slaughter and beef-eating among the cattle-owning upper castes in the late Vedic period.

During the periodic droughts and famines in India it would be rational for an individual farmer to sell or eat his cow to ward off starvation -- but there were external diseconomies which made it socially harmful.

Given the relative autarky of the ancient Indian village communities, the supply of cattle, particularly draught animals, would be dependent on local supply -- particularly upon the number of cows, the mother machines to produce cattle.

Thus, any depletion at the village level would hamper the long-term levels of living of the community, making it more difficult to build up the optimal level of bovines.

A reduction in the number of cows from the steady-state level would be equivalent to a destruction of part of the steady-state capital stock.

With the onset of the famine, each individual knows he has a finite probability of starving to death, which he can stave off by killing his cattle.

With non-cooperation amongst individuals they will be faced by the classic Prisoners Dilemma.

Both will end up killing their cows, with disastrous effects on the post-drought cattle stock and hence on future levels of living.

A cooperative solution, where both eschew killing their cows, would be beneficial for both.

But, given the political anarchy of ancient India, this could not be enforced by a central government.

It could, however, be attained by an internalised social or moral code.

This would have to ban cow slaughter at all times and not just during famines to avoid cheating (moral hazard).

It would also be strengthened by a ban on eating beef, leading to an in-built abhorrence of the flesh of bovines.

For, faced with the pangs of hunger during a drought, only a Ulysses tied to the mast by his natural abhorrence of beef could survive the song of the Sirens to kill his cow!

Moreover, if on account of long climatic cycles the frequency of drought had increased between the Vedic and post-Vedic period, it would explain the gradual emergence of the ban in the later period.

This materialist explanation shows that, in terms of the distinction elaborated in my Unintended Consequences, the ban on cow slaughter and beef eating is part of the material beliefs (on how to make a living) rather than the cosmological beliefs (on how to live) -- like that in reincarnation and karma -- of Hindu civilisation.

With the material environment having changed drastically, not least by the implementation of the Indian Famine Code by the British Raj in the 19th century, there is no longer a rational economic reason for the bans on cow slaughter and beef eating, for which so many are agitating in the country today.

Image: A streetside vendor, sits on the pavement next to his cow outside a temple. Photograph: Vivek Prakash/Reuters
Management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and Greybull Capital have submitted separate bids

At least four parties have submitted bids for the British assets of Tata Steel ahead of the Indian company's board meeting this week that could determine their fate, according to sources close to the bidders.

Tata said in March it wanted to offload its UK steel operation, throwing the sustainability of British steelmaking into question after a series of other plant closures, blamed on cheap Chinese imports, rising costs and weak demand.

Management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and Greybull Capital have submitted separate bids for Tata's UK operations, the sources said.

Tata said earlier this month it had received seven notifications of interest. It declined to comment on Tuesday.

The government has offered hundreds of millions of pounds in support to the potential buyers as it seeks to avoid the political damage of around 10,000 job losses weeks away from the country's referendum on membership of the European Union.

After being accused of a flat-footed response to the initial announcement of the sale, British business minister Sajid Javid said he had met Tata in Mumbai to discuss the sale process ahead of its board meeting.

"Several credible bidders in play. Determined to keep momentum and find right buyer," he tweeted on Tuesday.

The board is expected to pick apart the bids and decide which warrant closer consideration.

Excalibur, led by Tata's UK strip products director Stuart Wilkie, and Liberty have put in separate bids, separate sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, responding to reports that the two were prepared to work together to secure a deal.



India's JSW Steel Ltd has also bid for the British operations of Tata Steel Ltd, sources confirmed earlier this month, which prompted concerns about its debt levels and putting pressure on its shares.



As of this week, JSW had no intention of withdrawing its bid, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.



Greybull Capital, which in April signed a deal to acquire Tata Steel's Long Products Europe division in Scunthorpe, northern England, has also bid for the rest of the British operations, another source told Reuters. However, it is not widely regarded as a frontrunner.

Photograph: Andrew Yates/Reuters
India liberalised its exploration and production regime almost two decades ago when in early 1990s it auctioned about 28 fields to private and public investors.

India on Wednesday announced auction of 46 small discovered oil and gas fields, holding about Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) worth of hydrocarbon reserves, that were "given-up" by state-owned ONGC and Oil India.

The auction, to be conducted on simpler contractual terms together with pricing and marketing freedom, will be the first licensing round in over four years.

Domestic and international roadshows for the auction will begin on June 6 and e-bidding will start on July 15 and close on October 31. Bids will be finalised by mid-November and contracts signed by January, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

India liberalised its exploration and production regime almost two decades ago when in early 1990s it auctioned about 28 fields to private and public investors.

In late 1990s, it further liberalised its E&P sector with the introduction of New Exploration Licensing Regime (NELP) regime that allowed 100 per cent FDI and offered a level playing field to private and national oil companies, he said.

NELP was based on Production Sharing Contract (PSC) that meant sharing of revenues with government post recovery of cost by contractor.

"Unfortunately, the PSC regime has witnessed several litigations and arbitrations, most of them related to issues emanating from key PSC provisions such as cost recovery, work programme, operational, administrative and regulatory inflexibility.

"Apart from adversely affecting India's domestic oil and gas output, such disputes have also hurt India's image as a serious E&P destination," Pradhan said announcing the bid round.

Fields will be given to those who offer the maximum share of oil and gas to the government, he said.

Stating that India is yet to unlock all of its hydrocarbon potential, he said the auction will help boost domestic production and cut import reliance.

The fields offered for international bidding hold 625 million barrels of in-place oil and gas reserves.

Pradhan said the 46 fields that are offered are actually 67 small and marginal discoveries that have been clubbed.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) "surrendered" these as they could not develop them because of huge overhead cost and uneconomic size, he said.

He said ONGC and OIL can bid for the fields on offer. Asked if the two state-owned firm could not have developed them if the new terms of pricing and marketing freedom were given to them as being offered to private firms, Pradhan said, "No I dont think so."

He however did not say as to why ONGC and OIL would bid again for these fields. Last exploration licensing round concluded in March 2012.

That was the Ninth round of bidding under NELP. A total of 256 block were awarded in the nine rounds of NELP.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic has called on the Ukrainian government to conduct a prompt investigation into an attack on journalist Anatoliy Ostapenko of the Hromadske.TV television channel in Zaporizhia.

Mijatovic's statement posted on the OSCE website says Ostapenko had been brutally beaten by three unidentified persons while on his way to the office in Zaporizhia.

The journalist sustained several injuries.

"As the disturbing developments with regards to journalists' safety continue in different parts of Ukraine, I reiterate my call on the authorities to do their utmost to keep the issue high on the agenda and put an end to the impunity for these crimes," Mijatovic said.
Former promoters of Ranbaxy tell Delhi High Court they can pay fine to Daiichi



Former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh on Tuesday assured the Delhi High Court they would keep assets secure to be in a position to make the Rs 3,500-crore (Rs 35-billion) payment to Japanese conglomerate Daiichi Sankyo, which had in 2008 bought a majority stake in the Indian pharma major.

A Singapore arbitration court recently imposed this fine after it found the Singh brothers guilty of concealing information while striking the deal with the Japanese company.

Daiichi filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court asking for an interim order to secure the Singh brothers assets equivalent to the extent of the award amount, Rs 2,562 crore (Rs 25.62 billion), decided by the Singapore arbitration court.

In addition, Rs 1,000 crore has to be paid as interest and lawyers' fees.

In its petition, the Japanese company expressed apprehension that the brothers would dispose their assets and take them out of India by the time the court arrived at a final decision on this award.

We have an imminent fear that there may be various alienations (asset sell-off) by RHC Holdings in case there are no protective measures provided by the court.

We request you to ask the respondents (Singh brothers) to issue a statement of safeguard and security, said Gopal Subramanium, appearing on behalf of Daiichi Sankyo.

The Singh brothers have a majority shareholding in RHC Holdings, a private limited company with assets of around Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion).

Fortis Healthcare and Religare, which are listed companies, are controlled through RHC Holdings.

Justice V Kameswar Rao, who presided over the proceedings in Delhi High Court, said he needed to be sure that the award was secure.

He did not issue a formal order after Kapil Sibal, who was arguing for the Singh brothers, told the judge any such court order to issue a formal statement of assurance would adversely affect the listed companies. He said since these two companies were listed, there was no need for apprehensions of a quick asset sale.

They (Daiichi Sankyo) have shown no evidence whatsoever which can be considered as basis for their apprehension, he said.

In response to queries from Business Standard, the RHC Holdings spokesperson said it could not offer any comment because the matter was sub judice.

The stocks of Fortis Healthcare and Religare did not show much movement on Tuesday, increasing by 0.12 per cent and decreasing by 0.04 per cent, respectively.

In 2013, Daiichi had launched the arbitration proceedings in Singapore, alleging that the Singh brothers had concealed and misrepresented critical information concerning US Food and Drug Administration and Department of Justice investigations into Ranbaxy in 2008, when the Japanese major acquired a controlling stake in the company.

Consequently, the arbitration court awarded Daiichi Rs 2,562 crore through a 2-1 majority order.

Justice AM Ahmadi, former Chief Justice of India, gave the dissenting opinion dismissing all claims of the Japanese company.

CASE HISTORY: The troubled timeline of the Ranbaxy-Daiichi deal

2006: US FDA issues warning letter to Ranbaxys Paonta Sahib facility

US FDA issues warning letter to Ranbaxys Paonta Sahib facility 2007: A whistle-blowers lawsuit alleges Ranbaxy defrauded Federal programmes

A whistle-blowers lawsuit alleges Ranbaxy defrauded Federal programmes Jun 2008: Daiichi Sankyo acquires majority stake in Ranbaxy

Daiichi Sankyo acquires majority stake in Ranbaxy Sep 2008: FDA imposes import alert on Ranbaxys Paonta Sahib and Dewas factories; bans 30 drugs

FDA imposes import alert on Ranbaxys Paonta Sahib and Dewas factories; bans 30 drugs May 2013: Criminal charges filed; Ranbaxy agrees to pay a fine of $500 million

Criminal charges filed; Ranbaxy agrees to pay a fine of $500 million Sep 2013: US bans imports from Ranbaxys new formulations factory in Mohali

US bans imports from Ranbaxys new formulations factory in Mohali Nov 2013: Daiichi Sankyo accuses Singh brothers of hiding information regarding investigations, files a case in a Singapore court

Daiichi Sankyo accuses Singh brothers of hiding information regarding investigations, files a case in a Singapore court Jan 2014: US FDA bans imports from Ranbaxys main API factory, Toansa

US FDA bans imports from Ranbaxys main API factory, Toansa Apr 2014: Sun Pharmaceutical acquires Ranbaxy in a $4-billion deal

Sun Pharmaceutical acquires Ranbaxy in a $4-billion deal Sep 2015: Shivinder Singh steps down, joins Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an Amritsar-based spiritual organisation

Shivinder Singh steps down, joins Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an Amritsar-based spiritual organisation Apr 2016: Singapore arbitration court gives a 2-1 majority award in favour of Daiichi Sankyo; asks brothers to pay them around Rs 3,500 crore

Note: The Singh brothers are likely to appeal against the order

Image: Malvinder (left) and Shivender Singh. Photograph: Kind courtesy, Ranbaxy
It could create trouble for both taxpayers and tax department in different situations

Tax consultants and experts are seeing various irritants in the draft rules on calculation of fair market value for indirect share transfers. Although the draft adds some certainty to taxation of Vodafone-like transactions, these flaws could lead to anomalies, they say.

One of the issues is the definition of the term book value of liabilities.

The draft prescribes the manner in which FMV of the foreign target company (FTC) shares and the underlying India company (IC) shares can be determined for the purpose of indirect transfer taxation.

Any transaction where the value of Indian assets exceeds 50 per cent of the FTC would attract taxes in India.

Explanation 6(b) requires such FMV to be determined without reduction of the companys book value of liabilities.

The term book value of the liabilities has been defined to mean the value of liabilities as shown in the balance-sheet, excluding the paid-up capital in respect of equity shares/members interest.

Since the exclusion has been given only to equity share capital, the same could dilute the effectiveness of FMV determination and could have adverse impact both from the perspective of the tax department and the taxpayer, consultants said.

The manner of FMV determination under the draft rules has the risk of either gobbling those transactions, which effectively should have remained outside the fold of indirect transfer taxation or vindicating those transactions, which otherwise should have been taxed in India, said Ravi Mehta, senior partner at Grant Thornton LLP.

For example, foreign investors and Indian promoters often use instruments such as convertible preference shares for investments in Indian firms.

Since these investments would be added to the liabilities, the FMV would be inflated to that extent.

Depending on whom these instruments are issued to, the tax treatment would be affected.

There has always been a differing school of thought as to whether it was appropriate on the part of the legislators while introducing Explanation 6 (b) to S 9(1)(i) to not allow reduction of liabilities while determining the FMV of the relevant assets.

The rules now proposing addition of every liability, except Equity, for the purpose of determining FMV would further aggravate the effectiveness of FMV determination, Mehta of Grant Thornton added.

While the valuation report of a reputed valuer would be largely based on business factors, it is quite likely that a transaction price in an unrelated party transaction many a times get staked up because of non-business factors such as competitive conditions, control premium, regulatory factors and labour issues.

In such a situation, a non-resident seller having Indian and non-Indian assets may fall in a situation wherein it would need to cough out Indian tax under indirect transfer provision determined based on valuation report, even if its actual transaction price should not have triggered such taxation.

The draft rules propose that if transfer or failing to provide necessary information for application of prescribed formulae, whole income from transfer of shares shall be deemed to be attributable to assets located in India.

Jiger Saiya, partner (direct tax) at BDO India, said, Again a debatable question  can the rules define or alter the taxability of income arising from indirect transfer of shares (in the absence of back-up documentation)?

Documentation could also be a big headache as requirements are exhaustive and rigorous.

The critical areas of documentation include information relating to decision or implementation process of overall arrangement of transfer; information relating to business operation, personnel, finance and properties, internal and external audit or valuation report forming basis of consideration in respect of share/interest of foreign entity being transferred and its subsidiaries that directly or indirectly hold assets in India.

Maintenance and production of such minute details is going to be painstaking for Indian arm of the MNC, more so in the case of multi-layered structures of holding/subsidiary companies, said Saiya of BDO India.



KEY IRRITANTS IN DRAFT RULES

Definition of liabilities excludes capital brought through convertible instruments

Hypothetical valuation parameters may exclude on-ground non-business factors

Onerous documentation requirements



Formula for determining FMV

For listed companies:

Market capitalisation using the prescribed observable price + book value of the liabilities

For unlisted companies:
India's exports to China stood at $7.56 billion during the period whereas the imports have jumped to $52.26 billion in April-January

Seeking a "more equitable" bilateral trade, India on Wednesday sought from China greater market for its products like drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and ITrelated services and agro-products.

"Although the trade balance continues to be in favour of China, we look forward to expanding our commerce to make it more equitable," President Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing a meeting of the India-China Business Forum in Beijing on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

"India would like to see a greater market for our products in China - particularly in sectors where we have natural complementarities  as in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and IT related services and agro-products," he said in the southern Chinese industrial hub.

Trade deficit between India and China has risen to $44.7 billion during April-January period of 2015-16.

India's exports to China stood at $7.56 billion during the period whereas the imports have jumped to $52.26 billion in April-January. In 2014-15, the deficit was aggregated at $48.48 billion, according to official figures.

The president also promised a conducive environment for Chinese investors and urged them to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship programmes of the government to boost bilateral trade.

"We will facilitate your efforts to make your investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies," he said at the forum, attended by industrialists and businessmen of both sides.

He said China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for India.

"We believe that stepping up our two way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. Our bilateral trade has grown steadily since the turn of this century. From $2.91 billion in the year 2000, it reached the level of $71 billion last year," he noted.

Guangdong province boasts of a $1 trillion economy with high manufacturing and other industries along with being a powerful export house of China. It has sister province relationship with Gujarat and Maharashtra.

A pilot smart city cooperation project has been announced between Shenzhen and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat last year.

Referring to the links of 2nd century before the Christian era between Guangdong and Kanchipuram through a direct sea route, Mukherjee said this is an exciting time for India and China to reinforce the old linkages and join hands for new.

Noting that India has recorded a growth rate of 7.6 per cent each year for over a decade now, the President said India believes that it cannot grow in isolation.

"In an increasingly interconnected world, India would like to benefit from technology advances and best practices of different countries.

"The comprehensive reforms introduced in key areas of our economy have enhanced the ease of doing business in India. Our foreign investment regime has been liberalised through simplified procedures. And removal of restrictions on foreign investments," he said.

The President said these reforms have renewed the interest of global investors in India.

In 2014, there was a 32 per cent growth in investments and in 2015, India emerged as one of the biggest global investment destinations, he said.

Mukherjee said India would like more of China's overseas direct investment which has now crossed $100 billion mark.

He said the Indian government was setting up industrial corridors, national investment and manufacturing zones and dedicated freight corridors to stimulate investment in this sector.

Its '100 Smart Cities" initiative will transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, he said.

"India welcomes your participation in these programmes. Chinese companies with inherent strengths in infrastructure and manufacturing can look towards India as an important destination in their 'Going Global' strategy.

"On their part, Indian companies can partner with Chinese enterprises in the new domain of 'Internet of Things' which underlines the 'Made in China 2025' strategy," he said.

The President said he was happy to note that a good start has been made by Chinese businesses who are investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India.

Bilateral cooperation in India's railway sector is also progressing well, he said.

A good number of premier Indian IT firms and other manufacturers are present in China, he said and noted that Indian entrepreneurs were also considering the prospects of jointly exploring opportunities in third countries.

Summing up, the President said India believed there was great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among the two countries, which faced similar opportunities on coming together.

"To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities.

"We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," he said.

Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters
The Supreme Court asked the capital market regulator to sell the properties, for which it has the title deeds.

SBI Capital Markets, the investment bank appointed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has put an estimated value of about Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) for 87 unencumbered properties of Sahara Group, that it is mandated to sell.

The Supreme Court asked the capital market regulator to sell the properties, for which it has the title deeds.

Subsequently, Sebi appointed SBI Capital Markets and HDFC Realty to help in the sell-off.

The sale is to generate the bail money for the release of Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy, who has been in jail since March 4, 2014.

He was, however, granted parole for four weeks on May 6 to attend rituals following the death of his mother.

The parole has been extended till July 11 to enable him to deposit Rs 200 crore with Sebi.

For the interim bail of 67-year-old Roy, the court had put conditions like depositing Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in cash and a bank guarantee of equal amount and tough terms including payment of the entire Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion), which includes interest.

The money is to be paid back to the investors of Sahara groups two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation -- that sold optionally fully convertible debentures.

It is a massive sell-off, said a top executive at the India office of a global real estate consultant, who has been briefed about the plan. It is expected to be completed in three-to-four months.

The 87 properties include land parcels spread across 30 towns in the country.

The sell-off does not include Saharas three overseas hotels, the famous Aamby Valley resort town and the Sahara Star hotel in Mumbai.

The bank has planned an e-auction for the sale of the land parcels, for which advertisements are expected to come in newspapers this week, said a banker familiar with the development.

The apex court has also asked Sebi not to sell any property owned by Sahara for a price less than 90 per cent of the circle rates for the area in question without the permission of the court.

THE SAHARA SAGA

The sale is to generate the bail money for the release of Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy, who has been in jail since March 4, 2014

For interim bail, the court had imposed conditions like depositing Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in cash and a bank guarantee of equal amount and tough terms, including payment of the entire Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion)

Roy was granted parole for four weeks on May 6 to attend rituals following the death of his mother

The parole has been extended till July 11 to enable him to deposit Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) with Sebi

Image: Sahara chief Subrata Roy. Photograph: PTI
Private weather forecast agency revises estimate to 109% of LPA

As the country awaits the arrival of the southwest monsoon after two years of drought, private weather forecasting agency Skymet on Tuesday revised upward its 2016 southwest monsoon forecast to 109 per cent of the long period average from 105 predicted in April.

The forecast, if accurate, would mean that India might have its highest southwest monsoon since 1994 and rains might spill over well into October as the showers are predicted to gather steam in the second half of the June-September season.

According to Skymets revised estimate, the rains this year would provide enough moisture not only for the kharif crops but also for the rabi farming season. The forecast has a model error of four per cent.

The LPA is the average rainfall for the monsoon for the period between 1951 and 2000. It is estimated to be 881 mm.

If the rainfall recorded in a year is between 96 and 104 per cent, it s considered normal.

Anything beyond is above normal.

In April, Skymet, in its first forecast, had said the rains this year would be slightly above normal, at 105 per cent of the LPA.

Skymet is credited with correctly predicting the 2009 drought, but its first forecast of the 2015 southwest monsoon was way off the mark.

This year, too, Skymet had predicted the early onset of rains over the Kerala coast, while the India Meteorological Department said the onset of monsoon would be delayed by almost six days.

The IMD is expected come out with its updated region-wise southwest monsoon forecast in the first week of June.

The Met department, in its April forecast, had said rains this year are expected to be above normal at 106 per cent of the LPA.

Jatin Singh, chief executive officer, Skymet, said the El Nino was tapering off and it would collapse after the onset of monsoon. It is not likely to have an adverse impact on the monsoon.

El Nino is a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean and has adversely affected the monsoon in India in recent years.

Skymet CEO Singh said there were more chances of getting into a La Nina in the later part of the year.

La Nina is another climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean, leading to cooler sea surfaces, and can have a positive effect on the monsoon.

There is over 92 per cent chance of the southwest monsoon this year being normal; a 25 per cent probability of it being excess. Rainfall is considered to be excess if it is more than 110 per cent of the LPA.

On a monthly basis, Skymet said rain in June would be 87 per cent of the LPA -- about 164 mm.

In July, it would be 108 per cent of the LPA. July is usually the wettest month, with average rainfall of around 289 mm.

In August, according to Skymet, rainfall would be 113 per cent of average which is 261 mm; while in September, the southwest monsoon would be 123 per cent of the LPA.

The average rainfall for September is 173 mm.

Skymets forecast indicated that the southwest monsoon might gather steam during the second half of season, that is, from August and peak by the end of September.

This might also delay the withdrawal of rains and southwest monsoon might spill over well into October.

This would help not only in a good kharif harvest but could also act as a big trigger for a bumper rabi harvest, as it would leave adequate residual moisture in the soil.

On the impact of this expected good rains on kharif crops, Skymet said that total area under kharif food grains is expected to rise by 15-20 per cent and production is expected to be around 129-130 million tonnes.

The sowing for kharif is around 103 million hectares.

The food grain production varies between 125-130 million tonnes. Region-wise, Skymet said that Tamil Nadu, the Northeast and interiors of south Karnataka will be at moderate risk through June, July, August and September. Good rainfall is expected in central India and along the west coast.

There might be excess rainfall in some pockets of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

It also said that some pockets of Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh could experience less rainfall.

In 2014 and 2015, India suffered back-to-back droughts for the fourth time in a little over 100 years, when the southwest monsoon was 12 per cent and 14 per cent below normal, respectively. Indias food grain production declined to 252.02 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year (July-June), from the record 265.04 million tonnes in the previous year.

The output is estimated to rise slightly to 253.16 in the ongoing 2015-16 crop year because of 14 per cent less rain.

Two consecutive bad monsoons have led to farm distress and water scarcity in the country.

Image: A man holds his umbrella as he crosses a road during rains in New Delhi. A file photo. Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters
Toyota, M&M and Honda are making tough adjustments to their growth plans as uncertainty over diesel vehicles and fuel emission norms rises, points out Ajay Modi.

When Toyota zeroed in on May 13 to launch its Innova Crysta in the capital, it was confident the ambiguity over the fate of diesel-powered vehicles would be over by then.

A final judgement in the case against the Supreme Courts six-month ban on selling 2,000cc diesel-run vehicles in the national capital was expected on May 9. That, however, did not happen. The apex court refused to overturn the ban and decided to continue the proceedings in the case in July.

Toyota launched the Crysta in all markets outside NCR. The event is symbolic of the uncertain times in which car makers are conducting business. First, it was the advancement of emission norms. In a hurry to address pollution concerns, the government in January asked car makers to introduce Bharat Stage or BS-VI vehicles from April 2020.

In November last year, it had advanced BS-VI norms by three years to 2021 and BS-V norms by an equal number of years to 2019. However, it altogether skipped the BS-V norms in January. As a result, manufacturers have to tweak their earlier product development plans and achieve targets in a much smaller time frame.

Next came the Supreme Court ban in NCR. The latest addition is the restriction on registration of 2,000cc diesel vehicles in Kerala, ordered by the National Green Tribunal on Monday. Incidentally, all these events happened at a time when the passenger vehicle industry was witnessing a revival in demand.

Toyota is amongst the worst hit by the ban. NCR is a key market for the company where the 2,000cc order resulted in restrictions on sales of its two top selling models, the Innova and Fortuner. The companys India sales have not grown for a single month after the December ban.

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindras popular cars such as the XUV500 and Scorpio were also hit by the ban in NCR.

But, it responded with advancing the launch of 1,990 cc diesel engine (that was being developed for the global market) for vehicles in NCR. The new engine that M&M launched in January has taken care of its NCR market.

The impact of the ban, however, is not limited to companies manufacturing diesel vehicles of the specified engine capacity. It has created challenges for vehicles below 2,000cc as well, as buyers turn apprehensive about the fate of diesel vehicles across the nation.

Coming to grips with it

Companies are struggling to adjust to this rapidly changing behaviour. Take the case of Honda. It has seen a drastic shift in the petrol/diesel mix for the City in the last quarter as compared to Q4 of 2015.

While four of every ten buyers opted for the diesel variant in Q4 of last calendar year, it came down to less than three of ten new purchases in January-March. Sale of the City has declined as a result.

On the one hand you have petrol vehicle buyers waiting and on the other, you sit on unsold diesel vehicles. We have seen a swing of 15 per cent to petrol variants (from diesel) in the case of (the) City during the first quarter of 2016. The situation is uncertain, Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (marketing and sales) at Honda Cars India, said recently.

Traditionally, petrol cars were preferred by Indian buyers. However, many of them started going for diesel cars since June 2010 when the United Progressive Alliance government deregulated petrol prices but left diesel untouched.

By 2011, as oil marketing companies continued to align petrol prices in India to the global price, the gap between the two fuels jumped to a high of Rs 25-30 a litre.

With the shift in preference, car makers pumped in money to set up diesel engine capacity. An estimated Rs 5,000 crore was invested by the industry between 2009 and 2013. The share of diesel cars jumped from 37 per cent in FY11 to 58 per cent in FY13.

But now, the trend is reversing swiftly. It came down to 44 per cent in FY16. With the imposition of the ban in Kerala, buying patterns will undergo further changes in favour of petrol.

Even though many companies, including Honda, have the flexibility to switch between diesel and petrol models, adjusting the production and component supply chain to meet this change takes a minimum of three to four months.

Abrupt changes in demand pattern upset their production planning and results in sales loss. The challenge is not just limited to car makers - the component industry is also coming under stress, having to adjust to frequent changes in production plans by manufacturers.

Experts say the uncertain atmosphere has made India less attractive as an investment destination.

Sudden decisions create instability and question the validity of India as far as major investment decisions are concerned. This is not in the interest of India's citizens. Also, to fight air pollution and the problems that it causes for citizens, we need to look at the problem holistically, says Wilfried Aulbur, the managing partner of consulting firm Roland Berger, India.

Aulbur, who used to head Mercedes in India, says the automotive industry has to do its part but one also needs to look at other factors contributing to air pollution.

The diesel ban has pushed some buyers towards petrol even in luxury cars where diesel was the fuel of choice. Mercedes Benz, the largest luxury car player in the Indian market, has scaled up petrol variants for most of its models in NCR. Petrol variants for diesel-only models have been planned. In February, luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover launched the Jaguar XE in the country with a petrol-only engine.

Unpleasant alternative

The Supreme Court has talked about a 30 per cent cess that should be levied on diesel cars above 2,000cc. Diesel cars already cost more than petrol ones.

The last Union Budget imposed a one per cent cess on petrol or CNG cars, with an engine capacity of 1,200 cc and length of four metres. For diesel cars of a similar length and engine capacity of 1,500 cc, the cess is 2.5 per cent of the price.

We consider a 30 per cent cess the same as a diesel ban. Considering the limited financial benefit that you get due to the price differential between the two fuels, some of the cars need to run for 10 years to recover the extra investment.

If you add another 30 per cent to the price, why would anyone in the world buy (a) diesel (vehicle) anymore? says Roland Folder, managing director and chief executive officer of Mercedes Benz India.

Irrespective of the negative publicity for diesel vehicles, car makers still believe in the relevance of diesel technology. Toyota, which currently imports diesel engines for its India-made cars, is considering investments of Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) to set up a diesel engine plant.

N Raja, senior vice-president (sales and marketing) of the company, says the decision demonstrates our strong belief that diesel is a good fuel when used with the latest technology. Diesel engine technology will continue to be an integral part of every automobile maker, considering the stringent fuel efficiency norms being introduced in year 2017.
'My film depicts the struggle for dignity by Tamils in Sri Lanka'

IMAGE: A scene from Muttruppullia? Photographs: Chitram Mathias Anthony Dass.

Sherine Xavier, a Sri Lankan Tamil filmmaker from Canada, is happy.

After months of struggle with the Indian censor board, she has finally obtained approval to screen her film Muttrupullia? (Is it a full stop?), which deals with the post-war situation in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.

Xavier, image, left, who was in Chennai, speaks about the movie and her struggle with the censor board, in a conversation with R Ramasubramanian.

Why did you make this film?

The ground situation today in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka, like Jaffna, Mullaitheevu, etc, forced me to make this film.

I want to portray the situation prevailing in these areas after the end of the war in May 2009.

I want to draw the attention of the people living in India and other parts of the world to the situation in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka after the end of the war seven years ago.

Tell us something about the movie...

There are four plots. One is the story of Adhirai alias Sundari, who is searching for her husband, an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) cadre who had gone missing in the May 2009 war. She just wants the government to tell her what happened to husband. Plus, it also portrays the struggles of a single woman as she is fighting against all odds to bring up her three children.

The second plot is about the struggles of a male historian who is fighting to hold on to his land.

The third one is about Duma, a woman who is fighting for dignity in life, and the fourth one is about the story of a young woman journalist from Chennai who visits the Tamil areas in Sri Lanka after the war and how she is caught up with the situation there.

The Indian film censors were worried about the name Adhirai (a few months after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in May 1991, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested an old man and a young woman by the name Adhirai in New Delhi. The Indian authorities maintained that the couple was a back-up team to assassinate Rajiv if the Sriperumbudur plot failed. Xavier says the name Adhirai is an epic name in Tamil literature and she was also called Sundari).

Where was the film shot and how much did it cost?

The movie cost around Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million)to make and I spent it out of my own pocket. We shot the film mainly in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu. We also shot the movie in few places outside Pudukkottai and around 10 per cent in Sri Lanka.

You have now won the battle with the Indian censor board. Can you tell us what happened?

We applied for certifying the film in Chennai on September 12, 2015. The examining committee viewed the film on September 19, and decided to refer the film to the revising committee under rule 24 (1) of the Cinematograph (Certification) rules. The revising committee viewed the film on August 31 and refused certification for the film.

What was the problem?

The revising committee said the film revolves around post-war effects of Sri Lanka, glorifying the bad effects, suppression of Tamils by the Sri Lankan army and that the film will affect their relationship with the neighbouring country. They said the film was a one-sided version, of the Tamil side of the story, and violates guidelines 2 (xii), (2xvi), 2 (xviii) read with 3(1).

What did you do after that?

We went to the appellate tribunal and the film was viewed by its chairman S K Mahajan, and members Bina Gupta and Shekhar Iyer. The tribunal directed the CBFC to issue a certificate for screening of the film for public exhibition with the aforesaid modification on February 1 this year. The committee made the following observations:

'The leading character of the film who is a young mother of three children was a former combatant and her agony and mourning has been depicted and it has been shown as to how the women were fighting to get answers about their displaced husbands.'

'Though at places in the film, the photograph of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran has been shown there were no visuals about any terrorist activity of the LTTE, nor are there any scene of a fight between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army.'

'The film only depicts the lives of mainly the women and other persons after the war had ended in 2009. This, in our view does not in any manner glorify either the LTTE or any terrorist activity, nor is there any glorification of Prabhakaran.'

The committee added that 'in case the film would have glorified the suppression of the Tamils by the Sri Lankan army and would have affected the relationship with the neighbouring country, then the Public Performance Board of Sri Lanka would not have approved the film for screening during the Jaffna International Cinema Festival.'

Have you screened the film in Jaffna?

Yes. Jaffna Chief Minister C V Vigneswaran watched the movie and commented, 'It's a very realistic film and I am happy to watch it.'

What is the ground situation in Sri Lanka today?

IMAGE: Another scene from the film. The movie portrays the post-war situation in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.

I don't want to talk politics, but still I do feel that if not for a regime change in Sri Lanka I would not have come to Chennai, nor would I have produced this film.

There is a slight breathing space. But still, militarisation is a problem in the Tamil areas.

For who did you make this film?

I made this film for my grandchildren. You have to remember the past if you want to protect your future. The film depicts the struggle for dignity by Tamils in Sri Lanka.

How many artists worked on it?

There are a total of 59 characters in the film. All of them are Indians; there are a few Sri Lankan dubbing artists who worked for the film. In fact we shot a few scenes in the famous Kalakshetra dance school in Chennai.

Will you screen this film for the public in Tamil Nadu?

I am trying to screen this film for the public, and my friends in film industry in Chennai are helping me do so.

What about international film festivals, will you be going there?

That is also in the pipeline. But I want to be very specific that I will approach the international film festivals where political sensitivities are honoured. I am very clear on this and I will not knock the doors on all international film festivals.

Can you tell us something about yourself?

I was born in Jaffna and studied in India and Sri Lanka and got my master's in chemistry and then law in the US. I worked in Sri Lanka, the United States, Canada, Sierra Leone and El Salvador. I was posted in India on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross for four years.

I have two children. My basic area of work is in human rights. Presently I am based in Jaffna, but shuttling between Colombo and Canada often.
'It is our aim to capture power and rule in Kerala.'

'We may not be able to achieve our target in one attempt.'

By just hammering once, you will not be able to break a rock; you need to hammer the rock several times.'

Following the announcement of assembly election results in Kerala on May 19, a string of violent incidents in the state led to the death of a Communist Party of India-Marxist worker in Pinarayi and a Bharatiya Janata Party supporter in Thrissur.

In the days to follow, the violence shifted to New Delhi with around 600 people being detained as BJP workers and supporters protested outside the CPI-M's national headquarters against the violence in Kerala.

Seeking to blame the Left solely for the violence, Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, who lost the 2016 assembly election to K Muraleedharan -- Congress leader and former chief minister K Karunakaran's son -- by less than 10,000 votes, claims that it is only through violence that the Communists keep their cadres together.

Rajasekharan spoke to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com before he flew to New Delhi to meet President Pranab Mukherjee along with BJP President Amit Shah to apprise him of the situation in Kerala.

IMAGE: Left Democratic Front workers dance in the rain in Kozhikode as they celebrate the LDF victory in Kerala's assembly election. Photograph: PTI Photo

Are you satisfied with the assembly election results?

Definitely, I am satisfied. The BJP's vote percentage rose from 6% to 10% and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance got a vote share of 15%.

The LDF (Left Democratic Front) got an increase of only 0.3% and the UDF (United Democratic Front)'s vote share dipped by 6%. So if you look at this statistics, only the NDA has made some gains.

But you won only one seat...

From not having any, we have got one seat now. That is a big achievement, according to us.

Most exit polls predicted the BJP to win at least 2 to 3 seats. Despite coming second in seven seats, you won only one. What went wrong?

It is not a small matter for us to have won 30 lakh (3 million) votes. Both the LDF and the UDF were saying all along that they would not let the BJP enter the Kerala assembly.

(Congress leader and former defence minister) A K Antony said we could only enter the assembly with a visitor's pass.

The one seat we won and the 30 lakh votes we got is the answer to all those people.

The LDF and UDF worked together and worked really hard to defeat the BJP. It is only because of this understanding that they could defeat us in many places where we came second.

Is it not for the first time that the BJP won a seat and also came second in 7 constituencies? In Manjeswaram, our candidate lost by just 89 votes!

That is why we don't consider this election as a defeat, but it is our step towards ruling Kerala after five years.

When I asked you what BJP chief Amit Shah wanted from you after you were chosen as the state BJP president, you had said that he wanted you to capture power in Kerala.

It is our aim to capture power and rule in Kerala. We may not be able to achieve our target in one attempt.

By just hammering once, you will not be able to break a rock; you need to hammer the rock several times. Our journey is also like that.

We have taken the first step to our target, we know that we have many more steps to climb.

Did Amit Shah congratulate you on the BJP performance?

Of course, he was happy and satisfied with the vote base, and congratulated us. What we have achieved in our first effort is worth appreciating and he has done that.

The Left looks at the rise of the BJP as a worrying factor. They say they are worried about a communal party having created a base in Kerala...

They are worried about their foundation shaking with the rise of the BJP. That is why they label us as a communal party.

Once they called us as a party of the Savarna (caste) Hindus; with the SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam's Bharat Dharma Jana Sena and C K Janu joining hands with us, they no longer say so.

Now, they have only the communal card against us. Wait and see, we will make them swallow that too in another 2 years.

We will bring more groups under the NDA umbrella and increase our vote base.

Was the BJP not able to rule a Christian-dominated Goa?

Have we not joined hands with the Muslim-dominated political parties to rule Jammu and Kashmir?

That means we can bring people from all communities into our fold with development as the agenda. So the communal card will not work anymore.

Do you foresee a three-cornered contest in Kerala in the future?

Definitely! That is a reality. You will soon see tri-polar contests becoming bipolar in Kerala.

Bipolar?

Yes. Like you saw in West Bengal, the UDF and LDF will join hands to fight the BJP. If they can join hands in Bengal, why won't they do it in Kerala?

Even before the LDF started ruling the state, violence between the Left and BJP cadres has resulted in one death.

Does that mean the next five years are going to be very violent, like the kind of violence we see in Kannur?

Everyone knows that the politics of the Left is violent and it is only through violence and hatred that they keep their cadres together.

They follow no ideology; only violence. That is why they attack those who oppose them.

See, they have already started the kind of violent politics they follow the moment they got power.

But the Left accuses the RSS and BJP of starting it by throwing a bomb at the victory rally in Pinarayi...

If you ask the police now, you will know that no bomb was thrown at the rally and no bomb exploded there.

What happened at their rally was that one of their vehicles with party members rolled down a slope and ran over a man who was dancing behind the vehicle.

Do you think anyone in Pinarayi has the courage to throw a bomb at a Communist rally there? I do not think anyone in Kerala has the guts to do so.

What the Left is spreading is pure lies. Let us wait for the police report.
Outraged over the recent killing of a Congolese national, African countries have demanded concrete steps against racism and Afro-phobia and sought deferment of the celebrations of Africa Day by India, which on Wednesday assured them of safety and security of their nationals.

The envoys of the African nations, taking strong exception to killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver last week, said they will not attend the Africa Day celebrations scheduled for Thursday, and that India must take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of African nationals.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said the envoys of 42 African countries met and deliberated extensively on recent attacks against their citizens.

The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India, including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India, he said in a statement.

He also said that the African envoys have asked for a postponement of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations-organised event to mark Africa Day on Thursday because the African Community in India, including students, is in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver.

Responding to the concerns of the African envoys, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said government has directed concerned authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of the Congolese national.

When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits. I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons (sic), she tweeted.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh has been asked to meet the heads of missions of African countries to assure them Indias commitment towards safety and security of the African nationals, she added.

Oliver was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of murder of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals will be ensured.

She (Swaraj) has asked Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh to meet the Heads of Missions of African countries and assure them of the governments support to safety and security of the African nationals.

V K Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security. We will request the state governments to depute commissioners of police in all such meetings, said the MEA statement.

The MEA said Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of missions on Tuesday, including the dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, the ambassador of Eritrea and assured them that stringent punishment will be given to those found guilty.

Secretary (ER) also pointed out that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated. Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues.

The government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship. We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur, it said.

Sinha explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the last weeks incident, the MEA got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted promptly.

Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack, said the MEA.

Woldermariam said the envoys have expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators.

They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India, he said.

He further said, They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom Lesotho. This is because the African Community in India, including the students, is in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Mr Oliver.
Amid demands for scrapping of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern states, an article in pro-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh journal 'Organiser' has favoured its continuation in such areas till government trains and prepares state police to contain insurgency.

"The government of India should train and prepare the state police to contain insurgency. The Centre should plan for phase-wise extensive training of State Police. Till then, Army may be deployed and they should remain armed with AFSPA," an article in the RSS-aligned weekly said.

The article also sought a probe into the role of some parliamentarians, whom it alleged having "underground connections" with terrorists and "are paid" by them.

"The government of India should investigate some parliamentarians' underground connections with terrorist elements operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam and punish them for their patronage to anti-nationals and terrorists. These law-makers raise paid-questions in Parliament. Their action challenges the sovereignty of the country," it says.

The article also took a dig at Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union president Kanhayia Kumar, saying, "There are many Kanhaiyas around who support anti-national activities in the name of 'free speech'. They

are ever ready to defend traitors in Parliament, fight in courts on their behalf and create opinion in favour of these terrorists. Such parliamentarians are reported to be heavily paid by terrorist leaders for raising questions in favour of anti-national elements."

The article said either is there law or the law is dormant due to lack of political will power and it is because of these lacunae, the defence forces are demoralised.

"Terrorists in league with pseudo-human rightists try to implicate army jawans on fake grounds, even sometime misusing girls for allurement. They try to drag jawans into court. The jawan is suspended and his life becomes miserable.

"The family members suffer uncountable agony. The jawan is dragged into Military Court and the Civil Court as well, At this point of time, AFSPA comes at the rescue of such a battling jawan," the pro-RSS said.

It also hit out at so-called human rights activists who act as sympathisers of terrorists, the article accuses them of being "in league" with each other in trying to implicate army jawans on fake grounds and drag them to courts while "even sometimes misusing girls for allurement".
The situation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine remains tense after 33 attacks on Ukrainian troops in the past 24 hours, the press center of the ATO headquarters wrote on Facebook on Wednesday morning.

"The enemy continues intensive fire on our soldiers in the industrial zone of the town of Avdiyivka. At night, the terrorists repeatedly opened fire from grenade launchers, anti-aircraft systems and 82mm mortars. Small arms fire almost never stops there," it said.

Ukrainian strongholds near the villages of Zaitseve and Luhanske along the Svitlodarska Duha  a stretch between the militant-controlled town of Horlivka and the town of Svitlodarsk in Donetsk region  were under enemy fire. Militants used small arms and grenade launchers.

ATO forces deployed near the village of Sokilnyky in Luhansk region were twice shelled by militants, who used antitank guided missiles. In the same direction, the enemy was firing from grenade launchers on the defenders of the village of Stanytsia Lyhanska.

The situation in the Mariupol sector was also tense. Occupiers used grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian positions near the villages of Shyrokyne, Hranytne, and Hnutove.

What is more, militants attempted to breach the defensive line not far from the village of Novotroitske in the evening. Enemy infantry fighting vehicles launched the offensive with the support of snipers and fire from grenade launchers. Ukrainian troops fired back to eliminate an enemy infantry fighting vehicle, after which the attackers retreated.

Enemy drones were spotted nine times over the Ukrainian territory in the past 24 hours.

Since the beginning of Wednesday, illegal armed units have already shelled Ukrainian troops four times. They fired from small arms and grenade launchers on Shyrokyne, Avdiyivka, and Zaitseve.
IMAGE: Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump (bottom L) watches as police remove protester (R) as he holds a rally with supporters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, US. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Donald Trump's rally in New Mexico turned violent as protesters toppled barricades and threw rocks, burning t-shirts and plastic bottles at police officers, injuring several, the latest scuffle to hit the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's campaign.

The "unlawful assembly" went on rampage on Tuesday night, lit fires and threw rocks at the police and their horses outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.

The police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the violent crowd which overturned barricades.

The real estate tycoon's speech was interrupted repeatedly by protesters who held up banners with the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Most of the protesters were escorted out one by one. A female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security.

"Go ahead, get them out of here," Trump told one of them.

However, the police had a tough time in controlling the demonstrators who were protesting against the policies and rhetorics of Trump.

"This is an unlawful assembly," Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik told protesters over a loudspeaker.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters.

According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally. The police were in anti-riot gears.

At least one person was arrested from the riot, the police said.

In a series of tweets, Albuquerque said the protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police horses.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun. The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it is just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time," he tweeted.

While protests have not been a new phenomenon to Trump rallies, this is the first after he earned the Republican party's presidential nomination early this month.

Last month in California, pro and anti-Trump protesters clashed with each other outside a city council meeting while in New York, a protester at a rally was shoved in the face twice by a Trump supporter.
When M K Stalin attended the Jayalalithaa governments swearing-in and the chief minister thanked him for the gesture, a new page was turned in the states political lexicon, reports B Srikumar.

It came as a big surprise for most people in Tamil Nadu who are used to political mud-slinging and name-calling between rivals, when Chief Minister Jayalalithaas issued a statement thanking M K Stalin, her political rival and treasurer of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, for attending the swearing-in ceremony of her council of ministers on May 23.

People elsewhere may wonder what is so unusual about it, little realising that in politically cleaved Tamil Nadu, this was a new, and refreshing, development. The ruling All India Anna DMK and Stalins party have been arch-rivals for decades and their deep rivalry can almost be termed a blood feud. Each party, on coming to power, revelled in overturning the others administrative decisions. Given this background, mature politics seem to be finally dawning on Tamil Nadu.

So has a new beginning been made in Tamil Nadu politics? Maybe. Maybe it is too early to tell, but the early signs are heart-warming.

Just look at the contrast in the neighbouring state. A day before Jayalalithaa took oath for the sixth time, in Kerala, chief minister-designate Pinarayi Vijayan called on the outgoing CM Ommen Chandy along with his colleagues to seek his blessings. Following this, social media in Tamil Nadu went berserk wondering if it was too much to expect such maturity from their politicians too.

As if granting their wish, came the show of bonhomie from Jayalalithaa. Even that, however, was not without hiccups.

As photographs of Stalin seated along with other MLAs in the middle row of the Madras University Centenary Hall watching the swearing-in on went viral, with many appreciating his gesture, his father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi threw a press statement into the works. The AIADMK had insulted his party by allocating the middle row to his son even while defeated candidate and actor Sarathkumar was seated in the first row, he fumed, adding that Jayalalithaa can never reform her arrogant ways.

But later, Stalin tweeted: Attended the swearing-in of TN CM today. Hope that she fulfils her election promises and works hard for the people of TN. Wish her best. Interestingly, he did not say a word about the insult perceived by his father.

With this gesture, Stalin seems to have scored brownie points over his political rival. DMK functionary Saravanan said, It shows the quality of our leader, and increases our respect for his approach. At the same time it exposes Jayalalithaas unchanged attitude.

However, Jayalalithaa sought to put a lid on the controversy with her statement that there was no intention to insult him or his party, and that officials were merely following the protocol manual. She also thanked Stalin for attending the swearing-in ceremony, and said she looked forward to work with his party for the betterment of the state.

AIADMK leader Avadi Kumar said, Amma has given due respect to everyone who attended the ceremony. If the DMK had informed the officials about his participation in the event they would have given him a prominent row. The people of Tamil Nadu have rejected their party in the poll and so out of frustration Karunanidhi has been lamenting.

However, while Jayalalithaa said her officials were only following the protocol manual, many questioned how then her aide Sasiskala and family -- who hold no official designation  could occupy the first row, and also how a losing candidate like Sarathkumar could be given prime position.

Old-timers recall that this is not the first time such an incident has happened where the DMK has been put in its place, so to say. On March 23, 2002, when Jayalalitha took oath as chief minister, then DMK general secretary and leader of the opposition Prof K Anbazhagan was seated in the sixth row, along with Stalin. Jayalalithaa had issued a similar statement at that time as well, regretting what had happened and blaming the officials for the seating snafu.

Political analyst Gnani Sankaran said, This is a welcome move by Jayalalithaa and she should extend such an attitude towards everything. Bureaucrats generally behave in this way to satisfy their master. The officials are to be blamed for such action.

On Tuesday, Stalin was unanimously elected the DMKs legislative party leader in the assembly, making him the leader of the opposition. With 89 MLAs occupying the opposition benches for the first time, their strength is a matter of concern for the ruling party.

Perhaps the bonhomie between the chief minister and her rival is a pointer to how things will unfold in the assembly in the days to come.

Image: DMK treasurer M K Stalin and a host of party colleagues attend J Jayalalithaas swearing-in ceremony as chief minister of Tamil Nadu in Chennai on May 23, 2016. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa states that NEET is a direct infringement on the state's rights & would cause injustice to the students. TE Narasimhan reports

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has asked the Centre to let the state continue with its existing system of admission to medical and dental colleges and not be forced to implement National Eligibility cum Entrance Test even in the future.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a first after taking over as the chief minister, Jayalalithaa thanked him for the speedy promulgation of an Ordinance on NEET. It provided for an exemption from NEET for this academic year (2016-17) with respect to the state government seats (in government or private medical colleges) at an under-graduate level.

This has, for the time being, put to rest the mental agony, stress and anxiety of lakhs of students and their parents that are aspiring for medical admission in the current year under the state quota, she said.

"The introduction of NEET would be a direct infringement on the rights of the state and would cause grave injustice to the students of Tamil Nadu who have already been covered by a fair and transparent admission policy laid down by the government of Tamil Nadu, which has been working well," the chief minister wrote.

While the Ordinance would temporarily address the issue for the current year, Tamil Nadus situation is distinct and different from other states, she said.

The government has taken a number of steps, from 2005 onwards, in the direction of systematising the admission process to medical colleges, later abolished entrance examinations for professional undergraduate courses in the state, by enacting the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006.

This Act was finally given effect to after receiving the assent of the President under Article 254(2) of the Constitution. This Act has been upheld by a decision of the division bench of the Madras high court which was affirmed by the Supreme Court, she explained.

This measure was taken keeping in view the interests of students, particularly from the weaker sections and rural areas, to ensure that a level playing field is created, she added.

Common entrance exams favour 'urban elite'

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government's stance is that the rural students and students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds will be unable to compete with urban elite students in such Common Entrance Examinations, which are designed to favour the "urban elite".

The rural students will be put to great disadvantage because they lack the resources to enroll in training institutions and access materials available to urban students.

A large number of socially and economically backward meritorious rural students have benefited by the states decision to abolish the Common Entrance Examination, she claimed.

The introduction of NEET would nullify the implementation of the policy initiatives and socio-economic objectives of the State, as the regulations for a national test may not have such enabling provisions.

The national test is out of tune with the prevailing socio-economic milieu and administrative requirements of Tamil Nadu.

She requested the prime minister to take necessary measures to ensure that Tamil Nadu is permitted to continue its existing system.
The German police had received information about plans to carry out a bomb attack on a gurdwara in Essen by a group of teenagers from one of the suspects' mother some weeks before an explosive was detonated there, media reports have claimed.

Even though the police in North Rhine Westphalia had initiated some punitive measures and took other steps after receivng the information on the attack plans from one of the suspects' mother, a final evaluation of the documents given by her took place only on April 26, ten days after the attack on Nanaksar Satsangh Sabha Gurdwara, the reports said.

Yussuf T and Mohammad B, 16, the two main suspects in the attack as well as their 17year-old accomplice Tolga I had drawn up detailed plans to fight "infidels" and made notices and sketches on a writing pad.

The trio also assigned different tasks among themselves and picked up Yussuf as the "Emir" (group leader) while Tolga was given the responsibility to procure money and Mohammed was put in charge of "assembly", TV channels WDR and NDR and the Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing the findings of an investigative work by a team of their journalists.

Tolga's mother, who found the writing pad in her son's room, was alarmed by the plans being hatched by the three teenagers and handed over to police photos of the notices and sketches three weeks before a selfmade bomb was allegedly detonated by Yussuf and Mohammad at the entrance of the Nanaksar Satsangh Sabha Gurdwara on the evening of April 16, the report said.

The explosion ripped through the entrance hall of the Sikh temple, causing serious injuries to a 60yearold priest, who was hospitalised. Two others were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the blast.

The interior ministry of NRW said last month that the two men wanted to explode their bomb, a fire extinguisher filled with explosives, inside the gurdwara, which hosted a wedding ceremony attended by over 200 wedding guests a few hours earlier, but they could not break in through the entrance door.

Most of the wedding guests had left the gurdwara to attend a reception in a nearby hall when the bomb was detonated.

The three suspects in the bomb attack have been known to the security authorities in different connection, but the information on them collected by various departments were not put together for a long time, the report said.

Yussuf participated in an antiradicalisation programme of the Interior Ministry for more than six months. Mohammad has been under police observation since he presented himself as "Kuffar Killer" (killer of infidels) on his Facebook profile.

All the three men were also known to police because of their close contact with a radical clergy at a mosque in the nearby town of Duisberg.

Even though the police had initiated some punitive measures and took other steps after receiving the information on the attack plans from Tolga's mother, a final evaluation of the documents given by her took place only on April 26, 10 days after the attack, the report said, citing official documents.

The police in the town of Gelsenkirchen admitted on Monday it was a failure that they did not react resolutely to a warning received from Yussufs school in January.

The head of the secondary school had informed the police that Yussuf had shown to his fellow students a video of the detonation of a self-made explosive device on his mobile phone.

Several says after the explosion, investigators found the video of the explosion of a selfmade bomb on a USB drive taken from Mohammad's house during a raid.

Investigators now believe that it was a "trial detonation" for the attack planned on the gurdwara.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he congratulated his friend T M Thomas Issac for, what he sarcastically said, taking over as "Finance Minister of Somalia".

Modi had compared the infant mortality rate among tribals in Kerala with that of African country Somalia during the election campaign rally, which triggered widespread criticism from political parties in the state.

Ramesh said he made a phone call to Issac soon after he saw reports that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has decided to give the crucial Finance Ministry portfolio to the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader, who is also an economist.

"I called Issac and congratulated him on taking over as Finance Minister of 'Somalia'. He had a hearty laugh and said Modi's comment was an insult to all Malayalees," the former Union minister told PTI.

Both the Congress and the CPI-M had flayed the prime minister for not withdrawing his controversial remarks that "the situation with the child death ratio among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is scarier than even Somalia."

During his conversation with Issac, Ramesh also took a dig at factionalism in the CPI-M, telling him to keep an eye on V S Achuthanandan whom a ceremonial title of 'Kerala's Fidel Castro' was awarded by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

"I told Issac watch out for Fidel Castro and G Sudhakaran," the Congress leader said.

Sudhakaran, considered to be a rival of Issac in the CPI-M in Alappuzha district, is the new Kerala Public Works Department Minister.
IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee being received by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr. Liu Zhenmin, on his arrival in Beijing, China. Photograph: PIB

Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's talks with the Chinese leaders, the state media on Wednesday criticised the western media for attempting to drive a "wedge" between the two Asian giants by "hyping up" competition between them over Iran's Chabahar port.

The visit of the Indian president, which follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's India trip two years ago, is set to open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations and yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Mukherjee arrived in Beijing on Wednesday from Guangzhou after addressing a India-China Business Forum in which top Chinese and Indian businessmen took part.

He is due to have talks with Xi and other Chinese leaders on Thursday.

"But some western media have attempted to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants," it said, specially highlighting Chabahar port which will be developed by India to open transit routes from Iran to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.

"One of the latest targets of their (western media) smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Iran's southern port of Chabahar. The seaport is about 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable," the commentary said.

"Such hype is both untrue and harmful. China and India do have differences, but those differences are outnumbered and dwarfed by their consensuses and aspiration for win-win cooperation," it said.

"The common interests and interdependence between China and India are deep and close, and robust enough to withstand the onslaught of those ill-intentioned Western media," it said.

"Yet, the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among western media. Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation-addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions," the commentary said.

"For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda," it said.

Recalling Mukherjee's interview with Chinese journalists ahead of his visit in which he said India and China have witnessed "unprecedented expansion and diversification of bilateral relationship," the commentary said there was 23 fold increase in trade between the two countries in the last 14 years.

"In fact, the first 14 years of the 21st century witnessed a 23-fold-increase in the trade volume between the two partners. With frequent exchanges among their top leaders, the two neighbours have successfully developed deep mutual trust and profound common interest," it said.

"The two sides have reached consensus even on their thorniest issue -- the border dispute. India seeks a 'fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable' settlement of the question," and China is committed to working with India to accelerate the negotiation and solve the issue at an early date, it said.

The two countries have established a number of boundary-related mechanisms, including the Special Representatives' Meeting on China-India Boundary Question, whose 19th round was held in Beijing last month, it said.
The Left Democratic Front government, which assumed office in Kerala on Wednesday, decided to handover the probe into the brutal rape and murder of a 30-year old Dalit woman to a new team headed by a senior woman IPS officer, taking a serious view of alleged lapses in the investigation so far.

Additional Director General of Police B Sandhya would head the team that would probe the case of rape and murder of the law student last month, which was in focus during the assembly polls campaign with political parties attacking the then United Democratic Front regime for tardy progress in the investigation and failure to nab the culprits.

There were lapses from the time of preparing the 'mahazar' to the cremation of her body, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said briefing reporters on the decisions taken in his first cabinet meeting.

"Public opinion is that the present probe mechanism should change and a women police officer should investigate," he said adding, "In view of that, the cabinet decided to appoint a new team headed by ADGP B Sandhya."

The woman was murdered in her home on April 28. The accused are yet to be arrested.

The murder, which took place in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, had been a major campaign plank of the LDF in the run up to the May 16 assembly elections.

There was widespread dissatisfaction over the manner the investigation was handled with the culprits yet to be brought to book even after more than a month of the crime.

The government also decided to ensure that the victim's mother would be given Rs 5,000 monthly pension so that she would not be forced to take up odd jobs for her living. The victim's sister would be given a job immediately, Vijayan said.

The previous UDF government had decided to give the victim's elder sister a job to enable the family to pull through. However, this has not yet been implemented.

A house was being built for the family and it would be completed in 45 days time, Vijayan said.

The incident had drawn comparisons to the 2012 Delhi gangrape case that sparked widespread outrage and nationwide protests demanding an end to the growing incidents of sexual assault and abuse of women across the country.
'Of all the areas that define the future for a strong US-India partnership, none is more important than our defence and security ties.'

Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.

IMAGE: US Defence Secretary Dr Ashton Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar aboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower. Photograph: Senior Master Sergeant Adrian Cadiz

The Obama administration's point person for South Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, was circumspect when asked directly by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if any security cooperation agreements were on tap when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington, DC for yet another working summit with President Obama on June 7.

Assistant Secretary of State Biswal, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the topic of US-India Relations: Balancing Progress and Managing Expectations, said, 'We have already strengthened our security cooperation on a number of fronts and certainly (Defence) Secretary (Ash) Carter's visit earlier this year (to India) was key in advancing many of those things.'

'We are looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation,' she said, and noted, 'We just launched a Maritime Security Dialogue, and we have, as I noted, undertaken a great deal of activity in terms of co-production and co-development of various next generation technologies and we are looking to see if there are additional things that we can conclude during the prime minister's visit.'

Biswal disclosed that 'We are hopeful that progress will be made on some of the foundational agreements, including the Logistics Agreement -- that it might be concluded prior to the visit (which makes it likely that there will be a formal signing by Obama and Modi) and we are looking to see if there are other things that we can take on board.'

Asked if the US-India civilian nuclear deal that has remained in limbo for the past eight years in terms of implementation, may see some tangible movement, the senior State Department official said, 'I do believe that issues that bedeviled progress on the civil nuclear deal being implemented and having a commercial viable deal take place, have been issues of liability, and under the previous administration there had not been an ability to move forward on liability concerns.'

'The breakthrough understanding that President Obama and Prime Minister Modi achieved last January on his Republic Day visit was with this particular issue of liability,' Biswal noted.

'India,' she said, 'has subsequently ratified the International Convention on Supplementary Compensation and has therefore confirmed and attested that its liability laws will be in compliance with the international convention.'

'India,' Biswal pointed out, 'has also moved to establish aninsurance pool that can again help address issues of liability. We believe that the steps that India has taken has addressed by and large the key concerns that had been in place and it is now for US companies to make the commercial determinations.'

'I believe that it is going to be different for each company,' Biswal acknowledged and said, 'There are companies that are moving aggressively forward on pursuing a commercial deal and are quite close, and there are companies that are perhaps have a different risk perception and are moving a little bit more cautiously in that space.'

'Those are going to be individual determinations that companies are going to have to make in terms of what the risk profile is that they are comfortable with,' Biswal said, 'but we believe that the commitments are in place and largely address the concerns that we had raised with them very consistently over the past decade.'

Earlier, in her testimony, Biswal said, 'When President Obama welcomes Prime Minister Modi to Washington next month, we will be able to say with confidence that relations between our two great democracies have never been stronger, even as both sides recognise there is much more to be done.'

'Of all the areas that define the future and help frame the stakes for a strong US-India partnership,' Biswal said, 'none is more prescient and important in my opinion than our defence and security ties,' and argued, 'without ensuring the safety and security of our democracies, the other areas of cutting-edge cooperation would simply not be possible.'

'Our defence and security partnership with India is critically important to securing US interests in Asia and across the Indo-Pacific region,' she said.

'As you probably read after Secretary Carter's recent visit to India,' Biswal noted, 'we are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow our armed forces to use each other's bases for re-supply and repair.'

'We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean,' Biswal added.

'The Maritime Security Dialogue,' she explained, 'provides an important channel to discuss such cooperation -- it was launched under the auspices of the our Joint Strategic Vision and met for the first time this month, co-led by the Departments of Defence and State.'

'All of these efforts,' she said, 'are built toward enabling India to become a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean region and beyond.'

'We have also expanded our cooperation with India to combat terrorism and violent extremism,' Biswal noted, 'and continue to work toward finalising a bilateral agreement to exchange intelligence and terrorist watch-list information.'

'This cooperation, which includes regular training through the State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance programme, as well as joint sponsorship of terrorist designations at the United Nations, has made both our nations more secure,' she added.

'Underpinning all elements of our relationship are our people-to-people ties,' Biswal said, 'which have grown stronger than ever throughout this administration.'

'Our efforts to promote tourism have paid off handsomely, with the number of Indian visitors to the United States going from less than 550,000 in 2009 to over 960,000 in 2014, while their spending nearly tripled over the same period, to $9.5 billion.'

'The number of Indian students studying in the United States increased over 30 percent from 2009 to 2015, reaching over 130,000 and bringing an estimated $3.6 billion into the US economy,' she pointed out.

'Overall,' she said, 'our long-running US government exchange programmes have graduated over 15,000 alumni from India, including six current and former heads of State, 35 members of parliament, 11 chief ministers, and other leaders in business, civil society, academia, and the arts.'
While his critics described him as a leader with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala, his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line.

Communist Party of India-Marxist strongman Pinarayi Vijayan, who hails from a poor toddy tappers family, has earned the reputation of being a hard taskmaster and an organisation man to the core and is probably the most feared politician of Kerala.

Vijayan, 72, is perhaps the only party leader in the southern state in recent years to have had a complete control over the party for 16 years till he stepped down from the post of state secretary last year.

Popularly known as Pinarayi, he pipped his bitter rival V S Achuthanandan to become the chief minister, notwithstanding the spirited campaign by the 93-year-old leader to ensure the Lefts victory in the assembly elections.

The CPI-M leader is a party politburo member, who belongs to the politically dominant Thiyya community, like his party rival Achuthanandan, who is an Ezhava from South Kerala.

A man of few words, he proved his organisational capability in the state during his stint as state secretary. He had a short stint as the states power minister during 1996-1998.

The cloud of a graft case in connection with awarding of contract to a Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for modernisation of three hydel projects during that period haunted him with his rivals using it to target him.

Vijayan has always maintained that it was a politically motivated case and there was no wrongdoing.

While his critics described him as a leader with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala, his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line.

During his rule as state secretary, the infighting in the party between Vijayan and his bete noire Achuthanandan came to the fore.

His elevation to the chief ministers chair is also seen as a victory in the bitter power struggle with Achuthanandan, a popular leader who campaigned extensively during the assembly election and was in the race for the top post.

Vijayan was suspended from the Politburo in 2007, along with Achuthanandan, after the two openly criticised each other through the media. Later, they were reinstated. However, Achuthanandan was again dropped from the highest party body for breaching party discipline.

Vijayan proved his mettle as an able administrator during his short stint as power minister in the Left Democratic Front ministry headed by late E K Nayanar during the period 1996-1998.

During his tenure, the state witnessed a giant leap in power generation and distribution capacities due to the productive measures taken by him as a minister.

Apart from the SNC-Lavalin case, the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan, a former CPI-M leader, at Onjiyam in Kozhikode in 2012, when he was the party state secretary, dented Vijayans image.

Vijayan was born on March 21, 1944 to Mundayil Koran and Kalyani in Pinarayi in Kannur district, the place where the Communist movement in Kerala began.

He became the Kannur district secretary of the Kerala Students Federation while studying for BA (Economics) in BrennenCollege in Thalassery and also worked as a handloom weaver after his schooling for a year before being able to continue his higher studies.

He went on to become its state secretary and, later, state president of the KSF. In 1968, at the age of 24, Vijayan even found a place in the Kannur district committee of the CPI-M.

Two years later, the party gifted Vijayan a sure ticket at Koothuparambu and he became an MLA at the age of 26.

Vijayan was elected to the state legislative assembly three times later in 1977, 1991 and 1996. He rose to prominence when he won in 1977 and again in 1991 from the same constituency. With better grip on the party, he became the CPI-M district secretary in Kannur in 1978.

Vijayan, who took part in various agitations, was subjected to torture during the Emergency and during earlier agitations. He once recalled that six policemen continuously beat him on the night of September 28, 1975 till he fainted in the lockup.

After his release, he came to the Assembly and made a powerful speech holding up the blood-stained shirt he wore during the assault on him in the police lockup.

His speech attacking then home minister and senior Congress leader late K Karunakaran was considered to be a glorious chapter in the legislative papers.

Besides his wife, Vijayan has a son and a daughter in his family.
A row erupted on Wednesday over Amitabh Bachchan's participation in the second anniversary celebrations of the National Democratic Alliance government in New Delhi on May 28 with the Congress targeting him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the light of the mega star's name figuring in the Panama Papers expose.

After Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala raised questions of propriety in Bachchan "hosting" the event and asked what signal would it send to the probe agencies, the actor was quoted as having said it would be actor R Madhavan, and not him, who would host the event and that he is scheduled to anchor only a segment on 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'.

The 73-year-old star also said that he does not think they (Congress) are aware that he was not hosting the event.

The Bharatiya Janata Party came out in strong defence of Bachchan for his association with the event despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child and attacked the Congress for its "mental disability" in fueling a row.

"Would it be fair? ....What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad illegally? What signal are you sending?" when they see the prime minister sharing the dais with Bachchan, Surjewala told reporters.

Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star "hosting" the event which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others would not dilute the fight against black money.

He recalled that the prime minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those guilty.

BJP leader and Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no effect if he attends the event.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things."

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

The actor's son Abhishek Bachchan also hit back, saying his father is only part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child.

"It is not a political event. He is part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child. That's not a political event," Abhishek told reporters.

The Panama Papers -- based on an investigation by over 100 news organisations around the world -- is a global list revealing offshore links of over 500 Indians, including Amitabh. Amitabh has denied links with any of the offshore companies.

Sharma said Bachchan is anchoring a programme linked to the important social issue of "beti bachao, beti padhao" and creating a row over it reflects the Congress' "negative mindset due to which it has lost connect with the public".

"The Congress should first take action against its own leaders who are involved in various scams and corruption," he said, adding that former Congress Minister and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur's name figures among those possessing Swiss bank accounts and is being probed.

Hussain said Bachchan is a super-star who has done a lot of good in films and Congress is unnecessarily trying to create a controversy involving him.

"Amitabh Bachchan is a superstar and people of the country love him more than at least Rahul Gandhi. The superstar has done a lot of good work in films and they should not see this as a reason for Congress to feel jealous about," he said.

Rawal said, "Congress has no issue. They do so just like you throw a stone at any big man and you will get some name. The Congress has no standing now. That is why they are doing so."

"Amitji has done a lot for Gujarat, why no issue was created then and why now? They dont have an issue and they are in search of an issue, it is their obsession. They don't have an issue, it is a bogus issue like the award-return row," he said, adding that people are forgetting them even otherwise.

The Congress has sought to embarrass the Narendra Modi government on the association of Amitabh Bachchan with an event in New Delhi on May 28 to mark its second anniversary at a time when the megastar is being probed in the Panama papers expose.

Party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also raised several questions over the issue, wondering whether the megastar hosting the event which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not dilute the fight against black money, as he had vowed to such money stashed abroad and punish the guilty.
Ukraine's Vice Premier for European Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze and NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow have discussed cooperation between Ukraine and NATO and the support of military reform.

"Good meeting w/ Vice PM @IKlympush. Discussed #NATO's continued commitment to #Ukraine & support for defense reform," Vershbow tweeted on Tuesday.
Acknowledging the killing of its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban have announced Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor.

Mansour was killed in a rare United States drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced on Sunday, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in the war-torn country.

Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces on Saturday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said.

The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants.

The strike has strained ties between Washington and Islamabad once again with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday condemning the drone attack as violation of Pakistan's territory and stating that the incident may lead to serious implications.

Khan said he cannot understand that Mansour was a hurdle in peace process as he was at helms of affairs when the first round of direct talks was held in Murree in July last year.

He said that second round planned on July 31 last year was sabotaged when it was revealed that Mullah Omar was dead.

Khan said progress was made in the first round and Taliban "had agreed to declare Kabul as conflict free zone."

However, Washington has reiterated that even though it respects Pakistan's sovereignty it will carry out strikes to eliminate terrorists who are targeting its forces.
As many as 20 Union ministers are expected to visit different parts of Gujarat between May 27 and June 12 to participate in the 'Vikas Parv' (development festival) organised by the Bharatiya Janata Partys state unit.

The 'Vikas Parv' is being organised to celebrate the completion of two years in office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government and Chief Minister Anandiben Patel-led Gujarat government.

Some of the key ministers expected to visit the state include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, as per a tentative list issued by the state BJP on Wednesday.

"All these ministers may visit Gujarat between May 27 and June 12. They are scheduled to participate in various 'Vikas Parv' gatherings and rallies in different parts of the state," Gujarat BJP's media convener Harshad Patel told PTI.

As per the schedule, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, along with Minister of State for HRD Ram Shankar Katheria, would address party workers and citizens here on May 27.

On the same day, Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar would visit Surat.

While Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and MoS-Science and Technology Y S Chowdhary are likely visit Vadodara, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and MoS-Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla would visit Bhuj.

Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu along with junior Finance Minister Jayant Sinha are scheduled to visit Rajkot.

Jaitley and MoS-HRD Upendra Kushwaha would address rallies in Anand, while Home Minister Rajnath Singh and MoS Defence Inderjit Singh Rao are likely to visit Porbandar.

While Swaraj along with MoS for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi would visit Surendranagar, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan and MoS-Food Processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti are expected to visit Bhavnagar.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and MoS-Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan would visit Morbi and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar may take part in Junagadh.

BJP patriarch and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Gandhinagar LK Advani would address party workers and citizens on May 26 as part of the celebrations.
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.

A scathing indictment of India's human rights violations by a bipartisan group of senior United States senators must have been the last thing the pro-India lobby, friends, supporters and well-wishers of India -- not to mention the Government of India -- would have expected days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fourth visit to the US.

But that is exactly what transpired at a hearing convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, billed as 'US-India Relations: Balancing Progress and Managing Expectations,' where India was raked over the coals for everything from human trafficking to gender violence and discrimination and persecution of minorities and religious freedom issues to slavery. Yes, slavery.

Committee chairman Senator Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, who, two days ago, met the presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, and was being touted as a possible vice-presidential running mate for Trump, firing the first salvo, said, 'I would say that while this committee has been unanimously supportive of an end modern day slavery movement, the United States also believes that India has the largest number of slaves.'

'I am not talking about people working for $1 a day, I am talking about people who are enslaved,' the senator said.

'India,' Corker said, 'has 12 to 14 million slaves, more than any country in the world. There are 27 million slaves in the world. How does a country like this have 12 to 14 million slaves in the year 2016? How does it happen?'

'Do they have zero prosecution ability, zero law enforcement? How could this happen on such a scale? It's pretty incredible,' he added.

'It's a huge challenge in this massive country to deal with the issues with uniform capacity and capability to address the rights of every individual,' Assistant Secretary of State of State for South Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal, who was testifying before the committee, argued.

'We do think there is a lot more that can and should be done to address the issues of trafficking,' she said.

'I would say the awareness is increasing and there is a commitment at the national level to deal with these issues,' Biswal, to her credit, putting up a stout defence, added, 'and we have seen them break up trafficking rings in places like Chennai.'

'But,' she reiterated, 'There is a long way to go and there is an economic reality that is going to incentivise, unfortunately, the existence of such kind of criminal network. It will be increasingly incumbent upon India to advance the rule of law across all aspects of its society to ensure that such conditions and these kinds of trafficking do not exist.'

'We are committed to support these efforts and to be a partner in that endeavour,' Biswal said.

IMAGE: A protest outside a church in New Delhi in February 2015. Christian protesters were then demanding better government protection amid concern about rising intolerance after a series of attacks on churches.

Corker, apparently unconvinced, told Biswal, 'I get the feeling, listening to your testimony, that some of the concerns on both sides (Republicans and Democrats on the committee) have had is that we are not as brutally honest about our relationship with India as we should be, and it benefits neither them nor us.'

'It just seems that it's a huge country and we see promises there, (but) we don't see much action, but we are not just that honest in our discussions about some of the issues that have been raised here, whether human rights, slavery, or lack of intellectual property issues, that have been brought up,' he said.

Corker also bemoaned the US-India nuclear deal being in limbo vis-a-vis implementation, eight years after its signing, saying, 'it never materialised in anything that mattered yet.'

'Long time ago,' he recalled, 'one of the first votes I made in the Senate was in favour of the deal.'

'So, do we just walk around these issues with India and hit them on the edges, but have a fear about fully addressing the issues head-on with them?' Corker asked Biswal.

'I would actually take exception with that characterization, Mr Chairman,' Biswal asserted, 'because I do believe that we have a very robust, a very honest and very transparent discourse.'

'We are a very transparent democracy and the concerns that we have are communicated very clearly at very senior levels to the Indian government,' she said, and argued, 'India is also an extraordinarily transparent democracy. The issues that we raise are not only issues that we are raising, but they are grappling with these issues in the context of their own democracy and debate.'

What 'the (Obama) administration seeks to do is to find the places where our engagement on these issues can have the kind of results and actions that, in a constructive way, we would like to see,' Biswal said.

'That's not to say that we don't engage in a candid and brutally honest conversation,' Biswal acknowledged. 'Our human rights report, our religious freedom report, our Trafficking in Persons report, lays bare in a very clear and detailed terms the concerns that we have and the assessments that we make, and these are conveyed and communicated very clearly to the government of India, and the Indian people at large.'

'That said,' Biswal noted, 'we do have a desire to advance this relationship in a way that, I think, is going to be increasingly important to both our countries, to both our peoples, to both our economies.'

The ranking Democrat on the committee, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and other members, obviously lobbied strongly by the likes of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Christian and Sikh American groups, and NGOs like Human Rights Watch, brought up human rights issues and assailed New Delhi, not reminiscent in recent years following the exponential growth of the US-India strategic partnership.

While there was certainly an appreciation by virtually all the members of the committee of the galloping US-India defence and military relationship, counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation, climate change rapport and India's support for the US-led effort in Paris, the likes of Cardin made remarks such as, 'This is a democratic ally, a friend, but are we being candid with them with regard to what is expected regarding issues like trafficking?'

'Absolutely, we are being candid,' Biswal shot back. 'Ultimately it is an issue of Indian capacity to address the very large complex networks...'

Before she could complete her sentence, Cardin also brought up the 'anti-conversion laws,' which, he said, 'are also problematic to how they are dealing with religious freedom.'

'We have specific dialogues that focus on human rights, trafficking, and religious freedom issues, including our Global Issues Forum at the under secretary level, where we go through in great detail in the areas of concern,' Biswal said.

She informed the senators that 'in the way we do our diplomacy, we make clear the values that we stand for in ensuring we are engaging all communities and ethnicities and religions in India -- that we are engaging with civil society as a core component of the relationship.'

'And we look to partner, not only at the national-level, but also at the state-level, where many of these challenges manifest, to see what kinds of solutions, for example, in the specific instance of combating gender-based violence, we know that this is about how local law enforcement improves and acts on an existing stricture,' she said.

'So, we are trying to deepen our cooperation with Indian law enforcement agencies on community policing and creating greater awareness on best practices on how to combat gender-based violence,' Biswal added.

'So, across all these areas, we do try to engage constructively both at the national and the state-level,' she said.

An example of the back and forth on religious freedom and human rights issues -- and the grievances of minorities like Sikhs -- that transpired at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on India.

This is between Senator Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, and Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal, during which Kaine strongly brought up the denial of visas for members of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom to visit India on a fact-finding mission.

Kaine: The Indian government denied visas to American researchers in March, who were going as part of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. These were researchers who worked to prepare the annual report about religious freedom around the world. That's the most unusual action, isn't it?

Biswal: We certainly would have encouraged them to allow these researchers to travel because we believe it would foster greater understanding, support and dialogue between US CIRF and Indian authorities, and would enable them to have a more comprehensive report and understanding.

Kaine: I was not exactly clear about your testimony; I just was distracted for a second. In the past, have similar researchers been denied visas in India, or have they been allowed in?

Biswal: It is my recollection that we have never been able to gain entry or visas for them to travel to India in successive Indian administrations. That has been a longstanding policy of the Indian government that we have not been able to change.

Kaine: What has been the general policy with respect to other nations' willingness to grant visas to researchers from the US commission?

Biswal: I suspect that it is a mixed and uneven record, but I can't tell you definitively what it is across the board.

Kaine: The 2015 report of the commission was pretty hard on India and in fact on India's -- I think in their conclusion -- sort of declining religious tolerance or, maybe, as you said, the reversed increased instances of sectarian tension and disturbances, as I recall.

Biswal: I believe that is correct.

Kaine: From my constituents, I have a very vibrant Indian-American community in Virginia, as you know, including a pretty active Sikh community. The Sikh community, in particular, has expressed a lot of concerns about Indian governmental response, for example, to desecration of Sikh religious texts and sites in certain parts of the country and what they view as an inadequate government response to that. Has your office been following those concerns as well?

Biswal: We have been and we have also engaged with the Sikh community here in the United States.

Kaine: I met with the Indian ambassador to the United States in recent months to talk about this and shared my very significant concern about it, and I think the message was delivered.

I think the explanation was, during election seasons, sometimes such things can happen and after the election season, tensions abate a little bit, but I wasn't completely satisfied with that answer, and I consider myself a strong supporter of this bilateral relationship.

I also understand that over these issues of religious tolerance in India, there have been, recently, a number of artists and others who have been refusing cultural prizes to try to make a kind of public statement of concern about the state of religious tolerance and liberty in India. Am I correct in that?

Biswal: There has been a fairly vigorous and vociferous debate within India with respect to issues of religious freedoms and religious tolerance.

Kaine: This is an issue that, I think, is a really important one for us to stay up on and we are going to have the opportunity, which I really look forward to, to have the prime minister in Washington soon, but it is India's status as secular democracy, as you described, that is a really important one, but you got to have that status if people don't feel like they are going to be hurt or punished for how they choose to worship.

Biswal: If I may comment, Senator, my own perspective on this issue is that there is no more robust voice than the voice of the Indian people that is taking up these issues with increasing vigor and public debate.

It is on the headlines of Indian newspapers that you are seeing a very active engagement on this issue. I think these are issues and these are values that we hold very dear that we bring into the conversation, but we try to do it in as constructive a way as possible to not take away from the fact that these are issues that Indians must grapple with and get right for their own country, for their own democracy, for their own society; and that we, in the United States, have experiences to share, lessons to share, best practices to share, but we seek to do that in a way that respects and honours the fact that this democracy has a very vibrant and very vocal civil society and media and political party system that is also trying to get this right.

Kaine: That has certainly been my experience as I visited. A heartening aspect of India today is that (there is) a vibrant civil society that is not shy at all about raising these issues.
With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata Banerjee as "ultra left."

Payal Mohanka reports on how Mamata hijacked the Left plank.

As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee prepares to occupy her spacious 14th floor chamber with its panoramic view of Kolkata in the Nabanna building, the state government headquarters across the Hooghly, leaders of the Left Front introspect. Helplessly, they watch their mantra hijacked as the state prepares for the swearing-in on May 27 of "the more Left than the Left" chief minister.

Analysts crunch numbers and dissect the verdict: Trinamool Congress: 211 out of 294, the Left Front-Congress combine: 77, the Bharatiya Janata Party: 3, Others: 3.

In West Bengal, the Left's vote has dropped from 41% in the 2011 assembly polls to 26.1% in 2016. The main loser of this election is the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which lost a third of its voters compared with 2011.

The unkindest cut for a party which ruled the state for 34 continuous years is the fact that the Communists did worse than their ally, the Congress, thus relegated to third place in West Bengal.

Did the Left go wrong? Or did Didi, the common man's chief minister, just hijack its plank with her 'ma mati manush' mantra?

With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata, as "ultra left."

In 2008 after the Left Front withdrew support to Dr Manmohan Singh's government over the India-US nuclear deal the Congress and TMC came together.

"Singur and Nandigram," says a political observer, "were incidental. The more significant factor was that a chunk of the ideology-driven grass-root level members of the Left Front migrated to the TMC. Ideology slowly made way for money, position and power."

Gradually, the Left saw its percentage of votes reducing. In a bid for survival, it realised that it had to join forces with the Congress.

While the Communists lost touch with the masses, which was their USP, Mamata began making successful inroads into their bastion.

She marched into districts and established a direct connect with the masses.

"This turned out to be an effective management tool. Greater accessibility and over a hundred meetings in the districts to monitor activity across different sectors have made administration easier," says an official who has attended many such meetings in the districts.

The CPI-M's well-oiled party machinery was its greatest asset. It was not just a popular mandate that had ensured its return to power for over three decades. Today, the funds are drying up and it has no source of income to support its machinery.

"In a large number of polling booths in the recent elections," a bureaucrat points out, "a number of Left candidates did not have polling agents in the booths."

Has the Left lost its relevance then in West Bengal?

"I studied the Soviet constitution in college in the mid-eighties," says a civil servant. "I went back to college in 1996 to meet my old professors. Interestingly, though the Soviet Union broke up in 1989, the college was still teaching the Soviet constitution as part of the paper on comparative constitutions. This is symptomatic of the problems of the Left."

Those who worked in the Left regimes recall how difficult it was to convince even the most pragmatic, solution-oriented Left leader when it came to issues regarding industry.

"I could not convince him that heavy industries was not the way forward for a densely populated state such as West Bengal with its very fertile soil and that we should go into services," recalls one bureaucrat. "The response I got left me helpless, 'No no, we have done what we wanted to do in the primary sector, now we can't go straight to the tertiary sector, we have to go to the secondary sector.' That didn't make sense to me because there are entire countries such as Ireland and Denmark that are relying on the tertiary sector."

The same officer finds the Mamata regime less rigid, more flexible and adaptable.

Civil servants under the Left were bound by rules making the system slow and bureaucratic. Rules were sacrosanct.

"Paradoxically, this government is far less bureaucratic, bureaucrats have far more freedom," he adds.

Mamata's critics say she does not hesitate to break a rule if it is a hurdle in her path. While speed of delivery has improved, so has her image grown as an autocratic administrator with scant respect for rules.

Moving with the times, Mamata is wooing business and investment in the state.

In 2003 the Left Front government's premium PSU for the development of industry in Bengal had made good profits. Eager to make an announcement, the team approached their chairman. His first reaction left them speechless: 'A government entity making money, will that be right to announce?'

Business and money were unholy words in that era.

"Mamata is definitely not elitist. But neither does she have the earlier hang-up that it should look poor, so the poor can identify with it. Without a doubt, she is populist, but not necessarily in a pejorative way, explains a bureaucrat.

Political observers in the state feel it is wrong to flog the Left for combining with the Congress for this assembly election. It was the only route available to the Left. Had it gone alone, the BJP, which won 10.2% of the votes this election, would have made even deeper inroads in the state.

At the same time, the jot (alliance) came too late and without a common agenda and ideology. "The Rahul Gandhi-Buddhadev Bhattacharya camaraderie could not get translated at the block level," says a senior government officer. "They needed to come together two years before the elections. This hurriedly stitched jot was a still-born child."

IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee addresses a rally. Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters
Ukrainian presidential aircraft to come to Rostov-on-Don within hours to swap Savchenko for 2 Russians  sources

The Ukrainian presidential aircraft will land at the Rostov-on-Don airport within the next few hours, where Ukrainian military aviator Nadia Savchenko convicted in Russia is waiting for it, several sources with knowledge of the situation told Interfax.

"The presidential aircraft carrying Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov will shortly come from Kyiv to Rostov-on-Don, where Ukrainian citizen Nadia Savchenko has already been brought," one of the sources said.

The exchange will take place at the Rostov-on-Don airport, the source said.

Another source told Interfax that Savchenko would be handed over to Ukraine under a bilateral treaty on the transfer of individuals for serving prison terms in their home countries.

"Russian law enforcement officials escorting Savchenko are already in Rostov-on-Don. Based on a bilateral agreement, Ukrainian authorities will hand over the two Russians detained in Ukraine at the same place," the source said.
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Security and humanitarian situations worsen in Diffa, Niger, as Boko Haram continues attacks in the region

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Security and humanitarian situations worsen in Diffa, Niger, as Boko Haram continues attacks in the region , 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57454a104.html [accessed 25 October 2022]

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is seeing increasing insecurity and worsening humanitarian conditions in the region of Diffa, southeastern Niger. According to government figures as of mid-May, the area was hosting over 241,000 Nigerian refugees, internally displaced people from Niger, and returning Niger nationals who had been living in Nigeria. The security situation around the towns of Diffa and Bosso, to the east, has deteriorated in recent months, with a succession of criminal incidents including suicide attacks near villages and spontaneous sites where both Nigerian refugees and the internally displaced are being sheltered.

Some 157,000 people who have fled Boko's Haram terror have settled in 135 makeshift encampments along 200 kilometres of Route National 1, a major road that runs parallel to the border with Nigeria and the Komadougou river. Two large markets along that road have been closed since April out of fear that infiltrated insurgents could attack. This hits livelihoods and the local economy. A 7pm to 5am curfew is in force across the region, which has been under a state of emergency since February 2015.

Most of the displaced along Route National 1 fled Boko Haram attacks last year in north-eastern Nigeria. The violence spilled over at times into Niger, leaving them with no other choice than to settle along the road as surrounding villages and towns are already hosting people from previous influxes and have no more capacity. Many of these people have been displaced two or three times prior to settling along the road. Both the local and displaced communities are fearful of new attacks.

Living conditions along Route National 1 are harsh: in this remote and semi-desert environment, temperatures are reaching 48 degrees Celsius at present (the current dry season), while rains that will follow in two or three months often flood the ramshackle settlements. Shelters are made of straw, and sanitation is basic, with few latrines and showers. Many children do not have access to education because of limited schooling structures in the nearby villages, which are already overcrowded, and because of closures of many schools in insecure areas close to the border. Food supplies are irregular, and the local population is not always able to share their meagre resources with the displaced people.

Aid agencies are struggling to bring assistance to the displaced due to the highly insecure environment, the increasing number of sites - some of them remote - and a lack of funding. Of US$112 million required by 22 aid agencies including UNHCR, for operations in the Diffa region in 2016 (RRRP 2016), only $20 million has been received to date. Farmers, herders, fishermen, traders, and shopkeepers have lost their main sources of incomes as a result of the displacement and insecurity in the region. Additional funding is needed to develop livelihoods for these people, so that they can become self-reliant and once again a part of the economic development in the region.

More and more refugees and internally displaced tell us they want to move further away from the volatile border area, as they fear insurgents could attack their settlements in Niger, as they did in their villages in Nigeria and Diffa. Ten days ago, at the government's request, UNHCR started to relocate hundreds of refugees from two spontaneous sites along Route National 1 to a camp some 50 kilometres from the border. Although most people prefer to live outside of the camps, they have decided to move for both protection reasons and for access to food and adequate services. The camp presently hosts some 3,000 people. The voluntary relocation of internally displaced people from the border areas to other areas, such as camps and other villages in Diffa region, where security is better ensured, is also planned in the near future.

In all, 2.7 million (2,674,421) people are displaced in the Lake Chad Basin area because of the violence linked to Boko Haram. 2.1 million are internally displaced in Nigeria. In addition, there are 241,256 displaced people in Niger (82,524 Nigerian refugees, 31,524 Niger returnees, 127,208 IDPs), including 157,945 along Route National 1; 270,210 displaced people are in Cameroon (64,938 Nigerian refugees, 169970 IDPs, 35,302 Cameroon returnees); And 7,337 Nigerian refugees are in Chad.
Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation

Publisher Forum 18 Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as Forum 18, Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574556754.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

If prosecutors proceed with their threat to liquidate the Jehovah's Witness headquarters near St Petersburg, thousands of local congregations across Russia could also face prohibition of their activities and individuals could be vulnerable to criminal charges for expressing their beliefs, Forum 18 notes.
Strange Bedfellows: Latvian Nationalists and Ethnic Russians Both Want to Block Entrance of More Russians

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Paul Goble Publication Date 24 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 101 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Strange Bedfellows: Latvian Nationalists and Ethnic Russians Both Want to Block Entrance of More Russians, 24 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 101, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745590c4.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

It has often been remarked that politics can make strange bedfellows, bringing together groups that one could not imagine agreeing on anything. That is what has been happening in Latvia, where Latvian nationalists and ethnic-Russian residents of that Baltic country-for quite different reasons-both support restricting any further immigration into Latvia from the Russian Federation. The case is instructive for what it says about the evolution of Latvian politics as well as for what it shows about the nature of ethnic-Russian identity, an identity that is far more divided and a matter of contention than many commentators in Russia and the West think.

As Baltikom radio host Vadim Rodionov points out, last month's decision by the Latvian parliament (Saeima) to introduce new barriers for recent Russian immigrants to remain in the country represents "a rare example of the unity of opinions of Latvian nationalists and 'old local Russian speakers.' " Indeed, he suggests, he personally cannot remember a single other case of this kind over the last 25 years (Spektr, April 29).

The Saeima had voted to require those Russians who received permanent residency status in Latvia as a result of purchasing property or investing there to pay an additional 5,000 euros ($5,580) for each member of their family every five years to retain that status. Many Latvians have long been upset by the earlier legislation that allowed Russians to move into their country if they had enough money to buy property. Not only did these Latvian groups not want to see more Russians enter, but they also felt that this arrangement corruptly benefited the Latvian elite by, for example, pushing up property prices.

That Latvian nationalists might want to stem the inflow of Russians to their country will come as no surprise. What is more remarkable, however, is the fact that Latvia's longtime ethnic-Russian residents-citizens and non-citizens alike-also express such a preference. One might have expected them to welcome the arrival of more of their co-ethnics, both to boost the Russian share of the population and to increase the influence of that community on Latvian political life. But they clearly do not-and for reasons that are instructive about the nature of ethnic-Russian identity today.

The Saeima's move has meant, Rodionov says, that "new Russians," as those who have recently come in under the previous rules are referred to, and "old Russians," that is, those who have been living in the country for a long time, are actually standing "on different sides of the barricades." Hence, the "old Russians" are making common cause with their longstanding opponents-Latvian nationalists.

This division of the Russian-speaking community in Latvia has involved the formation of "stereotypes" by both the old and the new. "Naturally," such stereotypes do not involve everyone on the two sides, but their development has been briskly gaining prominence within the past year. The difference between the two groups boils down to this: "Many 'oldsters' idealize [today's] Russia, celebrate it, and consequently consider 'those new ones who have flooded in' to be shameful traitors," because the new arrivals make no secret of the fact that they want to escape Vladimir Putin's Russia.

The Russian speakers who have lived in Latvia for a long time have two other reasons for taking this position, Rodionov suggests. On the one hand, they feel that "the newly arrived want to please the Latvian part of society excessively and therefore over-idealize Latvia. In a country where society is divided ethnically, this factor plays a big role." And on the other, at least some of them are motivated by simple envy: few of "the oldsters" have the money to make the kind of investments the new arrivals do.

The "new Russians" have exacerbated the situation by behaving less than respectfully toward the "old" ones, often referring to Latvia's Russians as "zombified" or by other "unpleasant epithets." And the legislation, whatever its future course may be, has deepened this split and intensified anger on both sides.

Over the past several years, Latvia, like its Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania, has become the favored place of exile for those Russians seeking to leave Vladimir Putin's increasingly authoritarian state. Indeed, many people in those countries and elsewhere are drawing comparisons with the Russian emigration to the Baltic countries nearly a century ago, following the Bolshevik revolution. And it is commonly known that the members of today's new immigrant community in Latvia typically draw a sharp distinction between themselves, as democratic and capitalist Russians, and the ethnic Russians who have lived in the Baltic countries for a long time. That the latter are perceived differently in such a way reflects both the "old Russians' " life experiences as well as the tensions between them and the new arrivals.

But the larger point here is this: "the Russian world" Moscow likes to talk about is not a unified whole. It consists of many parts, some of which-as now in Latvia-are at loggerheads. Thus, Kremlin propaganda by itself is unlikely to determine how these various parts will or will not cooperate in the future.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Savchenko's lawyers know nothing about possibility of her exchange in next few hours

Defense lawyers for convicted Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko have not been notified of the fact that she may be exchanged for Russian citizens in the next few hours.

"I know nothing about that. My colleague Mark Feygin doesn't know anything either. I think it's better for you to ask state officials," Nikolai Polozov, a lawyer for Savchenko, told Interfax on Wednesday.

Several sources with knowledge of the situation told Interfax earlier on Wednesday that the Ukrainian presidential aircraft will land at the Rostov-on-Don airport within the next few hours, where Ukrainian military aviator Nadia Savchenk, who was convicted in Russia, is waiting, several sources with knowledge of the situation told Interfax.

"The presidential aircraft carrying Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov will arrive shortly from Kyiv to Rostov-on-Don, where Ukrainian citizen Nadia Savchenko has already been brought," one of the sources said.

The exchange will take place at the Rostov-on-Don airport, the source said.

Another source told Interfax that Savchenko would be handed over to Ukraine under a bilateral treaty on the transfer of individuals for serving prison terms in their home countries.

"Russian law enforcement officials escorting Savchenko are already in Rostov-on-Don. Based on a bilateral agreement, Ukrainian authorities will hand over the two Russians detained in Ukraine at the same place," the source said.
Shoigu Builds Mythical Russian Army

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Roger McDermott Publication Date 24 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 101 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Shoigu Builds Mythical Russian Army, 24 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 101, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574559864.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Since President Vladimir Putin appointed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in November 2012, the official message from the top brass and leading defense officials presents the Russian military as advanced, reformed and undergoing modernization. Shoigu has introduced some departures from the course of reform set under his predecessor Anatoly Serdyukov (2007-2012). However, the representation of Russia's Army as a new all-powerful tool at the Kremlin's disposal is hyperbole. The many weaknesses in defense planning, reform setbacks and the systemic challenges facing the domestic defense industry have been submerged in overly glowing public relations assertions as well as masked by the Crimea operation and the air campaign in Syria (RIA Novosti, May 20).

On May 20, the Ministry of Defense officially reported on Shoigu's comments at its regular Board session. In accordance with its agenda, the management staff of the Armed Forces, representatives of state agencies and public organizations discussed action plans from 2013 to 2016, and considered the main tasks for the military to 2020. In addition, Shoigu offered an overview of the situation in Syria and Russia's operations to support Syrian government forces (Mil.ru, Interfax, May 20).

According to Shoigu, since 2013 the Russian military has made significant advances in the areas of aerospace power and in the Northern Fleet. He offered the rather odd statistic that the "combat potential" of the Armed Forces has increased by "32 percent," without explaining to his audience that this is not the same as "combat capability" or "combat readiness." The overall achievements of the Armed Forces since 2013 contributed to Russia's success in strategic tasks in the Arctic, the Crimean peninsula, the Mediterranean Sea, deep-sea areas and in the air. He asserted that the modernization of the Armed Forces' weapons and equipment is proceeding on target, with the share of modern or new items increasing to 47 percent. He highlighted the surge in combat training activities and strategic exercises, with the modern means of training growing "2.5 times." In addition to the dazzling statistical display, Shoigu said that combat training needs to change yet again, this time to take into account the "transient" nature of modern conflict and lessons from operations in Syria; he did not mention that in this "transient" scheme Russia's military has been involved in southeastern Ukraine for over two years or that its operations in Syria show no sign of ending. "Modern military conflicts are very brief. Decisions to create and prepare various groups of troops are made within tight deadlines. In view of these peculiarities and the experience gained in Syria, the armed forces are introducing new forms and methods of combat training," explained Shoigu (Mil.ru, TASS, May 20).

Undoubtedly, the Russian Armed Forces are making progress and advancing due to the increased volume of state investment in the modernization program; Shoigu repeatedly offers this message at public events. Russian analysts and commentators are less inclined to focus on the manifold weaknesses and challenges facing the country's military and its system; and the message from the top brass that finds its way into the Russian media is often simply regurgitated in Western coverage. The results of such an approach are already proving to be dangerous, with serving United States generals calling for increased spending or plans to deal with the "Russian threat," without sufficient strategic planning. One retired North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) general has even suggested that the Alliance and Russia will be at war in 2017. Almost everywhere, the "Russian threat" offers an image of Moscow commanding highly advanced forces with assets and approaches to warfare that render the US and NATO vulnerable (RT, May 18; see EDM, July 28, 2015); April 5, 2016; May 19, 2016).

This tendency to promulgate the Shoigu myth in estimating the capability of Russia's military and the extent of the challenge offered by a resurgent Russia features acutely in high-end technology-based assessments of its use of electronic warfare (EW) or its fledgling adoption of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). According to these interpretations, Moscow's harnessing of EW capability borders on becoming a "super weapons," with some analysts suggesting that NATO should retrain forces to meet the challenges of combating Russian forces without relying on technological advantages. Yet, while Russia has certainly shown progress in its modernization of EW assets compared to the underfunded experience of the 1990s, there is no "super weapon" capability. And as demonstrated by the piercing of the "air defense bubble" in Syria, NATO forces are in no danger of experiencing a technologically denied battlespace (see EDM, April 11; Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, September 30, 2015; October 7, 2015).

While the issues facing Shoigu's defense ministry are real and pressing, much of it is the result of the failure to address underlying deep-rooted problems within the military system. Resolving the shortages of housing for officers and offering improved living conditions is one area being tackled, with the promise of a mortgage system to benefit the Armed Forces in the long run. Although uptake is currently around 20,000 annually (Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, May 20). A fundamental unresolved challenge is the largely unreformed domestic defense industry, which, according to one analysis, has seen mostly an upsurge in the numbers of accountants operating in the various companies. Little progress has been made toward price transparency, or concern for trying to lower prices generally. And no evidence supports the idea that "market economics" are being introduced to the defense industry, which still heavily relies on the state for its lifeline and sources of corruption networks (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, May 17).

Moreover, Russian defense industry specialists continue to identify seismic weaknesses within the system, particularly in attempting to integrate systems design and development and work on lengthening lifecycles for the various weapons and hardware systems. Integration is also a problem when trying to coordinate the work of industry specialists, engineers, research staff and defense ministry personnel (Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye May 20). Since Serdyukov was replaced in 2012, the defense industry is swamped with numerous efforts to exercise control over its cash flows and try to minimize the loss of state funds through corruption. While advances in modernizing are certainly achieved, there are also ongoing delays to introducing new systems (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, May 17).

Shoigu's style of management of the defense ministry lends itself to slicker PR and talking up the achievements of force modernization. However, the Russian military is not fully reformed or modernized and far from the "threat" represented in some circles. Western governments need to avoid overreaction to advances in Russia's military capability and to assess this process soberly.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Four-Day Karabakh War Highlights Threats to Energy Security on NATO's Southeastern Flank

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Ilgar Gurbanov Publication Date 23 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 100 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Four-Day Karabakh War Highlights Threats to Energy Security on NATO's Southeastern Flank, 23 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 100, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574559d14.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

The periodic escalation of violence in and around the separatist Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh routinely raises concerns about this conflict's threat to regional energy security and pipeline infrastructure. However, few commentaries analyze this issue's broader geopolitical implications in any detail. The intense fighting between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan along the Line of Contact last month-often referred to as the "Four Days War" (April 2-5)-had serious humanitarian repercussions. But the violence also notably underscored the vulnerability of regional energy infrastructure located on Europe's and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) strategic southeastern flank-namely, the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipelines, the South Caucasus Natural Gas Pipeline, as well as nearby oil and gas terminals.

On April 5, the "defense ministry" of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic warned that it was prepared to carry out offensive strikes against Azerbaijan's oil facilities using Iskander, Scud-B and Tochka-U systems (Newsarmenia.am, April 5). It is no secret that Armenia has already deployed anti-aircraft, air-defense and missile-defense systems in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and has held military exercises in Karabakh to simulate possible attacks and air strike scenarios on Azerbaijan's oil and gas infrastructure (Azatutyun.am, October 15, 2012). Moreover, former prime minister of Armenia and current member of parliament Hrant Bagratyan along with retired Armenian Major General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan threatened Azerbaijan with the use of nuclear weapons and dirty bombs by the Armenian side (Armtoday.info, April 29; Rusarminfo.ru, May 3).

The physical security of the South Caucasus' strategic energy infrastructure as well as the continued secure transport of oil and gas from Azerbaijan to Europe are of growing importance to the energy security of NATO's European allies. Moreover, an uninterrupted energy supply is also imperative to ensure the Alliance's operational mobility abroad and to reduce its members' strong dependence on any single third-party supplier. Any attack or security threat to regional energy fields, terminals, pipelines, storage sites and other transportation facilities would undermine the oil and gas flow from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to European and global markets. A similar case already occurred during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, when Russian military jets dropped bombs near the BTC and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, resulting in the temporary suspension of Azerbaijani oil exports through Georgia (Stevelevine.info, August 14, 2008; see EDM, August 13, 2008).

Hence, the North Atlantic Alliance has repeatedly emphasized a collective approach toward ensuring energy security. This, along with preserving a stable energy supply, maintaining the security of transportation facilities and transit routes, as well as developing NATO's competence in protecting energy infrastructure are highlighted in the Alliance's Riga, Bucharest and Wales Summit Declarations as well as its 2010 Strategic Concept (Nato.int, November 29, 2006; April 3, 2008; November 19-20, 2010; September 5, 2014).

Although the protection of domestic infrastructure is generally entrusted to the host country or owner, today's security threats increasingly call for shared responsibility, collective endeavors and multilateral security guarantees for the protection of critical energy transit networks and facilities. NATO's security guarantee encompasses member states only, not partners. Thus, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, a vice president with the international oil firm BP, has suggested formulating a new concept for NATO-a kind of "Article 4.5"-that could contribute to the protection of critical trans-border and trans-regional energy infrastructure. This innovation would involve providing security guarantees to Azerbaijan and Georgia in the event of security threats against pipelines or energy facilities that directly or indirectly concern NATO member states. Moreover, such protection of critical energy infrastructure could be done through complementary engagement and without an over-militarization of energy security. The nature of the North Atlantic Alliance's possible engagement in helping protect Azerbaijan's energy infrastructure can be articulated as follows: providing defensive devices for pipelines; offering assistance for developing an air-defense system; cooperating on cyber security; sharing of intelligence; training the armed forces; accelerating consultations with NATO's relevant structures; facilitating the defensive military assistance for Azerbaijan; engaging with other public and private stakeholders; etc. (Cijournal.az, January 18).

In fact, the timing of last April's fighting in Karabakh-occurring just a couple months before NATO's July Warsaw summit-deserves closer attention. Conspicuously, armed clashes broke out following several months of high-level supportive Western statements regarding the strategic Southern Gas Corridor currently under construction, which will deliver Azerbaijani gas across the South Caucasus, via Turkey, to Europe. In particular, the European Union's High Representative Federica Mogherini spoke supportively about this project on February 29, at the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council meeting. US Secretary of State John Kerry made similarly positive remarks on March 30, during his meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, at the Nuclear Security Summit, in Washington. And notably, since late last year, the construction of two key legs of the Southern Gas Corridor-the Trans-Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)-are being accelerated, while the European Commission has approved the agreement between Greece and TAP (Eeas.europa.eu, February 29; State.gov, March 30; Apa.az, December 7, 2015; Trend.az, November 27, 2015; Europa.eu, March 3).

The timing of the April 2016 escalation in Karabakh on the eve of the upcoming Warsaw summit is even more noteworthy when looked at in retrospect. Indeed, prior to NATO's Wales summit in September 2014, a similar (but small scale) escalation occurred along the Line of Contact in August 2014 (RFE/RL August 4, 2014), and both instances of violent escalation were ultimately extinguished by Russia's direct intervention. The apparent signal being sent to the Alliance via these latest clashes can, thus, be clearly deduced.

The possible eruption of full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia would have a profoundly negative effect on the energy infrastructure of the entire region, but especially on that of Azerbaijan. And such a scenario would have catastrophic effects on foreign investments in the energy sector and for ongoing trans-regional energy projects, such as the Southern Gas Corridor. As such, the unresolved Karabakh conflict is a great concern not only to the parties immediately involved, but to NATO and the broader West as well.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Moscow Heightens Pressure on Circassian Activists on Their Remembrance Day

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Valery Dzutsati Publication Date 23 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 100 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Moscow Heightens Pressure on Circassian Activists on Their Remembrance Day, 23 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 100, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455a204.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

In 1990, Circassian activists designated May 21 as the Day of Mourning and Remembrance to commemorate the final destruction of their nation in 1864 by the Russian Empire. Since then, Circassians in the North Caucasus and outside Russia have marked the Day of Mourning with processions and cultural events; the Russian Federation's authorities have largely ignored these commemorations. This year, however, the Russians started pressuring Circassians in regard to the May 21 anniversary, with a level of intensity and effort unlike previous years.

On May 21, police in Moscow detained the Circassian activist Beslan Teuvazhev and eight of his associates. According to the activists, they were near a metro station in Moscow when police arrived and took them to the police station. Teuvazhev and a group of Circassian activists had earlier asked the city authorities for permission to hold a public event at Sokolniki Park, in Moscow, on May 21, to mark the Day of Mourning. The city administration denied the request, saying that another organization had been given permission to hold an event in Sokolniki Park that day. When Teuvazhev asked the city to allow Circassians to hold the event on May 22, authorities again refused to grant them permission (Kavkazsky Uzel, May 21).

On May 20, Russian authorities denied entry to a group of 21 Circassians from Turkey who attempted to cross the Georgian-Russian land border. After a 20-hour delay, the authorities turned them back at the border. The group had traveled by bus from Ankara, Turkey, crossed the Black Sea by ferry to Batumi, Georgia, and planned to continue on the same bus to Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. Members of the group planned to be in Nalchik on May 21 for Circassian Memorial Day, but the Russian authorities apparently did not approve of their participation in the public events in Kabardino-Balkaria (Justicefornorthcaucasus.info, May 20).

Khauti Sokhrokov, a well-known pro-Moscow Circassian who heads the International Circassian Association, approved of the actions of the Russian authorities. Sokhrokov said he had warned the Circassian organizations in the North Caucasus that due to the tensions between Russia and Turkey, they should not invite any foreign participants (Natpressru.info, May 20). The Circassian delegation from Turkey represented the KAFFED association, which repeatedly sent delegations to the North Caucasus in the past without much trouble (Natpressru.info, May 22).

Even more notably this year, the Ministry of Interior of Jordan, for the first time in years, banned Circassian protests in front of the Russian Embassy in Amman. Jordanian Circassians every year reportedly hold a relatively small event involving about 200-300 persons in the Jordanian capital. Locals are convinced that the Jordanian government acted under pressure from Russia. Still, Circassian activists reportedly managed to hold a demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy despite the ban (Natpressru.info, May 21).

Turkey has the world's largest Circassian population, and sizeable commemorations of the Day of Mourning were held there on May 21 (Kavkazsky Uzel, May 21). Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic stated, on May 20, that the exile of the Circassians remains a "deep heart wound" and "a catastrophe" that will be remembered by all the Caucasian people. The Turkish official described the mid-19th century destruction of the Circassians by Russia as one of the deadliest mass killings in history, saying that hundreds of thousands of Caucasian people had been persecuted and faced annihilation when Russia invaded the Caucasus, forcing survivors to migrate to Anatolia, in the Ottoman Empire (Aa.com.tr, May 20).

An estimated 90 percent of the Circassian population in the North Caucasus and the Black Sea region was killed, starved to death or forced to leave their homeland as a result of the Russian conquest of the area in the 19th century. The Russian Empire sought control over the Black Sea coast and straits, which would allow it to expand its influence further to the south and to Europe.

This May 21, processions and other commemorative events took place in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, and Adygea, as usual. Those events were dominated by regional administrators, who emphasized the unity of all peoples in their respective republics. An estimated 1,500-2,000 people took part in the events in Maikop, Adygea. After the procession, the authorities allowed those mourning the day to enter a concert hall in Maikop, apparently to reduce the number of participants and take people off the streets (Natpressru.info, May 21).

In Kabardino-Balkaria, a large procession took place in Nalchik, along with events on a smaller scale in other towns of the republic. This year, the public events were reportedly marked with a large presence of police in Nalchik (Kavkazsky Uzel, May 21). At a commemorative event in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, the republic's governor, Rashid Temrezov, said that a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Russian-Caucasian war would be ready by the fall of 2016 (Kavkazsky Uzel, May 21).

Commemorations of the victims of the Russian-Circassian war in the North Caucasus are not a threat to Moscow. Such events are usually dominated by the regional authorities, who do not say anything controversial that could upset the federal authorities. Yet, despite all this, authorities in Moscow are apparently increasing pressure on Circassians both inside and outside Russia in order to diminish the scope of Circassian Memorial Day commemorations and eventually halt them altogether. While the commemorations are themselves no threat to Moscow, any public event in the North Caucasus brings people together and shows there is a potential for collective action. Acting preventively, Moscow intends to disrupt the Circassian networks now in order to avoid any political demands from them in the future.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
In New Video, Georgian-Born Muslim al-Shishani Discusses Russian Presence in Syria

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Mairbek Vatchagaev Publication Date 23 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol North Caucasus Analysis Volume: 17 Issue: 10 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, In New Video, Georgian-Born Muslim al-Shishani Discusses Russian Presence in Syria, 23 May 2016, North Caucasus Analysis Volume: 17 Issue: 10, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455a824.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Muslim al-Shishani is the nom de guerre of Murad Margoshvili, commander of the Junud al-Sham ("Soldiers of Syria") insurgent group operating in Syria. Margoshivili is a Georgian national, but he is also an ethnic Kist, a member of the Chechen sub-ethnic group that lives in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. Margoshvili went to Syria to help the rebels in 2012, establishing Jund al-Sham. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) accuses Margoshvili of many crimes, including participation in illegal armed groups and attacks on government forces. The US State Department has put Margoshvili on its list of individuals designated as foreign terrorists or terrorist facilitators and subject to sanctions (State.gov, September 24, 2014).

It is unclear what information the State Department based its decision upon to put Margoshvili's group on the terrorism list. It is well known that Margoshvili's group, since its inception, has not been allied with the Islamic State, al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria), or any other local group in Syria. Junud al-Sham preferred to operate on its own. It is a puzzle as to how the group has survived operating autonomously in a foreign country with a commander who does not speak Arabic and continues to attract new recruits primarily from European countries.

Junud al-Sham is based in Latakia, as it has been since Margoshvili founded the group back in 2012. Since its spokesperson comes from Germany, the group's recruitment program is primarily oriented toward that country. Germany is one of the largest suppliers of recruits for the Islamic militants in Syria. For example, at the end of 2014, the authorities reviewed 40 cases of people from just one German city who had gone on to fight in Syria (Faz.net, December 8, 2014).

Muslim al-Shishani is one of the few Chechen commanders in the Middle East who engages in public campaigning, giving frequent interviews and posting videos that show him fighting alongside his troops in the war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army (Chechensinsyria.com, January 12). He recently gave an interview that touched on the Russian presence in Syria. A week before the interview, he announced six questions via Twitter that he would seek to answer (Twitter.com/JunudS_RU, May 9). On May 15, he unveiled the answers to three of the questions he had promised to address. The first question was: "What are Russia's political strategy and tactics, as a world power?" In a nine-minute response, al-Shishani said that while Russia was resolving the Chechen question after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States and other Western countries managed to free several former Soviet states of subordination to Russia. The Kremlin then realized that Russia's influence had shrunk to a minimum. Moreover, Muslim al-Shishani accused Russia of pursuing Russification policies against the small ethnic groups that reside on its territory. He said that the difference between Russia and the US is that the latter allows countries to remain independent to an extent while Russia wants to control everything directly, which makes its relations with other countries colonial rather than based on alliances. Thus, he said, Muslims often prefer the US as an ally rather than Russia, even though Islam does not envisage such choices. According to Muslim al-Shishani, Russia attacked Ukraine and annexed Crimea in order to prove that it is still a world power, even though little is left of Moscow's global influence (YouTube, May 15).

Muslim al-Shishani's second question was: "Why did Russia withdraw its troops from Syria?" In a five-and-a-half minute response, he said that upon arriving in Syria, he saw that "Alawites" (Assad's supporters) lived in villas, Christians lived in well-furnished apartments while Sunnis lived in slums. He compared al-Assad's policies to the policy of the Communists in the Soviet Union, which resulted in a revolt by the Sunnis. The Russians failed to take the opportunity to show that they can become full-fledged players in the Arab world, and quickly realized that they could not take over all of Syria regardless of the amount of support they provided to al-Assad, he said. Thus according to Muslim al-Shishani, the Russians will support dividing the country, leaving the Alawites in control of Syria's coastal areas (YouTube, May 15).

The third question was: "Did the Mujahedeen defeat the Russians or leave after achieving their goals?" In an answer that lasted eleven-and-a-half minutes, he talked about the conflicts among the militants in Syria. He said that the declaration of the so-called Islamic State in Syria, as well as the Caucasus Emirate in Chechnya in 2007, was done in violation of Sharia norms. According to the militant, the Russians did not withdraw their troops from Syria but, on the contrary, were fortifying their positions there (YouTube, May 16).

Muslim al-Shishani's interview was essentially about nothing and was interesting only in regard to his view of the situation in Syria. The militant made no clear statement about the Russian presence in Syria or about the attitude of the Chechens toward that presence. It remains to be seen what al-Shishani will say in response to the other three questions that he was asked. Hopefully, his answers to those questions will be more interesting than his responses to the first three.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Georgia's Main Opposition Party Suffers Declining Support, Internal Fracturing

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Vasili Rukhadze Publication Date 20 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 99 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Georgia's Main Opposition Party Suffers Declining Support, Internal Fracturing, 20 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 99, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455adf4.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Giorgi Vashadze, a high-ranking member of Georgia's formerly ruling United National Movement (UNM) and a member of the Georgian parliament, left his political party on May 5. Immediately, he unleashed harsh criticism for the organization to which he had pledged his allegiance for more than a decade. As Vashadze stated, UNM has adopted a "closed system of governance," in which a small group of high-ranking party members ruled the organization according to their personal interests. He pointed to specific names: Giga Bokeria, a former secretary of national security; David Bakradze, a former speaker of the parliament; Mikheil Machavariani, a former parliamentary vice speaker; Giorgi Gabashvili, a high-ranking member of parliament (MP); and Khatuna Gogorishvili, another high-ranking MP. Vashadze declared that he would form a new political movement to attract a new generation of Georgian politicians (Civil Georgia, Interpressnews.ge, May 5).

Vashadze is not the first, and most likely will not be the last political figure to have left the struggling UNM party. Soon after UNM lost the October 2012 parliamentary elections, its majoritarian MPs began to defect to the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition (Ick.ge, February 5, 2013). Others broke away and formed their own party (Sazogadoeba.ge, May 25; Interpressnews.ge, November 5; see EDM, December 8, 2015) or just left Georgian politics altogether (Tabula.ge, November 11, 2015).

The fact that UNM is falling apart, is nothing new in Georgian politics. Once ruling parties lose power in Georgia, their rank-and-file members lose any incentive to stay within the party. Hence, they switch sides, causing a rapid disintegration of their organization. The same happened to two previous ruling parties since Georgia gained its independence from the Soviet Union. The question, however, is why UNM has been unable to reform and reinvent itself in order to survive. The answer lies in several factors.

First, the party's leader in absentia, former president Mikhail Saakashvili, left the country for Ukraine, where he currently serves as the governor of Odessa region. This created a huge power vacuum in the party, subsequently leading to a power struggle between his group and that of Bokeria and Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi (Uarevo, News.ge, December 3, 2015; see EDM, December 8, 2015). The return of Saakashvili to Georgia, in order to unite his party, does not seem feasible at this time, as he would face criminal charges by the GD authorities for alleged abuses of power during his rule.

Second, UNM has struggled to attract new political cadres or "new faces" to at least create the impression of political renewal within the organization. Just recently, UNM tried to address this problem in the run up to the fall 2016 parliamentary election. On May 16, UNM unveiled a new proportional party list of MP candidates for the upcoming elections. However, if the party wanted to showcase a slate of new cadres, it utterly failed to do so. Ultimately, there is nothing new about those names. Most of them are seen by the wider Georgian public as long-time UNM members and affiliates. For instance, David Bakradze, heading the list, served as the speaker of the UNM-dominated Georgian parliament in 2008-2012. Roman Gotsiridze was a president of the National Bank of Georgia in 2005-2007, and an economic adviser to President Mikhail Saakashvili. Elene Khoshtaria was a deputy state minister of European and Euro-Atlantic integration under UNM. Moreover, Nika Melia was UNM's candidate in the 2014 local elections for the mayor of Tbilisi. He lost to the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) candidate. Others on the list served in various bureaucratic positions while being UNM members or were and appointed by the party (Civil Georgia, May 16).

Subsequently, UNM's recent alleged attempt at renewal quickly drew ridicule from some in Georgia, calling its new proportional party list a sham (Info9.ge, May 17). As a result, UNM has once again illustrated that it does not have new political cadres to put forth, that it cannot truly change its image, and that it is unable to deliver new electoral victories. Even more so, the party seems unable or unwilling (or may even be intimidated) to bring new political cadres from outside the organization in order to revamp itself.

Another problem for the party is that it never satisfactorily addressed the charges of UNM's alleged misuse of power, human rights violations, and corruption that were leveled by its political opponents and the wider public. This armed the party's multiple adversaries with additional ammunition to attack UNM as an unrepentant political force (Interpressnews.ge, September 1, 2013). And in part, UNM's attitude has contributed to its falling popular support. According to the latest polls, UNM currently enjoys 18 percent public support, coming in second place after the ruling GD's 19 percent (Iri.org, March-April 2016). UNM often emphasizes that it is the second-most popular party in the country. However, these polls only reflect how discredited UNM's brand has apparently become in the eyes of the electorate. The political party that ruled the country for nine years fails to garner more than 18 percent of popular support even against the background of a highly unpopular government that presides over mass poverty, unemployment and a stagnant economy.

Clearly, UNM is suffering from significant problems. The absence of its leader, infighting within the party, a lack of new political cadres, the inability to meaningfully address the alleged mistakes of the party's nine-year rule, and a lack of popular support will affect the party in the short and long run. Considering all of these problems, the prospects of UNM's electoral success, let alone of an outright victory in the upcoming 2016 election, look bleak at best.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Normandy Meeting Aborts Ukraine's Proposal on OSCE Police Mission

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Vladimir Socor Publication Date 20 May 2016 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Normandy Meeting Aborts Ukraine's Proposal on OSCE Police Mission, 20 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455b384.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine held an expanded meeting of their foreign affairs ministers and senior staffs on May 11 in Berlin (the "Normandy" format). Two overlapping issues topped the meeting's agenda: possible "elections" in the Russian-controlled Donetsk-Luhansk territory, and policing those proposed elections to make them look (against all odds) somewhat believable (Interfax, Auswaertigesamt.de, Ukrinform, May 11, 12).

In this meeting, the Russian, German and French ministers turned down Ukraine's recent proposal for an armed police mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Russian-controlled territory (see EDM, April 20).

The proposed local elections and police mission are partly interrelated issues, but their divergence is more important than their overlap. Ukraine wanted an OSCE police mission to do much more than provide security for possible local elections in Donetsk-Luhansk; but Ukraine lost out in the Berlin meeting.

The Russians, Germans and French, eager in varying degrees to have those elections staged, are asking the OSCE for a mission closely related to such elections. While even a modest mission necessitates complex discussions of principle and detail, it seems clear already that this police mission's size, equipment, operating mandate, and duration would be confined to the proposed local elections. Thus, if deployed, this police mission would be small and short-lived.

For its part, Ukraine had sought an ambitious OSCE mission of armed police, capable of much more than protecting polling stations and ballot boxes in the event that elections are staged. Ukraine hoped for this mission to substitute, at least in part, for an international peacekeeping contingent in the conflict theater. Russia has blocked discussions on such a contingent at the United Nations for the last two years. And from the start of Russia's operation in Donbas in March 2014, Germany and others discouraged an already weak-willed European Union from considering a possible EU mission in Ukraine's east (be it an unarmed contingent as the EU's Monitoring Mission in Georgia).

Ukraine, therefore, had recently proposed a large OSCE armed police mission with a mandate for full access throughout the Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine's east, and of potentially long duration. Kyiv hoped for a mission capable of deploying to the contact line between the opposed forces in the field; monitoring the ceasefire; assigning responsibility for the recurrent incidents; verifying the pullback of heavy weaponry (with access to arms stockpiles of the combined Russian and proxy forces); and protecting what is legally the Ukrainian side of the Ukraine-Russia border in the secessionist territory, until the eventual return of Ukrainian border guards at some uncertain future time (see EDM, April 20).

Instead of that, the Normandy group's Berlin meeting considered a common proposal of the four parties, with technical inputs from the OSCE's existing Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine. This meant, in practice, aborting Ukraine's own recent proposal. The Ukrainian side tried hard in the meeting to beef up the mission concepts proposed by the other participants (Ukrinform, May 11, 12).

Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the idea of Ukrainian control of provisional OSCE control along that border (see above). Lavrov cited Ukraine's "obligations" under the Minsk armistice (i.e., consent to "elections" in Donetsk-Luhansk) as a prerequisite to negotiating joint control of that border by Ukrainian and Donetsk-Luhansk personnel (Interfax, UNIAN, May 11, 12; Liga.net, May 16.).

In Donetsk, that "people's republic's" head (glava), Aleksandr Zakharchenko, announced that an armed OSCE police mission, as Ukraine had proposed, would be deemed an "act of aggression" (Novosti Donetskoy Narodnoy Respubliki, Dnr-news.com, May 11). Such statements are usually meant to increase the otherwise understandable risk-aversion among the OSCE SMM's personnel. In this case, it also suggests that any "elections" would be policed on terms set by Moscow and Donetsk-Luhansk separatists; i.e., not reliably policed and insecure.

On the proposed Donetsk-Luhansk "elections," Lavrov argued that this process forms only one part of a package, which requires Ukraine's parliament to also enact: a new law on elections, a special status for the Donetsk-Luhansk territories, a constitutional amendment enshrining that status, and an amnesty applying to "insurgents" there. "Until the Verkhona Rada [Ukrainian national parliament] adopts this package, elections are practically impossible," the Russian foreign minister stated (Interfax, May 11).

This intransigence is misleading, however. Moscow reckons that Berlin, Paris and other capitals want those "elections" to be held as a pseudo-solution to an increasingly vexing problem. Moscow, therefore, hopes that Ukraine's Western partners would pressure Kyiv to take those steps and make the elections possible on Russia's terms, complete with that "package."

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Ukraine Develops Its Case Against Elections in the 'People's Republics'

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Vladimir Socor Publication Date 20 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 99 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Ukraine Develops Its Case Against Elections in the 'People's Republics', 20 May 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 99, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455b944.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

The "Normandy" powers' (Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia) latest meeting, in Berlin, on May 11, which failed to address Ukraine's concerns, has stiffened Kyiv's refusal to go along with local "elections" in the Donetsk and Luhansk "peoples' republics" (DPR, LPR). That territory is Ukrainian de jure but Russian-occupied de facto. The Minsk Two armistice prescribes those elections, but does not obligate Ukraine to consent to their staging or recognize their outcome.

Russia presses for those "elections" to legitimize its DPR-LPR proxies. Key Western powers (in varying degrees and for varying considerations) are leaning on Ukraine to go along with quick-fix elections there (deadlines have moved from December 2015 to July 2016 and, now, beyond that). For the first time since 1991, Western diplomacy considers legitimizing armed secessionists in Europe's East through "elections" by agreement with Russia, on Russia's terms. If staged and validated, such elections would turn Russia's aggression against Ukraine into an internal problem of Ukraine. The DPR-LPR would become "popularly elected" structures, with a special status vis-a-vis Ukraine, though under Russia's protection at the same time. The result would make it possible for all powers to claim that this conflict has found its political solution and move on.

Staging pseudo-elections could provide a pseudo-solution to Russia's aggression in Ukraine's east. But those elections would need to seem legal, even quasi-democratic if at all possible; and they could not serve their intended purpose if staged without Ukraine's consent and participation. While held in Russian-controlled territory they need to qualify officially as "Ukrainian elections."

Ukraine's president, government and parliamentarians are displaying growing resolve (as civil society and expert circles had all along) in resisting pressures and entreaties to authorize those local elections. Following the Normandy Group's May 11 Berlin meeting, Kyiv has added new conditionalities, on top of its pre-existing conditionalities, for Ukraine's acquiescence and participation in those elections. The new set of conditions are security-related, a natural response to the Normandy meeting's indifference to Kyiv's concerns in that regard (see accompanying article).

President Petro Poroshenko and Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in recent days have listed the following security-related prerequisites, "without which it is impossible to talk about preparations for local elections" (UNIAN, Ukrinform, May 11, 14, 16, 19):

a durable ceasefire (a pre-existing conditionality on Ukraine's part);

a commitment to introduce an armed police mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to provide security for the elections, with full access throughout the territory not controlled by Ukrainian authorities, including the Ukrainian side of the "DPR-LPR"-controlled border with Russia;

a stop to the cross-border flow of arms, troops and military cargos from Russia to the "DPR-LPR";

the verified pullback and withdrawal of Russian heavy weaponry and troops from that territory to Russia;

the full demilitarization of the territory, under the oversight of an international security mission.

According to Poroshenko (meeting with the G7 ambassadors in Kyiv) and Klimkin (speaking to the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers), those are among the basic security requirements for local elections to be held in that territory.

Russia, in word or deed, accepts none of those prerequisites. The key Western powers support the first (durable ceasefire) but want the "elections" to be staged even if the other prerequisites are not met.

In the Ukrainian parliament, a critical mass of deputies reject quick-fix elections that would legitimize the existing situation in the Russian-controlled territory. A fresh nuance has appeared in this argument, similar to that of the executive branch: namely, that secure conditions up to "de-occupation" must precede the elections. If and when held, those elections should mark the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty as the final step in the political resolution process. Parliamentary leaders of the People's Front, Samopomych, and Fatherland parties have advocated for this sequence in recent days (Ukrinform, UNIAN, May 10, 17, 20). Conversely, the German government and the Barack Obama administration regard those "elections" as an urgent priority, the foundation to a "political solution" or even its equivalent.

The argument of "security before elections" is one that supplements Kyiv's earlier focus on the need for legal and democratic prerequisites to elections in that territory. Following the February 12, 2015, Minsk Two armistice, which prescribed those elections, the Ukrainian parliament enacted, on March 17, (and President Poroshenko promptly signed into law) a list of democracy criteria for such elections to be held and their outcome recognized. That list has grown longer since then, both by decisions in parliament and by the defensive actions of Ukrainian negotiators in the Minsk Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE, DPR, LPR). There, the combined Russian side (Moscow, Donetsk, Luhansk) seeks to amend Ukraine's electoral legislation suitably for elections to be staged in the DPR-LPR. Toward that end, French diplomat Pierre Morel is tasked to "hybridize" Ukraine's electoral legislation with DPR-LPR's proposals in the Minsk Contact Group. The German and French governments support this effort inside the Normandy and Minsk processes, while the Obama administration supports it to some extent from the outside.

For its part, Kyiv insists on the Ukrainian central and local electoral commissions' prerogatives to administer those elections; for Ukrainian political parties to freely campaign in those elections; for full access by Ukrainian and international media; for the rights of internally displaced persons from that territory to participate in those elections (as voters and candidates reliably verified); for a compilation of voter registers (a herculean task after the mass-scale population displacements); for a lustration of the suspects of war crimes; for border controls to prevent an influx of ineligible "voters" from Russia; and many other legal and technical prerequisites. These can be described as basic democratic safeguards that Ukraine proposes, whether to ensure free and correct elections or (more realistically) to prevent the staging of unfree and unfair elections under Russian and DPR-LPR control.

According to the latest assessments by Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission officials and the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (a respected watchdog), establishing legal and technical prerequisites for free and fair elections in this territory would take at least two years (Ukraiynska Pravda, May 18, 19).

Russia lacks democratic credibility to press Ukraine (or any country) on the subject of elections. Western diplomacy may bring such credibility to bear, but jeopardizes it by pretending that free and fair elections are possible in that Russia-controlled territory. This resembles the West's 1945-1946 pretense that correct elections were possible in Eastern Europe under Moscow's control, as part of a general settlement between the West and Moscow. Instead, those elections cemented the satellization of those countries.

"Elections" in the DPR-LPR, if held under current or currently foreseeable circumstances, would reinforce these proto-states under Russia's control. If Western diplomacy regards these elections as part of an overall compromise with Russia at Ukraine's expense, Ukraine will face growing pressures in the run-up to December 2016, an artificial deadline. Ukraine, however, is well placed to hold out, as it increasingly does. Elections staged without Ukraine's consent and participation (i.e., Russian-controlled elections that could not be presented as "Ukrainian elections"-see above) would be useless to their proponents.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Police Suffer Losses in Islamic StateInspired Attack in Southern Dagestan

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Mairbek Vatchagaev Publication Date 19 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol North Caucasus Analysis Volume: 17 Issue: 10 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Police Suffer Losses in Islamic StateInspired Attack in Southern Dagestan, 19 May 2016, North Caucasus Analysis Volume: 17 Issue: 10, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57455bfa4.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

A recent police operation against militants in the Dagestani city of Derbent was so bloody that even the Islamic State (IS) mentioned it. The clash started as police were checking out several homes after receiving a tip concerning the whereabouts of Bairamali Abasov, the leader of a local militant cell, who was suspected of several crimes (Ntv.ru, May 14). As the police were checking out the residents in one apartment, someone threw a hand grenade and shot at them from the fifth floor. The head of the Derbent city police, another senior police officer and three subordinates were injured in the attack. As the police retreated, they somehow left behind the wounded head of the police's criminal investigation department, Musa Musaev. Later, however, the description of events somewhat changed, and, according to the new version of events, "a group of militants attacked the police on Krepostnaya Street in Derbent. The assailants threw a hand grenade at the officers and then started shooting at them. Then, the militants retreated with one hostage to a building that the police soon started to storm" (Regnum, May 15).

It remains unclear why police decided that Musa Musaev had been taken hostage. While the militants may have dragged him inside the building to use him as a shield, no information has been provided suggesting that the militants actually used Musaev as a hostage. The police, however, for some reason decided in the afternoon that their colleague was dead, and that they could storm the building (Interfax, May 14). It is also not clear how they learned about Musaev's death (Newsru.com, May 14).

A second officer was killed in the incident-Viktor Timofeyev, a member of the special forces. And 17 other police officers were wounded. Four militants were reportedly killed, but, as of May 15, it was still unclear exactly how many rebels died in the incident. The police often regard even the wives of rebels as fighters, if they fail to leave besieged buildings. Therefore, the figures provided by the police about the number of rebels involved in the incident should be taken with a degree of skepticism.

Within hours of the incident, the leadership of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the operation in Dagestan and declared it to be a success. The IS group claimed three police officers died in the attack but did not mention its own losses (Regnum, May 15). It is astounding how quickly the IS was able to obtain information from southern Dagestan and claim responsibility for the activities of militants there. The clash in Derbent was the third attack since the start of the year claimed by the group. At least six people, most of them police officers, died in those attacks (Kavkazsky Uzel, May 15). The IS, however, did not comment on the attack by two suicide bombers in Grozny on May 9. Therefore, one can surmise that the only channel of communication the Islamic State has with North Caucasian insurgents is in southern Dagestan. The militants in Iraq and Syria would like to have closer ties to the militants in the North Caucasus as well. Yet, the IS's expansion to the North Caucasus has so far had only one significant consequence-it has helped lead to the decline and virtual disappearance of the Caucasus Emirate from the militant arena in Dagestan. However strange it may sound, the Islamic State has helped Russia to rid itself of the Caucasus Emirate; but the IS has not yet replaced the Caucasus Emirate as a serious alternative rebel movement.

Recent police losses in Derbent were nearly half of the total number of police officers killed there during all of 2015. Casualties in the incident were likely heavy because the police decided to take on the insurgents on their own, without asking the Federal Security Service (FSB) for assistance. Local police must have told the FSB that the suspects were ordinary criminals, not militants, in order to avoid the involvement of the Russian security services. The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, held a meeting in Makhachkala one day before the clashes in Derbent. He was visiting Dagestan following the murder of the father of an Investigative Committee officer on May 9. One of the sons of the murdered man, an Investigative Committee officer, had himself been killed earlier. Another son of the slain man works in the general prosecutor's office (Onkavkaz.com, May 13). The police were apparently trying to solve the crime as quickly as possible and, as a result, clashed with the rebels and suffered significant losses.

The recent clash between the police and insurgents in Derbent was one of the largest in Dagestan in recent years, and the Islamic State claimed responsibility for it. The attack showed that the insurgents could strike in Russia anywhere and at any time.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Burundi: UN probe completes on-the-ground deployment of human rights monitors

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Burundi: UN probe completes on-the-ground deployment of human rights monitors, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745610340b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - The United Nations Independent Investigation in Burundi, which was set up to investigate human rights violations in the country since April 2015, said today it has completed the deployment of a team of human rights monitors on the ground.

The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent Investigation team in December 2015 to investigate violations and abuses of human rights in Burundi, make recommendations on the improvement of the human rights situation, and engage in a dialogue with the authorities and other relevant actors in the ongoing crisis.

"Following our first visit to Burundi in early March, the deployment of human rights monitors is a new and important step forward in our investigations, and will help us collect meaningful information on human rights violations and abuses which have been committed in Burundi since April 2015," said Christof Heyns, Chair of the Independent Investigation.

In addition to collecting information in Burundi, the team will also visit neighbouring countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The visits to neighbouring countries will allow the human rights investigators to meet with Burundian refugees and collect testimonies from those who have fled the violence.

"Now that the team is fully in place and operational, I hope that we will receive information and documentation from many individuals, groups and organizations on the human rights violations and abuses which have been taking place in Burundi since the crisis started, a year ago," said Mr. Heyns.

In addition to Mr. Heyns, the team consists of two other independent human rights experts: Maya Sahli-Fadel and Pablo de Greiff.

The three experts plan to undertake a second visit to Burundi in June, and will present their final report to the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council in September 2016.
Iraq: UN human rights office urges investigation into use of force against protestors

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Iraq: UN human rights office urges investigation into use of force against protestors, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745611a40b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Iraq to immediately conduct an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the use of force by security forces against protestors outside the Green Zone in Baghdad this past week.

In the regular bi-weekly news briefing in Geneva earlier today, Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that on 20 May, four protestors were killed and up to 200 were injured after security forces used tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and some live ammunition against the demonstrators for close to two hours.

The spokesperson said that it had been reported that up to 200 people had been subsequently arrested in connection with the protest, including a group of university students.

The protestors, including women and children, hailed mainly from different areas of Baghdad that had suffered terrorist attacks, such as Sadr City, were calling on the Government to take immediate action to ensure greater accountability for those attacks and to protect their communities, Mr. Colville said.

OHCHR appealed to the Government to promptly announce an independent investigation to establish whether unnecessary or excessive force was used and to hold accountable by law any security officers who may have acted in violation of the strict standards required concerning the use of force by law enforcement officials.

Additionally, OHCHR urged the Government to ensure that the protection of civilians was paramount in its military operations to retake Fallujah.

On a separate matter, the spokesperson said that OHCHR was concerned at the announcement by the Ministry of Justice that 22 people had been executed in the past month.
The escalation of the conflict in Donbas is an attempt by Russia to force Ukraine and its international partners to agree to Moscow's terms regarding the work of an armed [OSCE] mission in the conflict zone," said Presidential Administration speaker on Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) issues Andriy Lysenko.

"We haven't had a day this year when so many servicemen were killed at once. But we think that the Russian Federation in such a manner is attempting to compel Ukraine and its international partners to agree to [Moscow'] terms. It's not by accident that [Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry] Peskov declared how the international mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which should be armed, should work," Lysenko said on Channel 5 on Tuesday evening.

Earlier on Tuesday ATO spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk reported on seven deaths and nine injuries among Ukrainian troops over the last 24 hours as a result of militant artillery strikes.

Peskov in Moscow said on Tuesday that the OSCE mission in Donbas is a monitoring mission  not a police mission. He said broadening the OSCE mission's functions depends on the decision of combatants in eastern Ukraine. "This is first and foremost a monitoring mission. In our understanding, it is not a police mission. Yes, the subject [of expanding the mission's mandate] is being discussed, and not for the first time. There is discussion of an armed monitoring mission," Peskov told journalists, answering the question of whether an OSCE police mission was discussed by Normandy Four leaders [German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Holland, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin] during their recent telephone conference.
Somalia: Security Council commends advancements, urges accelerated peace- and State-building

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Somalia: Security Council commends advancements, urges accelerated peace- and State-building, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745613540d.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - The Security Council welcomed the political and security progress in Somalia during a mission to the capital, Mogadishu, on 19 May, where representatives of the 15-member body met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, regional leaders, Somali civil society and women's groups.

In a press statement following up the mission, they underlined the advances made since the transition ended in 2012, while underscoring the need to accelerate the country's peace- and state-building process, saying: Holding a peaceful, transparent electoral process in 2016 will mark a historic step forward for all Somalis, and will be fundamental for the country's continued progress towards democracy and stability.

In the context of Security Council resolution 2232 (2015), which laid out that there be no extended electoral process timelines in Somalia, the members welcomed the electoral mechanism in the decree issued by President Mohamud on 22 May 2016, noting that it should enable necessary technical preparation and implementation without further delay.

They also acknowledged that Somali leaders had worked hard to achieve agreement on the modalities of the electoral model and commended President Mohamud and the Government for ensuring that the electoral process timelines were upheld.

The challenge now is to prepare and implement the elections and renew their call on all Somali stakeholders to work constructively to that end, without delay, the members emphasized.

The Council members called it a historic opportunity to deliver more representative governance to the people of Somalia.

They commended the Government's commitment to reserve 30 per cent of seats in the upper and lower houses for women and emphasised the importance of adhering to the political road map to 2020  in particular to reach one-person, one-vote elections by 2020.

The Security Council members further underlined their determination to play a constructive and active role in the months ahead.
UN chief welcomes municipal elections in Lebanon

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN chief welcomes municipal elections in Lebanon, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745615932.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the holding of municipal elections in Lebanon, which are expected to conclude on 29 May, urging all Lebanese leaders to act responsibly to elect the country's President, a post vacant for two years, without a further delay, his spokesperson said today in a statement.

"[The elections] are a testament to Lebanon's enduring democratic tradition and further proof that the people of Lebanon deserve to be represented at all levels," the statement said.

"National unity and Lebanon's standing will remain fragile and incomplete as long as the vacancy in the presidency persists," the statement added.
Argentina: UN rights expert urges immediate action to address exclusion of indigenous peoples

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Argentina: UN rights expert urges immediate action to address exclusion of indigenous peoples, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5745617d40b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - The United Nations human rights expert on racism today urged the Government of Argentina to take urgent measures to sustainably address the invisibility, marginalization and systematic exclusion of indigenous peoples in the country.

In a press statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Mutuma Ruteere, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, highlighted that during his first official visit to Argentina, he found that, "as elsewhere in the world, discriminatory practices in the country have often targeted the poor and, in effect, the most vulnerable who belong to minority groups including indigenous peoples, Afro-Argentines, and migrant communities."

"Argentina has developed a comprehensive legal framework for the elimination of racial discrimination and the equal enjoyment of rights for all inhabitants, whether Argentine or foreign," the expert noted.

The expert travelled to Argentina from 16 to 23 May, to assess the situation of indigenous peoples, peoples of African descent, migrants from the region and beyond, and other groups.

Mr. Ruteere welcomed existing laws to protect specific vulnerable groups such as the indigenous peoples, as well as efforts made to acknowledge the existence of Afro-Argentines through a series of symbolic measures.

"I acknowledge Argentina's progressive migration law that recognizes migration as a fundamental inalienable right, and the establishment of a number of institutions aiming at promoting human rights and anti-discrimination, such as the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism," he said.

The human rights expert also underscored that, despite the existing comprehensive legal and institutional framework, effective implementation is lacking and significant challenges persist.

"The situation of indigenous peoples in certain areas of the country is appalling, as they live in extreme poverty, socio-cultural isolation and without access to basic services such as adequate health, descent housing or even drinkable water," Mr. Ruteere said, calling on the Argentine authorities to develop a comprehensive multi-sectoral national strategy to address the rights of indigenous peoples and other groups subjected to discrimination.

"Most alarming are the reported trends of repression, in several parts of the country, against the mobilization by indigenous groups to claim their rights; and the reprisals against minority rights defenders and leaders as well as members of their families," the independent expert said.

"I have heard reports of police profiling and violence against migrants from neighbouring countries and beyond and that those acts remain unpunished and investigations of such crimes are seldom conduct," he added.

The expert also stressed that access to justice for vulnerable groups, starting with indigenous peoples but also including migrants and Afro-descendants, remains a significant challenge.

"The absence of minority groups in the judicial system including in highest positions represents a significant challenge to groups subjected to racial discrimination, in particular indigenous peoples and migrants," he said.

Mr. Ruteere recommended implementing affirmative action measures to enable the representation of minority groups in positions of influence, such as in education including university level, judiciary, legislatures and executive positions.

"This is particularly urgent for indigenous peoples as the current modes of their participation have largely failed to provide them with the voice and visibility necessary to remedy their long history of exclusion and marginalization," the expert emphasized. "The current condition of indigenous peoples cannot wait and requires immediate attention from the highest levels of national and Federal governments."

The Special Rapporteur's final findings and recommendations will be reflected in his report to the Human Rights Council in June 2017.
New report shows nearly half UN relief agency's schools affected by conflicts across Middle East

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, New report shows nearly half UN relief agency's schools affected by conflicts across Middle East, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574561b840b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - Nearly half of the 692 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) across the region have been impacted, attacked or otherwise rendered inoperable by conflict or violence in the last five years, according to a new report unveiled at the World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul.

"A staggering 302 schools have been directly affected," said UNRWA's Commissioner-General, Pierre Krahenbuhl, in an article published this week. Speaking at Summit, where protecting education is a major theme, he emphasized the courage and determination of UNRWA teachers, specialists and principals, who preserve access to learning for half a million Palestine refugee boys and girls despite these extremely adverse conditions.

"In our innovative 'Education in Emergencies' programmes, we deliver classes to tens of thousands of refugee children across the Middle East through 'UNRWA TV' broadcasts and interactive distance-learning modules. In Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, hundreds of specifically trained psychosocial counsellors work with deeply traumatized children to recover and move on with their lives. In many ways, we simply never give up," he said.

The report details deeply disturbing attacks across the region, and, providing specific figures, UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness said that in Syria, at least 70 per cent of 118 UNRWA schools "have at some stage of the war been rendered inoperative, either because they were impacted by violence or because we have used them as centres to house the displaced."

He said the report is equally bleak about the impact of conflict on UNRWA schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where 83 UNRWA school buildings were damaged during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Further, some 90 UNRWA school buildings were used as designated emergency shelters for almost 300,000 displaced Palestinians, including at least 150,000 children.

"Six of these school buildings were struck by artillery shells or other munitions, in three cases causing deaths and injuries. Weapons components were placed by armed groups in three other schools," he explained.

As for Lebanon, periodic outbreaks of violence have forced 36 UNRWA schools to suspend classes for up to a week at a time on different occasions. Over 50 per cent of all our schools in the country have been impacted at one time or another.

"For more than six decades, UNRWA has been an essential part of the world's humanitarian system," said Mr. Krahenbuhl, "and all too often we have seen first-hand the terrible human cost of conflict. We therefore endorse the Secretary General's call for a strengthening of political leadership to prevent and end war and human displacement. This includes the conflict between Israel and Palestine in accordance with international law and UN resolutions."

The UNRWA chief concluded that at the Summit, [the agency] will join initiatives such as the "Grand Bargain" on humanitarian financing between humanitarian actors and donors in the hope that means can be mobilized to preserve and improve its investment in education for hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugee children. It is their future and their humanity that is at stake and, as the UN Secretary-General's report reminds us, there is but "One Humanity."
Amid Boko Haram violence, situation worsens for displaced in southeast Niger  UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Amid Boko Haram violence, situation worsens for displaced in southeast Niger  UN, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574561e340b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 May 2016 - Security and humanitarian conditions are deteriorating in southeast Niger, where hundreds of thousands of people settled after fleeing Boko Haram insurgents, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

According to government figures in mid-May, the area in and around Diffa was hosting over 241,000 people, including refugees from Nigeria, displaced people within Niger, and returning Niger nationals who had been living in Nigeria.

Some 157,000 people who have fled Boko's Haram terror have settled in 135 makeshift encampments along 200 kilometres of Route National 1, a major road that runs parallel to the border with Nigeria and the Komadougou river.

Living conditions along Route National 1 are harsh. In this remote and semi-desert environment, temperatures are reaching 48 degrees Celsius in the current dry season, while rains that will follow in two or three months often flood the ramshackle settlements, said spokesperson Adrian Edwards of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He said that shelters are made of straw, and sanitation is basic, with few latrines and showers. Many children do not have access to education because of limited schooling structures in the nearby villages, which are already overcrowded, and because of closures of many schools in insecure areas close to the border. Food supplies are irregular, and the local population is not always able to share their meagre resources with the displaced people.

The security situation around the towns of Diffa and Bosso, to the east, has deteriorated in recent months, with a succession of criminal incidents including suicide attacks near villages and spontaneous sites where both Nigerian refugees and the internally displaced are being sheltered.

Two large markets along that road have been closed since April out of fear that infiltrated insurgents could attack. This hits livelihoods and the local economy. A 7pm to 5am curfew is in force across the region, which has been under a state of emergency since February 2015.

Many of these people have been displaced two or three times prior to settling along the road. Both the local and displaced communities are fearful of new attacks, Mr. Edwards said.

Aid agencies are struggling to bring assistance to the displaced due to the highly insecure environment, the increasing number of sites  some of them remote  and a lack of funding.

Of $112 million required by 22 aid agencies, including UNHCR, for operations in the Diffa region in 2016, only $20 million has been received to date.

Ten days ago, at the government's request, UNHCR started to relocate hundreds of refugees from two spontaneous sites along Route National 1 to a camp some 50 kilometres from the border.

Although most people prefer to live outside of the camps, they have decided to move for both protection reasons and for access to food and adequate services. The camp presently hosts some 3,000 people.
Yemen: UN-mediated peace talks continue following trilateral meeting with Ban in Qatar

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Yemen: UN-mediated peace talks continue following trilateral meeting with Ban in Qatar, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574561fd411.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

23 May 2016 - The delegation of the Government of Yemen returned to the negotiating table in Kuwait in the latest round of peace talks today, with the United Nations envoy for the conflict-torn country holding a plenary this morning with both delegations, a UN spokesperson said.

In Qatar over the weekend, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon participated in a trilateral meeting with the Amir of Qatar and President Hadi of Yemen, which the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, also attended, according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban's office.

To President Hadi, the Secretary-General underlined that peace negotiations are rarely smooth, but that there was a need for "commitment and perseverance" by all sides.

"He said he strongly hoped that the talks that will shortly resume in Kuwait will lead to concrete results, and he appreciated Qatar's support," said the statement, which is dated 21 May.

During the meeting, Mr. Ban also requested the special envoy to respond to the recent letter received from the Government of Yemen. At the time, the President of Yemen confirmed that he would send the Government's delegation back to the talks as requested by the Amir of Qatar and the Secretary-General, according to the statement.

The Secretary-General added that, in parallel to the peace talks, all parties needed to redouble their efforts to provide and facilitate humanitarian and other supplies, including fuel, to alleviate the "appalling living conditions" of millions of Yemeni citizens, the statement said.

Today, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed expressed his gratitude to the Yemeni Government for the decision to return to the negotiating table and called on all the parties to make progress, in order to alleviate the burden placed on the Yemeni people.

"Peace talks are always complicated and require time; however I urge the Yemeni parties to exert all possible effort to reach a sustainable peace agreement in the near future. Any delay wastes time and causes the tragic losses," he said.
The investigation department of Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) in Zakarpattia region has opened a criminal case against abuse of office and fabrication of documents by employees of the Ukrainian Embassy in Slovakia.

The PGO's press service said on Tuesday that the criminal case was opened under Part 2 of Article 364 and Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"On May 21 Ukrainian officials in Slovakia abused their office and used a diplomatic car, under the pretense it was carrying diplomatic mail and was immune from search, as per the Venice Convention, attempted to transport a large batch of excisable goods, tobacco, etc. to European countries," the press service said.
See what to expect in coming months along I-69 Finish Line corridor

As the leaves begin to fall and air temperatures begin to cool, the 2022 road construction season will soon slow down.
Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko has briefed U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on Wednesday about reforms in Ukraine's military and the situation in the Anti-Terrorism Operation (ATO) zone.

During the meeting the sides discussed military reforms and the situation in eastern Ukraine, as well as the results of the Ukraine-NATO military committee meeting, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ambassador conveyed his condolences on the deaths of seven Ukrainian soldiers killed by an artillery barrage near Avdiyivka on May 22.

Muzhenko said that Ukrainian serviceman ignore provocations by Kremlin-backed militant groups and are carrying out international ceasefire arrangements. He added that they had the right to return fire if attacked.

Muzhenko said that Ukraine continues to insist on a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of large-caliber weapons as agreed from the demarcation line, as well as ensuring safe conditions for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's work in Ukraine.
INTO THE WOODS

Paramount Productions presents a new interpretation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's acclaimed musical 'Into The Woods' to Abilene audiences June 24-26 at the historic theatre.

Paramount Artistic Director Barry Smoot is directing the musical, which takes theatregoers on a journey toward redemption, forgiveness and understanding.

The show is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Ticket prices range form $12-$25 and may be purchased tickets online at paramount-abilene.thundertix.com/

HEARTS FOR THE ARTS

Many organizations in Abilene are the recipients of grants provided by the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council. They represent the revitalization of Abilene by bringing art, culture, economic development and new businesses to our community. These organizations need your continuing support.

Consider contributing to HeARTS for the ARTS to help replace fund no longer available through the Tax Increment District. With your participation in HeARTS for the ARTS, the needs of many art organizations can continue to be met through these grants. For more information on how to participate go to www.abilenecac.org.

HAPPY CAMPERS

The Grace Museum, 102 Cypress St., is making plans for its summer camps and activities for your children.

The following camps have been scheduled for Grace Academy 2016:

Daring Drawings and Curious Colors (June 20-14 for those entering grades 1-6)

Rock it! Science Camp (June 27-July 1 for those entering grades 3-6)

Kindercamp (July 5-6 for incoming kindergartners)

Kaleidoscope Art Camp (July 11-15 for those entering grades 1-6)

Middle School Mania (July 11-15 for those entering grades 6-9)

Print-Palooza (July 18-20 for entering grades 5-8)

Girls Night at the Museum (July 22 and 23 for girls entering grades 4-6)

Sculpt It! (July 25-29 for those entering 1-6 grades)

Poised, Polished and Pretty (Aug. 1-3 for those entering grades 4-6)

Call the museum for more details, 325-673-4587, or visit www.thegracemuseum.org. Space is limited.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IPHONES, IPADS

The last session of the year for iPhone/iPad classes is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at the North Mockingbird Library, 1214 N. Mockingbird Lane. Tom Miller, Mac consultant, trainer and teacher for the classes, will continue to help you learn more about your iPhone and/or iPad.

Sign-in begins at 12:30 p.m. Individual questions are addressed before or after the class. Preregistration not required. Classes are not sponsored by the library.

Keynote slides are posted at tommillermachelp.com. Contact Tom Miller, tdmill@me.com or 325-518-6662, if you have questions.

STORIES IN THE PARK

Stop by Redbud Park, 3125 S. 32nd St., near the playground at 3 p.m. Thursday (weather permitting) for a 'Stories in the Park' session. Look for the blue library flag to take part in the storytime with stories, songs and games designed with a jungle theme.

GUEST OF HONOR

Lee Hamilton, a local state district court judge and community arts advocate, will be honored at The Grace Museum's 2016 Fall Benefit on Aug. 27. The popular black tie event will feature a dinner, dancing, a silent auction and more.

Ticket and sponsorship information is available by calling the museum at 325-673-4587 or sending an email to administration@thegracemusuem.org.

Mail information to Jan Woodward in care of 'Around Town,' Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX 79604. Email address is jan.woodward@reporternews.com or fax information to 325-670-5242. Deadline for submission is noon seven working days before publication.
Anyone who has lived in Texas awhile and drinks wine, sooner or later has tried a bottle of wine from Becker Winery.

I first met Dr. Richard and Bunny Becker in the 1990s at a reception at the home of Dr. Jim and Kathy Webster. Dr. Becker and Dr. Webster both grew up together in Abilene and have been longtime friends, sharing similar career paths in the medical profession.

Unbeknown to them at the time but the Beckers were about to embark on a second career serendipitously in winemaking that has put their name at the top of Texas wines.

In 1990, the Beckers began searching for a small house on an acre, ideally a log cabin to renovate, to create a hill country getaway from their life in San Antonio. Two years later, they found a charming log cabin built in 1845 on 180 acres just outside of Fredericksburg. They noticed that the land was rich with native Mustang grapes, much prized for winemaking by German neighbors and their ancestors.

Richard's green thumb and interest in wine were both piqued and soon he was purchasing grapevines. In 1992, the Becker's planted their first acres grapevines. Bunny insisted that they pay everything in cash insuring Richard could develop his wines gradually, never bottling anything that didn't meet their standards. In this way, through Bunny's foresight, the winery developed gradually expanding slowly.

Dr. Becker, an endocrinologist by profession, used his skills in scientific study which allowed him to pick up winemaking relatively easily. By consulting well known winemakers during the process, he was able to facilitate and shorten his learning curve.

Becker Vineyards' first harvest was in 1995 and the tasting room was finished the next year, complete with an antique bar originally from the Green Tree Saloon, circa 19th century San Antonio and a large stone fireplace. In 1997, the historic log cabin was made into a bed-and-breakfast surrounded by three acres of lavender fields reminiscent of the Becker's travels through the wine country of Provence, France. Several varieties of lavender fill the air with its wonderful scent.

Today, Becker Vineyards farms 46 acres of estate fruit that generate 8 different available varietals today, including Syrah, Petite Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. They also own additional vineyards near San Angelo and Mason, totaling just over 87 acres of vines.

The winery's philosophy is to promote Texas wine and, therefore, Texas-grown fruit. Because of this commitment, they currently contract with more independent Texas grape growers than any other winery in the state. You can see Becker Vineyards in Stonewall; Bluebonnet Hills Vineyards in Ballinger; and Peter's Prairie Vineyard in Mason.

Here is another Abilene connection, not only is Dr. Becker from Abilene, but his wine labels also have an Abilene connection! The wine labels feature the artwork of the late Tony Bell, a dear friend of Dr. Becker.

The two grew up together in Abilene, and both attended the University of Texas. The 'Tree' label is a watercolor painting of a tree from Bell's backyard. The 'Iconoclast' label is a self-portrait of the artist painted on a brown paper sack, and the 'Tavern' label is a woodblock print the artist made of The Friendly Tavern in Austin.

Dr. Richard and Bunny Becker have striven to create the most exclusive wine experience in the Texas Hill Country and they have accomplished just that. Their wines have been served in the stateliest of settings, including the White House and the renowned James Beard House.

So as summer is upon us, try a bottle of Becker wine or visit the winery. It's an experience you will enjoy.

2013 Provencal

This vintage is made with Mourvedre grapes with the skins left on for limited skin contact creating this beautiful salmon color. The European-style dry rose' is crisp and bright with aromas of rose petals and flavors of strawberry and slightly herbal. The Provencal won Double Gold  95 points  at the San Francisco International Wine Competition 2014.

2012 Viognier

Becker Vineyards was the first Texas winery to commercially produce the Viognier. It is structured like a Chardonnay but fuller bodied. It has a nectar-like nose giving the impression it is a sweet wine but it is actually dry. This wine has aromas of orange petal with flavors of peach, dried apricot and citrus. It has been aged in White Oak barrels for roughly 3 months. The 2014 Reserve Viognier won Reserve Champion White Wine, Gold Medal, and Top of Class at 2016 San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Wine Competition!
Halloween events, fall festivals pack October in Abilene, Big Country

From family-friendly to frightful, there are plenty of opportunities to don the costumes and scare up some treats.
Martina Olvera has a full plate, with responsibilities not normally associated with high school students  a three-year-old daughter, Makayla.

A Cooper senior, Olvera, expected to graduate Saturday, balances her family requirements with school, a full-time job and somehow managing to sneak in a little fun for herself.

'I go for walks with Makayla,' she said through a smile. 'I try to read whenever I get a moment to myself. And Makayla likes to read to me.'

Graduation for Cooper High School is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Taylor County Coliseum.

Olvera has been a mother long enough she has her routine set.

Waking up at 6 a.m., she gets herself dressed before her little one wakes up. She gets her daughter to Crockett Early Childhood Center and heads off to Cooper High, where she's a member of the Air Force junior ROTC program.

Some days are easy, but there are definitely tough times she's had to get through.

She said she relies on her mother, sister and grandfather, the inspiration for her to attend Cooper High when her family moved to Abilene from Fort Worth before her junior year, as well as the Communities in Schools representatives on campus.

Cooper High Campus Coordinator Joe Cunningham Jr. has served as a surrogate father figure to her since she arrived, she said.

'I trust him like no other,' Olvera said while fighting back tears. 'The support, trust, honesty, comfort; it's all there.'

For his role, Cunningham said he pulls inspiration from Olvera, recognizing her path is difficult but she perseveres.

'She lets me know anything is possible,' he said. 'I've watched her at her lowest point, I've watched her grow. I'm very proud of her.'

Olvera is hoping to take her training in the junior ROTC program to new levels by joining the Air Force this summer.

She'll go to a recruiter in San Antonio and plan her future. Once she's started, she said, she'll put the drive that got her through high school, and got her noticed by the people she's surrounded herself with, toward accomplishing a fairly lofty career goal.

'I don't think there's been a woman general in the Air Force,' she said. 'That would be nice.'

Achieving whatever goal she sets for herself is a mantra she says she repeats each day.

It has to do with believing in herself and constantly moving forward, she said.

'Don't stop believing what you believe in,' she said. 'Always keep going. Those are the words I say every day. My goal is to get my body weight down, lose about 20 pounds, and get to basic training. The Air Force will have it all organized for me from there.'
A fire broke out at Taylor's Army Surplus City around 6:15 this morning, said fire department spokesman Lt. Greg Goetsch. It was a two-alarm fire, and six fire trucks, carrying 25 firemen responded.

Some collectible ammunition was inside and contributed to the fire's intensity. The building was vacant and the cause of the fire is still unknown. At 8:45 am firefighters are still battling the blaze with flames showing under the collapsed roof metal sheets. A bulldozer is on the way to help move debris.

North First has been closed from Leggett to Pioneer and will remain so for some time, said Goetsch.

A fire broke out at Taylor's Army Surplus City around 6:15 this morning, said fire department spokesman Lt. Greg Goetsch.

It was a two-alarm fire, and six fire trucks, carrying 25 firemen responded to the business at 4042 N. First St..

Some collectible ammunition was inside and contributed to the fire's intensity.

The building was unoccupied, and the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Firefighters battled the blaze for more than two-and-a-half hours, with flames showing under the collapsed roof metal sheets.

A bulldozer has arrived to help move debris.

The closure of North First Street has been limited to an area close to the scene.
After a contentious race for Texas Senate District 24, Austin ophthalmologist beat out state Rep. Susan King by a significant margin Tuesday's Republican primary runoff.

King won her home county, Taylor, with 9,197 votes to Buckingham's 5,020, representing 56 percent of the vote.

But with 346 precincts out of 348 reporting, Buckingham led with 26,007 votes to King's 16,338.

District 24 is a sprawling district made up of 17 counties, including most of Taylor, Callahan, Brown, Comanche and Mills in the Big Country.

In a statement, King said she wanted to thank supporters and volunteers across the district for their support, particularly 'my neighbors in Taylor County.'

She said she was grateful both for the show of support and for 'allowing me to serve our local community in the Texas House of Representatives for the past five terms.'

'It has been, and continues to be, an honor and I thank you,' she said.

King will finish out her term as representative for House District 71.

King won the most votes in the March 1 primary, when she and Buckingham defeated a field of four other candidates to secure their right to a runoff.

'Susan was very heavily outspent,' said King's spokesman Bryan Eppstein on Tuesday night. 'The other side had more resources to drive a message outside the local area where Susan was known, and I think it just comes down to that.'

Eppstein noted that legislative committees use their interim period to study issues for the next legislative session.

'So as chairman of the Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs, she'll be chairing those interim hearings to prepare for next session,' he said. 'Those are issues that are very important for Dyess Air Force Base and Fort Hood.'

Eppstein told King supporters gathered at Cypress Street Station that she had chosen to stay home with family, rather than make a personal appearance.

The race was often bitter, with the war between the two candidates starting over requests that the city of Abilene release medical information, including the contents of a 911 call, which King maintains are private.

King, who suspended her campaign temporarily in late 2015 to seek treatment for depression, now has an injunction to prevent the information from being released until a Nov. 21 trial date.

The candidates further clashed over topics such as Buckingham's financial ties to National American University in South Dakota, which King's campaign said 'preys upon and dupes veterans'; the fate of the Abilene State Supported Living Center; and Buckingham's reported contributions to Democrats between 2005 and 2012.

Speaking to the Reporter-News on Tuesday night, Buckingham said the time had come for unity. Democratic candidate Jennie Lou Leeder will square off against the winner in November.

'It's time to come together, coalesce and get this race won,' Buckingham said via telephone, adding that she felt 'truly blessed to have received such widespread support from across the district.'

'Our conservative message resonated with the voters,' she said, noting that her campaign ran a 'very strong ground game,' knocking on doors and talking to voters.

Buckingham said the race was between a 'political outsider and a more established, career politician,' but said she planned to equally 'represent everyone in this district.'

'You're going to see me, you're going to know me,' she said. 'You're going to feel like you have a voice in your senator's district. We're going to be honest about where we stand and why. We know we're here to represent everybody, and we're going to do that well.'

After a contentious race for Texas Senate District 24, Austin ophthalmologist Dawn Buckingham beat out state Rep. Susan King by a significant margin in Tuesday's Republican primary runoff.

King won her home county, Taylor, with 5,146 votes to Buckingham's 4,051, representing 56 percent of the vote.

With all 348 precincts reporting, Buckingham won with 26,413 votes to King's 16,645.

District 24 is a sprawling district made up of 17 counties, including most of Taylor, Callahan, Brown, Comanche and Mills in the Big Country.

In a statement, King said she wanted to thank supporters and volunteers across the district for their support, particularly 'my neighbors in Taylor County.'

She said she was grateful both for the show of support and for 'allowing me to serve our local community in the Texas House of Representatives for the past five terms.'

'It has been, and continues to be, an honor and I thank you,' she said.

King will finish out her term as representative for House District 71.

King won the most votes in the March 1 primary, when she and Buckingham defeated a field of four other candidates to secure their right to a runoff.

'Susan was very heavily outspent,' said King's spokesman Bryan Eppstein on Tuesday night. 'The other side had more resources to drive a message outside the local area where Susan was known, and I think it just comes down to that.'

Eppstein noted that legislative committees use their interim period to study issues for the next legislative session.

'So as chairman of the Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs, she'll be chairing those interim hearings to prepare for next session,' he said. 'Those are issues that are very important for Dyess Air Force Base and Fort Hood.'

Eppstein told King supporters gathered at Cypress Street Station that she had chosen to stay home with family, rather than make a personal appearance.

The race was often bitter, with the war between the two candidates starting over requests that the city of Abilene release medical information, including the contents of a 911 call, which King maintains are private.

King, who suspended her campaign temporarily in late 2015 to seek treatment for depression, now has an injunction to prevent the information from being released until a Nov. 21 trial date.

The candidates further clashed over topics such as Buckingham's financial ties to National American University in South Dakota, which King's campaign said 'preys upon and dupes veterans'; the fate of the Abilene State Supported Living Center; and Buckingham's reported contributions to Democrats between 2005 and 2012.

Speaking to the Reporter-News on Tuesday night, Buckingham said the time had come for unity. Democratic candidate Jennie Lou Leeder will square off against the winner in November.

'It's time to come together, coalesce and get this race won,' Buckingham said via telephone, adding that she felt 'truly blessed to have received such widespread support from across the district.'

'Our conservative message resonated with the voters,' she said, noting that her campaign ran a 'very strong ground game,' knocking on doors and talking to voters.

Buckingham said the race was between a 'political outsider and a more established, career politician,' but said she planned to equally 'represent everyone in this district.'

'You're going to see me, you're going to know me,' she said. 'You're going to feel like you have a voice in your senator's district. We're going to be honest about where we stand and why. We know we're here to represent everybody, and we're going to do that well.'
The man who missed an opportunity to serve in the state Capitol now appears headed to Capitol Hill.

In an all-Lubbock battle, Jodey Arrington won 54 percent of the vote Tuesday to win the Republican runoff for the 19th Congressional District over Glen Robertson.

Unofficially, Arrington earned 25,214 votes to 21,769 for Robertson, and won 18 of 29 counties. Arrington won 55 percent of the early vote.

Arrington lost a 2014 special election for state Senate that would've sent him to Austin. Now, as the Republican nominee in the November general election, he's likely to go to Washington, D.C. On the Nov. 8 ballot, he will face Libertarian and Green candidates, who traditionally have not put up much of a challenge to a major party candidate. No Democrat sought the office.

Asked how quickly he could get used to being called congressman, Arrington said, 'That translates to 'servant.' In West Texas that means servant of the people. I am overwhelmed. I won't let you down, I promise.'

Robertson, the outgoing two-term mayor of Lubbock, called Arrington about 9 p.m. to concede the hard-fought, sometimes contentious race.

'He was very gracious and you know, we had some good times on the campaign trail, some moments of levity,' Arrington said. 'His last words to me, what he had been saying in his campaign, that he was going to get our country back, he said, 'Jodey, go get our country back. I'll be right behind you.''

Robertson did not return messages to the Reporter-News by deadline.

Arrington is poised to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer. Neugebauer initially went to Washington by winning in a special election for the District 19 seat in 2003 and then defeated 26-year congressman Charlie Stenholm, a Democrat, in 2004, after Stenholm's District 17 was merged with District 19.

Arrington won Taylor County with 58 percent of the vote  6,072-4,457, unofficially. His margin of victory here  1,615 votes  was greater than his win in Lubbock County (1,542 votes).

He thanked leaders here for their support, and voters for turning out for him.

'The best way I can thank them for having trust and confidence in me is to deliver results and lead well,' he said, pointing to not only keeping Dyess Air Force Base out the sights of those aiming to close military bases but to bring the next generation bomber to the Abilene base. 'I am ready to go to work.'

He listed Dyess, helping farmers and combating the overreach of regulation as the three issues of most concern across the 29-county district.

A Plainview native, Arrington twice served George W. Bush, as governor and president, as an adviser. He was chief of staff at the FDIC, then returned to Lubbock and Texas Tech University, where he became vice chancellor at his alma mater. Most recently, he has been president of Scott Laboratories, a health care innovation holding company headquartered in Lubbock.

In the primary, Robertson won the most votes districtwide, but it was hardly a wide margin  27,868 for Robertson and 27,013 for Arrington. With 855 votes separating the front-runners, the runoff was considered up for grabs.

Big Country primary totals supported that premise.

In the primary, retired Air Force commander Michael Bob Starr, of Abilene, won two of 12 Big Country counties in District 19. Arrington and Robertson each won five of the other counties. Arrington was the runner-up in Jones County to Robertson but won the county in the runoff. Robertson was the runner-up in Taylor County to Starr but Arrington took the county in the runoff.

In unofficial results Tuesday night, Arrington won eight of 12 Big Country counties, though some by the slightest of margins.

He got one more vote than Robertson in Haskell (111-110), Kent (23-22) and Scurry (487-486) counties.

Robertson won decisively in Howard and Stonewall counties but took Nolan County by just six votes and Stephens County by 10 votes, both unofficial totals.

Robertson won Howard, Stephens and Stonewall counties in the primary but Nolan County had gone for Arrington.

In the primary, Robertson won more votes in Taylor County than Arrington, as both candidates finished well behind Starr. But that stat was reversed in the runoff, with Arrington taking 3,348 early votes to 2,368, unofficially, for Robertson, then building on his lead with election-day votes.

Arrington lost to Robertson by 316 votes in the primary in Lubbock County. But in the runoff, he easily won the early and total vote.

The runoff winner was delighted with the lopsided vote in Hale County  his home county. Arrington won by an unofficial 1,224-479 margin, or 72 percent.

'Oh man, I've got to tell you, if I didn't win Hale County, I would've conceded the election,' Arrington said, laughing. 'I told them, you have a chance to go big for a Bulldog, and they did.'
Two Ukrainian servicemen have been wounded over the past 24 hours as a result of attacks by militant groups in the Anti-Terrorism Operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine, the Presidential Administration's military spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said.

"Over the past 24 hours two Ukrainian servicemen have been wounded in the area of industrial zone near Avdiyivka. No troops were killed," Lysenko said on Wednesday at a regularly scheduled briefing in Kyiv.

Lysenko said enemy forces continued shelling with the use of artillery systems under cover of darkness. Militant groups launched four artillery barrages near the villages of Stanytsia Luhanska, Sokilnyky and Novozvanivka in eastern Ukraine.

In the Donetsk sector, enemy activity was concentrated on the traditional "hotspots" in the villages of Luhanske and Zaitseve, and the town of Avdiyivka, Lysenko said. "Periodically, combined Russian-separatist forces used mortars. The enemy opened fire 16 times, using heavy weapons five times," he said.

In the area of the southeastern strategic port of Mariupol, enemy forces immediately after midnight unleashed a barrage near the town of Krasnohorivka.

"Using mortars and armored assault vehicles (BMPs), enemy forces continued firing for five hours, until dawn. What is more, Ukrainian troops successfully repelled an attack from illegally armed groups near the village of Novotroyitske. The battle lasted one hour. Ukrainian troops took out one BMP," Lysenko said.

He said militant groups were also active near the town of Mariynka, and the villages of Hranitne and Shyrokyne, and other locations.

"There were a total of 12 enemy artillery attacks and one skirmish in the Mariupol sector yesterday," Lysenko said.

He added that Ukrainian military intelligence during the last 24 hours reported ten enemy drone flights along the line of demarcation separating Ukrainian forces and militant groups.
Oil prices follow cycles, and so does the thinking about the future of oil-producing countries. This week, Russian billionaire Petr Aven and two Moscow economists published an article dissecting what they call the 'twilight of the petrostate' which echoes the concerns of the Saudi Arabian elite  but also the conventional thinking of the late 1990s, when oil was also cheap.

Aven's byline on the article is not to be taken lightly. He made almost $2 billion when Alfa Group, in which he is a shareholder, sold its share of oil company TNK BP to state-owned Rosneft in 2013. Aven was also Russia's foreign trade minister in 1992, when Vladimir Putin was in charge of foreign trade at the St. Petersburg mayor's office, so the two men know each other well. Aven knows a lot about at least one petrostate  and not the least important one, either: Russia vies with Saudi Arabia for the title of the world's biggest oil producer.

The diagnosis and predictions from Aven and his co-authors are dire. They write that petrostates, from Russia to Venezuela, and from Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf, have used their oil rent to enjoy Western-style consumption without subscribing to the Western values that made it possible. Now they are at risk of ending up like the producers of natural rubber after the invention of synthetic latex  dependent on a commodity that no longer generates a rent because of its scarcity but just sells as a certain markup to production cost.

'The influence of the Petroleum Leviathan  the handful of producing countries with the ability to exercise a heavy influence on the price of oil  will fall victim to the invisible hand of the market, which increasingly is armed with new oil extraction, energy-saving technologies and non-petroleum solutions in transport, power generation and petrochemistry,' they write.

This, say the authors, will require a political realignment, and even a geopolitical one. Latin America will swing to the right from its leftist populism, in the Middle East Saudi Arabia's influence will wane in favor of Turkey, Israel and Iran. (Iran actually had a non-oil trade surplus last year and is less of a pure petrostate than Saudi Arabia.) Iraq and Syria may fall apart. And globalization will never be the same again:

'As trade, investment and migrant flows between oil-producing countries and the rest of the world decline, the body of globalism will certainly grow leaner. Its spirit, however, will revive. The full enjoyment of Western comforts and technologies will no longer be compatible with a negation of its values and institutes. Only those countries that embrace modernization and carry it further than they did in the previous oil downcycle can hope not be relegated to a historical footnote.'

Coming as it does after Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced a reform plan aimed at making his country a non-oil-based economy by 2030, the Aven article appears to be another symptom of a deep disquiet in major oil producing nations. There's nothing new about that. Every time prices drop, sharp critiques appear of the corruption, inefficiency, cronyism and clientelism endemic to petrostates. In 1999, Terry Lynn Karl of Stanford University wrote:

'Periods of low oil prices offer the best opportunity for constructing the political and administrative institutions capable of managing petroleum. Indeed, such periods may be the only opportunity to move petrostates from vicious development cycles to virtuous ones, because this requires that merit-based civil services replace cronyism and clientelistic arrangements, more political support can be built for civil service reforms when prices are low.'

The difference is that during the previous downcycle, it was assumed that prices would rise again; the window of opportunity was brief. Today's rhetoric, whether it comes from Aven or Prince Mohammad, is of the doomsday kind: The general idea is that prices will never rise again.

It's easy to buy if you read a lot of news stories about Tesla and the technological breakthroughs of U.S. frackers, but harder if you get into the details of car battery technology, U.S. oil production or energy investment statistics. There is no evidence yet that the last oil boom is behind us. So far, the trajectory of oil demand has been an unmistakably upward one.

Unless a disruptive event  like the invention of a cheap electric car battery that can go 400 miles, and not just on paper  changes consumer habits, the trajectory will likely continue.
Gov. Greg Abbott drew a crowd Monday morning.

The governor was in Abilene to sign copies of his book, 'Broken but Unbowed.' He launched a Texas signing tour last Wednesday in Austin and has drawn a line of fans at every stop. More than 100 showed up here.

Are taxpayers funding this tour? No, we were told. The governor is not making a dime off the book, with advance sales paying for the tour and proceeds going to Finally Home, a nonprofit that, according to its website, provides a 'unique network of experienced builders, suppliers, and supporters dedicated to building homes for wounded, ill or injured veterans, surviving spouses and their families.'

The governor took time to greet those who came to see him. It should be this way, anyway. A governor should interact with the people. He told us their concerns include a secure border, the economy and roads.

Gov. Abbott is personable, fully at ease talking to an Air Force veteran, a woman cradling a photograph of her son in a wheelchair and the tween, wearing her martial arts uniform, there with her mother.

Of course, he is a politician and when asked during a short meeting with the media if he supported Donald Trump, Gove. Abbott quickly went on the offensive against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He linked her to lax dealings with terrorists, said our borders would be 'even more open' if she were elected and predicted she would turn Obamacare into Clintoncare.

Several in the line openly carried. One veteran wore a T-shirt imprinted with 'Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.'

Gov. Abbott on Monday, however, was just as happy to see them bear copies of his book.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

This just in...
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree pardoning Nadia Savchenko sentenced in Russia; the move was preceded by his meeting with relatives of the Russian journalists whose killing she had been charged with.

"President Putin signed a decree pardoning Savchenko. She left for Kyiv on a Ukrainian airplane that arrived in Rostov," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"The meeting was preceded by messages to the head of state from the abovementioned relatives that were written back on March 22 and 23 respectively in which Marianna Dmitriyevna (Voloshina) and Yekaterina Sergeyevna (Kornelyuk) requested pardoning her on compassionate grounds," Peskov said.

"Before writing these requests to the president, Marianna Dmitriyevna and Yekaterina Sergeyevna, for their part, met with Viktor Medvedchuk as special representative of Ukraine on humanitarian issues in the Trilateral Contact Group," Peskov said.
A Cambodian policeman loads a protester into the back of a police truck during a demonstration in Phnom Penh demanding the release of detained rights defenders, May 9, 2016.

Cambodian authorities are cracking down on efforts to win the release of five people detained in the governments investigation into a sex scandal involving a leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), RFAs Khmer Service has learned.

In what appears to be a wide-ranging effort to stymie attempts by the CNRP to win public support for the release of the prisoners, the party activists say local authorities have been interrogating and arresting activists attempting to get Cambodians to sign onto an appeal to King Norodom Sihamoni for the release of the five.

After they were threatened by Battambang provincial authorities, activists with the CNRP postponed their attempt to collect thumbprints for the appeal to the king there, the activists told RFA.

They accused me of persuading the people to become party members, and that is why they arrested me, Ny Phoeun, a CNRP official in the provinces Phnom Proek district told RFA. They threatened me by saying that if I answered correctly, I would be released. If not, I would be detained for 24 hours.

Ny Phoeun told RFA that Phnom Proek police forced her to sign an agreement on May 24 saying she will stop collecting the thumbprints.

On May 2, Cambodian authorities arrested Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) staffers Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony and National Election Committee (NEC) Deputy Secretary-General Ny Chakrya. An arrest warrant was also issued for U.N. staffer Sally Soen, but it is unclear if she is in custody.

All are facing bribery or accessory to bribery charges in the sex scandal that has enveloped CNRP acting leader Kem Sokha.

So far, two complaints have been filed related to Kem Sokhas alleged affair with Khom Chandaraty. Kem Sokha has refused to appear in court in a defamation lawsuit related to the scandal.

Thumbprints and intimidation

Another CNRP activist in Moung Ruessei district said a local police official stopped and interrogated three party activists for two hours while they were attempting to collect local peoples thumbprints on May 24.

When we went to peoples homes, we told them the reasons and read the document to them, so they understood what they were participating in, said CNRP member Ut Cheurn.

Phnom Proek District Police Chief Song Sopheak said authorities asked the opposition activists to stop collecting peoples thumbprints, because they were misleading the people, and he feared unrest.

Sometimes they did not tell the people what they told us, he said. In fact, they told them something different, and the people did not understand this.

Then they printed their thumbs, he added. Thats why we took this action.

Yin Mengly, the ADHOC coordinator in Battambang province, told RFA that the party activists were doing nothing wrong.

Collecting peoples thumbprints without any pressure, to be submitted to the king seeking his intervention for the release of the detained human rights, National Election Commission, and political officials is not an illegal act, Yin Mengly told RFA. It is the people who arrest, intimidate, and detain who are committing the illegal acts.

Commune council arrest

In Kampot province, Chhuk district authorities arrested an opposition member of the commune council and other activists who collected thumbprints for a petition from people there.

Duong Thol, a Trapeang Phleang commune council member from the Human Rights Party, was arrested on May 24 and was interrogated at police headquarters, while a CNRP activist in Trapeang Kokir, Blaeuk commune, were summoned by the local authorities for questioning on May 25.

Geay Yung, CNRP chief for Kampot province, told RFA that the three were released on May 25 after they were interrogated by police.

This is an act of tightening and restricting political activities, which is against democratic practice, he said.

A senior Kampot provincial police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RFA the detentions came after local politicians complained that Duong Rhol forced people to thumbprint a petition seeking the kings intervention.

Duong Thol told RFA after his release that that the accusation was trumped up by the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP).

I brought the petition to the villagers, and read it out loud to them, he said. Then I asked them if they dared to print their thumbs on it, but the place where I talked to them is near the CPP commune council.

He added: They are upset with our activities so they reported to the police that we forced the people to thumbprint the petition.

CNRP spokesperson Yim Sovann said the CPP is trying to intimidate the opposition party.

In Kampong Cham province, the CPP village chief also collected thumbprints for a petition supporting the CPP, but there were no arrests like there had been for the opposition party, he said.

The government is also threatening the human rights organization LICADHO for listing 29 people as political prisoners on their website. Among them are the five implicated in the governments investigation into CNRP leader Kem Sokha.

If we find any exaggeration, misleading information, intimidation, forgery  or if there is something behind it, like political bias or political involvement, LICADHO will be held responsible according to the law, he said.

Prisoners of conscience

According to an article in The Cambodia Daily, Amnesty International has designated the five held in the Kem Sokha probe as prisoners of conscience and is calling on millions of members around the world to petition the government for their release.

Cambodians who have previously been deemed prisoners of consciencemeaning they were jailed for their beliefs or inherent characteristics and have never advocated violenceinclude land rights advocate Yorm Bopha and activist radio station owner Mam Sonando, the paper reported.

John Coughlan, Amnesty Internationals researcher for Cambodia, told the newspaper on Tuesday that the five met the criteria for the designation.

It is totally transparent that they have been jailed for the human rights work, for working to uphold the rule of law and supporting victims of human rights violations, Coughlan said, according to the report.

By labeling the five as prisoners of conscience, Amnesty International is meddling in a Cambodian criminal investigation, Ministry of justice spokesman Chin Malin told RFA

The detained ADHOC and National Election Commission official are neither prisoners of conscience nor political prisoners, but they were involved in a Cambodian criminal case, Chin Malin said. The demand [for their release] with petitions, with thumbprints, will not have any influence on the court process.

Reported by Hour Hum, Neang leng and Vuthy Tha for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Yanny Hin. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Placards showing missing bookseller Lee Bo (L) and his associate Gui Minhai (R) are shown by members of the Civic Party outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong, Jan. 19, 2016.

The daughter of a Swedish national, who was detained by China under opaque circumstances, is calling on the United States to press Beijing for his release.

Angela Gui, daughter of Hong Kong publisher Gui Minhai, told a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) that her father is unlikely to have left his holiday home in Thailand voluntarily, in spite of having said so in a televised "confession."

"If this is true, then we might ask why there was no record of him leaving Thailand," she said. "Only a state agency acting coercively and against both international and Chinas own law could have achieved such a disappearance."

"I still have not been told where he is; how he is being treated; and what his legal status is, which is especially shocking in light of the fact that my father holds Swedish and only Swedish citizenship, Angela Gui said.

"The Chinese have detained my father without trial or charges," she said, adding that Beijing seems to have warned her from speaking out about his situation.

"In November and in January, he sent me two messages on Skype telling me to keep quiet  as his daughter, I could tell he sent these under duress," Angela Gui said.

'A reminder'

"I want my testimony to be a reminder ... that my father, a Swedish citizen, was abducted by Chinese state agents from a third, sovereign country, and is still in unofficial and illegal detention somewhere in China, without access to consular visits or legal representation," she told the CECC hearing titled "The Long Arm of China."

"Despite having been told to stay quiet, I believe that speaking up is the only option I have," she said, adding: "I am convinced that my father would have done this for me, were I the one illegally abducted and detained with no indication of time frame."

She wrapped up her testimony with a direct appeal to Washington.

"I want to ask the United States to take every opportunity to ask China for information on my father's status, as well as urge that he be freed immediately," she said.

Gui Minhai disappeared around the same time as four of his colleagues at Hong Kong's Causeway Bay Books.

Store manager and British passport-holder Lee Bo, 65, went missing from his workplace in Hong Kong on Dec. 30, while general manager Lui Bo (also spelled Lui Por), and colleagues Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kei are believed to have been detained during trips to China from their usual base in Hong Kong.

The U.K. government has said in an official report that Lee was "involuntarily removed" from the city, which has maintained a separate law enforcement jurisdiction and an internal immigration border since returning to Chinese rule in 1997.

And the U.S. State Department said in its Hong Kong Policy Act Report earlier this month that the booksellers' detentions "have raised serious concerns in Hong Kong and represent what appears to be the most significant breach of the one country, two systems policy since 1997."

Fabricated charge

After the hearing, Angela Gui said she believes the Chinese police claim that her father is being held in connection with a drunk-driving incident a decade earlier is fabricated.

"The document that was presented as evidence for this car crash has the wrong name," she told RFA. "It's the wrong spelling."

Asked if the car crash case was a fabrication, she replied: "I would believe so. I never heard anything about an accident. It seems very unlikely to me that such an accident should have happened."

She added: "Since his disappearance, I've been in touch with the Swedish police and I've asked about this alleged accident, and I've been told that there haven't been any reports filed to Interpol for his arrest, which would be very strange ... if they're taking it so seriously."

Angela Gui said she also had strong doubts about Lee Bo's claim that he voluntarily crossed the border, leaving no trace in official records, to help Chinese police with their inquiries.

"It's quite clear to me that Lee Bo was told to say these things, and that he's not free," she said.

'Troubling' actions

California Congressman Ted Lieu said China's recent actions were "troubling."

"I find the facts very troubling," the Democratic lawmaker said. "You have a Swedish citizen being abducted by China, and this is now no longer China doing things against its own people; it's actually reaching out and abducting a foreign national."

"This is something that should not be happening. It's a violation of international law," Lieu said.

Under the terms of the handover and the Basic Law, China has promised to allow Hong Kong to continue with its existing way of life until 2047, acting as a separate jurisdiction for law enforcement and immigration purposes, and with wide-ranging freedoms of expression and association.

But Andrew To, former leader of Hong Kong's pan-democratic League of Social Democrats, said the booksellers' disappearance has punctured confidence that China is sticking to its promises.

"This is the first time I have heard that the Chinese government even got Gui's name wrong," To said.

"The whole business involving Lee Bo and Gui Minhai is very suspicious," he said. "People in Hong Kong are really opposed to cross-border law enforcement, and they are beginning to wonder if the one country, two systems policy even exists any more."

Reported by Ho Shan and Gok Man-fung for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Wu Jing for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Myanmars government plans to return 2,500 acres of confiscated land to farmers in Tant-Se township in the countrys northwestern Sagaing region, more than 35 years after it was taken, an agriculture ministry official said Tuesday.

In 1980, the Burma Socialist Programme Party confiscated nearly 4,000 acres of the townships land in Shwebo district for a government farm project named Wet Toe, Win Tun, deputy minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation, told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament in Naypyidaw.

The party was formed by the regime led by military commander Ne Win that seized power in 1962, and was the only political party legally permitted to exist from 1974 until it broke up after a popular uprising in 1988. It instituted socialist policies that included land seizures and control of agricultural production.

At the time, Tant-Se township residents were kept in the dark about who was running the Wet Toe project because of a lack of transparency, lawmaker Myint Tun said during a session of a lower house in Naypyidaw.

Win Tun said the project will continue operating on 1,200 acres to produce seeds for farms, while the remaining acres will be returned to farmers.

Although all of the 3,726 acres were not confiscated from farmers, only 1,200 acres are being used for the project, so 2,526 acres will be returned to the state, said Tun Win, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

Myint Tun questioned Win Tun about the projects benefit to local residents because Wet Toe has not been successful.

The relevant land management organizations will arrange for farmers to work on the land, Win Tun responded.

Former landowners in other parts of the country have long appealed to government leaders to return property seized decades ago under Myanmars previous military junta which ruled the country for 50 years.



Reported by Win Naung Toe for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Savchenko lawyers decline to say if she asked to be pardoned

The defense lawyers for Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko are not commenting on the issue of whether she asked to be pardoned.

"I can't comment on that. Let Nadia say this herself," lawyer Mark Feygin told Interfax on Wednesday.

Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Wednesday the relatives of the killed journalists had asked for Savchenko to be pardoned.
Scavengers dig for raw jade stones in piles of waste rubble next to a jade mine in Hpakant, northeastern Myanmar's Kachin state, Oct. 4, 2015.

More than 70 people remain missing and 19 are injured a day after a landslide of mountainous slag left a dozen dead in northeastern Myanmars Hpakant jade-mining region, a local resident and town official said Tuesday.

Heavy rains caused the huge pile of mining waste to collapse Monday evening while scavengers searched the excavation site for leftover jade deposits.

The number of injured has jumped to 19, up from the 11 who were initially reported hurt immediately after the disaster, said Hmawe Gyi, a resident of Hpakant in Kachin state and a member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party after visiting the accident site.

Seventy-three people remain missing, he said.

Rescuers still have not resumed efforts to find survivors because continued rainfall could trigger additional landslides, he told RFAs Myanmar Service.

The rescue work has stopped, Hmawe Gyi said. Jade mine companies should use machinery and cooperate with authorities to search for the missing people.

Now, people dont know if their family members are dead or not, he said. They dont know whether they should hold funerals. Some of them did hold funerals, although they didnt know exactly whether their family members are dead or just missing.

An official who works in the towns administrative office told RFA on Wednesday that administrators have yet to receive an update on the latest situation because transportation in the area is difficult.

Yadanar Star, the company that ran the site, ceased its mining operations on Sunday, prompting scavengers to move in to search for jade, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

Lack of regulation

Hpakant, which lies 651 kilometers (404 miles) north of Myanmars capital Naypyidaw, produces some of the highest-quality jade in the world, much of it exported or smuggled to China where demand for the precious stone is high.

Locals have led protests against the mining companies in recent months to get them to improve the safety of excavation areas in light of a recent series of deadly landslides caused by collapsing waste heaps.

Rights groups routinely criticize the mining companies for the detrimental social and environmental impacts of their activities in the largely unregulated industry.

Ohn Win, head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, conducted an inspection tour of mines in Hpakant in early May after civil society organizations in Kachin state demanded that the new government form a commission to inspect jade mines that have violated industry regulations.

The area has also been rocked by fighting between the Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an armed ethnic group.

On Wednesday, the national army detained three men it has accused of being KIA operatives connected to a series of bombings targeting mining companies in Hpakant earlier this month, Democratic Voice of Burma reported, citing the military mouthpiece Myawady News.



Reported by Kyaw Myo Min for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Facing increasingly hazardous conditions caused by decaying infrastructure, the residents of an impoverished Tibetan town in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province are pleading with local authorities to repair crumbling roads and a badly maintained power station, according to a local source.



Kharnya township in Draggo (in Chinese, Luhuo) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has suffered for years from dangerous roads and an unreliable and unsafe power supply, prompting residents to petition township officials for help, a local resident told RFAs Tibetan Service.



A similar petition was presented to authorities last year but was ignored, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



The main issue now is the lack of proper roads in Kharnya on which local residents can travel and conduct economic activities in the town, the source said.



Traffic on the towns main road is often halted by erosion and the frequent landslides caused by poor construction work, he said.



Fatal accidents



And though an electric power station was built in the area about 10 years ago, the station is not well maintained, and the local residents get hardly any benefit from it."



Instead, power lines left lying in the open have caused occasional and sometimes fatal accidents, he said.



For example, Chime Wangchuk of the townships Jedak village was killed when he picked up a live wire lying on the ground, and Konchok Gyaltsen from the same village was disabled when he touched a stray cable.



Deforestation initiated by local authorities has also damaged the local environment, RFAs source said, adding that the random cutting and transportation of timber in and around Kharnya has also resulted in injuries.



The authorities have not provided any kind of compensation for these victims of government neglect in the area, he said.



School abandoned



Lying about 80 miles from the Draggo county seat, Kharnya is home to about 400 families, but owing to poor road conditions in the area, no teacher can be persuaded to remain in the township to teach, the source said.



Thus, there are now no students in the school, he said.



Chinese security forces swarmed Draggo in large numbers two years ago in an apparent attempt to prevent county residents from observing the anniversary of a violent crackdown on Tibetan protesters in January 2012.



Two Tibetans were killed, and at least 30 injured, in the incident in which armed police fired at random into a crowd, sources said in earlier reports.



Shopkeepers in the county have since been ordered by authorities to hand over all stocks of photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, with severe punishment threatened for those who fail to comply.



Reported by Sonam Wangdu for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The Afghan Taliban has confirmed that leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and appointed as his successor a scholar known for his radical views.

But a breakaway Taliban faction has signaled its rejection of the elevation of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former deputy to Mansur, inviting uncertainty about whether the militant group can unite on key issues, which include its strategic opposition to Kabul's authority and possible peace talks to end years of fighting.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Akhundzada was appointed "after a unanimous agreement" in a meeting of Taliban leaders, which was believed to have been held in Pakistan.

Later on May 25, a suicide bomber killed 11 people in an attack -- claimed by the Taliban -- on a minibus carrying court employees in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Mansur was killed in Pakistan on May 21 when his vehicle was targeted by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

He had been named leader of the Taliban in July, just days after the Afghan government confirmed that the movement's spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died in the Pakistani port city of Karachi two years earlier.

Akhundzada is a religious scholar. He is around 50 years old and was born in Kandahar, the capital during the fundamentalist Taliban's 1996-2001 rule over most of Afghanistan.

He hails from the Noorzai tribe and leads a network of madrasahs, or religious schools, across Pakistan's Balochistan Province.

Akhundzada served as the Taliban's chief justice before his appointment as a deputy to Mansur. His views are regarded as hawkish, and reports say he could be expected to continue Mansurs aggressive line.

In a statement e-mailed to the media on May 25, Taliban spokesman Mujahid denied a Reuters report that Akhundzada had issued an audio recording rejecting peace talks. Mujahid wrote in the e-mail that Akhundzada had not issued any message.



A former foreign minister under the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Ghous, said the choice of Akhundzada was "a very wise decision." Ghous suggested that Akhundzada was highly regarded among Taliban of all ranks and could be a unifying force for the fractured movement.

Breakaway Group

However, a breakaway Taliban group led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, which had reportedly been battling Mansur's fighters for control of drug-smuggling routes in the south, said it would not accept the new leader for the same reason it rejected Mansur.

Mullah Manan Neyazi, a spokesman for Rasool, said Akhundzada, like Mansur before him, was chosen by the same small group of leaders rather than by the rank-and-file.

"He doesnt have wide recognition and he is unpopular among Taliban, that's why his appointment is not acceptable," he told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan.

Rahimullah Yousafzai, a prominent Pakistani journalist who specializes in covering militants, said that "the status quo remains unchanged" after Akhundzada's appointment.

"I don't foresee any shift from Mansur's policies, Yousafzai added. "[Akhundzada] is unlikely to negotiate with the Afghan government."

"Even if [Akhundzada] favors peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus" within the Taliban's main leadership council where many oppose negotiations, said Amir Rana, the director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies in Islamabad.

The Taliban statement also said two deputies to Akhundzada were appointed.

One of them, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the leader of a network blamed for many high-profile bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years. The second one is Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The movement has since been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to a harsh interpretation of Islamic law until the group was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Shortly after Taliban's announcement of a new leader, a suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul during morning rush hour on May 25, killing 11 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosive vest as he walked by the vehicle in the western part of the city, Afghan authorities said.

The attack was the second of its kind on the judiciary this month -- a judge was shot dead by unknown attackers in Kabul earlier in May.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Afghan Service, Reuters, AP, and AFP


Afghan authorities say security forces have killed a senior Taliban commander they identified as the "shadow governor" of the southern province of Helmand.

The Taliban denied the report, which came days after Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed by a U.S. air strike in southwestern Pakistan.

Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said Mullah Muzamel died of injuries sustained during an air strike in Marjah district late on May 22.

"First he was wounded and later that night he died of his wounds," Zwak said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a tweet that Muzamel had been killed in a special forces operation along with two of his commanders, Qari Feda Mohammad and Mulawi Hamid.

However, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman for southern Afghanistan, denied the report.

Ahmadi said the shadow governor for Helmand is Haji Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund and that person is safe.

"No official has been killed or wounded in Helmand," he said.

Helmand, the region that grows most of Afghanistan's opium crop, is mostly under Taliban control but government forces have launched an offensive to retake lost ground.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa


A suicide attack on a vehicle carrying court employees has killed at least 11 people and wounded four others west of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the attacker detonated his explosives vest as he walked by the vehicle in Paghman district during the morning rush hour on May 25.

The casualties include both court workers and civilians.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the movement announced a new leader to replace Mullah Akhtar Mansur, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova has walked free from an Azerbaijani prison and vowed to keep on working after the Supreme Court reduced her 7 1/2-year prison sentence to a suspended term of 3 1/2 years.



The court made the decision on May 25 after hearing an appeal by the journalist. Ismayilova was not in the courtroom when the ruling was issued, but was released from custody a short time later.

"Greetings! I am out of prison," Ismayilova said on Facebook. "Thank you all for your support. I am strong and full of energy. I will continue my work as a journalist."

Ismayilova was detained in December 2014 and sentenced in September 2015 on charges that have been widely seen as retaliation for her award-winning reporting linking the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to corruption.

Her imprisonment had elicited international condemnation against the Aliyev government and Western governments and press-freedom groups had repeatedly called for her release.

"This is a great day for Khadija, and for all journalists and for free speech everywhere," RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic said. "We are overjoyed for Khadija and her family and can't wait for her to get back to work."

The Baku court reversed Ismayilova's convictions on charges of misappropriation of property and abuse of position, but upheld her convictions for illegal entrepreneurship and tax evasion.

WATCH: Khadija Ismayilova speaks after her release.



Western governments and rights groups welcomed news of her release, and urged Baku to free other journalists and government critics widely seen as political prisoners.

"We view this as a positive step, and we encourage the Azerbaijani government to drop the remaining charges against her," the U.S. State Department said.

"As Azerbaijan continues to expand freedom of expression and space for civic and political participation, this will only continue to strengthen the country of Azerbaijan and our bilateral relationship."

The office of European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said Ismayilova's release "marks a further step in progress toward Azerbaijan's compliance with its international commitments," and called for "the release and rehabilitation of all those currently imprisoned or under restriction of movement in Azerbaijan on political grounds."



The Baku court's decision was "truly great news," U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Rick Stengel said on Twitter.

Dunja Mijatovic, representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), issued a statement calling Ismayilova's release "a very positive step."

"Unfortunately, Ismayilova's sentence has only been suspended, and I call on the authorities to drop all charges against her and release the remaining imprisoned journalists," Mijatovic wrote.

Petras Austrevicius, a Lithuanian member of the European Parliament and a member of its Foreign Affairs Committee, welcomed the development in comments to RFE/RL.

"I think this is an achievement of those who stood behind and requested her release because [Ismayilova] is a human rights defender," Austrevicius said. "She is a symbol of democratic society and I hope this tendency will continue in Azerbaijan and all political detainees or prisoners will be released sooner or later."

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a press release that the decision was "cause for celebration, but does not erase the rank injustice of her imprisonment for a year and a half on retaliatory charges."

John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, called on Baku to halt the "harassment, surveillance, and intimidation that she suffered before her detainment." The Broadcasting Board of Governors oversees all U.S. civilian international broadcasting, including RFE/RL.

Lansing said Azerbaijani authorities should allow RFE/RLs Baku bureau to reopen, and to stop investigations of other journalists who worked at the RFE/RL bureau before the government "unjustly" shut it down in December 2014. And he said Baku should lift travel restrictions on Ismayilova, which had been in place since 2014.

PHOTO GALLERY: Khadija Ismayilova is released.

Ismayilova's supporters had sought to take her case to the European Court for Human Rights, and enlisted renowned human rights lawyer Amal Clooney in that effort.

Her release, Clooney said, was "a victory for all journalists who dare to speak truth to power."

"Khadija is a talented journalist who was instrumental in exposing corruption in her country," she said.

"Khadija deserves full acknowledgment of her innocence and should be allowed to resume her work as a journalist without further harassment by the government," Clooney said.

Ismayilova, 39, has been hailed for her investigative work, and received wide accolades including the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Her mother, Elmira, accepted the prize on Ismayilovas behalf earlier this month and read an acceptance speech penned by her daughter.



"Humanity suffers when journalists are silenced," she said in the acceptance speech. "This is why some people believe that the killing of journalists constitutes a crime against humanity. As you gather here tonight, I ask you not to laud my work or my courage, but to dedicate yourself to the work each one of you can do on behalf of press freedom and justice."



The former Soviet republic has been ruled by the Aliyev family -- first Heidar, and then his son and current president, Ilham -- since shortly after the Soviet collapse. In recent years, authorities have tightened the screws on independent media, civil society groups and opposition politicians.

Freedom House, the U.S.-government-funded rights organization, has ranked Azerbaijan 189th out of 199 countries in its 2016 press survey. Reporters Without Borders ranked the country 163rd out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index.



Freedom House says there are still more than 80 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

"We are delighted that Khadija is finally free after spending 537 days unjustly jailed," said Rebecca Vincent, an activist with the Sport for Rights coalition, which has been lobbying for Ismayilovas release. "On the occasion of her release, we echo Khadija's call that we should focus not only on her case, but call for the releases of all political prisoners."

European Parliament President Martin Schulz's spokesman, Giacomo Fassina, told RFE/RL that the EU hopes "this is a positive signal that can be replicated in other cases."



Ismayilova has won other international honors before and after her imprisonment, including the PEN American Center's 2015 Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, the National Press Club's 2015 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, and the 2012 International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism award.

Amnesty International designated her as a "prisoner of conscience."



Ismayilova will turn 40 on May 27. Sport for Rights, an international coalition of activists, plans to hold rallies in 40 cities around the world on that date to call for Ismayilovas full acquittal and for the release of Azerbaijans other political prisoners.



Speaking before the Supreme Court ruling in Baku, Ismayilovas mother told RFE/RL she was optimistic her daughter would be released.



"Somehow, I am full of hope," Elmira Ismayilova said.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Azerbaijani Service; Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak, APA, and AFP
The release of RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova from an Azerbaijani prison has drawn applause from Western officials and international rights groups. But it also highlighted the plight of numerous other activists and journalists widely considered political prisoners who remain behind bars in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

"This is a positive signal that can be replicated in other cases," Giacomo Fassina, a spokesman for European Parliament President Martin Schulz, told RFE/RL following Ismayilova's release on May 25.

Dozens of journalists, opposition activists, and other critics of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev remain behind bars in cases they and their supporters call retribution for their political activities. The U.S.-based group Freedom House says there are still more than 80 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Their arrests and prosecutions have come amid a broad clampdown on dissent in Azerbaijan over the past three years that has been condemned by Western governments and prominent rights watchdog groups.

At least five journalists considered victims of politically motivated prosecutions remain jailed on a range of charges, including alleged hooliganism and drug-related offenses, according to media-freedom groups and Western officials.

The office of Dunja Mijatovic, representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), urged Baku in a May 25 statement to "release all remaining members of the media and bloggers still in prison today in Azerbaijan, including Seymur Hazi, Nijat [Nicat] Aliyev, Abdul Abilov, Rashad Ramazanov and Araz Guliyev."

Numerous political activists remain imprisoned as well, including several from the opposition Popular Front Party and the civic youth movement N!DA.

EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini's office said Ismayilova's release "marks a further step in progress toward Azerbaijan's compliance with its international commitments," and called for "the release and rehabilitation of all those currently imprisoned or under restriction of movement in Azerbaijan on political grounds."

Aliyev has demonstrated a willingness to heed calls for the release of those seen as political prisoners -- a label Baku has vehemently rejected.

Prior to the decision by Azerbaijan's Supreme Court to reduce Ismayilova's punishment to a suspended sentence, he issued a snap presidential pardon of 14 of these prisoners, including members of the N!DA civic youth group and human rights activist Rasul Cafarov.

But other N!DA activists remain in custody, including Bayram Mammadov, who earlier this month was charged with drug possession and placed in pretrial detention. Fellow N!DA member Giyasaddin Ibrahim, who was detained together with Mammadov, faces similar charges.

They were purportedly involved in writing graffiti on a statue of former President Heidar Aliyev in Baku ahead of Flower Day on May 10, which celebrates the late leader. Other N!DA members have previously been charged with drug possession.

The numerous Popular Party activists who remain jailed include the party's deputy chairman, Fuad Qahramanli, who was arrested in Baku in December. His lawyer said he was charged with publicly calling for the overthrow of the government and inciting ethnic, religious, and social hatred.

Other prominent critical voices currently imprisoned include Ilqar Mammadov, the leader of the Republican Alternative (REAL) movement who remains in jail despite a ruling by the European Court for Human Rights that his arrest was politically motivated.

Ismayilova's release came just three days before Azerbaijan celebrates its annual Republic Day with a mass amnesty, proposed by the country's first lady, that anticipates the release of some 3,500 prisoners convicted of minor crimes.

It remains unclear, however, whether those who are considered political prisoners might be freed, given the criminal nature of the offenses they have been charged with or convicted of.

The prisoners and their supporters say the criminal charges are trumped-up.
Ukraine and its allies have adamantly rejected Russia's claims that Kyiv is developing a "dirty bomb" to use against Moscow's forces, and Ukraine's foreign minister says he has invited experts to visit Ukrainian facilities to see for themselves that Ukraine has nothing to hide.

Russia's claims that Kyiv is planning to deploy a so-called dirty bomb -- a conventional warhead laced with radioactive, biological, or chemical materials -- came in a series of calls between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterparts from several NATO countries.

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.

Britain, France, and the United States issued a joint statement on October 23 dismissing the claim after Shoigu's calls with their defense ministers in which the Russian minister presented no evidence for the claim.

"Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," according to the statement.

But Russia doubled down on its assertions, which come after weeks of military defeats for Russia in southern and eastern Ukraine.

"According to the information we have, two organizations in Ukraine have specific instructions to create a so-called dirty bomb. This work is in its final stage," Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said on October 24.

Later the same day, the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, spoke by phone with British Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin, who rejected Russia's allegations that Ukraine is planning actions to escalate the conflict.

"The military leaders both agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication between the U.K. and Russia to manage the risk of miscalculation and to facilitate de-escalation," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Gerasimov also held a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, General Mark Milley, to discuss the risks of the use of a dirty bomb in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin-controlled RIA Novosti news agency.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg weighed in on Moscow's repeated allegation on October 24 , saying NATO also rejects it.

Stoltenberg said he had spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace "about Russia's false claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory."

"NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine," he said on Twitter.

Moscow's claims that Ukraine could employ a dirty bomb raised concern that Russia could use such a device and blame Kyiv.

A senior U.S. military official said the United States has seen no indication that Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in Ukraine, including a dirty bomb.

The official, who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, also said the Ukrainians are not building a dirty bomb.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also said the United States has not seen any indication that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon but said there would be consequences for Russia whether it used a dirty bomb or any other nuclear weapon.



"It would certainly be another example of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin's brutality, if he were to use a so called 'dirty bomb.' There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a 'dirty bomb' or a nuclear bomb. We've been very clear about that," Price told reporters.



He did not provide details about those consequences.

Ukraine earlier called the accusation that Kyiv was building a dirty bomb absurd, and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog accepted his request to send experts to Ukraine to refute Moscow's claim.

Kuleba said he invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb."

Kuleba said Ukraine has always been transparent and has "nothing to hide."

The IAEA said later on October 24 that it was preparing to send inspectors to two Ukrainian sites.



IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed in a statement that both locations are under IAEA safeguards and have been visited regularly by the agency's inspectors.



The IAEA "is aware of statements made by the Russian Federation on [October 23] about alleged activities at two nuclear locations in Ukraine," Grossi said, adding that both were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or material were found.



"The IAEA is preparing to visit the locations in the coming days," it added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Kuleba in a phone call on October 23 that the world would "see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation [of the war]."

Blinken and Kuleba discussed the U.S. and international commitment to continue supporting Ukraine with "unprecedented security, economic and humanitarian assistance for as long as it takes, as we hold Russia accountable," the State Department's call readout said.

They further noted ongoing efforts to manage the broader implications of the Kremlins war in Ukraine, it added.

With reporting by AFP
Crimean Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov has gone missing, his colleagues says.

Nariman Celal, deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis, told RFE/RL on May 25 that Ibragimov disappeared overnight.

Ibragimovs relatives have not been able to locate him.

Crimeas Russia-controlled authorities have not given any official statements regarding the activists fate.

Ibragimov is a former Bakhchisarai city council deputy and a member of the executive committee of the World's Congress of the Crimean Tatars.

Several Crimean Tatars went missing after Russia forcibly annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014. Some of them were later found dead.

The majority of the Crimean Tatars, the peninsula's indigenous Turkic speaking people, have openly protested the annexation.
Well, you can call it wishful thinking or you can call it sloppy tweeting.

But whatever you call it, the Kremlin's international propaganda channel RT had what The Interpreter Magazine's James Miller called its Dewey Defeats Truman Moment this week.

On Monday morning, when Austria's presidential election was still too close to call, RT was out there on Twitter touting the victory of far-right candidate Norbert Hofer.

"Hofer's far-right win will signal need for drastic changes in Austrian politics," the channel tweeted, linking to an article about how Austrian society was polarized and disoriented by the ethnic tensions resulting from the migrant crisis.

Now, Hofer, of course, was narrowly defeated by Green Party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen.

RT's Twitter mishap came right on the heels of another embarrassment for the Kremlin's propaganda machine, when the French current affairs program Le Petit Journal called out Russian state television for fabricating quotes about how Paris residents are terrified of migrants.

You can certainly learn a lot about what the Kremlin wishes for by paying attention to its propaganda -- and even to its propaganda mishaps.

Russia didn't cause the rise of Europe's xenophobic right, but it's doing everything it can to help it out and to cheer it on.

Likewise, Russia didn't create Europe's migrant crisis, but it certainly has exacerbated it with its bombing campaign in Syria.

Vladimir Putin's regime wants a Europe that is weak, frightened, and divided.

Because, rightly or wrongly, it believes that a strong and united Europe poses an existential threat to the kleptocracy in the Kremlin.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, who have been pardoned by the president of Ukraine and have been handed over to Russia, will not be serving any terms in Russia, a source with knowledge on the matter told Interfax.

"If the president of a country has pardoned a convict, it means he is full exempt from criminal liability from the moment the document is signed," the source said.
Indian police said on May 24 that they had killed a leader of the Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad in Indian-controlled Kashmir in a gunbattle.

The group's operations chief, Saifullah, and one of his associates were killed on May 23 at a hideout in Srinagar, police said, without identifying the second rebel. Both were residents of Pakistan.

Police denied allegations by locals that the militants were killed while in police custody.

Shops and businesses were closed in Saraiballa, a major business hub in Srinagar on May 24. Police used tear gas to prevent people from gathering at the gunbattle site and detained at least four civilians.

Jaish-e-Mohammed has been active in Kashmir for more than 15 years. India blames the group for a series of attacks in the Himalayan region and Indian cities, including the attack on India's parliament in 2001 that brought nuclear rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Kashmir is divided evenly between India and Pakistan. Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989 for the Himalayan region's independence or its merger with Pakistan.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
An Instagram account associated with a powerful Iranian general who leads an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was briefly inaccessible on May 25.

The account features images of General Qassem Soleimani, who heads the elite Quds Force that focuses on foreign operations. The account was later restored.

It's unclear whether the account, followed by some 300,000 users, is managed on Soleimani's behalf.

But Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said the account belonged to him.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The incident happened less than two weeks after Iranian police on May 16 announced the arrest of eight people in an operation targeting Instagram and social-media users.

Those arrests involved photographers as well as women in Iran who posed for photographs with their hair uncovered.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and IRNA
Pakistan's military says the country's army chief has met with U.S. Ambassador David Hale to express Islamabad's serious concerns over a drone strike on Pakistani soil that killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur.

A May 25 military statement says General Raheel Sharif denounced "such acts of sovereignty violations" as "detrimental to relations and counterproductive for the ongoing peace process."

The statement comes a day after Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan complained about the drone strike, saying it is against international law for the U.S. government to say that whoever is a threat to them will be targeted wherever they are.

Mansur was killed on May 21 when his vehicle was struck by a U.S. drone in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

On May 25, the Taliban named Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of Mansur's two deputies, as successor.

Based on reporting by AP and Dawn
Pakistani officials say gunmen have opened fire on a vehicle carrying members of the Frontier Constabulary paramilitary force in the countrys northwest, killing three of them.

A senior police officer said the attack took place in the morning of May 25 near Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan.

The attackers, who were riding on motorcycles, managed to escape the scene.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

The area has long been a center of Islamic militancy in Pakistan, and Peshawar itself has seen a number of large-scale militant attacks.
The editor in chief of Ekho Moskvy radio, one of Russia's most prominent independent-minded media outlets, says a popular talk show hosted by a searing Kremlin critic has been pulled off the air due to censorship by the station's management.

The comments by Aleksei Venediktov come amid mounting concerns that the authorities are stepping up efforts to curtail hard-hitting investigative reporting and dissenting voices anywhere in the Russian media.

He announced on May 25 that a politically themed talk show hosted by Yevgenia Albats, a prominent journalist who is also editor of a weekly magazine that has investigated President Vladimir Putin's friends and family, had been taken off the air.

"I can confirm that the Yevgenia Albats' program has not been on Ekho Moskvy since May 1 due to the absence of a contract between the host and the general director."

Venediktov later said in a series of Tweets and interviews with Russian websites that Albats had refused to sign a contract with the station's general manager due to restrictions that included preapproval of all the questions she would be able to ask.

"I am furious," he told the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Ekho Moskvy's broadcasts and web reports are widely followed in Moscow and a handful of other large cities. Under Venediktov, who is well-connected among Russia's ruling elite, the station has largely managed to maintain its independence, despite being owned by state-run energy giant Gazprom.

In an interview later in the day with Open Russia, an opposition website founded by once-jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Venediktov criticized the station manager.

"Under Ekho Moskvy's charter, it is the editor in chief exclusively who is responsible for editorial policy. All restrictions and additions to the rights and obligations of the journalists are my business, not that of the general director," he said.

Venediktov, who is a towering figure among Russia's journalism circles, did not immediately respond to a message from RFE/RL seeking further comment.

It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the conflict between Albats, a veteran journalist who is fiercely critical of Putin, and the station's general manager, Yekaterina Pavlova. Albats' magazine, The New Times, has published several investigations into corruption among government officials and the personal lives of Putin's daughters.

Albats, meanwhile, told Open Russia that the contract limited what questions she could ask, and suggested that Venediktov was not doing enough to support her position.

"I think that he has enough authority at Ekho Moskvy so that a contract could be signed that doesn't violate Russian laws on mass media, that don't violate the authority of the editor-in-chief, that don't end up contradicting the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which forbids censorship," she told the site.

Pavlova, who did not appear to make any public statement, could not be immediately reached for comment.

In a story on its own website, Ekho Moskvy said this was at least the second time in recent years that Pavlova has pressured one of its on-air journalists.

Russian media outlets have been repeatedly squeezed since Vladimir Putin first assumed the presidency in 2000.

Early in his first term, Putin oversaw the shuttering of leading independent national television channel NTV, which was taken over by Gazprom. Legislation passed by the State Duma in 2014 restricted foreign ownership of media outlets, affecting some of the country's most respected publications.

Other independent outlets have also come under pressure. The RBC media group, which has published investigative stories that linked Putin's daughter to a government-backed development project, saw its top editors resign en masse earlier this month after disputes with the company's management.

The resignations were widely seen as the result of pressure from the authorities, who had conducted a series of tax and other investigations into the company, which was bought in 2010 by billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov.
A Russian banker has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in what U.S. prosecutors have described as a Cold War-style spy ring.

The defendant, 41-year-old Evgeny Buryakov, also received a $10,000 fine in the case on May 25.

Buryakov has asked to be deported after he is released from prison.

U.S. prosecutors say Buryakov worked undercover for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency for years while posing as an employee for the Russian bank Vnesheconombank in Manhattan and previously in South Africa.

Arrested in 2015, Buryakov pled guilty in March to one count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent while working on behalf of the Russian government.

A second, more substantive charge of actually acting as an unregistered foreign agent was dropped as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP
With Russia's release of Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, who returned to a hero's welcome in Kyiv, attention now shifts to the fate of other Ukrainians jailed in Russia on charges their supporters say are dubious.

At least 12 other Ukrainians remain in Russian prisons on convictions that have been condemned by the Ukrainian and Western governments and some international rights groups.

The most prominent of the prisoners is filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, whom Russian prosecutors have accused of plotting sabotage and terrorist attacks around Crimea in the weeks after Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014.

Prosecutors built their case against Sentsov and another activist, Oleksandr Kolchenko, largely on the testimony of another Ukrainian man, Hennadiy Afanasyev -- but Afanasyev later recanted and said he was tortured into testifying against the two.

A court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don convicted Sentsov and Kolchenko in August and sentenced them to 20 and 10 years in prison, respectively.

Afanasyev was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Last month, Moscow indicated it was considering freeing the three men when the Justice Ministry asked the Federal Penitentiary Service to prepare documents for their transfer back to Ukraine.

However, the ministry said, any final decision to hand them over would be made by Russian courts.

Speaking on May 25 after welcoming Savchenko to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he expected Afanasyev and another Ukrainian, Yuriy Soloshenko, to also be released soon.

"This is just the first step because what will follow this, and I can already speak about this, will be the freeing of Soloshenko, Afanasyev, who are in very grave states of health," Poroshenko was quoted by news agencies as saying.

Soloshenko was convicted by a Moscow court of espionage after Russia's main security agency accused him of trying to buy secret components for an air-defense missile system used in both Russia and Ukraine.

Notably, Poroshenko did not appear to make specific reference to Sentsov or Kolchenko in his remarks.

Sentsov's defense lawyer, Mark Feigin, did not immediately respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment from RFE/RL.

In February, Feigin said his client had been transferred to a prison facility in the Siberian region of Yakutia, thousands of miles east of Moscow. Feigin called the move "revenge for disobedience."
ON MY MIND

So the Kremlin has finally released its most famous hostage. As I write this, kidnapped Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko is on a flight from Russia to Ukraine. Not much time to process all this, but here are my initial thoughts:

This saga, which has dragged on for nearly two years, has given Ukraine something it has long lacked: a leader with clear and unambiguous moral authority; someone unsullied by the past and uncompromised by the current corrupt elite; someone who took herself to the brink of death for the sake of Ukraine and who flipped the bird at Vladimir Putin's kangaroo court. Ukraine has its Vaclav Havel. Savchenko won't even need to formally enter politics to claim this mantle. Her mere presence on Ukrainian soil should do the trick.

Can the current Ukrainian elite live up to her example? We'll see.

And as for Russia, Savchenko was just the most high-profile example of Moscow's recent habit of hostage-taking: of snatching foreign citizens from their homelands and forcing them to endure ridiculous show trials in Russia. That list runs from Estonian law-enforcement officer Eston Kohver, who has been released, to Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has not. For those released, the pattern is similar: the abduction, the transparently absurd charges and cover story, the show trial, and finally the exchange for Russians who have committed actual crimes.

It's a pattern that is bound to repeat itself as long as the Kremlin keeps getting away with it.



IN THE NEWS

Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko has been released after being exchanged for two Russian military intelligence officers.

Russia has acknowledged that 14 of its athletes are suspected of doping at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says Russia will pass legislation making doping a criminal offense.

A Russian national and Portuguese citizen have been arrested in Rome on suspicion of espionage

WHAT I'M READING

A War With No Winners

Moscow-based foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov has a thoughtful and in-depth piece in Slon.ru, A War Without Victors: Why Russia and the U.S. Are Powerless In Syria. Frolov writes that the inability of Moscow and Washington to control their proxies in Syria is making a political solution to the conflict unlikely.

Iran Can Surge In Syria, Too

Aron Lund of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has a piece that looks at the Iranian ground operation that has buttressed Russia's air campaign in Syria.

"What happened in autumn 2015 was not just that Russia began operating in Syrian airspace. The reason the Russian intervention was so successful was that it was also accompanied by Iranian intervention on the ground," Lund writes.

Wiretap Sting

Election monitor Golos says it has conducted a sting operation to expose that the pro-Kremlin television station NTV has been wiretapping their telephones, most likely with the assistance of the police. Golos employees arranged a fictitious meeting with officials from the Canadian Embassy in Moscow over the telephone, and at the appointed time a camera crew from NTV arrived at their office, Golos chairman Grigory Melkonyants told Novaya Gazeta.

Talking To Putin

Pavel Baev has a piece on The Jamestown Foundation's website on "the futility of dialogue with Vladimir Putin."

"The fundamental political belief in the inherent benefit of maintaining open dialogue with an opponent may be seriously misplaced in Putins case," Baev writes.

"He cannot be dissuaded from using war as an instrument of policy, because only war provides justification for his regime. Nor can he be persuaded to choose what is best for Russia, because his regime is corrupt and the loyal security services (siloviki) are wrangling over the shrinking loot. Even the most no-nonsense talks cannot reduce the unpredictability of Russias behavior, because the country is going through spasms of angst and anger. A sincere Western commitment to dialogue could become a means of fooling itself -- and Putin is certainly a great help in that."

Russia's Mythological Army

Also on The Jamestown Foundation's website, military analyst Roger McDermott argues that Russia's new-look army isn't all it's cracked up to be.

"The representation of Russias army as a new all-powerful tool at the Kremlins disposal is hyperbole," McDermott writes.

"The many weaknesses in defense planning, reform setbacks, and the systemic challenges facing the domestic defense industry have been submerged in overly glowing public relations assertions, as well as masked by the Crimea operation and the air campaign in Syria"

Getting Russia Wrong

Timothy Frye, director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, has a piece in Foreign Affairs on why political theory consistently gets Russia wrong.

"Why has divining Russias political future been so hard?" Frye writes. "It is a challenge not because of the supposedly inscrutable Putin, the opacity of the political system, or the vagaries of the 'Russian soul,' but because our two most prominent arguments about political change make precisely opposite predictions about Russia."

Optimistic Ukrainians

Diane Francis, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, has a piece on why, despite everything, Ukraine's reformers are still optimistic. The piece focuses on three members of Ukraine's parliament -- Sergii Leshchenko, Hanna Hopko, and Mustafa Nayyem -- who were propelled into politics by the Euromaidan revolution.
So after holding her in captivity for 708 days, the Kremlin has finally released its most famous hostage.

And as a result, Ukraine might have gained something it has long lacked -- and badly needs: a political figure with clear and unambiguous moral authority; someone unsullied by the past and uncompromised by the corruption of the current elite; someone who took herself to the brink of death for the sake of Ukraine and who flipped the bird at Vladimir Putin's kangaroo court.

Nadia Sacvhenko could -- and I stress could -- just turn out to be Ukraine's Vaclav Havel; or its Lech Walesa; or its Nelson Mandela.

She returns home a hero at a time when Ukrainians are deeply disillusioned with their post-Euromaidan leaders, frustrated by the slow pace of reform, and angry about the persistent stalling in the battle against corruption.

Ukraine's vibrant civil society has long been light years ahead of its political class -- even its pro-Western political class -- something that has become increasingly visible over the past two years.

As somebody who has suffered and persevered for the sake of their goals, Savchenko could now become a powerful lodestone for Ukraine's frustrated reformers.

She will also pose a moral challenge to the political elite -- from President Petro Poroshenko on down -- to live up to the promise of the Euromaidan revolution.

And she has a platform.

While in Russian captivity, Savchenko was elected to the Ukrainian parliament and is also a member of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

"We will have in parliament the kind of people who are worthy of it. We will have a better life, as dignified human beings deserve to live," Savchenko said upon her arrival at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport.

"Ill be honest with you, I dont know how to do it. I wont promise it will happen tomorrow. But I can tell you that Im ready to die to make it happen."

Russian officials are clearly aware of -- and nervous about -- Savchenko's potential.

Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko accused the Ukrainian authorities of conducting "a campaign to present Savchenko as a national hero."

But at the same time, speculation is rampant that Moscow also hopes to benefit from releasing her.

Savchenko's release comes just days after Vladimir Putin held a conference call with Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande -- and just weeks before European leaders decide whether to extend sanctions against Russia.

Savchenko was just the most high-profile example of Moscow's recent habit of hostage taking, of snatching foreign citizens from their homelands and forcing them to endure ridiculous show trials in Russia.

That list includes Estonian law enforcement officer Eston Kohver, who has been released, as well as Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov and activist Oleksandr Kolchenko, who have not.

It also includes dozens of Ukrainians Kyiv says are being illegally imprisoned in Russia -- many of them residents of the forcefully annexed Crimean Peninsula who have remained loyal to Kyiv.

For those released, the pattern is similar: the abduction, the transparently absurd charges and cover story, the show trial, and finally the exchange for Russians who have committed actual crimes.

Kohver was charged with espionage after being kidnapped on Estonian territory while investigating a smuggling ring run by Russian organized-crime groups. He was exchanged for Aleksei Dressen, who was imprisoned in Estonia in 2012 after being convicted on charges of spying for Moscow.

Savchenko, of course, was abducted by pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine and charged with complicity in the deaths of two journalists who had been killed while she was already in captivity.

She was exchanged for Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, two Russian intelligence officers convicted of attacking Ukrainian forces and fomenting armed rebellion in the Donbas. And possibly -- we'll see in the coming weeks -- for an end to EU sanctions.

It's a pattern that is bound to repeat itself as long as the Kremlin keeps getting away with it.

NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED
U.S. senators have questioned whether India's deal to develop a port in Iran violates international sanctions, and the State Department said it is examining the question.

"We have been very clear with the Indians [about] continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 24.

India on May 23 pledged $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to gain trade access to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The route is currently blocked by India's archrival Pakistan.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, but some restrictions to trade remain.

Biswal said India's relationship with Iran is focused on economic and energy issues, and the administration recognizes India's need for a trade route.

"Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn't have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian military cooperation with Iran, which might be of concern to the United States.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP


Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko, who returned to Ukraine on Wednesday, addressed journalists gathered at the Boryspil international airport with an emotional speech.

She thanked the press for their support and warm reception and apologized to the mothers of the people who were killed in Donbas.

"I want to thank those who wished me well because I have survived thanks to you. I want to thank my ill-wishers because I have survived despite you. I want to thank those who were indifferent for not interfering. I thank everyone," Savchenko said.

"I want to ask for forgiveness those parents whose children did not return from the anti-terrorist operation, and I am still alive. I want to ask for forgiveness all mothers whose children are in captivity, and I am free. I can't bring the dead back, but I am ready to lay my life on the battlefield again, and I will do everything to ensure that every person who is in captivity walks free," Savchenko said.

She then said she is going to the presidential administration.

"I am now going to the presidential administration. There will be a small press conference somewhere there," Savchenko said.

Savchenko also asked the journalists and Ukrainians who had surrounded her to refrain from handshakes for the time being. "If everyone wants to shake my hand, nothing will be left of me. Trust me, everything will be fine," she said.
2 "Greetings! I am out of prison," Ismayilova said on Facebook. "Thank you all for your support. I am strong and full of energy. I will continue my work as a journalist."
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Ukrainian parliament expects good news on two more Ukrainians jailed in Russia before end of May

This May Ukraine is expecting good news on two more Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia, said Iryna Gerashchenko, Verkhovna Rada's First Deputy Speaker and Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group.

"We are very much expecting that there will also be positive news on two more political prisoners before the end of May," she told reporters at Boryspil airport on Wednesday, after the arrival to Ukraine of parliamentarian Nadia Savchenko.

Savchenko's return to Ukraine "is only the first step towards the release of all the other political prisoners being held in the Russian Federation," Gerashchenko said.
In China, its called guanxi, translated as connections or relationships.

There is a long-standing tradition in Chinese culture and history of building relationships. And money can come into that as well, said James Mann, a former foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and author of four books on U.S.-China relations who is currently an author-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University. It can be as benign as cultivating someone who can help get your kid into college to buying them off.

Wang Wenliang, the Chinese billionaire whose $120,000 in donations in 2013 to Gov. Terry McAuliffes campaign and inaugural committee have been identified in news reports as a part of a federal investigation into McAuliffe, has spent much time and money on guanxi in the United States over the past six years.

Wang is the founder and head of Rilin Enterprises, a privately held company with interests in construction, ports, agriculture and electric power. Its based in Liaoning Province, China.

He made headlines last year when news reports revealed a $2 million donation in 2013 to the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit run by the political family with deep ties to McAuliffe. The governor is a former Democratic Party chairman, major party fundraiser and board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, part of the foundation.

In 2010, a grant from Rilin launched the Center on U.S.-China Relations at New York University. Two years later, Wang pledged $25 million to support and expand NYUs Global Network University. He is a member of NYUs board of trustees and is also a donor and advisory committee member at Harvard Universitys Asia Center.

Representatives for NYU and Harvard did not respond to requests for additional details on Wangs relationship with the universities.

The businessman, whose firm and its subsidiaries also control the Dandong Port Group, which manages a deepwater facility on the border with North Korea, also contributed a grant to launch the Zbigniew Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit Washington policy research organization with a focus on defense and security, among other issues.

And in Virginia, in a 2011 news release, Gov. Bob McDonnell boasted of a trade deal between Dandong Port Group Co. and Perdue AgriBusiness, which operates grain storage facilities in Virginia and an oilseed crush plant in Chesapeake, that shipped Perdues soybeans to the Dandong Pasite Grain and Oilseed Co., another Rilin affiliate.

A 2013 memorandum of understanding increased the export of soybeans to Dandong to 29 million bushels, though a Perdue spokeswoman said Tuesday that the agreement was not renewed.

Perdue AgriBusiness is not currently shipping to and does not have any orders with Dandong Port Group or its affiliates, the spokeswoman, Julie DeYoung, wrote in an email.

Federal lobbying disclosure forms also reveal that the Dandong Port Group hired McGuireWoods Consulting, part of the Richmond-headquartered legal and lobbying firm, in 2012 to take up trade and business development issues on its behalf.

On the roster of lobbyists was Frank Donatelli; a former deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee and onetime assistant to President Ronald Reagan; former Democratic South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges; former Democratic Virginia Congressman L.F. Payne Jr.; and Mona Mahib, a former U.S. Labor Department and White House official and former director of communications for the Democratic Governors Association who worked on four presidential campaigns.

In a statement Tuesday night, Hodges said McGuireWoods Consulting has represented Dandong Port Co. on a variety of business and government relations matters for more than seven years.

Although we no longer provide government-relations services to the company, we do continue to assist it in business-related matters when called upon, said Hodges, a senior adviser for McGuireWoods Consulting.

Mr. Wang, a principal in Dandong Port, is a Chinese-American business leader with interests in ports, real estate, agribusiness and other areas of business. We helped Mr. Wangs business in 2013 to make the largest purchase of Virginia soybeans in the commonwealths history. Mr. Wang has continued to explore other opportunities to invest in the United States over the years and has also supported philanthropic causes here.

McGuireWoods introduced Wang to then-private citizen Terry McAuliffe during the McDonnell administration, Hodges said.

To the best of my recollection, this occurred shortly after the soybean agreement was announced, he said.

McAuliffe said Tuesday that he was not sure he ever met Wang.

I know the folks who worked on his company, he said, insisting the donation is legal in any event because Wang has held a green card since 2007.

McAuliffe added that he and the Clintons travel in the same circles and that donors to the Clinton Foundation have been friends of mine for years and years.

He said that every check that came into his campaign was fully vetted, including the check he received from one of Wangs companies, West Legend Corp. of Jersey City, N.J.

Thats where, in a 2011 raid, Jersey City police and inspectors found about 30 Rilin workers living in two cramped houses, according to the Jersey Journal. The New York Times, reporting last year on the purchase of expensive New York real estate by shell companies, including one created by Wang, said the inspectors found a similar situation in 2013 and that the Rilin workers were working for the Chinese Embassy.

What all the connections amount to, Mann said, is building influence, but to what purpose?

Is this simply personal, or is there some purpose related to Chinese intelligence, he said. It certainly raises that question.

He noted that Wangs work on embassies and in ports require close ties to Chinas ruling Communist Party and its security apparatus. Wang has also been a delegate to Chinas National Peoples Congress, the nations rubber stamp legislature, Mann said, though he considered that of lesser importance.

In the last 10 or 15 years, as Chinas businesses have developed, the party has shown greater tolerance of people rising in business who arent party members. But even if youre not a party member, you have to be on good terms with the party, he said.

Attempts to reach Wang for comment were unsuccessful.

FBI investigating contributions to McAuliffe's 2013 campaign The FBI is investigating Gov. Terry McAuliffe over donations to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign.
A suspected serial killer who traveled the country by train and claims to have killed more than a dozen people will spend the rest of his life in prison for a 2006 slaying in Henrico County.

Michael Elijah Adams, 49, was found guilty on Wednesday of the capital murder of Robert Allen Chassereau. Adams entered an Alford plea, in which he maintains his innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

Henrico Circuit Court Judge L.A. Harris Jr. sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, per a plea agreement.

Its done with, finally ... hopefully, said Joseph Chassereau, the oldest brother of Robert Chassereau, whom the family called Bobby. Theres closure but theres not closure.

Robert Chassereau, 47 at the time of his death, was the youngest of six siblings, Joseph Chassereau said as he riffled through about a dozen family photos  nearly all of which were of his brother as a child and teen. As an adult, Robert Chassereau became a drifter.

Thats the way he wanted to live, Joseph Chassereau said.

Joseph Chassereau listened from the courtroom gallery with clinched fists at Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Mike Feinmel detailed the facts of the case.

Robert Chassereau was beaten to death June 5, 2006, in the Acca railroad yard just north of the Richmond city limits. His killer used a two-by-four, causing multiple fractures to his head and face, Feinmel said. A friend, another homeless man, found Robert Chassereaus decaying body in a creek bed wrapped in three blankets. Only his boots were visible, Feinmel said.

Nearby, investigators found a makeshift shelter that Robert Chassereau had built, Feinmel said, showing photos to the judge. In one, there was graffiti that read Dirty Mike, a nickname used by Michael Adams. An arching railroad track was drawn below the tag. A similar train track curves in a tattoo over Adams right temple and eyebrow.

Last week, Adams was set to plead guilty to a charge of capital murder, but the case was continued, allowing Adams time to meet with a capital defender  a requirement for anyone facing a capital charge that carries possibility of death or life in prison. The death penalty had already taken off the table as part of the plea agreement.

This is about the time Adams asked about changing his plea from guilty to an Alford plea, Feinmel said.

Over the past year, the case was delayed multiple times as both defense and prosecuting attorneys waited for the governor of California to sign an agreement that would allow Adams to serve the remainder of a 15-to-life sentence for a similar murder from California here in Virginia. All that time, Adams had intended to sign a guilty plea.

In his questions to the defendant, Harris, the judge, asked Adams if he was pleading guilty because he was guilty?

To which, Adams answered, Yes.

Harris then asked if Adams affirmation of guilty nullified his Alford plea. While the plea doesnt affect the sentence he was given, Adams now denies responsibility.

Both lead defense attorney William T. Linka and capital defender Doug Ramseur objected to the judges question. Ramseur told the judge it shouldnt have been asked in this case nor should it affect Adams plea.

Feinmel did not object to the Alford plea, but pointed out in his summation of facts that Adams twice admitted to detectives, in both Henrico and California, that he killed a homeless man in Virginia and provided details of the scene.

Feinmel and Learned Barry, a deputy Commonwealths Attorney in Richmond, sent requests to defense counsel asking Adams talk to detectives in both localities about any other murders he might have committed. Feinmel and Barry said Adams wasnt suspected in any open cases.

Both agreed to provide Adams transactional immunity, which means no charges could result from his confession. But it doesnt preclude charges based on new evidence.

We dont know if hes done anything in the city, Barry said. But now that hes essentially going to die in prison, were just going down there to find out.

Adams, who hasnt acted out in court previously, was shackled at both the hands and feet during the court proceedings. Around his waist was an electronic restraint. More than four sheriffs deputies stood around him throughout the hearing, which lasted about 30 minutes. Two others stood in the courtroom gallery. Typically only two or three deputies are assigned to a courtroom at a time.

Adams scanned the gallery, at times smiling, before the hearing began Wednesday.

Joseph Chassereau said he locked eyes with his brothers killer once.
A Henrico man could face the death penalty in the double slaying of his parents on Easter Sunday.

William Roy Brissette, 22, is charged with two counts each of capital murder and use of a firearm in the deaths of his parents, Henry J. Brissette III, 59, and Martha B. Brissette, 56. He appeared in Henrico Circuit Court on Wednesday for a hearing.

His face was emotionless when he entered the courtroom. After he was released from handcuffs, William Brissette hugged himself as if he were cold and broke into visible tremors throughout the hearing.

His fiery red hair, which he inherited from both parents, was buzzed close to his scalp, and he wore a thin beard. The back of his neck was covered in red blemishes.

When Judge James Stephen Yoffy asked Brissette if he understood he faced the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted on the capital murder charges, he spoke so softly it was difficult to hear.

Several family members attended the hearing, including Martha Brissettes brother and Henry Brissettes sister; the couples daughter was not in court. They sat on the far side of the courtroom gallery opposite from William Brissette, who kept his eyes forward.

Capital murder is a first-degree murder under a specific set of circumstances  in this case, the killing of more than one person and the killing of more than one person within three years. It is punishable by death or life imprisonment.

Whether Brissette faces the death penalty is left up to Henrico Commonwealths Attorney Shannon Taylor. After the hearing, Taylor said the death penalty hasnt been taken off the table.

Taylor said there are multiple psychological and mental health issues, which may prove to be an aggravating factor or a mitigating factor.

Police responded to mental health calls at the Brissette home in the 3800 block of Forge Road, where Brissette lived with his parents, on two occasions within five months of the deaths of Martha and Henry Brissette. William Brissette was arrested at the home on March 27 shortly after a 911 call was made.

The court appointed Doug Ramseur, a capital defender, to help in Brissettes defense, which is led by veteran attorney Jeffrey Everhart. Ramseur said nearly all capital cases involve a mental health component, and that Brissette would be evaluated before a trial.

Ramseur told the judge it could take up to two years to prepare the case for trial.
The Hanover County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that three juveniles have been arrested in connection with multiple vehicle thefts and vehicle break ins that occurred this week along the Mechanicsville Turnpike corridor.

One 15-year-old male from Chesterfield and two 16-year-old males from Richmond were arrested and charged with grand larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny.

Police say three vehicles were stolen and 11 vehicles had items taken from them between 9 p.m. Monday and 4 a.m. Tuesday. Police said other vehicles were entered, but nothing was taken.

All the vehicles were unlocked. The keys were left inside the vehicles that were stolen. All three vehicles were recovered.

Here's a list of incidents that police say occurred:

 7900 block of Vaughan Drive  Stolen Vehicle (X2)

 7900 block of Vaughan Drive  Larceny from Vehicle

 6700 block of Crump Drive  Larceny from Vehicle

 7900 block of Meadow Drive  Stolen Vehicle

 7900-8000 block of Meadow Drive  Larceny from Vehicle (X5)

 7900 block of Wynbrook Lane  Larceny from Vehicle (x2)

 7400 block of Hunter Drive - Larceny from Vehicle (x2)
The plane carrying Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, who were convicted in Ukraine, landed at the Moscow Vnukovo Airport on Wednesday afternoon, an Interfax correspondent has reported.

The wives, Yekaterina of Alexandrov, and Yulia of Yerofeyev, met them there.

In a conversation with an Interfax correspondent, Yulia Yerofeyeva admitted that she was very worried about her husband, but was confident that the situation would be resolved favorably.

"Of course, we were looking forward, we were very worried, we hoped that they would come back soon. I believed that no one would abandon them there," she said.

"We were very worried for them," Yekaterina Alexandrova said.

The wives of the released Russians thanked everyone who supported them throughout all these months.

On May 16, 2015, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, servicemen of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, were detained near the town of Schastia, Luhansk region of Ukraine, according to Kyiv, in an attempt to seize a strategic bridge.

On May 19, Ukrainian detectives told the Russians that they were suspected of crimes stipulated under Article 258-3 of the Ukrainian Penal Code for involvement in terrorist activities. The Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court ordered their arrest on May 22.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Yerofeyev and Alexandrov were not on Russian military duty at the moment of their detention in Ukraine.

On April 18, 2016, the Kyiv Holosiyivsky Court found them guilty of "conducting an aggressive war by the previous concert of a group of people", "terrorist activities" and some other counts of crimes. The court sentenced them to 14 years in prison and confiscation of property. The sentence took effect on May 23, 2016.

On May 24, the Ukrainian president's press service published a presidential decree pardoning Alexandrov and Yerofeyev.
The Heritage Preservation Association argued its appeal against the city of Danville in the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday, hoping to persuade a panel of justices to agree to hear the case involving the Third National Flag of the Confederacy.

Kevin E. Martingayle, on behalf of the Heritage Preservation Association, told the panels three justices during a time-allotted 10-minute argument that the latest version of the states statute protects current monuments and memorials, including the flag that flew on the grounds of the Sutherlin Mansion.

Last August, the Danville City Council approved an ordinance that allows only the national, state, city and MIA/POW flags to be flown on city property, with Councilmen Fred Shanks and Buddy Rawley voting against the measure.

After the vote, a Danville police officer removed the Third National Flag of the Confederacy .

The Heritage Preservation Association and several supporters filed a lawsuit claiming breach of contract in Danville Circuit Court, as well as a motion for a temporary injunction allowing the flag to fly until the case was heard.

In October, Judge James Reynolds ruled in the citys favor, saying the 1994 resolution between the association and the city allowing the group to install and replace the flag as needed is not a contract. Reynolds dismissed the case. The judge also ruled that the flag is not a memorial to the war dead, but a historical marker for the building.

Martingayle filed the appeal Dec. 22 on behalf of the plaintiffs, with Fred Taylor acting as co-counsel.

On Tuesday afternoon, Martingayle said his side no longer considers the resolution a contract.

While the version of the states statute that existed when the monument was erected would not protect it, the current version does, Martingayle said.

Subsequent versions of the statute evolved over time to protect such monuments, Martingayle said during an interview after his arguments.

Jeremy Carroll, an attorney representing the city , said the statutes language does not apply retroactively to the flag that flew on the grounds of the mansion.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have prevented local governments from removing Confederate and Civil War monuments. The Virginia Senate failed to override McAuliffes veto last month.

If the court decides to hear the appeal, both sides will have 15 minutes to argue their cases in front of seven judges. Martingayle said he would be allowed to have a re-hearing if the court decides against hearing the appeal.
Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president, will speak Friday before a Charlottesville advocacy group concerned with the impact of unsustainable population and economic growth.

Stein, a physician from Massachusetts, was the partys nominee in 2012, when she garnered almost 500,000 votes. She is currently leading opponent Bill Kreml in the Green Party primary.

Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population, or ASAP, will host the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. in Room A of the Albemarle County Office Building.

Anyone interested in attending can contact Dave Shreve at cdavidshreve@gmail.com.
BANE  It was just getting dark outside when Billy Munsey turned onto his street and noticed an orange glow.

Maybe he had forgotten to turn off the lights when he left for his excavating job earlier that day, he thought.

But by the time he pulled into his driveway, he said he saw flames billowing out of his Giles County home, reaching high and singeing the surrounding evergreens.

Munseys house burned to the ground Feb. 7, five days after what would have been his daughters 30th birthday and three days before the 13th anniversary of the day her body was found.

Tara Rose Munsey was 16 when she disappeared Jan. 25, 2000, from her job at the Fairlawn Taco Bell. Her body was found Feb. 10 that year in a ravine in Parrott. The next year, a Pulaski County jury convicted Jeffrey Allen Thomas, who had dated the mother of Taras boyfriend, of capital murder, attempted rape and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. After the Virginia Supreme Court overturned Thomas conviction, Thomas accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to life in prison.

Munsey, 65, said the fire cost him every picture of Tara that he had, except for the one he carries in his wallet. There are other pictures that are kept by family and friends  for which he is thankful  but Munsey paused for a minute to think about a portrait of Tara that burned.

It looked just like her, he said quietly.

The fire destroyed the two-story, 150-year-old house, leaving only a brick chimney, ashes and scrap metal. Nothing was salvaged from Taras room, which had remained largely untouched since her death, Munsey said.

The house had been in Munseys family for as far back as he can remember, he said. He was raised there, surrounded by 100 acres of land that was eventually broken up by the construction of the four-lane state Route 100.

Though an official cause of the fire has not been determined, Munsey said, he thinks it was an electrical fire, started by an outlet in the bathroom that had an old cloth wire. Information about the blaze was not available from fire officials.

Munsey said firefighters were hindered by ammunition exploding within the house, forcing them to stay a good distance away until it was too late. Burned strips are all that is left of Munseys extensive gun collection.

A week after the blaze, Munsey and four friends spent the morning cutting trees, raking up ashes and collecting metal. Though he often paused to fight back tears, Munsey also reminisced, laughed and talked about the future.

Im blessed. I am. I know I am, Munsey said. There are real highs and there are real lows, but Im all right. I know that.

The man who has buried his murdered daughter and his cancer-stricken wife said the fire is nothing in comparison.

Even on the night of the fire, he kept his composure in order to save his three cats, two dogs, three turkeys and dozens of chickens that were in pens behind the burning house. One of his dogs, Rosebud, who is named after Tara Rose, was already with Munsey. Luckily, the only injury of the night was singed tail feathers on one hen.

Munsey has experienced the swings of ups and downs. He said he joined the Air Force in 1968, becoming a middleweight boxer while stationed in Tucson, Ariz. Later, while serving in Thailand, he said he defeated a native kickboxing champion. He can still recount how he delivered the winning blow.

Once he returned from Southeast Asia, Munsey became one of the first men to graduate from what was then Radford College. Throughout the years, he said, hes been a coal miner, a farmer, a baseball player for the Roanoke Stars, has built water towers and is now doing excavation work at Ingles Farm in Radford and teaching children services at a local church every other week.

Munsey has a 28-year-old son, D.D., who lives in Radford. Since the fire, he has been living with D.D. and daughter-in-law, B.J.

His wife, Kitty Irwin, died in 2006 after a battle with breast cancer. Irwin discovered a lump in her breast the day of Taras funeral, Munsey said.

Irwin attracted media attention in the early 2000s for her efforts to spare the life of her daughters killer. Munsey still remembers the night his daughter  a budding artist with dreams of becoming a teacher  disappeared.

Me and D.D. were supposed to pick her up at Taco Bell, and we were running late for a basketball game, Munsey said. When we got there, she wasnt there. We went on to the game. Later, my phone rang in the middle of the night.

It was Irwin, telling him that Tara was missing.

The first time they organized a search party, Thomas showed up, Munsey said. Taras dog went right up to him and we knew immediately it was him, Munsey said. Police later arrested Thomas after his DNA was found on Taras body.

But while Tara was missing, Irwin and Munsey visited a psychic for guidance. Munsey recalled that the psychic said Tara would be found close to water, by a cabin and near a log  all things that proved to be true when a family friend came across Taras body after a long and grueling search.

And just as the community rallied around him then, neighbors and friends have been calling and stopping by constantly.

He has received clothing, money and even a camper, which he plans to park on his land and stay in while building a new house.

Its this kind of stuff that tugs at your heart, Munsey said after recently receiving a box of shirts and sweaters from an area business.

Billy Burton of Eggleston, who has been friends with Munsey for 25 years, helped to cut down trees that were affected by the fire.

This man right here is always helping out, always, Burton said. If hes got $20 in his pocket and someone needs it, hes going to give it to them, even if hes got nothing.

And with no home insurance, Munsey is pretty close to having nothing. But he said material possessions stopped meaning anything long ago.
Virginia environmental regulators have informed the developers of two proposed natural gas pipelines that they will have to meet erosion and sedimentation standards specific to their projects, if they build them.

The Department of Environmental Quality sent identical letters last week to Dominion Transmission Inc., the leader of a limited liability company that proposes to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and EQT, the lead developer of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. Both proposed pipelines would transport natural gas from the shale fields of West Virginia through Virginia to different markets on the East Coast.

The basic point here is we want to make sure that if we do end up with pipeline construction, that appropriate steps are taken to protect the environment around the commonwealth, DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said Tuesday.

Both proposed pipelines are pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the face of intense opposition from some of the communities in their paths. The letters represent the first indication that state environmental regulators will enforce current erosion and sediment control standards, rather than rely on a general permit without standards specific to the projects.

Frederick K. Cunningham, director of the DEQ Office of Water Permits, told both companies that they must:

submit a project-specific plan to the agency, with supporting documents posted on their websites for the public;

maintain inspection reports, complaint logs and responses; and

cover the agencys additional costs for reviewing the plans to ensure compliance.

Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Dominion and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, said the company accepts the requirements outlined by the DEQ in the letter, dated May 16.

The standards we would have to accept would be specific to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, he said. Were in agreement with that. Were comfortable with that. We think its appropriate.

Natalie Cox, spokeswoman for EQT, the lead partner in the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, said the company has been partnering closely with the Virginia DEQ since the onset of the project.

MVP has discussed and previously agreed to each of the requirements outlined in the DEQs letter ... including covering the cost of a third-party reviewer to assist the DEQ, Cox said in a statement.

Opponents, spearheaded by the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, have pushed the state to require the projects to meet standards that are site-specific and not rely on general permits with outdated standards.

Rick Webb, coalition coordinator, said Tuesday it is not clear whether the DEQ requirements would be specific to sites in Virginia along the two pipelines. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would extend 600 miles in three states, while the Mountain Valley Pipeline would extend almost 300 miles from Wetzel County, W.Va., to an existing pipeline hub in Pittsylvania County.

Site-specific plans are key, given the terrain and the extreme site-specific conditions, said Webb, an environmental scientist in Highland County, one of 11 localities that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would cross.
ROANOKE, Va.  Two Roanoke County police officers involved in the February shooting death of a teenager will not face criminal charges, Roanoke County Commonwealths Attorney Randy Leach said Wednesday.

Leach and Roanoke Police Chief Howard Hall released evidence that Leach said proves the officers were faced with no other alternative than to shoot.

"I can't in good faith bring criminal charges," said Leach, who said Roanoke County's investigation of the shooting of Kionte Desean Spencer was one of the most thorough he's ever examined.

Chief Howard Hall said a separate investigation done with the professional standards unit resulted in officers being in compliance with policy. The names of the officers will not be made public to protect their privacy and security, Hall said. Neither has been involved in a prior shooting.

Spencer, 18, was shot twice  in the hip and near the collarbone  near the busy intersection of Brambleton Avenue and Electric Road on the evening of Feb. 26. He was armed with a broken BB pistol.

The incident began about 7:15 p.m. when police received a report of a man wearing a bandanna over his face and carrying what appeared to be a gun while walking along the road near the Cave Spring Corners shopping center.

Police caught up with Spencer  who was wearing headphones  and commanded him to drop his weapon. One officer deployed a Taser two times, but it was ineffective, police said. Near the intersection of Normandy Lane and Electric Road, Spencer turned around to face police, and two officers opened fire.

A total of three shots were fired, and each officer struck Spencer once.

Hall said there were no drugs or alcohol in Spencer's system.

The police shooting inspired some outrage among a group of people calling for an independent review of the shooting, and for the police department to release video of the incident.

On Wednesday morning, Hall showed segments of police dash-cam footage to four members of the local media, including The Roanoke Times. Roanoke County Supervisors Al Bedrosian and Jason Peters and County Administrator Tom Gates were also in the room.

The video shows Spencer turning around numerous times, apparently aware of the police presence. Police car lights are flashing and an officer is heard shouting "Hey" and "Put the gun down" multiple times.

At one point, an officer requests a beanbag gun. Hall said the officer with that gun was about three minutes away. The shots were fired before he arrived.

The video segments that were shown Wednesday morning do not provide a clear image of Spencer raising the gun at police, but Hall said four officers said they saw him doing so.
Michael Corleones words in the make-believe New York mob story The Godfather: Part III couldve been Terry McAuliffes in real-life Virginia political drama Governor II: Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

In his first campaign for governor in 2009  he was badly defeated in a three-way Democratic primary  McAuliffe had to answer for his image as a Bill-and-Hillary confidant who amassed a fortune at the intersection of campaigns and commerce.

There were eyebrow-raising investments: a shaky bank in Washington; an insider deal for shares in a telecom that went spectacularly bust; financing through labor unions; and the job-killing collapse of an Internet startup in his hometown in New York state.

In his second campaign for governor in 2013  he barely was elected in a three-way general election  McAuliffe had to answer for his stake in a Chinese electric-car company for which he and Hillarys brother Tony lured wealthy immigrant backers through a federal program that trades favored consideration for U.S. residency for big-dollar, job-creating investments. Voters werent as alarmed that a Monty Hall might run Virginia as they were a Tomas de Torquemada, Ken Cuccinelli.

But Cuccinelli also was hobbled by allegations that fellow Republican Bob McDonnell had sold the governorship to a favor-seeking rich guy who was hoping to become richer.

Here was a chance for McAuliffe to change the subject  from his conduct to official conduct. Little did McAuliffe know that less than three years later, after establishing ethics as the marquee theme of his administration, the subject would change again  from official conduct to his conduct. It is resurrecting a discomfiting caricature of McAuliffe.

McAuliffe now is the second consecutive Virginia governor to be investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice; specifically, the same Alexandria-based prosecutor who, in 2014, won a corruption conviction of McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, that could be overturned next month by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Initial reports are that the FBI is focusing on $120,000 in donations to McAuliffes 2013 campaign and to his inaugural fund from a Chinese billionaire, Wang Wenliang, through his American holdings.

The parameters of the investigation reportedly are wide and apparently touch on McAuliffes personal finances  he is a multimillionaire  as well as his ties to the Clintons charitable ventures, which have harvested millions from foreign countries and businesses, including $2 million from a Wang-controlled construction conglomerate.

That kind of money to those kinds of people suggests that China, among other nations, considers American politicians to be promising investments. No wonder the Justice Department has kept a close eye on China, the giant cash trove.

According to Forbes magazine, Virginia  next-door neighbor to D.C.  is in the top 10 American states for Chinese investment, with nearly $9 billion pouring in during the past 14 years. About 100 Chinese businesses have a presence here.

That plays to McAuliffes preferred role, one thats supposed to have bipartisan appeal: cheerleader-in-chief for the states economy.

McAuliffe announced a $2 billion Chinese paper mill in Chesterfield County, a Richmond suburb. The factory is expected to employ about 2,000 people by 2020. And Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the worlds largest pork producer, was purchased in 2013 by a Chinese company for almost $5 billion in a takeover financed by a government-controlled bank.

For Republicans humiliated by the McDonnell scandal, the McAuliffe embarrassment is, at minimum, turnabout. It could become the dominant tile in Republicans mosaic of him as a public official given to a go-it-alone approach  largely because of their truculence  that manifests itself in alleged lawlessness, most recently a blanket order by McAuliffe restoring voting and civil rights to about 206,000 violent and nonviolent felons. GOP lawmakers are challenging it in the Virginia Supreme Court.

Republicans painfully recall the drip, drip, drip of disclosures about the McDonnells and their haul of sweetheart loans, jewelry, clothing, sports equipment and travel from Jonnie R. Williams Sr., who angled for state backing of his disputed tobacco-derived dietary supplement.

Republicans remain defiant on a significant tightening of Virginias porous conflict-of-interest statutes, anticipating that a reversal of the McDonnell convictions will demonstrate that the problem isnt the ethics laws but law enforcement.

There is little Republicans must do as McAuliffe and his handlers nervously struggle to manage a story over which they will have little control. Certainly that was McDonnells experience. And though McDonnell always attempted to wear a brave face, the longer the controversy continued, the more somber he became.

On Monday  just hours before news of the FBI investigation broke on CNN  McAuliffe attended the formal swearing-in of the Virginia Supreme Court justice installed by Republicans after they dumped his interim pick only to assert their partisan primacy.

The usually ebullient governor seemed subdued. Perhaps the occasion was a painful reminder of his nasty fight with Republicans? Perhaps McAuliffe was preoccupied with the nastier headlines ahead?

Beyond McAuliffe, there is collateral damage to consider.

Levar Stoneys close ties to McAuliffe were expected to be a plus for his Richmond mayoral ambitions  a vast source of fundraising and organizational contacts. Could they fall fallow if McAuliffe does, too?

And what about the Democrats all-but-official nominee for governor in 2017, Ralph Northam? Maybe hell start reminding voters that during his undergraduate years at the Virginia Military Institute, he was the schools equivalent of the pope: president of the honor court.

That McAuliffe is under federal scrutiny could augur closer attention, by partisans and the press, to the activities of another federal fixer  a Republican running for governor, Ed Gillespie.

Like McAuliffe, Gillespie embodies the cozy, insider culture of Washington and has prospered handsomely because of it. The former chairman of the Republican National Committee and briefly head of the Virginia GOP advised President George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president.

Gillespie built a muscular bipartisan lobbying firm that was sold in 2004, reportedly for $40 million. Gillespie, who hasnt been a lobbyist for years, supplies blue-chip corporate clients with strategic communications advice. Such a distinction prompted The New York Times to describe Gillespie as one of Washingtons unlobbyists.

Gillespie, facing a congressman and a county supervisor for the nomination, wants to talk about other things: principally, what he contends is not going on with the Virginia economy under McAuliffe.

Better that than being pulled back in.
Upon her return to Kyiv freed Ukrainian parliament deputy Nadia Savchenko has vowed to work to ensure that other Ukrainian prisoners return home alive.

"I will work, first and foremost, so that ever single prisoner returns home alive, to ensure that fewer soldiers die, and we will work to keep Ukraine strong," Savchenko said at a joint press conference with President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday at the Presidential Administration in Kyiv.

Savchenko welcomed the Minsk ceasefire accords and called for them to be observed.

"The Minsk accords are a good thing. It would be very nice if they are implemented. We will do everything to make sure they are followed," Savchenko said.

She added, "I am against people wanting war. I want them to desire peace. Unfortunately, peace is achievable only after war  there is a crossroads after which there is no turning back."

Savchenko appealed to Russian citizens: "I send my regards to Russians and call on them not to be afraid, because there is nothing to fear. It time to get off your knees."

Savchenko said she understands how difficult it is in a country like Russia for people to get off their knees, but "if they want to live in peace, like we do, Russians will be forced to stand upright. We will not allow them to come here, to advance further than they expect."
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

Search for: Search
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Participants in the contact group on Ukraine, at the meeting in Minsk on June 1 will discuss the issue of prisoner exchange in the "all for all" format," the group in charge with the organization of the negotiations told Interfax.

"The parties are expected to meet in Minsk, on June 1. One of the main issues addressed will be a prisoner exchange in the 'all for all' format, and amnesty for participants in the events in southeastern Ukraine," the source said.

The source said a meeting between all topical subgroups will precede the work of the contact group. "Special attention will be given to the results of the work of the political and humanitarian subgroups," he said.
Egon Hofmann is definitely a household name, not only in Salem, but throughout the Roanoke Valley. Barker Realtys star realtor just celebrated his 26th anniversary with the company in April and has no plans to slow his pace. An early riser, Hofmann is up every morning at 5 a.m. and is known for being in the office by 6 a.m. The early worm gets the bird, he said.

Hofmann, a Salem resident, was born in Linz, Austria, a beautiful city along the scenic Danube River, to Josef and Maria Hofmann and is the youngest of five brothers. The Hofmanns, with the sponsorship and support of Peters Creek Church of the Bretheren, immigrated to the United States when Egon was only an infant. He graduated from William Fleming High School in Roanoke, and went on to study photography at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California, before returning to Roanoke to work for Norfolk Southern. In 1979, Hofmann proudly became a citizen of the United States.

In 1981, Norfolk and Western's passenger steam engine Class J 611 was brought out of retirement to be refurbished and restored in order to once again run excursion trips. The 611 was built in 1950 and ran until 1959 when it was donated to the Transportation Museum; it was refurbished again in 2014 and remains the only Class J passenger locomotive in existence. In 1983, Hofmann was exclusively chosen as one of five crew members for that inaugural year of service. I had the opportunity to travel from Atlanta to Chicago and as far west at Moberly, Missouri, Hofmann said. I only got back to Roanoke three or four times that year.

Hofmann switched careers in 1990 after witnessing and being a part of many transfers as part of Norfolk Southern. I saw what was involved in making those transfers possible and thought, I can do that and I can do it better,  Hofmann said, laughing. His office walls are heavy laden with plaques, awards and accolades, including So Salems Best Of award for the last seven years, proving hes indeed capable of just that. This is such a competitive business, Hofmann said. But I credit my success to loyalty of past clients and their referrals.

Hofmann is very optimistic about the real estate market and cited last year in sales to date; and thus far, this years numbers are already exceeding last years. I listed and sold a house in three days, he said. One house even sold in 10 hours. Real estate so often coincides with lifes special moments, and Hofmann finds that most rewarding. Estate sales and can be tough, he lamented, but I enjoy finding the perfect home for the newly married or a growing family.

Real estate isnt always as easy and glamorous a vocation as is often portrayed. Firm deadlines, contracts that fall through, failed inspections as well as other obstacles can make for stressful days at the office. I enjoy real estate but there are challenges, Hofmann said. You dont avoid the phone calls. You answer the phone and work on the solution.

Hofmann has also utilized his knowledge of photography and integrated it into his career. He does his own digital photography and through experience has learned the best way to present a property. When not working, Hofmann can be found enjoying the outdoors and hiking regional trails and pathways. About 10 years ago, he even had the opportunity to return to his native country, spend time with relatives and hike the Alps with his cousins.

What is around the corner for Mr. Hofmann?

I am in the process of getting my brokers license, he said. That will take me to the next level.

Dont worry; he has no intention of leaving Salem or even Barker Realty. I like Salem, he said. I sell properties all over surrounding areas, and Salem really is a great place to live; and this [Barker Realty] is like family here."
RICHMOND  Gov. Terry McAuliffe took office Jan. 11, 2014, and immediately tried to change the tone from his predecessors scandal.

The day he was sworn in, McAuliffe signed Executive Order No. 2, establishing a $100 gift limit for himself and his family, as well as for other members of the executive branch and their families.

Virginians have placed great trust in their elected officials and expect transparency and decision-making that avoids improper conflicts, McAuliffe said in a statement that first day in office.

This executive order will assure citizens of the commonwealth that members of my administration will be held to the highest of ethical standards.

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted 10 days later, in a blow to his  and the states  reputation.

Two years later comes word that McAuliffe is the subject of a federal investigation that is looking, at least in part, at certain contributions to his 2013 campaign for governor.

Bob Holsworth, a veteran political analyst, formerly at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Tuesday that until we get more information, he doubts that McAuliffe would have any legal culpability from the $120,000 in contributions that a New Jersey affiliate of a Chinese company gave to his 2013 campaign and his inaugural committee.

My presumption is that if theyve been investigating for years, theyre [also] looking into other things, Holsworth said of the FBI and the Justice Department.

Regardless of how the federal investigation turns out, no state is going to want to have two governors in a row in an investigative situation, Holsworth said, if only because it could be a reputational cloud for the state.

In the aftermath of the McDonnell scandal, lawmakers struggled to address Virginias ethics and gift disclosure laws, widely perceived as lax. At the time that McAuliffe succeeded McDonnell, state law placed no limits on the gifts that lawmakers could receive. It just required that they disclose any gifts worth $50 or more from sources who are not friends.

In 2014, lawmakers passed legislation signed by McAuliffe that put a $250 cap on gifts.

Then, in April 2015  seven months after a Richmond jury convicted McDonnell and former first lady Maureen McDonnell of corruption  state lawmakers backed a new ethics reform package that included an aggregate $100 annual cap on gifts, matching McAuliffes executive order.

Despite McAuliffes pushes for reforms, his administration has not been immune from ethical questions. In February, the governors secretary of commerce and trade, Maurice Jones, said he had no regrets about accepting use of a luxury suite offered by the Washington Redskins because he had received unqualified approval from the states newly created ethics council.

During this years session, lawmakers passed another package of changes to the ethics law.

For example, they required lobbyists to file disclosure forms annually. They required the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, as well as members of the governors Cabinet and members of the General Assembly, to file by May 1 a separate report of gifts they receive from Jan. 1 through adjournment of a regular session.

But the bill included what critics called a significant rollback to the ethics law  a provision that exempted from the definition of a gift any gift with a value of less than $20.

McAuliffe sought to amend the legislation. One of his proposed changes would have raised the exemption to $25, but specified that the exemption would not apply to gifts of food or beverages.

State senators rejected McAuliffes amendments to the ethics bill during the April 20 veto session. That left McAuliffe with a choice of whether to sign or veto this years measure, House Bill 1362, as it passed the legislature.

McAuliffe quietly signed the measure on May 16.

State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, a 2017 GOP hopeful for lieutenant governor, is calling for another round of reforms next year.

Another @GovernorVA investigated, she tweeted Tuesday. Issue isnt a partisan one, VA needs real ethics reforms.
BOYCE  Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that hes absolutely confident a recently disclosed federal investigation into his political fundraising will show he did nothing wrong.

The Democratic governor said he was in shock after learning of the probe Monday, when CNN reported that the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice are looking into contributions made to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign.

Theres no allegations of wrongdoing, McAuliffe told reporters Tuesday after a bill-signing ceremony in Clarke County. Theyre entitled to do an investigation.

According to CNN, investigators have taken a particular interest in $120,000 in contributions from Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang.

Foreign nationals are barred from contributing to American political campaigns. McAuliffe said Wangs donations  made through his U.S.-based company, West Legend Corp.  are proper because he has status as a permanent, noncitizen U.S. resident.

My legal team fully vetted this individual, McAuliffe said. Hes been a green card holder since 2007. So were very confident.

Though McAuliffes remarks focused largely on one donor, the scope of the probe remains unclear.

Regardless of where the probe leads, its a public relations embarrassment for McAuliffe, who has pressed for ethics reform in Virginia after the corruption conviction of former Gov. Bob McDonnell. The inquiry also comes as close McAuliffe ally Hillary Clinton is on the verge of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination.

McAuliffe said the investigation has nothing to do with the Clinton Foundation, the former first couples charitable organization that has come under scrutiny for accepting donations linked to foreign governments.

Wang, who has served as a delegate to the Chinese parliament, is one of several donors to McAuliffes campaign who also donated to the Clintons charitable groups, with which McAuliffe was involved as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

I didnt bring the donor in. I didnt bring him in to the Clinton Foundation, McAuliffe said. Im not even sure if I ever met the person, to be honest with you. I know the folks who worked in his company.

Asked about the donors who have contributed to both the Clinton Foundation and his political campaign, McAuliffe said he and the Clintons travel in the same circles and have a lot of the same friends.

I have traveled all over the globe with Bill Clinton, McAuliffe said. And you go to Africa and other places around the globe and you look what he has done for children, health clinics, AIDS research all over the globe, it really is something to see. ... They have really done great, spectacular work to help peoples lives.
RICHMOND  Dinwiddie County prosecutors say defense attorneys citing the governors recent blanket order restoring the rights of 206,000 felons to vote and sit on juries is a red herring and irrelevant in the case of a man who will stand trial this summer in the killing of a Virginia State Police trooper.

In a motion filed Monday that challenges capital murder defendant Russell Brown IIIs bid to have felons whose rights were recently restored be considered as eligible candidates for jury duty, prosecutors Ann Cabell Baskervill and Nelson H.C. Fisher cited several reasons why the defense request would be legally impractical, if not impossible, to fulfill.

Please let me make this clear, Baskervill said Tuesday when asked about the motion. There is absolutely no place in the prosecution of this or any case for partisan or political issues. Where our litigation makes issue of the [governors] blanket rights restoration, it has nothing to do with politics, partisanship or the merits of the restoration.

The debate for purposes of [Browns prosecution] is whether the blanket restoration entitles the defense team to the juror questionnaires it seeks, she added. The commonwealths position, as stated in our written objection, is that it does not.

Baskervill attached to her motion a copy of a lawsuit filed Monday by Republicans in the General Assembly that challenges the governors authority to order a mass restoration of felons rights. She said the suits purposes are entirely distinct from ours but contain many of the same arguments that support the prosecutions position in the Brown case.

At issue is a May 6 motion filed by Browns attorneys that seeks to unseal juror questionnaires sent last fall to a list of potential Dinwiddie jury candidates.

The attorneys said their client was entitled to the information in light of Gov. Terry McAuliffes April 22 executive order restoring certain civil rights to felons and in order to prepare any ... constitutional challenge to the Dinwiddie County juror selection process.

The defense team claims that to sufficiently investigate whether felons have been previously excluded from the eligible pool of potential jurors, their client must have access to the juror questionnaires and the responses to those documents.

The attorneys said McAuliffes order now allows felons to serve on Dinwiddie juries, but newly eligible jurors in that county were undoubtedly excluded during the eligibility process conducted by Dinwiddie jury commissioners in their review of juror questionnaires.

Dinwiddie Circuit Court Clerk John Chappell acknowledged last week that all of those who had a felony conviction and did not previously have their rights restored were excluded from serving on a jury in 2016. But he said the jury pool was established last fall, well before the governors restoration order.

In this weeks court filing, prosecutors said the defense fails to state how, by what process or under what authority they would sufficiently investigate the Dinwiddie juror questionnaires. They would be unable to confirm which juror candidates had criminal records because the dissemination of such information is strictly controlled under Virginia law.

The defense motion here seeks to unseal, and thus release, an unfathomable amount of personal citizen information, Baskervill said in an email. Moreover, the defense fails to show that any of this citizen information has anything to do with the felon rights restoration issue. This is likely of greatest concern to citizens ... as it is to me. For a trial court to allow the release of such staggering personal citizen information would create an alarming precedent that could affect citizens throughout the commonwealth.

Even if the blanket restoration order had any bearing on the issues raised by the defense, the prosecutors wrote, it is quite frankly too flimsy to support the defenses overwhelmingly broad request for release of extremely personal information of innumerable citizens who rely on the law to protect their confidentiality and who are utterly uninvolved in the felon-restoration issue.

Prosecutors said it is significant that Browns attorneys have not alleged that the juror questionnaires it now seeks were at all invalid under the law and status that existed at the time such questionnaires were compiled.

Further, the governors blanket restoration order occurred after Browns case was already set for trial, and it does not and cannot change that particular stage in the case [retroactively], the prosecutors wrote.

Brown, 31, is charged with six felony counts, including capital murder of a police officer, in the March 7, 2013, slaying of Junius A. Walker, 63. The trooper was shot in his police cruiser on Interstate 85. Walker rolled up to Browns vehicle, which was stopped on the shoulder, to see if Brown needed any help.

Police said that after shooting Walker with a Russian-made .308-caliber semiautomatic rifle and exchanging fire with another trooper, Brown dropped his weapon and fled, disrobing as he ran. Police said Brown was found hiding naked in the back of a car at a nearby towing company.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the decision on pardoning Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko was "dictated by considerations of humanism" and, as he hoped, should help reduce tensions in the conflict zone in southeastern Ukraine.

"I would like to express the hope that such decisions dictated primarily by considerations of humanism should reduce confrontation in the well-known conflict zone and should help avoid such horrible and unwarranted losses," Putin said at a meeting with relatives of the Russian journalists killed in Ukraine.

The Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel showed a fragment of Putin's meeting with the relatives of the deceased VGTRK journalists on Wednesday.

The president recalled that the relatives had met with Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the NGO Ukrainian Choice, on March 23, after which they asked the Russian leader to pardon Savchenko.

"I'd like to thank you for this position," Putin said.
Two framework deals have been signed by China National Nuclear Corp with Sudan on nuclear power development, including building a 600-megawatt atomic reactor, the first such project in the African country.

The agreements may involve a blueprint for nuclear power development in the next decade for Sudan and building the first nuclear power station in the country, according to a statement issued by the State-owned nuclear giant on Tuesday.

The agreements were signed on Monday during a three-day visit to Sudan by a Chinese delegation. It was led by Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Sun Qin, chairman of CNNC, said the company will cooperate with Sudan's Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity through the agreements.

The company did not disclose the contract value or the type of nuclear technology to be used for the reactor.

But experts said there is a great opportunity for the homegrown reactor design Hualong One, a type of third-generation technology, to be used for the reactor.

"Hualong One is most likely to have been chosen for Sudan, said Chai Guohan, chief engineer at the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center.

"China is looking to popularize this nuclear technology at home and abroad," Chai said.

With the world's largest number of reactors under construction, China plans to develop this experience into nuclear exports.

Chinese nuclear companies are making huge inroads in global nuclear markets, including Britain and Argentina.

CNNC has clinched deals with Argentina to build two nuclear reactors, while CGN, another domestic energy giant, partnered with Electricite de France to build three reactors in Britain.

Sudan has faced power shortages in recent years and is seeking to build two 600-mW pressurized water reactors to meet the growing demand for electricity, with construction on the first one starting in 2021.

Sudanese Finance Minister Badr-Eddin Mahmoud said the agreements reviewed all energy issues facing the country and will provide solutions for these and for new projects.
Obituaries 10-21-22 Advisory: Obituary information will only be accepted if sent through a funeral home or cemetery. The Wave does not assume responsibility for any incorrect information that is printed in the obituary section John E. Hynes...

Obituaries 10-7-22 Advisory: Obituary information will only be accepted if sent through a funeral home or cemetery. The Wave does not assume responsibility for any incorrect information that is printed in the obituary section John F. Keane...
A purrfect river cruise! Meet cat captain 'Sailor', who is proving to be a top tourist attraction

A toast with the captain of this cruise ship might be done with a glass of milk rather than something alcoholic - because there's a cat at the helm.

Aboard the Nikolay Chernyshevsky tourist boat in Russia is Sailor, the exotic shorthair cat.

Dressed in his captain's jacket and hat, he strolls around the boat, looking the part.

This is Sailor the exotic shorthair cat, leading the cruises of the Nikolay Chernyshevsky tourist boat in Russia

A quick check out the window for any late passengers, and the cat is ready to head off

And joining him on the captain's deck is Boatswain the Scottish fold.

The pair shot to fame after photos emerged on the internet of the pair cruising the rivers between Moscow and St Petersburg dressed in the height of maritime fashion.

Tourists on this river cruise might well be toasting milk rather than cocktails with the captain
(File Photo)

The world's largest coal supplier Shenhua Group is facing unprecedented challenges on cutting production capacity in coal and steel.

The latest data released by the China National Coal Association shows that the profits of 90 large coal enterprises in China stood at only 5.13 billion yuan in the first 11 months of 2015. Total coal storage exceeded 300 million tons for 48 consecutive months, and more than 90 percent of firms suffered losses.

Shenhua Group saw a 31.5 billion yuan profit in 2015, which represented a 50 percent year-on-year decline, the company's financial report shows.

Restructuring is an urgent priority, and Shenhua is already closing a number of its mines. Between 2014 and 2015, the company cut 95 million tons in production and more than 170 million tons in sales.

At the same time, Shenhua Group has been eying the new energy industry. It has signed a deal with U.S. company SolarReserve to build a 1,000-megawatt solar tower and other storage projects in China. The company is also preparing to build solar thermal projects in northewestern Ningxia Autonomous Region, which will be put into operation in 2017,and northewestern China's Gansu province. The 100-megawatt project in Gansu has a total investment of 3.3 billion yuan.

In the company's 2016 social responsibility report, it notes goals to actively explore the development of wind and solar-based renewable energy, nuclear energy, and shale gas and hydrogen-based energy in the future.

Zhang Yuzhuo, the president of Shenhua Group, has said that the company will implement three five-year plans between 2015 and 2030, and aims to become a world-class clean energy supplier in the next 15 years.
Rio Tinto showcases the largest gem quality rough diamond mined in North America to customers in Israel. The 187.7 carat rough diamond, known as the Diavik Foxfire, was discovered at the Diavik Diamond Mine in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada, 200km south of the Arctic Circle, says a release from the company.

Rio Tinto Diamonds & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies said, We are delighted to showcase this exceptional, two billion-year-old Canadian diamond. Its ancient beginnings, together with the epic engineering feats required to unearth a diamond in the challenging sub-arctic environment, make it a true miracle of nature.

Diavik Foxfire is being showcased in Tel Aviv during International Diamond Week, with Israel hosting a number of large stone manufacturer-specialists who have shown strong interest in this important diamond.

Rio Tinto Diamonds general manager of Sales Patrick Coppens said, The combination of the Diavik Foxfires size, fascinating provenance and ethical pedigree is an important moment in time for the diamond industry. We many never again see a diamond of that size and quality from a Canadian diamond mine.

The Diavik Foxfire, which will return to Antwerp for final viewings and auction at the end of May, is likely to yield at least one very large polished diamond that might find its place in an exclusive heirloom piece of jewellery.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Dozens of traders and small manufacturers in Surat are left in the lurch, as four polished diamond traders operating from Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai have defaulted on payments to the tune of over $22.55 mn in the last few days, as per a Times of India (TOI) report.

According to sources, in another incidence, two diamond traders operating at BKC had supplied polished diamonds worth over $11.27 mn, purchased from over two dozen traders in Mumbai and Surat, to a trading firm in China. The Chinese firm has defaulted on the payment to the Mumbai-based parties, and Mumbai traders have disappeared from the market.

In another instance, two other diamond traders defaulted on payments of more than $11 mn due to losses in the trade in the last one year. One of the traders based at BKC has offered to repay the amount to the creditors by selling off his office.

According to the TOI report, market sentiments in Surat and Mumbai are reportedly at an all-time low following numerous cases of defaults reported in the diamond industry in the last two months.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Gemfields has pocketed $14.3 million from its auction of predominantly lower quality rough emerald extracted at its 75-percent-owned Kagem mine in Zambia.

It said the emeralds were sold for $5.15 per carat, a record price for lower quality auctions.

"Jaipur has delivered another solid auction result, including a new record price per carat for our lower quality emerald auctions, said company chief executive Ian Harebottle.

The results from this auction mean that the Kagem mine has exceeded $100 million of declared revenues for the current financial year, and while we are confident that these numbers will be well surpassed in the years to come, we remain grateful for the part that each of our loyal staff members have played in ensuring that Kagem is the first mine to reach anywhere near this milestone in the history of the Zambian gemstone sector.

The auction, held in Jaipur, India last week, saw 3.67 million carats placed on offer, with 14 of the 18 lots offered being sold.

Gemfields said the goods that were not sold offer a considerable opportunity to further build demand in other new areas.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the UAE, and Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Kimberley Process Chair, welcomed over 200 delegates to Dubai for the 2016 Kimberley Process Intersessional Meetings (24-26 May) on 23 May, 2016 at Atlantis, The Palm.

The UAE is the first and only Arab country to Chair the Kimberley Process, which is an international group tasked with regulating the global diamond trade.

In a welcome address His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the UAE, said: The Kimberley Process is a global body that strives to enable trade to flourish in a safe and stable environment so that all participants and their dependent societies can benefit to the full. And this is why we believe it is so fitting that the UAE has built so many strong and lasting partnerships within this vital institution.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, KP Chair, in his opening remarks said:

I see two key tasks before us; addressing the true challenges of today to strengthen the KP and to set a path ensuring the Kimberley Process will meet the challenges of the future. We have a responsibility to the entire diamond supply chain and its stakeholders to approach the most challenging questions and through consensus, power forward important, much needed change.

Bin Sulayem urged a broader group of fellow international and credible NGOs to join the Kimberley Process, rather than to allow a single NGO individual, to prevent the Kimberley Process from enhanced collaboration with Civil Society; and also highlighted the importance of the UAE KP Chairs work with Central African Republic which recently being declared a compliant zone; and its progress to assist Venezuela in being re-admitted to full KP membership in its quest to resume diamond sales.

A key topic at the conference was on rough diamond valuation. The KP Chair hosted a Special Forum on rough diamond valuation, as a precursor to the Kimberley Process Intersessional meetings on 23 May. The forum was joined by industry leaders from across the diamond industry, including large mining corporations, mining experts and senior advisors from KP Working Groups.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, KP Chair, added: I am delighted that the OECD participated in the KP Special Forum on Rough Diamond Valuation. As KP Chair, it is my goal that we begin taking the first concrete steps in tackling essential items such as enhanced data collection, financial transparency, cross-border trade and supply chain traceability for the benefit of our industry.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Villagers in Xuwen county of southern China's Guangdong province captured a huge fog on May 23. The frog weighed 4.3 kilograms and was released later to where it had been caught. The villagers said jokingly it was the "Frog Prince hanging out".
In his opening comments to the KP Intersessional 2016, at Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah, Ahmad Bin Sulayem said the UAE had agreed to all conditions set by the World Diamond Council, acting as moderators between the CSC and the UAE, but that had not satisfied self-appointed leader of the CSC, Alan Martin, as per a report in gulfnews.com.

Pointing out Martins absence, Bin Sulayem said, I urge Mr. Martin in the strongest possible terms to get back to work. He also strongly refuted and rejected allegations from the CSC, made up of 11 rights groups, about the UAEs suitability to chair KP. It is the first Arab nation to chair the group, which aims to regulate the international diamond industry to keep so-called blood diamonds or conflict diamonds off the market.

Saying that negotiations with Venezuela and the Central African Republic are in progress to rejoin the KP group, Sulayem hoped that it could be achieved this year with UAEs KP chair.

Earlier, UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri outlined the importance of the diamond trade to the UAE.

Kimberley Process chair Ahmed Bin Sulayem said the valuation of rough-shaped diamonds remained a concern for the group, but it was beginning to work with industry leaders and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to resolve it.

Rough diamond valuation is a challenge that is not limited to one country, one diamond centre, or the Kimberley Process  it is a critical challenge for the entire diamond industry, he said. In particular, it is a top priority for the diamond exporting countries in Africa, which are looking to get the best value from their mineral resource wealth.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Patrick Soon-Shiong, a native of China's Guangdong province, is now the second-largest shareholder of newspaper group Tribune Publishing. Soon-Shiong supported Chairman Michael Ferro in his campaign to ward off a buyout offer from Gannett Co.

So who is this guy? The Chicago Tribune reported on May 23 that Patrick Soon-Shiong used to be an organ transplant surgeon. He made his fortune through drug development, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $11.8 billion.

Tribune Publishing, parent company of the Los Angeles Times, announced that it sold 4.7 million shares of newly issued stock to Soon-Shiong's Nant Capital for $70.5 million. Soon-Shiong will also join the Chicago company's board of directors as vice-chairman.

Raised in apartheid South Africa, Patrick Soon-Shiong is now the richest man in California and the 34th richest man in the United States. According to the Chicago Tribune, after Soon-Shiong became a doctor at age 23, he set up two pharmaceutical companiesAbraxis and American Pharmaceutical Partners. He sold both companies in 2010 for over $8 billion. Soon-Shiongs company also invented Abraxane, a popular cancer drug.

In 2010, Soon-Shiong and his wife, Michele B. Chan, pledged to donate at least half of their estate to charity during the Giving Pledge organized by Bill Gates. In addition, the couple set up the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation and donated over $1 billion to health care reform.
After being voted down by an FDA panel last month, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.'s (SRPT) Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy drug candidate Eteplirsen awaits the regulatory agency's final decision, which is set for May 26, 2016.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, or DMD in short, is a rare genetic muscle-wasting disease caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein necessary for muscle function. DMD usually affects boys, and its prevalence is roughly 1 in every 3,500 - 5,000 boys worldwide. Children affected by DMD lose their ability to walk and they will be confined to wheelchairs by late childhood.

Sarepta is seeking approval of Eteplirsen for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy amenable to exon 51 skipping.

Eteplirsen is designed to work by skipping exon 51 in the dystrophin gene to correct for specific genetic mutations and restore the gene's ability to make a functional, though shorter, form of the dystrophin protein. Approximately 13% of people with DMD are estimated to have a mutation targeted by Eteplirsen.

There is currently no approved therapy in the United States for DMD. However, there is one marketed drug in the European Union - PTC Therapeutics Inc.'s (PTCT) Translarna - which was given conditional approval by the European Medicines Agency in 2014 for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The annual cost of Translarna treatment per patient is about 400,000, according to reports.

PTC Therapeutics is also seeking approval of Translarna in the U.S. In February of this year, the FDA refused to accept the NDA for Translarna for review, stating that the application was not sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review.

Although the phase III trial results showed clinically meaningful benefits for Translarna-treated patients, the primary endpoint of change from baseline in the 6-minute walk test was not statistically significant.

Ever since the phase III results of Translarna were released in February of this year, experts have been wondering about the future of the drug in the EU. It remains to be seen when the conditional approval granted to Translarna by the EMA will be converted to a full approval.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) and Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG, which trades on the SIX Swiss Exchange, are the other companies that are involved in developing therapies for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

BioMarin's DMD drug candidate Kyndrisa also works by the same mechanism as that of Sarepta's Eteplirsen by inducing the skipping of dystrophin exon 51. Kyndrisa was snubbed by the FDA early this year, and in its Complete Response Letter, issued on January 14, 2016, the regulatory agency had concluded that the standard of substantial evidence of effectiveness was not met by Kyndrisa.

Kyndrisa is under review in the European Union, and a regulatory decision is expected in the second half of 2016.

Santhera Pharmaceuticals' DMD drug candidate is known as Raxone (Idebenone). The company reported positive results from a phase III trial of Raxone in patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in May 2014. Preparations are underway to make regulatory filings for Raxone in DMD in the U.S. and EU.

For now, all eyes are on Sarepta and its DMD drug candidate Eteplirsen. Will Eteplirsen get the much need or will it be sent back to the drawing board? Stay tuned for our next update...

SRPT closed Tuesday's trading at $18.44, up 5.49%. The stock has traded in a range of $8.00 to $41.97 in the last 1 year.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Oil services firm Technip SA (TNHPF.PK,TKPPY.PK) Wednesday said its unit Technip Umbilicals Ltd. has been awarded a contract by Statoil ASA (STO) to supply the umbilical to the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 field offshore Norway.

The contract covers project management, engineering and manufacture of over 9 kilometers of static steel tube umbilical. The umbilical includes a large bore integrated service line and multiple power cables.

Technip Umbilicals' facility in Newcastle, UK, will manufacture the project, which is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2017.

The Oseberg Vestflanken 2 field is located approximately 8 kilometers North West of the Oseberg field center at block 30/9-30/6 on the Norwegian continental shelf, at water depths of 100 meters.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Switzerland's UBS consumption indicator for April is due to be released in the pre-European session on Wednesday at 2:00 am ET. The index stood at 1.51 in March.

Ahead of the data, the Swiss franc showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the Swiss franc rose against the euro, it held steady against the U.s. dollar, the yen and the pound.

As of 1:55 am ET, the Swiss franc was trading at 1.1059 against the euro, 1.4492 against the pound, 0.9916 against the U.S. dollar and 110.89 against the yen.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Forex News
Greece's creditors agreed early Wednesday to release the next tranche of bailout funds and allowed debt relief after the International Monetary Fund relaxed its tough stance.

After the meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Eurozone finance ministers welcomed the accord reached between Greece and the institutions that paved the way for the disbursement of EUR 10.3 billion bailout fund.

The decision to unlock the tranche of third bailout came after the Greece parliament approved much unpopular austerity measures last Sunday.

The country's debt burden totals around 180 percent of its gross domestic product, which the IMF says is unsustainable. The IMF has refrained from contributing to the bailout until it carries out another review of the Greek and until there are concrete solutions to deal with the debt load.

Of the EUR 10.3 billion, the first disbursement of EUR 7.5 billion will be made in June to cover the country's debt servicing needs and to allow a clearance of an initial part of arrears as a means to support the economy.

Subsequent disbursements will be made after the summer. The disbursements for arrears clearance will be subject to a positive reporting by the European Institutions, ministers said after 11 hours of discussion.

The agreement contains a package of reforms to be implemented by Greece and an additional contingency mechanism. The latter will set additional reform measures in motion if the programme's agreed primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP is at risk of being missed.

The Eurogroup also agreed on a set of measures to ensure the sustainability of Greece's public debt. Gross financing need should remain below 15 percent of GDP during the post programme period for the medium term and below 20 percent of GDP thereafter.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.

The IMF has made a major concession, Poul Thomsen, the director of the fund's European department, said.

"We had argued that these debt-relief measures should be approved up front and we have agreed that they will be approved at the end of the program," added Thomsen.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) reported first-quarter net earnings of $87 million, or $0.69 per share compared to $105 million, or $0.81 per share, in the prior year. The company noted that its first-quarter results included a tax benefit of $0.05 per share related to the settlement of a tax examination. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.68 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Tiffany said its net earnings were lower than the prior year resulting from a decline in the operating margin, as improved gross margin was more than offset by a lack of sales leverage on operating expenses.

Worldwide net sales declined 7% to $891 million and comparable store sales declined 9%. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, worldwide net sales declined 7%, and comparable store sales declined 9%. Analysts expected revenue of $915.10 million for the quarter. The company said its Worldwide net sales were lower than the prior year and reflected declines in all regions except Japan, which management attributes to a continuation of softness in spending by both local customers and foreign tourists.

In the Americas, total sales of $403 million were 9% below the prior year and comparable store sales declined 10%. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, total sales and comparable store sales declined 8% and 9%, respectively, with management attributing the declines to varying degrees of softness in spending by U.S. customers and foreign tourists.

Gross margin increased to 61.2% in the quarter, from 59.1%, a year ago. The company said the increase was due to favorable product input costs and the effect of a shift in sales mix towards higher-margin products, as well as price increases.

Frederic Cumenal, chief executive officer, said, "As expected, this was a difficult quarter in terms of both sales and earnings growth. We faced numerous challenges, including continued pressure from foreign tourist spending in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, particularly in Hong Kong. However, we are continuing to take actions that are intended to strengthen sales growth with local customers in the U.S. and around the world."

Tiffany & Co. said its management is now forecasting full year earnings per share in 2016 to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage from 2015's adjusted earnings per share. In March, the company projected its full year earnings per share will range from unchanged to a mid-single-digit decline compared with 2015's $3.83 per share, excluding the loan impairment and staffing and occupancy charges.

Management of Tiffany & Co. expects EPS in the second quarter to decline by a similar rate as occurred in the first quarter.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
It was back in Nov 2018, when it was first reported that Honda is going to discontinue the Brio in India. At that time, there was no official announcement made. Today, their official has confirmed the new development.

As it stands, Honda Brio has now been officially discontinued from the Indian market. The company has no plans of launching the new generation Brio, which was launched in Thailand last year.

In an interview with PTI, Mr Rajesh Goel, Senior VP, Director (Sales and Marketing) said, Our entry car is now Amaze. We have stopped production of Brio and as of now, we do not intend to bring next-generation Brio into India.

Honda Brio was an entry level small car, specially made for developing countries like India. It was first launched in 2011. Offered only in a petrol 1.2 liter option, Brio was Hondas answer to Indias growing demand for entry level hatchbacks. Maruti Swift had already found a liking among buyers, and was registering sales in the region of 15-20k a month on average. But, Brio never managed to touch that kind of sales figures. Below is Brios sales performance for last two years.

Its not that demand in this segment has declined. Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10, Tata Tiago, etc are managing to deliver impressive sales for their respective brands. Usually, in such a scenario a manufacturer will decide to launch a new gen variant, and bring life back in the cars sales.

Honda did the same with Amaze. They launched new-gen Amaze last year, and there has been no looking back. The new Amaze is a hit, and has now become Hondas best-selling car, with monthly average sales of 7k units. One would guess Honda to apply a similar logic to Brio. But that has been ruled out. India will not get the new-gen Brio, which is lighter by 40 kgs, more spacious, and updated with latest features.

Honda did not reveal reasons behind not launching the new gen Brio in India. Maybe, they want to focus on more premium offerings. The next launch planned by Honda Car India is that of the new gen Civic, which will take place next month.
Honda Car India has discontinued the Civic diesel, CR-V diesel and Accord Hybrid ahead of BS6 implementation

Indias automotive industry is going through challenging times due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown protocol. Many OEMs have shut down their manufacturing plants or are working with limited resources. On the other hand, several dealerships are on the verge of going out of business. The pandemic has definitely extended its damage beyond human health.

Honda Car India has been working on the 2020MY Jazz premium hatchback for quite some time. The Japanese automaker had even teased the car recently. Before the lockdown, a few 2020 Honda Jazz BS6 test mules were spotted in various parts of India. Here is one such test mule on the open roads of Uttar Pradesh.

One is able to make out some design details of the 2020 Honda Jazz under the stickers. As this is a facelift and not a new generation (like the 2020 Honda City), overall aesthetics do not seem to be radically different from the outgoing BS4 model. The front-end design seems to be nearly identical considering the grille-headlamp outline and bumper proportions. The same applies to the rear. Still, the final avatar might have full-LED headlamps and taillamps, extra chrome bits and new machine-cut alloy wheels (and not the familiar ones on this test mule).

In global markets, Honda has already replaced the hatchback with its latest generation (fourth-gen Honda Fit) while India would continue to have this generation for a few more years. The facelifted model could be introduced with just a BS6 i-VTEC petrol engine initially. The i-DTEC diesel mill would definitely receive BS6 update.

Output figures are expected to remain the same as before. In its current BS4 format, the 1.2-litre NA i-VTEC four-cylinder mill makes 99bhp and 110Nm of torque. For a car its size and segment, the petrol motor is very weak. In fact, it is often overshadowed by other petrol alternatives. The 1.5-litre diesel four-cylinder unit is good for 99bhp and 200Nm. The petrol powertrain is available with either a 5-speed manual or a CVT. The diesel variant gets only a 6-speed manual.

Ahead of the BS6 era, Honda Car India has discontinued three products: Civic diesel, CR-V diesel and Accord Hybrid. The former two models could be re-introduced in BS6 formats while the latter has always been a weak seller, especially when compared to its direct rival, Toyota Camry Hybrid. Furthermore, the CBU Honda Accord Hybrid had an unreasonable price tag of Rs 37 lakh ex-showroom.

Source
A file photo of the murdered Chinese architecture student in German state of Saxony-Anhalt. [Photo: mt.sohu.com]

After the violent death of a Chinese architecture student in German state of Saxony-Anhalt, German investigators arrested a couple under suspicion of murder on Tuesday.

The prosecutor had accused the 20-year-old man and his partner of a sexual offense followed by murder.

According to the German newspaper Bild, DNA collected from the victim's body should have led to the suspects. The couple had not yet made a confession, investigators announced on Tuesday.

The suspect, the son of a police officer, had turned himself into the police, but only admitted that he and his girlfriend had met for consensual sex with the Chinese.

According to investigators, the crime scene was a former home of the suspects in the center of German city Dessau. The body of the student was found in front of this house.

The local public prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrant for murder.

The 25-year-old Chinese woman who had studied at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences died of serious injuries to the head and face, according to the autopsy.

The student had not returned on the evening of May 11 from jogging back to her apartment. Her body was then found two days later in a bush.
(Global Times) 10:33, May 25, 2016

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The US Department of the Treasury announced last week to relax economic sanctions on Myanmar. The relaxation is said to reward Myanmar's historic progress in political reform. It also aims to boost US-Myanmese bilateral trade and improve Myanmar's economy. The partial lift of sanctions shows Washington's support for Myanmar's first elected government in more than 50 years, which marks a positive shift of Washington's Myanmar policy.

The US government has removed quite a few restrictions on Myanmar's state-owned mining and timber companies, financial organizations, foreign investment and transportation. As of today, total US investment in Myanmar only amounts to $248 million, accounting for less than 1 percent of all direct foreign investment of Myanmar.

The partial lift indicates the determination of the US to enter one of the few untapped markets in Asia. Big US brands such as General Electric, Western Union and Coca Cola have started doing business in Myanmar, and the partial lift will break the shackles on financial activities, giving further convenience to US companies in Myanmar.

However, Washington is cautious about fully releasing the Myanmese economy from its constraints. When the economic sanctions were partially lifted, six Myanmese individual companies that are reportedly connected with the junta were put on sanctions list by the US. The import blocks of Myanmese jade and rubies still remain. In mid-May, US President Barack Obama decided to extend the National Emergencies Act for another year. The act forbids US companies and individuals to have business connections with certain Myanmese individuals.

The US seems a bit ambivalent about the sanctions on Myanmar. By removing the long-standing restrictions, the US wants to boost trade and investment with Myanmar and help the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) to improve economy. But the US still wants to use sanctions to put pressure on the military, which remains influential in Myanmar's economy and politics.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a visit to Myanmar. This is one of Kerry's many visits to Myanmar, but his first after the NLD took power. He also became the highest ranking US government official that visited Myanmar after the regime change. Kerry has conveyed to the Myanmese side the details of the partial lift of the sanctions, and released signals that the US will continue supporting Myanmar's process of democracy and economic reform.

Since Obama launched the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, Myanmar has been included as an important link to Washington's entire chain of strategic arrangements. Obama's state visit to Myanmar, the rapprochement of US-Myanmese relationship and the partial lift of economic sanctions are all meant to reinforce the link. Although the US regards Myanmar as a paragon of democratic transition, it does not feel assured about the capabilities of the new government.

Myanmar is still under international sanctions, and the NLD government hopes these sanctions can be lifted as soon as possible. But the US stresses that if Myanmar wants to remove the current restrictions and regain favorable treatments from the US in business, it has to accelerate its national reform, especially on human rights. Washington wants to guide Myanmar's reform and shape the country as it desires.

After the NLD government came into power, Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD leader and Myanmar's foreign minister, said Myanmar will stick to a foreign policy characterized by independence, nonalignment and peaceful coexistence. The focus of Myanmar's foreign policy will be shifted from bilateralism to regional integration and multilateralism. As Myanmese President U Htin Kyaw chose Laos as the first destination for a state visit after assuming office, the new government is adept at dealing with foreign affairs by employing a pragmatic approach. Therefore, the NLD government will probably not be at Washington's beck and call. Balance and pragmatism will be the core of Myanmar's future foreign policy, so it won't be willing to become Washington's pawn in geopolitics.

Considering the NLD government's reluctance to cooperate fully, Washington uses the remaining sanctions as leverage. The continuity of the sanctions will both impose pressures on the military so that the democratic transition will not be reversed and also deliver a message to the NLD that Washington will probably not support all the new government's policies although they share similar values.

Given the newly-elected NLD lacks governing experience and the US has its own calculations, the US-Myanmese relationship will not go smoothly in the future.
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
This satellite image shows the Yongshu Jiao of China's Nansha Islands. [Photo/Xinhua]

In its compulsory arbitration proceedings with respect to its disputes with China in the South China Sea, the Philippines has accused China of interfering in the Philippines exercising sovereignty and jurisdiction in its territorial waters. The Philippines claims that the region extending 200 nautical miles from its coast, except the 12-nautical miles of high-tide land, is its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

It also claims that China's claim of historical rights within the nine-dash line in the South China Sea violate its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the non-biological resources in the seabed and ocean bottom.

But there are mistakes in its claims, as well as in its proving of them.

The Philippines' claims are based on a false pretext. China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the domestic laws of China quoted by the Philippines make it clear that China's territory includes the Nansha Islands.

Before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Institute of International Law raised the concept of the regime of islands as early as 1924; this was later included in the Convention. Even the regime of islands defined by the Convention does not exclude the rights of Islands that are considered by customary international law as a group.

Therefore, the Nansha Islands as a whole have the right to claim territorial sea, economic exclusive zone and continental shelf. Besides, UNCLOS does not exclude continental countries from exercising the system in their overseas islands and many countries govern their overseas islands as a whole.

The Philippines is also distorting the facts by saying that China did not claim historical rights within the nine-dashed line until 2009. On that basis, it claims exclusive jurisdiction over the resources in the said zones and claims China has opposed it exploring for oil at Liyue Tan (Reed Bank).

The fact is, China issued a statement opposing oil exploration at Liyue Tan, which is part of Nansha Islands, as early as 1976.

The Philippines also claims that China has deprived Philippine fisherpersons of their traditional livelihood, which is against UNCLOS. By "traditional livelihood" they mean fishing rights; they even quoted a 1734 map, drawn by Spanish colonialists, to prove that Philippine fishing there can be dated back to the colonial era. They also quoted two documents, one in 1953 and one in 1973, to support their claim.

The problem is, they quoted the map from an academic essay in 2014, which in itself does not prove anything. The two documents they cited only have conclusions such as Huangyan Island being a main reef fishing area for the Philippines, without any actual support. They lack supportive materials such as what kinds of fishing vessels they use, their maritime charts, materials about the fishing staff, as well as what fish products they have.

China has sovereignty over Huangyan Island; therefore it has the right to chase away Philippine fishing vessels that intrude in the said maritime zones. By doing so China acts in accordance with international laws, and the actions it takes are common practice.

Therefore, the Philippines has committed several mistakes in trying to prove China "interfered" its exercising sovereignty and jurisdiction, and in the livelihoods of Philippine people fishing around the Huangyan Island.

Its arbitration proceedings is on the wrong pretext, distorted facts and is self-contradictory.
SNc Channels:



Search

About Salem-News.com



May-24-2016 16:53 TweetFollow @OregonNews Minto Island Bridge Arches Begin Arriving in Salem The tied arch bridge design is expected to be a beautiful addition to the Salem skyscape.

Arrival of the first arches.

Photo by Ron Cooper

(SALEM, Ore.) - Early Monday morning, while most of the city was sleeping, one of two signature arches for the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge arrived in Downtown Salem. The white arches, which are made from 1-inch thick steel and are 30-inches in diameter, will soon decorate Salem's Downtown Riverfront skyline. When raised, the tallest point of the arch from the bridge deck will be 44-ft tall and span 327-ft measured along the arch from pier to pier. In October 2010, the City Council approved a "tied arch" Bridge design following analysis of several design types and public input. In 2012, OBEC was hired to oversee final design, engineering, and permitting of the Bridge and connecting trail on Minto Island. In 2013, this project was strengthened by the City's acquisition of 307 additional acres of Minto Island where the Bridge will land. Funding for the acquisition came from a Bonneville Power Administration Program administered through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The purchase expanded the City's Minto-Brown Island Park acreage by nearly 33 percent and increased opportunities for park patrons to access the Willamette River and view wildlife habitat. The property is protected by a conservation easement requiring the land be kept in a natural state. In 2014, the last funding needed for the Bridge and Trail was committed and design and permitting were complete. In January 2015, following a solicitation of bids, a recommendation to award was issued for Legacy Construction. The Groundbreaking Ceremony took place May 21, 2015. When construction is complete later this fall, the Peter Courtney Minto Island Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge will link downtown Salem to Minto Island and complete a long-standing community vision of connecting three major urban parks. Soon, walkers and bicyclists will have easy access to more than 30 miles of off-street trails, and 1,400 acres of parks and natural areas, via two pedestrian bridges over the Willamette River. Completion of the Bridge and the adjoining multimodal trail is the last critical link to Downtown Parks Connections. WATCH THE LIVE FEED from the construction cam at http://www.cityofsalem.net/MintoBridge to see the large arches erected over the next two weeks. Source: City of Salem Urban Development Department _________________________________________

Salem | Oregon | Traffic | Tourism | Most Commented on





Articles for May 23, 2016 | Articles for May 24, 2016 |
The unilateral arbitration case forcibly pushed forward by the Philippines is a provocation against China under a legal cloak. Essentially, it is not aimed at resolving the country's territorial disputes with China, but a naked attempt to repudiate China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.

By partitioning China's Nansha Islands in their entirety into different ones in its arbitration case submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and asking the court to make a ruling on the maritime rights of the islands and reefs "occupied or controlled" by China, Manila is deliberately falsifying the nature of its disputes with Beijing on territorial sovereignty and maritime demarcation in the South China Sea.

This partition trick is a serious infringement of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. China enjoys sovereignty over the Nansha Islands as a whole and such a legal fact has gained international recognition and acquiescence. In its arbitration case, the Philippines intentionally shies away from mentioning some islands and reefs, including those illegally occupied or claimed by itself, in an attempt to deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and whitewash its illegal occupation of some of China's Nansha Islands.

The exclusion of Taiping Island, the largest of the Nansha Islands where Taiwan stations its troops, from the islands and reefs "occupied or controlled" by China, also constitutes a serious violation by Manila of the one-China principle. All these testify that the Philippines' arbitration appeal is an unconcealed challenge to China's territorial sovereignty over the Nansha Islands.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the basic fact of the integrity of China's Nansha Islands should be taken into full consideration in defining China's maritime rights. In a note to then secretary-general of the UN on April 14, 2011, China's permanent mission to the UN pointed out that the stipulations of the Convention and China's maritime law endow China's Nansha Islands with the right of territorial waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. However, in its arbitration case, the Philippines is attempting to fragment the Nansha Islands, proposing that the legal status of the listed islands should be determined one by one. Manila has also argued that these islands belong to atoll or low-tide heights that it says only enjoy a right of 12-nautical-mile waters under the UN Convention. Such arguments are a wanton challenge to China's maritime rights based on the nature of Nansha Islands as an entirety.

The intrigue to partition China's Nansha Islands also highlights the Philippines' attempt to evade territorial sovereignty and maritime demarcation disputes in its arbitration case. The settlement of territorial sovereignty disputes is beyond the scope of the UN Convention and thus inapplicable to international arbitration or other compulsory procedures. In 2006, China also excluded the settlement of maritime demarcation disputes by compulsory arbitration based on the Convention. In this sense, the court in The Hague has no power of jurisdiction over the Philippines' arbitration case and Manila's enforced arbitration requirement is essentially an abuse of the Convention's compulsory settlement procedures.

Aside from its lack of jurisdiction, the arbitration court's indiscriminate endorsement of the Philippines' partitioning of China's Nansha Islands is a serious departure from the fair and a prudent attitude a court should hold. According to Article 9 of Annex VII of UNCLOS, in the absence of one of the two conflicting parties, the arbitration court should verify whether it enjoys jurisdiction over the case and whether all the requirements are factual and have a legal basis before making a ruling. The court should dismiss the Philippines' unreasonable arbitration appeal and fully respect the fact that China's Nansha Islands have an integral geographic existence if it strictly bases its work on facts and laws. The non-identified endorsement of the Philippines' fragmenting of China's Nansha Islands demonstrates the court has already been reduced to being Manila's agent and lacks objectivity and fairness.

The illegal and invalid arbitration farce staged by the Philippines and the court does not alter the fact China's Nansha Islands are an entirety nor China's legal rights and interests.
Four Avele students were released on bail yesterday after they appeared before Judge Vaepule Vaemoa Vaai in the District Court.

The four accused were represented by lawyer Semi Leung Wai while Iliganoa Atoa appeared for the National Prosecution Office yesterday.

The four students were, Jason Vitale, Shammah Peato, Peter Tauaana and Metai Fono who faced nine joint charges.

All the charges were not disclosed in court yesterday, but through their lawyer, they entered their not guilty pleas and the matter is now adjourned to the 27 and 28th July for hearing.

The students were also given strict conditions to report to the Apia Police main headquarters every Tuesday and Thursday before 12noon and their curfew is from 9pm to 6am every day.

Outside of the court room the students parents were excited as their children were being released.

Some of the parents were complaining about their children being beaten up by the police in prison and said they will make sure that those officers will pay for what they have done.
The Catholic church of Samoa yesterday denied that the church did not allocate land for the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa.

Just last week during the C.C.C.S. annual conference, church members were told that despite the church paying $650,000 for land, the Catholics had not assigned land for them.

But the Head of the Churchs Land Division, Father Faauli Lagaaia said the claims are not true.

There is already land for the congregation, Fr Lagaaia told the Samoa Observer yesterday.

Land was allocated for the church and they did not want it which is their right and they asked for another piece of land. So the church worked on that to find another piece of land and that has been done.

Fr. Lagaaia said the Catholics are waiting for the C.C.C.S. member to come in their office so they can direct them to where the land is located.

Speaking in the C.C.C.S. meeting last week, the Chairman of the Elders Committee, Reverend Elder Kerisiano Soti said the land in Malololelei had been earmarked for a Retreat Center development.

However, when they inspected it they found that the estate was not appropriate for the plan so they asked the Catholic church for another piece of land.

When we went back and asked for land, they said there has been a change of plans, Rev. Elder Soti said.

But we feel that there is no more land. We feel that it has already been given to the business people.

The assembly was also informed that $650,000 had been paid out for the five acres of land.

As of today, the Catholic Church has not assigned us any land at Malololelei, Rev. Elder Soti said.
The film editor of the 1989 movie Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree, Ken Zemke is in Samoa doing editing work for the Bahai church.

This trip to Samoa is much treasured because he has returned to the land where he was first introduced to the Samoan culture and way of life and it is obvious that the passing years have not diminished his love of film editing.

The Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree was written by well known Samoan author, Albert Wendt and most of the movie was filmed in Samoa with only 5% of it filmed back in New Zealand.

Mr. Zemke said the whole cast of the movie were Samoans except for the Police Commissioner who was a palagi.

He said filming with a Samoan crew in 1989 was amazing.

Mr Zemke was born in Buffalo New York State in 1937, grew up in San Diego California where he received his degree in television and broadcasting from San Diego State University in 1962.

He then joined the Military Coast Guard and set his goal to be part of the media.

His first job was with CBS Television; the largest network in America.

I started in the mail room, delivering mail, said Zemke.

He said he hadnt done any editing at university but when he moved up to making promo clips for upcoming programmes, thats when he developed his love of editing.

I love editing. What a magic you can do in putting together films and thats when I fell in love with films, he added.

Mr Zemkes first TV series he edited was Hogans Heroes, before he got involved with other television programmes.

Working at the largest network in the United States of America was everything that Zemke ever dreamed of but he felt he could not stick there forever.

Zemke said he had a long life plans with his wife Mary Zemke who wanted to move to an English- speaking country to raise their children.

New Zealand was the place, they decided.

The couple moved from Hollywood to New Zealand in 1981 with their three children.

Mr Zemke continued his work in New Zealand as a Film Editor and he was able to edit documentaries and feature films.

In 1986, Zemke was named the best editor in the New Zealand Film and TV Awards for editing a popular New Zealand feature film, Came a Hot Friday.

Zemke said the worse part of his career was the transition to modern technology.

Editing a movie you have a crew to do this and that but with the computer editing system you can do everything at once.

He said despite the slow transition for him, he managed to get through.

Zemke is now working full-time on the Bahai on Air programmes which are aired in New Zealand as well as on Youtube.
Bank South Pacific (B.S.P.) has donated ST$5,000 to the Goshen Trust Mental Health Services Samoa.

This donation firms up B.S.Ps commitment to the Samoan community not only in cultural and sporting activities, but also in health and wellbeing.

Goshen Trust offers services to people with mental health illnesses.

In presenting the donation to the Chairman, Tuaena Lomano Paulo, B.S.P Samoa General Manager Maryann Lameko-Vaai spoke about the limited facilities available for people with mental illnesses.

Our donation is in support of mental health and wellbeing. It is a matter that is often overlooked within our community. Our people that are affected by these types of disorders do not have many options when seeking professional help or shelter, said Ms. Lameko-Vaai.

It is for this reason that we have decided to donate to Goshen Trust to help them continue providing mental health services to our community. At the same time, we hope that it will increase awareness and the importance of mental health and wellbeing.

Goshen Trust Mental Health Services Samoa is located in Moamoa and can be contacted on 27487.
1,900,000 litres of diesel on average each year for electricity in Samoa will be saved with the completion of the Faleata Racecourse Solar Facility.

And with the official launch of the 2.1MW solar plant yesterday, the Government of Samoa is one step closer to achieving their goal of 100 percent renewable energy target for Samoa.

Held at the Faleata Racecourse, the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Cabinet Ministers and representatives from various government departments, joined Solar for Samoa in celebrating this milestone.

According to a press release, the completion of the 2.1MW solar plant at the Faleata Racecourse is the first stage of the total 5.2MW solar photovoltaic project.

The project supports the Samoan Governments commitment to a 100 percent renewable target by 2017.

Tuilaepa spoke on behalf of the government of Samoa to congratulate Solar for Samoa upon the completion of the project.

I am very happy that the project is now complete and ready for production, said Prime Minister Tuilaepa

Tuilaepa said that Solar for Samoa was the first company that the government supported when the push for a 100 percent renewable energy was mooted.

We gave them our support because we were fascinated with their presentation to Cabinet, he said.

Therefore, we were convinced and we gave them our approval.

Moreover, he highlighted the importance of such a project for Samoa.

We have become more dependant and reliant on fossil fuels, but it has also become too costly and it has negative impacts on our environment he said.

Therefore, the use of solar energy has become important to mankind due to those side effects of fossil fuels.

Solar energy is a renewable source of energy as it can be used to produce electricity as long as the sun exists. It does not only benefit individuals owners and community but most importantly it can also benefit the environment as well and this is our contribution to our fight against climate change.

The Director of Solar for Samoa, Terrence Betham thanked the government of Samoa for their support for the initiative.

We applaud the Samoan Government and in particular the Prime Ministers leadership, with support from the relevant Government Ministries including the Electric Power Corporation and the Ministry of Finance, in promoting this project of renewable energy for the Pacific region, he said.

We are proud to achieve this important, clean energy milestone for the Samoan Government, which is the result of a long standing cooperation between Solar for Samoa and the Electric Power Corporation. It demonstrates Solar for Samoas ability to complete this world-class facility within the governments renewable energy target timelines.

And we are honoured to provide the Samoan population with reliable, long-term renewable energy.

According to Aaron Hawkins from Solar for Samoa, the total cost of the project is approximately $6 million dollars.

Press release.

The 2.1MW (DC) solar plant, located at the Faleata Racecourse on the island of Upolu, will offset a substantial portion of Samoas existing diesel-generated electricity; which currently accounts for nearly two-thirds of the countrys energy mix. The electricity produced by Solar for Samoas project will save 1,900,000 litres of diesel on average each year and displace approximately 5,115 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Solar for Samoa believes that utility-scale solar will play an integral role in reducing the countrys reliance on diesel generation and has demonstrated their commitments to ensuring timelines were met in support of the countrys renewable energy targets.

The electricity from the project will be purchased by the Samoa Electrical Power Corporation under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). According to Mr Betham, the project will not only bring energy security to the Samoan people, but has also contributed significantly to the Samoan economy with over 100 local jobs created during the construction phase.

Solar for Samoas second 3.1MW (DC) solar Facility is still under construction adjacent to the Faleolo International Airport and is currently scheduled to come online in mid-2016.
VIENTIANE, May 25 -- China and Thailand have vowed to improve military relations and cooperation in areas such as training and defense industry.

The pledge was made on Tuesday night during a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan when they were preparing for the informal meeting between Chinese and ASEANdefense ministers held on Wednesday.

Chang hailed cooperation between the two armed forces in recent years, especially in defense and security consultation, joint training and national defense industry. He hopes to further implement the important consensus made by leaders of the two countries and deepen the strategic communication between the two armies so as to strengthen China-Thailand friendship.

Prawit, on his part, confirmed the frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries. He also expressed the hope to further personnel exchange and deepen anti-terrorism cooperation between the two armes.

The two defense ministers also exchanged views on global and regional issues, including the South China Seadispute.
(Global Times) 09:22, May 25, 2016

Pyongyang Yinpan Restaurant, a luxury North Korean chain restaurant in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, remains open on Tuesday. Several North Korean staff have reportedly fled from this restaurant. Photo: Li Ying/GT

After a second escape of staff from a North Korean restaurant in China, observers said the eateries, a major source of foreign currency for Pyongyang, have been affected by UN sanctions, China's anti-hedonism rules and Seoul's opposition to its citizens patronizing those restaurants.

South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday that a small number of North Korean restaurant employees had fled their workplace in China, the second such case inside two months.

The North Koreans are currently in a third country in Southeast Asia after running away from a North Korea-run restaurant in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with inter-Korean affairs.

The source claimed that two or three employees escaped.

The South Korean Embassy in Beijing declined to provide more details regarding the latest case when reached by the Global Times on Tuesday.

The runaways were allegedly employed at Pyongyang Yinpan Restaurant, which was still open on Tuesday when a Global Times reporter visited, but interview requests were turned down by a Chinese man who appeared to be the restaurant manager.

The restaurant charges 1,327 yuan ($202.5) per person on average, according to group purchasing website dianping.com, with a minimum charge of 688 yuan, a price considered high in China.

Knock-on effect

This is reportedly the second escape by North Korean restaurant workers after 13 workers from a restaurant in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province fled to South Korea in April.

A South Korean unification ministry official, who asked not to be named, said that the April case may have affected the latest one, Yonhap reported.

"The escapees may have run away after being affected by the defection case in April. It's likely that management of North Korean employees was toughened to prevent more defections. Such workers are already under strict management. For example, they are only allowed out in groups," Jin Qiangyi, director of the Asia Research Center in Yanbian University in Northeast China's Jilin Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

An expert on North Korean studies, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times that their restaurant operations in China have come under great pressure, especially in the wake of UN sanctions against Pyongyang and pressure from the South Korean government to stop South Koreans from visiting the restaurants, while China's anti-hedonism rules have also discouraged some Chinese customers from dining at the expensive restaurants.

North Korean restaurants overseas are often asked to remit a large chunk of money from their revenue as "loyalty money" to Pyongyang, Jin added.

South Korean government sources have estimated that North Korea is running about 130 restaurants in 12 countries, including China, Vietnam and Cambodia, earning $10 million annually, according to Yonhap.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at an April press briefing that the 13 North Koreans crossed the Chinese border with valid passports.

Authorities are yet to confirm whether the latest runaway North Koreans also used valid documents.

"North Korean restaurants only hire employees agreed by Pyongyang. It is therefore very likely that the latest runaways also hold valid passports as their travel was agreed by both Beijing and Pyongyang. There's no justification to blame China for not interrupting their travel within and exit out of China," said the anonymous expert.

Most North Korean restaurants in China are operated with Chinese investment and North Korean employees, Hong Kong-based magazine Phoenix Weekly reported, citing an anonymous businessman who has cooperated with North Korea for years.

The employees often go through at least six months' training in etiquette, language and confidentiality, the magazine added.

China has become a transit point for North Koreans, who enter and exit the country illegally on their way to countries in Southeast Asia, like Laos, or Mongolia, before traveling on to South Korea. Southeast China's Yunnan Province is often used for these illegal border crossings, said Jin.
XI'AN, May 25-- Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao attended the opening ceremony of a women-focused precursor to the G20 summit in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Wednesday, calling for women to be given a greater role in economic and social affairs.

The W20 Meeting, which concludes on Thursday, supports the main G20 event to be held in China's eastern city of Hangzhou in September.

Li said in his speech that all countries should work out strategies to give women equal participation in national development. He also called for more protective measures for poor, disabled and elderly women.

China is ready to work with other countries to meet the goals on women's advancement set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to the vice president.

Shen Yueyue, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, delivered another speech.

Shen, also president of the All-China Women's Federation, which organized the meeting, called for more cooperation and exchanges to realize common development among men and women.

About 200 people, including representatives of G20 members and international organizations, were present at the meeting.
China has urged those outside the region to respect the rules and order set by countries in the South China Sea region, in line with international law.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to U.S. President Barack Obama's comments about maritime disputes in the area.

During his visit to Vietnam earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. President said "big nations should not bully smaller ones".

Hua said country size was not the key point of the issue, and neither should it be the sole or main reason to judge if a country is in the right.

She said the vital problem is whether countries involved show sincerity and determination to resolve disputes.

"We believe the countries outside the region should respect the efforts made by regional countries in safeguarding regional peace and stability, respect the regional rules and orders established based on the international law, rather than threatening sovereignty and security of coastal nations under any pretext, breaching regional rules and orders and disrupting regional peace and stability."

During the news briefing, Hua also called on the U.S. side to clarify its concept of freedom of navigation, an issue frequently raised by America.

"The U.S. side should make it clear whether it is advocating referring to the real freedom of navigation that every country enjoys under the international law, or the privilege of US warships and military planes to sail or overfly at will. If the US is talking about the real freedom of navigation, we warmly welcome and firmly support its advocation. But if it is the later, the international community will not agree."

According to Hua, China and ASEAN countries have reached a series of bilateral agreements and regional consensus on settling disputes through negotiation and consultation and jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

She said that this had laid an important foundation of rule and order applied to the region.

In his speech in Hanoi, the US President did note that the United States is not a claimant in current disputes in the South China Sea.
TASHKENT, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Tuesday expressed support for maintaining peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.

In a statement of SCO Secretary-General Rashid Olimov on South China Sea issue, all SCO countries agreed and supported China's efforts made to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

They also voiced support for any country in the Asia-Pacific region to promote a peaceful, friendly and harmonious environment in the South China Sea.

The SCO member states stressed the UN Charter, UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other international laws should be the basic principles when addressing the South China Sea issue.

Directly concerned states should resolve disputes through negotiation and consultation in accordance with all bilateral treaties and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the statement said.

It urged to respect the right of every sovereign state to decide by itself the dispute resolution methods, and strongly opposed outsiders' intervention into the South China Sea issue, as well as the attempt to internationalize the dispute.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a press communique released after the foreign ministers' meeting of the SCO held Tuesday here at the Uzbek capital, particularly clarifying stance on the South China Sea issue.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries stressed all disputes should be resolved through peaceful and friendly negotiations and consultations, according to the communique.

It added that SCO countries are against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, while all related countries should abide by the DOC and the Guidelines for the implementation of the DOC.

Wang stressed that more and more countries support China's stance on the South China Sea issue, which goes in line with the international laws and also protects the international rule of law.

"Any country, that ignores the basic facts, draws lines for allies or intentionally sparks political exploitation over the South China Sea issue, could get no result or support, but only destroy the reputation of itself," Wang said.
San Diego, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/25/2016 -- An investor, who purchased Target Corporation shares, filed a lawsuit in Minnesota over alleged securities laws violations by Target Corporation in connection with the Company's launch of its operations in Canada.



Investors who purchased shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) have certain options and for certain investors are short and strict deadlines running. Deadline: July 18, 2016. NYSE:TGT investors should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.



The plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) common shares between February 27, 2013 and May 19, 2014, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between February 27, 2013 and May 19, 2014 the Defendants violated provisions of the Exchange Act by issuing false and misleading statements regarding the Company's launch of its operations in Canada.



On January 13, 2011, Target Corporation announced that it would expand its retail operations into Canada, with plans to open between 100 and 150 stores in the country during 2013 and 2014.



The plaintiff claims that beginning on February 27, 2013, and between February 27, 2013 and May 19, 2014, Defendants repeatedly offered positive statements concerning Target's current and projected operations in Canada.



The plaintiff says that in part because of the purported success that Target Corporation was slated to achieve during fiscal 2013 in its Canadian segment, Defendants also provided the Company's shareholders with strong financial and operational guidance for fiscal 2013 and that as a result of these misrepresentations, Target stock traded at artificially inflated prices February 27, 2013 and May 19, 2014.



The plaintiff alleges that unbeknownst to investors, Target's Canadian expansion encountered operational problems from the start. The plaintiff says that o May 20, 2014, prior to the trading session, news reports circulated that Target had fired Tony Fisher, the Company's president of Canadian operations, confirming that the string of weak results from Target's Canadian operations preceding Mr. Fisher's termination were not simply growing pains associated with normal store openings, but rather due to significant undisclosed operational issues.



On January 15, 2015, Target Corporation revealed the Company would discontinue its Canadian operations and that Target Canada Co. had filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada.



Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) declined from $72.55 per share in July 2013 to as low as $55.69 per share in May 2014.



Those who purchased shares of Target Corporation have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.



Contact:

Shareholders Foundation, Inc.

Michael Daniels

3111 Camino Del Rio North - Suite 423

92108 San Diego

Phone: +1-(858)-779-1554

Fax: +1-(858)-605-5739

mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
Canton, GA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/25/2016 -- The Dental Assisting School of Georgia's 8-week dental assistant course that serves Canton and all the North Metro Atlanta, is now open for Summer 2016 Admissions. The Dental Assisting School of Georgia's Canton Campus's admissions will commence from June 4 - July 23. Whereas, their Alpharetta Teaching Site's admissions are already underway.



The admission response on both their campuses is, as always, quite good, and hundreds of people have registered in their Alpharetta Teaching Site, and as far as the Canton Campus' admissions are concerned, they have not begun yet but hundreds of students have already pre-registered themselves. After seeing the admission response of both their campuses, the management of The Dental Assisting School of Georgia is very excited for the upcoming semester, as the Summer 2016 batch for both the campuses is expected to be the biggest one yet.



"We are excited to welcome so many students to The Dental Assisting School of Georgia, the number of enrolled students of our 8-week dental assistant course is increasing semester by semester, and each batch of our dental assistant course is larger than the other one. It is merely because firstly people are getting more aware of the importance of the education and training needed to begin working as a professional dental assistant and secondly (most importantly) the quality our dental assistant course is incomparable, that is why people are taking more and more interest in our 8-week dental assistant course", stated the spokesperson of The Dental Assisting School of Georgia.



The thing that makes The Dental Assisting School of Georgia even more desirable is that, they have published complete information about their dental assistance course on www.dasgeorgia.com. At DASGeorgia.com the students can not only find comprehensive details about The Dental Assisting School of Georgia's 8-week dental assistant course, but the students can also find the fee structure, the registration details, and most importantly, one can also find the benefits of doing this course, on The Dental Assisting School of Georgia's website.



So, if one needs comprehensive information about The Dental Assisting School of Georgia's 8-week dental assistant course and their Summer 2016 admission details, they can simply go to http://www.dasgeorgia.com and get all the required information within a matter of a few minutes.



About The Dental Assisting School of Georgia

The Dental Assisting School of Georgia is a widely-known institute that offers an 8-week dental assistant course. They offer hands-on learning with dentists in a dental office, and the students also get a chance to gain knowledge of the basic dental sciences, proficiency in laboratory and clinical skills, and practical experience at an affordable fee.



For more information, please go to

URL: http://dasgeorgia.com/

770-599-7169

3395 Sixes Rd Ste 120

Canton, GA 30115
A breath test that can detect malaria at an early stage is to be assessed in the real world in nations including Bangladesh, Malawi and Sudan.

The breathalyser could reduce the cost of testing for the parasite and ensure drugs are targeted more effectively in communities affected by the disease, its developers say.

Earlier they identified distinctive chemicals known as markers that can be detected in the breath of people with malaria.

A field-based diagnostic tool that only detects active infection would be really useful in helping to detect asymptomatic individuals with low-level infection. Ailie Robinson, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian federal government agency, will now spend the next 18 months assessing the test in the field. They will collaborate with colleagues in the United States after receiving a US$1.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

We can now test the accuracy and effectiveness of the breath markers under real-world conditions, Stephen Trowell, research group leader at CSIRO, said in a statement.

If this phase of the research pans out, we intend to move on to developing a simple, painless and cheap breath test to help identify people who have malaria but dont know it.

CSIROs researchers will collect breath samples from patients suspected of having malaria. A control group will also provide samples for comparison before both sets of samples are sent to Australia or the United States for analysis.

The prototype device for collecting breath samples resembles the breathalysers police officers use to test motorists for drink driving. It is cheaper than conventional blood testing, requires no medical expertise to operate and could lead to early diagnosis, the developers point out.

The detection of biomarkers in breath would certainly be an easier method for malaria diagnosis, says Iveth Gonzalez, who leads the Malaria & Acute Febrile Syndrome Programme at Swiss not-for-profit the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics.

She adds that the devices could significantly help malaria control and elimination if their cost is low enough to compete with conventional testing, such as microscopy.

According to the World Health Organization, malaria can have severe and long-term consequences if not treated quickly. A recent WHO report said the goal of eradicating the disease in 35 target countries by 2030 was achievable but still a daunting challenge.

Ailie Robinson, a researcher at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, says it will become increasingly difficult to detect malaria as it becomes rarer.

Current diagnostic methods also have limitations, she says. Some, such as microscopy, require technical expertise, while rapid diagnostics tests sometimes detect old infections.

A field-based diagnostic tool that only detects active infection would be really useful in helping to detect asymptomatic individuals with low-level infection, she says.

Additionally, this technique would be totally non-invasive, which is clearly preferable  all current methods rely on a blood sample.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo argues that African agriculture needs innovation and the youth.



Every year, thousands of young Africans migrate from their families small, often struggling farms in the countryside. Their dream  sometimes fulfilled, often not  is to find a more rewarding and stimulating life in the continents rapidly growing cities. Few return but even fewer ever completely sever their ties.



Its a complicated connection and one I deeply understand. My own exodus to the city as a young man opened up lifetime opportunities that culminated in serving as president of Nigeria, Africas largest economy. But not only did I retain my ties to agriculture, I have now returned to my roots. Im a farmer again  at Obasanjo Farms Limited  and Ive never been happier.

We need Africas best and brightest to embrace agriculture as a calling and a career. Olusegun Obasanjo, Africa Food Prize committee



Working as a farmer once more has given me a better perspective on two of the biggest challenges facing Africa today: how do we provide employment opportunities to the millions of young Africans under 25 years of age so they can stay in the village and farm? And how do we put an end to the seemingly endless cycles of food crises that are, as I write, playing out again with dismaying familiarity in parts of eastern and southern Africa?



US$1 trillion food market



Fortunately, more and more Africans such as myself are seeing these issues as intertwined. We see agribusiness as Africas biggest opportunity to not only end hunger and malnutrition, but also as Africas best hope for generating income and employment, particularly in rural regions. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, demand for food in our rapidly growing urban areas will create a market for food products worth US$1 trillion. [1]This market needs to be owned and operated by African farmers, African agriculture businesses and African food companies.



But one thing is clear to me as I return to farming: to achieve its potential, African agriculture needs a fresh infusion of innovation and talent.



I have many fond memories of my childhood in a small farming settlement near Abeokuta, the capital of Nigerias Ogun State. By the age of five, I was accompanying my father to the fields where we grew cassava, maize, plantain, oil palm and other crops. My father, a proud Yoruba man, was considered the most successful farmer in our village. While living with few modern amenities, we grew plenty of food, and we enjoyed the cultural wealth of our Yoruba traditions and history.



Ultimately, this way of life was unable to withstand pressures that would soon intensify population growth, political turmoil, land scarcity and soil degradation.



Agriculture: a calling and career



Today, African farmers need several resources that my father lacked but which farmers elsewhere in the world take for granted. We need improved crop varieties developed to resist diseases and tolerate drought. We need access to modern inputs, such as fertilisers. We need markets where farmers can profit from their labour and thus justify investments in improved production. We need affordable credits that all small businesses require, and extension services that help us keep abreast of sustainable farming practices.

We need improved crop varieties developed to resist diseases and tolerate drought. We need access to modern inputs, such as fertilisers. Olusegun Obasanjo, Africa Food Prize committee



But ultimately we need people. Specifically, we need Africas best and brightest to embrace agriculture as a calling and a career.



Recently, I agreed to chair the selection committee for the new Africa Food Prize, an award that aims to recognise outstanding individuals or institutions taking control of Africas agriculture agenda. It started in 2005 in Oslo, Norway, as the Yara Prize in response to a call by Kofi Annan, then UN secretary-general, for a green revolution in agriculture. [2[. It was named after its sponsor, Yara International ASA Norway, an organisation that promotes sustainable agriculture and the environment.



By renaming it as Africa Food Prize and moving it to Africa, it has given the award a distinctive Africa flavour and ownership. This year, the award is also a substantial award: US$100,000 for the winner, higher than the previous US$60,000.

The hope is that the prize and its cadre of winners will signal to the world that agriculture is a priority for Africa that all should embrace. It can call attention to the institutions and individuals who are inspiring and driving innovations that can be replicated across the continent.I sometimes portray my return to farming as coming full circle. But in reality, while I cherish my childhood memories, I dont want to return to the past. I want to be part of the future, where farming in Africa is a lucrative, exciting entrepreneurial pursuit and young people aspire to be farmers because they see talented men and women building a rewarding career in farming and farm-related work.I hope that the Africa Food Prize quickly becomes a symbol of all that agriculture in Africa can offer and that one day soon, we will see a shift, when young people in urban areas will look longingly to the countryside and think: there lies the land of opportunity.Olusegun Obasanjo is a former president of NigeriaThis piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Google Rich cards are the new search format for mobiles that provide a better visual feature. The rich cards display the visual outputs in a card-type format that can allow the users to scroll through the cards.

The Google Rich cards were launched on May 17 to enhance the search features on a mobile platform. In addition to this, the new format is aimed at developing the current rich snippet format from Google. The rich snippets showcase the image and the outline of the information under the normal results.

Google Rich cards and the rich snippets will both use the Schema.org to improve the results. Also, the rich cards are created in such a way that it can be more appropriate for mobile search. The company claims that the rich cards are the new search result format that builds on the success of the rich snippets. Like the rich snippets, the Google Rich cards also use the structured markup of Schema.org to show the content in a more interesting and visual format. Furthermore, it also focuses on giving the users a better mobile experience, Tech Times reported.

Based on reports, the research results are going to appear temporarily in English for the mobile searches. This was confirmed by Google, saying that it is still undergoing some experiments on other methods of expanding the feature publisher's way. The company also stated that it has created a wide array of tool set, and updated its developer documentation that can help the developers as well site owners from the initial exploration, to the application and up to the checking of performance.

Google Rich cards are expected to enable the site owners to be visible in the Search results space to help them attract more target users. Also, the search users can take advantage of the rich cards offer of a more pictorial-style format to assist them in determining the necessary information faster, according to Phone Arena.
If you have consumed too much alcohol last night, worry no more. An ice cream bar will let you forget about hangover.

South Korean convenience store Gyeondyo-bar has launched the first ice cream that targets those who suffer from the "after effects" of alcohol.

South Koreans, Asia's biggest per capita alcohol consumers, can now soothe themselves after a big night out with hangover-fighting ice cream.

The ice cream tastes like grapefruit, according to Metro website. It has 0.7% raisin tree fruit juice that is said to combat hangover. It has been a popular item in the Korean medicine book since the 17th century. In year 2012, there was a study that claimed that the said tree extract can indeed reduce the symptoms of excessive consumption of alcohol when taken by rats. This has convinced the proponents of the study that the tree juice can really give a hangover fix.

Drinking is normal among South Koreans. Bars are actually a big business in the country, thus hangover cures are indeed relevant. Drinking is said to generate about US$126 in revenues in South Korea.

South Koreans reportedly consume about 12.3 liters of alcohol each year, according to a report of the World Health Organization released in 2014. The figures are one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region.

The hangover cure ice cream is only available in South Korea for now. There are no details yet if there are plans to sell the item in other parts of the world.

Before this ice cream bar hit the South Korean market, CJ Corp conglomerate also produced a hangover beverage called Hat-gae Condition. But the product was sold only in Vietnam, China, and Japan. It was introduced in year 2014, and it was part of the famous 2014 music video called "Hangover" by US rapper Snoop Dogg and Korean star Psy.
LONDON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China is firmly committed to international cooperation in cyberspace and stands ready to build, safeguard and contribute to global Internet development, Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said Tuesday.

China is an active participant in global Internet advancement and attaches great importance to international cooperation in cyberspace, Liu said in a keynote speech at the "Cyber 2016" conference hosted by the Chatham House, a London-based British think-tank.

"When it comes to building a safe cyberspace, we are all in it together. China stands ready to join hands with other countries to foster a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace," he told his audience.

The ambassador said that building a "virtual Belt and Road" is an important part of the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative.

The Belt and Road initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by China in 2013 for improved cooperation with countries in a vast part of Asia, Europe and Africa.

"China is ready to work with countries along the routes to advance Internet infrastructure, remove information barriers, narrow the digital divide, and build a digital network to facilitate cooperation," Liu said.

"This cooperation will bring greater benefit to people and countries along the routes of the Belt and Road," he continued, adding: "China is living up to what people expect from a big country with responsibility."

Liu stressed that China gives high priority to cyber security, which is a "core focus of cyberspace governance" in the country.

China "aims to ensure the security, reliability and controllability of the Internet, including key technologies, critical infrastructures, and systems and data of important sectors," he said.

"Cyber crimes, commercial thefts and hacker attacks against government are shared international threats," the Chinese envoy noted. "All these menaces should be firmly combated in accordance with relevant laws and international conventions."

He urged that "the interpretation and application of international law in cyberspace must be aimed at enhancing common security rather than encouraging hegemony or power politics."

"Attempts by any nation to have Internet supremacy over others will leave hidden risks of potential turbulence and conflicts," warned the ambassador.
The International Space Station launched CubeSat, a mini-satellite that is first of its kind.

The miniature satellite was a breakthrough project built by a group of grade school students from St, Thomas More Cathedral School in Virginia. Prior to being launched in space, it was first deployed to the space station last December 6, 2015.

Through NASA's Cubesat Launch Initiative, this group of students had the opportunity to build their CubeSat. The CubeSat is a product of a three-year-old project participated by 400 pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade students from said Arlington -based school. Apart from learning how to assemble their own spacecraft, the students also learned how to operate radios and construct ground stations that serve as communication channels to the satellite

This satellite, which was launched from the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD),is tasked to take several photos of the Earth which are to be transmitted from an orbit about 250 miles above the planet. It is also accompanied by other CubeSats including the ones built by the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado Boulder.

The student creators of the said satellite were led and guided by Joe Pelligrino, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Deputy Project Manager. Their output was one of the selected CubeSats which were selected to be deployed via NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ElaNa) IX mission. This mission was established to allow CubeSats that are successfully developed by educational institutions, differently nonprofit organizations, and Nasa centers be launched in space.

Since the onset of 2010, NASA's ElaNa project has already deployed 46 out of the 100 selected CubeSats. The selection was based on public announcements and responses gathered by the group through the NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative project. According to NASA, they are also looking forward to receiving more proposals and responses starting mid-August of this year.
Chimera, an organism that is partly human and partly animal, is now being tried for a possible breakthrough in human diseases. The new experiment is aimed at discovering a possible cure for diseases by using the organs.

The chimera, an organism derived from the combination of animal and human embryo, is being hoped to be suitable for providing cure for human diseases in better animal models. However, several ethical issues have been raised in creating an interspecies development, causing the search for a scientific discovery to be interrupted.

Chimera research funding has been asked to be suspended by the National Institute of Health in America due to the ethical issues concerning the chimera mission. Some reports indicate that a few scientists are cautious about discussing the idea of farm animals having the human organs to be surgically moved into terminally ill human patients. According to New York Medical College professor Stuart Newman, the chimera research is heading towards a disturbing ground that he believes could bring damage to the sense of humanity, Boise State Public Radio reported.

However, those scientists who are determined to continue with the chimera project have already looked for alternative funds, believing that the advances will convince the NIH to lift the ban. University of California biologist Pablo Ross said that they are trying to create a chimera because of a biomedical reason.

At present, Ross is trying to make a pancreas that could help diabetic patients undergoing treatment through a pig embryo that involves gene-editing methods. This process needs the chimera embryos to be transplanted into the adult pigs' wombs. According to Ross, it will take 28 days, when the embryos are expected to begin forming organs, before the embryo is removed to dissect.

However, Mr Newman argues that this type of experiment is disturbing as science may eventually produce pigs that has partly human brains and something like of a human consciousness.

Chimera mission is also being questioned because of the likelihood of producing a partly human, partly pig creature. Yet Ross claims that they can prevent against unintentional chimera mating, which allows the research to provide humans with the greatest benefits, according to Christian Post.
NASA has reportedly been accused of underestimating the size of asteroids, indicating there are dangers of large asteroids striking the planet. The accusations were made by Dr Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive who is also a billionaire techie and amateur asteroid hunter among other things. Myhrvold used NASA's own data to conclude that the space agency's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope had underestimated the sizes of over 157,000 asteroids by as much as 100 percent.

Launched in December 2009 by NASA, WISE is an infrared wavelength astronomical space telescope that was later put on a sabbatical in February 2011. The telescope was reactivated to carry out a four month mission termed NEOWISE to search for asteroids, comets and other such Near Earth Objects (NEO). The mission took the help of heat data to measure the size and reflectivity of 157,000 asteroids. Incidentally, reflectivity of an asteroid denotes how easily it can be spotted.

Myhrvold, interestingly, is not debating whether NASA has overlooked threats from the known asteroids; rather he has argued whether the teams of researchers know as much as they think they do. Myhrvold criticized the WISE and NEOWISE teams on their wrong calculations of asteroid sizes in a paper that he wrote. The techie accused the NEOWISE results of being full of bad statistics and analysis. "The bad news is it's all basically wrong," Nathan Myhrvold said. "Unfortunately for a lot of it, it's never going to be as accurate as they had hoped. None of their results can be replicated. I found one irregularity after another". Furthermore, NEOWISE's data was said to be "very funky, ad hoc, invalid set of statistical analyses", implying a flawed mission.

Earlier, in 2011, the WISE and NEOWISE teams had maintained that calculations of an asteroid's diameter are often within 10 percent of the actual size. However, Myhrvold puts in the argument that the accuracy for calculating asteroid diameters should be 30 percent and not merely 10. He further suggested that some of the errors in size estimation could be as much as 100 percent. In addition, according to a report, the former Microsoft exec felt that NASA ignored the margin of error that is a result of extrapolating a small sample size, as well as neglected to pay attention to Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation in their asteroid thermal models.

At the moment, representatives from NASA have maintained that the issues being taken up by Myhrvold will be best addressed by experts who are peer reviewing his paper. Moreover, the contents of Myhrvold's paper were deemed as "overly simplistic" with assumptions that were not valid.
Around 10 million species are still waiting to be discovered around the world - at least that's what scientists believe. Every year, on the birthday of 18th century Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who is considered as the father of modern taxonomy, the International Institute for Species Exploration releases its list of top new species found over the last 12 months.

This year's top ten list includes the following:

Giant tortoise (Chelonoidis donfaustoi) from Galapagos, Ecuador

While all these giant tortoises from the Galapagos look similar, scientists found a new species on the eastern part of the island. Unfortunately, there were only about 250 of them, which means that the discovery immediately called for an attempt at conservation. BBC News noted that the new species was named after a retired park ranger named Don Fausto, who worked for four decades to help conserve giant tortoises in the area.

Giant sundew (Drosera magnifica) from Brazil

The giant sundew is believed to be the first plant species discovered through photos posted on social media. The plant is a massive species at 48 inches - the largest ever seen. At the size of it it's a wonder why it took so long to find - however, The Smithsonian said that it exists only at the summit of a single mountain in Brazil, 5,000 feet above sea level.

Hominin (Homo naledi) from South Africa

The latest link to human evolution is the Homo naledi, which shares the same features, such as size and weight of our earlier ancestors. Its brain case is similar in size to the Homo species from two to four million years ago. National Geographic reported that scientists have been trying to pin down the age of the Hominin's remains, which is why the discovery is extremely important: it created a better picture in regards to the human evolutionary timeline.
NASA opens media accreditation for the next Space X commercial cargo resupply mission to International Space Station on Saturday, July 16, 2016.

Next SpaceX Commercial Cargo Launch Targeted for Mid-July, NASA Opens Media Accreditation via NASA https://t.co/FCx1bwVVTm #NASA #space #X  Xplore the World (@XtWOfficial) May 23, 2016

The Space X Dragon spacecraft will transport the station hardware and the crew supplies. NASA states that it will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS).

Space X, which is previously known as Space Exploration Technologies Corporation of Hawthorne, California launches a mission taking cargo for NASA to the International Space Station. In April, the Space X Falcon 9 has just successfully returned to Earth by landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. It sent supplies to the International Space Station.

Space X Successfully Launches Cargo To ISS, Returns First Stage To Drone Ship At Sea https://t.co/sHPArGkizG  James Joyner (@DrJJoyner) April 9, 2016

The next Space X will be on its ninth mission in July. It is under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

L'I.S.S. est chouchouter ,le cargo sattelite Soyouz et le sattelite de Space X , sont les .nourriciers du voyage. pic.twitter.com/vMzmg1ML0O  jean henry (@symbade77) April 10, 2016

The media prelaunch and launch activities will be held at CCAFS and at Kennedy. The scheduled deadline for the international media to apply for access to CCAFS is 5 P.M. Tuesday, on June 14. On the other hand, the deadline to apply for media access to Kennedy is 5 P.M. July 8 for U.S. citizens and 5 P.M. July 4 for non-citizens.

The requirements for international media include a scanned copy of their visa, green card or passport. It will be submitted upon their online accreditation request.
Radiation from the sun and galactic cosmic rays may have a hindering effect on the search for signs of alien life in the solar system, according to a recent report. Studies have suggested that galactic radiation can lead to the fast degradation of biological material on the surface of Mars as well in the ocean of Jupiter's Moon Europa. The two celestial bodies are currently the main targets for conducting a search for extraterrestrial life, both past and present.

As per a report, the thick atmosphere of Earth protects life on the planet from the destructive effects of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), which come in larger doses than sun or Jupiter radiations. However, the Red Planet's thin atmosphere and Europa's nearly absent atmosphere is no match for protecting them from the harmful effects of GCRs, subsequently leading to an exposure to high levels of radiation that can be wipe out the fossils that existed in these two worlds.

Numerous scientists hope to find evidence in the form of biological molecules like amino acid or fossilized microorganisms that would point to the existence of life on Mars in the past. However, finding such proof would mean that such molecules should still persist on Europa or Mars. A NASA planetary scientist, Alexander Pavlov, conducted a study to find out if amino acids could withstand radiation similar to that experienced on Martian surface. Pavlov and his team mixed amino acids with rocky material akin to that found on the Red Planet, and simulated conditions that a rover would likely come across.

On the basis of the observations, it was found that radiation degraded amino acids in a span of 50 million years. Furthermore, the researchers simulated historically wet areas on Mars by adding water to the surface sample, and it was concluded that water sped up the degradation process and wiped out few of the bio-markers in as less as 500,000 years, and all within 10 million years. "More than 80 percent of the amino acids are destroyed for dosages of 1 megagray, which is equivalent to 20 million years," Alexander Pavlov said. "If we're going for ancient bio-markers, that's a very big problem." In addition, though cold temperatures can slow down the degradation process it would not be enough for long term preservation according to the scientists.

The discovery could mean bad news for missions to Mars that plan to look for signs of ancient life on the planet's surface. A similar study was also conducted by another NASA planetary scientist, Luis Teodoro, to find out the effect of radiation on Europa, one of Jupiter's four Galilean moons. After stimulating the conditions of Europa, the results were seen to be similar to those found by Pavlov and team for Mars. In addition, Europa is also exposed to another radiation source, which is emitted from Jupiter. Based on the researches, the scientists have reportedly expressed that perhaps one has to look deep under the surface to find signs of life.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (Source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, May 25 -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday defended the country's stance on the South China Sea, rejecting criticism from the United States, Japanand Western media.

Hua Chunying said at a routine press briefing that China's construction activities on its islands and reefs starting at the end of 2013 are aimed entirely at safeguarding its sovereignty and rights.

"China's construction in the South China Sea came later than other countries' illegal activities in the region," Hua said.

The United States "rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific" strategy and Philippine initiation of the South China Sea arbitration also came before China's island reclaiming, she said.

Hua's comments came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said China's actions in the South and East China Seas threatened to create a "tinderbox."

In Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Kerry said that he would caution China to not unilaterally move to reclaim and militarize islands, according to AP.

Hua, however, said that it was the growing U.S. military deployment and activities in the region that were creating tensions.

She also slammed Japan for hyping up the South China Sea issue ahead of the G7 summit. "As the world economy is facing such a complicated situation, the G7 summit should focus on global economic governance and cooperation," she said.

The "little trick" of Japan as the host of the G7 summit will do no good to G7 and will not be helpful to peace and stability in the South China Sea, Hus said.

More and more nations and international organizations are expressing understanding and support for China's stance on the South China Sea, she said.

Hua applauded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) "just and fair" position on the matter.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries said they were against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, according to a press communique released on Tuesday.
BEIJING, May 25 -- The China Law Society on Wednesday issued a statement on the South China Seaarbitration initiated by the Philippines. Following is the full text of the statement's English version:

With regard to the unilateral initiation of the South China Sea arbitration by the Philippines and the arbitrary decision by the Arbitral Tribunal to hear the arbitration case in disregard of basic facts, the principles of fairness and rule of law, the China Law Society (CLS) hereby makes the following statement on behalf of the Chinese legal community.

CLS stands firmly by the consistent position of the Chinese Government of not accepting, participating in, or recognizing the aforementioned case. No matter judging by the purpose, principles and provisions provided for in the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), or the basic principles of law generally acknowledged by the international community, or basic historical facts, it would all be illegal and invalid for the Philippines to unilaterally initiate the arbitration and for the Arbitral Tribunal to have pushed forward the relevant proceedings.

The Arbitral Tribunal abused its authority and willfully expanded the scope of its jurisdiction. The arbitration procedure under UNCLOS is not applicable to the relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. The two sides had agreed to settle the disputes through negotiations and consultations, and therefore excluded any third-party procedure. The Philippines' submissions do not fall within the interpretation and application of UNCLOS and are in essence related to territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. Furthermore, the Chinese Government's declaration in year 2006 on optional exception has explicitly excluded disputes concerning maritime delimitation, historic bays or titles, as well as military and law enforcement activities from the dispute resolution procedures of UNCLOS. The Arbitral Tribunal, however, chose to ignore and turn a blind eye to all this.

In so doing the Arbitral Tribunal has grossly deviated from the basic principles established by UNCLOS, which is to establish maritime legal order on the basis of respecting the sovereignty of the State Parties. It disregarded China's sovereignty and sovereign rights in the South China Sea, and glossed over the fact that the Philippines had failed to perform its legal obligations to hold bilateral consultation before initiating the arbitration procedure, running counter to the spirit of UNCLOS of settling maritime disputes through understanding and cooperation. The Tribunal also breached the principles of fairness and justice by applying double standards to the positions of the Philippines and China.

China's long history of development, management and jurisdiction in the South China Sea has long been recognized by neighboring countries, which has gained the status of customary international law. As part of the post-WWII international legal order underpinned by such international legal instruments as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, China resumed its exercise of sovereignty and restored its legal rights over the islands and reefs as well as waters of the South China Sea, which has contributed to the maintenance of such legal order in the South China Sea region.

The Arbitral Tribunal intentionally broke the intrinsic connection between the maritime international legal order and the general international legal order, which is a regression of international rule of law. The Arbitral Tribunal's award completely disregards the general desire among relevant countries in the South China Sea region to settle disputes through dialogue, and the process of peaceful dispute settlement as established by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). It also defies the endeavor that China and relevant countries have made and the consensus they have reached to settle South China Sea disputes. The award, rather than contributing in any way to dispute resolution, will only further complicate the disputes, and damage peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The acts of the Philippines and of the Arbitral Tribunal, in our opinion, have emboldened the attempt in some quarters to create tension in the South China Sea and undercut the trend of peaceful development in this region. The arbitration is a political farce in the name of law. The Chinese legal community gravely deplores this. We call on the international community to recognize the illegal and harmful nature of the arbitration, and urge the relevant countries to come back to the right track of settling disputes through dialogue in accordance with the principles of international law.
This May, few people show interest in over 467 hectares of watermelon in Wenchang. (Photo/Xinhua)

Farmers were busy loading watermelons into trucks in Linwu Village on May 24. (Photo/People.cn)

Watermelon comes into season in May. However, this May, few people showed interest in over 467 hectares of watermelon in Wenchang, southern island province of Hainan. The price was lower than 0.5 yuan per kilogram, which is a record low for the past 20 years, yet it seems as though farmers were set up to suffer great losses.

Several days ago, in front of the village committee of Linwu Village in Wenchang, hundreds of farmers even stopped traffic to sell their watermelons. Although the price was an extremely reasonable 0.6 yuan per kilogram, they still couldnt find any buyers.

The news that so many watermelons would soon be rotting in the field soon spread. Local government encouraged enterprises and citizens to buy watermelons from Wenchang. Many caring people also came to Wenchang to help the farmers.

When a reporter from People's Daily Online traveled to Linwu Village on May 24, farmers were busy loading watermelons into trucks, as they finally had enough buyers from other towns and villages.

So far, about 267 hectares of watermelons have been sold, and the remaining melons are expected to be sold out within the next two days.
A cowfish cub was found stranded on the bank of the Yangtze River in Nanjing on Tuesday. The cowfish was sent to a local ocean park for a temporary rescue, but experts said that its best chance for survival is locating the cubs mother.

The cowfish was first found by a local citizen, who reported it to police. Worried about the safety of the cowfish, the police asked a local fishery for help.

After checking on the cowfish, experts from a local ocean park suggested feeding the cub milk and searching for its mother near the place where it was found. Later, the fishery decided to send it to the ocean park until a group of experts from Wuhan could come consult on the case. How the cub became stranded in the first place is currently being studied.

Analysts said that this incident actually reflects improvements made by Nanjing in the protection of this breed. According to local regulations, field investigation, photos and video recordings made of cowfish all require prior approval.
The Baltic said in a statement that its board considers the SGX proposal attractive and would enhance the position of the Baltic. SGX has made a 100% cash offer for the Baltic.

The period of exclusivity runs from 25 May to 30 June.

The decision to enter exclusive discussions follows talks with a number of potential bidders.

SGX has made a number of commitments if its bid is successful including maintaining Baltics London headquarters at St Mary Axe, to preserve the Baltics current ethos as a membership organisation with member representation whose market activities are governed by the Baltic Code, and maintain membership subscriptions and data fee levels for members for five years.

SGX ceo Loh Boon Chye said, This is the tenth year of our relationship with the Baltic Exchange and we recognise the integral role the Exchange plays within the global shipping community, which we hope to develop for the benefit of the industry as a whole.

SGX noted there was no assurance the transaction would be completed.

Baltic chairman Guy Campbell commented: SGX has indicated that in the event its bid is successful, it would maintain the current model for the Baltic business and our presence and building in London, as the platform for the Baltics future growth. The proposed transaction would further strengthen the links between London and Singapore, two of the worlds leading maritime business hubs, to the benefit of all.

The board considers this proposal is an exciting development for the Baltic and all the stakeholders in the markets it serves, which secures the future of the Baltic's role in the global maritime marketplace in the 21st century.

Discussions will continue with SGX and Baltic stakeholders over the coming weeks before the Baltics board makes a final recommendation.

SGX has rapidly built up a position in the dry freight derivative clearing market with over the last 18 months, and its market share topped 50% in March.
CMA CGM said on Wednesday its takeover of NOL had been approved by the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

Following approvals from the European Commission and now China CMA CGM said it expects to announce its general offer for NOL by 7am on 2 June at the latest.

The French line yet to announce that it has received approvals from the US authorities for the takeover.

CMA CGM announced it was offering SGD1.30 per share in a $2.4bn takeover of NOL last December. However the launch of the takeover offer was pending the approval regulatory authorities.
A KDB spokesperson said the companys creditors will decide on how to proceed with the court receivership process by the end of May, the local media reported.

Considering the company's financial situation, we think it may be unable to make a debt payment due at the end of May, a KDB statement was quoted by the Korea Times. In particular, the company is in danger of being forced to stop building ships as foreign shipowners are seeking to seize its assets in compensation lawsuits.

STX, a mid-sized Korean yard, has been under the control of its creditors since April 2013, amid the protracted slump in the shipbuilding industry.

Creditors had pumped in over KRW4trn ($3.4bn) into STX but the shipbuilder remained unable to turnaround its dire financial state.

Last year, creditors extended around KRW450bn in additional aid to STX in a bid to reorganise its business portfolio to focus on tankers and small LNG carriers.

Apart from STX, other reputable and sizable Korean shipyards and shipowners are also facing financial troubles. The three biggest Korean yards, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries, are going through restructuring while owners such as Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hanjin Shipping are weighed down by massive debts.
Press Release

May 25, 2016 Philippines Debuts in Venice Architecture Biennale with 'Muhon' Following the country's successful re-entry to the Art Biennale in 2015, another milestone is achieved as the Philippines debuts in the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia with the exhibition Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City. Muhon, the historic first participation of the Philippines in the Venice Architecture Biennale, will take its audience to the past, present and probable future of nine cultural markers in Metro Manila. In line with Alejandro Aravena's vision for the 2016 Architecture Exhibition to display success stories where architecture did, is and will make a difference in improving the quality of both built environment and people's lives, the Philippine Pavilion, according to Leandro Y. Locsin, Jr., "aspires to be a platform for a collaborative and collective act of reflection about the built environment on the edge of the precipice." Aravena is the Curator of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition titled Reporting from the Front. Locsin of the Leandro V. Locsin Partners (LVLP), the architectural firm that curated Muhon, explained that "Architects must encourage the public to take a step back, to pause and to demand deeper, more enlightened contemplation on our built heritage." Six architects and three contemporary visual artists were selected by the LVLP curatorial team--composed of Locsin, Sudarshan Khadka, Jr. and Juan Paolo dela Cruz--to participate in the building of Muhon, a collaborative exploration about the implications of rapid creation and destruction within Metro Manila's built environment. The nine participants and the subject buildings and urban elements featured in the Philippine Pavilion are Poklong Anading for KM 0; Tad Ermitano for Pandacan Bridge; Mark Salvatus for Binondo; Eduardo Calma for the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC); Jorge Yulo for Mandarin Hotel; 8x8 Design Studio Co. for the Magsaysay Center; C S Design Consultancy for Pasig River; Lima Architecture for the Makati Stock Exchange; and Man~osa & Co. for Tahanang Pilipino or Coconut Palace. "In tracing each Muhon through its History, Modernity and Conjecture, the exhibit aims to grapple with the search of identity through the built environment within the context of an aggressively expanding megacity. It proposes to distill and abstract the essence of the city's cultural markers to interpret their meaning and to discover the presence or relative absence of value," Locsin explained. Felipe de Leon, Jr., Commissioner for the Philippine Pavilion and Chairperson of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), said that the structure and layout of buildings have a profound impact on people. "Architecture plays a crucial role in human life. Well-designed forms and spaces of sacred national shrines and monuments can be effective instruments for unifying our people and enhancing the sense of nationhood. A dismal future for a city is when there will be no more public spaces where people can develop a strong sense of community, civic sense or sense of belonging," de Leon said. Senator Loren Legarda, the visionary behind the Philippines' participation in the Venice Biennale, said that Muhon underscores the reality that architecture must respond to human needs. "Building is not only about creating new structures all the time. It is also about revitalizing communities and connecting the present with the past. Cities and its architecture, in a way, shape our personal narrative while allowing us to connect as a community," she explained. Meanwhile, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Jose Rene Almendras highlighted the importance of the Philippine participation in providing opportunity to Filipino architects and artists to showcase the excellence and vitality of their talents to a significantly wider audience. "Our participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale will not only connect our artists and architects to the world's leading curators, art critics, fellow architects and artists, but will also allow them to share their stories and interpretations as well as challenge our perceptions of the realities around us," Almendras said. The Philippine participation in the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the NCCA, DFA, and Office of Senator Loren Legarda, with support from the Department of Tourism (DOT). The Philippine Pavilion's vernissage will be on May 27 and will open to the public from May 28 to November 27, 2016 at the European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora in Venice, Italy.
The 4th Logistics Readiness Squadron participated in the first military testing of a new Isometrics R-11 Refueler Unit May 16, 2016, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

Members of the 4th LRS assisted creators of the new refueling truck with trial runs on F-15E Strike Eagles and KC-135 Stratotankers from May 16 to May 19.

What this Isometrics R-11 does is it brings R-11 and R-12 capabilities with one unit, said Tech. Sgt. Justin Davis, 4th LRS non-commissioned officer in charge of the fuels service center. It can take 6,000 gallons of fuel out to the flightline, but it can also be hooked into the ground and pump fuel straight into the aircraft. Essentially, it does both things that two separate vehicles do.

The new Isometrics R-11 Refueling Unit is more cost efficient, saving approximately $40,000 per truck compared to the current refueling units in use. Currently, there are plans to distribute around 150 trucks Air Force-wide.

Not only does the Isometrics R-11 do the job of the current refueling units, it incorporates new safety features for the user.

They wanted to make things better from a safety and fuel consumption aspect; its the most self-sufficient unit that the Air Force has ever seen as far as fuel capabilities are concerned, Davis said. It eliminates a lot of operator error. You basically select what type fuel servicing you want to do with just the turn of a knob. Its more simplified and efficient.

Parking and side sensors on the Isometrics R-11 inform the driver whether they are too close to an object using light signals and an alarm system.

It completely regulates the throttle itself, so youre not burning up a bunch of extra fuel when youre trying to complete the servicing operation, Davis said. It drastically cuts down the amount of diesel fuel consumption that the vehicle is using.

It took 10 years to get it off the ground from that first concept to where it is now, said Mike Nelson, Air Force Petroleum Agency operations director. Its way more efficient than the other truck. The other truck can filter the fuel as its coming out of the hydrant adapter to the airplane, but it wasnt filtering when it went from the hydrant adapter to the truck. This one, we are also filtering the fuel as it goes back into the tank.

Davis also expressed his and the 4th LRS Fuels Management Flights excitement about the opportunity to assist the AFPET Agency and Isometrics teams with the new R-11 testing in its first operational environment.

This refueling unit could potentially be the most versatile fleet addition to date, and the entire petroleum, oil, and lubricants fuels lab community is anxiously awaiting its full release, said Davis. The tests conducted assisted the manufacturer and government by providing vital aircraft refueling pressure data that will allow future production vehicles to be programmed to service aircraft more efficiently.
People of all ages have found themselves transfixed over the last couple of years by YouTube clips of Dutch environmental artist Theo Jansens enormous wind-propelled kinetic sculptures. In the compulsively watchable videos, Jansens skeletal Strandbeests (beach animals in Dutch) walk across Hollands expansive North Sea beaches with the 68-year-old artist-engineer coaxing the creatures to improbable life.

These spindly-legged beests, which Jansen has been creating in increasingly complex iterations for 26 years, move with an unexpected grace and lifelike energy that belie their humble components: PVC piping, zip ties and empty water bottles.

Until now, with the arrival at the Exploratorium of Jansens first major U.S. touring exhibition, very few people have had the opportunity to witness his work in person. The Exploratorium is the exclusive West Coast venue for Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen, and a fitting home for these unique creations that blur the traditional boundaries between art, science, engineering and even biology.

People ask, Is it art or science? The distinctions are irrelevant to me. It always starts from practicality, said Jansen, speaking by phone from his home in the Netherlands.

Six of his acclaimed Strandbeests, including his 43-foot-long Animus Suspendisse, will be on display in San Francisco through Labor Day. Visitors will be able to interact with the creations at designated times. (Jansen uses faux Latinate names for every Strandbeest to emphasize their association in his mind with mammalian evolution.)

The Exploratorium exhibition also includes the artists sketches, videos and Lena Herzogs black-and-white photography documenting seven years of Jansens creative process.

Jansen, who studied to be a physicist, found his lifes creative calling in 1990 in response to a real-world problem: the rising sea levels that threatened to flood the Netherlands. Jansens first Strandbeests, made of PVC piping and string, were intended to do something useful, to fortify the dunes.

But first they had to survive the storms and the wind, he said. I thought, How have animals survived in the past? Evolution.

Gabrielle Lurie/Special to The Chronicle

In conversation, and in his 2007 TED talk, Jansen stresses that his project is evolutionary rather than primarily artistic in nature. I dont want to make an imitation of nature as it is now, he said. I really want to make new animal life forms.

As strange as it sounds, Jansens Strandbeests have evolved (hes now on his 39th version) and adapted, with each generation less reliant on human intervention. His current ambition is to create animals that will anchor in storms by burying themselves in the sand, lifting and shaking themselves off every hour.

Jansen, who cites Buckminster Fuller and M.C. Escher as influences, works on new models every winter. I bring the new animals to the beach every spring, work on experiments over the summer and declare some of them extinct by fall, he says.

His moonshot, he revealed, is to build Strandbeests that can live on beaches on their own in herds.

Unfortunately, I dont have a few more million years to work on them, but they are already replicating, Jansen says.

Twenty-five years ago he wrote an algorithm, available on his website, at www.strandbeest.com, which determines the proportions of every Strandbeests tubular crank-leg system.

Using 3-D printers, students are making Strandbeests all over the world, he said. They are reproducing using the Internets zeroes and ones rather than genes.

Despite the Strandbeests elegant motion, Jansen said, I try not to work toward beauty because when you try to make something beautiful, it can become artificial.

Instead, I focus on function, but then am surprised when beauty sort of comes in the back door, he added. When a horse walks, its beautiful because it functions so well.

Jansens youthful enthusiasm for hands-on experimentation and solutions-based design is a great reminder that the maker and tinkering movements are more than mere buzzwords.

Ive never stopped playing, he said. When I am on the beach working, I feel more like an Eskimo living 10,000 years ago who did what you could call technical research, and made art, and didnt realize what a museum or even an artist is. I can forget what art and even beauty are, and still make beauty without realizing it.

Jessica Zack is a freelance writer who frequently covers art and film for The San Francisco Chronicle.

Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen: Walking demonstrations 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. daily; 7 and 9 p.m. Thursdays for ages 18 and older. May 27-Sept. 5. $19.95-$29.95. Free for children age 3 and younger. Exploratorium, Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street), S.F. (415) 528-4444. www.exploratorium.edu.

Conversation with Theo Jansen: With Marina McDougall, director of the Ex p loratoriums Center for Art & Inquiry. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26. $10-$30. 18 and older.

Lena Herzog: The photographer will discuss her years documenting Jansens work with McDougall. 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2. $10-$15. 18 and older.
An early morning blaze Wednesday ripped through a Santa Clara strip mall and triggered a five-alarm response from firefighters, who battled wind-whipped flames for hours.

The fire at the Rancho Shopping Center on El Camino Real near Pomeroy Avenue started about 3 a.m. and flames were shooting out the roof of the structure when firefighters arrived, Santa Clara Fire Chief Bill Kelly told reporters.
Kevin Schultz/The Chronicle

San Francisco homicide detectives are investigating the deadly shooting of a man late Monday night in the South of Market neighborhood.

Officers responded to the corner of Sixth and Minna streets at 11:33 p.m. after hearing gunfire in the area, said Officer Albie Esparza, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.
Every few years, caravans of yellow trucks move thousands of tons of sand from the north end of San Franciscos Ocean Beach to eroded areas at the south end. And almost immediately, the silvery tide begins carrying it back to where it came from.

The sand bucket brigade is a short-term solution to a more pressing problem: 3.5-mile Ocean Beach, which lines the citys western edge, is suffering the ravages of a warming planet  hammered by winter storms and rising sea levels that are eroding the shoreline. This week, a parking lot south of Sloat Boulevard collapsed, and a nearby underground wastewater pipeline is under threat from the encroaching surf.

The sand bypass is used to help tackle the issue  the stuff is trucked from clogged stairwells in the OShaughnessy Seawall and overwhelmed parking lots along the Great Highway and piled up south of Sloat. It will take workers nearly 1,000 trips to transport 25,000 cubic yards  37,500 tons  of the sand over the next few weeks.

If you look at the entire coast of California, we are seeing accelerated issues related to climate change and sea level rise, said Anna Roche, a climate change and special projects manager for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. We are focused on Ocean Beach because we have critical infrastructure there. There is the Oceanside Treatment Plant and all the associated piping. Its an extremely important area for everyone.

No fast solution

But there is no quick fix for the battered beach.

In part, thats because six local, state and federal agencies are tasked with keeping Ocean Beach from washing away. The promenades and dunes fall under the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The parking lots, trail and Great Highway belong to the city Recreation and Park Department. The PUC manages the wastewater treatment plant and sewage system, while Public Works does emergency repairs and maintenance. The state Coastal Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also help oversee the area.

After years of disagreements, those agencies have united behind a plan to save the stretch of sand, while protecting the Lake Merced Transport Tunnel, which carries wastewater to the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project, which is slated to cost around $340 million, includes closing the Great Highway south of Sloat Boulevard and creating a coastal trail in its place, allowing erosion to move inland naturally. Rerouting the road alone would cost close to $30 million and would not begin until 2020 or 2021.

Cant stop erosion

Other measures include placing hard structures called revetments, which are made of rocks or sandbags, restoring sand dunes and removing unneeded infrastructure, like parking lots. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also considering pumping dredge spoils from the main Golden Gate shipping channel to the erosion zone.

When we came into this plane, everyone was on different sides, said Ben Grant, an urban design manager for SPUR, a public-policy think tank that helped develop the long-term plan for Ocean Beach. You cant stop erosion from happening. The question is how do you adapt to it without destroying aspects of Ocean Beach that we all love? You can have a working wastewater system, a wide, sandy beach or free-flowing automobile traffic. You cant have all three.

Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle

Winter storms shut the Great Highway in 2010 for more than 10 months and chipped away as much as 40 feet of the beachs bluffs on the south side, Grant said. That helped all parties get on the same page, he said.

Its a long process, and the starting point wont come until 2020 or 2021, Grant said. The current condition of the beach is terrible. What could theoretically happen, but no one is going to let happen, is the pipe could rupture and cause a sewage spill. That is the worst-case scenario. But we have a plan and are in a much better spot than in previous years.

Short-term fix

But for now, sand bypass is the best option, said Alexandra Picavet, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.

Right now, this is necessary so conditions dont get worse while the planning efforts continue in the long term, she said. In my seven years, Ive seen headstones become exposed on the beach that were put in place in the 1930s. The sand tends to migrate north, and thats natural. But whats not natural are when it piles up in one place.

In the meantime, the sand will continue to move. And every two to five years, workers will defy Mother Nature and move it back again.

This year, the sand transport will detour southbound lanes on the Great Highway to Sunset Boulevard between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays through mid-March.

The northbound portion of the road will be unaffected. Beach access will also be limited to designated stairwells along the OShaughnessy Seawall. The sand shifting strategy was first used in 2012, when 73,000 cubic yards were moved, and again in 2014.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn

Online resources

To watch a video about the sand-moving process at Ocean Beach, please go to http://sfchron.cl/oceanbeach.
Jane Tyska/Associated Press

San Jose police are seeking help in the investigation of a homicide on Sunday.

Police responded to a call shortly after 4 a.m. of a possible body in the 200 block of N. Jackson Ave. They arrived to find a dead man. The cause of death is pending an autopsy.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

It would be hard to imagine two structures more different than the triumphant Apple Store that opened Saturday across from Union Square and the idiosyncratic fountain by Ruth Asawa from 1972 nestled into the steps of the plaza behind it.

One is a meticulous cube of glass and steel, the distillation of a global brand that equates clean design with technological wonder. The other is folk art at civic scale, a bumpy bronzed celebration of place.

Yet the two now are linked, and not only because Apple restored Asawas fountain after first wanting to cart it away. Together, the pair convey how San Francisco has changed since the 1970s  and how, in some ways, it hasnt changed at all.

The obvious eye-catcher is the Apple Store at Post and Stockton streets. It marks the east end of a block that already includes Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany and Co., and is billed as the first in a new generation of high-profile outlets for the Cupertino tech giant.

As befits a $500 billion-plus corporation known for sleek gadgetry, the newcomer is all about contemporary sheen. This includes the facade along Post Street, which consists largely of 10 sheets of super-size laminated glass 10 feet wide and 42 feet tall. Four of the thick panels sit within two sidewalk-to-ceiling doors that, when slid open, dissolve the line between inside and out.

Besides the dazzle factor, the gesture connects Apple to its setting in the most literal way. Yes, the basics are an update of what Apple has done since its first store opened in 2001. But the visual grandeur of the opened doors amplifies the site-specific drama.

The deceptively effortless architectural pyrotechnics continue inside.

Softest light

As you ascend the staircases at either end of the grand mezzanine, the glass along the outside edge is a single seamless pane. The mezzanine is column-free. The ceilings are panels of glass fiber backed by thousands of tiny LEDs to create the softest form of light there is, in the words of Stefan Behling of Foster + Partners. The English architecture firm designed the Union Square flagship in collaboration with Jonathan Ive, Apples chief design officer, and Angela Ahrendts, who oversees retail operations. Its also doing the spaceship-like Apple headquarters that should open next year in Cupertino.

Foster + Partners/Nigel Young

Compare all this to the rough, round fountain a few steps to the north, at the entrance to a rectangular plaza between Apple and the 35-story Grand Hyatt San Francisco from 1972.

Hyatt commissioned the fountain, linking Asawas reputation to an international brand then as well as now. The artwork that resulted is as local as can be, a glimpse into the psyche of the era in which it was conceived. Theres an antiwar march and the Palace of Fine Arts, nude sunbathers and the long-gone Southern Pacific terminal in what now is Mission Bay.

If you know where to look, Linus van Pelt awaits the great pumpkin. Willie Mays slides into third base at Candlestick Park.

Bread-dough figures

You wont find the ethereal grace that makes Asawas hanging wire sculptures so captivating at the de Young museum and, through Sunday, in the inaugural exhibition of the new Berkeley Art Museum. The 41 curved bronze panels of the fountain were cast from molds that consisted of figures fashioned from bread dough  not just by Asawa but by her children and friends such as photographer Imogen Cunningham and architectural author Sally Woodbridge.

The fountain debuted as the centerpiece of a terraced brick-clad plaza and caught the publics imagination at a time when Union Square still seemed like a regional crossroads, rather than the center of a brand-heavy shopping district where tour buses idle. Since then, the center of cultural gravity has shifted South of Market.

By 2013, when Apple announced its plans to stake out and spiff up the squares northeast corner, many newer San Franciscans probably had no idea that a revered work of art was part of the stark triangular plaza behind the gimmicky-looking Levis boutique.

Replace Levis and the plaza with a refined flagship and a brand-new public space? Who could complain?

Answer: San Franciscans with an affection for Asawas funky slice of the pretech city.

After The Chronicle drew attention to what might happen, the outcry was swift. Mayor Ed Lee soon dropped his blanket endorsement of Apples quite simply incredible plan. The Planning Department signaled its disapproval. Apple took the hints.

Gift for Asawa School

At last weeks press preview, Ahrendts called Asawa a famous sculptor and announced that the corporation will help build a visual arts lab at the citys Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. She also promised that the former plaza  a very unloved space  would soon be one of the most beautiful public spaces in the city.

Itd be nice to end the story here, old and new in sync. But theres more work to do.

In contrast to the pristine polished Apple, the plaza feels unfinished. The concrete that replaced the bricks is nondescript and the steps dont fit the fountain as snugly as they should. The rectangle behind the fountain is jammed too full of stuff, with three lines of ficus trees in bulbous planters framing two rows of large wooden tables and chairs.

With so much clutter, its hard to know the fountain is even there.

Trees should go

The obvious remedy is to remove the central row of potted trees  let the space (and fountain) breathe. One of the concrete walls along the steps should be adorned with the fountains story, along with a key to some of the surprises that adorn the panels.

I dont want to overstate the merits of Asawas creation, which includes an ornate HH as a nod to the hotel chain sponsor.

What you see, though, is the optimistic ideal of a close-knit city. The sculpted affection for every inch, from Daly City to the Golden Gate Bridge, is palpable. Thats a far cry from today: San Francisco often seems balkanized, with special interests across the social and political spectra all staking out their turf.

In an odd way, the now-intertwined saga of Asawas fountain and Apples flagship is a gesture back in a more unified direction. If nothing else, it shows that City Hall still pays attention to residents who dont want the city to become something they dont recognize. That aspect of San Francisco, I am confident, will be with us for a long time to come.

Place is a weekly column by John King, the San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: johnkingsfchron
A PR firm touting the wisdom of Jocelyn Greenky, whose book is The Big Sisters Guide to the World of Work, says that one emerging trend is the subtle use of XO by professional women in their correpondence. Arianna Huffington, Diane Sawyer and Lena Dunham are just some of the successful women who have embraced the XO nation. However, rather than meaning something cutesy, professional women use the closing as a way of showing support and solidarity.

Had the professional woman whos typing this missed an emerging trend? I turned to Google to research the phenomenon. If the ship to XO Nation had already sailed ... well, I was not only still on shore, but I wasnt even aware enough to wave my hanky.

All I found was a story published in the Atlantic 3 years ago, which provided a history of the xo, which is said to date back to at least 1763 (George Washington to Martha: Be home Tuesday. Make me a dental appointment, will you? xo) and nowadays is used mainly by women. In Diane Sawyers newsroom, writes Jessica Bennett, staffers say, the anchor uses xo so frequently that its omission can spark panic.

Although it may be too late to climb on the xo bandwagon, Im not giving up. XO-ing has been compared to hugging, and we need all of that we can get. Herewith, amends. SWAK,

Alamo Square is encircled by chain links, disappointing busloads of tourists who, upon arriving at the peak of Hayes Street, can glimpse the Painted Ladies only through the fence along the perimeter of the park. The other day, Hoodline reported there was a hole in the fence and determined tourists were climbing through. Niles Dolbeare, worried about many things including potential lawsuits from less-than-agile sightseers who could get entangled in the mesh, suggests that the city install a viewing platform that would allow tourists to take selfies with the Victorians in the background and no fence showing. The Fair Play for Tourists Committee (that doesnt exist) thinks this only just. Sincerely,

P.S.: Meanwhile, Mark Perl said a German friend visiting San Francisco mentioned the Castro and asked, Isnt that the Cuban district of town? Hasta luego,

Allen Matthews East Bay Nextdoor bulletins included a note about a wandering brown chicken, in case yours is missing, and a note about foxes in the neighborhood that ended I heard a loud squawk next door ... Uh-oh. Affectionately,

The serving up of this years Chronicles Top 100 Restaurants list, created by Michael Bauer, was celebrated Monday night at Waxmans, at a gathering that included chefs, owners and staffers essential for restaurant success. It was a rare night off for most of them, who greeted old comrades but also looked around with curiosity at the men and women laboring in neighboring kitchens. The nature of their work  often nocturnal  means many dont get out much.

Just-opened Waxmans is in Ghirardelli Square, a place that 40 years ago was the first repurposed factory Id ever seen, a major point of local pride as well as destination for residents and tourists. This gleaming, ambitious new restaurant is part of its revival. Cecilia Chiang, who for years presided over the Mandarin, gazed across the square and pointed out its location. In the distance, the cloud-filled sky above the Golden Gate was beautiful as ever, and around the outskirts of the party  a buzzing hum of eating and drinking professionals  tourists wandered through the complex.

Roland Passot, whose La Folie (a sophisticated classic, says the Top 100 citation) is 28 years old, greeted Gerald Hirigoyen (one of the citys top French chefs, says the Top 100 citation) of Piperade. In 1980, when Passot was cooking at Le Castel on Sacramento Street, Basque-born chef Hirigoyen stuck my head in the door and said Im looking for a job.

What can you do? asked Passot. Anything, said Hirigoyen. I need someone to do pastry, said Passot. Hirigoyen started work the next day. ... Today, they are fast friends, both with restaurants on the list.

(When Hirigoyen said hed once been pastry chef, I asked him about the dessert controversy at SFMOMA, which had been on Page One of that days Chronicle. His response: a laughing shrug.)

Best regards,

Open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Thats great. Im going to call in sick, too. I just dont know which day yet.

Woman on cell phone, overheard at Walnut Creek Farmers Market by Scott Coates
Congress may not agree on much these days, but this weeks badly needed update to the Toxic Substances Control Act appears to be a rare exception. The House of Representatives passed this crucial update on Tuesday, and the Senate needs to do the same.

The current act, which regulates chemical safety, hasnt been updated since it was signed into law in 1976. It has major flaws that have prevented the Environmental Protection Agency from doing a thorough job of vetting the thousands of chemicals that surround us daily. The EPA has to prove that a chemical poses a potential risk before it demands testing. The 1976 act also assumed that most chemicals already on the market were safe.

After many agonizing years, disagreements and delays, everyone from liberal Democrats to Republicans in Congress has agreed on a compromise. The new act will affect nearly every product you use on a regular basis.

Even where the hazards are recognized, the EPA has lacked the authority to do anything about them, said Richard Denison, lead senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. Thats why we believe its so important to get a new law, even if its not perfect.

Regulating chemicals House bill strengthening regulation of chemicals nears passage

The measure is also a final victory for Californias outgoing Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Boxer, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, fought to strengthen the bill after one of its original sponors, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., died in 2013.

Both sides of the aisle have been searching for an update to the 40-year-old act since President Obamas first term. There was an understanding on both sides that Americans needed more information about the thousands of older chemicals that remained untested. The EPA has required testing for only about 200 chemicals over the past 40 years.

The chemical industry has lobbied hard against stringent federal regulations, but it, too, had reasons to desire a new plan. Many states  including California  had placed their own restrictions on some chemicals out of impatience with federal delay.

The compromise bill is still, well, a compromise.

It limits the ability of states to set their own chemical regulations, a key concession to the industry. (It does, fortunately, allow states to seek waivers allowing them to regulate a chemical for compelling conditions.) Some of its provisions allowing for imported products, which often contain dangerous chemicals, are concerning.

But theres very good news in the bill, too.

It allows the EPA to start reviewing some of the most toxic chemicals that permeate our daily lives  the likely suspects include asbestos, formaldehyde and flame retardants.

It allows the EPA to start charging industry user fees for the cost of data collection and testing. It also requires the EPA to determine whether new chemicals meet a risk-based safety standard before theyre allowed on the U.S. market.

These are changes that will finally allow the EPA to do its job as the nations chemical regulator. It may not be perfect, but it deserves to be the new law of the land.

The worst chemicals

When Congress passes the Toxic Substances Control Act overhaul, it will expand the Environmental Protection Agencys ability to regulate chemicals. Here are some of the top priorities.

Asbestos: The EPA banned all new uses of asbestos in 1989, but uses developed before then are still allowed. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services classifies it as a known human carcinogen. Studies have linked asbestos exposure to an increased risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, pleural disorders and other inflammatory diseases.

Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a respiratory irritant. At certain levels, its known to cause cancer, especially cancers of the nose and throat. It has been linked to asthma and allergies in children, and chest pains, shortness of breath and nausea in adults.

Flame retardants: Some flame retardants are hormone disruptors and have been linked to neurodevelopmental delays in children. Many are also persistent chemicals, which means they persist in the environment and accumulate in the body.

Styrene: Styrene is used in plastics and rubber manufacturing. It affects the nervous system and has been listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as being reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. In laboratory animals, it has been linked to impaired learning and sperm damage.

Cancer clusters: Communities experiencing elevated rates of cancer will be able to ask the federal government for a coordinated response.
Donald Trump arrives in California on Wednesday for a Los Angeles fundraiser where he will very publicly break one of his core campaign promises: that he is not beholden to special interests because he is self-funding his presidential run.

Tickets to the fundraiser at the home of billionaire real estate investor Tom Barrack start at $25,000. For $100,000, donors can get their photo taken with the presumptive Republican nominee.

Its similar to how politicians of all stripes operate  by the end of this week, for example, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton will have headlined fundraisers in Atherton, Fremont and Sacramento  where the price to get in ranges from $500 to $2,700.

But Trump is en route to winning the Republican nomination because he portrayed himself as something different from the 16 other GOP candidates. As part of that brand, the billionaire real estate developer said he was so rich he wouldnt be beholden to donors and lobbyists.

Im self-funding my own campaign, Trump said after the Iowa caucuses. Its my money.

In fact, about one-fourth of the $60 million he has raised has come from individual donors not named Donald Trump. He has funded the rest, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Little choice

But fundraisers like Wednesdays are something new. Theyre part of the Trump pivot to the general election: With Clinton on track to raise $1 billion for her White House run, Trump is all but forced to turn to wealthy contributors. He has 50 more fundraisers lined up.

This is a central point of his campaign and hes completely reversing himself on it, said Richard Skinner, a policy analyst at the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which analyzes the role of money in politics. You could say its hypocritical, or inconsistent, or disingenuous. All those words would be appropriate.

Ignoring critics

Trump sloughs off such criticism, telling the Associated Press this week that the Republican National Committee, which will get some of the proceeds from the Los Angeles event, really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit. Because I was very happy to continue to go along the way I was.

And some of his supporters dont mind.

I think its great. Its fine, said Diana Verba, regional director of the Northern California branch of Californians for Trump, a grassroots operation that is not affiliated with the campaign. I still believe that hes not going to be beholden to any big donors.

Trump has to stretch out his hand if he wants to keep pace with Clinton without liquidating his own fortune.

Clintons campaign has raised $212 million, and supportive super PACS and other outside committees have harvested $85 million. Trump has raised about $57 million, while supportive outside committees have raised $3 million. Trump has also raised far less than Clintons Democratic challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has garnered $213 million, most of it through small online donations.

Tapping into his fervent donors as Sanders has  the kind who pack Trumps rallies across the country  might also be awkward for the Republican.

For months you say, Im so rich I dont need any money, Skinner said. Then you turn around and ask people for money.

He added, That might be a significant obstacle to small-donor fundraising.

If Trump cant transform his grassroots support into online donors, Skinner said, he may have to rely on his fellow tycoons, like Sheldon Adelson. The billionaire Las Vegas casino magnate has reportedly said he is willing to spend $100 million on behalf of Trump. But such a relationship would tarnish Trumps brand as a different kind of politician.

Theres an additional aspect to Trumps self-funding. He has structured the $43 million hes given the campaign as a loan  one that can be repaid to him by contributions from donors.

Trump said last week that he has absolutely no intention of paying myself back for the nearly $50 million I have loaned the campaign. But Trump has yet to convert that loan to his campaign to a donation, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. And the fine print on the invitation to Trumps Wednesday event in Los Angeles says that the first $2,700 raised will go to Trumps primary campaign.

The Clinton campaign plans to include Trumps self-funding flip-flop in its attacks on him, believing it will resonate with independent voters who want to see less money in politics. One of Clintons  and Sanders  best-received lines from their stump speeches is how they want to overturn Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that paved the way for unlimited campaign contributions from individuals, corporations and labor unions.

Teflon candidate

But like other attacks on Trump, it might not stick.

If I were Hillary, I would pounce on it. It could play into that narrative that hes not like other politicians, but he is, said Terri Bimes, an assistant director of research for the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

But hes proven to be the Teflon candidate. He makes promises and then he breaks them. He takes positions, then he goes back on them, Bimes said. The voters right now have not held him accountable for his changes, so I doubt that this fundraiser in California will change that.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: joegarofoli
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A frenetic energy, akin to a rush-hour ride on the New York subway, swept over SoMa May 18 at the VIP unveiling of Gagosian Gallery.

Well, if any among this power posse actually rode the rails. The ground-floor space on Howard Street, just across from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was brimming with artistic attitude and position-angling as 250 fine-feathered folks awaited the arrival of global gallerist Larry Gagosian to inaugurate his first EssEff gallery.

But instead of parting, the crowd clotted even tighter as Gagosian alighted like the Sun King with his court painter, renowned artist Ed Ruscha.

Gagosian is now proprietor of 16 international galleries. So we were surprised when he said that with his Los Angeles gallery firmly entrenched for 21 years, he finally felt confident to open in S.F.

I enjoy challenges and like to be innovative. I think San Francisco has a lot of promise among its art collectors, the wealth creation in Silicon Valley and SFMOMA reopening, Gagosian explained. It seemed like a good time to give it a shot.

He also loves the physical synergy of his Howard Street HQ: downstairs from Crown Point Press, one of the most respected print studios in the world. And this fall, his longtime pal, gallerist John Berggruen, moves in next door.

Later an even more select contingent hightailed it to the Ferry Building where Gagosian hosted a Paula LeDuc dinner. Held in the private event space above the farmers market, some guests were surprised to find this fete wasnt seated. But as numerous A-listers insisted on a seat next to the art dealer, that math just didnt work.

But designer Stanlee Gatti deftly dealt with any seating snafus by creating a swank supper club populated by tables and banquettes ... and nary a name card in sight.

Perhaps more surprising was that quite a few San Francitizens had never set foot in this light-filled nave. But as a veteran of many long-tabled, seated soirees here, we think Gattis design decor was pure genius  infusing a chic, relaxed vibe atop the long-tiled floor crowned by a glorious steel-trussed glass ceiling.

Considering this grueling, jam-packed spring season of countless (yet fabulous!) seated galas, most guests finally got into the groove set by DJ Isaac Ferry (a son of Roxy Musics Bryan Ferry). And they eventually appreciated that this smart configuration allowed for glam ensembles to be better glimpsed, and the easy grazing amid LeDucs gourmet buffet as well as sly exits for the gala-weary.

Larrys arrival speaks to what a great collecting community we have evidenced by the new SFMOMA, said art advisor Mary Zlot. And now everyone can visit and appreciate how generous our collectors are.

Her business partner, Sabrina Buell, is equally enthused.

Tonight was insane! Ive never seen a gallery opening like Gagosians, she exclaimed. Theres also a new generation of collectors. But many of them are always working and cant travel to art fairs. So that Larry made the effort to bring really quality works here is very generous and exciting.

Mod squad: The Modern Ball, SFMOMAs beloved biennial fundraiser for its exhibition and arts education programs, was born way back in 2005. But the museums spectacular rebirth this month reignited an even more sparkly soiree for almost 2,000 revelers who clamored for tickets to this three-tiered fete.

Led by ball chairwoman Gina Peterson and designer Stanlee Gatti, the glamour quotient was off the charts as they attracted such platinum-plated sponsors as Tiffany and Cadillac; actual artists, including Rachel Feinstein, Leo Villareal and his wife, Yvonne Force; as well as the dynamic DJ duo Odesza.

This museum was built to showcase great art, enthused Force. With Snhetta architecture, its like the walls retreat to really reveal those works. SFMOMA is a great gift to the world.

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.

The artistic and fashion ensembles were off the hook, including one designer who arrived with an entourage of gals wearing his gowns. But some of the finest feathers belonged to Gucci, elegantly enveloping Feinstein and Force in the latest exquisite creations by designer Alessandro Michele.

While the live auction (thankfully) only featured one luxe lot, auction co-chairs Alka Agrawal and Sabrina Buell made sure it was a doozy. They were aided in their efforts by acclaimed contemporary artist and the 2017 Venice Biennale U.S. representative Mark Bradford, who happily created a one-of-a-kind painting, Untitled (Pink), for the event.

So hot is his work that the winning bid (a whopping $2.5 million) was placed by phone. A call that arts insiders whispered may have (or maybe not) been made by journalist Anderson Cooper.

Thanks to eager enthusiasm for the new SFMOMA, Supper Club co-chairs Heidi Castelein and designer Douglas Durkin said they sold out months ago.

And then, it was back to seating.

The Supper Club has assigned seating at the banquettes, explained Durkin. But whats so fun is, as the party proceeds you mingle around and eventually land where you land.

Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicles society correspondent. Email: missbigelow@sfgate.com Instagram: @missbigelow
Anika Noni Rose heard about a planned 2016 Roots remake before she was asked to audition. Her response was a cynical and tepid, Yeah? Really? OK.

The moment you do that, the moment youre like Yeah, whatever  thats when you get a call for something, Rose says. I was very skeptical. So I requested a meeting with the director and the producer, to pick their brains about the why of it. What was their mind-set? Are they jumping on a bandwagon? Are they feeling like this is the current flavor of the month  were going to jump on slavery because its selling?

Roses concerns were met sufficiently for the Tony-winning actress, a proud alum of San Franciscos American Conservatory Theaters actor training program, to sign up to portray Kizzy for the remake of the pivotal 1977 miniseries. The remake, also based on Alex Haleys Pulitzer Prize-winning book, premieres Monday, May 30, on the History Channel, Lifetime and A&E, airing four consecutive nights.

More on 'Roots' Powerful Roots remake speaks to our times

Kizzy, the daughter of captured slave Kunte Kinte (Malachi Kirby) and the mother of Chicken George (Rege-Jean Page), is a key role in both series. Raped by her plantations owner, Tom Lea (Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the remake), and separated from her family twice, Kizzy fights to pass on the story and spirit of her father to the next generation.

Rose said she deliberately avoided revisiting the performance of Leslie Uggams, who played Kizzy to great acclaim in the 1977 original miniseries.

If Im doing a remake of something, I actively do not look at it, Rose says. I feel like I owe it to myself and the character that Im portraying to  create it my way, And I owe it to Ms. Leslie Uggams to allow her performance to be her performance, because that was groundbreaking and amazing. A lot of children were named Kizzy after that show.

But the Connecticut native Rose, born in 1972, says Roots has never been something Im not aware of. The series was shown in her junior high history class, and she found Haleys book even earlier than that in her fathers office library.

I actually read the book, really young, because I was a nerd, she says, laughing. If you didnt put the book high enough for me not to get it, it was going to get read.

Rose did outside research for the role, at one point driving with castmate Erica Tazel (who plays Chicken Georges wife, Matilda) to the Whitney Plantation, a Louisiana museum dedicated to the story of the slaves. Much of the miniseries was filmed in Louisiana.

She and I borrowed a car from production and drove out there and spent a day  being there and listening to the historians, Rose said. Its an amazingly beautiful plantation. Stunningly beautiful. But you look at those trees, and you know that they were cultivated and fertilized in the blood of the people who came before us. It is spirit-shaking.

Rose received her master of fine arts from ACT in 1998, starring in locally staged musicals and comedies including Tartuffe and The Threepenny Opera at ACT, and Valley Song at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. From there, she went on to a career filled with unexpected surprises.

Rose received her 2004 featured actress in a musical Tony Award for Caroline, or Change on Broadway. She co-starred on the big screen in Dreamgirls in 2006, followed by voicing the lead character in Disneys The Princess and the Frog in 2009. Her TV work includes 15 episodes of The Good Wife and a 2012 visit to The Simpsons.

Rose has been a frequent visitor to San Francisco, including during a 2005 run of Caroline, or Change at the Curran Theatre. The actress says she stays in touch with ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff.

That was a major formation ground for me, Rose says of ACT. It was the place I was able to be brilliant and make mistakes, and suck and all of those things, without a newspaper thrashing me. Because it was school and thats where you can form.  I have a great love for that space in my life, and Im sure Im coming back to do something soon. We just havent figured out when that it is yet. But Im coming back.

In the meantime, shes very open about continued concerns about the new Roots how good it will be and how it will be received. As of last Thursday, she hadnt seen the series yet.

But she has confidence in her own work, and the work of her fellow cast members and crew. She talks about feeling better when she saw that the shows costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, had researched to an awe-inspiring level of detail.

I felt constant support in that situation, Rose says. We all knew that we were in these trenches together, trying to tell the best story we could tell, and as truthfully as we could tell it  from whatever angle that is.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: PeterHartlaub
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Among other things that had to be demolished to make way for the hugely expanded San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was half the museums old Phyllis Wattis Theater, cut in two by the structural needs of the 10-floor addition built on top of it.

That required a major and much-needed renovation of the 275-seat theater, a multipurpose room that worked fine for lectures, meetings and screenings but was acoustically inadequate for live music and more sophisticated multimedia.

Turning the Wattis into an optimal place for many uses was the charge of the team led by Duncan Ballash, principal of the San Francisco architectural firm EHDD, which has designed such notable cultural projects as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Exploratorium at Pier 15 and the new Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive. The firm served as associate architect for the Snhetta-designed SFMOMA expansion, designing renovations in the museums original Mario Botta building.

Overall, the old theater performed pretty well, Ballash says, but as the museum began expanding its programs, acoustically it was challenged.

He worked with San Francisco theater designer Len Auerbach and acoustic engineers from the firm Arup to get the sound right in the renovated theater. Key to that was installing Meyer Sounds Constellation, an extraordinarily flexible sound system that can give a room the acoustics of a recital hall, a cathedral and countless other places.

The system is now being used in the San Francisco Symphonys new Soundbox, at Berkeley Reps new Peets Theatre, the Exploratorium theater and elsewhere around the country and abroad.

Using their software, you can tune the room and get the perfect acoustics for whatever youre using the space for, says Ballash, who will talk about acoustics and architecture when he appears on a panel called Sound Matters in the Wattis on June 9.

Presented by Meyer Sound, which is based in Berkeley, the discussion is part of the San Francisco Design Week festivities. It brings Ballash together with UCSF cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Adam Gazzaley, chef/restaurateur Gabriela Camara, Stanfords Director of Classroom Innovation Robert Smith and SFMOMA Deputy Director Ruth Berson. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Executive Director Deborah Cullinan will moderate.

Ballash initially thought he could essentially replicate the theater Botta had designed, which used natural acoustics, and upgrade the sound and media technology. But then his team learned that big beams being installed to support the new addition would reduce the effective height of the space, screwing up the geometry and making good natural acoustics more challenging. Ballash says.

He and Auerbach went instead for the Constellation system, which uses virtual acoustics, sending sound at precisely calibrated speeds from speaker to speaker, back and forth across a room, rather than having it reflect off the architectural surfaces.

The museum, Auerbach says, wanted to do more live music and media presentations, which require different acoustical environments.

Music calls for a dry space, and you need a more reverberant space for cinema, Auerbach says. With this system, you get both, and everything in between.

The designers raked the seating slightly higher than before and framed the audience with transondent  acoustically transparent  aluminum walls that allow sound to pass freely through their slats.

We wanted to create a sense of intimacy and enclosure, says Ballash, who thinks his profession is becoming more attuned to acoustics and what a big impact sound has on how people perceive and experience spaces.

For more information on Sound Matters, go to www.2016.sfdesignweek.org/category/?s&events

Healdsburg Jazz

Among other notables, this years Healdsburg Jazz Festival features some of the best tenor saxophonists on the planet as part of a two-day tribute to veteran drummer and bandleader Billy Hart.

Joshua Redman plays with Harts Enchance on June 4 at the Jackson Theater. Mark Turner performs in the drummers quartet the next night, when two other top tenors, Chris Potter and Craig Handy (like Redman, a Berkeley High man), perform in Harts Oceans of Time septet.

For more information, go to www.healdsburgjazzfestival.org

Music at the movies

As part of the new Early Music Film Festival, a venture with the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, the Pacific Film Archive is showing two free screenings of Vincent Bataillons 2014 film of the Mark Morris Dance Group performing its version of Handels LAllegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, and 2 p.m. June 8.

For more information, go to www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/program/early-music-film-festival

Jesse Hamlin is a Bay Area journalist and former San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

SEATTLE - Jed Lowrie came off the disabled list Wednesday as planned, and the second baseman is in the lineup and batting fifth against the Mariners.

In addition, the As recalled right-hander Zach Neal to start at Safeco Field. Left-hander Daniel Coulombe, who retired all five batters he faced Tuesday night - including Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz with two men on in the fifth - was sent back to Triple-A Nashville but he is likely to return whenever there is a need after such a strong performance.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co., charged with criminal violations of pipeline safety laws in the wake of the deadly San Bruno gas explosion, is accusing federal prosecutors of lying and concealing evidence showing that federal investigators were also part of a state probe of the blast that gave them direct access to the utilitys records.

The alleged deceptions allowed prosecutors to obtain evidence without court approval and mislead the grand jury that indicted PG&E in 2014, lawyers for the utility said in a court filing late Tuesday. They asked a federal judge to exclude a large amount of tainted evidence and to consider dismissing some or all of the 13 felony charges.

These misrepresentations have harmed the defendants right to a fair trial, the utilitys lawyers said.

Jury selection June 14

Abraham Simmons, spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office, declined to comment. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on June 14.

The prosecution stems from investigations of the September 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion and fire, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. The utility is charged with 12 violations of federal laws that require operators of gas pipelines to maintain accurate records, identify risks to lines and inspect or test when pipe pressures exceed the legal maximum. Prosecutors also charged the company with obstructing the San Bruno investigation by trying to conceal its policy of testing older lines for welding problems only if gas pressure exceeded the federal maximum by 10 percent.

The California Public Utilities Commission has fined PG&E $1.6 billion for the explosion, and the utility faces additional fines of up to $500 million if convicted of the criminal charges. No PG&E executives or employees have been charged.

PG&E officials said they found evidence of prosecution misconduct in 600,000 pages of documents recently disclosed by prosecutors. One falsehood, PG&Es lawyers said, was the prosecutions assertion to the trial judge, in opposing disclosure of records from the California PUC, that members of the prosecution team did not participate in the state commissions investigation of the explosion.

Prosecutions 4 experts

In fact, PG&E said, as many as four private citizens who have worked as expert consultants for the prosecution also served as consultants to the state commission, where their fees and other costs of the investigation were paid by PG&E. One was Margaret Felts, who during the state investigation attributed the San Bruno explosion to PG&Es shoddy record-keeping. The utilitys lawyers said she has charged the PUC $856,000 for her work so far and has been a paid consultant to federal prosecutors since at least 2013, although prosecutors recently dropped plans to call her as a witness.

Felts declined to comment Wednesday. Whether she and the other consultants are members of the prosecution team is a question for U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who is presiding over the case.

But PG&E said the consultants, in their work for a state agency that regulated the utility, gave prosecutors access to PG&E personnel, records, facilities and other evidence without having to go to court, producing at least one of the criminal charges.

In addition, PG&E said, prosecutors systematically disclosed secret grand jury information to Felts and at least one other consultant, who as private citizens should not have received it.

On other issues, the utility argued that the federal grand jury that issued the criminal indictment against the company in 2014 had received misleading information from prosecutors about the number of pipelines subject to regulation and the records that PG&E was required to keep.

Tainted evidence

Henderson should prohibit prosecutors from introducing wrongfully obtained evidence, including any evidence tainted by the involvement of Felts and the other consultants, PG&Es lawyers said. They also said the judge would be well within (his) discretion to dismiss this case or any counts outright for the systematic misconduct and deceitful behavior they described.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: egelko
San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy and the Board of Supervisors reached a deal Tuesday on the citys sanctuary law, which restricts cooperation with federal immigration agents. The agreement averts a showdown between the supervisors and Hennessy, who threatened to set her own rules independent of the board.

The board unanimously passed the legislation 10 months after a man living in the country illegally was accused of killing a woman on Pier 14 on the Embarcadero, leading to a national outcry over San Franciscos sanctuary city policies.

Last year was a really challenging moment for our sanctuary city policy, said Supervisor John Avalos, who spearheaded the negotiations with Hennessy on behalf of immigrant rights advocates. But here, today, we have an update to our policy that we get to vote on to ensure that as a city we can unite all together on what the standard is going to be.

As has been the case since 2013, the legislation bars city law enforcement officials from notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when an individual will be released from local custody, except in limited circumstances.

Mayors signature needed

But those circumstances are more expansive than immigrant rights advocates wanted  and more limiting than Hennessy had sought. Christine Falvey, spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee, said the mayor will review the specifics of the legislation in the coming days. Lee must sign the ordinance for it to become law.

Avalos and immigrant rights advocates wanted the legislation to mirror the citys 2013 law, called Due Process for All, which states that the only time law enforcement officials may hold an inmate with no legal status for federal immigration agents is when the inmate has a violent felony conviction in the past seven years and is facing another violent felony charge.

Since then, the Department of Homeland Security has changed its policies so that it no longer asks local law enforcement to hold inmates. Instead, it asks for notification of their release. The 2013 law doesnt address the issue of notification.

Former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimis policy barred communication with immigration officials in virtually all circumstances. But Hennessy, who was elected sheriff in November, wanted the discretion to notify immigration agents if the inmate had a violent or serious felony conviction in the past seven years or three or more lesser felonies arising from different events in the past five years.

The deal gives her notification discretion under both those circumstances. Hennessy may also notify immigration agents if the defendant has a conviction for a serious felony like murder or rape within five years. What she gave up  and immigrant advocates won  is that before notification, a judge has to determine whether there is probable cause to hold the defendant on the current charge.

That was the missing piece, Avalos said Tuesday after the vote. Without probable cause, the detainees have due process rights taken away.

Hennessy said her office will notify immigration agents before the defendant is released if a release date has been set. If a judge sets an inmate free, notification will occur after the defendant is released, she said.

Wouldnt apply to pier death

Hennessy said the negotiations were very difficult but that both sides operated in good faith. We came together on something that still works for us both in different ways.

She added: I could have ignored this. But I thought it was important to the city, particularly with what the city has been going through with the different communities, that we come together on this  a reference to the ouster last week of Police Chief Greg Suhr after an outcry over fatal police shootings of minorities and revelations of racist text messages sent among some officers.

The newly crafted legislation would not have prevented the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle on Pier 14 along the Embarcadero in July. Prosecutors have charged Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an immigrant in the U.S. illegally, with murder.

Lopez-Sanchez had been brought to San Francisco after serving 46 months in federal prison for unlawful re-entry into the country. Though the federal government wanted to deport Lopez-Sanchez a sixth time, Mirkarimi released him in April because he said the city sanctuary law restricted his office from turning him over to federal authorities. That is still the case under the newly passed legislation  his felony convictions were not considered serious.

Sarai Hussain, a staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, said she and other immigrant rights advocates in the Free SF Coalition support the deal as a political necessity, even though its members disagree with the carve-outs allowing for cooperation with immigration agents.

Constantly evolving policy

Hussain said its important that San Francisco stand by the standards it has established in this legislation, even if the Department of Homeland Security abandons its program of notification.

I can tell you as someone who tracks immigration enforcement, three years from now there will be a new program, she said. And three years after that there will be another new program. And if the new programs are only slight shifts that continue to entangle our local law enforcement in federal immigration enforcement, we need to have a standard we can point to over and over again as a city.

Supervisor David Campos, who came to the United States from Guatemala without legal standing as a child, hailed the compromise deal.

Its great to see this outcome. Its who we are as a city and a country, he said.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: emilytgreen
Sharon Suhr, mother of former San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, died Sunday. She was 82.

Mrs. Suhr, 82, a Seattle native, was diagnosed with leukemia three weeks before her death, said her daughter Maryanne Chauvel.

Through it all, youd never know the pain she was enduring because shed be so upbeat, said Peter Lillevand, her cousin and a San Francisco attorney. Shed just want to tell you all about her kids and her grandkids.

After her son resigned as police chief Thursday, he slipped out of Mayor Ed Lees office at City Hall through a side door and headed straight for St. Marys Medical Center to be with his mother.

We all, including Greg, were at her bedside every day when she went through what she went through, said Tony Suhr, one of Mrs. Suhrs sons.

Greg Suhr and his mother had breakfast together Thursday morning, but by that afternoon she had lost consciousness. She never learned that her son had resigned as chief after an incident in which a police sergeant shot an unarmed woman, Chauvel said.

They had a very special relationship and derived a lot of strength from each other, she said.

She was exceptionally proud of Greg and all her children, Tony Suhr added. She always wore the police star that he gave her around her neck.

Mrs. Suhr moved from Seattle to San Francisco as a teenager because of her fathers lumber business. She was a devout Catholic, worked for a time as secretary to then-Archbishop John Quinn and taught catechism.

Her husband, Herb Suhr, whom she married in 1956, died in 1991. Mrs. Suhr is survived by her sons, Greg, Tony and Peter Suhr; daughters, Chauvel, Ellen Conaway and Clare Sullivan; and 13 grandchildren.

Services are pending.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kveklerov
A Univision anchor delivering a commencement speech at California State University, Fullerton, was booed and told to "get off the stage," when she spoke critically of Donald Trump and addressed Latino graduates in Spanish.

Part of Sunday's crowd at the College of Communications turned on Maria Elena Salinas  called the "voice of Hispanic America" by the New York Times  when she brought up Trump and said some words in Spanish, according to one of the graduates, Denise de la Cruz.

"Salinas' speech was well-received until it became a little too Latino-centric for some and blatantly anti-Trump," de La Cruz told Orange County Weekly. "The Univision broadcaster began specifically congratulating Latino journalism graduates for what seemed like a large chunk of her speech. She then began speaking in Spanish and asked the crowd to repeat a few inspirational words after her, in Spanish.

"This left non-journalism grads and non-Latinos/non-Spanish speakers feeling excluded. Parents in the audience and even students in the ceremony began demanding Salinas switch to a more inclusive tone by shouting phrases such as, "What about us?!"

De la Cruz said things got worse when Salinas advised journalism students to use the tools of the media to rebut politicians like Trump.

"That's when folks began yelling things to Salinas such as, 'Get off the stage!' and 'Trash!'" she said.

Some in the crowd reportedly shouted obscenities and were "flipping her off."

Salinas soldiered on, apparently unfazed by the heckling, and eventually praised students of other ethnicities. She later tweeted that she was unaware of any uproar, tweeting in reply to de la Cruz, "Thanks, I didn't hear what they said. But if they complained about me speaking Spanish it's sad racism is on the rise."

In response, graduate Jake Holzschuh tweeted, "@MariaESalinas We were upset that your address was aimed at one ethnicity instead of the whole class. Had nothing to do with racism."

The speech at the College of Communications was actually Salinas' second of the day at Cal State Fullerton. Earlier Sunday. at the school-wide university ceremony, she gave the keynote speech, which was reportedly was well-received.

The video included is of the earlier speech.
Matt Rourke/Associated Press

An Amtrak train crashed into a sport utility vehicle on the tracks in San Leandro on Tuesday afternoon, killing a mother and her 3-year-old child, authorities said.

Vanessa Henriquez, 30, and her daughter, Saidy, both of Oakland, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to San Leandro Police.
Best Buy offered a disappointing profit outlook for the current quarter, weighed in part by a recent earthquake in Japan that hurt the availability of some highly profitable products.

The nations largest consumer electronics chain also said its chief financial officer, Sharon McCollam, is stepping down. She played a key role in the companys turnaround a few years ago.

McCollam will be succeeded by longtime executive Corie Barry after the companys shareholders meeting on June 14 and stay on in advisory role for the rest of the fiscal year.

The news sent Best Buys stock down 6 percent even as the company reported first-quarter profit that topped Wall Street projections.

For the three months that ended in April, Best Buy earned $229 million (70 cents per share). A year earlier the consumer electronics retailer earned $129 million (36 cents).

Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 44 cents per share, easily topping the projections of 35 cents from analysts.

Revenue fell to $8.44 billion from $8.56 billion. While the results beat the $8.29 billion that analysts expected, Best Buys first-quarter revenue has now dropped for the past three years.

Acquisitions

Monsanto

rejects Bayer

Monsanto rejected Bayers $62 billion takeover bid, calling it incomplete and financially inadequate.

However, the seed company suggested Tuesday that a higher bid might be accepted, saying that it remains open to talks. Bayer said it is committed to completing the deal.

Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant also said in a statement that the initial offer failed to address potential financing and regulatory risks.

Bayer, a German drug and chemicals company, made an all-cash bid that valued Monsantos stock at $122 per share. The company previously said that it planned to finance the acquisition with a combination of debt and equity, the latter to be raised largely by issuing new shares.

It said late Tuesday that it is confident it can address any potential financing or regulatory issues related to the proposed deal.

A combination of the two businesses would create a giant seed and farm chemical company with a strong presence in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Both companies are familiar brands on farms around the globe. Bayers farm business produces seeds as well as compounds to kill weeds, bugs and fungus. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, produces seeds for fruits, vegetables and other crops including corn, soybeans and cotton, as well as the popular weed-killer Roundup.

Ride services

Toyota will

invest in Uber

Toyota said Tuesday it is investing in Uber, making it the latest car company to put money in a ride-hailing app.

The Japanese company did not say how much the investment is worth.

As part of the deal, Uber drivers can lease Toyota vehicles with money earned from their driving.

Investing in ride-hailing services can be a way for automakers to sell more cars. General Motors invested $500 million in Uber rival Lyft this year.

The company has entered more than 400 cities around the world, despite objections from regulators and protests from the taxi industry.

Toyota is investing in San Franciscos Uber along with Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, an investment fund backed by Toyota and Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

Real estate

New-home sales

show big gain

Americans ramped up their purchases of new homes in April to the highest level since January 2008, evidence of a strong start to the spring buying season.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new-home sales jumped 16.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 619,000, up from a revised total of 531,000 in March.

Steady job gains and low mortgage rates have encouraged more Americans to buy new homes. That trend is driving home construction and helping support the economy.

The new-home sales figures are notoriously volatile, particularly at the regional level. Last month, new home purchases leapt 53 percent in the Northeast and 19 percent in the West. They fell 5 percent in the Midwest and jumped 16 percent in the South.

Developers have been disproportionately targeting higher-income buyers: The median price of a new home that sold in April was $321,100, a record high, up from $297,900 in March.

Beer

EU approves

big merger

The European Unions regulator has given the go-ahead to the proposed merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, clearing another hurdle for the combination of the worlds two biggest beer makers.

The deal is conditional on selling practically the entire SAB beer business in Europe.

European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says Tuesdays decision will ensure that competition is not weakened in these markets and that EU consumers are not worse off.

The EU says Europeans buy around $140 billion worth of beer annually.

The sale is meant to ease concerns that AB InBev, which makes Budweiser, would have a stranglehold on the European market. SABMiller owns brands such as Miller, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch.

AB Inbev is selling brands around the world to meet competition concerns.

Greece

Rescue loan

talks continue

Talks between eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund headed into the night Tuesday, as an expected deal to approve the payout of a new batch of rescue loans to Greece remained elusive.

The meeting split into bilateral talks late Tuesday as the ministers kept looking for a breakthrough in negotiations to keep Athens from defaulting on its massive debts this summer.

I hope that there is full agreement between the institutions, that we can move on in the program, said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the eurogroup of finance ministers.

Greeces parliament passed a bill over the weekend on a series of measures that creditors had demanded. They included tax hikes, more budget-cutting reforms and a new privatization superfund, which will manage almost all state property.

Greece needs room to breathe, it needs certainty. Its made considerable efforts, and again this weekend, said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, referring to the reforms Greece passed.

Chronicle News Services
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Pressed by activist investors to do more about climate change, Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson on Wednesday rejected calls to put a price on the greenhouse gases that come from burning his companys products and insisted the world would need oil for decades to come.

Speaking at the annual shareholders meeting in San Ramon, and in comments to reporters afterward, Watson railed against what he called command and control policies to tackle global warming. Californias climate policies, which include a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gases, have proven far too expensive, he said.

And while Watson praised last years international climate agreement in Paris as a good first step, he argued that any attempt to set an international price for carbon dioxide emissions would hurt the worlds poor, who need affordable energy to improve their lives.

When people talk about a price on carbon, youre talking about raising the price of energy  youre talking about raising the price of everything you consume, he told reporters at Chevrons San Ramon headquarters. The people arguing for a price on carbon should be prepared to say what theyre willing to live without.

His comments came as protesters outside the meeting denounced Chevrons role in global warming and blamed the company for environmental destruction in Ecuador (a charge the company denies). His opposition to pricing carbon also stands in contrast to the position staked out by European oil companies, which have banded together to call for a worldwide price on greenhouse gases.

Watson told shareholders that even in the wake of the Paris accord, worldwide demand for oil will continue to rise for decades.

Under any scenario going forward, our products are going to be needed, he said.

Both Chevron and its larger rival, ExxonMobil Corp., faced a slew of climate-related proposals at their shareholder meetings, each held on Wednesday. Chevron investors rejected all of them, including proposals to set emission-reduction targets for the company or start counting Chevrons worldwide reserves in terms of British thermal units as a way to encourage alternative-energy investments.

But one climate-related proposal, urging Chevron to report on how a global transition to a lower-carbon economy would affect the business, came relatively close, winning 41 percent of the votes cast. And Watson told shareholders that the company would consider reporting more information on the topic, as long as doing so wouldnt divulge confidential data.

While all oil companies are facing greater scrutiny over their role in climate change, Chevron so far has escaped the legal pressure now facing Exxon.

Following reports last year that Exxons own scientists warned company executives about the dangers of global warming starting in the 1970s, 17 state attorneys general launched investigations into whether Exxon misled the public on the issue. In California, SB1161, a bill being considered by the state Senate, would extend the statute of limitations for companies that knowingly deceived the public on global warming.

Watson said Chevron has not been subpoenaed by the attorneys general pursuing Exxon. But he criticized the investigation as an infringement of Exxons right to free speech.

Any attempt to intimidate free speech in some fashion is not consistent with what we want in this country, he told reporters after the shareholder meeting. We need to watch this case very closely.

Watson argued that in the developing world, lack of access to affordable energy is a bigger problem than global warming. Californias climate policies, he said, have raised energy prices, driven businesses out of the state and are imposing huge costs on the people of California.

Fighting climate change, he said, will require the increased use of natural gas and nuclear power. He noted that greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have fallen, thanks to natural gas produced by the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. And he suggested that money currently devoted to massively subsidized alternative energy sources would be better spent on research into new energy technology.

Bill Gates talks about an energy miracle  thats likely what were going to need, Watson said.

He also warned that current low oil prices could cause oil companies to cut so far back on developing projects that the world could face another oil crunch in several years.

You could get in a situation where there will be no new projects, demand will continue to rise, he said. You do run the risk that you can have a spike.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: DavidBakerSF
For the second year in a row, female CEOs earned more than their male counterparts and received bigger raises. But only a small sliver of the largest companies are run by women, and experts say gender parity remains way off.

The median pay for a female CEO was nearly $18 million last year, up about 13 percent from 2014. By comparison, male CEOs median pay was $10.5 million, up just 3 percent from a year earlier, according to an analysis by executive compensation data firm Equilar and the Associated Press.

A pay hike doesnt tell the full story, though.

The jump is largely due to the small sample size: only 17 of the 341 CEOs analyzed by Equilar and the AP were women. That means any one CEOs compensation  Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayers nearly $36 million package, for example, or Mary Dillons 200 percent raise at Ulta  can skew the results.

Of the 10 highest paid CEOs on the list, only one was a woman: Mayer, whose own position is in jeopardy amid questions about the companys future.

The next highest-paid woman was Indra Nooyi, chairwoman and CEO of PepsiCo Inc., who earned $22.2 million. General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic came in third at $20.4 million.

The only black woman to make the list  Ursula Burns of Xerox  is giving up her CEO role soon to serve as chairwoman of the document technology company after the business splits in two.

Women led companies in a variety of industries including technology, defense and aerospace and retail. While there are few women at the helm, they tended to be in higher-paying industries or positions  making up 10 of the top 100 highest paid overall.

A recent report by S&P Global Market Intelligence highlights the gulf between words and actions in hiring women.

Despite all of the attention placed on increasing the number of female executives at American companies, the needle on the gender gap has hardly moved, report author Pavle Sabic wrote.

Sabic looked at the entire Standard & Poors 500 index from 2006 to 2015 and found the number of female CEOs rose from 16 to 21  an increase of one female CEO every two years.

The gender gap at the CEO level ... is not closing, he wrote.

Its an issue of both corporate and community culture, says Serena Fong, vice president of governmental affairs at Catalyst, a nonprofit that aims to expand opportunities for women. She said there are conscious and unconscious biases against women in the workplace that work their way into hiring and development practices.

Equilar only looked at companies in the Standard & Poors 500 index that filed proxy statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30. To avoid the distortions caused by sign-on bonuses, the sample includes only CEOs in place for at least two years.

That methodology means some CEOs, such as Mary Barra of General Motors, were not included.
PARIS  Police raided Googles French headquarters Tuesday looking for evidence of aggravated tax fraud, marking one of Europes most conspicuous attempts yet to cast a U.S. technology leader as a manipulative scofflaw.

The probe reflects an intensifying air of European indignation looming over Google and other U.S. tech companies as they amass huge amounts of cash while reducing their tax bills through complex maneuvers that shield their profits.

As it has consistently done when confronted about its tax strategy, Google issued a statement Tuesday maintaining that it complies with all laws. The Mountain View company, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., also said it is cooperating with the French investigation.

Other major tech companies, including Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., also have been skewered in Europe for scrimping on their tax bills as the popularity of their products and services have lifted their fortunes during the past decade.

At the end of last year, the U.S. technology sector had stockpiled $777 billion in cash, accounting for nearly half of the $1.68 trillion held by non-financial companies in the country, according to a study by Moodys Investors Service.

Just five tech companies  Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp.  accounted for $504 billion of that total. Nearly 90 percent of the cash held by those five companies is being kept in overseas accounts, a strategy that has rankled some U.S. lawmakers who want the money brought back to home so it can be taxed and help reduce the countrys deficit.

Its easier for tech companies to legally lower their tax bills than manufacturers because their businesses revolve around patents, algorithms and other intellectual property thats easier to move around than a plant, said Steve Gill, a San Diego State University accounting professor issues.

When a company is making shoes, its pretty easy to tell where those shoes are being made, Gill said. Thats not the case with intellectual property. It doesnt really matter where a contract or algorithm sits. Tax laws have failed to adapt to this kind of environment.

Frances investigation is focused on an Ireland subsidiary that enables Google to do business with customers across the European continent while minimizing its taxes  a technique known as profit-shifting. European regulators increasingly are pressing companies to pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they do business.

The mounting pressure prompted Google to agree to pay roughly $140 million in British back taxes earlier this year and make changes in how it calculates its United Kingdom tax bill.

Apple reached a similar settlement in Italy late last year, agreeing to pay about $350 million to resolve a dispute in that country.

Italian authorities also have examined Facebooks books to determine if the social networking leader should have been paying more taxes than it did.

The French government hasnt disclosed how much it believes Google might owe in back taxes, but it made an elaborate show of force in Tuesdays raid.

An anticorruption unit and 25 information technology experts descended on Googles Paris office, according to Frances financial prosecutors office. French daily Le Parisien, which first reported the news, said the raid took place at dawn and involved about 100 investigators.

The investigation, which began in June, is focused on aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering, Frances financial prosecutors office said in its statement.

With all signs indicating that more cash will be pouring into the technology industry, the sector seems likely to remain in the crosshairs of financially strapped governments seeking more tax revenue.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is continuing to slim down by selling its business services division to competitor Computer Sciences Corp.

Both companies said the deal is worth about $8.5 billion to shareholders in HP Enterprise, one of two companies formed last year by the breakup of struggling tech giant Hewlett-Packard Inc.

HP Enterprise, based in Palo Alto, will now concentrate on selling data center hardware, software and other commercial tech gear to big organizations. Its spinning off an outsourcing and management services business that includes operations the old HP acquired when it bought Electronic Data Systems Inc., the outsourcing business founded by H. Ross Perot, for nearly $14 billion in 2008.

CEO Meg Whitman said the services division helped bring in customers, but it has lagged other segments of HP Enterprise in growth and profit. Analysts say some of the operations acquired from Electronic Data Systems were outdated.

Whitman announced the deal Tuesday as HP Enterprise reported better-than-expected revenue for its fiscal quarter ending April 30.

Investors liked the news: HP Enterprise stock rose more than 10 percent in after-hours trading after the deal was announced. Shares in Computer Sciences were up more than 26 percent.

Whitman has been trying to overhaul a once-mighty tech conglomerate since she became chief executive officer of the old HP in 2011. Nearly a decade ago, the old HP led the tech industry with annual sales above $100 billion, boosted by several large acquisitions including Electronic Data Systems and computer maker Compaq.

But the company struggled to keep up with industry trends, as people bought fewer PCs and businesses shifted to new models of commercial computing. Whitman oversaw a split last year that led to the creation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and a second company, HP Inc., thats focused on selling PCs and printers.

Spinning off the services division will leave Hewlett Packard Enterprise with businesses producing about $33 billion in annual revenue, the company said Tuesday. It said the deal should boost annual revenue for Computer Sciences to about $26 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shareholders will get a cash dividend of $1.5 billion and a 50 percent stake in Computer Sciences, which will assume about $2.5 billion in debt and other liabilities.

Including the services division, Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported $320 million in profit on $12.7 billion in sales for its most recent quarter. Profit rose 5 percent and sales were up 1 percent from a year earlier. Most of the sales growth came from its computer hardware division.
A pair of stabbings in San Francisco left two men hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, including one who was attacked on a Tenderloin street by an assailant wielding an ice pick, police said Wednesday.

Police were searching for up to six people involved in the two unrelated attacks, officials said.

In the Tenderloin incident, a 42-year-old man was stabbed with an ice pick on Cyril Magnin Street at 4:38 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

The victim was uncooperative, officers said, and wouldnt give any further details other than that he had been stabbed with an ice pick.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital, where he was being treated for life-threatening injuries.

No arrests have been made in the attack, and police had no description on the attacker.

In a separate incident in the citys Crocker-Amazon neighborhood, officers said a group of five men ranging in age from 18 to 20 years old ran up behind a 21-year-old man who was walking home and stabbed him with a knife.

The incident occurred on the 900 block of Geneva Avenue at 11:01 p.m Tuesday.

Officers said that victim was transported to the hospital with stab wounds to his torso and back and was listed in life-threatening condition.

No arrests have been made in that case. Officers said the group of assailants fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction.

Meanwhile, police were also trying to identify a suspect who shot a 20-year-old man in the leg Tuesday evening in San Franciscos Visitacion Valley neighborhood.

The shooting happened at 6:34 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after the victim got off a bus on the 100 block of Schwerin Street, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers said the suspect fled the scene in a black sedan. No arrests have been made in that case.

Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The dead woman found floating in a Concord duck pond this month was pregnant, police said Wednesday, a day after a suspect wanted in her killing surrendered to authorities at a Nevada church.

The suspect, 26-year-old Erick Lamar Nelson, turned himself in at a church off Robb Drive in northern Reno on Tuesday afternoon, said Cpl. Christopher Blakely, a spokesman for the Concord Police Department.

Nelson, who had been described by Concord police as armed and dangerous, told staffers working at the church that he was wanted for murder and asked them to call authorities, Blakely said.

Officers who arrived at the church reported that Nelson had minor injuries from crashing a suspected stolen car earlier in the week and was looking for a safe place to turn himself in, Blakely said.

Nelson was taken to the hospital for treatment before being booked at Washoe County Jail in Reno, where he remained locked up Wednesday on a parole violation and one count of murder.

Police launched a hunt for Nelson on May 16, the same day the body of 25-year-old Poinsettia Parks was discovered floating in a duck pond at Newhall Community Park at about 2:30 a.m. The Contra Costa County medical examiner later determined that Parks, a Concord resident, was six weeks pregnant.

Officers said Nelson was acquainted with Parks. Blakely said fetal material taken from the victim will be analyzed at a laboratory in an attempt to determine if Nelson helped conceive the fetus and whether her pregnancy was the motive for her slaying, Blakely said.

Authorities originally suspected Nelson was on the loose in the victims four-door 2003 Kia Spectra, but said that they found that vehicle in good condition in Stockton.

Police are unsure how Nelson made it to Reno, but Blakely said they suspect he stole a car after abandoning Parks vehicle in Stockton. He apparently crashed the suspected stolen vehicle on Monday before making it to Reno.

Concord detectives were heading to Reno Wednesday in hopes of conducting an interview with Nelson. Officials said further details would be released as they become available.

Right now its an open investigation, Blakely said. Why did he commit this murder? Right now there are many different angles.

He said authorities plan to extradite Nelson to California within the next few days.

Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz
Isn't Google great? The search engine is effectively the answer to every question imaginable, and boy, do we imagine.

Estately, a real estate listing site, looked into all the wacky things we're searching for online, and compiled a map that shows what each state Googles more often than any other state and the District of Columbia.
Scott Everett White/Caliber Media Company

Bone Tomahawk: What was the greatest Western of 2015? The Revenant was the biggest award winner. The Hateful Eight was a grandiose Quentin Tarantino 70mm epic. But ask Midnites for Maniacs programmer Jesse Hawthorne Ficks what the best Western was last year, and theres a clear winner: Bone Tomahawk. Like The Hateful Eight, it stars Kurt Russell, and the film is written and directed by rookie director S. Craig Zahler. I think its the best first film by a director since Assault on Precinct 13, said Ficks of John Carpenters 1976 LAPD siege classic (which was Carpenters second film, but first major feature). Its a combination not just of violence that were not used to. It creates characters that you grow to love, like John Carpenter does. ... Its really interested in character development and takes its time building toward something. Im so impressed with S. Craig Zahler.

Ficks will present the first San Francisco theatrical screening of the film, which didnt get much of a release last year. It will be the back end of a double bill with Carpenters sci-fi classic The Thing (1982) at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the Roxie Theater. Ficks calls it the I love Kurt Russell battling scary monsters double bill, or, Ficks, quipped, bearded Kurt Russell.
Alice Through the Looking Glass: In the second reimagining of the Lewis Carroll tale, most of the cast from the Tim Burton version return. Among them: Mia Wasikowska in the title role, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. This time the director is James Bobin.

Almost Holy: This documentary deals with a controversial Ukrainian known as Pastor Crocodile who thinks of himself as a man who helps addicted children. But he also is a vigilante in a nation that is already in turmoil.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  Republican Gov. Nikki Haley signed legislation Wednesday that immediately outlaws most abortions in South Carolina at 20 weeks beyond fertilization.

The only exceptions are if the mothers life is in jeopardy or a doctor determines the fetus cant survive outside the womb.

Doctors face up to $10,000 in fines and three years in prison for each violation. Prison time is mandatory on a third conviction.

Such bans are now in effect in at least 13 states and blocked by court challenges in three others. South Dakotas ban takes effect July 1.

Women nationwide have the right to obtain abortions under the U.S. Supreme Courts 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, which said states could restrict abortions after viability  the point when a fetus has a reasonable chance of surviving outside the uterus. Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks, the ruling said.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on bans that would limit even earlier abortions.

As in other states, South Carolinas law ties the fetus age to conception, rather than a womens monthly cycle. But since this date cannot be scientifically pinpointed, the ban actually refers to what doctors consider a gestational age of 22 weeks.

Supporters of the bill cite the disputed claim that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. Opponents say later-term abortions usually happen with wanted pregnancies that go horribly wrong.

The reality is that abortion later in pregnancy is extremely rare and often takes place in complex and difficult situations where a woman and her doctor need every medical option available, said Alyssa Miller, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman for South Carolina.

South Carolinas definition of fetal anomaly makes it illegal to abort a fetus with a severe disability if the child could live. Such anomalies are generally detected around 20 weeks.

Advocates for abortion rights contend these measures are aimed at restricting womens access to a safe, legal abortion.

The sponsor of South Carolinas law, state Rep. Wendy Nanney, said the killing needs to stop, and sees this law as a step to eventually get rid of abortion altogether.

Haleys signature comes days after Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed legislation to outlaw the procedure at any stage, by making it a felony for doctors to perform an abortion. Fallin, a Republican who opposes abortion, said the measure would not withstand a legal challenge.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ANAHEIM  At least five people were detained Wednesday as police descended on protesters outside a Donald Trump rally in Anaheim.

The arrests came after police declared an unlawful assembly in an announcement from a helicopter and protesters thinned out.

Shouting matches had erupted between opponents and a few supporters of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee outside Anaheim Convention Center.

Earlier, demonstrators pummeled a Trump pinata, decapitating it outside the center, where lines of law enforcement officers guarded entrances to Trumps speech.

Some demonstrators with their faces covered by bandannas shouted expletives against the candidate, while others stood quietly with signs reading migration is beautiful and we are not rapists.

Lizbeth Barrera of Anaheim is only 17 and cant vote this election. But the high school junior said she came out to protest against Trump because of his comments about Mexicans, among other reasons.

We dont need a racist coming here and trying to convince people to vote for him, she said while holding a sign calling Trump a misogynist and bully.

Wearing a red Make America Great Again cap, Andrew Willingham, 24, said he has long disdained voting, and at first was wary of Trump, but was drawn in by his support for free markets.

Hes anti a lot of regulation, pro wall, which mean less minimum wages, he said. I watched more and more of his stuff, and yeah, I fell in love.

Last month, anti-Trump demonstrators took to the streets outside a similar event in nearby Costa Mesa, damaging police cars and throwing bottles. At least 17 people were arrested.

Trump has drawn thousands of ardent supporters to his events along with passionate critics of his plans to build a wall on the Mexican border and his comments about immigrants and Muslims.

His appearances have generated protests in other states as well, most recently Tuesday night in Albuquerque, N.M., when demonstrators outside a rally clashed with police. Officials said several officers were hurt by rocks and at least one person was arrested.

Inside the Anaheim Convention Center, protesters did call out a few times during Trumps hour-long speech and were escorted out. Get em out! he shouted at one point. Out! Out! Out! But he added, Dont hurt em. See what I say? Dont hurt em. I say that for the television cameras. ... Do not hurt him, even though hes a bad person.

As for Hillary Clinton, Trump noted Wednesdays report by the State Department inspector general that faulted Clinton for her use of private email for official business when she was secretary of state. She had a little bad news today, he said, and he even suggested she might not make it to the Democratic nomination.

Trump said he is looking forward to running against Clinton but might end up against her rival, Sanders.

Crazy Bernie, he said. Hes a crazy man, but thats OK, we like crazy.

Pro-and anti-Trump demonstrators clashed last month at Anaheim City Hall when the City Council discussed a resolution criticizing Trump as divisive.
WASHINGTON  The Obama administration defended a deal Tuesday that would resolve a 1983 environmental disaster in the Central Valley by absolving farmers of a $330 million debt to taxpayers, among other benefits.

Interior Department lawyer John Bezdek told a panel of the House Natural Resources Committee that the settlement is a winner for taxpayers, because it would relieve the federal government of $3.8 billion in potential liability to Westlands Water District, an agricultural behemoth in the San Joaquin Valley.

In return, Westlands farmers would be forgiven their $330 million share of the cost of the Central Valley Project that delivers water to them from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The $3.8 billion obligation stems from the governments decision in 1960 to extend the Central Valley Project to the arid west side of the San Joaquin Valley, despite the knowledge that the soils are laden with salts and selenium, a mineral lethal to wildlife and humans. Irrigation leaches the minerals from the soil, and the drained water perches atop a hard clay pan, destroying crop roots. Because of these problems, the government promised to build a drain to carry the contaminated drainage to San Francisco Bay, but construction was halted when Bay Area communities protested.

The water was left in ponds at the end of the unfinished drain, which federal officials decided to turn into a wildlife refuge called Kesterson. In 1983, the contaminated water killed thousands of birds and led to gruesome deformities among chicks, an environmental catastrophe that shocked the nation. The drain was closed, but Westlands sued the government for defaulting on its promise to complete the drain, which they say would cost an estimated $3.8 billion. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the Westlands claim.

The deal, which the Obama administration reached with Westlands last September, has scrambled conventional politics by joining Republican lawmakers in the San Joaquin Valley and the administration, against congressional Democrats and taxpayer groups. Congress has to pass legislation for the agreement to take effect.

Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford (Kings County) is sponsoring that legislation. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, who typically allies with Republicans on water issues, is pushing a bill in tandem that would expand the agreement to cover water districts just north of Westlands. They said Westlands farmers provide food for the entire nation and that the deal will resolve decades of litigation.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, both called the deal bad for taxpayers and said the $3.8 billion federal liability is a fiction.

In addition to absolving the $330 million debt, the deal provides Westlands with a permanent water contract. These and other provisions would bolster Westlands claim on federal water and make it easier to sell that water to other users.

In return, Westlands would agree to retire 100,000 acres of farmland, most of which has already been retired. Retiring land  and stopping the irrigation  is the most direct way to end drainage problems. The district also assumes full responsibility for drainage.

General manager Tom Birmingham said after Tuesdays hearing that the district is exploring several promising strategies, including use of salt-tolerant crops, water reuse and desalination, among other things. Birmingham emphasized that if Westlands fails to take care of its drainage, the deal gives the government the right to shut off water deliveries to the district.

The Interior Departments Bezdek insisted the deal reduces taxpayer exposure to the enormous cost of fixing Westlands drainage, calling that obligation a significant risk.

Huffman and Ellis of the taxpayer group said the $3.8 billion liability is grossly inflated. They said the estimate is based on a 1902 law that provides zero-interest, 40-year loans to farmers for federal irrigation projects, terms that Congress could easily revisit.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: carolynlochhead
The accomplished and widely respected curator Lucinda Barnes will retire from her position as chief curator at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive on June 29. She will spend her final days at the museum preparing a major exhibition of the work of the painter Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), opening in Germany this fall.

Barnes has been with the Berkeley museum since 2001 (she was promoted to chief curator and director of programs and collections in 2004), and helped lead the move to its new building, which opened to international fanfare in January. With significant stints elsewhere (the art museum at Oberlin College, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and, as director, the Boise Art Museum), most of her 43-year career has been in the service of California institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach and the Newport Harbor Art Museum (now the Orange County Museum of Art).

Along the way, she has worked with scores of living artists  her 1990 Charles Ray exhibition was my introduction to that endlessly inventive Los Angeles artist, whose solid stainless steel Sleeping Woman anchors the seventh floor at the new SFMOMA. But her primary research focus these days is Hofmann, the German-born Abstract Expressionist whose gift of art and money prompted the University of California to establish the museum in 1963.

In a phone interview, she expressed pride at having organized several Hofmann exhibitions over her years in Berkeley, in addition to a broad gamut of collection-based shows, from oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) to American folk art.

Asked what advice she would give a successor, she said, If I were coming into this position, something I would pay a lot of attention to  it comes out of the new study centers we were able to establish in the new building  is research as a core activity in the institution. It has the potential to be a very exciting generator of artistic practice, exhibitions and programs. Thankfully for art in the Bay Area, in retirement she plans to really dive into (her own) serious research, in particular in mid-20th century art.

Promised New York galleries open here: Several writers  all from New York  have called recently expecting, I gather, breathless reaction to the opening in the Bay Area of art galleries with Manhattan provenance. The only credible response was probably an unsatisfying one. Lets wait and see.

Anton Kern and Andrew Kreps, two strong galleries in that city, took space for a single month in the Minnesota Street Project complex, which occasioned pieces in a dozen national (that is, New York-based) magazines or their websites. The combined show looked as good as one might expect a display of wares to look, but no better than a couple of decent booths at any art fair. I went to the opening on the early side and had the place pretty much to myself. I say this with mixed feelings; I am as proud as the next person of the attention, but its good to know that San Franciscans are not so easily impressed.

More durable commitments have been made by two powerhouse galleries with international presence, Gagosian and Pace. Both are known for representing the bluest of blue-chip artists, and for presenting museum-class shows on a frequent basis; both maintain multiple spaces in New York, including cavernous art warehouses in Chelsea on a scale unheard of on our little peninsula.

Gagosian drew an A-list art crowd to its May 18 opening; after a renovation by architect Kulapat Yantrasast (recently tapped for the Asian Art Museum), the gallery is one of the citys nicer spaces. The first exhibition tries to convince us that it has a theme but, really, it is an introductory roundup; given the gallerys record elsewhere, Im hoping for more ambition in the future.

Pace currently has two spaces running. In Menlo Park, the temporary takeover of an old auto dealership for the trippy interactive video works of the Japanese collaborators TeamLab runs at least until July 1.

The newer, and ostensibly longer-term, gallery in Palo Alto is a large storefront that just fits a small James Turrell exhibition (one installation, seven holograms), along with a backroom selection of photographs (not labeled, but including some classic Irving Penn, Robert Frank and Emmet Gowin).

Check this column in two years and we will review how it goes. Even Larry Gagosian himself asked me at his after-party, Is there a market here? To which I answered, if anyone can figure that out, he can.

Complements at Minnesota Street: The Minnesota Street Project is just getting started, but it is impressive to see the synergies that can happen there, whether by design, because ideas are in the air or as a consequence of sheer luck. It happens right now that three striking exhibitions  one each of photography, painting and video  work so well together that they could be combined to make a strong museum presentation somewhere.

Our imaginary show would essentially be a mashup of visual mashups: each picture a combination of many, the exhibition itself a spliced-together recombinant.

I recommend viewing, in order, New Material at Casemore Kirkeby, which shares astonishingly fresh photographic approaches by eight young Japanese artists; Slow Wave, a large show on two floors of painting by Paul Wackers at Eleanor Harwood Gallery; and the brain- and eye-teaser How Not to Be Seen: A Fing Didactic Educational .MOV File, a 2013 instant comic classic by Berlin artist Hito Steyerl.

Last chance: Two exhibitions at Anglim Gilbert Gallery, Tom Marioni: Birds in Flight and Paul Kos: yrtemmySSymmetry, elegantly show off the Bay Areas masters of conceptual art through May 28 ... and Architecture of Life, the widely lauded exhibition that in January opened a new building for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, runs only through May 29.

Charles Desmarais is The San Francisco Chronicles art critic. Email: cdesmarais@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Artguy1
A lawsuit by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders and a group of independent voters against election officials is just a headline-grabbing political stunt unsupported by any evidence, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Tuesday.

The suit cynically aims to undermine the legitimacy of our election, and to further a political narrative that has zero basis in reality, said Herrera, whose office represents San Francisco elections Director John Arntz in the case.

The lawsuit accuses election officials of providing independent voters with misleading and confusing information about their right to vote for a partisan presidential candidate in the June 7 primary. The suit seeks to extend Mondays voter registration deadline to election day.

Herrera said San Francisco provides accurate and complete information to prospective voters, which his legal staff described in detail to the plaintiffs lawyer before the suit was filed.

But the lawyer, William Simpich, said San Franciscos ballot material included varying deadline dates for submitting crucial change-of-registration applications, as well as information that was distributed to some voters and not to others.

What were asking for is uniformity, both countywide and statewide, Simpich said.

The federal court suit was filed Friday against the state and elections officials in San Francisco and Alameda counties by a group called the Voting Rights Defense Project, along with the American Independent Party and two individual voters. They argued that vote-by-mail application forms posted on both counties websites contained incomplete or misleading information about the right to register without a party affiliation, and about the rights of independent voters to request presidential ballots for the Democratic, American Independent or Libertarian parties.

Independent votes are important to Sanders, who is trying to keep alive his challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination and has fared well among nonaligned voters in states that allow their participation. California allows independents to vote in the Democratic, American Independent or Libertarian primaries if they request such a ballot at their polling place, or submit a mailed application by May 31.

To remedy the alleged misinformation, Simpich has asked a federal judge to allow independent voters who havent requested a party ballot to cast write-in votes on June 7, or to set aside ballots theyve already mailed in so they can vote for their chosen candidate. Hes also requested an extension of the states voter registration deadline, which expired Monday, to election day.

But election-day registration would be impossible this year, said Neal Kelley, the Orange County voter registrar who is president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. A new state law will allow Californians to register at county election offices as late as election day in 2018, and county officials are now working to update their registration lists and lack a database that would enable them to verify new applicants on June 7, Kelley said.

Herrera, who supports Clinton for president, said the information San Francisco sends to voters in its ballot pamphlet, and provides on the Department of Elections website, informs unaffiliated voters of their right to cast ballots for partisan presidential candidates. He said he believes other counties are equally committed.

The plaintiffs want changes that are not only impossible, but would wreak havoc on an election thats already under way, Herrera said. This is a political stunt.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: egelko
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and German Uniper energy company will create a joint venture for a steam turbine generator unit production.

Head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev and President of Uniper Klaus Schafer signed the corresponding agreement in Baku May 25 to establish SOCAR-Uniper joint venture.

SOCAR will own 51 percent of the joint venture, while 49 percent will belong to Uniper.

In addition, the sides have signed a preliminary project agreement on the construction of a steam turbine generator unit at the Ethylene-Polyethylene plant.

Uniper is a German energy company with 14,000 employees based in Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. It began operating on January 1, 2016.

During a briefing after the signing ceremony, SOCAR president said that the cost of the project on creation of the SOCAR-Uniper joint venture is estimated at 26 million euros.

He added that this project is aimed at increasing economic efficiency of the steam-generating complex at the Ethylene-Polyethylene plant, and it will ensure production of additional volumes of electricity.

Abdullayev added that 20 million euros for the project will be drawn from a Bavarian bank for a period of 15 years at an annual rate of one percent.

The initial capital of the joint venture will amount to four million euros, and the funds will be invested by Uniper. SOCAR will provide equipment worth two million euros.

"The unit will begin production of steam in 2018," head of SOCAR said. "The commissioning of the unit will reduce the prime cost of steam production to 0,019 manats per cubic meter, which is a very low figure for Azerbaijan."
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

The international community has no united position on the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Neil MacFarlane, professor at St Anne's College of the Oxford University, told Trend May 25.

"Some outside actors want peace, others want to maintain instability, some support one side, and others support another side. Thus, there is no united position," said MacFarlane.

The expert thinks that the international community doesn't make effective efforts to change the status quo.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict appears to have returned to its previous state before the events of April," noted MacFarlane.

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.

"It is good that the military confrontation has receded, but the events do underline the fragility of the situation, and the possibility of accidental escalation," said the expert.

MacFarlane added also that the incidents of April were more serious than usual.

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.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Republic Day (May 28).

"Please, accept my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan - the Day of the Republic," said Putin in the message.

Russia's president pointed out that Azerbaijan's achievements in the socio-economic, scientific, technical and other spheres are well known. Putin said that Azerbaijan rightfully enjoys high reputation on international arena.

Russian-Azerbaijani relations, based on long-standing traditions of friendship and good neighborhood, are at a high level, according to Putin.

He added that there is a substantial political dialogue between the two countries and the mutually beneficial cooperation is expanding in various spheres.

"I am confident that with joint efforts, we will ensure the further expansion of the whole complex of bilateral relations, as well as the partnership relations in resolving the topical issues on the regional and international agenda," said Putin. "This meets the basic interests of the brotherly peoples of our countries."

"I sincerely wish you robust health, wellbeing and success and to all your compatriots peace and prosperity," Russia's president said in his congratulatory letter.
If item number one on your summer to-do list is to witness the booming waterfalls of Yosemite National Park, you're in for a treat. Water levels appear to have rebounded from four years of drought and we're now in a window of peak waterfall conditions.

United States Geological Survey numbers indicate water under the Pohono Bridge at the west end of the Yosemite Valley has been climbing, and reaching heights not seen since 2012. The water level has peaked between May 19th and June 29th in recent years, but the high water mark hasn't crested above 8 feet in four years, according to the USGS. The river has approached that depth in recent weeks, as seen on this chart of river heights recorded since May of 2010:
John Carman/Courtesy "Hey Hey, LBJ"

As a young man, David Kleinberg fulfilled his military service in the role of combat correspondent attached to the Armys 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi, Vietnam. It was the mid-1960s and Kleinberg was initially a Vietnam War supporter, but what he witnessed in the country changed his perspective.

Those experiences form the basis of longtime former Chronicle writer and editor Kleinbergs one-man show, Hey, Hey, LBJ!  which he first performed in San Francisco in 2015 at the Marsh.
Stephanie Wright Hession

Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford built opulent mansions on Nob Hill to showcase their enormous wealth and to impress visitors. Known as the Big Four, the former merchants garnered their fortunes by building the Central Pacific Railroad, part of the Transcontinental Railroad completed on May 10, 1869. Alas, the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed their lavish residences, and none of the railroad barons rebuilt their homes. But today Nob Hill maintains its upper-crust reputation with elegant hotels and posh apartments.

The Crocker family donated their property to the Episcopal Diocese of California. In 1927, construction began on Grace Cathedral. But the Depression delayed the work, and the cathedral was not consecrated until 1964. The French Gothic-style church features a replica of Lorenzo Ghibertis Gates of Paradise doors, stained-glass windows and an Aeolian-Skinner organ with 7,466 pipes. For an extraordinary experience, listen to its liturgical music  Evensong or Sunday Eucharist  sung by the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys.
KIEV, Ukraine  Russia freed Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko on Wednesday after holding her for nearly two years, with President Vladimir Putin pardoning her as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen jailed in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president sent his plane to pick up Savchenko in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and bring her home to Kiev, where she received a heros welcome.

Thank you, everyone, for fighting for me! she told a scrum of journalists at Kievs Borispol Airport. You fought for everyone behind bars. Politicians would have kept silent if people had been silent. I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me well. I have survived because of you.

The two Russians were also freed Wednesday, and Russian state television showed them being greeted at a Moscow airport by their wives.

Savchenko, a professional air force officer, was fighting with a Ukrainian volunteer battalion against Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine when she was captured in the summer of 2014. She later surfaced in Russian custody on the other side of the border. Moscow claimed she had escaped from the separatists and was caught in Russia, while she claimed she was abducted and smuggled into Russia.

A court in southern Russia convicted her in March of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists and sentenced her to 22 years in prison. Upon hearing the verdict, Savchenko burst into song and chanted, Glory to Ukraine! Her refusal to bend during nearly two years in Russian custody made her a national hero in Ukraine.

In giving her a state award Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said she had become a symbol of pride and steadfastness.

The two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian Defense Ministry, which has denied sending troops to Ukraine, claimed they had resigned from active duty. They were tried in a Kiev court, which sentenced them to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

Both of the Russians submitted a petition to the Ukrainian president to be pardoned, Alexandrovs lawyer Valentin Rybin announced Wednesday morning, indicating a swap was imminent.

Savchenkos lawyers have refused to say whether she also filed for a pardon. However, suggesting that she did not, Putin said he decided to pardon her after the relatives of the killed journalists petitioned him to show mercy for Savchenko.

Savchenkos release came a day after Putin, Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany spoke by telephone about ways to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Western leaders had long been calling for Russia to free Savchenko.
BERLIN  Chancellor Angela Merkels Cabinet on Wednesday approved a raft of new measures combining opportunities and obligations designed to help Germany deal with the influx of about 1.1 million asylum-seekers registered as entering the country last year, and help those who stay become good neighbors and citizens.

The package seeks to provide refugees with better access to the German job market and also foresees the creation of some 100,000 government-funded job opportunities for refugees. At the same time, refugees will be expected to participate in expanded orientation and language courses, which will also be made available more quickly and to more people than before.
BAGHDAD  The Islamic State group is preventing people from fleeing Fallujah amid a military operation to recapture the city west of Baghdad, a local Iraqi official and aid groups said Wednesday.

Thousands of civilians are estimated to remain inside Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, which the Islamic State has held for over two years. On Sunday, government forces launched a large-scale offensive, teaming with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition.

Nearly 20 families have fled from Fallujahs outskirts, where sporadic clashes have been taking place, since the offensive started, said Shakir al-Issawi, head of the council in the nearby town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah. Al-Issawi said no families managed to flee Wednesday as Islamic State militants tightly control the city outlets.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid group working with refugees and the displaced in Iraq, reported that only 17 families had fled Fallujah since Sunday night and that most had fled from the citys outskirts.

There is no information for civilians about safe exits, said Becky Bakr Abdullah, an NRC spokeswoman.

There is also the fear of being killed for attempting to flee, Abdullah said, explaining that multiple families said the Islamic State is threatening residents with death if they attempt to flee.

The International Organization for Migration put the number of newly displaced families at 125, about 750 individuals, in the past two days.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group made up mostly of Shiite militias, said the forces continued to dislodge Islamic State militants from key areas in the town of Garma, east of Fallujah, which is considered the main supply line for the militants.

Karim Al-Nouri added that forces had secured three safe corridors for families to flee, but the militants blocked those outlets to prevent them from leaving.

The U.S. military, led by Marines, fought two battles for the city in 2004, and the house-to-house fighting was some of the toughest the U.S. military had faced since the Vietnam War. Fallujah is part of the so-called Islamic Caliphate the militants declared in territories under their control in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The Islamic State still controls the second-largest northern city, Mosul.

For the Iraqis, momentum for an offensive gained steam last week after a surge in Islamic State attacks in Baghdad killed some 200 people.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Editor-in-Chief of The Business Year magazine Leland Rice and its Regional Director Betul Cakaloglu.

Rice stressed the importance of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's participation and his speech at the World Humanitarian Summit, which was recently held in Istanbul. He underlined Azerbaijan's role in strengthening the international cooperation and in global economic processes.

President Aliyev hailed the importance of the World Humanitarian Summit, saying it was the first international humanitarian event in this format and its agenda covered a wide range of areas.

Pointing to the international economic cooperation, the president highlighted the work done towards Azerbaijan's integration into the world economic system.

Betul Cakaloglu informed the president about the activities of the magazine.

Saying the magazine has been cooperating with Azerbaijan for nearly six years, she hailed the magazine's relations with a variety of continents and countries around the world.

Leland Rice said that the magazine named Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "The World`s Person of the Year 2015", and presented the award to the president.

He said that President Aliyev was honored for his role in Azerbaijan's making significant contribution to ensuring energy security of Europe and diversifying energy sources, for establishing and realizing the Southern Gas Corridor project and its integral elements - Shah Deniz-2, TANAP and TAP projects, excellently organizing important international events, including the first ever European Games and showing the world big potential of Azerbaijan, the country's efforts made towards the creation of East-West and North-South transport corridors, Azerbaijan's becoming an international transportation and transit hub, providing practical support for the development of inter-civilizational and inter-cultural dialogue, hosting international humanitarian events for encouragement of multicultural values and other successful activities in ensuring peace and security in the region.

President Aliyev thanked The Business Year magazine for the award. He stressed the significance of regional cooperation in addressing the issues as economic diversification, energy security, multiculturalism, as well as in Azerbaijan's becoming a center of the international transport and investing in this infrastructure.

Underlining that the regional cooperation is based only on mutual trust, the president said that the mutual trust in its turn was established through the promotion of multicultural, religious and ethnic tolerance values.

President Aliyev thanked The Business Year magazine for promoting Azerbaijan and delivering the truth about the country to the international audience.
JERUSALEM  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a deal Wednesday to expand his coalition government by bringing in the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party and appointing its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, as his new defense minister.

The development caps a tumultuous political week that began with Netanyahu negotiating with the moderate Labor Party against a backdrop of international pressure to relaunch peace efforts with the Palestinians, before choosing Liebermans hawkish party instead.

Lieberman is one of Israels most polarizing politicians and has a reputation for making inflammatory statements. The Palestinian presidents adviser promptly denounced the appointment, saying Lieberman was a fascist minister who will promote settlements.

In a joint signing ceremony in Jerusalem, Netanyahu and Lieberman insisted they have put their past differences behind them and sought to soothe fears over their new alliance by making calming statements in both Hebrew and, with an eye toward the world, English.

I am committed to promoting the peace process. I am committed to make every effort to reach an agreement, Netanyahu said, noting that developments in the region have created new opportunities for peace.

With the deal, Netanyahu expands his coalition to 66 of parliaments 120 members. He previously had 61, the slimmest of majorities, which made it difficult to govern and legislate and opened him to the potential extortion of any single lawmaker.

Netanyahu also made another feeble plea for Labor to join his government. But it will almost certainly be rejected by a party that is deeply distrustful of Netanyahus motives and currently engaged in bitter infighting over even negotiating with him in the first place.

Lieberman will take over as defense chief in place of former military chief Moshe Yaalon. His departure leaves the Cabinet dominated by religious and ultranationalist ministers who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and have close ties to the West Bank settler movement. Lieberman himself is a West Bank settler.

Over the years, Lieberman has made headlines for a series of incendiary comments. He has called for bombing Egypts Aswan Dam and suggested toppling the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority. Just a few weeks ago, he threatened to kill a Hamas leader in Gaza. He has repeatedly voiced skepticism about pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
HO CHI MINH CITY  Wrapping up a historic visit to Vietnam, President Obama on Wednesday praised the countrys next generation of leaders for being more conscious of the environment than previous ones and urged them to do something about climate change.

During his final public event here, Obama basked in the admiration of hundreds of young leaders who participated in a town hall-style event and prefaced some of their questions to him with praise about his leadership and his inspiring speeches.

Obama used a question about preserving a Vietnamese cave from development to pivot to climate change, one of his top issues as president. He said Vietnam will be one of the countries most affected by the trend of warming temperatures and rising seas.

That could have a huge impact on Vietnams ability to feed its people, on fishermen, on farmers, and it could be a really big problem if we dont do something about it, so its going to be up to you to start, said Obama, who routinely includes question-and-answer sessions with young leaders on his foreign trips.

Obama also promoted a 12-nation, trans-Pacific trade pact that includes Vietnam but is stalled in Congress and opposed by the three leading U.S. presidential candidates. But he avoided wading too deeply into politics when asked where he sees himself in five years, around the end of his successors first term.

Sometimes, our politics doesnt express all the goodness of the people, but usually, eventually, the voters make good decisions and democracy works, Obama said.

The town-hall event capped Obamas historic visit to Vietnam. He spent three days in the capital of Hanoi, in the north, and in Ho Chi Minh City, in the south, meeting with government leaders and addressing the Vietnamese people in a speech and through less formal encounters, such as when people were trying to take selfies with him as he worked out in a hotel gym.

In a show of how deeply relations between the former wartime enemies had thawed, Obama announced the end of a five-decades-old ban on the sale of arms to Vietnam. He also announced that the Peace Corps would begin operating in the country for the first time.

Japan is the next and final stop on Obamas swing through Asia, a region he says helped shape him growing up in his native Hawaii and later in Indonesia.

Obama met Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before joining his counterparts for a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations opening Thursday in Shima, Japan.

Abe expressed profound resentment about the death of a young Japanese woman on Okinawa and the arrest of a former U.S. Marine. He urged Obama to take steps to prevent further such crimes. Obama extended Americas deepest regrets and condolences over the death.
State Sues EPA for Millions

New Mexico is suing the federal government and the owners of two mines over environmental and economic damages caused by the release of

from a southern Colorado mine.

Testimony Begins

The first day of the Tai Chan murder trial in Las Cruces was an emotional one. Prosecutors told jurors theyll prove the former sheriffs deputy

, after a heated hotel argument. But Chans attorneys suggested that Chan acted in self-defense.

Centurion Lands Corrections Contract

Justin Horwath reports, The Corrections Department announced late Monday that it has

, to provide care for some 7,200 state prison inmates.

Reviews Taking Too Long

A new police oversight board says 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburgs

KOATs Matt Howerton reports 16 cases are still pending.

Ashman Returns to Santa Fe

Former New Mexico Secretary of Cultural Affairs

after working as president and CEO of the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, for five years.

Trump Starts Fundraising in Albuquerque

If you dont want to wait in line to attend Donald Trumps big rally in Albuquerque tonight and have an extra $10,000 lying around,

, Matt Reichbach reports. Its a deal, since Trumps next private dinner, in Los Angeles, is $25,000. Gov. Susana Martinez, who still hasnt endorsed her partys presumptive nominee, told KOB

the rally.

Clinton Campaigns for Hillary

Around the same time that protesters line up to speak out against Trump, former President Bill

, campaigning for Hillary Clinton. He'll also be in Albuquerque on Wednesday ahead of the June 7 primary.

Fuego Lose Home Opener

About 300 people showed up for the Santa Fe Fuegos home opener last night, but the team continued its losing streak,

in a four-hour-long game.

Santa Fe Reporter
Public lands. The two words conjure images of desert vistas and windswept mountaintops, forests and badlands.

Also, images courtesy of REI catalogues and Subaru commercials of the fit and the beautiful putting their disposable income to good use paddling rapids or test-driving their all-wheel drive vehicle on a picturesque gravel road.

Despite those imagessome of which are based in realityand contrary to PR crafted by the industries eager to get their grubby mitts on America's resource-rich public lands and watersheds, I think recreation on public lands has more to do with accessibility and affordability than anything else.

Can't afford the amusement park? Go outside.

Want to bond with your kid? Go fishing. There's great birdwatching along the Rio Grande in Espanola, just off Buckman Road in Santa Fe or on loop trails at the Randall Davey Audubon Center at the end of Upper Canyon Road. Beavers can be spotted just a few minutes from the Plaza at the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve. Or go looking for petroglyphs along the mesa in La Cieneguilla, just down the road from the airport. Take the state's hunter safety course and spend a weekend looking for quail, deer or elk.

In New Mexico, we have amazing public landsmanaged by federal, state and local agencies. They're all over the place.

Don't want to climb a mountain? Wander the trails that weave around within Cerrillos Hills State Park. Head to the Jemez, find a stream and stand in the middle of it. Meet a friend halfway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and hike at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

Over time, our individual relationships with public lands evolve, too. Or at least mine did.

In my 20s, all I wanted to do was backpack into remote spots with a water filter, dehydrated pea soup and the lightest, flimsiest sleeping pad on the market. With a toddler, I looked for easy hikes without too many goatheads or steep ledges. Today, with a 10-year-oldand a decade of car camping behind uswe're planning our first backpacking trip together.

And it's not just me and my kid out there. For the past year, admission into national parks has been free for fourth graders and their families. In fact, visits to the parks are upand a recent study showed that "quiet recreation" like camping and hiking brought $173 million to the state in 2014.



Laura Paskus (Laura Paskus)

Over Easter weekend, Carlsbad Caverns hadn't had an operating elevator in months, and yet the place was packed with families from Mexico, older couples and teenagers trudging up and down the dark, steep trail into the caverns. Yeah, the caverns were neat. But it was the diversity of visitors that made me happiest.

And while I've often relished escape from other humans, lately, I've been enjoying that sense of community.

At a state park campsite earlier this spring, a gentleman walked over to my daughter and me after breakfast. "I've been so happy to see you two," he said (in a totally non-creepy way). "Our family camped together when our kids were little, and I think that's why we've all stayed so close." While he and his wife take a big trip across the country, their daughter is caring for the farm and the house in the Pacific Northwest.

And if ever I needed a nudge to appreciate New Mexico's public lands, a recent quick triplike, of less than two hours' durationto Texas provided an excellent reminder. When the campsite at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site we'd planned on wasn't available (and despite what the park website explained), a friend and I realized we had two options: Rent a crappy motel room on the hazy, haggard outskirts of El Paso or drive back to New Mexico and camp someplace beautiful.

Of course, we drove back to New Mexico. And woke up the next morning at Oliver Lee State Park outside of Alamogordo. The Sacramento Mountains were at our back as we looked across White Sands to the San Andres and San Augustin mountains.

We were home.



Santa Fe Reporter
Pablo Paz, aka Adrenaline Truth, aka DJ Shatter, wanted to be an animator once upon a time. But as I went along school-wise, he says, I realized I wasnt really artistically inclined in that way, but I still wanted to make stuff. Music, specifically hip-hop, had always been a creative respite for the Omaha-born, Santa Fe-raised Paz, however, so when he returned home after receiving a degree in creative media from the University of Hawaii and training under an audio engineer who he would rather not name, he re-enlisted with his old crew, Dezert Banditz. The Zs are just for fun, he jokes, and we wereor we areone of the bigger crews in the state. Indeed, like a New Mexican version of the much-ballyhooed Wu-Tang Clan formula, Dezert Banditz remains a loosely connected tribe of groups, MCs, DJs, beat-smiths, producers and various hangers-on. If hip-hop is the product, Dezert Banditz is the factory.

For his part, Paz's MC and DJ efforts are certainly available for any and all performers, but the bulk of his best work seems inextricably linked to SUBLMNL RNSONS, a three-piece with which he performs alongside Cas Uno (Leroy Cardenas) and Mr. UnXnown (Jose Granados). They're well known to Santa Fe's hip-hop elite as prolific writers and producers, and rarely will a show within that genre take place without one or all of them onboard.

"It's been the project that I'm usually the most focused on," Paz says. "But lately I've really wanted to shift that focus more to the craft of production." He speaks of his DJ alter-ego, Shatter, a party facilitator who exists in stark contrast to Paz's soft-spoken and almost shy nature. As a person, Paz is clearly very intelligent, but it would appear he climbs into his own head about how he presents himself to the world at large. As a DJ and performer, he comes alive and takes on an almost completely different persona. Still, he's nothing if not self-aware of his own potential artistic growth.

"SUBLMNL has songs from over the years that people still like, and we'll still play those songs because people like 'em, and I get it, but I'm not sure how much I still agree with the message in those anymore, [and] anyway, I'm not writing lyrics as much these days," he points out. "I'm more focused on DJing, not just because I want my co-MCs to get more of the spotlightand I know I can count on them to show up and fill in those blank spacesbut because when I step up to the mic, I want to have something to say, even  it doesn't matter if it's not important to the rest of the world, it still has to be important to me."

During his informal mini-hiatus, he's sharpened his DJ skills and broadened his repertoire by performing at various regional hip-hop showcases. "They can be really long and teach you that you have to know all kinds of styles," he says. "So I DJ with a rapper's perspective because when I was doing more MC stuff, the DJ was always the wild card, and they should be the conduit through which all the music flows."

His refreshingly communal-minded philosophy from within a field that seems to foster a single-player mentality has obviously served him well, as he appears among this year's SFR Best of Santa Fe-nominated artists in the DJ category and also helms the decks for a massive show Friday at The Underground, which features NYC artist Ricky Bats, Rill, Nspire, Ben Davis, SBLMNL RNSONS and others.

"I'm all about figuring out what's feasible, and when you get a little older and think about how maybe you didn't reach whatever level of success you thought you would  I mean, I have some cred, but I just don't see myself rapping for another 20 or 30 years," Paz notes. "This city's got a vibrant music culture right now, and I could easily continue rapping, but DJing had me right from the get."



Ricky Bats, SBLMNL RNSONS,

Rill, Nspire, Ben Davis and more:

9 pm Friday, May 27. $5.

The Underground.

200 W San Francisco St.



Santa Fe Reporter
The painting, which has not been publicly exhibited in 50 years, portrays three rustic barns that surrounded the Alfred Stieglitz family property overlooking the shores of Lake George in New York. Stieglitz was an impresario, photographer and gallery owner. He and OKeeffe married in 1924. The pair regularly vacationed at Lake George while they lived in Manhattan.

The Georgia OKeeffe Museum in Santa Fe will soon be showing off one of the artists early but less known abstract barn paintings. Last week, the museum paid $3.3 million for her 1926 piece Dennis Domrzalski reports that the University of New Mexico plans to bid for a share of the $2.9 billion contract to manage Sandia National Labs. It could be a good fit, as more than 2,400 UNM grads work at the lab.The judge in the Tai Chan murder trial in Las Cruces denied a request from prosecutors to take jurors to the hotel where the fatal shooting took place. Defense attorneys have not said if they plan to call the former Santa Fe County sheriff deputy to the stand when they get their turn to argue self-defense.It looks like theres a liquor boom in Lincoln County , as commissioners approved a slew of new beer and wine licenses.The U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday it ordered Molina Healthcare of New Mexico to pay more than $700,000 in overtime wages to 409 of its case managers, reports Uriel J Garcia at the
ASX-listed Clarius Group will quit its New Zealand business, giving up on plans to operate a profitable IT recruitment firm on this side of the Tasman.

The Sydney-based company decided to close its New Zealand operations after a number of strategies over a prolonged period failed to create a profitable business, it said in a statement to the ASX. The group will redirect investment to markets where "we are experiencing strong and sustainable growth," it said.

"The board has decided to close local operations in New Zealand and will fulfill all ongoing commitments from our head office," it said. "The exit strategy will be implemented with immediate effect and the transition of business operations is expected to be complete by the end of June 2016."

The group's brands include Alliance Recruitment, Candle, JavIT, Lloyd Morgan, South Tech and The One Umbrella.

Clarius's New Zealand holding company, Candle Holdings Ltd, last filed financial statements with the New Zealand Companies Office in December 2014, which showed the local division had accumulated losses of $4.7 million as at June 30, 2014.

The Australian parent, which hasn't recorded a profit since 2010, injected $4 million of new equity in the 2014 financial year and was still owed $1.4 million from a $5.9 million loan first made in 1997.

The shares last traded at 18 Australian cents and have dropped 5.3 percent so far this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

October 25th Morning Report

Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update

GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct

MCY - Quarterly Operational Update

VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022

NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition

October 21st Morning Report

Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close

Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation

AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses


Bank of China, one of the country's biggest lenders, funded 55 of its Chinese company clients to meet with 120 Kiwi agricultural businesses in a bid to grow trade and help meet its goal of becoming the largest Chinese bank in New Zealand.

The bank flew over two to three representatives from each Chinese company and hosted 348 matchmaking sessions, which have so far resulted in at least four Memorandums of Understanding between firms to work together. A similar venture for 20 second-tier e-commerce companies in November last year helped local manufacturers export US$3 million in the first quarter of this year, it said.

The conferences are part of a push by the Bank of China to bolster China's trade and business links around the world. The bank, majority owned by the Chinese state, turned its focus to fostering a "cross-border matchmaking service" for small- and medium-sized enterprises last year, holding 11 investment and trade conferences, attracting more than 4,000 businesses and 10,000 people and securing more than 3,000 cooperation intentions. Language is seen as one of the major barriers to closer ties, and the bank has funded 60 translators for today's event.

"Its all about trade and facilitating trade," Bank of China (NZ) chairman Chris Tremain told reporters on the sidelines of today's Auckland conference. "We want to play a key role in fostering trade between our two countries. I think we can do a great job in helping to build exports."

China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, as exports soared to Asia's largest economy following the inking of a free-trade agreement in 2008.

"Its about leveraging the trade opportunity and of course as a bank we want to play a role in the financing of those trade opportunities," Tremain said.

Bank of China (NZ) registered in New Zealand in November 2014, but didn't start effectively trading until July 1, 2015. It lagged behind Chinese competitors in this market with China Construction Bank (NZ) gaining registration in July 2014 and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (NZ) becoming registered in November 2013.

Tremain said Bank of China didn't intend to compete head-to-head with New Zealand's main Australian-owned banks, but aimed to be "the largest and most successful Chinese bank in New Zealand."

Bank of China (NZ) had $208 million of assets and $145 million of gross loans as at Dec. 31, 2015, compared with $402 million in assets and $307 million of loans for CCB, and $742 million of assets and $381 million of loans for ICBC, according to Reserve Bank data.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

October 25th Morning Report

Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update

GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct

MCY - Quarterly Operational Update

VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022

NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition

October 21st Morning Report

Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close

Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation

AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses


Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are expected to hold joint military exercises in summer of 2017 in Georgia, RIA Novosti quoted Vakhtang Kapanadze, head of the General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces, as saying May 25.

Kapanadze noted that however there can be some changes in the plans.

The counter-terrorism and security issues will be in focus during the drills, he added.

The agreement to hold the joint military exercises was earlier reached during a meeting of the three countries' defense ministers in Azerbaijan's Gabala city.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Samir Ali - Trend:

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan made a decision on May 25 to release the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

A cassation appeal by Ismayilova was considered by the Supreme Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Ali Seyfaliyev May 25, and the Court sentenced her to conditional imprisonment term of three years and six months, Ismayilova's lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev told Trend.

Earlier, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison.

Ismayilova's lawyers then filed a cassation appeal against the decision.

She was charged for misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of official duties.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

Mohammad Hanif Atmar, national security advisor to Afghanistan's president, will visit Azerbaijan the next week, Afghanistan's embassy in Baku told Trend May 25.

During the visit, Hanif Atmar will hold a number of high-level meetings and discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

The Afghan official's visit will take place at the invitation of the Azerbaijani side.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan stood at $19.37 million in January-April 2016, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. The entire amount accounted for the exports to Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan doesn't import products from Afghanistan.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

President of Chile Michelle Bachelet has congratulated Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the Republic Day.

"On behalf of the people of Chile and on my own behalf, I heartily congratulate you on the national holiday of Azerbaijan," said Bachelet. "Please accept my wishes for welfare and prosperity of your people and country."

"I wish that steadily developing bilateral relations between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Azerbaijan would further strengthen, and also wish you success in your future endeavors," said Chile's president.

"Once again, Your Excellency, accept the assurances of my highest consideration," Bachelet added.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon has also congratulated Ilham Aliyev.

"I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all the friendly people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the national holiday of your country - Republic Day," he said.

Tajikistan highly appreciates friendly and multilateral mutually beneficial partnership with Azerbaijan and is eager to strengthen and develop these ties in all spheres, added Rahmon.

"I am confident that through concerted efforts we will ensure dynamic development of bilateral relations between the two countries in the best interests of our peoples," he said. "We are eager to do our utmost in this regard."

"Dear Ilham Heydarovich, I wish you robust health, new successes, and the friendly people of Azerbaijan peace and prosperity," Tajikistan's president added.

Azerbaijan's president received congratulations from Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

"On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Iraq and on my own behalf, I extend to you my most sincere congratulations on the occasion of the national holiday of the friendly Republic of Azerbaijan," said al-Abadi.

"I pray to Allah Almighty for peace, prosperity and stability of our peoples and countries and for your success in your activities. Allah is All-hearing and responds to prayers!," he added.

"Your Excellency, please accept the assurances of my deepest respect," said Iraq's prime minister.

Harald V, King of Norway, also congratulated President Aliyev on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Republic Day.

"On the occasion of your Republic Day, we extend our sincere congratulations and best wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the people of Azerbaijan," he said.

Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic also congratulated Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.

"On the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I have the great honour and pleasure to extend to you, on behalf of the people of the Republic of Serbia and on my own behalf, cordial congratulations and best wishes for the progress and prosperity of your country and its people," said Nikolic.

"Our recent meetings have served as yet another confirmation of the genuine friendship between our peoples, and of the joint interest in further enhancement of the strategic relations and cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, for the sake of our two countries' progress and stability," he added.

"I would like, Excellency, to reiterate my gratitude for the consistent support that the friendly Azerbaijan has lent, with you at its helm, to the efforts invested by Serbia with the aim of preserving its sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Serbia's president.

"In anticipation of our soon meeting in Belgrade, and along with the best wishes for your good health and personal happiness, please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my deepest respect," he added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Irina Bokova welcomed the release of journalist Khadija Ismayilova, UNESCO website said May 25.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan made a decision on May 25 to release the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

A cassation appeal by Ismayilova was considered by the Supreme Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Ali Seyfaliyev May 25, and the Court sentenced her to conditional imprisonment term of three years and six months.

Earlier, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison.

Ismayilova's lawyers then filed a cassation appeal against the decision.

She was charged for misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of official duties.

Edited by EA

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
BENGALURU: Essential features such as torch light, gestures and knock shortcuts, screen notifications, and floating button are built into the Android phones by default. However, specific features are only available in certain Android versions and handsets. Though large manufacturers like Motorola, Samsung, HTC, LG, and Xiaomi deploy these features, not all manufacturers will support the complete feature-set of an Android version. From the compilation of The Economic Times, here are some free apps available on the play store to get these features enabled in our smartphones.

Glance Plus:

Phone notifications such as received messages, alerts from various installed apps, and missed calls can be seen without picking up and unlocking the phone through the app called Glance Plus. These phone notifications will be always-on screen when we receive messages or alerts. This on screen notification is best works on amoled device. Amoled uses a less amout of battery power by selectively switching pixels on and off. To run Glance plus the device should have Android 4.3 or newer versions. By just waving your hand over the phone or pulling it out of a pocket can light the screen to display the notifications.

Read Also: 4 Watches that are set for Android Wear 2.0 Upgrade

Samsung to Announce "Made in India" Tablet This Week
BENGALURU: Do you belong to the digital generation, which keeps battery life, camera resolution and cost at the top of your list while purchasing a smartphone? Then you must take a look at ASUS recently released advanced version of Zenfone Max. This Taiwanese company is renowned for making enormous improvements with every release of its Zenfone series. However, it has taken a quantum leap with this model by powering up its performance with a brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-Core processor, choice of 2GB ( 9999) & 3GB ( 12,999) RAM variations and an increased memory of 32GB (internal storage) and 64GB (expandable) and a 5000 mAh battery that offers 914.4 hours of standby time, which is quite extraordinary considering the price.

Enhanced User Experience: As the processor & RAM bring alive a super-responsive lag-free user experience even while multi-tasking, Zenfone Maxs latest 4G LTE technology enables the users to utilize high mobile data speeds. Further enhancing user interface, the Android M 6.0.1 and ASUS ZenUI endows users with five battery modes and two smart switches, thereby leaving the power-performance balance criteria to users hands.

Long Lasting Battery: Thanks to the accompanying OTG cable, this version is also capable of being a power bank for other gadgets. The lithium-polymer battery, when fully charged, is supposed to provide 914.4 hours of standby time or 37.5 hours of 3G talk time or 32.5 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing or 72.9 hours of music playback or 22.6 hours of video playback.

Wide Angled Camera for the Selfie Generation: Packing a 13 Megapixel, f/2.0-aperture rear camera and a 5 Megapixel front camera, the ASUS PixelMaster 2.0 technology and dual-LED flash helps to click a natural-looking photography, while the 85I wide-viewing angle facilitates incorporating more information and details into the picture. Similar to the previous versions, Zenfone Max also features Laser Auto Focus technology to enable the photography enthusiasts to focus on an object in as fast as 0.03 seconds.

Elegant Style: Coming in three stylish colours (black, orange & blue), the new Zenfone Maxs extremely thin body (5.2mm), the feel of embossed leather at the back and the surrounding metal-like edge that makes it durable dont hurt the eyes either  quite literally owing to the Bluelight Filter for Eye Care.

With a 5.5 inch HD (1280 x 720) IPS display with full-screen lamination and ASUS TruVivid technology, the new Zenfone Max provides superior clarity, brightness and touch responsiveness. Weighing 202g, this smartphone also supports USB flash disk, USB Keyboard & USB mouse.

According to ASUS, this smartphone is meant for users who are always on the move and demand superior performance along with an elegant style, while justifying its promise of offering an extremely cost-effective high-end luxury product. The 2GB RAM version can be pre-ordered on Flipkart while Zenfone Max with 3GB RAM is available at Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart. It will also be available at ASUS Exclusive stores and all other retail stores across India soon.

Read Also: 4 Watches that are set for Android Wear 2.0 Upgrade

Top Smart Watches Standing a Chance to Rule the Indian Market Today
BENGALURU: Ever since Narendra Modi became the 15th Prime Minister of the country, he has constantly tried to reach out to the leaders of other countries to lure-in foreign investors into India with the idea of developing the country. His recent two-day visit to Iran can be seen in that light as he became the first Prime Minister to visit Iran in the past 15 years. During the visit, both the countries inked a number of deals that would help in strengthening ties between the nations in various fields. Some key takeaways of Modis visit to Iran are as follows:

The long due Chabahar project was finally inked. India, Iran and Afghanistan signed the historic trilateral trade treaty for developing the Chabahar port. As part of the deal, India would be spending $500 Million for the development of the port. The agreement is seen as an important one because of the ports strategic importance. The development of the port allows India in gaining a foothold in Iran as well as opening up alternate routes to Afghanistan, Russia and Europe without needing to go through Pakistan. The move is also seen as a countering one to Chinas growing influence in the development of Pakistan's Gwadar port located some 100 kilometers away from Chabahar port.

Apart from the Chabahar port deal, there were some other prominent treaties such as the construction of a smelter by Indias National Aluminium Company, investment in an Iran-Afghanistan rail line by Indian state-run engineering company IRCON. Several other MoUs regarding strategic and cultural exchanges such as India-Iran Cultural Exchange Programme, MoU between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Islamic Culture and Relations Organizations of the IR Iran were signed. MoU for cooperation between the National Archives of India and the National Library and Archives Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran was also penned to facilitate exchange of information and knowledge in the field of archival matters.

Read Also: Modi To Hold Conference With Top It Dept Brass Next Month

Iran Visit To Positively Impact Indo-Iran Ties: PM
WASHINGTON: The US is hopeful of concluding a key military logistics agreement with India and making progress on other foundational pacts in the defence sector ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here next month, a top American official has said.



"We are hopeful that progress would be made on some of the foundational agreements including the logistics agreement that might be concluded prior to the (US) visit (of Prime Minister) and we are looking to see if there are other things that we can take on board," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on India.



Biswal made the remarks while responding to questions on possibility of signing any security agreements between India and the US during the Prime Minister's visit.



Biswal said after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's recent visit to India, the two countries are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow the armed forces of the two countries to use each other's bases for resupply and repair.



"We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean," she said yesterday.



Modi is coming to the US on the invitation of US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the White House on June 7. He has also been invited by House Speaker Paul Ryan to address a joint session of the Congress.



"We have already strengthened our security cooperation in a number of key fronts and certainly (Defense) Secretary Carter's visit earlier this year was key in advancing many of those things," Biswal said in response to a question from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.



"We are looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation. We just launched the maritime security dialogue. We have undertaken a great a deal of activities in terms of co-production and co-development of various next generation technologies. We are looking to see if there are additional things that we can conclude during the Prime Minister's visit," Biswal said.

In recent years, the United States has become one of India's largest defence suppliers, totalling nearly USD 14 billion and up from less than USD 300 million eight years ago.

(Reopens FGN 11)



These sales include C-130 and C-17 transport planes, Poseidon (P-8) maritime reconnaissance aircraft and Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.



The deal for those helicopters was just finalised last September and will support thousands of American jobs, Biswal said.



"These deals not only increase interoperability between our armed forces, they also help buttress the growing economic ties through partnership and cooperation between our nations," Biswal said.



In her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the transformation in defence and strategic ties with India stands as one of the great changes of the past fifteen years.

Read Also: 10 University Hubs Which Are More Than Just About Education

8 Spectacular Special Forces Around the Globe
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Convening his task force on the heroin epidemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Staten Islanders Wednesday that he expects to get laws passed this session to address the deadly addiction that many New Yorkers have become all too familiar with.

The task force, whose members Cuomo appointed earlier this month, includes District Attorney Michael McMahon and Adrienne Abbate, executive director of the Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness and project director of its Tackling Youth Substance Abuse initiative.

Sitting with the task force inside the packed and sweltering CYO-MIV Center on the Pleasant Plains campus of Mount Loretto, Cuomo said the group should have "a comprehensive game plan" that he's optimistic will pass in the state Legislature before the session ends in a few weeks.

He called the heroin epidemic a "relatively new phenomenon" that hasn't been properly communicated to the public.

"I don't think society at large gets it," he said.

The governor mentioned the statewide prescription tracking database, I-STOP, as well as naloxone, known by its brand name Narcan, a spray that interrupts opioid overdoses and saves lives.

Those have been championed by state Sen. Andrew Lanza and Assemblyman Michael Cusick, both of whom were at the task force hearing Wednesday afternoon.

"We're building on that," Cusick said. "That's why it's important we have this task force."

Lanza agreed.

"This is one of the most important issues we face in our time," he said. We'll see "innovative, important, and, I think, successful solutions to this problem."

The two lawmakers have held a series of training events on how to use Narcan, and Lanza said Staten Islanders have approached him with their stories of success with the product in saving someone in the midst of an overdose.

Several members of the task force -- made up of experts in healthcare, drug policy, advocacy and education, as well as parents and recovering addicts -- spoke about their personal experiences and what they hoped the group would accomplish.

Task force member Pamela Mattel, chief operating officer of Acacia Network, serving the Latino community, rattled off a list of recommendations for the group: Cut bureaucratic red tape between levels of government to address the epidemic; leverage investment from the private sector; get the pharmaceutical industry involved in the discussion of changing how opioids are prescribed; incentivize medical providers to work with community programs; create immediate recovery housing for addicts; offer free counseling, and more.

Audience member Doug Apple, executive vice president and CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village, an addiction treatment center, said there aren't enough doctors on Staten Island available to prescribe suboxone and vivitrol to treat the addiction.

"The access to care is critical," he said.

Other speakers, like Luke Nasta, executive director of Camelot Counseling, noted the need for more long-term treatment.

Alicia Palermo-Reddy, founder of Addiction Angels, a local organization run by volunteers that helps addicts and their families find help, spoke about the need for more treatment beds on Staten Island.

Donna Mae DePola, president of the Resource Training Center, which provides addiction treatment training, said more time is needed in detox programs. She also criticized treatment plans that put addicts in one-hour sessions on a weekly basis.

She also called out the people who oppose building treatment centers in their neighborhoods.

"These are our kids, our neighbors, our friends," she said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Surveillance footage obtained by the Advance shows two men allegedly robbing the Green Corp. Deli and Grocery in New Brighton at gunpoint on Monday.

In the footage, taken by cameras at the deli, one suspect is seen wearing a white tank top, dark pants, and white sneakers and the other male is wearing a camouflage hooded sweatshirt with a red shirt underneath and jeans.

The men can be seen forcing customers and employees on the ground, then forcing a worker to empty the cash register.

According to police, one suspect armed with a silver gun walked behind the counter and demanded money from the cashier. The other, wielding a black firearm, ordered employees and shoppers to lie down on the floor near the rear of the store.

The robbers fled on foot after they stole about $2,000, according to an NYPD spokesman. No one was injured during the heist.

The suspects, described by police as black males who stand 6'5" and are around 30 years old, are still on the loose, the NYPD said Wednesday.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islanders looking forward to seeing the 2016 Fleet Week Parade of Ships Wednesday from the overlook at Von Briesen Park, Fort Wadsworth, were disappointed upon discovering that tall weeds blocked the view.

"The weeds at the overlook are over six feet tall and blocked the perfect view," wrote Staten Islander Dennis Rees.

The onlookers were forced to stand on the railing and benches to try and catch a glimpse of the ships from a higher vantage point as they sailed through New York Harbor. One resident even climbed a ladder for a better view.

"They thought going to the local park and seeing the ships from the overlook would be easy," wrote Rees. Von Briesen Park is known for its beautiful views of the Narrows.

To kick off Fleet Week 2016, Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters sailed into New York Harbor Wednesday morning as part the Parade of Ships, and docked around New York City.

It is anticipated that nearly 4,500 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen will participate in the 28th annual Fleet Week, which will be celebrated with various events throughout the city.

Two ships will be docked on Staten Island at the USS The Sullivan's Homeport Pier in Stapleton: The Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry and the Cyclone-class patrol (coastal) ship USS Shamal.
Savino.jpg

Sen. Diane Savino is the Senate sponsor of the bill that would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medicine to terminally ill patients if they request it. (Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - A controversial bill to legalize so-called physician-assisted suicide in New York has cleared a hurdle, being voted through the Assembly Health Committee.

Sen. Diane Savino is the Senate sponsor of the bill, the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would give doctors in the state the ability to prescribe end-of-life drugs to terminally ill patients who request it.

The act is the result of combining Savino's initial bill, End of Life Options Act, sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal in that chamber, with the Patient Self-Determination Act, sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Sen. John Bonacic.

The Medical Aid in Dying Act would allow life-ending drugs in cases where two doctors diagnose a patient as mentally sound and terminally ill and two witnesses confirm the patient's request for the drugs is voluntary.

The Senate bill is in the Health Committee, awaiting approval.

ARGUMENTS FOR AID IN DYING

Proponents of the act object to calling taking the end-of-life pills suicide.

"Aid in dying is not suicide, that's in the bill," said David Leven, executive director of End of Life Choices New York, a group that advocates for the law's passage. "Suicide is tragic. This is an act of empowerment. It's not as if these people want to die. They are dying and it's a matter of how they die."

Five states -- Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and California (starting June 9) -- have similar laws on the books.

Proponents favor offering the pills as an end-of-life option, wherein the patient takes them and dies gently in his or her sleep when the suffering becomes too painful.

The bill makes it a felony to attempt to coerce or exploit any patient into taking the drug.

It also protects healthcare providers from liability if they act within the law.

If the attending and consulting doctors feel a psychiatric evaluation is needed, a mental health professional enters the picture.

Leven noted that the medical community is divided on the merits of the law -- the American Medical Association opposes it and argues that hospice care provides adequate pain management for these patients.

The American Medical Student Association and American Medical Women's Association are proponents.

Oregon's law has been in effect for 18 years, and supporters of the New York proposal point to that Pacific Northwest state's success.

"The law has worked virtually as intended," Leven said.

Very few people in that state request the life-ending pills and even fewer actually take the pills.

"Thousands of people are comforted just knowing they have this option available to them," Leven argued.

Eric Seiff is one of them.

An 83-year-old attorney and competitive runner from the Bronx, Seiff was diagnosed with bladder cancer at the end of 2013.

He went through chemotherapy, and in June 2014 had his bladder removed. At the end of 2014, the cancer appeared in his lung. He received experimental treatment that built up his immune system to allow his body to attack the cancer and it worked -- the tumor receded and for the last year, he has been cancer-free.

At no time during the process did he want to end his life.

"But I'm a realist and I know one way or another something's going to happen to me," he said.

"If I'm at that point where there's no hope and I'm in considerable pain or other comparable disability, I want to have the ability to say 'enough'."

Savino understands Seiff's perspective.

"You should have an option to decide: do you want to let nature take its course or do you want to have control over it?" she said. "Some people feel, 'I want to decide when I end this'."

ARGUMENTS AGAINST 'SUICIDE'

The Catholic Conference calls aid in dying suicide and opposes it on moral grounds.

JJ Hanson with Patients Rights Action Fund argues the premise of the movement to legalize aid in dying drugs is flawed.

The Sullivan County resident was diagnosed in May 2014 with a rare form of brain cancer -- the same that Californian Brittany Maynard had. She moved to Oregon to get the life-ending pills and set off a national discussion.

Like Maynard, Hanson was given a terminal diagnosis with four months left to live. He received chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove the cancer.

During the treatment, he had nine seizures and lost cognitive abilities.

Now, two years later, the cancer is gone.

"Doctors are not always correct ... so this creates a pretty dangerous scenario for patients," he said. "You can survive."

With physician-assisted suicide, as the act's opponents see it, "Hope is being take away from people who could otherwise be fighting against the disease."

He challenged the narrative that assisted suicide is the dignified way to die, preventing terminally ill patients from dying a painful death.

He argued that many terminally ill patients who would take the end-of-life pills would do so because they feel they are a burden to their families and caregivers, not because they are in unmanageable pain.

That is coercion, he said, something that other opponents fear will become the norm if the bill is passed.

Diane Coleman, president and CEO of Rochester-based Not Dead Yet, focuses on the rights of disabled and elderly people, who she fears may be coerced into ending their lives, either to prevent a burden, or at the prompting of an heir.

The bill doesn't prevent an heir or caregiver from suggesting the drug to the patient. While two witnesses must sign off on the patient's request for the drug, confirming that it's voluntary, the taking of the drug itself, usually done at home, is not supervised.

If a patient changes his or her mind -- as Leven said in Oregon, one-third who get the pills don't take them -- there's nothing to prevent someone from giving the patient the drug, Coleman argued.

"A relative may have become tired of waiting," she said.

Savino dismissed Hanson's and Coleman's arguments.

The end-of-life pills are only given then -- at the end of a person's life -- not as an alternative to life-saving care.

"This is not a replacement for hospice or palliative care," Savino explained. The pills -- 100 in all -- are for when doctors have exhausted all life-saving options and the goal is to keep the patient comfortable.

For the many patients who are given the drugs and then opt not to take them, Savino doesn't buy the argument that the pills could be given to the patient against his or her will.

"It's pretty hard to get 100 pills down someone's throat if they don't want to take them," she said. "If your family member wants to kill you, they're going to find other ways to kill you, they don't need this, let's be honest."

As for the argument that disabled or elderly patients could be coerced into taking the drugs, Savino noted that disabled people are not eligible for the drug -- one must be cognizant enough to make his or her own decision.

The senator also pointed out that, "Ultimately, we're already doing something like this, whether people want to acknowledge it or not" because doctors can suspend end-of-life intervention like having a feeding tube, water or other life support mechanisms.

"There's really very little difference in what we're proposing other than the method," she said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

Pedro Agramunt, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), today welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to release journalist Khadija Ismayilova.



The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan made a decision on May 25 to release the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

A cassation appeal by Ismayilova was considered by the Supreme Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Ali Seyfaliyev May 25, and the Court sentenced her to conditional imprisonment term of three years and six months.

Earlier, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison.

Ismayilova's lawyers then filed a cassation appeal against the decision.

She was charged for misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of official duties.
Page Content

The Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor Emil Lee, congratulates Dr. Theodorus Jolles on his recent appointment as the President/Chair of the Council of Public Health.





The Council of Public Health is a crucial entity that solicits requested and un-requested advice to the Minister on matters concerning public health. Members are representatives of the private health sector and patient organizations.





Minister Lee also extends congratulations to the newly appointed secretary Drs. Bas Van den Bosch, who replaced Mr. Reinke Bram.





The members of the Council of Public Health are : Dr. T.Jolles-President, Dr. A. Van der Waag, Vice Chair, Mr. Bas Van den Bosch- Secretary, Mr. O Van de Gevel, member on behalf of health insurers, Mrs. Boetekees, member on behalf of the healthcare institutions, Dr. M. Mercuur, member on behalf of medical professionals, Mrs. S. de Cuba and Mrs K.E.A. Eusebuis, members on behalf of patient organizations.





Together the members provide unbiased professional guidance on decisions regarding public health, and I thank each member for their time and contributions, stated Minister Lee.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin and the Chair of the OSCE PA's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions Isabel Santos have welcomed the release by the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan of journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

"It is great news that Khadija Ismayilova has been freed from prison and will return safely to her family. I welcome this positive development, which ultimately serves the best interests of Azerbaijan, its people and the OSCE," said Vigenin, who will be in Baku later this week and will hold meetings on a range of issues.

"I take note of this positive step taken by Azerbaijan toward upholding its OSCE human dimension commitments and I look forward to constructively engage with Azerbaijan's authorities on human rights, the rule of law, and other democracy-related issues," said Santos.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan made a decision on May 25 to release the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

A cassation appeal by Ismayilova was considered by the Supreme Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Ali Seyfaliyev May 25, and the Court sentenced her to conditional imprisonment term of three years and six months.

Earlier, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison.

Ismayilova's lawyers then filed a cassation appeal against the decision.

She was charged for misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of official duties.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26

Trend:

US State Department welcomed the release of journalist Khadija Ismayilova, said Mark Toner, US State Department spokesman, during a briefing.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan made a decision on May 25 to release the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

A cassation appeal by Ismayilova was considered by the Supreme Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Ali Seyfaliyev May 25, and the Court sentenced her to conditional imprisonment term of three years and six months.

Earlier, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison.

Ismayilova's lawyers then filed a cassation appeal against the decision.

She was charged for misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of official duties.
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
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 25

By Demir Azizov- Trend:

Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the state and prospects of the multifaceted Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation, topical issues of international politics, the Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA) reported.

Lavrov arrived in Tashkent to participate in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-states.

President Karimov highly appreciated the results of the Uzbekistan-Russia summit talks in Moscow in late April.

Karimov and Lavrov confirmed their interest in the joint implementation of new investment projects for the production of competitive products as part of the agreement on the main directions of development and intensification of economic cooperation in 2015-2019.

Lavrov shared his views of the recently concluded meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers, stressing that Uzbekistan's constructive presidency in the SCO allows being confident in the successful holding of the Summit of Heads of State in Tashkent in late June 2016.

The views on other promising areas of the Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation were also exchanged during the meeting.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Switzerland doesn't reflect the whole potential of the two countries and it is possible to increase it, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Switzerland Akram Zeynalli said in an interview with the Swiss Russian-language publication Nasha Gazeta.

He noted that there are intensive trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland.

The ambassador said that the trade turnover between the two countries neared 379 million Swiss francs in 2015 and 212 million francs of this amount accounted for the export from Azerbaijan, according to the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.

"Although it the highest figure among the South Caucasus countries and one of the highest figures among CIS countries, it doesn't reflect the whole potential of our countries," said Zeynalli.

The diplomat said that currently, 65 Swiss companies, including Novartis, Holcim, Stadler Rail, ABB and others successfully operate in Azerbaijan.

"I would like to emphasize the operation of the bilateral intergovernmental trade and economic commission which meets every two years, views the current status of economic relations and works out proposals for improving them," he said. "The latest meetings of the commission were held in Bern in May 2014 and in Baku in March 2016."

In order to encourage the visits, business and other contacts, Azerbaijan and Switzerland held and have already completed the talks on visa facilitation for the citizens of both countries and the agreements are ready for signing.

"I hope that it will happen soon. But I would like to clarify that it is not about the complete cancellation of visas, but simplifying the visa issuance for the persons of certain categories, as well as the abolition of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports," the ambassador added.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov
Beaver Galleries: The Loaded Landscape. Australian landscape artist Judy Holding uses the layering of watercolour images to stress the richness and unresolved tensions of the Australian bush. New Morning. As a painter, printmaker and sculptor, artist Dean Bowen creates relationships between these mediums which often work as an extension of each other. Both until June 12. Open Tuesday to Friday, 10am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm. 81 Denison Street, Deakin. See: beavergalleries.com.au.

Judy Holding's The Loaded Landscape. Her work explores the richness and unresolved tensions of the Australian bush.

CCAS Gorman Arts Centre: Obnoxious Ladies in the Australian Landscape. This exhibition brings together the work of six female artists across a diverse range of mediums including painting, sculpture, video and jewellery to redefine women's relationships to the Australian landscape. Until June 18. Open Tuesday to Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday 10am-4pm. Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon. See: ccas.com.au.

Craft ACT: Crafting Waste. Local designer/maker Niklavs Rubenis addresses contemporary critical concerns around design, consumption, material culture and waste. Aesthetics in the Time of Emergency. An exhibition using craft, images and installations to explore the impact of natural disasters and climate change on human societies. Mix and Match. Artist Hsin-Yi Yang presents her interlocking ceramic objects with playful texture and colour that appeal to the child within. All until July 9. Open Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 12pm-4pm. Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit Canberra City. See: craftact.org.au or ph: 6262 9333.

Gallery@bcs: Exo State. A collaborative exhibition of wearable art by Nathan Carter and Radayne Tanna in celebration of Reconciliation Week. Until June 3. Open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen. Ph: 6264 0200.

Ginninderra School House Gallery: Everyday Inspirations. An exhibition of vibrant paintings by Sukhvinder Saggu. Until Sunday. Open Thursday and Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday 8.30am-4pm. Sweet Copper, Ginninderra School House Gallery, Old Ginninderra Village, 3/11 O'Hanlon Place, Nicholls. See: sweetcopper.com.au or ph: 6230 9007.

Megalo Print Studio and Gallery: Between A Rock And A Hard Place. An exhibition showcasing the work of Lancaster Press. Until Saturday. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am-5pm. 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Ph: 6232 6041 or see: megalo.org.
One hundred years ago this week a lively Table Talk columnist addressed Australia's glut of wheat and (welcome) shortage of wowsers.

"In the interests of patriotism and economy there should be a great wheat-eating campaign. About 50,000,000 bushels of grain cannot be found ship-room before the next crop comes in. The pigs, who used to get a large share of the mill refuse, are sadly depleted owing to drought and could not make an impression on the immense stacks at the railway sidings. The only hope seems to be to get the public into the habit of buying wheat and feeding it to chickens, making poultry a common dish for the dinner table."

Unacceptably lubricious ragtime dancing.

" 'I want you to rag with me,' sang 25 pretty girls of the parish of St. Stephen's at a concert one evening last week.

"A lot of people in the hall were envious of the 25 male partners on the platform with the girls. But there was one present who was strong to resist the allurements of the charming bevy.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has implemented 30 projects worth $270 million in Azerbaijan over the last two years, Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD president, said at a press-conference in Baku May 25.

Chakrabarti said EBRD is interested in developing the cooperation with Azerbaijan both in the oil and non-oil sectors.

"We are very interested in participating in the Southern Gas Corridor project, but we understand that it is important to make big investments in the non-oil sector to diversify the country's economy," he said. "I would like to say that the EBRD is investing in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector and the bank is ready to continue this process."

Chakrabarti noted that if the banking sector is not developing, talking about the development or diversification of the economy does not make sense.

He also touched upon the large-scale economic reforms being carried out in Azerbaijan and improvement of the country's economic policy.
Police are searching for a man who allegedly robbed a 7-Eleven store with a screwdriver in Canberra's north.

The man entered the Giralang store at 12.45am on Wednesday demanding cash and cigarettes, police say.

Police hunt for screwdriver bandit in Canberra's north.

He is also alleged to have told a staff member he had a gun. The staff member agreed with his demands.

Police believe he ran away from the store on the corner of Canopus Crescent and Atalumba Close
A prison guard who was jailed after a seriously flawed rape investigation has failed to force police to release secret documents about the sergeant who pursued him.

The prison officer was charged with 19 offences after his ex-partner, an unsworn NSW police worker, made damning allegations that he had beat and raped her in 2013.

This former prison guard spent months in Goulburn jail after his ex-partner falsely alleged he had bashed and sexually assaulted her.

The pair had been through a bitter break-up and were locked in a property dispute at the time of the allegations.
Australia's major banks receive an implicit subsidy worth between $1.9 billion and $3.7 billion from the market's assumption that taxpayers would come to the rescue in a crisis, the Reserve Bank of Australia has estimated.

The funding advantage that the big four banks gain over smaller rivals from being "too big to fail" peaked in the global financial crisis, but was still present when an internal report was prepared in 2015, documents published under Freedom of Information laws showed on Wednesday.

The finding from the RBA comes as regulators around the world look to limit the risk that taxpayers will be called on bail out banks, by forcing lenders to issue more "bail-in" bonds that would force creditors to wear bigger losses in a crisis.

Due to their critical role in the economy, investors assume big banks would be rescued by government in the event of a financial crisis.
Three property developers who made their fortunes flogging apartments are the youngest debutantes on this year's list of wealthiest Australians.

The youngest new entrant on the BRW Rich List is Melbourne-based developer Tim Gurner, worth a cool $460 million, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The 34-year-old founded his eponymous firm Gurner in 2013 and is behind a string of developments in hip suburbs outside Melbourne's CBD like Collingwood and Fitzroy and in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley. He has another $2 billion of similar projects in the pipeline.

Gurner borrowed money to open his first business, a gym, when he was 19 years old and then moved into property, eventually co-owning the Urban development group with Melbourne property barron Morry Schwartz. He is now Australia's 141st richest person.
The saddest part being that I wasn't terribly surprised. Donald Trump is scratching at a familiar sore, instilling fear in a weakening and insecure white, middle-class America that has found itself in political turmoil with an increasing, non-white population and a rising minority political power that's threatening the long-standing dominant status of the white American.

But it's not just immigrants who threaten the dominant status of the white American and motivate rage in the shrinking white majority. Many believe it's a black man in the White House that symbolises a physical manifestation of that threat.

The Huffington Post suggested in 2014 that "Barack Obama's election actually ignited racial tension in the country, rather than end[ed] it. As a result, white supremacists, hate crimes, and internet sites like Stormfront have grown exponentially."

There is a perceived economic threat to the dominant white American majority by the immigrant minority, in conjunction with the overall threat to the white American's dominant status within the social structure of America itself that jeopardises the cohesion of the United States as a nation. The resulting increase of hate-filled rhetoric now finds a home in a political party's platform and becomes a new normal in the country's shared vocabulary inciting contempt, resentment, and in the extreme, hatred and violence.

Former US president and Nobel peace prize winner Jimmy Carter has taken note of this recent rise in racism and hate speech in America, organising a peace summit scheduled for August this year where he intends to gather together Baptists of all races to focus on topics of race and social inequality. He told the New York Times Donald Trump's success has "tapped a waiting reservoir of inherent racism" and that he thinks there is "a heavy reaction among some of the racially conscious Republicans against an African-American being president".
The news of the death of the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in an American drone strike inside Pakistan is an important development. This is the first time the US has targeted a significant Taliban figure. It sends a chilling message not only to the Taliban and their affiliates, the deadly Haqqani network in particular, but also to Pakistan for harbouring such groups. However, it is unlikely to dull the Taliban-led insurgency and expedite a peaceful settlement of the Afghanistan conflict in the near future. Afghanistan's conflict is rooted in a myriad of internal and external factors. Three of them are critical.

First of all, we know very little about the "command and control" of the Taliban and, for that matter, the Haqqani network. What is known is that the Taliban leadership is reportedly run by a small governing shura or council. It is based in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan Province, with Pakistan's powerful military intelligence (ISI) exercising much influence on it.

The group was able to keep secret the death of its founder and spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died in Karachi hospital in early 2013, for two years. Yet, the Taliban leaders still managed to issue several statements in Omar's name. Embarrassingly enough, the former Afghan president Hamid Karzai (2001-2014) and his successor, Ashraf Ghani (2014-) publicly responded to them, and the US and its allies as well the world media treated them seriously.

Mansour succeeded Omar in July 2015. His assumption of power was equally shrouded in secrecy. It caused a power struggle within the Taliban. He was challenged by dissenting Taliban leaders and field commanders who demanded wider consultation and endorsement. However, as an ISI favourite, Mansour overcame the challenge by enhancing and expanding Taliban's military operations in Afghanistan at the cost of hundreds of lives.
And this never looks authentic. No doubt we'll see some poor sod forced to dab and nae nae before the campaign is through.

The release of the "cool Shorten" pic was at the benign end of the awkward plays for young people's attention we've come to expect from politicians. Australian politicians make a habit of engaging with young people by feigning their own youth, however ironically. Sometimes this comes in the form of literally releasing young pics, at other times it's carefully studied Game of Thrones references, not-at-all cultivated use of emojis by Julie Bishop-types, Rudd-style selfie offensives or even in Tony Abbott's Trump-esque spruiking of his "not bad-looking daughters".

Earlier this week, in an effort to get young voters to enrol before electoral rolls closed, Bill Shorten did what several of his Labor colleagues have done recently and released a very retro-looking '80s photo of himself as a young man, dimpled and smiling. "A lot has changed over the years, but one thing hasn't  you still need to enrol in order to have your say," the Facebook caption implored.

This is largely harmless guff  soft PR for politicians and cheap fodder for content-hungry news organisations (including this one), which lap up "fun" ways to report politics for young people. And gimmicky tactics which generate any youth interest are, to an extent, understandable. The AEC estimates about 20 per cent of adults 24 years old or younger may not even be registered to vote.

Student politics buddies: Annastacia Palaszczuk made friends with rising stars of the Labor movement as she got involved with issues early. Here, in the late 1980s, with Bill Shorten, right, and Chris Brown, left, who went on to become Tourism Transport Forum head.

But the usual approach to millennials rankles this (relatively) youthful voter because too often it is the only attention we get. The cutesy sops are sprinkled within a mainstream political culture that largely ignores young voters and their aspirations, then is surprised when they don't register to vote, don't engage or drift away from the major parties and vote for the Greens or someone else entirely. One recent Fairfax-Ipsos poll showed support for the Greens among 18- to 24-year-olds had risen to be almost level with Labor, at 32 per cent to 33, and well ahead of the Coalition's 25 per cent (albeit with an 8 per cent margin of error).

Young voters aren't a homogenous group by any means, but there are a few issues that routinely stand out which explain some of the disillusion. In a 2013 survey by the Australia Institute, voters under 25 listed jobs, rent and housing, university funding, same-sex marriage and climate change  in that order  as their most important issues.

It's almost a neat list of betrayals by the major parties. Unlike many parts of the world, the rights and needs of renters is a non-starter political issue in Australia, while housing affordability in Sydney in particular has long since spiralled out of control, supercharged by investors and aided by tax concessions like negative gearing  which Labor has only recently (welcomely)  promised to restrain.
Bill Herz, the last surviving crew member of Orson Welles' mock War of the Worlds newscast, which terrified American radio listeners in 1938 with vivid bulletins warning Newark residents to evacuate as invading Martians incinerated central New Jersey, died on May 10 in Manhattan. He was 99.

The cause was complications of pneumonia, said Bill Kux, a cousin.

Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast caused panic in America.

Herz worked on other radio and theatre productions as stage manager and casting director for Welles' Mercury Theatre company.

Welles' CBS show The Mercury Theatre on the Air presented an adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds for its Halloween episode on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938. The live hour-long program began with an updated prelude to the original novel eerily warning that super-intelligent beings had been coveting "this Earth with envious eyes".
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to support the economic reforms in Azerbaijan.

During a meeting of Azerbaijan's Finance Minister Samir Sharifov with the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the 9th Astana Economic Forum, the parties expressed mutual interest in IMF's supporting the economic reforms underway in Azerbaijan, both with participation of relevant experts and at the level of technical assistance, Azerbaijan's Finance Ministry said May 25.

At the meeting, it was also pointed out that the IMF supports the measures taken in Azerbaijan for protecting the interests of local producers and maintaining the country's reserves.

The same day, Samir Sharifov took part in the 9th Astana Economic Forum.

Addressing roundtable discussions, Sharifov talked about the measures taken under the leadership of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to mitigate the negative impact of the external economic shocks on the country's macroeconomic situation.
It was deplorable behaviour. But it happened because Premier Mike Baird's rushed process for local council mergers has been lacking in respect for local democracy, for elected representatives, and for the people who elected them.

The first meeting of the council formed from the amalgamation of Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville had to be abandoned and riot police were called. Sacked mayors and councillors from the three defunct councils took over the chamber and declared the inner west would be "ungovernable" until they were reinstated.

There is no excuse for thuggery and intimidation. The protesters who spat at, booed and jostled the state-government appointed head of the new Inner West Council on Tuesday night showed not only a complete lack of respect for the state government's council amalgamation process but for civil civic discourse, too.

The Herald stands by its view that there is a good case for mergers to give councils sufficient scale and heft to meet the mounting challenges of providing better services for diverse populations in ways that are sustainable. There is potential to make local government less costly and more efficient, reducing pressure on rates.

But good governance is at stake. The state government's approach is revealing itself to be deeply flawed and smacks of arrogance. It has not been sufficiently transparent. People want to know what the mergers mean for them, what will change and why.

Yes, as Mr Baird says, "people have us here to make decisions". But he is paid to listen and to represent, too. The mergers will not fulfil their promise unless his government changes tack to take account of local concerns.

One way forward would be to bring forward council elections. When Queensland reformed local government in 2008, merging councils remained in place to work alongside transition committees until local government elections were held. NSW by contrast sacked 42 councils to create 19 new ones, which are to be run by appointed administrators for the next 15 months until local council elections are held in September 2017. Although former mayors and councils are being invited to join advisory groups and local representative committees, they have no power to make decisions on behalf of the people who elected them.

The need for this provocative disenfranchisement has not been adequately explained. The elected representatives are not accused of wrong doing, yet have been stripped of authority. This is particularly troubling when Mr Baird and his Local Government Minister Paul Toole have not articulated why fresh elections cannot be held before September 2017. They would do much to restore public confidence in their processes if they brought the elections forward to November this year or March next year at the latest.
Whatever happened to planning? City planning used to be a thing  not a perfect thing, but real. It used to exist. There was a time when planners spoke straight, defended the public, changed the world. Being a professional meant standing up for principle not bending over for money, and planning's first principle was public benefit. Now, by contrast, with everything that you (or at least I) love about this town under threat, the city-making professions are conspicuous by their silence.

A wrecking ball hangs over Sydney. Map it out. Westconnex, the light rail, the Bays Precinct, Darling Harbour, public housing demolitions, Parramatta, Liverpool, Bankstown, Central to Waterloo. You'll see what I mean  but that's just the start. The suspension of legislative protections, the mass-sacking of councils, the presumption of corporatised government, the abandonment of process, the obsessive secrecy and the wholesale up-zoning of public land for private development means nothing is safe. In residential terms, we're looking at Hong Kong densities, three times Green Square, five times Pyrmont.

It's huge. As well as flogging every bit of public land and encroaching on every park (there's even a hotel proposed on public land at the zoo, for god sake), there's the greed-bleed on to neighbours. Everyone wants part of the action. The pressure mounts. Sydney will be unrecognisable. Your charmed heritage precincts, your safe-as-houses neighbourhoods? Zone them 35 storeys and see how long they last.

Yet every bit as conspicuous as these marching forests of towers and motorways are the missing voices. The eerie, echoic silence.
Politicians love to cut ribbons. Nothing says progress more than a grand opening, and the Melbourne Metro project, once the years of construction are done, will be a vast enhancement of the train network.

But after the opening ceremony and the media blitz, ongoing investment will be required to ensure what is shiny and exciting does not collapse into disrepair. There is no glamour in maintenance, and little political kudos to be won. But the work is essential  and sadly, the rest of Melbourne's train network is suffering for a lack of love.

Politicians love to turn sods, but are less ready to spend what's required to get trains to run on time. Illustration: Matt Davidson

Ask any commuter about the frustration experienced seemingly every week catching trains. Most people know all too well that groan at hearing an announcement to tell them their ride will be delayed, whether as a consequence of a signal fault, a broken track or damage to the overhead power cables. The cost in inconvenience is considerable, and lost productivity in the economy immeasurable. But according to the private operator, Metro Trains, a fourfold increase in government funding is needed to fix it all. And that's before we even get to repairing the actual trains themselves.

Most of the political talk about public transport in recent years has been dominated by grand schemes and major new projects. The Coalition proposed a new line to sweep from the city to Fishermans Bend and a rail link to the airport; Labor countered with the $10.9 billion Melbourne Metro project.
How can the word ugg be trademarked by any company? The answer lies in the difference between language and culture, as it applies to business. Both Australia and the US use English as their main language, but each country has its own unique cultural terms like ugg, which are not used in the other. While the Macquarie dictionary includes the term ugg as meaning a fleece-lined boot with an untanned upper, the word appears in neither the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the main US dictionary, nor Britain's Oxford dictionary. The Australian word ugg is said to be derived from the word ugly, and appeared in Australian slang, but not elsewhere, in the surfer culture of the 1960s and '70s.

The Australian ugg manufacturing industry, joined by South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, is crying foul. It may not be pretty, but it is fair: the US company is actually playing by the rules, and is likely to prevail.

The queues of tourists buying UGG Australia boots at shops in the CBD should be congratulated for supporting American industry, as UGG Australia is a trademark owned by US-based Deckers Corporation. Deckers is suing Australian Leather Pty Ltd in the US for using the word "ugg" to describe its ugg boots that are being sold in overseas markets.

The predominant international law here is the TRIPS agreement, to which Australia became a party in 1995. That agreement stipulates that visible markers of a brand are eligible for trademark protection, as long as those signs are not well-known in that country. So a firm cannot register a trademark for the word "chair," for example, because that word is well known throughout the English-speaking world. But countries that have the same language can still have different cultural terms like ugg.

The Macquarie dictionary includes the term ugg as meaning a fleece-lined boot with an untanned upper, but it doesn't appear in US or British dictionaries. Credit:James Alcock

The Californian company "Ugg Imports" first filed a trademark registration of the term in the US in 1984. At that time, the Australian term ugg was not well known in the US, so it qualified for protection there. Deckers acquired the company in 1995, and now owns the UGG trademark in more than 120 countries outside of Australia and New Zealand. So even though the Australian manufacturers argue that the boots originated in Australia, Deckers does legitimately own the trademark in most of the world's consumer markets, and can therefore legally prevent anyone else from using that term, just as Billabong or Qantas can prevent competitors from using their trademarked names.

Why didn't the Australian ugg industry trademark the term in other countries? In the 1970s, the ugg manufacturing industry was a cottage industry, with surf enthusiasts selling the boots in small shops or out of trucks at the beach. The fragmented nature of the industry meant that few retailers were paying attention to global markets, and retail markets in general were far less globalised. To Australian firms, the word ugg was a generic word, so protecting the term as a form of competitive advantage in overseas markets just did not occur to anyone. It was also a much more complex and costly process to register for trademark protection in other countries than it is today, which may have further impeded such action by an Australian industry comprised of small individual proprietors. By the time the ugg boot fashion exploded on the global scene, Deckers already owned the trademark on the term, as well as related terms like "Ughs," and it was too late for Australian firms.

Activists on behalf of the Australian industry have argued that France can legally prevent sparkling wine from being called champagne, so Australia should be able to similarly protect the word "ugg". These arguments misunderstand the different tools used to protect intellectual property. The word champagne is protected as a geographical indicator, and it refers to a product from the Champagne region of France, just as Modena Balsamic vinegar refers to balsamic vinegar that comes from the Modena province of Italy. By contrast, there is no state or region in Australia called Ugg that is famous for making ugg boots, so that argument does not apply.
And while one can look at Labor's budget and surmise, probably accurately, that they're going to have to increase taxes in order to pay for things - which, let's be clear, is going to happen regardless of who wins the election because reality is a thing - but the criticism is also a little weird coming from the man whose own budget was predicated heavily upon billions of dollars in supposed "savings" legislated in the 2014 and 2015 budgets despite the awkward fact that his government failed to actually pass them. In other words, Scozz, there's a black hole on top of the black hole in your black hole. Maybe you need to consult a cosmologist, or at least a calculator. To sleep, perchance to campaign Mind you, at least Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has been impressed with the opposition, praising its leader in no uncertain terms.

"Bill Shorten is very caring and very much in touch," he enthused to reporters on Wednesday, "and Bill Shorten every single day is promoting our national economic plan for jobs and growth, which of course is exactly what Australia needs given the continued global economic headwinds." And Shorten wasted no time in capitalising on Cormann's declaration, adding that this was the second government frontbencher to praise Labor this week: "[Health Minister] Susan Ley famously said earlier this week that she would have liked to have convinced Treasury and Finance about adopting our health policies [in that she would choose to lift the government's Medicare freeze but is forbidden to do so]. I guess Senator Cormann has officially terminated Mr Turnbull's scare campaign." And sure, Cormann simply misspoke in an example of what neurologists describe via technical terms like "parapraxis" or "brain farts", but we're not even half way through the election campaign and already we're seeing these sorts of hilarious muddles. How are things going to look after another couple of weeks of high stress and sleep deprivation? Counting sheep Heck, only today the PM responded to a queries regarding the resignation of the Liberal candidate for Illawarra claiming a lack of support from the party and local branches and her unwillingness to be a "sacrificial lamb" with "she's made her decision as she is entitled to do but I'm totally focused on jobs and growth," which you might notice makes exactly zero sense in the context of the question that was asked, which was "is it true that Dr Carolyn Currie been abandoned by the party?"

It's on message, sure, but it also sounds like the sort of thing Turnbull would say when unconvincingly reassuring someone he's not dozing off. And while both leaders are impressively fit, this is an epic election campaign with over five weeks to run - and Shorten is 49 years old while Turnbull is 61. No matter how agile and innovative the PM might be, that's a long time to go without at least a few proper nanna naps. Mark our words, friends: around mid-June, when the proper exhaustion starts to kick in on all sides, things are going to get downright surreal. It's a joke: Joyce There are few gifts to Australian politics like that of the ongoing enmity betwixt professional pretend pirate Johnny Depp and caretaker National leader Barnaby Joyce.

You might have reasonably expected that it had died down after Depp and wife Amber Heard gave the world's most duress-expressive video apology the other month. That had been part of their Joyce-imposed settlement stemming from Heard's decision to bring the couple's dogs Pistol and Boo to visit Depp on the set of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean V: Actually In Queensland in nose-thumbing defiance of our quarantine laws. The video of their grudging apology went viral (and spawned multiple parodies, including this best one) but Depp's appearance on US talk show Jimmy Kimmel offered the Hollywood movie star an opportunity to speak truth to power. Pointedly referring to the deputy PM as "Barnaby Jones", Depp suggested he was "inbred with a tomato" and that he might explode, adding "I think the choice they made to utilise the taxpayer dollars to globally chase down a couple of teacup Yorkies and give them 50 hours to live, I realised the badness of my ways." And presumably Joyce was delighted to talk about something other than his desperate battle to retain the seat from popular returning independent Tony Windsor, which would explain why Barn was so keen to describe himself as um, a cannibal serial killer?

Hello, Clarice "I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers," Joyce gleefully declared. "Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he's remembering me. I'm turning into his Hannibal Lecter." And that's um, weird. And also obviously nonsense. First up, Barn, is I-will-eat-your-liver really a winning message to send to the people of New England? Failing to stop your own government pushing mining approvals through within your electorate is one thing; actively dining on people seems likely to be even less popular - although, to be fair, the Nationals have probably done more specific private polling in the electorate than has this column. And secondly: you've "forgotten" Mr Depp? Really? Oh, Barn: that's even less plausible than the idea that you could identify a nice chianti.
If a Turnbull defeat is a mirage then the next five weeks will see a downturn in Labor's fortunes. Or perhaps the campaign will flat line and a 50:50 result will return the government with a seriously reduced majority.

However, some thoughtful commentators are thinking the unthinkable. That is, prodded by the polls, they have come to believe that Labor has a winning chance. Not so long ago, that really was unthinkable. It is easy to forget this fact during an uninspiring election campaign.

The idea of a Shorten victory and a Turnbull defeat may turn out to be a mirage. If that is the case, Malcolm Turnbull will win comfortably on July 2 and then Bill Shorten will probably be consigned to the dustbin and replaced as Labor leader as nearly everyone has expected will happen for a long time. Service will soon be returned to normal, as the television stations say, after an unexplained interruption.

At the same time, other commentators, such as ANU's Norman Abjorensen, have explored what that would mean for Turnbull. He would have won but been denied the strong mandate necessary to remake the Abbott government in his own image. It would remain, as Tony Abbott keeps insisting, an Abbott-Turnbull government. Abbott himself, and maybe even Eric Abetz, may return to the ministry as a gesture of unity and recognition of the reality that this is a conservative-liberal government, not the other way around.

But what if Shorten wins? For commentators it would mean throwing a lot of conventional wisdom about the impossible task of first-term Opposition leaders out the window. It would also mean a much quicker return to government than most Labor MPs, after being tossed out of office in September 2013, ever thought would happen. Until recently they didn't really think they had a chance to win. Some of the senior members of the shadow ministry probably thought it was unlikely they would ever become ministers again. Their careers in government were probably over. Labor was looking to the next generation.

For the Liberals, it goes without saying that a Turnbull defeat would be an absolute disaster for the party. That is always the case when a first-term government loses as happened with the Coalition state governments in Victoria (2014) and Queensland (2015). Particularly in Queensland, the state of bewilderment was overwhelming.

But the clear ideological divisions among the federal Liberals, associated with the replacement of Abbott by Turnbull last September, will make the fall-out this time so much greater. The battle between liberals and conservatives would be fierce. While Shorten might just survive a narrow defeat, Turnbull almost certainly would not.

Abbott, Abetz, Andrews and other conservatives would still be seething. Turnbull would be in their sights. Conservatives in the party branches would be calling for blood. Those MPs who voted for Turnbull only because he was a more likely winner would be open to a new leader. Just who that might be is unclear. Julie Bishop may be an acceptable compromise, despite being tarred by conservatives for her role in Abbott's removal. Other possibilities like Scott Morrison would also take blame as Treasurer for the election defeat.
Though the horrors of Nauru and Manus Island are familiar to every Australian who cares to know about them, journalists have rarely been allowed to visit and report back. Chasing Asylum makes the nightmare concrete, incorporating video shot in secret by staff on their mobile phones.

Arguments over asylum seekers in Australia have been going round in circles almost as long as I can remember, and the saddest thing about Chasing Asylum is how little of it feels new. Nonetheless, this partially-crowdfunded plea for decency  directed by the US-based Eva Orner, who won an Oscar as producer of the anti-torture documentary Taxi to the Dark Side  is a powerful statement that demands wide circulation and debate.

While this lurching, low-grade footage confirms claims made elsewhere in the film, Orner uses it above all to force us to share the experience of disorientation  echoing the technique of fiction films such as Lebanon and the recent Son of Saul.

Torture: Chasing Asylum incorporates video shot in secret by staff on their mobile phones.

Filling out the picture are interviews with a number of former detention centre workers, some of them recruited straight from university with no relevant training. Looking back, they still sound shocked by the squalor they encountered: excrement scattered on the ground, sweltering men packed like sardines into a tin shed, a culture of routine brutality, self-harm and despair.

All this is nominally justified as a means of discouraging others from risking their lives at sea. But as the commentator David Marr argues here, it's difficult to see how the argument can be sustained. Few Australians would otherwise consider treatment amounting to torture an appropriate deterrent for risky behaviours, even criminal ones  and asylum seekers have, of course, committed no crime.

If Chasing Asylum is not the first word on its subject, it is also not the last. There's room for another documentary that might look more closely at the repeated rhetorical moves that constitute our local asylum seeker "debate", including the ongoing propaganda campaign waged by the government to warn off future arrivals to Australia.
It's one of the weirdest combinations seen in a long time: funny men Mike Myers and Simon Pegg joining Australian star Margot Robbie in, of all things, a stylish noir thriller.

Terminal, also starring Max Irons (The Riot Club, Woman in Gold) and Dexter Fletcher (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Kick-Ass) is being directed by Vaughn Stein and described as the story of two hit men (Irons and Fletcher) who go on what looks like a suicide mission for a mysterious employer and a large paycheck.

Pegg, recently doing more sci-fi than comedy, has been constantly employed but Myers has been notably absent on cinema screens for years, with his last notable role being just a small one in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.

The film is being shot in Hungary and Robbie's character is a mysterious woman the hitmen meet along the way. Myers role has not yet been detailed, but Collider reports that while he may have been out of the spotlight for a few years, he has been hard at work behind the scenes. While there have long been rumours of a fourth Austin Powers film  the brand that made his name even bigger after his Wayne's World successes  a more likely prospect is believed to be an HBO series he has been working on.
Sources tell Fairfax Media this review could be seen  fairly or unfairly  as a "whitewash". Ali Elamine has been in a custody dispute with his estranged wife Sally Faulkner. They're even more worried about one or two staff being "thrown to wolves" to quell public outrage. Some insist the blame must be shared among everyone involved in the saga. One source said high-profile 60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown would have known that snatching a child off the street in Beirut is against the law. If not, she is experienced enough to have raised ethical or safety concerns. Yet some believe her star power makes her "too big to fail". Tara Brown and Stephen Rice arrive at Sydney International Airport after the Beirut saga. Credit:Getty Images

Nine's woes began in early April. Brown, producer Stephen Rice, camera operator Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment were thrown in jail  with Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner  after a botched "child recovery" operation in Lebanon. All were soon freed, but the self-styled "recovery" agents used in the raid  Adam Whittington, Craig Michael and two Lebanese men who assisted  remain imprisoned. Sources also see Tom Malone as a "possible protected species". Malone was the executive producer of 60 Minutes when the story was commissioned. He has since been promoted to Nine's director of sport. Tara Brown and sacked producer Stephen Rice on their return to Sydney, after being released from a Lebanese jail. Credit:Getty Images Current executive producer Kirsty Thomson  who was chief of staff when the story was approved  could survive, too. Sources speculate that Rice  producer of the Beirut child report  may be in the most danger. They suggest it was his responsibility to arrange any payment, and to oversee the operation. (These sources stress they have not seen Nine's internal report yet.)

An emotional Tara Brown explains her perspective on 60 Minutes after being released from a Beirut jail following a botched child recovery story in April. Credit:Channel Nine In April, Fairfax Media revealed Nine transferred almost $70,000 to the child abduction firm used in the botched recovery. There are conflicting suggestions about the fate of Darren Wick, Nine's director of news and current affairs. Some fear he will be "unfairly" targeted; others put him in the "too big to fail" category. Tara Brown "A lot of these people will turn around and say, 'I wasn't involved, I didn't know anything'," says one person close to the situation.

"That [raises] the question: Why didn't you know? It's your job to know these things. Did you ask the right questions? Did you push it to the very top? If not, why not?" The investigation could not come at a worse time for 60 Minutes, which continues to shed viewers. In 2014, it averaged a metropolitan audience of 1.19 million. This dropped to 953,000 last year, and 792,000 this year. It is no surprise. For years, Nine has bumped 60 Minutes around its schedule to accommodate its reality shows. Its prime time audience is also being eroded by streaming services, and the growth of free-to-air multi-channels. Given 60 Minutes trades on its reputation, Nine staff fear the once-proud program is irrevocably tainted. Some believe it is now making mis-steps. With the "Beirut Four" still on leave, remaining staff are under stress.

On Sunday, Nine went from family-friendly The Voice to a gang rape story on 60 Minutes. While not disputing the merits of this report, some felt "the transition could have been handled better". There is suspicion the "look back" segment the week before, marking 10 years since the death of reporter Richard Carleton, was also a cheap way to fill the slot. Those close to the show dispute suggestions they are "scrambling" for content. A Nine spokeswoman told Fairfax Media she would not comment on the internal investigation. She said: "60 Minutes does a wide range of stories, and something such as the story last Sunday night on a young Australian fighting for justice [goes] to the core of what the show does so well: give a voice and shine a light on something that others try to sweep under the carpet. "The 60 Minutes team are talented, and working constantly on new stories. We are not scrambling at all. That is trivial gossip in the extreme."
Teaching may be the noblest of professions but how more of its practitioners don't end up on assault charges is beyond me.

Confronted with unruly, disrespectful and wilfully disruptive students with scant obvious interest in learning, the temptation to lash out with the occasional backhander must be immense. That they generally resist that urge is testament not only to the fact the law takes a dim view of corporal punishment as a pedagogical tool these days but also to the extraordinary moral fibre the best educators must possess.

In Revolution School, the scope of that challenge is laid out plainly. A four-part observational documentary filmed over the course of a full school year, it follows Kambrya College in Berwick, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, as it attempts to scale the cliff face of educational performance.

From bottom 10 per cent in the state in 2008 to somewhere near the top is a long and arduous journey, not to be undertaken lightly. But, says principal Michael Muscat in the first moments of the series, "When you are rock bottom, there's only one way to go".


Details added (first version posted on 18:32)



Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to support the economic reforms in Azerbaijan.

During a meeting of Azerbaijan's Finance Minister Samir Sharifov with the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the 9th Astana Economic Forum, the parties expressed mutual interest in IMF's supporting the economic reforms underway in Azerbaijan, both with participation of relevant experts and at the level of technical assistance, Azerbaijan's Finance Ministry said May 25.

At the meeting, it was also pointed out that the IMF supports the measures taken in Azerbaijan for protecting the interests of local producers and maintaining the country's reserves.

The same day, Samir Sharifov took part in the 9th Astana Economic Forum.

Addressing roundtable discussions, Sharifov talked about the measures taken under the leadership of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to mitigate the negative impact of the external economic shocks on the country's macroeconomic situation.
Oh to have been a fly on the wall when James Cameron saw what had been done to the franchise he'd built via a terrific B-movie and groundbreaking blockbuster. A vastly expensive mess that somehow rarely looks impressive  or cohesive or challenging, for that matter  this update of the science-fiction time-travel series uses altered timelines to create a new strand for an ageing machine, with Arnold Schwarzenegger's monotonal robot a creaky figure in Alan Taylor's film. Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke is Sarah Connor, with Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) as her grown son, who will lead humanity to victory against their machine adversaries in the future, and the once powerful bonds they carried across Cameron's films are casually destroyed here, making for a reboot that doesn't appear to understand the fundamental filmmaking DNA of their inspiration. This wasn't the first failed Terminator sequel Hollywood produced, but hopefully it's the last. Craig Mathieson

ABC, 6.30pm

The final part of this three-part Compass special about the men and women providing emotional and spiritual support to the approximately 35,000 Australians in our prison system begins at the Lithgow Correctional Centre, where community chaplain Kim Miller has come to meet James, a prisoner who has been offered a place in a Newcastle halfway house on his release. Serving time in jail is much like being on the space shuttle, Kim observes: "the most dangerous part is re-entry." Without structure, funds or opportunity, many prisoners lose their way upon gaining their freedom, and the volunteers at Friendship House try to engage the participants. The documentary's tone, like the Friendship House philosophy, is low-key and non-judgmental, but the testimony of those who've benefited from the small program attests to both the difference it can make and the attention and care required to truly rehabilitate  as oppose to merely punish  just one person. Craig Mathieson

Pay: Crimes that Shook Australia

CI, 7.30pm

Robert Farquharson's murder of his three young sons by driving them into a dam on Father's Day 2005 was one of the most shocking crimes ever committed in Australia. So it's pleasing to see presenter Stan Grant and the Crimes that Shook Australia team approach it with the solemnity and sensitivity that it warrants. The central figure in this affecting documentary is the boys' mother, Cindy Gambino, a woman who is still clearly devastated by the loss of her sons, and who displays immense courage in telling her story here. Gambino, along with her friend and now husband, Stephen Moules, and crime writer Megan Norris, paint a picture of Farquharson as a man who many thought was solid and reliable but who was in fact selfish, resentful and cruel. Police who investigated the crime explain how Farquharson's behaviour and physical evidence at the scene immediately placed him under suspicion. Brad Newsome
It's Big Wednesday in Sydney, where large and powerful waves are pounding the coastline and giving experienced surfers a reason to grin.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that surf conditions were expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as rock fishing and swimming, as the swell that had been building throughout Tuesday peaked on Wednesday morning.

Waves of nearly two metres in "big, straight, solid sets" were reported at Bondi Beach on Wednesday morning, surfing website Swellnet reported.
Its a wonder that Barnaby Joyce and Johnny Depp don't lick and make up. After all, the pair are proud owners of small dogs.

The Joyce family has two miniature sausage dogs, Misty and Sally, while the Depp's Pistol and Boo, are Yorkshire terriers.

But forget what they say about people looking like their dogs, the American actor thinks the Deputy Prime Minister resembles a tomato.
And following the interview, the opposition frontbencher left behind sensitive ALP talking points, containing details on asylum seeker and budget policy, The Daily Telegraph reports .

Mr Feeney was grilled by Sky News political editor David Speers on Wednesday afternoon over his failure to declare a $2.3 million negative geared property, first revealed by Fairfax Media , conceding it as " the biggest own goal of the campaign ".

Labor frontbencher David Feeney has accidentally leaked confidential opposition briefing notes, leaving them behind in a TV studio after a car crash interview.

According to the report, the papers say "we have the same policies as the Liberals on stopping the people smugglers and Mr Turnbull knows it".

Labor's David Feeney left behind the briefing notes after a car crash interview with Sky's David Speers on Wednesday. Credit:Sky News

They also outline Labor's commitment to balance the budget "over the medium in a responsible manner", meaning between 2019 and 2026.

The briefing also directs MPs to deflect any questions on campaign material being manufactured in Bangladesh by saying it was up to the party's state branches, and sells Labor's proposed negative gearing restriction as creating a "level playing field".

The information is circulated daily among MPs by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's office. Speers tweeted that Mr Feeney left the notes in the studio's waiting area - "an area heavily trafficked by other guests and staffers".
"I never forgot I had a home, my failure ... was to not register the house in the register of interests." In the interview, Mr Feeney conceded his failure to declare a $2.3 million negatively geared property as "the biggest own goal of the campaign". The MP said he was "completely supportive" of Labor's policy to tighten the rules on negative gearing and capital gains tax - despite conceding he may be a "rich investor" himself, at least according to the "free character assessment he was getting last week". And Mr Feeney said it was not true that he had not known - as he initially told Fairfax Media - whether the Northcote property was negatively geared. "What I said to The Age at the time was that I wanted to go and check the circumstances of the house and come back with a forensic answer ... I wanted to check what the circumstances of the house were," he said.

"As my wife explained on radio on Friday, in our marriage she does the finances ... The Age of course mercilessly made it a story about me not knowing the answer instantly." But it only got worse from there for the Victorian MP when Speers asked if Labor would keep the $4.48 billion Schoolkids Bonus, which is due to end in July. "The Baby Bonus?" Mr Feeney asked. "The Schoolkids Bonus," Speers repeated. "You'll have to refer to our relevant shadow [minister]. I've been a little distracted over the last few days," Mr Feeney said.

But Speers was having none of it. "This is a four and a half billion measure, the last payment goes out the door in July. Labor has railed against it, it's voted against it and you don't know whether you are going to keep it?" "I refer you to the relevant shadow, I don't have the answer," Mr Feeney said. The relevant shadow, families spokeswoman Jenny Macklin, in March said that in relation to the Schoolkids Bonus Labor would "stand with Australian families against these cuts every day up to the next election", a clear indication it would reverse the cut. Mr Feeney, who must wish he had skipped the regular Sky interview like he had the previous week, was also unable to answer questions about whether a Labor government would proceed with changes to the pensions assets test or family payments.
It signals an end to a series of smaller registries managed on a not-for-profit basis, but is a separate program from another plan to outsource Medicare's chronically inefficient payment delivery system, which Labor has decried as privatisation of Medicare by stealth.

The lucrative contract, which one industry source estimated at as high as $180 million over three years, will be announced by Health Minister Sussan Ley.

The Turnbull government is pushing ahead with plans to place sensitive medical records under corporate management and will announce on Thursday that Telstra Health - a division of Telstra - has been awarded the contract to manage a new national cancer screening register from next year.

The novel foray into medical information management by the telecommunications giant could be unpopular with patients raising concerns about privacy and security, and even raising questions over the extent of legal protection under Australian law if data is stored or transmitted offshore.

Former health minister Sussan Ley said in 2015 health funds were issuing "junk" policies to keep budget conscious customers. Credit:Andrew Meares

The decision to award the contract to Telstra Health is expected to involve the creation of a national screening register eventually incorporating results for all Australians who return positive screening tests for cervical and bowel cancer as well as records of vaccinations under the Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Program Register.

Until now, state-based not-for profit organisations have been involved in compiling and maintaining the registers, with at least one, the Victorian Cytology Service, being overlooked for the national contract, despite its extensive experience in the field which has included providing its registry services to South Australia also.

Fairfax Media has been told Telstra Health had since made overtures to Victoria Cytology Service for access to its expertise, staff, and other resources to enable it to get the new national register up and running by May 1, 2017.
A sitting Labor MP and a Labor candidate on the NSW North Coast have split with their party to back a ban on political donations from miners and all fossil fuel subsidies.

In a new headache for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, whose campaign has been hindered by Labor candidates opposing the ALP's hardline stance on border protection, Justine Elliot, the current member for Richmond, and Janelle Saffin, the former Page MP who is trying to win the seat back, have broken ranks.

Both have signed up to the "pollution-free politics" pledge of environmental organisation 350.org.
Sarma Melngailis was the apple of New York's vegan eye.

The stunning, Ivy League educated 43-year-old, ran a popular vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, in the city, frequented by celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson and Bill Clinton.

Pure has featured on Forbes magazine's list of "All Star New York Eateries" on numerous occasions.

She appeared on the cover of magazines and featured in blogs and on websites, a poster girl for the benefits of healthy living.
Australian veterans have welcomed a British parliamentary report calling on the Ministry of Defence to overhaul its use of controversial drug Lariam, known in Australia as mefloquine.

Both British and Australian veterans have linked the drug to insomnia, hallucinations, depression and vertigo. In some cases, the drug has complicated post-traumatic stress diagnoses and been blamed for suicidal thoughts.

In the ADF, mefloquine is used only if doxycycline or malarone fail. Credit:ADF

The report, commissioned after an inquiry last year, found there was "very strong anecdotal evidence" showing British officers ignored warnings from the drug's manufacturer and dispensed it to large numbers of troops.

Unlike the ADF, British forces have not preferenced which antimalarial drugs are prescribed to soldiers, leading to a higher rate of side effects. In Australia, mefloquine is used only if doxycycline or malarone fail.
The body of a Melbourne woman who died on Mount Everest has been moved 300 metres down the mountain, in the first stage of an arduous operation to repatriate the Monash University lecturer to Australia.

Dr Maria Strydom - who also went by the name Marisa  could not be revived after reportedly collapsing with altitude sickness on the Geneva Spur at the weekend.

Another person on the Seven Summits Treks expedition, Dutch climber Eric Arnold, also died, while Dr Strydom's husband, Ivanhoe East veterinarian Robert Gropel, was flown to Kathmandu after also falling ill. He has since been released from hospital.

On Wednesday evening, Dr Strydom's best friend, Carly Moulang, confirmed that a rescue team had reached her friend's body and had managed to take her 300 metres down the mountain, to about 7400 metres above sea level.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

Analysts at the US bank JP Morgan believe that the upcoming OPEC meeting in June will have an unexpected result.

"Market expectations for a meaningful agreement from OPEC's June meeting are likely low following April's debacle in Doha, when eight weeks of diplomatic negotiations failed to yield an agreement to cap output at current levels," the bank's analysts said in a monthly oil market report, obtained by Trend.

"Yet even though Russia seems unlikely to attend, the dynamic within OPEC may yet produce a surprise result, even if it is simply to re-engage with non-OPEC producers to restart talks," added the analysts.

They also believe that with Iran's production back above its pre-sanctions level of 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) and closing in on 4 million bpd, it is not wholly unlikely that they could agree to limit output at 4 million bpd in conjunction with similar pledges from other producers.

In particular, the drawdown in Saudi inventories would, in the analysts' view, indicate a degree of reticence on the part of Saudi Arabia to lift the output from the 10.2 million bpd level without some catalyst, e.g. more material outages, or rapidly appreciating prices that undermine its medium-term objectives of forcing the bulk of the adjustment in supply onto high cost producers.

Overall, JP Morgan forecasts the OPEC oil production at 33 million barrels per day in 2016 and 33.2 million barrels per day in 2017.

The last meeting of oil producers in Doha ended without any agreement. The talks on the oil output freeze collapsed after Saudi Arabia surprised OPEC by reasserting the demand that Iran also agrees to cap its oil production.

The next OPEC meeting will be held June 2 in Vienna.
It says NSW will be increasingly reliant on state taxes - from 40 to 50 per cent as a proportion of revenue - as its GST share shrinks due to population growth slower than the national average and Commonwealth payments fall. Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian has delivered her second budget. Credit:Louie Douvis "Improving the way we deliver services and infrastructure can help to address the fiscal gap, but governments also need a sustainable revenue base to meet future demand," the report says. "Reforms to state taxes provide governments with an opportunity to support productivity and growth, and to provide a more stable revenue base that aligns with expenditure. In particular, decreasing the reliance on volatile and inefficient taxes would deliver large economic gains." Jodie Watt, a 20-year-old nursing student who lives with her parents in Beverly Hills, said she was already considering moving to another state due to the high cost of living in Sydney.

Ms Watt said the projected $17 billion fiscal gap is "pretty worrying". "Just now as I get closer to moving out of home, getting a job and moving on in my life, it's a worrying fact that I just feel like I'm not going to be able to do and get all the things my parents could and all the things I've wanted to do since I was younger. They are starting to seem less achievable." Ms Watt said she was worried about the quality of the healthcare she and her parents would be able to receive in the future as the state grapples with an ageing population. "As a nursing student I know we don't have the capability and I'm worried what's going to happen with my parents as they get older, if we're going to have to carry the burden. It's going to keep on spiralling," she said. Ms Watt said a balance would need to be found between cutting services and raising taxes to address the projected fiscal gap.

However it is a problem Ms Watt might not be here to witness in 2056, as she is considering buying or renting interstate when she finishes her studies. The statement refocuses attention on NSW's heavily reliance on stamp duty from property transactions - regarded as an inefficient and volatile tax - and the issue of housing affordability, before Ms Berejiklian's second budget on June 21. NSW's ageing population is identified as by far the biggest contributing factor to the fiscal gap because as more people retire they are not being replaced in the workforce due to a low fertility rate. Ageing "contributes 2.2 percentage points or almost two thirds of the fiscal gap" it says, mainly due to health expenses. The 2014 health and education funding cuts increased the fiscal gap by 1.3 percentage points, but the agreement on the National Disability Insurance Scheme reduced it by 0.4 percentage points.

Ms Berejiklian noted COAG had agreed to consider long term health funding arrangements beyond 2020. One way to moderate the impact of ageing, the report suggests, is boosting overseas migration, instantly adding to the workforce. This serves to offset 19,000 people leaving NSW for other states and territories each year. NSW's share of national overseas migration is expected to be around 28 per cent or 60,000 people a year to 2056. NSW can influence its share of overseas migration by "providing services and infrastructure to enable a larger housing supply, and therefore a larger population," the report says. This is because house prices and job opportunities "are key determinants of a migrant's decision about where they will live". But it is a double edged sword.

"Migration can add to underlying demand for housing and therefore increase house price pressures," the report says. "Conversely, higher relative house prices or a less attractive job market in New South Wales can deter overseas migration and increase the interstate outflow of residents." The report says a recent spike in house prices in NSW is "likely to deter migrants" and encourage more people to leave for other states. However, prices are expected "to gradually abate, as the strong housing construction outlook translates into increased housing supply, and reduces the current imbalance between supply and underlying demand". The report says NSW has 100,000 fewer dwellings than it needs. The increase in housing is projected to average 45,000 a year to 2030-31 and 43,500 a year to 2055-56.
The administrator who was spat on and jostled at a chaotic meeting in Sydney's inner west says he remains willing to work with former councillors among the protesters, while the Baird government continues to defend its decision to delay council elections for more than a year.

Former public servant Richard Pearson was forced to shut down the first meeting of the newly formed Inner West Council on Tuesday night after hundreds of protesters shouting "out" seized control of the chambers and riot police were called.

Mr Pearson had his council documents grabbed and thrown away and was spat on as he tried to leave the chamber, before the former mayors of the sacked Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville councils addressed the cheering crowd.

But Mr Pearson said he was still prepared to involve the sacked mayors in the new council and it was his priority to establish two representative committees, which they would serve on while being paid their old salaries.
The NSW Supreme Court has heard the St Ignatius' College, Riverview old boys, then aged in their early 20s, made $1.43 million in a year betting on the sharemarket.

Mr Curtis, husband of Sydney public relations queen Roxy Jacenko, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of insider trading stemming from a deal he allegedly struck in 2007 with Mr Hartman to exploit confidential information to cash in on shifts in share prices.

They allegedly communicated with each other in secret using their BlackBerry mobile phones. But there is no record of contact between alleged insider trading duo Oliver Curtis and John Hartman, a court has heard.

Mr Hartman, the prosecution's star witness, has told the court he passed on tips to Mr Curtis using confidential information he gleaned during his job as an equities dealer at boutique investment firm Orion Asset Management.

He said they covered their tracks by sending messages to each other's BlackBerry mobile phones using a technique similar to emailing or text messaging, known as "PIN-to-PIN messaging".

Mr Curtis had assured him the content of messages would not be stored by telecommunications providers and the only way to access them would be to "pull a satellite out of the sky", Mr Hartman said during a three-day stint in the witness box.

Mr Hartman said he was unsure of the truth of the claim at the time. But on Wednesday, the eighth day of the trial, BlackBerry's manager of public safety operations, Lisa Freer, gave evidence via audio-visual link from Canada that the company did not store any PIN-to-PIN messages.

"Did it keep a record of the actual content of the messages sent?" Crown prosecutor David Staehli, SC, asked of the company's general practice.
The police officer in charge during the final hours of the Lindt cafe siege has been savaged for his handling of another terrorism incident by counsel for the family of slain cafe manager Tori Johnson.

Under intense questioning at an inquest on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins was accused of botching the arrest of terrorist Omar Baladjam in 2005.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins has been repeatedly questioned about his decision not to enact an "emergency action" response before Mr Johnson was killed. Credit:Daniel Munoz

Mr Jenkins, then the head of the Counter-Terrorism Co-ordination Command, asked four local police officers to arrest Baladjam after 400 special operations officers had raided 16 other suspects throughout the morning of November 8.

Mr Jenkins told the officers there was "no information" to suggest Baladjam would be armed but when the officers approached him in the street, he opened fire and hit one officer in the hand.
The coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama in Sydney's east is known for its natural beauty but it also holds a dark past.

Between the '70s and '90s many gay men were bashed, robbed and in some cases murdered along the picturesque stretch, including the former gay beat, Marks Park.

John Russell's body was found on rocks below Marks Park in 1989. Credit:NSW Police Media

In an example of the societal change in attitude towards the issue over the past few decades, a memorial will be built in Bondi to remember the men violently targeted years ago.
Staff have uncovered a rope made of bed sheets in the process of foiling a prison escape at South Coast Correctional Centre in Nowra.

A lone car in the otherwise deserted prison car park roused the suspicions of staff who were watching on camera from the monitor room about 4.10am on Monday.

The rope, made of torn strips of bed sheets, was allegedly intended to hoist two inmates to freedom. Credit:Corrective Services

When the car's lights flashed several times in the direction of the jail, staff confronted the driver and her passenger.

The women allegedly admitted they were there to collect two inmates who planned to escape.
A man trapped in a car that was "hanging off a bridge" west of Brisbane has been airlifted to hospital.

Police and paramedics were called to Brisbane Valley Highway at Wanora after reports a car had driven off a bridge about 2.30pm.

Police and paramedics were called to Brisbane Valley Highway at Wanora after reports a car had driven off a bridge Credit:Queensland Ambulance

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the male driver had been trapped in the vehicle that was hanging about 1.5 metres above "shallow" water.
We are out of time!

There has been laughs. There has been warnings. There has been no answers! All in all, a pretty successful hour.

To the wash up

Theme of the Day - EVERYTHING IS FINE

MVP - Cameron Dick. His "my precious call" may not have been strictly part of QT, but it still had people chucking well through out the hour.

The government has another of its big ones today - the Stradbroke Island mining bill is up. This is the bill which aims to stop sand mining by 2019, winding back the LNP's law which extended it far beyond that.

The fact that it is set down for debate means the government is pretty sure it has the numbers here - the numbers being support from the cross bench. But still, prepare for a knock down, drag-em out fight between the two sides of the chamber, which is expected to go until the early hours of the morning. But no need for you to stay up - we'll update you on the results tomorrow morning
We can assume NBN will generally deliver above and beyond this minuscule requirement, but the company was not able to provide Fairfax with any data on its performance here. The broadband chain For the sake of argument, let's just say NBN is delivering speeds as promised. There's still a range of variables sitting between NBN's actual speeds and the speeds at which Aussie Josephine is able to stream cat videos on YouTube. Firstly, there's network capacity. Depending on the type of connection, if every household in Josephine St streams Game of Thrones simultaneously, the network can get congested, resulting in slower speeds for some. Josephine may have trouble loading her cat videos.

Fibre has lots of capacity; copper and other technologies being used in parts of the NBN rollout, not so much. NBN will decide which technology to roll out in Josephine St based on what's already in the ground. As far as Josephine is concerned, it's pot luck what she'll end up with. Network congestion tends to affect end users at peak times in the evening, when everyone is home and using their internet. If Josephine's internet service provider hasn't purchased enough bandwidth from NBN, or it doesn't have sufficient backhaul capacity, these problems are going to be more prevalent. We saw this last year when Netflix arrived in Australia and iiNet failed to allocate sufficient capacity for the surge in data usage. The result was widespread service disruptions for many of its customers. Finally, if Josephine's modem is a bit crappy, that may also affect her internet speed. Meow.

The connected future Not even Christopher Pyne really believes the NBN is being built to foster antisocial families who stream movies in separate rooms. As Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese shot back on Q&A: "the NBN isn't about movies, it's about our economy and how it functions". What happens in five, 10 years time, when all of Josephine's household appliances are connected, her car drives itself and she works from home hosting global meetings via video uplink? "It's misleading to argue what people are going to want in the future from the internet on the basis of what's required today," says Rod Tucker, laureate emeritus professor at the University of Melbourne and a member of the NBN's initial advisory panel under former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd.

"That sort of argument would be the same as when electricity was first installed into homes, and only provided for a few appliances and light fittings," Tucker says. "As technology develops there are more and more uses for it in the home  and it's the same thing with the NBN." Research firm Gartner predicts the amount of "things" people connect to the web will leap as much as 30 per cent in 2016 alone, rising to 21 billion in 2020. Further down the line, who knows what uses we'll invent for the web. Studies show average speeds of 100Mbps may be needed as soon as 2020, Tucker says. 25Mbps is so yesterday.

According to the NBN, "most end-users" will eventually have access to speeds of 100Mbps. It's not all about speed According to telecommunications consultant Paul Budde, securing broadband infrastructure for the future has nothing to do with how fast five cat videos will load, and everything to do with network capacity and reliability. "Smart cities" of the future will draw on a constant flow of data to give citizens better services such as transport and security, building sensors into traffic lights and providing people with Wi-Fi on the go, he says. "You cannot have a driverless car system if you can't drive between 10.00am and 4.00pm because the network is down," he says, pointing to Telstra's recent network woes.

Budde says patchwork technologies like fibre-to-the-node, which uses legacy copper and is preferred in the current NBN rollout, won't in the long run be able to sustain the onslaught of data needed to run a strong digital economy in the future. "The problem with the current fibre-to-the-node rollout is there is no guaranteed quality," he says. "We should be talking about a fibre-to-the-home network, and it needs to be a 1GB network." In the current rollout, only about half of us will be connected with fibre-to-the-home or the next best option, hybrid-fibre coaxial (think Foxtel cables), by 2020. Budde thinks Pyne was "quite deliberate" when he "missed the point" about the NBN being used for streaming multiple videos.
The girlfriend of a man shot dead in Bacchus Marsh has appeared in court, along with the man she is accused of enlisting to murder her boyfriend.

Police allege Yu Tung Lo arranged for Daniel Josef Duhovic to murder Paul Hogan, according to documents released by Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The court heard that Yu Tung Lo factory reset her phone the morning after her former lover Paul Hoigan was shot and killed. Credit:Penny Stephens

Mr Hogan, 48, who reportedly had five children to two different women, was shot while reversing a van out of the driveway of his Labilliere Street home about 8.20am on Tuesday.

Ms Lo, 26, and Mr Duhovic, 33, appeared before court on Tuesday, each charged with one count of murder.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

The first deliveries of steel line pipes and bends, to be used in the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) section traversing Greece, have started arriving at the ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala, TAP reported.

The first vessels and trains carrying approximately 1,500 line pipes and 200 bends have already arrived to the ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala. These will be stored at the Main Marshalling Yards of Thessaloniki, at the Thessaloniki Port Authority, and at Kavala, at its "Philip II" port.

All pipes will subsequently be transferred along the routing of the pipeline, according to the report.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

A Ceremony marking the beginning of construction for the project was held on Tuesday, 17 May in Thessaloniki.

According to the TAP's report, approximately 32,000 line pipes will be used for the construction of the pipeline section crossing in Greece.

Line pipes are produced by the Greek company Corinth Pipeworks S.A. (495 km) and the German company Salzgitter Mannesmann International GmbH (270 km). Salzgitter is also manufacturing the hot formed bends.
But this morning Mr Andrews accepted he should not have made the remarks in parliament yesterday.

The opposition accused Mr Andrews of bullying behaviour after he appeared to joke about South Barwon MP Andrew Katos' appearance.

Premier Daniel Andrews has apologised for making disparaging remarks in parliament about a Liberal MP's weight.

"Fair cop. I shouldn't have said it and I apologise," Mr Andrews told reporters.

MP Andrew Katos has copped criticism for his weight. Credit:Penny Stephens

When asked if he would seek out Mr Katos to apologise personally Mr Andrews said: "I'm fine with that."

Mr Katos says he asked a serious question in parliament about crime in his electorate, to which Labor MPs interjected: "We didn't see that coming".

Mr Katos said Mr Andrews then interjected and said: "First time anyone has said they didn't see him coming".
Melbourne man Michael Quinn allegedly arrived in Los Angeles on the weekend to "meet up with a dad who shares his young ones".

Instead the alleged paedophile was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

Mr Quinn, 33, now faces charges of travelling to the US for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and attempted sex trafficking of a minor.

The Australian is currently being held in a Los Angeles jail.
His neighbours don't know much about what happened inside Cambridge House but Supreme Court documents show that on July 27, 2015 - a couple of weeks before he died - Mr Cox signed a new will making Ms Kumar both the executor and sole beneficiary. Part of Lionel Cox's Will. However, it looks like Mr Cox struggled with it. In a spidery hand, there were two attempts to write the word "street" and three attempts to spell out the word "Fitzroy" on the line asking for his address. The false starts were crossed out. Abha Kumar, a nurse who manages Cambridge House. Where the document asked him to fill in his home state, he started with the letter O before striking it out and writing "Victoria". The postcode appears to have been written by somebody else before it was crossed out for Mr Cox to write it in his own handwriting.

The document was witnessed by two other staff members at Cambridge House - Diem Thi Nuoc Le, a young nurse, and Portia Galea, the activities co-ordinator. On August 9, Mr Cox succumbed to pneumonia, which he'd had for five days. His heart and kidneys had also been failing. When he died, Ms Kumar became the "informant" on his death certificate. She was described as his carer. Ms Kumar attended Mr Cox's funeral, which was mostly organised by his neighbours. This intrigued them. Did Mr Cox know Ms Kumar before he went into Cambridge House? Did he really intend to leave his estate to her? Nobody knows for sure. On October 23, Ms Kumar advertised that she planned to apply to the Supreme Court of Victoria for a grant of probate of his will. On November 20, the court granted her application. As Christmas approached, Mr Cox's neighbours made a complaint to St Vincent's Health, the publicly funded health service that runs Cambridge House. The hospital launched an investigation, interviewing Cambridge House staff and neighbours of Mr Cox. Around the same time, Ms Kumar went on leave for several months.

A spokeswoman for St Vincent's Health said the investigation found no evidence that Ms Kumar had exerted any influence or pressure over Mr Cox, or that staff were aware of the contents of the resident's will until after his death. "The staff member has indicated they have not, and do not want to financially benefit from the resident's Will, and intends to donate the proceeds of the estate to charities named by the deceased in a previous unsigned Will he had prepared by his solicitor," the spokeswoman said. "Nevertheless, this case has raised a number of issues of concern for St Vincent's. As a result we are revising our Wills policy and increasing education of staff." The Cambridge House nursing home. Credit:Scott Barbour The spokeswoman said a medical assessment conducted by a geriatrician during Mr Cox's stay found that he was "competent and not suffering any cognitive decline or confusion".

The spokeswoman declined to say when Ms Kumar first notified management about the will; what the organisation advises staff to do with resident wills; and which charities Ms Kumar plans to donate the proceeds to. Several staff members at St Vincent's Health and Mr Cox's neighbours fear the investigation was not thorough enough and they question whether there is any binding agreement for his wealth to be donated to charities. "I knew Lionel for more than a decade and find it impossible to believe that he would knowingly have left his estate to an individual he hardly knew," said John, a neighbour who did not want his surname used. "I do not regard this as a vigorous investigation." A staff member at St Vincent's who did not want to be named for fear of losing their job said: "It just seems like a big cover-up. I can't believe it". Ms Kumar, who is aged in her mid 30s, did not return a call from Fairfax Media, and her lawyer John Bennison declined to comment, saying his client would not consider discussing the matter until the Nursing and Midwifery Board investigation was over. The two staff members who witnessed the will for Mr Cox would not comment either.

The case raises questions about the checks and balances around wills in Victoria, where there is no law to prevent health professionals and carers becoming the executors, beneficiaries or witnesses of their patients' or clients' wills. A spokesperson for the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia would not comment on the investigation into Ms Kumar, but said the the nurses' code of conduct advised nurses to only accept token or inexpensive gifts, and not to secure favour. "A nurse should take all reasonable steps to ensure they do not accept gifts or benefits an impartial observer could view as a means of securing the nurses' influence or favour," the spokesperson said. Kathy Wilson, a specialist wills and estates lawyer and principal at Aitken Partners, said there was very little protection against financial elder abuse with wills, and that there is no criminal offence for coercion or manipulation of a person in relation to their will. She said there were weaker rules regarding who could witness a will than for appointing somebody Enduring Powers of Attorney. The law for the latter has recently been updated to include specific qualifications for witnesses.
In another instance of unfortunate timing for Elizabeth Quay, its water park is set to reopen just in time for winter.

The park had to be closed in the hottest part of summer after testing showed bacteria in the water spray, with one mother alleging the park caused their daughter's serious eye infection.

The Barnett government was warned about the safety problems a day before the Quay's grand opening in January, but chose to proceed with the celebrations anyway.

In another spot of awkward timing, triathletes from around Australia were informed an hour before a summer event that the swimming leg at the Quay would have to be cancelled because of water quality problems.
A fresh drive to declare nuclear weapons illegal is gathering international momentum ahead of a historic visit by Barack Obama to the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Friday.

But Australia stands as a key part of the "weasel group" of countries opposed to banning the bomb - a stance Indonesia's former foreign minister has warned undermines the chances for nuclear disarmament.

Mr Obama's visit to Hiroshima will be the first for a serving US President. The city was the first to suffer nuclear attack, after the US dropped an atomic bomb in the last days of World War II, killing more than 140,000 people.

Mr Obama has ruled out any official apology for the Hiroshima bombing, but anti-nuclear campaigners and Japanese survivors from the 1945 bombing hope his visit will draw attention to the catastrophic human cost of atomic weapons.
London: Five migrants have died, but 562 were saved after an overcrowded barge sunk off the coast of Libya  and the moment was captured in disturbing images published by the Italian navy.

The navy said its patrol boats Bettica and Bergamini had been on a surveillance and security mission in the Sicilian Channel when they saw "a barge floating in precarious conditions with numerous migrants on board".

"Shortly afterwards the boat capsized due to overcrowding and instability due to the high humber of people on board," the navy said in a press release on Wednesday.
Helen Clark is embroiled in controversy over her bid for the United Nations' top job after an international publication claimed her candidacy had sparked an "internal uproar".

In a lengthy article highly critical of Clark, Foreign Policy's Colum Lynch said Clark had left a trail of "embittered peers and subordinates" at the United Nations Development Programme, which she has headed for the last seven years.

The claims against her included that Clark "ruthlessly ended the careers of underlings in her quest to advance her candidacy and of undercutting the UN's promotion of human rights," Lynch wrote.
In June 2012, when Assange was set to be extradited to Sweden, he fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in and was granted political asylum.

The 44-year-old Australian is wanted for questioning by Swedish authorities over allegations, which he denies, that he committed rape in Sweden in 2010.

A Swedish court has upheld an arrest warrant for Julian Assange, saying it does not consider his almost four-year stay at an embassy in London to be a form of detention.

Assange and his lawyers say he cannot go to Sweden to face the allegations as the country would extradite him to the United States, where he fears he would be prosecuted for espionage. His website, Wikileaks, has published millions of sensitive US documents, including military reports on the Iran and Afghanistan wars and decades of secret diplomatic cables.

Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in February. Credit:Getty Images

In February, following a ruling by a United Nations panel that Assange was being arbitrarily detained, his lawyers applied to overturn his detention order in Stockholm District Court.

The District Court announced on Wednesday that it had rejected the application, finding the prospect of questioning Assange at the embassy "outweighs the intrusion or harm the detention order causes" him.

"The district court finds that there is still probable cause for the suspicion against JA [Julian Assange] for rape, less serious incident, and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty," the court said in a statement.
Idomeni:  Greek police on Tuesday started moving some of the 8000 migrants and refugees stranded in a makeshift camp on the sealed northern border with Macedonia to state-run facilities further south.

Several busloads of people, most of them families with children, left the sprawling expanse of tents at Idomeni early on Tuesday and about a dozen more buses were lined up ready to take more, witnesses said.

A bulldozer clears the makeshift refugee camp during a police operation at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni on Tuesday. Credit:AP

At the latest tally, about 8200 people were camped at Idomeni. At one point more than 12,000 lived there after several Balkan countries shut their borders in February, barring migrants and refugees from central and northern Europe.
Gelanggang, Lombok: Thirteen-year-old Ayu vomits every year while harvesting tobacco on her family's farm near Garut in West Java.

"The smell is not good when we are harvesting," she says. "My stomach is like, I can't explain, it's stinky in my mouth. I threw up so many times."

Ayu (not her real name) is one of 132 children from tobacco farms in Central Java, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara and West Java that Human Rights Watch interviewed in 2014 and 2015. Almost half the children reported symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness.

"From our analysis and research, we think they could be experiencing symptoms of nicotine poisoning," says children's rights researcher Margaret Wurth. "Nicotine is a poison, it's a toxin."
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The fall in global oil prices forced Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR to conduct structural reforms.

SOCAR like any other company made appropriate decisions in response to the fall in commodity prices, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters May 25.

Commenting on the information about closing of company's representative office in Switzerland, Rovnag Abdullayev added that the decision on suspension of activities of SOCAR's all foreign offices was made in December 2015.

"Functions of representative offices passed to the Baku office and companies, which are fully owned by SOCAR," explained Abdullayev.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Switzerland Akram Zeynalli in an interview with the Swiss Russian-language edition "Nasha Gazeta" said that SOCAR has closed its official representative office in Geneva due to drop in oil prices.

Zeynalli added that offices of SOCAR Trading and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will continue their work. SOCAR Energy Switzerland manages the company's filling stations network in this country.

SOCAR produces and exports oil and gas. The company is the sole producer of oil products in Azerbaijan, as well as it has filling stations network in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania and Switzerland.

SOCAR exported 350,000 tons of oil products in January-March 2016 versus 348,600 tons in the same period of 2015.

Edited by SI
Rome: Friends, Romans, countrymen! And countrywomen. And people in far-flung nations. Everyone, basically. Rome is seeking all the sponsors it can find to fund the monumental job of restoring and maintaining its hundreds of fountains, statues, archaeological sites and historic palazzos.

Perennially short of funds to properly care for the sprawling, two-millennia legacy of art and history, city officials on Tuesday offered their thanks to corporate sponsors of ambitious restoration projects.

Pedestrians walk past the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy. The city is hoping people will sponsor the restoration of famous monuments. Credit:Bloomberg

Among them are luxury goods companies Fendi, which has been sponsoring work to restore splendour to several famed fountains, including a tourist favourite, Trevi, from the ravages of pollution and pigeons; and Bulgari, which is sponsoring restoration of the Spanish Steps in the heart of Rome's most chic shopping district.

Officials said the nation of Azerbaijan has helped to restore a room of the Capitoline Museums, while lighting that has made the boulevard flanking the Imperial Forums a popular romantic evening stroll was paid for by Unilever and Acea, a local utility company.
MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine completed a high-level prisoner swap on Wednesday, trading a Ukrainian helicopter pilot dubbed the country's "Joan of Arc" for two Russian servicemen accused of being members of Russian military intelligence.

The deal resolved a major dispute between the two countries, but it also reflected other deep tensions that include Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and an ongoing battle against pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.

"I survived," the pilot, Lieutenant Nadiya Savchenko, said on the tarmac in Ukraine's capital, Kiev. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with her, and he basked in a rare political victory.

"We will return Crimea and Donbas under Ukrainian sovereignty, just as we have returned Nadiya," he said, referring to the Crimean peninsula, and to the Donbas region of east Ukraine, which is under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Beijing: China's internet censors have taken the unusual step of scrubbing an editorial from one of its own official newspapers after the piece prompted outrage online for suggesting Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was prone to "emotional" and "extreme" political views because she is unmarried and without children.

"As a single female politician, [Ms Tsai] does not have the emotional burden of love, the pull of 'family', of children," wrote the piece's author, Wang Weixing, who is a council member of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a semi-official mainland body handling cross-strait relations.

"Her political and management style tends to lean toward the emotional, personal and extreme."
Paul Salo wants to recreate the event to put people's questions to rest. Credit:Kelly Guenther/The New York Times He mentioned to The Post that the plane would be flown on autopilot, or possibly, by a pilot who would parachute out before the impact. "I think what's going to happen is that we probably will find out that it was a similar physics as what happened on 9/11," he said in the video, adding: "But at the same time, hey, I'm no dummy - maybe it's not true. Smoke rises from the twin towers of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. Credit:AP "I want to find out, too."

International tabloids ran with Salo's story, featuring the entrepreneur's face next to the burning Twin Towers and under headlines like "Businessman raising $1m to recreate 9/11 to prove conspiracy theories true or false 'once and for all'" and "Extra-ambitious man wants to 'recreate' 9/11 attacks in a field to see if it was all a hoax." Salo set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $US1.5 million - and he brought in a handful of donations before he was shut down. Indiegogo told The Post that it was removed because it violated the terms of use, which state: "If the campaign is claiming to do the impossible or it's just plain phony, don't post it." Salo called it a "bump in the road." "What we're trying to do here is we're going to prove once and for all - was 9/11 a hoax, or was it real?" he said in the video. "We obviously can't go back in time and make that happen, but what we can do is we can re-create as best as we can the exact circumstances of an airplane fully loaded with fuel flying into a building at 500 mph. "And what happens to that building is going to tell us a lot about what happened on 9/11."

But how much would such a re-creation really say about what happened on September 11, 2001? Indeed, since that Tuesday morning in 2001 when nearly 3000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack on US soil, scientists, engineers and aviation experts have pored over the evidence to find out how it happened. The accepted conclusion was that when the hijackers flew the aircraft into the World Trade Centre, it cut through the buildings' support systems, fire made the structural steel soft, and the towers could not support themselves. At 9.59am the South Tower collapsed, and 29 minutes later, the North Tower did, too. Some 9/11 truthers think the US government either allowed the terrorist attacks or perhaps initiated them to justify the war on terrorism. Others have questioned how two 110-floor buildings could fall to the ground.

Salo said he thinks his re-creation will either provide closure or raise critical questions. Christoph Hoffmann, a computer science professor at Purdue University who helped create a scientific simulation of the 2001 terrorist attacks, said Salo's questions may be too broad. "What is the purpose of the simulation? What are they trying to find out?" he said. "It has to be something quite specific." In Hoffmann's simulation, he said, his team tried to find out how much of the buildings' core supports were cut. Using the animation, he said, they came to the same accepted conclusion: that between the planes' cutting a large part of the structures' core supports and the fires' weakening the steel walls, the buildings gave way to gravity. Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a structural engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley, has spent years studying the World Trade Centre collapse and testified at a congressional hearing about his findings.

When Astaneh-Asl heard about Salo's 9/11 project, he told The Post in an email: "It is very important that we have this interview. This is very important journalism." "It doesn't make any sense to get a plane and hit a building," Astaneh-Asl said later in a phone interview. "You can't just hit a building and say, 'See, it doesn't collapse.' "You have to build the same building as the World Trade Centre." If fact, he said, finding a building may be Salo's biggest challenge. Just days after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Astaneh-Asl was on the ground in New York City conducting a National Science Foundation-funded field study on the towers' collapse. Astaneh-Asl, who has studied the buildings' blueprints for years, said unlike other structures, the World Trade Centre did not have a typical skeleton made of beams and columns; instead, it had steel "bearing walls" for support.

"It's very unlikely another building would collapse unless it was similar to the World Trade Centre," he said, adding that it could not be easily replicated. Salo told The Post he considered constructing a modular or prefabricated structure so that he could get it closer to the towers' size and materials. Astaneh-Asl said prefabricated buildings are akin to a "Lego set" in which walls are transported to a location and bolted together. Still, he said, having such a structure does not make it a body double for the Twin Towers. And a replica, he said, is what Salo needs. As for the aircraft - and its intended mission - there are aviation laws.

The Federal Aviation Administration told The Post that Salo's project does not fall under FAA jurisdiction because it is outside the United States. Officials said national aviation authorities regulate airspace. Because Salo has not decided on a particular country for his 9/11 re-creation, it is unclear which laws he may have to abide by, but he said he is aware of the restrictions. So - given what the experts had to say - The Post asked Astaneh-Asl for a grocery list, of sorts, of what it would take to pull off the project. His response: Study the World Trade Centre blueprints.

Get the materials used in the 1970s - lightweight concrete floors and varying strengths of steel.

Construct a 30-story segment of the Twin Towers using trusses rather than beams and using steel plate outside walls rather than columns.

Get high-caliber scientists and engineers.

Astaneh-Asl said he think such a project would take an estimated two to three years and cost $US500 million to $US600 million ($695m to ($835m), not $US1.5 million. "What they're proposing to do is completely meaningless from a scientific and engineering point of view," he said. "Unless you have the exact same building, the exact same plane and you hit it in the exact same place with the exact same force, it's meaningless. "Absolutely meaningless." Astaneh-Asl said that executing the experiment as it was proposed is also irresponsible. "We are not going to learn anything - nothing," he said, adding: "That's worse than not testing it because now you're bringing wrong information into the research, polluted data into our research. It is unethical."

To be fair, Salo admitted that he is not an expert and he wants to hire "top-notch people" to carry out his re-creation. So far, he said, he has been contacted by structural engineers, pilots and other experts who support it. Salo shared an email on Facebook over the weekend from a supporter who called him a "real patriot." "I have never believed the official 911 story," the author reportedly wrote. "Like many people, when it first happened, I was shocked and didn't know what to think. But shortly after it happened, I wondered about many things." The author added: "All I can say is I would like to help you in any way I can." Salo said his intention is to pay respect, not show disrespect to those who died.
PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Frans Richardson called on the Prosecution to take the necessary actions they need to take against persons who threatened to kill the Prime Minister of St. Maarten and other politicians, MP Richardson deviated to bring across his concerns during a meeting of parliament on Monday when vote buying was discussed.

The MP said that the persons that have threatened the life of the Prime Minister of St. Maarten William Marlin and his friends and other politicians are friends of Dutch politicians Bosman and Van Raak. He said he will be travelling to the Netherlands on Tuesday and his intention is to take the email to those Dutch politicians and asked them for their opinion on the threats made and why they have not spoken out against it.

MP Richardson made clear that every Member of Parliament lives are under threat and each of them have families.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin made clear at the weekly Council of Ministers press briefing that the police department (detectives) have to do their jobs when it comes to conducting investigations. The Prime Minister said some detectives visited him and asked him to file a written complaint against Rene Cotto Wilson but he does not believe he has to file a complaint when someone makes a written statement on Facebook calling on people to kill the Prime Minister and his friends. He said when he was informed about the post made by Wilson some days ago because someone sent him the post he immediately called the Minister of Justice and told him that the matter should be investigated because he took it very serious.

The Prime Minister further stated that when the Bada Bing video was made public the prosecutors office or the detectives did not ask anyone to file a complaint, they started their investigation and took that case to court. Further he said if someone threatens a police officer no one has to file a complaint, that person is arrested. He said while he did not file an official complaint he expects law enforcement on St. Maarten do their jobs because when someones life especially the life of the Prime Minister was threatened it raises serious concerns. Marlin said besides that while there are people who dont like him, it must be noted that he has relatives, friends and supporters who likes him and they too can act in retaliation as to what was posted on Facebook. The Prime Minister insisted that while the law may state one thing for certain complaints he personally believes that if someone publicly threatens the life of another person the police should take it serious enough and conduct an investigation.

Marlin said he has no issues with Cotto because once Cotto took a friend to his home to show the friend how hospitable and welcoming he is as an elected official. Marlin said during that visit he welcomed Wilson in his home and even offered him and his friend something to eat.

However, he said based on the post which includes the threats on his life, he clearly saw that Wilson made that post based purely on false information, one being that he as Prime Minister asked to postpone to upcoming elections and that he has done nothing to stop ship jumping. Marlin said the only thing he did ever since he took office was to change the election date from February 9th to September 26th in order to make the necessary changes to the constitution electoral reform. The Prime Minister went further by stating that the committee completed their work and the draft document was sent to the Governor and Council of Advice before they take it to parliament. Marlin said his intention is to even call Holland to see if they began the process since the draft was sent to the Kingdom Council of Ministers in order for them to seek an advice from the Council of State since its regards changes to the countrys constitution. Marlin said Wilson or anyone who does not believe what they said to the media they are always welcome to visit him at the government administration building to see the paper trail and the work that was done to curb ship jumping.

The Prime Minister said the post on Facebook was tagged to MP Andre Bosman and Van Raak but so far he did not hear these two MPs asked the Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk anything about this particular matter where his life was threatened. He said each time some thing happens on St. Maarten MP Bosman is the first to ask the Minister about what ever is taking place on St. Maarten therefore he wants to know if these two MPs from the second chamber are condoning such actions.
iovation to Host European Gambling User Group in Malta for 2nd Consecutive Year

PORTLAND, OR and ST. JULIANS, MALTA  (Marketwired)  05/25/16  , the provider of device intelligence for authentication and fraud prevention, today announced it will host a for the 2nd year in a row in Malta. The user group will once again take place at the Radisson Blu Resort in St. Julians, Malta. This year the event will be expanded to two days, June 14 and 15. The European Gambling User Group provides a way for online casinos, poker sites, sportsbooks, gaming operators and platform providers in the region to collaborate in-person about fraud prevention challenges and ways to improve the online player experience.

Its no longer just enough to stop fraud. You have to strike a fine line between putting up a wall and making transacting for good customers as seamless as possible, said Jessica Hard af Segerstad at Paf, an online gaming operator based in Finland. iovations European User Groups provide a perfect forum to network and at the same time trade best practices for how to authenticate online users.

iovation has protected more than 335 million transactions in the gambling industry in the past year. Those clients have contributed hundreds of thousands of fraud and abuse reports into iovations global consortium in that same timeframe, making it easier for other companies to tap intelligence from their peers about the latest fraud schemes.

Thanks to contributions from our clients, we know that the same amount of online gambling transactions come from mobile and non-mobile devices, and that 46 percent of those transactions originate from Windows devices and 28 percent from iOS, said , vice president of operations and co-founder at iovation. Its this type of intelligence that helps our clients know how they should be targeting their good customers, and were looking forward to providing an in-person way for them to discover much more in Malta.

Bernard Casey  who has spent three decades in gaming fraud prevention for companies like Ladbrokes and Sky Betting and Gaming  will take the stage at the user group alongside iovation to discuss ways to balance fraud prevention and VIP offers. In addition, iovation will detail the latest transaction and fraud trends in the gambling industry and beyond, and provide attendees with its product roadmap including enhancements to its solution. The company will also detail ways to maximize its virtual threat sharing network called , how device intelligence was integral helping an iovation client stop a fraud ring and more.

The European Gambling User Group is available free of charge. For more details, go to .

iovation protects online businesses and their end users against fraud and abuse, and identifies trustworthy customers through a combination of advanced device identification, shared device reputation, device-based authentication and real-time risk evaluation. More than 3,500 fraud managers representing global retail, financial services, insurance, social network, gaming and other companies leverage iovations database of billions of Internet devices and the relationships between them to determine the level of risk associated with online transactions. The companys device reputation database is the worlds largest, used to protect 15 million transactions and stop an average of 300,000 fraudulent activities every day. The worlds foremost fraud experts share intelligence, cybercrime tips and online fraud prevention techniques in iovations Fraud Force Community, an exclusive virtual crime-fighting network. For more information, visit .

iovation Inc.

Connie Gougler

503-943-6748
Apto Named Best Place to Work by Inc. Magazine and Denver Business Journal

DENVER, CO  (Marketwired)  05/25/16  , the leading web-based software platform for commercial real estate brokers, is pleased to announce it has been named to inaugural list of 50 Best Workplaces, the first such measurement of American companies with up to 500 employees that deploy state-of-the-art techniques to keep their staff happy and productive. In addition, the company has just been named one of Denver Business Journals , placing sixth in the rankings of medium-sized Denver companies.

We hear it over and over again from the fast-growing businesses we cover: The biggest challenge that any business owner faces is finding and keeping the best people. Thats why building a workplace culture that allows your staff to grow with your company is absolutely crucial, explains Inc.s President and Editor-In-Chief, Eric Schurenberg. Recipients of the Inc. Best Workplaces Awards have done so in spades. They should be celebrated and emulated.

We started Apto in Houston (where we were also ). When we moved the headquarters to Denver for its rich talent pool and high quality of life, a large handful of Houston employees moved with the company. We believe that speaks volumes about the passion and dedication of our team, and we remain committed to fostering a culture that inspires, said founder and CEO Tanner McGraw. To be recognized by Inc. and Denver Business Journal is a testament to the enthusiasm and energy that our employees bring to work every day, as we continue to innovate for the commercial real estate industry.

To meet strong market demand for its product, Apto has doubled its headcount in the past year, including the of Jennifer Panning as its CFO, along with a new VP of Sales.

Since joining Apto earlier this year, Ive been extremely impressed by the companys collaborative, empowering environment and high caliber of talent, said Panning. The team here is genuinely proud of our product and excited about the work that we do.

The 2016 Inc. Best Workplaces Awards assessed applicants on a collection of multiple choice, scaled and open-ended items. Responses were evaluated by the research team at Quantum Workplace. Core components of the scoring included company practices around management, employee recognition, performance communication, benefits and other elements of the employee experience.

Created by and for commercial real estate brokers, Apto is the leading web-based software platform for managing customer relationships, properties, listings, deals and back-office. Apto serves thousands of commercial brokers and is the CRM of choice for 5 of the top 7 CRE brands. Aptos world-class CRM platform is optimized to meet the needs of CRE brokers, and can be further customized to brokerage workflows and business requirements. Apto is the only platform that allows brokers to manage the full lifecycle of a deal anywhere, from any device.

Interested in Apto, our customer success stories or working with us? Visit , call 888-633-6424 or email .

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for todays innovative company builders. Winner of Advertising Ages The A-List in January 2015, and the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 13,000,000 today. For more information, visit .

Quantum Workplace is an HR technology company that serves organizations through employee engagement surveys, action-planning tools, exit surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, performance evaluations, goal tracking, and leadership assessment. For more information, visit .

Press Contact:

Cassady Nordeen

Blast PR on behalf of Apto

718-644-0273
MuleSoft Launches Industrys First Hybrid Integration Platform for Application Networks

SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (Marketwired)  05/25/16  CONNECT 2016  MuleSoft, provider of the leading platform for building application networks, today announced the next major release of . This release introduces a whole new way companies connect, share and manage data and applications with application networks. An is built using APIs to connect applications, data and devices, making them pluggable and reusable. By making any application, data or device plug-and-play into an application network, companies can achieve business outcomes faster. With a modern approach to the API development lifecycle and a blueprint for building organization-wide reuse, this new release allows customers to put API-led connectivity at the center of their digital transformation strategies.

Companies have aggressive plans for digital business transformation, and APIs play a key role in making this happen. With the pressure to deliver on business needs and meet digital transformation quickly, IT teams are responding by driving speed and agility through the use of APIs. APIs are igniting a cultural shift away from centralized IT and toward an open, collaborative environment.

According to Gartner, APIs are everywhere. Everyday actions  such as posting a message on a social network, reading the news on a smartphone or buying a movie ticket online  are completed through API calls. We already live in an API economy. The API economy is a set of business models and channels based on secure access of functionality and exchange of data, which previously was limited to the scope of a specific internal project. It includes an ecosystem of employees, internal and third-party developers, startups, business partners, customers and others. This occurs within a company or on the internet with business ecosystem partners and customers, or even the general public.

While the API economy is a massive opportunity for businesses, it presents an absolute need for IT to change. IT needs to find new ways to enable the business to build its own applications, analytics and new digital experiences demanded by their consumers. IT teams must move to a model where they deliver reusable assets  building blocks  that the business can build on top of to deliver outcomes. An application network, which seamlessly connects applications, data and devices within the enterprise and to external ecosystems, enables reuse by an entire organization to get the most value from IT assets and services on the network.

Addison Lee is focused on creating new, bold and innovative transportation experiences for our customers. As we expand internationally and continue to build our application network, MuleSoft has been an indispensable partner and has enabled us to deliver innovative new business solutions faster, said Peter Ingram, CTO, Addison Lee. We recently launched the Addison Lee Open API to allow our partners to connect to Addison Lees data and services to develop their own applications and websites. By offering a library of reusable APIs, assets and services built on Anypoint Platform, we can provide the best experience together with partners for our customers and drivers. API-led connectivity will be critical to our digital strategy moving forward.

MuleSofts Anypoint Platform is a complete solution for API-led connectivity that creates a seamless application network of apps, data, and devices, both on-premises and in the cloud. The latest Anypoint Platform release enables customers to put API-led connectivity at the heart of their digital transformation strategies. Together with Catalyst, MuleSofts proven model for driving business outcomes, customers can achieve business transformation through people, process and technology.

Anypoint Platform June 2016 release highlights include:

New API designer functionality embedded in Anypoint Studio allows multiple stakeholders, including API designers, back-end developers and app developers, to collaborate and iterate on API designs within their native workspaces. Teams can move through the API development lifecycle without switching between environments, reducing process friction and dramatically increasing the speed of API delivery.

Leveraging the full power of RAML 1.0, API developers can now create and reuse design libraries across network components, improving design consistency and speeding API delivery. Annotations and YAML-based examples enhance human readability, easing collaboration and developer onboarding.

In addition to RAML and OData, development of SOAP APIs now take full advantage of the power of APIkit, enabling developers to automatically generate Mule flows from WSDLs with a few clicks. This enables an API-led connectivity approach across more types of APIs across the enterprise.

Define schemas with YAML-based syntax and automatically map schemas with pluggable data connectors for fixed width, flat file, as well as COBOL copybook in beta.

New connectors for Box, Kafka, Redis and Zuora, as well as updated connectors for SAP, Salesforce and Workday, allow more systems than ever to participate in application networks.

Assign and allocate reusable assets to business teams that need them, boosting their speed while maintaining granular control. Leverage existing organizational structures to ensure that visibility and access to network resources are provided only to authorized users.

Deliver self-service with confidence by applying pre-built policies universally across application network resources.

Configure alerts across APIs, application and underlying servers to provide proactive visibility into application network issues before they impact the business.

Ensure changes to an application network are known and understood and auditable with a non-reputable log that ensures compliance.

Leading companies are building application networks of apps, data and devices to fundamentally change the pace of innovation. With every new service and API, they add more value to their application network, said Mark Dao, chief product officer, MuleSoft. This major new release of Anypoint Platform allows customers to change the clock speed at which they can deliver on business outcomes through API-led connectivity. Application networks enable reuse, standardization and agility, principles that are at the core of Anypoint Platform.

Gartner, Inc., Industry Vision: Turning Your Business Into a Platform by Kristin R. Moyer, Paolo Malinverno, May 9, 2016.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartners research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

MuleSofts Anypoint Platform is a complete solution for API-led connectivity that creates a seamless application network of apps, data, and devices, both on-premises and in the cloud. This platform includes , , and a unified solution for , design and publishing.

MuleSoft makes it easy to connect the worlds applications, and devices. With our market-leading Anypoint Platform, companies are building application networks to fundamentally change the pace of innovation. MuleSofts API-led approach to connectivity gives companies new ways to reach their customers, employees and partners. Organizations in more than 60 countries, from emerging companies to Global 500 corporations, use MuleSoft to transform their businesses. To find out how, visit .

MuleSoft is a registered trademark of MuleSoft, Inc. All other marks are those of respective owners.

Vera Wang

MuleSoft

415-920-3162
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR has presented to its partners the final proposals on the new contract for developing the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters in a briefing May 25.

He said the talks on the issue have already been completed.

"We have presented our proposals on the ACG, and now they should work out and present their final proposals and consider our proposals," said Abdullayev. "If the partners agree with our proposals, we will not extend the current contract, but will sign a new one with new terms and for a long period."

The contract for developing the ACG field was signed in 1994. The proven oil reserve of the block nears 1 billion tons.

The shareholders of the project are: BP (operator in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) - 35.78 percent, Chevron - 11.27 percent, Inpex - 10.96 percent, AzACG - 11.65 percent, Statoil - 8.56 percent, Exxon - 8 percent, TPAO - 6.75 percent, Itocu - 4.3 percent and ONGC - 2.72 percent.
Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated

With Novus Light Technologies Today

Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies.



Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter





CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER






























Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will be held next week in Astana, said Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov.

He made the remarks May 25 at the opening of the Silk Road countries' forum, which was held within the Astana Economic Forum 2016, said the prime minister's website.

Massimov said that the EAEU development concept and approaches to the implementation of the "One Belt, One Road" program will be submitted for the final approval during the meeting.

"I think that the "One Belt, One Road" program is becoming one of the largest in the 21st century," said the prime minister.

"It connects and unites almost three-quarters of the world's population, creates a completely different system of interaction and cooperation, which will facilitate the creation of new forms of cross-border exchange, investment and business cooperation, thus, the diversification of our economies," said Massimov.

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. It was established in 2015 by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia are members of the organization.

Edited by SI

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 25

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

Turkmenistan aims to further raise foreign investments and introduce new technologies, create the most favorable conditions for investors in its textile industry, the 'Neutral Turkmenistan' newspaper reported May 25.

The newspaper said that over the years of independence, cotton fiber processing increased from 3 percent to 51 percent in the country.

Currently, more than 70 enterprises produce cotton yarn, cotton, terry, denim, knitted fabrics and knitwear in Turkmenistan.

Cotton yarn production in the country increased 2.4 times from 2000 to 2015, cotton production - 4 times, and export of textile products - 3.2 times.

More than 70 percent of the country's textile products are exported to the US, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, China and Baltic countries.
Indian police are seeking the extradition of a Canadian mother of two whom they accused hired contract killers to murder her husband in Punjab.

They alleged Pawandeep Kaur, 35, who lives in the Greater Toronto area paid Rs 2.75 lakh (about CAD$5,300) to the killers and had promised another Rs 25 lakh when the deed was done.

Pawandeep Kaurs husband Jaskaran Singhs body was found in Sawara village in Kharar, Punjab on March 16 with multiple stab wounds. He was 38.

The case is the latest in a string of contract killings and attempted murders of Indo-Canadians and other Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in Punjab that mostly stem from marital and property disputes.

Indian police announced the pending extradition request after the arrest of four men whom they say were part of the gang allegedly hired by Pawandeep Kaur.

They claim that Pawandeep, had an estranged relationship with her husband, Jaskaran Singh and also wanted to grab his property.

Police also claim she was having an affair with two of the four men allegedly involved in the murder.

The accused were identified as Lakhbir Singh 32, the alleged contract killer; Davinder Singh alias Prince ,25, Bhawanpreet Bhangu , 25, and Gurpreet Singh alias Soni ,25.

Davinder holds a bachelors degree in computer applications (BCA) and worked with the Nawanshahr district transport office, Bhawanpreet Bhangu from Ropar is also a BCA; Gurpreet is a BCA and is a bus conductor at Ropar.

Outlining their case to Indian media, police said that on the day of the murder, alleged hitman Lakhbir approached Jaskaran as a property buyer and the duo decided to go view properties.

At a vacant plot near the Government Middle School in Mohali , Jaskaran was stabbed repeatedly with a knife and the body was dumped in the fields. A woman passerby later spotted his body around 4am.

Pawandeep conspired to kill Jaskaran as they had an estranged relationship and she also wanted his property. The couple jointly owns a house in Toronto where she is presently living, said Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

He alleged that Pawandeep was having an affair with Gurpreet Singh alias Soni since 2013 and later also developed intimate relations with Bhangu, who introduced her to contract killer Lakhbir Singh.

Bhullar said police suspected the hand of a family member in the crime and had been monitoring Pawandeep since Jaskarans body was found.

Pawandeep transferred Rs 2 lakh to Bhangu through Western Union that alerted us. Another Rs 75,000 was sent directly to the account of contract killer Lakhbir, the SPP said..

After the murder, Lakhbir fled from the district to Delhi in the victims Swift Dzire that has been recovered from his possession. He had fitted a fake registration plate and kept on using the car.

Indian media said that in a brazen show of overconfidence, Pawandeep, along with her children, had even visited the Swara village to attend the last rites of Jaskaran. She had returned to Canada telling police that her children had to complete their exams.

We did suspect her, but did not have evidence to nail her. She was thus allowed to leave. We will approach the Canadian embassy for her arrest, the SSP added.

Police described Lakhbir as a double murder convict serving life terms. He was released on parole in 2012 from the Patiala Jail. He is a proclaimed offender and figures as an accused in four other cases.

Jaskaran and Pawandeep had married 14 years ago.

Indian police and legal experts tell the South Asian Post that the worrying trend of NRI contract killings is rising because the culprits believe that India cannot extradite them.

In many of the cases, poorly paid Indian policemen play a role in the killings or help cover-up evidence after getting paid in overseas dollars.

In most cases, broken marriages, illicit affairs and property disputes are the main reasons why NRIs are ordering people killed.

The killings are carried out in Punjab and not in the adopted countries of these NRIs because of the lax laws in India.

The money involved in each contract killing, according to police officials, is anything between C$5,000 to C$125,000.

Over the last few years, there have been at least two dozen contract killings involving NRIs in Punjab.

Most of the cases occurred in Punjabs Doaba belt  the land between the Sutlej and Beas rivers comprising the districts of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr  where most of Canadas South Asians hail from.

NRIs sitting abroad think that they can get away with it by getting the crime committed in Punjab through contract killers, Jalandhar range deputy inspector general Narinder Pal Singh, was quoted as saying in the South Asian Post in a expose on the contract killings.

They are wrong.

Here are some of the other contract murder cases involving Canadian NRIs in India:

In November 2005, police allege that Vancouver businessman Bachan Singh Kingra was hacked to death by two hired assassins. The killers were allegedly hired by his oldest daughter, Balwinder Kaur, who was irked by her 64-year-old fathers plan to get a new bride, have a son and give him the family land.

In July 2007, Indian police arrested Calgary resident Jagtar Singh Mallhi, 32, who had orchestrated a fake car crash with the help of hired killers to murder his wife. He was allegedly upset that his wife would not consent to his illiterate cousin getting married to her university-educated sister.

In August 2003, Canadian doctor Asha Goel was the victim of a brutal beating death in Mumbai, India. There had been a rift among her siblings over a multi-million-dollar inheritance. Dr. Goel, 62, was chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ontario.

In January 2008, Indian police alleged that a Surrey family hired a group of contract killers for about C$3,000 to kill Ranphool Singh of Mundiya village after he failed to come up with the promised Rs30 lakh rupees (C$76,000) dowry for his daughter. Police arrested the contract killers while they were on their way to commit the murder.

The most prominent of the NRI contract killings involve the 2000 murder of a Jaswinder Kaur, a beautician from Maple Ridge, B.C.

Jsssi was killed by contract killers allegedly hired by her mother Malkit Sidhu and uncle Surjit Singh Badesha because the family did not approve of her secret marriage to a poor neighbour in India.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge had ordered the surrender of Sidhu and Badesha to police in India in May 2014, believing there was enough evidence for them to face trial for the murder of Jassi Sidhu.

But last February, The B.C. Appeal Court overturned the extradition order.

In a split decision, B.C. Appeal Court Justice Ian Donald said in his ruling that Indias assurances about violence against prisoners are empty because of the countrys record of human rights abuses.

In my view, there is a valid basis for concern that the applicants will be subjected to violence, torture and/or neglect if surrendered, he wrote in his decision.

The decision drew outrage from all over the world.

Legal experts told the South Asian Post that the Jassi decision will figure prominently in the extradition request for Pawandeep Kaur of Toronto.

If the Jassi case is not appealed by the crown to the Supreme Court of Canada and is left to stand, its more than likely that it will be used as a precedent by others accused of NRI-contract killings in India, said a lawyer.
Photo caption: A passage to Pakistan. (EPA/Rahat Dar)

By Shehryar Nabi

Special to The Post

Every year, thousands of Sikhs in Indias Punjab state visit a raised platform at the border with Pakistan. They gather to catch a glimpse of a temple on the other sidewith binoculars.

The temple, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, marks the location where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, lived for 17 years till he died in 1539. With the 500th anniversary of the temples founding coming up in 2022, many more Sikhs are likely to visit.

So far, the distrustful India-Pakistan relationship has ensured that the best that most Indian Sikh pilgrims can hope for are binoculars.

But a World Bank-funded project by Pakistans Punjab province is trying to change that.

In a move to open up religious tourism at its numerous Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist sites, the Punjab government plans to begin spending $50 million in January 2017 to renovate cultural and religious landmarks. It also will adopt a bolder marketing strategy and facilitate opening of hotels and other tourist services.

Once fully implemented, the projected revenue for Pakistans tourism industry from these religious sites is estimated at $1.85 billion every year. After all, demand for religious pilgrimage to Pakistan is higher than what the current visa rules allow. Although religious pilgrimages to Pakistan from India and elsewhere happen annually, only about 15,000 pilgrims from around the world obtain visas every year. Most are Sikhs because there are many important Sikh temples in Pakistan. The birthplace of Guru Nanak at Nankana Sahib, for instance.

The Mecca and Medina of the Sikh community are in Pakistan, says Ramesh Singh Arora, a Pakistani Sikh community leader and a member of the Pakistan Punjab National Assembly.

According to an official working on the project, the focus is on other parts of the world for the time being. But if visa conditions allow, the eventual intention is to tap India, which the official confirmed would be an important market for tourism in Pakistan.

Broader ties

If the visa regime is loosened, it would possibly have implications for the broader India-Pakistan relationship too. Last year, the then-Indian high commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghav had said in Lahore that increased religious tourism between India and Pakistan could improve relations.

This kind of human exchange poses a chicken and egg problem for observers: could religious tourism help normalise relations outside of a sluggish diplomatic process? Or will the trust required to allow a porous border emerge only after geopolitical quagmires such as Kashmir are resolved?

There is little dispute that more human exchange through trade, tourism, education etcoften referred to as people-to-people relationswould be an economic boon to both countries and allow better cooperation on various issues of mutual concern. The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministries acknowledged as much in a 2012 joint statement.

Advocates of such initiatives argue that they have the potential to change how Indians and Pakistanis perceive each other. Negative portrayals have often made more enemies out of each other on both sides.

Greater contact between normal people from either countries will certainly help create more exposure to each other and put aside a lot of preconceived notions, says Sanjana Joshi, a senior consultant for the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, who is working on a project to strengthen exchanges between India and Pakistan in the health sector.

Last years Shaan-e-Pakistan, a three-day cultural event in New Delhi showcasing both Pakistani and Indian fashion, was received warmly by many Indians. In March, over a 100 Hindus from India came to Pakistan to celebrate Maha Shivratri at the Katas Raj temple in the Pakistani Punjabs Chakwal district. The group leader said he was impressed by how they were treated by the Pakistanis.

Joshi says regularising contact will create constituencies with vested interests in maintaining good relations. When religious tourism really supported by the two governments takes off, it will create stakeholders on both sides in keeping this going, she says.

Deep distrust

However, those working on the project caution that the policy has to be prudent. It would be practically impossible for a single initiative to resolve the tensions that underlie a burdensome visa regime.

Sumit Ganguly of Indiana University Bloomington believes there is a fundamental flaw with using people-to-people contact as a means to improve relations. The professor of political science, and author of an upcoming book on India-Pakistan relations, says the strategy is trying to end a rivalry that, in its current state, is irreconcilable.

As long as Pakistan remains bent on changing the current power dynamic while India wishes to preserve it, Ganguly is not confident that dialogue, let alone human exchange, can do much to change government-level distrust.

There is no evidence that cultural and religious contacts can change fundamentally differing and incompatible interests. There is no serious literature in international politics on the termination of rivalries that supports this proposition. If anything, those contacts might develop after the rivalry diminishes, Ganguly wrote in an email.

Shahid Malik, who served two terms as Pakistans high commissioner to India, agrees that religious tourism is insignificant in the grander scheme of Indo-Pak relations. Although an advocate of a liberalised visa regime, he is not convinced that good sentiments and people-to-people exchanges will influence policymakers.

He does strongly believe in dialogue though. There is no substitute to talking to each other. Even if you sit across the table and agree to disagree, it is better than not talking to each other, says Malik.

An experiment

Joshi, however, contrasts religious tourism with other smaller people-to-people initiatives. Pilgrimage is a widespread activity in India, as tens of millions of Indians go on religious pilgrimages every year.

She argues that religious tourism could serve as an experiment for other avenues of exchange. When youre talking about large sections of people moving from one country to the other, then whatever mechanism they come up with will have to be utilised for other categories later, she says.

However, before the effects of Pakistans new religious tourism policy become manifest, major challenges remain in providing infrastructure, marketing, visa access, and security. The World Bank project, therefore, is not banking on a sea change in its early stages. It is looking at modest gains in the next three years.

This years Baisakhi festival in April attracted almost 4,000 Sikhs from India, Europe, and North America to Pakistans Punjab province. If that number reaches a targeted 12,000 by 2019, it could be a strong start.

This piece was originally appeared in Quartz (qz.com). See http://qz.com/663706/divided-by-history-can-religious-tourism-bring-india-and-pakistan-closer/
Photo caption: India or South Asia? (Reuters/Charles Platiau)

By Itika Sharma Punit

Special to The Post

Hindu groups in California are up in arms against suggested revisions to the states school textbooks.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a non-profit advocacy group of the Hindu American community, says the suggested revisions to public school textbooks in California reinforce cultural stereotypes and historical inaccuracies.

California reviews its textbooks and teacher guidelines every six years, with this year being a year of review. The state education board is scheduled to issue a final draft of the guidelines for changes in May. As the date nears, HAF has been making its protest louder. On April 6, the organization launched a social media campaign, #DontEraseIndia, urging correction of inaccuracies.

People are passionate about the way they are portrayed in history. We welcome that and invite them to participate in the lengthy public comment and review process, Bill Ainsworth, communications director at the California department of education said in an email. Past reviews have sparked spirited debates, Ainsworth noted, citing discussions surrounding the so-called comfort women in World War II, the role of LGBT Americans in California history, the Armenian genocide, and the discrimination faced by Sikh Americans.

South Asia or India

Hindu groups such as HAF have particularly opposed a proposed suggestion to replace India with South Asia in textbooks. The group of South Asian faculty contracted to review the textbooks has suggested replacing India with South Asia at various places in the Californian text framework. For example:

Current text: In this unit students learn about ancient societies in India.

Suggested change: In this unit students learn about ancient societies in South Asia.

Or

Current text: A flourishing urban civilization developed in India from as early as 3300 BCE along the Indus River.

Suggested change: A flourishing urban civilization developed in South Asia from as early as 3300 BCE along the Indus River.

Or

Current text: Along the northern edge of the agricultural regions of China, India, Persia and Rome, in the steppe grasslands, pastoral nomad societies moved east and west.

Suggested change: Along the northern edge of the agricultural regions of China, South Asia, Persia and Rome, in the steppe grasslands, pastoral nomad societies moved east and west.

The reason behind these suggestions is that certain parts referred to as ancient India are now in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, according to the South Asian faculty (pdf).

Hindu groups have also opposed certain depictions of Hinduism and related beliefs. For instance, South Asian faculty has proposed to remove a reference to river Saraswatia river mentioned in ancient Indian texts and believed to have disappeared around 4,000 years ago.

The river is considered holy by many Hindus. Soon after the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in India in May 2014, they launched efforts to trace Saraswati. Several states in India are trying to find and establish the existence of the perhaps mythical river.

Objections from Hindu groups are also targeted at proposed edits likeremoving the mention of Hinduisms acceptance of religious diversity, removing mentions of contributions of Hindu sages of non-Brahmin backgrounds, and linking Hinduism with caste.

Political agendas

In a February 2006 cover story, Siliconeer, a monthly magazine for south Asians on the west coast, said the changes in curriculum that HAF was pushing for reflected chauvinistic political agendas, seeking to equate the history of India with the history of Hinduism, and the living, diverse religion of Hinduism with a Brahmanical, Vedic religion frozen in time for thousands of years.

The magazine also said that HAF was a front organisation of the Hindu fundamentalist and hardline group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.HAF has denied any such connection.

Several south Asian scholars have also raised concerns about the motives of these Hindu groups.

In a letter (pdf) to the California board of education in November 2005, Michael Witzel, Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University, said the demands by Hindu groups were politically motivated. Witzels letter represented four dozen scholars.

The proposed revisions are not of a scholarly but of a religious-political nature, and are primarily promoted by Hindutva supporters and non-specialist academics writing about issues far outside their areas of expertise, Witzel said. There are ill-concealed political agendas behind these views that are well-known to researchers and tens of millions of non-Hindu Indians, who are routinely discriminated against by these groups.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said that in his letter to the California education board, Michael Witzel had said that Hindu groups are trying to wipe away the history of caste apartheid in India. However, the Hindu caste system was not mentioned in his letter. The text has been modified accordingly.

This piece was originally appeared in Quartz (qz.com). See http://qz.com/666103/hindu-groups-in-california-oppose-the-proposed-revisions-to-school-textbooks
Photo caption: The hotline, established on March 9, will offer free legal advice for victims of Islamophobia./ Photo Credit: Josh Paterson

By Samaah Jaffer

Special to The Post

Five months after Harpers Conservatives made a pre-elections pledge to establish a controversial "barbaric cultural practices" tip line, a group of lawyers and legal organizations in Vancouver have launched a different kind of phone line  a hotline offering free legal advice for victims of Islamophobia.

The Islamophobia Legal Assistance Hotline is a free and confidential number that people who experience Islamophobia, or hate crimes related to Islamophobia  whether youre Muslim or perceived to be Muslim  can call, explains lawyer and activist Hasan Alam.

The concept for the Islamophobia Legal Assistance Hotline, launched on March 9, emerged from what a group of local lawyers observed as a significant increase in Islamophobia in Canada.

Alam defined Islamophobia as, the fear of and hatred toward Muslims or people who are perceived to be Muslim.

Especially under the Harper government, says Alam, we noticed that there was very specific fear mongering happening, that utilized Islamophobia to justify Harpers policies, such as Bill C-51, and all of that translated into an increase in hate crimes.

In response to a question on the anti-terrorism legislation, Harper implied last fall there was an opportunity for radicalization in mosques: "It doesn't matter what the age of the person is, or whether they're in a basement, or whether they're in a mosque or somewhere else."

The statement was followed by an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric leading up to the elections, with the niqabbeing lauded by the former Prime Minister as a primary concern in relation to gender equality and Canadian values.

Rise in incidences of violence

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a human rights and civil liberties advocacy group that endorsed the project, has been tracking anti-Muslim incidents across Canada since 2013. They have recorded a rise in alleged incidents corresponding to events where Muslims have been portrayed negatively in the media.

Vancouver-based lawyer and chair of NCCMs Board of Directors, Kashif Ahmed, spoke to the significance of this new resource in B.C.: We had 61 anti-Muslim incidents reported in 2015, and already had 12 reported in 2016.

Ahmed identified a number of different forms of Islamophobia-related hate crimes, including cases of people who are being assaulted on the street, victimized in their workplace and denied promotions, verbally abused, verbally harassed, mosques being vandalized, cases of schools not providing anti-bullying services to Muslim students or allowing bullying to continue, or even teachers being the ones doing the bullying.

Local incidents include a pepper spray attack on a group of Syrian refugees and vandalism of a Coquitlam mosque, yet many attacks motivated by Islamophobia go unreported.

The hotline is operated by Access Pro Bono, an organization committed to providing access to justice in BC for individuals and non-profits unable to afford legal fees. Their volunteers are currently able to assist callers in seven different languages  English, French, Farsi, Indonesian, Arabic, Swahili, Punjabi, and Urdu.

In a lot of instances people who experience Islamophobia are new immigrants, they dont speak much English, they dont know where to turn to for legal advice, or help in general, and theyre scared to turn to law enforcement agencies a lot of the time because of their precarious legal status, says Alam.

Personal experiences of Islamophobia

Alam has a personal investment in the initiative, as a Muslim and a lawyer who has actively advocated against Islamophobia.

I get calls from people, a lot, saying that they have experienced Islamophobia, and that they need help. Oftentimes, I myself cant help them. I dont have the area of expertise in that specific instance that I can give them legal advice, he explains.

Alam spoke to the first time he experienced Islamophobia himself.

I remember being the president of my Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Simon Fraser University, and getting a call from a government agency, who left a message for us at the interfaith centre.

The message was from a woman requesting to meet with him, to better understand the needs of your community.

Eager to discuss the needs of the MSA, Alam agreed to meet the woman at a Starbucks. After he arrived, shook her hand, and allowed her to buy him a coffee, the woman revealed that she was a Canadian Security Intelligent Services (CSIS) agent who had questions about the activities of the MSA and his community.

Although the questions were not targeting him personally, Alam expresses, For me, that was Islamophobia, and it was coming from the government. Why was I subjected to being interrogated by CSIS agents, simply on the basis that I was a Muslim and involved with a Muslim student group?

Usefulness in lobbying efforts

Alam explained that another important element of the project is the recording of Islamophobic hate crimes.

Being able to use that information to better advocate to government, and to lobby government to do more about Islamophobia and racism in general [. . .] and pushing the government to do more about that, and more advocacy, and having peoples voices heard is something that is really important for me.

Alam hopes the Islamophobia hotline will send out a clear message to those who perpetuate Islamophobia that there are repercussions for their actions, while at the same time making those who appear to be Muslim feel safe.

I think were still living in a fairytale world, thinking this is Canada, not the United States, these things doesnt happen here, and I think a big part of this is recognizing that Islamophobia and racism are real," he says.

This piece was originally appeared in New Canadian Media (newcanadianmedia.ca). See http://newcanadianmedia.ca/item/33830-legal-hotline-created-after-significant-increase-in-islamophobia
Who did it best: Cast your vote for the high school football player of the week
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 25

By Demir Azizov - Trend:

The World Bank's (WB) Board of Executive Directors approved a $20 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for Modernization of Real Property Registration and Cadastre Project in Uzbekistan, the WB Tashkent office told Trend May 25.

It is expected that a credit agreement will be signed in June-July 2016.

The office also said the goal of the project is to improve the efficiency and accessibility of the real property registry and cadastre system as part of the country's national e-government structure and services.

The project will focus on establishing an electronic and unified real property registry and cadastre in the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Land Resources, Geodesy, Cartography and State Cadastre, and will be implemented nationwide.

The transition from a paper-based to a computer-based integrated land registry and cadastre will enable the country to improve the transparency of real property ownership and transactions, to allow public online access to geospatial data, and to improve customer services.

Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank's mission in the country is to improve people's livelihoods by being a partner in economic reforms, supporting the modernization of the country's social sectors and infrastructure, and sharing its knowledge and experience with the government and the people of Uzbekistan.

Current World Bank commitments to Uzbekistan amount to about $2 billion.
Tehran, Iran, May 24



By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:



It has long been a question whether the post-sanctions Iran will have any place for its hard-times buddy China or is the giant Chinese economy going to lose the Iranian market to high-quality European rivals.



China alleviated Iran's suffering from the sanctions by turning into the Islamic Republic's greatest source of imports as well as its biggest crude customer. However, the people of Iran have grown wary of low-quality "Made-in-China" products and are expecting the better face of the world when European companies start shipping their products to Iran.



On the other hand, the Iranian government and tradesmen in general have already proven to be too conservative to consider a radical change from where they have found a good footing.



China-made goods are cheap, as far as Iranian tradesmen are concerned, and China has proved to be a reliable friend when the West turns harsh on Iran, the part that relates to the Iranian government.



On May 24, Iran's Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Valiollah Afkhami Rad said to preserve its position as Iran's number one trade partner, "China should lift banking hurdles, improve the quality of its products, and invest in Iran."



In 2014, Iran-China trade turnover hit the record amount of $52 billion. The volume of trade increased in 2015, but due to lower oil prices, the turnover dropped by 34.5 percent.



At another level, partial dismay over the return of Western companies to Iran may count as a cause for Iran's reconsideration of China. Despite the fact that four months have passed since economic sanctions on Iran were lifted, the transfer of money to/from Iran is still a problem.



World's major banks are discouraged from working in Iran by the memory of severe punishments some of them underwent when the worked with Iran under sanctions.



With that said, Afkhami's remarks seem not so much to serve repelling China, but rather to be an invitation to stronger partnership between Tehran and Beijing.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Omani banks will provide Iranian investors in the country with loans worth 70 percent of each project, Mohsen Zarrabi, the head of the Iran-Oman joint Chamber of Commerce, said.

Oman has established a free trade zone in its Sohar port, where Iranian investors can carry out various projects, Zarrabi said, Fars news agency reported May 25.

The Omani administration offers special deals for foreign investors who plan to launch projects in the zone, in order to export the manufactured production to third countries, he added.

He further said that Omani ports would be a better alternative for Iran trade than Dubai and the other ports of the United Arab Emirates.

For instance, Zarrabi said, Brazilian food, which was already imported into Iran via the UAE ports, henceforth will be imported through Oman's Sohar port with less costs.

Iran-Oman trade turnover currently stands at $1 billion per year, Zarrabi said, adding the two countries have the capacity to increase the figure to $5 billion.
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
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the national agency for China to co-ordinate its space activities. In contrast to most other space agencies worldwide, the organization is not involved with the International Space Station and, in fact, has a small space station of its own.

Since 2003, when Yang Liwei became the first Chinese national in space, CNSA has done several manned space launches. In 2013, a three-person crew aboard Shenzhou 9 made the first Chinese manned docking in space, attaching to the single-room station, Tiangong 1.

The agency succeeded in making the first soft landing on the moon in decades in December 2014 with its Chang'e 3 lander and its rover, Yutu. CNSA also carries out periodic launches by itself using its Chang Zheng (Long March) rocket series.

Path to the first taikonaut flight

Information about the Chinese space program is scant. Although CNSA has its own website, which is updated during missions, most of the updates about the agency's plans come through state-controlled Chinese media.

That public caution is likely a legacy of China's start in space after the country entered Communist control in 1949. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the roots of Chinese space began with officials such as Qian Xuesen, a co-founder of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Qian returned to China sometime after the takeover and in 1956, was appointed the first director of the Ministry of National Defense's Fifth Research Academy. The academy was tasked with overseeing ballistic missile development and beginning a space program, the encyclopedia added. Responsibility for space shifted among several government departments in the decades since.

CNSA itself formed in 1993, a year after China started its own human space program. It developed a spacecraft called Shenzhou, which rely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft design but have been modernized by Chinese engineers.

China's first space traveler  called a taikonaut from the Mandarin word for space, taikong  was Yang Liwei. He entered space alone on Oct. 15, 2003, aboard Shenzhou 5. Yang's flight marked China as the third country ever to independently launch a human into space, after Russia and the United States began in 1961.

Other human spaceflight activities

Two years after Yang finished his flight, Shenzhou 6 launched with the first two-person Chinese crew. The mission reportedly was a test of how capable Shenzhou's life-support systems were, and also featured experiments and better food for the taikonauts.

The next mission, Shenzhou 7, featured the first Chinese spacewalk by Zhai Zhigang on Sept. 27, 2008. "I have been out of the hatch, I'm feeling good," Zhai said as he began his outside activities, according to the CCTV official Chinese television announcer's translation.

China selected seven new taikonauts in 2010, including two women. CNSA's one-room space station, Tiangong 1, launched in September 2011 and underwent two robotic dockings with the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft that November. The crews of Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 made their own manned dockings to Tiangong 1 in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

A successor small space station called Tiangong 2 is expected to launch in 2016. In past years, China has discussed creating a bigger space station and has also talked about perhaps doing a manned lunar mission some day.

Other Chinese space activities

China did a successful anti-satellite test on one of its own machines in 2007, drawing the concern of international space authorities as a debris cloud of hundreds of pieces spread into orbit. Five years later, the International Space Station had to take evasive maneuvers to put enough of a safe distance between it and one of the pieces from that test.

CNSA does regular launches with its Long March series of rockets, which send various types of satellites into space. A Long March 2C rocket had a malfunction in 2011 that also destroyed an experimental Chinese satellite. China is now developing a Long March 5 rocket that is intended to bolster the agency's work on the larger space station and possible lunar missions.

"The rockets in service cannot meet the demand from a future manned space station," Yuan Jie, deputy general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), told the state-run Xinhua news agency in June 2013. "We need rockets with even larger carrying capacities."

Moon landing

CNSA made a successful soft landing on the moon with its lander, Chang'e-3. The lander deployed a rover called Yutu. Announcements from the mission are few, but the rover was confirmed to have died in March 2015. The mission sent back high-resolution pictures from the surface and also found a new kind of basaltic rock. In January 2016, state agency Xinhua reported that a follow-up mission called Chang'e-4will land on the far side of the moon (the side that never faces Earth) in 2018. No mission has soft-landed there yet.

According to multiple news reports in spring 2016, China's near-term plans include launching a successor small Tiangong-2 space station and a crew in late 2016, and sending a Mars rover out in 2020. CNSA also plans to have a larger, orbital station in service by 2020. CNSA is further working on technologies such as cargo ships and reusable rockets.

Additional resource
Astrophotographer Manish Mamtani took this image of the Milky Way in April 2016 from Arches and Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

Astrophotographer Manish Mamtani saw his first Milky Way on a spring trip to Utah four years ago. Since then, he's traveled to the state every year to capture the beauty of the night sky.

Mamtani took this image of the Milky Way in April 2016 from Arches National Park in Utah. The park is a hub for astrophotographers because the area is relatively dark and unaffected by light pollution .

"I got an image of Milky way arch rising over Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park that I have been dreaming about from past couple of years but couldn't get due to bad weather," Mamtani wrote in an email to Space.com.

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, meaning multiple "arms" sprout from a central region and then swirl around it, like streams of water spiraling down a drain. It stretches between 100,000 and 120,000 light-years in diameter. Scientists estimate that the galaxy has approximately 400 billion stars. At the center of our galaxy lies a gigantic black hole billions of times the size of the sun. [How to Photograph the Milky Way in Light Pollution (Photos )]

Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Original story on Space.com.
On Monday evening (May 30) at 5:35 p.m. EDT, Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth since Oct. 5, 2005.

Last Sunday morning (May 22), Mars reached opposition with the sun, meaning the Red Planet, Earth and the sun were all arrayed in a straight line. But the moment did not mark Mars' closest approach to Earth.

This Monday evening (May 30) at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 GMT), Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth since Oct. 5, 2005: 0.50321377 astronomical units (AU), or 46,762,695 miles (75,279,709 kilometers). (One AU is the average distance from Earth to the sun  about 93 million miles, or 150 million km.)

Opposition and closest Earth approach occur on different days because the orbit of Mars is elliptical. When opposition occurred May 22, Mars was still approaching Earth on its orbital track, and will not reach minimum distance to Earth until May 30. After 5:35 p.m. EDT on that date, Mars will begin to recede from Earth. [Video - Skywatching Mars: 2016 Is A Great Time!]

The graphic shows how Mars would appear viewed with a superb telescope at the exact instant of closest approach. The landing site of NASA's Opportunity rover is just rotating out of sight on the Red Planet's eastern limb, and the solar system's highest volcano, Olympus Mons, is just coming into view on the western limb. Mars' Valles Marineris, far larger and deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon, is close to the center of the disk, and the dusky Acidalia Planitia is high to the north, close to the small north polar cap.

What can you see with an ordinary amateur telescope? Very little, I'm afraid. You might see a hint of the polar cap, and a few dusky shadings. Astronomers studying Mars from Earth use a slightly different terminology. Acidalia Planitia is known as the Mare Acidalium, the dark area to the southeast of the Valles Marineris as the Mare Erythraeum, and the dark area just south of Marineris is called Solis Lacus. These older names are, like the "seas" and "lakes" on the moon, imaginary bodies of water on a dry world.

When lighting conditions are exactly right, Olympus Mons can be spotted by keen-eyed observers on Earth, but the mighty Valles Marineris has never been seen from here (although the huge canyon complex has been mapped in detail by satellites in orbit around Mars).

Regular observers of Mars soon become familiar with the normal patterns of light and dark on its surface, known as "albedo markings." If you observe Mars over a few hours, you will see these markings appear to move slowly across the disk, as Mars rotates just slightly more slowly than Earth, a full rotation taking 24 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds. Because of Mars' slightly longer day, if you observe Mars at the same time on successive nights, the markings will seem to move.

Sometimes the albedo markings seem to change shape. Usually this is caused by gigantic dust storms sweeping across the face of Mars. Recently, British amateur astronomer Damian Peach reprocessed a number of old images made of Mars in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, using modern image-processing techniques. Peach's work revealed amazing detail not visible in the original images, and some of this detail has shown clear changes from back then to modern times. It is thought that these changes result from the shifting sands of Mars over the decades.

Nowadays, most of the serious amateur studies of Mars are made through imaging, with multiple images being combined by "stacking" to bring out the finest detail. These images rival or exceed the finest professional images of only a few years ago. However, there still are "old school" amateurs like myself sketching Mars using centuries-old techniques.

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of Mars and would like to share it with Space.com and our news partners for a possible story or image gallery, send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

This article was provided to Space.com bySimulation Curriculum, the leader in space science curriculum solutions and the makers of Starry Night and SkySafari. Follow Starry Night on Twitter @StarryNightEdu. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A giant disco ball has been monitoring the Earth from space for forty years  and will continue to hang there for millions more.

The NASA satellite, dubbed LAGEOS  short for Laser Geodynamics Satellite  celebrated its 40th year in space on May 4. The craft was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 1976. NASA officials describe the orb's construction in this retro video from NASA's archives.

Although LAGEOS completely transformed the way scientists explored and gathered data about Earth, it uses relatively simple technology. The 900-pound (408-kg) satellite has no onboard sensors, electronics or moving parts; it's simply a brass core surrounded by an aluminum shell that's covered in 426 retroreflectors. [Satellite Tracker Map: How to Spot the ISS and More]

The retroreflectors, which reflect light with minimal scattering, made LAGEOS the first NASA orbiter to use a technique called laser ranging to take measurements. By sending light to LAGEOS and measuring how much time it took that light to bounce off the reflectors and make it back to Earth, NASA scientists could make measurements to millimeter-level precision of how far away LAGEOS was from the ground. Those measurements over time revealed how the ground stations were moving relative to Earth's center of mass.

A half-scale model of NASA's Laser Geodynamics Satellite (LAGEOS), which celebrated its 40th year in space in May 2016. (Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

A model of LAGEOS, a 900-pound (408-kg) satellite launched into orbit in 1976. (Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

"At the time, people couldn't believe that we could actually range to a satellite orbiting at that altitude with such high accuracy," Erricos Pavlis, a researcher with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, said in a statement.

Previous satellite laser-ranging technologies could measure with an accuracy of up to 3 feet, but LAGEOS made it possible to measure distances from the ground to the satellite's orbit  which is 3,600 miles (5,900 kilometers) above the Earth  within half an inch.

Over the past 40 years, NASA has used LAGEOS to measure the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, detect irregularities in the rotation of the planet, weigh the Earth and track small shifts in its center of mass via tiny changes in the satellite's orbit and distance from Earth.

At the time of LAGEOS' launch, the theory of plate tectonics was already established and supported by evidence of seafloor spreading and magnetic patterns in the crust. But scientists still wondered whether the plates were currently moving, how much they were moving and how they related to earthquakes.

"What had been missing was a way to measure the speed and direction of plate movement over time," Frank Lemoine, a geophysical scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in the statement.

LAGEOS provided scientists with that ability, as well as the ability to detect small shifts in the Earth's rotation that are caused by movement of mass in the atmosphere and oceans. Ranging to LAGEOS also revealed the migration of Earth's axis of rotation as well as changes in the satellite's orbit, which helped scientists develop early models of the planet's gravity.

"Today, we see Earth as one system, with the planet's shape, rotation, atmosphere, gravitational field and the motions of the continents all connected. We take it for granted now, but LAGEOS helped us arrive at that view," David E. Smith, who was the LAGEOS project scientist at Goddard and is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, said in the statement.

When LAGEOS-2, an identical sister satellite that travels in a complementary orbit, was launched in 1992, it opened up even more possibilities for data and eventually confirmed a prediction from Einstein's general theory of relativity: Small perturbations in the satellites' orbits around Earth matched up with a "frame-dragging" effect that the theory predicted (also called the gravitomagnetic or Lense-Thirring effect). That's not the only drag effect LAGEOS has measured. It also showed proof of the Yarkovsky effect, which says that an object that is heated from sunlight on one side will later emit that heat and experience a small, slowdown force. Both of the drag forces, as well as others, lower LAGEOS' orbit by about one millimeter each day.

Eventually, the forces will bring LAGEOS crashing back to Earth, but scientists don't expect that to happen for about another 8.4 million years. So for the foreseeable future, the disco ball lives on.

Follow Kasandra Brabaw on Twitter @KassieBrabaw. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Tehran, Iran, May 24

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Dispute has erupted among subsidiary companies of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) as which one is responsible for the environmental hazards posed by the Gotvand Dam in southwestern Iran.

"We only carried the project out and are not responsible for designing the dam," Ebadollah Abdollahi, commander of IRGC's Khatam ul-Anbiya construction company told ILNA news agency May 24.

Khatam ul-Anbiya was formed as a construction company during the Iran-Iraq war, but lived on to grow into a large company to carry out mega projects in the years following the war.

The dam was built by SEPASAD, another subsidiary of the IRGC. The consultancy services were provided by Mahab Qods, partly owned by the Trusteeship of the Holy Razavi Shrine.

"This failed experience does not concern us.... If we hit a salt dome, it has to do with the design made by the consultancy company," Abdollahi stated.

Experts say Gotvand, which is the costliest dam yet built in Iran, has hit a salt dome and now the salinity is deadening farmlands in the agricultural hub of Khuzestan.

The dam was watered in 2011. Lawmakers in the parliament have also raised concern over the situation, paving the way for a series of academic research, which have suggested that the dam be razed.

The suggestion has been seconded by the Environment Department and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Energy, though, has dismissed the idea.

It is believed that destroying the dam will not only mar the reputation of the engineering companies, but will open a way for taking legal action against them for the damage caused.
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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

For the first time, Iran has exported a steel shipment to Iraq through railways, said Morteza Ali-Akbari, an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways.

He said the Khorasan Steel Complex Company carried out the export, IRIB reported May 25.

The shipment included 19 wagons of various types of reinforcement steel, the official added.

Ali-Akbari said the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways and Khorasan Steel Complex Company agreed last month to load 10,000 tons of shipment in the Company and unload it in Shalamcheh, an Iranian town on the border with Iraq.

According to the agreement, the shipment will be delivered to Iraq by trucks, he added.
Back in 2013, Matthew Elliott began the process of making contacts, finding rich donors and uniting the country's euroskeptic elite in organizations like Business for Britain. Some of those Elliott brought together have been waiting for the referendum for years. He poured the movement's foundation.

Now, it is time to organize town councilors along with small-business leaders and other sympathizers. The mood in the room is relaxed and nobody seems particularly surprised that a German is interested in helping out the Brexit camp. Next to me sits Harry, who is just as vehemently opposed to the EU as everyone else here. Harry says that he is most bothered by people who complain to him about Europe but who then say they aren't sure how they are going to vote in June.

Money, Chocolate or Flowers

I pick up the phone. The text that I am to recite appears on the screen: "Good morning, I am calling from Vote Leave, the campaign for Britain to leave the EU. The prime minister just returned with a deal from Brussels. But we don't believe that he has achieved the fundamental reforms that this country needs." The telephone computer connects me with Kent, South Wales, Somerset -- with 40 or 50 places. Every few seconds, someone in the room calls out: "Fantastic!" The message is that everything is going well -- that Cameron may have a deal, but it's not worth the paper it's printed on.

I am surprised that some of the town councilors I reach on this morning haven't yet made up their minds. A Tory from southern England, a member of the euroskeptic campaign Conservatives for Britain, says that he is favor of the EU. Before I can ask him why, then, he is involved with the skeptics, he ends the call. Another asks me what I'll offer him to vote for Brexit: Money, chocolate, flowers?

Harry is also having difficulties. "You're still undecided? Somehow everyone is saying that at the moment." While I can only see a tiny slice of the national mood on this morning, there seems to be cause for optimism for a European such as myself. That is the first surprise. What if the majority of the British can come to terms with Europe?

After two hours, I'm exhausted. John says I can come back any time and that he's here every day. Good, I answer. Fantastic!

Brexit is fun: That is the second surprise. My companions seem strangely exuberant, as though they are on an emotional high. They are fighting a war of conviction and talk of freedom and independence -- which lends their words the additional pretense of moral legitimacy.

As with any political movement that seeks to topple the status quo, the anti-Europeans have to be louder than their opponents. They have to explain why it is worth it to leave the EU. My impression is that the Brexiteers are fighting a proxy war. Their enemy isn't Europe, but the powerful elite in London and Brussels. They feel as though they have been shoved aside and cheated; they feel overwhelmed by immigrants, globalization and the question as to when they actually lost their old England. Brussels is only a metaphor for their feeling of loss of control.

The Brexiteers see themselves as being part of a popular revolt against the establishment -- as part of a citizens' rebellion. This feeling is amplified by the fact that the pro-European campaign Britain Stronger in Europe is being funded by high finance: by Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and other banks. The anti-EU movement, by contrast, collects its money in the form of small contributions and from rich private doners.

Fixated on Money

It is March when the Brexit movement ignites the next stage and takes to the streets. On a cool Saturday morning I find myself in the pedestrian zone of Oxford and pull on a red T-shirt bearing the Vote Leave logo. Ten activists have assembled around a folding table -- including three women, which surprises me. Thus far, Brexit had seemed to be largely a masculine movement. James, the coordinator, says we should distribute brochures and ask passersby to approach the table, where they can add themselves to an address list.

There are two flyers. The first one says that Britain could build a new hospital every week for the amount of money the country contributes to the EU. On the second, it says: "There are 35 million potholes in Great Britain. But your money is being spent on bridges like this one in Greece." It is illustrated with a picture of the Rio-Antirrio Bridge on the Gulf of Corinth.

I have always been surprised by the degree to which euroskeptics are fixated on money. The net sum of 8.5 billion that Great Britain sent to Brussels last year is a significant sum, but it is only just over 1 percent of the country's entire budget.

Many people shake their heads when they see the flyers: Thanks, but no thanks. One older woman says that she was born in the 1930s and doesn't want to see Europe break apart again. A young woman says that her great-grandfather fought in World War I and her grandfather in World War II -- Europe stands for peace! I find their support for the EU encouraging: Oxford is more cosmopolitan than its surroundings. Later, I sit down in a cafe with David and Mark, who likewise helped distribute flyers. Mark is a 26-year-old anarchist who works at an emergency hotline, while David is in his late 50s, a Tory voter and the owner of a small real estate company. They have little in common aside from their fight for limited government, low taxes and a country that is subject to few outside influences.

The battle against the EU unites anarchists with entrepreneurs; it pairs defenders of democracy with those skeptical of state power; it brings critics of the state together with patriots. It is an alliance of the dissatisfied, a confederacy of people who have little and feel as though they have been left behind together with those who have a lot and want to hang on to it. They have in common a significant portion of schadenfreude. "Europe is shitting their pants about us leaving," says David. "One less country to pay for the French farmers."

The more time I spend among the Brexiteers, the more convincing their arguments begin to seem. By now, I'm almost beginning to believe myself that Brussels is full of corrupt imperialists who spend their days thinking of new strategies of repression. One of the favorite arguments advanced by Brexit supporters is that Britain's departure would send shockwaves across the Continent and force the EU to become more efficient. As such, rejecting Europe would be beneficial to all. It is tempting to believe them.

A Snotty Club

Great Britain was always a half-hearted member of the European club. They joined because of the free-trade zone, but the country always distrusted the federalist ambitions of the Brussels elite and of the founding states. Libertarianism has a long tradition on the island. The first Brexit initiative emerged in 1969, before Britain even joined the European Economic Community, the precursor to the EU. Since then, dozens of groups, think tanks and networks have been nourishing euroskepticism, which is another reason why the Brexit movement was able to become so strong.

Simon Richards is traveling through the country on behalf of Better Off Out, a Brexit initiative that has been fighting against the EU for 10 years. It is mid-April and the intense third phase is underway. Richards is sitting in a train heading for Haywards Heath in southern England. For the last eight years, he has been head of the Freedom Association, a lobby organization to which Better Off Out belongs. He is a Brexit veteran who has spent much of his life fighting against Brussels. I tell him that I am a journalist from Germany.

He relates to me that his anarcho-capitalistic tendencies developed early and that, even during his school days, he used to protest against excessive state control and overly powerful labor unions. The real fight, though, began in 1990 when Margaret Thatcher was forced by her own party to resign. From Richard's perspective, it was a huge mistake that continues to have implications today. David Cameron, he says, took the Tories hostage and, together with his Eton friends, transformed the party into a snotty club that has no connection to the people. That, he says, is how UKIP came to be. In fact, the rise of the populist United Kingdom Independence Party has come thanks to both its use of xenophobic language as well as the fact that Cameron has maneuvered the Conservative Party toward the center.

The great thing about doing battle against Europe is that you can learn something new every day. For example that the EU is to blame for the war in Ukraine and is likewise to be blamed for the fact that Britain was unable to protect itself from recent floods. That, at least, is what it says on the flyers passed out by the local UKIP chapter in Haywards Heath.

Not only that, but I have also learned in the last few weeks that the EU plans to swallow up the British Isles and make them part of a super-state. The EU, say Brexiteers, increases the danger of terror attacks, makes British beef 36 percent more expensive and is making it possible for 76 million Turks to soon be allowed to come to Europe. If Britain decides to stay in the EU, says Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove, then "we're voting to be hostages locked in the back of the car."

Coming Out

In Haywards Heath, Richards is applauded enthusiastically for his anti-EU speech, with only a 95-year-old world war veteran daring to contradict him. Finally, I am asked what I, as a German, think of the Brexit debate. I say what I have been thinking the entire time: that it would be a catastrophe if Great Britain were to leave. It is my coming out. The British bring cosmopolitanism to Europe and also act as an antipode to France. We Germans, we Europeans, need you, I hear myself saying.

The room is filled with around 30 people, and they fall silent. Then, a woman hisses: "You just want our money."

It's probably pointless. They aren't likely going to be convinced of Europe by a million pounds. The Brexiteers' fight is bigger than the EU. They want to stop time because they are afraid of the future.

Should Europe break apart, it is here where the first cracks are visible -- in Haywards Heath, in the pedestrian zone of Oxford, at Lambeth Bridge. I was surprised by the vehemence and resolve with which the Brexit movement glorifies the retreat -- with which it glorifies isolation. At the same time, I also experienced significant resistance in those places where I campaigned for leaving the EU. My hope is that the Brexiteers will become quieter if Britain decides to stay in the EU on June 23.

The mood in Haywards Heath is buoyant. Then a speaker asks who in the crowd is in favor of Europe. Behind me, three hands are raised, including that of the war veteran. Only three.
SPIEGEL: You don't think the attacks are random?

Ezz: No, they never were. I had three colleagues with whom I provided care to wounded protesters starting in 2011. In May 2012, they were arrested together at a regime checkpoint. Seventy-two hours later, residents found three charred bodies that were taken to the coroner. The families of the three then identified them. Any person providing medical aid is risking their life. Why are they killing us? It is not enough for them to kill people every day in Aleppo. They also want to destroy any chance that they can be treated. Assad's regime has swept away the universal idea that doctors should be spared along with all other humanitarian principles. No government cares that we are all being killed one after the other. Human rights and all that? They are empty words. Like all the others who are still staying here, I am nonetheless waiting for the world to stop being indifferent about our fate. What choice do we have anyway? Should we give up and flee?

SPIEGEL: Since the beginning of the revolution, you have campaigned for the release of arrested doctors as well as providing care for the injured. Did you envision yourself being involved in a war, even years later?

Ezz: No. In 2011 I was beaten after protests together with 27 other colleagues and 14 of us were arrested, but we were released again the next day. We founded the network Nur al-Hayat, or Light of Life. We wanted to defend peaceful demonstrations and treat people who had been shot. But then I learned that the military's secret service was searching for me. Colleagues were murdered and I had to abandon my work at the university hospital and go underground. Later we founded the Aleppo Doctors Council and attempted to continue providing medical care.

SPIEGEL: What do you tell your family regarding your decision to remain in Aleppo?

Ezz: My wife and the three children are now living in Turkey. When we speak about it, I always tell them that our life is in God's hands. I hope he will protect me. But if I die in our hospital, at least that is the right place. I could leave the city and die anywhere in the world in a traffic accident. That would be a betrayal of all those who hope that this criminal regime will one day be gone. I don't want my children to grow up as refugees. They should be able to live in Syria as free people.

The doctor is forced to interrupt the interview again. One day later, he gets in touch via WhatsApp and says there are so many emergencies at the moment that he won't be able to continue again until late evening. He gets back in touch at 10 p.m.

SPIEGEL: What do you do with patients who don't need surgery but are just sick?

Ezz: Not much -- we have to neglect them. Hepatitis, heart disease -- we can hardly even treat cancer cases. We try to get the worst cases to Turkey, but even that is getting more difficult. What should I do? I had a woman whose uterus had been removed and urgently needed further treatment, but it wasn't possible. I gave her painkillers and assured her that the bombing would subside and that more doctors would return to alleviate her anguish.
Although case law has long indicated that landowners must physically manage the land to qualify for business tax relief, there is now a clear First Tier Tribunal decision on Capital Gains Tax. This new decision adds further weight and clarification to the previous case law, says Jeremy Moody, Secretary and Adviser at the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV). Although the case revolves around a conacre (seasonal grazing) agreement in Northern Ireland, the ruling is extremely pertinent to landowners with grazing or cropping agreements across the UK.

Central to the Tribunals decision in Allen v HMRC were the actions of the landowner and the grazier, not just the terms of the agreement. In this case, the landowner, John Allen, let 10 acres of pasture to a neighbour for seasonal grazing and silage from March to November. However, he also used the land as lairage for animals sold in the market year-round and grazed it over the winter. Importantly, Mr Allen also supplied fertiliser for the tenant to apply when needed, and engaged a contractor to cut the weeds and hedges.

HMRC asserted that the grazier had sole occupation of the land, saying that if the grazier was in occupation the owner could not be, says Mr Moody. However, the Tribunal rejected that on the evidence before it. This case turned on its own facts: Had Mr Allen not shown that he both occupied and undertook responsibility for husbandry of the land he would not have won this relief.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iran plans to launch a new transit route from Persian Gulf to the Europe which will be an alternative to Turkey path, Deputy Managing Director of Iranian Railway Hossein Ashouri said.

Considering the recent tension between Ankara and Moscow, Iran has proposed a new railway transit route to the regional countries which will link Persian Gulf to the Europe via the Black Sea, Ashouri said, Iran's IRIB news agency reported May 25.

Iran hold meetings with Azerbaijan and Georgia on the issue, he said, adding that based on the proposal, goods will be transported from Persian Gulf into Azerbaijan and thereon to Georgia by railway and from there will be shipped from Batumi and Poti ports to the ports in Bulgaria and Romania and then to the rest of Europe.

Ashouri also said that while Rasht-Astara railway, located in Iran is not completed yet, the goods will be transported by roads in this part of the route.

Replacing the Turkey route with the new route will decrease the transportation period from 45 days to 23 days, he added.

Agreements were made on tariffs and transportation period from Mumbai port in India to Georgian ports, Ahouri said, without unveiling further details.

The new corridor has no serious alternatives, he said, adding trade volume between Russia and India is high and currently transportation between the two parties is carried on by sea routes.

The new route will be in favor of the two countries, he said, adding negotiations were held with Azerbaijani and Russian officials on extending a section of the new route to Moscow and from there to Finland.

It should be noted that Taleh Ziyadov, the director general of the Baku International Sea Trade Port, addressing the CIS Global Business Forum in Dubai last February, proposed to link the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas to Helsinki, by railway.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  Heres an example of how Connecticuts financial distress can intimately affect your life.

Earlier this month, without public discourse, state lawmakers scrambling to close a $1 billion deficit and arrive at a 2016-17 budget eliminated the grants that help towns and cities provide busing for schoolchildren.

With a swipe of the ax, $23.3 million in state money that was distributed to school districts for public-school transportation was gone, along with $3.4 million that helped districts cover the costs of busing children to private schools.

Parents of private-school children reacted.

During the last-minute budget tussle the week of May 9, Bob Zitter, president of the Board of Trustees of Bi-Cultural Day School on High Ridge Road in Stamford, alerted parents that the busing grant was on the chopping block.

State law says that cities have to provide transportation to public and private schools, but the state gives cities money to do it, Zitter said. If the state takes the money away, will the cities be able to pay for it? If they cant, will they drop buses for private schools? If they keep the buses, will they have to raise taxes? Or will they make the private-school parents pay for buses?

That would be unfair, said Tara Shapiro, whose two children attend Bi-Cultural Day School, which provides secular and Judaic studies for pre-K to eighth grade.

We support the public school system by paying taxes. But we dont use it. The one service we have is busing, Shapiro said. Its extremely important to parents, since in most families both of them work.

Jeff Weisels daughter attends Bi-Cultural Day School and his son will go there in the fall. The family relies on the school bus, Weisel said.

As it is, my wife leaves work early to be home when our daughter gets there, he said. If she had to pick our daughter up, she would have to leave work even earlier. I dont know if she would be allowed to do that.

Good neighbors

Beyond the family disruptions, it doesnt make sense to cut private-school busing, said Doug Lyons, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.

Ive been in this position for 12 years and this is probably the fourth time theres been a discussion about this, said Lyons, whose group represents 96 schools. But, the other times, I gave the Legislature the math and explained that private schools provide a huge financial benefit to taxpayers, and the funding wasnt cut.

The math is that 70,000 Connecticut children attend private schools, he said.

Lets say private schools went out of business tomorrow. Think of the costs taxpayers would have to absorb to educate all those children in public schools, Lyons said. We also provide scholarships, we make our fields and gyms available for community use, and we provide good jobs. We are good neighbors.

Parents said its distressing that lawmakers in Hartford could sneak in something so central to their jobs, daily lives and the education of their children.

It seems like the politicians were trying to do things under the radar, Weisel said. Most of the private schools in this area are religious, so they would be targeting, inadvertently or otherwise, religious schools.

Its disgusting, Shapiro said. Parents are saying, What are we all going to do?

It turns out that, in Stamford, at least  and for now  they wont have to do anything.

Its a wash

Stamfords portions of the state transportation grants were about $90,000 for public schools and $61,000 for private. To put that in perspective, Stamford spends $13.8 million a year to transport public-school children and $2.9 million a year for private schools.

It means Stamfords loss from the eliminated grants, a total of $151,000, was relatively small. And it was softened when the city, long underfunded in its Education Cost Sharing grant, received a nearly $200,000 increase.

So public- and private-school buses in Stamford will run as they have, and likely at no added expense to taxpayers.

But thats not the case in other communities.

Westports Education Cost Sharing grant was cut by about $1 million, and so was Fairfields, and they are losing their reimbursements on transportation at the same time, Stamfords Interim Schools Superintendent James Connelly said. The same is true for Greenwich. So the squeeze on those communities is even greater.

But before you think Stamford got lucky, look ahead.

All the scrambling earlier this month was just to fill the $1 billion budget hole for 2016-17. Its about to get worse. The state Office of Fiscal Analysis has projected a $1.3 billion deficit for 2017-18 and a $1.4 billion deficit for 2018-19.

It could be that, soon, taxpayers will be asked to dig deeper for a lot more than school bus funding.

acarella@scni.com;
STAMFORD  A check-fraud ring used what police have called a card-cracking system to withdraw thousands of dollars from empty bank accounts.

Two Stamford residents were arrested this week for depositing a phony check worth more than $2,000 into a Peoples United Bank account and then spending the money the next day at Walmart and Stop and Shop in Norwalk before the bank realized the check was a fraud, police said.

Stamford police said Jamya Munoz, 19, of Courtland Avenue, and Shyquinn Dix, 22, of Kennedy Lane, used a card-cracking method to steal the money by paying people to give them their debit cards and personal identification numbers.

Police said they deposited fake checks written for thousands of dollars into the accounts through ATMs and then spent or withdrew the money within 24 hours before the bank realized the fraudulent activity.

Police said Peoples United Bank has complained about numerous fraudulent checks being deposited at local ATMs by the same person.

One of the incidents occurred shortly after 5 p.m. on March 17 when Munoz deposited a counterfeit check from a Florida college written for $2,723.19 into a Stamford womans account, the arrest affidavit said.

A man using the womans debit card then spent $1,944 at Walmart in Norwalk shortly after 7 a.m. the next day, the affidavit said.

The man then made a $400 withdrawal about 15 minutes later at a satellite branch of Peoples at the Stop and Shop about a mile down the road from Walmart, the affidavit said. The man then made a $7.99 purchase in the supermarket and requested $200 in cash back and then made a $5.84 purchase and requested another $100 in cash back, the affidavit said.

In the span of a half-hour, $2,644 was taken out of the account, which only had $2 in it before the fraudulent check was deposited, the arrest affidavit said.

The account belonged to a woman who told police she gave her card and PIN number to Dix, who promised her $800, according to the affidavit.

Che McCoy, 24, who was arrested on forgery and larceny charges by Stamford police in April, was identified as the man who made the purchases with the card at the Norwalk stores.

The affidavit said police believe McCoy is a suspect in 10 other identical incidents. Police said he was found with a check forgery factory in his car when he was arrested last month. Legitimate checks were found in various states of the forgery process, police said. Some were washed in acetone, stripping them of pen ink but left the printing intact, which would allow them to be re-endorsed to a third party and deposited into an account, police said.

Munoz was charged with attempted third-degree larceny, second-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit larceny and forgery and was released after posting a $10,000 court appearance bond.

Dix, was charged with second-degree forgery, fourth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit forgery and larceny.

jnickerson@scni.com;
The Board of Education has another reason to consider whether a private vendor is the best choice for managing Stamford school b uildings.

If the board decides it is, members certainly should consider some type of oversight.

It came to light last week that the boards longtime vendor, AFB Construction Management, nearly always uses the same company, AMC Environmental, to test for asbestos in schools. An Advocate investigation revealed that, over the last five years, AFB chose AMC Environmental for asbestos testing projects 90 percent of the time. City invoices show AMC was paid $291,000 in that time.

It also was revealed that AFB, headed by Al Barbarotta, and AMC share the same Bridgeport office at 6 22 Clinton Ave. AMC rents the space from 622 Clin ton Avenue Associates LLC, a company registered to Barbarotta.

So the company that AFB chooses to do most of the asbestos testing in schools is AFBs tenant.

City engineers, who handle the larger school projects, have occasionally hired AMC Environmental but more often contract with three other companies to test for asbestos and other toxins - Hygenix Inc. of Stamford, Fuss & ONeill of Manchester, or Belfor Property Restoration of Wallingford, invoices show.

Barbarotta said this week he has not helped AMC secure any contracts in Stamford. His company and AMC are not affiliated, they just share the same address, Barbarotta said.

It isnt the first time Barbarotta has had to answer questions about address-sharing with another company. Its part of a lawsuit he brought against First Selectman Tim Herbst of Trumbull, where AFB once was contracted to manage school buildings.

Herbst had charged that Barbarotta concealed his relationship with Conveo Energy, a company Barbarotta pitched to the Trumbull school district to monitor energy conservation. Barbarotta was managing partner of Conveo.

Barbarotta sued Herbst for defamation, saying his relationship with Conveo was not concealed - it was apparent from distributed written materials that listed Conveo and AFB at the same address. Barbarotta won a $20,000 out-of-court settlement from the town of Trumbull in that lawsuit.

AMC Environmental is renting the office Conveo once occupied at 622 Clinton Ave. in Bridgeport, but Barbarotta now says that means nothing more than a tenant-landlord relationship.

Shining a light

Questions about companies Barbarotta chose to work in Stamford arose in 2013, when he installed energy-efficient lights at Scofield Magnet Middle School.

Barbarotta did the $424,376 project without a written contract or approvals from city engineers or the Board of Finance. He used money from the operating budget instead of the capital budget, and did not obtain permits or inspections. He skirted the bidding process after five school officials signed a waiver, which is supposed to be used only in emergencies.

Without bids, Barbarotta could choose the subcontractors himself. He picked an electrical company he does business with in New Haven, where he also manages schools. To track energy savings on the Scofield project he picked Enertiv of New York, which described AFB as a strategic partnership company. Barbarotta said at the time that Enertiv is a company of young engineers with a great idea. Im helping them develop it.

Thats fine for a private project, but public projects are subject to laws designed to avoid actual and apparent conflicts of interest.

After Barbarotta said the new lighting would save more than $1,500 a week at Scofield school, city engineers hired a firm called Celtic Energy to audit AFBs energy-conservation claims. Celtic auditors found that AFBs methods of measuring energy savings lacked the detail standard in industry practices. Auditors reported that the information AFB provided them was so incomplete that they could not determine whether the school boards payments to AFB for energy conservation were warranted.

In charge

Questions have been raised, too, about whether a private contractor can be boss to public employees.

In 2013 Barbarotta, who then also oversaw the parks department, hired the deputy tree warden, whom he supervised, to work at Gov. Dannel Malloys then-home in Shippan. At the time, Barbarotta, a close friend of Malloy, was property manager for the $1 million home that Malloy rented while he lived in the governors residence in Hartford.

The tree warden did the work on his own time using his own equipment but called one of his subordinates, who was working on overtime to clean a city beach, to pick up his ladder in a city truck.

The tree warden was disciplined after a resident called City Hall to report that someone in a city vehicle was working at the governors house. One of the concerns was whether Barbarotta - had City Hall not been notified - would have disciplined the tree warden for using an on-duty city employee with a city truck on a private job, since Barbarotta asked the tree warden to do the work in the first place.

The public sector and private sector operate under different rules, but in Stamford problems arise because a contractor straddles both.

angela.carella@scni.com; 203-964-2296; stamford

advocate.com/angelacarella.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy now has a handy response anytime he is accused of being a puppet of the unions.

Five of Connecticuts powerhouse unions plan to boycott the state Democrats annual fund-raising banquet June 2 because the governor wouldnt give them what they wanted: a budget without layoffs.

More than 1,000 workers have already been dismissed, a figure that is expected to swell to 2,000.

Larry Dorman of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said, the governors Jekyll and Hyde behavior prompted the decision.

The unions must have been in denial that Malloy has been their Mr. Hyde for quite some time, as he pledged in the days after taking office in 2011 that he would make uncomfortable demands of the unions.

That unions routinely buy several tables at the event  $1,850 each this year  which is exactly whats wrong with this system.

It flaunts that entitled unions believe they have elected Democrats on a leash.

Give the voice of working families what they want and they are happy to pay too much for a meal.

Even casual political observers see such donations as timeless, thinly veiled attempts to curry favor with elected officials.

With this response, these unions demonstrate there isnt really any veil at all.

Malloy pressed the unions to yield to concessions. They held ground, insisting the only appropriate solution was to further levy the wealthiest state residents.

Unions do a lot of good for a lot of state residents. They also guide a significant number of potential voters, which is why politicians tread so lightly around them. The AFL-CIO alone represents about 30,000 state employees, 700 of whom are being laid off.

No one wants to see these people lose their jobs: not the unions, not the governor and certainly not us. But we also deplore whenever personal freedoms of expression are compromised. The AFL-CIO is asking members to withhold all political contribution. This blind snub of Malloy also rejects other prominent Democrats in the state, let alone qualified candidates from other parties.

The unions should take the money earmarked for this event and send it directly to the 2,000 soon-to-be-former-dues-paying members.

Malloy did not act alone. Several pro-labor Democrats also voted in favor of the $19.7 billion budget.

The unfortunate reality that severe cuts had to be made is a recurring challenge in municipalities throughout the state struggling to contain budgets driven up by obligations in contracts.

The unions like to proclaim themselves a base of the Democrat party.

But the governors base is the entire state  union and non-union; Democrat and Republican; voter and non-voter.

Otherwise, Malloy would just be a puppet yanked by too many strings.
Tehran, Iran, May 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Each year 200,000 land grab suits are filed in Iran, according to Mohammad Javad Heshmati, deputy for judicial affairs to Iran's prosecutor general.

In many cases there are some people who incorporate rich farmlands into rural districts by force, he added, Mehr news agency reported May 25.

Most of the related crimes are carried out by real estates and target national lands, he underlined.

There are 134,000 illegal villas only in the northern province of Mazandaran, he stated.

This is while 80 percent of the Caspian Sea shore in Iran is illegally occupied, added Heshmati.
STAMFORD  The 62-year-old son of a Shippan woman with dementia has been accused of a scam to try to take his mothers condo.

According to the arrest affidavit charging Marcos Robalino with criminal attempt at first-degree and second-degree larceny, police received a complaint last November from Robalinos niece that he was trying to scam his ailing mother out of her $220,000 Shippan Avenue condo.

The woman told police her 84-year-old grandmother had dementia and her uncle was living at his mothers condo.

The woman said her grandmothers other five sons and two daughters allowed Robalino to live at the condo after he went through a divorce because he had nowhere else to go. Robalinos mother had since been moved into another of her sons homes because her mental health waned.

But the family filed a notice in 2015 to evict Robalino because he had not fulfilled the financial and maintenance obligations he agreed to when he moved in, according to the affidavit.

After being evicted, Robalino presented last November a quitclaim deed apparently signed by his mother, giving him possession of the condo for $1, the affidavit said.

A number of family members explained to police investigator Paul DeRiu that Robalinos mother had slipped so far mentally that her signature could not have been legally obtained.

A judge at the Housing Session at the Norwalk Courthouse would not recognize the document and Robalinos eviction proceeded.

After moving out of the condo, a family member found documents from a Quicken Loans application that was never approved.

Police called the notary whose signature was on the quitclaim deed, but the man could not remember signing it and after looking at the deed, said his signature had been forged, the affidavit said.

Police also obtained a letter from a doctor saying Robalinos mother had mild dementia and cannot manage personal affairs like money, paying bills etc., the affidavit said.

Robalino, who now lives in Bridgeport, was contacted by police in February and said his siblings were conspiring against him, according to the affidavit.

Robalino was arrested this week and released after posting a $10,000 bond.

jnickerson@scni.com;
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:

An agreement on "Our Home - Israel" party's joining the Israeli ruling coalition was signed in Tel Aviv, Lev Spivak, director general of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association (Aziz) told Trend by phone from Israel May 25.

"Our Home - Israel" party is led by Avigdor Lieberman, candidate for the post of defense minister.

"After a week of negotiations, when it seemed that they were at an impasse, the Israeli government accepted "Our Home - Israel" party's terms on pension reform for the repatriates," Spivak said.

"After the agreement is signed, it will be submitted for the parliamentary approval," he said.

Lieberman is expected to be appointed defense minister early next week, while his party ally Sofa Landwehr will be sworn in as minister of aliyah and immigrant absorption (immigration and adaptation of immigrants).

"Lieberman will take one of the three most important ministerial posts in Israel," Spivak added.
T he chairman of one of our big insurance companies said the other day that he had several billion of capital he would like his firm to invest in the stock market but which, in fact, was sitting in government bonds where it was almost guaranteed to lose money.

Separately, it emerged that American and other overseas investors now own a bigger slice of the equity capital of the leading FTSE 100 companies than British pension funds do.

Third, we saw a further round of figures confirming that Britains productivity growth  the increase in value added per hour worked  is almost non-existent. Since the financial crash, such growth has been a tiny fraction of the number we used to take for granted. And without productivity growth there can be no lasting increase in average income per head.

The productivity figures may make things look worse than they actually are  an argument put forward by Doug McWilliams, president of the Centre of Economic and Business Research  but that is a debate for another day. Taken at face value what these three things show, each in their own way, is that Britain is in the grip of regulatory austerity. Economic activity is being stifled by regulation which puts safety before everything. The risk is that it is creating the stability of the graveyard.

There are two huge pools of capital in this country  one controlled by pension funds and the other in the hands of the insurers  and neither is doing its job. A key part of their economic purpose is to generate returns for their clients and shareholders by investing their funds in the stock market, providing the equity capital businesses need to grow and prosper, and stimulating a steady increase in the productivity and wealth of the nation. But they no longer do so  or, to the extent that they do still engage, do so on a pitifully small scale.

Too many boards feel no incentive to take risks any more. They have long had to grapple with a dysfunctional asset management industry, which is so obsessed with quarterly numbers that discourage thinking long term. But in insurance and pensions, this has been overlaid with a raft of legislative and regulatory changes designed with the good intention of making the system safe, but which have in the process made it much harder for these businesses to do what they were made to do.

If insurance company boards and pension trustees are more risk averse today than they have been in 50 years it is because that is how the system makes them  be it the regulatory straitjackets imposed by Solvency II in the insurance world, or the constant regulatory and accounting changes which act like a boa constrictor on pension schemes. Money which used to be allocated to equities now flows into allegedly safer bonds. To do anything else is either roundly discouraged, actively prohibited or made ridiculously expensive.

As a result, at a time when capital has never been so cheap, boards cannot wait to return it to their shareholders. And executives who should be rebuilding their businesses and conquering the world are to be found instead cowering in their tent.

Take away its major props and you begin to wonder what the stock market is for because it too is struggling to fulfil its economic purpose. As interest from the long-only funds wanes, there is a dwindling volume of investment research published about large companies and even less about small caps. With little to stimulate investor interest the circle of decline continues.

So many listed companies are forgotten that others no longer find it attractive to join. Thus overall numbers on the exchange are dwindling at a dramatic rate.

The amount of new capital raised by conventional means on the stock exchange is depressingly low. The only people happy with the current system are the algorithmic traders who have worked out how to make money from running without falling foul of the law and going to jail. For those who believe that a vibrant equity culture is the best possible way to give everyone a stake in the system and share in its rewards, these are depressing times.

There are glimmers of hope but they are just glimmers. Firms such as the recently re-energised Gresham House, are seeking out growth-hungry listed businesses and offering them the access to capital and support which the market no longer seems able to provide by conventional means. It has a strategy of bringing the best of private equity style engagement and alignment to the public markets, which seems to work but which is inevitably operating still on a very small scale.

Elsewhere, the Government-backed Business Growth Fund, an unexpected but noteworthy success story as it celebrates its fifth birthday, fishes in the same waters but is also actively supporting and mentoring a rapidly increasing number of private businesses. It, too, is making a difference as are fund managers  such as M&G  many of which have developed funds to provide loans to companies the way banks once did.

All this is welcome  essential even  but it cannot hope to match what has been lost with the hobbling of pension and insurance investment in the stock market. Regulatory pressure is driving much of the financial world in the wrong direction. When they come to write the story of the financial crisis, we should not be surprised if future historians conclude that it was not the crash which crippled the British economy but the unintended consequences of regulatory efforts to prevent it ever happening again.
L ONDON must avoid an unhelpful political stalemate after next months referendum, the boss of landlord Great Portland Estates warned today.

The company secured a record 31.8 million of rentals in an under-supplied West End market in the year to March, the highlight of which was signing up Facebook at its Rathbone Square scheme.

Chief executive Toby Courtauld said an extended political stalemate as the consequences of the referendum result are worked out would be unhelpful.

Chinatown and Carnaby Street landlord Shaftesbury reported robust footfall and spending as its restaurants and shops reported little sign of Pariss post-attack malaise spreading to the West End.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold bilateral meetings on Wednesday evening with U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of a summit meeting of the Group of Seven nations, a Japanese foreign ministry source said, Reuters reported.

Among topics to be discussed between Abe and Obama will be the prevention of crime by people from U.S. military bases after the arrest last week of a U.S. worker in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman.
A TOP Tory peer has urged the UKs highest court to pave the way for a retrial of convicted libor trader Tom Hayes after several of his alleged co-conspirators were found innocent this year.

The former UBS trader became the first person to be found guilty of fiddling libor and was sentenced to 14 years in prison, reduced to 11. Six brokers accused of helping Hayes were cleared in January.

We have to resolve this in some possible way but surely we can ask the Supreme Court to consider re-introducing a proper appeal process or a retrial, either of which will return us to some form of justice, Lord James said

The Court of Appeal ruled in March that Hayes could not ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Lord James said it could also be passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
G REEK shares were buoyed today after its international creditors kicked the can down the road again to avert the threat of a summer funding crisis.

Athens stock exchange rose 1.5% as an International Monetary Fund compromise with Germany meant Greece will gain payments under its 86 billion (66 billion) bailout.

The IMF dropped its demand for automatic Greek debt relief and there will be no haircuts on Greek debt. Both measures were opposed by Germany.

But the Germans have agreed to a fresh analysis of the sustainability of Greeces debt pile in 2018, crucially on the other side of Bundestag elections.

CMC Markets Michael Hewson said: This is another huge dollop of Euro-fudge.
M arks & Spencer had its worst day on the stock market for seven years today as new chief executive Steve Rowe warned that turning around its struggling clothing arm would hit profits.

The company slumped 8% or 34.9p at 409.9p  wiping 500 million off the chains value in its biggest slump since 2009  as Rowe said the difficult trading conditions, alongside efforts to offer permanently lower prices and end periodic sales blitzes, would have an adverse impact on profit in the short term.

Overall profits ticked up rose 4% to 689.6 million in the 53 weeks to April 2 but Rowe threw the kitchen sink at the clothing and home department, which has suffered five years of near-constant sales declines. Same-store sales in the division were down 2.7% in the latest quarter.

Rowe (pictured), who began work at the retailer as a Saturday boy in Croydon and replaced Marc Bolland in the top job this year, said clothing ranges would focus on everyday essentials that have a nod to fashion in an accessible way.

Rowe is attempting to overhaul clothing in the face of a darkening economic climate which has seen rivals Next and John Lewis struggle.

He said that prices on around 30% of goods would be brought down in the coming months.

This would allow the company to re-engage with its core customer, dubbed Mrs M&S, who is around 50 years old and makes around 18 visits a year to the company.

There are times we have not paid enough attention to her but every time we do that weve seen a result in sales, he said.

Elsewhere, M&S food sales edged up 0.2% and hundreds more Simply Food stores were in the pipeline. The UK stores estate and international business remained under review.

Cantor Fitzgerald described Rowes plan as evolutionary rather than revolutionary and said investors may be disappointed by a lack of concrete detail about his intentions.

Shore Capitals Clive Black said he did not characterise Rowe as the man with the golden gun but he backed him as more likely to succeed than not. Investors saw the dividend rise 3.9% to 18.7p and also received a special dividend worth 75 million in the first half of the current financial year.

Some customer assistants in the capital were treated to a 15% pay rise, with hourly rates going up to 9.65 an hour.

However, M&S said it was proposing a change to payment premiums, such as scrapping higher Sunday pay and standardising special bank holiday rates and those for unsocial hours.

Rowe said the move aimed to simplify the organisation.
L ong-suffering investors in Serco were today rewarded for sticking with the troubled outsourcer after it forecast profits ahead of expectations.

The firm has suffered a litany of scandals including charging the Government for tagging some criminals who were dead, imprisoned or non-existent.

It said underlying trading profit for 2016 is expected to reach at least 65 million. That figure is up on its existing forecast of about 50 million.

The shares rose 9.8p, more than 10%, to 101.3p in a boost to boss Rupert Soamess turnaround plan.

Serco said it was helped after a number of contracts ran longer than it was banking on, including the Virginia transport and US Army transition assistance deals.
H uey Long, the legendary Louisiana politician, was once asked if America could ever become fascist. Yes, he famously replied, but we will call it anti-fascist. This week Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the US presidency, pulled fractionally ahead of Hillary Clinton in the average of national polls calculated by RealClearPolitics.

It is now conceivable that the outspoken and furiously autocratic tycoon could be in the Oval Office this time next year.

Suddenly, Longs aphorism looks less whimsical and more like a terrifying prophecy that may come true.

The Trump phenomenon would be a little less alarming were it confined to America. But it is merely the most dramatic instance of what looks increasingly like a pan-Western pathology.

On Sunday Austria came close to electing Norbert Hofer of the nationalist and anti-immigration Freedom Party as its president.

His far-Right movement was founded by former Nazis after the Second World War but has surged afresh by exploiting fear of immigration and anxiety about the labour market.

A similar pattern is emerging elsewhere in Europe.

In Switzerlands most recent elections the Swiss Peoples Party won 29 per cent of the vote; in Denmarks general election last year the Danish Peoples Party secured 21 per cent support; in Hungary, the far-Right Jobbik party won more than 20 per cent of the overall vote in the most recent parliamentary elections; in France, Marine Le Pens National Front performs alarmingly well in opinion polls on next years presidential election.

Trumps ascendancy needs to be seen in a broader international context... It should also be understood as the culmination of a historical process, in which American authoritarianism has ebbed and flowed

Trumps ascendancy needs to be seen in a broader international context, therefore.

It should also be understood as the culmination of a historical process, in which American authoritarianism has ebbed and flowed.

Philip Roths celebrated novel The Plot Against America describes a counter-factual world in which Charles Lindbergh, the aviation hero, admirer of fascists, and strong opponent of American intervention in the war, defeats Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, with terrifying consequences for Americas Jewish population.

Like all the best fiction Roths story illuminates the real world  not least that part of the American psyche that tends towards isolationism and longs to be freed from the duties of global policeman.

In his primary campaign Trump has exploited this longing aggressively, urging his fellow citizens to empower him as Commander-in-chief to withdraw the US from its military entanglements (except where the threat to Americans is overwhelming and obvious).

The ancestry of his authoritarian politics can be traced back to McCarthy in the 1950s and the extremist milieu that wrecked the Republican Party for much of the 1960s.

More recently Patrick Buchanan, whose famous speech to the 1992 Republican convention launched what he called the cultural war for Americas soul, has claimed paternity of Trumps own movement.

And there are certainly continuities between Buchanans nativism and attack on identity politics and Trumps even cruder targeting of immigrants and Muslims and his hostility to what he calls political correctness.

Trumpism, in other words, has roots like any other political movement. More striking, however, is the extent to which it rebels against the deep American tradition of constitutionalism, preoccupation with due process, and deference to the Bill of Rights.

The presumptive Republican nominee feels not the slightest qualm about reinstating waterboarding  and a hell of a lot worse.

Though religious freedom was at the heart of the American Revolution and is explicitly protected by the First Amendment, Trump has blithely announced that Muslims will be banned from entering the US.

What unites the far-Right and authoritarian movements in Europe and America is a yearning for swift, comprehensive solutions to threats that seem overwhelming

What unites the far-Right and authoritarian movements in Europe and America is a yearning for swift, comprehensive solutions to threats that seem overwhelming.

Globalisation has delivered unprecedented prosperity, just as the great technological disruptions of our times have transformed work, leisure and creativity. But change and progress are not the same, and many aspects of modernity churn anxiety rather than enthusiasm.

The development of the global market has sharpened inequalities within and between nations, shifting jobs from one country to another with pitiless speed, triggering population mobility on an unprecedented scale.

Though the nation-state survives, the citizens it serves face planetary crises: economic insecurity, environmental degradation, religious fundamentalism.

Such a backdrop is ideal for those who claim that the answer is autocratic leadership unimpeded by civil liberties, due process, or the framework of common decency that is so easily dismissed as political correctness gone mad.

It is instinctive for the aspiring demagogue to blame foreigners for every social ill, and to associate groups and classes of people with specific problems.

It is no accident that the most potent symbol of Trumpism is a beautiful wall to keep out the migrants he holds responsible for so much.

Unlike most recent US conservatives (and many Democrats) Trump has little visible interest in welfare reform or an overhaul of social entitlements.

It is the urgent task of social democrats and modern conservatives throughout the West to show that their answers are better

His politics  like those of the European far- Right  are all about identity and the claim, as spurious as it is dangerous, that the voters grievances will be addressed if this group is exiled, or followers of that faith are barred from entry.

Authoritarianism of this sort is not only wicked. It is also nonsense.

What Trump has to offer does not remotely address the complexities of the modern world and the interdependent global stage. Yet he and his European counterparts cannot be ignored.

It is the urgent task of social democrats and modern conservatives throughout the West to show that their answers are better. The symbolic challenge between now and November 8 belongs to Hillary Clinton.

But the broader battle that is just beginning must be fought by many, on many fronts.
T he Iraqi army is advancing into the Islamic State stronghold of Fallujah and asking the 60,000 civilians still in the city to leave or hang white flags from their windows.

They would be unwise to comply because IS has sent execution squads into the streets with orders to shoot anyone going out of their house or trying to surrender.

The so-called Islamic State is crumbling at the edges as it loses territory to its numerous if divided enemies.

The recapture of Fallujah just 40 miles west of Baghdad by Iraqi government forces would be a serious blow to IS, which first showed its strength by seizing the city in early 2014.

The defeat of IS there would be a great relief to the seven million people in Baghdad who see Fallujah as the main source of suicide bombers who have killed thousands of people in the capital, including some 200 earlier this month.

IS is on the retreat and has lost territory but this may look more impressive on a small-scale map than it really is.

It has made almost no advances since it captured Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria one year ago and both have been retaken by the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

But these well-publicised advances and retreats do not feel so significant when one is driving for hours through the scorching empty plains of northern Iraq and Syria.

What is most impressive is not the contraction but the vast extent of the caliphate that IS declared almost two years ago after capturing Mosul, Iraqs second largest city.

The US is currently pushing for an offensive against Mosul but Iraqi officials say it is unlikely this year. Though IS has suffered heavy losses it is still well organised and capable of suppressing local resistance to its rule.

Mustafa Ahmed, a middle-aged man who had just crossed the front line east of Mosul, told me that nobody knows in Mosul when they will die because Daesh [IS] might kill you for something very simple that you have done all your life.

IS may now be battered but it is trading territory for time so that it can spread its message

Aside from the immense length of the battle lines, a striking feature of the struggle to eliminate IS is the divisions between its opponents and the hostility with which they regard each other.

The Syrian and Iraqi Kurds are praised by the US and Britain for providing the most effective ground troops, who are fighting IS with the support of strikes by the US-led coalition of air powers.

A year ago I crossed the Tigris river in a small boat, the dividing line between the two Kurdish de facto states.

Today it is closed because of furious quarrels between the two.

Almost comical divisions are also hampering the present assault on Fallujah, where the coalition said yesterday that it will not provide air cover to the east and west of the small city, presumably because the pro-government forces there include Shia militia units backed by Iran.

On the other hand, on the south side of Fallujah it will launch air strikes in support of the Iraqi army and Sunni tribal militia, which it finds politically acceptable.

IS may now be battered but it is trading territory for time so that it can spread its message while fighting a long war.
The new boss of Marks & Spencer today promised to end years of decline with a new charm offensive to lure Mrs M&S from rivals such as Next and Primark.

Chief executive Steve Rowe said Britains best-known retailer would stop slavishly following fashion trends and seek to reclaim its reputation for unbeatable wardrobe essentials.

He told BBC Radios Today programme: Mrs M&S, we need to cherish and celebrate her and give her what she needs.

Mr Rowe, who replaced Marc Bolland last month, acknowledged the chains womens clothing ranges have been unsatisfactory for a number of years and many shoppers had drifted since profits peaked at 1 billion in 2008.

Mr Rowe is pictured at the M&S, High St Kensington store

He said: Our customers look to M&S not for fashion trends but for accessible products they can wear with confidence.

He added: Quality will remain central to our thinking. Whether buying T-shirts or dresses; socks or suits; vests or school uniform, our customers will recognise M&S has returned to being famous for unrivalled quality.

The new vision comes three months after M&S signed up model Alexa Chung to design a fashion collection for the 132-year-old high street institution.

Archive by Alexa - the M&S collection 1 /42 Archive by Alexa - the M&S collection Archive by Alexa Elsie Dress, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Frances Coat, 89 Archive by Alexa Edna Shirt, 35 Archive by Alexa Myrtle Jumper, 29.50 Archive by Alexa Harry Top, 35 Archive by Alexa The Misty Dress, 45 Archive by Alexa Ada Blazer, 49.50 Archive by Alexa Ada Trouser, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Helen Trainer, 49.50 Archive by Alexa Bertha Cardigan, 35 Archive by Alexa Bertha Cardigan, 35 Archive by Alexa Cora Bikini, top 18, briefs 14 Archive by Alexa Daphne T-shirt, 19.50 (two pack) Archive by Alexa Daphne T-shirt, 19.50 (two pack) Archive by Alexa Effie Skirt, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Eliza Dress, 45 Archive by Alexa Harry Dress, 45 Archive by Alexa Harry Top, 35 Archive by Alexa Hattie Top, 25 Archive by Alexa Hattie Top, 25 Archive by Alexa Hattie Top, 25 Archive by Alexa Lilian Shoe, 25 Archive by Alexa Lillie Jumper, 35 Archive by Alexa Lydia Skirt, 29.50 Archive by Alexa Lydia Trouser, 35 Archive by Alexa Mae dress, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Martha Shoe, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Nellie Boot, 65 Archive by Alexa Olive Dress, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Olive Dress, 39.50 Archive by Alexa Ruth Top, 19.50 (two pack) Archive by Alexa Ruth Top, 19.50 (two pack)

However, the latest strategy shake-up appeared not to impress City investors and M&S shares fell 34.9p, or 7.8 per cent, to 409.9p in early trading today.

John Ibbotson, director of retail consultancy Retail Vision, said: M&Ss core clothing customers are getting very old. A whole generation of younger shoppers has grown up without worshipping at the altar of St Michael.

Its been losing clothing market share at both ends of the market; to cheap fast fashion masters such as Primark as well as to the supermarkets, Next, New Look and to the affordable luxury brands. In fact, to everyone except BHS.

Rowe has made some progress since taking the reins, but taking direct control of the clothing business will leave him with no excuses if things dont turn round. The new strategy announced today could make or break both him and the brand.

Steve Clayton, head of equity research at brokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: M&S has 8.5 per cent market share, so is still the UKs largest clothing retailer by value and with 32 million customers, there are plenty of relationships to strengthen. But so far, there is little we can see in the strategic review that hasnt been tried before at the company.

Mr Rowe revealed pre-tax profits fell by almost a fifth in the 53 weeks to April 2 to 488.8 million. Food sales were up 3.6 per cent while clothing and homeware sales were down 2.2 per cent.
Review at a glance









W hat hes done for British politics is still open to debate, but theres no doubt that Jeremy Corbyn has got the theatre talking. Weve already had Corbyn The Musical and now comes this bulletin from his own constituency. It is  allegedly  an evening of political satire, but its one that entirely lacks the biting wit and trenchancy of the best examples of the genre, such as Yes, Minister and The Thick Of It. Malcolm Tucker would be yawning copiously rather than swearing appreciatively here.

The title is juicily suggestive but, unfortunately, it turns out to be promise unfulfilled. It takes ages to get to any real politics, as this peculiar ragbag of playlets from director Max Stafford-Clark gives us first Mark Ravenhills look at a mother trying to avoid hearing the news of her soldier sons death by talking incessantly. Its an inelegant piece that is very much of 2007, when it premiered, and not now. Why is it even here?

Next up is Caryl Churchills brief skit about the takeover of language by corporate-speak. Surely something nearer the political mark than these two could have been included?

The two longest segments are new commissions from Alistair Beaton, who gave us that inspired take on New Labour shenanigans, Feelgood, and David Hare. The former looks at the Opposition plotting a coup against their Corbyn-esque leader, but its obvious, unsubtle stuff. In Ayn Rand Takes a Stand, Hare gets marks for the catchy title, but deductions for an overlong and under-exciting piece that has George Osborne and Theresa May locked in debate with the eponymous free market proselytiser about the free movement of peoples.

Definitely not a show to leave Westminster trembling.

Until July 2, Arts Theatre (020 7836 8463, artstheatrewestend.co.uk)

What to see at the theatre  in pictures 1 /13 What to see at the theatre  in pictures The Deep Blue Sea  Until September 21, National Buy tickets

Henry Hitchings says... Helen McCrory is achingly good in this sombre, tense revival of one of Terence Rattigans finest plays  a devastating portrait of a woman adrift on loves ocean, desperately afraid of loneliness and blighted by the social conventions of the early Fifties. Carrie Cracknells mostly restrained interpretation doesnt shy away from indulging the plays deep silences, and the translucent rooms nested within Tom Scutts design show Hesters Ladbroke Grove lodgings haunted by the fluttery comings and goings of other residents. Their ghostly presence suggests a surveillance society where Hester can never express herself freely. Richard Hubert Smith People, Places & Things  Until June 18, Wyndham's, Buy tickets

Fiona Mountford says... It's rare to see a group of critics, cynical devils that we are, rise to their feet for a sweeping standing ovation on a press night. But this wasnt any old opening, or any old leading actress. For my money, Denise Gough gives the greatest stage performance since Mark Rylance in Jerusalem as Emma, an actress addicted to drink and drugs. Its a supremely confident and well-oiled production from director Jeremy Herrin, with a fluid acting ensemble. There is absolutely no doubt that Gough is the person, Wyndhams the place and this play the thing to see this spring. Johan Persson Guys and Dolls  Until Oct 30, Phoenix Theatre, Buy tickets

Fiona Mountford says... Now in its third incarnation after the premiere at Chichester and an initial West End run at the Savoy, Gordon Greenbergs delicious production of Frank Loessers classy classic once again boasts chemistry in all the right places. In short, theres absolutely nothing not to like about this rendering of Damon Runyons assortment of colourful New York low-lifes. The songs are as tuneful as ever, with Sit Down, Youre Rockin the Boat once more a foot-stomping inducer of encores. This show is tingle-down-the-arms good  a rarity in the West End. Johan Persson The Threepenny Opera  Until Oct 1, National Theatre, Olivier, Buy tickets

Henry Hitchings says... The Threepenny Opera is a stinging indictment of capitalism. Yet for all its pugnacious seriousness it can be fun, and Rufus Norris, whose tenure as artistic director of the National Theatre has so far drawn mixed reviews, oversees a revival thats enjoyably raucous and packed with amusing detail. By downplaying the storys grit and embracing a cartoonish exuberance, Norris ensures that this three-hour production will divide opinion. But after a tentative opening it fizzes with ideas, doing justice to Kurt Weills score, a blend of cabaret and jazz that sounds timelessly, enticingly sleazy. Alastair Muir Show Boat  Until August 27, New London, Buy tickets

Fiona Mountford says... Its always a pleasure to welcome a classy production of a classic musical to the West End and director Daniel Evans has constructed just that in this triumphant transfer from the Sheffield Crucible. From the musically stirring, verbally unsettling opening lines of Ol Man River that begin the show, delivered by the magnificently voiced Emmanuel Kojo as Joe, we know were in for something special. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammersteins 1927 work set the template for the musical as we know it, and 90 years on its still a knockout, above all for its soaring songs. Don't miss this boat. Johan Persson Funny Girl  Until October 8, Savoy Theatre, Buy tickets

Fiona Mountford says... Sheridan Smith triumphantly reinvents Fanny Brice for a new generation of musical theatre lovers, conveying with skill and heart this entertainers emotive blend of professional success and personal vulnerability. Michael Mayers sassy production is reinforced by Michael Pavelkas elegant, wistful design of a theatre, with rows of burnished mirrors running into the wings. Fanny is endlessly reflected back, but never quite in the image shed like to see. Johan Persson The Caretaker  Until May 14, Old Vic, Buy tickets

Henry Hitchings says... Timothy Spall returns to the stage, after a 19-year absence, in Harold Pinters classic vision of deception and isolation. Hes absorbingly watchable as Davies, a tramp taken in by Daniel Mayss generous, simple-minded Aston  and he makes this shambolic figure a bundle of mannerisms, a fidgety bigot who spouts bizarre opinions and peevish gripes. The Caretaker is an incisive, delicately balanced study of a power struggle between three lost souls who are drowning in absurd fantasies. The rich performances make this an unsettling portrait of claustrophobic domesticity and its capacity to warp the mind and the soul. Hamlet  Until August 13, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Buy tickets

Henry Hitchings says... As a brash and youthful Hamlet, in Simon Godwins sultry and at times risky interpretation, Paapa Essiedu radiates star quality. At his best when skittishly imparting the intricacies of Hamlets madness, he combines sarcasm, charm and creepiness. His encounter with the ghost of his father (a memorably doomy Ewart James Walters, whos later a droll gravedigger) transforms him from a slick and smartly dressed graduate into a dynamic oddball whose gestures make the meaning of the plays most famous speeches feel fresh. The production follows the same trajectory. Manuel Harlan/RSC The Alchemist  In rep until August 6, Buy tickets

Fiona Mountford says... For all that The Alchemist (1610) is a splendid satire and proto-farce, its densely packed language, so different from the familiar rhythms of Shakespeare, can be a real challenge. In a well-judged move, director Polly Findlay has cut more than 20 per cent of Ben Jonsons wordy text and employed writer Stephen Jeffreys to demystify some of the more arcane references. The result is a nimble-footed production, blessed with some ingenious little flourishes. The action is a little effortful as times, although McSweeney in particular never fails to amuse. Look out too for the wonderful stuffed alligator that serves as an unlikely storage unit for the trios ill-gotten gains. Helen Maybanks Titanic  Until August 6, Charing Cross Theatre, Buy tickets

Henry Hitchings says... When it premiered on Broadway in 1997, Titanic was widely derided, but this stripped-back interpretation, though still overlong, affords a vigorous and ultimately moving take on the 20th centurys most notorious maritime disaster. In a cast of 20, the standard of singing is high, with the most attractive performances coming from James Gant and Niall Sheehy, while Matthew Crowe is affecting as a pompous but fragile telegraphist. And at the helm Southerland combines sensitivity with ambition, suggesting that this previously moribund venue is now on course for success. Scott Rylander

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
A t only 19, choreographer Charlotte Edmonds already has the backing of some of the biggest names in British ballet. The teenager had her first professional commission at 16, and so impressed the Royal Ballet that it created a new position especially for her, a year-long apprenticeship which Edmonds began last September, shadowing choreographer Wayne McGregor and making her own pieces at every opportunity.

Shes clearly living up to her promise, as her 12-month contract has been extended for at least another year. Shell be making a small-scale piece for the Royal Ballet in the autumn, but next month you can see a taste of her work in her first opera commission, choreographing Pietro Mascagnis Iris for Opera Holland Park.

I want to push the dance world to see movements no ones seen before, that would be the dream, she says. To become someone significant.

In person, Edmonds is all warm smiles and wide eyes, blonde hair and blunt fringe. Shes dancer-trendy, doing athleisure long before Beyonce, and although shes incredibly young shes mature and articulate in conversation, and obviously delighted with where shes found herself.

She excitedly relays some of the things shes been doing, working with Dutch National Ballets junior company, making a piece for Selfridges Everybody campaign. Im so fortunate to have joined the Royal Ballet at this stage in my career, she beams. And it would be amazing to be part of driving ballet forward.

Excited, but driven: Charlotte Edmonds already has the backing of some of the biggest names in British ballet / Daniel Hambury

Edmonds knows how lucky she is. Carving out a living as a choreographer is difficult, and very few people do it at such a young age without having a dance career first.

Edmonds did train as a dancer, starting at the age of four, growing up in Essex where her single mum was a boarding school headmistress and needed something to keep young Charlie occupied. At 11 she joined the Royal Ballet School and started choreographing straight away. She is dyslexic and found academic work challenging but she thinks her condition may have helped her choreography. I have to strategise ways to remember things, a lot of visualisation, and that comes in really handy in the studio, she says.

She won the school choreographic prize two years in a row, which is where she caught the eye of Royal Ballet director Kevin OHare, one of the judges. Edmonds was told her height  a dinky 5ft  might be a problem for her as a professional dancer, and at 16 she was assessed out of the school, the genteel euphemism for being told youre not coming back next year.

I really work hard at the Royal Ballet but I have a normal teenage life. I go out  to Queen of Hoxton

Edmonds tells how her teachers pushed the box of tissues towards her as they broke the news, expecting tears, but shed already decided to focus on choreography and went to Rambert School for two years to study contemporary dance, then walked straight into her current position. Cushy. But deserved. One reviewer called her first piece, for Yorke Dance Company, accomplished and sophisticated and, for a 16-year-old, astonishing.

Although her craftsmanship is beyond her years, Edmonds is still experimenting with her artistic identity. The choreography for the opera Iris is a fusion of contemporary dance and butoh, the Japanese dance form, but elsewhere shes looking at the fusion between ballet and contemporary, she explains. Im trying to think of ways you can manipulate classical ballet and change it into something fresher.

I push her to describe her movement. Heated, rich, luxurious, heavenly, she says. I like those still, static moments where theres structured architecture that just disintegrates into fluid movement.

Im so fortunate to have joined the Royal Ballet at this stage in my career. It would be amazing to be part of driving ballet forward

Edmonds wants her audience to be moved by what they see on stage. Anger, love, any kind of emotion, she says. I love it when I come out of a theatre and Im completely crying and it makes me reflect on my own life. Thats the feeling I want when someone watches my piece.

Shes interested in storytelling and while most new narrative ballets are based on old tales  Shakespeare, classic fiction  Edmonds wants to make work that is genuinely contemporary. Current stories, definitely, she says. Something new that people can relate to now. Its definitely possible.

She is about to start workshops with Northern Ballet using a Zadie Smith story, The Girl with Bangs, about a university student who has a relationship with another woman, and shes excited about choreographing a female pas de deux, something you dont normally (or ever) see in ballet.

Theres life outside the studio too, which feeds into her work, whether theatre (she just saw and loved Les Blancs at the National), music (Its my driving force) or clubbing. I really work hard at the Royal Ballet but I have a normal teenage life. I go out  to Queen of Hoxton, Fabric, XOYO.

It sounds like this young woman could be a departure from some of ballets norms. Not least the fact that shes a woman in the first place, a rarity in choreography. Tamara Rojo, the artistic director of the English National Ballet, recently said that until this year she couldnt remember ever dancing a ballet made by a woman, and the Royal Ballet has a particularly bad record on this front.

The last main stage piece they commissioned from a female choreographer was in 1999 (although it does have one lined up for next year, by Canadian Crystal Pite).

Edmonds was blissfully unaware of this imbalance while she was at school. She says there were more girls choreographing as students than boys and they were always encouraged. She cant explain why that hasnt translated into careers.

Theres a theory that girls arent always pushy enough or confident in their own talent but Edmonds is positive thats changing. A lot of girls come up to me and say, Can you give me some advice? And you can see theyre really hungry for it. No ones shying away and saying Ill wait until Im told I can do something. Hopefully theres a different mindset for the future. Having Edmonds as a role model is definitely going to help.

Iris is at Opera Holland Park, W8 (0300 999 1000, operahollandpark.com) from June 7 to 18

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
The EgyptAir flight departed from the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, at 23:09 GMT on Wednesday, May 18. The aircraft transmitted its first electronic message at 21:09 GMT, the publication said, Sputnik reported.

"The plane's technical situation is very normal," pilot Mohammed Shakir indicated in the Aircraft Technical Log he signed at 20:30 GMT, which was published by Egypt's Ahram daily.

Following two dispatches saying the engines were functional, the third message at 00:26 GMT indicated that temperature had risen on the co-pilot's side of the window, it added.

Flight MS804 continued sending electronic messages for three minutes until it disappeared from radar screens 10 miles into Egyptian airspace over the Mediterranean Sea, claiming all 66 lives on board.

The investigative committee to probe into the incident was formed on Friday.
A t Beany Green cafe in Marble Arch, brunch comes served on bread that is strikingly black. There hasnt been a disaster in the kitchen, rather it is made with charcoal, the new ingredient taking over breakfast, dinner and late-night carb fixes. Acolytes say it has health-giving properties, its a hangover cure, a toxin eliminator and it gives you an excuse to eat as much pizza as possible.

People have been popping charcoal sticks into water bottles since last year, believing it removes chlorine. But its charcoals alkaline properties which have proven benefits, says Beany Greens Prue Freeman, co-founder of the Aussie cafe andits sister branch Daisy Green. Charcoal doesnt so much absorb toxins as add-sorb them, she says.

The way charcoal draws together and binds all the nasties and rejects them from your temple of a body means Freeman is a great advocate of its hangover-curing potential. It neutralises the excess stomach acid that comes from overindulging, the same reason bananas are recommended to soothe a roiling stomach after a heavy drinking session. Add in the fibre, which relieves pressure on the digestive system, thereby reducing bloating, and the fact that it supposedly makes you feel full longer, and its a winner.

Freeman is serving it at brunch in the form of charcoal sourdough toast, served with avocado or shakshuka. Just dont overcook it: as Freeman points out, burnt coal is not the flavour sensation youre aiming for here.

This means poached eggs on toast is really more warm bread but thats fine once its drenched in a fountain of yolk. Taste-wise, the charcoal bread is little different from a good white sourdough: perhaps a touch less sweet, with an occasional, not necessarily unpleasant grittiness.

Ashes to ashes: Beany Greens Victoria Harding with charcoal sourdough toast / Daniel Hambury

For those struggling with a dark, soul-destroying hangover, however, its often a messy, juicy burger you need. So head to Shoreditchs Bull in a China Shop, where you can have your chicken panko or softshell crab burger sandwiched in the dusky buns. Chef Simon Chan points out that with regards to flavour, the charcoal has none, it just gives a slight dense texture.

Its the detoxifying quality that convinced him to use it. Or you can skip the food and head straight for the charcoal Old Fashioneds. Bartender Cristian Cuevas warns that youll end up having so many that this may outweigh the hangover-curing effects. Challenge accepted.

And then theres pizza. Pizza makes everything better, even when youve lost your phone, shoes and last shred of dignity. Those from Pizzicotto in Kensington High Street easily blow away last nights horrors when requested with an activated charcoal base, fermented for up to a week.

Zia Lucias charcoal dough pizza with ham

Owner James Chiavarini points out that charcoal has been used for thousands of years to detoxify. My Italian grandmother used to brush her teeth with it, he says  its not coal! The gluten-sensitive can also get stuck in, since its not made with refined, bleached white flour. People come in who tell me they cant eat pizza, Chiavarini smiles. I tell them try this: a five or six-day-aged pizza.

It really is excellent. Fabulous toppings help  stunning Puglian burrata dolloped wantonly over rare-breed charcuterie  but the black base adds something special. The char on the crust deepens into an earthy, mouth-sucking flavour  barbecued sausage, almost  an elusive taste that keeps you downing slices in an attempt to define it.

Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca DAngelo hope Londoners penchant for getting smashed will tempt them towards the charcoal pizzas at their new Islington pizzeria, Zia Lucia. It would be great to be able to cure the hangover effects with pizza, they laugh. The perfect business model, especially for the UK!

So dump the penitential morning-after kale juice and soothe your existential hangover doom with a fat mouthful of cheesy, eggy bread. Not only is it far healthier, its delicious.

Follow Frankie McCoy on Twitter: @franklymccoy
A djust your colour settings: your Instagram feed is about to be dominated by a bright red fruit, totally outshining the ubiquitous green avocado. This isnt some weird and wonderful new hybrid from the tropics but the humble tomato. Its being served in new ways, with everything from tofu mayo to heady sumac, and stuffed veal. Tomatoes are nearly in season and they are a superfood.

For all of avocados healthy fat credentials, its got nothing on its glaring red cousin  particularly when it comes to male fertility. The key is a pigment and phytochemical called lycopene, which is the nutrient that gives tomatoes their postbox hue. A study is currently underway at Sheffield University to assess whether raising blood lycopene levels improves sperm quality. Its long been known that consuming lycopene can decrease the likelihood of men developing prostate cancer  the most common cancer among men in the UK, with more than 40,000 diagnoses each year  as well as boosting sperm count by up to 70 per cent.

Now, lead researcher on the study Dr Elizabeth Williams suggests that if lycopene has a beneficial effect on the prostate, it is reasonable to think it might also improve sperm function.

Another review of 67 studies suggests regular lycopene consumption might just slow down the gradual prostate enlargement that has men of a certain age up and down to the bathroom all night. Although more research needs to be done, according to head reviewer Professor Hiten Patel, the outcome of the study was very promising. Beat that, avocado.

Nutritionist Toral Shah of The Urban Kitchen enthuses over the antioxidants in tomatoes: They work against free radicals and prevent DNA damage, meaning theyre good for not just prostate but all cancers. She also notes that tomatoes have even higher levels of lycopene when cooked than their solid raw form.

This research comes at a good time for tomatoes. Its summer, and British toms are just starting to flourish into their juice-dripping sweet prime. Theres no need to worry about food miles when you can have a quartered sun-warmed tomato grown over here, eaten al park bencho and sprinkled with rock salt and splashed with good balsamic. It is sublime.

Multi-coloured tomatoes are already perking up menus. Sit at the bar at Sager + Wilde in Bethnal Green and slurp them raw to allow the natural sweet acidity to speak for itself. We try not to mess around with them too much, says Seb Myers, the chef at Sager + Wilde. We just season them with a little olive oil, ground ivy and garum  its a tasty and clean way to start a meal.

In a similar vein, Yotam Ottolenghi adds just a touch of sumac and red onion to the tomato salad at NOPI in Soho to give it heady spice.

If glossy crimson fruit arent already glam enough, go to Sexy Fish in Mayfair for one of their sexy tomato salads  charred mixed tomatoes with tofu mayonnaise looks like a Caribbean sunset on a plate. For those who demand meat with their fruit to make it a meal, veal-stuffed tomatoes are set to be on the menu at Alex Jacksons Provencal menu when his restaurant Sardine opens in East London at the end of June.

The warmer weather is perfect for the fabulous pan con tomate at Barrafina or the new Hackney Road Morito, and keep your eyes peeled as gazpacho hits outside terrace menus across town. So prepare to see red this summer.

Follow Frankie McCoy on Twitter: @franklymccoy
F ormer Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh ended her three-year marriage to rapper Professor Green today in a quickie divorce hearing lasting less than 30 seconds.

The 26-year-old Quality Street heiress wed the rapper in September 2013 in a lavish ceremony at Babington House in Somerset.

However in February this year, the couple announced they were ending the marriage.

Millie, who is the heiress to the Quality Street empire established by her great-grandfather, was granted a decree nisi by District Judge Heather MacGregor in a brief hearing at Central London Family Court.

In the court papers, Millie cited "unreasonable behaviour" as the reason for the split.

Neither star attended court to see their union end.

When their split was first revealed in February, the couple released a statement saying: "It is a mutual decision, we still care deeply about each other and would like it to be known that it is on amicable terms and we wish each other well."

Green, 32, whose real name is Stephen Manderson, admitted at the time he had only seen his wife once in 2016, describing their relationship as like ships in the night.

Since the marriage broke down, the rapper, currently starring on Channel 5s Lip Sync Battle, has been romantically linked to banking heiress Kate Rothschild.

He and Millie first met in 2011 after he saw her on the cover of men's magazine FHM, and they made their relationship official by appearing as a couple for the first time at the 2012 BRIT Awards.

Green proposed in March 25, 2013 during a holiday in Paris, prompting Millie to share a picture of the ring with the comment: If I could scream loud enough for the whole world to hear I would.

They wed on September 10 that year, but in the sumer last year it was reported Millie had demanded a divorce during a public bust-up in Istanbul.

The couple made their last public appearance at the Cosmopolitan Women of the Year Awards in December last year, and had apparently spent months trying to save their marriage.
A n Australian man who kidnapped, drugged and raped a German backpacker was jailed for nine years today for an attack that drew comparisons to the horror film Wolf Creek.

Peter Van de Wetering, 48, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges including rape and kidnapping for the August 2013 attack of the 19-year-old woman two weeks after she arrived in Australia, a place she had long dreamed of visiting.

This offending involves an entirely ruthless pursuit of a young and innocent woman for your sexual gratification, Brisbane District Court Judge Terry Martin told Van de Wetering during the sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors said the man spent months planning the attack, seeking out a remote location to carry out the crime and buying a wig, fake beard and moustache to use as a disguise.

Van de Wetering picked the victim up at a bus stop in the rural town of Cottonvale after she responded to an advert seeking a nanny and farmhand.

He then took her to a sheep shearing shed, where he bound her with cable ties, force-fed her chocolate laced with a sedative, threatened to kill her and sexually assaulted her. She eventually lost consciousness and awoke early the next morning on the side of a rural road.

The case has attracted a great deal of attention in Australia for its similarities to the film Wolf Creek, in which a sexually sadistic serial killer who drugs his victims hunts down a group of backpackers in the Outback.

Despite Van de Weterings guilty plea, the judge said he had shown no remorse for the assault, which left the woman with physical and emotional scars. Two years after the attack, she remains afraid of the dark, Martin said.
A British man sought over a killing in Spain has been arrested alongside 17 suspected Albanian migrants at an exclusive marina on the south coast.

The 55-year-old man was found at Chichester Marina in West Sussex yesterday morning.

Spanish authorities had issued a European Arrest Warrant for the Briton who is now in custody pending interview by immigration enforcement investigators.

He was detained on Tuesday morning on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration, while the 17 Albanian men were held on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.

Chichester Marina, a locked facility with more than 1,000 berths, is set in beautiful scenery and has a "marked air of peace and tranquillity", according to its website.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "The arrests were made by Sussex Police after Hampshire Police alerted us about the yacht arriving at the marina.

"The case is now being investigated by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement."

The Albanians have been detained pending Home Office consideration of their cases.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The security of our border is paramount.

"We work with our partners to detect and deter people who attempt to reach the UK illegally, while targeting the criminal gangs behind illegal entry attempts."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.
F our suspected Islamic State group recruiters have been detained in Belgium with authorities saying they may have been planning new terror attacks.

Belgian police raided houses in the city of Antwerp on Wednesday and arrested four people on suspicion of terror offences.

The Federal Prosecutors Office said in a statement that the four were later charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

But prosecutors said they do not appear to be linked to the suicide bombers who struck at Brussels Airport and at the Maalbeek metro station on March 22, killing 32 people.

Prosecutors said the initial findings of an investigation indicated there may have been plans for fresh attacks in Belgium but provided no further details.

Two were ordered arrested by an investigating judge, one was released with an electronic bracelet and another was released on strict bail conditions.

Raids were carried out in the city of Antwerp and two other locations.
A man who tried to rape a jogger while he was on bail for four other attacks has been jailed for 14 years.

Ernest James, 35, targeted the runner in daylight in Wanstead Park when she stopped for a short rest. He placed his hand over her mouth, lifted her up and threw her to the ground across a path before ripping her t-shirt down the middle and trying to pull her trousers down.

Snaresbrook crown court heard how she screamed for help as James prodded her back with an object and said: If you dont shut up, Ill stab you. But he fled after the woman bravely fought back and scratched him with her keys.

He was identified by his DNA on a glove he left behind after the attack, which happened just before 9.30am on August 28, 2014. In a victim impact statement read to the court the woman said before the attack she was in a good place, about to start a family while trying to keep herself fit and healthy.

She now fears going out alone and feels fragile and not the person I used to be. James was awaiting trial at the time of the park incident for four rape attacks on a woman he met at the Notting Hill Carnival in 2013.

He was convicted on those four charges at Inner London crown court in December 2014 and was jailed for 13 years.

Sentencing him for his latest attack, Judge Stephen Dawson said: This was a shocking incident for somebody who was totally unaware of what was going to happen to her.

It was a premeditated attack without a shadow of a doubt  you had no reason to be in a park and you had no reason to be wearing a glove.

But for the fact that this lady managed to repel you to a certain extent, and I think there may have been other people around, this would have ended up a very unpleasant sexual offence of rape. Her life has been turned over by the attack.

James, of no fixed address, admitted attempted rape. He was given a 14-year sentence, to run consecutive with the 13-year term. Judge Dawson said the Home Office should decide whether Grenada-born James should be deported.
A group of Romanian immigrants who are said to have spent almost a decade sleeping in cars next to a retail park have been moved on.

Police, immigration officers and officials from Southwark council swooped on the makeshift camp just off the Old Kent Road in south-east London this week.

It followed claims the group had been bedding down in cars and touting for cash-in-hand jobs during the day.

Following yesterdays operation, 28 untaxed or uninsured vehicles were towed away while 14 Romanians were set to return to their homeland.

Police said they had received a string of anti-social behaviour complaints from business and residents about the group, who based themselves near a retail park including branches of Pets at Home and Halfords.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: The operation came after numerous complaints from businesses and residents in the Old Kent Road area who had regularly been suffering with anti-social behaviour and harassment from people asking passers-by and customers for paid work.

Eviction: 28 cars were towed away / Southwark council

The operation resulted in 28 vehicles being removed for being on a road without insurance and tax and 14 Romanian nationals electing to return to Romania with the help of the immigration enforcement officers.

Sergeant Jon Sweatman said: "Businesses in the area have been suffering from increased anti-social behaviour in the area over the last few months and a number of local business managers approached us during the operation thanking us for tackling the issue".

Earlier this month, one of the migrants had told The Sun: The money is much better here than in Romania.

A days pay here could take a week to earn back home.

Living in a car is not a great life, but we dont have any choice. And its still better than Romania.
A 76-year-old cyclist is fighting for life after he was hit by a transit van in Ealing this morning.

Part of Northfields Avenue near the junction with Salisbury Road was cordoned off by police after the accident at around 9.45am.

Ambulance crews arrived and Londons Air Ambulance landed in nearby Lammas Park as paramedics rushed to help the pensioner.

He was taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition, police say.

Accident: The Air Ambulance landed in a nearby park / Sarah Pinborough

The man driving the flatbed van stopped at the scene and is currently being interviewed under caution by officers from the Met.

Barbershop owner Michael Kyriaokos described the vehicle involved as a "little truck" and said the bike was still in one piece when police arrived at the road.

Anyone with information should call the Mets Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Alperton on 0208 991 9555.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

Trend:

Israel's former foreign minister and the leader of conservative "Israel - Our Home" party Avigdor Lieberman has been appointed the country's defense minister, Interfax reported May 25 citing The New York Times.

The appointment to the post of Israel's defense minister was the main condition for the entry of Lieberman's party into the ruling coalition, said the newspaper.

Upon the entry of "Israel - Our Home" party, the number of mandates of the ruling coalition in parliament will increase to 66. Until then, the coalition formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a minimum majority - 61 from 120 seats in the Knesset (Israeli parliament).

Israel's former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon resigned last week explaining his decision with the "lack of confidence" in the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
S cotland Yard today launched new armed squads to target gang-related gun crime in boroughs hit by a surge in the number of shootings.

The so-called Viper teams will include detectives with knowledge of gangs and local borough officers who are supported by armed police.

They will be part of a 50-strong rapid reaction unit deployed to set up armed roadblocks and carry out firearms patrols in neighbourhoods suffering gun crime.

Police say the initiative, codenamed Operation Viper, is to tackle an escalation in the number of shootings in London in the past three months.

Scotland Yard also announced details of a reward scheme for information leading to the recovery of guns and the arrest and prosecution of people for possession of firearms.

The initiative is to tackle an escalation in the number of shootings in London in the past three months

Informants could be paid more than 2,000 for information that leads to the recovery of guns and conviction of criminals in a bid to get high-powered weapons off the streets.

"Our officers will use all their powers to take on the gunmen"

In March the Met recorded 30 shootings involving lethal barrelled weapons, and there were 25 in April and a similar number so far this month.

Around half of the shootings resulted in injuries. Last year there were 226 in the capital, an average of 18 a month, excluding weapons such as air rifles.

Police say five boroughs  Hackney, Newham, Lambeth, Southwark and Brent  have suffered the brunt of the recent rise in the number of shootings which are all linked to the activity of gangs and drug dealing.

So far this year there have been two gun murders in London, both of which are thought to be linked to gangs.

In March innocent bystander Oliver Tetlow, 27, died in a hail of bullets when his killer stepped from a blacked-out car in Harlesden and opened fire with a machine gun.

Earlier this month student and part-time minicab driver Abdi Gutale, 24, was ambushed by gunmen who fired at least four shots into his Vauxhall Zafira in Leyton as he drove home after a job.

Commander Duncan Ball, who is in charge of the Mets Gangs and Organised Crime unit, said that although figures for shootings were half those of five years ago, there had been a recent rise in the number of discharges involving lethal weapons, mainly handguns and shotguns.

He said: We are concerned that there has been an increase. London continues to be one of the safest cities but we have seen this spike in shootings and we are not prepared to sit back and watch this happen. We are trying to get the community on board and get on top of this.

The Viper unit will be deployed in two teams and include officers from the Trident gang unit, local borough officers and detectives from the organised crime unit. The teams will be deployed with back up from armed response vehicles.

Commander Ball said: The Viper teams will have an extra capability to set up armed operations quickly. The idea is to prevent any escalation of criminal activity.

"We know that with drug markets and gangs there is a danger of a tit-for-tat response and with gangs you can get a quick escalation. We hope our action will suppress that.

Armed officers will carry out automatic number plate recognition checks on cars in the worst gun-crime boroughs as well as taking part in more patrols. Police have also seized more guns in recent months, including 10 weapons in Lambeth and 10 in north London.

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: I am very concerned about the recent increase and we are determined to stop it.

"Our officers will use all their powers to take on the gunmen and those that supply them. If you know of someone who has access to a gun or supplies others with a gun  please tell us either where the guns are or who has them.

Anyone who has information about people who carry or use firearms can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
F ire crews tackled a blaze at a Grade II listed manor and former filming venue for the BBCs Great British Bake Off today.

Twenty-one firefighters and four fire engines rushed to Valentines Mansion in Ilford after plumes of smoke were seen billowing from one of its chimneys.

A bio-mass boiler containing wood pellets overheated and caught fire in the basement of the three-storey manor at about 11.30am, London Fire Brigade said.

Built in 1696, Valentines Mansion is a popular wedding venue and hosted a series of the hit BBC baking show in 2011.

Firefighters spent more than three hours at the scene and ventilated the basement, which became smoke logged.

Crews from Ilford, Hainault, Woodford and Leytonstone stations attended.
T he first detailed images of plans for the transformation of the notorious Elephant and Castle shopping centre have been unveiled.

The vision includes a new campus for the London College of Communication, part of University of Arts London, and 1,000 flats at and around the site of the concrete mall, once given a bright pink makeover.

Most of the new homes will be available to let on a long-term basis through Get Living London, which manages the flats at the former 2012 athletes village in east London.

The Evening Standard has been given the first look at the full proposals, which also include space for start-up businesses and a 1,000-seat cinema.

Subject to planning permission from Southwark council, construction on the new proposals could start in early 2018

In addition a grass-roots music venue with capacity for a 500-strong audience is proposed, which could boost the areas credentials as a magnet for music lovers.

The Ministry of Sound nightclub, where David Guetta and Pete Tong have performed, and the popular Corsica Studios are nearby.

Initial proposals were first shown to the public in July last year and the new masterplan includes feedback from residents and businesses.

The plans, on show at the shopping centre from tomorrow until Saturday, come about three years after the shopping centre building was bought for 80 million.

The area is undergoing a wider 3 billion regeneration. Subject to planning permission from Southwark council, construction on the new proposals could start in early 2018 and finish by the end of 2021.

The plans are part of a wider 3 billion regeneration of the area

Jamie Ritblat, chief executive of developer Delancey, which is behind the scheme alongside pension fund asset manager APG, said: Our ambition is to create a new and improved town centre for Elephant and Castle, one which complements, celebrates and builds upon the existing diversity and vibrancy that this key Zone 1 location is already so renowned for.

The Elephant and Castle shopping centre was built on a bomb site and opened in 1965.

There were hopes that it would be one of the first US-style enclosed malls in Europe but it always suffered from a poor image.

Architect Allies and Morrison, which has drawn up the vision, helped transform former red-light district Kings Cross into an office hot-spot for brands such as Louis Vuitton and Google.
T he BBC faced a backlash last night as viewers complained a documentary on immigration in east London was "racist and inflammatory".

Some viewers claimed the programme, called "Last Whites of the East End", risked stoking tensions in areas with high levels of immigration.

The documentary claimed white British people are leaving the borough of Newham in such numbers that 73 per cent of the local population is now made up of black and minority ethnic people.

Over the past 15 years, 70,000 immigrants have moved into the borough, meaning it now has the lowest percentage of white British residents of anywhere in London.

BBC documentary The Last Whites of the East End.mp4

But the BBC One show sparked a backlash among some viewers on social media.

Dozens took to Twitter to vent their anger, including Nazia Mirza, who wrote: "This programme is going to convince the uninformed & those inclined to racism to justify their bigotry #lastwhitesoftheeastend."

Alexander Kuye tweeted: "Programmes like this gives ammunition to EDL and far right groups to whip up local tensions. Very Disappointed!"

And Cass Blakeman said: "What was motivation to make #LastWhitesOfTheEastEnd? Already incendiary, it's guaranteed to fuel #Racists"

Some even went as far as saying they would cancel their licence fee.

Amy Wyatt wrote: "I'm cancelling my direct debit tomorrow. How do the BBC think they can make racist propaganda?

"If every person of colour and anti-racist white people stopped paying their @BBC licence, maybe the BBC would stop its racist propaganda."

The programme revealed that Newham is now the most multicultural place in the UK, with 147 languages spoken across the borough.

Children at one local primary school, Drew Primary in Docklands, speak 43 different languages, with a new non-English speaking pupil arriving each week.

The Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, also slammed the programme, saying: One of this boroughs greatest strengths is its diversity. People from all backgrounds, cultures and faiths proudly call Newham home. The distorted image of our borough reportedly portrayed in this documentary is not one I or the majority of our residents identify with.

Every part of the country sees changes in their local communities over the years. This could be for many reasons including changes in the economy and people looking for work and high house prices in their local area.

We will be hugely disappointed if this programme is as negative about the borough as the reports suggest. This would mean the BBC is broadcasting the kind of sensationalist stories that just stir up tensions across communities.

But not everyone was opposed to the content of the documentary, with some applauding the BBC for drawing attention to issues facing areas such as Newham.

Brian Williams wrote: "Some people are going to find #Lastwhites terrifying. However I think writing off the grievances expressed as purely racism is wrong."

While Brian McAuslan tweeted: "Don't agree with all of the programme's content, but the way concerns of working-class voters are dismissed is sad. #LastWhitesOfTheEastEnd."

And Thomas Evans added: "#LastWhitesOfTheEastEnd Generations of families who fought for areas ousted due to unsustainable immigration. Absolutely heartbreaking."

A BBC spokesperson said: The documentary Last Whites of the East End sets out to explore the impact of rapid change on long standing communities in the East End of London and to discover why some people are choosing to leave the area.

"The film features a wide range of people voicing their personal opinions and shows many different facets of life in Newham, exploring both positive and negative views across a variety of issues.
A "massive explosion" at a kebab shop near a north London station this morning caused neighbouring flats to shake, residents say.

Fifteen firefighters had to tackle a blaze at the fast food outlet on Wells Terrace near Finsbury Park station.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said crews had to cool a propane cyclinder which was engulfed by the blaze, although it is not known whether that caused the explosion reported by neighbours.

Pictures posted on social media showed fire fighters using hoses to spray the E-Mono shop with water while part of the road was cordoned off, disrupting local bus routes for a brief period.

Danny Lovett tweeted that there was a "massive explosion at Finsbury Park station."

Mr Lovett, who lives in nearby Vista House, told the Standard: "All of a sudden I head this massive bang, and the whole flat tremored.

"I immediately went to look out of the window. I thought maybe a large lorry had slammed into the railway bridge, or a car had crashed or something."

He added: "I didnt actually witness an expolsion, but it certainly sounded like one.

"I'm sure it shook the whole building that my flat is in."

The fire was under control by by 10am, around 50 minutes after the brigade was called, and its cause is under investigation.

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "The fire damaged a small part of the property and crews cooled a propane cylinder which was also involved in the blaze."

Back in March a petition was launched to stop the eviction from its premises of E-Mono, whose sister branch in Kentish Town once earned a rave review from food critic Giles Coren.
T he boss of one of Londons oldest property agents has poured scorn on George Osbornes warning that Brexit would hit house prices.

David Adams, managing director of John Taylor UK, said the claim was shrill scaremongering and that a Brexit would boost house prices.

Mr Adams, a Conservative supporter, said: Forecasts suggest in the event of a Brexit the pound will fall 20 per cent.

The Government says property prices will also fall, but if the pound falls by 20 per cent after a Brexit, then property prices also become 20 per cent cheaper to buyers in France, Italy and everywhere else, and demand will subsequently increase, creating an upward pressure on sales volumes.

He pointed to 2011, when a dip in the value of the pound against the euro led to a flood of EU money into the London property market. He also said European buyers, shaken by the prospect of the EU breaking up, would look to UK property as a safe haven.

Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, has warned that Brexit would be bad for British art.

He told The Times that it would have a huge impact on the Tates ability to attract staff. He said: One of the strengths of Tate Modern has been our ability to hire curators who have grown up in Spain, Italy or Germany. He also warned that fewer young artists would come to London to further their studies.
H undreds of steelworkers were joined by Jeremy Corbyn as they marched on London today ahead of a crucial meeting on the future of Tatas UK assets.

The demonstration passed through Westminster in a bid to keep pressure on the Government and Tatas board, who are meeting in Mumbai today to discuss bids for their loss-making UK business.

Workers had earlier gathered in Whitehall with chants of save our steel before the procession passed Parliament.

Alongside finding a responsible buyer, workers are urging the Government to take tougher action against cheap Chinese steel and to help with high energy costs and business rates.

Jason Bartlett, who works at a Tata tin plate site at Trostre, South Wales, said: "The mood everywhere is one of uncertainty.

We don't know what the future holds. We have seen difficult times in this industry and the impact of previous job losses has been devastating."

Mr Corbyn said: We have to secure enough time to make sure the industry has a future. The industry is strong and the workers are incredibly skilled. It cannot be allowed to go to the wall."

Along with the Labour leader, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, TUC leader Frances O'Grady and Roy Rickhuss of the Communityunion joined the protest.

Additional reporting by the Press Association
M ore than 7,500 local authority properties across the capital are lying empty as thousands of Londoners struggle to find a home, figures showed today.

The number of vacant buildings has increased in a third of London boroughs and now amounts to a staggering 4 billion worth of empty council homes.

Ten town halls have overseen increases in homes lying idle  even though the overall proportion of empty homes has fallen by 20 per cent in the past decade.

The figures also show that almost 21,000 homes, including those privately owned, have sat empty for over six months. Critics claimed this was a shocking waste, as the new team at City Hall expressed concern.

The Department of Communities and Local Government data puts pressure on new Mayor Sadiq Khan and the boroughs to do more to tackle the problem.

Deputy mayor for housing James Murray said: With the housing crisis in the capital it is concerning to hear of any homes being left empty.

We will be working closely with boroughs to support their efforts to bring homes that should not be empty back into use.

According to the DCLG figures, Ealing council is the worst affected with 1,051 empty council properties in 2015  a 480 per cent rise in 10 years.

But the borough claimed the figures were misleading as it had undertaken one of the biggest housing regeneration programmes in London.

Loading....

It said around 4,000 homes in tower blocks awaiting demolition were classed as empty, even though they were in some cases housing families who would otherwise be in temporary accommodation.

Ealing North MP Stephen Pound said: If youve got an empty property in Ealing you have people queuing round the block to snap it up.

Greenwich has seen an increase in empty homes from 493 to 1,014, or 106 per cent, over the past decade but council insiders claimed similar regeneration schemes were responsible.

However, other boroughs such as Southwark and Tower Hamlets which have also undertaken massive regeneration work managed to avoid council homes being left empty  they have each cut the number by more than half.

An analysis of the DCLG and Land Registry figures also showed that 21,000 homes, including privately-owned ones, worth almost 12.4 billion have sat empty for over six months in London.

While the number fell by almost half across the capital over the last decade, in Kensington & Chelsea, Haringey and Lewisham it went up.

One of the countrys most deprived boroughs, Newham, now has 1,318 long-term empty homes.

Property expert Dan Gandesha, of crowd-funding platform Property Partner, said: These figures reveal a shocking waste of opportunity and its nothing short of a scandal. Theres a desperate shortage of housing in the capital... I hope this is a priority for Sadiq Khans in-tray in City Hall.

Helen Williams of the Empty Homes charity urged a new strategy for how the Mayors housing programme can support community-led organisations and others to create new truly affordable homes in empty properties across the capital for people priced out of decent housing, at the same time looking at measures to deter properties being bought not to be lived in but as investments.
N ine out of the 10 fastest-growing local populations in Britain are London boroughs, according to new official forecasts today.

The new list of local authority areas is headed by Tower Hamlets where the population is projected to soar by more than a quarter, or 71,400, to 355,400 by 2024.

It is followed by Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Camden, Islington, Redbridge, Hackney, Kingston and Hillingdon, all with strong double-digit growth.

The only town outside the capital to make the top 10 is Corby in Northamptonshire, where the population is expected to grow by 16.7 per cent.

Overall, the number of people living in London will surge by 13.7 per cent, (1.17 million) to hit 9,708,000, according to the latest calculations by government statisticians.

Londons growth is due to its high birth rate and immigration from abroad, although that is largely offset by people leaving London to live in other parts of the UK.

The huge growth in Londons population, which reached an all-time high last year, will put a major strain on its infrastructure and services and continue to stoke house prices and rents.

Looking further ahead, Londons most populous boroughs will rank among Britains biggest cities in their own right by 2039, according to the ONS.

Barnet will have a population of 494,000 and Croydon will have 476,000 inhabitants.

Other regions to see rapid population growth by 2024 are the East with an 8.9 per cent rise and the South-East on 8.1 per cent.

This compares with 7.5 per cent for England as a whole. The North-East is projected to grow at the slowest rate, by 3.1 per cent.

Suzie Dunsmith, head of the population projections unit at the Office for National Statistics, said: All regions of England are projected to see an increase in their population size over the next decade, with London, the East of England and South-East projected to grow faster than the country as a whole.

The population is also ageing, with all regions seeing a faster growth in those aged 65 and over than in younger age groups.
J ustine Thornton, a newly silked QC and wife of former Labour leader Ed Miliband, is settling into the new role with aplomb. But as the debate over compulsory high heels in the office rages on, she has attacked her own profession for one backward tradition: its old dress codes.

You have to wear the mens wig and robe, Thornton explained at the opening of Nicola Greens show The Dance of Colour at the Flowers Gallery in Cork Street last night. Its quite embarrassing because I like to think the law is a modern place but when you become a silk you have to go back to the 18th century dress, because there were no women barristers. I thought: I should wear a ballgown, as I would have in the 18th century, to make a point. Its absurd.

Its an unusual lack of evolution in an industry that is usually considered more equal than most. In January this year, 25 women were announced in a list of new QCs, the largest single intake in the professions history.

But is gown and wigmaker Ede & Ravenscroft to blame? Theres only one shop that supplies it all in the whole world, said Thornton at the party, where other guests included Elle Macpherson and Sir Trevor McDonald, and Greens husband, Labour MP David Lammy. They just dont tolerate any deviation. I have no idea why its so ingrained in the British establishment.

Legal attire does have one fan: Amal Clooney. When the human rights lawyer was asked what she was wearing as she arrived at court last year, she gave the sole legal clothing supplier an almighty plug: Im wearing Ede & Ravenscroft. But even she cant rock the short barristers wig.

------

Drumroll please. Prospect magazine, The Londoner hears, has a new editor. Hes Tom Clark, from the Guardian. An ex-Labour aide, and close to Gordon Brown, Clark went off to write leaders for The Guardian, and is author of Hard Times, a book on recession and its aftermath. This sounds rather downbeat to The Londoner but he has a nice way with words in his articles.

Meanwhile, we wait to see where departing editor Bronwen Maddox, who interviewed Tony Blair yesterday at Methodist Central Hall, pops up next.

Now Spears is moving in political circles

To Philip Mould & Co on Pall Mall last night, where Spears celebrated its 10th anniversary. Guests sipped champagne and admired The paintings and The Londoner heard William Cash, who launched the wealth management mag, is set to launch a new magazine called Mace  is this true? It is! he replied. We launch in two weeks but I didnt want to mention it tonight. Whats it about? The business of politics, with sections such as rankings of political lobbyists. Comes to something when lobbyists get their own magazine.

-----

To Liberty last night for the Cointreau Creative Crew UK award, which provides grants to help young creatives. Model Lily Cole, pictured below with prize juror Laetitia Casta, set up skill-sharing site Impossible and was given an Icon Award. Ive met some really inspiring women, she said. And Im a big believer in creativity. Its one of the most important things on the planet, even though its hard to be creative sometimes. Also in attendance was actress Naomie Harris, left.

Casta has a huge following in France and Gallic guests were falling over themselves for a glimpse of the French actress. The Brits picked their way though the crowd with a determination to get to the mix-your-own cocktail bar.

------

The Arts Theatre housed A View From Islington North last night, a collection of five political satires from writers including Caryl Churchill and David Hare. No sign, however, of Islington Norths favourite citizen, Jeremy Corbyn: he was apparently invited but, as with last months musical based on his career, chose to stay away. Labour MP for Slough Fiona Mactaggart, however, seemed highly amused by the new drama about the antics of her party. Mactaggart has previously called for Corbyn to resign but it may be a while before the final curtain.

-----

Observation of the day from writer Charlotte Edwardes on the much-mocked Chillin Meetin Tourin Votin Remain campaign video. Cameron: Hey, guys, whats the young peoples version of huntin, shootin, fishin? she tweeted.

Whos that with the mallet?

Dafydd Jones may have been a more popular party guest than even The Londoner. The photographer has a new show at the Art Bermondsey Project Space of 59 photos, developed again individually and in box-sets, which span decades, from raucous Oxford student parties to pop culture, all documented for Tatler and Vanity Fair. Highlights include Hugh Grant dressed as a leopard-print-clad Hercules at a Piers Gaveston do, Iris Love and Brooke Astor restraining their dachshunds from a spat over doggy canapes, and Madonna competitively sandwiched between Tony Curtis and Mick Jagger.

Our favourite, though, is a 1981 photo of a 20-year-old Nigella Lawson in a sedan chair, her hair flowing like a Pre-Raphaelite as she plays croquet with the help of four male assistants. The young men remain unnamed but it confirms what The Londoner has always known: there was a devoted Team Nigella long before it was a hashtag.

Corbyn Jr pops into the Russia house

Jeremy Corbyns views on Russia have often come under scrutiny. He described Vladimir Putins Ukraine policy as not unprovoked, and his media man Seumas Milne has been called a defender of Stalinism.

So The Londoner was interested to hear that his son Tommy, 22, right, was seen in the Millbank offices of RT, formerly Russia Today. The channel gives a Russian perspective on world events. Some might call it propaganda.

Word went around that Tommy, an electrical engineering student at York University, was doing work experience. Was he being offered a job? Tommy Corbyn met with the RT UK team exploring work experience options but did not take up an internship, said spokesman from RT. So who turned down whom?
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

Europe has always had a fear of the Turkic people, in the basis of which is the fear of foreigners in general, Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, vice chairman of the Turkish analytical center Strategic Outlook, told Trend May 25.

Today, the EU does not hide its fear of a wave of migrants and Syrian refugees only reinforce this fear, said Oztarsu.

He also noted that the EU promised to establish a visa-free regime with Turkey under the term that Turkey will not let refugees pass to Europe.

"Europe has made its choice accepting only wealthy and educated Syrians," said Oztarsu. "Turkey has already undertaken to take care of three million Syrian refugees."

The expert added that Turkey accepts refugees for many years, creating all conditions for them to live and in response to it the UK Prime Minister David Cameron said that the EU only will be able to establish a visa-free regime for Turkey in 3000.

"Thus, the EU did not have the intention to establish a visa-free regime with Turkey, they are simply trying to gain time," said Oztarsu.

Earlier, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU may introduce a visa-free regime with Turkey in the autumn 2016 if Ankara implements all the necessary requirements.

An association agreement between the EU and Turkey was signed in 1963. Ankara filed an application for the EU membership in 1987, but the negotiations on Ankara's accession to the EU started only in 2005.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
D avid Cameron has ordered ministers to contact their Indian counterparts in a bid to speed up the extradition of a man suspected of murder and multiple rapes in Britain.

Mr Cameron also confirmed he will speak with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi about the five-year battle to bring Aman Vyas to the UK.

British prosecutors want to question him in connection with the death of Michelle Samaraweera, 35, who was attacked when she went out to buy milk in Walthamstow in May 2009.

In a letter to Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, Mr Cameron said Home Office and Foreign Office ministers will raise the case with India and do everything possible to secure the swift return of Mr Vyas, so that he may stand trial for the crimes he is accused of.

Crown prosecutors have authorised charges against him in relation to the death of Ms Samaraweera and three alleged rapes in the months before her death. But there have been 33 adjournments in the case caused mainly by lost documents and officials not attending hearings.

Campaigners plan a protest outside the Indian embassy in London on June 1 to demand progress.
G ibraltor's chief minister today warned Brexit campaigners that they risk sacrificing the Rock to the spectre of a Spanish sovereignty grab.

Fabian Picardo saidthat a new centre-Right government, determined to seek joint control over Gibraltar, could be in power in Spain on June 27, as Britain is coming to terms with its historic EU referendum outcome.

If you care about Gibraltar, if you believe that Gibraltar should remain British, then you have to vote for the UK to stay in the EU so that we dont face a challenge to our sovereignty within four days of the referendum result, he told the Standard.

We fought so hard to push off the spectre of Spanish sovereignty, or even joint sovereignty, and we would in effect be put in a situation where we are giving Spain the excuse to table it again.

Boris Johnson and other Out campaigners have said quitting the EU would allow Britain to regain sovereignty from Brussels. But Mr Picardo told them: If they want to think about sovereignty, then Gibraltar is the best place to see that actually voting to leave the EU would immediately lead to challenges to sovereignty.

Spaniards go to the polls on June 26 in a general election to break a political deadlock.

If the Socialists win, the Chief Minister expects the new government in Madrid to keep open the border with Gibraltar so it can thrive as a source of wealth and much-needed jobs for the region.

But as for the centre-Right Partido Popular. he said: They are taking the view that if the UK votes to leave, then the issue of Gibraltar sovereignty would be on the table, that in order to have access to the single market we would have to agree to joint sovereignty and if we dont agree to that then they would close the frontier.

While the border may not be formally closed, Spain could introduce such heavy-handed checks that it would be as if it were closed.

Three years ago during a fishing waters row, Spain imposed controls which saw six-hour queues.

David Cameron raised concerns with the European Commission that the checks violated free movement rules and the border was prised open.

Without the assistance of the Commission going forward that would become much harder, predicted the Chief Minister.

EU referendum: Should the UK vote to stay or leave?

Despite criticism of Mr Cameron for his claim that peace in Europe could be jeopardised by Brexit, Mr Picardo strongly echoed his views.

Brexiters are all chomping at the bit to vote, he said.

Remainers need to be as keen to get out to make their point otherwise the UK and with it Gibraltar could sleepwalk out of the largest trading bloc in our worlds history and that is extraodinarily dangerous.

He also issued a warning to former Mayor of London Mr Johnson who is spearheading the Brexit campaign.

Claiming Brexiters passionate arguments were not based on clear evidence, he said: They need to be careful with what they wish for otherwise he might be more welcome in Frankfurt than he is in London when it comes to determining where the next financial services capital of Europe is going to be.
T he billionaire co-founder of PayPal is secretly bankrolling Hulk Hogans privacy lawsuit against a US website that published a sex tape involving the wrestler.

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel is assisting Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, after the WWF star won a $140 million jury verdict against Gawker following its publication of the footage.

Gawker, a New York-based website specialising in media and celebrity news, is appealing the verdict.

Forbes reported last night that Mr Thiel, an early backer of Facebook and a co-founder of PayPal, had played a lead role in financing Hogans litigation.

His backing was revealed by Forbes, citing sources familiar with the case.

Mr Thiel, who is also a hedge fund founder, had his own problems with Gawker when in 2007 it published an article headlined: Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.

At the time Mr Thiel was not publicly discussing his sexuality, but has since said he is gay.

US lawsuits funded by third parties are not unusual, but in most cases they are financial investments where backers seek proceeds from a large damages award.

Gawker is appealing the ruling and both sides lawyers are due in court in Florida today for further legal discussions.

Mr Thiels spokesman said he was not currently commenting.


A supplier to British fish and chip shops along with a host of names including McDonald's are refusing to sell cod from previously untouched Arctic waters under a new agreement.

In a deal with Norwegian fishing authorities, organisations including McDonald's, Tesco, Birds Eye and Youngs will vow not to exploit some of the waters near the North Pole freed up by melting ice, the Times reports.

Russian company Karat Group, whose trawlers supply around 20 per cent of cod sold in British fish and chip shops, has also reportedly signed up.

A recent Greenpeace investigation found that over the past three years more than 100 Norwegian and Russian trawlers had fished in the Barents Sea in the Arctic .

Many used weighted nets, dragging them along the sea floor, potentially damaging the bed and disrupting fish habitats.

According to the paper, the agreement states: "From the 2016 season the catching sector will not expland their cod fishing activities with trawl gear into those areas where regular fishing has not taken place before."

Under the agreement, companies will work with the Norwegian government to identify which areas are particularly at risk of trawling and those that can be safely fished.

Daniela Montalto, from Greenpeace, told The Times: "The challenge for these companies is now to deliver on their commitment to Arctic protection and show real results out on the water."
F our friends have been killed in a horror crash while travelling back from a vegan music festival late at night.

The young group were returning from the event in Bristol when they were involved in a 'head-on' collision on a stretch known locally as 'The Road To Hell'.

The two men and two women, who are all believed to be from Northampton, were travelling a blue Citroen Saxo car, which collided with a black Mercedes coming in the opposite direction.

The four had been attending a vegan celebration of music and food, called VegFest.

They have been named locally as Brogan Warren, Sam Kay, Nicoletta Tocco and Krop Jones.

A man, who was driving the Mercedes, a female passenger aged in her 30s and a three-year-old boy were also injured in the crash.

They were all given medical attention at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for treatment.

Following the crash, locals said the stretch had first been nicknamed 'The Road To Hell' in the 1960s, and was notorious for accidents.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "This was a terrible incident in which four young people have lost their lives.

"We would urge anyone who was driving in the area last night and saw either of the vehicles prior to the collision to get in contact as they may have information which could help us with our investigation into the circumstances which led up to this tragic collision."
A ngry protesters threw burning t-shirts, rocks and plastic bottles at police officers outside a Donald Trump rally in the US state of New Mexico.

The demonstrators knocked down barricades and held up banners with the messages Trump is Fascist and Weve heard enough in the violent scenes in Albuquerque.

Officers responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd who had gathered outside the citys convention centre where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was giving a speech yesterday.

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from inside the arena by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the building, which was packed with thousands of cheering Trump supporters.

Trump mocked their actions by telling them to Go home to mommy. He also responded to one demonstrator by asking, how old is this kid? He then added, still wearing diapers.

Smoke canisters erupted through the streets as police tried to surround the protesters. Police said several officers were being treated for injuries and one protester has been arrested.

Rally: Riot police were called in / AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

It was Trumps first stop in New Mexico, the nations most Hispanic state. Governor Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nations only Latina governor, has harshly criticised his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

During his hour-long speech Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

We have to get your governor to get going, he said. "Shes got to do a better job, OK?

He added: Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going.

Protest: Riot police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center / AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

It came after Trump won the Washington state primary with 73 per cent of the vote.

John Kasich and Ted Cruz, both of whom have dropped out of the race, had each won 10 per cent of the vote.

Trumps victory leaves him only needing a few dozen more delegates to reach the 1,237 required to cement the Republican nomination.
B ody-popping has long been a part of various dance routines, but Britains Got Talent four-piece Tumar KR take it to the next level.

After impressing in the auditions, the group from Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, stepped things up considerably for the semi-finals.

Their second routine upped the contortionism and added in a theatrical science fiction theme, telling a Frankenstein story about a cyborg being created.

It proved a huge hit with the judges, who offered heaps of praise for the performance.

Oh my god, now that was brilliant, said a gobsmacked Simon Cowell at the end of the routine.

He added: It was so much better than the first audition.

Amanda Holden was struck by the theatricality of the act, saying: If we cut you open, wires would come out.

David Walliams was also hugely impressed, but commented that he felt a bit strange while watching it.

Britain's Got Talent: Past Winners - In pictures 1 /17 Britain's Got Talent: Past Winners - In pictures 2007 Paul Potts Ken McKay/Rex 2008 George Sampson Ken McKay/Rex 2009 Diversity Ken McKay/Rex 2010 Spelbound Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2011 Ant and Dec [Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly] with Jai McDowall Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2012 Ashleigh and Pudsey Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2013 Attraction Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2014 Collabro Tom Dymond/Thames/Rex 2015 Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse Syco/Thames/Splash News 2016 Richard Jones Syco/Thames/Corbis/Dymond 2017 Tokio Myers Syco/Thames/Dymond 2018 Lost Voice Guy Dymond/Thames/Syco/REX 2019 Colin Thackery Dymond/Thames/Syco/Rex Features

It was incredibly impressive, but watching you do all those strange movement with your arms gives me a strange tingly feeling, the comedian said.

He wasnt the only one. Viewers at home took to social media to praise the performance  despite feeling queasy and 'wincing throughout'.

Will the group manage to body-pop their way into Saturdays live final? If the reaction after their performance is anything to go by, they could be on to a winner.

ITV, 7.30pm
Three security personnel have been martyred and nine others injured in a PKK car bomb attack in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province Wednesday, a security source said, Anadolu reported.

According to security source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the restrictions on talking to media, the PKK terrorist attack on the Anitli Gendarmerie Command Headquarters in Midyat district was carried out using a bomb-laden vehicle.

According to preliminary reports, among the three martyred personnel, one was a Turkish soldier and two others were village guards.

Ambulances could be seen rushing towards the blast site, while armed forces increased security measures in the area.

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 480 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Hatice Vildan Topaloglu contributed to this report from Ankara.
Chinese vessels are seen around Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Photo : Reuters)

China plans to plant a drone-carrying ship at the heart of the disputed waters in the South China Sea in what Chinese authorities claim to be a move toward advance rescue for fishing boats.



Citing the ship's political commissar Chen Xingguang, China Daily reported that the plan would entail deploying a ship that carries drones as well as underwater robots to aid smaller vessels that are in trouble.



Advertisement

"Our bureau is planning a duty post in the Nansha Islands, with a ship based there. This will possibly be carried out in the second half of the year," Chen told the outlet, referring to the disputed Spratly Islands.



The Rescue Ship



According to the outlet, the vessel called the Nanhaijiu 118 will be part of China's South China Sea Rescue Bureau at the Ministry of Transport.



This plan comes weeks after China was reported to have been urging fisherfolk to participate in basic military trainings to multiply the country's force and presence along the contested waters.



According to Nanhaijiu 118 captain Wang Wensong, the ship that China plans to include in the mission would not be the same as his previous 3,700-ton vessel.



Wang said it would be bigger and equipped with more advanced rescue equipment such as drones and underwater robots.



However, there was no word on which specific island in the area the ship would be based in.



Expanding Chinese Presence



According to the World Tribune, the Spratly Islands are a hotly disputed territory claimed by China as well as other neighboring countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.



Because of China's continued presence in the area, there is a good chance that the other nations claiming sovereignty over it would react, especially if a technologically advanced ship is to set sail and base in one of the islands.



Previous reports indicate China's moves toward increasing their presence, both military and civilian, in the disputed region. This includes more Chinese tourists visiting the area and the training of "fishing militia" to serve as an advanced party in monitoring activities in the South China Sea.



In the Paracel Islands, almost 20,000 Chinese citizens have already visited the area over the past three years.



During this time, the civilians interviewed during their tour felt pride for the beauty of the territory, making them believe that the territory is indeed owned by the Chinese.



Meanwhile, hundreds of fishermen were being trained on contending with rescue operations and "safeguarding Chinese sovereignty," per a report from Reuters in April.






China holds a military parade to commemorate the end of World War II in Sept. 2015. (Photo : Getty Images)

There is very little possibility that China could win a war of fire power against the United States even with a weapon that could kill aircraft carriers, a report suggests.



In a blog posted in the National Interest, analyst Harry J. Kazianis brought out the question of whether or not there is a chance that China could succeed in developing an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that could be the biggest threat to the world's most powerful country.



Advertisement

China Learns from Soviet Union's Failure



Nowadays, it seems as though China and Russia are having a deeper relationship in terms of military force, with some speculating that this is because they are united by a common enemy.



Kazianis's article focused on whether or not China would succeed in something that the Soviet Union had previously failed on: developing an effective ASBM.



The U.S. Navy first reported about China developing a "kill weapon" in 2009, emphasizing the possibility that it could destroy American aircraft carriers.



"With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned," the U.S. Navy Institute (USNI) report began.



According to USNI, the information about the ASBM was first seen in a Chinese blog, which was later translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination.



The blog described the weapon to have the capability to hit carriers and other moving ships at a range of 2,000 kilometers.



Furthermore, USNI notes that China's ASBM might be able to carry a warhead so big that it could destroy "a U.S. supercarrier in one strike."



China vs the U.S.



While it may not be visible, there appears to be a war going on between two of the world's biggest economies.



An article from the Asia Times noted that while the American Air Force is unquestionably the most powerful when it comes to global warfare, it may have a hard time winning against China in terms of a regional standoff.



Citing analysts Mark Gunzinger and Bryan Clark of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the Asia Times said it may be time for the U.S. to reconsider its defenses, especially when it comes to air and missile attacks.



"Since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon had the luxury of assuming that air and missile attacks on its bases and forces would either not occur or would be within the capacity of the limited defenses it has fielded. These assumptions are no longer valid," the duo wrote in an analysis.






Legoland, a theme park franchise based on the Dutch toy, is set to open a branch in Shanghai. (Photo : Wikimedia)

Chinas theme park industry is booming as the countrys middle class expands, leading to a shift in preferences.



According to the South China Morning Post, China houses a wide array of parks that boast very different themes and motifs.



Advertisement

Some of the most popular ones are Shanghai's Disneyland, the Water Park in Shenzhen, and the Hello Kitty Park in Anji in Zheijiang Province.



According to China Securities International tourism analyst Jennifer So, there had been a sudden need for theme parks in the country because of the devaluation of the yuan and the economic slowdown.



"Chinese holidaymakers are making more domestic trips due to the economic slowdown and the devaluation of the yuan," she told SCMP.



But the outlet notes that the biggest contributor to the boom in the theme park industry is the change in preferences.



Change in Preference



Because China is beginning to be composed of more middle-class citizens, people tend to be more budget-conscious, paving the way for more domestic consumption.



The analyst also said that their preference has also shifted from being purely focused on shopping to more leisure, sightseeing and services.



Because of this, tourist destinations such as the Haichang Ocean Park can already reap the harvest now.



According to Haichang's chief strategy officer Gao Jie, there is no competition when it comes to theme parks and that the Ocean Park would certainly not feel any negative effect of the launching of the Shanghai Disenyland, the first of its kind in the mainland.



"We would have a cluster effect, like Hong Kong's Disneyland and Ocean Park," he said.



According to him, the Ocean Park is at an advantage since they have their own sea animals and "a good knowledge of conservation practices."



Unique Theme Parks in China: More Than Revenue



According to the Aecom Consultancy firm, there is a good chance that China could surpass the United States as "the biggest theme park market in the world" in four years because it would already be drawing 221 million people by 2020.



In 2015, China's amusement park market has already produced revenue of $3.3 billion, per a report from Forbes.



However, theme parks in the country are not only meant to boost the economy, but also to improve ties with other nations.



Take for example the Islamic theme park that is currently being erected in the inland Ningxia autonomous region's Yinchuan, where the population is composed of many Hui Muslims.



According to Independent UK, the establishment of this park, which would be called the World Muslim City, is set to divert the Middle East's attention from the country's controversial treatment of Uyghur Muslim minorities in the autonomous territory of Xinjiang.






Wang Jianlin (Photo : Dalian Wanda Group)

With barely three weeks to its formal opening, all roads lead to Shanghai Disneyland. Millions of Chinese would want to experience being on the happiest place on earth.



However, there is one Chinese who is not that positive when it comes to the formal opening of the resort on June 16. Its not he does not have money to buy the 499-yuan ticket or he can no longer buy tickets for the first two weeks of Shanghai Disneylands opening.



Advertisement

Rather, Wang Jianlin, founder of the Dalian Wanda Group and the richest man in China, believes his competitor would become unprofitable within the next 10 to 20 years. He spoke against Disneys one-time $5.5-billion investment in Shanghai Disneyland in an interview on Sunday with CCTV.



The frenzy of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the era of blindly following them have passed. [They are] entirely cloning previous IP, cloning previous products, with no more innovation, Fortune quotes Wang.



He added, Disney didnt believe that China has Wanda  They shouldnt have entered China. Wang compares the Shanghai Disneyland to a tiger which he said could not win a fight with a pack of wolves. He was referring to 15 to 20 Wanda theme parks that his company would build and open across China.



Wanda would open this weekend its first theme park in Nanchang City. By 2020, Wanda projects it would have 200 million tourists and earn $15.5 billion tourism revenue from its new amusement parks. In contrast, Shanghai Disneyland expects 10 million visitors yearly.



Disneys spokeswoman declined to comment on Wangs statements. She said it is "not worthy of response" and added that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Disney CEO in Beijing in early May, reported ABC.






Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page

Published: 25 May 2016

Finlands greenhouse gas emissions decreased further

According to Statistics Finlands instant preliminary data, the total emissions of greenhouse gases in 2015 corresponded with 55.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2 eq.). Emissions fell by around six per cent compared with the previous year and were 22 per cent lower than in 1990. The consumption of natural gas and coal declined in the energy sector. Emissions from the non-emissions trading sector went down by half a per cent and were below the annual emission allocations set by the EU by 0.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Development of greenhouse gas emissions by sector in Finland in 1990 to 2015*

*The data concerning 2015 are instant preliminary data

Statistics Finland releases instant preliminary data on greenhouse gas emissions of the year by sector and broken down between emissions trading sources and non-emissions trading sectors. More information on greenhouse gas emissions, their development and factors affecting the development, as well as the fulfilment of international obligations can be found in Statistics Finland's report Finland's greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 to 2015 (only in Finnish).

According to the instant preliminary data, total emissions decreased by six per cent from 2014. Emissions in the energy sector fell by close on eight per cent year-on-year. The biggest reason was the decrease in the consumption of coal and natural gas. Preliminary data on total energy consumption in 2015 released by Statistics Finland has been used in the calculation of the energy sector. In the industrial processes and product use sector, emissions rose by one per cent year-on-year, the growth was most affected by emissions from the chemical industry that increased by 12 per cent. Emissions from agriculture remained at the same level as in 2014. Emissions from waste management decreased by around four per cent. The carbon sink of the LULUCF sector grew by 11 per cent.

Emissions from sources in the non- emission trading sector are calculated as the difference between the total emission and verified emissions of the emissions trading sector, excluding CO2 emissions from domestic civil aviation according to the inventory. The data on the verified emissions of the emissions trading sector are published by the Energy Authority. Annual emission allocations for the years 2013 to 2020 have been defined in the EU's effort sharing decision for emissions from the non-emissions trading sector. According to the now released data, emissions from the non-emissions trading sector are below the annual emission allocations in 2013 to 2015. More information in Finnish is available in the Review of the release (only in Finnish).

Greenhouse gas emissions and removals by sector broken down between emissions trading sources and non-emissions trading sectors in 2005, 2008 to 2010 and 2013 to 2014 (million t CO2 eq.)

2005 2008 2009 2010 2013 2014 2015 1) Change, 2014-2015 Emissions without LULUCF sector 2) 69.5 71.3 67.7 75.9 63.3 59.1 55.7 -3.4 CO2 emissions from civil aviation 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 Emissions trading sector emissions 3) 33.1 36.2 34.4 41.3 31.5 28.8 25.5 -3.3 Energy sector 29.6 31.8 30.9 37.3 27.6 25.0 21.9 -3.1 Industrial processes 3.6 4.3 3.5 4.1 4.0 3.7 3.6 -0.1 Difference between the

emissions trading

registry and the

inventory 4) -0.1 0.0 0.0 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 Non- emissions trading sector emissions 5) 36.1 34.9 33.1 34.4 31.6 30.1 30.0 -0.2 Energy sector 23.8 22.3 21.3 22.6 20.6 19.2 18.9 -0.3 Transport 5) 12.6 12.5 12.0 12.5 12.0 10.9 10.9 0.1 Energy, other

than transport 11.1 9.8 9.4 10.1 8.6 8.3 7.9 -0.4 Industrial processes

and products use 2.9 3.3 2.6 2.5 2.1 2.3 2.4 0.2 Industrial processes

(excl. F-gases ) 6) 2.0 1.9 1.1 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.3 Consumption of

F-gases 6) 0.9 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.7 -0.1 Agriculture 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 0.0 Waste management 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.1 -0.1 Indirect CO2 emissions 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 Difference between the

emissions trading

registry an the

inventory 4) 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 LULUCF sector 2) -29.4 -26.8 -39.5 -27.1 -20.3 -20.8 -23.0 -2.2

1) Proxy estimate2) LULUCF refers to the land use, land use change and forestry sector. The sector does not come under the scope of the emissions trading scheme or the reduction targets under the effort sharing decision3) Source: Energy Authority. In 2013, emissions trading was expanded with new sectors4) The divergence caused by the methodological and definitional differences in total emissions in the emissions trading sector between the data of the Energy Authority and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory5) Excluding CO2 emission from domestic civil aviation according to the inventory6) F-gases refer to fluorinated greenhouse gases (HFC, PFC compounds, SF6 and NF3)

The calculation of instant preliminary emissions and removals is carried out at a less detailed level than the actual inventory calculation for 2015. The emissions become updated as all data used in the calculation are completed. Preliminary data of the statistics on greenhouse gases are released on 7 December 2016 and official data on 15 April 2017.

Source: Greenhouse gas inventory unit. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kai Skoglund 029 551 2675, Pia Forsell 029 551 2937, kasvihuonekaasut@stat.fi

Director in charge: Ville Vertanen

Publication in pdf-format (189.8 kB)

Updated 25.5.2016

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Greenhouse gases [e-publication].

ISSN=1797-6065. 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 25.10.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/khki/2015/khki_2015_2016-05-25_tie_001_en.html
This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for:

Enter Search Term(s):

Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL.

Thank you for visiting state.gov.
Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe
Microsoft Logo (Photo : Twitter)

Microsoft has followed Facebook and Google in taking steps to expand global Internet access in developing countries. It announced on May 24, Tuesday that its Affordable Access Initiative had awarded grants to 12 businesses for providing low-cost web connectivity. The 11 countries represented are located on five continents including Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.



Advertisement

Businesses that received grants are located in the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, Malawi, Botswana, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, India, Philippines, and Indonesia. They include companies in industries such as Internet, hardware, and renewable energy.



The companies will not just provide financial support. They will also access Microsoft's software and services to develop Internet technology, according to CNET.



The companies will get access to a "global network" of mentors and peers. This will provide them the ability to share the best techniques, a chance to participate in virtual/in-person events, and support from Microsoft's R&D team.



Peggy Johnson is Microsoft's executive vice president of business development. She shared in a press release that half the world's population has no Internet access. Global connectivity requires companies to use creative problem-solving.



The software giant's goal is to create solutions that will affect the world today and in the future. It will use current technology and business entrepreneurs that know their communities' needs.



Microsoft is not the first tech giant taking steps to help get the rest of the world online. Facebook and Google have developed several programs that include balloons, drones, and satellites to beam Internet access to remove areas.



Earlier this year Facebook unveiled two new systems to improve Internet connectivity throughout the world. It was at its F8 conference. The systems included Terragraph for urban areas and Antenna Radio Integration for Efficiency in Spectrum (ARIES) for developing nations, according to Forbes.



Terragraph is a wireless system that brings high-speed Internet to dense cities. The company has already tested the cost-efficient system at its headquarters.



Meanwhile, ARIES is a system that uses multiple transmitters and receivers. This allows it to provide web connectivity to more users over big rural areas.



Facebook's 20-country study shows that over 90 percent of people live within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of a major city. ARIES provides high-speed Internet to remote areas from city centers.



Here's a Project Loon pilot test:












A delegation from Islamic Jihad, a leading Palestinian Islamist organisation, conducted talks on Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian General Intelligence officials on reconciliation efforts among various Palestinian factions.

Egyptian sources say the talks were productive, with delegations from rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas expected to arrive in Cairo next week to consult with Egyptian mediators.

It is expected that a general conference of all factions will be held in Cairo within a month to announce the completion of reconciliation talks between all three movements.

Relations between Fatah and Hamas, the two leading Palestinian factions, have been strained since the two groups faced off in violent clashes in Gaza in 2005 following Hamas' victory in Palestinian general elections the same year.

Since then, the Islamist Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip, while Fatah, which is backed by various Arab and Western governments, controlled the occupied West Bank.

Israel has maintained an air-sea-ground siege of the Gaza Strip since 2006 to isolate Hamas.

An optimistic atmosphere is prevailing over the current discussions in Cairo, especially in light of the call made last week by Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for Palestinian reconciliation.

El-Sisi addressed Israeli and Palestinian leaders, stressing that peace, prosperity and cooperation would only take place if both parties are able to reach a two-state solution. The address was welcomed by Israel, Fatah and Hamas.

Although Cairo received Hamas officials in March to discuss the security situation on both sides of Egypt's border with Gaza, the talks had not been renewed.

Egyptian officials had accused the Palestinian movement of not implementing recently agreed upon security arrangements along the border.

However, Hamas maintained that it is honoring its commitments to Cairo, saying it arrested a few days ago four individuals attempting to smuggle items through border tunnels Egypt deems both illegal and dangerous to its security.

Sources in Cairo, however, said that the relationship was not "warm" between the two parties.

Cairo has upgraded its relationships with the Islamic Jihad movement, a competitor of Hamas, since the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in 2014.

Cairo mediated a ceasefire at the time between Israel and the Palestinians through direct talks with Jihad, and not Hamas.

Egypt has deemed Hamas dodgy in its intentions and modus operandi, especially after the ouster of Hamas' ally the Muslim Brotherhood from power in Egypt in 2013.

Moreover, Cairo has accused Hamas of interfering in internal Egyptian politics and aiding Islamist militants fighting the government in North Sinai. Hamas has repeatedly denied such accusations.

However, Mohamed Gomaa, an expert in Palestinian affairs at the Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, told Ahram Online that Cairo has aspirations to see a genuine Palestinian reconciliation.

Gomaa added that the most powerful indication of this wish was El-Sisi's recent call for peace.

However, Gomaa believes several hurdles remain to achieving this reconciliation, including whether Hamas has actually changed its previous rigid positions and is now interested in real solutions.

"This has not taken place yet," Gomaa says.

Gomaa explained that Hamas might view Cairo-Jihad direct talks as a threat to its monopoly on power in Gaza.

Gomaa added that the outcome of reconciliation efforts remains unknown, especially since the current balance of power on the Palestinian front does not oblige Hamas to make any fundamental changes in its stances.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Wednesday, 25 May 2016 10:52:27 (GMT+3) | Shanghai

Inner Mongolia-based Chinese steelmaker Baotou Iron and Steel (Baogang) has announced that its structural seamless steel pipe has been successfully approved within the scope of the European Unions Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) and Construction Products Regulation (CPR). Testing was carried out by Shenzhen-based testing company Nande ( China ) Service of Testing, a subsidiary of TUV SUD Greater China





Products approved within the scope of the PED and CPR can be sold in EU member states without having to conform to the specific standards of each member state.
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal today determined that there is a reasonable indication that the dumping and subsidizing of welded large diameter carbon and alloy steel line pipe from the Peoples Republic of China and Japan have caused injury or are threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry.
Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:31:50 (GMT+3) | San Diego

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. announced today that through its subsidiaries it has entered into multiple agreements with Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE Inc.





Cliffs has received $31 million in cash as part of a long-term purchased power arrangement for its Northshore operation with Minnesota Power through 2031. The agreements, pending potential regulatory approval of the sale of utility assets, include certain non-core operations; transmission assets at United Taconite; certain land options at United Taconite and Northshore Mining Company; and transportation rights along the Cliffs Erie rail assets. Separately, Cliffs has extended its regulated power arrangements with Minnesota Power for 10 years at its United Taconite and Babbitt facilities.




Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:48:42 (GMT+3) | San Diego

Sales of new single-family houses in April 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 16.6 percent (15.4 percent) above the revised March rate of 531,000 and is 23.8 percent (22.8 percent) above the April 2015 estimate of 500,000.





The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2016 was $321,100; the average sales price was $379,800. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 243,000. This represents a supply of 4.7 months at the current sales rate.


According to the statistics released by the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs, in April this year Taiwan 's basic metal and basic metal product export orders amounted to $1.89 billion, down 10.7 percent compared to April last year and falling by 5.6 percent compared to the previous month. In March, Taiwan s basic metal and basic metal product orders had recorded 38.4 percent growth month on month.
Egyptian Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Tayeb said on Tuesday that Al-Azhar would support French president Francois Hollande in correcting the perception of Islam after recent terrorist attacks in France and Belgium.

Al-Tayeb, who met with the French president on Tuesday, added in a media statement that he agreed with President Hollande on an official exchange between Islamic institutions in France and Al-Azhar in order to educate a new generation of Islamic scholars and leaders about the religion in true and objective way.

In the meeting with the French President, Al-Tayeb explained how Al-Azhar supported international peace in communities worldwide, giving special attention to France.

The Grand Imam then denounced recent terrorist attacks that took place in France and Belgium.

The French presidency welcomed El-Tayebs visit to France in a Tuesday statement by the Elysee palace.

According to the statement, Hollande and El-Tayeb discussed French priorities in fighting radicalism as well as the situation in the country following the Paris attacks.

President Hollande praised the efforts of Islamic leaders in fighting radicalism.

Al-Tayeb's meeting with President Hollande was also attended by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and minister of interior Bernard Cazeneuve.

Immediately after his arrival in Paris Tuesday, the Grand Imam attended the second forum of eastern and western elders where he addressed Europeans and all Muslims around the world, stressing the importance of dialogue and building trust between religions and cultures.

During his speech at the forum, Al-Tayeb stressed the importance of how people of every nation should adopt ideas of coexistence - which will in the future lead to maintaining the identity of any religion - rather than thinking to preserve minorities' rights.

"I call on all Muslim citizens in Europe that they must know they are native citizens in their communities, and that full citizenship will never contradict the idea of coexistence," said El-Tayeb.

This week's events are considered to be the forum's second meeting, following a meeting which took place in the Italian city of Florence in June 2015.

Al-Tayeb arrived in the French capital following a historic meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday. The unprecedented meeting of the two religious leaders signaled the renewal of relations between Al-Azhar and the Vatican following five-years of suspended relations.

France is home to 4-5 million Muslims out of a population of 66 million.

In March, El-Tayeb visited Berlin where he met with top clerics in Germany's Catholic church and addressed the Bundestag, urging religious tolerance.

Last November, the Al-Azhar grand imam denounced the deadly terror attacks carried out by Islamist militants in Paris, describing them as "hideous" and "hateful" and urging the international community to work towards combating terrorism.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Mackinac Island The weather has been up and down this past week. We had some very nice days, and other were cold,...

Outdoors This Week in the Eastern U.P. I know its fall, but, for some reason, the white stuff has started falling already and frost is covering my...

West Mackinac Thats all folks, the fall fashion show is over and Mother Natures winter wardrobe is waiting in the wings. In...
Continued progress on reforms will further strengthen Romania's democratic and economic development and the economic partnership between Romania and the United States, US Vice President Joe Biden is quoted as saying in a readout of his meeting with Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos.

"The Vice President praised Prime Minister Ciolos's efforts to implement critically-needed governance and rule of law reforms, noting that continued progress on reforms will further strengthen Romania's democratic and economic development and the economic partnership between Romania and the United States."

The Vice President thanked Prime Minister Ciolos for Romania's contributions to the Counter-ISIL Coalition and to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and he expressed condolences over the deaths of two Romanian soldiers killed in Afghanistan on May 7.

The leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring that Allies take steps in the lead-up to the July 8-9 NATO Summit in Warsaw to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence and defense posture on the eastern and southern flanks.

Biden and Ciolos also discussed the importance of the development of Romania's energy sector to European energy security and noted the need to support and accelerate Moldova's reform efforts.

"In the lead-up to the incoming NATO summit in Warsaw, I have requested and obtained the US support as well as a promise for support to strengthen Black Sea navy cooperation," Ciolos said Tuesday after meeting Biden at the White House.

"I have explained Romania's demarches so far in cooperation with Bulgaria and Turkey and I got a promise for support at the summit for the Black Sea cooperation to be sustained by NATO," added Ciolos.

He said at the meeting he also made a request for support for a multinational brigade on Romania's soil, again in partnership with the NATO member states, a brigade that Romania has pledged to endow, all this as part of the deterrence and defence system on the entire eastern flank of Europe, not just in the north-eastern part, but also in the south-eastern part."

The Biden-Ciolos meeting was hosted in the West Wing of the White House, located close to the Oval Office, and it lasted about one hour and ten minutes, instead of half an hour as officially scheduled.

Accompanying Ciolos were Romania's Ambassador to the United States George Cristian Maior, Energy Minister Victor Grigorescu, Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu, Prime Minister's Chancellery head Dragos Tudorache, Foreign Policy Advisor Calin Ungur and Government Spokesman Dan Suciu.

Biden came at the meeting with U.S. ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, his National Security Advisor Colin Kahl, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend. The American delegation also included two special assistants to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Agerpres
"In the lead-up to the incoming NATO summit in Warsaw, I have requested and obtained the US support as well as a promise for support to strengthen Black Sea navy cooperation," Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said Tuesday after meeting US Vice-President Joe Biden at the White House.

"I have explained Romania's demarches so far in cooperation with Bulgaria and Turkey and I got a promise for support at the summit for the Black Sea cooperation to be sustained by NATO," added Ciolos.

He said at the meeting he also made a request for support for a multinational brigade on Romania's soil, again in partnership with the NATO member states, a brigade that Romania has pledged to endow, all this as part of the deterrence and defence system on the entire eastern flank of Europe, not just in the north-eastern part, but also in the south-eastern part."

The Biden-Ciolos meeting was hosted in the West Wing of the White House, located close to the Oval Office, and it lasted about one hour and ten minutes, instead of half an hour as officially scheduled.

Accompanying Ciolos were Romania's ambassador to the United States George Cristian Maior, Energy Minister Victor Grigorescu, Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu, Prime Minister's Chancellery head Dragos Tudorache, Foreign Policy Advisor Calin Ungur and Government Spokesman Dan Suciu.

Biden came at the meeting with U.S. ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, his National Security Advisor Colin Kahl, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend. The American delegation also included two special assistants to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Agerpres
Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said Tuesday after a meeting at the White House with US Vice President Joe Biden that the US will help Romania develop financial instruments for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as to increase management quality at the country's state-run companies.

"We have also discussed the possibility for furthering economic cooperation, boosting US investment in Romania, and we have received the White House's support to the point, a topic I discussed yesterday in Detroit as well as today with Trade Secretary Penny Pritzker. We have a roadmap where the United States will help us develop financial instruments for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as quality management at state-run companies," Ciolos told journalists at a news conference at the White House.

He added that he and Biden also reviewed cooperation as part of the Eastern European partnership, with emphasis on the importance to support Moldova. "I got the guarantee of US support for this matter as well," said Ciolos.

He added that in his conversation with Biden, he mentioned Romania's interest in and expectations related to progress with the Visa Waiver programme.

"We understand the political state in the United States this year, but we agreed to continue working together on this matter so as to be able to work out solutions within the shortest time possible," added Ciolos.

The Biden-Ciolos meeting was hosted in the West Wing of the White House, located close to the Oval Office, and it lasted about one hour and ten minutes, instead of half an hour as officially scheduled.

Accompanying Ciolos were Romania's Ambassador to the United States George Cristian Maior, Energy Minister Victor Grigorescu, Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu, Prime Minister's Chancellery head Dragos Tudorache, Foreign Policy Advisor Calin Ungur and Government Spokesman Dan Suciu.

Biden came at the meeting with U.S. ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, his National Security Advisor Colin Kahl, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend. The American delegation also included two special assistants to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Agerpres
However, the court upheld an EGP 100,000 fine for each defendant; lawyer says will present request to pay fine in installments

A Giza court of appeals overturned on Tuesday a five-year jail sentence for 47 people for participating in protests against the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea maritime border demarcation deal announced last month.

However, the court upheld an EGP 100,000 fine for each defendant.

According to Egyptian law, the defendants will serve three months in jail if they fail to pay the fine.

One of the defendants' lawyers, Tarek Al-Awady, announced on his Facebook account early Wednesday that the lawyers would present a request to the court to pay the fine in installments.

"It is a procedure that is being used frequently and is always approved by the authorities," he said adding that the 47 defendants could be released as soon as they pay the first installment.

Thousands of people, including activists and politicians, protested last month against the government decision to acknowledge Saudi sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

The protests are believed to be the largest to take place in Egypt since President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was elected president in 2014.

On 14 May 2016, a special criminal court circuit processing terrorism-related cases handed the 47 protesters five-year prison sentence and fined them EGP 100,000 each.

In April, the defendants were referred to court by the prosecution for "illegally protesting, attempting to overthrow the government, rioting, inciting against state institutions, disturbing public peace and disrupting traffic."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Deciding that a merger between Aetna and Humana would hurt consumers, Missouris top insurance regulator has issued a preliminary order that bars the companies from offering certain plans if they complete the $37 billion deal announced last summer.

The 43-page order, dated May 24 and posted on the Missouri Department of Insurance website, directs the companies to stop selling comprehensive individual, comprehensive small group and certain Medicare Advantage plans if they move forward with the merger.

David Balto, a former attorney within the antitrust division of U.S. Department of Justice, predicted the move by Missouri will embolden other states and the DOJ to block the merger entirely. The Justice Department is reviewing the proposed merger.

Balto, an opponent of the merger, said Missouri is the first state to rule against the Aetna-Humana merger. But other states, including Florida, have ruled in favor of the combination. In February, Aetna said they had secured 10 of 20 state approvals needed. California is among the major states still reviewing the deal.

Aetna officials said: This order does not impede the DOJ approval process. We are disappointed with the Missouri order but expect to have a constructive dialogue with the state to address their concerns.

In its order, the insurance department cited decreased competition as a reason for its move.

State regulators found that post-merger, the combined companys market share in individual Medicare Advantage plans would exceed 70 percent in 33 counties. Medicare Advantage plans allow seniors to enroll in health plans managed by private health insurance companies instead of having care covered by Medicares traditional fee-for-service program.

In Missouris comprehensive individual market, Aetna already is the largest insurer, with a 37 percent share of the market. Acquiring Humana would bring its share to 39 percent.

Aetna and Humana have 30 days to submit a plan to remedy the anticompetitive impact of the acquisition, according to the order.

Last week, various stakeholders, including health care providers and consumer groups, petitioned the state to block the merger in Missouri. In their request, the groups said a merger would lead to decreased competition and high insurance rates as a result of the combined company.

The Missouri Hospital Association on Wednesday called the order a victory.

The decision will ensure that consumers have access to plans from a competitive marketplace and that providers can continue to negotiate fairly, Missouri Hospital Association CEO Herb Kuhn said. We appreciate their decision.

Tim Greaney, an antitrust expert and professor at St. Louis Universitys School of Law, called the order a major stumbling block for Aetna and a win for Missouri consumers.

He said the Justice Department now needs to consider blocking the deal entirely throughout the rest of the country.

The Justice Department does have options it could impose on the transaction. It could require the merged company to sell off, or divest, parts of its business to satisfy anticompetitive concerns.

But Greaney said due to the considerable amount of divestitures that would need to be made across the country, the Justice Department should block the deal, calling it a bridge too far, he told the Post-Dispatch.

Missouris actions raises questions about the deal, said Martin Gaynor, professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon.

One states decision alone is unlikely to make Aetna and Humana abandon the deal. The question is whether this is the tip of the iceberg, he said. If enough states, or enough big important states, nix the deal, then it becomes a question whether the deal is still worthwhile for Aetna and Humana.

The Aetna-Humana deal isnt the only major merger among the nations insurance giants. The flurry of deals would reduce the number of major insurers from five to three.

Last summer, Anthem Inc. announced its plans to acquire Cigna Corp. for $54 billion, a deal that also faces scrutiny by regulators, including the Missouri Department of Insurance.
Congrats to KSDK (Channel 5) anchor Anne Allred and her husband, Drew Lammert, who on Wednesday became the parents of a baby girl.

In a posting on Facebook, Allred said: "You havent seen me in awhile because after 11 days in the hospital, I underwent an emergency c-section. My child was delivered 3 months premature."

Allred also said, "She is a beautiful baby girl ... and she is a fighter!!! Prayers are appreciated more than I could ever express in words!"

Allred, a Villa Duchesne grad, returned to STL three years ago after having worked in Boston, North Carolina and Ohio. Lammert, an attorney and graduate of De Smet, is a partner at McCarthy, Leonard and Kaemmerer.
ST. LOUIS  A man shot and killed his 8-month-old son while aiming for the infants mother after she said she wanted a divorce, police said in court documents charging the man with first-degree murder and other crimes Wednesday.

Diata R. Crockett, 34, was also charged with armed criminal action, domestic assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after the shooting of his infant son, Reign Crockett, on Tuesday afternoon.

He turned himself in Wednesday morning after making arrangements through his attorney, Scott Rosenblum. The well-known criminal defense attorney told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday that he has been acquainted with Crocketts family for a long time.

Hes devastated over the loss of his son, Rosenblum said. Obviously, theres much more to the story.

He declined to elaborate.

Police say Crockett, his wife and three of their six children were in a rented Hyundai Sonata Wednesday afternoon when his wife said she wanted a divorce. Crockett hit his wife with a semi-automatic pistol, police said in court documents.

She crawled into the back seat with the children, the documents say. He told her he should have killed her the day before, and threatened to kill her and himself. He began driving toward a secluded area they had been to before, police said.

At a stop sign near Riverview Drive and Interstate 270, the childrens mother saw an opportunity to escape and jumped out of the vehicle, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said. She carried her youngest child, Reign, with her.

She only made it a few steps from the car when she heard a pop, police said in court documents. Crockett had fatally shot the boy, though the mother did not immediately realize it, according to the documents.

The mother flagged down another driver, who took her and the baby to a hospital, authorities said. Crockett began following that good Samaritans car at high speed, endangering his two other sons, Blaze Crockett, 3, and Ryker Crockett, 2, who were with him in the Hyundai, police said.

On the way to the hospital, Crocketts wife realized Reign was injured and losing color. He was pronounced dead at Christian Hospital.

Police launched a search for Crockett, who was said to be armed and dangerous.

The two children who remained in the car with Crockett after the shooting were dropped off Tuesday afternoon at the home of one of his relatives in Bellefontaine Neighbors, police said. Police were trying to determine whether Diata Crockett or someone else left them there.

On Tuesday evening, police recovered the Hyundai that Crockett had been driving. It was found parked in the 2900 block of Caddiefield Road at the Canfield Green apartments in Ferguson.

Crockett, of the 1200 block of Bliss Drive in Bellefontaine Neighbors, turned himself in Wednesday morning. Bail was set at $1 million, cash-only.

Criminal record

Crockett was sentenced to three years probation on Oct. 13, 2004, after pleading guilty to tampering with a motor vehicle in St. Louis County on Aug. 21, 2001.

He also pleaded guilty in St. Louis in May 2006 for burglary and assault charges filed in 2003. For those crimes, he served one year at the medium security jail in St. Louis.

Records show his probation was revoked in 2006 but he remained a fugitive from St. Louis County until 2011 when he was arrested and later sentenced to five years in prison for violating probation.

The five-year sentence also covered other convictions in St. Louis County for drug dealing, resisting arrest and forgery. The Department of Corrections reduced that sentence by more than 1.5 years for time he served at the St. Louis County Jail awaiting trial on those charges.
UPDATED: The suspect is now in custody. See latest story here.

ST. LOUIS  Two young children who remained with their father after he allegedly shot their baby sibling to death Tuesday were later found safe  but he remained on the run, police said.

The 8-month-old baby boy was killed by his father, Diata R. Crockett, about 2 p.m. Tuesday in a domestic dispute, St. Louis police said. Crockett, 34, was reported to be armed and dangerous.

The two children who remained in the car with Crockett after the shooting were dropped off Tuesday afternoon at the home of one of his relatives in Bellefontaine Neighbors, police said. They are Blaze Crockett, 3, and Ryker Crockett, 2.

Police were trying to determine whether Diata Crockett or someone else left them there.

On Tuesday evening, police recovered the rented Hyundai Sonata that Crockett had been driving. It was found parked in the 2900 block of Caddiefield Road at the Canfield Green apartments in Ferguson. There did not appear to be a manhunt for Crockett there. Officers left once the car was towed.

Police Chief Sam Dotson said that Crockett has threatened suicide and violence against his family in the past.

At a press conference at police headquarters, Dotson told reporters that Crockett forced his wife at gunpoint into a rental car in Bellefontaine Neighbors with Blaze and Ryker in the backseat and the infant, Reign Crockett, in his mothers arms. The couple had six children in all.

Then, at a stop sign near Riverview Boulevard and Interstate 270, the childrens mother saw an opportunity to escape and jumped out of the vehicle, Dotson said.

Crockett then fired toward his wife, but fatally struck the infant instead, the chief said. The mother flagged down another driver, who took her and the baby to a hospital, Dotson said. They called authorities, and during an 11-minute 911 call, the driver said, Hes trying to run us off the road.

They reached Christian Hospital, at 11133 Dunn Road in north St. Louis County, where the baby was pronounced dead.

Though Crockett reportedly followed them there, police had not found any surveillance video showing his vehicle near the hospital, Dotson said.

Authorities issued a national AMBER Alert for a rented black 2014 Hyundai Sonata being driven by Crockett. He was last seen wearing a lime green shirt and green pants. CrimeStoppers is offering up to a $5,000 reward in the case.

This is one of those days where its difficult to be a police officer, Dotson said at the beginning of the press conference. When theres violence that involves children, thats always difficult, and it makes me sometimes question humanity.

Dotson used the press conference as an opportunity to slight the states lax gun laws, and the court system.

I continue to see situations in St. Louis where our officers risk their lives to go out and do their job every day to arrest people with guns, and we dont see outcomes that make our community any safer, he said.

Criminal record

Crockett pleaded guilty in 2006 of first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and property damage charges from August 2003 in St. Louis, and completed a year of probation.

He also pleaded guilty in 2011 to drug-related charges, unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest and forgery after St. Louis County police arrested him in September 2010. He was sentenced to five years in prison starting in May 2011.

According to court documents, a county officer saw Crockett put two large clear plastic bags containing about 400 grams of marijuana under the seat of the car. When officers tried to arrest him, he ran, and police had to chase him, according to the documents.

Officers found a loaded 9mm pistol in his waistband when he was arrested, and Crockett admitted he was a fugitive and had a probation warrant out for his arrest, according to the documents.

He signed another persons name to the arrest sheet and gave police a false name, and admitted to police that he intended to sell the marijuana, according to the documents.

Kristen Taketa of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
BELLEVILLE  A mother whose 1-year-old son died of internal injuries more than 43 years ago is hoping a recent appeals court ruling will finally put her former boyfriend on trial.

A first-degree murder charge against Gary A. Warwick, 65, now of Portage, Ind., near Gary, Ind., was dismissed in 1974. In 2013, a St. Clair County grand jury indicted Warwick on a first-degree murder charge in the Dec. 30, 1972, death of Joseph H. Joey Abernathy III.

Circuit Judge Robert Haida dismissed the charge a year later, ruling that too much time had elapsed for a proper defense. But States Attorney Brendan Kelly, who had revived the case in 2013, appealed Haidas decision.

May 19, the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon disagreed with Haida and returned the case to him. Warwick can appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Kelly declined to comment, as did James Gomric of Belleville, who is Warwicks lawyer. Cathie Altman, the boys mother, said she was very happy with the ruling.

Maybe this will be looked at differently now, said Altman, now 62 and living near Little Rock, Ark. For a long time, I had given up hope. All I want is a trial.

Altman grew up in East St. Louis and lived east of town in a mobile home in the 1200 block of Freeman Street with her son, who turned 1 only 18 days before his death. It is now near the interchange of Interstates 255 and 64.

Altman said that Warwick, formerly of Belleville, was with them the night Joey was injured. The boy died in a hospital of liver injury caused by blunt-force trauma to his abdomen.

Altman said she moved to Arkansas, heard that Warwick had died and learned only a few years ago that he was alive. She and relatives asked the sheriffs office to take another look, leading to the 2013 indictment.

In dismissing that charge in May 2014, Haida, a former states attorney, noted that most of the investigators were dead and many of the records lost. He wrote that Kelly offers no explanation for the delay, and he agreed with Warwicks claim about the delay created prejudice for the prosecution, making it too difficult to mount a defense.

The appeals court said the defense had not shown prosecutors were acting improperly.The appeals court said the defense had not shown that prosecutors were acting improperly, but also noted,  we acknowledge that there is a real possibility of prejudice with such an extended delay. It said Gomric may be able to show it with more evidence.
The four activists were questioned on charges of 'spreading false news' and 'inciting protests'

Egypt's prosecutors ordered Tuesday the release on bail of four Egyptian activists who were reportedly arrested while placing posters in a Cairo metro station opposing the recent Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island deal.

The four young men were arrested on Monday at Helwan metro station south of Cairo as they were putting up the posters.

They were questioned on charges of "inciting protests" and "spreading false news."

A south Cairo prosecution office set bail of EGP 2,000 (approximately $225) each. However, they remain in custody pending bail posting.

The four arrested include Khaled Bassyouni, the son of Mohamed Bassyouni, general-secretary of the Nasserist Al Karama Party that was founded by former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi.

Egypts decision to transfer the islands into Saudi hands after an agreement on maritime re-demarcation has sparked widespread public outcry, with some critics accusing the government of "selling the islands."

Egypt, however, maintains the islands always belonged to Saudi Arabia.

Dozens of protesters were recently rounded up during demonstrations against the agreement.

An Egyptian court sentenced more than 150 of the protesters to between two and five years in jail and EGP 100,00 for their participation in protests against the deal. However, on Tuesday, an appeals court overturned the jail sentences for 47 but upheld the fines.

Last week, members of Al Karama Party started a sit-in at the party's headquarters against the controversial deal and the jailing of dissidents opposing it. Sabahi and other senior members of the party and supporters are taking part in the sit-in.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Fairly or unfairly (and our vote is fairly), Stephanie E. Karr became the face of the Bad Old Days in Ferguson. The longer she held onto her job as Fergusons city attorney, the harder it was going to be for the city to put its unfortunate past 21 months behind it.

On Monday, Karr did what a less stubborn person would have done months ago. She faxed in a resignation letter. In it, she said the decision was mine alone. If so, it says something about the stubbornness of Mayor James Knowles and the city council, too.

They should have fired her a year ago after a report from the Department of Justice revealed her prominent role in the citys use of police and municipal courts as fundraising operations.

That was standard operating procedure in Ferguson until the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in August 2014 ripped the cover off this ongoing scam. Aside from Knowles and a couple of council members, Karr was the last remaining reminder of the Bad Old Days. The police chief, the municipal judge, the city manager and the city clerk had either resigned or been sacked.

But Karr hung in there. Until March, shed held the dual role as city prosecutor. She continued to prosecute unconstitutional and unwinnable cases of the sort the Justice Department had criticized her for. In January, she used a suspect legal ruling to prevent a new city council member  who favored agreeing to the Justice Department consent decree  from being seated. This was pure stubbornness. The council member was always going to be seated. Karr was trying to hold back the tide.

It was as if all the protests, the criticism, the losing court cases and even the heavy hand of the Justice Department didnt count. She wanted things the way theyd been back when a cop could cite someone for his manner of walking and Municipal Court Judge Ron Brockmeyer (for whom she once famously fixed a ticket) would find him guilty.

Karr was less the problem than a symptom of the problem. Shes a principal at the Clayton law firm of Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & OKeefe, whose attorneys hold key positions in some 20 county municipalities. She still has plenty of work to do. The firm lists Karr as city attorney in Calverton Park, Edmundson and Bellerive Acres. Shes special counsel in Brentwood and city prosecutor in Hazelwood and Bel-Nor.

The countys 81 municipal courts have long been run for the benefit of the attorneys who practice in them and preside over them. Theres a lot of money in traffic tickets.

One resignation doesnt fix whats wrong. Unless and until the Missouri Supreme Court consolidates these courts into divisions of a county municipal court, justice will continue to be on hold.
The five female students received five-year sentences for illegal protesting and other violations in 2013

Egypt's Court of Cassation accepted an appeal against a five-year prison sentence and an EGP 100,000 fine for five female Al-Azhar University students arrested while protesting on campus in 2013.

The prosecution accused the five of joining an illegal organisation, obstructing the constitution, obstructing state institutions, illegal assembly and protesting without a permit.

The five girls, who were studying Sharia and law, commerce and dentistry, will be released pending a retrial.

The verdict from the retrial could be subject to appeal.

Violent clashes erupted on several occasions in the second half of 2013 between security forces and Al-Azhar students protesting the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July of that year.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


According to the statement released by the journalists, Cairo-based French journalist Remy Pigaglio, who works for the daily Catholic newspaper La Croix and the radio station RTL, was denied entry to Egypt upon his arrival from Paris on Tuesday.

La Croix noted that Egyptian authorities gave no explanation as to why Pigaglio was refused entry to the country.

"We express our total incomprehension of this arbitrary decision. We also express our full support to our colleague, who always has been professional in his work," the French daily said on its official website.

La Croix also noted that Pigaglio's passport and mobile phone were confiscated by police during his detention at the airport.

Pigaglio has been working as a correspondent in Egypt for the past two years.

La Croix said the French embassy in Cairo tried to help Pigaglio, but could not manage to persuade Egyptian authorities to allow him into the country.

"France regrets the decision taken by Egyptian authorities; France defends the Freedom of expression and journalism all over the world and the [French] president stated that publicly during his state visit to Egypt in April," read an official statement released by French ministry of foreign affairs on Wednesday.

The French foreign ministry also revealed in its statement that Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry about the matter.

Foreign ministry officials declined to comment when contacted by Ahram Online.

Solidarity from French correspondents in Egypt

A group of French correspondents denounced in their statement the decision to refuse Pigaglio entry into Egypt, espressing their solidarity with the journalist and demanding that Egyptian authorities provide an explanation for their decision.

"While protected by the Egyptian Constitution and international conventions on human rights - to which Egypt is a party - press freedom is repeatedly trampled on, endangering the safety of journalists," the statement read.

Pigaglio's last report for La Croix covered the recent crisis between the Egyptian Journalists syndicate and the ministry of interior following the storming of the syndicate's headquarters in early May.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) announced changes to its organizational structure and senior leadership team. The changes follow the companys May 2 announcement of its plans to capitalize on its leadership position as a product innovator by simplifying its business structure, reducing costs and enhancing its commercial strategy.

Changes include:

Baker Hughes has consolidated its previous regional operations structure into one global organization with responsibility for driving outstanding operational performance, exceptional service and sales execution, as well as delivering strong operating profits. Belgacem Chariag, who was most recently the companys Vice President and Chief Integration Officer, will serve as President, Global Operations.

Baker Hughes has combined its Technology and Global Products and Services (GPS) organizations to create one global organization responsible for strengthening the companys technology commercialization and investment strategy. Art Soucy, previously President, Europe, Africa and Russia Caspian (EARC) region at Baker Hughes, will serve as President, Products and Technology. He also will be responsible for optimizing the companys supply chain and procurement capabilities.

Derek Mathieson will serve as Chief Commercial Officer of the newly formed Commercial Strategy organization. In this role, Mathieson will lead the commercial growth strategy for the company with the responsibility of developing a broader range of sales channels for its products and technology. Mathieson, who previously served as Vice President, Chief Technology and Marketing Officer, also will lead future business incubation efforts as well as corporate development planning and implementation.

Richard Williams, formerly the President of the companys North America region, will play a critical role in the organizational transitions outlined above. Serving as Senior Advisor to the companys Executive Leadership Team, Williams will use his extensive operational experience to assist the company in implementing these changes without disruption to operational performance or customer commitments.

These changes to our organizational design and leadership team demonstrate that we are moving quickly and decisively to execute on the strategy we outlined earlier this month, said Martin Craighead, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baker Hughes. While we have more hard work ahead of us, the entire Baker Hughes team is committed to building on our strong foundation as a product innovator to deliver outstanding performance to our customers and significant value to our shareholders.

All changes noted above were effective as of May 24, 2016.
New York REIT, Inc. (NYSE: NYRT) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The JBG Companies and certain of its private funds (collectively, "JBG") to contribute substantially all of their properties to NYRT resulting in a REIT with a best-in-class management team and a premier property portfolio in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area. Upon completion of the transaction, whereby NYRT will acquire substantially all of the properties and the management business of JBG, the combined company, to be renamed JBG Realty Trust, will form an estimated $8.4 billion enterprise value REIT, making it one of the largest REITs owning high quality office and mixed-use properties in urban-infill locations. The transaction will be tax-free to NYRT shareholders. The combined company will be headquartered in Chevy Chase, MD with a regional office in New York City.

The combined company's portfolio will span over 14.5 million square feet of office, residential and retail properties across the gateway markets of New York City and Washington, D.C., concentrated in transportation served, urban-infill submarkets. Approximately 22% of the portfolio, by rentable square feet ("RSF"), will be located in New York City, with the balance of approximately 78% located in premier submarkets within the Washington, D.C. Metro area. The combined portfolio includes over 9.7 million RSF of high quality office assets, approximately 1.0 million RSF of retail assets, and approximately 4,500 residential units. In addition, a meaningful portion of the company's assets are in mixed-use districts involving a high density mix of commercial and residential buildings with anchor, specialty and neighborhood retail.

The combination transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the NYRT stockholders of the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction. JBG has received all required approvals for the transaction from its owners and JBG Fund Advisory Committee members. The Board of Directors of NYRT has approved the combination agreement and recommends that its stockholders approve the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction.

Under the agreement, JBG will receive 319.9 million shares of common stock and operating partnership units of NYRT in exchange for the direct and indirect interests in the contributed JBG properties and the contribution of its management company (which equity consideration is subject to adjustment for certain cash payments and the possible exclusions of a limited number of designated properties if required consents are not obtained). Upon closing of the transaction, NYRT stockholders at the time of completion will own approximately 34.8% of the combined company's shares and units and JBG equityholders will own approximately 65.2%.

As part of the transaction, NYRT's external management contract will be terminated upon closing and the combined company will be internally managed by JBG's current management team. W. Matt Kelly will be named Chief Executive Officer, David Paul will be named President and Chief Operating Officer, James Iker will be named Chief Investment Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer, and Brian Coulter will be named Chief Development Officer. Michael Happel, NYRT's current President and Chief Executive Officer has agreed to assist in the transition and will serve as a consultant to the combined company for a transition period.

Upon closing, the new Board of Directors of the combined company will be comprised of nine members, a majority of whom will be independent. The new Board of Directors will include: Michael J. Glosserman, to be named CoChairman, Robert Stewart, to be named CoChairman, both of whom are current executives of JBG, W. Matt Kelly, Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Z. Jamie Behar, Managing Director, Real Estate & Alternative Investments, General Motors Investment Management Corporation (retired), Scott A. Estes, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Welltower, Inc., Alan S. Forman, Yale University Investments Office, Director, Real Estate Investments, Glenn H. Hutchins, Chairman, North Island and CoFounder of Silver Lake, and Randolph C. Read, currently Chairman of the Board of NYRT. It is anticipated that Mr. Hutchins will serve as the Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors.

Pro forma for the combination, the Yale University Investments Office and JBG employees including senior management, the two largest stakeholders in JBG, will own approximately 10% and 15%, respectively, of the combined company.

Randolph C. Read, Chairman of the Board of NYRT, commented, "We are extremely pleased to be able to announce this transaction with The JBG Companies which is nothing short of transformative for New York REIT. This combination creates a substantial REIT in New York City and Washington, D.C. We believe that the expertise of the JBG management team is recognized throughout the industry and that this combination will provide the NYRT stockholders with a unique opportunity to participate in the value creation potential that this combination will bring."

W. Matt Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of The JBG Companies, commented, "This combination creates a stabilized real estate platform focused on two of the world's gateway markets. We have been actively evaluating ways to bring our unique capabilities and strategy to the New York City market for some time and believe the portfolio of the combined company will provide tremendous opportunities for value creation. We believe the combined company will be positioned for strong stockholder returns with an attractive, stabilized in-place portfolio combined with substantial growth potential. We are extremely excited to be joining forces with NYRT."

The JBG Companies

Established in 1960, JBG is one of the premier real estate companies in the Washington, D.C. Metro area and owns one of the largest high-quality portfolios of urban-infill office, multifamily and retail assets in the region. JBG has investment, development (and redevelopment), operations, and private capital raising expertise across multiple property types and has a particular focus on mixed-use assets in infill markets. JBG's primary approach to value creation involves a series of complementary disciplines in a process referred to as "Placemaking", involving strategically mixing high-quality multifamily and commercial buildings with anchor, specialty and neighborhood retail, in a high density, thoughtfully planned and curated public space environment.

JBG expects to contribute 72 operating properties with an aggregate of more than 11.3 million RSF, predominantly located near major transportation nodes in some of the most attractive high-barrier submarkets in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. In addition to its operating portfolio, JBG is also contributing its management company, an approximately 1.2 million RSF construction pipeline, an approximately 1.4 million RSF pre-development pipeline and a land bank with an estimated potential density of approximately 14.8 million square feet, providing the combined company with compelling value creation opportunities.

JBG's management team is a proven steward of investor capital and has a long track record of creating value for investors through numerous economic cycles. From the beginning of 1999 through December 31, 2015, JBG has raised over $3.6 billion of discretionary fund investment capital for nine real estate investment funds and has invested in more than 250 assets on behalf of these funds. JBG's realized investments during this period have generated a levered IRR of 36.6% p.a., and an equity multiple of 2.3x. Preqin Ltd. has named JBG as one of the top Consistent Performing Closed End Private Real Estate Fund Managers every year since 2011, the only real estate fund manager to receive this designation in each of the past five years.

Transaction Benefits

The combination of NYRT and The JBG Companies is expected to create an industry-leading REIT focused on New York City and Washington, D.C., whose stockholders will benefit from the following attributes:

Enhanced positioning from a combination with a premium, urban-infill, transit-oriented portfolio with substantial embedded growth.

Leadership from a premier management team with a track record of value creation through market cycles, a proven history as a best-in-class fiduciary, and a significant investment in the combined company.

Expanded platform capabilities from a fully internalized management structure with strong shareholder alignment, with management and employee ownership in the combined company of approximately 15%.

Plans to reduce the leverage of the combined company following closing without dilution through a combination of the disposition and/or recapitalization of certain properties through strategic joint ventures to facilitate growth.

A new credit facility of up to $1.5 billion led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch to refinance certain indebtedness, pay transaction costs, and provide additional liquidity for the Company.

Alongside the addition of JBG's contributed high quality Washington, D.C. Metro area portfolio, the combined company will maintain a dedicated New York City presence with the existing NYRT on-the-ground asset management and investments team remaining in place. Integration of NYRT's New York City platform will be led by Todd Rich, a JBG partner and member of its management committee who was formerly with Tishman Speyer in its New York, London, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. offices prior to joining JBG. Building upon the existing NYRT portfolio, the combined company intends, over time, to acquire and redevelop or develop a concentrated collection of high-quality, mixed-use properties in New York City neighborhoods in which the firm's Placemaking capabilities can drive attractive value creation opportunities.

Following the close of the transaction, the combined company intends to pursue strategic joint ventures, recapitalizations, and the disposition of select non-core properties in order to repay certain outstanding debt obligations, enabling the company to take advantage of opportunities to create value without the need for equity issuances. In addition, the combined company intends to obtain a new senior unsecured credit facility of up to $1.5 billion to be led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is expected to be completed in conjunction with the closing.

NYRT Strategic Process

This transaction represents the conclusion of a strategic process NYRT has been conducting to consider all options to maximize long-term stockholder value. These options included consideration of an outright sale of NYRT for cash or stock, a sale of individual assets, a sale of all or substantially all of NYRT's assets through a plan of liquidation approved by NYRT's stockholders, continuing operations as a standalone entity, and acquiring assets and bringing in new investors for minority or majority positions. After this extensive review process, and with the assistance of its legal, tax and financial advisors, the Board concluded that the combination with JBG was in the best interests of NYRT and its stockholders.

James L. Nelson, an independent director of NYRT, commented "I am extremely pleased with the thorough and robust strategic review process that the board of NYRT conducted in analyzing a wide range of scenarios to create long-term stockholder value. Throughout the process, the Board maintained an overriding focus on what we reasonably believed to be the maximum value for NYRT's stockholders over the long term. I believe this transaction with JBG accomplishes that goal."

Approvals

The completion of the transactions contemplated by the combination agreement is subject to certain conditions, including (i) NYRT stockholder approval of the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units, (ii) the expiration of applicable waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, (iii) the receipt of certain third party consents, and (iv) the combined company closing on a new credit facility.

In connection with the proposed transaction, NYRT expects to file a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC. After the SEC completes its review of the proxy statement, NYRT will mail a definitive proxy statement to its stockholders, and stockholders will vote at a special meeting on a date to be announced, for the issuance of common stock and operating partnership units in the transaction. NYRT expects the transaction will close by the end of 2016, if approved by its shareholders.

Advisors

The Eastdil Secured group of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to NYRT. Proskauer Rose LLP acted as legal advisor to NYRT and Venable acted as Maryland counsel to NYRT. BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisors to JBG. The Advisory and Consulting Group of Green Street Advisors acted as a strategic advisor to JBG. Hogan Lovells US LLP served as legal advisor to JBG.

Conference Call

NYRT and JBG will host a conference call today, May 25, 2016 at 5:30 P.M. ET to discuss this announcement.

Dial-in instructions for the conference call and the replay are outlined below. This conference call will also be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed by all interested parties through the NYRT website, www.nyrt.com, in the "Investor Relations" section.

To listen to the live call, please go to NYRT's "Investor Relations" section of the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register and download any necessary audio software. For those who are not able to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call on the NYRT website at www.nyrt.com.

Conference Call Details

Live Call Dial In (Toll Free): 1-888-317-6003 International Dial In (Toll Free): 1-412-317-6061 Canada Dial In (Toll Free): 1-866-284-3684 Participant Elite Entry Number: 5562559

Conference Replay* Domestic Dial In (Toll Free): 1-877-344-7529 International Dial In (Toll Free): 1-412-317-0088 Canada Dial In (Toll Free): 1-855-669-9658 Conference Number: 10086995*Available one hour after the end of the conference call through May 25, 2017.
WASHINGTON and NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, 100 Resilient Cities  Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) announced the next 37 member cities to join its global network. Together with a prominent group of mayors from around the world, The Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin and 100RC President Michael Berkowitz announced the newest cities to join the $164 million (USD) global initiative at joint events in Nairobi, Kenya and Washington, DC. This new cohort spans five continents, including major urban centers including Nairobi, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, and eight American cities including a unique partnership across Miami, Miami Beach and Miami Dade County  and fulfills the organization's founding commitment to build a network of 100 cities. Through three challenge processes since its inception 2013, 100RC has received over 1,000 applications to join its Network, including 325 in this most recent challenge.

As members of the 100RC Network, cities receive grant funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), an innovative new position within municipal government to work directly with city leaders in developing a city Resilience Strategy. The strategy, designed with support from 100RC, helps cities plan for more integrated solutions to the challenges posed from globalization, urbanization, and climate change  including important social and economic impacts. The 100RC Network provides member cities with greater than $200 million (USD) in direct support from the 100RC Platform of Partners, which provides critical tools, services, and technical assistance from organizations like Swiss Re, Microsoft, the World Bank, and the International Rescue Committee. And cities in the 100RC Network are connected through a peer-to-peer network, leading to groundbreaking cross-city partnerships and solutions. Notably, in the fall of 2015, 100RC hosted a Network Exchange in Rotterdam, the Netherlands  which aggregated challenges from across the 100RC Network on water management issues to learn from leading water experts and bring solutions home to cities as diverse as Berkeley, Calif. and Surat, India.

"The 100 Resilient Cities Network is showing the global community a new way of coping with shared, complex challenges  building urban resilience," said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "Incorporating resilience planning and principles not only prepares cities for disasters and long-term threats, but also improves everyday living standards for all members of an urban community. The geographical, political, and cultural diversity in the now-complete 100RC network demonstrates that when it comes to dealing with this century's toughest challenges, resilience planning is essential."

"Since 100RC's founding in 2013, we have seen the resilience movement grow from a bold idea into a burgeoning fixture of local governments all over the world," said Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities. "We are proud today to celebrate the fulfillment of our initial commitment to reach 100 cities  but the real work lies ahead. The threshold of success for 100RC will not solely be progress within our network of 100 cities. Instead, it will be the ability for solutions to scale, and for all cities around the world to build off of the innovative work leveraged by these 100 Resilient Cities through implementation of their Resilience Strategies."

The final cohort to enter the 100RC Network includes:

Greater Miami and the Beaches, USA

Washington, DC, USA

Nashville, USA

Seattle, USA

Atlanta, USA

Honolulu, USA

Minneapolis, USA

Louisville, USA

Calgary, Canada

Toronto, Canada

Vancouver, Canada

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Montevideo, Uruguay

Colima, Mexico

Guadalajara (Metro), Mexico

Salvador, Brazil

Panama City, Panama

Tel Aviv, Israel

Luxor, Egypt

Greater Manchester, England

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Tbilisi, Georgia

The Hague, The Netherlands

Pune, India

Jaipur, India

Seoul, South Korea

Kyoto, Japan

Can Tho, Vietnam

Jakarta, Indonesia

Melaka, Malaysia

Haiyan, China

Yiwu, China

Lagos, Nigeria

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Cape Town, South Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

Paynesville, Liberia

"Washington, DC has always been a symbol of strength for our nation, and the city's inclusion in the 100 Resilient Cities Network will put us on a path to an even brighter, more resilient future," said Mayor Muriel Bowser. "As our nation's capital grows, we must find ways to bolster our resilience while protecting and preserving our prosperity. We look forward to our partnership with 100 Resilient Cities, and the ability to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to lead DC's resilience efforts, while connecting and learning from other global cities in the networks.

100RC selected cities based on each city's demonstrated commitment to building resilience in the face of the complex, multiform challenges of the 21st Century  along with strong mayoral leadership and commitment to the initiative. 100RC's program empowers cities to design, implement, and manage proactive solutions to the challenges posed by urbanization, globalization, and climate change, including short-term shocks like natural disasters, and long-term stresses like sea level rise and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Since its inception in 2013, the 100RC Network has seen remarkable progress  laying the foundation for expanding the impact of its work from 100 cities to a broader group of cities around the world:

Since 2013, more than 50 CROs have been appointed through 100RC, which has also inspired governments around the globe to appoint CROs on their own, separate from the 100RC program  including CROs at higher levels of government. In the 100RC Network, cities are reorganizing around the concept of resiliencewith many cities in the 100RC Network already formalizing the role of the CROs as a permanent fixture within their city government.

A dozen members of the 100RC Network have already released Resilience Strategies, including Resilient New Orleans, winner of the 2016 American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Award. These strategies are outlining specific initiatives for resilience building and are laying the groundwork for significant investmentboth from governments and from outside funders. Three members of the 100RC Network  New York, N.Y.; New Orleans, La.; and Norfolk, Va.  received a combined $400 million (USD) in federal funding after successfully leveraging their Resilience Strategies to apply for funding through the National Disaster Resilience Competition, administered by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Now cities will also have access to a tool that helps them assess their resilience using a new, best-in-class index (the City Resilience Index).

winner of the 2016 American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Award. These strategies are outlining specific initiatives for resilience building and are laying the groundwork for significant investmentboth from governments and from outside funders. Three members of the 100RC Network  New York, N.Y.; New Orleans, La.; and Norfolk, Va.  received a combined $400 million (USD) in federal funding after successfully leveraging their Resilience Strategies to apply for funding through the National Disaster Resilience Competition, administered by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Now cities will also have access to a tool that helps them assess their resilience using a new, best-in-class index (the City Resilience Index). 100RC Member cities have leveraged tools and technical assistance through more than 100 engagements with the 100RC Platform of Partners. In addition to their more than $200 million (USD) in commitments to the 100RC Network, partners have innovated and developed new services and tools to better meet cities' resilience building challenges. Collaborations between 100RC Platform Partners, such as the work of 100RC partners Swiss Re (the world's second-largest reinsurer) and Veolia (a transnational service and utility giant), are better preparing cities in the 100RC Network to understand the risk exposure of critical assets under current and future climate scenarios. This partnership not only arms cities with new tools to deal with the constantly evolving risks they face, but will also ensure the livability and vibrancy of cities by building their economic and physical resilience.

Markets are beginning to react to the work of 100RC, notably in 2015 when Moody's, one of the big three credit agencies, credited the Resilience Strategy process in Norfolk, VA as partial rationale for maintaining the region's credit rating.

A list of the full 100RC network is available here.

For more information, visit: www.100ResilientCities.org.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371707LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/100-resilient-cities-and-the-rockefeller-foundation-announce-37-new-member-cities-reaching-100-city-milestone-for-its-global-network-300274345.html

SOURCE 100 Resilient Cities
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The Astana Economic Forum 2016 is to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan on May 25-26. The theme of the AEF - "New economic reality: diversification, innovation and knowledge economy" - is related to global changes in the world determined by the development of a new economic reality and a number of challenges in geopolitics, the economy and financial systems.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7847451-astana-economic-forum-new-economic-reality/

This year AEF is organized by the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, the "Economic Research Institute" JSC, and the "Economic Initiatives Fund of Kazakhstan" CF.

The Forum will host 20 events which are focused on four main subthemes: global economy, economic diversification, innovation and technology, and knowledge economy.

AEF 2016 expects 3,000 delegates, including renowned politicians, international economists, Nobel Prize winners, heads of international organizations and representatives of influential media to attend.

The Regional Conference of the International Monetary Fund chaired by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who visited Kazakhstan for the first time, was held on May 24.

The AEF 2016 starts with the "Future Energy: Global Trends and Technologies" session where participants discuss scenarios of global energy development till 2050; "The End of Hyperglobalisation" session organized by the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee; and the "Kazakhstan Investment Summit" organized jointly with international magazine The Economist.

The Kazakhstan Privatization Forum co-organized by international publisher The Financial Times will take place on May 26. Being the new item on the AEF agenda, the session will identify new investment opportunities in key sectors of Kazakhstan's economy. The "Regional Think Tank Summit" and the "Great Silk Road Countries" sessions will also be held on May 26.

The Forum's closing event will be the Plenary Session, which, for the first time, will be held in the Kazakhstan Central Concert Hall. The plenary session will be opened by the President of Kazakhstan N.A.Nazarbayev and will be attended by renowned experts, politicians, heads of the largest financial institutions and international organizations, and Nobel Prize winners. Among them are: Jack Ma, founder of the AliBaba Group; Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD President; Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and one of the most influential economists in the world according to The Economist; Daron Acemoglu, Professor of Economics at MIT, bestselling author; and Roberto Azevedo, WTO Director-General.

The AEF partners: UN, OECD, World Bank, IMF, EBRD, ADB, Secretariat of Boao Forum for Asia and others.

For general queries or further information about the AEF please e-mail [email protected] or visit http://forum-astana.org

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371357 )

Video:

http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7847451-astana-economic-forum-new-economic-reality/

SOURCE Astana Economic Forum
CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An employee's relationship with a boss is an important indicator of success or failure on the job. According to a new survey from CareerBuilder, 62 percent of employees grade their bosses' performance as either an "A" or "B." More than 1 in 5 employees (22 percent) would assign a grade of "C." While 10 percent grade their boss with a "D," and 6 percent say their boss failed  earning an "F."

Western-based bosses were graded higher on average  32 percent gave their bosses an "A" and 35 percent gave a grade of "B." While workers in the Northeast were more critical of their bosses  23 percent graded their boss with an "A" and 34 percent said their boss deserved a "B."

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder between February 10 and March 17, 2016, and included a representative sample of 3,031 full-time workers in the private sector across industries and company sizes.

The West vs. the Rest

"We are starting to see a slight shift of favor towards management styles that are seen as a little more hands-off, which employees view as trust from their bosses," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder. "Everyone craves respect, and it seems like bosses in certain regions have figured out the perfect balance to keep subordinates happy."

Thirty percent of workers in the West say they interact with their boss only once per week or less in person. This is 3 percentage points higher than the South (27 percent), 7 percentage points higher than the Midwest (23 percent), and 6 percentage points higher than the Northeast (24 percent).

Even with less daily supervision, employees in the West feel their bosses provide guidance and feedback - 69 percent in the West compared to 59 percent in the Northeast. Workers in the West are also less critical of their managers: 33 percent of employees in the Northeast believe their boss should not be in a leadership role - in the West, only 23 percent of workers feel this way.

A Bad Manager Can Lead to the Loss of an Employee

Workers look for a positive working relationship with their boss, and a bad experience can have an employee running for the hills. Almost 2 in 5 workers (38 percent) said they have left a job due to their manager.

A bad experience can also come from a manager that asks more than is required from his or her employees. More than 1 in 5 workers (21 percent) said their boss has asked them to do things that are not related to their job.

Some of the more unusual requests that employees mentioned include:

Asked employee NOT to help his ex-wife move

Asked employee to take her grandmother to the doctor

Asked employee to feed the birds in his backyard

Asked employee to get a dead raccoon out of his truck

Asked employee to breakup with his girlfriend for him

Asked employee to taste a dog treat

Asked employee to take his cell phone to get serviced after he dropped it in the toilet

Asked employee to help organize her high school reunion

Asked employee to help cut her out of her pants

Asked employee to shave his back

Survey MethodologyThis survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,031 workers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 10 and March 17, 2016 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 3,031, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.78 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilderAs the global leader in human capital solutions, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of the recruitment process from acquire to hire. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing job distribution, sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and analytics in one pre-hire platform. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE: TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media ContactRob Zaldivar312.698.1042[email protected] http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bosses-in-the-western-us-receive-higher-praise-from-their-employees-300274098.html

SOURCE CareerBuilder
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pypestream, the business-to-consumer messaging platform, today announced Richard (Rick) Braddock has joined the company as chairman of the board. The move is the latest in a series of organizational announcements, with Pypestream also recently expanding its executive team and opening offices in San Francisco and Johannesburg, South Africa, to keep pace with the demand from businesses that have adopted their own 'Pypes' to securely chat with customers.

"We are thrilled to have Rick join as our chairman," said Pypestream CEO, Richard Smullen. "His deep experience in the financial services, mobile and commerce sectors, along with his valuable connections and respect in the investment community, further validates our vision of delivering a secure mobile messaging platform that empowers both businesses and their customers. Since launching in mid-January this year, more than 10,000 businesses have adopted Pypestream to message their customers  improving customer service and increasing commerce. Now we're seeing that momentum build even faster as large enterprises leverage our proprietary AI and chatbot technologies to nail the customer experience they need to deliver on mobile."

Mr. Braddock brings extensive experience to the role of Chairman of the Board, including over thirty years of operational leadership across the financial services, e-commerce and mobile sectors. During his distinguished career, Mr. Braddock has served as President and COO of CITICORP as well as Chairman and CEO of Priceline.com, overseeing the company's public offering. Most recently he served as Chairman of Mozido, and Chairman and CEO of FreshDirect, among other ventures.

"I look forward to working closely with Richard, the board, and the management team as we continue Pypestream's focus on innovation and growth," said Mr. Braddock. "Pypestream has quickly emerged as the go-to platform for business-to-customer messaging and is transforming the way brands connect with their customers. First and foremost, Pypestream's ongoing success will be driven by its unique offering - a real-time communication tool that increases customer loyalty. Pypestream also delivers the enterprise-ready features businesses are looking for, from security and privacy to in-message payments, in contrast to peer-to-peer social messaging platforms."

Pypestream's secure mobile platform provides customers with a single destination to message their favorite brands and local businesses. Businesses are listed alongside each other as 'Pypes' in an easily searchable catalogue, allowing consumers to scroll, connect and message them instantly. Through branded 'Pypes,' companies can create content hubs that engage customers, deliver product/promotional information, automate customer service and even handle in-message transactions.

All of this and more is powered by Pypestream's proprietary AI chatbot technology that allows brands to manage one-to-one conversations at scale, automating routine customer service inquiries. These 'bots' (as they are more popularly known) allow dramatic cost savings for brands and keep the conversation flowing with customers. Conversations can take the form of marketing initiatives like offers, promotions and bill pay to reactive initiatives like technical support and product advice.

"Mobile messaging and chatbots have the power to be transformative, drastically changing how brands interact with customers in real time to build loyalty," said Smullen. "Pypestream is partnering with brands to develop what they need in a bot for customer service, while also embracing commerce from in-message payments to secure file transfer. The future for conversational commerce is bright and we're just now seeing the beginning of that wave."

About PypestreamPypestream is a secure mobile messaging platform that uses real-time chat to transform the way brands and businesses connect with their customers. Through 'Pypes' listed in a searchable catalogue, businesses are provided with a direct connection to their customers for increased engagement, automated customer service, and in-message payment processing. As the ultimate customer engagement tool, further loyalty is derived by using proprietary AI and chatbot technology that allows opt-in conversations at scale.

Since launching in Jan 2016, over 10,000 businesses have adopted Pypestream to improve the relationship with their customers. The company is headquartered in NY and while privately funded, will soon have over 100 employees.

Visit www.pypestream.com for more information or download the app for iOS & Android.

Media Contact:Pypestream PRDavid Henderson, 425-829-5971[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371786

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fortune-100-veteran-richard-braddock-joins-pypestream-as-chairman-300274498.html

SOURCE Pypestream
TUCKER, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GMS Inc. (the Company) today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $21.00 per share. The Company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,050,000 shares of its common stock. Shares of the Companys common stock are expected to begin trading on May 26, 2016 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GMS. The offering is expected to close on June 1, 2016, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Barclays Capital Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are acting as joint book-running managers and as representatives of the underwriters in the offering. RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Stephens Inc. are acting as co-managers. The offering of these securities is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus may be obtained, when available, from: Barclays Capital Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, by telephone at (888) 603-5847 or by email at [email protected]; or Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, One Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10010, by telephone at (800) 221-1037 or by email at [email protected].

A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 25, 2016. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About GMS Inc.

GMS is the leading North American distributor of wallboard and suspended ceilings systems. GMSs product offering of wallboard, suspended ceilings systems, or ceilings, and complementary interior construction products is designed to provide a comprehensive solution for our core customer, the interior contractor who installs these products in commercial and residential buildings. Founded in 1971, GMS operates a national network of distribution centers across the United States. With a full line of product offerings, GMS provides a comprehensive solution, or one-stop-shop, for all of our customers for wallboard, ceilings and complementary products.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525006557/en/

Investor Relations:

[email protected]

678-353-2883

or

Media Relations:

Phone: 770-723-3378

Email: [email protected]

Source: GMS Inc.
A Cairo appeals court rejected on Wednesday an appeal for the release on bail of five activists and a prominent rights lawyer arrested earlier this month on various charges connected with their opposition to the recent Egyptian-Saudi island deal, a judicial source said.

The court upheld a 15-day extended detention for journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El-Sakka, who were arrested during a raid on the country's press syndicate.



Badr and El-Sakka were among many ordered arrested ahead of the 25 April protests against Egypt's decision last month to acknowledge Saudi sovereignty over two Red Sea islands.



The defendants are facing an investigation by prosecutors over accusations of "inciting to protest" and "attempting to destabilise the country and planning a coup."

Dozens of protesters were rounded up during demonstrations against the agreement.

Badr and El-Sakka were initially given 15 days in detention pending investigation when they were first arrested in early May, with the order later extended.

The raid by security forces on the press syndicate, which union officials said was a first in the syndicate's 75-year history, sparked outrage among media and critics and promoted calls for the sacking of the interior minister.

The court also rejected on Wednesday an appeal against the detention pending investigation of prominent rights lawyer Malek Adly, who had raised a lawsuit against the Egyptian-Saudi agreement.

Adly, who was arrested on 6 May, faces similar allegations but is being investigated in a separate case, the source added.

The appeals in both cases were submitted by the same defence team, which consists of a number of rights lawyers.

A total of 29 journalists are currently behind bars in Egypt, with some in custody for almost three years and facing charges of "publishing false news" or aiming to "topple the state," according to press union chief Yehia Kalash.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ford launches FordInclusiveWorks pilot program to provide individuals who have autism with an opportunity to gain work experience at Ford

Program kicks off June 1, and will provide work roles in Fords product development organization

FordInclusiveWorks supports Fords goal to contribute to a better world, making peoples lives better and helping the communities in which the company operates

DEARBORN, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ford Motor Company today announces it is collaborating with Autism Alliance of Michigan on a pilot program that aims to provide individuals who have autism with an opportunity to gain work experience with the company in an on-the-job training program funded by the alliance.

FordInclusiveWorks kicks off June 1. It will provide work roles in Fords product development organization.

We are committed to making peoples lives better, and this pilot program has the potential to not only make the participants lives better, but also help Ford be an even more diverse and inclusive workforce, says Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, product development and chief technical officer. Autism affects many people in our communities, and Im proud were taking on this important initiative.

Five new positions in product development were created to suit the skills and capabilities of people with autism. As part of this pilot, Ford will evaluate participants for future employment, as well as the program in general. If there is a potential fit, the individual will enter into Fords standard recruiting process.

Individuals with autism bring a unique set of talents to our business, says Felicia Fields, Ford group vice president, human resources and corporate services. We recognize that having a diverse and inclusive workforce allows us to leverage a wider range of innovative ideas to make our customers lives better.

Through FordInclusiveWorks, individuals with autism will not only gain work experience, but also contribute to business objectives and enhance diversity at Ford. The program supports the companys goal to contribute to a better world and support the communities in which it operates.

The pilot is beneficial for everyone involved  individuals with autism will gain work experience that uses their unique skill sets, while the work they complete will contribute to Fords product development efforts.

We are truly excited to be collaborating with Ford on this pilot program, says Colleen Allen, president and CEO, Autism Alliance of Michigan. For so many individuals with autism spectrum disorder, getting and keeping a job is a challenge. Often, companies lack understanding of the unique characteristics associated with autism, which can be challenging, and unfortunately this can lead to perceptions of a poor fit for the individual and coworkers. I applaud Ford for taking these critical steps to understand autism, and for giving those who have struggled to find competitive employment real career opportunities that could be life changing for them.

For example, in the vehicle evaluation and verification test lab, a FordInclusiveWorks participant will log and prep tires for test vehicles used by engineers for product assessment. The work is highly structured, requires a great deal of focus, and calls for a high level of attention to detail and organization. Skills required to complete this task safely and with a high level of quality lend themselves to strengths typically associated with individuals with autism.

Ford is an equal opportunity employer, and anyone can apply for an open position at any time at http://corporate.ford.com/careers.htm.

Individuals with autism interested in being considered for future pilot program opportunities can reach out to Autism Alliance of Michigan for assistance in preparing for such experiences and workplace success.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 201,000 employees and 67 plants worldwide, the companys core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. At the same time, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the companys plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit www.corporate.ford.com.

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006762/en/

Ford Motor Company

Monique Brentley

313.594.3744

[email protected]

or

Amanda Park

313.322.3132

[email protected]

Source: Ford Motor Company
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is recognizing four outstanding woman journalists as winners of its annual Courage in Journalism Awards. Honorees include Mabel Caceres, founder and editor-in-chief of El Buho, an independent magazine in Peru; Janine di Giovanni, Middle East Editor at Newsweek and contributing editor at Vanity Fair; and Stella Paul, a freelance journalist in India. Diane Rehm, long-time host of the public radio show that bears her name, will receive IWMF's respected Lifetime Achievement Award.

"These courageous journalists have faced seemingly insurmountable security threats and personal challenges in reporting on global issues and often, their impact on women," IWMF Executive Director Elisa Lees Munoz said. "It is an honor to celebrate their commitment to press freedom and their service to other women in their industry with our annual Courage Awards." Winners were announced last night at a private ceremony held at Hearst Tower in New York City.

Now in its 27th year, the IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards celebrate women journalists who set themselves apart through extraordinary bravery. The Lifetime Achievement Award honors one woman who has set new standards for journalists and encourages future generations of reporters to find their voices. Winners join IWMF's Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award honorees, announced earlier this month, in demonstrating the uncommon capacity, perseverance, and empathy women journalists bring to their craft  and the barriers they must overcome along the way.

Courage in Journalism Award Winners (Link)Mabel Caceres | PeruEditor-in-chief, El Buho Magazine; Twitter @mabel_elbuhoWhen Mabel Caceres' regional newscast was suspended, she overcame Peru's restrictive media climate to create an independent investigative magazine, El Buho. For more than 20 years, her reporting on the exploitation of local resources and corruption at all levels of government and commitment to press freedom has triggered death threats, libel suits, and financial repercussions.

Janine di Giovanni | USAMiddle East Editor of Newsweek and contributing editor of Vanity Fair; Twitter @janinedigiJanine di Giovanni began reporting on conflict and humanitarian disasters 25 years ago as a freelancer working in Gaza and the West Bank. She reports by engaging local citizens and often by working independently, without support from a major news organization. Based in Paris, she focuses on women's rights, child soldiers, HIV/AIDS, war crimes, honor crimes, illegal detention, refugees, and crimes against humanity.

Stella Paul | IndiaFreelance Journalist; Twitter @stellasglobeStella Paul has endured death threats, harassment, physical attacks, detention, and threats against her family while covering environmental issues, social injustice, and women's rights in marginalized communities. Working mainly in India's conflict zones and remote provinces, she has shed light on the trafficking of women and children, rape, and other issues for multiple media outlets.

Lifetime Achievement Award WinnerDiane Rehm | USAHost of The Diane Rehm Show, Twitter @drshow Diane Rehm has hosted The Diane Rehm Show, which airs on WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington, D.C. and is distributed nationally by NPR, since 1979. Having first joined WAMU as a volunteer, she now engages an on-air audience of more than 2.4 million each week. Her recent announcement that she will retire after the 2016 elections signals the end of a career in which she set the standard for interview shows, spotlighted women and women's issues, mentored countless colleagues, and persevered while experiencing a chronic condition that makes speech difficult. Diane's innate curiosity and insistence on respectful discourse has helped inform generations on topics ranging from the U.S. economy to foreign affairs, public health, and education.

About the Courage in Journalism Awards (Link)Since its inception in 1990, IWMF has honored more than 100 women journalists from 54 countries as part of its Courage in Journalism Awards program. This year's award winners will be recognized in person at ceremonies led by Cindi Leive (Glamour) in Los Angeles on October 20, 2016 and in New York at an event moderated by Cynthia McFadden (NBC) and Norah O'Donnell (CBS) on October 26, 2016.

For the third year, the IWMF also will recognize two Leadership Honorees for their outstanding commitment to free speech and innovative leadership: Saad Mohseni, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of MOBY Group in Los Angeles and Sally Susman, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Pfizer, in New York.

Bank of America is National Presenting Sponsor of the Courage events for the eleventh consecutive year. Chevron is the West Coast Presenting Sponsor. Chairs for this year's events include:

Julie Henderson, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, 21st Century Fox and Dee Dee Myers, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Communications and Public Affairs for Warner Bros. Entertainment  Benefit Committee Chairs, Los Angeles

Steven R. Swartz, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hearst  Event Chair, New York

Debra Shriver, Chief Communications Officer, Hearst  Benefit Committee Chair, New York

Funds raised at the events sustain IWMF programs and grants that empower women journalists with the training, opportunities, and support to become leaders in the news industry.

For more information on the IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards and a complete list of past winners, visit iwmf.org/courage. Follow event announcements on social media via #IWMFcourage.

About the IWMF The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is dedicated to strengthening the role of women journalists worldwide. The media is not truly free and representative without the equal voice of women. Since 1990, we have celebrated the courage of women journalists who overcome threats and oppression to report and bear witness to global issues. Through our programs and grants we empower women journalists with the training, opportunities, and support to become leaders in the news industry. Learn more at IWMF.org and on Twitter @IWMF, Facebook @IWMFpage,and Instagram @TheIWMF.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iwmf-announces-the-2016-iwmf-courage-in-journalism-award-winners-300274237.html

SOURCE The International Women's Media Foundation
NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Successful amendment to the cornerstone coal sales agreement with LG&E and KU for coal to be delivered from Paringa's proposed No.2 Mine, with future sales totalling US$205 million.

Importantly, 60% of No.2 Mine's annual production during the 5 year sales agreement is now contracted with LG&E and KU, significantly de-risking the project for potential financiers.

Emergence of the No.2 Mine has transformed the economics of the Buck Creek Mine Complex and Paringa will now develop the No.2 Mine first, followed by the No.1 Mine

A new staged development strategy will ultimately allow Paringa to become a strategic 5.6 Mtpa supplier of high quality coal into the Eastern US power market.

Based on work completed to-date as part of the BFS for the No.2 Mine, Paringa expects significant reductions to the operating and capital costs .

Potential for No.2 Mine to generate approximately 30% EBITDA margins based on these "bottom of the market" fixed sales prices.

Construction at the No.2 Mine to start during Q2 2017 and begin production by mid-2018.

Paringa Resources Limited ("Paringa" or "Company") is pleased to announce that it has successfully amended its coal sales contract with Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company ("LG&E and KU") following the Company's recent change in strategy which will see the low capex Buck Creek No.2 mine ("No.2 Mine") developed first, ahead of the Buck Creek No.1 Mine's ("No.1 Mine") proposed 3.8 million tons per annum ("Mtpa") coal project.

In October 2015, Paringa signed a coal sales agreement with LG&E and KU to deliver coal from the No.1 Mine. In February 2016, the Company decided to develop the No.2 Mine first following exceptional results from a Scoping Study which demonstrated the No.2 Mine to be a high margin 1.8 Mtpa mine with low capex of only US$44 million.

As a result, the amended cornerstone coal sales agreement with LG&E and KU now reflects delivery of coal from the No.2 Mine. The amended contract is on substantially the same terms as the original contract. Most importantly, coal volumes and coal specifications remain unchanged. Fixed sale prices have changed slightly to reflect recent sales data, and the project development milestones and delivery schedule have been updated for the No.2 Mine.

Commenting on the revised contract, Paringa's President and CEO, Mr David Gay, said: "We are extremely pleased to formalize the transition of our coal sales contract from the No.1 Mine over to the No.2 Mine. The fact that LG&E and KU are prepared to sign this major amendment to our sales contract confirms their belief that we will become a significant new source of production in the Illinois Basin and confirms the quality of the No.2 Mine. We are progressing rapidly with our Bankable Feasibility Study on the No.2 Mine and have already identified significant reductions in our operating and capital costs which have the potential to increase the value of the project considerably."

Amendment to the LG&E and KU Contract

Paringa is expected to start construction of the No.2 Mine during second quarter of 2017, begin production by mid-2018, and reach full production of 1.8 Mtpa during 2019.

Following the Company's change in strategy to develop the No.2 Mine first, Paringa needed to amend the original sales contract for this change in strategy and to update the fixed sales prices to reflect recent coal sales data from the utility's recent coal solicitation period with US coal producers. The fixed sales prices contained in the original coal sales agreement have changed slightly and have resulted in a fall of 7% in the nominal total value of the coal sales contract from US$220 million to US$205 million.

Under the amended coal sales agreement, Paringa is contracted to deliver a total of 4.75 million tons of its 11,200 btu/lb product over a 5-year period, starting in 2018. The amended contracted fixed coal sales prices for Paringa's 11,200 btu/lb coal spec begins at US$40.50 per ton for the first 750,000 tons of coal delivered to LG&E and KU, escalating to US$45.75 per ton for the final 1,000,000 tons sold. The new fixed sales prices are as follows:

Table 1: Summary of Key Terms Contracted Production Fixed Contract Price (FOB Barge; 11,200 btu/lb) 0 - 750,000 tons US$40.50 per ton 750,001  1,750,000 US$41.50 1,750,001  2,750,000 US$43.00 2,750,001  3,750,000 US$44.50 3,750,001  4,750,000 US$45.75 Total Sales Contract Value US$205 million

The No.2 Mine's access to the Green and Ohio River systems provides a significant transportation advantage to other Illinois Basin coal producers. The LG&E and KU coal sales agreement calls for fixed sales prices based on a Free-on-Board ("FOB") basis delivered at the Buck Creek barge load-out facility on the Green River.

The LG&E and KU agreement includes coal specifications for deliveries of Buck Creek No.2 Mine's coal on an "as received" basis:

Table 2: Summary of LG&E and KU Contract Coal Specifications Specifications Guaranteed Monthly Weighted Average Heating Content (Btu/lb) min. 11,200 Btu/lb Moisture max. 10.00 lbs/mmbtu Ash max. 11.00 lbs/mmbtu Chlorine max. 0.18 lbs/mmbtu

The amended LG&E and KU agreement includes standard project development milestones that are in line with the proposed Buck Creek No.2 Mine construction program. During this construction period, LG&E and KU will progressively monitor Paringa's performance in meeting these milestones. If the Company fails to achieve the relevant milestones, then LG&E and KU may terminate the agreement and the Company shall have no further obligations.

About LG&E and KU

LG&E and KU are subsidiaries of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies and are regulated utilities that serve a total of 1.2 million customers. LG&E and KU have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E and KU own three power plants within Paringa's initial target Ohio River Market (Trimble County, Ghent and Mill Creek) that are almost exclusively supplied by the Illinois Basin.

PPL Corporation is one of the largest investor-owned companies in the US utility sector. PPL Corporation has a Moody's/S&P investment grade credit rating, market capitalization of US$25.2 billion, US$7.6 billion in 2015 annual revenue and 10.5 million utility customers in the US and UK.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/successful-amendment-to-the-coal-sales-contract-to-deliver-coal-from-no2-mine-300275206.html

SOURCE Paringa Resources Limited
A group of men run through a field to avoid being transferred to government camps for refugees and migrants, during a police operation to evacuate a makeshift camp, at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 24, 2016. REUTER

By Phoebe Fronista and Fedja Grulovic

IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - Greece sent in police and bulldozers on Tuesday to knock down tents and relocate hundreds of migrants who had been stranded for months in a squalid makeshift camp on the border with Macedonia.

Several busloads of people, most of them families with children, left the sprawling expanse of tents at Idomeni to move to state-run centers further south. Buses were lined up ready to take more, Reuters witnesses said.

By the latest count, at least 8,000 people were camped at Idomeni in difficult, overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation, ignoring previous calls by the government to leave.

As many as 12,000 people, most of them Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, were stuck there at one point after Balkan countries shut their borders in February, barring them from crossing to central and northern Europe.

Greece was the main entry point for more than a million migrants who made it to Europe last year, most after perilous sea crossings.

New arrivals there have slowed sharply since the European Union struck a deal with Turkey to get it to curb the flow, but the government says there are still more than 54,000 migrants on Greek soil.

It plans to move people gradually to state-supervised facilities which have a capacity of about 5,000. A total of 2,031 people were moved on Tuesday, police said, 1,273 of them Kurds, 662 Syrians and 96 Yazidis.

"The evacuation is progressing without any problem," said Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman on the migration crisis. They would be relocated "ideally by the end of the week", he said. "We haven't put a strict deadline on it."

A Reuters witness on the Macedonian side of the border said there was a heavy police presence in the area, but no problems were reported as people with young children packed up huge bags with their belongings.

Media on the Greek side of the border were kept at a distance. Inside the Idomeni camp, police in riot gear stood guard as people boarded the buses, state TV footage showed.

But at the Oreokastro camp near the city of Thessaloniki, migrants already there shouted at new arrivals not to get off the buses because of conditions there, a Reuters witness said.

POOR CONDITIONS

A police official said about 1,000 people continued to block the only railway tracks linking Greece and Macedonia, closed off for weeks by protesters demanding passage to northern Europe.

Trains were forced to divert through Bulgaria to the east, and some goods wagons have been stranded on the tracks for weeks.

"This should have happened a long time ago," said Anastasios Sachpelidis, a local transporters association representative. The closure was "a big loss," he said. "We lost clients, we lost money, time and our credibility."

Human rights groups had raised alarm about the deteriorating conditions at Idomeni, where children slept in the open, scuffles broke out over food, and Macedonian forces who tear-gassed migrants trying to storm past the razor-wire fence.

International charity Save the Children said it was also concerned about a lack of basic services such as bathrooms and shelters for children in some of the official camps.

"Many of the children, especially lone children, have been through enough trauma already," said Amy Frost, its Greece team leader. "Relocations to formal camps need to be managed sensitively to ensure the process is not adding to the trauma."

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said Greece had to ensure the individuals now had access to asylum.

"That has been an issue - making sure Greece has this capacity to do that. It is something that we have to continue to watch," spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva.

A sharp rise in asylum applications since the EU-Turkey deal has burdened Greece's asylum system, already criticized as inadequate and slow.

Progress has also lagged on a scheme to redistribute 160,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to other EU states to alleviate pressure on the two frontline countries. Just 1,145 people have been relocated so far.

The evacuation of Idomeni signaled "the establishment of medium to long-term camps on European soil," said Melanie Ward of aid group International Rescue Committee.

"How long do we expect people  so many of whom have fled war and conflict - to be living in tents in refugee camps in Greece?"

(Additional reporting by Angeliki Koutantou in Athens and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Michele Kambas and Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone was holding 11 Guineans including military personnel in custody on Wednesday following a confrontation at sea involving the two West African neighbors' navies, Sierra Leonean officials said.

The incident occurred early on Monday morning off the coast of northern Sierra Leone near the countries' border, the officials said.

Vessels from the two countries exchanged gunfire after Guinean naval forces illegally boarded a Chinese fishing vessel in Sierra Leonean waters, said Al Shek Kamara, Head of Operations for the Sierra Leone Police.

He said the Guineans had been holding the vessel's crew at gunpoint demanding money.

Guinea rejected that version of events.

"There was a Chinese boat that was being pursued by the Guinean navy and entered into Sierra Leone's territory. During the maneuver, the Guinean navy entered into Sierra Leone's territory," said government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara.

He said the Guinean personnel had disembarked to carry out administrative formalities and would return home soon.

"There was no gunfire or arrests," Camara said.

West Africa, home to some of the world's richest fishing waters, loses up to $1.5 billion worth of fish each year to vessels fishing in protected zones or without proper equipment or licenses.

Under-equipped West African maritime forces are struggling to clamp down on illegal foreign vessels, many of them Chinese.

One fifth of China's distant water fishing fleet now operates in Africa, Greenpeace said in a report published last year. Beijing rejected the accusation.

(Reporting by Umaru Fofana; Additional reporting by Saliou Samb in Conakry; Writing by Joe Bavier; editing by John Stonestreet)
By Anastasia Moloney

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Paula went to a public hospital in Bogota for an abortion she was entitled to by law, a nurse showed her baby dolls and photos of newborn babies and asked her what she felt looking at them.

"I was judged. Doctors and nurses were always trying to talk me out of it," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "One doctor said I was committing murder if I went through with it."

Paula's experience is common in Colombia, where abortion is legal on paper but in practice out of reach by women dissuaded or deterred by bureaucratic hurdles, dangerous delays and stubborn attitudes, advocates say.

Colombia, a nation of 48 million people, allows abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation, if the fetus is at risk and if the health, both physical and mental, of the mother is at risk.

Its abortion law is liberal and broad, compared with most of its Latin American neighbors, including three countries in the region that ban abortion completely.

Yet despite the partial decriminalization of its total ban on abortion a decade ago, millions of women have sought illegal abortions rather than legal procedures, according to one estimate.

Obstacles to a legal abortion are placed in their way, campaigners say.

"Colombia has some of the strongest constitutional and legal protections for women's rights in Latin America," Catalina Martinez, regional director for Latin America at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.

"But they cannot be allowed to exist on paper alone," she said.

In Paula's case, she was pregnant with her second child three years ago at age 31 and studying at university.

Already a single mother, Paula, who did not want her surname used to protect her identity, was adamant she did not want another child.

She was referred to three psychologists, two of whom found she qualified for an abortion on grounds that the pregnancy posed a risk to her mental well-being.

For weeks Paula was passed from one doctor to another, from one hospital to another. At every turn, there was a setback, she said.

"Sometimes I was told there were no beds available. Other times that there were no trained doctors who could carry out the procedure," said Paula, who filed a lawsuit against the health service provider.

She won the case, but it was too late. She was 22 weeks pregnant and doctors refused her an abortion, calling it a health risk even though Colombia's abortion law places no specific limit on the number of weeks of pregnancy.

Paula gave birth to a girl in 2013.

Colombia's health providers have carried out about 50,000 legal abortions since the law was changed in 2006.

Yet around 400,000 women in Colombia undergo illegal abortions each year, according to estimates in a 2011 study by the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute.

RIGHTS

Monica Roa, a lawyer who brought the case before Colombia's constitutional court in 2006 that changed the law, says she sees progress in abortion being seen more often as a woman's right.

"The debate has completely changed," said Roa, vice president of strategy at Women's Link Worldwide, a global women's rights group.

"Today no politician will go against abortion in public for fear it will come with a political cost," she said.

But women, especially from poor backgrounds in rural areas, often do not know their rights and there is confusion among doctors over when the procedure is allowed, particularly in terms of mental health, she said.

"Many doctors still interpret risk to a women's health in just physical terms and when there is a threat to life," Roa said. "Abortion is not just for when a woman is about to die."

Another obstacle is doctors refusing to carry out abortions, often citing conscientious objection.

Doctors have that right but are legally obliged to refer a woman to a colleague who they can guarantee will do an abortion. Abortion advocates say in fact that does not happen promptly or at all.

It is common as well for a doctor to insist on convening a special medical committee to decide, said Viviana Bohorquez, a lawyer at the Women's Life and Health Committee, a reproductive rights group.

"There's absolutely no need to do this. In Colombia, you only need the permission of one doctor," Bohorquez said.

"This only causes delays and means women wait days, if not weeks, for a decision," she said. Past 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is nearly impossible for a woman to get an abortion, she said.

In the last decade, Bohorquez' rights group has handled about 1,000 cases involving women who faced hurdles getting an abortion or were denied one altogether.

Thirteen cases have gone all the way to Colombia's constitutional court.

One recent case involves a 14-year-old indigenous girl, pregnant after being raped. She was unable to find a doctor who would perform an abortion in the Amazon rainforest where she lived, forcing her to travel to the capital.

Another case seeks financial compensation for a woman who was carrying a malformed fetus. She sought an abortion but the healthcare provider took 84 days to decide to turn her down.

She gave birth to a child with severe disabilities.

Colombia could take steps to allow better access, campaigners say.

Lawmakers are considering a bill to allow women to have an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy without any restrictions.

Another bill expected to be introduced in July would allow abortion up to 14 weeks without restrictions and seek better access to contraception and school sex education.

(Reporting by Anastasia Moloney, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Japanese (L) and American flags are displayed in front of a monitor showing the Japanese yen's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, in Tokyo December 3, 2013. REUTERS/Issei Kato

By Minami Funakoshi and Kiyoshi Takenaka

ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the killing of a young woman in Okinawa which has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island.

Obama, joining Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit, expressed regrets over the killing for which a U.S. base worker has been charged.

"As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday.

"I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said.

Obama, arriving from a visit to Vietnam, told a joint news conference after his meeting with Abe: "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets...The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system."

Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden.

Many also associate the bases with crime, pollution and noise. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations.

Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely.

Obama is also set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit.

Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by.

"I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy," Abe told reporters earlier.

The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters.

With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country's own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.

Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations.

The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Thomas Wilson, Ami Miyazaki, Kylie Maclellan, Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Linda Sieg and William Mallard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ralph Boulton)
A man carries a cooler as he passes giant bottles of Coca Cola on a beach in Cancun, October 13, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican bottling company Arca Continental (NYSE: AC) said on Wednesday it had signed a letter of intent with the Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED to operate the Coca-Cola franchise in parts of the United States.

(Reporting by Gabriela Lopez; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Illegal migrants sit at the Abu Saleem detention center in Tripoli as the U.N. Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Martin Kobler (not pictured) visits Abu Saleem detention center for illegal immigrants in Tripoli

ROME (Reuters) - Some 3,000 migrants were saved off the Libyan coast on Tuesday in 23 separate rescue missions, the Italian coastguard said in a statement.

The coastguard said this meant more than 5,600 migrants had been rescued from various boats and dinghies in the southern Mediterranean in just two days, with every ship in the area being called on to help with the complex operation.

Humanitarian organizations say the sea route between Libya and Italy is now the main route for asylum seekers heading for Europe, after a European Union deal on migrants with Turkey dramatically slowed the flow of people reaching Greece.

Officials fear the numbers trying to make the crossing to Italy will increase as weather conditions continue to improve.

Earlier this month, Italy said some 31,000 migrants, mainly from Africa, had reached the country by boat, slightly down on 2015 levels. However, the number of new arrivals has picked up markedly in recent days.

Most of those trying to reach Italy leave the coast of lawless Libya on rickety fishing boats or rubber dinghies, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is close to Tunisia, or toward Sicily.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Katy Migiro

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations' most senior humanitarian official in South Sudan denounced on Wednesday the killing of a Slovakian nun who was working as a doctor in the country, where violence is hampering efforts to relieve widespread hunger and sickness.

Sister Veronika Rackova is the 54th aid worker to be killed in South Sudan since violence erupted in the world's youngest nation in December 2013, the United Nations said.

"I am deeply saddened by this senseless act," Eugene Owusu, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Violence against humanitarian workers and humanitarian assets is categorically unacceptable and must stop."

Aid workers in South Sudan have been hit by a surge in violent crime, particularly robberies, which the United Nations has said is hampering their life-saving work.

Rackova was shot in the waist on the night of May 15 while driving an ambulance back from a medical center where she had been delivering a baby.

She died in hospital in neighboring Kenya five days later.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, killing thousands and forcing more than 2.3 million people to flee their homes.

Many displaced people are hiding in bushes without access to food, clean water or medicines.

Under international pressure, the two leaders signed a peace deal in August, and Kiir re-appointed Machar as vice president and named a new "national unity" cabinet in April.

Rackova, 58, had lived in the southern town of Yei, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of South Sudan's capital, Juba, since 2010, according to the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, of which she was a member.

The government has arrested three soldiers in connection with the shooting, local media said.

Three people were injured on April 25 when a rocket propelled grenade hit a U.N. compound in the northern town of Bentiu, which is home to over 100,000 displaced people.

(Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)
Martyr's Right is the largest operation aimed at rooting out and killing militants in the restive Sinai since the army's response to a wave of attacks in July

As a continuation of an earlier campaign which started in September 2015, the army announced that it will begin the third phase of the operation entitled Martyr's Right.

Martyr's Right is a comprehensive military operation targeting Islamist militants in North Sinai.

Army spokesperson Mohamed Samir said that during the past four days Egyptian forces killed 85 militants, detained three suspects, and destroyed 73 hideouts, ten cars and five motorcycles.

Samir also announced the killing of three other militants in the western parts of Halal Mountain in North Sinai.

In tandem with ground operations, "Navy special forces imposed control over Egyptian coasts to prevent illegal migration or any attempt of infiltration and smuggling across the sea," the statement read.

Martyr's Right is the largest and most comprehensive military operation aimed at rooting out and killing militants operating in the restive peninsula.

The Egyptian army announced the end of the first stage of the operation - which lasted 16 days - on 22 September, after the "achievement of its primary objectives.

The first phase of the operation concluded with the killing of over 500 militants and the destruction of various militant hideouts and artillery storage facilities in North Sinai.

Phase two of the operation, according to a statement released by the army, will pave the road for creating suitable conditions to start development projects in Sinai.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Dasha Afanasieva and Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday they were disappointed Chancellor Angela Merkel was the only G7 leader to attend a summit on how the world deals with humanitarian crises.

The meeting, which drew 55 heads of state and government, sounded a "wake-up call" about the scale of the problems. But many participants saw the event as a modest step that fell short of stirring political will for real change.

"It is a bit disappointing that some world leaders could not be here, especially those from the G7 countries," Ban told a news conference at the end of the summit.

Disasters, both man-made and natural, mean that 130 million people need humanitarian aid, costing an annual $240 billion, a 12-fold increase since 2000 but still just 1 percent of global military spending, he said.

Summit host Turkey is at the forefront of efforts to control the flow of migrants from Syria and elsewhere to Europe, which has confronted the continent with its biggest refugee crisis since World War Two. Erdogan said he was "saddened" that the leaders of Canada, Japan, Britain, Italy, the United States and France failed to show up for the two-day event in Istanbul.

In what was seen as a diplomatic snub, Russia - one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council which can veto resolutions - also failed to send a high-level delegation.

Moscow was concerned about a plan to limit the veto powers of Security Council members in certain situations.

Ban said divisions among the permanent members of the Security Council have stymied efforts to end war and promote peace, as well addresses humanitarian issues.

In a paper ahead of the summit, Ban urged the permanent members to withhold their veto power on measures addressing mass atrocities, a step welcomed by Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme and a candidate to succeed Ban when his term expires at the end of this year.

The U.N. "is not seen as able to cope with today's conflicts," she told Reuters. "By the time an issue has gotten to the Security Council, the world has already failed."

'OVERWHELMING' CHALLENGES

"This one summit is not going to be able to galvanize a level of political will to deal with what we're all facing, which is really overwhelming," said Justin Forsyth, deputy executive director of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, saying the summit meant a "modest step forward."

Participants pushed for more efforts at crisis prevention.

Nancy Lindborg, head of the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the U.N. lacks the tools to prevent and end conflict, describing "paralysis" on the Security Council.

"The summit is a giant wakeup call to the political leadership that, hey, the world is on fire. We can fix how we provide humanitarian assistance, but you need to muster the political will to end these terrible conflicts."

The summit launched an education fund aimed at raising $4 billion for emergency schooling, and a "grand bargain" which commits major donors to more funding in return for aid groups being more transparent about how they spend the money.

Sixteen aid organizations, the European Commission and 17 countries endorsed the agreement, but Turkey, which Erdogan said was the world's second-biggest donor, did not.

Salil Shetty, secretary general of rights group Amnesty International, said without any binding documents and only voluntary commitments, the summit in Istanbul was a staging post for a follow-up conference in September in New York when there need to be clear specific outcomes.

"This one is principles and broad statements, which is simply not good enough. People are suffering. We need action."

(Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley and Mark Trevelyan)
Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month, listens to the proceedings with assistant defense attorney William Maguire during a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston,

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a racially motivated attack at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during Bible study at Charleston's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in a massacre that shook the country and intensified debate over U.S. race relations.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses.

In a court filing, federal prosecutors cited a number of factors for seeking the death penalty, saying Roof singled out victims who were black and elderly, and showed no remorse. They also cited "substantial planning and premeditation."

A friend of Roof, 21-year-old Joseph Meek, pleaded guilty last month to concealing his knowledge of Roof's intention to carry out the attack, saying then that Roof planned the shooting for six months and wanted to start a race war.

Roof's lawyers have said he would agree to plead guilty, rather than face trial if prosecutors ruled out capital punishment. But defense attorney Michael O'Connell, declined comment on Tuesday's decision when reached by phone.

Roof also faces the death penalty if convicted on separate, state murder charges in a trial set to begin in January.

The state prosecutor trying the case said last September that some of the victims' families were opposed to a death sentence due to their religious beliefs, while others felt it was appropriate.

Steve Schmutz, an attorney representing families of three victims, said his clients "support whatever decision the U.S. government is making in this case, and I'm sure they support this decision."

Some relatives of the slain worshippers tearfully offered words of forgiveness during Roof's initial court appearance.. Nearly a year later, views diverged on the federal death penalty decision.

Its a great message being sent by the government that this wont be tolerated, Kevin Singleton, whose mother was among those killed, told the local Post and Courier newspaper.

The relative of another victim cited the Bible in calling for Roof to spend his life in prison rather than die.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Only three federal prisoners have been executed in the past half century and none since 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The best-known of those was Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.

Roof is due back in federal court in Charleston on June 8, when prosecutors are expected to discuss a trial date.

(Reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C.; Additional reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla. and David Ingram in New York; Additional reporting and writing by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Dan Grebler and Peter Cooney)
A U.S. flag flutters in the wind above a Volkswagen dealership in Carlsbad, California, U.S. May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Alexandria Sage and David Shepardson

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has made substantial progress toward reaching a final settlement next month with car owners and the U.S. government over the German automaker's cheating on diesel emissions tests, a federal judge said on Tuesday.

But major issues remain, including how much the world's No. 2 automaker may have to pay in fines, which could run in the billions of dollars, to federal and state regulators for violating U.S. clean air rules, as well as an ongoing U.S. Justice Department criminal probe.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco reiterated that a settlement will include substantial monetary compensation for U.S. owners of 482,000 polluting vehicles that emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution.

The so-called Dieselgate scandal has hurt VW's global business as well as its reputation and led to the departure of its chief executive officer and other executives. Dieselgate erupted last September after the company admitted using sophisticated secret software in its cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests. As many as 11 million vehicles worldwide have been affected.

At a brief court hearing, Breyer said lawyers for car owners suing Volkswagen and the U.S. Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Trade Commission, the state of California and the company were on track to file the final proposed settlements by June 21.

The "parties ... have reported that in the month since we last met they have made substantial progress in intensive daily efforts to finalize the agreement, and most importantly are on track to meet the court's deadline," Breyer said.

The U.S. settlement would also include an environmental remediation fund to address excess emissions and a fund to promote green automotive technology.

Elizabeth Cabraser, lead lawyer for the U.S. car owners, and a Volkswagen spokeswoman both said the parties were pleased with the continued progress and planned to finalize the agreements next month.

Breyer said engineering studies and testing were continuing toward a resolution for the owners of 80,000 larger 3.0 liter vehicles but offered no timetable.

The vehicles emitted up to nine times the legally allowable pollution, and it was not clear if the automaker will offer to buy back the larger 3.0 liter Porsche, Audi and VW SUVs and cars under investigation.

The EPA ordered VW last September to stop selling all new 2016 2.0 diesel vehicles. The ban was extended to 3.0 liter VW, Porsche and Audi diesel vehicles in November. The order remains in effect.

After the June 21 deadline the agreement faces a public comment period and must get final judicial approval, which could come at a July 26 hearing.

Volkswagen shares closed up 4 percent.

FAMILY DIVISIONS

Many thorny issues remain, including what happens to vehicles that Volkswagen repurchases and how the automaker will handle buybacks and fixes if the EPA approves.

Reuters reported last month that owners could have as long as two years to decide on whether to sell back their vehicles.

VW agreed on April 21 to a framework settlement with U.S. authorities to buy back or potentially fix about half a million cars fitted with illegal test-fixing software, and set up environmental and consumer compensation funds.

The next day, Volkswagen said it would set aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) and slash its dividend to cover the costs from Dieselgate.

And there is unrest among investors. On Monday, three investor groups called for an independent inquiry, saying the company's investigations may not be sufficiently far-reaching or transparent.

Reuters has reported that a Volkswagen official said an investigation by law firm Jones Day into who was responsible for rigging the emissions tests was dragging on.

Volkswagen has come under attack from London hedge fund TCI and other investors who say the automaker needs to improve its performance and create a new governance structure.

The campaign has exposed divisions between the Porsche and Piech families who own the majority of Volkswagen, the state of Lower Saxony and powerful labor representatives who hold one-half of the seats on the companys supervisory board.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Georgina Prodhan in Frankfurt; Writing by David Shepardson and Will Dunham; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): May 16, 2016

Zynex, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada 33-26787-D 90-0275169 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

9990 Park Meadows Drive Lone Tree, Colorado 80124 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrants telephone number, including area code: (303) 703-4906

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On May 23, 2016, Mr. Rick Luckenbill will commence employment at Zynex, Inc. (the Company) to serve as the Companys Vice President of Finance. Mr. Luckenbill will report to the Companys Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Sandgaard, be in charge Companys accounting operations and support the Companys finance operations.

Mr. Luckenbill has more than 20 years experience in in multiple industries with proven leadership in finance, accounting and system integration roles. Mr. Lukenbills work experience includes debt restructure, cash flow optimization, profitability improvement and system integration. Prior to joining Zynex, Mr. Luckenbill, during 2015 and 2016, served as Chief Financial Officer / Vice President of Finance with CPP, Inc., an engineering consulting business in Fort Collins, CO. Previously, Mr. Luckenbill served in various accounting roles with Medtronic, Inc. (2013-2015), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc (2009-2011), Omnitrax, Inc (2009) and Motorola, Inc. (1996-2009) and as director of systems integration with Motorola Solutions, Inc. (2011-2013). Mr. Luckenbill holds an MBA, Finance from the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University, Scottsdale, AZ and a BS, Finance/Organizational Development, Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL.

On June 1, 2016, Mr. David Mogill will commence employment at Zynex, Inc. to serve as the Companys Vice President of Operations. Mr. Mogill will report to the Companys Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Sandgaard and be in charge Companys production and supply chain operations. Mr. Mogill is replacing Robert Cozart, who is retiring after 9 years of service with the Company .

Mr. Mogill has more than 30 years experience in the medical device industry with proven leadership in production, supply chain and operational process efficiency roles. Prior to joining Zynex, Mr. Mogill served as Sector SQE with Surgical Technologies (2015-2016) and Solta Medical/SST (2008-2014), Previously, Mr. Mogill served in various operations management positions with Glucon Inc. (2006-2007), Dentsply International (2004  2006) and various other medical device manufacturing companies (1986  2006). Mr. Mogill holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Metro State University of Denver.

There were no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Luckenbill or Mr. Mogill and any other person pursuant to which he was appointed as Vice President of Finance and there is no family relationship between Mr. Luckenbill and any officer or director of the Company. There have been no transactions between Mr. Luckenbill and the Company required to be disclosed by Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

Effective May 16, 2016, Michael Hartberger resigned as the Chief Operating Officer of Zynex, Inc. His decision was on account of the Companys continuing cash constraints. There were no expressed disagreements with management or Company practices or policies.

C Squared Solutions, who (since October 2015) provided interim Chief Financial Officer services, will, going forward, provide financial consulting services on an as requested basis.

Thomas Sandgaard, the Companys sole director, will continue to fulfil the role of principal financial officer and chief financial officer. Mr. Sandgaard founded the Company in 1996 after a career in the semiconductor, telecommunications and medical equipment industries with ITT, Siemens and Philips Telecom. Mr. Sandgaard has been the Companys President, CEO and Chairman since 1996 and also currently serves as the Companys sole director. Mr. Sandgaard holds a degree in electronics engineering from University of Southern Denmark, Denmark and an MBA from the Copenhagen Business School.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits - None

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE TO

TENDER OFFER STATEMENT UNDER SECTION 14(d)(1) OR 13(e)(1) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

XenoPort, Inc.

(Name of Subject Company (Issuer))

AP Acquisition Sub, Inc.

an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Names of Filing Person (Offerors))

Common Stock, $.001 par value per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

98411C100

(CUSIP Number of Class of Securities)

LESLIE ZACKS

ARBOR PHARMACETICALS, INC.

SIX CONCOURSE PARKWAY, SUITE 1800

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30328

678-334-2420

(Name, address, and telephone numbers of person authorized to receive notices and communications on behalf of filing persons)

Copies to:

J. Mark Ray, Esq.

Sarah E. Ernst, Esq.

Alston & Bird LLP

One Atlantic Center

1201 West Peachtree Street

Atlanta, Georgia 30309

Telephone: 404-881-7000

CALCULATION OF FILING FEE

Transaction Valuation* Amount of Filing Fee* Not Applicable* Not Applicable*

* A filing fee is not required in connection with this filing as it relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a tender offer.

 Check the box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing with which the offsetting fee was previously paid. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.

Amount Previously Paid: Not applicable Filing Party: Not applicable Form or Registration No.: Not applicable Date Filed: Not applicable

x Check the box if the filing relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a tender offer.

Check the appropriate boxes below to designate any transactions to which the statement relates:

x third-party tender offer subject to Rule 14d-1.

 issuer tender offer subject to Rule 13e-4.

 going-private transaction subject to Rule 13e-3.

 amendment to Schedule 13D under Rule 13d-2.

Check the following box if the filing fee is a final amendment reporting the results of the tender offer: 

This Schedule TO filing consists of the following communication by Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC (Parent) related to the proposed acquisition of XenoPort, Inc. (XenoPort) by Parent and AP Acquisition Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (Acquisition Sub), pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 21, 2016, by and among XenoPort, Acquisition Sub and Parent.

 Exhibit 99.1: Letter to XenoPort employees, dated May 24, 2016

Important Information

This material is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer for the outstanding shares of XenoPort common stock has not commenced. At the time the offer is commenced, Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Acquisition Sub will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the Securities and Exchange Commission and XenoPort will file a solicitation/ recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the offer. The tender offer statement (including an offer to purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other offer documents) and the solicitation/recommendation statement will contain important information that should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the tender offer. Those materials will be made available to XenoPorts security holders at no expense to them. In addition, all of those materials (and all other offer documents filed with the SEC) will be available at no charge on the SECs website at www.sec.gov .

Exhibit 99.1

Ed Schutter, President & CEO 6 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 1800 Atlanta, GA 30326

May 25, 2016

Dear XenoPort Team:

I know by now all of you are aware that Arbor Pharmaceuticals has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire XenoPort, Inc. This pending acquisition is a testament to the company that you have built over the last 15+ years. As mentioned in the transaction press release, we are impressed with the sales momentum that you have created with your lead product Horizant and want to ensure that we maintain this momentum during the transition. In that regard, we will be working closely with the XenoPort leadership team to minimize disruption and determine the optimal way to integrate our two companies.

We are also impressed with the future potential for Horizant as a treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder and will continue to support the NIAAA in that endeavor. We believe that the other pipeline products, particularly XP23829, also have the potential to provide significant value to patients.

I am sure that many of you have questions about Arbor and would like to better understand our company. As you have probably discovered, there is not a lot of information publicly available on Arbor as a private company. Let me try and fill in some of the gaps. Arbor is led by a team of executives with an average of 20+ years of pharmaceutical experience and has experienced strong top-line and bottom-line growth under the current team. We currently market twenty FDA approved products, nine of which are promoted to health care providers by almost 500 sales professionals. Our sales force includes a primary care/cardiology sales team of 223 sales representatives that target 20,000 primary care physicians, a pediatric/ADHD sales team of 220 and a hospital sales team of 27.

In addition to the marketed products listed on our website, we have two recently approved NDA products as well as four NDA products in development. The majority of our promoted products are patent protected to 2026 or beyond.

As you can see, we have a lot going on at Arbor and are extremely proud of the various products in each of our therapeutic areas and the value that they add to patients lives. Horizant is similar in that it is patent protected, differentiated in the market and makes a difference in patients lives. Congratulations on the business and pipeline that you have built at XenoPort. I look forward to meeting you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Ed Schutter, President & CEO

Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC

Important Information

This material is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer for the outstanding shares of XenoPort, Inc. (XenoPort) common stock has not commenced. At the time the offer is commenced, Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its acquisition subsidiary will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the Securities and Exchange Commission and XenoPort will file a solicitation/ recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the offer. The tender offer statement (including an offer to purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other offer documents) and the solicitation/recommendation statement will contain important information that should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the tender offer. Those materials will be made available to XenoPorts security holders at no expense to them. In addition, all of those materials (and all other offer documents filed with the SEC) will be available at no charge on the SECs website at www.sec.gov .

6 Concourse Parkway  Suite 1800  Atlanta, GA 30328 | P: 678 334 2421  F: 678 334 2433 | www.arborpharma.com
About 25 jobs would go under the University of Waikato's proposal for its education faculty.

A university faculty facing job cuts was hiring when it was reportedly over budget, union members say.

But the university says appointments were only made where needed and it has to move forward on a fixed income.

In early May, the University of Waikato proposed cutting about 30 jobs in its faculty of education, saying it had seen three consecutive years of falling enrolments.

REBEKAH PARSONS-KING/FAIRFAX NZ The university's budget isn't increasing so it has to move resources around in order to do new things, says vice chancellor professor Neil Quigley.

But the faculty took on new people during that time, say Tertiary Education Union (TEU) members who got information from the human resources department.

READ MORE:

* Job cuts proposed in University of Waikato education faculty

* Civil and environmental engineering courses come to Waikato

* Targeted investment and retirement plans at University of Waikato

"If you have no money, how can you hire new people?" said Professor Dov Bing, the chair of the Waikato branch of the TEU.

"And then after three years say, oh, we've got a big deficit, we have to get rid of 25 people."

"If they would have acted responsibly they wouldn't have made those appointments in the last three years and we wouldn't be in such a situation now."

About 25 people who hadn't made budgeting decisions would be the victims if the proposal went ahead, Bing said.

But there were two things going on in the education faculty, vice chancellor Professor Neil Quigley said - changes in the sector that the faculty had to move with and the drop in enrolments.

"We have been discussing the trend with enrolments for some time. So if the dean hired people, presumably they were in areas where he thought we needed them."

The proposed job cuts were announced when the university was sure of the trend and came in one go to avoid uncertainty for staff.

No major proposals for other faculties are on the table at the moment but Quigley couldn't rule out future changes.

"Our income isn't increasing and hasn't increased for some time. So if we're going to do the new things that we want to do, we have to do that in part by shifting resources around."

The university also proposes to outsource management of Waikato Pathways College to a provider with a stronger international student recruitment network.

A mechanical workshop at the school of engineering is the focus of another proposal, which reduces the staffing and would see university students use Wintec's trades workshop one day a week.
Family of a Hamilton man whose body was pulled from the Waikato River three days after he disappeared from a mental health facility say a "black comedy of errors" were made by police handling of his disappearance.

In a damning report released on Wednesday, the Independent Police Conduct Authority upheld the complaints made by Nicky Stevens' family over failings of police to take any action in the 48 hours after he was reported missing.

Heads could yet roll over the bungle with five police staff facing a conduct investigation.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/stuff.co.nz Police held a press conference to apologise over search for missing Nicky Stevens.

Stevens, who suffered from schizophrenia, was under a compulsory care order at the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre (HBC) in Hamilton when he failed to return from an unsupervised 15 minute smoke break on March 9, 2015.

On March 12, the 21-year-old's body was found in the Waikato River.

READ MORE:

* Life and death of Nicky Stevens

* Nicky Stevens unveiling one year after death, family wait for answers

* Family of Nicky Stevens lay complaint with IPCA

MIKE SCOTT/FAIRFAX NZ Nicky Stevens' brother Tony Stevens (left) and parents, Dave Macpherson and Jane Stevens, campaigned for change to mental health services following his death.

Staff at HBC informed police that Nicky was missing at 2.38pm on March 9 - two hours after he walked out.

Despite police knowing Stevens was a high suicide risk, a series of failings meant no officers were dispatched to search for Stevens, or gather further information in person from HBC, until March 11.

Stevens' parents, Hamilton City Councillor Dave Macpherson and mother Jane Stevens complained to Independent Police Conduct Authority about the lack of action by police.

SUPPLIED Nicky Stevens walked out of a Hamilton mental health facility on March 9. On March 12 his body was pulled from the Waikato River.

After a review, the independent body found that no one in police took responsibility to locate Stevens for two days.

Five police staff - two from Waikato and three from the Northern Communications Centre - were now undergoing an employment process.

Police's policy and good practice was not followed, Judge Sir David Carruthers said in the report.

In particular, handling by the the police's northern communications centre that received the missing person alert from HBC on March 9 was "inadequate" and did not comply with police's standard operating procedures and good practice.

National manager of Communications Centres, Superintendent Steve Kehoe, said at a press conference following the report's release that comms staff did not pick up on the risks.

"In spite of the time delay, there were opportunities missed to pick up on those red flags and that was a failing on our part."

Staff incorrectly coded it a priority 2 instead of priority 1 job, which meant no police were sent immediately to the scene.

Waikato's district command centre were informed but "did not provide effective oversight" in managing the missing person case, the report said.

Despite having the resources available, no police staff were sent to HBC to gather information and no search was launched for two days.

During this time, the report found police also failed to liaise with Stevens' family.

Macpherson said family contacted police on numerous occasions over two days seeking progress on the search and were never told one had not commenced.

It wasn't until March 11 that a senior officer picked up the report and ordered action.

Actions taken by the officer in charge of missing persons in the Waikato over this time also "fell well short" of what was expected and did not comply with good practice and procedure.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

The IPCA found police missed a number of opportunities to take further action during the two days Stevens was missing.

"The lack of action and contact from police caused Nicholas Stevens' family great distress at a very difficult time," Carruthers said.

Stevens' mother Jane Stevens said the family were shattered at the extent of the "bungling and poor systems".

"As we know that the prime opportunity to find Nicky alive was lost because of this.

"It was a black comedy of errors from both the DHB and the police - one that we wouldn't wish on any other family."

Waikato police district commander Superintendent Bruce Bird apologised to the family in a meeting on Tuesday.

"We thank Superintendent Bird for the police apology," Macpherson said.

"And accept that the police have taken steps to improve the way they handle cases like Nicky's, and are willing to include us in some planning work that is being done around this.

"We note that the way the IPCA and police have handled our complaints following Nicky's death is streets ahead of the DHB and other health agencies, who have yet to start any reviews or investigations into Nicky's death."

POLICE: 'WE GOT THIS WRONG'

Waikato police district commander Superintendent Bruce Bird said he was "disappointed" with how police responded, and fully accepted the IPCA findings.

"We missed opportunities to search for Nicholas Stevens. We made errors and we got this wrong."

"Our service fell well below our standards. Over time police have developed good systems and operating processes for missing persons, but I fully acknowledge that on this occasion key staff did not apply good judgement."

He apologised for the distress to Nicky's family, friends and colleagues.

"Nicky Stevens was a son, a brother, he did a lot of work in this community and talking with the family, he was a good bloke, and for that we unreservedly apologise."

Bird said four actions could have been taken once police were informed.

The missing person alert should have been brought to the attention of supervisors; a car should have been sent to HBC; and officers should have informed the search and rescue centre.

"Those are the things we did not put in place. The whole incident should have been picked up and taken charge of.

"We have all the systems in the world but we rely on people to make an assessment of a risk, and that's what didn't happen."

HOW THEY'LL FIX IT

Police have since made improvements to provide greater oversight of missing person reports.

Waikato's DCC had extended to 24/7 coverage, putting more senior staff in charge of operations.

"The increase in supervision means missing person reports will be channelled through senior officers," Bird said.

A case risk assessment team was created at Hamilton Central and a working group to consider specific missing persons reports from mental health facilities was now in place, he said.

"We are making sure we get over all of those reports immediately, driven by the DCC."

Police were also enlisting the help of Nicky's family to provide training to dispatch staff on risk factors among mental health sufferers.

Bird said six-monthly reviews of recommendations from any debriefs of missing mental health patients with the chief executive of Waikato DHB.

Four investigations were launched following Stevens' death - by the Waikato District Health Board, the Independent Police Conduct Authority, Hamilton Police, and the Minister of Health.

Bird said an investigation into the complaint laid against the DHB was in the hands of the Crown Prosecutor.

DHB chief executive Nigel Murray would not comment on any DHB investigation on Wednesday.

What went wrong?

* Police Northcomms handling of the initial missing person report was inadequate with the dispatcher not allocating units to it, informing frontline units of Nicky's mental health status or that health workers believed he would head to the river.

* The case was also put on a two hour hold, a breach of police policy.

* Hamilton police watchhouse wasn't told.

* Henry Bennett Centre's written missing person report did not reach police until nearly 12 hours after their first call to police. When it did, the fax machine cut off vital information including whether Nicky was considered a suicide risk.

* Waikato District Command Centre didn't find out until Nicky had been missing for over four hours. By then it was busy dealing with an armed robbery and 14 missing people across the shift.

* A computer report of Nicky's disappearance automatically brought up one about him from 2010 and the old description went out in a press release.

* Police's missing persons co-ordinator had not been given any specific training for the role or on mental health issues.

* Police failed to liaise with Nicky Stevens' family until March 11, two days after he went missing.

* Police missed opportunities to reassess and act on Nicky's case.



What police have done since:

* Northcomms, Waikato District Command Centre staff have been brought up to speed on policy for dealing with missing persons.

* Closer ties established with the District Health Board

* Two Waikato police and three Northcomms staff disciplined.

* DHB now emails reports instead of faxing.

* New policy on missing persons under development

* Waikato DCC operates 24/7
The religious who give have a right to know how their beneficiaries spend, Pushpa Wood says.

Parody religions could earn tax exemptions under current laws, and politicians are "dead scared" of challenging increasingly powerful charities, some commentators say.

As Budget day looms, and publicity around homelessness grows, tax-exempt groups in the $17 billion charity sector should be more closely scrutinised, critics of the current system say.

Charity expert Michael Gousmett said many charities still kept the public in the dark about spending.

WOLTER PEETERS/ FAIRFAX Some people want to see more detail on whether charities are spending money on social problems, or simply proselytising.

Long critical of iwi and churches operating businesses without paying tax, the Canterbury academic said regular firms and taxpayers shouldered a growing financial burden as donations to charities went "through the roof."

READ MORE:

* Gloriavale Christian Community assets top $40 million

* No law change after Christchurch charity links to sex trade exposed

* Youth charity with alleged sex industry links to shut

* Charities fail to file annual returns

IRD figures show tax credits for donations to religious groups jumped from $113.4 million in 2012 to $142.7m two years later.

GETTY IMAGES A community leader says temples, mosques and churches should all be more transparent about how they spend donations.

Gousmett said a British-style system involving detailed "trustee reports" was needed, but there was no political will to achieve that in New Zealand.

About 4880 groups had tax-exempt charity status for religious activities in New Zealand.

The system potentially enabled founders of parody religions to register as tax-exempt charities, Wellington tax barrister James Coleman said.

SUPPLIED The popularity or otherwise of beliefs - such as dinosaurs travelling in Noah's Ark - should not affect charitable donations, a trust chief executive says.

Unlike Gousmett, he didn't believe current laws were too lenient, but added bureaucracy to a "perfectly healthy" tax regime.

Coleman said it could be argued social services some charities provided offset some costs to the Government.

He said the Charities Act 2005 brought more vetting, but a parody group could likely earn charity status if it invented a deity, and provided the names of perhaps 10 adherents.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF Michael Gousmett, adjunct fellow in history, says politicians are scared of tackling increasingly rich and powerful charities.

"As long as it met the case law requirements of what a religion is, then you'd get in."

The act regarded "the advancement of religion" as a charitable purpose as long as a public benefit clause was satisfied.

Massey University Financial Education and Research Centre director Pushpa Wood said churches, temples and mosques should provide more detailed expenditure reports.

SUPPLIED Jo Goodhew, the minister responsible for the voluntary sector, says the current definition of "charitable purpose" works well in the vast majority of situations.

"STILL WAITING FOR PLACES OF WORSHIP TO WELCOME THE HOMELESS"

Adherents were often unaware if donations went to social services for the needy, or to vainglorious building adornments.

"I'm still waiting for any places of worship to say: 'We're going to use our premises for homeless people'."

Wood said she'd personally donate to a charity that built social housing, on the same day social housing minister Paula Bennett said homelessness had "certainly" become more acute in the last two years.

Ross Peeters, Creation Science Foundation (NZ) Trust chief executive, said people deserved "the opportunity to donate to any organisation they like, whether it's religious, or political ... or even an atheist organisation".

He said the group worked on speaking at churches and engaging with the public.

Compliance costs were "minimal" and Peeters said it was important in a free society for diverse groups to achieve charitable status if desired.

Many religious groups advanced other charitable purposes as defined under the Act, the responsible minister Jo Goodhew said.

"For example, a church that provides services that promote health, advance education and relieve poverty."

Goodhew said the definition of charitable purpose mostly worked well and she had no intention to review the Charities Act "at this time."

"LOVE OFFERINGS" SUCKING DONORS DRY, HUMANIST SAYS

Humanist Society vice-president Mark Honeychurch said some religious charities were transparent, others murky about spending.

"For a lot of evangelical churches, you will see the vast majority of their money is spent on sound systems and hiring of lighting rigs for the big Sunday services ... I question whether that can be seen as benefiting the community."

Some pastors pushed acolytes to not only tithe, but give "love offerings" and "speaker offerings" for guest visitors who addressed the faithful.

Honeychurch said the value of charities' assets was largely irrelevant to debates about the public good, even though some tax-exempt religious groups had assets worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Charities Services said New Zealand's 27679 charities had a total income of $16.75bn.

Law changes created audit and review requirements for medium and large registered charities from April 2015.

Public returns outlined charities' assets and expenditure, in some cases with details on grants, wages, interest paid, and service provision costs.

The UK Charities Commission gave the public access to more detailed annual reports.
The Ashburton District Council has received a second offer to extract 40 billion litres of pure artesian water.

The council already has discussed a deal with NZ Pure Blue, which is owned by a brokerage firm, to purchase Lot 9 in the Ashburton Business Estate for an undisclosed sum. It comes with a valuable resource consent that allows abstraction of water from aquifers beneath the town.

The council has so far refused to publicise information about the deal. However, Mayor Angus McKay confirmed the council had received an "alternative offer" for the land and would be discussing it at Thursday's council meeting.

McKay would not comment on whether NZ Pure Blue were still involved in negotiations.

READ MORE:

* For sale: 40 billion litres of Canterbury's purest water

* Government rejects temporary ban on water-bottling deals

* Councillors kept in dark over controversial water deal

* Ashburton councillor mulls mayoral bid amid water bottling controversy

"As that is commercially sensitive I will not be giving any more information about our dealings."

McKay said NZ Pure Blue were unaware of the alternative offer.

"I presume they will do once they read The Press tomorrow."

Councillor Ken Cutforth said councillors were notified about the backup deal on Wednesday.

"The information we've got so far is pretty sketchy and I have concerns.

"I've always had concerns about giving our water away . . . we had three submitters come into council yesterday explaining that their wells had gone dry and they've had to dig deeper wells. Surely that should raise some sort of alarm bells in council."

Cutforth said the council needed to "take a deep breath" and think about the consequences of the deal. He said it was not uncommon for a backup offer to be considered.

"If one falls over then another is waiting in the wings."

The sealed process follows a failed deal several years ago, in which the council tried to sell Lot 9 and its valuable water abstraction consent to a Chinese buyer.

The new deal allows the holder to take 45 litres of water a second, and expires in 2046, meaning the buyer will gain access to more than 40 billion litres of Ashburton's pure water.
OPINION: Young Xavier Hartstonge made the cardinal mistake of being critical of Christchurch in an opinion piece this week  labelling the city boring and suggesting there's nothing for young people to do.

No sooner had the piece landed than the internet got white hot with chatter as proud Cantabrians sought to justify life decisions.

Did you read it?

JOHN MAICH/SUPPLIED Some were offended by Hartstonge's comments about the city.

I thought it was a nice little piece, well-constructed and offering a suggestion where others finish at the complaint.

READ MORE:

* Xavier Hartstonge: It's hard to be a young person in Christchurch

* Man-made beach idea not new, but shot down

* Bishop Victoria Matthews wants a beach in the Square

* Bob Jones: Turn CBD into a lake

* Gerry Brownlee wants a rowing lake for the red zone

He thinks Christchurch is boring and his idea is a beach in Hagley Park. He hoped a beach could be a launch-pad for markets, theatre, gigs etc.

David Walker Johnny Moore: I'd suggest that if you're looking for an exciting city, Christchurch isn't the place for you.

There you have it, sounds no less reasonable than half the ideas being promoted by those in charge.

But the public was deeply offended. How dare this young man suggest Christchurch is boring. "What about all the mountain biking tracks?"

While I don't agree with his plan, I agree with his right to present an idea and have a crack at proposing something while all the keyboard warriors sit home in dens, espousing nastiness.

I don't like the idea myself. I'd hope we were moving away from creating fake environments and toward protecting and creating real ones.

Our environment has been raped and pillaged since Captain Cook first sent a couple of blokes ashore to check if the Tangata Whenua were friendly, and I'd think trying to recreate some of the real stuff would be a better pit to throw money into.

A better goal that would still achieve Xavier's swim might be trying to clean up the sewer that is the Avon River and create a swimming hole. But that's neither here nor there.

What I'm worried about is that whenever anyone has an idea, people get snarky and defensive.

Why would you put yourself out there at all unless you're pathological or an aspiring politician (see: pathological)?

I'm afraid to inform all you sensitive souls that Christchurch is boring for young people when compared to any city of size in the world.

I'd suggest that if you're looking for an exciting city, Christchurch isn't the place for you.

As a long-time resident, I've noticed that those seeking big adventure tend to head elsewhere in the world and those who stay or return to Christchurch are the breeders.

Because that's what Christchurch is a great place for  raising a family.

I think the charm of the city is what lies within reach; the beaches, the mountains, the rivers and the isolation that can be found not far from the city.

But I realise that beaches, mountains and being excited about regenerating bush isn't exactly what a bunch of 20-somethigs are going to suggest makes for an exciting city.

So let's be realistic that Christchurch is never going to compete with Shanghai or Istanbul, but let's keep the dialogue going with young people so we can ask them how they might be included in the rebuild.

Because at the moment there's a bunch of old (mainly) men in suits telling us about an exciting, vibrant city when you get the feeling that the most exciting thing these people do is check how much their investment property has gone up in value.

Maybe we should encourage a few more ideas from those who will inherit the city and stop being so damn nasty online to anyone brave enough to put their real name to an opinion.
US-backed Syrian militias are not preparing an assault on Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa at present, a militia spokesman said, indicating the limited scope of a new offensive in nearby areas where fighting raged on Wednesday.

Movements by the fighters in the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and leaflets dropped on Raqqa urging its citizens to leave had given rise to speculation that they were about to attack the city.

Driving Islamic State from Raqqa city would be a major achievement in the US-led campaign against the group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. But a spokesman for the SDF indicated it was not imminent.

"The current battle is only to liberate the area north of Raqqa. Currently there is no preparation ... to liberate Raqqa, unless as part of a campaign which will come after this campaign has finished," spokesman Talal Silo said.

Leaflets dropped on Raqqa city had urged residents to flee. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that reports on the war using an activist network on the ground, says hundreds of families have left.

Syria experts however doubt that the SDF is ready for an attack on Raqqa city. Its most powerful component is the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, and Syrian Kurdish officials have previously said Arab groups must be the ones to lead any assault on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa.

The Observatory said there were clashes in the countryside south of Tel Abyad and around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa on Tuesday and Wednesday. It also said the SDF campaign has been supported by heavy air strikes from the US-led coalition against Islamic State.

The SDF launched an operation at 2pm (1100 GMT) on Tuesday to recapture land between the SDF stronghold in Tel Abyad near the Turkish border and the Islamic State's defacto capital in Syria in Raqqa - but there are no plans to advance on the city itself yet.

Aided by US-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria over the last year or more, though its advances have recently slowed.

Syrian Kurdish groups have previously said an attack on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa should be led by Arab militias. Syria experts say the SDF's Arab groups are not yet ready for such an attack, however.

Islamic State's territory in Iraq and Syria has shrunk significantly from its peak. The group is also being targeted in a separate campaign by the Syrian military and its allies, including Russia.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


"The Lone Tree'' by Christchurch photographer Dennis Rademacher was taken in June 2014 and won the New Zealand Geographic landscape photo of the Year.

Say #thatwanakatree to a photographer and listen for the sigh and laugh.

Wanaka's willow with wet feet is perhaps New Zealand's most photographed tree.

About five years ago, Wanaka photographers and writers began pumping images of it to social media sites as bit of a joke.



Two years ago, Lake Wanaka Tourism put the tree on its photo trail and last year a Wanaka Instameet that beamed tree images to millions of people.



READ MORE:

* Wanaka shot a winner

* Photographer captures NZ's stunning landscapes

* Green light for Wanaka photo tour

ROB ORMANDY/FACE BOOK Monster, swimmer or drift wood? Wanaka resident Rob Ormandy was at That Wanaka Tree in autumn, 2015.

More often than not, the tree appears on Google in splendid isolation. But now that is the joke.

Every day, tree-botherers click away in a gentle curve in Roys Bay opposite the showgrounds. Some days the tree faces a hundred-strong firing squad.



Former Central Otago photographer Tony Bridge says friends gave him "bollocks" for his tree article in this month's issue of F11 magazine because he had resisted joining the "heavily-armed columns of photographers".



When he found a tree "light, tender and diaphanous", his cynicism melted and his ego shredded.



Just what it is about that tree?



"I don't know, to be honest," Bridge said by phone from Hokianga on Friday.

Tony Bridge/www.thistonybridge.com Selfies in monochrome. Photographer Tony Bridge observes public interaction with That Wanaka Tree.

"To be honest, I think it's got to be ego. The "I can do better than everyone else". Everyone takes a photo and shares it," he said.

The tree appalls and fascinates in equal measure but on the whole, Wanaka folk have been good-natured about something that is possibly better click-bait than Richie McCaw.

But when Wanaka-based US travel blogger Liz Carlson wrote about camera-wielding crowds this month, followers criticised her use of a social media tag considered offensive to visitors from Asia.

Tony Bridge/www.thistonybridge.com Splendid in Infrared. Photographer Tony Bridge used a modified Nikon D80 to capture Wanaka's famous willow tree in a different light.

Carlson has apologised and taken down the offending post but has declined to discuss it with The Wanaka Mirror.

Bridge describes the clamour was "a form of appropriation . . . a photo as consumerist pastime".

"It's not just Asians. It is all sorts of tourists. It is photo tourism, blogging, the raising of the selfie stick. I find it quite hilarious. And of course, cell phones and smart phones are so good, as good as a camera. I think the key thing is Facebook and social media have changed things. . . . Once we took pictures for our own purposes and perhaps for an exhibition. We printed them and maybe put them in an album. But now everyone shares it on Facebook," Bridge said.

ROB DICKINSON/www.rjd.co.nz Rob Dickinson discovered Wanaka's lone willow on a satin smooth evening light.

Christchurch photographer Dennis Radermacher took a tree photo on a misty June day that won the 2014 New Zealand Geographic photograph of the year.

"I think everyone with a camera has a photo of that," Radermacher laughed, when contacted on Friday.

Radermacher also had an epiphany at the tree when confronted by fog rather than a hoped-for sunrise.

Tess Hellebrekers/Lake Wanaka Tourism About 100 Instagrammers descended on Wanaka in 2015 for a week-long workshop.

"I was quite disappointed when I was there because it was not what I had in mind."

He was not the only person there.

"There were four or five. It wasn't too bad. You have to be really really lucky to get that, these days . . . My problem with the tree is we [landscape photographers] suffer from the loner in the wood syndrome. Any more than two people is a crowd," he said.

MARJORIE COOK A close up of a newspaper clipping kept by Gwenda Rowlands, 85, of Wanaka about #thatwanakatree.

Why does he like the tree?

"It's the curvature [of the branches]. And it's really easy to reach. You just walk over from Wanaka. And because it is in Wanaka. But I do know there are a few more trees like it, at Glenorchy, that are similar subjects. And it seems isolated, just exactly where you need to be . . .If it was standing in a lake on the top of a mountain and you had to walk eight hours uphill to get to it, I could guarantee it wouldn't be that popular," Radermacher said.

The photograph was the boost in confidence Radermacher needed to become a full time professional photographer and set up his Lightforge website and From Zero to Hero workshops last year.

MARJORIE COOK From fence to tree . . . Gwenda Rowlands suggests the painting on the cover of Wanaka And Surrounds: A Sequel to the Wanaka Story could be the first image of #thatwanakatree.

"I sold one or two prints. It didn't do much financially for me. But if I am known for anything, I am known for that photo. I run landscape photography courses and I use it as a model," Radermacher said.

Wanaka Camera Club president Heather Macleod has photographed the tree just twice, the last time about two years ago.

While some members felt the tree was "almost a joke", others had pushed it on websites and social media.

MARJORIE COOK A close up of a newspaper clipping kept by Gwenda Rowlands, 85, of Wanaka about #thatwanakatree.

"Let's face it. It is such a pretty photogenic tree. It has got an appealing curve to it. But I have heard of wedding parties with the brides sitting in it and breaking branches, which is not appreciated," she said.

#thatwanakatree's genesis

The tree started life as a fence post at least 77 years ago.

Wanaka artist and writer Gwenda Rowlands, 85, is a keeper of local history and remembers the fence line from 1939, when she first visited it in a little dinghy her father built for her and her older brother.

She has watched it evolve from a "hacked off branch from nearby willows" to a symbol of determination.

"It was 1939 I remember it growing there and that is not yesterday. So it has been growing slowly all that time . . . It was just big enough to lift the wire up with a bit of tension on it. I can remember a gap where the tree is now, on the beach, and the sheep could just wander off into the town shopping if they wanted."

Rowlands agrees the tree "seems to be getting a bit of an overload" but has not let that overwhelm her enjoyment of the site's natural history.

Just last week she enjoyed observing a young Asian couple posing for wedding photographs with the tree.

"They looked as if their marriage was going to work, that they would be happy ever after, and that is what you want for them."

Rowlands suggests Otago artist Brian Halliday (1936-1974) made one of the earliest images of the tree while it was still a post.

A copy of Halliday's painting graces the cover of Wanaka and Surrounding Districts: A Sequel to Wanaka Story, by Irvine Roxburgh (1990).

Rowlands likes to think the tree could the very last, very tiny strainer shown in Halliday's painting but accepts the artwork is representative.

So what does she make of the famous tree?

"It shows anything that is alive has a determination to live," she said.
The United States and its allies staged 17 strikes against Islamic State group (IS) on Tuesday in their latest daily attacks against the militant group in Iraq and Syria, according to the coalition leading the operations.

Fifteen strikes near eight Iraqi cities included three close to Falluja, where Iraqi forces this week have launched an assault to retake the city from the militants. The Falluja strikes hit an Islamic State tactical unit, vehicle and front end loader, the coalition task force said in a statement on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force said the U.S.-led strikes included three near Mosul, another area where U.S. and Iraqi officials are seeking to put in place conditions to retake that city. Altogether, the strikes in Iraq hit six units of fighters and struck or suppressed six mortar positions or systems, the statement said.

In Syria, two strikes near Ayn Isa and Mar'a hit one of the militant group's fighting positions, a vehicle and mortar system, according to the task force.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The United States on Wednesday designated two Pakistan-based Islamist groups with links to the Taliban as global terrorist threats.

As "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", US citizens are forbidden from associating with the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and the Jamaat ul Dawa al-Quran (JDQ).

Any assets owned by the groups in places under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and US law enforcement will be authorized to investigate their activity.

According to the US State Department, the TGG is linked to the Tehreek-i-Taliban -- the Pakistani Taliban -- and is based in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan.

The faction, US officials believe, was responsible for the December 2014 massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar that left more than 130 children dead.

The TGG is led by Umar Mansoor, who is said to also have ordered the January 2016 attack on a university in Charsadda that left more than 20 dead.

The designation also says that the TGG was behind the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, in northern Pakistan.

The second group, the JDQ, is said to be based in Peshawar but to have sworn allegiance to the late leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.

In addition to this link to the Afghan movement, the State Department says JDQ has alliances with Al-Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Washington blames the group for the 2010 kidnapping of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan.

Norgrove died after being wounded in the explosion of a grenade thrown by a US Navy SEAL commando during a failed rescue attempt.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A Turkish official says a car bombing by Kurdish rebels against a gendarmerie station near the Syrian border has killed three people.

The official said the attack in the town of Midyat, in Mardin province, killed two government-employed village guards and a junior officer. The station chief was seriously wounded.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. A cease-fire between the sides collapsed last summer leading to a surge of violence, including PKK bomb attacks against police and military personnel and large-scale military operations to flush out the rebels.

Turkish warplanes regularly raid PKK bases in northern Iraq.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The final structure for the West Coast Area Police has been presented to staff.

The new structure takes effect from 1 September 2016 and incorporates three changes from the proposal document as a result of the consultation process with staff and the community.

The structure will include the establishment of a Tactical Squad, which was strongly supported by both staff and the community throughout the consultation period.

West Coast Area Commander Inspector Mel Aitken says that as a result of consultation around the proposal to disestablish the Constable position at Karamea, that decision has been reversed.

Information put forward during the consultation has led us to reconsider, and our decision now is to retain the Karamea position, she said.

The flow on effect of this decision is that a second Detective position cannot be established in Westport.

Inspector Aitken, who was recently confirmed as the new West Coast Area Commander, says the third change to what had been proposed was the decentralisation of the two Prevention Constable positions from Greymouth to Hokitika and Westport.

During my meetings with staff and the community I gained an understanding of the unique dynamics of the individual communities and this led me to believe the Prevention Constables would be most effective if based within those communities, but reporting to the Prevention Sergeant in Greymouth.

These Constables will hold portfolios for Family Violence, Youth and Community services across the West Coast Area.

Inspector Aitken said the District Commanders commitment to consultation had been genuine and she hoped that staff and the community would now get behind the new structure and support Police to reduce social harm in West Coast communities.

I am confident we now have a prevention structure that will greatly assist us to deliver an effective policing service to our communities and I look forward to moving forward and delivering on our core goals of reducing family harm, victimisation, offending and road trauma.

I trust we have the support and confidence of the West Coast as we work towards achieving those goals."

Source: New Zealand Police.
Police are asking for information from the public to help them locate a patched Head Hunters member.

Justin Abel has a parole recall warrant after breaching his prison release conditions.
Many Bay of Plenty sharemilkers are struggling financially but thanks to the support of banks and the majority of farm owners, most are continuing to farm.

This is the belief of the Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers Sharemilkers Employers sub section retiring chairman Scottie McLead.
The $167 million operating balance before gains and losses surplus for the nine months to March 31, was $334 million better than forecast, says Bill.

He says this years Budget focusses on repaying more debt.

Weve been successful in turning an $18.4 billion deficit in 2011 to a surplus last year. In Budget 2016 our focus is shifting more to repaying debt.

Budget 2016 will reflect this Governments continued commitment to responsible fiscal management.

He says at the same time it will build on the good progress the Government made over the previous seven Budgets, with further investment in a growing economy and public services.

We measure success by results, rather than the level of spending.

SunLive will bring you Budget announcement updates from 2pm.

But here is whats already been announced:

Apprenticeship training - $14.4 million over four years

Funding for more apprenticeship training will help support another 5500 apprentices by 2020.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said there was greater demand for apprenticeship, while the training would help to meet projected skills shortages in high-demand industries like construction and infrastructure.

Battle for our Birds - $20.7 million for 2016/17

The Department of Conservations pest control operation is getting a one-off $20.7 million boost to fight an expected pest population boom.

DOC will ramp up its pest control by 500,000 hectares, while aerial 1080 operations will be backed by ongoing trapping and ground control programmes.

Charter schools

ACTs flagship charter schools policy has been given support, with taxpayer funding for seven new schools.

ACT leader David Seymour said it would cost between $500,000 and $600,000 to set up each school, due to open in 2018 and 2019.

The money would cover the initial payment for the school to be set up, principal funding and property and resource funding for six months.

Cybersecurity - $22.2 million over four years

The Government is investing in a new cybercrime-fighting team as part of the Budget.

Prime Minister John Key said the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) would provide advice and alerts on how to respond and prevent further attacks, while working closely with international counterparts.

The team will be a partnership between the Government, private sector, and non-government organisations.

Cycle trails - $25 million over four years

Cycle trails around the country will be linked up as part of efforts to boost tourism.

A total of $13 million will go towards linking trails in Central Otago, creating a 536-kilometre continuous network made up of four "Great Rides".

Other regions interested in connecting or expanding their trails will be able to apply for funding.

Emergency housing - $41.1 million over four years

A funding boost for New Zealands emergency housing providers will allow them to focus on vulnerable Kiwis rather than fundraising for beds, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

The Government will fund about 3000 emergency housing places across New Zealand each year for the next four years.

It is also setting up special needs grants to provide up to a week of emergency housing for Kiwis in need who cannot get a place through the emergency providers.

Health research - $97 million over four years

A funding injection of $97 million into health research will help Kiwis live longer lives and keep the countrys top scientists here, the Government says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said it was the biggest boost to health research funding in New Zealand history.

The annual amount available for health research through the Health Research Council will increase from $77m this financial year to $120m by 2019/20.

High-performance sport and anti-doping - $20 million over four years

Drug Free Sport NZ has been given an extra $4 million to help with "the arms race against the cheats and their chemists", Sport Minister Jonathan Coleman announced earlier this month.

Another $16 million is going towards high-performance sport, with the aim of boosting New Zealands performance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Fire Services merger - $303 million over five years

A $303 million overhaul of New Zealands fire services will create an organisation "fit for the 21st century", the Government says.

The NZ Fire Service will merge with the National Rural Fire Authority and more than 40 other rural fire services to create a single organisation - Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

A total of $191 million will be spent to address funding gaps in rural fire services and support volunteers, with the remaining $112 million covering the costs of the new organisation.

Maori housing - $12.6 million over four years

The Maori Housing Networks coffers are getting a $12.6 million top up to address the "over-representation" of Maori in housing deprivation statistics.

Since last October, the network has helped build 42 rental homes and supported housing repairs for about 165 whanau, as well as funding infrastructure for social and affordable housing.

The money will go to housing projects, but also go to maintenance and repairs of houses, Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell said.

Maori and Pasifika trades training - $9.6 million over four years

Another 2500 young Maori and Pasifika learners will receive placing on trades training programmes as a result of extra funding in the Budget.

The Government says it wants 5000 people in the programme each year by 2019, encouraging them to take up a trade and meet industry shortages.

Pharmac funding - $124 million over four years

The national drug purchaser has been given a financial boost to purchase new medicines, on the back of a public campaign to fund melanoma drug Keytruda.

Pharmac will receive an immediate $50m boost, with the rest of the money coming later.

However, its abandoned negotiations to buy Keytruda, instead pushing ahead with a proposal to fund its competitor Opdivo.

Pacific Employment Service - $4.6 million over four years

A support service to help young Pacific people in Auckland find work will receive extra funding.

Pacific Peoples Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga said the programme identified people who needed help and placed them into training programmes, followed by work or more training.

Lotu-Iiga said 17 per cent of Pacific youth - 6900 people - in Auckland were not in employment, education or training, and needed support.

Teacher aides - $15.3 million over four years

More than 1200 students will benefit from a funding boost for extra teacher aides, although some are calling it a "patch job".

Education Minister Hekia Parata said the increase for in-class support would ensure that students with a range of learning difficulties received support tailored to their individual learning needs.

Parata said students who qualified would receive five hours of teacher aide assistance each week.

Tech start-up support - $15 million over four years

The Government is adding funding to two schemes that speed up the commercialisation of new technologies developed by Kiwi scientists and entrepreneurs.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said the funding for accelerator programmes would help entrepreneurs and scientists to develop their ideas more quickly and turn research into products.

Tourism - $20 million over four years

A $12 million infrastructure fund will help small communities struggling with record tourist numbers and freedom campers, Prime Minister John Key says.

Tourism New Zealand is receiving another $8 million to target "key growth markets" like India and the eastern United States.

Victim support and sexual violence prevention - $46 million over four years

Extra funding for victim support will focus on "trauma management and connecting victims smoothly and efficiently with the appropriate follow-up response", Justice Minister Amy Adams and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley have said.

A new 24/7 national advice and support helpline will be launched, along with "specialist callout support such as crisis counselling and advocacy services".
Its back to school for St Patricks College in Wellington after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the school yesterday.

The college was evacuated after a threat was made via email.
A woman dressed up for the Cordoba fair in front of the entrance styled on the famous mezquita. :: EFE

I am developing a theory about Andalusian ferias - or, more specifically, about how best to enjoy them. As I follow them around the region in order to write this series (someone has to do it, right?), I am enjoying each one a little more than the last. In other words, when it comes to experiencing Andalucias ferias, the exact opposite of overkill applies. The more of them you attend, the more you tune into the atmosphere of refined hedonism that is at the heart of all of these annual celebrations, no matter how different they may be in heritage or detail. This week, two of Andalucias great cities run their ferias in parallel, so I had plenty of opportunity to test my theory - first in Cordoba, then in Granada.

Like so many Andalusian fairs, Cordobas owes its existence to the trading of livestock. Dating from the end of the thirteenth century, when it began as a cattle market held on Pentecost Sunday, Cordobas Spring Fair, which runs until Saturday, is one of the oldest in southern Spain. In the light and colour of the day, horses and carriages are on display just as much as they are during Jerezs Feria del Caballo, parading up and down a sand-covered recinto that feels as capacious as Sevilles. Though there are far fewer casetas in Cordoba than Seville, all of Cordobas are public. This is another truly democratic fair, where anyone can duck into any caseta they like for a hit of fino or rebujito and a blast of the addictive rhythms of the Sevillana.

It was in Cordoba on Sunday that I really grasped the key to getting the most out of these fairs - namely, caseta-crawling. Extending beyond a grand entrance styled on the multiple arches of Cordobas mezquita - breathtaking day or night - this fair offers a pulsating mini-city of possibilities.

A marquee bearing the name of a famous twentieth-century matador could be smelt long before being reached, because in one corner a medieval-style feast was being prepared. Bull, chicken, pork and lamb sizzled on a huge circular BBQ over a pit of glowing charcoal next to the biggest paella I have ever seen. I thought mouth-watering was just a phrase before I arrived at this caseta. Chatting to the chef, though, was rendered difficult because of the tremendous noise emanating from the neighbouring tent, which was offering a nightclub-style experience at 4pm. In the middle of the hot, dusty afternoon, its packed dance-floor was full of revellers for whom it was permanently 3am.

Dancing is a key element to any southern Spanish fair, of course, but in Cordoba at the weekend it was more joyful and vital than ever. Moving on from the disco-caseta, plastic vaso of rebujito in hand (this is the essential accompaniment to caseta-crawling in 25+ degrees, incidentally), we came to another in which the huge dance area looked like an impressionists canvas. Swirling gypsy dresses created a hypnotic haze of colour and movement. And always, pumping from the speakers, the decisive and elemental Sevillanas.

Unlike in most Andalusian cities, Cordobas Spring Fair also spills out into the town itself. For the whole of May, the central courtyards and patios characteristic of so many buildings in Cordoba are on display, with locals competing for the honour of having the most beautiful (the prize is awarded at the end of May). Started in 1918 and sponsored by the town hall, this charming tradition is a unique celebration of Cordobas distinctive architecture.

This week Granada is also holding its annual Corpus Cristi feria (until Saturday), a fair with a religious rather than commercial heritage. Celebrations on the day of Corpus Cristi itself - always the eighth Sunday after Easter, this year it falls on Thursday - take place all over Andalucia, but in the seventeenth century Granada became the only city to fuse its annual fair with this important religious fixture.

By that time, though, Granadas Corpus Cristi had long been about a good party just as much as a rather maudlin style of procession. In the sixteenth century, dual monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella made fervent attempts to wipe Granadas Arabic heritage from collective memory, using Corpus Cristi to this end. They instructed the town hall to pour large sums of money into the annual celebrations, and apparently ordered Granadinos to party until they were in a (strictly Catholic) frenzy. The monarchs attempts at wiping out the legacy of hundreds of years of Islamic rule were not wholly unsuccessful; to this day, the city hosts no annual celebrations of its great Muslim era.

Several hundred years later, though the fun is far from forced, one cant help concluding that the budget for Granadas Corpus Cristi fair is not what it once was. The site of the feria itself offers the usual plethora of casetas and a garish fairground - but Granadas is the smallest I have seen so far. At perhaps half the size of Cordobas, the site feels a little unloved and neglected: on the edges, illuminated as though ready for action, some streets stand empty, denuded of both people and casetas. And given that Granadinos sartorial style is perhaps best described as bohemian chic, you will see far fewer trajes de gitano at Granada feria than you will at most other Andalusian fairs, although the locals still dress for the festivities with style and elegance.

Relative absence of trajes aside, Granadas flamenco heritage is perhaps the strongest in Andalucia. In addition to the ubiquitous Sevillanas, therefore, there is much more flamenco to be heard at Corpus Cristi than there is at the regions other big fairs. One caseta belonging to a flamenco school was showcasing its students: a class of boys and girls no more than nine or ten years old put on a display of remarkable assurance and intensity.

With Cordoba and Granadas fairs now swinging, feria season is in full rebujito-fuelled flight. And so far my developing theory about Andalucias fairs - that the more you go to the more you want to go to - has yet to be disproved. I am in danger, I fear, of becoming a feria junky.
The United States said Wednesday the make-up of Israel's new right-wing coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the government's commitment to a two state solution in the Palestinian Israeli conflict.

In a rare comment on the internal politics of a US ally, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington had "seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel's history."

*The story was edited by Ahram Online.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Switzerland will implement a new law in July to help seize and repatriate illicit wealth parked in its banks by foreign dictators, the government said on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at helping Switzerland and its wealth management industry shake off their image as a secretive haven for ill-gotten riches.

This issue was in the news again this week when Singapore shut down Swiss private bank BSI's operations in the city-state and Swiss prosecutors began criminal proceedings against BSI in the biggest international crackdown on financial entities dealing with a scandal-hit Malaysian government fund.

The Swiss cabinet agreed to implement from July 1 a law that lets authorities seize and return funds that foreign leaders looted, even in cases that cannot be resolved through standard international requests for mutual legal assistance.

Three ordinances cover assets previously seized as a precaution from former Presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and their inner circles, although all three expire early next year.

"Thanks to these ordinances there is now greater transparency, predictability and legal certainty in efforts to tackle the problem of illicitly acquired assets," it said.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the government had blocked about $650 million in the case of Egypt, 60 million Swiss francs ($61 million) in the case of Tunisia and about $70 million regarding Ukraine.

The Tunisian assets are set to remain frozen until Jan. 18, 2017, and the others until February 2017.

The government will review next year whether to extend the asset freezes. If it does not, the freezes expire and the holders of the money regain control of their assets.

Switzerland has tightened money-laundering laws in recent years and requires financial institutions to enforce "know your customer" rules. These also cover "politically exposed persons" encompassing leaders, ministers and military brass.

Over the past 15 years it has returned nearly 1.8 billion Swiss francs' worth of assets, more than any other financial centre, it says.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


foreclosure.jpg

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The state is expanding a no-interest loan program to help New York families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the $100 million expansion is being funded by his office's settlement with Goldman Sachs over the bank's deceptive practices leading up to the financial crisis. The funding is expected to help more than 3,000 families across the state pay off small debts that are preventing them from securing a needed mortgage modification.

The mortgage assistance program has issued $18 million in loans since its inception in 2014. In Central New York, the program has issued $1.09 million loans to 49 homeowners.

Even families with reliable income streams are often denied mortgage modifications because they have a series of missed mortgage payments, delinquent second or third mortgage liens, or unpaid property tax bills which must be satisfied before a first mortgage holder will grant a modification, according to the AG's office. The no-interest loan program is designed to fill the gaps for struggling families, empowering them to negotiate with their mortgage holders and ultimately remain in their homes.

For information on how to apply for the loans, call 855-HOME-456 or visit the AG's website.
2016-05-25-dl-fitzpatrick2.JPG

DA William Fitzpatrick holds a press conference on the Sahlah Ridgeway shooting, Wed. May 25, 2016. David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com

(Dave Lassman | Syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An Onondaga County grand jury cleared a Syracuse police officer involved in a fatal shooting of a woman who brandished a sawed-off shotgun in February, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The grand jury rules Officer Darrin Ettinger acted responsibly in response to the threat, said District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.

"I commend Officer Ettinger for his actions in undoubtedly saving the life of Officer (Jeremy) Decker," Fitzpatrick said.

Sahlah Ridgeway was shot twice, and both bullets exited her body, Fitzpatrick said. She was first shot on her right side and again in her back in gunshots that were "milliseconds" apart, he said.

Sahlah Ridgeway, 32

The shooting occurred Feb. 12 at 1313 Butternut St. around 8:30 p.m. in response to a complaint of drug dealing. Ettinger stayed at the front of the building when fellow officer Decker ran to the rear. There he saw a group of people, including one woman carrying a shotgun, police said, and she fled.

The woman, later identified as Ridgeway, ran toward the front of the building and Decker alerted Ettinger via radio, police said. That's when Ettinger ordered Ridgeway to drop the weapon multiple times, police said, and then he shot her.

Ridgeway was shot as she pivoted toward Decker, and Decker believed she had started to "manipulate" the weapon in her hands to get to where she could shoot it, Fitzpatrick said.

The weapon was operable and loaded with a round typically used for shooting deer, he said, that would have "blown him away" if she had hit Decker, he said. She was three to five feet away, the DA said.

The sawed off shotgun that was in the possession of Sahlah Ridgeway, shown at the DA's press conference Wed. May 25, 2016.

"Based on his training and experience... Officer Ettinger withdrew his weapon and fired two shots in order to end the threat," Fitzpatrick said. "...I can't speculate as to why she didn't drop the gun," he said later.

Police found no evidence that Ridgeway was selling drugs at the scene, he said.

Earlier this month, a New York City attorney filed a notice of claim against the city, alleging officers treated Ridgeway, 32, callously after they shot her and calling the shooting unjustified. The notice of claim made no mention of the shotgun.

Fitzpatrick would not comment on the lawsuit but said any suggestion that officers did not act professionally after the shooting was "just not true".

Ridgeway's family has also said the gun was more of a prop she used for her rapping career and that she was not a criminal or involved in dealing drugs.

The district attorney also showed reporters video from a surveillance camera installed on a light pole near the apartment complex. The video, which is of poor quality, quickly shows the moment she was shot in front of the complex.
SUMMERHILL, N.Y. -- Deputies have identified the motorcyclist who was struck and killed by an SUV Tuesday afternoon in Cayuga County.

Jane E. Brown, 33, of Locke, was driving north on Lake Como Road just before 2:30 p.m. in her 2012 Subaru SUV when she turned left onto Fillmore Road and into the path of a southbound motorcycle, said the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office.

Brown's SUV collided with a 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle -- fatally injuring motorcyclist Jeremy R. Parsons, 28, of Groton, deputies said.

Parsons was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic charges are pending, deputies said.

In addition to deputies, Cayuga County 911, the Cayuga County Coroner's Office, the New York State Police, Four Town Ambulance and Homer Fire Department assisted with the crash.
Syracuse Haulers accident.JPG

Syracuse Haulers in DeWitt, where an industrial accident has claimed the life of an employee.

(Photo by Samantha House)

DEWITT, NY - A man has died after an early-morning industrial accident at Syracuse Haulers in DeWitt, according to DeWitt police.

An employee of the company at 6223 Thompson Road in DeWitt was taken by ambulance to Upstate University Hospital with a critical head injury after the 7:45 a.m. accident, according to DeWitt Police Chief James C. Hildmann.

Hildmann said the man died from his injuries a short time later.

Initial police scanner reports said a dumpster fell off a truck, landing on a person. DeWitt police declined to release more details at this time. OSHA officials said they were told an employee was struck by a piece of equipment.

The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of the family, police said.

The investigation is continuing. OSHA has been notified and responded to the scene, police said.

Hildmann said employees and witnesses are being interviewed and statements taken at this time.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man has been accused of having child pornography on his computer, the New York State Police said.

Blake A. Bryant

Blake A. Bryant, 25, of Pulaski, was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child. Both are felonies.

Bryant is accused of having pictures on his personal computers of children "engaged in sexual activity," state police said. Authorities did not elaborate or say what prompted them to begin investigating Bryant. It was not clear what the weapon charge stemmed from.

Troopers from Pulaski worked on the investigation with the state police Computer Crimes Unit and the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command.

Authorities did not say if Bryant was a soldier or if he was posted at Fort Drum.

Troopers in Pulaski did not answer phone calls Tuesday. A state police spokesman and a Fort Drum spokeswoman could not immediately be reached by phone for comment Tuesday evening.

Bryant was arraigned in Albion Town Court and ordered held at the Oswego County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail or $20,000 bail bond.
The scandal over Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state returned on Wednesday to dog her presidential campaign.

A starkly critical report by the State Department's inspector general found she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.

Had she asked, she would not have been allowed to carry out government correspondence on her home-made set-up, for fear that state secrets could be hacked, the report said.

Clinton is still the frontrunner to secure the Democratic nomination in November's election to succeed Barack Obama in the White House.

But the email scandal continues to tarnish her main selling points as she prepares to take on Republican firebrand Donald Trump: experience and competence.

And there may yet be more revelations to come, as the FBI is conducting a separate investigation into whether state secrets were stolen or put at risk.

As the report was made public, Clinton's camp pushed back hard, insisting it had found she had acted as previous secretaries of state had done before her.

"Hillary Clinton's use of personal email was not unique," campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said.

"And she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records."

The inspector general report does indeed note that Clinton's Republican predecessor Colin Powell also used a private email account.

But it makes it clear that when Clinton joined the State Department in 2009, official guidelines had been updated and that she should have known about them.

"Secretary Clinton's cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives," the report said.

All in all, under Clinton and three of her predecessors, the audit found "systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications."

When Clinton took office, the department's Foreign Affairs Manual said normal day-to-day operations should be conducted on an authorized system.

Yet the report "found no evidence that the secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account."

The State Department's current heads of information security told the inspector general that Clinton had a duty to ask permission to use her personal email.

And they said that, had they been asked they would not have granted Clinton permission to do so, because of the rules in place and the "security risks."

State staff must seek guidance from the Bureau of Information Resource Management before sending sensitive information outside the department.

But the investigation found no evidence Clinton "ever contacted IRM to request such a solution."

And this happened "despite the fact that emails exchanged on her personal account regularly contained information marked as SBU" -- or sensitive but unclassified.

Some senior State Department employees interviewed for the report admitted there was "some awareness" that Clinton was using a private server.

Because Clinton wanted to use her BlackBerry portable phone in secure areas -- a cybersecurity no-no -- there was talk of getting her a networked terminal.

In November 2010, officials discussed setting up an official State Department account for Clinton to use in parallel to her private mailing address.

In response, Clinton wrote: "Let's get a separate address or device but I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."

She never obtained a State Department email account and, later in 2011, discussions about getting her a secure official BlackBerry came to nothing.

The communications of senior US officials are matters of public record and can be requested through freedom of information legislation.

When Clinton submitted to this after leaving her post her family lawyers first sifted through the server and removed thousands of mails deemed personal.

The remaining 30,000 mails were examined by the State Department, and hundreds were found to contain information that ought to have been classified.

The rest were released, but some Clinton critics continue to allege that she used the private server to conceal embarrassing facts from voters.

Trump has taken to calling Clinton "crooked" in tweets to his supporters, and Republican chairman Reince Priebus issued a strongly worded statement.

"The stakes are too high in this election to entrust the White House to someone with as much poor judgment and reckless disregard for the law," he said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for stabbing an elderly Hindu businessman to death in Bangladesh, monitoring service SITE said on Wednesday, in what would be the second killing by the militant group in the country in less than a week.

The Muslim-majority South Asian nation has witnessed a surge in Islamist violence in the past year in which members of religious minorities, liberal activists, academics and foreign aid workers have been killed.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe trader, was found hacked to death in his shop on Wednesday in the northwestern rural district of Gaibandha, police said.

Police found his body lying in pool of blood, police official Mozammel Haque said.

"The attackers slashed his throat with sharp weapons leaving him dead on the spot," he said, adding that one person had been picked up for questioning.

IS group claimed the killing of a village doctor on Friday.

The government has denied that IS or al Qaeda groups have a presence in the country of 160 million and says home-grown Islamists are responsible for the wave of attacks.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told Reuters in an interview published earlier on Wednesday that IS was trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming killings, adding there was enough evidence implicating domestic militant groups.

Since February last year, at least 27 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher and two gay right campaigners, have died in attacks linked to militant groups.

IS group has claimed 18 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and Al Qaeda most of the rest, according to SITE.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


In a recent lecture at New York University, you talked about GE's global localisation strategy. So how do you see Egypt fitting into such a strategy?

I think in many ways, Egypt is a perfect example of what I mean when I talk about globalization; the passwords about these big global flows or trade POs or things like that. I think today it is much more about sovereign local problems, so when I come to a place like Egypt, it is really trending in line with what I would say are three streams of ideas.

One is local need, so you ahve need of electricity, need for healthcare, and need for industrialisation, local modems and things like that

The second is how a project is financed, so you need to try to get in line with global ACAs, export agencies, and central banks. Remember the section of the speech when I talked about financing being kind of the lifeblood, if you will, of globalisation today.

And the third layer is job creation, in many ways every country in the world - like the US, Egypt, and Europe - everybody needs to find ways to create work.

So my discussions today revolve around how to connect those to be layers: how to solve local problem, how do you finance it, and how do you create jobs. That has to be done on a country by country basis. The local team has to give me ideas, and I help them to connect the dots.

Another question about your localisation strategy: You see the world in a different way because of protectionism policies mentioned in US elections, and so the company is moving parts of manufacturing facilities out of the USA, one of these facilities is the multi-modal in Suez. Do you consider this to be a trend in the future?

It will be much more about creating regional solutions, local and mutual solutions versus having one product that ships nicely around the world. So if we do, let us say, locomotives here in the multi-modal facility, we will ship certain components from the US and assemble them here in Egypt.

They may create some jobs in the US, but they will also create jobs locally. Then what you might be able to do in Egypt is have products that you manufacture here and you ship to the rest to the continent of Africa. I just think the world today is much more about these multi-local relationships, building new collaborations and trying to string that into a global framework, which we have in GE, a kind of unified strategy and things like that. It is a very different global flow today but Egypt in many ways is a great example of what I talked about on Friday.

What were the main issues of the discussion in your Saturday meeting with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi? What was your impression of the discussion, and how was the last meeting different from earlier meetings?

The last time I met the president was in early 2015 at in the economic conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, during which we focused specifically on energy issues.

It was a very focused discussion, and subsequently we got brought up to date on the power projects that came online in 2015 and 2016. I would consider that as a successful first step. What we talked about yesterday is the next phase, and think both sure in long-term again there is list of projects that we think are extremely meaningful to the people of Egypt and have to do with infrastructure and productivity.

We do believe we can come up with a financial solution in that context. We brainstormed financing and then the third phase [of our localisation] strategy, which is the construction of multi model facility that can do local assembly, investment into software resources, and shared-services in Egypt. So again project financing and job creation  that is what the president and I discussed yesterday. And so there is a keen interest at GE that we sense that there is a great opportunity to be very focused and helpful in Egypt right now.

Lets talk more about the multi-modal facility. I understand we can be an innovation hub for the region in the near future. Is this your vision as well?

Totally. Let take a look at something like wind turbines. So one of the interests of the country is to diversify power generation, and it is very hard to ship the components for wind energy from North America, the US, to the rest of the world. So, we look at Egypt as a very good hub - particularly the Suez trade zone  it is a very good hub for wind turbines to see how we can do work not just for Egypt, for North Africa, for the rest of the continent, and for the Middle East.

Let's look at locomotives. Locomotives, again, are a very good way to bring global components into a place you can ship into new assembly in the Suez zone. Many different countries in the region, in the Middle East and Africa, need locomotives.

You know every country is different, you have got tremendous education here, so you have human resources and logistics. These are two unique strengths we try to find that we think can be invested in the country.

When you mention logistics, are you talking about resources that the Egyptian government offers, or your own facilities? And what are you doing to enhance the infrastructure?

You know, again I think there is a little bit of both. If the government vision for the Suez economic zone takes place, it could be a tremendous logistical hub for people like us to ship our products to the rest of the continent and to the Middle East, so I would view that as a government imitative.

You have a piece of logistics, just with the modernisation of rail lines.

So, my understanding from the team here is that 0.7 percent of the goods travel by rail today. There is no industrial country on earth where you ship that many goods by truck, and can do so productively. So we bring a solution, but the government also has a very good framework by which you can invest in the country.

And you are still talking about almost $200 million to be invested in this facility?

Yes, over time, not all at once. Probably four to five different GE businesses can be participants. When we say multi-modal, we mean a variety of GE divisions will participate: power generation, locomotives, oil and gas. So I think we are also trying to figure out ways to do things more quickly.

One of the ideas we have, and Egypt is not unique in this regard, is the energy efficiency of equipment installed in Egypt is low. Its old equipment. Were trying to come up with a solution where we can upgrade the power generation capability today. This would mean hiring software talent, working with smart business, doing digital execution. Those are things that can be done quickly. Good results, job creation in the short term. Its going to take several years to build a factory, so were trying to intersperse the things we can do more quickly and try to have a portfolio of different things were working on in Egypt.

Your discussion with President El-Sisi, of course, included renewable energy technology and the possibility of working with Egypt in the near future. How do you find this balance between working with Egypt on gas turbines and at the same time working on renewable energy?

Thats a good question. The first wave were gas turbines, and one of the features of the first wave was getting power generation online quickly, which is something we were able to do using a certain technology with gas availability. Diversification is a good thing for the country; whether wind turbines or clean coal, we think thats a good strategy for the country. Its one of our strengths; we can do several different technologies, and bring them to Egypt. We embrace having more than one kind of technology to execute locally.

What is the share of renewable energy in your work activities all over the world?

Our renewable business is 9 billion dollars of revenue globally. Egypt would not be the biggest, but over time it will be a very meaningful part of this revenue. Africa is growing quickly in wind, so when Egypt is a logistical hub for renewable energy, it will be attractive for GE.

According to Egyptian officials, twenty percent of energy production is to come from wind farms by 2020. Do you think this is reliable deadline that can be met?

There are many countries, Europes aspiration is 30 percent, 20 percent is not unreasonable in terms of a goal. I really believe that diversification is a good thing. Gas, coal, wind, thats a positive thing.

Oil exploration is attracting big partners in the past couple of years. GE is showing interest in investing in exploration. How do you see GE's potential in Egypt?

There is a great deal of interest by global companies in oil exploration. We dont do exploration per se, we just provide the equipment. Companies like BP, ENI  they are our customers. When I talk to many of the oil companies, they see Egypt in a very positive light. There will be more investment as it pertains to where the oil exploration business will go. I see this as a positive for the country over the long-term.

You had discussions with senior officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation. How did you see the recent troubles in the aviation industry, and how can your company work on reducing risk in the field of aviation?

First and foremost Id express my regrets to the people of Egypt, I think its a great tragedy and my heart goes out to everybody whos affected.

I think the most important thing is to find out what happened. Were in a critical phase right now where nobody knows what happened, so I think first things first, lets find out what happened, and then if there are potential solutions in terms of if we can do anything better. That would take place once people really know what happened.

In the bigger picture, EgyptAir has been a customer of ours for a long time. There are many GE powered aircraft in Egypt, so weve always invested in ways that allow us to be a good supplier with the Ministry of Aviation or the company itself.

Since I think you're a key player in innovation, let's go back to your vision to the international economy. How is the company rebranding and recreating itself since you have been chairman and moved the company to focus more on industry? Whats the philosophy behind it?

Id say two things, its my belief today to focus on things that are core and have real depth, and industrially we have capabilities that are second to none.

We try to make a company narrower and deeper in terms of our core competency, and then just the nature of technology is changing dramatically. If you look back in time, GE products are based on pure science and physics. In the future analytics will be as important to everything we do, so the merger between physics and analytics are taking place in front of our eyes and we want GE to be in the lead of that. While the previous industrial age had software companies and industrial companies as separate entities, the new industrial age says that those two have to be joined together.

In GE we want to be in the mix. Every new gas turbine we sell has hundreds of software and the products take a substantial amount of time to run. That time could be used to achieve an extraordinary efficiency and fuel performance and emissions reductions and things like that, and so we want to lead that transformation.

Every big company has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. How does GE pursue such a programme in Egypt?

This is a great question. You see over time we have had a focus on secondary education, youth education and community health, and those are the things that have been associated with GE's CSR. Those will always be important, and we will always be doing things there.

But in my belief, the largest CSR initiative almost everywhere in the world right now is jobs creation. In other words, I think what every country in the world suffers from are things like youth unemployment. So what I take seriously with our team is how can we do a good job with developing SMEs, how we can make sure that were not just succeeding in our supply chain, but instead helping create the next generation of companies in every place that we compete.

Its not a classic definition of CSR, but I think its a more practical definition of CSR. Its something that I honestly think GE is quite good at, we have a 100 years of history of training and investing in people. That is a very important structure to yourself , again in the markets, there are very specific ways to give back to society. Again, what I try to do is make SME development, which would be classically looked at as CSR, and try to make that more part of what we bring when we come to a country.

So whats your message to the global business community after your visit to Egypt?

I think whats most important is that my team here is a great team. They have the ideas, they know how to get it done. Typically, my value added is the when, kind of, ticking at the right point in time and so I think there might be ways to find a place where you bid, but its not always completely risk free. I think if you have a clear idea of investing in Egypt, you have to take risk  and believe that the returns are greater than the risk.

When I look at Egypt today, that is how I feel. Its not that its easy, but I think you are betting on something that has the potential to have forward momentum. That is my job as CEO of the company. I say, Ok, lets go now. This is the right place, here is how much risk we take, we think returns will be this much. But its not going to be easy and its not going to be simple. So what you are really trying to do is find the other side, a counterparty that is trying to swing with you as you. So thats how I see Egypt  big upside but not easy.

From discussions in the US and in Dubai at Minds + Machines, I understand that each country with a big foothold of GE requires specific goals from extending cooperation. Some companies are focusing on research and development and others on manufacturing. What about Egypt?

In general, I think the point is how does a country like Egypt solve its local need and create jobs at the same time? That is the goal, and you need good partners to do that. I think thats what the government here is trying to do, which is to say, Lets find a way to invest in infrastructure, but create jobs at the same time.

The second thing is the incredible youth initiative that exists in Egypt  Egypt still has among the best schools in the region, maybe the world. I have some of the graduates here sitting in front of me! I think what you need is to unleash the youth movement.

Finally, the hardest thing for the president is that you need to do things now, and you need to do them for the long term. If you look at oil and gas, its great for Egypt, but it will take years to develop. So you have to think, how quickly can we do efficiency, how quickly can we do wind turbines. So I think you need the right partners, you need to unleash the youth movement and you have to think in the short and long-term at the same time.

So when a chairman and president meet, what kind of language encourages foreign investments?

What I liked about President El-Sisi is that he wants to make things happen. Ive done this now for a long time in a lot of different places, and I noticed he wants to do it on behalf of the people, and thats not always true in other places. You see the intentions are there, and the will is there. What I like most about him is that he likes to negotiate on the deal. I find that to be awesome. I love it.

It shows a certain hands-on quality, and what I can do is deliver the company. We have a great team on the ground, but the reason why Im here is to assure the president that I can deliver GE to him here in Egypt. Im looking for someone who is trying to get something done and is in it for the right reasons. Theres always going to be bumps in the road, but if there is a foundation of trust, you can get stuff done. And we deliver. We execute. Once we shake hands, were good. So we have been in Egypt a long time  we have stayed in tough times  and I think its such a meaningful, important, critical place in the world. GE wants to be a good partner here.

My last question is about the American presidential elections  how do you see the economic policies of both candidates?

Look, I love my country. Im a proud American. I want to see US do well. Both candidates are, in terms of global economy, protectionists. And I dont agree with that. With either one. So, I love my country, but Id love to see us engaged globally in an instructive way.

How can such "protectionist approach" affect American companies abroad?

As big multinationals, we can navigate our own way. At the end of the day, we are 5 percent of the worlds population, 25 percent of the worlds economy  we have a lot more to lose by not being engaged in the world than we have to gain from protectionism. So I think in the end, I think that logic prevails.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Hot fudge sundae, Southern belle, and cookies and coffee cupcakes at Smallcakes Stuart, a Cupcakery and Creamery. (KAREN LENNON/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

SHARE Smallcakes Stuart, a Cupcakery and Creamery. (KAREN LENNON/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS) The chocolate cream looked just like a Hostess cupcake. It had cream filling in the middle of a moist chocolate cake, then topped with a creamy frosting full of chocolaty flavor. (KAREN LENNON/SPECIAL TO TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

By Karen Lennon

Who doesn't love a good cupcake?

When I lived in Dallas, all I wanted were Sprinkles cupcakes every year for my birthday. It was worth the one hour round trip to the cupcakery to pick out my favorite cupcakes. At $3.75, they were worth every penny.

Martin County is lucky because Rhett Yingling opened Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery in Stuart last November.

Rated one of the top 10 cupcakeries in the country, Smallcakes offers 17 seasonal and signature flavors of cupcakes, made from scratch daily, along with 14 flavors of ice cream.

The adorable pink and white shop, with displays of sweet treats, reminds me of the ice cream parlors from my childhood, when it was an event to go out for an evening dessert.

As I was traveling to Virginia for my mother's birthday, I thought I would take some of these tiny treats so she could help me with one of my reviews. I chose an assortment of six cupcakes ($21), the hot fudge sundae, chocolate cream, red velvet, the cannoli, birthday cake and the vanilla n chocolate.

There was no way I could wait to sample them and, of course, I had to taste them while they were fresh.

The chocolate cream looked just like a Hostess cupcake. It had cream filling in the middle of a moist chocolate cake, then topped with a creamy frosting full of chocolaty flavor.

I never had seen a cannoli cupcake. It even had a mini cannoli on top. The shell was fresh and crispy. The cupcake had the same sweet cream filling with bits of bold chocolate in the middle and really added that final blast of flavor to this confectionery creation. It was an explosion of sheer sugary bliss.

The hot fudge sundae was another over-the-top combination of moist chocolate cake filled with thick, decadent hot fudge.

The icing on the red velvet cupcake was sweet but had a lingering delicate taste of cream cheese that cut the flavor of the semi sweet and simply scrumptious red velvet cake.

The birthday cake was topped with bright colorful sprinkles that would surely delight anyone on their birthday. The vanilla n chocolate is the perfect combination of vanilla cake and chocolate frosting, topped with fancy ribbons of chocolate.

The cupcakes were not just fabulous at first sample; they still were fresh and delicious when my mom sampled them after a day of traveling. She loved the hot fudge sundae cupcake, but kept raving about the delicious frosting.

The next time you want brighten someone's day or want something special to serve at your next celebration, remember the pink box from Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery. Its sweets will delight any crowd.

Karen Lennon dines anonymously at the expense of Treasure Coast Newspapers for #TCPalmSocial. Contact her at yourmobilechef@gmail.com or follow @urmobilechef on Twitter.

Smallcakes Cupcakery

Cuisine: Cupcakes, ice cream

Address: 2297 S.E. Federal Highway, Stuart

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday

Alcohol: No

Handicap access: Yes

Reservations: No

Online: www.smallcakescupcakery.com
SHARE

Michael Sauer, 36, 5100 block of Southeast Isabelita Avenue, Stuart; out-of-county warrant, Osceola County, for violation of probation, aggravated battery on a pregnant woman.

Guillermo Reyes, 21, 3500 block of Southeast Cobia Way, Stuart; warrant for sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver cocaine while armed.

Larry Jones, 222, 4500 block of Southeast Murray Cove Circle, Stuart; possession of cocaine.

Alfonzo Wilson, 28, 7800 block of Southeast Kingsway Street, Hobe Sound; possession of electronic devices/weapon by a convicted felon.

Weston Landis, 24, 5400 block of Southwest Ranchito Street, Palm City; possession of cocaine; possession of oxycodone; possession of oxymorphone.

Ronnie Bacon, 28, 4700 block of Southeast San Diego Drive, Fort Pierce; trafficking in MDMA; possession of a controlled substance (alprazolam); possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

David Fernandez, 21, 1100 block of Boston Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

Ronnie Bacon, 28, 4700 block of Southeast San Diego Drive, Fort Pierce; trafficking in MDMA; possession of a controlled substance (alprazolam); possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Arrested in Martin County.

David Fernandez, 21, 1100 block of Boston Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Arrested in Martin County.
SHARE

Justin Hernandez, 20, 8400 block of Southwest Springhaven Avenue, Indiantown; residential burglary; grand theft.

Jesse Smith, 26, 3200 block of Southeast Fairmont Street, Stuart; robbery.

Noah Osborne, 19, 3100 block of South Kanner Highway, Stuart; burglary (conveyance of vessel)

Ronnie Stoudemire, 40, 2300 block of Southeast Melaleuca Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a park; possession of cocaine.

Shella Cross, 24, 5300 block of Southeast Ebbtide Avenue, Stuart; warrant for fugitive from justice, San Diego County, California, burglary.

Guillermo Reyes, 21, 300 block of Southeast Cortez Street, Stuart; warrant for sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a park, possession of cocaine.

Stanley Rider, 23, no street address, Stuart; out-of-county warrant, St. Lucie County, failure of sex offender to report to DMV.

Andres Hernandez, 61, 15000 block of Southwest Seminole Drive, Indiantown; sexual battery on a victim under 12, suspect older than 18.

Ashlynn Allen, 30, 900 block of Northwest Fresco Way, Jensen Beach; possession of alprazolam with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; sale of alprazolam within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; sale of codeine syrup within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of Adderall with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of MDMA with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of alprazolam; dispensing prescriptions without a license.

Brandon Falzon, 23, 900 block of Northwest Fresco Way, Jensen Beach; possession of alprazolam with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; sale of alprazolam within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of alprazolam; possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; sale of codeine syrup within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of Adderall with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of MDMA with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of promethazine VC with codeine; filling prescriptions without a license.

James Morris, 31, 2100 block of Pine Ridge Street, Jensen Beach; warrants for grand theft, fraud, dealing in stolen property, giving false information to a pawnbroker. Arrested in St. Lucie County.

John Reynolds, 49, 5400 block of Southeast 48th Avenue, Stuart; warrant for grand theft auto. Arrested in St. Lucie County.

Keith Gilmore, 30, 1900 block of Northwest Dixie Highway, Jensen Beach; warrant for violation of probation, petty theft. Arrested in St. Lucie County.
SHARE

Joseph Christie, 39, 1300 block of Southeast Petunia Avenue, Port St. Lucie; driving while license suspended, habitual offender.

Isaiah Ferguson, 19, 500 block of Southeast Chapman Avenue, Port St. Lucie; possession of a controlled substance (alprazolam) without a prescription.

Dameion Harriel, 44, 1600 block of G Terrace, Fort Pierce; possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a specified area; warrants for possession of cocaine, sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver cocaine.

Michael Johnson, 28, 3200 block of Louisiana Avenue, Fort Pierce; warrant for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.

Angela Cole, 38, 300 block of Johnston Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for out-of-state fugitive, Kentucky, violation of probation.

Reylniqua Rolle, 24, 1100 block of 24th Place, Vero Beach; warrant for possession of a stolen credit or debit card.

Jacqueline Gramling, 25, 1000 block of Hickory Lane, Holiday; warrant for violation of probation, racketeering.

Leslie Pierce, 33, 800 block of Southeast Prineville Street, Port St. Lucie; re-admit, organized fraud.

Victor Concha, 23, 5000 block of Sunset Boulevard, Fort Pierce; re-admit, possession of child pornography.

Casey Gibson, 35, 7100 block of Roberts Road, Fort Pierce; warrant for out-of-state fugitive, North Carolina Department of Public Safety, violation of probation, burglary.

Reylniqua Rolle, 24, 1100 block of 24th Place, Vero Beach; warrant for possession of a stolen credit or debit card. Arrested in St. Lucie County.

Kelly Daly, 18, 600 block of Southeast Capon Terrace, Port St. Lucie; assault on an officer.

Michelle Fewquay, 35, Miramar; possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) without a prescription; trafficking in a controlled substance.

Wanda Read Johnson, 59, 200 block of Cyclone Drive, Fort Pierce; destroying, tampering with or fabricating evidence; possession of cocaine.

Jason Fink, 47, 4800 block of South Indian River Drive, Port St. Lucie; grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Jermaine Robinson, 31, 2900 block of Zora Neale Drive, Fort Pierce; out-of-county warrant, Brevard County, failure to appear, early resolution, fraudulent use/possession of personal I.D. without consent, possession of cocaine, giving false name or ID adverse to others.

Bobby Grimmett, 49, 1700 block of Copenhaver Road, Fort Pierce; larceny/grand theft; fraud  giving false ownership information on pawned items; organized dealing in stolen property.

Brandon Rhoads, 21, 2600 block of North U.S. 1, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill; warrant for falsely impersonating an officer.

Leej Michaud, 19, 1400 block of North Havana Avenue, Fort Pierce; grand theft of a motor vehicle; carrying a concealed weapon; alter identification on a weapon  remove serial number from firearm.

Marie Scott, 24, 2700 block of Avenue J, Fort Pierce; driving while license suspended, habitual offender.

Vivian Plowden, 51, 400 block of North 13th Street, Fort Pierce; child neglect without great bodily harm.

Terrance Ricks, 43, 2500 block of Avenue B, Fort Pierce; warrant for battery by strangulation.

Ron Hodges, 46, 2400 block of Melon Court, Fort Pierce; warrants for grand theft, giving false information to a pawnbroker, dealing in stolen property.

Michelle Tedeschi, 26, 900 block of Shore Winds Drive, Fort Pierce; warrant for child neglect.

Joseph Parker, 47, 400 block of Southeast Lancaster Avenue, Port St. Lucie; battery.

Jeromee Brown, 37, 2300 block of Tamarind Drive, Fort Pierce; commit domestic battery by strangulation; assault with intent to commit a felony (domestic).

Xaviar Ellison, 43, no street address, Fort Pierce; possession of cocaine.

Luisa Melendez, 36, 200 block of Southwest Inwood Avenue, Port St. Lucie; petty theft, third subsequent offense.

William Mckenzie, 55, Tallahassee; possession of marijuana over 20 grams; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver.

Nathan Jordan, 27, 1600 block of Southeast Lorraine Street, Port St. Lucie; warrants for grand theft, burglary. Arrested in Martin County.

Ahmad Williams, 21, 1000 block of Southwest Aurelia Avenue, Port St. Lucie; warrants for theft, burglary. Arrested in Martin County.

Jenna Leslie, 31, 3100 block of South 23rd Street, Fort Pierce; possession of heroin.

Ambier Nichols, 22, 6400 block of South U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie; warrant for out-of-state fugitive, St. Louis, Missouri, violation of probation, dangerous drugs.

Mark Daniel, 53, 300 block of Silver Stream Circle, Fort Pierce; driving while license suspended, third or subsequent offense.

Todd Crouch, 49, 1100 block of Pine Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.

Kejuan Wynn, 20, 3400 block of 47th Street, Vero Beach; warrant for court order to revoke bond, failure to appear, carrying a concealed firearm. Arrested in St. Lucie County.
Robert Newman (left) and Scott Prouty, forensic services detectives with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, take photographic evidence on April 28 of a vehicle believed to be involved in the 1992 homicide of Mary Ellen Wise at the Forensic Services Building. "Anytime we have a vehicle that's too big to bring into our lab, we are able to bring it in here, " said Detective Sgt. Kyle King, crime scene unit supervisor with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office. "We're also able to control the temperature which helps to preserve any trace evidence." (PATRICK DOVE/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

SHARE

By Lamaur Stancil of TCPalm

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY  Police officers as far away as Brussels could be hearing about the forensic technology housed at the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.

"I'm not sure our police on the county level would have this type of equipment," said William De Baets, consulate general for Belgium, who toured the Sheriff's Office Wednesday along with about a dozen other diplomats from Europe, Africa and several island nations. "I'm sure they'd be jealous."

The tour and the three-day visit, organized by the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, is an effort to introduce the diplomats to smaller U.S. communities. The consulate generals, who arrived Tuesday, wanted to learn about law enforcement and business in Indian River County.

De Baets and the other diplomats talked with Sheriff Deryl Loar for part of the visit, then walked through the Forensics Unit building, where Detective Sgt. Kyle King talked about how technology, such as 3-D imaging and rapid DNA identification, is helping the Sheriff's Office investigate crimes.

"For being a smaller county, it appears to be run very efficiently," said Gandy Thomas, consulate general for Haiti.

Beyond the equipment, De Baets said he took note of how the Sheriff's officials valued their mutual aid agreements with other law enforcement agencies. In those agreements, law enforcement agencies aid each other with manpower and equipment without charge.

The tour continues Thursday with visits to Piper Aircraft Inc., Historic Dodgertown and the Indian River County government center.

"Hopefully, this will lead to having some international companies opening up shop in Indian River," said County Commissioner Peter O'Bryan, who is scheduled to meet with the diplomats Thursday.

O'Bryan cited the Fellsmere-based Florida Organic Aquaculture, which was built by a South African businessman, as a local business established by a foreign investor.

The visiting diplomats, based at embassies in Miami and Atlanta, help citizens from their countries with passport issues and legal aid in the U.S.

"It's great for these consuls to get contacts outside Miami," said Gentry Smith, ambassador for the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions in Washington, D.C. "You never know if they'll have a citizen involved in an incident here."

The diplomats also spoke Wednesday at St. Edward's School in Vero Beach.
A Sebastian sewer hookup incentive program is one of more than two dozen beneficiaries of the new Indian River Lagoon Council's first grant awards, which with matching funds will pour $4 million into projects to protect and revitalize the iconic local waterway.

The grants from beefed-up local, state and federal sources will help pay for projects that also range from stormwater drainage improvements and shoreline restoration to scientific studies that will guide future efforts throughout five counties to clean the lagoon.

The one project that promises the most immediate impact on both the lagoon and people living and working near it is in Sebastian, where dozens of residential and commercial septic systems operate in a narrow strip between U.S. 1 and the waterway. A $100,000 grant from the council will allow the city to double its sewer hookup incentive offers to $10,000 per property.

The high underground water table in the area means most of the septic systems constantly bleed pollution into the lagoon, city officials say.

Incentives needed

Two years ago the city began offering $5,000 discounts for property owners to connect to the county's Wabasso water treatment plant via sewers. Few have signed up, though, faced with full costs of about $30,000 for hookup charges, impact fees and, especially, installation of needed pumps.

Of the $200,000 in city money available for the program since October 2014, only $90,000 has been awarded and $50,000 of that went into a special grant to the local American Legion/VFW hall. Another $10,000 went to a 15-townhouse complex with two septic systems.

The current program has lured only six other property owners.

'We're hoping the council's grant makes it more palatable,' said Frank Watanabe, city public works director.

Septic conversions are a priority for the council, and city officials say they want to be 'a good environmental steward.'

Funding sources

The council was established last year to sponsor the lagoon's participation in the National Estuary Program, which funnels federal Environmental Protection Agency funds into local projects.

Since about 1990, the St. Johns River Water Management District had been the sponsor for Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties. The South Florida Water Management District has funded separate programs for the lagoon in St. Lucie and Martin counties.

'With local stakeholders and regulatory agencies all sharing responsibility for the lagoon, we expect to see a more holistic, directed approach,' said council spokeswoman Kathleen Hall. 'Funding-wise, our budget has expanded.'

In addition to more than $750,000 annually from the EPA, each water management district kicks in $500,000 a year, the state Department of Environmental Protection $250,000, and $50,000 each comes from four counties and the Indian River County Lagoon Coalition of Fellsmere, Sebastian and Vero Beach. On top of that, sales of Indian River Lagoon state license plates bring in an estimated $250,000 a year.

That money is multiplied by matching funds, in many cases more than the council grant itself. The council's reports also show a relatively small percentage of funds going to administrative costs such as grant-writing, organizational consultants and staff travel: $115,000 in all. All grants are for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Opt-out county

The Indian River County Commission voted twice to stay out of the council. None of the projects receiving council money are sponsored by Indian River County.

Besides the grant to Sebastian, two nonprofits in the county got grants totaling $55,675 and the DEP got $7,042 for work on a spoil island in the county.

Still, the county would be welcome to apply for a grant, said Duane E. De Freese, the council's executive director.

'It is an open process,' De Freese said. 'We are interested in any projects that provide restoration, education and research benefits to the (Indian River Lagoon).'

Applications for grants in fiscal year 2017-18 will be available in October or November, De Freese said.

Staff writer Tyler Treadway contributed to this report.

Council funding

Here's how the new council doled out its first $1,487,781:

Fort Pierce: $200,000 to clean San Lucie Plaza subdivision runoff to Taylor Creek and Indian River Lagoon

Vero Beach: $122,000 to reduce Vero Isles subdivision runoff

Ocean Research & Conservation Association (Fort Pierce): $105,000 to identify/determine remedy for worst polluter canals

Martin County: $100,000 to find best way to remove nitrogen from Manatee Creek

Martin County: $100,000 for Savannas restoration project to improve water quality

Sebastian: $100,000 incentives for septic-to-sewer conversion

University of Central Florida: $99,877 to survey Brevard County lagoon shoreline to guide future projects

Edgewater: $68,862 to improve Boston Road stormwater system to reduce erosion, discharges to lagoon

Pelican Island Audubon Society (Indian River County): $62,500 for lagoon environmental education program

Cape Canaveral Scientific Inc.: $60,000 for grant writing assistance for lagoon projects

Florida Department of Environmental Protection: $50,000 for shoreline planting, oyster reef creation in Brevard, Indian River counties

Marine Discovery Center (Volusia County): $50,000 for oyster shell collection, reef construction

Brevard Zoo: $49,500 to restore shoreline to filter water, promote biodiversity

Marine Resources Council (Brevard County): $45,000 to create lagoon health report card

Indian River Lagoon Council: $45,000 to revise Comprehensive Conservation & Management Plan

Marine Discovery Center: $41,207 for Project H2O Academy water quality education

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (St. Lucie County): $34,758 to assess potential impacts of climate change on lagoon

Environmental Learning Center (Indian River County): $30,635 to teach homeowners' associations ways to cut runoff

Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce: $29,400 to determine how well oysters remove pollution from lagoon

Fort Pierce: $25,000 to build oyster reef in lagoon at Indian Hills outflow

Friends of the Spoil Islands: $25,000 to replace invasive plants with natives on Indian River County spoil island

St. Lucie County: $15,000 to restore habitat on Wesley's Island in Fort Pierce Inlet

Titusville: $12,000 to teach property owners to maintain restored shoreline, protect water quality

IRL Council: $10,000 to support National Estuary Program

DEP: $7,042 to create oyster, fish habitat on Paul's Island in Indian River County

Source: Indian River Lagoon Council
Water from Lake Okeechobee is released through the St. Lucie Lock. (FILE PHOTO)

By Isadora Rangel of TCPalm

A way to reduce Lake Okeechobee discharges is in the pipeline, assured incoming Florida Senate President Joe Negron, who on Wednesday said he's working on a plan to present to the Legislature next year.

Negron, R-Stuart, said he's been talking to scientists, environmentalists and the agriculture industry and asked each group to give him their solution to the discharges. He said he expects to decide on the best plan by early fall, just before state lawmakers begin meeting in committees to prepare for the 2017 legislative session, over which Negron will preside in the Senate.

He said he's asking each group the following:

What's the best way to reduce discharges?

Why is their proposal feasible?

How much will it cost?

Negron, a lawyer, compared his decision-making process to that of a jury: There will be a deliberation period and then he will come up with a verdict. He then will lobby his fellow lawmakers to accept the plan and allocate the money. As Senate president in 2017-18, Negron will be in a powerful position to negotiate with Gov. Rick Scott and incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes.

The money for the proposal would come from a law Scott signed in April that creates a dedicated fund for Everglades restoration. The law gives priority to projects that reduce lake discharges into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. Sponsored by Negron and Rep. Gayle Harrell of Stuart, the law mandates at least $200 million or 25 percent of Amendment 1 dollars  whichever is less  be used for such purposes. Voters approved Amendment 1 in 2014 to set aside money for land and water conservation.

Negron said he will use a 2014 University of Florida study to guide his decision. The university's Water Institute found, among other things, Florida needs 11,000 to 129,000 acres of additional storage south of Lake O to significantly reduce discharges by moving water into the Everglades.

The Legislature chose not to fund the purchase of 46,800 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. after the company lobbied against it and many lawmakers opposed it. The board of directors of the South Florida Water Management District voted to void the sale option before it expired in 2015. The option was part of a 2010 contract between the state and the company to sell its land. One remaining option to purchase 153,200 acres expires in 2020.

The Legislature has made significant progress on Everglades and lagoon restoration in the past few years, Negron said. That includes allocating money in 2014 to raise the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County to allow water to flow into the Everglades; and money allocated this year for a water farm in Martin County. The project run by Caulkins Citrus Co. pumps and stores polluted water out of the C-44 Canal that otherwise would flow into the St. Lucie River and eventually into the Indian River Lagoon.
Egyptian authorities have reached their domestic wheat procurement target for this harvest season, Egypts Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.

The government has bought 4.07 million tonnes of wheat from Egyptian growers, meeting the target of 4-4.5 million tonnes announced in March by the vice chairman of Egypt's state grain buyer Mamdouh Abdel-Fattah.

Egypts government has long bought wheat from local farmers at a subsidised, higher-than-international price to encourage domestic production and provide for its nationwide subsidised bread programme that feeds tens of millions.

Authorities offered a subsidised price of EGP 420 per ardeb for local wheat this season, reversing an earlier decision to buy from local farmers at the international price while granting them a direct cash subsidy of EGP 1,300 per feddan of wheat in order to prevent graft.

Last year, the government announced buying a record 5.3 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers, compared to 3.7 million in the previous year. This prompted speculation from industry experts that as much as 2 million tonnes may have been imported wheat passed off as local grain to take advantage of the subsidised price.

The Arab world's most populous nation, Egypt is the worlds largest importer of wheat, bringing in an estimated 11 million tonnes during the 2015/16 marketing year (July/June) according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Laurie K. Blandford of TCPalm

NEWS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

A news conference by Martin County Sheriff William Snyder was at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning on the case.

11:27: Detectives flew to North Carolina and returned with Steven Williams, who serves in the Air Force there. He confessed about 8:30 last night, sheriff says.

11:27: Department of Children and Families is involved in the case and the child is fine. There had been reports of domestic violence in the past, sheriff says.

11:22: Steven Williams told detectives that Todd's body is in the woods where searches have been conducted.

11:18: Steven Williams charged with second degree murder and child neglect. Child was present during murder, sheriff says.

11:14: As to motive, sheriff said the two had known issues over money, but more information about motive won't be released at this time.

11:12: State attorney has asked sheriff not to release how Steven Williams said he killed Tricia Todd.

11:09: Efforts to find her body will be intensified, sheriff says. Former husband Steven Williams has not been cooperative in revealing exact location of body.

11:07: Former husband confessed to killing Tricia Todd, sheriff says.

11:05 a.m.: Officials had two tracks in search for Tricia Todd: She left voluntarily or there was foul play, sheriff says.

Our full story is below.

MARTIN COUNTY  The former husband of missing Hobe Sound mother Tricia Todd, 30, has been charged with murder, according to sheriff's officials.

Steven Williams, 30, has been arrested and is being held at the Martin County Jail without bail, according to officials. Todd has been missing since April 27 when she didn't pick up her 2-year-old daughter that morning as scheduled. Williams also is charged with child neglect.

Williams was the last person to see Todd, a nurse at Treasure Coast Hospice, when she brought him medication for their sick child about midnight on the day she disappeared, officials said. When Todd didn't pick up their daughter, Williams dropped the toddler off with a babysitter because he had to get back to his Air Force base in North Carolina.

Sheriff's detectives and a local assistant state attorney went to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina May 3 to interview Williams during the search for Todd, officials said. Williams voluntarily took a polygraph test, said Sheriff William Snyder, who noted polygraph tests aren't admissible in court and are for investigative purposes only.

Staff Sgt. Williams was assigned as a field training detachment instructor at the base, according to Robert Kerns, military public affairs specialist.

He said the Air Force is cooperating fully with civil authorities in the case.

"Nothing in (his) lengthy interview  and it was a long and detailed interview  nor his polygraph exam indicated that he was involved or had any additional information about Tricia Todd's disappearance," Snyder said.

However, Snyder said, that didn't mean detectives wouldn't talk to him or anyone else already interviewed again as they got new information.

Williams is charged with second-degree murder, meaning it was an intentional killing that was not planned, nor done "in the heat of passion". If prosecutors wanted to increase the charge to first-degree murder, a grand jury would have to indict Williams.

an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion - See more at: http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/second-degree-murder-overview.html#sthash.VlHErlRl.dpuf

Todd's family released the following statement Wednesday morning on the "Search for Tricia Williams Todd" page on Facebook:

"The confirmation of Tricia's death is beyond heartbreaking and indescribably painful. We will miss her vibrant love of life, her servant's heart, and her beautiful smile. Tricia's life was a testimony of God's grace and mercy. While we mourn our loss, we know that Tricia is not truly lost, but in the arms of her loving Heavenly Father. This assurance gives us hope in knowing we will one day be together again.

"Tricia's little girl was blessed with a loving mother and we will make sure that she knows just how much her Mommy loved her every day. She is in a safe, healthy home environment and being surrounded with the love of her family.

"We would like to thank the Martin County Sheriff's Office for their swift, thorough investigation and their tireless work on Tricia's behalf. To the volunteers and those that have followed Tricia's disappearance through the Search page  Thank-You. The support of our friends and community has meant more than we can say.

"Tricia's compassion and love for others and, most importantly, her love for God, will live on in the heart's of all who knew her. The love and prayers from people around the world are sustaining our family during this difficult time.

"Finally, we would like to thank the media for their support in keeping the news of Tricia's story a priority. We appreciate your sensitivity as we continue this heart-breaking journey. We now ask for space and privacy as we grieve the loss of our daughter, sister, and mother."
'Hey buddy, get the heck out of the ladies room!' reads the subject line of an email Vero Beach state House candidate Dale Glading's campaign sent to voters earlier this month.

The ordained Baptist minister and self-proclaimed underdog has made social issues a platform in his bid for state Rep. Debbie Mayfield's open seat. He's proposed banning abortions after 18 days of conception and urged his opponents to sign a pledge against the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

Glading's topic du jour is the Obama administration's guidelines issued this month directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity.

'Folks, we are morally decaying from within,' reads another Glading campaign email on the issue.

Glading has an uphill battle ahead of him. He faces three fellow Republicans in District 54, which covers all of Indian River and a small part of northern St. Lucie counties.

Lawyer Erin Grall and business owner Lange Sykes each have raised almost six times as much money as Glading's $32,000. That includes personal cash Grall and Sykes put into their campaigns. Physician Gregory MacKay entered the race after the other candidates and lags behind with $10,000 of his own money.

Glading, 56, said he's not trying to cater to a particular section of the electorate and is simply speaking his mind. He said the Legislature should pass bills to reject what he described as President Barack Obama's 'federal overreach.' He also said he supports North Carolina's ban on people using public bathrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex. The U.S. Justice Department this month filed a civil rights lawsuit against the state, which answered by suing the federal government on its directive to stop the implementation of the law.

Sykes and Grall said they oppose Obama's guidelines and Sykes said he would file or support a bill to require students and adults to only use bathrooms that match their biological sex. He said the 'transgender issue is fabricated' by the Obama administration. MacKay didn't return calls seeking comment.

'I think at the end of the day I only know two sexes, and it's male or female,' Sykes said.

District 54 is mostly Republican and Glading said religious conservatives can help him win. Although there are no figures on how many district voters are religious, evangelicals accounted for 40 percent of Republican presidential primary voters in Florida in 2008. Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, reached her term limits and is running for a state Senate seat to represent Indian River and Brevard counties this year.

The contest to replace her 'is going to be a tough race to call,' said Indian River County Republican Party Chairman Tom Lockwood. All candidates have strengths, he said, adding Grall came close to winning a state House race in 2010 and Glading has support from conservatives who oppose abortion rights.

The Aug. 30 primary likely will decide the outcome of the race because no Democrats have filed so far.
ST. LUCIE COUNTY  Two County Commission candidates are running in district races where they don't live.

State law says it is legal.

Patrick Campion, 43, is running for the District 3 seat representing the heart of Port St. Lucie, but he lives in northern county, in District 5.

Alexander Tommie, 34, lives in District 4, west of Florida's Turnpike, but has filed to run in District 5.

Campion is competing against fellow Democrat Port St. Lucie Councilwoman Linda Bartz in the Aug. 30 primary. The winner will face Republican and political novice Howard Fein on Nov. 8 for the seat held by Paula Lewis, who is not seeking re-election.

Tommie is challenging fellow Democrats incumbent Kim Johnson and Cathy Townsend, former county Planning and Zoning Board chairwoman.

The District 5 race will be open to all registered county voters for the Aug. 30 primary if no Republican files to run by noon June 24, said Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker.

Candidates are required only to be registered county voters and to live in the district where they're running by Election Day, which is Nov. 8, Walker said.

Each of the five county commissioners is selected by all county voters, said.

The issue of a candidate's residency is common in politics and usually seen in state races and rarely in local county races, said Kevin Wagner, associate political science professor at Florida Atlantic University.

'It begs the question of how well can someone outside the district represents the interest of people who live in the district,' Wagner said. 'That is something voters will have to decide.'

Both Campion and Tommie deny they are outsiders, despite not living in the district they are seeking to represent.

Campion, a 17-year county resident, worked 17 years at the QVC distribution center in Port St. Lucie before the TV home shopping company laid off employees and closed the center this year.

'I'm running to represent the interest of all of St. Lucie County, not just a particular area,' Campion said. 'If one area prospers, then we all prosper. If one area falters, then we all falter. People want to know who they have elected, a person who will do a good job and not what district that person lives in.'

Campion said he chose not to challenge Johnson for District 5 seat because he supports the job Johnson is doing.

'Why would I want to run against Kim? Kim is doing a fine job,' Campion said.

Tommie, who owns Sylvia Flower Patch II florist on Avenue D in Fort Pierce and holds a leadership position with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, said he wants to bring economic prosperity to the county.

'I'm not an outsider. My family has lived in this area since the 1600s and I've lived here my entire life,' he said 'I know the challenges facing the county with economic development and the Indian River Lagoon and I want to play a part in solving them.'

Tommie said he wants to use business connections he has with the Seminole Tribe to bring manufacturing jobs to the county.

Campion and Tommie said they will move into Districts 3 and 5, respectively, before Election Day.
SHARE

By Janet Begley, Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

SEBASTIAN  The future of the city's 22 parks and recreational facilities likely will be plotted out by one of two Orlando consulting firms.

Littlejohn Engineering and Tindale Oliver Design were chosen Monday by the Parks & Recreation Committee to meet with city representatives and discuss what could be included in a recreation master plan. Important on the list of questions: How much would a recreation blueprint cost?

City Manager Joe Griffin told the committee in February typical master plans could cost $80,000 to $100,000. Four firms responded to the city's solicitation for consultants to design the master plan.

Tindale Oliver Design has created recreational master plans for both Charlotte and Collier counties in Florida, ranging from $80,000 to $126,000. Littlejohn has created master plans for Martin County and the city of West Palm Beach, with price tags from $70,000 to $94,400. Sebastian will pay for its master plan with recreation impact fees and the cost will be included in the 2016-17 budget.

A parks and recreation master plan could help the city objectively assess its leisure and recreational needs. It would guarantee city resources are invested in programs and facilities that are the most important to the residents of Sebastian, Community Development Director Marissa Moore said. A master plan takes an overall look at facilities and makes recommendations for an extended period of time, sometimes as long as 25 years.

Moore said both consulting firms will be invited to make presentations to the next Parks & Recreation meeting, on June 27. The committee will negotiate with the successful company to determine the scope of services and fees.

A final presentation on the master plan is to be made to the City Council in July.
SHARE

By Staff Report

A Port St. Lucie man was among those involved in an accident that killed two and injured several Tuesday.

The accident happened on the northbound Turnpike at mile marker 250 in Orange County at 11:38 a.m.

Nicole Varona, 26, of Miami, was driving a 2005 Chevrolet SUV north on the Turnpike. Yamir Hernandez Ortega, 43, of Port St. Lucie was driving a truck hauling three cars and a trailer.

The left rear tire on Varona's SUV suffered a tire tread separation, causing Varona to lose control, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

She struck the guardrail, and passengers Rebekah Pollard, 25, and Esibel Varona, 5, were thrown from the vehicle.

Ortega was unable to stop and ran over both Pollard and Esibel, the FHP said.

Nicole Varona and another passenger, Leonel Cobo, 26, of Miami, both received serious injuries, along with 12-year-old Emilia Varona.

Kaley Pollard, 3, who was in a child-restraint device, was not injured.

Troopers are trying to determine whether any other occupants were ejected from the SUV. The crash remains under investigation

The accident is similar to one that killed six in Martin County in April.

Stuart motorist Heidi Solis-Perez lost four of her children, ages 5 to 17, in a fatal car crash on Interstate 95 April 30 near the Martin County line.

All six were in Solis-Perez's 2001 Mercury Villager minivan that went out of control when a tire tread separated and crashed into another southbound vehicle, according to FHP spokesman Sgt. Mark Wysocky.
St. Lucie Countys participation in the Worlds Largest Swim Lesson on June 18, 2015, helped raise awareness of water safety at Lakewood Park Pool in Fort Pierce. (FILE PHOTO)

We live in a county blessed with abundant sunshine and 21 miles of beaches. Yet too many of us in St. Lucie County  both adults and children  lack basic swimming skills.

Between 2004 and 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, St. Lucie County recorded 50 drowning deaths (not counting boating fatalities) or 2.75 per 100,000 people. That's double the national average.

Unfortunately, as students' summer vacation begins next week, most county swimming pools will only be open for very restricted hours. Only three of nine county beaches will be fully staffed with lifeguards.

St. Lucie County Parks & Recreation Department is struggling to quickly hire more water safety personnel for public pools, said Jennifer Anglin, the department's special facilities coordinator.

"We are having staff shortages," Anglin confirmed, adding that she hopes several applicants will have cleared hiring hurdles this week. "Safety is paramount," she said, "so we have adjusted (pool) schedules" to cover the shortfall.

Which means that while Port St. Lucie's Ravenswood Pool will be open seven days a week this summer, Lakewood Park Regional Park Pool will open only on weekends. The Lincoln Park Pool on Avenue M in Fort Pierce will be open only on Saturday afternoons for now.

Anglin stressed her goal is to get back on the regular schedule  Lakewood Park open seven days and Lincoln Park five days  by the end of the summer.

Swim lessons will be offered at Lincoln Park, Anglin confirmed: June 20 through 29, and June 18 at Lakewood Park.

In 2014, the American Red Cross launched a national campaign to reduce the drowning rate by 50 percent in states such as Florida with higher-than-average drowning rates. A national survey found many people overestimate their swimming skills.

While 80 percent of Americans said they can swim, only 56 percent of that group can perform all five of the basic skills that could save their life in the water.

Such critical "water competency" skills include being able to step or jump into water over their heads; the ability to return to the surface and float or tread water for one minute; being able to turn around in a full circle and find an exit; swim 25 yards to the exit and get out of the water  without the ladder if in a pool.

In 2003, I was a member of the St. Lucie County Swim Collaborative. The advisory group was formed out of community shock about the deaths of three Haitian brothers in a neighbor's backyard pool in Fort Pierce in 2002.

As a group, we were unable to solve the problem of building more county pools or extending their use for longer periods. The collaborative urged condominiums and country clubs to open private pools for community swim lessons. In most cases, insurance liability restrictions got in the way.

We were, however, able to leverage funds to pay for hundreds, if not thousands, of swimming lessons. There's a grass-roots effort underway to start a similar group in the future.

Lucia Kniceley (formerly Berry) is a certified lifeguard and former aquatics supervisor for the county who sees the need for such a group. The county, with help from the Children's Services Council and other donors, she said, was able to expand the aquatics program from serving 150 children to 1,300 a year. As a mother and grandmother, Kniceley is concerned at this summer's limited pool times.

"This is a very real issue in our community," she said. "I've worked with many families who've lost, or almost lost, children through drownings. Even those who survive often suffer major brain damage. One and a half minutes (underwater without oxygen), and you're done."

The Red Cross found 94 percent of parents of children ages 4 to 17 expect their child to engage in some sort of water activity this summer. Those kids need the skills to survive in the water  whether it's at the beach, a pond, or in a public or private pool.

Let's hope the county can overcome its hiring bottleneck very soon. A lot of young lives may depend upon it.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY PUBLIC POOLS

Ravenswood Pool

Where: 400, Ravenswood Lane, Port St. Lucie

Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends

Lakewood Park Regional Park Pool

Where: 5990 Emerson Ave., Fort Pierce

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends

Lincoln Park Pool

Where: 1211 Avenue M, Fort Pierce

Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday

All the above opening hours might be extended as more water safety personnel are hired.

Swimming lessons: Register at Lincoln Park Pool (772-462-1903) or the Parks & Recreation Department office (772-462-1522).
St. Lucie County Property Appraiser and former Florida State Senate President (2006-2008) Ken Pruitt speaks May 20 during the eighth annual Treasure Coast Business Summit at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center in Port St. Lucie. (HOBIE HILER/ SPECIAL TO TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

By Editorial Board

St. Lucie County Property Appraiser Ken Pruitt dropped his re-election bid Monday.

No worries for Pruitt, though. The loss of an elected job that has paid him more than six figures annually will present little financial hardship.

Pruitt has spent the past six years in office establishing two successful businesses  a lobbying firm and real estate investment company  on the side. Consequently, the transition from the public to private sector should be seamless.

MORE | St. Lucie County property appraiser Ken Pruitt moonlights as lobbyist for Indian River County

Ken Pruitt withdraws from St. Lucie County property appraiser race

Florida law allows constitutional officers  i.e. property appraisers, tax collectors, supervisors of elections and others  to moonlight as lobbyists and actively influence legislators on behalf of private interests.

Pruitt, a former state legislator and Senate president, exploited this ethical loophole with determination and defiance. His lobbying firm, the P5 Group, has collected between $1.3 million and $4.8 million since 2012 to lobby state government (Florida lobbyist reports provide only ranges, not exact amounts). One of his clients, Florida Crystals  a large sugar company with extensive land holdings south of Lake Okeechobee  is considered an impediment by many in our region to ending the destructive discharges of tainted water from Lake O into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.

In 2013, when the Editorial Board of Treasure Coast Newspapers questioned the propriety of an elected official moonlighting as a lobbyist, Pruitt ceased taking reporters' and columnists' phone calls.

The board created the "Pruitt Meter," which appeared daily for 546 days in our Opinion section, to highlight the incongruity of a well-paid public servant actively pursuing private interests while in office.

The Pruitt Meter got the attention of state lawmakers. In 2014, the so-called "Pruitt amendment" was added to ethics legislation. It would have banned constitutional officers from lobbying the Legislature on behalf of a person or entity other than their political subdivision.

The proposal failed.

Florida lawmakers will go to great lengths to protect one of their own.

When Pruitt's current term in office ends later this year, he will head into his other profession with a hefty taxpayer-funded pension. Serving six years as property appraiser boosted his pension fivefold  from $20,000 to almost $100,000.

"Public service is an honor and a privilege, toward whose singularly noble pursuit I humbly offer my experience and talents."

Pruitt made that statement to our Editorial Board several years ago while expressing his desire to run for property appraiser.

A lot has transpired since then.

Constitutional officers should have no role whatsoever in lobbying the Legislature for private interests. And voters have a reasonable expectation that a constitutional officer will work exclusively for their interests while in office.

St. Lucie County taxpayers deserved better than they received from Pruitt. But this issue is bigger than Pruitt and St. Lucie County. A similar situation could arise in other counties.

The Legislature needs to ban constitutional officers from moonlighting as lobbyists.

The fact this behavior is allowed by Florida law is outrageous  and a slap in the face to taxpayers.
A new sticker designates a gender neutral bathroom at Nathan Hale High School on May 17 in Seattle. President Obama's directive ordering schools to accommodate transgender students has been controversial in some places but since 2012 Seattle has mandated that transgender students be able to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. Nearly half of the district's 15 high schools already have gender neutral bathrooms and one high school has had a transgender bathroom for 20 years. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SHARE

By Ellen Gillette

Cicero said it first 2,000 years ago. His Latin was lengthier and more complex than the idiom's current English version, but it boils down to the same idea: a tempest in a teapot.

Exaggerating a simple matter. Minor to major. Mountain out of a mole hill. Much ado about nothing  Shakespeare knew it as well.

Cicero and Shakespeare would shake their heads, I think, over the current hot button topic of transgender bathroom use, a first-world problem if ever there was one.

A full one-third of the entire planet doesn't have the luxury of wondering and worrying about it at all, because a full one-third of the entire planet doesn't have bathrooms to begin with.

According to the World Health Organization, more than two billion people do their business wherever they can. No neat, private stalls. No running water. No toilet paper rolls, not even the ones some idiot hung the wrong way. (Paper should hang over the top rather than along the wall. Who in 2016 doesn't know that?)

This very real third-world problem translates into disease and death, which is just a tad more important than conjuring up what-if scenarios at McDonald's. If you're worried about your child's safety in a bathroom, accompany said child. Millions of parents do this already.

The bathroom brouhaha over transgender use of public facilities is one more example of inflammatory rhetoric that divides, pushes buttons and keeps the masses distracted sufficiently so that they ignore greater issues.

Granted, I do not personally know any transgender individuals, but I'm fairly sure that they've been going to public restrooms as long as there have been public bathrooms. Ancient Rome had them. Europe didn't get on board with bathrooms for the masses until the 19th century, but it's unlikely that transgenders have "held it" until now.

Where did the controversy start? Other states have weighed in on the issue, but in February, Charlotte, North Carolina passed a transgender nondiscrimination bill which included public restrooms. It passed, fair and square.

Fear stepped in. The state made Charlotte's law illegal. Charlotte said, in effect, "We aren't going to discriminate against transgender citizens," and the governor said, "Oh, yes you are." Not exactly, you understand, but the impact was that negative. And it could have all been avoided.

Soon after, wailing and gnashing of teeth on social media took over cutesy kitten videos. "Our children aren't safe." "Our women are in danger." Malarkey.

As far as I can tell, there are zero reported incidents of transgender individuals attacking anyone in restrooms. Women's bathrooms have individual stalls. Unless you crawl on the floor and look into the next one over (ewww), there's absolutely no way of knowing what equipment is tinkling beside you. Are we going to have Restroom Security checking everyone's anatomy before allowing folks inside? I think not.

Celebrities and corporations were quick to take a stand against the state. Concerts were canceled, plans to expand or build in North Carolina changed, angry tweets and letters from Big Names were sent to the governor.

Actor and comedian Joel McHale didn't cancel his show in Durham but used stage time to blast legislators, announcing he would donate all proceeds to support the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) Center. Instant good guy status  or bad guy, depending on one's point of view.

When I posted on Facebook that which bathroom someone uses is a nonissue, I was mostly supported by both conservative and liberal friends. A few, however, proved my point by spending an inordinate amount of time and energy jumping from A to Z, implying there are only two options. Vilify North Carolina or be damned.

Tempest in a teapot. Where a person goes to the bathroom, or whether he/she stands or sits, is just not something deserving of so much time, energy and divisiveness. Let's tackle the real issues instead: Slavery. Poverty. Human trafficking. Genocide. Donald Trump.

Ellen Gillette is a local writer, speaker and substitute teacher who always hangs the toilet paper roll correctly. Email her: ellengillette22@gmail.com.
SHARE Photo by Mary Ann Koenig Jon Myhre at his riverfront home in Sebastian. Jon Myhre (right) with friends in a bar in Vung Tau. Myhre's helicopter after the attack. Myhre at Walter Reed hospital with his family.

By Mary Ann Koenig, The Newsweekly

The sun was just rising as Jon Myhre's Huey helicopter, Outlaw 17, turned east toward smoke rising from the tree line where the Air Force had prepped the landing zone.

A company of Viet Cong had attacked southeast of Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta and Myhre's ship was one of 10 inserting South Vietnamese troops as part of a blocking force. Flying in a V formation, he was in the second group of five, in the No. 4 position.

Myhre, a Sebastian resident, comes from a military family. His grandfather graduated from West Point and his father from the Naval Academy, and commanded destroyers in the Pacific during World War II.

"It was a hard act to follow," says Myhre.

Just two months shy of completing his tour, Myhre was counting the days to a scheduled R&R in Hawaii with his wife, Ginny, and their baby daughter, Debbie, whom he'd never met.

It was Easter Sunday, 1967. Those plans were about to change.

Entering hell

As Myrhe and the other pilots started to touch down, the rice paddy came alive. Viet Cong hiding in the mud and trees shot out his helicopter's hydraulics, freezing the controls. Then the engine quit. Myhre instinctively forced the craft into an autorotation and settled the chopper onto the ground.

A bullet cracked through the door and exploded into Myhre's thigh, hurling his leg up and over the radio console.

"Felt like somebody kicked me," he says.

A tracer snapped past him striking his co-pilot in the jaw. Blood sprayed the cockpit and mixed with Plexiglas shards as the windshield shattered. Bullets dancing around them "sounded like beer cans popping," Myhre says.

With his chopper down, Myhre made the radio call that he was hit, then opened the door, grabbed the carbine behind his seat and tumbled from the crippled aircraft into the muddy rice paddy.

Green tracers whizzed past his head. He looked up and watched the rotor blades slowly rotating to a wrenching stop.

Aborted rescue

"I was certain I was going to die," he says. "But I was also very angry." He squeezed the carbine trigger and emptied his weapon, blasting 60 rounds at the tree line in fury. The Viet Cong were going to keep him from seeing his wife and from ever meeting his daughter.

Myhre heard his crew yell and crawled twenty feet to huddle with them behind a dyke.

A medevac helicopter came into view, but it was pouring fuel from its right side. Apprehensive about leaving the protective dike, the wounded Outlaw crew finally scrambled toward the chopper.

The gunner dragged Myhre toward the helicopter as the enemy opened fire again hitting Myhre in the back and the gunner in the side. A medic who came to help them onboard was hit in the face and killed.

Myhre was lying on the medevac's floor as they lifted off. "About ten feet in the air, I heard a big bang " he remembers. The chopper flipped over and erupted into flames.

Alone

Myhre was knocked unconscious. When he came to he was disoriented. "I heard a 'tick, tick, tick' sound," he says. "Like a car overheating." Suddenly he realized what was happening. The on-board ammunition was "cooking off. Shots firing everywhere," he says.

Myhre was alone in the aircraft, now toppled on its side, the floor vertical. Clutching the pilot's seat, he used his good leg to push himself up and over the chopper's floor.

He tumbled outside, landing on his chest.

His hair was burned off, his ears and face singed. On his charred black hands the only remnants of his heavy-duty flight gloves were two tattered leather rings around his wrists.

He dragged himself east through the mud, 25 feet to another dyke. He yelled repeatedly to his crew. No response. He believed he was the only survivor of the crash.

Each look over the small dyke toward the tree line brought VC sniper bullets.

Extraordinary heroism

An hour later, Myhre recognized the number on a helicopter as it flew into view. Battalion Commander Colonel Jack Dempsey was coming in.

Myhre reacted immediately. "Don't land! Don't land," he screamed, signaling frantically with one good arm. "Hundreds of machine guns fired directly over my head at Dempsey," he says.

The helicopter caught fire as it landed. Dempsey was killed before the aircraft hit the ground.

Dempsey's crew hunkered down about 200 feet from Myhre, who had no idea they were there.

Myhre waited, drawing sniper fire from the tree line with every slight movement.

Then Jerry Daly of the 121st Assault Helicopter Company dove his chopper down. Flying below tree level, against constant VC fire, he made repeated 180-degree turns, banking, pulling up and flying back down the tree line again, trailing a thick smokescreen.

"I never saw anybody do that. It was incredible," Myhre says.

Left behind

Under that cover the rescue choppers could finally land.

But they had no idea Myhre was out there, severely wounded but alive.

They picked up the downed crew from Dempsey's craft, as well as the rest of the surviving crews from Outlaw 17 and the medevac helicopter, who had escaped north after the second crash.

No one saw Myrhe waving frantically and screaming as they lifted off. He recognized fellow Outlaw Dave Eastman's chopper as it flew directly overhead.

"I could see the belly grease," Myhre remembers. Shell casings from the door gunner's fire scattered over him.

All he could do was watch as the rescue aircraft flew into the distance.

Confronting death

Back at the Vinh Long base, the night painfully unraveled. Eastman recalls the crews saying, "Jon Myhre died for the flag today."

On the battlefield, alone and desperate, Myhre watched Air Force F100's begin bombing runs, 200 feet off the ground, strafing the VC position. Each concussion bounced Myhre off the ground, dropping him with an excruciating thud. He expected a bomb would accidentally find him.

After night fell a soldier approached, scavenging the battlefield dead for valuables. Myhre lay still. The soldier pulled on Myhre's hand to remove his wedding ring. "My training kicked in," Myhre remembers. He grabbed the man and dragged him down for a lethal bite to the carotid artery. Then Myhre realized he was a South Vietnamese soldier, a "friendly."

The soldier smiled, reached out for a handshake, and a VC bullet hit him in the head. "I heard him take his last breath," Myhre says.

To avoid taking fire, Myhre inched the dead soldier's M-1 rifle toward him. Finally he had a weapon that might help keep him alive.

About 1 a.m., he prepared to use it.

Found

Once American firepower had weakened the enemy, Rex Latham, a U.S. military advisor, began scouring the battlefield for the wounded and dead.

"One of my Vietnamese troops said 'someone's out there, alive,'" Latham says. "Too big to be Vietnamese," he was told.

Latham carefully approached the area where Myhre lay, then saw a weapon come up, pointed directly at him.

"I had a round chambered and my finger on the trigger," says Myhre. Latham yelled, "Don't shoot! I'm an American."

Jon Myhre had been found.

Resurrection and return

Over the next hours Latham arranged for medications to ease Myhre's pain, and a Lancer gunship to fly them out. Using a poncho as a stretcher, Latham and others heaved Myhre into the aircraft.

"He was the only American found alive there that night," Latham says.

Back at the base the Outlaws were shouting, "Jon's alive! Jon's alive!" Eastman heard it in his sleep and woke up thinking he'd had a nightmare.
SHARE Erickson Stanford is a veteran journalist of 40 years. Photo By Siobhan Fitzpatrick Austin Stanford Erickson at a local Starbucks.

By Siobhan Fitzpatrick Austin, The Newsweekly

Veteran journalist Stanford Erickson says that the 21st century is when a woman will first become Commander in Chief.

"The Kind of Women Who Can Be Presidents in the United States," is his interesting, psychological take on eight political leaders, past and present, and the ways in which they demonstrate presidential qualities.

"These women, and many others, make a strong case that they deserve equal opportunity to be President of the United States. The talent is apparent. And we in the United States tend to be fair when all else fails," says Erickson.

Erickson brings more than 40 years in journalism, to the task He began at the San Francisco Examiner and has worked as an assignments editor, features editor, Washington bureau chief, managing editor, editorial director, editor, publisher and owner of publications.

Today he writes books and poetry , as well as occasional op-ed pieces for the Press Journal.

He has met some of the women he writes about in his book, including Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren.

Although he says the country is ready for a female president and that Clinton has many presidential qualities, there might be an even more powerful predictor of who wins.

"Usually the person who likes to campaign wins," says Erickson. "Hillary doesn't like to campaign. She doesn't enjoy it."

Which is why he says that the presumed a Republican nominee Donald Trump will be the victor.

"Trump plays the 24/7 news cycle better than anyone," says Erickson.

Another key reason Erickson predicts Clinton won't win this year is because she comes off as being cold in the media. Although, he says, she is quite likable in person.

"She tries to hide her softer side because she is afraid that people will see that as a sign of weakness," he says.

The theory

Mama's boys

Erickson attributes this fear of appearing vulnerable as a manifestation of attachment psychology, which is based on a theory that inspires much of the book's insight. It is the same approach he used in his previous book, "Mama's Boy Presidents: Why Do We Keep Electing Them?"

Primarily attributed to psychoanalysts John Bowlby and Sigmund Freud, attachment theory describes how a person attaches or identifies with her or his mother or father from as early as a few weeks old.

Clinton is a "mama's girl" says Erickson  a term he does not use pejoratively.

Applying this psychological model to Clinton and the seven other powerful women in his book makes "The Kind of Women Who Can Be Presidents in the United States" a distinct and interesting read.

Erickson devoted two years of research into each woman's experience growing up, the ties she formed with her parents, and how that impacted her psychologically and emotionally as a leader.

According to Erickson, Clinton wants to appear like she is a "daddy's girl" because they tend to project a strong, dominate image  characteristics that most people seek in a leader.

A good example of a daddy's girl is former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was a formidable hawk.

Outgoing persona

Originally, Erickson thought Clinton was a daddy's girl because of her outgoing persona. But when he did research, he realized that she was much more attached to her mother growing up.

Clinton's mother was kind but apparently emotionally weak. She allowed Clinton's father to mistreat her.

"Hillary is more sensitive like her mother but she doesn't want people to know because she doesn't want to be pushed around like her mother was by her father," he says.

And when Clinton feels like she is being pushed around, she overreacts, says Erickson.

"When Hillary gets into a crisis situation, she gets into survival mode and becomes vicious like her father. She wants to strike out because that's how her father was successful," says Erickson. "When you hit Hillary, she hits you twice as hard  and that's not balanced."

And the most successful presidents are people who are balanced he says. He cites German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an excellent example.

A mama's girl, Merkel has also been able to integrate her father's positive attributes to become a balanced individual and an excellent leader, according to Erickson.

Another balanced woman is former Hewlett Packard CEO and presidential candidate Carly Fiorina -- a daddy's girl.

"She does not want to be characterized as a woman, but as a person," says Erickson. "And that's the transition you want to make."
The Egyptian exchange said on Wednesday in a statement it would delay approving Beltone Financial's capital increase request until the company submits reasons for the move.

The board of Egypt's Beltone Financial has requested a EGP 1 billion ($113 million) capital increase, Osama Rashad, head of investor relations, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Photos by Mary Ann Koenig The retro bar at Vero Beach Veterans Hall.

SHARE Next Generation Vets with friends and families after a Saturday work out at Riverside Park, pictured in front of Vero Beach Veterans Hall. Iraq War veteran Mike Green, his wife Justina and Doy Demsick of Next Generation Vets. Photo supplied Mike Green in Iraq 2005.

By Mary Ann Koenig, The Newsweekly

A new veterans group with a unique focus is just beginning in Indian River County.

The initiative, called Next Generation, will focus on Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan war-era veterans.

Marine Captain Doy Demsick, a public affairs officer, is helping get the initiative underway.

The new group will build upon what county veterans organizations already do by generating participation from a group of who served in wars since Vietnam.

This will, in turn, ensure the health of Indian River County veterans organizations long into the future.

The group is a subset of the Vero Beach Veterans organization. Their first objective is to create a network of recent-service local veterans interested in helping other vets.

A significant challenge for Demsick and the others is finding those young veterans. "There is no existing database," he says, to identify a young vet who has moved to the county or returned here from service.

All-out effort

The idea came from discussions between Indian River County Veterans Council President Tony Young and Demsick. They wanted to reinforce ongoing county efforts by identifying and engaging a more current generation of veterans.

Demsick says, "After the Vietnam vets, the number drops, and there are fewer and fewer veterans involved."

He believes it will require an all-out effort to find veterans who served during Desert Storm up to and through current Iraq deployments. One thing he has noticed: there is no one organization speaking on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

This new Next Generation group will strive to speak with one voice on the issues concerning veterans from that era.

The organizers have partnered with Vero Beach Veterans and will utilize the group's exquisitely retro club situated on 15th Avenue just off U.S. 1. They will organize events, including family-friendly gatherings, and determine positive ways to support the local community.

The group elected its leadership council at a recent meeting. The commanding officer will be former Army E-4 Specialist Michael Green, with Demsick as the executive officer. First Sergeant is Jason Picaro and Nicole Raynor is secretary, with Matthew Weller as sergeant at arms.

False impressions

According to Green, an Iraq War veteran, one of the group's main objectives is to promote principles and come together to "combat existing misconceptions."

The false impression that many vets from recent conflicts suffer from extreme depression or are experiencing a high rate of suicide is an important one that Demsick and Green hope to dispel.

Demsick believes that many misconceptions were created by a 2012 Veterans Administration study that found an extreme rate of suicide. But Demsick points out that the survey only looked at 21 states, and the study cited the average age of veteran suicides as 60 years old, which is not the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' generation.

Demsick and Green don't believe that "suicidal" accurately reflects the mental state of most returning vets.

"Many who may experience PTSD are functioning, getting on with their lives and receiving appropriate treatment," says Demsick.

Green speaks about these issues with particularly knowledge. While on patrol in Iraq in 2005, his Humvee struck an improvised explosive device. Green suffered severe shrapnel wounds, which resulted in the loss of his right arm and critical damage to his right leg. He was unable to walk for several months.

That experience has engendered a passion for helping other vets and working on behalf of his generation. He and his wife Justina are new to Vero Beach and getting involved in the initiative.

"It's a great way to meet like-minded people," she says.

Camaraderie

Nicole Raynor is another Next Generation veteran committed to helping establish the group's viability.

Demsick and the others involved want strong participation by women veterans, and particularly women leaders.

Raynor, "is someone who gets things done," says Demsick.

She grew up in Vero and enlisted in the Army just a few years out of high school. But she remembers returning after her service and not knowing any other veterans here who were her age.

"Many veterans miss a sense of camaraderie that they experienced in the military," she says.

She believes this group will help bring them together to "experience a sense of unity that's difficult to find in civilian life."

Fitness

Another important objective for the group will be encouraging positive lifestyle choices, through direct action and engagement using physical activities.

On a recent Saturday, the group met for PT in the Park. The military ethic of physical fitness is sometimes left behind after service, so the Next Generation Vets group will lead regular military-style workouts focused on maintaining physical strength and health.

This initiative targets even younger county residents. They believe anyone who is considering joining the military can use the workouts to get in shape and be prepared for the grueling experience of basic training.

Young men and women are encouraged to give it their best against these well-trained, exceptionally fit military models.

PT in the Park is held every Saturday at 8 a.m. at Riverside Park's fitness trails. About 20 vets and family members recently powered through several quarter-mile runs, sit-ups, squats, pushups and lunges  it added up to a 90-minute workout.

Onward

The Next Generation will be integrated into Vero Beach Veterans membership.

Jerry Maeglin, the five-term Commander of Vero Beach Veterans is welcoming the new group. "That's what we have to do to keep these organizations alive," he says. He and Demsick have been working together on the project for several months and he's happy to finally see it come to fruition.

"I'm 72 and getting tired," he says. "It's a joy to see fresh faces. I call them kids," he admits.

"They're going to make this organization better. It's time to pass the torch."

Anyone interested in contacting the new organization can e-mail them at nextgenverovets@gmail.com, or call 772-778-1299.
A motorist retrieved belongings from an SUV after being stranded May 17 on eastbound State Road 60, just east of 18th Avenue in Vero Beach as more than 7 inches of rain flooded areas in and around downtown. (FILE PHOTO)

By Will Greenlee of TCPalm

It's a regular routine for Gloria Pulley.

The St. Lucie County woman who lives in Nettles Island has a rain gauge on her dock, and walks out daily to check it.

"I enjoy doing it and I'm interested in the weather to see how much rainfall we had," Pulley said. "Every morning I go out and check the rain gauge and then I come in and call it in if we had rain."

Pulley, 84, is part of the National Weather Service's Cooperative Observer Program, a network of more than 8,700 volunteers who gather weather data for the weather service. The volunteers typically provide high and low temperature readings and 24-hour rainfall amounts.

Information from the cooperative program supplements other, far more high-tech sites, in helping the weather service keep a historical record to track trends, said Tony Cristaldi, meteorologist with the weather service in Melbourne.

HOW IT WORKS

Cristaldi described cooperative observers like Pulley as the "backbone of our climate and weather data collection network."

"Without them the data we get wouldn't be nearly as reliable; it wouldn't be nearly as complete," he said. "It's like looking at a picture in 80 dpi (dots per inch) versus 1,000 dpi. You have many more data points with the cooperative observers network so it's a much clearer picture of what's going on."

Peggy Glitto, observation program leader of the cooperative program in Melbourne, said the program also functions as a backup when the primary weather service sites, known as Automated Surface Observing Systems, or ASOS, are down.

MAP | Scroll down to see where the cooperative observer sites

are on the Treasure Coast

The ASOS sites work 24 hours a day and report weather aspects, including sky condition, surface visibility, type and intensity for rain and freezing rain, wind direction and speed, and air and dew point temperatures.

On the Treasure Coast, there are ASOS sites at airports in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce, which can update weather observations several times an hour.

A similar system at the Stuart airport, Witham Field, maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration, reports once an hour, but doesn't record rainfall, Cristaldi said.

In addition to Pulley's home on Nettles Island, there are cooperative observer sites at water treatment plants in Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Stuart and at the water treatment facility in Tropical Farms near Port Salerno, according to Glitto. An additional site is at the University of Florida's agriculture research center in St. Lucie County.

NWS WEATHER

Create column charts WHY DAILY CHECKS? Michael Woodside, chief operator of the water treatment plant in Stuart, said each day about 8 a.m. the rain and temperature gauges are checked. The information is submitted to the weather service via a website. Woodside said it helps the weather service and also helps determine water usage needs. "If you have a lot of rain the previous day, most folks won't use their irrigation (sprinklers) so we don't send out as much water," Woodside said. The weather service recently recognized officials in Vero Beach for a half century of participating in the program. John Ten Eyck, assistant director of the water and sewer department at the city of Vero Beach, said the measuring equipment is at the water treatment plant. Tracking rainfall helps predict system demands and also benefits society. "It's an important community service," Ten Eyck said. "I would encourage people to volunteer to help the weather service any time." Glitto said about 25 participants are in the cooperative observer program in the weather service's 10-county region. She said weather service officials seek out people in areas where they need observers. If someone wants to participate but is not in an area where an observer is needed, she refers them to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network program, which began in Colorado in 1998. In comparison, the cooperative observer program formally was created in 1890. Cristaldi said the weather service also receives information from a variety of other networks and sources, such as water management districts. Without so much data coming in, accuracy would suffer, he said. "It's analogous to taking off your glasses if you have poor eyesight," he said. "You just don't get as clear of a picture of what's happening temperature and rainfall wise without that dense data network of observations."
The NUS has suddenly become a hot topic of conversation across tables at hall, in whispers in the library, and during the regulation revision break. But why are we suddenly talking about it? What are its problems and why do they make it imperative that we leave this organisation?

The NUS is a remarkably complicated organisation, with multicoloured flowcharts on its website to try and help students understand what on earth is going on  so complicated that I wont even attempt to explain it because I dont think I even understand its inner workings. But in terms of why it's failing students, the answer is pretty clear  we can't trust the NUS to represent all students equally and fairly, and we need to get out now. Their failings are many, so here we go.

Internalised anti-semitism

The NUS has had a long history with anti-semitism. In 2005 a member of the NUS National Executive Committee and now Labour MP, Luciana Berger, resigned due to ingrained anti-semitism against her and other Jewish representatives. Among other things, she was spat on at the annual conference.

In 2011 Malia put into action one of the NUSs definitions of anti-semitism, claiming that Birmingham University was a Zionist outpost in higher education, and alluded to a Zionist led lobby controlling western foreign policy.

In 2014, Malia appeared at a pro-Palestinian resistance conference where the poster featured two leaders designated terrorist organisations: Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah, and George Habash of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Two months after the event, the PFLP claimed responsibility for the murder of 4 Jews in Jerusalem with Habash calling it a heroic act, and the head of Hesbollah is quoted as having said he hopes all Jews can congregate in Israel so he doesnt have to hunt them down individually.

Then, earlier in this year, 2016, we saw the abolition of the only secure seat for a Jewish student on the Anti-racist anti-fascist campaign in the NUS, the last remaining fixed representation for Jewish students.

At this year's conference, delegates cheered and applauded speeches against the commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, because it was somehow giving privilege to one genocide over another.

Out of touch Sabbatical officers

Many of the sabbatical officers have worked full-time for the NUS for longer than they have actually been students. As a measure of age, when Malia started university, I had just started my first year in secondary school  and I took a gap year

The NUS is much more out of touch than just an age gap. It spends its time passing useless motions, like that to give specific support to certain Kurdish groups of freedom fighters, or to ban YikYak. But it also recommends things that are just so far removed from what the average student thinks, like the one to abolish all reps for gay men in LGBT groups in universities around the country, or spending [] on recommending to students that they dont vote for the Liberal Democrats.

Over-paid staff

The NUSs Chief Executive, Simon Blake, is paid 100,000 a year, for his job running the organisation, where 69 of the 237 members of staff are paid 30,000 a year, the same as dentistry graduates; the course with the highest average graduate earnings.

When students are struggling to live in their accommodation, and when wages have not risen in line with the cost of living, the NUS pays its Chief 5 times that which the average university graduate is paid. Its far from unreasonable to say that this is a colossal waste of money, in a time when students cant afford to pay their heating bills.

The NUS is anti-semitic, out of touch, and ineffective, that much is blindingly obvious. But disaffiliating is vital at this particular time, as it is pretty much the only thing that will make the NUS realise that students dont support them anymore, and that they should reform properly and start doing their job. To leave the NUS is more of a signal to them that we do not stand for anti-semitism than any open letter or Facebook campaign could ever produce.

Is the NUS going to care that a few universities had a referendum but that things stayed the same in general? Probably not. Is the NUS going to care that the countrys best university no longer wants to be a part of it? You bet they will.

In our age of acceptance and freedom, racism like this should have no place, especially from the union that is meant to be protecting us. We cannot change the NUS from within, we cannot trust the NUS to change itself, and this week we must leave this organisation.

Don't agree? Email comment@tcs.cam.ac.uk to pitch a response
Disruption is expected today after academics and support staff went on strike, in a dispute over wages and contracts.

The Cambridge branch of the University and College Union (UCU) are joining a nationwide protest after negotiations with the University and College Employers Association (UCEA) broke down over a 1.1% pay offer.

Other issues raised include the gender pay-gap, which according to the UCU stands at 17.4% in Cambridge, the increasing salary of the Vice Chancellor and zero-hour contracts.

The strike is expected to affect exams and marking.

Lucy McMahon, a member of the UCU Strike Committee, told TCS: The disruption is aimed at employers and not students we have negotiated for months for a fair deal and have met with no success.

Alleging the spread of short-term, zero-hour contracts, she suggested some academics were working for around 6 pounds an hour, with wages below the national pay scale despite high living costs in the city.

Industrial action will continue after the strike she said, with staff working to contract, and refusing unpaid overtime including marking.

When contacted for comment, the University told TCS that it has policies and plans in placeto ensure that students are not affected. It did not comment on the dispute itself.

The walk-out is expected to continue tomorrow.
The referendum on whether Cambridge should disaffiliate from the NUS has passed 21.38% turnout, beyond the 10% voting quora, CUSU Coordinator Jemma Stewart tweeted Wednesday.

Concerns had been raised that, even if a majority voted in favour of disaffiliation, the motion would fail due to traditionally poor turnout in exam term elections.

However, the result of the referendum will not be known until it ends on Friday. 10% of students are still required to vote in favour of disaffiliation for the motion to pass.

The strong turnout comes on the back of increased engagement recently, with the referendum on appointing a full-time disabled students officer drawing the largest referendum turnout ever.

Voting will close Friday 27th May at 4pm, with results expected immediately.

This story is breaking, and may be updated.
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Clash was the only Egyptian film to be screened at the 69th Cannes Festival and was chosen to open the Un Certain Regard section

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, whose film was selected to screen at this years Cannes festival, responded to the negative criticism aired on last weeks episode of the programme Ana Masr, presented by TV host Amany El-Khayat on state-owned Nile TV.

Diab, an award-winning filmmaker, wrote the scripts of several well-known Egyptian films including El-Gezira 1 and 2 (2007 and 2014) and Decor (2014).

After the airing of El-Khayat's initial remarks, the controversial TV anchor aired during a subsequent episode a complete recorded phone call from Diab, who thanked her for personally getting in touch with him.

This is an example of how a human connection melts disagreements, Diab told El-Khayat during the phone call.

Diab then responded to her comments and clarified his views, discussing what the show had previously stated about him and his film.

The media has the right to ask questions, but the report was erroneous and sounded more like an accusation, he continued.

During their conversation, Diab noted how El-Khayat had previously made statements about his film, questioning his intentions, as well as his right to make a film that expresses his own personal views.

According to El-Khayat, Diab's views distort the country's image. Suddenly they are celebrating an Egyptian film in Cannes, the festival which we know never celebrates us except when it has a reason [self-interest], El-Khayat said in the controversial episode.

When we talk about art we need specialists, but my right and yours [as the viewer] is to ask: who is Diab, and how does someone get celebrated so quickly in this manner, she continued.

The show then aired a video report, presenting the biography of Diab, with a list of his previous accomplishments as a scriptwriter, then stating that, in most of his films, Diab presents a distorted image of the Egyptian society."

According to El-Khayat, this was "made more clear in 2010 when he wrote and directed the film 678, which tackled the harassment of women, and presented Egypt as a society that abuses women and their rights.

Ana Masr's report stated that Diab had always voiced thoughts that stood in opposition to most of the countrys institutions, and finally asks, does Diab or anyone else, even if they are talented, have the right to hide the poison of his thoughts and personal stances beneath the sugar coating of gripping cinematic work, especially when these thoughts are not in line with what most Egyptians believe in?

In the telephone conversation, Diab responded to all previous claims, saying My main intention with the film is for people to watch it.

El-Khayat's comments came in the midst of positive reviews from local and international critics. The Hollywood Reporter listed Clash among the 10 most important films in Cannes, and The French Film Critics Association selected as one of the five films it supports.

[Film critic] Samir Farid had seen the film before we applied for the festival, and told me If this wont go to Cannes, then what will? Diab said.

Regarding El-Khayat's report, Diab said the most disappointing thing was the lack of faith that an Egyptian could be successful without a suspicious agenda.

Im asking of you and of all journalists, to have a discussion about facts, and not intentions, Diab said, adding that El-Khayat herself was subjected to having her words used out of context and interpreted as having bad intentions in regards to the film.

Few days after the show made its accusations against Diab, the Cinematic Syndicate issued a statement backing Diab, his film, and his right to creative expression.

"We declare our solidarity with and our support for our colleagues whose film represented Egypt in international circles, the Syndicate stated.

The syndicate added that El-Khayats report slanders Diab, and violates the Egyptian constitution, which guaranteed the right to expression, opinion and creativity."

Filmmaker Tamer El-Said, director of In The Last Days of The City, which won the Caligari Prize at Berlinale, also denounced El-Khayat's treatment of the film with a statement on his personal Facebook page.

"Neither the report, nor the presenter, nor her guest analyzed the contents of the film, and it is clear that they havent seen it as they dont say otherwise. Nevertheless they allow themselves to judge the film and probe its motives. It is real horror that state television propagates ignorance and that films are judged by people who didnt watch them," El-Said writes.

Diab asked El-Khayat to "watch the film before making judgments on its content," and was especially keen on hearing her opinion after learning that she graduated with a degree in literary criticism.

When people start prematurely propagating negativity about something, others form an image of the film that is not accurate, he said.

Diab added that such statements could slander an artist representing Egypt internationally, and end up stirring an unnecessary call to stop the showing of the film.

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:


Google on Thursday introduced Gboard, an app that combines search with a new soft keyboard for mobile devices running iOS.

Gboard, which supports glide typing, allows users to perform searches from the keyboard without leaving the application theyre in. Once the information is found, they can paste it into their application without leaving the keyboard.

Information from searches appear as cards on the screen. With a single tap, the information on the card can be pasted into an app such as iMessage.

Searches, which are conducted by pressing the G button at the top of the keyboard, can be for more than Google search results. Users can search for emojis and gifs, too.

Gboard initially will be available only in English  although support for other languages is in the pipeline.

iOS First?

Google typically introduces cool apps on its Android platform before iOS, but thats not the case with Gboard  its available only for iOS devices.

They may be saving Gboard as part of an Android upgrade, suggested Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Google also might be trying to gain insights into iPhone users that it otherwise cant get.

Googles business model is very dependent on advertising and profile quality, noted Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

On iOS, Google has the least access to this, but Googles hope is that will improve with this new keyboard, he told TechNewsWorld.

More Productivity

Another possibility is that Google is making a play for increased relevance to iPhone users.

Though Gboard has some interesting mechanical features, the real power under the hood is Googles integrated search functions, which Apple is actively competing against, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Introducing Gboard first for iOS is an obvious ploy by Google to demonstrate its continuing relevance for Apple customers, he told TechNewsWorld, but its unique qualities also act as a competitive feint by providing valuable features to iPhone users that they cant get natively.

A Google spokesperson was not immediately available to comment for this story.

Third-party soft keyboard apps began to proliferate with the introduction of iOS 8.

Personal preference plays a big role in the choice of a keyboard, Tirias McGregor told TechNewsWorld.

However, all keyboards have some things in common.

Solutions like Googles Gboard and glide typing are designed to simplify and speed up common tasks. That can be a real boon when youre under time pressure or are trying to create a complex message on a keyboard of limited size, noted Pund-ITs King.

However, every one of these solutions works somewhat differently, he added, and it requires a certain amount of practice or training to become proficient.

Keyboards Here to Stay

Third-party keyboards can provide more functionality than native keyboards, like search, sharing and swiping  the ability to enter text by dragginig a finger from key to key on the keyboard, Moor Insights Moorhead acknowledged.

Many times, though, these keyboards interrupt the natural flow of how an OS was designed to work with a keyboard, he pointed out.

Because soft keyboards and small screens are a taxing combination for typists, research continues on a keyboard replacement. The most obvious candidate is speech, but that has it limitations.

Speech doesnt scale well, remarked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

It works fine if youre sitting in an office by yourself  but imagine a bunch of people in cubicles all trying to use speech at once, he told TechNewsWorld.

There are a myriad of different UI options that researchers and developers are looking at for the future. I think the industry should look at it as a state of and not or, suggested Moorhead.

Keyboards will continue to be important, he said, but will be augmented with voice and visual techniques.
By the end of the year, Android devs will be able to use a trust API from Googles Project Abacus in their apps, Google ATAP Director Dan Kaufman suggested at last weeks I/O conference.

The API, which will run in the background continually, is aimed at doing away with passwords.

It will use a smartphones sensors to check users current locations, typing patterns and voice patterns, as well as for facial recognition. It will create a cumulative trust score that will authenticate users so they can unlock their devices or sign into applications.

Well go out to several very large financial institutions for initial testing this June, Kaufman told developers. If the tests go well, Google plans to release the API to Android devs worldwide by year end.

I think the issue is Google isnt trusted itself and has a horrid history of losing interest in initiatives once theyre launched, remarked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

The potential for aggravation with both the customer and the financial institution is impressive and likely will stand as a huge barrier to adoption, he told TechNewsWorld. Generally, a failure would lock users out of their accounts.

Trust API Issues

The problem has always been that a really good biometric  such as a retinal scan or fingerprint  typically is hard to collect, observed Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

Less than reliable biometrics are easy to collect but require validation, usually by collecting several  but the more you collect, the more chances for authentication failure, he told TechNewsWorld.

If biometrics fail, a standby such as a password or some form of support infrastructure to do a reset is required, and this could be complex for both the user and the service provider, Jude pointed out.

On the positive side, when [the trust API] works, it could provide a faster, more secure, consistent method of gaining access to secure sites, Enderle suggested.

However, Googles reputation of being unsecure, of not following through, of not listening to partners, and the complexity of the solution stand against this effort, he said.

Potential Privacy Problems

An API-based security protocol will put personal information in the cloud to some extent, Jude noted, so the question will be, do you trust your service provider with that kind of information?

Further, the trust API will be always on, running continually in the background, and that could be a concern  especially because many Android apps send back users information to devs, often without the knowledge of the devices owner.

That always-on feature means users it will be easy to track users  and with Americans being concerned about surveillance without warrants by the NSA, the FBI and various police agencies, there might be a backlash.

On the other hand, the feature could make it easier to track terrorist or criminal suspects.

There has been at least one legal ruling requiring a suspect to unlock a cellphone protected by fingerprint authentication, and with user information more readily available, law enforcement might push harder to seize data.

This is a problem, Jude said. This approach to security potentially opens a lot of personal information up to coercive disclosure. Im just waiting for someone to build a countermeasure that lets users clear a mobile data device with a voice command.

Other Possible Issues

The trust API may not be quite as accurate as Google asserts.

@chrismessina @pmarca very cool until I break my leg or hand & can't auth to any services to get healthcare info since my behavior is diff

 Shaun Cooley (@shauncooley) January 10, 2016

What happens if a users biometrics change because of outside factors? If, for example, the users facial features or typing patterns or voice or speaking patterns are altered because of an accident or due to an injury or illness?

That question has yet to be answered.
Netflix has signed a deal with Disney in the United States that gives the streaming service the exclusive rights to all new films after they leave the cinemas. Starting in September, the deal will make Netflix the only pay-TV service in the US with access to Disney's most recent theatrical releases.

All films from subsidiaries of Disney - such as Marvel, Lucasfilm (Star Wars), and Pixar - are also included in the deal as expected. Considering the popularity of the films from these studios, gaining exclusive streaming access is a big deal for Netflix.

According to Polygon, Netflix and Disney have agreed to a "pay one deal, which is essentially a one-time deal that lasts for years." The specifics see Netflix gain exclusive access to all Disney films released in 2016 and beyond, while films released before this year will still be available to other networks as part of their existing deals.

Essentially this means films like Captain America, Civil War will be available exclusively through Netflix, while older films in the series like Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be available through other services like HBO.

For all the other content that Netflix will be adding over the summer, the company has released a full list you can view here.
Uber and Toyota have announced a strategic partnership in which the auto maker will offer leases to the ride-hailing company's drivers. The two have also reportedly entered a "memorandum of understanding" to start exploring how they could work together, starting with ride-sharing trials in countries where ridesharing is expanding, and other ways of delivering secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers.

Under the agreement Toyota will invest an undisclosed sum in Uber.

"We're excited that Toyota, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, is making a strategic investment in Uber as part of a broader global partnership. Toyota vehicles are among the most popular cars on the Uber platform worldwide and we look forward to collaborating with Toyota in multiple ways going forward, starting with the expansion of our vehicle financing efforts," Uber's chief business officer Emil Michael said in the press release.

There was no mention of self-driving technology specifically but this is generally expected to play a major role in both's companies future. Last November, Toyota announced it was investing $1 billion in the creation of the Toyota Research Institute, which will develop A.I. and robotics for self-driving capabilities. Uber for its part has already started trailing self-driving cars in Pittsburg using a modified hybrid Ford Fusion.

Uber is not alone in partnering with major car makers. In January, General Motors invested $500 million into Lyft and just this morning Volkswagen confirmed a $300 million deal with the New York-based ridesharing startup Gett.
Earning more depends on how attractive and well-groomed a woman is, a study has revealed.

Researchers have found that beauty bias exists and women take advantage of it. Going to the salon and having the hair fixed, nails cleaned and brows plucked are not without intent  it is partially because of the desire to get something out of it.

The purpose of improving one's appearance and its relation to perception was analyzed by Jaclyn Wong, a sociologist from the University of Chicago, in collaboration with Andrew Penner from the University of California in Irvine.

Wong and Penner interviewed 14,000 individuals and asked them about education, job, social behavior, personality and income. All participants were also asked to rate how groomed and attractive they are.

Attractiveness rating was compared with income and other parameters. The result: those rated as attractive are actually earning as much as 20 percent more than those with average attractiveness.

Both men and women rated as attractive have higher incomes, but the study has noted that if a woman is well groomed, she is perceived as more attractive.

"For women, most of the attractiveness advantage comes from being well groomed. For men, only about half of the effect of attractiveness is due to grooming," Wong said.

It could be because women are judged immediately by how they look, and that is the reason why they present themselves in a certain way. It is not simply about being well groomed; it is about looking attractive that serves as the biggest factor of how much one can earn.

Gender Discrimination On Perception

Wong and Penner said that beauty bias exists because of discrimination. It produces a "halo" effect - those who are more attractive are perceived to have a better personality than those who are just average looking.

The findings show that being attractive, for women in particular, is a behavior rather than an innate trait.

Interestingly, Glassdoor data revealed that, if attractiveness is not a factor, men generally have higher earnings than women.

The findings of the study is published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Samsung's flagship Galaxy Note 5 phablet is currently on sale for a limited time for $538.95. The 32 GB unlocked phablet can be updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box and beats AT&T's current $739.99 price.

When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 5 last August, it received high marks for its new premium glass and metal design and impressive specs like 4 GB of RAM and stunning quad-HD display, as well as its hallmark feature, its advanced S Pen stylus.

While most smartphone makers were ditching the stylus after the iPhone was released in 2007, Samsung decided to bring it back in 2011 with its take on a smartphone large enough to venture into small tablet territory, the first-generation Galaxy Note. Rather than just create a smartphone with a large display, Samsung also made the included S Pen stylus an integral part of the Note experience by coupling it with software.

Each Galaxy Note release has included major enhancements to its S Pen, and one of its latest abilities is to write on the display without having to wake the device up. Samsung's Air-Command menu, which provides shortcuts to S Pen features, now allows users to add their own shortcuts to apps, making it even quicker to open an app with the S Pen.

If you've ever considered making the move to an S Pen-equipped Galaxy Note phablet, a new deal will score you the 32 GB unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for $538.95, which is a huge savings over AT&T's current $739.99 for the same device.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 ships with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop but can be updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box, and it packs in a 5.7-inch 2560 by 1440 quad-HD display that has a pixel density of 518 pixels per inch (ppi). The phablet is powered by a Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core processor and 4 GB of RAM, and it includes 32 GB of internal storage.

In terms of the Note 5's camera capabilities, it features a 16 megapixel rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilization), autofocus, LED flash and 5 megapixel front-facing camera for selfies and video conferencing. The smartphone includes a 3,000 mAh battery that will provide up to 22 hours of talk time. Additionally, the phone has wireless charging capabilities built-in for use with Qi-compatible chargers.

If you're interested in this limited-time deal, head over to eBay, where you can purchase the 32 GB unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for $538.95, which also includes free shipping.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Scientists have long been on a hunt to unravel the mysteries of how life began on Earth. Now, a new study suggests life on the planet may have been seeded by a young sun that bombarded superflares.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 23, researchers used models of the chemistry of the early Earth's atmosphere and data from observations made by NASA's Kepler space telescope of other stars that resemble the Solar System's sun in the first few hundred million years of life.

Their findings suggest that very powerful and frequent coronal ejections from a violent young sun could have warmed infant Earth, which helped make the conditions suitable to support life about 4 billion years ago.

Scientists have long been puzzled as to how the first organisms evolved on Earth 4 billion years ago when the planet should have been much colder than it is today since the sun at the time was only about 70 percent as bright as it currently is. Experts call this the Faint Young Sun Paradox.

Study author Vladimir Airapetian, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said that given the sun's brightness during this period, the Earth should have been an icy ball. Geological evidence, however, shows that the planet was warm with liquid water.

It turned out based on the study's findings that while the young sun was fainter, it was likely more tempestuous frequently blasting out superflares that would have smashed molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere.

"Nitrogen fixation in the early terrestrial atmosphere can be explained by frequent and powerful coronal mass ejection events from the young Sun-so-called superflares," the researchers wrote in their study.

The process produced nitrous oxide, the laughing gas, whose greenhouse effect is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and hydrogen cyanide that produce amino acids known to be the building blocks of protein needed for life.

"As the particles from the space weather traveled down the magnetic field lines, they would have slammed into abundant nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere," said Airapetian.

"Changing the atmosphere's chemistry turns out to have made all the difference for life on Earth."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis are looking to create human-animal hybrid embryos known as chimeras, which they believe could serve as better animal models for studies on how people develop diseases and how these illnesses progress.

In Greek mythology, the chimera was a monstrous creature that was created using parts of different animals such as a lion, a goat and a snake.

A chimera in genetics, on the other hand, is a single organism produced through the combination of cells from different zygotes, or fertilized eggs.

While earlier studies have explored the potential benefits of developing plant and animal chimeras, research on the use of human cells for the practice is strictly prohibited by many world governments. They believe creating chimeras using human and animal cells violates the dignity of being human.

UC Davis undergraduate students John Powers and Ryan Troy have studied the merits of creating human-animal hybrids in their paper "Human-Animal Chimeras: What are we going to do?"

In exploring the ethics behind creating human-animal chimeras for research, Powers and Troy explained that the gene-editing method might not pose a threat to human dignity.

Some scientists claim that experiments on chimeras could be used to develop human organs grown in farm animals, which could then be transplanted into patients with terminal illnesses.

However, bioethicists and other scientists have expressed their concern that creating interspecies embryos could blur the ethical line between what is human and what is not.

Cell biology professor Stuart Newman from the New York Medical College pointed out that such experiments venture into unsettling ground that is damaging to people's sense of humanity.

For its part, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has placed funding for chimera experiments on hold to allow officials to examine the ethical issues raised regarding the practice.

Some researchers are pushing through with their studies through the help of alternative funding in the hope that their findings could convince the NIH to remove the moratorium.

One of the scientists is reproductive biologist Pablo Ross from UC Davis, who is applying gene-editing techniques to develop human pancreas through the use of pig embryos.

"We're not trying to make a chimera just because we want to see some kind of monstrous creature," Ross said. "We're doing this for a biomedical purpose."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Every year, scientists discover a great number of new species. Since 2008, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) has been publishing its annual list of "Top 10 New Species" featuring species named the year before.

The current ESF's list honored 10 species that represent global biodiversity. According to ESF President Quentin Wheeler, who also founded the school's International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE), the group wants to highlight the biodiversity crisis.

"We want to bring attention to how little we know about species on our own planet. And we want to bring attention to the fact that this science is going on and every day new species are being discovered," said Wheeler.

ESF's annual top 10 list features newly named species that "stand out in some way." Check them out below.

2016 Top 10 New Species List

Giant tortoise (Chelonoidis donfaustoi)

Location: Galapagos, Ecuador

While giant tortoises look almost identical, you'd almost wonder if the newly named species in Ecuador are actually, well, new. But they are and with only 250 left, they're already endangered, which earned them emergency conservation attention. The species were named after the park ranger Don Fausto, who spent 43 years preserving them.

Giant Sundew (Drosera magnifica)

Location: Brazil

The world's largest sundew was discovered through the photos posted on Facebook. And because it can only be found on top of one mountain in Brazil, it took some time to find it.

The Drosera magnifica can grow up to 48 inches and like other sundews, it traps insects using the thick mucus-like substance it secretes on its leaves.

While it is quite abundant in its local habitat, the Drosera magnifica only grows in an isolated and limited habitat at 5,000 feet above sea level.

Hominin (Homo naledi)

Location: South Africa

This one made the list for a very obvious reason  they're members of our ancient family tree. While the Homo naledi shares similar features with modern humans such as weight and size, the brain size is closer to the size of the human species that lived about 2 to 4 million years ago. The new species was discovered in South Africa.

Isopod (Iuiuniscus iuiuensis)

Location: Brazil

This new isopod species made it to the list because it can do something that no one in his family can. The Iuiuniscus iuiuensis can build a home using mud, an ability it might have learned out of survival.

When this tiny isopod, about one-third of an inch in length, sheds its exoskeleton, it becomes more defenseless to predators. Did we mention that this multi-legged isopod is also unpigmented and blind?

Seadragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea)

Location: Australia

Seadragons are the cousins of seahorses but unlike its relatives, this newly discovered species boasts of a beautiful ruby red finish.

Its snout is peppered with light markings while pink vertical lines accentuate its body. To date, the scientific community knows only a third of all the seadragon species, which made this discovery a significant one.

It makes you think that if a strikingly red Phyllopteryx dewysea was left undiscovered for ages, there could be much more lurking in plain sight.

Tiny beetle (Phytotelmatrichis osopaddington)

Location: Peru

"Tiny" is the operative word. The Phytotelmatrichis osopaddington is so small that in order to reach the one-inch mark, you need 25 of these tiny beetles.

This new beetle species was named after the fictional character, Paddington Bear. Why? Because the scientists have high hopes that just like in the children's books, people will take care of this beetle because it's so small.

Flowering tree (Sirdavidia solannona)

Location: Gabon

When people think of newly discovered plant species, normally, they think of some faraway, remote places where they were discovered. That's not the case for this flowering tree.

The Sirdavidia solannona was discovered near the main road at Gabon's Monts de Cristal National Park. This flowering tree is less than 20 feet tall. It probably remained undiscovered for so long because researchers went after the bigger ones.

Sparklewing (Ummagumma) Location: Gabon The Ummagumma is one of the sixty new species of damselflies and dragonflies discovered recently in Africa. The discovery is a giant leap for the scientific community because it provided a truckload of new information about the insect species. Interestingly, this delicate damselfly was named after a 1969 Pink Floyd album. "Ummagumma" is also a British slang for "sex."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Directed by May Masri, the award-winning feature film 3,000 Nights was recently screened in Cairo's art-house cinema Zawya

Following it's numerous successes across the world the Palestinian film 3,000 Nights will be now released in commercial cinemas in Iraq and Tunisia on Wednesday, the distributor MAD Solutions announced.



Directed by May Masri, and co-produced by Palestine, France, Jordan, UAE, Qatar and Lebanon, the film 3,000 Nights centers on a young newly-wed Palestinian school teacher who is jailed in a top-security Israeli prison where she eventually gives birth.

The film made its world premiere in September 2015 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It then made its Arab world premiere in December 2015 as part of the Dubai International Film Festivals 12th edition where it participated in the Muhr Arab Feature Films Competition.

The film also toured across Palestine right after the film's US premiere as part of the Palm Springs International Film Festival in early January.

In February, 3,000 Nights was shown at the European Film Market at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The film was screened in Egypt earlier this year, when it was hosen to open the Luxor Arab and European Film Festival, an event which took place between 30 January and 5 February. Earlier this month it was screened in Cairo's Zawya.

During the press conference for the Luxor Arab and European Film Festival, the Palestinian director May Masri said her film 3,000 Nights, was shot in a real prison, without any set decor, as a way of preserving the film's authenticity. Masri added that the jail where they filmed was neither in Palestine nor Jordan.

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:


The Indian government revealed on Monday that the first of its 70 new supercomputers designed to help advance research in the country will be ready for operation by August 2017.

In March 2015, India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a Rs.4,500-crore project known as the National Supercomputing Mission.

Under the project, the Electronics and Information Technology Department and the Science and Technology Department will lead the development of new supercomputers over the next seven years, which would allow India to become of the one of the foremost nations of the world when it comes to computing power.

As of November 2015, 11 of the new supercomputers in development are part of the 500 most powerful ones in the world. The first of these high-computing machines is being built by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the same group that developed "Param," India's very first supercomputer.

Secretary Ashutosh Sharma of the science and technology ministry explained that they face two main challenges if they are to replace regular desktop PCs with supercomputers.

He said that they need to find a solution for power and heat management for supercomputers as these machines need a considerable amount of energy, and to get the right people who can operate them in the future.

The National Supercomputing Mission aims to install a supercomputing grid in India consisting of 70 high-class computing sites. The planned supercomputers are also set to be connected to the government's National Knowledge Network, which links research and development laboratories and various academic organizations in the country through the use of a high-speed network.

Sharma said their focus is to build the hardware needed for the creation of the supercomputers this year. They hope that by the time the mission is completed, they would have the ability to develop and operate the machines on their own.

As of the moment, the Indian government is still negotiating with global vendors to help them build the supercomputers in the country and to train people to operate the machines.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Men find submissive women more attractive, while women prefer dominant men, a new study has found.

The social norm that men lead the way and women follow is etched in the genes. In a new research, scientists have found that potential partners are those who can detect these so-called "good genes".

Scientists say that people who are most likely to be asked on a second date are those who have genotypes that society typically associates with the two genders: dominance in men and submissiveness in women.

Decoding The Dude Through Speed-dating Test

At the start of the study, the team wanted to know if partner selection could be affected by people's ability to identify the socially-dictated "good genes".

To investigate, the researchers performed a speed-dating test to see if their predictions were accurate if applied in real life situation.

During the event, the participants were given quick minutes to see the short-term and long-term ability of their speed-dating partners, and to choose if they want to ask them on a second date.

The study entailed a total of 262 Asian Americans, who were asked to meet up for three minutes with other participants. After each encounter, the subjects were asked to decide if they would go on another date with their partner or not. They were also asked how promising they think their dates are as romantic partners.

If a "match" is found and both parties agreed to have a second date, the researchers would ask each other's numbers and notify each participant of the match.

Looking At Genes To Determine Dating Success

The scientists analyzed the DNA specimens from the subjects, focusing on two types of different genes relevant to the study. The first one is a gene called ?1438 A/G, which is linked with control and authority. The second gene type is A118G, which has been associated with social sensitivity.

People with these genes appear to have socially-determined traits that a man and woman should possess. More importantly, they were more desirable to the opposite sex, both in the short-term and long-term.

Men who have ?1438 A/G gene were more desirable for women, while women who possess this gene were less likely to attract the opposite sex.

Women with A118G had better speed-dating success. Men who have this gene, however, had less favorable outcomes.

"These results suggest that personal attributes corresponding to A118G and ?1438 A/G can be detected in brief social interactions, and that having a specific genetic variant or not plays a tangible role in dating success," says study lead author Karen Wu.

Wu adds that the study results may have implications beyond dating. For example, this attraction may also be applicable for other social events such as in job interviews with a potential employer.

The research team acknowledges that the initial findings need to be replicated so that it includes factors such as ethnicity, age and diverse social and economic backgrounds.

The study was published in the journal Human Nature on May 18.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
If you are a nocturnal and like browsing Twitter at night, then you're in luck, as all that tweeting in the dark will not trouble you any longer. How? Because Twitter apparently has a Night Mode in testing for its Android app, which will aid users in reading or writing at night.

According to reports, Twitter is testing the Night Mode in the latest alpha (5.112.0-alpha.423) version of its Android app. The mode basically swaps the white hue with a dark blue tone per an Android app for Twitter users who are on the latest alpha version. The lettering is white against the blue background  instead of black on white  which makes it easier for a user to read.

The new Night Mode for Twitter was first spotted by a Huawei employee Taylor Wimberly on May 22. He discovered the mode's existence in the latest alpha release of the Twitter app for Android.

The user also revealed that the app reverts to the white color  the Day Mode  automatically in the morning. Moreover, if one wished to switch off the Night Mode in the app, there was no option to do so.

"Does the new Twitter Alpha have a night mode? I can't figure how to turn it off," noted Wimberley, who also posted a screenshot (below) of the Night Mode in action.

Some may remember that the Android N Developer Preview 3 removed the dark mode. However, developers still have the option of letting their apps shift automatically to the Night Mode, which is hinged on the location and time zone of the app users. The screenshot shared by Wimberley shows that the latest Night Mode feature for the Android app for Twitter's alpha version is seen working on top of the Material redesign (espied in April and yet to be announced by the company), which brings tabs for Moments, Messages, Notifications and Timeline. Usually, Twitter is pretty discreet when it comes to A/B testing, and a possibility exists that it is merely testing the Night Mode feature with select users so as to get feedback prior to officially pushing it out to all app users. Whether this feature will eventually make the cut and make its way to the stable version of Twitter is anybody's guess.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Males who lose their Y chromosome have concurrent Alzheimer's disease (AD), a new study has revealed.

Researchers from Uppsala University have developed a test that can identify individuals who are at greater risk of having AD.

Men aged 80 years old and above undergo loss of Y chromosome (LOY), a common gene alteration. To understand the health impact of this gene mutation, Uppsala University's Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology researchers conducted a study on LOY in 3,200 men aged 37 years old to 96 years old.

The team is headed by professors Lars Forsberg and Jan Dumanski collaborated with other scientists from Canada, France, Sweden, the UK and the U.S.

They have found that 17 percent of the men have LOY in their blood cells, which were shown to increase with age. They have also established that patients with higher degrees of LOY were presently diagnosed with AD. Researchers also said that LOY testing can be used as a marker for AD progression during follow-up.

The researchers theorized that since women do not have the Y chromosome and the men have generally shorter life spans than women - Y chromosome could be linked to early deaths in men.

While their study point to significant results, further research to back their initial claims must be done. Currently, the team is looking into the functional effects of the genetic mutation and how it could affect the development of other diseases that predominantly affect males. Researchers also plan to expound their study to include mild cognitive impairment.

"The blood cells we studied are involved in the immune system, and the act that LOY in them is associated with disease in other tissues is striking," said Dumanski. This means that the absence of LOY in blood cells causes them to also lose some of their immune function.

Disease Progression And Treatment

Their earlier study on LOY has found that smoking hastens the loss of Y chromosome by 400 percent. They also noted that when smokers quit, the LOY is also reversed. This could be applicable in programs for smoking cessation.

Researchers are hoping that LOY testing can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify the populations at risk, so that disease progression can be prevented during its early stages.

"If we could predict which men have an increased risk of cancer we could watch them closely for the development of the disease and also use appropriate preventive treatments," said Forsberg.

Once this is achieved, mortality rates of males could significantly decline - they may even have the same life expectancy as women.

A past study has found that tau protein can also be used as a marker for early diagnosis of AD.

The study is published in American Journal of Human Genetics on May 23.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microsoft awards grants to businesses that are focusing to improve Internet access expansion across the world.

On May 23, Microsoft announced that the company has awarded Affordable Access Initiative grants to 12 businesses. All the businesses will get seed grants from Microsoft as well as resources that includes BizSpark tools such as free software, technology and more. The support from Microsoft is expected to extend hardware, applications, power solution and connectivity reach of these businesses.

Internet access has improved a lot in many parts of the world over the last few years. However, over 50 percent of the population of the world does not have Internet access. Peggy Johnson, the executive VP of business development at Microsoft, says that connectivity is a major challenge in the world, and it requires creative problem solving.

"By using technology that's available now and partnering with local entrepreneurs who understand the needs of their communities, our hope is to create sustainable solutions that will not only have impact today but also in the years to come," says Johnson.

Microsoft suggests that the grant recipients of the Affordable Access Initiative are already working to address technological challenges and demonstrate their ability to sustain in the market. Each recipient will receive between $70,000 and $150,000.

The company also revealed that the latest grants have been given to businesses based in 11 countries including the U.S., United Kingdom, Uganda, Rwanda, Philippines, Nigeria, Malawi, Indonesia, India, Botswana and Argentina.

Axiom Technologies, a recipient of the grant based in Maine, will work toward expanding Internet access in the region. Another recipient AirJaldi, which is based in India, is also working to deliver wireless Internet connectivity in rural parts of India.

Microsoft is not the only Silicon Valley company that is working to improve Internet access worldwide. Facebook is also working to bring cheap Wi-Fi points in rural parts of India. The social media company is already working with AirJaldi in India.

Google also announced Project Loon in June 2013, which aims at providing durable and fast Internet connection in unconnected regions of the world. Project Loon uses high-altitude balloons that are launched from the Earth and placed in the stratosphere for creating an aerial wireless network.

Users have to place an antenna on top of their building to connect to the balloon.

Only time will tell how swiftly companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook and more are able to provide Internet access to remote and rural parts of the world.

Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Recommending medications for a disease not approved by federal regulators is becoming widespread.

In Quebec, Canada, new research has revealed that nearly half of antidepressant prescriptions were not for depression-related conditions, but for disorders such as anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks.

This off-label prescribing is not illegal, but it's not exactly directly promoted by agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration either.

Because the term "antidepressant" is starting to fall into a misnomer, experts from McGill University in Montreal sought out to investigate how often, why and for what indications antidepressants are being prescribed. The results are published in the journal JAMA.

Examining Prescription Records

Led by Professor Jenna Wong, the McGill researchers looked at a decade of medical records that included 102,000 antidepressant prescriptions written by 158 physicians.

Doctors participating in the study documented drugs they prescribed, as well as the indication or reason for each. All  excluding monoamine oxidase inhibitors  were part of the study.

Wong and her colleagues found that only 55 percent of the antidepressant prescriptions were actually given to patients to treat depression.

The remaining percentages were given to treat other conditions: about 18.5 percent for anxiety disorders, 10 percent for insomnia, 6 percent for chronic pain, and 4 percent for panic disorders.

Researchers also determined that 30 percent of the prescriptions fit the criteria for off-label use. Specifically, two out of three non-depression prescriptions were given under an off-label purpose.

"I wasn't surprised by the indications themselves," said Wong. "But I was surprised by the extent."

Is It Dangerous?

Robyn Tamblyn, senior author of the McGill study, said what they are concerned about is that it is unknown whether off-label drugs used to treat conditions such as migraine are effective.

"These doctors are prescribing in the dark," said Tamblyn.

However, Dr. Peter Kramer, a psychiatrist that specializes in clinical depression, said antidepressants have a wide range of potential uses. He said he has always written that these are not necessarily best called "antidepressants."

These drugs are more active in the nervous system, but whether they actually reverse depression or affect nerve cells in a way that does not target depression is a good question, he said.

Tamblyn said further clinical trials need to be conducted on off-label use for antidepressants to prove or rule out the efficacy of the drug.

In the United States, antidepressant use went up almost 400 percent from 1988 to 1994 and 2005 to 2008. Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 11 percent of teenagers and adults take antidepressants.

In Australia, antidepressant use has doubled despite years of research suggesting that the medications are not as effective as doctors thought they would be.

Photo: Brandon Giesbrecht | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which handles the messaging network used to transfer billions of dollars between various international banks every day, announced on Tuesday, May 24 that it will implement a new security program that will prevent cybercriminals from accessing its system again.

During a financial services conference in Belgium, SWIFT CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said they will reveal a five-point plan later in the week, which will underscore the company's strategy on how to avoid another security breach in their system.

SWIFT has been known to provide a secure means for banks all over the world to send money transfer instructions to each other.

However, cybercriminals hacked into the central bank of Bangladesh's SWIFT network and stole $81 million by sending false messages to New York's Federal Reserve Bank in February.

This is not the first time SWIFT's system has experienced an issue with cybersecurity. In 2015, thieves hacked into Ecuador's Banco del Austro using the same method, allowing them to get away with more than $12 million. Another attack was attempted on the Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam but failed.

The recent string of thefts has severely damaged SWIFT's reputation in the banking community.

Leibbrandt described the heist involving the Bangladesh central bank as a crucial incident for the industry.

"There will be a before and an after Bangladesh," the SWIFT CEO said. "The Bangladesh fraud is not an isolated incident ... this is a big deal. And it gets to the heart of banking."

SWIFT is now calling on banks around the world to carry out drastic improvements on how they share information with each other, to strengthen their procedures for security around SWIFT's own system, and to use programs designed to spot irregularities in payments more often.

For SWIFT's part, Leibbrandt said they are ready to provide assistance to lenders in order to detect potential frauds. He added that they can provide them with tools and guides on how to identify irregularities at the receiving bank.

The company is also willing to provide stricter guidelines for regulators and auditors so that they can better assess whether a particular bank's security procedures for its system meet the right standards.

Photo: Got Credit | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In the aftermath of a fatal clinical drug trial, the French Health Ministry instructed regional authorities across the country to conduct inspections on every authorized medical center. This will ensure that the centers meet the standards set for drug trials.

In January, a clinical drug trial in France went horribly wrong. One study participant died while five others ended up in the hospital. Now, the French Health Ministry found two companies were at fault for the fatal drug test.

Based on the newly released investigation report by the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS), the five hospitalized participants have been dismissed.

They were part of the 128-participant study who took BIA 10-2474, a painkiller developed by Portuguese drug company Bial.

BIA 10-2474 targets the endogenous cannabinoid system, which is part of the human body's pain management system. The drug is designed to treat motor disorders as well as anxiety.

The trial was conducted by French company Biotrial at a private hospital in Rennes, Brittany. During the clinical trial, BIA 10-2474 was given to the participants under doctors' supervision.

While the French-authorized trial conditions were followed, the investigation found that the two companies failed "on several counts."

The two companies failed to give the right drug amount to the study participants. It also took them long to inform the French government and the other participants about the problems.

The life-threatening side effects started in the group that were given several 50 milligrams daily doses. The participants who previously received either one-time doses of up to 100 milligrams or several doses of up to 20 milligrams did not experience any dangerous consequences arising from the drug intake.

The major mistakes started after the hospitalization of a 49-year-old participant on Jan. 10. The participant suffered from blurry vision and headaches, then eventually died.

The trial continued and the participants received another round of drug doses the following morning. They were not informed of what happened to their co-participant. Moreover, Biotrial only alerted the government authorities on Jan. 14.

The Phase 1 study has been put on hold. The French authorities will give the two companies one month to submit an action plan guaranteeing that no similar issues will arise in subsequent trials. Otherwise, the two companies risk getting suspended.

The IGAS report (PDF) also mentioned the possibility of a separate judicial review. The volunteers' health records will be continuously investigated. A separate authority will relay the health information to the European Commission.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Huawei has filed lawsuits against Samsung in the United States and China over smartphone technology patent infringement.

Huawei is seeking compensation from Samsung and does not want to block sales of the Korean company. Huawei alleges that Samsung infringed as many as 12 Huawei patents relating to 4G technology, user interface and operating system in its smartphones without a license agreement.

"We hope Samsung will ... stop infringing our patents and get the necessary license from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward," said Ding Jianxing, the president of Huawei's Intellectual Property Rights Department.

Samsung is accused of using Huawei technology in some of its flagship devices such as the Galaxy S2, which was launched about five years ago.

Huawei claims that the company offered a fair charge to Samsung for using its patents, but the Korean company refused to pay.

"We have a good history of licensing and cross-licensing of our peers. We hope that Samsung will do the right thing," says William Plummer, a Huawei spokesman.

Samsung wrote in a statement that the company will examine the allegations and will take necessary actions to defend its business interests.

The latest lawsuit is the first by a Chinese handset maker against Samsung. Many smartphone makers from China are giving stiff competition to well-known brands such as Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC and more in China as well as other parts of the world.

Samsung is the leader of the global smartphone market, and it has presence in many countries across the world. Chinese company Huawei has a strong presence in China, and it is slowly expanding its reach in other countries. Huawei has become the third largest mobile phone vendor in the world just after Samsung and Apple.

"Huawei's continued domestic dominance, combined with a growing presence outside of China, enabled it to capture the number 3 position worldwide in 1Q16. Shipment volume for Huawei climbed from 17.4 million units in 1Q15 to 27.5 million this quarter for year-over-year growth of 58.4%," says an International Data Corporation (IDC) report. "Huawei's two-pronged approach with a focus on both premium and entry-level devices proved successful in China as well as in many developed European markets."

Samsung has been involved in a number of patent infringement court battles in the U.S. and other countries. In 2011, Apple accused Samsung of copying design aspect of its iPhone. Both the companies filed various lawsuits against each other, but in 2014, they agreed to drop all lawsuits outside the U.S.

Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Clinical trials are crucial in the advancement of disease treatments. Results of a new survey, however, have showed that most Americans are not willing to participate in one.

In a survey of more than 1,500 individuals between 18 and 69 years old, researchers have found that only 35 percent of Americans are willing to enroll in a clinical trial.

The findings raise concerns particularly in the field of cancer research given that advances in cancer are first evaluated in clinical trials.

Despite the importance of clinical trials in the field of cancer treatments, research has shown that only 4 percent of patients diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. participate in these trials per year.

The study, which was commissioned by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, revealed several concerns about clinical trials.

Of those surveyed, 55 percent were worried about the safety of the clinical trial and its potential side effects, a concern that can be exacerbated by reported incidences of botched trials that resulted in unnecessary illnesses and even death.

Half were uncertain about insurance coverage and personal expenses; 48 percent had issues with the locations of the trials; 46 percent worry about getting a placebo; 35 percent were skeptical of getting treatment that has not yet been proven to work; and 34 percent were bothered by feeling like a guinea pig.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center chief medical officer Jose Baselga said a crisis in cancer research and discovery looms if the trend of low enrolment continues.

Baselga added that further education could help boost participation just as suggested by the study. After learning more about clinical trials, the number of those surveyed with positive impression of clinical trials jumped by 20 percent.

The result of the survey likewise suggests that many doctors do not discuss clinical trials with their patients, which could partly be blamed for lack of information.

Of the nearly 600 doctors involved in the survey, only 32 percent had clinical trial discussions with their patients at the start of the treatment.

"It is critical that the cancer community address common myths and misunderstandings around issues like effectiveness, safety, use of placebo, and at which point in treatment a trial should be considered," said Paul Sabbatini, also from Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Sabbatini added that failure to consider trials represents a missed opportunity for patients, doctors and researchers who try to develop better treatments.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The head of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai Ing-wen, became the island's new leader on May 20 in a regime change that certainly poses new challenges for authorities and people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The mainland and Taiwan, through the "92 Consensus," benefited enormously via trade cooperation, cultural exchanges and people-to-people interaction during the eight years that the Kuomintang Party held power, before DPP won the January election. Nearly 10 million cross-strait trips by mainlanders and Taiwanese were recorded last year, while bilateral trade rose to nearly US$ 200 billion in 2015.

Authorities on both sides have also extended friendly relations by expanding direct airline flights, shipping links and postal services. There have also been more collaborative efforts aimed at improving quarantine oversight and fighting crime.

Handshakes shared during a historic meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Tsai's predecessor Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore last November  the first such meeting in more than six decades  demonstrated to the world their wisdom and resolve to build on common ground and patch up differences. Since then, cross-strait relations have been warmer than ever.

But the island's new administration has raised concerns among some mainlanders who wonder whether the ruling DPP will change cross-strait policies in the future. Ma might share these concerns, as he reportedly told Tsai the "bridge" he helped build to facilitate cross-strait dialogue would be open to anyone who succeeds him  but only if the new leader obeys "traffic rules."

A fundamental rule is the "92 Consensus." It says that both sides recognize Taiwan and the mainland as two parts of "one China," and that each side has an independent understanding of what that means. Without that consensus, the relationship's mutual trust element would be in shambles, and both sides would find it hard to maintain momentum for cross-strait dialogue and cooperation.

We predict mainland authorities are likely to take a more proactive approach toward supporting the relationship by addressing issues and setting an agenda  as well as setting the tone  for future dialogue. They're also likely to be more results-driven.

In doing so, Beijing wants to send a clear message to leaders on the other side of the Taiwan Strait that obeying the "traffic rules" is a prerequisite for moving cross-strait relations forward. No one should take for granted the level of reconciliation reached over the past eight years.

Trade across the Taiwan Strait will continue serving as the cornerstone for cross-strait relations, regardless of what happens next. The ruling DPP, for its own self-interest, might try putting the brakes on cross-strait relations.

For the sake of the Taiwanese economy, political maneuvering is not desirable at the moment. The island's gross domestic products growth rate declined 0.84 percent year-on-year in the first quarter 2016, marking the third quarterly contraction in a row. The Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research in Taipei expects this year's growth rate to be the second lowest since the 2008 global financial crisis. Exports contribute to 70 percent of Taiwan's GDP. The mainland and Hong Kong last year imported 40 percent of those exports by monetary value.

Some economic analysts in Taiwan say the island's and mainland's economies are liked conjoined twins. Taiwan's economy is trade-driven, as its factories supply high-tech firms worldwide. The mainland is Taiwan's biggest trade partner and investment destination. Any political turmoil on the island would strain cross-strait cooperation in trade and manufacturing, which in turn could turn people in the island against DPP's cross-strait policies.

Mainland authorities should keep an open mind and try to reach out to those in Taiwan who cherish peace. Taiwanese who believe in the one-China policy should also be reassured that they will have full access to mainland markets and mainland-led international initiatives, which are certain to help the island prosper.

It's true that cross-strait relations suffered a setback as a result of a March 2014 campaign against the Cross-strait Service Trade Agreement in Taiwan. This was despite the mainland government offering Taiwan greater concessions than it had offered any other trade partner before, when the pact was signed in June 2013.

The agreement, which Taiwan's legislators have yet to ratify, would not only give the island's service providers wider access to the mainland but also promote integration of complementary economies. After all, the service industry provides more than 60 percent of the island's jobs.

Given current political sentiment in Taiwan, the agreement is unlikely to take effect any time soon. Mainland authorities can circumvent the deadlock, though, by pushing ahead with key projects that are in the interest of the Taiwanese public. In so doing, the mainland would show itself flexible and interested in in the well-being of people in Taiwan, as well as national unity while keeping a wary eye on the ruling DPP.

Cross-strait relations have certainly entered a new era. Mainland authorities have so far reacted in line with the expectations of people on both sides of the strait. We may see some turbulence ahead, but any backtracking on major agreements upholding the relationship is unlikely as long as all continue to promote cross-strait trade ties.

Hu Shuli is the editor-in-chief of Caixin Media
India's First Quick Charge Power Bank Launched At INR 3,299 | TechTree.com

Syska Accessories has recently launched a new power bank, dubbed as the Power Elite 100, which comes with Quick Charge support. The power bank is said to be India's first powerbank that is powered by next generation Qualcomm Quick Charge support, according to the claims made by the company.

Speaking about the power bank, it comes with a capacity of 10,050 mAh and features a dual USB port which enables users to charge two devices at the same time.

According to a recent report by Indian Express, Rajesh Uttamchandani, Director SSK Group has expressed that the new power bank is designed for users needs and not just for charging smartphones.

While the Power Elite 100 comes with a sleek and stylish design, it also seems to be highly versatile, considering the claims being made by the company.

The Power Elite 100 feature multiple chipset security feature that ensures protection from short circuit, Li-ion batteries made by LG, and also a built-in flashlight, a feature which is most commonly seen in power bank nowadays.

The Syska Power Elite 100 (QC) power bank will be available in four different color variants - White, Black, Gold, and Blue. It is available for purchase with a price tag of INR 3,299 from offline retailers and e-commerce portals.

TAGS: Syska Power Elite 100, Syska Powerbanks
OtterBox Partners To Expand Mobile Universe | TechTree.com

OtterBox, the premier case brand in smartphone protection, has unveiled the uniVERSE Case System, a revolutionary mobile accessory platform that enhances the functionality of iPhone. The uniVERSE Case System features a versatile protective case with swappable accessory modules from leading manufacturers including Square, Polar Pro, SanDisk, olloclip, Seek Thermal and others to streamline the mobile experience.

The uniVERSE Case System outfits iPhone 6/6s and iPhone 6 Plus/6s Plus with a slim, protective OtterBox case that transforms by attaching a variety of accessories from leading brands. Users can add camera lenses, connect a battery, attach a speaker, hunt heat leaks with thermal imaging, accept new payment types, store more media - with the uniVERSE Case System.

"Innovation in the mobile technology world continues to evolve, and smartphones are at the center of this evolution," said OtterBox CEO Jim Parke. "OtterBox is bringing together industry giants and cutting-edge innovators to create a customizable mobile ecosystem. With uniVERSE Case System, consumers don't have to compromise premium protection to use the amazing array of accessories that are changing how we use our phones."

The uniVERSE Case System combines trusted OtterBox protection with the ability to expand iPhone's features. A diverse and growing group of accessory makers have partnered to create compatible modules that can be easily attached to the case via a slotted rail system. A removable accent plate covers the rail when modules are not in use, creating a sleek, clean case back. Select modules can also be attached with a grooved edge inside the camera opening and on top of the case for more versatility. The case slips on easily in one step to offer sleek, pocket-friendly protection.

OtterBox offers free shipping to Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia.

TAGS: Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6s, Apple iPhone 6s Plus, OtterBox, SanDisk
Check whether your email figures in the 117 million LinkedIn data leak

LinkedIn, the professional social network company that was hacked more than four years ago confirmed that a huge batch of login credentials is being sold on the Dark Web by hackers and that millions of customers are still at risk from attack.

In a report published by Vices Motherboard, the hackers have been selling 117 million LinkedIn credentials on a black market online called The Real Deal for around $2,200 (1,500) in Bitcoin. A total of 167 million LinkedIn credentials were in the set  still with poorly hashed passwords  and this time, they included email addresses, allowing anyone who got their hands on them steal numerous accounts at other online services.

For its part, LinkedIn offered the same, go-to statement used by every company after a data breach.

We take the safety and security of our members accounts seriously, wrote Cory Scott, the companys chief information security officer.

For those unfamiliar, in June 2012, 6.5 million passwords, without additional email addresses, were found being sold in online criminal forums. Many of them included the text string linkedin, indicating where they came from.

The passwords had been hashed, or scrambled with a one-way mathematical algorithm, in such a poor way that most of the hashes were swiftly cracked and the passwords disclosed. Following that revelation, LinkedIn said it reset the passwords for affected accounts, and implemented a stronger hashing algorithm. Further, a year later, the company introduced an option to use to two-step verification.

Troy Hunt, an Australian security expert has now uploaded the entire dataset to his data breach website, HaveIBeenPwned.com, to let anyone check whether their account was compromised.

When you input the email address, the website will cross-verify it with a total of 510,321,085 account details from more than 106 compromised websites.

This includes a total of 167 million LinkedIn accounts that have been made available since 2012, some of which may have originated from following breaches or hacks.

If the details are matched, the site will notify the user to the breach and suggest that they change their password.

Another website, LeakedSource too are offering to alert people if they were affected by the LinkedIn breach, but, it may ask you for money.

However, LinkedIn has reacted to the data breach by demanding people stop making the password information available and said it will evaluate potential legal action if they fail to comply.

In the meantime, we are using automated tools to attempt to identify and block any suspicious activity that might occur on affected accounts, the social network said in a statement on 18 May.

In an update on the breach, a LinkedIn spokeswoman told Toms Guide in an email message, Weve finished our process of invalidating all accounts we believed were at risk. These were accounts that had not reset their passwords since the 2012 breach. Well soon be sending more information to all members that could have been affected, even if they updated their password four years ago.

While there is no clarity as to why the data from the breach has unexpectedly started circulating four years after the initial breach. Hunt guesses: It could be many different things; the attacker finally deciding to monetise it, they themselves being targeted and losing the data or ultimately trading it for something else of value.
Major blow to Alphabet as French authorities raid Google office to probe $1.7 billion tax fraud

After months of accusing Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. of evading billions of dollars taxes in Europe, French authorities yesterday raided Google for aggravated financial fraud and organised money laundering.

French police and two dozen computer experts raided Googles Paris offices Tuesday in a fraud probe, with the US Internet giant already suspected of owing EUR 1.6 billion ($1.7) in back taxes.

The French authorities suspect Google of aggravated tax fraud and conspiracy to conceal (it), the national financial prosecution service (PNF) said in a statement.

The raids give first clear indications of how European countries will proceed against Google and other tech companies evading paying taxes. The raids are said to be a culmination of Frances long-running enquiry into Googles tax affairs. The warrant revealed on Tuesday that the software giant is suspected of evading taxes by failing to declare the full extent of its activities in the country.

Prosecutors said they want to establish whether the Irish company through which Google funnels the majority of its European revenues does in fact control a permanent establishment in France.

A Google spokeswoman told reported that We respect French legislation and are fully cooperating with the authorities to answer their questions.

The bone of contention between the French authorities and Google is its headquarters in Ireland, which has some of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe. French tax authorities allege that Alphabet and Google are not declaring the extent of business carried out in France and routing the same to Ireland.

The PNF said the probe, launched in June 2015, aimed to check whether Google Ireland Limited, by not declaring part of its activity carried out on French territory has failed in its tax obligations, notably in terms of company tax and value-added tax.

Google France received a notification of the investigation back in March 2014, which did not give any precise figures. Its offices have been raided by French authorities before, in June 2011, during an investigation into transfers to its Irish headquarters.

Google has had a history of tax issues. In January, Google agreed to pay GBP 130 million (EUR 170 million, $190 million) in back taxes in Britain after a government inquiry sparked by a public outcry. Another European country, Italy has demanded more than EUR 200 million from Google, which is accused of perpetrating tax fraud there for years.

The state financial prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement: These searches form part of a preliminary enquiry opened on 16 June 2015 relating to acts of aggravated financial fraud and organised laundering of aggravated financial fraud, following a complaint from the French tax authorities.

The PNF confirmed it had led the operation, assisted by the central office for the fight against corruption and financial and tax crimes (OCLCIFF) alongside 25 computing experts.

The enquiry is focused on verifying whether the company Google Ireland Ltd controls a permanent establishment in France and if, by not declaring a part of the activities conducted on French territory, it has failed in its fiscal obligations, notably regarding taxes on companies and value-added tax.

Both Alphabet and Google have so far managed to escape the tax noose in Europe through financial wizardry but this time it seems that the odds are highly staked against it.
A simple prank of hacking and defacing highway sign with Drive Crazy Yall could land a hacker in jail for 10 years

Sometimes laws of land are so full of shit that they cant be explained. United States is no exception. A common prank has left Geoffrey Eltgroth with uncommon charges which could see him behind bars for 10 long years.

Eltgroth a 26 year-old hacker from Texas was arrested on Sunday for reprogramming an electronic highway sign to read DRIVE CRAZY YALL. As we have reported over the years, hacking highway signs, billboards, advertising boards are pretty commonplace in US but Eltgroth seems to have hacked and defaced the highway sign at a wrong time and wrong place.

Texas police has charged Eltgroth with an unlikely penalty: charges of felony criminal mischief, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

As said above, hacking and reprogramming highway signs is both remarkably commonplace and, as far as hacks go, incredibly easy. Most of these hacking signs are controlled by a computer which usually has the default username and password. Even if the billboard owner has changed the default passwordwhich often isnt the caseit can only take a single step to simply reset it. You need to just Google it.

Previously, such hackers have managed to hack highway signs with GODZILLA ATTACK!, VOTE DONALD TRUMP, and the ever-popular CAUTION! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!!! However, reports of such hackers being caught and charged with a criminal felony is rare, very rare.

The Cedar Park Police affidavit, obtained by Vocativ says that a Williamson County officer was tipped to a man tinkering with the sign, then found Eltgroth walking a dog behind a gas station. When I confronted Eltgroth about changing the sign, he admitted to typing in the user name and password (which he guessed) for the sign and deleting the message to warn traffic of upcoming construction, the officer declared, because he believed it was humorous.

Eltgroth is still in jail under the custody of Williamson County Sheriffs department and will be going to court shortly. It remains to be seen whether the court views his prank as serious as felony and indicts him as the Texas police want.
The Israeli aggression on Nablus is "a real war crime committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people," Nabil Abu Rudeinah said. | Read More
A Pennsylvania judge has ordered Bill Cosby to stand trial for sexual assault, ruling there is enough evidence for the entertainer to be criminally tried.
Vietnam will possibly remove a price cap imposed on baby formula products two years ago in response to requests from foreign investors.

At a meeting with the US Trade Representative Michael Froman on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung said the government will consider lifting the ceiling this July, the finance ministry's website reported.

Dung was responding to concerns about Vietnam's control over dairy products' prices, it said.

The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam has more than once urged the government to reduce and then stop intervening in markets with administrative measures, according to local media.

Vietnam started applying the pricing policy in June 2014 following media reports and public complaints that the local prices of baby formula were much higher than those in other Southeast Asian countries. They also said the prices kept increasing regardless of drops in input costs.

By the end of March, the finance ministry had controlled the wholesale prices of 831 brands of producers such as Japan's Meiji, the Netherlands' FrieslandCampina, the US's Abbott and Mead Johnson, and Vietnam's Vinamilk, according to official figures.

Under existing rules which are slated to last until the end of this year, retailers can add a maximum markup of 15 percent.
The tropical Pacific Ocean is in a neutral state and outlooks suggest little chance of indicators returning to El Nino levels, Australias Bureau of Meteorology said on its website on Tuesday. That means mid-May marks the end of the event that reduced Indian rainfall, parched farmland in Asia and curbed cocoa production in parts of Africa.

Sea surface temperatures across the tropical Pacific have cooled to neutral levels over the past fortnight, supported by much cooler-than-average waters beneath the surface, the weather bureau said. In the atmosphere, indicators such as the trade winds, cloudiness near the Date Line, and the Southern Oscillation Index have also returned to neutral levels.

Weather watchers are now waiting for La Nina, a cooling of the tropical Pacific sometimes thought of as El Ninos opposite. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says theres a 75 percent chance it will develop by years end, but its formation also could come earlier: sometime from July to September. Australias weather bureau says the majority of climate models suggest La Nina is likely to form between June and August.

The 2015-16 El Nino was one of the three strongest on record, generating the hottest global temperatures in more than 130 years, according to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina. April marked the 12th consecutive month to set a new record.

El Nino typically parches parts of Asia and Australia. It boosted palm oil prices to a two-year high in March, while declining coffee production in Indonesia and Vietnam helped spur the longest rally in two decades for arabica coffee futures.

La Nina can also roil agricultural markets as it changes weather, with the pattern typically contributing to more hurricanes in the Atlantic and heavy rain in Indonesia and India. The previous La Nina began in 2010 and endured into 2012.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and HCMC mayor Nguyen Thanh Phong at the launching ceremony of Fulbright University Vietnam on May 25, 2016. Photo: Ha Anh

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday officially launched Vietnam's first private non-profit university in Ho Chi Minh City.

The launch came at the end of a three-day visit to Vietnam by US President Barack Obama and a delegation of senior officials.

Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) was licensed by the Vietnamese government on May 16. The university is expected to expand the important work of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP), which has educated more than 1,200 Vietnamese mid-career professionals in the public and non-governmental sectors since 1995.

Dinh La Thang, the city's Party chief, said at the launching ceremony that the government has high expectations for FUV and will create the most favorable conditions for the university to develop qualified human resources.

The school is allowed to begin its enrollment at the end of this year, providing programs in public policy and administration besides science and technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

The US government has pledged to provide more than US$20 million for the project, while HCMC allocated 25 hectares of land in the Saigon High-tech Park in District 9 for the university's campus.

In total, more than $60 million in cash and others have been pledged by sponsors. Dam Bich Thuy, the founding principal of FUV, said it needs up to an estimated $150 million in the first five years.

The Cambridge-headquartered Trust for University Innovation (TUIV) in Vietnam executes the project in cooperation with the US Department of State.

FUV will inherit the human and knowledge capital of the Fulbright School, established in 1994 by Harvard University and the University of Economics, HCMC and widely recognized as the leading independent center of public policy teaching and research in Vietnam, according to TUIV.
The US Congress has approved around US$20 million for a project to establish Fulbright University Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, the Saigon Times Online reported on Thursday.

The project will be executed by the US Department of State in cooperation with the Trust for University Innovation (TUIV) in Vietnam, it quoted the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) in Vietnam as saying.

It said TUIV, which is headquartered in Cambridge, has also raised funds for the project from sponsors in the US and Vietnam.

The project, now awaiting an investment license, needed a total of around $70 million, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

It was approved in principle by Vietnamese government in June last year.

Under the approved plan, the non-profit institution will operate like US universities, and with academic independence.

A detailed plan will be announced at FETPs 20th anniversary this Saturday, Saigon Times Online reported.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Nguyen Xuan Thanh, director of FETP, said they planned to initially introduce post-graduation programs about administration and laws at the university in order to establish its teaching staff, while FETP would become its public policy school.

The Fulbright University Vietnam project was first mentioned in a co-statement by President Truong Tan Sang and his US counterpart Barack Obama in July 2013, and again during US Secretary of State John Kerrys visit to Vietnam in December that same year.

FETP was founded in 1994 as a partnership between HCMCs University of Economics and the USs Harvard Kennedy School.
Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, investor of Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc, has denied allegations made by a zoo expert that 1,700 creatures died at the newly-opened park, saying the death toll was just 100.

Peter Dickinson, a British zoo consultant who runs a blog called Zoo News Digest, on Feb. 15 wrote on that blog that according to his contact, most of the expat team has left Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc after the deaths of more than 1,000 birds and nearly 700 mammals, including 20 giraffes.

Deaths are attributed to parasites, disease, underfeeding and horrific accident, Dickinson wrote.

In response, Vingroup said in a statement released on Sunday: The information that the animal death toll at Vinpearl Safari hit thousands is completely untrue.

The company said more than 100 creatures, including birds and animals, died as the result of long transportation process and their failure to adapt to the new environment in Phu Quoc, a southern resort island where the safari was opened late last year.

Vingroup also said the number of monkeys leaving the park was 135, not 500 as Dickinson claimed.

135 small monkeys, each weighs between 150 grams and 200 grams, escaped the grid cages which had been designed for larger monkeys, the company said in the statement.

In his blog, Dickinson also said two headhunting companies have approached him with regard to a very senior role in Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc, but he did not follow up on the offers because he is happy with his job in Dubai.

But news website Zing on Sunday quoted an unidentified representative from Vingroup as rejecting that information too.

Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc, the first safari park in Vietnam, has around 3,000 animals of 150 species imported from different parts around the world such as Bengal tiger, Arabian oryx, addax antelope and black-and-white ruffed lemur.

The 500-hectare park is divided into different areas, including the South America-Amazon, the Wild Africa, and the Night Safari.
A man in the northern mountain province of Tuyen Quang has had a live leech removed from his nose after bleeding for three days and having difficulty breathing.

Cong, 22, said the difficulties began after he washed his face and drank some water from a stream while working in a field.

The 3cm long leech after being removed from a 22-year-old man's nose in Tuyen Quang Province. Photo credit: VnExpress At the Tuyen Quang General Hospital, Dr Vu Thi Kim Chi removed a 3cm long leech from his nose.

The man is now normal.

The doctor said it could have been more dangerous if the leech had moved down into his throat.

It is a common occurrence when people drink from streams when working in the field or going into forests, and this habit should be abandoned, she said.

In March doctors at Cho Don Clinic in Bac Kan Province removed 4 leeches from the nose of a three-year-old child. The family said they often use water from a nearby stream.
The Lotus Village of Vietnamese people in Odessa, Ukraine was raided on May 23, 2016. Photo credit: Nguoi Viet Ukraina

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukrainian ambassador Aleksei Shovkoplias over a raid of an ethnic Vietnamese quarter in Odessa by Ukrainian forces on May 23.

Vietnam has taken the issue seriously and the envoy has been asked to forward the ministrys request to investigate the case and return properties seized during the raid, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Hong Nam said Tuesday.

He called on Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety and security of ethnic Vietnamese living in Lotus village in Odessa.

The raid was carried out at around 3 p.m. on May 23.

According to news website Timer, some 10 cars and two vans with armed men broke down a gate at the complex entrance and began to break into apartments and grab money and valuables. Anyone who resisted was assaulted.

The victims claimed that at least half a million dollars in cash and assets were taken away.

The website of the Odessa police reported that the operation was carried out by the staff of the Prosecutors office.

A file photo shows a safe in an apartment being destroyed after a raid at the Lotus Village in Ukraine on May 23, 2016. Photo credit: Channel 7 According to The Odessa Times, representatives of the Vietnamese community gathered May 24 at the Odessa Prosecutors Office and demanded that the perpetrators be punished.

Solomiya Bobrovska, deputy governor of the Odessa region, apologized to them and said the situation has been brought under control by local police.

Earlier, on January 28, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU, dubbed the Ukrainian FBI), reportedly searching for evidence of illegal activity by immigrants, particularly illegal foreign currency transactions, broke into the apartments of ethnic Vietnamese, Novorossia Today reported.
One of the sleeper buses which were burned down after a head-on collision in the central province of Binh Thuan on May 22, 2016. The accident killed 13 and injured 40. Photo: Que Ha/Thanh Nien

Another victim in a collision between two buses and one truck that left 12 people dead and 40 others injured in Binh Thuan Province on Sunday has succumbed to severe burns.

Vy Thanh Hieu, 46, died on Tuesday at Ho Chi Minh City's Cho Ray Hospital, where he and three others with the most serious injuries were being treated, local media reported.

He was one of the passengers on the two sleeper buses which crashed head-on on the National Road 1A's section in Ham Thuan Nam District at around 4 a.m., before being burned down in a blaze.

One of the buses belonged to transport company Phuong Trang and was heading to Ho Chi Minh City from the central province of Quang Ngai. The other was bound for the central province of Ha Tinh.

According to initial information from police, both the buses were moving within the speed limit of 70 kilometers per hour.

When the buses were on fire, a truck crashed into them and quickly caught fire as well.

Locals and rescuers managed to evacuate 40 people, while 12 others were trapped.

Investigators are looking into the cause.

Official figures showed four accidents on the same road section since 2015. A total of 26 people have been killed.

The eight-kilometer section is 13 meters wide, which is too narrow to host four lanes, local media reported, citing Pham Van Nam, director of Binh Thuan's Transport Department.

Traffic accidents kill 24 people on average every day, according to official statistics. Vietnam now has nearly 2.75 million cars and 45 million motorbikes.
Local residents join a rescue of a 12-meter long whale stranded at a beach in Nghe An Province's Dien Thinh Commune in early morning on May 25, 2016. Photo: Pham Duc/Thanh Nien

Thousands of people in the central province of Nghe An rushed to a local beach on Wednesday morning to watch the rescue of a 12-meter long whale, local media reported.

The whale, estimated to weigh around 15 tons, reportedly drifted ashore in Dien Chau Districts Dien Thinh Commune early Wednesday.

Residents found the mammal alive, struggling to return to the sea.

More than 20 rescuers were sent to the site and they used two excavator digging trucks remove sand to help bring the whale back to the sea.

Thousands of locals flocked to the site and watched the rescue.

The whale looked weak after hours of struggling. There were several wounds on its body.

All along the Vietnamese coast, whales are revered as harbingers of good luck at sea.

Temples and festivals worshiping the creatures can be found in many cities and provinces.
The graphic image of a 7.8 kilometer long floodbank along the Saigon River. Photo credit: Trung Nam Group Authority in Ho Chi Minh City has appointed a local construction firm to develop a system of floodbank, drains and floodgates at the projected cost of a VND9.93 trillion (US$436.65 million), local media reported on Friday.

The system will free a combined area of 570 square kilometers in districts 1, 4, 7, 8, Nha Be and Binh Chanh from flooding, with about 6.5 million people benefiting from it, the media quoted Trung Nam Group's feasibility study as saying.

A nearly 7.8 kilometers long embankment will be built along the Saigon River, while six floodgates will be built at different sections of the river with the heights of 3.5-10 meters. A total of 25 drains will also be built around the giant structures as a supportive system, according to the plan.

Trung Nam Group will execute the project in three years, possibly starting this year end, at its own expenses in exchange for rights to lands in the city for its other projects. The lands will be equivalent to 15 percent of the project's cost, and the rest will be paid from the city's budget in eight years, the media said.

The project is one Ho Chi Minh City's latest efforts to deal with worsening flooding issues.

At a recent meeting, the municipal authority announced that it will earmark more than VND156 trillion ($6.85 billion) for anti-flooding projects over the next five years.
Ho Chi Minh City needs a large amount of money to fix its flooding problem since it was designed for two million people but the population has surged to more than 10 million, experts said at a conference on the issue Tuesday.

It will need VND97.3 trillion (US$4.38 billion) for anti-flooding projects by 2020, according to a report released at the conference held by the city Party unit.

The city has earmarked VND23 trillion (nearly $1.1 billion), including for three wastewater treatment plants at Binh Hung, Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe, and Tham Luong  Ben Cat, and is still looking to mobilize the remaining amount.

Urban infrastructure, specifically the drainage system, is overloaded due to the rapid population growth, according to the report.

Authorities hope to raise money from official development assistance loans and the private sector.

More than VND39.2 trillion ($1.76 billion) worth of ODA will be needed to dredge sections of the Tham Luong, Ben Cat and Nuoc Len canals and move out the slums situated along their banks.

The city is still looking for funds for at least four more wastewater treatment plants, sluice gates to prevent water from canals flooding into the sewer system and dredging the Xuyen Tam Canal and the Go Dua and Khanh Hoi reservoirs.

The Ho Chi Minh City Anti-flooding Center will invest in systems to monitor the flows in major canals, including Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe and Tan Hoa  Lo Gom.
A doctor at Cho Ray Hospital examines one of the two acid attack victims on March 30, 2016. Photo: Thang Duy/Thanh Nien Police in Ho Chi Minh City are looking for two suspects in an acid attack on a street on Wednesday that left two college students severely injured.

The female students were attacked on their way from school at around 10:30 a.m. on Quang Trung Street, Go Vap District, according to investigators.

Hoang Tang Thi Thu Huong, 20, who was driving the motorbike, received most of the acid to her face. Her left eye was blind.

A doctor from Cho Ray Hospital sa id his medical team is trying its best to save her right eye and perform facial skin transplant.

Tran Nguyen Ai Duyen, 21, who was sitting behind, had severe burns on both arms.

She said two strange men on a motorbike sped up from behind and splashed the acid at them.

We first thought it was just dirty water. But Huongs face quickly turned red and she passed out, she said.

Locals rushed Huong to hospital. An eyewitness said the men fled on the motorbike with no license plate.

The site of an acid attack against two female college students in Ho Chi Minh City March 30, 2016. Photo: Duc Tien/Thanh Nien. Duyen said she and Huong used to receive threats on Facebook from a former roommate.

Three months ago, two strange men kicked their motorbike on the street, causing them to fall and suffer scratches, she said.

Acid attacks are not rare in Vietnam where chemicals can be easily bought in large amounts.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU, dubbed as the Ukrainian FBI) raided into a Vietnamese quarter in Odessa City on Thursday, Novorossia Today reported.

The operation in the Vietnamese quarter on Grushevskogo Street resulted in a brawl between fighters of the special division "Alpha" and residents of the Lotus housing complex.

According to the report, SBU officers, who were searching for evidence of illegal activity by immigrants (particularly illegal foreign currency transactions), acted rather unceremoniously, breaking into the apartments of Vietnamese immigrants.

Vietnamese ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Minh Tri sent a team of diplomats to Odessa to work with local authorities as soon as he was informed of the operation, Vietnam News Agency reported

The current situation in the "Lotus" housing complex has stabilized.
The Security Service of Ukraine officers control a Vietnamese man during a raid on February 28, 2016. Photo credit: Novorossia Today

Ukraine authorities have released three Vietnamese nationals that they arrested during a raid into a Vietnamese quarter last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The ministry told local media that the Vietnamese embassy in Ukraine took protection measures for Vietnamese citizens as soon as it was informed of the arrest last Thursday.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ukrainian equivalent to the FBI, raided a Vietnamese quarter in Odessa City that day, Novorossia Today reported.

The operation in the Vietnamese quarter on Grushevskogo Street resulted in a brawl between fighters of the special division "Alpha" and residents of the Lotus housing complex.

According to the report, SBU officers were searching for evidence of illegal activity by immigrants, particularly illegal foreign currency transactions. They acted rather unceremoniously, breaking into the apartments of Vietnamese immigrants.

They forced opened the apartments when the owners were not home.

The Vietnamese claimed that the operatives stole money and valuables. In response to the actions of the SBU, residents blocked the exit from the complex and began to rush toward the operatives.

It was reported that a Vietnamese man named Man Hong Vinh was beaten by SBU officers. Three Vietnamese nationals were arrested following the raid.

Vietnamese ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Minh Tri sent a team of diplomats to Odessa to work with local authorities as soon as he was informed of the arrest.

Two of the arrestees were released the same day.

The third man was released several days later, according to the embassy.

On Tuesday, Ly Quoc Tuan, head of the Consular Department, asked Ukraine to quickly settle the situation during a meeting with Ukraine ambassador to Vietnam Aleksiy Shovkoplias in Hanoi.

He said the incident stirred concern among the Vietnamese community in Ukraine.
A jungle in Lam Dong Province which has been planned as a site for a safari park. Photo credit: Tuoi Tre

Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands has announced a plan to build a 490-hectare safari park to boost tourism.

Le Van Huong, director of the national park Bidoup in the province, said at a meeting Friday it is cooperating with local travel firm Dalat Tourist to set up Highland Safari in Lac Duong Province, north of the resort town Da Lat.

The company will foot 65 percent of the cost of VND1 trillion (US$45 million) and the rest will come from the state budget, Huong said, as cited by Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The first phase of the project will complete in 2020, placing rare animals in natural conditions with human care, he said.

He said experts from Austria and Singapore are being consulted.

Doan Van Viet, chairman of the province, said at the meeting that the project is expected to earn around VND300 billion by drawing 1.2 million visitors every year.

The Ministry of Investment and Planning has approved funding for the project, which if seen through will be the second safari park in Vietnam.

Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc of 500 hectares opened last December with around 3,000 animals of 150 species including those imported from South America and Africa.

The park was not launched smoothly as there were allegations that a large number of animals died after being transported there. The investor, Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has denied them.
US Secretary of State John Kerry gives a press conference during a foreign affairs ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on May 19, 2016

Next month France will host the latest diplomatic attempt to salvage the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process but, according to scholar Hussein Ibish, the initiative won't get far without US support.

Frustrated with progress towards any renewed bid to agree a permanent deal, Paris has invited international supporters of the peace process to talks next month designed to revive hopes for a two-state solution.

After weeks of stalling, US Secretary of State John Kerry has finally agreed to attend, but Washington still worries that another failed effort will only further undermine longer term peace-building efforts.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has rejected any French-led multilateral effort and instead repeated his long-standing but so far fruitless offer of direct talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

Against this unpromising backdrop, AFP asked Hussein Ibish -- a scholar at Washington's Arab Gulf States Institute and a former fellow of the American Task Force on Palestine lobby group -- whether the French proposal could work.

"I think it is very unlikely to, unfortunately," he said.

"There are two sides to this problem and the Israeli side is most unlikely to cooperate in allowing a French initiative they do not trust to create a new peace-making forum, let alone paradigm.

"Moreover, the United States ... seems to want to preserve the old triangular model in which it is the main third party, even though that model is completely stuck. So the obstacles seem too great to me."

Kerry met his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault at the NATO summit in Brussels last week and agreed to attend June 3 talks in Paris, having previously warned he was not available on the initially planned date of May 30.

His apparent reluctance to throw Washington's weight behind its ally's initiative has been widely interpreted as showing that President Barack Obama's administration believes only the United States can lead the effort.

Ibish told AFP that Washington must remain the main broker in the peace process because Israel does not trust anyone else and no other state has the will or the capability to push negotiations forward.

"So, yes, the US remains indispensable, and even if that creates as many potential problems as it offers possible solutions, there is no viable alternative," he said, adding that the lack of American support for the conference was evident and predictable.

"Washington does not want to internationalize the process and wants to retain its own central role," he argued.

"Washington does not believe there is a basis for success at the moment and fears, reasonably, that failed efforts could make matters worse politically and on the ground."

But might Obama -- as some in Washington have predicted -- be planning his own bid to intervene in an issue that has frustrated so many of his predecessors, even in the last eight months of his presidency?

"I doubt it," Ibish said, arguing that with so little time left such an effort would amount only to an admission of past failures and a restatement of US policy dating back to former president Bill Clinton's era.

This would do little to burnish Obama's legacy.

"I think it's more probable that no final major step will be taken by this president on an issue he clearly regards as massively important but also presently unresolvable," Ibish concluded.
Plans by the Philippines' controversial president-elect to give late dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero's burial triggered outrage on Tuesday, with martial law victims warning it would whitewash the strongman's crimes.

Rodrigo Duterte, who won this month's elections in a landslide, announced on Monday he would allow Marcos to be buried at the Heroes' Cemetery in Manila, in what would be another big win for the dictator's family as it cements a remarkable political comeback.

"Burying him at the (cemetery) will whitewash all crimes he committed against the people and will send the wrong message to the world: that in the Philippines, crime pays," Bonifacio Ilagan, who was detained and tortured by Marcos forces, told AFP.

Ilagan, who heads a group trying to stop the Marcos family from returning to power, said the highly emotional and symbolic burial of the dictator at the cemetery -- where the nation's most revered war heroes have been laid to rest -- would trigger street protests.

Marcos's two-decade rule ended in 1986 when millions of people took to the streets in a famous military-backed "People Power" uprising, forcing the family into US exile where the patriarch died three years later.

The Heroes' Cemetery in Manila is reserved for the Philippines' most revered war heroes.

Marcos and his wife Imelda were accused of plundering $10 billion from state coffers and overseeing widespread human rights abuses by security forces. Rights groups say Marcos's forces killed or tortured thousands of people.

However Imelda and her children were allowed to return and over the past two decades have enjoyed a stunning rise back into the political elite while fending off a barrage of lawsuits and criminal probes.

Imelda is a congresswoman representing the family's northern provincial stronghold, while Ferdinand Marcos Jnr was elected to the Senate in 2010.

Marcos Jnr ran for the vice presidency in this month's elections. Although he looks set to narrowly lose, at age 58 he is still young enough to achieve his goal of becoming president.

Duterte said Monday he wanted to have the body of Marcos, currently embalmed and enclosed in a glass casket, to be buried at the Heroes' Cemetery to end decades of divisions in society over the issue.

However Nilda Lagman-Sevilla, chairwoman of a group of families whose relatives vanished under Marcos's rule, said healing would only come from discovering what happened to their loved ones and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Her brother, a human rights lawyer who vanished in 1977, is among 882 people who disappeared under Marcos's rule, according to the group.

"They (the families of people who vanished) are still in pain because of the absence of closure," Lagman-Sevilla said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh pose for a photo before a signing ceremony at the Government Guesthouse as part of the visit by U.S. President Barack Obama in Hanoi, Vietnam May 24, 2016.

Washington's decision to lift its ban on the sale of lethal weapons to Vietnam is not aimed at China, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday, describing the move as "very normal" and not provocative.

Kerry, who is accompanying President Barack Obama on a trip to Vietnam, also urged China to peacefully resolve disputes with its neighbours, including Vietnam, in the South China Sea.

"Nothing we are doing here is focused on China," Kerry told reporters in Ho Chi Minh City, a day after the lifting of a three-decade-old arms embargo on Vietnam.

"That is very normal, not out of order and certainly not inflammatory," he said, referring to the embargo. "I hope China will read this correctly because our hope is for normal respect for maritime law and for the relationships that are so key in this region."

Kerry called on China to engage diplomatically with Vietnam and other neighbours to resolve disputes over territorial claims in the South China Sea. China's island reclamation there has stoked tensions with the United States

"I would caution China, as President Obama and others have, to not unilaterally move to engage in reclamation activities and militarization of islands and areas that are part of the claims that are in contest," Kerry added, repeating that the United States welcomed the rise of a strong China.

"We're not saying China is wrong in its claims, were simply saying resolve it peacefully, resolve it through a rules-based structure," said Kerry.
Part of a plane chair among recovered debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea is seen in this handout image released May 21, 2016 by Egypt's military. Photo: Egyptian Military/Handout via Reuters

The EgyptAir jet that disappeared last week did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris, sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said late on Tuesday.

The sources said the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the plane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after less than a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace. Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the plane's final moments.

Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday that the plane had shown no technical problems before taking off, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot before takeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on its website. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11 "electronic messages" starting at 5.09 p.m. ET on May 18, about 3 1/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66 passengers and crew on board.

The first two messages indicated the engines were functional. The third message came at 8.26 p.m. ET on May 18 and showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot's window. The plane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypt's forensics authority dismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of the body parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashed indicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains and debris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explain what brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it entered Egyptian air space, have not been located.

An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body parts had been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of a hand. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said their size pointed to an explosion, although no trace of explosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypt's forensics authority, said this assessment was "mere assumptions" and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

At least two other sources with direct knowledge of the investigation also said it would be premature to say what caused the plane to plunge into the sea.

"All we know is it disappeared suddenly without making a distress call," one of them said, adding that only by analyzing the black boxes or a large amount of debris could authorities begin to form a clearer picture.

Scraps of data

Investigators do have a few scraps of data in the form of fault messages sent by the jet in the last minutes of flight, logging smoke alarms in the forward lavatory and an electronics bay just underneath, but they are tantalizingly incomplete.

"The difficulty is to connect these bits of information," said John Cox, executive of Washington-based Safety Operating Systems who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks by Britain's Royal Aeronautical Society.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, which would normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiple systems failed, he said, and too many of them to tie in neatly with a single significant explosion.

Investigators also need to understand why, for example, there was no message indicating the autopilot had cut off, progressively handing control back to the pilots as systems failed and computers became unsure what to do.

A life jacket, part of recovered debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea, is seen in this still image taken from video on May 21, 2016. Photo: Egyptian Military/Handout via Reuters TV The Frenchman who headed a three-year probe into the 2009 loss of an Air France jet in the Atlantic said the data published so far appeared insufficient for any conclusion.

Egypt has deployed a robot submarine and France has sent a search ship to help hunt for the black boxes, but it is not clear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by the flight recorders, lying in waters possibly 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) deep. The signal emitters have a battery life of 30 days.

Although government officials have acknowledged the need for international assistance, the U.S. Navy said Egypt had not formally requested American support beyond a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, which was deployed on Thursday.

Last moments

Eighteen loads of debris have been recovered, the Egyptian investigation committee said, in a search operation assisted by French and Greek aircraft.

Five days after the plane vanished from radar screens, air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt were still giving differing accounts of its last moments.

In Greece, two officials stood by earlier statements that Greek radar had picked up sharp swings in the jet's trajectory - 90 degrees left, then 360 degrees right - as it plunged from a cruising altitude to 15,000 feet before vanishing.

Ehab Mohieldin Azmi, head of Egypt's air navigation services, said Egyptian officials had seen no sign of the plane making sharp turns, and that it had been visible at 37,000 feet until it disappeared.

"Of course, we tried to call it more than once and it did not respond," he told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims were giving DNA samples at a hotel near Cairo airport on Tuesday to help identify the body parts, their grief mixed with frustration.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla was flying back from medical treatment in France, said the families were being kept in the dark and had not been formally told that any body parts had been recovered.

"All they are concerned about is to find the black box and the debris of the plane. That's their problem, not mine," he said. "And then they come and talk to us about insurance and compensation. I don't care about compensation, all I care about is to find my mother and bury her."
World leaders meet in Japan this week for talks that will encompass the slowing Chinese economy and Chinas reclamation of land in the disputed South China Sea -- without any representatives from Asias largest economy at the table.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will host U.S. President Barack Obama and other Group of Seven leaders from Thursday at a secluded resort on Kashiko Island, 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Tokyo. That puts the summit not far from China itself, and brings to focus several points of tension with the Communist regime.

The meeting is being held against a backdrop of slowing growth as Chinas engine cools, with a debate among major developed nations on how much -- or whether -- governments should take fiscal action to boost their economies. It also comes before an international court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea, which could affect Chinas behavior in waters through which more than $5 trillion of trade passes each year.

China reacted with anger to an April statement by G-7 foreign ministers expressing opposition to any "intimidating, coercive or provocative" actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and calling on all parties to act in accordance with international law. Thats even as the statement did not mention the country by name.

A similar declaration by the leaders this week would further irritate China, a key trading partner for all the G-7 members.

Veiled statement

"Basically Japan and the U.S. are trying to get the Europeans on board to express concern about Chinas actions," said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan. "Even a veiled statement would be a victory for Tokyo and Washington. It puts Beijing on notice that even countries which first and foremost care about making money in China are worried."

China is embroiled in a territorial dispute with Japan in the East China Sea, and in separate spats with several Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea. An international tribunal in The Hague is expected to rule in the case brought by the Philippines in the coming months. While the U.S. is not a party to the disputes, it has set out to champion freedom of navigation in the region, backed by its close ally, Japan.

Summoned diplomats

China summoned diplomats from the Beijing embassies of the G-7 nations several days ahead of the foreign ministers meeting in Hiroshima to try and convince them not to play up the South China Sea disputes or other China-related issues during the summit, according to a Chinese official familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified, citing policy.

In what appeared to be a fresh sign of displeasure, the U.S. said last week that two Chinese military jets carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. maritime patrol aircraft over the South China Sea, approaching within 50 feet. China said its planes had kept a safe distance from the U.S. reconnaissance aircraft.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned this week against the "exploitation" of territorial matters after meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and central Asian nations in Uzbekistan, according to the ministrys website.

"Any country that ignores the basic facts, draws territorial lines for allies, or deliberately exploits the South China Sea issue for political purposes will gain no benefit or support but only destroy its own reputation," Wang said.

Other participants

As host to countries that share the values of "freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights," Japan plans to lead the world on the path of peace and prosperity, according to documents distributed to reporters by the foreign ministry ahead of the G-7 summit. The documents specify that the "Asia-Pacific situation" and Chinas economic slowdown will be on the agenda.

Japan has invited the heads of several non G-7 nations to come to the country during the summit, for sideline chats. That includes the leaders of Vietnam and Indonesia, plus Laos, which this year holds the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and thus has some sway over the wording of any Asean statements on the South China Sea. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also on the list.

Steel glut

On the economic front, China could come in for fresh criticism amid a global steel glut. Several European governments, including the U.K., have repeatedly called on China to reduce the amount of steel it produces in a bid to help the industry. The weakening of the Chinese currency could also be a topic of discussion.

Any perception that Japan is spearheading a rebuke of China would be risky for ties, according to Noriyuki Kawamura, a professor at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. After inheriting a relationship in its worst state in decades, Abe has met President Xi Jinping twice since he took office in 2012. But attempts to re-start what were once regular high-level talks have been stymied by bickering over the territorial matters.

"China will find it extremely unpleasant if Japan takes the lead and begins a debate critical of China," said Kawamura. "Relations between Japan and China had just begun to improve from last year, and this would have a negative effect."

Doesnt help

China and Japan had two-way trade of $344 billion in 2014, and China is Japans biggest trading partner.

Song Guoyou, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said any G-7 efforts to tackle problems relating to China in its absence would be counterproductive.

"It doesnt help the situation, as all these issues can only be solved after more consultations with China," said Song. "China today wont bow to this kind of political and diplomatic pressure by other nations, and such actions can only generate suspicion and make relations even more antagonistic."

Any criticism could prompt China to dismiss the G-7 as an anachronism for excluding the worlds second largest economy. While the grouping was originally founded to deal with economic issues, its remit has spread. China is set to host the broader G-20 summit in September.

"China sees the G-7 as a relic of the 20th century," said Kawamura. "Its the G-20 that actually makes a difference in international issues now. Thats how they see it."
Clarita Alia, 62, stands at her home while talking about her four sons which have died in execution-style killings in Davao, Philippines May 14, 2016.

On May 14, five days after voters in the Philippines chose Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as their next president, two masked gunmen cruised this southern city's suburbs on a motorbike, looking for their kill.

Gil Gabrillo, 47, a drug user, was returning from a cockfight when the gunmen approached. One of them pumped four bullets into Gabrillo's head and body, killing the small-time trader of goods instantly. Then the motorbike roared off.

The murder made no headlines in Davao, where Duterte's loud approval for hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office of a crime-weary land.

Human rights groups have documented at least 1,400 killings in Davao that they allege had been carried out by death squads since 1998. Most of those murdered were drug users, petty criminals and street children.

In a 2009 report, Human Rights Watch identified a consistent failure by police to seriously investigate targeted killings. It said acting and retired police officers worked as "handlers" for death-squad gunmen, giving them names and photos of targets - an allegation denied by Davao police.

But a four-year probe into such killings by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines' equivalent of the FBI, hasn't led to a single prosecution, and one senior NBI agent told Reuters it will probably be shelved now that Duterte is set to become president. The nations Justice Secretary last week told reporters the probe may not be able to proceed.

Such impunity, and Duterte's demands in recent weeks for more summary justice, could embolden death squads across the country, say human rights and church groups. Already there has been a spate of unsolved killings in nearby cities, with other mayors echoing Duterte's support for vigilante justice.

"We've seen it happen in Davao and we've seen copycat practices," Chito Gascon, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an independent Philippine watchdog, told Reuters. "Now can you imagine he is president and the national model for crime-fighting is Davao?"

Ask Clarita Alia, 62, who still lives in the Davao slum where her four sons were murdered, and she gives a mirthless chuckle.

"Blood will flow like a river," she says.

Denies directing killings

Duterte, who has been Davao's mayor or vice-mayor for most of the past 30 years, has denied any involvement in the murders. "I never did that," he said on the campaign trail in April, responding to allegations he had directed the killings. An Office of the Ombudsman investigation also found there was no evidence connecting Duterte to the murders.

He has, though, repeatedly condoned them.

For example, in comments to reporters in 2009, he warned: "If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination.

And more recently he has vowed to wipe out crime in six months across the country by killing criminals, drug pushers and "sons of bitches" after he takes office on June 30.

"Do not destroy my country, because I will kill you," the 71-year-old former prosecutor told a news conference in Davao on May 15.

He has also promised to restore the death penalty in the Philippines, warning he will hang the most heinous criminals twice: once to kill them, then again to "completely sever the head from the body".

People here remember pre-Duterte Davao as a lawless battleground for security forces and Communist rebels. The city's Agdao district was so violent it was nicknamed "Nicaragdao" after the then war-torn Central American nation.

Clarita Alia, 62, shows photos of Fernando, one of four sons which have died in execution-style killings in Davao, Philippines May 14, 2016.

Today, thanks to Duterte's campaigns against drugs and crime, Davao today feels much safer, say the locals. But it still ranks first among 15 Philippine cities for murder and second for rape, according to national police.

On watch for assassins

Reuters interviews with the families of four Davao victims, one of whom was a 15-year-old, showed that murders continued even as Duterte campaigned for the presidency.

All four killings occurred in the past nine months and bore the hallmarks of a loose-knit group that the locals call the Davao Death Squad.

The victims were shot in daylight or at dusk, three of them on the same street in a riverside slum seething with people. The killers rode motorbikes with no license plates, their faces hidden by helmets and masks.

Reymar Tecson, 19, was executed last August while sleeping at the roadside. A week later, Romel Bantilan, 15, was shot dead while playing a computer game less than 30 paces away.

Tecson's family said Reymar was a drug user, but Bantilan's family insisted that Romel was clean.

Romel had a twin brother, and their father, Jun Bantilan, said he had heard "rumors" that the other boy would be next. Most days Jun sits at the end of the street, watching out for assassins.

Nearby, in her tumble-down shack, Norma Helardino still wondered why her husband Danilo, 53, was shot dead in January. He didn't use drugs, she said, although "maybe his friends did."

The police filed a report but Helardino said she saw no sign of an investigation: "No witnesses came forward." When asked who her husband's killers were, she pointed to her tin roof and said: "Only God knows."

Gil Gabrillo, 47, lies in an open coffin in his house after he was shot by motorbike-riding gunmen in Davao , Philippines May 16, 2016.

The three dead males in the slum were "noted drug dealers," said Major Milgrace Driz, a Davao police spokeswoman.

"It is their destiny to be killed because they choose to be criminals," she said. "The mayor has already said there is no place for criminals in the city."

Driz described 15-year-old Bantilan as a "recidivist" with a "criminal attitude" who had been repeatedly warned to mend his ways. She said he had delivered drugs for a gang which had probably murdered him over a money dispute.

Lack of witnesses meant the three murders remained unsolved despite diligent efforts to investigate, Driz added.

Responding to the Human Rights Watch allegations that the police conspire with the death squads, Driz said the police get the names of local criminals through a public hotline but don't kill them.

Closed and terminated

Human rights activists say official investigations of death-squad killings have been hampered by a lack of witnesses, bureaucratic apathy and political influence.

The Human Rights Watch report called on the CHR to investigate whether Duterte and other officials had been involved or complicit in the deaths.

A life-size cut-out of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte looms over diners at a street stall in the center of Davao May 13, 2016.

A CHR report three years later confirmed the "systematic practice of extrajudicial killings" by the Davao Death Squad. It, in turn, was successful in getting the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate whether Duterte was criminally liable for inaction in the face of evidence of numerous killings.

But in a January 2016 letter seen by Reuters, the Ombudsman told the CHR its investigation was "closed and terminated" because it had found no evidence that Duterte or the police were involved in the killings. The letter also dismissed the death squad as a product of "rumors and other gossips".

The CHR report also triggered a probe by the NBI. Four years later, it is still ongoing, an agency spokesman said.

However, Secretary of Justice Emmanuel Caparas, who oversees the NBI, told reporters on Friday that the status of the investigation was unclear because a key witness, a former gunman, had left protective custody. "It's really just a question now if the witness will surface," he said.

And another NBI source, who requested anonymity because he wasn't allowed to talk to the media, said the probe was now likely to be halted.

"Who will investigate the president?" he said.
A woman takes part in a protest in front of the Russian embassy demanding the liberation of Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda Savchenko by Russia, in Kiev, Ukraine, March 22, 2016. Reuters/Gleb Garanich

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in jail after finding her guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists during the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The sentence is likely to further inflame Russia's already dire relations with Kiev, and prompt protests from the European Union, which has called for Savchenko's release.

Savchenko, a 34-year-old who has become a national hero at home in Ukraine, was defiant as the verdict was read out, singing the Ukrainian national anthem while standing on a bench.

She has denied having anything to do with the deaths of the journalists.

Russian officials have signalled that, once the trial is over, they may be open to negotiations about handing Savchenko over to Ukraine, possibly as part of a prisoner exchange. Kiev is holding at least two people it says are serving Russian soldiers seized on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter: "The result is an expected one, but all the same it's pretty painful ... The 'sentence' is not the end of struggle. It's the beginning of a new stage in the fight for Savchenko."

Singing protest

The judge, between shouted interruptions from Savchenko who was dressed in a T-shirt bearing the Ukrainian trident, a state symbol, dismissed arguments from her lawyers she could not have been involved in killing the journalists.

"The evidence provided by the prosecution side is trustworthy and completely disproves the theory of the defense about Savchenko's innocence," the judge said.

He said the court had decided "to select as the final punishment for Savchenko 22 years of confinement of liberty with a fine of 30,000 roubles($442.28)."

Asked by the judge if she understood the sentence, Savchenko stood on a bench in the cage where she was being kept and began singing the Ukrainian national anthem. Her supporters in the courtroom joined the singing and tried to unfurl a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag, before security staff bundled them out.

Savchenko, who had taken leave from her job as a military pilot to volunteer with Ukraine's ground forces fighting against the separatists in eastern Ukraine, was captured by pro-Moscow rebels there in June 2014.

She was handed over to Russia where she was charged with directing mortar fire which killed the two Russian journalists, who were covering the conflict.

She has repeatedly gone on hunger strike, and from the glass and metal cage where she has been held in the courtroom, has often shouted her view that she is the victim of a show trial aimed at humiliating Ukraine.

In her absence, she was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

However Russian officials, and state television, have depicted Savchenko as a dangerous nationalist with the blood of civilians on her hands.
Singapore's central bank has ordered the closure of the local branch of Swiss bank BSI, which has been linked to a scandal at Malaysia's troubled state fund 1MDB

Singapore's central bank on Tuesday said it was kicking out Switzerland's BSI Bank, which has been linked to a global money-laundering scandal that has embroiled neighbouring Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In the toughest legal action so far in the crisis rocking Malaysian state fund 1MDB, Switzerland also disclosed it had launched criminal proceedings against the parent firm BSI SA for "deficiencies" in its internal organisation.

BSI Bank is the worst case of control lapses and gross misconduct that we have seen in the Singapore financial sector," Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a statement.

MAS said it had asked state prosecutors to investigate six senior executives of BSI Bank for possible criminal offences and fined it Sg$ 13.3 million ($9.6 million) for 41 breaches of Singapore's laws against money laundering.

Among those facing investigation is former chief executive Hans Peter Brunner.

Two Singaporean executives of the bank are already facing criminal proceedings in the city-state, which is Southeast Asia's financial hub and hosts more than 200 banks.

BSI has been operating as a merchant bank in Singapore since November 2005, offering private banking services to wealthy individuals.

The last time Singapore stripped a merchant bank of its status was in 1984, when the local branch of Jardine Fleming was shut down for "serious lapses" in its advisory work.

Najib, who founded 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in 2009, has battled allegations that billions were looted from the investment vehicle in a vast campaign of fraud and embezzlement stretching from the Middle East to the Caymans.

- Denials -

The fund, which ran up more than $11 billion in debt in a series of much-questioned investments, has steadfastly denied money was stolen or that it was in financial trouble.

Najib also faced questions after the Wall Street Journal revealed $681 million in transfers to his personal bank accounts.

But since the scandal erupted last year, Najib has weathered the allegations by curbing scrutiny by authorities, purging officials demanding accountability, and stifling media reporting.

He insists the $681 million was a gift from the Saudi royal family, most of which he returned. A Saudi official in April said that was true, but only after weeks of silence that cast doubt on the claim.

In a series of more recent reports, however, the newspaper said Malaysian investigation documents indicated more than $1 billion in 1MDB-linked money had been funnelled to Najib.

Najib and 1MDB vehemently deny that claim.

Najib has faced calls to resign but has tightened his grip on the ruling party and thwarted domestic investigations. His position is not seen as under imminent threat.

Singapore's MAS said it was "working closely" with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which has already approved the sale of the BSI parent firm to another Swiss-based bank, EFG International.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said Tuesday that it had opened criminal proceedings against BSI SA "based on information revealed by the criminal proceedings in the 1MDB case".

In Singapore, former BSI Bank relationship manager Yak Yew Chee is undergoing a criminal investigation for his dealings with a unit of 1MDB. His bank deposits have been frozen.

Separately, former BSI Bank wealth planner Yeo Jiawei, also a Singaporean, faces seven charges including forgery, money laundering, cheating and perverting the course of justice. He is in police custody and scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
A Pakistani demonstrator holds a burning US flag during a protest in Multan on May 24, 2016, against a US drone strike in Pakistan's southwestern province Balochistan

The US killing of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour marks a significant shift for President Barack Obama, highlighting a new willingness to target the group's leaders in Pakistan and risk retaliatory attacks against struggling Afghan security forces.

The move also shows that Obama has -- at least for now -- abandoned hopes of bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table for peace talks.

US drones killed Mansour on Saturday in a remote area in Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil.

Though Mansour once appeared in favor of peace negotiations with the government in Kabul, he refused to join talks when he became Taliban chief.

"There's only one option for the Taliban and that is to pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

But Marvin Weinbaum, a former Pakistan and Afghanistan analyst and director of the Pakistan program at the Middle East Institute, said Mansour's death shows the United States has no such expectations.

"The peace talks were going nowhere anyway, and this is just simply the death knell of that," Weinbaum said.

"Whatever the US is saying publicly about how this may open new doors for peace, the fact is they wouldn't have done this if they thought they had a chance to bring the Taliban to the table any time soon."

Mansour's death has plunged the Taliban into disarray, just nine months after he became the new leader.

Scott Worden, an Afghanistan expert at the United States Institute of Peace, predicted that in the short term, Mansour's removal could trigger a wave of attacks.

"The Taliban will be incentivized to redouble their efforts to show strength, and I think not go immediately to the negotiating table," Worden said.

"Before the strike, the Taliban felt like they were gaining ground, and they were getting an upper hand, and that time was on their side. They will want to test that for months to come before they reevaluate their position," he added.

Since the start of 2015, Afghan security forces have been responsible for ensuring security across the country, assisted by US and NATO trainers and special forces.

But more than 5,000 local security forces were killed last year alone, and they have struggled to contain a resurgent Taliban.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook suggested Mansour's death would make the Taliban more likely to negotiate.

"Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," Cook said in a statement.

Troop level decision

Since local Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) assumed responsibility for their country's security, taking over from NATO, US troop numbers have dwindled to 9,800 -- and Obama has pledged to cut these further still, to about 5,500 by next year.

The president, who campaigned in 2008 on a pledge to pull US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, is under pressure not to further risk the already-fragile Afghan security situation.

"Most (military experts) I know would prefer to stay at or near current levels rather than draw down to 5,500 by year's end," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute, who recommends a US troop level of about 10,000.

In February, General John Nicholson, the new commander of the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, warned it would take years before local forces can independently take charge.

If the United States decides to leave more troops in Afghanistan, it must act soon so NATO allies can in turn make decisions on their own troop levels.

Anthony Cordesman, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said 9,800 troops was a low number, and thought it was hard to predict whether Obama would risk a further reduction.

Obama "doesn't want to be seen as somebody who made decisions that deprived his successor of having real options," Cordesman said.

"But this is a president who also debates options almost endlessly, and he tends to in general choose what is relatively low in terms of risk and effort."

Most of the 9,800 US forces remaining in Afghanistan work in a train-and-advise role with Afghan security partners.

US forces have also conducted missions against Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and defense officials are pushing for greater leeway in bombing Taliban targets.

US forces have been in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion to ouster the Taliban in late 2001.

The United States has spent in total about $1 trillion since, and some 2,200 US lives have been lost in the longest war in US history.
The Transport Workers Union has postponed a planned strike on garbage collection planned for Friday, giving negotiations one last chance.

The drivers, employed by government contractor Suez and represented by the Transport Workers Union, walked off the job on Monday and Tuesday in Canberra's south from Weston Creek to Tuggeranong.

Wheelie bins will now be collected on Friday after strike action was called off.

TWU secretary Klaus Pinkas said he was confident the issue could be resolved through negotiation.

He said the strike action had been postponed  rather than cancelled  and would be rescheduled should negotiations fail.
A former CFMEU organiser who blackmailed a Canberra subcontractor between 2012 and 2014 should avoid spending time behind bars, a court has heard.

Halafihi Kimonu Kivalu, 39, was arrested after damning covert recordings were played to the trade unions royal commission last July, in which he told formwork subcontractor Elias Taleb to pay him so he could "get some people off your back".

Former CFMEU organiser Halafihi "Fihi" Kivalu. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Kivalu blackmailed Mr Taleb in relation to work at a Yarralumla residential development between February 2012 and June 2013, and an apartment complex development in Braddon between September 2013 and January 2014.

Kivalu  a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union organiser between 2010 and November 2014  made it clear to Mr Taleb that if he did not pay him $50,000 to secure the Yarralumla site, a competitor would pay and the work would go to them.
Firefighters had to use hydraulic rescue tools to rescue a driver trapped in his truck after it rolled on the Monaro Highway in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The 39-year-old man was trapped in the truck for close to an hour after his truck rolled at Hume, near the Tralee Street intersection shortly before 2.30am.

The man escaped with only minor injuries after firefighters were able to free him using hydraulic rescue tools.

Intensive care paramedics assessed him at the scene before taking him to Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.
An aviation company accused of safety breaches after a worker fell and injured his back while mopping a plane at Canberra Airport will fight charges in the ACT Industrial Court.

An employee of Qantas contractor Star Aviation is alleged to have fallen backwards from a service door as he cleaned the cabin of a Q400 turboprop aircraft parked in the airport's QantasLink hangar at midnight on January 30, 2014.

The case against Star Aviation has been set down for a three-day hearing in September.

Court documents said the plane's rear doors had been opened to provide ventilation due to hot weather and the cleaner was mopping backwards when he stepped into the doorway.

The worker allegedly dropped more than 1.5 metres onto the concrete ground of the maintenance hangar, landing on his back and fracturing his spine and ribs.
Airly, the start-up offering an all-you-can-fly service between Sydney and Melbourne, will now be using a jet as well as a turboprop to allow for faster trips.

The company, which aims to start flying by September, plans to introduce a Bombardier Learjet 45 for longer missions to work alongside the previously planned Beechcraft King Air 350.

The interior of the Learjet 45.

Airly's all-you-can-fly membership, which costs $2550 a month, will also include shorter flights between Sydney and Canberra and Melbourne and Canberra.

Airly co-founder Luke Hampshire said prospective members had been satisfied with the King Air's comfort levels, but during a planning workshop with mentors and advisers the company decided it could provide greater time-saving to members with the same pricing structure by adding a Learjet.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will soon ask the country's biggest banks to hand over detailed data on the commissions and other non-cash benefits they give mortgage brokers for arranging loans, alongside information on how these loans perform.

Within the next fortnight, ASIC will send requests to 12 lenders, including the Big Four banks, requesting full details on the various payments that banks make to mortgage brokers, as it tries to assess how these incentives influence broker behaviour.

The requests for information, which will also be sent to key mortgage broking groups, comes as ASIC ramps up its review of mortgage broking and its growing role in the $1.3 trillion home loan sector.

Mortgage brokers arrange more than half of all new home loans, and ASIC wants to determine how banks' payments of commissions and other incentives affect outcomes for customers.
QBE boss, John Neal, has joined the group of CEOs projecting themselves into the "thought leadership" space with his latest LinkedIn post: Maximising your personal effectiveness.

It appears that one of the many, many things wrong with CBD's career has been our lack of focus on our "sweet spot"  which sounds like the career equivalent of the G spot.

According to Neal, there are four questions we should think about:

What you do: Annoy people for a living, in CBD's case.
The French daily Le Parisien reported that about 100 investigators participated in the early morning raid. Authorities believe the tech company owes $1.7 billion in back taxes.

"These searches are the result of a preliminary investigation opened on June 16, 2015 relative to aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering following a complaint from French fiscal authorities," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Google issued a statement saying it complies with French law and is cooperating fully with authorities to answer their questions.

"The investigation is aimed at finding out whether Google Ireland Ltd. is permanently established in France and if, by not declaring some of its activity on French soil, it has failed to meet its fiscal obligations, in particular with regard to corporation tax and value added tax," prosecutors said. Google has based its regional headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

The tech giant and other multinational companies have faced criticism for basing their European subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions such as Ireland and Luxembourg, which allows them to do business with minimum fiscal obligations -- a practice known as profit-shifting.

European lawmakers have continually pressured companies to meet their tax obligations in the countries where they do business.

In January, Google agreed to pay nearly $190 million in back taxes to Britain.

The raid on Google's Paris offices marks the second such action in five years. Google's offices in the French capital were raided in June 2011 in a tax investigation.
A chauffeur at the Indian Consulate in Sydney would not clear out some office files or even hang a picture of Mahatma Gandhi without written instructions from his boss.

But the Fair Work Commission found that Hitender Kumar's conduct did not justify his sacking.

The Commission on Tuesday ordered the Consulate of India to pay Mr Kumar $10,620 in compensation for his unfair dismissal in March last year.

Mr Kumar retaliated after his employer took issue with him for questioning the use of a consular e-tag on a private car. The e-tag exempted the consular car from road tolls.
Social media has empowered modern consumers to an unprecedented degree, so the chatter goes. Post a well-founded complaint or criticism of a corporation's behaviour and if that grievance elicits torrents of "likes" or goes viral there's every likelihood the intended target will execute a swift policy U-turn. It's that power to "correct" corporate behaviour that lies at the heart of a Victorian social media and traditional media campaign urging customers to drink branded milk rather than the cheaper private label milks that Coles and Woolworths stock along side the name brands in their supermarkets. The campaign is ostensibly about helping to prop up dairy farmers' livelihood, many of whom are struggling to cope financially with a recent 20 per cent reduction in the price of milk at the farm gate. But it's also, by extension, directed at the big supermarkets, both of which have been accused of exploiting their bargaining power at the expense of milk producers and processors.

In fact, the price cut was initiated by Murray Goulburn, Australia's biggest milk processor, after the price of units in its ASX-listed trust fell 42 per cent when the market heard it had downgraded profit forecasts. A week later, the country's second biggest producer, Fonterra cut its farm-gate price by about the same amount. .

The crux of the problem is that large processors like Fonterra over-estimated the global demand for milk, resulting in an oversupply. Given the imperative to post profits and to pay dividends to shareholders or parent companies, these companies have responded in ways that are entirely normal and uncontroversial. And if some producers should fail to adapt to the new market realities and be forced sell to larger, more efficient producers, then that is the nature of dynamic capitalist markets.

The retrospective nature of the price cuts engineered by MG and Fonterra means, however, that producers face not just substantial income cuts over the remainder of their contracts but the prospect of having to pay back moneys already received. Many will now be operating at a loss. For that reason, and because slim to non-existent margins have become a fact of life for dairy farmers, public sympathy is widespread. The supermarkets' now well-established policy of using private label milk as a loss leader has helped fuel this sentiment. They have, of course, been aided and abetted in that strategy by the willingness of producers to supply the "dollar milk market". In 2014, for example, MG entered into a 10-year contract with Coles to supply it with its $1 milk, a decision that in retrospect looks astonishing.
Maggie Indian, Turner Kanga anger While TAMS has placed an extended curfew with heavy associated penalties on local residents entering the nature reserve, to safeguard against any potential risk of danger from the overnight kangaroo cull shooters, a new and even greater risk has been identified, which I fear TAMS might have overlooked! When walking my dog on Sunday morning in the reserve, I came across, and managed to photograph, well-known local identity Ned, the neighbourhood kangaroo, in an enraged and hostile state. Ned was armed and appeared to be taking aim at me in his carefully concealed ambush position just north of the water storage tank behind the Mackenzie Street entrance. I managed to make a safe exit, luckily without Ned taking a shot. I expect Ned might have recognised either me or my dog when his real anger in fact focused on the professional shooters contracted by TAMS. All walkers game enough to breach the TAMS curfew should take care not to carry anything that Ned might mistake for a gun!

Peter Kelly, Hackett Suppressing the fact I had no issue with the article "Restrictions on silencers set to be simplified as roo cull looms" (May 23, p1) until the paragraph starting "According to TAMS, a suppressed firearm has less recoil". A firearm suppressor has nothing to do with moderating recoil. There are a variety of methods to moderate recoil, including mechanical, hydraulic, and gas mechanisms in the butt, under or over the barrel, and, of course, especially at the end of the barrel. The real reason to use suppressors is to kill more prey more quickly without them knowing. If we are going to change the laws to allow more and more silencers out in the public based on deceitful expressions such as that one by TAMS, we are in for a lot of trouble with wanton killings of native animals, livestock, and even humans.

Peter V. Farrelly, Florey Cost blowout Addressing the North Canberra Community Council on May 17, Capital Metro head Emma Thomas said the present value of the tram contract's availability payments was $950million. Additionally, the government will pay $375 million on completion, which has a present value of about $355 million. Hence, the total contract cost is $1.305 billion in 2016 dollars. This includes 20 years of operational costs, which the business case estimated at an annual average $22.2million in 2014 dollars, or about $22.9 million in 2016 dollars. Subtracting 20 years of operational costs from the contract costs leaves the construction cost (including financing and profit) of about $848 million in 2016 dollars, a figure that the government has worked hard to disguise by focusing on the consortia's construction cost of $710million, a largely irrelevant figure. At least a further $70 million has and will be spent on the Capital Metro Agency and for acquisition of land and construction of the Dickson interchange, giving a total construction cost of about $914 million in 2016 dollars. In the Canberra Times of June 11, 2014, then chief minister Katy Gallagher was reported as drawing a line in the sand for the cost of the project at $614 million in 2011 dollars, which is about $678million in 2016 dollars. This "line in the sand" must be reconciled against the now revealed $914 million project cost (excluding operations), a blowout of $236 million or 35 per cent on the maximum price countenanced just two years ago. For context, $236 million is the cost of treating more than 40,000 patients at Calvary Hospital. Furthermore, the business case's exaggerated yet still marginal benefit cost ratio was based on a 75 per cent probability of the cost being less than $810 million in 2016 dollars.

Kent Fitch, Nicholls Leave history alone Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has apologised to those convicted of the crime of homosexuality in the past. Can we now expect that they will do the same for those convicted of sheep stealing or speeding on penny farthings? Revisionist history is a dangerous thing as it panders to minority groups with loud voices. We should not revise history because of a 21st century distaste for 19th century law. The law is the law. It may be an ass, but it is still the law.

Ian Jannaway, Monash Patients are people in the digital age As a retired physician, I applaud your leading article "Future of health and mankind" (Times2, May 23, p2), with a few reservations. 1) In the present trend towards gender equality, the article should have been entitled "The future of health and humankind", women having a longer life expectancy and being the frontline of home and hospital carers from infancy onwards. 2) Dr Hajkowicz rightly stresses the importance of co-operation between humans and medical technologies, but warns against undue reliance on automation, robots and other mechanical gadgets which can "dehumanise" healthcare and place wealth acquisition at the top of the skills pyramid.

3) It is disappointing that the article focuses on disease management rather than on the less expensive health-promoting preventive medicine, the bedrock of which is the general practitioner and his/her practice nurse, through inoculation against infectious diseases, advice on healthy lifestyle management and simply listening. The inaugural president of the first postwar conference on medical education in 1945 was the much-loved neurosurgeon Sir Geoffrey Jefferson, who stated "Patients are people. The student must learn who these people are, how they have conducted their lives and how they have come to be sick. Call this psychosomatic medicine, sociology or what you will. Thethings that are newest are thenames". 4) Your comment on Paul and Anne Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, published in 1968, may be overly optimistic, with progressively increasing global temperatures, consequent climate disruption, heat waves, rising sea levels, droughts, floods and loss of biodiversity threatening human food and water supplies in this anthropocene era. Bryan Furnass, Hughes Growing population a glaring issue

Perhaps Malcolm Turnbull's electioneering mantra, "growth and jobs" might gain more traction with swinging voters if he and his LNP team demonstrated that they were committed to managing population growth more strategically and responsibly, so that there is sufficient infrastructure, social services and affordable housing to keep pace with Australia's growth, particularly as the major cities have already reached their carrying capacity. For example, a large tract of the Bennelong electorate (currently a Liberal seat) has a glaring "liveability deficit" as a result of overdevelopment and overpopulation. I recently drove along the so-called Pacific "Highway" between Chatswood and Hornsby and it was so badly congested that it took two hours to travel only 10km. The declining liveability of Australia's big cities has caused unexpected economic ramifications, such as 7000 British people per annum deciding to return to the UK permanently. The main reason they gave for leaving was the appallingly bad traffic congestion and the adverse impact it was having on their family and work/life balance (BBC News, May 20). It is about time our federal government acknowledged that, in their quest to foster good relationships with political donors, developers and 'captains of industry', they don't have a mandate to inflict poorly planned population growth on the ordinary citizens of this country. Peter Sherman, Aranda Slogan measure

The Coalition's election slogan can be easily dismissed when you consider: jobs at what rates, growth at what price? Gary Frances, Bexley, NSW Clear direction key This Federal election looks like it will be close. A major reason is that Malcolm and the Liberals are lacking a detailed direction for the future. Shorten and Labor are kicking more goals along the way on health and education. Australians will vote for the leader and party that gives us clear direction and confidence in the future. Projects and policies with vision are required. What about a VFT financed largely by overseas companies to inspire us?

Come on, National Party, what a great contribution to regional development this would be! Australians will pay more taxes, eg, such as a GST increase, if they can see it develops infrastructure and increases economic growth. Gareth Rees, Casey Travel allowances I find it amazing that pollies can get travel allowance to stay in Canberra in a property owned directly or indirectly by themselves. I seem to recall an RAAF officer posted to the USA being court martialled for similar behaviour. I now find they can claim certain expenditures related to this house as tax deductions. I'm currently listening to Mathias Cormann excusing this by arguing that the rules applying to pollies are set by independent agencies (ATO and remuneration tribunal) and these agencies should not be subject to direction by pollies. I'm sure no-one in the public would be concerned if the pollies simply tell the agencies to co-ordinate the two rules and to register an opinion that they are overly generous and inconsistent with the need to moderate federal expenses.

Bill Blair, McKellar Merciless Simon Tatz (Letters, May 19) is amusingly merciless on Greg Ellis's view (Letters, May 17) that a New World Order schemed to remove Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. It would however be a pity if readers were led by Tatz's lampoon to conclude there are no US pro-Zionist networks with extraordinary influence. The American anthropologist Janine Wedel has identified a 'shadow elite' of networks who have, over decades, pursued their agendas in multiple contexts to achieve policy outcomes without the public input appropriate to a democracy. Exploiting features of the American political system, these networks have at key times effectively privatised the making of public policy. A pro-Zionist network, whose past key players included Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, produced an agenda underpinning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prosecuted by the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld, this agenda was to replace Saddam Hussein by a democratic Iraq, isolating Iran and bolstering the security of Israel. We have seen the outcome.

Nonetheless, it seems the network's members remain committed to "coercive diplomacy" against Iran. It will be interesting to see if, and how, this thinking is progressed under the hawkish Hillary Clinton or the unpredictable Donald Trump. Incidentally, Greg Ellis is correct to refer to a US Zionist connection, rather than a US Jewish one, as suggested by Tatz. As mapped by Janine Wedel, the above network includes non-Jewish people, and there are many Jews and descendants of Jews who find its generally pro-Likud views repugnant. Paul Feldman , Macquarie Paralysed on climate Like many thoughtful Canberrans, I read both Ian Dunlop's challenge to our electoral blindness re climate change ("Citizens awake  we are being taken for fools", Times2, May 25, p5) and Andrew Blakers' advocacy of cheap energy storage via pumped hydro-energy storage ("How Australians can eliminate coal-fired power by 200", Times2, May 25, p5).

Again, like many thoughtful Canberrans, I am frustrated that we seem paralysed in our response to our existential climate threat and to solutions such as pumped heat electrical storage. But then I think about the most recent Four Corners program (May 21), about the mostly concealed corporate donations to our political parties, including those from fossil fuel-related industries, and I nod my head. Perhaps if our political parties and their governments will do nothing, we need to approach the companies in which the large majority of us have shares. I challenge CT readers to think about the last time they took responsibility for their shares and attended a relevant annual general meeting. I ask, how many of us have spoken up as bravely as did Stephen Mayne on that Four Corners program? Jill Sutton, Watson TO THE POINT

BULK-BILLING FOR ALL Why isn't everybody bulk-billed? All Australians could be, if everybody paid their fair share/rate of tax. Annie Lang, Kambah The basic fact about medical science is that the state cannot afford to offer all of its citizens the most advanced treatments and drugs available. Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

FALSE ASSUMPTION Why does Lyn Parkinson (Letters, May 23) presume that the loud explosions she believes she heard have anything to do with "kangaroo cull protesters"? Why would people who work to save animals set off loud explosions which terrify both native and domestic animals? Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence UNWISE MOVE A bit of advice to striking garbage collectors. We could manage with a collection fortnightly. That would probably save us money etc through our rates.

Barry Maher, Richardson SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Could someone please inform me what is the difference between a "bomb" and an "improvised explosive device" (IED). Also when and where did the term IED originate? Brian Brocklebank, Bruce IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM

I was appalled (but not very surprised) yesterday to read about criminals trying to buy political favours ("Gangland lawyer cultivated top Libs", May 23, p1), and then to watch Four Corners' report on political corruption. Perhaps those of us who long for a fair society and honest governance could start a crowd-funding website and buy our own pollies. Barbara Fisher, Cook NO VOTE FROM ME Another factor in the election will no doubt be the many Coalition voters like myself who do not want to reward Peter Hendy for his treachery towards Tony Abbott. So I'll be voting "informal". Dave Eriksson, Jindabyne, NSW

THINKING LIMITED Christopher Pyne stated in an interview with Sky News that "It's nice to be a part of the strategic thinking group of the Coalition. I didn't know it existed." Mr Pyne is not alone in questioning the existence of strategic thinking in the Coalition. On the same day, Treasurer Scott Morrison had to admit a very embarrassing large error in his calculation of Labor spending commitments. Tony Judge, Woolgoolga, NSW The only black hole I see is in this government's heart. John Passant, Kambah
But this patient wasn't typical. She was old, she had no next of kin and it was clear that a series of recent medical interventions had failed to stabilise her. She'd been in our intensive care unit three times for more than a week in the last four months alone. Her most recent stay had involved a seven-day stint on a respirator. Her eventual discharge to the nursing home was a medical high-wire act; an all-too-familiar pattern of readmission to discharge to readmission was playing out.

Typically, when patients gasping for air and with very low oxygen levels show up in my emergency room, it's obvious what to do first: You intubate them. You put a tube in their mouth down into their lungs and connect them to a respirator. It's an aggressive treatment and anyone awake for it will tell you it's unpleasant. But without enough oxygen in the bloodstream, bad, often irreversible things happen to the body quickly.

These would be my patient's only words  an economy of phrasing made necessary by an all-consuming air hunger. She had just arrived in the emergency room, Code 3 critical, after a lights-and-sirens ambulance transport from her nursing home. Awake, alert and intensely focused, every effort of her frail, 90-year-old body was concentrated on the simple act of breathing. Her weak heart and failed kidneys had caused her lungs to fill with fluid, every breath becoming a mixture of water and air. The analogy to drowning is inevitable. As her doctor, I was going to have to make some big decisions quickly, including this one: How much should I do to save her life?

Perhaps with this in mind, my patient had months earlier completed an advance directive. I was holding it in my hand. We were allowed to make her comfortable: pain medication, oxygen. Explicitly proscribed were intubation, vasopressor medications to support blood pressure, invasive procedures and chest compressions. Her chart noted that she had been intubated the last time she was at the hospital because, as is often the case, paramedics didn't have the advance directive. The chart also noted she was upset about this.

Here's the thing about advance directives: They are guidelines. They do not have the force of law. This is a good thing. Despite what many of us think, we can't truly anticipate how we will feel when we are about to die. Advance directives are especially valuable when someone has a terminal disease or a stroke, and they want to tell doctors what to do when they can no longer decide for themselves. But with a patient such as mine, who was alert despite her distress, it's much more complicated. The human will to live is powerful. Most of the time when patients truly face death, they insist we do what we can to keep them alive.

And so three minutes after her arrival, my patient was surrounded by doctors, nurses and respiratory techs getting ready to do what we do, getting ready to save her life. An oxygen mask was already placed over her nose and mouth, intravenous lines started, cardiac monitor leads attached. A doctor waited at the head of the bed, sedation medications in hand, poised to intubate.

As the senior doctor on duty, what happened next was my call. I knew her medical history. I knew what her advance directive said. And most importantly, I knew what she had said to me minutes ago, when I laid eyes on her: "This ... is the end ... of my life." There had been no inflection in her voice. It was not a question.

Before I explain what I did next, I want you to stop and consider what you would have done. I ask because society has been debating for decades the role doctors should play in how and when we die. In June, California will join four other US states in allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill but mentally competent patients.
Selective interpretation of planning scheme What is it with the City of Port Phillip and its selective interpretation of its planning scheme and the Planning and Environment Act that supports it? This same council decided, supposedly on the basis of a complaint, to persecute a few residents along Canterbury Road for daring to install rain water tanks in the middle of a drought in 2007. There are plenty of precedents for retrospective planning approvals for essentially acceptable land-uses. But no such luck with this council, notwithstanding the legal support for the "sustainable use of land". A rainwater tank in the middle of a drought surely meets that criteria, notwithstanding a heritage overlay. Now, the same council is pouncing on a much loved local bookshop, supposedly on the basis of a legal technicality and a mere single complaint. Under section 60 of the Planning and Environment Act, it is now mandatory to consider social impacts. Clearly, such impacts have not been taken into account. Rather than waste time and money at VCAT, council needs to issue a written apology and leave innocent, decent people in peace. Bernadette George, Emu Park, Queensland Whatever it takes

It's becoming clear that Malcolm Turnbull is worse than Tony Abbott. At least we knew that Abbott believed what he said, even if it was mean and stupid. Meanwhile, Turnbull repeats Tony's lines and has abandoned the policies he espoused while leader-in-waiting. So is Mr Turnbull simply toeing the right-wing line despite holding more progressive views? Or is it the case that the only thing Malcolm believes in is Malcolm? When he was not leader, did he just say whatever was necessary to draw attention to himself and undermine Mr Abbott? The best way to do that was by taking progressive positions on climate change, gay marriage, refugees, public transport, you name it. If he really believed what he said then, how could he say what he says now? The most rational explanation is that he doesn't hold any of the beliefs he espouses but rather is prepared to say whatever it takes. And remember he has a history of doing whatever it takes to get power. Lest we forget Godwin Grech. Denny Meadows, Hawthorn Dangerous void

Black holes begin in the brain and are often located somewhere between the two ears. If left untreated, they can quickly grow, leaving the now-vacant head of the victim and before long developing into multi-billion-dollar voids of nothingness. Rather than attempting to explain away such outbreaks, it might be better for Mr Turnbull to cap all possible edifices at their source before the outbreaks engulf those in their path. Ian Pinge, Portarlington New coat of arms The Spendometer. How clever. Let's reinforce the stereotypes as much as we can. Feckless Labor and Responsible Conservatives. Then again, we could have a Trendometer, which measures the net value and social worth of spending against the net cost of wealthy individuals and corporations receiving tax cuts or avoiding tax. Let's bust the myth. Prolonged austerity runs down infrastructure and faith in institutions. Eventually we have to spend to tackle the consequences of a lack of investment. Failing to tackle the key drivers of falling revenue and casting oneself as virtuous by reducing spending makes for a very muddle-headed wombat. Looks like the Libs have themselves a new coat of arms.

Tony Newport, Hillwood, Tasmania Encouraging sign The decision by the Labor Party to end the "double dipping" arrangement where MPs draw a travel allowance while staying in a spouse's house is a small but encouraging step. There is overwhelming cynicism across the community towards the political process and if voters are to remain engaged with the electoral process, a more major change is needed. The blatant corrupting nature of political donations has undermined the reality and the perception of integrity in decision making. The major parties have an opportunity to change this by banning donations from corporations and imposing a cap of $500 on personal donations. Remember, the major parties will inherit a Parliament where the Greens and independents will support action to clean up our democracy and restore some standing for government. Peter Allan, West Brunswick Jobson is our man

David Littlewood (Letters, 25/5), there's hope for your graduate son and hundreds like him. Come July 2, our pollies tell us, we will be "moving forward" and Jobson Growth will gather all unto him. I'm not sure of his qualifications but we've been assured he's our man. They're even handing out rose-coloured glasses. How blessed are we in our Lucky Country. Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale Make business pay The cuts to the CSIRO under the government and Larry Marshall are unsurprising given that one doesn't seem to think climate change is a big deal, and the other thinks the matter is settled and we don't need any further research. However, taxpayers should not be paying for the CSIRO to be turned into a research hub/incubator for big business. If business wants research done, it can pay for it itself and not get it free from taxpayers care of the CSIRO. Mina Hilson, West Footscray

Consider corollary Bishop Michael Stead's delight in Bill Shorten's decision to support discrimination against homosexuals in faith-based organisations on the grounds that it will "guarantee the ongoing diversity of opinion and tolerance of diversity" is mystifying. Would the bishop similarly delight in my refusal to employ believing Anglicans and Catholics because their "faith" is an affront to my most deeply held beliefs about what it means to be human? A believer-free zone is not difficult to organise these days, bishop, and getting easier by the day. Labor strategists might remind Shorten that other candidates from another major party and many independents are standing in the election who do not support anti-gay discrimination. Robert Dessaix, Battery Point, Tasmania Vanstone's cheap shot Amanda Vanstone can refer to chardonnay-sipping lefties all she likes (Comment, 23/5) but I remember Richard Di Natale going to Africa at the height of the Ebola crisis to see what the world's poorest and most desperate were facing. I don't recall Vanstone or Peter Dutton doing anything other than effecting their firm belief that there are votes in turning refugees into the enemy.

Yvonne Murdoch, Nunawading Establishing a queue Bruce Stillman (Letters, 24/5) is incorrect about the Greens' refugee policy. The Greens propose to fund support organisations in our region to speed up the process and give people access to education and work rights while they wait, thus providing a better option than a boat journey. This would establish a queue and destroy the people-smugglers' model, and, indeed, determine "who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come". And some Labor leaders agree. Tanya Plibersek calls for the quick, safe processing of claims at regional facilities to tackle the need for refugees to get into boats, while Anthony Albanese says people need to be given hope of an orderly process wherever they are, without needing to risk their lives. Colin Smith, St Kilda

Losing mother tongue As the granddaughter of Italian migrants on my father's side I disagree that assimilation is a myth (Letters, 24/5). The thinking behind the myth is that down the track, the children and grandchildren of European migrants are not well assimilated. In actual fact, these generations are often at the point where they have no familiarity whatsoever with the "mother tongue". Whether this continues with the current wave of migration remains to be seen. Joanna Wriedt, Eaglemont Vietnam is no pawn I disagree Bill Mathew (Letters, 25/5). Vietnam is a master at non-capitulation, and historically its enemy has always been China. In about AD940, after nearly 1000 years of Chinese occupation, tiny Vietnam ejected the invaders from the north.

More recently, it is Chinese goods that have flooded Vietnam's markets, destroying local industry. China is now threatening movement along Vietnam's eastern sea lanes. Since claiming victory over US military might in 1975, Vietnam rebuilt relationships with south-east Asian neighbours, and now sees its best interest served in rapprochement with the US. It is underestimating Vietnam to imply it is (or has been) a pawn of outside powers. Martha Morrow, Oakleigh South Defending indefensible I felt ill watching the footage of the mistreatment of the female police officer in Ballarat. I can't believe another female officer was party to her colleague's pant-less humiliation. Shame on all those involved, and for trying to defend the indefensible. So much for Upholding the Right. Kristen Doell, Altona

Could it get worse? If that's how Ballarat police officers treat one of their own, is it unreasonable to wonder how they might treat the voiceless  the homeless, the Indigenous, those with mental health issues? David Smith, Mt Waverley Job is hard enough I have been doing "the job" for 15 years. I wonder if we will ever find out who this female police officer upset and why? "The Job" is hard enough to do and win public trust without this animalistic behaviour.

Des Crowle, Casterton Leaks upon leaks Will the AFP investigate the leaks, from either its ranks or those of the National Broadband Network, which resulted in maximum media coverage of its raids on the ALP office and a staffer's home? Brian Brasier, Donald AND ANOTHER THING ...

Scott Morrison He can talk but he can't count. Peng Ee, Castle Cove, NSW He was a far better communicator when he refused to comment on anything.

Matthew McRobbie, Mont Albert Politics I agree that we expect more from politicians than "common sense" (Letters, 25/5), which can be heard at the pub or around the barbie any time. Leadership demands uncommon sense. Tony Geeves, Castlemaine There's no longer any need to compare Turnbull with Abbott: Turnbull has earned his own stripes.

Henry Herzog, St Kilda East Turnbull has no ticker for politics; it's all beneath him really. Cynthia Karena, St Kilda East A new three-word slogan for right-wing politics: "Greed before need". Peter Weatherhead, Wantirna

The obvious answer to Benjamin Nisenbaum's question (Letters, 24/5) is "none of the above". Roy Schrieke, Durham Lead There's never been a more exciting and innovative time to be a CSIRO scientist. John Church would surely agree. Mitchell Harper, Numurkah There's never been a more exciting time to be xenophobic.

John Higgins, Hawthorn There must be a rational explanation for the Coalition's climate policies. Is the AFP looking into Unaoil? John Hayward, Weegena, Tas Other matters No united action, no collective bargaining, individual contracts, market forces. Is this "WorkChoices" for dairy farmers?
A Fitzroy gallery is closing amid complaints from artists who say they have not been paid for works it has sold.

Auguste Clown Gallery in Johnston Street, which sells mainly pop surrealist art, has been the subject of a barrage of criticism via social media this week from artists in the United States, Europe and NSW.

Auguste Clowne Gallery on Johnston Street, Fitzroy, is closing down. Credit:Simon Schluter

Some artists say they have not received any payment for works sold by the gallery, while others state Auguste Clown director Leigh Cornish has refused to return their works, as they say he is required to do under the terms of their contracts with the gallery.

When asked by Fairfax Media about the complaints, Mr Cornish refused to comment on the record and instead asked for questions to be emailed to him. In response, he released a statement announcing he was shutting the gallery due to "a significant decline in retail trade over the past year and family health issues".
Most people wouldn't know his face  but when Hank Azaria slipped into his various characters' voices from The Simpsons as a university guest of honour this week, the guests instantly had those animated faces front-of-mind.

Azaria, who attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, returned to address more than 3000 graduates on Sunday and decided to do the standard "here's some advice, kids" with a twist: moving from one famed Simpsons character to another.

"If a cop even thinks you're going to throw up in their back seat they will immediately let you go," Azaria, the Emmy Award-winning actor, said as one of the many characters he voices on The Simpsons, Chief Wiggum.

As Moe the Bartender, he took a gentle swipe at a cross-town rival.
Burt Kwouk, a British character actor indelibly remembered for his work in the Pink Panther films as Cato, the manservant who sprang comic traps on the bumbling detective Jacques Clouseau with karate chops and nunchaku skill, died May 24. He was 85.

His agent, Jean Diamond, announced the death but did not disclose the cause or place.

Brilliant slapstick stunts ... Burt Kwouk, best known for playing Inspector Clouseau's manservant Cato in the Pink Panther films, has died aged 85. File photo. Credit:PA

As Cato Fong, Kwouk (pronounced Kwawk) was a highlight of the slapstick Pink Panther franchise. His boss Clouseau, originally played by Peter Sellers, tasked him with keeping the police inspector's wits sharp through frequent, unexpected surprise attacks whenever Clouseau came home.

Their confrontations inevitably destroyed Clouseau's apartment, where Cato hid behind doors or atop Clouseau's four-poster bed. With the exception of major stunts, such as an 24-metre leap into the Seine, Sellers and Kwouk performed the fights themselves.
As the video approaches the end, it shows a photo of the Clintons sitting together while the words "Here we go again!" appear. Hillary Clinton is heard laughing in the background.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, released an Instagram video on Monday that features ominous music and audio from three women who accused the former president of sexual assault in the 1990s.

Another indication that Donald Trump is targeting Bill Clinton in an attempt to undermine Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has come in the form of a social media dispatch.

Trump has said in recent interviews that his campaign will continue the attacks to remind voters of the controversies involving Bill Clinton.

"The intensity and frequency of Trump's attacks are almost irrelevant" to the candidates' platforms, Frank Sesno, American University professor of media and public affairs, told VOA, adding that "any attack will drive the media cycle."

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon told Bloomberg TV on Monday that Trump's attacks are part of a strategy to "distract from an issues-based campaign."

Marquette University political science professor Julia Azari said there is evidence voters care about the candidates' positions on social, foreign policy and economic issues, so it would be wise for Clinton "to emphasize her expertise, but even more, her policy stances."

"The smart thing for Clinton to do would be to keep issues in the mix," Azari added.

Trumps ability to garner attention through traditional and newer social media channels has been made possible, Sesno said, by a very lengthy and intense campaign season: "There has been more horse race to cover, so the media have become ever more adept at and defined by the way they cover the horse race. And when the horse race is the focus, then every attack gets magnified."

While Clinton and Trump are far apart on substance and policy experience, Azari said they share two things in common: very high national profiles and unfavorable ratings. Those factors, she said, would "make it easier for each candidate to emphasize the negative images of their opponent, and for those ideas to stick."

Trump's stated commitment to continue his attacks represent a complete reversal from many of his previous public positions on the former president. Between 1997 and 2008, the real estate mogul participated in at least six interviews with major media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, and CNBC, defending then-President Clinton against allegations of sexual misconduct and touting his effectiveness as commander in chief.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the show, called it one of the most shocking revelations they ever received from George R.R. Martin, who writes the books the series is based on and conceived the details of Hodor's origin. "There's a very nice thing going around the internet that says, 'Not all heroes hold weapons, some hold doors,'" Kristian Nairn, the 2.11 metre Irish actor, who played Hodor, said on Tuesday. "He is a hero now, but I think he always was, in his own way." "He's proven himself now - he's not just a joke," Nairn added. "But I want people to remember him both ways, because I think it's fun as well." Isaac Hempstead-Wright plays Bran Stark in Game of Thrones season six. Credit:Ian Gavan The 40-year-old actor, who famously gave away the fact that he would not be appearing in season five, has successfully held his tongue since shooting the final scene in November. He has spent the intervening months on his thriving music career and in talks for a possible Netflix series and various film roles.

In a phone interview with the New York Times he discussed why Hodor would be happy with his send-off and why, despite the show's fluid ideas about death, he doesn't think Hodor will be returning. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. Bran Stark spent the episode watching the box set of Game of Thrones. Credit:HBO Q: Have you gotten used to the idea yet? A: What? Of being dead and irrelevant? No. I'm used to being irrelevant but being dead is novel, I'll give it that. Game of Thrones revealed the truth about young Hodor. Credit:HBO

Q: So he's definitely dead? A: Yeah. I don't think he's going to survive that. As far as I know, put it that way. Q: Any chance he'll come back as a zombie? A: There's always a chance. It's actually very freeing - I have a really big mouth and it's difficult for me to not tell things. The fact that I can watch the rest of the show and not have to hold back because I might let something slip is freeing. But I don't think he's coming back. Q: What did you think when you read the script for Sunday's episode?

A: It was a double-edged sword for me. I really wanted him to have a good send-off. I don't think there's been many better send-offs on the show so far. But I definitely was a bit weepy when I read it. More so because these guys are my friends, who I work with. It's going to be strange not seeing them on a professional level. Q: Did the fact that Bran was responsible for not only his death, but also his simple-mindedness change your idea about the nature of their relationship? A: No it doesn't. Although Bran was responsible for the whole chain of events that killed Hodor, Hodor didn't have to hold that door. He wasn't being warged into at that stage. It was Meera who asked him to hold the door, it wasn't Bran. He wants to protect the little guy. That's all he's ever done. He wants to help ... this is the ultimate helping hand here. I just think he would be happy they could continue without him. Q: How did it feel to finally know what you had been saying for all these years? A: That was great, man. Because I literally had no idea. All my theories were wrong. So it was nice to know it actually meant something. After all the different meanings I've given it over the years, it's strange to know it actually means "hold the door."

Q: What was your favourite theory about it? A: This is more about Hodor's origin story, but I liked the theory that he was one of the lost Clegane brothers. You've got Hodor, Sandor and Gregor, perhaps? You know Gregor was very cruel to Sandor when he was a child; he burned his face and stuff. Who knows what he did to Hodor? He could've dropped him out of his cot or pram, and maybe that's what happened to him. That's what I played around with in my head, but obviously it was completely wrong. Q: What's your understanding of what actually fried his brain? A: Bran has some kind of telekinetic force in his brain that can overtake the electronics of animals and obviously Hodor as well. I think it's almost like a telephone call with crossed wires. Bran's in this time-shift mode, he's hearing Meera say "You have to warg into Hodor." I just think Hodor got caught up in this vortex and it fried his circuitry. It's almost like pressing a reset button on him. Q: So you don't think he had any sense throughout his life of what his destiny was?

A: I don't think so. I don't think he had any sense of what was coming. I don't think he recognized Bran when he saw him the second time around. He maybe felt some sort of connection to him, which was why the bond was there. But I don't think he said to himself "Oh that's that little [expletive] from the courtyard, stay away from him. Run!" Q: How did that final scene change your understanding of Hodor? A: It didn't change it at all. Obviously it gave me the answers to the reality of the character, but it was very true to him and to, I hope, the way I played him. There was a lot of humanity there and I think he always had a lot of humanity. I think that's exactly what Hodor would have wanted. Well, I don't think he wanted to die. But I think he happily did. Q: Why do you think people are taking Hodor's death so hard? A: There's no one else like Hodor on Game of Thrones. There's no other character with that warmth, humanity and a little bit of comic relief. People are taking it badly. He's just such a nice guy and it's so rare on this show, and he didn't deserve it. But that's just Game of Thrones for you. I think it was set up earlier in the episode, Jaqen H'ghar asks Arya something like, "Does death only come for the wicked and leave good people behind?" Because Hodor is such a good person and he's about to get slaughtered.

Q: What was the final day like? A: It was emotional, man. It was the day either before or after birthday. It was a really heavy day ... you've got these 100-mile-per-hour winds being blown into your face with false snow. I was really holding the door ... there were like eight people pushing from the other side and I was really holding them back. It's definitely Method acting [laughs]. It was a very intense day but one of the nice things was they let Isaac wrap me. He got to come over and say "Mr. Nairn, that's a wrap." It was very emotional. It's always been a little group of us together and it felt like our little group was breaking up. And it's sad! Q: How many different ways are there to say "Hodor"? A: There's infinite ways to say it, but it's not all about the word, man. It's about body language as well. Q: Do you have a favourite one?

A: My favorite one I think was back in season three and Osha was complaining about, "Why do we always have to do the work? Why do we build the tent and light the fire while Bran talks to the reeds?" And I just looked up at her and gave her this sort of "Why are you telling me this" Hodor. What do you want me to do about it? It was such an obscure "Hodor" but everyone got it. It was fantastic. Q: You have other shows and films coming up, as well as your music career. But have you made your peace with the fact that you'll always be Hodor for many people? A: Absolutely. Some people say that like it's a bad thing. To play this iconic character from this historically wonderful series of books ... who wouldn't take that opportunity and be happy about it? I'm happy to be Hodor forever. Q: Great. A: But ask me that in 10 years.
Offspring's on the way back, which in some ways is a shame. It all ended so perfectly in the final episode of season five it does raise a couple of questions. One, is there any need to bring it back? And two  where on earth can it go from here? Apart from another round of romantic breakups/make-ups and messy misunderstandings.

At the same time, we love Offspring and have faith that the talented team of writers won't take the easy way out. How will Leo (Patrick Brammall) and Nina (Asher Keddie) manage their evolving relationship? Life after "happy ever after" is one of the most difficult narratives to negotiate. But moving from unresolved sexual tension to resolved sexual tension can be done: Castle, and with less success Bones, have both managed it. And with Nina and Leo sharing the same office, so to speak, the potential for conflict and comedy is considerable.

Asher Keddie will be reviving her role as Nina Proudman when Offspring returns to our screens.

There's also a gap in the market here: there's a long history of TV babies becoming more or less invisible once the writers have gifted one to a couple. Really engaging with work-life balance and toddler-wrangling would strike a chord with millions.
"Labor opposed the repeal of the Schoolkids Bonus, the government got it through with the Clive Palmer party," Mr Bowen told ABC radio.

Mr Bowen has also confirmed Labor will leave the government's pensions assets test untouched if elected but would review the overall system, including the pension changes introduced last year with the support of the Greens.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has announced Labor will not restore the Gillard-era Schoolkids Bonus, axed by the Coalition with the support of Clive Palmer, marking a turnaround on the $4.5 billion policy they previously lauded.

"But we've now had the pre-election economic forecast. We know the triple A credit rating is under threat. So we are taking a very responsible approach with our policies. Families will be better off under Labor, but we will not be able to afford to bring back the Schoolkids Bonus."

When the government secured the abolition of the mining tax in September 2014 they also sought to axe related spending, including the welfare policy. As part of a deal struck with Mr Palmer, the last payment will be made in July.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten expanded on Labor's new position, saying they didn't support the government's "ill-conceived" policies and still don't like them but the finances have tied their hands.

"We do not believe, looking at the latest set of books that the government has just revealed last week, that we're in a position to restore the changes they've made or reverse the changes they've made to the pension assets test," Mr Shorten said in Darwin.

"What we will do is that we will review our pensions income because we're not convinced that meddling with part pensioners is the best way to go."
A mentally ill female Iranian refugee at Nauru locked herself in her family's unit and set it alight, her husband says, in an apparent suicide attempt that underscores the ongoing mental harm caused by the Turnbull government's offshore processing regime.

The incident follows two self-immolations by refugees at Nauru in the past month - one of them fatal - and a young Bangladeshi man who died of suspected heart failure on the island after an alleged deliberate medication overdose.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Wednesday said deterring people smuggling should not involve indefinite detention in offshore camps, as former Liberal prime minister John Howard sought to cast doubt on Labor's commitment to border protection.
A 3-year-old girl has undergone surgery after police say she accidentally shot herself in the leg with a replica pistol she found.

The toddler was at her home in Ballina on the NSW north coast on Tuesday evening when she allegedly found the air pistol, which shot ball bearings but looked like a regular gun.

It is alleged the air pistol was not properly secured.

At around 7pm, police say the girl pulled the trigger, shooting a ball bearing into her leg.

Her injury was discovered by a 39-year-old man, who took her to Ballina District Hospital, where police were told of her injury.
Two men are in a serious condition after they were injured in a huge fire at Revesby in Sydney's south-west.

The blaze, which started just before 4pm, consumed a car wrecking yard on Fitzpatrick Street and spread to two adjoining buildings, a factory and a gym, Fire and Rescue NSW said.

Within one minute of crews arriving, they were confronted with "huge flames" and "multiple explosions" and radioed for reinforcements.

Two men sustained serious burns to their faces in the blaze; one was also burnt on his arms. Both were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition with a police escort.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will head to the troubled Cape community of Aurukun for an emergency meeting as the region's teachers were once again evacuated due to safety concerns.

For the second time this month, the Cape York Academy's 25 staff voted to leave the Indigenous community, after principal Scott Fatnowna and his wife were allegedly threatened by youths carrying knives and machetes on Saturday night.

That followed an earlier incident in which Mr Fatnowna was allegedly attacked by youths carrying an axe and carjacked after he came to the aid of two female staff who had called for help after youths allegedly attempted to break into their accommodation.

Most of the academy's staff had only returned to the community last Thursday, but tensions at the weekend led them to again ask to leave.
Aurukun elders have accused the Palaszczuk government of holding the remote community's students to ransom because police can't keep a handful of children under control.

The town's only school, the Cape York Academy, was on Wednesday shut down for the second time this month, following more trouble on Tuesday night.

A group of children, some as young as six, allegedly tried to access the school's teacher accommodation, sparking a vote for 25 teachers and staff to evacuate to Cairns.

The move followed the second carjacking of school principal Scott Fatnowna this month, over the weekend.
Two men have been rushed to hospital after a crane they were in rolled over on the Gold Coast.

The crane rollover happened on Pimpama-Jacobs Well Road at Pimpama just before 10am on Wednesday, reportedly trapping two men inside the cab.

The men managed to free themselves and were rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital.

One man suffered head injuries while the other suffered back injury.
A Queensland doctor has received a brief suspension for inappropriately prescribing restricted drugs.

The Medical Board of Australia referred Dr Michelle Ong to the Queensland Civil and Administration Tribunal for conduct relating to her inappropriate prescribing of pseudoephedrine and other restricted drugs as well as her clinical record keeping, where it was found her behaviour constituted professional misconduct.

A doctor has received a brief suspension after QCAT found her behavior constituted professional misconduct.

The tribunal heard Dr Ong had a history of prescribing excessive quantities of narcotics to patients registered with the Medicine Regulation and Quality Unit of Queensland Health.

In providing expert opinion for the medical board a Dr Turnbull said pseudoephedrine has a high value in the illicit drug trade.
China's imports of North Korean products declined more than 20 percent last month compared to the same period of 2015 as Beijing began to implement UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

According to statistics by the Korea International Trade Association, China imported US$161 million worth of North Korean products in April, down 22.3 percent on-year.

Its imports of North Korean coal fell 38.2 percent to $7.21 million, and of gold 91.1 percent to $250,000. Imports of North Korean titanium, which is on the list of banned imports, were zero.

But imports of iron ore, which is allowed since it is thought to support the livelihood of ordinary North Koreans, increased 1.7 percent, and of zinc, which is also not banned, a whopping 685 percent to $5.7 million.

China's exports to North Korea totaled $268 million last month, down 1.5 percent. Sales of jet and rocket fuel dropped 39.9 percent and of cars and electronic equipment 45.5 percent and 43.9 percent.

Total trade between North Korea and China last month fell 10.5 percent on-year to $429 million. If China continues to abide by UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, bilateral trade will shrink further and dent the North's attempts to earn hard currency.

North Korea's state-run Rodong Sinmun daily on Tuesday complained that the sanctions are pressuring the North "beyond imagination."


Lamington National Park. A spokesman for the State Emergency Services said crews were able to cover another seven square kilometres on Wednesday but were hampered by the difficult terrain and nature. "There is a lot of lantana growing in there and lots of wild vines so it is very tough going." he said. The main search was suspended at about 4.30pm on Wednesday as light began to fade but will recommence on Thursday morning as the missing man faces his fifth day alone in the bush. Earlier

Police hold growing concerns for a bushwalker missing in the Lamington National Park since Saturday. The 58-year-old from Logan was holidaying in the area when he went on a bushwalk along the Running Creek Falls walking track. At 7pm on Saturday, he phoned police as he had become lost. Inspector Mike Dowdy from Logan Police said specialist search and rescue officers spoke to the man and a decision was made for him to stay where he was until he could be reached in the morning. "With any area without good lighting and rugged terrain a number of decisions need to be made," he said.

"A decision was made and conveyed to him that we would come in on Sunday morning with search teams and assist him out." During the call police were able to establish that the man had sufficient food and water but he was not dressed appropriately for a lengthy stay in the park. And as evening temperatures continue to drop, concerns for his welfare continue to grow. "We weren't concerned the first few nights because the temperatures have been mild," Inspector Dowdy said. "The temperature did drop to single digits in that area on Monday night and he is not clothed or provisioned for that temperature."

On Monday State Emergency Service crews along with police, rangers from National Parks and Wildlife as well as air support continued to search for the man but were unable to locate him. The search recommended at 8am on Tuesday and Inspector Dowdy said expert medical advice indicated the man would be able to survive the conditions. "The thought (that he may not be alive) has not entered our heads," he said. "We have sought medical opinion on survivability and that medical opinion at this point in time is that we could find a missing person alive." Inspector Dowdy said police were in constant contact with the man's family who were holding up well in the circumstances.

"Understandably they are upset as anybody would be when somebody you love (is missing)," he said. "They are fatigued due to the stress of the situation but they have put their trust in the police and other emergency services and we are doing our best to keep that trust." Lamington National Park covers an area of 206 square kilometres is about 85km south-west of Brisbane. Inspector Dowdy said police were using the physical characteristics of the park to narrow down their search area.
The day after Jarrod Bleijie announced the state's corruption watchdog had stated its intention to investigate who leaked the details of a confidential defamation settlement involving himself and the former premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced guidelines to cover how taxpayer money is spent covering those actions. Ms Palaszczuk announced a review of the guidelines, following an article in Guardian Australia which reported the $500,000 settlement against Mr Bleijie and Campbell Newman over comments they made in response to a Gold Coast law firm's concerns regarding the LNP's anti-association laws. Defamation guidelines will be reviewed, following an article in which the $500,000 settlement against Jarrod Bleijie and Campbell Newman over comments they made in response to a Gold Coast law firm's concerns regarding the LNP's anti-association laws. Credit:Renee Melides The settlement reportedly could have been less if a public apology was offered, however sources have told Fairfax Media an apology may never have been part of the deal. Regardless, Ms Palaszczuk said she wanted the indemnity guidelines reviewed, not to change the cover afforded to ministers of the Crown but to ensure there was "value for taxpayer money".

"I am of the firm view that ministers of the Crown should be extremely careful with the language they use in the public domain," she told Parliament on Wednesday. "In cases where claims are made, I am also of the view that, where possible, every effort to mitigate damages paid by taxpayers should be made. "Cabinet has endorsed a new section in the guidelines. This new section states: 'Where a minister is granted legal assistance or indemnity for a civil proceeding involving a claim in defamation, the decision-makers make it a condition of the grant that the minister obtain appropriate legal advice about any necessary steps, including to mitigate any damages the state may be liable for, if the statement is ultimately found to be defamatory. " 'If a minister does not take appropriate steps, the decision-makers may take that factor into account in considering whether to amend or withdraw the grant or the conditions of the grant under this guideline.' " It means if a minister can lower the cost of the settlement and doesn't, that minister could find him or herself stripped of indemnity.
A woman convicted of trafficking cocaine and sentenced to nine years in a Spanish jail has been given the green light to teach in Victorian schools.

The Victorian Institute of Teaching initially rejected Kim Salter's application to teach, saying it was not in the public interest for someone convicted of such a serious offence to work in schools.

Kim Salter has won the right to teach after being convicted of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to nine years in a Spanish jail.

But the 38-year-old successfully appealed the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, who ruled she would be a "great asset" in rural Victorian schools.

Ms Salter was introduced to international drug couriers when she travelled to Uganda in 2007. She "spent some months partying", and used drugs including LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, amphetamine, cocaine and magic mushrooms about five times a week, VCAT senior member Robert Davis wrote in his decision.
A woman who was sexually abused as a child by her teacher in the 1970s says the Victorian Education Department knew about the crimes but did nothing.

Former school principal Alan Michael Goodison, 70, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting four young girls in classrooms more than 40 years ago.

The offending between 1969 and 1973 had left a "trail of destruction", judge Richard Maidment told the County Court on Wednesday.

"You have, to varying degrees, ruined the lives of the four victims whose victim impact statements I have to consider," Judge Maidment said.

Goodison was either an acting principal or principal in his 20s when he sexually assaulted girls aged between nine and 12 at two primary schools, one in Gippsland and the other in Victoria's north-east.
Angry dairy farmers had been "run over by corporate greed" and treated like "medieval serfs", about 400 farmers were told during a rally in Melbourne's CBD.

As a crowd of farmers, animal liberationists and even a United Patriot representative gathered outside Parliament House, one speaker described the country's two major milk processors, Murray Goulburn and Fonterra, as "big bastards" for slashing milk payments to farmers.

The speaker, known as "farmer John", called on the government to regulate milk prices.
Three men accused of the gruesome murder of a Melbourne drug user have admitted they all helped dispose of his dismembered body in the Maribyrnong River last year.

But the three are pleading not guilty to Brendan David Bernard's murder, telling the Supreme Court through their lawyers that they did not intend for him to die.

Brendan Bernard, whose severed forearm was found in the Maribyrnong River on February 5, 2015.

Mr Bernard met his end during what was described as a "chaotic" night in late January last year at a North Melbourne unit, in which everyone present was drunk and high on ice.

Mr Bernard, 32, was left for dead in a bathtub after being violently and repeatedly assaulted and tortured.
An artist's impression of plans proposed for the London Hotel site in Port Melbourne.

A local council that issued a demolition permit for a historic Port Melbourne pub has now asked the planning minister to step in - urgently - to save it from the wrecking ball.

Port Phillip mayor Bernadene Voss has asked Planning Minister Richard Wynne to place an order preventing Port Melbourne's London Hotel being knocked down.

Cr Voss's request comes despite last week saying planning officers had told her the hotel was not worth saving. "Based on this assessment, council will not request the Minister for Planning apply an interim heritage overlay."

That is now what the council has done - demand Mr Wynne step in to save the pub, which was built in 1861 but modified many times since.
A male psychiatric nurse working at an exclusive private hospital is being investigated for repeated sex attacks on at least two patients, including one who was receiving treatment for a mental health condition caused by clergy abuse.

The nurse, who was registered for more than a decade and may have also worked in Queensland, is being investigated by Victoria Police and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

It's alleged the male nurse sexually assaulted one patient at the Northpark Private Hospital for months and possibly years. Credit:Ken Robertson

His registration has been suspended.

It is alleged he sexually assaulted one patient at the Northpark Private Hospital for months and possibly years until she reported him to police in August.
However, Ms Carling-Jenkins told parliament she would not let the matter rest.

But on Wednesday that bill was defeated 27 votes to 11 in Parliament's 40-member Legislative Council.

A push to wind back abortion laws in the Victorian Parliament has failed.

Victoria's Legislative Council debates the bill to decriminalise abortion in October 2008. Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones

"This debate is not settled," she said. "It is not settled while the DLP holds a seat in this chamber."

The vote's failure comes after the Australian Medical Association's Victorian division urged MPs to oppose the bill.

The association released a statement that said Ms Carling-Jenkins' bill would compel doctors to perform particular types of neonatal and perinatal medical care.

AMA Victoria president Lorraine Baker said neonatal and perinatal care in Victoria was determined by doctors and their patients.
The septuagenarian ex-SK Telecom chairman Son Kil-seung has been indicted for indecent assault on a woman in her 20s.

Police on Tuesday said Son (75) is accused of fondling the leg of a waitress in a coffee shop in Seoul on May 3 and telling her to massage his shoulders.

Police also indicted the elderly owner of the cafe on charges of aiding and abetting.

Police said Son knew the owner and had been in the coffee shop for 10 minutes. The victim said she ran out of the cafe after the unwanted advances but the owner pulled her back in.

She told police Son then tried to embrace her and groped her again.

Police said they have seized CCTV footage from the cafe and plan to summon Son and the owner for questioning.

Son claims his memory of the night is hazy but apologized for "causing problems." He added that he would have apologized if he had known the waitress was offended.
A senior Labor minister has been suspended from state parliament for six months over his refusal to release government documents.

The Coalition teamed with the Greens to suspend the government's leader in the Legislative Council Gavin Jennings.

Senior Labor minister Gavin Jennings has been suspended from parliament for six months. Credit:Pat Scala

The documents related to range of projects and events, including the Peter Mac Private hospital and the Grand Prix.

The motion to suspend Mr Jennings passed 21 votes to 18.
Coburg Leisure Centre will close for the day this Saturday and other traders will consider closing for part of the day, ahead of two opposing political rallies planned for the area on the weekend.

Victoria Police, Moreland City Council representatives and trader's associations have been working together to discuss security arrangements, with fears that the demonstrations in the heart of multicultural Coburg could lead to unrest.

Police have warned they will be closely monitoring the rallies, and will conduct searches to ensure no weapons are on site.

"Our message is clear; if you bring a weapon you will be caught," a police spokesperson said. "Given the history of violence that has occurred at previous rallies, families and parents are advised to consider if it is appropriate for children to attend."
Serious sex offenders can now be held by Victoria Police without charge for 72 hours instead of 10 hours under new laws which passed state parliament overnight.

The changes to how offenders are managed after they're released from jail came about after a number of women were killed by men on bail.

The new laws were prompted by the brutal stabbing of Melbourne teen Masa Vukotic by Sean Price in 2015

"The changes make it clear that the safety of the community must come first," Corrections Minister Steve Herbert said in a statement on Wednesday, adding the reforms also introduced a mandatory 12-month jail term for intentional breaches of supervision orders.

The amendments to the Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act expand the conditions of supervision orders to include a ban on violent offending and behaviour.
Canning MP Andrew Hastie is defying "orders" from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to remove photos of himself in uniform from federal election campaign material.

Mr Hastie, who was an SAS officer before being elected to parliament last year, retired from the military in August prior to taking office.

Canning MP Andrew Hastie was sacked from the Army Reserve after he refused to remove photos of himself in uniform from election campaign material. Credit:Nathan Hondros

He received the ADF orders after Labor's candidate for the seat of Brisbane, Pat O'Neill, was instructed by the ADF to take down photographs of himself in uniform used in campaign advertisements on a billboard.

It is understood Mr Hastie was also threatened with disciplinary action if he failed to comply with the letter.
Friends and family of a missing Sampson man have demanded to know why police took so long to launch a search for the 37-year-old mine worker.

They say critical time was lost between Sean David Mitchell going missing on Friday night and his backpack washing up in the Swan River near Blackwall Reach in Bicton on Sunday.

A bag belong to missing Sean David Mitchell (inset) was found at Blackwall Reach.

Nephew Rikki Kiley told Channel Nine News that a search should have begun straight away.

"Time is of the essence, whether water is involved or not, because that's when people most remember their last interaction even it's a passersby," he said.
A police chase through two East Perth apartment blocks has ended in two men being arrested, the second clad just in his underwear.

About 12.20am on Wednesday police were called to an Adelaide Terrace complex by reports of two men having broken into its car park, police spokesman Samuel Dinnison said.

PD Santos bit one of the alleged offenders on the hip, ending his flight. Credit:Samuel Dinnison

Despite warnings from the police dog handler who found them in a stairwell they ran, Mr Dinnison said, and the handler deployed police dog Santos.

The dog caught one man by the hip and he was arrested.
An American actor who played a police officer on TV was upset because his wife wanted a divorce and taunted her before fatally shooting her in their Los Angeles home while their two young sons watched, a prosecutor has told jurors.

Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef made the accusations against Michael Jace during her opening statement at his murder trial on Tuesday.

Michael Jace killed his wife in May 2014 after allegedly taunting her. Credit:Richard Shotwell

Defence lawyer Jamon Hicks acknowledged that his client had killed his wife and said the defence team would try to explain the actor's mindset when it happened.

"This case is not about who did it. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility," Hicks said in his opening statement. "This case is about why it was done."
On Thursday he pleaded guilty at the High Court in Palmerston North to murder, as well as burglary and unlawful possession of a knife.

Eric McIsaac at an appearance in Levin Court in relation to the death of his half-brother Alex Fisher. Credit:David Unwin/Fairfax NZ

He was ignored.

New Zealand: Peter McIsaac warned authorities years ago his son Eric was a timebomb capable of killing somebody.

Alex Fisher, 10, was killed in Waitarere, west of Levin, last October. Credit:Sue Teodoro/Fairfax NZ

Mr McIsaac does not absolve his son of responsibility for that crime, but is furious people in the criminal justice system disregarded warnings about Eric's troubled past and mental health.

In 2012, father and son lived together in Masterton.

It was a volatile situation, and after several frightening incidents other relatives were wary of Eric, even taking out protection orders against him.

"I was living under a siege mentality for six months," Mr McIsaac said last month ahead of his son's earlier court appearance in Wellington.
Bangkok: Myanmar poet Maung Saungkha insists he does not have a portrait of his country's former president Thein Sein tattooed on his penis although he was not asked to prove the point in court.

But 24-year-old Mr Saungkha was still sentenced to six months in jail for defaming Mr Thein Sein in a case that highlights restrictions on free speech remain in Myanmar, where Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power in April.

Myanmar poet Maung Saungkha and girlfriend in a photo from his Imgrum account hashtaged #couple#dating#love. Credit:Imgrum

In October Mr Saungkha posted on Facebook a poem which, roughly translated, said: "I have the president's portrait tattooed on my penis/How disgusted my wife is".
Persuading children to read has always been an uphill struggle, but never more so than in an age of constant digital overload. This is forcing schools to think outside the books or face producing a generation of functional illiterates. Two of them stand out -- Zaharis Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona and Funabashi Toyo High School in Japan's Chiba Prefecture -- according Jim Trelease, author of "The Read-Aloud Handbook."  No Desks, No Chairs At Zaharis there are no desks, no chairs and no textbooks. Instead, classrooms feature plush carpets and round tables, as well as bunk beds, sofas and bathtubs. The children are encouraged to make themselves comfortable as they read. After 10 minutes of reading individually, they gather in a circle on the carpet. Some of them sit on a sofa and read aloud to their classmates, either alone or in small groups or with an adult to experience different types of reading.

Students read books at Zaharis Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona.

The school is also filled with about 100,000 books lined up along the halls, while the walls are plastered with excerpts from famous literary works. Principal Mike Oliver (54) has stressed the importance of reading since the school opened in 2002. "Reading trains students to find meaning on their own and strengthens critical thinking," he says. He refused to implement what he calls the one-way education of textbooks. "We can't teach children of the 21st century using 19th-century-style education," he said. Some textbooks are used in math and science, but reading, writing and literature rely on proper books, which forces teachers to be more creative. And yet Zaharis scored an A+ in terms of overall grades on standardized tests administered by the state of Arizona last year and was ranked among the top 25 elementary schools in the U.S. by "Parent and Child" magazine. The news spread and students flocked to the school. Enrollment has risen from 600 to 950 students.  Brief Reading Session Funabashi Toyo High School, some two hours outside Tokyo, requires all of its students to read every morning for 10 minutes of quiet time starting at 8:30 a.m. It does not matter what they read as long as it is not a textbook. Toyo has been doing that since 1988, and by now the school has grown synonymous with reading and some 27,000 schools across Japan are doing the same thing.

The shelves of the library of Funabashi Toyo High School in Japan are filled with books.

At the root of the program is the belief that reading not only improves grades but is a crucial part of people's lives that helps them develop their own thoughts and find solace and knowledge. Students say 10 minutes is more manageable than an hour. Kazuki Iijima (16) said, "I didn't like reading before, but I learned to enjoy it. I end up reading the book throughout the day after getting started in the morning." Each student has developed his or her own style of reading and can feel the difference between hard-copy and Internet versions of books. Yayoi Suyuzaki (16) said, "I start to wonder what the writer was thinking when writing the book and this is what I find interesting." Teachers also get to understand their students better during the reading time. Takuto Kodo (26), who teaches Japanese, said, "Students who can't focus usually have some personal problems. I get a chance to observe each one of my students when they are reading every morning."
DAYTON, Ohio, May 24, 2016 -- The Reynolds and Reynolds Company today announced the launch of the LAW Arkansas F&I Library, which was developed through a partnership between Reynolds Document Services and the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association. The LAW Arkansas F&I Library is a catalog of standardized, legally reviewed finance and insurance (F&I) documents for new car dealerships in Arkansas.

"Dealers are facing the ongoing challenge of how to balance increased demands from legislators and regulators with increased expectations from consumers for a more rewarding experience with the dealership," said Jerry Kirwan, senior vice president and general manager of Reynolds Document Services. "The LAW Arkansas F&I Library is designed to deliver several results to dealers, from helping to reduce compliance risk to making the car-buying process more efficient. Improving efficiency, especially in the F&I office, also helps dealers deliver a smoother, more pleasing consumer experience."

Kirwan noted that because the documents in the LAW Arkansas F&I Library are regularly reviewed for compliance with the latest automotive regulations, they can help dealers reduce their litigation risk. Reynolds' industry-leading forms specialists lead the review alongside Reynolds' outside legal partners and the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association.

Dennis Jungmeyer, President of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association said, "The Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association is dedicated to protecting the business interests of Arkansas automobile dealers. We are happy to share the LAW Arkansas F&I Library with our members because it will help them maintain compliance and improve their customers' car-buying experience."

The printed documents in the LAW Arkansas F&I Library also are available in a digital format, which can help facilitate the conversion to laser-printed transactions or e-contracting. Reynolds Document Services maintains licensing agreements with all major providers of electronic F&I (e-F&I) solutions.

About Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association

Founded in 1932, the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association has been representing the interests of Arkansas's franchised new car and truck dealers for 85 years. AADA continues to be one of the most respected trade associations in the state providing its members with professional training, dealership services, regulatory assistance and legal assistance.

About Reynolds LAW Brand Documents

Reynolds' LAW brand is well established as one of the most trusted brands in the automotive industry. LAW documents are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and have been endorsed by a number of state automobile dealers associations and leading automotive finance institutions.

The flagship product of the LAW brand is the Reynolds LAW 553 Universal Retail Installment Sale Contract, the most widely accepted document in auto finance. The Reynolds LAW 553 is available in a variety of languages and is regularly reviewed by industry experts to help keep pace with new legislative and regulatory developments.

Reynolds and Reynolds was founded in 1866 as a business forms printer. Since the 1920s, Reynolds has been known as the leader in serving automobile dealerships nationwide with standard and custom business and vehicle sales and service documents to help dealers manage their operations more efficiently and serve their customers more effectively.''

About Reynolds

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading provider of automobile dealership software, services, and forms helping dealerships deliver better business results and transform the customer experience. The company is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with major operations in Houston and College Station, Texas, and Celina, Ohio. (www.reyrey.com)

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reynolds-arkansas-automobile-dealers-association-announce-new-law-arkansas-fi-library-300274267.html

SOURCE The Reynolds and Reynolds Company

CONTACT: Thomas Schwartz, 937.485.8109 (office), 937.269.9569 (mobile), Thomas_Schwartz@reyrey.com

RELATED LINKShttp://www.reyrey.com
2016 Nissan Altima Review By Larry Nutson +VIDEO

2016 Nissan Altima

Re-sculpted and refined

By Larry Nutson

Senior Editor and Bureau Chief

Chicago Bureau

The Auto Channel

Altima is Nissans biggest selling car model with increased sales in each of the last five years. My last Altima test drive was in a 2013 model. Now for 2016 Nissan gave the Altima a fairly significant mid-cycle facelift and it was time for me to revisit this model.

Although all we hear is how every new vehicle shopper wants an SUV or car-based crossover, there are still folks out there who want a traditional 4-door sedan. In my way of thinking, you really dont need two SUVs in a household. Have one and if you need a second vehicle a nice sedan will do the job.

On the outside, the 2016 Altima has a refreshed exterior following the new Nissan "Energetic Flow" design language introduced on the all-new 2015 Murano and 2016 Maxima as well as Sentra. The redesign includes a new front fascia, V-motion grille, new hood and fenders with tailored character lines, and available signature LED boomerang headlights and Daytime Running Lights. The rear has a new fascia and trunk lid.

On the inside, the new Altima upgrades include a new center stack and cupholder design, available 5.0-inch and 7.0-inch displays, Zero Gravity seats, soft-touch seat and door panel materials and custom finishers.

Under the skin theres retuned steering and suspension for better ride comfort, handling and quietness. Performance has been refined with the Xtronic CVT transmissions third-generation D-step logic, which simulates conventional automatic transmission shift points.

The five-passenger Altima is offered in five trim levelsbase, S, SR, SV, and SL with two engine choices making for a total of seven models. Five are powered by a 182HP 2.5-liter DOHC inline 4-cylinder engine and a 270HP 3.5-liter DOHC V6 can be had in SR and SL trims.











The frontwheel drive Altima prices start at $22,500 and go up to $32,090.

I had a week to drive around in a 2016 Altima 2.5 SL model with a base price of $28,570. Options fitted on my test car included a $800 moonroof, $210 for carpeted floor and trunk mats, and $1700 for a Technology Package which includes Nissans Safety Shield technologies and a navigation system. With the $835 destination charge the bottom line hit $32,115.

EPA test-cycle estimated fuel economy ratings for my Altima 2.5SL are 27 mpg city, 39 mpg highway and 31 mpg combined. Nissan says the 39 mpg highway rating is best-in-class. I didnt get to take a long road trip with my Altima-tester but my around town fuel consumption was hovering in the high 20s. The CVT does pay off in lowering fuel consumption.

Driver-assistance Safety Shield items in the Technology Package includes Predictive Forward Collision Warning, Forward Emergency Braking and Intelligent Cruise Control. The Altima is a leader in the midsize segment in offering this equipment typically only found on higher priced cars. Three other features are standard equipped, namely Radar-based Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and a rear view monitor.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded the 2016 Nissan Altima its highest rating of "Top Safety Pick Plus" when equipped with optional Forward Emergency Braking technology. For this year, IIHS has tightened its standards by requiring a "Good" or better rating in all five of the crashworthiness categories to earn a "Top Safety Pick" and making an available front crash prevention system mandatory for all awards.

All this new driver-assistance technology can be difficult to comprehend and understand how it is beneficial and worth the added cost. The National Safety Council and the University of Iowa have teamed up to provide an online, mobile- and tablet-friendly resource www.mycardoeswhat.org to help educate consumers. The websites homepage lists the 28 technology and safety features present on vehicles today. Keep in mind that 95 percent of crashes are due to driver error.

The Altima is nicely appointed and gave me a good impression both outside and in. Overall driving dynamics are quite comfortable with no noticeable shortcomings in performance. Im not a big fan of CVTs and quite frankly would not be inclined to buy a car with one. That said, in the Altima the larger 2.5-L four-cylinder did work well with the CVT to alleviate the annoying, often buzzy, constant rpm engine operation. Nissans work on the overall structure of the Altima and the addition of acoustic laminated glass paid off with a relatively quiet ride.

Nice-to-have features like heated seats and steering wheel make me like the Altima. One of my pet peeves is the location of the power mirror switch and the Altimas is conveniently placed on the door pull handle so you can adjust the mirrors while in your proper driving position. And of course Altima has all the latest in connectivity including SIRI eyes free voice recognition.

More specs and information on the 2016 Altima can be found at www.nissanusa.com. Comparing the Altima to other mid-size sedans can be done right here at www.theautochannel.com.

The 2016 Nissan Altima is a candidate for the Midwest Automotive Media Associations (MAMA) Family Vehicle of the Year award. Well find out who the winner is at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show.

The midsize sedan segment is chock full of really good entries giving the car buying public lots of choices to meet their wishes, desires, needs and transportation expense goals.

 2016 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy

The Most Nissan Vehicle Research Information Anywhere!






DUBLINResearch and Markets has announced the addition of the "Europe Automotive Biometric Access System Market (2016 - 2022)" report to their offering.

High end protection, quick processing and easy tracking in the automotive sector are some of the major drivers for the European automotive biometric access system market. One of the reasons for such an adoption rate is the presence of major manufactures in the region along with high a demand for luxury class vehicles. The attraction towards technologically advanced vehicles in this region is also a major driver for biometric access systems growth. However, high cost of installing and availing the functionality are the major restraining factors for the growth of the market.

The market for European automotive biometric access system is segmented based on the authentication type, characteristics, end users and product sale type. Fingerprint recognition system is the leading revenue generating segment based on the authentication type.

Biometric technology has emerged as an automated access monitoring system for authenticating users on the basis of behavioral or physiological characteristics. Automobile industry is emerging as one of the major end-user industries for the biometric access systems industry. Application area of biometric access in the automotive sector includes door and window opening, starting of engine, accessing navigation system and others. Fingerprint and voice recognition authentication systems are the most common authentication systems used in the vehicles.

This system facilitates the vehicle owners in having a better anti-theft protection system. Automotive manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW and Ford among others have started introducing the biometric technology in their vehicles.

The report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the automotive biometric market.

Key companies profiled in the report include

- Delphi Automotive Plc.

- Ford Motors Corporation

- Synaptic Incorporated

- VOXX International Corporation

- Hitachi, Ltd.

- Fingerprint Cards AB

- NEC Corporation

- Siemens AG

- Robert Bosch GmbH

- Panasonic Corporation

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5kb84h/europe_automotive

Contacts

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Sector: Biometrics
PLANO, TexasImagine an average commute. Perhaps you wait for a bus, walk through crowded streets and ride an elevator up to your office. Now, imagine doing it without being able to see clearly or even at all.

A team of students did just that and came up with an idea for a solution that won first prize in the Next Generation Mobility Challenge, a new competition to inspire millennials to address critical mobility needs from Net Impact, Toyota and the Toyota Mobility Foundation. The students winning concept, StreetSmart, is an app that would help people who are blind or visually impaired navigate their surroundings with greater confidence. The winning students are: Esther Kim (Rhode Island School of Design), John Mathai (Olin College), Ayush Singhal (Babson College) and Niklaus Sugiri (Babson College).

Activated by voice command, the StreetSmart app would provide users with audio alerts about upcoming hazards or changes to their commute, such as broken escalators, bus service changes and construction sites. It would rely on existing GPS location services, crowd-sourcing traffic technologies and real-time updates from users on routes conditions.

The team envisions that the app would work in tandem with Project BLAID, a wearable device in development by Toyota that also works to improve the mobility of people who are blind and visually impaired. For a preview of Project BLAID, visit TheToyotaEffect.com to access a short video of an early-stage version of the device.

Toyota launched the Next Generation Mobility Challenge with Net Impact because we want to inspire millennials to join us in solving the most critical mobility issues facing us all, said Latondra Newton, Chief Program Officer, Toyota Mobility Foundation. We loved the StreetSmart concept because it builds on our work to help communities with limited mobility do more so they can go more places and live better lives. We congratulate the winners and thank them for their creativity, smarts and hard work!

We are thrilled that Toyota is leveraging the talents and passions of young people through this challenge, says Liz Maw, CEO, Net Impact. We applaud the StreetSmart team for designing a solution with an eye towards scaling for social impact.

Nearly 670 students from 60 colleges and universities across the country participated in fifteen campus events during the Challenge, pitching 154 ideas. A panel of judges from Toyota and Net Impact selected StreetSmarts winning concept from three finalist teams, based on the clarity of goal, project design, social impact, feasibility, creativity and the results of a public vote. StreetSmarts video pitch garnered 63.6% of the public vote.

The winning team has been offered internships to delve into a deeper understanding of the mobility needs of the blind community, build the business case for the StreetSmart app and support Toyotas Partner Robotics work to advance the freedom of mobility for all. Kim, Mathai, Singhal and Sugiri  along with two finalist teams  will have the opportunity to attend the 2016 Net Impact Conference in Philadelphia this November on behalf of Toyota.

In addition to local faculty and experts, more than 50 Toyota team members engaged with the Challenge, including Kristen Tabar, vice president of the Technical Strategy Planning Office at Toyota Technical Center (TTC). In addition to being on-the-ground at the chapter events to help students develop their solutions, Toyota team members served as judges, selecting the chapter winners, the three finalists and the ultimate winner. The three finalists had the opportunity to meet with Toyota mentors to refine their proposals.

The other finalist teams were:

University of Oregon and Oregon State students Carolyn Taclas, Keala Verigan, Sydney Quinton-Cox and James Greisen, who conceived a mobile community center to offer a range of pop-up services to meet community needs; and

Northwestern University and University of Illinois students Maria McKiever, Szymon Gluc and Shangyanyan Li, who devised a system that would allow drivers to offer their car trunks to others for hire as mobile mailboxes.

About the Next Generation Mobility Challenge

Launched in 2015, The Next Generation Mobility Challenge is a competition from Toyota and Net Impact to inspire millennials to develop solutions for critical mobility needs in local communities and around the world. Held at fifteen university campuses across the country, the challenge invites multi-disciplinary teams of students to participate in half-day design sprints to develop solutions for mobility issues that address community, connectivity, or sustainability. Local transportation and technology experts from Toyota and universities provided feedback and real-world perspective to the students concepts.

Toyota is executing the challenge through Toyota Motor North America and the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), which was created by Toyota in 2014 to help more people go more places  safely, easily and sustainably  so they can live better lives no matter where they are.

About Toyota

Toyota , the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, weve built more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.5 million in the U.S.) in 2015  and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.

Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country. As part of this commitment, we share the companys extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

About Toyota Mobility Foundation

The Toyota Mobility Foundation was established in August 2014 to support the development of a more mobile society. The Foundation aims to support strong mobility systems while eliminating disparities in mobility. It utilizes Toyota's expertise in technology, safety, and the environment, working in partnership with universities, governments, non-profit organizations, research institutions and other organizations to address mobility issues around the world. Programs include resolving urban transportation problems, expanding the utilization of personal mobility, and developing solutions for next generation mobility.

About Net Impact

Net Impact is the worlds best training ground for the next generation of change agents. Our programsdelivered from our headquarters in Oakland, CA, as well as globally through our 300+ chaptersconnect our members to the skills, experiences and people that will allow them to have the greatest impact. With over 100,000 members, Net Impact takes on social challenges, protects the environment, invents new products and orients business toward the greater good. In short, we help our members turn their passions into a lifetime of world-changing action. Visit www.netimpact.org.

Contacts

For Toyota

Amy Schultz, 646-805-2825

amy.schultz@finsbury.com

or

Net Impact

Catherine Muriel, 415-495-4230 x314

cmuriel@netimpact.org
Provincial populations are dwindling as deaths simply outnumber births, even as no one moves away to the big city.

According to Statistics Korea, South Jeolla Province's population first shrank naturally in 2013, and Gangwon Province's in 2014.

In North Jeolla Province, net population growth hovers around a mere 400 so far this year, so it will likely become another area to see a natural population decline next year. North Gyeongsang Province is also expected to see more deaths than births in 2017.

In South Jeolla Province, the natural population decrease is getting worse, from 931 in 2013 to 1,400 in 2015. Gangwon Province had a natural population decrease of 342 in 2014 and over 400 last year.

In 2014, only 10,662 babies were born in Gangwon Province, a record low for the province since population statistics started in 1925.

As the trend spreads, the population of the country as a whole will start shrinking naturally in 2030, said Statistics Korea.

A population decline leads to weakening consumption and economic strength, which in turn leads to fewer marriages and births, creating a vicious cycle of decline.

The aged population over 65 is estimated to surpass 10 million by 2025 while the number of newborns will reach only 430,000. As the economically active population aged 15 to 64 will likely dwindle starting next year, the country could also face a labor shortage and a fall in economic growth.
On screen, John Wayne was the definition of a straight-shooting, tough guy who didnt take crap from anybody. Off camera, the Duke (who would have turned 109 this Thursday), no surprise, liked a stiff drink, usually Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon neat.

That is unless he was on his annual summer pilgrimage to Alaska on broad his 136-foot yacht the Wild Goose, a former World War II-era Navy minesweeper. On those trips, remembers his youngest son Ethan Wayne, if they saw an iceberg theyd pull close and use the boats fire axes to break off a bit of what they called glacier ice, which would be kept in freezers built into the deck. John particularly prized the ice, since, Ethan says one piece would last all night and it wouldnt water down the drinks.

He always went for bourbon over generic whiskey, says Ethan. However, he also had another favorite spirit. If he wanted a drink it was bourbon or tequila, says Ethan. John preferred to drink his tequila with crushed ice and a tiny sliver of lemon.
This is what Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was released from prison today, posted to Facebook in February 2014, ten months before being arrested for her in-depth reporting on the runaway corruption and human rights abuses of her countrys ruling crime family, the Aliyevs: Some of you want to help, but can do it only with private diplomacy. Thank you, but No. [Where] my case is concerned, if you can, please support [it] by standing for freedom of speech and freedom of privacy in this country as loudly as possible. Otherwise, I rather prefer you not to act at all.

In the annals of dissidence, this must rank as one of the braver appeals to solidarity ever made. No back-channel negotiations on her behalf, please. No quiet dealmaking that could lead to her release being dressed up for gauzy propaganda value by her captors, thank you very much. Keep fighting. And dont you dare shut up.

Ismayilova had every reason to suspect shed be forcibly silenced herself. As the Baku bureau chief of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (which, in the interest of full disclosure, you should know funds my website The Interpreter), she risked quite a lot in 2012 by publicizing a blackmail attempt in which she was anonymously given an envelope containing private photographs of her. It carried a warning: Whore, behave. Or you will be defamed.

A week later, a sex tapefilmed by an as-yet uncredited director in her own bedroom  appeared on a pro-government website, the first of two that would be publicized as a way of scandalizing her, a single woman in a Muslim country, into silence. It didnt work.

Instead, Ismayilova joined up with pro-democracy activists and was detained during one protest and fined a recently inflated rate for participation in an unlicensed demonstration. She refused to pay as a matter of principle and was ordered to do 220 hours of street-cleaning as a form of community service. She happily accepted, promising to turn this punishment into an act of civic protest: Sweeping for Democracy, as she called it.

As Ismayilovas best profiler Rebecca Vincent wrote for the website Little Atoms, Many Azerbaijanis on social media pledged to join her. The authorities, in fear of a strong public response that the sight of Ismayilova sweeping the streets could trigger, ordered her instead to clean indoors, in a less visible location. She refused. They could have jailed her for three months, but did not  perhaps still in fear of the fallout.

In the end, the authorities chose to withstand the fallout anyway, perhaps banking on the fact that Baku is an ally of Washington and in this age of magical realism in U.S. foreign policy, no one would kick up much of a fuss over one imprisoned muckraking journalist, even if she does draw a salary from U.S. taxpayers.

After Ismayilova helped compile a comprehensive list of Azerbaijani political prisoners, embarrassing European Parliament and U.S. Congress  two institutions where the pro-Aliyev lobby has spent millions of dollars and pounds of Caspian caviar to buy off politicians and launder the regimes squalid reputationshe was finally arrested in December 2014, whereupon RFE/RL's offices in Baku were raided and shuttered.

She was tried on the ridiculous charge of inciting a colleague to commit suicide, to which a host of invented financial crimes such as embezzlement and tax evasion was subsequently added. Sentenced to seven and a half years, she served 537 days, each of them without cause.

At least her advice was heeded, and people didnt shut up in a vain attempt to flatter the Aliyev regime into releasing her. While in the clink, Ismayilova racked up journalism prizes, became the subject of an international advocacy campaign, and gained the legal services of one Amal Clooney, who took her case to the European Court on Human Rights and whose less-famous husband was duly instructed by one pro-regime imbecile to keep his wife in line.

Dictators traffic in projection, accusing their enemies of committing the very crimes of which they themselves are guilty. The post-Soviet regime of President Ilham Aliyev is no different.

Ismayilova exposed a raft of dodgy state business practices that all had a bad habit of leading back to one or more members of his Kardashian-like First Family. In 2010, she published an investigation into the privatization of the service branches of Azerbaijans state airline AZAL, which occurred absent any oversight of the government committee designed to ensure free and fair competition for the sale of public assets. A bank was part of the assets auctioned off and  wouldnt you know it  two of the new owners were the AZAL presidents wife Zarifa Hamzayeva and Aliyev's own daughter Arzu Aliyeva.

Ismayilova also linked Arzu and her sister Leyla to Azerbaijans largest mobile phone provider Azercell, and worked with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which has lately given us the Panama Papers, to show how the Aliyevs were the majority shareholders of Azenco, a company subcontracted to build a lavish new concert hall in Baku for Azerbaijans hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012. Azenco made $79 million in 2010 alone  all through state contracts.

The now former political prisoner will turn 40 on Friday. And while her release from jail comes as a welcome birthday present, I do not expect her to celebrate overlong or to behave, as her blackmailers would like. An RFE/RL colleague recently told me that he worried Ismayilova wouldnt leave Azerbaijan if and when she was released. The Aliyevs would no doubt like her to go into exile, but what if she insists on staying put and carrying on her important work?

Her friend Rebecca Vincent, a former U.S. diplomat and the author of that terrific Little Atoms profile, emailed me today:

Khadija has always made it abundantly clear that she did not call just for her release, but for the releases of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan  and there are many. Opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov, journalist Seymur Hezi, youth activists Ilkin Rustemzade, Bayram Mammadov, Qiyas Ibrahim, and dozens of others remain unjustly jailed.

If the international community really wants to support Khadija, Vincent continued, it must take serious steps to address this corruption, to hold Azerbaijani officials responsible for their gross human rights violations, and ensure that critical voices dont continue to be targeted in Azerbaijan.

One way to achieve this is to do what Ismayilova has herself recommended. The United States should pass the Global Magnitsky Act, a piece of legislation which aims to blacklist human rights offenders from any country and which, for that reason, agents of the Kremlin recently mounted a failed campaign to have it quashed or diluted the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And Congress can do also pass the Azerbaijan Democracy Act, which aims to specifically penalize the kleptocratic thugs from Baku.
Hating Bill and Hillary Clinton has been a conservative cottage industry for a quarter-century. But ever since Bills self-inflicted sex scandals overtook dark talk about shadowy schemes in his second term, the most unhinged ideas about the Clintons faded into the fringe. Until now.

Donald Trump has grabbed hold of Clinton conspiracy theories with both of his tiny hands, shaking loose names like Vince Foster and introducing them to a new generation. Theres more where this garbage came fromfestering heaps of paperbacks and VHS tapes that had been rotting in partisan landfills.

So lets air the old accusations out and expose them to sunlight to show how ugly and absurd the work of the Clinton conspiracy entrepreneurs has been. In the second edition of my book Wingnuts, I added a new section on the unhinged Clinton haters and how they foreshadowed the era were living in now. Many of the names echo on in our politics today, from Roger Ailes to Citizens United to WorldNetDaily to an unexpected cameo by then-conservative Ariana Huffington. An edited excerpt is below.

***

Political thoroughbred Bill Clinton personified his generations ambition and indiscipline, traits that turned him into a culture-war lightning rod. Bubbas political baggage included more than just his periodic bimbo eruptionsthere were also unsettled debates about the late 60s and feminism, with Hillary Clinton cast as the villain.

During the 1992 campaign, Republican operative Floyd Brownauthor of the infamous race-baiting Willie Horton ad four years beforepursued a new partisan venture named Citizens United, scrambling to finish a book with a young deputy investigator named David Bossie called Slick Willie: Why America Cannot Trust Bill Clinton, which accused the candidate, in liberal journalists Joe Conason and Gene Lyons words, of dodging the draft, raising taxes, coddling blacks, chasing women, corrupting state agencies, flip-flopping on abortion, awarding special privileges to gays, promoting secularism (and witchcraft!), wrecking the school system, flirting with socialism, and, in its stirring final chapter, blaspheming the Lord with his campaign slogan of a New Covenant between citizens and government.

Hillary was considered fair game as well. The New York Times counted at least 20 articles in major publications during the presidential election that compared Hillary Clinton to Lady Macbeth. At the 1992 Republican convention, she was derided as a radical feminist and in a pointed pushback, Marilyn Quayle, the wife of the vice president, said: Most women do not wish to liberated from their essential natures as women. A cover story in U.S. News and World Report summed up the situation with this opening paragraph: For some, shes an inspiring mother-attorney. Others see in her the overbearing yuppie wife from hella sentiment that led GOP media guru Roger Ailes to quip that Hillary Clinton in an apron is like Michael Dukakis in a tank.

The 1992 campaign tracked along cultural more than policy linessex, drugs, rock n roll and post-collegiate trips to the USSRand the weekend before the election, the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue took out full-page ads in USA Today and 157 other newspapers, posing this prominent question: The Bible warns us not to follow another man in his sin nor help him to promote sinlest God chasten us. How then can we vote for Bill Clinton?

Clintons centrist strategy won the day with 370 electoral votesbut only 43 percent of the popular vote in a three-way race. For reasons that were moral, political, and now statistical, Clinton would be seen as an illegitimate president by his frustrated opponents.

In Congress, Republicans embraced a strategy of total obstruction, with GOP leader Newt Gingrich calling the Clintons Stalinist, the enemy of normal people and counter-culture elitists. Right-wing talk radio, just then coming into its own as a nakedly partisan cultural force, thrived with a polarizing target in the White House.

Soon after Clintons inauguration, a loose affiliation of old Arkansas enemies, conservative journalists, activist catalysts, leaders of the religious right, and big-money donors began their effort to demonize the new president.

When Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster killed himself in June 1993, he left a note agonizing over the negative public attention he had come under as one of the Clintons closest Arkansas associates from the Rose law firm. WSJ editors lie without consequence, he wrote, referring to The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed pages. I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport.

It was a tragedy, but the Clinton Haters smelled a conspiracy. Rush Limbaugh started to spout rumors that Vince Foster was murdered in an apartment owned by Hillary Clinton, rather than Fort Marcy Park, where his body in fact was found with gun in hand.

In Pittsburgh, the conservative owner of the Tribune Review, Richard Mellon Scaife, ordered reporter Christopher Ruddy (now the publisher of Newsmax) to investigate the conspiracy claims in an extended series of articles. Scaife was also the multimillion-dollar funder of what became known as The Arkansas Project within The American Spectator, in which a then-conservative journalist named David Brock broke the news of Clintons Little Rock dalliances and surfaced the first name of Paula Jones.

Scaife likewise funded the conservative nonprofit Western Journalism Center, founded by Joseph Farah, the former publisher of Scaifes shuttered Sacramento Union (and now best known as the publisher of the for-profit conspiracy website World Net Daily). In a money-go-round, the Western Journalism Center paid for Ruddys series on Foster to be reprinted in other papers and publicized a pamphlet collecting it in full-page ads, raising half a million dollars from donors. Among the right-wing luminaries on the WJC board were Arianna Huffington and conservative professor Marvin Olasky, both of whom also worked as senior fellows at Newt Gingrich-associated Progress and Freedom Foundation. Scaifes generosity came at a costwhen the American Spectator ran a critical review of Ruddys book, their funding stream was cut off. But in the meantime, the money train was rolling for the obsessively anti-Clinton crowd.

A flurry of further allegations followed, pushed out in those pre-Internet days by magazines, talk radio, and videotape. Tiny Jeremiah Films had previously produced videos for the evangelical circuit with titles like The Evolution Conspiracy and Gay Rights, Special Rights. Now a group with the lofty name Citizens for Honest Government was looking for anti-Clinton videos and Jeremiah Films Pat Matrisciana worked with veteran Arkansas Clinton antagonist Larry Nichols to produce a series.

Their first video, Circle of Power, was distributed by the Rev. Jerry Falwells Liberty Alliance. It began with Vince Fosters death and went on from there to include 34 people who were allegedly killed at Bill Clintons behest. Former U.S. Rep. William Dannemeyer sent a list of the body count and demanded a congressional investigation.

Their followup, The Clinton Chronicles, cast an even wider net. Opening with the allegation that Clinton achieved absolute control over the political, legal, and financial systems of Arkansasas president he would attempt to do the same with the nation the hour-long video expanded to include allegations of Clinton overseeing millions of dollars of cocaine smuggling from the tiny Mena airport and then laundering the money through foreign banks.

There were voiceover testimonies from Arkansas associates who claimed that the twentysomething Bill Clinton went to Moscow and did business with them against the United States government. His sexual partners numbered over 100 the videos narrator intoned, going on to allege that one talkative paramour was confronted by Clintons goons, who told her she could have a federal jobor break her legswhichever one was best.

The video ended with a list of witnesses mysterious deaths and harassment, including Larry Nichols, who said hed narrowly survived three attempts on his life. Clinton can be a very dangerous individual, the video explained.

Viewers of Jerry Falwells Old Time Gospel Hour were repeatedly treated to excerpts of the videos in the spring of 1994 and a half-hour infomercial offering them for purchase at the low, low price of $40 plus $3 for shipping and handling. It was a classic success story for conspiracy entrepreneurs. Citizens for Honest Government claimed sales of more than 150,000 videotapes and copies were sent to every member of Congress.

The accusations worked in the short term. The conservative base was fired up and they took control of Congress in the narrow-but-intense turnout of the 1994 midterm elections. But our modern pattern was established when Clinton roared back to re-election in 1996. Much of the promise of Clintons second term was squandered amid the impeachment crisis that followed the Starr Report and the unveiling of the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. The president who once wisely remarked, I have less and less control over my reputation but I still have full control over my character made himself vulnerable to his enemies.

But the intensity of the Clinton animus on the right ended up spurring a backlash that helped propel Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate in 2000 and let Bill Clinton leave the Oval Office with a 60 percent approval rating. And so it goes.

The Clintons eventually won over some of their enemiesmost notably Brock, Ruddy, and Scaife. Rush Limbaugh and Roger Ailes of course still linger and Citizens United became the plaintiffs in the infamous Supreme Court case that institutionalized big money.

But onetime defender Donald Trump careened to the other side of the spectrum, embracing Obama birther conspiracy theories and seeing an opening to demagogue his way to the 2016 nomination.

The scorched-earth strategy pioneered by partisan media against the Clintons has become the normand many of the attacks well hear during the coming Big Ugly of an election have their roots in the first round of the Clinton culture wars.
Early this week President Obama announced that U.S. companies can start selling arms to Vietnam, a move predicated on the belief that allowing American arms manufacturers to sell lethal weapons to the communist government in Vietnam will make the Vietnamese people more free.

And its quite a coup for the government, which still rewards bloggers, journalists, priests, labor organizers, and other dissidents with harassment, arrest, and torture. And advocates for human rights in Vietnam suspect at least partial credit for the policy change may be due to the lobbying firm it enlisted -- the Podesta Group, a powerful D.C. agency with close ties to Hillary Clinton and to defense manufacturers.

Clinton has been silent on the presidents decision -- a move which has drawn scorching criticism from human rights groups. But the D.C. lobbying firm most publicly associated with the Clintons raked in more than $1 million by greasing the skids for the despotic government there. Disclosure forms show they reached out to top media outlets and dozens of Hill staffers to improve the perception of Vietnam in the United States and grow its public policy clout. And given that the Vietnamese government got what it wanted, it just might have worked.

Clintons team didnt respond to multiple requests for comment on whether or not she supports the presidents decision to let American arms manufacturers sell weaponry to the Vietnamese government. But one of her top former aides at the State Department lobbied for the Vietnamese government for at least two years, during the heat of the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal -- and his firm has also worked for Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two companies that stand to profit handsomely from the new market.

That former aide is David Adams. According to a 2015 profile of him in The Hill , Adams -- formerly chief legislative advisor to Clinton at the State Department and currently a principal at the Podesta Group -- oversaw the lobbying firms work for Vietnams communist government.

It is a lot of running around, to be honest, he told the publication of his lobbying work.

Adams worked closely with Clinton and Huma Abedin to get the Senate to confirm her nominees. He attended daily staff meetings with the then-secretary of state and communicated with her over the private email address that has caused her campaign so many problems and prompted an FBI investigation.

Her email came up as H and I knew who that was, he told the paper of her email set-up. I never thought about email or whose system it was.

After ending his time at State, Adams jumped to The Podesta Group, one of D.C.s most powerful lobbying firms. That firms CEO and founder is Tony Podesta, whose brother John -- a co-founder of the firm -- is the chairman of Clintons presidential campaign and former chief of staff to then-President Bill Clinton.

Foreign Agents Registration Act filings show the Vietnamese government paid the Podesta Group $30,000 per month from Dec. 2, 2013 through Dec. 31, 2015. In total, thats about $1.08 million.

Adams and a spokeswoman for the firm didnt respond to requests for comment on the work their firm did for that client. FARA filings show the Podesta Group set up meetings with dozens of Capitol Hill offices, and also contacted numerous media outlets (including Politico, Roll Call, CNN, The Hill, PBS NewsHour, the Washington Post, National Geographic, The Food Network, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal) for the purposes of Vietnam public relations.

FARA disclosure forms dont detail any information on the nature of those meetings phone calls, or emails.

But New Jersey congressman, Chris Smith, told The Daily Beast he believes the firm lobbied against his legislation to protect the human rights of the Vietnamese people. Smith, a conservative, Roman Catholic Republican who focuses on international human rights issues, has introduced a bill called the Vietnam Human Rights Act in five Congresses (2004, 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2015).

Opponents of the legislation, including Sen. John McCain, say normalizing relations with Vietnam will do more to benefit the Vietnamese people than linking U.S. aid to the governments human rights record.

Every year but this one, its passed by comfortable, bipartisan margins. In 2014, only 3 members of Congress voted against the bill. But it always stalls in the Senate.

They have made it clear, the Podesta Group, that they will kill my bill, the Vietnam Human Rights Act, he said. I know that to be a fact.

Its money talking again, he continued. Its very disturbing that they dont care for the dissidents; they care for the client. In this case, the client is a serial abuser of human rights. If youre arrested as a political prisoner in Vietnam, youre tortured.

Duy Hoang, a spokesman for the Vietnamese human rights group Viet Tan (which the countrys government considers a terrorist group) said Hanoi can use all the PR help it can get.

Its clear that the Vietnamese government has a human rights problem, and a bad image as a human rights violator, and so thats why they have to pay a lot of money for lobbyists, he said. And despite all the lobbying they can do, they cant hide the fact that they have political prisoners, and they beat up peaceful protesters. And thats something, I think, that human rights groups and people who follow Vietnam are very aware of.

In Obamas remarks on Monday May 23, his first day in Vietnam, he did not criticize the governments human rights abuses, instead praising modest progress on some of the areas that weve identified as a concern and noting that human rights is an area where our two governments disagree. By Tuesday, Obama met with human rights activists there, but the countrys government detained some activists whod been invited to meet with him.

The government released one jailed human rights activist, 80-year-old Catholic Priest Ft. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, a few days before Obama arrived in the country. But attorney Kate Barth of Freedom Now, whose organization advocates for Ly and other political prisoners, told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference that his health is poor and he still under house arrest.

Le Quoc Quan, a former prisoner of conscience in Vietnam who works there as a human rights lawyer, emailed The Daily Beast that government police kept him from leaving his home during the presidents visit.

The Gov only allow the person that they think acceptable, the others will be detained if we try to go out, including me ! he wrote.

Numerous reports indicated increased government harassment, surveillance, and intimidation of Vietnamese human rights activists during Obamas visit.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat with a large number of Vietnamese-American constituents, also took a skeptical view of the presidents meetings.

Most of the people who have been working on human rights and have spoken out and have led protests and tried to assemble and written even short documents with respect to democracy are all jailed, she said.

Sanchez supports Smiths legislation and is one of its original co-sponsors. Shes long been an outspoken critic of the Vietnamese governments treatment of bloggers, labor organizers, and political dissidents -- so much so that it made Hillary Clintons team nervous. Before she gave a speech on censorship and the internet on Jan. 21, 2010, Scot Marciel, then the ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, sent Huma Abedin an urgent warning . Sanchez had asked to speak with Clinton about her concerns regarding the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal -- which Clinton was pushing for at the time -- and worried the administration was moving too fast, even as the human rights situation deteriorates.

Sanchez may try to button-hold you at your Internet speech today, Marciel wrote.

The rest of his email, likely containing background and talking points, is redacted. Abedin forwarded it to Clinton (over that same private email address). In her speech that day, Clinton dinged Vietnam for restricting access to religious information and to popular social networking sites.

But when an audience member -- an activist with the Boat People SOS activist group -- asked her about the human rights situation in the country, she assured him that things were on the up-and-up.

Well, we have publicly spoken out against the detention, conviction, and imprisonment of not only the bloggers in Vietnam, but some of the Buddhist monks and nuns and others who have been subjected to harassment, she said. Vietnam has made so much progress, and its just moving with great alacrity into the future, raising the standard of living of their people.

Since then, however, Sanchez, Smith, and Vietnamese human rights activists say things have gotten worse.

Just the fact that there are so many political prisoners in jails right now points to the fact that they promise all sorts of things when they want something, and they dont follow through, said Sanchez.

Smith said he thinks lifting the arms embargo may actually worsen the human rights situation in Vietnam.

Surveillance equipment and lethal weapons of any kind could be a risk, he said. But I think the biggest blunder was just absolutely squandering the leverage that we have to say to a dictatorship, a communist dictatorship, that you ease up on and you let the political and religious prisoners go free and then well talk about lifting an arms embargo.

Jailed political prisoners didnt stop Clinton and Obama from praising Vietnams progress, and they didnt stop the Podesta Group from profiting off the country.

That said, its worth noting that Vietnam isnt the only Podesta Group client to gun for lifting the arms embargo. The firm has also represented Boeing and Lockheed Martin (it even boasts on its website that one of its top victories is winning key government projects for a major defense company). Reuters reported that representatives from both of those companies attended a secret defense symposium earlier this month in Vietnam.

There has been no mention in state-controlled media and defense reporters are not covering the forum, Reuters noted. Efforts by Reuters to gain permission to attend have been unsuccessful and Vietnams defense ministry could not be reached for comment.

The White Houses justification for lifting the arms embargo is that increased economic involvement between that nation and the rest of the world will improve conditions for its citizens.

Activists disagree.

The US wants to help Vietnams security, Hoang said. But ultimately, what would bolster Vietnamese security is respect for human rights and democratic governance.
Part 1: The Shady Crew Behind Kris Jenner U

Plus: UPDATE: Kris Jenner U Scrubs Its Social Media After Daily Beast Expose

PART 2: What Trump Knew About Kardashian U

In 2002, the co-founder of the European School of Economics, an Italian businessman and former rock musician named Elio DAnna, released a novel in which a man named The Dreamer creates a school where one will learn that happiness is economy that wealth, leisure and beauty are every mans birthright.

The book described this place as a School for Gods.

Eight years before, DAnna had created his paradise in real-life in Rome, and campuses for his school spread throughout Europefrom Paris to Londonover the next half-decade.

The schools philosophy was like a secular version of the prosperity gospel or that Oprah-sanctioned juggernaut The Secretyou are destined to get rich if you just believe it hard enoughand for $90,000 a year, the European School of Economics would help you actualize the jet-set life.

DAnnas confidence in his vision shines through in his novel, also titled The School for Gods. Dont fear any attack, the Dreamer counsels. It will seem as though youre hindered in every way, but every difficulty or enemy will, in actual fact, turn out to be your closest ally, an integral and irreplaceable part of this construction.

Yet even as DAnnas School for Gods expanded and aligned itself with celebrities like Kris Jenner and Donald Trump, it faced a slew of lawsuits abroad and in the U.S. over unpaid debts to former faculty and contractorsand cease-and-desist letters from the New York State Education Department, which told The Daily Beast that until this year, the school did not have permission to operate or advertise degree programs in the state.

The European School of Economics (ESE) did not respond to multiple Daily Beast requests for comment.

When attacks on the European School of Economics shortcomings came to light on the websites like CollegeTimes.Co, the school tried to have them scrubbed from the web.

Jesse Nickles of CollegeTimes.Co, which collects reviews of colleges and universities, said he received a takedown request of a negative review in the form of a bizarre, poorly written email from the email address of ESEs CEO, Alessandro Nomellini, last year.

The commenter on Nickles site had correctly noted that The University of Buckingham, the schools validator in the U.K., terminated its relationship with the school in 2014.

This is a complete false statement, the email sent from Nomellinis address reads.

The email also claimed a comment about the schools fundraising gala was another false statement.

The Fundraising gala was organize [sic] by the European School of Economics Foundation which is a complete different entity from the European School of Economics, said the email, which was provided by Nickles to The Daily Beast.

As The Daily Beast previously reported, The European School of Economics Foundation has not been in operation as a charity in the U.S. since 2011, before the schools 2012 fundraising gala in Manhattan.

The schools Wikipedia page, which currently does not mention any of the schools legal battles, has been edited several times to remove controversies.

One section, titled Legal, once alluded to a lawsuit that ESE won against the Italian government, over whether the school could confer British-validated degrees within the country. It also mentioned several other international lawsuits filed against the school, like a 2009 fraud suit filed in Italy that the school eventually lost. The section was summarily deleted in January of 2014.

This kind of blackout on criticism can be a particular detriment for students looking to research a school as prestigious-sounding as the European School of Economicsor the Legacy Business School, which is apparently its new name in Manhattan, or so claims the New York State Education Department.

I would hope that students understand what theyre getting into in the New York area. We want to make sure that students go in with their eyes open, said Stephanie Cellini.

Cellini is a professor at George Washington University who has written extensively about the impact of for-profit colleges on the economyand on students wallets. While she usually works more with quantitative data, she doesnt think shes ever heard of another school with the $100,000-plus-per-year price tag that comes with a Legacy Business School certificate. (While ESE handed out Bachelors and Masters degrees through its now-defunct partnership with the University of Buckingham, Legacy is only offering certificates.)

The rules for for-profit schools like the ESE and Legacyones that dont apply for schools seeking federal Title IV fundingcan be particularly murky.

If youre not getting federal student aid, you need to follow the rules in that particular state, and some states are more stringent than others, said Cellini. Institutions that arent eligible for federal student aid are not on the hook for their students outcomes.

In her research, she found that schools receiving federal aid had much lower tuition than their counterparts.

Theyre trying to attract a different clientele if youre not offering student aid. In [Legacys] case, they want to make it look elite, Cellini said of the Kris Jenner-branded school. This school is clearly trying to get the attention of some upper-class, high-income folks.

***

So my degree is worthless? one student, who asked that her name be withheld for fear of consequences with future employers, asked The Daily Beast, after hearing about ESE's troubles with the NYSED and the New York campus's lack of accreditation in the U.S. or abroad.

This isnt an easy question to answer.

The U.S. doesnt evaluate academic credentials of colleges and universities, and there is no national, governmental authority that recognizes academic or professional credentials, according to an Education Department spokesman.

So students in the U.S. are generally left on their own to decide a nonaccredited private institution's value. Its possible the systems opacity, coupled with the wealthy makeup of an overwhelmingly international student population, allowed a school like the European School of Economics to continue enrolling students and issuing degrees from its New York outpost for as long as it did without a license or accreditation.

The U.S. Department of Education warns would-be students at private schools to be good consumers and beware of diploma mills: schools that are more interested in taking your money than providing you with a quality education.

Whether ESE falls into that category is up for students to decide.

One student, who joined the admissions staff in 2009 because she was able to speak three languagesa plus at a school with almost exclusively international students also confirmed ESEs commitment to recruiting an elite student body with an ability to pay the schools exorbitant tuition. She told The Daily Beast that, with a few exceptions, the students and staff were non serious.

It was more like a club, she said.

Still, she decided to attend ESE herself for her MBA.

Even though I got my masters, I feel like its less legitimate than my undergraduate degree [at the University of Virginia]. ESE felt more like a business than a school. They care about what the school looks like. They had lots of parties.

And ESE never got her that internship they promised, she claims. As Angelica Matseyev, ESEs director of operations, explained in an interview, students are asked to fill out a dream form, and placement counselors will place them in the internships of their dreams. But the former students goal was to work in mergers and acquisitions, and her eventual internship was at an insurance office.

That wasnt my dream. And thats not what they told me in the beginning, she claims. (Matseyev did say in our short interview that they had "some challenges" when it came to placing finance students in internships because of licensing.)

To be honest I wouldnt tell anyone to go there. If the person is serious, Id suggest NYU or something. I was naive because I had a Bachelors, had just moved to New York, and wanted to do something different, she said. Id rather go to community college. Youd get more out of it.

When students dont get exactly what they pay for in for-profit colleges, their recourse is now legally limited because of a 2011 Supreme Court case.

Jonathan Tycko of the law firm Tykco & Zavaree handled several cases of students who believed they were defrauded into enrolling in for-profit schools, but those cases didnt go anywhere, he said, because of the verdict of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion.

The 5-4 ruling essentially states that any time a business imposes a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract, those rules must be followed.

This killed students rights. A lot of these students sign these arb clauses not knowing what theyre reading, said Tycko.

When students apply to Legacy Business School on the schools website, the application page reminds the student thatonce admitted and committed to attendinghe or she is then on the hook for the entirety of the up-to $105,000-per-year tuition.

Having applied to Legacy Business School, I understand that Legacy Business Schools decision about my application is irrevocable, a disclaimer reads. If I am admitted and I accept a place in my program of interest, I agree to abide by the rules and regulations of Legacy Business School and ensure payment of all fees.

Legacy promises students a white glove experience for its tuitionwhich can rise above $100,000, but does not include accommodationsand features spa services in New York and a Quintessentially Bespoke Elite Membership that is dedicated to the proposition that everything is possible.

The school itself will offer non-degree certificates in finance, management, marketing and business, as well as a few others like entrepreneurship and fashion management.

It sounds a lot like what The European School of Economics offeredwhich makes sense, since Nomellini is the CEO for both schools and since the New York State Education Department claims that in January of this year, the ESE applied to become a non-degree granting institution in New York, and then applied to change its name to Legacy Business School.

ESE offered those same four programsfinance, management, marketing and businessas part of its no-longer accredited MBA program.

Legacy is now in Candidacy status, which allows it to operate unlicensed for an initial period of 12 months, until January of next year.

One expert said that part of the problem for ESE in the past was setting up shop in a state like New York, which has more rigorous rules regarding accreditation.

As long as theyre not going after any federal financial aid or subsidies, in other states, they might be just fine doing what theyre doing, said SUNY-Albany Professor Kevin Kinser, a researcher focusing on public policy regarding for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. But not in New York. Anybody operating has to have the recognition of the Board of Regents.

He added hes never heard of any case like ESEswhere the school leaned on its international accreditation publicly, yet apparently never got permission from the Board of Regents to operate in New York until nowbut he can see how it would happen.

I could understand how the school would operate without the Board of Regents approval. They can operate below the radar that way, he said. "But that doesnt make it legal.

In the meantime, it leaves those searching for a new school particularly vulnerableand reliant on Internet searches that are scrubbed of criticism.
Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader best known in the States for his love of nuclear tests and his friendship with American former somebody Dennis Rodman, is reportedly out to find his little sister a husbandand using a decidedly Western way to get her hitched.

Kim has allegedly chosen 30 eligible bachelors for his 29-year-old sister Kim Yo Jong. Shes one of the countrys most powerful women, both because of her brother and in her own right, as a newly appointed member of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea. The single-and-ready-to-commit comrades would be winnowed down much like contestants on The Bachelor , according to an anonymous high-ranking official-turned-defector quoted in Voice of America and later translated as a breathless exclusive in British tabloid The Sun .

And unlike the personal trainers and the unemployed who make up the American crop of Bachelorette hopefuls, there would be no bums in Kim Yo Jongs bunch. Reports say Kim, The Onions 2012 Sexiest Man Alive, will only consider potential mates who are educated at the Harvard of Pyongyang, Kim Il Sung University. The suitors must also be attractive (obviously), at least 5-foot-9, a member of the party, and have served in the North Korean Peoples Army.

Who among us could resist the image of a plumping, oafish, yet still murderous Kim Jong Un standing before two-dozen anxious regime loyalists, all wearing their hair in the state-sanctioned style, asking each if he might accept this rose?

Delicious as the prospect may be, its very unlikely to be true, said Michael Madden, an expert who blogs at North Korean Leadership Watch .

Its bullshit, Madden says. If I had a dime for every rumor told about the leaders and their personal lives, Id be a millionaire.

There might be a tiny nucleus of truth in the story, Madden says. They might be matchmaking her with someone if shes not marriedthough he adds that even thats unclear, because of the culture of secrecy in the Hermit Kingdom.

Kim Yo Jong was previously rumored to be married to the son of Workers Party Secretary Choe Ryong Hae, as well as to a non-elite science professor. A 47-day absence in 2015 drove rumors that the younger Kim had given birth, but again its all just speculation.

Madden says the recent activity in North Koreanuclear tests and space launches and the convening of the party congress for the first time since 1980might be driving the recent spate of wild tales from South Korea.

Every time [North Korea] does something strategic, the disinformation comes, Madden says.

Theres enough weird stuff about North Koreans sex and personal lives thats actually true, he says.

Madden answers the inevitable Like what? to that question with some hesitation, before launching into what he says is a common North Korean sloppy seconds fetish having to do, he imagines, with a culture of prostitution and women who perform sexual favors. Its also not unheard of in South Korea and Japan among men who run big businesses, he says.

Its something they are into and I dont know why.

Then there was the joy brigade, or the pleasure squad, of Kim Jong Uns father: Kim Jong Ils harem of beautiful women who would entertain and delight the Supreme Leader with song and dance or sex. It was reported in 2015 that Kim Jong Un was bringing the practice back, but Madden disputes this.

I dont understand why these people dont actually put something more accurate out there.

Still the blame doesnt rest solely with tabloids or South Korea, Madden says. Much can be put on the North Korean elite, whofor want of soap operas or reality televisionoften revert to the age-old hobby of gossiping to keep them occupied.

Some of it comes from the gossip mill that exists in North Korea among the elite and those who work in Pyongyang. All of these outer figures, they basically gossip about the Kim family and leadership: who is sleeping with who, whose wife went to China for plastic surgery. The gossip mill becomes like a childrens game of telephone, he says.

So there wont be a Bachelorette, North Korea edition?

They would never do that. Its a funny idea and would make a great comedy bit, but it would never happen in North Korea, Madden says.
File Marco Rubios Senate career under Missed Opportunities.

As a senator-slash-presidential candidate, Rubio came off as a soft-serve, pre-programmed Republican Party golden child, an immensely talented communicator who didnt care much for his day job in Washington. He had the worst voting record in the Senate in 2015casting just three votes during the 2016 campaign. This and his absence from the Sunshine State drew the ire of his constituents for being AWOL from in-state crises as he jetted across the country on the presidential campaign trail.

But the first two months of his post-presidential career seem to have produced an entirely different Marco Rubio.

He has flipped his worst-in-the-Senate voting record into the best100% since the day he dropped his primary bid. His schedule has transformed from an anywhere-but-Florida itinerary to traveling the state like Floridians once hoped he would. After a two year-absence from an ongoing ecological disaster on the states East Coast, Rubio returned to the scene after he dropped out of the campaign. Hes gone to to Orlando to talk about the heroin crisis and to Jacksonville to bust the landlords of a dilapidated HUD-sponsored apartment complex there.

Rubio has also gone back to the un-glamorous work of pushing bills and amendments to help his home state, work that mostly fell by the wayside after 2014. A long-expected Everglades cleanup bill is on the move, as is a bill to reform HUD properties like the one in Jacksonville. Last week, he stepped out as a lone Republican to support President Obamas request for $1.9 billion to combat the Zika virus, which has already arrived in Florida. With seven months left, he has even re-launched a low-budget YouTube series of him answering constituent mail, another local effort he abandoned years ago as his presidential hopes grew.

Its such an unusual comeback story that Rubios next move after he retires from the Senate at the end of the year has become one of the great Washington guessing gameshes running for governor in 2018! President in 2020! No wait, its not too late to run for Senate again in 2016, even if there are already five Republicans running!

Local Republican operatives in Florida say the talk of Rubio running for Senate is just short of ludicrous and running for governor is a little far-fetched. Both races already feature several Republicans better positioned than Rubio to win.

For his part, Rubio has insisted repeatedly that he will return to the private sector in January and that a run for Senate or governor, or a job as a lobbyist or on Wall Street, are all out of the question.

If he has other plans, he isnt saying and he has returned to Twitter after months away to rant about anonymous sources who claim to know otherwise. I have only said like 10,000 times I am going to be a private citizen in January, he tweeted late one night last week.

When the TODAY Show tagged along on Rubios trip to Jacksonville to see Rubio bust the tenement landlords there, the resulting segment featured only speculation about Rubios future in politics. Once again, Rubio got on his Twitter feed to call them out. Invited @TodayShow b/c told us they would focus on terrible living conditions at HUD projects like this.They turned into political piece.

Colleagues on Capitol Hill say the biggest difference between White-House-hopeful Rubio and YOLO Rubio has been his demeanor. The tightly wound, risk-averse candidate seems both looser and more focused now that he has nothing left to lose.

Hes jumped right back in. I think hes a lot happier than he was, said Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chairman of the Senates Environment and Public Works Committee, who endorsed Rubios presidential bid. Hes got that perpetual smile on his face that he didnt have during the campaign.

Unlike Sen. Ted Cruz, whose return to the Senate has garnered a collective eye-roll from Republican senators, Rubios old colleagues predict he could still have a big future on the national stage.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rubios fellow candidate in 2016, said Rubio has seemed upbeat back at his day job and that hell be very important for Republicans in the future. Were going to have to grow our presence in the Hispanic community, Graham said. He can help in national security. Hes been very good and his voice is going to be valuable over time.

If his fellow senators are bullish about Rubios future in politics, many of his constituents arent coming around so quickly.

I did notice his 100% voting, said Richard Martinson, a retired firefighter who lives on the banks of the St. Lucie River. Its a little too late for that.

Richardson spoke with the Daily Beast in March about what he saw as Rubios inaction in the environmental disaster that has devastated the river community where Martinson lives. His opinion of Rubio hasnt improved even with Rubios recent efforts to focus on the state. Capt. Rodney Smith, a Florida angler also struggling with the disaster, agreed. I wish todays Rubio was the one we had on our side three or four years ago, Smith said.

Sentiments like that are why Rubios approval rating in the state is now at its lowest level since he took office in 2011. Any theyre enough of a reason alone for Rubio to be back at work so aggressively making up for lost time.

He may never return to the Boy Wonder image that he had when he was first elected, but Rubios latest work in the Senate could leave a lasting impact on Florida for years to come, whether or not his name ever appears on a ballot again.

Tim Mak contributed to this report.
It was the most publicized prisoner swap of the two-year-long war in eastern Ukraine. This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned the Ukrainian prisoner Nadezhda Savchenko and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pardoned Russian soldiers Evgeny Erofeev and Aleksandr Aleksandrov.

The receptions of the freed prisoners as they returned to Kiev and Moscow could not have been more different. While crowds of reporters and fans surrounded Savchenko upon her arrival, as if she were a rock star, the two Russian soldiers were received and hugged by their wives alone, right outside the aircraft.

Already a celebrity at home, Nadezhda Savchenko or simply Nadiya, as many called her, was brought back from Russia on the Ukrainian presidents airplane. As soon as the aircraft touched the ground, Poroshenko called Savchenko on the phone to congratulate her and invite the famous pilot for a meeting at the presidential offices.

Poroshenko turned Savchenko into the countrys symbol of winning the war against Russia-backed rebels who helped Moscow seize and annex the Crimean peninsula, then started the ongoing war in Donbas, as eastern Ukraine is called.

We will bring back Donbas and bring back Crimea, just as we brought back Nadiya,  Poroshenko declared on Wednesday.

Precisely why and how Savchenko became a prisoner in the first place has been a matter of debate. She said that on the on June 17, 2014, the first summer of the war, rebels hit two Ukrainian armored vehicles and a tank and she rushed to see if she could help any of the wounded. The next thing anyone knew, she turned up across the frontier in a Russian province. Russian prosecutors claimed that she crossed voluntarily and got arrested after illegally entering the country. They tried her and convicted her on trumped-up charges of complicity in the death of two Russian journalists.

Savchenko vehemently denied the charges, frequently protested from the defendants cage, and insisted that she was ambushed, captured by separatist fighters and then transported across the border against her will.

On Wednesday, Ukraine received Savchenko as a national hero, and she acted like one, turning around in a big crowd of journalists, so every video camera could see her. Savchenko yelled loudly in her powerful, throaty voice, demanding the noisy reporters quiet down and listen.

I want you to feel this right nowI spent almost two years in a single cell!, she shouted into the microphone, growing emotional. I am free now, but I want to ask for forgiveness from all the mothers whose children did not come back from the ATO [Ukraines anti-terrorist operation] while I am still alive, and all mothers whose children are still in prison, while I am free.

In November 2014, months after she was jailed in Russia, Ukrainians elected Savchenko a member of their parliament, the Rada, and politics seems to come easy to her. This week, from her first day of freedom, Savchenko sounded as if she was ready make important decisions.

All her life, Savchenko has been a little different. Even before Lieutenant Savchenko, an air force officers, volunteered to fight in Ukraines ground forces, she was known by her compatriots as a female soldier serving with peacekeeping troops in Iraq and the first female student at Air Force University in Krarkiv, where she studied until 2009.

In March, when the Russian court found Savchenko guilty in the killing of two Russian journalists; many in Russia saw her as heartless murderer. But during the many long months of her trial, Ukrainians put images with Savchenkos face on flags, banners and billboards, demonstrated for her freedom, turned her into a martyred icon of patriotism.

Savchenko went on an 83-day hunger strike during the trial, growing feverish, gaunt and weak. Ukrainians saw images of the pilots pale, boney face and journalists started calling her Ukraines Joan of Arc.

But on Wednesday she looked strong and sounded like Ukraines future leader. Right in the airport in front of all the video cameras Savchenko vowed to do everything possible to bring all Ukrainian prisoners home. I am ready to give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield, Savchenko declared. She also added, in a thinly veiled reference to resentment of the government among serving soldiers that it is easier to make heroes of them when they are dead than when theyre alive.

Meanwhile in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov referred to Yerofeyev and Alexandrov, who is alleged to be a former member of the GRU, or Russian military intelligence, as merely Russian citizens, and said that President Putin did not have any planned meetings with these pardoned prisoners.

The two Russian fighters captured on the battlefield in Donbas in May 2015 were accused by Ukraine of terrorist acts, and they were not active servicemen in the Russian armed forces at the moment of their capture on May 17, the Russian Defense Ministry insisted last year.

In fact, not many in Russia knew their story at all. Luhansk rebels claimed that the two fighters served in their militia and even published photos of their rebel-issued military IDs. President Putin clearly has no intention of turning the two swapped prisoners into national heroes, after publicly stating in his last years annual televised call-in show: There are no Russian troops in Ukraine. The trial of Russian soldiers was a long and controversial process in Ukraine, Alexandrovs defense lawyer was murdered earlier this spring.

No statements were made by Alexandrov and Yerofeyev upon their arrival in Moscow. And while Ukraine expected charismatic Savchenko to shine, and perhaps create more scandals in political circles, experts believe that the two Russian soldiers voices will never be heard, just as nobody ever heard from swapped Russian spies in the past. Their voices just vanished.
Totally bollocksed as we are in this In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida-length election season, it hardly registered as news when the National Rifle Association, a once reasonable group of folk interested in hunting and sport transmogrified into a bloodthirsty jabberwocky, held its board elections.

No one thought much of it when just the sick radicals of this atavistic organization overwhelmingly reelected Ted Nugent, an admitted pedophile who crapped himself silly to stay out of Vietnam and whos violently threatened both the current president and the likely next president of the United States. The only guy to garner more support? Someone famous for committing crimes against the Constitution by handing arms over to our best friends in Iran.

You cant make this stuff up.

I mean if there are three things that Id bet 99 out of 100 of the NRAs strongest supporters would attest to it would be that they are constitutional conservatives who see President Obamas deal with Iran as treason and believe only weak leaders deal with terrorists. Well, then, lets give Ollie North 128,000-plus votes!

Also elected to the board: former congressman and current crazy person Allen West, a man forced to resign from the military before he would have been court martialed for torturing an Iraqi captive.

Back to Nugent, in case youre not familiar with the most recent antics of the Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla. Normally, Ted can be counted on to stick to his day job of being a racist, xenophobe, anti-Semite, and misogynist who shoots small animals that lack the opposable thumbs to return fire to momentarily forget hes going to die someday.

But a few weeks ago he returned to an oldie-but goodie: threatening the life of a national political figure. Maybe he was lonely, since its been a few years since the Secret Service paid him a visit. This time, Ted thought itd be a hoot to share a self-made fantasy snuff film on his Facebook page. It shows Hillary Clinton getting shot during a debate with Bernie Sandersby Bernie Sanders. In case you somehow missed the message, he titled his newest oeuvre: I got your guncontrol [sic] right here bitch.

Nugents also praised use of the n-word, has a vocabulary that includes terms like fat pig, dirty whore, and toxic cunt, and fantasized that if he were to see an undocumented immigrant, hed like to shoot them dead. Thats like a full 24 hours of tweets from Donald Trump.

Good leadership potential right there, Teddy. Or so say the 124,000 NRA members who voted to keep him on the groups board at the same meeting where it endorsed Trump.

Sitting with Nugent on this august board is none other than the former senator from Idaho, Republican Larry Craig. You may recall this supporter of a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was found gyrating to the oldies in a Minnesota airport bathroom while holding court in that gosh-darn uncomfortable wide stance.

Barely holding on to his board seat was tax-obsessive Grover Norquist, hurt by rumors he enjoyed doing dim sum with The Muslim Brotherhood, because hes married to a Palestinian woman. So 62,000 NRA members voted to recall him, with 70,000 saying no. I guess the mistake he made was not working with his supposed Muslim terrorist friends to trade arms with Tehran. Silly, Grover.

There it is: a mainstream organization for hunters, sport shooters, and collectors. Sure, you may take to the darkness to try and fight this gang of conspiracists, smear-merchants, and blood libelists, but, much like Bane, they were born there.

Electing louts and lunatics like this as their leaders should disqualify the NRA from giving endorsements to Republicans (and the few Blue-Dog Democrats they bother with). Every time they give a check or wet-kiss to a loony right-winger, that candidate should be called to account for the things their elected leadershipthe likes of North, Nugent, West, and Craighave done.

I dont see Democrats standing next to members of NAMBLA. So why does support from Nugents organization get a pass?

You want the senseless slaughter to stop? Make politicians own the drivel gushing out of these nuts mouths. Make it as excruciatingly painful to hear their endorsement speeches as it is to listen to Love Grenade.

That is when sanity will finally prevail.
A giddy victory over greed as well as time was marked by a big sheet cake with white icing and a lone flickering candle.

Happy 105th Birthday Mud Dear, the inscription read.

Mud Dear being the family nickname of Myrtle Lewis of North Texas, born in 1911. She celebrated her 105th birthday on April 11.

Lewis was still alive and still in her home three years ago when a bank headed by Steven Mnuchin sought to seize the house on a legal technicality involving briefly lapsed insurance and a reverse mortgage.

Mnuchin being the second generation Wall Street greedster who has since gone on to become Donald Trumps main money man.

Trump being the presidential candidate who promises to Make America Great Again and to win so often in so many ways that we will become sick of winning.

Back in 2013, Mnuchin was still head of OneWest bank, which continued to press for foreclosure even after Lewiss family quickly remedied a lapse in the insurance required by her reverse mortgage.

A reverse mortgage being a loan to a senior citizen homeowner in which the house serves as the collateral. The loan does not have to be paid until the homeowner either dies or moves out. The estate then usually has to repay the loan within six months or lose the house.

Mnuchins bank appears to have grown weary of waiting for her to die before it could grab the modest one story brick house that she has long called home. The bank seems to have used the lapse in the insurance as a pretext to get its cash quickly.

And OneWest might have succeeded in tossing the centenarian into the street had the case not chanced to come before Judge Bonnie Sudderth, then of the 352nd Judicial District Court in Tarrant County, since appointed to the state Court of Appeals.

Even the poorest defendant in criminal court is guaranteed a lawyer. But defendants in civil court who lack the resources to secure legal counsel are usually out of luck.

But Sudderth is guided by a sense of fairness that is at the true core of American greatness; past, present, and future.

Rather than just leave Lewis at the mercy of the banks lawyers, Sudderth took the rare step of appointing an attorney for a civil defendant.

The attorney was Jason Smith, and he also proved to have the stuff that has always made America great.

A man with a conscience in him, Myrtle Lewiss son, Wayne Lewis, told The Daily Beast. A caring heart and a fair manA very thorough and efficient man. Excellent.

Smith battled OneWest to a standstill even though the laws regarding reverse mortgages are written so as to favor the banks.

The deciding factor came into play when the case reached the attention of the local media. The bank almost immediately backed off.

When theyre exposed to the public, thats the only thing that backs them off, Smith later told The Daily Beast of such banks.

Myrtle Lewis kept the house and continued to beat the bank just by waking up each morning.

They made a bet that Myrtle Lewis would die soon and they could take her house, but she won the bet and is still living, Smith said.

But of course, OneWest continued to seek profit in equally shameful ways in cases known only to the mortgage holders, in the shadows beyond a media spotlight.

The statistics as reported by The Nation: OneWest handled less than 20 percent of all reverse mortgages but executed more than a third of all such foreclosures in a six-year period beginning in 2009.

In 2015, OneWest was acquired by CIT Bank for $3.4 billion. Mnuchins investment group had acquired OneWest for $1.5 billion seven years before, so the deal meant a profit over $1.9 billion, more than doubling the money. He remained on the CIT board of directors.

All of which should have taken the surprise out of the news that Mnuchin had gone on to become the chief fundraiser of Donald Trumps presidential campaign.

But there remained something remarkable that even the likes of Trump would sign on with a character such as Mnuchin.

No less remarkable is that even a character such as Mnuchin would sign on with the likes of Trump.

Are you kidding? Wayne Lewis exclaimed this week upon learning of Mnuchins new connection with Trump.

Lewis was happy to report that his mother had just celebrated her 105th birthday and that the 70 relatives and friends in attendance had included her great-great-grandson, not yet a year old.

She got a chance to touch him, the son told The Daily Beast.

One person who was unable to attend was his mothers younger sister, who died eight months ago.

[Myrtle Lewis] said, God knows best. Shes in Gods hands. I love her with all my heart, but Im not trying to go with her, the son recalled.

To have put 105 candles on the cake would have constituted a logical challenge and perhaps a safety hazard. So they decided on a single one for good luck. The birthday girl blew it out.

I dont know what she wished for, the son told The Daily Beast. Knowing her, it was probably more longevity.

Her son reported that the secret to this bank-beating longevity is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other.

She would walk everywhere rather than ride, the son said. She did that for years and years and years.

And along with walking, she kept to clean living.

No smoking, period, the son said. Very little drinking, if any.

There does remain the worry that the bank will again try to force her from her home.

When she doesnt think about it, its OK, the son said. When she thinks about it, thats when she gets a little off balance. Because its her home. This is her baby, right here. This is what she knows. If she goes somewhere, she always wants so to go back home.

She was happily at home last week, when a nurse stopped by to give her a regular checkup.

Her blood pressure was just a little high, but other than that, shes moving right along, the son said. Shes doing well.

He pondered aloud the richness as well as the length of her life.

The things that shes seen, experienced, and lived, he said. Its overwhelming.

And here she was, all-American winner in her home, sweet home.

Its a beautiful scenario, to be honest, he said.
On December 16, 2012, following the horrific mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed the lives of 26 innocent peopleincluding 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7President Obama delivered a speech at a prayer vigil in Newtown, Connecticut.

The president, struggling to hold back tears, acknowledged the full weight of the tragedy and paid tribute to the victims, but also promised to use whatever power this office holds to prevent future massacres like this from occurring. The implication was clear: stricter gun control regulations. And on January 16, Obama did just that, presenting a four-part gun violence prevention proposal that included banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as closing background check loopholes.

Donald Trump wrote the following the day after President Obamas poignant Newtown speech:

Furthermore, in his 2000 book The America We Deserve, Trump wrote:

The Republicans walk the NRA line and refuse even limited restrictions... I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With todays Internet technology we should be able to tell within 72 hours if a potential gun owner has a record.

Last week, Trumpnow the presumptive Republican nominee for presidentreceived the endorsement of the National Rifle Association and delivered a speech at the NRAs national convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Joining fellow speaker Ted Nugent (really), Trump, whose hotels and clubs are gun-free zones, told the animated crowd that he wished to end gun-free zonesin a convention hall that was a gun-free zone.

On Tuesday night, The Daily Show and its host Trevor Noah took Trump to task for his flip-flopping on guns, remarking, Donald Trump doesnt care about the things Republican leaders are supposed to care about. A lot of politicians support the NRA, but what makes this surprising is that Trump himselfon multiple occasionssupported gun control measures and even famously tweeted that President Barack Obama spoke for him on the need for more gun control after Sandy Hook, added Noah. But that was three years and a nomination ago, so on Fridays NRA event Trump was a little more on target.

Cut to a clip of Trump, who said the following onstage at the NRA convention: Ive been watching whats going on and Ive been looking at airplanes getting blown up in the air and lots of bad things happening but if you look at Paris, 130 people killed, and these guys came inTrump then made finger-pistols, mimicking the murderous terroristsboom, boom, you, over here, boom Boom, boom? I dont know if thats the most respectful way to explain the Paris shootings. Boom, boom? said an astonished Noah. Although to be fair, Trump explains every terrible historic event like that. Hindenburg: huge balloon, boom, flames, humanity, terrible! Lincoln assassination: boring play, nagging wife, boom, out of nowhere, he gets some peace and quiet!

At a certain point during the NRA speech, when he wasnt pandering (Noahs words), Trump let slip a little kernel that made the comedian believe the former Celebrity Apprentice host wasnt totally onboard with the NRAs agenda. My sons have been members of the NRA for many, many years, and theyre incredible, said Trump. They have so many rifles and so many guns that sometimes I get a little bit concerned.

Oops. What happened there? asked a grinning Noah. A little bit of truth-Trump slipped out! Its a Trumpian Slip when you tell the truth when youre trying to pander.

Later on, Noah explored the evolution of the NRA from gun-safety organization to gun-obsessed one, as well as Trumps evolution into an even more unfortunately-coiffed version of NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre.

What a difference four yearsand the GOP nominationmakes.
LONDONTurkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2002, a year after the formation of his AK party. But spending 11 years as prime minister wasnt enough. In 2011, Erdogan changed the system, clearing the way for him to become the countrys first directly elected president in 2013.

True to all incremental power grabs, he initially sold this move to Turks as merely ceremonial.

That facade has now ended.

After this month no one was left in any doubt as to Erdogans neo-Ottoman delusions of grandeur, as he pushed out Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu while maneuvering to replace him with a long-time crony. At one point his own son in law seemed a likely appointee.

To use the cliche palace coup would not even be metaphoric on my part. Perched atop a hill on the outskirts of Ankara sits Erdogans specially commissioned 1,000-room White Palace, or AK Saray. Bigger than the White House and the Kremlin, this Sultan-like extravagance cost even more than the budgeted $615m. And as Erdogans sultanate grows, so too does Erdogans sultan-like caprice.

Freedom House reports that Erdogan has been eroding freedom of the press in Turkey at an alarming rate over recent years. This unhinged crackdown on journalists culminated last month in the seizure and state takeover of opposition newspaper Zaman, which is now embarrassingly owned and operated by the Turkish state. Such has been Erdogans assault on journalists that even President Barack Obama felt the need to warn the authoritarian Erdogan to back off.

But this is all run-of-the-mill for tinpot strongmen, who so often mistake their ability to retain office as a demonstration of popularity and power. The truth is, it's also a weakness. Power is a weapon. And like a domestic firearm, it is a weapon that is likely at least as dangerous to you as to others.

Nothing highlights this weakness, this manic insecurity, and this puerile obsession with control in a more darkly comical way than the stunt Erdogan just pulled in Germany.

The president of Turkey, this once great leader of that proud and historic nation, filed a criminal complaint against Jan Boehmermann, a German satirist for writing this poem about him.

The origins of the truly serious offence that was taken are found in the peculiar incident of Germanys ambassador to Turkey, Martin Erdmann, being summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry over an Extra 3 satirical video about Erdogan. There, Erdmann was asked to explainyes, explain the video, and to ensure that it was taken off air. It was this incident that inspired Boehmermanns poem.

You see, the Great Leader was butt-hurt.

But he won. Due to Germanys archaic laws against offending organs of foreign states, one of Germanys most intelligent satirists has been ordered by a Hamburg court to censor his song about Erdogans brutal assault on Turkeys press.

Boehmermann responded on Twitter by linking to the iconic Beastie Boys song, (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!).

From there, it was the reaction of the traditionally irreverent British liberal press that stole the show. The Spectators Douglas Murray responded to Erdogans cry-bully tactics by introducing an insult Erdogan poetry competition. That magazine even offered a 1000 ($1,448) prize for the most insulting limerick. The more offensive the better, they said, and the winning entry is worth repeating here:

There was a young fellow from Ankara

Who was a terrific wankerer

Till he sowed his wild oats

With the help of a goat

But he didnt even stop to thankera.

One suspects that this prize entry was noted less for its lyric virtues, and more for its author. Deliciously, it was uttered ad-lib by Londons former mayor Boris Johnson, of part-Turkish ancestry himself. One would be forgiven for tweeting the insulting lines under hashtag #OffendErdogan.

Mockery aside, there is a very serious and very dark element to Erdogans megalomania. Article 299 of the Turkish penal codebarely used in the paststates that anybody insulting the head of state can be jailed for up to four years.

Under Erdogan, between August 2014 and March 2015 alone, 236 people were investigated for "insulting the head of state. From 2003 to 2014, 63 journalists were sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison. A 16-year-old boy was indicted earlier this year for calling the president a thief during a demonstration. If convicted, he faces a four year sentence. Even a former Miss Turkey has been charged for posting a poem on her Instagram account that the Sultan found offensive.

This is how the great Turkish Republic, long a bastion of pluralist secular Islam, is slowly being reduced to the midlife crisis of one man hunting down comedians in foreign countries.

Once upon a timea couple of election cycles ago and before he kept changing the system to ensure he stayed in powerI used to defend Erdogan. I drew hope from the way he wrestled the Turkish economy from ruin to an expansion of 68 percent. Thats an average annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, second only to China. I was impressed by the way in which he pushed the perpetually interfering, habitually undemocratic Turkish military back into base camp. I was optimistic about his post-Islamist direction of travel towards religiously inspired secular democracy.

No longer. I was wrong, and I wholeheartedly apologize to liberal Turks everywhere.

To say that Erdogan has become drunk on power would be an understatement. The man is more like a crack addict. The sooner he is retired, the better. Indeed, the whole Turkish Model is dead, overdosed on Erdogan.
Just before two American Hellfire missiles blew up the leader of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan over the weekend, he was on the phone with other senior figures in the movement, one of them tells The Daily Beast, Then we lost contact with him.

That Mullah Mansour was using a form of communication that American intelligence can monitor, and does, and which probably helped pinpoint his location, suggests just how secure he felt as he reportedly made his way from a visit with family in Iran to the city of Quetta, capital of Pakistans Baluchistan province.

Afghan Taliban leaders have long enjoyed safe haven in Pakistan, especially in Baluchistan, under the watchful eye of the some elements in the countrys intelligence services.

Mansours successor, named Wednesday, is not likely to feel so secure. As Bruce Riedel of Brookings wrote in The Daily Beast on Sunday, the hit on Mansour was a clear message to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence agency (the ISI) that the days of the Baluchistan refuge may be coming to an end.

By all indications, the new Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhondzada, will be a harder target. Certainly he has a reputation as a hard, even cruel man, whose background is mysterious and habits are secretive.

According to Afghan Taliban websites the 55-year-old Akhondzada fought against the Russians during the 1980s, then joined the Taliban movement in 1994 under Mullah Omar in the fight to unify the country under strict Islamic law.

Omar appointed Akhondzada head of the Taliban military court in Kandahar and he became a powerful figure in the overall Taliban judicial system.

But a senior Taliban figure tells The Daily Beast that while Omar was in charge, Akhondzada did not have much seniority and was not on anyones list as a potential leader. His rise toward the top of the Taliban hierarchy only came after the announcement of Omars death and Mullah Mansours succession last year. Mansour made Akhondzada his first deputy.

Partly this was a function of tribal politics. A senior Afghan leader told The Daily Beast, After Mansour took over in July 2015, Mullah Rasol from the Noorzai tribe did not endorse Mansours leadership. But Akhondzada was from the Noorzai tribe, so Mansour appointed him to defy Rasol and keep the Noorzai happy.

At the beginning, said the same source, we thought he was a simple mullah from the countryside, he wouldnt be very active, and his position would be symbolic. But he turned more active than we thought.

Indeed, for a time Mullah Mansour was deeply underground and Akhondzada was practically running the Taliban show, said this source.

Another senior Afghan Taliban tells The Daily Beast, I would say he is not a charismatic leader like Mullah Omar and neither is he comparatively modern like Mullah Mansour. He is more uncompromising, complicated. Going forward toward peace talks [with the Afghan government] would be very surprising from Haibatullah.

Within Taliban circles Mullah Haibatullah Akhondzada has the reputation of being very conservative, even by Taliban standards. Some claim he is sadistic with underlings and has little idea about or interest in politics as such. A former Afghan Taliban leader tells us, I even heard he was against the photos and videos of Taliban in the Taliban media. Some ultra-conservative Muslims believe any representation of humans is forbidden by God.

A senior aide to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says its up to Pakistan to shape the new Taliban leadership. Pakistan can change the personality and attitude of the Taliban, squeezing them like an aluminum can, said the aide. The Taliban are puppets. Their soul and soil is Pakistani, and its up to Pakistans establishment to make them terrorists, good, or bad Taliban, he said.

A key commander of one Taliban splinter group, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, said, We opposed the new leader and it is not clear how he was appointed.  This was done in a very mysterious way, exactly like with way Mullah Mansour was appointed. So we continue opposing this new leader.

According to various Taliban sources, when Akhondzadawas was head of the Taliban military courts in Kandahar he was famous for severe punishments. They say Akhondzada decreed that anyone who challenged or did not endorse Mullah Mansours leadership of the faithful should be executed. As a result, several rival Taliban commanders were killed.

The former Afghan Taliban deputy foreign minister, Abdul Rahman Zahid, told The Daily Beast, Mansour was much more flexible, experienced and advantageous for the peace process, and eventually Mansour would have come back to the talks. Thats less likely with his successor.

Mullah Haibatullah has a very narrow mind and the typical tribal attitudes, said Zahid. It will take years to bring him into the political process.
Donald Trump is kicking off his first major fundraising blitz as the presumptive Republican presidential nomineein the Democratic stronghold of liberal Hollywood.

Today, right after taping an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, Trump will attend a nearby fundraiser thrown at the mansion owned by Tom and Rachelle Barrack (a real-estate investor who endorsed Trump earlier this year, Tom Barrack founded Colony Capital and did business with Trump in the 80s).

The posh fundraiser is set to include a photo line, a dinner, and cocktails galoreand it marks the first event planned in Team Trump and the RNCs upcoming fundraising blitz. The GOP and Trump campaign are planning as many as 50 such events as they race to quickly appeal to major-league donors, and to hit their $1 billion fundraising target for the Republican presidential contender. (The Trump campaign claimed on Tuesday that the LA-area fundraiser will bring in $5 million, double the $2-2.5 million they originally sought.)

The Barrack mansion fundraiser comes as the activists and donors of the Hollywood-conservative eliteoperating within the liberal bastion of Tinseltowncome to terms with supporting Trump in a general election. Before the real-estate mogul had secured the GOP nomination, there was a much stronger level of support for Sen. Ted Cruz than Trump among film-industry conservatives.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that there will be a small Hollywood presence (without naming names) at Wednesday's dinner, emphasizing that many big-name Republicans in the film industry are worried about being publicly labeled pro-Trump at this time. This town will get vicious to those who support Trump, one filmmaker told THR.

However, former studio head Frank Price, an icon of the conservative Hollywood community, confirmed to The Daily Beast that he has been invited and plans to attend the fundraiser. And he is openly declaring his support for Donald Trump.

Price, a former CEO of Columbia Pictures and ex-president of Universal Pictures, has been a regular on the conservative-Hollywood fundraising circuit for years, and showed up on the Hollywood donor rolls for Mitt Romney during the last presidential election. And hes backing Trump now because Price approves of Trumps hardline positions on immigration.

The Democratic Party hasn't represented blue-collar workers well because [it is] more open to illegal immigration  which means [Democratic] votes, Price told The Daily Beast.

With the fundraiser coming up, up until very recently there was very little support for Trump [in conservative Hollywood]  there was much more of a Cruz presence, he continued. I think thats since been modifying.

Trumps well of financial and public support in Hollywood is shallow, but not without its marquee talent. Actor Jon Voight, one of the most famous members of the secretive right-wing Hollywood fellowship Friends of Abe (which recently shuttered its nonprofit), formally endorsed Trump in March. Columnist Ann Coulter, one of Trumps most devoted supporters, has been actively lobbying for Trump at private dinners and social events in Hollywood. Among her targets in the film and TV business has been Clint Eastwoodan anti-war, libertarian Republican and top FOA member who last endorsed Romney. (The Daily Beast could not confirm whether Eastwood, Coulter, or Voight were invited to, or will be attending, Wednesdays Trump event.)

But Team Trump has a lot of work to do if its serious about tapping Hollywood for significant creative or financial support. Numerous Friends of Abe and conservative activists in Los Angeles are irked by what they consider the Trump campaigns indifference when it comes to currying favor with their community. (Team Cruz, on the other hand, had worked for years to build political relationships and a rapport with Hollywood Republicans, starting early in Cruzs Senate career.)

We feel that [Trump] snubs conservative Hollywood, said one conservative filmmaker active in Hollywood GOP circles. Is it much of a surprise? He's surrounded himself with Hollywood liberals for decades, [and] partied with them.

And for Trump and his allies, itll be even harder to win over the cluster of Hollywood conservatives who strongly identify with that one-time, ill-fated #NeverTrump movement.

Plenty of my friends will back him, but I gotta tell you, it's hard enough being a conservative in this town, said another member of Friends of Abe. And [Trump] is everything that liberals have said conservatives are  He has fascist tendencies when he calls for violence, he winks and nods at racists. It's dispiriting to see that happen.

Update: On Thursday, Frank Price told The Daily Beast that actor Jon Voight was indeed in attendance at Wednesday's flashy Trump fundraiser. Price said that he and Voight talked about how impressed they were by Trump and how it was a shame that Price and Voight "only see each other on occasions like this," the former studio head recalled.
Considering the glut of onscreen adaptations of Jane Austens six completed novelsmore than 60, only 10 of them worth watchingone is inclined to dread the news that yet another is on its way.

Even with Emma Thompson writing the script and Keira Knightley playing the role of Elizabeth Bennett, Joe Wrights Pride and Prejudice didnt live up to expectationsproof that the most formidable ingredients for an Austen adaptation can still amount to a lackluster production, if not a plainly awful one.

Lackluster does not apply to Whit Stillmans Love & Friendship, a new film based on an epistolary novella written by Austen in the 1790s, Lady Susan.

When describing the movie to people who havent seen it, one reaches for words like delightful, witty, stylish, wildly funnyall of which apply to Austens novels, but Stillman one-ups the authors pointed social satire in this laugh-out-loud comedy.

That said, even the most die-hard Austenites may not have read her hilariously barbed, almost Wildean novel of letters about a beautiful, unscrupulous, wickedly manipulative widow named Lady Susan Vernon, who is hell-bent on securing her own future by marrying off her daughter. Austen was not yet 20 when she wrote the novella and did not live to see it published.

She abandoned Lady Susan without giving it the proper ending she gave the rest of her novels, leaving Stillman to finish the story in his own way. Indeed, the slim novellas epistolary structure allowed Stillman to round out scenes and beef up characters in his version of the story, which he has been working on since 2004.

He insists that most of the films dialoguezingers exchanged so swiftly and nimbly that they challenge the viewer to keep upwas lifted from Austen.

About two thirds of it is from Austen, and this is some of her finest comic writing, Stillman said over Skype, speaking to The Daily Beast from his home in Paris. I thought I was using her exact gemlike phrases, but in reviewing the novella I did see that I boiled them down. Her funny sentences are more complex than the funny sentences in the movie dialogue.

Stillman, an urbane-looking 64, is noted for films that observe, as dryly and nimbly as Love & Friendship does, mores around class and friendship, among the young and gilded.

The Harvard-attending son of a politician in JFKs administration, Stillman-the-director has thus far hopped from the Upper East Side (Metropolitan, 1990) to the lovelorn men of Barcelona (1994), then Studio 54 for The Last Days of Disco (1998), and the young grads of Damsels in Distress (2011).

Until now his canvases have been cast in roughly modern times, and mostly focused on young, well-off people. Love & Friendship is a conventional period drama, but with Stillmans trademark crispness and dry slyness etched into it. Young people are present but not the focus. If youre expecting or wanting the warm historical bath of Downton Abbey, you will likely get a chill.

On whether he watches the hit show, Stillman says, The shows everyone talks about I try to see one episode but not more. I think it seemed very well done and I love Maggie Smith, but I had the idea that Im better off not getting immersed in other peoples shows. I dont want to be too aware of what other people are doing, especially when its very good.

As played by Kate Beckinsale, Lady Susans epistolary flair comes across in a gift for the spoken word, particularly the verbal wit on display in scenes with her only true friend and confidante, a wealthy American woman named Alicia Johnson (Chloe Sevigny).

Lady Susans reputation as a duplicitous charmer and schemer is anathema to Mr. Johnson (Stephen Fry), who repeatedly threatens to send his wife back to Connecticut if she doesnt break off their friendship. Youll be scalped! Lady Susan cries, declaring Mr. Johnson too old to be governable, too young to die.

Lady Susan conducts most of her wily operations at the Churchill estate owned by her oblivious brother-in-law Charles Vernon, though his wife Catherine Vernon (nee DeCourcy) is skeptical of her even before she arrives.

When Catherine notices that her younger brother, Reginald DeCourcy, is bewitched by Lady Susans beauty and charm, she sounds the alarm in a letter to her elderly parents.

The scene-stealeror, more accurately scene-chomperis Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), who is vastly rich and rather simple, Lady Susan tells Alicia. Sir James is besotted with the young and virtuous Frederica, though the affection is not mutual. Sir James is as profoundly, hilariously stupid as he is wealthy.

When he first arrives at Churchill, he explains in broken, tortured English, to his perplexed hosts that he had difficulty finding the estate, since he was looking for either a church or a hill.

Later, he marvels at the novelty vegetables on his plate over dinner: Tiny green balls! What do you call them?

Peas, Reginald replies, unamused and baffled.

It really could be absolutely nothing in another performers hands, Stillman says, adding that Bennett came to audition wearing Dickensian garb, so he seemed like a character from The Pickwick Papers. Then he just did amazing things with the material that inspired me to write other comic scenes in the novel.

Stillmans own love affair with Austen began with heartbreak. At the age of 18 at Harvard, he was a depressed sophomorebrutally dumped after being led on cruelly by a girl. It was really sad!

He laughs. I was in a total funk and about to drop out and go to Mexico and learn Spanish. I had never read a gothic novel in my life and I picked up a copy of her strange novel, Northanger Abbey. I read it and I hated it and told everybody [he says in a mocking teenage voice], Jane Austens overrated. Shes not any good. Why do people like her?

With both Austen and Evelyn Waugh, he hated them at first and then both went to be his favorite authors, and the themes that featured in their novels feature in his movies.

When I mention that his films are comedies of manners, Stillman says he dislikes the sobriquet.

Manners as a word has degenerated to mean which spoon to use, which fish fork to use. Stephen Fry said something really interesting in an interview he gave on set where he talked about manners and morals. Comedies of manners goes back to the Latin word mores, which means morals. So I view them more as comedies of morals but also as comedies of identity.

Both in Austens novels and in Stillmans films, identity is inextricably linked to class.

Austens 19th century readers would not delight in a morally dubious, extravagant character like Lady Susan manipulating others (mis)fortunes like a puppeteer.

Such characters were not Jane Austen heroines. But Love & Friendship allows Lady Susan to indulge her desires for money and out-of-wedlock romance with impunity. Did Stillman purposely make Lady Susan more likeable in the film than she was in Austens novel?

People say that shes more likable in the film, but I just went with the material. And her early, 18th century work was less moralistic than her later writing.

But she became more morally concerned. She thought Pride and Prejudice was too light and airy, so then she went on and did Mansfield Park which is a beautifully written moral novel. Im not a lawyer for amorality, but in cinema you do want the character to be fun to watch.

Whatever themes of class and influence seem to permeate his films, Stillman says he is not obsessed with these themes. I think thats only the case with Metropolitan. I dont think Im more obsessed. I just notice a lot of things. I think it would be better to say that social climbing in many guisessuch as self-righteous one-upmanship in supposedly non-social domainsis a major engine for human activity. And, aided by Stillmans intelligent observation, a major engine too for a lot of sharp, wincing humor.
JASON CLARK / THE GLEANER South Heights Elementary School teacher Courtney Ferguson shares a hug with her sister Christa Wright of Henderson after Ferguson was presented with her diploma and hood that represents that she's a master level student during a surprise presentation at the school in Henderson Tuesday. Ferguson missed multiple ceremonies of her own for the benefit of her students and family.

SHARE JASON CLARK / THE GLEANER South Heights Elementary School teacher Courtney Ferguson reacts as Norma Wheat, Special Education Program Coordinator at Campbellsville University, presents Ferguson with her diploma and hood that represents that she's a master level student during a surprise presentation at the school during her sons graduation ceremony in Henderson Tuesday. Ferguson missed multiple ceremonies of her own for the benefit of her students and family. JASON CLARK / THE GLEANER South Heights Elementary School students cheer as teacher Courtney Ferguson is presented with her diploma and hood that represents that she's a master level student during a surprise presentation at the school during her sons graduation ceremony in Henderson Tuesday. Ferguson missed multiple ceremonies of her own for the benefit of her students and family.

By Erin Schmitt of The Gleaner

Sometimes just a few steps can be symbolic of a much longer journey.

It only took a few short paces for a stunned Courtney Ferguson to accept her master's degree from Campbellsville University during a surprise graduation at South Heights Elementary Monday night.

However, the path to being able to walk for that diploma wasn't easy for the elementary special education teacher and mother of four.

"It took me 14 years to get this degree," she told the packed audience in South Heights' gym. "But, I want you to know, no matter what happens in real life, no matter what mountains you have to climb, if you want it, you can get it and this is proof."

During her second semester at Bellarmine University, Ferguson became pregnant with her twin sons, Jordan and Gregory Wright. She halted her education to come home because the boys were in and out of the hospital as infants.

She and her husband, Timothy Ferguson, would later go on to have another set of twins, Brayden and Braela, who are now four years old.

Ferguson began working at South Heights after attaining her associate's degree. It was there she met Stacey Keown, who encouraged her to continue her education and take Keown's place in the self-contained special education room.

She completed her bachelor's degree, taking 26 hours in a year. Ferguson then enrolled in an accelerated one-year master's program at Campbellsville University so she could become a certified special education teacher.

Until Monday night, Ferguson had never once walked for her college diplomas  something that was very important to her. She was in the hospital when her associate degree was presented. She was only allowed to invite a handful of guests to see her get her bachelor's degree, so she skipped the ceremony.

"Last year when I got that degree I said, 'I don't care, come hell or high water I will walk when I get my masters,' " Ferguson said. "That was so important to me for my kids to see me do that."

But because of snow days, K-PREP  which South Heights Principal Rob Carroll describes as the "Super Bowl" of state testing because it's how schools are measured academically  was pushed back until it overlapped with Campbellsville's graduation on May 13.

A week before K-PREP testing, Carroll gathered his staff and told them that they could not miss K-PREP week. Ferguson was disappointed but knew her place was with her students.

"With me being a special-education teacher, I knew that my kids needed me there," she said. "I know that all the kids needed to have their teachers, but I knew especially that my kids needed me there so they could do what I knew they could do. I didn't want my absence to be the reason why they weren't able to perform their best."

What she didn't know was that her co-workers were whipping up a plan to recognize Ferguson's accomplishments.

"When she said, 'I'm not going to go because of testing,' we figured there's got to be something we can do," said Stacey Keown, Ferguson's mentor at South Heights.

Keown contacted Norma Wheat, an assistant professor in the school of education at Campbellsville University and the chair of the college's special education program, to arrange for her to present the diploma. Keown said it was hard keeping the secret from Ferguson, "especially when she was really upset about not going."

Wheat traveled a round trip of five hours to take part in the ceremony and said she was honored to do so. She got to know Ferguson during an intensive four-week period on Campbellsville's campus last summer.

"She's very dedicated," Wheat said. "She's very loyal. She loves her students. I was just amazed that she was able to stay; she has children and it was very important for her to continue even though it was a struggle to stay for four weeks."

There was talk of holding a ceremony at the Henderson Fine Arts Center, but curriculum specialist Bridget Townsend suggested they do something at Monday night's end-of-the-year program since Ferguson's twin boys were graduating from the fifth grade.

At the close of the graduation ceremony, Carroll told the crowd to hang around because they had one more graduate to recognize.

"I think that symbolizes the best of teaching," said Carroll. "The day she did that I changed her name from Courtney to hero in my phone contacts. I've never seen a more selfless act in the name of what we're supposed to be about, which is putting kids first."

When Ferguson realized they were talking about her, she "fell to pieces." Dabbing the tears out of her eyes, she was finally able to accept her diploma in front of her friends and family  both work and kin.

"The amount of love that is in this building is just unmeasurable," Ferguson said. "You don't even understand it until you are a part of it. Not only do we love the kids, we love each other. I feel like this just shows that we are not just a bunch of talk at South Heights, they mean what they say."
SHARE

By Adam Beam, Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky.  Health insurance companies in Kentucky want to increase rates by an average of 17 percent next year, continuing a national trend of hefty hikes as insurers adapt to a market reshaped by President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

The rate increases cover individual and small group plans. They do not include large plans offered by employers. Those rate requests will be released at a later date.

Kentucky is one of 13 states that operate its own health insurance exchange, a website where people can purchase discounted private insurance plans with the help of federal subsidies. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin plans to dismantle that state exchange, named kynect, by the end of this year. Its plans and customers would be shifted to the federal exchange HealthCare.gov.

Plans sold on the exchange are requesting rate hikes averaging 20 percent, compared to an average increase of 16 percent of plans sold off the exchange.

Save Kentucky Healthcare, a nonprofit started by former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear to advocate for kynect, said in a statement "we believe the main reason why insurance companies are proposing higher rates is because of the uncertainty of the future of kynect."

But Anthem health Plans of Kentucky, the only company that will offers plans statewide on the exchange next year, said the requested rate increase has nothing to do with the end of kynect. Instead, spokesman Mark Robinson blamed the increase on the failure of the Kentucky Health Cooperative, a nonprofit started with the help of a $58.8 million federal grant that folded last year. Its 51,000 mostly high-risk customers had to be picked up by other companies.

"The biggest issue for us honestly is the uncertainty of all of those members," Robinson said. "How sick or healthy are they?"

But the rate increases, if approved by state regulators, do not guarantee double-digit increases in the monthly premiums people have to pay. The base rate is one of many factors companies use to determine how much someone pays in a monthly premium. Other factors include age, sex and where a person lives.

Last year, after insurance companies across the country requested double-digit rate increases in many states, the average monthly premium for plans sold on the federal exchange increased $4, to $106 per month from $102 per month, according to Jonathan Gold, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"People in Kentucky understand how the marketplace works, and they know that they can shop around and find coverage that fits their needs and budget," Gold said. "The vast majority of consumers in Kentucky qualify for tax credits that reduce the cost of coverage below the sticker price."

But many Kentucky counties only have one company offering health plans on the exchange. Some counties have as many as six plans to choose from, both on and off the exchange.

The largest requested increase was 65.1 percent from the Golden Rule Insurance Company, which is owned by UnitedHealthcare. That company does not offer plans on the state exchange. A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bevin spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said the Affordable Care Act is failing and hurting the state, offering the rate increases as proof that the state needs "a sustainable healthcare model tailored for Kentucky." Bevin wants to repeal the state's expanded Medicaid program and replace it with a system similar to one in Indiana, where some Medicaid recipients pay small premiums for their insurance.
SHARE

DAYTON, Ohio (AP)  A solar-powered airplane has taken off from the Ohio hometown of America aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright on the latest leg of its journey around the world.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 took off from Dayton International Airport just after 4 a.m. Wednesday with a destination of Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The flight was expected to take about 17 hours.

The aircraft's most recent journey came last weekend, when it traveled from Tulsa International Airport to Dayton. The plane's departure from Dayton was delayed from Monday as project officials checked for possible damage after fans that keep the mobile hangar inflated had a power failure.

The plane was expected to make at least one more stop in the United States  in New York  before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa.

The globe-circling voyage began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan.

The Solar Impulse 2's wings, 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.

Ideal flight speed is about 28 mph, although that can double during the day when the sun's rays are strongest.

The plane had a five-day trip from Japan to Hawaii The crew was forced to stay in Oahu, Hawaii, for nine months after the plane's battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan.

Solar Impulse 2 then had a three-day trip from Hawaii to California's Silicon Valley. Since then, it has made trips from Northern California to Phoenix, Arizona, then on to Tulsa, Oklahoma, before heading to Ohio.

Project officials say the layovers give the two Swiss pilots  Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg  a chance to swap places and engage with local communities along the way so they can explain the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million.

The solar project began in 2002 to highlight the importance of renewable energy and the spirit of innovation.

Caption 1:

FILE  In this April 23, 2016 file photo, Solar Impulse 2 lands at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., completing the leg of its journey from Hawaii in its attempt to circumnavigate the globe. A solar-powered airplane that landed in Oklahoma last week is headed to Ohio on the latest leg of its around-the-world journey. The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 took off from Tulsa International Airport about 5 a.m. Saturday, May 21, 2016, with a destination of Dayton, Ohio. The flight was expected to take about 18 hours.(AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
SHARE

Barbara Barr, Henderson

Reform U.S. justice system to cut crime

It seems like we have a huge problem with drugs and crime in America. I think it is because we do no have better laws protecting us from crime and too many loopholes that protect the criminals.

Our prisons and jails are full! If our laws were stricter, first-time offenders would not be willing to do it again. It costs a lot to build more prisons and bigger jails!

Good laws protect innocent people and weak laws bring no justice in the land for all the victims.

Our laws are too weak and this makes our country a scary place to live. It also means more police are needed to handle the large amount of crimes done in America.

No person who does a crime should be free because of a technicality not done by a police officer. I also think that the death penalty should get passed in every state. We have so many on Death Row now and the sentence is not carried out! Why?

How can people think the death penalty is wrong? God knows that evil people corrupt our nation. Good laws make a better country. God also wants justice for our land and a people who love and honor him!

If you feel sorry for a person who has deliberately killed someone then you have to feel sorry for the victim's family. It is hard to see a family who sees no justice done for their hurt and loss. I pray for our country for better laws and less crime.
New Burlington Area Homeless Shelter director carrying mission forward

The new executive director of the Burlington Area Homeless Shelter says she's excited for her new role and here to serve the community.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON  At the White House on Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy dismissed GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trumps pledge to end gun-free zones if elected president.

Youd have to be a fool to believe anything Donald Trump would say about any subject, Malloy told reporters just before a meeting on gun-violence prevention with Vice President Joe Biden and a host of governors and mayors, including Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

Last week, Trump attended the annual National Rifle Association convention and promised in a speech to end gun-free zones at schools and other public places.

My first day, it gets signed, OK? the bombastic New York real estate developer told the pro-gun audience. My first day, theres no more gun-free zones.

The existence of gun-free zones is a particularly sensitive topic in Connecticut because of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. The school was a gun-free zone, and pro-gun advocates argued afterward that such areas are an open invitation to rampaging active shooters.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has used the rash of mass shootings to advocate a guns everywhere philosophy, coining the phrase: The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Malloy, who introduced Biden at the White House convening on gun-violence prevention, was having none of it.

I think the NRA hurt its credibility very substantially, he said, noting reports of NRA membership grumbling about the organizations endorsement of Trump because of the moguls past support for longer waiting periods to buy guns and for banning assault weapons. They are so desperate to control the discussion about guns.

With the Republican-controlled Congress unlikely to pass expanded background checks or any other gun-safety legislation and the White House pretty much tapped out on President Barack Obamas authority to issue executive actions, the focus has shifted to states and localities to approve and enforce their own gun-control laws.

Malloy has become the apostle-in-chief of sorts, extolling Connecticuts numerous legislative actions in the wake of Sandy Hook. The most recent, which Malloy mentioned Tuesday, is approval of a law requiring surrender of guns by those cited in domestic-violence temporary restraining orders. Previously, only those with permanent orders against them had to give up guns.

Because Congress cant get the job done, a lot of the work is going to have to be done on the local and state level, Malloy said. And were coming together to have a conversation about how we do just that.

dan@hearstdc.com
DANBURY  The hospital group that includes Norwalk, Danbury and New Milford hospitals has laid off dozens of managers, saying the move became unavoidable after recent state budget cuts and longer-term changes in the health-care industry.

These reductions were difficult to make, yet they will help drive the organization forward, eliminate unnecessary layers of management and support a leaner, more nimble organization, said Cathy Frierson, senior vice president of the Western Connecticut Health Network, in a statement issued Thursday.

Hospital group spokeswoman Andrea Rynn added that less than 40 employees were let go across the networks three hospitals and associated medical groups, but couldnt specify how many of those were associated with Norwalk Hospital. Sources in Norwalk said the layoffs were mostly at the management level.

Representatives from the nurses union at Norwalk Hospital declined to comment on the layoffs and the impact that would have on the staff, but Mary Consoli, who heads the nurses union at Danbury Hospital, said nursing managers were among those laid off. Their departure wont have a direct impact on patient care, she said, but will lessen the efficiency of scheduling and other administrative functions.

Its a difficult situation all around, Consoli said. Im sure the hospital has shared with the nurses the chain of command, but it will be different than were used to working with. Some of these people are good people who have worked for many years.

The latest blow to hospital revenues came from the state, which slashed such aid last week to help cover a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall projected for 2016-17. The budget deal approved by the legislature last week contains $1.8 million less than Danbury and New Milford hospitals expected to receive for the coming fiscal year.

WCHN President Dr. John M. Murphy said these cuts played a role in the decision to reduce staff.

While its difficult to predict where we would be financially if there were no cuts or hospital taxes, suffice to say, it was a major factor in the changes we are making, Dr. Murphy said.

Frierson said the network has long struggled with budgetary pressures caused by declining state reimbursements, increased competition and transition to value-based care. Over the last three years, she said, the network managed to squeeze $137 million out of the system.

Despite these cuts, she added, WCHN hospitals will still be able to deliver exceptional care.

This decision, although a very difficult one, reflects a more contemporary model - one that is flexible and able to move quickly on new opportunities, Frierson said. We remain committed to attracting and retaining great talent and strengthening the resources dedicated to patient care.

Hospitals across Connecticut have been feuding with the state for months over the hospital tax, which was first levied in 2012 as a way to generate matching funds to attract federal grants. Most of the money was to be returned to the hospitals, but as state budgetary pressures mounted the amount returned fell far below what hospitals paid in.

The states hospitals have filed suit to force fuller reimbursements; the suit is pending.
NORWALK  An unannounced visit from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) revealed that three young children had been left unattended at an East Norwalk apartment by their babysitter, police said.

Norwalk police officers were dispatched to 49 Van Zant St. at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday on a complaint from the DCF employee reporting that the three children, ages 6, 5, and 1, were left alone in the residence.
NORWALK  A Haviland Street house that once housed a thrift shop is slated for a major fix up and sale through the South Norwalk Home Ownership Program.

The next property in the program is 24 Haviland Street, which was purchased with community development block grant funds and will be rehabilitated with a combination of Choice Neighborhoods and Department of Housing funds, said Tami Strauss, director of community development planning at the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency. We are actively looking for other properties around the South Norwalk Train Station with a goal of 10 properties over the course of the program.

North Walke Housing Corp., the housing arm of the redevelopment agency, bought the property last June for $220,000. The house had been home to a thrift store operated by Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in June 2014.

North Walke Housing plans to put the house out to bid for an estimated $300,000 in repairs and sell it to income-qualified buyers early next year, Strauss said.

Under the program, the buyer must have an income within 80 percent of the area median income. For a four-person household, that amounts to $105,050, she said.

North Walke is partnering with the Housing Development Fund to finance and train income-qualified owner-occupant homebuyers to purchase and manage the properties, Strauss said.

The property will be the second purchased and renovated by North Walke Housing under the South Norwalk Home Ownership Program, which has assembled state and federal dollars to preserve and improve affordable housing in the areas near the South Norwalk Train Station.

On May 7, the housing corporation held an open house on the property at 68 Lexington St. The two-family home underwent roughly $600,000 in renovations that added stainless steel, energy-efficient appliances, central air conditioning, granite countertops and carpeted bedrooms. The asking price was $348,000.

Local residents who meet the income criteria will be given priority for properties renovated under the program. Priority is given to Washington Village/Choice Neighborhood residents followed by city and Board of Education employees, and persons who work in Norwalk, Strauss said.

North Walke Housing is relying upon a combination of funding sources to buy the properties and pay for the renovations. The agency received $600,000 from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, $875,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUD) Choice Neighborhoods Program, $500,000 in community development block grants from HUD, and an $850,000 grant from the Department of Housing, Strauss said.

State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, announced Monday that the State Bond Commission is expected to approved the $850,000 grant Friday.

That will help transit-oriented development around the train station and that is, again, moving in the direction of our commitment to affordable housing, Duff said.

The program began with a grant from the One Region Funders Group Tri-State Transportation Campaign. North Walke Housing hired Jonathan Rose Cos. to complete a market study and help launch the program for the purchase, rehabilitation and resale of affordable two- to four-family residential properties in South Norwalk.

The homeownership program comes amid ongoing redevelopment in South Norwalk. That redevelopment has added largely market-rate units that are out of reach of many existing residents.

Timothy Carney, housing development project manager at the redevelopment agency, said the agency was eyeing a Hanford Place property for purchase and repair under the program but was outbid by investors who havent put a drop of paint on it and theyre still charging outrageous rents.

Thats what were trying to prevent, Carney said. Were trying to go in there, bring (properties) up to code and make nice, safe decent housing and affordable.

Strauss described the homeownership program as a step forward in preserving the quality of the affordable housing in South Norwalk.

Added Carney: One piece at a time.
WILTON  Wilton Librarys June art exhibition celebrates the power of friendship when four friends with a passion for painting showcase their works in Artists Choice 2016, opening Friday, June 3, from 6-7:30 p.m.

The artists are Mollie Keller (Trumbull), Toby Michaels (Westport), Diane Pollack (Fairfield), and Florence Zolan (Bridgeport). Their common ground is the Art/Place Gallery in Fairfield, where they are all members; however, their diversity in their works sets them apart.

Mollie Keller creates calligraphic riffs that are part of her ongoing attempt to describe three dimensional gestures in two dimensions. According to the artist, she was born during the reign of Abstract Expressionism, educated at MOMA and the Met, inspired by Joan Mitchell and Hans Memling.

She balances a desire for order and detail with a passion for big messy splashes of delicious color and working on how to achieve both. She recently noted, I have been playing with calligraphy, exploding and rearranging words, investigating the essence of each stroke of a letter, and wondering about the possibilities of black and white.

Toby Michaels allows the Abstract Expressionist movement to inspire her recent work. She studies the Muses, their philosophy, intentions and visual style. She is now a full-time artist affiliated with the Westport Arts Center Artist Collaborative, Silvermine Guild of Art and is represented in the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection. While working as an elementary art teacher in Westport and Darien, she received her masters degree in art therapy and counseling. She initiated an Art Therapy program in Norwalks Hospital of psychiatry where she practiced for 17 years. She worked with therapy groups in Silver Hill Hospital and was an adjunct professor of Art Therapy at Quinnipiac College.

Diane Pollacks large monotypes with thread feature abstracted female shapes which refer to ancient rituals and celebrations. Her smaller works are collaged and sewn and whimsical. Besides Art/Place Gallery, she is a member of Surface Design Artists of Ridgefield Guild, and the Westport Artists Collective. She is a curator for the Fairfield Public Librarys Bruce S. Kershner Gallery. She has taught art to children and adults and was a docent lecturer at Asia Society Museum, in New York City.

Florence Zolan creates mixed media works combining printmaking, collage, paint, pastel, and often applied objects and yarns. The relationship of shapes and colors inform her abstract compositions with references to the natural world. Florence is a founding member of Art/Place Gallery. Her early studies were at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. In NYC, art studies continued at Pratt Manhattan Graphic Center and The New School, where she studied with Richard Poussette-Dart and John Ross. She received her MFA at Hunter College studying with Tony Smith. Zolan taught school in New Rochelle and night print classes at The Museum of Modern Art with Sol Lewitt. She is an artist member of Silvermine Guild. She has exhibited statewide in juried and invitational exhibits and is represented in corporate and private collections throughout the US. Zolan is on the curatorial committee of the Kershner Gallery at the Fairfield Public Library.

The art reception is free and open to the public. The exhibition runs through Thursday, June 30. The majority of the works are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center. Library hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. through June 12 and closed on Sundays for the summer months beginning June 19. For information and directions, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or call (203) 762-6334.
Police are continuing to search for a young black male, possibly a teenager, who pulled off an armed carjacking Sunday in rural Edwardsville.

The incident happened around 1:45 p.m. in the parking lot of a store near St. James and Moro roads. Police have distributed the image of a female accomplice who had entered the store moments just before the incident.

Madison County Sheriffs Capt. Mike Dixon said Tuesday that neither of the suspects has been arrested, and there have been no reports as to the whereabouts of the victims car, described as a silver 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo containing a high-end stereo system.

The victim reportedly arranged a meeting with the suspect in order to try to sell him his car. Shortly after entering the Monte Carlo, the suspect pointed a gun at the victims face and ordered him out of the car. The victim slapped at the gun, which discharged inside the car. Dixon said no one was injured.

The victim ran into the store, and soon he and a friend followed the fleeing car in the friends car.

A high-speed chase ensued, with speeds topping 100 miles an hour, according to police. The victim was able to call 9-1-1 but a Fairmont City police officer who responded was unable to pull the suspects car over. The officer ended the pursuit for safety reasons, and the car continued west bound over the Poplar Street Bridge.

The male suspect is described as a short (possibly 5 1 to 5 3 tall), thin black male with lighter skin and short dread locks, or twists in his hair. The female is also described as young and light-skinned with a thin build.

Police have repeatedly warned residents against meeting strangers in random areas to buy or sell items listed on Craigslist and other online sites.

Events like Sundays carjacking are the reason police around the area have established Internet Purchase Exchange sites.

Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven suggested that residents call ahead first to let the police staff know that an exchange will be taking place. Smaller items can be exchanged in the lobby of the police station Larger items should be exchanged in the rear parking lot.

Glen Carbon police will allow people to meet in the police station lobby to make exchanges, whether they are transactions that originated on Craigslist or simply a child custody exchange. These efforts attempt to provide a safe environment and to reduce the potential for violent criminals to target victims using the ruse of a sale transaction, the department says on its website.

Police departments do not allow transactions involving weapons.

The Glen Carbon Police website offers several practical guidelines for those who choose not to use a police department for their exchange:

 insist on meeting in a public place; never meet in a secluded location

 do not invite strangers into your home

 be especially careful when buying or selling expensive items

 tell a friend you are going or have some adult that you trust accompany you during the meeting

 take your cell phone

 trust your instincts

Dixon warned residents not to put themselves in a dangerous situation. The public must keep in mind that they dont truly know who they are meeting, and what their actual motives are, Dixon said in a new release. Remember, all of these meetings involve at the very least money, and/or something of value, which are the two motivating factors in every criminal act.

Anyone with information related to the carjacking is asked to contact the Madison County Sheriffs Department at 692-4433; the anonymous tip line at 296-3000, or the departments investigations unit at 692-0871.
Wood River Township Supervisor Mike Babcock will challenge incumbent Democrat Dan Beiser for the state representative seat in District 111.

In a speech Monday outside the Madison County Courthouse, Babcock, a Republican, repeatedly invoked the name of state Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, charging that the Beiser/Madigan agenda has left the state bankrupt, with out-of-control property taxes and an educational system that is crumbling.

The Beiser/Madigan agenda has forced hundreds of thousands of Illinois citizens who are fed up to move to states such as Missouri, Wisconsin and Indiana that are providing jobs for them and their families, he said.

In 2012, Babcock tried unsuccessfully to unseat incumbent state Sen. Bill Haine.

Madison County Board member Tom McRae, who represents Bethaltos District 14, referred to Babcock as a model of good government who has recognized problems in the township and tackled them head-on. Rather than kick the can down the road, he really did address the problems, McRae said.

Babcock told the gathering that he has repeatedly balanced the townships budget, reduced the tax levy, and cut the tax rate. That has caused the taxes to stay even, if not less, in the last six years, he said.

Babcock supports term limits and criticized Beiser for his recent vote to re-elect Madigan as Speaker of the House.

Beiser has previously served on the Alton City Council and has been the treasurer for the city of Alton. He has been the state representative for District 111 since 2004.

The district borders the Mississippi River and includes all or portions of Holiday Shores, Pontoon Beach, Mitchell, Granite City, Alton, Bethalto, East Alton, Elsah, Godfrey, Hartford, Rosewood Heights, Roxana, South Roxana and Wood River.

If elected I will work tirelessly to put a cap on exploding property taxes, push for common sense reforms on workers compensation that will bring employers back to Illinois, not leave in droves, he said. I will work to fund our schools properly with incentives to support great teachers. Ill work on pension reform that protects our retirees yet eases the debt that is crippling our state and grown to a $110 billion shortfall.

Beiser, meanwhile, is pushing to get a budget passed by the state legislature.

Throughout my time in office, I have called for a responsible budget that protects working families, but over the past year, we have seen multiple attempts to hurt the middle-class and cushion the pockets of multi-million dollar corporations," he said in a Feb. 17 press rlease. "Today, the governor continued his push for policies that would hurt the middle-class constituents I represent, and I am disappointed that he did not use his time in front of the entire General Assembly to start compromising.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anita Lie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

A symposium on Indonesian-Americans was held on May 14 at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. The organizer and the Indonesian studies coordinator at the university, Juliana Wijaya, said it was the very first symposium on Indonesian-Americans organized by a higher education institution in the US.



The event set the scene for further linkages between the Indonesian diaspora and their homeland. In 2013 in the US alone, immigrants originating from Indonesia reached over 100,000, according to 2015 immigration statistics.



The number was relatively small compared to those from other countries such as China and India. It was also very small in relation to the total population of the country of origin. In human and financial capital, however, it is worth discussing the potential contributions of the diaspora to Indonesia.



Among Indonesian-born immigrants, there are a few highly prominent figures hailed in their new countries. These successful Indonesians include banker Julia Gouw of the East-West Bank, who is also a philanthropist, and the Sutardja brothers who funded a notable building on the campus of UC Berkeley. China and India have long tapped their diaspora as global assets. To tap into potential contributions from the Indonesian diaspora, more work needs to be done in building linkages for collaboration.



First, Indonesias government as well as civil society organizations could create ways to increase the involvement of the diaspora in different economic sectors and in diverse parts of Indonesia.



This includes how specific individuals with their potential contributions can be channeled to share their expertise in development and poverty alleviation programs.



The high-level knowledge, technical expertise and practical experience of many in the diaspora could be useful to Indonesia in several avenues of national and community development.



This includes identifying and leveraging specific individuals as well as matching them as key resources with relevant areas of development.



Second, while the petition on dual citizenship is still caught up in political squabbling, members of the diaspora who have adopted citizenship in their new country may feel restricted against maintaining their legal attachment to Indonesia.



Administratively, they are still treated the same way as other foreign nationals.



The recent property ownership policy needs to be followed up with more policies that would enable the diaspora to channel their human and financial capital to Indonesia. Narrow-minded nationalism questioning their loyalty to the homeland is no longer relevant in the face of global citizenship and competition for resources.



The model exercised in India to attract its diaspora may be used as a benchmark. The overseas citizenship status or Person of Indian Origin cards and the ability to remit money through special checking accounts to help integrate the overseas community with their homeland are considered insufficient to drive large numbers of expatriates to return to work in India.



To leverage the few successful Indonesians overseas, what is needed is a comprehensive strategic plan to ease access to sufficient incentives to attract them.



Third, Indonesian embassies and consulates need to enlarge their radar beyond Indonesian nationals. Not only have the offspring of Indonesian immigrants in developed countries surrendered their Indonesian citizenship due to Indonesias one-citizenship policy, they are also gradually losing their language and culture.



While the first generation of Indonesian immigrants may be a mix of educated elites and non-skilled labor, the second generation is mostly highly skilled professionals. They are resourceful human capital who could help build Indonesia through their know-how and world views. Assisting these young members of the Indonesian diaspora to maintain ties to their heritage and culture is the first step to attract the pool of talent to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers and to give back to their homeland.



Unfortunately, due to their small size, Indonesian communities in many developed countries spread out and do not have the collective resources to offer Saturday classes in Indonesian language and culture, for instance  while the larger diaspora communities in China, India, Korea and Vietnam ensure their young people maintain their heritage through extra classes.



Members of the Indonesian diaspora have left for different reasons  to continue their studies, find better jobs, escape discrimination or other personal goals.



The second generation of the diaspora demonstrates a varying degree of Indonesian-ness in terms of how well they can communicate in Indonesian and how much they know about Indonesia.



Whatever their reasons are and however much they know about Indonesia, almost all of them take pride in identifying themselves as Indonesian.



They express their affinity to their homeland. While many still love living in their new country, they long for opportunities to contribute to Indonesia.



Indonesia has more to gain from a sense of nationalism across borders than the political paranoia against the diaspora.

***

The writer, a recipient of an American Institute for Indonesian Studies research grant, lectures at Widya Mandala Catholic University, Surabaya.

---------------

We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Colleen Long (Associated Press) Bedford Hills, New York, United States  Wed, May 25, 2016

Jennifer Dumas sits on a sofa, her smiling 6-month-old girl on her lap. The room is full of bright toys and children's books. A rainbow-colored activity mat is on the floor, and Winnie the Pooh is painted on the walls.

It looks like any other nursery, except that there are bars on the windows and barbed-wire fences outside the austere brick building.

New York's maximum-security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility is one of the very few prisons in the U.S. that allow inmates and their babies to live together, a century-old approach that not all corrections experts agree is the best way to deal with women who are locked up while pregnant.

Mothers who get such a chance say it's better than the alternative: In most prisons, babies born behind bars must be given up within a day to a relative or foster care.

"Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you," the 24-year-old Dumas said as her daughter, Codylynn, gleefully rocked in a bouncy seat. "But it's actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I'm blessed to be able to go through this."

Nobody thinks raising babies behind bars is ideal, and some worry that the children could be scarred by the experience. But some advocates say that the practice allows mother and child to develop a vital psychological attachment, and that the parenting classes and other practical instruction help the moms stay out of trouble when they get out.

About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates.

(Read also: Prisons still overcrowded, lack skilled staff)

Of the more than 100 women's prisons in the U.S., there are only eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, the U.S. is not among them.

Dumas was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year, along with her boyfriend, on charges they tried to steal a safe packed with $32,000 in cash and jewelry. Her baby was born just days after she took a plea bargain on attempted burglary charges that sent her to Bedford Hills, north of New York City in Westchester County, for up to two years.

In this April 12, 2016 photo, holding her daughter, Codylynn, Jennifer Dumas opens the door to her room inside the nursery at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. (AP/Julie Jacobson)

She is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nursery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rainbows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery currently has 16 babies, including a set of twins.

During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the moms go to school or vocational programs.

But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the moms know their babies can be taken away for such infractions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps.

"It's still scary," Dumas said. "At any given point if you do what you're not supposed to your baby could get sent home."

Some women have been dropped from the program from time to time for breaking the rules, but corrections officials and advocates said they could not recall any instances in recent years in which a baby was harmed.

Still, some argue that prison should be reserved for punishment and that women should instead consider putting their children up for adoption.

"The focus should be on what's best for the baby," said James Dwyer, a law professor at the College of William & Mary who has written a paper on the topic. "There is skepticism about these women being adequate parents."

Columbia University researcher Mary Byrne, who spent years studying mothers and children who started life in Bedford Hills, said that the youngsters formed critical attachments to their mothers and that a second study after they were released found they were no different from children raised entirely on the outside.

"Many people would assume any exposure to prison would cause problems ... they'll be exposed to violence and horrible people, it will scar them," she said. "But that's not what we found."

Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic nun who runs Hour Children, the nonprofit organization that operates Bedford Hills' nursery, put it more bluntly: "Babies belong with their mother. In a palace or a prison, they don't know and don't care as long as they feel loved and supported."

The nursery is operated under an annual contract with the state of about $170,000, the correction department said. It would cost $480,000 a year to put 16 babies in foster care, according to state figures.

Bedford Hills' recidivism rate for women in the nursery program is fairly typical of such programs, at 13 percent versus 26 percent for all female inmates at the prison, according to a report by the Women's Prison Association, an advocacy group.

Bedford Hills, situated on a wooded hill an hour north of New York City, houses the oldest continuously operating prison nursery in the country, opened in 1901.

There were many nurseries years ago, according to Elaine Lord, the former superintendent. But they fell out of favor amid a huge influx of prisoners in the 1980s and a shift in thinking that said the privilege of living with your baby was inconsistent with the concept of punishment.

In this May 18, 2016 photo, the youngest resident of the Decatur Correctional Center, baby Marissa, looks at her mother, Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center in Decatur, Ill. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated. (AP/Teresa Crawford)

Most of the nation's prison nurseries have cropped up in the past 20 years.

The nursery at the Indiana Women's Prison houses up to 10 mother-infant pairs for up to 18 months. In South Dakota, a child can stay only 30 days. In Washington state, it's three years. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated.

(Read also: Facebook's No. 2 exec pays tribute to single mothers)

In Decatur, Kalee Ford, who is about 26 weeks' pregnant and in prison on a drug-related conviction, already has been accepted into the program and is taking prenatal courses. She said she wasn't the mother she could have been to her two other children because of methamphetamine. The program is giving her hope that she can clean up for good.

"I believe that everybody deserves at least one chance to fix mistakes that they've made," she said. "My children didn't do this, and they deserve to have me back."

At Decatur, Bedford Hills and other programs, mothers-to-be are selected based on their crimes and whether there is any history of child abuse.

Many advocates question why such women need to be incarcerated at all. Typically, women accepted into these programs are nonviolent offenders serving fairly short sentences  ideal candidates for less-expensive, halfway house-like programs that allow mother and child to stay together.

After their sentences are up, almost all of the mothers at Bedford go to a live-in halfway house in New York City run by Fitzgerald's organization that also helps with day care and jobs. Mothers say it's a golden ticket.

Dumas, who has a son on the outside, hopes to go there, too.

"It's a way to get on my feet, try being a parent again on the outside but with a safety net," she said. "I don't know anyone who gets that."

___

Associated Press video journalist Teresa Crawford contributed to this report from Decatur, Ill.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Rod McGuirk (Associated Press) Canberra, Australia  Wed, May 25, 2016

Australia's deputy prime minister boasted on Wednesday that he had got into Johnny Depp's head like fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter after the Hollywood actor quipped that the ruddy-faced lawmaker appeared to be "inbred with a tomato."

The exchange spanning half the globe is the latest in a war of words that started a year ago when Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to have Depp's pet dogs, Boo and Pistol, put down. Joyce bluntly said it was time the Yorkshire terriers that had been illegally smuggled into Australia "buggered off back to the United States."

The 52-year-old actor's wife Amber Heard pleaded guilty in a court last month to falsifying documents to conceal the pets when she arrived by private jet to join her husband on the set of the fifth movie in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series.

(Read also: Australian minister: Depp dog apology video no award winner)

The couple videoed an apology as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed Heard to avoid a conviction.

Depp referred to Joyce as Barnaby Jones, the television detective played by Buddy Ebsen, while discussing the case this week on the U.S. talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

"He looks somehow inbred with a tomato," Depp told Kimmel. "It's not a criticism. No, I was a little worried. He might explode."

Joyce replied by thanking Depp for the publicity he gave Australia's tough biosecurity laws through the case that was widely lampooned as a "war on terrier."

Joyce, who is campaigning ahead of July 2 elections, said he had moved on from his dispute with Depp.

"I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr. Depp, he's remembering me," Joyce told reporters in his home town of Tamworth.

(Read also: Actor Johnny Depp mocks his 'war on terrier' apology)

"I'm turning into his Hannibal Lecter," Joyce added, referring to the brilliant but dangerously manipulative character best known from the Academy Award-winning movie "Silence of the Lambs."

Depp said he didn't watch the widely-derided apology video  that has been likened to a hostage video with wooden deliveries from the couple  before it was released.

"No, because I didn't want to kill myself," Depp explained to Kimmel.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Raphael Satter and Michael Liedtke (Associated Press) Paris  Wed, May 25, 2016

Police raided Google's French headquarters Tuesday looking for evidence of "aggravated tax fraud," marking one of Europe's most conspicuous attempts yet to cast a U.S. technology leader as a manipulative scofflaw.

The probe reflects an intensifying air of European indignation looming over Google and other U.S. tech companies as they amass huge amounts of cash while reducing their tax bills through complex maneuvers that shield their profits.

As it has consistently done when confronted about its tax strategy, Google issued a statement Tuesday maintaining that it complies with all laws. The Mountain View, California, company, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., also said it is cooperating with the French investigation.

Other major tech companies, including Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., also have been skewered in Europe for scrimping on their tax bills as the popularity of their products and services have lifted their fortunes during the past decade.

At the end of last year, the U.S. technology sector had stockpiled $777 billion in cash, accounting for nearly half of the $1.68 trillion held by non-financial companies in the country, according to a study by Moody's Investors Service.

Just five tech companies  Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp.  accounted for $504 billion of that total. Nearly 90 percent of the cash held by those five companies is being kept in overseas accounts, a strategy that has rankled some U.S. lawmakers who want the money brought back to home so it can be taxed and help reduce the country's deficit.

(Read also: EU takes on Google with Android antitrust investigation)

It's easier for tech companies to legally lower their tax bills than manufacturers because their businesses revolve around patents, algorithms and other intellectual property that's easier to move around than a plant, says Steve Gill, a San Diego State University accounting professor issues.

"When a company is making shoes, it's pretty easy to tell where those shoes are being made," Gill says. "That's not the case with intellectual property. It doesn't really matter where a contract or algorithm sits. Tax laws have failed to adapt to this kind of environment."

France's investigation is focused on an Ireland subsidiary that enables Google to do business with customers across the European continent while minimizing its taxes  a technique known as profit-shifting. European regulators increasingly are pressing companies to pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they do business.

The mounting pressure prompted Google to agree to pay roughly $140 million (130 million pounds) in British back taxes earlier this year and make changes in how it calculates its U.K. tax bill.

(Read also: Indonesia inspects Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter on back taxes)

Apple reached a similar settlement in Italy late last year, agreeing to pay about $350 million (318 million euros) to resolve a dispute in that country.

Italian authorities also have examined Facebook's books to determine if the social networking leader should have been paying more taxes than it did.

The French government hasn't disclosed how much it believes Google might owe in back taxes, but it made an elaborate show of force in Tuesday's raid.

An anti-corruption unit and 25 information technology experts descended on Google's Paris office, according to France's financial prosecutor's office. French daily Le Parisien, which first reported the news, said the raid took place at dawn and involved about 100 investigators. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw officers still at the scene Tuesday afternoon.

The investigation, which began last June, is focused on "aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering," France's financial prosecutor's office said in its statement.

With all signs indicating more cash will be pouring into the technology industry, the sector seems likely to remain in the crosshairs of financially strapped governments seeking more tax revenue.

"You look where you think there is money to look for," says Richard Lane, a Moody's senior vice president who tracks corporate cash flows.

___

Liedtke reported from San Francisco.

Click here to read other articles related to Google.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Masajeng Rahmiasri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Mexican poet and author Rosario Castellanos, who was born on May 25, 1925, was picked as Wednesday doodle on the Google homepage.

Born in Mexico City, Castellanos lived in Chiapas village near Guatemala until she was 16, according to a report by bbc.co.uk. After that, her family had to move back to Mexico City because their house and land in the village were seized by the government.

She then started writing poetry in 1940, with works containing her Chiapan identity and spirit. She tried to make her parents happy by studying law, but ended up dropping the subject.

(Read also: Google celebrates Earth Day with doodles of biomes)

In 1950, she received a Masters degree from the Universidad Nacional de Mexico. Her thesis, entitled Sobre Cultura Femenina, is said to have initiated the feminist movement in Mexico.

In addition to poetry, Castellanos also kept busy writing novels, short stories and essays. Most of her works were about the dual reality of being a woman and a Mexican.

One of her most celebrated works is the Ciudad real stories collection, which portrays the life of the Chamula people. To complete it, she went to anthropologists and doctors who were fighting to solve problems in the region.

She also wrote notable poetry such as Travectoria del polyo (1948) and Looking at the Mona Lisa (1981) and a novel entitled Balun Canan (1957). Some of her works have been translated into English and other languages.

Castellanos passed away on Aug. 7, 1974 in Tel Aviv, Israel, in an electrical accident. (kes)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang  Tue, May 24 2016

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Monday handed over eight drug suspects, who had allegedly attempted to traffic almost 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine into the country from China, to the Semarang Prosecutors Office in Central Java.

The BNN also handed over the drug evidence for the case to be brought to trial at the Semarang District Court.

We handed over eight suspects, including 97 kg of methamphetamine as evidence. The suspects will be detained at the Kedungpane Prison, said chief BNN spokesman Slamet Pribadi on Monday.

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 (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Tue, May 24 2016

Margriet Christina Megawe, who was convicted of killing her adopted daughter Engeline, 8, announced she would be filing a cassation appeal on Monday. The appeal will be filed to seek justice in the case, her lawyer said.

Margriet was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Denpasar District Court in February for murdering Engeline. Her appeal to the Bali High Court has also failed.

We will not surrender until we get justice. Thats why we are lodging the cassation appeal, Margriets lawyer, Dion Pongkor, told journalists at the Denpasar District Court.

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 (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 24 2016

Indonesia and Timor Leste forged a closer relationship on Monday with the latter awarding medals of honor to hundreds of Indonesian Military members serving in Dili where they provided medical assistance to local people and military personnel between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2 this year.

Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu received the honor on behalf of the soldiers from the Timor Leste government during a meeting attended by representatives of both countries at the Defense Ministry office in Jakarta.

The award has a positive impact on the relationship between both countries, especially in the defense sector, Ryamizard said in his opening remarks for the event.

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 Nancy Benac (Associated Press) Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam  Wed, May 25, 2016

When President Barack Obama met with human rights advocates and other activists Tuesday, he spoke of the "remarkable strides" Vietnam was making on a range of issues. Nguyen Quang A missed the meeting: That morning, the 70-year-old activist said, security men grabbed his arms and legs, threw him in a car and drove him into the countryside, where they held him until Obama left town.

The episode in Hanoi was a measure of both the progress and the unfinished business as the U.S. and Vietnam move from onetime enemies to full partners with stronger economic and security ties.

For all the lusty cheers and warm welcomes that Obama has gotten during his time in Vietnam, the transformation clearly is still very much a work in progress.

Three activists were prevented from attending Obama's meeting with civic leaders, the White House acknowledged, and even administration protests lodged with the Vietnamese government couldn't change that.

In his public remarks, though, Obama chose to focus on the positive and tread lightly on the setbacks.

"Vietnam has made remarkable strides in many ways  the economy is growing quickly, the Internet is booming and there's a growing confidence here," Obama told reporters after his meeting with the activists. But then he added: "There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, accountability with respect to government."

Later, in a speech to more than 2,000 Vietnamese citizens, including students and government officials, Obama again took up the matter of human rights carefully, saying that "no nation is perfect" and listing the United States' own shortcomings first. He ticked them off: "too much money in our politics, and rising economic inequality, racial bias in our criminal justice system, women still not being paid as much as men doing the same job."

Only then did Obama address the Vietnamese government's own need to do more to respect human rights. He made his argument on economic grounds:

"When there is freedom of expression and freedom of speech, and when people can share ideas and access the Internet and social media without restriction, that fuels the innovation economies need to thrive," Obama said. "That's where new ideas happen. That's how a Facebook starts. "

A, one of the activists prevented from meeting with Obama, said the president's human rights push was a difficult balancing act.

"I would welcome it if he had been a bit stronger," A said of Obama. But then he added that human rights advocates are idealists, and politicians "have to consider so many other things."

Other human rights advocates were less willing to cut Obama slack.

"Vietnam has demonstrated itself that it doesn't deserve the closer ties the US is offering," said John Sifton, Asia policy director for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. "It's like Vietnam is putting on a demonstration for Obama of their repressive governance. One might even assume it's some sort of a test."

From Hanoi, Obama traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, where he held out his own schedule as a metaphor for the country's own transition toward economic powerhouse.

He went first to the century-old Jade Pagoda, one of Vietnam's cultural treasures, then sped a few miles by motorcade to Dreamplex, a hip workplace for startups and entrepreneurs.

Obama said it was emblematic of Vietnam's evolution as a country honoring its history but "boldly racing into the future."

The president also traced the transformation of the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship from wartime enemies to cooperation. He said the governments are working more closely together than ever before on a range of issues.

"Now we can say something that was once unimaginable: Today, Vietnam and the Unites States are partners," he said.

Obama referred in his speech to China's growing aggression in the region, something that worries many in Vietnam, which has territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Beijing.

China, in turn, warned from afar against the U.S. and Vietnam using their warmer relations to put pressure on China and create a "tinderbox" that could lead to regional conflict.

Secretary of State John Kerry said it was China's own actions in the South and East China Seas that could create a tinderbox.

"I would caution China to not unilaterally move to engage in reclamation activities and militarization of islands," Kerry said.

That issue is sure to get further scrutiny on Obama's next stop on his weeklong Asian trip. From Vietnam, he travels to a summit in Japan with leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, where regional security matters will be high on the agenda.

Associated Press writer Foster Klug contributed to this report.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Human rights activists have voiced opposition to the possible nomination of Gen. (ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin by the Gerindra Party for the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election on the back of his alleged involvement in past human rights abuses.

Someone linked to past human rights abuses does not deserve to be a public official, especially Jakarta governor, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Haris Azhar said on Tuesday.

Sjafrie failed to maintain security in the capital during May 1998 riots when he was the Jakarta Military commander. Incidents prior to the fall of the late dictator Soeharto in May 1998 also included the abduction of activists, the shooting deaths of Trisakti students and riots, which, according to Haris, Sjafrie had failed to anticipate and handle.

When he was the Jakarta Military commander, he failed to maintain security in the capital. What if he becomes governor? Haris told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, human rights activist Mugiyanto, who was detained at the time of the 1998 riots, claimed that he was taken to the Jakarta Military Command to be interrogated.

He said Sjafrie, a former deputy defense minister under president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was still burdened by the past, just like Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto, who also has been linked to several human rights violations.

I hope Jakartans will not forget about the 1998 incident. During the incident, he [Sjafrie] was responsible for securing the capital but he didnt do his duty well, Mugiyanto said.

Sjafrie has been named as being among the top three potential governor candidates supported by Gerindra to run in next year's regional election. The other two are businessman Sandiaga Uno and former legal and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

Gerindra politician Habiburokhman denied the allegations and instead lauded Sjafrie as a prominent military figure who had forged close relations with the public.

He also said that Sjafrie had performed well during the 1998 riots by maintaining security and preventing more mayhem.

He was admired by the public for his good looks and performance while serving as the Jakarta Military commander], he said on Monday.

Sjafrie was cleared of all allegations of human rights abuses during the 1998 violence.

Gerindra deputy chairman Arief Pouyono confirmed the news of Prabowo's decision to handpick Sjafrie to run as a candidate for the capital's top post, even though no formal announcement has been made. The party feels Sjafrie's vast experience would be an advantage in leading the capital as well as his polite manner, he said as reported by kompas.com.(rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Companies planning to promote their products commercially can now consider hiring Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama as a model in exchange for providing public facilities for the capital.

Ahok welcomed companies that want to use him as a model in their promotional campaigns.

"I am very happy to be asked to wear a promotional T-shirt like this because then the city and I will be granted four buses. I am the most expensive model in the country," he said at an event in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The governor was wearing a T-shirt and a cap with the logo of Dulux, a paint product of the Dutch multinational paint company, AkzoNobel, during the signing ceremony of an agreement between the city administration and the firm.

AkzoNobel had agreed to repaint old heritage buildings in the city's prominent Old Town area, locally known as "Kota Tua", in West Jakarta and in Pasar Ikan, North Jakarta, under the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme. The company would also provide four double-decker buses, worth Rp 14 billion (US$1,03 million) to use for touring the area.

Moreover, AkzoNobel also vowed to provide trash cans in Kota Tua as well as repaint the bus stops, pedestrian bridges and road underpasses near Kota Tua and Pasar Ikan.

"Repainting buildings in Kota Tua is an important move to preserve its cultural heritage, which will likely be recognized as world heritage site by UNESCO," AkzoNobel president director Jun de Dios said, during the signing ceremony.

The Jakarta administration aims to revitalize the Kota Tua and Pasar Ikan areas to attract tourism. The city has been teaming up with private firms under their CSR scheme to fund projects, as well as raise funds derived from floor building coefficient (KLB) requirements.

The administration is currently focusing on transforming Kota Tua and Pasar Ikan into a tourism attraction that promotes the area's martime-based heritage, which will also welcome foreign visitors during 2018 Asian Games. (rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Indonesia is fighting a losing battle against cigarettes and the health community has not one ally within the government or among other elected state officials, as all of them, reportedly, are being tightly controlled by the tobacco industry.



Low prices and loose regulations have led Indonesia into the top five countries in the world for the number of smokers. Two-thirds, or 67.4 percent, of men over 15 years old smoke, making Indonesia the country with the worlds highest smoking prevalence among males.



For years, members of the health community, including the Health Ministry, have campaigned against tobacco by constantly reminding everyone of the danger of cigarettes in the hope of reducing the alarming prevalence of smoking in the country, in particular among juveniles.



However, these efforts are increasingly looking like beating ones head against the wall as the government now aims to double the production of cigarettes  to 524.2 billion cigarettes per year  by 2020, the Industry Ministrys tobacco industry roadmap 2015 states.



The government has also refused to act on advice from the health community and victims of smoking-related illness and ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Ratification of the treaty would ensure protection for citizens from the effects of tobacco consumption as its provisions include rules that govern the production, sale, distribution and taxation of tobacco, including a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising.



Its so hard for us to ratify the FCTC because to do so would require the same understanding across all ministries. How can we go in that direction if other ministries have extremely different opinions? said Lily Sulistyowati, the Health Ministrys director of non-communicable diseases.



Indonesia is the only country in Asia yet to sign and ratify the FCTC. The treaty has been ratified by 180 countries, now protecting 90 percent of the worlds population with Zimbabwe being the latest country to join.



Besides pushing for the ratification of the FCTC, the health community has also been pushing for a total ban on cigarette advertising. Ads are believed to greatly influence the publics acceptance of smoking cigarettes as a normal thing to do.



But once again, the Health Ministry apparently has no government allies on this issue.



When we designed the pictorial health warnings for cigarette packs, we also wanted to run TV and radio programs. But we were told that we were going too far and trying to manage things outside our authority. [TV and radio] falls under the authority of the Communications and Information Ministry, said Lily.



The governments weak stance in the fight against cigarettes is likely to be caused by constant lobbying from tobacco industry, according to Kartono Muhammad, an advisory board member with National Commission on Tobacco Control (Komnas PT).



Tobacco companies are major investors, employers and taxpayers, giving them considerable structural economic power, particularly in relation to the governments budget.



Proponents of the tobacco industry often note the significant economic contributions it makes, with the government having received Rp 116 trillion from cigarette excise taxes in 2014.

____________________________________

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 Haeril Halim, Ina Parlina and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

The ongoing reforms within the Supreme Court are in question after two judges in Bengkulu were arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly accepting bribes to compromise a court verdict.

Judge Janner Purba, head of Kepahiang District Court in Bengkulu, and fellow judge Toton were apprehended on Monday afternoon.

Their arrest took place around the same time that KPK investigators questioned Supreme Court secretary Nurhadi for his alleged involvement in another bribery case.

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  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Jakarta city administration will this year kick of the giant project to revive the Kota Tua heritage site in West and North Jakarta, promising to transform the area into a prominent tourist attraction featuring various historical sites as major tourist draw cards.

Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama said on Wednesday that the project would start by improving the condition of the Old Town environment; cleaning up the rivers, fixing pedestrian facilities and developing parking lots for tourists.

The initial project is scheduled to finish within one year, the governor said, adding that the financial source would be a combination of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and compensation for a building floor coefficient (KLB) violation by Sampoerna Land, a fine amounting to Rp 270 billion (US$19.79 million).

With the funds from CSR and KLB, we will clean up Kali Besar Barat and its surrounding areas. We will also renovate the Batavia fortress and construct a parking facility on Jl. Tongkol, Ahok told journalists at the Jakarta History Museum on Wednesday.

Kota Tua represents the first city constructed during the Dutch colonialism era, covering areas from Kota Station to the North Jakarta Sea. Major sites in the area include Jakarta Museum (formerly City Hall), Sunda Kelapa Seaport, Luar Batang Mosque, Maritime Museum, Pasar Ikan (Fish Market) and the VOC shipyard.

Dozens of old buildings are found in the area, many of which are damaged, having allegedly been neglected by their owners.

Meanwhile, Ahok said, the Jakarta City Water Management Agency had started to install sheet piles on the coastal line in Pasar Ikan, which was recently cleared of its old buildings.

Sidewalk repairs have also been implemented along the roads near the Maritime museum, VOC shipyard, and Jl. Ekor Kuning, the governor added.

The project is a way to invite the owners of old buildings to renovate their properties to open tourist-related businesses, Ahok said, adding that incentives will be prepared for private companies interested to open business in the area.

On Wednesday, paint producer AzkoNobel, through its CSR program, expressed a commitment to repaint several buildings in Kota Tua, including the Fatahillah Museum, Fine Arts Museum, Kota Intan Bridge, the Maritime Museum and the Wayang Museum.

AzkoNobel also provided the city with four double-decker buses, for use by PT Transjakarta, to support tourism in Kota Tua. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Agus Maryono (The Jakarta Post) Cilacap, Central Java  Wed, May 25, 2016

Indonesian death-row convict Freddy Budiman has appealed his death sentence for a second time amid rumors that he is among those expected to be executed in coming weeks on Nusakambangan prison island.

The drug lord was accompanied by his legal team at a hearing at the Cilacap District Court in Central Java on the appeal against his death sentence. He has appealed on the grounds that his accomplices received lighter sentences.

Freddy's lawyer said his client should not have been given the death sentence because the judge at the previous hearing on the appeal, held at the Supreme Court, had said Freddy was just as guilty as his accomplices in the drug case even though they were not given the same sentence.

"So then why did Freddy Budiman receive the death sentence when the others didn't? This is the point of our objection in this appeal. We ask that our client not be sentenced to death," lawyer Untung Sunaryo told journalists on Wednesday.

Security during the hearing was tight, with about 150 Cilacap Police officers guarding the premises.

Police also escorted Freddy, who was wearing a white outfit and a black cap, during the crossing from the Nusakambangan prison island, located approximately 4 kilometers from the Cilacap District Court.

As previously reported, Freddy Budiman's appeal was scheduled for early May at the West Jakarta District Court. However, since Freddy had been moved to Nusakambangan, his legal team asked for the trial to be held in Cilacap, Central Java, which was agree to.

"Because he's at Pasir Putih Penitentiary, Freddy's team proposed the relocation of the hearing, which was moved to the Cilacap District Court," West Jakarta Prosecutors Office head Reda Manthovani told journalists.

Reda said despite the trial being held in Cilacap, prosecutors handling the case were from the West Jakarta Prosecutors Office.

Meanwhile, the Cilacap District Court assembled a panel of judges for the hearing, consisting of presiding judge Catur Prasetyo and judges Vilia Sari and Cokia Ana Pontia.

Freddy Budiman was arrested on April 28, 2011 by the Jakarta Police for attempting to smuggle 1.4 million ecstasy pills into the country from China. Five months after his arrest, Freddy was handed the death sentence by the West Jakarta District Court.

Throughout November 2012 until July 2013, he was incarcerated at Cipinang Penitentiary, a prison for drug convicts.

After being caught selling drugs from his cell, he was moved to Batu Penitentiary, Nusakambangan in 2013. He is allegedly still involved in the distribution of illegal drugs from his current location.

A year ago, he reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group due to his close affiliation to terrorism convicts on Nusakambangan. (liz/dan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Tangerang administration has postponed the planned eviction of residents of the Dadap red-light district to allow the Jakarta Ombudsman to address a complaint filed by the Dadap.

Besides reporting the planned eviction to the ombudsman, the residents have also complained about it to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Initially, the administration would have issued a third eviction notice to warn residents to vacate the area immediately or be forcefully removed.

However, Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaky Iskandar told thejakartapost.com on Wednesday that the administration had followed procedure for evictions, including by informing residents.

Komnas HAM chairman Imdadun Rahmat said the Tangerang administration did not properly discuss the planned eviction with residents.

Therefore, the administration has failed to recognize that some residents own the land, pay taxes and have lived there for more than 20 years, he added.

Imdadun said not all of the buildings in the area were used for prostitution. "Only 72 buildings are used for prostitution, while 2,000 others are owned by fisherfolk, whose livelihoods will be affected because of the eviction," he added.

We have officially asked the administration to halt the eviction. We request the administration conduct better mediation, Imdadun said on Tuesday, adding that Komnas HAM sent a letter to the Tangerang administration on May 18.

The planned eviction is said to be linked to the reclamation project in West Jakarta and the expansion of Pondok Indah Kapuk 2 residential area. Dadap borders with islet C in Jakarta Bay, which is being developed by PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of Agung Sedayu Group.

Dadap residents clashed with security officers on May 10, when the local administration tried to evict them. It was reported that the residents threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at security personnel, who then fired tear gas into the crowd. (bbn)

The Tangerang administration has postponed the planned eviction of residents of the Dadap red-light district to allow the Jakarta Ombudsman to address a complaint filed by the Dadap.

Besides reporting the planned eviction to the ombudsman, the residents have also complained about it to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Initially, the administration would have issued a third eviction notice to warn residents to vacate the area immediately or be forcefully removed.

However, Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaky Iskandar told thejakartapost.com on Wednesday that the administration had followed procedure for evictions, including by informing residents.

Komnas HAM chairman Imdadun Rahmat said the Tangerang administration did not properly discuss the planned eviction with residents.

Therefore, the administration has failed to recognize that some residents own the land, pay taxes and have lived there for more than 20 years, he added.

Imdadun said not all of the buildings in the area were used for prostitution. "Only 72 buildings are used for prostitution, while 2,000 others are owned by fisherfolk, whose livelihoods will be affected because of the eviction," he added.

We have officially asked the administration to halt the eviction. We request the administration conduct better mediation, Imdadun said on Tuesday, adding that Komnas HAM sent a letter to the Tangerang administration on May 18.

The planned eviction is said to be linked to the reclamation project in West Jakarta and the expansion of Pondok Indah Kapuk 2 residential area. Dadap borders with islet C in Jakarta Bay, which is being developed by PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of Agung Sedayu Group.

Dadap residents clashed with security officers on May 10, when the local administration tried to evict them. It was reported that the residents threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at security personnel, who then fired tear gas into the crowd. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Penny Febriana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

In his speech during the opening of the recent Indonesia E-Commerce Summit & Expo 2016, President Joko Jokowi Widodo expressed his anxiety about the development of start-up companies in Indonesia, which at present still lags behind other countries.

During the event, the President promised that this year the government would give more attention and support, in terms of funding, to stimulate the development of the start-up ecosystem.

The recent takeover of local online marketplace Lazada Indonesia by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba should remind us of the great potential of start-ups in the country. If Jokowi keeps his promise to increase start-up companies access to funding, there will surely be more entrepreneurs involved in the establishment of start-ups.

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 David Rising and Frank Jordans (Associated Press) Berlin  Wed, May 25, 2016

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft of new measures combining "opportunities and obligations" designed to help Germany deal with the influx of about 1.1 million asylum-seekers registered as entering the country last year, and help those who stay become "good neighbors and citizens."

The package seeks to provide migrants with better access to the German job market and also foresees the creation of some 100,000 government-funded "job opportunities" for migrants. At the same time, migrants will be expected to participate in expanded orientation and language courses, which will also be made available more quickly and to more people than before.

"Learning the German language quickly, rapid integration in training, studies and the labor market, and an understanding of and compliance with the principles of living together in our society and compliance with our laws are essential for successful integration," the Cabinet said in a statement after the meeting. "The newcomers are to become good neighbors and citizens, which will enable us to strengthen social cohesion and prevent parallel structures in our country."

In a provision designed to prevent the development of migrant ghettos in big cities, the measures, which still need Parliamentary approval, would mandate newcomers to stay where they have been officially placed for a minimum of three years unless a job is found that takes them elsewhere.

Merkel told reporters that Germany has "learned from the past," when immigrants were frequently thought of as guest workers or otherwise temporary residents and integration measures were not offered. Now that they are, "we expect people to take up these offers so that integration can work better."

"I think it's a milestone that the federal government is passing an integration law that's based upon the principle of opportunities and obligations, obligations and opportunities," she said.

Initial enthusiasm toward migrants  illustrated by Germans clapping new arrivals at railway stations last summer  has given way to wariness and fear among many in the country. Far-right groups have seized on reports of crimes committed by foreigners and a nationalist party has seen a surge in support at the expense of established parties.

"We want to and have to keep hold our society together," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin after the Cabinet meeting.

The residency requirement had been one of the most controversial issues in the bill. Many migrants who have been sent to rural parts of the country or to eastern Germany  where anti-foreigner violence has been a particular problem  have moved to larger cities against authorities' wishes.

De Maiziere said past experience had shown that migrants need to mix with the rest of society if they want to integrate quickly.

"We don't want parallel societies or ghettos," he said.

Obligatory orientation classes for migrants will be extended from 60 hours to 100 hours, and will include a greater focus on gender equality, a hot topic after attacks on women during New Year's celebrations in Cologne that authorities have said were committed largely by foreigners.

"The role of women, compatibility of work and family life, equality of men and women will get a new emphasis," de Maiziere said.

A group that campaigns for the rights of migrants slammed the bill. Pro Asyl accused the government of including measures designed to prevent people who have passed through countries deemed safe  such as Turkey  from getting asylum in Germany.

It also criticized the decision to backdate the residency requirement to all migrants whose protection status was approved after Jan. 1, saying the measure would lead to "chaos."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodos administration has not yet decided to recognize June 1, 1945 as the official anniversary of the national ideology of Pancasila and subsequently make the date a public holiday, but is continuing to draft a related regulation.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the draft still needed to be finalized, adding that the President would be ready to sign it when a regulation in lieu of law was prepared.

"President Jokowi doesn't only want Pancasila to be remembered and celebrated or just preserved, but also for it to be implemented in the everyday lives of the Indonesian people, in every aspect of their lives," Pramono said on Wednesday as quoted by Kompas.com.

It was hoped that Pancasila would be practiced by all Indonesians and conveyed as real results toward a prosperous Indonesia, he added.

While referring to the President's speech during a celebration for the founding of Pancasila held at Blitar town square on June 1 last year, Pramono said the values within Pancasila that were initiated by Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, must be continuously pursued.

"Without continuous pursuit, the message of Pancasila cannot be made a reality. President Jokowi invites everyone to unite and work together in realizing that dream," he said.

Kompas reported that the draft regulation had been extensively discussed at all levels of government, from echelon one staff up to ministerial level.

Approximately two months ago, the preparation of the regulation was discussed at the offices of the state secretary and Cabinet secretary. However, June 1 has yet to be declared as the founding day of Pancasila and made a public holiday.

At the beginning of the New Order regime under the dictatorship of Soeharto, celebrating June 1 was prohibited. Instead, Pancasila Reverence Day was observed on Oct. 1.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri previously said the government should declare June 1 a national day to remember the founding of Pancasila.

Speaking during a seminar on the book Revolusi Pancasila (Pancasila Revolution) in October last year, Megawati said Indonesia's sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, once promised to declare June 1 a national day.

Declaring the date could be beneficial not only in recognizing the nation's core values but also as momentum to unite the people, added the daughter of the late president Sukarno.

Megawati, who was president prior to Yudhoyono, expressed disappointment at the failure to realize the plans so far, while suspecting that the reason behind it was to eliminate Sukarno's role in the initiation of Pancasila.

Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has also asked Jokowi to declare June 1 as the anniversary of Pancasila.

The request was conveyed during the 93rd commemoration of NU celebrated in East Java earlier this month.

NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj said the organization had conducted numerous academic studies, both historical and ideological, to reach its final decision. (liz/dan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The South Jakarta Immigration office has established a special team to supervise foreigners living in the area.

South Jakarta immigration office head Cucu Koswala said the team had been established to address crime and problems that arise due to the growing number of foreigners in the area.

"South Jakarta is the area with most foreign residents, totaling around 11,000, Cucu said on Wednesday.

He said the area expected an influx of foreign workers with the full implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community and the scrapping of the visa requirement for 169 countries.

The team is to comprise of officers from the municipality office, subdistrict offices, the police, military, court, prosecutors office, and narcotics and intelligence agencies.

"The team will receive reports, undertake analysis and study and then take action related to the development on the ground, he said.

The team was formed under the regulations of the Immigration Law.

Cucu said intensive supervision should be performed relating to any and all of the growing problems implicating foreigners, such as misuse of residence permits and growing radicalism to cyber crime.

Last year, the South Jakarta Immigration office recorded that 22 foreign nationals were convicted for committing various crimes. In addition, 431 others have faced administrative sanctions, ranging from deportation to travel bans for allegedly violating immigration regulations.

South Jakarta mayor Tri Kurniadi warned that foreigners were often implicated in drug trafficking.

Many foreigners have been involved in drug related cases, he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Tri said that the team would take an active role in preventing foreigners from committing any breach of the law. (dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The government is hoping to settle all regulations contained in its 12 economic policy packages by the end of this month, in a bid to speed up the stimulus on the economy.

As of Tuesday, the government had completed 194 of the total 203 regulations  including both new and revised rules  that have been pledged since September 2015 when the first economic package was launched.

The remaining nine regulations were still under discussion, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said at a press conference after a limited meeting at the State Palace on Tuesday.

"Mr. President said it has to be completed this month," he said, adding that a task force would be formed to monitor the implementation of the deregulation policies from the bureaucratic level within the central government down to local regions.

Seven of the 12 policy packages have seen all newly pledged regulations fully completed. In total, the seven packages contain 52 regulations. The nine in-process regulations are scattered across the first, fourth, seventh, ninth and 11th packages.

The 203 regulations, mostly aimed at deregulating bureaucracy and several fields of business to attract investment, will involve 26 ministries. "Were still talking with the related ministries and institutions. Its an ongoing process," Darmin said.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung added that with the deregulation efforts, he expected a better investment climate in Indonesia that would attract investors to spend more in the country and contribute to higher economic growth.

"Our economy grew 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016, while in the same period last year it only grew 4.7 percent. We expect to see higher growth at the end of this year," he said. (ags)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

A 19-year-old man, identified only by the initials IN, has been detained by the Pancoran Police in South Jakarta for allegedly growing and storing marijuana in his house.

South Jakarta Police Narcotics Unit chief Comr. Vivick Tjangkung said on Tuesday that IN had 116 marijuana plants in six pots in his house.

He got the seeds from an acquaintance in Manggarai [South Jakarta] last month, he said, adding that the price of the seeds was only Rp 50,000 (US$3.65).

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 (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang  Wed, May 25 2016

Tangerang city administration is currently holding a job fair, offering 4,036 vacancies, in the Tangerang City shopping mall.

Tangerang Employment Agency head Abdul Surahman said the fair, which is being held from May 24 to 26, offered vacancies in 42 companies engaged in various fields  from the garment industry to banking. The vacancies, he said, were for positions both within Indonesia and overseas.

The job fair should help fresh graduates seeking employment, said Abdul on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com, adding that there was less interest in overseas vacancies than vacancies inside the country.

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 Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives have called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to follow existing regulations and submit a candidate's name for the role of National Police chief in light of the upcoming retirement of the current police chief.

Speculation has arisen that Jokowi could extend the tenure of National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti, who is set to retire in July at the age of 58.

The 2002 National Police Law stipulates that the President must appoint and dismiss police chiefs with the House's approval. The law does not stipulate the President's authority to extend the tenure of a National Police chief, chairman of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs Bambang Soesatyo said on Tuesday.

"In my opinion, just follow the rules to avoid unnecessary noise," the Golkar Party lawmaker told journalists at the House complex.

The decision was being referred up to the President, Bambang said.

Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon expressed his support for an extension of Badrodin's term, applauding the general's achievements in "creating a conducive situation for the country".

However, the Gerindra Party lawmaker said if Jokowi aimed to replace Badrodin then he must submit a new name as soon as possible, so it could be discussed at Commission III and receive official endorsement at a House plenary meeting.

Speaking separately, presidential spokesman Johan Budi Sapto Pribowo said Jokowi had not yet decided whether to extend Badrodin's tenure.

The president will involve the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) in discussions on appointing the country's new police chief.

Jokowi's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had rejected the idea of extending Badrodin's term, instead hinting that it would support deputy police chief Cmr. Gen. Budi Gunawan for the next term as chief.

Budi, a police general who was linked to a case surrounding the polices so-called fat accounts, was nominated by Jokowi as a National Police chief candidate in January last year.

The proposal was met with protests from the public and anticorruption activists following the Corruption Eradication Commissions (KPK) decision to name Budi a graft suspect. Budi then filed a pretrial motion to challenge the KPKs decision and won the case, with the court annulling his suspect status. (rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Josh Lederman (Associated Press) Washington  Wed, May 25, 2016

In his final stretch as president, Barack Obama is driving the United States toward friendlier relations with longstanding adversaries, working to consign bitter enmities with Vietnam, Iran, Cuba and Myanmar to the history books.

Though the reconciliations have been years in the making, Obama hopes he can prove the benefits of his softer approach before he hands control to an uncertain successor in January. Defiant cries of naivete by his opponents have only strengthened his conviction that the US must release itself from an us-versus-them mentality forged during wars that ended decades ago.

The quest for resolution was on display this week in Hanoi, where Obama lifted an arms sales embargo that had stood as one of the last remnants of the Vietnam War and the deep freeze that persisted until the two nations restored relations in 1995.

Obama's next gesture will come Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, where he'll become the first sitting president to visit the site where the US dropped the first atomic bomb  helping end World War II but sowing resentments. Seven decades later, those have mostly fallen away. Though his move has rankled some US veterans and some Japanese, Obama's visit will be a powerful reminder of the intimate alliance between two nations that now view China more warily than they do each other.

Speaking to the Vietnamese people Tuesday, Obama dismissed calls for keeping the communist-run country at a distance, the stance of those fecklessly nursing long-forgotten rivalries. He noted that he's the first president to come of age after the war, telling his young audience that his own daughters had grown up knowing only peace between the US and Vietnam.

"When the last US forces left Vietnam, I was just 13 years old," Obama said. "So I come here mindful of the past, mindful of our difficult history, but focused on the future: the prosperity, security and human dignity that we can advance together."

For Obama, the belief that his youth uniquely positions him to turn the page took root long before he was elected president. In his 2006 book "The Audacity of Hope," Obama wrote that American politics suffered from a case of arrested development, or what he dismissively referred to as "the psychodrama of the baby boom generation  a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago."

Elsewhere, in recent years few countries have seen as dramatic a shift in US relations as Myanmar, also known as Burma. With the country's transition away from decades of oppressive military control, the administration rewarded Myanmar for reforms by easing sanctions against state-run companies and banks earlier this year while continuing to call for more economic and political changes.

Though the party of longtime opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi swept into power in Myanmar in March, Suu Kyi herself is still barred from formally holding the presidency due to a constitutional rule believed to have been written specifically for her. Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser and an architect of his Myanmar policy, said the rapprochement reflected dual goals of acknowledging history but not becoming imprisoned by it.

"That's kind of central to the president's whole view of the world," Rhodes said. "That we can move beyond difficult and complicated histories and find these areas of common interest."

The sprint toward warmer relations with erstwhile foes reflects Obama's hope that by locking in tangible progress, he can make his approach seem inevitable and even irreversible. While likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton largely supports Obama's detente with Cuba, Iran and Myanmar, Republican Donald Trump is a wild card whose election could augur a sharp return to the more belligerent US stance of the past.

Yet Obama's critics argue that in his efforts to make peace, Obama has erroneously lumped together countries like Myanmar and Vietnam, which have gradually moved toward US values, with others like Iran and Cuba, which they say have not.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the harshest critics of Obama's foreign policy, says the outreach to Cuba and Iran demonstrates "the folly of the president's rush to appease adversaries who don't change their behavior."

"The United States should always be open to trying to turn adversaries or former adversaries into allies, but it has to be based on their conduct," Cotton said in an interview.

The president's diplomatic successes in a handful of countries are tempered by backsliding elsewhere, such as in Iraq and Syria, where Obama concedes the US will be fighting the Islamic State group long after he's out of office. In Russia, where Obama held out early hope for a new era of cooperation, ties have frayed amid US denunciation of Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Anthony Cordesman, a former State Department consultant and now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says Obama has simply seized timely opportunities presented, for example, by the weakening of the Castro government in Cuba and growing Vietnamese concerns about China.

"The truth of the matter is we haven't put anything behind us," Cordesman said. "The legacy a president can leave another president is never binding, and particularly in international affairs it's always a more than one-person game."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Indonesia is set to participate in the upcoming G7 outreach meeting in Ise-Shima, Japan, a sideline meeting of the summit of G7 major economies, during President Joko Jokowi Widodos two-day visit to Japan on Thursday.



Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has invited Indonesia, along with a number of heads of state and government of other non-G7 countries, including Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and leaders from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), to take part in the outreach meeting, which is set for Friday.



The meeting will have two discussion sessions, which are aimed at exploring ways to sustain the well-being of Asia and the global development agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).



President Jokowi will be one of the keynote speakers in the first session, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Tuesday at the State Palace in Jakarta after she reported to Jokowi on Indonesias preparation for the visit.



Beginda Pakpahan, an international political and economic analyst at the University of Indonesia (UI), said Japans invitation to the outreach meeting showed that Indonesia had a significant role as a relevantly emerging economy among developing countries.



Major economies are expected to help ease the current global economic slowdown. While countries like Indonesia also have roles in improving the regional economy, Beginda said.



Indonesia, he added, was also involved in shaping the SDGs, particularly since the Millennium Development Goal process.



Stable regional politics would also spur the economy and eventually help achieve the SDGs, he said.



Inviting non-G7 members depends on the country holding the G7 presidency. Last year, Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari attended the meeting in Bavaria following an invitation from Germany.



On the sidelines of the outreach meeting, Jokowi is also set to hold bilateral meetings with numerous leaders, including Japans Abe, French President Francois Hollande and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, said Retno.



Hideaki Ohmura, the governor of Japans Aichi Prefecture, has also requested a courtesy-call meeting with Jokowi.



Japan is one of the largest investors in Indonesia although the ties have been strained recently particularly after Japans failure to win the head-to-head competition with China for Indonesias first high-speed train project late last year.



Japan, however, later expressed an interest in financing the development of the new deep-sea port project in Patimban, Subang, West Java.



Jokowi and Abe met in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur last year where the two reaffirmed their commitment to solid bilateral cooperation.



Other than talks on infrastructure projects, ASEAN will also be one of the topics during the meeting between Abe and Jokowi.



Abe is expected to ask Indonesia to play a key role in maintaining ASEAN unity after China reached a four-point consensus with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Laos on the South China Sea issue.



In 1993, in his capacity as leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, then president Soeharto met with then Japanese PM Kiichi Miyazawa, who was G7 president, before the G7 summit proper.



The meeting was held to express the wish of some 50 developing countries to settle their debts with the major economies in order to support their development.

_____________________________________

To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News.

For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com

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  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is finalizing a regulation that sets guidelines for e-commerce business players, after the government opened the sector to foreign investors.

The BKPM will allow 100 percent foreign ownership of electronic commerce businesses with a minimum investment of Rp 100 billion (US$8 million) or businesses that create 1,000 employment opportunities, director for business empowerment Pratito Soeharyo said on Wednesday.

The regulation is expected to be completed next month, he said, adding that it would guide small and medium enterprises that cooperated with foreign investors.

Presidential Decree No. 44/2016 on the negative investment list has had a positive impact on the e-commerce sector, with ownership being more open, he said.

The BKPM limits foreign ownership at 49 percent for investments below Rp100 billion, Pratito added.

BKPM data show that foreign investment in web portals reached $5 million with 24 projects in the first quarter of this year. In 2015, investment reached $19 million with 67 projects. (sha/dan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mataram  Wed, May 25 2016

The local health agency in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, said on Tuesday that 40,000 residents required treatment for cataracts.

The health agency added that there were only 19 ophthalmologists in the province, making it a challenge for the agency to meet patient needs.

Only 6,000 to 8,000 patients can undergo surgery each year, the provincial health agency head, Eka Junaedi, said on Tuesday.

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 Josef Federman (Associated Press) Jerusalem  Wed, May 25, 2016

Israel's incoming defense minister once called for bombing Egypt, suggested just weeks ago that Israel kill Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip and opposed the prosecution of a soldier accused of killing a wounded Palestinian. These are just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with the military he now commands.

While people close to Lieberman insist he is a pragmatist, his long history of incendiary statements bode poorly for him as he takes over one of the region's most sensitive posts. As Israel's defense minister, he will be responsible for overseeing military policy and handling delicate security matters with international allies whom he has antagonized in the past.

Lieberman has held a number of senior Cabinet posts, including stints in the inner Security Cabinet, but he has little military experience, reaching the low rank of corporal during a brief military career decades ago. In contrast, his predecessor, Moshe Yaalon, was a former military chief of staff.

"We cannot take risks with defense," former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, an elder statesman of the ruling Likud party, told the Ynet website after Lieberman's upcoming appointment was disclosed last week. "It is a great mistake."

Former minister Benny Begin, son of Israel's first right-wing prime minister, called the appointment "bizarre."

Lieberman, a 57-year-old immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Moldova, is one of the country's most polarizing politicians. He entered politics as a top aide to Netanyahu in the 1990s before forming Yisrael Beitenu, a secular, ultranationalist party whose base of support is the large immigrant community from the former Soviet Union. His Hebrew remains laced with a strong Russian accent. He also is a West Bank settler.

Over three decades, he has at times been Netanyahu's closest ally and other times been a fierce rival. He has twice served as Netanyahu's foreign minister, in one instance embarrassing Netanyahu by arguing against the establishment of a Palestinian state in a speech at the United Nations. Netanyahu later distanced himself from the speech.

On Wednesday, they renewed their partnership by announcing a new deal to bring Yisrael Beitenu into Netanyahu's narrow governing coalition. Lieberman is to be formally sworn into office next week as defense minister.

The addition of the five seats of Yisrael Beitenu will give Netanyahu a 66-54 majority in the 120-seat parliament, providing new room to maneuver on domestic affairs. But it risks alienating Israel's allies abroad and the military, the country's strongest and most important institution.

Lieberman has angered Egypt, which has close security ties with Israel, with comments years ago calling for Israel to bomb the Aswan Dam. In another flap, he said Egypt's president at the time, Hosni Mubarak, could "go to hell."

It remains unclear how Egypt will react to the appointment, particularly after its president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, said this month that ties could become "warmer" if Israel reaches peace with the Palestinians. Lieberman has been a noted skeptic of US-led Mideast peace efforts.

Lieberman has antagonized Washington at times by throwing cold water on American peace initiatives. He also has angered the Americans with legislative proposals viewed as racist, such as a failed proposal to force Arab citizens of Israel to take an oath of loyalty in order to vote. During the latest coalition negotiations, he tried but failed to force the government to approve the death penalty against Arabs convicted of terrorism.

As Washington negotiates a new military aid package with Israel, Lieberman's past could come back to haunt him.

Peace talks with the Palestinians also seem to be a longshot. Lieberman is an outspoken critic of the Palestinian leadership.

In a statement last week, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Lieberman's appointment "sends a strong message to the world that Israel prefers extremism, boosting occupation and settlements over peace."

At a ceremony marking their alliance Wednesday, both Netanyahu and Lieberman attempted to send messages of moderation.

"I am committed to promoting the peace process. I am committed to make every effort to reach an agreement," Netanyahu said.

Lieberman said he was committed to "responsible, reasonable policy." He spoke in English in an apparent attempt to reassure an international audience. "All of us have commitments to peace, to the final status agreement, to understanding between us and our neighbors," he said.

But Lieberman's biggest troubles could come at home with the army. As Netanyahu's foreign minister, Lieberman criticized the handling of Israel's 2014 war against Gaza militants, saying the army should have taken a more forceful action.

Just last month, Lieberman was quoted as saying that if he were defense minister, he would give Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh 48 hours to return the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers the militant group is holding, and to send home a pair of captive Israeli civilians it also claims to have. "Either you return the bodies and the civilians, or you die," Lieberman said.

The Israeli military tends to be more pragmatic and moderate than hard-line politicians like Lieberman who dominate the government. It is unclear how they will respond if he issues an order that the generals disagree with.

"Why is Netanyahu choosing to [appoint] a man who ... cannot be trusted to support him in public, will alienate a not-insignificant proportion of international supporters of Israel, will exacerbate tensions in parts of the Arab world, and who will render at least some Israeli parents considerably more wary when the day comes for their children to be enlisted," wrote David Horovitz on the Times of Israel website.

In many ways, Lieberman's appointment is the direct result of these clashing world views. His predecessor, Moshe Yaalon, was forced out after backing the military in a series of disagreements with political hard-liners.

Earlier this month, a top general compared recent trends in Israeli society to the atmosphere in Nazi-era Germany. The comments, made on Israel's Holocaust memorial day, enraged Netanyahu, while Yaalon supported the general's right to speak.

The army's chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, came under fire earlier this year from parliamentary hard-liners by encouraging soldiers to use only "necessary force" to subdue Palestinian attackers. The hard-liners say attackers should be killed on the spot.

In March, military leaders criticized a soldier who was caught on video fatally shooting an already-wounded Palestinian attacker in the head  and he is now on trial for manslaughter. Lieberman went to the court to offer his support to the soldier.

But people close to Lieberman say that he is more pragmatic and level-headed than his public persona. Lieberman himself has even offered an unorthodox plan to establish a Palestinian state, saying that Israel's borders should be redrawn to place as many Arab citizens of Israel as possible in a future Palestine  while incorporating most West Bank settlements into Israel.

Eliezer Marom, a former head of the Israeli navy, told Army Radio that Lieberman should be given a chance.

"The man is with great political experience," Marom said.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Jakarta Police have foiled the attempted distribution of expired chicken that was to be sold across the capital at low prices, amid intensified raids prior to Ramadhan.

The police raided a house in Kelapa Dua, Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday where they confiscated 1.5 tons of expired chicken. Suspect SA had allegedly run a business selling expired packaged chicken for the past three years, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Awi Setiyono said.

SA allegedly bought the chicken from four people who stole it from a warehouse belonging to PT CA in Kosambi, Tangerang.

Aside from the out-of-date meat, the police also confiscated a spanner, three freezers, four trollies and cash during the raid, Awi said.

The police also arrested the four suspected thieves, identified by the initials of WL, ED, UG and SR.

SA bought the chicken for Rp 18,000 (US$1.35) per kilogram from WL, who was assisted by PT CA employees ED, UG and SR in stealing the meat from the warehouse. SA then sold it on to customers for Rp 22,000 per kilogram.

The police will charge SA under the 2012 Commodities Law, which carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a Rp 4 billion fine, while WL, UG, SR and ED could face seven years in prison under Article 363 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on theft, Awi said.

The Jakarta Police have intensified raids on food and commodities prior to the fasting month in June to prevent the distribution of expired foods, especially amid rising commodity prices. (rez/rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

A lack of financial knowledge has hampered the development of small and medium enterprises (SME) in the creative economy sector, in which many business players overlook the importance of proper financial management to grow their businesses, experts have said.

"In many cases, they don't know how to make a financial statement. They even don't know whether or not they're making a profit, and if so, by how much," founder and CEO of financial consultancy Quantum Magna (QM) Financial Ligwina Hananto said on Tuesday. She was speaking at a workshop for capacity building in sharia financing investment and management for creative SMEs held by the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf).

Ligwina said basic financial knowledge was crucial to growing a business. She observed a tendency of mixing business funds and personal expenses as concerning.

The expert further highlighted her concern over a lack of focus to grow companies among Indonesian business players, although business was in fact detrimental to the development of the creative industry itself.

"Many of these businesses are only seen as a side activity, so the owners are not personally driven to expand them," Ligwina added.

Bekraf official Fadjar Hutomo said capacity building could address business stagnation, pushing companies to be more competitive.

"Creative businesses are the backbone of the creative industry and therefore should be expanded," Fadjar said, adding that the workshop was part of the government's efforts to boost the creative industry.

He further said that accountable financial management could trigger an increase in potential capital from external parties such as investors and micro credit program (KUR) loans.

Fadjar, who is the investment access field deputy at Bekraf, also spoke of the merits of sharia financing to grow businesses.

Sharia financing expert Mohammad B. Teguh said SMEs should not hesitate to implement sharia principles in their business practices as it could be beneficial to financial management.

Hanna Faridl, creative director of online Muslim fashion store hijup.com, said she practiced sharia financing in her business because it suited the company's mission.

In sharia principles, all parties must benefit and no one should feel they lose," she said.

Since its launch five years ago, Hanna said, her company had acquired 279 Jakarta-based tenants, which exported their products worldwide.

According to existing regulations, the government has categorized 16 subsectors under the creative economy for KUR. They comprise cuisine, crafts, fashion, application and game development, architecture, interior design, visual communications design, product design, animation film and video, photography, music, publishing, advertising, performing arts, television and radio. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dewanti A. Wardhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said has asked players and regulators in the oil and gas industry to seek solutions during the 40th Indonesian Petroleum Association Convention and Exhibition (IPA Convex) at the Jakarta Convention Center.

The event should not be a place for complaints or playing the blame game, he said, but for finding solutions and ways to improve.

"This forum should not be a place for blame games [...] but we should come together in these hard times," Sudirman said during a speech at the event.

The 40th IPA Convex was opened by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution on Wednesday morning, and will run until Friday.

The convention, themed Shifting Paradigms in Indonesia: Supplying Energy in the New Reality, showcases booths from oil and gas businesses, and features discussions between industry players and regulators.

Darmin said the government had attempted to streamline permit processes, but added that more efforts were needed to improve the current situation.

"I hope this forum can result in solutions for the oil and gas business," he said.

IPA president Christina Verchere said many things had changed in the oil and gas business and it was time to adapt to reality. Both businesses and the government must come out stronger after the storm, she said. (dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

The Setara Institute, a human rights watchdog, released a report on the religious tolerance of high school students in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java on Tuesday.

Setara Institute researcher Aminudin Syarif said the survey was conducted in 171 state high schools in both cities with 760 students participating. The survey was conducted in April.

The survey found that 61.6 percent of the participants tolerated religious diversity and 35.7 percent were passive-intolerant, which means those students do not voice improper opinions about other religions. Only 2.4 percent were active-intolerant and 0.3 percent of the participants agreed with extremists.

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 (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Terrorism remains the biggest threat to ASEAN and the global community, so a strong international network is needed to face terrorist groups, says National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti.

Badrodin delivered the message in his opening speech during the 16th senior officials meeting on transnational crime (SOMTC) held in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He emphasized the growing influence of the Islamic State (IS) movement in the region, expressing concerns over the continued participation of Indonesians, in particular, in supporting it.

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 Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

A lawmaker has said the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2016 on sexual violence against children that President Joko Jokowi Widodo signed on Wednesday will not overlap with the draft sexual violence bill.

The issuance of a Perppu is regulated by existing rules. The Perppu on sexual violence against children doesnt cover the overall problem comprehensively; but, the Perppu will hopefully give lessons to the perpetrators [of sex crimes], said the House of Representatives Legislation Body (Baleg) deputy chairman Totok Daryanto. The National Mandate Party lawmaker was speaking after the bodys plenary meeting at the House complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The House has not yet deliberated the draft sexual violence bill and is still discussing the inclusion of the bill in the 2016 priority national legislation program (Prolegnas).

The body aims to include the draft law as one of the extra priority bills in the 2016 Prolegnas, aside from 40 priority bills the House must complete this year.

Due to its urgency, Totok said, the bill should also see progress in its discussion at a commission or a working unit, which was assigned by the House to handle the draft law, during the current sitting session, which will end on July 28.

The discussion of the sexual violence bill comes in the wake of a brutal gang rape and murder of YY, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, in Bengkulu last month. Rights activists called on the government to immediately pass the sexual violence bill into law following the incident.

Totok said the sexual violence bill could become guidance for all parties to eradicate sex crimes.

Baleg deputy chairman Firman Subagyo said both the sexual violence bill and the Perppu No.1 were legally binding. The Golkar Party faction member agreed that both the draft law and the Perppu should run together. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The next economic policy package will specifically address the oil and gas industry, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution has said.

The capital-intensive industry has played a major role in Indonesia's economy. However, the global economic slowdown and a plunge in oil prices, as well as domestic policies, have hampered oil and gas investment in the past two years.

Therefore, the 13th policy package aimed to develop the oil and gas industry this year, Darmin said in his keynote speech at the 40th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Convention and Exhibition, held at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"We do not have much time to waste and let it slip into the coming years," he said, adding that deregulation and infrastructure development as the backbone of the economy were needed to mitigate the impact of the global slowdown.

In 2015, Indonesia booked US$12.9 billion in oil and gas revenues. It was the first time for the government to see the industry contribute lower revenues than the cost recovery, which stood at $139 billion.

The 64 percent drop in oil prices last year corresponded with a 44 percent drop in oil and gas gross revenues. Average production fell by 28% due to limited investment in exploration and delays at strategic projects, including Banyu Urip, Ridho, Bukit Tua and North Duri.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said added the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) was in the process of streamlining current regulations, while at the same time preparing a friendlier portion split in production sharing contracts, referred to as a sustainable split.

"We will offer this concept to the industry, on how to determine the split and the time frame to establish sustainable partnerships [...] We commit to being the initiator of reform in the oil and gas industry. There is room for improvement, and we will always encourage this," he said.

The ministry's director general of oil and gas, IGN Wiratmaja Puja, added that other incentives the government would offer were the extension of exploration periods, flexibility of exploration transfer and substitution, and incentives for exploration in deep water and remote areas.

All incentives are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016, he said. In addition, the ministry would continue streamlining industry regulations, after reducing the previous 104 regulations to 42 regulations.

"We are currently in the process of cutting them to only 20 regulations. In the long term, we will reduce them even further to eight regulations," he said, adding that revision of the Oil and Gas Law would support government efforts to reduce the regulations to only three. (ags)
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 Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Moja Nurkalam can still vividly recall the day in February last year when she was forced to give up her trip to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, on account of flight mayhem involving Lion Air, the countrys largest low-cost carrier.



Along with thousands of Lion Air customers, the 32-year-old Jakarta resident had been stranded at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Feb. 18 to 20 as the carrier failed to provide on-time aircraft.



Amid passengers protests, the airline announced a series of flight cancellations. The situation became heated when the airline failed to immediately refund the passengers tickets, resulting in a mob vandalizing facilities in the countrys biggest airport.



Despite her bad experience, Moja said she had recently flown with Lion Air from Makassar, South Sulawesi, to Jakarta, amid a two-hour delay. Undeterred, she has also bought a ticket to fly with the same airline from Jakarta to Ternate, Maluku Islands, in July, for a diving adventure.



I dont have any other choice as Lion is the only airline with routes that reach many small cities in Indonesia, she said.



Owned by businessman-cum-politician Rusdi Kirana, who serves as a member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), the airline operates 2,142 weekly flights serving 93 routes, allowing it to reach almost every corner of the archipelagic country.



Despite its wide network, the airline has regularly come under public scrutiny on account of widespread flight delays and other controversies.



On May 10, alleged internal mismanagement resulted in its bus driver transferring arriving passengers from an international flight to a domestic terminal at Soekarno-Hatta.



The Transportation Ministry quickly reacted to the incident by announcing that it would freeze Lion Airs ground-handling permit at Soekarno-Hatta this week and prohibit the airline from opening new routes. The ministrys spokesperson, Hemi Pamuraharjo, however, said on Tuesday that it had canceled the permit revocation, citing the results of its investigation into the terminal transfer incident.



In a separate move in response to the sanctions, the airline filed last week a request with the ministry to suspend its 217 weekly domestic flights and 10 weekly international flights until June 18, to anticipate low demand in the Ramadhan fasting month.



The move, combined with Lions tight grip on the market, incited worry among customer rights groups and the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU), which called on the government to supervise the airline in fear of the impact on passengers.



The KPPU said in a statement that it would launch an investigation into Lion if the airline was found to have stopped the flights on the routes without clear intention, as the dominating market player should not abuse its position.



Meanwhile, Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi called on the government to monitor how the airline handled the passengers that had purchased tickets between the flight frequency suspensions.



The ministry should ensure that there would not be a massive violation of consumers rights, he said.



Tulus also said that the ministry should be brave enough to revoke permits for some of the companys routes and weekly flights if it was found to have provided bad service and inadequate quality and quantity of its human resources.



In a recent interview with The Jakarta Post, Lion Air general affairs director Edward Sirait advised the government against clipping the airlines operations, arguing that punitive measures could hurt the countrys investment climate.



I am not saying that we should not be punished. People responsible for wrongdoing must be punished, but it should be done based on proper mechanisms and investigations, he said.

---------------

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 Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Jessica Kusuma Wongso, the sole suspect in the alleged murder of her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin at a restaurant in Jakarta, is likely to walk free soon as the police are running out of time to secure sufficient evidence in the case.

The 27-year-old Jessica, who was arrested almost three months ago, could be released from the Jakarta Police detention center on Saturday as the prosecutors have again showed reluctance to bring the case before a court due to a lack of solid proof.

Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti acknowledged that there was a big chance Jessica would be released from detention, but denied that the police lacked solid evidence in the case.

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 Agus Maryono (The Jakarta Post) Cilacap, Central Java  Wed, May 25, 2016

Drug lord Freddy Budiman is scheduled to go on trial at the Cilacap District Court on Wednesday for a second appeal on his case.

The death row convict, who is currently serving a sentence in an isolation cell at Pasir Putih Penitentiary on Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap regency, Central Java, is reportedly on the list of inmates for a third round of executions expected in the near future.

Ahead of Freddys trial, the Cilacap Police said they did not want to see any reckless behavior, and would dispatch around 200 personnel to secure areas around the court.

We are tightening security in several areas from Pasir Putih Penitentiary on Nusakambangan to Wijaya Pura pier and routes leading to the Cilacap District Court compound, Cilacap Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ulung Sampurna Jaya told journalists on Tuesday.

Earlier, the police announced that a group of death row inmates would be executed in the middle of May. However, the executions have been postponed until after Idul Fitri following the second case review submitted by Freddy. The Cilacap District Court has reportedly been chosen for the trial because of its proximity to Nusakambangan Island.

Ulung said the security precautions taken by the police for Freddys trial were not as tight as measures during a second case review filed by terror convict Abu Bakar Baasyir at the Cilacap District Court in February. For Baasyirs trial, the police dispatched more than 1,000 personnel.

The security measures for Freddys trial are different to those provided for Baasyir because he [Baasyir] has a lot of supporters, so our anticipative measures had to be different, said the police chief.

Meanwhile, a public relations officer at the Cilacap District Court, Catur Prasetyo, confirmed that the court had made preparations shortly after receiving Freddys case dossier. He said the court received a delegation of authority to examine the second case review submitted by Freddy from the West Jakarta District Court on May 10.

The first hearing will be held on May 25, in which we will hear the reading of Freddys second case review appeal, said Catur.

He said the Cilacap District Court had set up a panel of judges to handle Freddys case review. The judging panel will be presided over by Catur, with Vilia Sari and Cokia Ana Pontia as members.

As previously reported, Freddy was arrested on April 28, 2011, by Jakarta Police officers for smuggling 1.4 million ecstasy pills from China. The West Jakarta District Court sentenced Freddy to death in a trial held five months after his arrest.

The drug lord began serving his sentence at the Cipinang Narcotics Prison from November 2012 to July 2013. Despite his death sentence, Freddy continued to run a drug business from inside his cell at the Cipinang prison.

Freddy was moved to Batu Prison on Nusakambangan prison island in July 2013. He reportedly continued to distribute narcotics from Nusakambangan. Last year, Freddy was reported to have joined with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group following his close relationships with several terror convicts on Nusakambangan. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Belu, East Nusa Tenggara  Wed, May 25, 2016

Residents in the border area between Indonesia and Timor Leste have voluntarily handed authorities two long guns left over from past civil war. The UK-made rifles were handed over to the chief of Silawan village in East Tasifeto district, Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday.

The weapons were voluntarily handed over to a local village chief, who later gave them to officers at an Indonesian Military post. They are UK-made Springfield rifles, Lt. Col. Mochammad Nazmudin, commander of the Belu Military Command (Kodim) 1605, told thejakartapost.com on Monday.

As of May this year, Nazmudin said, 16 firearms of various types had been handed over to the military, either Kodim 1605/Belu officials or personnel from the Indonesia-Timor Leste Border Security (Pamtas RI-RDTL) Task Force.

Five weapons were handed over to Kodim 1605/Belu, while 11 rifles were given to the Pamtas RI-RDTL Task Force, he added.

Nazmudin said his military command had not yet carried out an operation to free the border area of all forms of firearms. However, it has routinely approached local leaders and religious figures to continuously encourage their residents to voluntarily hand over weapons to security authorities.

Sweeping [for rifles] does not sound good. Thus, we would rather approach community leaders and customary figures with a familial atmosphere. So far, there has been no weapon owner who has been faced with a legal process, because they have in fact handed over their weapons to the security authorities voluntarily, said Nazmudin.

Citing Emergency Law No.12/1951 on firearm ownership, Nazmudin said any citizen illegally possessing a firearm could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. With such a heavy sanction, Nazmudin called on local residents living near the border to hand over their weapons to avoid legal sanctions.

I cannot confirm how many firearms are still held by local residents in the border areas. But one thing I can assure you is that many Indonesia-Timor Lester border area residents still possess firearms, he said.

Silawan village head Ferdy Mones said residents of Beilaka, Silawan, had voluntarily handed over the two rifles. They were afraid to hand over them to Indonesian Military personnel by themselves so they called and gave me the rifles, which I later handed over to Kodim 1605/Belu. Were afraid our people could misuse the weapons, said Ferdy.

The village chief called on his residents not to keep firearms illegally because they could face legal sanctions. Im calling on people in the Indonesia-Timor Leste border area, where many still possess firearms, to voluntarily hand over the weapons to Indonesian Military posts across the area, said Ferdy. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Galuh Wandita (The Jakarta Post) Dili  Wed, May 25 2016

See this scar? I did that! Peals of laughter and bright smiles erupt as Rosas brother touches her forehead gently, brushing an almost invisible scar. He reaches for her earlobe, Our mother made that earring hole in her ear; she cried.

Rosa is surrounded by two siblings, her older sister and brother who are both in their 50s. They cannot stop holding her, caressing her cheeks and hair, after 38 years of separation. Across the room, 10 other families are each inside a cocoon of love.

In 1978, during the height of the war in Timor Leste, Rosa and another sister were separated from their family. The two lost girls found their way to Aileu, a little town nestled in a fertile valley about two hours away from their village in Railaco.

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 Frederica S. Priyanto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Girl with a traditional hairdo visiting the Tori-no-ichi festival, taken in Asakusa, Tokyo, in 1954 by Takeyoshi Tanuma.

Japan as we know it is an advanced country in almost every way imaginable  such as in education, technology and transportation.

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 Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

A decision to suspend 227 flights from May 18 to June 18 of its own volition is a purely corporate move, says a Lion Air executive, insisting that no tickets will be issued for suspended flights during the period.

On May 16, the biggest low-cost carrier in Indonesia  owned by National Awakening Party politician Rusdi Kirana, who is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres)  submitted a request to the Transportation Ministry for a self-imposed suspension.

Lion Air president director Edward Sirait refuted speculation that the suspension was Lions response to a government sanction that hit the airline on May 10 in relation to widespread delays caused by a pilot strike.

"We are carrying it out according to plan, not based on a hasty reaction. Two weeks before Ramadhan, the flight occupancy usually drops by 40 percent. Then, it is not economical for us to assume full operation," he said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Lion Air director Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi explained that the purpose of the request letter was to prevent permanent suspensions on the routes, as a 2016 ministerial regulation obliges all airlines to operate seven days a week.

"Therefore, we need to send a request letter to the government, or else the entire route will be halted," he told thejakartapost.com.

Edward added that the carrier did not intend to stop servicing the routes, but simply wanted to decrease the frequency of flights. He pointed out that flights from Jakarta to Medan were not totally suspended, but reduced from 20 flights to 15 flights during the period.

"You can check for yourself. We stopped selling tickets for the flight slots some time ago, thus nobody bought them or asked for refunds afterward," Edward explained. (ags)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Karo  Wed, May 25 2016

The Mount Sinabung volcanic eruptions that have been taking place in recent days in Karo regency, North Sumatra, are expected to last for some time after the emergence of a new lava dome at the crater peak of the volcano in the past several days.

Mt. Sinabung observation station head Armen Putra said the new lava dome had emerged due to increasing seismic activities.

While indicating that the volume of the new lava dome was still small, he did however warn of its danger because the size could enlarge and burst at any time.

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 Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Human rights activists are opposed to naming late dictator Soeharto a national hero and have urged the government to reject the idea, given the late president's track record of alleged human rights abuses and corruption.

Maria Catarina Sumarsih, 64, a human rights activist whose son Bernardus Realino Norma Irawan died in the first Semanggi tragedy in 1998, said there would be more losses than benefits for the country in naming Soeharto a national hero.

By doing so, the current government would endorse the military authoritarianism that Soeharto upheld during his administration, which resulted in violence and led to the disappearance and death of many victims, Sumarsih said.

She urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widowo to firmly reject the notion.

"I don't accept if an actor in my son's murder is given a hero title. He [Soeharto] was involved in several human rights abuse cases and my son was one of the victims," she said during a press conference at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Tuesday.

Soeharto, who was in power for 32 years, and his cronies turned a blind eye to cases of human rights violations, said Kontras activist Feri Kusuma.

"He contributed to the development [of the country], but all of his actions that violated the law smeared the merit [of his achievements]," Feri said, adding that giving such a title to Soeharto would discredit existing national heroes who had made worthy contributions to the nation.

Army general Soeharto was allegedly involved in several human rights abuses such as the Tanjung Priok massacre in early 1984, the 1989 Talangsari incident in Lampung, as well as the May 1998 riots between citizens and the military that resulted in many deaths and injuries.

Soeharto ordered a serious of mysterious shootings between 1982 and 1985, known as Petrus, which reportedly killed about 2,000 people across the country, with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police deemed responsible for the killings, according to reports by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in 2012.

Despite mounting calls to put Soeharto on trial after the 1998 Reform Era, charges implicating the former president remained unsolved until his death in 2008.

Former Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie announced the party's plan to propose Soehartos nomination as a national hero during an extraordinary national meeting of the countrys oldest political party in Bali last week.

The idea of giving the title to Soeharto also arose in 2010 when his name appeared on a list of national hero nominees from Central Java, selected by the Social Affairs Ministry.

Kontras' impunity watch and fulfilment of victims' rights division head Yanti Andriani said the organization had sent a letter to the government calling for it to cancel the nomination.

However, as officials had not responded to the letter, Kontras assumed they were waiting for the right time to name Soeharto a national hero as in accordance with their original plan, Yanti said.

Kontras intends to send another letter to the government and to Golkar this week to continue urging parties that support Soeharto's nomination to carefully consider past human rights abuses and the ongoing effects of such crimes.

"If [Soeharto] is named a hero, it's the same as the supporters wanting to betray the ambitions of reform," Yanti said. (rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Indonesian Ombudsman has called on traffic authorities to issue driver licenses online, given a rampant practice of charging illegal fees by corrupt officers.

Face-to-face interaction could lead to bargaining and pave a way for illegal-fee charging and the use of middleman to occur, said Ombudsman commissioner Adrianus Meliala at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday.

We want to encourage the [traffic] authorities to maximize the use of information and communications technologies in issuing driver licenses, especially during administration and test processes. With an online system, contact between officials and applicants would only occur during the identification and issuance processes of a license.

In December last year, the National Police launched an online system to extend the validity period of a driver license. People applying for a driver license for the first time still need to go to the nearest licensing office to register and undergo both the written and practical exams, however. A new permit costs Rp 120,000 (US$8.78) for private car or passenger vehicle, while a motorcycle license costs Rp 100,000.

In its survey, the Ombudsman found a number of violations in traffic offices in nine cities across the country last year. They occurred in Ambon in Maluku, Jakarta, Jayapura in Papua, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara, Manado in North Sulawesi, Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara, Padang in West Sumatra, and Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan.

Charging of illegal fess were rampant in all of those offices. In Mataram, a driver license for a private car costs Rp 400,000, far higher than the normal fee. In Jayapura, a person has to spend Rp 1.2 million to get a passenger vehicle driver license.

Violations have also been discovered in the polices one-stop administration center (Samsat) in Jakarta, including unsuitable medical tests and license issuances without proper exams.

It was found in the survey that motorcycle driver licenses without the written and practical exams were being issued at the Samsat in Daan Mogot [Jakarta]. This was occurring with help from a middleman later known to be an active military personnel, Adrianus said.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Polices deputy director of traffic affairs division Adj.Sr.Comr. Latif Usman said there were an estimated 1,500 driver license applicants per day at the Daan Mogot office. Thus, he said, it was difficult to monitor them all.

Separately, National Police traffic corps chief Brig. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto called on the public to report any kind of malpractice they encountered when acquiring their license to the police.

The public should also be involved in this matter. If a driver license is issued without proper procedures, the officer could be criminally charged, Agung said.

Recently, the public's attention has been drawn to Malang Police officer Chief Brig. Seladi in East Java, who works at the city driver licensing office during the day and as a scavenger at night. He has gained reputation as an honest police officer who refuses to take bribes.

The important thing is this job [scavenging] is legal and I sincerely chose to do it. I dont care what people may say. I know there must be someone out there teasing me for doing such a job. If so, I would say, I could be like you, but could you be like me? Seladi said, as reported by Kompas.com. (vps/ebf).
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post) Stockholm  Wed, May 25 2016

Sweden has unveiled the latest version of its Gripen jet fighter, manufactured by technology giant Saab, a move which defense officials of the neutral, progressive country said was part of a strategy to counter perceived Russian aggression in the region.

The Gripen E prototype, dubbed the Smart Fighter, the sixth variant in the Gripen family, has a more powerful General Electric F414G turbofan engine, and a state-of-the-art radar system.

The new generation jet fighter is also designed to carry more weapons including guided glide bombs, long-range air-to-air missiles and heavy anti-ship armament.

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  Wed, May 25, 2016

The Operation Tinombala task force hunting the Santoso-led East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) group has identified the body of another member of the Poso-based terror group.

"The body is currently at the Bhayangkara Hospital in Palu, it has a mole near the right eye," South Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi said on Wednesday during a press conference at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.

Rudy said the body was found by residents when the task force was conducting a search in the area. The body was almost completely buried, with only the feet protruding, he added.

According to the most wanted list, continued Rudy, there was only one group member with the same characteristics. The suspected identity of the body is Aco, also known as Sucipto or Ubay, who is from Malino in Central Sulawesi.

However, the body was badly decomposed and almost unrecognizable, Rudy said, adding that there would also be a DNA test to confirm the identity.

"We will check the DNA with that of his family. We hope they'll come to Palu and we will check again," he said.

Separately, it was reported that two of the Santoso-led terrorist group members had died during a shoot-out with task force personnel on May 15.

Following the removal of the bodies two days later, they were identified as Firman, alias Ikrima, from Malino and Yazid, alias Taufik, from Java.

However, DNA tests will also be conducted on those bodies.

MIT members reportedly opened fire during the process of removing the two bodies, which Rudy suspected had been part of the terrorist group's plan.

"When their friends are shot, they will wait until our guard is down. Fortunately, our personnel had been ready and anticipated another shoot-out," said Rudy.

With the discovery of the three bodies, Rudy said the remaining members of the MIT group had been reduced to 22.

The police have called on the remaining group members to surrender. (liz/afr/dan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Three gas-purchase agreements with a potential additional state revenue of Rp 7.4 trillion (US$544.66 million) were signed on Wednesday, in a bid to meet domestic demand in the fertilizer industry and power plants.

The signing of the agreements coincided with Wednesdays opening ceremony of the 41th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Convention and Exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).

"The signing of these agreements is concrete evidence of the upstream oil and industrys support to prioritize natural gas allocation for domestic needs," said upstream oil and gas special unit (SKK Migas) spokesperson Taslim Z. Yunus.

For the fertilizer industry, upstream oil and gas company ConocoPhillips (Grissik) will supply 70 million cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas to Palembang-based fertilizer company Pupuk Sriwijaya for five years. Potential state revenue from this deal reaches $470 million.

Meanwhile, Medco E&P Indonesia amended its contract with Meppo-Gen to supply gas to the Mount Megang power plant in Muara Enim, South Sumatra. The contract amendment increases the gas supplied from 9,126 billion British thermal units per day (BBTUD) to 15,686 BBTU.

The two-year contract poses $68.52 million in state revenue, Taslim explained.

Medco E&P will also supply 1.3 to 1.6 BBUTD of gas to Petrogas in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, up to Dec. 31, 2019, with $6.14 million in potential revenue for the state.

Since 2003, domestic gas allocation has increased by an average of 9 percent per year. In 2015, natural gas used to help meet domestic demand reached 3,882 mmscfd or 56 percent of the total gas allocation, exceeding the 3,090 mmscfd exported volume or 44 percent of the gas allocation. (ags)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, May 25, 2016

Thousands of children in Indonesia are being exposed to hazardous conditions on tobacco farms where they work as laborers, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Wednesday, calling for the government to better protect minors.

In the 119-page report titled "'The Harvest is in My Blood': Hazardous Child Labor in Tobacco Farming in Indonesia", HRW lambaste Indonesian-based and multinational tobacco companies buying Indonesian-grown tobacco but do nothing significant to ensure child labor are not engaging in hazardous work on the farms of their supply chains.

The report documents how child workers, some just eight years old, are exposed to nicotine, handle toxic chemicals, use sharp tools, lift heavy loads and work in extreme heat, which all could have long-term consequences on their health and development.

The group urges tobacco firms to reject suppliers that use child labor involving direct contact with tobacco, as well as calls for government regulations that hold companies accountable for the involvement of children in the industry.

Tobacco companies are making money off the backs and [at the expense of the] health of Indonesian child workers, said Margaret Wurth, a HRW childrens rights researcher and co-author of the report.

Tobacco companies shouldnt contribute to the use of hazardous child labor through their supply chains.

The report was based on field research in four provinces, including the three major-producing regions that make up almost 90 percent of the countrys annual tobacco production: East Java, Central Java, and West Nusa Tenggara.

HRW based the report on interviews with 227 people, including 132 child workers, ages 8 to 17. Half the children interviewed reported nausea, vomiting, headaches or dizziness, all symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning from absorbing nicotine through their skin.

Thirteen-year-old "Ayu", not her real name, said she often vomits while harvesting tobacco with her family on farms in her village near Garut, West Java.

I was throwing up [after being] so tired from harvesting and carrying the [tobacco] leaves. I threw up so many times," she said as quoted in the report.

Some of the children and the parents interviewed actually understood the health risks, still little precautions were taken. A massive education campaign is needed to promote awareness of the health risks to children working in the tobacco industry, the group says in the report.

Moreover, the report also found that most of the children worked outside of school hours while for some children, their work interfered with their schooling.

Under Indonesian law, 15 is the minimum age for work, and children aged 13 to 15 may only do light work that does not interfere with their schooling or harm their health and safety. Furthermore, the law also prohibits children under 18 from doing hazardous work, including in environments with harmful chemical substances.

Indonesia is the worlds fifth-largest tobacco producer, with more than 500,000 tobacco farms. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that more than 1.5 million children, aged from 10 to 17, work in agriculture in Indonesia. However, the ILO had no official estimates on the number of children working in the tobacco industry.

Under human rights norms, tobacco companies had a responsibility to ensure that the tobacco they purchase was not produced with hazardous child labor, HRW said.

Indonesia is the only ASEAN country not to have ratified the World Health Organizations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public-health treaty aimed at protecting the population from the consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. (vps/rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

The victory of Setya Novanto in the Golkar chairmanship race may not be good news for the party.

Fresh from a bitter internal rift that lasted almost two years, Golkars choosing of Setya at its extraordinary congress in Bali marks the partys return to its origins as the government party, or the ruling party, a role it played during Soehartos New Order.

Born as the governments resistance to political and social crises caused by the multi-party system under Sukarno, Golkar initially comprised non-partisan mass organizations coordinated by the military under Guided Democracy.

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 Edith M. Lederer (Associated Press) United Nations  Wed, May 25, 2016

The UN peacekeeping chief said Tuesday that the United Nations  which has 80 percent of its peacekeepers deployed in Africa  is very happy that the African Union's long-awaited rapid reaction force will become a reality in July.

Herve Ladsous told a Security Council meeting on peace and security cooperation between the UN and the AU that strengthening this partnership is "absolutely critical" especially because nine of the UN's 16 peacekeeping missions are in Africa.

He said the African Standby Force, first proposed in 1997, is about to be declared operational at the next AU summit in July, which will mark an important step forward in Africa's "capacity to respond to crises."

The AU plan calls for each of the continent's five regions  north, south, east, west and central  to provide a brigade of 5,000 troops to the force, with one always on standby to respond swiftly to crises anywhere in Africa.

Ladsous called the African Union "the most important partner of the UN in peacekeeping."

He cited not only the UN's missions  from Congo, Central African Republic and Mali to South Sudan and it joint mission with the AU in Somalia  but the fact that almost 50 percent of the 105,000 UN peacekeepers worldwide come from AU member states.

The Security Council unanimously approved a statement stressing "the importance of further strengthening cooperation and developing an effective partnership" with the AU  not just in peacekeeping but in early warning of crises, preventive diplomacy, mediation and conflict resolution.

The council also welcomed "the enhanced peacekeeping role of the African Union" and regional African groups.

Haile Menkerios, the UN special envoy to the African Union, stressed that while much progress has been made, "threats to international peace and security in Africa remain real and numerous."

In recent weeks, the U.N. and AU acted together to de-escalate political tensions in the island nation Comoros off the African coast, he said, and along with regional groups they are trying to get the government and opposition in Burundi to engage in an inclusive dialogue to find "a durable solution" to the current crisis.

Menkerios said the "collective challenge" of the UN and its member states is to support and strengthen the AU's institutions to promote peace and security, "particularly the African Standby Force and the African Union's preventive diplomacy and mediation capabilities."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 25 2016

Do you like coffee? Many Indonesians do. The country happens to be among the worlds top coffee producers and exporters. So it stands to reason that Indonesians who not only love coffee, but who are also proud of it, should sport a T-shirt with Pecinta Kopi Indonesia (Lovers of Indonesian Coffee) printed on it.

So why were Adlun Fiqri and Supriyadi Sawai, two guys in Maluku, arrested for wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the initials PKI and a cup of coffee? Well, because PKI are also the initials of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party.

Admittedly, there were the images of a hammer and sickle inside the cup of coffee instead of spoons. So just a bit of harmless satire, right? Not according to the authorities, who promptly threw these two young activists into jail.

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 Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Beijing  Wed, May 25 2016

Indonesian and Chinese youths play an essential role in closing a diplomatic gap between the two countries caused by a 23-year hiatus.

Indonesia suspended diplomatic relations with China in 1967 following suspicion that China interfered in Indonesian internal affairs. Diplomatic relations were restored in 1990 and began to flourish in 1998. Relations gained a new momentum when the two countries signed an agreement over a strategic partnership in 2005. Since then the two countries have attempted to boost multisector ties.

Chinas Foreign Ministry has been focusing on establishing people-to-people interactions between Chinese and Indonesian youths in order to strengthen future social, economic and political ties.

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 Jastin Tarmizi (Associated Press) Petaling Jaya, Malaysia  Wed, May 25, 2016

Malaysia is ready to discuss further possibilities of military collaborations with China to tackle the threats of extremism, terrorism, kidnappings and other criminality, said the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).

The PMO said in a statement on Wednesday that relevant ministers, senior officials and agencies will further explore the details of such future collaborations.

The statement said that in response to security challenges in the Asia Pacific region such as the threat of Islamic State and food security, other areas of defense and military practical cooperation, such as exchange of intelligence and the formation of a secured communication link, may be further explored.

Malaysia believes positive discussions and collaborations with China as well as other ASEAN countries in these areas will further safeguard the mutual interests of all parties in the region. Malaysia is confident that through constructive joint dialogue between ASEAN countries and China, all parties will achieve a mutually beneficial long-term solution with respect to the South China Sea for the stability and prosperity of the region, the statement said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak received a high-level delegation on Wednesday from the Peoples Republic of China led by President Xi Jinpings Special Envoy, Meng Jianzhu, who heads the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the CPC Central Committee.

The statement said that China also expressed its sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister for Malaysias cooperation on anti-terrorism and international crime including the recent phone scam affecting many Chinese citizens.

The excellent cooperation between the defense and military establishments of Malaysia and China has been further strengthened via the elevation of bilateral relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This cooperation includes exchanges of high-level visits and meetings, and joint exercises, the statement said.

The statement added that Najib also expressed appreciation of President Xis One Belt, One Road strategy and its importance in creating economic and cultural integration. On this, Malaysia stands ready to explore the possibility of working together with China and Thailand to conduct a swift feasibility study to consider the development of the Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok High Speed Rail and East Coast Rail Link to enhance connectivity and tourism for Malaysia and Thailand. In addition, Malaysia also welcomes China as a partner to jointly develop long-term tourism infrastructure and property related investments in Malaysia.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Associated Press) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam  Wed, May 25, 2016

President Barack Obama's parting shot before leaving communist Vietnam: let people express themselves.

He may have been referring to rap but the subtle message was aimed at his hosts who have been criticized for muzzling dissent.

During his three-day visit, Obama had spoken out strongly for human rights and free speech. On Wednesday, he brought it up again during a light moment after providing a supporting beat to a female rapper who asked him a question at a town hall meeting with hundreds of young Vietnamese.

"Before I answer your question, why don't you give me a little rap, let's see what you got," Obama  his sky-blue shirt sleeves rolled up  told the rapper known as Suboi. "Come on. Do you need like a little beat?" And he went on to show off his oral beat-producing skills on the microphone.

"Vietnamese or English?" asked Suboi, Vietnam's queen of hip-hop. "In Vietnamese, of course," the president responded. "I won't know what it means, but ... just a short version, because I've got to get going. Go ahead."

After a few seconds of Suboi's catchy hip-hop, in which the rest of the crowd joined by providing an applause beat, Obama told her: "That was good. See there? That was pretty good" He requested the meaning of the verse and got a lesson in materialism from the 26-year-old woman.

"I was just talking about some people having a lot of money, having big houses. But actually, are they really happy?" she said. Then she went on to talk about stereotypes: how people make assumptions when they see women rappers (cute girls).

That was Obama's cue.

"Well that's true in the United States too ... there's always been, sort of, sexism and gender stereotypes in the music industry, like every other part of life," he said.

He pointed out that rap, which started as an expression of poor African-Americans, is now a global phenomenon, the art form of young people around the world.

"And imagine if at the time that rap was starting off that the government had said 'no because some of the things you say are offensive or some of the lyrics are rude or you're cursing too much.'"

"That connection that we've seen now in hip-hop culture around the world wouldn't exist. So you've got to let people express themselves. That's part of what a modern 21st-century culture is all about," he said.

With those parting words, he said goodbye to everyone and drove to the airport for the next leg of his Asia trip, to Japan.

"I've got to go but this has been wonderful."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Irawaty Wardany (The Jakarta Post) Chaozhou, Guangdong, China  Wed, May 25, 2016

It was a cloudy Tuesday morning in Chaozhou, a region within Guangdong province in southern China.

Journalists from more than 20 news outlets in Southeast Asia and Africa were invited to experience the local culture through a tea ceremony in the country that has performed such rituals for centuries.

Unlike those who are more accustomed to modern teabags, many Chinese people still preserve the old tradition of tea ceremonies. Such ceremonies are usually performed as a sign of respect, to apologize, or at family gatherings, including weddings.

After formalities to welcome the journalists to a promotional event at the entrance of the Guangji Bridge across the ancient city wall, the group was taken to the middle to the bridge where a line of people wearing white, each standing behind a long table, had prepared tea wares, ready to welcome their guests.

The tea servers, who were mostly students from nearby Hanshan Shifan University, started to boil water while asking guests to smell the tealeaves that they had prepared.

(Read also: Story behind a bowl of frothy green tea)

When the water was ready, they first rinsed the glassware with it. Then they placed tealeaves into pots before pouring hot water over them. Instead of pouring the ready-to-be-served tea directly into cups, they poured the tea into another pot before evenly distributing it to the guests.

The ritual was accompanied by music from a traditional Chinese zither played by a local artist.

According to one of the tea servers, Malika of Kazakhstan, she and two other Kazakh students participated in the event at the request of the university.

I just learned how to preserve tea just now, she said, adding that she never expected tea serving would be so complex.

Chinese people are really strict when it comes to tea serving, she said, while talking to her friends in Kazakh when one of the teachers told her that she had made a mistake in the process.

(Read also: Achieving happiness through a cup of tea)

Journalists Zaidah binti Ahmad Rosli of Malaysia said it was her first time experiencing a Chinese tea ceremony.

I had no idea it would be that beautiful and delicate process, said the journalist, who has lived in Beijing for almost two years.

All I know about tea is that it is best served when we hang out while chatting with friends, she said. (dmr)
Beth Israel Hospital, a fixture on the Lower East Side since 1889, is shuttering its 16th Street building and opening a much smaller facility in the neighborhood. The downsizing announcement was made today by the medical centers owner, Mount Sinai Health System.

Hospital executives say that less than 60% of the 800 beds in the current building are in use at any given time. Mount Sinai plans to sell the property, which is valued at about $600 million. It will build a new facility with around 70 beds and an emergency room two blocks to the south of Beth Israels longtime home. Its part of a $500 million strategy being rolled out by the health care conglomerate to transform care delivery and dramatically improve access, increase quality and preserve jobs.

More details from a press release distributed by Mount Sinai a short time ago:

Central to the downtown transformation is the new, smaller Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel Hospital, which will include approximately 70 beds and a brand new state-of-the-art Emergency Department (ED), located at 14th Street near Second Avenue  just two blocks south of the current Beth Israel campus. This ED will accept ambulances and will be able to handle all emergencies, such as heart attack, and stroke, on site. It will also include a pediatric ED. Patients with the most complex conditions will be stabilized and transported to other hospitals in the Mount Sinai Health System. Service at the existing MSBI ED will continue without interruption until the new facility opens, which is expected in about four years. The new MSBI hospitals inpatient beds may be increased in the event the communitys healthcare needs require additional capacity. Mount Sinai will also be making a substantial investment in the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center (PACC) on Union Square, where renovations are already under way. At 275,000 square feet, PACC will be New Yorks largest freestanding ambulatory care center in New York. It currently houses a full range of multispecialty services, including a state-of-the-art same day surgery center, radiology, surgical and medical specialties, pediatrics and obstetrics. PACCs services will be expanded to include endoscopy and additional medical and surgical specialty services. Same day surgery will include 24/7 services for extended recovery. By early 2017, the site will also house a comprehensive urgent care center with weekend and evening hours.

While Mount Sinai executives say services will not be diminished, the news is already being met with alarm throughout Lower Manhattan. As the Wall Street Journal explained today:

(The) plan continues a broader retrenchment of hospitals in New York City, where a number of facilities have closed in recent years due to financial losses or under a statewide plan to reduce excess capacity. The 2010 closure of St. Vincents Hospital, in Manhattans Greenwich Village neighborhood, angered local residents who feared loss of access to emergency care and other medical services. Cabrini Medical Center, in Manhattans Gramercy Park, closed in 2008 and Long Island College Hospital, located in Brooklyn, closed in 2014. In recent weeks, rumors of Beth Israels closure have worried local residents and elected officials. Any downsizing or closure at Beth Israel threatens to further strain an already overburdened network of health-care providers in Manhattan, reduce healthcare options and curtail services in the immediate neighborhood, and eliminate jobs, wrote seven elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and City Councilmembers Daniel Garodnick and Rosie Mendez, earlier this month.

Mount Sinai points out (citing a 2014 study) that Manhattan has 6.1 hospital beds per 1,000 residents compared with 2.9 nationally. Beth Israel lost more than $100 million last year alone.
Les Enfants de Boheme opened for business at 177 Henry St. last summer on a block with few dining options. The new project from Stefan Jonot, who ran the very popular Les Enfants Terribles on Canal Street, included a publicly accessible outdoor seating area. Now hes added a companion business, Les Enfants Delice, an annex offering to-go items day and night.

The official debut will be Saturday, but the takeout shop soft opened today. The concept was inspired by the the boulangeries/creperies that are found everywhere in France. Cathy Lang Ho, a partner in the business (and Jonots wife) told us, Its meant to be a friendly, unpretentious local shop where people go on a regular basis, to grab their croissant and coffee in the morning on the way to work, or a baguette sandwich or quiche for lunch, or a baguette on the way home.

They believe the new spot is the only place on the Lower East Side offering authentic Crepes Bretonnes (made with buckwheat/gluten-free flour). There will be savory standbys like ham and cheese, mushroom and gruyere, etc., but also dessert crepes.

Les Enfants Delice will be open 7:45 a.m. 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. weekends. The outdoor area, part of the citys Street Seats Program, will be expanded in the weeks ahead. You can see the menu below.
With a line-up including Nelly, Kano and Big Narstie, it's obvious the organisers of the Straw

berries & Creem festival on June 11th have done a good job - so good its hard to believe the team behind it are a bunch of Cambridge graduates in their 20s.

Only two years ago the small team, who

believe they are the youngest festival team in the UK, gave themselves two months to organise a festival after an excited conversation in a cafe

.

Will Young and Henry Ludlam, both from Cambridge and studying at the University of Manchester, were 19 when they started a music events company after being disappointed with the complete lack of scene in their city.

We would spend our time in Manchester with 10 events on offer every night and Parklife to look forward to at the end of the year  only to return home to Cambridge during the holidays with nothing music-wise to look forward to, says Will, now 25.

One year after graduating and finding himself back in Cambridge,

Will was bored with the events the city offered.

I realised Cambridge and the thousands of students and young locals in the city were desperate for a larger scale, outdoor music event that resembled one of the many established music festival across the UK, he says.

Chatting to Henry, then 23, and their friends, students Preye Cooks, Chris Jammer and Frazer Robinson (aka Cardinal Sound), the young team decided to attempt organising a music festival in two months. This conversation came about while they were eating strawberries and cream - and so the festival was born.

David Rodigan, Shy FX and Jus Now headlined the first year, which was attended by 1,400 people at an 18th century mansion on the outskirts of the city.

But it wasn't all plain sailing; as this was their first festival venture, things naturally went wrong. The stage company had to do an extra 100-mile round trip to move the main stage (because trees were blocking the speakers), while another stage overheated. Not only this but t here were 10,000 bread rolls and sausages left over, and there werent enough bins either.

They were also asked to turn the music down halfway through and apparently a supermarket manager came over to complain about students raiding the basics alcohol section.

If there's one way to describe the team, though, it's definitely determined: It was the hottest day of the year, on a different scale to anything the city had seen before and the music and drink flowed perfectly to produce the first ever Strawberries & Creem, says Will.

2015 saw a move to a new venue, Haggis Farm  a polo club in Cambridge.

After a chance phone call the team met with the owner, whose immediate enthusiasm for the project paved the way for a new chapter in S&Cs short history, says Will.

And the second year brought big things  including Skepta.

We had second guessed that Skepta would blow and within a week of securing the contract, Kanye West brought him out on stage in London, says Will. From that point, it gave the festival the edge that it had been lacking and was further fuelled by the release of Shutdown in the same month.

Other big names on the line-up included Grandmaster Flash, General Levy and Stylo G.

Still in it's baby-years, however, the festival again encountered a few hurdles:

floods backstage and problems with the giant inflatable slide (it deflated before anyone could use it), as well not enough toilets.

Once again however, the weather had been kind and the day was a resounding success, adds Will.

Headed into its third year, the expanded team - with an average age of 22 - have stepped up their game, booking Nelly, Kano, Big Narstie, David Rodigan, Snakehips, Kurupt FM, D Double E and more.

Our aim was to scale up every aspect of the festival, says Will. It is placed to far surpass anything thats come before.

Wills younger sister Louise, 23, recent Cambridge graduate Sam Mellor, 24, current student Alfie Lambert, 27, and Cambridge local Jenna Jarrett, 23, have all joined the team.

After months of tears and late night phone calls weve managed to secure one Nelly for, as it stands, a UK festival exclusive, and Kano as a special guest off the back of his incredible new album, says Will.

The lineup has been geared to appeal to everyone with a core of respected music.

There will be three stages at Strawberries & Creem this year as well as a mini-food festival  The Deliveroo Banquet and a giant screen showing the England vs Russia Euro 2016 game.

BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra will also be among the press covering the event.

There are 5,000 tickets but thanks to such great organisation and press coverage more than 80% have sold.

We are on track to achieve an unprecedented sell-out, says Will. If this happens, the youngest festival team in the UK have big, big plans. Not just for the festival but across the music and industries.
While Eddie Izzard has confessed he thinks the European Union (EU) is difficult and too bureaucratic, he has also more recently taken to the stage to urge young people to vote 'In' and make it work.

The comedian said he considers himself a British European, and wants the younger generation to have the same opportunities he did when he travelled around Europe in his heyday.

The stage in question was at Reading University Students' Union, where he went head-to-head with Tory MEP Daniel Hannan.

(Ben Birchall/PA)

At the debate Izzard listed big names such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and organisations like the International Monetary Fund and the Confederation of British Industry, who have warned Britain that leaving the EU would be a bad idea.

Commenting on the EU, he said: It is a good force for change. Its difficult, its too bureaucratic, I totally agree with that. But no-ones ever tried to do this before, so we should be trying to do it.

He added: I just think we should stay in and try and make it work. We have to work like crazy to make it work. Its not easy but I just dont think pulling out is the right idea.

One of Izzards key messages throughout the debate was that "humanity" should be a priority. He said: It (humanity) overrides everything surely. Its the thing youve got to put at the top in trying to get to a place, a world, where everyone has the same chance.

Working against Izzard's argument that Britain can make its EU membership more beneficial, Hannan noted that the Prime Minister has made numerous visits across Europe in a bid to secure a renegotiation.

He said these had failed, and added: Just ask yourselves one question. Look at how intransigent the EU showed itself to be  how unable or how unwilling to reform and ask yourselves this: If this is how we were treated now, the second largest net contributor, before we had our referendum, how would we be treated if we voted to remain?

(Ben Birchall/PA)

Any idea that we could stay in and then try and reform it having thrown that part away  it would be laughed at in Brussels.

Hannan is a prominent Eurosceptic and described the EU as obsolete, adding: It is a hangover from an earlier age  a relic of the 1950s.

He said: I would not be asking you to serve me with my P45 if I were not confident that the economy as a whole will do better outside the European Union.

Izzard is travelling around 31 cities in the UK to speak to young people and urge them to register by June 7th to vote in the referendum on June 23rd.
Cuba, the mysterious country with a rich, revolutionary history, has always been a top tourist destination for people intrigued by the countrys history. Its well preserved natural habitats also attract nature lovers and adventurers in droves, as many people seek to experience the unique Caribbean environment for themselves.

Located where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean meet, the Republic of Cuba is the largest Caribbean island in Latin America. You can discover a plethora of unique flora and fauna in

a

midst of the hot and sunny tropical climate.

The long and beautiful coast and beach resorts in Varadero are the best places to spend a long, relaxing holiday; but if you fancy learning more about the Spanish colonial and revolutionary history of the island, you must pay a visit to the capital city Havana.

Currently undergoing significant economic reforms, such as increased trade with other countries, this might be the last chance you have to experience the real, authentic Cuba before globalisation truly takes hold.

Where to go

Old Havana

With a population of 2.1 million citizens, the city centre of the capital city is one of the most charming tourist attractions. Discovered by the Spanish in the 16th Century, the city is deeply influenced by this colonial culture.

Plaza de la Catedral is an example of Cuban Baroque architecture completed in 1777 by the Franciscans. Its legendary for supposedly holding Christopher Columbuss remains between 1796 and 1898.

When you visit the cathedral, you should wander inside to admire the vaulted ceilings and statue of St Christopher. After the visit, you can take a break at one of the cafes and enjoy the fascinating facade view.

Plaza de Armas is the social hub in the city; apart from the wide variety of cafes and restaurants where visitors can have a coffee break, it is also home to several local landmarks. Palacio de Los Capitanes, a former mansion that hosted more than 60 Spanish generals over the years, has turned into a city museum for visitors to have a glance over history and allows music concerts to be held in its courtyard. Castillo de la Real Fuerza, the mid-16th-century colonial fort, is another hot spot.

Trinidad

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trinidad was originally established for sugar and slave trade. The colourful 16th-century town is one of the most well-preserved in the colonial community. Its home to the some of the most impressive Spanish colonial mansions, plazas and churches in Cuba.

Plaza Mayor is the historical centre of Trinidad and is an ideal starting point for sightseeing. You can pay a visit to MuseoHistorico Municipal, a museum located in the neoclassical Palacio Cantero mansion. The mansion was built in the early 1800s with Italian marble floors and large open rooms.

After stopping by to learn the history of Trinidad, visit the world heritage-listed Valle de Los Ingenios for information about the industry of slave trading and the wars of independence.

About 12 kilometres away from Trinidad is Playa Ancon, one of the finest white sand beaches on the south coast of Cuba. This beach tends to be less crowded than others nearby and makes an ideal spot to relax and unwind.

Sierra Maestra

Sierra Maestra, the countrys largest mountain range, has served many purposes: its been the location of three wars of independence against Spain and its hosted a revolutionary war against dictator Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Today, however, the area if far less violent. The range is now known as the best place in the country to experience the natural landscape of Cuba. Its also a bird-watching hub, home to the Cuban Green Woodpecker, the Cuban Vireo, the Red-legged Honeycreeper, the Cuban Solitaire and the Giant Kingbird.

The surrounding area, in the Santiago de Cuba Province bordering on the Granma province, was the heart of the insurrectionary movement against Spain. The Comandancia De La Plata was Fidel Castros rebel headquarters during the revolution, located three kilometres west of Alto de Naranjo. The trail is well marked but it is uphill and the terrain is rocky and muddy. Make sure you have your hiking boots on before following Fidels revolution routes!

What to do

Hike La Plata Mountain Trail

To explore Fidel Castros revolutionary base camps, plan for a day of mountain trekking. You can visit the small museum near the beginning of the complex and seven concealed escape routes designed by Fidel Castro. If you want a challenge, you can try to climb up to the radio building in Radio Rebelde, where the rebels early broadcasts were aired.

Aspiring guerrilla-watchers should hire a guide at the park headquarters in Santo Domingo. The journey starts at Alto de Naranjo and continues on foot along a rocky and muddy 4-kilometre track  so be sure to bring water and a snack.

Plaza De Armas Book Market

In the 16th century, Plaza de Armas was used for military and government ceremonies. Today, its a renowned open book market that attracts local citizens and travellers from around the world. The main market covers about 100 square metres in front of the old Palace of the Captains General, now home to the Museum of the City of Havana. Booksellers with portable bookcases gather here every day, offering a wide range of second handed or new print collections to passers-by. If you are a book lover with a keen interest in communist history, you cannot afford to miss it.

Alejandro Robaina Tobacco Plantation

Located in the Vuelta Abajo region, Alejandro Robaina has one of the most fertile fields in the country and produces the finest tobacco in the world. Join a tour to explore the tobacco plantation; start by seeing how the seeds are planted in plots of land covered by cheesecloth, and then move on to see how the leaves are strung up in bundles and fermented in drying barns. At the end you will be shown how to roll a cigar. The best time of year to visit is between October and January, as this is the tobaccos prime growing season.

Go scuba diving

Cubas diversity doesnt end on land  the country is home to hundreds of sites to explore in the ocean, including the popular Los Paraguas de Baracoa, Punta Frances and Piedras del Norte Cay Marine Park. These scuba diving spots are made up of beautiful coral reefs, over a thousand types of fish and a variety of sponges, algae and crustaceans. The water is warm, thanks to the regions wide insular shelf, making it perfect for exploration. Just watch out for sharks!

Enjoy some classic Cuban music

The Casa de Las Tradiciones, part of the Trivoli neighbourhood in Santiago de Cuba, is home to some of Cubas best musicians, improvising live for their audiences. Listening to the music is the best way to feel like youre jumping right into the Cuban culture. Eat some traditional Cuban food as you listen and enjoy.

Ride a double-decker bus around Havana

Ready to explore the city but not ready to let go of your British roots? Youll feel like youre in London  albeit a much warmer version of London  while riding a Hop on, hop off bus that runs all day. Its a convenient way to see the city, as Havana itself is quite spread out.
While you're mulling over the pros and cons of Brexit, we've just learned of the perfect meal to help you think.

London deli Herman ze German is releasing Ze Big Brexit Dog in honour of the big decision - half the size, twice the price.

In contrast to Herman ze German's famous gluten and lactose-free sausages, proudly based out of the free-range Black Forest farm, well...the restaurant calls this hot dog "the wurst decision ever." A bit of symbolism, eh?

But hey, the hot dog comes with Herman's own ketchup and mustard with lots of raw onions. It's the universal choice for EU lovers and Brexit fans alike. And when you've finished scarfing it down, you'll be able to reflect on the impending referendum.

The best part? Every time the hot dog is ordered at any of the Herman ze German locations, this lovely rendition of Ode to Joy, featuring Boris Johnson himself, will be blasted on the microphone for all restaurant-goers to enjoy.

Being Europeans, the bratwurst experts at Herman are understandably invested in the upcoming vote - and as a result are asking some very important questions. Questions like, "Can man live on Cumberland alone?" and "Dare we close our borders to a whole continents worth of sausage?" and "Is it time to say au revoir to our French saucisson loving brothers? Adios to chorizo and arrivederci to salsiccia?"

The main question, of course, is whether or not it's "time to stand united through our Europe wide and undisputed love of sausage."

Answers worth considering over a bratwurst, we think.
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
Tentang Situs Slot Online Resmi MGS88 Nama Situs  MGS88 Minimal Deposit  Rp. 10.000,- (Sepuluh Ribu Rupiah) Proses Deposit   2 Menit Metode Deposit  Bank Transfer,  Pulsa,  E-Wallet Judi Online Terbaik  Slot Online,  Judi Bola,  Casino Online,  Togel Online,  Tembak Ikan Provider Slot Gacor Mudah Maxwin  Pragmatic Play,  PGSoft,  MicroGaming,  Habanero Slot Gacor Gampang Menang  Gates of Olympus,  Sweet Bonanza,  Wild West Gold,  Starlight Princess Win Rate 98%

RTP Live Slot Gacor Tertinggi Hari Ini Terbaru Terlengkap

Selamat datang di halaman RTP live dan informasi soal slot gacor hari ini dari situs MGS88 yang setiap hari selalu update. Berdasarkan RTP Live MGS88, Anda bisa mendapatkan informasi tentang slot online yang saat ini yang sedang Gacor atau onfire dengan persentase yang terbukti akurat, ini bisa menjadi rekomendasi anda sebelum memilih permainan slot online di situs MGS88. Cek RTP Slot sekarang juga bosku

Klik Provider Slot Untuk Mengetahui RTP Slot Secara Real Time

Selamat datang bagi kalian yang sedang mencari situs RTP Live terlengkap dan terkini hari ini. Sangat sesuai jika Anda mengunjungi website MGS88 RTP live untuk informasi tentang permainan slot yang lagi gacor dengan slot RTP yang terupdate. Persentase kemenangan yang kami berikan tentunya diambil dengan data yang sangat valid dan hanya untuk permainan slot yang tersedia di situs MGS88. RTP yang tersedia juga akan selalu diperbarui setiap hari berdasarkan level kemenangan yang diberikan kepada member kami.

Memang sih untuk bermain slot itu tergantung hoki dari setiap pemain, Namun RTP live atau bocoran slot dari yang kami sediakan ini adalah data autentik dari banyaknya pemain yang telah bermain dan mencapai kemenangan tinggi. Sederhananya, kalau banyak pemain yang menang di dalam 1 permainan slot, karena itu permainan slot tersebut akan mempunyai persentase RTP yang sangat tinggi.

Namun kami tegaskan sekali lagi, ini bukan sebuah paksaan kami situs MGS88 untuk anda bermain di game slot yang mana. Ini bisa dijadikan sebagai referensi atau tolok ukur, boleh dicoba kalau anda mempunyai feel yang kuat dalam memainkan permainan game slot. Anda dapat mengakses kapan saja dan di mana saja selama anda siap bermain. Jangan ragu untuk bertanya ya seputar pola putaran terhadap kami, sebab kami juga menyediakannya loh.

Apa itu RTP Live?

RTP Live ialah informasi mengenai persentase tertinggi saat ini dari hasil RTP Live dengan bocoran kemenangan pemain saat ini. RTP Live merupakan singkatan dari Return To Play atau bisa juga diartikan sebagai Return to Player. Karena itu, para pemain slot sekarang jika ingin mengetahui seberapa besar kemenangannya, bisa dengan memainkan permainan yang akan dimainkannya dan bisa untung dengan mudah dan tentunya maksimal.

Apa itu RTP Slot?

RTP Slot juga dikenal sebagai return to player atau pengembalian ke Pemain. RTP slot ialah persentase dari nilai pengembalian semua uang yang dipertaruhkan pemain dari waktu ke waktu. Dengan kata lain, RTP juga dianggap sebagai salah satu fitur slot yang mengembalikan uang pemain saat pemain kalah.

Persentase digunakan untuk menghitung RTP dalam permainan slot. Misalnya, jika slot memiliki RTP 97%, itu berarti untuk setiap 100.000 koin yang hilang di slot, slot dapat mengembalikan 97.000. Jika Anda mengetahui RTP sebuah permainan slot, Anda dapat memutuskan permainan slot mana yang akan dimainkan tanpa kerugian besar.

Apakah Angka Persentase RTP Slot Itu Penting?

Biasanya pemain slot itu tidak memperhatikan RTP dalam permainan yang akan dimainkan, biasanya setelah anda mengisi saldo utama anda akan langsung buru-buru memainkannya. Yang terakhir 90-96% mempengaruhi jumlah kemenangan. Semakin tinggi jumlah RTP yang digunakan, semakin luas peluang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan.

Akan namun itu segala tak secara 100% menjamin kemenangan kau dalam bermain, RTP itu cuma sebagai kalkulasi pengeluaran anda saja selama bermain slot.Dengan adanya RTP, kau dapat mengerjakan pengaturan atas uang yang akan kau pertaruhkan nanti pada ketika bermain.Untuk itu pada ketika kau bermain slot dan telah mengalami banyak kekalahan di satu permainan, direkomendasikan kau pindah ke permainan slot lainnya yang RTP nya lebih tinggi dari permainan yang tadi kau mainkan.

Keuntungan Menggunakan Bocoran RTP Slot Hari Ini

Situs MGS88 Akan dengan senang hati akan beberapa keuntungan yang didapatkan jika anda bermain slot dengan menggunakan RTP Live yang telah disediakan. Berikut Keuntungannya :

Peluang Kemenangan Meningkat Tentu saja, saat bermain slot online, menang adalah hal yang paling penting. Di sinilah RTP berperan sebagai metode atau metode baru yang akan membantu Anda memilih permainan slot persentase tinggi. Mendapat variasi dalam Memainkan Game Slot Pastinya banyak pemain slot online yang hanya memainkan 3-5 permainan slot saja. Namun dengan RTP Live slot akan memberikan banyak game slot lain yang bisa anda coba. Tentunya semua permainan slot memiliki potensi kemenangan yang besar, jadi jangan hanya mengandalkan beberapa permainan saja. Menambah Pengalaman Dalam Bermain Slot Keuntungan terakhir adalah Anda tentu saja menambah pengalaman dan keahlian dalam permainan slot online. Dengan berbagai macam permainan slot yang dimainkan, Anda pasti mengetahui karakteristik dari setiap permainan slot yang Anda mainkan. Akibatnya, Anda pasti bisa dianggap sebagai pemain slot yang andal, yang pasti akan meningkatkan peluang Anda untuk menang besar menggunakan RTP.

Daftar 8 Situs Dengan RTP Slot Live Tertinggi Hari Ini

Ada banyak penyedia mesin slot online di internet. Tetapi tidak semuanya memiliki peluang tinggi atau RTP Live Slot yang sangat tinggi. Tapi jangan khawatir, berikut ini adalah situs slot gacor yang akan memberikan bocoran slot dengan RTP Live Tertinggi:

RTP Live Slot Pragmatic Play (RTP Slot 97.85%) RTP Live Slot PG Soft (RTP Live 96.15%) RTP Live Slot Habanero (RTP Slot 95.89%) RTP Live Slot CQ9 (RTP Live 98.83%) RTP Live Slot Spade Gaming (RTP Live 94.99%) RTP Live Slot Micro Gaming (RTP Slot 95.39%) RTP Slot Live Top Trend Gaming (RTP Live 96.14%) RTP Slot Live JOKER123 (RTP Live 97.45%)

Itulah Daftar 8 Provider Slot Gacor dengan RTP Live teratas diatas tentunya kami analisa terlebih dahulu. Anda bisa membuktikannya langsung dengan mengklik banner atau meprovider game slot yang sudah tersedia di atas. Saran kami yaitu Anda harus memainkan semua penyedia slot di atas untuk mencapai peluang kemenangan terbaik.

Daftar Slot RTP Live Tertinggi Sering Kasih Jackpot

Selain mempertimbangkan RTP Slot Gacor yang ada, sebenarnya ada banyak faktor penting untuk menang dalam permainan judi online. Sebab ada banyak game yang memiliki fitur dan mekanisme unik dan bisa membantu anda meraih Jackpot yang sangat besar.

Berikut ini akan kami ulas daftar 5 game slot paling populer karena sering memberikan jackpot:

RTP Live Gates of Olympus Gates of Olympus adalah game slot teraneh dan terbaik di Indonesia. Karena permainan mesin slot ini paling populer karena kakek Zeus dapat mengizinkan pengganda x500. Selain itu, fitur dan mekanik Gates of Olympus juga sangat menguntungkan untuk memenangkan Grand Jackpot. Secara teoritis, RTP slot langsung Gates of Olympus bernilai 96,50%, yang berarti peluang Anda untuk memenangkan MaxWin cukup tinggi. RTP live Sweet Bonanza Sweet Bonanza adalah permainan slot terpopuler kedua. Game slot bertema buah dan permen yang lezat ini sepertinya akan menarik banyak perhatian karena tergolong slot gacor yang mudah menang. Secara teoritis, slot Sweet Bonanza RTP bernilai 96,48%, yang berarti peluang Anda cukup tinggi untuk memenangkan jackpot. RTP Live Wild West Gold Wild West Gold adalah permainan slot bertema koboi yang juga populer di kalangan penggemar konspirasi. Permainan slot Wild West Gold sendiri kerap menawarkan kejutan jackpot bagi para pemainnya. Selain itu, nilai RTP Live Slot menunjukkan indeks tertinggi hari ini, yang berarti sangat layak dan sangat direkomendasikan. RTP Live Starlight Princess Slot Starlight Princess ini memiliki gaya dan fitur yang mirip dengan Gates of Olympus. Perbedaannya hanya pada desain dan karakter gamenya saja, karena memiliki fitur dan mekanik yang sama tentunya RTP slot teoritis pada game slot ini sama yaitu 96,50%. RTP Live Cash Elevator Mungkin sebagian dari Anda baru mengenal slot Cash Elevator. Namun dari data benchmark yang diungkap, ternyata banyak sekali yang menikmati permainan slot ini. Dengan fitur dan mekanisme unik seperti Lift up and down asli, slot ini juga memiliki slot RTP Live dasar 96,64% yang juga memiliki mekanisme yang sangat menguntungkan untuk memperlancar tingkat kemenangan besar.

Bocoran Jam Main Slot Gacor Hari Ini

Dalam bermain permainan slot online itu tidak bisa dilakukan dengan sembarangan yah. Jadi, Jika anda bermain pada waktu tertentu seperti yang akan kita bahas sesaat lagi, ada kemungkinan anda untuk mendapatkan kemenangan lebih tinggi. Jam RTP Slot Gacor merupakan bocoran jam main slot yang akan memberikan anda kapan waktu yang pas dalam bermain game slot.

Tentu saja seluruh provider slot online memiliki jam tertentu dalam memberikan peluang kepada para pemainnya untuk mendapatkan kemenangan. Disini kami akan memberikan anda Bocoran Jam Slot Gacor yang Paling Akurat Hari ini:

Jam Slot Gacor Pragmatic Play 02:30 WIB - Jam 05:25 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Habanero 14:26 WIB - Jam 17:38 WIB Jam Slot Gacor CQ9 00:45 WIB - Jam 05:53 WIB Jam Slot Gacor PG SOFT 14:25 WIB - Jam 17:35 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Joker123 17:41 WIB - Jam 20:42 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Microgaming 22:30 WIB - Jam 00:35 WIB

MGS88: Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Pay4D Resmi dan Terpercaya

MGS88 adalah situs game slot online Gacor terbaru yang bermitra dengan Pay4D, Pay4D sendiri merupakan daftar situs game slot online terpercaya dengan berbagai macam permainan judi yang mudah dimenangkan seperti Game Bola, Casino Online, Slot Pay4D, Tembak Ikan dan Pay4D Online Permainan togel seperti Singapura, Hongkong, Sydney dan lain-lain. Tujuan utama kami adalah menjadi situs judi online Pay4D yang menyediakan layanan judi online terbaik di Indonesia.

Kami juga salah satu situs resmi PAY4D di Indonesia yang pasti akan membayarkan semua kemenangan kepada semua member kami, karena kepercayaan dari semua member kami adalah prioritas utama kami sebagai mesin slot 4d Asia terbaik di Asia, khususnya di Indonesia.

Dalam melakukan sistem transaksi sistem simpanan dapat dilakukan dengan mudah melalui mobile banking dan electronic banking berupa bank BCA, BSI, BRI, BNI, Cimb Niaga, Permata dan Mandiri. Selain itu, transaksi e-wallet juga tersedia melalui Dana, Gopay, LinkAja dan Ovo serta dapat digunakan untuk pulsa tanpa dipotong.

Untuk mempermudah dan kenyamanan dalam melakukan registrasi atau melakukan setiap transaksi, MGS88 menyediakan layanan live chat dan Whatsapp terhubung langsung dengan customer service online 24 jam.

Mengenal Istilah Dalam RTP SLOT

Di slot RTP Live Anda akan melihat berbagai fitur yang mungkin tidak Anda pahami masing-masing. Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini.
Home >Police Enforcement > Checkpoints and Stops > Federal Judge: Motorist Looking Forward Is Not Suspicious
Co-op convict reveals close ties with Dhammajayo

BANGKOK: Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, convicted of fraud in the B12-billion Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement case, admitted to having a close relationship with Phra Dhammajayo, who has been accused of laundering money and receiving stolen property, authorities said.

crimecorruptionreligionpolice

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:16AM

Public prosecutor Khajornsak Phutthanupharp talks to the media after meeting KCUC embezzler Supachai Srisupa-aksorn at the Bangkwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi. Mr Khajonrnsak said Supchai has implicated Phra Dhammajayo (inset) in the theft. Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul

The revelation was made in Supachais surprising cooperation with authorities from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Department of Special Investigation, who met him at the Bangkwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi province yesterday (May 24) to inform him of an additional charge.

The authorities had earlier expected the meeting to last two hours. The session actually continued for more than six hours as Supachai, former chairman of the cooperative, decided to answer interrogators questions right away although he was not legally bound to do so.

In March, Supachai, 58, pleaded guilty in the Criminal Court to charges of the B12-billion embezzlement case and his jail sentence was thus halved to 16 years.

Yesterday, he was additionally charged with money-laundering for signing cheques for Phra Dhammajayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.

After meeting Supachai, public prosecutor Khajornsak Phutthanupharp said Supachai acknowledged the charge, made a partial confession and gave useful information, especially on his close relationship with Phra Dhammajayo when he had been the treasurer of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.

They had nicknames which were only known to them and used to call each other and Supachai had access to the abbots residence, Mr Khajornsak said.

That pointed to a close relationship, but the information was inconsistent with the accounts given by Wat Phra Dhammakaya, which had earlier denied any close relationship, Mr Khajornsak said.

Authorities would question Supachai again as his information was useful for many other cases and several more people were allegedly involved in the wrongdoing, he said.

Mr Khajornsak also said that if Phra Dhammajayo failed to meet interrogators to acknowledge charges on the deadline tomorrow, a search warrant would be requested and an arrest warrant would be shown.

If the abbot followed the rules, he would have the right to seek a temporary release, he said.

Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative, Thailands once-richest cooperative, was founded about three decades ago. It lured customers into depositing money by using false accounts to hide its losses.

Many elderly people had put their entire life savings there.

Still trying not to meet interrogators, Phra Dhammajayo, 72, was charged with money laundering and receiving stolen property when he accepted cheques worth hundreds of millions of baht drawn on the cooperative by Supachai.

Read original story here.
Free meth lands three behind bars in Ayutthaya

AYUTTHAYA: A plant seller who allegedly handed out methamphetamine pills (ya bah) he discovered in a forest so people could use them to pay off personal debts has been arrested, along with two of the alleged recipients.

drugspolicecrime

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 25 May 2016, 03:32PM

Prachuap Kanphet, 41, Pannarai Pinyophol, 25, and Sompong Thayapol, 47, were apprehended and 470,000 ya ba tablets seized on yesterday (May 24). Photo: Sunthon Pongpao

Prachuap Kanphet, 41, Pannarai Pinyophol, 25, and Sompong Thayapol, 47, were apprehended and 470,000 ya bah tablets seized yesterday (May 24), Thai media reported today (May 25).

The arrests followed a tip-off that several bundles of speed pills had been handed out for free in several areas in this central province, Maj Gen Suthi Puangpikul, Ayutthaya police chief, said during a media briefing at Uthai police station.

Police accused Mr Prachuap of giving away the drugs to locals and found 100 pills on him.

A follow-up investigation determined that he found several bags containing 700,000 ya bah pills and 10kg of crystal meth (ya ice) while collecting wild plants about 500 metres off Asia Road in tambon Khayai in Bang Pahan district on May 20.

The suspect said he saw a man unloading the bags from a pickup truck.

After his arrest, Mr Prachuap led police to the area where he hid the drugs. Four bags containing 470,000 pills were recovered.

Soldiers and police then looked for the recipients of the free pills and nabbed Ms Pannarai and Ms Sompong with some of the drugs. Police said the women confessed to selling some of the free drugs they received.

Others had reportedly destroyed the drugs for fear of being caught, said Maj Gen Suthi.

Mr Prachuap confessed he told close neighbours about the drugs and offered to give the drugs for free to those who wanted money to pay off debts. He had already handed out 230,000 pills and 10kg of ya ice to 10 residents for free, claimed the man.

He also kept some speed for his own use before being arrested, he said.

Police are investigating the origin of the drugs.

Read original story here.
Immigration officer faces murder charge for Rohingya shooting

PHUKET: The immigration police officer who fatally shot a Rohingya man on the run after escaping the Immigration Centre in Phang Nga on Monday will face an investigation for murder, The Phuket News has been told.

immigrationpolicehomicidedeathcrime

By Darawan Naknakhon

Wednesday 25 May 2016, 06:38PM

Two recaptured Rohingya escapees sit in the back of a pickup truck. Six of the fugitives remain at large, say police. Photo: Phang Nga Police

However, police will also charge the deceased Rohingya, named by police 18-year-old Mohammadkhawnee, with attempted murder.

I want to confirm that regarding the incident of one Rohingya man killed during the pursuit, investigation officers are on this case will follow law and order, said Col Chote Chitchai, Deputy Superintendent of the Phang Nga Provincial Police.

We will file a complaint against the officer who shot the migrant. However, we will have to wait until we question all witnesses, before we can make any statement about whether or not the shooting incident was an act of self-defense, he said.

Phang Nga Police Capt Chatree Peinkhayai named the officer involved in the shooting as Phang Nga Immigration officer Snr Sgt Maj Thinakon Noosawas.

Officers had pursued a group of escapees into the hills in Baan Tham Nam Phud on Monday (May 23), and while Mohammadkhawnee was uphill on a steep slope from the officer, he picked up large rocks and tossed them down at Snr Sgt Maj Thinakon, Capt Chatree explained.

Snr Sgt Maj Thinakon fired once in what he said was self-defense. The shot hit Mohammadkhawnee once in his right armpit, he added.

Capt Chatree did not elaborate on whether Mohammadkhawnee died at the scene, en route to Phang Nga Hospital or later at the hospital.

The alarm was raised at 3am on Monday, when guards at the centre noticed that bars on the windows of a second-floor cell had been cut.

The escapees broke into two groups, with 15 heading down a canal which joins Phang Nga Bay and another six fleeing into the hills, where the fatal shooting occurred.

Despite mixed reports on the number of escapees still at large, Lt Col Janepob Butkinaree, Deputy Superintendent of Phang Nga Town Police, today confirmed that six Rohingya had yet to be recaptured.

Following the capture of three escapees  and the killing of Mohammadkhawnee  police at 7pm on Monday captured eight more migrants.

On Tuesday morning (May 24), police caught three more, leaving six fugitives on the run.

Capt Chatree said that the 21 migrants broke out of the detention centre by sawing through wire mesh with hacksaw blades likely left behind by careless plumbers who had recently repaired plumbing in the facility.

They probably left the tools around after the work was completed. It was recklessness by officers and the maintenance workers, he said.
Phuket teacher escapes injury from high-speed crash

PHUKET: An American teacher from Headstart International School, Phuket escaped injury this morning (May 25) when a car driven by a 26-year-old man ploughed into her vehicle at speed while she was turning to enter the school.

transportaccidents

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Wednesday 25 May 2016, 03:23PM

The driver of the black Honda, 26-year-old Narongrit Nontanit, suffered injuries to his right leg and chest in the collision. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The driver of the black Honda, 26-year-old Narongrit Nontanit, suffered injuries to his right leg and chest in the collision. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Police arrived at the school with Ruamjai Kupai rescue workers at about 11am to find a Honda City on its roof near the school fence.

The driver, Narongrit Nontanit, had suffered injuries to his right leg and chest and was rushed to Mission Hospital Phuket in Rassada.

Nearby was a blue Ford Fiesta with damage to its front and front-right panel. The driver, Tina Marie Cummings, 51, a teacher at the school, suffered no injuries in the collision.

Ms Cummings told police that while she was making a turn into the school, the Honda approached at high-speed and slammed into her vehicle before flipping onto its roof beside the road.

Both vehicles were taken to Wichit Police Station while we are waiting to question the injured victim. No charges have been filed yet, said Lt Thapanee Warinsaard of the Wichit Police.
Russian envoy funeral honoured with Royal blessing

PHUKET: Santi Udomkiratak, the Deputy Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation for the provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi who died in a car accident on the night of May 18, has been honoured with a funeral that received a Royal blessing, reports the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Thailand.



By The Phuket News

Wednesday 25 May 2016, 06:51PM

Santi Udomkiratak

A Buddhist memorial service was held at Wichit Sangharam temple on Friday (May 20), attended by many hundreds of his friends and relatives. Russian Ambassador to Thailand Kirill Barsky and head of consular section Vladimir Sosnov represented the Russian embassy at the ceremony.

The Office of His Majestys Private Secretary bestowed a Royal blessing on the cremation ceremony held on Monday (May 23) at Wat Chalong temple, the embassy reported.

Born in 1964, Santi Udomkiratak was appointed Deputy Honorary Consul since the very establishment of the Consulate office in 2008, and since then has carried out a formidable amount of work providing assistance to Russian tourists and residents of Phuket facing various problems as well as safeguarding their rights and interests, the embassy noted.

Santi was also an active organizer and participant of numerous visits of official Russian delegations to Thailand on different levels. In the course of discharging his duties as Deputy Honorary Consul Mr Santi has become a true friend of Russia in the highest sense of the word.

Mr Santis family has every reason to be highly proud of him. The good memory of this remarkable person will forever stay in our hearts.

Meanwhile, Wichit Police today (May 25) declined to reveal any progress in their investigation into the 2am crash that took Mr Santis life.
Not guilty pleas entered by Watertown woman facing 13 fraud charges

A Watertown woman is facing multiple federal charges of wire fraud in connection to checks she allegedly wrote to herself as local bookkeeper.
Finding wonderland

From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-05-25 11:25

Chinese author Hong Ying shifts her focus to children's books, and her latest novel is a fantasy about a 10-year-old girl's adventures.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Ying spotlights mother-daughter relations yet again in her latest novel, Mimidola: The River Child, Mei Jia reports.

Author Hong Ying says she only writes three types of novelsthose that seek to understand and explore a house, a city and the world.

Yet, a lingering theme of many of her signature works is the mother-daughter relationship.

In her latest novel, Mimidola: The River Child, by People's Literature Publishing House, a beautifully illustrated fantasy story for young readers, the mother is absent from the beginning, leaving a 10-year-old Mimidola to undertake adventures by herself. After an intense journey to the underground and to ancient India in four magical days, she grows up, brave and witty enough to conquer fear, eliminate a flood and reunite with her mother.

"I had a terrible childhood being a daughter born out of wedlock," Hong Ying, 54, tells China Daily at her Beijing apartment. "Mimidola is my effort to reconcile with those memories."

The Chongqing-born author's real name is Chen Hongying.

She took five years to finish this book, whereas her earlier novels like K: The Art of Love, were done in months, she says.

The author also discovered her latent sense of humor through her latest novel, as she makes many jokes between the lines, a rarity in her previous works.

Unlike Mimidola from Jiangzhou, a fictional version of Chongqing in Southwest China, the writer's memories of the 1960s and early '70s with her mother are painful.

Hong Ying says her mother seldom spoke to her.

"In between those miseries, I spread my wings of fantasy, imagining that I was loved and that I could fly across the Yangtze River, and I felt my pains soothed," she recalls.

Hong Ying is known for her autobiographical work Daughter of the River.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Later, I realized she was just trying to protect me so she kept a distance from methe extra child in the family," she says. "But her apathy made me rebellious. I did everything she told me not to and I paid the price for it."

Hong Ying left home at a very young and later to learned writing at Lu Xun Academy in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai. She left the country for a stay in Britain in the 1990s and returned to in Beijing in 2000.

She records those years in her autobiographic works, Daughter of the River in 1997 and Good Children of the Flower in 2009, both of which are available in multiple languages.

Fellow author A Lai says, when the two novels were reprinted in April, he was astounded to read such a courageous and frank account of cruelty in the times of hunger and disasters that a generation of Chinese faced, but most other writers learned a "skillful way" to hide it.

It is her own daughter, Sybil, born in 2007, who gradually dispersed her childhood resentment and brought a new light into her life and writing, Hong Ying says.

"Sybil is like her father, warm, loving and brave, full of sunshine," she says. The daughter knows her past and the grandma's past through many bedtime stories.

"I don't want her to be possessed by fear, as I did. I'd like her to have the wisdom to control fear," she says.

Her husband, Adam Williams, thinks Hong Ying's books can be read by all age groups.

Mimidola was created, combining her daughter's positive, happy nature and Hong Ying's own wisdom and insights.

"And several Mimidola dialogues are from what Sybil said (earlier)," she says, with a smile.

"The heroine of Hong Ying's books is always the daughter," A Lai says. "The author has become a mother herself, so combining the two images, readers get a key to unlock all her emotional secrets."

Her latest novel, targeting young readers, features beautiful illustrations.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Ying began to read children's books in 2006 before Sybil's birth. In 2012, Hong Ying began to create stories for her daughter who by then was bored of the books she had. Two years later, she published her first children's book, The Girl from the French Fort, which has bilingual text with pictures by British illustrator Cherry Denman.

She continued to cooperate with worldacclaimed illustrators for Mimidola, paying special attention to the paper used and the colors for illustrations, according to Zhao Ping from the People's Literature Publishing House.

"We observed a global trend that many acclaimed writers are picking up children's books, too," Qiu Huadong, literary critic and director of Lu Xun Academy, says, noting that Mimidola is interesting for it uses cultural details and resources from the East and South Asian countries.

Besides, it touches budding love and also serious social and environmental issues.

"Mimidola is adored by the many characters she meets, but there's no prince charming to save her from trouble. She has to be strong and fight for herself," Hong Ying says.

Though inspired by environmental problems, like the Beijing smog and social issues like missing children, Hong Ying says her book is really about parental education.

In the novel, Mimidola is separated from her single parent, the mother, at the beginning of the story. When she is alone, her two companions are her ability to love, passed down from her mother, and knowledge that came from reading books.

"All of us, children or grown-ups have to face disasters, setbacks or miseries that happen suddenly, maybe 90 percent of us are beaten, but Mimidola isn't. Her mother's education leads her to stand up and fight," Hong Ying says.

Besides novels, Hong Ying also writes poems and she is currently working and directing the film adaptation of her novel The Lord of Shanghai.

Contact the writer at meijia@chinadaily.com.cn

Her latest novel, targeting young readers, features beautiful illustrations.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Her latest novel, targeting young readers, features beautiful illustrations.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Students and professors meet for Third Fudan-UC Young Scholar Conference at UCSD

From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-05-25 17:16

Participants of Fudan-UC Center's annual Social Sciences & China Studies Young Scholar's Conference pose for a photograph. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Students and professors gathered at the Fudan-UC Center's annual Social Sciences and China Studies Young Scholar's Conference at the University of California, San Diego for two days from May 20-21. This is the third year the conference has been held, and it has become a warm-up event for the 2016 Shanghai Forum, which begins on May 28 this year. Social science experts from institutions across China and the US gathered together to present their current research, and share and exchange ideas.

This year for the first time the conference expanded to include PhD students and young professors outside of Fudan University and the University of California system. Attendees include students from the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Tsinghua University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Colombia University.

The Fudan-UC Center was established four years ago as part of Fudan University's ongoing internationalization. By partnering with University of California, the Center serves as a platform for scholarly exchange and joint research. The founders envisioned this to be a center to serve the whole University of California, headquartered at UC San Diego. The Center has had the chance to host Chinese scholars in the United States, and has given UC faculty the opportunity to attend conferences, such as the Shanghai Forum at Fudan University, in China.

"It's been a very fruitful exchange," said Fudan-UC Center Director, Richard Madson. He described the Young Scholar's Conference as one of the "happiest events" the Center has been involved in.

Out of 85 applications, a selection committee picked 14 to be presented at this year's conference. "It was a difficult selection, but I think we have selected the best," Madson said. "You all are the new generation (of academic leaders) and we want to cultivate and facilitate your growth." said Lei Guang, director of UC San Diego's 21st Century China Program. "We've been able to assemble a great group of scholars. You should congratulate yourselves Fudan is doing something unique and generous, investing in the public good by engaging and encouraging young scholars."

Participants of Fudan-UC Center's annual Social Sciences & China Studies Young Scholar's Conference listen to a seminar. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Managing Associate Director Xian Xu also welcomed the conference visitors. He described how the Fudan-UC Center was established to play a vital role in Fudan University's international outreach and in China-US engagement. He encouraged everyone to stay engaged both through the center and through other Fudan sponsored events, including the upcoming Shanghai Forum to be held at Fudan University's main campus.

Throughout the course of two days, the 14 up-and-coming China Studies scholars presented their research and received feedback from their peers and professors. Work reviewed pushed the edges of social science, from mapping the spectrum of liberal-conservative political preferences within Chinese society, calculating the number of interactions with state owned news sources on social media, to analyzing cultural factors that could explain political trust. Some research, such as a study of urban Chinese volunteers through interviews, are very rooted in the context of China, others like using Gaussian kernels and network analysis to model political relationships, could be utilized in understanding the world as a whole. "China studies is entering a new phase," Lei Guang said. "Data is allowing China Studies to be a part of the greater social science field rather than be confined to area studies where it had been isolated before."

Professors from UC San Diego, including Barry Naughton, Victor Shih, Molly Roberts, Jia Ruixue, and Stephen Haggard, gave detailed feedback. Faculty commended the new ideas being explored, but also suggested new ways to approach research questions and recommended resources. Students welcomed the feedback and discussed how they would use the comments to improve their research in the future. After the professors' comments, the floor opened up for conversation and feedback from the scholars themselves. Coming from various social sciences and fields and focuses, the scholars were able to view their peers' research with fresh eyes.

Lei Guang encouraged the scholars to return to next year's conference, or to come visit UC San Diego as a guest lecturer for the Fudan-UC Center or the 21st Century China Program. He invited everyone to continue participating in the ongoing discussion on US-China relations and China studies.
A mistrial has been declared in the case of a California man who spent 16 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The mistrial comes as a Compton jury deadlocked Tuesday on charges of mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon in the case against 42-year-old Reggie Cole, who is accused of shooting a fellow gang member in the leg after he refused to sell cocaine for Cole, the Times notes.

Judge Allen J. Webster declared the mistrial after the jury foreman said that the jurors were unable to reach a verdict after more than two days of deliberations. According to the report, the jury was hung at 9-3 in favor of convicting Cole on both charges.

Advertisement

Cole was released from prison in 2011 after serving 16 years of a life sentence for a 1994 murder.

According to the Times, prosecutors intend to retry the case, and a new date has been set for mid-June. If convicted, Cole faces another life sentence in prison.

G/O Media may get a commission Big beauty sale Amazon Holiday Beauty Haul Skincare for all!

This two-week sale offers the best of everyday treats and luxury skincare to ring in the colder months. Buy at Amazon Advertisement

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.
Monkey King travels to Nepal

From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-05-25 17:16

Zhang Jinlai gives a speech at the premiere of the Nepali version of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 18, 2016. [Photo/Sina Weibo]

The premiere of the Nepali version of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West launched in Kathmandu in Nepal on May 18.

The series has been broadcasted in many countries, including Myanmar, Thailand, Ghana and Tanzania.

Zhang Jinlai, or Liu Xiao Ling Tong, played the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) in the series, and was invited by the Nepalese government to the premiere.

"In the past 34 years, the series has been broadcasted for more than 3,000 times with a total audience of 6 billion . I am very glad that it can come to Nepal too. Like the Hindu god Hanuman that is widely respected by Nepalese people, Monkey King also punishes devils and brings peace to people. I believe he will also be popular in Nepal," Zhang said.

The translation of the TV series started in 2013, with the support from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal and volunteers who teach Chinese in the country. It was originally scheduled to be broadcast in 2015, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Nepal, yet was postponed due to the April 25 earthquake in Nepal last year and other reasons.

In 2016, the Year of the Monkey, the Chinese Monkey King finally can find his way onto TV in Nepal.

During the premiere, the attendees watched episode 6 together and were moved by Monkey King's wit and humor. Zhang also introduced his stories about the filming of the series to the participants.

Some 150 Chinese and Nepalese officials and representatives attended the premiere and the press conference.

Zhang Jinlai and other attendees at the premiere of the Nepali version of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 18, 2016. [Photo/Sina Weibo]

A shot of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West. [Photo/Sina Weibo]
When Ursula Burns announced last week that she was leaving her position as CEO of Xerox, she also, in effect, announced the end of the minuscule representation of black women in leadership positions at companies within the Standard & Poors 500 index.

As New York magazine reports, the move now leaves a huge gap: Once Burns officially leaves later this year, there will no black female CEOs of any S&P 500 companies, and only 19 female CEOs. According to New York magazine, that means less than 5 percent of all CEOs at the countrys 500 biggest firms are women. In addition, there have also been only about 15 black CEOs since the establishment of the Fortune 500, the magazine notes.

Burns, who has been with Xerox since she started as an intern in 1980, remains with the company for now, but as a chairman, while Xerox searches for someone to replace her.

Advertisement

Read more at New York magazine.
There is a movement that has long called for the release of all information about UFOs and alleged alien visitations, especially from the U.S. where many sightings have been reported.
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.


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.
Greek police secure the passage of a bus carrying migrants evacuated from the makeshift camp in Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Greek authorities sent hundreds of police into the country's largest informal refugee camp Tuesday to support the gradual of evacuation of the Idomeni site on the Macedonian border. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday agreed to extend further bailout loans to Greece as well as debt relief, in what they called a "major breakthrough".

After talks that ended late Tuesday night in Brussels, the 19 eurozone ministersknown as the Eurogroup, agreed to unlock 10.3 billion euros ($11 billion) in new loans, BBC reported.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters early on Wednesday.

The move came after the Greek parliament on Sunday approved another round of spending cuts and tax increases demanded by international creditors.

The ministers also said debt relief would be eventually offered to Greece.

Poul M. Thomsen, director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European Department, welcomed the recognition that Greek debt was unsustainable and relief was needed.

He warned, however, that the IMF board in Washington still had to agree to the fund's participation. He also said that the extent of debt relief was still not clear.

On Sunday, the Greek parliament passed new budget cuts and tax rises at the weekend, in order to unblock much-needed aid to help meet the country's debt repayments over the coming months.

The bill also created a state privatisation fund requested by eurozone finance ministers.

The government, led by the leftist Syriza coalition, agreed to a third bailout worth 86 billion euros ($96 billion) last year.
At a time when Indias relations with China has hit a new low, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday undertook a four day tour to China. The presidential visit is expected to smoothen the relationship that has run into rough weather after China encouraged Pakistan to stake claim to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, clearly an attempt to scuttle Indias long-standing claim for a membership in the prestigious club.

The President was warmly received at the Guangzhou airport by the vice governor of Guangdong, He Zhongyou, in the evening and later the president addressed the Indian community at the Shangri La hotel in Guangzhou. This is the first presidential visit to China after president Pratibha Patil visited the country in 2010. In a short interaction with the media on board Air India 1, the president recalled his two earlier visits to China, one as foreign minister and the other when he was deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. That the visit starts with Guangzhou is in itself significant. The port city has the largest Indian population in China, and many Indians visit here for business.

The President leaves for Beijing on Wednesday after attending the plenary session of the business forum and after meeting Gunagdong party secretary Hu Chunhua.

The Presidents entourage comprises Union Textiles minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, former minister and MP K.C. Venugopal, MPs Bhushan Lal Jangde, Sudheer Gupta, Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt and Foreign Secretary Dr S. Jaishankar.

At his meeting with the Indian diaspora in Shangri La hotel, the president stressed on the relationship between the peoples of China and India. There are 45,000 Indians in China, 16,000 of them students pursuing higher education, he said. "You are the unofficial ambassadors of our country.

Since 1990, there have been phenomenal developments in Sino Indian ties, he said. If the 2.6 billion people of the two countries work together, sharing the best practices, there will be peace and prosperity and it will be an onward march. The world is too close today. And India and China are the biggest consumers of the internet and mobiles

India, he said, was a founding member of the WTO when it was founded in 1991. We welcomed Chinas entry into the WTO. How can we have a WTO without China? India and China are the most advanced emerging economies in the world. In the background of Chinas effort to block Indias entry in the Un Security council, the Presidents words come as a passionate appeal to work together for greater common good.
Funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, the construction of a school for low-income students has been stalled in California owing to a major water shortage, a media report has said.

Scheduled to open this fall, the private school in East Palo Alto in Silicon Valley is unable to get construction permits, the Guardian reported on Tuesday, citing city officials.

The authorities said the water crisis has delayed approvals for numerous projects, including the primary school, "due to the lack of water".

"We cannot entitle projects until we can prove there is a water supply available for them," East Palo Alto assistant city manager Sean Charpentier was quoted as saying.

The school project stems from Chan's passion to alleviate the effects of poverty on children. A former elementary science teacher, Chan hopes to take a holistic approach to address health and other issues that hamper children's well-being and learning from a young age, www.mercurynews.com had reported earlier.

Although it was unclear how the water crisis in East Palo Alto may impede the construction of the school, a spokesperson for the school said it would open in a temporary space in the fall. "We look forward to continuing to work with the city on permits for a permanent location," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The primary school was announced in October last year will enroll students pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It also aims to integrate a range of healthcare services, including mental health and prenatal care, into the facilities.

The couple recently announced to give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares -- or $45 billion -- in their lifetime to charity causes.

Declaring the "Chan Zuckerberg Initiative" in December last year as they welcomed their first girl child Maxima Chan Zuckerberg or "Max", the couple said the foundation would initially focus on "personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities."

"As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation," they posted in a 2,200-word letter to their new-born daughter on Facebook.

"We will give 99 percent of our Facebook shares during our lives to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others," the couple wrote.

Facebook currently has over 1.65 billion monthly active users.
As Lag Bomer approaches, anyone who has been fortunate enough to pour their hearts out at the Tanna Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai recalls these sweet memories. The singing and dancing with other Jews from all walks of life until the wee hours of the night is an experience that bonds itself with the soul.

Why is Meron such an enchanted place, especially on Lag Bomer?

The Talmudteaches that during the time of Rabbi Akiva, 24,000 of his students died from a divinely sent plague during the counting of the Omer. The Talmud related that this plague happened because the students did not show proper respect towards one another; they were jealous of each other and competed to see who could reach the highest levels of spirituality by putting their friend down. Miraculously on the 33rd day of the Omer this plague stopped. Rebbe Akiva was left with only 5 students, one being the Tanna Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai.

The Holy Tanna Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) grew in his Torah learning to become a gigantic luminary for his generation and for all generations to come. Rashbis life spanned many important periods throughout our nations history. He saw the Holy Temple and its destruction while thousands of Jews were being led to their deaths by the Romans. He witnessed the destruction of Beitar and the cruel deaths of the Ten Martyrs.

As the Talmud recounts, Rebbe Shimon felt the Romans would soon come for him fearing for his life, he and his son fled to the caves of Tekoa. For twelve years they delved into the depths of Torah while surviving on the carob tree and water spring that Hashem miraculous provided for them. After 12 years, Elijah the Prophet came and stood at the entrance to the cave and said, Who will notify Bar Yochai that the Caesar has died and the decree is nullified? Upon hearing that, Rebbe Shimon and his son came out of the cave and started to return home. However, unable to handle the mundane world, they went back into their cave for another 12 months to ease their way back into the physical world.

History of Meron

On the 33rd day of the Omer, Rebbe Shimon left this world. The Zohar describes, he gathered his closest students together and shared with them the secrets of the Holy Torah. He told them that this day should be a day of rejoicing and celebration because it is my day of joy. The Zohar describes how as his bed was surrounded with a pillar of fire entering the cave floating on air, a Heavenly Voice called out, Come and gather for the hillulah of Rebbe Shimon.

The tradition of celebrating the hillulah has spanned thousands of generations. Rav Chaim Vital describes the Arizal visiting Meron on Lag Bomer. In the 15th Century thousands would travel from all over Asia and Africa to visit Meron on this holy day. Families came from as far as Damascus and Baghdad. Bonfires were lit in honor of the Rashbi and people would dance and study Zohar the whole night. Later in history, The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh got off his donkey and crawled up the mountain with his hands and feet to celebrate this holy day, and when he reached the top he was overcome with emotion and was very joyous on this special occasion. Today, hundreds of thousands of Jews flock to Meron for the largest Jewish gathering in the world, to unload their burden and daven for salvation. They dance together the whole night in celebration of this holy day.

Chai Rotel Segulah

Rav Aharon of Karlin says that all those who believe in Rebbe Shimon will be uplifted by Rebbe Shimon. Countless people have seen tremendous yeshuos either for children, marriage, livelihood, or health, because they have contributed to increasing the simcha of Lag Bomer in Meron.

The Taamei HaMinchagim says that numerous people have been helped by donating Chai Rotel for the seuda in Meron. Rotel is an ancient measurement and 18 rotel is roughly 54 liters of wine. The practice of donating money for food and drinks in Meron is supported by such luminaries like Rav Ovadia MBartenura and the Sheloh Hakadosh. Rabbi Yehudah Leib Horenstein, Tal LeYisroel, writes that he met two people on Lag Bomer in Meron that donated Chai Rotel and had children after more than 10 years of marriage. The Bobover Rav, The Kedushas Tzion, sent a letter from Poland to his Chassidim in Israel asking them to donate chai rotel in Meron on this holy day on behalf of a couple that did not have children.

Power of the Rashbi

The Sages explain that miracles were routine for Rebbe Shimon and the Talmud describes many stories about the miraculous wonders Rebbe Shimon performed even after he has left this world. The Arizal says, On Lag Bomer the Tanna Rashbi stands at his holy resting place and blesses each and every person that comes to pray there and rejoice in his name on his holy Yartzeit.

On the day Rebbe Shimon left this world, a fire was ignited that will never be extinguished. On each and every Lag Bomer, sparks fly from the fire to ignite the hearts and minds of all the Jews present, inspiring them to turn their lives back towards Hashem. It was non-other than Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai who proclaimed, I can absolve this whole generation from judgment.

Preparing for this Year

More than 430 years ago, the first Rashbi hachnassas orchim group was formed to prepare for the special days gigantic crowds. In 1998, Rabbi Yehoshua Biderman founded Yeshuos Rashbi to continue this tradition.

Yeshuos Rashbi has begun their preparations to accommodate the largest Jewish gathering in the world. The tents are already set up and our staff has spent sleepless nights preparing for thousands of visitors and getting ready to host the single largest Seudah Hilulah for Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron. We are preparing hundreds of tables, thousands of chairs and over 15,000 portions- more than 1.5 tons of meat to accommodate the largest crowd ever. And of course, we have bought thousands of liters of drinks and hundreds of pounds of cake to give out as Chai Rotel.

Every year the crowds increase and more and more people travel to daven at the resting place of the holy Tanna. It is known that the kever of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochi is steeped in ancient majesty. Everyone who visits the site feels a strong spiritual stirring, an incredible longing to cleave to Hashem. The soul yearns to be with its Creator; a pathway opens and stretches directly toward Heaven. Even if you are thousands of miles away, now you too can have a part in creating joining in this. Help Yeshuos Rashbi prepare for the largest Seudas Hilulah in Meron by generously donating Chai Rotel. By increasing simcha on Lag Bomer, Hashem will surely increase the simcha in your life. Donate today by visiting www.yeshuosrashbi.com or call 718-705-8430 or e-mail [email protected].
The success stories behind Israeli hi-tech companies greatly contribute to helping establish extensive technological cooperation between Israel and countries around the world. One such collaboration growing stronger year by year is that between Israel and the Canadian Province of Ontario. Cooperation between the two states has been ongoing for more than a decade and their joint R&D program has already yielded impressive technological achievements  for both the countries and their companies. Representatives of Israel and Ontario will sign an agreement to increase the joint funding they offer to companies at a value of $2 million annually, and to budget an extra $5 million a year for cooperation between Israeli and Canadian industries and universities.

The signing of the expanded agreement is taking place within the framework of an official visit by the Premier of the Province of Ontario. She arrived in Israel with the largest official tech delegation ever to come from Canada, including 180 businesspeople, heads of organizations, industrialists and researchers from Canadas finest universities, seeking to do business with Israeli companies and entrepreneurs. Half of the members of the delegation are businesspeople focusing on manufacturing and promoting technological opportunities between the two countries.

According to the Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, Mr. Avi Hasson: Canada is a wonderful option for any Israeli company interested in establishing its presence in North America. The Canadians see Israel as a significant hub of innovation and they are here to forge new collaborative relationships in several technological fields, including cleantech, biotech, med-tech and medical devices, IT, cyber-security, energy and e-Health, projects that can benefit both sides.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Former Shas party leader Eli Yishai on Tuesday 16 Iyar spoke with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) about his tenure as the party leader and the damage caused as a result of the investigation going on against Deri today.

He stated rabbonim and senior Shas officials have turned to him to speak about when he was party leader things were quiet and they feel the ongoing investigation into alleged illegal activities by Deri has damaged the party. When asked to rate how he feels the party is performing today he declined.

Yishai explained they did not approach him to return, adding he wishes Deri the best despite the fact they are known to be political adversaries.

Responding to Yishai remarks via twitter, Deputy Elad Mayor Tzuriel Krisfel stated without a doubt correct. It was quiet while the lifes work was totally silenced, total paralysis during his time.

Yishai then commented on Naftali Bennetts insistence on appointing a military secretary to the cabinet to teach and prepare ministers how to understand intelligence briefings. He feels a military secretary is unnecessary, adding there is a protocol in place and if followed, it is sufficient.

Regarding the resignation of Defense Minister Yaalon and the expected addition of Yisrael Beitenu to the coalition, he feels Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu erred and should have left Yaalon in his post, labeling him professional and ethical and while he does not agree with all his policy decisions, he does not agree with all of Liebermans policies which includes a plan that calls for the division of Yerushalayim.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
There were controversies at Tel Aviv and Bar Ilan Universities surrounding Holocaust Remembrance Day and Independence Day events addressing kol isha. In addition, there was a dispute at Hebrew University when frum female students asked for a mechitzah at a prom.

The next venue is back in the capital, surrounding a Students Day event. Jerusalem City Hall legal advisor Eli Malka issued an expert legal opinion against separate Student Day events for religious and secular students.

According to the Channel 2 News report, religious and chareidi student representatives have requested NIS 300,000 from City Hall to permit organizing a separate Student Day even for them rather than having one for all students, religious and secular. The event is scheduled to take place in about ten days. They explain that they simply do not feel comfortable at the planned event for the secular students and want their own, adding the request represents some 2,000 dati leumi and chareidi students.

When the secular representatives heard of the sum requested for the alternative event they expressed opposition, insisting there should only be a single event for everyone.

The issue was resolved by Malkas ruling, who cited his decision has nothing to do with funding but rather the fact there should be one event for all the students and there should not be a division based on gender or religious observance. He added that this is his opinion including cases in which the public wishes to have segregation.

Mayor Nir Barkats office intervened and will fund the events and the issue of a mechitzah or any type of separation will be left to the various student councils to work out.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Bchasdei Hashem another attempted stabbing attack was prevented and the female terrorist was shot dead. This occurred on Monday, 15 Iyar at about 2:30PM as a female terrorist ran at border police at the Ras Bidu Checkpoint north of Jerusalem.

Police became suspicious of the approaching female and ordered her to stop. They fired warning shots in the air in line with standard operational protocol. She continued and began running towards them as she pulled a knife from her purse. She was shot and killed.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
House Democrats plan to make the case Tuesday that impeaching the IRS chief is a waste of time and would require a full-blown investigation that could not come close to wrapping up by the end of this session of Congress.

Outlining their strategy for whats shaping up as a partisan hearing on four articles of impeachment Republicans have introduced against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Democrats say theyll argue that the tax collector committed no misdeeds as Congress investigated a scandal that predated him.

Theres a real sense that, looking at the same evidence found by all of these committees and [the inspector general], there was no personal wrongdoing on the commissioners watch, a Democratic staff member close to the lawmakers thinking said.

The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee has been long sought by Republicans still aggrieved over the agencys extra scrutiny of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. It will unfold without its main character: The tax collector himself.

Koskinen, accused of mishandling Republican requests for documents and flouting a subpoena for the emails of retired IRS official Lois Lerner, the central figure in the case, declined the committees request to testify.

His aides said he returned to Washington from a trip to China on May 13, the same day committee Republicans announced they would hold the first of two hearings to consider impeaching him. He did not have time to prepare for the hearing, his staff said.

But Democrats who have defended the IRS as their GOP colleagues have declared war on the agency, its budget and its employees in recent years say theyll put up as many roadblocks as they can.

For one thing, theyll argue that impeachment involves a lot of red tape: A new subcommittee to investigate. A separate staff. Cross-examination of witnesses. Lengthy debates. And Congress, which has just few days left on the legislative calendar before it breaks in July for the fall campaign, would not have time for all that.

And with a few dozen working days left until recess, were doing this? will also be a theme, the Democratic staffer said.

The committee is considering action it has not taken since 1876, the last time the House impeached an administration official who was not a president. (The man in the hot seat was Secretary of War William W. Belknap, who was accused of corruption. He resigned before the proceedings were over).

Democrats also will note that the Senate has shown no appetite to convict Koskinen if he were impeached. Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, made that clear last week.

The hearing puts Democrats in an odd role: The only two witnesses they will grill are GOP colleagues on the committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who also heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and has led the charge for impeachment and Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.

Can they really raise their voices at the lawmakers they have to work with every day?

Its members, the Democratic staffer said. Were not going to yell at other members.

Koskinen was brought in by President Obama in December 2013, after the scandal erupted. The Republicans case against him revolves around testimony he gave to Congress several months later.

He told lawmakers he would turn over all of the emails they sought from Lerner, but some of her communications were later found to have been erased.

Democrats on the oversight committee put out a Fact v. Fiction document late Monday that refutes each of the four articles of impeachment. Among the rejoinders: Koskinen did not lie to Congress, and he was not aware that some of Lerners emails could not be recovered when he told lawmakers he would produce all of them.

The Justice Department closed its investigation of the case last fall, finding mismanagement but no criminal behavior.

House Republicans have been determined to take action, though. Chaffetz introduced a resolution last week to censure the tax collector in case impeachment does not have enough support.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Lisa Rein
Feverish preparations are underway at the Niklesburg Beis Medrash as it launches once again its annual Lag BOmer celebration. The central Lag BOmer event in Boro Park, the hadlakah and dancing under the auspices of Grand Rabbi Mordechai Jungreis shlita draw thousands of revelers each year. Thanks to the lively and elevated atmosphere, the celebration has earned itself the title of MeronNiklesburg!

This years festivities will take place on Wednesday night May 25th in front of the shul at 4912 16th Avenue. As in previous years, there will be a designated area for women across the street. To accommodate the ever-growing crowds, there will be even more cold drinks and light refreshments prepared this year. Everyone will also have the opportunity to light candles in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, whose light spread throughout the world through the Torah he taught.

The bonfire and dancing are meant to recreate the sublime atmosphere of unbounded joy and spiritual elevation experienced by all who attend Lag BOmer in Meron. One man who traveled to Meron many times for Lag BOmer was disappointed when he was forced to remain in America one year. After attending the dancing at Niklesburg he reported excitedly that he found the experience just as uplifting, albeit on a smaller scale. That intense feeling of sublime joy draws a crowd of thousands each year, some even arriving from upstate to participate. For many, the cheer and friendliness that prevail at the Niklesburg Lag BOmer event is something they look forward to throughout the year.

The annual festivities had their humble beginning approximately 10 years ago when Rabbi Jungreis stepped out of the Beis Medrash with a few of his devoted followers and began dancing on the sidewalk. Passersby who were attracted by the lively dancing and singing joined in, and slowly the crowd grew. The following year more people joined and since then the gathering has expanded with each passing year.

The growth of the Lag BOmer celebration mirrors the Rebbes success in reviving the Woodbourne shul for the summer vacation season. Beginning with a sign that announced All Are Welcome, he now presides over a phenomenon that draws tens of thousands of people throughout the summer each year. In fact, the Rebbe spent considerable over the past year overseeing upgrades and other details to ensure the shul will again be ready to accommodate the summer crowds.

The gala Lag BOmer event features the Rebbe lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the street. He leads the crowd in singing moving zemiros in addition to the standard Lag BOmer melodies. The dancing stretches for a block or more as the streets are closed off to traffic, while live music creates the backdrop for the dancing. The jovial atmosphere draws in all who attend; at Niklesburg everyone is at home.

Last year the festivities included a long line of people who passed by single-file as the Rebbe dispensed cups of the finest olive oil to all. Everyone had the opportunity to participate by pouring oil onto the pyre, so that the resultant bonfire radiated and pulsated with achdus. The explosive growth of the crowd required the last-minute addition of more barricades as an extra block was closed off to accommodate the dancing.

At the center of the celebration, of course, the Niklesburg Rebbe shlita greets everyone with his trademark warmth and openness that have made his Beis Medrash, the Jungreis Chesed Center, a second home to so many. The Rebbe does not think twice about removing his shtreimel and placing it on the head of a bachur who is struggling in finding his shidduch, as he dances with the boy and showers him with blessings that find his basherte soon.

This year Boro Park will again enjoy a taste of Meron in New York as the community joins Niklesurg in rejoicing in the hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The full program begins with a mass public Sefiras HaOmer after Maariv and will again include the public hadlakah, live music and hours of joyous dancing. Those who wish will have the opportunity to add olive oil to the bonfire in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

Be sure to stop and greet the Rebbe shlita and receive his blessings!

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The following is via ABC News:

Thieves robbed a New York City bank over the weekend, apparently by cutting a wide hole in the roof, police said, noting that the sophisticated heist at the Maspeth Federal Savings branch in Rego Park, Queens, is the tenth of its kind across New York City.

A bank employee first saw the gaping hole in the roof of the building upon arriving for work shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday, police said. A ladder was also found in the back of the bank. The hole apparently gave the thieves access to the vault area, which houses safety deposit boxes and tellers cash.

There is wood on the roof. They cut directly through the metal that sits underneath there. They go after the safety deposit boxes, normally this crew, New York Police Department Detectives Bureau Chief Robert Boyce told ABC News. They are pros, because they cut the video cameras.

An unknown amount of safety deposit boxes, which customers rent from the bank to keep important documents, valuable jewelry and other prized possessions, were found to have been removed from the vault. Police discovered dozens of empty boxes piled on the roof of the building.

Generally, they seek to get the boxes inside and they just stack them up on the roof and they go through it, Boyce said.

The burglary is part of a 10-case pattern across the city thats been occurring since 2011, Boyce said. The one at the Maspeth Federal Savings branch is likely connected to another through-the-roof raid that happened in Brooklyns Borough Park in April, in which thieves pilfered nearly $300,000, Boyce said. No arrests have been made in any of the cases and the investigation is ongoing, police said.

Maspeth Federal Savings released a statement Monday, saying its Rego Park branch will remain closed while authorities conduct a forensic investigation over the coming days. ABC News reached out to bank employees for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.

Maspeth Federal Savings is a community bank and this burglary really hits home, the bank said on its Facebook page. The full extent of what was stolen is still being determined but includes a number of safe deposit boxes and tellers cash, which is kept in the same area.

(Source: ABC News)
Live video feeds from cameras across Hartford, Connecticut, light up a wall of flat-screen monitors in a high-tech room at the citys old police department, while computers take in data from license plate readers and a gunshot detection system.

The departments new Real-Time Crime and Data Intelligence Center, unveiled by city officials in February, helps officers on the streets find suspects and avoid harm by quickly giving them crucial information, police officials say.

Although open only a few months, the center has assisted officers in hundreds of criminal cases that have resulted in arrests, said Sgt. Johnmichael OHare, who leads the operation.

Its huge, he said about the new capabilities. It provides them real-time intelligence.

New York City opened the first-of-its-kind Real Time Crime Center in 2005, and other large cities followed suit. Smaller cities are now opening their own centers after acquiring surveillance cameras, gunshot detectors and other technology.

Real time crime centers have opened in the past year in Hartford; Wilmington, Delaware; and Springfield, Massachusetts. Others are in the works in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Modesto, California; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Staff members at the centers are able to monitor surveillance video and tell officers at crime scenes about suspects movements. They enter names into criminal and private company databases and relay virtual dossiers on people to police. They also tap into surveillance cameras at schools and businesses  after getting permission in a process agreed upon beforehand  to help police respond to active shooters and other crimes. Much of the information, including video feeds, is sent to officers cellphones.

The centers reflect law enforcements growing reliance on technology, which in turn has raised some privacy concerns from civil liberties advocates. Many cities are using federal grants and drug forfeiture money to help pay for the centers, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up.

The American Civil Liberties Union says there is a lack of general rules to limit privacy invasions and abuse of surveillance technology by police. The ACLU also is concerned about how long police departments retain camera footage and other surveillance data.

The public really needs to be consulted and there needs to be a debate, said David McGuire, legislative and policy director of the ACLU of Connecticut, which is keeping an eye on real time crime centers in the state.

In December, the ACLU of Northern California criticized Fresno police for using social media surveillance software without the publics consent. One software program, the ACLU said, suggested identifying potential threats to public safety by tracking hashtags related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Another program assigned threat levels to residents, the ACLU said.

Police told The Fresno Bee newspaper that they were only testing the software during free trials for possible use against violent crime and terrorism, and were not tracking Black Lives Matter on social media.

Civil liberties advocates also have concerns about airports and how many police departments are now using facial recognition software to track and identify people, saying such software is known for mistakes.

The Hartford center doesnt use facial recognition, but officials say that could come in the future.

Police Chief James Rovella said city authorities are dedicated to respecting peoples civil rights.

On a recent day, a crime analyst at the Hartford center reviewed surveillance video of a man firing a gun at someone in a playground, then running into a nearby house. The houses address was visible, and she did a computer search on whether anyone in the house had a criminal record. The search came back with a booking photo of the shooting suspect, and he was later arrested, police said.

Its such a great asset having everybody under one roof, said OHare. Its all about transfer of information.

(AP)
Each year, over 300,000 people from Israel and around the world, gather together for 24 hours in the small Israeli mountain village of Meron, to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer. The countryside will light up with thousands of bonfires in a celebration of light, Torah, and the great Jewish mystic and sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. This many people in such a small space also means people faint, get sick, get hurt, or worse (God forbid) which is why United Hatzalah of Israel is already investing a tremendous amount of infrastructure and manpower to provide emergency medical care to the people of Israel in Meron.



The main challenge in providing first response care during the massive event each year in Meron is the sheer density of the celebrants as well as the inability to reach and or evacuate an injured person quickly. With 300,000 people cramming themselves into a small village and each and every one of them wanting to go to the graveside and pray at the site itself, the challenge can be overwhelming if not impossible, said United Hatzalahs Director of Operations, David Krispel.



In preparation for the yearly pilgrimage which this year will occur on May 25th-26th, United Hatzalah has already begun setting up two on-site medical clinics, a mobile command center, two first aid positions inside the graveside itself. During the holiday itself, there will be at 300 United Hatzalah medics, 100 ambucycles, and will have on site up to 14 teams of medics patrolling the event at any given time.

United Hatzalahs services are free, universal and 24/7. Our volunteer EMTs, paramedics and doctors work for free out of their love for the Jewish people. The cost for United Hatzalahs operation in Meron is $60,000.



Now is your chance to help United Hatzalah safeguard and protect the people of Israel in Meron. Because this is part of our Israel120 campaign, all donations will be worth double. Donors who wish to give $360 can have their names on a wall of life inside United Hatzalahs mobile command center in Meron. Donate today and know that your contribution will help fulfill the mitzvah of saving lives in Meron.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Councilman David G. Greenfield held a rally today on the steps of City Hall to call for renewed and enhanced funding to his popular NYC Cleanup Initiative, which provides funding for each City Council member to clean the streets and sidewalks of their districts. Joining Greenfield in support of the initiative were several other members of the City Council, including Councilmembers Mark Treyger, Vanessa Gibson, Vincent Gentile, Costa Constantinides and Margaret Chin, as well as community organizations including ACE New York, the Doe Fund, Fedcap Wildcat, and the Center for Employment Opportunities. This year, Greenfield is calling for funding to the initiative to be increased by about $2 million to continue to build on the success it has demonstrated in previous years.

Greenfield launched the NYC Cleanup Initiative in 2014 with the aim of keeping neighborhoods throughout the city free of litter and graffiti. The program allows Councilmembers to decide which groups in their district should receive funding to clean up their neighborhoods, allowing them to make decisions based on which areas of their community have the greatest need.

The NYC Cleanup Initiative has had impressive results. In the last year alone, thanks to the NYC Cleanup Initiative, approximately 250,000 bags of garbage have been collected from city streets. Over 600 new garbage cans have been purchased and placed in areas where they are needed throughout the city. More than 800 electronic devices have been collected in e-waste collection drives. And a whole range of services have been provided through the initiative, including planting, tree guard installation, bagging, litter basket pickups, street sweeping, snow removal, and more.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the NYC Cleanup Initiative provides thousands of good jobs for people who need them. Groups that have received funding through the initiative include ACE New York and The Doe Fund, which help to find jobs for the homeless and people battling substance abuse problems. Fedcap Wildcat and the Center for Employment Opportunities, which are also funded through the program, offer jobs to ex-offenders as they work to rebuild their lives.

The NYC Cleanup Initiative is about more than keeping our neighborhoods clean, Greenfield said. This is about creating good jobs for people who our society has too often left behind. The jobs created through the NYC Cleanup Initiative offer a path to sustainable success for those who need a hand up as they work to rebuild their lives.

Community groups and Councilmembers joined Greenfield in calling for funding for the NYC Cleanup Initiative to be renewed and enhanced in the coming fiscal year:

Councilmember Greenfield is showing us what a truly progressive city looks like: where jobs are created for those in need and neighborhoods are made cleaner and safer for our families. This is much more than just a street cleaning initiative. Its a program that delivers on our citys promise of opportunity, equality, and quality of life not for a single block, or a street, or an avenue, but for all of us, the people of New York.  George T. McDonald, Founder & President, The Doe Fund

Councilman Greenfields initiative is one of the best initiatives that has ever come out of the New York City Council. Why? Number one, we are responding directly to the number one quality-of-life complaint we receive. Number two, who benefits? Our small businesses, our neighborhoods.  and Number three, which is equally important, I think my colleagues would agree, we are creating good paying jobs for the hard-working people of New York.  Councilmember Mark Treyger

I am so thankful for the leadership of my colleague from Brooklyn, Councilmember David Greenfield. I am so excited because when you look at the work that the NYC Cleanup has done, we are not only creating good-paying jobs, but we are helping to stabilize families and we are doing it in a way that we can beautify and make a clean New York.  Councilmember Vanessa Gibson

I want to thank the King of Clean, David Greenfield. This initiative will bring clean, clean, clean to the neighborhoods and will provide jobs, jobs, jobs, and thats why this initiative is a win, win, win.  Councilmember Vincent Gentile

Through the NYC Cleanup, we have cleaned more than 220 sites across Staten Island, removing tons of debris, thousands of contractor-bags of trash and litter, and cleared weeds and graffiti from dozens of other locations. NYC Cleanup is a hugely successful program because it is provides almost immediate, tangible improvements to our communities and the quality of life of our residents.  Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo

I fully support the renewal of the NYC Cleanup Intitiative as it has made a tremendous difference in my district. Weve been able to target trouble spots for regular maintenance, as well as send in requests on an as-needed basis. I believe that the presence of our Clean Team also has a valuable lead by example effect in the community. Homeowners, business owners, and especially the elderly appreciate this initiative as it helps with the upkeep of highly trafficked areas and creates a more desirable community in which to live and work.  Councilmember Joe Borelli

Clean streets and sidewalks bring benefits to all community members. The NYC Cleanup Initiative gives us added resources to keep our sidewalks litter-free for residents, visitors, shoppers, and tourists alike. It also helps organizations provide jobs to the men and women who work hard to keep our streets clean. I join Council Member Greenfield and my colleagues in asking for enhancements to this initiative so that our sidewalks can continue to look clear and litter-free.  Councilmember Costa Constantinides

The NYC Cleanup Initiative benefits all New Yorkers. I strongly support the renewal and expansion of this important initiative which keeps our streets clean and employs those working to rebuild their lives. NYC Cleanup provides indispensable services to my district and I join my colleagues in calling for its enhancement.  Councilmember Daniel Dromm

Sanitation is basic quality of life need for all New Yorkers, and the NYC Cleanup Initiative has proven a resounding success allowing for an extra two days of cleanup in downtown Flushing. I fully support expanding and enhancing this important program.  Councilmember Peter Koo

The supplemental sanitation and maintenance services provided through the NYC Cleanup Initiative go a long way in improving the aesthetics and cleanliness of our communities. The local jobs created through the initiative help to mitigate the problem of lack of employment, so its an all-around win for our Citys residents. -Councilmember Fernando Cabrera

Ive been very pleased with the results of the Cleanup Initiative in the 34th District. Broadway is cleaner thanks to the work of ACE, the plaza on Borinquen is ready for spring thanks to the Hort, and Greater Ridgewood Restoration has been able to expand its graffiti removal services. Together with the new Mayoral CleaNYC initiative and the work of the Department of Sanitation, these services help keep our communities clean and safe.  Councilmember Antonio Reynoso

In the last two years, the NYC Cleanup Initiative has made a noticeable impact on both the appearance of our neighborhoods, and the livelihoods of citizens seeking to rejoin the workforce. My district continues to benefit from the array of services provided by Fedcap-Wildcat Services Corporation, and its capabilities have broadened in that same time. Increasing funding for this initiative to one-hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) per member will only help to employ more men and women to aid in the beautification of our city. I echo Councilman Greenfields call for the renewal of the NYC Cleanup Initiative as well as enhanced funding for each Member.  Councilmember Ruben Wills.

(YWN Desk  NYC)
By Hannah Levin

On May 25, the United States Senate will celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month by officially recognizing several outstanding Jewish Americans who have greatly enriched the fabric of American life. Prominent Members of the US Senate will be participating and heralding the accomplishments of this years honorees who include:

Rabbi Hillel Zaltzman of Chamah, who was born in Kharkov, Ukraine. His family fled the Nazis to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he grew up. When simply being a Jew posed a grave danger, sixteen-year old Hillel entered the Jewish underground-whose mandate was to keep Judaism alive in the crosshairs of the KGB by carrying out missions throughout the Soviet Union. Zaltzman immigrated to America in 1974. In his widely-acclaimed literary work, Samarkand, The Undergrounds Far Reaching Impact, Zaltzman transports the reader to times gone-by, painting a graphic picture of legendary heroes by describing in vivid detail the fascinating story of the self-sacrifice of a small group of Jews who bravely fought the mighty, brutal Soviet regime, and prevailed.

Thomas B. Corby, President of the LA based Erwin Rautenberg Charitable Foundation, whose support has enabled the USC Shoah Foundation, Jewish Home for Aging, Holocaust Survivors Justice Network, and The JVS Scholarship Fund. Mr. Corby is a major force behind the humanitarian work of these organizations. His generosity and tireless support has literally turned around the lives of thousands. Mrs. Ruth Lichtenstein, founder of Project Witness, will be recognized for her trailblazing accomplishments in the realm of Holocaust education. Project Witness offers groundbreaking resources for Holocaust education while remaining deeply committed to its unique mission of exploring the spiritual, ethical, and intellectual responses of Holocaust survivors and victims. By focusing on the character, identity, and faith of survivors and victims alike, Project Witness serves to ensure that their legacy guides us and future generations toward a more hopeful future.

J. Morton Davis, owner and Chairman of D.H. Blair Investment Banking Corp. The over 400 companies for which he has raised more than $3 billion have created countless jobs and have added exciting new products including breakthrough drugs, unique electronic and telecommunications products. Mr. Davis served on the Board of trustees of Yeshiva University and on the Board of Sy Syms School of Business.

Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of the Foundation For Ethnic Understanding, is an international figure who is renowned for his dedication to strengthening cooperation and reconciliation among ethnic and religious communities most notably in the field of Black-Jewish Relations. Rabbi Schneier is the author of Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community.

This event will be co-chaired by Greg Rosenbaum, whose leadership has greatly enhanced the Jewish Heritage celebrations on Capitol Hill; Hon. Norman Eisen, former Ambassador to the Czech Republic; Assemblymember Phil Goldfeder; Stanley Treitel, Co-Chair of the Wallenberg Commission; and coordinated by The Friedlander Group, under the stewardship of Mr. Ezra Friedlander who remarked that this years honorees, literally represent the gamut of Jewish contributions to the United states, ranging from fighting for religious freedom, philanthropy, Holocaust remembrance and education, business achievements , civil rights, and successful integration of an immigrant community.
Donald Trump spent much of the Republican presidential primary contest inveighing against politicians for leaning on wealthy contributors for support. Now hes doing the same.

On Tuesday, some of the GOPs best-connected fundraisers signed on to help raise as much as $1 billion for Trump and the Republican National Committee, part of an effort to rapidly build out a finance operation that the candidate has lacked until now.

Half a dozen of the partys elite money players  including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks  have agreed to serve as vice chairs of the Trump Victory fund, a joint fundraising committee between Trumps campaign, the RNC and 11 state parties, the party announced Tuesday.

Johnson served as finance chairman for former Florida governor Jeb Bushs presidential bid, while Hendricks donated $5 million to a super PAC supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Corey Lewandowski, Trumps campaign manager, said that the candidate was not contradicting his stance on rich donors by accepting their help, noting that most of the money raised would go to the RNC for its national voter mobilization this fall.

That will benefit not only Mr. Trump, but all the races down ballot, he said, adding: I dont think its fair to say that an individual worth $10 billion will be indebted to someone who writes a check for $10 or $100.

In fact, the victory fund is seeking donations in far greater amounts. The first fundraiser, which Trump was set to headline Tuesday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, requires a $10,000 donation per person. Tickets for a high-priced dinner in Los Angeles Wednesday at the home of investor Thomas Barrack Jr. start at $25,000.

And a rich supporter who wants to give more could shell out as much as $449,400 to the joint committee, whose proceeds are split between the Trump campaign and the party.

Leading the effort to bring in big dollars are major financial backers of Trumps past rivals  even some he targeted as special interests who seek to control the agenda of the politicians they support.

Earlier this year, Trump regularly cited Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, as someone who would influence Bushs health care and pharmaceutical policies.

Nevertheless, his comments did not rankle the New York Jets owner, who has been friends with Trump for three decades, according to a person familiar with Johnsons views. Among the ties between the two men: Their daughters went to school together.

That kind of long-standing relationship that Trump has with wealthy business leaders has helped convert apprehension about the real estate developer into active support, donors said. The coalescing among the partys money class has been accelerated by antipathy to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Its the party unifying because they realize that Mrs. Clinton is not a viable choice, said Ron Weiser, who was a national co-chair for Sen. John McCains 2008 presidential campaign and is one of the new Trump Victory vice chairs. I think youre starting to see that across the board.

Just a few months ago, Florida developer Mel Sembler expressed dismay at the thought of Trump as the partys nominee. I kept telling myself that wont happen, that cant happen. . . . I now fear it may happen, he told the Tampa Bay Times in February.

Now Sembler, who helped lead fundraising for a pro-Bush super PAC, has agreed to serve as a vice chairman of the victory fund.

When asked why, Sembler responded in a text message: Trump will be the Republican Partys nominee.

As a sign of party unity, the past three RNC finance chairmen have come aboard the effort: Weiser, a former ambassador to Slovakia; Dallas investor Ray Washburne, who had been the national finance chairman for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; and Los Angeles venture capitalist Elliott Broidy, who serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

There is a truly a sense that were going to win this thing, that Trump can win it, Washburne said. Everyone is going to throw their shoulders behind it and put money behind it.

The operation is being led by Lew Eisenberg, the RNCs finance chairman, and getting a big boost from experienced finance staff at the party headquarters. Chairman Reince Priebus is even calling major fundraisers himself, asking them to host events.

The firepower reflects anxiety among senior GOP fundraisers about meeting Trumps declared goal of $1 billion  a sum that would require the committee to pull in average of $250 million a month during the next five months.

If everybody does their job, anything is possible, Weiser said. But thats a lot of hard money.

The team is finalizing a schedule of fundraisers and recruiting state finance chairs in each state.

An effort to actively solicit small donations online is also expected to kick off soon. That could provide a major infusion of cash for Trumps campaign, which could tap into the kind of online fundraising juggernaut that has helped power the bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clintons Democratic challenger.

Theres a real opportunity with the enthusiasm that people have for Donald Trump, said Henry Barbour, a Mississippi-based GOP strategist who serves as a RNC national committeeman. I think were going to find a lot of new low-dollar donors.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Matea Gold
The deal to bring the six-seat Yisrael Beitenu party into the coalition was completed during a meeting on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman moments ago signed the document, making it official.

The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Moshe Kahlon and Avigdor Lieberman met on late Tuesday night in the Prime Ministers Office seeking the final approval for Liebermans pension plan to assist senior citizens, which carries a hefty price tag. Kahlon raised numerous objections but the bottom line is the deal is signed.

What remains to be addressed are the demands from Bayit Yehudi and party leader Naftali Bennett, who is demanding the appointment of a military secretary to the cabinet to teach ministers what they need to know to make responsible decisions regarding defense and security matters. Bennett insists that until this demand is met, his party will not vote to approve Liebermans inclusion in the coalition.

When Liebermans party enters Knesset, the coalition will increase from 61 to 67 seats and Israels 66th Government will include Lieberman as Minister of Defense and Sofia Landver as Minister of Absorption.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) recently urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to reconsider changes within the Criminal Justice Reform Act that will downgrade dozens of quality-of life offenses to fines.

The legislation, consisting of eight bills, will reduce several criminal offenses including, possession of an open alcoholic beverage, public urination and after-dusk loitering in public parks to violations penalized with a ticket. Those who cannot pay the fine will then be assigned to community service.

We send the wrong message when elected officials pass legislation that diminishes the punishment for certain criminal violations, said an outraged Assemblyman Hikind. While certain violations dont warrant an arrest, simply issuing a ticket for public urination is ridiculous. By minimizing these types of crimes, we are playing with fire.

The Criminal Justice Reform Act will establish a system where repeat offenders will be penalized with escalating fines. City lawmakers acknowledged that repeated offenders could be dealt with through criminal reinforcement, however details on harsher punishment for these non-criminal violations are still being worked out.

Certain violations are more egregious than others; Rather than altering the punishment for those offenses, lets allow the worlds greatest police force to do their job, Hikind suggested.

Advocates of the legislation pointed out the disproportionate arrests and charges brought up on nonwhites for violations that often leave minorities with damaging criminal records.

It is obvious to all conscientious people that the criminal justice system has had a disproportionately negative effect on black, brown and poor communities, Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams said. The unequal enforcement of law and practices that happen in communities of color has had lasting intergenerational effects on families and neighborhoods, systematically destroying the futures of so many.

This legislation will prove to be counter-productive in terms of lowering our crime rate, regardless of the criminals religion, race or creed because you provide perpetrators with an outlet to be slapped on the wrist with a fine, Hikind said.

(YWN Desk  NYC)
Jerusalem Fire Service spokesman Udi Gal explains that if the first firetruck arriving on the scene of the blaze on Shimon Agassi Street in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem came a few minutes later, the outcome would have been disastrous chas vsholom.

The call for the fire in a 64 Agassi Street apartment came shortly at 4:00AM. When firefighters arrived they saw members of the family screaming from the balcony to save them, trapped by the blaze that engulfed their entire home.

Firemen did not hesitate and the first chore at hand was to pull the people trapped inside to safety. The couple and their children were Bchasdei Hashem extricated from the blaze, transported to a local hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. Gal adds the damage to the apartment is extensive.

Shaare Zedek Hospital reports the parents and their two children, a 20-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, all arrived in the emergency room during the predawn hours. They are all being treated for smoke inhalation. The mother and two children are listed in light condition and the father, about 60, is in moderate condition, medically sedated and on assisted breathing.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Speaking to Channel 2 News minutes after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman signed a coalition agreement, Minister (Likud) Yariv Levin, who is close to PM Netanyahu, expressed his delight with the expanded coalition. He explains that now the cabinet will not have to walk on eggshells fearing any one person could bring down the coalition.

When asked to comment on Naftali Bennetts ultimatum he explained the place to discuss this was around the cabinet table and not in the media. Levin explained that while Bennetts demand for the appointment of a cabinet military secretary may have merit, once again Bennett turned his back on the coalition and while others were trying to enlarge the coalition he was issuing ultimatums to the media no less. Levin feels Bennett is out of order and giving PM Netanyahu ultimatums as he is about to bring another party into the coalition is unacceptable.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Like many former Americans whom have entered Knesset before him, Yehuda Glick had to give up his American citizens to permit taking the oath of office as the newest Likud party Member of Knesset. He replaces Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, whose resignation went into effect on Sunday, 14 Iyar.

Israeli law does not permit one to serve as a MK if one has citizenship from other countries in addition to Israel. Glick on Wednesday morning 17 Iyar verified that he already arrived at the US Embassy and signed the necessary papers to give up his American citizenship.

He told the media that he hopes he will be a Good shaliach of HKBH and be MeKadesh Shem Shomayim with his actions as a MK.

When taking the oath of office in Knesset on Wednesday, he recited the bracha of Shehechiyanu with Shem UMalchus.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Donald Trump says he is only asking wealthy donors for their money because the Republican National Committee wants him to.

In an interview with The Associated Press, thats how the presumptive GOP presidential nominee explained his about-face from self-funded candidate to one who relies on campaign contributions. Trump is holding his first fundraisers this week, including a $25,000-per-ticket dinner Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The RNC really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit, Trump said in a phone interview with the AP. Cause I was very happy to continue to go along the way I was.

Trumps personal investment in his quest for the White House has been a point of pride, a boast making its way into nearly every rally and interview. Through the end of April, the billionaire businessman had lent his campaign at least $43 million, enough to pay for most of his primary bid.

By self-funding my campaign, I am not controlled by my donors, special interests or lobbyists. I am working only for the people of the U.S.! he wrote on Twitter in September.

With this weeks fundraisers, which also included a small gathering Tuesday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Trump gains hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars but loses his ability to accurately claim independence from donors.

Trumps voters repeatedly have cited that as a top reason they back him. Its not clear how they will react now.

Perhaps to assuage those voter concerns, Trump is trying to promote his fundraising agreement as beneficial to other Republicans, not his own campaign.

The deal itself shows Trump comes first.

For every check he solicits  and donors can give almost $450,000 apiece  the first $5,400 goes to Trumps primary and general election campaign accounts. The rest is spread among the RNC and 11 state parties.

The RNC can use its money to help Republican candidates for Senate and House. However, Trumps team and Republican officials also have said the RNC plans to take the lead on major presidential campaign activities such as voter identification and turnout.

Asked by the AP if he sees a contradiction in asking for money after repeatedly saying he stood above the other candidates because he didnt, Trump said, No, because Im raising money for the party. And if I didnt do it this way, I wouldnt be able to raise money for the party.

There is no requirement that a presidential candidates fundraising agreement with the party include his or her own campaign. That is, Trump could have continued to self-fund his campaign and simultaneously helped raise money for the RNC.

Trump also first denied to the AP that he is raising any money for the primary. Reminded of the terms of the fundraising agreement, he then said primary donations dont really count because he already has defeated his GOP rivals.

He promised not to use any donor money to pay down his loans. That means he has until the Republican convention in late July to spend any primary contributions he collects.

Despite Trumps comments to the AP that he would have carried on self-funding if not for the RNC, in other media interviews he has expressed a reluctance to sell buildings or other assets to pay for a costly general election.

It would be foolish for him to unilaterally disarm against Hillary Clinton, said Roger Stone, Trumps friend and informal political adviser, when asked about why Trump decided to take donations.

Trumps likely opponent, the former secretary of state, aims to have $1 billion for her bid, through her campaign, the Democratic Party and outside groups.

The presumptive GOP nominees still-forming fundraising team, led by Steven Mnuchin, Trumps national finance chairman, and Lew Eisenberg, the RNCs national finance chairman, is rushing to schedule events.

Trump and the RNC on Tuesday announced new additions to the financial operation, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, roofing company owner Diane Hendricks and former Ambassador Mel Sembler, who each helped raise major money for previous presidential candidates.

Earlier this year Trump singled out Johnson, predicting that his fundraising for Jeb Bush would influence Bushs positions on prescription drug policies. Johnsons family founded the Johnson & Johnson medical and pharmaceutical company.

At the Wednesday fundraiser, donors will hobnob with Trump at a reception and dinner at the Los Angeles home of his friend and fellow real estate investor Tom Barrack, whose publicist said he is passionate about surfing and horses and is the son of hard-working Lebanese parents.

The price of admission includes a photo with Trump.

Eisenberg said the Trump fundraising agreement enables the party to recover the interest and enthusiasm of major donors and raise the money needed to win a Republican presidency, Senate and House, as well as secure the Supreme Court.

Two past presidential fundraisers who are hoping to join Trumps finance team are convinced hell raise the money needed to win.

For Trump, who has never sought out donors, the low-hanging fruit is more abundant than its ever been for anyone at this point in a presidential cycle, said Rick Hohlt, a Washington lobbyist. Donors, he said, are excited to meet Trump  many for the first time.

In Florida, Palm Beach real estate agent Teresa Dailey said, People are anxiously waiting to help him, and they havent had the opportunity because of his self-funding.

(AP)
Police in Anaheim, California are warning protesters that violence will not be tolerated ahead of Donald Trumps scheduled rally.

Police Chief Raul Quezada said in a statement Wednesday that they will respect the right to protest peacefully, but we will not tolerate violence or disobedience of the law.

Quezada also said that everyone has the right to participate without fear of violence or disorder.

The presumptive Republican nominee is scheduled to speak at a rally in Anaheim Wednesday leading up Californias June 7 primary.

His rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico late Tuesday turned violent as anti-Trump protesters clashed with police.

Trump lashed back at protesters, tweeting Wednesday: The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!

(AP)
The Romanian hacker whose cyber-mischief first revealed that Hillary Clinton used a private email address while she was secretary of state pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer, admitting that he was responsible for a series of high-profile intrusions.

Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, as a part of his plea, said that he victimized nearly 100 Americans from his home overseas, often by correctly guessing their passwords or the answers to their security questions.

His targets included former secretary of state Colin Powell, family members of former president George W. Bush and a host of celebrities, and his aim seemed to be to cause embarrassment. Lazar admitted in his plea that he often turned over his victims private correspondence to media outlets, affixing the materials with the moniker Guccifer to mark his handiwork.

In one instance, that correspondence included paintings by Bush, including apparent self-portraits in the shower and bath.

In U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Lazar, in a green jail jumpsuit, said little, offering only short confirmations that he was pleading guilty voluntarily and that he knew the rights he was giving up.

Theyre all accurate, he said, after federal prosecutor Ryan Dickey read a summary of the facts to which he admitted.

According to his plea agreement, Lazar faces at least two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge and up to five years more for unauthorized access to a protected computer.

Federal investigators have no evidence to suggest Lazar accessed Clintons email address  despite his claim in a recent Fox News interview that he had done so  though he admitted as a part of his plea that he successfully broke into the account of Sidney Blumenthal, one of President Bill Clintons former aides. It was after Lazar released notes from Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton that Gawker noticed the correspondence was directed to a private, nongovernmental email account. The New York Times later reported that Clinton exclusively used a personal account to conduct government business.

Lazar was charged in the United States in 2014 and extradited to Alexandria earlier this year. He had been serving a sentence in Romania for hacking the personal accounts of various Romanians, including the then-director of the Romanian Intelligence Service.

In a wide-ranging, in-prison interview with journalist Matei Rosca last year, Lazar said he welcomed extradition to the United States and added, Ill plead guilty, no problem.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Matt Zapotosky
House Speaker Paul Ryan has begun telling confidants that he wants to end his standoff with Donald Trump in part because hes worried the split has sharpened divisions in the Republican Party, according to two people close to the lawmaker.

Ryan aides say nothing has been decided about a possible Trump endorsement. But Trumps campaign manager, Paul Manafort, told a small group of Republican lawmakers Thursday that he expects Ryan to endorse the partys nominee as early as this week, according to two people in the meeting.

If Ryan were to endorse Trump, the move would end a nearly unprecedented standoff between the House speaker and his partys presumptive presidential nominee, and remove the biggest remaining obstacle to Trumps efforts to unite Republicans around his campaign.

In fact, Manafort told the gathering of Republican lawmakers that Ryans endorsement would put more pressure on the partys remaining Trump holdouts to fall in line.

It would also link the speaker more directly to Trump, marking a significant break for a man who ran on a presidential ticket in 2012 with Mitt Romney  by far Trumps loudest critic inside the party.

Its not clear how Ryan, who said that he wasnt interested in a fake unification of his party, would choreograph an endorsement after his initial public reluctance.

Theres no update and weve not told the Trump campaign to expect anendorsement, AshLee Strong, a Ryan spokeswoman, said in an email. Hes also not told anyone he regrets anything.

Ryan and Trump remain deeply divided over major policy issues, particularly free trade and immigration. The pair met only once in person during the standoff, in a closely watched encounter on May 12.

But behind the scenes over the past two weeks, there have been a series of meetings between Ryan and Trump aides on policy issues that could clear the way for Ryans endorsement.

Ryans chief of staff, David Hoppe, has been either attending or closely monitoring meetings away from Capitol Hill with Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide who used to work for Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, according to a person familiar with the meetings. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump.

The meetings have not yet involved other Republican congressional leadership offices. They are described by the person as a significant exchange of ideas, not just on broad political principles, but on individual issues and specific legislation.

When Ryan surprised his own caucus early this month by declining to back Trump immediately, he said he wanted to make sure that the real-estate developer was a true conservative. At the time, it appeared that many other House Republicans may have shared Ryans reservations.

But the speaker quickly grew isolated, as his top three lieutenants publicly backed Trump. The standoff cast doubt on how effectively Ryan could serve as chairman of the partys nominating convention in Cleveland in July.

It also thrust Ryan into the spotlight, prompting questions about whether he was trying to distance himself from the combative Trump enough to leave him in a good position to run in 2020 if the billionaire is trounced in November.

For Ryan to endorse Trump, he would have to explain away deep divisions between his positions and Trumps. During his campaign, Trump harnessed anti-establishment anger in the Republican electorate by decrying free-trade deals and rampant immigration, while also signaling he may be open to running bigger deficits and spending money on infrastructure.

Ryan, meanwhile, has long backed free trade and an immigration overhaul, while pushing the House Republicans demands for a limited government with steep spending cuts.

Dan Senor, a Republican strategist and friend of Ryans, said Tuesday he would be disappointed if Ryan comes out in favor of Trump.

All Republican leaders should think twice about endorsing someone who is trafficking in racism, sexism and misogyny and is not a conservative, he said on Bloomberg Televisions With All Due Respect.

By endorsing Trump, Ryan would deal a near-fatal blow to conservative efforts to draft a third-party candidate to run against Trump and Democratic Hillary Clinton.

Trump has been invited to talk to the House Republican conference by Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who recently said that she voted for Trump in her states primary. Her aides and the Trump operation are still trying to arrange that meeting, according to one of her aides.

(c) 2016, Bloomberg  Billy House, Jennifer Jacobs, Kevin Cirilli
[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

Starting this Sunday, Breslev Israel will be launching The Ultimate You summer tour, featuring Rav Lazer Brody shlita.

This emuna tour will be an exciting launch in a new direction for those who have seen Rav Brody previously.

The tour will launch in Monsey on May 29. It will continue to Borough Park on Monday, then on to Cleveland, Columbus, Miami, Chicago, Deal, Teaneck, and Lakewood.

Joining forces with world-renowned psychotherapist Dr. Zev Ballen, Rav Brody will be hosting interactive style lectures that will focus on revealing the hidden elements that are preventing us from reaching our potentials, from career to marriage and beyond.

This series of lectures will be a refreshing and eye-opening experience, empowering you with spiritual and practical tools that will enable you to become the best version of you!

Tour dates: May 29-June 8

Rav Brody and Dr. Ballen will be available for personal appointments. Please contact [email protected] to schedule a meeting.

Click on the link for full tour details: http://bit.ly/1VRZGlL
[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

By today, the wonderful deeds of the renowned Segulas Rashbi speak for themselves.

There is actually no need anymore to describe and explain how Segulas Rashbi has developed as the most popular and biggest Chai Rotel distribution center and that is besides all the other services including the gulf cars, American coffee, and of course the food distribution every Erev Rosh Chodesh and other special occasions. However, according to the demand of many, we will share some of the information of the Segulas Rashbi Organization.

The Chai Rotel Segulas has long been known, and many groups distributed various beverages for a certain sum. RChaim Leib, though, the founder of Segulas Rashbi, realized the importance of providing Chai Rotel for a cheaper price. Unfortunately, many people need yeshuos and some of them are financially incapable of paying these enormous amounts. By minimizing the price, RChaim Leib enabled everyone to buy the segula of Chai Rotel and at the same time refreshed thousands of people visiting the gravesite.

Another major product of Segulas Rashbi is the part of distributing cold water. Till Segulas Rashbi was founded, the beverages provided were wine, grape juice and fruit punch. RChaim Leib was the first one to understand the need of cold water to quench the thirst of the gravesite visitors. And that is actually what is appreciated by all and thousands are forming lines at the Chai Rotel table of Segulas Rashbi to get hold of some cold water.

Besides that, Segulas Rashbi prepared 100,000 packages of cake refreshments, because the organizations that hands out food in Miron forbids the people to take out any of the food. Most of the visitors though, need to travel for hours on their way home and have nothing to eat. Therefore, the idea of the packaged cakes was accepted with great enthusiasm and appreciation.

It is well known that on Lag Beomer there are thousands of foreigners visiting the gravesite, especially Americans. The majority of the Americans had a problem with the taste of the Israeli coffee which they werent used to. So in 2007, RChaim Leib notified everybody that here will be American coffee available. Everybody that took route on the Kvish Hamhadrin (path for men only) was astonished to see their dream coming true. The Americans in particular, couldnt believe their eyes. They thought theyd visited a five star hotel. Right at the entrance there were six faucets with Boiled water, coffee, sugar, milk, hot cups and even covers!

The breakthrough of the gulf cars is something people have never even imagined. Those that ever visited the gravesite are familiar with the complicated, uphill route to the gravesite. Elderly people have therefore barely managed to make it on Lag Beomer because there is no possible way of parking a car near the gravesite. Due to this matter, R Chaim Leib arranged that several gulf cars be available to give the wonderful elderly people a lift. By taking part in this great deed with your donation, more gulf cars can be rented and many elderly helped.

Lag Beomer 2007 was the first time in history that women were also considered human. It was the very first time that they received cold water just like the men.

Walking up the hill to the gravesite in this hot weather without anything to drink absolutely endangers to be dehydrated. Therefore, RChaim Leib rented off some space right across Halperns Hotel and the women did not stop blessing him for this major breakthrough.

So dear brethren, now is the time to take part in this wonderful organization by sharing the expense of Chai Rotel distribution or any of our other mentioned undertakings, and you can be sure that the zechus of helping the ones that are at the tzadik Rabbi Shimons memorial, will be at your side at all times..

Click to Participate Now.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO
A bribery and fraud crimewave is sweeping Britain and is costing the City 127bn a year, a devastating report has revealed.

A major study has uncovered how fraud is costing the economy as a whole 193bn  with the vast majority of this being lost through false invoices, dodgy payments and fake contracts.

The study suggests banks, charities and the NHS are all major victims. And it shows that the public is also suffering, with millions of people falling victim to identity theft and other scams every year.

In the eye of the storm: A major study has uncovered how fraud is costing the economy as a whole 193bn

The annual fraud indicator study identified that in total the private sector loses 144bn each year.

The biggest component was procurement fraud  involving crimes such as the creation of false invoices or contracts awarded in exchange for bribes. As an example the police highlighted the case of two men convicted in February last year after being caught submitting invoices worth 700,000 for non-existent maintenance work.

The reports authors estimated around 1 in every 20 spent on procurement last year was fraudulent. Thats just 5 per cent of the 2.7trillion total spend.

Ian Dyson, commissioner of the City of London Police, said: This report illustrates what investigators see on a daily basis, that the cost of fraud to business, individuals and the public sector is vast and continues to rise.

What the report cant illustrate is the human cost of fraud which ruins lives and blights every community in the UK.

Payroll scams were seen as a major issue. These involve attempts to get a company to overpay its salary bill  for example, by adding non-existent employees to its books and then pocketing their monthly wages.

Overall, it is estimated this costs the UK economy 1.9bn.

Even charities are not immune. Around 1.9bn is believed to be stolen by fraudsters from them each year, 2.5 per cent of total funds.

And the public sector is a target. HMRC loses 15.4bn through tax fraud, while suppliers, staff and prescription users rip off the NHS to the tune of 2.4bn. Another 205m is lost on TV licence fees, and 2.4bn is falsely claimed in benefits or evaded in council tax.

The finance industry, meanwhile, suffers from its own problems.

There are an estimated 350 false insurance claims a day, costing the sector 1.3bn a year. Another 1.3bn is lost to mortgage fraud and, in total, financial services firms lose around 3.2bn a year.

The rise of the internet has sparked a startling rise in so-called phishing attacks where criminals seek to trick internet users into sharing confidential information. This has increased by 21 per cent and are estimated to cost Britain more than 280m.

Savers are also increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated online scams. Fraud against individuals now costs 9.7bn a year and at least 3.3m people a year fall victim to mass-marketing cons. Identity fraud is also growing.
Tata appeared to be playing a game of brinkmanship with the sale of its UK steel businesses as sources suggested it would look to keep the plants open itself.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones travelled to Mumbai to meet Tata executives yesterday to discuss options for keeping the firms 11 UK plants open.

There are seven bids on the table, but it has emerged that Tata itself may now opt to keep the plants and not sell them off.

Fighting for survival: In March Tata controversially put Britains last remaining steel plants up for sale, placing 4,000 jobs at risk

It was unclear though as to whether this was simply brinkmanship, as it sought to get better offers for the plants and more concessions from the Government.

Javid has suggested that a deal could be struck to give the new owners of the steel plants tax breaks, and steps would be taken to safeguard the pensions of 135,000 steel workers in the company retirement scheme.

At the same time, Tata revealed it had slumped to another loss for its UK arm.

In March it controversially put Britains last remaining steel plants up for sale, placing 4,000 jobs at risk. But market conditions have improved and the Port Talbot site in Wales is no longer losing 1m a day.

The Government has offered a host of concessions to firms willing to rescue the business. It is unclear whether these would be available to the existing owner.

Tatas executive director Koushik Chatterjee said: The government support was amid a backdrop of a restructuring and divestment process.

That was the purpose the government made the offer - for the potential bidder.

Chatterjee refused to confirm how many bids have been received. Prime Minister David Cameron said that there has been an encouraging number of serious offers.

Speaking on a flight to Japan for a G7 meeting he said: We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in South Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Mark Hallum

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) led the groundbreaking ceremony for an addition to PS 49 in Middle Village Friday.

Crowley said the community of Middle Village has voiced complaints about overcrowding at PS 49 since 2011, prompting the councilwoman to advocate for an expansion of the facility with the School Construction Authority.

A 26,000-square-foot building will be added to the original structure, which was erected in 1933, to accommodate higher enrollment rates. The project is overseen by the SCA with capital funds from the Department of Education.

The addition will connect to the main lobby and stand three stories tall with 15 classrooms, two of which will be for special education students. There will also be three resource rooms, a medical suite and a cafeteria.

This sorely needed addition to PS/IS 49 is a true investment in our children and our community. New classrooms, including ones with computer and science labs, will more than give our local students the resources they need to build a strong foundation. Middle Village and the PS/IS 49 community will benefit greatly from this project for generations to come, a release from the architectural firm, John Ciardullo P.C. said.

The addition is in compliance with the New York City Green Schools Guide and Rating System, which requires that schools be designed for energy efficiency and a healthy environment.

In 2009, there was an addition made to PS 49s facilities under Mayor Bloombergs administration as part of an initiative to add 13,000 seats to schools across all five boroughs by 2012, according to the city. This added 410 seats to the schools attendance, but already more is needed.

The new section, as with the previous expansion, will also reflect  in a modern interpretation  the architectural vocabulary and window rhythm of the original 1933 school building, senior project architect Chuck Heaphy said.

Known as the Dorothy Bonowit Kole School, PS 49 is located at 63-60 80th St. and currently seats 1,113 elementary and middle school students.

SCA Senior Director of Construction Gordon Tung and PS 49 Principal Thomas Carty attended the ground breaking ceremony, along with other faculty and staff from both the school and the architectural firm.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Madina Toure

A new stroke center has opened at The Grand at Queens nursing home in Whitestone, coinciding with Mays American Stroke Month. The center is intended to meet a growing demand for dedicated stroke rehabilitation centers. Some 800,000 people suffer a stroke each year, according to the Grand.

The Walter Strauss Stroke Center, housed in the 179-bed facility at 157-15 19th Ave., offers health care services, which include education, neurology, recreation, social services, occupational therapy, orthopedic, physical therapy, nutrition, psychiatry and support groups.

The center is a dedicated 12-bed wing for individuals recovering from strokes. It has a nursing staff that has received specialized training in stroke rehabilitation and recovery as well as a gym with the latest stroke rehabilitation equipment.

Dan Muskin, regional administrator for The Grand; Jake Walden, vice president of business development; and Andrew Weissman of Guilderland Center Rehabilitation gave TimesLedger a tour of the facility before the ribbon-cutting ceremony May 12.

More than 150 people attended the ceremony, including community leaders, local dignitaries and representatives from regional hospitals.

Muskin said the dedicated rooms for stroke patients are unique in that each patient gets a flat-screen TV with pillow speakers, so that roommates can watch what they want to watch.

In addition to being provided with concierge service, each patient receives a The Grand sweatsuit, which Muskin says makes patients feel more dignified than wearing a hospital gown does.

Youre immediately offered a shower and youre offered a sweatsuit because everybody feels 1,000 times better after they take a shower and putting on a fresh, clean pair of clothes makes you feel like a million bucks, Muskin said. We want your first night with us to really be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Walden said the extras The Grand offers are a big part of its efforts to help patients concentrate on getting better.

All the concierge-style amenities are something that you dont want to be worried about when youre worried about recovery for your life, Walden said. So if we focus on doing all those things and making you just get better with the proper care and we make all the small things come to you on a silver platter, itll make your life a lot easier.

To further help patients with speech and communication rehabilitation, the center uses the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument, a measuring device that assesses muscle weakness and motor control.

Weissman said the director of the rehab center is a speech language pathologist, noting that it is rare for speech pathologists to take on such an extreme intensive rehab specifically for stroke patients.

Some of the stroke patients have also had unrelated hip and knee surgeries and need to regain their lower and upper body strength, he said.

For those type of patients, they really have to deal with the struggles of things like dysphasia or eating problems, speaking, cognition issues, Weissman said. But as Claudia (Giammarino) is the speech language pathologist, she has a real, great pull on what it takes for somebody who has suffered a traumatic brain injury or a stroke to get back to that level of functioning.

Laverne Pryce, nurse manager for The Grands first floor, which includes the stroke unit, has been working at The Grand for eight years.

Its (the center) going to benefit families, its going to benefit residents, Pryce said.
A Stockholm district court on Wednesday maintained a European arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape allegation, rejecting his lawyers\ request to have it lifted.

"The court considers that Julian Assange is still suspected of rape and that there is still a risk that he will abscond or evade justice," it said in a statement.

Assange will appeal the ruling, one of his Swedish lawyers, Per Samuelsson, told AFP.

"I just spoke to him, and like us he is not surprised but very critical and angry," he said.

Swedish prosecutors issued the arrest warrant because they want to question Assange about the rape allegation, which he denies.

The 44-year-old Australian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 after exhausting all his legal options in Britain against extradition to Sweden.

Assange\s lawyers requested the lifting of the warrant after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a non-binding legal opinion on February 5 saying his confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy amounted to arbitrary detention by Sweden and Britain.

Both Britain and Sweden have angrily disputed the group\s findings.

"The court finds, contrary to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, that Julian Assange\s stay at Ecuador\s embassy in London should not be considered a detention," the court said.

The alleged crime dates back to 2010 and the statute of limitations expires in 2020.

Assange fears that if he were sent to Sweden to face trial, he could be extradited to the United States to be tried over WikiLeaks\ publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents and faces a long prison sentence or the death penalty.

Samuelsson said that was the point of Assange\s refusal to travel to Sweden.

"The Swedish justice system only takes into consideration the Swedish bit, and not the whole situation given the tough sentence hanging over him in the United States," he said.

SOURCE: AFP
Mushcup's Brian Steff takes his turn in 'My Favorite Guitar'

Mushcup's Brian Steff has an arsenal of guitars though his favorite is one loved and admired by fans
SHARE TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Brenna Pohlod looks through some of the hand-painted glassware she and other artists produce through her business, Clinkers. Wine glasses, Christmas ornaments, plates and piggy banks are just a few of the products she can personalize. TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS A few samples of glasses created by Brenna Pohlod and her business, Clinkers. Clinkers hosts wineglass painting parties and hand paints beer mugs, Champagne flutes, pilsner, pints, martini and wineglasses. TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Clinkers is a custom, hand-painted glassware business that also hosts wineglass painting parties. Glassware can be personalized with paints, jewels, buttons, beads and ribbons. TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Brenna Pohlod places beads on a wineglass she is customizing for a client of her business, Clinkers, which makes hand-painted glassware. Pohlod has been in business for two years.

By John Ingle of the Times Record News

Brenna Pohlod dipped a small, fine-tipped brush into a lavender-colored paint Tuesday, carefully moving the utensil over to a clear canvas on which her next custom design would be placed.

With a few quick, gentle strokes, she applied another teardrop shaped pattern onto the wineglass to create unique glamour for an otherwise dull vessel. She's been doing that for the past two years as the owner of Clinkers, a custom hand-painted glassware small business in Wichita Falls.

"If it's made of glass, I can do it," she said.

Everything from wineglasses to beer mugs to Champagne flutes to piggy banks and Mason jars, Pohlod and her creative team can create one-of-a-kind, personalized items for one-time purchases to larger orders. She has three artists on contract who help provide a variety of different looks, including Ed Hardy-styled Day of the Dead designs, animals, floral as well as blinged-out patterns from top to bottom.

Pohlod, who said she has always been a "crafty" person, said she mentioned the concept to a couple friends in November 2013, and had 60 custom orders by the end of the year. She decided in March 2014 that she would create Clinkers as her full-time business, and started hosting wineglass painting parties by July.

She must be doing something right with her business model because she has been a finalist in Midwestern State University's i.d.e.a. WF program, an opportunity for small businesses to compete for three winner's packages through the Munir Lalani Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the Dillard College of Business Administration. She said one of the judges who was part of both contest cycles provided words of encouragement by telling her she was doing exactly what she said she would do in her business plan.

"Learning and the contacts you make are priceless," she said of the program. "Plus, it forces me to take a look at my company and where we're going. It makes me re-evaluate my numbers, my prices, the market."

Sales have doubled year-over-year, she said, and expects that trend to continue as more people learn of the distinct opportunity. She said her products have been in 17 stores in three states including Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. But, until she is able to bump up her production levels, it's not economically feasible to branch out at this time.

Pohlod said she's at a point where she needs to be mass producing her regular products, but that comes with a roughly $20,000 price tag for the machine. She said the machine is very much like a printer that would produce original paint designs of her more popular schemes. She said glasses can still be personalized by hand painting names on them or adding jewels or beads, too.

"By getting this machine, we'll be able to drop our average price from $35 to $27," she said. "It allows other people to be able to afford it, and it keeps us in line with the rest of the major hand-painted glassware market out there."

Pohlod said she has been able to save up close to half the money needed to buy the machine, and is working a couple different avenues to raise the remainder, including a Kickstarter campaign at kickstarter.com/projects/1097644365/clinkers-hand-painted-glassware. People can choose to donate toward the purchase of the machine or place an order.

"It's extremely fun," she said of the business venture. "I'm very excited about what's going to happen. I enjoy it a lot."

People interested in ordering custom glassware or having a glass painting party can get more information on Clinkers' Facebook page at facebook.com/ClinkersWF/ or call 940-923-3657.
Contributed photo Donna Long, of Wichita Falls, is flanked by Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (left) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn after receiving an award for significant contributions to the Republican Party during the Texas Federation of Republican Women Tribute to Women Luncheon at the Republican Convention in Dallas.

SHARE

Donna Long, longtime member of Wichita County Republican Women, was recognized at the Texas Federation of Republican Women Tribute to Women Luncheon at the Republican Party of Texas Convention in Dallas for making a significant contribution to the Republican Party and their local organization.

Long is a graduate of the University of Illinois and a veteran of the Navy, and worked as an occupational therapist and small business owner after moving to Wichita Falls in 1991. She is a founding member of WCRW, was Wichita County Republican chairwoman for three years and a is longtime precinct chairwoman. She has been active in Republican politics for more than 50 years.

n n n

Wichita Falls ISD students took home four medals at the 31st annual State STEM competition for the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering at the Texas A&M University-San Antonio on April 30.

Cory Press, of Wichita Falls High School, took first place in the AP physics competition.

Damion Fisher, a student at McNiel Junior High, placed second in the eighth grade science contest and earned fourth place in the engineering design challenge.

Nana Konadu, of Hirschi High School, placed fourth in the biology contest.

Students competed in individual, timed math and science tests and in teams for an engineering design challenge. The top five students in each test received awards. The top five teams in the engineering design challenge were also recognized.

A total of 26 Wichita Falls ISD students qualified to compete in the state competition.

n n n

Riley Mathews, of Henrietta, has earned a spot on the 2016 spring dean's list at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade-point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.

n n n

Elizabeth Graham, a longtime resident of Wichita Falls and a teacher with Wichita Falls ISD for 27 years, has been selected as the executive director of Wesley House Community Center in Meridian, Mississippi.

Graham holds a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Education from Midwestern State University.

Wesley House Community Center helps underprivileged, neglected, and abused persons through Christian relief, educational opportunities, child abuse prevention, sexual assault crisis intervention, community welfare and social services.

n n n

Students graduating with the highest grade-point averages from each of the six academic colleges were honored at the Midwestern State University commencement ceremony May 14. The President's Medal of Excellence winners received their medals from President Suzanne Shipley. Winners were:

Bradley Dwayne Groves, an accounting major, who graduated from the Dillard College of Business Administration;

Kara Anne Woods Reid, an early childhood through grade 6-generalist major, who graduated from the Gordon T. and Ellen West College of Education;

Kristin Marguerite Lanier, who graduated with a major in theater from the Lamar D. Fain College of Fine Arts;

From the Robert D. and Carol Gunn College of Health Sciences and Human Services, Jesse Clyde Brown, criminal justice; Alexandria Dane Fager, dental hygiene; Madison Raye Lynch, dental hygiene; Jonathan David Pyles, radiologic technology; and Connor LeeAnn Timmons, dental hygiene;

Heather Renae Beeman Kellogg, a sociology major, and Emily A. O'Neal, a psychology major, who graduated from the Prothro-Yeager College of Humanities and Social Sciences;

Clayton Dale Brown, a mechanical engineering major, who graduated from the College of Science and Mathematics.

n n n

Hannah Skelton, of Seymour, is participating in a six-week European study abroad catered to art and design students at Harding Universit, in Searcy, Arkansas. As part of the curriculum, Skelton, a painting major, will tour parts of Italy, Spain, France and England studying European art, design and architecture.

n n n

Jason T. Hoffman Jr. has graduated with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at University of North Texas Health Science Center's commencement ceremony May 21 in Fort Worth.

While at the Health Science Center, Hoffman performed research in the department of neuroscience and pharmacology. This research won the first place TCOM Student Research Award along with the TCOM Surgery Department Russ Jenkins Memorial Award. He was also the recipient of the Future in the Falls Scholarship in 2014 and 2015.

He is a 2010 graduate of Midwestern State University with a degree in biology. He is the son of Jason and Carolyn Hoffman.

Dr. Hoffman will continue his medical training in Las Vegas as an orthopedic surgery resident at the Valley Hospital Medical Center.

n n n

Jimmie Willis, of Walters, Oklahoma has been named to the spring 2016 dean's honor roll at Oklahoma City University. Dean's honor roll status is awarded to students who successfully complete a minimum of 12 credit hours and maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
JMG photo Quality ingredients make good tea cakes.

SHARE

Q: Any chance you have an old recipe for tea cakes? My Tennessee grandma used to make them and I thought it might be a nice addition to my granddaughter's bridal shower.

 A. Minnick

A: Sweet memories and tea cakes to go with them. Something so simple made a visit with neighbors, a Sunday school gathering or wedding special.

Old school versions call for buttermilk, something a modest hostess would have on hand. I recommend Bulgarian buttermilk (in the dairy case at Market Street).

OLD FASHIONED TEA CAKES

Makes 6-8 dozen

INGREDIENTS

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line sheet pan with baking parchment, set aside.

2 In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Dough will be soft and wet.

3 On a floured surface shape the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

4 Flour surface again and roll dough  inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes. Bake in prepared pan for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool. Store in airtight container.

Q: What would make a nice birthday present for a young cook? My college graduate niece is setting up her kitchen, very interested in making meals for herself, sharing with friends. I want to make it count.

 A Caller

A: For a single career girl or newlyweds who start cooking, I recommend a convection toaster oven. Quality equipment costs $100 to $300, but it is an easy way to make/reheat dinner for one or two. (Microwaves, good for lots of things, are terrible on bread and prone to spattering.)

Other ideas:

A nonstick crepe pan. Omelets, grilled sandwiches, pancakes and sauteed vegetables work well on the open surface.

Stackable refrigerator food storage containers save cabinet space. Add microwave/oven/freezer/dishwasher safe Pyrex dishes. The square or rectangular ones fit better in fridge.

Oven gloves (not mitts), cooking tongs, a mesh colander (sifts flour, drains pasta) and quality 10-inch French, 3-inch paring and 8-inch serrated knives.

Throw in an apron. Strings long enough to wrap around and tie in front with two pockets, where you can slip in a recipe like this one that can be created in that new crepe pan.

SPINACH OMELET

Makes 1 serving

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs, beaten well with 1 tablespoon water or milk

- garlic salt to taste

1/3 cup grated Swiss cheese

1 handful fresh spinach

DIRECTIONS

1 Add garlic salt to eggs. Heat 10-inch nonstick skillet or crepe pan over medium high heat until water drop sizzles.

2 Use cooking spray on pan. Add eggs, swirling to coat pan bottom. Lower heat and cook until edges are done and middle seems slightly underdone. Add cheese and spinach, fold right and left edges over. Turn off burner and leave in pan 2 minutes. Serve hot.
SHARE Dennison

By Barbara Green, The Bowie News

The search for an aggravated assault suspect turned dramatic Saturday night in Bowie when police discovered the man also was wanted on a California warrant for attempted murder.

A four-hour manhunt began Saturday morning after a woman approached a Bowie police officer who was at Allsup's convenience store on Wise Street, saying she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, Fred Dennison, 50.

Assistant Police Chief Kent Stagg said the woman told officers she and Dennison had traveled to Bowie from California and were staying with a friend at an apartment on South Mill Street.

She said the man had attacked her and she jumped out of a bathroom window to get away. Stagg said the woman had a possible broken arm and head injuries. The woman also told police she was five months pregnant.

While police gathered information, they found Dennison was wanted on a San Bernardino, California, warrant for attempted murder.

Officers began searching for him.

"We were getting leads left and right, but (Officer Bob) Blackburn saw a man run across the railroad tracks behind Sonic. Then we talked with a person at the trailer park on Decatur Street, and were told the man had been there, but left going north," Stagg said.

Police set up a perimeter from the Lindsay Street railroad crossing, along Decatur Street to behind the Sonic.

Stagg said after about an hour Dennison came out from where he was hiding behind a stack of junk at 702 E. Wise.

Dennison was jailed on a complaint of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, $10,000 bond and the warrant that carries a $675,000 bond plus a hold for the California court.
SHARE Vidmar

By Times Record News

Midwestern State University has named a new vice president for university advancement and public affairs.

Anothony Vidmar most recently served as assistant vice president of development for university programs at Virginia Tech.

He will be responsible for leading and providing strategic direction for the advancement division at the university that includes alumni relations, major gifts and planned giving, marketing and public information, university development, and corporate and foundation relations, according to a news release from MSU.

Vidmar will replace Dr. Howard Farrell, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Vidmar will begin his duties at MSU in July. Tonys enthusiasm for Midwestern State University and its liberal arts mission were evident in his visits to campus, MSU President Suzanne Shipley said in the news release.

His experience in university development aligns nicely with the goals set forth in our strategic initiatives.

Vidmar began his career in higher education at Northwest Nazarene University working as a director for scholarship and endowment development as well as the director of the university fund.

Additionally, he has served in various positions of advancement at Purdue University, The Ohio State University, and Virginia Tech.
The American Flag

SHARE

Some foreign companies break the rules when they bring low-paid workers into the country.

American immigration law allows employees of overseas firms to enter the country for a limited period of time to do business for their employers, including overseeing installation of machinery or other specialized products. The law does not allow those employees, who are here legally on what is called a B1/B2 visa, to do the installation work itself. But a work-site accident at a Tesla Motors auto plant in Fremont, Calif., last year has spotlighted an uncomfortable reality: The B1/B2 visa system is subject to manipulation and fraud that perverts its intent and undercuts American businesses and workers.

The accident involved a Slovenian electrician named Gregor Lesnik, whose B1/B2 visa allowed him to enter the country in March 2015 on behalf of his Slovenia-based employer, ISM Vuzem, as a "supervisor of electrical and mechanical installation" at a paint shop in a South Carolina BMW plant. Instead, Vuzem allegedly redeployed Lesnik to the Tesla plant to install an industrial heating and cooling system, something his visa did not allow him to do.

While walking on the roof in May 2015, Lesnik fell through, bounced off scaffolding and other internal structures and landed three stories below on the factory floor, breaking both legs and several ribs and suffering head injuries, including a concussion. Lesnik survived and sued his employers; the San Jose Mercury News recently used the case to explore the broader problems with the visa system.

The State Department issues B1/B2 visas through consular offices overseas. They cover a broad range of potential uses, including traditional tourism, but are also given to employees entering for up to six months to do work for their foreign employer. The visas can be valid for as long as 10 years, and can be used for multiple entries under the large menu of allowed purposes. The Department of Homeland Security can bar a visa holder from entering the country at the border if it's not satisfied that the stated purpose of the trip is allowed under the visa.

Once the visa-holder arrives in the U.S., enforcement is the responsibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officials said they investigate fraudulent uses of the visas, but usually only after getting tip from co-workers or U.S. companies who suspect a competitor of illicitly using low-paid foreign workers. According to 2013 congressional testimony, ICE received 38,000 such tips in 2012. But there's no reporting mechanism in place under which the visa holder must tell the U.S. what activities are being engaged in, nor is there a system for the U.S. company  in this case, Tesla  to ensure that its subcontractors are employing eligible workers.

Lesnik worked for Vuzem, which was fulfilling a contract for Eisenmann, a German-based manufacturer of industrial systems that Tesla hired to oversee the plant expansion. Vuzem beat out local companies for the work because, labor leaders said, it relied on imported employees who would work for much less than Americans would. Lesnik alleged in his lawsuit that although his hourly rate was over $10 an hour, it averaged out to a little over $5 an hour, far below minimum wage, because he wasn't paid overtime for weeks that often reached 80 hours. The same work by a local employee would have cost more than $50 an hour.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has denied any wrongdoing and said that his firm is auditing the contracts to see if its contractors met their wage obligations. Eisenmann has also denied the allegations. Vuzem has acknowledged hiring Lesnik but disputes his account.

ICE officials declined to discuss specifics of the Tesla allegations, but acknowledged that they face hurdles in trying to ferret out visa abusers. Part of the problem is that even when subcontractors exploit visa-holders, the workers usually make more money in the U.S. than they would in their home countries, and therefore have little reason to report the violations. And workers-rights advocates say the foreign-based firms often use threats in the home country to dissuade complaints.

There has to be a better way of addressing worker visa enforcement, beginning with compelling the American company at the top of the chain of contracts to take more responsibility for compliance.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Sand Lake

Residents can be forgiven if it feels like they're back in school.

After all, lockers line the hallways, there's a playground outside, and the ceilings and windows are all built to institutional scale.

But the early 20th century school building has been converted into bright, airy apartments with such modern details as stainless steel kitchen appliances, stone counters, and glass and ceramic bathrooms.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours of Homeroom Lofts, as the 35-unit complex is called, were held Wednesday afternoon. The former school is located at 2910 Route 43.

The $3 million project was the work of Sunrise Management & Consulting, Design Logic Architects in Albany, and JPM Contractors of Brunswick.

Sunrise will manage Homeroom Lofts.

Perhaps on a roll, the same team will next tackle an even larger school building, the former Draper High School at 901 Draper Ave. in Rotterdam.

Groundbreaking for that $15 million, 111-unit Draper Lofts apartment project is at 11 a.m. June 17.

"The schools are of the same vintage," said Jesse Holland, president of Sunrise.

The groundbreaking will also serve as a fundraising event for the Mohonasen Foundation for Excellence in Rotterdam. A "memory stroll" will give alumni the chance to reminisce before work begins. The cost of admission is a suggested donation to the foundation, which will also sell architectural salvage items, including classroom doors, gym bleachers and other items.

Ray Gillen, chair of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, early on supported the developers' plans to convert the long-vacant school.

"We are very fortunate that the same team who successfully redeveloped the Homeroom Lofts project is now ready to transform the former Draper school," Gillen said.

The Homeroom Lofts, with rents ranging from $800 to $1,800, are already about 50 percent leased, Holland said Wednesday.

The Draper Lofts are expected to be completed in about 12 to 18 months.

eanderson@timesunion.com  518-454-5323
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Albany

Gil Rios graduated from the University at Albany last week, but he reached another significant milestone about a month earlier. He landed a job.

Rios, 21, will start work on Monday at Toast, Inc., a private company that sells restaurants and bars a cloud-based network that allows for data compilation, last-minute menu changes and online ordering. The informatics major will install networks and hardware for customers around the country as a field implementation engineer. "I knew I wanted to do something right out of school," said Rios, of Medford, Suffolk County. "I didn't want to be another statistic of a kid sitting back home after college doing nothing."

It appears that employers don't want that to happen, either. Grades aside, the Class of 2016 is expected to pass one benchmark with flying colors  employment.

Despite an unstable economic start to the year, recent employer surveys indicate that businesses expect to hire newly minted graduates at a higher rate than they did last year.

The 144 employers who responded to The National Association of Colleges and Employers' spring survey reported an increase in hiring plans of recent graduates  these businesses said they plan to hire 5.2 percent more recent graduates than last year.

Expectations have cooled from last fall's prediction of an 11-percent year-over-year increase, a drop that NACE research manager Andrea Koncz said primarily connects to the year's slow economic start.

"We've had oil prices continue to drop, and we saw some drops in the stock market," she said. "I think all that has to factor into it."

An improving economy and high retirement numbers contributed to the rise in expectations, said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder, in a recent press release.

The job listing website description found that 67 percent of more than 2,100 hiring managers and human resource professionals surveyed said they planned to hire a recent college graduate  the highest rate since 2007. Last year, that figure was 65 percent.

"Everyone I know has a job or an internship that could turn into a job," said Kurt Graff, 22, of his classmates in the bioinformatics department at The College of Saint Rose. Graff, of Lake George, will work for Good Start Genetics, a molecular genetics information company in the Boston area.

Of course, expectations differ between fields.

Two other College of Saint Rose students, Colleen Weresnick, 21, of Long Island, and Katie LeClair, 22, of Topsfield, Mass., both seek New York positions as part-time or full-time music teachers. These hiring decisions, they said, are made over the summer.

"I think there's a lot of uncertainty right now," Weresnick said.

LeClair added, "We're crossing our fingers."

While the job market has improved, "it's still competitive out there," said Bob Soules, the director of Union College's Stanley Becker Career Center. By the end of 2016, he said, nearly every Union recent graduate will have locked down plans.

Soules said that about 35 percent of Union College seniors who filled out a "first destination" survey in the first week of May are employed.

An additional quarter of responding students said they will pursue grad school immediately after college, Soules said.

One of these students is Eric Franca, 21, of Miami. Franca, who studied bioengineering at Union, will pursue a degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Miami. While some of his peers are also attending graduate school, a fair amount will go into fields like banking and consulting, he said.

At Union, Soules said, the career office encourages students to "be true to themselves" when developing future plans. "If they're curious about things, go do them, continue to learn and update their skills, so they're prepared to move into any role they're going to be excited about."

Noah Simon, director of career planning at the University at Albany, said career fairs this academic year brought in 7 percent more employers than last year's. One hundred and sixty employers attended the spring fair, a record, he said.

While some students matriculate with explicit career goals, he said, others have a more exploratory path. "Many students end up working at companies they might not have even known existed," he said.

Amazon.com, Boeing, Cisco and Google rank among the top reported employers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as of April 2016.

Defense-related employers like BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have hired numerous Rensselaer seniors as well, the university said.

As exams wrapped up this week, Rensselaer Center for Career and Professional Development Director Jennifer Walters said activity at the office has slowed down. About 84 percent of 600 senior survey respondents have firm plans, Walters said.

Post-graduate recruiting has crept earlier in a student's academic tenure, she said, with some companies hiring rising juniors after summer internships.

But she urged students without firm plans to come into the career office, tucked into the university's Darrin Communications Center, after graduation for resume tweaks and advice on staying positive through a process that can be a slog.

"We're still here all summer," she said, later adding, "Especially if they're seeing their classmates are employed, stress can be high."

lellis@timesunion.com  518-454-5018  @lindsayaellis
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Park rangers on their usual Sunday patrol at Lake Shasta encountered a scene of carnage on Slaughterhouse Island  90 tents, coolers still full of food and alcohol, sleeping bags and yards and yards of garbage.

The perps were nowhere to be seen.

Rangers say it's not uncommon for up to 1,000 college students to be on Lake Shasta, but the sheer level of trash from this group was enough for images from the scene to go viral.

Among the garbage were University of Oregon shopping bags and flip flops and a cooler decorated with the letters of the local chapter of national fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha. It also read "Do you wanna do some blow man?" The chapter has apologized for its part in the destruction.

Despite the Shasta trip not being a school event, the university has launched an investigation. In an official statement, Oregon vice president for student life Robin Holmes said Lambda Chi Alpha was suspending the chapter's activities "until the situation is addressed."

"The manner in which the forest was left was absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful," Holmes said.

Rangers say they've already gathered 10 cubic yards(!) of garbage from the scene with more cleanup left to do. (A full-size pick-up truck bed usually holds just 3 cubic yards). They're unsure whether the area will be completely clean in time for Memorial Day weekend.

"Their attitude is we'll pick it up later," Shasta Boating Safety Unit Sgt. Rob Sandbloom told the Daily Emerald. "If you're at your mom's house are you just going to throw a can down and pee on her couch and say you'll clean it up later? No, you wouldn't. And they say they wouldn't, so don't do it here."

In case you need reminding, littering is a crime.
Albany

"Welcome to the 518" might not mean much in a few years.

Regulators in Albany are being asked by the telecom industry to approve a second area code that would supplement the current 518 area code used by homes and businesses in 17 counties from the North Country down to the Capital Region.

There's no need yet to commit any new area code to memory. An initial filing made with the state Public Service Commission says there are more than 30 possible new three-digit codes that are available for use  although none have been singled out for use alongside the 518 area code.

A company called Neustar, which acts as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, is predicting that new numbers under the current 518 area code will run out in the first quarter of 2019. It has asked the PSC to approve a 13-month process by which the addition of a new number would be rolled out.

Although the additional area code would force everyone to eventually use 10-digit numbers, including the area code, when calling locally, people who already have home phone or cellphone numbers today would not have to switch their numbers. The 518 area code has been in place since 1947, and a new area code would last about 50 years.

"All existing customers would retain the 518 area code and would not have to change their telephone numbers," the filing by Neustar states.

Neustar, which held a conference call last month among industry executives about adding the second area code, decided that adding the second code throughout the existing 518 area was a better alternative than splitting the 518 area into two separate regions.

Such a plan, which was not adopted, would have meant giving residents of both Albany and Troy, as well as towns south of them, a brand new area code and phone numbers to learn.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Neustar filed its request with the PSC on May 10. It is unclear when the PSC will make a decision, although the public will have a chance to voice their opinions to the commission before any decision is made. A spokeswoman for Neustar couldn't immediately be reached to talk about the selection process for the new three-digit number.

The Neustar filing shows that while most of the rural areas of the 518 area code have been losing population in recent years, the cities and suburbs of the Capital Region are growing their population, especially Saratoga County, which grew its population 2.4 percent between 2010 and 2014, a rate that is outpacing the rest of the state as a whole. Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties also saw modest population growth.

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
ISE, Japan  Eleven U.S. presidents have been elected since President Harry S. Truman decided to drop an atomic weapon on Hiroshima, and none has set foot in that traumatized city in the 71 years since, at least not while in office.

President Barack Obama intends to end that streak with his visit on Friday, a decision that speaks volumes not only about his presidency but also about the increasingly worrisome struggle among powers great and small in East Asia.

Obama's predecessors had good reasons to avoid Hiroshima. None wanted to be seen by U.S. voters as apologizing for a decision that many historians even today believe, on balance, saved lives. And there were worries about how such a visit would be viewed in China, South Korea and other countries in Asia that suffered from the brutal World War II killing machine that was Imperial Japan.

But Obama and his closest aides have become increasingly disdainful of what they view as Washington's conventional wisdom, which they believe has led to an unending string of disasters, from the Vietnam War to the Iraq War.

No U.S. president had visited Cuba in nearly 90 years. Obama did. None had visited Myanmar. He has gone twice. Few saw merit in negotiating with Iran's autocratic mullahs. Obama struck a nuclear deal with the Iranians that he ranks among his greatest accomplishments. And in Vietnam this week, he lifted a decades-old embargo on military sales.

With each decision, critics complained that Obama rewarded autocrats or upset allies. He remains defiant. And although he has made clear that he will not apologize for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with no election left for himself, he cares far less that any remorse he expresses for the loss of life there will be included in what opponents have caricatured as an "apology tour" of foreign cities.

Obama also hopes a visit to Hiroshima will further his efforts to curb the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons and lower the risk of a nuclear accident or attack, a signature issue for him and an important reason he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

"Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century," he said in Prague just 10 weeks after becoming president. "As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act."

In a recent interview with Japanese TV, Obama admitted that his efforts to reduce the world's nuclear risks had resulted in only "modest progress in at least not seeing a huge increase in nuclear stockpiles." His record on nuclear nonproliferation is mixed.

With Russia, he struck a deal ratified in 2010 to limit weapons, but President Vladimir Putin has shown no signs of wanting to go further. Under the 2015 deal with Iran, the government there surrendered nearly all of its nuclear material. And Obama's annual Nuclear Security Summit meetings and other efforts succeeded in pulling bomb-grade nuclear fuel out of countries like Ukraine and Chile. But his push to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile could cause a new arms race, and nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Pakistan have arguably made the world less safe during his tenure.

"North Korea is the worst example, but we also have other parts of the world where you're still seeing the development of new nuclear technologies that could be very dangerous," Obama said this week.

The calculus about how a visit to Hiroshima would be seen elsewhere in Asia has changed. Although an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Koreans were killed in the two bombings in 1945  more than any non-Japanese ethnic group  Koreans have long been wary of a presidential trip to Hiroshima, fearing it could be interpreted as an apology for a war that ended Japan's occupation of Korea.

More broadly, there is unease in South Korea, China and other Asian countries that Obama's visit will amount to an endorsement of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign to move Japan beyond guilt over its militarist past and toward his vision of a "normal country" with a larger role in global affairs.

Abe has promoted a version of history that downplays Japan's wartime transgressions, and has moved to give the military limited powers to fight in foreign conflicts, shedding pacifist constraints in place since World War II.

"To our regret, the U.S. administration has reinforced its military alliance with Japan while the Japanese government has turned away from its responsibility and history," a group of prominent South Korean religious and civic leaders said in an open letter to Washington last week.

Pressed by Washington, Abe issued an apology in December on the issue of "comfort women," sex slaves taken by the Japanese military from Korea and other nations, long seen as an open wound to Koreans. Many in South Korea criticized the apology as insufficient, but President Park Geun-hye accepted it, and Abe appeared to win credit in Washington.

"We will acknowledge the Korean experience when we have opportunities, but we don't think we have to choose between different people's histories," Benjamin Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said in an interview.

South Korea has not issued a formal statement either for or against Obama's visit to Hiroshima. Park left Wednesday on a tour of Africa.

As disputes with China mount, the White House has also become less concerned about how the visit will be received in Beijing. One of Washington's great parlor games is the constant calculus about whether Tokyo or Beijing has the president's favor. For the first years of Obama's presidency, many Japan hands were convinced that the Obama team favored China, seeing it as the only indispensable Asian nation and crucial to a climate-change pact.

But with a climate agreement in Paris concluded and mounting concern about China's territorial claims in the South China and East China seas, many in Washington see Tokyo's sun rising.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

"I think the debate tipped last year in Japan's favor after China built airfields in the South China Sea," said Michael J. Green, who served as a senior adviser on Asia during the George W. Bush administration.

Abe, meanwhile, has worked diligently to tighten Japan's already close embrace of the United States. New guidelines written last year will further integrate the two militaries, and an unpopular state-secrets law passed in 2014 was intended, in part, to make intelligence sharing easier. Along with new security laws that allow Japanese forces to engage in combat missions overseas, these moves have won Abe plaudits in Washington.

The visit to Hiroshima "is a gesture of respect for the Japanese people," Rhodes said, adding: "It's always been evident that it would be meaningful for the Japanese people to pay this kind of visit, and insofar as it helps us to advance this alliance, that's important."

A more assertive military in Japan is a cause of great worry for China, which is engaged in its own rapid military buildup.

China has criticized the visit as an opportunity for Japan to recast itself as a victim rather than aggressor in World War II, and for the United States to cozy up to Japan, which the official Communist Party newspaper, The People's Daily, derided as Obama's "right-hand man" in East Asia.

"We hope that when inviting other state leaders to visit Hiroshima, Japan bears one thing in mind," Lu Kang, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said this month. "That is, it will never tread on the path of militarism again, as it once brought unspeakable suffering to its people and people of Asia and around the world."

Even in Tokyo, there is some ambivalence about Obama's visit. Abe is expected to get a political lift, and ordinary Japanese have embraced Obama's support for nuclear disarmament.

But the policy establishment is not keen to be drawn into a fresh debate over history, and some worry that Abe may come under pressure to visit Pearl Harbor in return. And while Japan is publicly committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons, it is also anxious about the potential threat from North Korea, and to a lesser extent, China.

"We don't want to see the American nuclear umbrella weakened," a senior government official said, asking for anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter. "We don't oppose disarmament, but it has to be pursued by all parties simultaneously."
The Kerala visits of the some of the arrested are also being investigated.
We don't now if Irish politics was shaped by the "revolutionary decade", barrister and commentator Noel Whelan told a major weekend conference on The Proclamation held in Nenagh.

Organised by Nenagh Risings, the event in the local arts centre examined the Proclamation 100 years after it was read out by Patrick Pearse outside the GPO in Dublin and signed by the seven executed Easter Rising leaders, including Cloughjordan native Thomas MacDonagh.

While we can't say what might or might not have happened if the events of 1913-1922 did not take place, the Easter Rising was the "founding event," he said.

However, the former Fianna Fail senator and party activist said that the defining moment for party politics in Ireland was in 1926 when Eamon de Valera organised what Mr Whelan called the "rump" of nationalists into Fianna Fail.

"It then became de Valera versus the rest," he said.

In relation to the current Government, Mr Whelan said you could choose your adjectives from a list that included volatile, unstable, intermingled, incoherent, unstable to dynamic and energetic.

However, one thing was certain, and that was that Fianna Fail had got a "severe kicking in post-traumatic circumstances in 2011".

See full report in this week's Tipperary Star
on Thursday, November 6, Thurles born John Callanan will sit in the Gallery of the House of Lords and watch with thumping heart as his son Martin Callanan, from Gateshead, is led in formal procession into the Chamber for his introduction as a peer.

on Thursday, November 6, Thurles born John Callanan will sit in the Gallery of the House of Lords and watch with thumping heart as his son Martin Callanan, from Gateshead, is led in formal procession into the Chamber for his introduction as a peer.

Both John and Martins hearts will surely skip a beat as the title of Lord Callanan of Low Fell echoes through the august Chamber for the first time since the House of Lords was founded back in the eleventh century. The 53 year old former Conservative MEP for Newcastle was awarded a life peerage by Prime Minister, David Cameron, following Martins defeat by UKIP candidate, Jonathan Arnott in the May European Elections.

The occasion will bring back memories of visits to Tipperary and Thurles, Martin assured me in a recent interview. Im very conscious that this is where my father comes from and where my family originates, he pointed out. It is certainly where the family name comes from, Martin added.

On receiving news of the peerage, Martin contacted the Heraldry Society and was assured that he will be the first ever Lord Callanan to sit in the House of Lords. Low Fell refers to an area of Gateshead where John and his locally born, and sadly now deceased wife, Ada, brought up their family of three boys, Martin, Lester and Peter. John still lives in the family home and Martin also resides in the area.

Among those watching from the Gallery will be Martins wife, Jayne, and their nineteen year old son, Joe. Also present will be John Callanans step brothers, Gerard and Andy Callanan, formerly of Westgate, Thurles, and now living in Dublin and Cork respectively.

Johns brother, Richard, who lives in Scotland is unable to attend as his wife, Rosabel, is unwell. Sadly Johns other brothers, Con, London, and Martin and Paddy, New York are now deceased. All seven were sons of the late John Joe (Joby) Callanan,( 1894- 1970) of Cathedral Street and Westgate, Thurles, who captained Tipperary to All Ireland victory in the 1930 hurling final against Dublin. John Joe had already won an All Ireland medal with Dublin ten years earlier.

Full story in this weeks Tipperary Star.
[May 25, 2016] Asia Pacific Geographic Information System Market to 2022 - Research and Markets

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Asia Pacific Geographic Information System Market (2016 - 2022)" report to their offering. Adoption of GIS technology in the Asia-Pacific region is at its nascent stages, due limited awareness among the population in the region. With limited government initiatives for the implementation of GIS in government and private sectors, the market has enormous potential that can be tapped by early movers in the region. . Disaster management, land information, map viewing (cartography), infrastructure management, business information, military & defence (geopolitics), mineral exploration (geoscience), biological and others are the major applications of GIS. The Asia-Pacific GIS market is segmented based on type into software, services and data. Based on verticals, the report segments the market into utilities, transportation, government agecies, retail, oil & gas, healthcare, financial services and telecom among others. For better understanding of the market penetration of GIS technology in Asia-Pacific region, the market is studied across countries, namely China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and rest of Asia-Pacific. Japan and China have already started implementing GIS in various industries, as a data tool to gain effective information about the market and other related data. In addition, governments in these countries have announced various investment plans, which might boost the GIS market in the Asia-Pacific region. Growth of geospatial industry in China increased by approximately 3 times during the 11th five-year plan (2006-2010) with an annual investment of around USD 15 billion in 2010. In addition, the government has announced an investment of USD 30 billion in its 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2016).



The report covers the analysis of key companies in the Asia-Pacific GIS market. Major companies profiled in the report include

- Pasco Corporation - Ubisense Group Plc. - Beijing SuperMap Software Co., Ltd. - Hexagon AB - Schneider Electric SE - Environmental Systems Research Institute - Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Autodesk (News - Alert), Inc. - Pitney Bowes Inc. - MacDonald, Det For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/kwdqn9/asia_pacific View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005739/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] L-3 Establishes Communication Systems - Canada Facility in Ottawa

L-3 Communications (News - Alert) Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) announced today that it plans to open a Design, Engineering and Support facility in Ottawa, Ontario, under the new organization, L-3 Communication Systems - Canada. The facility will accommodate a team of highly specialized design, software and systems engineers. It includes a state-of-the-art communications system laboratory that will provide an integration test bed and demonstration environment for future maritime communications architectures for the Royal Canadian Navy's submarine and surface fleets. The addition of L-3 Communication Systems - Canada to world-class organizations, including MAS, WESCAM, MAPPS, Electronic System Services and Targa, reaffirms L-3's standing as one of the premier defense companies in Canada. The new facility is a key component of L-3's strategy to showcase its innovative capabilities, promote in-country research and innovation, and cultivate local academic and technology partnerships. L-3 has a growing business base in Canada, which reflects the company's increased focus on marine communications and electronic systems integration, building on L-3's current implementation of integrated communications solutions for the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) and Project Resolve Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) programs. The facility will better prepare L-3's businesses to be a part of future naval and marine programs in Canada, as well as offer a strong base for the export of L-3's communication and electronic systems to the international market. "This state-of-the-art engineering center will be an important contributor to the Ottawa technological community, leading our efforts to best support our Canadian communications and systems integration operations," said John Mega, president of L-3's Communication Systems business segment. "Ontario's hihly skilled workforce is a rich source of talent that enables L-3 to build upon our extensive national support base. The creation of this engineering center reaffirms our long-standing partnership with the Canadian government and local industry and our commitment to broaden access to L-3's products and services."



The Ottawa facility will complement the recently created L-3 Canada Marine Systems (L-3 CMS) business that offers naval and marine customers a single point of contact with access to a wide array of products and services. These include integrated platform management systems, underwater systems, integrated communications, sensors, ISR products, systems and integration, and in-service support. L-3 supports a variety of maritime platforms, including Halifax-class frigates, Victoria-class submarines, Orca-class training vessels, Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDVs), Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) and the Project Resolve Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ship. Headquartered in New York City, L-3 employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms. L-3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems. The company reported 2015 sales of $10.5 billion.

To learn more about L-3, please visit the company's website at www.L-3com.com. L-3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L-3 is routinely posted on the company's website and is readily accessible. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "will," "could" and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005673/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Thai-German Institute Visits Robinetso

LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 25, 2016, Thai-German Institute (TGI) paid a visit to Robinetso during their technical tour to HongKong, ShenZhen & Guangzhou, in a bid to learn latest Robinet technologies. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371962

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371961LOGO

TGI is a joint-venture of Thailand and Germany, founded to promote technology transfer amongst Thai companies via professional training and further education. Back in 2012, they adopted FindTaps as their manufacturing training tool.more: http://www.findtaps.co.uk/ After a quick tour around the Guanghou office, a group of 17 people from TGI gathered to witness Robinetso's latest developments. "We are truly impressed that Robinetso does a good job in shortening our people's learning curve and saving time from routine manual tasks," said Mr. Somwang Boonrakcharoen, Deputy Executive Director of the TGI.



About Thai-German Institute The Thai-German Institute is a joint initiative of the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Federal Republic of German, the aim was to be an effective training center for transferring advanced manufacturing technology to Thai industry. It was set up as an autonomous body outside the formal education system with its operation under the supervision of the Foundation for Industrial Development and a broad oversight by the Ministry of Industry.website: http://www.wasstar.de/

After the Thai Cabinet approved the establishment of TGI in September 1992, Thai-German Institute started its official operation in 1995 until 1998 when the first training course began, from this point on until now TGI has maintained a continual growth. About Robinetso Robinetso Co., Ltd. is an international robinet provider through its network of over 300 partners in 80+ countries and regions. Its product Robinetso is used by robinet designers across the AEC and MCAD industries. Contacts

Asana Abu Email

http://www.robinetso.fr 07960626439 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thai-german-institute-visits-robinetso-300274735.html SOURCE Thai-German Institute

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 24, 2016] InMoment Breaks Ground on Global Headquarters at Innovative Development

Today, customer experience technology leader InMoment broke ground on its new global headquarters. The company will be the inaugural tenant in a first-of-its-kind Urban Transit Oriented Development located at the geographical center of Silicon Slopes, Utah's high-tech corridor. The new building will support the growth strategy InMoment has undertaken in response to the rapid increase in demand for the company's Customer Experience (CX) optimization technology. InMoment works with some of the largest, most respected brands in the world, including Nike, Starbucks, Tiffany & Co., General Motors, Chrysler, Comcast (News - Alert), global fashion retailer New Look, Post Office (United Kingdom), and more. The research firm Gartner has declared Customer Experience "the new competitive battlefield." Fourteen-year-old InMoment started as a survey automation provider and has evolved to become the leading innovator of customer experience technology in the world. The company's platform empowers brands to listen more effectively to customers and employees, run sophisticated analytics on a range of complex data, and channel real-time intelligence to people across organizations-from the CEO to the front line. "When it came to selecting a ste for our new global headquarters, we wanted a place that reflects our innovative technology and culture, where we can continue to grow and prosper," said InMoment Founder and CEO John Sperry. "Located in the heart of Silicon Slopes, surrounded by world-class recreation resources, a vibrant urban culture, and some of the most gorgeous landscape in the world, our new headquarters offers our current employees a dynamic, creative environment, while supporting our ability to recruit more of the very best local and global technology talent."



With offices in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, InMoment services enterprise clients across 25 industries in nearly 130 countries and 90 languages. InMoment (formerly Mindshare Technologies) was founded in 2002. In 2012, the company acquired a major competitor, doubling in size and achieving an international footprint and client base. InMoment has been profitable since 2006 and remains largely employee-owned, both rare accomplishments for a modern technology company.

"Who needs Silicon Valley to find exciting high tech opportunities when we've got it right here in Utah," said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. "And we've got it right here in Salt Lake County with companies like InMoment. The future looks bright for our community." Construction on the Urban Transit Oriented Development at SoJo Station is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2017. For more information about InMoment or to see a rendering of its new building, visit www.inmoment.com. About InMoment InMoment is a cloud-based customer experience (CX) optimization platform that helps brands leverage customer and employee stories to inform better business decisions, and create high value relationships. Through its Experience Hub, InMoment provides Voice of Customer (VoC), Social Reviews & Advocacy, and Employee Engagement solutions, as well as strategic guidance, support, and services. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006677/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 24, 2016] Demandbase Signs Agreement to Acquire Data Science Company Spiderbook

SAN FRANCISCO, May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Demandbase, the recognized leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire data science company Spiderbook. Spiderbook automates the identification of companies that are likely to buy, including those that are already in-market for a company's products and services. It then determines the right buyers within those accounts and uncovers buyer-specific insights to recommend personalized messages for sales teams to use. The combined offering extends Demandbase's leadership position in the rapidly expanding ABM category with the only end-to-end platformhelping companies identify, target, engage and sell to target accounts. "Demandbase has significantly improved how we attract and engage our target accounts," said Nick Ezzo, vice president of demand generation for Host Analytics. "Last year, we tested Spiderbook to help us identify the right accounts to target while delivering the right contacts and insights to the sales team to help close those accounts. The combination of Demandbase and Spiderbook gives us a complete ABM platform, and we are excited to see the new innovation that they will deliver together." Click to tweet: [email protected] signs an agreement to acquire @Spiderbook to create the only end-to-end #ABM platform http://demandb.se/SBABlog "Over the last several years, we have evaluated multiple solutions to help our marketing and sales teams more efficiently identify the accounts most likely to buy our own products," said Chris Golec, founder and CEO of Demandbase. "Spiderbook's technology was simply head and shoulders above anything we tried, and we heard similar feedback from our mutual customers. We were so impressed with the results generated, scalability of the technology and their team, that we decided to join forces to bring the most robust and comprehensive ABM solution to the marketplace."



"We have watched Demandbase create and grow the ABM category. They are clearly the dominant force within Account-Based Marketing," said Alan Fletcher, CEO of Spiderbook. "By joining Demandbase, we can now reach more B2B marketers and bring more value by having our solutions fully integrated."

Founded by Oracle veterans and a team of data scientists, Spiderbook uses advanced machine learning and linguistics expertise to discover new accounts displaying intent, uncover qualified opportunities and find the most relevant buyers within target accounts. Sales teams can then easily choose relevant information from their dashboard to populate personalized emails. Spiderbook employees will be joining Demandbase's team at the company's headquarters in San Francisco. "B2B marketers are evolving their Account-Based Marketing strategy to what we call Account-Based Everythingthe coordination of personalized marketing, sales development and sales efforts to drive engagement and conversion at a targeted set of accounts," said Craig Rosenberg, chief analyst at TOPO. "The Demandbase acquisition of Spiderbook extends their account-based platform into sales development and sales and allows organizations to move closer to realizing this vision and ultimately see significant lift in pipeline and revenue." Recently named a Gartner Cool Vendor, Demandbase is experiencing phenomenal growth in ABM deals. Closing its biggest quarter ever, Demandbase now has over 300 customers including some of the world's largest technology, manufacturing, healthcare and financial services companies in the world. Last month, at the largest ABM thought leadership conference in the world, the Demandbase Marketing Innovation Summit, the company announced Account-Based Marketing Automation, a significant partnership with Oracle Marketing Cloud, launched the ABM Leadership Alliance and unveiled the latest State of ABM report with SiriusDecisions. About Demandbase

Demandbase, the leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), has been introducing ABM solutions to the market since 2011. The company offers the only end-to-end ABM platform account identification, account-based advertising, B2B website personalization, account-based marketing automation, sales insights and integrations into CRM so that ABM results are optimized around sales activity. The Demandbase B2B Marketing Cloud is the only subscription-based ad targeting and web personalization solution that let marketers connect campaigns directly to revenue. The B2B Marketing Cloud is powered by patented technology, which allows companies to identify in real-time the accounts they value most and personalize their digital marketing efforts to them. Enterprise leaders and high-growth companies such as Adobe, GE, Salesforce.com, Oracle, Box, CSC, DocuSign, Dell and others use Demandbase to drive ABM and maximize their marketing performance. The company was named a Gartner Cool Vendor for Tech Go-To Market in 2016. More information can be found at https://www.demandbase.com or by following the company on Twitter @Demandbase. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150330/195496LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/demandbase-signs-agreement-to-acquire-data-science-company-spiderbook-300274459.html SOURCE Demandbase

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 24, 2016] Born2Global's Korean Startup Demo Day in Paris

SEOUL, South Korea, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- K-ICT Born2Global (B2G) will be hosting "K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" with 15 of Korea's most fascinating startups which will pitch their business models to top global VCs, accelerators and a live audience. Promising Korean startups, including leading companies in areas such as AI, wearables, big data, IoT, edu-tech and healthcare will present at the Demo Day. "B2G has K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016 with the purpose of introducing selected Korean startups with high potential successfully expanding to the global market," said Jong Kap Kim, Chief Executive Director of B2G said. Kim added that, "After the Demo Day, we plan to continue in solidifying the network channels between the Korean startups and VCs, accelerators of the European market. We would like for everyone to take advantage of this Demo Day and create invaluable relationships that can bring mutual success in business." In addition to 15 pitch sessions, there will be opportunities for attendees to network and have one on one consulting with European VCs and accelerators. The Demo Day is a public event open to anyone, so please RSVP and direct your inquiries to [email protected]. Accelerators, investors, journalists and government representatives may email the same address for the Demo Day admission pass. "K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" will be held at the Catalogne Paris Montparnesse (address: 40 Ruedu Commandont Mouchott, Place Catalogne, 750104 Paris) on June 3, 2016, with the public program running from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Consulting and mentoring session for the entry into the European market will be held from 2:00 to 6:00pm. One of the selected startups form the Demo Day will be awarded with Yorkshire Accelerator Award and gain membership to the UK-based accelerator. "K-Global @ Paris Demo Day 2016" hosted by B2G is sponsored and supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea. B2G has previously held Demo Day events in Singapore, Japan, China, US (NY/SV/LA), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. Last year, the Demo Day was held in Lille, France. Through the first Demo Day in France, Korean Bio-Tech startups and VCs from the healthcare industry had a chance to connect and build strategic relationships. B2G Founded in September 2013, B2G is a major Korean government agency under the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) contributing to the national startup ecosystem and beyond. Each year, B2G selects over 100 startups with high potential for entring the global market. B2G provides services such as professional consulting in law, patents, accounting, marketing, investment and business development. Additionally, B2G gives training services to startups by hosting conferences, seminars and meetings.



Over 60 startups are selected to reside in the business space "K-Global Startup Hub" and receive consulting services at the Startup Campus. The Startup Campus in Pangyo is the "Silicon Valley" of South Korea, emerging as the latest hot spot in the thriving startup ecosystem. The 582K square feet Startup Campus is the future home for tech startup stars to connect with the global market. B2G Metrics

Continuously expanding its global channel partners, B2G has over 100 partners all around the world. B2G has significantly contributed building a strong foundation for successful investment opportunities for startups. B2G has brought investment of over US$133.2 million for 62 startups. B2G's experts have provided 4,537 consulting services to 2,921 startups, resulting in 358 overseas patent applications, 198 overseas business contracts and alliances with 26 overseas incorporations. Information on startups presenting at the Demo Day Amadas (www.amadas.kr)

Smart door lock that can be remotely controlled via a smartphone app. Bagel Labs (www.bagel-labs.com)

Platforms for size data and use data collected by the Bagel smart tape measure to connect businesses to consumers in various ways. Ciot

An IoT security service company, producing a hardware security module to secure IoT platforms. Daliworks (www.daliworks.net)

ThingPlus (Thing+, https://thingplus.net), IoT cloud platform enabling customers to build faster, cheaper, reliable and scalable IoT services. Dreamsquare (www.mytalentx.com)

Connecting college talent with the right career opportunity by utilizing AI HEURI. Huinno (www.huinno.com)

Innovative healthcare technologies that continuously, accurately, and quickly measure clinically-relevant biometrics. Impressivo (www.impressivo.net)

3D touch sensor for wearables, IoT devices and VR/AR interfaces. Innomdlelab (www.innomdlelab.com)

TipTalk: Smart watch strap that turns your fingertip into a phone. iPlateia (www.iplateia.com)

Cross-media solutions to enhanced audio recognition technology. Nare Trends (www.xspark.co.kr)

Remote monitoring and protection system for electrical arc fires. SoTIS (www.sot.is)

Light-weight security S/W for IoT device authentication & data protection. Stratio (www.stratiotechnology.com)

World's first Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) imaging available to the mass market. Vuno (www.vuno.co)

Applying deep learning to solve big problems: Currently, innovating medicine. WELT(www.welt.life)

World's first smart belt (a Samsung spin-off company). 12CM (www.12cm.co.kr)

O2O services through Echoss Smart Stamp & cloud platform enhancing customer loyalty. About Born2Global Established in September 2013, Born2Global is the major vehicle under the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, to support Korean startup companies in early stages that aims want to expand across international markets. Born2Global has been providing consulting services in various fields covering training, investment, law, patent, accounting, and marketing to nurture global startup companies and also develop a domestic startup ecosystem and support system designed to form a virtuous cycle. For more detailed information on the Born2Global, please check out www.born2global.com.

RELATED LINKS

http://www.born2global.com CONTACT: Jina Lee

[email protected]



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 24, 2016] Lisk Releases First Modular Cryptocurrency With Sidechains

AACHEN, Germany, May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lisk (www.lisk.io), the first modular cryptocurrency utilizing sidechains, has released its eagerly awaited first public release, Lisk v0.3.0, which is the first cryptocurrency to put into practice the much-discussed concept of using sidechains to infinitely extend the scalability of a digital asset ecosystem without impacting the speed or performance of the core blockchain. Sidechains are an independent cryptographic ledger that attaches to the main blockchain, but does not impact the speed or security of the main chain. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371778LOGO The Lisk vision is to have a highly scalable public blockchain where decentralized, blockchain based applications can be programmed without learning the often complex languages of individual blockchains. In this case, Lisk chose JavaScript, the world's most popular programming language (more popular than C/C++ or Java), as it has a huge, global base of developers that can adapt existing applications or create new ones by utilizing Lisk's easy-to-use SDK and extensive documentation for rapid development of blockchain applications and sidechains. "Lisk is utterly unique," said Max Kordek, co-founder and CEO of Lisk. "There is no public cryptocurrency platform which allows developers to easily deploy their own blockchain and build a JavaScript blockchain app on it. This will give millions of developers the ability to create their own sidechains, particularly around consumer applications, including games, scial networks and the Internet of Things, but the same core functionality can also be used to develop and scale business applications."



Lisk funded its vision by holding a four-week crowdsale which ended on March 21, 2016, raising more than 14,000 bitcoins and 80 million crypti (80 percent of the existing market). The price of those assets on the final day of the sale was $5.75 million, but an increase in bitcoin valuation since then has made its crowdsale proceeds currently worth $6.5 million  a remarkable achievement for a two-man team based in separate cities (Aachen, Germany, and Birmingham, UK). Kordek and his CTO/co-founder Oliver Beddows are no stranger to cryptocurrency development. Kordek became very involved in cryptocurrency as a college student in 2013, initially in the Litecoin community, then as CEO of the Nxt Organization (Nxt has been a top 20 coin since its inception), and finally as an active member of the Crypti cryptocurrency team. Lisk was created from a fork of Crypti code and has enjoyed huge support from the Crypti community, as evidenced by the sale of 80 percent of all Crypti tokens to support the Lisk crowdsale.

Beddows has been a full-stack software developer for more than 15 years and developed tools on Crypti prior to teaming up with Kordek to create Lisk. Beddows is responsible for all core development of the Lisk platform and managing community contributions to the code. About Lisk Lisk is the first modular cryptocurrency, as well as the first public cryptocurrency to use sidechains and first to provide an easy-to-use SKD for developers of the world's most popular programming language, JavaScript. Following one of the most successful public crowdsales in history (more than 14,000 BTC), Lisk released its first public blockchain, v0.3.0 in late May 2016. For more information, please visit: https://lisk.io Get started with Liskat  https://lisk.io/get_started Know more about LiskICO at  https://lisk.io/ico Agency Contact Name: Erika Zapanta Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 702-503-1239

Company Contact Name: Max Kordek Email: [email protected] Lisk is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to FDIC and other consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lisk-releases-first-modular-cryptocurrency-with-sidechains-300274456.html SOURCE Lisk

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] TechCode in Discussions with Global Innovation Powers about Innovative Incubation Practice to Promote Industrial Upgrading

GU'AN, China, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 17th, 2016, the Innovation China Summit was held in the Venture Building of Gu'an. The theme of this year's summit was "Global Innovation: High-tech Disruption and Industrial Upgrading." TechCode held a panel discussion, "Innovative Incubation Practice," at the Summit. Some of the guests of the panel included Han Misuk, Independent Director of LG and the first female entrepreneur of South Korea and Erica Huang, CEO of TechCode. The guests discussed TechCode's strategy "Global Technology-TechCode Acceleration-China Innovation" from different angles, and shared their valuable experience and insights in the innovative practices. TechCode seeks out advanced industry and technology hotspots worldwide and builds close working relationships. TechCode also introduces various projects with advanced industrial technologies into its incubation acceleration system and adopts them as members of the TechCode family.



In March, TechCode Israel-China Innovation Center was established. In April, TechCode signed MOU with South Korea Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation which was aimed at cultivating the game industry, integration of new technology, IoT industry and other new integrated industries. In China, mass entrepreneurship and innovation has become increasingly common. However, in the process of innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the problem of how to integrate industrial innovation and quickly transfer scientific research achievements to industrialization and commercialization is still unanswered.

TechCode solves this problem successfully. On one hand, TechCode designs a unique global incubation network; on the other hand, TechCode is rooted deeply in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, such as Gu'an, where innovation and entrepreneurship are greatly supported. TechCode and CFLD are the practitioners of advanced innovative incubation ideas in China, through a co-existing and win-win model, they will solidify the regional industrial resources, dig out regional market needs, accelerate the incubating and industrialization process, and ultimately realize the purpose of "Technology Innovation" and "Last Mile in Industrialization". For more information contact: Liliya Li

+86-138-1117-3590

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] 3D Concrete Printing Market Worth 56.4 Million USD by 2021

PUNE, India, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "3D Concrete Printing Market Product Type (Walls, Floors & Roofs, Panels & Lintels), Concrete Type (Ready-Mix, High-Density, Precast, Shotcrete), Software (Design, Inspection, Printing), End-Use Sector (Architectural, Industrial, Domestic) - Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, The market is projected to grow from USD 24.5 Million in 2015 to USD 56.4 Million by 2021, at a CAGR of 15.02%. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 181 market data Tables with 44 Figures spread through 193 Pages and in-depth TOC on "3D Concrete Printing Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/3d-concrete-printing-market-10362292.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The 3D Concrete Printing Market is projected to witness significant growth in the next few years with the increasing demand for new constructions all over the world due to rapid urbanization and industrialization with increased investments in the infrastructural developments in emerging markets. The 3D concrete printing process saves between 30% and 60% of construction waste, can reduce production time by 50% to 70%, and reduce labour costs by 50% to 80%. Growing interest in green construction and the significant savings that 3D concrete printing provide, compared with traditional buildings methods, have increased the demand for this technology. Use of walls in construction sector is projected to increase during the forecast period Walls made using 3D concrete printers are capable of creating concrete objects with great detail and precision, making it possible to conveniently construct advanced concrete walls with the push of a button. Moreover, walls that are constructed on-site using 3D concrete printer result in zero waste and are less time consuming. Thus, walls are account for a large share in the construction sector as compared to other product types. 3D concrete printing uses energy-efficient technologies, which has gained increased momentum and exposure in the construction market. Potential advantages of 3D concrete printing include quicker construction, lower labour cost, and lesser waste generation. Domestic construction segment is projected to be the fastest-growing segment of 3D Concrete Printing Market during the forecast period 3D Concrete Printing Market, by end-use sector, is classified into three segents, namely, domestic construction, industrial construction, and architectural construction. The domestic construction segment accounted for the largest market share in 2015 due to the rising demand in residential and commercial construction, increasing demand for eco-friendly and smart constructions, increased investment in commercial developments, and growing urbanization. 3D concrete printing is transforming the domestic construction segment, with a less expensive process and affordable housing solutions. Lower material usage and lower labour costs create a less expensive construction method, which in turn creates lower-cost buildings.



Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=10362292 Asia-Pacific to play a key role in the 3D Concrete Printing Market

The growth in Asia-Pacific region is driven by factors such as the rising environmental concerns, increasing awareness towards sustainable construction, efforts towards standardization, expanding application segments, increasing urbanized population in China and India, along with the growth in disposable income in these countries are driving the growth of the Asia-Pacific 3D Concrete Printing Market. At a global level, companies such as DUS Architects (the Netherlands), Fosters+Partners (U.K.), and WinSun Global (China) are providing 3D concrete printing services. Large construction players such as LafargeHolcim (France), Balfour Beatty PLC (U.K.), Kier Group PLC (U.K.), and Carillon PLC (U.K.) have scope to enter into 3D concrete printing services. The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors influencing the growth of the 3D Concrete Printing Market such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. A detailed analysis of the key industry players has been conducted to provide insights into their business overview, products & services, key strategies, new product launches, agreements, and recent developments associated with the 3D Concrete Printing Market. Browse Related Reports Vacuum Insulation Panels Market by Core Material Type (Silica, Fiberglass, others), Type (Flat, Special Shape), Raw material (Silica, Fiberglass, Plastic, Metal, others), Application (Construction, Cooling & freezing devices, Logistics, Others) - Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/vacuum-insulation-panel-market-93263160.html Precast/Prefabricated Construction Market by Product Type (Floors & Roofs, Walls, Columns & Beams, Others), Construction Type (Modular, Manufactured, Others), End-Use Sector (Residential, Non-Residential, Infrastructure, Others), Region - Trends & Forecast to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/prefabricated-construction-market-125074015.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact:

Mr. Rohan

Markets and Markets

UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ

Magarpatta city, Hadapsar

Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India

1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets



SOURCE MarketsandMarkets

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Entelo Raises $12 Million in Series B Funding to Bring Data-Driven Recruiting to the Enterprise

SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Entelo, the leading provider of enterprise software for data-driven recruiting, today announced that it has closed a $12 million Series B financing round led by venture capital firm Shasta Ventures. Existing investor Battery Ventures also participated in the round. Entelo will use the funding to further accelerate growth, particularly in the enterprise and mid-market segments. Recruiting is becoming more sophisticated and data-driven, following a similar trend that has played out in the sales and marketing functions over the last decade. Talent teams and recruiting departments require the same level of advanced technology that other business units possess, and Entelo is increasingly recognized as a leader in that area. "At Campbell Soup Company, talent acquisition helps drive growth," said Nicole Wormley, Sr. Manager, U.S. Talent Acquisition at Campbell Soup Company. "Automating the process, for both outbound candidates and inbound applicants, is as important as automating other functions across our company. With Entelo our sourcers are both more effective and more efficient  Entelo has enabled our recruiter team to develop more advanced and automated recruiting processes." Entelo's newest technology, Entelo Stack, uses data science, machine learning, and directed scoring to automatically rank inbound applicants, making recruiters and hiring managers dramatically more productive and effective while improving key metrics such as quality of hire, time to hire, and cost per hire. "At HubSpot, we think about talent acquisition as a strategic driver of our growth and place great value on making that process as effective as possible," said Becky McCullough, Director of Recruiting, North America at HubSpot. "Entelo has enabled our recruiters to find, qualify and engage with a diverse talent pool in more efficient ways and has enabled HubSpot to develop moresophisticated and scalable recruiting practices."



Entelo Stack includes capabilities to prevent bias in hiring by anonymizing applications and resumes coming into a company so that recruiters and hiring managers can focus on the skills and experience an applicant has, instead of being biased by the race or gender implications of their name. With Entelo Stack organizations gain a competitive advantage, ensuring that Entelo customers respond the fastest when top candidates apply. "In such a competitive talent market, speed to engagement can often make the difference between whether we bring on a new team member or not," said Ron Storn, VP, People at Lyft. "Entelo makes us better. It allows us to engage all applicants and candidates faster. Speed is a competitive advantage and we've proven that it drives better results."

"At Entelo, it's our goal to be at the cutting edge of innovation in the recruiting industry," said Jon Bischke, Entelo's CEO and co-founder. "Last year was a banner year for us. We delivered major enhancements to our Search and Track solutions and we launched Stack. We are honored that so many companies, across all industries, choose to partner with Entelo to help them drive their recruiting initiatives and gain competitive edge." "Entelo has tapped into a pattern we've seen evolve successfully over the past decade  innovation transitioning from one functional area within a company to others," said Jason Pressman, Managing Director at Shasta Ventures. "In this case it's targeting, messaging, automation, and engagement, which have been adopted in sales and marketing, now being applied to talent acquisition. The market opportunity for a next-gen talent acquisition solution is huge, and Entelo has already established itself as a new leader. We are excited to help them scale further, both in the U.S. and international markets." As part of today's news, Entelo announced the following statistics about its growth: Q1 2016 sales growth of 588% over Q1 2015

Recent customer wins including Ameriprise Financial, Atlassian, Avery Dennison , Campbell Soup Company, Capital One, Cummins, Dell, Frontier Communications, Genentech, Oracle, Owens Corning, PG&E, SurveyMonkey, The Honest Company, Trinet and TripAdvisor.

, Campbell Soup Company, Capital One, Cummins, Dell, Frontier Communications, Genentech, Oracle, Owens Corning, PG&E, SurveyMonkey, The Honest Company, Trinet and TripAdvisor. Over 425 customers, including 15% of the Fortune 100

55% quarter-over-quarter growth in usage of Track, Entelo's email engagement and analytics solution for recruiters About Shasta Ventures Shasta Ventures is an early-stage venture firm investing its fourth fund in consumer technology, enterprise start-ups and connected hardware. Shasta aims to partner with bold, creative entrepreneurs who have exceptional instincts and insights into the needs, desires and behaviors of the people who use their products. The firm is based in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.shastaventures.com, or follow us on Twitter at @shasta. About Entelo Entelo is a new and better way to recruit. The Entelo platform combines machine learning, predictive analytics, behavioral listening and social signals to help recruiting organizations identify, qualify and engage with talent. To learn how leading companies like Facebook, Cisco and UPS are building their teams using Entelo, visit www.entelo.com. Contact

Nicole Conley

650-422-3156

[email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371841 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371842 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/entelo-raises-12-million-in-series-b-funding-to-bring-data-driven-recruiting-to-the-enterprise-300274515.html SOURCE Entelo

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] New Resilient Podcast Series Explores the Stories of Executives in the Midst of Risk, Disruption and Crisis

NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning from leaders whose decisions changed lives and careers, who experienced a situation that took them to the brink and back; that's the purpose of the newly-launched podcast series, " Resilient ," from Deloitte Advisory. The bi-weekly podcast series explores the story of real-life executives, board members and government officials who led through crises, navigated through disruptions, managed through significant risk events and came back stronger. Each "Resilient" episode is designed to help today's leaders embrace risk and improve performance by becoming better prepared to manage confidently in this unpredictable world. "Clients routinely tell us that they want to hear the stories and experiences of their peers. But more often than not, those stories are kept quiet or only heard by a few," says Mike Kearney, national managing partner for Deloitte & Touche LLP, and leader of Deloitte Advisory strategic risk services. "We lay it all out there for the benefit of the listeners, and take them on the executive's journey. Resilient leaders don't get knocked down by disaster or disruption, they find ways to navigate through it and cme back stronger, and that is what you'll hear in each episode."



In the first episode, Deloitte Advisory's Mike Kearney interviews former Verisign CEO Bill Roper about his experience transitioning from a lead independent director to CEO during a volatile crisis. Roper shares the complexity of the short-term decisions that had to be made and frames the crisis with an eye on the long game as well. In episode two, Eric Pillmore, former corporate governance SVP at Tyco International Ltd., talks about joining Tyco International in 2002 in the wake of fraud and larceny allegations. Pillmore frames the crisis as an opportunity to dig in, establish controls and make the organization a gold standard in ethics and governance.

In episode three, former Krispy Kreme CEO Daryl Brewster shares his perspective on saving an iconic brand. He discusses how he and his team reversed the company's financial decline, cleaned up accounting difficulties and expanded internationally to restore the iconic brand to its former glory. Each leader interviewed shares what it takes to overcome disruption and transform an organization. Together, the guest and the moderator delve into the backstory of critical events and developments to tell the story in a first-person narrative, facilitated in a Q&A format. The first three episodes are available now for download on iTunes . Subscribe for automatic notifications of new episodes: Deloitte.com

iTunes

SoundCloud

Stitcher About Deloitte Advisory

Deloitte Advisory helps organizations turn critical and complex business issues into opportunities for growth, resilience and long-term advantage. Our market-leading teams help our clients manage strategic, financial, operational, technological and regulatory risk to maximize enterprise value, while our experience in mergers and acquisitions, fraud, litigation and reorganizations helps clients emerge stronger and more resilient. As used in this document, "Deloitte Advisory" means Deloitte & Touche LLP, which provides audit and enterprise risk services; Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, which provides forensic, dispute, and other consulting services; and its affiliate, Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, which provides a wide range of advisory and analytics services. Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP is not a certified public accounting firm. These entities are separate subsidiaries of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120803/MM52028LOGO-a To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-resilient-podcast-series-explores-the-stories-of-executives-in-the-midst-of-risk-disruption-and-crisis-300274677.html SOURCE Deloitte

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] 12% of Banking CEOs Don't Know if Their Bank has Been Hacked: KPMG Survey

NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Twelve percent of banking CEOs surveyed say they do not have insight into whether their institution's security has been compromised by a cyber attack in the past two years, according to KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm. KPMG's 2016 Banking Outlook Survey also shows that there is a clear disconnect between how the C-Suite views cyber security versus the next tier of executives. The full report: "The Need For Speed," can be accessed at: http://www.kpmg.com/us/2016bankingindustryoutlooksurvey. KPMG surveyed 100 bank executives -- representing banks in excess of $20 billion in assets  and found disparities around the awareness of hacks, company vulnerabilities and top concerns in the event of a breach at the bank. While 12 percent of CEOs don't know if they've been hacked in the past two years, the lack of awareness only grows when compared to the next level of executives. Approximately 47 percent of banking executive vice presidents and managing directors reported that they didn't know if their bank had been hacked, and 72 percent of senior vice presidents and directors stated that they didn't know. "Banks are under an onslaught of attacks from bad actors, so the fact that 12% of banking CEOs reported that they don't know if they've been compromised is troublesome. Cyber is a business bottom-line issue: a true CEO issue," said Charlie Jacco, Financial Services Cyber Leader at KPMG. "While CEOs may be more privy to information regarding the exact number of cyber technology deployment and hack attempts, all employees should know and be in lock-step on their bank's greatest vulnerabilities and concerns as it pertains to how that bank views cyber security. The data shows, on a leadership level, a strong difference in opinions." Greatest Vulnerabilities in Your Organization's Data Security









Top Vulnerability Second Vulnerability CEOs - Sharing Data with Third Parties (49%) - External Attackers (47%) EVP  MDs - Sharing Data with Third Parties (59%) - External Attackers (56%) SVP  Directors - External Attackers (72%) - Sharing Data with Third Parties (28%)

Top Concerns in the Event of a Breach

Top Concern Second Concern Third Concern CEOs - Financial Loss (26%) - Reputation (21%) - Litigation (21%) - Job Security (21%) - Regulatory Enforcement (12%) EVP  MDs - Reputation (53%) - Financial Loss (25%) - Regulatory Enforcement (13%) SVP  Directors - Reputation (60%) - Financial Loss (24%) - Regulatory Enforcement (4%) - Job Security (4%) - Litigation (4%) "A disconnect around cyber strategy among senior executives, can create great gaps in protections and deprioritize important tasks exposing banks to increased cyber risks," says Jitendra Sharma, KPMG's Advisory Line of Business Leader for Financial Services. "Naturally, banks are the top industry attacked by hackers due to the amount of funds flowing through the institutions. Since banks are under increased security pressures, it's more important than ever that they employ a strong, top-down internal strategy to better protect themselves against bad actors." About KPMG LLP KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's member firms have 174,000 professionals, including more than 9,000 partners in 155 countries. Contact: Michael Adorno

KPMG LLP

O  201-505-6461

[email protected]

@mikeadorno To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/12-of-banking-ceos-dont-know-if-their-bank-has-been-hacked-kpmg-survey-300273924.html SOURCE KPMG LLP

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Emotion AI Leader Affectiva Announces $14 Million in Growth Capital

WALTHAM, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Affectiva, the global leader in emotion recognition software announced today that Fenox Venture Capital led its $14 million recent round of additional growth capital, on top of the $20 million previously raised. The investors include IT Services giant CAC Holdings, Bandai Namco, and Sega Sammy Holdings that is the multinational video game developer and publisher in Japan  all LPs in Fenox funds. The investment will be used to drive the company's continued innovation in Emotion AI and to further accelerate rapid growth into global markets. For more information on Affectiva: www.affectiva.com. Click to Tweet: #EmotionAI leader @Affectiva announces $14M in growth capital to accelerate entry into global markets and innovation in science @FenoxVC http://ctt.ec/439_6 Chairman of the Board Nick Langeveld, Chief Executive Officer Dr. Rana el Kaliouby Affectiva also announced that Nick Langeveld has been named Chairman of the Board. Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, who co-founded Affectiva, will be moving into the role of Chief Executive Officer. Under Nick's leadership, Affectiva has become the standard in scalable and fully automated emotion data. The company provides advanced analytics and fuels industry KPIs, norms and benchmarks based on the world's largest emotion database. Affectiva has developed a world class Emotion AI data platform alng with SaaS, SDK and API products. "I am thrilled to have Fenox Venture Capital invest in Affectiva. We are at an inflection point regarding how emotion data and insights are used in various industries," said Langeveld. "This capital will fuel our growth in new areas including gaming, healthcare and video communications."



Affectiva Emotion Recognition Technology Affectiva's emotion recognition technology allows developers to create hyper-personalized experiences across multiple industries such as gaming, advertising, healthcare and automotive. Game developers can create adaptive games that change based on a player's mood, clinical researchers can develop applications that respond to a patient's emotional state, and video communication platforms can optimize webinars so speakers can modify their presentations in real-time, based on an audience's engagement.

The Future of Emotion AI "We envision a future where our mobile and IoT devices can read and adapt to human emotions, transforming not only how we interact with hyper-intelligent technology, but also how we communicate with each other in a digital world," said Rana el Kaliouby. "Affectiva is the Emotion AI company; we build artificial emotional intelligence that senses, models and adapts to human emotion and behavior. It is a big, exciting vision for artificial intelligence, as it realizes the practical business application of AI and fuels innovation in many global markets." With the new funding, Affectiva will make its research team the magnet for emotion AI innovation, drawing top talent in machine learning, computer vision and emotion science. "Affectiva has built and proven its technology over the past few years and we are excited about the potential of the technology to become a core platform for Emotion AI globally," said Anis Uzzaman, General Partner and CEO of Fenox Venture Capital. About Affectiva

Affectiva, an MIT Media Lab spin-off, is the pioneer in Emotion AI, the next frontier of artificial intelligence. Affectiva's mission is to bring emotional intelligence to the digital world with its emotion recognition technology that senses and analyzes facial expressions and emotions. Affectiva's patented software is built on an emotion AI science platform that uses computer vision, deep learning and the world's largest emotion data repository of more than 4 million faces analyzed from 75 countries, amounting to more than 50 billion emotion data points. Affectiva's SDKs and APIs enable developers to add emotion-sensing and analytics to their own mobile apps, games, devices, applications and digital experiences. Affectiva is used by more than 1,400 brands to gather insight and analytics in consumer emotional engagement. Affectiva is privately held with backing from leading investors such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and WPP. For more information: www.affectiva.com. About Fenox Venture Capital

Fenox Venture Capital is a Silicon Valley-based Venture Capital firm with several multi-million dollar funds under management. Fenox has invested in more than 65 US, European and Asian startups, including Jibo, Affectiva, ShareThis, Genius, LARK, META and more, leveraging its global presence with its headquarters in San Jose and offices in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Dubai, Belarus and Bangladesh. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150421/200220LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emotion-ai-leader-affectiva-announces-14-million-in-growth-capital-300274734.html SOURCE Affectiva

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Scoop Announces Funding For First Fully-Automated Carpooling Solution to Revolutionize the Commute & Lower Emissions

SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Scoop Technologies, Inc., creators of the groundbreaking carpooling mobile application "Scoop," announced today that the company has raised a $5.1M funding round led by Signia Venture Partners with participation by Index Ventures, BMW i Ventures and Workday Ventures. Since their launch in August 2015, Scoop commuters have taken 50,000 carpool trips, offsetting 500,000 in commute mileage and lowering carbon emissions by 450,000 pounds. Scoop currently operates commutes into San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Pleasanton and Sunnyvale. Scoop's mission is to eliminate traffic and reimagine transportation to give life back to commuters and communities. They parner with major employers, office parks and local governments to offer employees an affordable and effective transportation solution. Scoop corporate partners include Cisco, Salesforce, Workday, Airbnb, Tesla, and Sandisk, representing 200,000+ commuters. The company also works with public organizations like the Bay Area MTC and the Palo Alto TMA.



Scoop's proprietary matching algorithm pairs commuters together for the most efficient carpool trip. The app automatically connects coworkers and neighbors who live and work in the same area. Commuters schedule each trip one way at a time and choose whether to ride or to drive. An average trip costs Riders $6, before any employer subsidies, while Drivers receive an average of $5/passenger. Unlike contract-drivers employed by most ridesharing services, the Drivers in each Scoop carpool are commuters in their own vehicles. "Scoop is working every day to reduce the impact that traffic has on our lives," said Rob Sadow, CEO of Scoop. Brothers and entrepreneurs Rob and Jon Sadow founded Scoop after years at Bain & Company and Google. "For most employees, the commute is the most frustrating time of the day - it's expensive, unproductive, and stressful. We've built an app that allows commuters to enjoy all the benefits of carpooling without the hassle."

Rick Thompson, Partner at Signia Venture Partners and founder of game developer Playdom, has joined Scoop's Board of Directors. "With Scoop, the quality of life for commuters in the Bay Area has improved. Getting cars off the road relieves stress and reduces commute times so we can get back to doing what we love." said Thompson. "Commuter congestion is a national opportunity faced by 100 million Americans daily, and Scoop is a simple, yet powerful solution using modern technology and a thoughtful go-to-market strategy. The result is an incredibly easy commuting experience that has as much social impact as it does economic impact." Additional investors and advisors include David Ko, COO of Rally Health; Dell Entrepreneur-in-Residence Elizabeth Gore; Google veterans Paul McDonald and Brett Slatkin; Russ Fradin, CEO of Dynamic Signal; Zach Weinberg, founder of Flatiron Health; and Signia partner Zaw Thet. For more information, visit www.takescoop.com . Scoop Technologies Inc.

Scoop is a software company based in San Francisco. Scoop helps commuters save time, money, the environment, and create new social connections through easy carpooling. Signia Venture Partners

Signia Venture Partners is an early-stage venture fund dedicated to helping passionate entrepreneurs realize their vision and build impactful, high-growth ventures. Index Partners

Index Ventures is a multi-stage international venture capital firm that backs the best and most ambitious entrepreneurs. BMW i Ventures

BMW i Ventures, a corporate venture capital team founded by BMW Group in 2011, provides financing to start-ups and high-growth companies dedicated to shape the future of global mobility. Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiRNRm4Ar9A To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scoop-announces-funding-for-first-fully-automated-carpooling-solution-to-revolutionize-the-commute--lower-emissions-300274427.html SOURCE Scoop Technologies, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] HCL Infosystems Reports Revenue of INR 3,718 Crore in FY 2016 (9 Months Ended Mar 31, 2016) With Positive Momentum for Enterprise Business at 34% YoY Growth Over the 9 Month Period

NEW DELHI, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Quarter on Quarter Business Highlights Q3 Revenue at INR 1,101 Crore ; Focus on offering complete suite of product, solutions and services to Enterprises & Partners

; Focus on offering complete suite of product, solutions and services to Enterprises & Partners Enterprise Business revenues grew by 19% Q-o-Q from INR 468 Crore in OND 2015 to INR 556 Crore in JFM 2016

in OND 2015 to INR in JFM 2016 Enterprise Business share in the revenue mix increases from 40% in Q2 FY16 to 50% in Q3 FY16

Consumer Business revenue at INR 453 Crore , declines 20% due to product rationalization by the major Principal

, declines 20% due to product rationalization by the major Principal Earnings before interest, taxes and exceptional items was INR (30.4) Crore

Exceptional items for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2016 include impairment charge in respect to Learning Business of Rs. 70 Cr on account of write down of part of the goodwill, which was recognized in the prior years during the process of restructuring of the Company. This write down has no impact on cash flows and brought about due to change in the current business model and changes in the overall business environment for the segment.

include impairment charge in respect to Learning Business of Rs. 70 Cr on account of write down of part of the goodwill, which was recognized in the prior years during the process of restructuring of the Company. This write down has no impact on cash flows and brought about due to change in the current business model and changes in the overall business environment for the segment. Profit / (Loss) before interest, taxes and after exceptional items was INR (101.5) Crore

Profit / (Loss) before tax and after exceptional items was INR (140.6) Crore (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160503/10145315 )

9-month (July-March FY16) Business Highlights* 9-month ended Mar 31, 2016 Revenue at INR 3,718 Crore

Revenue at INR Enterprise products distribution business registered INR 732 Crore revenue

revenue Consumer distribution business registered revenue of INR 1,893 Crore

System Integration (SI) and Solutions continued its focus on execution with revenues of INR 404 Crore - order book at Rs. 1180 Crore as on 31 st March 2016

- order book at Rs. as on 31 Earnings before interest, taxes and exceptional items was INR (79.8) Crore

Profit / (Loss) before tax and after exceptional items is INR (253.1) Crore * HCL Infosystems Ltd. has changed its current Financial Year by shortening it to 9 months i.e. to end on March 31, 2016 (from July 01, 2015 to March 31, 216) to comply with the requirement of the Companies Act.



HCL Infosystems, one of India's premier IT Services, Distribution and Digital Solutions Company, today announced its financial results for the third quarter and for the nine months ended March 31, 2016. Mr. Premkumar, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HCL Infosystems Ltd., commenting on the results said, "Due to focus and investments in the Enterprise Business it has registered robust growth over the last three quarters. However, the 'de-growth' of the Consumer Distribution Business significantly impacted profitability. The SI business was on track on execution and commercial enablement for payments."

Enterprise Business The core Enterprise Business consisting of Enterprise Products Distribution, Domestic Enterprise Services, Global Enterprise Services and Care Services showed positive traction and will be the engine for the Company's next level of growth. The business continued its strong performance, growing 19% Q-o-Q and 34% Y-o-Y in revenues. The Enterprise Products Distribution portfolio was further strengthened with addition of leading international technology brands during the last three quarters. With a differentiated value added distribution proposition, growing strategic partner alliances and channel network, the business is set on a sustainable growth trajectory. Enterprise Services business kept its focus firm on capability enhancements in the emerging technologies space. The business bagged prestigious deals from major clients, including leading companies in the BFSI sector. The Global Services business continued to register growth in revenue and profitability. The Singapore business won prestigious Tech Refresh and Operating System Upgrade projects. In order to enhance and accelerate growth the business will widen its focus on the private sector, apart from the government projects. HCL Infosystems MEA bagged important Data Centre transformation and Managed Services deals during the quarter. Consumer Business The Consumer Distribution business witnessed 20% contraction in Q-o-Q Revenue, affected due to continuing telecom product and price rationalization by the Principal especially in the entry-level category. System Integration (SI) & Solutions The SI and Solutions business registered revenue of INR 404 Crore for the three quarters in the financial year with orders worth Rs. 81.24 Crores executed in the JFM 2016 quarter. The total order book size stood at INR 1,180 Crore as on 31st March'16. During the year, major Telecom and Power Projects were progressed towards commercial closure. The UIDAI project crossed the milestone of enrollment of more than 100 crore Aadhaars. Awards & Recognitions during JFM 2016 HCL Infosystems won the "Operational Excellence Award" for Order Management Process at the National Quality Excellence Award in February 2016 .

. HCL Care won Asia Retail Excellence award in the 'Mobile and Telecom Service Category' in February 2016 . About HCL Infosystems HCL Infosystems is one of India's premier IT Services, Distribution and Digital Solutions Company, enabling organizations attain and sustain competitive advantage by leveraging Information and Communication Technologies. It offers a comprehensive portfolio of capabilities spanning IT & System Integration services, digitally-enabled learning and career development solutions to value-added distribution of technology, mobility and consumer products. For more information, please visit us at www.hclinfosystems.in About HCL Founded in 1976 as one of India's original IT garage start-ups, HCL is a pioneer of modern computing with many firsts to its credit, including the introduction of the 8-bit microprocessor-based computer in 1978 well before its global peers. Today, the HCL enterprise has a presence across varied sectors that include technology, healthcare and talent management solutions and comprises four companies - HCL Infosystems, HCL Technologies, HCL Healthcare and HCL TalentCare. The enterprise generates annual revenues of over US$ 7 billion with more than 105,000 employees from 100 nationalities operating across 31 countries, including over 500 points of presence in India. For further information, visit www.hcl.com Media Contacts: Tanay Gogoi HCL Infosystems +91 9971179400 [email protected] Reema Bardhan HCL Infosystems +91 989126740 [email protected] Supratik Ghosh HCL Infosystems +91 8826029966 [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] RayVio Launches Industry-Leading Ultraviolet LEDs to Enable Clean Water and Environments

HAYWARD, Calif., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RayVio Corp., an advanced health and hygiene company, today announced that it has launched a new series of ultraviolet (UV) LEDs with the highest power output available from a small surface mount device (SMD) footprint. RayVio's leading technology enables the UV disinfection of water and environments by fostering a new generation of powerful and portable health and hygiene devices. RayVio's new series of UV LEDs are among the smallest commercially available at a width of 6.5 millimeters, enabling unparalleled flexibility to incorporate into a range of products from self-disinfecting water bottles to hospital surface cleaners. The technology provides up to 40 milliwatts at 100 milliamperes continuous current operation in a single package, the most power available in that size on the market. With its wavelength in the range of 280 to 290 nanometers and its high power density, RayVio's LEDs deactivate the DNA of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, thereby preventing disease. "RayVio's innovative new form factor brings the protective power of ultraviolet light to a galaxy of innovative new products," said Dr. Robert C. Walker, CEO of RayVio. "We're facing serious global challenges around hospial-acquired infections and contamination of the food and water supply. This new technology marks an important step in providing peace of mind to billions of consumers around the world."



UV light is widely used to protect against germs in water, surfaces and air, and can also aid in treating skin diseases including psoriasis, eczema, rickets and jaundice. However, traditional UV light sources are bulky, fragile and contain toxic mercury. RayVio's UV LEDs are portable and compact and can be used safely across a range of applications, from cleaning water tanks in home humidifiers to disinfecting water at the faucet. RayVio is working with partners across the globe to incorporate its line of UV LEDs into a new generation of products and applications. Coupled with a hemispherical quartz lens, RayVio's new UV LEDs provide precise beam shape, enabling uniform light distribution over a large area. RayVio UV LED emitters are offered in a range of wavelengths, power levels and easy-to-use mounting designs. They also offer industry leading thermal resistance at 6C per watt, are RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant, and are manufactured in a precision high-tech facility in Silicon Valley, with additional high volume manufacturing partners around the world to meet soaring global demand.

RayVio will exhibit its technology at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Annual Conference (APIC 2016) on June 11 through 13 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Product samples and a wide range of application support are available through [email protected]. About RayVio Corp.

RayVio Corp. is an advanced health and hygiene company that delivers clean water and environments. RayVio helps protect billions from germs and creates new markets and revenue streams by enabling a new class of products. Its powerful and efficient UV LED technology can be integrated into a variety of applications, powering versatile on-demand solutions that give consumers control over health without chemicals or costly consumables. To learn more, please visit www.rayvio.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372098LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rayvio-launches-industry-leading-ultraviolet-leds-to-enable-clean-water-and-environments-300274879.html SOURCE RayVio Corporation

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Polytechnique and Deloitte partner to fight cybercrime - Two key players join forces to train next generation of cybersecurity specialists

MONTREAL, May 25, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Polytechnique Montreal and Deloitte, one of the leading professional services firms in Quebec and the rest of Canada, are joining forces to revamp Polytechnique's high-calibre training program in the field of cybersecurity. The course content of the three certificate programs in Cyber Investigation, Online Fraud and IT Network Computer Security has been upgraded to account for current market needs and the changing nature of cybercrimes. The newly updated programs will be offered at Polytechnique beginning in the fall 2016 semester. According to a December 2015 report by Deloitte titled Navigating a Harsh Cybersecurity Landscape, a majority of organizations in Canada are unprepared to deal with a cyberattack. Most Canadian companies surveyed believe they are equipped to counter such an attack, but only around a third of them (36%) actually have effective procedures and technologies in place to safeguard their critical assets. In addition, only one company in 10 has a high level of preparedness for cyberattacks, having implemented secure, vigilant and resilient procedures. Furthermore, the 2016 edition of Verizon's Data Breach Investigations Report, which examined tens of thousands of security incidents that affected various organizations in 82 different countries, found that in 2015, "89% of breaches had a financial or espionage motive." And in Canada, the 2015 Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report noted that more than seven million people had been victims of cybercrime in the previous year. "Polytechnique has been concerned for quite some time about the growing and increasingly complex needs of organizations when it comes to cybersecurity," explains Gervais Ouellet, Polytechnique's Coordinator of Certificates in Cybersecurity. "After meeting representatives of several major organizations to identify their needs, and with support from Deloitte's cybersecurity experts, starting this fall we will be offering leading-edge and even more concrete traning aimed at anyone who wants to ensure that their company or organization is protected against the new breed of online criminals, or is seeking ways of solving such crimes."



Polytechnique and Deloitte reviewed, adjusted and upgraded the course content of all three certificate programs, which entailed comprehensive overhauls to 29 courses and the addition of 14 new ones, making for a completely new curriculum. "These three cybersecurity training programs are unique in the world and perfectly in line with the needs and concerns of today's organizations," says Steven Chamberland, Polytechnique's Director of Academic Affairs and Student Life, adding: "In response to the challenges and changing nature of cybercrime, we have developed a flexible, scalable training framework that allows courses to be adapted in real time, as cybercriminals change their tactics."

To stem a rising tide of cybercrime limited only by the imaginations of those perpetrating them, organizations are snapping up personnel trained in this field: currently, there are five job openings for every graduating student. The most in-demand positions are cybersecurity analysts and consultants, access- and identity-management specialists, data analysis specialists, online fraud investigators, and cyberbullying consultants, to name only a few. "Deloitte is proud to be partnering with Polytechnique and sharing our global cybersecurity expertise," says Marc Perron, Quebec Region Managing Partner, Deloitte. "As the recognized leader in cybersecurity in Canada, it was only natural that we should move forward with this partnership, to train the professionals of tomorrow and in turn help local enterprises address the challenges they face when it comes to cybersecurity." He adds: "Knowing how to assess cybersecurity risks and guard against them is a key concern for many organizations, and we're pleased to be able to transfer knowledge to the next generation." For his part, Amir Belkhelladi, Lead Partner, Eastern Region's Enterprise Risk Service Security practice, Deloitte, notes: "The Polytechnique and Deloitte partnership will provide students with access to lecturers who have real-world experience with cybersecurity and are among the world's leading experts on cybercrime. As cybercriminals refine their methods, organizations must take steps to ensure that their personnel assigned to cybersecurity stay on top of new threats and the means to counter them. Hence the importance of the training programs offered by Polytechnique." Other partners have already contacted Polytechnique to express their interest in being part of ongoing improvements to the various cybersecurity training programs. Students enrolling in one or another of the programs will soon have the opportunity to do in-company internships. The certificate in IT Network Computer Security will be available in distance-learning form in September, and starting in winter 2017, all three will be available in their entirety online. In the following fall semester (2017), selected courses will also be given in English. To learn more about the three certificate programs and to register:

https://perfectionnement.polymtl.ca/3-certificats-cybersecurite-uniques-monde/ About Polytechnique Montreal

Founded in 1873, Polytechnique Montreal is one of Canada's leading engineering teaching and research institutions. It is the largest engineering university in Quebec for the size of its graduate student body and the scope of its research activities. With over 44,300 graduates, Polytechnique Montreal has educated nearly one-quarter of the current members of the Ordre des ingenieurs du Quebec. The institution offers over 120 programs. Polytechnique has 255 professors and more than 8,000 students. It has an annual operating budget of more than $200 million, including a research budget of over $70 million. About Deloitte

Deloitte, one of Canada's leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. Deloitte LLP, an Ontario limited-liability partnership, is the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/ca/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms. SOURCE Polytechnique Montreal

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
What you need to know about Powerball and the $610 million jackpot
How to download iOS 16

Learn how to update your iPhone to iOS 16, to make use of all the latest and best features while ensuring your iPhone is as secure and optimized as it can be
The best portable chargers keep your devices powered while you're out and about. They're capable of charging a variety of consumer electronics, including phones, tablets, Nintendo Switch consoles and even laptops. Because you'll inevitably find yourself out of the house with low battery life, you'll need a reliable portable charger with you to keep your electronics going. Not having one could prove to be extremely inconvenient.

We've done a battery (pun intended) of tests on some of the best and most highly rated portable chargers on the market. To that end, we've pulled from both big brands and popular competitors. Our testing involves seeing how fast devices charge and how many full phone chargers each power bank stores. While these specific portable chargers regularly appear on bestseller lists, they're all different in a number of important ways.

To be more specific, our testing was performed on the same iPhone 12, with its brightness set at 100%. We tested each charger in four different ways: how much of a charge it added in 15 minutes, how much it added in an hour, the time it took to refuel an iPhone from dead to 100% and how many times it could refill the same iPhone 12 from dead.

So, if you're always trying to keep your phone at 100%, or worry about running empty in the wild, we've got the details you need. This includes what chargers offer which kinds of ports, and how many, so you can even charge multiple devices at once. Even if your phone is on our longest-lasting smartphones page, you could benefit from this portable insurance package on your next outing.

We've got these best portable chargers ranked in order of what we would buy, with shoutouts for the best portable charger, our favorite compact charger, and the best portable charger for USB-C. And with November right around the corner, we're already rounding up the best Black Friday deals, but we expect the Amazon Early Access sale to bring big price drops even sooner.

The best portable chargers you can buy today

(Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

1. INIU 10000mAh Portable Charger The best portable charger overall Specifications Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 1x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 6.4 ounces Measurements: 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB, 1x USB-C Weight: 6.9 ounces Measurements: 5.2 x 2.7 x 0.5 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at Walmart (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Speedy short-term charging + Dual USB-A ports + 3-year warranty Reasons to avoid - Not the fastest to a full charge

A shocking upset for the top slot, Anker (the typical standard-bearer) lost to INIU's 10000 mAh charger. This brick is one of the best portable chargers. Not only did its charging times and speeds sit near the top of the chart, but it's got 2 USB-A output ports to the Anker PowerCore Slim 10000's single USB-A charging port. And since that second port can be the difference between powering a secondary device while you charge your phone (or helping a friend out when they need it), we're giving the INIU the overall nod.

For a brand we're not that familiar with, this INIU charger stood up in 15-minute and 1-hour timed charging (at 22%, 78%), with times that were within 1-2 percentage points ahead of the PowerCore Slim's times. It only failed to beat the Anker to fill a complete phone once, putting up a 2-hour time, four minutes behind the Anker. Both chargers refilled about 2.2-2.25 iPhone 12s, so it's practically a tie. INIU also has a longer warranty: its 3-year plan is twice as long as Anker's 18-month window.

This charger has been reviewed by over 9,000 customers on Amazon and has been rated 4.7 out of 5 stars. A reviewer who gave it 5 stars said:

"I love this portable charger! I didnt think it would be a good idea, because normally your portable chargers die within the first charge it does. I have charged my phone over 4 times and havent had to charge it! That is including just leaving it in my bag for weeks until I need it again. It will not disappoint! I love it!"

Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

2. Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 A strong challenger for the title Specifications Capacity: 20100mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 12.6 ounces Measurements: 6.6 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 1x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 6.4 ounces Measurements: 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB, 1x USB-C Weight: 7.3 ounces Measurements: 5.9 x 2.7 x 0.6 inches Today's Best Deals View at anker (opens in new tab) View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at Walmart (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + A lot of power + Fast charging times Reasons to avoid - Just one USB-A out

Our number 2 pick (still one of the best portable chargers) is the Anker PowerCore Slim 10000, which is a bit heavier than the INIU 10000 pack (7.3 ounces to 6.9 ounces). But it would have taken the top slot had it had that second USB-A output port.

That's because its charging times were so close to the INIU brick (21% in 15 minutes, 76% in an hour) and its overall time to fill an iPhone 12 was 4 minutes shorter, at 1 hour and 56 minutes.

But it's so close to the INIU that we have to keep it as the #2-ranked portable charger. These bricks are so close, practically within margins of error in testing. If you only need to charge one device at a time, and the sale pricing makes the Slim 10000 that much cheaper than the INIU, go for it.

This product has been reviewed by nearly 50,000 customers on Amazon and has been rated 4.6 out of 5 stars. A reviewer who rated it 5 stars said:

"I like the solid and sleek construction. Fits easily in my pocket. Most importantly it works! Fast charging, enough capacity to charge my phone multiple times over multiple days, and withstands plenty of me dropping it and yanking the cord out awkwardly and accidentally."

(Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

3. Poweradd Slim 2 The best portable charger that fits in your pocket Specifications Capacity: 5000mAh Output Ports: 1x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 4.4 ounces Measurements: 3.9 x 1.3 x 1.2 inches Today's Best Deals Check Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Cheaper than most + Small and compact Reasons to avoid - One USB out port

Not everyone needs a full brick that can get their phone fully charged. Sometimes you just want the ease of mind of a small cylinder of juice. And (again) the numbers between the Poweradd Slim 2 and the competitive Anker 5000 mAh stick are close. The Poweradd won on 1-hour charging (67% to 62%) and lost on the 15-minute window (16% to 19%).

In terms of internal capacity, the Poweradd didn't actually beat the Anker, but was within the margin of striking distance, at 97% to 105%. And that difference isn't worth dinging it over. So, how did the Poweradd stick make it this high on our list of the best portable chargers? It's often the cheapest on this list, typically sitting at around $10.99 (that's almost over half as much as similar chargers). And at 4.4 ounces, it's a touch lighter than the 4.7-ounce Anker PowerCore 5000.

The updated model of the Poweradd Slim 2 (opens in new tab) currently has been reviewed over 500 times and received a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Amazon. "It's significantly larger, but with 4 times the charge capacity of the usual little cylinders. It'll recharge a kindle AND a smartphone. No complaints" said one customer who rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

INIU 20W 20000 mAh power bank (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

4. INIU 20W 20000 mAh power bank The best portable charger for USB-C charging Specifications Capacity: 20,000mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A, 1x USB-C Input Ports: 1x USB-C Weight: 12.6 ounces Measurements: 6.4 x 3.8 x 1.8 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + USB-C in and out + Fastest 1-hour charging Reasons to avoid - On the heftier side

USB-C is no longer the port of the future, it's the port of the day. And while INIU's 20-watt brick is a bit heavy (the second heaviest on this list), its dual-function USB-C port makes it a clear favorite for one of the best portable chargers for those charging with the reversible port. This way, you can both charge it and charge other devices with the same USB-C cables, and you've also got two other USB-A ports for recharging other devices.

On top of that, it turned in the best performance in the 1-hour charging window, bringing our dead iPhone 12 to 81% of its charge. And its 1-hour and 57-minute time to bring that iPhone to a full charge is the second-best of the pack, only off by a minute from the PowerCore Slim 10000. Its high capacity of 20000 mAh also meant it refueled an iPhone more than most of these chargers, with 4.78 iPhone 12 refills.

This product has been reviewed by nearly 4,500 customers on Amazon and received 4.6 out of 5 stars. A reviewer who rated it 5 stars said: "For 5 days on vacation I used this to charge my phone and GoPro, and the battery still had 44% of its life!"

Poweradd EnergyCell 10000 (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

5. Poweradd EnergyCell 10000 The best portable charger with high capacity in a small shell Specifications Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 1x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 6.1 ounces Measurements: 4.1 x 1.9 x 1 inches Today's Best Deals Check Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Inconspicuous size for its capacity + Quick charging Reasons to avoid - Just one USB-A output

The Poweradd EnergyCell 10000 doesn't look like a 10,000 mAh battery  it's small enough to be mistaken for a 5,000 mAh charger. But it packs about two full iPhone 12 charges into its shell, which makes it a surprisingly long-lasting power supply, and one of the best portable chargers overall.

Don't let that size worry you. Its 15-minute and 1-hour charging scores (20% and 71%) are up there on the right side of the ranges of scores. The only thing that's slightly disappointing is that it only has one USB-A out port, but that makes sense given its small size. That portability is one of its biggest strengths, though, as you probably won't have your whole crew expecting you can help their phones stay charged if you're not carrying a tank of a portable charger.

This product has been reviewed by nearly 200 customers on Amazon and received 4.4 out of 5 stars. "This is a great little power bank and a great size for traveling," said a reviewer who rated it 5 stars.

Anker PowerCore Essential 20000mAh (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

6. Anker PowerCore Essential 20000mAh The lighter large-capacity power charger Specifications Capacity: 20,000mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x USB-C, 1x microUSB Weight: 12 ounces Measurements: 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.8 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Tons of power + USB-C input Reasons to avoid - Charging could be faster

Anker's 20,000 mAh brick is lighter than comparable bricks by a few ounces, but its charging scores are consistently behind by 3 to 4%. Its other win is seen in its USB-C input for faster charging of the brick, but since it only has USB-A output, you're going to be refueling at a lower rate than you might like. It also has one fewer USB-A output than competitors.

All that said, though, we could see an individual finding this to be the right charger for their needs. Anyone who is looking to primarily charge their own phone, and wants a high-capacity pack so they need to refuel less frequently will appreciate the more-portable weight. All you need is a pocket big enough to hold it, and you'll have juice for days.

This product has been reviewed by over 50,000 customers on Amazon and received 4.8 out of 5 stars. "The product Anker is amazing and I highly recommend it," said a reviewer who rated it 5 stars.

Anker PowerCore 5000 (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

7. Anker PowerCore 5000 Takes its time to charge your phone Specifications Capacity: 50,000mAh Output Ports: 1x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 4.7 ounces Measurements: 4.2 x 1.3 x 1.3 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at anker (opens in new tab) View at Walmart (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Small and easy to carry + Fast short-term charging Reasons to avoid - Slow long-term charging speeds

Compared to the higher-rated 5,000 mAh charger on our list (the Poweradd Slim 2) Anker PowerCore 5000 lags behind on speeds. It only refueled 62% of the iPhone 12 in the first hour of charging, which is the second-lowest score on the list.

The best aspect of the PowerCore 5000 is that it hit 19% after 15 minutes, which is 7% above the Miady power banks. There's nothing particularly wrong with this charger, but nothing impressive either. If you got it as a present, you might hold onto it and get a ton of use out of it. If it goes on sale for a deep discount, we wouldn't be against considering it. But at the end of the day, it's low on our list for a reason.

Anker PowerCore 5000 has been reviewed by over 29,000 customers on Amazon and received 4.6 out of 5 stars. "Because of this products portability, you can charge your phone anywhere without having to wait around," said a reviewer who rated it 5 stars.

Ekrist Portable Charger Power Bank (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

8. Ekrist Portable Charger Power Bank A high-capacity portable charger with little else on its side Specifications Capacity: 25,800mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB Weight: 11.2 ounces Measurements: 5.9 x 2.9 x 0.7 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Tons of power + Fast charging Reasons to avoid - Heavier than most - A tad on the more expensive side

We always look at no-name brands on Amazon with askew looks, and (unlike the INIU power banks) the Ekrist proves our suspicions right. Its main positive features are that its 25,800mAh power supply refueled our iPhone 12 four times, and at 11.2 ounces, it's 1.4 ounces lighter than the 20,000 mAh INIU portable charger. That said, there are other bigger chargers that pack a ton of juice that you should opt for instead.

Its downsides are easy to see. For starters, there's no USB-C input or output. And its charging proved slow in testing, with unimpressive scores on the 15-minute and 1-hour windows (17% and 72%), and one of the longest times for charging an iPhone 12 from dead to 100% (2 hours and 21 minutes). It would have been dead last if not for the Miady discount double.

This charger has been reviewed by over 29,000 customers on Amazon and received 4.5 out of 5 stars. "I can honestly say that it is charging my phone right now while writing this review. Great product," said a reviewer who rated it 5 stars.

Miady 10000 mAh 2-pack (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom's Guide)

9. Miady 10000 mAh 2-pack Low price and lower performance Specifications Capacity: 10,000mAh Output Ports: 2x USB-A Input Ports: 1x microUSB, 1x USB-C Weight: 8.1 ounces Measurements: 5.5 x 2.6 x 1.1 inches Today's Best Deals View at Amazon (opens in new tab) View at Amazon (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Combo pricing makes it reasonably cheap to buy 2 Reasons to avoid - Dead last in all charging times - Nothing going for it

This Miady portable charger two-pack is popular for one reason and one reason alone: you get two 10,000 mAh chargers for around $30 (normally). And while that looks great on paper  sharing is caring, especially with a household filled with devices to charge  the math doesn't work out. That said, a 10,000 mAh power bank costs between $17 to $20, so there are some savings here.

Those savings are not worth what you lose on charging performance. The Miady chargers took the worst scores in each category. Its 3-hour time to refill an iPhone 12 was 39 minutes longer than the Ekrist's second-worst score, and its scores on 15-minute and 1-hour charging times (12% and 39%) are also quite low, with the latter being exceptionally poor (the next highest is 62%).

This product has been reviewed by over 60,500 customers on Amazon and received 4.5 out of 5 stars. A customer who rated it 5 out of 5 stars said:

"I bought this 2 pack to replace my old power bank which was struggling to fully charge my phone more than once. I wasn't expecting too much cause these cost less per unit than other power banks with the same 10000mAh capacity, but I was pleasantly surprised after using them. Both colors look sleek and I can charge my phone up to 3 times from dead or critical battery when the power banks are fully charged."

How to choose the best portable charger for you

Finding the right charger capacity: You'll often see a four to five-digit number, with the letters mAh following it, and that's your first big indicator of how much this charger is right for you. If you're constantly refueling your phone and other gadgets, go for at least 10,000mAh. For each extra device you charge, add at least 5,000 to the mAh rating you're looking for. Just need to prevent your device from hitting 0 on late nights out? You'll be good with something in the under 5,000 mAh rating, provided you remember to charge it often.

Be a ports authority: If you hold onto your devices forever, and don't already know what a USB-C port is, you can probably just get whatever fits your price. But if you're the kind who wants faster charging, look for a brick that has PD in its name. The best portable chargers, at least for my money, charge devices the fastest and use the Power Delivery (PD) standard. Also, their USB-C ports mean you can refuel these power banks with the same cords used to charge modern laptops.

How we test portable chargers

You want a charger that was put through the rigors of refueling, so we did just that. With timers in hand, we kept draining an iPhone 12 and then timed how much time it took for each power bank to refuel those phones. Along the way, we checked out how much of said iPhone 12 (the same one) were refueled after 15 and 60 minutes. We kept that iPhone at 100% brightness the whole time.

Our ranking also factored in the portability and designs of each model, as especially small and pocket-friendly chargers can't physically store as many mAh of battery power as their larger brethren. Similarly, the smaller a charger is, the less likely it has more than two ports (one for gaining a charge, the other for giving power).

Those looking to keep their tech protected throughout each and every charge should check out our guide to the best surge protectors.
The latest icon of the 90s to celebrate a milestone is Hansons MMMBop, which is currently enjoying its 20th anniversary as a cultural flashpoint, and though you may not know it, the bridge between grunge and a return to pop.

See, the brotherly trio from Tulsa, Oklahoma werent just the makers of a sugary sweet 90s pop tune that captured the hearts and minds of teen girls everywhere. They essentially undid all the hard work achieved by grunge in the early 90s.

Many are now aware that the song, despite its upbeat melody and nonsensical chorus, is actually a melancholic ode to losing friends as one grows older, but thats not where the secrets of one of the biggest hits of the 90s end.

Steve Greenberg, the executive producer on Hansons album Middle of Nowhere, was convinced that if the band were to fulfil the potential that Christopher Sabec, the bands manager, first saw in them at SXSW, theyd need to have alt-cred.

We were coming out of this alternative rock moment, and everything was about alternative cred. People were very skeptical that we could do a pop record, Greenberg recently told Broadly, whove published an oral history on MMMBop.

Greenberg decided to assemble an alternative Justice League to spruce up the bands indie credentials. Having recently heard an advance of Becks Odelay, Greenberg tapped the Dust Brothers to produce Middle of Nowhere.

It was the Dust Brothers involvement that helped us achieve alternative cred, said Greenberg. David Campbell, a composer whod worked with Green Day and Hole, did arrangements for the album, and Tamra Davis (Sonic Youth, Veruca Salt) directed the MMMBop video.

Steve and I wanted to create a patina of hipness around a pop record. I think we picked exactly the right people, said Mercury Records Danny Goldberg. They didnt try to make it like Nine Inch Nails or too hip. But they did add a hipness factor that smoothed the pathway to quick exposure in all aspects of the business.

With the track nailed, a hip music video was the next essential step in building Hanson and MMMBop. MTV was still at the height of its influence and an eye-catching music video paired with a memorable song was enough to secure a career for an artist.

[include_post id=472101]

Tamra Davis was connected to that whole LA indie scene. We had a very specific idea of what we wanted the video to be, but we sat down with Tamra, and her vision was more organic, Taylor Hanson told Broadly. So it was this fusion of our ideas and hers.

The result? A routine promotional appearance in a record store with an anticipated turnout of a few hundred ended with the mall that housed the store being shut down because 10,000 screaming girls showed up demanding to see Hanson.

There are thousands of girls screaming in this mall, Greenberg recounted. Danny had managed Nirvana at their peakand he said, Ive managed a lot of really big artists, and Ive never heard that sound. At that point we just knew.

Love them or hate them, Hanson certainly have talent and know how to craft a good pop tune. But without the combined machinations of a gang of industry stakeholders, we probably wouldnt be as familiar with the three flaxen haired brothers from Oklahoma as we are today.
Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten,  , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei,  , holidays in Turkey,   , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas,

This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768.
A $16.5-billion mass transit project planned for Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah has been delayed so that its financing can be restructured, the head of the implementing body said on Wednesday.



The kingdom has been slowing infrastructure projects and paring back state spending as it grapples with the economic fall-out of two years of depressed oil prices, which have created a huge budget deficit.



"The reason for the delay is some restructuring financially," Ali Abdelfattah, chief executive-designate of the Saudi government's Makkah Mass Rail Transit (MMRT), told a conference in Dubai.



Speaking more generally, Abdelfattah said that while work on privately funded schemes was largely unaffected in the kingdom, all government-funded projects were going through some sort of restructuring or replanning.



The Makkah plan includes building a metro rail system with 182 km of track and 88 stations, according to an October 2015 document from MMRT, as well as a bus network. It was due to be completed in six phases over about 20 years. Major contracts for the project have not yet been awarded.



New budgeting constraints have caused changes to the Makkah plan such as modifications to the design of the metro stations, including those set to serve the area of the Grand Mosque, also known as Al Haram.



"Initially we wanted something really iconic, especially for Al Haram main stations, and we found out it would be extremely expensive so we scaled down the finishing, the materials," Abdelfattah said.



There was no indication for how long the Makkah project would be delayed, but Abdelfattah added that it was a top priority for the Saudi government.



The Saudi construction sector is being heavily squeezed by the cut-back in state spending, with contractors reporting reduced project pipelines, delays in receiving payments from the government and workers going months without being paid.-Reuters
Ooredoo, Qatar's leading telecom provider, has announced the completion of a major Supernet upgrade, adding the new Category 9 LTE-Advanced standard to its mobile network.



This brings multiple 4G frequencies together to support download speeds of up to 325Mbps for customers, the company said.



The mobile network upgrade, which is part of the on-going Ooredoo Supernet enhancement programme, will be available for all customers who have compatible devices at no extra cost from today, it said.



A range of leading mobile devices can utilise this advanced speed, including the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Ooredoos Netgear My-Fi device. With the upgrade, customers will be able to enjoy browsing speeds of up to 45 per cent more than the current 4G LTE.



Waleed Al Sayed, chief executive officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: We are making huge strides to provide the best possible customer experience on our Supernet, with superfast browsing speeds. Since the launch of the Ooredoo Supernet, we have continued to deploy world-class technologies so that Qatar can be positioned among the leading countries in the world for network performance. We are laying the foundations for a future-proof network, ready to deliver the fastest speeds. In addition, this new standard will reduce pressure on our 4G network, improving performance for a wide range of customers.



This major mobile network upgrade is set to free significant bandwidth for the company, as more high capacity users enjoy this boosted Supernet standard. Ooredoo is confident that overall 4G performance will improve even further as more compatible mobile devices come onto the market, it said. - TradeArabia News Service
Top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Qatar expects exports from its Golden Pass joint venture in Texas to begin in 2021, an advisor to the government said.



State-run Qatar Petroleum (QP) owns a 70 percent stake in an LNG receiving terminal in Texas that is backed by Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.



With prices down and competition increasing, Qatar is looking to diversify its energy business.



Golden Pass is seeking US government approval to repurpose the facility so that it can export 15.6 million tons of US gas per year.



"We already got the licence...If everything goes right by 2020-2021, we will export the first cargo from Golden Pass," Abdullah Al-Attiyah, a former Qatari oil minister who advises the government on energy issues, told reporters at a media briefing in Doha attended by a QP board member.



Qatar shipped 76.4 million tonnes of LNG in 2014, or 32 percent of global supply, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers.



But the Gulf state faces rising competition as new projects in the US and Australia are expected to come online in the next few years.



Al-Attiyah said the Texas venture would make Qatar a more flexible exporter by allowing it to supply its existing customers in Europe with gas from the US. "We will become more dynamic in the energy market," he said.



The country's finance minister said last year that Qatar planned to invest more than $35 billion in the US over five years in sectors including technology, energy and real estate. - Reuters
One-third of the top 15 global retail cities are located in the Middle East region, according to JLLs destination retail report, which looks at the leading cities worldwide for retailing.



JLLs recent report shows 50 major global cities have risen to the top of the list for mainstream, premium and luxury retailers expansions.



While the list is dominated by cities in Asia Pacific, those in the Middle East are coming on strong, propelled by an ever-increasing array of international retailers with Dubai and Kuwait City falling within the top 10 destinations globally, it stated.



Abu Dhabi finished just out of the 10 at number 11, while Jeddah and Riyadh tied for 12, it added.



In a battle between historic, established markets versus modern newcomers, JLL indexed the global cross-border retailer activity and attractiveness of 50 hotspots:



London stands at the forefront of international retailing as a global powerhouse, and the #1 retail market

Asia Pacific outranks all regions with 18 cities making the cut driven by sheer market size

Cities in the US make up just over one-quarter (26.4 per cent) of the top 50 cities, with only one city (New York #5) in the top 15.



Structural change is sweeping the retail industry as technology and e-commerce platforms become more sophisticated; however, demand for the right physical space, in the right location, is stronger than ever, remarked James Brown, the director of Global Retail Research for JLL.



Borders are becoming less of an issue for retailers pursuing opportunities overseas and were seeing the global retail landscape shifting fast to accommodate the change, stated Brown.



JLLs report examines the presence of 240 international retail brands and 140 international cities, including the drivers of their growth, opportunity and barriers, and also ranks and assesses the vitality and attractiveness of cities.



According to the expert, London has the highest presence of international retailers compared to its global peers, and edges out Hong Kong in terms of international luxury brand presence.



The Uk capital continues to be a magnet for new brands thanks to its unique blend of market size, maturity and high degree of transparency. The UK capital has a long history of success, driven by a diverse base of locals and tourists, and many retailers regard London as the entry point to Europe, including recent entrants J.Crew, Acteryx, Club Monaco, Kit and Ace, and John Varvatos.



The Middle Easts top cities, including Dubai, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Riyadh are emerging as business and travel hubs, and are increasingly catching the eye of global retail brands.



According to JLL, the cities strong in-place tourism plays an important role in increasing the flow of foreign money, a key driver for retail spend.



The markets each have large quantities of affordable retail space, supported by franchise structures, which present viable options for international retailers and reduce their operational risk at entry. Additionally, the domestic retail market in the Middle East is not as mature as other regions, allowing international brands to enter without too much competition from domestic brands, it stated.



JLLs report found that pent up shopping demand across the region has spurred some of the highest sales volumes for retailers, it added.



Asia Pacifics leading cities sheer market size, in terms of population and economic might, is one of the most compelling drivers for retailers expansion into the region.



Many Asian markets benefit from a burgeoning middle class and growing levels of affluence, which are attractive in particular to a wide-range of retailers.



The cities also benefit from large amounts of new, fit-for-purpose modern retail space. Hong Kong remains Asias leading shopping destination, with top brands from luxury to fast fashion competing for prime locations.



Across the region, cities are catching up to modern retail markets in Europe and the US.



China is the second largest economy in the world, and its key cities, Shanghai and Beijing, have undergone a transformation in the last two decades driven by a swelling middle class and high concentration of high net worth individuals.



Both are now firmly on international retailers maps as key locales for tremendous brand exposure and test markets. Key cities outside of Greater China that are also gaining attention from international retailers include: Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Osaka and Bangkok.-TradeArabia News Service


Etihad Airways, Etihad Airport Services, airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and Alitalia have successfully raised a further $500 million in a second platform financing transaction, following the success of last years bond which raised $700 million.



James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Aviation Group, said: With this second successful transaction, the international financial markets have continued to show their belief in the Etihad Airways Partners story.



Our equity partner strategy is creating a total which is greater than the sum of its parts, a grouping which can work together to improve revenues, reduce costs and uncover exciting new business synergies.



This transaction shows the strength of that grouping, as well as the strength of the individual members. This second tranche of combined fund-raising is part of our long term capital strategy.



The funds raised by the transaction will be again used largely for capital expenditure and investment in fleet, as well as for refinancing, depending on each individual airlines needs.



During a series of roadshow meetings in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and global investor calls with the London, Asian and European markets, the shared vision and strategies of the airlines were laid out to financial institutions. These highlighted the growing network coordination and revenue development initiatives, coupled with joint procurement and business synergy projects, across the airlines.



The funds have been raised through a special purpose vehicle, EA Partners II B.V. ADS Securities, Anoa Capital, Goldman Sachs International and Integrated Capital are acting as Placement Agents and Joint Bookrunners.



Etihad Airways was assigned a Long-term Issuer Default Rating of A with a Stable Outlook, by Fitch Ratings.



Etihad Airways Partners (EAP) initial platform finance transaction has been recognised in recent months with key awards, namely as Innovative Deal of the Year by Airfinance Journal; as Emerging Europe Middle East and Africa Bond of the Year by the market intelligence organisation International Financing Review (IFR); and as Debt Financing Deal of the Year Middle East by Global Transport Finance. Earlier this month, it was also named Corporate Finance Deal of the Year by the Middle East chapter of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT ME). - TradeArabia News Service


Oman's Ministry of Tourism has partnered with Ingenuity Technologies, a leading solutions provider, to launch a new Taxi Management Service in the country.



The technology, which will be made available soon, will bring together all the taxi services under one umbrella. The aim is to provide the best travel experience to tourists, locals, and expats and use innovation and technology to benefit the existing Omani taxi drivers.



The service will be initially available at select star hotels and the Sultan Qaboos Port.



The specialised services make taxis available to anyone and everyone with a mobile device via a dedicated mobile app, one for the driver and the other for the tourist, available on Android and IOS operating systems, and website along with call center services. The company will provide a 2GB subscription for the taxi drivers to ease the process of using the mobile application. Through this solution, taxis will be at your doorstep anywhere and at any time with just the touch of a button. The applications will provide both the tourist and driver with the locations on Google maps, the routes to the destinations, and prepayment service. Along with the convenience of booking a taxi, the system provides a safe and secure environment for everyone to use taxis for their commute within the country. As part of the services, a 24-hour call center and monitoring room will be set up to keep track of all the vehicles.



The solution not only benefits passengers but also make it easier for local Omani drivers to do their job using innovative yet simple mobile technologies. The solution provides the drivers with enhanced exposure to the needs of the commuter, thereby increasing their earnings as well as building credibility and professionalism which will help gain the passenger trust. Drivers can also reap rewards of optimised fuel consumption through the use GPS system fitted in their taxis that will suggest the best routes. The drivers will also be trained in various aspects including customer service and English language so that they can provide the best services seamlessly. The drivers will receive certification from IRU once the training is completed. - TradeArabia News Service
You can opt out of certain types of cookies (e.g. those used in social media sharing) by choosing "I do not accept". The website will still largely function well, but with slightly less functionality in places. To manage your cookie preferences in future, visit the "Cookie Statement" link at the bottom of any page.
Following the crash of a skydiving tour plane that also caught fire, five people were killed in the accident that occurred at about 9:30 a.m. on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. It is believed that aside from the pilot, two skydive instructors and two tandem jumpers were also there, Fox News reported.

Said plane crash of the single-engine Cessna 182H, is recorded as one of the two crashes that occurred on the island on Monday. Four were immediately pronounced dead on the crash area which is located just outside Port Allen while one man was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital but died later on.

According to the county firefighters, the group is part of a tour by SkyDive Kauai at the Port Allen. Said company has a trade name of D & J Air Adventures, which is listed as the owner of the aircraft.

When company president David Timko was asked about the incident, he said he didn't have any comment since the crash is still under investigation, adding that he offers his condolences to the families of those killed, Hawaii News Now reported.

Cause of the crash is still to be determined by the officials of the National Transportation Safety Board while the Federal Aviation Administration is still investigating. The identities of the people who died on the crash was not yet revealed.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said that it is unclear what led to the crash. He also added that a few hours after the crash, one person was brought to the hospital by the emergency responders. Meanwhile, Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins said that county lifeguards brought two people to the shore.

This is not the first aircraft crash in the area since there are already about 20 tourists who died due to crashes in Hawaii from 2005 to 2014.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
If you are looking for a beach destination, one place that will come to your mind is Maldives. And yes, the tropical wonderland will surely satisfy your dreams for an exciting summer. The Maldives is an exotic island in the Indian Ocean made up of 1,200 coral islands. It is an ideal place for romance, relaxation and fun while under the sun.

Maldives is a diver's paradise with an abundant sea life, coral reefs and pristine lagoons. Couples will also no doubt enjoy the romantic sunsets in the area and it will surely be an unforgettable vacation. But to make sure that your vacation in Maldives will be truly memorable and enjoyable, here are some tips we have for you.

1. Make sure you have the budget. Although you can go to the area on a budget, your stay will still be more memorable if you can do more things and if you can enjoy what the island can offer. Even a room would cost about $200 to $400 per night. But it would be totally worth it if you splurge on the vacation. Airport transfers are also expensive which could be $50 to $200 per pax via a speedboat or $350 to $450 via a Sea Plane if your hotel is far from Male.

2. Choose your island. You know that there are so many islands on Maldives and surprisingly, each one is different. Hence, you have to make sure that you pick the island that you want to stay in. There are about 200 habited islands with guesthouses on 50 of them. The island with the most tourists is Maafushi and you will get plenty of options there. Fulidhoo is a quiet island while Guraidhoo is perfect for surfers, Never Ending Footsteps wrote.

3. Go during low seasons. Expect more expensive rates during high season. So, if you want to spend lesser but still enjoy the area, you can go there around August to September. Book early because they get plenty of bookings in a year.

4. Have a budget for other activities. According to Tommy Ooi Travel Guide, not all hotels have a lagoon near them which means that you have to spend money for snorkeling or for island hopping. Aside from that, you should also know the details of every activity especially those that will require you to get hours of boat ride.

5. Do not run out of cash. You will feel stressed if you are in the island and you run out of money especially that some islands don't have ATMs. Hence, you have to bring cash with you. You don't want to be going to Male just to get money.

And of course, you have to remember that Maldives is a Muslim country. You have to spend money to get to an island where you are allowed to wear bikini and drink alcohol. Also, get ready with some clothes that cover your legs and shoulders if ever you are no longer on the island.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
If you think that having medical treatments at home are expensive, you can head over to these countries

Singapore

Why: Modern medical facilities, high-tech biotechnology research center

This little red dot in the middle of Southeast Asia houses world-class healthcare facilities that welcome not only Asian but Western patients as well. World Health Organization ranks it as number six in terms of healthcare provision.

Brazil

Why: Plastic surgery

Brazil is a country where looking good is of utmost priority. Almost all Brazilians go under the knife to achieve this. This means there are a lot of suppliers of plastic surgery. Surgical procedures here are 60 percent cheaper than in America but make sure that the Joint Commission International accredits the hospital that is doing the procedure.

India

Why: World-class orthopedic, bone marrow transplants and cardiac procedures

The country specializes on providing topnotch healthcare procedures with cheap price tag. You will spend only ten cents in India for every dollar you spend on a medical procedure in America. India has two best medical tourism hospitals: Fortis Hospital in Bangalore and Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. The local doctors can speak English and there are translators for non-English speaking patients.

Thailand

Why: Surgical and rehabilitation therapy

World-class medical procedures and surgeries attract medical tourists to Thailand. Medical tourism grows to about 16 percent annually. Several Thai doctors have received medical training in respected Western and Singaporean institutions. Thailand is also a place for plastic surgeries where you'll get at least 80 percent off the price you pay in the US.

Mexico

Why: Dental and weight loss surgery

While beaches are the main attraction of Mexico, cosmetic procedures also get the attention of tourists. 70 percent of the medical tourists in Mexico are usually Americans from Texas, California and Arizona. Just be sure that you are getting your service from a authentic institution.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
It is summer once again and families are looking for travel deals that will let them have a trip on a budget. Of course, everyone wants to have a memorable vacation and that can be done through the summer travel deals that Toronto Sun listed for trips across North America.

1. Alaska. Family-owned John Halls Alaska offers a 14 day Denali Explorer cruise and land tour with departure dates on June 11 and June 18. This will give you a chance to visit the Denali National Park and get sightings of bears, caribou, moose, and wolves, see the historic Alaska Railroad and even try making beer at the Denali Brewing Company on land. You can also explore the coastline of Alaska with rates starting at $4,000 per person with discounts for a group of four or more.

2. Victoria/Vancouver. Magnolia Hotel & Spa collaborated with Loden Hotel in Vancouver to offer the Best of Two Cities package available now through Sept. 30, 2016. It offers a combined four-night experience with two nights in each city and at each hotel. Visitors are transported via seaplane flight. Also included in the package is daily breakfast for two, late check-out and a 35-minute Harbour Air flight to and from Victoria. Both properties also offer complimentary bikes. Rates start at $459.50 per night in May, June and September and from $509.50 per night in July and August.

3. Florida. The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village offers 25% savings on all room types, including suites, and 25% off food and beverage menu selections. Guests could also get 25% off marina activities like paddleboards, marina boat rentals, and kayaks. Bookings start on June 30 for travel through Sept. 30, 2016. But there is a catch, this deal is only available to Canadians.

4. Jamaica. Half Moon Resort in Jamaica invites guests to the sea turtle season that will begin on Aug. 1. The package includes a guided night-time turtle walk, a reserve picnic and turtle walk, and luxury accommodations. Interested parties can book on July 24 for stays on Aug. 1 to Nov. 30, 2016.

5. New Brunswick. Food lovers will enjoy the Mystery Food Adventure package of The King George Bed & Breakfast in Miramichi which features a culinary tour of the New Brunswick city. It is an exciting hunt as guests are given a GPS and list of food items that they need to search for like scallops, lobster and herbs. The evening meal will then be prepared based on what the guests have collected. The two night package includes accommodations, daily breakfast and one dinner, which is available through Oct. 15, 2016 and starts at $300 per couple.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
There is now a way to travel the world while still staying in New York City. Now, travellers have the option to stay put in their own homes near their own backyards in the Big Apple without leaving New York City. On the other hand, travellers can travel within New York City and discover the wonders of China, Hungary and India.

New York City is now home to various scenes and sights of various places around the world. The city has now become so multicultural in its own way that travellers can see the world just by staying in it. Travellers would not need to use a phone, GPS, a plane, a train or a car to travel through the multicultural scenes of New York City. All they need is to walk through the city and see the varying international sights without having to look hard, as reported by Vogue.

One of the popular restaurants in New York City that speak multiculturalism is the Buenos Aires restaurant. When travellers drop by this restaurant, they forget they are even in the United States. All travellers see through the Big Apple, is being in a different country while they stay in the United States.

To secure the environs in New York City, though, authorities are vigilant in safeguarding the premises of the city. They need to be on high alert for whoever may possibly plot terrorism in New York City to safeguard the lovely environs of the Big Apple.

On Tuesday, Fox News reported that FBI authorities arrested a man suspected of plotting terror in the city that was said to be a member of the Islamic state. Authorities allegedly found an Islamic passport and $2,400 that were said to be in relation to the man.

The man was said to be identified as 22-year-old Sajmir Alimehmet. He was also otherwise named as "Abdul Qawii," as reported in ABC 7 NY.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Swaziland offers stunning landscapes and exciting game but its also known for its many festivals. Join us for a truly authentic African festival experience all year around!



(TRAVPR.COM) UK - May 25th, 2016 -

Swaziland offers stunning landscapes and exciting game but its also known for its many festivals. Join us for a truly authentic African festival experience all year around!

The Kingdom of Swaziland is well known for its many cultural festivals, the Swazis are friendly, relaxed and easy-going people who love to party and gladly welcome visitors into their cultural celebrations. The Swazi festival calendar is an eclectic mix of both first-class modern, and time honoured traditional events. The tribal rituals and ceremonies such as Incwala, Marula Festival and the world famous Reed Dance have captured the imagination of visitors to Swaziland for generations. Swaziland is also home of the internationally acclaimed, MTN Bushfire, a three day festival experience for all ages that celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year.

During the weekend of May 27th- 29th the country hosts MTN Bushfire Festival, announced by CNN as one of the 7 African music festivals you really have to see. It is Swazilands annual meeting of a multi-generational community. More than 20,000 'Bring their fire to experience the three day event. Renowned for eclectic and multi-dimensional world music, the event includes a compelling line-up of theatre, poetry, dance, art exhibits & installations, story-telling, puppetry, film, and themed workshops.

The 2016 edition is the culmination of ten incredible years of passion, dedication and commitment to the music, arts, and culture of Southern Africa and beyond. The stellar, incredibly diverse line-up for the 10th anniversary edition of the festival is truly a global celebration, with artists from over 20 countries set to perform.

In late August it is the Swazi women who lead the country's celebrations in the annual Reed Dance. Young girls mainly in their teens from all over the Kingdom and beyond its borders gather and pay homage to the Queen Mother. Over 20 000 girls dressed in brightly coloured beaded skirts with anklets, bracelets and colourful sashes gather to perform before the Royal Family in a celebration of unity of the countries young women

Incwala Festival, held at the start of a new year, on a date chosen by astrologers in conjunction with the phases of the moon, is one of the biggest and most spectacular events in Africa. For the Swazi people it is an important religious ritual, a fertility ceremony designed to both prepare for the coming year and serve as a symbolic renewal of the monarchy, the king leads festivities and in full ceremonial dress joins his warriors in the traditional dance

In February, the Marula festival is a royal tribute to the riches of Mother Nature, where local Marula fruit is harvested and used to make beer to a traditional recipe. The Marula Festival starts at the Royal Residence, Ebuhleni, when King Mswati III and the Queen Mother are presented with gifts and Marula beer from each household. Only after the Royal Family has first tasted the Marula Beer, are the rest of the nation permitted to join in and drink. After this King Mswati III and the Queen Mother start to travel across the country, joining the nation in song, dance and celebration.

The Kingdom of Swaziland offers all year round festivals and cultural celebrations for the delight of Swazis and visitors from around the globe. Take Swazilands festival challenge and enjoy one (or all) of the most truly African experiences in the tiniest country of South East Africa.
Contrary to what their name suggests, a comprehensive new UN report on marine plastics confirms that most plastics labeled as biodegradable don't break down in the ocean.

Weve all seen the photos; the grim images of marine animals tangled up and tortured in the plastic chaos of our detritus. Some estimates put plastic pollution as the cause of death for 100 million marine animals every year, while a study from Imperial College London last year concluded that plastic will be found in 99 percent of seabirds by 2050.

Plastic is one of mankinds more confounding inventions; while its innovations have ushered in convenience and advances like few other materials, its very nature is rife with contradiction. Its remarkably durable; its cheap and easy to manufacture, making it the first choice for single-use items. Thus we have an incredibly enduring material that is often used just once before being thrown away.

Biodegradable Plastics Rarely Degrade



So with visions of plastic-wrapped sea lions lodged in our heads, many of us reduce our plastic and opt for biodegradable plastic whenever we can. We think that something marketed as biodegradable will actually biodegrade. Alas, we think wrong according to scientists. Last year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report on biodegradable plastics revealing that they rarely actually degrade. As TreeHugger noted when we wrote about the report: "biodegradable plastcs require long-term exposure to high-temperatures (around 122F, or 50C), like those found in large municipal composters, to actually break down. Those conditions are not found very often in nature, and especially not in the oceans.And now the same UN agency has published a new report, "Marine plastic debris and microplastics  Global lessons and research to inspire action and guide policy change," which reiterates the previous findings.

Right there on page xi of the Executive Summary: Plastics marked as biodegradable do not degrade rapidly in the ocean.

As Jacqueline McGlade, chief scientist at the UN Environment Programme, explains to the Guardian:

Its well-intentioned but wrong. A lot of plastics labelled biodegradable, like shopping bags, will only break down in temperatures of 50C [122F] and that is not the ocean. They are also not buoyant, so theyre going to sink, so theyre not going to be exposed to UV and break down.

Some Additives Make Biodegradable Plastics Harder to Recycle



And adding to the abysmal miasma is that some of the additives that help make biodegradable plastics break down making it harder to recycle, and are potentially harmful to the natural environment.

There is a moral argument that we should not allow the ocean to become further polluted with plastic waste, and that marine littering should be considered a common concern of humankind, the authors of the report concluded.

Warnings of what was happening were reported in the scientific literature in the early 1970s, with little reaction from much of the scientific community.

Four decades later, the time might be now or never.

Via Huffington Post
Chandigarh

Russia has evinced keen interest in mutual cooperation with Haryana in the areas of aero space and semi-conductor chip manufacturing. Haryana has also assured all support and cooperation for further strengthening business ties with Russia. Minister of Government of Moscow Sergey Cheremin called on Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Finance and Industries Minister Capt Abhimanyu on Tuesday to discuss various investment opportunities in Haryana. TNS

Nangal

NFL registers Rs 197-crore profit

National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has recorded a net profit of Rs 197 crore in 2015-16, a jump of 651% against Rs 26 crore in the previous year. The profit before tax of company was Rs 283 crore after a gap of more than a decade. During the year, the company recorded highest-ever urea production of 38 lakh metric tonnes. It also recorded best-ever production of 567 MT of bio-fertilizer. TNS

Mumbai

Sensex up 576 points, biggest gain in 3 mths

Sensex on Wednesday soared nearly 576 points  its biggest single-session gain in nearly three months  to end at 25,881.17 points. The NSE Nifty crossed the 7,900-mark on a flurry of buying by foreign funds and retail investors amid firm overseas cues. PTI

Chandigarh

Volkswagen showcases Ameo in Chandigarh

Volkswagen has showcased the Made for India and Made in India Ameo car for customers in Chandigarh. It is the 8th city where the model has been showcased. The multi-city roadshow will continue through July 2, 2016, giving customers across these cities an opportunity to experience the carline, explore its various features and make the bookings. TNS
Chandigarh, May 25

The state government has offered to provide land to the Army for setting up a medical college in Panchkula.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made the offer to Army Commander Lt Gen KJ Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, while presiding over the Civil Military Liaison Conference here today.

Lauding the role of the defence forces in safeguarding the country, the CM said the state government was taking every possible step for the welfare of the serving soldiers as well as ex-servicemen. He advocated for good liaison between the Army and civil administration.

The CM said the state government had earmarked Rs 56.33 crore for the welfare of defence personnel and ex-servicemen and in future, these funds would be increased. He also enlisted various welfare schemes and programmes being implemented for their welfare. He announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the think tank Gyan Chakra.

Chief Secretary DS Dhesi said the conference had a special meaning for Haryana, as the state had maximum contribution in the armed forces. Highlighting the internal security situation in the state, DGP KP Singh said 46 Deputy Superintendent of Police, 29 NGOs and 2,476 constables are serving the police force from the ex-servicemen category.  TNS
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 25

A policeman was killed and another injured in a militant attack in south Kashmirs Pulwama district today.

The militants carried out the attack at Monghama village in Pulwama, nearly 30 km from Srinagar, where National Conference district president and former MLA Ghulam Mohiuddin had gone to attend a marriage function.

As the former MLA went inside the house, the militants fired indiscriminately at his Personal Security Officer (PSO) Shabir Ahmad, who was in civilian clothes. The bullets hit Shabir and another policeman Riyaz Ahmed, who was talking to the Personal Security Officer. The militants also snatched the rifle of Shabir before fleeing, a police officer in Pulwama said.

The injured policeman, Ahmed, succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital. Ahmed was posted at District Police Lines, Pulwama, and was not on duty and was at the village to attend the marriage function of his cousin.

The militants believed to be two in number escaped even as the police said that one of them was injured in retaliatory firing.

The incident created panic in the village. The guests at the wedding were seen running for cover after the shootout. The National Conference leader escaped unhurt in the attack. Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Rayees Mohammad Bhat said that they had got some clues about the attack. We are working on them, Bhat told The Tribune.

No militant group has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack.

With this incident in the last three days, four policemen have been killed by militants across Kashmir. On Monday, militants had shot three cops in Srinagar in two attacks.
New Delhi, May 25

A row erupted today over Amitabh Bachchan's participation in the second anniversary celebrations of NDA government here on May 28 with Congress targeting him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the light of the mega star's name figuring in the Panama Papers expose.

The BJP came out in strong defence of the megastar and attacked the Congress for its "mental disability" in raising a row over Bachchans association with the Modi governments event.

We don't have any objection either to Amitabh Bachchan or Prime Minister Narendra Modi because we respect Bachchan as an actor and Modi as the prime minister but what signal will it send to the agencies investigating the Panama Papers, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters here.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to think over it," he added.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Congress leader said although Bachchan had denied his involvement in the Panama Papers controversy and "I believe he will be exonerated, but it (invite) sends a wrong signal to the investigating agencies as well as the nation.

The event at India Gate is likely to comprise talk shows on the government's achievements, interspersed with cultural programmes.

BJP leader and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no affect if he attends the event to mark two years of Narendra Modi government on Saturday.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things.

"Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm," he said when asked about Congress' charge that the actor's presence will not 'go down well' with probe agencies.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action.

If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for Congress to be "jealous about".

BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said the row created by Congress "only reflects its mental disability" as its own leaders are embroiled in corruption and are out on bail.

Sharma said Bachchan is anchoring a programme linked to the important social issue of "beti bachao, beti padhao" and creating a row over it reflects the Congress' "negative mindset due to which it has lost connect with the public".

"Congress should first take action against its own leaders who are involved in various scams and corruption," he said, adding that former Congress Minister and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur's name figures among those possessing Swiss bank accounts and is being probed.  PTI/IANS
New Delhi, May 25

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Gyandev Ahuja said on Wednesday that he stood by his statement that rapes occurred in Jawaharlal Nehru University every day.

In his most recent remark, Ahuja said: I stand by what I said. Rapes happen daily in JNU. It is hub of criminal activities.

The MLA from Ramgarh in Rajasthans Alwar district had called the institution a hub of immoral activities in February  a few days after controversy erupted over an event held on the universitys campus.

50,000 big and small pieces of bones are left by those eating non-vegetarian food. They gorge on meat...these anti-nationals. 2,000 wrappers of chips and namkeen are found, as also 3,000 used condoms  the misdeeds they commit with our sisters and daughters there. And 500 used contraceptive injections are also found."

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

More than 10,000 butts of cigarettes and 4,000 pieces of beedis are found daily in the Besides this, 2,000 liquor bottles as also over 3,000 beer cans and bottles are daily detected in the campus, he claimed. "Who drinks it? Take a guess," he said.

The BJP MLA went on to claim: "Students are mostly found taking drugs after 8 pm inside the campus. Those studying in JNU are not children: many are parents of even two children. They indulge in peace protests in the mornings and during the nights, they perform obscene dance," he said during a protest march in the district.

His statements drew sharp criticism.

The lawmakers statement came at a time when tempers over an event held on the campus ran high.

Five students had been arrested for sedition charges for anti-national activities at an event held on the university campus on February 9.  Agencies
New York, May 24

India routinely uses vaguely worded laws such as sedition and criminal defamation as political tools to stifle dissent, a leading rights group said today while calling on the government to repeal or amend such laws that are used to criminalise peaceful expression.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 108-page report titled Stifling Dissent  The Criminalisation of Peaceful Expression in India stressed that Indian authorities should stop treating critics as criminals and not use vaguely worded, overly broad laws, which are prone to misuse, and have been repeatedly used for political purposes against critics at the national and state level.

The report called on the government to review all these laws and repeal or amend them to bring them in line with international law and Indias treaty commitments.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

It said while Indias Constitution protected the right to freedom of speech and expression, recent and colonial-era laws, such as sedition and criminal defamation, were frequently used in an attempt to clampdown on critics. Indian authorities routinely use vaguely worded, overly broad laws as political tools to silence and harass critics, the HRW said in the report. The government should repeal or amend laws that are used to criminalise peaceful expression, the report said.

Indias abusive laws are the hallmark of a repressive society, not a vibrant democracy, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Putting critics in prison or even forcing them to defend themselves in lengthy and expensive court proceedings undermines the governments efforts to present India as a modern country in the Internet age committed to free speech and the rule of law, she said. The report, which cited the arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and the ensuing unrest at the Jawaharlal Nehru University earlier this year, said criminal laws were used to limit and chill free speech in India.

Vague laws are used to stifle political dissent, harass journalists, restrict activities by non-governmental organisations, arbitrarily block Internet sites or take down content, and target marginalised communities and religious minorities, it said. The report said one of the most abused laws in the country was the sedition law, which had been used by successive governments to arrest and silence critics.  PTI
WASHINGTON, May 24

US Senators questioned on Tuesday whether India's development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

"We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.

Biswal said she believed India's relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognised India's need for a trade route.

"From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn't have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.

Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honor.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.

She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. "We're looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation," Biswal said.

Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance China's rising power. President Barack Obama has called it "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century".  Reuters
Washington, May 25

The US is watching very closely Indias growing ties with Iran after it recently pledged $500 million for developing the Chabahar port and will see if its legal parameters and requirements are being met, the Obama administration has told lawmakers.

As of now, there is no military or counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries that could be a cause for concern for the US, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

She said the US is watching very closely Indias relationship with Iran. We also track very closely what their economic engagement is and make sure they understand what we believe are legal parameters and requirements, Biswal said.

With respect to the announcement in the Chabahar port, we have been very clear with the Indians on what we believe are the continuing restrictions on the activities with respect to Iran and what we have done, she said. She was responding to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modis Iran visit from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. Modis visit, that saw the signing of a bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port for which India will invest $500 million, came months after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following Tehrans historic nuclear deal with the western powers over its contentious atomic programme.

Obviously nothing appears to be in violations of our agreements. But how do we see India as partner in fighting extremism and financing terrorism? said Cardin as he expressed concerns that Indias economic relationship with Iran would further boost Tehrans alleged activities to support various terrorist groups. She said Indias burgeoning ties with Iran were driven by ever-growing energy needs and using the Persian Gulf nation as a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Biswal in her answer said: They (Indians) have been very responsive and receptive to our briefings, to what we believe the line is. And we have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place. But with respect to Indias relationship with Iran, which I do believe is primarily focused on economics and energy issues, we do recognise that from the Indian perspective that Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

For India to be able to contribute to the economic development of Afghanistan, it needs access that it does not readily have across its land boundary. And India is seeking to deepen its energy relationship with the Central Asian countries and looking for routes that would facilitate that. That said we have been very clear with the Indians what our security concerns have been and we would continue to engage them on those issues, said the US official.  PTI

Port pact to counter China-Pak alliance

New Delhi, May 25

The pact between India and Iran to develop the strategically located Chabahar port, along with the one with Afghanistan on road and rail network, will counter China and Pakistans alliance in South West Asia, BMI Research said today.

The agreement between India and Iran to develop the latters port of Chabahar is a major boost for both countries, as well as Afghanistan. In particular, growing co-operation between the three countries will counterbalance China-Pakistan alliance in the geopolitics of South West Asia, it said.

BMI Research, a Fitch Group company, said the governments of India, Iran and Afghanistan have taken a significant step towards closer cooperation by signing an agreement on May 23 to develop Irans southern port of Chabahar.

Once the port is developed, it will provide a major boost for Indo-Iranian trade, and also provide a new route for Afghanistans exports, bypassing Pakistan.

In particular, the new port at Chabahar is designed to compete with Pakistans port of Gwadar, which is being developed with Chinese assistance as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it added.

The CPEC in turn is part of a much bigger Chinese initiative known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), which envisages new land and sea routes connecting China to Western Eurasia and East Africa. Iran stands to benefit from Chabahar as it will get an enhanced port from which to export more goods to India and the Asia-Pacific region at a time when it is seeking to reintegrate itself into the global economy, the BMI Research said. Iran will also benefit from increased Indian investment.

The pacts include one on setting up of an aluminium plant and another on laying a railway line to give India access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.  PTI
Islamabad, May 25

Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday told the US envoy that the American drone attack on Pakistani soil to kill Taliban chief Mullah Mansour was detrimental to bilateral ties and counter-productive for the Afghan peace process.

US Ambassador David Hale visited the military's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the army said.

The situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on May 22 came under discussion during talks between Sharif and the US envoy, it said.

"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the Chief of the Army Staff said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for the ongoing peace process for regional stability," army said.

It is for the first time that army has spoken on the issue.

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yesterday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a US drone strike last week.

He had condemned the drone attack as violation of Pakistan's territory and said it may lead to serious implication for relations between Pakistan and the US.  PTI
Jakarta, May 25

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday approved a law prescribing the death penalty as the maximum sentence for child rapists, after several brutal gang rapes sparked public outrage.

Sexual violence is prevalent in Southeast Asia's most populous country, but gang rape is unusual.

Social media erupted in calls for harsher punishment following a case early this month, in which a group of men was charged with raping and killing a schoolgirl in Bengkulu in the western island of Sumatra.

The case prompted rights groups to accuse the government of not doing enough to protect women and children, and provoked a tweet by Widodo himself seeking punishment of the perpetrators, although his call came more than a month after the event.

On Wednesday, Widodo said those responsible for sexual abuse of children, as well as repeat sex offenders, could also face chemical castration and be tagged with an electronic chip to track their movements, citing the law he signed.

"Sexual violence against children is an extraordinary crime," Widodo told a news conference at the presidential palace. "This regulation is meant to overcome (such) incidents, in which we have seen a significant rise." Data on the number of child sex abuse cases was not immediately available.

Rights activists warned against the decision to permit capital punishment and the use of chemical castration, however.

"In most cases the perpetrators know the victims, and these punishments are so severe that it may discourage victims from reporting the rapes," said Andreas Harsono of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"On their own, these punishments don't address the need to protect children through a well-functioning welfare system." Widodo's government drew international condemnation last year for its execution by firing squad of several drug traffickers, mostly foreigners, despite repeated pleas for mercy from other governments and activists.

After a year-long hiatus, Indonesia is set to resume executions this year, but authorities have given no details.  Reuters
Moscow/Kiev, May 25

Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home in Kiev on Wednesday after nearly two years in a Russian jail, part of a prisoner swap in which two Russians held in Ukraine were returned to Moscow.

Handing over Savchenko, whose release had been demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, is likely to ease tensions between Moscow and the West a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia.

"A presidential plane with Ukraine's hero Nadiya Savchenko has landed," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a post on Twitter.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Savchenko, who while in Russian jail was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament, was granted a pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to leave jail and return home.

Peskov also said that the two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were now back in Russia, having landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on a special flight from Kiev.

Ukraine accused them of being Russian special forces officers fighting in eastern Ukraine, though Moscow has never acknowledged the two were following its orders.

Yerofeyev and Alexandrov both told Reuters in interviews last year they were Russian special forces soldiers who were captured while carrying out a secret operation in eastern Ukraine.

Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him." Russia's relations with its neighbour Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev, but Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large-Russian speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but there is no permanent settlement to the conflict.  Reuters
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma lawmakers are proposing to give a 184 percent funding hike to an agency that serves them at the same time as they prepare to cut spending on state agencies that serve the public.

Under a budget proposal making its way through the Legislature, funding for the Legislative Service Bureau, which does legislative research and provides computer services for lawmakers and their staffs, would get a $9 million increase, bringing its annual appropriation to $13,892,835.

House Rep. Earl Sears said the increase makes sense in order to ensure salaries of staff and lawmakers will continue to be funded.

"We will be in the red if we don't do something," Sears said. "We wouldn't be able to make payroll at a date in the future."
The opposition is calling for public disclosure of the legal advice given to former Attorney General Faris Al Rawi relating to the indemnity agreement with Vincent Nelson.

Speaking at the UNCs weekly Sunday media conference this morning, MP Saddam Hosein also criticized what he sees as the law associations delayed and weak response to the entire matter.
Sally Riley, currently ABCs Head of Indigenous dept, has been promoted to the newly created role of Head of Scripted Production.

She replaces Carole Sklan who resigned as Head of Fiction (former title) in February.

Under a recent structure, the new role encompasses responsibility for leading the Fiction, Comedy (led by Rick Kalowski), Childrens (Michael Carrington) and Indigenous strands.

Formerly Head of Screen Australias Indigenous Department, Riley joined ABC TV in 2010, commissioning Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Gods of Wheat Street, 8MMM Aboriginal Radio plus upcoming drama Cleverman.

ABC Director of Television, Richard Finlayson, said: Sally is an incredibly accomplished television executive, and over many years, she has nurtured and developed the Indigenous production sector, so that today it stands as one of the most innovative and vibrant parts of the industry in Australia.

There has never been a more exciting, or competitive time to be in scripted production and the ABC is well placed to take advantage of increasing demand for quality content. For that reason, its very satisfying to be able to recognise outstanding talent within our own ranks at the ABC.

Sally Riley said: It is an absolute privilege to have the opportunity to lead the scripted team at the ABC, which has such a rich and enduring legacy of bringing the most compelling Australian stories to audiences.

In this increasingly global screen industry, it takes risky and bold storytelling that is not only uniquely Australian, but speaks to the rest of the world, that will resonate. I look forward to working with the independent production sector to continue to bring their bold, creative visions to life.

In March ABC announced Head of Programming Brendan Dahill would become Head of Non-Scripted Production, with Rebecca Heap overseeing both Scripted and Non-Scripted roles, as Head of Audience & Digital.

Riley begins in her new role immediately.

A replacement for Head of Indigenous is yet to be appointed.
Next week Netflix premieres its first Japanese original series, Hibana: Spark, a drama about the struggling friendship between two comedians.

This week a second Japanese drama was announced by Netflix, an untitled series produced by veteran TV comedian and host Sanma Akashiya.

Hibana: Spark is a story of two young men advocating the meaning of living and feelings of loveportrayed through a decade of the lives of young men who gave their everything to the unique Japanese world of storytelling and MANZAI comedy.

The story is based on the novel Hibana which was awarded the 153rd Akutagawa Prize, the summit of Japanese literature, written by Naoki Matayoshi, who is himself a comedian and a part of the comic duo Peace.

Friday June 3 on Netflix.
Adventure journalist Simon Reeve embarks on his latest journey next Monday night in the 2 part travel series Ireland with Simon Reeve .

From breathtaking cliff views of stunning coastlines to the contemporary towns and cities, Simon explores Irelands complex past and looks at what its future may hold. Travelling the length and breadth of the island and meeting a variety of its people, Simon uncovers a place of myths, legends and spirituality, alongside a modern state still attempting to work out its identity and values.

Episode One:

Simons journey begins in County Wexford, where the beginnings of the long and turbulent relationship between Britain and Ireland began. He takes a paramotor flight along the coast before heading to Cork, and on to the sacred mountain of Croagh Patrick, surfs in Lahinch in Londonderry, and ends his journey at Irelands northernmost tip, Malin Head.

Monday, 30 May at 8.30pm on SBS.
I thought it took away from a beautiful story about Alex McKinnon and his fiance But thats in the past now https://t.co/IxwFxIFxiN  NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) May 25, 2016

The NRL Footy Show last night issued an on-air apology to Maroons skipper Cameron Smith.

Before we get started, we know its been a difficult relationship between Channel Nine and yourself over the past 12 months, Paul Fatty Vautin said.

With regards to those issues, on behalf of the Nine Network we want to apologise to you and your family.

In 2015 60 Minutes spoke with Alex McKinnon about a devastating on-field neck injury in 2014. In the report McKinnon blasted Cameron Smith for arguing with the official about the resulting penalty.

But reports later emerged that Smiths comments were made after McKinnon had left the field. He was also not given the opportunity to defend himself in the story, with Producer Tom Malone saying the report was Alexs story.

Smith then refused all Nine interviews ahead of the State of Origin decider.

With State of Origin season less than a week away, Nine has now buried the hatchet with the Queensland captain.

It has been a difficult 12 months, Smith acknowledged, and I want to thank you for that apology on behalf of the network.

I think its no secret I was pretty disappointed with the 60 Minutes episode that aired last year and everything that happened afterwards too. That was probably the most disappointing thing. I thought it took away from a beautiful story about Alex McKinnon and his fiancee Teigan. That was something we should have been focussing on and celebrating. But thats in the past now.
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

Chronic wounds cause nearly 80,000 lower leg amputations annually in the U.S. alone and are associated with an increased likelihood of death.

While the body generally repairs acute wounds in a predictable series of steps, this process can be disrupted by trauma, medications, foreign objects, and systemic problems such as diabetes, malnutrition, and immune deficiencies.

When an acute wound fails to heal, it becomes a chronic problem.

Effective strategies to improve chronic wound repair would impact both quality of life and mortality rates, but standard therapies continue to produce very limited healing incidences, says the University of Delawares Millicent Sullivan.

Sullivan and her colleague Kristi Kiick recently received a $1.4-million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research that could provide a new approach to the treatment of chronic wounds.

Combining their expertise in gene delivery and materials design, the two are collaborating with Dr. David Margolis in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine on the four-year project, Collagen Turnover-Stimulated Gene Delivery to Enhance Chronic Wound Repair.

Sullivan explains that promising therapeutic alternatives include the application of topical growth factors, combination wound dressings, or cellular scaffolds, which provide structural support for cell attachment and the tissue development that follows.

However, even with these methods, the incidence of full wound closure remains strikingly low, and growth factor delivery methods fail to provide enough growth factor to stimulate the cells appropriately, she says. New strategies to promote efficient and localized production of growth factor by the cells involved in active tissue repair could overcome these issues.

One of the most important aspects of healing is remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which provides the scaffolding for the cellular constituents in all tissues and organs. The strategy Sullivan and Kiick have proposed is to harness ECM remodeling to stimulate growth factor gene release and expression.

In particular, they are using peptide-based methods employed by Kiick to decorate nanostructures studied by Sullivan, with a target of localizing delivery vehicles directly in a wound. This can be accomplished by modifying the bodys collagen, a protein that provides strength and structure to the bones, muscles, skin, and tendons. These collagen-integrated nanostructures can then prompt growth factor expression in coordination with tissue repair kinetics.

Our goal is to be able to tune the duration of growth factor expression for periods ranging from a few days to several weeks and to coordinate this expression with the bodys needs, Kiick says. This tunability, or on-demand release and expression, should be ideally suited to the uncoordinated repair processes that are a hallmark of the chronic wound environment.

The researchers hope their approach will ultimately be useful as a versatile biomaterials platform that is applicable to not only healing of chronic wounds but also a variety of other regenerative medicine applications.

About the researchers

Millie Sullivan is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Kristi Kiick is a professor with joint appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The two began to collaborate in 2011, when they were awarded funding through the University of Delaware Research Foundation (UDRF)s strategic initiative grants program to explore the concept of designing DNA-modified collagen scaffolds for improving acute wound repair.

The strategic initiative grants program  established in 2008 to support research in the life and health sciences, energy and the environment  pairs early-career faculty with senior faculty mentors and provides seed money for promising research that will lead to larger proposals to such agencies as NIH and the National Science Foundation.
Photo by David Barczak

Delve into the presentations from the University of Delawares recent Graduate Research Forum, and youll get a preview of the big thinkers and problem solvers of the future.

The forum, sponsored by the Graduate Student Government (GSG) in partnership with the Office of Graduate and Professional Education, brought together dozens of the Universitys doctoral and masters students for a day of idea-sharing at Clayton Hall Conference Center on April 28.

Keying on the theme Its About Time: Understanding the Past, Engaging the Present and Creating the Future, graduate students from each of UDs seven colleges presented short talks and posters that captured the sense of urgency as well as the excitement of discovery and innovation that drives graduate scholarship and creative activity.

On the agenda were such brain-bending subjects as giant planet formation to planetary gear bearing failure in wind turbines, the gender differences in primary school attendance in Nigeria to community participation in climate change adaptation in San Andres Island, Colombia, the use of Frizzled7-targeted nanoparticles to combat triple negative breast cancer to the use of tissue culture to support the future of threatened oak species.

A series of panels on topics such as The Natural World: From Under the Sea to Outer Space featured students from multiple disciplines as both speakers and engaged audience members.

Ann Ardis, senior vice provost for graduate and professional education, applauded the students for venturing outside of their field of focus and asking the critically composed question.

Conferences are opportunities to speak to other experts, Ardis said. Its about finding your public voice  providing opportunities to present your research and to celebrate it, but also to talk across disciplines and to get your work across to general audiences as well as to specialists.

The panel on the socio-economic impacts of emerging technology and development put that advice into action, as they ventured into drone technology to immigration issues.

Drones have the potential to reduce the cost of bridge inspections, said Matija Radovic, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering who is specializing in bridge engineering. But the technology also has a darker side.

You can program a drone with 10 lines of code, Radovic said, but previously, drones could not comprehend what they see, and do intelligent flying. However, scientists have solved that challenge, and now an object can be recognized by a drone and have meaning.

Billions will be poured into this in the future. Man time is over. Its drone time, Radovic said, altering a line from Lord of the Rings.

The scary thing is  you can start applying this to almost anything in our experience, Radovic added. Where do we go from here?

Privacy concerns, abuse and misuse of the technology, and outdated policies must all be on the agenda, he said.

Benjamin Attia spoke about the right to light  the right to install solar panels and the right to the light necessary for their performance  as vertical land development occurs.

Solar rights conflicts already have occurred in California, said Attia, who is proposing a community dispute resolution process  getting homeowners to sit down together to resolve disputes versus taking people to court. He found this simple bargaining transaction, at the neighborhood level, to be both socially and economically superior to legal action.

The cost could be as cheap as a slice of pie, he said.

With waves of migrants flooding into Europe, Aida Odobasic, a doctoral student in economics in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, is exploring immigration and the labor market, and whether there is an intermarriage premium for immigrant men.

Some data indicates that immigrants married to natives of a country make more than immigrants married to other immigrants, said Odobasic, who is from Bosnia-Herzegovina. She points to the higher rate of integration as immigrants married to natives gain the language, culture and behavioral norms of the host nation, plus access to greater human capital  the native network  when an immigrant marries into a family.

To isolate the effect, Odobasic is applying multiple approaches to data from Germany, which had the highest influx of migrants ever recorded in its history in 2015  almost 2 million people.

Victoria Sanchez, a doctoral candidate in political science, is sorting out why certain countries such as Chile and Sweden shifted away from nuclear power after Japans Fukushima nuclear disaster, while other nations, including Vietnam, China and India, moved ahead with nuclear plans.

With data from 49 countries in hand, shes looking at a range of factors, from geographic proximity and economic cost to public opinion about climate change and energy security, and how democracy factors into the process.

Most democratic states were able to abandon nuclear fully because of the large responsiveness to the public, Sanchez said.

NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates

Keynote speaker Mark Fiegener, project officer at the National Science Foundation, shared findings from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, which collects data on the education pathways, demographics and post-graduation plans of research doctorate recipients from U.S. universities. In 2014, a total of 433 institutions and 54,070 doctoral recipients participated in the survey.

In 1974, 58 percent of doctorates in the U.S. were awarded in science and engineering. Now, three-fourths of doctoral graduates are from those fields, Feigener said.

In 2014, over 80 percent of UDs 194 doctoral recipients were in science and engineering fields, with engineering the largest sector. From 2004 to 2014, UDs percentage of doctorates awarded in engineering, education, the social sciences and physical sciences was higher than its peer Carnegie-classified research universities, with engineering a particular strength.

The unemployment rate for science and engineering doctoral holders is often under 2 percent compared to the U.S. labor force of 5 to 8 percent.

UD is in the highest tier and looks very strong within that tier, Feigener said of UDs post-graduation data among Carnegie-classified research universities. Youve made a nice decision to build a brand on, he told the students.

Panel offers career advice

An expert panel, moderated by Joseph Brodie, Graduate Student Government president and a doctoral candidate in marine science and policy, gave students advice on career issues.

 Whats most valuable for networking? Jen Biddle, assistant professor of marine biosciences, credits the NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) she was part of in grad school for helping her understand the importance of working with shallower connections than just the deep ones with her adviser and group. Wide, shallow connections are valuable.

 How do you develop your personal brand? Know yourself  if you dont know yourself, you cant teach others, said George Irvine, director of corporate programs and partnerships in Lerner College. Work on your elevator speech. Distill it to bullet points and convey it succinctly and with passion. And do it on social media.

 Whats your best piece of advice? The world is a complicated place and you need experience beyond the academic. It helps in how you interact with others, said T. W. Fraser Russell, Allan P. Colburn Professor of Chemical Engineering Emeritus. After graduating from the University of Alberta, he turned down an opportunity at the Banff Springs Hotel to work at an oil refinery. That year, Hollywood came to me, with the filming of The River of No Return with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. If I had stayed at the hotel, I would have been the person to teach Marilyn Monroe how to swim!

 How important are publications; letters of recommendation? Publications are evidence of success, said Mary Watson, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. If you have one amazing publication as first author that can be more powerful than 20 publications in little-known journals. About letters of recommendation: What part of the letter can or cant I write yet? Think about that, and work on those things you can do better. Work hard and make it easy for people to support you.
An investigation by Newark Police, in connection with officers from the Natural Resources Police State Parks Enforcement, has led to the arrest of a University of Delaware student for selling marijuana and LSD.

The investigation began May 8 when Officer George Walton from State Parks Enforcement came into contact with Dylan Nunn, a UD student, in the White Clay Creek State Park while investigating a complaint along the Pomeroy Trail within White Clay Creek State Park. At that time, Nunn was found to be in possession of 460 grams of edible marijuana packaged for sale.

On Friday, May 20, members of the Newark Police Department Street Crimes Unit and officers from the Natural Resources Police State Parks Enforcement executed a search warrant at Nunns apartment in the 200 block of East Main Street in Newark. During the search, officers located 62 dosage units of LSD, 3,522 grams of raw and edible marijuana products along with associated drug paraphernalia and several stolen street signs belonging to the city of Newark and the state parks. According to police, Nunn was manufacturing edible marijuana at this location.

Nunn was taken into custody without incident, arraigned through Justice of the Peace Court 2 and released after posting $50,000 secured bond.

He was charged with drug dealing in a tier 2 quaitity (LSD), drug dealing in a tier 3 quantity (marijuana), possession of a controlled substance (LSD), possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of receiving stolen property.

Anyone with additional information on this incident should contact M/Cpl. Greg DElia at 302-366-7100 ext. 3446 or gregory.delia@cj.state.de.us or Officer George Walton of State Parks Enforcement White Clay Creek State Park at 302-368-6900 orgeorge.walton@state.de.us

Members of the UD community may download a free smartphone app, LiveSafe, that lets users submit tips to police, receive important broadcast notifications and contact the University of Delaware Police Department directly. To learn more, visit this UD Police website.
With Commencement nearing, University of Delaware Residence Life and Housing is recognizing the graduating resident assistants who have made significant contributions to not only their complexes but also their staffs.

Nominated by their supervisors, these RAs have built strong connections with their residents; created or partnered on successful engagement initiatives; and/or impacted their staffs in a positive way.

Three RAs from Christiana Towers  Anisha Boucher, Matthew Conrad and Jessica Oestreicher  are being recognized.

Boucher is criminal justice major, minoring in sociology and Black American studies. She is a second-year RA in the West Tower. Conrad is a third year RA double majoring in political science and philosophy, with a minor in legal studies and a law, politics and theory concentration. Fellow third-year East Tower RA Oestreicher is a history major.

Q: How has being an RA added to your UD experience?

Boucher: Being an RA has added to my UD experience by exposing me to the multitude of people on this campus. When I first came to UD as a freshman from Irvington, New Jersey, I knew absolutely no one here. As I tried to make connections with my randomly assigned roommates and floormates, I often felt shut out because they had their own friends and did not seem interested in making a new one.

Luckily for me, I found companionship with upperclassmen, mostly RAs, who mentored me and made me feel welcomed. Through that experience, I knew that becoming an RA would put me in the position to be a mentor and even friend to those students who haven't made the right connections yet. This was my way of paying it forward  helping out another student, the way I was helped.

Conrad: Residence Life and Housing was the first community at UD where I felt like I truly belonged. Since I was a commuter student, I did not have a floor community of my own until I became an RA. My first year working in Rodney was where I met most of my college best friends. Working as an RA enabled me to create a network of people who cared about my success and happiness and pushed me to achieve my very best. All of the department heads that I have met over my three years have opened so many doors and allowed me to take advantage of many opportunities.

I have matured so much from the RA position, and it allowed me to take steps to reach my full potential as a person. The resources and staff available to RAs are immense and can really help you achieve whatever you want. I learned how to be a better person and how to help others reach their potential as well. All of the long-lasting relationships from college that I will have in my life are because of Residence Life. It helped shape me as an individual and fostered some of the greatest friendships I have ever had.

Oestreicher: I owe some of my greatest friendships to the RA position. I have also been able to connect with people across the University and gain a myriad of skills to help with my future.

Q: What is one (at least one) thing that youve accomplished  whether as an RA or UD student  that youre proud of?

Boucher: There's a lot of things I have accomplished that I am proud of. Academically, I have been a strong student. I was on the Dean's List for five semesters (hoping to make this last one the sixth); I have conducted research as a McNair Scholar during the summer before my junior year; I was promoted to the position of Mentor Resident Assistant after my first year of being an RA in the Christiana West Tower; I was president of the RSO Stimulating Prose, Ideas and Theories (SPIT) for two years; I have been a mentor for the Center for Black Culture's Each One Reach One program; been a part of the production To Kill A Mockingbird put on by the Resident Ensemble Players (REP) here at UD; and I was nominated by my staff as an awesome graduating Residence Life and Housing senior  what could be better than that?

Conrad: As an RA, I am really glad of the success I had with my first floor, Rodney B3. The year started off rough for everyone as my residents were adjusting to campus life, and I was still learning the ropes of the RA position. We struggled to have heavy floor involvement and near the end of the year faced several floor-wide issues. Despite some of the setbacks, we still came out on top. I was able to motivate my floor in the spring semester to have a fresh start, and we went on to win Neighborhood Empowerment Team (NET) Challenges for the month of March. My residents were so happy to be recognized for winning, and I was proud of them for all of the programming and bonding they went through to win.

As a student the accomplishment that I am proudest of is graduating with an honors degree with distinction. My senior thesis has been the culmination of my studies at UD and took from the disciplines of my two majors. I have discussed my thesis with professors at different law schools, and they were impressed of what I have already accomplished in the field as an undergrad.

Oestreicher: I am happy that I was able to work as MRA this year in the Towers. I got a lot of joy out of the position and I'm glad I was able to assist my staff.

Q: What is one challenge as an RA/UD student youve overcome this year? Or, how have you challenged yourself?

Boucher: This year as an RA has been extremely challenging. One thing I had to overcome is not allowing negative aspects of the job to interfere with my performance as an RA. By "negative aspects" I am referring to the multiple acts of vandalism done on my floor by individuals who have yet to be identified; my name being scratched, crossed, and/or ripped out on duty sheets throughout the building. Also, having to deal with students who are rude and display attitudes with me for doing my job. All of these things can be very discouraging and frustrating, especially living among students who display so much hate and animosity towards you, because you are unable to identify the attackers. It causes a person to live in fear and not want to write up people for violating quiet hours because you never know how someone may retaliate.

However, I have not allowed it keep me from doing my job. I realize that I cannot penalize all of my residents for the actions of a few people, nor can I keep from doing my job due to intimidation tactics. I continue to do my job as diligently as I know how and try to stay calm and positive through the tough situations. I have stayed committed to my job even when other parts of my life seemed to be falling apart (personal relationships, academic stress, etc.).

Conrad: I think one of the biggest challenges as an RA is staying as excited as you were your first year, especially in your senior year after having worked in the department for three years. A lot of the same situations and aspects of training occur every year, and it can be difficult to stay just as motivated as you were the first day of the job.

In your senior year, it can also be difficult to stay in the moment and you are at risk of ignoring what is happening around you because you are so focused on the next step. I transferred to upper division housing to create a new challenge for myself, with the hopes of staying motivated. Going into a situation that was different from what I experienced helped to make the final year fresh and full of new challenges to overcome.

Oestreicher: I think it is important for me to always have a book to read that is outside of my schoolwork.

Q: Any advice to your fellow RAs to make through their senior years?

Boucher: Stay kind to yourself and listen to your needs. Do not overload yourself with stress in your senior year. It should be an exciting and memorable moment as you are ending your undergraduate experience and about to embark on the next part of your life. Do not let people get to you. Unless your health is at risk, let it roll off your shoulders and keep on striving to be the best person you can be. Get creative with your bulletin boards since it might be the last time you ever make one in your life.

And keep in touch with the residents that actually made you smile during your off days. The kind words and generous displays of affection I received from my residents the first year I was employed by Residence Life and Housing are the reasons why I remained an RA. Yes, there will be stressful days, but it will all be worth it in the end.

Conrad: Find your way of staying motivated. Always try to push yourself to come up with new ideas. Maintain relationships with past residents and find out what they liked and disliked about their experience on your floor. Realize that each year your floor will be unlike your last, but there is a way to reach everyone.

As far as being a senior is concerned, take time for yourself. The position can be hectic, and trying to decide where your life is going can be stressful. Schedule time to see friends and do nothing related to work. Make sure that when you finally reach May that you can look back and not say I wish I could have ... Live for every moment and do what will make you happy and keep you healthy.

Oestreicher: Never be afraid to ask for help, and don't forget to forward the duty phone.

Q: What are you looking forward to after graduation?

Boucher: After graduation I will be returning home to Irvington, New Jersey, for the summer while I mentally prepare myself for my graduate studies at the University of Maryland, where I will be pursuing my master's degree in public administration. I am looking forward to that experience and where that path will lead me in my journey through life.

Conrad: I am looking forward to attending Duke University School of Law. I have wanted to go to law school for as long as I can remember, and it is finally happening. The past four years I have dedicated my life to my academics and to see it pay it off is the most rewarding feeling. I cannot wait to be in an environment where everyone is passionate about the same material and success. Other than academics, I look forward to a summer filled with memories of hanging out with friends before the indefinite goodbyes.

Oestreicher: I am looking forward to law school and to visiting Israel this summer.
Militants launched 33 attacks on positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbas in last day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

"The situation in the ATO area remains difficult. The militants of pro-Russian illegal armed groups do not cease to violate the ceasefire agreement. Over the past day, the terrorists shelled the Ukrainian positions 33 times," the report reads.

As noted, the militants used grenade launchers, antiaircraft guns and 82mm mortars to fire at the Ukrainian positions in Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk).

Ukrainian strongholds in Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk) and Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) came under small arm and grenade launcher fire.

The terrorists also used grenade launchers to shell ATO troops outside Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk).

ol
The Cabinet will make a resolution today which will permit the state budget to allocate funds for construction or purchase of housing for at least 500 servicemen, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman told a government meeting on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports.

"These funds will allow the Ministry of Defense to provide housing for about 500 military personnel and law enforcement officers," said Groysman.

According to the premier, housing for military and law enforcement personnel is an important issue that the authorities has to always solve. "This is done in order to ensure that they can effectively perform their duties as theyre fulfilling them today so that they will not worry about their accommodation conditions, social protection. These tasks are what we have to accomplish on a daily basis, said the premier.

tl
Military intelligence of Ukraine has registered ten enemy unmanned aerial vehicles that conducted reconnaissance of the Ukrainian army position in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone - in Severodonetsk, Donetsk, Volnovakha, Mariupol areas in the past day, according to the report published by the press center of Chief Intelligence Directorate at the Ministry of Defense.

The report also notes that the enemy has increased efforts in reconnaissance of the Ukrainian military locations and identifying the targets for attacks in tactical depth of defense lines of our army. tl
No Ukrainian soldiers were killed, although two servicemen were wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past twenty-four hours.

Presidential Administration Spokesperson for ATO issues, Colonel Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As a result of combat actions, our Ukrainian army sustained no losses over the past day, although two soldiers were wounded. This took place as a result of enemy shelling in Avdiivka near the industrial area, Lysenko said.

In addition, according to Lysenko, two Ukrainian soldiers have been captured by militant groups and are illegally kept in Donetsk.

iy
Ukraine will receive a third tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the middle of summer, according to Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister, Economic Development and Trade Minister Stepan Kubiv.

This, the de facto receipt of money, will take place in the middle of summer, Kubiv told journalists, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

A reminder that last week Gerry Rice, Director of the IMF's Communications Department, said that the IMF's Executive Board said it would reconsider possible allocation of a $1.7 billion tranche under the Extended Credit Facility programme in July.

iy
Former president of Georgia, head of the Odesa Regional State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili intends to return to Georgia and to engage actively in the political process there.

This is Saakashvili said in a broadcast TV "Rustavi", without specifying when that when he returns, reports Georgia Online.

"Let no one doubt and not perceive it as a threat - it's a natural thing - I intend to return to Georgia and to join actively the processes there," Saakashvili said.

He also announced new faces in the United National Movement Party and noted that several of them have been having active consultation with the party.

tl
The National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting has drafted a development strategy for expanding broadcasting in the Kherson region and organizing coverage in the occupied Crimea, a member of the National Council Serhiy Kostynsky told Krym.Realii site.

He said the objective of the strategy is to increase a quality coverage of the Kherson region by analog and digital broadcasting, including analog and digital broadcasting coverage for areas with "white pockets" that is areas where broadcasting doesnt cover.

The southern Kherson region must also be disconnected from analog and digital broadcasting originating in the occupied Crimea.

tl
Can all of Nigeria be Open Defecation Free by 2025? A Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee in the remote northern village of Gidan Darge is paving the way.

JIGAWA STATE, Nigeria, 25 May 2016  In north-eastern Nigeria, 300 miles north of the capital city of Abuja, lies the village of Gidan Darge. Though the village is located in a dry, remote area, it is pioneering advances in water, sanitation and hygiene for the entire country.

Back in 2008, Gidan Darge was one of the first communities in all of Nigeria to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) as part of the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Programme. The initiative aims to ensure all families construct their own latrines, have access to safe water, and practice good handwashing techniques.

To help inspire behaviour change, water and sanitation officers from the local government visited the village and worked with community volunteers to give a set of simple yet powerful demonstrations. For example, the open defecation mapping demonstration had the community come together to draw a map of the village, highlighting water sources, houses and places where people practice open defecation. The facilitator then drew the link between open defecation and disease by showing how, when it rains, faeces will wash into nearby water sources and make their way back into the households.

Habiba Umar, 35, was one of 15 people who volunteered to help lead this behaviour change within her community. Together, the volunteers decided to form a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee (WASHCom).

Before, there used to be so much faeces in the community. It was everywhere, it was really terrible, said Habiba. I volunteered because I wanted to change this for my family, and also to help inspire other communities in the area. We were all experiencing the same problems and it was affecting our childrens health.



Building trust, changing behaviour

Just 27 days after the community watched the demonstrations, all households completed the construction of their latrines and handwashing facilities. Three public latrines were also built during this time. The community was quickly declared ODF.

In collaboration with UNICEF, the Nigerian Government then installed a new handpump for the community, which now provides safe drinking water for everyone. It also ensures households can practice handwashing and keep their toilets clean.

But behaviour change does not happen overnight. It takes many months, if not years to become permanent. Being a WASHCom member is therefore a continuous commitment. Habiba and her colleagues constantly monitor progress, going house to house encouraging families to continue using and maintaining their facilities.
Academic news on indigenous people recently highlights aboriginal students that are encouraged to apply to Ontario's law schools.

Adam Fiddler is one among a few of indigenous people and aboriginal students in Ontario law schools who finally pursues his dream to become a lawyer. In 2012, Fiddler enrolled in Lakehead University law school and this year, he will be the first graduate in the faculty.

Fiddler recalled how he was excited that Lakehead opens a law school because living in suburb might not give him access to big city's law schools. This academic news on indigenous people is not new in the region. Law Times conducted a survey to six schools: University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Queen's University, Western Law, Osgoode Hall Law School and University of Windsor. The report found that less than 2 percent of the total enrollments were aboriginal people. In five years, there were less than 140 aboriginal students enrolled in the province's law schools.

As for Lakehead University's Bora Laskin Faculty, the survey did not count it in because the school is still in the third year since establishment. Within three years, the database recorded its indigenous people, 12 students, who registered in law schools.

Geographic constraint factor stops aboriginal students from enrolling due to the remote area that these students reside, geographic becomes the barrier to pursue higher education. The communities have difficulty in accessing distant institutions as they are required to travel out of the town.

Experts suggest fostering better learning environment for indigenous people, specifically aboriginal students. There are programs and funding for aboriginal people according to the Ontario but schools have to provide better learning environment for these indigenous people. Windsor Law spokesperson announced that the school will have two academics, aboriginal professors, giving lectures in the university. This is hoped to attract more aboriginal students. There is also a law camp designed for members in faculty who self-identify as aboriginal student.
Union Pacific Plans to Invest $37.7 Million in its Arizona Rail Infrastructure

Union Pacific plans to invest $37.7 million in 2016 to improve Arizona's transportation infrastructure. The company's multi-million dollar private investment will enhance employee, community and customer safety and increase rail operating efficiency. Freight railroads like Union Pacific operate on track built and maintained without taxpayer funds. Union Pacific's private investments sustain jobs and ensure the company meets growing demand for products used in the American economy.

Union Pacific's planned investment covers a range of initiatives: $29 million to maintain railroad track and $7.3 million to maintain bridges in the state. Key projects planned this year include:

$17.6 million investment in the rail line between Yuma and Casa Grande to replace 180,099 railroad ties.

$5.1 million investment in the rail line between Vail, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, to replace 25,756 railroad ties and almost 3 miles of curve rail.

This year's planned $37.7 million capital expenditure in Arizona is part of an ongoing investment strategy. From 2011 to 2015 Union Pacific invested more than $107 million strengthening Arizona's transportation infrastructure.

"We constantly evaluate our customers' needs to make targeted investments that enhance our efficiency and deliver the goods American businesses and families use daily," said Wes Lujan, Union Pacific vice president - Public Affairs, Western Region. "Continuing to aggressively invest in our infrastructure is an important element in Union Pacifics unwavering safety commitment."

Union Pacific plans to spend $3.75 billion across its network this year, following investments totaling approximately $33 billion from 2006-2015. These investments contributed to a 25 percent decrease in derailments over the last 10 years.

ABOUT UNION PACIFIC

Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2006-2015, Union Pacific invested approximately $33 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner.

The statements and information contained in the news releases provided by Union Pacific speak only as of the date issued. Such information by its nature may become outdated, and investors should not assume that the statements and information contained in Union Pacific's news releases remain current after the date issued. Union Pacific makes no commitment, and disclaims any duty, to update any of this information.
May 25 2016

Alan Dunlop is to close his Glasgow studio by the end of the month after withdrawing from his sole project in the city, a children's home in Maryhill Instead Dunlop will be heading south to focus on his Liverpool office in addition to positions as visiting professor at both Liverpool Universitys School of Architecture and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Aberdeen.Dunlop told Urban Realm: Im splitting my time between Liverpool, London (where I' m helping to set up a new department) and Aberdeen.Education is, for me, where the most interesting work is being done in architecture, that retains any sense of critical engagement. I've not given up on practice but have lost faith in public procurement in Scotland, have given up PQQ's, ridiculous fee bids and pointless interviews. I can't get my fees low enough for commercial work.I withdrew from East Park because the value engineering was damaging the project, the QS wanted to make 500,000 quid deductions on the budget after planning submission, that seems to be how things are done these days. 360 Architects stepped in, they're building it now from my design. I now have an office in Liverpool and have set up a new studio here at my home , so no need to keep an office going in Glasgow.Dunlop established his studio at James Morrison Street in Glasgow's Merchant City back in 2010 following the dissolution of gm+ad architects.
To better understand influence of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and other health system determinants on prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa), up-to-date relative survival (RS), stage distributions, and trends in survival and incidence in Germany were evaluated and compared with the United States (US).

Incidence and mortality rates for Germany and the US for the period 1999 to 2010 were obtained from the Center for Cancer Registry Data at the Robert Koch Institute and the US Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. For analyses on stage and survival, data from 12 population-based cancer registries in Germany and from the SEER-13 database were analyzed. Patients (15 years) diagnosed with PCa (1997-2010), with mortality follow-up to December 2010 were included. 5- and 10-year RS and survival trends (2002-2010) were calculated using standard and model-based period analysis.

Between 1999 and 2010, PCa incidence decreased in the US but increased in Germany. Nevertheless incidence remained higher in the US throughout the study period (99.8 vs. 76.0 per 100,000 in 2010). The proportion of localized disease significantly increased from 51.9% (1998-2000) to 69.6% (2007-2010) in Germany and from 80.5% (1998-2000) to 82.6% (2007-2010) in the US. Mortality slightly decreased in both countries (1999-2010). Overall, 5- and 10-year RS was lower in Germany (93.3%; 90.7%) than in the US (99.4%; 99.6%) but comparable after adjustment for stage. The same patterns were observed in age-specific analyses. Improvements observed in PCa survival between 2002-2004 and 2008-2010 (5-year RS: 87.4; 91.2; +3.8% units) disappeared after adjustment for stage (p=0.8).

The survival increase in Germany and the survival advantage in the US might be explained by differences in incidence and stage distributions over time and across countries. Effects of early detection or a lead time bias due to the more widespread utilization and earlier introduction of PSA testing in the US are likely to explain the observed patterns. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

BJU international. 2016 May 21 [Epub ahead of print]

Alexander Winter, Eunice Sirri, Lina Jansen, Friedhelm Wawroschek, Joachim Kieschke, Felipe A Castro, Agne Krilaviciute, Bernd Holleczek, Katharina Emrich, Annika Waldmann, Hermann Brenner, GEKID Cancer Survival Working Group

University Hospital for Urology, Klinikum Oldenburg, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany., Cancer Registry of Lower Saxony, Oldenburg, Germany., Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany., University Hospital for Urology, Klinikum Oldenburg, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany., Cancer Registry of Lower Saxony, Oldenburg, Germany., Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany., Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany., Saarland Cancer Registry, Saarbrucken, Germany., Cancer Registry of Rhineland-Palatinate, Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany., Cancer Registry of Schleswig-Holstein, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Lubeck, Lubeck., Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27208546
Aug. 19, 2022

Fitness. When the average citizen thinks of being fit, it is easy for cardio and strength training to come to mind. That is not the case for those serving in the Air Force and Space Force. Comprehensive Airman Fitness teaches that to have overarching fitness and resilience, one must work on his or
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.
Page Content

T he University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, along with various emergency response agencies, will participate in an emergency training exercise on June 3-4.

The exercise will occur in and around DeBot Dining Center on Isadore Street, parking lots P and V and adjacent residence halls on the north end of campus. A section of Isadore Street, north of Fourth Avenue to Maria Drive will be closed from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and no street parking will be allowed. Neighbors and nearby businesses may see or hear emergency response vehicles and personnel, such as a hazardous materials team, SWAT team and armored vehicle.

Anyone not associated with the exercise is asked to avoid the area.

The joint training exercise with local authorities and volunteers simulates life-saving mass casualty decontamination. Volunteers will serve as role-playing victims to add realism to the exercise scenario.

Please note, this is only a simulation. The exercise provides local, state and federal participants an opportunity to assess capabilities, plans, policies and procedures. It focuses on decision-making, coordination and integration with other organizations.

The following agencies and organizations will participate:

U.S. A rmy Reserve 388th Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Company



U.S. Army Reserve 409 th Area Support Medical Company (June 4 only)



Wisconsin State Patrol Northcentral Region



Wisconsin Emergency Management



Wisconsin Interagency Complex Incident Management Team



Stevens Point Police Department



Stevens Point Fire Department



Portage County Emergency Medical Services



Portage County Emergency Management



Portage County Sheriffs Office



Portage County Health and Human Services



Village of Plover P olice Department



Village of Plover Fire Department



Ministry Saint Michaels Hospital



Salvation Army



United Way of Portage County



Sentry Insurance



UW-Stevens Point



UW-Madison



Northeast Wisconsin Incident Management Team



Price County Emergency Management



Wood County Emergency Management



Marathon County Emergency Management



M arathon County Sheriffs Office



Wisconsin Towns Association



NOTE TO MEDIA:

Media are invited to attend the joint training exercise and will have opportunities for interviews, photos and video. All media interested in attending need to make arrangements in advance. Contact Nick Schultz, media relations director, at 715-346-2490 or Nick.Schultz@uwsp.edu by noon Wednesday, June 1.






Final UW Provost Finalist Set for Campus Visit

The third of three finalists for the position of provost/vice president for academic affairs at the University of Wyoming is scheduled to visit campus this week.

Jeffrey Thompson, dean of the College of Science at the University of Nevada-Reno, will give a public presentation Friday, May 27, from 2-3:15 p.m. in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center auditorium. To learn more about him, go here.

Terence Parker, professor of mechanical engineering and former provost/executive vice president of Colorado School of Mines, spoke on campus last Thursday. Kate Miller, dean of the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University, gave her presentation Tuesday.

For each finalist, the public presentation caps more than two days of activities on campus, including meetings with President Laurie Nichols, the provost search committee, vice presidents, deans, the Faculty Senate and Staff Senate executive committees, students and others.

The presentations will be captured using UWs WyoCast system, which will allow near-real-time viewing as well as archiving for later viewing. The WyoCast link for Thompsons public presentation is https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Play/cc0b07caeaeb4dcd988a37efebb145431d. All of the recorded public presentations will be available at https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Catalog/Full/b3edf27df1a34752b149e95d7c7dd95621.

In addition, Thompsons meeting with UW associate deans, directors and department heads -- scheduled at 10 a.m. Friday, May 27, in the Berry Center auditorium -- will be available through WyoCast by going to https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Play/b9271b070f1e4a4b836cc1d348c1e2241d.

The provost search committee welcomes input on each of the candidates. Those wishing to submit their evaluations of Thompson may do so confidentially here.

The provost search process is similar to that used by the UW Board of Trustees in its selection of Nichols. The committee has sought input from campus constituencies and established desired qualifications and characteristics; has reviewed and interviewed applicants; and has arrived at a list of finalists. The president will recommend a selection to the Board of Trustees.

The provost/vice president for academic affairs is the second-ranking leadership position at the university. Current Vice President for Academic Affairs David Jones will return to his position on the faculty of the College of Health Sciences.
WASHINGTON  My son is about to head off to college. That's two kids down and one to go.

With my son, Kevin, I have a lot of special concerns. He falls on the autism spectrum, so my husband and I have been meeting with college administrators to map out a plan for his success. He's going to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. So far, the school has exceeded our expectations in responding to his needs.

The president of UMBC, Freeman Hrabowski, even asked to meet with us.

Hrabowski understood when Kevin didn't look him in the eye at times and didn't appear to be as focused as he actually was. Hrabowski engaged Kevin with such genuine interest and respect. He got him. The encounter made me tear up.

My son had so wanted to go to a four-year university and live on campus. Hrabowski and his staff made us feel it's possible.

I tell you all this because sending your child off to college can come with a lot of anxiety, even if he or she is "neurotypical." If your child has special needs, your concern can be off the charts.

But I'm grateful there is one less thing to cry about or fret over.

The funds needed for Kevin's education  even for a special summer program that will help him get acclimated to college  are sitting in his 529 college savings plan.

My husband and I started saving for Kevin's college expenses when he was 3. We made a few lump-sum payments into the plan at the beginning, but most of the money came from our monthly contributions of just $210. Our target had been to save at least for costs at an in-state institution.

I know for some that amount could be too much to handle, but for many it isn't. Over the years, between our contributions and investment returns  even accounting for some heart-stopping down years  there's enough for tuition, fees and room and board. Just enough  but still enough.

I have always been a fan of 529 plans. Earnings are not subject to federal tax or, generally, state tax if the beneficiary uses the funds for qualified educational expenses at a college, university, vocational school or other postsecondary institution.

May 29  529 College Plan Day  has become a time for states and financial firms administering the plans to promote the advantages of this investment option. If only the campaign lasted the whole year.

A whopping 72 percent of Americans don't know what a 529 plan is, according to the financial services firm Edward Jones. That's up from 66 percent last year.

In the last two weeks, several parents have asked me about investing in a 529. I met one mother in Chicago who was worried about how to save. I directed her to Illinois' 529 Education Savings Plan, which, like many state plans, offers residents a tax break. Contributions from in-state are deductible up to $10,000 per parent per year ($20,000 if you're married and filing jointly). I made her promise to sign up. And she did.

Another mother, in Maryland, had been discouraged from putting money in a 529 based on a common misconception. She believed her children could only go to schools in the state where she held an account, which is not true.

Money invested in a 529 can be used at any public or private eligible educational institution in the country  even around the world.

Don't let misinformation stop you from saving in a 529 plan. Here are some places to get the truth:

n Your state's 529 website. In any search engine, type in your state and "529 plan." Stop first at the "FAQs" section. "We do a lot of myth busting," said Mary Morris, CEO of Virginia529.

Many states are now offering special promotions to get you to sign up for an account. Virginia has been randomly awarding $1,000 a day to new accounts. The contest continues through May 31. For the eighth year, the Virginia baby born closest to 5:29 p.m. on May 29 at participating hospitals will win a $529 contribution.

n Savingforcollege.com. This independent site contains a mountain of information about 529 plans. Download a free copy of "Family Guide to College Savings."

n Morningstar.com. The independent investment research site has an annual ranking of 529 plans. Check out the latest report at morningstar.com.

Look, you've got enough to be nervous about when it comes to sending your child to college. Take the time to figure out what's fact or fiction. And then save in a 529 plan.

Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1301 K St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle.singletary@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter (@SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MichelleSingletary). Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.
SHARE Policarpio Bartolon Diaz

By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

An Oxnard man was sentenced to 15 years to life Tuesday for driving under the influence and killing a bicyclist in 2014.

Policarpio Bartolon Diaz, 31, remained silent as he faced Ventura County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bennett Tuesday for sentencing. Diaz pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in April.

Investigators said Diaz was southbound on Rose Avenue south of Raiders Way in Oxnard at about 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 26, 2014 when he ran over 43-year-old Gerald Zoleta Garcia of Oxnard, who was riding his bicycle in the bike lane.

According to a report written by Deputy Probation Officer Marco Flores, Diaz was traveling between 44 and 62 miles per hour when he struck Garcia from behind.

"The force of the impact caused damage to his vehicle's right front fender, ejected the victim off his bicycle onto the vehicle's windshield ... the victim fell off the vehicle and landed facedown. ...," Flores wrote. "The defendant failed to stop, and continued to drive southbound on Rose Avenue with the victim's bicycle lodged underneath his vehicle's front bumper."

Prosecutor Julia Snyder said Diaz swerved to get Garcia's body off the vehicle.

Garcia's friend, Robert Patterson, said he was riding his bike alongside Garcia and also came close to being struck.

Choking back tears, Patterson addressed the court Tuesday and said he never saw Diaz stop his vehicle. Patterson said he and Garcia had just left a doughnut shop and were riding their bicycles back home when Diaz barreled down the bicycle lane.

"I know for a fact he wasn't remorseful because when he hit my friend, his brake lights never came on ... he just shook him off the car," Patterson said. "If you hit a human being, you think he would stop. To see him being tossed off the car was the hardest thing I've had to live through to this day."

In his report, Flores said Diaz stopped his vehicle about a mile from the scene of the accident. Witness who saw sparks emitting from Diaz's vehicle called police, but Diaz was able to dislodge the bike from his car and drove away.

Police arrested eventually Diaz about a mile away. Emergency personnel who responded pronounced Garcia dead at the scene.

Snyder said Diaz was convicted of DUI in 2008 and was arrested again the following year on another DUI charge. Diaz did not appear in court on the 2009 charge, but those prior charges and other factors were considered when he was charged with second-degree murder.

Snyder said tests showed Diaz's blood alcohol level was 0.22 percent. Since Diaz plead guilty to the murder charge, the lesser charges such as the DUI and fleeing the scene of an accident, were dismissed.

On Tuesday, Snyder said Diaz initially told police it was actually Garcia and Patterson who had cut into his lane.

"He tried to shift the blame to the victim in this case ... which shows a total lack of remorse," Snyder said. "That shows a level of depravity that I don't see very often."

Garcia's daughter, Megan Garcia, said her father's death has devastated her family.

"I can't look at this world or even the judicial system the same due to my father's death being highly preventable," Megan Garcia, 19, said. "Words cannot portray how altered my life is. The pain and suffering I undergo is unending due to aspects that could've been addressed prior to my father's death."

Defense attorney Victor Salas said it was after viewing photos of Garcia that his client decided to accept responsibility and plead guilty. Salas said Diaz is a hardworking field worker who took care of a woman and her four children.

"He didn't want to put anyone through the trial," Salas said. "He didn't come to this country with the idea of killing somebody. It is a tragedy, what happened. Mr. Diaz is sorry for what he has done."

Bennett said he didn't believe the Oxnard man was remorseful because he blamed the victim for the incident. After sentencing him, Bennett also ordered Diaz to pay $10,000 to the state restitution fund and other penalties.

"I think if you are not in prison, you are a danger to other people's lives and property," Bennett said.
SHARE

I have had the good fortune to work with state Senate candidate Henry Stern on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Board. Stern, a Harvard-educated attorney and educator at UCLA Law School, is a senior policy advisor to state Sen. Fran Pavley. He wrote Senate Bill 380 that holds the Gas Company accountable for inspecting all of its aging wells at Aliso Canyon.

I have been very impressed with Henrys performance on the advisory board. He has an in-depth knowledge of the communities in our Senate district and the various economic and environmental issues they face. When he speaks at the board meetings, everyone pays very close attention. His insight into the issues, analytic ability and legal knowledge are invaluable. He is an attentive listener and very quick to grasp the essential facts and opposing arguments of any issue. These are qualities that will make him an excellent state senator.

Henry is not someone seeking public office for selfish reasons. He has devoted a lifetime to public service, passing on more lucrative opportunities in private practice that were available to him as a Harvard graduate. In short, Henry Stern is exactly the kind of person we need in the state Senate.

We have had the good fortune to be represented by one of the most effective legislators in California history, Fran Pavley. We now have the opportunity to choose a successor who will live up to that high standard. I urge you to vote for Henry Stern in the June 7 primary.

Ed Corridori, Agoura Hills

Editor: The author is a former Agoura Hills mayor.
Family problem

SHARE

By Mike Nelson

Call it gig, call it on demand, call it freelance. By whatever name, it describes what comprises a larger share of the total workforce  and, by extension, a larger share of those impacted by child support obligations.

That means that those in the latter category  that is, those who make their living in non-traditional, non-W-2 jobs  should already be taking great care to keep accurate financial records, for their own protection.

Gig economy jobs are on the rise in California and nationwide, said Richard Ian Ross, a certified family law specialist attorney in Westlake Village, citing a study by Intuit Investor Relations on the rise of the on-demand economy. The Intuit study showed that the countrys contingent workforce has grown from 17 percent of the U.S. total 25 years ago to 36 percent today, and is expected to reach 43 percent by 2020.

And while the vast majority of workers in this economy have other sources of income, about 15 million Americans say working these gigs makes up more than 40 percent of their pay, the study said.

For gig economy workers, determining the appropriate amount of child support payable becomes more complex, time-consuming and expensive, Ross pointed out, because these people are self-employed, rather than W-2 employees for whom it is easy to calculate income.

Ross cited the example of ride service providers Uber and Lyft, who utilize freelance drivers not as employees but as independent contractors. These drivers use their own vehicles, pay their own gas and repairs, receive no health insurance or benefits, and, at tax time, receive Form 1099s and pay their own taxes.

If they do not properly budget themselves, do not pay estimated taxes or at least save enough to pay their taxes when due, they might have serious problems come tax time, said Ross.

All independent contractors are required to prepare and file a Schedule C form (a profit and loss statement for a self-employed, sole proprietorship business person) with their taxes. If they are responsible for child support, the accuracy of those forms is even more critical, said Ross.

Child support formulas in California assume regular, consistent W-2 income, he said. A gig economy worker reporting income to a California child support court will have to include a profit and loss statement or attach a copy of a recent Schedule C to the Income and Expense Declaration, which is a required document to be filed in any child support case.

Because gig economy workers income fluctuates month to month, most courts want to look at a 12-month period (where possible) in determining an appropriate child support amount.

In such fluctuating income cases, said Ross, courts may set a monthly support amount based on the 12-month average. If the gig economy worker has not set aside money during the high-income months, he or she will likely have a problem making the support payments during low-income months.

A second approach used by California courts to deal with fluctuating income is a bonus table, or a schedule that establishes a percentage of the fluctuating income to be paid for child support. The actual percentage will vary depending on income.

Business income is defined as gross receipts less legitimate business expenses.

Sometimes, said Ross, it becomes challenging to prove the actual amount of a gig economy workers income, especially where cash is paid for services rendered.

In such situations, Ross said attorneys will often focus on the workers expenses and lifestyle if income cannot be easily located. Obtaining the workers bank records or serving a subpoena on the gig economy business might generate the necessary proof of income received.

Ross further notes that California case law allows a court to use the income stated on a loan application as proof of actual income received by a worker.

Usually, when a person wants to be approved for a loan, he or she will accurately state or even overstate income to get the lender to approve the loan, he pointed out. If the loan application can be obtained, it can be persuasive evidence to a judge to use the amount stated on the loan application, usually signed by the worker under penalty of perjury, as the true income available for payment of child support.

Bottom line: The gig economy not only is changing the way many Americans earn and report their income, Ross said. It raises new challenges to obtaining an accurate child support order in California family law courts.

And that, he concludes, means workers in that category need to be diligent and accurate about their income and expenses, especially if theyre responsible for child support.


Billy Idol took the stage of the intimate House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for his first-ever multi-date residency, Billy Idol: Forever (Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage).

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.

Billy Idol: Forever features Idol, his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens, and the rest of Idols band at the top of their game, performing songs from throughout Idols extensive catalog.

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.

The show features material from throughout Idols career, from his days fronting the seminal British punk band Generation X to his hits the world has come to know and love, including Rebel Yell, White Wedding, Dancing With Myself, and many more.

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.

From punk pioneer to global superstar, Billy Idol has created an unparalleled niche in popular music and has remained a household name for more than three decades.

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.

Idols latest career renaissance has come on the heels of his self-written, New York Times bestselling autobiography Dancing With Myself, his recent studio album Kings & Queens Of The Underground, and a highly successful tour of festivals and sold out venues around the World with his band featuring legendary guitarist Steve Stevens.

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.

Photo credit: Denise Truscello / WireImage.
Bloomingdales stores nationwide are pledging $75,000.00 to Mentoring USA, the non-profit organization that provides mentors to children, as a part of Bloomingdales Fashionable Fundraiser on February 25. Customers will have the opportunity to shop for a cause, enjoy special offers and meet Mentoring USA representatives who will provide information on how to make a difference in their own community and become part of the mentoring movement sweeping the nation.

Mentoring USA pairs at-risk youths across the country with inspirational adult mentors who can guide them in developing better self-esteem, creating healthy relationships and making positive life choices. The Fashionable Fundraiser will allow Bloomingdales to be a part of Mentoring USAs continued success by providing the much-needed funds that make it possible to continue their important programs.

Mentoring USA, a New York City-based nonprofit, is a structured, site-based, mentoring organization that began as the first state-sponsored, one-on-one mentoring program in the country back in 1987. The program was founded by then First Lady of the State of New York Matilda Raffa Cuomo and became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1995. Mentoring USA has provided mentors for more than 5,000 children since its inception.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information on Bloomingdales Fashionable Fundraiser to benefit Mentoring USA, call 702.277.2448 or 702.784.5400.

WHO: Bloomingdales stores nationwide including Las Vegas

WHEN: Wednesday, February 25 Noon to 4 p.m.  Meet Mentoring USA Representatives Las Vegas

WHERE: Bloomingdales, Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall

3200 Las Vegas Blvd., South

Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Workers are pictured in Hpakant, Kachin State on Dec 27, 2015, near the site of a Dec 25 landslide in the war-torn area that is the epicentre of Myanmar's secretive billion dollar jade industry. (Photo: AFP)

YANGON: A landslide in Myanmar's northern jade mining region has killed at least 12 people and many more are missing, officials said Tuesday (May 24), the latest deadly accident to hit the shadowy but lucrative industry.

The bodies were recovered after a wall of unstable earth collapsed Monday night following heavy rain in the town of Hpakant in Kachin state, the centre of a multi-billion-dollar trade that feeds a huge demand for the precious stones from neighbouring China.

"We retrieved seven dead bodies last night and five more this morning," a police officer in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw told AFP, requesting anonymity.

But the rescue mission has been halted amid renewed rain which threaten to trigger a fresh landslide.

At least 15 people were injured and an estimated 30 others are missing, the officer added.

Confirming the death toll Nilar Myint, a local official in Hpakant, said around 50 people were searching for the stone when an earth wall inside the mine collapsed.

"We are checking homes near the landslide to see who is missing among their friends and relatives," she told AFP.

The area has suffered a string of deadly landslides over the past year, with a major incident in Hpakant last November killing over 100.

Numerous other smaller accidents have left scores more dead or injured, including a landslide that killed 13 people earlier this month.

The victims are usually itinerant workers scouring the area for chunks of jade overlooked by the industrial mining firms that have carved up the once-forested landscape.

A resident told AFP hundreds of people have been searching for jade in the craters scooped out by the mining giants during Myanmar's rainy season, when major companies cease operations.

"We think about 200 people were working in that area when the landslide occurred last night... there could be many more casualties," the resident said on condition of anonymity, adding that rain and poor roads have hampered the rescue.

Myanmar is the chief source of the world's finest jadeite, a near-translucent green stone that is prized in China, where it is known as the "stone of heaven".

But while mining firms -- many linked to the country's junta-era military elite -- are thought to be raking in huge sums, locals say they do not share in the bounty.

In an October report corruption watchdog Global Witness estimated that Myanmar jade produced in 2014 alone was worth $31 billion, with huge profits going to figures from the powerful military and the former junta.

Much of the best jade is thought to be smuggled directly to China.

The group said the secretive jade industry might be the "biggest natural resource heist in modern history".
Picture on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson shows part of debris found by search teams looking for the EgyptAir flight which plunged into the Mediterranean AFP

CAIRO: Egyptian forensics officials collected DNA Tuesday (May 24) from relatives of EgyptAir Flight MS804 victims to help identify body parts retrieved from the Mediterranean, where the crash killed 66 people, the airline said.

Investigators are still searching for Airbus A320's two black boxes on the seabed as they seek answers as to why the aircraft came down early on Thursday.

"Body parts arrived at the morgue yesterday and other body parts arrived the day before yesterday," EgyptAir Holding Company chairman Safwat Musallam told AFP on Tuesday.

"DNA samples have been collected from the victims' families to help identify body parts," EgyptAir said in an emailed statement.

Experts and sources close to the investigation told AFP local media reports that body parts analysis showed evidence of an explosion did not in fact reveal anything about the cause of the disaster.

Hesham Abdel Hameed, head of the justice ministry's forensics department, also denied that the reports were accurate, according to the website of state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

It reported Abdel Hameed as saying such comments are hypothetical and could not have been issued by the department or any of its forensics doctors.

"No trace of any explosives has been found so far on debris or body parts," one source told AFP.

"When a plane crashes, an explosion takes place at some stage or another, reducing the plane to pieces," another source said.

This is "either as a result of mechanical failure or a criminal act, or when the plane hits the sea after falling 11 kilometres, as in this case".

"This does not advance the investigation, unless we find traces of an explosive, which is not the case at this stage," the source added.
Chairman of HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong handed over documentation of the approval notice to establish the school to former US senator Bob Kerrey and Chairman of the FUV Board of Trustees. - VNS Photo Van Dat

Chairman of HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong handed over documentation of the approval notice to establish the school to former US senator Bob Kerrey and Chairman of the FUV Board of Trustees and FUV Founding President Dam Bich Thuy in HCM City.

Following the decision, the university will begin preparations to build a flagship campus in the Saigon High Tech Park in District 9 and should be in a position to welcome its first graduate students later this year.

Secretary Thang said, "I am delighted to welcome FUV to HCM City. I am confident that FUV will contribute meaningfully towards the emergence of HCM City as a hub of innovation for the region and the world."

US Secretary of State John Kerry makes a speech about the university establishment during the event. - VNS Photo Van Dat

Former US senator Bob Kerrey said that the university opens an exciting new chapter in the history of US-Viet Nam cooperation in higher education, by embodying meritocracy, freedom of academic inquiry, autonomy and accountability.

The former US senator hoped FUV would provide a fertile ground for attracting talented Vietnamese scholars and scientists who have benefitted from years of bilateral investment in higher education.

Till date, the US government has committed more than US$ million in funding to support the launch of the innovative new university. The government of HCM City has made 25ha of land available for the university.

The university has secured more than US$60 million in funding commitment, in cash and in kind. The school needs to mobilise US$100 million during the next three years, according to Thuy.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and HCM City Party Committee Secretary Dinh La Thang are seen shaking hand during the ceremony.  VNS Photo Van Dat

In 1990, John Kerry, then a young senator, visited Viet Nam with his daughters. The idea of a partnership in the field of education to strengthen the two countries' bilateral relationship was ignited during that visit.

In December 2013, visiting Viet Nam for the first time as the US secretary of state, Kerry met members of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Programme, which triggered the idea of establishing a Fulbright University in Viet Nam.

According to the White House, US-Viet Nam people-to-people ties are stronger than ever. Nearly 19,000 Vietnamese now study in the United States, 40 per cent more than in 2009.

"Over 80,000 Vietnamese visited the United States in 2015 and many thousands of Americans visited Vietnam. The new Fulbright University Vietnam, which opens in HCM City, will help bring world-class and independent education to Viet Nam and deepen ties between our people," according to the White House's Office of Press Secretary.
A Japanese style restaurant opens in Da Nang. Japanese businesses have invested 27 restaurants in the city. - VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The company's board chairman, Junji Tabira, said in a meeting with the central city on May 23.

Junji said it would be the first-ever international standard cuisine centre designed as a bungalow on a vegetable farm.

He said the cuisine centre would introduce Japanese foods, Asia and European cooking style for tourists and gastronomes in central Viet Nam, while introducing organic farming onsite as a tourism destination.

He also said local farmers would join the project as food suppliers or employees.

As scheduled, the city has allocated a 6ha farm for the company to develop the project later this year.

The city plans to develop a clean vegetable farm spread over 344ha in the district for providing safe food for the city.

Da Nang has developed 50 farms to provide 10 per cent of the city's consumer demand for vegetables and farm produce.

The project is aimed at increasing investment flows and tourists from Japan to Da Nang city as the number of Japanese tourists trebled as compared to previous years (66,000 tourists in 2015).

The city is home to 160 Japanese investors and 37 representatives with a total investment of US$500 million.

Route Inn Group from Japan is also developing a coastal resort, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, with total investment of $18 million.

The city has already launched a direct air route connecting Da Nang to Narita, Japan in 2014 with seven flights a week, and a direct Da Nang-Osaka route is expected to be put into operation from this August with four flights a week.
US President Obama looks at the products made by Vietnamese start-up businesses at Dreamplex. - VNS Photo Van at

The US President spoke at the Dreamplex Co-Working Space at the Miss Ao Dai Building in the city's District 1 and saw products made by young Vietnamese, including apps created for people with nerve injuries, a smartphone-controlled laser cutter, and other innovations.

Dreamplex, which now has 60 start-ups, is a place for young entrepreneurs. Though the business model is popular in the US, Europe and Asia, it is fairly new to Viet Nam.

"Next month at our global entrepreneurs' summit, something that I have been hosting now for several years, I will welcome eight Vietnamese entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley so they can learn from some of the best entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the world," the president told the audience at Dreamplex.

"Dreamplex is not only home for digital entrepreneurs like you, but it is also a place where you can share ideas and work together and build a community that supports each other," he added.

"Incubators like this allow Viet Nam, alongside its emphasis on entrepreneurship, to see more start-ups happening in this country than ever before."

US President Barack Obama chairs a panel discussion with young Vietnamese entrepreneurs. - VNS Photo Van at

Obama said that entrepreneurship was the fuel for "prosperity that puts rising economies on the path to success".

"It's what gives young people, like so many of you, the chance to channel your energy and your passion into something that is bigger than yourselves," he said. "It allows us to go across countries and cultures to solve some of the world's biggest challenges."

"Ultimately, what makes start-ups and entrepreneurs successful is good ideas and human capital. Obviously, investors are important and infrastructure is important. But the most important thing is people. The culture of entrepreneurship has really begun to grow in Viet Nam," he said.

"The world is taking notice," said Obama, who noted that a leading global venture capital firm called 500 Startups had just launched a US$100 million-fund in HCM City.

Three young entrepreneurs, Hang Do, vice president of Seedcom; Le Hoang Uyen Vy, managing director of Adayroi; and Khoa Pham, director of legal & corporate affairs for Microsoft took part in a panel discussion with the US president after his speech at Dreamplex.

Obama spoke about the interconnectness of today's world and the global marketplace, and the need for every business to think globally. With good products and business strategies, companies can now reach billions of people, he noted.

Pham told the president that he returned to Viet Nam to give the same opportunities to Vietnamese that he had received in the US.

US President Barack Obama speaks to members of the business community after a panel discussion with three young Vietnamese entrepreneurs at the Dreamplex Co-Working Space in HCM City. - VNS Photo Van at

He praised the spirit of entrepreneurship in Viet Nam, saying that it had inspired him to return and continue to work with Microsoft in the place of his birth.

Obama told the entrepreneurs that the 12-country TPP trade agreement represents a huge portion of the world's marketplace, creating "standards for trade and commerce that are fair, that create a playing field that has high standards, including intellectual property protection," he noted.

He closed his message with encouraging words for the country's dynamic entrepreneurial community.

"My message the other day is that I believe in you, America believes in you, and we will keep investing in your success. Ultimately, it's the inventors and dreamers people like those that I've just met, those who we will hear from soon and all of you in the audience, who are going to shape Vietnam's future in the decades to come," he said.

"I think that if you had any doubt about the outstanding future of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, then all those doubts have been pushed away because of the outstanding presentations by these three individuals. Give them a big round of applause," Obama said at the end of the talk with the young businesspeople.

President Obama at the co-working space Dreamplex. - VNS Photo Van Dat

Relations between the US and Viet Nam are at a historic high following the establishment of the US - Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership in 2013 and the celebration of 20 years of diplomatic relations in 2015.

Trade between the two countries has nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops US$45 billion.

US exports to Viet Nam increased by 23 per cent in 2015, the largest increase of the US's top 50 trade partners, and only one of two markets with double-digit growth.

At the same time, the US remains Viet Nam's largest export market, growing 24 per cent year-on-year.

Economic ties between the two countries are poised to expand even further with the implementation of the TPP agreement, which would hold nearly 40 per cent of the world's GDP, accountable to the highest labour, environmental, and intellectual property rights standards of any previous trade agreement, while leveling the playing field for workers and businesses, the US State Department said in a press release.

The US has committed to help Viet Nam continue on its path of economic reforms, including efforts required to fully implement its commitments under the TPP through technical assistance, the department said.
US investors pay increasing attention to the local stock market. - Photo cafef.vn

Trade co-operation between Viet Nam and the United States is undergoing positive evolution and will develop more with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung told local media yesterday.

Local statistics reveal the United Sates is currently the largest export market for Viet Nam. In 2015, the value of Vietnamese exports to the United States reached US$33.48 billion, accounting for 20.6 per cent of total export value, an increase of 16.9 per cent compared with 2014. As a result, Viet Nam has become the biggest exporter to the United States within ASEAN.

According to experts, with TPP, the door to the US market will open even wider for local goods after taxes are reduced from 20 per cent to zero per cent, giving the country a huge advantage in competing with non-TPP rivals, such as China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh.

Textiles, footwear and seafood, shares of which have been increasingly listed on local exchanges, are among the key Vietnamese export products to the United States.

According to Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), US investors in the Vietnamese market often invest through their subsidiaries and affiliates based in other markets, such as the British Virgin Islands, Singapore, Hong Kong and other foreign countries. So current investment statistics do not fully reflect the real flow of US investment.

Since US investors have high standards for their projects, not only will the Vietnamese economy and society benefit, but also the environment, SSI said.

US investors have been present since the beginning of the local stock market in 2000, according to lists of foreign investors in the Viet Nam Securities Depository.

SSI has witnessed a growth in US investment in the local market. In 2009, the US-based Van Eck Fund established the VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF to invest in Viet Nam. Currently, the fund is valued at over $340 million.

But the presence of US investors is still limited, due to geographical distance and the small-scale of Viet Nam's stock market, SSI said. The firm said large US management funds also have branches in Singapore and Hong Kong to invest in regional markets, allowing for indirect invest in the Vietnamese market.

The Managing Director of Mekong Capital, Chris Freund, told local media the fourth fund of Mekong Investment (MEF III) - which has $112 million in capital, including US capital - was just set up in Viet Nam this month, attracting the attention of US investors to the local market.

The country's stock market is changing, according to Chris Freund. To improve it, Viet Nam should further focus on transparency of information for US investors, so investors can better understand Vietnamese economic information, the investment environment, and the effectiveness of investment projects in a timely manner.

The managing director said the US president's visit sent a clear message to help US investors better identify opportunities in Viet Nam.

The general director of Maritime Securities Inc (MSI) Mac Quang Huy said Obama's visit would have a positive psychological impact on Viet Nam's stock market. The Vietnamese market had already recognised the positive signals, according to Huy. He also said the local stock market rallied after the previous US presidents' visits in 2000 and 2006.

"The TPP, which is part of the visit's agenda, will have a positive impact on textile stocks. In addition, some industries with potential co-operation agreements with the US, such as oil and gas, finance, and banking, will see their stock value rise in the market," Huy said.

According to securities experts, Viet Nam needs to improve transparency, expand the scale and quality of the market and listed companies, and promote the IPOs of large State-owned enterprises to make the local market more attractive to foreign investors, including US investors.

Viet Nam should also diversify investment instruments, create more flexible administrative procedures for foreign investors, and give them more access to locally-listed firms. This will raise international investor confidence in the Vietnamese stock market.
Sri Lankan residents clear debris from outside homes following flooding in the Kolonnawa suburb of Colombo. (AFP/Ishara S. Kodikara)

COLOMBO: Floods subsided across Sri Lanka on Tuesday (May 24) revealing the full extent of damage from last week's deluge that also triggered landslides, officials said, as the death toll crossed 100.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 101 people were known to have died last week while another 100 people were still listed as missing in the worst hit central district of Kegalle.

Military officials in the district, 100 kilometres north-east of the capital, said a search was still under way for the missing people although there was little hope of finding anyone alive under the tonnes of mud.

"The flood waters have receded across the country," DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili told AFP. "Over 530 houses have been completely destroyed and another 4,000 partly damaged." He said most of the capital's flood-affected population had returned to their homes since Monday when the water levels started going down.

At the height of the floods, a third of Colombo's 650,000 residents were driven out of their homes, according to official figures.

The Finance Ministry has estimated the damage to small businesses and industries at about US$2 billion. The government has promised compensation to victims, but details are yet to be announced.

Sri Lanka's parliament has been recalled to meet on Wednesday, a week ahead of schedule, to discuss reconstruction and rehabilitation following the worst flooding in the capital in nearly a quarter of a century.

Soldiers and relief workers were seen distributing essential supplies to people cleaning up their homes in low-lying areas of Colombo.

Floodwaters from the Kelani, which flows to the Indian Ocean through Colombo, were contaminated with garbage from a dump on the edge of the city as well as raw sewage, raising concerns of a disease outbreak, officials said.

Doctors and nurses were seen across the affected areas on Tuesday while the authorities maintained mobile medical units. Sri Lanka has received international aid as well as support from nationals keen to help the victims.

Rain has eased since Cyclone Roanu moved away from Sri Lanka to hit southern Bangladesh on Saturday, leaving at least 24 people dead there, before weakening.
Pham Ngoc Minh (right), newly-elected Vietnam Airlines' Chairman of the Board of Directors and Duong Tri Thanh, the firm's new General Director. - Photo VNA

The information was released at the VNA's annual shareholders' meeting held in Ha Noi on Monday.

Minh will replace Pham Viet Thanh, who was recently appointed by the Politburo as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Business Bloc in the 2015-2020 tenure on April 12.

Minh, 56, was appointed as the VNA's deputy general director in May 1993. He became general director in December 2007.

Thanh was born in 1961. He was assigned to be the VNA's deputy director in October 2008.

At the meeting, VNA reported that it was completing negotiations on a share sale agreement (SSA) with ANA Holdings Inc, owner of Japan's biggest airline All Nippon Airways.

The signing is expected to take place at the end of this month. Under the agreement, Vietnam Airlines will sell nearly 108 million shares, or 8.77 per cent of its registered capital to ANA Holdings Inc. If the deal is successful, ANA Holdings will be VNA's strategic partner.

Shareholders vote for Vietnam Airlines's plans in 2016. - Photo VNA

The partnership with ANA Holding Inc is expected to help Vietnam Airlines continue to raise its corporate management capacity, financial resources, service quality, market development and access to new technologies, affirming its position as the national carrier and increasing its efforts to become one of the leading airlines in the region.

After completing the deal with ANA Holdings Inc, Vietnam Airlines will issue additional shares to reduce the State-owned holding rate to 75 per cent, and heading to 65 per cent of registered capital in the future.

The report showed that in the first quarter of this year, Vietnam Airlines conducted 34,500 domestic and international flights, an increase of 9.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. It carried more than 4.6 million passengers, making a year-on-year increase of 11.6 per cent.

The corporation earned estimated consolidated revenue of more than VND19 trillion (US$854.7 million), 13.3 per cent higher than the same period last year, reaching 26.4 per cent of the yearly target. Pre-tax consolidated profit is expected to be over VND1 trillion, a rise of 32.5 per cent year-on-year.

The parent company, including Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Vietnam Air Services Co. (VASCO), is estimated to make more than VND15 trillion in revenue and VND873.9 billion in pre-tax profit.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said that Vietnam Airlines had carried out equitisation in a methodical and scientific way, in particular, its ongoing completion of choosing strategic shareholders.

"Vietnam Airlines applies advanced technologies for operation, especially the exploitation of new Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350 craft, as well as modern technologies for the corporation's management system, proving its leading role in the renewal process and in international integration," said Nhat.

Based on valuations of the country's economic potential, business environment and strategic orientation of the Government's aviation industry development, the corporation's shareholders approved the targets for this year.

Vietnam Airlines plans to invest VND9.9 trillion in developing business. The investment will focus on key projects suitable for long-term development and raising competitive capacity and effects of the corporation's business and operation.

It targets to carry nearly 20.1 million passengers this year, making consolidated revenue of VND77.8 trillion and a profit of VND2.3 trillion.
404!: NOT FOUND

The page is not found!



Try our home page: https://vir.com.vn/ - Vietnam Investment Review - VIR
Local elections will be held in June next year, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in a decision signed earlier this month.

The decree, signed by Hun Sen on May 24, sets a June 4, 2017, date for the polls, which will come a year ahead of the next general election, due in 2018.

Sam Kuntheamy, head of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections, or NICFEC, said the National Election Committee (NEC) would be a bit rushed to complete voter registration ahead of the vote.

The announcement comes after the deputy secretary general of the NEC, Ny Chakrya, was jailed on charges of being an accomplice to bribery over his alleged involvement a defamation case against opposition deputy leader Kem Sokha.

Rong Chhun, the former president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, one of the oppositions choices for membership of the NEC, was also recently charged with the alleged involvement in violence on Veng Sreng Boulevard in Phnom Penh during garment worker strikes in 2014.

Kuntheamy of NICFEC said while the case against Ny Chakrya would not interfere with the NECs role ahead of the vote, the presence of Rong Chhun would be sorely missed.

The NEC needs nine peopleany rule must be decided by an absolute majority, meaning five people, so that its valid, he said. So if there were only eight people any decision [could split the vote].

Hang Puthea, NEC spokesman, said the body would put its duties and responsibilities ahead of everything else.

The NEC was selected by parliament to fulfill duties in line with the law. The NEC doesnt have any choice besides implementing the law, he said.

Tep Nytha, secretary general of the NEC, has said that the elections will cost about $52 million, including voter registration, which is due to start soon.

In the last round of commune elections, in 2012, Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party won 97% of the vote, making way for the CPP to control almost all of Cambodias local administrations.
Despite the growth of Cambodias tech industry, few women have joined the field. Longtime Cambodian tech observer Sok Sikieng says that although more women have joined the profession in recent years, there remain significant factors hindering women from reaching their tech potential.

Sikieng, a tech ambassador and lecturer of information technology at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, told the Hello VOA (Khmer) radio program last week that the increase in women working in the technology sector has not encouraged more young women to study tech-related subjects at universities.

In the last few years, there was a noticeably higher number of Cambodian women tech workers, who have started an association. They total around 70, 80 people, and help each other to bring in more women into the field. And yet, today, we dont see a marked increase in female students in tech.

Among 1,500 students who chose information and communications technology (ICT) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2014, less than 10%, or just 105, were female, says Sikieng. The expert, who has worked in the field for almost ten years, lays the blame on a lack of self-confidence, family and social stereotyping, and lack of role models.

Cambodia has recently pivoted to the so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) to better position the countrys workforce for an economy of the future, based on technology.

Despite making up half of the student population, only 14% of students in information technology in 2010 were female. Most of these women chose the subject without the clear end goal of working in the sector.

Sikieng herself admitted she chose the subject by chance rather than through a long-held passion. She says the main reason for the lack of enthusiasm is that many female students do not believe they can succeed in the subject.

If they get [good marks] in class, our female students dont attribute it to themselves, but rather to luck. This shows that most Cambodian women do not believe in their personal ability to succeed in ITC study.

Another factor, says Sikieng, is discrimination by family and society, which sees the tech sector as primarily the domain of men. She tells Hello VOA that, in her case, encouragement from her parents and brothers bucked this apparent trend.

Another factor, she says, is the lack of Cambodian role models who can defy the stereotypes.

[Men] dont believe in us because there are not many Cambodian role models. It is a factor that makes them not believe that we can do it, too. But now I have seen more Cambodian women in tech, so I hope that this mindset will change soon.

This workplace stereotype is not unique to Cambodias fledging tech sector, and can be challenging even in well-established technology communities in developed countries. In the United States, research by the American Association of University Women found that the number of women working in computing fell from 35% in 1990 to just 26% in 2013, while women constitute only 12% of all engineers. This decline came despite the fact that women have become more prominent in other fields, such as medicine, law, and business.

Sikieng says that she has not noticed similar drop in Cambodia as discrimination seems to occur more in the classroom than at the workplace.

Khiev Sokmesa, a senior software developer at Phnom Penh-based InSTEDD iLab, has worked in the Cambodian tech industry for many years. He agrees that the increase in Cambodian women working in the technology sector has helped change the attitudes of their male colleagues.

Information technology work is not exclusive to men, Sokmesa tells VOA Khmer. It is brain work, so women can also actively participate. And sometimes, they do a better job because of their attentiveness and creativity. So I think their participation is a positive contribution to society.

Sikieng says that Cambodian women such as herself, who can overcome those societal challenges, are rewarded with numerous opportunities in a currently uncompetitive field. More importantly, those women will become role models and encourage female students to become the tech pioneers of the future.
Amid increasing political tensions, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has called for a resumption of dialogue with the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party.

Yim Sovann, a CNRP spokesman, said on Monday following a meeting with the Kofi Annan Foundation that the only way to end the current impasse was through negotiated talks with senior CPP officials.

This is the only option we have, he said. Only talk and conversation could be used to solve the problems. We are Khmer. If we dont sit and talk to solve our problems, nobody can help us.

Since July last year, at least 14 opposition members and supporters have been detained by the authorities on various charges, while opposition deputy leader Kem Sokha remains the subject of an investigation into an alleged affair.

Sam Rainsy, CNRP president, continues to live in self-imposed exile in order to avoid a two-year jail sentence over a defamation case initiated by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong.

Sok Eysan, a CPP spokesman, said that the party was open to talks, but any discussion of releasing imprisoned opposition supporters would be off the table.

They say they want to meet, but what they want is the release of the people who are under the watch of the judiciary. Thats why we always say the courts are independent and we wont interfere in judicial affairs, he said.

Sovann, however, said the CNRP did not want to enter talks with the intention of interfering in the courts business.
An opposition lawmaker arrested earlier this year over comments he made regarding the Cambodia-Vietnam border was questioned on Wednesday after the Court of Appeal rejected his bail request last week.

Sam Sok Kong, lawyer for Um Sam An, a Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker for Siem Reap province, told reporters outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday that investigating judge Tob Chhun Heng had asked his client about his use of the social networking website Facebook, where he posted the comments in question.

Sam An declined to answer all questions from the court, he added.

Our lawyers intention was to request the Constitutional Council interpret Article 80 [of the constitution]  to ask whether this arrest and detention was made in line with the constitution or not, he said.

Lawmakers are supposed to be immune from questioning and prosecution under Cambodian law.

Hem Socheat, another defense lawyer, told reporters that the judge had asked his client why he had used Facebook to criticize the governments stance on the border issue.

Sam An, who holds American citizenship, was arrested in Siem Reap province on April 9 after he returned from the United States, where he was researching maps used in demarcating the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

He was charged the next day with instigating criminal acts and instigating discrimination.

On April 12, amid an opposition boycott, the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party voted to remove Sam Ans immunity.

On the same day, Judge Chhun Heng issued a warrant for Sam An. Chhun Heng could not be reached on Wednesday.

Ly Sophanna, a court spokesman, said that Sam An had missed an opportunity by declining to answer questions in court.

The accused, Um Sam An, when he didnt answer the questions of the investigating judgehe will lose the benefit due to the fact that he didnt answer to reduce his culpability before the investigating judge, he said.

Speaking after another hearing last week, Sam An said he did not expect to be released on bail and accused the court of violating the law by breaching his parliamentary immunity.

Sok Eysan, a CPP spokesman, said that the map used by the government to determine the border line with Vietnam was approved by parliament, the senate and the king.

If Um Sam An said the map was fake, the monarchy, parliament and the senate are all fakers. This is an insult to the national institutions, he said.
Russias release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, exchanged for two Russian servicemen, was welcomed by rights groups and supporters. They maintain her nearly two-year detention, trial, and 22-year sentence on charges of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine was a political show.

"When Savchenko was convicted we spoke critically of that process, said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia regional office at Amnesty International. It was highly politicized. It was clear that she did not receive a fair trial. So, that's one way to resolve it. And, in that sense, it's welcome."

The two Russian servicemen, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sgt. Alexander Alexandrov, captured in east Ukraines Donbas region, were believed to be working for Russian military intelligence. They were sentenced to 14 years on various terrorism-related charges for fighting Ukrainian forces. Russia claimed they had retired from the military and were volunteers.

The swap was "certainly a very unusual process, to put it mildly," Krivosheev said. "It's not common to swap people who stand accused of very serious crimes, he added.

A prisoner swap had been floated for months but was delayed until sentencing, and by Russias demand that Savchenko, after being swapped, serve her time in a Ukrainian prison. On Wednesday, both sides revealed all three received presidential pardons.

Russia wants negotiations, not a breakthrough

I regard the swap as Moscow's step in order to minimize its own negative image and show the West its readiness to discuss a broader compromise, taking into account the interests of Russia, said Alexander Gushchin, head of the Center of Ukrainian Studies at the Russian State University for Humanities.

I do not think, however, that this step will lead to an immediate breakthrough in negotiations on Donbas, he said in an e-mailed response.



The prisoner swap came just a day after a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and the leaders of France and Germany -- known as the Normandy format.

Russia has been pushing Kyiv to grant amnesty to the rebels Moscow supports in eastern Ukraine and agree to local elections on their terms. Kyiv and its Western backers have insisted on legitimate elections held under Ukrainian law.

Meanwhile, violence flared this week as seven Ukrainian troops were killed in a single day, the worst death toll in months. Russia has continued to deny it is giving military support to the rebels, despite overwhelming evidence.

Ukrainian hero and Russian intelligence

While Savchenko was greeted as a hero on her return to Ukraine - mobbed by the press and greeted by her political party leader, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko - the arrival of the two servicemen back in Moscow received only limited Russian state television coverage. The men were shown being greeted at a Moscow airport by their wives.

As far as Ukraine, it is certainly some tactical success for it, said Gushchin. The only question is that various political forces will try to use Savchenko -- Tymoshenko, for one, and not only her, but other socially populist forces. As for our released [servicemen], I think they will be met without much publicity, but this is understandable due to the specifics of their work."

While Ukraines President Poroshenko has taken full responsibility for pardoning the Russian servicemen, Russias President Putin said it was the relatives of the slain Russian journalists who asked him to pardon Savchenko.



Just as Savchenko arrived back in Kyiv, Putin spoke on Russian television, in a choreographed message to the relatives, saying he hoped granting the pardon would reduce confrontation and losses in eastern Ukraine.

Putin credited Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, a businessman who heads the pro-Russian political organization Ukrainian Choice, with helping to organize the prisoner exchange.

Victor Mironenko, head of the Center Of Ukrainian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Europe, said the whole episode shows that Kremlin continues to hope it can spark a "social explosion" inside of Ukraine and is relying on "a new personal alliance, now with Medvedchuk,

None, in my opinion, will bring good results," said Mironenko. But the president [Putin] is convinced of the opposite. A de-escalation of the conflict should not be expected. We should expect attempts to wear down the enemy and, if not to win, at least force them to accept [Kremlin] conditions."

Ukrainian prisoners remain in Russia

Meanwhile, other Ukrainians remain behind bars in Russia, including high-profile figures like filmmaker Oleh Sentsov. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison last August, along with a co-defendant, on charges of leading a terrorist group and plotting attacks in Russia-annexed Crimea.

We must not forget that others remain in detention, and ensuring that these rights are protected for them must play a central role in reaching any settlement, said Michael Georg Link, director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Asked whether prisoner swaps could become a regular mechanism between Russia and Ukraine, Krivosheev said he hoped not. "If the basis for this is going to be prisoner swaps, then I think one side is running out of prisoners quite quickly, he said. "But, then it's also the wrong basis for doing this. Justice has to be done in court and the court has to be fair. And, that's where the problem is. And, however many situations are resolved in this way it does not address that fundamental problem."

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Khadija Ismayilova was also free Wednesday, from a prison in Azerbaijan.

Bakus Supreme Court reduced the investigative reporters September prison sentence from 7 1/2 years to a suspended 3 1/2 year term after removing some charges. Her conviction was widely condemned as retaliation for her investigative reports about alleged corruption connected to the family of President Ilham Aliyev.
Taiwan's new president is extreme in her politics because she's an unmarried woman lacking the emotional balance provided by romantic and family life, a member of China's body for relations with the self-governing island wrote in a newspaper opinion piece.

In Beijing's harshest attack on Tsai Ing-wen since her inauguration last week, the new president was denounced as a flawed human being and strident advocate of Taiwan's formal independence from China, something Beijing says it will use military force to prevent.

Tsai, Taiwan's first female president, has been criticized by Beijing for refusing to explicitly endorse the one-China principle that defines Taiwan as part of China. But previous criticisms were not in such personal terms.

Analyzed from the human angle, as a single female politician, she lacks the emotional encumbrance of love, the constraints of family or the worries of children, said the piece, written by Wang Weixing, an analyst with China's People's Liberation Army and board member of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the semiofficial body in charge of contacts with Taiwan.

Her style and strategy in pursuing politics constantly skew toward the emotional, personal and extreme, Wang wrote, adding that Tsai was prone to focus excessively on details and short-term goals rather than overall strategic considerations.

The piece appeared Tuesday on the website of the International Herald Leader, which is published by China's official Xinhua News Agency. The link could not be accessed on Wednesday, although it wasn't clear whether it had been removed. The paper did not immediately respond to questions about it.

Wang's description of Tsai's political style clashes with her calm, almost professorial manner and the degree to which she is credited with considering the challenges facing the island of 23 million, including reviving its ailing economy and balancing China's demands with overriding sentiment in Taiwan that opposes political union with Beijing.

Despite its stated dissatisfaction, Beijing has not increased diplomatic, economic or military pressure in response, possibly out of concern of further alienating the Taiwanese public.
Cambodia's next election will be in July 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Wednesday, as leaders of the opposition face legal charges they say are politically motivated to stop them challenging the veteran premier in the vote.

Long before the Southeast Asian nation goes to the ballot box, political tension has risen. The last election in 2013 marked self-styled strongman Hun Sen's toughest challenge in three decades of rule.

The opposition, led by Hun Sen's longtime foe Sam Rainsy, accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of cheating its way to victory and boycotted parliament for a year.

Hun Sen said in a televised speech on Wednesday the next election would be held on July 22, 2018.

"I hope there won't be any reason to reject the election results then and make allegations that 1.2 million or 1.5 million votes are missing," said Hun Sen, referring to accusations by Sam Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2013 that millions were missing from voter lists.

The CPP won the election with a greatly reduced majority and Hun Sen has since reshuffled his ageing cabinet.

Critics say Hun Sen is following a two-track strategy: trying to woo back CPP voters while using the judiciary to weaken the opposition.

Sam Rainsy has been in exile since November to avoid jail on charges for which he had previously received a royal pardon.

Kem Sokha, Rainsy's deputy, faces charges for defamation and procurement of prostitution after recordings of a telephone conversation purportedly between him and a woman were leaked. Legal cases have also been filed against prominent CNRP members and rights workers related to the Kem Sokha case. Last year, two CNRP lawmakers were beaten outside parliament during a pro-CPP demonstration. Hun Sen's bodyguards were tried for the attacks.

After the shock of the 2013 vote, Hun Sen had reverted to the legal and physical intimidation tactics used in the 2008 and 2003 elections, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Authorities have also cracked down on civil society groups. Rights group LICAHDO says there are 29 political prisoners in Cambodian jails, up from none a year ago.

"This is all a variation on how Hun Sen has run Cambodia since the early 1990s," said Sebastian Strangio, author of the book, "Hun Sen's Cambodia."

"A mix of populist appeal and strongman threats, sweetened with a dollop of political patronage," Strangio said.
The daughter of a Hong Kong bookseller who briefly vanished last year is accusing China of holding her father under "unofficial and illegal" detention.

Angela Gui, the daughter of publisher Gui Minhai, told lawmakers on the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China Tuesday that her father was abducted by Chinese security agents while he was on vacation in Thailand last October, despite the fact that he holds a Swedish passport.

The elder Gui was not seen or heard from until January, when he appeared on Chinese state television and revealed that he entered China to face charges for a fatal car accident more than a decade earlier.

Gui Minhai owned the Mighty Current publishing house, which specialized in producing unflattering profiles of Chinese leaders.

He was one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers who disappeared from various locations late last year, before resurfacing in mainland China - sparking fears that Beijing is cracking down on freedom of speech in the semi-autonomous city.

Control of Hong Kong was transferred to China from Britain in 1997, under an agreement that preserved the city's special rights and freedoms for 50 years.
Hillary Clinton hasnt had an easy week.

Between Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders request for a recount in the Kentucky presidential primary and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trumps revival of scandals from her husbands presidency in the 1990s, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination has faced numerous challenges.

The latest blow landed Wednesday when an internal State Department audit found that the former secretary of states use of personal email to conduct government business was not appropriate, and that she failed to follow guidelines intended to prevent cybersecurity risks.

Congressional Republicans said the report showed Clinton isnt fit to be president, while Democrats downplayed the implications for national security and the general election in November.

Watch video report from VOA's Zlatica Hoke:

Trump opened a campaign rally in California on Wednesday by calling Clinton as crooked as they come, and said the inspector generals report was not good.

Sanders had previously said he didn't want to talk about Clinton's damn emails, but that could change as he continues his primary election fight despite trailing in the delegate totals.

Congressional reaction

Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida, said the report was along the lines of what weve been warning about for quite a while. She [Clinton] violated State Department policies and she didnt cooperate with that investigation."

South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, reacted to the finding by noting that the public had learned about the emails only because of congressional oversight.

Gowdy has conducted a two-year investigation into the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. In the course of investigating Clintons role in the incident, the committee uncovered her use of a private email address and storage of government emails on private servers.

If anyone wonders why the investigation is not yet complete, the malfeasance and numerous problems identified in this report are Exhibit A, Gowdy said in a statement Wednesday.

Dan Donovan, a Republican from New York, said he had not had a chance to read the full report, but that the findings, if true, were disturbing and should play a role in the general election.

People should realize shes untrustworthy, shes dishonest and one thing that we have to have in the White House is integrity, and this is another display of her inability to be honest with the American people, Donovan told VOA.

Representative Steve Russell, a Republican from Oklahoma, told VOA that Clintons use of email was troubling on several accounts. No accountability, no admission that putting state secrets on a public server could absolutely be used by our enemies.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia told VOA he didn't think there was any evidence that Clinton's email practices had any consequences for national security. "The Obama administration has tried to be very scrupulous about rules. Every administration, especially an eight-year administration, you see some questionable things. But I think they have run a very clean ship, he said.

Representative Steve Israel, a Democrat from New York, noted, This problem predates Secretary Clinton and was a problem for years before her.

Pattern of confusion

The report found a pattern of confusion regarding State Department email procedures among previous secretaries of state.

The internal audit found that former Secretary of State Colin Powell installed a laptop computer on a private line, and that he used the laptop to send emails via his personal email account to his principal assistants, individual ambassadors and foreign minister colleagues.

The report also found the State Department labored under outdated technology and was "slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, "We are already working to implement numerous improvements to our email and records management systems, many of which were underway before the IG review began."

But the report singled out Clintons use of email to conduct government business as an area of particular concern.

"By Secretary Clinton's tenure, the department's guidance was considerably more detailed and more sophisticated," the report found. "Secretary Clinton's cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives."

Clinton has previously said her decision to use private email was the wrong choice." In a statement released by her campaign Wednesday, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said, "Contrary to the false theories advanced for some time now, the report notes that her use of personal email was known to officials within the department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the secretarys server."

Clinton also is the focus of a separate FBI investigation into whether her use of private email servers endangered government secrets.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the opposition says it will go ahead Thursday with demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila. The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to delay elections until he can change the constitution to run for a third term.

The opposition in the DRC hopes to strike back against President Joseph Kabila after two major setbacks this month.

Moise Katumbi, as yet the only opposition leader to declare his candidacy for president, was indicted, accused of recruiting American mercenaries, which he denies.

And the Constitutional Court ruled that Kabila can stay in office if November elections are postponed, as many think they will be. Kabila's term officially ends December 19.

The opposition has reacted furiously, announcing nationwide marches against what one major coalition called the gravediggers of democracy.

Opposition leader Martin Fayulu told VOA the Constitutional Court is a subservient court, a court that belongs to Kabila. He said we must show the court that we do not agree.

The administrations in many Congolese towns have refused to allow Thursday's protest. But they may still go ahead, since the opposition argue the constitution requires them only to inform the authorities of their intention to demonstrate.

In Kinshasa, however, the march can take place as planned following a meeting between the governor, the police, the opposition and the U.N.

But there is concern about potential violence. Congolese security forces are known for their heavy-handed response to protests. This month, police have violently dispersed several pro-Katumbi meetings in his hometown of Lubumbashi.

And there are also reports that the ruling party is planning its own activities Thursday, which may only heighten tensions in the streets.
The May 17 start of construction on the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) marks the beginning of a new phase in increasing diversification of European energy supplies. However, analysts say Europe must do more than merely increase supply to truly establish greater energy independence.

The TAP pipeline is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. Its supporters claim the pipeline will improve European energy security and lessen Europes dependence on Russian gas. Detractors, however, say the project is largely symbolic, with little impact on overall European energy supply.

At 878 kilometers in length and 1.2 meters in diameter, the pipelines highest point will be at 1,800 meters in Albania, and its lowest point will be 820 meters below sea level on the bed of the Adriatic Sea. The $4.5 billion-pipeline will become operational in 2020 and will deliver gas from Azerbaijans Shah Deniz II field to southern Italy, transiting Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania.

With a starting capacity of 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, TAP will satisfy the energy consumption of close to seven million households in Europe.

Plans exist to double that amount by adding two compressor stations and expanding gas sources beyond Shah Deniz II into the wider Caspian region.

Former U.S. Special Envoy for European Energy Security, Ambassador Richard Morningstar, believes more gas will be available by the mid-2020s.



There are other opportunities off the coast of Azerbaijan. There is still a possibility to import gas from Turkmenistan. Eastern Mediterranean gas could ultimately go into that pipeline, as well as gas from the Kurdish fields in Iraq. There are definitely other possibilities.

With the prospect of further diversifying European energy sources, the pipeline has strong backing from the European Union. BP, Italys SNAM and Azerbaijans SOCAR are the three largest investors in the pipeline, each with a 20 percent share. That said, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has pledged an unprecedented level of support  serving as the largest lender to the project with about $1.7 billion in credits.

In an interview with Reuters, EBRD Managing Director for Energy Riccardo Puliti said the bank will allocate about $550 million of its own money  which would be the largest loan in the history of the EBRD  and will seek to negotiate more than $1.1 billion in credit from other banks.

According to Morningstar, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, [TAP] is not the only solution to the European energy security, but it will help. There will be 10bcm coming to Europe through the TAP pipeline, which will add competition to the European market. But Europe has to do a whole a lot of other things  building interconnections, importing more LNG [liquefied natural gas], developing its renewable markets, developing more storage facilities, energy efficiency, and all the rest.

Russia's interests



Development of the Southern Gas Corridor seems to be not only an objective for the EU but a concern for Russia. At the time when the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline was being considered, Russia proposed the South Stream Pipeline, which could have taken Russian gas across the Black Sea to Bulgaria. This project failed largely due to incompatibility with EU competition regulations. Russia's Gazprom proposed yet another pipeline  the Turkish Stream  which also failed to evolve into a viable project.

Gazprom is now trying to revive the so-called Poseidon Pipeline  connecting Turkey, Greece and Italy  which would have a capacity of 8 bcm per year. During his visit to Greece later this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely push for Greek support for Poseidon.

Some experts believe that TAP simply does not have the capacity to lessen Europes dependence on Russian gas. In 2015, Gazprom supplied 31 percent of the EUs gas needs, which is about 158bcm, or 15 times the capacity of TAP. But even a smaller amount can have a significant price effect.

Increased competition

As Morningstar put it, In the first instance, it could have some effect from the pricing standpoint. Part of the resources going into the TAP pipeline will go to Bulgaria, which will have an effect on pricing there. There's also the Bulgaria-Romania Interconnector, which will bring some gas possibly to Romania, which will also have impact on price I agree with you that 10bcm is not the only answer  Russia will always be a major supplier of gas to Europe  but the gas coming from the Southern Corridor will help with a more competitive market.

While still heavily dependent on it, most West European countries have other alternatives to Russian gas, including Norway and North Africa. But in the Balkans and Italy, TAP would be more than symbolic  it could have a real impact on reducing both economic and political dependence on Russia.
Eurozone finance ministers say they have reached a "major breakthrough" in negotiating the latest debt relief deal for Greece after hours of discussion in Brussels Tuesday night.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had demanded a reduction in Greece's debt burden as a condition of further IMF bailout funds.

Greece will receive the first part of an $11.4 billion bailout in June, following EU approval of its recent reform efforts.

This is the latest bailout in a six-year saga of economic troubles which have led to Greece's current public debt of about 180 percent of gross domestic product.

"We welcome that it is now recognized by all stakeholders that Greek debt is unsustainable," IMF European Director Poul Thomsen said Tuesday.

The difficult political agreement was met with resistance, particularly by Eurozone powerhouse Germany which, having continuously called for more austerity, claims this bailout was not necessary.

But Greece urgently needs the first tranche of $8.4 billion to pay off loans to the European Central bank and the IMF by July. The nation is currently struggling to pay even the wages of its own government employees.

"This is an important moment in the long Greek program, an important moment for all of us, since last summer when we had a major crisis of confidence between us," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference.

The agreement between ministers of the 19 countries which use the euro follows the passing of a Greek bill over the weekend that includes tax hikes and budget-cutting reforms, as demanded by its creditors.
Dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting -- these are the symptoms thousands of Indonesian children are suffering after working long hours across the Southeast Asian country's vast tobacco plantations.

In a new report issued Wednesday, titled The Harvest is in My Blood: Hazardous Child Labor in Tobacco Farming in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch interviewed hundreds of child laborers, ranging in age between 8 and 17, working in some of the archipelago's 500,000 tobacco farms -- despite Indonesian law which forbids children under 18 years old from hazardous work, including work in environments with harmful chemical substances.

Health risks

The report revealed the children are handling raw tobacco with their bare hands, putting them at risk for acute nicotine poisoning commonly known as "green tobacco sickness," which occurs from absorbing nicotine directly through the skin. The children are at further risk from exposure to pesticides, which Human Rights Watch says has been associated with long-term, chronic health issues such as respiratory problems, cancer, depression and neurological damage.

Human Rights Watch researcher Margaret Wurth said the government must work harder to make sure families are informed of the risks.

"Children just should not be doing hazardous work where they're handling tobacco that could have affect their health. The problem here is that, you know, among the families we interviewed, very few of them have ever received any kind of meaningful education about what the hazards of the work could be for their kids, so they didn't know. That's why it's essential that companies and the government get this information to families so they can protect their kids," said Wurth.

Much of Indonesia's tobacco is purchased on the open market by multinational cigarette giants, including U.S.-based Philip Morris International. Human Rights Watch says it could not find any evidence that the companies are taking steps to prevent child labor in their supply chains.

A spokesman for Philip Morris says the company now buys the majority of its tobacco through direct contracts with Indonesian farmers, which allows it to directly address the issue of child labor.

In addition to the risks facing child laborers on tobacco plantations, Indonesia has also witnessed an alarming rise in the number of children smoking -- nearly 4 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 become smokers every year.
Indian authorities have assured justice for a Congolese student beaten to death in New Delhi last Friday.

"I have asked my colleague Gen V.K.Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries in Delhi and assure them of Indian Government's commitment to the safety and security of African nationals in India," Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted Wednesday.

"I would like to assure African students in India that this [is] an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons," she added in another tweet.

Masunda Kitada Oliver, a 23-year-old Congolese graduate student who had lived in New Delhi for six years, was hailing a rickshaw Friday when three men who claimed they had hired the vehicle beat him and hit him on the head with a stone. Oliver died later that night, according to police.

"The incident came to light at around 11:55pm and the eyewitnesses told the police that the victim was chased for 20 meters and then beaten up by the assailants," a senior police officer told local media. "He had injuries on his head and face."

Two of the suspects have been detained, while a third remains on the run.

Oliver's death marks the latest event in a series of violence often targeting Africans on the subcontinent. The Group of African Heads of Mission condemned the attacks, calling on India to ensure better protection of Africans on its soil.

"The Group of African heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," dean of the group and Eritrean ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said in a statement. "They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India."

Sushma Swaraj has promised that the suspects in Oliver's murder will be tried by a fast-track court, and that members of her cabinet would be holding meetings with African students in India's largest cities to ensure their safety and security.
Iraqi forces backed by an assortment of Shi'ite militias, have faced harsh resistance in their multi-sided offensive to retake Fallujah from Islamic State extremists who have controlled the city since 2014.



Humanitarian agencies are concerned the battle could come at a high human cost, as IS is using civilians as human shields and reportedly preventing families from fleeing the fighting.



Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the offensive earlier this week, vowing the Iraqi flag would soon be flying over the city.

Government's eagerness for victory



Abadis government is eager for a victory after being unable to resolve deep differences between political parties and incapable of placating Iraqi populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.



Sadr has inspired a series of increasingly volatile anti-government street demonstrations, culminating in a violent confrontation in the International Zone last week that left at least four dead.



In the absence of a political compromise, a military victory by the government against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] has become one way of securing its future, Lina Khatib, the head of Chatham Houses Middle East and North Africa Program, wrote this week.

Abadi, long seen as a U.S. ally in the complex pantheon of Iraqi politics where Iran has a strong influence, may also be weighing his future alliances.

"The only way Abadi comes out ahead in the Fallujah operation is if he allows the Hashd al Shaabi to participate," Michael Pregent told VOA, referring to the umbrella group of Shi'ite militias.

"He's weighing pleasing a temporary ally in the United States against a permanent one in Iran," said Pregent, a senior Middle East analyst at the Hudson Institute.



Not an easy victory

Victory in Fallujah will not come easy. The traditionally strong Sunni city has been under IS control for two years, and the group is deeply entrenched in the city.



The Iraqi army is heavily dependent on both U.S.-led coalition air support and on the ground help by Shiite militias. After years of sectarian discrimination, this approach could backfire in Fallujah, a city known for its fiercely proud Sunni tribes.



The governments blessing of the role of Shia militias in the fights against ISIS means that Sunnis still see it as continuing to discriminate against them, said Khatib. Even if ISIS is defeated, the drivers behind peoples embrace of the group are likely to remain intact, if not amplify.



All this indicates that the offensive on Fallujah may be urgent militarily, but is premature politically and is likely to eventually hurt the legitimacy of Abadis government instead of bolstering it, Khatib said.

Fierce fighting

Fierce fighting is now raging around the city. According to Save the Children, military checkpoints and IEDs planted along the roads have stopped most civilians from leaving. No aid has entered the city since December 2015.



The organization said in a statement Wednesday that about 700 people have managed to escape in recent days, including 400 children. Thousands more remain trapped.



Food and supplies are not allowed in, and people are not allowed out. The town has been under complete siege for months and conditions inside are believed to be getting worse by the hour, said Maurizio Crivellaro, Save the Childrens Country Director in Iraq. Now, as military operations intensify even further, it is literally a matter of life and death that children and their families are able to get out safely.
A prominent Chinese democracy activist who was jailed during a Communist Party crackdown on dissent has entered the second week of a hunger strike, according to his family.

Guo Feixiong, 49, was sentenced to six years in prison last year after taking part in a 2015 censorship protest outside the headquarters of a liberal newspaper in southern China.

Relatives and supporters of the activist, whose real name is Yang Maodong, say his health has deteriorated in recent months. They accuse officials at Guangdong's Yangchun Prison of denying him adequate medical treatment.

According to Guos wife, Zhang Qing, prison authorities  who allowed him medical treatment only after being pressured by family and international rights groups  used the opportunity to hurt and humiliate him.

Guo's lawyer had requested that Guo's family be present for a rectal exam, and the prison promised to let Guo's sister, who is a doctor, be present. But on May 9, the prison forced Guo to have a rectal examination without family members present. Guo's lawyer told VOA's Mandarin service that prison officials videotaped the procedure and threatened to post it online.

That same day, prison officials reportedly forcibly shaved his head.

"Guo Feixiong's indefinite hunger strike in prison is in response to the deliberately degrading way he has been treated by the authorities," Zhang stated in an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was published May 19.

"The evil deeds that are being deliberately planned and carried out by the domestic security and prison authorities in Guangdong are the direct cause of Guo Feixiong's hunger strike protest and have destroyed him mentally and physically, posing even greater danger to his life," she said.

Via his writings, Guo has demanded government reforms; abolition of all punishment by electric shock; improvement of the treatment of all political prisoners, and ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Guo has said electric shocks are commonly administered to "disobedient" Yangchun inmates. His wife is calling on Chinese authorities to release her husband and investigate the Yangchun officials for abuse.

"President Xi and Premier Li: the brazenly unlawful behavior of the domestic security and prison authorities in Guangdong makes a mockery of the Chinese authorities' claim to govern the country according to the law," Zhang wrote, according to a translation by the human rights group China Change.
Sufi Islam leaders in Mali have created a new collective to counter what they say is an influx of foreign-sponsored radical preachers and institutions courting Mali's young Muslims.

Cherif Ousmane Madani Haidara, who leads prayers at the main mosque in Segou in central Mali, has been visiting a new mosque in a different city almost every Friday. Other Sufi leaders are doing the same. They call themselves the Collective of Muslim Spirtual Leaders, or GLSM, to use the French acronym.

Haidara said there has been little oversight of religious organizations funded by foreign donors. These institutions, he said, are largely financed by money from Gulf states, and they have brought a new ideology to Mali.

In Bamako, he said, radical preachers tell youth that killing nonbelievers will give them privileges in paradise  killing one person will give you one villa, killing two gives you two villas. He said that he and other Sufi leaders were instead telling the youth that killing is not in accordance with Islamic teaching.

Aminata Diaby got the message. She traveled from the southern village of San to hear Haidara speak in Segou, and she said Haidara's message was that a true Muslim would never hurt another person, Muslim or Christian.

The GLSM said some foreign-backed organizations in Mali are espousing Wahhabi beliefs that make youth more vulnerable to radicalization.

Al-Farouk's influence

One of the most influential of these charities is Al-Farouk. Saudi diplomatic cables released last year by Wikileaks listed Al-Farouk as a group that gets funding from Saudi Arabia. Al-Farouk also gets funding from donors in Turkey, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.

The NGO has spent millions of dollars building mosques, schools and health centers in Mali. Al-Farouk helped fund the University of the Sahel in Bamako, where students receive training in Islamic studies, Arabic and computer science. Many go on to study abroad in Arabic-speaking countries, in particular Saudi Arabia.

Kadidjatou Cisse, who is in her third and final year at the University of the Sahel, said she and the other female students cover their heads and sit in the back of the classrooms, separated from the male students. She said her boyfriend was studing Sharia at a university in Riyadah and that she hoped to join him, if she can find a job and her family permits the move.

Imams around Bamako told VOA there has been increased demand for courses on Arabic and how to read and interpret the Quran.

The GLSM argues that the state needs to look more closely at what is being taught in these schools. But Mali is a secular state. The government is limited in its ability to regulate religion.

Lure of outsiders' assistance

Minister of Religious Affairs Thierno Amadou Diallo said Mali is a poor country and that the foreign donors funding schools and mosques are giving the population services that its government fails to provide. He said the outside groups' projects give a poor farmer a way to send his children to study in the Gulf.

But funding for these initiatives does warrant further scrutiny, Diallo told VOA.

Some religious leaders say more regulation is not the answer.

Mohamed Dicko, president of Malis High Islamic Council and an influential Wahhabi trained in Saudi Arabia and Mauritania, said, "Radicalization is not born in the mosque, its a state of mind. He said that silencing preachers and stopping communities from building mosques, or depriving them of services like health clinics and education grants, would backfire and only feed extremists.

Some argue, though, that Islamic education is the best defense against extremism.

Last year, the Moroccan government opened a $20 million training school in Rabat for imams. Some 500 of the students are from Mali and are participating in a two-year program that includes instruction on how to argue against calls for terrorism and jihad.
The Chinese were brewing beer 5,000 years ago, according to a new study.

U.S. and Chinese researchers say they have discovered brewing equipment with traces of ancient beer ingredients dating back 5,000 years in what were once underground rooms in Chinas central plain.

This pushes back the date beer was likely first made in China by thousands of years, as the first reference to beer in Chinese literature is seen in writings from the Shang dynasty, which existed from about 1250-1046 BC, according to CNBC.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers say the newly discovered beer equipment has traces of broomcorn millet, barley, a grain called Jobs tears, also known as Chinese pearl barley, as well as some form of tuber.

The artifacts suggest Chinese brewers were using techniques not all that different from todays.

"All indications are that ancient peoples, [including those at this Chinese dig site], applied the same principles and techniques as brewers do today," said Patrick McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, who was not involved in the study, in an interview with NPR. McGovern is considered the"Indiana Jones of ancient fermented beverages, according to NPR.

The presence of barley was surprising because grain wasnt thought to have appeared in China for another thousand years. The researchers think barley may have been brought to China specifically for beer brewing.

Early beer making may have motivated the initial translocation of barley from western Eurasia into the Central Plain of China before the crop became a part of agricultural subsistence in the region 3,000 years later, the researchers wrote.

Jiajing Wang of Stanford University, who headed the study, told the French News Agency the beer might have tasted a bit sour and a bit sweet.

Sour comes from fermented cereal grains, sweet from tubers, he said.
The United Nations says nearly three million people in drought-stricken Zimbabwe are going hungry. The world body expects that number to exceed four million as the full impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon kicks in.

U.N. Resident Coordinator for Zimbabwe Bishow Parajuli says the impact of little rain and low crop yields following two years of drought is painfully visible in Matabeleland and other dry lands.

I recently visited that area with a number of donors and ambassadors," said Parajuli. " We could really see the desperation and severity of the situation.

A few weeks ago, the United Nations appealed for $360 million to provide life-saving assistance for more than three million people. The priority needs are for food, water, health, nutrition, sanitation and protection.

Parajuli says $70 million has been received, leaving a gap of $290 million. He says it is critical for donors to respond generously and immediately to this appeal.

Given Zimbabwe is a landlocked country and also the whole southern Africa region is affected by El Nino, and lack of surplus of maize, it is very critical to plan in advance in terms of importation and supply chain delivery ," said Parajuli. " So, earlier response will really help save lives and suffering among the population.

Parajuli says he is particularly worried about the so-called lean season between September and March. This is the period between harvests when farmers food stocks are at their lowest.

He says people will be severely affected by the lack of food, and many will not be able to count on their cattle as a lifeline as tens of thousands have died from lack of water and grazing land.
NASA says the U.S. can someday cooperate with China as it did with the Soviet Union on the Apollo-Soyuz joint project in 1975.

Responding to questions Monday at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute on Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the U.S. should pursue such a relationship with China in human space exploration.

"We were in an incredible Cold War with the Soviets at the time we flew Apollo-Soyuz; it was because leaders in both nations felt it was time," he said. "That represented a great use of soft power, if you will. Look where we are today. I think we will get there [with China]. And I think it is necessary."

Current law prohibits NASA from engaging with its Chinese counterparts on such projects. But Bolden, who will travel to Beijing later this year, says Congress should consider revising the law.

Peter Huessy, a senior adviser at the Mitchell Institute and prominent defense consultant, tells VOA he is not opposed to a revision of relevant law, but cautions against any premature enthusiasm.

"We tend to engage in a lot of wishful thinking when it comes to China," he said. "We should understand China is an explicit adversary and enemy of the United States, according to their own internal documents and strategies and publications."

Brendan Curry, vice president of the Space Foundation, tells VOA that small steps can be taken in bilateral relations to calm lawmakers' fears about China's threat to U.S. space assets.

The initial steps, he said, would perhaps involve such projects as "working on weather satellite data sharing and things like that  things that will make critics on China on Capitol Hill a little bit more relaxed about the idea of cooperation."

Currently there is no strong voice on the Hill to lift the ban on space cooperation with China, given Beijing's growing military capabilities in space.

NASA's Bolden says he does not expect the ban to be lifted during his tenure.
The Talibans new chief, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, has a reputation as a respected religious scholar with the title "sheikh-ul-hadith," a specialist in interpreting the words of Mohammad, the prophet of Islam.

He enjoyed the esteem and trust of the Talibans founding leader, Mullah Omar, who turned to him for a final say on important and potentially sensitive edicts and fatwas, according to Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Haibatullah also comes from a very strong tribal background. By electing him and his deputies, the Taliban has managed to accommodate all racial, tribal, ethnic and subtribal actors that needed to be pacified, said professor Adeel J. Khan, a regional security and defense analyst who teaches in European and Pakistan universities.

This is the [most] ideal set up that the Taliban could get, Khan said.

Haibatullah's Noorzai tribe is one of the three big Durrani dynasty tribes. Founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Durrani empire once extended beyond present-day Afghanistan to northeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, most of Pakistan and northwestern India.

The other two Durrani tribes are Popalzai, the tribe of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Ishaqzai, the tribe of former Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and his military rival, Mullah Rasool.

Khan predicted that Haibatullah's election would take care of Rasools faction.

In normal Pashtun circumstances, if Noorzais and Ishaqzais have joined each other, Rasool has to toe the line now or he will be eliminated, he said.

Nazar Mohammad Mutmaeen, a pro-Taliban analyst based in Kabul, said the Noorzai tribe also commands support within large swaths of the Taliban. At the start of the current war in 2001, he said, most members of the Noorzai tribe supported the Taliban while members of the Achakzai tribe supported the Afghan government.

Deputies chosen

The Taliban shura, or council, has also elected two deputies for Haibatullah. One of them, Sirajuddin Haqqani, was also a deputy to the recently killed Mansoor. He is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal groups in Afghanistan.

The United States has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the capture of Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The other deputy, Mullah Yaqoob, is a son of Mullah Omar and currently heads the Taliban military commission for 15 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

This setup means that for all religious, political and diplomatic matters, Akhundzada (Haibatullah) will matter, but for the military matters it will be the Haqqanis who will call the shots, according to Khan.

Although the Haqqanis will not have ultimate control, he said, they would operate through two Taliban commanders who lead important military units in the Taliban structure  the Quetta military commission in the south and the Peshawar military commission in the north.

The names of the commissions, Khan said, do not imply that the members live in these Pakistani cities. Rather, they are based on geographical affinity to the region under the control of the relevant commander.

The Peshawar commander usually travels between Parwan, Kapisa and Nangarhar, while the Quetta commander is mostly in Nimroz, Zabul, Helmand and Kandahar.

According to Khan, the Quetta commission, which controls the south and west of Afghanistan, has four additional zonal commanders, while the Peshawar commission has six additional zonal commanders controlling the north and east of the country. The zonal commanders are quite independent and belong to different tribes.

Pakistan's influence wanes

The new setup is likely to decrease Pakistans influence on Taliban military and logistical affairs.

The leadership is divided among these three people who are dependent on 12 military commanders, so Pakistan now has to talk to some 15 or 16 odd people coming from God knows how many tribes and how many ideas, Khan said.

While Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani has warned the Taliban to renounce violence or face the same fate as their late leader, chances of reduction in violence are now less than before.

Contrary to the public perception, Mansoor was never against talks. So this was a guy who was for talks, and we see his fate, Khan said, adding that it would now be difficult to persuade the Taliban to accept any talks.

Plus, by eliminating the rifts that arose with the election of Mansoor, the Taliban may have also solidified its position on the battlefield.

Haibatullah's background

Haibatullah was born in the Sperwan area in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan, in 1966 or 1967. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, he lived as a refugee in Pakistans Balochistan province and studied in local madrassahs, or Islamic seminaries.

He also fought against the Soviet forces and their Afghan partners. Taliban sources claim he mostly lived in Kandahar during that time and was part of the Hezb-e-Islami faction headed by jihadi commander Maulvi Khalis.

When the Taliban came to power, he worked in its court system as one of the senior judges.

After the United States and its allies attacked Afghanistan in 2001, Haibatullah escaped across the border to Baluchistan province in Pakistan.

Taliban sources claim he played a central role in regrouping the Taliban after the group was ousted from power by U.S.-led forces.

Once the Taliban regained some strength and established a shadow government against the regime in Kabul, Haibatullah was given the responsibility of looking after the judicial affairs, according to Taliban sources. Other local sources say he ran a court based in Kuchlak, a town 20 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan province. People brought their land disputes as well as any complaints against the Taliban to him.

Roles in mosque, madrassah

Four years ago, an Afghan Baloch in Kuchlak area called Mohammad Alam Mohammad Hassni, from the Mohammad Hassni tribe  who was famous for his transport business and well-known locally as al-Haj, a title used for someone who has performed multiple Hajj or pilgrimages to Mecca  set up a mosque and a madrassah in the area.

He made Haibatullah the imam of the mosque and put him in charge of the madrassah called Khairul Madaris, where he also lectured senior students. Many of those students became Taliban cadre.

Gul Mohammad Kakar, a Kuchlak local, said the new Taliban chief was famous for his religious knowledge and oratory skills. When he spoke, Kakar said, people listened. He was also known for his good manners. He performed those duties until he was elected a deputy of late Taliban chief Mansoor in August 2015.

Sources close to the Taliban claim that Haibatullah stayed in the area until an attack on Mansoor last December. After the attack, he left, and his whereabouts since then have been uncertain.
When voters head to the polls November 8, 17 of America's 50 states will have voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election.

Since the 2010 midterm election, a total of 22 states passed new voting laws.

"What we are seeing is a pattern emerging across the country that will make it harder for people to access the ballot box," said Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Other new state voting laws were passed after a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively eliminated a key part of the Voting Rights Act. The high court ruling eliminated the need for states with a history of voter discrimination to get federal approval prior to changing voting laws that impact minorities.

Low turnout

The new laws come at a time when the U.S. ranks near the bottom in voter turnout compared to its peers in developed democratic nations. The U.S. ranked 31st among the 34 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a study done in 2015 by the Pew Research Center.

States with new voting laws have taken a variety of approaches to regulating the voting process. In addition to adopting laws that require voters to present a photo identification and other types of IDs, Clarke said some states have eliminated or reduced early voting opportunities, removed same-day registration programs, terminated pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, and even purged registration rolls, resulting in the removal of eligible voters.

The laws make it more difficult to "exercise the fundamental right to vote," Clarke said, and "have the effect of suppressing voter turnout and participation," particularly among African-American, Latino and poor people.

Lack of IDs

In the U.S., about 11 percent of Americans do not have a government photo ID, according to New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice.

A study conducted recently by the University of California at San Diego found significant declines in minority voter turnout in 2008 and 2012 in states with strict voter ID laws.

In Texas, which has what is considered the most stringent voter ID law in the U.S., more than 608,000 registered voters do not have the types of IDs required by the law, a federal court has found.

The Texas law has already been struck down by three courts, which determined it discriminates against African-American, Latino and poor voters, who are less likely to have IDs required by state law.

Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in the city of New Orleans held hearings Tuesday on the legality of the Texas law. The court left the law intact, but the Supreme Court expects the lower court to decide by July whether the law should remain on the books.

The new voting laws are necessary, according to the Heritage Foundation. On its website, the conservative think tank said, "The United States has a long and unfortunate history of election fraud" and "preventing, deterring and prosecuting such fraud is essential to protecting the integrity of our voting process."

In addition to Texas, voter ID laws are being litigated in North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin, all of which were swing states in the 2012 general election, which Democrat Barack Obama won over Republican Mitt Romney.

Barring appeals, the new voting laws will be in effect for the November presidential election, when the ramifications of any judicial rulings could be significant.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told President Barack Obama of his country's "profound resentment" over a former U.S. Marine's confessed involvement in the killing of a 20-year-old Japanese woman outside an American military base in Okinawa.

"I'm just speechless," Abe said at a news conference after discussing the slaying with Obama in a face-to-face meeting before the G-7 summit of the world's wealthiest countries in Ise Shima. "The entire Japan is deeply shocked by this latest incident."

Obama said he expressed "our sincerest condolences and deepest regrets over the Okinawa incident. The United States is appalled by any violent crime that may have occurred or been carried out by any U.S. personnel or U.S. contractors. We consider it inexcusable."

The two leaders discussed the incident just days after Japanese authorities arrested Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a 32-year-old former U.S. Marine, who they said confessed to stabbing and strangling the woman, Rina Shimabukuro, and then dumping her body in a wooded area near the American base where he worked.

Obama said the U.S. will continue to cooperate in the investigation of the killing "to ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system. We want to see this crime prosecuted," just as if it occurred in the United States.

Discussion of the killing was hurriedly tacked on to the Obama-Abe discussions that also touched on slow economic growth throughout the world's major economies and Obama's visit Friday to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where the United States dropped an atomic bomb in 1945, killing tens of thousands of Japanese and hastening the end of World War II.

The young womans death has brought back memories of the 1995 rape of Japanese schoolgirls by U.S. military personnel on Okinawa, which triggered huge demonstrations there against the American bases.

The latest crime could become a further impediment to Abes push to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps air station to another part of Okinawas main island, a move that already has been facing significant local opposition.

The Abe-Obama meeting is seen as unlikely to soothe the feelings of many Okinawans.

My sense is that theyre just doing it for show as a reaction to calm down the situation in Okinawa, said Masaaki Gabe, professor of international relations at the University of the Ryukyus.

If Obama meets the people of Okinawa itll have more impact for the Okinawans, similar to the U.S. presidents planned meeting Thursday with atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima, Gabe told VOA.

I dont expect anything to come out of the Abe-Obama exchange about Okinawa," said Gabe.

Okinawas governor, Takeshi Onaga, was rebuffed by the central government after he requested to meet this week with the U.S. president.

We think that issues related to security and diplomacy should be discussed between the central governments of countries involved, said chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo.





Kennedy visit



U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy is planning to visit Okinawa for talks with Governor Onaga, according to Japanese government officials quoted by local media.

The governor, who repeatedly has stated that Okinawa is unfairly burdened with the bulk of U.S. military installations in the country, is calling for a drastic review of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs the presence of American military personnel in Japan.

The issues or the concerns that the government of Japan has with the SOFA can be addressed in implementation of the SOFA, rather than a wholesale revision, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said on Monday. Well continue to do that going forward.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has called his counterpart in Tokyo, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, to convey his sadness and his regret, about the killing of the Japanese woman, according to a Pentagon statement.

Nakatani, according to Japanese media, replied "the occurrence of an extremely brutal and atrocious incident through a despicable act is abominable and extremely regrettable."

Nakatani reportedly told Carter that efforts should be made to prevent a recurrence and to heighten discipline of Americans in uniform and the civilian workers on U.S. bases in Japan.

There are 53,000 U.S. military personnel based in Japan, plus 43,000 family dependents, and 5,000 Department of Defense civilian employees. Fifteen of the 23 American bases in Japan are located in Okinawa, which was occupied by the United States from the time of Japans World War Two defeat in 1945 until 1972.

The Okinawa bases encompass about 10 percent of the total land of the southern prefecture, which is a chain of semi-tropical islands.
Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the U.S. presidency, is starting to ask donors for campaign contributions, as the heretofore self-funding candidate attempts to close the wide money gap with his likely opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump, the brash first-time politician who surged to the top of the once-crowded Republican field of candidates, is headed Wednesday to a $25,000-a-head fundraiser outside Los Angeles, following months of bragging to his supporters that he was self-funding his campaign. Trump said he could not be bought and was not beholden to the special interests and big donors who regularly fund U.S. presidential campaigns.

In all, campaign records show Trump loaned his campaign more than $43 million since he first declared his candidacy nearly a year ago. While he also accepted smaller donations from supporters, he shunned overt fundraising.

But after his last challengers dropped out of the nomination contest in early May, the one-time television reality show host said he did not want to sell some of his vast real estate holdings to fund his general election campaign. Instead, he reached an agreement with national Republican Party officials to jointly raise the expected billion dollars he will need heading to November's national election to pick the successor to President Barack Obama, who leaves office in January.

But Trump faces a daunting task in trying to catch up with the fundraising operations for Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state who is looking to become the first female U.S. president.

Campaign records show she has raised nearly $300 million  often at fundraisers held to tap the pockets of rich donors  compared to Trumps $59.4 million total, a figure that includes the money he has loaned his campaign.

At the end of April, Clinton had $30 million in her campaign account, compared to Trump's $2 million.

Some titans hold back

Now, as Trump starts to ask other wealthy individuals to fund his campaign, numerous corporate titans  but by no means all  who have donated millions of dollars to Republican presidential candidates in recent elections say they are sitting out the 2016 presidential campaign.

Some say they are disgusted by Trump's demeanor on the campaign trail, as well as his calls to ban Muslims from entering the country, deport 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and build a wall on the Mexican border to thwart the flow of more migrants into the U.S.

The national Republican Party, however, released a list of corporate executives this week who have agreed to help Trump raise money.

"Clearly, she's going to have massive amounts of money," Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Reuters, referring to Clinton. "The difference is Mr. Trump has funded his campaign. What we've been able to do in this campaign cycle is to generate earned media based on Mr. Trump's ability to be a straight talker, and genuine and authentic, and I think that's what drives the news cycle."

James Gimpel, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, told VOA, "The Trump campaign needs to go out and hunt for large and small donors. I suspect he'll be able to replace those donors [opting not to donate to him], but it will take some time."

Waiting for winner

Gimpel said that what some major donors "are waiting for now is to see whether he'll be competitive with Hillary Clinton, making a judgment about his viability."

Some would-be donors may not decide until late August or early September, much closer to the Nov. 8 national election, whether to write big checks to Trump's campaign, Gimpel added.

"These investors are smart," he said. "They want to go with a winner. People will want to be associated with him if the race is competitive."

At the moment, numerous national political surveys show Trump and Clinton in a virtual dead heat, with her earlier double-digit percentage lead over him evaporating within days of Trump becoming the presumptive Republican nominee. Clinton is expected to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination June 7 over her sole challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, when six more states hold nominating contests.

As for Clinton's fund-raising effort, Gimpel said, "She'll do absolutely well."
U.S.-led coalition warplanes carried out intense airstrikes Tuesday on Raqqa, the de facto Syrian capital of the Islamic State group, a monitoring group said, continuing days of air-raids that appear to be aimed at demoralizing jihadist fighters before an offensive by Kurdish-led forces on villages to the north of the city.



The airstrikes appear targeted mostly on IS defensive positions on the outskirts of the city. This may be to try to avoid civilian casualties, although civilian deaths have been reported.



Raqqa political activists have been warning that IS is using civilians as human shields, spreading fighters and their weaponry around civilian areas and housing militants in residential blocks.



Leaders of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated coalition that also includes a mixed bag of small Sunni Arab armed groups and some Syriac and Turkmen community defense forces, announced Tuesday it had started an offensive to liberate Raqqa from the Islamic State.



Americans in combat mode?



SDF spokesmen said U.S. commandos are embedding with their fighters in the offensive and posted videos purportedly showing this. U.S. officials deny American soldiers are taking on combat roles in the fighting and insist U.S. Special Forces wont be exchanging fire with IS.



Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for the U.S.-led international coalition against IS, says U.S. Special Forces personnel are only providing assistance and advice to the SDF in the battle, but they are not on the front line. We are in their off centers and headquarters providing advice, he said.



U.S. officials, and some Kurdish officials, are also cautioning the objective of the military operation is to seize villages and territory north and west of Raqqa rather than to seek to retake the beleaguered city. The objective, they say, is to squeeze the city and further isolate it.



Civilians urged to leave



Some Western officials concede the SDF doesnt have the capability yet to mount a full-scale assault on the city. That has prompted political activists to question why the international coalition has been air-dropping leaflets in the past few days on Raqqa urging civilians to flee the city, implying that an assault is in the offing.



The time you have been waiting for has come, the time to leave Raqqa, the flyers read. The leaflets depict three men and a woman with a child escaping urban ruins and heading to a peaceful landscape with the sun shining through clouds. Activists say the coalition is sowing panic among civilians and risks alienating them. There are reports some civilians have volunteered to help defend the city.



If the international coalition wants to ask the people of Raqqa and its suburbs to leave their cities and towns, they should first provide havens and safe roads to secure civilians, said Hamoud Almousa, an activist with the anti-IS network Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.



He says it appears locals fear the YPG as much as IS.

Civilians flee to countryside



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group that relies on a network of activists inside Syria, reported Wednesday sharp clashes between SDF and IS forces around villages close to Ain Issa, 56 kilometers north of Raqqa. The monitoring group also said dozens of civilians left Raqqa city Wednesday and headed into the western countryside.



Meanwhile, Turkish military officials have warned their U.S. counterparts that Turkey will not accept American-backed Kurdish-led forces crossing the Euphrates River to mount assaults on two other IS-held towns, Manbij and Jarabulus.

Reports recently suggested the Turks may have been reducing their objections to Kurdish-led forces moving west of the Euphrates, but in a meeting with General Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, deputy chief of the Turkish general staff Yasar Guler warned Turkey still considers the Azaz-Jarablus line as a red line when it comes to the Kurdish-led forces.



According to Turkish media reports, Guler urged the American commander to provide more support for Syrias mainstream rebel militias in the Free Syrian Army so they can seize IS-controlled towns west of the Euphrates.



An important threat will disappear if you provide support to the moderate opposition rather than the PYD to clear this line of ISIS, Guler was reported as saying.



Votel made a surprise trip to Syria over the weekend to confer with SDF leaders. The visit, which many observers dubbed a PR exercise, prompted the anger of mainstream Syrian rebel commanders, who accuse the Obama administration of giving up on the Syrian revolution. Votel told reporters who accompanied him on the 11-hour trip that he had increased confidence in the SDFs capabilities.


Researchers have developed a two-pronged, streamlined approach to diagnosing tuberculosis aimed at treated patients more promptly.

Diagnosing the fatal lung disease is difficult using conventional means such as a microscope, in which the presence of the TB bacterium is easily missed in sputum samples.

Instead, researchers are using the latest technology to streamline the diagnosis process.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis causes more deaths globally than any other infectious disease.

Nearly 10 million people are diagnosed with TB each year, and the disease kills approximately 1.5 million people, mostly in low- and moderate-income countries. AIDS patients are at high risk of becoming infected with tuberculosis.

Experts believe many people infected with TB arent diagnosed until they become ill or die.

A major area of research interest for us is looking at how we can improve diagnosis to make sure that patients arent missed by the system, said Priya Shete, a TB researcher at the University of California in San Francisco. And the goal of catching those patients is to ensure not only timely diagnosis, but timely treatment initiation to try to minimize bad tuberculosis outcomes and also to prevent ... further transmission of the disease.

Trial program

Shete and her colleagues led a trial program at four health centers in Uganda that aimed to catch more tuberculosis cases.

A total of 822 patients suspected of being infected with TB were referred for testing.

Of those, 12 percent were ultimately diagnosed with the disease. Seventy-five percent of that total was diagnosed the same day with fluorescence microscopy, a more sensitive form of testing than is conventionally done.

Sputum samples of the participants who tested negative were sent to a regional laboratory for an even more sensitive analysis using GeneXpert, which identifies DNA sequences specific to TB. Those results showed that two dozen people who originally tested negative for the bacterium were infected.

Same-day treatment was administered to the 98 patients diagnosed in the first round of testing, while antibiotics were administered six days later to a majority of the patients who were determined to have TB using the genetics test. About 20 percent of the infected patients were lost to follow-up.

The bottom line, Shete says, is many more patients were identified using the two-prong approach than with the traditional testing method.

You know, at the end of the day, it meant that we got 82 percent of patients, by any means, on therapy, and I think [that shows] the feasibility of some of these types of interventions in even remote, rural settings.

Researchers now plan to repeat the testing system at 20 clinics in Uganda.

Shete says future work will examine whether TB diagnosis and treatment numbers can be improved by reorganizing health centers to include a staff dedicated to fighting tuberculosis.
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova has been released from custody following a decision Wednesday by the country's Supreme Court.

Ismayilova, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter and an award-winning investigative journalist who published findings on the vast assets of the family of President Ilham Aliyev, was sentenced in 2015 to seven years in prison on charges of tax evasion and abuse of power in what many say were politically motivated charges.

The Supreme Court, in its order Wednesday, cut her sentence in half, reducing it to 3 years, which she will now be allowed to serve at home.

WATCH: Video of Ismayilova discussing her case

John Lansing, CEO and director of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, welcomed her release as a "positive development for the people of Azerbaijan and a step forward for press freedom."

"I call on the Azerbaijan authorities to lift her travel restrictions, and I urge that her release be accompanied by a relief from the harassment, surveillance and intimidation that she suffered prior to her detainment," he added.

"It is a repressive regime that imprisoned her," U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, said in an interview with VOA. "We are happy that she is out of prison, but we still want the world to understand it was wrong for her to be in custody, and it is wrong to impose any restrictions on her."

"It's an important day for her  let's remember that, the suffering she went through  but also for the Ukrainian people, because I think she symbolizes the courage and determination of Ukraine to be free and democratic," U.S. Representative Sandy Lavin, a Michigan Democrat, told VOA.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have also called for her sentence to be dismissed altogether.

Khadija Ismayilova must be fully acquitted if she is ever to obtain justice for her wrongful imprisonment, said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty Internationals deputy director for Europe and Central Asia.

Rachel Denber, HRW's Europe and Central Asia deputy director, also called on the government to "release the other activists, journalists and other government critics in detention on politically motivated charges and vacate the convictions against them."



WATCH: Senator John McCain on Khadija Ismayilova imprisonment

Earlier this week, U.S. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said Ismayilova's arrest was symbolic of the need for reform in Azerbaijan, adding that it would have an effect on Baku's future relations with the United States.

"I support taking action against the government of Azerbaijan if they continue to incarcerate her, but more importantly on their continued human rights abuses," McCain said in an interview with VOA.

"This kind of behavior, incarceration of an innocent person who is exercising a fundamental right of freedom of the press, will not only not go unnoticed, but compels us to act in certain ways."

The U.S. State Department welcomed news of Ismayilova's release Wednesday in a statement by deputy spokesman Mark Toner.

"As Azerbaijan continues to expand freedom of expression and space for civic and political participation, this will only continue to strengthen the country of Azerbaijan and our bilateral relationship," he said.

The statement urged the Azerbaijani government to drop the remaining charges against her.
Russia is using its anti-extremism laws to crack down on dissent, analysts and human rights advocates say.

A recent study found that the number of Russians sentenced to prison for extremism tripled over the last five years. A growing number of journalists and dissidents say they have been targeted by prosecutors.

Journalists and dissidents are not the only ones. Yekaterina Vologzheninova, a 46-year-old single mother working as a cashier in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg, was among the first Russian citizens accused of extremism after she used social media to share links concerning the Ukraine conflict.

Vologzheninova was convicted in April for criticizing online Russias annexation of Crimea and military involvement in eastern Ukraine, and sentenced to 320 hours of corrective labor. The judge also ordered that her laptop be destroyed as a tool of crime.

According to the indictment, Vologzheninova reposted and liked posts it described as insulting and degrading to Russian people. One post that was presented as evidence against her featured a picture of a man, who resembled President Vladimir Putin, holding a knife over a map of Ukraines Donbas region, with Stop the Disease written underneath.

Life destroyed

Vologzheninova told VOA in a phone interview from Yekaterinburg that the case had destroyed her life, leaving her jobless and her family in a state of constant fear about the future.

After the trial I lost my job, and I dont think I will be able to find any other jobs anytime soon, she said, adding that she needs to provide for her 13-year-old daughter and the only income the family has now is her grandmothers pension.

Still, Vologzheninova said she has not encountered hostility from local people due to her conviction for extremism.

Neighbors dont really talk to me, but nobody has thrown stones at me either, Vologzheninova said. She added that she wants to leave for a safer country, but Russia's new anti-extremism laws prohibit foreign travel for those convicted.

As a result, Vologzheninova said, she feels trapped and insecure. I think this will not be the end of my troubles, she said. I, and people like me, will be prosecuted on every level.

According to a report by the Center for Economic and Political Reforms (CEPR), an independent Russian research institution, the number of people imprisoned on extremism-related charges jumped from 137 in 2011 to 414 in 2015.



In its latest annual human rights report, released in April, the U.S. State Department said Russian authorities last year continued to misuse the countrys expansive definition of extremism as a tool to stifle dissent.

As of September 29, the Ministry of Justice expanded its list of extremist materials to include 3,072 books, videos, websites, social media pages, musical compositions, and other items, an increase of more than 600 items from the same date in 2014, the State Department report said.

US seen behind information war

In an article published in April by the weekly magazine Kommersant-Vlast, Russias top investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, said Russia was the victim of a so-called hybrid war unleashed by the United States and its allies. He accused the U.S. of launching an information war against Russia and supporting radical Islamist and other radical ideological trends.

Bastrykin, who heads the powerful Investigative Committee, said that in order to respond to this assault and counter extremism, Russia needs to define the boundaries of censorship of the Internet in the country. He cited China as an example to follow.

He also proposed expanding current anti-extremism legislation to cover the falsification of information about historical facts and events, including denial of the results of a popular referendum like the one Moscow used to justify its annexation of Ukraines Crimea in 2014.

According to results published by the referendums organizers, 95 percent of Crimeas voters supported the peninsula becoming part of Russia.

In early May, Anton Bubeyev, an engineer from Tver, an industrial city near Moscow, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for reposting on his blog a picture of Crimea with a sign "Crimea is Ukraine"  an act that the court which tried him judged to be extremist.

Another case is that of Alexander Sokolov  who, according to the RBC news agency, has been incarcerated since July 2015 on extremism charges. He stands accused of "attempting to overthrow the government" for proposing that a referendum be held on "government accountability."



Sokolov appealed to the European Court of Human Rights last December and the Russian authorities, including the prosecutor generals office, earlier in May. On May 23, a Moscow court denied Sokolovs appeal, extending his incarceration indefinitely.

Sokolov says he is being prosecuted for investigating schemes that Russian government agencies used to "steal money" from various high-profile projects, including the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The Russian human rights group Memorial has designated Sokolov a "political prisoner."

Black list

Last December, the director of the Ukrainian library in Moscow, Natalia Sharina, was charged with extremism and detained for three days after Russian security services searched the library and allegedly discovered anti-Russian books. She remains under house arrest.

The Russian governments extremism.rf website lists 68 organizations and groups that have been banned for extremism  45 are on the Russian Justice Ministrys official list of extremist groups and 23 have been designated as terrorist organizations by Russias Supreme Court.

The website also has a section titled Where to complain about extremism? which instructs visitors how they can send complaints about sites disseminating extremist information to the Russian Interior Ministrys Main Department for Combating Extremism.

Meanwhile, the Russian government is gradually expanding its surveillance programs. According to a recent study by the Agora research group, over the last nine years, Russian courts have approved requests by the security services for surveillance of 9 million people, or roughly 6 percent of the nations total population.

In mid-May, the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, approved in its first reading a new set of anti-terrorist/extremist bills that go well beyond Alexander Bastrykins proposals.

Among the proposals: anyone who has received an official warning concerning actions creating the conditions for committing terrorist crimes, [for] the outbreak of war or [for] genocide can be prevented from leaving Russia for up to five years from the date the warning was issued.
Professors and lecturers in South Sudan's five public universities are on strike Wednesday, because the government has not paid their back salaries for the past three months and other benefits for the past year.

South Sudan's undersecretary of higher education said his ministry is aware of the university employee demands, but the government is too broke to come up with the money.

Representatives of South Sudan's universities called a news conference Tuesday in Juba to announce the strike.

Philip Finish Apollo, spokesman for the South Sudan Public Universities Staff Association and acting president of the University of Juba Academic Staff Association, said professors and lecturers have vowed to go on strike Wednesday and stay home until the Finance Ministry settles their previous debts and delivers the new salary adjustments.

The five public universities are the University of Juba, Upper Nile University, the University of Bahr el Ghazal, Rumbek and Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology.

What it means

Apollo said the lecturers' unpaid salaries total nearly 28 million South Sudanese pounds ($4.6 million). He said the strike will impact students.

"Teaching, of course, is going to be affected. No going in the classes, things related to doing research, supervising students  of course, these are all activities university staffs used to do and, of course, these are all going to be suspended," he said.

Unless the government responds to the university employees' demands within 24 hours, Apollo said, the strike will proceed as planned.

Professor Bol Deng, undersecretary of higher education, said his ministry has done what it can to address the demands. He said education ministry officials have forwarded their complaints to the finance ministry, which is the government entity that would make the payments.

"The Ministry of Finance has only one answer [and that] is to pay the lecturers, he said. When there are strikes like this, committees are formed and they sit down and discuss, then they reach a middle way, because the ministry may not afford to pay all the claims but when they sit down together, they may reach a solution."

Students react

Sworo Elly Martin, a first-year student at the Department of Rural Development at the University of Juba, said the government must address the lecturers' demands.

"I am very sorry for the message for the strike that will take place by tomorrow, he said. And I am urging the government sincerely to remember the lecturers, because education is a key in our life; when we are not educated, it means there is no prosperity in our nation, because if they are not paid it will be difficult for them to come and give lectures."

Nyadah Paul recently finished her studies at the College of Law at the University of Juba. She said she is not happy with her professors' decision to strike.

"It is not the good time for them to strike because of education, she said. Most of the people now will be left like that. Most of the people will lose hope in education, so I don't think it is a good step for the lecturers to strike."

Word of a strike comes just as students who completed their studies at the University of Juba are preparing to graduate Thursday at a ceremony to be presided over by South Sudan President Salva Kiir.
A U.S. State Department inspector general's report says Hillary Clinton, the likely 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, failed to follow guidelines when she used a private email server to conduct work while serving as secretary of state.

Senior State Department officials said there was no evidence Clinton sought approval to use her personal email account to conduct official business when she was the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, and that if she had asked, she would have been told no. Officials are supposed to use government email accounts both because of national security concerns and federal record-keeping requirements.

The report examined the email practices of current Secretary of State John Kerry and several who preceded Clinton, including Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. It cited long-standing problems within the department but made special note of Clinton's use of a private system.

"Our record keeping, we could have done a better job at preserving emails and records of secretaries of state and their senior staff going back, frankly, several administrations," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "We recognize that."

Toner noted that Kerry uses his government email account and that all of his messages are automatically saved.

Clinton, who has been dogged by the email controversy throughout her campaign for president, said in March that "it would've been better if I'd simply used a second email account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this didn't seem like an issue."

Criticism from Trump

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who will most likely face Clinton in the November election, sharply criticized her again Thursday about her use of the private email server installed in her New York home.

"She has bad judgment," Trump told reporters at a campaign stop in North Dakota. "I just read the report. It's devastating. It's shocking to see."

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Clinton broke federal rules and endangered national security.

"The stakes are too high to entrust the White House to someone with as much poor judgment and reckless disregard for the law as Hillary Clinton," he said on Twitter.

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon defended her email use, saying there was no precedent for a secretary of state to have a department account until Kerry took over.

"Contrary to the false theories advanced for some time now, the report notes that her use of personal email was known to officials within the department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the secretary's server," he said in a statement.
Afghanistans Taliban says Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed the new chief of the group following the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

In a Pashto language statement on Wednesday, the Tailban also formally confirmed Mansoor was killed in a U.S. drone attack last week.

Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (the supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him, the Taliban statement said.

Why US eliminated Mansoor



U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed on Monday that Mansoor was eliminated because he was blocking Afghan peace and reconciliation efforts.

The new Taliban leader was a deputy to Mansoor along with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the notorious Haqqani network.

Haqqani has retained his position while the son of the groups founder, Mullah Yaqoob, has been appointed as a second deputy to the new Taliban chief.

Haibatullah is described by some Afghan observers as a typical village type Islamic cleric, like the groups founder, Mullah Omar, and expect his two deputies to play the central role in Taliban military affairs.

Revenge suicide bombing



Wednesdays announcement came as a Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 11 people and wounded several others in Kabul. Afghan police say the attack targeted a minibus carrying judicial officials.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the attack was carried out in reaction to the execution of six Taliban members earlier this month after they were sentenced to death by the Afghan judicial system.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the suicide attack that it says killed and wounded civilians, including children.



Attacks against judicial authorities are cowardly and contrary to international humanitarian law, said UNAMA chief, Nicholas Haysom, demanding accountability for the perpetrators.
Within a matter of hours of Turkeys new government being announced, a major dispute over visas erupted Wednesday between Ankara and the European Union, threatening one of the main foreign policy achievements of ousted prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing Brussels of double standards and warned he is ready to freeze a key migrant readmission agreement with the European Union.

Turkey has committed itself to accepting back all migrants that enter neighboring Greece illegally, in exchange for billions of euros in aid and visa-free travel for its citizens to much of Europe. The deal was crafted by Davutoglu, who was recently ousted by Erdogan.

Political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners says the dispute with Brussels underlines Erdogans new authority.

"The whole point of getting rid of Davutoglu and appointing a new one (prime minister) is that policy would entirely be made in Erdogans palace. I do not think, for instance, the foreign minister will even be able to tell you what Turkish foreign policy vis-a-vis towards the EU is or will be. He will have to consult Erdogan or his advisors," Yesilada said.

Anti-terror law at issue

The latest dispute centers on the EUs insistence that Turkey narrow its definition of terrorism in its anti-terror law, as one of 72 criteria it needs to comply with to gain visa-free travel for its citizens.

Erdogan has made little secret of his distrust of Europe, a stance observers say is empty rhetoric that plays well with Turkish nationalists he is courting before an expected referendum to boost his presidential powers.



Carnegie Europe visiting scholar Sinan Ulgen says that perception may be a mistake, with the country battling Kurdish rebels and Islamic State militants.

"The Turkish president has stated clearly he has no intention to change [Turkeys] anti-terror legislation at a time when it is under an acute threat of terrorism. And therefore we have now reached a situation of stalemate. And if neither party budges, then it's unclear how this deal will be implemented successfully, so right now it's really under jeopardy," Ulgen said.

Very difficult dilemma

Since the deal was struck, the numbers of migrants entering Greece from Turkey have dramatically fallen from thousands a day to single digits.

Political columnist Kadri Gursel of Turkeys Cumhuriyet newspaper and Al-Monitor website warns the migrant deal could be all that is holding EU Turkish relations together.

"Erdogan is becoming a figure in the perceptions of the Western public opinions comparable to any Middle Eastern dictator. So it will be very easy to break up, with this Turkey run by such a leader. But breaking up with Turkey will have unpredictable bitter consequences on Europes security and stability, especially in the first place the Balkans region, and this is a very, very difficult dilemma."

Ankara has invested millions of dollars across the Balkans courting Muslim minorities. The state-backed programs are part of Erdogans vision of projecting Turkeys influence beyond its traditional allies.

It's a point underlined by Turkeys new EU affairs minister, Omer Celik, a close ally of Erdogan, who warned Wednesday the European Union is not Turkeys only option.
A Ukrainian army helicopter pilot who spent nearly two years in a Russian prison flew home to a hero's welcome after being freed in a swap with Moscow.

Nadiya Savchenko returned Wednesday to Kyiv, where President Petro Poroshenko decorated her with the Hero of Ukraine award, the country's highest honor, during a ceremony. Earlier in the day, two alleged Russian soldiers, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, returned to Moscow as part of the exchange.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said the widows of two Russian journalists killed in eastern Ukraine had asked him to pardon the Ukrainian pilot. Putin said in televised remarks that he hoped her release "will help reduce tension in the Ukraine conflict and avoid new loss of life."

A Russian court sentenced Savchenko to 22 years in prison after she was convicted of killing the journalists during a shelling campaign in eastern Ukraine as Russian-backed rebels fought with the Ukrainian government.

The 35-year-old Savchenko denied the charges and launched several hunger strikes to protest her detention.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, hailed the pilot's release, saying she was celebrating with Ukraine.

"Nadiya Savchenko is free and back in Ukraine, Mogherini said on Twitter. "Long awaited good news, that the EU celebrates together with her country."

The Reuters news agency reports that the two Russians released were special forces soldiers captured while on a secret mission in eastern Ukraine. As part of the deal, they were pardoned by Ukraine's president.
The U.N. Security Council has lifted the last international sanctions against Liberia.

The council has been progressively terminating the targeted measures that were imposed at the end of Liberia's civil war in 2003.

In 2009, a ban on timber exports, which along with diamonds had helped finance the conflict, was lifted. In September, the council ended a travel ban and asset freeze on designated individuals and entities. On Wednesday, it took the final step, unanimously voting to lift an arms embargo on non-state actors.

"Targeted sanctions in the context of Liberia have been very constructive," the country's U.N. Charge d'Affaires George S.W. Patten Sr. told the council. "The sanctions regime contributed, in large measure, to stabilization of the country and also stimulated post-conflict economic recovery."

U.S. Envoy David Pressman said the sanctions targeting Liberia's natural resources were "well tailored" and addressed unconventional sources of conflict financing.

"We would do well to consider similar measures targeting the funding and fueling of conflict in other situations we are facing today," he said.

In November, the United States lifted its unilateral sanctions against Liberia, which targeted former top Liberian government officials and the family and close allies of former President Charles Taylor.

Taylor set off Liberia's civil war in 1989, leading to an uprising that toppled then-President Samuel Doe. Taylor was elected president in 1997, leading to a second civil war that ended when Taylor fled the country.

He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2012 for instigating war and atrocities in neighboring Sierra Leone.
The U.S. State Department voiced disappointment Tuesday with China's decision to scrub an online question-and-answer session that briefly allowed the Chinese public to ask U.S. officials about daily life in contemporary America.

State Department spokesman Ory Abramowicz said the U.S. Embassy in Beijing was invited by the Chinese question-and-answer website Zhihu to participate in the session. He also said U.S. involvement was in keeping with the embassy's role in representing America to China through public diplomacy.

A version of the site cached by Google showed more than 40 questions on topics ranging from how to buy cheap tickets for New York theater performances to questions about California beach culture and licensing for food trucks operating in large U.S. cities. At least four U.S. diplomats and two academics provided responses.

The cached site showed the page was viewed more than 1 million times and followed by nearly 27,000 people before it vanished last week.

The Wall Street Journal cited a separate story linked to the Communist Youth League in which comments from Chinese internet users accused U.S. diplomats of waging a "public opinion war." The Journal said the Zhihu site disappeared shortly after the Communist Youth League critique appeared.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the Justice Department will seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof  the white man accused of last year's massacre in an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Lynch said "the nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision."

South Carolina prosecutors had already said they would pursue the death penalty for Roof.

Roof allegedly killed nine people when he opened fire inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston last June 17.

He is said to have written about his contempt for blacks, Jews and Hispanics on the internet, and a friend told police that Roof talked about starting a civil war.

Along with the murder charges, Roof has been indicted on numerous federal hate crime charges that warrant the death penalty.
A court in Senegal is scheduled to deliver a verdict Monday in the trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre.

Habre was tried on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes before a special tribunal in Dakar, the Extraordinary African Chambers.

The verdict could mark the end of a battle to bring Habre to justice in Senegal, to which he fled and where he has lived since being overthrown in a coup in 1990.

It took 25 years of relentless campaigning by Hissene Habres victims to make this trial happen, said Reed Brody, counsel at Human Rights Watch.

The tribunal indicted the former Chadian leader in 2013 and placed him in pretrial custody. After a 19-month investigation, judges said there was sufficient evidence to bring Habre to trial.

It was the first time that courts in one country had prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said.

The trial began July 20, 2015, amid resistance from Habre, who had to be carried into the courtroom and would not recognize the legitimacy of the court. His lawyers refused to appear, forcing the court to appoint lawyers to represent him.

Bandoum Bandjim, a former member of Habre's political police, testified during the trial that the police director often went to Habre with documents to order the release, torture or execution of prisoners.

There were official documents addressed to his excellency, President Hissene Habre, and the director took these files to the presidency  and either the persons were set free or executed or tortured. This I can confirm, Bandjim said in court.

Sexual slavery and rape also were cited during trial.

During our stay at Ouadi Doum [military camp], we didnt receive any medical care. We didnt get proper food. They just brought us as sexual slaves, victim Kaltouma Defallah said in court.

Defallah said that when government officials finally gave the women medication, it was to make sure they did not get pregnant.

The Hissene Habre trial is a watershed in the fight for accountability for the worlds worst crimes, HRW's Brody said.
President Robert Mugabe says factions fighting to succeed him are treasonous groups that are destroying Zanu PF, adding that some war veterans that are showing disdain for the so-called million-man-march today should work within the structures of the ruling party.

At the same time, President Mugabes wife, Grace, tells the crowd that the 92-year-old Zimbabwean leader is irreplaceable. Zanu PF Youth League leaders also say the president should die in office.

Today is Africa Day and some Zimbabweans are crediting the African Union, formerly the Organization of African Unity, for bringing democracy, peace and stability to the continent.

We will have a discussion with one of the young African leaders preparing to go to America for the Mandela Washington fellowship, a brainchild of President Barack Obama.

And we will also feature a Zimbabwean living outside the country in our weekly Diaspora Forum.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

This evening on Livetalk our hosts Blessing Zulu and Gibbs Dube will be talking with listeners and experts about the so-called million man march to show support for President Mugabe. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318.

You can also post comments on this Facebook wall or send us your number so we can call you back. Please note that we are livestreaming on all Studio 7 Facebook pages
[5/25, 8:49 AM] : We are now an independent Africa

[5/25, 8:58 AM] : I have never said I want to be the president

[5/25, 8:58 AM] : It's the people who chose me

[5/25, 9:01 AM] : Mugabe says it's not the norm for leaders to crave power, says some are consulting n'angas

[5/25, 9:02 AM] : Says factionalism is destroying the party

[5/25, 9:21 AM] : Mugabe calls for unity

[5/25, 9:23 AM] : No tribe should boast seniority over another tribe

[5/25, 9:24 AM] : We will give land to the youth,says Mugabe

[5/25, 9:28 AM] : Everyone has a right to have a stand regardless of political affiliation, says Mugabe

[5/25, 9:29 AM] : Youths should be in self-employment

[5/25, 9:32 AM] : Our youths must be disciplined and should avoid violence, says Mugabe

[5/25, 9:37 AM] : There must not be any discordant voices in the party

[5/25, 9:37 AM] : War veterans should work within the party

[5/25, 9:38 AM] : Little groups are treasonous

[5/25, 9:44 AM] : Food must not be distributed partisanly

[5/25, 9:48 AM] : Mugabe says to those calling for his retirement to go and hang

[5/25, 9:48 AM] : "I am not going anywhere", says Mugabe.

President Mugabe now addressing the crowd

[5/25, 8:12 AM]: Grace says Mugabe is irreplaceable

[5/25, 8:10 AM]: Graces says Mugabe was chosen by God

[5/25, 8:09 AM]: Grace addresses her husband as sekuru

[5/25, 8:07 AM]: Grace takes to the podium

[5/25, 7:49 AM]: Chipanga says production must increase to revive the economy

[5/25, 7:50 AM]: Chipanga attacks ministers for driving luxurious cars

[5/25, 7:53 AM]: Chipanga says government ministers have misplaced priorities

[5/25, 7:54 AM]: Chipanga wraps corruption in Zimra

[5/25, 8:05 AM]: Chipanga encourages Mugabe to die in office

[5/25, 6:04 AM] Some ordinary people taking pictures in Harare central business district assaulted by Zanu PF youth

[5/25, 6:04 AM] Police vehicles seen ferrying Zanu PF supporters.

[5/25, 6:05 AM] Brisk business for vendors at the venue where President Mugabe is expected to address.

[5/25, 6:06 AM] Some youths seen drinking alcohol.

[5/25, 6:07 AM] Supporters sing "tsvangirai tengesa uone mashura"

[5/25, 6:07 AM]: Children also part of the march.

[5/25, 6:08 AM] Some supporters sing "havamborwara kunyeperana vakasimba Gushungo"

[5/25, 6:09 AM] Trucks and buses continue to ferry people to the venue of the gathering in the outskirts of the CBD.

[5/25, 6:10 AM] The open space near the Rainbow Towers is full of people clad in Zanu PF regalia

[5/25, 6:10 AM] Police on horsebacks patrolling

[5/25, 6:13 AM] Thousands of people are here but still far from a million.

[5/25, 6:13 AM] Some people leaving the venue to look for food in the CBD.

[5/25, 6:15 AM] Some MPs distributing alcoholic beverages.
President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday told his supporters that he would not relinquish power and accused those angling to succeed him of committing treason.

Thousands of people marched in the streets of Harare in solidarity with President Mugabe they described as a world icon.

At the final destination of the march, Mr. Mugabe, who turned 92 this year, told his supporters that those who want him to retire should go and hang.

The president also accused those pushing factional agendas in his party of committing treason. His wife, Grace Mugabe, who described her husband as irreplaceable, is reportedly leading a faction called Generation 40 that wants to take over from the veteran leader once he leaves office while Vice President Emmerson Mnangwagwa is reportedly leading another camp calling itself Team Lacoste.

Zanu PF youth league secretary Kudzai Chipanga accused some unnamed ministers of wasting the countrys resources by holding unnecessary conferences in luxurious hotels and buying expensive vehicles at the expense of service delivery.

Chipanga also asked President Mugabe to ensure that youths had access to land to do farming and build houses which was later promised by Mr. Mugabe.

On unemployment, the president made told his supporters that youths should create their own jobs. Ahead of the 2013 national elections,

Mr. Mugabe promised Zimbabweans that his administration would more two million new jobs. But today, the story was different.

Some Zanu PF supporters, who were part of the march, praised their leader. Makonde legislator, Kindness Paradza, told Studio 7 that the peaceful demonstration was a clear message to the international community that President Mugabe was there to stay.

This was also echoed by Godfrey Chimwanda from Mashonaland East Province.

Some of the demonstrators allegedly assaulted suspected opposition supporters, who were doing their own business in the central business district, while some buses and trucks drivers that were ferrying people to the demonstration allegedly refused to pay road user fees at tollgates.

Zanu PF had targeted to bring one million people to the demonstration that was dubbed One Million Man March but Chipanga said they faced logistical problems resulting in many people failing to attend the event.

But Independent political analyst Dumisani Nkomo said the million man march was a waste of resources.
Some Pan Africanists and political commentators urge Zimbabweans to always commemorate Africa Day even if they are facing many challenges.

They argue that Africa Day  commemorated annually to mark the conception of the organization of African unity which fought for the liberation of many African nations from colonial rule  is special for all African nations.

This years Africa Day theme is Building a better Africa and a better world.

Independent political analyst Dr. Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu said Zimbabweans have every reason to commemorate Africa Day.

Africa Day is linked to the liberation of the people of the black people and so its important in the sense that when we talk about Africa Day we are talking about the liberation of the people. We are also talking about their attempt to unify under the Organization of African Unity now known as the African Union and this in practice means the long-standing Pan-African agenda.

On Zimbabweans commemorating the day, he said, it was necessary for them to mark the day even if they are facing serious social, economic and political problems.

They need to celebrate in the hope that the regime in power wont be there permanently if it is their major problem then they cannot actually severe themselves from the other African family which is celebrating Africa Day.

But Harare resident, Wilson Wagoneka, said there is no reason for Zimbabweans to commemorate Africa Day as independence has become a curse to most of them.

Zimbabwe is a sorry sight taking into account that our forefathers had a dream  They had also a dream of making Africa or giving Africa a status of its own  the honey that we used to dream 

The OAU was established in 1963 with the major aim of dismantling colonialism in Africa.
We accept many different kinds of announcements. Just click on the button below and submit a form.

Go to forms
The words sine die had barely been uttered before legislators started talking special session.

When the 2016 legislative session began less than 11 weeks ago, lawmakers knew they had their work cut out for them. Beginning on the latest start date in recent memory due to Capitol construction (with no running water and only portable toilets), leaders werent convinced they find agreement on the session priorities of transportation, taxes and bonding.

A bonding bill still seemed possible in the last minutes Sunday before the constitutionally mandated midnight deadline, and Gov. Mark Dayton said Monday that he hadnt given up hope on a transportation compromise until the final hour of session. But a sticking point in transportation negotiations  state funding for the proposed Southwest light rail line from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie  also derailed the bonding bill at 11:57 p.m. when the Senate amended the bill just as the House adjourned sine die.

Unfinished business

Nevertheless, House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) said Monday that the session had been successful overall, including the passage of a $182 million supplemental budget and $257 million tax bill, which he called true compromise bills.

Daudt asked Dayton to call a meeting of leadership and a special session to address the unfinished bonding bill  and advised House members to stay in St. Paul in case the governor agrees.

I think we owe it to Minnesotans to meet and talk about this as leaders, Daudt said. The longer we wait, the more difficult it gets to get to an agreement.

However, as of mid-afternoon Monday, Dayton couldnt say whether he will call one.

They knew they had a deadline at midnight last night; they didnt meet that deadline, he said. In the haste of the final moments there, democracy was not well served and the public was cut out.

What goes on behind closed doors

Concerns about transparency were raised in many House Floor speeches during the final days of session, while leaders worked on deals behind closed doors.

Legislators are reading about whats happening in bills on Twitter, House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls) said Sunday during discussion of the tax bill. The public has no idea whats going on.

In an end-of-session press release, Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud) noted that the supplemental budget includes a provision that may help the process in future years  calling for a study of how other states set budget targets.

Hopefully we can learn from other states in how to prevent the sort of problems we had at the end of this session, he wrote.

Despite the chaos and confusion of the sessions final days, the Legislature did manage to reach agreement on several key pieces of legislation  and came close on a few others. Heres a look at the highlights of what did  and didnt  happen this session.

Taxes

Dont stop believing was the refrain from House Taxes Committee Chair Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston), and the refrain seemed to pay off when a bill providing $257 million in tax relief over the biennium passed the House Sunday morning and the Senate later in the day.

Im glad that we may be able to stop believing after the governor signs it, Davids said.

Provisions in the bill include a first-in-the-nation student loan tax credit and expansion child care and working family tax credits, among other thigs.

Supplemental Budget

From broadband to prekindergarten, the 599-page supplemental budget seemed to include something for everyone to love and to hate, and members of the conference committee on the bill praised it as a true compromise.

The bill, which passed off the House floor with just over an hour left in the legislative session, includes a budget increase of $182 million over the biennium for a wide range of programs, as well as numerous policy and technical provisions.

Dayton applauded the inclusion of $25 million for voluntary prekindergarten, one of his priorities for the supplemental budget, saying Monday that theres just every reason to be expanding this opportunity for the youngest Minnesotans.
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale

Contribute:

Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.

Flag as inappropriate.

Mark as helpful or interesting.

Send your own user report!

Translate

Amoudara/Gazi / Light shaking (MMI IV) : could see the ground was moving, swimming pool water was being agitated and over-lapping the pool sides

Elounda Crete / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Sitting having a coffee in a

ierapetra,Greece / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : mild shaking with no significant acceleration.lasted about 30sec.Dizziness 12hrs before, for some people asked.Only 1 aftershock 24hrs later.

Moni Kapsa / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Was hiking in a canyon. A few stones came down.Birds were "excited"!?

Daios cove resort by agios nikolaos / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Agios Nikolaos / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Laying on the bed having a phone conference. The bed wagged. I stood up to see what's happening. Saw the water in a bottle vibrating. Went outside to look at the sea. Nothing remarkable.

Amoudara Heraklion / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Mochlos / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Woke up by hearing the whole wardrobe shaking...got outside,my wife told me she felt the chair moving she was sitting on...

agios nikolaos-exo laconia / Light shaking (MMI IV) : les murs et les meubles ont trembles, les oiseaux se sont tus brutalement et dans le village les habitants sont sortis de chez eux

sentido mikri poli makrigialos / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Elounda Mare Hotel / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : I was on a sunbed and the beds and umbrellas shook quite strongly. I looked out and all the other umbrellas and bottles at the bar were shaking as well

Koutsounari / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Elounda / Weak shaking (MMI III) : At first I thought it was me..... I was on the loo expecting a different kind of movement

Elounda / Weak shaking (MMI III) : At first I thought it was me..... I was on the loo expecting a different kind of movement

Makrygialos / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Hotel ground shaked

Makry gialos, crete (27.6 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Sunbeds were shaking, people looked around, everybody felt it. The waves wars not changing

Mires, South Crete / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : I was sitting on the 1st floor in my kitchen and clearly feeled the earthquake for nearly 5 minutes. The lamps were swinging.

Gazi / not felt : Nous etions sur un transat au bord d'une piscine de l'hotel acti zeus nous avons ressenti deux fois le sol trembler

Gazi, Heraklion Regional Unit, Crete (114.8 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Gouves Crete / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Mires, South Crete / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : I was sitting on the terrace and felt it moving under my feet two times.

Sitia, Crete (37.8 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) (reported through our app / Strong shaking (MMI VI)

Agios Nikolaos / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Hotel Knossos Beach / Moderate shaking (MMI V)

Gouves - Crete / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Retymno / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Sitia Kreta / Moderate shaking (MMI V)

Agios Nikolas crete / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Chair wobbled everyone stood up and asked if anyone else felt it. people inside came out and were scared.

Elounda / Weak shaking (MMI III) : At first I thought it was me..... I was on the loo expecting a different kind of movement

Amoudara / Very weak shaking (MMI II)

Makrigialos / Very strong shaking (MMI VII)
Procurement by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant of components for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices

Terrorists in Iraq and Syria are being supplied through foreign channels with the items needed to manufacture improvised explosive devices. An analysis of the basic chemical components of explosives captured from Islamists in the region of Tikrit (Iraq) and in Kobani (Syria), with subsequent identification of the manufacturers and review of the conditions for selling such components to other countries, indicates that they were either manufactured in Turkey or delivered to that country without the right of re-export.

The following Turkish firms acted as intermediaries: Gultas Kimya, Marikem Kimyevi ve Endustriyel Urunler, Metkim, EKM Gubre and Diversey Kimya. These companies have delivered to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) aluminium powder, ammonium nitrate, pelletized carbamide and hydrogen peroxide produced by various Turkish and foreign companies. In this context, there has been a remarkable seven-fold increase in the volume of deliveries from Turkey to Syria of ammonium nitrate (at a time when agriculture in the Syrian Arab Republic is in decline), which is used by terrorists in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices.

One notable feature of the improvised explosive devices assembled in ISIL workshops in the Middle East is the use of the following: PIC16F1827 microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, a United States company; TIP102 and BDX53C transistors from the Swiss company ST Microelectronics; and mobile telephones from Nokia, model 105 RM-908.

Furthermore, detonation cords manufactured in third countries have been illegally resold through Turkey to ISIL fighters.

These facts demonstrate that the Turkish authorities are deliberately involved in ISIL activity, as they are providing access to components for improvised explosive devices that are being widely used to commit terrorist acts.
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in The Americans. Photo: Patrick Harbron/FX

Get ready to say dasvidaniya to The Americans: The critically worshipped Cold War drama will be back for two more seasons and then come to a conclusion in 2018, FX announced Wednesday. The network has ordered 23 additional installments of the Keri Russell-Matthew Rhys spy drama and currently plans to divide those hours between a 13-episode season five to air in 2017, and a 10-episode season six set to run in 2018. Barring any future adjustments, todays decision means the shows run will have lasted 75 episodes when over, on par with FXs Justified but slightly longer than the run for AMCs Breaking Bad. Given the modest ratings for The Americans  it draws a decent-sized audience of around 2 million, but is hardly a smash  the two-season renewal by FX is a big victory for the shows fans and creators and showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields.

In a joint statement, the duo strongly indicated theyre onboard with decision to wrap in 2018. Were so grateful to know well be telling the story to its conclusion, the statement by Fields and Weisberg read. As long as said conclusion includes Martha (Alison Wright) returning home to the States, perhaps after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, well be grateful, too.
Photo: Irish Film Board

The genius of The Lobster, the English-language debut of Greek writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos  whose 2009 wonder Dogtooth was the first Greek movie since 1977 to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film  is that it does not make the assumption that fuels every rom-com and love story known to man: that we can choose how we find love.

In the world of The Lobster, all single people are sent to a hotel for 45 days in order to find a mate. If they fail, they are turned into an animal of their choosing  Which is why the world is filled with dogs, a character says early on, one of many instances where youll laugh almost in spite of yourself. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou use allegory to expose our own bizarre preconceptions and rituals of courtship.

Much of this odd little movies appeal is attributable to the cast, which includes John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, and Rachel Weisz, a series of acclaimed actors who play characters named Lisping Man, Limping Man, Loner Leader, and Short-Sighted Woman, respectively. The only actor whose character has a proper name  David, a hapless, recently dumped bachelor  is Colin Farrell.

Few actors have had careers as eclectic as Farrell, who has oscillated between blockbuster leading-man roles and peculiar character acting. His performance in The Lobster certainly falls in the latter category, among such company as Martin McDonaghs In Bruges, Terrence Malicks The New World, and the second season of True Detective. (Scoff at the True Detective mention all you want: Farrell almost single-handedly made it worth watching.) Vulture caught up with Farrell to discuss The Lobster and, as it went, life in general. Here are the highlights.

On acting in a film as weird as this one:

I found it really interesting to try and imagine how this world could be not just presented physically, but represented by the actors, and how it could be inhabited as if it was completely normal. But its so well drawn that you just do very little.

One of the objectives in what Ive been lucky enough to do for a living is to just be present at all times without trying to play moments, without trying to squeeze drama out of this scene or that scene. You rely on your fellow actors and all that stuff, but more than ever before, this movie felt just like being present, literally just listening and observing and responding without any agenda. The objectives here were inherent in the script and they were so much bigger than any one characters journey.

On the nature of sadness:

At times, if Ive seen people suffer and theyre aware of their suffering, its less painful to observe than if theyre suffering and theyre not aware of it. Its kind of like someone seeing a car coming barreling down on them and screaming ahh! and you go, Oh no, the cars going to hit them. But if someone doesnt see the car and theyre facing the other way, you will completely crawl into your own skin for the fear and the sadness of not knowing.

I felt the same way about these characters in this film. Its such a patriarchal society they live in, theyre given no freedom, and the extent of their free will is getting to choose the animal they may be turned into. But none of them seem to know. A lot of the characters are almost unformed  theres an innocence to them. When you see that innocence in something thats recognized as fully grown, that can be moving.

On whether hes a Buddhist:

No! [Laughs.] No, Im human.

On how the cast arrived at the strange, earnest nature of their performances:

There was no discourse between the actors about tonality. There may have been jesting here and there, but more in reference to the comfort that can be found by saying youre really confused, and then laughing it off and then moving on. I think as a result of having Yorgoss previous work as a reference point, everyone was able to just drop into the place you see us in the film.

On his co-star, Rachel Weisz, and the nature of love:

She was a dream. When she comes into the film, for me its this tonal shift, because  I cant believe Im going to refer to Wall-E in reference to [Yorgoss] work  but you know theres one plant seedling that still lives. Thats what love is to me in this film, its that one seedling. Where it goes I dont know, and Im being a bit idealistic about it, but its that one seedling.

I dont know that most characters are looking for love in the film  theyre just doing what theyve been told they have to do. Thats a form of love, a very practical aspect of the world we live in today. Thats fine as well  I know arranged marriages that have worked out, that have grown into some kind of simpatico that is a love of sorts that is maybe deeper, longer lasting, and more pure than a fleeting romance. It doesnt satiate in the way of a fleeting romance, but thats what comes in when Rachel comes in, that seedling of love, possibly, this stirring just beyond the convention of life.

On awkwardness:

For a lot of us, beneath our behaviors and the tools we use to find some level of comfort in our society and our communities, theres quite a bit of awkwardness. I believe its that awkwardness that births those behaviors that allow us to survive and maintain. What this script did is it rendered unimportant those behaviors and just allowed the awkwardness that actually exists. It was really liberating.
In The Girls, her first novel, Emma Cline has taken the story of the Manson Family as a template and made her own sly alterations. Some of these are cosmetic: The setting is moved from Southern California to the outskirts of the Bay Area; no historical names are retained. Others are in the interest of streamlining the narrative: A few characters seem to be composites of real-life figures and several wholly imagined; the predictions of a Beatles-themed apocalyptic race war that Manson was spouting before the Familys murders (he called it Helter Skelter) have been entirely dispensed with. Cline has retained the essential structure of a gang of hippies living in hedonistic squalor on a remote ranch, the women sexually in thrall to a buckskin-clad charismatic leader who keeps them around with the shared delusion that hes destined to become a rock superstar. A grisly night of speed-fueled murders goes down, and theres blood on the wall. Clines crucial decision, signaled in her title, is to tell the story in the voice of a minor, off-and-on member of the re-imagined cult. Now middle-aged and looking back on the strange summer of 1969, when she was 14, Evie Boyd is a narrator in the mold of Nick Carraway, but her Gatsby isnt the Manson figure (here renamed Russell Hadrick). Its a woman named Suzanne Parker, one of the murderers and a figure with a charismatic power all her own.

The Manson horror show has been chewed over in too many books, films, and other pop-culture ephemera to count. And though the murderers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, and Charles Tex Watson, as well as Lynette Squeaky Fromme, who later attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford, accrued their own repertory celebrity, the focus of Manson lit  from the Rolling Stone cover story that dropped during the trial, to prosecutor Vincent Bugliosis best seller Helter Skelter, to Jeff Guinns excellent 2013 biography Manson  is usually on the maestro, who still makes the news when he gets engaged from prison or has a birthday (hes now 81). A bogus meme this spring had it that hed endorsed Donald Trump for president. Reviewing Guinns book when it appeared, I found exposure to videos of Mansons recent parole hearings toxic enough to be nightmare-inducing. For the baby-boomers, the Manson episode lingers with Altamont as one of the bad dreams that closed the book for 1960s utopianism. Cline approaches the story without those hang-ups. A 27-year-old graduate of the Columbia MFA program, whose fiction has appeared in the Paris Review and Tin House, shes shrewdly reasoned that weve heard enough about Charlie. In the cult dynamic, shes seen something universal  emotions, appetites, and regular human needs warped way out of proportion  and in her novel shes converted a quintessentially 60s story into something timeless. (It hasnt gone unreported that her efforts earned her a $2 million advance from Random House.)

The Girls has a retrospective frame. When it begins, Evie Boyd is a middle-aged woman, out of work and living in a borrowed house on the Northern California coast. Unexpected guests arrive in the middle of the night, and her frightened mind jumps back in time, to the night of the murders. The guests turn out not to be intruders but Julian, the college-age son of the houses owner, and his 18-year-old girlfriend, Sasha. Their youth and delinquency  Julian smuggles pot and was thrown out of school for poisoning a professors dog  reminds her of her own seduction by Suzanne into Russells cult.

The decades that have passed allow Evie to understand it all with some clarity. When just out of junior high, she was drawn in from a place of unhappiness: her parents newly divorced, her crush on an older boy unrequited, her friendship with the boys sister going sour. She glimpses the black-haired girl, Suzanne, from afar, in a park pulling at the neckline of her dress and for a moment exposing a nipple. The excitement is part attraction, part identification  its a public demonstration of perverse impulses Evie recognizes in herself. She sees Suzanne and her attendants take a bag of bread and an uncooked chicken from a restaurant dumpster, get shouted away by a man in an apron, and climb into a school bus painted black. On their next encounter, in a shop where Suzanne is thrown out when the shops owner recognizes her from a previous theft, Evie returns to buy for Suzanne the toilet paper she was after, saying she stole it to impress her new friend; a few days later, Suzanne invites the younger girl to the cults ranch and assumes the role of big sister, lover, protector, groomer, and corrupter.

Clines true subject is the tangle between Evie and Suzannes bond and the cults internal economy. Within the closed system of the ranch, the women of the cult are at once commodities and procurers of food and money, venturing out into the straight world to commit little acts of larceny. The first day Evie visits, a boy asks Suzanne if shes a solstice present and is told to shut up. But when the evenings party commences  a car is ritually burned, and theres a feast of watery vegetable pabulum, the mash of potatoes and ketchup and onion soup packets  another of the girls calls Evie our sacrifice  Our solstice offering. She meets Russell, and he takes her to his trailer with the promise, unfulfilled, that theyll be joined by Suzanne. A sexual initiation follows. I wanted Russell to be a genius, Evie says. She gets stoned, and he turns out to be a reciter of lines like these: Shy Evie . Youre a smart girl. You see a lot with those eyes, dont you. Im like you  I was so smart when I was young, so smart that of course they told me I was dumb. Theres something in you  Some part thats real sad. And you know what? That makes me real sad. Theyve tried to ruin this beautiful, special girl. Theyve made her sad. Just because they are. She starts to cry, and a page later hes pushing her head toward his crotch.

An act, I thought, calibrated to comfort young girls who were glad, at least, that it wasnt sex. Who could stay fully dressed the whole time, as if nothing out of the ordinary were happening.

But maybe the strangest part  I liked it, too.

This is the most we see of Russell and the undercooked look of his dick. For Evie this episode is less a matter of her submission to the cult leader than her initiation into a sisterhood. Evie spends the rest of the night with Suzanne: You can crash in my room if you want, she says. But you have to actually be here if youre going to be here. Get it? To Evie the moment was like those fairy tales where goblins can enter a house only if invited by its inhabitants, only here shes the innocent invited into a house of goblins. She doesnt realize it yet but instead senses the possibility that my life was hovering on the brink of a new and permanent happiness. Evie goes home the next day, and becomes a thief for her new friends at the ranch, stealing from her mothers purse and hustling the boy next door for $65 of his parents money with the promise of bringing him weed. At Russells suggestion, Suzanne takes her to the home of Mitch Lewis  a rocker composite of Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson and Byrds producer Terry Melcher, the men Manson hoped would grease his path to stardom  and they have a coke-fueled threesome, the end of Evies virginity: Id enacted some pattern, been defined, neatly, as a girl, providing a known value. There was something almost comforting about it, the clarity of purpose, even as it shamed me.

For the rest of the novel Evie ping-pongs between the ranch and her old life  the mingling of her sense of belonging with crude transactional sex has poisoned the fun, but neither can she go home again. Her final visit to the ranch sees Russells group in a state of high desperation, seemingly starving and deranged with access to more speed than food. Russell dispatches the killers  Suzanne among them, Evie almost  to Mitchs house to teach him a lesson, and they commit something like the massacre visited on Sharon Tate and her friends. Clines decision to substitute a simple revenge plot for the baroque paranoid end-times scenario Manson improvised to maintain Family discipline makes sense for her book. She knows her strengths are psychological, not Pynchonian.

Cline has a lush descriptive style, and she favors the sentence fragment where the pressure falls on nouns: on one visit to the ranch she sees the silty rectangle of pool, half full, with its teem of algae and exposed concrete  The crispy package of a dead frog, drifting on the surface. A system of metaphors drawn from Evies middle-class world animates her departure from it. (There are a few too many like-dependent similes, but one gets used to them.) Clines exquisite set pieces are the equal of her intricate unwinding of Evies emotions: Even after the murders she thinks, Suzanne was not a good person. I understood this. But I held the actual knowledge away from myself. When she finds Polaroids from Suzanne she feels something more like love but knows shes also stifling disgust.

These effects are all the more potent for what Cline has left out. Theres very little cultural noise in the picture. Evie reads a few magazines, watches an episode of Bewitched, and theres a reference to Jefferson Airplane, but Cline hasnt overloaded the book with ostentatious period details and trivia. (Nor did I notice any anachronisms.) The Girls isnt a Wikipedia novel, its not one of those historical novels that congratulates the present on its improvements over the past, and it doesnt impose todays ideas on the old days. As the smartphone-era frame around Evies story implies, Cline is interested in the Manson chapter for the way it amplifies the novels traditional concerns. Pastoral, marriage plot, crime story  the novel of the cult has it all. You wonder why more people dont write them.

*This article appears in the May 30, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
There will be blood.

Norwegian genre-breaker Jenny Hval had one of the best albums, songs, and concerts of 2015, so of course that means shes already out for more blood. Shes just announced her next album, Blood Bitch, will drop September 30, led by new song Female Vampire. As both titles suggest, this is a project fixated on blood, but not just any blood: period blood. Blood Bitch is an investigation of blood. Blood that is shed naturally. The purest and most powerful, yet most trivial, and most terrifying blood: Menstruation. The white and red toilet roll chain which ties together the virgins, the whores, the mothers, the witches, the dreamers, and the lovers, she explains in a press release. And who are we to question the woman whose last album investigated such basic topics as gender and sexuality? Hval also says the album will be told from the perspectives of vampires, artists, and other characters and images from horror and exploitation films of the 70s through which shell share a poetic diary of modern transience and transcendence. Honestly, you had us at menstruation. Listen to the entrancing horrorscape that is Female Vampire below.
Bellmead Mayor Gary Moore on Tuesday called for an investigation of the citys police department, saying too many officers have left or been fired.

Bellmead Police Chief Lydia Alvarado did not attend the meeting, and attempts to reach her for comment Tuesday night were unsuccessful.

Moore, who was re-elected at the beginning of the month, tried to move the council into executive session to discuss the citys police department but was unable to do so because the topic was not posted on the agenda.

After a lengthy public discussion on the police department, the city attorney put a halt to the talks, saying discussion of the department was also not listed to be discussed in open session.

Moore said his concern is based on hearsay and information provided in exit interviews. He said he filed an open records request with the city in October to get more information on the police department, and it took a ruling from the Texas Attorney Generals Office for the city to release that data.

The turnover rate for a police department in a city the size of Bellmead should be at 14 percent, and Bellmeads rate is significantly higher, Moore said. He did not specify what the turnover rate is.

Its kind of alarming the number of officers that have either been terminated or left the department in a years time, he said.

Council member Alfreda Love asked what percentage of his concern was hearsay versus actual data.

Were talking about peoples careers, Love said.

Moore said he would provide the council with more information. The council will take up the matter at its meeting June 14.

Annexation

Also during the meeting, Moore requested city staff provide the council with information about annexing property in the citys extraterritorial jurisdiction near Red Bud Lane. Moore said residents in the area receive city services, including water, but dont pay city taxes. He did not know how many.

City Manager Bo Thomas said it is up to the council to weigh the costs and benefits of annexing property that would expand the citys tax base against the costs and benefits of providing services to those areas.

Any time youre looking at a game plan regarding annexation, obviously you want it to be as amiable as possible, Thomas said.

City staff will research the issue and provide the council with more information.
Failing grade

So Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick think its a good idea to forgo federal education funding so school districts are in the clear to be mean to transgender students? I just cannot understand what they are carrying on about. Just what do they think is going to happen if they let a trans student use the washroom they are most comfortable using? Where is the harm or threat to anyone?

I sent both these men messages, not that it will much matter. But it seems to me that they should put at least as much effort into improving Texas schools as they do in election-year posturing. How do they propose that school districts close that funding gap? Raising property taxes? Cutting teacher salaries? Texas is already ranked near the bottom of the nation in education rankings.

I simply dont see how threatening federal education funding is in any way good for Texas students or families.

Thomas Lopez, Waco

All will be right

One year ago, May 17, 2015, was a sad day. Over the past year, I have read a lot of comments  how that day was supposed to be a peaceful meeting between individuals with different opinions. So I guess all the guns and knives brought to this meeting at Twin Peaks were for what? To express an opinion?

Here is my opinion: The law enforcement of McLennan County  the sheriffs office, police department, district attorneys office and the U.S. Department of Justice  did everything they could to stop it. And if they had not been there, it would have turned out worse than it did.

I am so sorry there was loss of life, but through due process of law the truth will be known. The guilty will be prosecuted and the innocent will be set free.

Michael R. Ferguson, Waco

Postal miracles

Lately it seems all you read and hear is bad news, but I want to share a humorous true story. I placed a small order on Amazon with delivery expected on May 16 via the U.S. Postal Service  not my first choice, but I like to gamble once in a while so I said what the heck, lets roll the dice.

On the 16th, the tracking info said the package is in town, at the Bellmead branch and out for delivery. The 16th turned into the 17th but still no package.

I called the post office and the nice gentleman who was having a bad-hair day mumbled it was still out for delivery. And heres where it gets even funnier. An hour after I call, tracking info says delivery was attempted a few minutes after the call  while Im looking out the front door. But no attempted delivery notice was left.

Weird, huh?

Im not upset; patience is my middle name. Online at USPS website, I fill out the appropriate forms and also schedule a redelivery with notice that someone would contact me in a day. Wait for it? Im still waiting for the redelivery and contact two days later.

Reggie Heidman, Waco
WAHOO  Roads and bridges continued to be a focus for the Saunders County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The board approved for Public Works Director Steve Mika to purchase a new motor grader for close to $228,000.

Trading in an old motor grader for $42,000 and the purchase of the new one will keep the department in good shape in regard to machines needed for road upkeep, said Mika.

Mika also addressed the board about future endeavors.

The Transportation Innovation Act signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts in April includes $40 million dedicated to the repair and replacement of deficient bridges on county road systems.

The impact of that money in Saunders County depends on how that money is allocated across the state, but the county is likely to see some benefit. Saunders County has more bridges than any other county in the state.

In meetings with the Nebraska Department of Roads, Mika said the state will be concentrating on bridges less than 40 feet long.

In these instances, culvert systems are an optimal solution, he added.

This could potentially lead to the benefit of using larger machinery, like bigger excavators that the county does not have at this time.

The bigger excavator will help with culverts if were moving that direction, said Mika.

On a current project, Mika said one of these larger excavators was rented to move a 72-inch pipe weighing 17,000 pounds.

The board agreed to look at a comparative cost analysis of buying versus renting machines for these jobs.

Renting a larger excavator for two months would cost close to $9,200, said Mika.

Another potential future project discussed was working with Western Sand and Gravel to pave part of County Road G north of Ashland to the new sand pit, said Mika.

In a rough estimate, Mika said maintenance this spring due to weather and wear has cost close to $20,000 in rock and manpower for that portion of the road.

The time that motor graders spend on that road, potentially take maintenance away from the rest of the area, he said.
The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH.

Read More
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.
The Quarto Group, Inc. publishes illustrated books and intellectual property products for adults, children, and families in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments, US Publishing and UK Publishing. The company creates and publishes books in various categories, such as baby foods, beverages, cooking methods, courses and dishes, entertaining, essays and narratives, health and healing, holiday, individual chefs and restaurants, media tie-in, history, references, regional and ethnic cooking, seasonal, and vegan and vegetarian cooking; art, crafts and hobbies, fashion and graphic design, graphic novels, music, performing arts, photography, and other design; biography, business and economics, poetry, history, political and social science, and true crime; kits, fiction, non-friction, and activity books; and computers, mathematics, nature, science, space, and technology and engineering. It also provides stationery and gifts, such as books, card decks, collections, coloring books, guided journals, puzzles, and star wars; antiques and classic, automotive how-to, aviation, customizing, culture, marques/models, motorcycles, racing, railroads, repair and maintenance, ships, space, and trucks; and travel and recreation books, including sports and travel. In addition, the company provides agriculture, antiques and collectibles, architecture, gardening, home improvement, and pet books; and body, mind and spirit, family relationships, health and fitness, medical, psychology, religion, self-help, and sex and intimacy books. It sells its products through specialty accounts, booksellers, retailers, wholesalers, and online retail channels. The Quarto Group, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
THIS June, Waterford will see its first Pride march in over a decade as part of the Pride of the Deise festival. Taking place over...
IMAGINING Arts was about all we could do over the last 18 months or so, but now we need imagine no more. Celebrating its 20th...
#Korean Air Korean Air plane heads to Cebu to bring back stranded passengers An alternative Korean Air plane departed for the Philippines on Tuesday to bring home passengers stranded after another plane run by the air carrier overran the airport runway in C...

#(G)I-dle I-dle tops local music charts with 'Nxde' Girl group (G)I-dle topped daily and weekly charts of five major local music streaming services with its release "Nxde" on Tuesday, a week after it dropped. "Nxde," the main tra...
EACH household in Waterford will get 100 deducted automatically from their electricity bill in a one-off scheme by the Government to try and ease...
If true, he'll be a busy man, with one notice from the telco posted on its community noticeboard last Friday after the NBN and ADSL network went down in the fifth major outage in three months attracting nearly 2000 comments from frustrated and angry customers.

Returning to social media for the first time since the telco's latest internet meltdown on Friday , Penn tweeted on Tuesday afternoon he was reading all the comments from customers.

Telstra CEO Andy Penn says he's reading the comments of customers frustrated with the company's repeated internet failures.

The network continued to have problems on Sunday, and even now, nearly 48 hours after Telstra says it fixed the latest problems, the complaints are still rolling in.

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn: "Pls know I'm reading all your comments." Credit:Bloomberg

Comments like this one from "Rodforro", posted on Telstra's crowdsupport site around the same time the company's boss was tweeting, do not make pleasant reading:

"The first post on here refers customers on how to reset their modems.

"I spent 6 hours Sunday waiting and talking to Telstra people and was told to do this. Even last night after waiting 3 hours went through the restart process.
This was on my mind as Gloria Steinem spoke to a full house as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival. Steinem is one of the most prominent leaders of second wave feminism, the movement that gave us the slogan the "personal is political", and naturally people are curious about Steinem the woman. And she politely answered Jennifer Byrne's questions about her personal life  what influence did your father have on you? Tell us about the time you were sitting between Saul Bellow and Gay Talese and Talese dismissed you as a pretty girl. But while Steinem good-naturedly offered up each anecdote, she also valiantly kept trying to bring the conversation back to everyone else in the room: a movement, or the world, is not about individuals, but relationships and connections between people who are "linked, not ranked", she reminded us.

Facing a possible $1m fine, disgraced blogger has again failed to turn up to court for her own case.

Steinem told the audience she was more interested in listening to other people's stories than in answering questions about herself, and she asked the audience to make a new friend before leaving. She invited activists to come up to the mike to make announcements.The difference between Steinem's feminism and the kind of feminism now played out in the media and cultural industries is that where once telling a tragic personal story was just a starting point to building a movement, now it has become the whole point and the way to build a personal brand.

What's most interesting about Hewson's "rape representation" video is not that it's a "militant feminist" piece challenging "patriarchy". It's that it is an artwork that speaks of a culture where performing terrible stories has practically become the default speaking mode for young women in the public eye. Turning the cameras onto yourself and your suffering may momentarily subvert the male gaze, perhaps putting it through some kind of feminist correction filter. But sometimes, turning the cameras on yourself simply just creates a house of mirrors. One that looks like nothing much more than a canny marketing strategy.
"Great minds think alike," my dad said when Apple announced the new product. He's not one to pass up a comparison with Steve Jobs. But I can't blame them. How were they to predict my name's impending fame? When my parents chose to name me after my grandmother Subhalakshmi, they consulted the few other Indian families in Rockford, Illinois, who advised a more simple name to "help the Americans." They landed on Siri, a pseudonym for Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. The name was perfect: cute, simple, mine. But Siri's ubiquitous influence has transformed what used to belong to me into a brand associated with service, even if it also comes with a corporate-approved dollop of sass and wit. Pop culture offers no release. Tina Fey's 30 Rock had a character named Cerie; Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes called their daughter Suri; but with more than 70 million iPhones sold every three months, you don't have to ask an artificially intelligent assistant for help to know which name most people think of first.

"OMG, Siri like the iPhone," should be engraved on my tombstone. A new acquaintance's ability to resist a dumb joke upon meeting me is a barometer to assess our future relationship. I watch as the idea occurs to them and wait to see if they let it out. Most fail, and as I smile and nod, I think, "I will never be friends with this person." At worst, people air their grievances against Apple to me. "They did a terrible job designing her! Why can't she understand me?" strangers in my Uber carpool ask me. I play along, worried I'll get a low rating from the driver if I get surly. Professionally, editors have introduced me to colleagues emphasising how an abundance of knowledge naturally exists inside me. When I'm doing an interview, sources interrupt to say, "Why are you asking me, I thought you had all the answers."

Of course, it's flattering to be considered a genius. But I worry colleagues will ask me to locate the cheapest parking garage. Solace comes from little things: I no longer hear unusual pronunciations like "sye-rye," a common mistake when I was growing up. Baristas don't ask how to spell my name. In South India, my name is common, but typically as a prefix for small businesses: Siri Jewels sells specialty pearls; Siri Tours & Travels shuttles people between cities. It's considered to bring luck to superstitious business owners, and no one in India thinks to associate me, the human, with the brands. It is a novel name among women, though similar names like Shree or Sirisha are fairly common. Apparently, though, it's a common name in Norway. So common, in fact, that my Norwegian ex-boyfriend avoided making any Apple jokes the entire time we were together. But I was also the second Siri he'd dated. Norway is to blame for all my troubles, really: When tech moguls Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, founders of the company that developed Siri (which Apple later acquired), were naming their invention, the Norwegian Kittlaus reportedly chose the name in part for its Norse meaning, "beautiful woman who leads you to victory."
At the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in the first World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 23 and 24 May 2016.

Secretary General Mikuriya spoke at the High-Level Leaders Roundtable on Natural Disasters and Climate Change under the chairmanship of Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. He highlighted the contribution of Customs in facilitating the clearance of disaster relief consignments, as well as that of the WCO in providing training to raise its Members awareness of WCO standards on relief consignments and to enhance preparedness.

Secretary General Mikuriya referred to three essential lessons learned by Customs through past activities, namely the need of (i) communication with humanitarian aid partners; (ii) coordination with other government agencies; and (iii) protection of officers at borders.

He informed the Roundtable that the WCO would collect Members experiences and develop best practices, working with its partners to take these lessons on board for capacity building purposes. He also announced a new initiative, with funding from the Dutch Government, to provide equipment and training to Customs in West Africa, a region severely affected by the Ebola virus disease outbreak.

Secretary General Mikuriya called on other political leaders and international governmental and non-governmental organizations to work together and provide resources to implementation agencies in the humanitarian area. He also took the opportunity to meet ministers and make contributions during other related side events to raise the profile of Customs.
WSU Turns Parks Into Educational Hubs for Science, Arts

May 25, 2016

OGDEN, Utah  Children of all ages and abilities can engage in science experiments and art projects during the summer thanks to Weber State Universitys interactive outreach programs Science in the Parks and Arts in the Parks.

This year marks the 10th annual Science in the Parks and seventh annual Arts in the Parks events. The programs will run for six weeks in June and July from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Science in the Parks was created so we can model science as play for a wide range of ages, said Adam Johnston, Science in the Parks director. Parks are naturally playful spaces, and we want to show how science is just a way to play with both the natural world and the ideas that explain it.

The programs partner with the Ogden School District free summer lunch program. After students eat lunch, they spend an hour participating in hands-on learning activities.

Arts in the Parks is a great way for WSU students in the arts, in education and in other disciplines to gain real-life experiences in presenting their skills to the public and in sharing their talents with children, said Kathryn MacKay, Arts in the Parks co-director. It is an example of what can be accomplished out of good partnerships with our sponsors and other non-profits.

The dates and locations for this summers schedule are:

Arts in the Parks

June 6-10, Lorin Farr Park (769 Canyon Road, Ogden)

June 13-17, 4th Street Park (275 4th St., Ogden)

June 20-24, Lester Park (663 24th St,, Ogden)

June 27-July 1, Monroe Park (850 30th St., Ogden)

July 5 - 8, Mt. Ogden Park (3144 Taylor Ave., Ogden)

July 11-15, West Ogden Park (751 West 24th St., Ogden)

Science in the Parks

June 6-10, West Ogden Park (751 West 24th St., Ogden)

June 13-17, Lorin Farr Park (769 Canyon Road, Ogden)

June 20-24, 4th Street Park (275 4th St., Ogden)

June 27-July 1, Lester Park (663 24th St., Ogden)

July 5  8, Monroe Park (850 30th St., Ogden)

July 11-15, at Mt. Ogden Park (3144 Taylor Ave., Ogden)

In addition to Weber State and the Ogden School District, supporters of the series include:

Val A. Browning Charitable Foundation

Weber County R.A.M.P. (recreation, arts, museums, parks)

Utah Families Foundation

WSUs Department of Physics and College of Science

WSU's Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities

WSUs Department of Visual Art & Design

Utah Calligraphic Artists

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

For more information on Science in the Parks, visit weber.edu/scienceinthepark. For more information on Arts in the Parks, visit weber.edu/artsinthepark.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 24, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 24, 2016 | 01:50 PM | PADUCAH, KY

As the City of Paducah prepares for the first phase of renovations at city hall, officials are applying to have the building listed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.



City Hall will be nominated under Criterion C, which focuses on the design, architecture, and construction of the building. If the nomination process is successful, the city will apply for historic tax credits through the State of Kentucky which would be used to help fund Phase I of the buildings renovation, including the canopy and roof.



Mayor Gayle Kaler said the tax credits would be a big help with the renovation process. Even though the government decision-making process may have seemed lengthy, we have thoroughly researched City Hall design options and solicited input from the public. We respect the heritage of Paducah and feel a responsibility in saving this great building, City Hall," Kaler said. "By pursing a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which would allow us to apply for historic tax credits, we are on a path of making sure this building is saved for future generations to admire.



Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.
Two killed in shooting at St. Louis high school
Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
By The Associated Press May. 25, 2016 | 10:07 AM | FRANKFORT, KY

Health insurance companies in Kentucky want to increase rates by an average of 17 percent next year.

The Kentucky Department of Insurance posted rate requests from the state's major insurance carriers on Wednesday. They include plans for individuals and small groups.

These are not premium increases. The base rate is one of several factors used to determine a person's premium, including age, sex and where a person lives. Individual premiums will vary.

State officials blame some of the increases on the failure of the Kentucky Health Cooperative. Many of the company's high-risk customers were picked up by other companies, leading to higher rates.

The rate requests cover plans sold on and off kynect, the state's health insurance exchange. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin plans to dismantle kynect by the end of this year.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Loading...

Out Of Joint's bracingly satirical new offering, the title being a reference both to the location of the theatre company's HQ and to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour constituency, is an anthology of scenes and vignettes by a quintet of the UK's finest living playwrights. Although there is no through-line between the five pieces, they combine to paint a bleakly humorous picture of Britain today.

One could be forgiven for expecting an evening of all-out Tory-bashing but, while that indeed happens to a certain extent, the Labour Party also comes in for some scathing criticism. Taken as a whole, the show proves surprisingly even-handed in terms of the politics. It is also directed with skill and pace by Max Stafford-Clark, on an elegantly economical set by Tim Shortall. The majority of the acting is exceedingly fine.

The opener - Mark Ravenhill's The Mother, first seen as part of a bigger show at the Royal Court back in 2008, is the theatrical equivalent to a punch in the gut. A pair of soldiers trying to tell a working class mum that her son has been killed in combat are blocked at every turn by the mother's aggression and denial. In the title role, Sarah Alexander is at first abrasively brash before giving way to grief. If the writing seems a little clumsy in the way the principal character succeeds in breaking down the female soldier, Alexander's sobbing despair in the final moments is a haunting indictment of the human cost of combat.

Next up is Caryl Churchill's sketch Tickets are Now on Sale which inventively imagines an innocuous exchange between a middle class couple (Alexander again, barely recognisable, and Steve John Shepherd), repeated multiple times and pared down into corporate-speak, buzz phrases and brand names. The effect is funny but dislocating.

A pair of world premieres - and the meatiest parts of the show - are placed either side of the interval. Alistair Beaton's laugh-out-loud funny The Accidental Leader plays like an unusually foul-mouthed episode of Yes Minister as we see ambitious Labour politician Jim (Bruce Alexander, brilliant) trying to lead an internal revolution against an unnamed but entirely recognisable Party leader. Pettiness and treachery abound, to lacerating comic effect. Sarah Alexander completes an impressive hat-trick of performances as a brassy whistle-blower.

Best of the five is the new David Hare piece, Ayn Rand Takes a Stand which sees a wimpy George Osborne (a suitably vacillating Shepherd) and icy Theresa May (played with a wonderfully brittle quality by Jane Wymark) taken to task over the free market and prohibition of the movement of free labour by the fearsomely histrionic and self-serving Russian authoress/philosopher. Hare's writing is exquisite - playful, trenchant, frequently hilarious - and he is exceptionally well served by Ann Mitchell whose barnstormingly extravagant performance as Rand is the stuff that theatregoers' memories are made of.

The last segment is Stella Feehily's How to Get Ahead in Politics, a bitterly funny account of a Chief Whip (Bruce Alexander, sadly not quite on top of his lines on Press Night) giving Shepherd's drunken, feckless Tory MP his marching orders in the light of allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.

If the newly composed Billy Bragg political anthem finale "No Buddy No" feels a bit awkwardly tacked on, it is still very much in the same vein as the playlets that precede it, as well as being a useful way of getting the entire company back on stage together.

All in all, this is a fun but thought-provoking piece of theatre, likely to infuriate and entertain in equal measure, and Out Of Joint is to be congratulated on bringing to a West End stage the political Britain we live in right now. Recommended.

Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes, including interval.

A View from Islington North runs at the Arts Theatre until 2 July 2016.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/05/2016 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON  Alberta has put forward legislation to implement its multibillion-dollar carbon levy, with new estimates hiking the cost to families to as much as $443 next year.

Opponents, however, estimate it will be about double that.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips introduced Bill 20 for first reading in the legislature Tuesday.

She said the levy will provide an incentive to go green and will be reduced as Alberta becomes more environmentally friendly.

Notley also noted with lower and middle-income Albertans getting rebates, there is a greater chance some of them will see a net monetary gain.

The lowest income folks are the lowest users of energy, Phillips told a news conference prior to introducing the bill in the legislature.

Theyre actually going to come out ahead.

It (the rebate) will provide lower-income folks the wherewithal that they can make changes  whether its changing out a light bulb or other things  that they can do to keep even more of that cash in their pocket.

Bill 20 implements some of the initiatives announced last November by Phillips and Premier Rachel Notley to reduce Albertas carbon footprint and to give it more environmental credibility when it pitches for oil and gas infrastructure like pipelines.

The bill sets out details of the carbon levy, which takes effect Jan 1 and will tax home and business heating bills along with gas at the pumps.

The government says low and middle-income earners, representing 60 per cent of Alberta households, will get a $360 rebate next year while another six per cent will get a partial rebate.

The rates and rebates will rise again in 2018.

In the April budget the government estimated the direct cost of the tax for a couple with two children to be $338 in 2017.

However,the government has now estimated the indirect cost of the tax, representing the expected amount that business owners will pass on to customers.

Officials estimate that to be between $70 and $105 a year per family with two children, bringing the revised cost per family to as low as $408 and as high as $443 in 2017.

Opposition Wildrose Leader Brian Jean suggested the government was low-balling the estimates, saying he believes the cost to a family will be closer to $1,000 a year.

This tax will be damaging to everyday Alberta families at a time when they simply cant afford it, said Jean.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark questioned the rationale of a tax that is to be an incentive to reduce fossil fuel use while delivering a full rebate for six out of 10 households.

This starts to look more like a wealth redistribution tax than a carbon tax, said Clark.

Anyone earning more than $51,250 a year or a couple with two children making over $101,500 a year are not entitled to any rebate.

The legislation also reduces the small business tax rate to two per cent from three.

It establishes a new agency to raise awareness of energy savings and establish green programs.

Notleys government has also promised to cap oilsands emissions and phase out coal-fired electricity by 2030. Those initiatives will be carried out separately and are not part of the legislation.

The government will raise $9.6 billion over the next five years from the carbon levy and from a carbon fee on large industrial emitters.

The money is to be plowed back into the economy, including $3.4 billion earmarked for large-scale green projects and $2.2 billion for public transit.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  The association representing Canadas defence industry is defending the controversial $15-billion sale of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia by an Ontario company.

Christyn Cianfarani, president of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, said Wednesday said it is the responsibility of her industry to follow the rules set by the government.

As an industry association, we certainly dont take positions on the judicial practices of other nations, said Cianfarani, whose organization represents more than 700 defence and security companies.

Nor are we responsible for setting the foreign policy of the country.

Groups such as Amnesty International, the NDP and others have criticized the Liberals for honouring the controversial deal approved by the previous Conservative government, for General Dynamics Land Systems to sell the vehicles to the Saudis.

They cite Saudi Arabias poor human rights record, which includes crackdowns on dissent, mass executions and the subjugation of women. They also say the vehicles could be used against civilians.

Its our responsibility to follow the rules, its very simple, said Cianfarani. The industry is heavily, heavily regulated and our job is to follow the rules that are set by the government of Canada.

Cianfarani was asked about the deal at the opening of the large, two-day defence and security trade show, known as CANSEC. It features massive displays of weapons and high technology and boasts 11,000 participants from around the world.

The annual gathering, which has often sparked protests from peace groups, has been moved to a conference centre close to Ottawas airport.

Cianfaranis association unveiled its annual report that showed the defence industry contributed $6.7 billion in GDP and 63,000 jobs to the Canadian economy in 2014.

That was the year that the Saudi deal was announced by the government.

Cianfarani said she didnt have any specific figures to show how the Saudi deal contributed to the industrys performance in 2014.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said the deal means jobs for Canadian workers and that cancelling the contract would damage Canadas international reputation in future negotiations.

Dion told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that defence companies understand the rules of their industry and their responsibilities.

They know that the prime minister asked me to be very serious about this power that I have and will come with a process that will be more transparent and very rigorous, Dion said in an interview from Egypt.

Its well known by the Canadian companies.

Dion, who recently approved $11 billion of $15 billion in export permits for the Saudi deal, reiterated the governments position that it has no evidence the light armoured vehicles would be used against Saudi civilians.

The government has said the vehicles are meant to help the desert kingdom fight the common enemy of Islamic state militants in the region.

Dion visited Saudi Arabia this week for meetings of the Gulf Co-operation Council, a regional group of countries that Canada sees as a strategic partner.

Asked whether he raised concerns about jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose wife now lives in Quebec, Dion said: I never miss an opportunity to raise the issue of humanitarian support for Canadians in trouble.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Connections from the local Filipino community, a partnership between a northern Manitoba First Nation and a South Korean engineering company, and a tribal king from Ghana will provide some of the storylines among the delegates attending the Centrallia conference in Winnipeg starting today.

Organization of the business-to-business speed-dating event has been honed to perfection by Mariette Mulaire and her team at World Trade Centre Winnipeg, who are playing host to their fourth such conference.

We have had our usual challenges (including last-minute visa cancellations) but that is par for the course, Mulaire said, undaunted. Thats all made up for by people excited about coming.

Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press FILES WTC Winnipeg president and CEO Mariette Mulaire

About 700 people from 30 countries are expected at the 21/2-day event that will feature a full day of comprehensive discussion on topics emerging as key drivers in Winnipegs future economy: doing business in the Arctic, and North and South America, with a focus on business opportunities in Mexico.

The Arctic conference, which will be one of the most comprehensive public discussions about burgeoning development opportunities in the North, will feature high-level presentations from experts in Canada as well as northern Europe.

Interest was even stronger than organizers had anticipated and a larger venue had to be arranged at the last moment.

The amount of interest we received was a surprise, Mulaire said. We went out and got the best speakers we could find from various parts, including from here.

David Barber of the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba and the Canada Research Chair in Arctic system science, will helm a talk entitled the Future of the North.

Marco Dale of the Canada West Foundation will lead todays discussion in the Americas stream. The focus will be on doing business with Mexico, where several local opportunities are emerging, including an ambitious project for direct distribution of Mexican produce at Winnipegs CentrePort Canada.

For the first time, this years version of Centrallia will include a trade show featuring some of Winnipegs star startups in an Innovation Alley showcase.

Centrallia is going to overlap by two days with the national Liberal Party of Canada convention, with both followed closely by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference and trade show.

The three events in a row are expected to bring 5,000 visitors to the city over the course of 12 days.

Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, senior vice-president of Tourism Winnipeg, said with the completion of the RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre expansion, as well as a host of other significant community assets, convention traffic in the city is expected to be on the upswing.

The next few years are looking like good, solid convention years, she said. We have a lot on the prospects list, as well as confirmed for the future.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL  MTY Food Group has a friendly deal to acquire an Arizona-based restaurant franchise company with 2,800 stores worldwide.

The Montreal-based company (TSX:MTY) will add more than a dozen brands to its current 30 restaurant banners including Cultures, Thai Express, Vanellis and ManchuWok.

It will pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala Brands Ltd. and 18 brands such as Cold Stone Creamery, Americas Taco Shop and Kahala Coffee Traders.

About US$240 million of the price will be paid in cash and the rest with about 2.25 million million MTY shares, which closed Tuesday at C$36.68 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

MTY chairman and CEO Stanley Ma says the company has been looking for the right foundation for its expansion into the United States and Kahala Brands is a perfect match.

Kahalas network currently generates about C$950 million in system sales. MTY had more than C$1 billion in system sales last year

The deal is expected to close within 75 days, pending approvals.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/05/2016 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO  Canadas broadcast regulator said Tuesday that it is launching a public hearing to evaluate the implementation of so-called skinny cable services, its latest shot across the bow at the TV industry.

As of March 1, the CRTC mandated that cable and satellite TV service providers offer basic cable packages capped at $25 monthly and let consumers either add channels to their subscriptions in an a-la-carte manner or through pre-packaged bundles. The companies are required to offer both options in December.

The CRTC is taking their compliance with these regulations into account as part of the licence renewal process for many companies. It has already renewed the licences of some providers until November and said it plans to extend them until the end of August 2017 unless any issues arise during the hearing.

CTRC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais speaks to media at the CRTC offices in Gatineau, Que., on March 19, 2015. Canada's broadcast regulator is launching a public hearing to evaluate the implementation of so-called skinny TV services. As of March 1, the CRTC mandated cable and satellite TV service providers to offer basic cable packages capped at $25 monthly and let consumers either add channels onto their subscriptions in an a-la-carte manner or through pre-packaged bundles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais has previously hinted at the possibility of not renewing licences as an enforcement tool.

The CRTC introduced skinny cable measures so Canadians could better match their TV services with their needs, he said. Since March, nearly 100,000 people have opted to subscribe to the basic cable package, according to the CRTC.

Concerns have been raised, however, about how some television service providers have been implementing these new options, he said in a statement. The CRTC has fielded 1,800 calls, including complaints, about skinny TV packages.

One of the concerns is that the packages can be more expensive than $25 after adding in installation and equipment fees, and critics have warned that, as a result, skinny packages may actually result in higher TV bills for consumers.

Last month, the CRTC asked companies to provide it with details of their new offerings and any additional charges required and published their responses on Tuesday. Canadians can submit comments to the CRTC on the issue until June 23.

As we prepare for the full implementation of pick-and-pay, we will have an opportunity at the public hearing to verify whether their actions are in keeping with our objective, Blais said.

While a variety of companies practices will be reviewed, only four are required to attend the public hearing. Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron are scheduled to attend the hearing starting Sept. 7 in Gatineau, Que. The hearing is expected to last between two and three days.

The CRTC summoned the four companies to the hearing because they are vertically integrated and their customers represent about 78 per cent of all TV subscribers in Canada, said spokeswoman Patricia Valladao. Vertically integrated companies own both programming and distribution channels.

Bell is happy to participate, said spokeswoman Caroline Audet, as the company says it surpassed the CRTCs requirements by offering all the required choices ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline.

Videotron also said it has complied with the new regulations.

It is important to note that this hearing is in connection with the renewal of our licences, not to a non-compliance with CRTC requirements, Videotron said in a statement.

Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett said the company is looking forward to working with the commission on its licence renewal and answering any questions about its services. Rogers has always supported more choice for consumers, she said.

Shaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The CRTC may decide to call other TV providers to the hearing after the public comment period closes, said Valladao.

Follow @AlekSagan on Twitter.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Welcoming 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada was more than a humanitarian gesture  it was a smart play for national security, says an expert with the Conference Board of Canada.

It was one of the best moves from a counterterrorism perspective, said Satyamoorthy Kabilan, the non-partisan think tanks director of national security and strategic foresight. He explained why to police, business and community representatives gathered in Winnipeg Wednesday. It sends a huge message and a very public message to Daesh (the Islamic State)  Your own people hate you and want to get out as soon as possible.'

Kabilan was responding to a Winnipeg police officer asking him what percentage of Syrian refugees who recently arrived in Canada pose a terror threat. Close to 1,000 Syrian refugees resettled in Manitoba this past winter. Kabilan couldnt provide a percentage but said posing as a refugee and having to deal with immigration bureaucracy and security screening make it the least likely route for a potential terrorist.

Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press files A man, centre, reacts as he and others hold a banner during a rally organized by the local Kurdish community to call on the Canadian government to allow more Syrian refugees into the country, in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday, September 6, 2015.

He pointed to an October 2015, report in the Economist that looked at the number of refugees in the U.S. prosecuted for terrorist acts since Sept. 11, 2001. It found that of the 745,000 refugees resettled since Sept. 11, 2001, only two people, both Iraqis in Kentucky, have been arrested on terrorist charges. They were arrested for aiding al-Qaida in Iraq.

War-weary and uprooted Syrian refugees arriving in Canada, said Kabilan, would be quick to point out anyone they suspected of having links to terror.

If they had any inkling of a plan by Daesh (an Arabic reference to Islamic State), the likelihood of someone saying something is pretty high, said Kabilan. They want to get away from that.

Canadas welcome of Syrians  the majority of whom are Muslim  also undermines Islamic State propaganda that Muslims are not welcome in the West, said Kabilan.

A member of the Canadian military at the seminar organized by risk management and security firm DHD International, and held at Canad Inns Polo Park, asked about differences between Western Europe and Canada in terms of susceptibility to terror attacks by Islamic State. Canada, Kabilan said, is protected by both geography and how it treats newcomers.

A very major reason Canada is immune is Canadian society, he said.

Belgium and France both have been attacked and both have had problems with integration, Kabilan said. Its not really a significant problem in Canada.

He said a 2011 Conference Board of Canada survey asked members of immigrant communities about whether they could achieve high office in Canada and become police chief or mayor, for example.

More often than not, they say yes, he said. The positive response in Canada was one of the highest in the West among immigrant groups, he said. Were much more welcoming and accepting of people from all walks of life, said Kabilan. That plays a major role.

Terrorism may not pose an existential threat to Canada but its important for Canadians to support counterterrorism efforts, said Kabilan with the not-for-profit board dedicated to researching and analyzing economic trends, organizational performance and public policy issues.

Terrorism is about striking terror into peoples lives, Kabilan said. The effects go beyond the physical. They can have an effect on how people perceive their safety.

Confidence means everything, he said. Look at the stock market. There may be no successful attacks and it can still have an impact.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian military personnel are more likely than civilians to consider suicide and plan for it, a University of Manitoba study has found.

The findings are published in a study posted this week on the Canadian Medical Association Journal website.

Fortunately, the Canadian Armed Forces offer more mental health services for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder compared with provincial health care systems and troops are far more likely to access the services, thanks to a strong military anti-stigma campaign.

AP / Anja Niedringhaus / The Canadian Press Canadian military personnel are more likely than civilians to consider suicide and plan for it, a University of Manitoba study has found.

The rest of Canada should be so lucky, the study suggests, singling out law enforcement officers and firefighters as civilians who would get the most out of services that are available to Canadas military.

Although the Canadian Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada have been criticized strongly military personnel who reported suicidal behaviours were significantly more likely than their civilian counterparts to seek help, the study found.

The Canadian health care system has been criticized for not being a universal health care system, with inequities in access, service provision and substantial inefficiencies.

Our study supports this criticism This direct comparison suggest the need for stronger investment in mental health services. Certain highly stressful occupations such as firefighting and law enforcement may benefit from screening and anti-stigma campaigns similar to those used by the military, the study stated.

The group of researchers led by University of Manitoba psychiatry professor Jitender Sareen examined data from Canadas military mission in Afghanistan. Canada took part in a 12-year mission, bringing its last soldiers home in 2014.

The study, entitled Trends in suicidal behaviour and the use of mental health services in Canadian military and civilian populations, compared trends and made comparisons using Statistics Canada surveys of military personal and ordinary Canadians that were carried out in 2002 and 2013.

The first two national surveys in 2002 involved 25,643 civilians and 5,153 military members. The other two in 2013 involved 15,981 civilians and 6,700 military members.

In the military, the rise in suicide attempts is likely because of the Afghan war. What weve shown is that over time, particularly among men in the military, there was an increase in the prevalence of suicide attempts, said Sareen, the lead author on the 10-member research team.

Charting that increase also raised troubling issues about suicide in Canada.

As the Canadian mission wore on and the rates of suicide attempts in the military rose, the study showed the rate of military suicide attempts caught up to civilian rates.

One of the key findings was that the rate of suicide attempts in the civilian population hasnt changed over time, not over the last decade, Sareen said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The study found Canadian military personnel were 64 per cent more likely than civilians to plan a suicide and 32 per cent more likely to think about suicide in 2013.

The most startling figure was the number of suicide attempts among men in the military, which jumped 51 per cent from 2002 to 2013.

Once the researchers counted military women, whose rates fell significantly over the same period, there was a 32 per cent rise in suicide attempts among the Canadian military from 2002 to 2013. That brought suicide attempts among the military in line with civilian Canadians.

The figures indicate the longer Canadas Afghanistan military mission lasted, the greater the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and attempted suicides among troops. The study did not look at completed suicides.

Canada lost more soldiers to suicide than combat during the mission, according to Defence Department numbers that were published in the Toronto Star in 2014.

In addition to the 138 Canadian soldiers who died in the line of duty during the Afghanistan mission, two consultants, one diplomat and one journalist lost their lives. That compared with 160 military suicides, according to the 2014 Defence Department numbers.

The federal system has a lot more services that have become available in the last 10 years, compared to the health care systems run by the provinces, Sareen said.

Military health services are provided through federal jurisdiction, unlike civilian services, which are provided by the provinces. Ottawa boosted its mental health services, partly in response to media criticism as rates of suicides rose during the Afghan mission.

The military has created a number of clinics, with more post-deployment screening and theyve tried to get rid of the stigma so there is also a lot more access in the military to mental health services than in the civilian system, Sareen said.

Over the course of the Afghan mission, military budgets rose by millions of dollars a year to keep up with the need for services.

Canada took part in a five-year period of heavy combat but troops were also involved in diplomacy, education, womens rights and dam building during the Afghan mission.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg fans of iconic Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip got some good news this morning  24 hours after hearing some very bad news.

The band will play the MTS Centre on Friday, Aug. 5 as part of its farewell tour across the country.

The Tragically Hip released the dates of its summer tour a day after announcing that frontman Gord Downie had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

CLEMENS RIKKEN / HANDOUT / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES The Tragically Hip (left to right): Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois, Gord Downie, Johnny Fay and Rob Baker.

On Tuesday, one of his doctors said while Downie has responded well to treatment, there is no chance of a successful battle against the tumour.

But for now, Downie has been cleared to tour, which kicks of July 22 in Victoria.

The Hip will make stops in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary before the show in Winnipeg. Tickets for the show here go on sale Friday, June 3 at 10 a.m. at livenation.com, however, an American Express presale is scheduled for May 31.

The concert in Winnipeg will, indeed, be special, said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice-president of venue and entertainment for True North Sports & Entertainment.

Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip have been friends of True North Sports & Entertainment since 2004. The Hip was the first rock concert ever staged at MTS Centre. The building had only been open about 11 days, as I recall, he said, in a statement. This is a band that has made us proud to present Canadian music and support Canadian musicians as part of the fabric of what TNSE does.

The guys have always made time for us, whether it was a team photo with the (Manitoba) Moose or being accessible for fans. This is a time to remember and embrace the good times that have been fuelled by the soundtrack of five good Canadian kids from Kingston  our friends, The Tragically Hip.

The band will also play London, Ont., Ottawa and Kingston, as well as two shows in Toronto.

A portion of the proceeds of the 11-concert tour will go to the Sunnybrook Foundation, which supports the Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While fighting in the First World War, Cpl. Stanley Evan Bowen also fought to keep the flame alive between him and his sweetheart in Winnipeg by writing more than 150 letters.

Imagine if Bowen had been able to tweet.

Well, thats what the Winnipeg Free Press will do starting from Bowens first letter he wrote 100 years ago Thursday after he had marched down Main Street with his fellow Royal Winnipeg Rifles to board a train heading east. The Free Press will tweet his letters all the way to the final one written on Sept. 29, 1918.

Starting Thursday at 11:11 a.m., tweets from @SignedStanley will begin going out. Some will have exact quotes from Bowens letters, some will be based on information in them, but all will tell the experiences faced by just one of the thousands of Canadian soldiers who fought in the First World War, which took place from 1914 to 1918.

Bowen was also one of the Canadian soldiers who experienced and survived the historic Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The Free Press based a Remembrance Day feature story on the letters in November 2014, but all of the letters have since been gifted by the family to be preserved at the Archives of Manitoba at 200 Vaughan St. near the legislature.

Bowen said goodbye to his family and gave his girlfriend, Mary McNair, of 662 Corydon Ave., a quick kiss just before the troop train pulled out of the station.

He then sat down, pulled out a pencil and began writing a letter.

I have just opened your first note and it brought you so close I cried like a baby. It was truly the sweetest note ever written, but I wanted you so much and felt so helpless.

I crawled into my bunk and let my feelings go. This may seem very childish from a corporal in the Kings army, but I couldnt help it.

Keep on being brave, dear, you acted like a thoroughbred this morning and taught me a lesson in self-control and courage. Remember we are only separated for a time and it wont be long.

It turned out to be far longer. Bowen didnt return to Winnipeg until after his discharge in 1919.

And while Bowen had to burn the letters he received from McNair, because from what he writes in his letters she was as prolific as he was, she kept his letters through her life, passing them on to her daughter, Barbara Sarson.

Kathleen Epp, Manitoba Archives senior archivist, said if people want to, they can go there to read the complete letters of Bowen as well as other ones sent back home by other Manitoba soldiers.

Stanley Bowen outside a church somewhere in England during First World War before serving at Western Front.

Its all preserved, Epp said. It is in file folders in our vault.

Some are in protective sleeves because they are do delicate. But people are welcome to come in and read them.

Epp said Bowens letters are fascinating.

It adds to the collection of letters we have, she said.

They were all telling a similar story, but they are all telling their own story, too. It gives us a glimpse of how soldiers were presenting their stories at the time.

I think it is a fascinating window into Manitobans 100 years ago.

Epp said the archives have also been doing a weekly blog based on the letters of George Battershill, a soldier from East Kildonan who died at Vimy in 1917. The blog is updated every Monday here and the letters go from March 1916 to April 1917.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A prominent Winnipeg radiologist is exploring the possibility of running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Dr. Dan Lindsay launched an exploratory committee this week and will spend the weekend glad-handing at the Conservative convention in Vancouver as he decides whether he wants to officially join the race.

When I look at the political spectrum I think there needs to be some real leadership with a sense of humour, Lindsay told the Free Press in an interview today.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Dan Lindsay Radiologist, president-elect of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba is considering running for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership.

Lindsay, 60, grew up in Winnipeg and graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba. He is currently the director of diagnostic imaging for both the Interlake Regional Health Authority and the Northern Regional Health Authority and is the president-elect of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. He served five tours in Afghanistan as a radiologist in Kandahar, an experience he said shaped a lot of how he sees Canada, thanks to eye-opening experiences about other parts of the world.

Lindsay was careful with his words when asked what he thought worked against the Conservatives last fall, when the 10-year-old government of Stephen Harper was felled by a resurrected Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau.

Perhaps the message wasnt getting out, he said. There was a sense the government wasnt listening.

He also said the positive messaging of Trudeaus sunny ways campaign resonated with everyone.

But he doesnt think the current government, or Trudeau, has the chops to make Canada what it should be  the wealthiest country in the world, saying Trudeau is neither courageous nor a strong leader, but is arrogant and full of swagger.

I want to see, whoever is our leader, I want to see that individual garner international respect, said Lindsay.

Lindsay was active in the riding association of former MP Steven Fletcher, and is a longtime member of, and donor to, the Conservative Party but he is still mostly an outsider to politics. He said he thinks that can be advantage because he doesnt have the cynicism or baggage of being an MP.

Fletcher, now a Manitoba MLA, said it is a lot harder for someone outside the current caucus to win a leadership race.

Hes a good man, said Fletcher. He is genuinely interested in public policy particularly in the area of health.

Lindsay said he will be looking to see what kind of response he gets at the convention this weekend and intends to make a decision quickly because he knows he will have to work hard to get his recognition up, more so than some of the well-known candidates. He already speaks some French but is working on becoming fully bilingual.

The new Conservative leader will be chosen at a convention in May 2017. Thus far, there are three official candidates in the race  MPs Kellie Leitch, Maxime Bernier and Michael Chong. Several others are said to be eyeing it, including current MPs Jason Kenney and Lisa Raitt and former justice minister Peter MacKay, who sat out the last election and is currently working as a lawyer. Businessman and reality television star Kevin OLeary is looking to make a run as an outsider. Interim Leader Rona Ambrose is currently not eligible to run but there is a move afoot at the convention to change the rules so she can. So far, she has said regardless of that, she is not interested in seeking the permanent job.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its the ghoul that refuses to disappear: anti-Semitism, the hatred of Jewish people merely and exclusively because of who they are. Its dark, multifaceted and complex in origin, and impossible to properly define and dissect in a single column but, as I say, it simply will not die.

Its earlier form was religious, its more modern was racial, and now it has become political. In Europe in particular, Jew-hatred has been enabled by the debate around Israel and Palestine and here is where the discussion becomes acutely difficult but absolutely essential: isolating and condemning the anti-Semite but acknowledging and allowing the concerned critic of Israeli policy.

In Britain, the Labour Party is experiencing internal paroxysms as it investigates and sometimes expels members, some of them relatively senior, for comments about Jews that go far beyond anti-Zionism.

In Canada, the post-Mulcair NDP could well have its own challenges, with the left sometimes losing its sense of decorum over the Middle East.

So how do we know, how should we respond and how do we react to the irrational?

The first reality we need to embrace is that the last people who should be held responsible for anti-Semitism are the Palestinians. In spite of the contrived narrative around the repugnant Mufti of Jerusalem in the 1930s and 40s and his support for Hitler, the vast majority of Palestinians had absolutely nothing to do with the European genocide of the Jews. The anti-Semitic toxins that flowed into the bloodstream of the European body politic were, to the shame of the church, a gruesome mingling of perverted Christianity, forest tribalism and political instability.

For Palestinians, the Jews were not victims, not persecuted people begging simply to be left alone but strong, determined, bellicose young pioneers who wanted Palestine for themselves. A Palestinian hating Israelis is nothing at all like a moronic fascist hating Jews, and to confuse the two is unfair to Palestinians and dilutes the sheer horror of authentic anti-Semitism.

However, while we should absolutely understand Palestinian agony, its a little more challenging to blithely forgive some of the hysterical statements made by Europeans and North Americans.

Whatever may have been done in the name of Zionism, the reality is Israel was not some colonial or academic project but an act of desperation from a people who had worked to be accepted in Germany, Poland, Russia, and pretty much everywhere else. Its simply too facile to condemn Israel without at least some empathy with the Jewish experience.

But then, of course, we have the downright Jew-haters using Palestine as an excuse to perpetuate their racism. They should be exposed by everyone, whatever their views on the Middle East, but in dismissing the racists, its important not to demonize those who have no hostility to Jews but do believe Israel acts unjustly and the Palestinians have both a historic and contemporary grievance.

Nor can it be denied that for decades the label of anti-Semite was thrown at those who criticized Israel. It was a shortsighted and unethical ploy, and was so overused that today, tragically, the accusation is sometimes ignored even when entirely appropriate.

Its a dilemma. Pakistanis who have no knowledge of Israel or the Arab world screaming at Jews out of a misguided sense of Islamic solidarity while saying nothing when Pakistan enforces its vile blasphemy laws. American Christian Zionists applauding every Israeli action out of an obsession with the end times but dismissing the cries of fellow Christians who are Palestinian. White leftists comparing Israelis to Nazis but admiring Iran even though it murders young gay men. And so on.

Paradox, blood-thick confusion, hypocrisy, inconsistency and exploitation. The Arab rulers continue to oppress, the world powers continue to fight wars vicariously, and Israel does pretty much what it wants to do. Yet, the Palestinians continue to suffer and ordinary Israelis continue to wonder why they cant just put down their guns and party. I wish I had a solution, but I dont, and I fear that those who want to divide, hate and hurt are winning the battle.

Michael Corens new book is Epiphany: A Christians Change of Heart & Mind Over Same-Sex Marriage.

mcoren@sympatico.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Oh, Niki Ashton. Youre the picture of contradictions.

On one hand, your message to women is suck it up, buttercup. On the other hand, its a loud demand that we take the sexist treatment of women in politics seriously.

Sorry, but you cant have it both ways.

THE CANADIAN PRESS / HO-HOUSE OF COMMONS Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeauis shown near Opposition whip Gordon Brown in the House of Commons on May 18, 2016 in what has become widlely known as #elbowgate

Ashton, the NDP MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, became the rather public voice of aggrieved female politicians last week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus meltdown in the House of Commons. (One of my colleagues described it as a dad moment, with the father walking toward the recalcitrant child saying, You, get in the car. But I digress.)

The PM quickly apologized, not once, but three times, for grabbing Conservative whip Gord Brown by the arm so he could take his seat and a vote on a motion could take place, and in the process, jostling NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the chest.

Ashton has called it another example of gender-based violence. I want to say that for all of us who witnessed this, this was deeply traumatic, she said to her Commons colleagues. What I will say, if we apply a gendered lens, it is very important that young women in this space feel safe to come here and work here.

He made us feel unsafe and were deeply troubled by the conduct of the prime minister of this country.

Excuse me?

Did you happen to notice NDP Leader Tom Mulcairs face of rage at any point in time during the incident, Niki? If you want to talk about being afraid of violence, Id also say that having to physically restrain the NDP leader as he screamed You are pathetic at the PM would be pretty scary to watch. The blame doesnt just belong in the Liberal camp on this one.

Brosseau was obviously shaken up. I have no doubt she was upset, but it was hardly from an accidental elbow to the chest  the kind that happens regularly on a crowded bus in the middle of rush-hour traffic. Its because there were two men acting like alpha males and making fools of themselves (and holding up some mighty important debate on doctor-assisted suicide at the same time).

And while public opinion has rightly responded by chiding Ashton for her hyperbolic response, the point I find most galling is that the previous week, the young, privileged, and childless MP chastised the PMs wife, Sophie Gregoire, after Gregoire suggested she could use a little help in keeping up with the demands placed upon her as part of a very popular and photogenic couple.

Gregoire was merely speaking about the challenges facing the wife of a prime minister. She wasnt going on strike until she was immediately assigned staff. She just told a journalist she was feeling overwhelmed by demands from the public and she could use some assistance as she used her dining room table as an office to juggle her workload  which frankly sounds familiar to most women.

Ashton went on the attack. Hearing statements like that certainly doesnt speak to the reality that Canadian women face and the kind of struggles that, you know, that theyre undertaking day in, day out, she told reporters.

Certainly, the kind of statements we heard from the prime ministers wife, you know, speak to that disconnect with the reality that Canadian women face.

Way to stand up for your sisters there, Niki. Youll stand up for women when theyre in the NDP, but not when theyre Liberal.

Nice to know what kind of feminist you are.

Shannon Sampert is the Winnipeg Free Press perspectives and politics editor.

shannon.sampert@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @paulysigh
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Following yet another scandal highlighting the harm caused by the child-welfare system, Families Minister Scott Fielding recently declared the way Child and Family Services treats children is unacceptable and vowed, we need to fix the system.

These are encouraging words. After years with little in the way of change, they coincide with a growing consciousness the child-welfare system represents a continuation of the residential school system, a connection many indigenous people have insisted for years.

How disappointing, then, to have the minister immediately make the hollowness of his aspirations crystal clear.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Office of the Children's Advocate report favoured a holistic response to the problems surrounding indigenous children in care.

The Manitoba governments only plans for reform in the near future, Fielding says, are expanded information-sharing powers between police and other government actors. These have been tacked on to a forthcoming law focusing not on the child-welfare system, but other child predators. Fielding leaves it to us to stretch our imaginations to see how information-sharing could have prevented the current crisis  which centred on the revelation of children who had been moved between placements 105 times in a single year  much less how it will address the deeper problems in the system as a whole.

The recommendations in the report of the Manitoba childrens advocate that documented the problem, like others before it, makes no mention of the police or information-sharing and instead favours a holistic response that emerges from extensive research and consultation with directly affected communities. While Progressive Conservatives had no issue condemning the NDP for its lacklustre child-welfare policy, they now offer only rhetoric, politicizing the 10,000 lives of children in care to shore up their legislative agenda in a largely unrelated area.

Existing legislation has failed to ask a question oft repeated by the community: what to do when the child predator is a system established by the government itself?

On the occasions when the Conservatives recognize the harms settler society inflicts on indigenous communities, their instinctive response is to increase police powers. We saw this when then-prime minister Stephen Harper described the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls as being simply a crime problem, calling for ramped-up police budgets, rather than one to solve by looking at Canadian history and institutions, as leading reports have consistently urged.

Police and state institutions themselves have often historically been the ones doing the victimizing. Indigenous people were only first overrepresented in Manitoba prisons in the 1950s, a trend that has been linked to the fact the RCMP first imposed European law on reserves at that time. Lawyer-professor Pam Palmater has similarly noted mistreatment of indigenous women and girls by legal institutions, police and others in authority are regularly ignored in the broader discussion.

Though the Hughes report into the 2005 death of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair did call for changes to information-sharing practices among its many other recommendations, it hardly connects to the concerns to which Fielding was reacting. The NDP already picked all the low-hanging fruit of easy-to-implement Hughes recommendations. What youth in care now need are substantive changes with a clear ability to transform an unjust system into the one children in care deserve  a goal entirely absent in the foreseeable future from the provinces legislative agenda.

Youth in care repeatedly argue for stability and long-term support that transcends governmental departments and bureaucratic buck-passing. Ensuring consistency in relationships with engaged social workers and developing long-term suitable placements should, at the very least, be two of Fieldings goals.

To the NDPs credit, two bills introduced before the April election booted it from power did show limited promise.

An expanded childrens advocate mandate would encourage consistent oversight of the system and would have begun to redress the silencing of the voices of youth in care themselves in policy-making. The other area is customary care legislation, which Fielding is now putting off as something he will look into. No significant improvement has ever been seen through, and successive governments instead treat this as a politicized problem that evokes only anger, outrage, and continued inaction.

Youth in care have repeatedly demanded change. The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions first five recommendations all centre on child welfare. The TRC highlighted the provinces are responsible for addressing the broken system and moving toward a path of reconciliation.

If the province continues to pay lip service to and dodge the clearly defined problems with child welfare in Manitoba, every new youth who is abandoned, ignored or targeted by the system will now rest on the new governments record, and on its conscience.

Real change requires bold action and measurable improvement in the lives of each marginalized youth in care and those of their families, through transformative change in the system guided by the communities who are most directly impacted. Empty talk is an unacceptable explanation to a child under government care. When it comes to CFS, justice requires community-directed action.

Dylan Cohen is a former youth in care and a community organizer. Mark Phillips in an academic associate at McGill University in Montreal.
The Diocese of Winona and the cathedral of the Sacred Heart face yet another allegation of sexual abuse of a young boy by former priest Thomas Adamson.

The latest allegation, filed in Winona County District Court late Monday, alleges that Adamson abused the boy, identified in the suit as John Doe 129, at the cathedral beginning in 1969 when the boy was in fourth grade. The abuse continued until 1972, according to court documents.

Adamson was not assigned to the cathedral as rector or associate, but was present at the cathedral for diocesan liturgies and other functions, the suit alleges. Doe 129 was an altar boy at the cathedral and, as such, was put in contact with Adamson, whose pedophilic predilections were know to the bishop and other church officials.

The suit accuses the diocese of negligence, negligent supervision, and negligent retention in the case, and accuses the cathedral of negligence. Doe 129 is claiming $50,000 in damages plus court costs and attorneys fees.

Adamson has been accused in at least 36 other cases of abuse brought against the Winona Diocese. He is one of 17 men who served as priests in the diocese who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing minors.

This most recent filing came three days before the door closes for bringing suit under the Minnesota Child Victims Act. Three years ago the Minnesota Child Victims Act was approved by the state Legislature, offering victims of child sexual abuse a second chance at justice.

The act removed the civil statute of limitations that had previously protected perpetrators of child sexual abuse from being sued for damages after their victims reached the age of 24. It opened a three-year window for victims of abuse that had passed their 24th birthday on May 24, 2013, to bring suit against their abusers. That three-year window closes Wednesday.

When it does, according to published reports, close to 1,000 men and women will have come forward claiming to have been abused, most of them by Roman Catholic priests.

The law has led to hundreds of civil lawsuits against dioceses across the state, as well as the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, with the resulting claims raising significant questions about whether those dioceses will declare bankruptcy. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and has been reorganizing since.

Whether the Diocese of Winona will follow the same route isnt clear, but also not out of the question, according to previous diocese statements and a reading of both internal and public documents.
The Winona Planning Commission put a hitch in the proposal for the Winona YMCA to build a new facility behind Winona Health and sell its existing building and land to Kwik Trip, following several hours of listening to residents debate both sides of the issue Monday night.

A 4-3 vote recommended denial of the YMCAs request to change the block it is on from traditional neighborhood to downtown fringe as designated by the citys comprehensive plan, which was created in 2007 before the neighborhood was dramatically changed by demolishing nearly two dozen commercial and residential properties to make way for the new interstate bridge.

Commission members Mandi Olson, Dale Boettcher, Peter Shortridge and Brad Buelow voted for the denial, with Ed Hahn, Brad Ballard and Craig Porter voting against. Commissioner LaVerne Olson was present, but left earlier in the meeting and wasnt there for the vote.

The commissions vote on the comprehensive plan change was a recommendation, which will now come to the Winona City Council for a binding vote. The commissions decision to ask the council to deny the change put a hold on a subsequent discussion of rezoning the property; that discussion will come later, depending on how the council rules.

Winona YMCA CEO Derek Madsen said that the YMCA will continue to the council to move the project forward and clarify a number of misunderstandings.

Madsen said the purpose behind the comprehensive plan change, necessary to allow the rezoning, is needed regardless of whether Kwik Trip or any other developer purchases the property.

Traffic has changed, accessibility has changed, parking has changed, Madsen said. And really, that area of the community has reshaped itself.

Concerns about any development, especially a gas station, were high at the meeting; the development would be adjacent to Winonas Windom Park neighborhood, which is historically significant and features a large public park and a number of restored homes.

Around 70 people gathered in the council chambers and spilled off into the hallway, with many neighbors and residents present at the meeting saying they were against the proposal. The majority spoke particularly about being against Kwik Trip in the location, and not to the merits of the YMCA relocating and replacing its aging facility, a move it has planned for years but has struggled to find enough donors to fully fund without selling its existing assets.

Concerns ranged from property tax decreases, to being a bad fit in the neighborhood, to potential for attracting college students at night and transients.

Dozens read letters and statements highlighting the importance of the neighborhoods insulation and preservation.

Scott Turner, who lives in the Windom Park area, said Kwik Trip shouldnt be the first thing visitors coming across the interstate bridge see in the city.

Im unaware of any other river city that has a gas station greet visitors, Turner said. The fact that Kwik Trip plans to denigrate the gateway to our beautiful city does not surprise me, it disgusts me.

Kwik Trip had stayed away from the initial negotiations the YMCA had with several potential suitors over the years, until all decided they werent interested in the building and land, Madsen said. The YMCA also at one point had hoped the interstate bridge plans would include seizing and paying for their building and land, but that didnt happen.

Kwik Trip real estate director Hans Zietlow said the same, and that the company sees the proposal as a way to support the YMCA and what it provides the Winona community.

The greatest goal is to be able to repurpose this property for the YMCA, Zietlow said. It solves some problems for the YMCA that I dont think anyone else has any solutions for.

The YMCA has said that it has set a target goal of raising $13 million, but has only been able to raise $9 million, with another $2.5 million potentially pending. Madsen has said the agreement with Kwik Trip to purchase the building and land is included in the $9 million.

Kathy Christenson, who arrived with a petition and 152 signatures from both neighbors around Windom Park and other supporters, said that they opposed the rezoning.

We want to rezone because we can make more money, is not an appropriate reason to rezone, Christenson said.

Others argued that the property abuts increasingly mixed-use zoning, primarily because of the substantial effects that the interstate bridge project has had. The changes in the area have included the removal of several rental houses and multiple commercial properties, and new projects have included multi-level apartment buildings, including a proposal to build a 20-unit apartment building with ground-level commercial space on the former Timbers restaurant property.

Leslie Hittner, one of the supporters of changing the comprehensive plan, said that Windom Park and the view coming off the bridge shouldnt be seen as representative of everything Winona had to offer in the way of arts, culture and history, and noted that the area had already changed.

The nature of the neighborhood from Fourth Street north wasnt changed by Kwik Trip, it was changed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, he said. Its a done deal. I think were far better off working with the developer than fighting any kind of development.

The change to the comprehensive plan was found fitting by planning staff, who judged that the area had already undergone substantial changes, that the site no longer fit the qualifications of traditional neighborhood, and that the development wouldnt have an undue impact on the surrounding community.

Still, the Planning Commission voted it down.

Supporting the recommendation to deny, Mandi Olson said that the commission didnt have much control over the design, and that it could impact the community more than expected.

A change to the comprehensive plan should not be taken lightly, Olson said.

Other commission members considered the idea of tabling the proposal and returning to it at a later meeting. But they wouldnt have had a chance to put it off long, given that the city is already considering changes to zoning standards.

Commission chair Ed Hahn said that the commission was in a tough spot, with the neighborhood change coming from the bridge project clashing with the zoning updates still in effect. He questioned the feasibility of any development on the lot, citing traffic issues.

The timing of this particular issue could not be worse, Hahn said. Right now we find ourselves in this position, but the way that this comes down right now it seems very reactive rather than proactive.
Its too easy but impossible to avoid drawing a connection between the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Legislature this spring.

Players on the teams kicked off the preseason with the usual bromides of boundless optimism. Got a lot of talent this year. Some new faces and new blood will really bring some positives, and the veterans are ready to step it up. Last few years were rough, but were really going to surprise people with some big victories.

We indulged the cheer  how can you not be optimistic during a season when the world blooms anew? Still, we knew where this was all headed. The Twins toward historic awfulness. The Legislature toward seemingly historic brokenness.

But instead of the tired blame-game happening across the state this week calling out each side, throwing around the do-nothing tags, talking through how voters should toss so-and-so in November  lets consider first whether the process, not the people, are to blame most.

And lets note that Winona Rep. Gene Pelowski has already offered a pretty good plan to fix it, if only more lawmakers would take heed.

The Legislature left major bills on the table this session, including comprehensive transportation funding, funding much-needed projects across the state including Winona State Universitys Education Village, and a variety of other initiatives and policy changes that died before they got an honest shot.

In large part, thats because of the usual 11th-hour madness that resulted in scrambling to take care of most of the business that was laid out months ago, with lawmakers saying afterward they hesitated to vote on multiple bills because they didnt have a clue what was in them.

Pelowski, a longtime advocate for cleaner, more efficient (and saner) state government operations, has made good inroads in recent years with suggested changes on amendments and other rules, and this year re-started the conversation on lawmakers who introduce way too many bills  more than 4,000 this biennium  that are under-researched, uncared for, and too heavily influenced by outside interests. Its too bad that the lawmaker who quite literally has refined the model for Model Legislature isnt given a more powerful voice in how good government should work.

This session clearly showed that we need to discuss legislative reform, Pelowski told the Daily News. We cannot operate this way.

Were not necessarily bemoaning what came from this years session (weve pretty much given up on tax reciprocity and Sunday liquor sales at this point). Sentences for non-violent drug offenders in some cases will be reduced. The states confusing caucus system is dead, replaced with a primary. There are encouraging things for Greater Minnesota, especially in the form of a change in how farms and businesses are taxed, increased local government aid, rural broadband funding (though still not nearly enough) and other changes.

The bigger concern instead is what the future holds, especially as the trend continues of the Legislature losing bright young minds and turnover prevailing, with fed-up members leaving to return to families, careers and other pursuits. Minnesota has always prided itself on being stronger, smarter, more thoughtful and more innovative than many of its neighbors and in national discussions about common-sense state governance that works, taking big leaps to make necessary investments and choosing compromise over party spats. So its terrifying to think that the Minnesota Legislature could soon come to resemble the United States Congress.

The Star Tribunes Lori Sturdevant, a much more incisive observer of the Legislature than we could ever be, suggested in a recent column that Minnesota gets what it pays for, with part-time lawmakers getting paid part-time wages ($31,140 a year) for what always ends up amounting to a full-time job that includes plenty of travel and plenty of responsibilities that take the states most civic-minded people away from families, careers and other goals.

It may seem like backward thinking  why pay these people more when they cant seem to do anything?  but backward thinking can often be innovative thinking. And there are even more radical ideas, like the unicameral, nonpartisan Legislature (no separate House and Senate, just one body) that seems to work reasonably well for Nebraska, with lawmakers creating voting coalitions around issues and not just on party lines.

Whats the answer? Were not sure. But we do think theres huge value in what Pelowski has been preaching all these years, a truly model Legislature that values patience, transparency and compromise.

Limit the number of bills lawmakers can introduce. Enforce the 24-hour rule, meaning any amendments to a bill must be filed at least 24 hours before the bill reaches the floor for discussion, instead of created on the fly. Set firm final deadlines on when bills can be introduced. Get polished bills in the hands of conference committees with plenty of time to debate and share changes. Its just a start, but it would be a big one.

Weve said it before: The process should matter much more than the product. And, best yet, it wont cost taxpayers a dime. A free program to clean up the Minnesota Legislature? Thats innovation.
Today

The La Valle Advent Christian Church, 200 La Valle St., will hold its free community meal from 4:30-6:30 p.m. the last Wednesday of each month through October. All are invited.

Rock Hill Cemetery will hold its annual meeting at 7 p.m. at the cemetery on Rock Hill Road in Baraboo. Election of officers and trustees will take place. For more information, call Ruth at 608-356-7599.

The Land Stewardship staff at the Aldo Leopold Foundation will hold an evening hike from 6-8 p.m. at the Leopold Center, E13701 Levee Road, Baraboo. Hike and discover the uniqueness of the Foundations property and what it means to continue Leopolds legacy of land management. For more information, call Carl Cotter at 608-355-0279 ext.37, or email cdcotter@aldoleopold.org.

The Baraboo Public Library will present Retro Gaming for Adults at 6:30 p.m. Play video games from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. Some televisions, games, controllers, consoles and adapters will be available. Participants are welcome to bring any retro consoles and games of their own. For more information, call 608-356-6166.

Thursday, May 26

MiSAdventures, a group for those with Multiple Sclerosis, or other physical challenges will hold meetings to help choose the next adventure. The group will meet from noon to 1:30 p.m. every Thursday at the Green Vine, 102 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. Discussions will include adaptive sports, local resources and community support. For more information, call Christin at 608-963-9312.

The Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., will hold a Brown Bag Book Club at 1 p.m. Readers can bring a lunch and snack while discussing Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler. All are welcome. Copies of the book are available at the library.

Baraboo Public Library will present Books Unbound at 6:30 p.m. Stand-up poet Tom Cassidy will read poems about books and book collecting, including the day he purchased 15,600 books at once. Jeff Rathermel, Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, will discuss advancing the definition of the book itself, the current state of the book, preserving the old and introducing the new. Richard Rousseau, National Storytelling Champion and History Actor, will tell book-related stories.

Sauk-Columbia Honey Producers at UW Baraboo/Sauk County campus will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. in the A104 lecture hall at 1006 Connie Road, Baraboo. The topic is Control Swarming.

Paul Wolter, executive director of the Sauk County Historical Society, will present a program on Sauk Countys historic sites at 7 p.m. at the Sauk County History Center, 900 Second Ave. in Baraboo. The program is free and registration is not required. For more information, call the Reedsburg Public Library at 768-READ (7323).

The Honey Creek Rod and Gun Club, E7412 Highway C in Leland, will hold a sign-up night for team trap shoot at 7 p.m. A hunters safety course is required. The league starts on June 2 and runs every Thursday for 10 weeks. For more information, call Rick at 608-477-0895.

Friday, May 27

Reedsburg Boy Scout Troop 44 will hold a Bring Your Brat To Work Day from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Shopko, 1515 E. Main St. in Reedsburg. Call-in orders at 415-0477 and drive-through service available. Proceeds will go to the 2016 Summer Camp.

The Baraboo Special Olympics will hold a brat and hot dog fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow at Walmart, 920 Highway 12, Baraboo. All proceeds will support the Baraboo Special Olympics athletes participation in local and state events.

People Helping People will hold a brat fry fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow at Viking Express Market, 935 Eighth St., Baraboo. The sale of grilled brats and all-beef hot dogs will support the Adopt-a-Soldier program, which supplies food and other necessities to local veterans.

A lyme disease support group for people afflicted with lyme borrelia burgdorferi and other tick-bourne diseases in Vernon, Monroe, Sauk and Richland counties will hold its informal monthly meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the meeting room at the Hillsboro Public Library, 819 High Ave. Family members are welcome. For more information, call Gary Cepek at 608-489-2725 or email garycepek@yahoo.com.

Devils Lake State Park will host a Lawn Chair Bat Watch at 8:15 p.m. Watch bats emerge from the bat condo from your lawn chair on the north shore, near the boat launch. There will be bat information and a bat scavenger hunt for the kids to do while waiting for the bats to emerge. Meet at the bat condo near the north shore boat launch. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

)Saturday, May 28

Devils Lake State Park will host A Hike Back in Time from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. See rocks transported by glaciers, potholes, Devils Doorway, a 200-year-old cedar quartzite glade, and a pygmy forest guided by retired park naturalist Ken Lange. The hike is about 3.5 miles, with some steep sections. Wear proper footwear and bring water. Meet at the Steinke Basin parking lot. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

The Baraboo Special Olympics will hold a brat and hot dog fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Walmart, 920 Highway 12, Baraboo. All proceeds will support the Baraboo Special Olympics athletes participation in local and state events.

People Helping People will hold a brat fry fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Viking Express Market, 935 Eighth St., Baraboo. The sale of grilled brats and all-beef hot dogs will support the Adopt-a-Soldier program, which supplies food and other necessities to local veterans.

Devils Lake State Park will host a Kayak Tour from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Take a guided kayak tour, look for wildlife and check out some of the parks geology and history. There is a limited amount of space, so pre-registration and pre-payment is required. Kayaks can be rented at $25 for a single and $45 for a double. The tour will start at the Chateau. To register, call the Nature Center at 608-356-8301 ext. 140.

The Whiskey Belles, an all-female traditional Country and American trio will perform at 7 p.m. at the Mirror Lake State Park Ampitheater, E10320 Fern Dell Road, Baraboo. The event is free but donations will be accepted. Bring a chair or cushion. Sponsored by the Friends of Mirror Lake State Park. For more information, call 608-254-2333.

Devils Lake State Park will host Explore the Night Sky, from 7-10:30 p.m. Join the Madison Astronomy Society to learn about the night sky through telescopes. Meet near the north shore boat launch parking lot, just behind the Rock Elm shelter. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Sunday, May 29

Merrimac United Methodist Church, 117 Church St., will hold a special musical ministry at 9 a.m. with Salty Strings, conducted by John and Connie Nicholas.

The Reedsburg Historic Preservation Commission will conduct a free bus tour of select historic sites in the city. The narrated, 1-hour tours will be held in conjunction with the Reedsburg Area Historical Society Pioneer Log Villages chicken barbecue. The tours will originate at the top of every hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pioneer Village, E7882 Highway 23/33, with the last tour leaving at 1 p.m. For those with hearing disabilities, a sign language interpreter will be available on the 10 and 11 a.m. tours. For more information or American with disabilities Act requests, contact Brian Duvalle at 608-524-6404 or bduvalle@ci.reedsburg.wi.us.

Bobfest 2016, an annual celebration of the music of Bob Dylan, will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green. Local performers and bands such as Squeezebox Paradox, The ZimBobs, the McDougals and many more will be featured. Former Sen. Russ Feingold will speak to the crowd at 11:30 a.m. A special festival menu will be served featuring Zimmermans Deli and hometown brewer Furthermore Beer. Bring a lawn chair. For more information, visit www.springgreengeneralstore.com.

Sauk Prairie VFW Lachmund-Cramer Post 7694 will host its 35th annual Chic-Nic Chicken Barbecue dinner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park in Prairie du Sac, until sold out. Cost is $9.50 and includes barbecued chicken half, baked potato, baked beans, coleslaw and roll. Dine in the park, VFW Clubhouse or take out. Arrange free local home delivery at 643-6848 after 10 a.m. May 29.

The Reedsburg Area Historical Society Pioneer Log Village, E7882 Highway 23/33, will hold its annual Memorial Day weekend chicken barbecue fundraiser from 11 a.m. until sold out. Chicken is grilled by the Knights of Columbus and served with baked beans, baked potato, applesauce, dinner roll and milk. Dine-in or carry-out available; $10 for half-chicken. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/pioneerlogvillage.

Devils Lake State Park will host a Nature Explorer Hike from 11 a.m. to noon. Go on a hike and explore. Investigating tools will be provided. Meet at the Nature Center. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

The Harrisburg One-room School will hold an open house from 1-4 p.m. at the school at Highway B, five miles east of Plain. The school is on the National Registry of Historic Places and will feature a veterans display and memorabilia from the town of Troy. The building is handicap accessible.

The White Conch Dharma Center will host Moving Along the Path: Mediations for Developing and Deepening Insight from 5-6:30 p.m. at The Green Vine, 102 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. The discussion will focus on contemplation mediation. The workshop is open to all and free of charge. Donations are welcome.

Monday, May 30

The Sauk City American Legion Kuoni Reuter Post 167 and Sauk Prairie Veterans of Foreign Wars Lachmund-Cramer Post 7694 will jointly hold Memorial Day services at 10:30 a.m. at the Prairie du Sac Cemetery. In case of inclement weather, services will be held under the park shelter at VFW Park in Prairie du Sac. The VFW Honor Guard will perform the Memorial Day custom of lowering the American Flag to half-staff beginning at 7 a.m. at the VFW Clubhouse at 700 VFW Drive, Prairie du Sac. They will then proceed to lowering the American Flags of the villages of Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, the cemeteries of Prairie du Sac, town of Prairie du Sac and town of Roxbury and the flag at the Veterans Memorial at the Sauk Prairie Airport on Highway 12. Members of the Sauk Prairie Boy Scout Troop 173 will participate with the VFW Honor Guard in conducting the final flag lowering at Maplewood of Sauk Prairie in Sauk City at approximately 9 a.m. The flags will be raised to full-staff at noon.

The Eagles Nest Detachment of the Marine Corps League will hold a Memorial Day ceremony at waters edge beginning at 8 a.m. at Bicentennial Park on the Baraboo River behind Star Cinema, 115 N. Webb in Reedsburg. Guest speaker will be decorated Vietnam War veteran Matt Ison with the invocation and benediction by Rev. William L. Harris of the People Helping People Ministries. In case of rain, the ceremony will be held at Webb Middle School, 707 N. Webb Ave. Those who would like the name of a deceased veteran read at the memorial, along with their branch of service, should call Jim at 608-524-3376.

Resting Green Cemetery, on Cemetery Road in Ironton, will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. All veterans will be honored. The ceremony will include the reading of the names of the veterans buried in these two Ironton cemeteries. The Cazenovia American Legion McNamara-Jasper Post No. 491 will provide the honor guard. John Pearson will speak to the service of all veterans.

The Baraboo American Legion Post 26 will conduct three different Memorial Day observances, beginning at 9 a.m. with Flowers on the Water at the Ash Street bridge. Flowers will be placed in the river to commemorate those that were lost at sea. At 10 a.m., a Veterans Car Ride procession to the square will take place. Music will be provided at the Sauk County Courthouse by the Baraboo High School band. At 11 a.m. a ceremony will take place at Walnut Hill Cemetery. Main speaker will be Steve Argo, leader of the Baraboo 21 Memorial Committee. Music by the BHS band. In case of rain, all events will be held at the Civic Center, 124 Second St. A luncheon will follow all ceremonies at the American Legion Hall, 113 Second St.

A Memorial Day Flag Raising Ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at Ho-Chunk Gaming in Wisconsin Dells led by the Sanford White Eagle American Legion Post 556. There will be a master of ceremonies, special guest speaker, a Ho-Chunk traditional drum group, flag detail to raise the flags, gun detail with the firing of the rifles and the playing of taps.

Devils Lake State Park will host a Walk on the Wild Side from 11 a.m. to noon. Go on a walk and explore the secret life of animals. Use binoculars to look at bugs up close or a magnifying lens to check out a mushroom. Meet at the Nature Center. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

American Legion Post 242 in La Valle will host its annual Memorial Day Chicken & Pork Chop Feed from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the clubhouse at 116 W. Main St. Cost is $10. This event follows the 11 a.m. ceremony at the Honor Roll Memorial in town. The Auxiliary will collect items today and June 7 for the veterans hospital and the womens program.

Tuesday, May 31

The Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St. in Prairie du Sac, will offer the opportunity for kits to read to Ladybug, a friendly, 17-pound Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, with the READ program. She visits with her owner Phyllis Hazelwood to listen to children read and is available by appointment from 4-6 p.m. Walk-ins welcome if space is available. Call the library at 643-8318 to reserve a 15-minute time slot.

CAB Theatre will start a new program for teens called Teens N Theatre for teens entering ninth, 10th, or 11th grades in the fall. An educational open house will be held from 5-7 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Al. Ringling Mansion, 623 Broadway St., in Baraboo. The open house will feature theater games and information about TNT. For more information, call Erica at 608-844-4877 or email ericapcochrane@gmail.com.
Baraboo will seek a grant to raze a former Ringling building and analyze the quality of the soil beneath.

On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously directed staff to apply for a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation grant to assess the site of the former St. Marys Ringling Manor on Oak Street. That money would help the city afford to level the building.

Once the site of a hospital, a nursing home and a convent founded by the famed circus family, the building has become an eyesore and a neighborhood nuisance. Its ownership is in dispute, but the city is working to clear and rehabilitate the site, preparing it for residential development.

Last week, in a study funded through a state Department of Natural Resources grant, the Sigma Group of Milwaukee reported its preliminary assessment of the site indicated the likely presence of hazardous material. This made the property eligible for additional funding through WEDC, as well as through the DNR. Those funds, along with the transfer of tax increment funds and the eventual sale of residential lots, would pay the estimated $500,000 cleanup bill.

We have to take the building down to examine the ground underneath, City Administrator Ed Geick said.

The city can apply for grant funding without owning the property. If that money comes through, the city will work with Sauk County and the state to acquire the property, which previously was owned by an estate that went broke. The state and county are eager to wash their hands of the property, which is $73,000 in arrears on taxes. Private developers have balked at buying the property because of the estimated $1.5 million cost of repairing the building, which has been boarded up since 2012 and has become a haven for unsavory activity despite police efforts to secure it.

If we want to do anything with this building, I think wed better proceed, Alderman Dennis Thurow said.

Nothing will be done with this unless the city takes the lead, Alderman Joel Petty agreed.
In 2008, the federal government initiated the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan to improve the conditions of the Mississippi River Basin and the Northern Gulf of Mexico by addressing excess nitrogen and phosphorus loads. There are 30 states, including Wisconsin, that were approached with this plan because of our relationship with the Mississippi River.

In order to broadly manage the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen reaching the Gulf, the federal Environmental Protection Agency initiated guidelines and recommendations to states including encouragement to adopt numeric criteria for maximum phosphorus and nitrogen levels.

In 2010, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, the governing board of the Department Natural Resources, voluntarily signed up to participate in the Action Plan and set arbitrary numeric standards for phosphorus limits in our states waterways. The board did not sign up to monitor nitrogen. The DNR Board set the phosphorus discharge standard at .075 parts per million or mg/liter. This threshold was not based on any science or cost/benefit analysis. The standard is the lowest in the country.

While the intent of this action was pragmatic, the real-world application of arbitrary numeric limitations has placed significant strain on communities throughout the state, including many in the 17th Senate District. The point sources of phosphorus are primarily wastewater treatment facilities. These are the only source that can be easily regulated by government. As such, a very large problem is on the shoulders of a small part of the cause.

As a result of the wide presence of phosphorus, this nutrient enters our waterways from natural, nonpoint and point sources. Natural sources include lake-bottom sediment and other natural decomposition. Nonpoint sources include general run-off, farm fields, feedlots, streets and parking lots. Point sources include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants that release liquid effluent to lakes and rivers or spread sludge on fields.

In analyzing the three sources of phosphorus, it is clear to see that the only sources that are easily monitored, measured and regulated are point sources. This is where phosphorus regulation becomes a burden for many residents of the 17th Senate District and throughout the state.

The point sources in our communities are our municipal wastewater treatment facilities. These facilities are funded by ratepayers.

Municipal wastewater facilities are issued five-year permits by the DNR. Since 2011, new permits include new phosphorus requirements and a timeline to reach specific levels of phosphorus in order for our state to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, which we volunteered to do in 2010.

As the first round of permits comes to a close, many of our municipalities face significant challenges to meet their requirements. The villages of Plain and Benton are at the point where they are adding the chemical ferric chloride to meet their goals. Plain spends $20,000 per year on the chemical fix while Benton spends $100,000 per year.

Plain has an interim limit of 3.6 ppm until 2020 and then will need to meet the .075 ppm standard. According to Plain Director of Public Works Nick Ruhland, the village would have to significantly upgrade and renovate its wastewater treatment plant in order to accomplish this standard. The cost for this, according to Ruhland, would be astronomical and the burden on ratepayers would be unreasonable. Plain is a village of only 782 people.

Sewer rates in Plain already have increased 10 percent per year since the last permit was signed in 2012. The minimum service charge for village customers $35.75 for up to 5,000 gallons per quarter and $143 for non-village customers per quarter. Adding a major renovation to the plant would multiply these rates significantly.

Benton faces similar issues. Benton Director of Public Works Ryan Carver said user rates are likely to double if the village is to comply with the phosphorus standards on its current permit. The average household in Benton currently about $40 per month for sewer fees.

The cheapest option for Benton to meet its standard is the chemical additive method of water treatment, at the 20-year cost of $1.97 million. Annually, the village will spend $98,688 to remove only 800 pounds of phosphorus per year. The chemical option will raise the average fee for ratepayers to at least $75.05 per month.

Looking ahead, in order to reach the .075 ppm standard, Benton estimates it also will have to invest $950,000 to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility in order to apply the chemical fix. Carver, and village leaders, would rather not raise fees and add a chemical to their water in order to meet standards that they believe are unreasonable. The village things there are a lot of other contributing factors to the phosphorus issue they are trying to mitigate.

Benton is the first point source on the Galena/Fever River. There are 72 miles of watershed above the point source where the village discharges its water. The village measures its discharge at less than 800 pounds of phosphorus annually. The DNR estimates there are 116,000 pounds of phosphorus in the river.

The expense in Benton is shared by the 973 residents who live there. This unreasonable burden is nearly impossible for the small village to bear. But they are not alone.

The 17th Senate District includes 94 industrial and municipal wastewater discharges. According to the DNR, 85 of these facilities have potentially restrictive phosphorus limits that may warrant a facility upgrade. Nine facilities do not have restrictive phosphorus limitations or already are complying with their limits.

As much as we would like to, we cannot go back to 2010 and drop out of these phosphorus standards. Non-compliance would impact significant federal dollars to our state and the EPA once again would enforce regulations within our state. We dont want to do that.

In response to this terrible burden, the Wisconsin Legislature recently passed legislation that enabled the DNR to seek approval from the EPA to offer multi-discharger and individual variances to the numeric standards for individual municipalities. The state is waiting to see if the EPA will grant this request.

Current water treatment technology to achieve the very low, arbitrary standards we voluntarily set in 2010 is expensive and unproven. By allowing our municipalities time to meet the standards, the EPA will enable Wisconsin to take advantage of new technology, study untested techniques and seek lower-cost alternatives.

The variances also would allow permit holders to undertake some activity to reduce phosphorus contributions from other sources in their watershed. They may be able to do this through water trading or adaptive management practices.

Water quality trading provides point sources with the flexibility to purchase pollutant reductions from other sources in their watershed so they can comply with their own permit requirements.

Adaptive management practices allow point and nonpoint sources (e.g. agricultural producers, storm water utilities, developers) to work together to improve water quality in those waters not meeting phosphorus standards. This option is time and people intensive and requires cooperation among a wide variety of entities.

While some villages, like Plain, would prefer to do water trading in order to meet their standards, other villages, like Benton, would prefer to pursue adaptive management. Either way, municipalities throughout the 17th Senate District would greatly benefit from the ability to seek a variance on the stringent standards our state volunteered to adopt several years ago.

Like most municipalities in Wisconsin, both Benton and Plain recognize their role in protecting water quality, but they also know that the responsibility is much broader than the small shoulders of their village wastewater treatment plant. It is my hope that the EPA will approve the DNRs request so that our state can offer municipalities the time, technology and flexibility to meet standards while working with their nonpoint neighbors to improve phosphorus levels overall.
St. Johns Lutheran School in Baraboo got a lesson last week as to why private schools should not drink from the public cash cow. As anyone could have anticipated, government money mixed with Christian education came under fire.

St. Johns, a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod affiliate, announced its policy stating parents are required to provide a copy of the childs birth certificate because they need to know the gender of the child. Not very newsworthy, as you have to provide a copy the childs birth certificate when they enter public schools, too.

St. Johns, however, then went onto say that The Office of Civil Rights now also protects from discrimination against sexual preference and sexual identification. They also stated this policy revision clarified that the school reserves the right to discipline or dismiss any student behaving contrary to their churchs religious beliefs when it comes to sexual behavior.

The school openly admits it cannot deny a students acceptance into their program because they accept public funding through the school lunch program, busing, and through NCLB (No Child Left Behind).

Until the federal government started intervening with cash offers, no one really cared what this school did when it came to religious discipline.

The busing issue is an interesting one, however. Section 23 of the Wisconsin Constitution guarantees busing as a public right. Amended in 1967, the Constitution reads, Nothing in this constitution shall prohibit the legislature from providing for the safety and welfare of children by providing for the transportation of children to and from any parochial or private school or institution of learning. Long before NCLB, we guaranteed religious freedom of education through this amendment.

The school had done nothing wrong until President Barack Obama once again drafted his own edict without the consultation of Congress. Title IX says schools cannot discriminate based upon sex and even refers to both sexes in context. It says absolutely nothing about sexual behavior or sexual identification or even additional sexes based on philosophy or belief  it limits the sexes to two. In a move to prevent future issues, the religious school amended its student code to reflect their religious beliefs.

I have long said that if the public upholds its philosophy that we are going to educate children and if we are going to provide public funds to do so, then the parent of the child should have the right to determine where that child, along with the designated dollars, goes. After all, Christians, even Lutheran ones, are taxpayers too.

On the flip side of that coin, religious and private schools should avoid taking money from the government. A good deal today turns into blackmail tomorrow when the school doesnt conform to the government's wishes. In this case it is secular morality.

The U.S Constitution says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof The free exercise part is the key. Simply because the government provided funding to these schools does not ordain bureaucrats as ministers who can simply abolish long-held religious beliefs.

Christian congregations across the country are scrambling to review their building policies to protect themselves from government intervention. For more than 200 years, American churches have been left alone. Non-Christians can believe whatever they want about people of faith, but until the last seven years, never in American history has there been more pushback against Christians.

If you are a Christian could you imagine, even as little as 15 years ago, that your church council would be reviewing policies regarding marriage, sexuality and birth control simply to protect your congregation from the reach of the federal government  the same nation that was founded not just on religious principles but on the very basis that religions should be free to practice?

St. Johns accepted government money that would help those families who could not otherwise afford to get an education at a private Christian school. The government knew when doling out this cash that these children also would be educated on the religious tenants these schools embrace.

That all said, I have long disagreed with expulsion, even in public schools, to help a kid who may be heading the wrong direction. This is true even in a religious sense. We cannot teach anyone proper lessons, whether it is math or the Bible, when they are locked outside the building.

Churches need to wean their schools from the public cash cow or lose their Christian identity to the government.
The trouble with ridiculing Wisconsinites is we dont realize were being put down. In fact, we take most insults as compliments.

We can be a backward lot. This explains why we call freezing January temperatures fishing weather.

It also explains why, when our neighbors to the south derisively dubbed us cheeseheads, we didnt know enough to feel hurt. Instead, we embraced the nickname and started wearing foam cheese wedges on our heads.

Wisconsinites accepted with that same lack of self-consciousness last weeks news that Americas Dairyland is home to more than half the drunkest cities in America. I wonder whether people in Appleton, the city anointed drunkest of them all, are spilling out of the taverns and onto the streets, wearing foam fingers and chanting Were No. 1!

No doubt the authors of the report on Americas drunkest and driest cities, published by 247wallst.com, would be perplexed by such a reception. And by Wisconsinites fascination with accessories made of foam.

The report used statistics on binge drinking, alcohol-related deaths and overall health to rank cities weakness for the bottle. Wisconsin claims 12 of the 20 drunkest U.S. cities. Some might view such a showing as abysmal, but Wisconsinites would call it dominant.

The Milwaukee metropolitan area came in at No. 17, with 23 percent of adults admitting to binge drinking. Sure, they couldve lied, but the secret is out on us: Cheeseheads are known to take a second drink. And sometimes an eighth.

The twin cities of Janesville and Beloit were No. 16, but they deserve a pass. If you lived in Janesville or Beloit, youd drink, too.

Racine ranked 15th, due to a high rate of driving deaths involving alcohol, as well as obesity and premature death. Sheboygan ranked 12th, topped by Wausau at No. 11. Despite its high binge drinking rate, Wausau ranked above-average in overall health. Perhaps this is true because Wisconsinites exercise as they imbibe, curling or playing softball or shooting darts to burn some calories. Someone should tell Racine to get with the program.

Eau Claire ranked ninth because its home to 6.4 bars for every 10,000 residents, the second-highest in the country. They say that like its a bad thing.

Fond du Lac ranked seventh, but overall passed its health test. The city has one of the lowest premature death rates, a fact the studys authors attribute to Fond du Lacs financial health. Less than 10 percent of residents live in poverty. Theres something to be said for $1 rail mixers.

The La Crosse area came in at No. 6, because there are nearly 7 bars for every 10,000 people. In our states defense, significant capacity is needed there to accommodate Minnesotans sneaking across the Mississippi in search of real beer.

Our capital city came in at No. 4. The only surprise there was that Madison wasnt higher up the list. The University of Wisconsin traditionally ranks among the top party schools in America, another dubious honor cheeseheads regard with pride rather than shame. Hey, Badgers fans are just happy to have beaten Ohio State at something.

Next up was Green Bay at No. 3, but another pass is in order here. Until youve tried to survive a winter along the icy lakefront without carrying a fifth of brandy in your pocket, dont judge.

Oshkosh-Neenah was ranked second, topped only by Appleton. Nearly 27 percent of adults in Appleton report binge drinking, highest in the nation. Id raise a toast to you, Appleton, but youre already on the floor drooling. Just think what that percentage might be if Appleton had more than 4.4 bars per 10,000 residents. In Wisconsin we call that a dry town.

Speaking of dry towns, Provo, Utah was named the least-drunk U.S. city. People there might ask, why would cheeseheads want to drink excessively, when it leads to risky behavior and unknown outcomes? Theyd be answering their own question.

Its no accident the drunkest cities are in the Upper Midwest. The winter is dark, the summer is short, and there isnt much else to do here. So we have a few pops and throw caution to the wind.

You may say we should be ashamed of ourselves. But we say were No. 1.
MADISON (AP)  A GOP plan that reworked the Wisconsin Assemblys district lines was one of the worst examples of partisan gerrymandering in American history, an attorney challenging the new boundaries argued Tuesday.

Nicholas Stephanop-oulos told a panel of three federal judges weighing whether the redistricting plan is constitutional that Republicans redrew the districts to marginalize Democrats and consolidate their own power for years. The plan solidified at least 10 additional Assembly districts as Republican strongholds, he said.

Legislators redraw district boundaries every 10 years to reflect population changes. Republicans reworked the maps in 2011 after taking control of the Senate, Assembly and the governors office.

A dozen voters who support Democrats filed a federal lawsuit last July alleging the boundaries discriminate against Democrats by diluting their supporters voting power, violating constitutional free speech and equal protection guarantees. They want a panel of three federal judges  U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kenneth Ripple and U.S. District Judge William Griesbach  to declare all 99 Assembly districts unconstitutional and redraw the boundaries.

The judges have set aside four days for a bench trial. The proceedings began Tuesday morning with Stephanopoulos opening statements.

He promised the evidence would show Republicans, their aides and their lawyers drew up the plan in secret without any input from Democrats and they saw the new maps as a chance to seize power for a decade.

He alleged Tad Ottman, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, remarked that the new maps will determine who serves in the Legislature 10 years from now and the GOP had an opportunity and an obligation to draw maps that the party hadnt had in decades. The maps evolved until the number of safe Republican Assembly districts rose from 49 to 59, Stephanopoulos asserted.

He also promised to show the maps were approved in a rush, with the Legislature signing off on them just nine days after they were introduced in a bill. He noted, too, that an equation the plaintiffs developed will show large gaps between Republican and Democratic votes in the districts, proving extreme gerrymandering.

He called the new maps deliberate, severe and unjustifiable and said they amount to one of the worst cases of partisan gerrymandering in U.S. history.

The state Department of Justice, which is controlled by Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, is defending the maps. Assistant Attorney General Brian Keenan responded with a short opening statement of his own, saying the evidence wont show any actual gerrymandering.

He said the term traditionally refers to creating strange, salamander-shaped districts to pack a partys supporters together. The new districts are consistently shaped, and adopting the plaintiffs arguments would mean redefining gerrymandering, he said.

Keenan went on to argue partisanship is to be expected when one party draws legislative boundaries and the plaintiffs equation creates a false sense of certainty. He called their numbers educated guesses that dont predict the future, saying they use statistics like a drunken man uses a light pole  for support rather than illumination.

The plaintiffs attorneys spent the afternoon questioning another Fitzgerald aide, Adam Foltz, who helped draw the boundaries. He testified that final version of the plan included 59 districts where Republicans would get more than 50 percent of the vote. Foltz also testified that he met with all the Assemblys Republican members on the plan but didnt meet with any Democrats.

The trial is scheduled to wrap up on Friday. Its unlikely the judges will rule then. The panel likely will take at least several weeks before handing down a written decision.
MAYVILLE  A Mayville School District employee was seriously injured when a riding lawn mower he was driving went off of a retaining wall and became trapped underneath the machine.

Monday at 9:29 a.m., a 59-year-old employee was cutting the grass in front of the Mayville Middle School, 445 N. Henninger St. The Scag lawn mower accidentally fell off of a nearly 5-foot retaining wall and became trapped underneath the machine.

The man, a Horicon resident, was seriously injured and Flight for Life was called.

The employee was transported to Oconomowoc Aurora Summit Hospital.

According to Mayville Police Chief Christopher MacNeill, the man is currently in stable condition. MacNeill added that the lawn mower was so heavy it took six men to remove it from the trapped man. He credited the roll bar at the top of the mower for saving the mans life.

The mans name was not released.
A former Madison woman whose image on the cover of Life magazine helped propel the city into the national spotlight has died, according to family members.

Jeanne Parr died Thursday in Hawaii, where she had retired to the island of Maui after a successful career in radio, broadcast journalism and modeling. She was 92.

Parr left Madison in 1959 to do the weather at a television station in New Haven, Connecticut, but by her departure had achieved local celebrity as a radio host and a subject in perhaps the most famous magazine story ever written about Madison.

For its Sept. 6, 1948, feature story, Life sent famed photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to Madison for several weeks, where he chose the 24-year-old mother as the subject for the issues cover. Parr was pictured holding her then-infant son, Charles James Noth, with the accompanying headline, The Good Life in Madison, Wisconsin.

With a weekly circulation exceeding 5 million at the time, Life had an immense reach, and being featured in its pages represented a landmark moment for the city.

When they said this was one of the five most outstanding cities, people really wanted to read that magazine, and there she was right there on the cover for all the people that knew her to see, said Rosann Parr, Jeanne Parrs sister in-law and a former colleague at WKOW radio.

That was a big, big deal to have your town go all over the world with Life magazine. And then to have her on the cover  that was very special.

Parr attended school at UW-Madison and met her first husband, Charles Noth, while she was on a date with another man at local restaurant.

Noth, a former Navy pilot, brazenly interrupted the date after recognizing the officer she was dining with. He later declared he would marry her despite her lack of a Catholic upbringing, said Michael Parr Noth, the couples middle son.

The two married shortly after World War II and went on to have three sons, Charles, Michael and Chris Noth, who became a well-known actor with roles such as Det. Mike Logan on Law & Order, Mr. Big on Sex and the City and Gov. Peter Florrick on The Good Wife.

Parr was widowed when her husband was killed in a car crash in 1966.

She used her experience hosting a daily radio show at WKOW to break into television news. Parr eventually became one of the first female correspondents for CBS News in New York.

After working at CBS, she produced several documentaries and wrote a book before retiring in Hawaii. But despite her expansive travels, her son Michael said Madison was always a special place for her.

Madison was always  certainly for my mother  home. They had a nice life in Madison, he said. It was jobs that drove them out of there. If that pressure hadnt been there, I dont think they ever would have left.
Gov. Scott Walker said his office will facilitate a meeting between the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, county leaders and veteran service officers following a dispute between the groups over changes to funding for local veterans services.

Walker said Tuesday his office will meet with WDVA officials and the counties to discuss shifting veterans funding from a block grant to reimbursement model, but noted that Wisconsin's county leaders "signed on board" to the changes before they became law in 2015.

"Weve facilitated a meeting with the Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure theyre all on the same wavelength," he said.

Walker made the comments to a Wisconsin Radio Network reporter in Stevens Point on Tuesday after a Monday Cap Times story looked at how a lack of specifics rules governing reimbursements has left several counties without some funding.

Walker said he wants to make sure counties are accountable for the services they provide to veterans in Wisconsin and spoke from his own experience as the Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.

"I was, before governor ... a county executive and our county veterans service officer was a key link to veterans in our county. That is the case in most counties," he said. "There is a handful who are not living up to that expectation and I think we ought to make sure we work together, county officials, state officials, local officials to make sure that every dollar thats spent on veterans is spent in the most effective way possible."

While Walker was serving as executive of Milwaukee County, his deputy chief of staff stole more than $21,000 from Operation Freedom, a yearly event for veterans at the Milwaukee County Zoo, that Walker tasked the aide with leading. Timothy Russell was convicted of the theft in 2013 and sentenced in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to two years in prison and five years of probation.

Bill Rosenau, president of the County Veteran Service Officer Association of Wisconsin said Wednesday he is optimistic about the Walker-proposed meeting, which he said is scheduled for June 2. He said his group was invited to the meeting through the Wisconsin Counties Association.

Im very hopeful that this will actually open a meaningful dialogue," he said.

Rosenau said he does not know if reimbursement rules or changes to the funding model will be discussed at the meeting but is glad the voices of state regulators and "boots on the ground" veterans advocacy officials will be heard.
While lots of teachers and students are looking forward to the summer break, volunteers are gearing up to keep kids healthy and fed even though they are out of school.

On Tuesday the Rev. David Hankins of the Portage Presbyterian Church put together a crew of promoters from his church, 4-H and the UW-Extension to get the word out for the Summer Meal Program for Kids, breaking up and heading out to the neighborhoods surrounding Rusch Elementary School.

In the basement of the church the volunteers went over street maps as pizzas came out of the oven.

"We're Presbyterian," said one volunteer as his daughter finished a slice before hitting the street, "we have pizza before going out, if we had brownies, we would have that first."

This is the third year the program has been offered, aimed toward kids that over the summer lose the benefit of free and reduced-priced lunches. With lunch distribution set up at Goodyear Park and the Portage Public Library, kids would run in to pick up cheese pizza, fruit and milk boxes, before running back out again.

We learned a lot -- we learned that there are a lot of families that appreciate the lunches, said University of Wisconsin Extension 4-H Youth Development Coordinator Karen Nelson, looking back at the past two years. At the park we have the opportunity to draw people in from the area.

The program started at the Portage Public Library, one of the program partners, then expanded to the pavilion in Goodyear Park next to the Splash Pad. As a food service project, and especially being partially outdoors, logistics is a primary challenge.

The meals are pre-made at Spring Hill Elementary, where the program had its inception serving Wisconsin Dells, and are then brought to Goodyear Park for lunch from 11:15 to 11:50 a.m. Everything then is packed up and taken to the library for lunch from 12:05 to 12:40 p.m. The program runs Monday through Thursday beginning on June 6 and continuing through the end of the month.

The program started with serving around 1,000 meals the first summer, 1,600 the next, and is looking at up to 2,500 this year. Part of this will come from kids attending summer school in Rusch Elementary, but also factored in the expansion is increased awareness among target families.

Columbia County ranks as better than average in terms of Wisconsins per county poverty and food insecurity rates, according to the Wisconsin Food Security Project. Despite that ranking, there is still a persistent need for help among county residents.

Between the years 2008 and 2012, Columbia Countys poverty rate has been around 9 percent, compared to 12.5 percent statewide, according to the groups data. When looking at children in particular, the situation is tougher in both cases, with a 13.3 percent poverty rate among children in the county and 17.2 percent across the state.

Food insecurity is defined by the group as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

In terms of predicted food insecurity, there is a similar situation with Columbia County having roughly 10.3 percent food insecurity across populations as of 2012, with the state average 12.6 percent. Again, the situation is markedly harder for children, who have a food insecurity rate of 19.3 percent, versus 20.7 percent statewide.

There are no income or residency requirements, for the summer program, said Nelson, explaining the policy of serving kids up through the age of 18 with no-questions-asked.

We dont want this to be intimidating, said Hankins. If there is a kid from somewhere else, were not going to turn them away.

Among the kids who go to school at Rusch, Nelson said that 61.3 percent are on a free or reduced fee lunch program.

Setting out from Portage Presbyterian Church, Hankins and his wife, Kathy, took East Conant Street hanging their notices at each door between the church and the Columbia County Law Enforcement Center.

You get to know the city in a different way walking door-to-door, Hankins said. A lot of these houses have two or three doors, but you wouldnt know it driving by.
The contrast couldnt have been more stark.

The reigning Republican governor of Wisconsin was in Green Bay at the annual GOP state convention railing about overpaid and underworked university professors and suggesting they should be happy that they make more money than most working people.

Meanwhile, the former Republican governor of Wisconsin was in Madison at the university graduation ceremonies calling the faculty some of the greatest professors in the United States of America and suggesting that weve got to make sure they stay at the campus.

An outside observer might have come to the conclusion that the incumbent governor, Scott Walker, and the former governor, Tommy Thompson, are bitter enemies. They arent. Theyre both quite conservative and each has campaigned for the other.

Its just that one believes the way to govern is by creating division and jealousy among the citizenry  playing teachers against hourly workers in private businesses and union members against the unrepresented  while the other spent more than 14 years in office governing as an optimist, saying that Wisconsin is the greatest place ever and we all need to work to make it even better.

Theres another difference between these two governors. Tommy Thompson has a deep understanding of the University of Wisconsin and worked at forging ties with its administrators and faculty. Obtaining two degrees from UW-Madison, a bachelors and law, helped, of course, but he became keenly aware of the economic impact the school has historically had on the state. The fact that it had become one of the countrys most prestigious universities didnt hurt either  the state often used it as a selling point when wooing business and investments.

Scott Walker never got the connection. He isnt a UW grad and sometimes appears to be proud of that fact. He did attend Marquette University, also a fine institution, but decided a degree wasnt necessary to accomplish his goals in life. And hes made it clear that he believes the only goal of a university should be to place a graduate in a job, implying that those courses in liberal studies aimed at preparing young people for the complexities of life are superfluous.

But Walkers views on higher education dont end there. Like he did with public school teachers five years ago, he now finds a need to sow seeds of resentment, belittling those who are the backbone of our universities by contending they have it better than ordinary citizens.

Earlier this month when the faculty at the UW-Green Bay campus passed a vote of no confidence in UW System President Ray Cross and the Board of Regents, Walkers office informed the local media that full professors at UW-GB averaged $70,700 in salary compared to the average pay of $44,894 for all workers in Brown County.

That led one of those professors, Andrew Austin, to point out how the governor was cherry-picking the highest rank of professor, which is a small proportion of the overall faculty, and comparing it to the average of all the workers in the county, including the folks who work at McDonalds, Wal-Mart and in other near-minimum-wage jobs.

Compare apples to apples, Austin told the governor, by comparing professionals to professionals. The median salary for full-time tenured and tenured-track faculty at UW-Green Bay  nearly all with Ph.D.s  is $57,259. Meanwhile, the median earnings for workers in Brown County who have a graduate or professional degree is $61,092, he pointed out, using the U.S. Census Bureau as his source.

But that data wouldnt support Walkers goal of dividing and conquering, and setting up another villain to exploit in his quest to lower taxes and make the people who have worked to build our public institutions pay.

Meanwhile, Tommy Thompson was bragging to UW-Madison students about how his administration invested in UW buildings and recounted state efforts to make sure top faculty members stayed at the university.

We raised the money and we kept those professors here  and you benefited from it, he declared.

Unfortunately, Scott Walker was too busy working for just the opposite to listen.
Theres been a lot of talk about skilled jobs in Wisconsin, but one career remains the states bread and butter.

Americas Dairyland needs a talented work force just as much as any state and, like others, is doing what it can to encourage students to go into science, technology, engineering and math fields. Agriculture has been a challenging industry that has seen the disappearance of family farms over several decades.

Area schools are working to reverse that trend not only by teaching kids about agriculture but showing them that numerous kinds of jobs exist in the sector.

Head start

Todd Cherney knows its best to start early when introducing children to agriculture. As an agriculture teacher at Reedsburg Area High School, he partners with area farmers to teach younger students about farming. In early May, the Reedsburg FFA hosted Food for America, where FFA members taught elementary school students about dairy, beef, pigs, sheep, horses, goats, poultry, feed and equipment. The program included about 210 fourth graders from Reedsburgs private and public schools.

Cherney said that kind of education benefits both elementary and high school students. Older teens learn leadership and public speaking from their presentations.

Its not so easy to find students who are familiar with farming. Cherney said 25 percent of his students once came from family farms. Today, that figure is closer to 5 percent.

Theres also a shortage of agriculture teachers, he added.

The good news is that many ag programs are doing what they can to give kids hands-on experience. Youth can take up an apprenticeship or job shadow; anything to help them get a foot in the door toward a career.

General classes are available to give students an idea of whats out there.

At the end of the day I hope we inspire some kids, spark an interest, he said.

More than cows

Agriculture is much more than milking, churning and shearing. At Neenah Creek Elementary School in Briggsville, students manage a greenhouse with help from teachers and volunteers. Instructor Bernadette Shirley said the greenhouse has existed for at least eight years and has given kids the chance to grow tomatoes, cauliflower, peppers and flowers. She said students experiment with seeds to see which kinds will grow. Some containers are clear, allowing kids to monitor root development.

Shirley said each grade has some kind of growing lesson that is tied to science curriculum. The students always are eager to see the fruits  and vegetables  of their labors.

They are really hands on, she said. They really like getting in there.

Its always been important to know how to grow food but perhaps even more so today. Shirley said theres been a greater push to return to home-grown food while caring for the environment. Neenah Creek students are learning how to plant without using GMOs or pesticides.

Protecting nature

Natural resources are tied to farming, which is why they are part of the curriculum at Sauk Prairie High School. Agriculture and Natural Resources Teacher Troy Talford said the school provides an assortment of lessons covering everything from plants to vet science to taxidermy to aquaculture.

He said many people dont realize how many careers are related to agriculture. Cheese production, for example, requires more than just a dairy farmer. There are truckers, processors, packers and marketers.

Some jobs require an advanced education. Genetics and research have the potential to pay big bucks. Agriculture also needs engineers to tinker with everything from DNA to farm equipment.

The problem is awareness. Talford said fewer students come from family farms so they may not know the variety of job opportunities. Kids who grew up with agriculture are more likely to pursue a career in it.

Great outdoors

Nature definitely has a draw at Mauston High School. Tech Ed and Ag Teacher Beth Babcock said she sees a lot of interest in classes, especially those for natural resources, wildlife, forestry and animal husbandry.

Students also learn about food production, from growing to butchering. She said kids learn that healthy animals result in healthy food.

It is extremely important to know where your food comes from, she said.

Babcock said farming tends to be stigmatized; too many people associate it with dirty, low-paying jobs. However, farming isnt what it used to be; its gone high-tech and many jobs require a 2-year degree or yearlong training program. She said a quick education can lead youth to good-paying careers in areas such as ag-related financial services and artificial insemination labs.

She noted that there are at least 700 fields related to agriculture. To help students find out about those jobs, the school invites guest speakers. Babcock said local professionals visit to talk to the students and introduce them to possible careers.
Oncken: What's going on behind the scenes of agriculture?

columnists
Inscrutable gesture: Palermo decrypts mysteries of Picasso

A new century dawns Charles Palermo's new book explains how Picasso reflected an intellectual culture in France in the early 1900s that centered around the question of authority. Photo by Cortney Langley Photo - of - Hide Caption

William & Mary Art History Professor Charles Palermo about 20 years ago became intrigued with the strange gestures artist Pablo Picassos subjects displayed during the Blue and Rose periods and determined to unravel their mystery.

Its apparent to even a casual observer that Picasso is trying to convey something in what Palermo calls the inscrutable gestures of the period, though there is little agreement among art historians about what he was trying to impart.

I realized that a lot of these paintings had themes drawn more or less directly from traditional Christian iconography, in some cases mimicking gestures characteristic of paintings from earlier eras, Palermo said.

The revelations form the backbone of his new book, Modernism and Authority: Picasso and His Milieu Around 1900, published in October by University of California Press.

{{youtube:medium:left|WxjLxM1FrZI}}

Its one thing to trace the provenance of the gestures, Palermo said, but another to figure out what Picasso was trying to say in their use. It was even more puzzling given Picassos well-known status as a non-believer.

But when Palermo came across the early works of Guillaume Apollinaire, writer and friend to Picasso, insight dawned. In Apollinaires short stories from around the same period, particularly in the Heresiarch & Co., Palermo found similar religious themes and treatments.

He found more in other writers and artists of the time  Paul Gauguin, Paul Verlaine, Eugene Carriere, Santiago Rusinol and Charles Morice. He came to understand the themes as reflective of the time and place in which they were produced  Paris at the turn of the century  and as markers for the advent of a modern sensibility characterized by skepticism toward authority, whether religious or artistic.

Decoding La Vie

Palermo argues that an important but little-remarked fact is that at the turn of the century, Picasso was surrounded by people who, like Apollinaire, were interested in the challenges to authority posed by historical biblical criticism.

Since the 18th century, critics had questioned the historical authenticity of the Gospels and the miracles recorded in them, he said.

Because of this, by the middle of the 19th century it was possible to doubt all or most of what was in the Gospels, at least the supernatural content, he explained. This understandably shook the foundations of a lot of Protestant thinking.

By the turn of the 20th century, even the Catholic Church was trying to reconcile the new skepticism with orthodox tradition, Palermo said.

The people around Picasso were surprisingly interested in this, he said. I think Picasso might have been too, non-believer though he was. His early work is another phase in that turn away from an easy relationship to tradition and authority  and therefore also to meaning and conviction  toward something that is more hospitable to a modern mind.

Modernism is the fall of our shared acceptance of doctrine.

Picassos 1903 La Vie provides the perfect illustration to explain Palermos understanding and appreciation of the artists early work. In the painting, one figure stretches a hand into the middle of the composition, making a mannered gesture that Palermo describes as completely inscrutable in the middle of a completely inscrutable painting.

The gesture is traced back to Christian iconography, Palermo said, most notably to Antonio Allegri da Correggios Noli me tangere, or Dont touch me, which recounts Christs dialogue with Mary Magdalene after the resurrection. The painting, dating to the 1500s, was very much in the tradition of religious artwork depicting biblical stories to inspire devotion among viewers.

Picasso is doing something else entirely. Unlike Correggio, he is not devoutly depicting Christs encounter with Mary Magdalene. After almost 200 years of biblical skepticism, earnestly trying to paint the same kind of biblical scenes would be affected and sentimental, and modern viewers would regard it so, as they came increasingly to view academic painters who continued to produce such traditional imagery.

Picasso instead uses the religious gesture in a secular painting, decoupled from its historical theological context. He uses the gesture to challenge the Church, and he uses the gesture to challenge a tradition of representational painting.

Recontextualizing the religious gesture in a secular painting places Picasso squarely among the writers and thinkers of his time, who experienced modernity as a challenge to reflect on a lost or forgotten relation to authority, Palermo writes.

A modern view of authority

When one looks at a painting like La Vie, one has the feeling of being offered food for reflection, Palermo writes. A beholders task is to rise to the occasion the painter produces.

Understanding that thinkers were challenging authority at the turn of the century doesnt entirely solve the mystery of La Vie or the other paintings of Picassos Rose and Blue periods, he said.

None of this adds up to an explanation. None of this tells us what the painting is about, Palermo said. Thats where the viewer comes in.

Palermo posits that the paintings are designed to invite the viewers to continue the work of interpretation  to keep trying to understand. Picasso points toward tradition with one hand and says, Dont trust that, and points to the viewer with the other, asking, Do you trust yourself? Picasso and his compatriots were claiming authority for themselves and questioning that authority at the same time, Palermo said.

Viewers need not even know that La Vies gesture originated with a religious painting to still be moved by it, as countless art lovers have been in the 100 years since it was painted.

Palermo likens this to a Protestant who might not trust entirely the historical accuracy of the Gospels, but could still be touched and inspired by their messages.

This separates the problem of my response to a painting from the historical question of what its about or what it represents in something like the way historical biblical criticism led Protestant theology to separate our response to the Gospels from our questions about what they actually mean [historically], he said.

He explained that art historians tend toward understanding artwork as only fully meaningful within its historical context and the context of its production. Historicism stands in tension with presentism, which allows viewers to assign meaning to the works as they are viewed.

Palermo suggests that beholders need both. A sole reliance on historical context leaves the viewer somewhat impoverished in their relationship to art, he said. On the other hand, viewers run the risk of arbitrarily assigning meaning to works if we give them our own meanings.

I want to find a way  and to discuss this way through my analyses of the works of Picasso, Apollinaire and their associates around the turn of the century  to make both the historical meaning and our response to it reconcilable in a single event of what goes on when I stand in front of that painting, he said.

By all accounts, he succeeded. As reviewer Lisa Florman, art history professor at Ohio State, stated, Palermos nuanced discussions of individual works reveal a surprising number of parallels with and references to contemporaneous debates within the Catholic Church. If I was initially skeptical of the theological dimension of his project, I have since been converted  such is the marvelous authority of Palermos text.
Two W&M faculty members receive McGlothlin Award for exceptional teaching

McGlothlin Faculty Teaching Award: Business Professor Jim Bradley (left) receives the award from Raymond A. Mason School of Business Dean Lawrence B. Pulley. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption

The inaugural McGlothlin Faculty Teaching Award was recently bestowed on two outstanding faculty members from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business and William & Mary Law School. James W. McGlothlin 62, J.D. 64, LL.D. 00 and Frances Gibson McGlothlin 66 established the award with a generous endowment to the respective schools to recognize innovative, excellent educators who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to teaching.

The recipients of the award are Allison Orr Larsen 99, of William & Mary Law School and Jim Bradley, of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. Recipients receive a $50,000 prize that is awarded during Commencement.

As part of the criteria for the award, professors must also show an extraordinary commitment to engaging students both inside and outside the classroom and provide leadership in the development of innovative new courses that advance teaching excellence at William & Mary.

I am tremendously honored to receive this award, Larsen said. I myself have been the beneficiary of great teaching at William & Mary  both when I was an undergraduate student and now by watching and learning from my talented colleagues at the law school. The commitment to teaching at William & Mary is real and deep.

The McGlothlins, who split their time between residences in Bristol, Virginia, and Naples, Florida, have been longtime supporters of William & Mary. Their endowment supports efforts at the university to retain and reward superb professors who are powerfully committed to their students.

I feel especially fortunate for having won this award because I was selected from among 10 very strong applications, which were whittled down to four finalists, Bradley said. The strength of any one of these finalists applications would have justified winning this award. We have many excellent teachers and there has never been so much development of innovative educational content. The excitement around this new award will only further motivate efforts along these critical dimensions.

Larsen received tenure this year. She is a 1999 graduate of William & Mary and graduated at the top of her class at University of Virginias Law School. Larsen clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. She spent several years as an associate in the appellate practice group at OMelveny & Myers in Washington, D.C., before joining the W&M Law School faculty in 2010.

Last year, Larsen won the university-wide Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence. In 2013, she was awarded the Walter Williams Jr. Memorial Teaching Award, given annually to one professor selected by the graduating class. The State Council for Higher Education selected Larsen for an Outstanding Faculty Award in 2014, an honor that recognizes excellence in teaching, research, and service. Larsen was also recognized as an early career "Rising Star" by SCHEV.

We are delighted that Jim and Fran McGlothlin have created this extraordinary teaching award, said Davison M. Douglas, dean of William & Mary Law School. One of the hallmarks of our law school is our faculty of gifted teachers who exhibit a powerful commitment to the education of our students. Jim and Frans Faculty Teaching Award is a wonderful recognition of the centrality of strong teaching to a William & Mary legal education. And Allison Larsen is a marvelous inaugural recipient of this award.

Bradley received his B.E. in mechanical/electrical engineering from General Motors Institute and is a graduate of Tuck School at Dartmouth College where he earned an M.B.A. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Prior to earning his Ph.D., Bradley worked 15 years in manufacturing with General Motors.

This award captures the vision of Jim and Fran McGlothlin which is to reward those faculty that exceed traditional teaching responsibilities with the goal of making the William & Mary student experience the very best it can be, said Dean Larry Pulley 74, of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. There are many reasons to give this award to Professor Bradley, one of the most compelling of which was his ability to not only conceptualize a brand new degree in business analytics but lead the effort to its successful launch next August.

Bradley will oversee the development and deployment of the Raymond A. Mason Schools new masters degree in Business Analytics, which will start this fall. He is currently the Hays Watkins Professor of Operations and Information Technology.

Both Bradley and Larsen routinely receive superb evaluations from their students. Larsen is described by students as dynamic, clear and challenging. Bradley is known for his ability to connect with undergraduate and M.B.A. students while finding new and innovative ways to capture their attention in the classroom.

We are very thankful to Jim and Fran for establishing this award, which is an exceptional way to recognize world-class faculty who go above and beyond in their commitment to providing a high-caliber education for students at William & Mary, said Matthew T. Lambert 99, vice president for university advancement. Their dedication to enhancing the academic experience is truly inspirational and worthy of this special honor.
We already knew that Bruce Springsteen was a nice guy despite his decades of insane fame, but he's proven that he hasn't lost his gentlemanly touch.

Adele regaled her audience in Lisbon with a story about The Boss at the weekend, saying that she had gone to his Rock in Rio gig in the Portuguese capital last week in the wrong attire for an outdoor gig.

According toThe Mirror, she told the audience: "I was wearing a ridiculous skirt, which was silly. It gets quite windy in Lisbon. I had a little thin jumper on, and Bruce came out and said: Youre going to be cold. I was a bit drunk, Id had four glasses of wine, so I said Id be fine.

Nevertheless, he insisted on her being protected from the elements. "He gave me his coat - so I was watching the show, wearing his coat," she said. "I was too embarrassed to try to put my arms in because, obviously, too small. So I just wore it on my shoulders. It was amazing.

So the moral of the story, basically, is if you're heading along to Croke Park at the weekend, make sure you wrap up warm - because he's just one man with one coat in a stadium of 80,000. And also, none of us are Adele.




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
If you're a Father Ted fan, you'll be delighted that this year's Electric Picnic will cater for your exquisite taste.

'A Song for Europe' - aka one of the best episodes (in our humble opinion) is 20 years old this year - and to celebrate, the people behind the My Lovely Horse Ranch are staging their own 'A Rubbish Song for Europe' song contest at the festival.

It'll be run by Neil Hannon (aka Mr. Divine Comedy) and Cathy Davey; Hannon, of course, wrote both 'My Lovely Horse' and the theme music for the series, 'Songs of Love'.

The best news? It's open to the public - aka you. You can submit your rubbish song via homemade video, and the worst/best 15 will be invited to perform it on the My Lovely Horse Ranch stage at EP.

As Neil Hannon says: 'I recall receiving an excited phone call in early '96 from Graham asking for, amongst other strange things, a 'really cheesy Eurovision song' - for which he and Arthur would provide the words. I said yes. When I received the lyrics I laughed a lot, and then knocked it out on the guitar almost instantaneously. My Lovely Horse went on to be widely regarded as 'THE GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN'. Now go, my people, and do likewise. It's your big chance - screw it up!'

To get the ball rolling, he and Davey have uploaded their own entry 'Tiffin Tin' to YouTube, which you can see below.

If you'd like to enter, you can do so by uploading a basic home-produced video via this link by July 1st. Entries must be under 2 minutes long.

Are you a Father Dick Byrne/Father Cyril McDuff combo, or more of a Father Ted Crilly/Father Dougal McGuire duo? Only one way to find out...
Hinkley must be on time to benefit from CfDs, committee told

25 May 2016

Share

The UK government has not given EDF a deadline for its final investment decision (FID) on Hinkley Point C, but the contract for difference (CfD) element of their contract would be cancelled if the project is delivered eight years later than planned, in 2033. This was the conclusion of British lawmakers who yesterday grilled the UK Minister of State for Energy and the lead negotiator in talks between the government and the French-owned utility.

In addition, the UK parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee heard that Austria's challenge to EU state aid approval of the project was politically-motivated rather than legally sound.

Vincent de Rivaz, the CEO of EDF Energy, had told the committee earlier in the session that he does not want to "prejudge" the outcome of the company's ongoing consultation with the Central Works Council, which needs to be completed before a FID on Hinkley Point C can be made.

Consisting of two European Pressurized Reactors in Somerset, England, Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK in almost 20 years and will provide about 7% of the country's electricity. The first unit is currently expected to be commissioned in 2025-2026.

Andrea Leadsom told the committee: "We want to see a FID as soon as possible but we recognise that this is a commercial decision." After repeated questions from committee members as to whether the government had imposed a deadline on EDF, Leadsom said, "No, we haven't," but added that she had personally witnessed the "massive" amount of work being undertaken at the Hinkley site. "If they were downing tools waiting for a FID, we would be concerned, but they're not."

Asked if she was concerned that a FID after September would be impacted by the run-up to French elections next year, Leadsom said President Francois Hollande and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron had both spoken on the record as being fully committed to the Hinkley project.

"EDF in their evidence to this committee have said there is no political angle to this, that it is a commercial decision and that it continues apace and so no, I'm not concerned," she said.

Hugo Robson, chief negotiator at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, confirmed that there is a time-limit on a CfD in the event a low-carbon-project, whether based on renewables or nuclear power technology, is late.

"From 2025-2029 they get a 35-year CfD. After 2029 the CfD is shortened by one year of delay up to 2033, after which it would be cancelled. They would be able to get revenues from the market, but not top-up revenues from the CfD," Robson said. "If there is a very significant delay, and we're talking about eight years, then at that point we are able to cancel the contract. As is the case for all CfDs, there is a back-stop date," he added.

On Austria's challenge to the project, Leadsom said: "We do not believe that the Austrian state aid challenge has any merit and we are very confident that the Hinkley Point C project will go ahead."

The minister confirmed that this was the legal advice that her department had been given. Robson added, "We believe the basis on which they are challenging is political, rather than anything that has merit."

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
It seems that Neil Young has had a change of heart in relation to Donald Trump using his music on the campaign trail.

The US presidential candidate had previously been criticised by Young for using his song 'Rockin' in the Free World', who said "I make my music for people, not for candidates." Trump later revealed that he had obtained a licencing agreement to use the song, but that there were "plenty of other songs to choose from."

Now, Young had clarified his stance on the matter, saying that although he was a supporter of Bernie Sanders, ""once the music goes out, everybody can use it for anything."

He told Reuters: "The fact that I said I was for Bernie Sanders and then he didnt ask me to use Rockin in the Free World doesnt mean that he cant use it. He actually got a license to use it. I mean, he said he did and I believe him. So I got nothing against him.

In any case, the musician is a Canadian citizen, so won't be voting for either candidate.
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Police Divers Search Llangollen Canal In Historic Murder Investigation

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, May 25th, 2016

Police divers are conducting a search of parts of the Llangollen Canal, following on from searches in Gobowen and Bwlchgwyn.

Today North Wales Police confirmed: Police divers are searching parts of the Llangollen Canal as part of the ongoing operation involving the historic murder investigation in the Wrexham area.

On Thursday police searched land near Bwlchgwyn as part of an on-going investigation by North Wales Police following recent information that an unidentified man has been murdered and disposed of on the outskirts of Bwlchgwyn.

A week ago (Wednesday) police with the army assisting carried out a search of a property in Gobowen.

Last week Police said of the Gobowen search: This action follows a number of searches conducted over the last few days in the Wrexham and Gobowen area, and is believed to be linked to a historic murder.

This is an on-going investigation and we are still attempting to identify the man and where his remains have been deposited.

If anyone has any information to assist Id ask they make contact with us.

North Wales Police would like to hear from anyone who may have information to contact them on 101 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Alternatively you can contact the control room direct via the new web live chat.
Successful Campaign Sees 20mph Speed Limit Introduced to Wrexham Village

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, May 25th, 2016

A rural Wrexham village is to made a 20mph zone as a result of an ongoing campaign to reduce irresponsible driving on a stretch of road.

Residents in Pontfadog who have been blighted by speeding are finally going to see some permanent action, with the B4500 through the village to be made into a 20mph zone.

The campaign to reduce speeding in the area has been ongoing for some time, with Clwyd South AM Ken Skates contacting Wrexham Council and North Wales Police last summer to urge them to do anything they could to improve road safety outside Pontfadog school and throughout the wider community, including Dolywern.

Safety vans were immediately deployed in the area, and have since been seen regularly.

Mr Skates has since been pushing for further action, and this week received a long-awaited response from Wrexham Council containing some welcome news.

He said: Im delighted that the council has now confirmed that the village of Pontfadog will be made a 20mph zone  its been a long time coming. Im also pleased that the Welsh Government will fund interactive signs along the main road warning drivers about their speed.

Residents have had to put up with these problems for far too long, so I sincerely hope this is a turning point. I would urge people to continue reporting speeding, however, as I will be more than happy to write to North Wales Police to ask that safety vans are deployed again.

In an email to Mr Skates, Lawrence Isted, head of environment and planning at Wrexham Council, said: I refer to your recent enquiry and previous correspondence in relation to the concerns you raise regarding the speed of traffic along B4500 as it passes through Pontfadog.

The authority promoted the introduction of a 20mph speed limit through Pontfadog, as part of our speed limit review on all A and B roads within the county borough. Im now able to inform you that the consultation in relation to this proposal was successful and an order will now be placed to implement that 20mph limit within Pontfadog.

In addition, the authority successfully bid for funding from the Welsh Government to introduce interactive signs in Pontfadog, in conjunction with our 20mph zones outside schools programme. These signs, when installed, will raise drivers awareness within the 20mph zone and ensure speeds are kept to a suitable level at this location.
Today is national fish and chips day. Nearly 200 chippers across the country are celebrating the day by offering 50% off all fish and chip orders.

For a full list of chippers participating in the offer head to the Irish Traditional Italian Chippers Association website.

For the day that's in it, we've put together this quiz to help you decide what type of chip you're most likely to indulge in. Enjoy!
On Friday, 1,700 telecommunication workers in San Diego have begun a strike against AT&T West. There are 16,000 AT&T workers in California and Nevada covered by the contract that expired on April 9. However, only San Diego workers are striking the company, with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) insisting that it is not over contract negotiations but instead over an unfair labor practices grievance related to call-center monitoring.

The CWA has kept the rest of the workers at AT&T West on the job without a contract for two months, even as 39,000 Verizon workers on the East Coast have been on strike for more than five weeks. The CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have sought to separate the struggles of the telecommunication workers on both coasts, even though there is widespread support for joint action.

We spoke to workers on the picket line about the political issues in the struggle as they expressed solidarity with the Verizon strike on the East Coast.

The AT&T strike
On Monday, two weeks ahead of a primary election in California, the nation's largest state, and contests in four other states, the campaign of Hillary Clinton announced that the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination would not accept an invitation from Fox News to debate her challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

A spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign issued a statement saying the former first lady, senator and secretary of state would contest the California primary while turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses. Suggesting that a televised debate with Sanders, who has won recent primaries in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon and amassed 46 percent of pledged delegates awarded thus far, would be a diversion and waste of effort, the statement declared that Clinton's time would best be spent preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands.

Sanders, who accepted the offer of a debate last week and has been pressing Clinton to live up to a previous agreement to debate at least one more time before the end of the primary process next month, said he was disappointed but not surprised by Clinton's unwillingness to debate before the largest and most important primary in the presidential nominating process.

Clinton's refusal to debate Sanders is a statement of immense political weakness. It can only mean that she and her advisers have concluded an appearance with Sanders on nationwide television will cost her votes in California, New Jersey and the other states with pending primaries and caucuses. Their assessment is that Clinton's previous encounters with Sanders have been unsuccessful, only fueling popular distrust and hostility toward her and increasing support for her self-described democratic socialist challenger.

Far from welcoming an opportunity to put Sanders away in a pre-primary debate--in a state, moreover, where the polls have her leading by a double-digit margin--the conclusion appears to have been reached that the more the favorite of the Democratic establishment appears, the more unpopular she becomes.

And for good reason. National polls released over the weekend show Clinton's lead over the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, rapidly eroding or disappearing entirely. The main contest between the two, according to polls conducted by both NBC News/Wall Street Journal and ABC News/ Washington Post, is for the dubious honor of having the highest unfavorable rating in the history of pre-election polling. Both polls show the percentage of registered voters who have a negative opinion of the two frontrunners approaching 60 percent.

According to a New York Times/CBS News poll released last week, 64 percent of respondents said Clinton was not honest or trustworthy. Clinton and her ex-president husband are widely hated and despised, particularly by working people and youth. They are seen as corrupt personifications of a status quo dominated by Wall Street criminality and greed at home and war-mongering abroad.

It has not been lost on working people who face ever-worsening social conditions and declining living standards that the celebrated political couple parlayed their stints in political office into a multi-million-dollar fortune, at least $150 million of it from speeches before Wall Street and corporate audiences.

The recent attempt by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic establishment, backed by large sections of the media, to witch-hunt the Sanders campaign and its supporters on the basis of fabricated charges of violence by Sanders delegates at the Nevada state Democratic convention appears to have backfired. On Tuesday, Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader and senator from Nevada, called on Democratic officials to lay off of Sanders.

The Vermont senator continues to attract thousands of supporters, mainly young people, at rallies throughout California on the basis of his claim to be promoting a political revolution against Wall Street greed and economic inequality. Clinton, on the other hand, is limiting her campaign appearances to carefully vetted organizing events and fundraisers, knowing that she would be unable to attract a significant turnout to larger venues. The only exceptions are speeches before trade union functionaries, such as her appearance Monday at the convention of the Service Employees International Union in Detroit and a speech to a conference of the United Food and Commercial Workers set for Thursday in Las Vegas.

The Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party establishment feel a visceral hatred for and fear of the social opposition that is finding an initial and transitory expression in support for Sanders. But beyond that, they are angered and frustrated that Sanders' continued presence is hindering Clinton from executing the sharp turn to the right her campaign is planning for the general election contest with Trump. This has already begun, with Clinton responding to Trump's emergence earlier this month as the presumptive Republican nominee by appealing for support among disaffected Republicans and attacking Trump as an unreliable loose cannon when it comes to US imperialist foreign policy.

Press commentaries published Tuesday openly discuss these concerns of the Clinton camp. The Washington Post wrote: The resonance of his [Sanders] message of economic populism--and his unwavering promise to stay in the race until July--have made it all but impossible for Clinton to turn fully to a general election contest against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Gerald F. Seib titled his Capital Journal column in the Wall Street Journal Hillary Clinton's Complicated Path to Center, writing: There is a great opening for her in the ideological center of the presidential playing field, but Mrs. Clinton is trapped at the moment defending her left flank against continuing attacks from Mr. Sanders, and that figures to be the case right up until the Democratic convention at the end of July.

In an attempt to appease Sanders' supporters and lure them behind Clinton, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Monday that Sanders would name five members of the platform committee for the Democratic National Convention, which will be held at the end of July in Philadelphia. Clinton gets to name six members and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz chooses the remaining four.

While Sanders hailed this as a major step toward reforming the Democratic Party, it is, in fact, a meaningless gesture. Nobody in American capitalist politics or the media takes seriously the convention platforms issued by the two parties of big business. It has been decades since they had any bearing on the policies carried out by the parties once they assume power. Obama did not even wait for his inauguration to begin breaking all of the promises spelled out in his platform and putting in place an administration even more right-wing, militaristic and anti-democratic than that of his Republican predecessor.

As the Washington Post noted cynically, most Democrats, not to mention most Americans, arent going to be all that concerned with whats in the platform, an almost entirely symbolic document.

The position of the Clinton campaign has a brazenly plutocratic character. It could be summed up as: I am the chosen candidate of Wall Street and the intelligence/military complex. It doesn't matter who you vote for from here on out, or how much you despise me. You're stuck with me!

As Clinton put it last week in an interview on CNN, I will be the nominee for my party. That is already done, in effect. There is no way that I wont be. While this is likely the case, with the Democratic frontrunner needing only 90 more delegates to lock in the nomination, such statements exude the conviction that the entire primary processand, indeed, the election itselfis an annoying and embarrassing inconvenience that must be enduredfor now, at least--to anoint the chosen chief executive of the ruling class.

This is despite the fact, according to polls, that Sanders would handily defeat the fascistic Trump in a one-on-one general election contest.

The Sanders campaign itself is part of the pseudo-democratic charade. From the outset, his aim has been to use his socialist pretensions and populist slogans to channel growing social opposition to the entire economic and political system behind the dead-end of the Democratic Party. Having served in Congress for nearly three decades as a nominal independent, but de facto loyal ally of the Democratic Party, Sanders is a known quantity whose services are valued by the ruling elite.

After Clinton announced her refusal to debate Sanders, Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager, reiterated the candidates commitment to campaigning for the eventual Democratic nominee. He assured an interviewer that after the July convention, Sanders would hit the campaign trail in support of Clinton.
This season of 'Love Is Blind' is shaping up to be absolute madness  here's what people are saying about it
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke with flood survivors in Colombo and surrounding suburbs last week. Tens of thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes as the Kelani River, one of Sri Lankas major rivers, inundated the outskirts of Colombo.

Working-class and poor families are currently sheltering in makeshift accommodation on higher ground. Many have erected tents along nearby railway tracks. Hundreds of people are without food and drinking water.

Nihal and his son were on the roof of their home near the Orugodawatta canal. When our family expanded we had to move here 20 years ago, paying ten thousand rupees. Every time theres heavy rain, water from the nearby canal floods into our homes. This time it came up to the roof, Nihal said.

We escaped by boat without our belongings and finally sheltered near a street. Many displaced families have taken shelter under the Orugodawatta flyover. My sister also lives in a shanty in the same area.

Our furniture has been soaked in the flood and is now useless. Ive tried to clean some of it as the water has receded but the skin of my legs has been affected by the dirt in the water. Will we be able to use our clothes after this? Many families face the same conditions. Politicians only come down here during the elections. No government cares about us or will give us proper homes, he complained.

Sevvandi lived with her parents on a small plot of land at Sedawaththa. My sister and I share this small home which has two entrances. Our husbands are casual workers at a tea packing company. I have a three-year-old child and Im pregnant again. My sister has an eight-month old baby. Both families are forced to live in this dirty place.

Sometimes the garbage piles around here smell very bad. Its so bad that people travelling by train close their mouths and noses but we have to live here with our children. Now the drainage of the next home has leaked and it is making things worse.

Another flood survivor said: This government, like the last one, is evicting poor people to release land for the big companies. The last government demolished a lot of houses on Slave Island. Before they evict people they should build proper homes for them. If the government does not provide us with houses we have to erect our own in unauthorised places.

Sampath in Keleniya told the WSWS that he was building a new shanty with thin sheets of wood. I have two sons, one 11-years-old and the other three. Im building this because we were in another shanty home with my brothers family. There was not enough space. We were on Slave Island where the former government demolished our homes. We came here several years before that. Im a welder working for casual rates and only earn 30,000 rupees to try and feed my family.

WSWS reporters also visited a primary school at Bomiriya which has been transformed into a makeshift camp. It was originally home to over 32 Tamil families. There are now about 160 peoplemen, women and childrenat the school. The families all lived in Ketewatta, reservation land belonging to the Irrigation Department on the banks of Kelani River. They lived in shanties made of wood and tin sheets. The residents main income is from day-paid laboring and working in garment factories.

Rajeshwari, 38, a single mother and garment worker with one child, said: This is the biggest flood Ive seen in my entire life. There was a flood in 1989 but this one has destroyed everything we own, even our childrens learning materials.

[Prime Minister] Ranil Wickremesinghe visited us. We told him that the only thing we want is a permanent house. His response was just lets see. Weve been hearing these sorts of words for over 30 years and they never come true.
Tens of thousands remain homeless in Sri Lanka, while the number of people killed from Cyclone Roanu continues to rise. According to the Disaster Management Centres latest report, 101 people are confirmed dead in flooding and landslides. Rescue operations continue at Aranayake, where three villages were buried in a catastrophic landslide last week. Only 23 bodies have been found, out of the 134 people believed to be buried under tonnes of mud in these villages.

In Colombo, over 200,000 of the citys 650,000 residents have been displaced by major flooding. Thousands are accommodated in so-called welfare centres at temples and schools, in roadside tents or under the bridges of elevated roads.

Sri Lankan authorities report that over 125,000 homes and more than 300,000 small and medium businesses have been destroyed or damaged by landslides and floods. The finance ministry estimates that the total damage will be between $US1.5 billion and $US2 billion.

Torrential rains associated with Cyclone Roanu also hit Bangladesh last Saturday where an estimated 2 million people have been forced to leave their homes and at least 23 people have been killed.

Apart from perfunctory warnings for the public to be vigilant, the Sri Lankan government took no serious measures to counteract the danger of floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Roanu. This was despite consistent scientific predictions of extreme storm events precipitated by the current El Nino period. No evacuation crews or rapid response teams were deployed to potential disaster areas and no emergency shelters established in advance.

Sri Lankas disaster preparedness and management is virtually non-existent, despite the passage of the Disaster Management Act in 2005 and the establishment of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC). This toothless institution was introduced in response to deep public anger over the inadequacy of the governments response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in late 2004 and the so-called recovery process.

In the more than decade of its existence, the DMC has not even established a proper dedicated rapid-response team with search and rescue capacity. This is in a country where deadly landslides occur every year. Military personnel deployed for search operations have been using their bare hands and long sticks.

On Monday, President Maithripala Sirisena declared that landslide-affected areas should be defined as High Security Zones and action taken to stop the construction of houses in unsuitable places for living and to prevent unauthorised reclamation.

Media reports said the government would deploy military and police units to prevent such encroachments. This unexplained move will be used to prevent poor families from settling in urban areas and to speed up the government eviction of shanty dwellers in order to release land for its Megalopolis project.

Yesterday, the governments National Building Research Organisation announced that around 2,800 families will not be allowed to resettle in their original communities. This includes hundreds of homeless families in Aranayake. The government has not said whether the displaced families will be given alternative dwellings.

Aranayake residents told the WSWS that displaced villagers were being accommodated in dozens of welfare centres without adequate food and other assistance, and voiced their concerns about the future.

Tens of thousands of working class and poor families were abandoned by Sri Lankan authorities following the 2004 tsunami. In Colombo, the previous government of President Mahinda Rajapakse spent billions of rupees for the beautification of the city, but slum dwellers and the poor were forced into unsafe, makeshift camps and left to experience yet another disaster.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government has boasted of large donations from various foreign governments. The US has again shown its hypocrisy. Washingtons envoy to Sri Lanka, Atul Keshap, announced that the US has allocated $50,000 (7.2 million rupees) for flood relief in Sri Lanka. This is from a country which spends billions of dollars for wars to establish its global hegemony.

The Cyclone Roanu disaster has again revealed that the ruling elite and its successive governments, whether led by the United National Party or the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, are unwilling and incapable of providing the most rudimentary safety to residents.

In the past few days, the media has featured President Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other ministers visiting flood and landslide victims in shelters and camp, feigning concern and making various pledges. Their promises will come to nothing.

Following the 2004 tsunami, the WSWS commented: Confronting the greatest disaster to have hit the country in centuries, the entire political establishment is appealing for unity. Various appeals for aid have been made. Statements of sympathy have been issued. But their primary aim is to cover up the gross negligence of governmentsboth present and pastand to deflect growing anger over the level of assistance and relief being provided.

This analysis has again been confirmed in the latest catastrophe.
In the face of expanding strikes by refinery workers and truckers against the new French labor law, the Socialist Party (PS) government sent security forces yesterday to crush oil installation occupations and break the growing oppositional movement.

Since the beginning of the week, all of France's refineries have gone on strike or shut down operations, and truckers have joined to blockade refineries and halt fuel deliveries to gas stations. Broader layers of workers are also moving into struggle. Some port, rail and autoworkers are already on strike, and the trade unions have issued strike calls and requested legal authorization for strikes from June 3 to June 5 at civil aviation facilities and for an unlimited strike against the Paris mass transit system starting June 2.

Early yesterday morning, security forces attacked some 200 members of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union who were blockading oil installations at Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille. The paramilitary police arrived around 4:30 am and used water cannon and tear gas, said Olivier Mateu, the regional secretary of the Stalinist-controlled CGT.

Police assaults wounded a number of strikers, according to CGT sources, who denounced virtual war scenes, with volleys of rubber bullets being fired to clear the blockade.

The police charges were incredibly violent, said CGT-Petroleum National Secretary Emmanuel Lepine. Police authorities criticized significant resistance by the strikers to the repression, which left seven of their men slightly wounded.

After the clash between strikers and security forces ended, around 6 am, tanker trucks entered the site under police escort. The Fos-sur-Mer site, near France's main oil port in Marseille, plays a critical role not only in France, but in all of Europe, supplying pipelines carrying petroleum to refineries in Cressier in Switzerland and Karlsruhe in Germany.

Despite the brutal repression of the protests, the expanding mobilization of workers has staggered and destabilized the PS government. Yesterday, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said 20 percent of France's 12,000 gas stations either had totally run dry or faced shortages of one or two products.

Trampling on the right to strike, which is inscribed in the French Constitution, the PS is provocatively threatening to crush strikes and blockades across France. On Monday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said, We are totally in control of the situation. I think that a certain number of refineries and fuel depots that have been blockaded are being cleared or will be cleared in the coming hours and days.

Yesterday, on an official visit to Jerusalem, Valls tried to posture as a defender of auto drivers threatened by fuel shortages, declaring, We will not allow the French people to face shortages or blockades. He insisted the PS would impose the labor law even though the population overwhelmingly rejects it. There will be no retraction of the law, he said. Otherwise, we will no longer be able to reform the country.

It is not the working class but the PS that is threatening basic democratic and social rights, which it is tearing up in authoritarian fashion to conform to the dictates of the banks. Three-quarters of the French people oppose the law, which increases work hours, undermines overtime pay and job security, and allows the unions to negotiate contracts that violate the Labor Code. Due to its unpopularity, the PS imposed the law without a formal vote in the National Assembly, using the reactionary provisions of Article 49-3 of the Constitution.

The PS is signaling that it will seek to break opposition in the working class by force, aiming to isolate and smash successive protests by different sections of workers and youth against the law. In doing so, the PS is carrying out the agenda of austerity and police repression advanced by the ruling class across the European Union (EU). The PS labor law is largely the application in France of the Hartz laws imposed in the face of protests by German workers by the Social Democratic Party a decade ago.

Now, opposition to austerity and the dictatorship of the banks is rising across the EU, including the struggles of Greek workers against the austerity measures of the Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) government.

The blockades of ports, refineries and transport systems are already creating crisis conditions across the French economy. Strikes in Le Havre, France's second port after Marseille, which is strategically important due to its role in supplying northern France and the Paris area, are forcing logistics and shipping companies, as well as the Renault plant in Sandouville, to shut operations.

The corporations and the political elite are terrified of a broader struggle of workers against the PS. Olivier Jean Baptiste, a manager at XPLog, a logistics company in Le Havre, told L'Express: We worked 24 hours a day over the weekend to try to catch up on the backlog. When the blockades were lifted on Friday, we began work again. Since then we are doing the best we can If things are cut off again, it will be a catastrophe.

Basically, everyone is in a panic, said an anonymous manager in Le Havre's industrial zone.

Right-wing politicians are even suggesting that the PS might be forced to abandon the labor reform, at least temporarily, in the face of rising opposition from workers. Philippe Vigier, the parliamentary group leader of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) in the National Assembly, said, The government has deepened its own isolation. They will have no other option besides retracting the bill.

Christian Jacob of the right-wing The Republicans (LR) dismissed PS assurances that there would be no retreat on the labor law, declaring, That is what one says until the day one drops something.

We know something about that, Jacob added, referring to right-wing President Jacques Chirac's decision to suspend the promulgation of the First Job Contract (CPE) in 2006 in the face of mass protests by workers and youth.

An effective struggle against the labor law and EU austerity can be waged only as a conscious international struggle of the European working class, organized independently of the trade union bureaucracies and their political allies, including the Left Front and the New Anti-capitalist Party. The current so-called radical turn of the CGT, layers of which are now publicly calling for strike action against the PS, will prove to be a political trap and dead end for workers seeking to fight the Socialist Partys policies.

CGT leader Philippe Martinez is pushing the union to adopt demands that are emerging spontaneously among workers, partly to better position the CGT against competing union bureaucracies, but above all to avoid a rebellion of the working class against the entire political setup and confine the workers to the straitjacket of a national struggle.

Le Monde analyzed his strategy yesterday as follows: Without calling for a general strike, he calls for renewable strike action Perpetually in crisis, weakened in its traditional bastions of support, threatened with losing its place as France's biggest union to the [pro-PS] French Democratic Labor Confederation in 2017, the CGT is playing for high stakes.

The union bureaucracies themselves are longstanding political instruments of the same ruling class and political establishment against which the working class is mobilizing in struggle. For four years following the election of a PS government in 2012, they organized no opposition to the governments savage austerity policies, including the initial negotiation of the labor law.

Dependent on corporate and state financing for 95 percent of their budgets, they are not workers organizations, but hollow shells dominated by the financial aristocracy. They will prove not only incapable of leading a longer-term opposition to the PS, but utterly hostile to the explosive opposition that is now emerging in the working class to the PS and the EU.
Around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, French state security police (CRS) intervened to dislodge 200 demonstrators blockading oil depots and the Esso refinery in Marseille. The blockade had been initiated at the call of the General Workers Confederation (CGT), during the night from Sunday to Monday, to protest the forced passage of the El Khomri law. This has provoked a shortage of diesel oil in the Marseille region.

The CGT federal secretary of the oil industry, Emmanuel Lepine, said, Nearly 40 riot police (CRS) vehicles cleared the roadblock the CGT activists had erected. The local union secretary and the departmental union were sequestered for at least two hours in the local union of Fos sur Mer.

Demonstrators spoke of a war scene. One worker told a WSWS reporter, They intervened with ramming a truck that was followed by using a water cannon against us. The riot police came from everywhere; they encircled us. They launched tear gas without warning and at close range. There were dozens of tear gas grenades flying above us. Some people were hit with police batons. A helicopter flew above us to assist their guys. We threw stones at the riot police to defend ourselves.

According to the witnesses, demonstrators were deliberately directed towards the offensive of the riot police, in the union centre located near the blockage of the oil depots. After 50 demonstrators took refuge in the local union (UL), the CRS threw tear gas in the room and waited for the protesters to leave the building. The police force assault against the demonstrators ended at about 6 a.m.

Among the demonstrators were dockworkers as well as students. There were injuries on both sides. There were some arrests among the protesters. Discussions took place between the security forces and the CGT to release those arrested.

The CGT blocked all Marseille port terminals until 9 a.m. Monday to protest against the arrests. A general meeting organized by the CGT ports was held to call for a strike on Thursday and Friday and, beginning June 1, an indefinite strike to pressure the government.

One port worker told the WSWS, This is what we need, but it will be difficult. The former union leaders told us that we should put two or three months of salary aside in case of a conflict. Now one cannot get by with a long strike; one is quickly taken by the throat.

In response to the brutality of the riot police, six refineries in the Marseille region have called a strike, along with the oil terminal of Le Havre. The CEO of Total, Patrick Pouyanne, said it would seriously reconsider its investment projects in France.

The CRS were stationed at the entrances of various oil depots and refineries in the Marseille region to try to deter any blocking action. The armoured trucks of the riot police are still visible on the roundabouts near the refineries, where they are monitoring passing vehicles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has offered the post of minister of defence to Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is our Home), in order to bolster his fragile Likud-led coalition of ultra-orthodox and nationalist parties.

The coalition has had a majority of one in the 120-seat Knesset since last years elections. According to opinion polls, in the event of an election, Netanyahu would see his share of the vote fall in favour of another far-right party and coalition member, Jewish Home.

The appointment of this ultra-nationalist demagogue, who is holding out for better pension rights for impoverished Russian immigrants that form his support base, would bring the entire right wing into the coalition. It would send a clear message to the Israeli military and political establishment, Israeli and Palestinian workers, and Netanyahus political backers overseas.

Lieberman is a fascistic warmonger, a settler and provocateur whose career is mired in shady financial dealings. He has repeatedly branded the current government as defeatist. He once called for the blowing up of the Aswan Dam in a war with Egypt, saying that Egypts then-President Hosni Mubarak could go to hell.

He is a vicious opponent of liberal Israelis who seek to expose the crimes of Israels Defence Forces (IDF), calling members of Breaking the Silence mercenaries who sold their soul to Satan, and Yesh Gvul activists kapos. He hailed the IDF soldier Elor Azaria, who shot dead a wounded Palestinian, as a hero.

He has accused the Palestinians of being part of a global jihad, and called for the death penalty for the perpetrators of attacks on Jewish Israelis. He has repeatedly denounced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and called for him to be removed from office.

A few weeks ago, he threatened war on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, saying that should he become defence minister he would give Hamas two days to hand over two detained Israeli civilians who crossed into Gaza of their own accord, as well as the bodies of soldiers killed in the 2014 waror youre dead.

He has branded Israels Palestinian citizens as the enemy within and called Israeli-Palestinian legislators to be tried as in Nuremberg.

As minister of defence, Lieberman, who was foreign minister in Netanyahus government from 2009 to 2012, and again from 2013 to 2015, would be second only to Netanyahu in rank. He would be in charge not just of the IDF, whose upper echelons are increasingly controlled by people affiliated with the settler movement, its war plans and Israels security. He would also become the de facto head of the Occupied Territories, which are under military rule. Israels land seizures, settlement expansion, road blocks, house demolitions, stop-and-searches, and detention without trial make life a misery for the 2.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while its blockade of Gaza has turned the coastal enclave into an open air prison.

The shift to the right by what is already the most right-wing government in Israels history has caused consternation among Israels political and military establishment, as well as internationally.

Former Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Channel 10, What has happened is a hostile takeover of the Israeli government by dangerous elements. Israel has been infected by the seeds of fascism, which should be a red light for all of us regarding whats going on in the government.

On Friday, Moshe Yaalon, the current defence minister and Likud party member, who had been expected to take up the Foreign Affairs portfolio, resigned from Netanyahus cabinet and the Knesset. He refused to take another government post in a cabinet with Lieberman, saying, [E]xtremist and dangerous forces have taken over Israel and the Likud movement.

In what is seen as a possible move to found his own political party, he said, I have no intention of leaving the public and political life, and in the future will return to compete for the national leadership of Israel. He took a swipe at Netanyahu saying, I saw before me the safety of Israel and its citizens in all of my acts and decisions, and the good of the country above all other considerations. This was so in security and professional matters and in matters of values and rule of the law.

While Yaalon is a right-winger on most Palestinian issues, he has opposed some of the most egregious attacks on democratic normsalbeit from the perspective of not alienating Israels international support. He is part of that faction of the military-intelligence establishment that opposed the plans to attack Iran in 2010, criticised some aspects of Israels brutal suppression of the Palestinians and blocked the expansion of some settlements as counterproductive, thereby incurring the wrath of the right wing.

The resignation of his Knesset seat means that the gun-toting Yehuda Glick, as the next person on the Likud list, will take his place. Glick rejects Palestinian statehood, calling for a one-state solution and the transfer of Israels Palestinian population. An ardent proponent of moves to allow Jews to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known as Temple Mount to the Jews, it was his activitiesand those of his supportersthat provoked Palestinian fears about Israels plans to change the status of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and sparked widespread protests last autumn. Since then, Israels security forces have killed more than 200 Palestinians and injured thousands.

Netanyahu announced his decision to bring Lieberman on board after months of talks with the Labour-led Zionist Unity leader Isaac Herzog. Herzog, who had previously opposed joining a Netanyahu-led government, was eager to take over the Foreign Ministry and push for talks with the Palestinians. When it became clear, however, that Herzog could not deliver his full 24 Knesset votes, facing bitter opposition from the former leader of the Labour faction Shelly Yachimovich, and Tzipi Livni of the Ha-Tnua faction, who had been minister of justice in an earlier Netanyahu government, Netanyahu ditched him in favour of Liebermans smaller Yisrael Beiteinu. Now Herzog is utterly discredited and faces the disintegration of his electoral coalition.

Netanyahu has rejected the French governments proposal for an international conference, planned later this month in Paris, to relaunch peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis aimed at providing a fig leaf for Paris and Washingtons plans for a ramped up military intervention to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Had Zionist Unity joined the government, it would have left the Joint Arab List as the largestand thus the officialopposition party in the Knesset. Under Israeli law, the prime minister must give regular monthly briefings, including on security matters, to the leading opposition party, while the Knesset must allow it more speaking time.
The launch meeting of the Left Leave campaign for the June 23 referendum on UK membership in the European Union (EU) exposed the political fraud being perpetrated by the pseudo-left groups supporting it.

Left Leave is backed by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), Counterfire, the Communist Party of Britain and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union. They claim that it provides an internationalist and progressive alternative to the official leave campaign, dominated by the right wing of the Conservative Party and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Their position is shared by just two other unions, the train drivers union (ASLEF) and the bakers and food workers union (BFAWU), along with the Socialist Party.

On May 18, these seven organisations, together with other splinters from the SWP, assembled fewer than 150 people in the small lecture theatre at Friends Meeting House in London. Almost everyone attending was politically aligned to one of the groups, who were speaking only to each other. Clearly embarrassed, the Communist Partys Morning Star claimed an audience of hundreds, but this lie was spiked by the SWPs own report and the videos featured on the Socialist Worker web site.

Every banal utterance from the platform and from a list of largely pre-chosen speakers from the floor was greeted with rapturous applause in a desperate attempt to conceal the absence of any popular support for the campaign. Members of the SWPs sister organisations in Greece and Ireland and someone from a Catalan nationalist grouping in Spain were brought forward in order to sugarcoat the nationalist pill offered up by the advocates of Left Leave.

The word socialism was as rare as hens teeth, while internationalism was invariably invoked just prior to a call for the working class to support a return to the nation state as the basis for securing democracy and social progress. In speech after speech, the national division of the working class was portrayed as the sole means of opposing imperialism.

The SWPs leading theoretician, Alex Callinicos, declared, A vote to Leave is a vote against the EU, IMF and NATO axis, but its also a vote against our own ruling class.

A Leave vote would, he continued, massively disorient the European Union, the United States junior partner.  Its about a process of breaking up the European Union, not to retreat into little national patches but to lay the basis for a genuine series of international solutions.

Callinicoss series of international solutions has nothing to do with the programme of world socialist revolution. It is, in reality, a series of national solutions within capitalism. He made this clear when, in an attempt to explain what he meant, he referred to international agreements between states as necessary to combat global warming.

From the floor, Joseph Choonara of the SWP stated this more bluntly: We are about beginning the process of breaking up the European Union. Thats what we stand for. This means countries voting to leave. There is no other way.

Lindsey German of Counterfire, a splinter from the SWP, is convenor of the Stop the War Coalition but spoke in a personal capacity. In that capacity, she was unabashed in glorifying the supposed merits of the British state. Its always difficult if you live in Britain to try to talk about British democracy as something superior to any other democracy when you have a 90-year-old unelected monarch and a House of Lords which is larger than the House of Commons astonishingly, she began. But the crucial principle about democracy in this country, imperfect as it is, is that we do have the right to elect governments and to elect governments that can change things, and this is something we dont have in the European Union. [Emphasis added]

At times, the casual nationalism of participants assumed the character of satire. Quim Arrufat, international officer for the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), which advocates separation of Catalonia from Spain, did not blush in declaring, We are not separating countries. They [the EU] are separating countries. We want the peoples united.

He was for an international alliance between cities (!) and a common bank of investment for the southern periphery, which he hoped an independent UK would view favourably.

To applause, the SWPs Gary MacFarlane, who sits on the equality council of the National Union of Journalists, stated from the floor, I dont go for a holiday in Europe because it is full of racists.  You go to France and see the racism full up.

The real perspective of Left Leave was made clear in comments by John Rees of Counterfire, again from the floor, and by Callinicos. It involves little more than a fond wish for Jeremy Corbyn to come to power at the head of a Labour government, as a result of the splits in the Conservative Party over Europe.

Our aim is getting rid of the Tories before 2020, while Jeremy Corbyn is still leader of the Labour Party and while the left has its best ever chance to do in the Tory government and get a better replacement, said Rees.

A serious argument we have heardis that a Leave vote will strengthen the right, said Callinicos. In fact the opposite is the case.  The Tories are ripping themselves apart.

I am not scared of [Brexit supporter and Conservative MP] Boris Johnson, he continued. If Leave is successful this will shatter the Tory government and take out the two central figures in that government, Cameron and Osborne.  There will be a vicious bloody faction fight that will make those under Thatcher look like a tea party. If the Leave vote wins we have a chance of breaking a vicious, oppressive enemy.

The basic assertion of the Left Leave forces is that it does not matter that the main proponents of the break-up of the EU along national lines are the forces of the far right, such as Marine Le Pens National Front in France, or that the Leave campaign sows divisions in the working class. It is supposedly objectively progressive.

On the national soil, they argue similarly that a victory for Johnson and Nigel Farage of UKIP in the referendum does not mean a strengthening of the right wing. Instead, it supposedly provides the basis for a left turn under Corbynsomeone who has again and again shown his refusal to fight the right wing even within his own party, who has declared in favour of EU membership and who has as little chance of surviving a Leave vote as does Cameron.

The Socialist Equality Party has warned of the political disaster of attributing a progressive outcome to political initiatives dominated by right-wing bourgeois forces. We have referred in particular to the support extended to the Nazi Party in Germany by the Stalinised Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in the 1931 Red Referendum, on the basis that the fall of the Social Democrats would strengthen the working class.

The KPD championed the slogan After Hitler, our turn! For its part, the perspective of Left Leave could be summed up as After Boris, Jeremy!

The break-up of the EU on the basis of an espousal of economic nationalism and anti-immigrant xenophobia and the coming to power of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove creates the basis for a rightward shift in politics, not a move to the left. Such an outcome will have consequences not just in Britain, but internationally.

The working class must oppose the EU on its own independent class perspectivenot the nationalist splintering of the continent but a common offensive against the EU and its constituent governments for the United Socialist States of Europe.

It is to this end that the SEP calls for an active boycott of the June 23 referendum, in order to assert the political independence of the working class from all factions of the ruling elite and, above all, in opposition to the left apologists for nationalist reaction and cheerleaders for the Labour Party.
A nationwide strike of Belgian prison wardens enters its first month this week.

The strike is against the austerity measures being imposed by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Charles Michel against public sector workers. For this reason, a group normally treated with respect by the ruling class as administrators of its repressive state apparatus is now being subjected to brutal attacks.

The government plans to shrink the public sector by 20 percent, with pay and staffing being cut by 10 percent by 2020 overall. It aims at cutting staffing of prisons by 10 percent while making prison wardens work 12 months for 11 months pay. The cuts will reduce substantially what prison services can offer inmates in education, as part of their rehabilitation. Affected services include mental health care, apprenticeships, online learning, and arts activities.

The Belgium prison system is notoriously decrepit. The Forest-Berkaendel prison in Walloon was built in 1910 and 360 inmates currently live in a space designed for 280. A striking warden at the prison told the media that with the cuts, What is removed from the prisoners is their chance to reintegrate society as a human being, their chance to have a job after doing their time, and their chance to remain a human being in the prison system.

The cuts to the prison service will further de-humanise prisons. They will lead to increases in cell occupancy alongside the overcrowding of prisons with less wardens able to attend each prisoner. This creates more stress on both prisoners and guards, which produces a vicious circle of violence and repression.

On May 18, one inmate died in the psychiatric ward at the Lantin prison, as a result of a fight with plastic forks between inmates who are kept 22 hours a day in their cells. Lantin, in the Juprelle borough in the Liege district, holds 900 inmates.

According to the Belgian Human Rights League, prisons in Belgium, with 129 detainees to every 100 spaces, are more overcrowded than any in European country except Hungary. President Alexis Deswaef told the BBC the situation was a complete violation of article three of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.

In an attempt to force the wardens back to work, when the fire sprinkler system broke at Lantin the mayor of Juprelle, Christine Servaes, took the decision to call in the police and military to operate the prison. Servaes said, Fire safety equipment is failing so I am calling upon the use of emergency decree.

The living conditions of the prisoners under the new regime are reported as appalling. On May 19, in St. Gilles prison in Brussels, 700 striking prison workers held a demonstration. Riot police barred access to the prison and manned the prison. Water cannons were used against the strikers, who clashed with the riot police.

Nationwide, basic prison services were lacking for the first 17 days of the strike. On the 18th day, May 13, the government started to use the military to break picket lines and man prisons with prison directors, managers and police.

On May 17, the building of the Justice Ministry in the capital Brussels, headed by Koen Geens, was occupied during the morning by striking prison workers. Trade union representatives opposed this, calling for peace and quiet so as not to jeopardise negotiations.

Trade unions representatives of the main prison union federationsthe Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC) and General Union of Public Service (CGSP)convened to meet the minister informally at the Justice Ministry. Striking prison workers demonstrating outside rammed through the main heavy entrance double doors and went upstairs to the justice ministers office, shouting, Together, Together! and We will not kowtow.

Riot police were called in, leading to fighting inside the building with police using pepper spray and batons.

Michel Jacobs, a CGSP trade union representative, attempted to defuse the situation. Once back outside the building he said on national TV, I did not have time to see much. I got hit by police batons and punches. Oh well! It does not matter. I am not dead. Now I am strongly calling out for a peaceful standing down of the strikers. This I want to make it clear. I hope that everyone now is going back to their prisons and we are going to think about the next step.

Laurence Clamart, a permanent secretary of the CSC, concurred saying, First of all, let me make it clear that the CSC trade union does not approve, does not sanction these actions taken by striking trade union members.

Last Monday, a Forest prison striker said, We are going all the way. Someone must kowtow and it will not be us. It will be the government.

He added, We have families and these cuts will take out one months salary from our yearly pay.

The government is opposed to any compromise. Geens has repeated stressed that the prison Rationalisation Plan will go ahead. In this, the trade unions are on his side, as the plan began to be implemented with their collaboration a year ago, region by region.

Gino Hope, a representative of the Flemish trade union ACOD-CGSP, said last week, I respect the struggle of my Walloon colleagues. But they must also respect the needs of their Flemish colleagues. The Rationalisation Plan started last summer. We struck against the plan in some prisons in Flanders. To no avail. Bruges prison struck for two weeks against the cuts last summer. To no avail. So we chose to go along with the plan. I am not saying that it is working well, 100 percent, but we are starting to get accustomed to it.

In December last year, the trade unions stopped a strike against the austerity plan in the prisons of Walloon, except in Mons where a determined workforce balloted for the strike to continue.

At the same time, the magistrate service is undergoing a cull, with 245 magistrates to be cut by 2020. This will lead to a saving of around 23 million in salaries. Some 700 jobs are going among personnel working within magistrates courts, including clerks and secretaries. A 7 percent cut is being made to the number of trainee magistrates and a 10 percent cut to non-magistrate personnel. Non-magistrate personnel on non-permanent contracts will be cut by 9.3 percent.

Belgium spent just 81 per inhabitant in its justice system in 2012. In the Netherlands 125 was spent, in Germany 114 and in Luxembourg and Switzerland 147 and 198 respectively. Such is the scale of cuts that a magistrates verdict, in favour of prison inmates who sued the government for failing to meet their human rights during the strike, cannot be enacted. The verdict compels the government to pay inmates compensation of 200 to 10,000 a month. One magistrate commented regarding the case, The rule of law cannot be applied evenly in Belgium today.
Continuing his series of campaign stops throughout California in advance of the states June 7th primary election, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently spoke at several locations throughout Los Angeles County. Rallies were held in the East Los Angeles area of Lincoln Park on Monday morning and the coastal city of Santa Monica on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, Sanders held similar events in the nearby cities of Riverside, San Bernardino and Anaheim.

Between 6,000 and 8,000 people attended the Lincoln Park and Santa Monica rallies, primarily younger voters who have heavily backed Sanders over his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Several celebrities also addressed the crowd at the Los Angeles rallies, including actress Rosario Dawson and Dick van Dyke, now 90 years old.

Clinton has a significant lead in the delegate vote, despite a recent string of primary victories by Sanders and an extremely narrow loss to Clinton in the state of Kentucky.

In an interview with CNN last week Clinton declared the Democratic nomination contest all but over. I will be the nominee for my party, she said. Her campaign also announced that it has declined a Fox News debate scheduled with Senator Sanders in advance of the primary to focus instead on the general election campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Sanders used the Los Angeles rallies to criticize Clintons cancellation, calling it a little insulting to the people of Californiathe largest state He then argued however, that Clinton, is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she is going to help California address the major crises we face, all but explicitly acknowledging that Clinton would be the nominee.

While Sanders has vowed to continue his campaign until the Democratic Party convention this July, as the Democratic nomination process begins to draw to a close he is seeking to prepare his supporters for an eventual endorsement of Clinton.

Gone at the rallies in Santa Monica and Lincoln Heights were denunciations of Clintons $250,000 speaking fees, her Wall Street ties and her authorization vote for the war in Iraq. Sanders turned his attention instead to immigration issues, both to appeal to the large Latino community in Los Angeles and to begin coordinating fire with Clinton against the Trump campaign.

Reporters from the WSWS spoke with Sanders supporters at the Santa Monica rally on Monday.

Robin Sabnis, 36, is a software tester from the nearby community of Culver City. I like Bernie, he said. I think he has a lot of good ideas such as breaking up the banks.

When the WSWS reporter explained the difference between the socialist program of expropriating the banks and Sanders call to make banks somewhat smaller, Sabnis said, It does seem like the capitalists would still benefit, he said.

Sambis went on to describe Sanders as a New Deal Democrat like Roosevelt who wants to reform capitalism. When probed by the reporter, Rohan acknowledged that capitalism has to be replaced and not reformed.

Carl Lawson is a retiree who traveled more than an hour from the city of Claremont to attend the Sanders rally. Prior to retirement, Lawson was an advance man (location planner) for the Democratic Party and worked on the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern and Jimmy Carter and was a member of the Democratic National Committee for several years.

He said that Sanders was the only candidate that could beat Trump. He also relayed a conversation he had with a group of young millennials while taking the train over to the rally.

The young people he said had come to the realization that they had been left with the short end of the stick. Sanders was the first political candidate they had come across who addressed their grievances, particularly in relation to paying for college, getting jobs and other economic problems. To these young people,  he elaborated, the system is rigged so they never had a chance. The system is rigged with student loans, and the corporations and government are in bed with everybody. 
Verizon's Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam made it clear Tuesday that the company will not back down on its demands to cut benefits and force through job cuts despite the six-week strike by 40,000 workers on the East Coast of the United States.

Verizon's goals, McAdam declared, are to get our cost a bit more in line. We're obviously more expensive from a wage and benefit than our competitors are. McAdam was speaking before hundreds of corporate executives and investors at the J.P Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston.

McAdam admitted that the strike is having an effect on the company and with installations of new services down he said to expect lower earnings than in the previous quarter. But the CEO stated the lost revenue would be made up once the strike ended. The company needed to cut costs, he declared, if it is going to remain competitive in the landline business.

In other words, the company is willing to take the short-term losses in order to achieve its long-term goal of slashing health care and pension benefits and ridding itself of thousands of better paid legacy workers.

The company also wants work rule changes that would allow it to close 11 call centers and transfer workers up to 100 miles from their current work locations. Verizon is also demanding the power to force workers to transfer anywhere for up to 60 days a year.

While the company remains intransigent, union officials are repeating the empty slogan of one day longer, one day stronger. The CWA and the IBEW have agreed to the Obama administrations media blackout of ongoing negotiations precisely because the company is refusing to budge. This has exposed the bankruptcy of the unions entire strategy of making demoralizing appeals to shareholders, organizing photo-ops with Democratic Party candidates and soliciting worthless criticisms of Verizon from local politicians.

No organization that genuinely represented workers would hide information from workers who have sacrificed for a month and a half. The negotiations at the US Labor Department do not involve antagonistic parties, they are a conspiracy by the corporation, the Obama administration and the unions to end the strike and impose a sellout even worse than 2011.

Obama continues to intervene on Verizons behalf. On Monday, the National Labor Relation Board sought an injunction to prevent picketing at Boston area hotels that Verizon has been using to house strikebreakers. Earlier this month the NLRB requested and obtained a similar injunction in New York City. A federal judge, an Obama appointee, issued the injunction after a picketer was injured by a New York City cop driving a van of strikebreakers across the picket line.

Facing this gang-up, the only way Verizon strikers can take the fight forward is to break the isolation of the strike imposed by the unions and fight for the broadest mobilization of the entire working class against the government-backed corporate attack. In the first breakthrough 1,700 workers at AT&T West in San Diego went on strike last Friday. Strikers on the picket lines expressed their solidarity with the Verizon strikers and sympathy for united strike action on both coasts of the US.

Even though Verizon and AT&Tthe worlds second and third largest telecom giantscompete for customers and profits in some markets, they are entirely united in their war against workers jobs and living standards. Despite this the CWA is forcing another 14,000 AT&T workers in California and Nevada to continue working without a contract. The union has labeled San Diego a grievance strike instead of a walkout over the contract in order to isolate the workers and shut it down as soon as possible.

An AT&T worker in Northern California told the WSWS Verizon Strike Newsletter he only learned of the San Diego strike from his supervisor and that there were no reports on the walkout on the web sites of his and other locals or the district. The CWA is deliberately keeping the rest of the AT&T West workers in the dark because they want to prevent a rank-and-file rebellion and a mass walkout that would strengthen the Verizon workers.

The CWA canceled their weekly teleconference Monday. Privately, union officials are telling members to place faith in the federal mediatora former general counsel for the International Association of Machinists (IAM)--who they say will force Verizon to back down. This is a fraud. Allison Beck is a dependable defender of the corporations whose tenure with the IAM coincided with one betrayal of workers after the other.

If this battle is not to end in defeat, workers must take the struggle into their own hands through the organization of rank-and-file committees, independent of the unions and the Democrats, to establish lines of communication and fight for a national strike of telecom workers. Instead of appealing to the Democratswho are helping Verizon break the striketelecom workers should appeal for support from workers facing similar attacks, including the 2.2 million private and public sector workers whose contracts expire this year.

The WSWS Verizon Strike Newsletter spoke with striking workers in New York and Pennsylvania.

Bob, a field technician with 20 years of experience at Verizon in New York City, said, For the past half of a year Verizon has been run like a prison. People were getting suspended for anything. One guy was 15 minutes late during lunch and was suspended for 30 days; another one got a 20-day suspension for picking up a cup of coffee.

The union files grievances, but it takes forever and sometimes management doesnt even look at them. One guy worked here for 35 years and was basically terminated. They told him to go on disability since he would be fired if he came to work. Forty people have gone on disability just because of the constant stress of working here.

The company moving us around and our medical are important issues, but we also cant work under these conditions. I believe that is why the AT&T workers are striking in San Diego. I am sure they are experiencing the same thing.

Another worker in New York said, For the company it is more important to pay the shareholders and meet short-term gains that give us what we deserve. This has become normal and it impacts how everything, from what we have to deal with, to the environment.

Who are the mediators? They are company people. Now there is a blackout and we dont know what is going on. We arent getting the reports we used to and even those were tailored to look a certain way. I dont believe everything the union says. The union is like anything else: The farther you get to the top the less they are connected to us, and what we are experiencing.

On the picket line in Pittsburgh, Linda McClain, who has worked at Verizon for 17 years, said, Verizon has made billions in profits. So when they say they cant afford to continue to give workers benefits that just isnt true. Meanwhile, the executive committee gets millions of dollars and has full and complete benefits.

We know the money is there. It is not about not having the money to meet the demands not only for the workers but for the retirees who built this company. We are striking so that we are not the working poor. Sure, you have a job, but you cant meet your obligations and take care of your family.

Charles Schuck has five years as a switchman. He said, To me the most important issue is job security and preventing the company from moving our jobs. I care about health care and pensions, and retiree health care. My mother retired from Verizon in 2010. Under the companys proposal, they want to make retirees pay just as much for their health care as somebody who is working for the company. That concerns me for her, because she is retired and is not making as much as somebody actively working for the company.

This is definitely corporate greed. They make $1.3 billion a month. Basically, they are coming after our benefits and our livelihood. Why? So they can make more money.

To me it does seem that this strike has to be expanded. To me, the company doesnt want to compromise at all. They have a mindset. They have their demands and thats it. We definitely need more people involved.

In Syracuse, New York, a worker said, We are likely to give back no matter what. Until the whole country gets together and realizes what the hell is going on nothing will happen. The union is paid off, so is the government. I've noticed since the 2011 strike that the public is more supportive.
Workers at Honeywell International, a large aerospace parts manufacturer in South Bend Indiana and New York, have been locked out since May 9, after they rejected the companys demands for slashing their health care and other benefits, even as corporate profits and CEO pay have skyrocketed.

Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Jerry White visited the picket lines in South Bend, Indiana and spoke to workers about their struggle.

The Honeywell strike
Call it the power of good advertising, call it a wasted youth, but there's something about an ad that can take you right back to the person you were when it plagued your television screens all those years ago.

Also, those were the days before live TV so pausing and fast-forwarding were luxuries we knew nothing about. The ads simply came part and parcel of your TV viewing experience and we honestly know the words to some of them better than anything we ever learned in school.

For the love of God though, could somebody please tell us who is taking the horse to France?!

1. Kia Ora

"I'll be your dog!"

Who didn't imitate this around their sitting room at some point?

2. Softmints

British rock band Cockney Rebel's song Mr Soft went to good use in this classic ad for Softmints.

We still imitate this one around our sitting rooms.

3. ESB

It's an ad for ESB for crying out loud, yet this somehow evokes so much nostalgia in us we want to drop everything and go visit our mammies straight away. Oh and it's TV3's Alan Hughes in the ad!

4. Guinness

Long before Michael Fassbender was rubbing shoulder with the Hollywood elite, he was just the dude that swam across the Atlantic in the Guinness ad. Featuring the late Mic Christopher's hit Heyday, this one's a classic.

Honourable mention to this other unforgettable Guinness ad...

5. Homestead

Another one that brings us right back to a time when we were piled off to bed after Glenroe and tellies were made of wood.

Simpler times.

6. Pat the Baker

"So fresh it's famous!"

Good man, Pat.

7. Penneys

Nowadays Penneys don't even need ads on TV thanks to their enormous popularity, but back in the day they sure had a catchy way of telling us where to shop at Christmas.

8. Harp

"And Sally O'Brien and the way she might look at ya."

Actress Vicki Michelle became quite a star in Ireland in the eighties as the lovely Sally O'Brien from the Guinness ad. Although Charlie Haughey gave out at the time that Vicki Michelle wasn't even Irish, however she had a granny from Cork so all was well.

The actress went on to star as Yvette in 'Allo 'Allo!, but she'll always be Sally O'Brien to us.

9. Galtee

We have scoured the interweb looking for this one to no avail, but you'll know it by just two sentences...

"Sean, it's 3 o' clock in the morning!"

"But it's breakfast time back home."

10. Esat Digifone

"It's me, the guy from the bar!"

Poor Esat Digifone guy probably would have had better luck in Coppers.

11. Bord Na Mona

The Dubliners Marino Waltz may have been one of the most perfect music choices for an ad yet. If this doesn't make you want to curl up in front of a fire for the evening, nothing will.

12. Kerrygold

This one bothered us for many a year... who the hell is taking the horse to France?? Turns out it was Pete from Fair City. We were probably a little too young when we first saw this to understand the significance of all that was unsaid in this ad, we were just looking out for the horse.
In a thoroughly cynical speech yesterday in Hanoi, US President Barack Obama made a public pitch for closer economic and military ties between Vietnam and the United States directed against the unstated enemyChina.

The previous day, Obama announced that the US was lifting its four-decade arms embargo on Vietnama longstanding demand of the Vietnamese regime to ensure that its armed forces can access hi-tech American military equipment. While no immediate deals were struck and other announcements were limited, Obama undoubtedly extracted commitments that will align Hanoi more closely with Washington against Beijing.

Obamas Address to the People of Vietnam made clear in unmistakeable terms that the US is seeking a strategic partnership against China. As part of its pivot to Asia, the Obama administration has deliberately inflamed age-old territorial disputes in the South China Sea involving China and its neighbours, including Vietnam. Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi erupted in 2014 over the placement of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters and led to violent anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam.

During his speech, Obama received applause from the handpicked audience when he declared: Vietnam is an independent, sovereign nation, and no other nation can impose its will on you or decide your destiny. Everyone in the National Convention Centre in Hanoi understood that he was referring to China, and raised not the slightest murmur of protest at the utter hypocrisy involved.

US imperialism waged a bloody, protracted war in Vietnam and throughout Indochina in an effort to subordinate the region to American interests that cost the lives of at least three million Vietnamese and many American soldiers. The physical scars remain from the devastating air war that involved not only massive quantities of conventional explosives but millions of gallons of toxic chemicals.

Moreover, the US continues to conduct military actions and wage wars that flout national sovereignty in complete disregard for international law. Just days before arriving in Vietnam, Obama boasted of ordering the drone strikes that murdered Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour and ignored Pakistans protest that the unauthorised US attack breached the UN Charter.

In yesterdays Hanoi speech, Obama repeated what are now standard declarations in relation to the South China Sea, stating that the international order upon which our mutual security depends is rooted in certain rules and norms. The insistence that China abide by the existing international rules-based orderthat is, a world in which the US sets the rulesis nothing less than the demand that Beijing subordinate its interests to Washington.

Obama reiterated Washingtons determination to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes, through legal means, in accordance with international law. The US is currently backing a Philippine legal case in The Hague based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to challenge Chinese maritime claims. Vietnam has supported the Philippine challenge.

US contempt for international law is summed up not only by its failure to ratify UNCLOS, but its repeated military provocations in the South China Sea against China. Even before the Philippine case has been decided, US warships have on three occasions deliberately intruded within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit surrounding Chinese-claimed and controlled islets.

Obama made no direct mention to China in his speech, but he made a deliberate historical reference which would have been lost on no one in Vietnam, or China for that matter. Posturing on the need for gender equality, he declared: From the Trung Sisters to today, strong confident women have always helped to move Vietnam forward. The Trung Sisters were Vietnamese military leaders who led a rebellion against Chinese domination in 40 AD and are promoted in Vietnam today as national heroines.

Obama also made an appeal for closer economic collaboration between the US and Vietnam and touted the importance of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), signed last year. The Obama administration regards the TPP, which involves 12 Pacific countries but not China, as the means for advancing American economic interests in Asia and marginalising China.

Washington is well aware that Vietnam remains heavily reliant on trade with China. Obama pledged to work with Vietnam to unleash the full potential of your economy through the TPP, which would let you sell more of your products to the world and attract new investment.

The US president said the TPP would have important strategic benefits as Vietnam will be less dependent on one trading partner and enjoy broader ties with more partners, including the United States. In other words, the US is offering a comprehensive compact to the Vietnamese regime, with economic benefits that would allow it to lessen its reliance on China.

During his speech, Obama made ritual expressions of concern for human rights but stressed that the United States does not seek to impose our form of government in Vietnam. He held a special meeting with various hand-picked human rights activists, yet did not object when Vietnamese police prevented at least three from attending the meeting. These gestures were aimed at neutralising criticism in Washington that he should have extracted concessions on democratic rights before lifting the arms embargo.

Obama is no more interested in democratic rights in Vietnam than anywhere else in the world, including inside the United States. Rather, human rights is a convenient political tool to apply pressure to governments and justify interventions and wars. If Hanoi did a diplomatic about-face and shifted its orientation toward Beijing, it would soon find itself subject to a barrage of propaganda condemning its human rights abuses.

Obamas trip confirms that the opposite is the case: the Vietnamese regime has made a significant tilt toward Washington that will strengthen the hand of the US as it ratchets up its preparations throughout the region for war with China. Obama stressed that in talks with Vietnamese leaders we have agreed to elevate our security cooperation and build trust between our men and women in uniform. While the overt signs of cooperation were limited to enhancing the Vietnamese coast guard, the US will be demanding much more in the coming weeks and months.

The author also recommends:

US military returns to Vietnam

[24 May 2016]
Nine years ago, fraternal twins Andres and Andrea Delgado moved to Texas from Mexico without knowing a word of English.

Nearly nine years later, they are poised to graduate from Western Te xas College as honor students.

The Delgado twins grew up in the Nayarit state of Mexico, where they were raised by their mother, Teresa Carpena, who is also a twin. In the summer of 2007, they moved to the Austin area, before the twins' sixth grade year.

Andrea said it was tough on her mother, who raised the twins and their younger sister Gila, by herself. Money was tight and Carpena was often at work, meaning the twins were left to do things for themselves.

"Money was pretty tight and mom was gone a lot," Andrea Delgado said. "My mom always told us all she wanted for us was what she didn't have, and that was an education."

Determined to get an education, the twins learned English by engrossing themselves in the culture and observing the surroundings. It was not easy at first, but Andrea Delgado said it helped having her brother by her side.

"I think one of the greatest blessings is we deal with things at the same time because we are the same age," she said. "We didn't know any English when we got to America, but we went through it together. As long as you're exposed to a language, you'll learn it. I know I still make mistakes, but that's normal."

The twins graduated from Leander High School and were set to attend Tarleton State University in Stephenville, but a miscommunication concerning financial aid left them feeling uncertain about their future.

Their stepfather had moved to Snyder six months prior to their high school graduation. When they learned there was a community college in Snyder, and knowing their parents would be living there, the twins decided to apply at WTC.

"We were a little unlucky with Tarleton, but I think it was fate for us to end up here," Andrea Delgado said.

The twins didn't have much time to adapt to West Texas, moving to Snyder one week before the start of classes.

Andres Delgado said he was shy when he started, but has gained confidence through the support of his teachers and his involvement in student government and the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.

"WTC has taught me to be more confident in my academic skills," he said. "I feel like I've changed for the better."

The twins said they have enjoyed the small campus atmosphere and the relationships between the students and faculty.

Andrea Delgado, who was also involved in Phi Theta Kappa and is an Honor Code Ambassador, said she liked the ability to communicate with teachers, and even school president Dr. Barbara Beebe, anytime of the day.

"The one thing I'm most grateful for is it's allowed me to create networking," she said. "I was able to approach Dr. Beebe about a recommendation letter. I think the smaller campus also allows teachers to get to know the students better and see their potential."

The twins each earned a 4.0 grade point average this year. Andres Delgado is currently majoring in business administration and hopes to specialize in finance.

Andrea Delgado chose to major in nursing because she has been interested in science, specifically the human body. She said medical school is "probably unattainable right now" financially, but said she would like to study and eventually teach neuroscience.

"Anywhere I go with a nursing degree, I would have a good chance of getting hired," she said.

Both twins will earn their associate's degrees on Friday and plan to go to the same school next year. They applied at Angelo State, Texas Tech and Midwestern State, though they have not made a final decision.

Wherever they go, they plan to share an apartment and remain together. Andrea Delgado said she takes pride in getting her degree, especially with her twin by her side.

"Knowing how a lot of people thought we would not make it this far, it makes me proud," she said. "It tells me we're halfway there to a bachelor's degree, and no one can take that away."

Both said they are proud to represent their Mexican heritage and grateful they have accomplished a milestone together. Andres Delgado said he is proud to have her by his side.

"I'm doing something other people haven't done, and that motivates me," Andres Delgado said. "We push each other academically and we're there for each other. Even though we fight sometimes, we're always there for each other and not everybody has that."
Yet another new presenter has joined the Xpose ladies (and man) to fill in for anchor Aisling OLoughlin while she's on maternity leave. It follows on from the addition of Cassie Stokes to the team last month as host Karen Koster also recently had a baby.

The lady in question is Ruth O'Neill, a former E! reporter and a Castleknock native. Ruth has spent the past five years working in LA where she interviewed some of Hollywoods biggest A-list stars and global fashion icons while she was also the US contributor for the Irish Independent newspaper

Ruth previously made her on-screen debut on TV3 back in 2009 when she competed to be named as the new Xpose presenter in Total Xposure. She just lost out on the opportunity back then, but she did guest present the show in December of last year.

A huge welcome to the fabulous @RuthONeill_ our newest member of the @TV3Xpose team aAAAAAAAA?YAAAAAAAA? pic.twitter.com/dUFK7opCVU  TV3 (@TV3Ireland) May 25, 2016

Speaking about her new role, Ruth said: "I am super excited to be joining the Xpose team! I think we're going to have a lot of fun!"

While Debbie ODonnell, Series Producer of Xpose, said: "We are delighted to welcome Ruth back to TV3. Her experience in LA put her at the top of our list, and were really excited for Ruth to bring her wealth of celebrity knowledge, fashion and beauty tips to the show".

Ruth will join Glenda Gilson, Lisa Cannon, Peter ORiordan and Cassie Stokes from Monday 30th May.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Authorities have released the 911 recording of a witness reporting Mario Pender's alleged abuse of his girlfriend.

Pender was arrested on Saturday, May 7, for domestic violence charges.

In the 911 recording, the unidentified caller tells the dispatcher she saw the suspect drag the victim by her scalp and said, "He's about to take her away in a car right now. And he's yelling at her."

The caller also told the dispatcher she had heard the suspect and victim fight in the past but had never seen him become violent before.

Last week, Pender's lawyer announced they would plead not guilty to the charges.

Court documents also say the victim did not cooperate with authorities and would not allow them to document her injuries.

Parts of the audio recording have been redacted by law enforcement.
MARYLAND (WTXL) - Authorities in Maryland are asking for your help tracking down two murder suspects.

Police say Crystal Stanley and Jerry Smith Jr. may be traveling through Georgia or Florida.

The two are accused of killing 81-year-old Margaret McAllister.

Her body was found inside her home in Hancock, Maryland on Friday, according to the Washington County, MD Sheriff's Office.

Both Stanley and Smith are charged with first degree murder, armed robbery and assault.

If you have any information about where they may be you're asked to call local law enforcement.
Representatives of Algeria, the European Union and more than one hundred energy companies met in Algiers on 23-24 May at the very first EU-Algeria Business Forum dedicated to energy with the aim to revamp their energy cooperation after years of faltering exports from North Africa to Europe. Algeria is on Brussels list of top potential partners as it aims to diversify its energy supplies away from Russia after the conflict in Crimea once again revealed the weaknesses of too much reliance on Moscow. The Forum was opened by EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete, and Algerias Energy Minister, Mr. Salah Khebri.

At the moment, Algeria is the EUs third biggest gas supplier after Russia and Norway, however, its potential is still untapped as the three pipelines across the Mediterranean Sea continue to be widely underused. In 2013, the EU estimated that the North African country exported 25 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas via pipelines to Spain and Italy, which is less than 50 percent of their capacity. In the same year, Algeria exported 15 bcm of liquefied natural gas out of the capacity of 40 bcm. The insufficient usage was caused by a number of factors, including the declining demand from Europe coupled with depleting output from mature fields and Algerias own domestic need to generate more power.

Although there has been mutual interest on both sides to boost cooperation in energy policy, the lack of investment needed to discover and develop new fields has hindered many efforts, including dozens of projects that Algeria hoped to generate new output. Investors are distracted by the lack of stability in the country, red tape, difficult contract terms and problems in the state-run oil company Sonatrach. EU Ambassador to Algeria, Marek Skolil, admitted that there was a good awareness of what challenges were but both sides are determined to overcome them and develop a dialogue on gas, renewable energy sources and efficiency.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The captain of the sunken freighter El Faro's sister vessel says he believes the master of the doomed ship had a "solid plan" to deal with a hurricane that had sprung up quickly.

Capt. Kevin Stith of the El Yunque testified Tuesday before a U.S. Coast Guard panel investigating the Oct. 1 sinking of the El Faro, which killed all 33 mariners aboard.

Stith was traveling from Puerto Rico to Jacksonville as the El Faro headed the opposite direction on the same run.

Stith says he and Capt. Michael Davidson emailed about Hurricane Joaquin, and that Davidson's plan to go south of the storm "was well thought out."

Previous testimony showed that Davidson received outdated storm information the day before the ship sank. Also, initial storm predictions were wildly inaccurate.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department says it arrested five people in Miami accused of defrauding victims of nearly $2 million by posing as IRS agents and demanding payment of overdue taxes.

J. Russell George heads the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration office. He said Tuesday that the five defrauded about 1,500 victims.

The IRS has called similar impersonators the largest such scam in agency history. George said overall, 1.2 million Americans have reported receiving such calls. Around 6,400 of them have reported being cheated out of $36.5 million.

The callers pose as IRS or Treasury agents and demand immediate payment of overdue taxes, threatening arrest if they don't.

George said some scammers now demand that people pay using iTunes or other prepaid debit cards.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida is going to pay at least $213,000 for its losing battle to keep intact a voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

State officials have agreed to pay that much to the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida to cover attorney fees and other costs. Attorney General Pam Bondi's office is also actively negotiating to reach a settlement with another group of attorneys also involved in the case.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ordered the state to pay the fees of attorneys who filed federal lawsuits challenging the ban.

Hinkle ruled the ban unconstitutional in August 2014, but he stayed the effect of that ruling pending appeals that were further along in other federal courts. Same-sex couples started getting married throughout the state in January 2015, six months before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants the state's colleges and universities to do more to help students graduate within four years.

Scott on Wednesday called for several changes designed to help students to get out of school sooner. Currently, only 44 percent of students attending one of Florida's public universities graduate within four years.

The Republican governor said during a "Degrees to Jobs" summit being held in Orlando that he wants colleges and universities to drop any extra fees they charge for online courses. Scott also wants to expand the state's Bright Futures scholarship so that it covers summer courses. The popular scholarship can only be used for fall and spring classes.

Sen. Joe Negron, the incoming state Senate president, praised Scott's ideas, although he did not endorse any specific proposals.
JACKSON COUNTY Fla.-- The Jackson County Sheriff's Office hosted its annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

The memorial service honored fallen officers from the area and remembered the lives of 9 fallen officers, dating all the way back to 1844 with the death of Sheriff Lewis Williams, who was killed in a swamp in Marianna while trying to arrest two murderers.

The most recent End of Watch ceremony happened in 2011, when Colonel Greg Malloy was killed while tracking a Jackson County suspect in a wooded area, and then was fired on by the suspect.

The Sheriff's Office says the memorial is a way to ensure the memories of the fallen officers are never forgotten.

Tuesday's keynote speaker was Taylor County Sergeant Robert Lundy, who was there when a man drove into a Perry dealership and opened fire.

Lundy brought down the suspect, saving the lives of many in the dealership that day.

The Sheriff's Office also presented awards for Rookie of the Year, Deputy of the Year and Investigator of the Year.
TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- The Leon County School District is adding a new name to its "Wall of Remembrance" in downtown Tallahassee.

Vernon Foster, graduated from Godby High School back in 1971, and was a member of the U.S. Navy. He died aboard the USS Stark in May 1987 after the ship was attacked in the Persian Gulf by an Iraqi missile strike. Foster was the first name added to the monument since its dedication back in 2013.

The "Wall of Remembrance recognizes veterans from the Post-Vietnam War era, and all of the names on it, were alumni from Leon county schools.

We recognize people that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country", said Manny Joanos of the Leon County Schools District, adding that Foster was "one of our own. He grew up here. He went to school here. We want to commemorate him and his surviving family."

In addition to Foster's name being added to the wall, a new plaque for the monument was unveiled as well.
TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- Leon County Commissioners are planning to use funds from the BP Oil Spill settlement to bring more visitors to our area. The money will be allocated to support large events hosted at the Capital City Amphitheater in Cascades Park.

They plan to use the $160,000 from the settlement to bring some big acts to the stage at the Amphitheater to headline four events.

The Amphitheater has been open for almost two years now, and has brought in Grammy award winner Jason Isbell and bands like the Avett Brothers and Beach Boys. The Alabama Shakes recently announced they will be stopping in the Capital City in September, but commissioners hope to build on the early success of the Amphitheater and continue to grow its role in the community.

They will focus on enhancing four community festivals, and to host marquee concerts tied to the events. Those festivals include Word of South and the Inaugural Florida Jazz and Blues Festival coming this Fall. The others are still being decided on.

"We try to be very cognizant of pricing for our tickets", said Lee Daniel, with Leon County Tourism Development. "We take in the community needs and we try to keep them reasonable for the Tallahassee market. But I think some of the subsidy can be used to keep the ticket prices down and enable it to be even more family friendly."

The money is planned to be split evenly, giving events from Fall 2016 through Spring 2018 $40,000.

The county says there are no specific acts tied to the funding yet. The subsidies are part of a larger settlement of over $700,000 which will go to weather proofing the stage and it's electronic systems.
MEIGS, GA (WTXL) - Residents in Meigs have voted to recall Mayor Linda Harris. This comes as Harris faces charges for reportedly stealing from the city.

According to the Thomas County Supervisor of Elections, 94 votes were cast in favor of recalling Harris, while 48 votes were against the recall.

Harris has been under fire after several run-ins with the law during her tenure as mayor.

With just over 66 percent of voters choosing to recall her, the Supervisor of Elections says they will likely call for a new mayor election in July.
COOK COUNTY, GA. (WTXL) - The Cook County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigations Division served a search warrant on a suspected methamphetamine manufacturing operation.

The Meth bust happened at 304 James Street, May 23rd around 3:30p.m in Adel, GA. Richard Palmer, 42 was arrested at the scene and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Investigators started the investigation after information was received about a resident "cooking" methamphetamine and selling it from the residence. Upon serving the search warrant, deputies found methamphetamine as well as numerous chemicals and waste from prior manufacturing.

The Sheriff's Office was assisted in the investigation and clean up Of the operation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Regional Drug Office and the City of Adel Fire Department.
23 May marked the first annual EU Day Against Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Taking place in The Hague under the auspices of the Dutch EU Presidency, the event was co-organized by Eurojust, the European Commission and the Network for investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Among the key objectives of the EU Day Against Impunity is to raise awareness of these heinous crimes and as such the event is also intended to promote national investigations and prosecutions.

The EU Day Against Impunity also aims to recognize the common efforts of the EU Member States and the European Union in enforcing international criminal law, to address the position and participation of victims in criminal proceedings for these crimes, and to reinvigorate a Europe-wide commitment to the continuing fight against impunity for these crimes. The Netherlands Minister of Security and Justice, H.E. Mr Ard van der Steur, commented that It is primarily the responsibility of states to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of core international crimes. International criminal courts and tribunals are often set up as courts of last resort, and are not able to prosecute ALL violations of international criminal law.

The Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Ms Vera Jourova, added that the European Commission has made support to victims of crime a priority. Therefore, victims in criminal proceeding conducted in EU courts enjoy a variety of rights under European law, regardless of their nationality. Together with the Member States, the European Union has been striving for consistency between the European Unions internal and external policies in relation to the fight against serious international crimes. Close and swift cooperation between national judicial and law enforcement authorities matter greatly. At the EU level, Eurojust and Europol play a crucial role in this respect, she said. There are currently 1339 ongoing core international crime cases in the EU Member States.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge has ordered the return of more than $1 million in settlement money granted to a seafood company after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier (BAHR'-bee-aye) ruled Tuesday that Crystal Seafood Company defrauded administrators of a BP settlement fund by claiming to be an ongoing Port-Arthur, Texas-based business affected by the storm.

Court documents say the company actually stopped processing shrimp in 2009 - months before the April 2010 explosion and spill. The order calls for the return of more than $1 million by the company and its owners Victor and Christopher Tran - including up to $258,527 awarded to lawyers for the company.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) - The Saint Francis Wildlife Association is asking for help from Leon County and the City of Tallahassee to keep its doors open.

The non-profit organization is located in Quincy on 35 acres of forest, fields, and ponds.

The facility provides care for all special, sick, injured and orphaned wildlife in north Florida and south Georgia.

Each year, they help more than 3,500 animals from otters to bald eagles, and from owls to beavers.

Officials say they face closure, because Leon County officials removed them from the budget and the City of Tallahassee dropped them from their budget in 2015.

The facility is now asking for both governments to reconsider.

"If we lose the funding from Leon County that would leave a hole that we cannot file financially, so we will be faced with closing our doors," said Pat Simmons, a board chair at St. Francis Wildlife. "We're asking our supporters to notify the county commissioners and the city commissioners and let them know about the services that we provide and how important it is to have St. Francis in tact and functioning as a part of public safety and public health."

Saint Francis Wildlife has been funded by the county since 2000 and they say 80% of the animals they see come from Leon County.

You can also help. This Saturday, they are holding the 2nd Annual Saint Francis Wildlife Fest at White Dog Plantation in Havana, Florida.

The event will feature nature tours, programs, live music, food, and a silent auction.

It all starts at 9:30 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. All of the proceeds benefit Saint Francis Wildlife.
THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - West Point cadets are arriving in the Rose City to learn more about one of their own.

Lieutentant Henry Ossian Flipper, a Thomasville native, was the first black graduate from the West Point Military Academy, graduating in 1877.

A group of cadets has made their way from the Academy in New York state to Thomasville to visit the Jack Hadley Black History Museum to learn more about Lt. Flipper's upbringing and to pay their respects.

The cadets came in late Tuesday night. Organizers of their tour say they're looking forward to showing them the area.

The cadets' visit to Thomasville was heavily supported by the West Point Society of Tallahassee.
Find voter resources and full coverage of the Nov. 8 election at the YHR Election Center.
You are the owner of this article.
YAKIMA, Wash.  A 24-year-old Yakima man run over by the tractor hed been driving was listed in serious condition Wednesday in the intensive 
Israeli rights group B'Tselem announced Wednesday it was giving up taking complaints over soldier conduct to the IDF, after years of going through official channels brought few prosecutions.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter

Read B'Tselem's full report here



B'Tselem, a left-wing group that campaigns against Israel's presence in the West Bank, said it had been providing information to the Military Advocate General Corps about alleged abuses for 25 years, but had concluded it was increasingly a "whitewash mechanism" and a "mere semblance of justice."

As such, "continuing to file complaints to the military law enforcement system does more harm than good," it said in a new report entitled "The Occupation's Fig Leaf."

Fire at B'TSelem's offices (Archive/Jerusalem Fire Department)

Hagai El-Ad, the group's executive director, said B'Tselem would stop cooperating with a system it cannot trust.

"The system's real function is cover-ups," he said. He said once the group reached that "painful conclusion ... we found it morally unacceptable for us to continue working in the same way."

The Military Advocate General supervises the rule of law in the IDF, including internal disciplinary procedures.

The IDF defines MAG's role as to "instill the general principles of law and the values of justice in the Israel Defense Forces."

But B'Tselem said IDF investigations were slow, inefficient and rarely led to convictions.

Its 80-page report cited eight recent cases, including four in which Palestinians were killed, that it said showed sub-standard military investigations.

In the past five years, just three percent of criminal investigations launched by the military police into alleged offences by IDF soldiers against Palestinians led to indictments, according to NGO Yesh Din.

B'Tselem said that since the late 1980s, it has demanded investigations in hundreds of cases, including of Israeli soldiers suspected of killing, injuring, beating or using Palestinians as human shields or damaging their property.

Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, B'Tselem has called for investigations in 739 cases, the group said.

"An analysis of the responses BTselem received as to how the military law enforcement system handled these 739 cases shows that in a quarter (182) no investigation was ever launched, in nearly half (343), the investigation was closed with no further action, and only in very rare instances (25), were charges brought against the implicated soldiers. Another thirteen cases were referred for disciplinary action. A total of 132 cases are still at various processing stages, and the MAG Corps was unable to locate 44 others.

B'Tselem video of Hebron shooting incident led to indictment of IDF soldier (:   .   )

X

"The way in which the military law enforcement system functions precludes it from the very outset from achieving justice for the victims," B'Tselem said.

"There is no longer any point in pursuing justice and defending human rights by working with a system whose real function is measured by its ability to continue to successfully cover up unlawful acts and protect perpetrators."

B'Tselem said investigations have been slow and perfunctory and that soldiers' accounts are routinely accepted at face value, without supporting evidence.

The group was vague about what alternatives Palestinians now have, although El-Ad said it would still help Palestinians seek justice through other means.

"We will continue to investigate cases, interview witnesses, trying to collect data to the best of our professional ability and to publish that information to the public," he said.

"Whether that is going to be successful or not, time will tell," he added.

The IDF slammed the report, saying it was biased and does not reflect on reality.

The IDF is committed to the rule of the law and its legal system acts with utmost professionalism and thoroughness, the IDF Spokesperson's Office said in a statement.

"Over the past few years, several state commissions thoroughly examined the law enforcement system in the IDF and determined that the investigation mechanisms in the IDF, and their way of operations, are in line with the international law," the statement went on to say.

"The decisions of the military system are under external scrutiny, including that of the attorney general and the Supreme Court, and have received backing and approval throughout the years.

The IDF thoroughly checks and investigates any and all claims of misconduct including those from BTselem and many other organizations, and will continue to act transparently in order to arrive at the truth, it stated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman signed a coalition agreement on Wednesday morning after understandings were reached overnight Tuesday on Lieberman's conditions to join the government as defense minister.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



"I welcome Avigdor Lieberman and his faction members as important partners to the coalition," Netanyahu said after the signing. "I value his experience, we've worked together before for the security and welfare of the people of Israel."

Netanyahu said the two put their past disagreements aside. "It's no secret we've disagreed with each other, that's part of political life. Sometimes, in the heat of the argument, things were said by both of us that should not have been said. Now, we join hands to help Israel march forward," he said.

Lieberman and Netanyahu sign the coalition deal (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"The most important issue is the safety of Israeli citizens," Lieberman agreed. "For this we've made an effort, left everything else aside, and I hope we could truly achieve all we wanted to do."

Netanyahu also spoke about the significance of having a broader government, saying "Israel needs political stability to handle the challenges we face and to take advantage of the opportunities before us."

"I'm committed to advancing a peace process, I'm committed to making every effort to reach an accord," the prime minister said.

Putting aside their differences (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

He once again called on Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to join the government as well, "so we can have a broader government, a true unity government that would strengthen the unity among the people."

The Palestinian leadership condemned Lieberman's move into the government.

"The existence of this government brings a real threat of instability and extremism in the region," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP, adding that the appointment would "result in apartheid, racism and religious and political extremism."

Netanyahu, Lieberman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon met at the Prime Minister's Office for over an hour late Tuesday night in an effort to resolve the disputed issues.

Yisrael Beytenu announced Wednesday morning that as part of the agreement, NIS 1.4 billion will be allocated to the party's coveted pension reform over the course of four years. In addition, NIS 150 million will be allocated to public housing.

Photo: Gil Yohanan

Lieberman said on Wednesday morning that the agreements reached with the Finance Ministry were good for everyone. "I think the entire public will gain from this."

Finance Minister Kahlon, leader of the Kulanu party, spoke harshly against the budgetary demands of Yisrael Beytenu, saying that "Kulanu will not allow unruly behavior in any area - not economic, not political, not security. Kulanu will not allow the violation of the principle of equality. Everyone will receive this money - Arabs, Jews, immigrants and veterans. That is our agenda."

Bayit Yehudi's opposition

But that was not the last fire left to put out. Education Minister Naftali Bennett demanded on Monday that the prime minister implement a plan that will address the cabinet's mishandling of Operation Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War. Until this plan is implemented, the Bayit Yehudi leader said he will not support changes made to the government, namely bringing Yisrael Beytenu into the coalition.

On Wednesday morning, Bayit Yehudi officials said the party will not concede on the demand to appoint a military secretary to the members of cabinet. "This is a demand written in blood, and we will not give it up," one official said.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The appointment of Lieberman to defense minister and close ally Sofa Landver as immigration absorption minister requires the approval of both the Knesset and the government. Bennett has threatened to vote against the appointment if his conditions are not met.

"The prime minister's insistence on carrying on compartmentalizing the security cabinet is hard to understand. We didn't demand jobs or budgets. We demanded to save human lives. This insistence is so much more strange in light of the lessons learned from Operation Protective Edge that found this compartmentalization has made a one-week-long war into a 51-days war, with the cost that it entails," a party official went on to say.

On Tuesday, Bennett elaborated on the reasoning behind his demand in a Facebook post. "In my eyes, the demand is an obvious one, and in general one the prime minister should've pushed for himself. Other cabinet members also believe so, but unfortunately I have to be the 'responsible adult' this time," he wrote.

He went on to explain that "according to the law, the cabinet is the commander-in-chief of the IDF, not the prime minister or the defense minster. My concrete demand is to equip members of cabinet with intelligence and some tools so they could function better, and most importantlywith a military secretary.

"The cabinet military secretary will meet with the different cabinet members (ministers Shaked, Erdan, Deri, Katz and others, myself included) on a regular basis and brief them on what's happening on each of our borders, what is the situation of the enemy, what acquisitions the IDF is making, and more. We could delve into any important topic with him."

Officials in the ruling Likud party were not concerned by Bennett's demand, with one saying "he could quit the government as far as we're concerned."

Minister Yariv Levin, who heads the coalition negotiations on behalf of the Likud, rejected Bennett's demand out of hand. "We're not renegotiating the coalition agreements with any of the partners, including Bayit Yehudi," Levin said.
The police has arrested two Palestinian youth on the suspicion they raped a woman with mental issues in her 20s two and a half weeks ago in southern Tel Aviv.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



According to the woman, the twoa man in his 20s and a teenagerattacked her out of nationalistic motivations.

The two suspects, who are in Israel legally, denied the allegations completely.

The police said the investigation into the complaint was still ongoing, while the court extended their remand by nine days.

According to the woman, she arrived at a relative's apartment in the building the two live in, and it was there that she was raped.

The teenager's attorney, Nir Elfasa of the Public Defender's Office, said that "this is a minor with no criminal record who's had a hard life. He denies all suspicions against him. He claims this is a false complaint derived of a plot by the neighbors to make him leave the building because of his ethnicity. We hope that the police investigate this fully and quickly, and closely examine the minor's claims as well."
The Ram Battalion of the IDFs Search and Rescue Brigade has just completed six weeks of operational deployment in the West Bank's Binyamin region.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



During it's time in the area, the battalion helped prevent multiple terror attacks in addition to making arrests and seizing illegal arms. But for now, their assignments have come to an end.

Search and Rescue soldiers during exercise (Photo: Reuters)

Female Search and Rescue soldiers during exercise (Photo: Reuters)

Among other areas, the troops were partially responsible for securing the greater Jerusalem area and protecting route 443 that leads to the capital.

My fighters, both men and women, worked around the clock to reduce the number of terror incidents in the area, particularly on route 443. We carried out this mission successfully, said the battalion commander, Lt.-Col. Yair Pinto.

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

During their time in the field, the battalion was faced with many incidents, such as the one at the Bell checkpoint, when a female soldier in the battalion, Corporal Peleg Hillel, neutralized a female terrorist who tried to stab the soldiers stationed there.

In another incident, which happened as recently as two weeks ago, the division commander, Second Lieutenant Shahar Roditi was seriously wounded when four pipe bombs exploded in Hizma on the night of Remembrance Day. Despite his injuries, the battalions efforts probably prevented a much larger attack.

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

At the moment, we're heading into a two-month training period. We're going to work on search-and-rescue drills, CBRN defense, and infantry skills," added Pinto. After this, we will return to the Binyamin region for another significant period of time to continue our work and to implement our central mission: protecting the communities and the roads in the area using all resources at our disposal.
Zionist Union MK Yoel Hasson alleged on Wednesday that former attorney general Yehuda Weinstein was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to circumvent potential investigations against Netanyahu.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Hasson's accusation comes in light of the publication of the state comptroller report about Netanyahu's travel expenses during his time as finance minister in Ariel Sharon's government, in which Comptroller Yosef Shapira accused Weinstein and his successor Avichai Mandelblit of dragging their feet on the investigation.

"The accusation is very clear, Weinstein is absolutely obstructing the state comptroller's work," Hasson told Ynet."I have no doubt that Weinstein was appointed to be attorney general, among other things, to prevent this kind of investigation against Netanyahu."

"I know that over the years letters and other information were sent over to Attorney General Weinstein and he didn't address them, did not inspect them in a serious manner; he perhaps addressed two insignificant paragraphs, but he did not refer to findings that, in my opinion the state, comptroller's staff clearly viewed criminal," Hasson added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with former Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein (Photo: AP)

"I could not believe this review took so long. The state comptroller said at that meeting that it would take a short time, it took five years. There is no doubt that Weinstein failed as a serious gatekeeper; he preferred Netanyahu's interests over the public interest."

When asked if this is a cover-up Hasson said: "unequivocally, there's no doubt at all about it."

Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) responded to Hasson, saying that "the attorney general is highly respected by all the legal bodies."

"Yoel Hasson wants to be the one who indictes, judges, and apparently also pronounces the verdict. But what is there to do, the legal system does not serve us, not me nor Hasson. It is independent," Elkin said.

"I understand the desire of frustrated opposition MKs who cannot replace Netanyahu democratically to use anything they can, and I understand their anger when the legal system tells them again and again, 'excuse us, but there is nothing here.' They will have to remain frustrated opposition MKs for a very long time," he concluded.

The "Bibitours Affair" first came to light five years ago in an investigative report by Channel 10s Raviv Drucker. During his tenure as finance minister under former prime minister Ariel Sharon, Netanyahu traveled abroad 15 times. Seven of those flights were funded by the Finance Ministry and the rest were funded by outside sources. According the comptroller's report, 1.5 flights were funded by foreign governments, two flights were funded by Jewish organizations, and 3.5 flights were funded by Israel Bonds, an organization funded by the Israeli government.

The comptroller has already asked the attorney general to look into the suspicions six months ago, and is now accusing Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and his predecessor Yehuda Weinstein of dragging their feet on the matter in an effort to "cover up" the affair.

"It's inappropriate that when a minister goes abroad on an official trip funded by the government, an outside party also pays for the trip," Shapira wrote in his report. Furthermore, if a ministers trip is funded by an outside source, it is not appropriate for his wife or childrens expenses to be funded by a third party, especially one that has no connection to the purpose of the trip.

He stated that in all of the instances mentioned, much like other ministers at the time, Netanyahu did not turn to the Knesset's Gifts Committee or the State Comptroller's Committee for Giving Permits to Ministers to see if there is need to examine the legal ramifications of the outside funding, and whether it is considered an illicit benefit.
Amid a surge in violent crime, and against the background of Yisrael Beytenu's campaign to institute the death penalty for convicted terrorists in Israel, Hamas leaders have begun advocating implementation of the death penalty for convicted murderers. This is despite the fact that carrying out capital punishment without the authorization of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would be illegal.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



At a sermon during prayers at the al-Mughrabi mosque in Gaza City last Friday, Khalil al-Haya, a member of the movements political bureau, said Hamas would take action in response to murder and, in remarks quoted by the Maan News Agency, called for the implementation of thirteen death sentences that were handed down by courts in recent years.

In separate remarks, Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri described the stipulation in the Basic Law of the Palestinian Authority that the president must endorse any death sentence before it is carried out as a formality. He urged a return to capital punishment, something Abbas has repeatedly shunned in recent years. Abbas heads the Fatah movement, Hamass rival from whom the Islamic movement seized power in the Strip in 2007.

The calls come against the backdrop of two deadly crimes that have shaken the crowded coastal enclave in recent weeks and what analysts say is an overall rise in crime in the Strip that they attribute to worsening poverty as an Israeli blockade continues with no end in sight.

Gaza demonstration against death penalty

Another deadly crime, this time in the central part of the Gaza Strip, which took place last month, is perhaps even more serious from Hamass point of view because it threatens to touch off warfare between two large Gaza clans, the Abu Midein family and the Doghmush family, according to analysts.

According to Batniji, the police spokesman, the alleged killer, whom he identified as Silman Abu Midein "opened fire with a Kalashnikov on victim Hamed Doghmush, killing him. Batniji said the motive was a land dispute.

Seeking a kind of blood vengeance, the Doghmush family is demanding that Hamas authorities execute Silman Abu Midein, a stance the authorities have reason to take seriously, according to Mkhaimar Abusada, who teaches political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza City.

Palestinian society in general and Gaza in particular is very tribal, and if someone commits a crime against someone from another family, it becomes a tribal issue, a tribal war, so that if Hamas doesnt implement the death penalty on those who commit murder, Gaza might erupt into tribal violence. Abusada told The Media Line. The victims family feels its honor has been injured and that to restore the honor the criminal must be executed. If not, victims families will try to take the law into their own hands, something that happened during the Second Intifada (from 2000 to 2005). Hamas is afraid of this.

In an apparent allusion to the prospect of clan violence, al-Haya said during his mosque sermon that Hamas would not allow murder to distort the fabric of society in Gaza. Doing so, he said, would amount to playing into the hands of Israel which, he charged, wants to see the Strip in turmoil. The occupation is always busy in breaking the harmony of our social system, he said. Al-Haya called on decision-makers not to remain silent for a long time about implementing sentences that Abbas doesnt approve because he fears the reaction of the European Union.

According to Maan, al-Masri, the Hamas legislator, said that carrying out the sentences would be the safest choice to safeguard the security of Gazan society.

Hamas has not implemented any death sentences for murder in Gaza since 2014, when it reached agreement on a national consensus government with Fatah and it stopped having a separate cabinet and prime minister for the coastal enclave. During the fifty-day Gaza war that year, Hamas summarily executed 23 people, describing many of the killings as retribution for alleged collaboration with Israel. According to Amnesty International, the vast majority of those killed were either still on trial, were in the middle of serving prison sentences, or were awaiting trials or appeals. Al-Haya said that in the thirteen cases of death sentences waiting to be implemented, all the legal procedures had been completed.

But the Independent Commission for Human Rights, the Ramallah-based human rights monitoring organization for the Palestinian Authority, is voicing deep concern over Hamas talk of a return to capital punishment. According to Palestinian Basic Law, no death sentences can be implemented without the approval of the president so if they go ahead with this, then it is extrajudicial killing from our point of view, Ammar Dweik, ICHRs director-general told The Media Line. Dweik said that some of those who received death sentences were tried before military courts despite being civilians. These military courts do not provide the minimum standards for fair trial, he said.

Samir Zakout, assistant director of al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City, said his organization was in contact with leaders in the Strip urging them not to implement the death sentences. He noted that despite the expressions of support by politicians such as al-Haya, no official decision has been taken. We are against it. Theres no logic in violating the right to life and when you implement the death penalty it doesnt stop the crime, he said. The street wants the death penalty, people who had relatives killed want it. But we are against this kind of street justice.

Article written by Ben Lynfield
Regardless of his politics, Education Minister Naftali Bennett's request to help solidify the Security Cabinet's professional wherewithal by appointing a military secretary to advise the Cabinet is correct and justified. When I was head of the Operations Directorate, I was asked by the defense minister to present a certain operation before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though it was the defense minister who had the power to grant the final approval for the operation, since it happened to be a particularly delicate case, he had wanted the prime minister to be briefed on its details, as well.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Upon arriving at the Prime Minister's Office, I was stopped by the prime minister's military secretary, who flatly told me, "Approving this operation falls under the defense minister's jurisdiction. If he wants to share that responsibility, have him raise the matter before the Security Cabinet. The prime minister is not the next highest rank after the defense minister herethe Security Cabinet is." He was right; the Cabinet does constitute the most senior echelon in the country in all matters of state security.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The relationship between the Security Cabinet and the IDF can be compared to that of a company's board of directors and the company itself, with the IDF chief of staff serving as its CEO. And though the board of directors does have a chairpersonpersonified by the prime ministerthe most important issues are still decided by the board, and not its chairperson.

Viewing the Security Cabinet in this way, however, is problematic for two reasons. The first has to do with the nature of Bennett's request. Cabinet members are usually senior ministers, some of them heads of their own party. These are very busy people, with most of them lacking the preferable security background. The members, however, are responsible for all the important decisions and are expected to learn and know the workings of the "company"personified by the IDFthey oversee and whose actions they must approve. Appointing a military secretary to aid the Security Cabinet in these matters seems like a partial yet highly worthwhile solution to this.

The second problem with Bennett's suggestion has to do with nitpicking. Say, for instance, that the Security Cabinet convenes to decide on a major military operation. A regular sequence of events would then be this: After Intelligence gives an overly elaborate presentation, the prime minister turns to the defense minister and asks for their opinion. The defense minister then gives the floor to the IDF chief of staff, who proceeds to present his plan. Then the discussion portion commences.

This is usually where the ministers begin to pick at the IDF's plan. Their questions normally go into the most minute details of the operation, which are far from relevant to heads of state. It is not uncommon for the different members to childishly one-up military representatives or each other with their technical knowledge. The discussion draws on, unrelated to its level of detail or thoroughness. In fact, at this point the definition of "thoroughness" is flipped on its head, so that the tactical details come before any strategic plan set forth by the political echelon.

When talking about a company commander, being thorough indeed means examining the finer details, knowing the routes they are in charge of, making sure that all their soldiers' weapons are in good condition and so on. On the strategic level, though, going into such detail means the opposite of being thorough; moreover, dealing exclusively with the particulars of the IDF's plan leaves the Cabinet with only two options: approving the (only) plan presented, or rejecting it.

A minister once asked me who said this constitutes the entire scope of all the available options. I told him, "After the IDF finishes presenting its plan, someone will always ask what were the alternatives and why the IDF chose this option over others. It is crucial to then insist that the army open up the discussion on the issue, instead of diving into the one narrow area that has already been presented.

And so, regardless of what the state comptroller has to say on the Security Cabinet's conduct during Operation Protective Edge or his suggestions regarding expanding the government, there seems to be a need to improve the Cabinet's way of going about its duties. Bennett's suggestion regarding appointing a military secretary might be small, but it is an important and easily implemented step in the right direction.
BAGHDAD- Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric urged government forces battling to retake Falluja from ISIS militants to spare civilians trapped in the city on Baghdad's western approaches.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's appeal reflected concerns that a large civilian death toll in the battle for the mainly Sunni Muslim city could aggravate sectarian tensions in Iraq. The Baghdad government has been led by Shi'ites since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, a member of the Sunni minority.

Sistani added his voice to many calls for restraint in the battle launched on Monday to retake Falluja, the first Iraqi city to fall under the control of the ultra-hardline Sunni ISIS, in January 2014.
DAKAR- A week in which two slave-owners were jailed and two leading anti-slavery activists were released from prison in Mauritania could mark a turning point in the West African nation's fight to eliminate the practice, campaigners said on Wednesday.

Two men were last week handed five-year prison sentences - one year to be served, four years suspended - and ordered to pay compensation to two victims in only the country's second ever prosecution for slavery since it was criminalised in 2007.

Prominent activists Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal, who had been in prison for 18 months after taking part in an anti-slavery march, were freed two days later by the Supreme Court.
To save priceless as-yet undiscovered fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, from being looted, an extraordinary archaeological excavation has been going on with more than 500 volunteers from Israel and abroad sleeping and living in a camp in the desert.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The complex excavation kicks off a national plan to conduct comprehensive archaeological excavations in the Judean Desert caves to extract and preserve the scrolls from antiquities looters.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most important archeological finds ever unearthed  a collection of hundreds of biblical and apocalyptic texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek discovered between the years 1946-1956 in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. They were written and collected over 2,000 years ago by a mysterious Jewish separatist sect that, obsessed with purity and apocalyptic visions, moved into an outpost of desert caves overlooking the Dead Sea. The scrolls date back to the last three centuries BCE and the first century CE and are among the earliest extant texts written in the Hebrew language  including the oldest available copies of biblical books.

Excavations at Qumran (Photo: Yoli Shwartz)





The excavation is taking place at the Cave of Skulls in the Tzeelim Stream located near the Masada fortress. Due the difficulty in reaching the site, an access trail requiring the use of rappelling equipment has been constructed after obtaining a special permit. The excavation is expected to end in two weeks, depending on its success.

It is exciting to see the extraordinary work of the volunteers in complicated field conditions due to their desire to join this historic undertaking and discover findings that can provide priceless information about our past here, said Israel Hasson, Director-General of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). After all, the Dead Sea scrolls are of religious, political, and historical importance to Jews, Christians and all of humanity.

Several attempts to plunder the contents of the Cave of Skulls have been thwarted in the past. The most recent case occurred when a group of Palestinian robbers were caught red handed in 2014. They were sentenced to a prison term after archaeological artifacts were found in their possession.

The excavation is conducted by archaeologists Dr. Eitan Klein, Dr. Uri Davidovich, Royee Porat and Amir Ganor, accompanied by researchers from the Hebrew University and hundreds of volunteers.

The excavation at the Tzeelim Stream is an operation of extraordinary complexity and scope, and one that has not occurred in the Judean Desert in the past thirty years, said Amir Ganor. There are hundreds of caves in cliffs in the area, access to which is both dangerous and challenging. In almost every cave that we examined we found evidence of illicit intervention and it is simply heart-breaking.

Qumran cave excavation (Photo: Guy Fitoussi)

The plan has been promoted by the IAA, in cooperation with the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and with Culture Minister Miri Regev.

The antiquity robbers are plundering the lands history and we cannot allow that, said Regev. The Dead Sea scrolls are an exciting testament of paramount importance that bears witness to the existence of Israel in this land 2,000 years ago. It is our duty to protect these unique treasures, which belong to the Jewish people and to the entire world. I will work to increase the punishment against those that rob our countrys antiquities.

Over the years, inspectors have arrested antiquities robbers who attempted to steal some of the scrolls. However, the IAA said in a statement that only by excavating all of the scrolls in the ground and transferring them to the state will it be possible to ensure their preservation for future generations.
The Air Force has been considering letting its female pilots, navigators and flight engineers return to duty during their maternity leave. If approved, this would help them keep up with their training and to remain ready to take part in military operations.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The struggle to allow women to apply and take part in the flight academy has been long going, with a major achievement being Alice Miller's 1994 struggle and eventual win that allowed her entry to the prestigious and rigorous flight course. Recently, a female pilot and mother has asked MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) for assistance in changing Air Force policy to allow women to fly during their maternity leave.

Zandberg took on the pilot's request, passing it on to the Defense Ministry. This week, a response was given by Defense Ministry Chief of Staff Chaim Blumenblatt, stating, "Following a joint examination of the situation together with the Air Force, we are now considering allowing Air Force officers perform flights during their maternity leaves, so as not to hinder their readiness to participate in operations." Blumenblatt made it clear that such flights "would only happen with the officers' consent, and only during the latter part of their maternity leaves."

Air Force pilots with a baby

The standard maternity leave granted to female soldiers, including those serving in the Air Force, is 14 weeks. This is equal to the maternity leave granted to mothers in a civilian setting.

While a decision is still pending, Air Force officials have said that they find it highly unlikely that a female pilot would choose to fly during the first six weeks following her giving birth, among other reasons, because doctors normally advise against it.

Since 1998, some 40 women have finished the flight academy, going on to serve as fighter and transport pilots, fighter and transport navigators and flight engineers.

Until three years ago, the Air Force had followed a stricter policy, under which women were not allowed to fly from the beginning of their pregnancy, supposedly to "prevent health risks." Eventually, the army began to allow women to fly until the 25th week of their pregnancy in cases where no complications had been observed. Regardless, safety protocol states that they fly no more than four hours, below 8,000 ft. and always have another flight member on board.

Zandberg spoke to Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet's sister publication, saying, "I'm glad to see that the Defense Ministry is looking into the matter from a more progressive perspective. Whether in the army or not, women should be treated equally and in a manner that accommodates birth and breastfeeding, instead of using them to segregate and discriminate."
Last week ended the first Israeli Food Festival at Costco chains across Japan. The festival was sponsored in part by the Export Institute and the economic attache of the Israeli Ministry of Economy office in Tokyo, and took place at 25 Costco stores across the East Asian country.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Japanese Costco members were able to taste different Israeli products including matza, pita bread, tea made in Israel, Israeli cookies, tehini, and Israeli wines. All of these products are now regularly sold in Japanese Costcos. The festival lasted three days.

The festival included food stands where the members were able to try 11 different Israeli products, including Asif brand Israeli couscous, Hanasich brand tehina, Adafresh brand spices, Angel brand cookies, and Wissotzky brand tea.

Israeli food festival in Japan (Photo: The Israel Export Institute)

Japan is a very important Israeli trade partner and receives preferential treatment for Israeli exports. Food and drink exports to Japan rose five percent in 2015, and stands at approximately $75 million.

The meetings that led to a million dollars in exports

Ohad Cohen, exports manager for the Ministry of Economy, said, "In 2015, the government decided to take steps to strengthen the economic relations between Israeli and Japan. The Israeli and Japanese prime ministers held reciprocal visits over the past several years under this framework."

"We've seen great interest for Israeli products and technological cooperation from Japanese companies in a variety of fields including the medical, communications, pharmaceutical, and automation fields," Cohen continued.

Tasting Israeli food at Costco in Japan (Photo: Israel Export Institute)

The relations between the Israeli food companies and Japanese companies began due to efforts of the Israeli economy ministry attache in Japan and Interlink-Eshkol, a company which held a networking event which brought Japanese companies into contact with dozens of Israeli food and produce producers. This eventually led to Israeli food products being sold in Japanese Costcos, and is expected to result in approximately one million dollars worth of exports.

Japan isn't the only East Asian country importing more Israeli products. The week before was the first Israeli Food Festival in Vietnam. It included Israeli chefs and businesspeople in the Israeli food industry who were trying to promote and expose Israeli products and food to the people of Vietnam. This was yet another initiative carried out by the Israeli Ministry of Economy.

Fresh pita in Vietnam

The Israeli festival in Vietnam took place in two cities: Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The festival had cooking workshops led by Israeli chef Ruthie Russo amongst other high-profile Israeli chefs. They demonstrated how to cook various Israeli dishes such as majadra, musabaha style hummus, fresh pita made on site, malabi with pistachios, and sweet Israeli meatballs made with date honey.

Caroline Nevo, the head of the Food and Drink Branch of the Exports Institute said that "over the last several years, Vietnam has greatly developed economically and presents a great opportunity for Israeli industry and food exports."

An Israeli cooking demonstration in Vietnam (Photo: Israel Export Institute)

"Food prices have risen in Vietnam over the past year by 30 percent. This is an unprecedented rise which we don't see in any other countries. The rise comes out of growing awareness, openness (of the economy), globalization, and curiosity to explore what else is out there," she continued.

"Generally speaking, in the last few years we at the Institute have seen more interest and demand for Israeli flavors and products in the east, and conversely, we have been expending great efforts to open up markets which will facilitate the entry of Israeli products and fully realize the potential of these markets."
TOUROU- A 16-year-old girl was kidnapped with her 1-month-old baby by Boko Haram from her home in northern Cameroon 18 months ago, taken to Nigeria, married off to an extremist fighter and then trained to be a suicide bomber.

Last week she succeeded in escaping when the Nigerian military launched a raid on a Boko Haram camp. She wandered through Sambisa Forest in northeastern Nigeria for several days until, tired, weak and hungry, she was found by members of a local defense group fighting the extremists, who handed her over to Cameroon's military, said Midjiyawa Bakary governor of the Far North region of Cameroon.

"When the Nigerian army attacked the Boko Haram camp where we were, there was confusion everywhere and I escaped to the forest where I walked for a week and handed myself to the first people I saw," she said.
NEW YORK- A Russian banker whom US prosecutors say was involved with a Cold War-era spy ring operating in New York City that sought to collect economic and other intelligence was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday.

Evgeny Buryakov, 41, was sentenced by US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan after pleading guilty in March to having conspired to act improperly as an agent for the Russian government.

Buryakov had worked at Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank. He was arrested in January 2015 as U.S. authorities unveiled charges against him and two other Russians, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy.
A Palestinian taxi driver who was suspected of being a terrorist was killed in May 2006 by IDF fire near the Ein Bidan checkpoint, east of Nablus. Seven years ago, the taxi driver's family filed a lawsuit for compensation and recently the Nazareth Magistrate's Court made a decision: The state acted negligently and must compensate the family. Moreover, the sum of the compensation will be determined in an arbitration hearing.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The incident occurred when a taxi driver arrived at the Ein Bidan checkpoint to pick up passengers. At that time, the checkpoint was not allowing cars to pass through it. So the driver exited his taxi and began looking for his passengers. When found he found them, they walked back together to his taxi, and then the driver was shot dead.

Jerusalem checkpoint (Archive photo: Jerusalem MDA)

The state claimed that on the same day of the incident, an IDF soldiers had identified the driver and another person as suspects and had been pursuing them. The state added that the soldiers opened fire at the suspect only after the driver pointed a weapon at them, causing them to believe that their lives were in imminent danger.

The State claimed that it was not liable to pay damages both because the soldiers' actions were lawful and because the incident was a part of an ongoing military operation.

The vice president of the Nazareth Magistrate's Court, Judge Yousif Sohil, ruled that the case's evidence leaves no doubt of the state's responsibility for paying compensation.

The judge found inherent contradictions between the testimonies provided by the two soldiers involved in the shooting. In particular, he found the testimony of the soldier, who opened fire, patently unreliable. For example, while the soldier who opened fire claimed that he genuinely feared for his life, his fellow soldier testified that he had aborted the arrest operation and returned to the checkpoint. Thus, the judge determined that the testimony of the soldier who opened fire was at odds with his fellow soldier, who did not fear for his life or say that the driver pointed his weapon at him and his compatriot.

Gavel, Photo: Gettyimages

The judge also wondered why the state claimed that the passenger the driver picked up was a dangerous suspect, as the soldiers did not pursue him when he left the scene.

The judge also stated that the state refrained from presenting evidence that it should have in its possession. Specifically, the state relied solely on the testimony of the soldiers involved in the incident and did not take the testimony of other soldiers, who were present at the checkpoint. It also did not present reports or a recording from the scene of the incident and did not reveal if an investigation into the incident took place.

The judge added that the emergency room report indicates that the bullet wound was in the back, strengthening the evidence against the state

It was determined that there was no justification for the shooting the driver nor was a warning regarding an unusual security situation issued. It was also ruled that the driver was not a terrorist or a wanted individual and the claim that he was carrying a weapon was not sufficiently proven.

The judge also ruled that the soldiers did not act in accordance with the established rules of engagement. He further concluded that the soldier fired at the citizen without an order from his commander, leading to tragic results.

Therefore, the judge determined that the state must compensate the prosecution, which is being set in an arbitration hearing. The state also must pay NIS 19,000 for the family's legal expenses.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke about Avigdor Lieberman becoming the Israeli defense minister in a speech on Wednesday night.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Nasrallah gave the speech while hiding in his bunker but had the speech broadcasted on giant screens in villages in Lebanon's Beqaa valley. The speech was on given on the occasion of the "Day of Resistance and Freedom," marking 16 years since the IDF evacuated south Lebanon. Nasrallah also spoke about changes in the region.

"In occupied Palestine, the crazy and coarse Lieberman has been made war minister by Netanyahu the extremist. I don't want to interpret what that could mean," Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah giving the speech from his bunker

Nasrallah then said "today we remember that Israel is the real and main enemy. Israel covets everything good we have here, our land and our holy places. Israel is the biggest enemy which stalks us and Palestine. There are those today who want to make Israel a friend, or even an ally."





Screens where the speech was broadcasted

He continued, "The only way to stop the aggression and remove the occupation is by complete resistance. Our nation has been doing this and succeeded both in 2000 and in 2006 using the military, the nation, and the resistance. This all creates a powerful force when the other Arab nations refuse to help us due to the international conspiracy."

Nasrallah also said, "We are insistent that this day be remembered as part of our history, part of our culture, part of our morals, and part of our strength now and in the future."

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon

He then compared the Israeli withdrawal with the 70th anniversary of victory over the Nazis. "This is how nations celebrate their victories and inculcates them in their hearts," Nasrallah said.

The Hezbollah leader then called on the Palestinians, saying "Beware of those who take advantage of the confusion and lack of clarity in the current struggle. These are the ones who want to turn Israel into a friend and allyDo not rely on those who have abandoned you for the past 70 yearsThe resistance will succeed and Palestine will return to be the real struggle in the region. This day will soon come god willing."
A rocket has been fired from Deir el-Balah in Gaza.

The rocket fell in an open area in the Sha'ar HaNegev regional council. No injuries or damager were reported/

The Code Red alarm was not sounded as the rocket trajectory was tracked and it was determined that it would land in an open area.
Hurricane season starts June 1 and to promote preparedness an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircrew with their WC-130J Super Hercules and a team of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane experts visited five Gulf Coast cities as part of this years Hurricane Awareness Tour May 16-20.

The Hurricane Awareness Tour, or HAT, which stopped in San Antonio and Galveston, Texas, New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, and Naples, Florida, is a joint effort between NOAA's National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center and the 403rd Wing's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron to promote awareness about the destructive forces of hurricanes and how people can prepare.

While the tour has been conducted for more than 30 years, this is the second year the 53rd WRS has participated in all five stops of the awareness and preparedness event. The tour was in conjunction with the National Hurricane Preparedness Week.

At each stop of the tour, officials encouraged people to prepare now.

The least we can all do is get our friends, our family, our businesses, ourselves, ready for the next hurricane, said Richard Knabb, NHC director at a news conference at San Antonio.

NOAA partnered with FLASH, the Federal Alliance for Safe Housing, with the #HurricaneStrong campaign to encourage people who live in hurricane prone areas to know what storm-surge zone they reside in, insure they have adequate insurance, stock their emergency supplies, strengthen their home, know where to get information, and have a written plan.

The public and media also got the chance to tour the WC-130J aircraft, one of ten specially configured aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and NOAAs G-IV both used to gather critical weather data for hurricane forecast models. While the NOAA G-IV, flies at high altitude around and ahead of a tropical cyclone, the WC-130J flies through the hurricane at 10,000 feet.

During a tropical storm or hurricane, 53rd WRS crews can fly through the eye of a storm four to six times. During each pass through the eye, crews release a dropsonde, which collects temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity and surface pressure data. The crew also collects surface wind speed data and flight level data. This information is transmitted to the NHC to assist them with their storm warnings and hurricane forecast models in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. During a typical year, the squadron will fly 60 to 100 missions for the NHC.

Its really important that the public can connect the dots between the data collected by these brave men and women that go into a hurricane and their own personal and family safety, said Knabb.

This is an important outreach mission to educate the public, especially the children who will take the preparedness message back to their families, said Col. Frank L. Amodeo, 403rd Wing commander, who attended the event with the crew. It also highlights the mission of the 53rd WRS and how we work with the NHC to improve the forecast, which protects our homeland by saving lives and property.

The tour ended in Naples, Florida, May 20. Meanwhile, the Hurricane Hunters completed their annual Roll Out mission in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, the forward operating location at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport. The team at Colorado State University, one of the top forecasting teams in the country, predicted a just above average season. Whether it meets or exceeds the predictions, the 53rd WRS will be ready.

It only takes one storm to make it a bad hurricane season, so prepare now, said Amodeo.

Keesler Air Force Base and 403rd Wing members can get preparedness information at http://www.keesler.af.mil/AboutUs/HurricaneSeason2016.aspx

and
SOCOM unveils 'Ghost'

Gen. Raymond A. Thomas, III, left, U.S. Special Operations Command commander, and Maj. Gen. Richard S. "Beef" Haddad, Air Force Reserve Command vice commander, unveil a painting honoring Citizen Airmen manning the 40mm Bofors gun aboard an AC-130 gunship during a mission over the "Highway of Death" in Kuwait during Desert Storm. The painting by Maj. Warren Neary (far right), was accepted by Thomas, U.S. Special Operations Command commander, during a special ceremony at USSOCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, May 23, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Desert Storm. Haddad was an AC-130 gunship pilot with the Air Force Reserve's 919th Special Operations Wing, Duke Field, Florida, during Desert Storm. (U.S. Air Force photo/Lt. Col. Chad Gibson)
The 502nd Airbase Wing and 433rd Airlift Wing recently teamed up to assist in providing humanitarian relief to families in Yoro, Honduras May 11-13.The Central American region recently experienced intense flooding leading to insufficient crop yields.

The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Terminal received 90,000 pounds of rice and beans from Rick Caywood Ministries, a non-profit organization that has been sending food donations to areas affected by natural disasters since 2010. The U.S. Air Force has been a phenomenal partner to our organization, providing the air transportation is so important, said Rick Caywood, founder and owner of Rick Caywood Ministries.

The donations were received through the Denton Program which falls under the United States Agency for International Development. President John F. Kennedy created the department in 1961 to help end extreme global poverty.

The 502nd Logistic Readiness Squadron Airmen palletized, labeled, and load planned the food for movement. The Airmen were happy to help bring relief to people who needed it. Being an American, many of us dont know what its like to be starving and hungry, said Staff Sgt. Andrew Stoneberger, a 502nd LRS information controller, The fact that we can bring food to people who cant do it for themselves right now is really nice.

The palletized food was transported to the 433rd AW on May 13, where Airmen with the 356th Airlift Squadron loaded a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft. This makes a difference for people in Honduras and is a great outreach program for America, said Lt. Col. James Miller, 433rd Operations Group deputy commander. On top of that, we get valuable training which prepares us for our wartime missions.

The 433rd AW will receive its first C-5M Super Galaxy embossed with The City of San Antonio June 17 at a special ceremony on JBSA-Lackland.
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. - Lt. Gen. James JJ Jackson, Chief of Air Force Reserve and Commander, Air Force Reserve Command visited Tinker Air Force Base Reserve units and members in the Reserve Officer Association here May 14. The 507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office was able to interview the general during his visit.

PA: Sir, first off, thanks for coming back to Tinker to your old stomping grounds in the 507th Air Refueling Wing. Whats it like coming back to your first Air Force Reserve unit?

Lt. Gen. Jackson: This visit has been amazing. It brings back fond memories of the Okies of the 507th. Back then, I flew F-16s in the 465th Fighter Squadron and was there with our transition to KC-135s. It is great to come back here and see how things have changed but also how they havent. One thing that hasnt changed is the outstanding caliber of our Citizen Airmen. I met many of the 507 ARW and 513 ACG team, and our future is in good hands as these Reservists continue to make a difference. Its great to see and hear about all of the outstanding efforts here first hand from the Airmen.

PA: There have been vast changes in the Air Force Reserve in the last 10 years. Many of our seasoned Citizen Airmen in the unit have noticed a change of the culture in the Reserve from high operations tempos to additional requirements being leveraged on the Air Reserve Component. Do you think there is a culture shift, and if so, is it good long term for the Air Force Reserve?

Lt. Gen. Jackson: Change can be difficult but its so necessary going forward. The units here are a perfect example. When I was here, we had to work the conversion from a fighter unit to a tanker unit and we stood up AFRCs first AWACS wing. That was a great challenge and a huge culture shift, but it was great to see us evolve and become better. Fundamentally, we have to continue to adjust and improve in the Air Force Reserve. We continue to provide a hedge against risk, and our Air Force Reserve will continue to play a significant role in our nations defense. We may be a primarily part-time force, but we participate full-time when needed. Its this flexibility and surge capacity that makes the Air Force Reserve a critical partner of our three component team. So yes, we have adopted a new way forward, we are doing more and it is good for the Air Force Reserve as we remain operationally ready and relevant to the fight.

PA: Why is modernization so important for the future of the Air Force Reserve?

Lt. Gen. Jackson: Some of the KC-135 tankers flown in the 507th are nearly 60 years old. The Air Forces AWACS Fleet has never had a major airframe modification. Our aircraft inventory is the oldest its ever been, and our adversaries are closing the technology gap. The Block 45 avionics change of the KC-135s here at Tinker and the AWACS upgrade are critical to keep our warfighting edge. These upgrades will keep us relevant for 20 more years. We are moving forward with standing up operational KC-46 squadrons and providing training in the KC-46. We are upgrading other legacy systems. The F-16 fleet is being equipped with new advanced targeting pods and anti-jam global positioning systems, and the C-130s secure data link capabilities will improve our interoperability with the joint force. We are delivering new fighters like the F-35 to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. We strive to build and maintain partnerships between active and reserve units, merging unique perspectives, experience levels, and embracing the total team. These modernization efforts are vital to remain combat ready.

PA: What initiatives are AFRC considering to improve our future force and retain our Citizen Airmen?

Lt. Gen. Jackson: An advantage of the Air Force Reserve is that we are a catchers mitt of talent and are able to recruit talent as Airmen transition out of active duty, over 68% of our accessions were prior service last year. The Reserve allows our Airmen to continue serving and helps us retain that investment in operational capability and mission expertise. This is why its so critical to take care of our reservists. The Yellow Ribbon Program is an initiative we continue to offer, and provides valuable assistance and personal tools for Citizen Airmen and their families preparing for or returning from deployments. We also launched the Wingman Toolkit website and mobile app that provides resources members can utilize to foster mental, physical, spiritual and social well-being. Balancing the demands of a civilian career, military career and family is demanding and creates a need for support programs to keep our Citizen Airmen resilient and connected.

PA: Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. What are your plans as you move on to the next step in your life?

Lt. Gen. Jackson: Next month I will pass the torch officially and end my tour as Chief of Air Force Reserve and Commander, Air Force Reserve. However, Barb and I will always consider the Air Force Reserve as part of our extended family. As I pass the baton to your new leadership team, I challenge all of you to continue to focus on our Citizen Airmen and their families. Our force would not be strong or combat-ready without the men and women who put on the uniform and the home team that support them. It has been an honor and privilege to serve alongside each of you. Once again, thanks for all you do!
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.

Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy.

Happy shootin' my friends!

Buying Guides:

Firearms

Firearm Accessories

Ammunition

Gun Safes

Scopes & Optics

Hunting

Air Rifles

Best AR-15

Best AR 15 Scope

Best Hunting Rifle

Best Gun Safe

Best AK 47

Best AR 10

Best Glock Triggers

Best Glock

Best Home Defense Shotgun
Five consumers from around the world leave their handprints on digital devices to mark e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's announcement that its revenue hit 3 trillion yuan for April 2015 to March 2016 fiscal year.XU KANGPING/CHINA DAILY

Rome was not built in a day. Nor was any other great city, town, village or company. But in China's rapidly growing internet industry, a potential market-leader, it seems, can be built from scratch within five years.

Three Squirrels is a shining example. It launched on Tmall, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's online marketplace, in mid-2012. Today, it is China's largest snacks brand in e-commerce.

It started by selling nuts like cashew and pecan. Its 2015 sales reached 2.5 billion yuan ($385 million).
SF eyes backdoor listing Updated: 2016-05-25 08:26 By Wu Yiyao In Shanghai(China Daily)

SF Express employees sort parcels at a distribution center in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.STEVEN WANG/CHINA DAILY

Rare-earth metals company Dingtai to be utilized in Shenzhen listing

SF Express, one of China's largest courier firms, is planning the reverse takeover of a rare-earth metals company, which will allow it a backdoor listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The move came to light within a regulatory filing to the Shenzhen exchange by Maanshan Dingtai Rare Earth & New Materials Ltd, a little known Anhui-headquartered operation, and involves an asset swap and issuance of new shares.

If successful, the move - which values the eventual firm at 43.3 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) - will be the latest by a courier company seeking to leverage resources from the capital market.

SF Holdings, parent of SF Express, is named as the buyer, in what is described in the document as a plan to attract investors to fund its overseas expansion plans.

If the deal is approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Dingtai will officially acquire SF Express, with the purchase funded by issuing new shares to the courier company.

Dingtai will be converted into a logistic company, controlled by SF Express Chairman and founder Wang Wei, according to the filing.

The 43.3-billion-yuan valuation would exceed the combined size of the two privately held Chinese couriers to reveal listing plans in recent months: YTO Express (17.5 billion yuan) and STO Express (16.9 billion yuan).

The filing describes the value as "reasonable", considering SF Express' current business model, market share and other performances indicators.

SF Holdings is known to be backed by leading private equity players including CITIC Capital Holding Ltd, Oriza Holdings, China Merchants Group and Jade Capital.

Shares in its intended shell company have been suspended from trading since April 5, according to the filing.

According to a research note by Minsheng Securities Co, SF Express is well ahead of its rivals in terms its infrastructure, talent pool, management model and most importantly, business model.

The logistics company is also expanding into other areas, such as payment and supply chain management, Minsheng said.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn
Jackie Chan: I almost died during new film production Updated: 2016-05-24 10:43 (China.org.cn)

Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao are on stage to promote Chan's new film Skiptrace in Beijing on May 22. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Kung fu star Jackie Chan revealed on Sunday in Beijing that his life was at stake at one point during the filming of his new movie Skiptrace.

"I tried my best this time, and I almost died during filming," Chan said, remembering an incident in Guangxi province when he was shooting the new film. "I met a torrent, fell out of a raft and was sent rolling in the water. I'm not a good swimmer, so I was really screaming for help. But the staff could not get close enough to rescue me. Later, the raft was turned back by the torrent and I got my life back. Life is so vulnerable. It is horrifying."

The film has always been associated with a tragedy. On Dec 17, 2014, cinematographer Chan Kwok-Hung drowned while on a shoot for the film.

Chan was joined by another veteran martial arts movie actor Yuen Biao on stage at the press conference. The two have collaborated on and off since 1976. Chan shared a few memories with him and said, "Whenever we meet in life, we actually have one less meeting for the rest of our lives. Life and friends are all so precious."

Skiptrace is an upcoming action comedy film directed by Renny Harlin, produced by, starring and based on a story by Jackie Chan. The story tells of a retired detective from Hong Kong who teams up with an American gambler to battle against a notorious criminal boss. The film also co-stars Chinese mainland actress Fan Bingbing, Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang and American actor Johnny Knoxville.

"I had this script in my mind for 25 years," Chan said, "I have always dreamt of a runaway and chase story, to show both the Chinese landscape and culture along the roadside to the world.

Chan added that he still shows real kung fu in the film, instead of seeking help from CGI special effects. "Everybody works with a green screen now, but the hardest thing to do is to create real action," Chan said, "I'm not a fan of high-tech effects, I just like raw and simple things."

Skiptrace will hit Chinese theaters on July 22.

Related:

Icons discuss how to tell 'China's story'
Time to break free of protectionist shackles Updated: 2016-05-25 07:45 By Mei Xinyu(China Daily)

An employee welds the exterior of a vehicle along a production line at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Agencies]

The overwhelming-majority vote in the European Parliament recently against granting China market economy status was not made on a reasonable basis and doing so will not bring benefits to the European Union.

Whether or not to give China the market economy status treatment is not an issue concerning whether China has met market economic standards unilaterally set by the EU, but an issue concerning whether the EU honors its commitment or not.

According to the accession articles China signed on entry to the World Trade Organization 15 years ago, China should be automatically granted market economy status in December this year. Such an article is unconditional and means that WTO members should abandon the surrogate country approach used in the past for anti-dumping investigations against China. Any investigation should instead be based on product prices or production costs in China itself.

Aside from the long-term negative effects produced by the protectionist effort to avoid industrial competition, the European Parliament's refusal to grant China market economy treatment will not have favorable short-term effects on the bloc's industrial development. In a passed resolution, the European Parliament pointed out that 56 of the anti-dumping measures the EU is taking are targeted at imports from China, covering both traditional labor-intensive manufacturing and such capital and technology-intensive manufacturing as steel products. It is exactly such an announcement that has made protectionists in the EU lobby for not granting China market economy status so that they can say "no" to "made in China" brands as a means of job protection.

Some in the EU should know that while exporting products to the rest of the world, China is also the world's leading market for imports and its growth in imports is among the fastest of world's major economies either in trade in goods or in trade in services. China's import volume denominated in the US dollar suffered a 14.1 percent decline year-on-year in 2015, bigger than the 13.4 percent decline in the import volume of the EU, but this was mainly a result of the drastic drop in prices of the primary commodities China heavily imports. China's imports of manufactured goods from the United States and European countries still enjoy huge potential for growth.

Following the European Parliament's recommendation will do no good to the struggling EU economy, given that encouraging trade protectionism will do nothing but worsen the EU's industrial environment. There were some countries in the past that did succeed in realizing the development of some infant industries through protectionist industrial policies. However, what the European Parliament's resolution tried to protect is not high-tech pioneering sectors, but such traditional sectors as steel that have already experienced their golden period and now enjoy no development potential. Interest groups dominating these out-of-date and weakly-founded industries do not focus their attention on how to raise their efficiency, but instead think how to maintain previous protectionist measures to lengthen their survival. Such attempts offer no hope for the future of EU industry and on the contrary add to its cost burden. What the EU should do is to inject new vitality into its economy.

The protectionism of interest groups has shackled the EU's economic vitality. It is exactly trade protectionism that has put the eurozone economy at a disadvantageous position in its competition with other developed economies, and caused the continuous decline of its economic proportion in the world's total GDP. Of the EU members, the countries advocating liberal trade such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium, support granting China market economy status and they have also achieved a better economic performance than the eurozone as a whole. France, Italy and Spain who are opposed to granting China market economy status, however, have performed worse than the eurozone's average performance

Europe should know that the development and buildup of interest groups, a byproduct of a country or region's economic prosperity, will suffocate the vigor of its innovation and continuous growth, and only by smashing the shackles imposed by these groups can it achieve sustainable development.

The author is a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute.
Analysis of leasing activity in Perth over the March quarter by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) has revealed leased one-bedroom apartments increased 50% during the Mrach quarter, while leased two- and three-bedroom apartments increased 18%.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said the movements over the March quarter showed tenants are taking advantage of Perths current rental climate.

There was a significant amount of leasing activity in the one to three bedroom market over the quarter, while four and five bedroom properties experienced a small decline, Groves said.

Affordability in Perths rental market has improved over the last 18 months, tenants who may have been living in shared accommodation are now finding that they can afford to move out on their own, which is why were seeing this shift to smaller households, he said.

The uptick in the leasing of smaller properties over the March quarter helped the total number of rented properties in Perth increase 17% compared to the December quarter, which Groves said had been a positive for the city.

While rental listings in Perth remain above the long term average, the number of properties leased in the March quarter has soared well above the growth of listings which is a real positive for the market, he said.

This has caused the vacancy rate to come down to 5.6 per cent in the March quarter from six per cent in the December quarter as tenants have soaked up stock.

According to REIWAs figures rents were stable in a large proportion of Perths sub-regions over the March quarter, while there were mixed results for average leasing days across the metro area.

The biggest improvement in average leasing days was felt in the Perth City, Fremantle and Western Suburbs sub-regions, while on average it took longer to lease a property in Joondalup South, Wanneroo North West and Wanneroo South in the March quarter than it did in the December 2015 quarter,
Direct flight connects Seoul, China's Guiyang Updated: 2016-05-24 14:06 (Xinhua)

Korean Air has launched direct flights between Seoul and Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province to meet the increasing travel demand of tourists, tourism authorities in Guizhou said Tuesday.

The first flight took off at 9:35 pm (local time) on Monday from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea, and landed at Longdongbao airport in Guiyang four hours later, said an official with the Guizhou Provincial Tourism Development Commission.

The route will be operated three times per week, with flights from Seoul to Guiyang on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the returned trip the following day, said the official.

It was the company's second direct air route to Guiyang, after it launched one between the city and Jeju Island last year.

According to the commission, around 50,000 tourists from Guizhou travel to Republic of Korea every year, and the province receives 5,000 Korean tourists annually.
News

Washington, DC - The World Humanitarian Summit is a high-level event convened to reinvigorate international commitments to humanitarian principles and strengthen the international communitys response to crises caused by conflicts and natural disasters.

Conflict-related crises and natural disasters affect approximately 125 million people on an annual basis  a combined population equivalent to the worlds 12th largest nation. Conflict and human rights abuses have forced approximately 60 million persons worldwide to flee their homes. Natural disasters have displaced an average of 26 million persons annually in recent years. These humanitarian crises have caused a staggering loss of life and destructive economic and social impacts that have reversed decades of hard-earned development progress in some locations.

The World Humanitarian Summit occurs at an historic moment when the scale of displaced populations in need of humanitarian assistance and protection has reached levels unseen since World War II. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon convened the first World Humanitarian Summit to bring together more than 5,000 government, private sector, and civil society representatives in unity to draw attention to the issues of today. Gayle Smith, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) led the U.S. delegation to the summit in Istanbul, which included representatives from the White House, Department of State, including the United States Mission to the United Nations, the Department of Defense, and USAID.

As the worlds single largest humanitarian assistance donor with contributions of nearly $26 billion in the past 5 fiscal years, the United States views the World Humanitarian Summit as an important opportunity to promote a stronger and more accountable international system capable of addressing todays unprecedented needs. The Summit is also an important opportunity to emphasize that support and financing from a broad set of traditional donors as well as from new sources are essential to address emergencies effectively. President Obamas Leaders Summit on Refugees in September 2016 will be a timely complement to the World Humanitarian Summit and will further efforts to address the needs of refugees, host communities and other affected populations.

The United States primary objectives for the World Humanitarian Summit are to:

Reduce the impact of conflict on civilians, with special attention to the impact on women and girls, and re-affirm our countrys longstanding commitment to international humanitarian law;

Strengthen the international humanitarian system, including how it is resourced, and its effectiveness in addressing needs;

Improve coherence between humanitarian and development assistance to better address recurring and protracted crises.

United States Response to Humanitarian Emergencies

The United States is committed to helping people around the world during this time of unprecedented need. In 2015, the U.S. government provided more than $6 billion in humanitarian assistance to more than 60 new and protracted emergencies worldwide ranging from earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods to health epidemics, conflicts, and refugee influxes, with the vast majority of our assistance meeting needs in long running conflicts. When the scope of a disaster overwhelms the capacity of an affected country to respond, the United States is able to deploy a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) overseas to conduct disaster assessments, determine urgent needs, and coordinate response activities with affected governments and implementing partners. The U.S. government had a record five DARTs deployed simultaneously during 2015 to support large-scale relief efforts in West Africa[1], South Sudan, Syria, Iraq, and Nepal. In addition, the U.S. government has more than 120 refugee coordinators and emergency humanitarian response specialists stationed around the world to advise and coordinate the U.S. governments humanitarian response.

Reducing the Effect of Conflict on Civilians

Upholding humanity is at the core of humanitarian action and the United Nations Charter reaffirms faith in the dignity and worth of the human person. Protecting the vulnerable from harm and preserving their dignity, in particular by upholding international law and seeking accountability for violations, should be at the very top of the international communitys agenda. The United States joins with 47 other countries in presenting a statement to reinforce commitment to the protection of civilians in conflict situations by honoring the full spirit and letter of international law and to reaffirm and strengthen international respect for the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence that should serve as the foundation for all humanitarian response.

The international community should have more systematic approaches to address the scope and nature of constraints placed on agencies delivering humanitarian relief in order to identify systematic access denials, devise appropriate policy measures through multilateral fora, and take other appropriate action. We intend to work with other Member States, the UN, and humanitarian organizations in the coming months to identify concrete ways to address more systematically challenges to humanitarian access to populations in need.

The United States believes that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which includes addressing gender-based violence (GBV), is a critical priority and will continue to advance the Call to Action for women and girls in emergencies, which is a global effort to fundamentally change humanitarian response to GBV. This includes a pledge of an additional $12.5 million in 2016 in support of Safe from the Start, a joint Department of State-USAID initiative to better protect women and girls in crisis, bringing the U.S. total contribution to more than $50 million since 2013.

Strengthening International Humanitarian Assistance Operations

The United States is working to strengthen how the international humanitarian system operates, including how it is resourced. In response to human suffering caused by conflict and disasters, many emergency relief agencies do outstanding work that saves countless lives. Despite increased global funding for emergency programs and an impressive expansion of services in recent years the international community has been unable to keep pace with the increased emergency needs worldwide.

At the Summit, the United States emphasized the importance of ensuring that emergency assistance is provided effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of crisis-affected people. The U.S. government calls on humanitarian organizations to work together better to assess needs among affected populations, identify gaps in existing relief programs, and formulate collective response strategies that identify clear priorities according to urgency of need and inclusive of all affected populations, including refugees. As a result of political commitments at the Summit, humanitarian agencies should be able and willing to strengthen their operational coordination to minimize service gaps and avoid duplication of programs. UN humanitarian agencies should take steps to ensure that leadership of humanitarian operations is effective and accountable.

The United States commits to providing flexible funding to enable humanitarian agencies to more easily adjust emergency programs to address shifting needs and longer time horizons where humanitarian agencies demonstrate increased accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness. The United States is also committed to continuing its legacy of building local capacity so that humanitarian response can be as local as possible and as international as needed. The United States is joining with other donor governments and humanitarian agencies in what is being called a Grand Bargain that will strengthen how humanitarian assistance efforts are designed, funded, implemented, and evaluated so as to maximize their impact and efficiency and increase their accountability to affected populations.

Fostering Humanitarian and Development Coherence

The United States is redoubling efforts to strengthen coherence between our humanitarian and development assistance efforts. The destruction caused by conflicts and natural disasters has eroded and in some cases reversed the hard-earned progress many communities had made toward long-term, sustainable development. The frequency of extreme weather events is increasing as a result of climate change, and too often refugees and internally displaced persons become trapped in protracted displacement and dependency for years or decades. Their needs are closely related to the development needs of communities that host them. The international community responds to emergencies to save lives, but it must also do a better job of ensuring that the people saved will have an opportunity to enjoy a productive future.

To help bridge this gap, the U.S. government is providing leadership and technical assistance to support global efforts to prioritize and strengthen education in emergencies and protracted crises, and will provide a $20 million contribution to Education Cannot Wait: a Fund for Education in Emergencies for one year, and looks forward to learning from its progress. The UNICEF-managed Fund will help transform the global education sector and bridge the humanitarian and development divide through a more collaborative, agile, and rapid response to education in emergencies. Ultimately, the Fund will increase safe and quality education so that all children have the opportunity to learn even amid protracted emergency situations.

The U.S. government also supports greater World Bank engagement in protracted and recurrent crises and its intent to establish a Global Crisis Response Platform. Initially, the Platform should provide support to developing countries, irrespective of region or income level, that are hosting large numbers of refugees on a protracted basis, to enable these countries to invest more in livelihoods and education opportunities for affected populations, and alleviate strains on national infrastructure and social services.

Additionally, the United States will initiate a Crisis Review Mechanism within the U.S. government that will review a crisis to determine whether and how our relief programming should pivot to a combined humanitarian-development approach. And we will continue our work of building resilience in fragile communities so they can more effectively prevent or withstand shocks that trigger large-scale emergencies. The U.S. government is committed to support responsible national governments in reducing their risks of disaster and strengthen their capacity to lead their own response efforts when disasters strike, and will continue to build and support local capacity for disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response.
News

Washington, DC - Millions of people are looking forward to having fun and traveling this summer and the American Red Cross wants everyone to stay safe.

Prevention is the key to avoiding accidents or illness while on vacation, said Jeffrey Pellegrino, PhD, WEMT-B/FF, American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council and Director of Health Sciences at Aultman College. Its important to know the level of ability of the people in your group and the environment around you. Know what injuries are life-threatening and understand that small injuries can lead to bigger issues if they are not properly cared for.

Whatever kind of vacation people are planning, sprains and falls are some of the most common misfortunes they may face. Sprains are the most common injury for someone on a cruise, along with contusions and other superficial wounds. Going to the mountains? Falls are the biggest threat, many due to poor decision-making, lack of skill or not being properly prepared. Dehydration is also a danger. People planning a camping trip face the same dangers.

WHAT TO DO IF:

Stung by a jellyfish? Wash liberally with vinegar as soon as possible for at least 30 seconds. If vinegar isnt available, make a thick mixture of baking soda and water.

Mosquitoes biting? Ideally the first step is to prevent mosquito bites. If not, use an over-the-counter product to reduce the itch and urge to scratch.

Sick stomach? Keep the person hydrated and take a medication made specifically for someone with tummy woes.

Too long in the sun? Get out of the sun, cool the area and use topical pain relief medication if needed.

Blisters? Leave it alone to protect the area. If the blister may cause further injury, puncture at the base, clean and protect with another barrier such as a bandage.

Allergic reaction? Remove the person from the allergen; give them oral antihistamines if needed. If the situation is life-threatening, consider the use of epinephrine.

AVOID VACATION MISHAPS Vacationers should pack appropriate clothing, insect repellant, sunscreen and first aid items. Include soap, tweezers, wound gel, personal medication and items such as fever reducers, fungal creams and pain relievers.

TAKE A CLASS Prepare for the unexpected with First Aid/CPR/AED training. Training can give people the skills and confidence to act in an emergency and to save a life. Red Cross offers a variety of online, blended (online content with in-class skills session) and instructor-led classroom training options. Register at redcross.org/takeaclass. A variety of First Aid kits and emergency supplies are available at redcrossstore.org.

DOWNLOAD APPS Download the Red Cross First Aid App for instant access on how to treat common emergencies as well as a hospital locator which is helpful for travelers. The Red Cross Emergency App is a single go-to source for weather alerts and safety tips for everything from a power outage, to a severe thunderstorm, to a hurricane. All Red Cross apps can be downloaded for free in app stores by searching for American Red Cross or by going to redcross.org/apps.
Border News

Yuma, Arizona - Border Patrol agents with night vision goggles spotted seven people with backpacks walking through the desert near Sentinel, yesterday morning. They requested air support, while pursuing the suspected drug mules.

Pilots from Air and Marine Operations, Yuma Air Branch, observed the individuals placing backpacks next to a tree, and then continued walking north toward Interstate 8. AMO pilots guided agents to the tree, where they found backpacks loaded with more than 300 pounds of marijuana. AMO then led agents to the seven suspects hiding in brush, one hundred yards north of the area. Agents determined that the seven were illegally present in the U.S.

The estimated value of the drugs was over $155,000.

All of the illegal aliens and the drugs will be processed per Yuma Sector guidelines.

Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless or until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents effectively combat smuggling organizations attempting to illegally transport people and contraband through southwestern Arizona and California. Citizens can help the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection by calling 1-866-999-8727 toll-free to report suspicious activity. Callers can remain anonymous.
Latest News

Phoenix, Arizona - members of the FBI Phoenix Evidence Response Team (ERT) and the FBI LA Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team (USERT) found an item consistent with what investigators were looking for in connection with the 2006 unsolved murder of 16-year-old Katherine Tortice.

Please know that any potential evidence found will not be discussed further as this is an ongoing investigation.

Depending on the weather today, teams will continue searching in and around the pond. Search teams did take a short break this morning due to difficult weather conditions (hail, rain, snow, and lighting).

The FBI is committed to bringing to justice those responsible for this murder and equally important, to providing answers to the family and friends of Katherine Tortice.

The FBI and White Mountain Apache Tribal Police are encouraging anyone with firsthand information about this crime to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Latest News

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I join the families, communities, and leaders of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana in celebrating their countrys Golden Jubilee anniversary of independence.

"The United States and Guyana are bound together by our shared democratic values and our common interests in ensuring prosperity, stability, and security throughout our hemisphere. And our partnership has yielded tangible results on issues of vital importance to both our nations.

"This year, we strengthened our relationship in law enforcement training, port safety, justice sector reform, and coast guard cooperation through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. We worked together to diversify energy resources and expand investments in sustainable energy projects through the recent U.S.-Caribbean-Central American Energy Summit.

"At the same time, we have acted to create opportunities for vulnerable Guyanese youth through the efforts of USAID. And we have deepened people-to-people ties between our countries through initiatives to build bridges between American and Guyanese universities, and to dismantle barriers to study abroad for our students.

"Fifty years after independence, the citizens and government of Guyana can count on the friendship and support of the United States as, together, we address our common challenges and build a future of peace and progress for our peoples."
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.
VILLANOVA, Pa.  Villanova University has named Anthony S. Fauci, MD, preeminent immunologist, pioneering HIV/AIDS researcher and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as the recipient of its 2016 Mendel Medal. The award recognizes Dr. Faucis significant contribution to the body of scientific knowledge in preventing, diagnosing and treating infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, influenza, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and the Zika virus, as well as for his lifelong dedication to global health. Established in 1928 by the Board of Trustees of Villanova University, the Mendel Medal is given to outstanding contemporary scientists in recognition of their accomplishments.

Villanova is honored to award the Mendel Award to this esteemed scientist, said the Rev. Kail Ellis, PhD, OSA, Special Assistant to the President and Dean Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I am particularly pleased that faculty, and especially students, will have an opportunity to hear Dr. Anthony Fauci in person, as he lectures on his research and contributions to the current understanding of diseases and therapies for such fatal diseases as HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Zika virus.

Dr. Fauci is currently at the vanguard of the nations public health preparations to meet the threat of the Zika virus. As Director of the NIAID, he oversees an extensive portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika. Dr. Fauci has advised five Presidents and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on HIV/AIDS and many other domestic and global health issues. He was one of the principal architects of the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world.

Not since the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people around the globe and is considered one of historys most deadly contagions, has the world been faced with the threat posed by such an array of devastating epidemics, said Father Ellis. Humankind is indebted to Dr. Fauci for decades of dedicated work that is helping to make the widespread transmission of these diseases less likely.

First awarded in 1929, the Mendel Medal honors 19th century Augustinian friar and scientist Gregor Johann Mendel, Abbot of the Augustinian Monastery, Brunn, Austria (now Brno, the Czech Republic), best known as the father of modern genetics, for his discovery of the celebrated laws of heredity that bear his name. As an institution founded by the Augustinian Order, Villanova University plays a key role in sustaining Mendels legacy. Past recipients of the Mendel Medal have included Nobel Laureates, outstanding medical researchers, pioneers in physics, astrophysics and chemistry, and noted scientist-theologians. Click here for more information on the Mendel Medal and its history.

The Mendel Medal is a symbol of the reality that there is no conflict between science and religion, continued Father Ellis. The idea that there is a necessary conflict between science and religion is contradicted whenever we see a prominent religious believer who also strongly embraces scientific realities. History is replete with such individuals: Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Pasteur, Blaise Pascal, Georges Lemaitre, and Gregor Mendel, among many others. Pope Franciss recent encyclical Laudato Si disputed the notion of necessary conflict and previously, in a talk to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, he endorsed two major scientific concepts that have often given religious believers big trouble: the Big Bang, and evolution. Villanovas Mendel Medal celebrates the Augustinian commitment to the harmony of science and faith.

In addition to his role at NIH, Dr. Fauci is also the long-time chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, where he has been a pioneer in helping develop effective therapies for formerly fatal inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. In addition, he has made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of how HIV destroys the bodys defenses leading to its susceptibility to deadly infections and has been instrumental in developing treatments that enable people with HIV to live long and active lives. He continues to devote much of his research in this area of endeavor. In a 2016 analysis of Google Scholar citations, Dr. Fauci ranked as the 18th most highly cited researcher of all time.

Dr. Fauci has delivered major lectures all over the world and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honor given to a civilian by the President of the United States), the National Medal of Science, the George M. Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the Robert Koch Gold Medal, the Prince Mahidol Award, and the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award. He also has received 43 honorary doctoral degrees from universities in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Fauci is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Philosophical Society, as well as other professional societies, including the American College of Physicians, The American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, The American Association of Immunologists, and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. He serves on the editorial boards of many scientific journals; as an editor of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine; and as author, coauthor, or editor of more than 1,280 scientific publications, including several textbooks.

The 2016 Mendel Medal Lecture will take place at 2 p.m. on November 11, 2016 in the Jake Nevin Field House. Dr. Faucis Mendel Medal Lecture is titled: Ending the HIV/AIDS Pandemic: An Achievable Goal. The event is free and open to the public. Parking will be available behind the Pavilion and at the St. Augustine Center parking garage on campus.

Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges  the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
My sole motivation behind letting myself into that abominable prison house called school was the little white stick that my mother allowed me to grab and lick after the classes were over. I used to look with wishful eyes the attractive white box of ice cream walla who also had other varieties-the red tangy one that came in twenty five paisa, the slightly yellow one that came in fifty paisa and the expensive white creamy one that came in full one rupee. My mother had warned me against eating the orange one as she said it contained worms that came out if you sprinkled salt on it! So my childhood remained deprived of that one single taste that so often contented the appetite of my not-so-affluent friends. <BR><BR> When I went to college I read about globalisation, about the invasion of markets by foreign goods and of absolute wiping out of the local economy by organized production houses. But I could not understand these things till one day while crossing from near my school my eyes failed to spot that old ice cream walla whose presence had become such an inseparable part of the entire set up. It came as a rude shock to me that his place was now taken by three four colourful wheeled vans endorsing attractive logos and pictures of branded ice cream. <BR><BR> That changes are always for better or worse is like putting an emotion into plain black and white. I may have in my own personal way some attachment with the white stick ice cream or with the more expensive soapy, frothy softie of my school days but the accessibility, taste and variety that the present day ice cream industry is offering is no doubt incomparable. <BR><BR> Who would have thought barely a decade ago of eating ice creams made of real fresh fruits- a la Gelato Vittorio or a cool creamy liquid fried in hot boiling oil or what is called today the fried ice cream. <BR><BR> In India the ice cream industry took sometimes to catch the global cue because the country has an indigenous rich and well developed dessert market. What ice cream would stand in competition against Indian sweets? But no you cant say so just because you are born in the land of Kulfi. You will have the authority only when you taste Baked Alaska (an ice-cream sponge cake dish topped with meringue), Arctic roll (British dessert made of vanilla and flour), Adzuki (Japanese red bean ice cream) and Dondruma( a Turkish ice made of salep and mastic resin). <BR><BR> We Indians who generally go gaga over a handful of varieties that Baskin Robbins offers are unaware of the fact that the company actually makes 1000 flavours! What we get in India generally as branded ice cream is nothing but milk and corn flour seasoned with a few chemicals and packed in attractive cones, cups and cornettos. Our knowledge of Ice cream is so poor that we do not even know what cornetto is! Most of us think it is the name of an ice cream that Kwality offers. Update your dictionary- it is actually the registered name of an improved variety of waffle cone that does not become soggy and that was invented and patented by an Italian firm called Spica in 1960! <BR><BR> The world offers so much in shape of that delicate, cool, tender delight called ice cream that I being a lover of it feel choked with emotion at my own minisculeness and misfortune of not having tasted even a fraction of that tremendous, rich and inexhaustible treasure. What is thy life O mortal, my heart cries out, if thou hast not known the glories of the Australian Giant Sandwich Monster, the Manoco Bar, the Irish Scottish Sliders, the Argentine Helado, the Greek Kimaki and the Japanese Macha! <BR><BR> Sometimes I wonder whether there is an intricate connection between the survival of a race and its appetite for ice cream! Otherwise why would the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and the Persians survive the ravages of time and the Glorious Harappan civilization fade into oblivion? And let us be pragmatic and not blame some harmless ecology or innocent river for their decline. The reason I am sure was hidden in their food habits-they having failed to secure the divine blessings of the Gods. Yes, thats precisely what the ancient Greeks called ice cream! Imagine what foodies they must have been that nearly 4000 years ago they got for themselves ice houses constructed at the banks of Euphrates and as early as 5th century BC they began its marketing by selling ice cones mixed with fruit and honey. A honey flavoured cornetto.! <BR><BR> Roman emperor Nero (62 AD) was fond of fruit ice cream and hence sent his servants to fetch ice from mountains! The Falooda that we eat today is actually a Persian dish Faloodeh made from starch and has its origin around 400BC. The Chinese who claim to be the pioneers in almost everything -be it the first currency notes, the first stint with silk or the first to flood the markets of neighbours with cheap plastic goods-were not far behind in making ice cream too. They are credited to have invented a device that made quick ice using salt peter (no, it was not imported from Bihar, China had enough of it). <BR><BR> The unfortunate Charles I whom the world knows as an autocrat, a despot, a tyrant, an enemy of democracy and parliament was also a lover of ice cream! It is said that he made his chef keep the formula a secret so that it remained a royal prerogative. <BR><BR> Our great Mughals, we should not forget were the die hard lovers of food and all that is rich and luxurious in the modern Indian cuisine has a Mughal origin. So they too loved ice cream and they too enjoyed it in royal feasts and ceremonies. When they could get choicest fruits from Farghana and Samarquand and the best wines from Persia, why couldnt they send relays of horsemen to bring ice from Hindukush for their aromatic fruit sherbets? <BR><BR> But were sending horsemen to run and fetch ice or storing ice in underground icehouses near rivers, the only way of making ice creams in those days? Sadly, yes. And thats why the common man remained deprived of and unknown to its delectable taste. But lets thank Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia who first got the patent for a small hand run ice cream freezer. Gradually with the coming of electricity there also came a revolution in ice cream making. Thereafter Giant corporates like Howard Johnson, Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Gelato Vittorio, Ben and Jerrys, Haagen Dazs and Carvel changed the concept of ice cream in the world. Soft serves, Sundaes and super premiums began to be offered by shops next door. <BR><BR> Thanks to globalisation, the world has really become a small place to live in. Today I can access any ice cream from the world over in my local confectionary shop. but among the confused tastes of multitudinous flavours I some how always try to find that one singular taste of the white stick ice-cream which trickled through my fingers and ran into my nursery uniformspoiling it but leaving an imprint on my memory which has failed to faint in all these years.
Imphal: An Indian Army patrol team and unidentified insurgents exchanged heavy gunfire along the international border in Manipur early Wednesday, intelligence sources said. There was no report of any casualty on either side.

The army personnel were on patrol along the international border with Myanmar when they had a chance encounter with the insurgents near Mingtha at 3 a.m., the sources told IANS.

The gunfight continued for a long time after which the insurgents are believed to have escaped into the mountainous rain forest.

The latest shootout comes in the wake of an ambush on Sunday at Joupi in the border district of Chandel, in which six personnel of 29 Assam Rifles were killed.

The insurgents of the Corcom, an apex body of six proscribed underground organisations, had escaped with six sophisticated weapons.

Meanwhile, no underground organisation has so far claimed responsibility for Sunday's ambush.

On June 4 last year, insurgents of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) and some other militant organisations had ambushed a patrol party of 6 Dogra Regiment in the district, killing 18 soldiers and wounding 14 others.
Patna: A Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and his brother were shot dead on Wednesday by Maoists during campaigning for panchayat polls in Bihar's Gaya district, police said.

LJP leader Sudesh Paswan and his brother Sunil Paswan were killed in broad daylight near Tola Dubat in Gaya, about 100 km from here, a district police official said.

Maoists also torched two cars and a motorcycle used in the campaigning in support of the slain LJP leader's wife, who is in the fray for the village head's post.

According to police officials, Maoists left behind pamphlets claiming the LJP leader was punished for being a police informer.

Later, hundreds of local residents protested against the killings by blocking roads and demanding the arrest of those involved in the crime.

Early this week, Maoists slit the throats of three people for allegedly working as police informers.
New Delhi: As the debate over an alcohol bans grows across India, 15 people die every day - or one every 96 minutes - from the effects of drinking alcohol, reveals an IndiaSpend analysis of 2013 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the latest available.

The per capita consumption of alcohol in India increased 38 percent, from 1.6 litres in 2003-05 to 2.2 litres in 2010-12, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which also revealed that more than 11 percent of Indians were binge drinkers, against the global average of 16 percent.

The data explain the wide political support for crackdowns on alcohol, although experts point out that alcohol is a health problem - not a moral one.

In Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa shut down 500 liquor stores on May 23, the first day of her fourth term as chief minister. In April, Bihar imposed prohibition - a ban on the sale, production and consumption of alcohol. In August 2014, Kerala restricted the sale of liquor to five-star hotels.

Pre-poll surveys in Kerala and Tamil Nadu found wide support for prohibition, 47 percent of men and women in Kerala and 52 percent in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Express reported. The leading reason for the ban, respondents said, was alcohol-fuelled domestic violence.

Before the latest crackdowns on alcohol, Gujarat and Nagaland were the only Indian states with prohibition.

Maharashtra tops alcohol-related deaths

Maharashtra reported the most alcohol-related deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, according to the NCRB data, with experts saying high rates of alcoholism correlate with high crime rates.

"Major crimes and accidents are fuelled by alcohol, which also leads to sexual harassment of women and robberies," S. Raju, of Tamil Nadus Makkal Adhikaram (Peoples Power) told the BBC. Alcohol abuse is also the reason why Tamil Nadu has the largest number of widows under 30 years of age.

A quarter of all hospital admissions and 69 percent of all crimes in Kerala are due in part to intoxication, according to the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, an NGO, quoted in The Economist.

Five people died every day in 2014 after drinking spurious liquor

In 2015, consumption of illegally brewed liquor claimed more than 100 lives in Malwani, Mumbai, triggering widespread outrage. As many as 1,699 people died in 2014 after consuming spurious/illicit liquor, an increase of 339 percent from 387 in 2013.

However, prohibition may not reduce addiction and deaths, Vikram Patel, a leading public health expert with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, argued in an Indian Express column.

Prohibition of substances which give pleasure to people does not work, he wrote. Addiction is a health problem, not a moral one, and there are many proven strategies which can reduce its burden. The desire to address the serious social problems caused by a minority of those who consume alcohol by prohibition is a travesty of the experience of history and public health science. Prohibition is rejected by most public health scientists who know this field; even the World Health Organisation does not recommend it.

Notes:

The data for deaths due to alcohol influence nationally as well as state-wise has been stopped since 2014 and is included in sudden deaths overall; therefore, we have taken the 2013 figures and analysed accordingly.

There is a possibility of more deaths due to alcohol influence under the heart attacks/epilepsy category; however, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of deaths, and hence, we have just used the figures under influence of alcohol.

(25.05.2016 - In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Devanik Saha is a Delhi-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend.
Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In view of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study which found potassium bromate and potassium iodate in various popular bread samples, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is considering to impose a ban on all harmful food additives.

As per a report from Hindustantimes, FSSAI is evaluating about 11,000 food additives to identify the harmful ones that will be banned for use in the country.

The regulator has also recommended removal of potassium bromate from the list of permissible food additives to the Health Ministry following the CSE report.

On Monday, the CSE released a report claiming that nearly 84% of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate, banned in many countries as they are listed as "hazardous" for public health.

The report stated that potassium bromate, which is said to be a Class 2B carcinogenic and may cause cancer, potassium iodate can lead to thyroid disorders, increase the incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis and increase the risk of thyroid cancer.
New Delhi: The Indian government, seeking to woo the 54-nation African continent, was expected to answer some tough questions from the African diplomatic community who have decided to stay away from this year`s Africa Day celebrations in protest while seeking strong action on the part of the government over the murder of a Congolese national in the capital and other "attacks and harassment" of African students and others in various parts of the country.

Even as the Modi government wants more African students to come and study in India, African heads of missions, who met in emergency session Tuesday, said the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi was forcing the African heads of mission " with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," a statement by Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday night.

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said.

Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

According to Woldemariam`s statement, Oliver and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend on that fateful day.

On the way back, the statement said, Oliver flagged an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away from him. However, as he tried to board the auto-rickshaw, three Indian men standing nearby boarded it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed.

"They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly," it stated.

"One of the Indians picked up a large stone from the roadside and hit Oliver on the head."

According to the statement, a passer-by who stopped to help the Congolese was also beaten up and the attackers fled the scene when they saw that Oliver was unconscious.

Oliver was rushed to a private hospital where he was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre but he died on the way.

Woldemariam stated that the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators".

In January this year, a mob in Bangalore allegedly attacked and stripped a Tanzanian girl after dragging her out of the car in which she was travelling along with her three friends. Her friends were also beaten up.

The incident took place after a woman was mowed down on the outskirts of the Karnataka capital on January 31.

Following this, a high-level team from New Delhi, including the high commissioner of Tanzania, went to Bangalore.

A senior police officer and some policemen were suspended and over 10 people arrested.

In his statement on Tuesday, Woldemariam said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said.

He also called upon the media, civil society, think tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans in India.

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 here, Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the event be postponed.

"They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom of Lesotho," the statement said.

"This is because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slained African students in the last few years, including Oliver," it added.
Patna: In a major breakthrough, police on Wednesday arrested five people in connection with Bihar journalist Rajdeo Ranjan's murder case.

Reportedly, the five arrested are shooters.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said that he was saddened by the killing of a journalist in his state and promised swift action against the guilty.

Condemning the murder of Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, Rajdeo Ranjan, he had said the probe would be expedited and Bihar Police will bring to book those responsible for the killing.

Earlier, acting on a security audit report of Siwan central jail, the Bihar government has shifted jailed former RJD MP Md Shahabuddin, whose associates are under the police scanner in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan on May 13, to Bhagalpur jail.

Fingers are being pointed at Shahabuddin, who is also member of RJD's National Executive, in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, the bureau chief of a vernacular daily, in Siwan town on May 13.

Shahabuddhin, convicted in a murder case and lodged in Siwan central jail for over a decade, was shifted to Bhagalpur jail hours after a notification was issued by IG Prison Anand Kishore.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Anti-Terrorism Squad to probe the allegation that Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse received phone calls from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's house in Karachi.

"Both I and the Chief Minister wanted the matter to be investigated...So the Chief Minister has asked ATS to probe it," Khadse told reporters today.

Khadse, the senior-most BJP leader in the state cabinet, claimed he had documents to prove that his mobile phone was hacked to show as if calls were made, and added that he would hand over all the evidence in this regard to the investigating agencies.

The beleaguered minister said the matter was already being investigated by the cyber crime cell and local police, and the Director General of Police was supervising the probe.

Spokesperson of AAP, Preeti Sharma Menon, had levelled the allegation against Khadse last week.

The minister today also sought to know why no questions were being asked about former AAP leader Anjali Damania's alleged dubious land deals in Raigad district.

Menon had alleged, citing the call records obtained from a Pakistani telecom company by an Ahmedabad-based hacker, that calls were made from Dawood's house in Karachi to a mobile number registered in Khadse's name.

Khadse had later rubbished the allegation saying the number was not in use for the last one year.

The minister today also said he took the help of BJP MLC Gurmukh Jagwani, who has relatives in Pakistan, to verify Dawood's address cited in documents produced by AAP, but it proved to be "fictitious".
New Delhi: With African heads of mission demanding strong action from the Indian government in the wake of the murder of a Congolese national here, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh was deputed on Wednesday to allay the concerns voiced by the envoys.

"I have asked my colleague General VK Singh to meet the heads of mission of African countries and assure them of the Indian government`s commitment to the security of African nationals," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

"VK Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security," she said.

Masonda Ketada Olivier, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run.

On Tuesday, African heads of mission held a meeting here regarding the incident following which they issued a statement seeking strong action from the government.

The heads of mission stated that they were being left with little option but to advise their respective governments against sending new students to India.

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," the statement by Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday.

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said.

Woldemariam said the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators".

He said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said.

The African envoys also said they would stay away from this year`s Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26.

In a separate tweet on Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj said the government would launch a sensitisation programme to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits," she said.

"I would like to assure African students in India that this was an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons."

Swaraj said she has asked Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung to take steps and ensure that this case was tried by a fast track court.

"Jung has assured me that he will take immediate action in this regard," she said.

In a separate statement, the external affairs ministry described the death of Olivier as "very unfortunate" and said that "we condemn the incident unequivocally".

It said Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of mission, including the dean of the African diplomatic corps.

He explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the incident his ministry got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted promptly.

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," the statement said.

It said that Sinha also pointed out to the envoys that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially motivated.

"Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues. Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship," it said.

"We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur," it added.
Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday attacked Amitabh Bachchan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the light of mega star's name figuring in the Panama Papers expose and questioned as to why the actor had been chosen to host a show in Delhi to celebrate two years BJP-led NDA government in power.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked that when PM Modi had promised to bring back black money and punish each person who was involved, would it not send a wrong message to all investigative agencies when a person accused of money laundering was seen hosting a program to celebrate two years of the BJP-led NDA government.

"Would it be fair? What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad illegally when they see the Prime Minister sharing dais with the accused," he said.

However, the Congress leader added, "Everyone in India loves Amitabh Bachchan as an artist and as an elder."

But at the same time, he asserted, "He has denied charges and he may be proved innocent, but for now it sends the wrong message."

Meanwhile, clarifying over the matter, Bachchan said that it would be actor R Madhavan and not him, who would host the event.

The actor added that he was only hosting a small segment of the programme on the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme, for which he is the brand ambassador.

"I am not hosting the show. I am only doing one segment which is concerned with the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative, which is very close to my heart," a statement issued by his PR firm stated.

The 73-year-old star also said that he does not think they (Congress) are aware that he was not hosting the event.

On the other hand, his son Abhishek Bachchan also backed his father and said at an event, "He (Amitabh) is not hosting any political event. He is part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child, that is not a political event."

A mega show ('Zara Muskura Do') is set to take place on May 28 at the India Gate, featuring host of prominent faces from Bollywood, on the completion of two years of NDA government.

As for the BJP, it came out in strong defence of Bachchan for his association with the event despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union Ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child and attacked Congress for its "mental disability" in fuelling a row.

BJP leader and Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no effect if he attends the event.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things," he said.

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the mega star is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

The Panama Papers - based on an investigation by over 100 news organisations around the world - is a global list revealing offshore links of over 500 Indians, including Amitabh.

Amitabh has denied links with any of the offshore companies.

(With Agency inputs)


New Delhi: The Indian government went into damage control mode on Wednesday after African envoys here demanded concrete steps from New Delhi against "racism and Afro-phobia" and sought postponement of the celebrations of Africa Day by India.

The development came amid outrage over the recent killing of a Congolese national in the Indian capital.

Masonda Ketada Oliver was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today assured African envoys of safety and security of their nationals.

The government has directed concerned authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of Oliver, the minister said.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits. I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons," she tweeted.

Minister of State in the Ministry VK Singh has been asked to meet the heads of missions of African countries to assure them India's commitment towards safety and security of the African nationals, she added.

The envoys, taking strong exception to killing of Oliver, said they will not attend the "Africa Day" celebrations scheduled for Thursday and that India must take "concrete steps" to guarantee the safety and security of its African nationals.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said the envoys of 42 African countries met and deliberated extensively on recent attacks against its nationals.

"The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said in a statement.

He also said that the African envoys have asked for a postponement of the ICCR-organised event to mark Africa Day tomorrow because the African Community in India, including students, are in a "state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver.

Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of murder of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals will be ensured.

"She (Swaraj) has asked Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh to meet the Heads of Missions of African countries and assure them of the government's support to safety and security of the African nationals.

"VK Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security. We will request State Governments to depute Commissioner of Police in all such meetings," said the MEA statement.

The MEA said Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha, who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of missions yesterday, including the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Eritrea and assured them that stringent punishment will be given to those found guilty.

"Secretary (ER) also pointed out that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated. Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues.

"Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship. We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur," it said.

Sinha explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the last week's incident, the MEA got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted "promptly".

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," said the MEA.

Woldermariam said the envoys have expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India "have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators."

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," he said.

He further said,"They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom Lesotho. This is because the African Community in India, including the students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years including Mr Oliver."

(With PTI inputs)
Chandigarh: In a major development in Faridkot holy text desecration case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday announced a Rs 10-lakh cash reward.

The reward will be given for information leading to arrest of the accused involved the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village and theft of a 'bir' from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district.

The CBI in a statement said it needs the cooperation of the general public for providing information about persons who have indulged in theft and then desecrating the holy Granth Sahib.

"If on the information of any person, the persons involved are traced, he would be given a cash reward of Rs. 10,00,000/- (Ten Lakhs) by the CBI," it added.

"The information may also be given to any nearest branch of the CBI located anywhere in India. The name of the informant will be kept secret," it added.

Punjab government had earlier on November 1 had handed over the probe to CBI into the Bargari village sacrilege incident in Faridkot.

Details

The CBI in its statement has said that any person having any information of the whereabouts of the above mentioned persons may inform the following CBI officers immediately on the address, telephone and mobile phones mentioned below:

Abhishek Dular, Superintendent of Police CBI/Special Crimes-III CBI Headquarters Building, 3`d Floor, CGO's Complex, New Delhi Tel. - 011-24368644, Mobile. No- 9418834911

N. Krishnamurthy, Duty Officer Additional Superintendent of Police, CBI/Special Crimes-III CBI Hors Building CBI HQrs Building, 3`d floor, CGOs Complex, New Delhi Tel. 011 24368646 Tel. 011- 24368646 Mobile No- 9968081143.
Melbourne: An Indian-origin aviation worker in Australia, who was sacked last year for posting pro-Islamic State messages on Facebook, has told a court that his comments were "sarcastic".

Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work Commission' to argue that his dismissal was 'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking USD 7,000 in lost wages.

The Commission heard Singh had written "We All Support ISIS" above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney.

There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a "secret group".

However, two Aerocare employees who were Facebook friends with Singh, independently raised concerns about the posts with a manager.

Australian Federal Police, Perth Airport and the "client airline" of Aerocare were also made aware of the posts, and the airline requested Singh no longer be allowed to work around its planes.

After three meetings held over four days last October, Singh was told that Aerocare was terminating his employment for breach of their social media policy, and demanded he return his airside security pass to Perth Airport for cancellation.

At the Fair Work Commission hearing, Singh argued the posts were "sarcastic" in nature and he did not support Islamic State.

He said he deleted the posts and his Facebook "alias" profile after meeting with his manager.

"There were concerns I understood and I addressed those concerns by offering to delete the posts and the profile but how they breached the social media policy, I don't understand," Singh told the Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.

Hughes asked if Singh was aware Australia was on high alert for a terrorist attack which was currently rated "probable".

"Absolutely and I support that," Singh replied.

Commissioner Jennifer Hunt wanted to review transcripts and receive some further written submissions before making her decision in writing.

Singh maintained he did nothing wrong by posting "We All Support ISIS" on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism.
New Delhi: Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is planning to strike North Indian cities, like the one carried out in Punjab's Pathankot air base, with help from Pakistan's ISI and the Indian Mujahideen, which also operates from the neighbouring nation, a media report said on Tuesday, citing military intelligence.

JeM's associates have started a recce of north Indian cities to replicate Pathankot-style attack, TOI reported, citing a military intelligence report said to be submitted to the Punjab government.

Quoting the intelligence report, TOI said that JeM commander Awais Mohammed is planning to enter India from Malaysia to carry out fresh attacks. Awais, who reportedly hails from Okara in Pakistan, has been tasked with monitoring the fresh strikes.

The intelligence report was shared with the Punjab government on May 18, according to TOI.

JeM has opened three new 'offices' in Pakistan for the purpose of executing fresh terror strikes in India, the report said.

"JeM is reviving its offices and network in Kohat and Hazara region. JeM is also reinvigorating its recruitment drive. A new training facility has also been constructed by JeM at Balakot," TOI said citing the intelligence report.

"Real-time reconnaissance of the cities is being carried out by the sleeper cells of ISI and Indian Mujahideen," the report added.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will quote US intel reports in court to prove the involvement of terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the deadly 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings, a media report said on Tuesday,

US intel shows the handiwork of Pakistan-based Lashkar coordinator Arif Qasmani behind the Samjhauta terror attack, TOI reported.

NIA will submit the assessment of US security agencies in Panchkula court, which is hearing the Samjhauta case, the report said.

In the recent past, some Hindu groups had reportedly alleged that Swami Aseemanand and some others were framed by the then UPA government in the case and that Pakistan's role in the attack was not probed.

The NIA had recently given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and five others in the Malegaon blast case.

Citing official sources, TOI reported that the US had promised to hand over the findings on Arif Qasmani during the visit of NIA chief there in April.

The purpose of appraising it on the US findings is to keep the court aware of the latest developments, the report said.

The trial is already in an advanced stage in the case and the submission would not be part of any chargesheet, the report quoted an unnamed officer as saying.

NIA had first sought details on Qasmani in 2010 but it didn't receive any reply then. However, this time they have agreed to provide the information, the report added.

As soon as the reply comes from the US, it will be assessed and submitted in the Panchkula court, the report said.

In 2009, the UN as well as the US had accused Qasmani of funding the Samjhauta blasts.

Scores of people were killed and injured in the explosions.

TOI quoted a UN statement as saying that, "Arif Qasmani is the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Taiba's dealings with outside organisations and has provided significant support for LeT terrorist operations.

"Qasmani has worked with LeT to facilitate terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing in Panipat, India.

"Qasmani conducted fundraising activities on behalf of LeT in 2005 and utilised money that he received from Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime figure and terrorist supporter, to facilitate the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India".
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found out that wireless systems of the same kind were used in terror attacks which took place in Kathua, Samba and Pathankot.

Besides, modus operandi of the three attacks was same, convincing the NIA not to probe the three cases separately.

News agency ANI has quoted NIA sources as saying that Pakistan has not responded to supplementary Letter Rogatory India sent to Islamabad.

NIA sources further denied to refute that Dina Nagar attack was handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The NIA is collecting more information apropos of attack in Pathankot, JeM as an organisation and its role in the attack, sources further told ANI.

A Pakistan JIT had visited India in March in connection with the probe in the Pathankot terror attack perpetrated by the JeM.

The terrorists had entered the strategic air base at Pathankot on the intervening night of January one-two and mounted the brazen assault. In the fierce encounter that ensued, seven security personnel besides four terrorists were killed.
Delhi: Security agencies are in a tizzy over a botched terror test run in New Delhi, as per a media report.

As per India Today, security agencies are concerned about a new ISI-backed module whose operatives were able to infiltrate the national capital.

They reportedly posed as Afghan medical tourists, the website quoted intelligence sources as disclosing.

As per the report, sources have revealed that the mastermind of the failed terror bid in December, 2015, was Maulana Abdul Rehman (known as MAR in jehadi circles and believed to be a plotter of the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines' IC 814 flight).

The infiltrators (Pakistani Ahmed Khan Durrani and Afghan national Abdul Qadri) used medical-tourism method to enter the national capital.

The report says that Durrani posed as an Afghan patient and Qadri his attendant.

Durrani forged passport issued in the name of Sohaib Abbas and chose a Lajpat Nagar neighbourhood to rent a room.

The media group gives the address as - M-3, Kasturba Niketan Complex, Lajpat Nagar-II.

Incidentally the address passed police verification in the last week of November.

Durrani had undergone a training in making chemical bombs and both of them had remained in contact with their handler (identified as Abid).

Abid had supposedly set up a control-room in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan-Afghan border.

They are said to have bought bomb-making materials from Old Delhi markets and were able to make six chemical bombs.

They were planning to use them in serial attacks in second week of December, the report quoted sources as saying.

The duo are said to have recced locations across Delhi and Iskcon temple and a plush mall were on their hit list.

Durrani and Qadri had identified three other targets, security officials revealed.

However, the trial run did not go as planned.

A bomb they tried to detonate in the bathroom of their room sent smoke out of their building and this supposedly made them nervous.

They them flushed their devices and fled to Afghanistan on the next flight available, intelligence officials told the media group.

After the terror plan came to the fore, intelligence agencies alerted Kabul police.

Durrani and Qadri were then arrested and explosives and secret documents were recovered from them.

The mastermid of the terror plan Maulana Abdul Rehman (MAR) heads an organization called Al Barkat Trust and the trust has established the new group called Jaish-ul-Haq, according to security officials.

What is alarming is that, MAR has a syndicate of terrorists who are being recruited and trained for anti-India operations, intelligence sources added.

Please note: Rehman has now fallen out with Maulana Masood Azhar (founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad). Azhar was one of the three terrorists India freed to secure the release of the IC-814 passengers.
Srinagar: Separatists in the Kashmir Valley have come together to oppose the setting up of exclusive colonies for Pandits (or Hindus) and retired military personnel.

It is for the first time since 2008 that the Kashmiri separatists, who are ideologically and politically divided, have joined hands. Back then, they had united during the violent Amarnath land agitation.

The Hindustan Times reported that separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik held a meeting on Monday and strategise against the PDP-BJP government's plans to establish colonies for displaced Pandits and ex-servicemen of the state.

The meeting was held at Geelanis residence in Srinagar's Hyderpora and went on for some 90 minutes.

Ayaz Akbar, a spokesperson of the hardline Hurriyat Conference, told the newspaper that it was for the first time since 2008 that all three leaders have come together to discuss any grave issue.

The months-long 2008 agitation was centred around the then PDP-Congress government's move to transfer a piece of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, which manages the annual Hindu pilgrimage of Amarnath Yatra.

At the meeting on Monday, the trio decided on enforcing a complete shutdown on Thursday and peaceful protests on Friday.

The trio have come together against proposed plans for creation of the separate clusters for the Pandits, establishing of Sainik colonies, harassment of the Jammu Muslims, BJP leader Choudhary Lal Singhs warning to the Jammu Muslims of repeating 1947 carnage and induction of new anti-Kashmir industrial policy.

They further said in a joint statement that it was time for the people to rise to defend their existence, individuality, their Muslim identity and the disputed status of the Kashmir and to start an effective struggle against the dangerous plans of RSS in Kashmir.
Srinagar: An Indian Army officer asked two journalists to leave an event because they "did not stand up when the Indian national anthem was played and the Indian flag was unfurled".

The anthem was played during the passing out parade of recruits at the regimental centre of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment.

The national flag was disrespected in front of a Jammu and Kashmir minister and senior bureaucrats.

The photograph issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Government's Department of Information on Tuesday, clearly showed the two journalists showing disrespect to the national flag in front of the state's Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation and senior PDP leader Syed Basharat Ahmed.

"The army had invited us to cover the event, not to participate in it. When the Indian anthem was played, I was jotting down notes for my story. After the anthem finished, a Colonel Burn came up to us and said, "All people here stood up for the anthem and the flag except you. We don't need people like you here, so leave," said Kashmir Reader correspondent Junaid Bazaz.

The other journalist who was asked to leave was a correspondent of the newspaper Rising Kashmir.
Washington: US senators questioned on Tuesday whether India`s development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.



"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.



"We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.





Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.



The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.



Biswal said she believed India`s relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognized India`s need for a trade route.





"From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn`t have."



Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.



Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honor.



Senator Ben Cardin, the committee`s top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.



She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. "We`re looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation," Biswal said.



Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance China`s rising power. President Barack Obama has called it "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."
Washington: US senators questioned on Tuesday whether India`s development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

"We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.

Biswal said she believed India`s relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognized India`s need for a trade route.

"From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn`t have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.

Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honor.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee`s top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.

She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. "We`re looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation," Biswal said.

Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance China`s rising power. President Barack Obama has called it "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Yasin Malik from his office in Srinagar to prevent him from attending a separatist' meeting over government plans to set up colony for ex-servicement in the state.

The JKLF chief was arrested from his party`s Abi Guzar area office adjacent to the city centre Lal Chowk.

"He has been taken into preventive custody and lodged in Kothibagh police station to maintain law and order in the city," a senior police officer told IANS in Srinagar.

Earlier in the day, Hurriyat (M) chiarman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house arrest.

Mirwaiz Umer was scheduled to attend a separatist called meeting to discuss the strategy for what the separatists call "resisting the government plans to form a Sainik (Ex-servicemen) colony in Kashmir".

Separatists have also called for a protest shutdown on Thursday and on post Friday prayer protests to register protest against alleged moves of the central and the state government to allot land to ex-servicemen for setting up Sainik and Pandit colonies in the Valley.
Srinagar: Separatist militants on Wednesday killed a civilian who was abducted late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir`s Kupwara district.

"Militants today (Wednesday) morning killed a civilian identified as Liyaqat Ali Chatwal in Rajwar forests," a senior police official told IANS.

"He was kidnapped Tuesday night from Watsar village where he had gone to meet his sister."

A probe has been launched to investigate the murder, the official added.
Srinagar: A policeman was killed on Wednesday when militants attacked a National Conference (NC) leader's security guard and snatched his service rifle in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

"The militants attacked the security guard of NC district president Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir in Manghama village today (Wednesday) afternoon and decamped with his service rifle," a senior police officer told IANS here.

The deceased policeman Riyaz Ahmed Ganai was in civies and standing alongside the NC leader's security guard at his (Ganai's) cousin's marriage when the guerrillas struck.

The NC leader had gone to the village to attend the wedding function.

On Monday, three policemen, including an officer, were killed and the weapon of one policeman was snatched in two guerrilla attacks in Srinagar.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Primary Education Minister Kimmane Rathnakar, Wednesday, declared Karnakata II Pre-university Course (Plus 2) result 2016.

A total of 5,12,555 candidates had appeared for the KSEEB 2nd II PUC examination out of which 3,64,013 students cleared it.

The overall pass percentage is 57.20 per cent, a dip by 3.34 per cent as compared to last year. As has been the norm over the years, girls outperformed boys this year too with a pass percentage of 64.78.

The highest scores this year: Science  596 (total pass percentage is 66.25), Commerce - 594 (total pass percentage is 64.16) and Arts  585 (total pass percentage is 42.12).

Karnataka Second II PUC Exam Results 2016 are now live on the following websites: Pue.kar.nic.in, Kseeb.kar.nic.in or karresults.nic.in.

However, given the huge number of candidates, the websites are working slow. It is advised that you wait for sometime before attempting to check your result.

How to check KSEEB PUC Results 2016

1.Log on to any of the following websites Pue.kar.nic.in, Kseeb.kar.nic.in or karresults.nic.in.

2. Click on Pre-University Examination Board PUC Results.

3. Enter registration number and submit.

View result, save and download the PDF copy of your scorecard of Karnataka Second PUC Result 2016.Karnataka Second PUC Result 2016.

Karanataka PUC results 2016  District wise

Dakshina Kannad stands first with 90.48 per cent followed by Udupi, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada districts. The lowest pass percentage has been recorded in Yadagiri with 44.16 per cent.

As far as college-wise results are concerned, a total of 91 PU colleges achieved 0 per cent result including 88 private unaided colleges.

Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) had conducted the PUC exam 2016 between March 11 to April 12 across the state.

PUC result revaluation and supplementary examination

Candidates who have doubts about the marks granted to them can apply for revaluation and recounting of marks. They have time till June to submit an application for the same along with the proscribed fee.

Failed students can appear for supplement examination which will be held from July 1 to July 13. Those interested can take this examination by paying fee on or before June 6.

Last years Karnataka 12th Result was declared on May 18. The pass percentage was 60.54% with girls outperforming boys with a pass percentage of 68.24 as compared to 53.09% achieved by boys.

10.38% of the successful candidates achieved distinction, 51.87% got first class, 21.23% score second class and rest 16.52% were given third class.
Thiruvananthapuram: After being sidelined by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for Kerala's chief ministerial post after its victory in the Assembly Elections, veteran leader VS Achuthanandan on Wednesday ignored his pain and sent wishes to the state's new Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

Achuthanandan took to Twitter to send this message:

Red Salute to the New #LDF Government!! Let's march forward for #Kerala's bright future!!  VS Achuthanandan (@vs1923) May 25, 2016

The 92-year old Achuthanandan, meanwhile, in his Facebook post said the remark of Vijayan on the priorities of the government was a good start.

He started the posting with "Abivadayagal. It is a good start. I welcome the statement of Vijayan on the priorities of the government. I see it as a good start", he said.

"I expect that the Chief Minister designate Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues can build a prosperous Kerala with people's support," he said.

Referring to the recent statement of BJP leaders on the law and order situation in the state, Achuthanandan said the new government has to be watchful.

"Now itself some Central ministers have come out with threatening voices. They will do anything to destabilise the progressive government and so we have to be watchful", he said.

Veteran CPI-M polit bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala today.

Achuthanandan, however had to be content with a ceremonial title of `Kerala`s Fidel Castro` that was bestowed on him by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, when Vijayan`s name was announced for the top post.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front swept the May 16 Assembly polls, winning 91 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly, showing the door to Oommen Chandy`s Congress-led government that was in power since 2011.
Lahore: A school was attacked by angry locals in Lahore city of Pakistan during a protest against sexual assault on an eight-year-old boy by his teacher and the boy`s subsequent disappearance.

Police reached the school on Tuesday as the protestors` gathering swelled and they intensified the agitation, Dawn online reported.

According to reports, a teacher in the school sexually assaulted a boy and fled from the scene. When the boy`s parents found their child too was missing, they called more people who attacked the school.

They also beat up the school security guard and chanted slogans against the boy`s assaulter as well as the management.

When police tried to disperse them, the protestors pelted stones at them. Police retaliated by charging at the crowds with batons.

The situation remained tense for a few hours and more police deployments were called as the protestors attempted to set fire to the school, an eyewitness said.

After hours of negotiations, police managed to disperse the protestors, assuring them of strict action against the teacher and recovering the boy.

A police source said the teacher was already taken into custody.
Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In what could be called as a major step ahead in gauging how supermassive black holes were born after the Big Bang, a team of researchers has spotted two objects in the early Universe that seem to be the origin of these cosmic giants.

"Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult. However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates so far," said Andrea Grazian, study co-author from National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy.

The researchers believe that the newly identified objects represent the most promising black hole seed candidates found so far.

The group used computer models and applied a new analysis method to data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope to find and identify the two objects.

Both of these newly discovered black hole seed candidates are seen less than a billion years after the Big Bang and have an initial mass of about 100, 000 times the Sun.

"Our discovery, if confirmed, would explain how these monster black holes were born," lead author of the study Fabio Pacucci from Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, noted.

(With IANS inputs)
Washington: A NASA scientist has suggested a possible link between primordial black holes -- formed during the first second of our universe's existence -- and dark matter, a mysterious substance composing most of the material universe.

According to astrophysicist Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, this interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes detected last year.

This study is an effort to bring together a broad set of ideas and observations to test how well they fit, and the fit is surprisingly good," said Kashlinsky.

If this is correct, then all galaxies, including our own, are embedded within a vast sphere of black holes each about 30 times the Sun's mass, he added. The nature of dark matter remains one of the most important unresolved issues in astrophysics.

NASA is currently investigating this as part of its Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope missions.

The previous and new studies are providing increasingly sensitive results, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where dark matter particles can hide," Kashlinsky added.

The failure to find them has led to renewed interest in studying how well primordial black holes -- black holes formed in the universe's first fraction of a second -- could work as dark matter.

Physicists have outlined several ways in which the hot, rapidly expanding universe could produce primordial black holes in the first thousandths of a second after the Big Bang. The older the universe is when these mechanisms take hold, the larger the black holes can be.

Because the window for creating them lasts only a tiny fraction of the first second, scientists expect primordial black holes would exhibit a narrow range of masses. In September last year, gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years away were captured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.

This event marked the first-ever detection of gravitational waves as well as the first direct detection of black holes.

The signal provided LIGO scientists with information about the masses of the individual black holes, which were 29 and 36 times the sun's mass, plus or minus about four solar masses. These values were both unexpectedly large and surprisingly similar.

"Depending on the mechanism at work, primordial black holes could have properties very similar to what LIGO detected," Kashlinsky explained.

In his new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Kashlinsky analyses what might have happened if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO.

Future LIGO observing runs will tell us much more about the universe's population of black holes, and it won't be long before we'll know if the scenario I outline is either supported or ruled out," Kashlinsky added.
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday castigated the self defence camp organised by a right-wing group Bajrang Dal and questioned the silence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the matter. It also urged President Pranab Mukherjee to take action.

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat told ANI, "I don't know why the Akhilesh Yadav government is silent. What is more shocking is the defence of the Governor. He is bound to uphold the constitution. I urge the Rashtripati Bhavan to investigate the matter and take appropriate action. It is absolutely condemnable if the Governor will patronise such activities."

A video that shows activists of the Bajrang Dal training with sticks has triggered a police case that includes charges of inciting hatred between different religious groups.

An FIR was lodged late Tuesday night against the Bajrang Dal activists, following a video that showed the cadres taking part in a mock drill where men wearing skull caps have been portrayed as terrorists.

Faizabad Superintend of Police Sankalp Sharma told ANI that the FIR has been registered under Section 153 A for promoting enmity between different groups and added that the matter is being investigated.

In the annual self-defence camp, the Bajrang Dal cadres are trained to use rifles, swords and sticks so that they can 'protect the Hindus'.

Similar camps would be held till June 5 in Sultanpur, Gorakhpur, Pilibhit, Noida and Fatehpur cities in the state.

The cadres can be seen killing men dressed as Muslims during the mock drill.

Downplaying the furore over the annual self-defence camp, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik yesterday said that there was nothing wrong in conducting such camps, adding it should be continued at all costs.

Justifying his stand, Naik said such camps promote self-defence, which was a skill that should be imbibed by every individual.
Bhadohi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday remained non-committal on the issue of banning liquor in the state even as he advised people to "drink less".

"The decision on banning liquor cannot be taken in haste. Interest of cane farmers and employment of lakh of people in liquor shops are related with this. Presently, we can only advise people to drink less (liquor)," Yadav said.

Yadav's remarks have come against the backdrop of his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar recently advising him to ban liquor in his state.

Nitish had said, "Waqt ke saath doosre tareekon se iski poorti ki jaa sakti hai (The losses incurred due to revenue loss can be offset by other ways)". He had also sought support from Uttar Pradesh to ensure prohibition in bordering areas.

Akhilesh was here to launch and lay foundation stones of several developmental projects worth over Rs 400 crore.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary had, however, criticised Kumar accusing him of making "negative comments" against Uttar Pradesh and thus emboldening communal forces against which the UP government is fighting.

Attacking BSP, Akhilesh said the previous BSP government did "nothing" and only concentrated on installing statues of Mayawati and making memorials.

"Now they have also started talking of development. Buaji (as Akhilesh calls Mayawati) is now realising that she suffered loss due to her work," he said.

Highlighting his government works, Akhilesh said that soon police force would be modernised and after receiving an emergency call it will reach within 15 minutes for help.

He also mentioned 108/102 free Samajwadi ambulance services being run in the state.

"When Congress was in power, we were asked to remove the name Samajwadi from the ambulance services to get the money for it. But we did not remove it and arranged money from our own resources," he said.
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has ordered sampling and testing of bread products across the city after a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reportedly found certain harmful chemicals in bread, buns, pavs, pizza bases and other commercially-sold bakery items, an official said on Wednesday.

"We held a meeting with our food safety officers on Tuesday and asked them to collect samples from various city pockets. These samples would be sent on Wednesday to the central government lab (Central Food Laboratory) in Kyd Street and one other lab at Barasat for testing," Atin Ghosh, Mayor-In-Council member (health), told IANS.

The CSE on Monday released a report which said that Indian bread manufacturers use potassium bromate and potassium iodate for treating flour while making bread.

Potassium bromate is known to be a category 2B carcinogen and is already banned in Britain, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Sri Lanka, among other countries.

Following the report, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said on Monday that it was already considering to take potassium bromate off the list of permitted additives following recommendation of a scientific panel.

The FSSAI said it was also examining the evidence against potassium iodate before taking any decision on disallowing its use.
Kolkata: Lambasting the Trinamool Congress for "unleashing terror to eliminate the opposition", the Left Front and the Congress on Wednesday collectively called for a massive people's movement to 're-establish democracy' in West Bengal.

Participating in a two-day sit-in demonstration against post-poll violence, leaders from both the camps batted for the continued relevance of the Congress-Left Front tie-up.

"Despite winning 211 of the 294 seats, the violence unleashed by Trinamool has continued unabated and has only intensified after the assembly polls. Polls also took place in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but it is only Bengal where the ruling party has unleashed brutal attacks on the opposition," said Left Front chairman Biman Bose.

"We have to teach them a lesson. There is no other way out. We have to build up a massive resistance across the state and sustain it for a long time. The people's alliance that we had forged for fighting for democracy will continue till democracy is re-established in Bengal," said Bose.

Expressing a similar view, Congress leader Abdul Mannan alleged the violence was a result of Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "conspiracy to eliminate the opposition".

"Mamata is determined to eliminate the opposition only because we have been raising the uncomfortable truth about Trinamool being neck deep in corruption.

"This violence can be countered only through a people's movement. That is why the alliance has now become more significant," said Mannan.

Among the leaders present at the sit-in were Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Mohammad Salim, Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty and state Congress general secretary O.P. Mishra.

Mishra said the Congress will boycott Banerjee government's swearing-in ceremony on May 27 as a mark of protest. The Left too has threatened not to attend the ceremony to be held in city's Indira Gandhi Sarani.


Washington DC: Senior US Congress members, led by Congressman Mike Rogers, Chairman of the Sub-committee on Strategic Forces, and Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Trade, have warned the Obama Administration that China is supplying super sensitive nuclear weapons systems to Pakistan which could pose a threat to the national security of the United States and other nations like India.

The US Congressmen reportedly said that they are specifically alarmed over the supply of Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) systems, which would provide instant mobility to Pakistan`s medium range nuclear ballistic missiles like the Shaheen III.

The Pakistan Army successfully conducted a training launch of the Ghauri medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) fired from the transporter erector launcher from Tilla Test Range in Jhelum District in 2015. Ever since it has been in the market for several TEL systems.

The Pakistan Army already uses Chinese origin 8x8 transporter erector launchers similar to the Russian MAZ-543/MAZ-7310.

US Congressmen have cautioned that availability of more such mobility vehicles would provide Pakistan`s nuclear command with far reaching powers to strike anywhere in South Asia, including in Afghanistan and India and on targets that affect US national security interests in the region.

The two leading Congressmen have reportedly asked the Obama Administration to spell out what steps Washington will take to ensure that China halts the supply of such lethal systems to Pakistan.

This matter is being viewed seriously by the US Congress, as it proves, that China continues to secretly assist in Pakistan`s ballistic missile program by providing mobility to the nuclear missiles that would target "nations who are close friends of the United States, including India".

Congressional sources said that while China and Pakistan have cooperated on military technology for decades and Beijing had announced in 2013 that it would be assisting with the construction of nuclear power plants in Karachi, the extent of Chinese cooperation in Pakistan`s nuclear weapons program has always been a subject of speculation.

According to news agency reports, the US Government has had its suspicions that China has assisted Pakistan`s nuclear weapons program, and this move to transfer more Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL), confirms China`s ongoing hand in Pakistan`s nuclear weapons program.

Pakistan is the largest recipient of Chinese weapons and Pakistan in turn provides Beijing with assistance in containing militants in China`s western province.

The supply of mobile launchers for the Shaheen III Missile is a direct threat to India, added well placed sources. Beijing has also shown its hand in nuclear proliferation, which could trigger American sanctions against China, said Congressional sources.

Senior US Congressmen have called upon the Obama Administration to investigate this matter and if it is proven that China did supply the mobile launchers to Pakistan for the Shaheen nuclear missiles, then it ought to be sanctioned by Washington.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is picking up this call by the two leading Republican Congressmen -Mike Rogers and Ted Poe --.In his speeches, Trump has drawn attention to China`s `devious track record` in nuclear material matters and the fact that Beijing has actively assisted Islamabad in its nuclear program in violation of global and United Nations norms.

Trump has been calling for firm action against China and, if this illicit nuclear relationship is confirmed by the US Government, then by law, it will have to impose economic and other sanctions on Beijing.

US sources said that in the days to come this issue would become a political battle between Republican and the Democratic candidates, with each side seeking answers from the Obama administration.
Cairo/Paris: The EgyptAir jet that disappeared last week did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris, sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said late on Tuesday.

The sources said the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the plane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after less than a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace. Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the plane`s final moments.

Egypt`s state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday that the plane had shown no technical problems before taking off, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot before takeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on its website. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11 "electronic messages" starting at 2109 GMT on May 18, about 3 1/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66 passengers and crew on board.

The first two messages indicated the engines were functional. The third message came at 0026 GMT on May 19 and showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot`s window. The plane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypt`s forensics authority dismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of the body parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashed indicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains and debris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explain what brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it entered Egyptian air space, have not been located.

An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body parts had been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of a hand. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said their size pointed to an explosion, although no trace of explosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypt`s forensics authority, said this assessment was "mere assumptions" and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

At least two other sources with direct knowledge of the investigation also said it would be premature to say what caused the plane to plunge into the sea.

"All we know is it disappeared suddenly without making a distress call," one of them said, adding that only by analysing the black boxes or a large amount of debris could authorities begin to form a clearer picture.

Scraps of data

Investigators do have a few scraps of data in the form of fault messages sent by the jet in the last minutes of flight, logging smoke alarms in the forward lavatory and an electronics bay just underneath, but they are tantalisingly incomplete.

"The difficulty is to connect these bits of information," said John Cox, executive of Washington-based Safety Operating Systems who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks by Britain`s Royal Aeronautical Society.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, which would normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiple systems failed, he said, and too many of them to tie in neatly with a single significant explosion.

Investigators also need to understand why, for example, there was no message indicating the autopilot had cut off, progressively handing control back to the pilots as systems failed and computers became unsure what to do.

The Frenchman who headed a three-year probe into the 2009 loss of an Air France jet in the Atlantic said the data published so far appeared insufficient for any conclusion.

Egypt has deployed a robot submarine and France has sent a search ship to help hunt for the black boxes, but it is not clear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by the flight recorders, lying in waters possibly 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) deep. The signal emitters have a battery life of 30 days.

Although government officials have acknowledged the need for international assistance, the U.S. Navy said Egypt had not formally requested American support beyond a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, which was deployed on Thursday.

Last moments

Eighteen loads of debris have been recovered, the Egyptian investigation committee said, in a search operation assisted by French and Greek aircraft.

Five days after the plane vanished from radar screens, air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt were still giving differing accounts of its last moments.

In Greece, two officials stood by earlier statements that Greek radar had picked up sharp swings in the jet`s trajectory - 90 degrees left, then 360 degrees right - as it plunged from a cruising altitude to 15,000 feet before vanishing.

Ehab Mohieldin Azmi, head of Egypt`s air navigation services, said Egyptian officials had seen no sign of the plane making sharp turns, and that it had been visible at 37,000 feet until it disappeared.

"Of course, we tried to call it more than once and it did not respond," he told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims were giving DNA samples at a hotel near Cairo airport on Tuesday to help identify the body parts, their grief mixed with frustration.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla was flying back from medical treatment in France, said the families were being kept in the dark and had not been formally told that any body parts had been recovered.

"All they are concerned about is to find the black box and the debris of the plane. That`s their problem, not mine," he said. "And then they come and talk to us about insurance and compensation. I don`t care about compensation, all I care about is to find my mother and bury her."
Vatican City: Pope Francis today asked God to "convert the hearts of those who sow death and destruction" following a series of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria.

During his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff prayed for "eternal rest to the victims" and "consolation to their relatives" after suicide attacks in the regime's coastal heartland that killed more than 150 people on Monday.

Francis said almost all the victims of the seven explosions targeting bus stations, hospitals and other civilian sites in the seaside cities of Jableh and Tartus were "unarmed civilians". Eight of them were children.

More than 300 people were wounded in the attacks on strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

IS claimed the blasts in a statement, saying they were in retaliation for Syrian regime and Russian air strikes against jihadists.
Beijing: Accusing the US of being an "active provoker" of Tibetan independence, China's state media today said the West was making "groundless" allegations about human rights violations to sabotage the integrity of China.

"The western countries are always hyping human rights conditions in Tibet. Their accusations are groundless," said an article in the state-run Global Times.

"The Western countries are colluding with some Tibetan radicals to instigate Tibet independence. In recent years, China has been developing rapidly. Concerned about China's rise, the Western countries are colluding with the 14th Dalai Lama, who went into exile in India in 1959, and other radicals to instigate Tibet independence," it said.

"However, the Tibetan separatists are merely chess pieces used by the West to counter China," it claimed.

China this month commemorated the 65th year of its takeover of Tibet and Chinese media has been taking an increasingly tough stance against the US of late. Yesterday, the Chinese media slammed the US for lifting the decades-old arms embargo against Vietnam.

Today, the paper said: "The US is also an active provoker of Tibet independence. Given its huge ideological disparity from China, the White House has been attempting to sabotage the integrity of China for a long time."

"In fact, the so-called Tibet independence movement is an outcome of the imperialist aggression against China. Specifically, the UK attempted to construct a buffer zone to protect its geopolitical interests in India, which was colonised by the UK at that time. To this end, the UK invaded Tibet in the 1860s and at the beginning of the 20th century," it said.

"India, after its independence, attempted to inherit the UK's strategic legacies in the region, and thus followed the UK to intervene in the interior affairs of Tibet," it said.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet to Dharmsala in India.

China officially established the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965. "Since then Tibet has achieved enormous development," the article said.

Tibet's GDP surged from USD 15 million in the 1950s to over USD 17 billion in 2015 and the article claimed that Tibet has seen "dramatic changes" in economy, politics, social welfare and culture.
Kabul: An Afghan official said a suicide bomber has struck a vehicle carrying court employees in Kabul, killing 10 people.

Najib Danish, the Interior Ministry's deputy spokesman, said the bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives vest as he walked by the vehicle in the Afghan capital today.

He says the explosion, which took place during the morning rush hour in the western part of the city, also wounded four people. The casualties include both court workers and civilians.

No one has yet claimed responsibility. The attack comes as the Taliban named a new leader following Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike on Saturday.

The last major attack in Kabul was on April 19, when a massive bomb killed 64 people and wounded hundreds.
Rome: Some 3,000 migrants were saved off the Libyan coast on Tuesday in 23 separate rescue missions, the Italian coastguard said in a statement.

The coastguard said this meant more than 5,600 migrants had been rescued from various boats and dinghies in the southern Mediterranean in just two days, with every ship in the area being called on to help with the complex operation.

Humanitarian organisations say the sea route between Libya and Italy is now the main route for asylum seekers heading for Europe, after a European Union deal on migrants with Turkey dramatically slowed the flow of people reaching Greece.

Officials fear the numbers trying to make the crossing to Italy will increase as weather conditions continue to improve.

Earlier this month, Italy said some 31,000 migrants, mainly from Africa, had reached the country by boat, slightly down on 2015 levels. However, the number of new arrivals has picked up markedly in recent days.

Most of those trying to reach Italy leave the coast of lawless Libya on rickety fishing boats or rubber dinghies, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is close to Tunisia, or towards Sicily.
Charleston: Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a racially motivated attack at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during Bible study at Charleston`s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in a massacre that shook the country and intensified debate over U.S. race relations.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses.

In a court filing, federal prosecutors cited a number of factors for seeking the death penalty, saying Roof singled out victims who were black and elderly, and showed no remorse. They also cited "substantial planning and premeditation."

A friend of Roof, 21-year-old Joseph Meek, pleaded guilty last month to concealing his knowledge of Roof`s intention to carry out the attack, saying then that Roof planned the shooting for six months and wanted to start a race war.

Roof`s lawyers have said he would agree to plead guilty, rather than face trial if prosecutors ruled out capital punishment. But defense attorney Michael O`Connell, declined comment on Tuesday`s decision when reached by phone.

Roof also faces the death penalty if convicted on separate, state murder charges in a trial set to begin in January.

The state prosecutor trying the case said last September that some of the victims` families were opposed to a death sentence due to their religious beliefs, while others felt it was appropriate.

Steve Schmutz, an attorney representing families of three victims, said his clients "support whatever decision the U.S. government is making in this case, and I`m sure they support this decision."

Some relatives of the slain worshippers tearfully offered words of forgiveness during Roof`s initial court appearance.. Nearly a year later, views diverged on the federal death penalty decision.

Its a great message being sent by the government that this wont be tolerated, Kevin Singleton, whose mother was among those killed, told the local Post and Courier newspaper.

The relative of another victim cited the Bible in calling for Roof to spend his life in prison rather than die.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Only three federal prisoners have been executed in the past half century and none since 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The best-known of those was Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.

Roof is due back in federal court in Charleston on June 8, when prosecutors are expected to discuss a trial date.
Hanoi: Vietnamese dissident Nguyen Quang A spent much of Tuesday as a tourist with plainclothes cops - eating fish noodle soup, visiting a temple and a fortune teller  returning home just as President Barack Obama took off from Hanoi aboard Air Force One.

"It was a compulsory tour," joked Quang A, 69, a well-known critic of the Communist Party who is famous for creative stunts of his own to make Vietnam`s leaders pay more than lip-service to political inclusiveness.

Quang A, a former IT entrepreneur, was one of more than 100 Vietnamese who tried to run as independents for last weekend`s election to the parliament, which is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. Almost all failed to get on the ballot.

Dissent was once the domain of a tiny number in Vietnam who met behind closed doors or found themselves behind bars. It is not as rare these days. Before Obama`s visit, a spate of protests erupted over a mass fish kill along the central coast.

However, the media is censored and the most outspoken critics of the party`s monopoly on power face harassment, arrest and jail for "anti-state propaganda".

Quang had an inkling he wouldn`t make it to his appointment with Obama, as he put on his best suit and posed for a selfie.

Before walking out of the door of his Hanoi home on Tuesday morning, he uploaded the image on Facebook and typed in a message: "May be intercepted, arrested. Advising so people know."

It took only a few minutes before 10 plainclothes police bundled him into a car and drove him away.

They weren`t giving him a free ride to Obama`s hotel, where the U.S. delegation had set up a meeting with activists and civil society leaders to discuss Vietnam`s deep-rooted resistance to guaranteeing human rights and political freedom.

"That was just a cheap trick by those who have no understanding," Quang said of being forced to be a tourist. "I don`t judge these security officials. I judge their bosses, their minds are just so addled."

At least two other dissidents were blocked on Tuesday from seeing Obama, who only a day earlier had announced the scrapping of an arms embargo on Vietnam, dubbing it a necessary step in a new alliance between two countries with shared concerns about China`s military clout.

Washington had for years told the communist-ruled state for years that a rollback of the ban on sales of lethal weapons would depend on its commitment to free speech and stopping the harassment, arrest and jailing of its detractors.

"There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, accountability," Obama said, acknowledging some activists were stopped from seeing him.

Vietnam`s foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters queries about the issue. Photos taken before and during Obama`s civil society meeting seen by Reuters showed the initial U-shaped seating arrangement had changed substantially, with tables and chairs removed to account for the no-shows.

Outspoken lawyer, Ha Huy Son, said he was also stopped from going, as was a journalist, according to Human Rights Watch. Its deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, said by lifting the arms ban, "Obama just gave Vietnam a reward that they don`t deserve."

Dissidents reacted with dismay that Washington`s pursuit of its Asia "rebalance" through security and trade partnerships looked like it was frittering away its last bargaining chips with Vietnam.

WEAPONS OVER RIGHTS?

The country is among the 12 that joined Obama`s signature Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord, which had no human rights provisions for Vietnam beyond establishment of independent labour unions.

"The Communist Party wants not only lethal weapon and TPP but also the maintenance of its totalitarianism," said blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh. "They will pretend to improve human rights a little bit, as usual, but actually nothing has changed."

On his Facebook page, activist Luu Van Minh said: "Hope that Obama comes to Vietnam to improve human rights? I don`t think so. Interests of U.S. weapon firms are the main thing."

The removal of the last big hurdle between Vietnam and the United States drew mixed responses from U.S. legislators.

Some spoke of a squandering of the only U.S. leverage for pushing Vietnam on free speech and assembly and releasing political prisoners.

Others lawmakers said ending the ban was the right move for strategic reasons but called for subsequent weapons deals to be scrutinized with human rights in mind.

In justifying the removal, Ben Rhodes, Obama`s deputy national security adviser, said engagement was the best approach in getting Vietnam to make more concessions.

Asked how the Obama administration had conveyed its displeasure to Vietnam about his meeting, Rhodes said it would be "following up", to check on the status of those not present.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Ho Chi Minh City and Patricia Zengerle in Washington. Editing by John Chalmers and Bill Tarrant)


Mie Prefecture: World leaders kick off two days of G7 talks in Japan Thursday with the creaky global economy, terrorism, refugees, China`s controversial maritime claims, and a possible Brexit headlining their packed agenda.

Heads of state and government from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan are meeting in Ise Shima, a mountainous, sparsely populated area about 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The group, including US president Barack Obama -- whose historic visit to atomic-bombed Hiroshima threatens to overshadow the talks -- will spend Thursday morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan`s native Shintoism.

In line with the animistic religion`s traditions, the buildings are regularly replaced, but the shrine is believed to have occupied the same spot for more than 2,000 years.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe`s decision to take his counterparts to the sprawling site has attracted some controversy, however, due to its nationalist overtones.

The group will also get brief crash course on Japan`s world-leading green car technology.

The sputtering global economy was expected to take centre stage when the formal talks get under way in the afternoon, although divisions were likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the current malaise, with Japan and Germany at odds on the issue.

China, the world`s second largest economy, will not be present, but it looks set to loom large over discussions.

Japan and the US are keen to corral support for a growing pushback against Beijing`s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The G7 will also discuss the refugee crisis and Islamist terrorism, with France`s Hollande keen to address the issue after a brutal year that saw France hit twice by jihadists.

Security was tight across Japan, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals. Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site. Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

Britain`s referendum next month on whether or not to stay in the European Union is sure to figure prominently in discussions, as economists warn a so-called Brexit could dent the global economy.

Following the talks, Obama will move on to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the world`s first nuclear attack, on August 6, 1945.

Obama arrived in Japan after spending several days in Vietnam, where he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The NKR Defense Ministry informs that overnight May 24-25 no ceasefire violations were registered in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani line of contact.

The NKR Defense Ministrys announcement reads: Overnight May 24-25 no ceasefire violations were recorded in the line of contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces.

The Defense Army forces control the situation and take necessary steps to ensure the reliable protection of the military positions".
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Armenia informs that overnight May 24-25 the situation remained the same in the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.

The Armenian Defense Ministrys announcement reads: Overnight May 24-25 the situation was relatively calm in the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.

The Azerbaijani side fired various caliber weapons in the northeastern direction of the border.

The Armenian Armed forces control the border situation and confidently carry out their tasks.

According to the information received by the NKR Defense Army overnight May 24-25 no ceasefire violations were recorded in the line of contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces.

The Defense Army forces control the situation and take necessary steps to ensure the reliable protection of the military positions.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The May 20 statement of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Azerbaijani allegations is circulated in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. As Armenpress reports, the MFA of Armenia posted a note in its official Twitter page.

The statement reads:

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry voiced another farfetched accusation of the alleged use of prohibited ammunition on May 17, including shells with white phosphorus, during the military operations on April 2-5, 2016.

Continuing its usual campaign of providing disinformation to the international community, Azerbaijan does not disdain resorting to fraud and outright manipulation. To add weight to its propaganda, the Azerbaijani side tries to involve foreign diplomats and military attaches accredited in Azerbaijan.

Falsification and distortion of the reality have long become regular, constituting an integral part of Azerbaijan's foreign policy. Back in 1992, the Azerbaijani side made similar accusations of the alleged use of chemical weapons, which were then denied by the UN special fact-finding mission. Based on the findings and conclusions of the UN experts set forth in the UN Security Council document S/24344 dated July 24, 1992, the UN Secretary-General noted that "no evidence of the use of chemical weapons had been presented to the team".

In subsequent years, the Azerbaijani side used to make similar absurd and unconfirmed accusations of the use of nuclear weapons against Azerbaijan in 1993 and disposal of nuclear wastes in the NKR (PACE document N 9444 dated May 7, 2002), transformation of Armenia and the NKR to a depot of bacteriological weapons (PACE document N9336 dated January 31, 2002), cultivation and production of drugs, etc. In doing so, the Azerbaijani side referred to nonexistent scientific journals, reports, organizations, and laboratories.

Resurrecting its old allegations, Azerbaijan does not only try to justify its policy of use of force and denial of full and strict compliance with the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, on which the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries insist, but also aims to distract the attention from the real war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani army against the military servicemen and civilian population of the NKR.

In this regard, we call on the international community to treat the unfounded statements of the Azerbaijani side with utmost criticism.

For its part, the NKR is ready to host a special monitoring mission for an on-site study of all the facts and investigation of the circumstances of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5, 2016, as well as the violations of the norms of international humanitarian law committed during that period.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The representatives of the Yazidi community of Armenia say they fully support the Armenian people and are ready to fight together if necessary. Aziz Tamoyan, Chairman of the Yazidi Union of Armenia, stated that Yazidis went to the frontline during the April four-day war, as they did in the NKR war of the 90s.

The Armenian leadership, the Armenian people have always had positive attitude towards Yazidis. Armenia is one of the countries where Yazidis are legally considered as national minority, and all necessary conditions for protecting and developing the Yazidi culture, traditions are present here. Armenians and Yazidis are brotherly people, how can we forget this? Together with our Armenian brothers we are ready to fight against the enemy, Aziz Tamoyan said during an interview. He said the international community must give appropriate response to the Azerbaijani provocative actions.

5 Yazidi soldiers were killed during the April four-day war. Spiritual leader of the Yazidi community of Armenia Bro Hasanyan said the life lost for the Motherland is immortality.

For every life of our soldier we must take 100-1000 lives from the enemy. And so it is. Our soldiers in the border gave counter counter response. We are grateful to President Serzh Sargsyan, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan for their timely support to soldiers. Today we have victorious soldiers and army, Bro Hasanyan said and added more than 5 dozens of Yazidis were estimated to be in the frontline from the very start of the April war.

Other representatives of the Yazidi community Hamlet Tamoyan and Mraz Kaloyan just returned from the NKR. They ensure that the Armenian soldiers in the border are real heroes. I am very happy that we have an army which can protect the Motherland. The situation is calm these days, there are no shots in the frontline, Hamlet Tamoyan said.

Mraz Kaloyan said the Armenian soldiers are very strong, they fight for freedom, independence and protection of the Motherland over 25 years.

Referring to the recent Azerbaijani military crimes, Siaban Bakoyan, another representative of the Yazidi community, said the representatives of the Yazidi community of the world are consistent with this issue. He stated that Yazidis raise the issue of the Yazidi soldiers decapitation with all possible measures in different platforms. The Yazidis demand the juts punishment of the perpetrators of this crime.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. President of the State Science Committee of Armenia Samvel Harutyunyan says Armenia has always had military industry and the perception as if there is no armament manufacturing in Armenia is false. According to him, those comments are absurd.

Harutyunyans statement comes after Radik Martirosyan, President of the National Academy of Sciences, said a country with a weak economy cannot have a developed military industry.

Harutyunyan said a military industry committee has been formed by the Governments decision in December of 2015, and soon the Head of the Committee will be announced.

He also reminded about the creation of the military industry council, the military-technical scientific council, which will make scientific research in different areas.

According to him, the development of military industry in the USSR contributed to Armenian scientists, some of whom are still actively involved in this sphere.

He says the new generation of scientists have already reached numerous successes, some are even exporting products.

We have highly professional specialists, the majority are Armenians by nationality, who have great experience in military industry abroad, he said.

Harutyunyan also confirmed that UAVs are being tested in Armenia.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Australia to Armenia Peter Tesch (residence in Moscow) on May 25 presented his credentials to President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, press service of the Presidential Administration informed Armenpress.

President Sargsyan congratulated the Ambassador for his new post and expressed hope that he will take consistent efforts towards the development of the friendly relations of Armenia and Australia during his diplomatic tenure. Serzh Sargsyan wished him success and stated that the Armenian state agencies will provide comprehensive support to the Ambassador for his work aimed at strengthening Armenian-Australian relations.

The sides stressed the importance of high-level mutual visits aimed at giving new quality to the Armenian-Australian relations. They also emphasized the need of regular contacts in various inter-parliamentary formats, the productive and close cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations, as well as the development of economic relations in fields of mutual interest.

Ambassador Peter Tesch highly appreciated the role of the Armenian community of Australia and stated that Armenians are fully integrated in Australias social-political life and contribute to the development of all sectors in the country, as well as the strengthening of the Armenian-Australian friendly relations.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors conducted nearly 200 inspections during which non-compliance or deviation from the requirements of international treaties has not been recorded. The Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA) made an explanation on fulfillment of obligations by Armenia on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Armenpress reports the full explanation:

In 1991, the Republic of Armenia joined the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and then ratified the agreement between the Republic Armenia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the NPT and the Protocol Additional to the Safeguards Agreement.

In accordance with the Law of Armenia on Safe Utilization of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes, Armenia established the state system on accounting for and control of nuclear materials. The Armenian Government adopted relevant legal acts to ensure fulfillment of its obligations undertaken under the international treaties.

The Republic of Armenia performs continuous accounting for and control of nuclear materials that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

In accordance with the NPT and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement, the state accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented at three levels:

The facility level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the facility personnel.

The state level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the state authority empowered by the legislation, i.e. the state committee under the Armenian Government on nuclear safety regulation.

The international level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the IAEA inspectors.

In accordance with the mentioned agreements and the procedures established by the laws, the IAEA inspectors regularly conduct on-site inspections to verify the presence of the nuclear material accounted and reported. In its turn the Republic of Armenia submits relevant reports and declarations to the IAEA.

In accordance with the safeguards procedures, video cameras have been installed by the IAEA inspectors to continuously control the movement of nuclear material.

Nodes, installations, safe boxes housing nuclear materials are sealed by special IAEA seals any damage of which is recorded directly through the satellite by the IAEA special unit.

The IAEA inspectors have conducted about 200 inspections: no any non-compliance or deviation from the requirements of international treaties has been recorded.

The Republic of Armenia has participated in four Nuclear Security Summits held at the initiative of the US President. In this context a number of measures have implemented aimed at strengthening the safety of nuclear installations, nuclear and radioactive materials, enhancing their physical protection level, as well as preventing the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials.

The Republic of Armenia duly fulfills its obligations undertaken under the international treaties.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Court of Turkey has convicted nationalist Tolga Adguzel, who had earlier threatened to launch hunt against Armenians in the streets of Kars city. Armenian member of the Turkish parliament Garo Paylan filed a lawsuit against him after the announcement of Tolga Adguzel. Armenpress reports, citing Turkish Hurriyet, the court sentenced him to imprisonment of 7 months and 15 days and obliged him to pay 11 thousand and 24 Turkish liras (3800USDD) as penalty.

Bu the sentence has been postponed considering the fact that Adguzel has not been convicted in the past.

Paylan has mentioned, Hate speeches pave the way for crimes committed on the grounds of hate. The verdict for the hate speech against the Armenian identity gives hope to Armenians and the public order of Turkey, as well as those who believe in justice. We will continue our struggle against crimes on racial and hate grounds, search for justice and make efforts for public order.

Tolga Adguzel - head of the Kars branch of the Ulku ocaklar (Hearths of Ideal) radical group of the Grey Wolves - has voiced threats towards Armenians of Kars after renowned jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan performed Armenian chants and verses in the ruins of the historical capital of Armenia  Ani. Tigran Hamasyans and Yerevan State Chamber Choirs concert program Luys i Luso (Light of Light) kicked off in Turkey on June 21. Adguzel threatened Armenians by saying What should we do now? Should we start a hunt for Armenians in the streets of Kars?

He accused Armenians of the events of 1915 and Khojalu. He also accused all Turkish journalists and officials, who support Armenians launching activity in Turkey. He urged Armenians not to test the patience of Turks. He later added, Turks, for example, cannot arrive in Armenia and freely organize an event at a sacred site for Armenians. He threatened to take necessary measures if such steps repeat.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Leaving the EU would cost British consumers and businesses billions and force the UK to suffer the ignominy of renegotiating the terms of its membership in the World Trade Organisation, its director-general has warned, Armenpress reports citing The Financial Times.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Roberto Azevedo said a British exit from the EU would lead to unprecedented negotiations between the UK and the Geneva-based institutions 161 other members.

Britain joined the WTO under the auspices of the EU and its terms of membership have been shaped by two decades of negotiations led by Brussels. If Britain voted to leave the EU it would not be allowed to simply cut and paste those terms, Mr Azevedo told the FT.

Britain would have to strike a deal on everything from the thousands of tariff lines covering its entire trade portfolio to quotas on agricultural exports, subsidies to British farmers and the access to other markets that banks and other UK services companies now enjoy.

Pretty much all of the UKs trade [with the world] would somehow have to be negotiated, he said.

The WTO had never gone through such discussions with an existing member, he said, and even the procedures for doing so remained unclear. But the likely complexity of such talks, Mr Azevedo said, made them akin to the tortuous accession negotiations countries go through to join the WTO with even a small economy such as Liberia, which last year became the WTOs 162nd member, taking years to agree the terms of membership.

Such an exit, it also makes clear, would leave the UK in the embarrassing position of having to renegotiate the terms of its membership in an organisation whose predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs on Trade, it helped conceive after the second world war and which for its first 20 years was headed by a Briton, Sir Eric Wyndham-White.

It is a very important decision for the British people. It is a sovereign decision and they will decide what they want to decide. But it is very important, particularly with regard to trade, which is something very important for the British economy, that people have the facts and that they dont underestimate the challenges, Mr Azevedo said.

An exit from the EU, for example, would cause the UK to lose the preferential access to other markets covered by 36 trade agreements with 58 countries negotiated by the EU. As a result, to remain compliant with WTO rules the UK would have to impose higher most favoured nation tariffs on imports from those 58 countries while they would have to levy their own surcharges on British exports, Mr Azevedo said.

A WTO analysis had calculated the cost of the additional tariffs on goods imports to British consumers at 9bn, while British merchandise exports would be subject to a further :5.5bn in tariffs at their destination.

The consumer in the UK will have to pay those duties. The UK is not in a position to decide Im not charging duties here. That is impossible. That is illegal, Mr Azevedo said.

The only other option available to the UK would be removing all barriers for all WTO members, effectively turning its economy into a duty-free one like Singapore and lifting the protections politically sensitive domestic industries enjoy under the EU. That is possible. But that is also very unlikely, he said.
STEPANAKERT, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. On May 25 the NKR President Bako Sahakyan received a group of Bulgarian MPs representing the "National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria" party headed by its leader Valery Semeonov, press service of the NKR Presidential Administration informed Armenpress.

Issues related to developing the NKR-Bulgaria parliamentarian ties were discussed during the meeting.

President Sahakyan emphasized the deepening of cooperation with the Bulgarian Parliament considering it as a pivotal direction of strengthening the bilateral relations.

NKR National Assembly Vice-President Vahram Balayan and other officials took part in the meeting.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Cabinet of Armenia plans to make amendments in the list of communities receiving social assistance by including Noyemberyan community of Tavush Province in the list.

Armenpress reports the draft decision is included in the agenda of May 26 session of the Cabinet. The draft provides for a number of social assistance projects aimed at improving the social condition of the community. Particularly, it includes partial compensation for gas, electricity, irrigation water tariffs and property and land taxes.

Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan visited Noyemberyan community on May 4, 2016, during which the residents of the community raised the issue of including their community in the list receiving social assistance. Hovik Abrahamyan had promised to discuss the issue in the Cabinet within a short period of time.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received Vice-President of the German Bundestag Edelgard Bulmahn on May 25. Serzh Sargsyan greeted the guest and told that he cordially recalls his visit to Germany and the meetings held with the leadership of the country in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, during which the agenda of Armenian-German relations and prospects for development of partnership were discussed. From the perspective of strengthening bilateral ties, Serzh Sargsyan highlighted the necessity of high-level mutual visits, including the current visit of the Vice President of the German Bundestag Mrs. Bulmahn, and stated the role of inter-parliamentary relations for the development of interstate relations. The President highly appreciated the financial and technical assistance rendered by the German Government for the social-economic development of Armenia and thanked the German authorities.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of Republic of Armenia Presidents Office, the senior German official mentioned that the German Bundestag attaches great importance to reinforcing parliamentary ties with Armenia and development of partnership. Referring to Armenian Presidents visit to Germany, Mrs. Bulmahn stated that it caused a huge resonance in her country and that the talks between the Armenian President and the German leadership were rather effective, giving new impetus to Armenian-German relations.

The international process of Armenian Genocide recognition was touched upon at the meeting, particularly, the upcoming discussion of the Armenian genocide at the Bundestag and the relevant resolution, the adoption of which, in the words of the President, will show that Germany, as the then ally of the Ottoman Empire, can once again look back at its past in a straightforward and unequivocal manner and take some lessons from it.

The Vice President of the Bundestag attached great importance to that discussion and introduced the nature and goal of the resolution.

Mrs. Bulmahn inquired about the peace process over Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as the efforts made by the international community, including the OSCE Minsk group Co-chairs. President Sargsyan detailed on the current situation and the positions of the Armenians side on the conflict settlement.
As per a recent report by NextTV Latam, Mexican telecom behemoth America Movil SAB AMX is eyeing Argentina as its new growth area. The report stated that America Movils owner Carlos Slim recently had a meeting with the Argentine president Mauricio Macri to assess investment opportunities in Argentinas state-owned telecom operator Arsat and Buenos Aires-based cable company TeleCentro.

The deal, if it materializes, may see America Movil acquiring a stake in Refefo Federal Fibre-Optic Network as well as on the Arsat-2 satellite. Notably, America Movil already has a footprint in Argentinas telecom market through its Claro and Telmex Argentina subsidiaries. However, the company is barred from providing pay-TV services under the provisions of the Broadcast Media and Telecommunications Law.

America Movil is facing intense competitive pressure in Mexico. In 2014, the government of Mexico had introduced reforms within its telecommunications sector. The countrys telecom regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), seeks to restrict the maximum hold of a company in the market to 50%. However, America Movil currently controls an enviable market share of nearly 68%. Another existing operator -- Telefonica S.A. TEF -- holds nearly 20% share in the market.

As part of these reforms, the IFT has banned America Movil from charging national roaming fees. Further, the company will have to share its infrastructure with other operators, particularly in the local loop (last mileage) segment. In Nov 2015, the company received the IFTs approval regarding prices that it can charge as interconnection fees.

Also, in November, America Movil spun-off its wireless tower division in a strategic move to restrict its market share within the 50% limit imposed by the IFT. The company may also divest some non-core wireless and fixed-line assets in the future in order to comply with regulatory norms.

In 2015, U.S. telecom behemoth AT&T Inc. T forayed into the Mexican telecom industry with the acquisition of Grupo Iusacell and Nextel de Mexico. Since its entry, AT&T has been gradually expanding its 4G LTE wireless networks in Mexico. Currently, this service is available across 12 Mexican cities. It covered 40 million people by the end of 2015 and will be available to 75 million by the end of 2016.

Story continues

Furthermore, AT&T aims to provide 4G LTE mobile Internet service to 100 million Mexican customers by the end of 2018. Management has decided to invest $3 billion toward the expansion of high-speed mobile Internet network in the country. In addition, Mexican cable MSO (multi service operator) Grupo Televisa S.A. TV has received a go-ahead from the IFT to enter the wireless space. However, the company is yet to take any decision in this regard.

We believe America Movils expansion drive in Argentina and other international markets is fuelled by the increasing competitive pressure in its homeland. America Movil currently holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

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



AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report



TELEFONICA S.A. (TEF): Free Stock Analysis Report



GRUPO TELEVISA (TV): Free Stock Analysis Report



AMER MOVIL-ADR (AMX): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
The Cuban authorities are considering legalizing certain private businesses, a potentially transformative move for the communist island as it liberalizes its economy.

The ruling Communist Party on Tuesday published a list of reforms proposed during its congress in March, including possible changes to laws governing small and medium-sized businesses.

Potential reforms include allowing Cubans to create "small businesses mainly run by the worker and their family, medium-sized, small and micro-scale private businesses."

Parliament must debate and approve the proposal before it can become law in the one-party state.

But the very mention of the possibility in an official party document signals change in Cuba, which is opening its relations with former enemies such as the United States.

President Raul Castro started gradually reforming the economy when he took over in 2008 from his brother Fidel, leader of the 1959 revolution.

Raul Castro has allowed Cubans to be self-employed workers and hire staff in certain cases, such as family-owned restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts, although they do not have the same formal legal status as companies.

The president acknowledged during the March congress that "the increase in self-employed workers and their authorization to hire staff has led in practice to the existence of medium, small and micro enterprises that are operating today without legal status."

The state still holds tight control over most of the economy, however. Tuesday's document proposed that small private businesses should serve only to "complement" existing state-run enterprises.

Yosvany Lopez, a 36-year-old restaurant-owner in Havana, told AFP on Wednesday that he is skeptical about the potential for business reform.

"Up to now all they have tried to do has been to obstruct the functioning of these businesses," he said.
Online success stories like ride-sharing app Uber and Airbnb have caused major disruptions in Europe, with taxi drivers and hotel owners furious at the inroads made by frims into their markets

Toyota and Volkswagen announced separate partnerships Tuesday with rideshare companies Uber and Gett, in the latest such moves by major carmakers.

Japan's Toyota and ridesharing titan Uber said they had entered into a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration, starting with trials in countries where ridesharing is expanding.

"Through this collaboration with Uber, we would like to explore new ways of delivering secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers," Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, said in a joint statement.

The deal includes a strategic investment by the Toyota Financial Services Corporation and its Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, although no figure was disclosed.

The partnership will create new leasing options enabling car buyers to lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments with what they make as Uber drivers.

Toyota and Uber are also exploring collaboration on developing in-car apps and setting up a program to sell Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber.

"Toyota vehicles are among the most popular cars on the Uber platform worldwide and we look forward to collaborating with Toyota in multiple ways going forward," said Emil Michael, Uber's chief business officer.

Separately, German auto giant Volkswagen said it had made a $300 million strategic investment in Uber competitor Gett, which has a presence in more than 60 countries worldwide including London, Moscow and New York.

"The ride-hailing market represents the greatest market potential in on-demand mobility, while creating the technological platform for developing tomorrow's mobility business models," it said in a statement.

Shahar Waiser, Gett's chief executive and founder, said the company "provides VW with the technology to expand beyond car ownership to on-demand mobility for consumers and businesses."

Toyota and Volkswagen are not the first carmakers to link up with rideshare apps.

In March, General Motors and Lyft unveiled a joint car rental service for drivers, a move aimed at boosting the number of vehicles available for the Uber rival.
Security was tight ahead of the Ise-Shima G7 Summit, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals

US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima.

Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global economy.

Heads of state and government from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan were also making their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

Cameron was set for a one-on-one meeting later in the day with summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe was also due Wednesday to meet Obama, whose visit to Hiroshima on Friday threatens to overshadow the summit itself.

Obama will become the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the world's first nuclear attack, on August 6, 1945.

Story continues

Obama has spent the last few days in Vietnam, where on Tuesday he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism.

France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive on Thursday morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

A small crowd of well-wishers gathered within sight of the helicopter landing pad to which leaders were being ferried, hoping for a glimpse of one of the stars of the geopolitical stage.

- Exquisite calligraphy -

The leaders will spend Thursday morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan's native Shintoism.

In line with the animistic religion's traditions, the buildings are regularly replaced, but the shrine is believed to have occupied the same spot for more than 2,000 years.

The sputtering global economy was expected to take centre stage in the formal talks which begin on Thursday afternoon, although divisions were likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the current malaise.

Although China, the world's second largest economy, will not be present, it looks set to loom large over discussions. Japan and the US are keen to corral support for a growing pushback against Beijing's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The G7 will also discuss the spectre of Islamist terrorism, with France's Hollande keen to address the issue after a brutal year that saw France hit twice by jihadists.

The leaders' arrivals brought a measure of relief to members of the global press, who had spent much of Wednesday cooling their heels and interviewing each other.

Japanese television networks swarmed on foreign reporters in the cavernous press centre, demanding to know their impressions of this picturesque corner of the country, and desperate to hear what they thought of the lunch spread.

Journalists were treated to lavish displays of local specialities, from exquisite calligraphy performed with a special ink, to photobooths that transformed users into ninjas -- the deadly black-clad assassins of Japan's feudal era.
A police detective in Rock Falls, Illinois has been arrested for stealing more than $1,700 in cash found on the body of a man who died of a heroin overdose. Detective Sgt. Veronica Jaramillo, 43, was taken into police custody on May 17, 2016 by Illinois State Police and charged with theft and official misconduct.

Investigators say the detective was assigned to the dead man's case, and stole the cash from the Rock Falls Police Department evidence locker to pay her own utility bills.

Penny DePotter, of Dixon, Illinois first told a WQAD-TV reporter it was her son's money that was stolen.

"She took it all, every dollar of it", DePotter said.

Paul "Rodney" DePotter was found dead of a heroin overdose on December 6, 2015. His mother said he had been 21 days clean and sober, but had recently inherited about $2,500 from his grandfather. Police say $1,741 was found on DePotter's body when he died.

"I'm hurt because her bills were more important than my son. And when I called her she said, 'What more do you want me to do'?" She was cold. She was very cold", DePotter told a reporter.

"She's dirty. There's no other way around it. The lowest of the low", she said. "That money was not drug related, they had no right to keep that money. It was not drug-related", she said.

From local news WQAD:

Jaramillo was placed on administrative leave Tuesday, according to the Rock Falls Police Chief Tammy Nelson. Nelson said that any matters where Jaramillo was the lead investigator would be reviewed and reassigned. "As this time it does not appear that any investigation or arrest handled by Sergeant Jaramillo will be impacted," said Nelson's statement.

Addiction is a disease. People who die of addiction deserve to be treated with respect. So do their families. May justice be served.

[Related local news coverage: kwqc.com]
Canadian billionaire Victor P. Dahdaleh waves as he leaves Southwark Crown Court after a plea and case management hearing in central London, January 13, 2012. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

He has rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful, donated millions of dollars to charitable causes and run an investment, manufacturing and trading group.

But now, Victor Dahdaleh, a 72-year-old Jordanian-born tycoon who grew up in both Toronto and Montreal, has been implicated by a joint investigation by CBC/Toronto Star into the Panama Papers.

The probe into offshore financial records alleges that Dahdaleh is the shadowy middleman described as Consultant A in U.S. court documents who handed out tens of millions of dollars in inducements to government officials in Bahrain for more than a decade on behalf of a unit of Alcoa Inc., the U.S.s biggest aluminum producer, to win contracts to sell alumina to the Persian Gulf states processing plant.

In 2014, the unit pleaded guilty to foreign bribery charges from the U.S. Justice Department. Alcoa also agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that saw the company slapped with a fine of US$384 million  the fifth highest penalty ever.

Dahdaleh was never named or charged in the case, and denies any wrongdoing.

The CBC/Toronto Star investigation alleges that evidence in the Panama Papers leave no doubt Dahdaleh is Consultant A.

It outlines an email from Dahdaleh to a Panamaniam law firm Mossack Fonseca, as well as several other files, where he says he is the owner and director of Alumet, one of the offshore companies used to route the alumina.

In 2013, Dahdaleh was also acquitted on the charges of laundering money and making improper payments to officials in Bahrain as part of a trial in the United Kingdom, where he lives.

His lawyers argued that the payment made by Dahdaleh were sanctioned, comparing them to taxes, and were therefore legal.

The prosecution dropped its case because it said two U.S. lawyers who were set to testify had refused to take the stand, and testimony from the former CEO at the processing plant in Bahrain had shifted from earlier statements.

Story continues

During the trial, a judge said he had breached his bail terms by meeting with a prosecution witness  the Crown alleged he was attempting to use intimidation tactics  and he was sent to jail for a month.

Dahdaleh also settled a billion-dollar U.S. civil lawsuit outside of court for an undisclosed amount from Bahrains state aluminum smelting-company Alba, which alleged conspiracy, corruption and fraud.

The Canadian-raised billionaire was also named as the person behind payoffs to Bahraini officials in a Norwegian case that saw a shipping company fined $5 million to win delivery agreements to move Alcoa alumina from Australia to the Persian Gulf country. He was never charged.

Who is Dahdaleh?

Dahdaleh is the owner and chairman of Dadco, which is a privately owned investment, manufacturing and trading group that was founded in 1915 by his grandfather.

According to his website, the company operates and has investments in Europe, North America, The Middle East, Africa and Australia.

A 2008 article from The Globe and Mail said that one of its holdings includes an alumina refinery in Stade, Germany that was acquired after purchasing a 50 per cent stake in the operation from Alcoa.

Dahdaleh has also made a name for himself through his charitable contributions and his presence in elite circles.

According to the CBC he personally arranged for former U.S. president Bill Clinton to receive an honorary degree from McGill University seven years ago and laid the doctoral sash on his shoulders and gave him a hug on stage during the ceremony.

His website says he is a board trustee of the Clinton Foundation.

Dahdaleh is also a board member of McGills University Trust, which is the schools U.K.-based fundraising arm, and has been a significant financial supporter, according to the CBC.

He has also been honoured by other Canadian universities.

Last December, York University announced the establishment of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health after he donated $20 million, and named a building after him on its north Toronto campus.

That same month, St. Francis Xavier University presented him with an honorary doctorate.

The Globe and Mail article also cites sources that credit Dahdaleh with revitalizing the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce. As president between 2004 and 2009, he managed to persuade both Clinton and former British prime minister Tony Blair to speak to the chamber.

Dahdaleh is also a board member of the International Aluminum Institute.

His website lists him as an honorary fellow at the London School of Economics, where he has been a governor for more than two decades and is a leading donor."

Dahdaleh also has his own charity, the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Charitable Foundation  which provides scholarships to needy students at several universities. Additionally, it backs several other causes including, medical research, as well as economic and social development in poorer countries.
Choose where you want to call home. With $1 million, you can invest in your perfect property, in whichever Canadian province your heart desires. What that home looks like, however, will vary greatly depending on where you look. Heres whats on the market for $1 million this week.

Montreal, Quebec

In the nations cultural capital this week, 2 Rue des Jardins-Merici, #101-102 is now available. This reconstructed condominium is complete with four large private terraces, floor-to-ceiling windows and lovely south-facing views of the St. Lawrence River.

With three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a loft and two garage condos, feel free to spread out. If you still need more room, conveniently, there are two meeting condominiums at your disposal. Plus, Downtown Quebec is your backyard, with shops, restaurants and amenities all within walking distance.

Keats Island, British Columbia

For $1 million, buy yourself a stunning home on Keats Island in British Columbia. 594 Walkabout Road has panoramic views of Lansdale ferry and Lions Bay, all within a beautiful 20-minute boat ride of West Vancouvers Horseshoe Bay.

Cathedral ceilings, a massive wrap-around deck and soaring double-glazed windows allow you to savour the scenery at this waterside residency. The custom kitchen includes a wet bar centrepiece and the loft bedroom has a convenient ensuite bathroom and wonderful views to the outdoors.

Rothesay, New Brunswick



Located just a 15 minute drive from downtown Saint John, youll feel like your a world away in 2 Sunset Lane, a shoreline home inspired by the Frank Lloyd Wright style. This 4,000 square foot home has ample room for you to enjoy the indoors, but why would you, when you could be enjoying a sunset over the Kennebecasis river on the upper deck or lower patio?When youre not being enchanted by the views on this spacious 23,000 square foot lot, youll be enjoying all the features the three bedroom, two bathroom home has to offer, like a wide curved staircase, breakfast nook, mahogany cupboards and heated floors on the lower level.
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - French rail transport company Alstom SA has filed a U.S. lawsuit accusing General Electric Co of breach of contract related to last November's sale of the American industrial conglomerate's train-signaling business. According to a complaint made public on Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Alstom and GE have been unable to resolve disputes over whether the $800 million purchase price should be adjusted, up or down, to account for working capital and net debt. Alstom said GE has breached the contract by refusing to let the jointly designated independent accounting firm Deloitte resolve the disputes, and by instead launching an arbitration proceeding with the International Chamber of Commerce business group. The lawsuit said Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE's actions have caused Alstom unspecified damages. It seeks to force GE to stop the arbitration proceeding, let Deloitte sort out the issues and abide by whatever Deloitte decides. GE said in a statement, "We disagree with the allegations and look forward to resolving the matter as provided for in the contract." The train-signaling transaction was completed on the same day GE bought Alstom's energy business for what GE called an adjusted price of 9.7 billion euros ($10.8 billion). GE has been repositioning itself around industrial units such as energy and aviation, while turning away from other businesses including finance and home appliances. Alstom's lawsuit is dated May 13 but was originally filed under seal. The case is Alstom et al v. General Electric Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-03568. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham)
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 24, 2016) - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

In keeping with the Government's commitment to openness and transparency, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), today announced that the progress defence contractors are making in fulfilling their obligations under the Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy and the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy will be published for the first time.

This information will help Canadian companies and research institutions promote their business and develop partnerships with defence contractors while keeping Canadians informed about contractors' progress in fulfilling their obligations.

Under the IRB and ITB policies, defence contractors are required to undertake business activity in Canada equal to 100 percent of the value of their contracts. These policies are helping to build regional strengths across Canada in the defence and other sectors of the economy. Defence contractors and their major suppliers have created significant new opportunities for small and medium-sized firms in Canada, notably in the manufacturing sector. These investments are also fostering research, development and innovation and positioning Canada for export success and future growth.

Quotes

"These government policies create opportunities for Canadian firms across all sectors. Releasing this information will help Canadian businesses gain a foothold in important and lucrative defence supply chains, growing both their business and our economy. Sharing this information with Canadians is also an important part of the Government being open, transparent and accountable."

- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

"CADSI welcomes the opportunity to communicate the progress defence contractors have achieved in fulfilling their Industrial and Regional Benefits and Industrial and Technological Benefits obligations to Canada. This will also help Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises access global supply chains. CADSI worked in close partnership with the Government to support enhanced transparency around policies that are enabling the Government to leverage economic benefit for Canada from defence procurements."

Story continues

- Christyn Cianfarani, President, Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries

Quick facts

The IRB and ITB policies have been applied to 125 contracts since 1986, resulting in obligations to invest $37.7 billion in Canada.

Of those obligations, $24 billion has been invested, $9 billion is in progress and $4.7 billion has yet to be invested in Canada over the life of the contracts.

Presently, 30 defence contractors have outstanding obligations and report annually to ISED on their progress toward fulfilling their commitments. The status of these obligations will be reported on an annual basis.

Related products

Backgrounder: Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy and Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy

Associated links

- IRB obligations

- ITB obligations

- IRB and ITB policies

Follow Minister Bains on social media.

Twitter: @MinisterISED

May 24, 2016

Backgrounder

Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy and Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy

The Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy and the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy generally require prime contractors of defence procurements to undertake business activity in Canada equal to 100 percent of the value of the contracts that they are awarded by the Government of Canada.

As part of the Government's commitment to transparency, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has, for the first time, posted information on its website that shows the progress that prime contractors are making toward meeting their obligations under the IRB and ITB policies. This will help Canadian companies, especially small and medium-sized firms, position themselves for supply chain and partnership opportunities with contractors that have outstanding obligations to invest in Canada. The information reflects progress as of January 4, 2016 and will be updated each winter.

Since 1986, the IRB and ITB policies have been applied to 125 procurement contracts. To date, $24 billion has been invested, $9 billion is in progress and another $4.7 billion remains to be invested over the life of contracts in question. There is a lag between the time when companies make investments in Canada and when these are reported publicly, as companies are required to report annually. Taking this into account, progress in fulfilling obligations is generally on pace.

Generally, contracts with significant outstanding obligations are in-service support contracts that have an estimated ceiling price. At the end of the contract, ISED will reduce the obligation to match the actual project cost or extend the period of time that contractors have to fulfill their obligations to match the extended contract term should options be exercised.

In December 2014, the IRB Policy was transformed into the ITB Policy. Previously, procurements were awarded based on price and technical merit. Now the Government also takes into account the economic benefit to Canada associated with each bid when determining which companies will be awarded procurement contracts. This allows the Government to steer investments in Canada into priority areas like research and development to advance Canada's innovation agenda.
Per a report by research firm IHS, the year 2015 marks the least amount of oil and gas discovered in over the last 64 years.



New oil discovered outside North America in 2015 totaled 2.8 billion barrels, the lowest amount since the industry actively started its worldwide oil exploration after World War II. The year also represented the fourth straight year of declining oil volumes  something that had never happened before.



Notably, about 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) was added through gas discoveries in the year. This signifies the fifth consecutive year wherein gas volumes discovered surpassed oil volumes discovered.



Factors Behind the Decline in Volumes



Per Morgan Stanley, major oil players have been forced to make substantial budget cuts to combat the freefall in oil prices. This is particularly true with respect to exploration, where spending was reduced to a meager $95 billion in 2015 from $168 billion two years earlier. ExxonMobil Corp. XOM, Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A, ConocoPhillips COP, Hess Corp. HES and EOG Resources Inc EOG are among the long list of companies that have slashed their capital budget.



Moreover, the industry-wide pullback of drillships from international waters as companies began to shift focus to shale formations in Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma resulted in decline in discoveries. Given that investments in shales are both cheaper and less risky than drilling in international waters, the move was an expected one in the lackluster commodity price scenario.

However, analysts are of the opinion that the unconventional oil in North America is not sufficient to resolve the lack of discoveries. Tight oil production is estimated to account for about 15% of global output by 2040.



At the start of the decade, when oil demand rose rapidly, explorers were seen splurging astronomically on exploration. However, the outcome was poor with only a few notable hydrocarbon discoveries, such as Statoil ASA's STO Johan Sverdrup field off Norway's coast or EniSpA's E giant Zohr gas field off Egypt.



In 2015, companies drilled about 4,300 conventional exploration and appraisal wells compared with 5,200 in 2014 and 5,300 in 2012. Deep-water drilling, which means drilling in 1,000 to 5,000 feet of water, decreased by more than 20% and the ultra-deepwater well count plunged more than 40% from 2014.



However, a surge in new oil fields in recent years and the increase of Iran's production on the back of international sanctions raises optimism about exploration in the short term.



Over the longer run we feel to avoid any supply gap in the future, we believe that exploration companies should continue to focus on exploring instead of waiting for the commodity price to improve. In case the companies do not take immediate action, the challenges may be difficult to overcome. After all oil discoveries are essential to substitute resources, meet an ever-growing demand and offset the depletion of existing fields.



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



ROYAL DTCH SH-A (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report



STATOIL ASA-ADR (STO): Free Stock Analysis Report



ENI SPA-ADR (E): Free Stock Analysis Report



EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report



EOG RES INC (EOG): Free Stock Analysis Report



HESS CORP (HES): Free Stock Analysis Report



CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
studio m singapore-1696

Brought to you by Millennium Hotels & Resorts, Studio Ms loft-inspired rooms have been a hot staycation favourite for Singaporean couples due to their stylish design and oh so instagram-worthy rooms.

Rooms are usually fully booked over the weekend by many locals looking for a romantic getaway, while overseas travelers are also drawn by the hotels modern design and convenient location.

studio m singapore-1598

This boutique hotel was designed by contemporary Italian architect, Piero Lissoni, and features avant-garde style and modern pop-art fixtures.

Located in the precinct of Robertson Quay, a bevy of cafes, restaurants and bars are just a stones throw away for hotel guests to enjoy a complete experience with all their needs catered for.

After hearing many good things about Studio M, I was fortunate enough to have a staycation at one of their fully loft-fitted rooms for the weekend. Lets pop into the room and see whats all the fuss about, shall we?

Executive Loft

studio m singapore-1610

The typical rooms youll see pop up on social media at Studio M are the Studio Loft category, with the queen bed on the lower floor, but this time round I stayed at the Executive loft which has its bed on the second floor instead.

studio m singapore-1609

The hotel also adds in little romantic touches upon request, like rose petals on the stairs leading up to the bed and towel-folded swans in a heart shape  a fine touch to really ramp up the amorous vibes.

Caution: sweep the petals off the bed before you dive in though, Ive learnt firsthand that rose petals do stain the sheets when squished.

studio m singapore-1606

Does the girlfriend love teddy bears? Well, theres a huge one you can snuggle with in bed while watching TV.

studio m singapore-1627

The Executive duplex lofts are located at the corner of each hotel floor and offer great privacy. The 3-metre high bay windows also give a gorgeous panoramic view of Singapores cityscape.

A full length work desk is also integrated together with the multi-functional vanity area to utilize the space while providing maximum functionality.

Story continues

studio m singapore-1628

For the Premiere, Executive and Moonlight lofts, you get access to the complimentary mini-bar too (refilled daily) , while tea/coffee making facilities are available for all rooms.

studio m singapore-1608

Id also suggest ordering a bottle of bubbly prosecco or champagne to enjoy a leisurely toast in-room with your loved one if youre here as a couple. Or to drown whatever sorrows you have staying alone in this sweet suite.

Lifestyle Areas

studio m singapore-1670

Other than the nifty rooms, Studio M hotel has various chic lifestyle elements throughout its public area like the open-air tropical deck where you can chill at the deck chairs with a glass of wine or coffee while pondering the mysteries of the universe.

studio m singapore-1674

Other facilities include a 25-metre long lap pool and an open-air (naturally ventilated) gym. Not that I actually used it because exercising my mouth chewing food is all the exercise I need.

Alfresco Breakfast

studio m singapore-1713

On the same level as the pool (2nd floor), you can enjoy breakfast at Studio Ms bamboo-themed restaurant with simple indulgences and local-inspired delights. The intercontinental buffet breakfast is served daily from 6.30am to 10.30am.

studio m singapore-1710

A live egg station is also mandatory for a good hotel breakfast. Duh.

studio m singapore-1726

Its interesting how most of the ingredients are laid out separately, and you can actually follow the little recipe boards above the buffet table to create your ideal breakfast.

studio m singapore-1715

Customize your own nasi lemak or make a mega sandwich with the spread available.

studio m singapore-1731

Heres my own secret recipe made from the stuff available at the buffet table: French toast with sliced cheese, melted in the toaster. Then drizzle with maple syrup.

The breakfast buffet at Studio M is a simple affair, but simplicity done well.

studio m singapore-1693

Studio M provides innovative accommodation with modern living spaces to appeal to a new generation of travelers. Combining style and functionality, its a great hotel especially for couples looking for a charming staycation weekend, whereby you can laze around in the well-designed room or pop out for a dinner date easily.

Room Rate: From S$160 per night

Studio M: 3 Nanson Rd, Singapore 238910 | Website | Tel: 6808 8888

The post Studio M Hotel: Romantic Staycation Perfect for Couples in Singapore appeared first on SETHLUI.com.
By Jibran Ahmad and Matt Spetalnick PESHAWAR, Pakistan/HANOI (Reuters) - Senior members of the Afghan Taliban met to choose a successor to their former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour on Monday after U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed his death in a drone strike inside Pakistani territory at the weekend. The Taliban themselves have made no official statement, but two senior members of the movement said Pakistani authorities had delivered Mansour's badly burned remains for burial in the western city of Quetta. Pakistani officials, however, denied handing over a body. On a three-day visit to Vietnam, Obama called the death "an important milestone", saying Mansour had rejected peace talks and had "continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces". The president authorized the drone strike that killed Mansour in a remote region just on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan on Saturday. U.S. forces targeted Mansour because he was plotting attacks that posed "specific imminent threats" to U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, later specified that the Taliban were planning new attacks against American targets in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. Davis said the attack was carried out under U.S. rules of engagement allowing the military to conduct defensive strikes. He said it was the first time to his knowledge that U.S. troops had attacked inside Pakistan using that rule. Previous strikes there were done under U.S. rules on counterterrorism. Pakistani authorities have said the attack was a violation of the country's sovereignty and an official from the foreign ministry told the U.S. ambassador in Islamabad that the attack could "adversely impact" peace talks. U.S. military officials said they had discussed their interest in Mansour with Pakistan. Reaction from Islamabad was otherwise relatively muted and a number of questions remained over what exactly happened. An undamaged Pakistani passport in the name of Wali Muhammad, which Pakistani authorities said contained a visa for Iran, was recovered next to the burned-out car at the scene of the attack and is believed to have belonged to Mansour. The Taliban have set up a 10-member commission to try to establish how Mansour was picked out by the U.S. drones, sources within the group said. They added that he had crossed into Pakistan from Iran, where he had been holding meetings with Iranian officials and Taliban leaders located there. According to Taliban officials, the movement has set up offices in Iran, which Mansour used to visit. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry was quoted on state media denying that such an individual had crossed the border from Iran to Pakistan at the time in question. NO SHIFT IN U.S. STRATEGY Although some individual Taliban members have said that Mansour was killed, the group's leadership, keenly aware of the need to limit splits, has not issued its own confirmation, concentrating instead on naming a successor. "The leadership is being very careful because one wrong step could divide the group into many parties like former mujahideen," one Taliban official from the eastern province of Nangarhar said, referring to guerrilla leaders who fought the Soviets in the 1980s before splitting into warring factions. Mansour's number two Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the militant network blamed for a series of high-profile attacks in Kabul, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of the movement's late founder Mullah Mohammad Omar are among the main contenders. Yaqoob initially opposed Mansour's claim to the leadership when his father's death was belatedly made public last year. Choosing a member of Mullah Omar's family would be a means of building consensus, but one of the Taliban officials said Yaqoob was reluctant to take over. Serious divisions emerged last year when it was confirmed that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years, leaving his deputy Mansour in effective charge of the movement and open to accusations he deceived his commanders. Haqqani had the backing of Pakistan, while Yaqoob had support among members of the Afghan Taliban, one member of the leadership council, or shura, said. The killing of Mansour appears to have set back any prospect of a start to peace talks between the Taliban and the Western-backed government in Kabul. However, Obama said they represented the only chance of ending decades of war in Afghanistan. "The Taliban should seize the opportunity to pursue the only real path for ending this long conflict - joining the Afghan government in a reconciliation process that leads to lasting peace and stability," he said. He stressed that the operation against Mansour did not represent a shift in U.S. strategy in Afghanistan or a return to active engagement in fighting, following the end of the international coalition's main combat mission in 2014. The U.S. currently has 9,800 troops in Afghanistan and a decision is expected later this year on whether to stick with a timetable that would see their numbers cut to 5,500 by the start of 2017. (Additional reporting by Samihullah Paiwand in Gardez, Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, Rafiq Shezar in Jalalabad, Drazen Jorgic in Islamabad, Gul Yousafzai in Quetta and Syed Rasa Hassan in Karachi, Babak Dehghanpisheh in Beirut and David Alexander in Washington; writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Mary Milliken)
Belgian authorities have arrested four people who they say may have been plotting a new terror attack in the country.

Police say they found "traces" of a plot to launch a new attack in Belgium and that those detained are suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria and Libya on behalf of Islamic State.

The suspects were all charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group. One has been released under strict conditions and another was released with an electronic tag. Police also carried out searches in the city of Antwerp and in two other locations.

:: Belgium 'Ignored Warning' About Airport Bomber

"The four were more involved in the part of recruiting," said Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutors.

"And we found traces of plans for an attack in Belgium."

Belgium's capital remains on high alert after terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and at Maalbeek metro station in March killed 32 people and injured 200 more.

However, prosecutors say the four do not appear to have links to the suicide bombers who carried out those attacks.
By Silvio Cascione and Maria Carolina Marcello BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's interim government was rocked on Monday by the loss of one of its key figures, Planning Minister Romero Juca, who stepped aside amid accusations he had conspired to obstruct the country's biggest-ever corruption investigation. Interim President Michel Temer was counting on Juca, a close confidant and experienced senator, to steer a budget bill through Congress to avoid a government shutdown next month. However, a recording of his conversation with a suspect in the investigation threatened to stain the new, center-right administration, already unsettled by a series of policy reversals during its first week in office. The scandal weakened Brazil's currency on fears of further instability less than two weeks after President Dilma Rousseff was suspended to stand trial in the Senate for allegedly breaking fiscal laws, leaving former Vice President Temer to lead the country. "Starting from tomorrow, I will step aside," Juca, appointed by Temer after Rousseff's suspension, told reporters in Brasilia. He denied any wrongdoing and insisted that his recorded comments had been distorted and taken out of context. In the recording, made before Rousseff was put on trial and published by newspaper Folha de S. Paulo on Monday, Juca told a friend he agreed on the need for a "national pact" to limit the graft probe rattling the political establishment. Asked for help by his ally, ex-senator Sergio Machado under investigation in the probe, Juca replied: "The government has to be changed in order to stop this bleeding," Folha reported, adding that the conversations were taped "secretly." Juca said the conversation happened either at his home or at his office but it was not clear how the hour-long recording was made. Local media reported it may be connected with Machado who has been negotiating a plea bargain deal with prosecutors. Machado was not immediately available for comment. Juca and other ministers in Temer's new government are under investigation for their alleged roles in the massive bribery scheme stemming from state-run oil company Petrobras. At a press conference earlier on Monday, Juca insisted that he would never interfere in the investigation and his comments were not incriminating in any way. He said the "bleeding" he was referring to was Brazil's free-falling economy and the Rousseff government's recent paralysis. By the end of the day, however, the scandal had reached a fever pitch in the capital Brasilia, and Juca announced his plans to take a leave of absence from the ministry until public prosecutors make public statements exonerating him. Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index was knocked lower by the news, falling 0.8 percent on Monday. The local currency lost 1.8 percent against the U.S. dollar. Temer said in a statement that Juca would support the government from the Senate to ensure that the budget and other reforms were passed. A trained economist with over 20 years in the Senate, Juca was a key member of Temer's new economic team that is racing to approve a series of economic measures in Congress aimed at rescuing investor confidence in the slumping Brazilian economy. New Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles will announce on Tuesday some of those measures to include limits to public spending to close a widening fiscal gap that cost Brazil its coveted investment-grade rating. EARLY BACKLASH The blow of Juca's leave of absence followed a political about-face over the weekend, when Temer reinstated the culture ministry just over a week after announcing he was folding it into the education ministry to save money. The decision to combine the ministries provoked the ire of famous artists and musicians, adding to a backlash against the interim government last week that included protests outside Temer's Sao Paulo residence. Eliane Cantanhede, a seasoned political columnist, wrote Monday on the website of the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper that tossing Juca overboard was the only option for Temer, but that it will not solve the interim president's political problems. "Juca is gone, but the trail of the recordings remain ... and will serve as the fuel to further ignite the movements that will take to the streets against Temer," she wrote. Federal police in the southern city of Curitiba have spearheaded the Petrobras probe with broad popular support. They said on Monday they had no direct knowledge of the Juca recording but were not concerned about his reported remarks. "From everything we have seen so far, it's extremely clear that (the investigation) has not and will not be blocked by anyone," said Igor Romario, a lead investigator on the case. Sergio Moro, the federal judge who has overseen much of the Petrobras case, said at a public event in Sao Paulo that he would not comment specifically on the Juca recording. But he said "the judiciary has demonstrated its independence in relation to the other powers and to any political interferences." (Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer and Brad Brooks; Writing Brad Haynes and Alonso Soto; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)
By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters) - Britain has granted refugee status to Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives, who was jailed in 2015 after a trial that drew international criticism, his lawyer said on Monday. Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, was allowed to go to Britain in January for medical treatment after President Abdulla Yameen came under international pressure to let him leave. Nasheed was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges after illegally ordering the arrest of a judge in a trial that cast a spotlight on instability in the Indian Ocean archipelago known as a paradise for wealthy tourists. "Nasheed has been granted political refugee status in the U.K.," Hasan Latheef, Nasheed's lawyer, told Reuters from the capital, Male. A British High Commission official in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo said it did not comment on individual asylum cases. The Home Office (interior ministry) in London was not immediately available for comment. Since his release from jail, Nasheed has called for sanctions against Yameen and his allies for detaining political prisoners, mainly opposition leaders, and for alleged human rights abuses in the Maldives. On Monday Nasheed issued a statement accusing Yameen of jailing all opposition leaders and cracking down "on anyone who dares to oppose or criticize him". "SLIDE TOWARDS AUTHORITARIANISM" "In the past year, freedom of the press, expression and assembly have all been lost. Given the slide towards authoritarianism in the Maldives, myself and other opposition politicians feel we have no choice but to work from exile - for now," Nasheed said in the statement. Nasheed was ousted in disputed circumstances in 2012 after ordering the arrest of the judge. The United Nations, the United States and human rights groups said Yameen's government had failed to follow due process and that the case was politically motivated. The Maldives foreign ministry said the reports of Nasheed seeking asylum demonstrated his intention to avoid serving his prison sentence and "once again exhibited a distinct lack of commitment to the legal process". Yameen has proposed all-party talks to resolve the Maldives' political crisis but opposition parties insist their jailed leaders must first be released. His government has faced international criticism over the detention of 18 journalists after they said a proposed defamation bill was aimed at suppressing freedom of expression. Yameen, whose half-brother lost power to Nasheed in 2008, has rejected accusations that Nasheed's trial was politically motivated and said the legal process was fair. In 2009, Nasheed led the world's first underwater cabinet meeting to draw attention to the threat to his country posed by rising sea levels. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces shelled Islamic State targets in Falluja on Tuesday, the second day of an assault to retake the militant stronghold just west of Baghdad, as international concern mounted for the security of civilians. Residents in the city, 50 km (30 miles) from the capital, reported sporadic shelling around the city centre, but said it was less intense than on Monday. "No one can leave. It's dangerous. There are snipers everywhere along the exit routes," one resident told Reuters by internet. The United Nations refugees agency UNHCR said women and children died while trying to leave the city. Over 80 families had managed to escape since May 20, it said in a statement. About 100,000 civilians are estimated to be in Falluja which, in January 2014, became the first Iraqi city to be captured by Islamic State, six months before the group declared its caliphate. The population was three times bigger before the war. The Iraqi military said it had dislodged the militants from Garma, a village to the east, overnight. No casualties were reported by the army or the city's main hospital. On Monday, eight civilians and three militants were killed, and 25 people wounded, 20 of them civilians, according to the hospital. CIVILIANS The U.S.-led coalition "is providing air power to support the Iraqi government forces in Falluja," its spokesman, U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, told Reuters by phone. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross issued statements on Monday evening appealing for the warring parties to protect civilians, who have limited access to food, water and healthcare and who now risk being used as human shields. Resourceful residents have begun appropriating solar panels affixed to street lights to generate power in their homes. Even the militants have had to scrounge and conserve supplies, collecting plastic objects to turn into makeshift fuel and conducting patrols on bicycle, residents told Reuters. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the armed forces had been "instructed to preserve the lives of citizens in Falluja and protect public and private property." "Those who cannot take the exit routes, they can stay at home and not move," he added in comments aired by state Iraqi TV while on visit to the field command center near Falluja. The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, a hardline political organisation formed in 2003 to represent minority Sunnis, on Monday condemned the campaign as "an unjust aggression, a reflection of the vengeful spirit that the forces of evil harbour against this city". It said in a statement nearly 10,000 residents had been killed or wounded by government shelling over the past two years, which Reuters could not verify, and warned any victory would be "illusory". The military campaign could take "many weeks, if not longer", predicted Ranj Alaaldin, an Iraq expert at the London School of Economics, due to lingering support for Islamic State among many residents who may still prefer the militants to a Baghdad government long perceived as sectarian and repressive. In a nod to local sensitivities, Iraqi officials say Shi'ite militias, grouped under a loose government umbrella to help boost the army and police following partial collapses since 2014, would be restricted to operating outside the city limits. Abadi ordered the offensive despite concerns that it could divert resources from a push later this year to retake Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital in Iraq. "You do not need Falluja in order to get Mosul," Warren, the anti-IS coalition spokesman, said in a phone interview at the weekend. A series of bombings that killed more than 150 people in one week in Baghdad, the highest death toll so far this year. cranked up the pressure on Abadi to do something about the city seen by many Shi'ite politicians as an irredeemable bulwark of Sunni Muslim militancy. "The intelligence indicates that this recent IS resurgence in Baghdad through some sleeper cells originated from Falluja," said senior lawmaker and former national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie. "Falluja is too close to Baghdad." Reuters could not independently verify that claim and the authorities have not publicly made such statements. The UNHCR voiced concern for the safety of the men and older boys who manage to escape to the army lines, as they are separated from their families by the Iraqi forces, for security screening. "Screenings are ideally completed in two days but we remain concerned for the safety of men who are separated as well as their wives and children who are in an especially vulnerable situation," said the organization. (Additional reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan police fired teargas on Monday to disperse hundreds of protesters in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa who were demonstrating against an electoral body which opposition parties say is biased. The police said they had arrested seven people in Mombasa while businesses in the city stayed closed for fear of looting, a Reuters witness said. About three hundred protesters demonstrated with placards reading "IEBC must go home now", a reference to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Protests called by the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) are now in their fourth week. In similar previous protests in the capital Nairobi, police have used tear-gas and water cannon against stone-throwing crowds. "The demonstrations are illegal and the organisers have been clearly warned. If they insist on rioting, they will meet us there," Lucas Ogara, Mombasa's police chief, told Reuters. Some protesters re-grouped after they had been dispersed, and were led by Mombasa County Governor Ali Hassan Joho to the local IEBC office where they handed over a petition peacefully. Kenya's next presidential and parliamentary polls are not due until August 2017. But politicians are already trying to galvanise their supporters in a nation where violence erupted after the 2007 vote and the opposition disputed the outcome in 2013. CORD, led by Raila Odinga who lost the 2013 vote and unsuccessfully challenged the result in court, has accused the IEBC of bias and said its members should quit. IEBC officials have dismissed the charge and say they will stay. The government has called on the opposition not to stage street protests against the IEBC and asked them to pursue other peaceful means to bring about change. But CORD on Sunday vowed to keep up the protests in Nairobi and other regions. "Kenyans will be doing this, as we have done in the past, in exercise of their right to assemble peaceably and to direct the widest possible attention to a great national issue," it said in the statement. A Reuters witness in Nairobi said police also fired teargas at about 50 protesters as they tried to march on the IEBC's offices, amid heavy police presence in the streets of the capital. In western Kenya, local Citizen Television reported that Senator Bonny Khalwale was arrested by police as he led a demonstration in Kakamega town. (Additional reporting Ben Makori; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by)
Rumble

This dry-style curry pilaf is an original Japanese recipe called Dry Curry; a popular menu item at restaurants and cafes in Japan. There are two types dry curry dishes, keema curry style and curried rice pilaf style. This video focuses on the dry style of curried pilaf. It doesn't need to be simmered for a long time like regular curry, so you can easily make it with leftover rice and other ingredients in your refrigerator for dinner on days when you don't have much time to cook or when you don't have an appetite. You can enjoy a well-balanced and delicious meal with plenty of meat and vegetables with the appetizing spicy flavor of tangy curry. =============================================================  YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvCGAygv511zlEkVAWQfbA  Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/hungrycookingstudio/ ============================================================= 00:08 Mincing Vegetables and Bacon for Dry Curry Pilaf 03:30 Cooking Dry Curry Pilaf 04:38 Seasoning Dry Curry Pilaf  Ingredients (for 2) Rice  1~1.5 cup Onion ... 1/4 Green pepper ... 1/4~1/2 Mushrooms ... 2~3 Garlic ... 4 Eggs ... 2 Bacon ... 1 piece Mixed minced meat ... 70-100g Curry powder... 1 tbsp Ketchup ... 1 tbsp Nutmeg...a little Chicken consomme... 2/3 tbsp Salt Black pepper Olive oil  Cooking Recipe  Cook a batch of rice or use refrigerated leftovers to add into the pan at a later time.  Finely mince the onions, green peppers, garlic, and bacon. Slice the mushrooms.  Crack the eggs into a small bowl and mix well.  Pour in plenty of olive oil into a pan and add minced garlic. Raise heat to med-high.  When the garlic is aromatic add in onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. Stir-fry to keep it moving.  When the vegetables have become soft, add in the bacon and minced meat.  When cooked through begin seasoning. Add in curry powder, chicken consomme, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly. When blended, add in cooked rice and stir-fry.  When the rice is fried well and doesn't stick together (like restaurant fried rice), create a small space in the middle of the pan. Pour the mixed egg into the space you made and scramble. When the egg firms up, mix in with the rice.  When everything is evenly mixed, it's ready to eat.  Cooking tips Adjust the amount of curry powder according to your preference of spiciness. Since various ingredients are added, even if the amount of rice is small, it will still be voluminous. Instead of minced meat, it is also delicious to add thinly sliced, coarsely ground sausages.
Hundreds of riot police have arrived at Greece's largest informal refugee camp to evacuate thousands of people.

The operation to clear Idomeni, on the Macedonian border, began at dawn with buses taking families and their belongings to a new camp near the northern city of Thessaloniki.

The camp, which sprung up at an informal pedestrian border crossing for refugees and migrants heading north to Europe, is home to an estimated 8,400 people - including hundreds of children - mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

At its peak, when Macedonia shut its border in March, it housed more than 14,000, but the numbers have declined as people realised the border was shut and began accepting authorities' offers of alternative places to stay.

Twenty buses carrying various riot police units were seen heading to the area while a police helicopter observed from above. An estimated 700 police are involved.

Police and government authorities say the residents will be moved to new official camps.

Most people in Idomeni have been living in small tents pitched in fields and along railway tracks, while aid agencies have set up large tents to help house and feed people.

Residents did not appear to welcome the clearance operation.

"It's much better here than in the camps. That's what everybody who's been there said," Hind Al Mkawi, a 38-year-old refugee from Damascus, said on Monday evening.

"I've heard (of the pending evacuation) too," she said. "It's not good ... because we've already been here for three months and we'll have to spend at least another six in the camps before relocation.

"It's a long time. We don't have money or work - what will we do?"

Abdo Rajab, a 22-year-old refugee from Raqqa in Syria, has spent the past three months in Idomeni, and is now considering paying smugglers to be taken to Germany.

Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman for the refugee crisis, said the operation would last up to 10 days and that police would not use force.

Story continues

Earlier this year Macedonian police used stun guns and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of people who tried to scale a border fence in one of many clashes with the authorities.

More than 54,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in financially struggling Greece since Balkan and European countries shut their land borders to a massive flow of people escaping war and poverty at home.

Nearly a million people have passed through Greece, with the vast majority arriving on islands from the nearby Turkish coast.
After surviving their first winter on the west coast of Newfoundland, Mohammed Almaidani, his wife and two infant children are settled into their new home in Corner Brook, and picking up life where it left off for the refugee family.

In his early 30s, Almaidani has 17 years experience as a barber, and it didn't take long for him to get back behind the chair in his new home town.

He started working at Silver Scissors and the Emerald Spa shortly after arriving, and is quickly becoming Corner Brook's most popular barber.

"I like Corner Book and people in Corner Brook  beautiful, beautiful. Community helping, community always smile. I think (that's) making a difference," Almaidani said amid laughter as he works on his English, a language he's picking up quickly on the job.

Unique skills in the city

From shedding hair off the top to straight-edge shaves, Almaidani does what you'd expect from a barber.

But he brings something else to town that people in Corner Brook are raving about  threading.

Almaidani describes this as a type of hair removal similar to waxing but with a different technique, that people with sensitive skin prefer.

He takes out a thread of cotton or polyester that looks like dental floss, wraps it around his fingers and begins, shuffling his feet as he quickly manoeuvres from the cheeks, to nose, eyebrows and forehead  basically where ever there's unwanted hair.

The thread forms a type of trap to pluck unwanted hair, making quick little pinches as he moves from section to section.

It's a unique skill that is a part of Syrian culture, although Almaidani said it is hard to learn.

Salon satisfaction

Salon owner Elizabeth Brake is happy to have someone with Almaidani's skill set, and said the new Canadian is fitting in just fine with the rest of the staff.

"He has brought so much to our business. My girls are always watching him, so they get ideas from him," said Brake.

Story continues

"And just to have a barber on staff. Maybe not to a regular person, they may not see the difference between a barber and a hairstylist, but it is a big difference."

And the demand for the Syrian barber and his skills is picking up.

Jonah Hutchings, an aspiring hairstylist and employee at the salon, is just one of Corner Brook's residents to have a new favourite barber.

"Usually I'm really picky when it comes to people touching my hair but I just let him do whatever he wants, and he always makes it perfect," said Hutchings.

Hutchings relaxes in the chair as Almaidani moves quickly around his workstation, bobbing his head  he's in a groove  and starts clicking the scissors and the comb together rhythmically, in between snipping hair.

Settling in

Almaidani is doing what he loves, beginning a new life with his family, and doing his best to fit in with his new home town.

When the family moved here from Damascus he didn't know any English.

Thanks to the community's help and his determination, Almaidani was able to take questions from CBC only months later.

The language barrier didn't worry his boss.

"We have clients that will pick up their phones and show pictures. And where he's doing men, men don't like to give instructions on hair," said Brake.

No doubt his English will only improve, and one day match up to his impressive skills with scissors.
By Maria Tsvetkova and Pavel Polityuk MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home to scenes of jubilation on Wednesday after her release by Russia in a prisoner swap and she promptly offered to fight again for Kiev in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists. Savchenko's handover, in return for two Russian prisoners - had been demanded by the West and was cast as a humanitarian gesture by Russian President Vladimir Putin a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia imposed over its support of the rebels. Savchenko, 35, barefoot - it was unclear why - and wearing a T-shirt depicting the Ukrainian coat of arms, emerged from the terminal at Kiev's Boryspil airport to cries of "hero" from a crowd of supporters, among them her sister and mother. "Huge thanks for fighting for me. I thank everyone who wished me well. Thanks to you I survived. To those who wished me ill, I survived despite you!" she shouted. "I can't revive the dead, but I am always ready to lay down my life on the battlefield for Ukraine. And I will do everything possible for every person in captivity to be freed." She was captured in 2014 while fighting with Ukrainian forces against pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. She was handed over to Russia and found guilty of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists who were killed by artillery fire while reporting on the conflict. As Savchenko touched down in Kiev, Russian television showed footage of Putin meeting relatives of the two Russian journalists to explain his decision to pardon her. "I want to... express the hope that such decisions, which are dictated first of all by humanitarian considerations, will lead to a reduction in the confrontation in the conflict zone and will help avoid such losses, which are terrible and which nobody needs," Putin said. State television also showed the two Russians handed over by Kiev, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, descending the steps of an aircraft after it touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The pair - who told Reuters in an interview last year that they were Russian special forces soldiers captured while on a secret mission in eastern Ukraine - were embraced on the tarmac by their wives. As part of the exchange deal, which could help ease tensions between Russia and the West, they received official pardons from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE Savchenko, a military pilot, had volunteered to fight with a ground unit against the separatists in eastern Ukraine. At her trial in southern Russia, Savchenko was accused of acting as an artillery spotter, calling down the fire that killed the journalists. She denied this. A Russian court sentenced her in March to 22 years in jail. She is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia, a perception bolstered by her defiant behavior in court during her trial. At one point, she interrupted the judge reading out his verdict by standing on a bench and singing the Ukrainian anthem at the top of her voice. Russia has never explicitly acknowledged that it sent active duty Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine, so it was not clear how Alexandrov and Yerofeyev would be treated on their return home. While in Kiev, they had accused Moscow of disowning them. Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement that he hoped Savchenko's release "will help build trust between Ukraine and Russia". Russia's relations with its neighbor and fellow ex-Soviet republic Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration. Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev. Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow. Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large Russian-speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but a permanent settlement to the conflict remains elusive. (Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow and Alexei Kalmykov in Kiev; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Terry McAuliffe, Virginia's Democratic governor and chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential run, is under federal investigation over contributions to his 2013 campaign, CNN said on Monday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. The U.S. Justice Department's year-long investigation has focused, at least in part, on whether contributions to McAuliffe's gubernatorial campaign, including $120,000 from a Chinese businessman, Wang Wenliang, violated the law, according to CNN. Investigators have "scrutinized" McAuliffe's time as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, part of the charitable foundation set up by former President Bill Clinton, CNN said, citing unidentified government officials briefed on the case. The foundation is not accused of any wrongdoing, CNN added. McAuliffe spent at least 15 years as an unpaid director for the foundation, now known as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, until 2013, according to the charity's annual disclosures filed with the Internal Revenue Service. An attorney for McAuliffe's campaign, Marc Elias, said he could not confirm the CNN report. "Neither the governor nor his former campaign have knowledge of this matter, but as reported, contributions to the campaign from Mr. Wang were completely lawful," Elias said in a statement. "The governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it." The Justice Department declined to comment. Spokesmen for Clinton and the Clinton Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Wang, who has given at least $2 million to the Clinton Foundation through his company Rilin Enterprises, said he had not been contacted by investigators. McAuliffe is a close ally of Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. He was co-chairman of Bill Clinton's 1996 presidential re-election campaign and chaired Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. On Sunday, McAuliffe hosted a fundraiser for Clinton's campaign. For a $2,700 donation, a person attending the event could get a photo taken with him, according to Clinton's website. Republicans seized on the report to question Clinton's integrity. Her aides have been questioned by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors in a probe into whether her using a private email server as secretary of state broke laws. "Hillary Clintons campaign was already tainted by her own FBI investigation, so the revelation that her top political ally Terry McAuliffe is also facing a criminal probe is especially damaging," Michael Short, a Republican National Committee spokesman, said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Beech and Timothy Ahmann in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney)
WEDNESDAY, May 25, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Many obese young adults in the United States don't know they're at increased risk for kidney disease, researchers report.

"Even though chronic kidney disease typically manifests in older people, the disease can start much earlier but often is not recognized early on," said study leader Dr. Michal Melamed, an associate professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York City.

Melamed's team analyzed data from nearly 7,000 adults, aged 20 to 40, across the United States. The researchers found that 11 percent of obese Mexican-Americans and about 6 percent of obese whites and blacks had elevated levels of the protein albumin in the urine.

This condition, called albuminuria, is a sign that the kidneys are not functioning normally. It puts you at increased risk for chronic kidney disease, the researchers said.

Among young adults with albuminuria, less than 5 percent had been told they had kidney disease, according to the findings published online May 25 in the journal PLoS One.

"Clearly, clinicians and public health officials need to do more to identify and treat young people at risk for early progressive kidney disease so they can adopt the behavioral changes to prevent [kidney disease] from occurring," Melamed said in an Albert Einstein news release.

About one-third of Americans are at risk for chronic kidney disease during their lifetime, typically when they're older.

"Because treatment options for [chronic kidney disease] are limited, prevention is the best approach for those at risk," Melamed added. "A healthier lifestyle in young adults will go a long way toward promoting kidney health later in life."

Previous research has suggested that abdominal obesity may harm kidney function earlier than high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which are associated with obesity. Abdominal obesity is defined as having a waist circumference of 35 inches or more for non-pregnant females and 40 inches or more for males, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health explains how to keep your kidneys healthy.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, May 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Tanzania International Forum For Investments (http://www.tziforum.com) is scheduled to take place at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam, 12-14 July 2016.



Photo: http://www.apo.af/o5doBq

With confirmed funding commitments amounting to US$1 billion and confirmed participation from global investors and funding institutions in control of more than US$200 billion, the Tanzania International Investment Forum For Investments is set out to be the largest gathering of international investors in Tanzania.

Confirmed participating companies include Credit Suisse International, Africa Finance Corporation, Nedbank, UK Climate Investments, Pembani-Remgro Infrastructure Fund, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, Intertoll Africa (Pty) Ltd, Advance Consulting, Netherlands, Letsema Consulting & Advisory (Pty) Ltd, Afriwise Consult, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Advanced Finance & Investment Group ("AFIG Funds"), Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries  Netherlands, CRDB BANK PLC, ZHE Africa, East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, Kibo Mining Plc, Rand Merchant Bank, Frontier Investment Management (FIM), German International Cooperation (GiZ), Mkoba Private Equity Fund, Kibo Capital Partners, CrossBoundary LLC, Metier Sustainable Private Equity, SME Impact Fund, MasterCard, Public Investment Corporation  Africas largest asset manager and many more.

The Forum aims to generate more than $4 billion in potential investments and funding commitments.

The TIFI 2016 world class programme comprises intimate highly-interactive sessions that give entrepreneurs, investors and financiers the best platform to build relationships and forge business-to-business and business-to-government partnerships.

The Forum will showcase specific investment opportunities in key sectors including Agriculture & Agro-processing, Tourism, Energy, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, telecommunications & ICT, Mining, and Financial services; and is expected to attract investors and participants at decision making level, comprising local and foreign companies, heads of public institutions, and other relevant stakeholders.

In addition, an exhibition is planned to take place on the side-lines of the Forum to showcase selected export products and display foreign exhibitors as well to market their products. The Forum is expected to secure investment pledges and commitments, joint venture partnerships between local and foreign companies, financial arrangements, and export orders among a few of the deliverables.

With networking support before, during and after the event, TIFI 2016 is a MUST ATTEND EVENT

We welcome investors throughout the world to participate in the TIFI 2016 and explore the abundant opportunities available in Tanzania, where return on investment is among the highest in Africa. Should you wish to partner with local investors, we are ready to be of service to link you with credible local companies - Godfrey Simbeye, Executive Director, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.

To register, please contact Gadi Mbuya, CEO, Shades of Green Congresses

Tel: + 255 (0) 27 2050081; + 255 (0) 27 2050082, Fax: + 255 (0) 27 2050083

Mobile phones: +255 755 747901; +255 789 655690; +255 759 005481

Email- registration@tziforum.com; ceo@shadesofgreencongresses.com

For further details on the Forum, please refer to the forum website www.TZiforum.com

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Tanzania International Forum For Investments.
MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Louis F. Bo Allen Jr., executive vice president and manager of commercial banking for First Tennessees West Tennessee region, will be promoted to West Tennessee president on June 30. Bruce Hopkins, who has been First Tennessees West Tennessee president since 2011, will become chairman of the region.



Bruce has been an energetic, committed, highly engaged leader of our outstanding West Tennessee banking team, and we are very pleased that he will continue to provide leadership as chairman of the region that includes our largest market and our corporate headquarters city, said David Popwell, president of banking for First Tennessees parent company, First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN). Bo brings a wealth of experience and natural leadership skills to our executive team. We are pleased to promote such a talented banker from our team to the presidents role.

Bo Allen, 48, will report to David Popwell as West Tennessee president. He joined First Tennessee in 2009 as EVP and manager of commercial banking for West Tennessee. He has almost 25 years of banking experience and serves on the boards of ArtsMemphis, Christian Brothers University and The Orpheum Theatre. He earned his bachelors degree in business from the University of Mississippi and his MBA from CBU. He and his wife Elizabeth have three boys.

Bruce Hopkins, 66, will provide community leadership, mentoring and business development in his role as West Tennessee chairman. He joined First Tennessee 30 years ago and managed private client, trust and wealth management before being named West Tennessee president in April 2011. Hopkins has served on the boards of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, ALSAC, ArtsMemphis, Trezevant Manor, the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, the 100 Club of Memphis and the New Memphis Institute. He was general campaign chair of United Way of the Mid-South in 2013 and received the Golden Eagle Award for outstanding community service from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis in 2014. He earned his bachelors degree from Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Va., and is a graduate of the LSU School of Banking. He and his wife Janie have three boys and just had their first grandchild.

About First Tennessee

First Tennessee Bank is the largest bank headquartered in Tennessee, with the number one deposit market share in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and the Tri-Cities and a top-five deposit market share in Nashville. The FTB Advisors wealth management group has 313 financial advisors and $25 billion in assets under administration. First Tennessee was founded during the Civil War in 1864 and has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country. First Tennessee, FTN Financial and FTB Advisors are part of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN), which has 4,300 employees and is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation's best employers by Working Mother and American Banker. More information is available at www.FirstTennessee.com.

FHN-G
LISLE, Ill., May 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, partnered with Randalls and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor a Cypress, Texas military family on Tuesday.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f2d0f2ca-c227-4716-8d2f-3bfc8e1716ad

Eckrich hosted a special presentation outside a Randalls store in Houston to honor, thank and support the Wright family. The family was surprised with a gift of free groceries for one year at Randalls, courtesy of Eckrich.

As part of the event, crowds of shoppers were treated to samples of delicious Eckrich smoked sausage and deli meat, live country music and an appearance by Houston Country radio station 92.9. In addition, Eckrich provided local military service members and their families with $25 Randalls gift cards to thank them for their service.

Nathan Wright joined the Army in 2006 and served for five years. He was deployed to Afghanistan for 15 months as a specialist. His wife, Jessica, is a member of Operation Homefronts Hearts of Valor program. The couple lives in Cypress, Texas.

Id really like to thank Eckrich, Operation Homefront and Randalls for their support for military families and for the free groceries, said Jessica Wright. Its humbling to be recognized like this and it touches our hearts.

The surprise is part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The Wright family is supported by Operation Homefronts Hearts of Valor program, a network of caregivers for wounded, ill or injured service members. Operation Homefront supports these caregivers through annual retreats, support groups and online communities.

Eckrich, a brand of Smithfield Foods, entering its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2 million to the organization since 2012. Now through July 4th, Eckrich is donating 5 cents for every purchase of specially marked products, up to $500,000, to Operation Homefront to assist military families.

Eckrich continues to thank, support and honor our military families across the country, said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. We appreciate Randalls partnership in this event. We thank the Wright family for their service and are proud to present them with one year of free groceries.

For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com.

About Eckrich

Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.com.

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, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Cook's, John Morrell, Gwaltney, 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.

About Operation Homefront

A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. With more than 3,200 volunteers nationwide, Operation Homefront has provided assistance to tens of thousands of military families its inception shortly after 9/11. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefronts expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.
Albany, NY, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled Metal Cans and Glass Jars Market - India and Iran Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024. According to the report, the metal cans market in India and Iran was valued at US$31.6 Mn in 2015 and is estimated to reach US$38.2 Mn in 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 2.2% between 2016 and 2024. The glass jars market in India and Iran was valued at US$135.4 Mn in 2015 and is projected to reach US$184.9 Mn in 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 3.6% between 2016 and 2024.

Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11402

Various food and beverage products such as fruits, vegetables, meat, coffee, and soup are packaged in metal cans. Metal cans offer multiple advantages. Therefore, these are useful packaging materials. Metal cans help maintain the nutritional value of food and also prevent it from microbial contamination. Thus, these cans increase the shelf life of canned food or beverages. Glass jars are also used as packaging materials. Glass containers offer various advantages such as chemical stability, reusability, and sterility. Glass is used to package food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Glass bottles and jars are available in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Thus, metal cans and glass jars are extremely useful as food packaging materials. Metal cans and glass jars are employed for food applications such as preserved food, milk powder, pet food, confectioneries, and chocolates. Increasing demand for canned food and high recycle and recovery rate of metal cans are likely to drive the market in India and Iran during the forecast period.

Browse Research Report With Analysis &TOC :http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/metal-cans-glass-jars-market.html

In terms of application, preserved food was the largest application segment of the metal cans market in 2015. It accounted for more than 50% share in terms of demand in the year. The others segment is also expected to be a major consumer of metal cans for food application in the next few years in India and Iran. Preserved food is estimated to be the fastest growing application segment of the metal cans market for food between 2016 and 2024.

Preserved food was also the largest application segment of the glass jars market, constituting more than 50% share in terms of demand in 2015. The others segment is projected to be one of the major consumer of glass jars for food application in the next few years in India and Iran. Preserved food is likely to be the fastest growing application segment of the glass jars market for food in India and Iran between 2016 and 2024.

In terms of volume, India held the larger share of the metal cans and glass jars market for food application than Iran in 2015. Rising population and improvement in lifestyle coupled with high disposable income have shifted the preference toward canned food in India. However, increasing popularity of plastics and other packaging materials such as paper and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) due to their light weight and lower space consumption is projected to hamper market growth.

Interact with our pool of experienced analysts for any report related querieshttp://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ASK&rep_id=11402

Key players in the metal cans and glass jars market include Ardagh Group, Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings Inc., Rexam PLC, Amcor Limited, Bormioli Rocco SpA, Gerresheimer AG, Heinz-Glas GmbH, Piramal Glass Limited, Saint-Gobain S.A., Vetropack Holding AG, Wiegand-Glas GmbH, Stolzle-Oberglas GmbH., Hindustan National Glass & Industries Limited (HNGIL), HSIL, Haldyn Glass Ltd., Shishe&Gaz Glass Manufacturing Co., Hamadan Glass Company, Crystal Iran Co., Hindustan Tin Works Ltd., Kaira Can Company Limited, Iran Ghouti, Tabriz Can Industries, and Farr Co. Ltd.

The report segments the metal cans and glass jars market in India and Iran as follows:

India Glass Jars Market - Food Application Analysis

Preserved food

Milk powder

Pet food

Others (Including confectioneries, snacks, etc.)

India Metal Cans Market - Food Application Analysis

Preserved food

Milk powder

Pet food

Others (Including confectioneries, snacks, etc.)

Iran Glass Jars Market - Food Application Analysis

Preserved food

Milk powder

Pet food

Others (Including confectioneries, snacks, etc.)

Iran Metal Cans Market - Food Application Analysis

Preserved food

Milk powder

Pet food

Others (Including confectioneries, snacks, etc.)

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.
Cheyenne Wyoming, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MedX Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: MEDH) today announces Mr. Charles Yelton R.Ph has joined our team as Vice President in charge of Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical Development. In addition to this position as a licensed pharmacist, he will also serve as our Certified Designated Representative. Mr. Yelton has been a licensed pharmacist for over 39 years. He previously owned Carpenter Dent Drugs where he successfully grew this business from $146,000 to over $1,200,000 annually. After 23 years, he sold this business and went to work as a pharmacist for a major retail chain; he has worked in over 115 pharmacies throughout Kentucky and Alabama. Mr. Yelton was also the creator of Pain Doctor, an external OTC analgesic for pain distributed by ABC Pharmaceuticals.

Ms. Roberton, CEO commented: we are very pleased to have Mr. Yelton join our team, I have personally had the pleasure of knowing him and his integrity for almost 10 years. Mr. Yeltons experience and knowledge both as a licensed pharmacist and owner of ABC Pharmaceuticals is exactly what we needed to move forward as a licensed wholesale distributor of pharmaceuticals in many states

Charles Yelton R.Ph, offered: I am excited to join this talented MedX Holdings team. Together, we have the potential to create extreme dynamic sales growth very quickly. We are working with one the top pharmaceutical manufactures who holds over 105 ANDAs which allows us to expand our projected RX lines and OTC lines very quickly.

Licensing update: MedX is in the final stages of securing a warehouse/office space in the state of Alabama as well as in the state of Florida. We will be fully licensed as a Wholesale Distributor of Pharmaceuticals in Alabama where Mr. Yelton works and is currently licensed. In Florida, we will ship directly to a Third Party Logistic partner who will legally ship to all of our clients in Florida. A Third Party Logistic Warehouse represents the fastest path for MedX to legally sell in the state of Florida. A 3PL does not manufacture the products, take title to own the products nor has anything to do with selling the products. Our partner will simply take possession, repackage if necessary, and then ship directly to our clients.

MedX Holdings, Inc. is a publicly trading holding company utilizing a new form of Collaborative Governance. MEDH targets the acquisitions of undervalued, turnaround medical related businesses. In addition, MEDH is newly emerging as dynamic distributor of pharmaceutical products.

For more information about MedX Holdings, Inc., call (877) 225-0243 or visit our web site www.medxholdings.com is located at 1621 Central Avenue, Cheyenne, WY, USA

Safe-Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), including all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the companys financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the companys financial condition or results of operations; (iii) the companys growth strategy and operating strategy; and (iv) the declaration and payment of dividends. The words may, would, will, expect, estimate, anticipate, believe, intend and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the companys ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the risk disclosed in the companys Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC.
OTTAWA, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autism Speaks Canada, part of North America's largest autism science and advocacy organization, announced that the Autism Speaks Canada Walk, Ottawa 2016 fundraising and awareness event will take place this Sunday, May 29, 2016 at Carleton University Fieldhouse. All event proceeds will support Autism Speaks Canada's work, both locally and nationally, to increase awareness about autism spectrum disorder, fund autism research and family support services, and collaborate with leaders across the country. Autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed in 1 in every 68 children.

The Autism Speaks Canada Walk events are the signature fundraising events for Autism Speaks Canada, raising nearly $1.2 million in 2015 to support autism research, services, awareness and advocacy.

Autism Speaks Canada Walk is a unique fundraising event that offers a safe and fun day for families living with autism. The day includes a Walk, fun acitivities, quiet zone as well as a Community Resource Fair that includes local service providers and nonprofit organziations. A true "one-stop-shop" for families living with autism.

"Thanks to tremendous community support and the work of our wonderful volunteers, our Autism Speaks Canada Walk event has made an enormous impact on the work that our organization is able to support each and every year," said Jill Farber, Executive Director. "In addition to raising funds and awareness, the Walk is a chance for families to come together, support each other, and make connections. Working together, we are making great strides towards impacting the lives of everyone living with autism."

"Thanks to the help of Walkers, sponsors and volunteers, 2016 is poised to be a great success," said Melanie Haydon, National Director Walks and Community Events, Autism Speaks Canada.

Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us will proudly serve as National Presenting Sponsors of the Autism Speaks Canada Walk. Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us will host a tented area at The Walk, serving as home base for the company's mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe. Thank you also to our local sponosors: Pepsi, Remax Core, Neal Brothers, Kelly Santini, Desjardins Assurance, Sobeys, District Realty and Paramount Properties.

For more information about the 2016 Autism Speaks Canada Walk - Ottawa, please visit www.walknowforautismspeaks.ca or contact your walk manager at onewalknow@autismspeakscan.ca.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boost Media, the leading digital ad creative marketplace, today released its Express ad writing platform to help advertisers capitalize on Googles latest and historic change to text ads: Expanded Text Ads. Boost Express is uniquely positioned to help advertisers by using an Expert Marketplace of more than 1,000 professional copywriters to write and rewrite the 9 billion desktop and mobile ads being impacted by Googles Expanded Text Ads.



Google recently announced the launch of Expanded Text Ads, specifically geared towards a mobile-first world. The new format features an updated design that is optimized for displaying todays search results page on all devices, especially mobile where more than half of all searches take place. Advertisers will benefit from 50 percent more space for ad copy, a second headline and extra characters to describe products and services to their audience.

Boost is extremely well-suited to help advertisers with ad copy creation at scale for Googles new format, which is revolutionizing search for the mobile experience, said Boost Media Chief Executive Officer Tim Krozek. Only humans can communicate the nuanced text of these ads to connect with an audience, and thats exactly what our Expert Marketplace does, he said.

Boost Medias Express Platform makes it possible for advertisers to write or rewrite ads in the new format with speed, quality and scale. Relying on the traditional methods such as Excel spreadsheets or ad templates to update ads wont work due to the extra characters and headlines, and the massive scope of Googles seminal change.

Boost leverages a global, on-demand Expert Marketplace of professional copywriters who write ad copy at scale across an advertisers search accounts. Advertisers benefit from optimized digital ad creative, as well as increased ad performance, revenue and conversions. Boost has over 200 customers, who are direct advertisers as well as global agencies, including iProspect, The Honest Company, Shutterfly, Liberty Mutual, RetailMeNot, Embee Mobile, Hertz, and Jockey.

"Boost offers the only platform that solves the problem of ad copy creation and testing at scale, said Josh Franklin, Manager of Search Marketing at The Honest Company. Our click-through rate and conversions have skyrocketed with improved ads. Through testing, we can find phrases that resonate across a category and apply insights to the whole company, said Franklin.

In addition to the companys text writing platform for search ads, the Boost Creative Platform offers a solution for marketers to source high-quality, original and resized ad creative for Facebook, mobile, Google Display Network, and Instagram. To learn more, visit http://boostmediaimage.com/.

About Boost Media:

Boost Media is the leading digital ad creative marketplace for marketers managing search, social, video, or display advertising. Boost Media brings together an automated SaaS platform with the largest Expert Marketplace of professional copywriters and designers, to deliver high-quality ad creative and testing insights to marketers.

With over 1,000 experienced copywriters and designers in the Expert Marketplace, Boost Media can provide the scale and speed to meet the most fast-paced and complex digital campaigns. Based in San Francisco, Boost Media has delivered more than one million optimized digital ads to more than 200 leading global brands. To learn more about Boost Media, visit us at www.boostmedia.com.
Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jennifer J. Kantz, Credit Analyst for The Juniata Valley Bank, was recognized for achieving honor student status from the PA Bankers School of Commercial Lending at the Pennsylvania Bankers Association (PA Bankers) Group 5 meeting held on April 21st at The Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey. Honor students are selected due to outstanding work during school and on a post-test examination.

Shortly after graduating from Penn State University in 2013 with a dual Bachelors Degree in both Finance and Economics, Ms. Kantz joined JVB as a Teller and was quickly identified as a highly motivated and capable individual with an innate inclination for sales and a strong desire to pursue lending. Within six months of her joining JVB, she was promoted into a Credit Analyst position where she is learning the fundamentals of lending before moving into the position of Relationship Manager (Business Lender) for the Bank.

The PA Bankers School of Commercial Lending supports the business development and leadership skills of experienced and potential commercial lenders. Students study how the economy drives the commercial lending business, business development calling, negotiation skills, analyzing financial statements, making presentations to the institutions loan committee and loan workouts.

The Pennsylvania Bankers Association, located in Harrisburg, is the states leading banking trade association representing an expansive and diverse membership. The Association offers extensive continuing education programs, government relations representation on behalf of the industry, and provides numerous products and services for banks and their employees.

The Juniata Valley Bank, the principal subsidiary of Juniata Valley Financial Corp., is headquartered in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, with fifteen community offices located in Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Huntingdon, McKean and Potter Counties. In addition, Juniata Valley owns 39.16% of Liverpool Community Bank, which it carries under the equity method of accounting. More information regarding Juniata Valley Financial Corp. and The Juniata Valley Bank can be found online at www.JVBonline.com. Juniata Valley Financial Corp. trades through OTC Pink under the symbol JUVF.
English Estonian

Dear shareholder of AS Pro Kapital Grupp

We announce that the management board is calling for the annual general meeting of AS Pro Kapital Grupp (registration code 10278802, located at Pohja pst. 21 Tallinn Republic of Estonia) (hereinafter referred to as the Company) shareholders which shall take place on the 17th of June 2016 at 14.00 at the premises of the Company, Pohja pst 21 Tallinn Republic of Estonia. Registration of the shareholders for the meeting shall start on the 17th of June 2016 at 13.45 and shall end at 14.00 at the location of the meeting.

The reason for calling the annual general meeting is to decide on approval of the annual report for the financial year of 2015, deciding on covering the loss, election of the auditor, election and remuneration of the Council Members, to decide on increase of share capital of the Company and amendment of the articles of association of the Company. The proposal to call the annual general meeting of shareholders was made by the Management Board of the Company.

The agenda of the meeting is as follows:

Election of the Chairman and Secretary of the annual general meeting of shareholders

The Councils and Management Boards proposal:

Elect Ervin Nurmela as the Chairman of the annual general meeting of the shareholders. Elect the Secretary of the meeting as per suggestions made at the meeting.

Approval of the audited annual report of the Company for the financial year of 2015

The Company has prepared the annual report for the financial year of 2015. The report has been audited and the audited report has been made available to the shareholders. It is the competency of the shareholders to approve the annual report.

The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution:

Approve the audited annual report of the Company for the financial year of 2015.

Resolution of covering the loss

The Companys net loss for the financial year which ended 31 December 2015 was in the amount of 1 934 thousand Euros. As per the commercial code it is the shareholders competency to decide on the allocation of the profit and/or loss.

The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution:

Cover the net loss for the financial year which ended 31 December 2015 in the amount of 1 934 thousand Euros with retained earnings of previous periods.

Election of the auditor

In financial year of 2015 AS Deloitte Audit Eesti has provided audit services to the Company in relation to the audit of the annual report.

In the opinion of the Council the auditor has performed the services in accordance with the agreement and the Council does not have any objections as to the service provided.

The auditor has confirmed as required by the corporate governance recommendations that it has no work, economic or other relations that would threaten its independence while rendering auditing service.The Management Board of the Company in 2016 took offers for the audit from different audit companies for audit of next three years. The recommendation of the audit committee and the Council is to continue the collaboration with AS Deloitte Audit Eesti as their price offer and quality of work is considered to be in the best proportion.

The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution:

Elect AS Deloitte Audit Eesti as the auditor of the Company for the financial year of 2016.

To approve the principles for remuneration of the auditor as per the agreement to be signed with the auditor. Approve the fee payable to the auditor for the audit of Company and its subsidiaries for the financial year of 2016 in the amount of 45 700 Euros (net of VAT).

Election of members of the Council

The term of office of Council Members is expiring on July the 5th 2016 and it is therefore necessary to decide on election of members of the Council

The Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution:

To prolong the term of office of members of the Council Pertti Huuskonen, Petri Olkinuora and Emanuele Bozzone for three (3) years until July the 5th 2019.

CV data and presentation of the Council Members can be accessed on homepage www.prokapital.com sub-section the Company.

Deciding on amount and procedure of payment of Council Members remuneration

The Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution:

Council member is paid twenty five thousand (25 000) Euro per year (gross). Chairman of the Council is paid twenty seven thousand five hundred (27 500) Euro per year (gross). Remuneration is paid on monthly basis on the last working day of the month at latest. The member of the Council is paid remuneration for partial month on a pro rata basis to number of days of validity of powers.

In addition six hundred (600) Euros (gross) is paid to the member of Council including the Chairman of the Council for each meeting of the Council the Member attended.

In addition to remuneration paid, travel and accommodation expenses which are incurred in connection to participating in Council- or Committee meetings are compensated Council Members.

Deciding on increase of share capital of the Company and precluding shareholders' pre-emptive right of subscription

Pursuant to agreement concluded between the Member of the Management Board and the Company terms and conditions for payment of Bonus Fee to the Member of the Management Board was agreed. The Company is entitled to pay the Bonus Fee in shares of the Company. The Council has made the proposal as to the issue price, taking into account the average share price of the Company for the last 3 months.

The Councils proposal and draft of the resolution:

To increase the share capital of the Company by issuing new shares pursuant to following terms:

The Company will issue 67 784 shares, with nominal value EUR 0.20 per share. Share capital is increased by 13 556.8 Euros. The new amount of share capital is 10 854 344.4 Euros.

The pre-emptive right of the existing shareholders of the Company to subscribe for the shares is cancelled in accordance with  345 (1) of the Commercial Code (ariseadustik);

Member of the Management Board Paolo Vittorio Michelozzi (born 26.01.1961) has the right to subscribe for the shares;

The shares will be offered for subscription during following subscription periods and shares will be issued after the end of subscription period:

a) First subscription period 20.06.2016  22.06.2016 when 33 892 shares are offered for subscription;

b) Second subscription period 25.11.2016 - 02.12.2016 when 33 892 shares are offered for subscription, increased by the

number of shares not issued after the end of the first subscription period;

Shares may be paid for by set-off of subscribers claim against the Company. Non-monetary contribution shall be valued pursuant to law and articles of association of the Company.

The non-monetary contribution (subscription price) for each share is EUR 2.37 (of which EUR 0.20 is the nominal value and EUR 2.17 is the share premium).

Subscriber shall submit the application to the Company for subscribing the shares. Payment for shares together with the application must be received by the Company latest by the last day of each subscription period.

If all shares are not subscribed for during the relevant subscription period, the management board of the Company will have a right to:

a) prolong respective subscription period by up to 15 days; and/or

b) cancel the shares that were not subscribed for during the relevant subscription period.

Amendment of the articles of association of the Company

In order to allow flexibility in attracting additional capital for the business activities of the Company, the Council and the Management Board propose to amend the articles of association of the Company by giving the Council the right for 3 years to increase the share capital of the company by up to 1 200 000 Euros. The right to increase the share capital of the Company was granted to the Council for 3 years also based on the shareholders decision dated 06.02.2013, but the period to use the right has expired.

The Councils and Management Board proposal and draft of the resolution:

- Amend the article 5.8 of the articles of association and approve the articles of association as follows:

The Supervisory board (Council) has the right to increase the share capital of the Company by up to 1 200 000 Euros within 3 years as from adopting this version of the articles of association. Shares issued by the Council may be paid for by monetary contributions and/or by non-monetary contribution, if so resolved by the Council. Non-monetary contribution shall be valued pursuant to law and these articles of association

- Approve the new version of the articles of association with the referred amendment.

According to the Commercial Code  297 section 5 the set of shareholders entitled to take part in the annual general meeting of shareholders shall be determined as at seven days before the date of holding the general meeting, i.e. on 10.06.2016 at 23:59.

A shareholder has the right to receive information on the activities of the public limited company from the management board at the general meeting. The management board may refuse to give information if there is a basis to presume that this may cause significant damage to the interests of the public limited company. If the management board refuses to give information, the shareholder may demand that the general meeting decide on the legality of the shareholder's request or to file, within two weeks after the general meeting, a petition to a court by way of proceedings on petition in order to obligate the management board to give information.

A general meeting may decide on calling the next meeting and settle submissions concerning operational issues related to the agenda or to the procedure for holding the meeting without including such matters in the agenda beforehand, and to discuss other matters at the general meeting without deciding on such matters.

Shareholders whose shares represent at least 1/20 of the share capital may present the draft of the resolution for each subsection of the agenda. Right specified in previous sentence may be exercised not later than three days before the meeting. The draft of the resolution shall be presented in written to AS Pro Kapital Grupp, Pohja pst. 21, Tallinn, 10414.

Shareholders whose shares represent at 1/20 of the share capital, may demand the inclusion of additional issues on the agenda of the general meeting if the respective demand has been submitted no later than 15 days before the general meeting is held.

The shareholder can until 16th of June 2016 at 16:00 (EET) inform the Company of appointing a representative or of renouncing the power of attorney of the representative, by sending the digitally signed notice to prokapital@prokapital.ee or by sending the written notice to the office of the Company at Pohja pst 21 Tallinn.

If you have any questions in regards to the annual general meeting of shareholders, please contact us by phone + 372 6 144 920 or by email at prokapital@prokapital.ee. Questions and answers related to the agenda of the shareholders meeting shall be published on the website of the Company www.prokapital.com under the section Investors.

The shareholders of the Company can acquaint themselves with the drafts of the resolutions and proposals, the audited annual report, the auditor opinion, written report of the Council on the 2015 financial year and draft of the articles of association of the Company on the webpage of the Company www.prokapital.com under the section Investors or at the location of the Company at Pohja pst. 21 Tallinn during the business days from 09:00 AM until 05:00 PM.

Documents needed to participate at the meeting

Natural person shareholders are kindly asked to bring along a valid identification document, representatives are kindly asked to bring along a valid identification document and a valid written power-of-attorney.

In the case of shareholders who are legal entities we request you to bring an extract from the relevant register, where that legal person has been registered and a valid identification document of the representative. For persons representing a legal entity under power of attorney we kindly ask to bring in addition of the referred documents also a valid written power of attorney.

Each document issued by a foreign countrys official must be either legalized or authenticated with a document certificate apostille and translated into English.

Best regards

Management Board of AS Pro Kapital Grupp
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
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A senior Taliban leader identified by Afghan authorities as a shadow governor of the southern province of Helmand has been killed by security forces, officials said on Tuesday, although the Taliban immediately denied the report. The report came days after Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. airstrike in south western Pakistan. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said Mullah Muzamel had died of injuries sustained during an air strike in Marjah district late on Sunday. "First he was wounded and later that night he died of his wounds," Zwak said. Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a tweet that Muzamel had been killed in a special forces operation along with two of his commanders. However Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman for southern Afghanistan, denied the report. The shadow governor for Helmand's name is Haji Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund and he is safe, he said. "No official has been killed or wounded in Helmand," he said. Helmand, the region that supplies the largest share of Afghanistan's opium crop, has seen months of bitter fighting and much of the province is under Taliban control but government forces have launched an offensive to retake lost ground. (Reporting by Abdul Malik; writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Gareth Jones)
Police found "traces" of a plot to launch a new attack in Belgium when they arrested four people suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria and Libya, prosecutors said Wednesday. The four were charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group" following their arrests in the northern port of Antwerp and other Flemish-speaking cities, the federal prosecutor's office said. "The four were more involved in the part of recruiting," Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutors, told AFP. "And we found traces of plans for an attack in Belgium." He said the probe into an alleged plot continued while his office said that "for now there is no link" with the investigation into the deadly March 22 bombings in the capital Brussels. The prosecutor's office said the four people arrested are "suspected of having wanted to recruit people to send them to conflict zones in Syria and Libya," adding that some of them had intended to travel to those areas and join the Islamic State group. Eight raids in Antwerp as well as in Ternat and Borgerhout turned up neither weapons nor explosives, the statement said without saying when the action was carried out. The investigating judge ordered one of the four to be detained, but released the three others -- one on condition he wear an electronic bracelet and the other two under "strict" conditions, it added. Belgium is still reeling from the Islamic State suicide bomber attacks at Brussels airport and on the metro on March 22 which killed 32 people and wounded hundreds more. They came five months after jihadists, many of them from Brussels, carried out gun and bombing attacks in Paris on November 13, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds more. The Paris and Brussels attacks have both been linked to the same jihadist cell with links to IS in Syria. Per capita, Belgium has produced the highest number of so-called foreign fighters in the EU who have travelled to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, an estimated 500.
US firms like Netflix, Amazon and Apple face quotas for European movies and television shows under EU proposals unveiled Wednesday that also aim to lift cross-border barriers for Internet shoppers. The proposals are the latest step towards what Brussels calls a digital single market, in which the European Union's 500 million people will no longer be blocked from buying goods and services more cheaply abroad online. "We have a European film culture and we think European content should be in those programmes," Guenther Oettinger, the German EU commissioner for digital economy, told a press conference in Brussels. The European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation European Union, called for US web streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime to devote 20 percent of their content in Europe to European movies and television shows. The proposal also targets Apple's iTunes, which offers movies for download, although EU officials said both Netflix and iTunes already devote 21 percent of their catalogues to European content. The Commission believes that "there should be a guaranteed share of those programmes," and that "20 percent is a reasonable figure," Oettinger said. "We are giving businesses some room for manoeuvre to show non-European products," added Oettinger, speaking in German through a translator. Quotas already set by some member states vary between 10 percent and 60 percent. Fighting the dominance of Hollywood is a major priority for EU heavyweight France in particular, which has for years subsidised its own national film industry through a special tax on privately-owned broadcasters that rely heavily on US-made content. The Commission also proposed that member states should be able to ask on-demand services available in their country to "contribute financially to European works," stopping short of calling for a tax. "We appreciate the Commission's objective to have European production flourish, however the proposed measures won't actually achieve that," Netflix said in a statement. Netflix said it has so far committed hundreds of millions of euros to European productions, including its first major French-language series "Marseille", starring Gerard Depardieu, that premiered this month. It added many more Europe-produced series were in the pipeline. The proposals call for member states to allow for independent regulators who will ensure that video-sharing platforms, such as YouTube, protect young people from harmful content, like violence and pornography. And they call for protecting all citizens from incitement to hatred. - 'Geoblocking' overhaul - Meanwhile the Commission also proposed that online firms lift barriers starting next year to Internet shoppers who seek cheaper prices for goods and services on sites in different European countries. The practice known as "geoblocking" often limits customers to websites in their home countries for services such as car hire or travel, blocking them from seeking better prices on foreign sites. Under the proposals, for example, automatically rerouting customers to a local version of the online service will be forbidden. "Discrimination between EU consumers based on the objective to segment markets along national borders has no place in the single market," EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said. But trade group DigitalEurope said geoblocking is a symptom rather than the cause of a fragmented EU market resulting from differing national living standards, consumer habits, language requirements, consumer laws, copyright and value added tax rates. "This is like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg," DigitalEurope director general John Higgins said in a statement. In a related proposal, the Commission called for making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable by introducing greater price transparency to foster competition. "For 50 percent of our European companies, the main obstacle to flourishing in e-commerce is high parcel prices," Andrus Ansip, the European Commission's Vice President on media issues, told reporters. The proposed geoblocking ruling currently excludes audiovisual online providers but leaves it open to a review that worries firms that sell music or electronic books. The European Consumer Organisation welcomed the "great news" on the proposed geoblocking overhaul but regret that ebooks, music, television series, films and sports were still off-limits. "It is time the EU puts the final nail in the coffin of geo-blocking," organisation head Monique Goyens said in a statement. The plans must now be approved by member states and the European parliament.
By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kenya will close the world's largest refugee camp this year because the facility housing Somalis displaced by decades of war poses an "existential threat", Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto said on Monday. The United Nations and Western states have warned against forcibly repatriating the 350,000 or so Somalis who still live in the sprawling Dadaab camp in northeast Kenya, saying it would violate international obligations. But Ruto, speaking at a U.N. humanitarian summit in Istanbul, said the international community had failed Somalia, still struggling to recover from the anarchy of the 1990s. "The refugee camp poses an existential security threat to Kenya," he said, arguing attacks including the Westgate mall rampage in 2013 and the Garissa University massacre in 2015, which claimed hundreds of lives, were planned at Dadaab. Now those extremists pose a global risk, he told Reuters. "There is radicalisation by extremist elements in the camp, especially of young people," he said. "Their recruitment into terror networks, including al Shabaab and al Qaeda, is a threat to the world ... The route to (Islamic State) is established." Ruto, who was due to meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the Istanbul summit, expressed frustration that other states have lagged on pledges to rebuild Somalia. He said Kenya has spent $7 billion on Dadaab over the past quarter century. "We understand well our international obligations," he said. "We have unfortunately ... not seen a shared responsibility in Somalia. We not only risk leaving Somalia behind, we risk forgetting Somalia all together." Kenya wants the international community to build schools and other infrastructure across the border to lure refugees back. The government has previously threatened to eject refugees, but this time it will stick with a deadline expiring in six months that was agreed with Somalia and the U.N., Ruto said. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said in January it might miss a 2016 target to repatriate 50,000 refugees because the Somali government is battling the al Shabaab insurgency and provides few public services. Somalia is slowly rebuilding and is due to elect a new parliament in August. Ruto said exiled communities were needed for the recovery: "It would not be possible to comprehensively work on peace, reconciliation and stability without the participation of the almost 1 million refugees who currently live in our country." (Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Mexican authorities and independent experts began the exhumation of more than a hundred bodies buried in pits in the central state of Morelos. Prosecutors announced that the 116 bodies in the mass grave -- located in in the town of Tetelcingo, just south of Mexico City -- were buried on March 28, 2014. Activists are questioning the validity of the official record because authorities have files on only 88 bodies in the pits. The unfenced rural grave consists of two adjacent 10-meter (33-feet) deep holes covering an area about six meters in length and four in width. Morelos has been one of the Mexican states most affected by drug violence plaguing the country, including kidnappings and murders. "We recognize the tireless struggle of the relatives and victims' organizations of the more than 30,000 missing in this country that's sinking into barbarism," said Alejandro Vera, rector of the Autonomous University of the state of Morelos (UAEM), who started a program for those searching for loved ones who have disappeared in the Mexican drug war. The United Nations along with several human rights organizations estimate that at least 20,000 people have gone missing in Mexico. The head prosecutor in Morelos, Javier Perez, was among those witnessing the exhumation, which could last up to five days. Dozens of relatives of the disappeared also attended, including Maria Concepcion and Amalia Hernandez, mother and aunt of the kidnapped and murdered Oliver Wenceslao Navarrete Hernandez. In 2013, his body was discovered in a ravine and identified by his family. But prosecutors insisted on delaying burial to obtain forensic evidence, and over time the body disappeared from the records. After months of "many complaints and many battles," an official revealed that the victim's body had been buried in Tetelcingo "with signatures of false authorization," Hernandez told AFP. On December 9, 2014, a judge ordered his body be exhumed. The body was found under dozens of others, "violating international protocols that indicate that in mass graves bodies must be separated from each other to allow eventual claims," said Roberto Villanueva, director of a program for victims at UAEM. The bodies found alongside Navarrete's were reburied. His family filmed the process, and have widely publicized the footage since then to bring attention to the case.
BANGKOK (Reuters) - The EU has not taken any decision on whether to ban fish exports from Thailand, the Thai foreign ministry said on Monday, clarifying comments made by its deputy prime minister that Bangkok had been given more time to end illegal fishing. Earlier Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan had said the European Union had given Thailand, the world's third-largest seafood exporter, a further six months to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, more than a year after Brussels threatened Bangkok with a ban. The ministry said in a statement that Prawit had "merely stated" the EU had not reached a decision on whether to give Thailand a "red card", effectively banning its fish exports. "Thus Thailand still has time to work on this matter before such a decision will be made and Thailand reaffirms its commitment to continue working to tackle the problem," it said. Thailand's fishing industry employs more than 300,000 people, many of them migrant workers from neighbouring countries who are often subject to ill-treatment. The industry's reputation has been tarnished by instances of human trafficking to meet manpower demand, forced labour and violence. The EU gave Thailand a "yellow card" - or warning - in April 2015 for failing to prevent illegal and unregulated fishing catch entering the supply chain and ending up in seafood exports to Europe. The warning required Thailand to clean up in six months or face a trade ban. A spokesman for the European Commission confirmed that no formal decision had yet been taken and said the next round of talks would take place in Bangkok in July. A Thai team visited Brussels last week to discuss progress. Since receiving the EU warning, Thailand has instigated new licence and monitoring systems for fishing vessels, the director general of the Thai Fisheries Department, Adisorn Promthep, told Reuters last week in Brussels. Bangkok has also tightened regulations and imposed limitations on the catch, Adisorn said. The EU yellow card had been a "wakeup call" to deal with an obsolete fisheries law, he added. Authorities were also making more regular checks on vessels and demanded employers give workers written contracts, he said. That was to prevent labour abuses and human traffickers selling people on to boats, Adisorn said. (Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak in BANGKOK and Julia Fioretti in BRUSSELS; Writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Louise Ireland and Gareth Jones)
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
- The Jubilee coalition through its spokesperson Aden Duale, has responded to the CORD over their suspension of the anti-IEBC demos

- Duale says the demos should not have happened in the first place and that the CORD leaders should apologise to Kenyans and account for the lives lost and property destroyed

- He also hinted that the Jubilee coalition is not ready for dialogue as there are means through which such matters should be discussed

- Having said that, Duale says it is time for the talks to commence

READ ALSO: CORD to hold parallel rally at Uhuru Park on Madaraka Day

The Jubilee coalition has issued a stern statement hours after the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) indicated it has temporarily suspended its anti-IEBC demos to allow for dialogue with the government.

In a social media post, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale says that the opposition should not have gone to the streets to protest in the first place and wants them to stop the demonstrations immediately.

Duale, who is a strong Jubilee spokesperson, also wants the CORD to apologise to Kenyans for the deaths caused during the demonstrations and account for the losses incurred.

Duale further alleges that the three leaders do not know the importance of peace and that is why they amassed their supporters to take to the streets.

In what looks like a response to the oppositions calls for dialogue on the fate of the disgraced IEBC commissioners whom CORD wants to vacate office, Duale hinted that the government wont sit with the opposition to discuss the matter.

READ ALSO: Bring your wife to the demos, Mutua tells Kalonzo Musyoka

He indicated that there are stipulated means which should be used to remove IEBC from office.

He said that if CORD was interested in discussions over the IEBC, dialogue has been on the table at the joint Justice and Legal Affairs committee of the National Assembly and senate.

Early Wednesday, May 25, the CORD indicated that it had suspended its planned demonstrations for 10 days so that they can sit with the government for dialogue.

Senators James Orengo and Johnstone Muthama said the suspension also aimed at bringing peace to the country after three Mondays of teargas and deaths in Nairobi and other parts of the coutry.

The opposition also plans to hold a parallel rally on Madaraka Day at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, as President Uhuru Kenyatta leads Madaraka Day celebrations in Nakurus Afraha stadium.

READ ALSO: CORD temporarily suspends anti-IEBC protests

Image: Raila Odinga/Facebook

Source: TUKO.co.ke
U.S. President Barack Obama is arriving in Japan on Wednesday to attend the annual summit of the Group of Seven leaders and make a historic visit to Hiroshima. Here are five things to know about the presidents trip.

#1: Obama will attend the Group of Seven meeting in Ise-Shima

On Thursday and Friday, Mr. Obama is attending the annual summit of the Group of Seven leaders, held this year in Ise-Shima, Japan. Top on the list of themes to be discussed by the leaders of the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Canada is the sluggish global economy. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said North Koreas nuclear program and other geopolitical issues in the Asia-Pacific region will be on the table. This will be the first summit meeting held in the region in eight years.

#2: The global economy will be in the spotlight

Measures to stoke global growth will be a key topic at the meeting, although a consensus on a unified approach to boosting growth is likely to elude the leaders. At a weekend meeting of G-7 finance ministers, the U.S. and Japan clashed over whether Tokyo should be allowed to arrest the yens recent rise. The seven nations wrapped up the meeting without an agreement on a balanced mix of policies, including coordinated fiscal stimulus.

#3: Bilateral issues between the U.S. and Japan are also under scrutiny

A U.S. military base worker was arrested on Thursday in relation to the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa prefecture. Mr. Suga said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will bring up the issue during his bilateral meeting with Mr. Obama and request that Washington take strict measures to prevent such crimes.

#4: Obama will visit Hiroshima

On Friday, Mr. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the site of the worlds first atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945. The president told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that he wouldnt question the decision to drop the bomb because every leader has to make difficult decisions, especially in wartime. Still, the presidents words and gestures in visiting the site of the bombing will be watched closely.

#5: Group of Seven leaders will visit the revered Ise Shrine

President Obama and all leaders of the Group of Seven nations will visit the Ise Shrine prior to the kickoff of their meeting. The countrys most revered shrine, which over seven million worshipers visit every year, is known as the site where Amaterasu Omikami, the legendary ancestor of the Imperial Household, is enshrined. The shrine is the most suitable location for foreign leaders to touch the spirit of Japan, Mr. Abe has said.
(Adds details, context, background)

BAKU, May 25 (Reuters) - BP and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR announced on Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly explore prospects in a new block, D230, in the North Absheron basin of the Caspian Sea.

The move reflects efforts by SOCAR and foreign companies to make new discoveries in the oil-rich country.

BP said that as a part of the government's plan to ensure all of Azerbaijan's offshore waters are fully explored, the MoU gives BP the exclusive right to negotiate an agreement with SOCAR to explore and develop block D230.

Block D230 covers areas in a water depth of up to 300 metres, with a reservoir depth of 3,000-5,000 metres.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters the final agreement was expected to be signed this autumn.

BP is a main investor and operator of two major projects in Azerbaijan - the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields, which account for most of Azerbaijan's output, and the Shah Deniz offshore gas field, which is estimated to contain 1.2-1.5 trillion cubic metres of gas.

Shah Deniz I has been pumping gas since 2006, while gas from its second stage is expected to reach Europe by 2019-2020.

BP's regional head told Reuters in March it expected flat oil production in 2016 at its ACG oilfields, where output totalled 31.3 million tonnes last year, down slightly from 31.5 million tonnes in 2014.

No other major contracts have been signed in Azerbaijan since these major projects were sealed in Baku, although many other foreign companies are involved in exploration in the ex-Soviet country.

Among the most prized prospects are two gas deposits in the Caspian Sea - Umid and Babek - with total preliminary reserves of about 600 bcm of gas.

Azerbaijan plans to produce 41 million tonnes of oil and 29 bcm of gas in 2016. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) produced 41.7 million tonnes of oil and 29.7 bcm of gas in 2015. (Reporting by Ron Bousso and Margarita Antidze; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Mark Potter)
** Ryanair says in statement it is currently conducting an evaluation of all its operations in Norway and that it will present its plans some time in the coming days

** The airline says the evaluation is done in light of Norway's air fare tax, which will be imposed from June 1

** Ryanair has previously said it may scale back its offering in Norway as a result of the tax

** Norway's Rygge airport said on Tuesday it will close down operations in November if Ryanair leaves (Other OTC: UBGXF - news)
Oil pumps are seen in Lake Maracaibo, in Lagunillas, Ciudad Ojeda, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, March 20, 2015.REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo

By Libby George and Dmitry Zhdannikov

LONDON (Reuters) - Poorer oil-producing countries which took out loans to be repaid in oil when the price was higher are having to send three times as much to respect repayment schedules now prices have fallen.

This has crippled the finances of countries such as Angola, Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq and created a further division within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Ahead of an OPEC meeting next week, poorer members have continued to push for output cuts to lift prices but wealthier Gulf Arab members such as Saudi Arabia, which are free of such debts, are resisting taking any action despite prices falling 60 percent in the past 2 years.

Angola, Africa's largest oil producer has borrowed as much as $25 billion (17.3 billion pounds) from China since 2010, including about $5 billion last December, forcing its state oil firm to channel almost its entire oil output towards debt repayments this year.

This year Angola, Nigeria, Iraq, Venezuela and Kurdistan are due to repay a total of between $30 billion and $50 billion with oil, according to Reuters calculations based on publicly disclosed information and details given by participants in ongoing restructuring talks.

Repaying $50 billion required only slightly over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil exports when it was trading at $120 per barrel but with prices of around $40, the same repayment would require exports of over 3 million bpd.

"All of those oil nations  Angola, Nigeria, Venezuela  have taken money for survival but haven't got any money left for investments. That is very damaging to their long-term growth prospects," said Amrita Sen from Energy Aspects think-tank.

"People tend to look at current production volumes but if you have committed your entire production to China or other buyers under loans  then you cannot invest to keep growing and won't benefit from higher prices in the future."

China has also become Venezuela's top financier via an oil-for-loans programme which since 2007 has funneled $50 billion into Venezuelan coffers in exchange for repayment in crude and fuel, including a $5 billion deal last September.

Story continues

While details of the loans have not been made public, analysts from Barclays estimate Caracas owes $7 billion to Beijing this year and needs nearly 800,000 bpd to meet payments, up from 230,000 bpd when oil traded at $100 per barrel.

Last week, Venezuela said it had reached a deal with China to improve the terms of loans, giving its economy "oxygen". It did not disclose the new terms.

Nigeria and Iraq also owe billions of dollars repayable in oil to companies such as Shell (RDSa.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), according to national oil firms and industry sources.

Iraq is trying to renegotiate contracts for investment and development of new oil fields that it has with companies including Exxon, Shell and Lukoil. It was supposed to repay the companies $23 billion this year with oil but is now arguing that it will only have enough crude to repay $9 billion.

Nigeria owes $3 billion this year in oil repayments to big oil companies which have helped the country fund its share of joint oil field development.

Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan has leveraged all its oil production, worth $3 billion, to trading houses Vitol and Petraco as well as to Turkey to fund a fight against Islamic State, according to its natural resources minister.

Ecuador, one of OPEC's smallest member countries, borrowed up to $8 billion from Chinese and Thai firms, repayable with oil, between 2009 and 2015, according to the national oil company.

SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS

In contrast, OPEC's Gulf Arab members -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar -- have very few joint ventures with oil companies, do not have pre-payment deals with China and do not need to borrow from trading houses.

While Saudi Arabia saw every dollar from its oil sales going to state coffers, the poorer members had a large part of their oil revenue eaten up by debts, leaving no money to invest in infrastructure and field development.

As a result, Nigeria and Venezuela are now facing steep production declines at a time when Saudi Arabia is preparing to further ramp up supplies as it invested heavily in new fields.

This helps to explain why Saudi Arabia is resisting a global deal to reduce output because the lack of debt means it is able to use the money for development and reinforce its dominant position in oil markets.

Nigeria and Venezuela, meanwhile, are desperate for a deal that would reduce output and push up prices to help them invest in oil fields and repay fewer barrels to creditors.

"It may ultimately be mounting supply disruptions in stressed states, rather than collective cartel action, that causes an accelerated market rebalancing, RBC Capital's head of commodity strategy Helima Croft said.

(Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Anna Willard)
Though the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (Industry) declined 1.29% over the last five trading sessions, there was some positive buzz that would benefit the sector immensely.



The U.S. has fully lifted its arms embargo against Vietnam, 41 years after the close of the Vietnam War. This move from President Obama will help to build a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries. As per Reuters, Vietnam is the worlds No. 8 arms importer, with sales increasing nearly 700% since 2005.



Although Obama maintained that "the decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations," we cannot ignore the fact that Chinas significant share claim of the South China Sea has somewhere motivated the U.S. on supporting China's rivals who have claims to the sea.



Among the important headlines last week, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. HII nabbed important contracts. Northrop Grumman Corp. NOC made its 13th consecutive annual dividend hike.



(Read Defense Stock Roundup for May 17, 2016 here.)



Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories



1. Lockheed Martin Corp.s Missiles and Fire Control division has won a foreign military sales (FMS) contract from the U.S. Army for international allies, Israel, Finland, Jordan and Singapore. The contract is valued at $331.8 million.



Lockheed Martin will deliver Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) alternative warhead rocket pods (290 units), 34 unitary rocket pods, and 529 reduced range practice rocket pods to the above mentioned international partners.



Lockheed Martins Sikorsky Aircraft unit won a contract from the U.S. Army for UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters. This is a modification contract, which is valued at $88.1 million, and the contracting activity is Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL.



2. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has received a $152 million contract from the U.S. Navy for advance planning for the construction of the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80).



The work under the contract includes engineering, design, planning and procurement of long-lead-time material. It will be carried out at the companys Newport News Shipbuilding division and is slated for completion by Mar 2018.



Construction on Enterprise will begin in 2018 with delivery to the Navy slated for 2027. Enterprise will replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) when the aircraft carrier enters the fleet.



3. Falls Church, VA-based Northrop Grumman Corp. announced that its board of directors has approved an increase in the quarterly dividend rate by 12.5%, bringing the annualized payout to $3.60 per share from $3.20 paid earlier.



The raised quarterly dividend will amount to 90 cents per share from the prior payment of 80 cents. The hiked dividend will be paid on Jun 22, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Jun 6, 2016.



Increasing the dividend has become an annual ritual for this defense major. This will be the companys 13th consecutive annual dividend hike.



4. Shares of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. LLL scaled a new 52-week high of $138.00 on May 19, eventually closing a little lower at $136.85.



L-3 Communications rating was upgraded to outperform from sector perform by Robert Stallard, an equities research analyst at RBC Capital, as per a report released on Thursday. The target price was raised to $150 from the previous target of $137. The brokerage firms target price shows a potential increase of 9.61% from the current price of the stock.



After a discussion with the companys management, Stallard has come to believe that L-3 Communications is poised to achieve its long-term operating margin target. Moreover, he stated that the companys latest initiatives related to the portfolio and balance sheet will allow it to deploy cash for mergers and acquisitions as well as for boosting investor value.



L-3 Communications CFO, Ralph DAmbrosio, stated that in 2017, Electronic Systems may touch the low end of the range of 1314% of operating margin, while Aerospace Systems is expected to keep up its robust performance.



Performance



Almost all the major defense stocks depreciated last week barring L-3 Communications Holdings. Boeing BA lost the most followed by Rockwell Collins Inc. COL.



In the past six months, however, the picture is somewhat mixed. Northrop Grumman gained the most while Textron TXT and Boeing were the biggest losers.



The following table shows the price movement of the major defense players over the past five trading days and during the last six months.



Story continues

Company Last Week Last 6 months LMT -0.83% 7.36% BA -3.76% -12.68% GD -1.90% -1.17% RTN -0.76% 3.14% NOC -0.67% 15.05% COL -2.67% -5.45% TXT -1.59% -12.68% LLL 1.07% 11.93%



Whats Next in the Defense World?



Raytheon Co. RTN is hosting its 2016 Annual Shareholder Meeting on May 26, 2016.



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



NORTHROP GRUMMN (NOC): Free Stock Analysis Report



BOEING CO (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report



LOCKHEED MARTIN (LMT): Free Stock Analysis Report



ROCKWELL COLLIN (COL): Free Stock Analysis Report



TEXTRON INC (TXT): Free Stock Analysis Report



RAYTHEON CO (RTN): Free Stock Analysis Report



L-3 COMM HLDGS (LLL): Free Stock Analysis Report



HUNTINGTON INGL (HII): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
By Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve new loans to Greece worth some 10.3 billion euros (7.8 billion) in two instalments, according to a draft statement seen by euro zone officials during a meeting on Tuesday.

The disbursements, one next month worth 7.8 billion euros and a second of 2.5 billion later, acknowledge fiscal reforms Athens has undertaken this year. But the ministers were still far from committing to the debt relief that the International Monetary Fund says Greece should also have.

Euro zone officials said Greece has implemented all the economic reforms required for new disbursements, though absolutely final approval is likely to depend on unspecified "technical corrections" to aspects of the Greek legislation.

The ministers, who continued to debate the issue late into the evening in Brussels, were therefore likely to ask their deputies to oversee the further required amendments over the next week or two before giving the final go-ahead.

"I'm expecting an agreement in principle on Greece, subject to some technical review in the next couple of weeks," Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan told reporters.

Greece's needs another tranche of bailout funds by mid-July at the latest to avoid defaulting on debt repayments to the IMF and the European Central Bank.

Athens' debt servicing costs will become progressively less manageable over coming decades, and the ministers were also due on Tuesday to discuss relief on the debt pile, most of which is held by the euro zone bailout fund.

But any agreement beyond a tentative "roadmap" on that issue is unlikely, official said.

A group of countries led by Germany - where aid for Greece is politically contentious - argue that any firm commitments on euro zone debt that Greece does not have to start servicing until 2023 would remove the incentive to continue with reforms.

DEBT RELIEF DILEMMA

The IMF, which has yet to sign up to the current Greek bailout, insists that Athens needs substantial debt relief and that binding decisions have to be taken before the package ends in 2018.

Story continues

"Providing an up-front unconditional component to debt relief is critical to provide a strong and credible signal to markets about the commitment of official creditors to ensuring debt sustainability," the Fund said in a report on Greece.

But Germany believes a detailed discussion on debt relief can be held later, and should be made conditional on Greece's progress with reforms and on data.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters he was also not willing to commit to any action after next year, when Germany holds parliamentary elections.

"We will take the decisions when they need to be made. Now I have the legitimacy and in 2018 it will be for those whom the German people have chosen in 2017," Schaeuble said.

On May 9, euro zone finance ministers offered to consider debt relief after the reform review was complete with a view to offering, if necessary, relief from 2018, if the country had delivered on all reforms by then.

Officials said on Tuesday that an outline text of an agreement on debt measures was likely to take a similar line.

"We see the outcome as a roadmap of potential measures and preconditions," a senior euro zone official said.

To facilitate a deal on Greece, the chairman of euro zone leaders' meetings, Donald Tusk, met earlier on Tuesday with the head of euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

"I am cautiously optimistic. A positive outcome for the euro zone and a satisfactory one for Greece is in the cards," a second senior euro zone official said after that meeting.

(Additional reporting By Phil Blenkinsop and Tom Koerkemeier; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
The logo of Facebook is pictured on a window at new Facebook Innovation Hub during a media tour in Berlin, Germany, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Monday that an investigation into its editorial practices had found no evidence of political bias in the selection or prominence of stories shown on its Trending Topics feature.

The company also said the investigation revealed that conservative and liberal topics were approved as trending topics at "virtually identical rates" and it was unable to substantiate any allegations of politically-motivated suppression of particular subjects or sources.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Mary Milliken)
(Reuters) - Shareholders of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N), two of the world's largest oil producers, will vote on Wednesday on a raft of proposals designed to push the companies to respond more proactively to climate change risks and regulations.

The stakes are highest at Exxon, which has come under intense scrutiny from environmentalists and some investors this past year over the way it handled climate change data.

With public sentiment pressuring big oil companies on environmental issues, the votes this year could mark the first time a climate change-related proposal passes muster with a majority of Exxon's shareholders.

Below is a summary of key issues on ballots for the annual meetings:

EXXON MOBIL

RESOLUTION 5: ADD CLIMATE EXPERT TO BOARD

The resolution's sponsor, a group of Wisconsin monks, says that by adding a climate expert to its board, Exxon would be able to "more effectively address the environmental issues and risks inherent in its present business model."

Exxon's recommended vote: No. Executives say holding a board seat for a "single-issue candidate who lacks other important attributes would, in our view, not be in the best interests of the company."

RESOLUTION 7: PROXY ACCESS BYLAW

This resolution's sponsor, New York City pension funds, says minority shareholders with a 3 percent stake in the company should be able to nominate directors to the company's board. This is part of a broader shareholder push to put climate experts on the boards of oil companies.

Exxon's recommended vote: No. It highlighted "the potential risk for the proposal to increase the influence of special interest groups" on the board.

RESOLUTION 10: BOOST SHAREHOLDER PAYOUTS

This resolution's sponsor, an investor with 200 shares, wants Exxon to increase dividends and share buybacks, rather than invest in new oil or gas deposits, claiming that climate change throws the long-term viability of the company's business model into doubt.

Story continues

Exxon's recommended vote: No. Executives defended their history of generous shareholder payouts and noted they use a proxy cost for carbon, which takes into account potential impacts from climate change and environmental legislation.

RESOLUTION 11: SUPPORT THE PARIS AGREEMENT

This resolution's sponsor, a group of New Jersey nuns, wants Exxon to support the Paris climate accords with a company policy that commits to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

Exxon's recommended vote: No. Executives said they take the risks of climate change seriously and also have an obligation to "invest in economically attractive energy sources in an environmentally responsible manner."

RESOLUTION 12: PUBLISH AN ANNUAL CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT

This resolution's sponsor, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which holds nearly 11 million Exxon shares, wants the company to publish a report annually that would outline how climate change could affect the company's ability to operate.

Exxon's recommended vote: No. Executives noted the company already updates its annual Outlook For Energy report with the latest climate policy information.

RESOLUTION 13: REPORT RESERVES IN BRITISH THERMAL UNITS

The resolution's sponsor, the environmental group As You Sow, wants Exxon to report its reserves of oil and natural gas in British Thermal Units, arguing it is a better metric to track the company's effect on, and vulnerability to, climate change.

Exxon's recommended vote: No. Executives note the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires oil assets be reported in barrels.

CHEVRON

Note: Chevron does not identify resolution sponsors.

RESOLUTION 6: TARGETS FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CUTS

The sponsor wants Chevron to set goals for how the company can best comply with the Paris climate agreements and arrange its business operations in such a way as to help limit global warming to less than 2 degrees C.

Chevron's recommended vote: No. Executives say such a requirement could put the company at an economic disadvantage in some countries where it operates.

RESOLUTION 7: CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT

The sponsor wants Chevron to publish an annual report from 2017 through 2035 outlining how legislation designed to curb climate change could affect its business operations.

Chevron's recommended vote: No. Executives say such a report is "unnecessary in light of the safeguards" in place throughout its operations.

RESOLUTION 8: REPORT RESERVES IN BRITISH THERMAL UNITS

The sponsor wants Chevron to report its reserves of oil and natural gas in British Thermal Units, arguing it is a better metric to track the company's effect on, and vulnerability to, climate change.

Chevron's recommended vote: No. Executives note the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires oil assets be reported in barrels.

RESOLUTION 9: BOOST SHAREHOLDER PAYOUTS

This sponsor wants Chevron to increase dividends and share buybacks, claiming that climate change throws the long-term viability of the company's business model into doubt.

Chevron's recommended vote: No. Executives say the proposal is based on a "flawed, if not dangerous, premise: that stockholders would be best served if Chevron stopped investing in its business."

RESOLUTION 11: BOARD MEMBER WITH ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTISE

This sponsor wants more candidates for Chevron's board with a "high level of expertise and experience in environmental matters" who are also independent of the company's management.

Chevron's recommended vote: No. Executives say the current board has "significant environmental experience."

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Editing by Terry Wade and Matthew Lewis)
A piggybank painted in the colours of the Greek flag with a 20 euro banknote in it's slot, stands amongst various euro coins in this picture illustration taken in Berlin, Germany June 30, 2015. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/Files

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve new loans to Greece of 10.3 billion euros (8 billion), according to a draft statement seen by euro zone officials.

The 10.3 billion euros in new loans is likely to be paid out in two tranches, officials said, with the first one in June worth 7.8 billion euros. The amount and timing are not final yet, officials said.

The disbursement was conditional on Greece delivering on reform promises.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)
UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni smiles during an event to launch a new Spanish office at the stock exchange in Madrid, Spain, May 23, 2016. REUTERS/Susana Vera

By Paola Arosio and Gianluca Semeraro

MILAN (Reuters) - UniCredit (CRDI.MI) Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni is to step down, the Italian bank said on Tuesday, in a move expected to lead to a broader shake-up of the group and possibly a multi-billion euro capital increase.

Italy's biggest bank by assets said it had asked Chairman Giuseppe Vita to start the succession process and that Ghizzoni would stay on until a replacement was found.

"The UniCredit board of directors and Federico Ghizzoni acknowledged that the conditions are now such that it is time for a change at the top of the group," the bank said in a statement issued after an extraordinary board meeting.

Ghizzoni, who has led UniCredit since 2010, had been expected to go due to growing shareholder discontent over the bank's falling share price, stretched capital and low profits.

A successor should be appointed at a board meeting on June 9, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

Candidates tipped for the job include Frenchman Jean-Pierre Mustier, a former Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and UniCredit executive, UBS's (UBSG.S) investment banking boss, Andrea Orcel, and Merrill Lynch's (BAC.N) Italy chief, Marco Morelli.

The choice is likely to hinge on whether the board considers the possibility of merging with another bank. Orcel is seen as a candidate that could lead UniCredit into a tie-up.

Alternatives to a deal include cutting UniCredit's sprawling international network and raising funds via a capital increase, which some sources put at 8 billion euros (6 billion).

Nationality could be an issue, with some sources close to the matter saying an Italian would be preferred, especially since another French national, Philippe Donnet, took the helm of insurer Generali (GASI.MI) recently.

"I would like an Anglo Saxon who is not going to get muddied in the local politics," said Xavier Van Hove, fund manager at THS Partners, which owns a small stake in UniCredit.

"If they did do a capital raise, we would obviously participate and that would add to our position, reluctantly ... but we want to see who they put in charge."

Story continues

Shareholders representing 15 percent of the bank took a big step towards ousting Ghizzoni last week by asking Vita to improve governance, including possibly by replacing the CEO.

Ghizzoni has come under pressure because UniCredit, Italy's only globally systemically important financial institution, failed to put to rest worries it might need a capital increase soon.

Its core capital fell to 10.5 percent at end-March, just above a 10 percent minimum level set by the European Central Bank for 2016, which will gradually rise to 11 percent in 2019.

The bank's shares have plunged 40 percent this year in a rout of Italian banking stocks. In comparison, shares of domestic rival Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), which has a core capital ratio of 13.1 percent and is twice as profitable as UniCredit, have dropped 25 percent over the same period.

Adding to investors' concerns was UniCredit's role as underwriter for a 1.5 billion euro cash call at troubled regional bank Banca Popolare di Vicenza. A group of Italian financial institutions had to step in to backstop the capital increase.

Bankers say the new CEO will need to revamp, and probably prune, the bank's international operations, now spanning 17 countries after a buying spree in Germany and central Europe.

In the past, such a broad exposure helped to offset weakness in Italy's economy, but it has also exposed the bank to the volatility of countries like Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The Milanese bank may cut stakes in online broker Fineco (FBK.MI), Poland's Bank Pekao (PEO.WA) and Turkey's Yapi Kredi (YKBNK.IS), a source said last week.

(Additional reporting by Simon Jessop. Writing by Silvia Aloisi. Editing by Jane Merriman)
* UniCredit (EUREX: DE000A163206.EX - news) says chairman to start succession process

* Bank aims to appoint successor on June 9-source

* Ghizzoni to stay on until replacement is found

* New CEO could launch cash call, make cuts (Adds fund manager, background)

By Paola Arosio and Gianluca Semeraro

MILAN, May 24 (Reuters) - UniCredit Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni is to step down, the Italian bank said on Tuesday, in a move expected to lead to a broader shake-up of the group and possibly a multi-billion euro capital increase.

Italy's biggest bank by assets said it had asked Chairman Giuseppe Vita to start the succession process and that Ghizzoni would stay on until a replacement was found.

"The UniCredit board of directors and Federico Ghizzoni acknowledged that the conditions are now such that it is time for a change at the top of the group," the bank said in a statement issued after an extraordinary board meeting.

Ghizzoni, who has led UniCredit since 2010, had been expected to go due to growing shareholder discontent over the bank's falling share price, stretched capital and low profits.

A successor should be appointed at a board meeting on June 9, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

Candidates tipped for the job include Frenchman Jean-Pierre Mustier, a former Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) and UniCredit executive, UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) 's investment banking boss, Andrea Orcel, and Merrill Lynch's Italy chief, Marco Morelli.

The choice is likely to hinge on whether the board considers the possibility of merging with another bank. Orcel is seen as a candidate that could lead UniCredit into a tie-up.

Alternatives to a deal include cutting UniCredit's sprawling international network and raising funds via a capital increase, which some sources put at 8 billion euros ($8.9 billion).

Nationality could be an issue, with some sources close to the matter saying an Italian would be preferred, especially since another French national, Philippe Donnet, took the helm of insurer Generali (Swiss: ASG.SW - news) recently.

Story continues

"I would like an Anglo Saxon who is not going to get muddied in the local politics," said Xavier Van Hove, fund manager at THS Partners, which owns a small stake in UniCredit.

"If they did do a capital raise, we would obviously participate and that would add to our position, reluctantly ... but we want to see who they put in charge."

Shareholders representing 15 percent of the bank took a big step towards ousting Ghizzoni last week by asking Vita to improve governance, including possibly by replacing the CEO.

Ghizzoni has come under pressure because UniCredit, Italy's only globally systemically important financial institution, failed to put to rest worries it might need a capital increase soon.

Its core capital fell to 10.5 percent at end-March, just above a 10 percent minimum level set by the European Central Bank for 2016, which will gradually rise to 11 percent in 2019.

The bank's shares have plunged 40 percent this year in a rout of Italian banking stocks. In comparison, shares of domestic rival Intesa Sanpaolo (Amsterdam: IO6.AS - news) , which has a core capital ratio of 13.1 percent and is twice as profitable as UniCredit, have dropped 25 percent over the same period.

Adding to investors' concerns was UniCredit's role as underwriter for a 1.5 billion euro cash call at troubled regional bank Banca Popolare di Vicenza. A group of Italian financial institutions had to step in to backstop the capital increase.

Bankers say the new CEO will need to revamp, and probably prune, the bank's international operations, now spanning 17 countries after a buying spree in Germany and central Europe.

In the past, such a broad exposure helped to offset weakness in Italy's economy, but it has also exposed the bank to the volatility of countries like Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The Milanese bank may cut stakes in online broker Fineco , Poland's Bank Pekao and Turkey's Yapi Kredi , a source said last week.

($1 = 0.8964 euros) (Additional reporting by Simon Jessop. Writing by Silvia Aloisi. Editing by Jane Merriman)
By Matt Spetalnick HANOI (Reuters) - The United States announced a complete end to its arms embargo on Vietnam on Monday, a historic step that draws a line under the two countries' earlier enmity and underscores their shared concerns about China's growing military clout. The move came during President Barack Obama's first visit to Hanoi, which his hosts described as the arrival of a warm spring and a new chapter in relations between two countries that were at war four decades ago. Obama, the third U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, has made a strategic "rebalance" toward Asia a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Vietnam, which borders China, is a key part of that strategy amid worries about Beijing's assertiveness and sovereignty claims to 80 percent of the South China Sea. The decision to lift the arms trade ban suggested such concerns outweighed arguments that Vietnam had not done enough to improve its human rights record and Washington would lose leverage for reforms. Obama told a joint news conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang that disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully and not by whoever "throws their weight around." But he insisted the arms embargo shift was not linked to China. "The decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations. It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving towards normalization with Vietnam," he said. Obama later added his visit to a former foe showed "hearts can change and peace is possible." In 2014, the Obama administration eased the decades-old arms embargo to allow its former Cold War enemy to buy maritime surveillance and "security-related" systems to strengthen it with China in mind. Now Hanoi will be able to buy a full range of U.S. weapons and military equipment. Immediate big-ticket purchases are not expected, but Vietnam's military strategists are likely to seek U.S. drones, radar, coastal patrol boats and possibly P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. The sale of arms, Obama said, would depend on Vietnam's human rights commitments, and be made on a case-by-case basis. The announcement met a mixed reception in the U.S. Congress, which can block foreign arms sales. Some lawmakers said they supported lifting the embargo, but would keep a close eye on Vietnam's human rights record. "Congress will work with the administration to ensure today's more expansive shift in policy aligns with U.S. interests, including the desire for progress on human rights," said Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But others, including some of Obama's fellow Democrats, saw a missed opportunity. "Now what incentive is left for the Vietnamese government to meaningfully enact human rights reforms and respect the civil rights of the Vietnamese people?" asked U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam. HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS The advocacy group Human Rights Watch reacted with dismay to Washington's decision to toss away a critical lever it might have had to spur political reform in the Communist Party-ruled state. Phil Robertson, the watchdog's Asia director, said in a statement that even as Obama was lifting the embargo, Vietnamese authorities were arresting a journalist, human rights activists and bloggers. "In one fell swoop, President Obama has jettisoned what remained of U.S. leverage to improve human rights in Vietnam - and basically gotten nothing for it," he said. Obama told the news conference with President Quang that Washington would continue to speak out for human rights, including citizens' right to organize through civil society. Obama is scheduled to meet with activists on Tuesday. Quang, who announced the lifting of the U.S. embargo before Obama could do so, was until recently minister of public security, which activists say harasses and arrests dissidents. Dissent was once the domain of just a few in Vietnam. But while the party has allowed more open criticism in recent years, it is quick to slap down challenges to its monopoly on power. Although the communist parties that run China and Vietnam officially have brotherly ties, China's brinkmanship over the South China Sea - where it has been turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbors - has forced Vietnam to recalibrate its defense strategy. Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam's military at Australia's Defence Force Academy, said the steep costs of U.S. arms would remain a factor for Hanoi, pushing it toward its traditional suppliers of missiles and planes, particularly long-time security patron, Russia. On the other hand, lifting the embargo will provide Vietnam with leverage in future arms deals with those suppliers. China sees U.S. support for rival South China Sea claimants Vietnam and the Philippines as interference and an attempt to establish hegemony in the region. Washington insists its priority is ensuring freedom of navigation and flight. However, China's response to the embargo announcement was muted. The Foreign Ministry said it hoped the development in relations between the United States and Vietnam would be conducive to regional peace and stability. Underlining the burgeoning commercial relationship between the United States and Vietnam, one of the first deals signed on Obama's trip was an $11.3 billion order for 100 Boeing Co planes by low-cost airline VietJet. China is Vietnam's biggest trade partner and source of imports. But bilateral trade with the United States has swelled ten-fold over the past two decades to about $45 billion. Vietnam is also now Southeast Asia's biggest exporter to America. (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen, Ho Binh Minh, My Pham and Martin Petty in Hanoi, Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Alistair Bell and G Crosse)
By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - Bombs killed nearly 150 people and wounded at least 200 in Jableh and Tartous on Syria's Mediterranean coast on Monday in the government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases, monitors and state media said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in the cities that have up to now escaped the worst of the violence in the five-year-old conflict, saying it was targeting members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 148 people were killed in attacks by at least five suicide bombers and two devices planted in cars. State media had said 78 people had been killed in what is Assad's coastal heartland. The attacks were the first of their kind in Tartous, capital of Tartous province and home to a Russian naval facility, and in Jableh in Latakia province, near a Russian-operated air base. The Kremlin said the blasts underscored the need to press ahead with peace talks after the collapse of a Feb. 27 ceasefire in April due to intensifying violence in a war that has killed at least 250,000 people. "This demonstrates yet again just how fragile the situation in Syria is. And this one more time underscores the need for new urgent steps to continue the negotiating process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his readiness to fight with the Syrian government against "the terrorist threat" and sent his condolences to Assad, the Kremlin said. The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the United Nations, state television reported, saying the blasts were a "dangerous escalation by the hostile and extremist regimes in Riyadh, Ankara and Doha", referring to support given to the rebels by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks. "BLOOD AND BODIES" One of the four blasts in Jableh happened when a man walked into a hospital emergency department and blew himself up. Another blast was at a bus station. The Tartous bombs also targeted a bus station, the Observatory and state media said. Younes Hassan, a doctor at the Jableh hospital, said he heard an explosion at the bus station, followed less than a minute later by the hospital blast. "Everything went into emergency mode, wounded people began arriving," he told Reuters by phone. The International Committee of the Red Cross condemned this latest attack on healthcare. The Tartous explosions occurred in quick succession, a driver at the bus station said. "People began running but didn't know which direction to go, cars were on fire, there was blood and bodies on the ground," Nizar Hamade said. Footage broadcast by the state-run Ikhbariya news channel showed several twisted and burnt-out cars and vans. Islamic State claimed the attacks in a statement posted online by the group's Amaq news agency, saying its fighters had targeted "gatherings of Alawites". A second statement from the militant group said the attacks were carried out in a government-held area "so they experience the same taste of death which Muslims so far have tasted from Russian (and Syrian government) air strikes on Muslim towns." Amaq said 10 Islamic State members died in the attacks, 5 in Tartous and 5 in Jableh. Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in an interview with Ikhbariya that terrorists were resorting to bomb attacks against civilians instead of fighting on the front lines, and vowed to keep battling them. The government refers to all insurgents fighting against it as terrorists. The Observatory said an area of Tartous hosting internally displaced Syrians near a blast site was briefly attacked by government supporters in reaction to the bombings. Some tents were burned but nobody was killed. Tartous governor Safwan Abu Saadah told Reuters reports on social media about refugees being shot were not true. He said some Tartous residents had gone to refugee areas to protect them from possible attacks. "Two days ago some camps in Tartous province experienced fires because of electrical problems ... today's reports that people burned (these camps) are not true. Nobody would turn against our guests in this way," Abu Saadah said. Bombings in Damascus and the western city of Homs this year killed dozens of people and were also claimed by Islamic State, which is fighting against government forces and their allies in some areas, and separately against its jihadist rival al Qaeda and other insurgent groups. Latakia city, which is north of Jableh and capital of the province, has been targeted on a number of occasions by bombings and insurgent rocket attacks, including late last year. Government forces and their allies have recently stepped up bombardment of areas in Aleppo province in the north, which has become a focal point for the escalating violence. Insurgents have also launched major attacks in that area. The only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city has suffered a week of increasingly heavy air strikes. Zakaria Malahefji, a senior official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the Aleppo area told Reuters the road was bombarded again on Monday and was dangerous to use. He said Iranian-backed fighters, who are supporting government forces, were mobilising in the southern Aleppo area. France's Foreign Ministry called the Tartous and Jableh bombings "odious" and said violence from all sides must stop if a political transition is to take place. (Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Lisa Barrington in Beirut, John Irish in Paris and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's next election will be in July 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Wednesday, as leaders of the opposition face legal charges they say are politically motivated to stop them challenging the veteran premier in the vote. Long before the Southeast Asian nation goes to the ballot box, political tension has risen. The last election in 2013 marked self-styled strongman Hun Sen's toughest challenge in three decades of rule. The opposition, led by Hun Sen's longtime foe Sam Rainsy, accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of cheating its way to victory and boycotted parliament for a year. Hun Sen said in a televised speech on Wednesday the next election would be held on July 22, 2018. "I hope there won't be any reason to reject the election results then and make allegations that 1.2 million or 1.5 million votes are missing," said Hun Sen, referring to accusations by Sam Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2013 that millions were missing from voter lists. The CPP won the election with a greatly reduced majority and Hun Sen has since reshuffled his ageing cabinet. Critics say Hun Sen is following a two-track strategy: trying to woo back CPP voters while using the judiciary to weaken the opposition. Sam Rainsy has been in exile since November to avoid jail on charges for which he had previously received a royal pardon. Kem Sokha, Rainsy's deputy, faces charges for defamation and procurement of prostitution after recordings of a telephone conversation purportedly between him and a woman were leaked. Legal cases have also been filed against prominent CNRP members and rights workers related to the Kem Sokha case. Last year, two CNRP lawmakers were beaten outside parliament during a pro-CPP demonstration. Hun Sen's bodyguards were tried for the attacks. After the shock of the 2013 vote, Hun Sen had reverted to the legal and physical intimidation tactics used in the 2008 and 2003 elections, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Authorities have also cracked down on civil society groups. Rights group LICAHDO says there are 29 political prisoners in Cambodian jails, up from none a year ago. "This is all a variation on how Hun Sen has run Cambodia since the early 1990s," said Sebastian Strangio, author of the book, "Hun Sen's Cambodia". "A mix of populist appeal and strongman threats, sweetened with a dollop of political patronage," Strangio said. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Simon Webb, Robert Birsel)
By Ernest Scheyder and Terry Wade HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp will face their toughest-ever push by shareholders concerned about a warming world at annual meetings on Wednesday, as the Paris accord to tackle climate change ratchets up investor pressure on two of the world's largest oil companies. The tension is most acute at Exxon, which has denied accusations from environmentalists that it purposely misled the public about climate change risks. The New York attorney general is investigating Exxon and it has complained of being unfairly targeted by special interest groups. The raft of proposals up for vote at the two companies more than doubled to 11 this year, the latest sign that environmental concerns once considered peripheral by many investors have become mainstream. Even the most traditional shareholder groups are now urging companies to detail how they will plan for the future after 195 governments agreed in December to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) through combined national pledges to cut carbon emissions from fossil fuels. "Companies like Exxon and Chevron, they're clinging to bygone assumptions," said Anne Simpson of CalPERS, which holds Exxon shares worth about $1 billion and has supported some of the measures. "This is their Kodak moment. If they want to still be in business in 30 years, they have to understand the changes that are taking place." Though "Kodak moment" was originally an advertising slogan for film and cameras, it can now refer to Eastman Kodak's plunge into bankruptcy in 2012 after it failed to capitalise on the digital camera revolution. Simpson said Exxon and Chevron should ramp up investments in clean energy to avoid being caught by sudden technology shifts. While BP Plc , Statoil ASA and other European oil companies have begun releasing myriad data points on how their businesses will respond to climate change, Chevron and Exxon have lagged them, critics say. Success of any one of the climate-related votes at Wednesday's meetings is not certain. TIDE TURNING? Exxon shareholders have never approved a climate change-related proposal, and last year they rejected by 79 percent a request that a climate expert be appointed to the company's board. Another measure, which would have the companies increase payouts to shareholders and stop investing in oil and gas deposits, appears doomed to fail. Still, environmentalists and some investors, sensing the tide turning in their favour, hope to notch at least some victories. Already, proxy advisory firm ISS has recommended shareholders of both companies support the resolutions, a key voice of support. Exxon lost a public battle with New York State's comptroller earlier this year when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ruled it must let shareholders vote on a proposal that would require it to detail how its business will be hurt as governments crack down on carbon emissions. "We believe it's incumbent upon us as owners to find out what they're doing (on climate research) and how that will affect their long-term business plan," said Pete Grannis of New York State's comptroller's office. "It's almost impossible to imagine they haven't been doing some of this already." The so-called proxy access measure, which says minority shareholders with a 3 percent stake should be able to nominate directors to the company's board, could pass this year after winning support from mutual fund behemoth Vanguard. More than a dozen oil companies have passed proxy access, though Exxon's board has opposed it. Insiders at oil companies worry proxy access could lead to climate activists opposed to oil drilling being voted on to company boards. Though both Exxon and Chevron say their climate disclosures are plenty robust, shareholders are demanding more at annual meetings, partly because the SEC has declined their requests to tighten its 2010 rule requiring all U.S. companies to address potential climate change impacts. "For the most part the SEC has not been too responsive, so investors have had to turn to other methods," said Jim Coburn of Ceres, a sustainability group that has advocated at the SEC for tougher climate standards as far back as 2007 with CalPERS, the New York attorney general's office and numerous state treasurers. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's bold intentions to support Libya's new U.N.-backed government are faltering as France and Germany resist a bigger role to rebuild the failed state, scarred by the West's 2011 air campaign to help topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The European Union and NATO have said they stand ready to help the unity government in Tripoli, if requested, to combat smugglers sending migrants into the Mediterranean towards Europe. Tripoli, for its part, faces a threat from Islamic State fighters who exploited past conflict between rival governments to extend their power. In a letter, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj sent a broad request for security training, but Germany and France want the United Nations to move first. Western diplomats in New York say they will have to work hard to secure Russia's support as it accuses the West of going too far in Libya in 2011 and tensions are at their highest since the end of the Cold War. While there is "no sense that Russia would veto," a U.N. Security Council resolution, according to a senior Western diplomat, Germany has also suggested that the NATO alliance may need an invitation from the European Union to help in Libya. "Europeans now have what they asked for, namely a unity government ruling from the capital," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "They should take care not to burden it with unrealistic demands, from ending the migrant crisis to defeating Islamic State." Germany is wary of a long-term commitment, scaling back the language in a statement by European Union foreign ministers this week by insisting the bloc seeks U.N. Security Council approval to stop arms trafficking even on the high seas, diplomats said. That reflects Germany's long-standing need for a U.N. mandate for military deployments abroad. France has sent special forces and military advisers to Libya, and France's defence minister has repeatedly called for the EU naval mission to move into Libyan territorial waters. But French diplomats in Brussels are more cautious about a big NATO role, despite a warning last month from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that some 450,000 refugees in Libya could flee to Europe. Deployment of NATO combat troops are out of the question. "We are looking at a support role, one that is low profile," said a senior French official involved in Libya policy. "The risks are very real and our resources modest." The remarks contrast with gathering momentum a month ago at EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels and a special dinner of EU foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg in which Libyan maritime and security missions were on the table. "The situation is apparently not grave enough for us to act," said a senior NATO diplomat. "We need a real crisis." Just 480 kilometres (300 miles) from Europe's coast, Libya's slide into anarchy over the past five years has made it an outpost for Islamic State militants and a staging post for sub-Saharan African migrants aided by traffickers. But the failure of the West's 2011 intervention still weighs on Western officials, even as the United States urges the Europeans to take a bigger role in securing its neighbourhood. "Washington tells us Europe's southern border ends in the Sahara, not in the Mediterranean," said an EU defence official. "SECURITY VACUUM" Britain and the United States want a much bigger role for both NATO and the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged NATO to link up with the EU's naval mission "Sophia" in the Mediterranean to tackle smugglers. Lawmakers in Britain say the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean is too limited to have an impact on smugglers, as it is too far out to destroy boats, catch traffickers or head off migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya. "A mission acting only on the high seas is not able to disrupt smuggling networks, which thrive on the political and security vacuum in Libya, and extend through Africa," a British parliamentary report said this month. Alain Le Roy, the secretary general of the EU's foreign service, defended the Sophia mission, saying that more than 80 traffickers had been arrested and up to 200 boats destroyed. EU foreign ministers have approved training of Libya's navy and coast guard in international waters. Sophia's chief, Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, told La Repubblica on Wednesday the coast guard could be trained in 14 weeks. On the ground, the United States and Italy, Libya's former colonial power, are leading calls for action, but Kerry said at a meeting of major powers in Vienna last week with Seraj: "we're not talking about troops and boots." Germany does not want its personnel on Libyan soil but is willing to revive an EU border guards programme in Tunisia. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Lou Charbonneau, editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi government forces fought Islamic State militants near Falluja on Monday and bombarded central districts at the outset of an offensive to retake the longtime jihadist stronghold on the western approaches to the capital Baghdad. Some of the first direct clashes occurred in the area of al-Hayakil on Falluja's southern outskirts, a resident said. Iraqi troops also approached the northern suburb of Garma, the top municipal official there said, to clear out militants before turning their attention toward the city center. Air strikes and mortar salvoes overnight targeted neighborhoods inside the city where Islamic State is believed to maintain its headquarters. The bombardment had eased by daybreak. Seven civilians and two militants were killed in the shelling, while 21 civilians and two militants were wounded, a source at Falluja's medical center said. The final toll is likely to be higher as this accounts only for casualties brought to hospital. There was no immediate report of casualties among Iraqi forces. Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, speaking on state television, described the government's advance as "careful" and reliant on engineers to dismantle roadside bombs planted by the militants. Falluja, a bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists 50 km (30 miles) from Baghdad, was the first city to fall to Islamic State, in January 2014. Six months later, the group declared a caliphate spanning large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria. Iraqi forces have surrounded Falluja since last year but focused most combat operations on IS-held territories further west and north. The authorities have pledged to retake Mosul, the north's biggest city, this year in keeping with a U.S. plan to oust IS from their de facto capitals in Iraq and Syria. But the Falluja operation, which is not considered a military prerequisite for advancing on Mosul, could push back that timeline. Two offensives by U.S. forces against al Qaeda insurgents in Falluja in 2004 each lasted about a month and wrecked significant portions of the city. There are between 500 and 700 IS militants in Falluja, according to a recent U.S. military estimate. Iraqi army helicopters were rocketing IS positions in nearby Garma and targeting movement in and out of the area in order to weaken resistance enough for ground troops to enter, Mayor Ahmed Mukhlif told Reuters. The defense minister and army chief of staff visited part of that northern axis on Monday, a ministry statement said. POPULATED CITY Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also grappling with political and economic crises in the OPEC member state, visited a command center set up nearby to oversee operations, exchanging his suit for the black uniform of an elite commando unit. Announcing the offensive in a late-night speech, Abadi said it would be conducted by the army, police, counter-terrorism forces, local tribal allies and a coalition of mostly Shi'ite Muslim militias. Iraqi officials say the militias, including ones backed by Shi'ite power Iran, may be restricted to operating outside the city limits, as they largely did in the successful battle to retake the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi six months ago, to avoid aggravating sectarian tensions with Sunni residents. State television aired footage of armored vehicles sitting among palm groves on Falluja's outskirts, a green tracer glow emanating from shell and machinegun fire. A family stood in the daylight outside a simple one-story home, cheering and waving a white flag as a military convoy passed by. Iraqi and U.S. officials estimate there are as many as 100,000 civilians still in Falluja, a city on the Euphrates river whose population was three times that size before the war. A six-month siege has created acute shortages of food and medicine. The Baghdad government has called on civilians to flee and said it would open safe corridors to southern areas, but roadside bombs have prevented most of them from leaving. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said 80 families that managed to flee in recent days via a main road or through agricultural fields were undergoing screening by the security forces. It said at least three people had been killed trying to escape while 10,000 families were stuck inside "in a very precarious situation". Residents living in central Falluja said they had moved at dawn to relative safety in outlying northern areas but Islamic State patrols have since begun limiting movement even between neighborhoods. Militants were also using mosque loudspeakers to urge civilians to donate blood, residents said. (Additional reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
By Krishna N. Das and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Islamic State is trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming a spate of killings in Bangladesh, a government minister said, adding there was enough evidence implicating domestic militant groups. Analysts say that as Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Bangladesh for jihadists to launch attacks locally and cheaply. But Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh's state minister for foreign affairs, told Reuters in an interview that no local or foreign agency had found any presence of Islamic State in the country. "Those claims (of killings) are definitely false," Alam said on Tuesday. "But what we've agreed with our partnering countries is that we'll not argue over it - that sends a wrong message." His comments came just days after a EU delegation said there was an unprecedented threat to human rights and freedom of expression in Bangladesh and urged Dhaka to tackle the challenge to protect its international reputation. Since February last year, the Muslim-majority South Asian nation of 160 million has seen the killing of at least 26 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher and two gay right campaigners. Al Qaeda has claimed some of the attacks, while Islamic State has claimed 17 killings since first taking responsibility for murders in Bangladesh in September last year, according to U.S.-based monitoring service SITE. Alam said it was an attempt to "ride the wave" without being involved at all. "We know from Syria that there is no such common ground for Islamic State and al Qaeda, they can't be on the same platform," he said. "But the funny thing is that in some instances both have claimed responsibility here." The government has said that two groups, Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, were behind the attacks as part of their campaign to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. "Islamist violent extremism has gained so much ground (around the world)," Alam said. "The question is whether Bangladesh is vulnerable. Bangladesh has always been vulnerable because of the low level of education, lack of employment. But till date, the global radical organisations, the terrorist groups, haven't been able to make any presence in Bangladesh, let alone make it their base." (Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Burke/Triolo Productions/Thinkstock Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are taking their World Tour to San Antonio, Texas. Theyll play AT&T Center on Friday and Saturday, July 22 and 23. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 3 at 10 a.m. CT.

Blake Shelton will headline the 12th Annual Stars for Second Harvest benefit June 7 at Nashvilles Ryman Auditorium. Chris Lane, Kane Brown and others are also on the bill.

For the second week in a row, Keith Urbans album Ripcord tops the charts in the United States, Canada and Australia.

This past Sunday, Jerrod Niemann returned from his first USO Tour with the National Guard, visiting soldiers in four countries in six days.

What happens when Blake Shelton eats sushi for the first time? You get a sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which aired Tuesday night. You can check out the hilarious results on the program's YouTube page now.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
By Josh Smith KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Bullet-ridden bunkers and signposts shredded by rockets bear witness to dozens of Taliban attacks this month on police posts around Kunduz, the northern Afghan city that fell briefly in September in the insurgents' biggest victory to date. Unlike that short yet humiliating blow to Afghan security forces and the NATO troops deployed to support them, this time the main checkpoints held firm, in a sign that some lessons of the recent past have been learned. "Last year the army didn't do anything and Taliban infiltration into the city took us by surprise," said police major Abdul Wahab. Now, he said, the army, police and Afghan intelligence were working closely together. While his comments reflect recriminations that flew between different branches of Afghanistan's fledgling security forces immediately after the fall of Kunduz, the fact that police and soldiers are coordinating closely is a significant shift. Reinforcements of regular Afghan soldiers and commandos have been sent to the area, an acknowledgement by the government in Kabul that holding on to the city should be a priority. As part of a new strategy to go after the enemy rather than wait for militants to strike first, Afghan army commandos have carried out at least 10 operations against them around the city since mid-March, and more are planned. "Last year Afghan forces learned that sitting back and being defensive is not working," said U.S. Army Colonel Paul Kreis, top NATO adviser to acting Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai. "This time they are being more maneuverable, more on the offensive," he told Reuters on a recent visit to the city. Taliban fighters bent on overthrowing the government still surround much of the city and say they have delayed an all-out assault in order to minimize civilian casualties. But Afghan commanders believe the changes introduced mean their forces are better placed to defend Kunduz and other cities targeted by insurgents, who have grown stronger over the last 16 months since NATO's main combat mission ended. Stanekzai said battlefield successes in recent weeks had helped restore residents' confidence in local forces, after panic set in last year causing thousands to flee. "Last time people were not sure if the government could defeat the Taliban," he told Reuters in Kunduz. "This time I see more confidence. We took the fight to the insurgents." Tahir Zarang, a local official with the World Food Program, is one of those who agree. "Before this attack (in April) we were all worried that the city could fall again," he said. "But this showed that the Taliban have lost some of their power." FOR HOW LONG? Wahab, the police major, tempers his enthusiasm with a note of caution. "We are not able to hold the city by ourselves," he said. "If the army doesn't clear the whole area, then the Taliban will come back." That raises the question of how long Kabul can sustain reinforcements in Kunduz at current levels while troops in the south of the country are struggling to keep the Taliban at bay in the militants' traditional stronghold. Since NATO wound down its Afghan combat operation at the end of 2014 only a fraction of the force remains, and that is set to shrink further as the United States considers cutting its troop numbers to 5,500 by next year from 9,800 now. That would effectively put an end to the train-and-assist mission that has focused on helping Afghan forces to prevent the country descending into all-out war. The fall of Kunduz, if only for a few days, was a symbolic triumph for the Taliban, who have just launched a spring offensive and claimed responsibility for a major attack in Kabul that killed 64 people. The Taliban say they stalled their Kunduz assault this month, because they had captured four "important points" outside the city and wanted to avoid harming civilians. "Local residents are now gradually leaving for safer places and the moment our fighters get approval from central leadership, they will start (the) advance," said the group's main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Uncertainty over which side has the upper hand lingers in the streets of Kunduz, where memories of last year's deadly rout are fresh. Nearly 300 civilians were killed in the main fighting, according to the most conservative estimates. "This is not how normal life should be," said Jawad Azadzoy, whose cousin was wounded when a makeshift bomb went off outside his shop in downtown Kunduz on Monday. "Life has not been normal for a long time." Masoom Baha, a senior doctor at the city's public hospital, said medical staff were barely able to keep up with casualties of the fighting, mainly from rockets and artillery fire. Adding to the strain on emergency services, a U.S. air strike in Kunduz on Oct. 3 killed 42 people and destroyed a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres, in what the U.S. military has since called a "tragic mistake". INFILTRATORS THWARTED? To prevent the city from falling again, Afghan troops have tried to secure main roads leading into Kunduz, including Highway 3 to the east, after supply lines were cut during the 2015 siege, slowing efforts to regain control. Taliban fighters maintain strongholds close to the thoroughfares, however, and during recent skirmishes, some police checkpoints on Highway 3 were overrun. In the early hours of Wednesday, Afghan forces backed by coalition aircraft conducted raids on a district to the southwest of the city, witnesses said. Both provincial police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh and Afghan Local Police commander Dawood, who like many Afghans goes by one name, agree that communication and mutual support between security agencies had improved. That has helped intelligence officers identify enemy infiltrators in the city, whose presence in late 2015 contributed to the sudden collapse of police and army positions. Officials also announced the capture on Sunday night by Afghan special forces of Qari Salim, a senior commander of local Taliban units and a shadow governor in Kunduz province. Twenty minutes' drive from the city, in an area still under Taliban control, residents are waiting for signs of progress. One man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said locals were too afraid to venture out after dark. "When the two sides fight, it is the common people who lose." (Additional reporting by Feroz Sultani in KUNDUZ, James Mackenzie in KABUL and Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth picked his son Pravind as finance minister, the president's office said on Wednesday. The younger Jugnauth, 53, was earlier in the day cleared by the country's supreme court of a conflict-of-interest conviction. A lower court had found him guilty, while previously serving as finance minister, of being party to a decision to reallocate health ministry funds to acquire a private hospital, Medpoint, in which his sister had shares. The appointment of Pravind Jugnauth, who also previously served as technology minister, had been widely expected once his conviction had been quashed. Anerood Jugnauth has been covering the finance ministry brief since March, when Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo quit citing personal reasons. The prime minister, who was also head of government from 1982 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2003, is hailed by his supporters as the father of the Mauritius economic miracle of the 1980s, when the Indian Ocean island liberalised its economy and began the process of reducing it dependency on sugar cane production. It now serves as an offshore financial centre favoured by many firms and investors as an entry point into Africa. Pravind Jugnauth's first major challenge will be to draft a budget for presentation to parliament next month in line with government commitments to stimulate growth, attract investment and create jobs. (Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by John Stonestreet)
By Himank Sharma and Matthew Miller MUMBAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - With slowing iPhone sales in China, Apple Inc is having to take India more seriously, but investors hoping for a stock price fillip from CEO Tim Cook's week-long Asia trip instead were given a taste of the daunting challenges that lie ahead. The second leg of Cook's trip, to India, the world's third-largest smartphone market, comes at a crucial time as Apple battles slowing growth in China, its second-biggest market. But the challenges suggest it will be years before India is anything close to a major earnings pillar for the U.S. tech giant. "With China saturating, everybody has no choice but to look at India, and Apple's rivals have been strengthening there in the last two years. Apple is playing catch-up," said Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. While the numbers in India suggest huge potential - fewer than two in every 10 of the country's 1.3 billion people have a smartphone - the world's fastest growing major market operates differently to other markets where Apple has enjoyed stellar growth and high margins. Apple's traditional model is to sell its phones at full price to local telecoms carriers, which then discount them to users in exchange for charging them for data as part of a multi-month contract. Not so in India. "In India, carriers in general sell virtually no phones and it is out in retail - and retail is many, many different small shops," Cook told analysts recently. "Because smartphones there are low-end, primarily because of the network and the economics, the market potential has not been as great," added Cook, likening India to the Chinese market 7-10 years ago. In meetings with India's two largest carriers, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, Cook discussed ways to work more closely to sell iPhones, including whether a contract pricing model could work in India. He said Apple sees opportunities to expand in the market as operators roll out 4G services. "The trip was more about understanding the Indian market, but was also about signaling to the world that Apple has arrived in India," said Vishal Tripathi, research director at Gartner. PRICE SENSITIVE Another challenge for Apple is how to be a premium-end player in a low-income market. "In India, incomes are so low that not many customers appreciate the full value of the Apple ecosystem, and it will take a lot more effort for Apple to sell the Macs and iPads in Indian stores compared to China," said Strategy Analytics' Ukonaho. India is a more price sensitive market than China, and Apple's relatively expensive iPhones are out of reach to most Indians, who on average live on less than $3.10 a day according to World Bank data. With per capita income of $1,570 as of 2014 and the average smartphone selling for less than $90, a third of the global average, India's market growth is predominantly led by cheaper phones. High-end smartphones - costing from $300 - make up only 6 percent of the market, or just 6 million units, according to Morgan Stanley. Rebuffed by India's government in its plan to import and sell used, refurbished iPhones, Apple has seen only slow growth in a market dominated by Samsung Electronics and Chinese brands. That issue was not resolved in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - which a Modi aide called "extremely successful" - and government officials have pressed Apple to set up manufacturing facilities in India, said officials involved in discussions, a move that would create jobs and boost Modi's "Make in India" initiative. "Now it's for Apple to talk about their plans," the Modi aide said. Apple declined to comment on what Cook achieved on his Asia trip. MORE MARKETING Apple's brand awareness ranks 10th in India, trailing Samsung, Sony, Blackberry and some local rivals. Almost half of respondents in a Morgan Stanley survey said they do not know Apple. While Apple is likely to double its share in the $400-plus segment to 40 percent, it "has to significantly increase its store presence, ramp up marketing, and add local content," the brokerage said in a recent note. A first Apple retail store in India is unlikely to open its doors until next year at the earliest. In internal meetings, Cook stressed how Apple wants to increase its retail operations in India and work with re-sellers to make its products available more widely. "We've been hiring for India retail and distribution for the last few months, and Tim's message was that we need to double down on that," said an Apple official in India. In China, where iPhone sales slumped in January-March and some online entertainment services were suspended, Cook also had little to cheer investors. At meetings with Chinese officials, Cook emphasized Apple's contributions to China's economy - creating jobs, generating revenue and paying taxes - said people familiar with the matter. His visit came just days after Apple announced a $1 billion investment in a local ride-hailing app firm, a move Cook says will help Apple better understand China. But when he asked about the shutdown of online services and emphasized that Apple had followed procedures in establishing those services, he was told only that China would look into it, the people said. (Reporting by Himank Sharma in MUMBAI and Matthew Miller in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Rupam Nair in NEW DELHI; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Three North Koreans who worked at a restaurant in China have defected and fled to a third country, the South Korean government said Monday, the second time this year North Korean foreign workers have fled.

About 50,000 North Koreans work in foreign countries and send money back to the government. The funds are a valuable source of foreign currency for Pyongyang, which is the target of international sanctions, earning an estimated $10 million each year. Restaurants are a particularly favored option for the regime. North Koreans work in some 130 restaurants in 12 countries and, as we have previously reported, the workers are chosen for their perceived loyalty to the regime.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

North Koreans who have defected to South Korea and other countries while working abroad have said harsh conditions and their exposure to foreign media influenced their decision to flee. While individuals have defected while working at North Korean restaurants in previous years, the group defection in April is the first known mass escape. North Korea has said the workers were abducted by South Korea and called for their return. China said the workers left the country legally using valid passports.

The New Focus International news agency, based in South Korea, first published news of the latest defections. The head of the news agency, Jang Jin-sung, told the Journal he expects the workers to be safely inside South Korea within two weeks.

Thirteen North Korean restaurant workers defected last month.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Emily Stephenson, Steve Gorman and Ginger Gibson ANAHEIM, Calif. (Reuters) - Protesters at a rally in Southern California held by Donald Trump on Wednesday carried signs saying "Stop Nazi Trump" and "Make America Hate Again," as a large police presence stood by a day after a Trump event in New Mexico erupted into chaos. Police outnumbered the 100 demonstrators outside the convention centre where Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee in the Nov. 8 presidential election, was speaking. Many were unhappy about Trump's views on Hispanic immigrants and ripped apart a pinata resembling Trump and placed the paper mache head on top of a flagpole with a large Mexican flag. Police had warned they would take "swift" action if protests at the event in Anaheim escalated. About 100 police officers stood watch behind metal barricades and another 50 sheriff's deputies lined up along the convention centre. It was not until long after the rally that police were finally called in to disperse the protesters. A police helicopter circled overhead telling people to disperse or risk arrest. Inside, Trump was disrupted by protesters as he spoke, including one who waved a Mexican flag. "Do not hurt him," Trump said as a man was led out of the arena. "I say that for the television cameras. Even though he is a bad person." Trump's appearances in the U.S. West in areas with significant Hispanic populations have drawn large protests - such as Tuesday night's violence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where rock-throwing demonstrators were arrested. Trump's remarks that Mexico is sending criminals and rapists to the United States, made when he launched his campaign last year, have been a lightning rod for protesters. Trump's problems with Latino voters could dampen his Nov. 8 election hopes. A poll by the political research group Latino Decisions found 87 percent of registered Hispanic voters view Trump unfavourably. States like Nevada and New Mexico have growing Hispanic populations that could tip the election. Trump's trip west came ahead of the California and New Mexico nominating contests on June 7. Trump also planned to hold several large fundraising events while in California. It is the first high-dollar fundraising event the New York real estate mogul has held after largely self-funding his primary campaign. Mike McGetrick, one of two people carrying "Latinos for Trump" signs at the Anaheim rally, said he is part of a group called America First Latinos, whose website describes its members as believing in "the rule of law, hard work and the American Dream." He said his neighbourhood in nearby Orange is "being overrun" by undocumented immigrants. "There are so many of them, and theyre everywhere," said McGetrick, 62, a retired city worker. "I can tell an illegal from a regular person just like that." Trump supporters have been hopeful that his likely opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, will be dogged by her own problems to offset his difficulty with some populations. On Wednesday, Clinton faced renewed criticism about her use of a private email server for government business while secretary of state after a report by the State Department's inspector general said she had violated agency policies. Trump only briefly addressed the report in his appearance in Anaheim. "Not good," he said. "Inspector generals report, not good." "CRIMINALS!" In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Trump called the protesters in Albuquerque "thugs who were flying the Mexican flag." "The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!" he said. Trump headed next to Anaheim, which is about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Los Angeles. At the city's 7,500-seat convention centre, authorities boosted staffing levels, deployed officers on motorcycles to control traffic and urged attendees to be on their best behaviour, Anaheim Police Sergeant Daron Wyatt said. "We respect the rights of everyone to protest and get their word out," Wyatt said, adding they must do so "peacefully and within the confines of the law." City officials said they were prepared for Trump's appearance. Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said, "Everyone has the right to participate without fear of violence or disorder and we are prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action should it become necessary." On Tuesday night, hundreds of protesters tried to swarm the convention centre in Albuquerque where Trump spoke, knocking down barricades, waving Mexican flags and hurling rocks and bottles at police officers in riot gear. Police responded with smoke bombs and pepper spray. Police said they made arrests both outside and inside the rally, where protesters continually interrupted Trump's speech. The police department's Twitter feed said officers were treated for injuries caused by thrown rocks. (Reporting by Megan Cassella, Suzannah Gonzales, Emily Stephenson, Amy Tennery, Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Writing by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Bill Trott and Leslie Adler)
By Ginger Gibson and Jonathan Allen WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump this week took his use of sordid accusations against Democrat Hillary Clinton to levels unprecedented in modern U.S. presidential campaigns, in the latest example of the Republican's unorthodox playbook. The presumptive Republican nominee is working to gain stronger footing and offset a big advantage Clinton is likely to have ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election: a huge campaign war chest that she and her allies intend to use to launch a barrage of attacks against him. Trump is using the same strategy he used repeatedly during the Republican nomination fight against rivals like Ted Cruz: making incendiary statements that U.S. television networks cannot resist covering, giving him hours of free media and putting his opponents on the defensive. The strategy may already be working. Trump has raised more than a few eyebrows with his latest round of attacks against Clinton. He has turned history into headlines that play like a virtual reel in the 24-hour news world of cable TV and the internet. Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said the strategy makes sense. "Clearly, she's going to have massive amounts of money," Lewandowski told Reuters. "The difference is Mr. Trump has funded his campaign. What weve been able to do in this campaign cycle is to generate earned media based on Mr. Trumps ability to be a straight talker, and genuine and authentic, and I think thats what drives the news cycle." Trump's latest salvos include a rape accusation against former President Bill Clinton dating to the 1970s and the suicide of an aide to the former president in 1993 - events that the campaign links to Hillary Clinton. An online video released by Trump has various women accusing the former president of rape or unwanted sexual advances. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of helping to silence the women. The Clintons and their supporters have dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated. Then, in an interview with The Washington Post, Trump suggested that the Clintons may have been involved in the 1993 death of Vince Foster, a former aide to Bill Clinton and a friend of Hillary Clinton, even though more than five investigations, including one conducted by Republican special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, concluded that Foster committed suicide in a Virginia park. Trump was alluding to theories over the years that have been circulated in tabloid publications, in the depths of the internet and in books by the Clintons' foes. On Wednesday, Trump's campaign accidentally sent an email to a reporter at Politico revealing that the Republican plans to next attack Clinton regarding Whitewater, a real estate scandal that plagued Bill Clinton's administration. No wrongdoing by the Clintons was ever proven. The attacks have put Hillary Clinton on her back foot. Trump "just continues to gobble news cycle after news cycle," said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who ran the Super PACs that backed Senator Ted Cruz in the primary and aggressively attacked Trump. "Clinton is spending less time campaigning about the future and more time explaining the past than she would probably like. The barrage puts Clinton in a bind. So far, she has opted to ignore Trump's personal attacks and her campaign has offered general pushback. But Clinton risks the negative onslaught dragging down her standing with the public and irreversibly damaging her general election hopes. "I played a lot of hardball in my life, but I don't envy what the Clinton campaign is up against here. Trump himself has totally changed the political dynamic," said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who supports Clinton. "What they can't afford to do is get in the gutter with the guy. He has absolutely no morals or scruples. Getting into the gutter with him is an absolute waste of time." Clinton's campaign and the Super PACs supporting her will not be without funds to try to combat the attacks and launch her own. At the end of April, she had $30 million in her campaign account, compared with Trump's $2 million. And the PAC supporting her, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, had $46 million at the end of April - a total that is likely to grow over the summer. The PAC backing Trump is just getting off the ground. Clinton will also depend on an army of surrogates to try to combat Trump without having to respond to him herself. Trump has already proven he can dispatch opponents without spending much money by defining them to voters through aggressive appearances on news programs. Republican rival Jeb Bush had a more than $100 million (68 million) advantage going into the primary. But Trump painted him as "low energy" and defined him as inept, a characterization Bush's money was never able to overcome. The PACs backing Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz spent millions assailing Trump. Trump was able to leverage extensive coverage of his campaign by the media to combat their attacks while spending little money on advertising. Trump has been proven an expert at raising attack lines that have already been settled, but insisting that questions remain. He spent years demanding that President Barack Obama produce his birth certificate, despite myriad evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii, including government records of the president's birth in Honolulu. For Trump, some of the attacks are targeted at young voters - those in their early 20s and 30s were too young to have been immersed in news about the scandals of the Clinton years. "You have a whole series of the population who either (a) dont know anything about it, or (b) werent paying attention at the time," Lewandowski said. A Clinton ally said Trump is simply trying to distract attention from his own liabilities - such as refusing to release his tax returns and his own history of problems with women. "The more he raises these outrageous and outlandish charges," said U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, of California, a Democratic leader in the House, "the more he keeps you pedalling in a different direction." (Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)
By Michael Holden and Susan Heavey LONDON/WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday that British Prime Minister David Cameron had asked him to visit, but a UK spokesman said no invitation had been extended. The apparent crossed signals were the latest sign of tension between the presumptive Republican Party nominee and the leader of a major U.S. ally, who has criticized Trump's call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Trump, in a morning interview with MSNBC, said Cameron extended the invitation to visit 10 Downing Street two days ago and that he "might do it." He gave no other details. A spokesman for Cameron's office said it was a longstanding practice for the prime minister to meet with the Republican and Democrat presidential nominees if they visited Britain. "Given the parties have yet to choose their nominees, there are no confirmed dates for this," the spokesman said. However, a Downing Street source said a formal invite would not be sent out to presidential candidates. Trump's comments followed a transatlantic exchange between the two men over Cameron's criticism. In December, Cameron called Trump "divisive, stupid and wrong" and suggested Trump would unite Britain against him if he visited the United Kingdom. After Trump clinched his party's nomination this month, Cameron acknowledged the achievement but said he stood by his earlier comments and would not apologize. Trump fired back this week, saying on Monday that he was likely not to have a good relationship with Cameron. But the next day he said he expected to have "a good relationship" and on Friday Trump said Cameron had invited him to London. "I will do just fine with David Cameron. I think he's a nice guy. I will do just fine," Trump told MSNBC. "But they have asked me to visit 10 Downing Street - and I might do it." Cameron has said he will work with the winner of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election and is committed to maintaining the special U.S.-UK relationship, his spokesman has said. Trump's proposed ban also drew criticism from Sadiq Khan, who was elected mayor of London this month and is the first Muslim to hold the post. Khan said last week that Trumps "ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe." (Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council voted on Wednesday to end sanctions and an arms embargo on Liberia, citing the West African country's successful stabilization more than a decade after a 14-year civil war that killed nearly 250,000 people. The unanimously adopted resolution by the 15-nation council welcomed "the sustained progress made by the government of Liberia in rebuilding Liberia for the benefit of all Liberians." U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations David Pressman welcomed the move, saying the targeted sanctions on key individuals, the arms embargo and a ban on the export of Liberian timber and rough diamonds had contributed to Liberia's stability. "Liberia continues to consolidate its progress and the Security Council has determined that the criteria for lifting the sanctions have been met, allowing us to fully terminate the (sanctions) regime," he said. Washington wanted to see Liberia continue to strengthen its security agencies to ensure better arms flow monitoring and border patrols, he added. The decision formally dissolves the U.N. Liberia sanctions committee and panel of experts that monitored implementation of the arms embargo and other measures, most of which had been in place since 2003. The U.N. first implemented a type of arms embargo for Liberia in 1992. Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, began the 1989-2003 civil war in the nation, which was founded by descendants of freed American slaves. He was sentenced in 2012 to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed in neighbouring Sierra Leone during its 1991-2002 civil war. The Security Council last year lifted a travel ban and asset freezes on individuals deemed a danger to Liberia's stability. The United States lifted its own economic sanctions on Liberia in November. Concern about the use of Liberian "blood diamonds" to help fund the civil war helped inspire the creation of the U.N.-backed Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a programme to certify the origins of diamonds that was set up in 2002 following devastating civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The system has made it far more difficult to traffic in conflict diamonds. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the end of sanctions on Liberia, calling it another signal of progress made by Liberia and the sub-region in maintaining stability, spokesman Farhan Haq said. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Paul Simao and Frances Kerry)
By Maria Tsvetkova and Pavel Polityuk MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home to scenes of jubilation on Wednesday after her release by Russia in a prisoner swap and she promptly offered to fight again for Kiev in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists. Savchenko's handover, in return for two Russian prisoners - had been demanded by the West and was cast as a humanitarian gesture by Russian President Vladimir Putin a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia imposed over its support of the rebels. Savchenko, 35, barefoot - it was unclear why - and wearing a T-shirt depicting the Ukrainian coat of arms, emerged from the terminal at Kiev's Boryspil airport to cries of "hero" from a crowd of supporters, among them her sister and mother. "Huge thanks for fighting for me. I thank everyone who wished me well. Thanks to you I survived. To those who wished me ill, I survived despite you!" she shouted. "I can't revive the dead, but I am always ready to lay down my life on the battlefield for Ukraine. And I will do everything possible for every person in captivity to be freed." She was captured in 2014 while fighting with Ukrainian forces against pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. She was handed over to Russia and found guilty of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists who were killed by artillery fire while reporting on the conflict. As Savchenko touched down in Kiev, Russian television showed footage of Putin meeting relatives of the two Russian journalists to explain his decision to pardon her. "I want to... express the hope that such decisions, which are dictated first of all by humanitarian considerations, will lead to a reduction in the confrontation in the conflict zone and will help avoid such losses, which are terrible and which nobody needs," Putin said. State television also showed the two Russians handed over by Kiev, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, descending the steps of an aircraft after it touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The pair - who told Reuters in an interview last year that they were Russian special forces soldiers captured while on a secret mission in eastern Ukraine - were embraced on the tarmac by their wives. As part of the exchange deal, which could help ease tensions between Russia and the West, they received official pardons from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE Savchenko, a military pilot, had volunteered to fight with a ground unit against the separatists in eastern Ukraine. At her trial in southern Russia, Savchenko was accused of acting as an artillery spotter, calling down the fire that killed the journalists. She denied this. A Russian court sentenced her in March to 22 years in jail. She is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia, a perception bolstered by her defiant behaviour in court during her trial. At one point, she interrupted the judge reading out his verdict by standing on a bench and singing the Ukrainian anthem at the top of her voice. Russia has never explicitly acknowledged that it sent active duty Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine, so it was not clear how Alexandrov and Yerofeyev would be treated on their return home. While in Kiev, they had accused Moscow of disowning them. Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement that he hoped Savchenko's release "will help build trust between Ukraine and Russia". Russia's relations with its neighbour and fellow ex-Soviet republic Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration. Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev. Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow. Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large Russian-speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but a permanent settlement to the conflict remains elusive. (Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow and Alexei Kalmykov in Kiev; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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.
Veteran Chech-Republic hard-bop saxophonist Ondrej Stveracek, has been a mainstay of the European jazz scene and remains one of the finest proponents of the bop sound, now delivers another outstanding musical statement with the misleadingly titled Calm, since the meat of this date, is far more explosive and fiery than calm in texture. The album's repertoireall originals (five from the leader, two from the bassist and one from Amsterdam saxophonist Emiel Wienholts)can be more accurately described as sizzling modern bop with a flair.The recording features Philadelphia-born and New York-based drummer, former member of thebands and now an educator when not performing or on tour. The quartet also includes long -time band mate and fellow countrymen, bassistwith Slovakian pianist Klaudius Kovac rounding out the foursome. This musical assemblage of talent turns out to be one of the pleasant surprises here as this quartet is tight and produces one heck of a powerful sound.The album starts out with a hard-bop-tinged original from the leader highlighted by forceful tenor voicings, strong pounding stick work on solo moments from Jackson and delightful key work from the pianist making the tune "Spanish," an excellent beginning to excellent recording. While the overwhelming music here is certainly, of the hard boppish style, there is one beautiful soft spot here and that goes to the Baros composition "Red in Brown" where the saxophonist is warm and gentle and the pianist, sublime.Stveracek's original "Jin-Fizz" and the title track returns the music to its main theme with more modern pieces like "E.N.T." and "D1" all percolating with a decidedly hard-bop flair featuring the saxophonist on some of his best solo spots. One of the highlights here, has to be the group's version of the Wienholts composition "King of Saxophone," not entirely a hard-bop piece, this one has a terrific melody that's a tad more mellow but still, features a whaling saxophonist on great flame throwing solos.The finale piece has a familiar title with "Meditation," but should not be confused with the more, oft-recorded composition fromas this "Meditation," has no Brazilian connection and is all Stveracek's resembling the music on this date. This Ondrej Stveracek Quartet comes out swinging with one blistering burner after another showing little respect for the album's misguided title Calm nevertheless, this is truly one compelling session of jazz sure to stir up some excitement. With outstanding musicianship and an energized selection of music worth repeated spins, saxophonist Stveracek has another winner of a recording on his hands, certain to get serious attention.
Brazilian music is an immediately recognizable genre with a distinct sense of melancholy underlying its beautiful melodies and harmonies. Indeed, the poetic lyrics, the soft edges of the language itself and the particular chordal colorings chosen virtually define that which is "Brazil."Although this exceedingly attractive music has naturally been picked up by musicians all over the world, getting inside of it when one is not born and raised in that culture, is something that feels well-nigh impossible.(born Althier Carlos de Souza Lemos Escobar in 1950) is a guitarist and composer who has recorded a dozen CDs and who is now lauded as one the most important composers in Brazil today.Porto Da Madama not only justifies all of the critical praise he has gained, but should burnish his star even higher. Consisting of thirteen beautiful songs, including five written by Guinga himself or in partnership with another, Guinga provides solo acoustic guitar accompaniment, arrangements and occasional vocals for four quite different female vocalists:andwho each deliver exquisite performances.Both guitar and voice and closely recorded, creating a strong sense of intimacy and that the performers are playing and singing for you, the listener. Guinga is a superb guitarist and knows how to weave his playing around the vocals, as well as to support them.There is not much one can do except to bathe in the glowing beauty of the melodies, the voices and the guitar. This music will stop you in your tracks and virtually force you to sit down and let it overtake your senses. A tear here or there will not be out of place as would having your partner close bythe music is that sensual.As an example, this a translation of "Ligia":I've never dreamed of you, I've never gone to the moviesI don't like samba, I don't go to IpanemaI don't like rain, I don't like sunI never called you up, why, if I knew?I never attemptedand would never darethe sweet nothingsThat I learned with youNo, Ligia, LigiaTo go out with you holding hands on a serene afternoonA cold beer in a bar in IpanemaWalk along the beach down to LeblonI've never fallen in love, I'd never be able to marry youI would suffer such pain inevitably just to lose you in the endYou come close to me with your peculiar ways, and I say yesBut your brown eyes fill me with more fear than a ray of sunLigia, LigiaSee here for the story and controversy surrounding this song.Listen to Porto Da Madama and enter the heart of Brazil. Beautiful, just beautiful.
There has been a significant increase in the number of GP-led transactions reviewed by LPs over the past 12 months, according to a study by Capstone Partners focused on GP-led Secondaries.
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs that on May 24 the USD exchange rate was 477.70 AMD which is an increase of 0.12 drams compared to the previous day.

Armenpress reports that the Euro decreased by 1.15 drams forming 534.26 drams. British pound increased by 4.76 drams forming 696.87 drams, Russian ruble increased by 0.02 drams reaching to 7.14 drams on May 24.

The prices for precious metals are as follows: the price for silver per gram is 250.5 AMD, gold-19,135.04 AMD, and platinum-15,465.92 AMD.
STEPANAKERT, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received Member of French National Assembly, chairman of the France-Artsakh friendship circle Francois Rochebloine and head of the France-Armenia Parliamentary friendship group Rene Rouquet on May 24.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of ARtsakh Presidents Office, issues related to developing ties between the Artsakh and French parliaments, public and political circles were discussed at the meeting.

The Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement and regional developments were touched upon too.

President Sahakyan expressed gratitude to the guests for the great and principal activity directed towards deepening friendly relations between the two states and peoples, qualifying it as an exemplary manifestation of sincere friendship and humanism.

NKR National Assembly vice-chairman Vahram Balayan and other officials partook in the meeting.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Civil engineers and contractors of the Robins Air Force Base of Georgia, USA, are renovating the elderly care center of Yerevan city, says the US Embassy.

The renovation works began May 10 by the 116th Civil Engineer Squadron, 116th Air Control Wing (ACW), Georgia Air National Guard, in partnership with Armenian contractors in Yerevan, Armenia. The project is being completed through the European Command Humanitarian Civic Assistance program. During the project, civil engineers from the 116th ACW and a structural craftsman from the 461st ACW worked in partnership with the Armenian people to renovate the Yerevan elderly institution. The renovation provided crucial skill-set training for the civil engineers while continuing the long-lasting friendship between the Armenian people and the citizens of the United States.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament completely adopted the Electoral Code at third reading. As Armenpress reports, 102 MPs voted for, 17 against the Electoral Code. 3 MPs abstained from voting.

Before the voting head of the ANC faction Levon Zurabyan delivered a speech: We note that the Electoral Code with this format does not resolve the OSCE/ODIHR proposals, it does not resolve the issues raised by the civil society and the opposition political forces. Thats why we will vote against the draft, however, we hope that a wide consensus will eventually take place over the Electoral Code, Zurabyan said.

MP Hrant Bagratyan also stated that he will vote against the Electoral Code.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian delegation led by First Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan participates in the 10th Georgia Defense and Security conference, press service of the Ministry of Defense informed Armenpress.

First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, lieutenant-general Enriko Apriamov is also among the delegation members.

Davit Tonoyan held meetings with the representatives of the Defense Ministries of Georgia and other partner states.

Enriko Apriamov met Chief of the Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, mayor-general Vakhtang Kapanadze.

Issues related to the bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, as well as the international and regional security were discussed during the meeting.
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign minister Edwatd Nalbandian received the vice president of the German Bundestag Edelgard Bulmahn on May 25. The sides talked about the discussion of the resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide scheduled to be held on June 2.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, Edward Nalbandian highly appreciated the friendly relations between the two countries, stating that the active partnership and interactions between the legislatives of the countries play a huge role in that relations.

Edward Nalbandian stressed that the adoption of the resolution will be a huge step towards restoration of historical justice and prevention of similar crimes. In this context, the vice president of the Bundestag mentioned that the recognition of the Armenian genocide will foster regional peace and stability and reconciliation of the Armenian and Turkish peoples. She highlighted that it is important to always remember the past and pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. As Edelgard Bulmahn put it down, the German legislative must give an assessment to the role of the German Empire since Germany was the then ally of the Ottoman Empire and did not prevent the crime.

The Armenian foreign minister and German Bundestag vice president discussed a range of bilateral issues.

As for Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the sides referred to the implementation of the agreements reached between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan at Vienna talks, stressing the importance of unconditional fulfilment of commitments.
Are you a librarian or publisher? Take advantage of our bibliographic services to help your organisation give your customers exactly what they want.

Among our metadata services is the British National Bibliography, the most comprehensive record of UK publications from 1950 to the present. You can download weekly updates or monthly files and more for your catalogue, collection development or research.

Use our identifier services to ensure your UK organisation or serial publication is identifiable according to international standards such as ISIL and ISSN.

You can also attend our training for cataloguers. With our courses, you'll be equipped to get the most out of current bibliographic standards. Read our collection metadata strategy and find out how we're going to maintain quality and improve services.
Find out what its really like to work here.

When youre thinking about applying for a job somewhere, its extremely helpful to be able to get an honest picture of the organisation youre considering joining from the employees themselves. After all, you want to feel comfortable, not just about the job youre taking on and the benefits on offer, but the sort of environment youll be working in too.

With that in mind, weve provided details about our departments and the work they do and the kind of opportunities we offer. Weve also asked a variety of individuals and teams in a number of areas of the Library to tell us what they do day-to-day and what working life at the Library is really like. Please feel free to explore some of their responses.
Find this Reading Room at our site in Boston Spa, near Wetherby in Yorkshire. You can consult millions of items including books, periodicals, newspapers, microfilm, sound recordings and electronic resources.

Who is the Boston Spa Reading Room for?

Anyone can use our Boston Spa Reading Room, you just need a Reader Pass. Typical users include students from York or Leeds universities, family history researchers, academics, or those with a particular hobby.

In the Boston Spa Reading Room you can:

order collection items to view in the Reading Room using our catalogues

access online databases and electronic books and journals.

Changes at Boston Spa

Sorry about the noise. Were preparing to transform our Boston Spa site.

Construction begins this autumn, but throughout the summer there may be some noise. Were planning to keep the Reading Room open, but we expect some unavoidable periods of significant disruption.

Some of our collections are being moved to enable this work. As a result, some of the items you requested might not be available. Please check My Reading Room Requests before you set out to make sure your items will be here when you are or get in touch if you have any questions.

Items available to order to this Reading Room

You can use our catalogues to order items to use in the Reading Room.

Collection items are stored across our two sites in London and Yorkshire so some may be unavailable for same day ordering and may take up to 48 hours to be delivered to the Reading Room. We recommend you request items in advance of your visit, and check My Reading Room Requests before you visit.

Collection items available include:

Legal deposit and general reference collection

We receive a copy of every book, magazine, journal and newspaper published in the UK. Most of this material is available to order to view at Boston Spa, along with purchased and overseas titles from our reference collections.

Newspapers

Boston Spa is the home of the UK national newspaper collection which comprises more than three centuries of local, regional and national newspapers. You can order these newspapers to view in the Reading Room.

There is also free access to more than 20 million digitised pages of historic newspapers via the British Newspaper Archive resource, and you can order newspapers on microfilm held in London, or print newspapers where no digital or microfilm alternative exists.

Document Supply collection

For over 50 years our Document Supply service has underpinned academic inter-library lending across the UK. It includes: 3 million research level books, 210,000 journal titles, 400,000 conference proceedings and 130,000 music scores.

Sound recordings

Access 3 million sound recordings via our Sound and Moving Image Catalogue which provides instant access to a growing collection of sound and video recordings, including our most frequently requested items. The service is self-operated but as it is only available on one computer terminal in the Reading Room we recommend that you contact us to make a reservation.

Electronic resources

We have a wide range of electronic databases and resources, many of which are available only on PCs in the Reading Room. These include journal collection search interfaces, where you can search for articles across a range of journal titles.

Using the Boston Spa Reading Room

Anyone with a British Library Reader Pass can access the Boston Spa Reading Room.

Get a Reader Pass.

Facilities

Lockers

Please leave coats and bags in the lockers. You will be provided with a token once you have signed in at the Reception desk.

Catering

Our restaurant is available for hot and cold drinks and snacks. The restaurant is card only.

Free Wi-Fi

To access free Wi-Fi, create an account once you arrive onsite.

Accessibility

The Reading Room is on the ground floor and has full wheelchair access. We have access to height-adjustable tables, alternative keyboards, and facilities for people with visual and hearing impairments.

Getting here

We are located at Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ

By car

Exit A1M (J45 northbound, J46 southbound) and follow signs to Thorp Arch Estate and Retail Park. A1237. There is ample visitor parking on-site and a pick-up and drop-off point outside Reception. Disabled parking is located behind Reception.

By Bike

There are dedicated cycle racks on site.

By Rail

York and Leeds Stations are both about 30 minutes away by car or taxi.

By Bus

From Leeds and Harrogate there is a limited service to Walton Corner and Thorp Arch Trading Estate (Harrogate and District Services  Number 7).

From York there is one daily return service (Arriva Service 412).

University Shuttle Bus Services

The University of Sheffield and University of York operate their own free minibus transport for their staff and students. Their timetables are as follows:

Sheffield

First Tuesday of the month.

The bus leaves the University at 08.45 and returns at approximately 17.00. A place can be booked on the University of Sheffield website.

York

Alternate Wednesdays and Fridays.

The bus departs the University at 09.30 and leaves the Reading Room at 16.15. A place can be booked on the University of York website.

Reference enquiries

If you need help, you can get in touch with our Reference Specialists. They can:

Guide you to the most appropriate material for your research

Advise you on how to access and use our printed and electronic collection and resources most effectively

Help you to use our catalogues and answer your bibliographic questions

Suggest other libraries, archives and institutions that you might find useful in your research, or guide you to relevant websites and free online resources.

If your enquiry requires more specialist help than we can provide we will forward your enquiry to the appropriate person in the Library or suggest alternative sources.

You can email the team, use our Quick Chat service, or get in touch via Twitter.
This week the European Commission released a report on digital progress in the EU, with significant points raised for broadband use and accessibility in Ireland.

The report highlights that more progress is needed on increasing digital skills; in 2015 only 44% of the Irish population have sufficient digital skills to operate effectively online, compared to 55% of the EU average.

The report continues;Just over two thirds of EU households have Internet access at home (67%)  a slight increase since 2014, however prices for fixed broadband in Ireland are however almost double the EU average, when measured as a proportion of income, and remain unchanged since last year.

While 96% of the Irish households are covered by fixed broadband this is somewhat below the EU average. However take-up is only at 65% of households; as such, Ireland ranks 20th in the EU on both these indicators.

22% of European homes subscribe to fast broadband access of at least 30 Mbps, more than seven times higher than in 2010. Belgium, the Netherlands and Malta are the leaders in Europe in fast broadband take-up, while Croatia, Greece, Italy and Cyprus are at the bottom of the list.

The most popular online activities amongst Irish internet users are VoD (Video on Demand, 68%), Social Networking (66%), online shopping (63%) and online Banking (64%).

On a more positive note the report highlights how e-commerce has driven Irish business; Irish SMEs have taken to eCommerce relatively more readily than those in most other EU countries. 32% of Irish SMEs sell online, significantly above the average for the EU of 26%. 19% of their turnover comes from this source. On average in the EU it is 17%. 16% of Irish SMEs sell cross-border.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Donating Your Vehicle To Charity

Throughout the state solicitations seeking donations of used cars can appear in newspapers, billboards, and elsewhere. Not all of those solicitations are from worthy charities, and some may not be from charities at all. By taking a few precautions, you can ensure that your vehicle donation will serve a worthy charitable purpose and provide you with a legitimate tax deduction.

Tips for Donating Your Car to Charity:

Make Sure the Charity is Registered and Tax-Exempt

1. Search the Attorney General's Charities Bureau Registry at www.charitiesnys.com to see if the charity is properly registered and has filed its financial reports with the Attorney General.

2. Confirm that the charity is a 501(c)(3) organization - if it isn't, your contribution will not be tax deductible. The IRS lists 501(c)(3) organizations in its Publication 78 at

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search

Find out How Your Contribution Will be Used

1. Find out what the charity will do with your car. Will it be given to a needy individual or sold? Try to find a charity that will actually use your car in its programs or give it to a needy individual. If the car will be sold, find out exactly how much of the sale price will actually be kept by the charity. Be wary of claims such as "all proceeds will go to charity."

2. Find out what the charity does with its money. Contact the charity and confirm that your donation will be used for the purposes stated by the telemarketer. Review the charity's financial reports to see how much of its money is used for charitable programs and how much is used for administrative costs. Financial reports of charities are available on the Attorney General's Web site at www.charitiesnys.com.

3. Make sure that you are actually giving your car to a charity. Some car donation programs are conducted by for-profit towing companies or used car dealers who claim to pick up cars on behalf of a charity when there is little or no charitable benefit. Do not donate your car if you cannot confirm that your contribution will go to a charity.

4. If you respond to a billboard sign or advertisement, or receive a telephone call asking you to donate a car to a charity, you may be speaking with a paid professional fundraiser and not the charity. Many professional fundraisers receive most of the money they raise. Ask how much the fundraiser is being paid and how much is going to charity. Contact the Charities Bureau at charities.fundraising@ag.ny.gov to find out if the fundraiser is registered with the Charities Bureau - professional fundraisers are required to be registered and to file financial reports with the Attorney General's Charities Bureau.

Don't be Pressured by Emotional Ads or Offers Too Good to be True

1. Don't be pressured by emotional ads or pressure to donate - take your time in identifying a charity that will make good use of your contribution. Any worthy charity will be happy to give you sufficient time to make your decision.

2. Be wary of offers that seem too good to be true. Some car donation programs offer vacation trips and large gift certificates in exchange for the donation of a car. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Is it realistic to expect that you will be given a vacation trip or a $1000 gift certificate in exchange for your klunker? Be aware that if you receive something in exchange for your contribution, you may not be entitled to a tax deduction.

Comply with IRS rules

1. Read the IRS pamphlet "A Donor's Guide to Car Donations" posted at

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/pub4303.pdf

2. Make sure you get a receipt for your donation - the charity is required to give you a receipt, and you will need it in order to claim a tax deduction.

3. Consult the IRS publication "Determining the Value of Donated Property" posted at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/index.html - when setting the value of your donated car.

4. Complete forms required by the IRS, including Form 8283 - posted at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8283.pdf - which may need to be attached to your tax return depending on the amount of the deduction you are claiming.

5. For more information on federal rules and requirements regarding vehicle donation, contact the IRS directly at http://www.irs.gov/



Protect Yourself from Parking Tickets and Other Liabilities

Make sure to transfer the title of your donated car. Some organizations soliciting cars will ask you to leave blank the assignment of ownership line on the car's title papers to make the process simpler for them. However, if the title of your car is not transferred, you may find yourself liable for parking tickets, or worse, responsibility if the car is in an accident.

Keep a copy of the transfer papers for your records.

If you do not have a copy of the title papers, contact the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) - http://www.dmv.ny.gov/index.htm - to find out how to get a replacement. Remember to remove your license plates and surrender them to the DMV or transfer them to another car. Do not leave them on the donated car. Consult the DMV at http://www.dmv.ny.gov/regtransfer.htm for information concerning removal, transfer and surrender of plates.

[back to top]

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I select a charity to donate my car? Many charities solicit donations of cars. Before donating your car, make sure that the charity is a 501(c)(3) organization and is properly registered with the Attorney General's Charities Bureau. You should also find out what it will do with the car or the money it receives by selling it. Contact the charity to find out how it spends its money. Review the charity's financial reports to see how much of its money is used for charitable programs and how much is used for administrative costs. Financial reports of charities are available on the Attorney General's web site at www.charitiesnys.com

How do I find out if a charity is registered with the Attorney General's Charities Bureau Registry? You can find out if a charity is registered by checking the Attorney General's searchable registry on line at www.charitiesnys.com or by sending an email to charities.bureau@ag.ny.gov. Some organizations may be exempt from registration. To determine if an organization is exempt, send an email to charities.bureau@ag.ny.gov.

How do I find out if a charity is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3)organization? The IRS publishes a list of tax-exempt organizations in its Publication 78, which is posted on the internet at https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search

How do I know what the charity will do with my car? Some charities sell the cars they receive either at auctions or to junk yards as scrap. Others use them for their programs or give them to needy people. Before donating your car, you should ask how your car will be used and, if it will be sold, how much the charity will receive.

Can I get a tax-deduction if I donate my car? The IRS permits tax deductions for contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations. For information concerning the rules on tax deductions consult the IRS pamphlets "A donor's Guide to Car Donations" posted at

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/pub4303.pdf and "Determining the Value of Donated Property" posted at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/index.html

Does the charity have to give me a receipt? Charities must give you a receipt if the value of your car is over $250. Make sure to ask for - and receive - a receipt no matter how much your car is worth. Be aware that the IRS may require other forms, depending on the value of your car. Information concerning IRS requirements is posted at www.irs.gov.

Do I need to transfer title of my car to the charity? Yes. Make sure that you fill out the assignment of ownership line on the car's title papers to make sure that ownership of the car is transferred. If you do not have a copy of the title papers, contact the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles - http://www.dmv.ny.gov/index.htm - to find out how to get a replacement.

What should I do with my license plates when I donate my car? You should remove your license plates when donating your car. If they remain on the car, you may be responsible for parking tickets and other violations of law. Consult the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles at http://www.dmv.ny.gov/regtransfer.htm for information concerning removal, transfer and surrender of plates.

What should I do if a towing company asks me to donate my car? Many charities have arrangements with for-profit towing companies that advertise that donated cars will benefit a charity. Often, the towing company pays the charity a fixed amount, sometimes very little, to the charity, regardless of the value of the car. Before donating your car to such companies, find out how much the charity will get from your donation. Better yet, find a charity that will accept your donation directly.

[back to top]

Helpful Links

www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=158

www.charitywatch.org/articles/car.html

www.dmv.ny.gov

www.irs.gov/
The credit union difference has always been about relationships.

As part of the community, credit unions forge real bonds with their members. Its so much more than a business arrangement. Credit unions get to know their members, and become personally invested in their families, their future, and their financial goals. Often times, true friendships are formed beyond the desk to community events and charity drives, all the way to birthday parties and weddings.

Unfortunately, happy endings are usually only a sure thing in movies and love songs.

How am I supposed to live without you?

Sometimes, even in the best relationships, things dont work out as hoped. Unfortunate events and unexpected circumstances can happen to anyone at any time, and they can make it difficult for any member to keep up with their financial obligations. As a credit union, having loans and credit card accounts that are slow to pay or not paying at all can put you in an uneasy position. Your credit union depends on those payments to stay in business and continue serving the community. However, the last thing you want to do is turn a member youve come to know and care about over to some cold collections service or law firm.

My mama told me you better shop around!

Its important to look for a collections option that understands the unique nature of the relationship between credit unions and their members. Find an agency that is sensitive to the fact that good members do experience hard times. As a credit union dedicated to the people helping people philosophy, you want a collections staff that will treat your members with the dignity they deserve. Hire a team that wont threaten or belittle members who already feel pretty bad, but rather will work with them, one-on-one, to figure out a way to pay off their delinquent accounts. Sometimes a member in tough financial times just needs an outside perspective to help them discover a solution they were too close to see.

My heart will go on.

Such collections alternatives do exist for credit unions. Companies like Creditors Resource Service (CRS), a part of LSC. CRS has been working directly with credit unions for decades to recoup delinquent accounts and help members get back on their financial feet. As part of the Illinois Credit Union System, intimidating members is not how they operate. Most of their professional, certified collectors belong to credit unions as well. They will work with your members to get your funds and help right the ship, while you move forward with your business.

Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

Its true, having already charged off funds, hiring a collections agency can add additional heartache, and put a dent in your bottom line. Companies like CRS dont assess any collections fees until member payments are made. That way, you can rest assured they are dedicated to recouping your funds as quickly as possible.

We can work it out.

Whether for delinquent credit cards, loans, or negative shares, its key to find a collections option that understands the unique nature of credit unions, and your relationship to all your members. Its true there are those members who have no intention of paying you back. They probably werent true members, as most likely you didnt have much of a relationship.

Still, a once-good member struggling to make payments today, could be back on their feet down the road. Youd hate to lose them to a competitor when times are good because they felt abandoned when things were bad. Find a team that will treat them with respect and empathy, help them find a way to make their payments, and minimize your losses so that one day you might even repair that relationship and do business together again.

After all, Tony Bennett said it best. Love is lovelier, the second time around.
Throughout their history, credit unions have had a close relationship with all branches of the military. Through that relationship, credit unions have also honored and supported veterans.

In the spirit of that tradition, Georgia Credit Union Affiliates and the Cornerstone Credit Union League are assisting military veterans with home renovation projects.

The initiatives are a collaborative effort with Purple Heart Homes, a charitable organization founded by two Iraq combat-wounded veterans that provides housing solutions to military service-connected disabled veterans and their families.

The Purple Heart campaigns gain steam during May, which Congress designated as National Military Appreciation Month in 1999.
Traditional whistleblower Tedr77 [at] aol.com) by Ted Rudow III. MA

Guardian published a stunning new chapter in the saga of NSA whistleblowers on Sunday, revealing a new key player: John Crane, a former assistant inspector general at the Pentagon who was responsible for protecting whistleblowers, then forced to become one himself when the process failed.







Vindicates NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden who, well aware of what happened to Drake, gave up his attempts to go through traditional whistleblower channels  and instead handed over his trove of classified documents directly to journalists. And it adds to the vindication for Drake, who was already a hero in the whistleblowers pantheon for having endured a four-year persecution by the Justice Department that a judge called unconscionable.



Because darkness cannot stand the light and wrong cannot bear the right, and the big lie cannot tolerate the truth, and them that are bound bitterly resent the freedom of the free; because by all of these the wrongful majority are exposed for their sins of darkness, evil, deception, greed and the enslavement of the exploited, they must, therefore, furiously endeavor to smother the light, say that wrong is right, attempt to shout down and drown out the voice of truth, frustrate and bind the free, and exterminate them that would terminate and expose the own hypocrisy. They can't stand being reminded that they're slaves of the chains of conformity forged by their own hands!



Ted Rudow III, MA


Beyond doing the dishes, photography was Bobs skill that he could offer  and he did so with incredibly regularity and personal sacrifice over many decades. He understood that by taking photos, he was providing a service, allowing a more true story to be heard, amidst the spin of our opponents and distortion of the mainstream media. He knew that his job was to show up, keep his mouth shut, and DFIU (dont mess it up). His approach, in turn, engendered a deep level of trust by almost all with whom Bob worked  to the point that they would open up their lives, families and struggles for Bob to document. This makes Bobs photographic archives (now stored at Stanford University , free for all to download and print  at his insistence) one of the most incredible and deeply personal records of social movement history in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

[ Bob Fitch and Josh Sonnenfeld at Stanford University, 2015 ]

A Tribute to Our Friend, Photographer and Organizer Bob Fitch

By Josh Sonnenfeld

There are two images that come to mind when I think of Bob. The first is of Bob, on the ground, with his back on the pavement of a road somewhere in between the California farming communities of Watsonville and Salinas, clutching his camera in his hands, capturing photo after photo as hundreds of people march over him  part of a Peregrinacion Por La Paz  pilgrimage for peace, for immigrant rights, and against militarism. This was during the height of the latest Iraq war in the mid-2000s. The march was led by Fernando Suarez del Solar, the grieving father of a Marine who died in Iraq, who committed his life to make sure no parent ever had to feel the way that he did. I had come along on the trip with Bob, acting as both an assistant and a fellow photographer, but mostly just as a friend, and I was slightly terrified seeing my then 65-year-old friend on the ground, at risk of being trampled.

Bob always told me that, Youve got to get closer to those you are taking pictures of. He meant that both physically, in this case, but also, I believe, emotionally. To him, his life-long commitment to social justice and community wasnt just a political act or a profession  it was a deep act of love. Those that he struggled alongside over many years  through the civil rights movement, peace movement, farm workers movement, Catholic workers movement, and many others  werent just allies, they were his friends, his lovers, his family.

Documenting these movements to him, was ultimately about documenting people. Everyday people of all ages and backgrounds who did courageous things  who faced down police, the Klu Klux Klan, and armed thugs  but also people who, like all of us, had real flaws: ego, infidelity and chauvinism, shortsightedness and more. Bob understood that our movement leaders, people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Fathers Phillip and Daniel Berrigan, Joan Baez, and many others were both extraordinary people, and also real people  people who laughed, and cried, goofed around, and who made mistakes. Bob also knew that these leaders came out of a particular social context, and that movements were made up of thousands of people  thousands of leaders  whose names most of us will never know. Bob made it his lifes mission to tell the stories of not just those leaders whose names are remembered, but also the foot soldiers of these movements that transformed American life.

In many ways Bob was one of those foot soldiers himself. Experiencing some of the most transformative moments of mid-to-late 20th century history in the U.S. through the lens of a camera, Bob was an incredible and savvy observer. He understood how these movements were organized, the personal struggles and success stories of our leaders and their families, and also the magic that could be produced from movement moments  those times when the distance between reality and what is possible come closest  such as the March on Washington in 1963, where Bob took one of several iconic photographs of Dr. King.

When I met Bob as a 17 year-old high school senior in the run-up to the Iraq war, Bob had gone beyond the camera and was applying the lessons he had learned through many years as a staff member for the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California. With a keen eye for leadership, Bob spotted me as I was working with my fellow high school students to convince our school board to limit military recruitment on campus. Bob quickly pulled me under his wing, and over the next several years, taught me much of what I know about community organizing, and about friendship. A constant learner and reader, Bob gave me my first books on organizing  classics such as Saul Alinskys Rules for Radicals, George Lakoffs Dont Think of an Elephant, and, most impactful on me, The Long Haul, the autobiography of Myles Horton, the founder of the Highlander Folk School, which has trained generations of organizers since its founding in the early 1930s. More than just sharing books, however, Bob was a storyteller, sharing with me and many others the many lessons that he picked up from the variety of movements that he was a part of.

One of the best lessons I learned from Bob, however, was not about how to be a strategist, or effectively pressure decision-makers, but about how to show up. Bob understood the responsibility that came along with being a person of privilege (or, as he would describe himself, a big, loud white guy) in a society with deep levels of oppression, and saw the real need  and incredible power  when leadership came from the communities most impacted by the problems we face. He believed that the best way for a person of privilege to support community struggles is to show up, do the dirty work (stacking chairs, washing dishes), and to have a skill to offer that could be of use by the community. Like all good teachers, Bob gave this lesson most by his own example  and I struggle to remember any event Bob and I went to where he didnt end the night with a mop in his hand, or happily moving tables from one side of the room to the other.

Beyond doing the dishes, photography was Bobs skill that he could offer  and he did so with incredibly regularity and personal sacrifice over many decades. He understood that by taking photos, he was providing a service, allowing a more true story to be heard, amidst the spin of our opponents and distortion of the mainstream media. He knew that his job was to show up, keep his mouth shut, and DFIU (dont mess it up). His approach, in turn, engendered a deep level of trust by almost all with whom Bob worked  to the point that they would open up their lives, families and struggles for Bob to document. This makes Bobs photographic archives (now stored at Stanford University, free for all to download and print  at his insistence) one of the most incredible and deeply personal records of social movement history in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

The second image that comes to mind when I think of Bob is of that grin. Bob was always so full of life, and mischievousness as he liked to describe it. He took Emma Goldmans quote, If I cant dance, I dont want to be part of your revolution literally  and any efforts he was going to be involved in certainly was going to involve a lot of dancing. Bob was a contra dancer for decades at his local granges, but more than anything he was a constant jokester. I cant think of Bob without smiling and laughing, because thats pretty much what I was doing the whole time we were together. He had an infectious spirit, and incredible energy  dancing, playing guitar, singing, and boogie boarding in the Monterey Bay until his Parkinsons eventually got in the way. His humorous spirit was also incredibly disarming, crossing cultural and linguistic boundaries, and building friendship and trust wherever he went.

I trust that for many decades, I will continue to meet friends of Bobs that I never knew he had  each one with an incredible story to share about how they met him, a lesson that they learned from him, and a deep appreciation for this man who gave so much to so many, and whose images and impact will be seen and felt for many generations to come. We love you, Bob.

Bob Fitch, presente!



Josh Sonnenfeld is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a former staff member of the Resource Center for Nonviolence. He lives with his wife Rachelle in Oakland, California, where he works with the Sierra Club to build powerful movements to protect the places and that we love.
More hawkish than Obama, more willing to murder prisoners than her husband, a tyrant who woudl force parents to submit their chidlren to toxic vaccines, Clinton is tied to the military industrial complex



If you like this article, please forward it widely to voters, media in remaining primary states ofVirgin IslandsPuerto RicoCaliforniaMontanaNew JerseyNew MexicoNorth DakotaSouth DakotaDistrict of ColumbiaMay Bernie Sanders be the Democratic Party nomineeIn US House races, please vote for antiwar candidates.In polls Trump beats Clinton and Sanders beats both. If for any reason Bernie Sanders is not the Democratic nominee, many more millions will vote third party. A vote for Clinton is a vote for Trump. Please vote either for Sanders or an antiwar third party candidate such as Libertarian Gary Johnson, Green Party's Jill Stein, or the Socialist Party.******************************************************************************Hillary Clinton: Advocate of War Without EndI Issues Re Human Beings1. Clinton voted for the Iraq War, an immoral fiasco which has cost countless US lives and many more lives of civilians, soldiers etc. Its only effect besides costing trillions of dollars has been to multiply anger at the US around the world and to create ISIL.2. Clinton helped prosecute 7 illegal immoral wars of the Obama administration (a man who sold out his electorate almost immediately upon entering office). The 7 are Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria and Libya. All of them have been total failures except for rightwing religious haters and war profiteers. Hillary Clinton promotedGen. Stanley McChrystals recommendation to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan though Obama did not want more troops. She backed and Obama opposed the militarys plan to leave behind 10,000 to 20,000 American troops in Iraq Clinton lobbied for the CIA plan to give money to Syrian relbels which Obama opposed.3. Clinton is in favor of government murder, called execution, something opposed by over 3/4 of the world's countries and at least 42 states. The Obama nominee she supports, Merrick Garland, is an executioner as well.4. Clinton twice voted for the unconstitutional Patriot Act, a massive tome of several thousand pages which was prepared before the WTC bombing. The Patriot Act allows government agencies to ride roughshod over individuals.5. In at least 3 false flag operations of the CIA and government, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the World Trade Center bombing, and the alleged murder of Osama Bin Laden, Clinton has supported the official lies.6.. The candidate most favored by the billionaire bankers and hedge fund owners of Wall St. is Hillary Clinton, who has connections to Goldman Sachs. Clinton supported the Wall St bank bailout which was a giveaway of tens of trillions of dollars to the richest Americans. Her son in law's hedge fund was floated by Goldman Sachs. She and her husband were house guests of Wigmore of Goldman Sachs who was for that group in charge of facilitating the UK's utility privatizations.6b. Six of 10 of Clinton's biggest donors are big banks. 9 of 10 of Sanders' biggest donors are unions.7. Took an active role in the coup d'etat in Honduras which iremoved the democratically elected Manuel Zelaya and replaced him with a pawn of loanshark capitalism.8. voted for NAFTA which outsourced many American jobs9. Clinton has never had the requisite lack of bias on Mideast topics to be president. She considers herself aligned with Israel against any rights of the Palestinian people. Her paid remarks to Goldman Sachs and videos of her speech to AIPAC are hard to access.10. She never supported unions when on the board of unionbusting WalMart.11. Hillary Clinton attempted to interfere with the reelection of Venezuela's socialist president Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro after the Bush and Obama administrations destabilized the country. She has helped to plunge millions in Venezuela into poverty as she helped to destroy CITGO, the Venezuelan oil company owned by the people of Venezuela, a company which gave hundreds of millions in fuel oil to the poor of New England. Joseph Kennedy was one of many who praised Venezuela's generosity.12a. In New York, Clinton and her machine disenfranchised 3 million Latino, black, young and other voters who tried to register as Democrats and failed. In this she was helped by warmonger media such as CBS which failed to warn New Yorkers of impending registration deadlines.12b. Clinton, McCain and other vote fraud in Arizona: Latinos and blacks found their voting sites closed. There were thousands waiting to vote as the corporate media called the victory for Clinton. (see links)12c, In Nevada she tried to strongarm caucus rule changes to benefit her campaign.12d She has helped to create the class of unelected and undemocratic super delegatesClinton, McCain and other vote fraud in Arizona: Latinos and blacks found their voting sites closed. There were thousands waiting to vote as the corporate media called the victory for Clinton. (see links)13 Snowden said Clinton's charge that he could have had whistleblower protection was false, given that the Obama administration of which she is a part has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any other.14. Clinton supported the job outsourcing, labor and environment weakening Trans Pacific Partnership 45 times... now she says she's against it.15. Clinton has taken 4.5 million from 58 registered oil and gas lobbyists.16. Clinton supported the Keystone Pipeline until pressured by political reality into opposing it.17. In Libya, Clinton went above the heads of Pentagon generals "Libya has been destroyed. It became a haven for ISIS. The Libyan national armory was looted and hundreds of tons of weapons were transferred to jihadists in Syria. see link18. Privatizer prison profiteers are raising money for Clinton. Because we have many privatized prisons whose profit motive is enhanced each time they jail another person, the US has the highest per capita rate of prisoners in the world.See lnk19. Clinton operatives have been hacking into sites of her opponents.20a. Clinton supported fracking projects around the world20b Clinton supports offshore drilling, the kind which has made the Gulf of Mexico a toxic dump of BP's neurotoxin Corexit, the kind which has destroyed the Niger Delta.21. Clinton has been evasive about the unconstitutional spying of the NSA as well as about all NSA raw data going to the government of Israel.22. Some want Clinton to be the first woman president in the US. However she has helped bomb millions of women and girls, and billions of women animals.23. Hillary Clinton voted for legislation which made it easier to hide assets in offshore accounts.24. Clinton claims to have the support of African Americans, though once again more black Americans per capita than whites are dying in antisecurity immoral foreign wars.25. In April of 2016, 100 civilians in Yemen (women, men, children, their pets etc) were murdered by Saudi jet fighters dropping bombs given the polygamous sheiks by the Obama administration with the approval of Hillary Clinton.26. Clinton took 15 million dollars from Wall Street operatives.27. In his prosecution of Timothy McVeigh, Merrick Garland worked for McVeigh's execution. McVeigh after washing out of the Rangers was recruited by the CIA and given 2 million dollars cash. After he followed CIA instructions, the agency told authorities his whereabouts and stole back the 2 million dollars. Hillary Clinton and Merrick Garland share their support of government murder (the death penalty) despite the fact that over 3/4 of the world and 42 states have no executions.28. The Clinton emails have never been an issue for this poster, but it is interesting to note that the hacker who exposed the situation has been extradited to the U.S.29. Clinton's role in diverting money to war has destroyed health care for hundreds of millions of Americans who have the highest costs in the world and only middling care.30. Clinton's role in diverting money to war has destroyed the college dreams of a whole generation of Americans.31. Clinton's role in diverting money to war has destroyed bridge infrastructures in the US, harming the safety of all Americans.32. Clinton's role in diverting firefighters to war has caused fires at home.33. Clinton's role in diverting money to war has killed millions overseas, tens of thousands of American soldiers, and wounded millions more American soldiers. She has helped create American veterans shoddy health care at home.34. Clinton has helped turn American airwaves into warmonger media.35. Hillary Clinton wants the map of empire to continue. American soldiers are sitting ducks in the Mideast, The head of the Joint Chiefs wants them brought home. The map is of places in which soldiers stationed in many places around the globe, hemorrhaging money. while poverty grows at home.36. It is said that Clinton exaggerated her role in the Irish peace process.37. Hillary Clinton is lying about the US government role in the WTC bombing.38. Over half of Americans have an unfavorable view of both Clinton and Trump39. Clinton switched her position on same sex marriage. She has often. when realizing a position she took was becoming a nonmajority position. switched her position.40. Bankster thieves have several hundred trillion dollars in derivatives, a false wealth, a house of cards producing nothing whether it's cattle futures or subprime mortgages. Neither Clinton nor Trump can be trusted to change this.41. According to Wikipedia, Chelsea Clinton is on the board of several of Barry Diller's corporations. Diller was an executive with the rightwing Fox network for a number of years.42. Clinton opposes the use of a carbon tax as a way to hasten nonviolent renewable solar, wind and other energy not derived from deforestation, mountain decapitation, air pollution, animal habitat destruction.43. Should Sanders lose the Democratic nomination, 33 to 50% of his supporters would not vote for Clinton and the likelihood of a Republican president becomes higher.44. Clinton supported border fence legislation. Sanders opposes it.45. Bernie Sanders supports marijuana legalization. HIllary Clinton approves only of medical marijuana.46. Clinton's Russophobia has been demonstrated.47. Ralph Nader, Bernie Sanders, and many others have commented on Hillary Clinton's failure to release transcripts of her speeches, etc. as symptoms of her lack of transparency.48. Six billion dollars disappeared in her tenure at the State Dept.49. Hillary wants to remove women's choice to say no to lethal vaccines for their children50.There were 400 unelected 'super' delegates lined up for Hillary Clinton before the first primary, an antidemocraticantiprimary practice. Since Clinton has been more hawkish even than Obama re the 7 illegal immoral war zones in which this government is currently bombing people, animals, birds, trees etc., are these delegates also prowar?51. Clinton works closely with her fellow hawk and corporate hack, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Sanders has given 1/4 million dollars to Schultz' primary opponent, Tim Canova.52. Clinton refuses to debate Sanders in California.53. Clinton has claimed to be agnostic about nuclear power.Note: Why are there eartags painfully stapled onto calves' ears? Because they are objects, numbers, not feeling animals to those who profiteer from them. They are also branded with blazing hot irons and if male, castrated.II Issues Re Animals1. James Blair of Tyson Foods (one of the nation's biggest animal slaughter operations) and insider trading helped H Clinton turn $ 1000 into $100,000. She invested in cattle futures. Those cows had no future.2. Hillary and Bill Clinton have had a special relationship until his death in 2011 with Don Tyson, whose company has killed tens of billions of cows and pigs and trillions of chickens after a life of suffering in hideous factory farms. The Clintons have a longstanding relationship with John Tyson, Chairman of Tyson Foods.3. Hillary Clinton was for a time on the WalMart board, one of the world's biggest killers of mammals, birds, fishes.4. Hillary Clinton voted for the immoral Iraq war the prosecution of which has murdered hundreds of billions of birds and mammals, burned to death by bombs, crushed by tanks, seized and killed for food etc and which has added trillions to the US debt.5. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promoted the 7 illegal wars, bombing campaigns and drone assassinations of the Obama administration in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia, with untold billions of animal deaths.6. Hillary Clinton voted for NAFTA, which gave countries with less humane legislation easier access to the US market.7. Until Bernie Sanders' critical mass of opposition, Clinton was in favor of the Keystone Pipeline which like nearly all oil pipelines destroys fragile animal habitats, kills animals with oil spills, crushes them under heavy vehicle8. Clinton has hired a Monsanto person for her campaign. Monsanto has killed mammals, birds, bees and other insects in a variety of ways9. Clinton is tied to Goldman Sachs through her son in law's hedge fund. Sanders wants her to release the text of her remarks to Goldman Sachs, which paid her $225,000 for her speaking engagement. Politico article: "She sounded more like a Goldman Sachs managing director." Goldman Sachs is invested in animal slaughter, environmental destruction, war profiteering etc and was a major factor in plunging Greece, Spain and other countries into massive debt through pricegouging interest. She, Ted Cruz whose wife has a 6 figure salary with Goldman Sachs, and John Kasich, who lost hundreds of billions for Ohio pension funds when he was an executive with Lehman Brothers, are the 3 candidates of the duopoly most tied to Wall Street.10. At the State Department, Hillary Clinton gave an award to Heifer International, the butcher industry's corporation which separates terrified baby animals from their mothers and sends them to lives of slavery and slaughter overseas, thereby spreading disease to humans, global heating and freezing, deforestation, and world hunger.11. Clinton has supported fracking around the world. Poisonous fracking water chemical stews have killed millions of animals, from cows, sheep and other mammals to birds, reptiles, fishes etc. not only from water poisons but from fires caused by deforestation frackers who interfere with the rain cycle and massive earthquakes such as an 8 point record breaker for Canada in Alberta.12. Because Hillary Clinton is on record requiring forced vaccination of children against parents' wishes, (against choice), it follows that she favors the animal research (torture of animals called vivisection) which develops the vaccines.III The EnvironmentHillary's fracking promotion through the State Department has harmed the planet.Fracking made Oklahoma the earthquake capital of the world. Government inaction on fracking has caused 800 earthquakes in the Youngstown Ohio area alone. It causes turned on water faucets to burst into flame. It deforests fragile environments. It sends a poisonous stew of fracking chemicals into the ground. They end up everywhere in the watershed, killing people, cows, sheep, other mammals, birds, frogs etc.The movie Promised Land with Matt Damon exposes the criminal techniques of fracking companies, sometimes owned by huge natural gas companies.Hillary Clinton supported offshore drilling, supported the Keystone Pipeline for a long time, has worked at the State Department in support of 7 illegal immoral wars and the bombing which destroys fragile environments.Ralph Nader video of Hillary's lack of transparencyMother Jones and The Huffington Post have covered the stories of rancher deaths and deaths of cows and sheep.How Hillary Clinton's State Department sold fracking to the worldHillary Clinton Touted Fracking Across the Globe, and Only Bernie Sanders Can Be Trusted to Save Us From ItHillary Clinton Touted Fracking Across the Globe, and On... In 2011, the Bulgarian government granted U.S. Oil Company, Chevron, permission to extract oil using the controversial technique known as "fracking." http://www.huffingtonpost.com Oklahoma fracking capital of the worldGas companies' fracking crimes are explored in the movie Promised Land (Matt Damon).HILLARY'S GUNSHillary Clinton wants fewer gunsin the US.... and many times moreweapons in the 7 illegal war zonesshe has promoted.HILLARY CLINTON AND SOCIAL SECURITYHillary Clinton and companyhave diverted money from theSocial Security trust fund toillegal wars. She can't betrusted with the socialsecurity of citizens.HILLARY CLINTON: A WOMAN WHO DOESN'T PROTECT WOMENDo we want a first woman presidentwho is facilitating the bombingof innocent women in SEVENillegal war zones?HILLARY CLINTON AND CATTLE FUTURESHillary Clinton is saidto have been involvedin insider tradinginvesting in cattle futures.Someone who investsin cattle futuresknows that the cowshave no future.CLINTON TRUMP AND BANKSTER THIEVESBankster thieveshave several hundred trilliondollars in derivatives,a false wealth, a house of cardsproducing nothingwhether it's cattle futuresor subprime mortgages.Neither Clinton nor Trumpcan be trusted to change this.***************************How Clinton's hawkishness increased (she was a hawk long before 2010 (a claim of the NYT)Hillary Clinton's role in the coup d'etat removing democractically elected Manuel ZelayaPrivatized prison profiteers raising money for ClintonManuel ZelayaNote: The Goldman Sachs CEOinvested a lot of money with Hillary'sson in law's hedge fund.James Blair of Tyson Foods helped Hillary Clinton net 100,000 dollars from one thousand. Tyson's is one of the biggest slaughter operations in the USThe documentary The Noble Lie provides more information on the CIA false flag operation, the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.Cattle futures controversyThis writer is voting for a third party candidate.What Hillary Clinton has said in her paid speechesHillary Clinton speech to AIPAC America Israel Political Action Comm.Quote about Clinton is from Julian Assange http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/julian_assange_voting_hillar Clinton's ties to Don Tyson, one of biggest slaughterhouse operators in USFrom http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news is the following quoteDonald J Tyson, billionaire, dies at 80a vote for Hillary is a vote for Monsantopic source: thefederalistpapers.comRemaining primaries:Snowden disputes Clinton allegationClinton on TPPClinton evasive about NSAHacker who exposed Clinton emails has been extradited to USWar profiteering contractors return to Iraq in droves
California wants to grant copyrights to state and local government, and must be stopped. When the City of Inglewood sued a citizen who used city council video to criticize the mayor, the city lost in court. But AB 2880 would allow government officials to shield themselves from legitimate and effective criticism, by using this proposed copyright law. Heads Up!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sends a heads-up about a proposal to grant copyright authority to state and local governments in California. The proposed law runs counter to the purpose of copyright and opens the door to wide-ranging suppression of free speech. For instance, the use of city council video by citizens would be subject heavy penalties, protecting elected official from public criticism. "... public funding means public property and that it belongs to citizens by default." says the EFF. AB 2880, fresh out of the California Assembly Committee on Judiciary must be nipped in the bud.

California's Legislature Wants to Copyright All Government Works

The California Assembly Committee on Judiciary recently approved a bill (AB 2880) to grant local and state governments copyright authority along with other intellectual property rights. At its core, the bill grants state and local government the authority to create, hold, and exert copyrights, including in materials created by the government. For background, the federal Copyright Act prohibits the federal government from claiming copyright in the materials it creates, but is silent on state governments. As a result, states have taken various approaches to copyright law with some granting themselves vast powers and others (such as California) forgoing virtually all copyright authority at least until now.

EFF strongly opposes the bill. Such a broad grant of copyright authority to state and local governments will chill speech, stifle open government, and harm the public domain. It is our hope that the state legislature will scuttle this approach and refrain from covering all taxpayer funded works under a government copyright.

What Does the Bill Do?

AB 2880 sets out to "clarify" that all works created by public entities are eligible for intellectual property restrictions. This includes trademarks, patents, trade secrets, and copyrights. As things stand today, works created by California state and local governments (like reports, video, maps, and so on) aren't subject to copyright except in a few special cases. That ensures that Californians who funded the creation of those works through their tax dollars can use those works freely.

The bill would change California from having one of the best policies on copyright of any U.S. state to among the worst. It authorizes public entities to register copyrights in their work. That means that state and local governments will have the power to seek statutory damages that can reach as high as $30,000 per infringement and potentially as life altering as $150,000 for willful conduct against people who use state-created materials. Therefore, if a citizen infringed on a state owned copyright by making a copy of a government publication, or reading that publication out loud in a public setting, or uploading it to the internet, they could be liable for statutory damages. The harms felt by this bill's approach are wide ranging because it would take very little to claim that a work is protected by copyright law.

Imagine local officials having the power to issue a DMCA takedown notice of YouTube videos of city council meetings simply because they did not like them (sounds crazy? read on).

Chilling Effect on Free Speech

We've seen many copyright claims that are in reality attempts to censor speech. California local and state governments are not exempt from the temptation of suppressing disfavored speech under a copyright claim as evidenced by the Teixeira case. In 2015, the city council of Inglewood had filed a lawsuit against a citizen (Teixeira) for uploading video clips of city council meetings to YouTube with his criticisms of the mayor. The lawsuit was dismissed by the court outright because California cities don't have the power to claim copyright. The court went even further to explain how Mr. Teixeira's use of the videos to criticize the mayor was a fair use. So while the litigation ended on the correct note (though it cost Inglewood taxpayers $110,000 in legal fees), it demonstrated how copyright law can be abused in the hands of government.

If all works produced by state and local government from city council recordings to documents that embarrassed a local official become subject to copyright law, the Teixeira case really represents a harbinger of things to come. Citizens concerned with litigation threats will refrain from sharing or copying government works despite the fact that their tax dollars created those works. Worse yet is the perverse incentive for governments to litigate given the substantial money that can obtained through statutory damages.

Restrictions on Open Government

In an attempt to address this obvious potential for censoring the public by exerting copyright controls on state owned works, the bill provides an exemption for all works requested under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) but explicitly reserves all of the powers granted to a holder of a copyright (the holder in this instance being the government). That means a state or local government cannot resist a CPRA request for a document on the grounds of protecting copyright. But by explicitly reserving all of the exclusive rights given to a copyright holder, the state and local governments keeps extraordinary powers to restrain the ability for a citizen to distribute documents they obtain through a CPRA request. Those powers could be used in many ways such as denying a citizen the right to make copies, distribute copies, create derivative works of the original, or to publicly perform or display the work. While fair use might apply, its application can be uncertain and risky, and it's no substitute for keeping copyright out of the mix altogether.

A Massive Loss to the Public Domain

Currently, California has one of the most citizen-friendly state copyright regimes on the books where a vast majority of state created works are free to the public with only five exceptions. All other audio, visual, and written work of state and local govenment employees is in the public domain upon creation and free for the public to use however they see fit. For the most part, this follows the federal model where works created by taxpayer money are by default owned by the public.

The federal approach makes sense when we consider the goals of the intellectual property clause in the Constitution. The purpose of providing a limited government monopoly through copyright was to incentivize creativity and provide a market mechanism to monetize that creative expression. However, governments do not need an incentive because their source of funding comes from taxes and the government employees creating the works are already compensated by the public. The general policy rationale against governments from exerting copyrights over publicly funded works is founded on the premise that public funding means public property and that it belongs to citizens by default.

EFF hopes that the state legislature will recognize the fundamental problems with AB 2880's approach and forgo covering all state and local government works under copyright law. As the LA Times Editorial Board correctly noted at the conclusion of the Teixeira case, "there's something fundamentally outrageous about using tax dollars to sue a taxpayer over the use of a public record that taxpayers paid to create."

If you're a California resident, tell your legislators to reject this dangerous bill.

Take the link, and take action! Freedom lost is never regained.

INDYRADIO The future of radio belongs to us. The newest playlists are linked at http://rd0.org

Photo at top is from Teixeira's use of video in the City Of Inglewood.
Seattle, WA I suffered so much pain trying to get this I suffered so much pain trying to get this transvaginal mesh removed that my teenage daughter begged me not to have another surgery, says Patricia. But after two surgeries, bits of mesh are still in my body and I have no choice.

I just need a break from it all.

Patricia was implanted with a transvaginal mesh sling to correct a bladder problem. Right after the surgery Patricia started bleeding and continued to do so for nine months. Her gynecologist kept telling her that nothing was wrong! Instead of removing the mesh, Patricias doctor added more - she thinks he did so to try and stop the bleeding. And instead of correcting the mesh problem, adding more mesh was like throwing another log on the fire.Having seen me go through two surgeries in an attempt to remove this mesh, my daughter thought I was going to die if I went through another one, says Patricia. An ultrasound and CT Scan showed it had migrated and eroded all over my abdomen. The pain I endured with the last surgery was nothing like you can imagine - it makes giving birth feel like a cramp. Patricia needs more surgeries to remove this mesh mess but she is putting it off for a while.Unfortunately, transvaginal mesh revision surgeries are on the rise, just as more women have had it implanted. Some women have undergone multiple surgeries. Four years after Janet Holt had the mesh implanted to correct pelvic organ prolapse (POP), she needed seven surgeries to remove it. Christine Scott underwent eight surgeries and nine additional procedures in an attempt to correct the internal damage caused by the transvaginal mesh. At trial, Scotts psychologist testified the plaintiff would require psychiatric care for the rest of her life.According to(February 2016), new evidence highlights benefits and harms of using artificial transvaginal mesh when compared with tissue repair in the surgical treatment of POP. Across all the studies, 8 percent of women who had mesh implanted subsequently had it re-operated. In Scotland, the Health minister called for hospitals to consider the suspension of mesh operations until more evidence is available.Barely six months before the above study was published,reported a follow-up of nearly 60,000 women who received a synthetic vaginal mesh sling for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. Researchers found that the risk is low for needing a second surgery for mesh removal or revisionabout one in 30 women required revision surgery 10 years after receiving transvaginal mesh implant.In the past, the FDA has considered all transvaginal mesh surgery equal, i.e., female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) are under the same mesh umbrella. But new evidence indicates that intervention rates for mesh-based complications in procedures for SUI appear to be lower than those associated with procedures for pelvic organ prolapse, according to the JAMA Network Journals . Regardless, women suffering from SUI or POP would agree that one revision surgery is one too many.
Legit.ng is #1 online trusted source of the latest news in Nigeria. We are covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, world updates, and Nigerian newspaper reviews. We guide our readers to the world of politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and human interest stories.
Food and drink holidays are a little overwrought. Since human beings need to eat and drink on a daily basis, these holidays are superfluous, and often feel like a marketing ploy more than anything else. Having said that, May 25th is National Wine Day, and if one reason to actually participate in this holiday is to try a new, meaningful wine, why not have a go at wine that gives back? Here are six labels who give back to charities, a feat worth celebrating whether its National Wine Day or not.

Co-founded by musician Dave Matthews, The Dreaming Tree promote sustainable and environmental efforts. For every bottle sold, a portion goes to environmental conservation groups, one being the Wilderness Society and Living Lands & Waters. On top of giving back to the environment, the wines set out to minimize their effect on the land, with a recyclable cork, a label made from recycled paper, and less glass used for the bottle.

Tuscany is famous for its wine and its fine art. Appropriately, Tuscan winery, Ornellaia, blends those two worlds together by working with the Vendemmia dArtista project since 2009. For part of the project, each year a contemporary artist will create an impactful wine label for the winery, and the sales of those artistic labels goes back to support artists. Through this project, they have raised over $1.7 million for museums and foundations, from New York, to London, to Hong Kong.

Renowned winemakers, the Mondavi family, present Purple Heart Wines together with Vietnam Veteran and Winemaker Ray Coursen. Named after the military Purple Heart, the label honors the nations veterans, with proceeds benefiting the Purple Heart Foundation.

These beloved South African wines give love back to the little ones. Fifty cents of every sale of Cape Classics will be donated to the Indaba Education Fund, which supports early childhood development in the Stellenbosch region, the most beloved wine-growing region in South Africa.

ONEHOPE Wine was founded on the basis of giving back, with 50% of all profits going to different charities. The Cabernet Sauvignon helps to provide ABA therapy treatment for children with autism, while each bottle of the fun Rainbow Sparkling Brut supports the Trevor Project Lifeline, which provides support for young LGBTQ adults and teenagers.



Photo Credit: WB Photography

Located in Napa Valley, Humanitas winery was Founded by Judd Wallenbrock in 2001 with the specific goal to give back to the less fortunate. A portion (7%) of revenue goes to help those with health, hunger and housing needs. So far, the label has raised nearly a quarter of a million in donations.

Madina Papadopoulos is a New York-based freelance writer, author, and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and Twitter.
This morning, Marvel Comics dropped a bomb on Captain America fans everywhere with the premiere issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers. (Spoilers to follow, naturally.)

The beloved, all-American superhero has been a staple in Marvels roster of characters nearly consistently since his debut in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941, with only a brief discontinuation of his series for a decade following flagging interest at the close of World War II. Ever since his revival in 1964, the star-spangled alter ego of Steve Rogers has been featured in various adaptations for both the big and small screens, most notably in current major motion picture Captain America: Civil War, portrayed by Chris Evans. The Captain America name has been synonymous with patriotic ideals ever since his inception as a supersoldier battling the evils of Axis Powers in the second World War. Enemies of the hero often embody distinctly anti-American values, including Nazism (e.g. Helmut Zemo, featured in Civil War), fascism, communism, anarchism and terrorism.

Hydra, an international and domestic terrorist organization bent on world domination through the installation of a fascist New World Order, has been a formidable foe of Captain America and his S.H.I.E.L.D. compatriots since its first appearance in issue #135 of Strange Tales in 1965. In the rather unassuming description of the debut issue of 2016s Captain America: Steve Rogers, Marvel writes: Hes back! The original Sentinel of Liberty returns, with a new shield, a new team, and a new mission! And hes not the only one whos back! Like the saying goes cut off one LIMB, two more will take its place!

So Captain America fans everywhere were doubtless floored when, in one of the closing panels of the comic, the hero (if we can still call him that) utters two shocking words after an exhaustive battle with Baron Zemo: Hail Hydra.

Yes, you read that correctly. It seems that the shield-bearing superhero, who has battled to defend American ideals for more than fifty years, is and always has been a member of the very ruthless terrorist organization he has been fighting since the 60s. Marvel executive Tom Brevoort has confirmed that the character who declared his allegiance to Hydra is, in fact, the authentic Steve Rogers and not an impostor or a shape-shifting Skrull. About the groundbreaking decision, Brevoort admitted:

We knew it would be like slapping people in the face. [...] The idea of Captain America means something very primal and very strong to the people of this nation, and they have a very visceral reaction when you get to something like that. You want people to feel and react to your story. So far, so good.

Beyond the initial shock value of the reveal, reverberations of the declaration will be felt all over the Marvel universe. Readers everywhere are questioning what this means for the heros current alliances and are surely craving the backstory that explains how Rogers pulled off double agency for so long. Brevoort has explained that, from the point of the revelation onward, Captain Americas mission is to further the mission and beliefs of Hydra, and itll be fascinating to watch how his newly-revealed allegiance clashes with his S.H.I.E.L.D. duties and former friends.

Captain America readers are in for a bumpy ride: the earth-shattering disclosure steers the franchise onto a completely novel path after some already-startling changes, like Sam Wilson (better known as the Falcon) being handed the Cap mantle several years ago after Rogers was drained of the super-serum that lent him his powers and transformed into a frail old man. Fans were relieved to find that the original Captain America had been restored at the end of Sam Wilson: Captain America #7, but thrown for a loop again after the newly-rejuvenated soldier divulged his dark side in todays issue. Well have to hang onto our seats for more details until the second issue comes out on June 29.
On the surface, being a brewer looks like one of those rock star jobs, but the minutiae of running a brewery can be tedious, particularly since post-prohibition policies create pitfalls that can get breweries in trouble. After submitting routine label approval paperwork to the various state governments for Raging Bitch IPA in 2009, the staff at Flying Dog Brewery got a call from the state of Michigan threatening to involve the state police if bottles of the beer showed up on shelves in the Wolverine State. The label, which featured the name for a female dog and artwork by Hunter S. Thompson illustrator Ralph Steadman, was deemed detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the people of Michigan by a three-member panel of the states Liquor Control Commission that also made a point of saying that their decision, was not about the First Amendment.

What followed was a legal odyssey that pitted the Maryland-based brewery against the state of Michigan in a fight over free speech. Despite the commission overturning the original decision in what it called a routine review, Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso pressed on to make a point. After finally recovering $40,000 in damages in federal court, the brewery decided to use that money to establish an advocacy group outside the brewery called the 1st Amendment Society, which theyll formally launch at the National Press Club on May 31. Caruso was kind enough to tell us about the organization and why this fight was so important.

Paste: Youre currently expanding as a brewery, so it had to be awfully tempting to put that money into those projects. What made you set this amount aside to start this society?

Jim Caruso: There are all sorts of abuses of power like Wall Street and other financial and corporate abuses where people do things wrong, but the most frightening and worrisome abuse of power is when the government abuses its power. The reason I say that is because its outrageously hard to sue the state or federal governments for violating our First Amendment rights. Michigan got away with this for so long because its so hard to sue them. From day one I said, this isnt about damages, you lifted the ban and my damages arent that great. Just settle for one dollar, and I said this throughout the process, but you have to acknowledge the violation of our First Amendment rights, and they just would not do it.

We ended up at the federal level, and the US Court of Appeals said [Michigan] violated our rights, and that was the victory that we were looking for. I never wanted this to be about arguing our losses, and our analysis was very conservative. You could have argued that our damages were a lot higher. It was a case that was never about compensatory damages, it was about standing up when the state violates your constitutional rights. This outrageous behavior goes on in other states, so it was important to us that this happened at the federal level. We were awarded damages, and it was my intention to always do something good with them.

Paste: Doesnt it almost seem appropriate that a brewery with ties to Hunter S. Thompson found itself in this situation?

JC: It sure does. The 1st Amendment Society that weve created is going to have a banned book club. It surprised me that Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is the most banned book in America, but my brother was expelled in the late 60s for having a copy of Thompsons Hells Angels book. For us, you look at the freedom of speech, and its not the most important constitutional freedom. Its always in the news, so it has some political value. We have a world-renowned artist in Ralph Steadman who does our label art. We just had his 80th birthday party in London with hundreds of people from all over the world honoring his art, but the state of Michigan objects to it.

Paste: What do you hope to accomplish? Is this something thats going to help other breweries with these kinds of issues, or is it more directed towards supporting free speech as a whole?

JC: We hope to accomplish three things, the first of which is to advocate and educate. Secondly, people in our industry are interested in this whole case, so we have a lot of interaction there. The third thing is to have some fun, so were going to have the banned book club, as one example. Its not just about reading the books, but also talking about the reasons why they were banned. Also, there are fewer and fewer people going into the field of investigative journalism, which is the last defense against tyranny, so were funding a scholarship at the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

The First Amendment, while its not most important, it is the one thats always changing. What is political speech? Is a blog or twitter the press? Its also quite misunderstood, as the only way you can have your First Amendment rights violated is by the government, a company or individual cant do that. They talk about Harry Potter being the most banned book, but who is banning it? Is it the school board or the secretary of education? Well in our case it was three appointed officials in Michigan who are in a quasi-judicial role.

Were not trying to be self-righteous and say that the First Amendment is the most important, theyre equally important, but this is something thats worth talking about. When we won a judicial ruling in Colorado over the label for Road Dog, Mark Silverstein, the Regional Director for the ACLU took our case to the state supreme court. He was asked why the ACLU with its limited resources would defend something as sophomoric as a beer label. He looked at the reporter and said, when it comes to the loss of any constitutional freedoms, its never lost overnight; theyre chipped away bit by bit. When theres smoke under the door, fire isnt far behind. You have to defend these things.

Paste: What kind of feedback have you gotten?

JC: The response has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Our friends in the industry obviously pat us on the back for doing this, but when we get outside of the craft beer business its mostly educational. Most people have no idea what goes on with the approval process, and theyre pretty shocked. Over in Europe, where our friend Ralph Steadman lives, it was utter disbelief that in the 21st century, wed have a beer label banned by the state. America is still viewed by Europeans as the last bastion of free speech, and it was shocking to them.

One of the things critics told us during this was, hey, Michigan is having a hard time, why are you suing poor Michigan? If I committed a crime in Michigan like speeding and said, Im having a hard time, can you just let it go? Its not going to happen.

Paste: If Im a brewer whos having trouble getting a label approved, what advice do you have?

JC: We would not have won this without Alan Gura, who is one of the top constitutional attorneys in the country. He singlehandedly took two cases to the Supreme Court and won both of them. My advice is to call Alan Gura. He has already done all of the research, so if youre a distillery, winery or brewery and you run into trouble with the state, I recommend calling him. He can point to our ruling and say that its not going to fly.
Over the last few decades, Patton Oswalt has steadily become one of the best stand-up comedians of his generationand one of the most successful ones, at that. With a lineup of incredible specials, film and TV roles and bestseller books, Oswalt has found success in a myriad of mediums and shows no sign of stopping down. With his latest stand-up hour-long Talking For Clapping premiering on Netflix last month, lets take a look at the stand-up career of Oswalt by ranking all of his specials.

Patton Oswalts first special, an HBO Comedy Half-Hour from twenty years ago, shows Oswalt as a young comedian still finding his voice. Already you can see elements of where his stand-up will go at points, from his announcement at the very top that he doesnt have any segues, to his occasional outbursts, but this is Oswalt still discovering what works for him. This also is his material that has aged the poorest, with Oswalt proclaiming he looks like a little lesbian, engaging in his early materials obsession with midgets and references to Hanson and Xena, Warrior Princess. Even the material that he uses in later specials will be stronger in those sets, like his jokes about Carvel ice cream cakes and Piss Drinkers magazine. In hindsight, its fascinating to see how Oswalt has grown as a comedian from here, but maybe the most interesting aspect of his first special is the way it opens, with Oswalt and other then-young comedians who had HBO half-hour specials that season, like Jeff Garlin, Harlan Williams and Dave Chappelle, sitting around discussing comedy.

In his Comedy Central Presents half-hour special, we start to see a more recognizable version of the stand-up we know and love today, with the personality and interests that still define him coming into clearer view. Oswalt talks about his love of cinema for the first time, but more importantly, this half-hour shows Oswalds ability to build a joke and increase the idea into something great. His take on war reporting might be the first example of this, but also his frustration with egg dying and a trip to Amsterdam allows Oswalt to take a simple premise and expand upon it in a way that no other comedian can.

Oswalt has stated in interviews how he was unhappy with how No Reason to Complain came out, since it only allowed him to have a half hour of new material, combined with a half hour of material he first released four years prior. No Reason to Complain is very much a pared down, tamer version of his Feelin Kinda Patton album, which was already cut down from 222. But that new half hour features some excellent new bits, such as his problems with reality TV, the sustainability of NPR and his admiration for Mel Gibson and the balls it took to make The Passion of the Christ. Oswalt has said that this was the last time he made a special on someone elses schedule and you can hear a slight exhaustion in the older jokes, but combined with the newer material, No Reason to Complain plays like a greatest hits of his last few years, mixed with some great new stuff.

Much like how No Reason to Complain is a pared down version of Feelin Kinda Patton, Feelin Kinda Patton is a shorter version of the much longer 222. Because of that, Feelin Kinda Patton is much better edited and better paced than 222, yet it misses the scope of that albums greatness. Performing in Athens, Georgias 40 Watt Club, its as if Oswalt finally finds the sweet spot of his comedy, where he can be angrier, more political, frustrated and referential in ways that he didnt dare to prior. If youre looking for an introduction to the comedy of Oswalt, there might not be a better place to start than Feelin Kinda Patton.

As a pack-in DVD that came with Werewolves and Lollipops, An Evening With Patton Oswalt takes him back to the 40 Watt Club to prepare the material that would eventually go on that album. An Evening with Patton Oswalt is definitely rough around the edges compared to the album that would come from that same material, but thats exactly why it exists: a way to shine a light on the process that leads to a recorded special. Adding to that rough around the edges feeling is the fact that during the show, a man pisses on another person and the carpet catches on fire. Its not the best of Oswalts live, unedited specials, but its surely the most eventful.

In Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time, we see a man completely different than the man we met almost twenty years ago with his HBO special. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwaitthe only time Oswalt has had another comedian direct one of his specialswe see Oswalt discussing much tamer subjects than we couldve ever imagined him covering in the early days, such as becoming a decent father and the lack of hatred towards music that you dont appreciate. But while it may seem like the polar opposite of what originally drew audiences to Oswalt, its also one of his most candid, open specials, as he continues his discussion of his depression, losing weight and getting a hooker in Germany. Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time also has Oswalt telling a fantastic story about performing in Las Vegas to drunks that could not have been told when he was younger; he wouldnt have been able to build it as brilliantly as he does without decades of experience under his belt.

For the first time in Patton Oswalts specials, Finest Hour is less about him and more about the activities of his newborn daughter and how that experience has changed him. Of course this appears in stories that involve his daughter, such as how hes constantly hallucinating from lack of sleep, wearing sweatpants and defending his parenting style against his parents. But it also feels like because of this newfound responsibility, Oswalt is maturingnot in a bad wayas his stories and jokes become slightly softer but still as biting, especially when talking about gay marriage and religion. If anything, this evolution of Oswalt shows him as a comedian that has honed his craft with impeccable writing and a distinct viewpoint that can withstand age, life changes and huge evolutions in who he is.

Oswalt is still working at the top of his game these days and is taking some chances he might not have in the past. Its that confidence that Oswalt has that is the biggest takeaway from this special. He knows how good he is at his job. Good enough to thread bits of sociopolitical commentary in among other material about his failings as the man of the house and a pitch perfect closer that tells of the worst birthday clown of all time. Hes also smart enough to point the gun at himself throughout, telling us of his worst stand-up show and going off book to mock his propensity for perspiration.Robert Ham

222 is a sloppy, two-hour-plus manic fit of a comedy special. But chronologically, its also the first time you can hear the brilliance of what will come from Oswalts comedy, and the unedited mess gives the full experience of seeing Oswalt live at that time in his life, frustrated and drunk on wine. 222 would be edited down to become Feelin Kinda Patton, but that tightly-edited album loses some of the magic. 222s beauty is in how freeform it is, with Oswalt coming into his own and finding his voice for the first time, the angrier, more political, comic book and film nerd that we will hear him become. Even though there is a fury as Oswalt compares George W. Bush to Darth Vader and hoping that the apocalypse will come soon, theres also an inherent warmth for the audience and his opportunity to tell jokes for a living. In between mocking his equally drunk photographer and doing requests for the audience, you can see the dichotomy of Oswalt: the man whos exasperated with the world, but excited about the opportunity that world has given him to do what he loves.

After complaining about relationship problems and Bush in the past, My Weakness Is Strong finds Oswalt married and excited about the new president, but also with a new amount of success. My Weakness Is Strong is Oswalt post-Ratatouille, dealing not only with the children that love his character but also rats in his backyard, in one of the specials funniest bits. This is also Oswalt right before his life is about to change, as he announces that his wife is pregnant with their first childa huge change that will become a large part of his upcoming specials. Oswalt has gone into aspects of his life before, but never before as much as he does here, where he contrasts his depression with the surprising amount of hope for the future found throughout the rest of My Weakness Is Strongs material.

In 222, Oswalt stated that love and happiness is the death of comedy, yet proving himself wrong, Werewolves and Lollipopsthe first album after getting marriedis also Oswalts masterpiece. Every single track on Werewolves and Lollipops is excellent, with Oswalt at the height of his game. Here Oswalt doesnt rely on pop culture references as much as he usually does, but still embraces his loves in his comedy, like when he discusses how he wants to kill George Lucas with a shovel. But Werewolves and Lollipops works because it feels more personal and less observational than his other albums. Werewolves and Lollipops has Oswalt discussing his new marriage, his struggle with weight loss and the anger he feels towards his hometown, and he even finds time to destroy an impatient heckler. With Werewolves and Lollipops, Oswalt finds the ideal blend of anger, cultural frustration, personal stories and insanity that make Oswalt one of the greatest stand-up comedians today.



Ross Bonaime is a D.C.-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow him on Twitter and you can find more of his writing at RossBonaime.com.
Bernie Sanders is still trying to win the Democratic primarysince every bit of support he gets between now and the end will help him influence the platform at the conventionbut let me tell you, the media does not like it. I watched in fascination last week as pundit after pundit lectured Bernieusing the same arguments, and even the same languagefor having the audacity not to roll over and die.

Because, you see, its Bernies job to pretend that Hillary Clinton has lots of momentum (she doesnt), that Democrats are unified behind her (they arent), that she cares about progressive policy (nope), and that shes a stronger general election candidate (currently losing to Donald fing Trump). If he goes so far as to say the system is broken, and that Clinton is a symptom of a broken system, well thenmy God, people might think its true! DANGER! DANGER! Last, its his job to police every single one of his supporters, and to make sure they dont get angry about anything, ever, because passion is dangerous and the best way to secure real change is to ignore all our problems and trust that theyll somehow get better.

The tide of pundit disapproval was so overwhelming that I quickly began to fear I wouldnt be able to catalogue it all. No sooner had I copied and pasted one link then two more sprouted up, like a goddam hydra of establishment groupthink. Im sureheartbreakingly surethat one or two slipped my grasp. But reader, I dont want that to happen to you. To keep you on top of every hysterical call for decorum and/or capitulation, I have compiled a murderers row of punditry. Each of the articles below is like a glorious finger wagging in the face of anyone who dares to dream of a progressive future, and they were all published within the last week.

Enjoy them, and please remember that hope is for children, while adults quietly and politely bow to authority and find a silent corner in which to die.

Eugene Robinson writes:

Bernie Sanders is playing a dangerous game. If he and his campaign continue their scorched-earth attacks against the Democratic Party, they will succeed in only one thing: electing Donald Trump as presidentI say this as someone who shares much of Sanderss political philosophy; I, too, for example, see health care as a basic right. He has run a remarkable and historically significant campaign, pulling the party to the left and pumping it full of new progressive vigorthe Sanders campaign is behaving like a 2-year-old who cant have ice cream for breakfast. All along, Sanders and his aides have claimed that the party establishment was unfairly tipping the scales in favor of Clinton. Now the Sanders people have gone further and are deliberately stoking anger and a sense of grievance  less against Clinton than the party itself. This is reckless in the extreme, and it could put Trump in the White House.

Translation: If Bernie tells the truth about how Clinton and the centrists dont give two shits about progressives, they might not vote for her. He should lie, so we can stay entrenched in whatever rotting halfway-to-hell system were in now. Also, I completely agree with Bernie, but here are 1,000 words demonstrating that Im too much of an establishment hack to stand by my convictions.

Jamelle Bouie writes:

When he derides most Democratic primary voters as everything wrong with a party of limited participation and limited energy, when he looks for ways to nullify Clintons popular vote and pledged delegate majority, when he touts his support among working-class whites and dismisses (predominantly black) Southern Democrats and their votes, Sanders is attacking the coalition that elected Barack Obamathe coalition that arguably made his progressive movement possiblewhether he realizes it or notAnd all of this is counterproductive to his stated goal of pulling the Democratic Party to the left. If Sanders is going to have any influenceif the Sanders coalition is indeed the Democratic coalition of the futurethen his supporters need to see the party as a viable vehicle for their interests, a place where they can win victories and move the needle in their direction, which isnt possible if they view the entire political system as irreversibly flawed.

Translation: Bernie needs to convince to his voters that its totally possible to push progressive reforms through the Democratic establishment, even though his entire campaign is predicated on the obvious truth that no, it clearly fucking isnt. PS Bernie is racist.

3. Bernies Revolution Stops for No One  New York Magazine

Jonathan Chait writes:

Sanders has his reasons for staying in the race. They may not be entirely terrible reasons. Maybe he wants the chance to continue speaking about his policies through the last primary, or perhaps he wants the leverage to push through changes to the nominating process. But, given the overall stakes of his behavior, his decision is also maddeningly narcissisticIts remarkable that the opponents to Donald Trump, who (accurately) depicted him as a con artist, an authoritarian, and an existential threat to their partys character have all stepped aside, even in the face of mathematical odds less daunting than those of Sanders, who continues to fight on. Its possible that both Sanders and the Republican opposition to Trump care less about stopping Trump than anybody expected.

Translation: Sure, maybe theres a super logical reason for Sanders to stay in, but that doesnt change the fact that hes a raving egomaniac who lacks the integrity of all those Republicans that dont oppose Trump anymore.

Jeff Stein writes:

Its time to accept a harsh truth: Bernie Sanders is not going to win the Democratic nomination to be President of the United StatesOf course, its technically possible for Sanders to still get the nomination. But what he would have to do would take some Herculean efforts. He would have to pull off multiple landslide victoriesSanders will likely get a few symbolic wins over the next few weeks in states like Kentucky and Oregon, which vote on Tuesday, and later in North Dakota and South Dakota. Every time he wins a state, a rush of stories will come out that give the impression Bernie is building momentum in the raceDont let them confuse you: Just because Bernie is still running doesnt mean hes still in the running. Its time our national conversation reflected that reality.

Translation: Heres some incredibly basic math-y shit you already knew about how Hillary will win the pledged delegate count, and if youre wondering why Im stating the obvious again, its because me and my bosses at Vox are angry that a guy who started polling at two percent has now won 45 percent of the votes, and people are talking about him. Stop talking about him! Theres nothing to see here! Ignore the angry progressive man, take this pill, and slip into the cool comfort of the status quo.

Michael A. Cohen writes:

Ive had with it his moral preening. Ive had it with his simplistic, one-dimensional view of American politics. Ive had it with his labeling anyone who supports his opponent as fundamentally corrupt and a handmaiden of the 1 percent. Ive had it with his never-ending list of excuses for why hes not doing better. Ive had it with the exaggerations he tells his supporters about his chances of winning. Ive had it with his refusal to demonstrate any leadership as these same supporters crudely attack Sanders political opponents

...the only way one can argue that Republicans are winning a majority of working class voters is to ignore working class blacks and Hispanics, which appears to be what Sanders is doing. I suppose they dont count because they are overwhelmingly backing Clintonconsidering the importance of non-white voters to the Democratic Party, how Sanders thinks he can prevail among party leaders to support him for the nomination when he is dismissing this group is mind-bogglingI have little doubt that Sanders will disregard the many calls for him to cool the rhetoric, end the attacks on Clinton, and focus on the fall campaign against Trump and electing more Democrats to Congress. I have equally little confidence that Sanders will acknowledge defeat after the last primaries and instead will take his fruitless battle to the convention. To follow a better course would require Bernie Sanders to be a different person and his campaign to be less of an embarrassment than it has become.

Translation: First, I AM AN ESTABLISHMENT PUNDIT ARMED WITH RIGHTEOUS ANGER! TREMBLE BEFORE ME! MY WORDS SHALL LAND LIKE WAR HAMMERS UPON THE SOFT SOIL OF YOUR HIPPIE BRAINS! Second, Bernie is racist, and any time he advocates for working people hes actually just hating all minorities. Third, I dont agree with progressive politics, so heres me whining like a coddled baby until it becomes obvious that even the slightest challenge to my prevailing worldview sends me into a peevish little fit.

Kurt Eichenwald writes:

Yeah, these are exactly the kind of people who Americans want to have as the next presidents basevicious, sociopathic misogynists. And their threats of violence at the convention is just another sign that Sanders could go down as one of the most destructive forces in American history. Riots and flames at the conventiona repeat of the chaos of the 1968 Democratic Conventionwould help open the White House doors for Donald Trump when compared with a nose-holding coronation by Republicans at their gathering in ClevelandMeanwhile, Sanders reacts with mealy-mouthed mumbles, saying he doesnt support violence while doing literally nothing about it and claiming thatcontrary to the statements of witnesses, reporters and video recordingshis violent supporters arent violent. Trump would be proud of the disingenuous delusions vomited up by the candidate.

Translation: (I actually have nothing here, because this was hilarious. Vicious, sociopathic misogyniststs? Disingenuous delusions vomited up by the candidate? Thats gold. How many keyboards did this guy pound into pieces while writing this article? I mean, even by the standards of the hysterical pundit class, Kurt Eichenwald needs to find some chill. Im a little worried about him, actually. But mostly entertained.)

7. Bernie Sanders is Hurting Himself by Playing the Victim  The Nation

Joan Walsh writes:

The defections of some supporters, the increased skepticism of even once-friendly cable hosts, and a rebuke by Politifact isnt fatal to Sanderss campaign, of course. What will be fatal to Sanderss future as a mass-movement leaderas opposed to the messiah of an angry, heavily white, and male cultis his continued insistence that his enemy now is not so much the corporate overlords, or income inequality, or the big banks, but a corrupt Democratic Party, epitomized by Wall Street flunkie Hillary Clinton, that has rigged the election to thwart himas he raged in a tone-deaf speech Tuesday night, as cable news was showing the texted death threats to Roberta Lange in the background (which Sanders did not even mention)...

I dont accept the presumption of moral and ideological superiority from a coalition that is dominated by white men, trying to overturn the will of black, brown, and female voters or somehow deem it fraudulentIf youd told me a year ago that wed go into Philadelphia with 45 percent of the delegates committed to a socialist, as a firm flank on the left, backed by the many millions of Clinton supporters like myself who also identify with the left, Id have said we were on the verge of transforming the party into a vehicle for racial and economic justice. Now Im afraid of whats coming.

Translation: Instead of talking about actual political problems, Bernie Sanders should go on a nationwide apology tour to answer for some text messages that he has no control over. PS, Bernie is a racist and misogynist. PS, on paper all this progressive support looks great, but who knew theyd have to be so impolite to the establishment? Why cant we try to change things without being critical?

8. Bernie Sanders supporters are hurting Democratic Party, helping Donald Trump  Chicago Tribune

Thomas C. Bowen writes:

Yet Sanders and his supporters carry on. This is enormously frustrating for those of us who call ourselves Democrats and have participated in the party for yearsElected officials who support Sanders and consider themselves Democrats have a larger responsibility to their party and to the constituencies they represent. Every minute Sanders continues to forcefully challenge Clinton  and every dollar he forces her to spend contesting him  is benefiting Donald Trumpthose Sanders supporters who consider themselves members of the Democratic Party should be horrified by what Sanders supporters are doing and should forcefully condemn it. Further, it is their responsibility to step up and bring their colleagues together to back the partys nominee for presidentBut it is not a choice that should be met with silence from those of us who consider ourselves Democrats. Its time to step up, back our nominee and end this divisive contest.

Translation: Same shit as before, but more boring because its the Chicago Tribune, a tepid joke and a hollow shell of a newspaper. I miss Crazy Kurt Eichenwald.

9. Will Bernie Sander Hurt His Own Cause?  The Atlantic

Clare Foran writes:

But in the long-term, the same strategy could undermine Sanderss goal of creating a lasting political movement. If the campaign suggests the primary election has not proceeded fairly, its supporters may give up on the idea that political reform is even possible. The Boston College political science professor David Hopkins describes the risk this way: Complaints about a rigged system may breed more apathy and cynicism than motivation to remain productively active in party politics, he wrote in an analysis of the Nevada convention. If the lesson drawn by Sanders and his supporters from the 2016 nomination race is the fix is in rather than good startlets get em next time, it will be harder to sustain momentum for their agenda within the Democratic Party and the electoral arena more broadly past the end of this campaign.

Translation: I keep reading all this concern trolling about Sanders supporters being too passionate, so how about I flip the script and concern troll about how they might not be passionate enough at some point in the future? Either way, we can all agree that he should stop all this the system is corrupt nonsense and fall in line.

10. I Felt the Bern But the Bros are Extinguishing the Flames  Time

Sally Kohn writes:

Its also too easy to suggest that Sanders supporters are a different kind of angry than Trumps. Are we entirely sure about that? The populist right may be more inclined toward misogyny and xenophobia, but the populist left is not immune from these afflictions. And as Ive written before, when you see progressive white menmany of whom enthusiastically supported Barack Obamas candidacyhate Clinton with every fiber of their being despite the fact that shes a carbon copy of Obamas ideology (or in fact now running slightly to his left), its hard to find any other explanation than sexism. Either way, the brutish, boorish behavior of Bernie Bros (and their female compatriots, too) was a huge reason I was reluctant to seemingly side with them in endorsing Sandersand has been the only reason I have ever questioned my decision to do so sinceLet me be clear: I am all for populist mass social movements and even anti-elite revolutions. The sooner the better. But what I am not for is hate and violence in the service of those ends, movements that seek to lift up their marginalized base by marginalizing others.

Translation: I am a level ten concern troll because Im also a Bernie Sanders supporter, even though I wrote the most pro-Hillary Bernie endorsement ever and got rattled by a few boos. The only reason white men might have an issue with Hillary is sexism. There are no differences between Trump supporters and Bernie supporters. Im all for revolution, as long as its a totally abstract concept that doesnt rear its ugly head in the real world. Yay Bernie!
The Strokes, the New York City alt-rock band credited with ushering in the garage-rock revival of the early 2000s, have finally hinted about the possibility of debuting new music at their upcoming performances via Twitter.

The band, who made waves in the indie music community with their first album Is This It in 2001, have not released new music since 2013s Comedown Machine, despite the urging of their fans. Frontman Julian Casablancas and lead guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. have since taken on solo projects, with Casablancas leading and touring with a new group called the Voidz and Hammond Jr. releasing an album of his own, entitled Momentary Masters. Listeners have more or less received radio silence from The Strokes regarding new material, with only an occasional festival appearance to tide fans over in the past three years.

However, the tide might be turning. The Strokes recently announced an additional performance to precede their homecoming appearance at Governors Ball on June 3, playing Port Chesters Capitol Theater on May 31 with opener Rey Pila, the Mexican rock band signed to Casablancas own independent label, Cult Records. Alongside news of the surprise set, members of the band have taken to Twitter to drum up excitement for the upcoming shows, answering questions and taking requests. When asked if the band might be debuting unreleased music at the festival, Hammond Jr., who has been reticent in the past about acknowledging the possibility of new Strokes material, coyly responded, Youll just have to wait and see.

2016 just might be the year impatient Strokes fans get the new music theyve been waiting forrumors have been flying around from hints at a new single in March to news that the Strokes had rented out a recording studio in Mexico late last year. The latest tweets from the members have only contributed to the speculation surrounding a potential new album, or at the very least, some new songs. Though disbandment never really seemed in the cards for the Strokes, the members side projects and reluctance to re-enter the studio together were definitely sources of concern for die-hard listeners, but it seems that those fears can be temporarily assuaged.

The Strokes appearance at Governors Ball this year is their first hometown show since headlining the same festival back in 2014. Now, New Yorkers get to see the band at a more intimate venue several days prior  tickets go on sale at noon on Friday, but a pre-sale can be accessed on the bands website. As for Governors Ball, Friday tickets are still available, where music fans can see Beck, Robyn, and finally get their questions about new Strokes material answered.
Watch this Game of Thrones scene (only if youre caught or dont care about spoilers!), and imagine that instead of saying for the watch!, everyone with a knife mutters for the party! before getting all stabby. And imagine that instead of that one character, the victim is Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And then imagine that the culprits surrounding her are the fellow centrists she used to call friends.

Once youve conjured up that fantasy, youre getting close to the betrayal that might befall Wasserman Schultz before the Democratic convention this summer. (A purely metaphorical betrayalI think.) Politico reports that theres chatter about a so-called coup brewing against her, and the really surprising part is that its coming from Hillary Clinton backers. That seems strange, when you consider that Wasserman Schultz is despised by Bernie Sanders supporters precisely because shes been functioning as Clintons henchwoman since the primary campaign began, but as it turns out, this hatred is exactly why her own people might be turning on her. This news was first reported by The Hill, and heres what they had to say:

Democrats backing likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton worry Wasserman Schultz has become too divisive a figure to unify the party in 2016, which they say is crucial to defeating presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in November.

Wasserman Schultz has had an increasingly acrimonious relationship with the partys other presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and his supporters, who argue she has tilted the scales in Clintons favor.

There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultzs head on, said one pro-Clinton Democratic senator.

The lawmaker said senators huddled on the chamber floor last week to talk about Wasserman Schultzs future and estimated that about a dozen have weighed in during private conversations.

I dont see how she can continue to the election. How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts, said the lawmaker, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Thats actuallypretty smart. And although theres been a small show of support since the rumors became public, more and more big-name politicians are staying mum. Politico reached out to Democrat leaders like Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray, and Harry Reid, and all of them gave hilariously vague non-answers.

Thats not up to me, said Reid, while both Schumer and Murray declined to comment, saying they were focused on other matters.

What a stunning show of support for someone who essentially sacrificed herself for the presumptive nominee, right? I bet all the abuse and allegations Wasserman Schultz has absorbed over the last year now seems totally worthwhileshe has a primary challenger in her district, and her friends might betray her.

None of this may come to pass, of course, but the fact that its being discussed and seriously considered just proves that in politics, theres no such thing as loyalty.
None of us can possibly imagine what its been like in Jesse Hughes head since the horrible events at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris last November. Hughes is the frontman for Eagles of Death Metal, and the pain and confusion caused by 89 of his fans being slaughtered in front of him is something that no human soul should have to bear, and something that the free world hopes and prays will never be repeated. That hope is exactly why Hughes recent commentswhich got his band dropped from the French festivals Le Cabaret Vert and Rock en Seineare dangerously problematic, and have no place in todays international discourse about how best to handle religious extremists.

Jesse Hughes is not a pretenderhe is a dyed-in-the-wool, absolutely original rock n roller that only America could produce. A living, breathing contradiction, Hughes unabashedly loves guns, Trump and Jesus with the same fervor he enjoys sex with porn stars, catchy guitar riffs and hoovering mountains of weapons-grade speed into his ever-hungry nostrils. Always an eccentric, Hughes statements that were once merely fantastic interview fodder for bored music journalists have taken on a new light since the Paris attackswhen Jesse Hughes speaks, the world takes note. And that is precisely why his statements to conservative webzine Takis Magazine are so dangerous.

In the interview with former Vice-editor-turned-conservative Gavin McInnes, Hughes blames the events of November 23rd on gun control, political correctness and fears of being labeled a racist. He says the victims surrendered themselves to death and lays the blame for the attack right in the lap of liberal mentality before reiterating his previous claims that the security at the Bataclan was in on the attacksclaims he apologized for and called insane back in March, when he blamed them on PTSD. As one survivor of the attacks pointed out in a response article, Hughes was on stage and therefore in a far more advantageous position to escape than the packed audience was, and saying the victims gave up and fell like wheat in the windthe way you would before a god, is wildly inappropriate and hugely disrespectful to those who lost their lives that night.

Today, another survivora young Muslim manexpressed his hurt and disappointment in Hughes words, and related the story of a man who risked his life to get help others escape. He too, was a Muslimas were others killed that night in the Bataclan.

After the entire free world rallied around Hughes, his band and the healing power of music, its disappointingif somewhat understandableto see his belief system take such a dark and questionable turn. Hughes is adamantly suggesting that the freedoms extended to a successful drug-snorting, gun-waving madman musician be kept from others simply because of their religion, and the Le Cabaret Vert and Rock en Seine festivals were right to drop him.

France is attempting to heal and change while strengthening its defenses against such attacks, and this type of divisive and hateful rhetoric has no place in that dialogue. Hughes and the Eagles of Death Metal returned to touring only a couple of months after the tragedy, and perhaps that was unwise. It would be a Herculean mental task for anyone to return to that life after such an event, much less a man who told Grantland last October that he does such high-grade crank that, The only place youre going to find the type of speed I like to do is at a gay bar at six in the morning. Its the only place.

Again, thats the kind of sensational quote we journalists live for, and back in October I read that interview and chuckled. Now, Hughes words carry an added weight89 perished souls worth. No one is asking or wants Jesse Hughes to be anything other than Jesse Hughes, but perhaps its time he to a break from the road and the public eye and process some of what happened.

In the interview, McInnesin his typically insufferable mannergoads Hughes several times with leading questions and preposterous statements like You never see bad guys in movies who are Arab, theyre always German or French after which Hughes jumps from one tenuous conspiracy after another. What Hughes hurt and anger seem to be clouding in his mind is the fact that his statements make him sound a lot like an unreasonable fundamentalist who is completely intolerant of those who disagree with himnot unlike the very extremists he is bemoaning in the article.

Although these statements help no one and are uninformed and baselessits hard to blame Hughes for such a human reaction after what hes been through. But with Europe on full alert and tensions high across the continent (especially at large public events), imagine EODM is playing a typically rowdy set at a festival in France. Imagine that people are imbibing a bit too muchas folks are often want to do at music festivalsand an inebriated and emotional group decides they dont like the look of the brown couple next to them and want to do them harm. In the context of a crowded music festival, one shudders to think how quickly such a situation could escalate into very dangerousand tragicterritory. And if such an unfortunate event were to occur, what do you think the likes of ISIS will be showing their young recruits on the news the next day? Couple Assaulted For Being Muslim At Music Festival would be the headline spread throughout the world.

Clearly, the vast, vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, loving peopleand the separation between the devout and the extremists must be acknowledged. If not, the rest of us risk not only becoming like those we oppose, but we also risk alienating young Muslims and in turn, helping to create new extremist recruits. Aiman A. Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims illustrated the danger of such limited thought:

I use the example of the Muslims who died in the Paris violence: Do they also need to distance themselves from their killers? Especially for young people, this feeling can be dangerous, because if they have prejudices against a society they live in and if they generalize these prejudices, then they tend towards radicalization.

Basically what Hughes and people like Donald Trump are saying is that if we dont start hassling Muslims then the terrorists have wonand thats simply not true. On the contrary, if we begin oppressing and subjugating the many for the crimes of the fewthen we have lowered ourselves to the extremists level. For what is an act of terrorism then just that: punishing many innocents for the perceived crimes of a few?

The main thing those of us who are not religious extremists have going for us in the on-going battle against terror is that were on the side of what is right and good. The side of respecting life, loving knowledge and valuing empathy. If we lose that essential part of who we are as a people, as a country, and as the freedom-loving world at largewe will have truly lost ourselves.

(For another perspective on Hughes remarks, read here.)
Grammy Award-winning rock band Wilco have confirmed a sweeping world tour for the latter half of 2016, including dates in Asia, Europe and South America. The tour comes as a welcome surprise for South America in particular, who havent seen the Chicago-based alt-rockers since 2005 at Rio de Janeiros TIM Festival. This time around, Wilco will be hitting Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina for concerts and festival appearances on the South American leg of their tour after swinging along the U.S. West Coast to play multiple shows in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah.

Its not an understatement to say our South American fans are among our most enthusiastic in the world, frontman Jeff Tweedy said. We hear from them often, and many of them have made trips to see Wilco in places far from their homes. Theyve been waiting patiently a long time for us to come there, and I am happy to say the wait is over. Get ready South America! Well be there soon!

As Wilco prepares for shows in familiar spots throughout the U.S. and Europe, it will also be playing debut shows in Poland and Montenegro, as well as headlining Japanese music festival Fuji Rock in late July. Wilco will return to its native Chicago for a homecoming performance in Millennium Park in late August before embarking on the European leg of their tour, which will culminate in a performance at Londons Brixton Academy in November.

This tour supports the bands latest album, Star Wars, which has received praise from fans and critics alike since its release in July of 2015. For a complete list of Wilcos tour dates, click here and find the newly added South American dates below.

Wilco South American Tour Dates

October

8  Sao Paolo Brazil @ Popload Festival

10  Montevideo, Uruguay @ La Trastienda

12  Santiago, Chile @ Teatro Capoulican

15  Buenos Aires, Argentina @ BUE Festival
Hudsons Bay Company revealed its first four store locations in the Netherlands. As announced by the company on 17 May 2016, HBC intends to enter the Netherlands with up to 20 new stores over the next 24 months. The expansion into the Netherlands will leverage HBC Europe's existing infrastructure and

[]
Using a miniature microscope that opens a window into the brain, UCLA neuroscientists have identified in mice how the brain links different memories over time. While aging weakens these connections, the team devised a way for the middle-aged brain to reconnect separate memories.

The findings, which were published in the advance online edition of Nature, suggest a possible intervention for people suffering from age-related memory problems.

"Until now, neuroscientists have focused on how the brain creates and stores single memories," said principal investigator Alcino Silva, a professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We wanted to explore how the brain links two memories and whether the passage of time affects the strength of the connection."

"In the real world, memories don't happen in isolation," said first author Denise Cai, a researcher in Silva's lab. "Our past experiences influence the creation of new memories and help us predict what to expect and make informed decisions in the future."

In an intricate experiment, the UCLA team tested in young and middle-aged mice whether the brain linked memories of experiences separated by five hours versus seven days.

Watching neurons in real time

The lab used a miniature microscope, called a Miniscope, which was developed by UCLA neuroscientists Dr. Peyman Golshani, Baljit Khakh and Silva with funding from the presidential BRAIN Initiative and the Geffen School. The instrument's powerful camera allowed the scientists to peer into the brains of young and observe their cells in action. The tiny, head-mounted microscope illuminated the animals' neurons firing as the mice moved freely in their natural environments.

advertisement

For 10 minutes at a time, each mouse was placed in three boxes, all unique in terms of fragrance, shape, lighting and flooring. A week's time separated placement in the first and second boxes. Only five hours separated time spent in the second and third boxes, where the mouse later received a small shock to the foot.

Two days later, the team returned each mouse to all three boxes. As expected, the mice froze with fear when it recognized the inside of the third box.

What happened next, however, came as a surprise.

"The mouse also froze in the second box, where no shock occurred," Silva observed. "This suggests that the mouse transferred its memory of the shock in the third box to its experience in the second box five hours earlier."

When Silva and Cai examined the animals' brains, the neural activity confirmed their hypothesis.

advertisement

"The same brain cells that recorded the mouse's shock in the third box also encoded its memory of the second box a few hours earlier," Cai said. "We saw 20 percent more overlap in the neural circuits that recorded the animal's experiences in the memories that unfolded closer in time."

In other words, says Silva, "The memories became interrelated in how they were encoded and stored by the brain, such that the recall of one memory triggered the recall of another memory related in time."

Exciting the brain

Based on an earlier Silva finding, the team knew that a cell is most likely to encode a memory when it's aroused and ready to fire. Neuroscientists refer to this condition as excitability.

"The excitable brain is already warmed up," Silva said. "It's like stretching your muscles before exercise or revving your car engine before you drive."

Suspecting that aging weakens neurons' ability to fully excite, the UCLA researchers conducted a similar experiment in middle-aged mice. They introduced each of the mice to two boxes, five hours apart, and administered a foot shock in the second box.

When they returned the animals to the boxes two days later, the results could not have been more clear-cut.

"The older mice froze only in the box where they had received a shock," Cai explained. "They did not react in the first box."

A glimpse into the Miniscopes confirmed that the brains of the mice did not connect the two memories; each memory was encoded on its own neural circuit.

Rescuing lost connections

Next the team focused on boosting the older animals' ability to link memories. Cai used a biological tool to excite neurons in a tiny part of the hippocampus -- the memory center of the brain -- before introducing the mice to the first box.

She stimulated the same cells before placing the mice in the first box and the second box, where they received a foot shock two days later.

"The proof in the pudding arrived when we reintroduced the middle-aged mice to the first box," Silva said. "The animals froze -- they now linked the shock that happened in the second box to the first. This suggests that increased excitability had reversed their age-related inability to link memories."

Cai and Silva are currently testing an FDA-approved drug's effect on the ability of middle-aged mice to connect memories.
Tuna fishers who network with their competition may be able to stop thousands of sharks a year from being accidentally captured and killed in the Pacific Ocean.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University and the University of Hawaii found if fishers communicated more with their rivals, it could lead to more sustainable fishing practices.

"Forty-six thousand sharks could have been saved if information about avoiding sharks was shared freely between fishing groups," says lead author Michele Barnes.

Barnes interviewed nearly every single Hawaii-based longline tuna fisher and found there were three distinct groups, based on who they shared information with.

"To use the phrase, 'birds of a feather flock together', we definitely found that to be the case here -- fishers primarily shared information with those most similar to themselves."

The research team found that these 'cliques' prevented communication to come up with strategies to catch fewer sharks and more tuna.

Bycatch, which is the accidental capture of non-target species, is a big global problem. In longline tuna fisheries, where fishers hang thousands of hooks from a mainline stretching up to 45 nautical miles, 100 sharks can be caught on a single line.

"Shark bycatch has significant ecological implications because many species of shark are in sharp decline, but when sharks are accidentally caught there are also economic implications because it takes time for fishers to cut them off the line, they risk losing their gear, and it can be dangerous," says co-author John Lynham.

"It's unclear whether fishers are even aware that some groups have learned how to avoid sharks more effectively, so sharing this information with them is the first critical step," says Barnes.

"Sharks are vital to the health of the oceans, and fishing supports the livelihoods of millions of people across the globe. So when we can find simple, low cost ways to reduce the number of sharks that are accidentally caught, it's great for fishers, and for the oceans."

The paper entitled "Social Networks and Environmental Outcomes" has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A new study from the University of Rochester suggests that human intelligence might have evolved in response to the demands of caring for infants.

Steven Piantadosi and Celeste Kidd, assistant professors in brain and cognitive sciences, developed a novel evolutionary model in which the development of high levels of intelligence may be driven by the demands of raising offspring. Their study is available online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' Early Edition.

"Human infants are born far more immature than the infants of other species. For example, giraffe calves are able to stand-up, walk around, and even flee from predators within hours of their births. By comparison, human infants cannot even support their own heads," said Kidd.

"Our theory is that there is a kind of self-reinforcing cycle where big brains lead to very premature offspring and premature offspring lead to parents having to have big brains. What our formal modeling work shows is that those dynamics can result in runaway pressure for extremely intelligent parents and extremely premature offspring," said Piantadosi.

In other words, because humans have relatively big brains, their infants must be born early in development while their heads are still small enough to insure a safe delivery. Early birth, though, means that human infants are helpless for much longer than other primates, and such vulnerable infants require intelligent parents. As a result, selective pressures for large brains and early birth can become self-reinforcing--potentially creating species like humans with qualitatively different cognitive abilities than other animals.

Piantadosi and Kidd tested a novel prediction of the model that the immaturity of newborns should be strongly related to general intelligence. "What we found is that weaning time--which acts as a measure of the prematurity of the infants--was a much better predictor of primate's intelligence than any of other measures we looked at, including brain size, which is commonly correlated with intelligence," said Piantadosi.

The theory may also be able to explain the origin of the cognitive abilities that make humans special. "Humans have a unique kind of intelligence. We are good at social reasoning and something called 'theory of mind'--the ability to anticipate the needs of others, and to recognize that those needs may not be the same as our own," said Kidd, who is also the director of the Rochester Baby Lab at the University of Rochester. "This is an especially helpful when taking care of an infant who is not able talk for a couple of years."

"There are alternative theories of why humans are so intelligent. A lot of these are based on factors like living in a harsh environment or hunting in groups," said Piantadosi. "One of the motivating puzzles of our research was thinking about those theories and trying to see why they predict specifically that primates or mammals should become so intelligent, instead of other species that faced similar pressures."

The key is live birth. According to the researchers, the runaway selection of intelligence requires both live birth of a single off spring and large brains, distinctive features of higher mammals.

"Our theory explains specifically why primates developed super intelligence but dinosaurs--who faced many of the same environmental pressures and had more time to do so--did not. Dinosaurs matured in eggs, so there was no linking between intelligence and infant immaturity at birth," said Kidd.
English ivy's natural glue might hold the key to new approaches to wound healing, stronger armor for the military and maybe even cosmetics with better staying power.

New research from The Ohio State University illuminates the tiny particles responsible for ivy's ability to latch on so tight to trees and buildings that it can withstand hurricanes and tornadoes. (Not to mention infuriate those trying to rid their homes of the vigorous green climber.)

The researchers pinpointed the spherical particles within English ivy's adhesive and identified the primary protein within them.

"By understanding the proteins that give rise to ivy's strength, we can give rise to approaches to engineer new bio-inspired adhesives for medical and industry products," said Mingjun Zhang, the biomedical engineering professor who led the work.

"It's a milestone to resolve this mystery. We now know the secret of this adhesive and the underlying molecular mechanism," said Zhang, who focuses his work on finding answers in nature for vexing problems in medicine.

The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

advertisement

Like many scientists before him, Charles Darwin among them, Zhang found himself captivated by English ivy -- the physics of it, the sheer strength of it.

"Ivy has these very tiny hairy structures that have a wonderful interaction with the surface as the plant climbs. One day I was looking at the ivy in the backyard and I was amazed at the force," Zhang said.

"It's very difficult to tear down, even in a natural disaster. It's one of the strongest adhesive forces in nature."

When he and his team took a look at the ivy's glue with a powerful atomic-force microscope, they were able to identify a previously unknown element in its adhesive.

The tiny particles inside the glue on their laboratory slides turned out to be primarily made up of arabinogalactan proteins. And when the scientists investigated further, they discovered that the driving force behind the curing of the glue was a calcium-mediated interaction between the proteins and pectin in the gelatinous liquid that oozes from ivy as it climbs.

advertisement

Zhang said particles rich in those proteins have exceptional adhesive abilities -- abilities that could be used to the advantage of many, from biomedical engineers to paint makers.

Zhang, a member of Ohio State's Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, is particularly interested in bioadhesives that could aid in wound healing after injury or surgeries. Others, notably the U.S. military, are interested in surface-coating applications for purposes that include strengthening armor systems, he said.

Many plants are excellent climbers, but scientists have had limited information about the adhesives that enable those plants to affix themselves to walls, fences and just about anything in their way, he said.

"When climbing, ivy secretes these tiny nanoparticles which make initial surface contact. Due to their high uniformity and low viscosity, they can attach to large areas on various surfaces," Zhang said.

After the water evaporates, a chemical bond forms, Zhang said.

"It's really a nature-made amazing mechanism for high-strength adhesion," he said.

The glue doesn't just sit on the surface of the object that the ivy is clinging to, he said. It finds its way into openings invisible to the naked eye, further solidifying its bond.

To confirm what they found, Zhang and his collaborators used the nanoparticles to reconstruct a simple glue that mimics ivy adhesive. Advanced bioadhesives based on this research will take more time and research.

In addition to its strength, ivy adhesive has other properties that make it appealing to scientists looking for answers to engineering quandaries, Zhang said.

"Under moisture or high or low temperatures, it's not easily damaged," he said. "Ivy is very resistant to various environmental conditions, which makes the adhesive a particularly interesting candidate for the development of armor coatings."

Ivy also is considered a pest because it can be destructive to buildings and bridges. Knowing what's at the heart of its sticking ability could help scientists unearth approaches to resist the plant, Zhang said.
Oysters are keystone organisms in estuaries around the world, influencing water quality, constructing habitat and providing food for humans and wildlife. Yet their populations in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere have dramatically declined after more than a century of overfishing, pollution, disease and habitat degradation. Smithsonian scientists and colleagues, however, have conducted the first bay-wide, millennial-scale study of oyster harvesting in the Chesapeake, revealing a sustainable model for future oyster restoration. Their research is published in the May 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite providing food for humans for millennia, little is known about Chesapeake Bay oyster populations prior to the late 1800s. Using fossil, archaeological and modern biological data, the team of scientists was able to reconstruct changes in oyster size from four time frames: the Pleistocene (780,000-13,000 years ago), prehistoric Native American occupation (3,200-400 years ago), historic (400-50 years ago) and modern times (2000 to 2014).

They found that while oyster size fluctuated at certain points through time, it has generally decreased over time and the average size of modern oysters is significantly smaller than oysters from the 1800s and earlier.

"Our work demonstrates the importance of working across disciplines and using the past to help us understand and transcend modern environmental issues," said Torben Rick, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and lead author of the research. "In this case, paleontology, archaeology, history and marine ecology all provided unique perspectives on the difficult puzzle of restoring Chesapeake oysters. Ultimately, they issue a challenge for us to make important and difficult decisions about how to restore and sustain our marine ecosystems and organisms."

The team also found that Native Americans' method of selecting and hand-collecting oysters likely resulted in more consistent average sizes and fewer very small individual oysters. People were likely removing oysters from the reefs in a way that was biased toward medium-sized oysters without decreasing the average size of the oysters in the harvested populations.

With limited variability in oyster size and abundance, and no strong evidence for a size decline from 3,500 to 400 years ago, the Native American Chesapeake Bay oyster harvesting appears to have been largely sustainable, despite changing climatic conditions and sea-level rise. The teams point to four supporting factors:

Water depth and technology restricted Native Americans' harvest primarily close to shore

Oysters may have been harvested intensively at particular times of year and less so at others

The density of the human population was drastically lower than today

Broad-spectrum human diets that had a mix of marine and terrestrial resources

It is this sustainability of the Native American oyster fishery that can provide insight into the future restoration of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and around the world. However, there are factors stacked against modern-day oysters that did not exist in the prehistoric Native American's time.

"Chesapeake Bay oysters now face challenges resulting from disease, poor water quality and over a century of overfishing, which not only removes oysters, but also destroys the reef habitat oysters depend on," said Denise Breitburg, co-author and senior scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. "These factors have led to the decline of oysters in Chesapeake Bay and are making restoration difficult. But large-scale efforts are underway to try to reverse the trend."

The team's model of a sustainable prehistoric Native American harvest of oysters, primarily by hand from fringing reefs that left deeper-water reefs largely intact, supports recent plans for Chesapeake Bay oyster-restoration efforts. They include reduction of modern harvest levels and creation of increased no-take zones that are conceptually similar to deep-water areas where harvest was unlikely in Native American fisheries. Current restoration plans also include enhancement of oyster density using hatchery seed and the addition of new hard substrate where needed. The team's Pleistocene data also provide a baseline against which the size distribution of oysters in no-take reserves could be evaluated.

While not solving all the challenges facing oysters in the Chesapeake, the team's research provides an example of an apparently sustainable millennial-scale fishery, elements of which may help inform restoration and harvest in today's ecosystem.

The archaeological component of this study was funded by the Smithsonian Institution and a Committee for Research and Exploration grant from the National Geographic Society.
Canadian military personnel have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, but they are also more likely to access mental health support than civilians, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

Suicide prevention has been a focus in Canada in recent years, with initiatives such as the Mental Health Commission of Canada and major investments in military and veteran mental health aimed at reducing this cause of death. Despite these initiatives, suicide rates have remained mostly unchanged.

The media in Canada has criticized the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) about the lack of mental health services for military personnel. However, the CAF has engaged in greater investments in mental health services renewal over the past decade, relative to the Canadian public system. Over the same general period, more than 40,000 CAF personnel were deployed in support of the mission in Afghanistan. There is a lack of information on the relative trends in suicidality and use of mental health services in the two populations.

Researchers from Canada and the United States looked at data from four nationally representative surveys in 2002 and 2012/13 to compare rates of suicidal thoughts and help-seeking in military and civilian populations. They found that in 2012/13, personnel in the CAF had a 32% increased odds of thinking about suicide and 64% increased odds of planning suicide than the civilian group.

"Trends of an increasing lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts over the 10-year period and of a higher prevalence of suicidal ideation and plans among military personnel than among civilians in 2012/13 is a concerning and important observation with public-policy ramifications," writes Dr. Jitender Sareen, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, with coauthors.

The authors also found that suicidal ideation in women, but not men, who served in the military decreased over time.

"The prevalence of lifetime and past-year suicidal ideation among male military personnel did not change over time; however, female military personnel had a significant decrease in lifetime suicidal ideation," write the authors. They suggest it may be that women are more likely than men to seek help for mental health issues.

People in the military with suicidal thoughts were significantly more likely than civilians to seek help and accessed more types of professionals for help. Care-seeking for suicidality increased in both populations, but the increase was significantly greater in the CAF.

"This study supports the criticism that the Canadian public health care system is not universal but has significant inequities, inefficiencies and varying levels of service," states Dr. Sareen. "It also speaks to potential value of incremental investments in the public system, similar to those made in the CAF."
Statisticians at the University of Washington have developed the first model for projecting population that factors in the vagaries of migration, a slippery issue that has bedeviled demographers for decades.

Their work, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provides population projections for all countries worldwide -- and challenges the existing predictions for some, particularly the United States and Germany.

"It turns out that for quite a few countries, migration is the single biggest source of uncertainty for population projections," said principal investigator Adrian Raftery, a UW professor of statistics and sociology.

For the first time, the researchers used a "probabilistic" model that draws on migration rates in each country and worldwide over the past 65 years, along with patterns of fertility and mortality, to project population around the world. The findings were most striking for Germany, whose bureau of statistics has called population decline "inevitable" as the country's populace ages.

But the UW model predicts that when migration is factored in, Germany's population decline could be offset by the arrival of more than 1 million immigrants every five years for most of the next century. The data in the study was collected before the influx of more than 965,000 migrants and refugees into the country in 2015, so the near-term difference could be even more dramatic.

"Our model could change the perception of the future of Germany from a country that goes into decline for the rest of the century to one that may not, if its policy of accepting migrants continues," said Raftery, also a faculty affiliate for the UW Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences and the UW Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology.

advertisement

The researchers also predict that France and the United Kingdom are likely to have bigger populations than Germany by 2060, given both countries' higher fertility rates.

They also predict that the U.S. population has a 10 percent chance of exceeding 610 million over the next 85 years -- nearly double the current population -- when migration is factored in, versus a projected high of 510 million if it isn't. While that likelihood is small, it has large ramifications, said lead author Jonathan Azose, a doctoral student in the UW Department of Statistics.

"If you think about planning for social welfare programs, sometimes the biggest issues arise when these unexpected events occur," he said. "Countries need to be prepared for the possibility."

But migration is a difficult force to predict, driven by factors ranging from war to economic crises, employment opportunity, family dynamics and even migration policy, which can themselves be difficult -- if not impossible -- to foresee. To come up with their projections, the researchers looked at past migration patterns in each country to determine a range of probability for future outcomes, reasoning that recent history creates an environment that is likely to create similar migration patterns going forward.

"A lot of the influences that have produced migration levels in the recent past are baked in and likely to continue to play a role in the future," Raftery said. "It's almost impossible to tease out all factors, but using current levels of migration, this is the best we can do."

The researchers then incorporated global migration patterns to build a statistical model and make population projections for each country. Some regional patterns emerged. Smaller European countries that have experienced broad swings in migration over the past half-century are more likely to be impacted by migration uncertainty than countries like India and China, where migration rates are smaller relative to their large populations.

advertisement

In some African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, migration uncertainty is expected to be less of a factor in population change than fluctuations in mortality and fertility rates. And projections were adjusted for Gulf countries that in past decades have had large influxes of oil industry workers, since in-migration is expected to decline as the sector cools off in that region.

The researchers' model contrasts with the traditional "deterministic" approach that projects current mortality, fertility and migration rates into the future to estimate population size. But migration rates vary considerably in many countries and fluctuate over time, Raftery said, making for unreliable estimates.

Leaving migration out of the equation can lead to long-term challenges for nations in planning for social programs, the researchers said. Many European countries are cutting education funding in anticipation of declines in school-aged populations, Azose said, which could lead to school closures and fewer trained teachers.

"If the school-age population turns out to be larger than the space allocated for them, there can be huge costs associated with opening or reopening schools and finding teachers to staff them," he said. "International migration, and especially refugee migration, typically includes large numbers of school-aged children."

The new research stems from a collaboration between Raftery and his colleagues and the United Nations Population Division that started 10 years ago. The team was enlisted by the U.N. to incorporate uncertainty about fertility and mortality to develop more accurate population prediction models. But migration remained a critical, and unaccounted for, determinant. Raftery hopes the new model may eventually be incorporated into U.N. projections.

"Including migration uncertainty in population projections could make a substantial difference in how we understand population changes," he said. "As far as we know, nobody has done this before."
Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, but the biological process has not been understood. A major, decade-long study of thousands of Americans found that people living in areas with more outdoor pollution -- even at lower levels common in the United States -- accumulate deposits in the arteries that supply the heart faster than do people living in less polluted areas.

The study is published May 24 online in The Lancet.

Previous epidemiological studies have shown associations between particle pollution, referred to as particulate matter, and heart disease. It has been unclear, however, how exposure to particulate matter leads to diseases of the cardiovascular system. Earlier studies had been shorter and had depended for their analysis on existing datasets collected for other purposes.

Now, direct evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air), a 10-year epidemiological study of more than 6,000 people from six U.S. states, shows that air pollution -- even at levels below regulatory standards -- accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis. The condition, also called hardening of the arteries, can cause heart attacks. Researchers repeatedly measured calcium deposits in the heart's arteries by using CT scans. They also assessed each person's exposure to pollution based on home address.

"The study provides important new information on how pollution affects the main biological process that leads to heart disease," said Dr. Joel Kaufman, who directs MESA Air and is the lead author of the published paper. He is a University of Washington professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, and also a UW professor of epidemiology, and of medicine.

"The evidence supports worldwide efforts to reduce exposures to ambient air pollutants," Kaufman said.

advertisement

He added, "This was the most in-depth study of air pollution exposures ever applied to a large study group specifically designed to examine influences on cardiovascular health."

The researchers calculated each participant's exposure to ambient fine particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and too small to be seen by the naked eye. In addition to PM2.5, they also measured exposure to nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide, and black carbon or soot.

The research team collected thousands of air pollution measurements in the study participants' communities and at their homes. The research team developed and applied computational models that included local information on land use, roadway and traffic volumes, weather conditions, and local sources of air pollution. These models could generate accurate pollution concentrations at each person's home. Meanwhile, between the years 2000 and 2012, participants visited study clinics several times to undergo CT scanning to determine the amount of calcium deposits in their heart arteries.

Results were strongest for fine particulate matter and the traffic-related pollutant gases called oxides of nitrogen. The study found that for every 5 g/m3 higher concentration of PM2.5, or 35 parts per billion higher concentration of oxides of nitrogen -- about the difference between more and less polluted areas of a U.S. metropolitan area -- individuals had a 4 Agatston units/year faster rate of progression of coronary artery calcium scores. This is about a 20 percent acceleration in the rate of these calcium deposits.

"The effects were seen even in the United States where efforts to reduce exposure have been notably successful compared with many other parts of the world," Kaufman said. Exposures were low when compared to U.S. ambient air quality standards, which permit an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 12 g/m3. The participants in this MESA-Air study experienced concentrations between 9.2 and 22.6 g/m3.

In an accompanying editorial in The Lancet, Dr. Bert Brunekreef, a professor at Utrecht University in The Netherlands, and Dr. Barbara Hoffmann, a professor of the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, described the study as "exemplary." Noting that the results are sobering, they called for decisive action in controlling pollution levels worldwide.

10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00378-0
Dark matter is a mysterious substance composing most of the material universe, now widely thought to be some form of massive exotic particle. An intriguing alternative view is that dark matter is made of black holes formed during the first second of our universe's existence, known as primordial black holes. Now a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, suggests that this interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes detected last year.

"This study is an effort to bring together a broad set of ideas and observations to test how well they fit, and the fit is surprisingly good," said Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard. "If this is correct, then all galaxies, including our own, are embedded within a vast sphere of black holes each about 30 times the sun's mass."

In 2005, Kashlinsky led a team of astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to explore the background glow of infrared light in one part of the sky. The researchers reported excessive patchiness in the glow and concluded it was likely caused by the aggregate light of the first sources to illuminate the universe more than 13 billion years ago. Follow-up studies confirmed that this cosmic infrared background (CIB) showed similar unexpected structure in other parts of the sky.

In 2013, another study compared how the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory compared to the CIB in the same area of the sky. The first stars emitted mainly optical and ultraviolet light, which today is stretched into the infrared by the expansion of space, so they should not contribute significantly to the CXB.

Yet the irregular glow of low-energy X-rays in the CXB matched the patchiness of the CIB quite well. The only object we know of that can be sufficiently luminous across this wide an energy range is a black hole. The research team concluded that primordial black holes must have been abundant among the earliest stars, making up at least about one out of every five of the sources contributing to the CIB.

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most important unresolved issues in astrophysics. Scientists currently favor theoretical models that explain dark matter as an exotic massive particle, but so far searches have failed to turn up evidence these hypothetical particles actually exist. NASA is currently investigating this issue as part of its Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope missions.

advertisement

"These studies are providing increasingly sensitive results, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where dark matter particles can hide," Kashlinsky said. "The failure to find them has led to renewed interest in studying how well primordial black holes -- black holes formed in the universe's first fraction of a second -- could work as dark matter."

Physicists have outlined several ways in which the hot, rapidly expanding universe could produce primordial black holes in the first thousandths of a second after the Big Bang. The older the universe is when these mechanisms take hold, the larger the black holes can be. And because the window for creating them lasts only a tiny fraction of the first second, scientists expect primordial black holes would exhibit a narrow range of masses.

On Sept. 14, gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years away were captured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. This event marked the first-ever detection of gravitational waves as well as the first direct detection of black holes. The signal provided LIGO scientists with information about the masses of the individual black holes, which were 29 and 36 times the sun's mass, plus or minus about four solar masses. These values were both unexpectedly large and surprisingly similar.

"Depending on the mechanism at work, primordial black holes could have properties very similar to what LIGO detected," Kashlinsky explained. "If we assume this is the case, that LIGO caught a merger of black holes formed in the early universe, we can look at the consequences this has on our understanding of how the cosmos ultimately evolved."

In his new paper, published May 24 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Kashlinsky analyzes what might have happened if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO. The black holes distort the distribution of mass in the early universe, adding a small fluctuation that has consequences hundreds of millions of years later, when the first stars begin to form.

advertisement

For much of the universe's first 500 million years, normal matter remained too hot to coalesce into the first stars. Dark matter was unaffected by the high temperature because, whatever its nature, it primarily interacts through gravity. Aggregating by mutual attraction, dark matter first collapsed into clumps called minihaloes, which provided a gravitational seed enabling normal matter to accumulate. Hot gas collapsed toward the minihaloes, resulting in pockets of gas dense enough to further collapse on their own into the first stars. Kashlinsky shows that if black holes play the part of dark matter, this process occurs more rapidly and easily produces the lumpiness of the CIB detected in Spitzer data even if only a small fraction of minihaloes manage to produce stars.

As cosmic gas fell into the minihaloes, their constituent black holes would naturally capture some of it too. Matter falling toward a black hole heats up and ultimately produces X-rays. Together, infrared light from the first stars and X-rays from gas falling into dark matter black holes can account for the observed agreement between the patchiness of the CIB and the CXB.

Occasionally, some primordial black holes will pass close enough to be gravitationally captured into binary systems. The black holes in each of these binaries will, over eons, emit gravitational radiation, lose orbital energy and spiral inward, ultimately merging into a larger black hole like the event LIGO observed.

"Future LIGO observing runs will tell us much more about the universe's population of black holes, and it won't be long before we'll know if the scenario I outline is either supported or ruled out," Kashlinsky said.

Kashlinsky leads science team centered at Goddard that is participating in the European Space Agency's Euclid mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2020. The project, named LIBRAE, will enable the observatory to probe source populations in the CIB with high precision and determine what portion was produced by black holes.
A large national Norwegian study shows that workaholism frequently co-occurs with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression.

Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have examined the associations between workaholism and psychiatric disorders among 16,426 working adults.

"Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics," says researcher and Clinical Psychologist Specialist Cecilie Schou Andreassen, at the Department of Psychosocial Science, at the University of Bergen (UiB), and visiting scholar at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

Workaholics score higher on all clinical states

The study showed that workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics. Among workaholics, the main findings were that:

32.7 per cent met ADHD criteria (12.7 per cent among non-workaholics).

25.6 per cent OCD criteria (8.7 per cent among non-workaholics).

33.8 per cent met anxiety criteria (11.9 per cent among non-workaholics).

8.9 per cent met depression criteria (2.6 per cent among non-workaholics).

"Thus, taking work to the extreme may be a sign of deeper psychological or emotional issues. Whether this reflects overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, disorders leading to workaholism or, conversely, workaholism causing such disorders, remain uncertain," says Schou Andreassen.

advertisement

The pioneering study, published in the open-access journal PLOS One, is co-authored by researchers from Nottingham Trent University and Yale University.

Affects identification of disorders

According to Schou Andreassen, the findings clearly highlight the importance of further investigating neurobiological deviations related to workaholic behaviour.

"In wait for more research, physicians should not take for granted that a seemingly successful workaholic does not have ADHD-related or other clinical features. Their considerations affect both the identification and treatment of these disorders," says Schou Andreassen.

Seven diagnostic criteria for workaholism

The researchers used seven valid criteria when drawing the line between addictive and non-addictive behaviour.

advertisement

Experiences occurring over the past year are rated from 1 (never) to 5 (always):

You think of how you can free up more time to work.

You spend much more time working than initially intended.

You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness or depression.

You have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.

You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.

You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and/or exercise because of your work.

You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.

Scoring 4 (often) or 5 (always) on four or more criteria identify a workaholic.

Accordingly, the Bergen Work Addiction Scale operationalizes workaholism by the same symptoms as traditional addictions: salience, mood modification, conflict, tolerance, withdrawal, relapse and problems.

In line with previous research, 7.8 per cent of the current sample classified as workaholics, which is close to an estimate (8.3 per cent) found in a (and, to date, only) nationally representative study conducted by Dr. Andreassen and colleagues in 2014.
The Dutch biotech start-up In Ovo is the first company to develop a large-scale solution for determining the sex of a chick while it is still in the egg. This fast and cheap technique can be applied mechanically at hatcheries, which was not possible before.

In Ovo's innovation brings us one step closer to preventing the mass death of day-old male chicks. There are other techniques for determining the sex of a chick before it has hatched, such as measuring the level of estrogen in the egg. But this method takes four hours and it is very expensive, which makes it unsuitable for use in hatcheries. In Ovo's technology now makes this possible.

Determining the sex of a chick in a matter of seconds

According to founders Wouter Bruins and Wil Stutterheim, In Ovo is the first company to determine the gender of an unhatched egg in a matter of seconds. The company has identified new substances that indicate the sex of an egg as early as day nine of incubation. These substances are fast and relatively easy to detect, says Bruins. The technique has been tested at a Dutch hatchery, where the company was able to hatch roosters and hens separately on several occasions. The method is also fast enough to separate large amounts of eggs automatically. The first prototype for a sorting device is currently being developed.

Important innovation

This new technique is an important breakthrough. On a yearly basis, over 45 million male chicks are killed in the Netherlands alone because they cannot be used for egg production. Globally, 3.2 billion roosters are killed every year. In addition to preventing a lot of unnecessary suffering, the method also yields environmental benefits. Fewer eggs have to be hatched, resulting in lower energy consumption and a lower CO2 output. In Ovo's invention consequently also offers hatcheries financial advantages.

Partners In Ovo

The development of this technique was accelerated by financial support from -- amongst others -- Leiden University and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The company is currently working on the next step towards bringing the solution to market: the development of a prototype for the sorting machine. To achieve this, they have joined forces with the Danish-Dutch company Sanovo Technology Group. After field tests, In Ovo aims to bring the first sorting machines to market in early 2018.

In Ovo

In Ovo was founded in 2013 by Wouter Bruins and Wil Stutterheim, who were studying biology and biomedical sciences at the time. The biotech start-up was able to develop the technique with help from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Leiden University, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming), the Dutch hatcheries (COBK) and the Northern Division of the Dutch Agriculture and Horticulture Organization (LTO Noord).

In Ovo will talk about this breakthrough in RTL Nieuws on Tuesday 24 May and Toekomstmakers (Makers of the Future) on RTL Z on Wednesday 1 June.
An American aircraft, a TBM-1C Avenger, missing since July 1944 was recently located in the waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau by Project RECOVER -- a collaborative effort to combine the most advanced oceanographic technology with advanced archival research methods to locate aircraft and associated Americans missing in action (MIA) since World War II.

Scattered among the lagoon waters and coral reefs surrounding Palau's island chain, and concealed within its dense mangrove forests, are several dozen U.S. aircraft and the remains of as many as 80 U.S. airmen. This US Navy TBM-1C adds to the growing list of wrecks discovered by Project RECOVER.

"The importance of our mission is reinforced with each new discovery of a missing aircraft," said Eric Terrill, an oceanographer from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, one of Project RECOVER's three founding entities. "But this is more than reconnecting with history; it's about locating the missing to enable the U.S. government to bring them home for a proper burial. With potential recovery sites around the world, Project RECOVER and its team of researchers and volunteers are expanding to intensify its searches using modern science and technology."

The most recent find was made possible by a substantial financial commitment from Dan Friedkin, founder and chairman of Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and chairman of Gulf States Toyota and The Friedkin Group. As a member of the Project RECOVER team, Friedkin's continued support is helping sustain ongoing missions, while enabling the organization to innovate its technology and expand its search and discovery efforts to focus areas around the world.

"This recovery is another step closer towards Project RECOVER's goal of finding the final underwater resting places of all Americans missing in action since World War II," said Friedkin, one of nine civilian Heritage Flight pilots qualified to fly in formation with U.S. Air Force single-ship demonstration teams. "As someone who gained a passion for flying and admiration for our country's brave service members as a child, I will continue to support the efforts of Project RECOVER and their partner organizations. Every family member impacted by the loss of a service member deserves this type of closure."

Upon locating this TBM-1C Avenger and other U.S. aircraft, Project RECOVER provides detailed information about discovered wrecks and possible links to airmen listed as missing in action to the Department of Defense's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). DPAA is tasked with recovery and repatriation efforts, including notification of the families of these MIAs.
While consumers are aware of genetically modified crops and food, their knowledge level is limited and often at odds with the facts, according to a newly published study by a University of Florida researcher.

Last year, Brandon McFadden, an assistant professor of food and resource economics at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, published a study that showed scientific facts scarcely change consumers impressions of genetically modified food and other organisms.

Consumer polls are often cited in policy debates about genetically modified food labeling. This is especially true when discussing whether food that is genetically modified should carry mandatory labels, McFadden said. In conducting their current study, McFadden and his colleague, Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economics professor at Oklahoma State University, wanted to know what data supported consumers beliefs about genetically modified food and gain a better understanding of preferences for a mandatory label.

So he conducted the survey to better understand what consumers know about biotechnology, breeding techniques and label preferences for GM foods.

Researchers used an online survey of 1,004 participants that asked questions to measure consumers knowledge of genetically modified food and organisms. Some of those questions tried to determine objective knowledge of genetically modified organisms, while others aimed to find out consumers beliefs about genetically modified foods and crops.

The results led McFadden to conclude that consumers do not know as much about the facts of genetically modified food and crops as they think they do.

Of those sampled, 84 percent supported a mandatory label for food containing genetically modified ingredients. However, 80 percent also supported a mandatory label for food containing DNA, which would result in labeling almost all food.



Our research indicates that the term GM may imply to consumers that genetic modification alters the genetic structure of an organism, while other breeding techniques do not, McFadden said.



As participants answered questions designed to measure their knowledge of scientific data on genetic modification, respondents seemed to change their statements about the safety of genetically modified foods, McFadden said.

The study is published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.
Scientists are studying how climate change will affect the speed of sound under water to help prepare the U.S. Navy for operating in progressively warmer oceans.

Light doesn't travel very far underwater so the navy uses sound to transmit messages. The speed of underwater sound depends on a combination of temperature, salinity and pressure. It's a complicated equation, but temperature is the biggest factor, says Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

Understanding sound speed is crucial for transmitting messages, detecting enemy submarines and avoiding marine animals. As climate change elevates temperatures, understanding underwater sound speed will become increasingly important.

"[We] haven't had to deal with this issue of climate change until the last 15 years, but the temperature changes are significant enough that it really is having an impact on how sound travels in the ocean," Gawarkiewicz said. He and his colleagues will present their research on the effect of climate change on sonar this week at the 171st meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, held May 23 -- 27 in Salt Lake City.

Gawarkiewicz and his team, with funding from the Office of Naval Research, use a torpedo-like autonomous underwater vehicle to study temperature's influence on sound speed. The vehicle emits sounds that are picked up by a receiver. Sound travels faster through warmer water and slower through colder water. By measuring the exact speed of different temperatures, scientists can help create better communication and detection tools.

This is important because submarines have become more challenging to detect. As technology has improved even more over the past few decades, it's become even more difficult to discover underwater craft. Climate change will only make detection more challenging.

"It's getting harder and harder to detect these subs, and the ocean is getting noisier and noisier with commercial shipping," Gawarkiewicz said.

"You have snappy shrimp making noise and fish making noise, and you might be hearing oil platforms," he added. "It's a huge challenge to try and detect underwater sources."

Experts use underwater sound research to locate missing planes. The black boxes on airplanes have signals on them that send out bursts of sound. If the water is significantly warmer or cooler than normal, this could throw off any hope of finding the plane wreckage and figuring out what happened.

Sound speed is also important for the health of wildlife. Major shipping routes and oil platform construction often take wildlife into consideration. By mapping the speed of sound, scientists can prevent harmful noises from traveling far enough to mess up an animal's migratory patterns or mating grounds.

"If you know that whales hang out in a certain area and you're thinking of putting in an oil platform you'd want to know how close you can be without affecting the whales," Gawarkiewicz said.
In the animal kingdom, sperm usually are considerably smaller than eggs, which means that males can produce far more of them. Large numbers of tiny sperm can increase the probability of successful fertilization, especially when females mate with several males. This is because the competition among sperm from different males to fertilize the few eggs increases as sperm become more abundant. This sperm competition spurs sexual selection after mating, favoring the best sperm in the female reproductive tract.

Therefore, it is astonishing that males of certain animal species produce only very few, but gigantic sperm. "The record holder is Drosophila bifurca: Although this fruit fly is only a few millimeters long, its sperm reach an impressive length of almost six centimeters," says Stefan Luepold, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Zurich. However, such examples contradict the common understanding of sexual selection because fewer sperm vying to fertilize an egg should relax the selection pressure on sperm to be more successful than their competitors. If only a few sperm are transferred to females as in fruit flies, selection -- and thus also the evolution of longer sperm -- is expected to be weakened or even halted.

Sexual selection has a major impact on sperm length

A study lead by Stefan Luepold and published in the journal Nature now provides the first explanation for the development of such giant sperm. Together with Scott Pitnick and other scientists from Syracuse University and George Washington University in the USA, he managed to demonstrate that sexual selection has a major influence on the evolution of sperm length in fruit flies. The scientists combined experimental, quantitative genetic and comparative studies on sexual traits in various Drosophila species.

The study revealed that, on the one hand, different characteristics and processes of sperm uptake, storage and use in the female reproductive tract favor longer sperm. The longer the sperm become, however, the fewer of them can be produced and transferred. Consequently, females have to mate more frequently to ensure fertilization of their eggs. And each mating creates an opportunity for sexual selection via sperm competition. "In fruit flies, for instance, longer sperm are really good at displacing their competitors from the female reproductive tract, which gives them an advantage in the competition for fertilization. Sexual selection thus favors longer sperm," explains Stefan Luepold, first author of the study.

Females prefer larger males with more sperm

On the other hand, sperm length is influenced by female preferences prior to mating. Small males can invest less in sperm production and therefore use up their sperm reserves after only few copulations. Only large, healthy males that are favored by females can afford to produce more sperm despite the increased energetic costs of longer sperm. As a result, only large males benefit from the frequent mating opportunities. Thanks to this increased reproductive success, the genes for longer sperm are able to spread in the population, which ultimately drives the evolution of longer sperm. These complex relationships can maintain, if not intensify, sexual selection even when only very few sperm end up competing for fertilization.

These new findings reveal that the general understanding of sexual selection needs to be broadened. The evolution of sperm is ultimately based on similar processes as other male sexual traits such as horns to frighten away rivals and ornaments to attract females. "Compared to these and numerous other exaggerated sexual traits, fruit-fly sperm are probably the most extreme example in the animal kingdom," finds Luepold. In the case of Drosophila bifurca, they are around 20 times longer than the male itself and thus transmitted as tightly coiled balls.
A new model developed by University of Rochester researchers could offer a new explanation as to how cracks on icy moons, such as Pluto's Charon, formed.

Until now, it was thought that the cracks were the result of geodynamical processes, such as plate tectonics, but the models run by Alice Quillen and her collaborators suggest that a close encounter with another body might have been the cause.

Astronomers have long known that the craters visible on moons were caused by the impact of other bodies, billions of years ago. But for every crash and graze, there would have been many more close encounters. By devising and running a new computer model, Quillen, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rochester, has now shown that the tidal pull exerted by another, similar object could be strong enough to crack the surface of such icy moons. Quillen also thinks that "it might even offer a possible explanation for the crack on Mars, but that's much harder to model."

Icy moons exhibit what is know as brittle elastic behavior, which Quillen says most resembles "silly putty."

"If you take silly putty and throw it on the floor it bounces -- that's the elastic part," said Quillen. "But if you pull on it rapidly and hard enough, it breaks apart."

To simulate the behavior, Quillen modeled the icy moons as if their interior was made up of many bodies connected by springs (an N-body problem with springs). While N-body problems are often used to understand the effect of gravity on planets and stars, N-body problems had never been used to model the inside of an astronomical body, in this case the moons. Other models for icy moons used what are known as "rubble pile models."

"I was inspired by computer graphics code in how to model the icy moons," said Quillen. "The inside of the moons is similar to how blood splatter is modeled in games and the outer, icy crust is similar to modeling clothes and how they move. But I had to ensure the code matched the underlying physics!"

advertisement

To ensure her model took into account the right properties for the materials that make up the moons, she worked with earth sciences Professor Cynthia Ebinger.

"I jumped at the opportunity to consider a novel alternative to plate tectonics, the governing theory to explain earthquakes, volcanoes and moving plates on Earth," said Ebinger. "My role was to provide some checks and balances to Alice's modeling and the choice of model parameters."

In the paper, to be published by the journal Icarus, Quillen states that "strong tidal encounters" may be responsible for the cracks on icy moons such as Charon, Saturn's Dione and Tethys, and Uranus' Ariel.

The key factor in determining if a crack is going to occur is the strain rate, the rate of pull from another body that would have caused the moons to deform at a rate that the top, icy layer could not sustain -- leading to cracks.

In a companion paper, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Quillen has shown that her models are consistent with the rate at which moons spin up or down when orbiting another object.

Quillen's and Ebinger's co-authors on the paper are David Giannella and John G. Shaw, also at the University of Rochester.

The work was in part supported by NASA grant NNX13AI27G.
A nursing cow was taking a stroll on her owner's property when she decided to run away from an eager bull's advances - and suddenly found herself in a muddy situation that was more than she bargained for.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

On Tuesday in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, members of the Anderson County Fire Department, along with the department's large animal rescue, made a joint effort to save the cow, who had unfortunately fallen into a pond.

The cow was unable to get out on her own, but her head remained just above the water line, preventing her from drowning. In a video shared with local news outlet Lex 18 by the fire department, the cow's rescuers were able to get her out of the muddy pond by first sliding her onto a tarp and then using rope to pull her until she was back on dry land.

This browser does not support the video tag. Facebook/Lex 18

The rescue took over an hour.

During the course of the rescue, the mother remained calm - however, her baby was not. "She had a calf that was bawling the whole time," Chris Harrod, battalion chief with the fire department, told The Anderson News.
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HPDCT/posts/10154138675681678">Facebook/Hartford Police CT</a><span></span></p>

This past weekend in Hartford, Connecticut, a baby deer lost his mom in a car accident. But then he fell into the best possible hands.

A local resident spotted the young deer standing by his fallen mom while driving down the highway and stopped to not only pick him up, but take him to the Hartford Police Department, where officers were more than happy to take on their newfound babysitting duties.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

Brian Foley, a deputy chief with the Hartford Police, showed just how eager he and his fellow officers were to pamper the orphaned deer with photos shared in his Twitter account, as well as the Hartford Police's Facebook page.

"What cop isn't going to want to care for that fawn?" Foley told local news outlet Fox 61. "How do you not look at that, and think it's pretty cute, you know?" Hartford police officers cared for the deer until state wildlife officials were able to pick up the deer and take him to a wildlife rescue.

While this young deer was clearly an orphan, in most cases it's best to leave fawns alone as their mothers will come back for them. To find out what to do if you find a fawn you think needs help, click here.
This sea lion mother proves just how strong the mother-child bond is - even when it's broken. Andrea Else Hahn, an independent wildlife advocate, was watching sea lions in the La Jolla area of San Diego, California, in March when she spotted a mother who had recently given birth to a stillborn pup. Warning: The videos contain scenes of birthing and may be considered graphic The mother's grief was overwhelming. A video shows her lying next to her undersized pup, sometimes lifting her head to cry out. At several points she noses at or nips the pup, as if trying to wake him up.

Eventually she drags her body across his, blocking him from the crowd of people watching. She bends down over him again and can be heard crying out. A few days later, Hahn spotted another mother sea lion hovering over the body of her stillborn pup, displaying similar signs of grief. As with the first mother, this one can be seen lying next to her stillborn infant, gently nosing him and rubbing her face on his as if trying to revive him.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog

She stayed with him all night. "It's the same puppy as yesterday; she's still with her baby," Hahn says in a clip the next morning. "Still with her sweet baby."

A third incident had happened just a week earlier. In that video, the mother again cries out, and charges at beachgoers who wander too close to her infant's body. "She's defending her puppy," Hahn can be heard saying in the video. "They're all about to step on the puppy. She, just now, just lost her baby."
Imagine standing onstage as the star of a theatre production, your parents among the packed audience, when suddenly and quite involuntarily an off-colour comment about your sisters sex life spills from your lips.

Such is life for Jess Thom, a writer and comedian whose every performance feels in some ways like a form of improv. Thats because Thom has Tourettes syndrome and, as she puts it, finds herself neurologically incapable of staying on script.

Her most frequently occurring involuntary verbal tic is the word biscuit, which she estimates she says around 16,000 times a day. But sometimes much more detailed phrases randomly emerge unfiltered from her mouth  to her surprise and amusement  and she documents those phrases in a huge searchable database. Examples include: Put a daisy chain in your microwave; whistle down the womb; and Wesley Snipes is a biscuit.

And yes, that story about spilling on her siblings sex life is true.

Theres an element of threat about maybe saying the worst thing in any given situation, the British writer said with a laugh from New York.

Every show is genuinely different.

And so Thom herself couldnt tell you exactly the shape her show Backstage in Biscuit Land will take when it runs at Harbourfront Centre Wednesday to Saturday.

Onstage, she performs with Touretteshero co-founder Jess Mabel Jones  whose involuntary moniker, or lets say tic-name, is Chopin  and their freewheeling production blends comedy, storytelling and puppetry. Its a playful and energetic show high on spontaneity, laughter and lots and lots of biscuits.

As is often the case, Thom is mining laughs from some deeply painful memories.

As a child who experienced tics on a much milder scale, she grew up a passionate fan of theatre. In her 20s, she found that the tics  both verbal and physical  were growing more intense.

Suddenly, the idea of attending live performance became stressful and uncomfortable.

Im very conscious of my tics, and the balance of my right to do stuff and other peoples right not to be interrupted, she said. I had some really difficult experiences going to the theatre because of the noises I was making.

It was around this period she discovered something revelatory: her tics couldnt interrupt the show if she was the show. Still, conjuring the confidence to perform wasnt easy.

When Thoms tics first intensified she found it very difficult to talk about them without tears. Initially, she tried to hide or ignore her Tourettes.

Then a friend described the condition as a crazy language-generating machine and a light went off. Soon, Thom co-founded Touretteshero and began crafting Biscuit Land, which had its premiere at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

I came to (realize) Tourettes is my power and not my problem. . . . It collides ideas into new ideas (that) are often very visual, very surreal or very funny.

Thoms shows are relaxed performances, with gentler light and sound, and accommodating attitudes toward noise and movement from the audience.

One of Thoms goals is to help people understand what the condition is and isnt; crucially, its not about swearing. Only about 10 per cent of people with Tourettes have obscene tics, Thom notes.

Although with Thoms permission her tics have been excluded from her quotations here, an unedited excerpt looked like this: I loved Toronto (biscuit). We came in February, so it was very, very cold (biscuit) but yeah, its a really dynamic, vibrant city and I cant wait to visit again (biscuit hedgehog).

The origin of such tics remains a mystery.

I definitely dont think about biscuits as much as I talk about them, she laughed. And I say I love cats a lot and Im actually not that keen on cats. I dont mind them, but I definitely dont love them.

Thom doesnt let her tics derail her train of thought. Performing, she says, has finally made her more comfortable. (I) have permission to be myself, really.

Even her parents have gotten to know Thom better  even as theyve also unfortunately learned a little more about her sister.

Certainly my parents feel much more comfortable and confident talking about Tourettes, she said.

I sometimes find that my mum knows everything thats going on without having to talk to me. I sometimes have to make sure she remembers to speak to me on the phone and doesnt just read the blog.

SHARE:
Its Candace Paynes week. Were just clicking on it.

If youre not yet one of her many Facebook followers (596,000 and counting), its only a matter of time. Dont you want to be notified before her next joy-inducing video goes viral?

You might well be asking: who in the galaxy is Candace Payne? Well, you probably know her better by her new nickname, Chewbacca Mom.

Last Thursday, the Star Wars-loving stay-at-home Texas mother uploaded a live video of herself sitting in her car, in which she couldnt wait to share with the world her latest purchase: a Chewbacca mask with a hinged jaw that opens and closes, emitting tinny Wookiee noises.

Payne wanted everyone to know that the gift was for herself, not her kids, and when she pulled the mask over her smiling face, she could not contain her glee.

Oh Im such a happy Chewbacca! she exclaimed when she finally stopped laughing long enough to speak. This is worth every penny! And with those lines, and her contagious enthusiasm, an Internet sensation was born.

"Chewbacca Mom" Candace Payne was a guest on Good Morning America on Monday.





Less than a week later, that humble, no-budget, no-CGI video (take that, Star Wars!) has soared to more than 140 million views and 3 million shares, making it the most-viewed Facebook video of all time. And Paynes celebrity status has soared.

On Monday, she appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, starring in a sketch where she was driving the host to work, along with The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. They all put on their Chewbacca masks and had a good laugh.

Then Corden shared an email with her from the fan who matters most: Chewie himself, actor Peter Mayhew, who invited her to join him at Dallas Comic Con next week.

Earlier in the day, Payne showed up on Good Morning America, where she explained that she had only decided to buy the toy when her elbow bumped the box and she heard Chewbacca growl.

I went, I need to get that. I dont think my kids need that. I need it, Payne said. In other words, Hasbro used the Force to take control of her mind and compel her to buy the discount-bin item, rated for ages 5 and up, for her 37-year-old self. Thanks to that Jedi mind trickery, the toy is now widely sold out and Candace Payne is bigger than Yoda.

So what will she do for an encore? On Tuesday, Payne got a VIP tour of Facebook headquarters  alongside a bicycle-riding Chewbacca. She also uploaded a new live video from Lucasfilm headquarters to her Facebook feed, in which she astutely observes: My world is officially the weirdest thing in the entire galaxy.

Read more about:

SHARE:
HALIFAXCanadian relatives of a missing, five-year-old Syrian girl are appealing for help after a mysterious photograph surfaced on the Internet, suggesting she may have been the only member of her family to survive a bid to escape the war-ravaged country.

Mohamed Masalmeh, a cousin of the dark-haired girl, says hes sure the photo shows Mira Akram Al Jawabrah after she was rescued from a boat that overturned off the coast of Italy in August 2014, when the girl was three years old.

Relatives were initially told Mira, her parents and three younger siblings  Yousef, Mahmoud and Maria  had drowned as they were making their way from Libya to Italy at the time, said Masalmeh, a friend of the girls father and uncle.

The boat had more than 500 refugees aboard when it sank in the Mediterranean, he said. About 200 disappeared.

We completely lost contact with them, and we didnt know if they were alive or not, he said in an interview Wednesday. We assumed that everybody was dead.

However, relatives later spotted the girls picture among a series of photos on a Syrian news website showing survivors from the capsizing, he said.

They had hope that she was still alive, and the picture proved that she was still alive, he said.

In the photo, the girl is holding at white card with the number 268 on it.

A longtime resident of Halifax, Masalmeh said hes not sure who took the photo, and he says subsequent requests for information from the Red Cross, the Italian government and police have yielded no useful information.

The girl has an aunt living in Kitchener, Ont., and a grandmother living in Jordan, but Masalmeh says the family has had no luck making phone calls and submitting paperwork through official channels.

They wouldnt even identify that the girl was there, he said.

They wouldnt admit that the girl was still alive, even though we saw her picture there. They didnt want to release any information . . . . I dont know if its just bureaucracy or they just dont know where she is.

There must be a way to track her down.

The girl, originally from the Syrian city of Daraa, may have been unofficially adopted by a Syrian family that survived the capsizing, Masalmeh said.

People (there) dont have paperwork. They could have named her anything.

SHARE:
OTTAWAFormer prime minister Stephen Harper is preparing to step down as a member of Parliament.

Harper resigned as Conservative leader after losing the election last fall, but stayed on as MP for his Calgary riding.

Sources confirm those days are coming to an end as he prepares to take an active role in promoting foreign policy causes, including advocacy for Israel and maternal, child and newborn health.

Hes also expected to join corporate boards.

Harper has kept a low profile in the House of Commons since Parliament resumed with a Liberal government.

Hell be making whats likely to be his final public speech to the Conservative party at their convention in Vancouver on Thursday.

Read more about:

SHARE:
VANCOUVERAs the Conservative party gathers to chart a path to election readiness for 2019, grassroots delegates will finally hear from Stephen Harper who is now charting his own course to step down before the next election.

Several sources say Harper has made no firm decision on timing, but is looking at a likely departure after parliament breaks for summer but before it resumes in the fall.

His former policy director Rachel Curran said Harper has no intention of announcing his plans in a speech Thursday night to the Conservative convention, but will keep the focus on the Conservatives record in government and the future of the party following a video tribute. Thats in part because no final decisions have been made, and also because Harper has told people he would not take on other work until he steps down.

And then he will move into a new phase of his life and his career, said Curran. I expect hell have more to say about that in fairly short order.

Harper quit as Conservative leader in October after leading the party to defeat but remained sitting as MP for Calgary-Heritage. He has taken a back seat to the interim leader Rona Ambrose, advises her and other caucus members behind the scenes, works on constituency issues and shows up to Commons votes but does not speak up publicly.

According to sources whove spoken to Harper over the past several months, the former prime minister had no exit strategy for his post-political career, and had laid no groundwork for a possible political defeat.

Now that future is starting to take shape as Harper looks at putting his foreign policy interests and knowledge to use.

Harper is said to be weighing joining a handful of corporate boards, and launching some kind of foreign policy venture, according to several sources including some who would not speak for the record because they werent authorized to do so. A couple of those familiar with Harpers thinking suggested he is not about to start up a foreign policy institute. But its not yet clear what his venture would look like, whether it means forming a global consultancy group, or an organization that would act more like a think tank, or provide training, whether it would be associated with one or more organizations or a university, be based in Canada or in a number of countries.

I think he is considering all of those options, said Curran.

Rick Anderson, once Preston Mannings top advisor and a Conservative debate strategist in the last campaign, said while he was in office Harper pursued a keen interest in a variety of international files, ranging from security issues, including the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, and China, to economic issues, including global trade and coordinated international fiscal and monetary policy, and practical social policy like maternal and child health.

Before he went into office, relatively few people would have predicted that he would have such a keen interest in those areas and turn out to be so strong in them, including, perhaps himself, said Anderson. Harpers focus post-politics, said Anderson, like other past prime ministers tends to be a bit more outside the country than inside the country both because he actually has a deep interest in the foreign side of things, but also because he doesnt see any particular value in former prime ministers involving themselves in domestic politics.

Curran echoed that.

Hes got a lengthy list of things hes done and accomplished on that front. But I dont think those will be his focus going forward. Hes had his political career, hes had his career in public service, so I think he will look to build on his interests and his experience and his expertise, frankly, but I dont think those will really be focused on domestic issues.

A lifetime politician, Harper is not a lawyer or financier who could readily step back into a pre-political career. A frequent critic of the United Nations, Harper was unlikely to find an off-ramp there like former British prime minister Tony Blair once did. And as the government leader who railed against those who used political connections to further their personal fortunes after leaving office, and passed the Accountability Act to curtail such benefits, Harpers options were constrained by finding a good fit with the political legacy he had wanted to leave.

The decision to stick around? One of necessity, said several. It wasnt just that he didnt want to pull a Jim Prentice  quit his seat outright after losing government as the former Alberta premier, PC leader and onetime Harper cabinet minister did, though that was part of it. The other factor was Harper  long described by supporters as a strategic thinker who games out his next steps  had no long-term plan.

The Globe and Mail first reported Wednesday Harper intends to step down from politics before the next election, though that had long been the assumption of his colleagues.

On Thursday, as the Conservative convention opens, the former Conservative leader  whose only public utterances have been brief bursts on Twitter since election night  will speak for the first time before about 2,100 registered delegates.

His wife Laureen Harper will hand out awards to the partys volunteers, and Harper will speak for about 10 minutes after a video tribute hailing his contribution to reuniting the right and leading the merged Conservatives to three wins.

Longtime party supporter and strategist Jim Armour said his sense heading into the convention is that the mood in the party is good. Some of that can be chalked up to Ambroses deft performance as interim leader.

I think there was also a realization that 10 years is a long time, and although we lost, we didnt lose badly, said Armour.

The party held nearly 100 seats across the country, despite being wiped out in Atlantic Canada.

Asked whether Harper needs to say sorry to the partys membership for his loss to the third party leader Justin Trudeau, or if its too late, Armour said: My sense is the Conservatives are kind of done with saying sorry. Why do we need to apologize for everything? I think it will be looking towards the future rather than looking at the past.

That future wont be decided until the party selects a new leader to replace Harper in May 2017. But this weekend aspiring successors and would-be leadership rivals will be out in force, glad-handing with the rank-and-file, to shore up possible future bids.

On Friday morning, before the start of policy workshop sessions  open to the media for the first time in years  members will hear a report by the head of the Conservative Fund, Irving Gerstein, who recently retired from the senate.

Elections Canada has reported the Conservatives outstripped the Liberals and the NDP which was a distant third  in fundraising in the first quarter  news the party will likely trumpet in its biennial report to the grassroots. Conservatives raised $5.5 million in the first three months of 2016, less than at the same period last year when they were in government, but an improvement on contributions at the end of 2015 after the bruising electoral loss.

On Friday afternoon, Ambrose will host onstage interview-style chats with the three declared candidates, Kellie Leitch, Maxime Bernier and Michael Chong. Other as-yet-undeclared-but-presumed-to-be-interested candidates like Peter MacKay, Jason Kenney, Kevin OLeary, and Lisa Raitt, will be featured in other speaking roles at the late afternoon session, billed Back to Blue, Looking Forward.

Many will also host hospitality suites, including Tony Clement, Chong and Bernier, as will several candidates for open seats on the partys national council  the executive committee of the party.

The fastest way to any voters heart is through free booze, quips Armour. Its a well-worn tradition going back to the 19th century.

SHARE:
OTTAWAThis countrys highest court ultimately gave Parliamentarians 16 months to craft legislation on assisted dying. That apparently wasnt enough.

Missing the court-imposed June 6 deadline will not plunge this nation into some type of chaotic constitutional abyss, but the past 16 months leading to that deadline have taught us a lot about our political system and the men and women who represent us.

It tells us a lot about the perils of fixed election dates, a move to remove partisanship from the Senate, the management of the legislative agenda by a rookie government  but most of all it tells us a lot about the timidity of our elected representatives.

When the court released its decision Feb. 6, 2015, the justice minister of the day, Peter MacKay, set the tone with a promise to look at the decision carefully, thoughtfully.

In fact, MacKay was engaging in poli-speak for inaction. A Parliament which had already fallen well behind public opinion on assisted dying was now handed a historic court ruling and didnt want to touch it in an election year.

It fell to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, then at the helm of the third party, to call for an all-party committee to begin work on the issue. Trudeau, prophetically, said a year did not seem adequate to write legislation when Quebec took more than four years, but warned, if we do nothing, . . . Canada will find itself without any laws governing physician-assisted death. That kind of legislative vacuum serves no onenot people who are suffering, not their anxious family members, not the compassionate physicians who offer them care.

But the Stephen Harper Conservatives, with an eye to that autumns election, believed national debate held no upside and did essentially nothing for five months before MacKay appointed a three-member panel.

The panel was put in place to punt the issue and its work ended a couple of weeks later when the election was called.

The Trudeau Liberals inherited the file and a deadline of barely 90 days (including a Christmas break) when the cabinet was formally installed in November. It asked the court for a six-month extension but was given four months.

But the work of a joint Commons-Senate committee was done in warp speed, its work was largely ignored and the Liberal push to meet the deadline meant a parliamentary committee unwilling to accept substantial amendments. A bill which comes down the middle on the question, without fully responding to the court decision, led to parliamentary skirmishes over time limits on debate, opposition obstruction, a physical skirmish in the House and a deadline drifting away.

But this saga actually goes back to January 2014 when Trudeau expelled all Liberal senators from the party caucus and declared them independent, a first step in changing the rules of the Upper Chamber.

The Senate is a much more independent place under a process started by Trudeau, but also more unpredictable. The days of a majority government handing over its legislation for a rubber stamp by a majority in the Senate are over.

This Senate has already sent a report back to the Commons, saying the Liberal bill should be amended to allow advance directives from those who wish assistance in dying and are still able to let their wishes be known.

When the bill comes back to the Senate, independent Liberal James Cowan will push for an amendment broadening restrictions on eligibility.

So what happens on June 6?

The Supreme Court has laid out criteria allowing assisted death for competent adults who provide clear consent, are enduring intolerable suffering and have a grievous or irremediable medical condition.

There will be no rush by doctors to help assist the death of patients after June 6. Without a federal law, most would likely be hesitant to act with legislation looming.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says every provincial medical regulator has issued detailed, comprehensive guidelines for doctors under the high court ruling. Doctors conscientious objection rights are protected and, under provincial guidelines, two doctors are required to confirm the patients eligibility and consent.

The real danger may lie in future court challenges  if assisted deaths are allowed under the Supreme Court wording that would be denied under the federal legislation, the government will have a problem.

We shouldnt be here after 16 months. Canadians deserved better. They deserve a better law.

Dont blame the courts. Blame our representatives who acted like lazy university students kicking the homework down the road under the Conservatives, then crammed during an all-nighter under the Liberals.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1

SHARE:
MONTREALMarc-Antoine Gervais says everyone knows lighting up on a patio with a glass of beer is the best cigarette you can smoke.

But unfortunately for Gervais, that luxury will be over as of Thursday as Quebec becomes the latest jurisdiction in North America to crack down further on smoking in public places.

Its a bit annoying, he said as he enjoyed a puff on the patio of the Sir Winston Churchill Pub on downtown Crescent St. Its blocking my rights.

As of Thursday, Quebecers will also no longer be allowed to smoke in a car transporting a child under 16 years old or in outdoor play areas intended for children. Additionally, smoking will be outlawed on vacation campgrounds and skating rinks used by minors.

And of course, no more smoking on any of the citys so-called terrasses (the French word regularly used by English Montrealers to describe patios), which spring up everywhere in mid-April.

Tammy Aggett, general manager at Madhatter Pub, a popular bar for youthful alcohol aficionados from nearby universities, said the new law will make it easier for people to steal beer if they have to go outside to smoke.

Puffers will leave their drinks to light up and some of them wont return to pay their tab, she said.

With younger clientele it happens quite often, Aggett noted.

Quebec banned indoor smoking inside bars in 2006. Since then, bar owners have blamed the law for what they call a steady decrease in clientele.

While its unclear what direct effects the 2006 restrictions may have had, Allan Bruce, who has worked at Montreals Brutopia brew pub for 19 years, said he notices fewer people smoking nowadays.

Oh yeah, people smoke way less, he said. Its obvious.

Quebecs new law goes further than pushing smokers off patios. Theyll have to stand nine metres away from any door, air vent or window to which the public has admittance.

Aggett said the nine-metre rule will mean more noise complaints from hotels and other establishments as smokers congregate outside to puff.

She said her wait staff will likely have to field complaints from neighbours and visits by police as well as having to boss smoking patrons around.

The government is getting what they want by putting the onus on everybody else to do it for them, she said.

But for non-smoker Marianne Allaire, the new law is a good thing.

I have rights too, she said, sitting with a friend on a sidewalk patio. I choose not to smoke and I appreciate that Im here and I dont have the smoke come to me, so its good.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Mayor John Torys executive committee has backed his push to delay the debate over new ward boundaries to the fall.

Tory, who has said clearly he is not interested in increasing the number of councillors at city hall, asked Tuesday night that the consultants hired by the city go back to review several options already passed over.

Specifically, the consultants were asked Tuesday to come up with refinements to the 44-ward option which keeps the number of wards exactly the same.

Im not in favour of adding any more politicians here, Tory said. I think there are ways we can address representation, you know, through staffing and so on and do some alterations to those wards that have greater population discrepancy without adding any politicians. I think we can do that.

The consultants earlier recommended the 47-ward option, saying it achieved the best voter parity by evening out the number of people in each ward  61,000 on average  to create more effective representation on council. The study originally shortlisted five options for further consultation with the public and councillors before settling on the 47-ward recommendation.

The 47-ward option would create three new wards downtown, a new ward in North York and collapse three wards west of the downtown core into two wards. It amends the boundaries of many of the other wards while leave just six wards entirely the same.

Scarborough-area councillors Paul Ainslie and Michael Thompson, both on executive, also attempted to move motions which addressed concerns they had in their own individual wards, asking the consultants consider redrawing certain sections they claimed broke up neighbourhoods they currently represent.

When Tory questioned the wisdom of allowing only executive members to recommend changes to their own wards  Thompson helpfully finishing Torys thought by suggesting gerrymandering as what they could be accused of  those councillors agreed to withdraw their motions.

Executive agreed to have the consultants look at 44 wards again and also at whether 46 wards could achieve voter parity and if the ward boundaries can more closely align with federal and provincial ridings.

The ward boundary review began in 2013 with concerns that uneven ward populations left the city vulnerable to challenges at the provincially legislated Ontario Municipal Board  which could see the OMB dictating ward boundary changes instead of the city.

As part of their report, the consultants set out a schedule that allowed for possible appeals of the proposed boundaries in time to finalize them for the 2018 election.

That original schedule had council approving a bylaw for the new boundaries at the October council meeting. Torys schedule would see the debate over boundaries return to the Oct. 26 executive meeting, which means it would not be before council until the November meeting.

While the original schedule allowed enough time for possible appeals, its unclear if any new boundaries could be implemented in time for the 2018 election under the new schedule imposed by Tory if there are any appeals to contend with.

Read more about:

SHARE:
The new tamer of the lions was in the city hall den Tuesday, wrestling with the political jungle cats, trying to coax sense out of a pride governed by animal instinct that values self-preservation above all.

Property taxes, bad. Rrrrrrr.

Let the provincial government pay for it!! Grrrr.

Cant we cut and save? Otherwise, well tax our seniors out of house and land. Rrrrr.

Pity Peter Wallace, the new guy on the block. After Shirley Hoy and Joe Pennachetti, the new city manager is trying to impose rigour, common sense, good fiscal management, budget reality and tough medicine without being devoured by his political masters.

Its a heroic attempt. Normally, the senior bureaucrats in his position wait until they are so established and ensconced in the city woodwork that they muster the courage to speak hard truths. Wallace has plunged in head-first in his first year as head of the citys workforce.

Fresh from a stint as a senior bureaucrat at the province, Wallace doesnt know enough to know better. But he knows he cant just be right, as everyone listening knows he is. He also has to be able to move the needle, and that means getting city council to swallow the pill that will usher in a more stable, sustainable future.

His report, the latest in a decade-long update and accounting of Torontos long-term fiscal prospects, reads much like the others. The message, though, should resonate now. Every year, the case is clearer. Toronto cannot continue to charge the lowest property tax rates while providing the highest service levels, running the countrys largest city and serving as the heart of a region that is one of the nations calling cards.

What, are you going to wait till it crashes? Oh, yeah, hes crying wolf.

Speaker after speaker from the public cheered on his report and urged the citys executive committee to listen to the commonsense approach. By days end, Mayor John Tory  who should be leading the charge  stumbled over a five-minute list of questions that achieved little except to remind everyone that he is not the mayor to put Toronto on a fiscal footing that will sustain it for the next 50 years.

Yes, city council, over the past six years, found budget efficiencies, and staff can always find more. But the bottom line is, property taxes should have risen higher over that time  to pay for the very programs and service enhancements the politicians insist their constituents demand.

Instead, council pushed staff to concoct its perennial brew of voodoo economics and budgeting hocus-pocus, to hide the shaky foundation of this premise: that you can have a great city without paying for it.

As Tory cross-examined Wallace, asking about efficiencies and city councils habit of making decisions without any idea how to pay for them, one wanted to shout:

Hey mayor, you just made the TTC free for kids under 12. Doesnt that cost money? You talk about poverty reduction and a housing plan. And you want a new Gardiner Expressway. And SmartTrack? Wheres the money coming from  if not from taxes?

It was left to Councillor Pam McConnell to offer Wallace succour: Its difficult to speak truth to power, McConnell said after Torys interrogation.

Besides low property taxes, Toronto has subsisted recently on fools gold  a historic and unprecedented period during which almost all the variables have been positive, including an improving economy, which means fewer people on welfare.

The report from city manager Wallace says these unique conditions (over the past six years), which are not likely to persist, include:

The real estate windfall, with almost a quarter of the citys net tax revenues coming from the land transfer tax.

TTC revenues, primarily fare increases, accounted for $303 million, while property taxes earned $237 million.

Provincial takeback of social services costs saved Toronto $180 million.

Decisions to defer major city-building projects, many of which are now pressing, to the point that the unmet needs total $29 billion.

Massive hikes in water, solid waste and parking rates ($473 million) and a significant jump in user fees and permits ($111 million).

In short, while city councillors trumpet their prowess in keeping property taxes low, they are jacking up other taxes masquerading as fees, and living off boom times and a positive political relationship their predecessors created with the provincial government.

In such a Shangri-La, nobody wants to hear that it will end.

Later: Old solutions again.

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca

Read more about:

SHARE:
Mandi Gray has become a kind of cult hero to sexual assault victims in Toronto.

The steps of Old City Hall were decorated by supporters with their signs for her again Tuesday, and the courtroom where lawyers delivered their closing statements in her trial was so packed, spectators took shifts rotating in and out of seats, so all could get a turn.

Gray is a 27-year-old York University PhD student. She claims she was raped by fellow York doctoral student Mustafa Ururyar, one frigid winter night 16 months ago.

She went to the hospital for a rape-kit a day later, and then went to the police.

Since then, she has been opposite of what we expect from sexual assault victims: ashamed, broken, lost, demure.

She has waived the publication ban on her name. She has been outspoken, verbally and in the media, about failings of the criminal justice system when it comes sexual assault. She has taken the university to the Human Rights Tribunal for not having clear policies and protocols for students who are sexually assaulted by classmates or staff.

The question is: will that activism hurt her in her quest for justice?

This was Ms. Grays intended agenda from the get-go, said defence lawyer Lisa Bristow in her closing arguments. She posited that Gray made up rape because it would be something that would shoot her into the limelight. She would be the face of advocacy of sexual assault on campus.

In response, Crown counsel Jennifer Lofft pointed out that Gray had not been an activist beforehand, and that victims respond to assaults in a myriad of individual ways.

Are activists less credible? she responded. If thats the case, were in serious trouble.

The case, like many, hinges on credibility. Ururyar and Gray had been casually dating for two weeks before that night, when she joined a group of their friends at two bars near Bloor and Bathurst Sts. Ururyar was home when she texted him to come drink and then we can have hot sex.

They shut down the place, and she went home to his apartment to sleep that night.

Those are the bare facts the two agree on. After that, they have diametrically opposed versions of what happened.

According to Gray, once they said goodbye to her friend, Ururyar became very angry, calling her an embarrassment and a slut as they walked back to his apartment.

When they got into his room, she said he stuffed his penis into her mouth and then raped her. She was frozen in confusion and fear, she said.

In Ururyars version, Gray was the aggressor, first sending him that text and then groping him in the bar. Their walk home was pleasant; arm in arm. Once they were in bed together, he broke up with her and she encouraged him into having sex one last time. If anyone needed to give consent, in his version, it was him.

He sent his own eyebrow-raising text, five days after she left his apartment: I am sorry things went as they did. I shouldnt have said and done some of the things I did. I was upset and felt wronged by you but that does not excuse my own mistakes.

Most defence work to poke enough holes in the witness testimony to let reasonable doubt filter down. In this case, Gray stuck unwaveringly to her story. Bristow called her completely unreliable, but also said she was so sophisticated and knowledgeable of the system, she hadnt offered enough peripheral details to allow skilled cross-examination to find inconsistencies.

Instead, Bristow devised an alternative story of straight-out fabrication and motives: regret, self-loathing, vengeance, jumping on an opportunity to take down a womanizer and further her career.

This was fun for her, Bristow posited, a chess game. She said Gray had stuck her tongue out at Ururyar in the courtroom. (Gray denied this.)

To Loffts great credit, the Crown counsel pinpointed out each of these as having been torn right from the rape myth catalogue.

Rape victims, she said, dont have to be embarrassed, demure, retiring, quiet, virginal . . . ashamed, crying. They dont necessarily remember all peripheral details, because they are focused on their emotional experience. And in Grays case, she might not trust the criminal system to serve justice but that doesnt mean she is fabricating evidence.

Ontario Court Justice Marvin Zuker is scheduled to deliver his verdict on July 21. Whatever he decides, Gray has broken new ground for sexual assault survivors.

Catherine Porter can be reached at cporter@thestar.ca

SHARE:
WASHINGTONCharlie Sykes, an influential conservative radio host who loathes Donald Trump, received an unsolicited FedEx package at his Milwaukee studio last week.

He opened it. A man had scrawled out a terse all-caps message, in thick black marker, on a New York Times article about how right-wing activists are warming up to the polarizing Republican nominee.

The scrawler was Trump.

Charlie, the note began, I hope you can change your mind.

Sykes is not changing his mind. Which means he is increasingly alone.

For months, Republican politicians, organizers and voters warned that nominating an erratic demagogue with little commitment to conservative principles would spark an intraparty civil war, forcing thousands or even millions of once-loyal partisans to stay home on Election Day or seek refuge in the unfamiliar arms of Democrats.

Nope.

The apocalyptic battle-to-be has dissolved into a Republican group hug. Even before the general election formally begins, Trump has been swiftly embraced by the party elite and grassroots alike. Holdouts like Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and Sykes have been left, in Sykess Tuesday words, in the wilderness.

It is difficult to watch, on a daily basis, prominent conservatives genuflect before this narcissistic authoritarian who rejects everything theyve ever believed in. Id rather be where I am than where they are, he said in an interview. He added: My conscience is clear. If this is what the Republican Party has become, Im all right with being out of step with it.

The stampede toward Trump reflects the extreme partisan polarization of the U.S. electorate, the depth of Republican animosity toward presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the cold career calculations of party bigwigs who believe they cannot afford a bold stand against the leader.

Short version: political self-interest matters! Most Republican elites dont want to oppose their partys nominee, especially if their opposition is seen as implicitly supporting Hillary Clinton, Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, said in an email. Republican voters are getting those cues from elites and also cant stand Clinton.

Connie Coleman-Lacadie, a party committee woman in Washington state, was a staunch Marco Rubio supporter. But she has come to respect Trumps brashness and intelligence, and she thinks a Clinton victory would be a calamity.

Weve gotten to be so politically correct around here that she lies, shes a thief and shes put our country in danger, and yet we do nothing to her. If somebody else, if Joe Blow out here did any of that stuff, theyd be in jail in a minute, she said.

Trump has made a concerted effort to shore up his position with skeptical right-wingers. Last week, he delivered a pro-gun speech to the National Rifle Association and released an unusual list of 11 conservative judges he said he would consider for the Supreme Court.

But the elite endorsements started pouring in even before he did any of this. Some of them came from people who had seemed to hate him.

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, was the first candidate to strongly denounce Trump during the primaries, calling him a cancer on conservatism. Perry now calls him talented. Former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who had declared Trump an egomaniacal madman, wrote a May essay declaring Clinton worse. And South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who called Trump a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot, has begun urging donors to support Trump, CNN reported; Graham has disputed the report.

Trumps new-found elite support does not appear to reflect genuine enthusiasm. Concerned about Democratic attack ads, many Republicans in Congress wont even say Trumps name, instead saying that they support the nominee. And many wont talk about Trump at all. But they appear to have nothing to fear from Republicans who once seemed poised to revolt.

Primary-season polls suggested a third of Republican voters might not support Trump as nominee. In a Washington Post poll last week, 85 per cent of Republicans said they supported him.

Even for people who may continue to still not particularly like Trumpwhen the alternative is a Democrat, these people still prefer the Republican, said Laurel Harbridge, a Northwestern University political science professor.

The American public has not been this polarized by party in at least 80 years. Studies suggest that as few as five per cent of voters are true up-for-grabs swing voters. Someones party identification, Harbridge said, is a better predictor of how they will vote than what they tell a pollster 10 months from the election.

Weve got friggin robots on the right, anti-Trump conservative writer Ben Howe complained on Twitter. Theyre programmed to believe participation equals pulling the all-Republican lever.

Once-dubious Trump supporters say they have given him real thought. Bryan Wagner, an insurance businessman and former New Orleans councillor who served on Rubios Louisiana campaign, said he used to be concerned about how quickly Trump made decisions. He thinks the candidate has changed.

He seems to have a better grasp of the issues. He seems to have a softer edge, Wagner said. Hes not attacking as much as he was.

Wagner added that cutting himself open would reveal not blood but elephants. The elephant is the Republican Party symbol.

Read more about:

SHARE:
KABULThe Afghan Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that their leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and that they have appointed a successor  a scholar known for extremist views who is unlikely to back a peace process with Kabul.

The announcement came as a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying court employees in the Afghan capital, killing at least 11 people, an official said. The Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement sent to the media, the Taliban said their new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of Mansours two deputies. The insurgent group said he was chosen at a meeting of Taliban leaders, which is believed to have taken place in Pakistan, but offered no other details.

Mansour was killed in Pakistan on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a U.S. drone plane, an attack believed to be the first time a Taliban leader was killed in such a way inside Pakistani territory.

Pakistani authorities have been accused both by Kabul and the West of giving shelter and support to some Taliban leaders  an accusation that Islamabad denies. The insurgents have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government since 2001, when their own Islamist regime was overthrown by the U.S. invasion.

The United States and the Afghan government have said that Mansour had been an obstacle to a peace process, which ground to a halt when he refused to participate in talks with the Afghan government earlier this year. Instead, he intensified the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year.

Mansour had officially led the Taliban since last summer, when the death of the movements founder, the one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar became public. But he is believed to have run the movement in Mullah Omars name for more than two years. The revelation of Mullah Omars death and Mansours deception led to widespread mistrust, with some senior Taliban leaders leaving the group to set up their own factions.

Some of these rivals fought Mansours men for land, mostly in the opium poppy-growing southern Taliban heartland.

Senior Taliban figures have said Mansours death could strengthen and unify the movement, as he was in some ways a divisive figure. The identity of his successor was expected to be an indication of the direction the insurgency would take, either toward peace or continued war.

Akhundzada is a religious scholar who served as the Talibans chief justice before his appointment as a deputy to Mansour. He is known for issuing public statements justifying the existence of the extremist Taliban, their war against the Afghan government and the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. His views are regarded as hawkish, and he could be expected to continue in the aggressive footsteps of Mansour, at least in the early days of his leadership.

He was close to Mullah Omar, who consulted with him on religious matters. A convincing orator, Akhunzada was born in Kandahar  the capital during the Talibans 1996-2001 regime.

A member of the Noorzai tribe, he is said to be aged around 50 years, and comes from a line of religious scholars. He leads a string of madrassas, or religious schools  figures in the Taliban say up to 10  across Pakistans southwestern Baluchistan province.

A former foreign minister under the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Ghous, told The Associated Press that the choice of Akhundzada was a very wise decision. Akhundzada was well respected among Taliban of all ranks, and could be a unifying force for the fractured movement, Ghous said.

But hopes that the new leader would be a unifying figure dimmed within hours of the announcement Wednesday, with some dissident Taliban figures rejecting Akhundzada as leader.

A breakaway Taliban faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, which has for months battled Mansours men for control of drug smuggling routes in the south, said it would not accept the new leader for the same reason it rejected Mansour  Akhundzada was chosen by the same small clique of leaders rather than by the wide rank and file.

We will not accept him as a new leader until and unless all religious scholars and tribal elders sit together and appoint new leader, said the factions spokesman, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, speaking of Akhundzada.

The Taliban statement called on all Muslims to mourn Mansour for three days, starting from Wednesday. It also attempted to calm any qualms among the rank and file by calling for unity and obedience to the new leader.

Read more about:

SHARE:
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades.

Authorities responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Centre in what police later called a riot.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages Trump is Fascist and Weve heard enough.

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention centre, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to Go home to mommy.

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, How old is this kid? Then he provided his own answer: Still wearing diapers.

Trumps supporters responded with chants of Build that wall!

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention centre smashed.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trumps catchphrase, Make America Great Again.

Tuesday marked Trumps first stop in New Mexico, the nations most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nations only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

We have to get your governor to get going. Shes got to do a better job, OK? he said, adding: Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going.

The governors office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

The potshots werent about policy, they were about politics, said spokesman Michael Lonergan. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today.

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention centre windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups, he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trumps speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nations problems.

Related storiesE ND

Read more about:

SHARE:
One hundred and fifty-five children have been abducted and murdered in Canada since 1970, most of them young girls snatched near their homes and killed within a few hours by predators with criminal records, according to a survey by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

The findings, which reveal an unprecedented look at child abduction and murder in Canada, are based on public records, court decisions and media reports on cases dating back nearly 50 years.

The study excludes cases where the person responsible (or believed to be responsible) was a parent of the child or close relative.

These cases involve strangers or acquaintances who target children as young as 2, plan an approach, abduct and kill them, according to the preliminary study, obtained exclusively by the Toronto Star. The full study is to be released later this year.

We were inspired to do this difficult analysis with the idea that what one single childs story may not be able say, the collective voice of many, could, says Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Winnipeg-based Centre for Child Protection. Something that was very impactful was the heinous nature of the crimes committed against the children.

The degree of violence and brutality is horrifying.

This data question how well children are protected by Canadas justice system.

Fifty-five per cent of offenders had a prior criminal record and 29 per cent of those were convicted of a prior violent or sexual offence against a child.

Lesley Parrotts daughter, Alison, was abducted and murdered in Toronto in 1986.

Alison was 11 and lured to Varsity Stadium for a photo shoot. Her body was found two days later near the Humber River.

Francis Carl Roy, who was convicted of Alisons murder, had been on parole for raping two teenage girls.

I do think there is real opportunity here for good impact on policies and understanding on the part of families, educators, police, parole boards and judges, says Parrott. The things that jump out at me is the parole situation, the luring was there, the murder happening within hours. All the way through there are things that speak to our situation.

Roy remains in prison.

Here is a partial story  by the numbers  of what the study reveals:

Who are the offenders?

92 per cent of Canadas child murderers are men.

68 per cent of them are Caucasian in their 20s (the average age is 26 with nearly a quarter under the age of 18).

55 per cent of offenders had a criminal record when the offence was committed. At least 33 per cent of those had committed a violent or sexual offence against a child.

22 per cent of the offenders were either on parole, probation or out on bail.

80 per cent of offenders remain incarcerated or are being held in a medical facility.

30 offenders are currently eligible for some form of parole.

8 offenders are eligible for full parole within the next five years.

4 offenders are currently on parole.

Timeline:

3 hours: In the vast majority of cases, the child victims were sexually abused and then killed, usually within three hours (Time between abductions and murders was determined for 60 per cent of the victims in the study).

Its easier and safer to simply dispose of the child, says Michael Bourke, chief of the behavioural analysis unit for the United States Marshals Service and an international expert in child sex offender profiling.

Once hes done with her, shes a burden  (The childs) purpose was to satisfy their sexual predilections, or to get back at their ex-wife, or whatever. But once thats satisfied, theyre done. They have no interest in getting (the child) medical attention. They have no desire to continue listening to (the child) complain and beg.

The most common patterns in abduction cases:

Many of the victims in the study were engaged in everyday, regular activities and the offender exploits and takes advantage of that moment in time to abduct the child, says McDonald. The child is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

84 per cent of victims were girls and 16 per cent were boys.

11.6 years old was their average age.

77 per cent were Caucasian.

45 per cent were abducted on Friday or Saturday.

53 per cent happened between 3:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

41 per cent occurred in June, July and August.

The time of year when these occur is likely attributable to access, says Bourke. The kids are out of school and are walking or playing in their neighbourhood when they are taken.

68 per cent of the children were alone.

67 per cent were travelling in transit between home and school, the mall, a park or a friends house.

68 per cent of the abductions took place within blocks of the childs home or school.

29 per cent of offenders lived in the neighbourhoods where the abduction happened.

55 per cent of offenders used a vehicle of some kind in the abduction.

Methods of abduction:

There are generally no witnesses to the abduction of a child and so it is very difficult to determine if the abductor physically forced the victim to accompany her/him initially, or if the tactic used was more subtle, such as a ruse or lure, the study says.

In fewer than 20 per cent of abductions, force appeared to have been used.

37 per cent of the victims were held within walking distance of where they were last seen, the study says. Serial offenders tended to take them farther away.

77 per cent of the offenders purpose was sexual, according to a combination of medical evidence, a legal finding made in the court proceedings, or an admission by the offender.

100 per cent of the instances that involved a serial offender were sexually motivated.

55 per cent of victims for whom body-location site was known were found outside of a populated area such as a city or a town.

76 per cent of the bodies were found within a month.

41 per cent were found by a member of the public and 20 per cent were located by police.

It is the parents worst nightmare. Ive been there, says Wilma Derksen, cited in the study, whose daughter, Candace, was abducted and murdered at age 13.

It is important to set up preventative measures so that no parent ever has to face that moment  ever  and for those cases where it was unpreventable, then there needs to be a system of support so that the parents at least have the assurance they dont need to face the darkness alone.

SHARE:
NAGASAKI, JAPANWhen Miyako Jodai was 6 years old, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on her hometown, the port city of Nagasaki.

She was knocked unconscious, and her home was destroyed. She spent the next several days huddling with dozens of others in a cave on the side of a mountain.

I was so scared, she said. I was crying, and I stepped on some of the bodies of the injured people because there was no room to walk. When she finally ventured out, the city was still ablaze with towering flames.

Jodai was one of the fortunate ones. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki the morning of Aug. 9, 1945, killed about 74,000 people, about half as many as those who died in the bombing of Hiroshima three days earlier.

On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama will become the first sitting American president since the end of the Second World War to visit Hiroshima. Nagasaki is not on the itinerary.

While invoking Hiroshima has become a universal shorthand for the horrors of nuclear war, Nagasaki, on the southwestern island of Kyushu, has mostly lived in the other citys shadow.

We know that the very highest mountain in Japan is Mount Fuji, said Tomihisa Taue, mayor of Nagasaki, in an interview in his office. But we dont know the second-highest mountain.

Yet many in Nagasaki recognize that Hiroshima, in some ways, stands in for both cities. They say the message they want the world to take from Obamas visit  that nuclear weapons must never again be used  does not require that he set foot in their city.

Taue suggested that Nagasaki could also serve as a potent coda to Hiroshimas opening of the nuclear age. I would like the president to say, from Nagasaki to the world, that this site should be the last place on earth to experience the atomic bombing, he said.

That Nagasaki was bombed second has made it an afterthought in the history of and debate over nuclear weapons, even though many historians argue that the bombing was harder to justify precisely because it was a repeated act.

If one accepts President Harry S. Trumans rationale that the Hiroshima bombing was necessary to force Japans surrender and end the war, the moral calculus for dropping a second bomb on a civilian population three days later is more contentious.

Close to 700,000 people a year visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, compared with nearly 1.5 million at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, where Obama will lay a wreath on Friday.

Even in the office of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, a sticker affixed to a filing cabinet illustrates the citys secondary status  No More Hiroshimas: End the Arms Race Now.

Jodai, now 76 and a retired elementary schoolteacher, said she admired the presidents decision to visit Hiroshima and understood that his schedule did not allow him to visit both cities. Still, she said, the Nagasaki survivors should at least be invited to the ceremony in Hiroshima.

I feel like Nagasaki has been abandoned and thrown away, she said.

As Japan wrestles with its own history of wartime atrocities, and as scholars and politicians here and in the United States continue to debate the use of the atomic bomb, Nagasaki, in many ways, offers a more complex narrative than Hiroshima does.

One of the earliest Japanese cities to have contact with traders from the West, including Portuguese and Dutch explorers, Nagasaki is also the oldest and densest stronghold of Roman Catholicism in Japan.

When U.S. pilots dropped the bomb, the devastation swept across Urakami Cathedral, then the largest cathedral in East Asia. About 8,000 Catholics in the area were killed. For the Nagasaki Christians, long ostracized in Japan over their faith, it was a bitter truth that their community was destroyed by a predominantly Christian nation, in a mission blessed by a Roman Catholic chaplain.

Nagasakis Catholic heritage, combined with Hiroshimas vocal role as a centre of anti-nuclear activities, helped give rise to the Japanese saying Ikari no Hiroshima, inori no Nagasaki, or Hiroshima rages, Nagasaki prays.

At a 6 a.m. mass on Monday morning, about 100 parishioners sat in long wooden pews in the cathedral, rebuilt not far from its original site. Ritsuo Hisashi, the head priest, said he was less concerned about whether Nagasaki was commemorated as a global symbol than about the call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Nagasakis archdiocese, along with 15 others in Japan, also opposes efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to overhaul the countrys pacifist constitution, imposed by the United States after the war.

Nagasakis leaders have also been forthright in their reckonings with Japans wartime actions before the United States dropped the bombs.

In 1990, Hitoshi Motoshima, then Nagasakis mayor, was shot and wounded by a right-wing nationalist after he suggested that Emperor Hirohito bore some responsibility for the Second World War.

Around the same time, a city assemblyman, Masaharu Oka, founded a museum to commemorate the Korean labourers who were conscripted to work in wartime factories in Nagasaki and who were either killed or wounded by the atomic bomb.

Housed in a former Chinese restaurant up a steep hill, the museum has a decidedly handmade feel. In addition to photographs of Korean survivors and a replica of the cramped quarters where Korean labourers lived, the museum displays a gallery of graphic photos from the Rape of Nanking in China and of Unit 731, the biological and chemical warfare research facility where Japanese scientists conducted experiments on humans in China.

Toshiaki Shibata, the former secretary-general of the Masaharu Oka museum and the son of two bomb survivors, said he was glad Obama would not visit Nagasaki. Shibata, 65, whose dyed lavender hair gives him an impish air, contends that Obamas visit is aimed at bolstering Abes efforts to change the constitution and draw Japan into war.

It would be better if he doesnt come here, Shibata said.

Read more about:

SHARE:
JERUSALEMPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named one of Israels most polarizing politicians as defence minister on Wednesday, solidifying his parliamentary majority at the risk of antagonizing the international community and his own military  and clouding already slim hopes for a resumption of peace efforts.

The addition of Avigdor Lieberman to the Cabinet comes at a sensitive time. After a two-year breakdown in talks, France is preparing to host a conference next month aimed at restarting negotiations. At the same time, the U.S.-led quartet of international peace mediators is set to release a report expected to be critical of Israel.

While both Netanyahu and Lieberman pledged to pursue peace with Israels Arab neighbours, their tough positions on key issues, strained relationship with much of the international community and the makeup of the rest of the Cabinet would seem to make significant progress a long shot.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed concerns with Israels right-wing tilt.

This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be heading in and what kind of policies it may adopt, Toner told reporters.

One of Israels most divisive leaders, Lieberman, 57, is known for a sharp tongue that has offended allies and opponents at home and abroad.

He entered politics in the 1990s as an aide to Netanyahu before breaking away and founding Yisrael Beitenu, an ultranationalist party that relies on immigrants from the former Soviet Union as its base of support. Lieberman himself was born in the former Soviet republic of Moldova and speaks Hebrew with a strong Russian accent.

Over the years, he has been both a key ally and strong rival of Netanyahus, holding a series of high-level Cabinet posts, including serving twice as Netanyahus foreign minister. With the addition of Yisrael Beitenus five seats, Netanyahu now holds a comfortable 66 to 54 majority in parliament, bringing some much needed stability to what had been a shaky coalition.

But Netanyahus Cabinet is now dominated by religious and nationalist hard-liners who oppose Palestinian independence  a key goal of the international community and the U.S.-led peace process. Lieberman himself is a West Bank settler.

An outspoken skeptic of peace efforts with the Palestinians, Lieberman delivered a speech at the United Nations in 2010 that cast doubt on the goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead, he talked of a decades-long intermediate period and proposed shifting regional borders to rid Israel of its Arab citizens and incorporate West Bank settlements into Israel.

Netanyahu distanced himself from the speech, saying it did not reflect Israeli policy.

When the Palestinians sought upgraded membership at the UN in 2012, Lieberman called for toppling President Mahmoud Abbas.

Just a few weeks ago, he suggested that a top Hamas leader in Gaza be killed if the Islamic militant group doesnt return the remains of two Israeli soldiers it is holding. And during a 2014 war against Gaza militants, Lieberman favoured much harsher military action.

Wednesdays coalition agreement proposes changes in Israeli military law that could pave the way for executions of convicted terrorists. Israel has a death penalty for certain cases, but it has never been enforced. The new changes, which would require a parliamentary vote, could make it easier to apply the law.

Addressing concerns about their alliance, both Netanyahu and Lieberman voiced messages of moderation Wednesday.

Netanyahu vowed to pursue every avenue for peace, while Lieberman promised a reasonable policy.

All of us have commitments to peace, to the final status agreement, to understanding between us and our neighbours, Lieberman said, speaking in English in a message aimed at the international community.

The last round of peace talks broke down two years ago due to wide gaps between the sides.

Although Netanyahu has called for a return to negotiations, his refusal to endorse the internationally backed contours of a peace agreement  and continued construction of settlements on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians  have fuelled widespread doubts about his intentions, and the Palestinians say there is no point in talking.

The makeup of his expanded coalition appears to make it even more unlikely that Netanyahu will make significant concessions to the Palestinians.

Adding Lieberman to the government ... threatens to destroy the two-state solution, warned Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official. The result will be religious and political extremism, and violence and terrorism and bloodshed.

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, a moderate who last week had been in talks to join the government, said Netanyahu has become a hostage to the hard-line Israeli right wing. He called Wednesdays appointment a day of sorrow.

In addition to the Palestinians, Lieberman has also managed to alienate Israels own Arab minority, many of whom identify with their Palestinian brethren.

He led a failed attempt to require Arabs to take a loyalty oath, and once said that Arab lawmakers who meet with members of the anti-Israel Hamas group should be executed.

Lieberman is a fascist similar to the fascists from the 30s of the last century, said Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Arab bloc in parliament. He is inciting against the Arab citizens.

While Lieberman has been a member of the sensitive inner Security Cabinet, he has limited military experience. The parliaments website says he only reached the low rank of corporal, and he reportedly had only a brief career working in an army warehouse.

Set to be sworn in next week, he will help oversee military policy and handle delicate security matters with international allies.

He has angered neighbouring Egypt with comments in the past, including a suggestion that Israel bomb Egypts Aswan Dam. In another moment of anger, he said Egypts then-president Hosni Mubarak could go to hell.

Egyptian leaders have not forgotten those comments, and it remains unclear whether the appointment will affect relations. Israel and Egypt work closely together in a joint battle against Islamic militants.

But Liebermans biggest troubles could come at home with the army. The Israeli military tends to be more pragmatic and moderate than hard-line politicians like Lieberman, and its unclear how they will respond if he issues an order that the generals disagree with.

Lieberman replaces Moshe Yaalon, a decorated former military chief of staff who had warm relations with the army command.

Yaalon was forced out after siding with his commanders in a series of disagreements with political hard-liners.

In March, for example, he backed military leaders who had criticized a soldier who was caught on video fatally shooting an already-wounded Palestinian attacker in the head. The soldier is now on trial for manslaughter,

Lieberman went to the court to offer his support for the soldier.

Avraham Diskin, a political scientist at Hebrew University, said Lieberman is more pragmatic than commonly thought but also is unpredictable and problematic for Netanyahu.

There is a matter of style. There is a matter of image in the world, which is, I think, not very positive to say the least, he said.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Victor Phillip Dahdaleh, a British-Canadian billionaire honoured recently by York University with his name on a new health institute, is the mysterious middleman in a 20-year corruption scheme in which U.S. officials say he enriched himself with $400 million (U.S.) in mark-ups and paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to Bahraini officials, a Toronto Star/CBC investigation has found.

Until now, U.S. government court records only identified an anonymous figure named Consultant A as the middleman between Bahraini and U.S. alumina companies pocketing huge profits and paying bribes through a British Virgin Island-based shell company called Alumet Limited.

Documents contained in the Panama Papers confirm Dahdaleh, 72, is Consultant A in a scandal that forced Alcoa, one of the worlds largest aluminum companies, to plead guilty in 2014 to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charges that it paid millions of dollars in bribes through an international middleman in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition to the DOJ, Alcoa also settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was slammed with one of the largest anti-corruption fines ever  $384 million (all figures U.S.).

In a plea agreement with the SEC, Alcoa conceded its involvement in the corruption scheme which facilitated at least $110 million in corrupt payments to Bahraini officials through Consultant A.

The consultant was paid a commission on sales where he acted as an agent and received a markup on sales where he acted as a purported distributor, it says. No legitimate services were provided to justify the role of the consultant as a distributor.

Alumet, the company at the nexus of that scheme, has maintained a secretive corporate ownership structure until now thanks to the anonymity provided by offshore tax havens like the BVI.

This email confirms...my capacity as the owner and director of Alumet, reads a March 2007 email Dahdaleh sent to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca  one of dozens of internal records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with the Toronto Star and CBC confirming Dahdaleh registered the offshore company through the Royal Bank of Canada in 1989.

Thats the same year the DOJ claims the elaborate bribery plot commenced.

Alumet was used as a shell company that had no legitimate business operations, the DOJ claims in court filings, and the corrupt arrangement allowed Consultant A to enrich himself and pay bribes to senior government officials of Bahrain.

Dahdaleh declined interview requests. Written statements from his London spokesperson, Lord Timothy Bell, chairman of the British PR firm Bell Pottinger, did not respond to direct questions about Dahdalehs identity as Consultant A, saying names were deliberately anonymised by the U.S. Department of Justice for sound reasons of fairness and justice.

Bell wrote that Dahdaleh has not been involved in any wrongdoing nor convicted of any offence in any court in the world.

Dahdaleh did face criminal charges in the U.K. for corruption and money laundering for which he was acquitted in 2013. Dahdaleh never gave evidence in the trial. The prosecutions case collapsed when two key U.S. witnesses refused to testify and another witness significantly changed his testimony.

Dahdalehs defence, detailed in media reports and court documents, does not deny he made payments to Bahraini officials but contends that those payments did not amount to bribes. Instead, the defence cites the legal concept of principal consent to argue the payments were not bribes because they were known about and approved by Bahraini officials.

Britain adopted bribery legislation in 2010 that specifically addressed what one prominent British criminal lawyer calls loopholes in the century-old law under which Dahdaleh was tried.

We were dealing with a 1906 statute that was very English-based because international commerce barely existed in 1906, says London-based Julian B. Knowles, QC. One thing the 2010 Act did was to create a specific new offence of bribing a foreign public official. Its pretty clear that even if that foreign public official has the go ahead, it doesnt stop it from being a crime.

The Dahdaleh case, he says, is an example of why we changed our law because there were so many loopholes in place.

Heres how the corruption scheme worked according to DOJ court filings and agreed statements between Alcoa and the U.S. government:

In 1988  the year before Alumet was created by Mossack Fonseca and RBC  officials with Alba, a Bahraini aluminum company, asked officials with Alcoa of Australia (an arm of global mining and alumina firm Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals) to hire Dahdaleh as Alcoas agent and that he be paid a commission.

That request was made by a member of the Bahraini Royal family who was also a member of Albas board, the DOJ statement says. Dahdaleh had close contacts with certain members of Bahrains Royal Family, some of whom were senior officials in the Government of Bahrain, it reads.

Alcoas sales manager told his supervisor that the company would lose the supply contract if (Dahdaleh) was not retained as its agent.

On November 2, 1989  six weeks before Alumets incorporation  Alcoa of Australia started using Dahdalehs services, the court claim says, at the request of Members of the Royal Family of Bahrain.

On Jan. 1, 1990, Alcoa of Australia entered into confidential agreements with the newly minted BVI corporation promising commissions to Alumet through to 2000, the DOJ filing says.

Alcoa of Australia would regularly send invoices for alumina shipments  alumina is a fine white powder that is transformed into aluminum metal in the smelting process  through Consultant As shell companies. In turn, Consultant A would mark-up the price of alumina sold to a Bahraini aluminum smelter company, thereby creating a significant margin over the price he paid to Alcoa of Australia, according to the DOJ filing.

In 1993, Alcoa of Australias sales manager arranged shipments of alumina to Alba through another of Dahdalehs companys called Kwinalum  a deal that netted $18.7 million between 1993 and 1996, the claim says.

By 1996, with Bahraini demand for alumina growing rapidly, Alumet became a purported distributor, the DOJ says, allowing Dahdaleh to impose a significant mark-up on increasing volumes of alumina sales, from which he was able to create an even greater margin on his own purported purchase price.

Alumets role as an intermediary was valuable for Alcoa, the document says.

The global alumina giant viewed Alba to be one of its blue ribbon accounts. And Dahdalehs firm was seen as a key to giving Alcoa a competitive advantage, according to an email from an Alcoa manager cited in the court records.

As a Middle Eastern company well versed in the normal ways of Middle East business, Alumet is strategically placed to direct the alumna through the necessary channels which will keep the various stakeholders in the Alba smelter happy  and hence give Alcoa a fair chance of obtaining the business.

Between 1993 and 1996, Dahdaleh made more than $3 million in corrupt payments to two Bahraini Royal family officials from bank accounts at RBC in Guernsey held in the name of shell entities Alumet and ULECO (another of Dahdalehs companies).

And business between the Bahraini and Australian companies was growing.

Between 1997 and 2001, Alumet received a mark-up windfall of more than $108 million as the middleman selling to Alba and another $6.2 million in commissions from Alcoa of Australia, the DOJ statement says.

In the same period, Dahdaleh paid $26 million in corrupt payments to three Bahraini officials through RBC accounts in Guernsey and Switzerland, the statement says.

But questions were starting to be asked by Alcoa lawyers.

In January 1997, an attorney at Alcoa of Australia emailed her supervisor in Pittsburgh, noting that the Alumet contract looks odd and raised concerns about the pricing and the fact that the contract is with Alumet  I do not really understand why in that case we are selling to Alumet to supply to Alba.

A 2003 email from an attorney at Alcoa asked a company executive about Alumet, saying we will need to understand the distributors role completely.for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act purposes. In October, 2004, another in-house attorney emailed that Alumets current engagement created a lot of anxiety in the organization.

Dahdalehs profits expanded with distribution agreements in 2002 and 2004 reaching as much as 1.78 million tonnes of alumina annually through Alumet and a second shell company for which the companies earned $79 million in mark-ups.

In those two years, Dahdaleh paid another $30 million in corrupt payouts to two Bahraini officials, the statement says.

In the five years between 2005 and 2009, another $188 million in mark-ups were paid to Dahdalehs two shell companies. And another $30 million in payments went to Bahraini officials, the DOJ statement says.

The arrangement lasted until the end of 2009, the DOJ alleged.

The Royal Bank of Canada is found throughout the documents on the case  helping register Alumet and acting as the companys administrator until at least 2010, the documents show.

The Royal Bank of Canada is currently the target of a Canadian federal court application by the Minister of Revenue seeking a judges order compelling the bank to release details about clients with ties to Mossack Fonseca as well as records detailing the banks own due diligence procedures.

RBC has not opposed the order.

In response to questions from the Star, RBC spokesperson Catherine Hudon declined an interview request. She wrote in response: We fully co-operate with all regulators. No charges were brought against RBC in this matter.

Dahdaleh is a close friend of international power players.

The self-described metals magnate has rubbed shoulders with the Queen, former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In December, York University announced The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. The move came after a $20-million (Canadian.) donation to the university by Dahdaleh, who graduated from York with an honours BA in administrative studies nearly four decades ago, according to a press release.

York officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Where there was a lot of reasons to be concerned about this guy, York University showed no reluctance to name a very high profile new initiative after him, said Jim Turk, former executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers for 16 years and now a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University.

Dahdaleh has been honoured by two other Canadian universities.

He has been on the board of the McGill University Trust in the U.K. and arranged for Bill Clinton to come to McGill in 2009 to receive an honorary degree.

Last December, Nova Scotias St. Francis Xavier University honoured Dahdaleh with an honorary doctorate at its fall convocation.

McGill and St. Francis Xavier officials also declined comment.

SHARE:
KYIV, UKRAINEDuring the nearly two years that she was imprisoned in Russia, Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko became a national hero in absentia, lauded for her flinty defiance. On Wednesday she made a celebrated return to the country still embroiled in a fight against Moscow-backed separatists.

Savchenko, who was captured by rebels in June 2014 and then resurfaced in Russian custody, was convicted in March and sentenced to 22 years in prison for complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists. Prosecutors alleged she was acting as a spotter for mortar fire that killed them.

Savchenko was released after a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he said he made on humanitarian grounds at the urging of the journalists relatives. In turn, Ukraine on Wednesday released two Russians who had been convicted of waging war in eastern Ukraine, where separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since April 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 9,300 people.

Savchenkos case became a celebrated cause at home. Ukrainians admired her unwavering antagonism toward Russian authorities, whom she denounced in court and insulted by raising her middle finger, and they worried about her health as she called several hunger strikes.

Her case also attracted wide international attention, with western leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama calling for her release.

But if the release of Savchenko warmed Ukrainians hearts, it could also serve as a reminder of how intractable the eastern conflict may seem. Ceasefire violations have been reported almost daily in recent months and negotiations on implementing other elements of the Minsk ceasefire agreement show only fitful progress.

Savchenko was elected to Ukraines Parliament while locked up in Russia and a poster with her picture has adorned the rostrum there for months.

That could give her substantial symbolic power if she enters politics full time. Dissatisfaction with President Petro Poroshenko and the government is strong as the eastern fighting persists and the country wallows in endemic corruption.

If she would stand up and challenge Poroshenko and the government, that could serve Russias interests by making Ukraines political stresses even more fraught.

Keeping Savchenko in custody clearly had become a liability for the Kremlin, drawing continued international attention to the conflict that has corroded Russias image. Although Russia persistently denies military involvement, western sanctions over the conflict have dealt a blow to Russias economy.

Putin, however, would have looked weak if he had backtracked on her case and could only release her in a swap once she had been convicted. Once her trial and that of the captured Russians had run their course, Putin and Poroshenko made a deal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the release of Savchenko and Ukraines decision to release the two Russians.

Savchenkos release after a long ordeal that included solitary confinement, is an important part of fulfilling Russias commitments under the Minsk agreements on calling a ceasefire in the conflict, he said in a statement.

Putin, at a meeting with the journalists relatives, expressed hope that such decisions, driven by humanity, will help to alleviate the standoff in the conflict zone and help to avoid such terrible and pointless losses.

The two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were also freed on Wednesday, and Russian state television showed them being greeted at a Moscow airport by their wives.

The two were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian Defence Ministry, which has denied sending troops to Ukraine, claimed they had resigned from active duty. They were tried in a Kyiv court, which sentenced them to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko sent his plane to pick up Savchenko in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and bring her home to Kyiv, where she received a heros welcome.

Thank you everyone for fighting for me! she told a scrum of journalists at Kyivs Boryspil Airport. You fought for everyone behind bars. Politicians would have kept silent if people had been silent. I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me well: I have survived because of you.

Savchenko, a professional air force officer, was fighting with a Ukrainian volunteer battalion against Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine when she was captured in the summer of 2014. After she surfaced on the other side of the border, Moscow claimed she had escaped from the separatists and was caught in Russia, while she claimed she was abducted and smuggled into Russia.

In giving her a state award on Wednesday, Poroshenko said she had become a symbol of pride and steadfastness.

Savchenko has skirted questions about her political ambitions and didnt mention it upon arrival on Wednesday, but Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who leads Savchenkos party, told reporters Savchenko wants to start working right now.

She asked me: Where do I need to be, where do I go to start working,  Tymoshenko said. A strong leader has come back home, thats for sure.

But Savchenko hinted Wednesday that physical fighting may be more important to her than political battles.

I would like to apologize that I am still alive. But Im ready to go and fight for Ukraine today, she said, standing next to Poroshenko.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Halton Catholic trustees have rejected an update to the school boards discipline and anti-bullying policy after one raised concerns that mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity could violate religious teachings.

The changes had previously been approved, unanimously, by a trustee committee and at last weeks full board meeting it was explained that the updates are in line with whats required under the provincial Education Act and Ontarios Human Rights Code, said Chair Jane Michael.

It was a shock to all of us, I believe, said Michael, who expected the amendments  which she considered part of a routine update  to easily pass. Instead, they failed on a 4-3 vote.

And because the board is already so far behind in making the required changes that were ready back in February, Ontarios Ministry of Education was waiting for an affirmative answer (last) Wednesday morning after the board meeting, Michael said.

The policy, which covers discipline and safety in schools, will now go back to the same committee, and shes hoping it will reappear, as is, on the boards June meeting agenda.

It has to pass, eventually, she added.

The Halton Catholic District School Board has, in the past, come under fire on issues surrounding sexual orientation  opposing student clubs called GSAs, or gay-straight alliances. It was also one of a few boards across the country that for several years refused to allow Grade 8 girls to receive the HPV vaccine in school.

At last weeks board meeting, Trustee Anthony Quinn questioned the words sexual orientation and gender identity from a paragraph in the policy that talked about creating a safe, caring and accepting school environment for all students, also including race and socio-economic status, said Michael, adding the policy goes on to mention disciplinary measures such as suspensions and expulsions for violations.

Trustee Paul Marai, who heads the policy committee and helped oversee the changes, called the recent vote unfortunate given all the progress the board has made in supporting students and making them feel comfortable in our schools.

In my view, we need to very clearly pass this, with the language included that has been vetted by lawyers and vetted by staff, and do so as quickly as possible.

Quinn could not be reached by the Star for comment. Neither could the three other trustees who voted against the update: Anthony Danko, Helena Karabela and Susan Trites. (The chair only votes in the case of a tie, and the boards ninth trustee was absent.)

All I can tell you is the trustees on the prevailing side wanted an opportunity for further discussion and review, said Michael, adding Karabela and Trites voted in favour of it at the committee meeting.

She said she was assured by the boards religion consultant and it is not going against Catholic teaching at all. Everything is in line.

Chris Dsouza, a father of three who is also a well-known Ontario school board equity expert and consultant, said he was shocked by the vote.

My children go to that school board, he said. Im very dismayed and saddened by (the trustees vote). They are blocking what is a good discipline policy and I dont like the optics that they are OK with a child being bullied because of sexual orientation.

Marai said the boards students, and student trustees, have said they support the changes.

Our board is committed to providing safe, equitable, inclusive school communities, added Michael.

The policy will be back on the committee meeting agenda June 14, and if passed, will go before the board again June 21.

We are trying to get a positive message across in schools to make things clear, to build a positive atmosphere, said Marai, adding we were not asking the school board to have a float in the (gay pride) parade . . . we were going to make a statement that provides . . . safety to our students.

This latest move, he added, sends a pretty negative message to our students.

Past controversies at the Halton Catholic board:

2015

At a meeting where trustees discussed the updated sex-education curriculum, police had to be called after a motion by Oakville Trustee Anthony Danko to postpone the changes  which he believed violated Catholic teachings  failed on a vote. That sparked chaos among a crowd gathered in the foyer at board headquarters and confrontations continued as the crowd dispersed into the parking lot. No charges were laid.

2013

Trustees ended five-year ban on allowing Grade 8 girls to get the HPV vaccine in school, and begin allowing public health nurses in to give the inoculations against the human papillomavirus, which leads to cervical and other cancers. Halton Catholic had been one of just a few boards across the country that did not allow the vaccine program.

2011

Trustees refused to allow gay-straight alliances in its schools, clubs that promote positive environments for students of all sexual orientations, despite a new Ontario police on equity and inclusion. (They were later forced to change their stance.)

Also in 2011, then-chair Alice Anne LeMay remarked that gay-straight alliances in schools do not fit the teachings of the Catholic Church, and thats also why the board doesnt allow Nazi groups. She later apologized on the boards website.

Source: Star files

SHARE:
This rally just seems to have snuck up out of nowhere. What's fueling it?

We've got a bunch of catalysts.

Let's start with the obvious. The darned thing won't come down. Last week, we had a ton of Fed officials talking about the need to raise rates and the market took it like a champ with the S&P 500 finishing up for the week after four weeks of a selloff.

Then another slew of Fed guns came back this week and spoke insistently about rate hikes and now we are rallying. The refusal to go down on bad news is a sign that something new is afoot, something broader than just the FANG rallies on the mini-bull markets I have talked about nightly.

Second, oil's not done rallying. I can't stress how important this is. Last week, we heard oil was going higher because the Canadian wildfires cut production drastically. Guess what? That oil's back online and it didn't matter. Oil's moving right back up. This market has a hard time going down when oil's up because when oil's soaring the market senses that things are better than one might otherwise believe.

Third, somehow the market's made peace with a stronger dollar. How is that possible? Frankly, I have no answer for this one other than the stocks have already been softened and the higher dollar baked in.

Fourth, giant takeovers are back. Today Monsanto (MON) responded to Bayer, rejecting the German company's bid, but indicating it was open to further negotiations. That's just plain bullish.

Fifth, new-home sales are soaring, hitting the highest level in eight years. You want verification? Go listen to the conference all from Toll Brothers (TOL) . The business has gotten very strong, dare I say strong enough to be able to take a rate hike?

Sixth, as Doug Kass points out, the biotechs have gotten red hot. That's fantastic news as this group's been an anchor to leeward for ages.

Finally, we have the magnificent tech rally that I wrote about earlier. It's something to behold, isn't it?

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held TK positions in the stocks mentioned.
Gannett's (GCI) $864 million hostile effort to acquire Tribune Publishing (TPUB) received a second consecutive blow after an influential proxy advisory firm urged institutional investors not to support the USA Today publisher's "just vote no" campaign against the Chicago-based media company's directors.

The recommendation, which was made by Glass Lewis, in a report obtained by The Deal late Tuesday, is in response to a campaign launched by Gannett on May 2 urging shareholders to oppose Tribune Publishing's eight incumbent director candidates in an uncontested election.

The vote on the directors, which is scheduled to take place at Tribune Publishing's June 2 annual meeting, will have no binding impact on the company's management or board. However, a large negative vote against Tribune Publishing's directors would send a strong message that shareholders want the two sides to engage in discussions about a combination. The effort could also backfire -- a weak vote of opposition would show the opposite is true.

In that environment, Glass Lewis waded into the debate with a report charging that Gannett has offered "insufficient cause for investors" to support its current campaign and that Tribune Publishing's board "is well positioned to fully evaluate and reject any bids that seem particularly opportunistic."

Its recommendation comes on the heels of a similar report issued Monday by the other major proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services.

The recommendations of the two proxy advisory firms carry a lot of weight with institutional investors, many of which have their own internal vote review committees that also take into account the firm's outside analysis.

ISS's recommendation against Gannett's campaign noted that the publisher didn't make a tender offer to acquire Tribune Publishing nor did it offer up any dissident director candidates. However, the deadline to nominate a dissident slate of directors had already passed by the time Gannett made its unsolicited bid.

The recommendations also come after Tribune Publishing's board, as expected, on Monday rejected Gannett's latest bid, which was increased to $864 million from $815 million and represents a 99% premium to the unaffected closing price the day before the media giant made its first bid. However, ISS suggested that based on its analysis that the revised bid still "materially underrepresented the intrinsic value of the company" and that "given these considerations" it appears that Tribune Publishing's response "appears to have been appropriate."

In addition, Tribune also said Monday it was inviting Gannett to agree to a mutual non-disclosure agreement - which means both companies could examine the other's books. However, according to people familiar with the situation the offer is a non-starter for Gannett because it would essentially set in place a review period that would force it to cancel the "just vote no" campaign.

At least one major investor is likely to support talks between Gannett and Tribune Publishing. Asset manager Oaktree Capital Group on May 6 reported in an activist securities filing that it was urging the media company to "pursue discussions" with Gannett, which owns over 100 newspapers, to see if an acceptable agreement can be reached between the two media companies.

Oaktree owns a 15% Tribune Publishing stake and on Monday it submitted a securities filing including a letter it sent to the company Friday saying it should establish an independent committee with advisers to consider Gannett's proposal.

Nevertheless, the ISS and Glass Lewis recommendations could have more sway with other Tribune Publishing institutional investors, such as BlackRock, Vanguard or State Street (STT) , which all own significant stakes in the company. A vote for Tribune Publishing's incumbent directors by these investors could weaken Gannett's campaign and unravel its acquisition efforts down the road.

In addition, recent moves by Tribune Publishing could pose a significant complication to a possible deal. Michael Ferro, Tribune Publishing's executive chairman, acquired a 16% stake in Tribune Publishing about three months ago for roughly $8.50 a share at a slight discount to the media company's share closing price a day prior to the announcement of the deal, according to Gannett. Also, Tribune Publishing said Monday that it received a $70.5 million capital investment from Nant Capital LLC in exchange for a 12.9% stake in Tribune Publishing. Nant's founder will also receive a seat on Tribune Publishing's board.

Gannett on Monday noted that the latest share issuance, coupled with Ferro's stake represents an ownership position of roughly 30%. That sale suggests that Tribune Publishing is building a blocking stake in opposition to the Gannett offer. However, people familiar with the situation note that the Nant stake cannot be voted at the meeting for or against Tribune Publishing's directors because it was acquired after the record date set by Tribune Publishing for the annual meeting. Nevertheless, some academics believe that Gannett's strategy could encourage a shareholder lawsuit.

Tribune Publishing is the publisher of a variety of publications including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.
There's hope for Greece. The debt-laden nation has made nice with the International Monetary Fund, securing $11.5 billion in fresh loans on Wednesday.



In July 2015, Greece defaulted on a $1.7 billion payment to the Washington-based fund. Wednesday's deal comes in addition to the $96 billion bailout program Greece agreed to last summer, which capped months of drama that rocked global markets. The European Central Bank is also set to give Greece $1.8 billion worth of earnings on the Greek bonds it holds, something German officials voiced concerns about.



"Most importantly, [this deal] includes the potential for some form of debt relief once the [bailout] program is completed [in 2018]," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, based in London.



Officials were reluctant to agree to debt-relief measures for Greece right now, given upcoming elections in Germany and Spain, Erlam said. Germany has long been opposed to bailing out Greece, which has suffered from too much spending and failure to collect appropriate tax revenues from citizens.



Reports suggest Greece agreed to new austerity measures, on top of the ones that were part of the bailout deal last summer. Wednesday's deal represents a sharp reversal from just about a year ago when Greece citizens voted against a bailout deal in a special referendum. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Syriza Party were elected in January 2015 to fight austerity, according to Erlam.

"But once the Syriza Party was voted back into power [in September 2015], it superseded the July 2015 referendum against the bailout program and gave Tsipras the backing to accept whatever was necessary to ensure a brighter future for Greece," added Erlam

Greece's debt currently stands at 180% of its gross domestic product, a number many economists call unsustainable. "A number of these reforms do suggest that the near-term impact is going to be worse for the Greek economy," Erlam said, referring to an increase in the value-added tax, which may impact tourism, a major economic driver for Greece.
Story has been updated with comments from Senator Corker representative Micah Johnson.

Shares of CBL & Associates Properties (CBL) plunged Wednesday in the wake of a report that the real estate investment trust is under investigation for alleged accounting fraud. Moreover, the company's ties to a potential Donald Trump vice-president pick is also in the mix.

The Wall Street Journalreported late Tuesday that both the FBI and SEC are looking into whether officials at the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company fudged information on financial statements to banks when applying for financing arrangements. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report indicates law-enforcement officials have talked to former CBL employees who say the company inflated rental incomes and occupancy rates.

CBL shares plunged in reaction, falling 12.1% to $9.10 in late-morning trading Wednesday.

The company issued a statement denying the allegations, calling them "completely baseless" and saying that neither it nor its executives have been contacted by the FBI, SEC or any regulatory agency regarding accounting and financial practices. CBL did not immediately return request for comment.

The WSJ report also alleges that, separately, the FBI and SEC are delving into the relationship between CBL and U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. Corker has made millions of dollars in trading the company's stock in recent years, and while investigators have found no evidence to suggest wrongdoing, they are interested in learning more about his practices and ties to CBL management.

Corker has failed to properly disclose several CBL trades (not all of which made him money) on personal finance statements he is required to file with Congress. WSJ points to one case in 2011 and 2012 when the senator appears to have made between $420,000 and $2.1 million on the stock and another transaction a couple of years before where he likely made at least $1 million.

Micah Johnson, a spokeswoman for Corker, called the charges "baseless" in a statement to the WSJ.

WSJ isn't the only entity that has called into question Corker's well-timed CBL trades. The Campaign for Accountability, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to "expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life," has sounded alarm bells on the issue as well.

In November, the group filed a complaint with the SEC and Senate Select Committee on Ethics alleging Corker may have engaged in insider trading and made false statements in disclosure forms related to CBL, citing previous WSJ reports. It filed a second complaint in March saying that Corker may have failed to disclose at least $2 million in income from at least six hedge funds.

"The financial disclosure forms of members of Congress can be extremely revealing, and it's one of the tools that we rely on to look for irregularities or, in this case, what we believe is outright illegal conduct," said Anne Weismann, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability, in a phone interview with TheStreet. "The more we dug, the more we found out."

Johnson dismissed the group's charges in an email to TheStreet. "A politically-motivated special interest group that refuses to disclose its donors continues to make baseless charges against Senator Corker, and we know that any effort to examine his actions will result in their smear campaign being discredited," she wrote.

This latest WSJ report comes at an interesting moment, as Corker is reported to be on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's short-list for vice presidential picks.

The pair met in New York on Monday, prompting speculation that Corker, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, might be under consideration to join Trump on the GOP ticket this fall. The senator downplayed the buzz, telling reporters outside of Trump Tower he has "no reason whatsoever" to think he is being considered for VP, The Hillreported. "This was a meeting between two people who didn't know each other except over phone calls, getting to know one another," he said.

A Trump spokesperson did not respond to request for comment on whether Corker is under consideration.
European markets were up on Wednesday on optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy and Greece's debt relief package.

In London, the FTSE 100 ended the day at 6,262.85, 0.70% up.

Marks & Spencer lost more than 10% today after the retailer announced an 18.5% drop in full-year pre-tax profit for the fiscal year ended on April 2. CEO Steve Rowe said that growing clothing and home sales is a top priority.

Shareholders will also receive an unexpected special dividend for the first half of 2016/2017.

In Belgium, business confidence worsened in May after the country was dragged down by manufacturing. The indicator compiled by the country's central bank fell to -2.8 in May from -2.4 in April, missing expectations that it would be flat.

AB InBev (BUD) received a boost today closing 1.75% up, after the European Commission approved its merger with SABMiller on the condition that it sold its Eastern European business.

In Frankfurt, the Dax closed at 10,205.21 about 1.47% up and in Paris the Cac 40 was up 1.13% closing at 4,481.64.

Unlike Belgium, business sentiment rose in Germany in May. The Ifo index rose to 107.7 in May, up from 106.7 in April.

Banks did well for the second day, with Commerzbank closing 3.67% up and Deutsche Bank gaining 3.44% in Frankfurt.

In London, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) closed 4.36% up, Standard Chartered gained 3.47% and HSBC was up 2.8%.

And in Paris, Credit Agricole was the biggest gainer of the day, increasing 4.75% and BNP Paribas was up 2.81%.

In Greece, the Athens Stock Exchange General Index closed at 641.80, 0.04% down. The exchange had gained early in the day after eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund came to a debt-relief agreement that unlocked a $11.5 billion aid payout.

Pharmaceutical company Sanofi (SNY) gained 2.53% in Paris after it made a move to replace the entire board of San Francisco-based Medivation (MDVN) . The French company had previously made an unsolicited offer for Medivation worth $9.3 billion in April, which was rejected.
Pfizer (PFE) dominated headlines this year with its failed Allergan (AGN) merger and its Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC) purchase. Nevertheless, Tom Forester, portfolio manager for the Forester Value Fund, said there is more to the drug giant's stock higher than making deals.



"Pfizer is not all about acquisitions, it has a great pipeline," said Forester. "It has easier comps on the horizon because it has been over a year since a number of its pervious blockbuster drugs came off patent."



Last week Pfizer, up 6.3% thus far in 2016, announced its plan to spend $5.2 billion on Anacor Pharmaceuticals to build up its inflammation and immunology business. The deal gives Pfizer access to Crisaborole, an anti-inflammatory drug currently under U.S. Food and Drug Administration review for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, or eczema.



The Forester Value Fund is down 60 basis points thus far in 2016, according to Morningstar. The $98 million fund has returned an average of 2% annually over the past decade, putting it in the 91% percentile in Morningstar's long/short equity category.



Forester is also bullish on shares of Chevron (CVX) , up over 13% year to date, and not just because oil has climbed back to $50 a barrel. He said the integrated oil giant has profitable production projects in place for the next four years and it trades at a 40% discount to Exxon Mobil (XOM) .



"Chevron is also protected on the downside because it has a refining business," said Forester. "So it is not as dependent on oil moving higher."



Finally, Forester is positive on Newell Brands (NWL) , which has seen its stock rise almost 9% so far in 2016. In April Newell Brands concluded its acquisition of Jarden, for which it paid $15 billion.



"The acquisition of Jarden was brilliant because it offers a ton of synergies in terms of both distribution and product," said Forester.
Associate Professor | College of Distance Education

Professor Sexton began teaching at the U.S. Naval War College in 2001 as a military professor in the National Security Decision Making Department. Upon retiring from the military in 2005, she taught as an adjunct professor for the College of Distance Education (CDE) where she taught over 850 students online before returning to campus as a civilian CDE professor in 2014. In 2018, Professor Sexton was named the program manager for online programs and is responsible for the Naval Command and Staff and electives online programs.
Commuters pass by the front of the Bangladesh central bank building in Dhaka in March. Criminals stole $81 million from the bank earlier this year using information sent through the SWIFT messaging system. (Ashikur Rahman/Reuters)

Recent hacks of international banks through the SWIFT messaging system raise serious questions about cyber-related risks to U.S. firms, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote Monday in a letter to the countrys top banking regulators that asked about measures to strengthen systems security.

Maloney represents part of Manhattan, home to many people employed in finance and banking. She wrote to Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen, U.S. Comptroller Thomas J. Curry and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg that she remains deeply concerned about U.S. banks exposure to these new, sophisticated cyber attacks.

The SWIFT network that allows banks to process billions of dollars in transfers each day is considered the backbone of international banking. But in February criminals were able to use its messages to steal $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank.

Since then, other thefts and acts of fraud have come to light, and the Belgium-based cooperative that runs the network is pressing member banks to share information about attacks.

Reuters reported that Wells Fargo last year approved transfers totaling $12 million from Banco del Austro in Ecuador after receiving requests through the secure messaging system, and that both banks believe those funds were stolen by unidentified hackers.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is seeking information about measures to strengthen the security systems of U.S. banks. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Maloney, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, asked the regulators what steps they had taken, or will take, to ensure that all U.S. banks have adequate security measures in place to protect against cyber attacks that involve stolen SWIFT credentials.

She also wanted to know how they would ensure that U.S. members of SWIFT are in full compliance with SWIFTs recommended security practices and policies and whether the agencies had ordered U.S. banks to conduct a cybersecurity review along the lines of one ordered by the Bank of England.

In addition, I believe that your agencies can play an important leadership role in the international response to these cyber attacks, Maloney wrote.

Maloney is not the first lawmaker to wonder how U.S. regulators are responding to the threats emerging through the SWIFT system. Last week, Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) made similar inquiries, asking SWIFT and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York how they were bolstering security in the wake of the Bangladesh heist.
"Jeopardy!" champ and author Ken Jennings (right) tries a new game show: ABC's five-night series "500 Questions," which challenges smart people to answer hundreds of tough trivia questions. At left: host Dan Harris. (Adam Taylor/ABC)

(All times Eastern.)

RETURNING SHOW: Season 2 of the special five-night game show series 500 Questions (ABC at 8 p.m.) begins with author and Jeopardy! whiz Ken Jennings trying to answer 500 difficult trivia questions. The catch? If he gets three wrong in a row, hes out. The two-hour premiere also introduces a new host, Dan Harris (of Nightline and Good Morning America: Weekend Edition fame).

When a drunk college student finds the dead body of a Secret Service agent on Bones (Fox at 8), Booth is drawn into the investigation of an assassin who may be targeting the president. Meanwhile, a sick Brennan finds it hard to stay away from the Jeffersonian.

Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement (BET at 9), a one-hour documentary special, examines the origins and significance of the grass-roots movement that started on social media. Actor and activist Jesse Williams (Greys Anatomy) is executive producer of the project, directed by Laurens Grant (producer of Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution).

Jay Leno, Elton John, Julia Roberts, Blake Shelton, Margot Robbie Will Ferrell, Trevor Noah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Goldblum and Ludacris are among the many celebrities appearing in The Red Nose Day Special (NBC at 9), a charity event aimed at raising money for kids in need. Craig Ferguson hosts the live, two-hour special, which will feature music and comedy sketches.

A renowned director hires Archer (FX at 10) and the gang to investigate suspicious activity on the set of his new movie in Part 1 of the shows two-part season finale, featuring the voices of guest stars Keegan-Michael Key, John OHurley and J.K. Simmons.

Actor LeVar Burton, co-executive producer of Historys upcoming Roots remake, will be on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central at 11:30).

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS at 11:35) hosts actress Lizzy Caplan, rocker Neil Young and actor-comedian Mike Epps.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and actor Kyle Chandler will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC at 11:35), along with chef-restaurateurs Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo.

Actors Penelope Cruz and Jeff Daniels visit The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC at 11:35). Dierks Bentley is the musical guest. Musiq Soulchild sits in with the Roots.
The following review appears in The Washington Posts 2016 Fall Dining Guide.



Despite the 7,000 cassette tapes on the wall, the soundtrack for EatBar actually emanates from a jukebox. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

EatBar

GOOD

Butcher extraordinaire Nate Anda is the man behind the menu, a carnivores cue to get piggy and order smoked ham and potatoes fried in pork fat, fried olives stuffed with fiery spreadable salami, or a pork burger enlightened with garlicky kale and fennel mostarda. Fear not, vegetarians. A list of Green Things makes sure youre as welcome as any cave man. As fun as the food is the music, broadcast from a jukebox in back but also on a wall up front, in the form of (count em!) 7,000 cassette tapes.

Previous: Drift on 7th | Next: Estadio

2 stars

EatBar: 415 Eighth St. SE. 202-847-4827. eat-bar.com .

Prices: Mains $9-$20.

Sound check: 80 decibels / Must speak with raised voice.

--

The following review was originally published May 25, 2016.

EatBar review: A favorite returns, to the tune of a new neighborhood

Fact: No Washington chef has done more to promote cured meats in the area than Nathan Anda, a longtime brand with the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Among his claims to fame are Red Apron butcher shops in Fairfax and the District, businesses linked, literally and respectively, to popular meat-centric restaurants, B-Side and Partisan.

All of them owe a debt to EatBar, where Anda took an interest in whole animal butchery, then ran with it. The name was retired when the sibling to the adjoining Tallula closed two years ago after a decade-long run in Arlington. But the concept of another neighborhood bar with a focus on charcuterie was never far from the principals minds. We missed it! says Michael Babin, the groups founder. He was speaking for the team but channeling customers nostalgia, too. When space became available on Capitol Hill, the company got its chance to reboot a favorite and dust off EatBars jukebox and a slice of its zinc bar.

The reincarnation, a mere 44 seats on Barracks Row, comes with a visual that appears to have its own fan club: a wall composed of more than 7,000 cassette tapes, some arranged to spell out the word EAT. (Babin says he bought everything eBay had to offer, with tapes coming from as far away as Indonesia.) If youre seated along the plastic facade, chances are good that youll look up from your meal at some point to see a diner or two capturing the art installation with their smartphones. Actual music is broadcast on the aforementioned jukebox, the selections for which are detailed on the flip side of the food menu and run from the Afghan Whigs to the Velvet Underground.



The original EatBar was in Arlington, but the new version opened on Barracks Row on Capitol Hill. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Drop the Bomb by Trouble Funk pairs well with a plate of ham fries, one of several hits among the Snacky Things on EatBars edible play list. A jumble of potatoes fried in pork fat, sliced smoked ham, Calabrian chili paste and balsamic-glazed pearl onions, then finished with a dab of ham fat, they are as homely as they are irresistible. Fried green olives stuffed with nduja, the fiery spreadable salami, are satisfying salt bombs, the kind of snack bartenders love to serve if only to keep customers drinking; eat one and youve probably met your sodium needs for the day. Smelt dusted with rice flour and seasoned with smoked paprika and fennel pollen, the trendy chefs pantry essential, shows a kitchen as comfortable at sea as on land. All the crisp fish needs is a kiss of lemon. The bust in the bunch: lemon & oregano chicken wings that strike only a sour note. Theyre scrawny, too, as if plucked from ... sparrows, maybe?

Charcuterie plates are as pervasive as beards on bartenders. Andas selections collect some of his greatest hits, foremost a creamy pork liver terrine redolent of nutmeg and other warm baking spices. A meat board is richer still with the addition of finocchiona, or fennel-spiced pork sausage. The grazing is elevated by the bread, a carryover from Partisan in Penn Quarter: Italian tigelle that looks like an English muffin, only flatter and bearing a stamp from the grill.

Warm bread plus cured meat, and alls swell in the world.



The pork burger comes dressed with garlicky kale, fennel mostarda, white American cheese and Hungarian hot peppers. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Bready Things embraces a jazzy burger built around ground pork and supplemented with fashion statements that include chopped garlic-punched kale and fennel mostarda. Hungarian hot peppers sneak in some heat; rivulets of white American cheese drip over the lower bun. Chomp down, then prepare to switch burger allegiances. A raft of grilled sourdough constitutes a dinner float, festooned with whipped ricotta, fava beans and what looks like pink sawdust but turns out to be filings of aged ham. The garnish minimizes kitchen waste and adds a mysterious saline edge to the tartine.

The new EatBar resurrects a few signatures from the original, including weekly-changing beef, pork and sausage dishes: Beastly Things that keep cooks engaged and seats filled. Andas corn dog is a day at the fair, a springy pork sausage encased in a golden sleeve of cornmeal thats fluffier than most thanks to beer in the batter. The reverent approach to a junk food staple extends to its condiment, a tomatillo moutarde. Pork also stars in a whopper of a sandwich, shredded shoulder meat made juicy with orange soda (it works) and crunchy with a slaw of red cabbage. Tacos heaped with short ribs and green tomato salsa take a back seat to the standard-bearers at El Sol, among other Mexican outposts in the city, yet EatBars remain modest pleasures.

Anda wrote his latest menu with more than carnivores in mind. As porky as the list is, options beckon. The simplest of the Green Things is a nest of angel hair pasta verdant with nettle pesto and punctuated with a crackle from breadcrumbs spiked with garlic and oregano. More like something youd expect from a designer Italian restaurant than a neighborhood bar, a slab of Roman gnocchi serves as a stage for an electric mushroom salad crowned with frilly tango lettuce.



Roman gnocchi is topped with a pickled mushroom salad. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

High fives to Andas colleagues, liquids aces Brent Kroll and Greg Engert, who do for drinks at EatBar (and other NRG properties) what Anda does for chow. Kroll, the wine guy, lets diners mull more than 100 labels, gathered under headings such as snacky, beasty and fishy wines.Engert, the beer dude, points patrons to suds categorized by their flavor profiles: fruit & spice, tart & funky, smoke and so on. The descriptors are as fun as the selections are deep.

Bars are not libraries, and music is central to the theme of this watering hole. I get it. But does the volume at EatBar have to approximate a Motorhead concert? Im sometimes tempted to implement a request from a reader, imploring me to take a star away from restaurants that disrespect eardrums.

For now, Im grateful for a new spot on the Hill where the prices encourage frequent use, the bar prompts second rounds, a wall lets me reminisce and more than a few things hit all the right notes.
This illegal ivory was destroyed in Kenya in April. Zimbabwe wants to sell ivory to help protect elephants. (Ben Curtis/AP)

Zimbabwe will push for the lifting of an international ban on ivory sales, saying that limited sales would allow the government to raise money for conservation and to fight illegal poaching.

The southern African country is able to protect elephants only by selling ivory, the government said in a paper that will be presented in September at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Much of the ivory sold illegally comes from elephant tusks. Poachers usually kill the elephant to remove the tusks.

Zimbabwe says its elephant population, estimated at 84,000, is twice what can be supported by available food and land. The country, which is going through an economic crisis, said in February that it raised $1 million from selling elephants to China as part of conservation efforts.

The country estimates that it could earn about $35 million by selling its current stockpile of ivory.
Dear Amy: I am about to graduate from high school. I am very happy with my college choice and I am majoring in STEM, so I am looking forward to being part of the growing group of young women in the scientific world; however, I have concerns about the social changes in college.

I have always been a good girl who stayed away from boys in high school to focus on academics. As a result, I have never had a boyfriend, or even my first kiss. I have heard countless stories about college hook-ups, relationships, etc., and I am nervous about this aspect of college. I know college can be a time to explore your sexuality, but I am conflicted about this.

I am not completely against it if you find the right person, but I always thought being sexually active at such a young age was ridiculous. I know there are many risks (STDs, sexual assault, pregnancy), but with the culture of my generation, sex is something that seems to be advocated by the media, peer pressure and the overall college setting.

I am blessed to have amazing parents, and I know they will worry about me in college, so I have told my mom I wont have sex until marriage.

I do have my personal curiosities about sex, however, and I now believe in premarital sex.

Is this the wrong decision? Am I too young to have sex in college, even if I find the right guy? I feel so conflicted with the pros and cons that I just cant make up my mind. I am also worried about how I will be treated in college if I refuse to be sexually active with anyone.

Do you have any advice?

College Bound With Concerns

College Bound With Concerns: Like the smart and thoughtful young woman you are, you are throwing all of your smarts toward a solution that doesnt even have a problem attached to it (yet).

Approach your sexual choices the way you might approach a technical question: one step at a time.

Many people do go a little crazy in college. But a high percentage of college students do not. Alcohol use is a risk factor in terms of your sexual choices. If you choose to stay away from alcohol and also hang out with sober students, your sexual choices will be intentional and your risk of STDs, assault and unintended pregnancy decrease.

There are many ways of learning about sex (and being sexual) outside of intercourse. Dont discuss your chastity pledge with your parents until you have a reason to. You can also choose to never discuss this with them. Your body is your own, and you (not your parents) should be in charge of it.

Dear Amy: Im dismayed by seeing small children, even infants, with screens placed sometimes just inches from their faces.

There is just so much wrong with this. It impedes their health and social development.

A preschool teacher told me that she sees a real difference with the children coming into her classrooms recently; theyre having a harder time learning how to be with other children. Her theory is that its because theyre staring at screens too much, rather than relating to the world around them.

This is just my opinion, but I think that lifting up your head and becoming an observer of whats around you is very valuable. Its so sad when I see parents setting up screens at restaurants for their children. How about talking with them, or bringing a book or crayons?

I dont want to sound like a Luddite, but I really cant see an upside to this.

Is it ever appropriate to mention the health risks to these parents, who might not know about them?

Carol

Carol: No.

Obviously, you can try to tell people how to raise their children, but if you make this choice, you should prepare yourself for parents not giving a fig.

I happen to agree with you about screen use (every thoughtful person does), but you should confine your expertise to members of your own family.

Dear Amy: Responding to your answer to Sad Grandma, many states have grandparents rights.

If this grandmothers state has them, she can go to court to file for rights of visitation. If she can prove that she and her grandchild have an established bond, she has rights to see her grandchild.

Reader

Reader: I hope this grandmother exhausts all options before going to court.

Amys column appears seven days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribpub.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.


Michelle Obama dances onstage during the Turnaround Arts Talent Show at the White House in May 2014. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

One of Michelle Obamas key arts programs will continue after she leaves the White House. Management of Turnaround Arts, started five years ago to bring high-quality music, theater, dance and visual arts instruction to underperforming schools, will be housed at the Kennedy Center and carry its imprimatur.

The first lady plans to make the announcement Wednesday during her second White House talent show, starring students from the at-risk schools adopted by Turnaround Arts. The program  now in 49 schools across the country  is based on the idea that arts should have a central place in the education of all children, not just a luxury for wealthy districts.

Turnaround Arts has been a favorite of the first family, now working to cement its legacy as time runs out on President Obamas administration. Michelle Obama, in particular, has supported projects that link children from less-privileged backgrounds to the arts through events at the White House as well as underwriting arts classes at low-income elementary and middle schools.

Fearing that future administrations may have other priorities, the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities said it will bring in the Kennedy Center as a partner to make sure the Turnaround Arts program is not dismantled. The committee will keep a hand in its work, helping the Kennedy Center raise $3 million a year to operate the program.

Both the president and Mrs. Obama are people who love music and had music in their lives all the time, said Tina Tchen, assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady. They are both great readers and love literature and have seen how that brings a richer cultural life to a young student.

[After years of crouching, arts education is raising its hand again]

The first lady has credited early exposure to the arts with boosting her own accomplishments. Though she grew up in working class Chicago, her parents took her to the orchestra and enrolled her in piano lessons, and she believes the arts can motivate children.

Every day, through engagement in the arts, our children learn to open their imaginations, to dream just a little bigger and to strive every day to reach those dreams, the first lady said in 2013 as she presented the best-picture Oscar at the Academy Awards.

She has recruited nearly 60 A-list entertainers to volunteer with Turnaround schools. Singer Josh Groban used his website to raise $80,000 for a mosaic mural at the school he serves, and dancer Misty Copeland took the students at her school to the ballet. Paula Abdul, Tim Robbins and several others will attend the White House talent show Wednesday to watch the students they mentor perform.



Students from D.C.s Savoy Elementary performed at a White House talent show in May 2014. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Obama has attended arts programs at Savoy Elementary, a Turnaround school in Southeast Washington that had been struggling academically. In the year after arts instruction was substantially enhanced  and actress Kerry Washington, a regular visitor, took the school under her wing  test scores began to rise. Other Turnaround schools have reported increased student engagement, reduced disciplinary actions and improved morale, said Megan Beyer, executive director of the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

[Savoy Elementary: An arts haven for Anacostias youth]

Ive seen schools before and schools after, and its sort of the difference between a house and home. Theres art on the walls. You see parents coming in, said Beyer, whose committee will continue to provide resources, such as donated instruments and art supplies.

Next year, the number of schools in the program will grow to 68, Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said. White House involvement is certainly important because it demonstrates that this is something that really matters, Rutter said. The knowledge that the most powerful individual in the free world cares deeply about how these schools are doing and that the arts programming is helping those schools improve makes a difference.
A Florida judge denied Gawker Medias motion for a new trial and left intact wrestler Hulk Hogans $140.1 million verdict against the company as a new potential wrinkle in the long-running legal dispute emerged: A secret funder behind Hogans lawsuit.

Gawker said it intends to appeal Wednesdays ruling, which, if upheld, would cripple the New York-based website financially. Gawker hasnt paid Hogan while the case winds through the legal system.

Forbes magazine reported Tuesday that billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel  the target of Gawker stories  had bankrolled Hogans suit, which began after the gossip website posted a video of Hogan having sex with a friends wife in 2012.

According to people at Gawker, Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and a Facebook board member, has long been upset with the sites coverage of him, particularly a 2007 story by a Gawker-owned site disclosing that Thiel is gay.

Thiel confirmed late Wednesday that he has spent as much as $10 million to secretly support Hogans lawsuit. In an interview with the New York Times, he said Gawker published articles that were very painful and paralyzing for people who were targeted, adding, I thought it was worth fighting back.

Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal, reportedly funded Hogans suit against Gawker. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

But it could make the wrestlers legal action look as much like an effort by a wealthy businessman to gain a measure of revenge as a quest by Hogan to punish Gawker for invading his privacy.

It also suggests, perhaps ironically, that Gawkers two most internally damaging stories have involved outing gay people as much as its post that exposed a heterosexual celebrity wrestler engaged in a sex act.

In addition to the 2007 post about Thiels sexuality in the blog Valleywag, a defunct site owned by Gawker, Gawker published a story last summer that alleged that a married executive at Conde Nast had been involved with a gay porn star. Amid widespread criticism, including the defection of an advertiser, Gawker took the unusual step of removing the story from its site. This led to the resignation of the companys executive editor and the sites editor in chief.

Gawker responded to Thiels alleged involvement on Wednesday by issuing a statement pointedly noting his involvement in funding the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of the news media around the world. Thiel, a California delegate for Donald Trump, has also invested in other journalism ventures, such as the tech website Pando Daily, and has made donations to James OKeefe III, who has conducted stings against CNN, NPR and the defunct community group ACORN.

Gawker founder Nick Denton declined to comment Wednesday.

The websites statement, without naming Thiel, acknowledged reports that a board member of Facebook and a major funder of the Committee to Protect Journalists has been secretly funding a legal campaign against our journalists. We trust the appeals court will correct the outsized Florida jury verdict and reaffirm the law that protects a free and critical press, which is more embattled and important than ever.

Denton, who is openly gay, has previously said Thiel threatened the publication following Valleywag stories disclosing his sexuality. He was so paranoid that, when I was looking into the story, a year ago, I got a series of messages relaying the destruction that would rain down on me, and various innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, if a story ever ran, Denton wrote in 2007.

Thiel later described Valleywag as the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.

Gawker has outed other public figures, such as journalist Anderson Cooper and Apple chief executive Tim Cook. I make no apologies for this, Denton said in an interview with Katie Couric last summer. He added: Ultimately, its an editorial gut check, and there has to be a balance made of, what is the cost to this person of this story? What is going to be the pain? Because most good stories, most great stories, involve somebody getting hurt.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker for invasion of privacy for posting a video of him having sex with Heather Cole, the then-wife of his best friend, Tampa-area radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, a.k.a. Todd Clem. After a trial in March, a jury awarded $115 million in compensatory damages and $25.1 million in punitive damages.
Anne Arundel County

The following were among incidents reported by the Anne Arundel County police. For information, call 410-222-8050.

GLEN BURNIE AREA

ROBBERIES

Furnace Branch Rd., 7200 block, 2:07 a.m. May 16. Four armed males robbed a business of cash and fled.

Heritage Crossing, 6900 block, 11:26 p.m. May 11. An armed male stole cash and food from a pizza delivery person and fled.

Ritchie Hwy., 7000 block, 1:52 a.m. May 16. Four males robbed a business of cash and fled in a vehicle.

Ritchie Hwy., 6900 block, 9:30 p.m. May 18. A male with a knife robbed a fast-food restaurant of cash and fled on foot.

ASSAULTS

Pamela Rd., 400 block, 6:37 p.m. May 11. A man stabbed an acquaintance in the arm and back. A Glen Burnie man, 24, was charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

HOME INVASION

Saunders Way, 1:30 a.m. May 18. Two armed males forced their way into a home, assaulted a resident and tied the victims legs together. They stole cash and fled on foot.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Americana Cir., 7800 block, 1:30 a.m. May 17. Property was stolen from a vehicle. A Glen Burnie man, 19, was charged with theft, two counts of rogue and vagabond, possession of heroin, and possession of paraphernalia and administration equipment.

Ritchie Hwy., 7300 block, 2:10 a.m. May 18. A front door at a business was broken and items were stolen.

WEAPONS

Warwickshire Lane, 100 block, 3 p.m. May 12. During an argument between two groups in a parking lot, a male fired several shots into one group and fled in a vehicle. A Bowie man, 24, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and related charges. He also was charged with possessing a handgun and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute.

PASADENA AREA

ROBBERIES

Solley Rd., 7600 block, 8:38 p.m. May 15. An armed male stole cash and food from a food delivery person and fled.

ASSAULTS

Freetown, May 16. A male walked into a medical center after he had been stabbed in the back in the Freetown Community. The injuries were not life-threatening.

SEVERNA PARK AREA

ROBBERIES

Northway and Severn Dale roads, 6:56 p.m. May 18. A male pushed a boy to the ground and stole his helmet, watch and cash; he fled on foot.

Annapolis

These were among incidents reported by the Annapolis Police Department. For information, call 410-268-9000.

ROBBERIES

Old Mill Bottom Rd., 70 block, 4:43 a.m. May 16. An armed male robbed a hotel and fled on foot.

ASSAULTS

Madison St., 1100 block, 1:25 a.m. May 13. A man pointed a handgun at a female acquaintance and pushed her. A Towson man, 30, was charged with first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and four counts of possession of a handgun.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Americana Dr., 600 block, 8:30 p.m. May 13 to 11:40 a.m. May 14. A bicycle, scooter and stroller were stolen from a patio.

Brooke Ave., 10 p.m. May 11 to 6 a.m. May 12. Property from two purses was stolen from a home.

Church Cir., 12:45-1 p.m. May 19. A man asked to exchange $100 bills for $20 bills at two different banks. When the teller gave him the cash, he asked for the $100 bills back, and did not return the correct amount. He quickly fled before the teller could count the cash.

Dogwood Rd., 100 block, 2 p.m. May 15. A juvenile borrowed a bicycle, refused to return it to its owner, and rode away.

Edgewood Rd., 7300 block, 8 a.m. April 15 to 11:45 a.m. May 16. A TV and DVD player were stolen from a boat.

Fifth St., 500 block, 4 p.m May 18 to 8 a.m. May 19. A key fob and credit cards were stolen from a vehicle.

Gemini Dr., 1200 block, 12:30-1:30 p.m. May 13. A hedge trimmer was stolen from a truck.

Kent Rd. and Loudon Lane, 9:30 a.m. May 11 to 6 p.m. May 12. Credit cards, sunglasses, a knife, a multi-tool and a Bluetooth device were stolen from two unlocked vehicles.

Lafayette Ave., 7-7:30 a.m. May 12. Cash was stolen from a home.

McKendree Ave., 100 block, 8:30 a.m. May 13 to 8:15 a.m. May 14. A tablet computer was stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Severn Ave., 300 block, 12:10-7:30 a.m. May 18. An iPad was stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Tolson St., noon, April 6 to 5 p.m. May 12. Someone attempted to force open a rear door at a home.

Victor Pkwy., 200 block, 9 a.m. May 14 to 2:30 p.m. May 18. Cash was stolen from a home.

Howard County

These were among incidents reported by the Howard County Police Department. For information, call 410-313-2236.

COLUMBIA AREA

ROBBERIES

Allen Lane, 6600 block, 7:11 a.m. May 15. A man forced his way into a home, struggled with an elderly resident and stole his watch and necklace.

Dobbin Rd., 6400 block 3:21 p.m. April 29. A man with knife stole a mans wallet and fled. A Columbia man, 27, was charged with armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault, and theft.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Cobblefield Dr., 8600 block, May 12. A group of male youths went into a storage shed, but fled when an officer approached. Charges are pending.

Flamepool Way, 9000 block, 10:09 p.m. May 14. Someone gained entry to vacant property; nothing was reported stolen.

Harpers Farm Rd., 5100 block, 4:40 p.m. May 3 to 10:30 p.m. May 7. A cellphone and coins were stolen from a home.

Harpers Farm Rd., 5400 block, 8:45 p.m. May 16. An acquaintance and another armed male forced their way into a home, but fled when a resident call the police. No one was injured and nothing was reported stolen.

Little Patuxent Pkwy., 10700 block, 4:05 a.m. May 18. Bicycles were stolen from a business.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Harpers Farm Rd., 5700 block, May 11 to 6:19 a.m. May 12. A black Yamaha R1 was stolen.

Hickory Log Cir., 7300 block, 7:49 a.m. May 13. A 2010 Nissan Altima was stolen.

Turnabout Lane, 6100 block, 8:45 a.m. May 16. A 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser was stolen.

Twin Rivers Rd., 10500 block, May 11 to 10:44 a.m. May 12. A Dodge Ram wa stolen.

Woodpark Lane, 7600 block, 8:12 a.m. May 18. A gray Mazda Tribute was stolen.

CLARKSVILLE AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Clarksville Pike, 12100 block, May 11. A lock on a storage unit at a high school was cut and clothing was stolen.

ELKRIDGE AREA

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Dorsey Run Rd., 7100 block, 12:09 a.m. May 16. A 1997 gold, Toyota Corolla was stolen.

Montgomery Rd., 7100 block, 4:58 p.m. May 17. A 2010 Lincoln Town Car was stolen.

ELLICOTT CITY AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Montgomery Rd., 5500 block, May 10. A male claimed to be with a tree-trimming service and asked a resident in a home to come outside. Once the resident was outside, another person went into the home and stole cash and jewelry.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Town & Country Blvd., 8800 block, May 11 to 6:44 a.m. May 12. A 2012 blue Yamaha R1 was stolen.

Town & Country Blvd., 9000 block, 7:20 a.m. May 12. A motorcycle was stolen.

Town & Country Blvd., 8900 block, May 11 to 8:42 a.m. May 12. A 2011 green and black Kawasaki Ninja was stolen.

WEAPONS

Near Phelps Luck Dr., 100 block, 6:26 a.m. May 16. During a road rage incident, a male in a black Chrysler 300 fired a shot into another drivers side door.

HANOVER AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Green Field Rd., 6400 block, 1:59 p.m. May 16. A window was found opened at a home; nothing was reported stolen.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Montgomery Rd., 7200 block, 6:09 a.m. May 14. A black Toyota RAV 4 was stolen.

WEST FRIENDSHIP AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Frederick Rd., 9900 block, 2:15 p.m. May 18. Gasoline was stolen from a shed. A Fredericksburg man, 64, was charged with fourth-degree burglary, theft and trespassing.

Frederick Rd., 14300 block, 7:50 a.m. May 16. Appliances were stolen from a vacant home.

WOODBINE AREA

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Old Frederick Rd., 17700 block, 11:41 a.m. May 15. Three motorcycle were stolen.
District of Columbia

These were among incidents reported by D.C. police. For information, call 202-727-9099.

Northeast

SEXUAL ASSAULTS

Benning Rd., 1700 block, 6:25 a.m. May 8. A sexual assault was reported.

Mount Olivet Rd., 900-1020 blocks, 12:16 p.m. May 8. A sexual assault was reported.

ASSAULTS

Benning Rd., 1500-1699 blocks, 1:37 p.m. May 8. Knife reported.

Clay St., 6200 block, 6:34 p.m. May 11. Knife reported.

D St., 1500 block, 10:08 p.m. May 14. Gun reported.

Dix St., 6100 block, 7:50 p.m. May 6.

Douglas St., 200-301 blocks, 1:21 a.m. May 14. Gun reported.

Eads Pl., 4900 block, 12:32 a.m. May 11. Knife reported.

Eastern Ave., 5800 block, 5:36 a.m. May 14.

H St., 800 block, 12:38 a.m. May 15. Knife reported.

Kansas Ave., 6100 block, 11:21 p.m. May 13. Knife reported.

Kennedy St., 800 block, 7:19 a.m. May 17. Knife reported.

L St., 500 block, 4:10 a.m. May 14. Knife reported.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 5:48 p.m. May 5. Knife reported.

Meade St., 5000 block, 11:26 p.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Mount Olivet Rd., 900-1020 blocks, 5:35 a.m. May 8. Gun reported.

Mount Olivet Rd., 1200 block, 6:07 a.m. May 8.

Mount Olivet Rd., 1200 block, 6:23 a.m. May 13. Knife reported.

New York Ave., 400-1229 blocks, 2:26 a.m. May 6.

New York Ave., 1600-1779 blocks, 1:57 a.m. May 8. Knife reported.

New York Ave., 1600-1779 blocks, 10:20 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

Ponds St., 4300-4499 blocks, 1:09 a.m. May 8. Gun reported.

Riggs Rd., 400-624 blocks, 3:31 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Seaton Pl., 300 block, 3:26 a.m. May 14. Gun reported.

Varnum St., 1000-1199 blocks, 4:27 p.m. May 7.

West Virginia Ave., 2100 block, 3:58 p.m. May 12.

12th St., 2700 block, 12:31 a.m. May 8. Gun reported.

21st St., 900 block, 10:08 p.m. May 9. Knife reported.

21st St., 1100 block, 10:56 p.m. May 15. Gun reported.

24th Pl., 2100 block, 4:46 a.m. May 15. Knife reported.

42nd St., 500 block, 9:51 p.m. May 8. Knife reported.

45th St., 500 block, 9:13 p.m. May 5. Knife reported.

47th Pl., 1000 block, 10:51 p.m. May 7.

ROBBERIES

Bladensburg Rd., 2100 block, 12:57 p.m. May 15.

Bladensburg Rd., 2800 block, 5:04 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Central Ave., 4600 block, 6:45 p.m. May 12.

Downing St., 1300 block, 11:14 p.m. May 9. Gun reported.

Evarts St., 1200 block, 6:08 p.m. May 11.

Florida Ave., 1400 block, 10:35 p.m. May 11. Gun reported.

Fort Totten Dr., 4800-4999 blocks, 10:08 p.m. May 8.

Gallatin St., 100 block, 10:23 a.m. May 17.

H St., 1000 block, 10:44 p.m. May 5.

Hawaii Ave., 300 block, 5:47 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Holbrook Terr., 1200 block, 8:25 p.m. May 12.

I St., 1100 block, 1:44 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

Jay St., 3500-3899 blocks, 11:05 p.m. May 17. Gun reported.

Michigan Ave., 900 block, 2:09 a.m. May 16. Gun reported.

Michigan Ave., 1900 block, 4:34 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Minnesota Ave., 3900 block, 3:16 a.m. May 13.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 3:36 p.m. May 7. Gun reported.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 4 a.m. May 15.

Montana Ave., 1900 block, 6:13 a.m. May 14.

Nash St., 5000 block, 4:26 p.m. May 10. Gun reported.

Otis St., 1500 block, 11:44 p.m. May 5. Gun reported.

Randolph St., 1200 block, 3:21 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

Rhode Island Ave., 500-799 blocks, 12:22 p.m. May 13.

Rhode Island Ave., 1200 block, 9:51 p.m. May 16.

South Dakota Ave., 3100-3299 blocks, 6:06 a.m. May 13. Knife reported.

Second St., 700-899 blocks, 7:55 p.m. May 5.

Second St., 1300 block, 4:31 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

Second St., 1300 block, 5:07 a.m. May 16. Gun reported.

Fourth St., 1200 block, 5:18 p.m. May 7.

Eighth St., 400 block, 12:57 a.m. May 8.

Eighth St., 1000 block, 10:55 p.m. May 14. Gun reported.

10th St., 600 block, 3:52 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

11th St., 600 block, 1:59 a.m. May 6.

12th St., 2900 block, 7:57 p.m. May 16.

16th St., 100 block, 3:32 p.m. May 7. Gun reported.

19th St., 800 block, 5:13 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

26th St., 2700 block, 11:45 p.m. May 10. Gun reported.

54th St., 300 block, 2:15 p.m. May 10.

BREAK-INS

Banks Pl., 5200 block, 7:55 p.m. May 10.

Blaine St., 3800-3999 blocks, 6:52 p.m. May 17.

Blaine St., 5300 block, 6:20 a.m. May 13.

F St., 1500 block, 3:17 p.m. May 17.

Florida Ave., 700 block, 7:11 a.m. May 6.

Gault Pl., 4400-4599 blocks, 5:19 p.m. May 6.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 10:08 a.m. May 8.

Shepherd St., 2000 block, 4:40 a.m. May 14.

Webster St., 1600 block, 9:29 p.m. May 5.

21st St., 700 block, 5:41 p.m. May 6.

36th St., 100 block, 9:52 p.m. May 9.

45th Pl., 1300 block, 8:53 p.m. May 13.

45th St., 500 block, 10:42 p.m. May 6.

46th Pl., 1-199 blocks, 5:56 a.m. May 8.

47th Pl., 1000 block, 11:09 a.m. May 8.

THEFTS

A St., 1300 block, 8:07 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Acker Pl., 600 block, 1:29 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Adams Pl., 2100-2299 blocks, 9:26 p.m. May 17.

Ames St., 3900 block, 10:26 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Anacostia Rd., unit block, 7:17 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Anacostia Rd., unit block, 9:37 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Belair Pl., 2800 block, 3:16 p.m. May 11.

Benning Rd., 2500 block, 4:13 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Benning Rd., 3900 block, 2:33 a.m. May 10.

Benning Rd., 4200-4399 blocks, 6:05 p.m. May 6.

Bladensburg Rd., 900 block, 12:43 a.m. May 4.

Bladensburg Rd., 900 block, 6:48 p.m. May 8.

Bladensburg Rd., 900 block, 9:19 p.m. May 17.

Bladensburg Rd., 1100 block, 9:34 a.m. May 5.

Bladensburg Rd., 1200 block, 11:09 a.m. May 7.

Bladensburg Rd., 1200 block, 4:50 p.m. May 16.

Blaine St., 5200 block, 7:45 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Brentwood Rd., 900 block, 3:38 p.m. May 14.

Brentwood Rd., 1000-1249 blocks, 8:46 p.m. May 11.

Brooks St., 4600 block, 1:46 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Capitol Ave., 1700 block, 6:42 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Constitution Ave., 1500 block, 12:28 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Constitution Ave., 1600 block, 2:41 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

E St., 600 block, 8:39 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

East Capitol St., 3800 block, 10:09 a.m. May 11.

Eastern Ave., 900-1099 blocks, 2:59 p.m. May 6.

Edgewood St., 500 block, 8:27 a.m. May 7.

Edgewood St., 500 block, 12:48 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Edson Pl., 4200-4399 blocks, 9:56 a.m. May 7.

F St., 1200 block, 3:03 p.m. May 16.

F St., 1400 block, 10:42 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Fenwick St., 1900 block, 3:44 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Florida Ave., 700 block, 3:43 p.m. May 6.

Florida Ave., 1200 block, 5:04 p.m. May 10.

Florida Ave., 1200 block, 1:54 p.m. May 12.

Franklin St., 300 block, 7:43 p.m. May 16.

Franklin St., 1200 block, 8:08 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

G St., 600 block, 8:22 a.m. May 16.

Grant Pl., 3600 block, 11:38 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Grant Pl., 3700 block, 12:07 p.m. May 11.

H St., 400 block, 4:12 p.m. May 9.

H St., 600 block, 9:11 a.m. May 6.

H St., 600 block, 4:11 p.m. May 8.

H St., 1100 block, 5:50 p.m. May 7.

Hawthorne Dr., 3000-3179 blocks, 10:53 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

I St., 800 block, 12:18 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Irving St., 1400 block, 10:28 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Irving St., 1800-1999 blocks, 9:36 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Jackson St., 2000-2199 blocks, 4:11 p.m. May 12.

K St., 200 block, 7:04 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Kenilworth Ave., 1100-1299 blocks, 5:05 p.m. May 17.

L St., 200 block, 9:20 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

L St., 300 block, 7:34 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

L St., 300 block, 3:01 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Lee St., 4100 block, 4:30 a.m. May 17.

Levis St., 1300 block, 10:25 p.m. May 7.

Linden Pl., 1200 block, 10:22 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Maryland Ave., 1400 block, 11 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Maryland Ave., 1900-2099 blocks, 10:32 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 9:46 p.m. May 8.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 11:38 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 7:37 p.m. May 13.

Meigs Pl., 1600 block, 5:54 a.m. May 13.

Michigan Ave., 1900 block, 12:43 a.m. May 14.

Minnesota Ave., 3700 block, 8:40 p.m. May 16.

Minnesota Ave., 3900 block, 9:45 a.m. May 13.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 12:40 a.m. May 9.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 8:34 p.m. May 11.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 3:43 p.m. May 15.

Minnesota Ave., 4000-4121 blocks, 9:45 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Monroe St., 700 block, 6:30 p.m. May 10.

Monroe St., 1000-1199 blocks, 9:29 p.m. May 16.

Monroe St., 2600-2799 blocks, 1:40 p.m. May 12.

Montana Ave., 1700 block, 3:22 a.m. May 15.

Montello Ave., 1200 block, 2:17 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Montello Ave., 1600 block, 2:20 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Montello Ave., 1600 block, 5:17 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Morse St., 300 block, 12:30 p.m. May 7.

Mount Olivet Rd., 1200 block, 5:53 a.m. May 12.

Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave., 4200-4399 blocks, 7:06 p.m. May 9.

Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave., 4200-4399 blocks, 3:02 a.m. May 15.

Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave., 4800 block, 10:30 p.m. May 8.

Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave., 5000 block, 1:37 p.m. May 12.

Neal St., 1200 block, 8:18 p.m. May 9.

New Hampshire Ave., 5800-5919 blocks, 6:55 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

New York Ave., 1200-1399 blocks, 1:06 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

New York Ave., 1400 block, 7:39 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

New York Ave., unit block, 11:48 a.m. May 12.

New York Ave., unit block, 5:52 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Newton St., 2400-2599 blocks, 2:08 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Oglethorpe St., 300-499 blocks, 8:58 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Oneida St., 100 block, 1:15 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Otis St., 2400-2599 blocks, 11:47 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Patterson St., unit block, 1:51 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Perry St., 2200-2399 blocks, 5:53 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Rhode Island Ave., 200 block, 7:36 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Rhode Island Ave., 500-799 blocks, 9:49 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Rhode Island Ave., 500-799 blocks, 10:48 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Rhode Island Ave., 500-799 blocks, 4:20 p.m. May 8.

Rhode Island Ave., 900 block, 5:28 p.m. May 5.

Rhode Island Ave., 900 block, 9:27 a.m. May 11.

Rhode Island Ave., 900 block, 4:59 p.m. May 14.

Rhode Island Ave., 900 block, 6:59 a.m. May 17.

Rhode Island Ave., 1600 block, 1:49 a.m. May 12.

Rhode Island Ave., 1800-1999 blocks, 9:31 p.m. May 9.

Rhode Island Ave., 2000 block, 4:08 p.m. May 13.

Riggs Rd., 300 block, 1:58 a.m. May 12.

Riggs Rd., 300 block, 2:30 a.m. May 12.

Riggs Rd., 300 block, 7:29 p.m. May 13.

Sheriff Rd., 4800 block, 7:27 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Sligo Mill Rd., 5900 block, 8:43 a.m. May 9.

South Dakota Ave., 4400 block, 8:21 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

South Dakota Ave., 5500 block, 4:56 p.m. May 17.

Staples St., 1300 block, 9:58 a.m. May 13.

Summit Pl., 1900 block, 3:28 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

V St., 2300-3099 blocks, 4:50 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Varnum St., 1000-1199 blocks, 3:53 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Varnum St., 1900 block, 4:59 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

W St., 1600-1799 blocks, 10:05 p.m. May 5.

W St., 1600-1799 blocks, 11:07 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Warren St., 200 block, 6:10 p.m. May 12.

West Virginia Ave., 1600 block, 6:34 p.m. May 17.

West Virginia Ave., 1700 block, 7:13 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

West Virginia Ave., 2000 block, 9:46 p.m. May 12.

First St., 5600 block, 9:47 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Second St., 700-899 blocks, 8:16 p.m. May 13.

Fourth St., 800 block, 7:36 p.m. May 5.

Fourth St., 1200 block, 9:10 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1200 block, 10:25 a.m. May 13.

Fourth St., 1300 block, 4:08 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 1300 block, 1:54 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 1300 block, 3:48 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 1300 block, 1:24 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 1300 block, 4:07 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 600 block, 5:31 p.m. May 14.

Sixth St., 800 block, 1:08 p.m. May 8.

Seventh St., 500 block, 4:18 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 900 block, 3:16 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 200 block, 1:42 p.m. May 10.

Ninth St., 900 block, 5:39 p.m. May 11.

10th St., 600 block, 4:24 p.m. May 14.

10th St., 600 block, 3:57 p.m. May 16.

11th St., 700 block, 2:30 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

12th St., 3600 block, 9:24 p.m. May 8.

12th St., 3600 block, 2:04 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

12th St., 3600 block, noon May 14.

12th St., 3600 block, 1:31 p.m. May 17.

12th St., 3700 block, 3:30 a.m. May 13.

13th St., 4400 block, 4:30 p.m. May 12.

14th St., 500 block, 6:07 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

14th St., 2800 block, 9:08 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

18th St., 1000 block, 11:37 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

22nd St., 3900 block, 7:14 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

22nd St., 4200 block, 7:38 p.m. May 16.

24th St., 3900 block, 8:55 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

36th St., 300-499 blocks, 2:17 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

40th St., 300-499 blocks, 9:27 a.m. May 5.

42nd St., 1-199 blocks, 11:11 a.m. May 8. From vehicle.

42nd St., 1-199 blocks, 1:40 a.m. May 11.

47th Pl., 1200 block, 3:27 a.m. May 11.

47th St., 1000 block, 6:58 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

49th Pl., 1000 block, 2:30 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

A St., 700 block, 11:27 p.m. May 5.

Abbey Pl., 1100 block, 6:29 p.m. May 15.

Bladensburg Rd., 2300 block, 12:48 p.m. May 15.

Capitol Ave., 1700 block, 1:09 p.m. May 14.

Channing St., 2200-2399 blocks, 3:38 p.m. May 14.

Clay St., 4400-4699 blocks, 8:11 a.m. May 13.

Commodore Joshua Barney Dr., 3400-3599 blocks, 11:37 a.m. May 7.

Eads Pl., 4900 block, 11:28 a.m. May 6.

Eastern Ave., 900 block, 5:08 a.m. May 7.

Eastern Ave., 1400 block, 9:49 a.m. May 13.

Eastern Ave., 4500 block, 6:54 p.m. May 9.

Girard Pl., 2400 block, 10:24 a.m. May 12.

Hamlin St., 900 block, 10:45 p.m. May 10.

Jay St., 3500-3899 blocks, 10:10 p.m. May 13.

Just St., 4900-5199 blocks, 4:19 p.m. May 11.

L St., 700 block, 12:45 p.m. May 15.

Lee St., 5000 block, 5:11 p.m. May 8.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 5:10 p.m. May 7.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 9:35 p.m. May 16.

Montello Ave., 1300 block, 8:08 a.m. May 8.

Nash St., 5000-5299 blocks, 9:39 a.m. May 6.

Rhode Island Ave., 500-799 blocks, 6:43 p.m. May 6.

Rhode Island Ave., 900 block, 10:47 a.m. May 5.

South Dakota Ave., 2200-2399 blocks, 5:10 p.m. May 14.

West Virginia Ave., 1100 block, 10:20 a.m. May 11.

Third St., 2100 block, 9 p.m. May 11.

Fifth St., 1200 block, 3:49 p.m. May 14.

10th St., 2900 block, 12:39 a.m. May 15.

16th St., 400 block, 5:56 p.m. May 13.

18th Pl., 300 block, 2:54 p.m. May 17.

18th St., 300 block, 10:12 p.m. May 15.

18th St., 1200 block, 8:27 a.m. May 17.

50th St., 100 block, 1:22 p.m. May 8.

55th St., 800 block, 12:58 a.m. May 14.

Northwest

ASSAULTS

Columbia Rd., 1300 block, 8:38 p.m. May 11. Gun reported.

E St., 100 block, 11:42 p.m. May 12. Knife reported.

G St., 800 block, 10:41 p.m. May 11. Gun reported.

Georgia Ave., 7400-7599 blocks, 8:35 a.m. May 16. Gun reported.

I St., 1900 block, 8:33 p.m. May 10.

Irving St., 700-999 blocks, 7:44 a.m. May 12. Knife reported.

L St., 1700 block, 7:46 a.m. May 15. Knife reported.

M St., 1800 block, 2:53 a.m. May 16. Knife reported.

Massachusetts Ave., 400 block, 8:54 p.m. May 7.

Montague St., 1300 block, 6:15 p.m. May 5.

New Hampshire Ave., 3700 block, 4:16 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

North Capitol St., 1100 block, 3:57 p.m. May 9.

North Capitol St., 1200-1499 blocks, 4:11 a.m. May 9. Knife reported.

Q St., unit block, 1:33 a.m. May 14.

S St., 1300 block, 10:51 p.m. May 16. Knife reported.

T St., 1600 block, 2:53 a.m. May 8. Knife reported.

U St., 1000 block, 10:50 a.m. May 9. Knife reported.

V St., unit block, 2:12 p.m. May 9. Gun reported.

Wisconsin Ave., 4100 block, 4:12 p.m. May 7.

First St., 5000 block, 8:09 p.m. May 5.

Fourth St., 2100 block, 12:21 a.m. May 6.

Fifth St., 700 block, 7:40 p.m. May 7.

Ninth St., 6300 block, 6:29 p.m. May 14. Knife reported.

10th St., 2000 block, 4:15 p.m. May 17. Knife reported.

11th St., 2900 block, 8:56 p.m. May 10. Knife reported.

14th St., 2000 block, 8:59 p.m. May 7. Knife reported.

14th St., 2900 block, 5:14 p.m. May 15. Knife reported.

14th St., 3000 block, 11:17 a.m. May 14.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 3:03 p.m. May 9. Knife reported.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 4:01 p.m. May 14.

14th St., 3400 block, 4:39 a.m. May 14.

15th St., 2000 block, 6:32 a.m. May 10.

20th St., 1600 block, 3:24 a.m. May 7. Gun reported.

23rd St., 1200 block, 7:34 p.m. May 6.

39th St., 5500 block, 6:19 p.m. May 7. Gun reported.

ROBBERIES

Dahlia St., 800 block, 9:40 p.m. May 10. Gun reported.

Dahlia St., 800 block, 3:20 p.m. May 12. Gun reported.

Georgia Ave., 7400-7599 blocks, 4:37 a.m. May 7. Gun reported.

H St., 700 block, 10:48 p.m. May 17.

Hamilton St., 900 block, 5 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

Irving St., 1300 block, 1:13 a.m. May 8.

Irving St., 1400 block, 9:34 p.m. May 6.

Jefferson St., 1100 block, 12:59 p.m. May 9. Gun reported.

K St., 1600 block, 3:20 p.m. May 16.

Kennedy St., 300 block, 1:47 p.m. May 9. Gun reported.

Kennedy St., 1300 block, 4:22 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Kennedy St., 1300 block, 1:27 p.m. May 11.

L St., 100 block, 10:23 p.m. May 8. Gun reported.

L St., 1400 block, 8:33 p.m. May 6.

Luzon Ave., 6600 block, 12:02 p.m. May 9.

M St., 1100 block, 11:40 a.m. May 15.

Mount Pleasant St., 3300 block, 1:56 a.m. May 8.

New Hampshire Ave., 5100 block, 5:04 p.m. May 7.

New Hampshire Ave., 5200 block, 1:15 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

New Jersey Ave., 500 block, 3:10 p.m. May 9.

Newton Pl., 700 block, 5:13 p.m. May 5.

North Capitol St., 1700 block, 4:53 a.m. May 14. Gun reported.

O St., 2000 block, 1:50 a.m. May 6.

Ontario Rd., 2700 block, 3:18 a.m. May 14.

Park Pl., 3600 block, 5:56 p.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Park Rd., 1300 block, 5:15 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

Park Rd., 1300 block, 3:52 p.m. May 12.

Pennsylvania Ave., 1900 block, 4:18 a.m. May 6.

Q St., 100-299 blocks, 11 p.m. May 12. Gun reported.

Randolph Pl., unit block, 11:36 p.m. May 12.

Reservoir Rd., 3800 block, 2:12 p.m. May 5.

Rhode Island Ave., 200 block, 6:54 p.m. May 6.

T St., 500-603 blocks, 4:41 a.m. May 15.

U St., 1200 block, 4:01 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

Vermont Ave., 1200 block, 1:01 p.m. May 5.

W St., 900 block, 5:39 a.m. May 15.

Second St., 5200 block, 4:34 p.m. May 9. Gun reported.

Seventh St., 1700 block, 9:55 p.m. May 17.

Seventh St., 1800 block, 10:09 p.m. May 8.

Ninth St., 1400 block, 1:20 a.m. May 16. Gun reported.

11th St., 700 block, 1:04 p.m. May 17. Gun reported.

11th St., 1900 block, 5:43 a.m. May 9.

13th St., 2000 block, 5:07 a.m. May 14. Gun reported.

13th St., 4000 block, 6:05 p.m. May 17. Gun reported.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 9:56 p.m. May 8.

14th St., 3400 block, 1:09 a.m. May 8.

14th St., 3500 block, 8 p.m. May 14.

14th St., 3700 block, 4:11 a.m. May 14. Knife reported.

14th St., 6500 block, 8:25 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

18th St., 2000 block, 4:05 a.m. May 6.

28th St., 1200 block, 4:07 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

34th St., 3500 block, 11:36 p.m. May 8. Knife reported.

52nd St., 3900-4048 blocks, 10:02 p.m. May 13.

BREAK-INS

Belmont Rd., 1800 block, 10:50 p.m. May 12.

Biltmore St., 1800-1947 blocks, 7:40 p.m. May 12.

Champlain St., 2500 block, 9:17 a.m. May 5.

Connecticut Ave., 2600 block, 2:21 p.m. May 16.

E St., 600 block, 2:26 a.m. May 5.

Emerson St., 100 block, 6:44 a.m. May 14.

Emerson St., 400 block, 9:33 p.m. May 10.

Florida Ave., unit block, 7:44 a.m. May 14.

Foxhall Rd., 1600 block, 12:15 p.m. May 5.

Georgia Ave., 3200-3300 blocks, 1:11 p.m. May 6.

Georgia Ave., 7300 block, 4:15 a.m. May 5.

Ingleside Terr., 1800-1999 blocks, 3:10 p.m. May 17.

Jefferson St., 1100 block, 3:16 p.m. May 11.

K St., 400 block, 1:18 p.m. May 10.

Lamont St., 1700 block, 5:10 a.m. May 10.

Massachusetts Ave., 600 block, 9:24 a.m. May 9.

Mintwood Pl., 1800 block, 8:28 p.m. May 13.

Newton St., 1400-1599 blocks, 1:34 p.m. May 11.

S St., 1600 block, 11:19 a.m. May 16.

S St., 1900 block, 12:04 p.m. May 17.

Sheridan St., 1300 block, 10:08 p.m. May 12.

Swann St., 1700 block, 7:47 p.m. May 5.

U St., 1200 block, 9:24 a.m. May 12.

Upshur St., 600 block, 9:30 a.m. May 12.

Vermont Ave., 2100 block, 9:45 a.m. May 6.

Webster St., 500-699 blocks, 5:26 p.m. May 17.

Wisconsin Ave., 1500 block, 10:28 a.m. May 7.

First St., 4900 block, 4:03 p.m. May 10.

Eighth St., 2000 block, 2:56 p.m. May 16.

Ninth St., 5400 block, 2:17 a.m. May 11.

10th St., 3500 block, 8:08 p.m. May 9.

13th St., 4200-4499 blocks, 5 p.m. May 17.

14th St., 1400 block, 5:38 a.m. May 10.

14th St., 3400 block, 12:28 p.m. May 12.

18th St., 2400 block, 3:46 p.m. May 13.

27th St., 5100-5399 blocks, 4:55 p.m. May 10.

34th St., 1100 block, 8:01 p.m. May 12.

36th St., 2500 block, 6:22 p.m. May 11.

THEFTS

Adams Mill Rd., 2800-2999 blocks, 4:51 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Albemarle St., 4000 block, 5:45 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Arkansas Ave., 4000 block, 1:06 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Aspen St., 400 block, 1:41 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Aspen St., 800 block, 7:47 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Aspen St., 900 block, 1:37 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Belt Rd., 5300 block, 9:25 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Biltmore St., 1800-1947 blocks, 3:28 p.m. May 17.

Blagden Alley, 1-1299 blocks, 10:27 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Brown St., 3300 block, 4:26 p.m. May 13.

Calvert St., 1800 block, 10:25 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Calvert St., 2400-2798 blocks, 6:12 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Cedar St., 200 block, 11:12 p.m. May 7.

Cedar St., 200 block, 4:44 p.m. May 17.

College St., 400-599 blocks, 5:12 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Columbia Rd., 700-899 blocks, 4:28 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Columbia Rd., 1600 block, 12:08 p.m. May 9.

Columbia Rd., 1700 block, 9:52 a.m. May 7.

Columbia Rd., 1700 block, 3:49 a.m. May 11.

Columbia Rd., 1700 block, 4:19 p.m. May 17.

Connecticut Ave., 1000 block, 7:47 p.m. May 11.

Connecticut Ave., 1100 block, 5:23 p.m. May 7.

Connecticut Ave., 1100 block, 5:52 p.m. May 13.

Connecticut Ave., 1200 block, 9:57 a.m. May 16.

Connecticut Ave., 1300-1699 blocks, 5:33 p.m. May 6.

Connecticut Ave., 1300-1699 blocks, 2:39 a.m. May 9.

Connecticut Ave., 1300-1699 blocks, 12:28 p.m. May 11.

Connecticut Ave., 1300-1699 blocks, 11:08 p.m. May 14.

Connecticut Ave., 1300-1699 blocks, 9:55 a.m. May 17.

Connecticut Ave., 1700 block, 12:54 a.m. May 7.

Connecticut Ave., 1700 block, 12:20 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Connecticut Ave., 1800 block, 3:56 a.m. May 10.

Connecticut Ave., 4200 block, 12:42 a.m. May 14.

Connecticut Ave., 5000 block, 9:43 p.m. May 14.

Connecticut Ave., 5200 block, 4:32 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Connecticut Ave., 5200 block, 5:28 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Connecticut Ave., 5500 block, 9:41 p.m. May 16.

Constitution Ave., 1000-1199 blocks, 4:18 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Corcoran St., 1400 block, 10:28 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Corcoran St., 1700 block, 3:02 p.m. May 10.

Delafield Pl., 1200 block, 9:30 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

E St., unit block, 5:53 p.m. May 13.

Edmunds St., 4400-4599 blocks, 5:51 a.m. May 5.

Euclid St., 700-898 blocks, 5:51 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Euclid St., 700-898 blocks, 6:54 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Euclid St., 700-898 blocks, 5 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Euclid St., 700-898 blocks, 1:15 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Euclid St., 1100-1299 blocks, 5:12 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Euclid St., 1600 block, 4:46 p.m. May 11.

F St., 600 block, 11:39 p.m. May 12.

F St., 700 block, 2:01 p.m. May 6.

F St., 1000 block, 4:08 p.m. May 10.

F St., 1000 block, noon May 14.

F St., 1300 block, 9:34 p.m. May 12.

Fairmont St., 700 block, 3:18 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Fairmont St., 700 block, 10:36 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Fairmont St., 1400 block, 5:02 p.m. May 5.

Farragut Pl., unit block, 1:32 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Fern Pl., 500 block, 8:27 p.m. May 10.

Florida Ave., 800 block, 4:27 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Florida Ave., 900 block, 2:06 a.m. May 10.

Florida Ave., 1200 block, 10:05 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Florida Ave., 1300 block, 6:19 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Florida Ave., 1400 block, 10:35 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Florida Ave., 1700 block, 3:50 a.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Fort Dr., 4500 block, 7:32 a.m. May 10.

G St., 900 block, 8:44 p.m. May 5.

G St., 1200 block, 9:10 p.m. May 6.

G St., 1200 block, 6:44 p.m. May 11.

G St., 1200 block, 1:55 p.m. May 13.

G St., 1900 block, 1:28 p.m. May 11.

Garfield St., 3300 block, 3:51 p.m. May 14.

Garfield St., 3400 block, 5:37 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Garfield St., 3500 block, 10:52 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Garrison St., 4500 block, 7:14 p.m. May 12.

Georgia Ave., 2000 block, 4:01 p.m. May 10.

Georgia Ave., 2000 block, 2:02 p.m. May 12.

Georgia Ave., 2700 block, 3:28 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 2900 block, 1:56 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 3300 block, 7:16 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 3300 block, 8:03 p.m. May 14.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 7:58 p.m. May 8.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 8:33 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 4:09 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 8:29 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 8:37 p.m. May 16.

Georgia Ave., 3600 block, 2:25 p.m. May 17.

Georgia Ave., 3800 block, 11:14 a.m. May 14.

Georgia Ave., 4000 block, 12:55 a.m. May 5.

Georgia Ave., 4000 block, 4:25 a.m. May 6.

Georgia Ave., 4000 block, 1:45 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 4000 block, 1:39 p.m. May 8.

Georgia Ave., 4000 block, 12:24 a.m. May 14.

Georgia Ave., 4100 block, 9:18 p.m. May 7.

Georgia Ave., 4100 block, 10:41 a.m. May 8.

Georgia Ave., 4400 block, 2:45 p.m. May 10.

Georgia Ave., 5600 block, 1:16 p.m. May 7.

Georgia Ave., 5900 block, 11:03 p.m. May 13.

Georgia Ave., 5900 block, 1:58 p.m. May 14.

Georgia Ave., 6200 block, 10:47 p.m. May 7.

Georgia Ave., 6300 block, 12:55 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 6500 block, 1:56 a.m. May 13.

Georgia Ave., 6900-7099 blocks, 5:14 a.m. May 8.

Georgia Ave., 7400-7599 blocks, 5:04 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Georgia Ave., 7400-7599 blocks, 4:01 a.m. May 17.

Geranium St., 700 block, 7:29 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Girard St., 700-999 blocks, 10:37 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Girard St., 1100-1299 blocks, 8:45 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Girard St., 1100-1299 blocks, 9:10 p.m. May 17.

H St., 500 block, 4:44 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

H St., 500 block, 12:01 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

H St., 600 block, 12:28 p.m. May 6.

H St., 900 block, 2:51 a.m. May 6.

H St., 900 block, 7:36 p.m. May 10.

H St., 2100 block, 9:24 p.m. May 15.

H St., 2400 block, 2:49 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

H St., unit block, 9:09 p.m. May 5.

H St., unit block, 4:40 p.m. May 6.

H St., unit block, 5:23 p.m. May 10.

H St., unit block, 9:17 p.m. May 10.

H St., unit block, 11 a.m. May 11.

H St., unit block, 1:19 p.m. May 11.

H St., unit block, 2:27 p.m. May 16.

Hamilton St., 500-699 blocks, 8:06 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Harrison St., 4200 block, 4:46 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Harvard St., 700-999 blocks, 12:01 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Harvard St., 700-999 blocks, 10:04 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Harvard St., 1400 block, 6:16 p.m. May 12.

Harvard St., 1800 block, 12:04 p.m. May 10.

Hiatt Pl., 3200 block, 11:16 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Hiatt Pl., 3200 block, 5:30 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Highland Pl., 3100-3299 blocks, 2:49 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Hillyer Pl., 2000 block, 4:13 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Hoban Rd., 1700 block, 9:14 a.m. May 5.

Hobart Pl., 500-699 blocks, 5:49 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Hobart Pl., 500-699 blocks, 7:42 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Hobart Pl., 500-699 blocks, 3:20 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Hobart Pl., 500-699 blocks, 12:34 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Holmead Pl., 3500 block, 1:59 p.m. May 16.

Hopkins St., 1400 block, 9:23 p.m. May 16.

Huntington St., 3800 block, 5:07 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

I St., 400 block, 7:24 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

I St., 1500 block, 1:02 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

I St., 1800 block, 5:56 p.m. May 10.

I St., 1800 block, 1:56 p.m. May 11.

I St., 1800 block, 2:48 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

I St., 2200 block, 11 a.m. May 5.

I St., unit block, 6:37 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Idaho Ave., 3300 block, 9:32 a.m. May 9.

Indiana Ave., 600 block, 4:59 p.m. May 12.

Ingraham St., 1200 block, 8:16 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Irving St., 1400 block, 7:55 p.m. May 15.

Irving St., 1400 block, 4:44 a.m. May 17.

Irving St., unit block, 1:20 p.m. May 11.

Jefferson Pl., 1800 block, 4:12 a.m. May 15.

Jefferson Pl., 1800 block, 6:44 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Jefferson Pl., 1800 block, 5:05 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Jefferson St., 200 block, 3:38 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

K St., 300 block, 9:58 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

K St., 400 block, 9:40 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

K St., 400 block, 1:05 p.m. May 10.

K St., 400 block, 1:43 p.m. May 16.

K St., 600 block, 6:58 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

K St., 600 block, 1:29 p.m. May 15.

K St., 700-899 blocks, 7:22 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

K St., 1200 block, 11:15 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

K St., 1600 block, 4:50 p.m. May 7.

K St., 1600 block, 4:19 p.m. May 10.

K St., 1800 block, 5:45 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

K St., 1900 block, 3:32 p.m. May 5.

K St., 3000 block, 3:34 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

K St., unit block, 1:53 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Kalorama Rd., 1600 block, 7:35 p.m. May 7.

Kalorama Rd., 1600 block, 5:56 p.m. May 15.

Kalorama Rd., 1700 block, 11:06 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Kalorama Rd., 1800 block, 7:14 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Kalorama Rd., 1900 block, 6:12 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Kanawha St., 3700 block, 5:47 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Kanawha St., 3700 block, 6:43 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Keefer Pl., 600 block, 5:46 p.m. May 7.

Kennedy St., 100 block, 1:56 p.m. May 5.

Kennedy St., 100 block, 1:06 p.m. May 13.

Kennedy St., 400 block, 3:40 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Kennedy St., 700 block, 12:01 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Kenyon St., 1000 block, 12:25 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Kenyon St., 1300 block, 10:19 a.m. May 9.

Kingman Pl., 1500 block, 8:50 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

L St., 1000 block, 3:04 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

L St., 1300 block, 6:45 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

L St., 1300 block, 9:18 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

L St., 1400 block, 11:15 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

L St., 1400 block, 4:34 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

L St., 1800 block, 4:55 p.m. May 12.

Lanier Pl., 1600-1741 blocks, 3:40 a.m. May 15.

Longfellow St., 500-699 blocks, 8:12 p.m. May 16.

M St., 400 block, 9:13 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

M St., 900 block, 4:59 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

M St., 1000 block, 6:54 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

M St., 1200 block, 6:29 p.m. May 6.

M St., 1600 block, 2:16 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

M St., 1800 block, 3:56 a.m. May 8.

M St., 1800 block, 7:09 a.m. May 10.

M St., 1800 block, 4:09 a.m. May 14.

M St., 2200 block, 6:32 p.m. May 11.

M St., 2200 block, 11:58 a.m. May 17.

M St., 2800 block, 8:04 a.m. May 6.

M St., 3000 block, 5:51 p.m. May 6.

M St., 3000 block, 6:04 p.m. May 12.

M St., 3000 block, 12:22 p.m. May 13.

M St., 3000 block, 3:45 p.m. May 15.

M St., 3000 block, 4:04 p.m. May 15.

M St., 3000 block, 11:33 p.m. May 16.

M St., 3200 block, 9:59 p.m. May 5.

M St., 3200 block, 2:41 p.m. May 10.

M St., 3200 block, 5:35 p.m. May 11.

M St., 3200 block, 7:04 p.m. May 11.

M St., 3200 block, 8:01 p.m. May 12.

M St., 3200 block, 10:14 p.m. May 12.

M St., 3200 block, 1:12 p.m. May 16.

M St., unit block, 3:43 p.m. May 6.

Macarthur Blvd., 4800 block, 10:44 a.m. May 16.

Massachusetts Ave., 400 block, 2:10 a.m. May 9.

Massachusetts Ave., 400 block, 10:11 a.m. May 13.

Massachusetts Ave., 400 block, 2:56 p.m. May 13.

Massachusetts Ave., 400 block, 9:55 p.m. May 15.

Massachusetts Ave., 900 block, 7:35 p.m. May 9.

Massachusetts Ave., 1600 block, 11:26 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Massachusetts Ave., 4200-4349 blocks, 2:26 p.m. May 16.

Massachusetts Ave., 4400 block, 9:59 a.m. May 15.

Massachusetts Ave., unit block, 12:30 p.m. May 15.

Military Rd., 3700 block, 6:38 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Monroe St., 1800 block, 11:17 a.m. May 15.

Mount Pleasant St., 3200 block, 12:09 a.m. May 10.

Mount Vernon Pl., 700-899 blocks, 11:52 a.m. May 6.

Mount Vernon Pl., 700-899 blocks, 4:45 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

N St., 100 block, 10:06 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

N St., 200 block, 9:38 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

N St., 900 block, 9:10 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

N St., 1900 block, 11:32 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

N St., 2400 block, 10:32 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

N St., 2400 block, 10:46 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

N St., 3100 block, 5:47 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

N St., 3200 block, 2:31 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

N St., 3500 block, 8:27 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Nevada Ave., 5300 block, 11:48 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

New Hampshire Ave., 800 block, 11:57 a.m. May 12.

New Hampshire Ave., 4100 block, 11:15 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

New Jersey Ave., 1100 block, 7:05 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

New Jersey Ave., 1600 block, 8:15 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

New Mexico Ave., 2800 block, 1:56 p.m. May 17.

New York Ave., 400 block, 5:30 a.m. April 30. From vehicle.

New York Ave., 400 block, 11:36 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Newport Pl., 2100 block, 10:20 a.m. May 16.

Nicholson St., 1600 block, 9:32 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

North Capitol St., 400 block, 9:28 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

O St., 400 block, 9:51 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

O St., 1300 block, 12:45 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

O St., 2100 block, 1:02 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

O St., 2100 block, 6:45 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

O St., 3600 block, 9:13 a.m. May 5.

O St., unit block, 10 a.m. May 11.

Oneida Pl., 500-699 blocks, 9:20 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Ordway St., 2900 block, 9:31 a.m. May 9.

Otis Pl., 800 block, 7:22 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

P St., 100-299 blocks, 7:04 p.m. May 15.

P St., 1400 block, 6:03 p.m. May 9.

P St., 1400 block, 9:08 p.m. May 9.

P St., 1400 block, 8:45 p.m. May 14.

P St., 1400 block, 4:01 p.m. May 16.

P St., 2300-2599 blocks, 2:33 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

P St., 3200 block, 5:58 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Park Rd., 1400 block, 5 p.m. May 13.

Park Rd., 1800 block, 1:10 p.m. May 16.

Pennsylvania Ave., 700-899 blocks, 9 p.m. May 14.

Pennsylvania Ave., 700-899 blocks, 7:46 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Pennsylvania Ave., 1700 block, 5:29 p.m. May 13.

Pennsylvania Ave., 2000 block, 11:27 a.m. May 6.

Pennsylvania Ave., 2100 block, 9:02 p.m. May 13.

Pennsylvania Ave., 2400 block, 9:35 p.m. May 12.

Phelps Pl., 1800 block, 1:41 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Piney Branch Rd., 6900 block, 6:47 p.m. May 9.

Porter St., 3000-3399 blocks, 3:58 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Potomac St., 1200 block, 9:11 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Q St., 1300 block, 6:35 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Q St., 1600 block, 2:31 p.m. May 10.

Q St., 1700 block, 11:35 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Q St., 2200 block, 1:50 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Q St., unit block, 7:42 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

R St., 1300 block, 8:06 p.m. May 13.

R St., 1800 block, 12:02 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

R St., 2000 block, 1:23 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

R St., 3500 block, 12:55 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

R St., unit block, 12:58 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Rhode Island Ave., 100 block, 5:12 p.m. May 13.

Rhode Island Ave., 1500 block, 5:53 a.m. May 15.

Rhode Island Ave., unit block, 6:27 p.m. May 8.

Riggs Pl., 1800 block, 8:42 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Riggs St., 1300 block, 2:02 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Rock Creek Ford Rd., 1400 block, 4:35 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Rockwood Pkwy., 4600-4809 blocks, 4:26 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Rockwood Pkwy., 4600-4809 blocks, 12:56 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

S St., 800 block, 9:52 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

S St., 800 block, 2:26 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

S St., 900 block, 1:46 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

S St., 1400 block, 9:47 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

S St., 2300 block, 12:52 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

S St., 3800 block, 12:09 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Shepherd St., 1600 block, 4:06 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Sherman Ave., 2200 block, 4:12 p.m. May 9.

Sherman Ave., 2200 block, 6:44 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Sherman Ave., 2200 block, 4:36 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Sherman Ave., 2300-2599 blocks, 4:03 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Sherman Ave., 2300-2599 blocks, 1:29 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Spring Rd., 900 block, 2:44 p.m. May 17.

T St., 100 block, 8:05 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

T St., 400 block, 2:48 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

T St., 800 block, 9:09 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

T St., 800 block, 1:57 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

T St., 900 block, 8:57 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

T St., 1700 block, 9:39 p.m. May 7.

T St., unit block, 11:22 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Taylor St., 1200 block, 4:37 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Thomas Cir., unit block, 5:46 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Tuckerman St., 500 block, 1:17 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Tunlaw Rd., 2500 block, 4:33 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

U St., 500 block, 3:13 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

U St., 600 block, 7:44 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

U St., 900 block, 4:52 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

U St., 1000 block, 11:12 a.m. May 10.

U St., 1000 block, 10:44 a.m. May 15.

U St., 1100 block, 7:22 p.m. May 13.

U St., 1200 block, 6:51 p.m. May 10.

U St., 1300 block, 4:35 a.m. May 7.

U St., 1300 block, 5:21 a.m. May 9.

U St., 1500 block, 2:05 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

U St., 1500 block, 1:16 a.m. May 14.

U St., unit block, 4:08 p.m. May 13.

Underwood St., 800 block, 9:45 a.m. May 16.

University Terr., 2900-3099 blocks, 1:41 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Utah Ave., 5600 block, 11:30 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

V St., 700 block, 5:19 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

V St., 800 block, 2:03 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

V St., 800 block, 7:08 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

V St., 1600 block, 10:42 p.m. May 10.

Vermont Ave., 1100 block, 4:16 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Virginia Ave., 2400 block, 4:56 p.m. May 17.

W St., 200-399 blocks, noon May 9. From vehicle.

W St., 200-399 blocks, 5:36 a.m. May 15.

W St., 1400 block, 11:48 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

W St., 4800 block, 5:48 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Wallach Pl., 1300 block, 5:22 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Western Ave., 5200 block, 9:51 p.m. May 5.

Westhall Dr., 4500 block, 9:58 p.m. May 17.

Whittier St., 300 block, 9:55 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Wisconsin Ave., 1200 block, 4:53 p.m. May 5.

Wisconsin Ave., 1200 block, 7:44 p.m. May 6.

Wisconsin Ave., 1800-2008 blocks, 5:51 p.m. May 11.

Wisconsin Ave., 3300 block, 12:46 p.m. May 6.

Wisconsin Ave., 4500 block, 8:51 p.m. May 6.

Wisconsin Ave., 4500 block, 7:41 p.m. May 13.

Wisconsin Ave., 5300 block, 11:14 a.m. May 13.

Woodley Rd., 2600 block, 11:28 a.m. May 12.

Woodley Rd., 2600 block, 11:44 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

First St., 400 block, 6:42 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

First St., 1800 block, 9:15 p.m. May 8.

Third St., 1500 block, 1:17 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Third St., 1600 block, 3:17 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 400 block, 3:25 a.m. May 17.

Fourth St., 700 block, 9:10 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1000 block, 6:27 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1000 block, 9:06 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1000 block, 1:17 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1700 block, 3:20 p.m. May 10.

Fourth St., 6200 block, 10:07 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 6800 block, 2:52 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 600 block, 1:28 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 800 block, 8:47 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Fifth St., 5600 block, 12:27 p.m. May 14.

Sixth St., 700 block, 2:06 p.m. May 12.

Sixth St., 700 block, 10:34 a.m. May 13.

Sixth St., 1000 block, 3:06 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1700 block, 7:28 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1700 block, 6:58 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1800 block, 1:50 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1800 block, 11:45 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1800 block, 3:08 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Sixth St., 1800 block, 8:20 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 400 block, 1:01 a.m. May 10.

Seventh St., 700 block, 8:18 p.m. May 6.

Seventh St., 700 block, 12:48 p.m. May 8.

Seventh St., 800 block, 9:29 p.m. May 14.

Seventh St., 800 block, 7:33 p.m. May 17.

Seventh St., 900 block, 5:41 a.m. May 14.

Seventh St., 1000 block, 7:02 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1200 block, 8:47 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1200 block, 9:35 a.m. May 13.

Seventh St., 1200 block, 8:35 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1200 block, 10:06 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1500 block, 9:18 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1600 block, 10:09 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 1800 block, 4:22 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Seventh St., 4100 block, 10:43 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 700 block, 2:58 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 1300 block, 12:40 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 1800 block, 8:41 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 1800 block, 11:02 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 2100-2299 blocks, 5:57 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 2100-2299 blocks, 1:19 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 6500 block, 9:25 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

Eighth and Ingraham streets, 10:05 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 400 block, 4:05 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 400 block, 4:56 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 400 block, 6:45 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 800 block, 7:20 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1100 block, 2:14 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1100 block, 8:27 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1200 block, 9:13 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1200 block, 9:40 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1300 block, 10:33 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1400 block, 5:34 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1700 block, 9:17 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 1800 block, 6:36 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 2300-2599 blocks, 9:36 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 3700 block, 1:54 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 3700 block, 8:11 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 4800 block, 3:32 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Ninth St., 5800-5999 blocks, 7:20 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

10th St., 900 block, 3:20 a.m. May 5.

10th St., 1100 block, 1:09 p.m. May 13.

10th St., 1200 block, 4 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

10th St., 3500 block, 7:33 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

11th St., 500 block, 5:07 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

11th St., 500 block, 10:51 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

11th St., 700 block, 11:35 a.m. May 6.

11th St., 700 block, 4:08 p.m. May 13.

11th St., 1100 block, 9:35 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

11th St., 1100 block, 1:34 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

11th St., 1100 block, 8:06 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

11th St., 1700 block, 12:20 p.m. May 12.

11th St., 1900 block, 9:34 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

11th St., 1900 block, 10:24 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

11th St., 2100 block, 1:15 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

11th St., 2200 block, 3:59 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

11th St., 2300-2499 blocks, 7:18 a.m. May 7.

11th St., 2800 block, 9:52 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

12th St., 1400 block, 5:45 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

12th St., 1800 block, 4:25 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

12th St., 1900 block, 8:23 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

12th St., 2100 block, 12:08 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

12th St., 2100 block, 4:58 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

12th St., 2100 block, 11:52 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

12th St., 2200 block, 4:13 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

12th St., 2200 block, 12:02 a.m. May 18. From vehicle.

13th St., 600 block, 3:45 p.m. May 17.

13th St., 1100 block, 9:59 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

13th St., 2100 block, 6:04 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

13th St., 2100 block, 12:25 p.m. May 15. From vehicle.

13th St., 3200 block, 3:19 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

13th St., 3400 block, 11:59 p.m. May 4. From vehicle.

13th St., 3400 block, 11:35 a.m. May 9.

13th St., 3400 block, 12:15 p.m. May 10.

13th St., 3500 block, 3:58 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

13th St., 3600 block, 6:27 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

13th St., 4000 block, 7:32 p.m. May 17.

14th St., 500 block, 3:42 p.m. May 14.

14th St., 700 block, 5:14 p.m. May 5.

14th St., 700 block, 1:42 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

14th St., 700 block, 3:46 p.m. May 12.

14th St., 800 block, 10:30 a.m. May 8.

14th St., 1100 block, 9:20 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

14th St., 1300 block, 5:32 p.m. May 12. From vehicle.

14th St., 1300 block, 4:25 p.m. May 13.

14th St., 1400 block, 5:51 p.m. May 7.

14th St., 1500 block, 3:10 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

14th St., 1800 block, 9:30 p.m. May 8.

14th St., 1900 block, 3:01 a.m. May 8.

14th St., 1900 block, 7:36 p.m. May 10.

14th St., 2000 block, 6:59 p.m. May 10.

14th St., 2000 block, 9:39 a.m. May 14.

14th St., 2000 block, 4:15 p.m. May 16.

14th St., 2300 block, 2:37 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

14th St., 2400 block, 4:12 p.m. May 15.

14th St., 3000 block, 4:44 p.m. May 5.

14th St., 3000 block, 12:57 a.m. May 14.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 4:31 p.m. May 5.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 12:10 a.m. May 10.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 5:58 p.m. May 12.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 7:51 p.m. May 12.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 8:04 p.m. May 15.

14th St., 3100-3299 blocks, 4:52 p.m. May 16.

14th St., 3300 block, 1:06 p.m. May 14.

14th St., 3500 block, 2:33 p.m. May 13.

14th St., 3500 block, 8:34 p.m. May 15.

14th St., 4600 block, 4:35 p.m. May 9.

14th St., 4600 block, 2:04 p.m. May 13.

14th St., 4600 block, 4:37 p.m. May 16.

14th St., 6000 block, 7:42 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

15th St., 800 block, 11:22 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

15th St., 1600 block, 6:36 p.m. May 11.

16th St., 1200-1399 blocks, 12:52 a.m. May 7.

16th St., 1200-1399 blocks, 7:37 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

16th St., 1200-1399 blocks, 11:38 p.m. May 13. From vehicle.

16th St., 1500 block, 2:45 p.m. May 5.

16th St., 1600 block, 8:23 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

16th St., 1600 block, 11:54 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

16th St., 1600 block, 3:54 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

16th St., 3000 block, 9:53 a.m. May 13.

16th St., 7500 block, 1:03 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

17th St., 4500 block, 3:54 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

18th St., 1800 block, 5:36 p.m. May 13.

18th St., 2200 block, 3:58 p.m. May 5.

19th St., 1600 block, 8:22 p.m. May 7.

19th St., 1600 block, 1:42 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

19th St., 1900 block, 9:37 a.m. May 16.

20th St., 1700 block, 12:47 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

21st St., 700 block, 10:23 a.m. May 5.

21st St., 1100 block, 11:52 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

21st St., 1500 block, 11:47 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

22nd St., 800 block, 2:03 p.m. May 10.

23rd St., 800 block, 7:07 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

23rd St., 900 block, 6:19 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

23rd St., 1000 block, 1:34 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

24th St., 1200 block, 7:56 p.m. May 13.

29th St., 2700 block, 12:02 p.m. May 17.

30th St., 5600 block, 12:43 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

32nd St., 5300 block, 11:47 a.m. May 9.

33rd St., 1000-1199 blocks, 1:27 p.m. May 12.

34th Pl., 2800 block, 8:11 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

40th St., 4500 block, 3:42 p.m. May 14.

42nd Pl., 5300 block, 4:51 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

42nd St., 2600 block, 11:18 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

42nd St., 5200 block, 3:49 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

42nd St., 5200 block, 4:14 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

50th St., 4200 block, 9:05 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Blagden Terr., 4700 block, 9:51 p.m. May 17.

Chapin St., 1400 block, 2:52 p.m. May 16.

Cliffbourne Pl., 2500 block, 4:48 a.m. May 8.

Connecticut Ave., 2600 block, 5:36 p.m. May 7.

Florida Ave., 1000 block, 7:54 p.m. May 16.

Florida Ave., 1200 block, 6:45 a.m. May 7.

Georgia Ave., 2000 block, 4:59 p.m. May 13.

Georgia Ave., 3800 block, 6:51 p.m. May 12.

Hamilton St., 800 block, 8:32 p.m. May 5.

I St., 1800 block, 11:37 a.m. May 6.

Indiana Ave., 500 block, 10:25 a.m. May 16.

K St., 1700 block, 8:02 a.m. May 17.

K St., unit block, 7:28 p.m. May 6.

Longfellow St., 700 block, 12:07 p.m. May 7.

Madison St., 1400-1599 blocks, 7:31 p.m. May 10.

Missouri Ave., 400 block, 2:57 a.m. May 12.

Mount Pleasant St., 3200 block, 4:26 a.m. May 14.

Nebraska Ave., 5100-5241 blocks, 10:51 a.m. May 6.

Nevada Ave., 5900 block, 10:35 a.m. May 17.

New Hampshire Ave., 900 block, 12:04 p.m. May 14.

Nicholson St., 1300 block, 8:17 a.m. May 17.

Oneida Pl., 400 block, 3:23 p.m. May 10.

Prospect St., 3300 block, 4:24 p.m. May 9.

Q St., 1600 block, 1:28 p.m. May 7.

Quackenbos St., 400 block, 11:07 a.m. May 17.

Quincy St., 900 block, 2:03 a.m. May 17.

R St., 400 block, 5:43 a.m. May 6.

S St., 700 block, 12:43 p.m. May 6.

Sedgwick St., 3000 block, 12:17 p.m. May 6.

Shepherd Rd., 700 block, 4:48 p.m. May 17.

Sherman Ave., 2800 block, 4:43 p.m. May 13.

W St., 1400 block, 5:24 p.m. May 7.

Warner St., 400 block, 12:52 p.m. May 13.

Second St., 2100-2215 blocks, 7:52 p.m. May 16.

Fourth St., 5400 block, 4:47 p.m. May 9.

13th St., 5000 block, 8:54 a.m. May 6.

16th St., 4800 block, 12:57 p.m. May 6.

17th St., 1000 block, 1:45 p.m. May 9.

18th St., 2000 block, 2:31 p.m. May 7.

31st St., 6300-6599 blocks, 3:56 p.m. May 14.

Southeast

HOMICIDES

Benning Rd., 4500 block, midnight May 14.

Ely Pl., 3700-3999 blocks, midnight May 12. Gun reported.

I St., 700 block, midnight May 11.

Nelson Pl., 2900 block, midnight May 8. Gun reported.

Texas Ave., 4800 block, midnight May 16. Gun reported.

Wheeler Rd., 4000 block, midnight May 10. Gun reported.

49th St., 100 block, midnight May 17. Gun reported.

SEXUAL ASSAULTS

Alabama Ave., 2200 block, 3:09 p.m. May 7. A sexual assault was reported.

I St., 1-101 blocks, 4:47 p.m. May 10. A sexual assault was reported.

ASSAULTS

Anacostia Rd., 200-499 blocks, 9:30 p.m. May 12. Knife reported.

Anacostia Rd., unit block, 10:22 p.m. May 5. Knife reported.

Congress Pl., 1400 block, 2:26 a.m. May 11.

Douglass Pl., 2600 block, 2:47 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

E St., 5300 block, 3:29 a.m. May 15. Knife reported.

East Capitol St., 1700 block, 8:15 p.m. May 12. Knife reported.

East Capitol St., 4100-4276 blocks, noon May 14. Knife reported.

Irving St., 2300 block, 12:03 p.m. May 8. Gun reported.

Livingston Rd., 4100-4530 blocks, 11:40 p.m. May 6. Knife reported.

Naylor Rd., 2800-2913 blocks, 2:26 p.m. May 12. Gun reported.

R St., 2100 block, 12:28 p.m. May 8. Knife reported.

Southern Ave., 700-855 blocks, 9:56 p.m. May 11. Knife reported.

Southern Ave., 2500-2999 blocks, 9:49 p.m. May 11. Gun reported.

Tubman Rd., 1500 block, 3:08 p.m. May 13.

Fourth St., 4200 block, 4:01 p.m. May 17.

10th Pl., 3300 block, 10:38 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

12th Pl., 2500 block, 8:21 p.m. May 14. Gun reported.

12th St., 700 block, 3:39 a.m. May 4. Gun reported.

27th St., 1700-1899 blocks, 8:35 p.m. May 13. Knife reported.

28th Pl., 1500 block, 7:47 p.m. May 9. Knife reported.

34th St., 1400 block, 11:33 p.m. May 14. Knife reported.

37th Pl., 200 block, 2:58 p.m. May 17. Gun reported.

ROBBERIES

A St., 1800 block, 8:17 p.m. May 17. Knife reported.

Benning Rd., 4600 block, 5:12 a.m. May 14.

C St., 3300 block, 9:16 p.m. May 7. Knife reported.

Congress Pl., 1400 block, 10:26 p.m. May 15.

E St., 800 block, 1:05 a.m. May 9. Gun reported.

Good Hope Rd., 1200 block, 6:36 p.m. May 8.

I St., 1200 block, 7:59 p.m. May 8.

Jasper Rd., 2800 block, 4:34 a.m. May 14. Gun reported.

Livingston Rd., 4600 block, 8:38 a.m. May 10.

Minnesota Ave., 3500 block, 10:04 p.m. May 6. Knife reported.

Sumner Rd., 1100-1237 blocks, 12:10 a.m. May 8.

Wade Rd., 2700 block, 1:32 p.m. May 16. Gun reported.

Fifth St., 3200 block, 1:54 a.m. May 6. Gun reported.

10th Pl., 3300 block, 10:32 p.m. May 7.

14th St., 400 block, 1:41 a.m. May 7. Gun reported.

14th St., 500 block, 9:56 p.m. May 16.

18th St., 1900 block, 6:02 p.m. May 5.

21st Pl., 1600 block, 4:36 p.m. May 13. Knife reported.

37th Pl., 200 block, 1:18 p.m. May 10. Gun reported.

BREAK-INS

Anacostia Rd., 200-499 blocks, 12:27 a.m. May 13.

Bass Pl., 5000 block, 10:27 p.m. May 9.

Benning Rd., 4600 block, 5:46 p.m. May 16.

Central Ave., 5000 block, 11:15 p.m. May 6.

Frederick Douglass Pl., 1800 block, 9:59 p.m. May 8.

Gainesville St., 1800 block, 10:05 p.m. May 13.

H R Dr., 800 block, 1:35 p.m. May 9.

Pennsylvania Ave., 300 block, 8:03 a.m. May 12.

S St., 3900 block, 10:02 p.m. May 17.

Savannah Pl., 1800-2099 blocks, 7:59 p.m. May 15.

Savannah St., 1800 block, 6:32 p.m. May 5.

Southern Ave., 2500-2999 blocks, 3:52 p.m. May 11.

Stanton Rd., 3400 block, 3:17 a.m. May 8.

Suitland Terr., 2100 block, 4:42 p.m. May 14.

Wayne Pl., 100 block, 6:28 p.m. May 13.

Yuma St., 100 block, 7:23 a.m. May 13.

Sixth St., 3300-3699 blocks, 2:58 a.m. May 13.

Sixth St., 4200 block, 2:48 p.m. May 9.

Seventh St., 4200-4399 blocks, 3:25 p.m. May 5.

16th St., 1600 block, 12:16 p.m. May 14.

30th St., 3000 block, 3:59 p.m. May 17.

37th St., 200 block, 2:35 p.m. May 13.

56th St., 100 block, 10:52 p.m. May 11.

THEFTS

A St., 600 block, 2:17 p.m. May 13.

A St., 1800 block, 10:51 a.m. May 13.

A St., 3400 block, 10:59 p.m. May 6.

A St., 3500 block, 12:44 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

A St., 5000 block, 6:56 p.m. May 17.

Alabama Ave., 2800-2999 blocks, 6:51 p.m. May 11.

Alabama Ave., 2800-2999 blocks, 4:07 p.m. May 14.

Alabama Ave., 2800-2999 blocks, 12:52 a.m. May 16.

Alabama Ave., 3300 block, 5:44 p.m. May 15.

Anacostia Rd., 200-499 blocks, 4:18 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Ayers Pl., 4900 block, 9:32 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Barnaby St., 800 block, 4 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Benning Rd., 4600 block, 11:58 a.m. May 6. From vehicle.

Benning Rd., 4700-4809 blocks, 4:14 p.m. May 9.

Brothers Pl., 3600 block, 8:46 p.m. May 13.

C St., 1500 block, 4:31 p.m. May 15.

Call Pl., 5000 block, 5:25 a.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Chesapeake St., unit block, 6:24 p.m. May 11.

Chester St., 2200 block, 8:17 a.m. May 9.

D St., 1700 block, 8:39 p.m. May 17.

Dubois Pl., 3200 block, 6:48 p.m. May 7.

E St., 800 block, 11:35 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

E St., 5300 block, 8:42 p.m. May 7.

East Capitol St., 1600 block, 3:47 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

East Capitol St., 4100-4276 blocks, 6:55 a.m. May 14.

East Capitol St., 5000-5199 blocks, 12:15 p.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Ely Pl., 3200 block, 11:09 p.m. May 8.

Ely Pl., 3500-3699 blocks, 7:18 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Ely Pl., 3500-3699 blocks, 8:21 p.m. May 17.

Erie St., 3000 block, 6:30 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Forrester St., 600 block, 2:18 p.m. May 11.

G St., 600 block, 6:24 p.m. May 6. From vehicle.

G St., 1000 block, 11:02 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Good Hope Rd., 1300 block, 2:33 p.m. May 5.

Good Hope Rd., 1300 block, 2:13 p.m. May 6.

Half St., 1200 block, 3:54 p.m. May 5.

Highwood Dr., 3600 block, 10:49 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

I St., 1-101 blocks, 12:38 p.m. May 10.

I St., 1-101 blocks, 3:59 p.m. May 10.

I St., 1-101 blocks, 7:48 p.m. May 11.

I St., 1-101 blocks, 8:58 p.m. May 11.

Kimi Gray Ct., 5000 block, 4:05 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Knox Pl., 2900 block, 11:23 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

Malcolm X Ave., 200 block, 4:38 a.m. May 14.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2400 block, 6:17 p.m. May 17.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2500 block, 9:27 a.m. May 13.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2600 block, 8:43 p.m. May 10.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2700-2899 blocks, 3:33 p.m. May 16.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2700 block, 1:38 p.m. May 17.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 2900 block, 9:44 p.m. May 12.

Massachusetts Ave., 1800 block, 1:09 a.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Massachusetts Ave., 3000 block, 11:14 a.m. May 9.

Minnesota Ave., 3500 block, 6:30 p.m. May 12.

Mississippi Ave., 600 block, 7:03 p.m. May 11.

Nash Pl., 2900 block, 4:07 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Naylor Rd., 2700 block, 11:09 a.m. May 16.

New Jersey Ave., 1100 block, 8:33 a.m. May 5.

New Jersey Ave., 1100 block, 8:01 a.m. May 6.

O St., 2900 block, 12:58 p.m. May 5. From vehicle.

Pennsylvania Ave., 300 block, 8:54 a.m. May 17.

Pennsylvania Ave., 600 block, 9:01 a.m. May 11.

Pennsylvania Ave., 600 block, 9:49 a.m. May 12.

Pennsylvania Ave., 600 block, 12:25 p.m. May 12.

Pennsylvania Ave., 900 block, 11:12 p.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Pleasant St., 1200 block, 7:09 p.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Pomeroy Rd., 2400-2699 blocks, 6 p.m. May 5.

Potomac Ave., 1300 block, 1:34 p.m. May 11.

Potomac Ave., 1300 block, 9:42 a.m. May 16.

Q St., 1800 block, 1:16 p.m. May 15.

Queens Stroll Pl., 5100-5299 blocks, 11:53 p.m. May 11.

R St., 1700 block, 8:17 a.m. May 5.

Ridge Pl., 1300 block, 10:22 a.m. May 15.

Ridge Pl., 2200 block, 7:15 a.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Smith Pl., 1400 block, 5:08 p.m. May 6.

South Carolina Ave., 300-409 blocks, 5:57 p.m. May 16.

Southern Ave., 700-855 blocks, 10:09 p.m. May 10.

Southern Ave., 1200 block, 5:32 p.m. May 15.

Southern Ave., 3900 block, 8:56 a.m. May 14.

Stanton Terr., 1700 block, 11:39 a.m. May 7. From vehicle.

Suitland Terr., 2100 block, 3:36 p.m. May 9.

Tingey St., 300 block, 12:42 a.m. May 11.

U St., 1500 block, 9:05 p.m. May 16.

V St., 3800 block, 4:48 p.m. May 7.

Varney St., 900 block, 1:47 p.m. May 6.

W St., 1600-1899 blocks, 11:31 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

W St., 1600-1899 blocks, 12:12 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Walter St., 1200 block, 6:27 p.m. May 10. From vehicle.

Xenia St., 800 block, 9:48 a.m. May 12.

First St., 900 block, 11:51 a.m. May 8. From vehicle.

First St., 1000 block, 6:34 p.m. May 15.

First St., 1100 block, 8:11 p.m. May 16.

Second St., 500 block, 9:07 a.m. May 16. From vehicle.

Second St., 500 block, 4:24 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 1200 block, 11:55 p.m. May 12.

Fourth St., 1200 block, 1:45 a.m. May 13.

Fourth St., 1300 block, 10:25 a.m. May 6.

Fourth St., 3400-3699 blocks, 12:16 p.m. May 5.

Fourth St., 3400-3699 blocks, 4:40 p.m. May 16.

Fifth St., 300 block, 4:13 p.m. May 16.

Sixth St., 4200 block, 8:18 a.m. May 12.

Seventh St., 500 block, 10:59 p.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Eighth St., 400 block, 11:25 a.m. May 5.

Eighth St., 400 block, 5:07 p.m. May 5.

Eighth St., 400 block, 7:50 p.m. May 10.

Eighth St., 500-699 blocks, 7:22 p.m. May 6.

12th St., 500 block, 1:25 p.m. May 17.

14th St., 400 block, 3:52 p.m. May 8.

14th St., 400 block, 9:36 p.m. May 14.

14th St., 400 block, 4:13 p.m. May 17.

14th St., 1900 block, 12:15 a.m. May 9.

14th St., 1900 block, 1:46 a.m. May 14.

15th St., 200 block, 1:43 a.m. May 5. From vehicle.

15th St., 400 block, 1:14 p.m. May 9.

15th St., 400 block, 3:41 p.m. May 12.

15th St., 400 block, 6:14 a.m. May 16.

18th St., 3500 block, 4:17 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

22nd St., 3400-3683 blocks, 12:33 p.m. May 10.

22nd St., 3400-3683 blocks, 9:05 p.m. May 16.

23rd St., 3400 block, 12:47 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

27th St., 1600 block, 10:03 a.m. May 9. From vehicle.

30th St., 1200 block, 1:14 p.m. May 5.

44th Pl., 1100 block, 8:25 p.m. May 15.

53rd St., unit block, 9:48 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

A St., 1600 block, 9:50 p.m. May 9.

Alabama Ave., 2600-2799 blocks, 2:18 a.m. May 10.

Alabama Ave., 3800 block, 8:47 p.m. May 17.

Atlantic St., 300 block, 5:43 a.m. May 17.

Barnaby Rd., 700-4375 blocks, 8:50 p.m. May 10.

Barnaby St., 800 block, 1:23 p.m. May 10.

Barnaby St., 800 block, 1:37 p.m. May 14.

Benning Rd., 4500 block, 7:33 p.m. May 5.

Birney Pl., 2600 block, 8:23 p.m. May 14.

Chaplin St., 400 block, 10:18 a.m. May 17.

F St., 5100-5299 blocks, 11:24 a.m. May 7.

Fort Davis St., 1700 block, 7:11 p.m. May 14.

G St., 1000 block, 4:23 p.m. May 17.

Good Hope Rd., 2300 block, 5:14 p.m. May 5.

Mississippi Ave., 1800-1916 blocks, 7:20 p.m. May 10.

North Carolina Ave., 1000 block, 4:20 p.m. May 16.

Reed Terr., 4500 block, 1:34 p.m. May 16.

Stanton Rd., 3500 block, 6:01 p.m. May 16.

Suitland Terr., 2100 block, 4:47 p.m. May 10.

Terrace Rd., 2700-2899 blocks, 3:48 a.m. May 15.

Texas Ave., 4800 block, 4:05 a.m. May 15.

V St., 1600 block, 6:45 p.m. May 14.

Third St., 4000-4399 blocks, 12:06 p.m. May 9.

Seventh St., 700 block, 6:34 p.m. May 14.

16th St., 1600 block, 6:44 p.m. May 13.

32nd St., 2800 block, 12:26 p.m. May 16.

42nd St., 1500 block, 8:06 p.m. May 11.

Southwest

ASSAULTS

Irvington St., 100 block, 12:05 a.m. May 9.

Ivanhoe St., 100 block, 9:34 p.m. May 8. Knife reported.

N St., unit block, 12:19 p.m. May 4.

N St., unit block, 2:13 a.m. May 15. Knife reported.

P St., unit block, 10:56 a.m. May 8. Knife reported.

First St., 4800 block, 11:37 a.m. May 13. Gun reported.

ROBBERIES

South Capitol St., 4600-4799 blocks, 1:11 a.m. May 10.

First St., 4700 block, 3:22 a.m. May 8. Gun reported.

BREAK-INS

Forrester St., 1-199 blocks, 3:38 a.m. May 5.

Forrester St., 1-199 blocks, 9:36 p.m. May 11.

I St., 200 block, 1:01 a.m. May 17.

THEFTS

Atlantic St., unit block, 3:20 a.m. May 17.

Brandywine Pl., unit block, 4:41 a.m. May 11. From vehicle.

Galveston St., 1-199 blocks, 9:19 p.m. May 16.

Half St., 1200 block, 12:31 a.m. May 9.

Independence Ave., 600 block, 1:35 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

Independence Ave., 1200-1400 blocks, 7:57 p.m. May 14. From vehicle.

Jefferson Dr., 1200-1399 blocks, 1:45 p.m. May 16.

LEnfant Plaza, 400-999 blocks, 10:10 a.m. May 10. From vehicle.

LEnfant Plaza, 400-999 blocks, 8:34 p.m. May 17.

M St., 400 block, 7:45 a.m. May 11.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 3900 block, 3:23 a.m. May 16.

Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., 4600 block, 7:28 p.m. May 8.

Maryland Ave., 600 block, 2:12 p.m. May 11.

O St., unit block, 7:16 p.m. May 17. From vehicle.

P St., 300 block, 1:10 p.m. May 16. From vehicle.

South Capitol St., 1000-1299 blocks, 7:56 p.m. May 11.

South Capitol St., 1000-1299 blocks, 12:11 a.m. May 14.

South Capitol St., 1000-1299 blocks, 8:12 p.m. May 17.

South Capitol St., 1400 block, 7:27 a.m. May 11.

South Capitol St., 1400 block, 11:25 a.m. May 13. From vehicle.

South Capitol St., 1400 block, 5:13 p.m. May 15.

South Capitol St., 1400 block, 5:42 p.m. May 15.

Water St., 600 block, 12:07 a.m. May 8.

Water St., 600 block, 8:20 p.m. May 15.

First St., 4700 block, 8:11 a.m. May 15. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 500-699 blocks, 5:27 a.m. May 12. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 900-1199 blocks, 11:55 a.m. May 8. From vehicle.

Fourth St., 900-1199 blocks, 10:08 p.m. May 8.

Fourth St., 900-1199 blocks, 5:52 p.m. May 16.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Delaware Ave., 700-899 blocks, 8:14 p.m. May 15.

Galveston St., 1-199 blocks, 3:29 p.m. May 16.

Third St., 1100 block, 1:20 p.m. May 12.
Marchers walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to support statehood for the District of Columbia on April 15, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Amid a new push for statehood, D.C. confronts a wall of opposition in Republican-led Congress. (Aaron Davis/TWP)

A divided House of Representatives dealt a blow to the Districts attempt at self-government Wednesday by voting to nullify a D.C. ballot measure that allowed the city to spend local tax dollars without congressional approval.

The House voted 240 to 179 to strike down the 2013 ballot measure, saying the District overstepped its legal authority  and the U.S. Constitution  by trying to excise Congress from the citys budget process.

Two Democrats, Reps. Jim Costa (Calif.) and Brad Ashford (Neb.), sided with Republicans to pass the bill, which also forbids the city to take any future action that alters its relationship with Congress. President Obama has threatened to veto the bill.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said the bill was needed because the D.C. government is running fast and loose with the Constitution, which grants Congress authority over the nations capital. The current D.C. government needs to be reined in, Ryan wrote in a statement. We will not allow Congress and the Constitution to be undermined.

The vote brought months of simmering tensions between District leaders and Congresss Republican majority to a boil on the House floor  and brought relations between Congress and its host city to perhaps their lowest point in recent years.

The Districts nonvoting House member, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, led Democrats in blasting Republicans as despots and hypocrites and accused them of running the nations capital as a plantation where 700,000 residents live without the power to decide their own matters.

At issue is a ballot measure  approved overwhelmingly by D.C. voters  that said the city has a right to spend its own tax dollars as it wishes, much the way the 50 states do.

The measure, which had the backing of a D.C. Superior Court judge, allowed the District to spend its $13 billion budget  comprised mostly of local revenue  without first submitting it to Congress as part of the federal budget.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led the floor fight for the bill and said it was rooted in the Constitution.

In an interview, he advised Democrats in the District and elsewhere agitating for statehood to attach the citys residential neighborhoods to Maryland if they want the same rights as a state.

D.C. is not a state, he said. And statehood is not going to happen on my watch.

One after another, Republicans cited the specific article, section and clause of the Constitution that grants Congress exclusive authority over the workings of the federal district.

No, D.C. doesnt live off of federal funds, and no, its not necessarily Congresss job to manage our budget. Washingtonian staff writer Benjamin R. Freed dispels some misconceptions about control over the District. (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

But Democrats pushed back, saying that times change and Congress needs to adapt to the fact that a district carved from swampland with few residents is now a major metropolis.

The same Constitution protected slavery and said certain people of color were worth three-fifths . . . , said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.). Same Constitution. But we changed it. . . . The fact that you exercise your will over an entire city just because you can does not make it right or noble. In fact, if we follow the logic of my friends of the other side, why not take over? Lets do rezoning. Lets do emergency preparedness. Lets run the EMT and the fire department. Lets take over mental-health services. Why go only halfway? Im curious. Why is it only the budget?

Democratic Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) called the bill an exercise in hypocrisy on the part of Republicans. Were witnessing the party that proclaims itself to be the champion of local autonomy and less federal involvement in local affairs . . . do exactly the opposite, he said.

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) said that Republicans use Washington as the place to manifest their discontent or desire on social and budget issues they cant control even in their home states, he said.

Ryan cited real consequences to giving D.C. budget freedom. The D.C. government wants to use revenues to fund abortions in the District. House Republicans will not stand for that, he said.

Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Tex.) noted it was as recently as the 1990s when Congress had to bail out the District from financial distress under Mayor Marion Barry.

And Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the author of the bill, said the District wouldnt have achieved its current financial health without its special reliance on Congress.

If, indeed, everything is turning up roses, it is indeed the status quo . . . that truly has the authority rested and vested here in this esteemed body to oversee District finances, he said.

Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, said he believed that D.C. officials did not have the legal authority to spend their own tax dollars. But the reaction on Capitol Hill marks a new low in the relationship between the Districts Democratic leaders and their Republican overseers in Congress, he said.

Its positively toxic, he said.

In recent weeks, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) had cast the showdown with Congress as a first step toward making the nations capital the 51st state. The District has a larger population than Vermonts or Wyomings, and its residents pay more in federal taxes than those in 22 states.

If the House bill becomes law, it shakes the foundation of home rule, Norton said. If the Senate passes the bill, it will be the only time since the city won partial home rule in 1973 that Congress has acted to repeal a D.C. law retroactively.

If you never felt like a despot before, I hope that side of the aisle understands what it feels and looks like now, Norton said Wednesday, pointing to Republicans on the House floor.

The 51st state: D.C. is about to declare its independence  from Congress]

D.C. mayor calls for vote on D.C. statehood

D.C. prepares for constitutional convention in June

Clinton vows to be a champion for D.C. statehood  Trump, not so much


Martece Yates, right, greets Phyllis Rumbarger, an educator who was part of the I Have a Dream Foundation when Yates was in public school in the 1990s, after Yates graduated from Trinity Washington University on May 21 in Washington (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

The cheering sections for Martece Yates on the gymnasium bleachers were cramped on graduation day. There was her husband, dressed in a crisp, gray summer suit. Her two children. Her formerly crack-addicted mother. Her longtime co-workers and friends. Her high school teachers, who were tasked with keeping a young Yates on track for college.

They all sat there squished for hours, waiting for that single second when the provost of Trinity Washington University would announce her name, the moment when they could stand up and raucously cheer for the delayed dream that Yates had finally clinched.

Stop crying, it hasnt even started yet, KaRon Yates, 21, jabbed at his mother, who donned her bedazzled mortarboard as she sat amid the rows of graduates. Oh, that is so Martece, replied Paulette Bentford, after she spotted her daughters misty eyes.

Her name was called, and they all stood up and flailed their arms. Yatess teenage daughter, an aspiring photographer, snapped photos. Her husband, her high school sweetheart, shouted, Okayyy, Martece!

Just shy of her 40th birthday, Yates graduated from college Saturday, with a nursing degree from Trinity. Shes had 20 years more than most to build up that cheering section, two decades that painfully demonstrated the professional barriers that can get in the way of an adult who doesnt have a college degree.

Yates was always supposed to attend college after high school in 1994. She had applied and even collected some acceptance letters. And she had an almost irresistible advantage that few receive.

In 1988, a wealthy benefactor offered to pay college tuition for Yates and 66 other Kramer Middle School students from one of the roughest neighborhoods in the District. The only condition? They needed to complete college within six years of high school graduation.

[These students wanted an education when D.C. was the nations murder capital]

Prominent Washington businessman Stewart Bainum Sr. sponsored the students through the I Have a Dream Foundation, and he hired two teachers to mentor them, making round-the-clock house calls and ensuring the students were fed and showing up to school. They hoped to nurture the future of a cadre of D.C. children who otherwise might not have made it.

But it was the District in the 1990s, and the nations seat of power, in the throes of the crack epidemic, was also the nations murder capital. For a child like Yates, growing up in a poor neighborhood in Southeast Washington, attending college was more complicated than just earning decent marks in high school and celebrating acceptance letters.

Just six of the Kramer Middle School students ended up graduating from college during the allotted time. But Yates and two others  including a second 2016 Trinity graduate  earned their college degrees this spring.



Martece Yates, second from right, changes into winged shoes with help from classmates as she graduates from Trinity Washington University on May 21. With her, from left, are Diamond Green, Aykea Evans Brown, and Mark Hill. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Yates recently accepted a job offer as a nurse at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, a competitive application process that earned her a shout-out from Trinitys president at graduation.

Its so exhilarating to see how they persevered, said Phyllis Rumbarger, one of the educators in Yatess I Have a Dream class, who attended the graduation in the District on Saturday.

Yates was considered one of the more successful high school students in the program: an affable teenager at the top of her class and the captain of the majorette dance team at Eastern Senior High School.



Martece Yates holds a photograph of herself taken in 1993 when she was a majorette in 11th grade at Eastern Senior High School in Washington. (Kate Patterson/For The Washington Post)

But no one knew that she lived at home with a mother struggling with addiction or that Yates feared her mother would overdose if she left home for college. Yates declined her college offers, including a coveted one to attend the University of Miami, and she soon became pregnant with her first child.

I was suffering from addiction, so Martece wasnt my focus and I didnt support her the way I needed to, said Bentford, who is now a substance-abuse counselor and active in her daughters life. Martece was focused on me not getting worse, but I didnt see that. Addiction is a self-centered disease.

So Yates remained home and eventually landed an administrative job at the American Health Care Association, where she has worked for the past 19 years. She married her high school boyfriend, who is now a correctional officer, and they had their second child.

In 2009, when her son was a teenager and her daughter in elementary school, she decided it was finally time to pursue her college education. She applied for scholarships and took out loans to cover the $70,000 she would need to get a degree.

Yates juggled classes and a full-time job while her mother helped out with the children. Yates might be older than most college students, but she wanted as much of a traditional experience as she could muster.

She became president of the Student Nursing Association, and she hosted frequent study sessions at the home she owns in Ward 7s Hillcrest neighborhood. When graduation time arrived, she purchased a cart full of supplies from a craft store and invited her friends over to decorate mortarboards with their names and bright colors. On graduation day, she wore the bright orange and silver stilettos  with turquoise butterfly wings protruding from the back  that her husband, Rick, bought her for the occasion.

Rick Yates applauds as his wife, Martece Yates, graduates from Trinity. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

I was there from the beginning, the ups and downs he said. To see it all come to fruition 20 years later, Im so proud.

Throughout her years at Trinity, Yates posted about her experience on Facebook, drawing attention from at least one of her Kramer Middle School classmates and perhaps changing her life, too.

Sherletta Barrow  who had been in the Dreamer program with Yates  saw one of the posts and decided to look into Trinity. Barrow had attended Columbia University after she graduated from high school in the 1990s, but catapulting from a poor D.C. neighborhood to an Ivy League institution wasnt easy, and she dropped out soon after she arrived.

Barrows three children are now college-bound, and Barrow graduated with high honors Saturday. She plans to pursue a masters in mental-health counseling.

I dont think the magnitude of this has set in yet, Barrow said. I started to do this to be an example for my kids. But in the last year or so, I started to do it to fulfill my own dreams.

Yates wants this to be an example for her children, as well. She hopes that, as they sat in the bleachers watching her graduate, they understood her story.

She also hopes they understand that there are many paths to success and that graduating from college in ones early 20s is far from the only marker of a persons accomplishments.

Even if things dont happen the way you planned, or the way society thinks things should happen, doesnt mean you should give up on your dreams, she said. It can still happen.
THE DISTRICT

Fire in rowhouse leaves 11 homeless

A fire ripped through the attic of a rowhouse being renovated in Shaw and spread to an adjacent home Wednesday afternoon, leaving 11 people from three families temporarily homeless, according to the D.C. fire department.

The fire, which was determined to be accidental, caused an estimated $750,000 in damages to the two three-story houses in the 900 block of Westminster Street NW, near Vermont Avenue and the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.

Authorities said the fire was reported shortly before 1 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the roof and were able to get the fire under control in about 20 minutes. No injuries were reported.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

2 Gray case officers allege defamation

Two officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray are suing Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby for defamation and invasion of privacy, court records show.

Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter, who are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter in the 25-year-olds death last April, filed suit against Mosby, Maj. Samuel Cogen of the Baltimore City Sheriffs Office, and the state of Maryland in Baltimore Circuit Court on May 2, records show.

Judge Althea Handy denied a motion to seal the case Wednesday, saying the officers had failed to provide a special and compelling reason to preclude or limit inspection of the case record sufficient to overcome the presumption of openness under Maryland law.

 Baltimore Sun

Police: Man tried

to shoot officers

A man has been charged with attempted murder after he tried to shoot police officers with a homemade handgun, authorities said.

On May 18, detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department began surveillance on Jonathan Hemming, 52, of the 100 block of Spring Street in Gaithersburg, who was wanted on drug-related charges, the department said in a statement.

At about 3:30 p.m., detectives tried to arrest Hemming in a vehicle in Gaithersburg, according to the statement, when he became combative and reached in the center compartment area of the vehicle and grabbed a homemade handgun. A Taser was used on Hemming after he pointed the gun at detectives, police said.

After Hemming was removed from the vehicle and placed under arrest, detectives determined the homemade handgun was capable of firing shotgun rounds, the statement said. A second homemade handgun was found in Hemmings pants pockets as well as shotgun shells and ammunition for a handgun, according to the statement.

Hemming was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, assault charges, firearms-related charges and drug-related charges, police said. He is being held without bond, according to police.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

VIRGINIA

Police nd woman, others bound, gagged

Prince William County police said they are investigating a sexual assault on a Manassas woman who was found bound and gagged with relatives in a house.

Investigators said two men forced their way into the house, in the 1000 block of King George Drive, about 2 p.m. Tuesday. About an hour later, someone spotted the 33-year-old woman bound and gagged inside and called authorities, said Officer Nathan Probus, a spokesman for the police department.

Officers pulled the 33-year-old out of the house and discovered that her relatives  including a 19-year-old woman and boys ages 5 and 4  also had been bound and gagged, Probus said. Police also found a 1-year-old girl in a crib, he said.

Authorities said an investigation revealed that the two men who forced their way into the home demanded money.

According to police, the 33-year-old said she was sexually assaulted during the home invasion. At some point, the men bound and gagged all the victims before fleeing the house, according to a department news release.

The woman and the teen were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
LOUDOUN COUNTY

These were among incidents reported by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office and the Leesburg, Middleburg and Purcellville police departments. For information, contact your police or sheriffs department.

ALDIE AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Dahlia Manor Pl., 25000 block, 6 p.m. May 12 to 8 a.m. May 13. Four appliances were stolen from a house under construction.

ASHBURN AREA

ASSAULTS

Tillman Terr., 44300 block, 5:33 p.m. May 18. Two people threatened a male acquaintance at gunpoint. The acquaintance ran into an apartment and the suspects left the area.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Abbey Knoll Ct., 41100 block, 10:50 a.m. May 17. A sump pump was stolen from a house under construction.

CHANTILLY AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Flynn Lane, 25400 block, 4 to 4:05 a.m. May 13. A laptop computer and an iPhone were stolen from a residence.

DULLES AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Dulles Town Cir., 21000 block, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 14. A purse was stolen from a vehicle.

LEESBURG AREA

ASSAULTS

Adams Dr., unit bock, 6:28 p.m. May 16. An assault was reported.

Catoctin Cir., unit block, 6:12 p.m. May 14. An assault was reported.

Childrens Center Rd., 700 block, 4:29 p.m. May 18. Assault threats were reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 800 block, 8:37 p.m. May 15. An assault was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 800 block, 8:09 a.m. May 16. A domestic assault was reported.

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 3:17 p.m. May 14. A domestic assault was reported.

Gateway Dr., 700 block, 10:17 p.m. May 18. A domestic assault was reported.

King St. S., unit block, 12:40 p.m. May 16. A domestic assault was reported.

Newhall Pl., 200 block, 7:03 p.m. May 18. Assault threats were reported.

Plaza St., unit block, 11:32 a.m. May 14. A domestic assault was reported.

Rockbridge Dr., 600 block, 9:41 p.m. May 17. A domestic assault was reported.

ROBBERIES

Plaza St., unit block, 3:27 a.m. May 18. A robbery was reported.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Constellation Sq., block, 10:49 a.m. May 13. Fraud was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1200 block, 3:46 p.m. May 13. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 900 block, 4:47 p.m. May 13. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1200 block, 11:50 a.m. May 17. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1200 block, 3:59 p.m. May 17. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1200 block, 10:55 p.m. May 17. Embezzlement was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 900 block, 2:44 p.m. May 18. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1200 block, 4:06 p.m. May 18. Shoplifting was reported.

Edwards Ferry Rd., 1000 block, 5:58 p.m. May 18. Shoplifting was reported.

Evard Ct., 700 block, 5:17 p.m. May 18. Fraud was reported.

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 2:08 p.m. May 13. Shoplifting was reported.

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 2:24 p.m. May 15. Shoplifting was reported.

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 3:22 p.m. May 15. Shoplifting was reported.

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 12:51 p.m. May 18. Shoplifting was reported.

Harrison St., 200 block, 12:20 p.m. May 16. A theft was reported.

Heritage Way, unit block, 5:20 p.m. May 18. Fraud was reported.

Kinnaird Terr., 1500 block, 2:42 p.m. May 17. Fraud was reported.

Market St. E., 700 block, 9:25 a.m. May 14. Fraud was reported.

Market St. E., 700 block, 11:40 a.m. May 14. Fraud was reported.

Meadows Lane, 200 block, 8:15 a.m. May 15. A theft was reported.

Nathan Pl., 600 block, 6:30 p.m. May 13. A theft was reported.

Paddington Way, 100 block, 2:21 p.m. May 13. A theft was reported.

Tennessee Dr., 1200 block, 8:56 a.m. May 18. A theft was reported.

Tuliptree Sq., 500 block, 5:44 p.m. May 18. Fraud was reported.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 3:51 p.m. May 16. A vehicle was reported stolen.

PURCELLVILLE AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Cornwell Lane, 100 block, 7 p.m. May 16. Office equipment was stolen from a business.

Positano Ct., 100 block, 9:53 a.m. May 12. Fraud was reported.

ROUND HILL AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Bell Rd., 35000 block, 9:25 a.m. May 19. Two shotguns and two rifles were stolen from a residence.

SOUTH RIDING AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Maple Cross St., 43200 block, 11:59 p.m. May 16 to 12:01 a.m. May 17. A gun, a laptop computer, credit cards, a watch and personal identification were stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

STERLING AREA

BREAK-INS

Coventry Sq., 200 block, May 7 to May 9. Cash and personal documents were stolen from a residence.

Glenn Dr., 22500 block, 5 p.m. May 16 to 7 a.m. May 17. Tools, supplies and equipment were stolen from three work vehicles entered by damaging windows.

Shaw Rd., 500 block, 7:21 a.m. May 17. An attempt was made to enter a work vehicle.

WATERFORD AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Browns Lane, 40500 block, 8 a.m. May 18. Two motorcycles were stolen from a garage at a residence.
Cardinals, robins, bluebirds and owls are among birds that can become confused by the windows in human homes. (Timothy Jacobsen.)

In The Birds, Alfred Hitchcocks classic horror film from 1963, people are terrorized by demonic winged creatures slamming into windows.

But in real life, colliding with a pane of glass is far more horrible for the bird than any human who might be inside. Ouch.

Some birds fly into windows because they cant see the glass. Such collisions are estimated to kill millions of migrating birds annually. But sometimes a bird will attack the glass because it mistakes its reflection for a rival bird.

My recent column about an enraged robin thats been dive-bombing the skylight of a Maryland couples home this spring brought many comments from readers.

[Attack of the killer robins! Some confused birds have it in for themselves.]

Shirley Knowles of Vienna, Va., said a male bluebird has been coming to her dining room window several times a day to attack his reflection. He is a great source of interest to my two Siamese cats who at first would rush to the window and crouch in preparation for an attack, but they soon figured out that you cant attack through a window, Shirley wrote. Now they mostly dont even bother to go look. When they hear the noise of the bird scrabbling at the window, they look up, kind of shake their heads in puzzlement, and go back to sleep.

The Maryland couple I wrote about have been using helium balloons to scare away the robin. Readers offered other solutions. Milt Gertner of Pikesville, Md., has been bedeviled by a male cardinal attacking a large bay window. To defend the house I have placed pictures of my kids when they were babies to protect us, Milt wrote. In the large front window I have a picture of my daughter when she was 6 months old.

That daughter just graduated from medical school. Milt, maybe its time to get new photos.

Kathy Jenkinss La Plata, Md., home has been attacked by a cardinal for the past 10 years. We doubt that it is the same cardinal, but since we dont know the lifespan of a male cardinal, who can be sure? she wrote.

Kathy has affixed sun catchers and decals of plastic leaves, but none of that has worked. Cardinals arent the only birds who seem to have it in for Kathys windows. A few years ago, a great horned owl flew into a set of French doors.

Although the door had blinds inserted between two panes of glass, it was not enough to deter the owl, Kathy wrote. I remember hearing what I thought was a gunshot, but rather, it was the owl slamming into the door. Feathers were scattered on the deck, but we never found an owl carcass so we hoped he was alive and well.

The door, not so much. The glass was shattered and the door had to be replaced.

Sarah Forman of Chevy Chase, Md., said draping strips of wax paper over the window, affixed with masking tape, worked to deter bird strikes when she was staying in a cottage on a farm near Broad Run, Va.

Birds werent the only confused animals bedeviling humans there, however. The house was occasionally visited by Uncle William, a goat from down the road.

One day Uncle William climbed up on the front porch, looked through the glass pane in the door, and saw. . . another goat! Inside the house! Sarah wrote. Uncle William bravely charged the trespassing goat, which turned out to be his reflection in a mirror in the base of an ornately decorated hatrack.

Sarah wrote: While this courageous deed did not improve the state of mirror, hat rack, door or goat, one assumes Uncle William was proud to have driven his rival from the field.

Balloons, family photos, wax paper strips  people are willing to try anything to keep aggressive, confused birds at bay. Another option is an invention called FeatherGuard, an array of brightly colored feathers attached to fishing line that can be suction-cupped to a window.

The sight of loose feathers apparently freaks birds out, because feathers suggest that an attack may have taken place there.

It would be like one of us coming across a grisly scene of severed limbs and scattered bones. You can believe that wed stay away, unless, perhaps, we were in a Hitchcock movie.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Thursday, May 26

Manassas farmers market Thursdays 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., and Saturdays 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Parking Lot B, West Street (next to the train station visitors center), Manassas. 703-361-6599. visitmanassas.org.

World War II lecture Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rusiecki, dean of academics and deputy commander of the U.S. Army Inspector General School at Fort Belvoir, discusses his book In Final Defense of the Reich: The Destruction of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord.  7 p.m. Old Manassas Courthouse, 9248 Lee Ave., Manassas. 703-792-4754. Free.

Feathers An exhibit of paintings and drawings by Deanna Boling. Through June 5, Loft Gallery, 313 Mill St., Occoquan. 703-490-1117. loftgallery.org. Free.

Friday, May 27

Manassas Park farmers market 3-7 p.m. Manassas Park City Hall, 1 Park Center Ct., Manassas Park. 703-930-5709.

American Legion dinner The public is invited to dinner with a different special every week. Proceeds support local veterans and the community. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. vapost364.org. $5-$15.

Saturday, May 28

American flag collection service Operated by the Bull Run District Committee of the Boy Scouts, who will collected flags and demonstrate proper folding techniques. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Prince William County Balls Ford Road Yard Waste Compost Facility, 13000 Balls Ford Rd., Manassas. Free.

Yoga on the Lawn Vinyasa yoga taught by certified instructor Christopher Glowacki. 9 a.m. Rippon Lodge Historic Site, 15520 Blackburn Rd., Woodbridge. 703-499-9812. pwcgov.org. $5.

Bristoe Station Battlefield guided tours Learn about two Civil War battles that took place at the site in 1862 and 1863. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. second and fourth weekends. Tours leave on the hour, Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, 10708 Bristow Rd., Bristow. 703-366-3049. pwcgov.org. Free.

Living history demonstrations Park volunteers offer infantry and artillery demonstrations. Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Chinn Ridge (Tour Stop #10), 6511 Sudley Rd., Manassas. 703-361-1339. Free.

VA StrEats Fest A festival featuring more than 30 food trucks from the region. Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Gar-Field High School, 14000 Smoketown Rd., Woodbridge. 703-590-7083. vastreats.com. Free.

Virginia Dance Center Dancing Through Oz, a recital inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Noon and 4:30 p.m., Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall, 10960 George Mason Cir., Manassas. 703-993-7759. hyltoncenter.org. $15, Virginia Dance Center dancers $10.

Sunday, May 29

Bird Walk The guided tour will include a variety of habitats. Bring binoculars and cameras. 8 a.m. Merrimac Farm Stone House Visitor Center, North Parking Lot, 15014 Deepwood Lane, Nokesville. 703-499-4954. alliance@pwconserve.org. Free.

Dale City farmers market 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Dale City Commuter Lot, (behind Center Plaza Shopping Center), Dale Boulevard, Dale City. 703-670-7112, Ext. 227. pwcparks.org. Free.

Bingo Proceeds support local veterans. Doors open at noon on Sunday with games beginning at 2 p.m. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Mondays with games beginning at 7:15 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. $15 minimum.

Monday, May 30

Memorial Day Observance Join park staff at Groveton Confederate Cemetery for a musketry salute. Noon, Manassas National Battlefield Park, 6511 Sudley Rd., Manassas. 703-361-1339. Free.

Job search network group Plus discussion of various topics related to the search process. 1-3 p.m. House of Mercy, 8170 Flannery Ct., Manassas. 703-659-1636. Free.

Bingo Proceeds support Dale City Knights of Columbus activities and charities. Doors open at 6 p.m. with games beginning at 7:30 p.m. VFW Post 1503, 14631 Minnieville Rd., Dale City. 703-491-2378. $9 minimum.

Prince William Community Band Rehearsal, for musicians 19 and older, no audition necessary. 7:30 p.m. Saunders Middle School, 13557 Spriggs Rd., Manassas. 703-791-4119. pwcb.org. Free.

Wednesday, June 1

Lake Ridge Toastmasters Club Members 18 and older develop their public speaking and leadership skills. 7:30-9:15 p.m. Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lake Ridge. 703-491-3020. contact-8913@toastmastersclubs.org. lakeridge.toastmastersclubs.org. $34-$64 membership fee.

 Compiled by Sarah Lane

To submit an event

E-mail: pwliving@washpost.com

Fax: 703-392-1406

Details: Announcements are accepted on a space-available basis from public and nonprofit organizations only and must be received at least 14 days before the Thursday publication date. Include event name, dates, times, exact address, prices and a publishable contact phone number.
A Maryland woman was found guilty of animal cruelty after keeping 66 dogs in her feces-filled home in conditions that left investigators gagging, court documents showed.

Katherine T. Tiong, 47, of Rockville, was found guilty of 66 counts of animal cruelty Tuesday after a one-day bench trial before a judge in Montgomery County District Court. She is set to be sentenced in July.

Helpless creatures need someone to stand up for them, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Montgomery states attorneys office who called Tiongs treatment of the dogs deplorable.

Tiongs lawyer, Victor Del Pino, said his client has been active in helping find homes from mistreated dogs. He said that he has heard from more than a dozen people who spoke highly of Tiong  a side of her he expects to bring out during sentencing.

In the rescue community, she has a lot of support, Del Pino said.

On Dec. 31, Montgomery County police were called to Tiongs residence in the 13200 block of Glen Mill Road after reports that a dog living there had bitten someone, according to arrest records filed in court.

An officer noted loud and persistent barking from inside the house that sounds like at least ten dogs, according to the documents.

When Tiong came to the door, the officer asked for the rabies certificate for the dog involved in the biting incident, the documents said. Tiong searched through many records in her car to locate the certificate and told the officer she had sent the dog to a rescue group whose name she could not recall, according to the documents.

When the officer asked if he could go into her home to ensure that the dog wasnt there, Tiong refused, but told the officer she had about 20 dogs, the documents said. The officer also noted Tiong had feces caked on the bottom [of her shoes] and on her feet and lower legs, according to the documents.

When officers returned with a search warrant Jan. 1, they were overwhelmed by the odor of animal waste inside the home that caused all personnel on the scene to choke and gag, the documents said. Police said they saw loose dogs and dogs confined to crates covering every space on the floor inside the house that was not occupied by items being stored, which included shoes, clothing, solid waste and dog food.

Some dogs were kept in airline crates that offered no space for the animals to void, the documents said, and the majority of the animals was found stained with feces and urine.

A Montgomery County police veterinarian examined the 66 dogs that were removed from the home and found a raft of medical problems, including fur matted with feces; ear, skin and eye infections; yeast infections; tumors; dental disease and more, the documents said.

At least three dogs were euthanized, including a male white and black Shih Tzu type dog, a female tricolor Beagle type dog and a female tan Lhasa Apso type dog, according to the documents.

We believe they had preexisting conditions, like cancer and paralysis, Del Pino said.
A week before John P. Hicks allegedly raped a woman on a Red Line Metro train last month, Transit Police identified him as a suspect in an indecent-exposure incident on the same line but did not immediately seek to arrest him, court records show. An eyewitness had captured the incident on video and reported it to police.

Hicks, 39, now jailed in Montgomery County, was arrested and charged in the April 12 rape the same day it occurred aboard a moving train in the Wheaton-Glenmont area at midmorning. Metro Transit Police said in a court affidavit that they swiftly identified Hicks through high-definition surveillance video, the rape victims recollection and records from Hickss Metro SmarTrip card.

[D.C. man accused of raping woman at knifepoint before 10 a.m. on Metro train]

The court records show that Metro police used the same methods  Farecard data, video recordings and a witness account  to identify Hicks as a Red Line passenger who exposed himself and masturbated April 2 on a train headed from the District into Maryland. That identification was made during a three-day investigation of the indecent-exposure incident a week before the rape, according to a police affidavit.

On Tuesday, Metro officials offered little comment on why Transit Police did not quickly obtain a warrant for Hickss arrest for indecent exposure before he allegedly raped a woman at knifepoint on the same subway line. The evidence against him at the time apparently was strong enough: Police charged him in the masturbation incident less than 24 hours after he was taken into custody in the rape, court records show.

John P. Hicks (Metro Transit Police)

After an outcry from public and elected officials Tuesday over why the rape was not announced to the public, Metro essentially acknowledged that its response was wrong. The agency said that from now on, Transit Police will publicize violent crimes in the system the same day they occur as long as doing so does not impede investigations.

[Timeline of events in Metro rape and indecent-exposure cases]

Asked about the sequence of events, Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly provided few specifics in a statement, saying that Transit Police were in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant on the indecent exposure case when the April 12 rape occurred. She said Metro Police Chief Ron Pavlik Jr. would not comment, including on why the rape was not publicized.

With Metros credibility already scraping bottom because of chronic safety and service failures, the revelation that Hicks was known to Transit Police as a suspect in an indecent-exposure case days before he allegedly committed a far more horrific offense added fuel to a controversy over Metros decision not to publicize the rape and arrest.

News of the April 12 rape surfaced publicly only this week  more than a month after the crime  when two reporters received a tip about Montgomery court records related to Hickss arrest.

Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld  who has been applauded by Washington-area officials for his efforts to revitalize the beleaguered agency since becoming its top executive in late November  was criticized Tuesday on Capitol Hill and elsewhere for not telling the public that a woman had been raped on a train at 10 oclock in the morning.

[Have you been a victim or crime or unwanted behavior on Metro? Share your story.]

A woman says she was sexually assaulted twice while riding Metro's Red Line. Here's the latest on the investigation. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

The rape, during which the victim and assailant were the only riders in a car, was highly unusual, according to Metros most recent five-year crime report. It lists four other rapes in the transit system, one each in 2011 and 2013 and two in 2014.

Appearing at a congressional hearing Tuesday on Metros operational safety, Wiedefeld told House members, and later reporters, that he did not think it was necessary to publicize the crime because the suspect was quickly arrested and no longer a danger.

We put monthly crimes stats out, Wiedefeld said when asked why no news release was issued about the sexual assault. We caught the person the same day. . . . It lessened any threat on the public. That was our concern. Obviously, if we didnt catch the person, that would have been a whole different matter.

Referring to the rape and to Wiedefelds oft-repeated pledge to be candid with the public about Metros problems, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) told reporters after the hearing: I think people are more concerned with incidents like that than they are about the subways frequent mechanical troubles, including track fires. By not letting us know, Metro was at odds with its own new transparency, Norton said.

At the time she spoke, House members were unaware of the earlier indecent-exposure case. All Metro has is General Manager Wiedefelds credibility, Norton said. If Metro loses that, then everything is lost.

In 2010, the transit agency was criticized for failing to alert the public that two rapes had occurred in a Metro parking garage. A spokeswoman at the time said Transit Police were worried that disclosure would compromise their investigation. Metros then-board chairman, meanwhile, said news about the rapes got lost in the shuffle while the agency was dealing with disruptions caused by snowstorms.

Metros current board chairman, D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), was out of town Tuesday and unavailable to comment, his spokesman said.

The rape occurred the same day that Transit Police staged a public event aimed at raising awareness of sexual harassment on public transportation. Metro is working to make all riders feel safer and more comfortable on the system, Lynn Bowersox, the agencys chief of customer service, said in a news release at the time.

Community groups that participated in the event said they were disturbed that Metro was not more forthcoming about the rape.

I am so outraged and hope the [victim] will be able to receive the help she needs to heal, said Holly Kearl, founder of Stop Street Harassment. The attack also clearly illustrates why there is a need for this campaign.

The rape also happened a day after a fatal stabbing on a platform at the Deanwood Metro station.

[Suspect arrested in fatal stabbing at Deanwood Metro station]

Ten days before the April 12 rape, a man masturbated aboard a Red Line train as it traveled between the Gallery Place station and into Montgomery, Transit Police said in an affidavit filed recently in Montgomery District Court. A witness sitting near the suspect made a cellphone video of that incident and reported it to authorities.

Over the next few days, the affidavit says, investigators used the cellphone video, SmarTrip card data and surveillance footage from Metro stations to identify Hicks, of Northeast Washington, as a suspect. On April 6, when the witness was shown an array of nine photographs, including one of Hicks, the witness positively identified Hicks as the person who exposed and masturbated, according to the affidavit.

But Hicks remained at large.

As for the April 12 rape, the woman told police that she fell asleep on a Red Line train, about midway in the car, and awoke about 10 a.m. around the Takoma station, in the District near the Montgomery border. She noticed a man dressed in black who was 35 to 40 years old, she told police.

She said he approached her. Do you have a boyfriend? the man asked, according to the woman. Are you going to Glenmont?

As the train made its way through the Forest Glen station, the man pulled out a folding knife and flashed its blade, the woman told police. The man then placed the woman in a bearhug and forcefully guided her to a separate portion of the train car, blocking her attempts to exit, the police affidavit says.

After raping the victim, the man forced her to sit in the corner of the car, where he assaulted her again, according to the affidavit. During some point of the aforementioned events, a struggle ensued over the knife, which caused a laceration to [the victims] finger, a police detective wrote in the affidavit.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video, which shows a man leaving the car at the time specified by the woman. Detectives also reviewed a database of Farecard use, which showed that a SmarTrip card registered to John Prentice Hicks was processed exiting at Glenmont Station at 1000 hours April 12, the affidavit says.

Detectives showed the woman a mug shot of Hicks from a previous arrest as part of an array of photographs that included five other men. This is the man from the train today, she said, pointing to Hicks. I recognize the shape of his face.

After Hicks was identified as the alleged rapist, Transit Police detectives were given copies of his photo, the affidavit says. It says that one detective immediately recognized [the man] as John Prentice HICKS, a suspect who was positively identified approximately one week ago in a separate sex offense  the indecent exposure.

Hicks was arrested and charged with rape later that day. The next day, April 13, he was charged with indecent exposure in the earlier incident.

D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), chairman of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, said she was angry that the public had not been informed.

It can enter your calculus, particularly as a woman, whether youre going to a ride the subway and if youre going to ride in a car alone with someone else, Cheh said.

Jessica Raven, head of Collective Action for Safe Spaces, who took part in Metros sexual-harassment awareness event, said: Weve worked very hard to collect information on this problem. ... Something as serious as this, Im not sure why Metro wouldnt want the public to know.

Lori Aratani contributed to this report.
9:09 p.m. April 2: A Red Line rider sees a passenger masturbating on the train and uses a cellphone to videotape him. The time and date stamp appear on the phone. The train was traveling from the Gallery Place station to Shady Grove.

[The accused Metro rapist had been identified as suspect in earlier indecent exposure]

April 3: The rider who shot the video reports the incident to Metro Transit Police.

April 4: A Metro Transit Police detective interviews the rider who shot the video and reviews train records, surveillance tapes and SmarTrip data to locate a suspect. The detective concludes that at least part of the crime occurred between the Friendship Heights station and the Medical Center station in Montgomery County.

April 6: The rider who shot the video is shown a photo array by Metro Transit detectives and identifies a photo of John P. Hicks.

10a.m. April 12: A woman riding the Red Line exits at Glenmont and tells a Metro employee that she was raped and assaulted at knifepoint on the train. Metro Transit officers respond and interview the woman, who is taken to a hospital.

11 a.m. April 12: A Metro Transit detective meets with the woman at the hospital and reviews Metro surveillance video and SmarTrip records to locate a suspect.

1 p.m. April 12: The woman is shown a photo array by Metro Transit detectives and identifies Hicks as her alleged attacker.

5:24 p.m. April 12: An arrest warrant is issued for Hicks in the Red Line rape investigation.

April 12: Hicks is arrested in the District in the rape investigation.

April 1 3: Metro Transit detectives seek an arrest warrant for Hicks in the April 2 indecent-exposure investigation. Warrant issued at 2:58 p.m.

1:27 p.m. May 20: Arrest warrant for Hicks on an indecent-exposure charge is served to him at Montgomery County jail, where he is being held on charges in the April 12 rape.

1 p.m. May 23: Hicks makes his first court appearance in Montgomery on charges related to the April 12 rape case and is ordered held without bond.

Source: Montgomery County court records
The Alexandria City Council agreed Tuesday night to what it described as a code of ethics and conduct that is aspirational in nature, without legal penalty.

The measure, passed by a unanimous vote, requires a once-per-term public pledge to act ethically and a public conversation, dialogue or seminar on ethics every three years.

Their action thwarted first-term Mayor Allison Silberbergs wider initiative from earlier this year, which went far beyond what the council was willing to do.

Silberberg said Wednesday that the passage was a great start. . . . We will be instilling a culture of ethics in everything we do.

[Alexandria council agrees to study ethics in its own way]

The Alexandria City Council (Patricia Sullivan/TWP)

Silberberg (D) originally wanted to set up an ethics advisory commission to handle citizens complaints and impose a state-level audit of the personal financial disclosures that elected officials in the city are required to make.

Such actions, she argued, would make the city a national leader in government ethics.

Council members quickly scaled back Silberbergs effort, which stemmed from an electoral feud over ethics she had with then-Mayor William D. Euille (D).

At the time, council member Tim Lovain (D) warned that Silberbergs proposal would create a Committee on Un-Alexandrian Activities. Vice Mayor Justin Wilson (D) argued that the city leaders had already taken significant steps to be ethical and transparent.

Silberberg defeated Euille, a five-term incumbent, in last springs three-way Democratic primary, and triumphed again when he launched a write-in campaign in the general election last fall.

The new mayor, who previously had served as vice mayor, proposed the creation of an ethics commission as her first major legislative effort in January.

[Silberberg seeks her footing in new role as Alexandria mayor]

In its vote Tuesday, the all-Democratic council excluded appointed officials from its new pledge and code of conduct. They also tussled over the downsides of avoiding the appearance of a conflict of interest, saying that what appears to be a conflict to partisans on one side of a debate may not actually be a conflict in the eyes of the council member.

Silberberg attempted to delay the vote until the council had a formal public hearing, but council members said they have received much feedback from residents in the past five months.

In the code they adopted, council members commit to being conscientious, diligent and transparent . . . avoiding any improper use or influence of the office . . . behave in a manner that inspires public confidence . . . [and treat others] with professionalism, courtesy and respect.

Their annual pledge also promises they will communicate openly and civilly . . . being respectful even in areas of disagreement.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington after a meeting with Virginias congressional delegation May 24, 2016. He says he is confident he followed the law in accepting donations that now appear to be part of a criminal investigation. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Federal authorities are investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) violated an obscure statute that regulates U.S. citizens lobbying of the U.S. government on behalf of foreign governments, the governors attorney said Wednesday.

The attorney, James W. Cooper, said the Justice Department and the FBI will find no evidence of wrongdoing by McAuliffe, despite probing his personal finances dating back at least a decade before he became governor.

Federal investigators for whatever reason became interested in McAuliffes foreign sources of income from a period before he entered public office, Cooper told The Washington Post in a phone interview. And that is the predicate for continuing their investigation, he said.

All of this income is from the governors time as a private citizen and businessman who did deals that were well publicized around the world. So the fact that he had foreign income was not remarkable, Cooper said.

Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment. A federal official confirmed that the investigation involves potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, at least in part.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) is facing a federal probe. Heres what's known so far about the investigation. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

CNN on Monday, citing anonymous sources, reported that investigators were looking into a contribution that Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang made to McAuliffes 2013 campaign through Wangs U.S. business. Wang also is a donor to the Clinton Global Initiative, a foundation on whose board of directors McAuliffe once served.

Cooper, a lawyer focusing on white-collar criminal defense, said federal officials had said nothing to him about the Clinton foundation or Wang.

I dont know if there was ever an investigation about Mr. Wangs lawful contribution, he said. They have not mentioned anything about corruption in office. They have not mentioned anything about campaign finance.

Officials have mentioned only the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Cooper said. The act requires registration by anyone trying to influence the domestic or foreign policy of the United States on behalf of a foreign government. As a private citizen, McAuliffe was not a lobbyist, he said. Prosecutions under the statute are rare, Cooper said.

It is our understanding that the government, meaning the Justice Department and the FBI, have developed no evidence whatsoever that Governor McAuliffe ever lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign government, he said.

Cooper declined to say which countries investigators are focused on, because frankly I may not know everything.

McAuliffe has spent the past two days fielding reporters questions about potential misconduct having to do with a lifetime of political fundraising in which he developed close friendships with former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

McAuliffe is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was chairman of Hillary Clintons 2008 campaign for president and has helped Clinton raise millions of dollars for her current presidential bid.

Republican rivals of McAuliffe this week seized on reports of the federal investigation, saying it reflects poorly on Clinton, whose use of a private email server while she was secretary of state is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation.

I would not be at all surprised if there were a pure political motivation for this, but its not my job to speculate. You can certainly infer from the nature of the leak that it was designed to inflict political harm, Cooper said, referring to how news of the investigation became public.

Before joining the District office of Arnold & Porter, Cooper was a senior Justice Department attorney and assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, where he was the deputy chief of the criminal division and acting chief of the national security section, according to his official biography.

During a radio interview Wednesday, McAuliffe criticized federal agencies for allowing information about the investigation to become public.

I was somewhat shocked when this got leaked, he said. It is very unfortunate that our institutions of integrity like Justice and the FBI would leak information. They should be held to a higher standard.

Two federal officials disputed McAuliffes claim that he and his lawyers knew nothing of the investigation until news outlets reported on it this week.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, requires agents of foreign entities to register with the Department of Justice and file public forms outlining their agreements with, income from and expenditures on behalf of those entities. Congress passed the law in 1938, before World War II, out of concern about German propaganda agents working in the United States.

In 2010, former U.S. representative Mark Deli Siljander (R-Mich.) pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and a charge under FARA, admitting that he had been hired by an Islamic charity based in Sudan to lobby for the groups removal from a federal list of charities suspected of funding international terrorism, when he was not properly registered to do so.

Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
Under federal pressure to beef up safety monitoring of Metro, officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District have drafted legislation to create a regional oversight commission that would have robust power to investigate safety lapses but also would be allowed to withhold its findings from the public.

The proposal, unveiled Wednesday, comes at a time of heightened concern among officials and hundreds of thousands of Metro riders about track fires and other dangerous safety lapses. It also comes amid calls for more transparency from the transit agency and its leaders.

Representatives for the chief executives in the three jurisdictions did not respond to requests to explain the reason for the confidentiality provisions.

[Anthony Foxx on Metro safety agency: This is one that really cant wait.]

In coming weeks, the jurisdictions will review the draft legislation, which is substantially complete, with their respective legislative bodies and with federal and Metro officials, a statement issued by the District and the two states said.

After the bills language has been finalized, the officials said, the proposed Interstate Compact to Create the Metrorail Safety Commission will be introduced in the D.C. Council this summer and in the 2017 General Assembly sessions in Maryland and Virginia.

[The roots of Metros safety problems stretch back decades.]

For years, Metros safety was monitored by a regional panel called the Tri-State Oversight Committee, which has almost no enforcement authority and is viewed as inadequate for the task. After Metros historically weak safety culture and decades of neglected maintenance gave rise to chronic, sometimes calamitous problems, the Federal Transit Administration last fall temporarily took over safety monitoring of the rail system, making it the first U.S. subway to be placed under such oversight.

The FTA will pass that responsibility to the new Metrorail Safety Commission  which is intended to be more powerful than the Tri-State Oversight Committee  once the commission has been approved by lawmakers in Virginia, Maryland and the District. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has threatened to withhold some federal funding for Metro unless the three jurisdictions move quickly to create the tougher safety panel.

Federal officials welcomed news of the draft legislation. It is encouraging to see Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia have finally taken a positive step toward fulfilling their legal responsibility to provide safety oversight of Metro, said Foxxs spokeswoman, Namrata Kolachalam.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), who is among a chorus of tough Metro critics in the Washington-area congressional delegations, said the secrecy provisions in the legislation gave him pause.

At this point, transparency and accountability are very much in short supply with Metro, Connolly said. And I am concerned that whatever the intentions are here with the commission, it has the consequence of further eroding public confidence.

Metro announced on May 19 its revised overhaul plan to fix its infrastructure, which will disrupt service for hundreds of thousands of commuters. Federal officials asked Metro to make changes to the plan, which shifted the repair schedule. (Jenny Starrs,Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

He said he was pleased with other aspects of the bill, including the authority over Metro that the commission would have. But, obviously, the devils going to be in the details of implementation, he said. They have powerful powers. But if we have the same sort of settling-in complacency that has afflicted Metro, well, then, this is all fascinating on the books, but it is not efficacious.

Metro, in a statement, had no comment on the specifics of the legislation, saying only, We are encouraged by the advancement of the plan and the support of all the jurisdictions.

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), another Metro overseer in Congress, said: It is no secret that Metro has a fundamental lack of safety culture. Metros previous safety body, the Tri-State Oversight Commission, failed miserably at fostering a safety culture. She said, It is time for Virginia, D.C., and Maryland to get moving on formulating this new commission so that consumer confidence can eventually be restored.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) applauded one another Wednesday in a joint statement announcing that they had agreed on a draft proposal for a six-member commission, with two representatives from each jurisdiction.

The new panel would have an array of powers, including the authority to adopt and enforce Metro safety rules, conduct inspections, order corrective action plans, impose citations and fines for noncompliance, issue subpoenas during safety-related investigations, and compel the transit agency to prioritize spending on safety-critical items.

[Without new safety commission, Metro could lose federal funds.]

The six members shall be compensated for each day spent on the business of the Commission at a per diem rate of $200 per day, or as may be adjusted by appropriations approved by the three jurisdictions, the legislation says

As for paying its bills, Commission operations shall be funded, independently of [Metro], by the Signatory jurisdictions and, when available, by federal funds, according to the draft. Maryland, Virginia and the District shall agree on adequate long-term funding levels for the Commission and make equal contributions.

With the beleaguered 40-year-old subway system under intense public scrutiny because of its persistent and occasionally hazardous performance problems, the confidentiality provisions in the 18-page legislation seem curious.

The commission shall not be subject to the freedom of information and open meeting laws of Virginia, Maryland or the District, the draft says. Instead, the panel would adopt its own policies, based on a federal public-information statute.

The legislation also says that the Commission may withhold from public view the contents of any investigation report prepared, reviewed, or adopted by the panel. Such reports would be given to the D.C. mayor and the Maryland and Virginia governors, provided that the confidentiality of such records is maintained by the three executives.

[Foxx on Metro safety commission: This is one that really cant wait.]

The creation of a safety panel to oversee Metro has been a point of contention between Foxx and elected leaders in the three jurisdictions, but McAuliffe said they have agreed on language to implement the commission.

In July, Foxx met privately with Bowser, Hogan and McAuliffe to encourage them to act swiftly to set up the commission. Achieving consensus on legislative language to accomplish that is a big deal, McAuliffe said Wednesday on WTOP-FM (103.5).

Appearing on the stations Ask the Governor show, McAuliffe said Virginia would withhold funding for Metro if the agency fails to abide by safety protocols to be developed by top Virginia transportation officials as part of the oversight process.

The governor, on the air, signed an executive order directing state Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne and Jennifer Mitchell, head of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, to work with Maryland and the District in creating the panel.

We are very serious about this, McAuliffe said, adding, I am sick and tired of Metros problems. I want to make sure we have the safest system on the globe.
SOUTH CAROLINA

Legislation outlaws abortions at 20 weeks

Gov. Nikki Haley (R) signed legislation Wednesday that immediately outlaws most abortions in South Carolina at 20 weeks beyond fertilization.

The only exceptions are if the mothers life is in jeopardy or a doctor determines the fetus cant survive outside the womb.

Doctors face up to $10,000 in fines and three years in prison for each violation; prison time is mandatory on a third conviction.

These bans are in effect in at least 13 states and blocked by court challenges in three others. South Dakotas ban will take effect July 1.

Women nationwide have the right to obtain abortions under the U.S. Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which said states could restrict abortions after viability  the point when a fetus has a reasonable chance of surviving outside the uterus. Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks, the ruling said.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on bans that would limit even earlier abortions.

As in other states, South Carolinas law ties the fetus age to conception, rather than a womens monthly cycle. But since this date cannot be scientifically pinpointed, the ban actually refers to what doctors consider a gestational age of 22 weeks.

Supporters of the bill cite the disputed claim that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. Opponents say later-term abortions usually happen with wanted pregnancies that go horribly wrong.

 Associated Press

MISSOURI

Man shoots at his wife, kills infant in her arms

Following an overnight manhunt, authorities in Missouri have detained a man who is accused of drawing a gun on his wife, pulling the trigger and accidentally killing his 8-month-old son.

Police said Diata Crockett shot the couples son Reign during a domestic dispute Tuesday, then fled with their two toddlers still in the car. The two children were found unharmed at a relatives house, according to reports.

On Wednesday morning, Crockett turned himself in to his attorney, police said. The Associated Press identified the lawyer as Scott Rosenblum.

Police said Crockett drew a gun Tuesday afternoon while trying to persuade his wife, along with three of their six children, to get in the car in the couples St. Louis suburb. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson said that at a stop near an exit ramp, the mother tried to get out of the vehicle with the 8-month-old in her arms. Crockett fired one shot at her and struck the infant instead. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.

 Lindsey Bever

Schumer aide arrested on drug charge: An aide to U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been arrested on drug charges. Angelo Roefaro, Schumers spokesman, said Hudson Valley regional director Cody Peluso has been placed on leave while authorities investigate the charges. Roefaro says the Democrat is shocked and saddened by news of the arrest. Peluso, 32, was pulled over Monday in Stony Point. Police Lt. Keith Williams said Peluso was arrested on charges he possessed prescription pills and steroids. He was released on $100 bail and is scheduled to appear in court in June.

Repo man charged in womans death in high-speed chase: A Utah repossession agent was charged with manslaughter after prosecutors said he forced a mother from a road in her SUV during a reckless, high-speed pursuit while trying to take back the vehicle. Kenneth Drew appeared in court Wednesday in Provo after being charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 35-year-old Ashleigh Best, a mother of two who died after crashing into a tree. Prosecutors say the crash occurred May 17 in Pleasant Grove, south of Salt Lake City, when Drew went to Bests house about midnight after she fell behind on title loan payments.
SOUTH CAROLINA

Death penalty sought for church shooter

Federal prosecutors will seek the death sentence for Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church last year, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Tuesday.

State prosecutors had already announced their plans to seek the death penalty for Roof. Although Roof, who is white, had also been indicted on federal hate crime charges last summer, the Justice Department had not announced a decision about whether to seek a death sentence, causing the federal trial to be delayed multiple times.

Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire June 17, 2015, during a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. He faces 33 federal charges including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses.

 Mark Berman

OHIO

Judge bars use of law limiting early voting

A law trimming early voting in swing-state Ohio is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The states Democratic Party was among the plaintiffs suing Ohios elections chief over a series of Republican-backed voting changes.

Such policies included the elimination of a week of early voting in which Ohioans could also register to vote  a period known as golden week. Democrats alleged that the change disproportionately burdened black voters. The state argued that the changes were minor and that Ohio residents had many opportunities to vote.

U.S. District Judge Michael Watson sided with the plaintiffs on their golden-week claim, ruling that the cut violates the Voting Rights Act and voters equal-protection rights.

 Associated Press

MISSOURI

Ferguson city attorney plans to step down

Fergusons city attorney has announced plans to step down, just a few weeks after the St. Louis suburb engulfed in racial unrest after Michael Browns 2014 shooting death announced it was replacing her as local prosecutor.

Stephanie Karr, Fergusons city attorney since 2004 and prosecutor since 2011, announced her resignation Monday in writing, calling the decision mine alone and pledging to stay on the job until her successor is hired.

Karrs departure makes her the latest top Ferguson official to step aside since the shooting death of 18-year-old Brown, who was black and unarmed, by white city officer Darren Wilson spawned often-violent protests over police treatment of minorities in the largely black suburb. The city manager, municipal judge and police chief already have resigned.

 Associated Press
This combination of handout pictures released Wednesday by the Italian Navy shows the shipwreck of an overcrowded boat of migrants off the Libyan coast. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

ISRAEL

Hard-liner Lieberman joins ruling coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a deal to expand his coalition government on Wednesday by bringing in the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and appointing its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, as his new defense minister.

The development caps a tumultuous week that began with Netanyahu negotiating with the moderate Labor Party amid international pressure to relaunch peace efforts with the Palestinians, before choosing Liebermans party instead.

Lieberman is one of Israels most polarizing politicians and is known for his inflammatory statements. An adviser to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas decried the appointment, saying Lieberman was a fascist who will promote settlements.

Netanyahu sought to soothe fears over the new alliance, saying that he is committed to promoting the peace process and that a broader government, a more stable government will make it easier to do so.

With the deal, Netanyahu expands his coalition to 66 of parliaments 120 members. He previously had 61, the slimmest of majorities, which made it difficult to govern and legislate.

Lieberman will take over from Moshe Yaalon, who resigned a few days ago. Yaalons departure leaves the cabinet dominated by religious and ultranationalist ministers who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and have close ties to the West Bank settler movement. Lieberman is a West Bank

settler.

 Associated Press

BELGIUM

4 alleged Islamic State recruiters questioned

Prosecutors in Belgium said Wednesday that they have questioned four suspected Islamic State recruiters, who they said may have planned new attacks in the country.

The suspects were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement. Two were ordered arrested by an investigating judge, but one of them was released with an electronic bracelet. The other two were released under strict conditions.

The statement said the four do not appear to have links to the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels airport and subway on March 22, killing 32 people.

Prosecutors said initial findings of the investigation into the suspects detained Wednesday indicated that further attacks in Belgium may have been planned, but provided no details.

The prosecutors said some of those detained were planning to go to Syria or Libya and join the Islamic State. All are believed to have wanted to recruit people to go to those conflict zones, the statement said.

Belgium has been one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in Europe for the Islamic State, which asserted responsibility for the Brussels strikes and the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

 Associated Press

Italy recovers 7 bodies, rescues 500 after migrant ship flips: A large ship in distress, with more than 500 migrants aboard, overturned off Libyas coast as the Italian navy was approaching for rescue. Crews recovered seven bodies but saved more than 500 people. Rescue operations off Libyas coast have increased in recent weeks as migrants take advantage of calm seas and warm weather to attempt journeys to Europe.

Azerbaijan frees investigative journalist: An award-winning Azerbaijani journalist was released on probation after a storm of international protests about her imprisonment, widely criticized as a bid to silence a critical voice. Khadija Ismayilovas September conviction and her 7 -year prison sentence for purported financial crimes were seen as retribution for her reports alleging corruption involving President Ilham Aliyev and his family. Azerbaijans government has imprisoned several journalists and rights activists in what has been seen as an effort to stifle dissent.

U.N. lifts last sanctions on Liberia: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to lift the last remaining sanctions on Liberia in a sign of support for the governments progress toward peace after two civil wars. The resolution terminated an arms embargo imposed in 2001 and dissolved the council committee and expert panel that monitored the sanctions. Liberia was battered by civil wars that left 200,000 people dead.

Swedish court upholds Assange arrest warrant: A Swedish court rejected a request to overturn the arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The Stockholm District Court said it made the decision because Assange is still wanted for questioning over rape allegations stemming from a 2010 visit to Sweden and there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London since 2012.

 From news services
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks in an interview with the Associated Press on May 23 in Los Angeles. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

In her May 22 op-ed, A nose-holding word to the disaffected: Vote, Kathleen Parker suggested that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will win the presidency by default. She wrote that Americans are not prepared to vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for a long list of reasons. I agree. Ms. Parker also said Americans will not support Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) because he wants to create a nation that most Americans wouldnt recognize. But that is where Ms. Parker was mistaken. Mr. Sanderss proposals would make significant changes that would redraw the national landscape.

We are supporting a revolution. Many of us want a better health-care delivery system, not linked to employment. We want greater access to higher education for all our young people. We insist that the banks and financial institutions be closely regulated. We want the country to move into the 21st century. The naysayers claim that this simply cannot be done. Anyone who has traveled in Western Europe knows that is not true.

We can reclaim our struggling cities through greater investment in transportation and other infrastructure.

Its very possible that younger people are more interested in quality-of-life issues than home and car ownership. We need a Marshall Plan for our country. Our so-called American way of life has left too many of our fellow citizens behind.

Edward McCarey McDonnell, Baltimore
INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS are in countless products, but the governments system to ensure they are safe is broken, and has been for decades. The past few years showed why fixing it has been so hard: As some members of Congress attempted to negotiate bipartisan reforms, others made the perfect  or the perfectly political  the enemy of the good.

This impasse looks as though its about to end, at long last, as Congress considers a bipartisan chemical safety reform bill this week. On its merits, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act should pass by acclamation.

Under current law, the Environmental Protection Agency is hobbled in all sorts of dangerous ways. The agency cannot subject chemicals to safety testing without evidence that they are potentially risky  which is hard to obtain without testing. Consequently, the EPA has managed to examine a mere 200 chemicals since 1976, though thousands are produced and sold every year.

The bill would subject all chemicals already on the market to some level of review, with the EPA prioritizing the chemicals it sees as the riskiest  formaldehyde and flame retardants would probably make the list. Chemical manufacturers could ask the agency to analyze a chemical out of turn, as long as they fund the review. The EPA would have to find new chemicals safe before they entered the market, and the agency would have more power to order testing. If the EPA found that a chemical posed an unreasonable risk, its options would range from added warnings to outright bans.

This would be a massive improvement on the status quo. But opposition has crystallized over the role of states, some of which, such as California, have imposed tough chemical regulations in the absence of strong federal rules. The bill would allow existing state regulations to stay on the books. But going forward, federal action would preempt state efforts to impose new restrictions. This would keep the rules generally consistent from state to state, but some activists and members of Congress want maximum latitude for states to regulate as they choose.

If the critics prevail, they will kill a good bill. The legislation would significantly improve chemical rules for every American and prevent an increasingly expensive and inconsistent patchwork of regulations. It would give states flexibility to request a waiver from the EPA to avoid federal preemption if they have good reason to impose state-level rules. Over the past few weeks, the bills negotiators have adjusted several portions of the bill to make them more acceptable to the critics. If there is any naysaying when it comes up for its final vote, it should be little more than token opposition.
In his May 22 Sunday Opinion essay, We must weed out ignorant voters, David Harsanyi argued that any effort to improve the quality of the voting public should ensure that all . . . are similarly inhibited from voting when ignorant. Can we envision an outpouring of factual, well-presented advertising by nonpartisan civics-minded groups, such as the League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote and the Brennan Center for Justice? Perhaps retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day OConnors iCivics lessons could invite kids to teach their parents the basics of the Constitution the way my parents taught my grandparents.

With the upcoming election presumably between two candidates who are viewed unfavorably by a majority of the electorate, and a movement demanding that the federal government adhere to the Constitution, as described in the May 22 front-page article The Americans primed to fight their government, could we make space for public service announcements that teach the basics of citizenship in an engaging way to lift the tone in this election cycle and reduce what Mr. Harsanyi called voting when ignorant?

Doreen Neil, Williamsburg, Va.

David Harsanyi proposed weeding out millions of irresponsible voters to mitigate the recklessness of the electorate. Presumably, the purpose of this massive undertaking would be to ensure that only fully qualified candidates are elected. Wouldnt it be a lot easier to ensure that only qualified candidates stand for office? There is no shortage of examples from countries that have valuable experience with weeding out unsuitable candidates.

Incumbent officeholders are usually best placed to perform that task because they know firsthand what it takes to govern. Mr. Harsanyi may wish to explore this alternative approach to resolve the ignorant-voter problem.

Hendrik van Voorthuizen, McLean
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.

Plotting a general election strategy against Donald Trump, Hillary Clintons advisers joke that their challenge feels like Lucille Balls in the famed chocolate factory episode of I Love Lucy.

As truffles fly down a conveyor belt, Lucy frantically tries to wrap each one before they pass. Falling behind, she stuffs some under her hat, down her blouse and in her mouth. For the Clinton campaign, the conveyor belt is Trumps mouth and Twitter feed  and the chocolates are his inflammatory statements.

In the three weeks since the celebrity mogul became the Republican Partys presumptive presidential nominee, Clinton and her sprawling bureaucracy of a campaign have struggled to keep pace with Trumps unremitting medley of savage attacks, unorthodox policy pronouncements and casual misstatements.

Clinton advisers are trying to stitch together an overall narrative that they are confident will destroy Trump, but they are still experimenting with tone and tactics as they seek an effective equilibrium. And even as they launched their first big effort this week, Trumps response to it stole some of their thunder  illustrating vividly that breaking through his barrage of attention-getting words will not be easy.

Clintons aides say they have settled on the big story they want to tell about Trump: He is a business fraud who has cheated working people for his own gain, and his ideas, temperament and moves to marginalize people by race, gender and creed make him simply unacceptable as commander in chief.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is digging into scandals from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's past. The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains what Trump hopes to gain and why Clinton isn't hitting back at the same level. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Our thesis is that this isnt just a difference in world views akin to, say, a policy debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in 2008. This is somebody whos uniquely dangerous and disqualified, said Brian Fallon, Clintons national press secretary.

On Tuesday, the likely Democratic nominee and her allies opened a coordinated and methodical assault on Trump, starting with reviving his past comments that he had hoped to profit off a housing crisis that devastated millions of families. Other lines of attack will follow.

What were doing amounts to a deconstruction of Trumps phony story about himself to show the seedy, sleazy underside of his business record, said David Brock, a Clinton ally who runs a collection of supportive outside groups.

But a day that began with Clintons housing push  from the candidates speeches and a campaign video to a surrogate blitz in battleground states and Sen. Elizabeth Warrens fiery Trump take-down  ended with a Trump stage performance in New Mexico so provocative that it threatened to distract voters from the substance of Clintons argument.

[Clinton has a new weapon against Trump: Elizabeth Warren]

Trump defiantly called Clinton a low life for dredging up his past comments and argued that profiting off the housing crisis was what any savvy businessman would do. He tried to imitate Clinton and said she screams and drives me crazy. And he labeled Warren Pocahontas, charging falsely that the Massachusetts senator said she was Native American because her cheekbones were high.

As Trumps Albuquerque rally broke up, there were violent encounters outside between police and anti-Trump demonstrators.

Such sequences leave Clintons high command wrestling daily with strategic questions. What some see as Clintons good fortune  an opponent with a bounty of offenses that would prove fatal under the ordinary rules of politics  is also a hindrance.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to President Obama, said: Trumps activities serve as a message-blocker to his opponents.

Which of Trumps actions warrant a response from Clinton herself vs. campaign staffers or outside allies or nothing at all? How does Clinton compete with Trumps saturation-level media coverage? And, perhaps most importantly, how do they keep Trump from becoming normalized  that is, to ensure voters react to his antics with horror rather than a shrug or a laugh?

[Is Clinton ready for the Wild West campaign of Donald Trump?]

David Axelrod, the top strategist on President Obamas campaigns, said it is imperative that the Clinton campaign not merely attack Trump for the sake of attacking him but that each move be in service to the broader narrative.

It would be a mistake to just take a kitchen sink approach  a little bit of this and a little bit of that  and hope that it adds up to a message, Axelrod said. Being tactical to the point where you cant discern the forest from the trees is a problem. Youve got to be able to tell a story that is coherent.

Pfeiffer suggested belittling Trump with light humor, which Obama has done on occasion. The Clinton campaign has to figure out how they make Trump respond to them, he said. You dont want to spend every day of the next five and a half months responding to every crazy thing Trump said that day.

Trump, who prides himself on campaigning from the gut, argues that Clintons attacks come across to voters as overly programmed and political. He said he watched Clintons interview last week with CNN anchor Chris Cuomo  where she said for the first time that she thought Trump was not qualified to be president  and thought she looked totally scripted.

A president has to have great instincts because oftentimes a president wont have time not to have instincts, Trump said in a telephone interview earlier this week. You have to be able to move decisively after your brain and your instinct have made a decision. You have to rely on yourself more than your people. Hillary relies on all of these people that have her perhaps going in 15 different ways.

The contrast was evident in the reporting for this story. While Trump quickly accepted a request to be interviewed about Clintons strategy, Clintons aides declined to make her available. In the 13 months since launching her campaign, Clinton has not granted a single interview to The Washington Post.

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser and confidant, described his friend as a natural phenomenon  and suggested it would not be easy for Clintons more traditional campaign to extinguish him.

You never know what he might say or do. The normal bounds of politics do not restrict him, Stone said. One can listen to Hillary and it becomes very apparent quickly that every word out of her mouth is focus-grouped and debated and re-debated. Thats not Trump.

So far, Clinton and her campaign largely have ignored Trumps personal attacks, such as airing old sexual assault allegations against former president Bill Clinton or giving credence to conspiracies surrounding the 1993 suicide of Clinton White House aide Vince Foster.

[Trump escalates attacks on Bill Clinton]

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, a Clinton supporter, said this is just the right approach. She has not stooped to his level, Rosen said. When she fights back, she fights back hard  but with things that matter.

The Clinton forces have been aggressive about rebutting him on policy grounds and urging the news media to call him out for his misstatements. After Trump called into MSNBCs Morning Joe last Friday and said he would have kept the United States from a military engagement in Libya, Clinton aides contacted the show with evidence of Trump previously favoring action in Libya. Host Joe Scarborough fact-checked Trump later in the broadcast.

Brock said his super PAC, Correct the Record, is setting up what he called a surrogate war room to blow the whistle on any Trump falsehoods and to quickly brief Clinton supporters on the facts before their media appearances.

One concern of Clintons advisers is the current inequity in news coverage. The media, especially cable television networks, gives Trump far more attention than Clinton  in part because of the frequency of his interviews and his propensity to make news.

Last Friday, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC broadcast Trumps speech to the National Rifle Association live in its entirety. But on Monday, when Clinton debuted new lines about Trump in an address to the Service Employees International Union, no cable network aired her remarks.

At Brooklyn headquarters, Clinton aides have been closely monitoring news coverage since Trump assumed the nomination and concluded that there is a silver lining for their candidate.

We are not in denial about the fact that he will drive most news cycles because he will always be willing to say the more provocative thing, Fallon said. But driving a news cycle isnt the same as winning it. Usually he is saying things that are only hurting him, not helping him.

Asked why he thought television news paid him so much more attention, Trump put on his reality-television hat.

It only has to do with one thing: ratings, Trump said. Pointing to the historic viewership of this seasons Republican primary debates, he said, If I wasnt in the show, they would have had two people watching. You know.
The State Departments independent watchdog has issued a highly critical analysis of Hillary Clintons email practices while running the department, concluding that Clinton failed to seek legal approval for her use of a private server and that agency staff members would not have given their blessing if it had been sought because of security risks.

The report by the inspector generals office concludes that Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, handled email in a way that was not an appropriate method for preserving public records and that her practices failed to comply with department policy. The review found that Clinton, who has said her system was secure, also never provided security details to agency officials responsible for safeguarding sensitive government information.

The 83-page report reviewed email practices under the past five secretaries of state and found persistent problems with ensuring that records are preserved in keeping with federal law. But the review was sparked by the controversy over Clintons email setup, and the report is particularly critical of her practices.

[Here are the most critical parts of the report]

Clinton has long said it was no secret at the department that she used a private email system. And the review found there had been some awareness of Clintons email habits among various staff members and senior officials in the agency.

The inspector general's office said on May 25 that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email account was not an appropriate method for preserving those emails. (Peter Stevenson,Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

But the report also provides a striking example of a department official appearing to shield the system from scrutiny. When two IT staffers raised concerns in 2010 that the system might not properly preserve records, the official said the system had been reviewed by attorneys and chided the staffers never to speak of the Secretarys personal email system again, the report says. The IGs office said it could not find evidence of such a legal review.

The timing of the report is inconvenient for Clinton, who is facing an onslaught of attacks from presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and who has been trying for more than a year to put the email controversy to rest.

While the IG review dealt with the State Departments compliance with public-records laws, Clinton is still awaiting the conclusion of a separate FBI inquiry into whether she mishandled classified information through her use of the private email setup.

Officials have told The Washington Post that FBI investigators have so far found little evidence that Clinton maliciously flouted classification rules. Clinton and her team have cooperated with the FBI, and officials have said they plan to interview Clinton about the matter soon.

In contrast, Clinton and her senior aides declined to speak with the inspector generals investigators, according to the new report.

Each of the other former secretaries, in addition to current Secretary of State John F. Kerry, was interviewed for the IG review. The report cites long-standing systemic weaknesses in recordkeeping. It calls out former secretary Colin L. Powell for also violating department policy for his use of a personal email account while in office.

But the report notes that by Clintons tenure, the departments warnings about the obligation to generally use government email  and the risks of not doing so  had become more detailed and frequent.

1 of 9 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Takeaways from Hillary Clintons e-mails View Photos Clinton has come under fire for using a private e-mail address during her time as secretary of state. The e-mails are being screened and released in batches. Here are some things weve learned from them. Caption Clinton has come under fire for using a private email address during her time as secretary of state. The emails are being screened and released in batches. Here are some things weve learned from them. Top-secret information in e-mails Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has previously stated that classified information never traveled across her private server. However, the State Department has acknowledged that "top secret" information was in seven email chains sent or received by her. Richard Drew/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon on Wednesday pointed to the IG reports broader conclusions to say that Clintons use of personal email was not unique, and she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records. He said the report showed that the agencys problems with records were long-standing and that, if Clinton ran the agency today, she would adopt the IGs recommended remedies.

Fallon said in a statement that political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for partisan purposes.

Appearing on CNN, Fallon said that Clinton declined to be interviewed by the IG because it made sense to prioritize the review being conducted by the Justice Department.

Clinton had acknowledged during a March debate that she had not sought approval for the private setup. She pointed to the practices of her predecessors and said: There was no permission to be asked. . . . It was permitted.

[The Fix: Clintons email problem just got much worse]

Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said the report underscores the need for federal agencies to adapt decades-old recordkeeping practices to the email-dominated modern era. He said the agency has put multiple improvements in place.

A State Department official, speaking with reporters on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged on Wednesday a problematic aspect of Clintons setup. Agency officials didnt have a complete understanding of Clintons email practices, the official said. The official added that, in retrospect, the agency wouldnt have recommended the approach. But, the official said, the agency had no plans to take disciplinary action based on the report and cited Clintons efforts to respond to concerns about her emails.

Still, the critical assessment of Clintons tenure is politically significant as the former secretary struggles to reverse a slide in her approval ratings that has coincided with the unfolding email scandal.

The report concludes that Clinton should have printed and saved her emails during her four years in office, or should have surrendered her work-related correspondence immediately upon stepping down in February 2013.

Instead, Clinton provided those records in December 2014, nearly two years after leaving office, and only after the State Department requested them as it prepared responses for the Republican-led House committee investigation into the 2012 attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.

At the time, she turned over more than 30,000 emails she said represented all of her work-related correspondence. She said that she also exchanged about 31,000 personal emails during her time as secretary and that those messages have been deleted.

While the IGs review found that many employees sometimes used personal accounts for public business, the report identifies only three who used it exclusively: Clinton, Powell and Scott Gration, who served as ambassador to Kenya under Clinton in 2011 and 2012. But only one  Gration  faced an internal rebuke for doing so.

The departments response to his actions demonstrates how such usage is normally handled when department cybersecurity officials become aware of it, the report says.

The IG review found that four of Clintons closest aides also made extensive use of personal emails, including one who sent an average of nine emails every workday on a personal account, the report says.

The IG review found that technical support for the server was primarily provided by a non-State Department employee who worked for former president Bill Clinton, as well as a State employee, who has been publicly identified in the past as Bryan Pagliano.

The Post has reported previously that the Clintons paid Pagliano separately for his work on the server. The IGs office found that several of his direct State Department supervisors were unaware that he was providing Hillary Clinton with the service, the report says.

The IGs office also found several incidents in which Clinton or people around her expressed fear that the server, which was stored in the Clintons New York home and shared by the couple, might have been hacked. The report cites a January 2011 email in which a Bill Clinton staffer wrote a Hillary Clinton aide to say he had shut down the server because he believed someone was trying to hack us.

Hillary Clintons aides have said there is no evidence the server was, in fact, breached. However, the IG notes that Clinton and her aides failed to alert State Department computer security personnel to the possible breaches, as agency policy requires.

Clinton has said she complied with laws requiring the preservation of documents, including emails, because she emailed other government officials at their official accounts, knowing their emails would be retained on public servers.

But the report undercuts that contention, citing this practice as an inappropriate form of preservation.

The IG report, combined with the FBI inquiry, has prompted the Clinton campaign to brace for what her allies hope will be the last round of publicity about her email use.

They have worked to inoculate her against potentially critical findings, accusing the State Departments inspector general of working in concert with congressional Republicans to harm her presidential campaign and noting that a top inspector general official used to work for Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).

Democratic lawmakers chimed in after the report became public Wednesday. Rep. Eliot L. Engel (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a news release headlined, State Inspectors Hit Job An Embarrassment.

The inspector general has rejected allegations of bias, noting that the scope of the review encompasses secretaries of both parties and that it was undertaken at the direction of Clintons Democratic successor, Kerry.

The inspector general, Steve Linick, was appointed by President Obama and has served since 2013.

As for the FBI inquiry, Director James B. Comey has said there is no external deadline for concluding that probe, but he acknowledged that there is pressure to wrap up the matter promptly and thoroughly.

Carol Morello and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.
A fresh string of attacks by Donald Trump this week on rivals in the GOP establishment  including one delivered against a prominent Latina governor in her home state  raised new doubts about his ability or desire to unite the partys badly fractured leadership.

Now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump had been expected by many political strategists and party leaders to extend olive branches to his foes and vanquished opponents, many of whom could be crucial allies in the general election against the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary Clinton.

Yet the real estate mogul does not always appear to be interested in doing so. The revived feuding this week has only added to the concerns of holdouts such as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who reiterated Wednesday that he was not ready to endorse Trump and remained opposed to some of his core policies.

The intraparty skirmishing began with an attack on New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) during a campaign rally in Albuquerque, where Trump blamed her for mismanaging the states economy and suggested that she was shirking her responsibilities to her constituents.

Shes got to do a better job. Okay? Your governor has got to do a better job, Trump told a cheering audience Tuesday night. Shes not doing the job. Hey! Maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going. Shes not doing the job. Weve got to get her moving. Come on: Lets go, Governor.

[Trump accuses New Mexicos Republican governor of not doing her job]

Next, at a campaign event Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif., Trump rattled off a string of attacks that played like a greatest-hits collection from the raucous GOP primary contest. He knocked South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haleys decision to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), mocked former Florida governor Jeb Bush for his energy level and blasted 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a choker. None of the three have endorsed him.

Poor Mitt Romney. Poor Mitt. . . . I mean, I have a store thats worth more money than he is, Trump said, adding later: He choked like a dog. . . . Once a choker, always a choker. He also called Romney stupid and joked that he walked like a penguin.

The attacks  delivered in Trumps distinctive and belittling style  would no longer appear to be in his best interest now that the primary campaign is over and he faces a tough and well-funded opponent in Clinton. They could also further undercut his standing among women and minorities, who are strongly opposed to him in public-opinion polls.

Martinez  the nations first Latina governor and New Mexicos first female governor  is the chair of the Republican Governors Association, which has deep coffers and can play a vital role in driving GOP turnout during an election year. Before Trump, she was also widely considered to be a leading pick as a potential 2016 vice-presidential candidate.

Martinez has criticized the way Trump describes illegal immigrants and decided not to attend his Albuquerque rally.

The Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, a Martinez spokesperson said in a statement after the event.

At a rally in Anaheim, Calif., on May 25, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he has "a sore that's worth more money than" Mitt Romney. He also said the 2012 Republican candidate was "stupid," a "choker," and that he walks like a penguin. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)

Rubio, who dropped out of the presidential race in March, defended Martinez on Twitter as one of the hardest working and most effective Governors in America.

[Ahead of meeting, Ryan under pressure to mend fences with Trump]

In a Wednesday news conference on Capitol Hill, Ryan declined to specifically address Trumps attacks on Martinez but defended her record. Look, Ill just leave it at this: Susana Martinez is a great governor, Ryan said. She turned deficits into surpluses. She cut taxes. Shes a friend of mine, and I think shes a good governor. I will leave it at that.

He also said he remained undecided on endorsing Trump: Look, I dont have a timeline in my mind, and I have not made a decision. Nothing has changed from that perspective, and were still having productive conversations.

But it is not just Trumps penchant for picking fights that continues to give some Republican leaders pause. Many remain skeptical that his ideas align with the core beliefs of the conservative movement itself.

Trump and Ryan, for example, remain divided on one of the central pillars of the moguls campaign: immigration reform, specifically Trumps call for mass deportation of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Ryan, who supports a path for legal status for such immigrants, said the House will not put such measures on its 2017 agenda.

Obviously, securing the border is part of national security, we believe, he said. But Ive made my view on [mass deportation] pretty darn clear, and Ill just leave it at that.

Ryans six-part House agenda for next year  which he previewed during the news conference  also does not mention trade, another area where Trump holds positions dramatically different from the partys pro-free-trade leadership. Ryan also suggested that he remained skeptical of Trumps understanding of the limits of executive authority.

We want to make darn sure that our standard-bearer understands, appreciates and respects and supports the Constitution and the kinds of principles that come with it, and those are some of the conversations we have been having, he said.

[Reluctant Republican leaders vow to work with Trump]

Trumps allies have rejected the idea that he will be unable to unite the partys establishment. They note that many members of Congress and other elected Republicans have backed Trump since he emerged as the presumptive nominee.

I understand that Paul Ryan is trying to have it both ways, Mark Burns, an evangelical pastor and television evangelist from South Carolina who frequently speaks at Trumps rallies, said at the Anaheim rally. Donald Trump is going to unite this party and, come November, were going to elect a new president by the name of President Donald Trump.

Nearly 6 in 10 voters say they have a negative opinion of Trump, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released earlier this week, though they have improved since March. Even so, Trumps negatives are nearly matched with Clintons, and the poll showed that the two are caught in a statistical dead heat, with Trump at 46 percent and Clinton at 44 percent.

The poll also showed that Republican voters overall are warming to the mogul, with 85 percent now backing Trump. Some of that support could be tenuous, however: Nearly half of Republican-leaning registered voters do not believe that Trumps views reflect the core tenets of the party.

Johnson reported from Albuquerque and Anaheim. Mike DeBonis and Emily Guskin in Washington contributed to this report.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said Tuesday that he is very confident that the FBI will find no wrongdoing in its investigation of donations to his 2013 campaign and his personal finances. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)

The surprise news of an FBI inquiry into Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has uncomfortable parallels to an FBI security review of his friend and political patron Hillary Clintons email system, but Clinton allies said it is unlikely to do her lasting harm.

McAuliffe (D) said Tuesday that he is very confident that the FBI will find no wrongdoing in its investigation of donations to his 2013 campaign and his personal finances. He said his reaction to news of the probe, which may have been underway for a year, was shock.

McAuliffe has many things in common with Bill and Hillary Clinton, his political benefactors and close friends. Along with overlapping business, political and social spheres, he shares their history of prodigious Democratic fundraising and financial dealings that have drawn scrutiny.

And now he shares the unwelcome news that the FBI is looking into the propriety of decisions or actions taken in his name.

When you put the word FBI with anything or anyone, the optics arent good, joked John Morgan, a longtime friend and donor to both Clinton and McAuliffe.

Clinton friends and supporters said they are concerned for McAuliffe but not, at this point, for Clinton.

I dont think it has anything to do with Hillary Clinton, McAuliffe said Tuesday, adding that the inquiry also would not hamper his effectiveness as governor.

If you havent done anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about, he told reporters.

The three-decade friendship between McAuliffe and the Clintons has been marked by favors done and received on both sides. McAuliffe is in a position this year to bestow a big one  delivering a key swing state for Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.

What little is known about the FBI investigation into McAuliffe has a familiar ring, with parallels to criticism of Clinton fundraising during Bill Clintons presidency and afterward, through the Clinton Foundation.

Neither the foundation nor the presidential campaign is a target of the probe, an official told The Washington Post on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation.

CNN first reported the inquiry, saying that investigators are looking into a six-figure contribution that Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang made to McAuliffes campaign through his U.S. businesses.

But a federal official told The Post that federal investigators are looking broadly at donations to McAuliffe and at his personal finances.

Attorneys for McAuliffes 2013 gubernatorial campaign carefully reviewed all donations, the governor said.

McAuliffe hosted a fundraiser for Clinton and state Democratic parties at his McLean home last month, and he is helping scramble donors nationwide to help her gird for a bruising general election contest with Republican Donald Trump. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton helped raise money for McAuliffes 2013 campaign in Virginia, a kind of graduation to elected office for a famously energetic Democratic fundraiser and operative who helped elect others.

Morgan, who hosted a big fundraising party for McAuliffe at his Florida home in 2013 and whose law firm donated $107,000 to McAuliffe the same year, said his old friend was fastidious about ensuring that donations to the Democratic National Committee were proper when he served as party chairman.

He predicted that the FBI inquiry would come to naught.

On a scale of one to 10 of things to be worried about, Im at a minus-five on this, he said.

Other Clinton friends and political allies said there is some concern that the inquiry could drag on without resolution, inviting comparisons with the seemingly endless special prosecutor inquiries into various Clinton financial and fundraising operations. Hillary Clinton has dismissed many of those as evidence of Republican political skullduggery.

The McAuliffe probe is being run by a different part of the FBI from the inquiry into whether government secrets were compromised by the private email system Clinton used for her government work at the State Department. She has said she never intentionally sent or received classified information and has predicted the inquiry will show no wrongdoing.

Both inquiries, however, introduce what one Clinton backer called the fear of the unknown into Clintons presidential run.

Nobody wants to wake up on a Monday and find out they are the subject of an FBI investigation, said one longtime Clinton and McAuliffe friend. And nobody wants to have those kinds of questions close to a presidential campaign.

Clinton did not address the McAuliffe matter in campaign remarks Tuesday, and her campaign headquarters had no immediate comment on the development.

The Republican National Committee sent reporters a list of news articles detailing the many layers of personal and professional links between McAuliffe and the Clintons, whose New York house he helped them buy as they left the White House with heavy legal debt in 2001.

Please see a refresher on how closely linked the Virginia governor is to the Clintons and the controversial fundraising practices he stewarded in the 1990s that practically placed a for sale sign on the White House and set a new low for ethics in government, a RNC spokesman wrote.

The Trump campaign has concluded that the email inquiry is a lose-lose proposition for the candidate he now calls Crooked Hillary. Any criminal prosecution would obviously be a blow to her presidential chances. But even if she and close aides are cleared, Republicans can claim a whitewash by a Democratic attorney general.

The federal inquiry includes a period before McAuliffe was elected and when he was serving as an unpaid director for the Clinton Foundation. Wang has also donated to the foundation, giving $2 million.

Many details of the federal probe, including what prompted it, remain unclear, and one official said there is skepticism among prosecutors about whether it will lead to charges.

That official said investigators have been scrutinizing McAuliffes finances  including personal bank records, tax returns and public disclosure forms that date back many years  and are interested in foreign sources of income.

It may concern a $120,000 donation to McAuliffes gubernatorial campaign from West Legend Co., the New Jersey affiliate of Rilin Enterprises, a Chinese firm led by Wang.

Wangs donations attracted interest because he is closely linked to the Chinese government, both as a member of the National Peoples Congress and as a contractor entrusted to build Chinas embassies.

Foreign nationals are prohibited under federal law from making political contributions, except immigrants who hold green cards. An American subsidiary of a foreign corporation cannot contribute campaign funds if it is financed in any way by its parent company or if individual foreign nationals are involved in the decision to make the donation.

But Wang holds U.S. permanent resident status, which makes him eligible to donate to McAuliffes campaign.

Jenna Portnoy in Boyce, Va., Rachel Weiner and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
 The deadline to register for the June 7 Democratic primary here was looming. As people trickled into a Bernie Sanders rally at Santa Monica High School, Josh Ehrhart was chasing the clock  and confronting Sanders supporters reluctant to become Democrats. Ehrhart offered registration forms and pens and assured them it would be harmless and temporary.

Im all about who the candidate is, said Ehrhart, 32, who left the Green Party to vote for Sanders. If Bernie stays in, obviously Ill stay a Democrat. If he signs up to be Hillarys vice president or something like that, Ill stay a Democrat. If not, Ill probably go back to the Green Party.

Little about the 2016 primaries has been predictable, but one exception is Sanderss antiseptic approach to the party whose nomination he is still trying to win. The longest-serving independent member of Congress has declined to officially become a Democrat while insisting the party must change.

He has also built an army of supporters who feel much as he does  that the primary process has been rigged against him and that Democrats care too much about the 1 percent. And even as front-runner Hillary Clinton expects to clinch the nomination on June 7, the squeamishness of these voters threatens her ability to unify the left. It may be her top challenge as she turns toward her general-election battle against Donald Trump.

Asked Monday why he wasnt telling voters to become active Democrats, Sanders pronounced the question esoteric.

1 of 42 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Highlights from Bernie Sanderss campaign, in pictures View Photos The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Caption The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. June 14, 2016 Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

That decision is obviously up to each individual voter, Sanders said. When you have a whole lot of folks in this country who are not happy with the Democratic Party, even less happy with the Republican Party, and for a variety of reasons many people are registering as independents or not affiliated, those people have got to be brought in to the Democratic Party.

That kind of talk thrills Sanders supporters who want a political revolution from the outside. And it vexes those with Clinton, who know they must bring the left together if they are to defeat Trump in November. The dynamic is also frustrating to some liberal activists who see Sanderss movement squandering a chance to effect a revolution from within the party.

Thats one of the places this supposed movement falls short  lots of people who dont want to be sullied from all the supposed corruption in the party but refusing to do the hard work of taking over a party from the inside, said Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos website and a key figure in the liberal Net-roots movement  and a voter in Berkeley.

[All about Calif.: Clinton hopes to avoid clinching nomination with epic loss]

Sanders and his supporters are reveling in an inside-outside game, trying to influence the party while building a force outside it. They have decried the disenfranchisement of independents who have been unable to vote in closed primaries, arguing that they would not just make the party more open but improve it.

[Bernie Sanders asks for recanvass of Kentucky primary vote]

By calling for more open primaries, Sanders is asking Democrats to consider whether a party can even win without allowing in people who have given up on ordinary politics. In polling conducted for the Washington Post and ABC News, both parties are less popular today than they were before the 2008 election. Shortly before they elected Barack Obama, 58 percent of voters said they viewed the Democratic Party favorably and 47 percent said the same of Republicans. Last week, the respective numbers were 48 percent and 36 percent.

At the grass-roots level in California, Sanders supporters operate with the knowledge that Become a Democrat is a flawed pitch. In a pre-deadline registration video, the loofah-haired comedian Reggie Watts told voters they could register as Democrats or no party on whatever glowing rectangle youre obsessed with. Patti Davis, 66, ran a weekend phone bank to nudge non-Democrats to switch parties and found many willing to back Sanders if it didnt mean a long-term commitment. (Those registered as no party can still vote in the primary with a special ballot.)

A lot of people have a feeling that the corruption and the rigged primary system are horrible, Davis said. Each conversations a little different, but with the voters we were talking to, there was a strong sense that party politics isnt working.

Sanderss massive California rallies are full of the skeptics, refuting the idea that independents are looking for a path between left and right. Steve Stokes, an activist who ran as an independent for Congress in 2014, shows up to as many as he can with fliers for his Berniecrat bid for U.S. Senate. Plenty of Sanders supporters bemoan the idea of identifying with a party.

We want to be able to pick individuals, not parties, Laurie Kasparian, 65, said at Sanderss rally in Irvine.

I wish you could vote as a citizen, said Stephen Hughes, 51, who showed up at Sanderss rally in east Los Angeles with registration forms. I lived in Canada for two years, and I think the way they do it there is right, with a lot of choices.

Cornel West, one of Sanderss five appointments to the Democratic National Committees platform panel, has campaigned with likely Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King and former labor secretary Robert Reich, both high-profile Sanders backers, wrote pieces this month suggesting that liberals look outside the Democratic Party once (and if) Donald Trump loses Novembers election.

If Hillary Clinton is elected, I urge you to turn Bernies campaign into a movement  even a third party  to influence elections at the state level in 2018 and the presidency in 2020, Reich, who served under President Bill Clinton, wrote on Facebook this week.

To join or not to join has been an easier question in previous intraparty insurgencies. Jesse Jacksons two presidential bids registered more black voters as Democrats; Howard Deans 2004 bid led to a successful four years atop a growing DNC.

The question of whether to take the Sanders movement elsewhere was debated as long ago as March in the influential socialist magazine Jacobin.

I think the real challenge is turning an electoral movement into a non-electoral movement, said Bhaskar Sunkara, the editor of Jacobin, turning energy not only down-ballot . . . but turning a portion of Sanders supporters into social-movement activists broadly in the networks of the left.

The Democratic Partys establishment, which largely got behind Clinton early last year, has gone back and forth about Sanderss efforts. This years contest, like 2008s, has driven up voter interest and turnout. Both Clinton and Sanders are on track to win more votes than Al Gore or John F. Kerry did in winning their much-less-turbulent primaries. According to one measure, Democratic voter registration in California is up 218 percent from a comparable period in 2012; Republican registration is up 78 percent.

How would I describe myself? Euphoric, said John Burton, the chairman of the California Democratic Party. I cant remember the last time the numbers looked like that.

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said to reporters this week: I think we should just kind of lay off Bernie Sanders a little bit, okay? Hes done I think some really good things. The party has changed during his tenure here. And well see what happens. I think Bernies a good man. He tries to do the right thing. And I think everything will work out well.

Some Democrats worry after seeing similar movements burn then fade. Burton hopes the Sanders movement will avoid the mistakes of the effort that pushed Sen. Eugene McCarthy through the 1968 Democratic primaries.

They got disappointed and stayed home, and we got Richard Nixon, he said.

Tom Hayden, an early leader of Students for a Democratic Society who became a California legislator as a Democrat, said that he saw something worse than 1968 in the Sanders supporters who promised to fight past the primary. He pointed to the furious response of some Sanders backers to Nevadas Democratic convention, where a result that favored Hillary Clinton was described as fraud.

Im taking it for granted that they will do damage, Hayden said. Subconsciously, theyll feel vindicated if Trump is elected president. Theyll take credit if Trump is defeated and cast blame if Trump wins. Theyre already arguing that the primary was rigged, the platforms going to be rigged, the ticket is going to be rigged, everything is going to be rigged, because they cant step out of the rhetoric theyve put out there.

This week, after the Nevada anger subsided somewhat, Sanders made some moves that Democrats liked. On Sunday, he endorsed the Democratic primary challenger to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)  hardly a party unity move but one that telegraphed that his supporters should stay involved with the party. On Tuesday, he backed eight Democrats running for state legislatures across the country. One of them, Californias Jane Kim, had even endorsed Clinton for president.

Lots of us may be skeptical of Sanders himself, especially as he appears to be dead-set on finishing this primary with bitterness and recriminations, Moulitsas said. But if this is about harnessing that power to get more progressive Democrats elected at other levels of government? Im ready to sign up.

Mike DeBonis in Washington contributed to this report.
The brutal slaying of an Okinawa woman, allegedly by a U.S. military contractor, dominated a meeting between the American and Japanese leaders Wednesday night, with President Obama expressing his deepest regrets to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the tragedy.

The killing has reignited outrage in the southern island prefecture over the large American military presence there, with thousands of people protesting Wednesday outside the U.S. Air Force base where the contractor worked.

This is an unforgivable crime, and I have expressed our anger. It has shocked not just the Okinawa people but also all the people of Japan, Abe told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Obama in Ise-Shima, ahead of the Group of Seven summit that begins Thursday. The Okinawa case took up most of the time, Abe said.

Okinawa police last week arrested Kenneth Shinzato, a 32-year-old former U.S. Marine, in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro. Shinzato was working as a computer and electrical contractor on Kadena Air Base.

The body of Shimabukuro, who disappeared April 28, was found last week in a forest in the village of Onna, near where Shinzato told police they would find her.

Okinawa residents protest the murder of 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro in front of the gate of Camp Foster in Kitanakagusu, Okinawa prefecture, on Sunday. (Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images)

She appeared to have been stabbed and strangled, according to local news reports.

Shinzato, born Kenneth Franklin Gadson, took his wifes name when he married. He has been charged with abandoning a body, a step that is often a precursor to a murder charge in Japan.

[In Okinawa, protesters dig in as work proceeds to relocate U.S. Marine base]

Using surprisingly strong language, the Japanese prime minister said he felt profound resentment at the self-centered and absolutely despicable crime.

I have asked the president to carry out effective measures to prevent a recurrence of such crimes, Abe said, a solemn-faced Obama standing beside him.

The murder threatened to dampen some of the high spirits among the Japanese public in anticipation of Obamas historic stop in Hiroshima on Friday. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site where the United States dropped the worlds first atomic bomb in 1945. Administration officials said the visit will highlight the deep postwar alliance between the two nations.

On his trip to Asia, including three days in Vietnam, Obama has sought to move beyond past grievances from long-ago conflicts, promising to look to the future when he makes remarks at Hiroshimas 30-acre Peace Memorial Park. Last week, Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae told reporters in Washington that the killing in Okinawa was a shocking atrocity and that the Japanese government expressed its outrage to the Obama administration.

1 of 51 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What Obama is doing on his historic Asia trip View Photos The president attended a town hall with Vietnamese youths in Ho Chi Minh City after meetings with his counterpart in Hanoi. Caption The president arrived in Japan for the Group of Seven summit, where the leaders of the seven advanced economies are meeting for two days. Obama also visited Hiroshima, the Japanese city where the United States dropped an atomic bomb in 1945. May 27, 2016 President Obama hugs atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori as he visits Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Carlos Barria/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue.

But Sasae was careful to separate the crime from Obamas trip to Hiroshima, where the president will be joined by Abe.

I dont think this should be affecting the presidents visit to Hiroshima, Sasae said. We have to address this [Okinawa] question . . . but it doesnt mean that issue should be affecting in any way the meaning of the American president visiting Hiroshima.

Anti-American sentiment was already running high in Okinawa, with sizable opposition to attempts to relocate a Marine Corps base to a new site on the island. The killing would create a new tough and challenging road ahead, Abe said.

At the news conference, Obama said he understood that the incident has shaken up people in Okinawa and across Japan.

I want to emphasize that the United States is appalled by any violent crime that may have occurred or been carried out by any U.S personnel or U.S. contractors, the president said. He called the slaying inexcusable.

Echoing Abes words, Obama said the United States is committed to doing everything we can to prevent any crimes from taking place of this sort. He suggested that Shinzato, who is in Japanese custody on Okinawa, would be tried under Japans justice system, even though he is covered by the Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, that provides the legal framework for the U.S. military presence in Japan.

Obama said the SOFA did not prevent the full prosecution and the need for justice under the Japanese legal system.

We will be fully cooperating with the Japanese legal system in prosecuting this individual and making sure that justice is served, he said. We want to see a crime like this prosecuted here in the same way that we would feel horrified and want to provide a sense of justice to a victims family back in the United States.

[Protest voices: Okinawans have been treated like we are disposable for too long]

The somber nature of the news conference, held just hours after Obama landed in Japan, stood in stark contrast to the presidents visit to Vietnam, where he was feted by the leaders of the ruling Communist Party.

The slaying is stirring up memories of an incident in 1995, in which three U.S. servicemen abducted and raped a 12-year-old Okinawa girl. The case triggered huge protests and became a lightning rod for anti-American sentiment on the island chain.

About 4,000 people from citizens groups and politicians from the ruling party in the Okinawa prefectural assembly protested Wednesday near the Kadena base.

Fifield reported from Tokyo.

Okinawa governor revokes permit for construction of new U.S. Marine base

Okinawa governor prepares to take his anti-base message to Washington

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Yang Jiang, a prolific Chinese writer and translator who was the widow of Qian Zhongshu, an acclaimed novelist, died May 25 at a hospital in Beijing. She was 104.

A state-owned news website, the Paper, said her death had been confirmed by her publisher, the Peoples Literature Publishing House. The cause was not disclosed.

Ms. Yang was known for her fiction, plays, essays and nonfiction. She was the first person to translate Don Quixote into Chinese, and she also translated another European classic, Gil Blas, as well as other literary works.

In the 1960s, during Maos Cultural Revolution, she and her husband were sent to a remote part of China, where they lived for years in a single room while performing hard labor as an act of reeducation. They were denied access to books.

Ms. Yangs poignant 1981 memoir, A Cadre School Life: Six Chapters, described the life she and her husband led during their years of internal exile.

Her 1988 novel, Baptism, described how Chinese intellectuals adjusted to the changing world brought by Mao Zedongs communist revolution of the 1940s. It was on the same theme as her husbands best-known work, Fortress Besieged (1949).

She and her husband studied in Britain in the 1930s and often spoke French and English to each other throughout their lives in China. After Qians death in 1998, Ms. Yang embarked on the task of compiling and editing her husbands unpublished works and remained prolific herself.

Her 2003 essay collection We Three, about her family life with her late husband and their daughter, who died in 1997, was a bestseller.

Ms. Yang was born July 17, 1911, in Beijing and was educated at Chinese universities and, during the 1930s, attended the University of Oxford in Britain with her husband. She was a playwright based in occupied Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s and published a collection of essays, Written in the Margins of Life, in 1941.

Later, she taught for many years at Beijings Tsinghua University until retiring in the 1980s.

Late in life, she was remarkably prolific, publishing a series of memoirs and essays, including the reflective Arriving at the Margins of Life in 2007.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Gil Blas as a Spanish literary classic. It is French.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a two-day retreat of the German government in Meseberg north of Berlin, Germany, on May 24. (Michael Sohn/AP)

Chancellor Angela Merkels cabinet Wednesday backed a plan seeking to better integrate migrants, virtually assuring that Germany will move ahead with efforts designed to stop the creation of ethnic ghettos and compel refugees to learn German and European values.

The plan reflects wider questions across Europe on how to assimilate the huge flow of migrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East and beyond that overwhelmed the continent last year and continues despite attempts to curb the exodus.

Germany has become a key test: the nation handling the largest number of migrants and a center for debates over how to balance the needs of the new arrivals while safeguarding Western traditions and culture.

The carrot-and-stick approach backed by Merkels ruling coalition is almost assured passage in Parliament this summer.

[Italy again the main migrant path to Europe]

Right-wing protesters demonstrate against refugees, Islam and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in front of the chancellery in Berlin on May 7. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

The law creates new economic opportunities for migrants to find work while robbing benefits from those who fail to comply. Merkel hailed it as a milestone.

We are a country that makes a good offer to those who come to us, to those who are fleeing war, persecution, terrorism, she said. But were also saying very clearly  because we have learned from the past when we did not provide these integration opportunities  that were also expecting people to accept this offer.

Although the migrant waves have slowed dramatically following European steps to block sea and land routes, Germany still faces the prospect of managing and integrating more than 1 million newcomers.

[In Switzerland, showdown over Muslims snubbing teacher handshakes]

The most contentious aspect of the bill is the bid by the government to prevent the rise of new and larger ghettos in big cities across Germany.

In places such as Berlin and Hamburg, waves of guest workers from Turkey settled down in the 1960s and 1970s, with many of them living and working in largely Muslim neighborhoods that critics say became isolated from mainstream German life.

Under the new plan, refugees would be compelled to stay at least three years in the municipalities they were first assigned when arriving in Germany unless they have a clear job offer elsewhere. That could leave many migrants stranded in small towns and villages far away from the urban neighborhoods where refugees have tended to find easier prospects for jobs and community ties.

[Migrants sent back across same sea they risked everything to cross]

Critics say the measure fails to recognize that such communities offer a soft landing for migrants, providing the chance to socialize with people who speak their own language and share their religious faiths.

But the government counters that the new law will create employment for migrants in places across Germany by subsidizing the creation of 100,000 new jobs. These positions  such as maintaining public parks and aiding the elderly  will be paid at an exceedingly low rate of less than one euro per hour. But Labor Minister Andrea Nahles on Wednesday called them an alternative to doing nothing. Refugees can also face government benefits cuts if they are found not to be seriously looking for work.

At the same time, the law will make it easier for private employers across Germany to hire refugees, meaning the newcomers could enjoy more economic prospects even in small- and medium-sized communities offering a better chance to assimilate into mainstream German life.

[Anti-immigrant group opposed chocolate package. Now it has egg on face.]

This is the first time in Germany  and I think we are also the pioneers in Europe  that certain obligations are laid down in law, said Jens Spahn, a member of Parliament from Merkels center-right Christian Democratic Union. Yes, we are helping, but we are expecting something in return.

At the same time, refugees would also face the prospect of new penalties for failing to attend language and integration courses.

Spahn argued it was an essential change, since many of the migrants were coming from countries where there are big cultural differences when it comes to the division of religion and state, the equality of women and attitudes towards gays and Jews, as well as the use of violence when solving conflict.

The move to penalize non-participation appeared particularly aimed at those from more conservative Muslim countries. Germans reacted with outrage following a string of incidents on New Years Eve, when suspects including migrants allegedly engaged in large-scale sexual harassment and sexual assault of women.

Among other things, it prompted an outcry from critics who claimed Germany was taking in masses of migrants without a serious plan on how to integrate them. Under the new measure, refugees failing to take integration classes would not be deported. But they would risk losing a portion of their government benefits and could complicate their bids for permanent residency.

We dont want parallel societies, we dont want ghettos, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday.

Critics, however, called it the wrong approach.

What conservative politicians say is that the refugees have to learn our Christian values, our European values, said Bernward Ostrop, an expert on asylum at the Berlin office of the Catholic charity Caritas.

But, he added, it is better to encourage them to learn than to demand that they learn.

Read more

Germany learns how to send back migrants: Pay them

New plan for migrants draws scorn as Germanys Merkel struggles for unity

Germany welcomed more than 1 million refugees. Now, the country is searching for its soul.

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Russia and Ukraine completed a high-level prisoner swap Wednesday, trading a Ukrainian helicopter pilot dubbed the countrys Joan of Arc for two Russian servicemen accused of being members of Russian military intelligence.

The deal resolved a major dispute between the two countries, but it also reflected other deep tensions that include Russias annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and an ongoing battle against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

I survived, the pilot, Lt. Nadiya Savchenko, said on the tarmac in Ukraines capital, Kiev. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with her at the presidential administration building, where he basked in a rare political victory.

We will return Crimea and Donbas under Ukrainian sovereignty, just as we have returned Nadia, he said, referring to the Crimean Peninsula and to the Donbas region of east Ukraine, which is under the control of pro-Russian separatists.

Savchenko arrived in Kiev as the Russians, who were pardoned Wednesday by Poroshenko, arrived in Moscow. They were met by their wives and declined to speak publicly to Russian state journalists on the tarmac.

Russian soldiers Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev, left, and Sgt. Alexander Alexandrov, in a Ukraine court in January. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AP)

[Ukrainians rally behind countrys Joan of Arc]

Savchenko and the two Russians, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sgt. Alexander Alexandrov, were captured during fighting in southeast Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have carved out an unrecognized self-proclaimed state after two years of war with Kiev.

Ukrainian officials said that the two Russians were proof that Moscow was managing the conflict in southeast Ukraine and continuing to send men and materiel to destabilize the new government. In Russia, Savchenko was portrayed as a nationalist and convicted of abetting the murder of two Russian journalists killed in a mortar strike.

Expected to be used as bargaining chips, all three were given lengthy prison sentences. A Russian court gave Savchenko 22 years on murder charges, while the Russians were sentenced in April by a Kiev court to 14 years in prison each on terrorism and weapons charges.

Western officials, including Secretary of State John F. Kerry, had lobbied Moscow for Savchenkos release, calling her a political prisoner. Russia, which disavowed any formal connection to Yerofeyev and Alexandrov and said they had joined the separatists to fight as volunteers, also criticized their convictions. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin also pardoned Savchenko in an official decree.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in televised statements that Putin had no plans to meet with Yerofeyev and Alexandrov, but that he had met with the parents of two journalists killed in the artillery strike that Savchenko was convicted of orchestrating. The families of the deceased journalists personally requested that Putin pardon Savchenko, Peskov said.

Putin was later shown thanking two women from the families for their humanitarian position on television in a meeting in Moscow that was attended by Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who Putin said played the role of mediator in the exchange.

[Clinton quietly backed jailed pilot]

Mark Feygin, an attorney for Savchenko, wrote on Facebook: Two years ago I promised Ukrainians I would do everything possible to free Nadiya. I am able keep my word. She is on the way home to Ukraine.

Savchenko, a former Ukrainian helicopter pilot who fought in the Iraq War and later joined a pro-Ukrainian paramilitary battalion, was captured in June 2014 by separatist fighters during a battle near the village of Metalist in southeast Ukraine. Three weeks later, she reappeared in Russian custody, where she was charged with directing artillery fire that killed the two Russian journalists during the fighting.

Savchenko said that she was kidnapped and taken across the border, while Russian prosecutors said she had sneaked across the border by pretending to be a refugee and was later arrested.

Her case became a cause celebre in Kiev, where she was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine and elected as a member of parliament despite being in Russian custody.

The two Russians, Yerofeyev and Alexandrov, were wounded and captured by the Ukrainian army in fighting near the government-held city of Schastya in May 2015.

The Ukrainian government claimed that the two men were members of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Russias military intelligence agency, and said their capture was proof that Russia had continued supplying men and weapons to the pro-Russian separatists.

Russias Defense Ministry said the two had quit the military recently and were serving as volunteers with rebel militias.

Read more:

China makes friends in Ukraine

Crimeas complicated identity crisis

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned during a news conference on Tuesday in Istanbul that the Turkish parliament would block the landmark migrants deal with Europe if Ankara was not granted its key demand of visa-free travel. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

Growing tensions between Europe and Turkey over elements of a deal to end the refugee crisis are raising fears that the accord, signed by the two sides in March, may already be on the verge of collapse.

The latest sign of trouble came this week when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned European leaders that he would block the deal if the European Union refused to lift visa restrictions for Turks  one of the pacts key provisions. He said that Turkey would not take any more steps to implement the agreement.

E.U. lawmakers have said Turkey must enact political reforms before they grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens on the continent. Under the deal, Turkey also agreed to accept the return of asylum seekers whose applications are rejected in Greece and to crack down on the smuggling networks that facilitated much of the migration.

But even as Turkish and European leaders publicly spar over the details, critics have warned that the deal  hastily negotiated in the midst of the refugee crisis last year  has been flawed from the start. The agreement is based on the premise that Turkey, which hosts more than 2 million Syrian refugees, is safe for asylum seekers and that returning migrants to Turkish territory does not violate European or international law.

But some of the first deportations under the deal have already exposed abuses by Turkeys government, and Turkish authorities have forcibly returned refugees fleeing war in Afghanistan and Syria, rights groups and E.U. lawmakers say. Last week, a Greek tribunal ruled that a Syrian national who had appealed his deportation from Europe could stay on the island of Lesbos. The court said there is no guarantee refugees will be provided full protection in Turkey.

This decision goes to the heart of why the E.U.-Turkey deal was so deeply flawed to begin with, Gauri van Gulik, deputy Europe director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

Turkey signed the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention  which forbids returning a person in any manner whatsoever to a place where his life or freedom would be threatened  but limited its commitments to refugees fleeing events occurring in Europe. Under the E.U. deal, however, refugees who have fled war in the Middle East and beyond should still be granted the right to apply for asylum in Turkey.

Turkey is not safe for refugees, van Gulik said. Nobody else should be sent back under this deal.

More than 1 million refugees and migrants reached European shores in 2015 in one of the largest mass migration movements since World War II. The conflicts raging in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have together displaced millions. And citizens of those three countries made up the bulk of asylum seekers in Europe last year, according to E.U. figures.

But as Germany and others opened their doors to refugees fleeing war, European leaders faced political backlash for what many in Europe saw as a growing and unmanageable crisis. With an average of 5,000 refugees and migrants arriving in Greece each day, according to the U.N. refugee agency, Europe scrambled to stem the flow.

Most of the refugees had crossed the sea from Turkey to Greece to get to Europe, and E.U. leaders needed to strike a deal with the Turkish government. European officials saw Turkey as the best hope for curbing migration, despite its increasingly repressive policies, experts said.

The E.U. offered more than $6 billion in funds to help Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, cope with its refugee population. And policymakers agreed that for every Syrian returned to Turkey under the E.U. deal, another Syrian refugee already residing in Turkey would be resettled to Europe.

But this was not a deal that was made on the basis of mutual trust. It feels very political, and it was always going to be fragile, said Elizabeth Collett, director of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute Europe.

The people being returned [to Turkey]  they have no legal support, theyre in detention, theyre being kept in poor living conditions, Collett said.

Of the roughly 8,500 refugees and migrants who have arrived in Greece since the deal went into effect March 20, fewer than 400 have been returned to Turkey, according to the Greek government.

The management of the deal is inadequate . . . and the Greek government is reluctant to send anyone back who might have vulnerability, Collett said. The challenge now is predicting whether or not [the deal] will unravel.

Colletts concerns were echoed in a report released this month by a European parliamentary delegation that visited detention facilities in Turkey. The report, whose findings were based on a visit in early May, said that no one they interviewed was given the opportunity to ask for asylum, that access to a lawyer is nearly impossible and that the deportees were kept in prison-style detention.

Deporting refugees to a place where they face such conditions is a disgrace, said Cornelia Ernst, a European lawmaker from Germany, according to the report. I cannot see how an agreement such as the E.U.-Turkey deal . . . can be legitimate or legal in any way.

In Turkey, pro-government newspapers churn out anti-E.U. columns on a near-daily basis, calling on Erdogan to spurn a hypocritical Europe.

The deal isnt on hold, a senior Turkish official said this week. He spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with government protocol. Turkey maintains an open-door policy toward refugees, he said.

Read more

E.U. strikes deal to return new migrants to Turkey

U.N. slams Turkey for alarming reports of human rights abuses

For Syrians stuck in southern Turkey, few options except to suffer

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Oulfa Hamrounni reads the Koran with daughters Taysin and Aya. Her older daughters, Rahma and Ghofran, are held by a Libyan militia, which captured them after they had joined the Islamic State and married fighters who were later killed. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

In a small box in her bedroom, Oulfa Hamrounni keeps the photo she treasures most. It shows one of her daughters, brown hair flowing, a smile on her round face. The photo was taken before the girl and her sister left home to join the Islamic States affiliate in Libya.

Today, Hamrounni is struggling to bring her teenage daughters back to Tunisia. Shes also trying to prevent two others from joining them.

I am afraid for my younger daughters, she said. They still have the same ideology of my older daughters.

The younger ones are 11 and 13.

Hundreds of foreign female Islamist militants, including many Westerners, have journeyed to the battlegrounds of Syria and Iraq to begin new lives under the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Now, there are signs that they are being encouraged to travel to Libya as well, signifying a shift in the strategy of the terrorist network as it faces growing threats and constraints to its operations in the Middle East.

Before she and her sister became radicalized, Rahma played the guitar. She and Ghofran often wore T-shirts and mingled with boys in cafes, and neither wore headscarves, their mother said. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

[How a British citizen became one of the most notorious members of ISIS]

Most radicalized women and girls join the Islamic State to marry fighters and bear their children, which helps the groups arm in Libya build a state, mirroring the strategy in Syria, experts who monitor jihadist activity have said. The creation of family structures deepens the Islamic States reach and ideology in its territory, which makes it more difficult for Western and regional governments to eradicate the militants and defuse their threat in North Africa.

Official propaganda showcases Libya as the new frontier of the self-proclaimed caliphate, said Melanie Smith, a researcher with the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which focuses on violent extremism. Hence the encouragement of foreign females signifies a need to consolidate the land they have managed to acquire.

When he announced the caliphate in 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi specifically invited women alongside male engineers, doctors, lawyers and architects, signifying that the womens primary responsibility is to physically build and populate territory, Smith said. As wives, their role is to be dutiful and obedient to their militant husbands. As mothers, they nurture the next generation of fighters. Some women also have combat duties.

[The Islamic States horrifying practice of sex slavery, explained]

Rahma, 17, became the wife of Noureddine Chouchane, a senior Tunisian Islamic State commander thought to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike on the Libyan city of Sabratha on Feb 19. Her 18-year-old sister, Ghofran, was married to an Islamic State militant who was killed after the attack. Six months ago, she gave birth.

Both sisters are now in the custody of an anti-Islamic State militia in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

On a recent day, their mother sat in her small rented house in Mornag, a gritty town 15 miles south of Tunis. In front of her was the photo of Rahma.

They used to be the opposite of this, she said in a low, resigned voice.

From T-shirts to niqabs

The sisters loved hard-rock music.

Rahma played the guitar. She and Ghofran often wore T-shirts and mingled with boys in cafes. They eschewed the headscarves favored by many Muslim women, their mother said.

But their family life was troubled. Their father struggled to find work and often came home drunk, Hamrounni said. In 2011, the couple divorced, and he disappeared.

By then, Tunisia was in the midst of its Arab Spring revolution. With the toppling of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and the new openness that followed, religious extremists made inroads with disaffected youths frustrated by the lack of jobs and opportunities. One group set up an Islamic education camp across the street from Hamrounnis home in the central city of Sousse.

From a loudspeaker, the imam implored young people to give up their Western influences, warning of catastrophic consequences.

First Ghofran joined the camp, then Rahma.

I was happy that my daughters were respecting Islam, Hamrounni recalled.

They began wearing the niqab  a black veil with an opening for the eyes. They stopped watching television, save for religious programs. They avoided shaking hands with males. They urged their two younger sisters to leave school because it was secular and taught by nonbelievers.

One day, Rahma threw her guitar and CDs into the trash. Western music was now taboo. On another day, the sisters tossed out their hard-rock T-shirts. They burned pictures of themselves playing music, the ones with their faces uncovered.

All except the photo their mother keeps in her box.

By then, I had lost control

More than 700 Tunisian women have joined the Islamic State and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq, according to the nations Ministry of Women. Badra Gaaloul, a researcher with the Tunis-based International Center of Strategic, Security and Military Studies, estimates that there are more than 1,000 female foreign Islamist militants in Libya, including 300 Tunisians. Others are from Sudan, Syria, Egypt and Morocco, as well as Western European nations.

[Are female foreign militants victims or criminals?]

They serve as wives, mothers, as religious instructors to teach the laws of the Islamic State, Gaaloul said. They also police areas and train to be fighters and suicide bombers.

Researchers are noticing efforts on social media to lure more female militants to the Libyan coastal city of Sirte, which the Islamic State seized in the chaos that has followed the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi in October 2011. In tweets, monitored last fall by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, female jihadists urged followers to head to Libya, noting that routes from Turkey into Syria were blocked.

How many brothers & sisters rn in Turkey cannot go back home, and cannot enter in . . . Make your visa and go to #IS in #Libya, wrote an extremist named Zawjah Shahid, Arabic for martyrs wife.

By 2014, Rahma and Ghofran were attending ceremonies celebrating the martyrdom of Tunisian jihadists killed in Syria. Through social media and websites, they learned about the armed groups fighting there. They put black Islamic State flags in their bedrooms.

By then, I had lost control of my daughters, Hamrounni said.

They also began to radicalize their younger sisters, Taysin and Aya. They bought a toy Kalashnikov rifle and showed them how to operate it. They showed them videos of how the Islamic State trains children to use weapons.

[One woman helped the mastermind of the Paris attacks. The other turned him in.]

We used to watch how they taught children to become snipers, said 11-year-old Taysin.

They always told me to join ISIS and go into the field and fight, said 13-year-old Aya.

In late 2014, Hamrounni crossed the border with her family to the Libyan city of Zawiyah to find work. The wars violence had not reached there.

Within weeks, Ghofran had fled the house. Two days later, the family returned to Tunisia. Hamrounni restricted Rahmas movements, but that didnt stop her aspirations.

Last summer, she vanished, too.

We have to fight

In Libya, while her sister was the dutiful wife of a militant, Rahma trained in weapons. Her mother thinks she was in Sabratha with other Tunisian extremists to launch an attack in the country. After the U.S. airstrike, the sisters were captured.

In a phone interview, Ahmed Omran, a spokesman for the Libyan militia, acknowledged that the girls were in its custody but declined to comment further.

Hamrounni has appeared on national television, chastising the Tunisian government for not doing more to get her daughters released, even though she is aware they would be thrown in jail. Tunisias Interior Ministry did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Hamrounni no longer allows her two younger daughters to access Facebook. She doesnt let them speak to their older sisters the rare times they call.

I am not with the Islamic State now, said Taysin, a precocious girl dressed in pink with a black headscarf.

But as the conversation flowed, it became apparent that she still felt some sympathy for the militants ideology.

The nonbelievers, they have to be killed, Taysin said. The nonbelievers are trying to beat Islam. We have to fight them.

Next to her, a doll lay on a shelf. Taysin had named her Rahma.

When asked how she felt about her older sisters joining the Islamic State in Libya, she answered, They did the right thing.

Read more:

Islamic State, growing stronger in Libya, sets its sights on fragile neighbor Tunisia

The war against the Islamic State hits hurdles just as the U.S. military gears up

How the Syrian revolt went so horribly, tragically wrong
Marcel Lazar Lehel is escorted by policemen in Bucharest, Romania, after his arrest in 2014. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday to aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer. (Reuters)

The Romanian hacker whose cyber-mischief first revealed that Hillary Clinton used a private email address while she was secretary of state pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer, admitting that he was responsible for a series of high-profile intrusions.

As a part of his plea, Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, said that he victimized nearly 100 Americans from his home overseas, often by correctly guessing their passwords or the answers to their security questions.

[Hacker accused of exposing Bush paintings appears in U.S. court]

His targets included former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, family members of former president George W. Bush and a host of celebrities, and Lazars aim seemed to be to cause embarrassment. Lazar admitted in his plea that he often turned over his victims private correspondence to media outlets, affixing the materials with the moniker Guccifer to mark his handiwork.

In one instance, that correspondence included paintings by Bush, including apparent self-portraits in the shower and bath.

In U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., Lazar, in a green jail jumpsuit, said little, offering only short confirmations that he was pleading guilty voluntarily and that he knew the rights he was giving up.

Theyre all accurate, he said after federal prosecutor Ryan Dickey read a summary of the facts to which Lazar admitted.

According to Lazars plea agreement, he faces at least two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge and as many as five years more for unauthorized access to a protected computer.

Federal investigators have no evidence to suggest that Lazar accessed Clintons email address  despite his claim in a recent Fox News interview that he had done so  though he admitted as a part of his plea that he successfully broke into the account of Sidney Blumenthal, one of President Bill Clintons former aides. It was after Lazar released notes from Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton that Gawker noticed the correspondence was directed to a private, nongovernmental email account. The New York Times later reported that Clinton exclusively used a personal account to conduct government business.

Lazar was charged in the United States in 2014 and extradited to Alexandria this year. He had been serving a sentence in Romania for hacking the personal accounts of various Romanians, including the then-director of the Romanian Intelligence Service.

In a wide-ranging, in-prison interview with journalist Matei Rosca last year, Lazar said he welcomed extradition to the United States and added, Ill plead guilty, no problem.

Read more:
A Russian Tu-22M3 bomber at the Kubinka air base outside Moscow on Saturday. The Russian military has used the long-range bombers during its air campaign in Syria. (Vladimir Isachenkov/AP)

In an unusual announcement Wednesday, Russia said it would halt air raids against Syrias al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, to give other rebel factions a chance to distance themselves from the extremist group.

The move comes less than a week after Moscow proposed conducting joint airstrikes in Syria with a U.S.-led coalition that is attacking the Islamic State militant group there. U.S. officials have rejected that idea, even as coordination with Russia over a partial truce in the country apparently has increased.

Russian news agencies carried a vague statement attributed to Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, declaring that unidentified Syrian opposition groups had asked Moscow to suspend attacks.

It said the rebel factions, including in Damascus and Aleppo, agreed to stop provocative shelling of government targets. In return, the statement said, Russia would suspend airstrikes for an unspecified period to allow the groups to separate from Jabhat al-Nusra.

[Obama outlines plans to expand U.S. Special Operations forces in Syria]

Jabhat al-Nusra is not party to the truce, but rebel forces that are, including U.S.-backed groups, have coordinated with it during attacks on government positions.

Rebel fighters contacted by telephone, however, denied any communication with Russia, which began a campaign of airstrikes last fall on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russian warplanes have dealt crippling blows to opposition forces.

Since taking hold in February, the cease-fire brokered by Russia and the United States has all but collapsed, with many Assad opponents blaming continued assaults by pro-government forces.

The Russian statement is totally inaccurate, said Qutaiba al-Dughaim, a fighter with the Northern Division rebel group. None of the rebels in northern Syria have any contact with the Russians.

He said the Russian announcement was an attempt to further divide Syrias fractured opposition.

[Airstrike destroys Syrian hospital amid fears of catastrophic turn in fighting]

Rebel fighters have been alarmed by signs of growing U.S. coordination with Russia even though Washington and Moscow disagree on Assads fate. U.S. officials say the interaction involves video conferences limited to flight safety. Currently, both countries target the Islamic State independently.

Rebel groups say the United States is more interested in fighting the extremist group than backing them against Assads forces. They fear that the United States will bend to Russian demands, leaving Assad in power in the hope of joint operations against the Islamic State.

Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, on Monday dismissed the possibility of military cooperation with Russia. U.S. officials have been discussing with Moscow proposals for sustainable mechanisms to better monitor and enforce the cease-fire, he said. Were not looking at joint operations.

The Russian announcement Wednesday could be related to the issue of labeling terrorist groups, a major point of contention in holding the truce together. Despite Russian requests, the United States has rejected applying the terrorist designation to Ahrar al-Sham, an anti-Assad Islamist group allied with Jabhat al-Nusra.

Syrian state media blamed Ahrar al-Sham for suicide bombings in pro-government coastal areas Monday that killed more than 100 people. Ahrar al-Sham denied responsibility for the attacks, which were later claimed by the Islamic State.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Read more:

Russians mark Islamic State ouster from ancient Syrian site

Under strain, Islamic States strikes back in Baghdad

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is in retreat on multiple fronts

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
A photo released by the Taliban shows the groups new supreme commander, Haibatullah Akhundzada, successor to slain leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. (Afghan Taliban/European Pressphoto Agency)

Just days after a U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Taliban, the insurgent group named his successor Wednesday in a move that appeared to signal a blow to peace efforts

by Afghanistans Western-allied government.

Haibatullah Akhundzada, a cleric and once the Talibans top judge, was a deputy under Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was killed in Pakistans Baluchistan province on Saturday.

Akhundzadas appointment could strengthen the group by easing infighting among Taliban factions, but it appeared to undercut Afghan and U.S. hopes that a new leader could be more receptive to peace negotiations to end the groups nearly 15-year-long insurgency.

In an audio recording released Wednesday by the Taliban, Akhundzada vowed never to bow down to the groups enemies and said Mansours loss will inspire the insurgency to fight even harder.

[Afghanistans chief executive says Mansours death is blow to Taliban]

Afghan security officials inspect a vehicle that was hit by a suicide bomber in Kabul. The blast killed 11 people. (Hedayatullah Amid/European Pressphoto Agency)

Hours earlier, a Taliban suicide bomber struck in a suburb of the capital, Kabul, killing 11 government employees on their way to work.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the attack was vengeance for the hanging of six Taliban prisoners outside Kabul this month.

Akhundzada had earlier served as the Talibans military chief in several Afghan provinces, where he and fellow top deputy Sirajuddin Haqqani orchestrated attacks against government troops and rival Taliban factions that have killed scores in recent months.

Haqqani and Mohammad Yaqoob  the eldest son of Taliban founding leader Mohammad Omar  will serve as Akhundzadas top deputies, the group said in a statement that also announced a three-day period of mourning for Mansour.

Akhundzada, who has been described by those who know him as quiet and humble, is considered a centrist and may be able to woo back the breakaway factions that have roiled the insurgency since Omars death was made public last year.

Under Mansour, a largely absent leader in recent months, the Taliban splintered into factions that warred against one another in Afghanistans southwestern provinces nearly as much as they fought against government and U.S. forces.

[U.S. airstrike against Taliban leader cross Pakistani red line]

Footage purports to show the aftermath of a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan that is thought to have killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour on May 21. (Zahid Gishkori)

Some analysts think Akhundzada, who had close ties to Omar, can bring those factions back into the fold and strengthen the movement. Akhundzada also may offer

a counterbalance to Haqqani  an increasingly dominant presence in the Taliban who is thought to be behind a spate of suicide bombings, including one in Kabul last month that killed at least 64 people.

Akhundzada is someone who does not make hasty decisions, said Mohammad Qalamuddin, a former Taliban minister based in Kabul.

Akhundzada served as a senior judicial official during the Talibans 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, fleeing to Pakistan after the Taliban regime fell.

He spent most of his time teaching in madrassas, Islamic religious schools, in Baluchistan until Mansour  then the groups newly anointed leader  named him a top deputy last year.

Afghan officials responded to the news of Akhundzadas appointment by repeating an invitation to reopen peace negotiations  and making a thinly veiled threat.

We invite Mullah Haibatullah to peace, Javid Faisal, a spokesman for Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, said on Twitter. Political settlement is the only option for Taliban or new leadership will face the fate of Mansour.

Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network in Kabul, said that although Akhundzada is known to be a hard-line cleric, he eventually may be more willing to reopen peace talks  an idea that Mansour had opposed.

At the same time, the Taliban may feel it needs to project strength after the drone strike that killed Mansour, Ruttig said.

Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political analyst in Islamabad, Pakistan, said Akhundzadas rise may be viewed as acceptable by Taliban leaders because it could be construed as a transitional arrangement until Yaqoob is old enough to take over.

Yaqoob, 24, recently graduated from a madrassa and has not been deeply involved in his fathers movement.

The foremost challenge for the new Taliban leader would be to consolidate his position and power, Rizvi said, noting that Mansour had a tough time, immediately facing division in the ranks when he took over last year.

All his attention would be on that objective, and he should be least bothered or interested in peace talks, et cetera, Rizvi said.

Atiqullah Amarkhel, a Kabul-based military analyst, predicted that Akhundzada  guided by Haqqani  will step up attacks in the coming weeks to prove his mettle.

But Afghan security forces should not let the new Taliban leader show he is a strong leader from the beginning, he said.

The fatal drone strike, meanwhile, has stirred resentment in Pakistan, where Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said it will have very serious implications for Pakistan-U.S. relations.

No country can allow that its sovereignty be violated in such a way, Khan said during a news conference Tuesday night in Islamabad, adding that U.S. officials notified Pakistani officials about the strike seven hours after it happened.

Sayed Salahuddin and Mohammad Sharif in Kabul and Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Read more

U.S. strikes top Taliban leader in Pakistan

Taliban strikes in heart of Kabul in deadly attack on elite agency

U.S. troops are back in restive Afghan province, a year after withdrawal

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Mexican nationals deported from the U.S. protest by graffitiing over an image of likely Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on a section of the border fence between Mexico and the United States, on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico, May 10, 2016. (Stringer/Reuters)

To save time, Adriana Zavala would take a shortcut down an empty lane on the way to school, until the afternoon last September when the tattooed Salvadoran gangsters blocked her way.

The threats she began receiving that day  sell our drugs to your classmates or well rape you  propelled the teenager, her father and 13-year-old sister to begin a five-month odyssey from El Salvador that has ended, for now, in this Texas town. They are among thousands of migrants arriving at the U.S. border in what authorities fear could be another surge of Central American families.

In my country, theyre going to kill me. And I cant die right now. There are so many things I want to do, said Zavala, a 17-year-old who wants to be a chef and take singing classes.

On the U.S. campaign trail, illegal immigration is a hot-button topic, with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, vowing to build a 1,000-mile border wall. But along this stretch of Texas border, where migrants climb over and walk around existing fencing, such proposed solutions tend to draw scorn, even from Trump fans. And the politicians tough talk, people here say, might actually be attracting more migrants.

[Mexico is adopting a new strategy: Standing up to Donald Trump]

Children play at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church shelter in McAllen, Tex. (Josh Partlow/The Washington Post)

Although the overall number of migrants apprehended along the border this year has not yet reached the proportions of the 2014 flood of Central Americans, some believe that could happen, with a summer surge before the presidential election in November.

Were definitely on track to catch up to it, which is not a good thing, said Chris Cabrera, a Border Patrol agent and union representative here. The political climate has a lot to do with it.

The upcoming presidential election marks a fork in the road for U.S. immigration policy: A Democratic victory could lead to more unauthorized immigrants getting permits to work and live in the United States. Trump has vowed to build the giant border wall, deport millions of undocumented immigrants and block remittances. Intense violence and a lack of job opportunities are the driving forces behind the Central American migration, and critics say those problems will continue to push people northward regardless of whether there is a bigger wall. For some of the migrants, sooner seems more appealing than later.

Trump says he wants to build a wall. They want to get over before he builds it, said Mario Saucedo Mendoza, who works at the Senda de Vida migrant shelter in Reynosa, the Mexican city across the border from McAllen. Hes said these things, and people are trying to get in front of him, they are trying to cross now.

Mexicans have historically made up the largest nationality apprehended by the Border Patrol: There were 187,284 detained last year. The immigration from three Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle  El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala  reached its high-water mark in 2014, when 227,371 people were apprehended by U.S. authorities. That number dropped sharply to 160,496 last year, but the decline is somewhat misleading, because Mexican authorities, under U.S. pressure, began detaining far more Central Americans en route to the United States. Taken together, U.S. and Mexican authorities detained 332,430 Central Americans last year, nearly as many as the 347,085 people captured in 2014, according to government statistics.

[Mexicans celebrate holiday by burning Trump in effigy]

This spring, the numbers appear to be rising again. The figures on Central Americans detained in Mexico are above 2014 levels. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church shelter in McAllen, which opened in June 2014 amid the surge and has since taken in more than 35,000 people, has seen days this month with more than 200 migrant arrivals, something that has never previously happened. Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, said that the Border Patrol sends migrants when it has run out of space in centers where the detainees are held before proceeding to immigration court.

This is overflow, she said, as Central American children played with donated toys and their parents chose from piles of secondhand clothes, arranged by gender and size. This year, specifically this month and this couple of weeks, our numbers have increased a lot.

The families are arriving because its impossible to live in their home countries, she added. They know their child runs a high risk of being killed, of being kidnapped, of being taken away, and theyve seen this happen to other people, so they figure out: We have to go.

Yenis Constancia Viuda de Cruz, a 26-year-old mother of three whose husband was slain by Salvadoran gang members in 2010, decided to flee out of fear that gangs were trying to recruit her eldest son, 9-year-old Pablo Jose. With a plan to reunite with her mother, who lives in Silver Spring, Md., Viuda de Cruz paid $2,800 in fees to smugglers and bribes to Mexican officials to reach the United States, she said. Like other migrants apprehended by the Border Patrol, she was made to wear a black ankle bracelet with a blinking light, so authorities could track her movements before an immigration court date in Maryland, during which she would plead for asylum.

My children were in danger, she said before leaving on a bus for Maryland. People say, Why dont you go to another country? There isnt another country where you can provide something better for your children, where you wont get harmed. The only one is the United States.

One factor causing the 2014 Central American migrant surge was a rumor that President Obama was offering amnesty to women and children. The U.S. government has tried to dispel that notion, paying for a barrage of television and radio advertisements in Central America trying to discourage people from migrating. U.S. authorities worked to break up migrant smuggler rings and pressured Mexican and Central American governments to impede the flow of migrants.

On the U.S. side of the border, there are plenty of Trump fans, but even some supporters are skeptical about his idea of walling off Mexico. Border fences and barriers, including sections of roughly 20-foot-tall steel rods, already exist piecemeal along about a third of the 2,000-mile border. Migrants have used ladders and ropes to climb over them, jackhammers to tunnel underneath, blowtorches to cut through them  or have simply trekked around them. The barriers, which dont always track exactly with the U.S. border, also have divided peoples ranches, Native American reservations and universities, while disrupting the flow of wildlife and commerce.

Ruben Villarreal, a Republican candidate for Congress, former mayor of Rio Grande City and Trump supporter, called the wall idea a 12th-century technical solution to a 21st-century problem.

Theres no such thing as a fence thats impenetrable, he said. And all the talk of it is causing a draw of people.

The migrant attitude is hurry, hurry, hurry, get there, he said. The campaign trail talk is going to encourage people from here to November.

Read more:

Mexico approves extradition of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to U.S.

Mexican kids held for months as punishment for border-crossing

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
The final stages in clearing the Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border began Tuesday morning. Macedonia closed its border at the end of February, preventing tens of thousands fleeing to Europe from war and poverty from continuing their journey.

The pseudo-left Syriza government intends to transport all refugees from the camp to controlled centres within a week. In recent days, 2,500 refugees had left the camp. The remaining 8,500 are now being deported by a large-scale police operation.

In the early hours between 6 and 7 a.m., police woke the sleeping refugees and demanded they board buses to Thessaloniki. Police only informed the refugees about the operation the night before, meaning they had to pack their belongings in a hurry.

1,400 armed police officers and dozens of armoured cars surrounded the camp. Ten units came from Attika, the Athens region, and a helicopter flew over the area. The police presence was also increased at other detention centres in Greece to suppress protests.

The Idomeni operation was conducted at breakneck speed. First, police systematically cleared the western portion of the camp, then the railway tracks, where refugees have blocked freight trains for weeks, and then the main camp. The empty tents were destroyed by bulldozers.

By 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 32 buses with over 1,500 people set off for Thessaloniki. When they arrive there, they will be separated according to their country of origin into six tent camps on land formerly belonging to industry and businesses, including an old factory, a former logistics firm and an old supermarket. They are located in small towns near Greeces second-largest city.

The Syriza government ordered the entire area to be sealed off and refused access to national and international press. Only Greek state television was permitted to report inside the camp. All other journalists were forced to leave and could only follow events from 2 kilometres away. The Greek union of photojournalists condemned the attack on press freedom and called for free access to the camp.

According to reports from state broadcaster ERT, there had been no resistance from refugees and no violent clashes with police. The attempt by the government to use the public broadcaster to present a picture of a well-organised and peaceful evacuation stands in stark contrast to the massive police deployment, the press ban and the manner in which the refugees and volunteers have been dealt with in the area.

Already on Monday evening, nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and journalists were forced out of Idomeni. Only a few selected NGOs were permitted to remain on location with five workers each. Police have been ordered to detain other volunteers and journalists if they stayed in the camp.

Some journalists sought to continue reporting from inside the camp. Paul Ronzheimer, a reporter from Germanys Bild newspaper, was forced to leave the camp at 3 a.m., but returned secretly through the forest. He concealed himself and filmed mobile phone videos of the camp, before he was rediscovered by the police and arrested.

His Greek colleague Liana Spyropoulou was able to remain in the camp after posing as a Muslim. She managed to speak with two refugee families from Syria who said they wanted to remain at Idomeni, and interviewed a volunteer doctor who reported on the unbearable conditions in the camp. Because virtually all NGOs had been forced out, he had been one of the last medical assistants on site along with his colleague. If there had been a medical emergency among the thousands of worn-out people, they would have neither had the personnel nor the medication to respond. They no longer had any access to their clinic and were therefore relying on basic medical supplies and instruments from their medical tent.

The volunteer criticized the governments repression, which was inhumane and aimed to intimidate refugees. They were trying to blackmail and force the people to leave the camp. It had become increasingly difficult to distribute food. The refugees were to be virtually starved, according to the doctor.

The NGO Border Free Association for Human Rights operated a kitchen in the camp, which was removed by the police on Tuesday. They were forced to dismantle everything and leave the camp.

From the outset, the government refused all state assistance to the refugees in Idomeni. Their survival depended on the solidarity of local residents and volunteer organisations. Last week, the police even attacked protesting refugees with tear gas and smoke grenades. This served as a warning shot that anyone resisting the clearing of the camp should expect brutal treatment. Many women and children living in Idomeni were victims of the police assault.

A spokesperson for German refugee aid organization Pro Asyl told Tagesspiegel that the Idomeni camp was a symbol of the EUs failed refugee policy. Ramona Lenz from Medico International denounced the actions of the Greek government, saying, It isnt about improving the conditions of those stranded, but rather to make them invisible.

Officially, it is being stated that the refugees will be able to apply for asylum in their new accommodation. But according to Doctors Without Borders, the authorities are so overwhelmed with asylum applications that refugees will potentially have to wait years. In addition, a growing number of refugees are suffering from depression, anxiety attacks and suicidal tendencies.

The criminal refugee policy of the pseudo-left Syriza government is based upon the refugee deal struck between the EU and Turkey, which confirmed the sealing off of the Balkan route and the closure of Europes external borders in April. When on Tuesday the worn-out people in Idomeni were driven out of their tents, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras defended the refugee deal at a UN conference in Turkey. He applauded the successful cooperation with Turkey on the migration issue, which could become a model for international efforts to deal with humanitarian challenges.

The attacks on refugees go hand in hand with a new assault on the living standards of the entire Greek working class. On Sunday, the Syriza government rushed an austerity package through parliament that eclipses all previously imposed austerity measures in the country and contains plans for tax hikes, spending cuts and layoffs.
A Georgia mother has been charged with a felony count of cruelty to children after police say she sat on her 2-year-old son's head for an hour.



According to an arrest report, Susan Elizabeth Kelley put a towel down on a wooden dining room chair, placed her son's head on the towel and then sat on it.



The arrest report was obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution; PEOPLE confirmed the existence and contents of the report.



The report states: "The accused sat on the child's head, with full body weight, for approximately one hour in an attempt to gain 'submission' from the child."



The toddler passed out and was taken to an Atlanta-area hospital. According to the police report, he had visible physical injuries, including redness to the head, chest and back.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



Kelley was arrested on May 11 and charged with one count of felony charge of cruelty to children. She posted bond of $55,220.



Court records do not name an attorney for Kelley. A call to her home went unanswered.



The toddler is expected to make a full recovery.
From funding to savings, these brilliant companies create solutions that move people and companies forward.

1. Danish Ventures has created a fund that targets design-focused but scalable companies solving some of the worlds biggest problems.

2. Users of Qapital, a personal savings app, set spending rules for themselves. When they break those rules, money is automatically placed into savings.

3. Aspiration makes investing accessible: For $500, invest in one of its funds. Its pay what is fair model gives customers the option to choose zero fees.

4. Online credit marketplace Fundera helps VC-less startups snag small investments from trusted enders. It takes a 1 to 3 percent fee from lenders (rather than tax borrowers) and has helped secure $140 million for more than 2,500 businesses.

5. Earnest helps refinance those dreaded student loans by using career and financial histories to determine a borrowers ability to pay, and saves borrowers an average of $18,000 over 10 years.

6. Microfinance startup First Access uses prepaid mobile-phone payment histories to quickly and affordably predict credit risk for borrowers in developing markets.

7. iAngels, an Israel-based equity crowdfunding platform, helps international private investors access early-stage opportunities alongside Israels leading angels.

8. Painless1099 helps freelancers save for tax season, automatically putting away the proper amount before payments route to a checking account.

9. New to investing? Simply Wall St. turns stock data into simple, helpful graphics.

10. Fastacash, which recently closed a $15 million Series B round, wants to make sharing money with friends (and paying brands) as easy as texting.

Check out more companies on the 2016 Brilliant 100 list.
chechez la femme

Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. New ads in Google Maps will try to get you to stop for gas or eat at McDonalds. Promoted Pins on Maps will become much more prominent, adding new features for advertisers such as letting them list special offers or a local product inventory search bar.

2. Twitter plans to exclude photos and videos from 140-character limit. The social media platform said on Tuesday that the changes will be made in "the coming months."

3. Snapchat could now be worth $20 billion. VC data provider VCexperts has pegged Snapchat's share price at $30.72 per share, and says that a new funding round could propel Snapchat to a valuation "as high as $22.7 billion."

4. This startup is connecting brands with superfans who are hiding away in isolated corners of the internet. Victorious helps creators, from YouTube bloggers to brands like Twentieth Century Fox's X-Men, create apps designed to bring together superfans.

5. Reports claim billionaire investor Peter Thiel is secretly funding Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker. Forbes and The New York Times claim Thiel helped fund the expenses of Hogan's legal team.

6. A Budweiser ad starring UFC star Conor McGregor has been banned because he is "a hero of the young" and shouldn't be promoting alcohol. The ad, called "Dream Big," was banned by the Irish ad regulator.

7. Facebook apologized after banning what its ad team originally dubbed an "undesirable" ad featuring plus-size model Tess Holliday in a bikini. The Australian feminist group Cherchez la Femme had attempted to put money behind the photo to promote an event called "Feminism and Fat."

8. Only 10% of Netflix subscribers think its content is getting worse, even as its catalog shrinks. Netflix has increasingly pivoted towards its own original content: It will release 600 hours of original content this year, including 31 original shows, roughly double its 2015 output.

Story continues

9. The logos of these 19 huge companies have changed beyond recognition since they launched. We compiled a list comparing the first logos of 19 of the biggest brands in the world with their most recent logos, with help from Stocklogos.com.

10. Snapchat has rolled out Nielsen ratings for UK marketers. The mDAR (mobile digital ad ratings) allow marketers to measure their Snapchat video ads in a similar way to TV, The Drum reports.

NOW WATCH: Humans are defying the law of evolution





More From Business Insider


On Wednesday, 11 states filed a lawsuit against President Barack Obama's administration over the president's recent declaration that U.S. schools must allow students to use the bathroom they feel best reflects their gender identity, Reuters reported.

BREAKING: Eleven states sue Obama administration over transgender bathroom policy for schoolspic.twitter.com/zFfpKEZAW6 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjUj7QqXEAAeoQD.jpg:large

The plaintiffs in the suit are Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia and West Virginia, according to CNBC.

BREAKING: 11 states (TX, AL, WI, TN, AZ, ME, OK, LA, UT, GA, WV) file suit against Obama admin. over transgender bathroom policy for schools

MORE: Bathroom bill lawsuit says officials have turned workplaces and schools into 'laboratories for a massive social experiment'

With the exceptions of Louisiana and West Virginia, governed by Democrats John Bel Edwards and Earl Ray Tomblin respectively, the states are headed by Republican governors.

According to Patrick Morrisey, attorney general of West Virginia, the states view the president's order as just another example of "federal overreach."

My office, TX, and coalition of 11 states just filed a lawsuit to stop Pres. Obama's school transgender policy. This is federal overreach.

"The administration cannot compel schools to obey the edict, but the letter comes with its own implicit warning," Mic reported on May 13. "If districts refuse, they could face the loss of federal funding and face lawsuits from the Justice Department similar to the one now bearing down on North Carolina."

The suit comes days after the state of North Carolina and the Department of Justice sued each other over HB2, a law forbidding municipalities from establishing LGBT people as a protected class and mandating individuals use the bathroom according to the sex assigned on their birth certificate.

According to recent surveys by Vox, the public broadly supports laws protecting transgender people from discrimination by the government, but is of much more mixed opinion on the bathroom directive. While Republicans fighting the bill have often alluded to the social disorder and possible risk of sexual assault posed by equal bathroom access, experts from 12 states "including law enforcement officials, state human rights workers, and sexual assault victims advocates" recently issued a report through progressive group Media Matters arguing no such risk exists.
Donald Trump waves to staff members of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort as they cheer him on before the grand opening ceremonies in Atlantic City, N.J., in April 1990. Trump attended the gala with his mother, Mary; his father, Fred; and his sister Maryanne Trump Barry. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

In 1991, Donald Trumps mother was walking to a nearby bakery in Queens to pick up a crumb cake when a teenager snatched her purse and threw her to the ground.

Sixteen-year-old Paul LoCasto was later sentenced to three to nine years in prison for the crime, which left Mary Trump, then 79, with permanent damage to her sight and hearing and a brain hemorrhage.

Trump described the incident in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, the only time the presumptive Republican nominee has laid out his vision for the nations criminal justice system in detail.

Trump wrote that many families would have gathered around and sought grief counseling after such a tragedy. But in my family we believe in going the extra mile, he wrote, adding that his brother contacted the judge in the case and made sure to attend the trial to encourage the maximum punishment possible. The Trumps believe in getting even.

Trumps eye-for-an-eye criminal justice beliefs, forged in crime-filled New York in the 1980s and 90s, are now largely out of step with the Republican Party. Thirty years after skyrocketing urban violence and drug use sparked politicians to impose longer and longer sentences for drug crimes, America now incarcerates a higher rate of its population than any other country in the world, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars a year. The GOP has led bipartisan efforts in more than a dozen states and in Congress to roll back stiff mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent crimes. At the convention in Cleveland, the party will vote on a policy plank to reduce the U.S. prison population.

Advocates for criminal justice reform are trying to convince Trump to update his views now that hes the presumptive nominee. Theyre hopeful that Trumps beliefs are more malleable than they may seem at first glance, especially since many politicians, including Hillary Clinton, were staunchly tough on crime in the 90s until more recently embracing reform.

Story continues

The fact that he has this CEO mentality will actually work in our favor, said Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network advocacy group. Once he sees the abysmal recidivism rate and how much money were spending on the criminal justice system, I think hell say to the system, Youre fired.

Others see hope in his recent relative silence on the topic. I dont feel like we have that much knowledge of what his current opinions are, said Inimai Chettiar, director of the Brennan Centers Justice Program. If Hillary Clinton had said nothing in the last year and a half and we went back and looked at her record, we would think she was against reform.

But as recently as November, Trump explicitly said his views on the topic had not evolved, according to a forthcoming Brennan Center report. No, Im tough on crime, he said when asked on MSNBCs Morning Joe if he was convinced by the conservative arguments to reform the system. Im tough on crime, and we have to stop crime. You look at whats going on in the inner cities right now, its unbelievable.

In his 2000 book, Trump explicitly rejected the arguments of criminal justice reformers  some of whom he counted among his friends  as elitist and naive. They dont like building more prisons. They believe, at the bottom of their hearts, that we put too many criminals in jail. Its an embarrassment to them, he wrote.

I like to remind these friends that they would be singing a different tune if they didnt have a doorman downstairs, he wrote.

A couple of years before Trumps mother was mugged, the real estate mogul became interested in the Central Park Five case. Five teenagers were accused of the rape and brutal beating of a female jogger in 1989. After the crime, Trump took a full-page ad out in four newspapers titled, BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY! BRING BACK OUR POLICE! More than 20 years later, the five men were released and their convictions vacated after another man confessed to the rape and a DNA test confirmed his story. The city settled with the men over their false convictions and collective 40 years in jail, a move Trump objected to in an op-ed. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels, he wrote in 2014. But the case is now widely seen as an example of how trumped-up fears about violent crime can ruin young lives.

Occasionally, Trumps statements in support of tough crime laws have been racially tinged. In 2013 he wrote on Twitter, Sadly, the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our major cities is committed by blacks and hispanics-a tough subject-must be discussed. (His mothers mugger in 1991 was white.) He has also claimed several times that crime is going up nationwide, an assertion that criminal justice experts dispute, citing data that show crime spikes have been localized in a few big cities. (He also recently told a reporter that Brooklyn is the most dangerous place in the world that he has visited, which doesnt appear to take into account changes in crime trends that have placed New York among the safer major cities in the country.) In March, Trump called for police to arrest protesters at his rallies so that criminal records would ruin the rest of their lives, according to the Brennan Center analysis.

Trump consistently voices support for law enforcement (he called police the most mistreated people in this country at a GOP debate), and his sister Maryanne Trump Barry was a prosecutor before she became a judge. Advocates have approached him via Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration, a group of former judges, police chiefs and prosecutors who support reform.

Ronal Serpas, a former police chief and the head of the group, said he spent a while talking to Trumps campaign about why many in law enforcement want to reform the system to focus on violent criminals. He talked to the campaign about how more than half of the people in jail have a mental illness. They should be being seen by medical professionals, not by police officers, Serpas said. Were not a soft-on-crime group of people.

Moving forward, we have got to show Mr. Trump the enormous support weve been able to generate from law enforcement,  Harris of the U.S. Justice Action Network said.

Advocates also see hope in Trumps softer comments on marijuana. In August, again on MSNBC, Trump said drug dealers have to be looked at very strongly, but that its a complicated issue because of some states legalizing marijuana. Thats a very tough subject nowadays, he said. He has also expressed support for drug treatment facilities.

It also seems likely that Trump will pick a conservative with a clearer stance on criminal justice reform to be his vice president. Trumps campaign has hinted it will pick someone with federal electoral experience, and many on the rumored short list are strong supporters of criminal justice reform. Certainly if its Newt Gingrich  thats a guy who advocates for cutting 50 percent of the prison population. That would be a coup for us, Harris said.
An Iraq veteran who summited Mount Everest on Tuesday was the second combat amputee in a week to climb the worlds highest mountain.

Chad Jukes, 32, lost his leg in a roadside bomb while serving in the Army and climbed Everest wearing a prosthesis, USA Today reported. Thomas Charles Charlie Linville, 30, summited the mountain on Thursday. Linville, who had his right foot amputated, was the first combat-wounded veteran to reach the summit of Mount Everest, according to the Heroes Project, an organization that leads veterans and active service members on mountain expeditions.

Jukes was part of a climbing group sponsored by U.S. Expeditions and Explorations, aiming to raise awareness about military suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder. His team also included two active-duty Army officers, Army Times reported.

Read more: Mount Everest Climber: Dont Try to Reach the Summit at All Costs

As the 2016 climbing season nears its end, climbers also suffered a deadly weekend on the summit as three people died, two went missing and about 30 become sick or contracted frostbite.
Ford Motor Company has issued a safety compliance recall affecting a limited number of 2016 Lincoln MKX SUVs. The five recalled vehicles are out of compliance because only two top-tether anchors are accessible. Federal safety standards require three top-tether anchors for vehicles with three or more rear seats.

As part of our vehicle test program, Consumer Reports evaluates every car for ease of child car seat installation, child friendliness, and accessibility of lower LATCH anchors, as well as top-tether anchors. In our testing of the Lincoln MKX, we noted that the vehicle we purchased lacked a top-tether anchor for the center rear seat. When Ford took notice of this omission, detailed in the Driving With Kids section of our road test, it responded to correct affected vehicles with this recall notice.

According to the recall issued by Ford, In certain vehicles, the trim cover used for the second row was intended for the China market. As a result, the center tether anchor is covered by the trim cover. Affected vehicles include five 2016 Lincoln MKX vehicles built at Oakville Assembly, Sept. 24-25, 2015. All are located in the United States. Dealers will inspect and replace the seatback trim cover for the left-side second-row seat and install a tether cover bezel at no cost to the customer.

If your 2016 MKX lacks a center rear top tether, it might be one of the five affected vehicles.

Research and our own testing has shown the benefits of top-tether attachment in reducing forward motion of a child, and in turn a childs head-injury risk, during a frontal crash. Our child-passenger-safety experts strongly recommend attaching the top tether for all forward-facing child seat installations with either the seat belt or lower LATCH anchors to better protect your child from head injury.





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.
Verizon in 1Q16: Challenges on the Road to 5G

(Continued from Prior Part)

Verizon on dynamics of its Wireline Enterprise segment

During the MoffettNathanson Media and Communications Summit 2016 held on May 19, 2016, Fran Shammo, Verizons (VZ) executive vice president and CFO, discussed the dynamics of the companys Wireline Enterprise component.

Shammo noted, I think that the enterprise business is extremely, extremely competitive. I mean when you look at the managed services side of the business, when there is a bid you could be competing against 100-plus bids. It is very price sensitive.

Shammo added, I think where we are with this business is we went from a 6% decline to a 3% decline. I am not going to get out in front of my headlights here. I would say, look, I think what you see today is kind of where we will be for the rest of this year and then we will see where we go in 2017.

Performance of Verizons Wireline Enterprise component in 1Q16

During 1Q16, Verizons (VZ) revenue increased marginally by ~0.6% YoY (year-over-year) to reach ~$32.2 billion. Meanwhile, the declining trend in Verizons Wireline revenue continued. This stream decreased by ~1.9% YoY to reach ~$9.3 billion during the quarter.

The YoY decline in the revenue stream came mostly from the Enterprise and Wholesale segments. Its Global Enterprise revenue fell by ~3.1% YoY to ~$3.2 billion in 1Q16. Meanwhile, its Global Wholesale revenue fell by ~4% YoY to reach ~$1.5 billion in 1Q16.

For diversified exposure to select telecom companies in the US, you may consider investing in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). This ETF held ~2.7% in AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), CenturyLink (CTL), Frontier Communications (FTR), and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) at the end of April 2016.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
It was 229 years ago the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia started in earnest and the first votes were taken at what is now called Independence Hall.

independencehall

The delegates who gathered in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787 knew they were there for an important reason  the system of federal and state government under the Articles of Confederation just didnt work.

It was a financial disaster and barred the United States of America from having a global presence as a nation or trade partner.

But its doubtful the most farsighted of delegates, including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, could have predicted how long the Constitution would last and how far-reaching it would become as a global blueprint for government.

The first day began when a quorum of seven state delegations was reached. (The original start date for the convention was May 14, but travel and other problems delayed the conventions start.)

There were actually delegates from nine states in the room, but Massachusetts and Georgia only had one delegate a piece, and couldnt form official delegations.

In addition to establishing a quorum, three other measures were taken. First, George Washington was picked to preside over the convention.

Then, William Jackson defeated William Temple Franklin, the grandson of Ben Franklin, in the first contested vote of the convention, to be named as its secretary. (Ben Franklin was ill and not at the session on May 25th.)

And finally, a three-man group was picked to draw up the rules for the convention: Charles Pinckney, Alexander Hamilton and George Wythe.

According to James Madisons notes, among the other delegates in the room were James Wilson, Rufus King, Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, George Read, George Mason and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. The debate over the rules would start on May 28th, and it was the first day that Ben Franklin arrived at the convention.

Related Stories on Constitution Daily

Senators should serve for life, and other election ideas from the Founders

Forgotten facts about George Washingtons private life

10 fascinating facts for George Washingtons real birthday
Since launching his presidential campaign one year ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders has gotten millions of Americans to #FeelTheBern.

But as the primary winds to a close, and with Hillary Clinton all but assured of the nomination, he is now faced with a new challenge: how to sustain it.

Keeping Sanders' coalition of young people and first-time voters will be no easy task.

Young voters, who have come out in droves to back Sanders' candidacy, clamor for a chance to shake his hand.

Former presidential candidates like Howard Dean  who pioneered online fundraising and ignited progressives, but ultimately came up short in his 2004 presidential primary bid  saw their coalitions largely fracture after their presidential campaigns came to a close.

Even President Barack Obama  whose base of young voters, minorities and women came out in droves in his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns  struggled to get them to vote in . That led to devastating losses in during Obama's presidency, in which Democrats of both the House and the Senate, adding to the gridlock in Washington, D.C.

Some Democrats remain skeptical of Sanders' ability to keep his base of young voters, as well as liberal-leaning independents, together.

"I'm not quite sure if there's an attachment to Bernie's issues, or the fact that a lot of his millions voters just don't like people that they perceive as of the current system. So we just don't know yet," Democratic political strategist Tom Bowen said in an interview. "But there are not a lot of examples of real movements created by leaders or candidates that sustain themselves," added Bowen, who has worked on every level of campaigns, from local races to Obama's presidential bid.

Source: David McNew/Getty Images

Still, Democrats say there are ways Sanders can take advantage of his celebrity to enact the kind of changes he's been pushing for throughout his lifetime.

Story continues

Here's a blueprint for Sanders' post-primary plans.

Capitalize early on his political capital

At no other time in Sanders' life will he wield more power

Democratic Party leaders are now dependent on Sanders to help unify the party behind Clinton and

And that gives him leverage to gain quick

"He probably, today, has more political capital than he's had at any point of the campaign. And every day that goes by, he loses a little bit of it," Steve Schale, a Florida Democrat to Obama's 2012 re-election operation in the Sunshine State, said in an interview. "Once he gets to June 7, if he doesn't have a plan, at that point he's just a guy who's lost."

Source: Nick Ut/AP

Sanders has already begun to cash in on that power, directing his millions of campaign contributors to donate to a handful of down-ballot congressional and state legislative candidates who share his political worldview.

Getting those types of candidates elected will help grow support for his policies in legislative bodies that can enact the kind of change Sanders seeks. And having a contingent of supporters in elected office will make him a more powerful moving forward.

Create a focused mission statement

Sanders speaks about a number of progressive issues on the campaign trail: income inequality, campaign finance reform, Wall Street regulation, environmental protection, universal health care.

What I beg of you is to think big, not small. We can end the tragedy that is 29 million Americans living without health insurance.

And while a broad-based platform works in a presidential campaign, choosing to create a group focusing on all of those issues post-primary could lead to an unfocused message that may ultimately splinter his base and lead his revolution fizzle.

In fact, streamlining a message to make it more digestible for the electorate writ large has been a task House Democrats embarked on earlier this year,

Democratic strategists say Sanders could start his own group with a narrowly tailored focus on income inequality or Wall Street reform, or lend his name and fundraising apparatus to other groups that have already laid the groundwork on other issues close to his heart.

Set achievable goals and build on them

With hard feelings among Sanders faithfuls sure to linger after his primary loss, Sanders should create goals guaranteed to give tangible results to his s

"Bernie sold revolution, so an amendment to the Democratic Party platform isn't going to be enough," Bowen said. "They have to go get real, measurable success. And I think that's endorsing or supporting candidates who will fight for working class people or bring a little more fairness to corporate America."
Five people in Miami were arrested for allegedly impersonating IRS agents in a telephone scam that defrauded more than 1,000 people and netted them about $2 million, a top Treasury Department official said Tuesday.

J. Russell George, treasury inspector general for tax administration, said the alleged scammers demanded their victims wire them money immediately for apparent overdue taxes, according to the Associated Press.

Those who were arrested are Jennifer Valerino Nunez, Dennis Delgado Caballero, Arnoldo Perez Mirabal, Yaritza Espinosa Diaz, and Roberto Fontanella Caballero. They face wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, the AP reports.

The scammers are relentless and so are we, George said in a statement. Our investigators will not rest until we have brought each individual involved to justice.

The IRS in February warned Americans about the prevalent and persistent phone scam problem, cautioning them to be wary when receiving phone calls or emails. It said its agents will never demand immediate payment or call individuals who owe taxes without first sending a bill in the mail.

[AP]
T , celebrity chefs, including Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio, are off to Washington, D.C., to wine and dine lawmakers. And they have an agenda: convince the House of Representatives to address the mountain of food waste the United States generates each year, the New York Times reported.

Wednesday's hearing is the first time the House Agriculture Committee, which usually deals with food stamps and farm subsidies, has considered this issue, according to the New York Times.

Source: Giphy

Well-known chefs, including Colicchio, will engage in a discussion Thursday on food waste at the White House.

Here's why food waste is a big and expensive problem.

- The country wastes according to the National Resources Defense Council.

- Citing the Food Policy Action Education Fund, the New York Times reported $218 billion a year is wasted on "growing, processing, transporting and throwing out food that is never eaten."

the Environmental Protection Agency reported. But until now, Capitol Hill has not discussed methods of reducing food waste.

"What we hope is to raise level of consciousness about how much food is being wasted along the chain," Colicchio told the New York Times.

What legislative changes are already in the works to combat food waste? In both the House of Representatives and the Senate, lawmakers are crafting bills that will make food expiration dates more clear. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are leading the charge on the Food Date Labeling Act, which was introduced May 18.

Story continues

As labeling stands now, expiration dates are fairly conservative, Emily Broad Leib, director of Harvard University's Food Law and Policy Clinic, told Civil Eats. Date labels haven't been standardized since the 1970s, when the priority was to tell consumers when food was at its best

bickered with a family member or roommate about whether an expired carton of milk still smells OK?)

Your arguments, and food waste, could be eased fairly soon.
Associated Press

An Ohio man convicted of shooting five of eight family members killed in a 2016 massacre testified Monday he had no choice but to kill the mother of his child. Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last year to shooting the five victims, an attack that investigators said resulted from a custody dispute between two families. As part of his plea deal, Jake Wagner had agreed to testify against his older brother, George Wagner IV, in exchange for being spared the death penalty.
9 Pairs of Celebs Who Feuded And Are Now (Pretty Much) Cool BLAC CHYNA & KYLIE JENNERWhen Rob Kardashian revealed  via Instagram, naturally  that he was dating Chyna, the mother of Tyga's son, King Cairo, sparks flew within the KarJenner clan. But after months of feuding between Jenner and Chyna, it seems that all is well between the two. They hung out together and documented the whole thing on Snapchat, with Kylie captioning her photo "When we've been best friends the whole time a" and Chyna affectionately called Jenner "my lil sis."

BLAC CHYNA & KYLIE JENNER

When Rob Kardashian revealed  via Instagram, naturally  that he was dating Chyna, the mother of Tyga's son, King Cairo, sparks flew within the KarJenner clan. But after months of feuding between Jenner and Chyna, it seems that all is well between the two. They hung out together and documented the whole thing on Snapchat, with Kylie captioning her photo "When we've been best friends the whole time a" and Chyna affectionately called Jenner "my lil sis."
By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prosecutors of Baltimore police officers charged in the death of black detainee Freddie Gray will likely stick to their arguments of illegal arrest and causing criminal injury in a transport van even though an officer was acquitted in the case this week, legal experts said.

Although it was the second setback for prosecutors who have brought charges against six officers, the narrowly focused judge's decision acquitting Officer Edward Nero suggested that the prosecution's strategy could bear fruit in at least some of the five remaining trials, the experts said.

Prosecutors could hope for a turning point in the June 6 trial of Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr.

Goodson drove the transport van in which Gray, 25, suffered a broken neck in April 2015, and he has been charged with second-degree murder.

"I have a feeling that the prosecution sees this as a closer loss than they might have expected and, if they're not emboldened, I think they're going forward with the case against Officer Goodson relatively unchanged," said David Jaros, a law professor at the University of Baltimore.

The first case brought against any of the officers charged in Gray's death ended in a mistrial last December.

The judge dismissed the jury in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Officer William Porter after 16 hours of deliberations during which it was unable to reach a verdict on any of the charges.

Porter's retrial is to be held in September.

Jaros and others have said that Nero had a minor role in the Gray case. It was widely seen as the weakest case brought by State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office, making it less likely that her team would change course with the acquittal, they said.

Mosby has not commented on the trial results since there is a court gag order on the cases.

Prosecutors contended that Nero arrested Gray without cause when he fled from him and two other officers unprovoked, and then failed to secure Gray in the transport van.

Story continues

Gray died a week after the arrest and his death triggered rioting in the majority black city.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who heard the case in a bench trial, said prosecutors had failed to prove that Nero was involved in the arrest and should have secured Gray.

UNDERPINNING CASE

In his verdict, Williams said it was reasonable for Nero to have assumed that his superior officer, Lieutenant Brian Rice, and Goodson would decide whether Gray should be seat-belted, the analysts said.

"I think he seemed to signal that the person who ultimately has responsibility for that is the van driver, who is coincidentally the next one up, Goodson," said Warren Brown, a Baltimore defense lawyer who has followed the case.

Williams also wrote that "the detention morphed into an arrest," a view that Jaros said could prop up prosecutors' argument that Gray was arrested without justification.

That view might have bearing on the case against Officer Garrett Miller, Nero's partner, who testified under immunity that he arrested Gray and handcuffed him, Jaros said. Miller is charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

Jaros said that if he were Miller, "I would have been surprised and somewhat concerned that the judge seemed to accept the prosecution theory that this was an arrest without probable cause."

Law professor Chris O'Brien at the State University of New York at Buffalo said Miller's testimony that he had arrested Gray would make prosecuting him much more difficult since it was done under immunity.

"But in terms of the other officers (Rice and Goodson), I don't know that it will really have any impact," he said. Rice faces trial in July on charges that include involuntary manslaughter and assault.

Sergeant Alicia White, 32, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and her trial is scheduled for October.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A week in which two slave-owners were jailed and two leading anti-slavery activists were released from prison in Mauritania could mark a turning point in the West African nation's fight to eliminate the practice, campaigners said on Wednesday. Two men were last week handed five-year prison sentences - one year to be served, four years suspended - and ordered to pay compensation to two victims in only the country's second ever prosecution for slavery since it was criminalized in 2007. Prominent activists Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal, who had been in prison for 18 months after taking part in an anti-slavery march, were freed two days later by the Supreme Court. The court reversed an appeals court judgment made in August which had upheld a two-year sentence for the two Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) leaders. The two court judgments could signal the beginning of the end of slavery in Mauritania, according to Sarah Mathewson, Africa program co-ordinator at Anti-Slavery International. "This should empower people to come forward, access justice and seek compensation," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It will also send a message to slave masters - that they cannot continue to treat people like objects, trade them and abuse them with impunity," she said by phone from London. Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery in 1981, and has the highest prevalence of slavery - four percent of the population - with some 150,000 people living as slaves, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index. The Haratin, who make up the main "slave caste", are descended from black African ethnic groups along the Senegal river. They often work as cattle herders and domestic servants. SENTENCES The two jailed slave-owners were the first people in Mauritania to be prosecuted by a dedicated slavery court which was established by a new anti-slavery law passed last year. The law made the offence a crime against humanity and doubled the prison term for perpetrators to 20 years. "It's been a hugely significant week, but we still have reservations about these special courts," Mathewson said. "Justice should be delivered at a local level, in all courts across the country, so communities can see slave-owners, that they know, being held to account and victims being vindicated." The presiding judge and head of the anti-slavery court in Nema, Aliou Ba, said the sentences were intended to show Mauritanians that slavery will be taken seriously, and added that he has eight other slavery cases on his books. Yet the leniency of the sentences - five years compared to the maximum of 20 years set down in the law - could send a conflicting message to slave owners, said Carla Clarke, senior legal Officer at Minority Rights Group International. "They should have been convicted for longer, but it's better than nothing," said Abidine Merzough, IRA Europe coordinator. "The most important thing is that the law was applied - in a country where the regime has tried to deny that slavery exists." Biram Dah Abeid, head of the IRA and runner-up in the last presidential elections, said after being released last week that he would again run for president, as he felt popular opinion increasingly backed him and his organization. Mauritania earlier this year became only the fourth country, alongside Norway, Niger and Britain, to approve a United Nations treaty designed to give countries the legal muscle to combat forced labor and trafficking. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
militant niger delta

Oil watchers have been waiting for a production cut for almost two years.

But while OPEC hasn't yet participated in a coordinated effort, the cartel of oil-producing countries technically has slashed its output.

Or, more accurately, Nigeria, one of its 13 members, has.

"Actually, we did have a de facto OPEC cut. Just  it was by accident," Helima Croft, the head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday.

"Nigeria is that big supply-disruption story  and it can just go on," she said.

Nigerian oil production has fallen by 31% this year to about 1.4 million barrels a day, down from 2.03 million barrels a day in January. That's such a huge drop that Angola is now the No. 1 producer in Africa, as its production held steady in April at 1.8 million barrels a day.

Attacks on energy infrastructure by a new militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers have been the main cause of the production outages. Most notably, the group attacked a Chevron offshore facility earlier this month and the underwater Forcados export pipeline operated by Shell in late March.

Croft has since argued that even if Canada comes back from its devastating wildfires, Nigeria has essentially caused a rebalancing in the oil market all by itself.

Nigeria militants

The Niger Delta Avengers' rise has roots dating back to the 2000s, when armed militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, including members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, routinely kept hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil off the market.

At its peak, MEND slashed Nigeria's output by half and cost the government $19 million in daily defense outlays, according to previously cited data by the RBC Capital Markets team.

Story continues

In an effort to curtail the chaos and huge financial losses, the Nigerian government in 2009 signed an amnesty agreement and pledged to provide monthly cash payments and vocational training programs to the nearly 30,000 former militants in exchange for cooperation. Some of the more influential members like the ex-leader Government Ekpemupolo (referred to as Tompolo) also received lucrative security contracts worth nearly $100 million a year.

The arrangement was a pretty good Band-Aid. But it failed to address the fundamental drivers of instability in the region such as poverty, corruption, and the proliferation of weapons.

Fast forward to today: The Buhari administration has cracked down on corruption in the region by axing the expensive security contracts and issuing indictments for theft, fraud, and money laundering.

Even if the government wanted to pay off the militants today, it doesn't exactly have the money for it, with oil prices still far below their peak and state resources redirected to counterinsurgency operations against Boko Haram.

"When people say the government can just pay them off  with what money?" Croft told Business Insider. "What president is running Nigeria right now? Now, if President Buhari folds to the militants, his whole reason for being in office then evaporates. He ran on a program of fixing Nigeria and ending the cycle of payoffs."

Screen Shot 2016 05 20 at 1.39.39 PM

Given that the Nigerian disruptions are at least partially a product of long-run structural issues, one can argue that they could last for some time. (As opposed to, say, the Canadian wildfires, which, while devastating, are only a temporary headwind.)

"I think we have to look at what happened in the past and say, well, could they potentially shut in production? ... No company is going to keep their operations going when people show up with AK-47s," Croft said. "You just wait it out. You don't run a risk to your personnel or operations."

"These are structural problems in these oil-producing states," she continued. "This not noise. This is not something that you can take your magic wand and make this thing go away.

"So this one, I think, fasten your seat belts. This one's going to go on."

NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy





More From Business Insider


How Have Apple's Semiconductor Suppliers Been Faring?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Increase in RF content in smartphones

In this series, we saw that Apples (AAPL) semiconductor suppliers Skyworks (SWKS) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS) reported weaker guidance for the June 2016 quarter owing to the slowdown in iPhone sales. On the other hand, Qorvo (QRVO) reported strong guidance for the June 2016 quarter, driven by an increase in demand from Chinese (MCHI) handset makers.

RF (radio frequency) suppliers Qorvo and Skyworks saw strong demand coming from the flagship products of Samsung and Huawei as the RF content in these products rose. The growth in Chinas market is gaining traction as the country has resumed work on LTE (long term evolution) deployment.

Domestic handset makers are transitioning to all mode devices that have high RF content. This brings short-term opportunity for Qorvo and Skyworks.

Adjacent markets

However, slowing smartphone sales would not be able to support strong long-term growth. Hence, the two suppliers are looking to leverage the RF technology in high-growth adjacent markets such as IoT (Internet of Things), smart cars, smart homes, and wireless infrastructure.

Skyworks has supported a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system for Cadillacs 2017 platform, GPS-based industrial tracking devices for Iotera, large enterprise access point systems for Cisco (CSCO), temperature control systems for smart homes, and analog integrated circuits for smartwatches.

Skyworks noted that trends such as virtual reality, mobile advertising, and cloud-based services are driving demand for data on networks and on devices. The OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are looking to meet the data needs through carrier aggregation, MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) methods. and 5G deployment. This will drive growth for highly integrated RF solutions.

On the other hand, Qorvo has secured design wins for Wi-Fi solutions for defense and automotive applications. The company is also testing wireless infrastructure for 5G deployment.

Story continues

Cirrus Logics strategy

Cirrus Logic (CRUS) is improving its product portfolio by introducing new smart codecs, amplifiers, and MEMS microphones on advanced process nodes. This would reduce the cost per bit and improve performance, enabling the company to meet its customers demand for advanced technology at a lower price.

For fiscal 2017, Cirrus Logic expects to post strong growth in revenue driven by increasing demand from flagship and mid-tier devices, as well as growth in digital headsets and amplifier sales. The company is looking to penetrate the Android market, where it holds limited market share.

Digital headsets currently comprise a niche market and is likely to grow as the market moves away from analog headsets to digital headsets. With its MFi Headset Development Kit, Cirrus Logic is well placed to tap this market and enable OEMs to develop digital headsets with different specifications and price points.

Browse this series on Market Realist:
(Adds AMA comment, updates shares)

By Caroline Humer

May 25 (Reuters) - A tie-up of Aetna Inc and Humana Inc would be anti-competitive in Missouri for several types of insurance, including individual Medicare Advantage plans where the combined company would have more than a 50 percent market share, the Missouri Department of Insurance said.

The department said in an order, dated May 24 and posted on its website, that if the proposed acquisition of Humana by Aetna were to go forward, the companies would need to stop selling individual insurance, small group and certain Medicare Advantage plans in its state.

Missouri is the first state regulator to release findings against the $33 billion deal announced last year.

The deal is being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as state regulators and antitrust authorities, who are also reviewing competitor Anthem Inc's plan to buy Cigna Corp..

Because the deals will reduce major health insurers to three from five, investors are uncertain they will close.

Missouri's findings should not influence the Justice Department review, said Dan Mendelson, chief executive of Avalere Health, a Washington D.C. healthcare consulting firm.

But, he said, a similar ruling from a large state such as California could.

Other states are also likely to go public with issues they want Aetna and Humana to address through asset sales or other concessions, Mendelson said.

The American Medical Association, which has expressed reservations about the potential anti-competitive impact of both deals, applauded the Missouri move.

"The Missouri order strongly validates concerns that AMA has expressed to Missouri regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, and officials in other states impacted by the proposed health insurer mergers," AMA President Steven Stack said in a statement.

California's insurance commissioner has held a hearing on the merger's impact but has not commented.

According to the order, Aetna can submit a plan to the insurance regulator to address the impact of the acquisition.

Story continues

"This order does not impede the DOJ approval process. We are disappointed with the Missouri order but expect to have a constructive dialogue with the state to address their concerns," Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford said.

Aetna has filed for regulatory approval in the 20 states where Humana is domiciled and of those, 15 have approved the deal. In other states where the companies sell insurance, including Missouri, state regulators can choose to review the deal's impact.

Federal regulators are also examining local insurance competition.

The Missouri insurance regulator said that Aetna held a 36.88 percent share in the comprehensive individual insurance market in 2015 while Humana had 1.93 percent.

In individual Medicare Advantage, Aetna and Humana have more than 70 percent market share in 33 county markets, the department said. Aetna has the largest market share at 33 percent.

Aetna shares rose 1.8 percent to close at $113.69, while Humana shares rose 2.3 percent to $174.70 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Alan Crosby)
New Delhi (AFP) - African nationals in the Indian capital live in a "pervading climate of fear and insecurity", a group of African ambassadors has said, after the brutal murder of a Congolese teacher sparked allegations of racism.

The Group of African Heads of Mission said they may recommend their governments not to send students to India until safety conditions improve, following a string of what they say are unpunished racial attacks.

In the latest case, Masunda Kitada Oliver, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was allegedly bludgeoned to death in New Delhi on Friday night by three Indian men after an argument over an auto-rickshaw.

"Given the pervading climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, the African Heads of Mission are left with little option than to consider recommending to their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be guaranteed," Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, Eritrean ambassador and dean of the group said in a statement Tuesday.

"Several attacks and harassment of Africans in India have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators," he said.

In an embarrassment for New Delhi, the envoys said they would not participate in Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on Thursday.

They said the African community was in mourning over Oliver's death and asked for the event to be postponed.

Oliver had completed his postgraduate study in India and was teaching at a private institute in the capital.

Police have arrested two of the three men accused in the attack but deny the murder was racially motivated.

India's foreign ministry condemned the killing but said not every attack on an African national should be regarded as racist.

"Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Story continues

Junior minister V.K. Singh will meet mission heads and students to assure them of their safety, the spokesman said, without specifying a date.

In 2013, a Nigerian national was killed by a mob in western Goa state, with local politicians later comparing Africans to "cancer".

Meanwhile in January, an Indian mob beat a Tanzanian woman and her male friends in Bangalore and set their car ablaze before dragging them off a bus, in an apparent revenge attack for an earlier road accident.

Delhi's former law minister was also accused in 2014 of harassing African women after he led a vigilante mob through an area of the capital, accusing the women of being prostitutes.
By Megan Rowling and Alex Whiting ISTANBUL (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The World Humanitarian Summit has reinforced the urgent need for people hit by conflict and disasters to receive better help, but the first meeting of its kind may not trigger the changes necessary to fix their plight, aid officials and experts say. Vital to any long-term success is a ramping up of efforts by world leaders to end the wars that are causing record numbers of people to be uprooted, they said. Yet the absence of many of the most powerful heads of governments, including the leaders of the U.N. Security Council's permanent members, disappointed aid officials at the summit in Istanbul this week. As the two-day conference ended on Tuesday, outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who convened the summit, appealed to Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States to act. "The absence of these leaders from this meeting does not provide an excuse for inaction," Ban said. "They have a unique responsibility to pursue peace and stability, and to support the most vulnerable." The summit drew only 55 heads of state or government with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the only G7 leader present. Pledges made at the summit include an education fund aimed at raising $3.8 billion for emergency schooling, and a "grand bargain" between major donors and agencies to administer aid more efficiently. The summit also launched an international partnership to help vulnerable countries prepare better for natural disasters. "These will kick-start transformative change from the top down and the ground up. We must now take it forward together," Ban said. But critics of the summit argued that its lack of a binding agreement made it toothless, while defenders of the gathering said that was never its purpose. And many participants struggled to keep up with the pace of simultaneous sessions after a theatrical opening that attempted to bring today's crises alive through music, video and the testimony of survivors, interspersed with celebrities urging action. WHAT NEXT? Aid workers said the Istanbul summit had at least put the most pressing challenges on the global radar: preventing conflict, reducing the risk of disasters, and paying more attention to local groups and communities on the ground. Man-made and natural disasters have left 130 million people in need of humanitarian aid, which totaled a record $28 billion in 2015. Yet the gap between what aid agencies seek and what donors provide has grown, with funding needs rising more than 12-fold since 2000, Ban said. A flagship humanitarian financing report put the annual shortfall for life-saving aid work at around $15 billion. "We face huge issues, from the consequences of El Nino to the war in Syria and the refugee crisis, that we can only solve by working in better and smarter ways together," said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International. "This summit was a step down that road." But Sara Pantuliano, managing director at the London-based Overseas Development Institute, said commitments made at the summit had "fallen short in substance and ambition". "There is little clarity about how pledges that have been made will be taken forward and turned into reality," she added. Wolfgang Jamann, secretary general of CARE International, said Ban's as yet unnamed successor, who will take office next year, would need to find a more effective way to push U.N. member states to tackle the political causes of the "huge need" confronting an over-stretched humanitarian system. SURVIVORS Janani Vivekananda of peacebuilding group International Alert said the world needs to radically overhaul how it handles crises which are becoming more complex due to climate change. "We will only see ... real lives saved when the major institutions are ready to invest in prevention and peacebuilding to reduce humanitarian need, take risks to fund people facing crises in fragile states, and where necessary stepping aside to let others, who might be better placed, respond to crises," she said. The Red Cross applauded the summit for giving increased recognition to the work of local aid groups and for emphasizing the need to put communities at the center of aid work - which it said should strengthen response. Marguerite Barankitse, a Burundian child rights activist who fled to Rwanda last year to escape political unrest at home, said the meeting had given her a chance to share her suffering. The winner of the $1 million Aurora Prize for her work rescuing 30,000 orphaned children vowed to hold U.N. and other agencies to account for the promises they had made in Istanbul. "It is very good that people could gather for one message - to share humanity," Barankitse told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "They have given us a weapon to remind them of that." (Reporting by Megan Rowling and Alex Whiting; Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
The past week saw the Dallas-based carrier Southwest Airlines LUV announce two shareholder friendly moves  a dividend hike and a new share repurchase program. However, the recent crash of the EgyptAir jet into the Mediterranean Sea, claiming 66 lives, has been dominating headlines.

Furthermore, the employment data released by Bureau of Transportation Statistics for passenger airlines showed a substantial year-over-year increase in full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for March. Moreover, expansion related news from Alaska Air Group ALK grabbed headlines in the past week.

On the earnings front, European low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings plc RYAAY reported healthy results in fiscal 2016 (ended Mar 31, 2016), on the back of increased revenues and low costs.

(Read the last Airline Stock Roundup for May 18, 2016).

Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories

1. Close on the heels of Delta Air Lines DAL decision to hike its quarterly dividend payout, Southwest Airlines announced a dividend raise along with a new share repurchase program worth $2 billion. The low-cost carrier raised its cash quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share ($0.40 per share annualized), representing an increase of 33.33% over the previous quarterly payout (read more: Southwest Airlines Up on Dividend Hike & New Buyback Plan).

2. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the crash of the EgyptAir jet which was travelling from Paris to Cairo. According to a Bloomberg report, Egypts aviation minister Sherif Fathy had cited terrorism as a probable cause behind the tragedy. Although it has not yet been proved conclusively that the flight was a victim to a terror act, we believe that in the event of it being proved so, travel to Europe will take a hit (read more: US Carriers Sell Off in Wake of EgyptAir Tragedy).

3. Alaska Airlines, the wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, announced the addition of a three-times-a-day nonstop service connecting San Diego to Sacramento and Burbank to San Jose. The new service is set to commence on Mar 16, 2017 (read more: Alaska Airlines Eyes Route Expansion, California in Focus).

Story continues

4. According to data released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there was a 3.9% increase in the number of workers employed by U.S. scheduled passenger airlines for March. This marked the 28th consecutive month of year-over-year increase. FTEs for Mar 2016 came in at 406,113. According to the update, the most number of FTEs in the month were employed by the American Airlines Group AAL among the network airlines. Southwest Airlines secured the top spot in this regard in the low-cost carrier category.

5. Ryanair Holdings reported robust financial and operating numbers with net profit for fiscal 2016 up 43% year over year at 1,242 million. Moreover, load factor increased 500 basis points to 93%. The top line expanded 16% to 6,536 million on the back of an 18% rise in passenger count to 106.4 million. The customer friendly Always Getting Better (AGB) program drew massive number of new customers to Ryanair. However, the carrier issued a cautious outlook for fiscal 2017 in the wake of the recent terror attacks. The carrier expects airfares to face pressure due to concerns which could hurt travel demand in Europe. That the carriers fears are not baseless is reflected by the update coming from travel company, Thomas Cook. The agency has revealed a 5% decline in summer bookings compared to last year. With average fares expected to decline approximately 7%, net profit for fiscal 2017 is expected to increase only 13%. The company plans to fly 116 million passengers in fiscal 2017, reflecting an increase of 9%.

Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last 6 months.

Company Past Week Last 6 months HA 1.08% 15.33% UAL -0.13% -19.98% GOL -9.83% -20.23% DAL -0.09% -6.91% JBLU -0.88% -27.95% AAL -1.44% -22.17% SAVE 1.88% 18.41% LUV 1.40% -6.71% VA 1.07% 56.49% ALK 2.19% -16.00%

The table shows that airline stocks exhibited a mixed trend over the past week, leading to the NYSE ARCA Airline index remaining almost flat at $84.48 over the past 5 trading days. Shares of GOL Linhas GOL depreciated the most (9.83%) while Alaska Air Group emerged as the biggest gainer (2.19%) as investors seemed to be pleased with its expansion plans.

Over the past six months too, most airline stocks lost value with the NYSE ARCA Airline index declining 6.36%. Shares of Virgin America appreciated the most (56.49%) during the period while JetBlue Airways JBLU emerged as the biggest laggard (27.95%).

What's Next in the Airline Space?

Investors will keenly watch presentations by airline heavyweights in the coming days. Information on the EgyptAir crash will also be keenly awaited.

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



RYANAIR HLDGS (RYAAY): Free Stock Analysis Report



JETBLUE AIRWAYS (JBLU): Free Stock Analysis Report



GOL LINHAS-ADR (GOL): Free Stock Analysis Report



DELTA AIR LINES (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report



ALASKA AIR GRP (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report



AMER AIRLINES (AAL): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Paramount and Participant Media celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Oscar-winning landmark documentary An Inconvenient Truth last night with a party at SmogShoppe that featured its star, former Vice President Al Gore. The several other notable guests including its director Davis Guggenheim, Norman Lear, Ed Begley Jr., Frances Fisher and other like-minded defenders of environmental causes. The movie opened May 24, 2006.

Participant founder Jeff Skoll made opening remarks by recounting how his then-nascent company set out to make a film version of what was really just a slide show Gore was taking around the

Pete Hammond badge

country in an effort to get people to hear his impassioned message about the dangers of global warming and climate change. Most notably, he said, one of their shoots where Gore was doing his presentation for a group of insurance adjusters in a Southern city had to be postponed. That city was New Orleans, and the reason was a hurricane by the

katrina

name of Katrina. Skoll says that was a turning point for the film. Upon completion, it debuted at Sundance, where the company thought it just might make a little ripple. Participant came into that Sundance with two documentaries. One we thought would likely go to air on PBS, and the other might be a global phenomenon. The World According to Sesame Street was the one we thought would be the phenomenon, but it went instead to PBS. And An Inconvenient Truth was picked up by our friends at Paramount and has done all the things it has done, said Skoll, who has built his company on making films that can inspire and get

AIC-334

people involved, something they pioneered with Truth. He then introduced Gore, who praised Skoll. He has done something no one else has done: to make entertaining media with very powerful messages that are designed to change the world for the better, he said before noting Guggenheim was the irreplaceable creative force that shaped the movie.

I thought it was a terrible idea to try and make a slide show into a movie. I was deeply affected by whoever it was who first said with very thick sarcasm, Al Gore doing a slideshow? What part of that doesnt scream blockbuster?' he laughed. Gore said Guggenheim has a disarming interview style that forced him to peel back the layers of his psyche and made him understand his motivations and the issues of the film even better than he had before. You could go into psychiatry if you wanted to give up directing, Davis, the ex-veep said, going on note the contributions of the films producers including Lesley Chilcott, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns and Laurie David  all but David were there last night  along with then-President of Participant Ricky Strauss (now marketing wizard at Disney) and Participant documentary head Diane Weyermann. He also noted the distribution and marketing efforts of Paramounts team including Megan Colligan, who was on hand as well.

Story continues

Gore talked proudly about the recent Paris agreement in which 197 nations sign landmark accords regarding climate change. He said it was a

20070226_goreoscar

51jLajR43zL__SY300_

major turning point, even though he says its not time to celebrate quite yet because there is so much more to do. This 10-year anniversary notes how far the movement has come. We had a sense of mission and it came together and it made one hell of a difference, Gore told the packed crowd. But for all the joy that I feel on this 10th anniversary, I will not celebrate because obviously the hard part still lies ahead of us. We are way behind on the scoreboard where the climate crisis is concerned. But the momentum has shifted.

Afterward I asked Gore what he thought about the criticism about the Paris agreement from presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, who said it should be re-negotiated. Gore didnt want to comment on the record. As for the power that movies can have, he said he was enlightened on that. I found it out. I didnt know it at the time, he told me, while noting surprise when I said An Inconvenient Truth remains the only documentary to win more than one Oscar (in addition to Documentary Feature it also won for Melissa Etheridges song I Need to Wake Up). Asked if there might be a sequel? Never say never, Gore smiled.

Related stories

PBS Looks At Presidential Race Lightning Rods In '16 For '16' Series - TCA

'He Named Me Malala' Director Davis Guggenheim On Parenting & Depicting His Subject

Steven Spielberg On Amblin Partners, What Happens To DreamWorks & Whether He'll Redo 'Jaws'
By Letitia Stein (Reuters) - Opening statements in the ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard got underway on Tuesday in a political drama that could rattle the Republican Party controlling the state, where two other top party leaders are ensnared in separate scandals. The proceedings against Hubbard, a powerful Republican who faces 23 ethics violations, involve actions taken in office and while he was a state party chairman. Alabama's governor and chief judicial officer also face scrutiny in other matters. Governor Robert Bentley, a Republican, is under fire for his relationship with a former political advisor, prompting efforts to begin impeachment proceedings this spring. Bentley is among the state party leaders who could be called to testify in the Hubbard case, according to local media. Meanwhile, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended this month amid an ethics inquiry over his urging state probate judges not to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, despite a U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that legalized gay marriage last year. Hubbard was indicted by a state grand jury in October 2014 on charges of using his elected office, along with his former post as chair of the state Republican Party, for personal gain. He pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing, describing his prosecution as politically motivated, local news outlets have reported. Hubbard's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. During opening arguments on Tuesday, state prosecutors said Hubbard used his powerful roles to send money to businesses that he had an interest in. "He sees an opportunity and he takes it, state prosecutor Matt Hart, who oversees a special prosecutions division, told the courtroom, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. Hubbard's defense said it would show he had not committed the alleged felony crimes. Theyre not going to prove anything, said defense attorney Bill Baxley, according to the Advertiser newspaper. If convicted, Hubbard could see prison time and removal from office, local news outlets reported. The office of State Attorney General Luther Strange, a Republican, declined further comment, noting that the judge in the case has imposed an order restricting comments to media. (Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla.; Editing by David Gregorio)
With over a billion dollar worldwide gross, not to mention a couple of Oscars, it was probably inevitable that Disney would try to turn 2010s Alice In Wonderland into a franchise, and that is exactly what they have done with the follow-up,

Alice Through The Looking Glass.

pete hammond review badge

This time around director Tim Burton is taking only a producing credit, handing over the directorial reins to James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted, Flight Of The Conchords, The Ali G Show), who actually improves on Burtons original blueprint and even tops that Oscar-winning production design with a massively inventive Grand Clock set and lots of smaller touches that pay true homage to Lewis Carrolls immortal creation. And I have to say the 3D conversion work here is outstanding, the best I have ever seen.

The film looks sparkling, and as I say in my video review above, this Alice is a complete wonder of a movie, especially for kids. Its clever, delightful throughout and generally perfect family fun that even manages to top the original for pure laughs, heart, and imagination. And to top it off, Helena Bonham Carters scene stealing Red Queen is back, although she doesnt run away with things this time as in the Burton picture. That honor goes to Sacha Baron Cohen as a new character, Time. Yes, he plays a human version of time, purveyor of the so-called Grand Clock in which Alice must retrieve the Chronosphere on a mission to save her old friend, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp, back and buried in more makeup than ever).

It seems Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has been off sailing the high seas for a few years, but when she gets back to London it is not long before the discovery of a magic crystal sets her back off to Underland, where she reunites with old friends like White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, and of course the Mad Hatter, who just doesnt seem to be himself. Mirana (Anne Hathaway) sets her off on a mission to time travel back and save Hatter from himself. This is where she encounters Time, comprising the best sequences in the film. Its funny stuff and Bobin, who directed Baron Cohen in the Ali G series, knows just how to get the best of him.

Story continues

Of course most of the original cast return to join Wasikowska, Depp, Bonham Carter, and Hathaway including voice actors Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman (to whom the film is dedicated), and Timothy Spall among others. Rhys Ifans as the Mad Hatters father is new this time. The production design is aces all the way down the line, with visual effects (for which the first film was Oscar-nominated again impressively carrying off a tough assignment and making it all work as well as it does. Linda Woolverton, a veteran of these Disney fairy tale enterprises (including the original Alice ) wrote the script. In addition to Burton, producers were Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd and Joe Roth. They have all made it another worthwhile trip down the rabbit hole.

Do you plan to see Alice Through The Looking Glass? Let us know what you think.

Related stories

'Alice Through The Looking Glass' Eyes Offshore Top Hat - Intl B.O. Preview

'X-Men' & 'Alice' To Boost Memorial Day Weekend After Last Year's Holiday Apocalypse

Terry Gilliam Revs Up 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' Again; Adds Olga Kurylenko To Star With Adam Driver & Michael Palin - Cannes
Actress Beth Howland, best known for her role as waitress Vera on the long-running CBS show Alice, has died. She was 74.

Howland died on Dec. 31 of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California, her husband, Murphy Brown actor Charles Kimbrough, told The Associated Press. There was no announcement of her death or a funeral service because that was the late stars choice, he explained.

It was the Boston side of her personality coming out, Kimbrough shared with The New York Times. She didnt want to make a fuss.

PHOTOS: Stars Weve Lost in Recent Years

Howland received four Golden Globe nominations for her role on Alice, which aired on CBS from 1976-1985, and was based on the 1974 Martin Scorcese film, Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore. The sitcom was set in a diner in Phoenix, Arizona, and Howland quickly became a fan favorite thanks to her ditzy, accident-prone character, Vera Louise Gorman. She also made a number of guest appearances on other popular television shows, including The Love Boat, Mary Tyler Moore, Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote, and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.

Howland was also an accomplished Broadway actress, playing parts in Once Upon a Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, High Spirits, and Darling of the Day.

She is survived by a daughter, Holly, from her previous marriage to Bonnie and Clyde actor Michael J. Pollard. Pollard and Howland split in 1969 after eight years of marriage.

Related Articles
An Update on Altice's Cablevision Acquisition

Altices Cablevision transaction

Altice (ATCEY) continues to see progress in its Cablevision (CVC) deal. According to a report by Bloomberg, Staff for New York state regulators recommended approval of Altice NVs $17.7 billion takeover of Cablevision Systems Corp., making it likely the deal will close this quarter.

The report also said, The states Public Service Commission, which rarely opposes recommendations from staff, is scheduled to vote on the transaction on June 16. Its approval is the last major hurdle for the deal.

According to the report, one of the recommended conditions by the panel is Altice retaining customer-facing jobs  including call-center representatives and service technicians  for four years. Another is that one-fourth of the $450 million in estimated cost savings from the deal be passed on to customers.

Some pricing details of Altices recent deals in the US cable space

Altice signed the agreement for the acquisition of Cablevision in September 2015. The Cablevision transaction was the second of Altices expansions in the US cable industry.

In December 2015, Altice completed the acquisition of Suddenlink Communications. According to Altice, the transaction value of this deal was ~$9.1 billion.

Solid cable consolidation in the US

Another merger in the US cable space that was recently approved by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in May 2016 was the Charter Communications (CHTR), Time Warner Cable (TWC), and Bright House merger, which was completed on May 18, 2016. The combined company became the second-largest player in the US cable space after Comcast (CMCSA) (CMCSK).

For diversified exposure to some of the largest cable companies in the United States, you may want to consider investing in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The ETF held a total of ~0.88% in Comcast (CMCSA) and Cablevision (CVC) on May 20, 2016.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Amber Heard has reportedly filed for divorce from her husband of more than a year, Johnny Depp.

A source confirms to Us Weekly that the 30-year-old actress decided to legally pull the plug on their relationship on Monday, May 23, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for her filing.



The pair have not been spotted together in public as of late. The Alice Through the Looking Glass actor was supposed to attend the Met Ball at the beginning of the month, but backed out at the last minute.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Most Expensive Divorces

Though they have largely kept the details of their relationship under wraps, the Hollywood couple has occasionally expressed their affections for one another to the press.

Depp, 52, expressed his gratitude for Heards unwavering support in January at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. I also have to thank my wife, Amber, for putting up with me, for living with all these characters, which cant be easy, he said as he accepted the Desert Palm Achievement Award, in reference to his many eccentric roles over the years. Its hard for me  its got to be hard for her.

PHOTOS: Can You Believe These Couples' Age Differences?

The couple, who have a 22-year age difference, tied the knot twice in February 2015  once at their West Hollywood home, and then again in a beautiful beach ceremony in the Bahamas. (The pair met on the 2012 set of The Rum Diary.)



And in a November interview with Marie Claire, Heard called being a stepmother to Depps two children  Lily-Rose, 16, and Jack, 14  the greatest, most surprising gift. She told the mag: I feel new flavors that I didnt know existed. New colors that I didnt know existed have been added to my life. Im so happy.

PHOTOS: Costar Couples

Depp was previously in a long-term, 14-year relationship with actress Vanessa Paradis, but the pair never married. Heard previously dated photographer Tasya van Ree.










AEP: How Is It Adapting to the Changing Utility Industry?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Modest dividend growth

In 2015, American Electric Power (AEP) paid a dividend per share of $2.18, which was a ~7% increase over the dividends of the prior year. AEPs annual dividend growth has been 4.2% over the last five years. A higher contribution from regulated operations could improve AEPs dividend distribution.

Dividend yields

If American Electric Powers merchant generation unit is separated, the companys earnings stability could increase, which could lead to higher dividends. AEPs capital spending plan also focuses on expanding its regulated segment. This shows managements inclination towards making AEP a pure-play regulated utility.

Currently, American Electric Powers dividend yield stands at nearly 3.5%, close to the industry average. Large-cap peers Duke Energy (DUK) and Southern Company (SO) have higher yields, well above 4%. Midsize peers DTE Energy (DTE) and PPL (PPL) yield around 3.3% and 3.9%, respectively.

Dividend yields (DVY) of many utility stocks have fallen over the last couple of quarters. A smart uptick in utility stocks may be behind this fall. Well discuss utilities forward dividend yields in the next part of this series.

Investors can get broad-based exposure to utilities by investing in the Vanguard US Utilities ETF (VPU). American Electric Power makes up 4.3% of VPU. Peers Exelon (EXC), PG&E (PCG), and PPL Corporation (PPL) account for 3.6%, 3.9%, and 3.4%, respectively, of VPU.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
New documents question claims that Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL and author of the book American Sniper, made about his time at war. (File photo)

Newly published documents reveal that American Sniper Chris Kyle was not part of the elite group of U.S. fighters to earn one of the nations top three combat medals on more than one occasion during the global war on terrorism, as he claimed in his bestselling autobiography.

Kyle, a former Navy SEAL who was murdered by a disturbed fellow veteran in 2013, wrote that he had received two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. The Silver Star, the third-highest combat decoration, is awarded for gallantry in action. Being recognized for exhibiting the highest levels of battlefield heroism more than once is rare.

Receiving two Silver Stars would have put him in a very unique and small group, said Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and author of Restoring Valor: One Couples Mission to Expose Fraudulent War Heroes and Protect Americas Military Awards System.

In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Kyle Gallner, left, and Bradley Cooper appear in a scene from American Sniper. The film is based on the autobiography by Chris Kyle. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Sterner, who is also a longtime investigator and archivist of military valor awards, said he suspected for several years that the medal count former Navy SEAL Kyle wrote about in American Sniper wasnt accurate, but until now he had not shared his suspicions publicly.

There was that 1 percent chance that he did get two Silver Stars and one of them was classified, Sterner told Yahoo News. As long as theres that 1 percent chance, [I wasnt] going to accuse somebody of inflating their record.

That changed Wednesday when the Intercept, an investigative reporting website, published government documents revealing Kyle earned one Silver Star during his decade of military service and four deployments. Navy officials confirmed the records.

On page 149 of his autobiography, which became a blockbuster war film starring Bradley Cooper in 2014, Kyle wrote, I would end my career as a SEAL with two Silver Stars.

According to Sterner, who helped launch the Military Times Hall of Valor online database, only a dozen U.S. service members  five Navy, four Army and three Air Force personnel  have been recognized with the top battlefield awards more than once since the war on terror began nearly 15 years ago.

Story continues

RELATED  Ex-sniper Chris Kyle spoke of legacy days before his death >>>

Kyle, known as the deadliest sniper in military history, wrote of 160 confirmed kills. His murder in 2013 came three years after he left the Navy. His assailant, who suffers from mental health problems, is serving a life sentence for fatally shooting Kyle, who died at age 38.

The Intercept obtained Kyles records through a Freedom of Information Act request for all documentation related to Kyles medals. In his book, which has sold more than a million copies, Kyle also states that he received five Bronze Star with valor medals, an award for nonaerial heroic actions against the enemy.

Im proud of my service, but I sure as hell didnt do it for any medal, Kyle wrote in his book. They dont make me any better or less than any other guy who served. Medals never tell the whole story. And like I said, in the end theyve become more political than accurate. Ive seen men who deserved a lot more and men who deserved a lot less rewarded by higher-ups negotiating for whatever public cause they were working on at the time. For all these reasons, they are not on display at my house or in my office.

A one-page summary of Kyles military career, known as a service members DD214, lists two Silver Stars and six Bronze Stars for him. But more detailed records from Kyles personnel file only reflect one Silver Star and three Bronze stars instead of the five he wrote about.

Navy officials, according to the Intercept, could not explain why Kyles separation papers contained conflicting information about his medals. The publication said one official described Kyle as a decorated war hero and questioned the motivations of digging into Kyles service record.

The Navy considers the individual service members official military personnel file and our central official awards records to be the authoritative sources for verifying entitlement to decorations and awards, Cullen James, a spokesperson for the Navy Personnel Command, said in a written statement to the Intercept. The form DD214 is generated locally at the command where the service member is separated. Although the information on the DD214 should match the official records, the process involves people and inevitably some errors may occur.

SLIDESHOW  Ex-Marine convicted of killing Chris Kyle and his friend >>>

An unidentified former SEAL officer who knew Kyle told Intercept reporters that it was widely known Kyle exaggerated his record.

The SEAL leadership was aware of the embellishment, but didnt want to correct the record because Kyles celebrity status reflected well on the command, the Intercept quoted the ex-SEAL as saying.

A year after his death, a jury found that Kyle lied in American Sniper about punching out former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura at a California bar. Kyles widow, Taya Kyle, was ordered to pay Ventura $1.8 million in defamation damages.

Taya Kyle, who is on tour promoting her book, American Wife, declined to comment through a spokesperson on the reported discrepancy with her husbands combat awards.

Sterner said he struggles to understand why decorated war heroes feel the need to inflate their medal count.

Thats probably one of the hardest things for me to understand, Sterner said. Men and women who do heroic things are also humans who make mistakes. It does not negate the heroic service that he had, but it does correct the record.

Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).
By Ed Stoddard MOKOPANE, South Africa (Reuters) - Anglo American Platinum's bid to appease a community near its most profitable South African mine may unravel, highlighting the challenges of managing flashpoints of social unrest while trying to shore up its balance sheet. The world's largest open-pit platinum mine, Mogalakwena was shut for two weeks last year when residents of the surrounding shanty towns rioted, protesting against the government's failure to provide services and the mine's failure to provide jobs. In April, Amplats announced a deal to set up a 175 million rand ($11 million) community trust for the local Mapela tribe to kick-start development and investment in neglected villages. The trust's aim is "to improve the living conditions and quality of life of members of the Mapela Traditional Community". "It is the crown jewel in the portfolio and so managing risk and community relations around the asset are very important," said Hanre Rossouw, fund manager at Investec Asset Management, which holds shares in Amplats and Anglo American. But the gesture has been greeted with anger by some residents, who say the amount is too little and complain that while their traditional leader was consulted, communities were not. Standing in his two-room home, Joshua Lesete points to wall cracks he attributes to blasting at the Mogalakwena mine. "I haven't actually reaped any reward from being close to the mine," Lesete, 23, an unemployed black South African, told Reuters. "They decided for us how much they are willing to give us," he said. "There is a very huge possibility of the community shutting the mine again. The relationship between the mine and the community is on very shaky ground." Community activists have instructed human rights lawyer Richard Spoor - who has spearheaded a landmark class action suit against gold producers seeking damages for miners who contracted the fatal lung disease silicosis - to challenge the settlement. Spoor said he planned to file in court in June, objecting among other things to the composition of the trust, to be run by a board of seven trustees, with just two elected from the Mapela community. "We wish to renegotiate the agreement to ensure good governance," Spoor told Reuters. The stakes are high. Highly-mechanised Mogalakwena is the most profitable asset in Amplats' stable. Last year it accounted for about 16 percent of group output of 2.46 million ounces and was Amplats' lowest cost mine, with a cash cost of 409 rand a milled tonne versus 751 rand for the whole group. "If you look at the results for the first half of last year, it made all their money, all their cash flow. When times are tough it pretty much supports the entire group," said Ian Woodley, a fund manager with Old Mutual, which has shares in Amplats and Anglo American. The mine's importance has grown as Amplats sells off its labour-intensive Rustenburg mines that have been hotbeds of labour unrest. By contrast, the unrest in the communities around Mogalakwena is rooted in perceptions that the mineral wealth created has not generated wider prosperity. "The community has continuously been excluded from benefits of the mine, and the fear is that this settlement is more of the same," said Joanna Pickering of the University of Cape Town's Land & Accountability Research Centre. TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY Such situations can put the company in a bind - if it talks to one community representative, others feel excluded. Amplats says it has tried to be inclusive, but felt it had to go through traditional leader Kgabagare Langa, whose title is Kgoshi. "When there is any money involved, all sorts of groups jump up and say they are the right guys," Amplats Chief Executive Chris Griffith told Reuters. "We work with the traditional authority and we try and make sure the authority works properly. We spent the last year of the process trying to force greater involvement," he said. The Kgoshi said there "has been adequate consultation" but was open to talks with those unhappy with the agreement. "In view of the concerns raised by some community members, the Mapela leadership will reflect on the current system in place and see how we can improve," he said. The 175 million rand trust fund may look paltry, but Amplats - which has not paid a dividend since 2011 - is hardly flush after years of depressed prices, soaring costs and a bruising five-month strike in 2014. "They are sitting on 12.8 billion rand of net debt and only made over 175 million rand in earnings once in the last four years," noted Old Mutual's Woodley. PLATINUM GALORE, JOBS SCARCE Mogalakwena also highlights challenges confronting companies switching from conventional to mechanised mines - Amplats' stated strategy. Removing a large, unruly labour force does not erase social problems. It can create new flashpoints as mechanised mining requires a smaller, skilled workforce  so there are fewer jobs for swelling and impoverished communities. The Mapela communities are home to around 300,000 people but Mogalakwena only employs 2,864. Outside Mogalakwena last week, 150 people waited under a mild autumn sun, hoping for a job. "I come every Monday to Friday. But there is no work. They want a qualification but we dont have the qualifications," said Selphy Sibambo, a 31-year-old single mother. (Additional reporting by Clara Denina in London; Editing by James Macharia and Susan Thomas)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f96847%2famy_suit

Repeat troll-assassin Amy Schumer has once again shut down her haters for body shaming.

The actress posted a picture to Instagram on Monday of herself from her Hawaii vacation wading through the ocean in a one-piece bathing suit  she captioned it "BFG" (big friendly giant). But before long (and unsurprisingly) people began posting negative comments about the picture, criticizing her appearance.

SEE ALSO: Amber Riley addresses body shamers in beautiful Instagram rant

So Schumer, who has never taken online bullying about her weight lightly  she recently spoke out against the label plus-size  edited the picture's caption with a pointed and ass-kicking message to her trolls.

"This is how I look," Schumer wrote. "I feel happy. I think I look strong and healthy and also like Miss Trunchbull from Matilda."

Following her message of body positivity, Schumer's fans began to flood her post with comments of admiration and support.

RIP trolls.
The trend of cities and states increasing minimum wage requirements could lead to higher menu prices at McDonald's (MCD) as franchisees push back against corporate for help shouldering the labor squeeze, Morningstar consumer analyst R.J. Hottovy told CNBC Wednesday.

Another way McDonald's may find itself on the hook for soaring labor costs, according to Hottovy, could come in the form of incentives to its franchises, which make up about 90 percent of its U.S. restaurants.

"McDonald's has historically been a great co-investment partner," he said on " Squawk Box ," a day before the fast-food giant's shareholders meeting. "If we do see wage pressure hit the franchisees, I suspect that we'll see the company becoming a greater co-investment partner to kind of offset some of the cost pressures on the labor side."

Fast-food workers demanding $15 per hour began protesting McDonald's Wednesday, and plan to continue Thursday during the annual meeting.

For its part, McDonald's last year increased wages at company-owned restaurants, and projected employees at those locations would earn on average more than $10 per hour by the end of 2016.

Other companies, such as Wal-Mart (WMT), have also increased worker pay. The retailer in February implemented the second phase of an hourly wage increase for its employees to at least $10 per hour.

Meanwhile, New York City plans to move to a $15 per hour minimum wage by the end of 2018, with the rest of the state to follow three years later.

California goes to a $15 per hour wage floor by 2022, while Los Angeles and San Francisco passed their own measures to hit $15 per hour by 2020 and 2018, respectively.

The federal minimum wage has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009.

Earlier this month, Andrew Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, told "Squawk Box" that rising labor costs "make automation a more viable alternative." CKE is the company behind the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast-food brands.

Hottovy said on Wednesday concerns about massive job losses from robotics and technology are overblown.

Story continues

"There's certainly room for robotics that improve the operations behind the scenes," he said. "I don't think they're ever going to replace workers. There's always going to be a need for that."

Against the wage debate backdrop and the lack of any new sales drivers in the pipeline, Hottovy expects the recent run in McDonald's to cool off a bit. After years of stagnation, the stock has surged about 25 percent since Steve Easterbrook took over as McDonald's CEO.

Easterbrook is in the midst of executing a turnaround plan, which included the highly successful launch of all-day breakfast at U.S. locations.

"Easterbrook gets a lot of credit for making this a much more nimble organization right now," said Hottovy, pointing to the all-day breakfast initiative going from the test phase to a national rollout in a little more than six months.









More From CNBC


The city-state ranks among the top 3 in mobile wallet adoption.

More residents can now use the popular mobile service as both telco giant M1 and MasterCard unveiled Apple Pay capabilities for Singapore.

According to a press release by M1, subscribers can now purchase at the M1 shop using Apple Pay, allowing for both convenience and security.

Meanwhile, MasterCard said it is working with DBS, OCBC, POSB, Standard Chartered and UOB, to enable their customers to use their MasterCard credit or debit cards with Apple Pay.

MasterCard added that one in four Singaporeans are likely to use a digital wallet presently, compared to just one in 20 just three years ago.

The biggest change weve seen in the payments space recently is the transformation of every electronic device into a shopping device, from mobile phones to watches. The readiness of Singapores consumers to embrace mobile payments, coupled with the rapid uptake of mobile payments is quickly changing the dynamics of shopping and transacting online, said Deborah Heng, group head and general manager of MasterCard Singapore.





More From Singapore Business Review


By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Argentina must do more to ensure indigenous groups can defend their land rights and claim title deeds without facing intimidation and violence from security forces, a U.N. expert said. Mutuma Ruteere, U.N. special rapporteur on racism and related intolerance, also called for indigenous groups - which make up roughly two percent of Argentina's 43 million people - to be represented in the country's government and judiciary. "Most alarming are the reported trends of repression, in several parts of the country, against the mobilization by indigenous groups to claim their rights; and the reprisals against indigenous civil rights defenders and leaders as well as members of their families," Ruteere said in a statement at the end of his first visit to Argentina. The government must protect rights campaigners, "who are subjected, along with their families, to judicial harassment and persecution by security forces throughout the country", he said. He also urged Argentine authorities to open transparent investigations into the "suspicious deaths" of rights activists. Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Argentina's constitution recognizes the rights of indigenous groups to their ancestral lands. But in practice unclear land tenure is a source of conflict between indigenous groups and state and private companies involved in agriculture, logging and mining, which seek to develop on or near their lands, rights group say. "Access to land titles remains challenging and new provisions need to rapidly be adopted to protect communities from being evicted," Ruteere said. He noted that indigenous groups, many of them living in Argentina's northwest, are denied access to drinking water, adequate housing, healthcare and education. "The situation of indigenous peoples in certain areas of the country is appalling as they live in extreme poverty, isolation from others and without access to basic services," Ruteere said. Argentina has around 18 different indigenous groups and they are largely invisible in society and are excluded from the country's senate, congress and judiciary, Ruteere said. "Indigenous peoples are absent in key decision making positions, even in bodies specifically dedicated to their issues," he added. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
- By Thomas Macpherson







The battleground is no longer having access to information. That was yesteryears investing. Todays investing in the st century is about asking the right question. Youre no longer going to be a good database. Youre going to be a good search engine. The answers are there to be found. Its the right questions to ask. Thats how we differentiate ourselves as well. Were not looking for information. Were looking for insights.   Rupal Bhansali[], CIO, Ariel Investment International Equities











In the original British version of "House of Cards," the Chief Whip Francis Urquhart tells a reporter, Perhaps we should start by asking some questions. While things didn't work out so well for the reporter Mattie Storin (you can find the original series here), Urquhart went on to become prime minister.

I bring this up because over the years Ive realized having access to good data is only half the battle. The ability to ask not only good questions  but also the right questions  makes all the difference in your investment performance. I wish there was any easy way to develop these questions, but there isnt. An enormous amount of work is required to obtain the data, devise the right criteria, understand what you are looking for and obtain insights valuable to your investment process.

An example of asking the wrong questions was the performance of privately held Spoonrocket  a meal delivery vendor in California. According to a recent Bloomberg article, investors in the company never thought to ask the company about its last financial statements that were creative (and Im being generous here) to the point of nonsensical. As an example, the company "failed to achieve profitability by conventional definitions" but was "contribution margin positive." This latter statement simply meant they made money if they excluded "costs of customer service, central employees, office rent and marketing to drivers.[]" While the company showed remarkable growth and customer service, it might have been helpful if someone had simply asked, Can you make money with this business?

Story continues

Spoonrocket shut down in March and sold some assets to a food delivery company in Brazil. Profitable indeed.

While it may be hard to develop industry- or company-specific questions, Ive found there are some broader questions that are simple go/no-go in the decision to further investigate. These questions may not require a lot of technical ability, but common sense and intellectual curiosity are a prerequisite. More money has been lost by emotional failures and intellectual laziness than by any other means. Heres my list of essential questions as you begin to evaluate a potential investment.

What is the company worth?

It is so easy to lose sight of this as a northern star, but its probably the single most important question you can ask as you get started. No matter how you come up with it  price/book, price/earnings, dividend discount or discounted free cash flow  estimate a value for your investment. We avoid companies that have business models that we cant estimate profitability (ever wondered why its so hard to estimate the value of a company with no earnings or free cash flow?), financials so obtuse its impossible to understand (Enron comes to mind here) or proprietary technology and operations that cant be shared (Im looking at you, Theranos). If you dont know how to value a company, then it clearly doesn't fit inside your portfolio.

Do I fully understand how the company makes money?

It seems like a relatively easy question, but its surprising how few investors can answer this question about their holdings. For instance, many investors will tell you pharmaceuticals main customer is a physician. Actually, pharmaceuticals have no business or financial relationship with a physician beyond providing free samples or paying thought leaders to speak on their behalf. Pharmaceuticals manage the actual distribution of drugs from manufacturing facilities to drug wholesalers  and in some cases directly to retail pharmacy chains, mail-order and specialty pharmacies, hospital chains and some health plans. They have no relationship with managed care companies, patients or almost all employers. If you dont understand how your potential investment makes money, then don't make it an actual investment.

Will the company be as successful  years from today?

The concept of having a wide moat means it will take considerable time and treasure for a competitor to make inroads against your investments products and services. We are all relatively clear on what Coca-Cola (KO) will be doing for business  years from now (though there were moments when clarity was lacking  like the time it acquired a shrimp farm), but how clear are we when it comes to Building 9[] (Good stuff ... cheap)? The latter isn't really an option (it filed for bankruptcy several years ago), but what about a company like Lexmark (LXK)? Could you really  with a real sense of security  predict what Lexmark will be doing in 6? If you cant come up with a concise and confident answer within  seconds, it doesn't belong in your portfolio.

Are my data inputs valid and well reasoned?

This is a relatively subjective question but still critical. The easiest person to fool in investing is yourself. The ability to obtain multiple data sets, understand their sources, work out any assumptions and assure yourself of their accuracy is essential to building great valuation models. Nothing pleases me more than when I can get two completely opposing viewpoints supported by a great deal of data. Rather than seeing that as a problem, I like to see it as a tremendous learning tool.

For instance, I was recently reading two diametrically opposed viewpoints on Nintai Charitable Trust holding Expeditors International (EXPD). One writer believed the international supply chain was near collapse based on the China slowdown, crash in commodities, increasing competition and pricing pressure. The other highlighted EXPDs operational strength, deep industrial relationships, outstanding management and slow (but upward) international growth. Who was correct? I think they both were in some ways. In both articles the data was well founded/researched, and the arguments provided a tremendous resource in my investment education.

How do I break my investment case?

In a recent article (you can read it here) I discussed the importance of getting to zero or breaking your investment case. In most cases when I calculate an estimated intrinsic value through my discounted free cash flow model, I will halve the companies one-, five- and -year free cash flow growth estimates. After reviewing the impact on valuation, financial strength, etc., I halve it again.

Why do this? To me its a simple  and ruthlessly effective  tool in creating a scenario that tests the financial limits of a potential holding. As an example, CBOE Holdings (CBOE)  an NCT holding  has grown free cash flow by 4.% annually over the past five years. What would the impact be on my valuation if growth was halved to 7.%? Or halved again to .5%? Does the company have the financial strength to handle such a catastrophic event? As you run such models you find there arent that many companies that can take such an event in stride. Those that do qualify for further research at the Nintai Charitable Trust.

Conclusions

Asking questions that give you out-of-the-ordinary insights is far more art than science. Much like trying to figure out the best query on Google (how many times have you heard someone say Im a terrible searcher?), investors need to really think about what they are trying to solve and then develop the best questions to obtain helpful insights. In the last  years the world has flattened considerably when it comes to finding investment research. GuruFocus is something Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) would never have dreamed possible starting out in his fathers brokerage house.

But data is slowly becoming a commodity. Insights  ones that give an investor a true advantage  are much harder to come by even with all of todays technology. If you can create a handful of core questions that provide insights into a value-based investing model, then you are half way home already.

As always I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

[] Her full interview can be found at www.latticework.com

[] Tech Startups Come Up With Some Creative Definitions for Profitable, Bloomberg, Ellen Huet, May 5th, 6

[] Anybody who grew up in New England will realize this is an actual example along with Building 9 and 9.

Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump watches as a protester is escorted from his rally May 24 in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail with a force Tuesday, veering away from his recent calls for party unity to attack New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a rising star Republican and frequent critic of his campaign, as a poor leader who hasnt done enough to stem economic problems in her state.

Youve got to get your governor to do a better job. Shes not doing her job, Trump said at a convention center here, at one point joking that maybe he should run for New Mexico governor.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee also argued Martinez has put her state at risk by accepting Syrian refugees in New Mexico.

Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico. If I was governor, that wouldnt be happening, Trump said, renewing his push for a temporary ban on refugees. He urged greater vetting and control of refugees, warning the alternative is we are not going to have a country.

Trumps comments came as Martinez, who is currently head of the Republican Governors Association, has notably declined to say if she will endorse him as the GOP nominee. She and other state Republican leaders were no-shows at Trumps raucous rally here Tuesday  his first campaign visit to New Mexico  which was repeatedly interrupted by protesters both inside and outside the venue.

As Trump spoke, several hundred protesters outside the convention center rushed police, trying to storm the building. When they were blocked, they lobbed rocks at cops, who reportedly tear-gassed the crowd. A glass door at the convention center was shattered by what police later said was a shot from a pellet gun.

Story continues

FOX NEWS ALERT: Protests turn violent outside of Trump rally in Albuquerquehttps://t.co/HDIZYG4WFI  FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 25, 2016

Inside, it was at times just as tense, as protesters waving signs trashing Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric interrupted the candidate more than a dozen times. At one point, the GOP candidate instructed his supporters to ignore the disruptions  insisting their voices are so weak, I cant hear them. But then seconds later, Trump abruptly whipped around to see cops forcibly dragging a female protester in the bleachers behind him from her seat.

Silent for more than a minute, Trump finally turned to the crowd and said, This is exciting, isnt it?

It was the first campaign rally in nearly two weeks for Trump, who has maintained a less frantic public schedule since winning the Indiana primary earlier this month  a victory that forced his last two rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, from the race. Addressing a crowd of what the fire marshal said was 8,000 people, Trump lashed out at his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, calling her crooked and a lightweight who would drive the country into the ground with policies that would be worse than President Obamas.

SLIDESHOW  Protests erupt at Donald Trumps Albuquerque rally >>>

But he also saved venom for other Democratic critics, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, repeatedly referring to her as Pocahontas as he mocked her claims that shes part Native American. And he lashed out at former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who got into hot water last week for suggesting there are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women.

Can you imagine if I made that statement? It would be the electric chair, Trump said.
It's a new day and a new insult has been fired off in the ongoing war of words between Hollywood star Johnny Depp and Australia's deputy prime minister.

On Monday, Depp visited Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his reprisal as the Mad Hatter in the upcoming Alice Through the Looking Glass, and while there said foreign politician Barnaby Joyce "looks somehow inbred with a tomato."

"I'm just saying. It's not a criticism. I was a little worried that he might explode," Depp added of Australia's deputy prime minister.

Joyce led the effort to make Depp apologize after the actor snuck his dogs into the country. Depp and his wife finally did issue an apology in a short homemade video that went viral because it seemed so awkward and insincere.

On Tuesday, Joyce fired back at Depp for his comments on Kimmel.

"I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers," the Sydney Morning Herald reported Joyce as saying. "Long after I've forgotten about Mr. Depp, he's remembering me."

Joyce then dubbed himself Depp's villain, saying "I'm turning into his Hannibal Lecter," The Herald reported.

Depp's comments on Kimmel were not the first time the actor poked fun at himself for the entire situation, but he did reveal a little more about making the video, including the fact that it took multiple takes in order for the couple to "get the giggles out."

"I realized the badness of my ways. So I was kind of repenting," Depp said Monday, trying not to smirk. He also said he did not watch the video before it was sent off because "I didn't want to kill myself."

Watch Depp's appearance on Kimmel and the apology video below.

Read More: Johnny Depp Continues to Laugh Off His Australian Dog Apology Video
VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of Austrian aerospace parts maker FACC has been fired after the company was hit by a cyber fraud that cost it 42 million euros ($47 million).

The firm's supervisory board decided at a 14-hour meeting on Tuesday to dismiss CEO Walter Stephan with "immediate effect", the company said on Wednesday.

FACC, whose customers include Airbus and Boeing, said on Jan. 19 it had been hit by a cyber fraud in which hackers stole around 50 million euros by posing as Stephan in an email.

The hoax email asked an employee to transfer money to an account for a fake acquisition project - a kind of scam known as a "fake president incident".

"The supervisory board came to the conclusion that Mr. Walter Stephan has severely violated his duties, in particular in relation to the 'fake president incident'," FACC said.

A company spokesman declined to give details of how Stephan had violated his duties. The firm said no comment was available from Stephan.

Robert Machtlinger was appointed interim chief executive.

FACC fired its chief financial officer in February soon after the cyber attack.

Releasing its 2015/16 financial results on Wednesday, FACC said it had taken a charge of 41.9 million euros over the cyber fraud. It said it had been able to block 10.9 million euros from being transferred.

The fraud pushed FACC to an operating loss of 23.4 million euros in its 2015/16 financial year versus a loss of 4.5 million a year earlier.

The company's shares rose on news of the results and Stephan's departure and were up 5 percent at 0900 GMT.

(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Adrian Croft)
Could Automotive Fuel Texas Instruments Future Growth?

Texas Instruments diversifies into new segments

The first quarter of 2016 has seen mixed results from Apple (AAPL) suppliers. Apple reported its first decline in iPhone sales and expects more declines in the second quarter due to weak demand for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Some suppliers took a hint and started diversifying into different areas and expanding its customer base. One of these suppliers is analog maker Texas Instruments (TXN).

Texas Instruments has posted better-than-expected guidance for fiscal 2Q16. This came despite its key customer, Apple, scaling back production of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. This is because TXN increased its exposure in the automotive, industrial, and communications segments. Together, these segments accounted for 64% of the companys revenue in fiscal 1Q16.

Texas Instruments expects to report revenue of $3.2 billion in fiscal 2Q16, taking the midpoint of the range. Thats higher than fiscal 1Q16 revenue of $3 billion and above analysts estimate of $3.2 billion. The strong guidance indicates an increasing demand for car automation and infotainment. Texas Instruments chief financial officer Kevin March said, Probably automotive is going to be the strongest. Theres a lot more content going in cars.

What does automotive mean for the semiconductor industry?

Cars are now becoming mobile computers, providing an opportunity to use more semiconductor content. According to McKinsey, an average car has semiconductor content worth $350. Of that, ~80% is analog, power, and MCUs (microcontrollers), all three provided by Texas Instruments.

IC Insights expects the automotive segment to grow at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 6.7% between 2014 and 2019, the fastest among all semiconductor end user applications.

The biggest beneficiary from this trend is NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), which reported 51.6% YoY (year-over-year) growth in revenue to $2.22 billion, beating analysts estimate of $2.21 billion. The increase was also due to the integration of Freescale. NVIDIA (NVDA) has also ventured into automotive and is looking to tap self-driving technology.

Story continues

Texas Instruments exposure to Apple

While TXN has diversified in various markets, it still earns 30% of its revenue from consumer electronics. Apple continues to be its largest customer, according to Bloomberg data. Well see how iPhone sales impact TXN in the next part of the series.

You can gain exposure to some Apple suppliers by investing in the iShares Russell 1000 (IWB). It has 0.12% exposure to NVDA, 0.31% to TXN, and 2.7% to AAPL.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Fresh off their "civil war," the actors who portray Iron Man, Captain America and Pepper Potts put aside their differences to become real-life superheroes and visit a fan afflicted with cancer.

Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans and Gwyneth Paltrow assembled to make a devoted fans wish come true.

Read: Cystic Fibrosis Sufferer, 9, Becomes 'Iron Boy' For a Day, Gets Support From Robert Downey Jr.

On Monday, the stars of the blockbuster films flew to San Diego to meet 18-year-old Ryan Wilcox, who has been diagnosed with leukemia for the second time.

Ryan, a massive fan of the films and comic books, started an online campaign #RyanStrong to try and meet the stars.

Paltrow was the first to notice and recruited her co-stars to spend a day with the teen.

Let's do this #ryanstrong @robertdowneyjr #chrisevans A photo posted by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on May 23, 2016 at 10:09am PDT

Today @ryanwilcox0303 got a little surprise. Thank you to the incredible #chrisevans and my better work half @robertdowneyjr for being the men you both are. And thank you to the Wilcox family for your hospitality! #ryanstrong A photo posted by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on May 23, 2016 at 12:10pm PDT

Ryans mom, Amy, told the Associated Press: She told me this is a gift from one mom to another mom. She knew how happy it would be for me to see Ryan so happy."

Read: See Robert Downey Jr. As Tony Stark Give Boy 'Iron Man' Arm

Taking to Instagram, the Oscar-winner said: Today @ryanwilcox0303 got a little surprise. Thank you to the incredible #chrisevans and my better work half @robertdowneyjr for being the men you both are. And thank you to the Wilcox family for your hospitality!"

#RyanStrong #Repost @ryanwilcox0303 with @repostapp.  Look who stopped by! @gwynethpaltrow @robertdowneyjr #chrisevans A photo posted by Grossmont High School (@ghsasb) on May 23, 2016 at 10:41am PDT

Chris Evans in my room. Robert Downey Jr in my chair A photo posted by Grossmont High School (@ghsasb) on May 23, 2016 at 2:27pm PDT

When they arrived at his home, Ryan was wearing a Captain America shirt and smiled from ear to ear. Ryan says the films keep him distracted when he is going through chemotherapy treatments.

Story continues

The trio helped Ryan find the courage he needs to beat his condition.

I am going to get through this, he told The AP.

Earlier this month, Evans showed his support to Ryan in a YouTube message filmed prior to their time together.





Ryan was diagnosed with the rare blood cancer when he was 16. When he was three, he underwent treatments for a brain tumor.



Watch:Dad of 8-Year-Old Saves Him From Flying Baseball Bat: 'He's My Superhero!'

Related Articles:
Baku (AFP) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday released jailed prominent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was convicted of corruption charges last year, triggering an international uproar.

Ismayilova, an award-winning journalist and anti-graft crusader, was sentenced in September 2015 for seven-and-a-half years for economic crimes, in a case denounced by her supporters and rights groups as politically motivated.

She walked out of prison beaming on Wednesday evening after a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the day, having spent more than 17 months in jail since her initial arrest in December 2014.

"I am full of energy and will continue my journalistic work," Ismayilova told journalists in brief comments before she headed home, an AFP journalist reported.

"Azerbaijan's Supreme Court threw out Ismayilova's initial seven-and-a-half-year sentence and handed her a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence," her lawyer Fariz Namazly told AFP.

The reporter, who turns 40 on Friday, probed the vast riches allegedly amassed by President Ilham Aliyev and his family.

Some of her reporting was recently confirmed by journalists working on the Panama Papers leaked materials.

Rights groups applauded the release, with Human Rights Watch's Europe director Lotte Leich calling it "best news in a long time."

United Nations culture agency, UNESCO, which last month awarded Ismayilova with the prestigious World Press Freedom Prize, welcomed it as "a major step for freedom of expression, due process and the rule of law in Azerbaijan."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he hoped this was a "sign of improvement in the situation of freedom of press and opinion in Azerbaijan."

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) -- which ranks Azerbaijan among 10 most censored countries in the world -- called the decision to free Ismayilova a "cause for celebration."

Considered Azerbaijan's most prominent opposition journalist, Ismayilova served as bureau chief for the local service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network between 2008 and 2010.

Story continues

Authorities raided the RFE/RL's offices in late December 2014, seizing papers and equipment and detaining staff, according to the company, which closed its sealed bureau last May.

"This is a great day for Khadija, and for all journalists and for free speech everywhere," RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic was quoted by the broadcaster as saying.

"We are overjoyed for Khadija and her family and can't wait for her to get back to work."

- 'Prisoner of conscience' -

Ismayilova has been proclaimed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and has seen celebrities step in to the campaign for her freedom.

British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who represents Ismayilova before the European Court of Human Rights, has said that the journalist's case "involved a politically motivated prosecution to restrict her freedom of speech."

Last year, rocker and political activist Bono spoke out in support of jailed Azerbaijani activists, including Ismayilova.

In a leaked diplomatic cable from 2009 published by Wikileaks, Aliyev is said to have described Ismayilova as an "enemy of the government," asking the US ambassador to Azerbaijan to intervene to have her sacked by Radio Liberty.

Dissent is kept under strict control in Azerbaijan and is often met with a tough government response.

Rights groups say the government of the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic has stepped up pressure on opponents since Aliyev's election for a third term in 2013.

Aliyev -- who came to power in 2003 following an election seen as flawed by foreign observers -- strongly denies accusations of rights abuses, while his administration has dismissed criticism as a smear campaign.
After JoJo Fletcher won viewers' hearts as a fan favorite on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor, she's now on her own journey to love on The Bachelorette. She is blogging exclusively about each and every rose ceremony for PEOPLE  check back each week and follow her on Twitter at @Joellefletcher!



If someone would have told me after being completely heartbroken in Jamaica that I would become the Bachelorette, I would have thought they were crazy! In all honesty I was completely blindsided when Ben broke up with me, it left me hurt and confused. But, if there's one very important thing I learned from my experience on The Bachelor, it's that I deserve to be happy and I am 100 percent ready to fall in love. When I packed my bags and got on the plane leaving Dallas, I felt nervous for what was to come, but extremely lucky and excited to meet the 26 incredible men who put their lives on hold for a chance to find love with me! Though, to be honest, the hardest part about leaving home was saying goodbye to Jackson, my dog! I left him in the precious hands of my parents who promised to send videos while I was gone, and to be honest, those videos got me through a lot of hard times!



Returning to the Bachelor Mansion for my chat with the ex-bachelorettes was surreal. It brought back a rush of emotions, but also just some really good memories from last season. When Ben was out on dates, we did everything we could at the house to try and not think about him romancing one of the other women. Becca Tilley (my BFF!) and I would fill our days painting our nails in the kitchen nook, attempting yoga in the living room, and raiding the snack cabinet for chips and candy. Becca is a huge part of my life, and she was actually the first phone call I made after I was announced as the Bachelorette on After the Final Rose.





RELATED VIDEO: JoJo Fletcher On the Ups and Downs of Searching for True Love



I go to Becca for a lot of advice, but heading into this new role I wanted to talk to women who had stood in these heels before me... So turning to Ali Fedotowsky, Des Siegfried (Hartsock) and Kaitlyn Bristowe was exactly what I needed. I knew that each of these women could relate to exactly what I was feeling and could provide some much needed advice. Who else has dated 25 guys at the same time?! Each had such a unique journey as The Bachelorette and that experience led them to these exciting chapters in their lives. I could only hope at the end of this journey, I too would have my happy ending! The ladies gave me such wonderful advice, as well as their blessing on kissing that first night, but to be honest I was still nervous. After all, all the advice in the world couldn't prepare me for this adventure. I told myself that no matter what I would follow my heart, and trust my gut.





Story continues





As I got dressed for the night, everything really began to sink in. It could have also been the Chipotle burrito I scarfed down a few hours prior. Yes, I am obsessed with Chipotle! I can't help it! Barbacoa, come to me! Okay, Chipotle sidebar over. Back to that first night. Pulling up to the mansion I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was nervous, anxious, excited, but overall extremely hopeful ... hopeful that my future husband would be getting out of one of those limos. That night I began my journey with 26 incredible men and I felt like the luckiest girl in the entire world! Shout out to Chris Harrison for being so great to me that night and really helping to calm my nerves!



 For more about JoJo Fletcher's journey to find love, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday





The Bachelorette's JoJo Fletcher Blogs About Her 'Immediate Attraction' to Jordan Rodgers and Meeting All Those 'Strong and Sexy' Men| Celebrity Blog, The Bachelorette, People Picks, TV News, JoJo Fletcher

Meeting the Men

By the time the first limo pulled up the driveway, I was ready. Bring on the men!! I just wanted to make them feel as comfortable as possible. I remember how scary that moment was for me during Ben's season, so I really wanted to focus on helping to calm their nerves and reassure them as they got out of the limos. Too bad I couldn't remember where I left my unicorn mask ... but with these men, there was no shortage of memorable first impressions.



When Jordan stepped out I felt an immediate attraction; not only was he good looking, but it felt so natural talking to him. I mean talk about off to a good start! If the rest of these guys were anything like him I knew I would be in for a phenomenal journey. And I wasn't wrong, because then came Derek, and then Grant. My nerves started to settle ... with each sweet and charming personality, came a strong and sexy man behind it. A few guys even made it personal like Robby, who remembered my mother's infamous champagne sip straight from the bottle during my hometown last season. Robby came prepared with a personalized bottle, which of course in Fletcher fashion, we sipped straight from the bottle. A man after my own heart and one I knew my mom would love. Now, I HAVE to talk about Wells ... Wells brought All 4 One out of the limo with him. Talk about romantic! I used to jam to this song back in the day, driving around in my parents' car, windows down, singing at the top of my lungs, so of course to sing along to them in person was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Some guys brought their own brand of humor, like Jonathan, who wore a kilt. I thought it was pretty unique, but to be honest I'm still not quite sure I get his joke. Am I missing something? Sal's joke on the other hand was pretty funny; I can appreciate a guy with a ballsy sense of humor! But I think my favorite entrance was from Luke who rode in on a real unicorn! Come on a hot guy and a unicorn, so much yes!





The Bachelorette's JoJo Fletcher Blogs About Her 'Immediate Attraction' to Jordan Rodgers and Meeting All Those 'Strong and Sexy' Men| Celebrity Blog, The Bachelorette, People Picks, TV News, JoJo Fletcher

Cocktail Party

After that last limo I couldn't wait to get inside! I was so excited to finally sit down and talk with these men, not only because I couldn't wait to know more about them, but also, because man were my heels killing me! When I did finally sit down, Alex was someone who really impressed me right off the bat. Firstly, he's a handsome Marine, but he was also so open and sincere. Then there was Saint Nick. Now, in my family Christmas only comes once a year. But with Nick, I could tell I'd be in a holiday spirit all the time. What a character! For someone who made me laugh so much, there was actually a lot more under that beard than what first meets the eye. Then there was Will ... let's talk about that first kiss, shall we?! I have to say, my first kiss with Will wasn't exactly as I had dreamed. To be honest, I don't think I was fully prepared for it and actually got really nervous. He put me on the spot there a little, but I appreciate him putting himself out there. And he will forever go down as my first kiss as Bachelorette. Or will it? Was that a kiss? I'm still not sure! You tell me!





RELATED VIDEO: Would Host Chris Harrison Ever be The Bachelor?

The Bachelor ?" data-ad-channel="peoplenow" data-ad-subchannel="peoplenowupclose" data-auto-play="no">



I knew the night was taking a turn the moment Daniel jumped into the pool. Hey, I remember what it was like that first night; sometimes you need a drink to take the edge off. But some guys had one, two, three ... I don't know how many drinks they had to take the edge off. That edge was off! I'm all about having fun, but this experience is something that I take seriously and I just wanted to make sure that people were not just there to party. And then when Vinny and Nick S interrupted my interview, well, everything just got out of control. I started to lose faith, started to think that maybe I wouldn't make the connections I wanted to make on that first night.



But the night picked up when I had meaningful conversations with guys like James T, who was not only a huge sweetheart but such a gentleman, and Luke, a fellow Texan who hand picked cowgirl boots for me as a gift. How sweet was that?! Or Chad, who shared a more vulnerable side to himself.





First Impression Rose

When Chris Harrison dropped off the first impression rose on the table, I had a lot of thinking to do. So many of these men really impressed me that night, I feel like a lot of them made great impressions. But, I couldn't help but think of when Jordan stepped out of the limo, I knew there was a connection between us. It wasn't until we kissed (my REAL first kiss of the evening) that I knew he had made a lasting impression. So, I decided to give him my first impression rose. And hey, let me put something else to rest right now. A couple people have asked me if I spoke to Jordan prior to that first night, and I can honestly tell you that at no time did we ever speak to each other. The first time we spoke was when he stepped out of that limo and said hello! Sure, his name had been leaked online and I knew a guy named Jordan Rodgers was likely arriving, but we never ever spoke. Okay, onto the rose ceremony.





The Bachelorette's JoJo Fletcher Blogs About Her 'Immediate Attraction' to Jordan Rodgers and Meeting All Those 'Strong and Sexy' Men" data-ad-channel="Brightcove" data-ad-subchannel="" data-auto-play="no">





Rose Ceremony

I was in a whirlwind after all the events of the evening, but I knew the hardest part was yet to come ... the rose ceremony. I remember standing there feeling so blessed to be The Bachelorette but also feeling so nervous about the responsibility that comes with it. Being on this end of a rose ceremony is so much pressure! I just didn't want to make a mistake on this first rose ceremony, what if I sent home someone I had a real connection with?! I remember thinking, "I wish Jackson was here!" so he could just run to all the men he thought were best for me.



And then in true Bachelor fashion ... the night took another turn.



Into the rose seremony walked former Bachelor Jake Pavelka. When he interrupted I was confused to say the least. (lets be honest, it was written all of my face!) I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Was he here for me? You have to understand, Jake is a very good family friend. He went to high school with my brothers, I've known him for years. And all I kept thinking was OMG is this person I look at as an older brother about to tell me has feelings for me?! So when Jake told me he just wanted to give me some advice and let me know how confident he was that I will find love with the men in that room, I was relieved, but also touched, that he would take the time to come and wish me the best and share some guidance on how to get through a Rose Ceremony.



I didn't want to keep those poor guys worried and waiting too long. I could only imagine what was going through their minds. All of these men were so great, but in the end I knew I had to say goodbye to some of them. And I knew that my heart was all I could lead with in that moment. Saying goodbye to people is never easy, and that's the hardest part of this whole journey. I am so lucky that all of these men came here to meet me, but I know I have to follow my heart and make the best choices for me. I knew that each hard goodbye meant one step closer to hopefully finding the man for me. In the end I felt confident in the roses that were handed out that night.



I can't believe that is the end of my first night as The Bachelorette! I can't wait for you guys to see what happens next! I went on some unbelievable dates in some of the most beautiful locations around the world. There are many many highs to come. There are also some devastating lows. Many tears were shed along the way, and not all by me. Oh, and we haven't even really talked about Chad yet. Get ready. What happens with Chad is hard to put into words. You'll just have to tune in to see for yourself!



Xoxo,

JoJo



The Bachelorette airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
(Adds quotes, market reaction, background)

By Leah Schnurr and David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, May 25 (Reuters) - Damage from the wildfires in Alberta will shave 1.25 percentage points off economic growth in the second quarter, though a speedy rebound was likely, the Bank of Canada said on Wednesday in a statement that was considered more hawkish than expected.

The preliminary assessment was in contrast to the 1.0 percent annualized growth the central bank forecast in April for the second quarter, and leaves the economy on course for a contraction in the quarter after a strong start to 2016.

"The second quarter will be much weaker than predicted because of the devastating Alberta wildfires," said the bank, which kept its main policy rate at 0.50 percent, as expected.

The fires are estimated to have cut daily oil production by more than 1 million barrels and taken half the nation's oil sands capacity offline.

Still, the central bank anticipates a third-quarter rebound as production restarts and reconstruction begins.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback following the decision.

"They offered a downside assessment of the Alberta wildfires as something preliminary but they do characterize this as a transitory shock, which will prove to not impact bank policy, in our view," said David Tulk, chief Canada macro strategist at TD Securities.

"The currency market has interpreted it as a more hawkish statement."

After cutting rates twice last year to offset the impact of cheaper oil, the bank is expected to keep rates steady until the third quarter of 2017.

Wednesday's statement provided even more reasons for the bank to stay on the sidelines, said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada.

Overall, the economy's adjustment to lower oil prices is uneven, the bank said. Although business investment and intentions remain disappointing, first-quarter growth looks in line with the bank's 2.8 percent forecast.

Recent indicators suggest the United States, Canada's main trading partner, will see a return to solid growth in 2016 despite weakness at the start of the year, the bank said. Improved U.S. growth will help boost Canada's exports.

Story continues

The bank noted that oil prices have rebounded somewhat, partly due to short-term supply disruptions, while the Canadian dollar is now close to the level assumed in April.

As the economy adjusts to lower oil prices, the housing market continues to show strong regional divergences, the bank said.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is not enough information in the public section of the "living wills" major banks file with U.S. regulators to fully explain how the organisations could undergo bankruptcy without taxpayer aid, the country's financial monitor said on Wednesday.

Even with the limited information, the Office of Financial Research found that banks "remain complex organizations," which it said confirms the "recent rejection and criticism by regulators of living will submissions."

Last month, federal regulators gave failing grades to five out of the eight biggest banks for their plans for winding down operations during a financial emergency without federal bailouts.

The requirement for a living will was part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation passed following the 2007-2009 financial crisis, when the U.S. government spent billions of dollars to keep banks considered "too big to fail" from collapsing and wrecking the U.S. economy.

Companies are required to detail assets and liabilities for all their core business lines in a confidential section provided only to the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, but have "broad discretion in preparing the public section," said the OFR, also created by Dodd-Frank.

That leads to information gaps that can make it hard for other agencies and the public to evaluate banks' cross-border activities or parent company balance sheets, it said.

This is not the first time the living wills process has been criticized for a lack of information. In April the Government Accountability Office found the public portions of living wills lacking and also said banks needed to know more about how regulators evaluate their plans.

Analysing the public parts of the wills, the OFR found that banks generally have not "simplified their organizations to make themselves easier to resolve" and that the interconnections between subsidiaries of the banks are "likely to present greater challenges to orderly resolution."

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
By Matt Scuffham and Marcy Nicholson

TORONTO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) will shed around 4 percent of its 46,000 workforce as part of a drive to cut costs, staff were told in a memo on Wednesday after the lender reported a decline in quarterly profit.

Chief Executive Bill Downe said the move, which will see around 1,850 jobs go, was a response to changing customer behaviour and the advent of new digital technologies.

Banks around the world are cutting branches and staff and investing in technology as more customers bank online rather than visit a branch.

"We have taken this step to position the bank for what lies ahead - and to account for the structural changes underway in the financial services industry," Downe said in the memo seen by Reuters.

Speaking to Reuters, Chief Financial Officer Tom Flynn said more jobs would leave from the retail side than its investment banking arm, with some branches set to close in the medium term.

Flynn said the number of transactions done by customers online and via mobile banking apps had risen by 5 million in the past two years while branch transactions declined.

"We're adjusting how we do business and moving with our customers," he said.

Canada's fourth biggest bank earlier Wednesday announced a C$132 million (69 million) restructuring charge, helping push its second-quarter net income down 3 percent to C$973 million, or C$1.45 per share.

Excluding that charge, its earnings were C$1.73 a share. Analysts on average had expected C$1.75 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

BMO said bad loans to oil and gas companies more than doubled in the latest quarter and set aside more funds to cover losses, setting the scene for expected increases in provisions by other Canadian lenders.

The bank said gross impaired loans to the oil and gas sector rose to C$410 million from C$162 million during the second quarter ended on April 30.

Provisions for credit losses increased to C$201 million from C$161 million. Flynn warned loan loss provisions were likely to rise further over the course of the year.

Story continues

Canada's other major banks are also expected to set aside more funds to cover bad loans this results season.

Energy sector loans accounted for 2 percent of BMO's total credit portfolio, and the oil-producing province of Alberta makes up about 6 percent of its loan book.

BMO shares were up 1.3 percent at C$84.27 at 1600ET.

(Editing by W Simon, Bernard Orr)
By Matt Scuffham and Marcy Nicholson TORONTO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal will shed around 4 percent of its 46,000 workforce as part of a drive to cut costs, staff were told in a memo on Wednesday after the lender reported a decline in quarterly profit. Chief Executive Bill Downe said the move, which will see around 1,850 jobs go, was a response to changing customer behavior and the advent of new digital technologies. Banks around the world are cutting branches and staff and investing in technology as more customers bank online rather than visit a branch. "We have taken this step to position the bank for what lies ahead - and to account for the structural changes underway in the financial services industry," Downe said in the memo seen by Reuters. Speaking to Reuters, Chief Financial Officer Tom Flynn said more jobs would leave from the retail side than its investment banking arm, with some branches set to close in the medium term. Flynn said the number of transactions done by customers online and via mobile banking apps had risen by 5 million in the past two years while branch transactions declined. "We're adjusting how we do business and moving with our customers," he said. Canada's fourth biggest bank earlier Wednesday announced a C$132 million ($101 million) restructuring charge, helping push its second-quarter net income down 3 percent to C$973 million, or C$1.45 per share. Excluding that charge, its earnings were C$1.73 a share. Analysts on average had expected C$1.75 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. BMO said bad loans to oil and gas companies more than doubled in the latest quarter and set aside more funds to cover losses, setting the scene for expected increases in provisions by other Canadian lenders. The bank said gross impaired loans to the oil and gas sector rose to C$410 million from C$162 million during the second quarter ended on April 30. Provisions for credit losses increased to C$201 million from C$161 million. Flynn warned loan loss provisions were likely to rise further over the course of the year. Canada's other major banks are also expected to set aside more funds to cover bad loans this results season. Energy sector loans accounted for 2 percent of BMO's total credit portfolio, and the oil-producing province of Alberta makes up about 6 percent of its loan book. BMO shares were up 1.3 percent at C$84.27 at 1600ET. (Editing by W Simon, Bernard Orr)
By Francesco Canepa

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) could receive financing from the European Central Bank that would help to fund a takeover of Monsanto (MON.N), according to the terms of the ECB's bond-buying program.

U.S.-based Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, turned down Bayer's $62 billion bid on Tuesday, but said it was open to further negotiations.

The ECB can buy bonds issued by companies that are based in the euro area, have an investment-grade rating and are not banks, provided that they are denominated in euros and meet certain technical requirements.

The purpose for which the bonds are issued is not among the criteria set by the ECB, which will start buying corporate bonds on the market and directly from issuers next month.

This means that, in theory, the ECB could buy debt issued by Bayer, which said on Monday it would finance its cash bid for Monsanto with a combination of debt and equity.

"It will be interesting to observe how much of such a deal would be absorbed by the central bank," credit analysts at UniCredit wrote in a note.

The ECB is buying 80 billion euros ($90 billion) worth of assets every month in an effort to revive economic growth in the euro zone by lowering borrowing costs.

Central bank sources told Reuters that it would not be the ECB's first choice if the money it spent ended up financing acquisitions.

But even this would have a silver lining if consolidation made an industry or sector more efficient and if it gave fresh impetus to the stock market, the source added.

And if issuers ended up exchanging the euros raised through bond sales for dollars, that would also help the euro zone by weakening the euro against the greenback, the sources said.

Bayer has investment-grade ratings from S&P, Moody's and Fitch, but all three agencies said they were reviewing their ratings for possible downgrades following the offer for Monsanto.

Moody's said the Monsanto acquisition might lead to a multi-notch downgrade of Bayer but it did not anticipate that the deal would cause the group to lose its investment-grade status.

(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
[Photo: At The Corner Of Happy & Harried]

Sunshine and warm weather can mean only one thing  ice cream season. Nowadays, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to frozen treats, with ice creams, sorbets, granitas, popsicles and more. These sweet treats are no longer just for kids! Make your own frozen treats to ring in spring with these colourful and easy recipes.

Red Velvet Ice Cream with Cream Cheese Icing Swirl [Photo: The Cookie Rookie]

Now you can have your favourite cake in a cone! Indulge in this luscious, creamy red velvet ice cream swirled with cream cheese icing. It tastes as good on a lazy weekend as it does on special occasions.

Get recipe from The Cookie Rookie.

Vanilla Greek Yogurt Funfetti Popsicles [Photo: Salt & Lavender]

How adorable are these funfetti popsicles? Made with Greek yogurt and rainbow sprinkles, this treat appeals to both kids and the young-at-heart.

Get recipe from Salt & Lavender.

Mango Berry Layered Lassi Popsicles [Photo: At The Corner Of Happy & Harried].

These layered popsicles are easier to make than you think and theyre healthy too! With sweet mangoes and a hint of cardamom and mint, these layered yogurt smoothie popsicles are so much fun to make and eat.

Get recipe from At The Corner Of Happy & Harried.



Pina Colada Sorbet [Photo: Turmeric N Spice]

The skinny cousin of ice cream, sorbet can be made with basically anything. This coconut milk and pineapple version reminiscent of a fruity pina colada will transport you to the tropics, stat!

Get recipe from Turmeric N Spice.

Honeydew Melon, Cucumber & Lime Popsicles [Photo: At The Corner Of Happy & Harried].

If you want something healthy and ridiculously simple, these honeydew melon, lime and cucumber pops should do the trick. Almost like a healthy smoothie, the sweet melon pairs perfectly with tangy lime and cool cucumber to instantly cool you down on a hot summers day/

Get recipe from At The Corner Of Happy & Harried.

Story continues

Churro Taco Bowls with Mexican Hot Chocolate and Margarita Ice Creams [Photo: Charlottes Lively Kitchen].

This is a delicious and surprisingly simple Mexican inspired dessert. Crisp churro bowls are topped with decadent Mexican hot chocolate and margarita flavored ice creams. Taco nights now have a worthy dessert!

Get recipe from Charlottes Lively Kitchen.

Watermelon Milkshake Granita [Photo: At The Corner Of Happy & Harried].

Granita is probably the easiest frozen dessert ever. No ice cream machines, no moulds, and no special technique required. Simply freeze, scrape the ice crystals and enjoy. This pretty pink watermelon milkshake granita uses a favorite warm weather fruit and is a guilt-free indulgence.



Get the recipe from At The Corner Of Happy & Harried.

Anjana Devasahayam is a foodie, baker, recipe creator and blogger at her blog, At The Corner Of Happy & Harried. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest.

Interested in writing for us? Join our Yahoo Blogger Network!
Beijing (AFP) - The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger.

But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters.

Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include Togo, Afghanistan and Burundi.

They are among the latest foot soldiers in "a public relations war" by China aimed at questioning international maritime rules, said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

The tribunal case, brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague by the Philippines, is highly technical and hinges on such issues as how international law defines "islands".

Niger joined the ranks of "over 40 countries that have officially endorsed China's position" that the issues should be settled through direct negotiations, not international courts, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

That, she added, was just the start: "There will be more and more countries and organisations supporting China."

Similar announcements have become an almost daily ritual at China's foreign ministry media briefings, as it steels itself for what is widely expected to be an unfavourable ruling by the tribunal that could come within weeks.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, on the basis of a segmented line that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s, pitting it against several neighbours.

But it is also a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Manila accuses Beijing of flouting the convention and has called for the tribunal, set up in 1899, to rule on the row.

Beijing insists that the court does not have jurisdiction, arguing that any claims to the contrary are politically motivated, and has boycotted the proceedings.

Story continues

"By cobbling together a group of nations that share its views, Beijing's aim is to show that there is a genuine debate over the legality of the Philippines' legal challenge," Townshend said.

"It is trying to build a counter-narrative to push back against the mainstream international consensus on maritime law."

- Not very successful -

Despite requests by AFP the foreign ministry in Beijing did not provide a full list of China's backers on the issue.

But other than its main diplomatic partner Russia, few heavy hitters have come out in support, with Beijing's neighbours -- many of them unnerved by its increasingly assertive behaviour -- notably absent.

Many of those disclosed so far are poor African countries, and Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the names as "mostly composed of smaller, inconsequential nations".

In some cases the claimed support has been short-lived. The South Pacific island nation of Fiji and EU member Slovenia both quickly denied Chinese foreign ministry statements that they were backing Beijing, with Ljubljana saying: "We do not take sides on the issue."

Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Peking University, told AFP: "I don't really feel that China's recent public diplomacy activities have been very successful."

Beijing, he said, "needs to develop its diplomatic activities and fight for more supporting voices".

But China's options are limited.

"While China has built odd coalition partners stretching from Russia to Mauritania and Venezuela to Gambia, the Philippines counts on support from the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and others, including respected global bodies like the EU and G7," Townshend said.

The ruling will be determined by the judges, he pointed out: "Neither side's supporters have any bearing on the outcome."

Even so Beijing is still turning to countries like uranium-rich Niger, for whom the benefits of taking China's side probably outweigh the costs.

China's state-owned oil giant CNPC has poured billions of dollars into Niger's oil industry, which is almost entirely dependent on Chinese enterprises.

It is one of many relationships Beijing has cultivated for such situations, said Deborah Brautigam, of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

"The Chinese provide official development assistance mainly for diplomatic reasons," she said, adding "when they need diplomatic support for something... the foreign ministry requests it".

"Something like this has little cost to an African country."
Brussels (AFP) - Police found "traces" of a plot to launch a new attack in Belgium when they arrested four people suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria and Libya, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The four were charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group" following their arrests in the northern port of Antwerp and other Flemish-speaking cities, the federal prosecutor's office said.

"The four were more involved in the part of recruiting," Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutors, told AFP. "And we found traces of plans for an attack in Belgium."

He said the probe into an alleged plot continued while his office said that "for now there is no link" with the investigation into the deadly March 22 bombings in the capital Brussels.

The prosecutor's office said the four people arrested are "suspected of having wanted to recruit people to send them to conflict zones in Syria and Libya," adding that some of them had intended to travel to those areas and join the Islamic State group.

Eight raids in Antwerp as well as in Ternat and Borgerhout turned up neither weapons nor explosives, the statement said without saying when the action was carried out.

The investigating judge ordered one of the four to be detained, but released the three others -- one on condition he wear an electronic bracelet and the other two under "strict" conditions, it added.

Belgium is still reeling from the Islamic State suicide bomber attacks at Brussels airport and on the metro on March 22 which killed 32 people and wounded hundreds more.

They came five months after jihadists, many of them from Brussels, carried out gun and bombing attacks in Paris on November 13, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds more.

The Paris and Brussels attacks have both been linked to the same jihadist cell with links to IS in Syria.

Per capita, Belgium has produced the highest number of so-called foreign fighters in the EU who have travelled to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, an estimated 500.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police searched houses in the city of Antwerp on Wednesday and detained four people on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group and trying to drum up recruits to fight with Islamist militants in Syria or Libya, state prosecutors said.

Two were formally arrested while the other two were given a conditional release.

"They are suspected of trying to recruit individuals to travel to conflict zones in Syria or Libya," a prosecutors' statement said.

It said no weapons or explosives were found in the house searches and there was no apparent link with the March 22 suicide bombings at the international airport and on the metro in Brussels which killed 31 people.

But it said some of the four planned to join the Islamic State militant group and a preliminary investigation showed they may also have been planning attacks in Belgium.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police searched houses in the city of Antwerp on Wednesday and detained four people on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group and trying to drum up recruits to fight with Islamist militants in Syria or Libya, state prosecutors said. Two were formally arrested while the other two were given a conditional release. "They are suspected of trying to recruit individuals to travel to conflict zones in Syria or Libya," a prosecutors' statement said. It said no weapons or explosives were found in the house searches and there was no apparent link with the March 22 suicide bombings at the international airport and on the metro in Brussels which killed 31 people. But it said some of the four planned to join the Islamic State militant group and a preliminary investigation showed they may also have been planning attacks in Belgium. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian unions called on rail workers to stage an indefinite strike from late Wednesday in protest at a cut in overtime compensation.

The call came a day after violence marred a mass protest in Brussels that is supposed to kick off months of planned demonstrations and national strikes led by trade unions against the centre-right government's austerity policies.

"The country's main train stations will be blocked, along with repair shops," Michel Abdissi, the head of the Socialist CGSP-rail worker union, was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency.

The state-run SNCB railroad company said "disruptions could occur throughout the network" in Belgium.

"The SNCB regrets these actions and will do everything to ensure movement of trains and limit disruptions," the firm said on its website.

Abdissi said the strike had been called in response to plans by management to reduce compensation for overtime in the 36-hour work week for the country's 34,000 rail workers.

Normally, workers receive time off that corresponds to the extra time worked.

Rail workers had previously announced that they would strike on May 31 to protest the economic policies of Prime Minister Charles Michel's government.

Belgian police on Tuesday fired water cannon during clashes with protesters on the margins of a peaceful demonstration in Brussels against the government's labour reform plans, leaving 10 people injured.

Some 60,000 people took part in the demonstration.

Neighbouring France has been harder hit by strikes and protests.

The government said Wednesday it had been forced to dip into strategic fuel reserves due to blockades at refineries, as power station workers threatened to join gathering protests against controversial labour reforms.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  May 25, 2016  Zacks Equity Research highlights Belmond Ltd. (BEL) as the Bull of the Day and Gap Inc. (GPS) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM),Statoil ASA (STO) and EniSpA (E).

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day :

Belmond Ltd. (BEL) is cashing in on the demand for "experiences." This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to see double digit earnings growth in 2016.

Belmond is a luxury travel and hotel company. It operates 46 hotels worldwide including in destination cities like Venice, St. Petersburg and Santa Barbara. It also operates 7 luxury tourist trains, including the Venice Simplon Orient Express, three river cruises, safaris and the "21" Club restaurant in New York City.

Big Beat in the First Quarter

The first quarter of the year is historically a seasonally slow one for Belmond but it beat the Zacks Consensus by 9 cents. Earnings were a loss of 3 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 12 cents.

It has surprised 3 out of the last 4 quarters.

First quarter constant currency RevPAR growth exceeded the company's own guidance, rising 9% year over year on a constant currency basis. The quarter was boosted by a 5% increase in average daily rate ("ADR") and a 3 percentage point increase in occupancy.

Europe was a highlight in the quarter with revenue rising 13% year over year. In particular, it saw revenue growth of $1 million, or 31%, at Belmond Reid's Palace in Madeira Portugal due to increased demand for that destination.

It's river cruises, however, saw declining revenue in the quarter as one of its two cruise ships in Myanmar, the Belmond Road to Mandalay, saw a 32% revenue decline due to increasing competition in the country. Up until this year, Belmond mostly had river cruising in Myanmar to itself.

Analysts Are Bullish

The company said it was encouraged by the strong start to the year in what is historically its slow period.

Story continues

The analysts are encouraged too as estimates have risen since the earnings report.

2 estimates have moved higher in the last 30 days pushing up the 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate to 22 cents from 16 cents.

That is earnings growth of 22.2%.

Earnings are expected to move higher in 2017, albeit not quite as strongly. But analysts see another 4.5% earnings growth in 2017.

Bear of the Day:

Gap Inc. (GPS) continues to struggle as it can't find it's way in the ever changing apparel landscape. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) has again had its estimates cut for this year and next.

Gap is a global specialty retailer with more than 3300 company-operated stores and 400 franchised stores in 90 countries along with e-commerce sites. It operates the well-known brands Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and Intermix brands.

Another Bad Quarter

Gap has been struggling since 2015 as it found itself off trend with its flagship brand Banana Republic and came up against steep competition on the low end where its Old Navy brand had thrived.

Comparable store sales were down across its three largest brands, and the only ones which it breaks out sales comps for.

Gap global comparables fell 3%, Old Navy declined 6% while Banana Republic slid 11%.

This was the quarter where we were supposed to see improvement in Banana's numbers as it was rolling out, what it believed, would be a popular spring line. But the shoppers haven't yet returned.

Many former Banana customers, myself included, are leery. We will pay for quality. If I want to shop at the cheaper level like H&M, I'll shop there. Give me something that won't fall apart in 2 months.

Additional content:

Oil Discoveries Lowest Since 1952: Is This Bottom?

Per a report by research firm IHS, the year 2015 marks the least amount of oil and gas discovered in over the last 64 years.



New oil discovered outside North America in 2015 totaled 2.8 billion barrels, the lowest amount since the industry actively started its worldwide oil exploration after World War II. The year also represented the fourth straight year of declining oil volumes  something that had never happened before.



Notably, about 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) was added through gas discoveries in the year. This signifies the fifth consecutive year wherein gas volumes discovered surpassed oil volumes discovered.



Factors Behind the Decline in Volumes



Per Morgan Stanley, major oil players have been forced to make substantial budget cuts to combat the freefall in oil prices. This is particularly true with respect to exploration, where spending was reduced to a meager $95 billion in 2015 from $168 billion two years earlier. ExxonMobil Corp. ( XOM) is among the long list of companies that have slashed their capital budget.



Moreover, the industry-wide pullback of drillships from international waters as companies began to shift focus to shale formations in Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma resulted in decline in discoveries. Given that investments in shales are both cheaper and less risky than drilling in international waters, the move was an expected one in the lackluster commodity price scenario.

However, analysts are of the opinion that the unconventional oil in North America is not sufficient to resolve the lack of discoveries. Tight oil production is estimated to account for about 15% of global output by 2040.



At the start of the decade, when oil demand rose rapidly, explorers were seen splurging astronomically on exploration. However, the outcome was poor with only a few notable hydrocarbon discoveries, such as Statoil ASA's (STO) Johan Sverdrup field off Norway's coast or EniSpA's (E) giant Zohr gas field off Egypt.



In 2015, companies drilled about 4,300 conventional exploration and appraisal wells compared with 5,200 in 2014 and 5,300 in 2012. Deep-water drilling, which means drilling in 1,000 to 5,000 feet of water, decreased by more than 20% and the ultra-deepwater well count plunged more than 40% from 2014.



However, a surge in new oil fields in recent years and the increase of Iran's production on the back of international sanctions raises optimism about exploration in the short term.



Over the longer run we feel to avoid any supply gap in the future, we believe that exploration companies should continue to focus on exploring instead of waiting for the commodity price to improve. In case the companies do not take immediate action, the challenges may be difficult to overcome. After all oil discoveries are essential to substitute resources, meet an ever-growing demand and offset the depletion of existing fields.

Get todays Zacks #1 Stock of the Day with your free subscription to Profit from the Pros newsletter:

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Click here to subscribe to this free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer .

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.





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



BELMOND LTD (BEL): Free Stock Analysis Report



GAP INC (GPS): Free Stock Analysis Report



EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report



STATOIL ASA-ADR (STO): Free Stock Analysis Report



ENI SPA-ADR (E): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
The FBI is investigating Terry McAuliffes ties to the Clinton Foundation, and donations made by a prominent Chinese businessman to both the Virginia governors campaign and to the foundation. Why are we not surprised?

The Clinton Foundation has come under scrutiny for years, charged with being a vessel for Bill and Hillary Clintons personal political ambitions rather than their philanthropy, acting as a holding pen for the couples long-serving political warriors and a conduit for contributions they would rather keep under the radar. As even The New York Times acknowledged in 2013, an examination of the record reveals just how difficult it can be to disentangle the Clintons charity work from Mr. Clintons moneymaking ventures and Mrs. Clintons political future.

Related: Sanders Scores a Big Victory in His Battle With Clinton

It is not clear that any evidence of impropriety will emerge from the probe. But it is clear that Bernie Sanders has erred by not hammering the seamy history of the foundation on the campaign trail. He often hints that Hillarys wealthy donors  and especially Wall Street fat cats  might expect something in return for their largesse. It is high time he showed off the numerous instances in which companies donated to the Clinton Foundation, paid Bill Clinton lavish speaking fees and were seemingly rewarded by government assistance while Hillary was secretary of state.

Bernie has an almost impossible path to the nomination, but if he could gin up righteous anger about how Bill Clinton earned $105 million for 542 speeches from 2001 to 2013, he might indeed turn the heads of some of those slavish Superdelegates lined up behind Hillary. As he has pointed out, polling suggests he is more likely than Hillary to beat Donald Trump in a head-to-head contest. Isnt that what Democrats want?

The most inflammatory charges about the Clinton Foundation stem from Peter Schweizers 2015 book Clinton Cash. Spurred by that best-seller, The Wall Street Journal and others have conducted their own investigations into the foundation. The Journal summarized that at least 60 companies that lobbied the State Department during [Clintons] tenure donated a total of more than $26 million to the Clinton Foundation.

Story continues

Early on, Bernie Sanders swore off discussing Hillarys email scandal. He has also ignored the revelations in Clinton Cash. Now that a movie of the same name has been launched, which makes Schweizers allegations more accessible, Sanders camp should seize the moment.

Related: Heres What Happens If Sanders Drops Out of the Race

Clinton Cash will not win any Oscars. It is a low-budget film in which author Peter Schweizer simply narrates a repeated pattern of purported Clintonian unethical behavior. It may lack exciting production values, but the films impact is devastating. It shows what The Times describes as the blurry lines between business, politics and philanthropy that have enriched and vexed the Clintons and their inner circle for years.

One of the more incendiary tales first reported in Schweizers book charges that Hillary helped win approval for Russias state nuclear agency to buy a controlling interest in Uranium One, one of Americas largest uranium mines, in exchange for $2.35 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation. The payments were not included on the Clinton Foundation website, as was demanded by an agreement with the Obama administration. Instead, the funds flowed through a Canadian offshoot, the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative, and therefore escaped notice.

At about the same time, Bill Clinton was paid a $500,000 speaking fee by a Russian investment bank, causing The New Yorker to ask, Why was Bill Clinton taking any money from a bank linked to the Kremlin while his wife was secretary of state? Good question. The uranium deal raised national security concerns; numerous Congressmen had petitioned to block the purchase.

The Wall Street Journal separately reported how Hillary intervened in a dispute between U.S. tax authorities and Swiss bank UBS. The bank turned to Clinton for help and she solved the problem. Soon after, UBS funneled substantial cash to the Clinton Foundation, rising from less than $60,000 through 2008 (before she was in office) to about $600,000 by the end of 2014. That was just the beginning. UBS also foot the bill for some $32 million in foundation programs and paid Bill Clinton an extraordinary $1.5 million to appear at various bank gatherings  his largest payday since leaving the Oval Office.

Related: Clinton Still Cant Get Sanders to Give It Up

Bernie Sanders has vastly outperformed expectations in this campaign, mainly by focusing on Hillary Clintons close ties to Wall Street and Big Money. Against all odds, and to the fury of the Democrat establishment, he refuses to bow out. Even Clinton fans wonder why Hillary cant put Sanders away. Hillarys sinking polls suggest the Vermont socialist is hurting her chances in November.

Democrats have only themselves to blame. In their haste to crown Queen Hillary, they overlookedwell, everything. They decided that the rosy afterglow of Bill Clintons presidency, celebrated for economic growth not seen since, would suppress the scandals that tainted those eight years. They chose to ignore the infidelities, the perjury, Travelgate, the Whitewater scandal and so much more. They also dismissed the more recent investigation into Benghazi as a Republican witch-hunt; concerns about Hillarys private email server were simply more of the same. Ancient history, the party decided. They were certain: the country is ready for a woman president!

Heres what they neglected: the stench of corruption lingers. Like the smell of smoke that seeps into clothes and drapes and never entirely disappears, charges of dishonesty are almost impossible to stamp out. Even people too young to remember the long-running saga of Clintonian misbehavior have a vague sense that the iconic power couple did something wrong. When Bernie Sanders hints that Hillarys wealthy donors expect something in return, it resonates.

And thats before any discussion in this campaign cycle about the pattern of pay-to-play that Peter Schweizer narrates so clearly in his devastating Clinton Cash. This is the weapon that could knock Clinton out. Well see if Sanders grabs hold of the opportunity; if he doesnt, you can bet that Donald Trump will.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Bernie Sanders, appearing at a campaign rally in Anaheim on Tuesday, took aim at one of the regions major employers  The Walt Disney Co.

Just blocks from Disneyland, Sanders told the crowd that the company pays its workers [at the park] so low that many are forced to live in motels because they cant afford a decent place to live. Meanwhile, Disney made a record breaking profit of nearly 3 billion dollars last quarter.

I am probably the only politician to come to Anaheim to say this, he said.

Sanders also cited an incident that occurred last year, when the company laid off about 250 information technology workers and replaced them with those holding H-1B guest worker visas. Donald Trump has also cited the layoffs in attacking the visa program, even though the company has said that it was able to hire back more than 100 of the 250 employees and that the IT team would be larger than it was before the reorganization.

Sanders contrasted the layoffs to the $46.5 million in compensation of Disney CEO Robert Iger, although he did not cite Iger by name.

Sanders said that Disney was an example of what we are talking about when we talk about a rigged economy.

He said that it would be nice for Disney to move its manufacturing of consumer products like T-shirts to the United States, rather than have them produced with cheap labor in China. He accused Disney of exploiting people in China.

He also predicted that what he said would not appear on ABC tonight, noting that Disney is its corporate parent. But ABC News did stream his speech, and Sanders will appear on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live later this week.

Sanders rally was held at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Update: A Disney spokesman said, Mr. Sanders clearly doesnt have his facts right. The Disneyland Resort generates more than $5.7 billion annually for the local economy, and as the areas largest employer has added more than 11,000 jobs over the last decade, a 65% increase. These numbers dont take into account our $1 billion expansion to add a Star Wars-themed land, which will create thousands of additional jobs across multiple sectors.

Story continues

The spokesman also addressed the guest worker visas.

Here are the facts: We rehired more than 100 people impacted by our Parks IT reorganization, have hired more than 170 other US IT workers roles and are currently recruiting candidates to fill more than 100 IT positions.

Related stories

Hillary Clinton Declines Offer for Another Democratic Debate

Clinton, Sanders Take Campaigns to Los Angeles at Rival Events

Jimmy Kimmel to Host Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Next Week
BOSTON (Reuters) - Precious Perez slipped into her full-length strapless prom gown and said it made her feel like story book royalty, an experience shared by many of her peers at high schools across the United States. Blind since birth, Perez, could not see the dress's mint green color, but said that did not limit her ability to enjoy the formal dance, a common rite of passage for American teens. Perez, 18, described the gown she would put on in the small, comfortable apartment she lives in with her mother and four year-old brother J.J. as "kind of like a more toned-down version of a Disney princess dress. It makes me feel all elegant and special." The practical teen with a bright laugh attends the same public high school as her sighted friends and was eager for the experience. "I always thought that I might end up going. I didn't really know though," she said. Asked about her prom date, Perez says she and Maddy Wilson are "like step-sisters, best friends who grew up together." The two were inseparable at the prom, held in the ballroom of a nearby hotel in Boston, from dinner to ice cream sundaes and, of course, packing onto a small dance floor with hundreds of her classmates. "All of the Spanish music was my favorite," said Perez, whose mother is of Puerto Rican descent. "It's in my blood." Her mother, Jennifer Alvarez, took Perez for a manicure, pedicure and hair straightening and cut in their working-class hometown of Chelsea, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, a few days ahead of the prom and admitted to some jitters about her daughter growing up and heading out on her own. "I wanted her to go to prom because that's a big experience in someone's life. You only get one time," Alvarez said, months before Perez is to head off to a new life at Boston's Berkeley College of Music, where she will study vocal performance and face new living arrangements at the schools downtown dormitories. "She's going off to college. There's going to be parties. She's going to get invited out to a bar or out to a club, and it's terrifying," Alvarez said. "I'm ecstatic for her because this is what I want for her." (Reporting by Brian Snyder; Editing by Scott Malone and Alan Crosby)
Comedian Bill Cosby walked into a Pennsylvania courtroom yesterday for the biggest legal fight of his life: battling criminal charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted a Temple University employee he once mentored more than ten years ago.



The employee, Andrea Constand, 43, was the first of one of more than 50 women to accuse the now 78-year-old entertainer of sexually assaulting and/or drugging them.



While Cosby is fighting other civil cases involving similar accusations, Cosby has only been charged criminally in Constand's case.



He and his attorneys have steadfastly denied the allegations from Constand and the more than 50 other women who have accused him.



Here are five things you need to know about the case.



1. Bill Cosby will go to trial for alleged aggravated indecent assault

On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that Cosby will stand trial for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, mansion in 2004.



Cosby has said what happened between him and Constand was consensual. But Constand maintains that it was not consensual, revealing in court papers last summer that she is gay and that she was in a relationship with a woman at the time.



Prosecutors in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, had initially investigated Constand's allegations in 2005, but concluded that there was not enough "credible" evidence to bring the case to trial.



Constand and Cosby reached a civil settlement in 2006 for an undisclosed amount. But Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele reopened the case last year.



New accusations by the other women and revelations Cosby made in a recently unsealed 2005 and 2006 depositions are part of the evidence that led Steele to bring the new charges.



In the deposition from the 2005 civil case brought by Constand, Cosby admitted he had used Quaaludes to have sex with a woman.



In the depositions, Cosby admitted to having sex with at least two teen-aged girls and said an agency would send "five or six" models to his studio each week while he was filming one of his sitcoms, according to portions of Cosby's deposition released by the Associated Press just before his preliminary trial.



Cosby and his lawyers are fighting to stop the Constand case from going to trial, saying he gave the deposition in exchange for legal immunity in the Constand case, which he maintains was promised by the former district attorney, Bruce L. Castor Jr.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



2. Will his wife Camille stand by him?

Cosby's longtime wife, Camille, is standing by her husband but is saying very little about the legal storm surrounding him.



During tense questioning for a deposition she gave in February, she said she had "no opinion" on whether or not it is "deceitful" to give Quaaludes to someone for the purposes of sex, according to NBC News.



She repeatedly refused to answer most questions about her husband's "integrity" and cited marital privilege.



The deposition is part of a defamation suit filed against Bill by seven women who claim they were portrayed as liars after accusing him of sexual assault. Bill has counter-sued the seven women who filed suit, also alleging defamation.



3. He faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty

Cosby is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each of which carry a prison sentence of up to ten years. He was charged with the three felonies in December and was released on a $1 million bond.



4. Alleged 'Other acts evidence' is key for prosecution



Prosecutors only had to make a so-called prima facie case, with a low burden of proof, to send the case to trial, but proving Cosby's alleged guilt at trial is a steeper hurdle.



Rich DeSipio, a Philadelphia criminal defense attorney and former sex crimes prosecutor in Montgomery County, told PEOPLE he believes the key issue is whether any of the other alleged victims will be allowed to testify as witnesses.



"I think if it's just the one victim it's a not guilty," says DeSipio. "If other victims are allowed to testify, he'll be found guilty."



DeSipio adds: "Itas one thing for a jury to hear one woman say, 'I drank some wine, took a pill, and was sexually assaulted against my will,' " he told PEOPLE. "Itas a whole different ball game to hear that from 10, 25, or 50 women."



The testimony could be allowed in under what's known as "other acts evidence" in Pennsylvania, with its admission left up to a judge.



"It's a pattern of behavior to show his [alleged] plan in committing a crime  to show this is how he commits sexual assaults," said DeSipio, who used the rule many times while prosecuting sex crimes in Philadelphia and in Montgomery County.



Because the testimony is potentially so prejudicial to a defendant, there has to be striking similarities to the alleged victim's case, says DeSipio.



In Constand's case, DeSipio outlined a pattern that alleged other acts would have to follow in order to be admissible: "He gets women where he's in a position of power; he gets them one on one; he then gives them some kind of drug, whether it's alcohol or pills, then he touches them in a similar way.



Judges are more likely to admit this testimony in sexual assault cases than they are in other types of crimes because usually there's no other evidence, he says. "It's by nature a secret crime. It's her word against his. There's not going to be any physical evidence  no DNA, no forensics, no evidence of pills. And usually someone who commits a sex crime doesn't do it just once."



5. Cosby's lawyers have focused on delay in bringing charges

Cosby's attorneys have promised to mount a "vigorous defense" of what they say is an "unjustified charge" in the Constand case.



They do not agree with the judge's decision to move the case to trial. "They had 12 years to bring an accuser to confront Mr. Cosby," said one of his lawyers, Brian McMonagle, in a statement Tuesday. "They chose not to."



The statement added: "There was no evidence of a crime here. And the inconsistencies that plagued this investigation from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately."



The prosecution will likely also have to explain why Constand continued to see Cosby after he had come onto her, and also why she waited a year before going to authorities.



"Delayed reporting makes any claim of sexual assault  or for that matter, most crimes  difficult to prosecute," says Joe McGettigan, who successfully prosecuted former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky for sexually abusing ten young boys and is now of counsel with McAndrews Law Offices in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.



"On the other hand, you're now able to put on expert testimony about the reasons for delays," he told PEOPLE.



After the Sandusky case, a new Pennsylvania law was enacted allowing expert testimony regarding victim behavior to be used in sexual assault cases, McGettigan says.



"They are allowed to say sometimes because of fear, shame or other psychological responses victims sometimes do not immediately make what's called a prompt complaint or an immediate outcry," says McGettigan, who was a local, state and federal prosecutor for more than 20 years.



"Nor are they allowed to offer an opinion about the ultimate credibility of the victim in a particular case," he says.
In one corner stands a brash, controversial media giant with a long history of outing gay public figures. In the other is a billionaire Trump supporter and supposed defender of the freedom of the press, throwing his riches behind a campaign to destroy the publication. Who looks worse?

On Tuesday night, Forbes alleged that Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel, who is worth an estimated $2.7 billion, has been secretly paying for and supporting a lawsuit against Gawker Media  a lawsuit that could put an end to one of new media's most powerful institutions.

Thiel

The lawsuit comes from the professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who was awarded $115 million after Gawker published an excerpt from his sex tape in 2012. Gawker is appealing the verdict, and has allegedly offered hefty settlements, likely in the millions of dollars. Gawker founder and CEO Nick Denton told Politico that the lawsuit could destroy Gawker entirely.

Thiel's support of the lawsuit is legal, but the lawsuit, and the dark money behind it, portends the frightening power of the money elite and their ability to silence the media. The tech businesses in Silicon Valley regularly consider themselves beyond scrutiny, so it comes as no surprise that its most influential moguls would literally use their money and power to shut down an organization that challenges it.

Thiel, a libertarian, is blocking one essential liberty

Thiel is an i who has donated millions to political campaigns with the belief that technology is a panacea for the inefficiencies in society. Thiel sees old institutions like government as impediments to the forward march of innovation.

Source: PAUL SAKUMA/AP

Higher education isn't a part of Thiel's future either. His foundation regularly hands out grants to students who swear off college in favor of entrepreneurship  a controversial program.

"I stand against confiscatory taxes, totalitarian collectives, and the ideology of the inevitability of the death of every individual," Thiel wrote in 2009. "Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."

Story continues

Typically, being a libertarian means believing in a hands-off approach: No government should interfere with a society's liberties  especially freedom of the press.

The long, bizarre history of

Facebook is one of the most powerful companies in media today. It is a primary source of political news for millennials, and the News Feed algorithm has a tightening grip on the way online news companies do business.

Thiel is the co-founder of PayPal and the data analysis giant Palantir Technologies, but the average American might know him as an early investor in Facebook. He's portrayed in the clip below from the 2010 movie The Social Network.

Thiel has allegedly been out for Gawker's blood since 2007, when Gawker published a story called "Peter Thiel Is Totally Gay, People," years before T .

"[Thiel] was so paranoid that, when I was looking into the story, a year ago, I got a series of messages relaying the destruction that would rain down on me, and various innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, if a story ever ran," Denton wrote at the time.

Thiel went on to refer to Valleywag, Gawker's former tech-industry blog, as "the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda."

Gawker publishes stories, people share/read them on Facebook, FB monetizes the attention , FB investor uses $ to kill Gawker...

Thiel 's affairs. Gizmodo, Gawker Media's tech news site, that Facebook employees routinely censored conservative news sites from Facebook's trending news section. Thiel, one of the only Donald Trump supporters among the Silicon Valley elite, sat in on a meeting between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a list of 17 prominent conservatives last week.

Thiel was there to help Zuckerberg convince conservative leaders that Facebook had no interest in censoring the media.

Source: John Pendygraft/AP

The biggest hypocrisy of all

In a news story chock-full of "WTF" moments, perhaps the biggest hypocrisy is that Thiel would have people believe he's champion of the press. In 2009, he donated an undisclosed sum to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"Technology can have positive and negative aspects," Thiel told Silicon Valley Watcher at the time. "I want to help the CPJ defend the rights of online journalists."

Peter Thiel, "primary supporter of the Committee to Protect Journalists," tries to destroy online news site. Can't make this stuff up.

Regardless of whether Gawker deserved its verdict  the site has been widely criticized for outing other public figures, such as news anchor Shepard Smith and Conde Nast executive Chris Geithner  it's said that the Hogan case could end up having a chilling effect on journalism as a whole, setting a dangerous precedent for the freedom of the press. It's concerning enough that a member of the 1% and delegate for Donald Trump has been using his money to try and secretly shut down a major news institution.

1/ Re Thiel, reminder that this isn't the only thin-skinned billionaire trying to bully press:http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/10/mother-jones-vandersloot-melaleuca-lawsuit ...

Mic has reached out to Thiel, the Thiel Foundation and Palantir for this story; Thiel has been denying all requests for comment. Gawker, for its part, is asking courts to set the record straight.
How's Blackstone Doing Amid Weak Operating Performance?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Innovative solutions

Blackstones (BX) hedge fund solutions segment is mainly composed of BAAM (Blackstone Alternative Asset Management). Organized in 1990, it manages a broad range of comingled funds. The division reported a 36% fall in its hedge fund solutions segments total 1Q16 revenue, to $117 million from $185 million in 1Q15. The economic income for hedge fund solutions fell by 59% during the first quarter, mainly due to difficult global markets.

In 1Q16, Blackstone launched its hedge fund platform, Senfina Advisors, in the United Kingdom. The platform allows investors to access a number of underlying hedge fund managers. Senfina was launched in the United States in 2014.

Blackstones operating margin was 48% in the last fiscal year. Lets compare this with the revenue for Blackstones peers:

The Carlyle Group (CG): operating margin of 2.7%

KKR (KKR): operating loss

BlackRock (BLK): operating margin of 40.4%

Apollo Global Management (APO): operating margin of 34.0%

Together, these companies form ~1.4% of the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF).

Adding new assets

The divisions composite gross return declined by 2.9% during the quarter due to difficult Market conditions. Blackstone attracted a sizable amount of funds in customized and comingled strategies. The company attracted $2.9 billion in fee-earning gross inflows during the quarter. It has attracted $9.4 billion during the last 12 months.

Also, due to the growth of customized strategies and continued platform diversification, the divisions total assets under management increased by 3% to $68 billion. The total assets under management for BAAMs individual investor solutions platform reached $6.8 billion, up from $3.8 billion in 1Q15.

Next, well look at how Blackstone sees investments and capital commitments in credit.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - Two bodies believed to be the remains of a Washington state couple missing and presumed slain since last month were found buried in a shallow grave on Tuesday as one of two suspected killers in the case pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Information furnished by Tony Clyde Reed, 49, arrested more than a week ago at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, helped authorities pinpoint the location of the makeshift burial site, said Shari Ireton, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office in Snohomish County, Washington.

Reed, jailed on $5 million bond, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to two counts of murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. His brother, John Reed, 53, remained a fugitive and may still be in Mexico, Ireton said.

The two siblings are suspected of killing Patrick Shunn, 45, and Monique Patenaude, 46, a married couple reported missing on April 12 by friends in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Seattle.

John Reed was a neighbor of the couple in the Oso area, which was hit by a deadly mudslide in March 2014, and Shunn had reported to police that he and his wife had been threatened by Reed in a property dispute.

Based on evidence uncovered in the initial search for the couple, detectives concluded they were victims of foul play, but more than a month passed without any sign of their bodies.

Ireton said the remains of a man and woman were finally discovered in a remote, wooded area a few miles (km) north of the couple's home and near the spot where their two cars were found abandoned in April.

Authorities believe the bodies, which were buried together, are those of Shunn and Patenaude, though medical examiners have yet to positively identify the remains, or to determine the cause and manner of the death, Ireton said.

Sheriff's investigators said the Reed brothers both fled to Mexico following the couple's disappearance. The younger brother turned himself over to U.S. marshals at the border on May 16 and was extradited back to Washington.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday it was reducing the size of its tech support unit as part of an ongoing drive to lower costs.

The company declined to comment on how many Information Technology workers are being laid off, after the Seattle Times reported on Tuesday that hundreds of IT jobs were being cut.

The reductions are across the company, and reflect tech-support work being reduced, "not work that is being shifted or outsourced," Boeing spokeswoman Lauren McFarland said.

The cost cuts come as the Chicago-based aerospace and defense company battles for sales with European rival Airbus .

"There is an enterprise-wide effort to increase our competitiveness in today's global aerospace marketplace," she said. "As a result, Boeing is engaging in non-labor and labor reductions to help enable the business to meet and exceed customer requirements."

The job reductions will take place in mid-July, after 60-day notices were sent to workers last week, McFarland said.

The layoffs are involuntary and include managers and non-managers, she said. The reductions are separate from the voluntary job reductions Boeing is making in its commercial airplanes unit, she added.

Boeing's engineers union said none of the IT layoffs would affect its members. Boeing has eliminated 71 IT jobs held by its members since March 2012, said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Andrew Hay)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) said on Wednesday it was reducing the size of its tech support unit as part of an ongoing drive to lower costs.

The company declined to comment on how many Information Technology workers are being laid off, after the Seattle Times reported on Tuesday that hundreds of IT jobs were being cut.

The reductions are across the company, and reflect tech-support work being reduced, "not work that is being shifted or outsourced," Boeing spokeswoman Lauren McFarland said.

The cost cuts come as the Chicago-based aerospace and defence company battles for sales with European rival Airbus (AIR.PA).

"There is an enterprise-wide effort to increase our competitiveness in today's global aerospace marketplace," she said. "As a result, Boeing is engaging in non-labour and labour reductions to help enable the business to meet and exceed customer requirements."

The job reductions will take place in mid-July, after 60-day notices were sent to workers last week, McFarland said.

The layoffs are involuntary and include managers and non-managers, she said. The reductions are separate from the voluntary job reductions Boeing is making in its commercial airplanes unit, she added.

Boeing's engineers union said none of the IT layoffs would affect its members. Boeing has eliminated 71 IT jobs held by its members since March 2012, said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Tokyo (AFP) - Survivors of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima will be present when US President Barack Obama lays a wreath at ground zero this week, reports said Wednesday.

Former United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese will also attend the event, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, with US officials hoping their presence will remove any impression it is an apology.

Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front of a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims on Friday, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the city.

Earlier this week, he told Japanese television he will not say sorry for the bombing.

American airmen launched the world's first atomic strike when they bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, causing the deaths of about 140,000 people.

Tens of thousands were killed by the fireball that the powerful nuclear blast generated, with many more succumbing to injuries or illnesses caused by radiation in the weeks, months and years afterwards.

The southern city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb three days later, killing 74,000 people, in one of the final acts of World War II.

The speed, circumstances and repercussions of then US president Harry Truman's decision remain contentious. In Japan, perhaps a majority believe the mass bombing of civilians was unnecessary and may even have been a crime.

Many Americans believe that it avoided an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan toward the end of World War II.

On Tuesday, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui met with Abe and demanded that Obama meet with atomic bomb victims, newspaper reports said.

"If victims and the president meet face to face, he may be able to understand the feelings of the victims," Matsui told reporters after his meeting with Abe, the Yomiuri reported.

Obama is due to arrive in Japan later Wednesday for a meeting of the Group of Seven industrial powers, which begins Thursday.

Obama will likely have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe late Wednesday, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.
Photo: Splash News

Hero status. Brad Pitt saved a young female fan from getting hurt while filming his upcoming drama, Allied, in the Canary Islands on Monday.

PHOTOS: Stars as Superheroes

The dad of six, 52, was caught on camera waving and blowing kisses from on set to a crowd of screaming fans. He stopped and pointed to the little girl being pushed up against a fence before climbing over a barrier and coming to her aid. He appeared to tell other fans to move back to give her space.



Photo: Splash News



PHOTOS: Brad Pitts Us Weekly Covers: 1995 to Now!

Pitts kind act didnt end there. In the video, the War Machine star  who is married to Angelina Jolie  was seen comforting the child, who appeared to be crying. Bodyguards then lifted her over the fence to safety, and the Oscar-winning actor continued to rub her back and soothe her as medics came to check on her.

Pitt was dressed in character at the time of the incident. The actor  who stars alongside Marion Cotillard, Lizzy Caplan and Matthew Goode  plays a French-Canadian spy in the Robert Zemeckisdirected thriller.

Photo: Splash News



Allied hits theaters on November 23, 2016.



Cant get enough of Us? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter packed with the latest celeb news, hot pics and more!
(Adds finance ministry comment in 5th graph)

By Alonso Soto

BRASILIA, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's government won congressional approval on Wednesday for the biggest fiscal deficit goal on record, in a victory for the new administration rattled by the resignation of a key minister initially charged with drawing up the goal.

In a raucous session that ran past midnight, the legislature accepted interim President Michel Temer's 2016 primary deficit goal of 170.5 billion reais ($47.4 billion), or 2.75 percent of gross domestic product.

It was the biggest-ever deficit goal of its kind, reflecting the anticipated difference between revenues and expenditures before interest payments. The primary deficit is a measure of creditworthiness closely watched by ratings agencies that recently stripped Brazil of its investment-grade rating.

The approval of the deficit goal averted budgetary deadlock which threatened a government shutdown in June, clearing a hurdle faced by Temer who took office in mid-May after President Dilma Rousseff was suspended to face trial on charges of breaking fiscal rules.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said in a statement that the approval of the target signals the commitment of lawmakers to restoring the equilibrium of public finances.

The new deficit target, nearly double what Rousseff had projected, could open the way for more spending ahead of the October mayoral elections, a move that some analysts see bolstering Temer's support in Congress.

"The administration is taking a very pragmatic approach ahead of the October elections ... there will be a lot of political horse trading to approve other measures," said Sacha Tihanyi, senior emerging market strategist with TD Securities.

The measure passed despite the sudden resignation on Monday of Planning Minister Romero Juca, a leading member of Temer's economic team, over leaked recordings of him allegedly discussing plans to obstruct a huge graft probe.

The loss of Juca, the main political negotiator of the administration, was the first major blow to Temer after less than two weeks in power. He had been due to present the primary deficit target hours before he stepped down on Monday.

Story continues

Investors fear Juca's exit could hamper efforts to pass key economic reforms in Congress and keep up political instability in a country mired in its worst recession in decades.

"The big picture is that it shows that this government is exposed to this corruption investigation that could hamper its governability and ability to pass measures in Congress," said Joao Pedro Ribeiro, analyst with Nomura in New York.

Temer, who was Rousseff's vice president, on Tuesday announced a raft of measures, including a constitutional amendment imposing a ceiling for public expenditures. Analysts believe more needs to be done to close a budget gap that could top more than 10 percent of GDP, including interest payments, for the second year in a row.

($1 = 3.6 reais) (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by W Simon)
By Alonso Soto

BRASILIA, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's Congress early on Wednesday approved the government's new fiscal deficit target for 2016, in the first legislative victory for the country's new administration rattled by the resignation of a key minister initially charged with drawing up the goal.

Interim President Michel Temer, who this month replaced leftist President Dilma Rousseff while she stands trial for breaking fiscal rules, submitted a primary deficit target of 170.5 billion reais ($47.4 billion), equivalent to 2.75 percent of the gross domestic product.

It was the largest budget deficit envisioned to date in the primary balance, which is the difference between revenues and expenditures, excluding debt interest payments. As such, it is a measure of a country's creditworthiness and is closely watched by credit ratings agencies.

The approval of the deficit goal in a session, which spilled past midnight, averts a government shutdown in June.

It comes even after Planning Minister Romero Juca, a leading member of the economic team, stepped aside on Monday over leaked recordings of him allegedly discussing plans to obstruct a massive corruption probe.

The resignation of Juca, an experienced senator and main political negotiator of the administration, was the first major blow to Temer after less than two weeks in power. He had been due to present the primary deficit target hours before he stepped down on Monday.

Investors fear Juca's exit could hamper government efforts to pass key economic reforms in Congress and usher more political instability in a country mired in its worst recession in decades.

Temer, who was Rousseff's vice president, on Tuesday announced a raft of measures, including a ceiling for public expenditures and a relaxation of mandatory spending programs to rebalance the public accounts.

Markets welcomed the new policies, but analysts believe more needs to be done to close a budget gap that could top more than 10 percent of GDP, including interest payments, for the second year in a row.

($1 = 3.6 reais) (Reporting by Alonso Soto Editing by W Simon)
Donald Trump hugs a U.S. flag as he takes the stage for a campaign town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire August 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are seeing their negativity ratings climb, and both candidates are unpopular with the electorate at large.

That's according to a striking new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal that reveals the election is shaping up as a choice between the lesser of two evils for many Americans.

In the poll conducted earlier this month, 54% of respondents said they have a negative view of Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee for president, while just 34% said they have a positive view.

And 58% said they have a negative view of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, while 29% were positive.

Clinton and Trump are two of the least popular politicians in the poll. President Barack Obama had the most positive ratings (49%). House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was floated as a possible alternative to Trump, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders  who is still fighting Clinton for the Democratic nomination  are both viewed more positively than Trump and Clinton.

Trump was at the bottom of the popularity list, beating out only Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And voters seem to dislike the candidate they're not voting for more than they like their favored candidate.

When Clinton voters were asked to identify the main reason they support her, "she is not Donald Trump" topped the list. Of Trump voters, the biggest share (32%) said, "He is a successful businessman and will shake things up in Washington." But "he is not Hillary Clinton" came in second with 28%.

Despite voters' apparent lack of enthusiasm for Clinton, they seem to have confidence in her handle on the issues.

According to the poll, voters believe Trump would be better than Clinton on economic issues, an area on which Clinton and her allies have started to attack the mogul. But Clinton ultimately beat out Trump on most election issues the poll raised. Still, it's a close split between the two overall, with Trump leading by 3 points in a head-to-head race.

Story continues

Trump won among voters on "changing business as usual in Washington," "protecting America's interest on trade issues," dealing with Wall Street," "dealing with the economy," and "standing up for America."

On most other issues  immigration, Supreme Court appointments, "being a good commander-in-chief," "looking out for the middle class," foreign policy, uniting the country, and women's issues  poll respondents said Clinton would be a better pick.

The NBC-WSJ poll showed that economic growth is the top issue voters think the federal government should address, followed by national security.

The demographic breakdown of Trump and Clinton supporters is also noteworthy  Clinton held the lead with African-American voters (88% of whom said they support her in the poll), Latinos (68%), and women (51%). But Trump led with white voters (52%), seniors (52%), and men (49% compared to the 40% who would vote for Clinton).

NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: Why Hillary Clinton is a 'dangerous person'





More From Business Insider


TOKONAME, Japan (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron, who arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a Group of Seven summit, encouraged Beijing and others to abide by a looming ruling by an international tribunal on a territorial row between China and the Philippines. Asked whether China had to abide by the ruling, Cameron told reporters: "We believe that it is in Britain's interests, in all our interests, to have a world that is based on adhering to the institutions of that world, and the rules of that world. "That suits us, that is good for us and it is good for the world so we want to encourage China to be part of that rules-based world. We encourage everyone to abide by these adjudications and Britain has always taken that view and I am sure that will be something that we discuss." Tension between the Philippines and China has risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013 that could undermine Beijing's claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court's authority. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Robert Birsel)
London (AFP) - Money is at the heart of many a battle and the referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union or quit is no exception.

Voters are being hit with a blizzard of statistics from the "Remain" and "Leave" camps, often produced selectively to boost their side of the argument.

Here are some of the facts and figures being disputed in the run-up to the June 23 vote:

Britain's contribution to the EU budget

"Leave" campaigners claim it is A350 million ($510 million, 455 million euros) a week.

But that is a gross figure that does not include the rebate famously won by prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

With the rebate stripped out, the figure is A280 million a week based on 2014 data, according to Iain Begg, a research professor at the London School of Economics university's European Institute, in a study entitled "So how much does Britain pay the EU?"

In 2015, Britain contributed an estimated A17.8 billion to the EU budget, or A12.9 billion after the rebate, according to a parliamentary briefing paper.

Brussels subsidies

In return, Britain receives some A6 billion of subsidies, notably to the agriculture and scientific research industries.

"Remain" campaigners say this support would go if Britain pulled out, while "Leave" campaigners say British money would be better spent directly by the government.

Britain is the 10th biggest net contributor proportional to the size of its economy of the 28 members, according to 2014 figures from the European Commission.

EU immigration

Immigration from the EU is proving to be one of the key battlegrounds of the campaign.

The total number of EU migrants living in Britain doubled between 2004 and 2015 to three million people, according to the Migration Observatory of Oxford University.

The rise is due to the EU taking in eight Central and Eastern European states in 2004, including Poland, but in the more recent financial crisis, immigrants from eurozone countries like Spain and Italy also headed to Britain.

Story continues

The pro-Brexit Justice Secretary Michael Gove claims that if Britain stays in the EU, more than five million immigrants may arrive over the next 15 years, putting "unsustainable" pressure on the health and education systems.

The projection assumes Turkey, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro join the EU by 2020.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who supports Turkish accession, said Sunday it would be decades before there was the prospect of this happening.

Meanwhile Britons are also on the move and settled around Europe.

According to United Nations figures, 1.3 million Britons lived in the rest of the EU in 2013, of which 300,000 live in Spain, 250,000 in Ireland and 200,000 in France.

Trade

The EU as a whole is by far Britain's biggest trading partner. In 2015, 44 percent of Britain's exports went to other EU states, from which it imported 53 percent of its goods, according to government figures.

Jobs

The British government says three million jobs are directly or indirectly linked to trade with other EU countries.

The government says the figure is based on the assumption that "the share of UK employment linked to trade with the EU is equal to the share of total UK value added (GDP) generated in the production of goods and services exported to the EU".
Vancouver is hot.

There are at least 47 productions currently shooting in the city and in the province of British Columbia, including Netflixs A Series of Unfortunate Events, the second seasons of Amazons The Man in the High Castle and Lifetimes UnReal, and the follow-up to 50 Shades of Grey. And thats not counting animation and visual effects projects. In short, the area is busier than ever, with no signs of slowing down.

Tax incentives have long contributed to the region popularity, and with the Canadian dollar at new lows, goods and services are even cheaper for the Hollywood types who head north to shoot.

In fact, the economics are so friendly that the B.C. government has decided to take advantage of the situation. It announced this month that, beginning Oct. 1, it will decrease the production services tax credit to 28%  5% lower than the previous rate  which will save the province a projected $100 million in annual payouts. The rate for digital productions, animation, and visual effects work also will drop, to 16% from 17.5%. The changes will not affect productions that were under way prior to Oct. 1, and the domestic production credit will remain unaffected.

In explaining reasons for the reduction in tax credits, acting B.C. film commissioner Robert Wong, whos also VP of promotional organization CreativeBC, says that the more shooting there is in the province, the more money the government must pay out in incentives. The way things have been going over the past two years, with so much production activity here, the tax burden was starting to increase.

The local industry, which is largely represented by the Motion Picture Indus-try Assn. of B.C., says it recognizes the provinces fiscal challenges in meeting a balanced budget but wants to make sure the incentive reductions dont adversely affect production. It reached out to the government to discuss the inclusion of a transition period that would allow for sustainable credits while maintaining a competitive edge.

Story continues

They felt that it was important that the reputation and predictability of the program was maintained here in B.C., so that essentially anything that was already committed wasnt going to be impacted by the changes in the tax credit program, says Wong. [They] didnt want to punish or hurt anyone who had already committed to doing a production here.

Major industry stakeholders like Paul Bronfman, co-founder of North Shore Studios and chairman and CEO of William F. White Intl. (Canadas largest provider of production equipment), think the effects from a reduced tax credit will be minimal.

The government is facing a deficit just like they are in Toronto, Bronfman says, pointing out that, in contrast to Toronto, the B.C. lawmakers have consulted extensively with the industry, resulting in a smoother transition plan. In Toronto they just laid the hammer down last year and didnt grandfather anything, he says.

While Bronfman says tax credits are a major factor in determining where a project shoots, he adds that as long as the exchange rate remains around 80 U.S. per Canadian dollar  even at 85 you can get away with  I think that the industry will be able to absorb a 5% cut.

But he warns against relying too much on a movable metric. Ive been around the block for about 40 years, and rates go up and down all the time, so you dont want government policy based on a cheap exchange rate, he says.

Bronfman and Wong maintain that finances alone dont draw productions to B.C. Experienced crews, breadth of locations, and multiple studio facilities continue to be a major draw, they say. Bronfman cites 2012, a time when the Canadian dollar was on par with the U.S. dollar, as one of the provinces busiest years.

Vancouver has so much more to offer than just being a cheap destination, he says.

Related stories

Frank Spotnitz Exits As Showrunner of Amazon's 'Man in the High Castle'

Ioan Gruffudd Cast in 'UnReal' Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE)

'UnReal' Launches Digital Spinoff Series for Fan-Favorite Contestant, Season 2 Premiere Date Set
It might be too late to save the Cinemas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert, Calif., which is scheduled to cease operations on June 30, but a California appeals court has revived a decade-old lawsuit by its owners over film clearances from Hollywood studios.

One of the owners of that theater happens to be Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston. He was part of an investment group that included Brian Tabor and ESPN radio personality Steve Mason that founded Flagship Theatres in 2002. But according to a lawsuit that would follow in 2006, Flagship had trouble competing in the market because two miles away from the Cinemas Palme d'Or, there existed another theater called Century at the River. The latter multiplex was acquired by exhibition giant Cinemark. The lawsuit alleged that the bigger theater used its leverage in the broader market to deny its smaller competitor access to desirable movies.

These days, so-called clearance pacts are the subject of ongoing investigations by the Justice Department and various state attorneys throughout the nation. There are also several antitrust lawsuits pending against AMC and Regal for allegedly coercing major studios like Sony, Lionsgate and Disney into holding back blockbuster movies from independents in certain geographic regions. In Texas, there's even a trial scheduled for October.

The Flagship lawsuit could have been path-breaking but for terminating sanctions ordered by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Until today's decision, the lawsuit against Cinemark was stopped from moving forward thanks to Tabor having deleted a large number of emails during the pendency of the case.

"Tabor deleted the e-mails deliberately, but he did not do so with the intent of destroying evidence in the case," explains California appeals court justice Frances Rothschild in the opinion. "Rather, the account was failing to deliver mail to him properly, and tech support personnel for his email provider advised him to clear storage space in the account in order to restore its functionality."

Story continues

Cinemark argued that the loss of emails from 2007 to 2009 impaired its ability to defend itself and so termination of the case was appropriate, but Rothschild rules that prohibiting Flagship from offering evidence or claiming damages from this specific period is a more appropriate sanction. Cinemark also believed that the end of the case was merited from other instances where the plaintiff had failed to produce sufficient evidence in the face of discovery demands, but Rothschild rejects those arguments.

For example, the appeals court justice writes that Tabor might have deleted an email to Sony three years before the lawsuit was filed - an email that requested a license to Big Fish and Mona Lisa Smile, where he wrote, "I will not be asking for, nor expecting, most Sony product, as this is not a typical mainstream venue" - because Tabor might not have believed he needed to preserve it.

The justice also doesn't agree with Cinemark's contention that loss of emails make it impossible to defend against claims of damages nor is it being deprived by Cranston's own materials gone missing. According to the opinion (read here in full), "Cranston acknowledged that he failed to preserve handwritten notes that he took during conversations with studio executives. These notes were so sporadic that their loss could not significantly prejudice Cinemark."

The case moves back to the trial court where it will explore all but three years of time.
* Singapore shuts unit of BSI over money laundering breaches

* BSI accused of failures in checking sources of clients' funds

* Private bank is first casualty of probes into Malaysia's 1MDB

* Rising compliance costs may dissuade expansion in the region

By Lisa Jucca and Saeed Azhar

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters) - Singapore's drastic move to shut Swiss bank BSI's operations in the city-state over its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian fund 1MDB is a wake-up call for wealth managers in Asia, which had been spared the large fines and sanctions seen in the West.

The private bank is the first casualty of money-laundering probes in at least six jurisdictions into state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd, whose advisory board was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) did not name 1MDB in a statement on Tuesday announcing it was shutting down of BSI's business for "serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements" and "gross misconduct" by some staff.

But details from a Swiss probe into 1MDB accuse BSI of routinely failing to carry out required background checks on large sums deposited.

In one case, according to the Swiss banking watchdog, BSI was happy to take $20 million after being told by a client the sum was "a gift". In another, it accepted $98 million without any effort to clarify the origin of the funds.

While Western countries, in particular the United States, have censured banks including UBS, Credit Suisse , BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered for lapses on tax evasion or international sanctions, Asian regulators had been slow to bare their teeth.

The MAS move against BSI, however, signals a willingness to act to protect the reputation of key financial centres in the region, lawyers and bankers said.

"Asian regulators cannot sit on the sidelines and deal with the issues quietly because of the increasing global nature of these probes," said James Comber, a partner with law firm Ashurst in Hong Kong. "No one regulator wants to be seen as failing to take action on its turf."

Story continues

COST PRESSURE

Besides ordering the closure of the bank, Singapore authorities said they were evaluating whether five former BSI executives committed criminal offences.

Bankers and lawyers expect more regulatory action and believe smaller banks will come under massive cost pressure to ensure they implement adequate compliance.

"This will send a chilling effect to banks and financial institutions," said Nizam Ismail, partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP in Singapore. "Their licence could be at risk. Worse, there is also the real threat of personal criminal liability."

While the United States, and other jurisdictions, started to look closely at money flows in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Asia has at times lagged behind.

In its last annual report, MAS said it issued nine warnings and reprimands to financial institutions in 2014 and imposed financial penalties on six ranging from S$1,000 to S$700,000 ($507,320), a far cry from the billions of dollars in fines the United States has imposed on global banks for misbehaving.

Hong Kong strengthened its anti-money laundering law in 2012. Before that date, the regulator did not have the power to impose fines, lawyers said. In Singapore, rules were toughened further in 2013 and then again last year.

But the 1MDB investigation has shown some banks such as BSI were completely disregarding the rules.

MAS inspected BSI three times since 2011 and said it found multiple breaches of anti-money laundering regulations that reflected a "a pervasive pattern of non-compliance".

The Swiss probe showed BSI failed to adequately monitor relationships with a client group with around 100 accounts at the bank.

MORE TO FOLLOW?

MAS, Singapore's central bank and financial regulator, said it was checking compliance standards at other institutions, without naming them.

A Malaysian parliamentary inquiry has shown that banks including the private banking units of JPMorgan and RBS had been handling money transfers linked to 1MDB. Both banks have declined to comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and others for details of transactions with 1MDB, Reuters reported. The U.S. government is also reviewing Goldman Sachs' relationship with the Malaysian fund. All the banks have declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that investigators had traced nearly $700 million from an account at Falcon Private Bank in Singapore to accounts in Malaysia they believed belonged to Prime Minister Najib. Falcon has said it is in contact with Singapore's central bank and cooperating with authorities.

Private banks across the world have targeted growth in Asia, a region expected to soon boast more billionaires than the United States.

But the expansion is coming at a cost and, as the regulatory pressure mounts, smaller banks may have to decide whether they can afford to compete. European banks such as Barclays wealth unit are already exiting the region.

"The big players can afford cutting edge technology, hire the best people to have a real robust go at anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules," said Keith Pogson, Asia senior partner for financial services at EY.

"But for the small players the question will be: does it make economic sense to put in place the level of compliance and scrutiny requested or is it not worth it?" ($1 = 1.3798 Singapore dollars)

(Additional reporting by Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur and Andrew MacAskill in LONDON; Editing by Alex Richardson)
By Lisa Jucca and Saeed Azhar

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's drastic move to shut Swiss bank BSI's operations in the city-state over its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian fund 1MDB is a wake-up call for wealth managers in Asia, which had been spared the large fines and sanctions seen in the West.

The private bank is the first casualty of money-laundering probes in at least six jurisdictions into state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd, whose advisory board was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) did not name 1MDB in a statement on Tuesday announcing it was shutting down of BSI's business for "serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements" and "gross misconduct" by some staff.

But details from a Swiss probe into 1MDB accuse BSI of routinely failing to carry out required background checks on large sums deposited.

In one case, according to the Swiss banking watchdog, BSI was happy to take $20 million after being told by a client the sum was "a gift". In another, it accepted $98 million without any effort to clarify the origin of the funds.

While Western countries, in particular the United States, have censured banks including UBS (UBSG.S), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) for lapses on tax evasion or international sanctions, Asian regulators had been slow to bare their teeth.

The MAS move against BSI, however, signals a willingness to act to protect the reputation of key financial centers in the region, lawyers and bankers said.

"Asian regulators cannot sit on the sidelines and deal with the issues quietly because of the increasing global nature of these probes," said James Comber, a partner with law firm Ashurst in Hong Kong. "No one regulator wants to be seen as failing to take action on its turf."

COST PRESSURE

Besides ordering the closure of the bank, Singapore authorities said they were evaluating whether five former BSI executives committed criminal offences.

Story continues

Bankers and lawyers expect more regulatory action and believe smaller banks will come under massive cost pressure to ensure they implement adequate compliance.

"This will send a chilling effect to banks and financial institutions," said Nizam Ismail, partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP in Singapore. "Their license could be at risk. Worse, there is also the real threat of personal criminal liability."

While the United States, and other jurisdictions, started to look closely at money flows in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Asia has at times lagged behind.

In its last annual report, MAS said it issued nine warnings and reprimands to financial institutions in 2014 and imposed financial penalties on six ranging from S$1,000 to S$700,000 ($507,320), a far cry from the billions of dollars in fines the United States has imposed on global banks for misbehaving.

Hong Kong strengthened its anti-money laundering law in 2012. Before that date, the regulator did not have the power to impose fines, lawyers said. In Singapore, rules were toughened further in 2013 and then again last year.

But the 1MDB investigation has shown some banks such as BSI were completely disregarding the rules.

MAS inspected BSI three times since 2011 and said it found multiple breaches of anti-money laundering regulations that reflected a "a pervasive pattern of non-compliance".

The Swiss probe showed BSI failed to adequately monitor relationships with a client group with around 100 accounts at the bank.

MORE TO FOLLOW?

MAS, Singapore's central bank and financial regulator, said it was checking compliance standards at other institutions, without naming them.

A Malaysian parliamentary inquiry has shown that banks including the private banking units of JPMorgan (JPM.N) and RBS (RBS.L) had been handling money transfers linked to 1MDB. Both banks have declined to comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and others for details of transactions with 1MDB, Reuters reported. The U.S. government is also reviewing Goldman Sachs' (GS.N) relationship with the Malaysian fund. All the banks have declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that investigators had traced nearly $700 million from an account at Falcon Private Bank in Singapore to accounts in Malaysia they believed belonged to Prime Minister Najib. Falcon has said it is in contact with Singapore's central bank and cooperating with authorities.

Private banks across the world have targeted growth in Asia, a region expected to soon boast more billionaires than the United States.

But the expansion is coming at a cost and, as the regulatory pressure mounts, smaller banks may have to decide whether they can afford to compete. European banks such as Barclays wealth unit are already exiting the region.

"The big players can afford cutting edge technology, hire the best people to have a real robust go at anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules," said Keith Pogson, Asia senior partner for financial services at EY.

"But for the small players the question will be: does it make economic sense to put in place the level of compliance and scrutiny requested or is it not worth it?"

(Additional reporting by Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur and Andrew MacAskill in LONDON; Editing by Alex Richardson)
MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - Italian jeweller Bulgari has teamed up with Russian real estate investor Alexei Bogachev to build its first hotel in the country, it said on Wednesday, a day after opening its second Russian store.

Bogachev, who also invests in agriculture and owns around 4 percent of shares in Russia's top retailer Magnit, said he would invest around $200 million in the Moscow hotel which will be operated by Marriott International Inc..

The hotel on Moscow's central Bolshaya Nikitskaya street will feature 65 rooms, 14 residential apartments, and a 1,600-square metre spa area, Bulgari Chief Executive Jean-Christophe Babin and Bogachev told a news conference.

It will open in 2019 to become the seventh hotel under the Bulgari brand. Besides the existing hotels in Milan, London, and Bali, three further establishments are due to open in Shanghai, Beijing, and Dubai in 2017.

Bulgari, the flagship jewellery brand of luxury group LVMH , also has another four hotel projects, likely to be unveiled in the next few months, Babin said.

"In the next decade, probably, we will open five more, the target being to be only in the most trend-setting cities or, like in Bali, in the most trend-setting resort locations in the world. And eventually we will probably have between 15 to 20."

On Tuesday, Babin told Reuters that Bulgari planned to add up to four more stores in Russia over the next ten years after opening the company's second store in Moscow.

"Not all brands agree that it's crisis time, not all brands are resigned (to the fact) that times will be tough, we are ready to fight," Babin said on Wednesday.

"We are extremely confident in the future of Bulgari in Russia and in the future of luxury in Russia," he added.

The global luxury sector has been knocked by a sales slowdown in parts of Asia, while stores in European capitals and airports have been deserted by many tourists after last year's attacks in Paris.

In Russia, consumer spending was hit by currency weakness after a drop in global oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Olga Sichkar; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov and Alexandra Hudson)
Anaheim (United States) (AFP) - Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump stumped in California, the US state with the largest Hispanic population, doubling down on his anti-immigration position but assuring that "Mexican people" will vote for him in November.

The presumptive Republican nominee took the stage in Anaheim, outside Los Angeles, with police on high alert one day after violence marred a Trump rally in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where anti-Trump protesters hurled rocks and police fired smoke grenades in efforts to rein in the chaos.

Dozens of security personnel including police on horseback maintained control in Anaheim, although some skirmishes broke out between Trump opponents and his backers as protesters chanted expletives about the brash billionaire. At least eight people were arrested.

Inside, Trump attacked his likely Democratic general election rival Hillary Clinton and railed against undocumented immigrants stealing US jobs.

But he insisted legal immigrants would vote for him in large numbers, despite polls showing they would overwhelmingly favor Clinton.

"The Mexican people are great, they're going to vote for me like crazy, the ones that are legally in this country," Trump said, as a woman waived a "Latinas for Trump" sign behind him.

- 'Too many immigrants' -

Immigration is a flashpoint political topic in California. The state now has more Hispanic residents -- 39 percent -- than whites, according to the census.

"We have too many immigrants here, Mexican immigrants," Trump supporter Sharon Lombardi told AFP. "It's an invasion."

"Our cities are not the same," said Lupe Morfin, 58, adding that an "illegal alien" killed her 13-year-old nephew in 1990.

"Mr. Trump is the only one that would listen to us, and we love him."

Trump warned there would be "nothing but turmoil" and "four more years of Obama" if Clinton wins the White House.

Story continues

"Our system and our country can't take it," he said.

Trump also insisted his "biggest strength" would be a robust national security, as he lambasted countries like Germany for allowing refugees to flood into Europe unchecked, increasing the terror threat.

"All over Europe they're taking these people and all over the United States they're sending these people," Trump said. "How stupid are we? This will come back to haunt us."

Several Trump rallies have drawn protests, including one in Chicago in March when his supporters clashed with protesters.

Trump described his Tuesday rally in Albuquerque as a "love fest," even though the chaos outside left several officers injured.

In his speech in New Mexico, which has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any US state, Trump startled observers by criticizing Governor Susana Martinez, the nation's only Hispanic governor and head of the Republican Governors Association.

"She's got to do a better job, OK?" Trump told the crowd about Martinez, who has criticized Trump's remarks on immigration and was absent from Tuesday's event.

- 'Will not be bullied' -

It was the latest example of behavior that may compound Trump's efforts to win over skeptical voters. Martinez is seen as someone who could help a Republican nominee win support from Hispanics and women -- on her home turf, saying she was not cutting it as governor.

Martinez's office responded swiftly, saying the governor "will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans."

The blunt response highlights the tensions within the party even as it prepares to crown Trump as its nominee.

House Speaker Paul Ryan -- the nation's top elected Republican -- said he was not yet prepared to endorse Trump for president.

"I haven't made a decision," Ryan told reporters, two weeks after he met with Trump to discuss ways to unify the party behind his remarkable White House run.

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay had choice words for the presumptive nominee, calling Trump's criticism of a popular conservative Latina "stupid politics."

"It blows my mind," DeLay told MSNBC. "Where is he going to get his coalition to win?"

Following his Washington state victory, Trump has now amassed 1,229 delegates, according to a CNN tally -- just eight shy of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination.

He is expected to cross the threshold June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary contest.

Trump pivoted to the general election weeks ago, relentlessly criticizing his likely Democratic rival.

The former secretary of state has returned fire, although she is still engaged in the final stages of her Democratic battle against Sanders.

On Wednesday, the scandal over her use of a private email server while secretary of state resurfaced, with a starkly critical report by the State Department's inspector general finding she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.
When a TMZ cameraman asked Congressman Peter King about recent allegations that Kim Kardashian West is an undercover spy, the seemingly couldn't resist the urge to sling a few lewd puns at the reality star's expense.

"Well she's definitely an asset, I can't go beyond whether she's an intelligence asset or..." King said, seemingly playing on the word "ass".

The TMZ employee's question came in the wake of accusations made by the Iranian government that the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star is a spy who exists to corrupt Iranian women through Instagram.

"She certainly has a lot at her disposal...she has a lot of weapons... and she probably has a lot of secrets. So you decide whether that's a spy or not. And, she's good undercover," King added.

King was apparently referencing the sex tape made by Kardashian West and her then-boyfriend, Ray J, in 2006. A recent blog post penned by the reality star reveals that she is tired of the frequent references to the tape's existence that plague her 13 years later.

res, do better, move on," she wrote.

King, the chairman of the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee, also joked that the true identity of the 35-year-old celebrity was a matter of national security  one that could land him in hot water for revealing.

"This really goes to the highest levels and I really can't go any further than that. This is really national security and I have to end the interview now because I'll be shot if I tell you the truth," he said.
* Cameron says serious offers for Tata Steel UK

* Tata says evaluating shortlist of 7 potential suitors

* Steel workers march past Downing St and parliament

* UK government confident its support will secure deal (Adds reports of pension proposals, Tata retaining business)

By Kylie MacLellan and William James

NAGOYA, Japan/LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - Tata Steel has received a number of serious offers for its businesses in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday as steel workers marched past Downing Street to put pressure on the government to get a deal.

Britain's steel industry has been hit by cheap Chinese imports, high energy costs and a global supply glut and in March Tata said it wanted to sell its remaining plants in the country, putting 15,000 jobs at risk.

Tata's decision has turned the spotlight on the global steel market and the impact of Chinese exports that could lead to protectionist trade policies.

The British government is keen to avoid job losses just weeks before a referendum on membership of the European Union and has offered financial support to help find a new buyer for Tata Steel UK.

"We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron said on a flight to Japan for a G7 meeting.

A Tata Steel executive said the company was in the process of evaluating bids for its British assets.

Britain's steel industry is not alone in facing tough market conditions, with producers across Europe and the United States also struggling.

Earlier on Wednesday, 12 global steel associations urged the G7 to prevent cheap Chinese steel distorting world markets and inflicting further pain on producers.

SAVING THE INDUSTRY

Tata steel workers highlighted their plight with their protest march on Wednesday past Downing Street and Britain's parliament.

"It's not just about steel. We have to secure the manufacturing base in the UK," steel worker Ian Williams, 32, from Tata's Port Talbot plant in south Wales, told Reuters.

Story continues

"What we want is for Tata to be a responsible seller but also find the right buyer. What they will have in return is one of the best, most committed workforces in the UK."

Sources told Reuters on Tuesday at least four individual bids had been submitted, from management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and investment firm Greybull Capital. Tata did not comment on the bidding process.

Cameron said: "We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can."

Government officials said they were confident the offer of state support would be enough to secure a sale.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid held talks with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai ahead of the company's board meeting later on Wednesday, which is expected to produce a shortlist from among the bidders.

"(Javid) is really encouraged by all the proposals that were submitted. I would describe it as a productive meeting," a government source said. Javid has spoken to each of the bidders.

As well as poring over the details of the bids, the two hours of talks focused on the government's willingness to back the sale with hundreds of millions of pounds of support.

The government has said such support is likely to take the form of loans on commercial terms, and could see the government take an equity stake of up to 25 percent.

Any announcement on which bids Tata is looking to pursue could come later this week.

One of the major hurdles that Britain is looking to remove from the sales process is a 485 million-pound ($710 million) deficit in pension scheme liabilities, although the government said it could not yet comment on exactly how it planned to mitigate that liability.

The BBC reported that ministers were expected to announce on Thursday proposals to overhaul the pension scheme, and the government was considering cuts to pension benefits to help smooth a sale.

However, the Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that while Tata was running its sale process, it was also considering keeping the UK business as it evaluated the performance of its operations and the package of support being offered by the government. ($1 = 0.6833 pounds) (Additional reporting by Andy Bruce and Michael Holden; Editing by Jane Merriman, Greg Mahlich)
By Kylie MacLellan and William James

NAGOYA, Japan/LONDON (Reuters) - Tata Steel (TISC.NS) has received a number of serious offers for its businesses in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday as steel workers marched past Downing Street to put pressure on the government to get a deal.

Britain's steel industry has been hit by cheap Chinese imports, high energy costs and a global supply glut and in March Tata said it wanted to sell its remaining plants in the country, putting 15,000 jobs at risk.

Tata's decision has turned the spotlight on the global steel market and the impact of Chinese exports that could lead to protectionist trade policies.

The British government is keen to avoid job losses just weeks before a referendum on membership of the European Union and has offered financial support to help find a new buyer for Tata Steel UK.

"We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron said on a flight to Japan for a G7 meeting.

A Tata Steel executive said the company was in the process of evaluating bids for its British assets.

Britain's steel industry is not alone in facing tough market conditions, with producers across Europe and the United States also struggling.

Earlier on Wednesday, 12 global steel associations urged the G7 to prevent cheap Chinese steel distorting world markets and inflicting further pain on producers.

SAVING THE INDUSTRY

Tata steel workers highlighted their plight with their protest march on Wednesday past Downing Street and Britain's parliament.

"It's not just about steel. We have to secure the manufacturing base in the UK," steel worker Ian Williams, 32, from Tata's Port Talbot plant in south Wales, told Reuters.

"What we want is for Tata to be a responsible seller but also find the right buyer. What they will have in return is one of the best, most committed workforces in the UK."

Story continues

Sources told Reuters on Tuesday at least four individual bids had been submitted, from management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and investment firm Greybull Capital. Tata did not comment on the bidding process.

Cameron said: "We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can."

Government officials said they were confident the offer of state support would be enough to secure a sale.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid held talks with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai ahead of the company's board meeting later on Wednesday, which is expected to produce a shortlist from among the bidders.

"(Javid) is really encouraged by all the proposals that were submitted. I would describe it as a productive meeting," a government source said. Javid has spoken to each of the bidders.

As well as poring over the details of the bids, the two hours of talks focussed on the government's willingness to back the sale with hundreds of millions of pounds of support.

The government has said such support is likely to take the form of loans on commercial terms, and could see the government take an equity stake of up to 25 percent.

Any announcement on which bids Tata is looking to pursue could come later this week.

One of the major hurdles that Britain is looking to remove from the sales process is a 485 million-pound deficit in pension scheme liabilities, although the government said it could not yet comment on exactly how it planned to mitigate that liability.

The BBC reported that ministers were expected to announce on Thursday proposals to overhaul the pension scheme, and the government was considering cuts to pension benefits to help smooth a sale.

However, the Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that while Tata was running its sale process, it was also considering keeping the UK business as it evaluated the performance of its operations and the package of support being offered by the government.

(Additional reporting by Andy Bruce and Michael Holden; Editing by Jane Merriman, Greg Mahlich)
Ottawa (AFP) - A Canadian man who stabbed to death five fellow students at a Calgary house party was not criminally responsible for the 2014 rampage due to mental illness, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Justice Eric Macklin found Matthew De Grood, 24, suffered from psychosis which put into question whether he knew the killings were morally wrong.

The court heard De Grood had become withdrawn and started posting online about the end of the world, zombies and Darth Vader a month before the April 2014 attack.

The son of a senior Calgary police officer and a University of Calgary alumnus who was headed to law school, he stabbed fellow alumni at a home in a quiet suburban neighborhood that was hosting a party marking the end of classes.

The defense said in closing arguments De Grood had believed, in his delusion, that he was defending himself from werewolves and vampires, and that the only way to kill them was to stab them in the heart.

De Grood will now be detained at a mental health hospital and meet annually with a review board that will determine his eligibility for safe release.

Miles Hong, the brother of one of the victims, told reporters outside the courthouse the verdict will be a "recurring nightmare" for the victims' families.

"The end of this trial is not the end of the journey for us. We continue to be broken," Hong said.

"There will be no peace for us. Our wounds will never fully heal because every year our families will have to wonder what will be the fate of the man who destroyed so many lives," he said.

"Every year we will be forced to re-live the details of our family (member)'s death and the anguish and sorrow."
Even in a lukewarm Cannes year, new and old players managed to reel in a few splashy projects.

Amazon, which entered the festival with five official selections, paid eight figures for North American rights to Mike Leigh's upcoming period drama Peterloo and beat out A24 for Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here, to star Joaquin Phoenix. The streaming giant also upped the price of foreign-language films when it bought Oscar nominee Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman, which screened in competition (Amazon will partner with Cohen Media Group on the release).

Also brandishing a big (if less active) wallet was Netflix, which paid $10 million for worldwide rights to the action thriller Wheelman, starring Frank Grillo. The company was said to be negotiating a comparable deal for the Nicholas Hoult starrer Sand Castle.

But spending wildly wasn't the only strategy. Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring landed Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake for six figures, a savvy move given the film won the Palme d'Or days later. It's the fifth time in 11 years Sehring has nabbed the recipient of Cannes' highest honor (he has the 2015 winner, Dheepan, in theaters now). "There were a lot of good films throughout the festival, but we absolutely wanted that one," says Sehring of his lone competition film buy. "Everyone was incredibly moved by it."

Read More: Cannes: A Fest of Few Lows, But Only One Real High

Sehring is planning a fourth-quarter bow via Sundance Selects and hopes the British drama's socialist themes will resonate stateside during an election season when income inequality likely will be a topic of conversation. "The movie is incredibly timely here in the U.S.," says Sehring. "Ken has never been nominated for an Oscar, yet he's one of the great directors of the past 30 to 40 years."

Also on the specialty release front, The Orchard nabbed North American rights to Pablo Larrain's Spanish-language film Neruda. Seven minutes of footage from the director's Natalie Portman starrer Jackie also generated heat, and though there was not a domestic deal for the first lady biopic at press time, Fox Searchlight is said to have the right of first refusal.

Story continues

And like last year, Sony Pictures Classics emerged with perhaps the best reviewed film of the festival: Maren Ade's German-language comedy Toni Erdmann, which won the Fipresci critics' prize. SPC will mount a foreign-language Oscar campaign as it did for this year's winner, Son of Saul, the only finished film the distributor picked up at Cannes 2015. SPC also landed Paul Verhoeven's well-reviewed Elle and animated film The Red Turtle.

"It was odd," says Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker of this year's crop. "I didn't think it was very strong, but here I came away with three spectacular films."

This story first appeared in the June 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Marvel franchise hero Captain America has been saluting Old Glory since he first hit comics in 1941. Apparently, he's also been slipping in a "Hail Hydra!" every now and then when no one's looking.

On Wednesday morning, issues of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 revealed the patriotic hero has secretly been a deep-cover agent of nefarious global terrorist organization HYDRA the whole time. Yes, that HYDRA  the ostensible villain of all three Marvel cinematic universe movies bearing the captain's name, and his oldest enemy in the comics (other than possibly Nazi Germany).

Marvel's original comic book Captain America reveals a surprising childhood secret http://thr.cm/q95r5R pic.twitter.com/2NMna2vhWR https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjUHH4hUkAE-O9O.jpg:large

In an interview with Time, Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort explained "It means on the most fundamental level that the most trusted hero in the Marvel universe is now secretly a deep-cover Hydra operative, a fact that's really only known to the readers and to him. That makes every interaction he has with anyone take on a second layer, a second meaning."

Source: Marvel Studios/Marvel Movies Wiki

"We want to push that button." Brevoort continued.

There should be a feeling of horror or unsettledness at the idea that somebody like this can secretly be part of this organization. There are perfectly normal people in the world who you would interact with on a professional level or personal level, and they seem like the salt of the earth but then it turns out they have some horrible secret  whether it's that they don't like a certain group of people or have bodies buried in their basement.

Of course, this is the comic book industry, so in a few weeks or months there's a solid possibility the captain's supposed double-cross will be revealed as mind control, an alternate timeline or some other narrative tomfoolery.

Story continues

"No matter what Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort has told the press today about this being planned since Spencer began writing Sam Wilson: Captain America in 2014, or how this will all make sense if you go back and read 75 years of Captain America comics, this is a gimmick with no shame," posited io9's James Whitbrook.

In the meantime, however, it seems like some fans aren't especially amenable to the change, starting the hashtag #SayNoToHydraCap:

SayNoToHYDRACap just don't talk to me anymore i need to cry for like 10 years

I'm not going HYDRA-side, no way. . I'll fight for freedom! #SayNoToHydraCappic.twitter.com/GzlQ2D0cwC

I recognise @Marvel has made a decision, but... #SayNoToHYDRACappic.twitter.com/kn5uUCt9Dm

This is offensive and unacceptable #SayNoToHYDRACaphttps://twitter.com/EW/status/735459914739556352 ... https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjTg5SiXAAQTBiL.jpg:large

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see your corporate overlords turn you into a villain. #SayNoToHYDRACap

someone pls check if stan lee is okay, i'm worried about him seeing all this #SayNoToHYDRACap

Others tied the HYDRA twist to a fan's recent exhortation Captain America be revealed as gay:

SayNoToHYDRACap @taytay121000 'you're not gonna give him a boyfriend but you can make him a nazi'

Okay. Let me get this straight. Cap can't have a boyfriend, but he can be a Nazi? #SayNoToHYDRACap

Finally, others mocked the angry hordes:

Sees #SayNoToHYDRACap tag.] [Clicks, scrolls for .5 seconds, leaves.]pic.twitter.com/So8n9Y8tlE https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjUYaB_XIAA6QHa.jpg:large

You tell 'em Buck! #SayNotoHydraCappic.twitter.com/UrYOh4aaan https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjUXuaVVAAAAC5s.jpg:large
Two automakers announced Tuesday they would partner and invest in ride-hailing companiesVolkswagen with Gett, an Israeli startup, and Toyota with U.S.-based Uber.

Volkswagens deal includes a $300 million investment in Gett, which operates in 60 cities worldwide. Toyotas partnership with Uber creates a new leasing option for Toyota cars for people who want to drive for the company. Toyota said in a statement it will give Uber access to its fleets of Lexus and Toyota vehicles:

As part of todays partnership, the companies will create new leasing options in which car purchasers can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers. The leasing period will be flexible and based on driver needs.

Partnerships with automakers and ride-hailing companies are becoming more common. In January, General Motors invested $500 million in Lyft, the second-largest ride-hailing company. That deal leases cars to the companys drivers in Chicago.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Liblice (Czech Republic) (AFP) - Four central European states said Wednesday they would send troops to three Baltic NATO allies starting next year as tensions with their Soviet-era master Russia rise to levels not seen since the Cold War.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said they would fine-tune quarterly rotational deployments of 600 troops to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in time for a key NATO summit in Warsaw this July.

"We would like to start on January 1, 2017," Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky said following talks with his central European counterparts.

Each country will provide 150 soldiers for a period of three months.

NATO and the Baltic states will decide where exactly the mainly ground troops will be deployed following the July summit.

Stropnicky said the move is designed to help "Baltic allies and friends who have security concerns".

Spooked by Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, formerly Soviet-ruled Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are seeking international battalions of up to 1,000 troops in each of their territories.

NATO and the United States said this spring that they will switch their defence doctrine from assurance to deterrence in eastern Europe in response to a "resurgent and aggressive Russia".
Central Intelligence will open the 20th annual American Black Film Festival on June 15 in Miami. The film, a New Line Cinema and Universal Pictures presentation distributed by Warner Bros, opens in theaters June 17. Starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, it follows a lethal CIA agent and one-time bullied geek (Johnson) as he heads home for his high school reunion. Hart plays his former big man on campus classmate who misses his glory days. Amy Ryan, Aaron Paul and Danielle Nicolet co-star. The fest runs June 15-19 and features panels with Nate Parker discussing The Birth Of A Nation and Will Packer and cast about the making of Almost Christmas.

The 16th annual Screamfest will take place October 18-27 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. Actress Lydia Hearst (Condemned, #Horror) will serve as ambassador for the festival. Americas longest running horror film festival, Screamfest 2016 will accept submissions for through August 1. All screenings will be open to the general public. The festival is best known for discovering Paranormal Activity in 2007, with other past premieres including 30 Days Of Night, Let The Right One In, The Grudge and The Human Centipede.

Related stories

'Baywatch' First-Look Photo: We're Saved!

'Intouchables' Helmers Reteaming For 'C'est La Vie' - Cannes

Pamela Anderson Joins 'Baywatch' Film With Dwayne Johnson
no title

The latest bit of information about the upcoming eighth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise is that Charlize Theron will play the villainous character Cipher.

From the teaser photo posted on Twitter it appears the Cipher character will be a weapons expert of some sort.

The new follows separate announcements made in April that the movie will be called Furious 8 and star the South African beauty.

Theron proved she can play a badass in 2015s Mad Max: Fury Road, and shes also played powerful roles in previous movies such as 2003s Monster for which she won an Academy Award. Of course, shes also made some stinkers such as 2012s Prometheus, though admittedly that was more the fault of director Ridley Scott.

Theron isnt expected to be the only villain in Furious 8 as we know Jason Statham is set to reprise his role as Deckard Shaw. Scott Eastwood, son of Clint Eastwood, is also due to star.

Some of the other things we know is that the movie will primarily be set in New York City, though there will also be scenes taking place in Cuba.

Meanwhile, handling the directing will be F. Gary Gray who previously worked with Theron on the 2003 remake of The Italian Job.

The release date for Furious 8 is April 14, 2017.

_______________________________________

Follow Motor Authority on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f9795%2f5d0800f800e6446fb89a7c30e70a32fa

For a bunch of students in Ireland, school will never get better than this. Students at Scoil Baile an Fheirtearaigh in County Kerry got a special visitor on Monday  a very tall, hairy Wookiee.

Chewbacca, who is filming Star Wars Episode VIII nearby, made the appearance in full character  crouching down to get in the door. And he even learned a few words of Irish.

"We tried to get him to say 'Ta forsa an fheirtearaigh leat,' which means 'Ballyferriter force is with you,'" a person who was at the school told the DailyEdge.

via GIPHY

If London Tube lines were people, they would be pretty entertaining

Emilia Clarke is feeling victorious about that male nudity on 'Game of Thrones'

Adorable wolf dog getting a belly rub is the best thing you'll see today

This 'lazy' cat is all of us when we can't get out of bed in the morning
A police officer rests his hand on his forehead at the scene where a 23-year-old man was shot in the face on July 6, 2015, in Chicago. (Photo: Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)

Chicago police are using an algorithm to detect the likelihood that someone will become the perpetrator or victim of the stubbornly high gun violence that has plagued the city.

The Illinois Institute of Technology has developed software that weighs a variety of factors, such as a persons arrest history, gang affiliation and social network, to decide whether someone will go on the Strategic Subject List (SSL). Each person is assigned a number from one to 500, with higher scores indicating greater danger.

Theres about 1,400 individuals that are driving most of Chicagos violence, and they score in the top numbers of the SSL, Anthony Guglielmi, director of communications for the Chicago Police Department, said in an interview with Yahoo News.

According to police, it has proven remarkably accurate so far in 2016. The majority of people involved in the citys violent crime have been on the list: over 70 percent of people arrested for murder, more than 80 percent of people arrested for shootings and more than 74 percent of shooting victims. Furthermore, over 60 percent of murder victims had an SSL score of more than 201.

People gather for a candlelight vigil against gun violence in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago on July 3, 2015. (Photo: Jim Young/Reuters)

Police say the person-based predictive model does not take race, sex, age or neighborhood into account, but it has still drawn the ire of some civil libertarians. Some have voiced concern over the use of lists of people likely to commit a crime in the future  somewhat (though not exactly) like the scenario in the dystopian science-fiction film Minority Report.

Karen Sheley, director of the Police Practices Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, takes issue with what she calls the programs lack of transparency.

Theres a police database thats populated with secret information, and people cant challenge the accuracy of it. Thats where our concern is, Sheley told Yahoo News. What we have now is a list based on information that isnt made public, and we know that people cant protest being on it in any way.

Story continues

The SSL subjects, authorities said, are ranked on an interactive dashboard available to the department that allows cops to pull up details about the persons criminal history, parole status, last district of residence and other information quickly.

Maria pike, 61, of Chicago, holds a photo of her son, Ricky Pike, who was killed at the age of 24 in 2012. (Photo: Sarah L. Voisin/Washington Post via Getty Images)

Police are feeling pressure to do whatever is necessary to clamp down on soaring murder and shooting rates. USA Today reports that in 2015 there were 468 murders in Chicago and 2,900 shootings  a 12.5 percent and 13 percent increase, respectively, over the previous year. There were 52 homicides in January 2016, which is the highest in a single month since at least 2000, according to the newspaper.

Last week, the Chicago Police Department could confidently point to the SSL as instrumental in helping the force carry out its largest gang raid in recent memory.

On Friday, police superintendent Eddie Johnson announced the arrests of 140 people on drug and weapon charges. Of those, he said, 95 are documented gang members and 117 are on the SSL.

Today, the Chicago Police Department is sending a clear message, Johnson said at a press conference. If you choose this lifestyle that fuels the engine of violence in our city, you will feel the full weight of our department and our partners in law enforcement. You will be held accountable for your actions.

A Chicago Police officer stands at a crime scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot in the head and killed and an 18-year-old man was shot and wounded on April 25, 2016, in Chicago. (Photo: Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

Eight of those arrested were admitted to the departments diversion program, which provides drug treatment as an alternative to arrest and jail time, he added.

In proactive attempts to prevent violence, Chicago police reach out to people on the SSL to offer assistance and guidance for escaping a life of crime, Guglielmi said. These interventions often include social services, such as job training or educational opportunities.

The way we do it is twofold. We do personal home visits where we literally knock on your door, and we do what is called a call-in, where its a group setting for individuals typically on parole or in a gang, Guglielmi said. We try to educate this population on the lifestyle that theyre in and warn them. Were giving them a chance to turns their lives around.

But not everyone cooperates.

For instance, Guglielmi said, earlier this month officers visited a teen at his house to inform him of his high probability of being a victim of gun violence, but he slammed the door in their faces. On Saturday, the teen was injured in a shooting.
(In paragraph 1 corrects day to Wednesday; in penultimate paragraph corrects day to Tuesday )

By Michael Flaherty and Sruthi Ramakrishnan

May 25 (Reuters) - Chico's FAS Inc on Wednesday made changes to its corporate governance structure, including a proposal to elect board members annually, as it faces a proxy fight from one of its shareholders.

Declassification of a board, as the move is known, is viewed as a shareholder-friendly measure that ensures the entire board is held accountable by investors on an annual basis, rather than staggering directors' terms. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at Chico's July 21 annual meeting.

The Fort Myers, Florida-based women's retailer also said it had appointed Susan Lanigan, a former senior executive at Dollar General Corp, as its general counsel.

Lanigan was among the executives who participated in recent discussions centered on the company's corporate governance, which resulted in the board declassification recommendation, Chico's said.

The moves follow the start of a proxy fight by activist hedge fund Barington Capital, which has proposed two director nominees to stand for election at the annual meeting. Chico's responded by nominating two directors of its own, who will replace current board members.

While subjecting directors to an annual vote makes a company more vulnerable to activist hedge funds seeking a seat, longer-term institutional investors, which hold heavy voting power at annual meetings, view the move favorably.

Chico's plans to declassify its board over three years, resulting in all directors standing for election at its 2019 annual meeting.

The company also said its directors could not be on more than four other public companies' boards, another corporate governance move that large institutional shareholders support.

Barington has nominated two candidates, including its chief executive officer, James Mitarotonda. He holds a seat on the board of manufacturer A. Schulman Inc and was a Jones Group director before the retailer was acquired in 2014.

Story continues

New York-based Barington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Chico's announcement.

Chico's said on Tuesday that it would nominate Hudson's Bay Co Vice Chairman Bonnie Brooks and former Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon to run for election to its nine-member board. Two current directors will step down this year.

The company, worth about $1.5 billion, in December hired a new CEO, who is in the process of a turnaround plan. Its shares have fallen nearly 40 percent over the past year.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty in New York and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Screen Shot 2016 05 25 at 7.44.05 AM

Good afternoon!

The big news of the day is that the People's Bank of China fixed the Chinese yuan to its lowest level since March 2011.

The PBoC set the midpoint of its yuan fix at 6.5468 per dollar, down 0.34% from Tuesday.

This decision comes as the central bank looks to soften the blow of a potential Fed interest-rate hike. Members of the FOMC have hinted that the hike could come as early as June 15.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 12:14 p.m. ET:

The euro is little changed at 1.1154 against the dollar after Greece and its creditors reached a deal. The deal opens the door for Greece to receive 10.3 billion from its creditors along with debt relief once the current deal ends in 2018. Separately, Germany's Ifo Business Climate rose to 107.7 in May, up from 106.7 in April  the highest reading since December.

The Russian ruble is stronger by 0.4% to 65.9475 per dollar as oil surges to a seven-month high. Brent crude oil is up 1.0% at $49.12 per barrel.

The Canadian dollar is stronger by 0.3% at 1.3091 per dollar after the Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at 0.50%. Notably, the Bank also warned that second quarter growth is likely to be weaker in light of the Alberta wildfires, which have slashed oil production.

The US dollar index is little changed at 95.46 after data showed that home prices rose more than expected, while the services sector sent warning shots suggesting possibly soft economic growth in the second quarter.

NOW WATCH: Japan has built a massive ice wall around Fukushima





More From Business Insider


SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China may open up its commodities futures markets to overseas and financial investors, the country's securities regulator said, as the world's top consumer of many raw materials seeks to play a larger role in setting global commodities prices.

China's commodities exchanges will also maintain a close eye on movements in the futures market, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) vice-chairman Fang Xinghai told a conference.

A surge in prices of China commodities futures this year followed by a rapid slide have sparked fears of a boom-and-bust cycle.

Fang said opening up the market would help support China's role as a "price maker" globally and enable domestic firms to better cope with market volatility.

"China's commodities market should be opened up to offshore investors," he said, adding the country would look to start doing so in products such as crude oil, iron ore and rubber.

The regulator is also examining allowing banks and other financial institutions to enter the market, he said.

Industrial players, which use the commodities futures market for hedging, were rattled earlier this year by spikes in iron ore, cotton and even egg futures linked to a flood of investment from speculators, sparking concerns of risk of a repeat of last year's crash in Chinese stocks.

At present, foreign companies have limited access to China's commodities markets. Companies are only allowed to trade via brokers after setting up a locally registered non-financial unit, which requires a hefty amount of registered capital.

(Reporting by Ruby Lian and Brenda Goh; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Ed Davies)
Traffic congestion is a problem that many cities across the globe continue to struggle with. And while some cities have come up with their own ways to deal with congestion, whether it be a push for public transportation or constructing new roads, a new initiative out of China is without a doubt the most original idea we've seen yet.

Meet TEB, otherwise known as a Transit Elevated Bus. TEB is essentially a bus that can drive over traffic, as evidenced by the photo above, although it's just a concept for now. The idea for a TEB like vehicle isn't new, but a working mini-model of the incredibly intriguing idea was recently presented at a tech expo in Beijing.

DON'T MISS: This is probably our first look at a real iPhone 7

In an ideal world, an engineer familiar with the project said that an elevated bus like TEB would be able to carry as many as 1,200 people per trip. Even more tantalizing is the claim that such a project could be completed within a 12-month time frame.

A video of the mini-model can be seen below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLAidJl5aw

Interestingly enough, the idea for this type of bus design stretches back for quite some time. The following report from ChinaHush, for instance, first appeared nearly six years ago.

Proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, the model looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.

Another video detailing the futuristic idea can be seen below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=58&v=bpiFJsWdCuY

Story continues

Related stories

Welcome to the future: Video shows Tesla driver sleeping at the wheel while Autopilot drives

15 of the coolest fictional cars in the history of TV and cinema

The hottest new product in China is bottled air

More from BGR: This is probably our first look at a real iPhone 7

This article was originally published on BGR.com
(Updates with reaction from Samsung, background)

By Yimou Lee and Anne Marie Roantree

HONG KONG, May 25 (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Wednesday said it sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd claiming infringement of smartphone patents, the Chinese firm's first intellectual property challenge against the world's top mobile maker.

Huawei has filed lawsuits in the United States and China seeking compensation for what it said was unlicensed use of fourth-generation (4G) cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones.

"We hope Samsung will ... stop infringing our patents and get the necessary licence from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward," Ding Jianxing, president of Huawei's Intellectual Property Rights Department, said in a statement.

Samsung told Reuters it would "take appropriate action to defend Samsung's business interests" without elaborating further.

The lawsuit marks a reversal of roles in China where firms have often been on the receiving end of patent infringement disputes. In smartphones, makers have grown rapidly in recent years but different intellectual property laws outside of China have slowed overseas expansion.

Last year Xiaomi Inc was forced to briefly halt sales of handsets in India after a patent infringement complaint from telecom equipment maker Ericsson.

In the broader smartphone industry there has been a flurry of patent lawsuits in recent years, most notably between Samsung and U.S. rival Apple Inc.

Apple sued Samsung in the United States in 2011, claiming the Korean maker used unlicensed technology and imitated the look of the iPhone. The pair subsequently filed a number of suits against each other in several other jurisdictions but agreed in August 2014 to drop all litigation outside the United States.

In China, Samsung's fortunes saw it become the biggest smartphone vendor before being leapfrogged by local brands and losing market share to late-comer Apple. It is now ranked sixth by sales, trailing Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Apple and Xiaomi.

Story continues

Last year, Shenzhen-based Huawei invested 59.6 billion yuan ($9.2 billion), or 15 percent of annual revenue, in researching and developing technologies, products and wireless communications standards, the company said in its statement.

Huawei, which generates most of its revenue making telecommunications infrastructure, said it has been granted 50,377 patents globally as of Dec. 31.

Samsung, also the world's No.1 memory chip and television maker, said in a May 16 filing it held 110,145 patents globally at end-2015 and invested 14.8 trillion won ($12.45 billion) in research and development as well as intellectual property last year.

($1 = 1,188.6000 won) (Additional reporting by Se Young Lee in SEOUL; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
Chloe Grace Moretz has got some new body ink!



The Neighbors 2 star recently stopped by West 4 Tattoo in New York City where she got permanent designs on her back and ankle. Artist Jon Boy shared photos of Moretz's tattoos on Instagram Tuesday.



Chloe got her grandmother's name, Janette Duke, tattooed on her back as well as "CK" on her ankle in white ink with BFF Kathryn Gallagher.





@chloegmoretz #jonboytattoo A photo posted by c/s Jon Boy p/v (@jonboytattoo) on May 24, 2016 at 6:50am PDT

CK #whiteink #jonboytattoo A photo posted by c/s Jon Boy p/v (@jonboytattoo) on May 23, 2016 at 11:06pm PDT









The pair were also accompanied by their friends including actress Zoey Deutch. And Moretz's go-to tattoo shop was recently visited by Hailey Baldwin and Glee alum Jenna Ushkowitz. Jon Boy's A-list clients include Kendall Jenner, Ireland Baldwin and Justin Bieber, who got his face tattoo recently done by the celeb-favored tattoo artist.



A week before Tuesday, Moretz, 19, was spotted heading into a tattoo shop in Studio City, California with boyfriend Brooklyn Beckham.





Pro @chloegmoretz #jonboytattoo A video posted by c/s Jon Boy p/v (@jonboytattoo) on May 24, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

Thanks @jonboytattoo !!! A photo posted by Kathryn Gallagher (@kathryngallagher) on May 24, 2016 at 9:19am PDT

#West4Tattoo #JonboyTattoo #NYC A photo posted by West 4 Tattoo (@west4tattoo) on May 24, 2016 at 4:31pm PDT





Dating speculation about the couple started in 2014 when they were seen hanging out together and attending the Teen Choice Awards as dates, but it wasn't until this month that Moretz confirmed that she and the 17-year-old son of Victoria and David Beckham are official during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live!.
Cisco John Chambers

Cisco's John Chambers, a long-time Republican, is starting to believe that Donald Trump will become the next US president. But he doesn't sound happy about it.

Chambers had been backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich, but Kasich pulled out of the race in early May after failing to win any state but his own.

Chambers has always been an outspoken Republican, but he's feeling less and less aligned with his GOP. A few months ago, he joked "I'm a moderate Republican  an endangered species."

On Wednesday, at Bloomberg's Breakaway Summit conference in New York, he was asked to make a prediction about the presidential race. Chambers said:

"I wanted it to be Kasich. If you have to bet on momentum right now, candidly, it's going to be Trump. And it speaks to both parties not wanting the establishment to lead. And that might not be the best answer for America."

That wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for Trump, or a vow to vote for him. It sounded more like resignation.

Chambers then tried to frame it all as a lesson in leadership about how to be rise to the occasion when the going gets tough.

NOW WATCH: Doctors now say this type of cancer isnt actually cancer  and the new classification is changing thousands of lives





More From Business Insider


Citigroup and affiliates were fined $425 million over charges they attempted to manipulate Libor and other leading financial benchmarks, US regulators announced Wednesday.

Citigroup, which was supposed to submit data on actual transactions to help set the internationally-used benchmarks, instead gave false information to benefit its trading positions, according to the cases.

In one of the two cases, Citigroup was ordered to pay a $175 million penalty after regulators determined that Citigroup's Japanese units and its traders attempted to manipulate the yen London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, in 2010, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission said.

The CFTC said a Japanese derivatives trader with Citigroup influenced contacts at other leading banks to make submissions that would benefit his trading positions. Also, a senior manager in the same company pressured other Citigroup officials to adjust rate submissions for another benchmark, Euroyen Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate, to benefit the senior manager's trading positions.

The CFTC also faulted Citigroup for false submissions in connection with US dollar Libor in 2008 and 2009, a period when Citigroup sometimes bought financing at above-market rates after it received US government bailout funds.

Citigroup officials made false reports "at times to avoid generating negative media attention and to protect its reputation during the financial crisis," the CFTC said.

In a second case, the CFTC fined Citigroup $250 million for making false submissions in an attempt to manipulate the US Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix, or ISDAFIX.

CFTC director of enforcement Aitan Goelman said the agency's enforcement aims to "ensure the integrity of global benchmarks" and that it will crack down on an institution if "it acts to undermine a benchmark for its personal profit or benefit."

With the latest cases involving Citigroup, the CFTC said it had amassed about $5.1 billion in penalties in 17 actions against banks and brokers for abuses in Libor, ISDAFIX and foreign exchange.
By Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - Greece has sent in police and bulldozers to clear out Europe's biggest refugee camp because of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions there, but the operation should also unblock a vital artery for the ailing economy. Greece lies at the epicenter of two of the biggest challenges facing Europe - a migration influx and a debt crisis. The Idomeni camp, recently home to as many as 8,000 migrants and refugees, had spread out across a railway track on the Macedonian border, choking off Greece's main rail route to the rest of Europe. It has also complicated the privatization of the country's rail freight business, a condition of its international bailout. Greek authorities said 2,031 refugees were removed from the makeshift camp on Tuesday and the rail tracks were fully cleared on Wednesday. But they have not said when the train link, which is vital to the freight firm TRAINOSE, will reopen. "This should have happened a long time ago," said Anastasios Sachpelidis, a local transporters' association representative. The closure was "a big loss," he said. "We lost clients, we lost money, time and our credibility." Heavily indebted Greece clinched a deal with international lenders in the early hours of Wednesday to unlock desperately needed new bailout loans on the condition it fulfils certain terms, including speeding up privatizations. Athens has agreed to sell off an array of assets, including TRAINOSE and its maintenance company ROSCO. The deadline for potential investors to submit final bids was originally in April, but has been pushed back twice, and is now set for June 22. The privatization agency has said investors needed more time to prepare their bids. "The camp has been blocking a route of the Greek supply chain which has taken several decades to be established," said a senior executive at an Athens-based rail freight company, who declined to be named, citing political sensitivities. "As long as Greece's main cargo rail conduit to Europe is closed, it is obvious that TRAINOSE's value is falling and the company is less attractive to investors," the executive said. The government has not publicly said what it hopes to raise from the sale but sources close to the process said the figure was expected to be in the region of about 50 million euros ($55.7 million) for TRAINOSE and ROSCO together. WASTELAND More than a million people escaping poverty and war in the Middle East and beyond have entered the European Union via Greece since the beginning of last year, many of them heading north en route to Germany. But Europe's borders have slammed shut in a concerted effort to halt the influx and some of those left in limbo have pitched tents on muddy wasteland outside the town of Idomeni. The makeshift camp, home mostly to Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, sprang up four months ago. Human rights groups have raised alarm about the deteriorating conditions there, including overcrowding, poor sanitation and the risk of infection. Many children slept in the open, scuffles broke out over food, and Macedonian forces tear-gassed migrants trying to storm past the razor-wire border fence. "No one came here on purpose to close the railway," said Farshad, 43, from Syria. "We are not demonstrating here. We just live on the tracks because the conditions are better." The rail line at the border was shut down in March due to the refugee camp. This followed a previous closure in November, when a separate group of Moroccan, Iranian and Pakistani migrants blocked traffic, demanding passage to Western Europe. TRAINOSE is the sole provider of passenger and freight services in Greece and made a net profit of 1.47 million euros in 2014, according to its latest financial results. Greece last month received expressions of interest in the firm from Italy's state railways, Russian Railways (RZD) and Greek construction group GEK-Terna. DELAYS, COSTS When the Idomeni border was open, roughly eight freight trains ran daily back and forwards to central Europe, in total. At present, just four trains run a longer route through neighboring Bulgaria, meaning higher transport costs for Greek importers and exporters. A train pulling 34 cars would normally cost up to 50,000 euros ($55,700) to transport a cargo into central Europe in two to three days. But the longer route is causing delays of up to 12 days, which is lifting the cost by almost 20 percent, said the executive of the Athens-based freight company. An exporters association in northern Greece, representing some 500 businesses, said the situation at Idomeni had stunted efforts to kickstart the economy after six years of recession. "The direct extra cost for our members have totaled about 5 million euros so far," said the association head, Kyriakos Loufakis. TRAINOSE's biggest client in Greece, Chinese shipping giant China COSCO, took over the operation of two of Greece's Piraeus port container terminals in 2009 via its Greek unit Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT). It uses Piraeus to transport Asian products to central Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, by sea and rail. "Anything that obstructs this process is a problem for us," said Tassos Vamvakidis, the commercial manager of PCT. Greece's state railways company OSE threw up a barbed wire fence parallel to the railway tracks at Idomeni on Tuesday to prevent people moving onto the line. But the executive of the Athens-based rail freight company said that once the camp was fully evacuated it would still take up to 10 days to fully restore rail traffic. "We had the route closed in November, reopened and then closed again four months later. Who can assure potential suitors that this won't happen again in July?" ($1 = 0.8976 euros) (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Pravin Char)
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

By Alison Frankel

NEW YORK May 25 (Reuters) - Eight hundred years ago, the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel might have been guilty of crime for allegedly funding a privacy suit by the pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Nowadays Thiel is safe from prosecution, though his secret backing of Hogan, as reported Tuesday by Forbes and the New York Times, raises questions about the steady erosion of laws barring outsiders from investing in lawsuits.

Hogan, as you surely recall, won a $140 million verdict in March against the online news and gossip company Gawker Media, which had posted snippets of a leaked video showing Hogan having sex with his then best friend's wife.

Gawker, which plans to appeal the verdict, suggested in a statement Wednesday that Thiel's funding will be an issue as it challenges the state court verdict.

Undisclosed details of the alleged arrangement between the billionaire, Hogan and Hogan's lawyers at Harder Mirell & Abrams could help Gawker's appeal if, for instance, it turns out that by failing to mention Thiel's backing, Hogan exaggerated the harm he suffered from the sex tape publication.

But litigation funding experts say the revelation of Thiel's involvement will probably not, by itself, help Gawker overturn the verdict.

IS IT MEDDLING?

Under Florida case law, it's okay for plaintiffs like Hogan (who sued Gawker under his real name, Terry Bollea) to receive financial backing from an outsider with a stake in the outcome of the case.

Litigation investors aren't supposed to meddle in the case or dictate litigation strategy, according to a 1996 ruling from the state's intermediate appeals court. Some have questioned whether such meddling occurred in the Hogan case.

Legal journalist Dan Abrams suggested back in March, during the trial, that an outside investor might be directing Hogan to make otherwise peculiar decisions, such as his rejection of multimillion-dollar settlement offers. Gawker founder Nick Denton sounded the same theme in an interview this week with Dealbook's Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Story continues

But even if Thiel did influence Hogan's legal strategy, that would probably not be grounds to overturn the verdict against Gawker, according to Anthony Sebok, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and the author of a definitive 2011 article, "The Inauthentic Claim," on legal doctrines discouraging litigation funding.

Some states, Sebok said in an email, have statutes prohibiting such arrangements, and if Hogan had brought his case in one of those states, Gawker might be able to argue the verdict was tainted by Thiel's alleged involvement.

Florida, however, is not one of those states. At best, Sebok said in an email, Gawker might be able to bring a separate action against Hogan and Thiel for misusing the court system.

Similarly, Christopher Bogart of Burford Capital, a litigation funder that has lobbied against prohibitions on outside financing of litigation, said courts have "affirmatively (and appropriately) generally decided not to inquire" into who is paying for a case. The U.S. court system has strong laws to curtail improper suits, Bogart said, and judges are more inclined to sort good cases from bad than to delve into their financing.

That certainly seems to be the attitude of the Florida judge who oversaw the Hogan trial: At a hearing Wednesday, she denied Gawker's request to investigate Thiel's involvement in the case.

BARRATRY AND CHAMPERTY

The rise of litigation funding has discredited doctrines with ancient roots. British law dating back to 1275 prohibited three forms of promoting litigation: barratry, in which someone stirs a potential plaintiff to file a lawsuit; champerty, in which an investor takes a stake in the lawsuit's recovery; and maintenance, in which an investor pays the plaintiff to carry on the suit.

These "antique laws" remained on the books as criminal offenses in the U.K. until 1967, though rarely enforced in modern times. In the U.S., according to Sebok's 2011 article in the Vanderbilt Law Review, at least 28 states allow outsiders to invest in litigation. Delaware and Minnesota, which continue to enforce champerty rules, are now considered outliers, according to a January 2016 report by the law firm Dinsmore & Shohl.

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and was an early Facebook investor, is a noted libertarian, but a fellow libertarian at the Cato Institute told me his supposed investment in Hogan's case should be an occasion to reconsider whether loosening the rules for litigation funding was a good idea.

Walter Olson, a senior fellow at Cato and the author of several books about the legal system, blogged at Overlawyered.com about Thiel's reported backing of Hogan. In an interview, he pointed out that the old laws were intended to block powerful people from taking advantage of the court system to maximize their own interests - precisely what Thiel is said to have done in the Gawker case.

"Our ancestors were not complete fools," Olson said. "The rules were there because of concerns the law would turn into a weapon to magnify power."

Hogan lead counsel Charles Harder of Harder Mirell did not respond to an email requesting comment. He told the Times that he does not discuss his clients' finances. I reached out to Gawker's general counsel and outside lawyers at Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz but did not hear back.

(Reporting by Alison Frankel. Editing by Alessandra Rafferty.)
Foxconn Kin Cheung AP

At one Foxconn factory in Kunshan, China, 60,000 workers have been replaced by robots, a Chinese official said  another data point that indicates that electronics production is increasingly being automated.

Foxconn is best known as one of the primary assemblers for Apple products, but it also assembles gadgets for essentially every major electronics brand.

According to the South China Morning Post, the factory has reduced its workforce from 110,000 to 50,000. Officials are hopeful that other "major companies" in the region will soon follow suit:

"The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000, thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs, said [Kunshan government publicity department head] Xu Yulian.

In 2015, Foxconn chief Terry Gou predicted that Foxconn would use automated robots to complete 70 percent of its assembly line work.

According to Apple's 2016 supply chain report, Apple does not do any final assembly at Foxconn plants in Kunshan, Jiangsu, although other Apple suppliers, Pegatron and Wistron, do assemble iPhones in the region.

Recently, Foxconn posted a listing on its home page indicating that it's "hiring a large number of ordinary workers" for a salary of 3,800 renminbi, or $579 dollars per month. Signs point to the increase in hiring being related to iPhone 7 production.

But it is unclear if Apple's factories will need as many workers to assemble the iPhone 7 as they employed to assemble the iPhone 6 and other previous iPhones.

The Daily Mail recently reported on a Shanghai Pegatron plant which now reportedly has several abandoned dorms after it laid off migrant Chinese workers when they were no longer needed. "It is very rare to see so many workers being laid off. I guess this has something to do with Apple's declining sales," Li Qiang, founder of activist group China Labor Watch told Business Insider.

Plus, there's an increased push to prevent workers from working more than 60 hours a week in order to comply with Chinese regulations. If workers can't put in 80 hour weeks, as they have in the past, that would indicate that Apple contractors would need to hire more workers. But many workers who can't put in the overtime are simply leaving the factories.

Story continues

Not to worry  Apple's contractors can pick up the slack with automated robots.

NOW WATCH: Hidden Facebook tricks you need to know





More From Business Insider


(New throughout, adds comment from official and opponents)

By Edward Krudy

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - A Connecticut commission has scheduled a vote on Friday on a proposed $22 million grant to Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, to help it expand its operations in the state.

The plan has support from some Connecticut officials but has also drawn fire after the state slashed spending, laid off workers and froze pay.

The grant would help Westport-based Bridgewater expand facilities in Westport, Wilton, and Norwalk, according to documents posted on the website of the State Bond Commission, which will discuss the grant on Friday. The hedge fund is required to create 750 new jobs by 2021 on top of the 1,402 it employs in the state.

Funds also include $2 million for employee training and $3 million for alternative energy systems.

The state says the deal is good for taxpayers and will result in Bridgewater investing over $500 million. "The new jobs and capital investment will generate significant direct and indirect economic benefits," said Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith.

The State Bond Commission is chaired by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy. Malloy's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Opposition to the grant is mounting from all sides.

"Connecticut is in financial crisis and people are suffering. The Democrats just passed a budget that cuts from the most vulnerable individuals in society," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano in a statement.

Lindsay Farrell, director of the progressive Connecticut Working Families group, said: "It is totally unacceptable to give tax dollars to wealthy corporations, especially when hard working families are facing a loss of services."

Ray Dalio's Bridgewater manages $150 billion, according to its website. Representatives for the firm did not comment.

Bridgewater could also get up to $30 million in tax credits for a total package from the state of $52 million, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Story continues

Hedge fund investors have complained about poor returns, and some multibillion-dollar public pension funds have said they will stop investing in them.

Connecticut, fighting criticism it is not business friendly, has been trying to court businesses as it struggles with a sluggish recovery after losing thousands of jobs during the financial crisis.

General Electric Co, which had complained about Connecticut business taxes, relocated its headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts.

In May, Connecticut lawmakers passed a $19.7 billion 2016-17 budget, closing a gap of nearly $1 billion. More than 2,500 state workers could lose their jobs and managers have had their pay frozen.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by David Gregorio)
In the third season premiere of Scandal, Olive Pope's father reminded his daughter of an important creed: To succeed, she needs to be "twice as good as them to get half of what they have." It was a racially charged moment, unsurprising for a Shonda Rhimes show  and yet Papa Pope's lesson reverberates far beyond Olivia's world.

Such can be seen in the New York Times' Wednesday feature on Asian actors. In it, actors like George Takei, Daniel Dae Kim and B.D. Wong express their personal frustrations with Hollywood's failure to recognize them, film studios' whitewashing and more.

Perhaps the most resonant response came from Fresh Off the Boat's Constance Wu, a consistently underrated actress unafraid of speaking her mind. She likened being an Asian actor competing with white actors for roles to training for the Olympics.

"An Asian person who is competing against white people, for an audience of white people, has to train for that opportunity like it's the Olympics," she said. "An incredibly talented Asian actor might be considered for a leading role maybe once or twice in a lifetime. That's a highly pressured situation."

Source: Mic/Getty Images

Indeed, as has been shown in the last decade, roles for Asian actors are incredibly limited in Hollywood. In 2014 alone, only 5.3% of s named characters in the top 100 movies were played by Asian actors. So competing for just one is a trial, never mind several.

Fans are calling out for diversity in film, specifically for movies with Asian actors as leads. From a pure business perspective, it seems like a no-brainer: The challenge shouldn't be greater for nonwhite actors to be recognized. Hollywood should be clamoring to cast them.
The Fall and Rise of Continental Resources: A Company Analysis

(Continued from Prior Part)

Continental Resourcess 1Q16 revenue

Continental Resources (CLR) reported its 1Q16 earnings on May 4, 2016. The company announced adjusted revenue of ~$485 million.

Wall Street analysts consensus estimate for CLRs revenue was ~$440 million. Continental Resourcess 1Q16 revenue was ~21% lower than its 1Q15 revenue of ~$616.3 million.

CLRs 1Q16 earnings

Continental Resourcess 1Q16 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) totaled -$0.41, compared to analysts consensus estimate of -$0.36 EPS. CLRs 1Q15 EPS stood at -$0.09.

In comparison, upstream peers Cimarex Energy (XEC), Concho Resources (CXO), and Hess (HES) reported 1Q16 adjusted EPS of -$0.40, -$0.05, and -$1.72, respectively. Together, these companies make up ~9% of the iShares US Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO).

CLRs 2015 revenue and earnings recap

In 2015, Continental Resources reported adjusted EPS of -$0.31, compared to $3.43 in 2014. CLRs 2015 revenue came in at ~$2.66 billion, compared to ~$4.6 billion in 2014.

Key highlights in 1Q16

In 2015, Continental Resources (CLR) announced three new well completions in the over-pressured Meramec formations in the STACK play during 1Q16. When oil and gas are trapped under great pressure by surrounding minerals and overlaying layers, it is called an over-pressured zone or area.

Jack Stark, CLRs president and chief operating officer, noted in the companys 1Q16 release, A key factor driving our strong first quarter results is the exceptional performance of our over-pressured Meramec wells in STACK.

CLR also highlighted that it sold its non-core Wyoming assets for $110 million in April. The proceeds from the sale were used to reduce its outstanding debt. CLR also indicated that it has other opportunities for non-core asset sales.

Continue to the next part to read about CLRs operational performance in 1Q16.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Pets aren't just animals  they're members of the family. So it makes sense that you may want them to join you on your summer travels. While Pet Airways, an airline that catered to our four-legged pals, stopped flying in 2013, the 12 major U.S. airways all allow pets on board. But you'll have to pay to bring them along.

Of course, having an airline credit card may help you avoid paying a checked bag fee for your other luggage. (You can learn more about the best airline credit cards and the best travel credit cards here.) Just be sure to check your credit before applying since you'll need a good score to qualify for cards with the best terms and conditions. (You can view your two free scores each month on Credit.com.)

If you're jet-setting out of town and want to fly with pets, we break down how much each major airline will charge you.

1. Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines has the Fur-st Class Care program for pets and charges $100 each way, whether the pet travels in the cabin with you or in baggage hold. If you are traveling during the holiday season (November through January), there are certain restrictions on traveling with your pet in the baggage or cargo areas of the plane, so be sure to check with the airline before making your plans.

2. Allegiant Air

Pets must be in a FAA-approved soft-sided carrier if they come aboard the cabin on Allegiant Air flights, and pet owners will be charged a $100 fee for each direction the pet flies. Pets are not allowed on flights to or from Hawaii.

3. American Airlines

Fees to bring pets with you on your travels varies based on where the pet will be during the flight. If you bring your dog or cat into the cabin, you are charged $125 per kennel, but if the pet travels in cargo, the fee is $200 per kennel ($150 to/from Brazil). If you have a layover longer than four hours, charges apply for each leg of the trip. There is no charge for service animals.

4. Delta Airlines

If you are flying anywhere in the U.S. or Canada or to the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, you're looking at a $125 fee each way to bring your pet. If you fly to Brazil, the pet fee is $75; anywhere else outside the U.S. has a $200 fee.

Story continues

5. Frontier Airlines

You are allowed only one pet carry-on for any Frontier flight, and will be charged a $75 fee for each flight you take with Fido. Pets are not allowed in the cargo area of planes. You may bring them along on any domestic flight or to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. However, pets can't join you on any trips to Jamaica.

6. Hawaiian Airlines

If you're going to a neighboring island, the fee to bring along pets is $60 each way for each kennel. If you're going to or from North America, the fee is $225 per kennel each way, except to/from JFK, where pets aren't allowed to fly. If you have a layover, you'll be responsible for paying the fee for each leg of the trip. Certain cats and dogs are allowed as carry-on items or can be checked in cargo; birds are required to travel in the checked baggage area of the plane.

You can find a full list of what it costs to fly your pet on every airline on Credit.com.



More from Credit.com


While his tea cools, Josh stares out the window at the imposing mountain not far off, the one described in the novel hes been reading and rereading for years. The cafes crowded, but the conversations, beautiful and strange, wash over him. Josh is alone, but not lonely. When he next looks up from his book, however, someones across from him, speaking. At first, the words are unintelligible, and Josh shakes his head back and forth while he slips a tiny cylinder into each ear. Then, the language become familiar, and Josh catches the tail-end of a sentence:  my favorite book.

This one? Josh asks, holding it up.

Yes.

Mine too, he says. Its a translation, of course, but I mustve read it a dozen times.

His new friend smiles. Which translator: Google or Amazon?

Eventually, technology optimists argue, humans will be able to read a machine-translated version of any book no matter how obscure its original language. This has long been the dream among A.I. enthusiasts. Translation was one of the earliest non-numeric problems that computer programmers tackled, and in 1954, Georgetown and IBM co-released the first significant machine translator, capable of translating from Russian into English such sexy sentences as, Magnitude of angle is determined by the relation of length of arc to radius. In total, the program knew 60 sentences, adhered to six grammar rules, and stored 250 vocabulary words. Responding to a dazzled public, the authors predicted that the problems of machine translation would be solved in three to five years. Ten years later, a report from the National Academy of Sciences condemned the project as colossally disappointing, and its funding was cut.

Recommended: A Shocking Find In a Neanderthal Cave In France

In 2001, after decades of fits and starts, Google entered the fray and quickly outpaced its competitors. Starting with six languages (English, Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, and French), Google Translate quickly grew its repertoire, quality, and speed. By 2005, the companys program, which then supported eight languages, won a machine translation contest by using 1,000 computers to tackle 1,000 sentences in 40 hours. Today, in 2016, entire websites in 103 languages are instantly translatable in under a second. Every month, the service boasts over 500 million users, 92 percent of whom come from outside the United States. And each day, Google generates over a billion translations, more than the contents of a million books and more than all professional translators accomplish in a year. Translation of text, though, is but a warm-up for what programmers hope to accomplishor what they claim they already have.

Story continues

Pilot promises a life untethered, free of language barriers.

Last week, New York City-based Waverly Labs announced its recent invention, Pilot, a set of two ear buds that costs $299. Scheduled to be released by spring of 2017, the device purports to offer near-simultaneous translation for four languages. Inspired when he met a French girl, Andrew Ochoa, the company's founder, says that Pilot promises "a life untethered, free of language barriers." After the announcement, Forbes questioned Waverly Labs' credibility but ignored the larger assumption at the core of Waverly Labs' project: Issues of funding aside, if someone wanted to fall in love using machine translation, would it work?

The Pilot in-ear translators from Waverly Labs (Waverly Labs)

Despite how quickly machine translation has progressed in the last few decades, language is a data set that's far more complex than it seems, so no matter how quickly translation technology evolves, the stochastic messiness of speech will always outpace it. However, as Josh's encounter in the cafe will show, what may be considered machine translations failure is ultimately a human triumph.

Recommended: An Awkward Reality In the Democratic Primary

* * *

Josh wasn't planning on meeting anyone but the coincidence is too attractive to pass up. Just as he's about to explain that his mom gave him this book after he broke his leg in a car accident, that he's had the same paperback copy for over a decade, the waitress is refilling his mug with hot water. When the waitress speaks, he notices something a little off about her cadence, how the accents fall a little less rhythmically than those around her. Now that his translators are in, Josh figures he may as well ask where she's fromthe first true test of the device in his ear.

Computers, like the IBM-Georgetown machine, used to learn languages the same way that humans do: by internalizing the messy spattering of rules, exceptions, and exceptions to exceptions found in all languages. Because grammar is so complex, the programs used to have to master millions of commands, and beyond basic phrases, the resulting translations often sounded clunky. In 1949, the scientist Warren Weaver proposed an alternative to rule-based translation called statistical machine translation (SMT). Instead of attacking language one minutia at a time, Weaver suggested a two-pronged approach: First, the computer would mine millions of documents looking for statistically significant linguistic patterns, thereby discovering the grammar, syntax, and morphology rules for itself. At the same time, the program would create a model to predict how certain phrases are translated and where in the sentence they should appear. For example, after billions of iterations the computer would realize that, in German, the verb typically comes at the end of the sentence.

Recommended: The Narcissist

Waverly Labs hasn't yet released the details of its software, but it likely works in the same fundamental way as Google Translate, which uses these rules and the predictive model to give the most statistically likely translation, the one that best mirrors the patterns it already found. But because we use language in multifaceted ways, the translation software also has to identify a linguistic context, called a domain, so when it sees, say, customer reviews of a guitar, it knows how to translate the word "neck." However, in order to be statistically significant, a domain has to be large  a minimum of 2 million words. Therefore, most training material comes from organizations like the United Nations, which have large caches of documents that have already been translated by humans and contain exactly the same content. But even then, algorithms have their limitations.

The real issue with machine translation is not with its technology, but rather with the nature of language itself.

While many people probably couldnt learn Romanian by reading 50,000 European Parliament reports translated from English, they likely could (fairly easily) decipher the linguistic junkyard that is YouTube comments and Facebook poststhe grammatical atrocities, orthographic abuses, and carte blanche punctuation styles. But a computer cannot process even basic exceptions from its programming rules.

As a result, SMT has greatly improved translation fluency, but it struggles with slang and variations in dialect, like that of the waitress. This problem, however, is for the most part technical; in theory, larger data sets, faster computer processing, and more advanced algorithms will eventually solve it (think about the evolution of autocorrect for texts). The real issue with machine translation is not with its technology, but rather with the nature of language itself.

* * *

Josh tells the waitress that her accent is charming and orders another cookie. His new friend doesn't seem bothered by the interruption, but Joshs hands are a little sweaty. He wipes them on a napkin. Not knowing how to segue back to the book discussion, he stutters for a second and then asks the first question that comes to mind: How are you?

Pleasantries are so mundane that their complexity is often ignored. Linguistically, they fall into a category called phatic language, meaning expressions that accomplish a social task rather than convey information. For example, when asked whats up? most people wouldnt tilt their heads upward, in order to describe what they see. With a large enough corpus, machine translators could recognize the whats up? pattern and give the appropriate correlate, but phatic expressions, like all frequently-used language, are especially volatile. Were Josh in Chaucers days, he might have said ey, maister, welcome be ye; in Shakespeares England, God ye good den (Hello was an exclamation of surprise).

With the Internet acting as a linguistic hall of mirrors, these transmutations are occurring increasingly quickly, and not just with phatic language. In 1986, the Birmingham Corpus, then the largest of its kind for American and British English, contained 20 million words. Today, the corpus for Oxford Dictionaries contains almost 2.5 billions words and also draws from Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Canada, India, Singapore, and South Africa. Moreover, lexicographers now have access to blogs, emails, social media, television scripts, and message boards  and those are just the official gatekeepers. For user-run sites like Urban Dictionary, readers can create and edit their own entries, legitimizing through public exposure such ephemera as Netflix and Chill.

Outdated expressions cling to the corpus, preventing the algorithm from recognizing the directions in which language marches.

Linguistic innovation occurs quickly, spontaneously. The meaning of Netflix and Chill, if the term survives past the next season of Fuller House, might shift as wildly as the viewership's mood. In contrast, SMT is inherently glacial, conservative, reactionary. Outdated expressions cling to the corpus, preventing the algorithm from recognizing the directions in which language marches. Even if these programs could adapt to linguistic changes in real time, not only would they need access to all written and spoken communication to be accurate, but they would also be incapable of recognizing spontaneous mutations.

* * *

Before long, its just the two of them in the cafe. Its amazing, really, all the similarities. They both have an older brother, wanted to be artists when they were younger, and try to go running every morning (and have been sleeping through the alarm!). The conversation doesnt feel forced, no awkward pauses or self-conscious laughs. Josh hasnt even had a chance to eat the cookie the waitress brought him. After eyeing the baked good for several minutes, though, his friend asks him to share.

English offers an impressive array of affirmative words that have strong connotational differences. For example, Josh could reply with a decisive yes, a response that even the Georgetown-IBM computer could translate. But, for the sake of argument, lets pretend he's unusually hungry, that this cookie is particularly satisfying, and the kitchen is now closed. So instead of saying yes, he says fine. While both replies literally grant permission, the latter connotes reluctance, discomfort. Fine is how a teenager obeys his parents request to take out the trash while also communicating his indignation. Like phatic language, the true power of fine is not in its literal meaning, but rather, its suggestion.

Fifteen minutes later, Josh has transcended the pleasantries stage of the conversation. He wants more but holds back because of the most archetypal of first date feelings: uncertainty. Yes, his jokes are killing, but maybe its polite laughter? Josh wants a signal, goddammit, but if hes waiting for his machine translator to give the green light, he shouldn't hold his breath.

Any Japanese speaker would instantly recognize the dismissal inherent in that ellipse, but Josh, fatally optimistic, would not.

Should Josh's date speak Japanese, hell have to tread carefully. In general, Japanese speakers consider silent listening rude and pepper the conversation with yes, indeed, and really? As encouraging as these particles seem, especially translated into their English correlates, they dont necessarily signal interest. Even worse for Josh, Japanese speakers rarely say no directly. For example, if Josh suggested that they Netflix and chill after dinner, he may receive a seemingly promising response: I would love to say yes, but   Any Japanese speaker would instantly recognize the dismissal inherent in that ellipse, but Josh, fatally optimistic, would not.

However, Japanese is a great language for communicating intimacy because it has four ways to modify its verbs and nouns based on the conversants relative social position. If Joshs date threw all propriety to the wind and switched to the most casual declination, that would be the glaring declaration of interest that Josh has been looking for.

If Josh were in Bogota, however, his date would probably address him using usted, the second-person pronoun more formal than its sibling, tu. Switching to tu would certainly be encouraging, but how could Josh's machine translator communicate that shift using only English's you? Granted, this is a problem that even human translators grapple with. But more damning for Josh's computer, how would it know when to change his translated usteds to tus? Because computers rely on statistical models, and not an actual understanding of the words or of human behavior, they cant judge intimacy. No statistical model existscould existto determine how many coy smiles, jokes laughed at, and chairs pulled closer it takes to transition between usted and tu. Good luck making the first move, Josh.

* * *

As the two stand to leave, dating history comes up. Without thinking, Josh says that he had been living with his partner of five years, but they recently broke up. Unfortunately, the nuance of the word partner will be lost in translation.

Gender, like politeness, is a capricious linguistic feature. Arabic, for example, genders it nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and its thirteen personal pronouns. In English, gender features less prominently, so its possible to hide the gender of a person entirely, as Ive done throughout this essay for Josh's new friend. Instead of denoting a man or a woman, partner communicates a different kind of information.

Consciously or not, speakers drop linguistic clues that even the densest listener will pick up on.

Much of what humans learn about people comes not from what they say, but from how they say it, and what (others presume) they really mean. Consciously or not, though, speakers drop linguistic clues that even the densest listener will pick up on. Even an accent conveys information, if only to trigger a stereotype, as any Deep Southerner or Cockney Londoner knows all too well. Think of Josh trying to describe to his new friend, let alone to his machine translator, the differences between house and estate, yall verses you guys, yes or yaaaaas: like the prescription for his glasses, slight changes may seem insignificant, but they greatly affect how Josh sees his new (maybe) boyfriend.

* * *

Erudite linguistic theory be damned. Josh has conquered the phatics, maneuvered the honorifics, parsed the etymologies. Back in the hotel room, Josh's friend hunches his shoulder, looks around nervously, and wipes his hands on an imaginary napkin. "Uh," he pauses for a moment, how are you? The two laugh at the imitation and collapse onto the bed. Drawing a deep, luxurious breath, Josh says, Lets never leave this nosey little cook. He tries to correct his silly mistake and say cozy little nook, but snorts laughing and falls onto the ground. When he finally recovers, his lovers staring, blank-faced.

Unbeknownst to Josh, he just quoted a Spoonerism, a phrase whose consonants and vowels are switched. While his slip of the tongue was unintentional, people deliberately use wordplay, which highlights the fundamental difference between humans and machines: computers can process unfathomable amounts of data, but they cannot leave the nosey little cook of their programming. Again, the problem is not in translating individual words, even words that purport to be untranslatable, like Portuguese's saudades. True, there may not be a perfect, one-word equivalent in English, but I can explain that it describes an intense nostalgia  a melancholic longing for someone or something thats irretrievable  and you'll instantly connect with saudades. No, the real problem is that meaning itself is precarious, shifting, ambiguous, deceptive.

* * *

Regardless of their limitations, in certain contexts, Google Translate and its peers far surpasses the abilities and economic constraints of human translators. As a software engineer at Google Translate pointed out during a conference, machine translation is perfect when you need to get the gist of things. When youre looking at reviews, like a hotel review, you don't need to worry about whether the grammar was perfect. From a commercial standpoint, Googles service also allows translations in situations where the sheer volume of data precludes human intervention: when, say, the American Red Cross needs the combined inventories of all the hospitals in Mexico City.

Even if it lags and stutters, Waverly Labss Pilot is a remarkable invention that could change what it means to be a student, tourist, immigrant, and refugee.

Even if it lags and stutters, Waverly Labss Pilot is a remarkable invention that could change what it means to be a student, tourist, immigrant, and refugee. It could allow for more substantive engagement with the world. It could even lead to love. But will it deliver on its promise of a "life untethered, free of language barriers?"

* * *

When Josh gets to the airport, he sobs, reassured only by the conviction that he'll return home, stuff his objects into storage, and fly back. He keeps talking to his lover: Skyping every day, but then the schedule for his yoga class changes, and with the crazy time difference, it moves to just the weekends. And then to a phone call as he buys his groceries for the week. And then to an email hastily written before bed on Sunday. Six months later, when he thinks about his tryst, its only periodically, more with saudades for the idea of it than for the person.

While my scenario is absurd for many reasons, the real quixotism is that language is nothing more than statistically significant patterns. How people speak is so complex that it should be above the abilities of even the cleverest algorithms. The alternativewhere nervous flirtations are inputted, prodded for patterns, compared to parallel corpora, and regurgitated in a string of consonants and vowelsis far bleaker than the death of a sci-fi fantasy. Language is not a tool or a formula, but rather a rabbit hole adorned with a cautionary sign: Curiouser & Curiouser.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
New research is breathing life into the adage "worked to death."

According to a study by the Manpower Group, millennials around the world are thinking differently about retirement  that is, they won't do it all. In the United States, 12% of millennials  people between the ages of 18 and 35  don't plan on ever retiring. In other countries, that percentage is much higher.

In Japan, a staggering 37% of millennials in the workforce say they will likely work until the day they die. For China and Greece, a respective 18% and 15% of millennials say retiring just isn't in the cards for them.

Source: Mic/ManpowerGroup

Canada, India and Singapore also clock in ahead of the U.S., with 14% of their millennial populations saying they'll work until death.

The report also notes that although millennials are widely regarded as a pack of lazy narcissists, the data shows that young Americans are working harder than any of the generations that came before them, with 83% reportedly working over 40 hours a week, and 23% working over 50 hours.

Cameron Huddleston, a columnist for GoBankingRates, told Bloomberg that there are significant obstacles that might deter Americans from retiring.

"Credit card debt, student loan debt, low wages, the need to save for a child's college education, and the list goes on," Huddleston said. "Although all of these things can put a strain on our budgets, they don't necessarily make it impossible to save for retirement."

Student debt, in particular, poses a daunting challenge to the youngest members of America's workforce: Seventy percent of the class of 2016 just graduated with an average of $37,000 worth of loans  the largest amount of any class in U.S. history.
There was something about the puppy that just spoke to Cassidy Kraus. Maybe it was because no one wanted it. Perhaps it was because the dog is blind, as is her dog, Soto.

I just had to have this puppy, Krauss told InsideEdition.com. She had seen a video of the spotted bulldog online and knew it was up for adoption.

Read: After 2 Years Apart, Animal Lover Reunites With Chained Dog She Once Cared For

But the dog was in California and Krauss and her boyfriend, Brett Weyers, live in Wisconsin.

I really didnt think much would come of it because it was so far away, she said. But she got in touch with the dogs foster parents through the Sacramento SPCA, and filed an application to adopt the puppy.

The 4-month-old had been with his foster family for about a month after being left at the animal shelter by owners who said they could no longer care for him. The dog was in a woeful state  covered in feces and skin ulcers.

The animal was, shelter workers thought, the product of backyard breeding, meaning its parents were related to each other. And the pup was sightless.

We knew we wanted to rescue a bulldog, Krauss said. We hadnt found one that was the right fit.

"Then I saw this bull dog. And lo and behold we have such experience with this condition, meaning blindness. Both dogs were sightless as the result of birth defects.

It didnt take long for good news to arrive. The application was approved. The couple set off last week, with their dog, Soto, in tow, to see if the puppy would indeed be a good fit.

Nap time for the new canine buddies

Soto and the puppy, which Krauss and Weyers have renamed Ago, were instant pals. They were so excited, Krauss said.

Soto, in his delight, smacked his head into a pole, but there was no harm done, Krauss said.

Both dogs were bundled into the car, where they got along fine on the 32-hour drive back to Wisconsin.

Story continues

The family of dogs and humans arrived Monday.

Read: Dog Saved Moments Before Being Euthanized When Assistant Finds Paralysis-Causing Tick

Ago is still learning the layout of his new digs. He walked into his new owners home, stepped into their walk-in shower, and promptly began to pee. I couldnt really be mad at him for peeing in the shower, Krauss said.

She was a little nervous taking Ago out for a walk. We live in an apartment building. We got on the elevator and I said, Ago, were close but we're not there, buddy.

Ago behaved himself.

Krauss said she and her boyfriend will train their new family member the same way they did Soto, using word commands to let the dog know if it needs to step down because of a curb, or to step up because there are stairs.

Ago is also learning the limits of Sotos patience. The puppy will tug on the older dogs lip, Krauss said, as an invitation to play. And Soto will bare his teeth, which is really irrelevant, since both dogs can't see a thing.

Dog Chained Outside For 9 Years Finally Gets a Forever Home

Related Articles:
DailyFX.com -

Talking Points:

Crude oil prices negate bearish cues, set sights above $50/bbl figure

Gold prices break 3-month support as FOMC rate hike outlook builds

Fed officials commentary, EIA inventory data in the spotlight ahead

Crude oil prices pushed higher alongside a recovery in stock prices, with the advancing WTI contract tracking S&P 500 futures over the prior 24 hours. The recovery in sentiment began with yesterdays European trading open, preceding upbeat US New Home Sales data published later in the day and subsequently cited around the news-wires as a would-be catalyst. In fact, a single readily-identifiable trigger appears absent.

Meanwhile, gold prices accelerated downward as Federal Reserve rate hike expectations continued to swell, undermining demand for anti-fiat and non-interest-bearing assets. The yellow metal fell for a fifth consecutive session, making for the longest losing streak since mid-October. Spot moved inversely of year-end expectations for the benchmark US lending rate implied in December 2016 Fed Funds futures. That measure now stands at the highest since late March.

Looking ahead, Fed-speak returns to the spotlight as comments from Neel Kashkari and Robert Kaplan  Presidents of the central banks Minneapolis and Dallas branches  cross the wires. A hawkish tone matching recent commentary from other Fed officials may continue to boost rate hike chances, punishing precious metals. Sentiment has proven impressively resilient despite swelling stimulus withdrawal bets, warning against assuming an automatic risk-off response in this scenario.

For its part, oil is eyeing the weekly set of EIA inventory figures. A 1.66 million barrel crude stockpile drop is expected. A private-sector estimate from the American Petroleum Institute (API) hinted at a larger drawdown of 5.14 million barrels yesterday, making for the largest outflow since December 2015. Prices may rise if this proves to foreshadow a larger-than-expected decline on official readings.

Story continues

FXCM traders are net-long gold by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. What does this hintaboutthe trend?

GOLD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS  Gold prices may be resuming their long-term down move after a narrow break of rising channel floor support set from mid-February. Near-term support is now at 1205.30, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, with a break below that on a daily closing basis exposing the 50% level at 1174.93. Alternatively, a reversal above channel support-turned-resistance at 1230.05 targets the 23.6% retracement at 1242.88.

Crude Oil Prices Aim Above $50, Gold Breaks 3-Month Support

CRUDE OIL TECHNICAL ANALYSIS  Crude oil prices overturned previously noted bearish reversal cues, pushing upward to issue the highest daily close in over seven months. From here, a push above the 61.8% Fibonacci expansion at 50.13 targets the 76.4% level at 51.82. Alternatively, a reversal back below resistance-turned-support at 48.77, the 50% Fib, sees the next downside barrier at 47.41 marked by the 38.2% expansion.

Crude Oil Prices Aim Above $50, Gold Breaks 3-Month Support

--- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com

To receive Ilya's analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE

Contact and follow Ilya on Twitter: @IlyaSpivak



original source

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.

Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from FXCM.
A Snapshot of Commodities' Performances on May 25

Crude oil inches higher

Crude oil continued to trade at seven-month highs on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, as better-than-expected crude oil inventory data supported the sentiment.

At 1:49 PM EST on May 25, WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil futures contracts for July delivery were seen trading at $49.32 per barrel, a rise of 1.4%. Brent crude oil was trading at $49.51 per barrel, a rise of 1.8%.

Larger-than-expected inventory drawdown

According to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (or EIA) at 10:30 AM EST, crude oil inventory levels fell by 4.2 million barrels to 537.1 million barrels in the week ended May 20, 2016. This was a larger fall than the Market had anticipated, and it supported crude oils price surge.

Earlier, a Reuters poll on the weekly inventory change had indicated an expected fall of 2.5 million barrels. On May 24, 2016, the American Petroleum Institute reported an inventory fall of 5.1 million barrels, surpassing market expectations.

Imports from Canada surged despite supply outages

In recent weeks, crude oil prices were supported by supply disruptions in the Canadian oil sand fields, Nigeria, Libya, and Venezuela. However, these supply disruptions have started to subside, shifting the Markets focus toward the inventory data.

Even though the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Canada, decreased the countrys output by ~1.5 million barrels per day, crude oil imports to the United States from Canada rose by 0.5 million barrels per day.

Signs of increased production by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) are weighing on crude oil. The organization is scheduled to meet in Vienna, Austria, on June 2, 2016, to discuss a production freeze.

At 2:18 PM EST on May 25, crude oil producers Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), BP (BP), and Total S.A. (TOT) rose 3.6%, 2.0%, 3.3%, and 2.5%, respectively. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) rose 2.7%.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
A leading Cuban dissident came to Washington last week to urge U.S. policymakers not to abandon those working for peaceful change on the island, as President Barack Obamas White House continues its mono-focus on normalizing relations with the Castro regime.

Physicist Antonio Rodiles  whose bloody visage received widespread attention after government security forces beat him in 2012  told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute that the Obama administration should recognize who its friends are in Cuba, and not marginalize those struggling for precisely the kind of change that Obama professes to want.

Were the friends of the [democratic] world. And were taking the risk for that. We need your support, he said.

Rodiles warned observers not to be fooled by the process of fake change underway in Cuba under Raul Castro, who is interested only in transitioning power to his immediate family members. There should be no doubt that the regime is taking concrete steps to continue the dynasty, he said.

Rodiles said the only possibility of real change in Cuba will come when the Castro family is out of the picture and the regimes entire totalitarian edifice begins to be deconstructed.

I dont want to think that, little by little, in 20 years the regime is going to change, he added. I dont have time for that. I want the regime to change right now.

I asked Rodiles to explain why the regime, if repressive as ever, currently allows dissidents to travel to the United States and return to Cuba. He told me it was part of the regimes incurred cost to project an image of change for foreign consumption. He said the situation for him and his fellow dissidents remains unchanged on the ground.

That remained true, he lamented, after the administrations unconditional overtures to the Castros. Right now, the regime feels more comfortable, more legitimate, and now they are more violent, he said.

Story continues

The statistics, regrettably, bear that out. The Miami Herald cites the Havana-based Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which reported more than 8,600 politically motivated detentions in Cuba in 2015, a 315 percent increase from five years ago. In January and February of this year alone, more than 2,500 people were arrested for political reasons.

But the even bigger indictment of the administrations misguided Cuba policy is the number of Cubans who simply want out. Citing U.S. Coast Guard statistics, the Miami Herald reports, if the Cuban migrant flow by sea continues at the same pace, total interceptions, sightings or arrivals during fiscal year 2015  4,476  may be surpassed before the end of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

The rote media explanation is that Cubans fear that Obamas rapprochement could mean an end to special immigration privileges. However, this fails to explain two things: Why, if Cuba is changing, as the presidents echo-chamber denizens want us to believe, are Cubans continuing to flee? If the goal of Obamas policy is to improve the lives of Cubans, then why are record numbers of Cubans leaving?

The answer, of course, is that most Cubans have about as much faith in the Castros ability to change after six decades as they do in Obamas ability to make their lives better. Indeed, as Rodiles says, to most Cubans, Obamas about-face on U.S. policy signaled the exact opposite: namely, accepting the permanence of the regime.

Other aspects of Obamas outreach have also failed to bear much fruit. Tourist travel, which Obama has allowed by end-running U.S. law through executive decree, has been captured by the Cuban military, which controls all of the profits while keeping real people-to-people contact carefully controlled. Rodiles says no tourist group has visited him or anyone he knows since 2014.

Obamas echo-chamberists also claimed that a lower U.S. profile on human rights would allow other countries to step up their support for dissidents and rights activists. Instead, Rodiles says, most embassies have decreased their contact with the opposition in recent months.

None of this will be surprising to anyone with a sober understanding of the nature of the Cuban regime. It was as predictable as the rising sun. But the Cuba play is of a piece with the rest of the administrations foreign policy outlook, which holds that international discord has as much to do with inflexible U.S. positions (read: commitment to principle) as it does with the belligerent behavior of our adversaries. But such dreamy thinking is why we have faculty lounges and situation rooms. We can only hope the next U.S. president is savvy enough to realize the difference.

Photo credit: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images
Cuba is set to legalize private businesses of medium, small and micro size in a bid to stimulate growth in an economy thats been largely under strict state control since the 1950s Communist revolution.

The BBC reports that the reform was included in a 32-page plan for economic development, which has been approved by Congress.

Since taking over from his ailing brother in 2008, President Raul Castro has been attempting to kick start the island nations economy, and has allowed people doing certain jobs, such as hairdressing and restaurateurs, to be self employed. He has also restored diplomatic relations with the U.S.  welcoming President Obama on a landmark visit in March  and begun a process of opening the country up to foreign investment.

However, it is not clear whether the newly-authorized private enterprises will be allowed to import and export products, the BBC says, pointing out that, for now at least, the bulk of the economy remains in the hands of the state.

[BBC]
Debt Relief Company Receives Record Number of 5 Star Reviews From Individuals and Businesses

HOLLYWOOD, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / CuraDebt, the company that helps provide thousands of individuals and small businesses with debt relief, announced today that they have surpassed 750 reviews from their satisfied clients. The CuraDebt reviews came from client testimonials on esteemed advocacy websites Customer Lobby and ShopperApproved.

CuraDebt is a 5-Star Excellence Award Winner from ShopperApproved and has received numerous industry accolades. In addition to the recent achievement, CuraDebt has been rated number one among debt settlement companies and tax debt relief companies by the consumer watchdog site, Top Consumer Reviews for seven years in a row. The US Tax Center at IRS.com, also endorsed CuraDebt as the #1 tax debt relief company to work with. The company credits their awards and honors to their ongoing commitment to transparency, integrity and superior service.

"This prestigious honor is a testament to our outstanding customer service and our tireless dedication to providing debt relief to thousands of Americans," said Eric Michael Pemper, President of Curadebt. "When people experience financial difficulties in their lives we try to provide hope for them so they can resolve their debts and have a brighter future."

CuraDebt's trusted advisors help clients with debt negotiation, debt settlement, debt consolidation, debt management, credit counseling and tax debt relief. Their skilled professionals are experienced and knowledgeable about each of these services and review the best options for their clients. For tax debt reduction, CuraDebt has a group of experts in taxes, Tax Lawyers, Certified Public Accountants with over 25 years of experience and former IRS Officers, who work on their client's behalf to solve their tax problems.

For more information about the company and its services, visit their website at http://www.curadebt.com.

Story continues

About Curadebt:

For over 15 years, Curadebt has been helping people and small businesses resolve their financial difficulties. They have successfully advised over 10,000 individuals and families each year, and have settled over $100 million in consumer and business debt. CuraDebt specializes in providing expert help to resolve unsecured debts and tax issues.

Media Contact:

Jonathan Kirby

(877) 850-3328

marketing@curadebt.com

http://www.curadebt.com

SOURCE: Curadebt
Athanor Production Co. has started an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for 81-year-old noted Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajers latest project, a surreal film called Insects. He says this will be his final film.

Svankmajer has worked in many genres and media, and is best known for such features as Alice (1988), Faust (1994), Conspirators of Pleasure (1996), Little Otik (2000) and Lunacy (2005). Many of his films utilize stop-motion animation. He was awarded the International Federation of Film Archives honor at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2014.

Insects, which has been in development for five years, is based on 1921s The Insect Play by Josef and Karel Capek, which will itself be featured in the narrative.

The Capek brothers play is very misanthropic. Ive always liked that  bugs behave as human beings, and people behave as insects, explains Svankmajer. My screenplay extends this misanthropy further while also reflecting Franz Kafka and his famous Metamorphosis.

Svankmajer and producing partner Jaromir Kallista hope to start filming this summer with financial help from the crowdfunding effort.

It gets increasingly difficult to fund independent art that scrutinizes the very core of our society. Who would deliberately support their own critics? We make a film every five or six years not because of a lack of ideas, but due to the lack of funds to back up our projects, says Svankmajer. Our hope is that crowdfunding may be the way to change this. The initial $150,000 we aim to raise on Indiegogo will enable us to start shooting with live actors; eventually, we will need to raise far more in order to complete the animations and post-production.

Donation incentives include signed scripts and DVDs of Svankmajers works, signed litographies of one of the insects featured in the film, a set visit and dinner with Svankmajer himself.

Related stories

Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell Raise $1.7 Million for 'Code 8' Movie

Story continues

'Lazer Team' Scores $1 Million in Presales for Tugg Screenings

'Dragon's Lair' Movie Cancels Kickstarter Campaign, Moves to Indiegogo
Related Links:





The Daily Show invited Katie Couric on as guest to promote Under The Gun on Epix and decided to spend their entire episode just trolling the NRA from start to finish. Not only did they send Desi Lydic to unsuccessfully cover an NRA event  complete with some very funny interactions with the police and her own father  the show also managed to clear up the history of the NRA in politics. It wasnt always like the current NRA, much like Samantha Bees interesting look back at the Religious Right, and it only took a few loud voices to sway the entire organizations.

One of the funnier portions is when Trevor Noah points out the similarity between NRA leader Wayne LaPierres tactics in the media and Donald Trumps own. Its really like each mans speech team ripped from the same book on speech writing, only then the public seemed to buy it and believe it.

Not included in The Daily Show rundown is little gem that has been put out by the NRA featuring country music legend Charlie Daniels. Hes sending a message to the terrorists and the Ayatollah that they better hope they never meet the tougher men of American society. Basically the cast of every truck driving movie or Jerry Reed song put out in the mid-70s. Its a hoot.
Spoiler warning: Do not read on unless youve seen the Dancing With the Stars Season 22 finale, which aired May 24 on ABC.

Dancing With the Stars unveiled its Season 22 winner on May 24, and it was Americas Next Top Model alum Nyle DiMarco who took home the coveted Mirror Ball trophy for 2016. The contestant, who is deaf, was a fan-favorite for much of the show. He and partner Peta Murgatroyd faced off against Good Morning America weather anchor Ginger Zee and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy, and UFC figher Paige VanZant and her partner Mark Ballas.

Zee ended up in third place for her Argentine Tango/Foxtrot fusion with Chmerkovskiy, having suffered a pelvic injury during last weeks rehearsals. The duo earned a score of 27/30. VanZant and Ballas earned a 30/30 score for their Jive/Salsa fusion, and seemed like the frontrunners going into the finale having earned the top scores of the night on Monday. But DiMarco and Murgatroyd ultimately pulled off the win with their Cha Cha/Tango fusion, which earned them another perfect 30/30.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba used sign language to praise DiMarco for his final performance, which brought tears to the contestants eyes. Thank you for showing us your beautiful heart when you dance, she signed.

I owe everything to him, he is just incredible, Murgatroyd said of her partner after she and DiMarco were crowned the champions.

The finale also featured performances from Pitbull, Fifth Harmony and Aloe Blacc, with Pitbull hinting that he might serve as a judge next season.

Did the right person win DWTS Season 22? Weigh in below.

Related stories

Monday Ratings: 'Bachelorette' Premiere, 'Dancing With the Stars' Lift ABC

'Dancing With the Stars' Goes Virtual Reality With New 360 Video

Ratings: ABC's 'Dancing With the Stars' Surges to Spring Highs on Disney Night
The daughter of Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai, detained in China since November, has asked the U.S. to exert additional pressure on the Chinese government to secure his release.

During a congressional hearing in Washington D.C. Tuesday, Angela Gui said her father  a naturalized Swedish citizen  had not been allowed legal representation during his eight-month detention, Reuters reports.

The U.S., Sweden, and other countries  need to work to make sure that Chinese authorities are not allowed to carry out illegal operations on foreign soil, she said.

Gui, co-owner of Hong Kong-based publishing company Mighty Current Media, disappeared while in Thailand in October, later appearing in police custody in Mainland China. The publishing house is known for provocative books on the personal lives of Chinese government officials.

Read More: Europe Warns China Over the Detention of Hong Kong Booksellers

Four other employees of the company also disappeared late last year, and are suspected to have been illegally abducted by Chinese authorities in what would be a stark violation of the one country, two systems principle that allows the territory of Hong Kong special autonomy and democratic rights not enjoyed in Mainland China. At least two of booksellers have since been released, but Gui remains in custody and has reportedly been barred from Swedish consular officials for the past three months.

Read More: Missing Bookseller Raises Fears for the Future of Hong Kongs Legal Autonomy From China

The 52-year-old bookseller appeared on Chinese state television in January for an emotional confession, where he claimed he had surrendered himself for a hit-and-run conviction from 12 years ago. However, his daughter says the confession was clearly staged and he is being detained without cause. She has also denied Chinas claim that he gave up his Swedish citizenship (as Guis colleague and fellow detainee, British passport-holder Lee Bo, purportedly did).

Story continues

International pressure on China to release the booksellers has continued to mount, with the U.S. and E.U. both condemning Chinas perceived jurisdictional overreach, thus far to no avail.

I still havent been told where he is, how he is being treated, or what his legal status is, Guis daughter said.

[Reuters]
The daughter of one of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing late last year has called on US authorities to help end her father's "unofficial and illegal" detention in China.

Four booksellers working for a Hong Kong publishing house which specialised in gossipy works about Chinese leaders went missing from various locations in October, with another disappearing at the end of December.

They all reappeared eventually in mainland China.

The disappearances fuelled growing unease in Hong Kong over the erosion of freedoms in the semi-autonomous city, which was handed back to China from Britain in 1997.

"It has now been eight months since my father and his colleagues were taken into custody. I still haven't been told where he is, how he's been treated, or what his legal status is," Angela Gui said at a US congressional hearing Tuesday in Washington DC.

Her father Gui Minhai, a Swedish national and co-owner of the Mighty Current publishing company, failed to return from a holiday in Thailand in October.

His "unofficial and illegal" detention "is especially shocking in light of the fact that my father held Swedish and only Swedish citizenship", she told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Three other booksellers disappeared on the mainland and one went missing from Hong Kong itself.

Gui mysteriously re-emerged on state broadcaster CCTV in January, and said he had returned to China to "take legal responsibilities" for killing a college student in a car accident 11 years earlier.

In another televised confession in February, he said he tried to smuggle illegal books into China.

Angela Gui said she wanted "the US to take every opportunity to ask China for information on my father's status as well as urge that he be freed immediately".

Swedish authorities have said they were "quite concerned" about the incident and have called for more openness from Chinese authorities.

Story continues

Three other booksellers -- Cheung Chi-ping, Lui Por and Lam Wing-kee -- have blamed the company's illegal book trade on Gui.

All four are under criminal investigation on the mainland.

The fifth bookseller, Lee Bo, has said he travelled to China to assist with the investigation and returned to Hong Kong in March.

The disappearance of Lee Bo, who went missing from Hong Kong, raised fears that Chinese security authorities were operating in Hong Kong in violation of the city's laws.

Britain and other nations have spoken out about Lee's case. Britain said it believed he was "involuntarily removed to the mainland" in what it called a "serious breach" of the handover agreement.

The handover deal allows Hong Kong to keep its special rights and freedoms for 50 years, but there are fears that such freedoms are being eroded.
Some Democrats are privately discussing whether to force Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down ahead of the Democratic National Convention this summer, the Hill reported Tuesday, a decision some view could assuage angry Bernie Sanders supporters in the lead-up to the general election.

Some Democratic senators interviewed by the Hill said Wasserman Schultz has become too toxic a figure to gavel in the DNC  where Democrats will look to unite Sanders supporters behind Hillary Clinton, who is close to clinching the nomination.

While Wasserman Schultz has stayed neutral in the primary, Sanders supporters have charged her with being an unfair arbiter of the process. And Sanders himself has even backed Wasserman Schultz's Democratic primary opponent for her House seat in Florida.

"I don't see how she can continue to the election. How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts," one Democratic senator, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, told the Hill.

Democrats now openly discussing replacing Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And oof, this quote. http://bit.ly/1TwwFvE pic.twitter.com/Wp3cKQ7J0R https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjQ4jS-XIAAsNUA.jpg:large

Wasserman Schultz has already made concessions to Sanders for the convention, including giving both Sanders and Clinton the ability to choose members of the party's platform committee  a committee the DNC chair is often solely responsible for filling.

Still, lawmakers interviewed by the Hill said that might not be enough for Sanders supporters, some of whom are already planning protests outside the convention in Philadelphia in July.

"They need to know this is their party," a second anonymous Democratic senator told the newspaper, referring to Sanders' base of young, liberal voters.

Story continues

Since publishing its report, the Hill said a number of Democratic leaders  including Vice President Joe Biden's office  reached out to defend Wasserman Schultz.

As The Hill was reporting story on Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Senators, House Dem leaders & Biden's office contacted us to defend her.

Wasserman Schultz has given no indication that she intends to step down from her leadership role this year.

"She's going to continue to focus on uniting Democrats and on being an asset to help elect them up and down the ballot in November, just as she's done for many in both chambers," DNC communications director Luis Miranda told the Hill.
Sydney (AFP) - A war of words between Johnny Depp and an Australian minister reignited Wednesday with Barnaby Joyce claiming he was the Hollywood star's Hannibal Lecter after being told he looked as if he was "inbred with a tomato".

The pair have been at loggerheads since Depp's wife Amber Heard failed to declare the couple's two dogs when they arrived in Queensland state a year ago.

Joyce, who is deputy prime minister and agriculture minister, threatened to have Pistol and Boo put down unless they "buggered off back to the United States" for breaking Australia's strict quarantine laws.

Actress-model Heard last month pleaded guilty to falsifying her immigration arrivals card and was placed on a Aus$1,000 (US$720) one-month good behaviour bond.

The couple also released an awkward video apologising for their actions, with Joyce mocking Depp as looking like "he was auditioning for the Godfather". The apology was posted on YouTube by the department of agriculture and has been viewed almost five million times.

Depp hit back on Tuesday evening, telling US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that Joyce "looks somehow like (he's) inbred with a tomato".

"I'm just saying. I mean, it's not a criticism. I was a little worried... he might explode," he added.

Joyce struck back with some choice words of his own.

"I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter, I'm inside his head, I'm pulling strings and levers. Long after I've forgotten Mr Depp, he is remembering me," he told reporters on the campaign trail near Tamworth in New South Wales state.

"Keep on advertising me Johnny. The Australian people know we did the right thing.

"When I walk around the streets of Tamworth or the streets of Bundaberg or Martin Place in Sydney, whether they like me or not, they say, well, don't completely like you but you were right on that one.

"We can't have rabies coming into the country. Who does the fella think he was?"
By Andreas Kroner and Arno Schuetze

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) expects to see strong growth in Asia for its global payments and trade financing business in the coming years, despite recent signs of emerging market cooling, the head of its Global Transaction Banking unit said.

"Within the transaction bank, the share of revenue coming from Asia could rise to a quarter in the coming years from 18 percent now," Werner Steinmueller told Reuters in an interview.

Global Transaction Banking (GTB) already contributes about a third of Deutsche Bank's earnings in the Asia-Pacific region and Steinmueller said he expects the integration of GTB with corporate finance activities as part of a group revamp under Chief Executive John Cryan will create improved cross-selling opportunities.

"We can certainly achieve more in sales when the corporate finance side also positions transaction banking products," he said.

GTB has been a bright patch amid the gloom at Germany's biggest lender, which reported a record net loss of nearly 7 billion euros ($7.8 bln) last year.

The transaction bank, which provides corporate and financial customers with services such as cross-border payments, risk reduction for international trade, custody or clearing, saw pretax profit rise by a quarter to 1.4 billion euros last year, with revenue up 12 percent to 4.6 billion euros.

GTB is aiming for growth of 3-5 percent in the coming years, Steinmueller said, though weak economic growth in Asia and Latin America will weigh on development this year.

Cryan has described GTB as the "backbone" of Deutsche Bank and has pledged to invest 1 billion euros in improving its systems, in contrast to savings and cutbacks elsewhere.

"For the transaction bank, which is so dependent on processes and technology, that is enormously important," Steinmueller said.

The unit has also been working to improve its anti-money laundering systems, an area facing increased scrutiny by international regulators.

Story continues

Steinmueller, 62, said GTB has been doing 'spring cleaning' of some clients where transaction volumes are low, asking them if they might prefer working with a different bank.

"On top of that, we are taking a much closer look at customers in risky regions, also because of regulators' stricter demands. We have become more cautious," Steinmueller said.

The note of caution also applies to doing business with Iran, despite the lifting of some international sanctions earlier this year. Deutsche Bank paid nearly $260 million last year to settle charges in the United States that it did business with entities in U.S.-sanctioned countries, including Iran.

"We remain extremely reserved when it comes to Iran," Steinmueller said.

(Writing by Jonathan Gould; Editing by Tina Bellon and Susan Fenton)
Since enduring a rough start that led to bullpen duty, the only thing that has slowed Rubby De La Rosa down lately has been some minor aches and pains.

After receiving much-needed rest, the right-hander will try to pick up where he left off Wednesday night when the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks look to avoid their 11th loss in the past 14 meetings with the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates.

De La Rosa (4-4, 3.53 ERA) would rather forget the first couple of weeks when he went 1-3 with an 8.44 ERA in five games, including three relief appearances.

Those struggles now seem like long ago as he's gone 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five starts since returning to the rotation. In his last outing, he gave up only a solo home run over 6 2/3 innings in a 2-1 home loss to San Francisco on May 15.

De La Rosa became the 12th pitcher in club history to allow one hit or fewer in six-plus innings and the first since Chase Anderson surrendered one hit over seven in June 2015 before leaving with groin tightness. The Diamondbacks then skipped his last start while he dealt with that injury, along with a blister and tight triceps.

"He had those nagging little injuries," manager Chip Hale told MLB's official website. "It just came down to the situation where Rubby had had that tight triceps, the tight groin. He had the blister thing, which, I think, talking to the training staff, is pretty regular for him. He creates so much friction with the velocity."

The Diamondbacks are concerned about second baseman Jean Segura after he was beaned in Tuesday's 12-1 season-opening loss and sent to the hospital for tests upon showing signs of a concussion.

Segura, who has a team-high .316 average, seems likely to miss some time.

Short-handed Arizona (21-26) hopes avoid its first back-to-back road losses since May 3-5 as it takes on a surging Pittsburgh team that has averaged 6.3 runs and hit .332 through the first eight games of this 10-game stay at PNC Park.

Story continues

De La Rosa has gone 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts versus the Pirates (25-19). He gave up one run and three hits over six innings in a 7-1 home win April 23.

Sean Rodriguez homered and John Jaso doubled off him. However, Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen are 0 for 16 lifetime in the matchups.

Gregory Polanco went 3 for 5 with a home run, double and five RBIs Tuesday. He's batting .317 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 15 games since manager Clint Hurdle elevated him to third in the lineup.

"You know you're in the middle of the lineup,'' Polanco said. ''You're expected to hit. You're fighting every pitch, every at-bat.''

The Pirates will give the ball to Jeff Locke (2-3, 5.00) as they go after their eighth win in 10 games. The left-hander is coming off one of his best performances, allowing two runs over seven innings in Thursday's 8-2 home win over Atlanta.

Locke is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA in three starts against the Diamondbacks, though he hasn't faced them since July 2014. Paul Goldschmidt is 5 for 9 in the matchup.

Phil Gosselin had two of the team's six hits Tuesday when Arizona fell to 2-2 on a six-game road swing.

Pittsburgh's Jordy Mercer is 11 for 23 over his last seven games and 7 for 16 in his past three versus Arizona.
From Popular Mechanics

The mysteries of Stonehenge have intrigued people for centuries. Why did people build this thing, and how? A new experiment out of the University College London suggests that, at least as far as that second question is concerned, building the whole thing was likely not a great challenge.

Moving two-ton stones hundreds of miles without even the most basic of modern tools sounds like it would be a great challenge, especially given the fact that the stones likely crossed natural borders including forests and rivers to reach their final destination in Wiltshire, England. But doctoral student Barney Harris, conducting an experiment in a park with college students, showed that Stonehenge-sized stones could be moved with relative ease.

Using sycamore sleds with silver birch rollers, wooden sleighs, Harris was able to move one-ton stones with just 10 people at a pace of 10 feet every five seconds. "We were expecting to need at least 15 people to move the stone so to find we could do it with 10 was quite interesting," said Harris. Stonehenge expert Prof Mike Parker-Pearson of UCL added that it was "a bit of a shock" how easy it was to pull the stones.

Wooden sleighs were common in pre-industrial societies and crucial to building ancient monuments as diverse as the Forbidden City in China and Egyptian monuments. While there's no definitive proof that whoever built Stonehenge was aware of this technology, it's such an easy method that it's tempting to think this is how the monument was made. Parker-Pearon and Harris now want to determine roughly how long it would take to drag these rocks from Wales to Wiltshire.

Source: Gizmodo
La Paz (AFP) - Bolivian police fired water cannons Wednesday at disabled protesters, many of them wheelchair-bound, who tried to get near the presidential palace to demand increased benefit payments.

Disabled protesters have been camped out for a month in tents near the Plaza de Armas, the seat of executive and legislative power in Bolivia, to condemn their paltry state benefits -- just $14 a month.

President Evo Morales's government is rejecting calls to quintuple the benefits, responding to the demonstrations by putting up metal barricades to block off the square.

The interior ministry said a group of protesters tried to breach the gates by attacking police with "knives, punches and noxious chemicals," prompting officers to break them up with high-pressure blasts from water cannons mounted on trucks.

Several disabled groups have struck deals with the government in recent weeks, but one hardcore contingent has vowed to continue protesting.

There are some 388,000 disabled people in the poor, landlocked South American country, according to government figures.
You want to sell your home in the best way possible, so it's key to reach the widest array of buyers to achieve the greatest return on your investment. From choosing a skilled, experienced real estate agent to making carefully selected updates to your home, you want to take advantage of the seller's market across the country and gain interest from multiple buyers to drive up your sale price.

But there may be one real estate trend you haven't tapped into yet: the overseas buyer.

The National Association of Realtors reports from April 2014 to March 2015, foreign acquisition of residential real estate in the U.S. totaled $104 billion, a 13 percent increase from the year before and 8 percent of the total dollar amount exchanged in existing home sales.

The U.S. real estate market has, in recent years in particular, proven a solid investment for foreign buyers not just because of increasing property values, but also thanks to its reputation as a good place for global businesspeople to place their money in a safe, hard asset.

"They feel more secure investing in the United States as the world's largest economy -- investing in the U.S. dollar," says Ross Milroy, owner and broker at Ross Milroy Realty in Miami, who works closely with many international buyers in the Miami market.

Investment from Chinese nationals in particular has been overwhelmingly the largest source of foreign real estate buying in recent years. From 2010 to 2015, Chinese buyers purchased U.S. homes worth a total of $93 billion, according to a study looking at Chinese real estate investment conducted by the nonprofit organization Asia Society and real estate economics firm Rosen Consulting Group.

Chinese investors have tapped into real estate in major markets throughout the United States -- even in cities where foreign investment from Europe or Latin America has classically reigned.

"The Chinese are looking abroad more and more, and we're seeing more Chinese people coming to Miami," Milroy says.

Story continues

It's not uncommon for wealthy individuals to diversify their portfolio by making investments in several markets worldwide, and Milroy explains assets in the U.S. are often a better place to securely keep money and build wealth.

"Instead of allocating those dollars, let's say, to equities in Europe or equities maybe in their home countries or U.S. equities, they put a certain percentage -- a large percentage, generally -- of their portfolio into hard assets, specifically real estate," Milroy says.

[See: The 20 Best Places to Live in the U.S.]

But how do you know if your home would spark the interest of an international buyer? Here are some common features of the residences most highly desired by foreign investors.

Cities with a global reputation draw more interest. It's no shock overseas buyers are most interested in property situated in a market they're likely to visit regularly. Cities like New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles receive a lot of interest from international buyers, as they frequently travel to these cities for business.

"Most international buyers are either wanting to use the property for a pied-a-terre or a secondary home or for investment purposes," says Alex Bush, manager at CityRealty, a real estate website dedicated to working with buyers and sellers to define their needs and connect them with the necessary real estate professionals in New York City.

Condos are a safe bet. Condomimium ownership is often a preferred option for many international buyers, as they often offer heightened amenities, and they're common in many of the particularly dense markets overseas investors are most interested in.

"They really like the idea of buying essentially a piece of space between four walls in a building that's secure, safe, where all the maintenance is taken care of and where if they're not present, they can call on management to take care of it," Milroy says.

In New York in particular, condos are typically preferred over cooperative ownership -- a common type of property ownership in the city where tenants own a stake in the building. Bush explains co-ops can have strict rules about how frequently residents must occupy their unit, making them less desirable for an individual seeking a place for their American business meetings every few months or to rent out to tenants.

"If an international buyer is looking for an investment property, they want to focus on a condo," Bush says.

But that doesn't rule out other options. Gennady Perepada, a luxury real estate agent in New York who specializes in working with buyers who live primarily outside the country, says while many of his clients are interested in new condo developments being completed throughout the city, "a lot of people buy brownstones and townhouses."

While condos and townhomes provide most international buyers with the hot location they want for property value appreciation and to be close to any work they'll be doing, Perepady also notes some buyers are interested in taking on a single-family home in the Hamptons or other parts of Long Island for vacation property.

[See: The 20 Most Desirable Places to Live in the U.S.]

High-end homes are key. The common denominator among international buyers is that they are wealthy enough to be able to invest in property overseas, so it's without question they're interested in homes that reflect the lifestyle they're accustomed to living -- or the "top of the top," Perepada says. He notes an international buyer's summer home purchase in Miami could range between $350,000 to $10 million or $15 million, depending on how big a space they want, plans for its use and how often they intend to visit, among other factors.

Milroy notes almost all buyers he works with tend to focus on a number of criteria when searching for a potential next home, including the building management, accessibility, amenities, pet friendliness and the quality of the building itself, which ranges from architecture and prestige to energy efficiency.

He adds the origin of the buyer will often influence his or her purchasing priorities, simply because of differences in life experiences.

"Somebody from Mexico City and somebody from Bogota [Colombia] is going to be a little bit more concerned with safety and security than somebody coming out of Buenos Aires or coming out of other countries," Milroy says.

Timing is less of a factor. The U.S. real estate market tends to follow a seasonal pattern, with a particularly hot market in the spring and summer and closings tapering off in fall and winter. But international buyers don't necessarily follow the same pattern, as Bush says, "We're always seeing inquiries coming in from international buyers [throughout the year]."

Selling to an international buyer can also take some patience. Since they don't live in the country full time, there is often a significant gap between traveling to the city to see the space a first and second time. But once an offer is made and accepted, you don't have to worry about waiting for a lender's approval since most overseas buyers pay with cash.

To help the process move as smoothly as possible, overseas buyers may take advantage of full-service firms like Perepada's, which offer concierge services and facilitate renovations, property management and other necessary tasks as needed.

[See: The 20 Best Affordable Places to Live in the U.S.]

Because the client can't fly out every month to check on the property or deal directly with construction contractors, Perepada's team takes the lead. It goes even further than real estate specific needs, Perepada adds: "Kids, mom, grandma -- whatever they need. ... We do full-service management."
Donald Trump may have sewn up the GOP nomination three weeks ago, but hes not done with his rivals and critics.

Trump has made recitation of his unlikely primary victories a staple of his campaign rallies across the country, but facing lingering opposition from Republican elites to his candidacy, Trump is making a point of airing his grievances. Taking aim at Mitt Romney, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and Jeb Bush, Trump lashed out at those who have yet to endorse him.

Mocking Romney as someone who walks like a penguin, Trump claimed he has a store thats worth more money than he is, apparently referencing a Gucci store that is a tenant in his flagship Trump Tower. He touted his victory in South Carolina despite Haleys endorsement of rival Sen. Marco Rubio. And he once again taunted low-energy Bush.

He even had harsh words for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a vocal Trump critic who endorsed him earlier this month.

He said the worst things about me, Trump said of Perry. This politics is a dirty business, I have to tell you. And Ive never seen people able to pivot like politicians.

Speaking to thousands of supporters at a rally in Anaheim, Trump justified his attacks by claiming them as a reason for his electoral success.

If I was nice to everybody, I wouldnt be here today, he said. Id be watching television right now.

On Tuesday at a rally in Albuquerque, Trump lambasted New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, who has been a frequent critic, particularly of his comments about Latinos. Since 2000, the number of unemployed people in Albuquerque has nearly doubled, Trump said. Is it your fault? Is it your fault or is it your governors fault? Its your governors fault!

Also in Trumps reticle was Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, a leader of the GOPs #NeverTrump movement who has been a vocal critic on television. All the guy wants to do is go to war and kill people, Trump blasted, noting his support for the invasion of Iraqa position Trump also shared at points. Kristol is now among those Republicans searching for a third-party alternative to Trump.

Story continues

Hes been doing it for like nine months and he cant find anybodywhat a loser, Trump said, before predicting the demise of Kristols conservative magazine.

Trump was complementary of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is still vocal about his policy disagreements with Trump.

It was very nice that Lindsey Graham called, Trump said. Dont forget, I wasnt an angelI gave out his phone number, he continued, reminiscing about giving it out on live television at a rally to respond to Grahams verbal barbs.

I appreciate that many of the people I competed against have now endorsed me, Trump added.

But when a member of the audience shouted out that Bush hadnt endorsed him, Trump pounced on his former rival.

No, Jeb hasnt done it yet, he acknowledged as the crowd booed. He will get a burst of energy and he will do it, believe me. He needs a little more energy.

Trump added that he had seen Bushs negative comments about his candidacy during a recent trip to Europe. He didnt think that in Europe Id get the word back but he was talking there on television about me, Trump said, summarizing a core principle of his campaign. They talk badly, I talk badly, thats how it works.
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump railed at critics and a mass of protesters at an unruly rally Tuesday evening.

Before a rowdy crowd of thousands of supporters, and more than 100 protesters who repeatedly disrupted his speech, Trump found himself on the defensive over his personal and political career. Delivering a litany of rebuttals to press inquiries and attacks from Democratic rival Hillary Clintons campaign, Trump was defiant.

Responding to a new web video criticizing comments he made appearing to celebrate the collapse of the housing market leading up to the Great Recession, Trump explained he was in the private sector.

I feel badly for everybody, what am I going to do, Trump said. Im in business. Later he said his business success during that turbulent period should serve as a credential. Thats the kind of thing we need in this country, he said.

Clintons campaign is hoping Trumps comments will undercut his populist appeal. I sort of hope that happens because then, people like me would go in and buy, Trump said of the prospects for a housing crash in an audiobook produced for Trump University first unearthed by CNN.

Criticizing the media for highlighting how he failed to live up to his promise earlier this year to deliver $6 million to veterans charities until just Monday, Trump claimed the delay was a result of needing to do due-diligence on the groups.

We have to vet some of these groups, you know, we have to vet the vets, he said, as he offered no less than his campaigns fourth excuse for the delayed payments, which until last week had claimed to have been paid in full.

The system is against me, and it has been from the beginning, but I love it because theres nothing better than beating the system, Trump said of the press.

Trump also had harsh words for New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, a Republican and the first Hispanic woman elected governor in the nation, who has been a fierce critic of his comments about those in the U.S. illegally. Saying Martinez was responsible for a slow recovery and an increase in food-stamp use in the state, Trump also blasted New Mexicos spending on providing services, including public education, to those living illegally in the country.

Story continues

Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico, Trump added. If I was governor, that wouldnt be happening, he continued, before suggesting he might run for governor of the state.

Trump addressed his troublesome poll numbers with women, saying he believes hes doing well with the majority of the voting populace even though surveys show otherwise.

I think Im doing really well with women, but what do I know, he said, noting hes benefiting from record poll numbers with men in some surveys. I want to set [the] record with women, not with men, he added. The hell with the men.

Calling Clinton a low-life and lightweight, he added that he cant listen to Clintons attacks against him, because she screams and drives me crazy.

As private security guards and police officers escorted dozens of protesters from the cavernous convention hall, Trump taunted those chanting against him.

How old is this kid, he said of one protester. Hes still wearing diapers. He said of another: He cant get a date so hes doing this instead.

Several of those interrupting Trumps speech were dragged from the venue by security after fighting removal attempts. The safest place to be in America is at a Trump rally, Trump exclaimed.

Outside the venue, hundreds of chanting protesters demonstrated against Trump holding signs and burning campaign paraphernalia. At one point they toppled a security fence and neared a clash with heavily armored riot police, but were held back by protest organizers. A glass window at the convention center was shattered by what officers believed to be a pellet gun, after first warning of a possible gunshot.

Before the rally, Trump appeared at the first fundraiser for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising account he formed with the Republican National Committee last week. The $10,000-per-person event comes as Trump says he hopes to raise $1 billion for his campaign, after reversing his opposition to accepting donations for the general election.
Donald Trump returned to California on Wednesday, where he predicted he would win wide support among a diverse group, including Hispanics, Asians and women, while he said that a Hillary Clinton presidency would mean nothing but turmoil.

After his speech at the Anaheim Convention Center, protesters got into shouting arguments with some Trump backers. Anti-Trump demonstrators, some with bandannas covering their faces, shouted F Trump as his supporters tried to surround them and drown them out with shouts of USA. USA.

There was a heavy police and security presence at the convention center and the surrounding hotels and streets, including dozens of officers in riot gear, to try to minimize clashes. At about 2 p.m., about 45 minutes after Trump spoke, authorities in a police helicopter warned demonstrators to disburse for unlawful assembly or face arrest. Police said that at least eight people were arrested.

At one point Trump supporters, gathered at a convention center parking garage, chanted at demonstrators who were on the streets. Shouts of Donald Trump has got to go! were met with Hey, hey, go home.

Without immigration, Donald Trump wouldnt have so many wives, shouted one man holding an anti-Trump sign. There was some expletive filled graffiti anti-Trump sprayed along the I-5 freeway, several miles north of the convention center.

Protesters also gathered on Hollywood Boulevard, where Trump was to tape an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to air on Wednesday evening. He also is attending a $25,000-per-person fundraiser at the Santa Monica home of real estate investor Thomas Barrack, in his first high-dollar event of his campaign. Police closed off portions of San Vicente Boulevard, fearing protests there.

Inside the arena in Anaheim, there were three instances where demonstrators were kicked out, as Trump, as he has done at past events, mocked the disruptor. Do not hurt him, Trump said as one man was escorted out. I say that for the TV cameras, but hes a very bad person.

Story continues

Trump singled out groups in the crowd like Chinese Americans for Trump and a man holding a sign that said Latinos for Trump.

I love that, he said, adding, By the way, you came here legally.

He said that it also helped that he settled a lawsuit against Univision, which he filed last year after the broadcaster dropped its telecast of the Miss Universe Pageant, which Trump then owned.

Hispanics, he said, are going to vote for me like crazy.

The news on Wednesday that the State Departments Inspector General found fault with Clintons use of a private email server got just a short mention of criticism from Trump, but he got cheers when he said that she was not equipped to run for president and had shown bad judgment.

He brought up the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, claiming that Clinton was not up for the overnight phone calls for help when she was Secretary of State. There were hundreds and hundreds of emails and calls and she kept sleeping [through], he said.

Clintons campaign tweeted, Donald Trump is fueling conspiracy theories out on the campaign trail. Can you imagine that in the Situation Room?

Trump said that his campaign would make a big play for California in the general election, even though a Republican had not won the state since 1988.

Some of Trumps biggest cheers came when he talked about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, eliciting chants from the crowd of Build That Wall. It was clear that illegal immigration was a big issue for many who came to the rally. Speakers before Trump included members of the Remembrance Project, a group of relatives of victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Trumps speech, lasting nearly an hour, was less a list of policy prescriptions than a narrative of how he and his campaign got to where it is.

As he has in past events, Trump went through a number of names of detractors, like conservative pundit Bill Kristol and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who continue their criticism of him even though he is the presumptive nominee. He noted that Jeb Bush had bashed him in an interview he gave to a European TV outlet, perhaps thinking, Trump surmised, that he wouldnt hear about it. He did.

Trump predicted Bush would come around to support him.

Hell get a burst of energy and he will do it.

Trump again called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Pocahontas, and said of her, Shes got a big mouth and thats about it.

Jay Ding, 42, a native of China who has lived in Eagle Rock for 10 years, said she was impressed by Trumps business background. Carrying a Chinese Americans for Trump sign, she said that she found herself in agreement with Trump on issues of the imbalance with trade with China, which he pins on poor U.S. negotiation. Hey, it is our leaders fault, not the Chinese leaders fault, Trump said.

We need somebody to speak for us, not to speak for the big corporations, Ding said, noting Clintons ties to Wall Street. Hes not a member of the establishment. People are tired of that.

Trump also took aim at companies that move factories and operations to Mexico, and says that as president he would ensure that the firms would face a 35 percent tax if they sought to sell their goods in the U.S.

Dylan Jensen, 17, of Huntington Beach, is a senior in high school, will be eligible to vote on Election Day and plans to cast a ballot for Trump. He gets stuff done, he said.

Even as Romney and House Speaker Paul Ryan withhold their support, there were some at the Trump rally who backed other candidates and now are ready to back the GOPs presumptive nominee.

Adam D. Smith, 39, an accountant from Tampa, Fla., was in Anaheim for a conference and decided to take a break and attend the rally. He volunteered and raised money for the 2004 campaign of President George W. Bush and worked for Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012.

Before Donald Trump ran I liked Chris Christie. Hes a no B.S. kind of guy, Smith said. Hes willing to say what need to be said. He said that he wanted someone who didnt mince words and faced the issues dead on.

Smith said he read The Art of the Deal when he was a kid and was a finalist for season five of The Apprentice. He cited Trumps business experience as a big factor in his support.

A president is a CEO of the United States of America. You are controlling the biggest economy and the worlds largest military, he said.

He said that he was highly disappointed that Romney is not backing Trump, and said that it was abhorrent that Romney has criticized Trump for not releasing his tax returns considering he was dealing with the same issue when he ran for president.

Frankly, I dont remember anything in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or any legal document that requires tax returns to be submitted as qualifications to run for president, he said.

Pat Riley, an artist from Redondo Beach, said that she originally was for John Kasich.

I am all for Donald Trump because I cant stand Hillary Clinton, I think he is a good businessman and I think he could do something for our country.

As for Trumps speaking style, she said, I think it is rather refreshing. I am tired of all these scripted politicians.

Related stories

Donald Trump Appears on 'Kimmel,' The Weeknd Cancels Performance

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Blasts Donald Trump Ahead of SoCal Visit

'The Apprentice' Is Responsible for Donald Trump's Success in Presidential Race, NBC Exec Says
Donald Trump

Evan Siegfried is a Republican strategist and commentator opposed to the candidacy of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. His new book, "GOP GPS: How to Find the Millennials and Urban Voters the Republican Party Needs to Survive," is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Perhaps Donald Trump should amend his claim to love the Hispanics to include the caveat unless they dont come to my rallies.

On Tuesday, Trump trained his fire on another accomplished woman: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the first Latina governor in the United States. Martinez is not a Democrat, but a Republican. Up until this incident, she was mentioned as a possible running mate for Trump.

"We have to get your governor to get going  shes got to do a better job, OK?" Trump said at his Tuesday rally from Martinez's home state. "Your governor has got to do a better job. ... Shes not doing the job. Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico  Ill get this place going. Shes not doing the job. We got to get her moving. Come on. Lets go, governor."

Why did Trump lash out? Because Martinez was unable to attend his campaign event in New Mexico last night. That is not the best way to unite a still fractured Republican Party. In fact, Trumps antics are still dividing Republicans and proof that he cannot be presidential (despite his claims to the contrary).

A few days ago, Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, made it clear to Republicans that if they distanced themselves from Trump, they would not face any retribution. This was a smart move considering how toxic Trump is with every key demographic needed to win an election. Unfortunately, it seems that Donald Trump either did not get the memo or, even worse, he decided to ignore it. The message this sends to other Republicans should be chilling: Trump cannot be taken at his word.

Time and time again Trump has demonstrated an insanely thin skin and irrational need to seek vengeance against those who offend his inflated ego. His weapon of choice is some sort of insult delivered to a sympathetic audience. Further, when he has attacked women, he has done so by using their gender as an insult.

Story continues

Susana Martinez

Last year, Trump insinuated that Megyn Kelly was menstruating because she had the temerity to ask him tough questions about his record and prior statements about women. He attacked fellow presidential candidate Carly Fiorina for being ugly. In March, Trump threatened to spill the beans about Heidi Cruz and retweeted an unflattering photograph of her. Why? Because a PAC that was against Trump and had nothing to do with Cruz ran a tiny digital ad against Trump in Utah.

Of course, his campaign and supporters will now defend Trumps attack on Martinez. Perhaps they will say he was being presidential by only attacking her record. Whatever lame defense Trumps mouthpieces offer, they are defending the indefensible.

As the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, Trump has a duty to unite the party. Attacking Governor Martinez, the future of the GOP, is the exact opposite of that. No, Martinez did not say that she would not be voting for Trump in November. She just was unable to attend a Trump campaign event.

Is this presidential? No.

Donald Trump

For quite some time, I and several others have warned Republicans that Donald Trump lacks the judgment and temperament required to be president of the United States. His lack of a core set of beliefs were a major red flag. Trumps disdain for facts and actual policy were a major red flag. His praise of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un were a major red flag. How about when Trump openly admired the Chinese for using tanks to crush pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square? Another major red flag.

When it comes to actual policies that Trump would enact as president, he has provided few to no details. What he has offered would be disastrous for the economic and national security of the United States.

He often talks about how we are being killed on trade. The Trump solution? To impose massive tariffs on other countries. He dismisses the fact that doing so would destroy Americans financially and cause their cost of living to skyrocket. His immigration plan is to simply build a wall along the Mexican border (and make Mexico pay for it via tariffs).

Trump ignores the fact that 40 percent of illegal immigrants enter the country legally and overstay their visas. He has no plan to deal with that and should not be taken seriously on the issue of immigration.

Trumps approach to national security and foreign affairs would significantly weaken the United States. He has said that the US should outsource the fighting of ISIS to Russia. That is worse than President Obamas plan to combat ISIS.

When it comes to other enemies, Trump has expressed a desire to meet directly with Kim Jong Un, which would directly reward North Koreas development and testing of nuclear weapons. With Iran, Trump has repeatedly complained that the bad Iran deal made it so that the United States cannot sell arms to Iran. Why would we want to arm our enemy?!

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses members of the National Rifle Association during their NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during at their annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, May 20, 2016. REUTERS/John Sommers II

Our allies are not treated as well by Trump. Just like the mob, Trump believes that they should pay us protection money. He ignores the strategic importance of partnerships and the mutual benefit of America being an influence in various regions. It boggles the mind and is far from a commander in chief.

Trumps response to this criticism? Its just sore losers attacking him. Wait until he unites Republicans to take on Hillary Clinton in November and America starts winning again.

At this time, our country is deeply divided. Whomever is elected president in November will confront the challenge of trying to bring us together. Trumps attack on Governor Martinez clearly demonstrates that he is unable to be the unifier that America needs.

NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: Why Hillary Clinton is a 'dangerous person'





More From Business Insider


Episode 4 of Dope Grannies, a video series on senior citizens and marijuana.

Legal pot has quickly grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, and those profiting the most are young, white and male. Sue Taylor, an African-American former Catholic school principal and ordained minister, will definitely break that mold  provided she can get a permit to open her cannabis dispensary. First, she has to face a part of the community dead set against her plans: other older African-Americans. Taylor says they are the hardest to convince of the merits of medical marijuana and that for them a drug is a drug.

Watch the video to meet Ridgeway Smith, an African-American senior citizen who is in hard opposition to a marijuana dispensary opening in his neighborhood.

Related Articles
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Fewer migrants are dying as they try to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, which may reflect better management of refugee flows and swifter rescue operations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. So far this year 1,370 migrants and refugees have perished at sea, nearly 25 percent fewer than in the same period last year, IOM spokesman Joel Millman said. An estimated 191,134 people have arrived by boat so far this year in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. The death toll included 13 in May, none of them on the eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece, where arrivals have slowed to a trickle since the European Union struck an agreement with Turkey to get it to curb the flow. This compared with 95 deaths in May a year ago and 330 in May 2014. More than 3,770 people are estimated to have died in the whole of 2015, most of them by drowning after their flimsy, overloaded boats capsized. "Obviously now that the Turkey-Greece route appears suspended for the time being, we hope that this is the beginning of a sound management policy of refugees and migrants who wish to make the crossing and don't take these enormous risks," Millman told a news briefing. Some 2,725 migrants were rescued attempting to reach Europe from Libya over the past 24 hours by various vessels, he said. IOM also had reports that Libya's coastguard had turned back 850 migrants. IOM has had greater access to Libya since a U.N.-backed national unity government was formed last month. The agency is helping to organise charter flights to repatriate sub-Saharan migrants who agree to take a package or receive a re-integration grant. "Those are also key developments that indicate that it's possible, and I want to stress that it's possible, that the period of stark lethality that has been going on since 2013 may have run its course by now," Millman said. "Maybe we'll see a safer summer than we had anticipated a few weeks ago." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
From Country Living

Roberto Gonzales had one last wish during his final days: to say goodbye to two of his best friends. Those best friends happened to be his horses, Sugar and Ringo, News 4 San Antonio reports.

Gonzales, a Vietnam War veteran who was left paralyzed in the line of duty, was one of the first patients at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System when it opened in 1974, according to ABC News. He turned to raising horses once he came back to the United States, and became one of the only paralyzed horse trainers in Texas.

Decades later, he turned to his horses for one last goodbye. He went to the hospital because of a wound in his back, but doctors discovered liver problems, kidney problems, and knew he didn't have long left. Knowing that he might not live long enough to get back to training horses, Gonzales had a dying wish to see them, and the same hospital that treated him after war gave him that opportunity.

"When the horse came up to him he actually opened his eyes. They came up to him and I think they were actually kissing him," his wife, Rosario, told News 4 San Antonio. The reunion ended up happening on the anniversary of his paralyzing wound in Vietnam. The hospital wheeled his bed outside, where Sugar and Ringo were waiting.

Gonzales is currently in very critical condition at the VA hospital. His wife thanked the hospital for going above and beyond for him. "The care you have been giving my husband and to me goes above and beyond," she wrote on Facebook, according to Fox News. "You are our angels. God bless you all."
Have you been eager to see how Eaton Vance Corp. EV performed in second-quarter fiscal 2016 (ended Apr 30) in comparison with the market expectations? Lets quickly scan through the key facts from this Massachusetts-based investment management firms earnings release this morning:



An Earnings Beat



Eaton Vance came out with adjusted earnings per share of 48 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 47 cents.



Lower expenses drove the earnings beat.



How Was the Estimate Revision Trend?



You should note that the earnings estimate for Eaton Vance depicted a bearish stance prior to the earnings release. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has declined over the last 7 days.



Revenue Came In Higher Than Expected



Eaton Vance posted total revenue of $323.29 million, which marginally surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $323.01 million. However, it compared unfavorably with the year-ago number of $351.66 million.



Key Statistics/Developments



As of Apr 30, 2016, assets under management (AUM) were $318.7 billion, up 2% year-over-year. Also, total net inflows amounted to $15.9 billion in the reported quarter.



Expenses related to Eaton Vances NextShares initiative totaled roughly $1.9 million in the reported quarter, an increase of 3% from the prior-year quarter.



The company announced Eaton Vance Stock NextShares as the first NextShares fund in February and added two more NextShares funds  Eaton Vance Global Income Builder NextShares and Eaton Vance TABS 5-to-15 Year Laddered Municipal Bond NextShares  at the end of March.



During the first six months of fiscal 2016, Eaton Vance repurchased nearly 4.4 million shares its Non-Voting Common Stock for $144.1 million.



What Zacks Rank Says



The estimate revisions that we discussed earlier have driven a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Eaton Vance. However, since the latest earnings performance is yet to be reflected in the estimate revisions, the rank is subject to change. While things apparently look favorable, it all depends on what sense the just-released report makes to the analysts.



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



EATON VANCE (EV): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
(Adds quotes, background)

ATHENS, May 25 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will resume accepting Greek government paper as collateral for lending funds to Greek banks within weeks of a review of the country's bailout concluding successfully, two bankers with knowledge of the matter said.

The policy move would allow Greek banks to switch part of their borrowing from the Bank of Greece to the ECB, where funding is cheaper.

"The ECB will reinstate the waiver in the coming weeks. It may happen next week," one banker told Reuters on Wednesday. The ECB Governing Council is due to meet on June 2 in Vienna.

The ECB abandoned its waiver in early 2015, cutting a cheap lending lifeline for Greek banks and forcing them to borrow billions of euros from the domestic central bank's emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) window to cover their funding gaps.

"Greek banks will benefit by 150 million euros from cheaper interest once the waiver is reinstated and by about another 300 million euros if Greek bonds are added to the ECB's quantitative easing (programme)" a second banker said.

In Frankfurt, an ECB spokesman declined to comment.

Overnight, euro zone finance ministers gave a nod to releasing 10.3 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in new funds under Greece's bailout.

They also gave their firmest offer yet of debt relief in a deal that won a provisional commitment from the IMF to return to taking part in the bailout.

Greek banks have relied on emergency liquidity assistance drawn from the Greek central bank since February last year. They had borrowed 66.88 billion euros ($74.5 billion) of ELA at the end of April.

Reinstating the waiver could reduce their ELA borrowing by about 10 billion euros, one of the bankers said.

($1 = 0.8971 euros) (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, writing by George Georgiopoulos; additional reporting by Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt; editing by John Stonestreet)
The 70th edition of the Edinburgh Film Festival, which runs June 15-26, will showcase 161 feature films from 46 countries, including 22 world premieres, five international premieres, 17 European premieres and 85 U.K. premieres. Artistic director Mark Adams, unveiling the selection Wednesday, said there was something for everyone, and the festival would challenge, provoke and entertain audiences.

Highlights include the U.K. premiere of Disney-Pixar animation Finding Dory, In-Person events featuring the likes of Kevin Smith and Kim Cattrall, and the opening and closing gala world premieres of Tommys Honor and Whisky Galore! Classic include E.T. the Extraterrestrial with John Williams score performed live by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the world premiere of the newly-restored 4K version of the Scottish classic Highlander, celebrating its 30th anniversary with star Clancy Brown in attendance.

The Best of British strand includes David Blairs heart-wrenching drama Away, starring Timothy Spall and Juno Temple as two lost souls seeking solace under the lights of Blackpool; Rita Oseis debut Bliss!, following a teenage girl on a rite-of-passage journey of discovery across Scandinavia; Mercedes Growers offbeat debut Brakes, led by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding; Janos Edelenyis poignant but amusing The Carer, starring Brian Cox, who will be in attendance at the festival; and Charles Henri Bellevilles hedonistic backpack thriller Jet Trash.

Will Poulter and Cara Delevingne lead the British ensemble cast in the coming-of-age drama Kids in Love from Chris Foggin; Philip John takes audiences on an anarchic road-trip in Moon Dogs; and twin librarians plan revenge in the quiet section in Euros Lyns Welsh-language The Library Suicides (Y Llyfrgell).

There are also brooding Icelandic noirs Pale Star and A Reykjavik Porno from Scot Graeme Maley; artist Henry Coombes Seat In Shadow, a witty study into the symbiotic relationship between an eccentric, part-time Jung-obsessed psychotherapist and his patient/muse; Joanne Froggatt starring as a woman attempting to keep her family together as her husband endures unimaginable pain in Bill Clarks Starfish; Ibiza-set crime thriller White Island from Benjamin Turner; and the Agyness Deyn-led complex dystopian thriller The White King from Alex Helfrecht and Joerg Tittel.

Story continues

British films in competition for the Michael Powell Award for best British feature film and best performance in a British feature film will be selected from this strand, and include nine world premieres, one European premieres and two U.K. premieres.

Taking part in the series of In Person talks will be Dominique Pinon of Alien: Resurrection, Amelie and Outlander fame, whose renowned star turn in Diva will feature in this years A Celebration of the Films of Cinema du Look retrospective; Jeremy Thomas, the producer of over 50 films, including 1983s Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, starring the late David Bowie, screening at this years festival; Kim Cattrall, who will discuss a career that has seen her leave an indelible mark across both the screen and the stage; and indie auteur Kevin Smith, creator of cult classics Clerks and Dogma, will also be taking to the stage alongside the star of his latest comedy Yoga Hosers, Harley Quinn Smith.

For the full program click here.

Related stories

Dory Looks for Her Parents in Emotional New 'Finding Dory' Trailer

'The Flash' Guest Director Kevin Smith Reveals What He Learned on Set, His 'Arrow' Aspiration

EIFF to Screen Restored Version of 'Highlander'
Faraday Future

Electric-car company Faraday Future (FF) says it's getting equipment ready for the construction of its new factory in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

But officials in Nevada say that the proper permits have not yet been granted, and one has expressed doubts to Business Insider that the project will come to fruition.

What FF says it's doing now

A statement from the company on Monday mentions:

Heavy equipment will arrive at the site next month

Construction company AECOM will spearhead work on the project

Staff will work out of an office inside North Las Vegas City Hall.

But while the statement says crews will begin grading land at the site in late June, North Las Vegas spokesperson Delen Goldberg tells Business Insider the grading permits have not yet been approved.

"There is no general timeline for how long such permits take," Goldberg said in an emailed statement. "In this case, the city is waiting on a couple of documents from Faraday."

Goldberg said once those documents are submitted, the city would review them and make a decision on the permits "within a couple of days."

FF held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its planned 900-acre, $1 billion factory in Nevada last month. Shortly after the event, FF told Business Insider that it finalized deals to buy that land, but declined to reveal how much it paid.

Faraday Future

A secretive funding structure

Ever since FF came out of stealth mode and revealed its plans to build battery-powered autonomous cars, crucial parts of the company's business have remained a tightly held secret.

We know that the company is based in Southern California, and is partnered with Chinese tech giant, LeEco, which is run by a secretive billionaire investor named Jia Yueting.

Story continues

Jia Yueting LeEco

In previous conversations with Business Insider, FF has said that Jia is personally backing FF.

The privately held company hasn't disclosed any other investors. FF has told Business Insider in several conversations that a "diverse" funding structure was in place.

The claim was echoed in a letter Jia sent to Nevada lawmakers in March.

The letter, which Business Insider has viewed, read in part: "While I am personally backing FF, there is also a diverse funding strategy to help us fully realize our mission and vision."

A document released from a Nevada public agency last week sheds more light on the nature of FF's dealings.

The document from the Southern Nevada Water Authority shows that, as of March, Jia Yueting held a 94% stake in a limited-liability company that purchased land on behalf of FF. Nevada in December granted FF hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives for the factory project.

Dan Schwartz

The nature of FF's funding structure has worried Nevada state treasurer, Dan Schwartz, who is responsible for approving some tax incentives related to the factory deal.

Those concerns stem from Jia's apparent close relationship with the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Jia has put up shares of his Beijing-based, publicly traded company  Leshi Internet Information & Technology  as collateral for personal loans, and that Jia uses that money to fund his businesses.

That strategy was seen as problematic because trading in Leshi stock has been suspended for nearly six months, prompting worries that it may have lost significant value in the interim.

LeEco Opening San Jose

A Nevada state official with knowledge of the FF factory deal tells Business Insider that there are significant doubts about whether FF can truly bring its ambitious plans to fruition. However, the project still appears to enjoy the full confidence and support of Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.

Lee, who helms the city where FF's plant is to be built  and were some 4,500 jobs are expected to be created  said at last month's groundbreaking ceremony, "We plan to succeed."

In a statement to Business Insider last week, FF spokeswoman Stacy Morris said "Our business continues to grow steadily."

FF is now vying for 150 acres in the city of Vallejo in Northern California, where it's planning a second plant on the site of a former US Navy shipyard.

NOW WATCH: Heres Teslas massive plan to meet the demand for 375,000 Model 3 preorders





More From Business Insider


By Daniel Trotta and Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) - Officials from 11 U.S. states sued the Obama administration on Wednesday to overturn a directive telling schools to let transgender students use bathrooms matching their gender identity, decrying the policy as "a massive social experiment." Ramping up the simmering battles over contentious cultural issues in America, the states, led by Texas and most with Republican governors, accused the federal government of rewriting laws by "administrative fiat." "We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told reporters in Austin. Amid a national debate on transgender rights, President Barack Obama's administration on May 13 told U.S. public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice, upsetting Republicans and paving the way for fights over federal funding and legal authority. The states' lawsuit accused the federal government of overstepping its constitutional powers by taking actions that should be left to Congress or individual states. It also challenged the Obama administration's interpretation of federal civil rights law with regard to sex and gender. The lawsuit said the administration "conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights." Texas was joined by Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin, plus Arizona's Department of Education and Maine's governor. Paxton said, "It's about parents who are upset, grandparents who are upset. They want to see that the safety of their children is taken care of." Transgender rights advocates argued it is transgender people who need protection, particularly transgender women who are disproportionately the victims of assaults and would be forced to use men's bathrooms if states succeed in forcing people to use bathrooms matching their sex at birth. Likewise, transgender men, many of whom grow facial hair, would be required to use women's bathrooms along with girls. "This action puts students at risk for the sake of politics," said Alison Gill of the Trans United Fund advocacy group supporting transgender rights. Gill said the states' lawsuit did not reflect the position of most school boards and administrators. The administration's letter to the schools said that to get federal funding under existing rules, schools must agree not to treat students or activities differently on the basis of sex. That includes not treating transgender students differently from others of the same gender identity, officials said. 'UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK' Paul Castillo, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, said the lawsuit represented an "unprecedented attack against transgender people across the United States." "These states are demonstrating the great lengths they will go to in order to discriminate against transgender individuals," Castillo said. Nine of the 11 states that sued have Republican governors, including Maine's Paul LePage. LePage broke with the Democratic attorney general, Janet Mills, who did not approve of the lawsuit, a spokesman for Mills said. School districts from Texas and Arizona also joined the suit, which names the U.S. government and a host of federal agencies and officials as defendants. North Carolina sued the federal government on the transgender bathroom issue this month, seeking to protect its state law passed in March that bans people from using public restrooms not corresponding to their sex assigned at birth. Ever since the 1960s civil rights movement, the federal government has asserted its authority to force states to extend equal protection under the law for all. The administration sued North Carolina on May 9, stating that its transgender bathroom law violated the U.S. 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 11 states' lawsuit accused the administration of taking that argument too far and improperly, widening the scope of interpretation of civil rights law. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs and activities. The administration's interpretation is that the word "sex" extends protection to transgender people, but the issue has not been settled in the courts. "I agree with the Obama administration that 'sex' includes 'gender,' and 'gender' includes 'gender identity,'" said John Pagan of the University of Richmond's School of Law in Virginia. Peter Lake of Stetson University College of Law in Florida said the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a narrow view of the meaning of "sex" under the law, but in recent years lower courts have been more likely to defer to the Obama administration's broader definition. "My sense is a certain momentum is building for broader protection of (LGBT) rights, and we might be seeing a moment of federal civil rights law in long-term transition," Lake said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Joseph Ax, Gina Cherelus, Letitia Stein, Daniel Trotta and Daniel Wiessner; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Will Dunham)
Carletonville (South Africa) (AFP) - In a dark, smoke-filled mine shaft, a group of South African rescue trainees heave and gasp after crawling through a narrow steel pipe -- but commands shouted by an instructor urge them onwards.

"Number four, what is your oxygen reading?" he yells.

"170, captain," comes the muffled answer from behind an oxygen mask, the exhausted trainee at pains not to sound weak.

Few make it into the elite squad of the Mines Rescue Services (MRS), dedicated to saving lives in a country with the deepest mines in the world.

The trainees have only one shot at becoming a "brigadesman", as the rescuers are known. There is no second chance if you fail the initial one-week training course.

The eight candidates, already down by two men, are linked at the waist by a harness.

They navigate along the claustrophobic, winding pipe on their stomachs, with 14.8 kilogramme (32.6 pounds) of breathing apparatus on their backs, testing their tolerance for confined spaces and ability to work in a team.

Other drills involve climbing steep stairs underground in full rescue kit and throwing 25 kilogramme sandbags and steel bars over a 1.5 metre (nearly five feet) wall.

"We usually start with a group of about 10 or 12 guys, but only about six or seven finish the course," said assistant superintendent Gerrit Beukes.

The gruelling training could be mistaken for army exercises, preparing the recruits for precarious rescue missions underground where they fight fires and retrieve mineworkers trapped by rockfalls and other disasters.

"We are working with people's lives, there is no room for mistakes, that is why we cannot lower the training standards," Beukes told AFP.

- In the line of duty -

In a country dotted with gold, platinum, coal and diamond mines, MRS members are regularly called out to help.

It's a voluntary service that requires fierce fitness and mining expertise, which is why all brigadesman are required to be active mineworkers and to take regular refresher courses.

Story continues

There are about 900 of them across the country, ready to be activated at a moment's notice during times of disaster.

They are paid a small retainer on top of their miners' salary, plus an hourly rate when on an emergency call-out.

"I never felt like quitting... I could do it a hundred times over," said Pierre Pieterse at the end of a second day of training.

"Danger is always there... but you have to make a dangerous situation safe before you enter. It's about helping others," the 35-year-old production supervisor said.

Some women have taken the brigadesman test, but none have passed in the rescue service's 92-year history.

Chief executive Christo de Klerk said although incidents in South African mines had declined since the early 1990s, emergencies still occur.

"This is one of the toughest professions that you can get," said De Klerk, noting that 37 brigadesman have been killed in the line of duty.

"We try not to get emotionally involved, but there is nothing more gratifying than saving a person. We feel like we have accomplished a task and then move on."

- Dangerous illegal mining -

De Klerk said that as South African mines were so deep, the rescue service had its own unique machinery capable of reaching 3,000 metres underground.

The drive for better rescue equipment was spurred by South Africa's worst mining disaster, in which 435 workers were killed at the Coalbrook mine in 1960.

The work of the brigadesmen has of late been by stretched by the growing trend of illegal mining, where diggers sift for gold in disused shafts.

"At this stage we are more active trying to recover illegal miners than we are on our active mines," De Klerk said.

"It is really a major, major problem."

He recalled an incident in May 2012 where the service was called out to a disused mine and saved 22 illegal diggers over a three-day period.

"Unfortunately we have similar incidents where we have to recover dead bodies."

According to the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, annual fatalities in the country's mines have dropped from 615 in 1993 to 77 in 2015, with thousands injured.

In a high-profile tragedy in February this year, three mineworkers were trapped underground inside a steel shipping container used as an office after it was swallowed by a sinkhole at a mine in the east of the country.

Eighty-seven workers survived, but after desperate attempts to reach the container, rescue efforts were suspended for safety reasons and the three remain buried.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was in full attack mode Tuesday evening while addressing the annual gala of the Center for Popular Democracy. As they s these days, her remarks came back to Donald Trump.

" she belted with indignation, adding that Trump was "a small, insecure money-grubber who doesn't care who gets hurt so long as he makes a profit off it."

The line was met with cheering from the receptive crowd, with Warren additionally assailing the presumptive nominee for what she said was his support of big banks. "

Warren posted video of her 10-minute address to Facebook where it promptly went viral, generating more than 30,000 shares as of Wednesday morning.

It's not the first time Warren has dinged the mercurial billionaire. Earlier this month, she went after him on Facebook saying he had "built his campaign on racism, sexism and xenophobia." The move goaded the real estate magnate into assailing Warren publicly, deriding her as "Pocahontas" on Twitter  an allusion to Warren's previous that she has Native American ancestry.

@elizabethforma Goofy Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to as Pocahontas because she faked the fact she is native American, is a lowlife!

@elizabethforma Goofy Elizabeth Warren, sometimes known as Pocahontas, bought foreclosed housing and made a quick killing. Total hypocrite!

With polls between Trump and his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton tightening, that Warren should be placed on the ticket to run alongside the former secretary of state.
By Bruno Federowski and Paula Arend Laier SAO PAULO, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian equities rose on Wednesday after interim President Michel Temer's government cleared its first major test in Congress, gaining permission to post a record budget gap this year.

Many traders had feared Temer's two-week-old administration could struggle to gather support for the bill after the resignation of a high-ranking minister accused of plotting to hamper a sweeping corruption probe.

"The honeymoon is over and Temer is taking his first steps in Congress," said Jaime Ferreira, head trader at Intercam brokerage in Sao Paulo.

Some analysts, however, argued the government could still face problems passing its fiscal austerity measures. Temer said on Tuesday he will seek a constitutional amendment to limit increases in public spending.

The country's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 1.2 percent on Wednesday, supported by an increase in financial shares.

The move also tracked a rise on Wall Street and a jump in crude prices , with shares of state-controlled oil company Petrobras rising over 2 percent.

The U.S. government reported a larger-than-expected drop in crude stocks for last week, but oil prices remained below $50 as investors booked profits.

Other Latin American markets also tracked oil prices higher, with the Mexican benchmark IPC index rising for the fourth consecutive session. Bottler and retail company Femsa was the biggest gainer.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1605 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 800.66 1.61 -0.77 MSCI LatAm 2076.55 -0.02 13.51 Brazil Bovespa 49920.15 1.17 15.16 Mexico IPC 45754.45 0.56 6.46 Chile IPSA 3965.90 0.26 7.76 Chile IGPA 19556.54 0.23 7.74 Argentina MerVal 12381.50 -0.74 6.05 Colombia IGBC 9711.51 -0.7 13.62 Venezuela IBC 15244.97 0.06 4.50 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.6022 -0.77 9.57 Mexico peso 18.4560 0.13 -6.64 Chile peso 692.2 0.43 2.53 Colombia peso 3060.95 0.06 3.54 Peru sol 3.339 0.21 2.25 Argentina peso (interbank) 14.0400 -0.28 -7.53 Argentina peso (parallel) 14.61 0.41 -2.33 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski and Paula Arend Laier; Editing by Editing by Paul Simao)
(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. See the bottom of the report for more details)

* FTSEurofirst 300 index gains 0.9 pct

* Energy shares mirror higher crude oil

* M&S slumps after short-term profit warning

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - European equities climbed to a four-week high on Wednesday, with energy shares rising on the back of a rally in oil and Greek banks gaining after politicians made progress on talks over securing a debt relief deal.

However, British retailer Marks & Spencer slumped after saying that its turnaround plan would hit profits in the short term.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.9 percent by 0816 GMT, having hit its highest level since late April and adding to the previous session's jump of more than 2 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 index was also up 0.9 percent.

Energy shares were in demand after oil prices pushed closer to $50 a barrel, with U.S. crude hitting its highest in more than seven months after industry data suggested a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories last week.

The STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index rose 1.5 percent, helped by a gain of 3.5 percent and 1.1 percent respectively in BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Greek shares rose 1.3 percent after euro zone finance ministers agreed with Greece and the International Monetary Fund on a deal that will address Athens' requests for debt relief.

"The agreement should ensure that Greece remains little source of negative headline risk throughout the rest of the year ... the big question over the next 12 months is how quickly capital controls can be lifted and the economy can gradually return towards a path to normality," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note.

Greek banks were up about 1 percent, while the European banking index rose 2 percent. Shares in Alpha Bank, Eurobank Erasias, Caxiabank and Deutsche Bank rose between 1.8 percent and 4.4 percent.

Story continues

Among standout losers, Marks & Spencer slumped 7.8 percent, the top decliner in the FTSEurofirst 300 index, after the company told investors to expect a short-term hit to profit as it pushes through a plan to turn around its underperforming clothing and homeware business.

"Clothing and general merchandise performance remains unsatisfactory as difficult trading conditions persist, which leaves everything on the shoulders of a stronger performing but much lower-margin food segment," Accendo Markets head of research, Mike van Dulken, said.

"A troubled retail division has become a major issue as the core customer base ages and it likely struggles to entice a younger demographic more likely to buy online."

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.

Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)
Volkswagen's use of illegal "defeat device" software in its TDI diesel cars wasn't uncovered by the Environmental Protection Agencyor by any other regulatory agency.

It was discovered by independent researchers from West Virginia University (WVU), working with the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).

The five-person team, working at WVU's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines, and Emissions, determined that VW was cheating on laboratory tests after it evaluated three diesel cars under real-world driving conditions.

DON'T MISS: VW diesel agreement: what we know (and don't know) in 5 questions

Since then, the researchers have received quite a bit of attention from the public, including calls from Leonardo DiCaprio's "people" about a movie version of the VW scandal.

It's quite an adjustment for these self-proclaimed "engineering nerds," whose actual work is anything but glamorous, as a recent profile in WVU's college magazine shows.

The WVU researchers certainly didn't expect to trigger a scandal thateight months laterVolkswagen still hasn't fully addressed.

2014 Volkswagen Passat TDI

In 2013, WVU was given $70,000 by the ICCT to conduct research on diesel-exhaust emissions.

The plan was to see if production diesel cars could really meet strict U.S. emissions standards in the real world, which would have proven a major coup for diesel had that proven the case.

The fact that Volkswagen TDI models were included at all was more or less a coincidence.

ALSO SEE: VW diesel scandal now 6 months old; what have we learned?

At the time, VW sold a large portion of the diesel cars on U.S. roads, but researchers weren't eyeing any specific model or manufacturer.

They just wanted cars with 120,000 miles on the odometer.

Finding suitable used diesel cars on the East Coast proved difficult, so researchers decided to move their testing to California.

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI Six-Month Road Test

There they borrowed diesel models of a Volkswagen Jetta, a Volkswagen Passat, and a BMW X5 from rental agencies and a private owner.

Story continues

That the VW models produced far higher levels of emissions in the real world than in the lab was surprising, but not unprecedented.

In the 1990s, the research center had uncovered the use of "defeat device" software by six manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines used in commercial trucks.

MORE: CARB Shows Test Equipment That Found VW Diesel Defeat Device (Video)

Those makersCaterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Mack Trucks, Navistar International, Renault, and Volvo Truckcollectively spent roughly $1 billion to settle the case, including an $83.4 million civil penalty.

The EPA also ordered the six to conduct real-world emissions tests. That in turn led to the lab developing portable emissions measurement systems, or PEMSthe same equipment used to uncover Volkswagen's emissions cheating.

Since news of the VW scandal broke in late September, WVU researchers have moved on to introducing a more compact version of this equipment, called AirCom.

Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) (Photo by Millbrook Proving Ground)

Where a standard PEMS includes a bulky apparatus strapped to the back of a test car, plus additional hardware that can fill a back seat, AirCom fits in a tailpipe.

It's also expected to cost just a "few hundred dollars," compared to $250,000 for a full-size PEMS. That would make it practical to install in fleets of vehicles, yielding more data.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, has reached the outlines of an agreement with regulators on how to address roughly 482,000 of the affected diesel cars.

Drivers are expected to get the option to sell their cars back to VW, or have them modified to meet EPA emissions standards.

The EPA and Volkswagen must file final details of the plan by June 21, and they will be reviewed in a preliminary hearing in Federal court July 26.

[hat tip: George K]

_______________________________________________

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter


We all saw the terrific trailer of the Salman Khan - Anushka Sharma starrer Sultan, which released today. Salman and Anushka were excited and happy to release their trailer and spoke about their movie at the grand launch. Speaking about his experiences shooting for this challenging role of a wrestler, Salman, being his usual witty self said, I enjoyed shooting in langots. Now I know how heroines feel in shorts or in swimsuits. Needless to say, Salman had the crowd in splits with this revelation.

Recommended Read: Arijit Singh Posts An Apology to Salman Khan Pleading Him To Retain His Song In Sultan And Then Deletes It!

He added, When I was walking from my van to the location, I had tears in my eyes, I felt violated. And I, absolutely dont shy away from taking off my shirt or wearing shorts. I am not the shy type at all. But when I had to take..it off.It was the most difficult thing, but thank God that people got used to the visual because of all the phone pics!

Well, we however know for a fact that Salman pulled it off quite successfully, dont we? The film, which also stars Randeep Hooda and Amit Sadh is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and all set to release on July 6.

Are you looking forward to this one?
Ankara (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday personally chaired the first meeting of the new Turkish cabinet, in a symbolic move showing his desire to exercise full control over the government and consolidate his own powers.

The meeting at the president's huge palace in Ankara came a day after incoming Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, an Erdogan loyalist, disclosed his new cabinet line-up with most key ministers keeping their jobs.

The Turkish constitution allows heads of state to chair the cabinet but this right was exercised extremely rarely by Erdogan's predecessors before he was elected president in August 2014.

A presidential statement announced the start of the first meeting of Turkey's 65th government, with images showing the ministers sitting at a vast table chaired by Erdogan and overlooked by a portrait of the modern Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

A technocrat and former transport minister, Yildirim is seen as a more pliant figure for Erdogan compared to outgoing premier Ahmet Davutoglu who stepped down after power struggle with the president.

Erdogan wants one of the priorities of the government to be implementing constitutional changes to create a presidential system that would enshrine his status as the Turkish number one.

Yildirim, 60, has also made no secret of his enthusiasm for a system change in Turkey that would restrict the powers of the prime minister and bolster the presidency.

Erdogan chaired several cabinet meetings during Davutoglu's premiership. But Turkish media reported that they will now be held at the presidential palace at least once a month.

- 'EU not only choice' -

Opposition parties have vehemently criticised Erdogan's aspirations for greater powers, with the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) leader repeatedly warning that the move risked bloodshed.

"(Erdogan) says he will do everything. I said if you want to create such a system, you cannot do it without bloodshed," CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu told the private NTV television.

Story continues

Explaining his comment he said: "We will take to streets (in protest) and you will try to kill us with your TOMA (water cannon trucks). What business do I have in politics if I cannot leave a better Turkey for children?"

One of the key changes in the new cabinet was diplomat-turned politician Volkan Bozkir's replacement by ruling party spokesman Omer Celik, an Erdogan loyalist, as EU affairs minister.

Bozkir was a broker with Davutoglu of a controversial migrant deal with the European Union aimed at curbing the flow of refugees to Europe, an accord said to have sidelined Erdogan.

In his first remarks after taking over the job from Bozkir, Celik called for an equal relationship with Brussels.

"An EU perspective is important for Turkey but it is not the only choice," he said at the EU ministry.

- MHP goes to congress -

The migrant deal comes in return for a series of incentives for Ankara, including visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the passport-free Schengen area.

But Turks are unlikely to enjoy visa exemption by the target date of the end of June because Turkey is obliged to comply with 72 criteria, including changes to its counter-terror laws.

Ankara refuses to make any such changes while its army is in the throes of battling Kurdish militants in the southeast.

Erdogan had startled observers on Tuesday by saying the Turkish parliament would throw out legislation on the migrant deal if Turks do not receive the visa-free travel.

Celik said Turkey would not accept any "double standards" in the fight against terrorism.

One factor of uncertainty for Erdogan is the situation in the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which also opposes the presidential system but whose leader Devlet Bahceli is facing a revolt by party dissidents.

Bahceli said Wednesday that the party would hold an extraordinary congress on July 10 where his leadership -- which dates back to 1997 -- could be challenged.

A change of leadership in the party headed by the 68-year-old Bahceli could attract more votes and undermine Erdogan's plans for greater powers.
Errol Barnett has joined CBS News as a correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Barnett starts next month and will report for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.

Barnett has been an anchor and reporter for CNN International, based in Atlanta; among news stories he covered were the attacks in Paris, protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of Nelson Mandela. Prior to anchoring from Atlanta, Barnett was a general assignment correspondent based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He also hosted CNNs weekly series Inside Africa, for which he reported from 22 countries on the continent in 24 months.

Barnett joined CNN in 2008, after working briefly as a host-correspondent for ReelzChannel, while he got his degree at UCLA. For ReelzChannel, he interviewed Angelina Jolie, Russell Crowe, Halle Berry and Christian Bale, and covered film festivals and movie premieres.

He started his journalism career when Channel One News selected him to join their annual Student Produced Week in Los Angeles. The network offered him a full-time job and, during his five years there, he reported on the 2004 Democratic National Convention; the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the teenage heroin use in the New England suburbs, among other things.

Related stories

'The Hunt With John Walsh' Simulcast On CNN & HLN For Season 3

CNN Ratings Buffeted By Presidential Campaign "Calm"

Will King Dies: CNN Original Directed Coverage Of Soviet Union Breakup & Tiananmen Square
* EU presents results of year-long inquiry into web firms

* Rules out single law for all web platforms

* Proposes 20 pct quota of European works for Netflix, Amazon

By Julia Fioretti

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - The European Commission will examine the terms of use of web platforms such as Google , Amazon and Apple Inc's App Store for businesses to decide whether further regulation is needed to curb possible unfair practices.

The European Union executive on Wednesday presented the conclusions from a year-long inquiry into online platforms such as Facebook, Google and eBay, ruling out a single law for them but saying it would target specific problems in areas such as copyright and telecoms.

The Commission also proposed a reform of the bloc's broadcasting rules which will include an obligation on providers of online video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon to devote at least a fifth of their catalogue to European works.

EU member states will also have the option of requiring streaming services not based in that country but targeting their audience to contribute financially to the production of European works.

"I want online platforms and the audiovisual and creative sectors to be power houses in the digital economy, not weigh them down with unnecessary rules," said Andrus Ansip, EU Commission Vice-President in charge of Brussels' strategy to create a single market in the digital world.

On Wednesday, the Commission also unveiled proposals to make online shopping across borders easier.

Online platforms - largely U.S. tech companies - have come under increased scrutiny in the 28-nation bloc for their business practices as well as handling of swathes of data.

The Commission said its inquiry had highlighted a number of problems in relations between businesses and platforms, including the imposition of unfair terms and conditions, refusal of access to markets and important business data and the promotion of the platform's own service to the disadvantage of competitors.

Story continues

The EU executive will probe further into the allegedly "unfair" practices and decide if further action is needed next year.

Separately, the Commission has charged Google with abusing its dominance to promote its shopping service over rival services.

In an upcoming reform of EU telecoms rules the Commission said it will look at both deregulating telecoms companies where they face competition from similar services, such as Microsoft's Skype or Facebook's WhatsApp, and extending some telecoms data protection rules to platforms providing similar services.

Telecoms firms have long complained about the lack of a level playing-field with tech firms who can provide messaging or calling services without being subject to the same rules.

A reform of the bloc's copyright rules expected after the summer will address concerns by the music industry that platforms such as YouTube do not pay artists enough when their content is uploaded.

The new broadcasting rules will become law when approved by the European Parliament and national governments.

(Reporting by Julia Fioretti)
By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Online retailers would be banned from stopping a customer in one EU country buying from a website based in another, under a proposal issued on Wednesday to make it easier for consumers to shop across the bloc. The European Commission said its law would stop "geoblocking" where companies limit access to their websites based on user location, often forcing customers to use versions based in their own country, sometimes with higher prices. "In the online world, all too often consumers are blocked from accessing offers in other countries," the Commission said in a statement. "Such discrimination has no place in the single market." The law would affect companies such as Amazon, eBay and Zalando as well as to sales of services provided in a specific location, for example car rental, accommodation and concert tickets. It would not initially apply to copyright-protected items such as e-books, music and games, although those might be included soon, the Commission said. So for the time being a German citizen would still be unable to buy a Spotify subscription in, for example, Estonia, where it is much cheaper. The music industry welcomed the exemption, saying that to include such services in the geoblocking proposal would be "a serious blow for cultural diversity." Under Wednesday's proposal, which requires the approval of the European Parliament and national governments to become law, retailers would not be allowed to block access to websites based on a user's location or to re-route customers to a website version based in their own country without their consent. Amazon already makes its websites accessible to customers anywhere in Europe, and says 98 percent of its own stock is available to shoppers from any European country. While e-commerce websites will not be allowed to prevent customers in one EU country buying products in another, they will not be forced to deliver cross-border. Therefore, an Italian buying a TV from a German website would either have to arrange their own delivery or collect it at the trader's premises. The Commission hopes the new rules will increase the proportion of consumers who buy online from another country, currently only 15 percent. "The European Commission is doing the right thing by helping solve practical problems faced by online businesses, particularly small and medium sized businesses," said eBay's' Paul Todd, Senior Vice President of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). A business group said the proposal failed to address the reasons companies use geoblocking, such as differing VAT rates and consumer protection rules. "This is like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg," said John Higgins, director general of DIGITALEUROPE, which represents companies such as Sony, Google and Dropbox. In a separate proposal, the EU executive sought to increase the transparency of prices for cross-border parcel delivery and to give national authorities the power to assess whether they are affordable. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Mark Potter)
By Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone governments on Wednesday offered Greece debt relief in 2018, but left key details for later in a bid to bridge Germany's view that no immediate action was needed and the International Monetary Fund's call for decisions now.

The late-night compromise spared the battered European Union the risk of another Greek crisis this year, less than 12 months after Athens was on the brink of ejection from the currency area by rejecting austerity measures and defaulting on an IMF loan.

After talks that lasted into early Wednesday, Eurogroup ministers agreed to release 10.3 billion euros (7.8 billion pounds) in new funds for Greece in recognition of painful fiscal reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist-led coalition, subject to some final technical tweaks.

But the bigger step forward was the debt relief deal because it provided investors with more certainty that their money in Greece would be safe, paving the way for a return to market financing for Athens in 2018 and for foreign direct investment.

Markets received the deal with enthusiasm even though it is still highly conditional.

"The possible debt relief will be delivered at the end of the programme in mid-2018 and the scope will be determined by the Eurogroup on the basis of a revised Debt Sustainability Analysis," a statement by euro zone ministers said.

Greece's 10-year bond yield fell to a six-month low of 7.09 percent and 2-year yields slid below 7 percent. Yields on Spanish, Italian and Portuguese government bonds also dropped.

"The Eurogroup ... provided a road map on debt relief, which is credit positive as it signals a growing consensus among euro area member countries and the institutions, namely the IMF and the European Commission, on debt relief," Moodys Investors Service said in a statement.

VICTORY

The agreement on debt is a political victory for Athens and could bring the IMF to participate in the latest Greek bailout, so far shouldered by the euro zone alone.

Story continues

It is also a major concession on the part of the IMF, which insisted on debt relief decisions up-front. The Fund will now analyse the terms agreed by euro ministers to see if they would guarantee long-term Greek debt sustainability.

If they do, the IMF's management will recommend to its board by the end of the year to join the Greek bailout. There was no discussion at the meeting of the possible length of the new IMF programme for Greece or its size, officials said.

The vague wording of the debt agreement, however, was key for Germany, which holds general elections next year and where financial help for Greece is a highly controversial issue.

"We have no major changes to the (Greek) programme, so there is no need for a prior vote of the Bundestag," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said, calling it a good result.

Acknowledging the "political capital" European ministers invested to reach the deal, Dijsselbloem called it a "new phase" in a six-year drama to stabilise Greece's finances that had taken the euro zone to the brink of break-up.

Mutual trust was returning to the talks, he said.

GREEK OPTIMISM

Greece will get most of the next instalment in June to redeem bonds held by the European Central Bank and repay IMF loans, as well as to clear arrears in government payments to the private sector, with the rest paid after the summer.

The ECB is expected to resume accepting Greek government paper as collateral for lending funds to Greek banks within weeks, lowering their borrowing costs, bankers said.

Athens has long complained that austerity and reform measures demanded by its international creditors since its first bailout in 2010 have only deepened its long recession.

Tsipras's finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, said the cycle could now be broken. But there was little rejoicing back home, with many Greeks unconvinced that the sacrifices they have made to stay in the euro were worth the pain.

Apart from the timing of the debt relief decision, the main difference between the euro zone and the IMF was their forecasts of Greece's ability to repay debt over the next 12 years.

The euro zone believes that Greece will be able to reach a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018 and keep it at that level for a decade.

The IMF says such high primary surplus levels are highly unlikely to be maintained for so long and that given Greece's track record of reform implementation, a 1.5 percent surplus from 2018 onwards was already an ambitious assumption.

Moody's rating agency seemed to side with the IMF.

"We consider implementation risks in Greece to remain high, given the small governing majority, weak institutions, and the backdrop of political and social discontent," Moody's said.

While euro zone ministers did not make an unconditional promise of debt relief, they spelled out criteria for stretching out maturities on Greece's loans and the grace period before it has to start paying interest on them.

They agreed that Greek gross financing needs should be kept below 15 percent of its annual economic output in the medium term and below 20 percent beyond that.

IMF European director Poul Thomsen said he believed the yet to be specified measures would deliver the necessary relief.

"It will deliver debt sustainability according to our standard criteria," Thomsen said, insisting that the IMF had not eased its insistence that it would lend no more to Athens unless its European creditors ease its debt burden. "I do not see this as a weakening of the debt relief proposals," he said.

(Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Tom Koerkemeier and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels and Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Editing by Paul Taylor, David Stamp and Alastair Macdonald)
MADRID, May 25 (Reuters) - The euro zone needs to urgently set up an institution to fully coordinate national fiscal and structural policies, headed by a powerful finance minister with a budget, French Central bank Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday.

Such a minister should eventually preside over a euro area budget, backed by a Treasury administration, because the lack of economic coordination weighs on growth and keeps the bloc vulnerable to crises, Villeroy, who is also a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council told a conference.

ECB policymakers have long proposed greater fiscal cooperation, arguing that monetary policy alone cannot restore economic growth and Europe was not getting the help it needed from governments.

"In the first stage, member states would be free to join... In a second stage, this budget could become a common stabilisation instrument, centralising a well-defined set of policy instruments, such as a European layer for unemployment insurance."

"The third and final stage of fiscal integration would only be achieved if agreement can be found both on financing and on the desirable level of business cycle synchronization," Villeroy said.

Villeroy, however admitted that there is deep political resistance to sharing fiscal resources and sovereignty, and such changes would require a change in the EU Treaty.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, Jesus Aguado and Angus Berwick; Editing by Toby Chopra)
LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - European shares climbed to a new four-week high on Wednesday, with Novo Nordisk leading the market higher after a U.S. advisory panel recommended approval of its new diabetes drug, while higher copper prices lifted miners.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.7 percent in early dealings, with the index briefly touching its highest level since late April.

Novo Nordisk rose 3 percent, the top FTSEurofirst 300 gainer, after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) body recommended the approval of its drug that combines two of its existing treatments in a fixed-dose combination. Clinical trials showed the drug helped patients control their blood sugar and did so with one injection rather than two.

Miners were also in demand, with the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index climbing 1 percent after copper prices rose on brightening economic signs in the United States.

However, British retailer Marks & Spencer fell 6.3 percent after saying that its new boss's plan to turn around the company's underperforming clothing and homewares business would impact short-term profit.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
Copenhagen (AFP) - Europe's beaches are getting cleaner and the vast majority of them last year met the EU's minimum requirements for water quality, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) said that water quality at 96.1 percent of the 21,000 bathing spots covered by its 2015 bathing water survey was at acceptable levels, which was a rise of 0.9 percentage points from the previous year.

Across all of the sites monitored in the EU, Switzerland and Albania, more than 84 percent of the sites surveyed were rated excellent.

"European bathing water is at 96 percent acceptable and 84 percent excellent standards. That is the result of 40 years investing in water and waste water infrastructure," EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella said in a statement.

The best swimming areas were in Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Germany and Austria -- all of which had more than 90 percent of bathing sites rated excellent.

By contrast, only 56 percent of sites had reached that level in 1991, the EEA said.

"Several large tourist areas and cities like Blackpool, Copenhagen and Munich are... starting to benefit from investments in improved sewage systems, which are leading to cleaner bathing sites at harbour areas, urban river locations and nearby beaches," the agency said.

The highest number of sites with poor water quality were found in Italy (95), France (95) and Spain (58), according to the annual survey.

More than three percent of sites failed to meet the minimum quality standards in Britain (4.9 percent), Ireland (4.4 percent), the Netherlands (3.4 percent) and Bulgaria (3.2 percent), meaning they had the highest percentage of sites rated "poor".

"For recreational activities such as swimming, faecal contamination is a cause of concern for public health," the EEA said.

"The major sources of pollution are sewage and water draining from farms and farmland," it added.
(Adds confirmation from Conservative source, background)

OTTAWA, May 25 (Reuters) - Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost power last October after almost a decade in office, will leave politics later this year and go into business, a Conservative source said on Wednesday.

Harper, 57, stepped down as party leader in the wake of his defeat by the Liberals of Justin Trudeau in the Oct 19 election.

He was re-elected as a legislator for a parliamentary constituency in Calgary, but will resign his seat before the House starts its fall session in September, said the source.

"He will go into a global business venture. He has no plans to become an academic," said the source, who asked to remain anonymous since Harper has made no formal announcement about his future yet.

Several companies had asked Harper to sit on their boards, the source added.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported that Harper had received offers of work from U.S. companies including U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co LP.

KKR declined to comment. Harper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Globe and Mail newspaper, which first reported Harper would step down, said he was also looking at establishing a foreign policy institute.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Leah Schnurr in Ottawa and Andrea Hopkins in Toronto; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)
By Clare Baldwin and Nathan Layne HONG KONG/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cyber thieves who stole $12 million from an Ecuadorian bank in 2015 routed the funds through 23 companies registered in Hong Kong, some of them with no clear business activity, according to previously unreported court filings and judicial rulings. The court papers offer a first glimpse into where some of the money was moved after it reached accounts in Hong Kong. The filings stem from a lawsuit filed in early 2015 by Ecuador's Banco del Austro (BDA) in Hong Kong against the web of companies that received or handled more than $9 million in stolen funds, bank records submitted to the territory's Court of First Instance show. The BDA lawsuit alleged the companies had been "unjustly enriched" and sought recovery of the money. The remaining $3 million was routed to entities in Dubai and elsewhere, according to separate court filings in the U.S. Those transfers are not the subject of litigation in Hong Kong. The cyber thieves allegedly used the SWIFT global messaging system to move the funds. SWIFT, a conduit for bank money transfers worldwide, also was the network used to move $81 million out of Bangladesh Bank in February. According to the Hong Kong court filings, BDA submitted criminal reports to police in both Hong Kong and Ecuador about the transfers. The content of those reports was not part of the court record reviewed by Reuters. The attacks have caught the attention of global investigative agencies. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bangladesh authorities are leading a search for criminals behind the February heist, which ranks among the largest ever. In the Ecuadorian heist, the money was transferred by Wells Fargo based on authenticated SWIFT messages, and both BDA and the U.S. bank now believe those funds were stolen by unidentified hackers, according to documents in a BDA lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo in New York this year. It was not clear whether the Hong Kong Police have launched an official probe. A spokesman for the agency declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. The Ecuador attorney generals office did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI and BDA also declined comment. Initially, cyber thieves moved $9.139 million of the more than $12 million they stole from BDA into the Hong Kong accounts of four companies at HSBC and Hang Seng Bank <0011.HK>. At least $3.1 million of the funds were then routed from those four companies to 19 "second layer" bank accounts, meaning the funds made a second hop to another set of Hong-Kong registered companies, the papers show. NOT TIED TO REAL BUSINESSES Hang Seng did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HSBC declined to comment on the details of the case but a spokesman said in an e-mail that the bank actively co-operates with law enforcement and has controls in place to know its customers and deter crime. SWIFT, an acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has said its core messaging system has never been breached. A BDA lawyer said in the filings that the Ecuador bank knew none of the firms or people behind the four companies that initially received the funds. Most of the "second layer" accounts appeared not to be tied to real businesses, the lawyer added. Hong Kong Deputy High Court Judge Conrad Seagroatt said in a December ruling in the case that the four initial recipients showed no prior history of business activity. "They all appear to be otherwise inactive corporate vehicles controlled by citizens of the People's Republic of China," Seagroatt wrote. In March last year, BDA secured an order from the court to freeze the accounts of the four companies that intially received the funds, although it later settled with the recipient of the smallest transfer of $95,731.18 and withdrew its claim against that firm, the court record shows. As of last month, complaints against five of the 23 defendants had been withdrawn or dismissed, and settlements with some defendants have taken place, court papers reviewed by Reuters indicate. BDA has declined to speak with Reuters about the Hong Kong case or the related litigation in the United States against Wells Fargo . (Additional reporting by Stella Tsang and Tris Pan in HONG KONG and Alexandra Valencia in QUITO; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Greising)
ABC is definitely interested in Rob Lowe as Kelly Ripa's Live! co-host, a source tells ET.

The network has been talking to Lowe's reps again, the source says, having chatted with the actor about the highly coveted gig back in 2012, when ABC was looking for Regis Philbin's replacement. Lowe, 52, had impressed viewers at the time when he guest-hosted for two days. But the job, of course, ended up going to Michael Strahan.

Lowe is also currently a free agent since his Fox show, The Grinder, got canceled earlier this month after one season.

WATCH: Mark Consuelos Reacts to Wife Kelly Ripa Being Open to Moving 'Live!' to Los Angeles

ET caught up with Lowe on Monday on the set of his upcoming film, How to Be a Latin Lover, where he wasn't counting out the potential huge, new gig.

"I hosted it with Kelly and had the time of my life," he commented. "I love her ... I love being able to talk to an audience every morning like that and just being fun, counter-punching, being silly, and talking about cool stuff."

Lowe also acknowledged he's in a good place in his personal life to accept the position. His 19-year-old son, John, is currently attending Stanford University, and his elder son, 21-year-old Matthew, is preparing to go to law school.

"My kids are out of the house, they weren't then. Who knows... But listen, man, I don't want to go up against Anderson Cooper," he joked. "I don't know if I'm going to go back as an actual guest host yet. ... You never know! You never know."

Cooper, 48, has been named as a frontrunner to be Ripa's new co-host, though last month, he said that he hadn't been "offered anything."

"Look, I'm very happy at CNN," Cooper, who hosts CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, answered cautiously when asked by a caller about all the Live! rumors during his appearance on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live!. "It would be a dream to work with Kelly, but nobody's offering anything."

Story continues

"Listen, I love Kelly and I think Kelly is the heart and soul of that show, and it's gonna go on and continue to be great," he added.

Meanwhile, 45-year-old Ripa has been having fun with her guest co-hosts since Strahan departed the ABC morning show earlier this month. So far, the bubbly blonde's co-hosts have included Jimmy Kimmel, Empire star Jussie Smollett, and ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir.

WATCH: Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan 'Found Peace' Before His Controversial 'Live!' Exit

Last week, Ryan Seacrest exclusively revealed to ET that he will be one of Ripa's guest co-hosts next month.

"I'm sitting there for one day in June and can't wait to do that," Seacrest said when we spoke with him at 102.7 KIIS FM's Wango Tango in Carson, California. "She's asked me to come on for a day right at the beginning of June, and so I'm looking forward to hugging her and seeing her."

Watch below:

Related Articles
By Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) - France's Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) is preparing to name candidates it will put forward to replace the entire board of U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc (MDVN.O) as early as Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sanofi has threatened to oust the board after Medivation rejected its unsolicited $9.3 billion (6.37 billion pounds) acquisition offer late last month, taking advantage of a so-called 'written consent' rule that gives Medivation shareholders the ability to act at any time to replace directors.

Medivation has declined to engage in sale talks with Sanofi unless the latter raises its $52.50 per share cash offer first, sources have said. The French drugmaker has said it is willing to raise its bid only after Medivation engages with it in negotiations.

Medivation shares ended trading on Tuesday in New York at $61.91.

Among Sanofi's eight nominees are Michael Campbell, the former chief executive of Arch Chemicals Inc, Ronald Rolfe, a retired partner at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and Barbara Deptula, a former executive vice president and chief corporate development officer of biopharmaceutical company Shire Plc (SHP.L), one of the people said.

The sources asked not to be identified because the names of the nominees have not been disclosed. Medivation and Sanofi representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Medivation has signed non-disclosure agreements to share confidential information with other pharmaceutical companies interested in an acquisition, including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Amgen Inc (AMGN.O), sources told Reuters earlier this month.

However, no other company is close to tabling an offer for Medivation, according to the sources.

Sanofi is vying for Medivation in an attempt to expand in the lucrative oncology sector, as it struggles to compensate for declining revenues from a key diabetes drug that recently lost patent protection.

Medivation has argued that Sanofi's offer fails to value fairly the prospects of its recently developed prostate cancer drug XTANDI, as well as two other products currently in clinical trials; Talazoparib, for the treatment of breast cancer, and Pidilizumab, for the treatment of blood cancers.

Story continues

Campbell served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Arch Chemicals, a maker of products that kill bacteria and fungi, between 1999 and 2011. Switzerland's Lonza AG (LONN.S) agreed in 2011 to buy the company for $1.2 billion.

Rolfe retired from Cravath's litigation department in 2010, having worked on major antitrust and securities cases, as well as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and grand jury investigations. His clients included IBM Corp (IBM.N), PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) and Sprint Corp (S.N).

Deptula worked at Shire between 2004 and 2012, where she led efforts to expand its product portfolio. She has been a director on the board of AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMAG.O), a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on maternal health, anemia and cancer supportive care, since 2013.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust officials are investigating Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) over its new incentives that encourage independent distributors to sell more of its own beer brands at the expense of competing craft brews, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Budweiser owner AB InBev has 45.8 percent of the U.S. beer market but has seen sales dwindle at least partially because of rising craft beer sales.

The U.S. Department of Justice last year probed AB InBev's plan to buy distributors in response to craft brewers' complaints that it aimed to curb competition. The purchases of two distributors in California, two in Colorado and one in New York have since closed.

The beer giant introduced the new incentive programme at a distributors' meeting in late 2015, and the U.S. authorities are looking into it as part of its antitrust review of

AB InBevs planned more than $100 billion (68.4 billion pounds) takeover of global rival SABMiller PLC (SAB.L) , the two people said.

AB InBev has offered to divest all of SABMiller's U.S. assets, so there is little expectation that the deal could stumble over craft brewers' complaints.

There is a precedent, however, for the Justice Department to put limits on incentive programs. When AB InBev bought Grupo Modelo in 2013, it required the Modelo beers in the United States to be divested and required AB InBev to refrain from offering incentives to distributors that would hurt Modelo for three years.

Investigators at the Justice Department have contacted beer distributors and craft brewers, asking about the incentive plan as well as AB InBevs other steps aimed at curbing craft promotion by distributors, those people said.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The independent distributors aligned with AB InBev are contractually required to spend a certain amount each year to advertise AB InBev beers. Those include products of breweries such as Blue Point or Goose Island, which used to be craft brewers, but are now part of AB InBev group.

Story continues

Under the new incentive plan, AB InBev refunds 75 percent of this money if its beers make up 98 percent of the distributor's sales, according to documents provided to lawmakers by AB InBev.

The greater the share of rival beers in a distributor's sales, the less money it receives, according to the document.

Even if a distributor raised sales of AB InBev beers, it would still receive less money if craft sales rise faster.

That makes the incentives appear designed primarily to suppress craft sales rather than boost AB InBev sales, several people familiar with the plan told Reuters. They spoke on condition of anonymity to protect business relationships.

A distributor that would want to promote a craft beer would be also required to run an equal promotion for Budweiser, which becomes prohibitively expensive, the people said.

AB InBev said it continued to "cooperate fully" with the Justice Department's review of the merger with SABMiller, which this week got cleared by the European authorities and which the group expected to complete in the second half of 2016.

Gemma Hart, an Anheuser-Bush spokesperson, defended the incentive programme as a "reflection of just how competitive the U.S. beer industry has become."

"Our voluntary incentive programme clearly does not prevent or inhibit other brands from getting to market," she said, noting that nearly all Anheuser-Busch distributors carried other brands.

Of the estimated 3,000 U.S. distributors, about 1,100 are aligned with legacy brewers like AB InBev or MillerCoors and serve big retailers and restaurant chains as well as small stores. The remaining distributors are much smaller and do not provide as much access to large-scale retailers.

AB InBev's practices are not outright illegal, but could be deemed as such if AB InBev is found to be dominant and aiming primarily at shutting out rivals rather than building up their own sales, antitrust experts said.

Unlike most industries, which may have several distribution channels, beer in many states must be sold through independent distributors. Most cities have a distributor aligned with AB InBev, another with MillerCoors and may have a third that specializes in craft beer.

BIG BEER MARKET STAGNATING

AB InBev, the product of a 2008 merger between Anheuser-Bush and Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev, tops the U.S. beer market followed by MillerCoors, with a 26 percent share.

But the two groups have been challenged by craft brewers, defined as independent operations make no more than 6 millions barrels a year. They offer everything from classics to oddball brews like Funky Buddha Brewery's Banana Split Ale and captured 12.2 percent of the U.S. market last year compared with just 5 percent in 2010.

Antitrust experts said paying distributors to suppress craft sales could run afoul of antitrust law. "It's the large manufacturers that are trying to narrow the channel of distribution that is most cost effective," said Andrew Gavil, who teaches at the Howard University School of Law. "That's the big story here."

Gavil said that AB InBev would likely defend itself by saying its market share was hardly dominant.

Andre Barlow, an antitrust expert with the law firm Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC, said, however, the group had enough of a clout to raise concerns.

"ABI has the power to limit the distributors' ability to distribute the craft brews."

It can be sometimes hard to prove in court that practices such as incentives that aim at reducing rivals' sales violate antitrust law because a company could argue that the practices are good for consumers, other antitrust experts said.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
implosion explosion demolition

A bombshell trade report lands next month which will reveal whether US advertising agencies accept rebates from media companies, and whether those agencies are transparent about disclosing them and passing them back to their clients, sources told Business Insider.

The report, commissioned by advertiser trade body the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), is set to be more "explosive" than many people in the industry were prepared for, these sources say, because it will lay bare the practices media agencies use to make hidden margins on their advertising buys. A previous report on the same issues from the ANA, published in 2012, was widely ignored.

The new findings are set to make many marketers sit up and take notice. Ad agency contracts generally say that client money should be spent transparently and honestly. Any indication that cash is instead being siphoned into schemes that only benefit agencies will cause trouble.

One source, who is aware of the report's findings, told Business Insider there have been suggestions of the possibility of "jail time" for executives found to have been deliberately in breach of their contracts.

Why this is an issue

Media agencies are paid by advertisers to secure them the best and most efficiently priced advertising slots.

However, one of the issues is whether buying agencies are actually securing the most strategic slots for advertisers, or whether they've made a previous agreement with a media owner to spend a set amount of their clients' ad dollars in order to receive a rebate.

Rebates are standard media-buying practice in certain countries in Europe and Brazil. But they are not meant to exist in the US. Any sort of incentive is supposed to be disclosed and returned to the advertiser, unless otherwise previously agreed in the contract.

Media agencies are supposed to spend their clients' money where the client will get the best value, not just where the agency gets the biggest benefit. Credits, or freebie ad slots  which were granted precisely because an advertiser spent so much with a media owner  are supposed to be returned to the client not sold on for the agency's gain. And rebates aren't supposed to be hidden income for other parts of the agency business, such as an agency group's barter, or programmatic, or international operations, which are harder for clients to audit.

Story continues

Some agencies argue that such volume-discount rebates belong to the agency to reward them for their bulk-buying power. That's the benefit of working with a big global agency, as opposed to a smaller independent  and if clients are unhappy, they shouldn't sign the contracts.

Business Insider does not yet know precisely which  if any  of these nontransparent practices the report will address, but sources told us the impact of the report's findings will be huge.

A quick recap on the story so far

jon mandel

The controversy surrounding media agency rebates was thrust into the spotlight in March last year at the annual ANA conference.

Jon Mandel, the former CEO of WPP media agency MediaCom, stood on stage and alleged agency kickbacks are still "widespread" and cited them as one of the reasons he left the industry.

"Have you ever wondered why fees to agencies have gone down and yet the declared profits to these agencies are up?" Mandel said at the time. Later, he told Australian trade publication Mumbrella: "It was like somebody had died in the room." The interview was headlined: "Is this the most hated man in advertising?"

The big six advertising agency holding companies responded to the speech by repeatedly outright denying they take kickbacks or rebates in the US.

WPPs Martin Sorrell says firmly that media kickbacks are not a factor in America: There are no rebates in the U.S. #CannesLions  Adweek (@Adweek) June 26, 2015

In October last year, the ANA hired two firms to investigate the media rebates and transparency issues plaguing the sector.

ANA

One of those firms is K2, an investigative consultancy staffed by former FBI agents and founded by "father-son detective duo" Jules and Jeremy Kroll. Jules Kroll founded the Kroll Inc. private security and intelligence empire. The appointment signaled to many people in the industry that the investigation was going to be uncomfortably forensic.

jeremy kroll

The ANA also hired Ebiquity's Firm Decisions division, a marketing auditor, which works with clients including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Jaguar Landrover.

The investigators are expected to release two separate reports in the next two or three weeks.

K2 will present its evidence, but will not name names, according to sources.

Firm Decisions will present guidelines for marketers based on its own and K2's findings. The guidelines are set to draw from the 52-page template contract UK marketer body ISBA released earlier this year, sources told Business Insider.

An ANA spokesman told Business Insider: "The ANA report will be released in the coming weeks and we will respond to all inquiries at that time. At this time we have no additional comment."

What's the report going to say?

While many people in the industry were expecting the investigation to be like the 2012 ANA report  vague findings and a list of guidelines that nobody is forced to adhere to  it turns out the new ANA report will be more incendiary than that, according to the sources we spoke to.

However, as there are still a few weeks before its publication, lots could still change. Here are some of the potential scenarios:

The worst-case scenario: Evidence is presented of criminal behavior

While the report itself is not going to name any individuals or agencies, if K2 or Ebiquity uncover any evidence of criminal activity, it is their responsibility to hand their findings over to law enforcement.

Most people we spoke to about the report do not think agencies will end up in court. Advertisers will be reluctant to sue their agencies as it's a time-consuming and costly exercise, in which a marketer has to admit publicly that they had made a foolish appointment or didn't review their contracts properly.

However, one marketing consultant, who asked not to be named, told Business Insider there could possibly be a federal investigation if there is political pressure on the issue of mis-selling.

enron

"You look at what happened post-Enron. It died down until senators put political capital on it. And it only takes one senator to start drum-beating about the issue. Then it becomes a big, bright light," our source said. "It's horrible, I don't wish it on anybody."

People in the ad business have been jailed for their part in kickback schemes before.

In the US, Ogilvy & Mather account chief Shona Seifert and CFO Tom Early got 18 months and 14 months respectively in federal prison in 2005 for over-billing the White House anti-drug account. Grey Global Group print chief Mitch Mosallem was given a 70-month jail sentence in 2003 for operating a kickback scheme on the Procter & Gamble and Brown & Williamson accounts. Interpublic Group in 2008 settled accusations from the SEC that it booked $250 million in clients' volume discounts as its own revenue, and two executives were forced to settle a complaints against them.

More recently, with the rise of programmatic advertising, the way in which media agencies make their money has become even more complicated. It's a newer area and digital vendors are hungry for billings from big agency groups. Meanwhile, agency groups have set up central trading desks to buy and re-sell digital media. But those trading desks have long been the target of criticism. As Digiday wrote in 2012: "Theres something inherently fishy about an agency thats supposed to be unbiased funneling money through a vendor thats a sister company."

Display LUMAscape

Mark Ritson, Melbourne Business School associate professor of marketing, branding consultant, and Marketing Week columnist, thinks that the digital ad industry on many occasions exaggerates its audience figures (because, unlike traditional media, there is not a unified digital measurement metric that everyone agrees on,) which has "created a culture" of opaque behavior. He explained to Business Insider:

I can exaggerate the audience size by a factor of five and Im not creating any direct crime. But the minute I turn that into dollars and sell someone something I knowingly know is not true, or incentivize them in a manner that's not correct  when we turn an audience number into dollar figures it becomes a far more dangerous activity. Thats the issue.

Nobody is going to go to jail for over-estimating an audience size. But you could go to jail, theoretically, for incentivizing the sale of that audience in an illegal manner or pricing it in a manner you know to be incorrect.

When you put a dollar sign in front of the number, things get a lot more serious a lot more quickly.

Another big concern among agencies is that the behavior of a few bad actors, poster boys for how not to conduct business in this space, will tar the entire industry with the same brush.

The middle scenario: Clients and investors punish the agencies

Brian Wieser Pivotal Research

Last April, Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser downgraded the stock ratings for all the advertising agency holding companies he covers due to the client-media agency transparency issue. In a research note, he wrote:

Rightly or wrongly, there is a growing perception among marketers that agencies have been mis-leading, transferring value associated with media volumes without clients full understanding or support.

Wieser said he thinks it's unlikely the report will throw up criminal violations. But he still thinks it will make life harder for agencies.

When the ANA announced former FBI agents at K2 were digging into the transparency issue, shares in advertising holding companies Publicis and WPP fell that day, he said.

Investors began paying attention and now the majority of marketers, when exposed to details of practice, will do so too. Civil cases "are probably not likely, but would not be surprising either," Wieser said.

"How much revenue is at threat is hard to imagine, but what seems clear is that clients are being more aggressive in their negotiations and, [with this report,] clients will have more leverage," he added.

The best-case scenario: The report will reiterate that there is a deep level of mistrust between clients and their agencies  but it will aid more positive conversations

We already know trust is at a low. More than 70% of global advertisers and agencies surveyed by ID Comms agreed the way in which rebates are handles remains the biggest barrier to building long-term trust, as Marketing Week reported.

ID Comms

Graham Brown, a director at global media advisory firm MediaSense, said he hopes the report isn't made into a "tabloid press issue"  not least by consultancy firms that could gain business if the report manages to find malpractice  and instead helps marketers decide how important the relationship is with their agencies and whether they want to make it better, or review it.

"It doesn't matter how severe [the report] is; it's all about the level-headedness of how people read it and respond to it because, at the end of the day, these are high-quality service providers that clients need," Brown said.

He added: "For me, this is a boil that needs to lanced. Hopefully, with the toxicity that is within the relationship [at the moment,] this is like the antiseptic that cleans it up."

Business Insider is investigating the client-media agency transparency issue. If you would like to provide information, both on-the-record, or anonymously, please contact loreilly@businessinsider.com.

NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore





More From Business Insider


JAKARTA, May 25 (Reuters) - Crude oil output from Exxon Mobil's Cepu block in Indonesia could reach 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) up from 185,000 bpd at present, if the government approves an increase, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

"From our reservoirs there is still the potential to increase Cepu block production above 185,000 bpd," Exxon Mobil spokesman Erwin Maryoto told reporters.

"It could be up to 200,000 bpd, but (only) if the government agrees to all the permits, including environmental impact assessment. We are ready to increase production."

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Tom Hogue)
New York (AFP) - ExxonMobil and Chevron investors sided with the oil giants on climate change at annual meetings on Wednesday, rejecting shareholder resolutions to push Big Oil in a greener direction.

Environmentalists had hoped positive momentum from last December's Paris climate accord would galvanize investors to prod the industry to begin the process of rethinking the oil business.

But persuading the largest portfolio managers of the need for Big Oil to reorient itself in light of shifting policies on climate change still proved difficult, with a majority of shareholders voting down a trio of climate proposals at both ExxonMobil and Chevron.

ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson said the oil giant recognizes the importance of climate change, but that it opposes solutions it views as unrealistic.

"We are not ignoring the risk that is out there," said Tillerson.

"We are grounded in the reality of the world today... and the reality of the technology today."

"Until we see (technological change), turning the taps off is not acceptable to humanity," said Tillerson.

But a longtime advocate of climate measures, Sister Patricia Daly of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, said ExxonMobil was failing in its duty to show "moral leadership" on a crucial energy dilemma of the 21st century.

She dismissed Tillerson's acknowledgement of climate change as double-speak, absent action to back it up.

"As the world moves forward, ExxonMobil stands still," said Daly, who alluded to news stories over the last year that accused ExxonMobil of waging a deceitful publicity war against climate science.

"Decades have been lost... due in part to our company's campaign of disinformation."

- 'Stress test' vote closest -

At both ExxonMobil and Chevron, the closest vote among the climate-related measures was over a resolution proposed by New York state's retirement fund to require the oil companies to perform an annual climate "stress test" of how changing public policies affect assets and long-term business prospects.

Story continues

Advocates argue that tough climate policies could lessen the value of fossil fuel assets, resulting in decisions to keep oil in the ground.

The measure scored support from 38.2 percent of ExxonMobil shares, according to preliminary results released at the meeting. The breakdown was similar at Chevron.

Advocates of the measure said the level of support was high enough to get the attention of the oil companies.

"A significant number of Exxon shareholders want the company to step up when it comes to climate change," said Pete Grannis, first deputy comptroller for the New York State Comptroller.

"Exxon has a responsibility to its investors to explain how it can adjust its business to meet the global effort to reduce fossil-fuel consumption. Investors need to know that Exxon is taking steps to protect its long-term value."

Support was much lower for two other climate measures, which concerned appointing an independent director at each company with expertise on climate change and taking steps to keep global emissions from rising more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial level, a central goal of the 2015 Paris climate pact of nearly 200 governments.

At least three-quarters of shareholders voted against these proposals at both ExxonMobil and Chevron.
ISTANBUL (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The first ever World Humanitarian Summit generated some 1,500 commitments by governments, aid agencies, businesses and others to improve their response to people affected by conflicts and disasters. But the absence of many of the world's most powerful leaders disappointed aid officials and led skeptics to question whether enough political will exists to end conflicts - one of the biggest drivers of humanitarian need. So what did the summit, which ended in Istanbul on Tuesday, achieve? Here are some reactions: BAN KI-MOON, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL "It is a bit disappointing that some world leaders could not be here - especially those from the G7 countries, except Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. "Divisions between the members of the Security Council have prevented progress in recent years, not only on critical issues of war and peace, but on even humanitarian affairs. "That is why I make a special appeal to leaders of the nations that are permanent members of the Security Council to take important steps at the highest level. The absence of these leaders from this meeting does not provide an excuse for inaction. They have a unique responsibility to pursue peace and stability, and to support the most vulnerable. "It's not the resources - if there is political will, if there is political commitment, then we can handle this matter." WOLFGANG JAMANN, SECRETARY GENERAL, CARE INTERNATIONAL "A lot of smaller initiatives have been launched - like the establishment of NEAR, a new local NGO consortium - and we are positive about the funding commitments made in the 'Grand Bargain' with increased and more flexible funding. "However, the political dimensions of the demand for humanitarian assistance haven't been tackled sufficiently, and in particular the prevention and mitigation of conflict. "Failure to address this at the summit  which was likely given the failure of key leaders to attend - was exacerbated by the failure to lay out a pathway to make progress in the future." HELLE THORNING-SCHMIDT, CEO, SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL "As the first ever World Humanitarian Summit comes to a close in Istanbul, one of the big successes has been on education for children affected by conflict. Participants have recognized that in an emergency, education cannot be an afterthought and have taken concrete steps toward ensuring children don't miss out on years of schooling." SARA PANTULIANO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE "The commitments made at the summit have fallen short in substance and ambition and there is little clarity about how pledges that have been made will be taken forward and turned into reality. "There have been exciting initiatives launched on the fringes, but it has been a missed opportunity to tackle the major problems at the heart of the formal humanitarian system that are so desperately needed. "With all the talk about putting people at the center of humanitarian action, there has been little to suggest the main players will put aside their institutional interests for those of people struggling to survive in crises." MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU, CANADA'S MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LA FRANCOPHONIE "The path is clear, and it's up to us now to go out and walk the talk. We have heard many commitments, pledges and a real desire to reform, innovate and work better globally. "The World Humanitarian Summit has been a huge lift for the humanitarian community and our job is to ensure real change on the ground." WINNIE BYANYIMA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF OXFAM INTERNATIONAL "The first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul successfully brought together a dynamic mix of people who made progress on improving the humanitarian system - but ultimately it was world leaders who dodged their responsibility to protect civilians from the ongoing suffering of wars and natural disasters. "Governments have continued to only pay lip service to accountability - their actions on international humanitarian law and gender equality fail to match their words. The 40 or so world leaders who did attend were overshadowed by conspicuous absences, itself revealing the lack of global political will to make the necessary changes for the people who need them most." ELHADJ AS SY, SECRETARY GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES (IFRC) "Some of the outcomes of the summit, including the 'Grand Bargain', the increased recognition given to local action and local actors, and the emphasis placed on putting communities at the center of our work, should help strengthen our response. "Ultimately, the success of this summit is determined by what happens next; by our ability to translate these ideas and momentum into actions that improves the lives of the world's most vulnerable." (Reporting by Alex Whiting and Megan Rowling, editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
A rights activist was fatally shot on Sunday  and when she was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, staff spent "over an hour" deciding whether to bring her to the male or female ward, the Express Tribune reported on Monday.

The woman, identified only as Alesha, was eventually set up in "a bed in front of the lavatory," Qamar Naseem, a coordinator at Blue Veins, an advocacy group for women and trans people, told the Tribune. Alesha died on Wednesday, the Tribune reported.

Naseem told the Tribune that Alesha was attacked by a "gang" that targets and extorts local members of the trans community.

When Alesha was first admitted to Lady Reading Hospital, staff ignored requests to move her to the female ward, and moved her back and forth between the male and female wards, Naseem told the Tribune.

In a Facebook post on Monday, local activist group Trans Action Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that they had to pay for a private room: "Finally had to hire a room at Bolton Block. The hospital administration clearly told us that they cannot put us in male or female wards and we have to hire a private room."

After Alesha's death on Wednesday, the group blamed the Lady Reading Hospital for failing her: "The TransAction Board Member and the district coordinator of the transgender Provincial Alliance Alesha died in LRH because she never received intensive medical attention," the group posted, along with the hashtag #EndTransPhobia.

A spokesperson for Lady Reading Hospital told the Tribune that "the hospital was only acting as per the complaints of those admitted."

A for Alesha was held on Wednesday.
Since the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, things have gotten tense between Russia and Sweden. Russian jets have repeatedly prodded Swedish airspace, a massive hunt was launched for a foreign submarine  suspected to be Russian  off the coast of Stockholm, and the closure of Swedish airspace last November may have been caused by a Russian cyber-attack. Adding to the tensions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter in April that Moscow will take necessary measures if militarily neutral Sweden decides to join NATO.

And so tensions may only grow after Wednesdays vote by Swedish lawmakers to ratify an agreement that will allow NATO to more easily operate in the country.

The deal, known as a host nation support agreement, will grant NATO more room to operate on Swedish territory for training exercises or in the event of a conflict in the region. Russias role in the war in Ukraine and the changing security environment in the Baltic is forcing Stockholm to reconsider its 200-year-old policy of neutrality in armed conflicts, and the agreement brings Sweden closer to the alliance than ever before.

Its very significant in practical terms, Magnus Nordenman, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, told Foreign Policy. It helps clear up uncertainties about Swedens potential role in a crisis or war in the region.

The vote easily passed with a broad majority, but the debate in Swedish parliament highlighted the difficult tightrope that Stockholm must walk between Russia and the West. Prior to the vote, there were rumblings that the opposition Left Party and far-right Sweden Democrats, both of which are against NATO membership, would combine their votes to send the legislation to review, where it could have been delayed for up to a year. But the Sweden Democrats at the last minute agreed to back the closer military cooperation, denying the Left Party the necessary support to table the vote.

Story continues

This was the next big step in terms of deepening Swedens cooperation with NATO, said Nordenman. But its not close enough yet for membership. Domestically, there is still tons of hesitation.

Neither Sweden, nor its neighbor Finland, are currently members of NATO  a throwback to both countries histories of military neutrality and complex relations with Moscow. Since the end of the Cold War, Helsinki and Stockholm cooperated more closely with the military alliance and debated potential membership. In late April, the Finnish Foreign Ministry published an independent report exploring the consequences of NATO membership for Helsinki. The reports central finding was that the Nordic duo should stay together: either by both joining the alliance or abstaining.

But taking the leap towards NATO has been difficult for Helsinki and Stockholm, which are increasingly under domestic pressure to respond to Russia without provoking a Kremlin backlash. Meanwhile, Moscow and NATOs dueling rhetoric and actions have only further inflamed tensions in the Baltic. NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have sounded the alarm that their region could be the next flashpoint with Russia. In response to the growing number of airspace violations, Sweden remilitarized the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea in February for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

Violations and provocations near borders are part of a long pattern by the Kremlin to test its neighbors resolve, but it is one that is not always effective, Tomas Bertelman, a former Swedish ambassador to Russia, told FP.

Some may actually see it as a reminder of the dangers we might face if we challenge the Russians by becoming members of NATO, said Bertelman. But the large majority in Sweden obviously perceive it the other way around: It reminds them that being non-aligned means being undefined.

Public opinion towards NATO has risen over the last few years, but support remains jittery. A September 2015 poll conducted by the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet showed that 41 percent of Swedes were in favor of membership, with 39 percent against and 20 perecent undecided. Similarly, only about one-quarter of Finns are in favor of joining NATO.

But analysts contend that while support has not significantly increased for the military alliance since the Ukraine crisis, the number of those undecided has risen sharply. And that, says Robbie Gramer, associate director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, illustrates that the events of the last two years have shifted the NATO debate in both Finland and Sweden.

Its still very controversial in both countries, but the growing number of undecided people shows that a shift is taking place, Gramer told FP. Its a prelude to a prelude of NATO membership.

Photo credit: PONTUS LUNDAHL/AFP/Getty Images
MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) has not made any agreement with China's Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) to sell a stake, the Italian carmaker's chairman John Elkann said on Wednesday.

Fiat Chrysler already has a partnership with GAC that enables it to manufacture in China. Earlier this month an Italian newspaper said GAC was considering making an offer for a majority stake in Fiat.

Asked also if French carmaker Peugeot (PEUP.PA) could make a good partner, Elkann said Fiat was looking for a transformational deal.

"This (Peugeot) would not fall in this category," Elkann said.

According to a report in Les Echos on Tuesday, the French government is weighing a possible sale of part or all of its 14 percent stake in PSA.

Elkann, also head of holding company Exor (EXOR.MI) which controls Fiat, was talking at the Exor shareholder meeting.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; writing by Stephen Jewkes, editing by Francesca Landini)
Paris (AFP) - The global financial crisis may have caused an additional 500,000 cancer deaths from 2008-2010, a new study said Thursday, with patients locked out of treatment because of unemployment and healthcare cuts.

The figures were extrapolated from an observed rise in cancer deaths for every percentage increase in unemployment, and every drop in public healthcare spending.

"From our analysis we estimate that the economic crisis was associated with over 260,000 excess cancer deaths in the OECD (34-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) alone, between 2008-2010," study author Mahiben Maruthappu of Imperial College London told AFP.

"This suggests that there could have been well over 500,000 excess cancer deaths worldwide during this time."

For the European Union alone, the estimate was 160,000 additional deaths -- a term used to describe people who would not otherwise have died.

For the United States, the estimate was 18,000 and for France 1,500. For Spain and Britain, which provided universal healthcare, no additional deaths were calculated.

The study was published in The Lancet medical journal.

"Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide so understanding how economic changes affect cancer survival is crucial," Maruthappu said.

In 2012, cancer caused some 8.2 million deaths.

"We found that increased unemployment was associated with an increased cancer mortality, but that universal health coverage protected against these effects," Maruthappu said.

"This was especially the case for treatable cancers including breast, prostate and colorectal cancer."

The researchers used World Health Organization and World Bank statistics on more than 70 countries with over two billion inhabitants to analyse the link between unemployment, public healthcare spending and cancer mortality.

They analysed the trend over 20 years from 1990 to 2010.

They found that every one-percent increase in unemployment was associated with 0.37 additional cancer deaths per 100,000 people.

Story continues

- 'Case for universal coverage' -

Every one-percent drop in healthcare spending was associated with 0.0053 additional deaths per 100,000 people.

They then used this data to extrapolate additional deaths from 2008-2010, noting that the economic crisis saw a "substantial rise" in unemployment and cuts in healthcare spending in many countries.

"In countries without universal health coverage, access to healthcare can often be provided via an employment package," said co-author Rifat Atun of Harvard University.

"Without employment, patients may be diagnosed late, and face poor or delayed treatment."

In a comment on the study, US-based researchers Graham Colditz and Karen Emmons wrote that the data "make a strong case for universal health coverage and its protective effect on cancer mortality."
The long-awaited beachfront outpost of Soho House, Little Beach House Malibu, has set its soft opening for May 27 on the former site of Larry Ellison's Italian restaurant Nikita (shuttered in December 2014 after just 18 months in operation).

In deference to the close-knit local community, membership structure for LBHM is slightly different than at other Soho House locations: House members, who generally have privileges at, well, every club, will have to apply for a $1,500 annual Malibu Plus add-on for access to the beachside spot, which has a bar, restaurant, upstairs sitting area and two outdoor terraces. Malibu Local and Malibu Plus members will have access to the facility for abbreviated hours during the Memorial Day weekend; the official launch is June 1.

LBHM summer member programming also will have a distinctly local flavor, with a visit to the vineyards of Saddlerock Ranch and a foraging trip to Point Dume led by Malibu farmer Larry Thorne. The Malibu spot will be the second new Soho House club to open in late May: Ludlow House on New York City's Lower East Side bowed May 23.

The two renderings of the Little Beach House Malibu above show how the Soho House aesthetic has evolved from the West Hollywood location (below) for a beachfront setting.

This story first appeared in the June 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Read More: Malibu Beach Inn: A First Look at the Post-David Geffen Makeover
Fitbit is currently embroiled in a class-action lawsuit over the accuracy of its heart-rate tracking. As part of their case, the plaintiffs commissioned a scientific study of the accuracy of the Fitbit Charge HR and Surge. Wareable spoke to the scientist who was paid to do the testing, and unsurprisingly, he has bad things to say about Fitbit's devices.

Dr. Edward Jo, an assistant professor of Applied Physiology at California State Polytechnic University, was paid to conduct a "validation study," seeking to prove that Fitbits mis-report heart-rate data when users are working out.

DON'T MISS: THE CEO OF GOOGLE IS AN UNASHAMED IPHONE USER

The results appear to be damning -- according to the study, Fitbit devices are, on average, 20 beats per minute off the true heart rate. According to Jo, that's pretty bad:

"This inaccuracy that we've seen can definitely pose a danger to not only the clinical population, but those population of individuals who may not know that they have any cardiac related conditions. It can definitely put them at risk."

The results of a paid-for study in a lawsuit are obviously worth taking with a grain of salt, but Fitbit has hit back, and hard. In a statement given to media after the results were made public, Fitbit didn't seem amused:

"What the plaintiffs attorneys call a study is biased, baseless, and nothing more than an attempt to extract a payout from Fitbit. It lacks scientific rigor and is the product of flawed methodology. It was paid for by plaintiffs lawyers who are suing Fitbit, and was conducted with a consumer-grade electrocardiogram  not a true clinical device, as implied by the plaintiffs lawyers. Furthermore, there is no evidence the device used in the purported study was tested for accuracy.

Fitbits research team rigorously researched and developed PurePulse technology for three years prior to introducing it to market and continues to conduct extensive internal studies to test the features of our products. Fitbit Charge HR is the #1 selling fitness tracker on the market, and is embraced by millions of consumers around the globe. Consumer Reports independently tested the heart rate accuracy of the Charge HR and Surge after the initial lawsuit was filed in January and gave both products an excellent rating. We stand behind our heart-rate monitoring technology and all our products, and continue to believe the plaintiffs allegations do not have any merit. We are vigorously defending against these claims, and will resist any attempts by the plaintiffs lawyers to leverage a settlement with misleading tactics and false claims of scientific evidence.

Story continues

Jo takes issue with virtually everything Fitbit says. Firstly, with regard to the Zephyr Technology BioHarness used to compare the Fitbits, Jo says "The device has been validated twice to the traditional 12-lead ECG and also a 3-lead ECG for heart rate measurement. It's FDA approved, so for them to say it's not a clinical grade device  well, I don't even know what that means."

He also talked about the methodology used to test the Fitbits, namely putting one Fitbit on each wrist of a participant, putting a BioHarness on their chest, and getting them to work out. Jo claims that across 43 different participants, the Fitbits were off from the BioHarness -- and from each other -- by an average of 20bpm.

Assuming that he's not outright lying, that seems to point to a serious problem with Fitbit's heart-rate tracking. Whether it's a serious risk to consumers, or just bad advertising, is for a court to decide. In any case, the full interview with Jo is over at Wareable, and well worth a read.

Related stories

One woman's Fitbit just decided a criminal case

Hackers can invade a PC with a 10-second attack on a Fitbit

Big Amazon sale offers 60% or more off 58 different activity trackers

More from BGR: Apples next MacBook Pro will be like nothing weve ever seen

This article was originally published on BGR.com
By Letitia Stein TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Gawker will not get a new trial to defend its posting of a Hulk Hogan sex tape, and a Florida judge also declined to reduce the $140 million in damages a jury awarded the celebrity wrestler after finding the media website violated his privacy, attorneys said on Wednesday. An attorney for Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, praised Judge Pamela Campbell's decision to deny Gawkwer's motion for a new trial. Campbell this year presided over the jury trial in state civil court in St. Petersburg, Florida, near the wrestler's home. The mustachioed former professional wrestler's legal fight has drawn wide attention for testing a celebrity's privacy rights and press freedoms in the digital age. "Gawker has failed and continues to fail in recognizing their obligation to Bollea for their reprehensible behavior and method of doing what they call journalism," his attorney, David Houston, said in a statement. Before the decision, the New York-based media outlet had said it planned to bring its case before an appeals court. "We look forward to the legal process continuing and expect to be vindicated," Gawker said in a statement after Wednesday's hearing ended. In March, a six-person jury awarded $60 million to Hogan, 62, for emotional distress and $55 million for economic damages. The jury then slapped another $25 million in punitive damages on the company and its publisher and CEO, Nick Denton. Hogan sued the website for posting a one-minute, 41-second edited video clip in 2012 featuring him having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, the radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. He testified that he did not know that their consensual tryst was being recorded when it occurred nearly a decade ago inside Clem's home. Forbes reported this week that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel helped to bankroll his legal fight. Thiel was the subject of a 2007 Gawker article calling him gay, published when he was keeping mum publicly about his sexuality. "There are very serious questions about whether Hulk Hogan financially benefited," Gawker's statement noted in reference to the report. "And this case is far from over." (Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Bill Trott and David Gregorio)
Former James "Donny" Payne of SeaTac, a city in Washington near Seattle and Tacoma, wanted to create a mapping database of Muslims after a few weeks into his interim role, according to a report published in the Seattle Times on Monday.

After an investigation was completed, it was reportedly determined that Payne  an Army major for the Washington National Guard  received backlash for his request to gain access to intrinsic details of "Sunni and Shiite Muslim residents" living in SeaTac with "data-driven asset allocation" of "the neighborhood, house, and even person" in a map.

"I was trying to provide good governance to a diverse population," Payne told the Seattle Times. "And this is what is so outrageous to me: Because it was a white male asking for this information, suddenly people jumped to the conclusion that I must be out to get certain people. I'm deeply offended by that."

James "Donny" Payne wanted to create a mapping database of Muslim SeaTac residents.

Here are several other key findings from the investigation report:

1. Payne reportedly requested the city's geographic information services coordinator to make a "tactical map" using data compiled by the U.S. Census.

2. He reportedly wanted a mapping database of Muslims, because he believe there's the off-chance where he may have to pay a visit to the Muslim community in order to "make the peace" between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

3. He allegedly spoke to a former employee about creating an "Americanization" or assimilation outreach program  that never went into effect  exclusively for African Muslim immigrants and refugees, since Payne believed Latinos assimilated better.

4. He reportedly justified his proposal by citing that federal task force and outreach programs, such as the Countering Violent Extremism summit and plan hosted by the White House, already exists.

5. When talking to SeaTac's police chief, he reportedly mentioned concerns about the Ferguson protests, attacks in Brussels, Belgium, "radicalized" Muslims, and the Eritrean and Somali community.

Story continues

6. He was allegedly obsessed and concentrated on the possibility of social and civil unrest in SeaTac, and asked the police chief to support a reversal on an at-work firearms ban for employees.



7. He reportedly asked a human resources manager to mask the hiring of his personal friend from the military as his deputy to make it look as if the application process was tenuous and competitive.



8. When the human resources manager  who has partial Japanese background  refused, he allegedly started taunting, harassing and discriminating against her, specifically targeting her Asian identity.





Some of the ideas and proposals Payne has reportedly made isn't really new to the greater Muslim American community. For example, Countering Violent Extremism, commonly referred to as #CVE, is known to be a nationwide controversial outreach program known for casting nearly exclusive blanket scrutiny and surveillance  with collaboration by the FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security  on the Muslim American community, according to Muslim leaders who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

Here's how Twitter responded:

Found a sleeper for @realDonaldTrump VP. This dude is a mini-me, and I'm not talking only about hands. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/former-seatac-city-manager-tried-to-make-tactical-map-of-muslim-residents-investigation-finds/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1 ...

This is just so creepy and icky and wrong. Expect more of this if Trump wins. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/former-seatac-city-manager-tried-to-make-tactical-map-of-muslim-residents-investigation-finds/ ...

And today's front page of the Seattle times has report on resigned SeaTac city manager was trying to profile Muslims http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/former-seatac-city-manager-tried-to-make-tactical-map-of-muslim-residents-investigation-finds/?utm_content=buffer1ebcf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=owned_buffer ...

After hearing about the findings in the investigation, several Muslim American community members in the Seattle greater metropolitan area expressed grave concerns about their own rights as American citizens and residents  especially with presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who has also proposed a Muslim database.

Darakshan Raja, co-founder of the Muslim American Women's Policy Forum, said city officials like Payne suggesting a mapping database is not a new phenomenon, but rather a reality check of what the greater Muslim American community has to deal with.

"What [Payne] proposed has already been carried out and Muslim communities have a long history of being mapped as threats, which has harmful consequences for communities," Raja told Mic in an email.

"Under the guise of national security, our communities are consistently surveilled, targeted and criminalized," Raja added. "The impact of these programs has been the disappearance of community members, targeting of community leaders, the community infrastructure, fear of associating with the Muslim community as Muslims and the deep psychological harm Muslim communities are living with."

Mohsen Khalil, a 26-year-old Egyptian American currently residing in Seattle, told Mic her fears of living as a Muslim after September 11.

"September 11 has never ended in the U.S.," Khalil said. "Even in a liberal and progressive areas like Seattle, or SeaTac  where many Muslims live  we still see the nasty ramifications of bias against Muslims like this [mapping database proposal]. This is incredibly dangerous for all Muslims and those who are perceived to be Muslim."
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Young Syrians tasked with restoring their country's world famous archaeological heritage, ravaged by five years of war, are getting a helping hand from French experts. Syria's antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, has already moved thousands of artifacts from the ancient city of Palmyra - some of whose temples were dynamited last year by jihadist group Islamic State - and other historic sites into safekeeping. He has now invited the experts to spend a year training Syrian architects and archaeologists in restoration techniques. The French team visited the 900-year-old Krak des Chevaliers castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Tuesday to discuss the damage and deliver advice. The castle, which sits on a hill overlooking Lebanon, was overrun by rebels for three months in 2014 and damaged by mortar fire. Fighting has also left much of the old cities of Homs and Aleppo in ruins. "Sadly there is really a lot of work to do," said Jacques Seigne, Emeritus Research Director at France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). "Restoration work requires techniques and financing, of course, but one of the greatest aspects of restoration work is the human element...People have to be trained to know what they are doing and why they are doing it," Seigne said. Seigne is working with Sawa Consulting, which works on cultural projects in conflict zones, to deliver the training across accessible parts of Syria. Sawa Cosulting's Nicolas Edmet said the company is also discussing how to begin restoration projects across Syria with antiquities chief Abdulkarim, including in Palmyra, which United Nations cultural organization UNESCO has called one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world. Islamic State was driven out of the city by Syrian government and allied forces in March. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; editing by John Stonestreet)
PARIS (Reuters) - France has started using its strategic oil reserves for the first time since 2010 to counter union blockades of its refineries, the French oil industry federation said on Wednesday. Unions protesting against a planned labor reform are picketing refineries around the country. Coupled with some panic buying, the disruption has led to fuel shortages in large parts of France including Paris over the past week. France has strategic oil reserves worth several months of consumption on which it can draw in emergencies. They were last used when unions blocked refineries for several weeks in protest against pension reforms in 2010. Experts say French strategic oil reserves do not physically rise or fall, but that operators allocate volumes blocked in strike-hit refineries to strategic reserve obligations, freeing up other volumes in accessible locations. Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres (UFIP) President Francis Duseux told RMC radio that the industry had been using the strategic reserves for two days. A spokeswoman confirmed that "a small quantity" had been used. "Every day we use the equivalent of about one day of consumption. At worst, if the situation remains very tense, we can do this for three months," Duseux said. He added that even if all refineries were stopped, France's pipeline system would still allow the industry to operate. Industry experts confirmed that the reserves - set up following the 1973-74 oil crisis and stored in some 85 sites around the country - account on average for about three months of consumption, or longer during the summer months when there is no fuel consumption for heating. They are composed of 44 percent of crude oil and 66 percent of refined products. (Reporting by Bate Felix, Geert De Clercq and Michel Rose; Editing by James Regan; and Andrew Callus)
Paris (AFP) - French drugs giant Sanofi threatened Wednesday to sack the entire board of US rival Medivation, dramatically turning up the heat in an acrimonious, multibillion-dollar takeover battle.

Sanofi launched the attempt to replace all board members of Medivation after being repeatedly spurned in its attempts to purchase the group, which makes a high-priced, blockbuster prostate cancer medication called Xtandi.

As a shareholder in Medivation, the French company has the right to seek written support from fellow shareholders to overturn the board of its US rival.

The proposal by Sanofi, which offered a new slate of eight directors, needs the support of more than 50 percent of Medivation shareholders in a process that can last up to 60 days.

"We are seeking your support for the removal of the company board," said a copy of the request to shareholders, which was filed with the US market regulator, the New York-based Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sanofi accused Medivation directors of failing to act in the best interests of its shareholders.

"The company board has refused even to engage with us regarding our proposed offer," it said.

Sanofi said it was open to signing a confidentiality agreement so as obtain more information about Medivation, stressing that in such conditions it was in a position to increase its offer.

In a separate letter to the Medivation board, Sanofi chief executive Olivier Brandicourt urged the US firm to engage in talks.

Brandicourt said he believed Medivation shareholders "overwhelmingly support" the sale of the company, and his firm would drop its effort to replace the board if Medivation engages "in good faith" as part of a sales process.

The Sanofi boss said in a statement he had been left with no choice but to propose a new board of directors "who are more open to supporting the best interests of Medivation shareholders regarding a potential transaction".

Story continues

Medivation said last month its board had unanimously rejected Sanofi's unsolicited, non-binding cash offer of $52.50 a share, declaring that it "substantially" undervalued the company and was not in the interests of shareholders.

The offer valued San Francisco-based Medivation at $9.3 billion (8.2 billion euros).

That would make it Paris-based Sanofi's biggest acquisition since it bought the US biotech group Genzyme in 2011 for more than $20 billion.
To most people, the array of bright masks on display at the Eve auction house in Paris are nothing more than artwork for sale, decorative and remarkable pieces for aesthetes to add to their collections. But to Native Americans, the artifacts are sacred objects not meant for greater public consumption.

According to the Guardian, leaders of native tribes in the United States are calling for the auction house to return the artifacts  at least one of which features actual hair of their ancestors  to their respective communities rather than putting them up for auction on Monday.

"When these objects have been created for ceremonies within our community, a spirit goes into them," Bradley Marshall, a representative for the Hoopa Valley Tribal council of California, told a press conference on Tuesday. "When we create the objects, we're in prayer, we're breathing life into the object. And so these objects are not just a mere object in some fancy collection. These objects are living beings to us."

He called the auction (and others like it) "deplorable," adding, "It harkens to me of the slave auctions that took place so long ago that we thought they were past."

Read more: This Native American Chef Is Championing Food Justice in the Most Innovative Way

Source: Miguel Medina/Getty Images

N clashed with auctioneers in France over the same issue in June 2015, when an auction house sold roughly $450,000 worth of Native American masks and statues. Officials from the U.S. called for France to end the practice back in 2013, in a letter stressing the cultural importance of the objects. The message, it seems, hasn't taken.

The Guardian reported that this past Tuesday, representatives from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian held an "emergency meeting" with multiple Native American tribes as well as state and federal U.S. officials.

Online, Twitter users are rallying around the hashtag #StopTheParisAuction, calling out Eve auction house for profiting from and appropriating Native American culture:

Story continues

Our dead bodies are not trophies of genocide for you to buy and sell #StopTheParisAuction

Mascots in life and trophies in death. #StopTheParisAuction

Our ancestors remains aren't oddities, curiosities, or collectibles. Trafficking in human remains is unconscionable. #StopTheParisAuction

At Tuesday's press conference, Pueblo of Acoma's governor Kurt Riley said, "We are appealing to the people of France, and to the French authorities, to honor our humanity and the value of our ancient traditional beliefs by stopping this sale and returning this item."
By Matthias Blamont and Noelle Mennella

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi (SASY.PA) will step up its push into China, its second biggest market after the United States, in the next five years as part of a wider expansion into emerging countries, where it sees a large part of its future growth.

The French drugmaker is under pressure to diversify geographically and expand in areas such as oncology as it faces declining sales of its diabetes blockbuster Lantus.

The company went public with an unsolicited $9.3 billion (6.35 billion pounds) offer to buy U.S. cancer firm Medivation (MDVN.O) in April, setting up what could be a lengthy takeover battle.

"In the past years we have always managed to come up with a 5-10 percent growth in emerging economies and I think we will remain in this range this year, even if we should be closer to 5 percent than 10 percent," Peter Guenter, Sanofi's executive vice president for general medicines and emerging markets, said in an interview with Reuters.

Emerging markets, with expanding middle-class populations, are a big opportunity for global drug companies, although growth rates have slowed in recent years.

China has been particularly tough, following imposed price cuts and more cautious drug promotion in the wake of a record bribery fine for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) in 2014. Sanofi, however, has recently done better there than some of its rivals.

Guenter will move to a new position on June 1 as head of diabetes and cardiovascular, replacing Pascale Witz who is leaving the company.

The group's 2015 revenues in emerging markets reached 10.6 billion euros ($11.83 billion), up 8 percent at constant currency exchange rates.

"There are still a lot of unmet medical needs in China," Guenter said, with rapid urbanisation leading to the spread of "western diseases" such as diabetes.

"Patients still travel long distances to meet an established specialist in the big cities of the east coast because they fear they won't get the right treatment at home," Guenter said.

Story continues

Sanofi, which vies with China market leaders Pfizer (PFE.N) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L), as well as local manufacturers, has set up a research and development centre in Shanghai both to reinforce its presence and boost its credibility with authorities.

The company has been marketing Eloxatine -- usually prescribed for colorectal cancer -- for Chinese patients suffering with liver cancer for the past three years.

"The prevalence of liver cancer is very high China and very low elsewhere - we don't know quite why," Guenter said.

The company does not break out its sales figures by country but Guenter said the growth potential in China was particularly promising, especially with improved access to health insurance in rural areas of the country.

"Of course, the reforms aimed at implementing better healthcare in China will put some pressure on pricing in the coming years but our hypothesis is that volumes will compensate."

(Editing by Louise Heavens)
(Adds details from French diplomatic sources)

By Ahmed Aboulenein

CAIRO, May 25 (Reuters) - Egypt has asked European firms to help search for the black boxes of an EgyptAir plane that crashed on May 19 in deep water in the Mediterranean Sea, the airline's chairman and French diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

Nearly a week after EgyptAir flight 804 crashed with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments.

EgyptAir chairman Safwat Musallam did not name the French and Italian companies involved but told a news conference they were able to carry out searches at a depth of 3,000 metres.

Two French diplomatic sources said Egyptian authorities and France's BEA air accident investigation agency were finalising a contract with two French companies, Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search and Alseamar.

"The objective is to go extremely quickly so they can find the boxes that are probably in very deep waters," said one source.

The source said the costs of the contract would be shared between France and Egypt. Neither source was aware of talks with the Italian company.

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explain what brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it entered Egyptian air space, have not been located.

The black boxes are believed to be lying in up to 3,000 metres of water, on the edge of the range for hearing and locating signals emitted by the boxes.

Maritime search experts say this means acoustic hydrophones must be towed in the water at depths of up to 2,000 metres in order to have the best chance of picking up the signals.

Until recently, aviation sources say, the U.S. Navy or its private contractor Phoenix International were considered among the only sources for equipment needed to search on the correct frequency for black box pingers at such depths.

The U.S. Navy said on Tuesday it had not been asked to help.

Batteries powering the signals sent from the black boxes typically last only 30 days, but EgyptAir's deputy chairman Ahmed Adel said the search would continue beyond then if necessary, using other means to locate the recorders.

Story continues

"There are many examples in similar air accidents when 30 days passed without finding the box yet ... these planes' black boxes were found," he said.

'PLANE'S MACHINES WERE SAFE'

Musallam reiterated earlier comments from sources within the Egyptian investigation committee who said that the jet had shown no sign of technical problems before taking off from Paris.

He said the Airbus 320 was given a regular check by an Egyptian engineer and two Egyptian technicians at Paris airport.

"The engineer and the pilot both signed the Aircraft Technical Log which stated that the check found that all the plane's machines were safe," he said.

The investigation sources said the plane disappeared off radar screens less than a minute after entering Egyptian airspace and -- contrary to reports from Greece -- there was no sign that it had swerved sharply before crashing.

The crew did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, they said.

With no flight recorders to check and only fragmentary data from a handful of fault messages registering smoke in the plane in the minutes before it crashed, investigators are also looking to debris and body parts for clues.

One Egyptian forensics official said the small amount of human remains recovered pointed to an explosion on board though no trace of explosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypt's forensics authority, said this assessment was "mere assumptions" and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, John Irish and Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Dominic Evans and Richard Balmforth)
(Adds nuclear plants strike, jobless numbers)

By Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose

PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - The stand-off between France's government and a hardline union over labour reforms worsened on Wednesday as the country mobilised strategic oil stocks for the first time in 6 years and employers warned the protests were starting to hurt the economy.

Police broke up a fuel depot blockade with water cannon and staff at France's 19 nuclear plants voted to strike on Thursday, in an escalation which a majority of French fear could disrupt the Euro 2016 football championship.

Ministers insisted that Socialist President Francois Hollande's government would stand firm and ensure fuel supplies, with strategic reserves large enough to last more than three months.

Power industry experts said the nuclear plant strike, called by the militant CGT union leading the worker protests, was unlikely to provoke blackouts due to legal limits on strike action in the nuclear industry and power imports from abroad.

"The CGT does not rule this country," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told lawmakers. "We won't withdraw the (reforms)."

CGT chief Philippe Martinez said his union, one of the biggest in France, would press on with the strikes. "We will carry on," Martinez told France Inter radio.

At stake is a labour market reform to make it easier for firms to hire and fire. The government says it is crucial to fight unemployment stuck at above 10 percent of the workforce. The CGT says it would dismantle protective labour regulation.

Other unions back the latest version of the reforms, which have been watered down by the government. Seven out of 10 French people are in favour of withdrawing the reform to avoid standoffs between the government and unions, an Elabe poll showed.

Both the CGT and the government are digging their heels in with an eye of the month-long Euro soccer championship due to start on June 10.

A majority of French fear the tournament, operating under high security after last year's Islamist attacks on Paris, will be disrupted by protests and worry about the impact on France's image abroad, a poll showed.

Story continues

Nearly two-thirds would blame the government for it, the survey by Odoxa pollsters showed.

BATTLE FOR INFLUENCE

As well as embarrassing an already deeply unpopular government, the labour reform dispute has put a spotlight on the battle for influence between France's two largest unions, the CGT and the CFDT, whose refusal to join strike calls could blunt the impact of the industrial action.

Street protests over the law have been going on for weeks but with dwindling turnout. As it failed to convince the government to budge further, the CGT moved on to sectoral strikes such as those targeting refineries.

Total, which operates about a fifth of France's stations, said 348 out of its 2,200 petrol stations were out of stock.

A train strike on Wednesday was having less impact than one last week, with the SNCF rail operator saying 3 out of 4 fast trains and 6 out of 10 regular inter-city train were running. Only 10.6 percent of workers heeded the strike call, it said.

France's main employers group said the protests were starting to have an impact on the economy and could push fragile businesses to bankruptcy.

The standoff comes as signs are emerging that the labour market has at last begun to turn the corner with the number of unemployed people falling by nearly 20,000 in April in a second consecutive monthly decline, the Labour Ministry said in a monthly report.

(Additional reporting by Chine Labbe, Emmanuel Jarry, Bate Felix, Geert de Clercq and Brian Love in Paris, Pierre Savary in Lille; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
London (AFP) - A lawyer for Britain's government argued Wednesday it was too late to claim damages for 40,000 Kenyans who say they were tortured and abused by colonial officials during a state of emergency in the 1950s.

The case being heard at London's High Court pitches Britain's Foreign Office against Kenyans who allege abuse during the 1952-60 Mau Mau rebellion against British rule.

Britain announced in 2013 that it would compensate over 5,000 now elderly Kenyans in a deal worth nearly A20 million (26 million euros, $29 million) following a legal battle which lasted four years.

It also funded a memorial in Nairobi to the at least 10,000 people killed during the state of emergency.

But it did not accept legal liability for what happened and the current action, consisting of 27 test cases, is a separate process of civil litigation involving more claimants.

Outlining the Foreign Office's case, lawyer Guy Mansfield said all the alleged perpetrators were untraceable or dead, along with the relevant British politicians, civil servants and army generals.

"None of them can explain what happened during the emergency," he added.

"They too cannot now answer the grave allegations made against them."

On Monday, Simon Myerson, acting for the claimants, told the court that they had been subjected to "unlawful and unjustifiable conduct".

"It is bizarre, in 2016, to conceive of servants of the British government castrating men, either cold-bloodedly or in a frenzy of kicking and beating," he said.

Myerson added there had been "a cover-up on an industrial scale" of what happened.

While the case is expected to stretch into 2017, some of the claimants are expected to give evidence by video link from Nairobi from June 14.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel on Wednesday welcomed an overnight euro zone deal with Greece that offers Athens its firmest offer yet of debt relief.

"We welcome in particular the Eurogroup (of euro zone finance ministers) fundamentally agreeing on a package of debt relief for Greece," Gabriel, leader of Germany's centre-left Social Democrats, said in a written statement sent to Reuters.

"With this, the Eurogroup is sending an important and irreversible political signal that the required debt relief will actually take place from 2018," added Gabriel, who is also Germany's economy minister.

(Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Toby Chopra)
A high-profile womens rights attorney says Bill Cosbys defense team will do something all too common in rape cases: attack the victims.

Gloria Allred represents more than 30 women who have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. She spoke to Yahoo Guest Editor Stephanie Sy Wednesday for her first interview since a judge ordered the once beloved comedian to stand trial.

Having been in a Pennsylvania courtroom during the proceedings the day before, Allred said she suspects what Cosbys defense teams plan will be during the upcoming trial.

They will attack the victim. Thats what defense attorneys do, she said. They started that process yesterday. Are they trying to contaminate the potential jury pool? Very possibly they are.

More than 50 women have accused Cosby, now 78, of sexually assaulting them, but many of the alleged incidents occurred decades ago and exceed the statute of limitations.

Allred said that Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee whose allegation of sexual abuse in 2005 led to Pennsylvanias criminal charges against Cosby, will have to be brave because she will undergo a brutal cross-examination by the defense as they attempt to defame and discredit her.

SLIDESHOW  Bill Cosby >>>

Ive been practicing law for 40 years. I represent many victims even now in rape cases and sexual assault cases. Defense attorneys will ordinarily try to put the victim on trial instead of their own client, the defendant, on trial, she said.

But, she said, the evidence is going to speak for itself.

Allred said Pennsylvanias prior bad acts doctrine could allow the prosecution to call to the stand as witnesses other women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. This could be devastating to Cosbys case, she said.

That, I think, is what could make a difference in this case, so its not just going to be he said versus she said. It could be she-she-she-she said versus he said,Allred said.
Where Can You Find Opportunities in the Senior Gold Miner Space?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Importance of geographical exposure

Investors have become very cautious with regards to gold miners geographical exposure. There have been many instances of rising taxes and royalties, changes to mining codes, and asset nationalizations that have hampered the operations of several miners in various locations. This is the reason its important to understand the geographical exposure of different miners and the potential implications their exposure could have on their prospects.

High geographical risk

Among the senior gold miners, Kinross Gold (KGC) and Yamana Gold (AUY) have higher exposure to jurisdictions associated with high geopolitical risk. Kinrosss exposure to Russia (RSX) (RUSL) has been one of the major reasons for its discount versus its peers. While the reserves in Russia form 8% of the total reserves, close to 28% of its production is from its mines in Russia. Russia is a risky jurisdiction for mining, given the political uncertainty amid increased tension with the West. In November 2015, Kinross acquired Barricks Nevada assets to increase its exposure to the Americas. Going forward, as the Tasiast expansion takes hold and if its exploration initiatives at Bald Mountain are successful, its proportion of Russian exposure might fall.

Yamana is seeing tailwinds in the form of depreciating currencies in its operating jurisdictions such as Brazil (EWZ), Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Canada. However, Brazil and Argentina are not considered ideal mining jurisdictions.

Exposure to attractive jurisdictions

Barrick Gold (ABX) has favorable geographic exposure with ~45% of its production in 1Q16 coming from North America, ~35% from South America, and the rest from Africa and Asia-Pacific. At the end of December 2015, 88% of its reserves were also concentrated in the Americas. Investors should note that one of its biggest projects, Pascua-Lama, was stalled following an injunction by the Chilean government on environmental grounds. Costs in Africa are higher due to infrastructure requirements, complicated terrain, and political risks.

Story continues

Newmont Mining (NEM) is also quite diverse in terms of geographic exposure with 32.2% of production for 1Q16 coming from North America, 12.7% from South America, and 40.8% from Asia-Pacific. It has been trying to sell off its non-core assets elsewhere to increase its exposure to the Americas. The company has been contemplating selling its Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia while it bought Cripple Creek and Victor mine from AngloGold Ashanti (AU) in Colorado to get more exposure to favorable mining jurisdictions.

Goldcorps (GG) mines are all in the Americas, and its assets are considered relatively safe.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS is reportedly raising funds to purchase stakes in private-equity firms. The news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, stated that the companys asset management wing will initially acquire stakes through its Petershill II fund which raised around $1.5 billion.



Citing people familiar with the matter, the report stated that Goldman seeks to build a diversified portfolio of managers across various sectors and strategies. The New York-based Wall Street giant will focus on both medium and large size private-equity firms. In order to make such investments, Goldman is likely to launch a new fund.



Investors are interested in owning minority stakes in private-equity managers in order to capitalize on the stable cash flow of the firms and steady fees. For fund managers, a big investor brand name are more likely to attract institutional clients.



Notably, Goldman had commenced its fund-building process for Petershill II back in 2013. The fund aimed to acquire 1020% stake in hedge fund firms, which hold $2$15 billion in assets under management. Just like the first Petershill fund launched in 2007, the second fund targeted hedge funds with solid cash flows, and a good track record of at least 45 years.



Petershill II has managed to acquire stakes in several firms. These include the purchase of 10% stake in Fort Management LP, a $1.6 billion hedge-fund firm in Jan 2016 and a minority interest in Caxton Associates LP, a macro hedge-fund firm in Oct 2014.



However, the hedge funds industry currently does not seem lucrative. The first-quarter 2016 has been disappointing as heightened market volatility resulted in reducing investor risk tolerance that led to withdrawals from underperforming strategies. According to Hedge Fund Research, Inc.s Global Hedge Fund Industry Report, total global hedge fund capital fell to $2.86 trillion, with investor outflows of $15.1 billion marking not only the largest quarterly outflow since 2Q09, but also the first consecutive quarters of outflows since 2009.



Though Goldman is now eyeing private equity firms, the company is still interested in investing in hedge funds.



Currently, Goldman carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better ranked stocks in the finance space include KCG Holdings, Inc. KCG, LPL Financial Holdings Inc. LPLA and Banc of California, Inc. BANC, each sporting 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



GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report



KCG HOLDINGS (KCG): Free Stock Analysis Report



LPL FINL HLDGS (LPLA): Free Stock Analysis Report



BANC OF CA INC (BANC): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
With less than a month until British citizens vote on whether the U.K. should stay in or leave the European Union, Americans could be forgiven for being preoccupied with their own political dramas. Still, President Obama conspicuously weighed in on the British debate in April, writing in The Daily Telegraph with the candour of a friend that the votes outcome would be of deep interest to the United States. Specifically: The U.S. and the world need your outsized influence to continuein Europe.

British voters themselves arent so convinced. Polls currently show the Remain side in the lead, but the outcome is by no means assured. Advocates of continued U.K. membership in the 28-member political and economic bloc have argued that exiting the organization would severely damage the British economy; diminish the U.K.s international influence; and destabilize a European continent already wracked by a refugee crisis and economic problems. Those advocating for a so-called Brexitthe Leave campargue that it would liberate the U.K. from onerous regulations devised and enforced by non-representative foreign bodies based in Brussels. (EU bodies set policy for member states on, among other things, trade, agriculture, and some fiscal matters; member states generally retain control over their own foreign and defense policies. Britain specifically has negotiated the ability to opt out of certain EU-wide policies, particularly on immigration and further political integration.) With its sovereignty thus restored, the U.K. would be better able to handle its own economic, immigration, and other challenges.

Related Story

What Is the European Union, Exactly?

Leave campaigners in the U.K., notably former London Mayor Boris Johnson, have criticized the American presidents stance on Britains debate. In his own Telegraph op-ed, Johnson accused the U.S. of hypocritically advocating for EU restrictions over the U.K. of a kind that it would never accept for itself.

Story continues

Alan Sked, also in the Leave camp, sees a deeper flaw in the American view of the entire Britain-EU relationship. Sked, a historian at the London School of Economics, was an early proponent of British independence from the union; he founded the U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, in the 1990s with that goal in mind. (He has since disavowed the party, now led by Nigel Farage, as a vehicle of the far right, obsessed with race and immigration.) In an article detailing The Case for Brexit in The National Interest last fall, he called the European Union an up-to-date model of a supranational empire, like the Habsburg, Russian, German, and Ottoman Empires that dominated the continent prior to World War I.

Recommended: Should Obama Apologize in Hiroshima?

Americans, he told me earlier this year, tend to think of Britain as just one of those [American] colonies in 1776, and all the European states as other coloniesthus they see a kind of United States of Europe as the desirable result. Sked thinks its the reverse: [T]he real parallel is that Britain should secede from this empire and become an independent state, protecting freedom, as the Americans withdrew from the British Empire.

I spoke with Sked about what he sees as the stakes for Britains referendum, and why Americans have been so involved in the European project to begin with. An edited and condensed transcript of the conversation follows.

Edward Delman: Could you go into a bit more detail about [your] characterization of the EU [as an up-to-date ... supranational empire]?

Alan Sked: Empires come in various shapes and forms. Usually at their simplest they're just a territory run by an emperor, and they neednt be supranationalJapan has an emperor today and Japan is 99 percent Japanese. But most empires are agglomerations of territories around a sort of metropolitan basea home statewhich then expands and takes in other states and territories with different peoples, who are usually conquered and subdued and forced to be made part of an empire. They either accept the situation or they rebel like the Americans. So this idea of Europe as an empire is one in which you get a central bureaucracy making rules for the whole of Europethis is what the EU would like to do. Instead of having best practice, viewed from one state to another, you have rules and regulations and directivesone size fits allactually smothering progress in the individual European states.

Recommended: This Is How Sanders's Political Revolution Ends

Delman: So if the EU is an empire, how would you characterize a British exit from the EU? Could that be seen as decolonization, or anti-imperialist?

Sked: It would be seen as undermining empire. It wouldnt be [anti-colonial] insofar as the Europeans havent quite colonized us, but it would certainly be anti-imperialist. It would be a strike for freedom; it would be a strike for self-determination. It would be liberty. It would be progress.

Why should we be different from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the worlds major democracies? We should have a government which is in control of its own laws, and we shouldnt have to accept regulations and laws made by a foreign bureaucrat over whom weve got no control.

Why should we be different from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the worlds major democracies?

Delman: Both [the Conservative MP] Michael Gove and [the Conservative MP] Steve Baker have, in some ways, compared a British exit to how the Americans fought for their independence and self-sovereignty in the 18th century. Do you find any sort of truth or resonance in that comparison?

Sked: Yes, this is what Americans dont understand. Americans tend to think of Britain as just one of those colonies in 1776, and all the European states as other colonies, and I think the parallel in the minds subconsciously of many Americans is that they should all get together and form a United States of Europe, just as the American colonies formed a United States of America, and look how wonderful that turned out. But they dont seem to realize that instead of these states forming a wonderful future baby brother for America, theyve formed a nasty empire already, and the real parallel is that Britain should secede from this empire and become an independent state. They think Europe today is like America in 1776, whereas in [actuality], Britains like America in 1776.

Recommended: A Shocking Find In a Neanderthal Cave In France

Delman: The U.S. administration has made it clear that they dont want the U.K. to leave the EU

Sked: Its quite amazing. But thats because theyre not really interested in protecting British interests; theyre interested in protecting American interests, and they think that American interests would somehow be better protected by keeping Britain as a friend inside the EU. But if Britain were to join a process whereby it should completely lose its national sovereignty and just became a province of an EU super-state, she wouldnt be able to protect American interests. Her voice would disappear and be subordinate to [those] who believe that the European Union should be a world state, which along with China and Russia would be rivals to the United States. Inside that, Britain would have no separate voice. She would be smothered. So its not in the American interest to keep Britain in the EUfar from it. If she wants to keep Britain as a friend and supporter, then she should welcome Britain being able to do that freely outside a bonding which sees itself potentially as a rival to the United States, not a partner.

Delman: I think most Americans are either ambivalent about the referendum coming up in June or probably would rather have Britain remain in the EU. What would you say to an American who is skeptical of the positive consequences of a British exit?

Sked: That it would certainly be in British interests, because we would be a free country again, be able to trade freely with the rest of the world and make our own free-trade pactsand wed make a free-trade deal with Europe quite quickly, I think. We could look forward to all sorts of advantages. But America could look forward to having a reliable ally that would still be very influential in Europe, but wouldnt be outvoted by states that are not necessarily pro-American.

I think if Britain came out, she might want to join NAFTA or something, which would be both an interest of Britain and the United States. NAFTA doesnt have any political supranationalism in it. Canada and Mexico remain free, sovereign countries; so does America. So why couldnt we open up world trade by having Britain join America, Canada, and Mexico in NAFTA? And Britain could have free-trade deals with India, China, and all sorts of places. That would bring America and Britain even closer together, and Britain would remain Americas closest NATO ally.

The contribution of the EU to international affairs hasnt been peace, but pacifism.

Delman: Do you think that its at all hypocritical of the U.S. government to be opposed to a British exit, given that it is in some ways a quest for self-sovereignty and national self-determination?

Sked: Its hypocritical, but I think its a lack of understanding rather than anything else. My understanding is always that the Americans view, as I said, Britain and Europe as part of a process that repeats their process in 1776all the colonies getting together and forming a federal union. I think this image is embedded in the American diplomatic mentality. You must remember, it was the Americans after [World War II] who were the greatest proponents of European unity. The Marshall Plan was predicated on the belief that, in return for the Marshall funds, Europe would unite and form a United States of Europe. American diplomats were all hand-in-glove with [the French official] Jean Monnet and his action committee for his United States of Europe, and the CIA was pouring millions into the European movement in the late 40s and 50s to try and bring about a United States of Europe. John Foster Dulles, who became Eisenhowers secretary of state, was [secretary] of the American Committee for United Europe.

[Following World War II], the European movement is funded largely by America, and the American policy-making elite and media elite are all behind it, and the people who stop it are the British. The British, they just say, No, weve won the war. Were independent. What the hell do you want us to get into bed with all these ex-fascists and Nazis and everything, and these people [who] dont know about parliamentary democracy. Were not doing it. And Marshall actually buggers up the whole thing because when he goes to Harvard and makes this speech that starts the Marshall Plan, he says, If the Europeans get together and tell us what they want, well be happy to oblige. Instead of imposing conditions, he says the Europeans should do it. So the British then organize the start of the Marshall Plan, but make sure its not federalist. They make sure the body is an intergovernmental body in Europe that does all this, and the Americans cant therefore impose federalism on Europe right from the start in return for American Marshall funds. And the American State Department has continued from there, post-45, always to be kind of a stepmother to the European Union.

Delman: Dont you think that if Britain broke away from the EU, that might damage the U.K.-U.S. special relationship in some way?

Sked: I hope the American view is changing. The Americans must be disappointed in many ways with the EU. It hasnt actually helped them very much. The French and the Germans were all sixes and sevens when it came to the [1990-1991] Gulf Warthe Germans kept out [of combat]. When it came to Libya, the Germans kept out. They never agree on anything. And its very unclear what European unity has actually brought about except the single market, which makes trading a bit easier, and a single currency. But that would still probably survive a British exit, so theres no fears there.

The European Union is pacifist. They believe in soft power, which gets you nowhere with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or in the Middle East. You know, [America] cant get the Europeans to spend [the NATO target of] 2 percent [of their national budgets] on defense. The only people in NATO that actually count [are] the Americans, the British, and the Frenchthe rest are all duds. The Germans, you know, their helicopters dont work, their submarines don't work. According to research, most Germans wouldnt fight to defend Poland or the Baltic states. The contribution of the EU to international affairs hasnt been peace, because NATO has kept the peace, but pacifism. The Dutch Army recently ran out of bullets for training their troopsthey all had to shout, Bang, bang! and pretend they had bullets. The Dutch [peacekeepers] in Bosnia wouldnt use weapons to defend [the town of] Srebrenica [which Serb forces ultimately overran, massacring some 8,000 people there in 1995]. And when Putin makes threats, the Americans might have to do something. Even the British under [Prime Minister David] Cameron have cut down the British armed forces to practically nothing. So what is a united Europe to America? In terms of hard power, it doesnt provide any. It provides pacifism, and in an increasingly dangerous world, pacifism and soft power dont get you anywhere.

We dont know whether an independent Scotland would be allowed in the European Union.

Delman: Hasnt Britain in some ways also played the role of the bridge between Europe and the United States? Isnt that an important role?

Sked: Well its claimed that this happens, but its difficult to see the hard evidence, because the single market still doesnt cover all sorts of things, like financial services, professional [services]. And Britain, since 1995, for all its influence, has been outvoted more than anybody else in the [European] Council [the body that sets priorities for the union]. Its been outvoted 72 times, far more than anybody else. So its difficult to say its actually displaying much influence or leadership. And the law book of European directives and regulations is now up to [hundreds of thousands of] pages. So its not stopping bureaucracy.

Delman: One aspect of a potential exit that you dont address in your National Interest piece is the question of Scotland, who many expect to hold a new independence referendum in the event of a British exit

Sked: This is used as a threat by the pro-Europeansvote for Brexit and the United Kingdom breaks up. Well you must remember: First of all, according to surveys, fewer Scots think of themselves as Europeans than [members of] the rest of the United Kingdom. According to the Scottish and British attitude survey, only 9 percent of Scots see themselves as Europeans, whereas in the United Kingdom generally its 16 percent. Secondly, [a significant minority] of the Scottish National Party (SNP) supporters, according to opinion polls, are against remaining in the European Union. Thirdly, the Scottish National Party official stance towards the EU is quite incredible. At the time of the [2014 Scottish independence] referendum, they said they wanted to be an independent Scotland in a federal Europe. Well, thats a contradiction of terms. You cant be an independent Scotland in a federal Europe.

Theres a question of whether the European Union would allow [Scotland] in, because places like Spain, who dont want Catalonia to go independent, or places like Italy, who dont want the north of Italy to break off, theyll be saying, Why are we allowing this break-off state to come in to the European Union and encourage our break-away states? So we dont know whether an independent Scotland would be allowed in the European Union. They said they would just stay in, but thats by no means certain at all. If they were allowed in, Scotland has six members of the European Parliament, which has about 750 members overall, which will hardly protect their interests. Shell have no European commissionershell be too small. And in the Council of Ministers, the European Council, she would be overlooked. Shed be on the same level as Slovenia or Albania. Nobody would care what the Scots thought. So an independent Scotland in the EU couldnt protect its interests politically.

It would be in dire straits economically. During the referendum in 2014, the SNP were predicating their future on huge oil revenues, based on oil costing $130 a barrel. Well its now [less than $50] a barrel rather than $130. The North Sea [oil industry] is being wound down. All the moneys come out, theyre taking all the rigs away. Its a disaster area. Theres huge unemployment now in the Highlands and elsewhere. 60-70,000 jobs lost because of the decline in the oil price. So the great basis of Scottish independence, the oil industry, now doesnt exist or wont exist in the future for all intents and purposes. That means theres going to be a huge economic deficitnational debt and national deficitwhich means that Brussels would do to Scotland what Brussels has already done to Greece, should Scotland be in a similar situation to Greece because of her indebtedness. So what you would end up with, having a bankrupt Scotland entering a bankrupt Europe, because Europes not doing very wellyoud have massive unemployment.

And in any case, most Scots dont want a new referendum. Its quite clear from opinion polling that theres no support [for it].

Delman: I find that surprising, given how many voted so decisively for the SNP in the last general election.

Sked: But voting for the SNP doesnt necessarily mean you want an independent Scotland. It doesnt necessarily mean you want an independent Scotland in Europe. The Labour Party was in such dire straits at the last election and the Tory party is so unpopular in Scotland, you can see thats why the SNP got majority.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Joseph White

May 25 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google self-driving car project said Wednesday it will launch this year a new technology development center in suburban Detroit.

The Mountain View, Calif. search company said in a blog post that engineers at the facility, located in Novi, Mich., will start with work fitting the company's autonomous driving systems into Chrysler Pacifica minivans, under a previously announced agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV .

Google said the 53,000 square foot facility "will help us collaborate more easily and access Michigan's top talent in vehicle development and engineering" as it develops its self-driving vehicle systems.

(Reporting By Joseph White; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Focused On Exploring Atlantic Canada

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / GREAT ATLANTIC RESOURCES CORP. (GR.V) (the "Company" or "Great Atlantic") is pleased to announce it has acquired by staking a Mineral Exploration Licence prospective for lithium and gold mineralization in eastern Nova Scotia. The Licence consists of 33 claims and is referred to as the Mitchell Brook Project. Lithium and gold mineralization are reported in close proximity to the Mitchell Brook Project on adjacent claims owned by Globex Mining Enterprises Inc.

A lithium-bearing pegmatite intrusion is reported in close proximity to Great Atlantic's Mitchell Brook Project. Witch's Glen Gold Inc. reported a lithium and beryllium bearing pegmatite during a 2010 trenching program approximately 500 north the Company's Mitchell Brook Project. This included a 2 metre chip sample of pegmatite in one trench which was reported to return 5360 parts per million (ppm) Li (0.536% Li). Another 2 metre chip sample of the pegmatite from the same trench was reported to return 1160 ppm Be (0.116% Be). This trench is located within the adjacent Caledonia Property of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. Witch's Glen Gold reported pegmatite boulders (no samples reported), some of which may occur within Great Atlantic's Mitchell Brook Project.

Gold bearing quartz veins cutting metasediments are also reported in close proximity to the Mitchell Brook Project within Globex's Caledonia Property. In 1953 Hemany Mines Ltd. reported sample assays of 0.91, 0.60 and 0.243 ounce / ton Au in one area within 500 metres of Great Atlantic's Mitchell Brook Property.

The Mitchell Brook Project is predominantly underlain by sediments - metasediments of the Cambrian-Ordovician Goldenville Formation, part of the Meguma Group. The Goldenville Formation in Nova Scotia hosts numerous gold deposits (quartz vein and disseminated deposits). The Goldenville Formation in this region is intruded by Devonian granite including near the northern boundary of the Mitchell Brook Property.

Story continues

David Martin, VP Exploration for Great Atlantic Resources, stated, "We are excited to be able to acquire this property. It has potential for both Meguma - type gold deposits and pegmatite hosted lithium deposits based on the sporadic historic work in the area."

The Mitchell Brook Project is located approximately 120 kilometers northeast of Halifax. A provincial highway accesses the property. The property covers an area of approximately 534 hectares.

https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/11038_GRimage.jpg

Readers are warned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a qualified person. Further work is required to verify that historical assays referred to in this News Release are accurate.

David Martin, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical information contained in this News Release.

On Behalf of the board of directors

"Lorne Mann"

Director

604-488-3900

About Great Atlantic Resources Corp.: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on the discovery and development of mineral assets in the resource-rich and sovereign risk-free realm of Atlantic Canada, one of the number one mining regions of the world. Great Atlantic is currently surging forward building the company utilizing a Project Generation model, with a special focus on the most critical elements on the planet that are prominent in Atlantic Canada, Antimony, Tungsten and Gold.

This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.

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.

Great Atlantic Resource Corp

888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4

SOURCE: Great Atlantic Resources Corp.
Washington (AFP) - A breakthrough European Union agreement Wednesday to release fresh bailout funds to Greece averted the threat of a massive default on its debt in coming months.

But the International Monetary Fund -- seen as a crucial partner to the eurozone country's bailout -- faulted the deal saying official EU creditors had still not spelled out long-term debt relief indispensable to strengthen Greece's finances.

Hours after eurozone finance ministers announced that they would unlock 10.3 billion euros ($12 billion) in bailout cash that Greece needs for looming bond payments, the IMF said it could not add its funds to the bailout as long as its demand for a detailed debt-relief plan had not been met.

European officials cheered the agreement reached after late-night talks as a breakthrough toward reviving the Greek economy, and claimed the IMF had agreed to join in with its own loans by the end of this year.

"The crisis between Greece and the eurozone is over and behind us," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told a cabinet meeting in Paris Wednesday.

"By this, any liquidity crisis is excluded for the next months," said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

- Debt relief too vague -

But the IMF confirmed critics who said the Eurogroup, which represents Greece and the other 18 countries that use the euro, had just "kicked the can down the road," saying it had not received sufficient assurances that European creditors will deliver on much-needed debt relief.

"Greece is in a situation where it needs a disbursement, and so we were certainly willing to concede on some points," a senior IMF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told journalists hours after the talks concluded.

"But we have not conceded on the point that we need adequate assurances regarding debt relief before we go to our board... I am hopeful we will get there."

The immediate consequence of the agreement in Brussels was that Greece will receive the funding it needs to make huge payments due on loans from the European Central Bank and IMF between July and October, and to continue to implement needed reforms through the end of the year.

Story continues

The disbursement rewards Athens for meeting the reform requirements of the 86-billion-euro bailout program agreed last July.

But the deal still did not address how the country will avoid being overwhelmed over the long run by its roughly 250 billion euros in debt to official creditors.

The IMF has made reducing that burden a condition for its continued participation in the bailout program, despite opposition from Germany to giving Athens more favors.

Crucially, the IMF and EU creditors disagree on just how much Athens can improve its finances through ongoing reforms.

The Eurogroup insists that Greece will be able to achieve a 3.5 percent primary budget surplus, which excludes debt servicing, within a few years -- giving it substantial room to boost economic growth -- but the IMF says a 1.5 percent surplus is the best that can be expected.

Wednesday's agreement acknowledges the need for debt relief, which could involve loan maturity extensions, long payment deferrals, and interest rate reductions.

But the IMF said the relief would only be delivered at the end of the current bailout program in mid-2018, and the general parameters sketched out remained too vague.

"We need to sit down and to quantify that," the official said. "We are not in the situation where the IMF can say that we're ready to move ahead."

The official said the IMF hoped for a more explicit debt relief plan by year-end, but was uncertain it would happen.

The comments highlighted continued strains between the IMF, the European Commission and the ECB over rescuing Greece.

The three joined together in the first two massive bailout operations beginning in 2010, which failed to stabilize the Greek economy and restore it to growth.

- Eurogroup-IMF tensions -

The tensions were evident Wednesday after Germany's Schaeuble faulted IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde for her absence from the crunch talks.

"It might have been helpful if the managing director would have been present. This would probably have saved us a number of hours," he said.

The IMF had no comment on the issue; Lagarde had been in Kazakhstan on an official visit at the beginning of the week and was traveling to Japan for the Group of Seven summit Wednesday.

Critics said the lack of long-term sustainability to Wednesday's deal means little was achieved.

"In a spectacularly sophisticated show of kicking the can down the road, debt relief will be considered -- later," said Paul Donovan, an economist at UBS.

Rating agency Fitch kept its Greece sovereign rating at "CCC", just above default, saying that only the short-term threat was averted.

"A question mark is therefore likely to remain over the sustainability of Greek debt in the medium term," it said, adding that without debt relief, the country would face "substantial increases in gross financing requirements."
Idomeni (Greece) (AFP) - Greek police on Wednesday moved another 1,000 migrants out of Idomeni, the squalid tent city where thousands fleeing war and poverty have lived for months, on the second day of an operation likely to last a week.

The migrants, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, were bussed from the camp on the Macedonian border to newly opened centres near Greece's second city Thessaloniki, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south, bringing the total moved out to 3,000 since Tuesday.

They included 779 Syrians and Iraqis, 170 Kurds and 57 Pakistanis and Afghans, a police source in Athens said, adding that the operation had concluded for the day and would resume again on Thursday.

"There is an unknown number who have set out on their own," the officer had said earlier, suggesting the operation could be over sooner than expected.

But conditions at the new camps are far from ideal, the Save the Children charity said Wednesday.

- New camps 'inhumane' -

"When families arrived in the new camps yesterday, many with babies and young children, they were faced with deplorable conditions," the group's mission leader Amy Frost said in a statement, describing conditions as "inhumane".

There was very little food and water and just four incredibly dirty toilets for almost 200 people," she added.

When the evacuation began Tuesday, some 8,400 people were still living in the muddy and dirty Idomeni camp, which has become a potent symbol of human suffering and chaos as Europe struggles with its worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Most of its residents have fled war and misery in the Middle East and South Asia.

Djohana, an English teacher from Idlib in northwest Syria, said all she had found in Greece so far were "lies and a bad situation".

"Even an animal can't live this life," she told AFP on her way out of Idomeni.

As police could not tell her which camp she would be taken to, she opted to join her family in a local hotel.

Story continues

Around 100 migrants refused to enter the new centres on Tuesday and headed off on foot towards Thessaloniki city.

Non state-run media were again kept at a distance during Wednesday's operation.

The Greece-Macedonia border is one of several in the Balkans closed since mid-February as countries on the migrant route have sought to halt the influx.

And the transfer comes after a brutal winter of freezing rain and mud which saw many people trying to force their way across the border, sometimes resulting in violent encounters with Macedonian police.

- 'People-smugglers' -

At its height, more than 12,000 people crammed into Idomeni, a camp that aid groups originally opened last year to accommodate just 2,500 people during what was at the time a short procedure to cross the border.

The camp exploded in size after Balkan states began closing their borders in February to stem the human tide seeking new lives in northern Europe.

Migrants are wary of relocating to organised camps away from the border or Athens because it could be harder to find people-smuggling contacts.

There are currently more than 54,000 migrants stranded in Greece, according to government estimates.

Protesting migrants have repeatedly blocked rail traffic between Greece and Macedonia, hampering trade between the two countries.

So far this year, the International Organization for Migration says an estimated 190,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. More than 1,350 have died en route.

A controversial deal between Turkey and the EU came into force in March aiming to halt the flow of people to Greece.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Tuesday that parliament would block laws linked to the deal if Ankara is not granted its key demand of visa-free travel.
Gunmen killed three paramilitary soldiers Wednesday after opening fire on their vehicle in Peshawar in Pakistan's insurgency-racked northwest, officials said.

The drive-by shooting took place on the city's Ring Road.

"Three gunmen riding two motorbikes opened fire at the vehicle of the Frontier Constabulary, killing three soldiers on the spot," city police chief Mubarak Zeb told AFP.

He said the attackers escaped.

The Commandant of the Frontier Constabulary, Liaqat Khan, also confirmed the incident and casualties.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Pakistani Taliban regularly target military and civilian installations as part of an insurgency which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Peshawar is the gateway to the restive tribal areas where the military has been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants for over a decade.
From Esquire

Believe it or not, there are actual concerns in the world that do not depend on what 1,000 people in Iowa, called at random, think of the trustworthiness of a guy who gets policy advice from Alex Jones.

There is, for example, the Lake Chad Basin in Africa, which is probably where our next humanitarian disaster is about to happen. Nine million people live in the region, which also happens to be where Boko Haram has been on the rampage, slaughtering people and burning people out of their homes. And Boko Haram is only one of the existential problems that exist in that piece of the planet. The United Nations would like the world to notice, if the world isn't too busy. From Nigeria's Today:

Giving the warning yesterday in Borno State at the end of his four-day visit to Niger and Nigeria, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Stephen O'Brien, said efforts must be made to stem the tide of humanitarian crisis in the Lake. "Environmental degradation, poverty, under-development and violent extremism are converging to create a complex and multi-faceted crisis, and only with comprehensive coordination from humanitarian, development and security actors will we be able to deliver for people who are suffering so terribly in Lake Chad."

One of the other problems in the Lake Chad Basin is that Lake Chad has been disappearing for several years. The food supplies are withering from drought. The cows are dying of thirst and the vultures are eating them. From UN.org:

According to FAO Director of Land and Water Parviz Koohafkan, the Lake Chad basin is one of the most important agricultural heritage sites in the world, providing a lifeline to nearly 30 million people in four countries-Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Lake Chad is located in the far west of Chad and the northeast of Nigeria. Parts of the lake also extend to Niger and Cameroon. It is fed mainly by the Chari River through the Lagone tributary, which used to provide 90 percent of its water. It was once Africa's largest water reservoir in the Sahel region, covering an area of about 26,000 square kilometres, about the size of the US state of Maryland and bigger than Israel or Kuwait. By 2001 the lake covered less than one-fifth of that area. "It may even be worse now," says Abbas Mohammed, a climatologist at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Story continues

And naturally, the people are beginning to fight over the things they need to live.

The impact of the drying lake is causing tensions among communities around Lake Chad. There are repeated conflicts among nationals of different countries over control of the remaining water. Cameroonians and Nigerians in Darak village, for example, constantly fight over the water. Nigerians claim to be the first settlers in the village, while Cameroonians invoke nationalistic sentiments, since the village is within Cameroonian territory. Fishermen also want farmers and herdsmen to cease diverting lake water to their farmlands and livestock.

Nine million people live in the region. Thirty million people depend on a crippled lake for the bare necessities of life. And those people live every day hoping that it isn't the day the bloodthirsty lunatics come to town. And this is only one of the problems that's going to land on the desk of the next president of the United States.

This is one entry in a continuing series. For informational purposes only.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.
Vice tv

Vice News has cut around 20 staff from its global bureaus in a restructuring resulting from Josh Tyrangiel's appointment to oversee the media company's entire news operation, a source familiar with the plans told Business Insider.

Tyrangiel joined Vice from Bloomberg in late 2015 to head up the daily news show on HBO. His role was recently expanded to take on responsibility for the entire news division at the company.

The source said that the news organization has laid off 15 US staffers, 3 UK Vice News writers, and two foreign correspondents. Politico first reported the news of the layoffs.

Vice News has also recently made various high profile hires, including: Ryan McCarthy, formerly assistant editor on the national desk at The New York Times, as editor-in-chief of Vice News; Madeleine Haeringer from MSNBC as executive producer of Vice's new HBO nightly show, and New York Times media reporter Ravi Somaiya as tech correspondent. More new hires are expected in the coming weeks.

The restructuring at Vice News aims to unite its three separate news divisions: Vice News, the weekly Vice News show on HBO, and the new daily Vice News show, also on HBO.

"The plan in place will expand Vice's news offerings across digital and TV, continue the recent of wave of newsroom hires, add additional foreign bureaus, and marshal the company's existing news divisions into one cohesive powerhouse, a spokesperson from Vice told Business Insider.

On Tuesday night, the now former Vice News correspondent Harriet Salem tweeted that the entire Vice News editorial team in the UK had been laid off, along with big cuts in the US:

All of UK @vicenews editorial team, plus the only two foreign correspondents laid off just now (including me). Massive US layoffs too. #vice  Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem) May 24, 2016

However, a source familiar with the plan told Business Insider that this claim is misleading. 18 of Vice News' staff in the UK work in video production, as editors, researchers, producers, and hosts. These staff will remain a part of Vice News, though the three staff working on Vice News' written output have lost their jobs.

Story continues

The source also hinted that a well-known UK news figure will soon be confirmed to be heading up the Vice News operation in the UK.

Over the next few months, Vice News also plans to open new bureaus in San Francisco and Hong Kong.

NOW WATCH: Scientists discovered something heartbreaking about this newfound dinosaur





More From Business Insider


Neil K. Aggarwal is the author of Mental Health in the War on Terror (2015) and The Talibans Virtual Emirate (2016).

On Monday, President Obama announced that an American air strike had killed the Talibans supreme leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour. As of this writing, the Taliban has not acknowledged the Mullahs death. But the militant groups silence  and the death of Mansour  offer the United States and its allies a rare opportunity: They can use the leadership vacuum to spread a much-needed message of peace to Taliban sympathizers. Indeed, the reported reconciliation of Taliban killer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar with the Afghan government, earlier this month, makes the moment even more auspicious.

Now is the time for the U.S. and its allies to set the terms of a new narrative.

Over the past two decades, the Taliban has proven itself a remarkable spinner of stories, a master of propaganda. As I show in my book The Talibans Virtual Emirate, it has seized every opportunity to publicize its views on a range of topics, even after American-led NATO forces toppled it from power in 2001. The group is so adept at controlling narratives that it took almost two years for the world to learn about the death of its first supreme leader, Mullah Omar, even though Taliban militants on the ground had occasionally made their suspicions known to reporters.

After the news finally broke that Mullah Omar had died, Mullah Mansour claimed to be acting on Mullah Omars behalf, which means Mullah Mansours sudden death removes a vital link in the Talibans hierarchical chain of communications. Notably, the Taliban has not yet addressed Mullah Mansours death on its Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto and Urdu websites  a silence that has generated a messaging vacuum around the future of the organization.

This silence offers the United States and their allied governments the chance to script a new narrative. In February, President Obama outlined his focus on narrative in countering violent extremism. He urged Muslim communities to push back on twisted interpretations of Islam and on the lie that we are somehow engaged in a clash of civilizations. Such narratives, he said, had become the very foundation of terrorist ideology.

Story continues

The United States should not lose this opportunity to disseminate a narrative of peace.

Some terrorist researchers have fleshed out what counterterrorism narratives might look like. One method is to refute the extreme binaries of a militant groups ideology based on an imagined us vs. them or, in the language of jihadists, believers vs. infidels. Here, the possible reconciliation of Taliban militant Gulbuddin Hekmatyar with the Afghan government is bad news for the Taliban: It complicates its attempt to frame its insurgency as a jihad of believers against infidels.

Hekmatyars bloodthirstiness as a proponent of militant jihad is legendary: In 2009, the United Nations listed him on its Al-Qaeda Sanctions List for participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of the Taliban and Al-Qaida. As one of the last senior leaders associated with the original jihad against the Soviet Union and founder of his own terrorist group, Hekmatyar possesses the experience and credibility to counter any new Taliban leader. He has pledged his commitment to peace in Afghanistan so long as he is removed from all U.S. and U.N. sanctions lists and can return to Kabul. His reconciliation should be tied to a public disavowal of violence and a call for Taliban militants to follow suit.

Make no mistake: Counter-narrative is not the silver bullet that will reverse Afghanistans misfortunes. The Taliban could still splinter into competing factions as the No. 2 official Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Omars son Yaqoub vie for succession. By protesting that the air strike violated its territorial sovereignty, Pakistan is doing little to assuage Afghan and NATO concerns that it offers safe shelter to Taliban leaders, raising ongoing questions about its loyalties in the War on Terror. The government of Afghanistan must also fight rampant corruption, ranking 166th of 168 countries in Transparency Internationals 2015 list.

Despite these factors militating against a durable peace, the United States should not lose this opportunity to disseminate a narrative of peace. As the Afghan proverb goes, There is a path to the top of even the highest mountain.

Related Articles
Shares of Herbalife Ltd. HLF rose 4.26% on May 24 closing after The New York Post reported that the company has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle a years-long probe related to whether it is a pyramid scheme.

Per sources, Herbalife has agreed to pay a significant financial penalty. However, the terms havent been divulged. Also, the agreement has not been finalized yet and could still fall apart.

The FTC opened a probe into the company after hedge fund manager Bill Ackman alleged that Herbalife operated like a pyramid scheme, which involves making money by way of recruiting more salespeople rather than selling products. Such models are illegal because they eventually collapse once there are no more people to recruit.

The Los Angeles-based company has been under pressure from billionaire Ackman since 2012 when he made a $1 billion bet against the company, questioning its business practices.

The company, which sells weight-management products through a network of independent distributors who earn sales commissions, has been denying the charges from the very beginning. The company clarified that it operates like a multi-level marketing company similar to Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. NUS, USANA Health Sciences Inc. USNA and Avon Products Inc. AVP.

Herbalife carries a Zacks Rank #2 (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



AVON PRODS INC (AVP): Free Stock Analysis Report



NU SKIN ENTERP (NUS): Free Stock Analysis Report



USANA HLTH SCI (USNA): Free Stock Analysis Report



HERBALIFE LTD (HLF): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
As if we needed a reason to pop open a bottle of wine on hump day, today is National Wine Day. Not to be confused with National Drink Wine Day, National Chardonnay Day, or any of the other 20-plus holidays dedicated to this grapey goodness, its clear that Americans love their vino.



Last year, Americans consumed a total of 380 million cases, a 2.5% jump from the year before. And increasingly popular among younger drinkers, millennials drank up 42% of all the wine that was consumed, according to the Wine Market Council (WMC).



Not only are they are drinking more than any other generation, but theyre also spending more as 17% of all millennial drinkers bought a bottle costing more than $20 in the past month, compared to only 5% of boomers.



But good wine doesnt have to drain your wallet says Gillian Sciaretta, a tasting coordinator at Wine Spectator. At the magazine, reviewers taste close to 20,000 bottles each year and find just as many award-winning wines under $20.



To get our spirits up about drinking and saving, Sciaretta sat down with me to share some of her secrets to saving on wine.



The second-cheapest wine on the menu could have the highest markup



Trying not to look cheap, many diners go for the second-cheapest wine on the menu. Knowing this, restaurant owners will often mark it up the highest. So the next time youre about to make a selection, share that fun tidbit with your friends. And know that no one will turn their nose up at you if you go for the absolute cheapest on the list. The cheapest wines tend to be the ones that the sommeliers, or the wine experts at the restaurant, are most excited about, says Sciaretta.



Go for grapes youve never tried before



Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are two of Americas top favorites, according to retail sales reported by Nielsen. But going against the current can really pay off as wineries often offer deals to encourage consumers to try their new blends.

Story continues

Earlier this year, Wine Spectator launched their Xvalues app to help wine enthusiasts discover new varieties without breaking the bank. This free app lets you sort by price, ratings, region, and you can create a list of your favorites for the next time you want to pick up a bottle at your local wine shop.During our interview, we tasted two top-valued wines under $10 that you can find on their app: The 2014 Kung Fu Girl Riesling from Charles Smith located in Washington state, and the 2013 Portuguese red blend from Casa Santo Lima. The app is currently only available to iPhone and iPad users, but rolling out later this year for Android devices.



Now Im certainly not a wine connoisseur, but I do enjoy a nice glass and found the Riesling to be crisp, not too sweet and perfect for summer. The red we tasted was an easy-sipper -- dry and well-balanced -- with a score of 86 points on their app.



Think outside the box with boxed wines



Packaging wine into glass bottles can get pricey for wine distributors. To cut that cost out, going for boxed wines can mean incredible savings. One box holds about 4 bottles and costs about $20 to $25, which means youd be paying $4 to $5 per bottle. Its great for summer parties or any big event, but boxed wine spoils faster so you should drink it within a few days of opening.



The only thing cheaper than boxed wine is Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes. And I was surprised that Sciaretta didnt dismiss this discount wine. She explained that theyre able to keep prices so low because those wineries are producing mass quantities with low production costs. And whats more, some of the wines listed on the Xvalues app can also be found at popular retailers like Trader Joes and Costco.



Dont be shy to try something new because finding out what you dont like is just as valuable, if not more, than finding out what you do like, says Sciaretta.

What will you be sipping today? Share them with me here or in the comments below.



WATCH MORE

4 hot summer travel trends and the savings you cant beat

5 tricks for your next salary negotiation from an ex-recruiter

Biggest wastes of money: Grocery shopping

6 must-have drugstore beauty products under $10
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York in this April 12, 2016, file photo. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files

Via Dave Lutz at JonesTrading, here's a brief guide to what traders are chatting about:

Good Morning! Spoos adding to their best gain since March 11th  up another 40bp in early trade and well above yesterdays peaks. Nothing but green waves coming from Europe, with the DAX up 1.3% - Financials rallying across the continent as Greece seals a new debt deal, while energy companies are jumping. The FTSE is lagging, gaining only 60bp as Miners are under pressure on weaker metal prices  Volumes across Europe are better, with most exchanges trading 20-30% above recent trends. In Asia, Aussie jumped 1.5% as miners rallied, Nikkei rebounded 1.6% as the Yen broke lower. Shanghai lost 20bp, bucking the regional trend as consumer sentiment fell, while most EM Asian markets shrugged off the stronger $ to close well bid.

Treasury yields continue to trickle higher, with Fed Funds now at 34% chance of a hike in June, that Policy sensitive 2YY up another 1bp. The DXY is nearing 2M highs despite Sterling hitting 16week highs on remain mojo, while the Renminbi fixed at a 5Y low against $. Germanys IFO jumps to 9month high, but Euro cant catch a bid  remaining just off yesterdays floor. Headwinds for commodities with the better greenback, and we have Metals weak globally  Ore and Rebar off 2% in China, Gold 2M lows as $ jumps and haven trades unwind. Energy is moving in the opposite direction tho, as WTI nears $50 after API showed a massive 5.1mm draw last night. Softs are finally showing a slight bid after getting hit of late.

Busy day ahead of us, with US Advance Goods Trade Balance at 8:30, then Fed's Harker Speaks at Forum in Philadelphia at 90 right when FHFA House Price Index hits. At 9:45 we get Markit US Services, then the Bank of Canada Rate Decision at 10. DOE data for Crude posts at 10:30 (API last night showed a 5.1M draw overall, with 189k coming out of Cushing. Gasoline grew 3.6M, but Distillate stocks lost 2.92mm). At 11:30, the US Treasury to sell $13B in 2Y floaters, just before Fed's Kashkari Speaks on Energy and Monetary Policy at 11:40. Treasury then auctions $34 Bln 5-Year Notes at 1, right before Fed's Kaplan Speaks at 2  all 3 of the FOMC speakers today are non-voters in 2016.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy





More From Business Insider


From Cosmopolitan

Bill Cosby, once one of the world's most popular entertainers and an iconic TV dad, will stand trial in Pennsylvania for allegedly assaulting a woman, a judge said Tuesday.

Cosby was charged with three counts of felony indecent assault in December, according to CNN, which said he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The charges date back to 2004, when prosecutors say Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, an employee at Cosby's alma mater of Temple University, who he had begun to mentor. The alleged assault happened in Cosby's home outside of Philadelphia, according to the New York Times.

The 78-year-old Cosby has denied the charges, and his legal team has spent the last five months trying to have the charges dismissed. Tuesday's decision by Judge Elizabeth A. McHugh is basically the court saying there is enough evidence to proceed with the trial against Cosby.

But the New York Times points out that there's still a long way to go. Cosby's lawyers will likely challenge much of the evidence in the case and seek to prevent Cosby's other alleged victims from taking part in the trial. Dozens of women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting throughout his decades long career. But Constand was the first to come forward.

Constand reported the alleged assault when it first happened, but charges were never brought. New evidence and new accusations eventually came to light, according to CNN. And a newly elected prosecutor, Kevin Steele, filed charges in December after making Cosby a campaign issue.

Cosby is due back in court on July 20.
Couture with culture! Makalaya Zanders, a high school senior in Cleveland, Ohio, chose a prom dress that was stylish and made a statement at the same time. The 18-year-old was tossing around the idea of wearing an African-print dress to the event when a white administrator reportedly told her that itd be tacky.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Prom Pictures

So being someone who loves our culture and African glamorous style, me and @indelible_dc [the dress designer] decided to take the Ankara dress and put a twist on it, Zanders explained in a May 16 Instagram post.

PHOTOS: Awkward Celebrity Prom Poses!

DeAndre Crenshaw, a Cleveland-based designer, crafted Zanders blue and gold gown. The boldly printed dress features a fitted bodice and a dramatic mermaid hem. Zanders paired her custom-made creation with a gold belt, necklaces, an arm bracelet and sandals.

PHOTOS: Spring 2016 Dresses in Every Length

Zanders, who plans to pursue fashion and modeling, told ABC News that the person who discouraged her from wearing the dress has since apologized for the statements. And though she racked up over 7,000 likes on many of her prom night posts, Zanders said she didnt wear the dress for the social media cred.

My dress was to make a point, she captioned a May 16 Instagram. That African style is beautiful. That I am comfortable with my Melanin and roots. And finally that there's nothing like Black girl Magic.




Hillary Clinton would pick an actor over Bernie Sanders as her vice president.

During an appearance on NBCs The Ellen Show, the Democratic presidential front runner played a Who Would Your Rather game with host Ellen DeGeneres, focusing on potential vice presidents.

Clinton was shown two pictures of politicians, actors or musicians and asked to pick one as her choice for her running mate.

When asked to choose between Sanders and Tony Goldwyn, an actor in ABCs Scandal and a vocal supporter of Clintons, she went with Goldwyn, saying, Gotta go with Tony!

Goldwyn would ultimately lose out to another actorGeorge Clooney.

Ohhh, Clinton said told DeGeneres. Well, Tony could be the first term and George could be the second.

Clinton ultimately settled on DeGeneres as her pick for vice president.

You probably dont want to accept the offer because, you know, you do have to move to Washington and it is expected you live in the vice presidents house. But you could bring the show, she said.
Hillary Clinton slammed Donald Trump's recent comments that he "will be good for women," suggesting instead that the GOP presidential nominee's past and most recent actions all suggest there is "just no evidence that he has an understanding of what women's lives are like."

Speaking on Wednesday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, preview clips of which were made available Tuesday, Clinton said Trump had been "very derogatory towards all kind of women, he has specifically called out women by name, insulted them. He has said that equal pay isn't a real issue. He doesn't seem to think that we need to do anything to create more jobs and raise incomes and a lot of women are helping to support their families or maybe they're the only support."

She added: "And he actually says wages are too high in America. I'm sure there is somebody somewhere that he might be good for, but I think overall there is just no evidence that he has an understanding of what women's lives are like today."

Read More: Watch Jared Leto and Drake Play "Never Have I Ever" on 'Ellen'

Clinton also spoke about the Democratic race, alluding to her hope that Bernie Sanders will eventually drop out and endorse her much as she did in 2008 in her race with Barack Obama. "I ran all the way to the end against then Senator Obama. And when it was over because we had a much closer race than the one currently is between Senator Sanders and myself I withdrew, I endorsed him and I worked really hard to elect him and I do believe that Bernie will do that."

Later in the show, Clinton and host DeGeneres shifted marginally away from politics, lightening the mood with a game of Who'd You Rather? VP Edition. Clinton rifled through a list of VP candidates including Kanye West, Tony Goldwyn, Beyonce, Chewbacca Mom, Michelle Obama and even Ellen.

Clinton's visit to Ellen, finished with a visit from SNL regular Kate McKinnon, who does impressions of both DeGeneres and the former First Lady on the show.
House Republicans renewed their reproach of the Internal Revenue Service this week, proposing to slash $236 million from next years operating budget and conducting impeachment proceedings against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in absentia.

For a while it looked as if relations between the embattled IRS and GOP lawmakers had calmed after several tumultuous years of House investigations and retaliatory budget slashing stemming from revelations in 2013 that the agency had targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax exempt status for harsh scrutiny. Related: Budget Cuts and Mismanagement Boost IRS Tax Cheats

Congress provided the IRS with a modest budget hike last year, and Koskinen announced earlier this month that he had found enough money in his budget to hire 700 additional tax enforcement officers.

But Republican leaders were back on Tuesday as they sought to revive a controversy that sorely embarrassed the Obama administration and led to a major shakeup at the IRS. The controversy peaked in May 2014, when Lois Lerner, a former IRS official who was at the center of the targeting scandal, was declared in contempt of Congress after she invoked her Fifth Amendment right in refusing to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

The reason for the retaliationlast October, the Department of Justice gave Lois Lerner, the IRS executive responsible for targeting conservative groups, a free pass on charges of abuse of power and improper influence.

Republicans were furious. They were told that Lerners hard drive had crashed and was destroyed (and along with it, thousands of emails that may have pointed to Lerner or higher officials). And they were also told that six other computers belonging to people who routinely exchanged emails with Lerner had also crashed. Finally, Koskinen said he would provide all documents that had been backed up on IRS serversa routine compliance procedure mandated by HIPAA, HITECH and Sarbanes-Oxleybut none were forthcoming.

Story continues

Thats when Republicans launched an election-year salvo against the IRS, charging that Koskinen had engaged in a cover up to prevent a thorough investigation of gross mismanagement and a blatant subversion of tax law. Related: Found! 6,400 New Lois Lerner Emails on the IRS Targeting Scandal

However, the highly unusual impeachment proceedings against a cabinet member reeked of political posturing  and it reportedly drew comments of disapproval from some prominent Republicans, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (UT).

Moreover, its not clear whether House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) will allow the full House to vote on impeachment in an election year when Ryan is attempting to demonstrate that his party is providing constructive leadership, as The New York Times noted. Politico reported today that Rep. Ron DeSantis, the Republican leading the IRS impeachment proceedings, has been raising campaign funds off the inquiry. DeSantis is seeking the Senate seat of retiring Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. He has repeatedly touted his role in the impeachment proceedings during campaign appearances and on his campaign website.

He must be impeached, DeSantis says of Koskinen in one link on his website. The blatant political exploitation of the impeachment effort has offended some Republicans as well as Democrats. Related: The IRS Just Found Enough Money to Hire 700 Additional Workers

The criminality of this administration and their hubris of defying fiduciary law is broadly something that drives voters and, by definition, drives their participation, former House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA), who led the initial probe of the IRS, told Politico. We werent about looking for fundraising. We never fundraised on our investigations.

However, Ron Bonjean, a Washington political consultant and former House GOP communications official, said in an interview, There really isnt a downside for going after the IRS. Most Americans are angry about paying taxes. And it puts Democrats in a difficult position of trying to defend the agency unless you come from a very safe district.

During a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing yesterday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the current Oversight and Government Reform committee chair, testified that Koskinen had misled lawmakers by falsely promising to turn over thousands of Lerners emails that had been subpoenaed.

Instead, Koskinen waited months before disclosing that his agency had destroyed many of the records, and then he appeared to be dragging his feet in searching for backups. Those backup documents eventually were found by the IRSs Inspector Generals office and turned over to the House. Related: Criminals Accessed IRS Taxpayer Info 720,000 Times in 2015

Providing false testimony before Congress comes with a consequence, at least it should, Chaffetz declared during the Judiciary Committee hearing  one that Koskinen skipped and that many Democratic members boycotted. Its a crime.

Koskinen insisted that his schedule was too busy for him to appear at the impeachment hearing. Instead, he sent a detailed statement dismissing the allegations against him as unwarranted and certainly not an impeachable offense. The GOP committee leaders refused to allow the statement to be entered into the record.

The few Democrats who did attend the session told reporters that Republicans were wasting taxpayers dollars on political grandstanding as they seek to dredge up old controversies in an election year.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee proposed a $10.9 billion operating budget for the IRS in fiscal 2017. That would be a $236 million reduction from this years level and $1.3 billion less than the Obama administration requested. Lois Lerner Is Cleared, Sparking Conservative Fury

The spending language specifically prohibits political targeting by the IRS and would also impede the agencys duties in operating the Affordable Care Act.

Committee Democrats strongly objected to the cuts, saying lower funding has left the agency unable to perform many of its basic duties, such as tracking down tax cheats and responding to taxpayers questions.

The House Republicans newly proposed IRS budget shows that they still dont grasp the consequences of their action, Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) said in a statement. Cuts made by the Republicans to the IRS budget since 2010 have resulted in terrible customer service, outdated technology, and the lowest level of audits in a decade.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Starbucks (SBUX) has been able to post strong growth while so many traditional retailers continue to report declining traffic.

One major retailer after another post numbers that are somewhat disappointing, Starbucks founder, chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said. What it says is that this is not a time to embrace the status quo, that experiences matter.

Schultz joined Yahoo Finance this week to break down just how Starbucks has found success with its customers.

I think the currency that matters most is your values and the trust with the consumer, he said. And I think thats what weve tried to do. If you look at all the things weve done around social impact.

The missing ingredient for many retailers, according to Schultz, is an emotional connection with the consumer--something that Starbucks has emphasized.

I think this is a challenging time and its going to take the ability of companies to navigate through the storm, not embrace the status quo, he said. I think over the long term, the things that were doing, the investments were making, the focus we have on innovation, product, technology, our own people, and obviously the experience that weve been creating with the roasteries all speak to the fact that were building a great, enduring company that will not be affected by the current issues.

While traditional retailers from Macys (M) to Nordstrom (JWN) to Target (TGT) continue to report decelerating trends, Starbucks posted a 6% increase in comparable store sales for its second quarter, the companys 25th consecutive quarter at or above 5%.

Admittedly, Starbucks and the department stores do not compete in the same retail categories. But many Starbucks stores are within the vicinities these other stores. When fewer people go out shopping, fewer people are likely to stop for food and beverages.

On the companys conference call in January 2014, Schultz pointed out the seismic shift underway in brick-and-mortar retail.

Story continues

Holiday 2013 was the first in which many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers experienced in-store foot traffic give way to online shopping in a major way, he said. Starbucks unique combination of physical and digital assets positions us as one of the very few consumer brands with a national and global footprint to benefit from the seismic shift under way.

While these forces have intensified, the Seattle coffee giant has continued to grow into a force beyond the caffeinated beverage. The chains 25,000 retail locations have become a third place--after home and work--for consumers around the world.

Schultz conceded that even Starbucks is not immune from consumer behavior changes and that he takes seriously the responsibility to change with the times.

Anyone that knows me knows that I worry about a lot of things, Schultz said. We dont want to take anything for granted.

Specifically, the company has been making a big push in the mobile experience. The company has about 19 million users of its mobile app in the U.S. alone, and mobile payment represented 24% of total U.S. tender in its most recent quarter.







Meanwhile, Schultz emphasized the social capital he has built through benefits for employees including education initiatives and the recent announcement to hire 10,000 veterans by 2018.

Ive always believed that to build a great, enduring company, it takes the kind of authentic leadership that is steeped in humanity, he said. For us, that has meant achieving the fragile balance between profit and social impact.

Schultz added that Starbucks was the first company in America to provide equity in the form of stock options and comprehensive health insurance well before the Affordable Care Act.

All these things I think are linked to the values we feel we should have, he said. The question we want to keep answering is what is the role and responsibility for a for-profit public company, and its not just to make money. And I think we have to do both.
(Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE.N) said it would spin off and merge its struggling IT services business with Computer Sciences Corp (CSC.N), allowing the company to focus on its faster growing businesses.

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, formed after Hewlett-Packard Co formally split in November, rose 10.5 percent in extended trading on Tuesday.

Computer Sciences' shares jumped 19.5 percent to $42.6 (29).

Under Chief Executive Meg Whitman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been restructuring its IT consulting and services group.

The company sold at least 84 percent of its 60.5 percent stake in Indian IT services provider Mphasis Ltd to Blackstone Group (BX.N) for $1.1 billion in April.

The standalone HPE is expected to have $33 billion in annual revenue and concentrate on its bigger enterprise group unit that makes servers, routers and switches.

HPE, which houses the former Hewlett-Packard Co's corporate hardware and services division, said the merger of the two businesses is expected to produce cost synergies of about $1 billion in the first year after close, expected by March 2017.

The transaction values HPE's enterprise business at about $8.5 billion after tax, the company said.

Revenue from the enterprise group business rose about 7 percent to $7.01 billion in the second quarter ended April 30, from a year earlier.

Computer Sciences Chief Executive Mike Lawrie will become chairman, president and CEO of the new company, 50 percent of which will be owned by HPE shareholders. Whitman will join the board of the new company.

The new company's board will be split evenly between directors nominated by HPE and CSC.

HPE expects $900 million in separation charges regarding the merger, of which $300 million will be recorded in 2016, Chief Financial Officer Tim Stonesifer said on a conference call with analysts.

HPE, which also added $3 billion to its share buyback, said total revenue rose 1.3 percent to $12.71 billion in the second quarter. Analysts on average had expected $12.33 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Alan John Koshy and Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Maju Samuel)
San Francisco (AFP) - US technology group Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it plans to spin off and merge its corporate services business in a deal valued at $8.5 billion (7.6 billion euros).

The split-off unit is to be merged with Computer Sciences Corp. to create a global corporate technology services giant with expected annual revenues of $26 billion, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) said in a statement Tuesday.

HPE chief executive Meg Whitman described the deal as the "right next step."

"Enterprise Services customers will benefit from a stronger, more versatile services business, better able to innovate and adapt," she said.

The two companies aim to complete the deal by March 31 next year, HPE said, predicting eventual cost savings of $1.5 billion a year.

The transaction is worth $8.5 billion to HPE shareholders, who would end up owning both HPE shares and about half of the new company, it said.

News of the plan sent HPE shares surging nearly 10 percent and CSC stock soaring more than 23 percent in electronic trading after the close of the New York Stock Exchange.

The core HPE business left over after the spin-off would bring in revenues of $33 billion a year, the company predicted, focusing on its faster-growing business of technology infrastructure including servers, storage, networking, and cloud technology.

In a separate statement, CSC said the merger, which is subject to agreement by regulators and shareholders, would greate one of the world's largest IT services companies with more than 5,000 clients in 70 countries.

CSC boss Mike Lawrie is to be chief executive of the new group.

HPE, based in Palo Alto, California, was itself the product of the November 2015 split-up of computing giant Hewlett-Packard. The group divided in two: its enterprise unit, HPE, and the PC-printer business HP Inc. that became a household name but faced increasingly fierce competition.
By Narottam Medhora and Anya George Tharakan

(Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co's (HPE.N) planned merger of its struggling IT services business with Computer Sciences Corp (CSC.N) could generate considerable savings, but it won't stop customers from defecting to cloud services.

The merger, which will result in a company with annual revenue of about $26 billion, brings together HP's clout in the pharma and transportation industries and CSC's heft in the insurance, healthcare and banking sectors.

The deal will create the world's third-largest IT service provider at a time when traditional IT players such as IBM Corp (IBM.N) and Accenture Plc (ACN.N) are struggling to keep pace with the likes of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), which provide cloud-based computing services at much cheaper rates.

"While CSC mentioned scale as a big part of the rationale, we're not convinced as to why being bigger in a declining end-market is a good thing," Citi Research analyst Ashwin Shirvaikar said in a broker note.

Spending on enterprise, non-cloud, IT infrastructure will fall by 4 percent this year, but will still account for nearly two-thirds of global IT services spending, according to research firm IDC.

IDC expects spending on private cloud IT infrastructure to increase 11 percent to $13.9 billion, and spending on public cloud services to jump 14 percent to $24.4 billion.

CSC's shares jumped 35 percent on Wednesday - their biggest percentage gain in a day - to a record high of $48.27.

The median price target on the stock is $39.

Citi, which has a "neutral rating" on the stock, raised its target price to $44 from $30. Raymond James, which has a price target of $35, lowered its rating to "market perform" from "outperform".

HP Enterprise's stock rose as much as 14 percent to $18.50.

SAVING $1 BLN

CSC's stock jump was mainly because the deal is expected to add considerably to the company's adjusted profit, Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale told Reuters.

Story continues

"To me, this transaction does not change or strengthen their competitive positioning. I don't think anyone will be able to scale the way an Amazon is able to do that," Gesuale said.

But for the new company, the cost savings are the biggest draw - about $1 billion in the first year after the deal closes, which is expected by March 2017.

HP Enterprises CEO Meg Whitman said the new company, which would have a total of 95 data centers, wouldn't need all of them.

"We will be able to consolidate delivery centers and leverage our position in India and China and Costa Rica and other places," Whitman said on a conference call on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Narottam Medhora and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Writing by Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Don Sebastian)
Talk about unlikely alliances: Hulk Hogans lawsuit against blog publisher Gawker Media was secretly financed by Silicon Valley billionaire and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel, according to multiple reports. Gawker is now using the revelation to ask an appeals court for a reduction in damages.

Hogan had sued Gawker over a 2012 blog post that had included excerpts of a sex tape depicting the wrestler. A Florida jury found in March that the publication had violated Hogans right to privacy, awarding the wrestler a total of $140 million in damages, including $10 million in punitive damages to be paid by Gawker owner Nick Denton.

The lawsuit raised some red flags within the legal community, with the New York Times reporting this week that it struck legal experts as odd that Hogans team not only refused settlement offers, but also dropped a charge that would have resulted in Gawkers insurance kicking in for at least part of the damages. It seemed like the lawsuit was designed harm Gawker more than it was to benefit Hogan, leading Denton to speculate that it was financed by someone out for revenge.

The identity of Hogans benefactor was first revealed by Forbes Tuesday, and later confirmed by the New York Times. Thiel hasnt officially confirmed his involvement, but he hasnt shied away from expressing his distain for Gawker in the past, calling the media companys now-defunct tech blog Valleywag the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.

Valleywag provoked Thiels ire by outing him as homosexual in 2007, and subsequently pointing a spotlight at Thiels conservative beliefs, which set him apart from many of Silicon Valleys more liberal leaders. Thiel has in the past been advocating for anti-government libertarian positions, and recently made headlines with his decision to become a Republican delegate for Donald Trump.

Still, Thiels involvement in the Gawker lawsuit caught many in tech and media by surprise. The Committee to protect Journalists, which in the past received funding from Thiels foundation, said in a statement Wednesday that it does not support efforts to abuse the (legal) process by seeking to punish or bankrupt particular media outlets.

Story continues

here's the statement from CPJ's Joel Simon about Peter Thiel's donations pic.twitter.com/njqQWplOvS  Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) May 25, 2016

Freedom of the Press was even more frank Wednesday, saying that billionaires secretly funding lawsuits to destroy news orgs they dislike is very dangerous to a free press.

No matter you opinion of @Gawker, billionaires secretly funding lawsuits to destroy news orgs they dislike is very dangerous to a free press  Freedom of the Press (@FreedomofPress) May 25, 2016

Gawker for its part seized the opportunity to push back against the March verdict in a statement sent to news organizations: We trust the appeals court will correct the outsized Florida jury verdict and reaffirm the law that protects a free and critical press, which is more embattled and important than ever.

Gawker took a first step towards filing an appeal in April, asking the Florida court that handed down the original verdict to reverse course. On Wednesday, the court denied that request and upheld the original verdict. This clears the road for Gawker to take the case to the appeals court.

Update: 10:53 am: This post was updated with information about the appeals process.

Related stories

WWE Stars, Hollywood Remember 'Pioneer,' 'Beautiful Soul' Chyna

Hulk Hogan Awarded Additional $25 Million in Punitive Damages in Gawker Lawsuit

Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million in Gawker Sex Tape Lawsuit
2ND UPDATE, 10:30 AM: Florida Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell today upheld ex-pro wrestler Hulk Hogans $140M verdict against Gawker in his lawsuit for publishing his sex tape. There will be no new trial.

UPDATED, March 21: Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan) has just been awarded another $25M in punitive damages in his invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media, after receiving a whopping $115M on Friday from a Florida jury. On Friday, they gave Bollea $55M in compensatory damages and another $60M for emotional damages. Prior to jury deliberations Monday, Gawker attorney Michael Berry told the jurors that $115M was punishment enough. Still, the ruling came back and awarded Bollea another $25M. According to the court, Gawker was told to pay $15M, owner Nick Denton was ordered to pay $10M, and former editor Albert J. Daulerio has been ordered to pay $100K.

Berry told jurors today that the $115M amount could be debilitating for Gawker Media. The company released financials to the court earlier that showed Gawker Media was worth $83M, and that Denton was worth anywhere between $117M-$121M because of his interest in the company, but personally is worth an estimated $3.6M. Gawkers financials also showed, among other things, that it earned $6.5M in operating income in 2014 on revenues of $44.3M.

The total damages awarded Bollea is now $140M. Gawker, Denton and Daulerio are expected to appeal.

PREVIOUS, FRIDAY PM: Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, has landed a $115M judgment against online site Gawker for invasion of privacy in a case that is likely to have repercussions of how celebrity news is covered in the future. At issue was a one minute and 41 second video which Gawker posted that showed the famed wrestler having sex with Heather Clem, the wife of his best friend. Bollea sued Nick Dentons Gawker Media and the former editor of Gawker.com, Albert J. Daulerio. He could win more in punitive damages. So far, he has won $60 million for emotional stress and $55 million in economic damages.

Story continues

While Gawker cried First Amendment protection, Bolleas attorney cried foul and said it was a clear invasion of privacy. Bolleas attorneys argued that not only did their client not know the tape was being recorded, but when he spoke about his sex life later on a radio show, he did so in character as Hulk Hogan. Bollea, the man, they said, was personally harmed by the publication of the video.

While there is likely to be an appeal, a judgment this high from the Florida jury could be devastating for Gawker, which was started over a decade ago by Denton. When interviewed by The New York Times about the then-pending lawsuit a year ago, Denton said he wasnt concerned that it would have much impact on his business. However, that is before the jury today granted damages of over $100M.

It probably didnt help that, when asked in court last week about the news value of celebrity sex videos, former Gawker editor Daulerio said he thought the video was amusing. When Bolleas lawyer played his video deposition in court where he asked if Daulerio could imagine any time that a celebrity sex tape would not be considered newsworthy, the former editor said, If they were a child. When pressed about what age, Daulerio said, Four.

While clearly he was being sarcastic, it underscored the attitude of the Gawker the head of the websites anything goes editorial policy. Bollea said on the stand that he was completely humilated by the tape. That videotape was made in 2006 but made public by Gawker in 2012.

Mr. Daulerio sits down at the computer with his friends, joking, laughing, mocking, recklessly consuming this content, and with a click uploads this thing up on the Internet and turns this mans life upside down, Bolleas lawyer told the jury.

In any appeal, Gawker is expected to have to post a bond in the meantime.

Related stories

Hollywood Legal Power Trio Talk "Ridiculous" Hulk Hogan Verdict, Les Moonves, How Deals Have Changed & More

Bart & Fleming: 'Bright' Scribe Max Landis & Director David Ayer Tell Why $90M+ Netflix Deal Wasn't Just About $$$; Gawker's Hulk Hogan Verdict

Gawker Staff Ratifies Digital Media's First WGA Contract
Brandon Bevers, the husband of a Texas fitness instructor who was found dead inside a church last month just before she was to teach an early morning class, believes his wife knew her killer.



"I still think whoever this person was knew my wife and had a motive," Bevers tells PEOPLE. "There's no doubt about it."



Terri "Missy" Bevers, 45, arrived at The Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas, at about 4:15 a.m. on April 18 to get ready to teach her fitness boot camp. When several of her students showed up, they found her unresponsive.



A surveillance video of the church released by officials shows an unidentified suspect dressed in tactical gear, carrying a hammer. Missy died from multiple puncture wounds to the head and chest, according to an arrest warrant. Authorities still haven't confirmed if the suspect is male or female.



But Brandon thinks he knows.



For more on the mystery surrounding the murder of Texas fitness instructor Terri 'Missy' Bevers, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.





Husband of Murdered Texas Fitness Instructor Shares Theory on Who Killed His Wife: 'It Had to Be Someone She Knew'| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



"I think it was a woman," he said. "That's just an opinion."



Brandon, who is raising their three daughters, says he has good days and bad days when he thinks about the crime that remains unsolved. There are so many unanswered questions.



"There's no reason why an individual would break into a church, dressed in that type of clothing and stage a robbery, or what would appear to be a robbery  going through the building, breaking glass and opening doors," he says. "If that person was really there to commit a robbery, why did they kill my wife and leave her wedding ring on her finger?"
Ian McKellen used his first visit to India to bring attention to gay rights in a country where homosexuality is a criminal offense under a law that dates back to British colonial times.

In an interview with online magazine Scroll, the actor said: "You have a repressive law in place for which I should apologize, because it's not an Indian law, it's a British law that we left behind. You should have got rid of it, and you tried to, and it's come back, but it will go again, I'm sure."

The comments were about India's Section 377 law, introduced in 1862 under British rule, which criminalized sexual activity defined as "against the order of nature" and which can award a maximum life sentence.

McKellen's India visit is part of his global tour as ambassador for the British Film Institute's Shakespeare on Film program to mark 400 years since William Shakespeare's death. The tour also takes him to the Shanghai Film Festival in June, among others.

McKellen on Monday addressed the law in an onstage discussion with Bollywood star Aamir Khan at the event co-presented by the British Council India and the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images, which organize the annual Mumbai Film Festival.

When Khan pointed out that the law was drafted by the British, McKellen drew parallels with his home country. "We changed [our laws] long back in England, but you are holding on to it to protect yourselves from Western culture," he said, according to the Indian Express.

The 76-year-old actor also addressed how being gay affected his career. "It did inhibit me if I had a love scene with a girl as I couldn't fake it," he said. "I did try to avoid romantic parts."

India's gay-rights crusaders have been fighting an ongoing battle against Section 377. In what appeared to be a breakthrough, the Delhi High Court in 2009 decriminalized consensual homosexual intercourse, but in 2013 the verdict was reversed by the Supreme Court, which said that it was for India's Parliament to decide how to amend the law. In December, India's lower house of Parliament voted against the introduction of a bill to decriminalize homosexuality, proposed by member of parliament Shashi Tharoor of the Congress Party.

Story continues

Read More: Bollywood Stars Share Disappointment After Indian Court Reinstates Gay Sex Ban

McKellen has been actively involved in LGBT rights since he came out at the age of 49 in an interview with BBC radio in 1988. He also told Khan that it wasn't difficult coming out: "I was well-established and confident."

In various interviews with Indian media outlets, McKellen slammed the country's stance on homosexuality, telling the Mumbai Mirror that "India needs to grow up," and adding that the country was going through "what the U.K. went through 30 years ago."

While he may be more famous as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series and Magneto in some of the X-Men films, the star in his chat with Khan discussed his Shakespeare experience. The audience included such celebrities as filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and actresses Sonam Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut.

"Shakespeare is a modern writer. There is nothing old-fashioned about the way he thinks," McKellen said at the event. The actor's career includes a long list of Shakespeare projects for the stage, film and television. In 1995, he starred in and co-adapted Richard III with director Richard Loncraine, with the cast also including Annette Bening, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Kristen Scott Thomas, Robert Downey Jr. and Dominic West.

McKellen also was scheduled to attend the opening ceremony Wednesday as chief guest of the Kashish Mumbai International Queer festival, India's only mainstream LGBT film festival. Now in its seventh year, the event's opening film is lesbian drama Carol, starring Cate Blanchett.

The 182-title strong program also includes Indian films such as Hansal Mehta's acclaimed Aligarh, based on the true story of a university professor who loses everything, including his life, when he is discovered to be gay. Despite India's conservative environment, some Indian filmmakers are beginning to push the envelope with more realistic depictions of onscreen homosexuality.

"Increasingly, in India too, the film industry has matured, treating gay people with the same seriousness as straight characters," McKellen said in a statement, adding, "I look forward at Kashish to discovering more about Bollywood's filmmakers who reject fantasy for the truth about gay people."

Read More: Taboo or Not Taboo? Bollywood Musicals' Boundaries Pushed With Violence, Homosexuality Onscreen
By Steven Shapiro

John Kelsalls grief is masked by pride as he shows off the trident pin his son Jonas earned when he became a U.S. Navy SEAL. Its one of my most prized possessions, he says.

Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Kelsall was killed in action during a mission in Afghanistan in 2011 that took the lives of 30 Americans and a military service dog.

He said, If anything ever happens to me, know Im doing what I love with the guys I love doing it with. And I wouldnt want to do anything else, his father says.

Following his death, his parents established a nonprofit in his honor to give back to those who have served their country.

John and Teri Kelsall spoke with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric about The Jonas Project and its mission to help returning veterans launch and grow their own businesses.

The mentor is the most vital part of the program, Teri Kelsall told Couric. Its a two-year commitment on the mentors part, who is a volunteer.

We want our veterans to feel like they can continue contributing in a positive way and still pursue their passion, says Jonas sister, Kim Kelsall Dossett, who is also a member of the Jonas Projects team.

Veterans who apply to the Jonas Project have to be honorably discharged, and they have to submit a business plan for review. Once accepted, they receive help with financing, in addition to valuable guidance from their mentors.

Monica Vasquez is one of the Jonas Projects greatest success stories. The Iraq war veteran was accepted to the program to help launch her own construction company.

The best thing I can say is just theyre the type of people who will light a fire under you and get you motivated to make you say, Man, I can do this.

Others, like Teague Savitch, owner of Blue Bowl Superfoods, has had a similar positive experience.

The Jonas Project afforded me a bit of that foundation to help me address these decisions and questions that come flying at me.

Transitioning from military service to the civilian workforce can be one of the most difficult periods for a veteran.

Story continues

Whether you are going to work for another company or whether you are starting your own business, you need to remember that theres still a learning curve. You now need to reinvent yourself, says Zach Iscol, founder & CEO of Hirepurpose, a company that helps veterans and their spouses transition to careers outside of the military.

I think any organization like the Jonas Project that helps veterans, that provides, especially, the mentorship and the network that folks need to start their own business, is invaluable,  he added.

John Kelsall says the work in memory of Jonas is just the beginning.

He made us incredibly proud. This is our way of trying to make him proud. And I think were getting there. Weve got a ways to go, but were getting there.
Imax CEO Richard Gelfond is bullish about virtual reality, and has no idea whether Google, Facebook, Microsoft or other players will prevail in introducing the VR experience to consumers in the home.

It just won't be Imax. The exec on Tuesday told an investors conference the giant-screen exhibitor is targeting location-based VR outside the home, in partnership with Google and Starbreeze.

The aim is to bring a premium, cinema-like VR experience to the local multiplex and other out-of-home destinations. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston in a session that was webcast, Gelfond said a moviegoer may see Star Wars, for example, at the multiplex. Then, after the film ends, they may pay for a premium VR experience around the Star Wars IP in the same complex.

"You'd go to a different place in the multiplex and put on VR glasses and you would fly the Millennium Falcon or see how many stormtroopers you can shoot," he explained.

Gelfond told investors that pacting with Google to capture VR footage with a cinema-quality camera and using Starbreeze's headset technology with 210-degree full peripheral vision should ensure Imax's eventual location-based VR experience is like nothing available in the home.

The Imax CEO also told investors he has cold feet on rolling out two of his giant screens in a single multiplex to meet peak demand for Hollywood tentpoles, especially on opening weekends when theaters often sell out. "That's been somewhat of a debate internally. I personally don't think that's the direction we're going to go," Gelfond said.

He added Imax should instead offer exhibitors an exclusive market zone in which to operate, and hopefully see screens added at new locations, rather than see a second Imax screen installed in the same complex. "I worry that during the peak blockbuster seasons, they'll do very well, but at other times of the year [the second screens] won't do as well," Gelfond told investors.

Story continues

Imax and Canadian exhibitor Cinemas Guzzo tested the second-screen concept in Montreal's Mega-Plex Marche Central 18 complex. Gelfond expressed concern that a second screen might be smaller in size than the first giant screen, creating a "first-class and then a second-class experience."

And exhibitors indicating interest in a second screen in a complex want to play non-Imax content. Said Gelfond, "Is it really worth it to mess around with your brand, and confuse consumers? At the moment, I don't think so."

Read More: Imax Expands Second-Screen Concept in Quebec With Three-Theater Deal
The upcoming November election is shaping up to be an important and entertaining event. Investors are paying close attention, concerned about the impact the new president might have on the economy. But I believe no matter who wins in November, the incoming president will have limited impact on the economy and the stock market (at least at first).

As we've seen in the past, presidential decisions can create confidence that leads to a bull market, or they can lead to a sense of malaise and a bear market. But it takes time for sentiment to develop and influence the market. The market can ignore the president for a time as traders find other things to focus on, like earnings or economic growth.

Right now, the economy is just too big to turn suddenly, and industries are too highly regulated for a new president to simply step in and make sweeping changes.

After the election the new president will need time to enact policies, and it will take even more time before they really kick in. Overall, we probably have a year or more after the election to evaluate whether the president will be bullish, bearish or neutral for markets.

Health care has become one of the most regulated areas in recent years, and I believe current regulations will change slowly. That means some health care stocks are operating in steady environments, which should allow for consistent growth. Many of these stocks are currently buys, including a recommendation I recently delivered to my premium Maximum Income subscribers, HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA).

HCA operates 168 acute care hospitals with about 44,000 licensed beds, 116 freestanding surgery centers, 66 urgent care facilities and 55 freestanding emergency rooms. The company also operates about 830 physician clinics and employs 35,000 medical staff. These are all highly regulated operations, and management understands the current regulatory environment. That understanding should allow the company to grow revenue even if insurers and government programs reduce reimbursement rates, something that is a constant threat in the industry.

Story continues

[More from StreetAuthority.com: How To Create A Worry-Free 9% Income Stream]

One way HCA grows revenue is by increasing its market share. Despite the company's geographically diversified footprint, just 4% to 5% of all inpatient care delivered in the country today is provided by HCA facilities. The company has significant room for expansion in large markets where it already has facilities, like San Jose, Miami, Houston and Dallas. It also has plenty of opportunities for expansion into new markets.

While HCA has operations near London, only about 3.3% of 2015 revenue came from international operations, so it is still very much a U.S.-based operation. But Great Britain's National Health Service is even more regulated than the U.S. market, so HCA's ability to operate in that environment suggests the company could adapt and thrive in the United States under any almost any conditions.

Recent data indicates HCA is growing in a number of areas: same-facility admissions were up 1.6% in the past year, while same-facility emergency room visits increased 6.9%, and the number of outpatient surgical procedures grew by 4.4%. Most importantly, revenue was up 6% over that time.

Over the past 12 months, HCA reported a 24.3% increase in earnings compared to the prior 12 months. Analysts expect the company to continue growing earnings in the long term, albeit at a slower pace. Current estimates show analysts are expecting growth to average 10.9% a year for the next five years. This is nearly double the pace of growth expected in health care spending, which is projected to average about 5.8%.

About 55% of HCA's revenue last year came from privately insured patients, who can access HCA facilities through many of the nation's largest insurers. Government insurance programs, which account for the remaining 45% of HCA's revenue, could account for significant growth in at least two ways.

[More from StreetAuthority.com: Is This A Bubble In The Making?]

These programs could result in increased admissions as the number of insured continues to grow. HCA estimates the markets include 3.9 million individuals eligible to enroll in Medicaid or other Affordable Care Act programs, but who have not enrolled yet. HCA could also increase its presence in states that have expanded Medicaid to meet increased demand. Just 15% of the company's hospital beds are currently in these markets, leaving plenty of room for expansion or acquisitions to meet the demands of newly insured patients.

Given the strong growth prospects, HCA's stock is undervalued. Shares are currently priced at about 0.8 times sales. The long-term average price-to-sales (P/S) ratio for companies in the health care facilities industry is 1.1, indicating HCA is potentially undervalued by more than 20%.

Bottom line: HCA is a stable, attractive long-term investment no matter how you look at it, and it's a buy at current prices.

There's just one problem, though... the company doesn't pay a dividend.

[More from StreetAuthority.com: A Look Into The Best Income Strategy You're Probably Ignoring]

But I have a solution...

Assuming you were to buy 100 shares of HCA, I recently showed traders how they could skim $30 in income from the market immediately. Now, that may not sound like much, but this trade will only last 36 days. And we can repeat the process again and again to earn an annual yield of nearly 4% -- on a stock that doesn't pay any dividends.

Last year, my Maximum Income readers could have earned up to $46,360 in extra income from stocks just like HCA -- more than they ever could from dividends alone.

You're probably thinking we took on an excessive amount of risk to do this, but I assure you we didn't. In fact, it's one of the most conservative income strategies out there.

If you'd like to learn more about my strategy and how you can get started earning as much as $850 today, simply visit this link.

Related Articles
By Jatindra Dash BHUBANESWAR, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A wildlife official in central India on Wednesday rejected claims that tribes living in a tiger sanctuary inspired by Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" were being forced from their ancestral land to protect the endangered animals. Indigenous rights group Survival International says the Baiga tribes in the Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh state are being harassed by forest guards to leave the land where they have lived for generations. B.N. Dwivedi, principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden in Chhattisgarh, said there were plans to relocate some tribal villages that are inside the sanctuary, but that no force was being used. "When we evacuate some villagers from the tiger reserve, it cannot be done without their permission, without their acceptance, without their saying 'yes'," Dwivedi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. "The allegation that they are being relocated forcefully is not correct and entirely incorrect." Achanakmar covers an area of 552 sq km (213 sq miles) and is home to numerous flora and fauna, including endangered animals such as leopards, wild bison and the Bengal tiger. It forms part of a tiger corridor to the neighboring Kanha National Park, which provided the inspiration for "The Jungle Book", Kipling's novel about an abandoned boy who is raised by wolves in the jungle in India. London-based Survival International said the Baiga people were told they will have to move from their villages to a muddy clearing outside the reserve, even though there is no evidence their presence in the reserve is harming tigers. In fact, it said, the number of tigers in the reserve has reportedly risen to 28 in 2015, from 12 in 2011. "It's illegal and immoral to target tribes, who have co-existed with the tiger for centuries, when industrialization and mass-scale colonial-era hunting are the real reason the tiger became endangered," said Survival's Director Stephen Corry. "Big conservation organizations should be partnering with tribal peoples, not propping up the forest departments that are guilty of brutalizing them. Targeting tribal people harms conservation," Corry said in a statement on Monday. Despite a slew of "pro-poor" policies, activists say India's economic boom has bypassed many tribal communities, who make up more than 8 percent of its population of 1.3 billion people. Many live in forest villages, eking out a living by farming, rearing cattle, collecting and selling fruit and leaves. The Forest Rights Act, a law recognizing the right of indigenous tribes to inhabit forests where their forefathers had settled centuries earlier, came into force in 2008. But some environmentalists fear it has hindered conservation efforts and encouraged the poaching of animals such as tigers. Dwivedi said there were plans to relocate 250 Baiga families from four villages, but all were happy to leave the reserve. "They are in fact very much willing to go out of that place," he said. "They want to come out from the area so that they get schooling, hospital as well as road facilities." (Reporting by Jatindra Dash, writing by Nita Bhalla, editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
Panic buttons will have to be fitted on all India's public buses to curb sex attacks on women, the transport minister said Wednesday, more than three years after the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi.

The transport ministry said it would issue a formal order after June 2 making the emergency measures on public buses a must.

"To ensure the safety of women after the unfortunate incident, we have decided to make it mandatory for public transport buses to install emergency panic buttons, CCTV cameras and GPS-enabled vehicle tracking devices," Nitin Gadkari told reporters in New Delhi.

He was referring to the brutal attack on a woman in December 2012 as she returned home from the cinema.

The assault triggered outrage and mass protests across India, leading to an overhaul of its rape laws but high numbers of assaults persist.

Rajasthan is the first state in India to have such buses, with 20 vehicles fitted with the new safety measures.

Panic buttons are placed above the front doors which, once pressed, send an emergency message to a police control room that can then view live footage of the bus interior.

Gadkari said all public buses would have to be modelled the same way, while manufacturers must ensure new buses come equipped with the facilities.

The government's latest anti-sex attack move follows its announcement last month that all mobile phones sold in India would have to have a panic button from the start of 2017.

The button would allow users to call emergency services by pressing a single key on their phone.
NEW DELHI, May 25 (Reuters) - India has said Apple Inc must meet a rule obliging foreign retailers to sell at least 30 percent locally-sourced goods if it wishes to open stores in the country, a senior government official told Reuters.

Apple is hoping to expand its retail presence in India, one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets, at a time when sales in the United States and China have slowed.

A change in legislation last year exempted foreign retailers selling high-tech goods from the rule, which states 30 percent of the value of goods sold in the store should be made in India.

However, Apple's products were not considered to be in this category, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the matter.

He declined to be named as the decision by the finance ministry is not public. A finance ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

"They did ask for a waiver but didn't provide any material on record to justify it. The decision was taken only after a thorough examination of their application," the source said.

The waiver is available only for investment in "state of the art" or "cutting-edge technology", he added.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Wednesday. Most Apple products are made in China.

The decision is a setback for the U.S.-based company just days after a four-day trip to the country by Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook who met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Saturday. The trip was supposed set the stage for Apple's expansion plans.

Sources have said Apple planned to open at least three stores in India by the end of 2017.

Separate sources had previously told Reuters that Apple held talks with Indian government officials about a relaxation of the rule before it filed an application to open stores in January.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh, writing by Himank Sharma; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
India's Tata Steel said on Wednesday it had yet to shortlist any bidders for the sale of its loss-making British assets but that it hoped to close a deal soon.

The Indian firm, Britain's biggest steel employer, announced earlier this year that it planned to sell its Port Talbot plant in Wales and other assets, putting 15,000 jobs at risk.

Tata Steel held a board meeting in India's financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday, two days after a deadline passed for interested parties to submit bids to acquire its struggling British steelworks.

"We are evaluating offers. We would like to figure out how many bidders we would take along to the next stage based on the bids they gave," group executive director Koushik Chatterjee told reporters.

Chatterjee refused to identify the bidders, or how many there are, stressing that Tata Steel was in the "confidential phase" of the sale process.

Earlier this month the company said it had selected seven bidders to proceed to the next stage, without naming them.

Metal processing company Liberty House has previously expressed interest and a management buyout team under the name Excalibur is also believed to be in the running.

"We hope to close the deal shortly and have made good progress with constructive meetings with board members," Chatterjee added, as he announced Tata Steel's Q4 quarterly earnings.

Tata Steel posted a net loss of 32.1 billion rupees ($477 million) in the three months to March 31, from a loss of 56.7 billion rupees a year earlier.

"The UK steel operations continued to be exposed to volatile currency and low priced imports into the country," Tata Steel said in a statement.

"The Tata Steel Europe Board under the advise of the Tata Steel Board is actively reviewing all options for the Tata Steel UK Business including a potential sale of the business," it added.

Tata Steel said in March it was selling its loss-making British assets due to a global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe from countries including China, high costs and currency volatility.

Story continues

The move heaped pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron's government, which has been racing to find a buyer to safeguard the iconic British steel industry, which dates back to the 19th century.

Britain's business minister Sajid Javid held discussions about the sale with Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai late Tuesday.

"Met Tata in Mumbai today to discuss #steel sales process. Several credible bidders in play. Determined to keep momentum & find right buyer," Javid wrote on Twitter after the meeting.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday approved a law prescribing the death penalty as the maximum sentence for child rapists, after several brutal gang rapes sparked public outrage. Sexual violence is prevalent in Southeast Asia's most populous country, but gang rape is unusual. Social media erupted in calls for harsher punishment following a case early this month, in which a group of men was charged with raping and killing a schoolgirl in Bengkulu in the western island of Sumatra. The case prompted rights groups to accuse the government of not doing enough to protect women and children, and provoked a tweet by Widodo himself seeking punishment of the perpetrators, although his call came more than a month after the event. On Wednesday, Widodo said those responsible for sexual abuse of children, as well as repeat sex offenders, could also face chemical castration and be tagged with an electronic chip to track their movements, citing the law he signed. "Sexual violence against children is an extraordinary crime," Widodo told a news conference at the presidential palace. "This regulation is meant to overcome (such) incidents, in which we have seen a significant rise." Data on the number of child sex abuse cases was not immediately available. Rights activists warned against the decision to permit capital punishment and the use of chemical castration, however. "In most cases the perpetrators know the victims, and these punishments are so severe that it may discourage victims from reporting the rapes," said Andreas Harsono of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "On their own, these punishments don't address the need to protect children through a well-functioning welfare system." Widodo's government drew international condemnation last year for its execution by firing squad of several drug traffickers, mostly foreigners, despite repeated pleas for mercy from other governments and activists. After a year-long hiatus, Indonesia is set to resume executions this year, but authorities have given no details. (Reporting by Jakarta bureau and Kanupriya Kapoor; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Indonesia's president Wednesday approved tough new punishments for child sex offenders, including a maximum penalty of death and chemical castration, after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a schoolgirl.

Convicted paedophiles could also be forced to wear electronic monitoring devices following their release from jail under new rules introduced in an emergency decree.

"This regulation is intended to overcome the crisis caused by sexual violence against children," President Joko Widodo said late Wednesday at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

"Sexual crimes against children are extraordinary crimes, because they threaten the lives of children."

The presidential decree brings the new punishments immediately into effect, although parliament could later overturn it.

Widodo was spurred into action after the murder and gang-rape in April of a 14-year-old girl, who was set upon by a gang of drunken men and boys as she walked home from school on the western island of Sumatra.

Her battered body was found three days later in woods, tied up and naked. Seven teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were jailed earlier this month over the assault.

The attack sparked a national debate on sexual violence, led to calls for harsher punishments for child sex offenders and prompted protests in the capital Jakarta.

The case has drawn comparisons with the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which sparked mass protests and led to an overhaul of India's rape laws.

Indonesia is likely to draw fire for expanding its use of the death penalty. Jakarta has faced criticism for use its use of capital punishment against drug traffickers, and sparked international outrage last year when it put seven foreign drug convicts to death by firing squad.

Under previous laws, the maximum sentence for rape -- including of a minor -- was 14 years in jail.

By introducing chemical castration, Indonesia joins a small group who use the punishment worldwide, including Poland and some states in the US. In 2011, South Korea became the first Asian country to legalise the punishment.

Widodo did not give further details about tagging suspects with monitoring devices. Local media previously reported that a microchip could be implanted in child sex offenders' legs on their release from jail.
An Alaska inmate is back in custody after authorities say he fled a correctional facility only to return with the goal of freeing fellow prisoners.

Josh Yaska allegedly escaped the North Star Center in Fairbanks Sunday. The 20-year-old was seen riding a bicycle away from the facility, Alaska State Troopers said.

But the 20-year-old wasn't gone forever, cops say. Just after 4 a.m., Yaska allegedly returned to the prison in an SUV.

Read: Trio Arrested in Death of Endangered Fish Killed in Drunken Rampage: Cops

Authorities say Yaska was back to help free some of his fellow inmates.

"While in the North Star Center parking lot, Yaska attempted to strike a North Star Center employee with his vehicle," Alaska State Troopers said in a release.

For most of Sunday, police say Yaska remained at large.

Read: Father-Son Duo Arrested After Kidnapping Utah Mother and Four Teen Daughters: Cops

Then, around 10 p.m., police got a call from a person identified as a member of Yaska's family who claimed Yaska had broken into their home. Troopers responded and took Yaska back into custody, authorities said.

Online court records show Yaska has past convictions for misconduct, assault and violating the conditions of his release.

Charges of Escape in the fourth degree and Assault in the third degree have been forwarded to the district attorneys office.

Watch: How This Escaped Convict Finally Got Caught Nearly 50 Years Later

Related Articles:
There may not be a busier week in all of 2016 on the media calendar than the one that just concluded. The Cannes Film Festival came to a close, the broadcast TV networks held their upfront presentations and Google hosted its annual I/O conference. Just thinking about all the activity makes me want to take a nap.

But there was yet another event this past week that didnt get nearly as much attention as the rest but really deserved it: INTX 2016, an acronym for the Internet and Television Expo, which was held by the National Cable & Telecom Assn. in Boston.

This event was previously known as the Cable Show, and before that, the National Show. Now into its second year as INTX, this inscrutable acronym isnt exactly a great achievement in branding, but then again neither is NATPE and thats still alive and kicking in Miami.

The brand shift is a reflection of the NCTAs own reorientation around the broadband side of the cable industry, which has seen the multichannel business fade in importance in comparison to selling Internet connections. INTX now has a very different focus that feels more like a mid-year CES than anything else.

What was once an event chockful of major content companies has basically been abandoned by them considering programming execs had more glamorous options in Paris and Manhattan.

No wonder those in attendance in Boston werent exactly wowed by what they saw. Our overall take from this years INTX Show is that it wasnt all that exciting, was how Wells Fargo analyst Marcy Ryvicker led off her analyst note on the subject.

Poor, poor INTX. But wed all be remiss in underestimating this show going forward because so many of the pressing issues weighing on the media business were illuminated in Boston. At a time when a seemingly endless number of non pay-TV companies are poised to enter the video market with so-called skinny bundles (this weeks rumor: Samsung), Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was at INTX to wow the few who were there with a demo the X1 set-top technology that will turn the upcoming Olympics into an on-demand extravaganza. It was a timely riposte to the disruptors who think they can undersell the traditional channel bundle.

Story continues

The cable biz also demonstrated at INTX its willingness to look beyond set-top boxes with launches like Ciscos VideoGuard Everywhere, which enables a cable subscriber to use an alternative like Roku. Fresh off its newly announced absorption of Time Warner Cable, Charter will be the first cable operator out there with the product.

But thats not all. Various improvements to the broadband infrastructure and a growing interest in wireless were also on display at INTX, not to mention the FCC commissioners who will have a say in how cables future plays out.

If only the conference had found a less crowded time of year to play out. Maybe the industry needs to figure out a better spot on the calendar to get INTX the attention it deserves.

Related stories

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Says TV Business Is at 'Make or Break' Point

FCC Commissioners Show Divide on Set-Top Box Proposal

Comcast Has No Plans to Launch Internet TV Outside Cable Footprint, CEO Brian Roberts Says
As smart cities apply technology using analytics and software to better manage their operations, urban development is becoming increasingly more connected, integrated and technologically advanced via the Internet of Things movement.

At the same time, mayors and city planners across the U.S. are grappling with how to be more efficient and effective with their shrinking budgets and growing urban populations. Coupled with millennials searching for more walkable, transit-friendly cities, many agile startups are developing innovative "smart city" solutions that are being sought out and gobbled up by Fortune 500 companies and other investors.

[See: 10 Ways You Can Throw Retail Stocks in Your Cart.]

In March, General Motors Co. (GM) purchased San Francisco-based Cruise Automation -- a company that turns certain types of cars into autonomous vehicles -- in a deal some industry experts say that was more than a $1 billion in cash and stock options. Only two months earlier, GM invested $500 million in Lyft's riding sharing service to create an on-demand network of self-driving cars.

"Cities are becoming smarter, but at a slower rate than homes and still lag behind them in technology," says Jake Chapman, partner at Gelt Venture Capital in Berkeley, California. "City budgets are getting crunched and they need to find solutions. Just like businesses, there's always this pressure to become more efficient or be left behind."

It is part of the reason the U.S. Department of Transportation and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) billionaire Paul Allen agreed to give $50 million to a mid-sized American city (200,000 to 850,000) via its Smart City Challenge to improve safety, enhance mobility and address climate change. San Francisco-based Grand View Research estimates the global smart cities market will hit $1.4 trillion in 2020 -- nearly triple the $567.4 billion market in 2013.

The seven finalists in the competition are Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Austin; Denver; San Francisco; Kansas City and Portland, Oregon.

Story continues

"It's the wild west right now and no one knows what's really going to work," says Ed Skoudis, founder of Counter Hack, an organization in Wall, New Jersey, that builds cybersecurity challenges. "A bunch of places are doing it in different ways and many are going to fail. If everyone was doing it the same way, it would kill this exciting new technology."

Here are a few smart city trends to keep on your radar as technology evolves.

Look for companies that understand how to navigate the hyper-local nature of smart cities, says David Cummins, senior vice president of mobility solutions for Xerox Corp. (XRX). "This isn't a one-size-fits-all process," he says. "Every city is unique and very siloed. To assume you can come in and overlay some technology is a bit of a fantasy."

There's also growing convergence and a recognition that the private sector is filling in for what the public sector used to do, Cummins says.

[See: 13 Money Hacks to Turbocharge Your Investments.]

Everything is getting sensors. Cities like San Diego and Jacksonville, Florida, have partnered with General Electric Co. (GE) to embed smart street lights with LED bulbs that have dimmers and include motion sensors, wireless transmitters and cameras. San Jose, California, installed integrated LTE wireless in LED street lights via its SmartPole program in partnership with Koninklijke Philips (PHG) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC). ShotSpotter partnered with GE in more than 90 cities to embed its sensors in streetlights to help triangulate and pinpoint gunshots by using embed surveillance technology.

Even waste management operations are getting sensors.

ParkerGale, a technology-focused private equity firm in Chicago, invested in OnePlus Corp., a remote intelligent monitoring system where sensors using hydraulic pressure and SIM card gauge the fullness of a trash compactor. The sensor then monitors when and where the trash needs to be picked up in cities like Sydney and Nashville, Tennessee, says Kristina Heinze, co-founder and partner at ParkerGale.

That same technology can be applied to other bins, such as donation bins that might be overflowing, agricultural grain bins that need to be emptied or when to retrieve liquid waste such as cooking oil.

Driverless cars will change everything. "This is going to have a bigger impact than even the smart phone," Chapman says.

How big?

Chapman points to how Uber decimated Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center by poaching 40 or so researchers and scientists to build an in-house team to develop its driverless car technology.

Chapman also predicts a drastic uptick in subscriber-based driverless car plans. "That eliminates the need to park in a downtown area," he says. "You're going to see parking lots and gas stations go away and you won't need to park at home so garages might go away."

As families and landlords reclaim their parking spots, Chapman says apartments may turn their parking into rental units while garages maybe used for storage units or living quarters as adult children continue to live with their parents.

Fremont, California, which was one of the more than 70 cities that applied for the Smart City Challenge, is working on partnering with apps to "order-up mobility," that will coordinate various options including riding sharing and Zipcar options, says Hans Larsen, public works director. The city hopes to reduce parking and allow residents in their urban area to live "car-free" or "car-light," Larsen says.

Look for other places to invest in the shared economy that focuses on collaborative consumption, says Krishna Gupta, founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Romulus Capital, who points to EquipmentShare, the Airbnb-style construction rental company that helps companies share and rent equipment.

Where to invest. Most cities are implementing "smart" technologies and in every vertical. Even robotic greenhouses that can grow and deliver vegetables via Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google X drone delivery lab are being tested and could impact city food deserts. Internet infrastructure, including Wi-Fi networks and Google Fiber, energy, mobility and security as well as subsectors like artificial intelligence and cloud-computing are all big categories.

Several vendors are trying to make a play in this space, including Cisco Systems (CSCO), International Business Machines (IBM), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Intel Corp. (INTC), says Skoudis, who is also an advisory board member to RSA Conference, which focuses on the security industry.

Or consider investing in the Russell 1000 index of small-capitalization stocks, Chapman says, because it will include larger new companies that have higher growth. "I'm bullish on the American economy," he says. "Any good index fund with zero to low fees is a good investment right now."

Just avoid municipal bonds, Chapman says. "They aren't the best way to invest," he says. "Because even though some of that money is in smart cities, most of it is in schools and basic infrastructure repairs."

Look at investments in the B2B sphere. Both Gupta and Heinze say they focus on the business-to-business market instead of business-to-consumer. "Consumers can be fickle," Heinze says.

Instead of chasing the trend of the moment, she says it's easier to get corporate customers who are addressing a more sizeable market that have a higher selling price to the customer. "Why would I want to sell a smart thermostat or light bulb at that price point if I'm selling compactor sensors at $2,000 a sensor?" she says.

Just don't "fly too close to the sun," Heinze says. Instead avoid a space if it's "really hot" and private equity firms, and venture capitalist firms and other investors are flocking to it. "Companies became so expensive that way," she says. Instead think of what's not in the spotlight but has a big economic and sustainability impact.

[Read: What is a Bespoke Tranche Opportunity?]

"It's such a big opportunity for everyone for the everyday investor," she says. "Technology has become so much cheaper than before, it has moved down from huge enterprises to the S&P 500 market, and now it's in our houses and cities."





More From US News & World Report


As smart cities apply technology using analytics and software to better manage their operations, urban development is becoming increasingly more connected, integrated and technologically advanced via the Internet of Things movement.

At the same time, mayors and city planners across the U.S. are grappling with how to be more efficient and effective with their shrinking budgets and growing urban populations. Coupled with millennials searching for more walkable, transit-friendly cities, many agile startups are developing innovative "smart city" solutions that are being sought out and gobbled up by Fortune 500 companies and other investors.

[See: 10 Ways You Can Throw Retail Stocks in Your Cart.]

In March, General Motors Co. (ticker: GM) purchased San Francisco-based Cruise Automation -- a company that turns certain types of cars into autonomous vehicles -- in a deal some industry experts say that was more than a $1 billion in cash and stock options. Only two months earlier, GM invested $500 million in Lyft's riding sharing service to create an on-demand network of self-driving cars.

"Cities are becoming smarter, but at a slower rate than homes and still lag behind them in technology," says Jake Chapman, partner at Gelt Venture Capital in Berkeley, California. "City budgets are getting crunched and they need to find solutions. Just like businesses, there's always this pressure to become more efficient or be left behind."

It is part of the reason the U.S. Department of Transportation and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) billionaire Paul Allen agreed to give $50 million to a mid-sized American city (200,000 to 850,000) via its Smart City Challenge to improve safety, enhance mobility and address climate change. San Francisco-based Grand View Research estimates the global smart cities market will hit $1.4 trillion in 2020 -- nearly triple the $567.4 billion market in 2013.

The seven finalists in the competition are Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Austin; Denver; San Francisco; Kansas City and Portland, Oregon.

Story continues

"It's the wild west right now and no one knows what's really going to work," says Ed Skoudis, founder of Counter Hack, an organization in Wall, New Jersey, that builds cybersecurity challenges. "A bunch of places are doing it in different ways and many are going to fail. If everyone was doing it the same way, it would kill this exciting new technology."

Here are a few smart city trends to keep on your radar as technology evolves.

Look for companies that understand how to navigate the hyper-local nature of smart cities, says David Cummins, senior vice president of mobility solutions for Xerox Corp. (XRX). "This isn't a one-size-fits-all process," he says. "Every city is unique and very siloed. To assume you can come in and overlay some technology is a bit of a fantasy."

There's also growing convergence and a recognition that the private sector is filling in for what the public sector used to do, Cummins says.

[See: 13 Money Hacks to Turbocharge Your Investments.]

Everything is getting sensors. Cities like San Diego and Jacksonville, Florida, have partnered with General Electric Co. (GE) to embed smart street lights with LED bulbs that have dimmers and include motion sensors, wireless transmitters and cameras. San Jose, California, installed integrated LTE wireless in LED street lights via its SmartPole program in partnership with Koninklijke Philips (PHG) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC). ShotSpotter partnered with GE in more than 90 cities to embed its sensors in streetlights to help triangulate and pinpoint gunshots by using embed surveillance technology.

Even waste management operations are getting sensors.

ParkerGale, a technology-focused private equity firm in Chicago, invested in OnePlus Corp., a remote intelligent monitoring system where sensors using hydraulic pressure and SIM card gauge the fullness of a trash compactor. The sensor then monitors when and where the trash needs to be picked up in cities like Sydney and Nashville, Tennessee, says Kristina Heinze, co-founder and partner at ParkerGale.

That same technology can be applied to other bins, such as donation bins that might be overflowing, agricultural grain bins that need to be emptied or when to retrieve liquid waste such as cooking oil.

Driverless cars will change everything. "This is going to have a bigger impact than even the smart phone," Chapman says.

How big?

Chapman points to how Uber decimated Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center by poaching 40 or so researchers and scientists to build an in-house team to develop its driverless car technology.

Chapman also predicts a drastic uptick in subscriber-based driverless car plans. "That eliminates the need to park in a downtown area," he says. "You're going to see parking lots and gas stations go away and you won't need to park at home so garages might go away."

As families and landlords reclaim their parking spots, Chapman says apartments may turn their parking into rental units while garages maybe used for storage units or living quarters as adult children continue to live with their parents.

Fremont, California, which was one of the more than 70 cities that applied for the Smart City Challenge, is working on partnering with apps to "order-up mobility," that will coordinate various options including riding sharing and Zipcar options, says Hans Larsen, public works director. The city hopes to reduce parking and allow residents in their urban area to live "car-free" or "car-light," Larsen says.

Look for other places to invest in the shared economy that focuses on collaborative consumption, says Krishna Gupta, founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Romulus Capital, who points to EquipmentShare, the Airbnb-style construction rental company that helps companies share and rent equipment.

Where to invest. Most cities are implementing "smart" technologies and in every vertical. Even robotic greenhouses that can grow and deliver vegetables via Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google X drone delivery lab are being tested and could impact city food deserts. Internet infrastructure, including Wi-Fi networks and Google Fiber, energy, mobility and security as well as subsectors like artificial intelligence and cloud-computing are all big categories.

Several vendors are trying to make a play in this space, including Cisco Systems (CSCO), International Business Machines (IBM), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Intel Corp. (INTC), says Skoudis, who is also an advisory board member to RSA Conference, which focuses on the security industry.

Or consider investing in the Russell 1000 index of small-capitalization stocks, Chapman says, because it will include larger new companies that have higher growth. "I'm bullish on the American economy," he says. "Any good index fund with zero to low fees is a good investment right now."

Just avoid municipal bonds, Chapman says. "They aren't the best way to invest," he says. "Because even though some of that money is in smart cities, most of it is in schools and basic infrastructure repairs."

Look at investments in the B2B sphere. Both Gupta and Heinze say they focus on the business-to-business market instead of business-to-consumer. "Consumers can be fickle," Heinze says.

Instead of chasing the trend of the moment, she says it's easier to get corporate customers who are addressing a more sizeable market that have a higher selling price to the customer. "Why would I want to sell a smart thermostat or light bulb at that price point if I'm selling compactor sensors at $2,000 a sensor?" she says.

Just don't "fly too close to the sun," Heinze says. Instead avoid a space if it's "really hot" and private equity firms, and venture capitalist firms and other investors are flocking to it. "Companies became so expensive that way," she says. Instead think of what's not in the spotlight but has a big economic and sustainability impact.

[Read: What is a Bespoke Tranche Opportunity?]

"It's such a big opportunity for everyone for the everyday investor," she says. "Technology has become so much cheaper than before, it has moved down from huge enterprises to the S&P 500 market, and now it's in our houses and cities."

Dawn Reiss is an award-winning journalist in Chicago who has written for TIME, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, The Atlantic and Travel + Leisure and many other publications. Follow her on Twitter, Google+ and Instagram @dawnreiss.
Heres the latest blow to Gannetts $864 million offer to buy Tribune Publishing: Two of the leading investor advisory firms  Glass, Lewis & Co., and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)  urge Tribune investors to reject a protest effort that the owner of USA Today has proposed for next weeks annual meeting.

Tribune has rejected the buyout offers. And Gannett wants stock owners to withhold their votes for Tribunes board at the June 2 meeting. That would have no impact on the outcome  directors are running unopposed.

Still, Gannett says it would send a clear message that they want the owner of the Los Angeles Times to talk about the $15 a share offer  which is 99.5% more than Tribunes trading price before April 25, when Gannett disclosed its initial bid.

But the publisher has offered insufficient cause to support the protest, Glass Lewis says in a new report. ISS says Tribunes rejection of Gannett is warranted.

Both note that Gannett made its initial offer in April when Tribune was unusually weak. In March the company fired its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and CFO after the company found problems with its accounting.

In addition, Tribune had just changed management  investor Michael Ferro bought 16.5% of the shares in February, and installed his colleague Justin Dearborn as CEO. They had not outlined their plans for the company when Gannett made its move.

As a result, Tribune shareholders have been afforded very little time to fully assess the viability of a strategic pivot, Glass Lewis says. Thats why it might be better for the board to be open to engagement with bidders while continuing to press forward with an operational strategy intended to generate more attractive long-term value for investors in a challenging operational environment.

Would Tribune shareholders be better off with a sure thing, Gannetts $15 a share offer? Perhaps, ISS acknowledges. Tribunes plan to build the Los Angeles Times and accelerate the companys digital transformation might, but has not yet been demonstrated to, solve the challenge of how print media companies can thrive in an online world.

Story continues

Thats why it says: In another year, shareholders are more likely to want to see actual lightning thats actually been captured in a jar.

The reports follow Tribunes efforts to remain independent. This month it adopted a poison pill anti-takeover defense: If someone buys 20% or more of Tribunes stock then the company would give all other investors the right to double their share of its equity.

And this week it agreed to make Patrick Soon-Shiongs Nant Capital the No. 2 investor after Ferro with deal offering him 12.9% of the company shares for $70.5 million.

Tribune is trading this afternoon at about $11.92, down about 15% over the last five days as prospects of a sale to Gannett diminished.

Yesterday investment company Towle & Co., which owns 3.9% of Tribune, said in a letter to management that the stock sale to Nant and brazen efforts to fight Gannett have disrupted our belief in fair play.

The firm fears that Tribunes revenues and earnings will decline in coming quarters. It also believes that most unaffiliated shareholders want a fair and reasonable transaction with Gannett.

Related stories

Tribune Rejects Gannett's Second Try At L.A. Times Takeover, Boosts Position

Is Tribune Publishing's Chairman Planning To Bid For Gannett?

Gannett Raises Tribune Publishing Offer By 22.5% Ahead Of Shareholder Vote
By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC's thorniest dilemma of the past year - at least from a purely oil standpoint - is about to disappear.

Less than six months after the lifting of Western sanctions, Iran is close to regaining normal oil export volumes, adding extra barrels to the market in an unexpectedly smooth way and helped by supply disruptions from Canada to Nigeria.

But the development will do little to repair dialogue, let alone help clinch a production deal, when OPEC meets next week amid rising political tensions between arch-rivals Iran and oil superpower Saudi Arabia, OPEC sources and delegates say.

Earlier this year, Tehran refused to join an initiative to boost prices by freezing output but signaled it would be part of a future effort once its production had recovered sufficiently. OPEC has no supply limit, having at its last meeting in December scrapped its production target.

According to International Energy Agency (IEA) figures, Iran's output has reached levels seen before the imposition of sanctions over its nuclear program. Tehran says it is not yet there.

But while Iran may be more willing now to talk, an increase in oil prices has reduced the urgency of propping up the market, OPEC delegates say. Oil has risen toward a more producer-friendly $50 from a 12-year low near $27 in January.

"I don't think OPEC will decide anything," a delegate from a major Middle East producer said. "The market is recovering because of supply disruptions and demand recovery."

A senior OPEC delegate, asked whether the group would make any changes to output policy at its June 2 meeting, said: Nothing. The freeze is finished.

Within OPEC, Iran has long pushed for measures to support oil prices. That position puts it at odds with Saudi Arabia, the driving force behind OPEC's landmark November 2014 refusal to cut supply in order to boost the market.

Sources familiar with Iranian oil policy see no sign of any change of approach by Riyadh under new Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih - who is seen as a believer in reform and low oil prices.

Story continues

"It really depends on those countries within OPEC with a high level of production," one such source said. "It does not seem that Saudi Arabia will be ready to cooperate with other members."

HIGHER EXPORTS

Iran has managed to increase oil exports significantly in 2016 after the lifting of sanctions in January.

It notched up output of 3.56 million barrels of oil per day in April, the IEA said, a level last reached in November 2011 before sanctions were tightened.

Saudi Arabia produced a near-record-high 10.26 million barrels per day in April and has kept output relatively steady over the past year, its submissions to OPEC show.

Iran, according to delegates from other OPEC members, is unlikely to restrain supplies, given that it believes Saudi Arabia should cut back itself to make room for Iranian oil.

"Iran won't support any freeze or cut," said a non-Iranian OPEC delegate. "But Iran may put pressure on Saudi Arabia that they hold the responsibility."

Saudi thinking, however, has moved on from the days when Riyadh cut or increased output unilaterally. Talks in Doha on the proposed output freeze by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell through after Saudi insisted that Iran participate.

Indeed, differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which helped found the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries 56 years ago, over OPEC policy have made cooperation harder - to say nothing of more fundamental disagreements.

For more than a decade after oil crashed to $10 in 1997, the two set aside rivalries to manage the market and support prices, although they fell into opposing OPEC camps with Iran wanting high prices and Saudi more moderate.

Now, the Sunni-Shia conflicts setting Saudi Arabia and Iran at each other's throats, particularly in Syria and Yemen, make the relationship between the two even more fraught.

The two disagree over OPEC's future direction. Earlier in May, OPEC failed to decide on a long-term strategy as Saudi Arabia objected to Iran's proposal that the exporter group aim for "effective production management".

With that backdrop, ministers may be advised to keep expectations low, an OPEC watcher said.

"The only aspiration OPEC should have for its 2 June meeting is simply not to repeat the chaos of the Doha process," said Paul Horsnell, analyst at Standard Chartered.

"A straightforward meeting with no binding commitments and, most importantly, no overt arguments would be the best outcome for ministers."

(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi forces pushed towards Islamic State group bastion Fallujah on Wednesday from areas to the south as part of operations to retake the city from jihadists, a commander said.

Forces from Iraq's 8th Division backed by tribal fighters set out from the Amriyat al-Fallujah area south of the city and the Al-Salam intersection to its southwest, said Staff Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi, the head of the Anbar Operations Command.

US-led coalition and Iraqi forces are providing air support, Mahalawi said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the long-awaited operation to retake the city early on Monday and less than a day into the battle, Iraqi forces had secured the nearby town of Garma.

That cut off IS fighters in Fallujah from one of their last support areas and paved the way for more advances towards the city, which lies only 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

But with forces converging on the city, concerns mounted that the tens of thousands of civilians believed to still be inside had nowhere to go.

Fallujah was seized by anti-government fighters in early 2014 and later became an IS bastion. It is one of two major Iraqi cities still held by the jihadists.
* Austrian student challenged Facebook's U.S. data transfers

* Top EU court ruled EU-U.S. data transfer deal invalid in October

* Irish regulator asks ECJ to assess other data transfer tools

By Julia Fioretti and Conor Humphries

BRUSSELS/DUBLIN, May 25 (Reuters) - Data transfers to the United States by companies such as Facebook and Google face a renewed legal threat after the Irish privacy watchdog said on Wednesday it would refer Facebook's data transfer mechanisms to the top EU court.

The move follows an Irish investigation into Facebook's transfer of European Union users' data to the United States to ensure that personal privacy is properly protected from U.S. government surveillance.

Facebook, like many other tech companies, has its European headquarters in Dublin and is regulated by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC).

The IDPC said it would ask the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) to determine the validity of Facebook's so-called "model contracts" - common legal arrangements used by thousands of firms to transfer personal data outside the 28-nation EU.

Its investigation into the California-based company was ordered by Ireland's High Court in October after the ECJ struck down Safe Harbour, an EU-U.S. agreement that had allowed the free transfer of data between the European Union and the United States. The ECJ ruled the agreement did not sufficiently protect Europeans' information against U.S. surveillance.

Transfers of Europeans' personal information to the United States have been a hot topic since 2013 revelations about mass U.S. surveillance programmes such as Prism, which allowed U.S. authorities to harvest private information directly from big tech companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google.

Since the ECJ ruling, companies have had to rely on model contracts and other, more cumbersome, measures to transfer Europeans' data to the United States in compliance with strict EU data privacy rules.

"Thousands of companies transfer data across borders to serve their customers and users," a spokeswoman for Facebook said. "The question the Irish DPC plans to raise with the court regarding standard contract clauses will be relevant to many companies operating in Europe," she said, adding that Facebook has a number of legal ways of moving data to the United States.

Story continues

The ECJ ruling in October stemmed from a complaint by Austrian law student and privacy activist Max Schrems. He challenged Facebook's transfers of European users' data to its American servers, citing the risk of U.S. snooping.

"We yesterday informed Mr Schrems and Facebook of our intention to seek declaratory relief in the Irish High Court and a referral to the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) to determine the legal status of data transfers under standard contractual clauses," the IDPC said.

One of the reasons the ECJ struck down Safe Harbour is because the agreement did not offer EU citizens sufficient channels to complain about U.S. surveillance.

Schrems and other privacy campaigners contend that alternative arrangements such as model clauses don't offer Europeans any means of redress either.

"There is no way that the CJEU can say that model contracts are valid if they killed Safe Harbor based on the existence of these U.S. surveillance laws," Schrems said in a statement on Wednesday.

After the ECJ ruling in October, the EU Commission and the United States rushed to hash out a new data-sharing agreement, the Privacy Shield, which they are hoping to have up and running by the end of June.

However, EU privacy watchdogs have raised a number of concerns with the framework, heightening fears that it might not withstand a court challenge.

(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Susan Fenton)
By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) - B'Tselem, one of Israel's leading human rights groups, said on Wednesday it would no longer refer complaints of abuse carried out by Israeli soldiers to Israeli military courts because the system was biased and set up to whitewash cases. The group, which has monitored Israel's occupation of the West Bank and incidents of violence and abuse by soldiers against Palestinians for 25 years, said the military's legal system was too narrowly defined and served to protect its own. "B'Tselem will no longer play a part in the pretense posed by the military law enforcement system and will no longer refer complaints to it," it said in an 80-page report. "The experience we have gained... has brought us to the realization that there is no longer any point in pursuing justice and defending human rights by working with a system whose real function is measured by its ability to continue to cover up unlawful acts and protect perpetrators." The Israel Defense Forces said the picture presented by B'Tselem was inaccurate and did not reflect reality. "The IDF is committed to the rule of law and its legal system acts with utmost professionalism and thoroughness," it said in a statement. "The IDF thoroughly checks and investigates any and all claims of misconduct including those from B'Tselem and many other organization, and will continue to act transparently in order to arrive at the truth." B'Tselem, one of whose workers in the West Bank city of Hebron captured video footage in March of an Israeli soldier fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker, said it had analyzed 739 cases it referred to the Military Advocate General between 2000 and 2015. In a quarter of those cases, it said no investigation was launched, while in 343 the investigation was closed without further action. Only 25 led to charges being brought, while 132 remain open in some capacity. Forty-four have been lost. The cases involved allegations of fatal shootings, injuries, beatings, damage to property and the use of Palestinians as human shields. B'Tselem said the military justice system created the impression of action, with a multi-step process that allowed government officials to say that something was being done. "Among other things, the semblance of a functioning justice system allows Israeli officials to deny claims made both in Israel and abroad that Israel does not enforce the law on soldiers who harm Palestinians," the report said. The Israeli soldier involved in the Hebron shooting is currently on trial in a military court for manslaughter. Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have called for clemency, saying the soldier did nothing wrong. Netanyahu has spoken to the defendant's parents to reassure them that he will be treated fairly and urged prosecutors to consider the context. At the time, army commanders described the shooting as a disgrace and a gross violation of military ethics. There were initially calls for the soldier to be charged with murder. (Additional reporting by Ori Lewis; editing by Jermey Gaunt)
Jerusalem (AFP) - A leading Israeli human rights group announced Wednesday it was giving up taking complaints over soldiers' conduct to the military, after years of going through official channels brought few prosecutions.

B'Tselem, which campaigns against Israel's occupation of the West Bank, said it had been providing information to the Military Advocate General Corps about alleged abuses for 25 years, but had concluded it was increasingly a "whitewash mechanism."

As such, "continuing to file complaints to the military law enforcement system does more harm than good," it said in a new report entitled: "The Occupation's Fig Leaf".

The army denied the claims.

The Military Advocate General supervises the rule of law in the army, including internal disciplinary procedures.

The army defines MAG's role as to "instil the general principles of law and the values of justice in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)."

But B'Tselem said army investigations were slow, inefficient and rarely led to convictions.

Its 80-page report cited eight recent cases, including four in which Palestinians were killed, that it said showed sub-standard military investigations.

In the past five years, just three percent of criminal investigations launched by the military police into alleged offences by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians led to indictments, according to another anti-occupation organisation Yesh Din.

"The way in which the military law enforcement system functions precludes it from the very outset from achieving justice for the victims," B'Tselem said.

"There is no longer any point in pursuing justice and defending human rights by working with a system whose real function is measured by its ability to continue to successfully cover up unlawful acts and protect perpetrators."

The Israeli military rejected the "picture depicted" in B'Tselem's statement as "biased" and not reflecting the "reality" on the ground.

"The IDF thoroughly checks and investigates any and all claims of misconduct including those from B'Tselem and many other organisations, and will continue to act transparently in order to arrive at the truth," it said in a statement.
By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In first remarks as Israel's designated defense minister, right-wing settler Avigdor Lieberman joked about his fiery reputation: "I have undergone surgery to lengthen my fuse." In a more serious vein, the Soviet-born 57-year-old struck a conciliatory note, emphasizing "a strong commitment, to the peace, to the final status agreement (with the Palestinians)." After Wednesday's signing ceremony, military officers, diplomats and Palestinian leaders were left asking whether this combative figure would pursue a less confrontational line after he formally re-joins the cabinet next week. Lieberman, who had a modest stint in Israel's armed forces, has in the past threatened to bomb Egypt's strategic Aswan dam and to assassinate Hamas leaders. He agitated Washington with his opposition to peace talks with Palestinians. Youssef Al-Mahmoud, a spokesman for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, said that by bringing in Lieberman, the Israeli government "is mixing extremism with craziness". The former foreign minister also angered the Israeli top brass, whom he will oversee, by joining protests last month against the court-martial of a soldier who shot dead an incapacitated Palestinian assailant. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off any "crying and whining" at his pick for the second-most powerful cabinet post, part of a deal to broaden the religious-nationalist coalition government. Netanyahu on Sunday had underlined his own leading role in national security was not about to change. "I've been looking out for Israel's security," he said. "I haven't done such a bad job in my years as premier, and that is how it will be now." But the men have had a chequered relationship and the courting of Lieberman came as a surprise as he and Netanyahu have been sharply dismissive of one another. Lieberman went from being chief of staff to Netanyahu in his first term as premier in the 1990s, to openly feuding with him while serving as his foreign minister in the last government, to mocking him from the opposition. Lieberman had been critical of Netanyahus efforts to patch up relations with Turkey after a deadly 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkishflagged ship that was protesting against Israels Gaza blockade and said the prime minister had lacked a clear strategy on the Iran nuclear issue. SUPPLE AND PRAGMATIC Some observers argue that, for all his bluster, Lieberman is a supple and pragmatic politician who will view the defense portfolio as a chance to cultivate national security credentials that, unlike the ex-generals who have filled the post, he lacks. Why the panic? political commentator Yoel Marcus asked in the liberal Haaretz daily. "This is a democracy ... And as a rule, important (and unimportant) decisions arent made by one man. Calm down ... The defense minister is not omnipotent. In reality, he decides much less than most people think he does. An immigrant from Soviet Moldova, Lieberman served two years as an Israeli army conscript, with the rank of corporal. Several former Israeli defense ministers have criticized Lieberman's appointment to the sensitive post. The last "civilian" to become defense minister, ex-trade union boss Amir Peretz, managed the 2006 war with Hezbollah guerrillas that calmed the Israel-Lebanon border. He developed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system, over objections from a military more accustomed to taking the fight to enemy territory. Now a center-left opposition lawmaker, Peretz predicted no problem with Lieberman's professionalism, but rather, with his past pronouncements about the folly of peace-making and in favor of tougher Israeli crackdowns on Palestinian violence. Palestinian officials said that with Lieberman, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, back in the cabinet as defense minister prospects for reviving statehood negotiations that collapsed in 2014 had grown dimmer. The Defence Ministry runs civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians live in friction with Jewish settlers. "Without a doubt, the question of the 'command spirit' will arise, with some in the ranks wondering whether this defense minister has, effectively, revised military ethics, especially regarding open-fire regulations," Peretz told Reuters. "The defense minister is, in a sense, the 'prime minister of Judea and Samaria'," Peretz said, using a biblical term for the West Bank. "It is a role that requires supreme sensitivity for humanitarian needs, which can have a big impact on statecraft." "GO TO HELL" Over the years, Lieberman has angered Israel's first Arab peace partner, Egypt. In 2008, he said then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could "go to hell" for never paying an official visit to Israel. As foreign minister, Lieberman opposed Netanyahu's terms for salvaging troubled bilateral relations with Turkey and was mostly sidelined in Western capitals, which preferred to correspond directly with the premier on the delicate diplomacy. Lieberman would be harder to circumvent as defense minister, given the depth of Israel-U.S. security ties. Those now face a big test as Netanyahu tries to coax the White House into raising U.S. defense grants to Israel, currently at $3 billion a year. The Obama administration has publicly said it "looks forward to working" with whoever replaces Moshe Yaalon, the former Israeli military chief of staff who resigned as defense minister last week in protest at Netanyahu's cabinet reshuffle. Privately, some U.S. officials sound less than happy about Lieberman's ascent. Not only do his past views on the Palestinians run counter to one of the administration's core policy pursuits, but he has for years worked to bring Israel closer to Russia. Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables from 2009 noted "Moscow's impression that the Russian-speaking Lieberman is one of their own". They also said Russia saw him as "more pragmatic on the peace process than his typically harsh rhetoric suggests". (Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Peter Millership)
Solar company JA Solar Holdings Company Ltd. JASO is set to release first-quarter 2016 results before the opening bell on May 27, 2016. In the preceding quarter, the company had delivered a negative 5.66% earnings surprise. Lets see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.



JA SOLAR HOLDGS Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

JA SOLAR HOLDGS Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | JA SOLAR HOLDGS Quote

Factors at Play



JA Solar caters to a geographically diversified pan-continental customer base, spanning over Germany, Italy, the U.S., Spain, India, Korea, China and Japan. The companys focus on widening its geographical customer base has resulted in incremental international sales. It is particularly focused on expanding its market share in the emerging markets, particularly in India and Americas.



The company expects to ship 1.01.1 gigawatts (GW) of cells and modules in the first quarter of 2016. The company anticipates module shipment of about 100 MW to its downstream projects. It expects demand to remain robust in China in the first half of 2016.



The company had earlier said that gross margin may be hurt during the first quarter due to the absorption of wafer price increases. The company is of the opinion that upstream material suppliers are struggling to keep up with the industrys robust growth and are exploiting their pricing power.



Also, anti-dumping policies in the U.S. and Europe apart, JA Solar has to face cut-throat competition from its domestic peers. The fierce competition between Chinese solar companies sometimes leaves them with a feeble margin.



Earnings Whispers



Our proven model does not conclusively show that JA Solar is likely to beat earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here.



Zacks ESP: JA Solar has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 22 cents.



Zacks Rank: JA Solar carries a Zacks Rank #3, which when combined with a 0.00% ESP, makes a surprise prediction uncertain this season.



We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.



Peer Releases



SunPower Corp. SPWR reported first-quarter 2016 adjusted loss of 42 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 23 cents by 82.6%. In the year-ago quarter, the company had reported earnings of 5 cents per share.



First Solar Inc. FSLR reported first-quarter 2016 earnings of $1.66 a share, sweeping past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents by 82.4%. The reported number was also a reversal from the prior-year loss of 61 cents, reflecting higher sales, gross profits, operating income and lower expenses.



SolarCity Corp. SCTY posted an adjusted loss of $2.56 per share, much wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.30 and the year-ago loss of $1.52 per share. The wider loss can be attributed to the companys rising expenses.



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



JA SOLAR HOLDGS (JASO): Free Stock Analysis Report



FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report



SOLARCITY CORP (SCTY): Free Stock Analysis Report



SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
By Nqobile Dludla JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's central bank told lenders to be vigilant on Wednesday after criminals in Japan stole millions of dollars from automatic teller machines using fake credit cards from South Africa's Standard Bank. The criminal gang made 14,000 withdrawals in just three hours from bank machines at 7-Eleven convenience stores across Japan on May 15, withdrawing 1.4 billion yen ($13 million), according to a source familiar with the matter. Central bank deputy governor Kuben Naidoo confirmed that Standard Bank would shoulder the losses. "We will work with the law enforcement agencies to try and prevent and tackle those crimes," Naidoo told reporters. Rene van Wyk, the central bank's registrar of banks, said lenders who rely on outside vendors should be careful as the cyber attacks were taking place abroad rather than in South Africa. "So that vulnerability will always remain because you're dependant on other parties, so that relationship between vendors and banks, that is one thing that we focus on," he said. Standard Bank said on Monday it had suffered the losses, not its customers, and that it had alerted the authorities. It estimated its total loss at 300 million rand ($19 million). The bank has declined to comment further. The criminals are still at large. Japan's Mainichi newspaper, citing sources, said police suspect more than 100 people were involved in the theft which took place on the morning of May 15, a Sunday, in Tokyo and across 16 Japanese prefectures. Most ATMs in 7-Eleven stores belong to Seven Bank, a Japanese lender part-owned by Seven & I Holdings which operates the convenience store chain in Japan. It is one of only two Japanese banks that allow withdrawals on foreign cards. Experts said both banks should shoulder some blame for failing to monitor the flood of transactions, saying they should have had systems in place to detect unusual activity. Deputy governor Naidoo said the central bank was pleased that Standard Bank had gone public over the theft. "We don't know all the details yet but we're looking into it and we will take all the steps necessary to protect our payment systems and banking systems from similar attacks," he said. "We are working with the banks to ensure that they are constantly upgrading their ability to detect and repel cyber attacks. But you will always be subjected to these attacks." ($1 = 110.0600 yen) (Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Tokyo (AFP) - A Japanese aquarium said Wednesday it had hatched two Humboldt penguin chicks after using artificial insemination, the first time the technique has been successfully deployed for the vulnerable species.

The two chicks were born early April after frozen then thawed sperm from a male penguin was used to inseminate a female penguin at the Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum in Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan.

"I was speechless when the babies were born safely thanks to the success of the artificial insemination," Teppei Kushimoto, who is in charge of the penguins at the aquarium, told AFP.

The aquarium said it had taken four years of experiments for scientists to figure out how to collect, freeze, and correctly time the artificial insemination for the penguins.

"We have tried again and again, after numerous failures," Kushimoto added.

The aquarium said it hoped the development could help safeguard the rare flightless birds, which are designated as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"We believe this will be an effective technique that can contribute to the conservation of the penguins," it said in a statement.

A 'vulnerable' listing on IUCN's Red List means the species faces a heightened risk of extinction in the wild.

The Humboldt penguin, a South American bird which breeds in coastal Peru and Chile, is at risk due to pollution, especially oil spills, over-fishing of the species they eat, and problems with the medium-sized birds becoming entangled in fishing nets.

The Japanese breakthrough comes nearly two years after SeaWorld in San Diego said it had hatched a Magellanic penguin -- which is not an IUCN threatened species -- using artificial insemination with frozen then thawed semen.
By Minami Funakoshi and Kiyoshi Takenaka ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the killing of a young woman in Okinawa which has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island. Obama, joining Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit, expressed regrets over the killing for which a U.S. base worker has been charged. "As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday. "I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said. Obama, arriving from a visit to Vietnam, told a joint news conference after his meeting with Abe: "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets...The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system." Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. Many also associate the bases with crime, pollution and noise. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations. Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely. Obama is also set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit. Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes. GLOBAL ECONOMY Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by. "I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy," Abe told reporters earlier. The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters. With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country's own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market. Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations. The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Thomas Wilson, Ami Miyazaki, Kylie Maclellan, Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Linda Sieg and William Mallard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ralph Boulton)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will ask U.S. President Barack Obama to take strict measures to prevent crime by people from U.S. military bases after the arrest last week of a U.S. worker in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman. Obama will visit Japan this week for a Group of Seven nations summit and he will also make a historic visit to the city of Hiroshima, which the U.S. military attacked with an atomic bomb in 1945. U.S. troops have been stationed in Japan since its World War Two defeat and about 50,00 remain in various bases. Occasional crime by U.S. personnel or civilian base workers infuriates Japanese people and often fuels call for the bases to go. "I expect him to ask President Obama to deal with the matter strictly, taking into account the Japanese people's feelings," Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference, referring to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was expected to ask Obama to ensure that strict discipline is enforced at bases and other measures are taken to prevent crime, Suga said. A 32-year-old U.S. civilian working at the Kadena air base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of dumping the body of a 20-year-old woman. Police are investigating. Okinawa, the site of a bloody World War Two battles, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. The island's governor, Takeshi Onaga, who was elected on a pledge to shift a big U.S. Marines base off the island, was skeptical anything would be done on crime. "We've heard 'strict enforcement of discipline' and 'thorough steps to stop recurrence' hundreds of times over the past several decades, but that nothing has changed," Onaga told reporters after meeting Abe. Obama's visit to Hiroshima on Friday will be the first by a serving U.S. president to the city devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. Obama said in an interview with the NHK broadcaster on Sunday his visit would emphasize friendly ties between former enemies, and he reiterated he would not apologize for the atomic bomb attack. The city of Nagasaki was bombed three days after Hiroshima was bombed and Japan surrendered six days after that. A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save U.S. lives, although many historians question that view. Most Japanese believe they were unjustified. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Robert Birsel)
(SHIMA, Japan)  President Barack Obama said Wednesday he plans to use his historic visit to Hiroshima with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reflect on the suffering of war and the need to take steps to prevent it. Abe said he had no plans to reciprocate Obamas gesture by paying his own visit to Pearl Harbor.

Obamas opened his trip to Japan with much intrigue about his upcoming stop in the city where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb. But that first-ever visit by a sitting American president was caught up in the controversy in Japan over the recent arrest of a former Marine in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa.

Abe ripped into Obama while demanding U.S. steps to prevent further incidents. Obama told Abe that the U.S. would support having the suspect prosecuted through Japans legal system.

Obamas comments on Hiroshima after meeting with Abe offered a preview of the approach he will try to take at the site of the U.S. attack on Aug. 6, 1945, that killed 140,000 people.

The White House has ruled out an apology by the president for the atomic bombing, but the visit is being viewed by Japanese citizens as a conciliatory gesture.

One of the things I hope to reflect on when Im at Hiroshima and certainly something I reflected on when I was in Vietnam was just a reminder that war involves suffering, Obama said after arriving from Vietnam. We should always do what we can to prevent it.

But he added: Its important for us to act on occasion in order to make sure that the American people are protected.

Abe said he wholeheartedly welcomed Obamas decision, adding that he was convinced that the joint visit would create strong momentum toward global denuclearization.

At the same time, Abe said he had no specific plans to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Some have called for such a trip as a sign of Japans acknowledgement of its wartime actions.

Story continues

The surprise attack by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killed more than 2,400 people, wounded scores and led the United States entry into World War II.

Abe pointed to his previous stop at the World War II memorial in Washington at a speech to a joint session of U.S. Congress as acts intended to pay tribute to victims of the war on both sides.

Raw emotions over the U.S. military presence in Okinawa were on display on Obamas first day in Japan, stoked by the arrest of Kenneth Shinzato, 32, after the body of a 20-year-old woman was found at a location he provided in a forest in central Okinawa. The murder has triggered national outrage, potentially complicating the long-delayed relocation of Marine Air Station Futenma from one location on the island to another.

Acknowledging his own profound resentment, Abe called it an absolutely despicable crime committed by a self-centered offender. He said he told Obama that the feelings of the Japanese people must be sincerely taken to heart.

I am just speechless, Abe said through a translator.

Abe called on the American people to take rigorous and strict steps to prevent another incident in the future.

Obama was contrite.

I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets, the president said. He said the U.S. would fully cooperate with Japan to allow the suspect to be prosecuted under the Japanese legal system.

The incident has rekindled long-running opposition from many Okinawa residents who want the U.S. base off the island entirely. Abe suggested Japan would continue looking for ways to resolve issues that come up under the U.S.-Japan agreement that allows Washington to stage troops there. Still, he said the case had given Okinawa residents a strong sense of uneasiness.

My intention is to thoroughly implement measures to prevent crimes and ensure peace of mind among the people in Okinawa, Abe said.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama ended his stay in Vietnam by meeting with government leaders and addressing the Vietnamese people in a speech. In a show of how relations between the former wartime enemies had thawed, Obama announced the end of a five-decades-old U.S. ban on the sale of arms to Vietnam. He also announced that the Peace Corps would begin operating in the country for the first time.

In a town hall event, Obama praised the countrys next generation of leaders for being more conscious of the environment and urged them to do something about climate change. He said Vietnam will be one of the countries most affected by the trend of warming temperatures and rising seas.
By Toru Hanai ISE, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday made a pilgrimage to the Ise Grand Shrine, the holiest site in Japan's Shinto religion, a day before he hosts a Group of Seven (G7) summit nearby. Abe is expected to escort other G7 leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama to the expansive grounds of the shrine in central Japan on Thursday before they gather for the two-day annual meeting. Abe, who like other Japanese leaders pays his respects at the shrine every January to mark the new year, has said the grounds are a good place to get a sense of the true Japanese spirit and culture. Japanese wartime leaders used state Shinto ideology to mobilize the masses to fight World War Two in the name of a divine emperor, but Japan's post-war constitution established the separation of church and state. Abe sparked outrage in China and South Korea for his December 2013 visit to Yasukuni Shrine for war dead in Tokyo, seen in those neighboring countries as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Far less attention was paid to what some see as his equally symbolic participation in October that year in a ceremony at Ise Shrine. The ritual is held every 20 years, when Ise Shrine is rebuilt and sacred objects representing the emperor's mythical Sun Goddess ancestress are moved to a new shrine on the same grounds. Abe became only the second premier to take part in the centuries-old ritual, and the first since World War Two, drawing attention to a conservative base that wants him to steer the nation back toward a traditional ethos mixing Shinto myth, patriotism and pride in an ancient imperial line. "He's making these associations between his administration and sacred sites," said John Breen, a professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. "Ise is particularly important to him." The shrine is made up of two main sets of buildings, the Inner and Outer Shrines. Abe will show the G7 leaders the Inner Shrine, dedicated to sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami. Ordinary citizens can only view the buildings, said to hold religious articles such as a sacred mirror, from behind fences that leave only the rooftops visible. (Writing by Linda Sieg and additional reporting by Elaine Lies in Tokyo; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Roots music collided with what seemed like futuristic science-fiction on May 24th, as Jason Isbell and Old Crow Medicine Show took part in a three-day live-streaming concert series called The Soundtrack of America: Live from Tennessee to Downtown Chicago.

11 Best Things We Saw at Dylan Fest

Conceived by the Tennessee Department for Tourism Development as a way to spur even more travel from the Windy City to the Volunteer State, three shows were to be instantaneously beamed from Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville to a street corner in Chicago on three consecutive days  the first time interactive concerts have ever been held in two locations at the same time. Citizen Cope was selected as the Memphis performer for Monday's show, with Isbell and Old Crow representing Nashville and Ashley Monroe doing the honors Wednesday from her hometown of Knoxville.

The Nashville show  held in the CMA Theater inside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum  was a marvel of technology on top of being an unusual show. Only a few dozen people were invited to be present on the Tennessee end of the feed, and the performers were more focused on video screens displaying a pretty-close-to-real-time view of the crowd assembled on the street in Chicago. The artists weren't even facing the seats in the CMA Theater  they were turned around backwards so the empty hall would be their backdrop. Cameras were situated all around  in front and behind  so fans in Chicago could walk around the back of the projection and actually see the reverse view, as if the performers were stuck inside. Plus, the artists and crowd could talk back and forth (albeit with a short delay) to take song requests, banter between songs and give away prizes.

The juxtaposition of cutting-edge technology with down-home roots music and ancient instruments wasn't lost on the member of Old Crow Medicine Show, who remarked that the whole concept would have seemed far-fetched even in a movie a few decades ago.

Story continues

"The fact that we're doing it with a repertoire and instrumentation that resembles the technology of 100 to 200 years ago [is incredible]," band leader Ketch Secor told Rolling Stone Country before the show. "I mean really, the banjo is seen in hieroglyphic form at the pyramids in Giza, so imagine if they could fathom this kind of technology."

Likewise, Isbell was fascinated by the 360-degree views the setup offered.

"I think it's amazing that [fans] can walk around the back of the billboard in Chicago and see the back side of us," he said. "Isn't that amazing? It's like the thing Superman put Zod in, the prism that he throws out into space."

Old Crow took the stage first, delivering a spirited seven-song set of unplugged and high-energy hillbilly music around a single microphone, taking a request for Tom Petty's "American Girl" straight from Chi-town, signing a poster for a fan on the other side of the camera and leading what may well be the first-ever simultaneous singalong between two different cities on their big hit, "Wagon Wheel."

For all the foot-stomping and hollering of Old Crow's set, though, Isbell's was equally thrilling  just in the opposite emotional direction. Over his six tunes he coaxed goosebumps, from the title track of his country-chart-topping album Something More Than Free, to the passionate wail of "Cover Me Up"  written for his wife Amanda Shires, who was playing fiddle next to him.

The pair exchanged glances throughout the show, but when Isbell got to the line in "Cover Me Up" that goes "Home was a dream / One that I'd never seen / 'Til you came along," he stepped back and looked her dead in the eye as if to reaffirm his truth, sending shockwaves through the camera and straight to the Chicago streets. Isbell finished by offering a free Nashville trip to the most enthusiastic dancer in Chicago, and closed the show with the cinematic "Alabama Pines" before saying his goodbyes.

Speaking just before the show, he said live-streaming concerts like this are bound to become a bigger part of what an artist does, and maybe that's a good thing. There's at least one big benefit from his point of view.

"People are doing a lot of streaming shows, and I can see positives and negatives to it," he explained. "It'd be great to be able to play somewhere without physically having to travel there, because that is the great constraint for all of us who play music professionally I'm sure there will be more of this, especially as the technology gets faster."

Related
Image via TIDAL

Image via TIDAL

Fat Joe, Remy Ma, and French Montanas All the Way Up has been a ubiquitous force since its release in March. Featured on Fat Joe and Remy Mas collaborative album Platas O Plomo, the colossal single now has an official remix featuring none other than Jay Z. And yes, the remix is currently available exclusively on Tidal.

Jay Zs verse has no shortage of subliminals, from a nod to Beyonces Lemonade, to that whole Solange elevator incident. With such quotable lines, Hovas addition will definitely take All The Way Up to new heights.

Only hours prior to the release of the remix, Fat Joe stopped by Billboard and said that he had turned down some really, really, really big names for the remix because he wanted to keep it New York. Naturally, Jay Z was an obvious candidate, especially considering the fact that apparently working with Jay Z was something of a bucket list item for Fat Joe.

Listen to All the Way Up via Tidal below.

More from Pigeons & Planes
TOKYO (AP) -- The Japanese Olympic Committee has set up an investigative team to see if there were any illegal payments made to a Singapore firm which have entangled Tokyo's winning 2020 Olympic bid in a bribery investigation.

The three-man investigative team established Wednesday consists of two Japanese lawyers and a certified accountant.

JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed Tokyo's bid team, approved the payment of 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) to Black Tidings headed by Ian Tan Tong Han.

Han is a close associate of Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges in France.

In testimony at Japan's parliament, Takeda said the ''contract was for consultancy work and not made with the anticipation that the money would lead to Mr. Diack.''

Takeda did not reveal who in the bid committee met with Tan to broker the deal in the months leading up to Tokyo's victory in September 2013.

Tokyo defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round of the IOC voting. Madrid was eliminated on the first ballot.

Possible wrongdoing involving Lamine Diack and the 2020 Olympic bid race was cited in a WADA-commissioned investigation of the IAAF. A footnote to a report by the WADA commission in January indicated that Diack was prepared to sell his vote in exchange for $5 million in sponsorship for the IAAF.

The report suggested that Diack dropped his support for Istanbul's bid because Turkey refused to pay, and also indicated that the Japanese did pay.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM is said to eliminate around 100 employees in its private bank as part of the companys restructuring strategy regarding the latter. The decision was announced internally and first reported by the Wall Street Journal.



The layoffs, which will affect the staff in several locations and departments, come on the heels of previous rounds of layoffs in recent months. The company has been getting rid of underperforming employees, including financial advisers and support staff in locations across the U.S., in its private banking division.



The company had previously slashed about 5% positions in its Asia-Pacific wealth-management unit. The reduction affected mostly relationship managers and investment consultants who cater to clients at J.P. Morgans regional private bank.



Moreover, the division has also curtailed over 100 employees in New York, London, Washington, and Boston in the past few months, according to the Wall Street Journal.



However, the company has been actively hiring as well. The private bank currently employs around 12,000 people. Further, revenue in JPMorgans private bank has increased in nine of the past ten years, hitting $5.8 billion in 2015, according to filings.



The job cuts follow the companys plan to restructure its private banking unit to sharpen focus on higher-net-worth individuals, who are less of a risk and generate higher fees. The company has been selective in choosing who qualifies for such personalized service to wealthy clients.



Also, per a previous Wall Street Journal report, JPMorgans private bank clients will be required to have at least $10 million in investible assets, twice the current minimum of $5 million, later this year.



Wealthy clients usually generate steady revenues as fees are based on a percentage of assets under management rather than transactions. Also, new regulations designed to limit riskier activities have hit investment banking and trading businesses harder than wealth management and private banking.



This has led to an industrywide trend among large banks like Deutsche Bank AG DB, Wells Fargo & Company WFC and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS to shift focus toward wealthy clients.



Currently, JPMorgan carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



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



JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report



WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report



DEUTSCHE BK AG (DB): Free Stock Analysis Report



GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Terry Bollea, known as professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, testifies in his case against the news website Gawker in St. Petersburg, Florida March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Boyzell Hosey/Pool

Gawker Media was handed a loss on Wednesday as a judge in Florida denied Gawker's motion for a new trial, which means the $140 million in damages awarded to Hulk Hogan will not be reduced.

Anna Phillips for the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the news.

Gawker can appeal this latest ruling to Florida's Second District Court of Appeals, where it is confident it will succeed, reports Capital New York.

Gawker Media, a New York-based online news site, was hoping that a Florida court would reduce a jury verdict handed down earlier this year in which Terry Bollea  aka pro wrestler Hulk Hogan  won an invasion-of-privacy suit against Gawker that awarded him $140 million.

But during a court hearing, state court judge Pamela Campbell rejected a motion by Gakwer to reverse or reduce the verdict.

Wednesday's development means that Gawker may be required to post a $50 million bond under Florida law.

Hulk Hogan sued Gawker over a news article in 2012 written by editor A.J. Daulerio that included a clip of Hulk Hogan having sex as well as a lengthy written description.

On Tuesday, several reports alleged that Silicon Valley investor and billionaire Peter Thiel is secretly funding Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker.

Gawker will appeal.

NOW WATCH: Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel explains precisely how Mark Zuckerberg changed the world





More From Business Insider


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - The city of Louisville, Kentucky can remove a 121-year-old monument to Confederate soldiers that critics have objected to as an emblem of slavery, a state judge ruled on Wednesday.

In a ruling from the bench, Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman dissolved her temporary order from three weeks ago that had blocked the city and a local university from taking down the monument.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said he would work on relocating the 70-foot-high monument after getting the judge's written order, according to a statement from his office.

Some local residents and descendants of Confederate soldiers sued to keep the monument at its location near the University of Louisville, calling it a symbol of the South's history and culture.

A lawyer for the monument's supporters, Thomas McAdam, did not respond to requests for comment on the judge's ruling.

Mayor Fischer and University of Louisville President James Ramsey said in April they would move the monument commemorating Kentuckians who died serving the Confederacy, the slave states that declared their secession from the United States, leading to the American Civil War in the 1860s.

Kentucky was on the Union side in the war, but Kentuckians fought on both sides.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers, and others sued to keep the monument in place and Judge McDonald-Burkman granted a temporary order halting its removal while she considered the merits of the case.

A diversity committee at the University of Louisville had pushed for the monument to come down, joining a national push to remove public symbols of the Confederacy seen as fostering racism.

Public symbols of the Confederacy have been the center of controversy across the U.S. South after a white gunman who posed with the Confederate flag allegedly shot dead nine black worshipers at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina in July 2015.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by David Gregorio)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police said on Wednesday they had arrested two people linked to Islamic State who were planning to launch an attack, seizing bomb-making materials. Kenya has faced a series of attacks in the past few years in which hundreds have died, launched by the al Qaeda-aligned Somali Islamist group al Shabaab. This month, however, police said they had arrested an Islamist militant who was plotting attacks and who they said was linked to Islamic State. Kenya's focus dismantling al Shabaab cells may have allowed sympathizers of Islamic State to slip under the radar, experts say. But they say it is not clear whether such sympathizers had formal links to Islamic State in Syria or Iraq, or were simply offering allegiance. The two men were arrested on Tuesday in a suburb of the capital Nairobi and police said they were planning a retaliatory attack for the arrest of the Islamic State planner Mohamed Abdi Ali earlier this month. "The arrest of the two has foiled terror attacks with explosives and other weapons that were planned for Nairobi and Mombasa," the police service said in a statement. In one house in the Kangemi neighborhood to the west of Nairobi, police found materials that were to be used for the manufacture of an improvised explosive device. "These materials included nails, ball bearings, batteries, electrical wire, fertilizer, cell phones and other explosive substances which have been taken for forensic analysis," the police said. Initial investigations showed two men helped to write a document that has been circulating online, supporting Islamic States leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the police said. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Edmund Blair)
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday launched Vietnam's first privately funded university in what he said marked the next stage of an evolving relationship between the United States and Vietnam. The Harvard-affiliated Fulbright University in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's commercial center, will be the first independent, non-profit university in Vietnam, the White House said in a statement. The launch comes at the end of a three-day visit to Vietnam by U.S. President Barack Obama, part of his administration's "pivot" to Asia that emphasizes the importance of the fast-growing region to the United States. "The war is an indelible but increasingly distant memory, and for most it is not a memory at all," said Kerry, who served as a young U.S. naval offer in the Vietnam War, which killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. "Certainly, the students who are going to enroll in this university are far more interested in plugging into the world economy than being stuck in the past." "That reality is clearly reflected in the changing relationship between Vietnam and the United States that we saw even changing over the course of the three-and-a-half days," he added. The university will be chaired by Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska senator and veteran of the Vietnam War who lost his leg during combat. Obama is the third U.S. president to visit Vietnam since the former enemies restored diplomatic relations in 1995. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli rightwinger Avigdor Lieberman is set to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Here are some details of the enlarged government:

Who are the new ministers?

There are two new ministers, both from Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beitenu party. He will take over as defence minister -- considered by many in Israel the second-highest role in the government. Lieberman, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, was previously foreign minister until 2015.

Another member of Lieberman's coalition, Sofa Landver, is expected to become the minister for absorption, a position which helps new predominantly Jewish migrants from around the world adjust to life in the state. She also previously held the position until 2015.

How does it affect Netanyahu's coalition?

Even before Wednesday's changes, many in Israel dubbed Netanyahu's government the most rightwing in the country's history, with religious nationalists from the Jewish Home party holding key cabinet positions. With the addition of Yisrael Beitenu, that title seems in little doubt.

Lieberman, who will be responsible for administering policy in the occupied Palestinian territories, has said he supports the death penalty for perpetrators of anti-Israeli attacks.

Netanyahu had previously tried to bring the leftwing opposition into a unity government, but in the end negotiations broke down.

What is in the agreement?

The agreement guarantees that the chairman of Yisrael Beitenu will be defence minister, while another party member will be absorption minister.

While most of the media attention was on the political implications, parts of the agreement were also economic.

Lieberman secured 1.4 billion Israeli shekels ($3.6 billion/3.2 billion euros) over four years in pensions for elderly Israelis, as well as 150 million shekels ($39 million/35 million euros) to rehabilitate neighbourhoods and expand public housing.

Lieberman, born in the ex-Soviet republic of Moldova, sought the pensions arrangement to benefit immigrants from the former Soviet Union, his main electoral support base.

Story continues

Other clauses include support for more extensive voting rights for Israelis living abroad and backing for bi-annual budgets.

He had also pushed for the government to institute the death penalty for Palestinian "terrorists," but backed away from the demand in the talks.

A watered-down version was agreed upon that analysts say is unlikely to significantly change current policy. There have been no executions in Israel since 1962.

How does it affect parliament?

Netanyahu has been seeking to expand his coalition since last year's general election, when he formed a government with just 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

His party, the Likud, brought 30 seats, with four smaller parties making up the rest.

Such a small majority left him at the mercy of his MPs, with even the smallest rebellion threatening the passage of a bill.

The addition of Yisrael Beitenu gives Netanyahu an extra five seats.
Days after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the militant group has acknowledged his death and announced a new chief. Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada takes over following a series of meetings among the groups top leadership in the Pakistani city of Quetta, where Mansour was believed to be heading after returning from Iran when he was killed. Mansour had taken over last year, after it was revealed that the Talibans longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died in 2013. Missing from public view ever since the U.S. invasion of the country in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Omars death had been covered up by the Taliban, with the group continuing to issue periodic statements in his name in the two years after his passing. Widely revered among the Taliban rank and file, confirmation of his death set-off a fractious internal battle inside the group, with further discord still possible as Akhundzada takes over. Here is what we know about the violent insurgent movements new leader.

Unlike Mansour, Akhundzada has strong religious credentials as the group attempts to put on a united front

Although Mansour had deep roots in the Taliban, joining the movement in its early stages and directing the groups activities during the period that Omars death was kept secret, he lacked the religious aura that Omar had built around himself. Styling himself as the leader of the faithful, Omar cultivated an image as a warrior-cleric, including appearing outside Kandahars holiest shrine in the mid-90s donning a cloak that was said to belong to the Prophet Muhammad.

Read More: The Tale of the Pakistani Taliban Father Whose Baby Had Polio

Mansour had no such religious authority when he took over. (Although Taliban propaganda announcing his elevation last year conferred upon him the title of leader of the faithful, his legitimacy was questioned by religious leaders amid internal fissures.) On the face of it, Akhundzada, who was one of Mansours deputies, is different  he comes with stronger religious credentials, an extremist cleric who was formerly the head of the Talibans judiciary, at a time when the insurgent movement is trying to head off the prospect of another internal leadership crisis.

Story continues

Like both Omar and Mansour, Akhundzada has close links to the Talibans heartland in southern Afghanistan

In the immediate aftermath of Mansours killing, one of the Taliban commanders considered a likely new leader was Sirajuddin Haqqani, the slain militant leaders most prominent deputy. As head of the Haqqani network, he has strong credentials as a battlefield leader. His group  which has long been suspected to have the backing of elements within the Pakistani establishment, a claim Islamabad denies  has had a hand in some of most bloody attacks during the Afghan insurgency, including, most recently, a Kabul car bomb last month that killed over 60 people.

He does not, however, have a significant connection to Kandahar province, the southern region known as the Talibans birthplace. Both Omar and Mansour had close links to the Kandahar region, a trend that continues with the appointment of Akhundzada, who is reported to hail from the Kandahars Panjwai district. Akhundzadas connection to the insurgent movements heartlands could potentially help him bring together local Taliban commanders and ordinary fighters who might otherwise trigger fresh turmoil. Haqqani remains a significant player, staying on as deputy leader alongside Mohammad Yaqoob, a son of Mullah Omars who was also initially seen as a possible candidate for the leadership.

Akhundzadas stance on peace talks remains unclear

Where Omar and Mansour had both first emerged as Taliban fighters against Soviet forces in the 80s, Akhundzada is better known for his religious and legal background. Whether that translates into a Taliban more open to talking peace with the Afghan government and its international allies remains to be seen, however.

Read More: Afghanistan: Taliban Leader Mullah Mansour Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

Last year, when Mansour took over, he was widely considered a relative moderate and pragmatist who favored engaging in peace talks with the government in Kabul. In fact, the opposite happened, as a nascent negotiating process stalled and Mansour directed a headline-grabbing raid on the city of Kunduz shortly after taking over. More recently, Taliban soldiers have been fighting Afghan forces in an attempt to take control of southern Helmand province. In statements after Mansours killing, his opposition to the peace process was citied by both American and Afghan officials. Whether the Talibans stance now changes under Akhundzada is still uncertain.
Donald Trump

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti slammed Donald Trump as the ultimate caricature on Tuesday, calling him racist, bigoted, and sexist during a conference call with reporters.

Trump is slated to visit Southern California on Wednesday, and Garcetti, who is a Democrat and has endorsed Hillary Clinton, said the Republican frontrunner is the walking embodiment of the worst of our values, Variety reported.

We dont take LGBT or Muslim or Mexican Americans and try to scare people about them, he said in the call, which was arranged by the Democratic National Committee and also included Henry Vandermeir, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party

We actually invite them to be part of the core prosperity of this city. And I think we have to keep speaking up, but what we cannot do with Donald Trump is normalize him as a candidate.

Garcetti stopped short of calling Trump a fascist, but condemned him as a demagogue and con man, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Trump will hold a rally in Anaheim, California on Wednesday afternoon, before making an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood, and attending a fundraiser hosted by real-estate investor Thomas Barrack.

Garcetti has said he thinks young Californians who support Clinton's primary challenger, Bernie Sanders, will eventually back Clinton and ensure a victory for the Democrats in the general election.

NOW WATCH: Hillary Clinton says shes open to the idea of having Mark Cuban as her running mate





More From Business Insider


Paris (AFP) - French prosecutors will use leaked Islamic State documents to help identify seven suspected jihadists going on trial next week, including the brother of a Paris attacker, sources close to the investigation said Wednesday.

The seven men from Strasbourg in eastern France, aged between 24 and 26, are accused of travelling to join the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria in late 2013 and returning several months later.

Among the men, who were arrested in May 2014, is Karim Mohamed-Aggad, brother of Foued Mohamed-Aggad who was part of the three-man group that attacked the Bataclan concert hall on the night of the Paris attacks in November.

The Paris prosecutor's office intends to use the documents, acquired by British TV station Sky News in March, during the trial that starts on Monday, but the move has been criticised by the defence lawyers.

"Five days from the trial, this is an unusual step," said one of the defence lawyers, Eric Plouvier, saying there were doubts over the authenticity of the IS documents.

"Either these elements should be removed, or there should be a report to study (their authenticity)," he said.

The documents contain some 22,000 names of individuals linked to IS in 2013 and early 2014, the investigation source said.

An estimated 173 of those names are French citizens or residents of France, including several who have died in Syria and Iraq and two more of the Paris attackers -- Samy Amimour and Omar Ismail Mostefai.

The documents, written in Arabic under the title "General Border Administration", log the name, blood type, date of birth, previous job, level of religious education and more of each new arrival to the IS zone of control.

They are also listed as "combattant", "martyr" or "Inghimasi", a term referring to fighters who carry weapons as well as an explosive suicide vest.

The documents list the seven men from Strasbourg as "combattants".

However, all seven claim to have travelled to Syria for humanitarian reasons.
LONDON (Reuters) - The debate about Britain's future in the Europe has taken an unexpected new twist: a "battle of the balconies" between north London neighbors unfurling competing pro- and anti-Brexit banners. Unimpressed by a large "Vote Leave" banner appearing on the balcony next door, a man named by British media as Frank Chalmers, 61, unveiled his own sign that added the words, "...if you want to cut workers' rights". The leafy, suburban locale of Gospel Oak was not previously regarded as a key battleground in the debate around the June 23 referendum on Britain's European Union membership. The story emerged after Chalmers' son, Malcolm tweeted a picture of the opposing balconies and wrote: "My parents' neighbors have put up a large 'Vote Leave' sign. It seems my dad's response is to get creative. #Remain." He told the London Evening Standard newspaper that his father gave his neighbors a bottle of wine as a peace offering. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison)
London (AFP) - With one month to go before Britain's vital in-out EU referendum, London's City finance district is busily planning ahead for a potential "Brexit".

Big City firms, many of which are housed in skyscrapers that dominate the London skyline, are seeking to protect themselves from market volatility should Britons vote "Leave", experts say.

Major players like HSBC and Deutsche Bank have said they may need to shift activities abroad and the Bank of England is boosting liquidity in the weeks around the June 23 referendum to avoid a credit crunch.

But big banks, insurance giants, trading exchanges and accounting firms are mostly keeping mum on the full "toolbox" of contingency measures.

Anastasia Nesvetailova, economics professor at City University London, told AFP that big finance firms will be seeking haven assets, mulling extra liquidity to ward off a cash crunch -- as well as eyeing potential re-location and job cuts.

"The main tool in such a box would be stocking up on reserves -- cash, quality securities, collateral -- whose value is immune to Brexit," Nesvetailova told AFP.

"In addition to boosting their buffers, financial institutions are communicating with regulators and are assessing the range of possible risks.

"This involves scenario planning; stress-testing their funding positions, proofing their balance sheets against a massive and prolonged liquidity crisis (and) planning for staffing needs in the eventuality of relocating some of the activities away from London."

- Job losses in pipeline? -

Following an EU exit, London could shed 100,000 jobs, according to finance lobbyists TheCityUK.

That is almost one in seven of the estimated 729,600 people employed by financial and related professional services in the traditional City district -- and the newer Canary Wharf area that houses HSBC and Barclays.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, has stated it could potentially shift 1,000 jobs to Paris, comprising about one fifth of its global banking and markets division.

Story continues

The bank will also make sure it is "extremely liquid" over the June-July period, and will seek to determine the "shape" of its businesses in the two years following Brexit.

Deutsche Bank, with some 9,000 staff in Britain, has established a working group to assess whether it would need to shift its activities.

"There is a tangible risk that staff (in the financial sector) would need to be relocated to Dublin, Frankfurt or Paris, but the specifics of these operations will not be finalised overnight," Nesvetailova said.

John Nelson, chairman of insurer Lloyd's of London, told AFP that it would need to establish the "terms" of the UK's exit.

"We have contingency plans which we look at very hard but we cannot go so far with those contingency plans until we know what the terms of the exit are," Nelson told AFP in an interview at its headquarters, an iconic glassy skyscraper in the heart of the City.

"We think we have got the right tools in the box to allow us to continue to operate.

"But the model under which we would do it would not be as efficient as the one we have today."

The Bank of England will make extra cash available for banks and financial institutions to ensure they do not face a dangerous credit crunch.

Some business chiefs are increasingly anxious as warnings pile up over a stock market meltdown, a property market slump, and another painful recession, should Britain depart.

The BoE and the International Monetary Fund, as well as the Confederation of British Industry and TheCityUK, have called for a "Remain" vote.

Some major players in the City -- where sleek skyscrapers nestle alongside the Bank of England's historic headquarters -- are also calling for "Remain" but most are staying neutral.

- Potential boost from Brexit? -

Some finance workers are backing "Leave" instead.

Economist Neil MacKinnon works at the London offices of Russian bank VTB Capital -- which itself has a neutral stance.

MacKinnon, giving his personal view, told AFP that Brexit could potentially boost the British economy, predicting there would not be "sustained irrational market volatility" afterwards.

"I do not think the UK economy collapses on a Brexit. The UK is the fifth biggest economy in the world."

He added: "Big banks like big government, as big government bails out big banks. So, lo and behold, big banks like the EU, which... has a history of bailing out the big banks."
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that Donald Trump was the walking embodiment of the worst of our values in a press call tied to the presumptive Republican nominees visit to Southern California on Wednesday.

We dont take LGBT or Muslim or Mexican Americans and try to scare people about them, Garcetti said in a press call arranged by the Democratic National Committee. We actually invite them to be part of the core prosperity of this city. And I think we have to keep speaking up, but what we cannot do with Donald Trump is normalize him as a candidate.

Garcetti, a Democrat, has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, but he noted that both she and her rival for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders, have raised such arguments against Trump as well.

Hes a racist, hes a bigot, hes sexist, and hes the walking embodiment of the worst of our values, Garcetti said. He also called him the ultimate caricature, but declined to call Trump a fascist.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon. He later will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood and attend a fundraiser at the home of real estate investor Thomas Barrack, with tickets starting at $25,000 per person. The money is being raised for a joint committee of the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and state party committees.

Garcetti predicted that a Democratic candidate would win the state of California in November, even as Trump has vowed to scramble the recent trends of the electoral map. The last Republican presidential candidate to win the state was George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Also on the press call was Henry Vandermeir, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party. He noted that although Republicans still hold a voter registration advantage in the county, long a conservative stronghold, the gap has narrowed to just seven points, and that Democrats have been ahead of the GOP when it comes to new registrants.

Related stories

Story continues

'The Apprentice' is Responsible for Donald Trump's Success in Presidential Race, Says NBC Exec

Clinton, Sanders Take Campaigns to Los Angeles at Rival Events

Jimmy Kimmel to Host Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Next Week
By Jonathan Schwarzberg, Leela Parker Deo and Hannah Brenton

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - Middle market sponsors in the US and Europe are demanding bigger unitranche loans as the structure, which has typically been used for smaller deals, gains wider appeal due to challenging market conditions for second-lien loans in the US and heightened competition in Europe.

The unitranche structure combines senior and subordinated debt into one credit instrument, provided to the borrower at a blended cost of capital. On average the facilities typically yield approximately 8%-9%.

The structure is prized by investors for its rich yields and favored by sponsors for its ease of execution and certainty of funding when markets turn volatile.

Earlier this month, GSO Capital Partners completed a whopping 625m unitranche financing, the largest ever in Europe. In the US, middle market lenders report seeing a handful of US$200m-$300m unitranche loans in market, while one lender said there is a roughly US$400m unitranche being lined up.

The 625m unitranche loan backed the merger of Investindustrial-owned Italian chemicals company Polynt and its US peer Reichhold. A source close to the deal said around 300m-400m was contributed from GSO's senior debt fund and the rest came from limited partners and co-investors.

The size of the unitranche - which was provided in dollars and euros - shows that larger direct lenders' firepower can reach the upper end of the market.

"We're in a strange market at the moment where mid-market deals, despite being smaller companies, are priced at a material discount to larger syndicated loans," said Callum Bell, head of corporate and acquisition finance at Investec. "So by increasingly focusing on larger deals, funds are likely getting better risk adjusted returns at the moment as well as solving their deployment issues."

Direct lending funds face "deployment issues" due to increased competition from banks and fewer deals in the mid-market space in Europe.

Story continues

Only eight unitranche deals were signed in Europe during the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, which is a 69.2% drop year-on-year from 26 in the first quarter of 2015.

This is partly due to a drop-off in M&A activity, Bell said, but also due to a resurgent bank market which is offering better pricing and comparable leverage on club deals or club-style syndications.

"You've got unitranche guys feeling under pressure - not enough deals to do in their core heartland because the banks are competing, not much dealflow, adverse selection," said a senior direct lender.

"[They are] looking to stretch upwards in terms of the size of the deal and they can do that in the short term because you've got a slightly dislocated liquid loan new issue market."

However, large unitranches could be a "short term phenomenon", the direct lender argued, depending on the health of the syndicated market and banks' underwriting appetite and flex terms.

Direct lending funds are also stretching leverage on unitranches for smaller companies with less than 15m Ebitda and working with tougher credits, he said, as the "hunting ground" thins in the mid-market.

GROWING SHARE

In the US, unitranche deals have yet to reach the size of the Polynt/Reichhold deal. Since the beginning of last year, unitranche deals have averaged about US$175m with the largest unitranche deals reaching US$400m-$450m.

Unitranche has gained a significant share in the middle market arena as alternative debt capital providers and direct lending platforms have increased their presence, and sponsors have recently been requesting even larger deals since global volatility roiled the market in 2015 and early 2016. Tumbling oil prices, slowing economic growth in China and flat-to-weak corporate earnings in the US sapped demand for risk - in particular for junior capital - among loan investors, including CLO funds, the largest buyers of leveraged loans.

Jittery investors pulled back from the second-lien market, virtually shutting it down to syndication. This left private equity sponsors and issuers with the option of going to alternative lenders to privately place the second-lien debt, but borrowers found lenders more interested in unitranche, which gives them a bit more control over the structure.

"As the market contracted, equity sponsors were trying to privately place second-lien structure but got feedback from the alternative lenders that they were actually more interested in arranging unitranches and taking the whole structure so they could structure the overall yield properly.," said Stefanie Birkmann, a finance partner at Ropes & Gray.

The alternative lenders, which include the credit arms of private equity firms and hedge funds, have largely stepped up to offer this product as the traditional second-lien buyer, CLOs, pulled away. This dynamic is shifting slightly as the secondary market has climbed steadily since the end of February, but the principle remains at least for now.

"The CLO bid is pretty depressed right now, as a result the unitranche execution is coming into favor," said a middle market lender. "With the unitranche, sponsors can tap a range of bids that are more yield-oriented instead of just the CLO bid."

Market participants in the US expect unitranche to remain a big part of the lending landscape, especially for middle market deals, but it may pull back for larger deals as the syndication market opens up to second-lien deals again.

Borrowers that are big enough to warrant lining up more than US$500m of debt are often planning to grow and want room for incremental capacity for future acquisitions, sources said. This is more difficult to arrange with a unitranche structure.

From a lender's perspective, it becomes difficult for a single entity to lend with large deals, and the lead lender may have difficulty ceding some control of the deal to additional lenders.

However, one lender said that there are at least half a dozen lenders or alternative capital providers that are willing to take more than US$100m on a given deal, making it possible to club a sizable unitranche loan.

(Reporting by Jonathan Schwarzberg, Leela Parker Deo and Hannah Brenton; Editing By Chris Mangham and Michelle Sierra)
Sending business overseas might seem like a very tempting offer, especially when it comes to the bottom line, but one business owner said he rather stand by his employees.

During an interview on the FOX Business Networks The Intelligence Report, Vaughn-Bassett Furniture chairman John Basset III has kept his business operations in Virginia where his family has made furniture for nearly a century.

Bassett III said his company attempted to import about 8% percent of its business in the late 80s and early 90s, but ended the practice because he felt the quality wasnt up to par to its customers expectations.

My family has been in this business 100 years and our employees have stood by us for 100 years. And I said before I am going to turn my back on them, I am going to stand with them, Bassett III said to host Trish Regan.

Despite the temptations of lower labor costs in China to off-set price points, the author of the new book Making It In America says price is not the only reason Americans buy. The company guarantees its dealers won't have to incur any inventory cost due to the amount of time it takes for its product to cross the Pacific Ocean.

We started a program called VBX, Vaughn-Bassett Express and [from] Denver, Colorado to Maine, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, we guarantee you our products will be on your floor, on your floor as a dealer in seven days.

For American businesses who are contemplating on moving their facilities off shore, Bassett III suggests to study it and talk to your people. The employees wont be part of this problem; they want to be part of the solution.

Related Articles
Kinshasa (AFP) - Congolese security forces fired tear gas and charged at several thousand stone-throwing protesters in the capital Kinshasa Thursday as nationwide rallies against veteran President Joseph Kabila turned violent.

Large numbers of riot police were deployed across the Democratic Republic of Congo for the protests called by three opposition groups in defiance of government bans.

The violence erupted in the north of Kinshasa, where about 5,000 demonstrators were on the streets to oppose moves to keep Kabila in power beyond the expiry of his second term in December.

Police said although the Kinshasa demonstration had permission from the authorities, the crowds had deviated from an agreed route.

"In these cases we don't negotiate, we disperse," national police spokesman colonel Pierre Rombaut Mwanamputu told AFP.

Police fired tear gas against stone-throwing protesters and then charged them to break up the demonstration, AFP journalists said.

Tensions have been soaring in the country where Kabila, in power since his father's assassination in 2001, is widely thought to be preparing to remain in office beyond the two terms allowed under the constitution.

Opposition groups are also angry that Kabila's powerful rival, football magnate Moise Katumbi, was all but pushed into exile in South Africa last Friday.

In Lubumbashi, dozens of riot police were also standing guard in the city centre where many shops remained shuttered and the number of vehicles on the roads was far lower than usual, according to an AFP team.

- UN appeals for restraint -

The opposition called for demonstrations after the Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that Kabila, 44, could remain in a caretaker capacity beyond the expiry of his second term, sparking widespread outrage.

Katumbi -- who announced this month his plans to run for the presidency -- has been accused of hiring foreign mercenaries as part of an alleged plot to overthrow Kabila.

Story continues

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called Wednesday for restraint by all sides and said the United Nations was ready to help foster political dialogue in the resource rich but long troubled central African country.

Ban is "profoundly concerned by reports of increasing political tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo linked to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the country's electoral process," his spokesman said.

In Goma, the capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, vehicles filled with police patrolled the streets, while many shops were closed and schools sent pupils home early.

Political unrest has plagued DR Congo for months over concerns that Kabila intends to extend his rule despite being legally barred from seeking a third term.

The strongman's supporters want elections due later this year to be delayed for two to four years because of logistical and financial difficulties.

But the opposition accuses Kabila of planning to amend the constitution to extend his rule.

- 'Grotesque lies' -

Despite opposition support for Katumbi, many rank-and-file dissidents are disappointed he left the country on May 20, ostensibly to undergo treatment at a South African hospital.

His departure came a day after he was charged with "threatening the internal and external security of the state" for allegedly hiring foreign mercenaries, including Americans.

The 51-year-old businessman has denied the allegations as "grotesque lies" and says the case is politically motivated.

Katumbi was an ally of Kabila's but broke with him in September after the president announced he would carve up DR Congo's provinces, including Katumbi's stronghold of Katanga, into smaller entities.

Katumbi's followers say he was injured in clashes between police and thousands of his supporters in Lubumbashi on May 13, with a source saying he was suffering from "respiratory problems" after being teargassed.

But his detractors claim he is feigning medical problems.
May 25 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Bank Muamalat will set up a 1 billion ringgit ($243.4 million) sukuk programme, after the Islamic lender said on Wednesday it would redeem 400 million ringgit worth of subordinated sukuk on June 15.

Bank Muamalat's new sukuk programme has loss-absorption features to meet Basel III criteria, qualifying as Tier 2 capital, rating agency RAM Ratings said in a regulatory filing.

The bank is 70 percent owned by conglomerate DRB-Hicom , while the remaining shares are held by Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

In February, Bank Muamalat and Malaysia Building Society Bhd called off merger talks that would have created one of the country's largest standalone Islamic banks. ($1 = 4.1080 ringgit) (Reporting by Bernardo Vizcaino; Editing by Eric Meijer)
Indians have always loved jobs in technology. And for years, there have been a few prestigious options, including landing a gig at Infosys in Bangalore  or heading west to Silicon Valley to make your fortune. But today, theres another way: Get yourself employed by one of the many global companies touching down in India  and help translate the country for them. Thats the position Raghav Gupta is in, as the country manager for the French ride-sharing service Blablacar.

Blabla car raghav gupta 017

Source: Vivek Singh for OZY

Youve heard of Uber, surely, and Lyft; in India theres also Ola Cabs, and in parts of the U.S., Sidecar. The point is: Its a crowded landscape. But Blablacar purports to occupy a unique space, as a long-distance operation that follows more of an Airbnb model than the Uber system. Say you want to take a several-hour trip between cities: London to Cambridge or, in India, Mumbai to Pune or Bangalore to Chennai. You could get a train ticket, which in parts of the world is expensive and in India is inconvenient, or a bus  not so comfy. Or you could log onto the app for Guptas company to see if anyone with a car is going that route. If you like their profile and they like yours (Airbnb style), just stick your digital thumb out and hop on board.

Delhi-based Gupta is delighted by his time with his own trips, meeting a former member of the merchant navy whod encountered Somali pirates, and a 65-year-old whod finagled his way through this modern app. Hes proud of the 1 million people whove booked seats in 700 cities during Blablas first year, and the chance to displace the worlds largest train network. Its a sign of the change afoot in this region; across South Asia, people pile into group taxis, or mothers pack auto rickshaws full of a half-dozen kids to send them off to school together. In India, specifically, Gupta believes, People dont think of the sharing economy as different from day-to-day life.

Many will tell you  that a trust economy doesnt work in India.

Story continues

Indeed, investor Tarun Davda at Matrix Partners says theres a big opportunity for solving the nasty commutes between Indian cities  dealing with traffic, logistics are extremely hard. Many have tried, he adds. Its a good time for companies like Blablacar, too: The technology to make startups like this work is out there and seeing increasing adoption, says Preeti Anand of consulting firm Zinnov.

But theres a cultural wrinkle here: safety. Many will tell you, citing something like the struggle eBay (which didnt comment) had in India or the now infamous case in which an Uber driver raped a passenger, that a trust economy doesnt work in India  and trust may serve as a spoil card for the company, Anand says. Women may be especially cautious about sitting in a car with a crew of strangers. Blablacar will learn what many global companies discover upon entering an emerging market: One cant simply strive in, swashbuckling and arrogant thanks to an international name. Each new country requires a localization, a unique sensibility.

And heres where Gupta comes in  not to mention his peers running operations in Blablacars other emerging markets, like Brazil. He tells me the company is highly aware of the safety question and last month rolled out government verification for drivers. Hes likewise full of talking points about Indian habits, explaining that the story line for Blablacar in the U.K. is you can travel cheaper; in the developing world, its you can travel at all. Gupta, of course, will also face the same issues sharing-economy companies are dealing with worldwide  like regulations and liability, which Anand says India has little infrastructure to deal with.

Blabla car raghav gupta 018

Raghav Gupta at his Delhi-based office.

Source: Vivek Singh for OZY

Guptas personal career growth has prepared him for the specifics of this job. Raised in Dehradun by parents who ran a clothing manufacturing operation, he returned to India eight years ago after time abroad, like so many successful business types here. He did an MBA in France and worked in London. And hes crossed industry lines: A former consultant at Booz Allen & Company, he holds an engineering degree and spent much of his life working in fashion retail. (Hes dressed pretty corporate when we talk, and is well-groomed, but sans Vogue-esque flamboyancy.) He stayed on the business side, and worked with some international companies landing in India.

He muses, at one point, that in some ways a global company is a less desirable employer than an Indian counterpart. Theyre slower than Indian companies, and regional businesses can focus on one market, making them more agile, he says. But one might argue were entering an age when that distinction will become slowly eroded. Indeed, Davda thinks Blablacars task may end up being solved by an international behemoth  Ubers pool function  or possibly homegrown Ola.

For now, Blablacar remains the new kid on the block; it hasnt started monetizing in India. Gupta says he thinks thatll begin late this year or in 2017. But as the race goes on, the activist phrasing comes to mind, albeit in a different context: The global is local, and vice versa.

Related Articles
Texas mom Candace Payne might just be having the best week ever.

On Tuesday, she was invited to Facebook headquarters for a special surprise after a she took of herself trying on a new Chewbacca mask, filmed in the parking lot of a Kohl's, became the most-watched Facebook Live broadcast of all time.

"We invited Candace Payne  whose Chewbacca mask video got 141 million views and is now the most-watched Facebook Live video ever  to come by Facebook HQ today," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Tuesday. "And we had a fun surprise for her!"

A series of photos showed Payne hanging around the Facebook campus with someone in a Chewbacca costume, doing all the fun things with Chewie: biking, drinking coffee, posing next to a Facebook sign.

On Monday, Payne made a special appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and got to meet Star Wars director J.J. Abrams.

How will Payne ever come down from the incredible high of meeting Abrams, a social media billionaire and a real live Wookie in the same week?
Matt Andriese has already provided a boost to Tampa Bay's rotation, but next he will try to push himself into select company with the Rays.

Andriese hopes to open his season with a fourth consecutive victory as the Rays move their home-and-home set against the Miami Marlins to Tropicana Field on Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay (21-22) opened its eight-game trip with four wins but needed a split at Miami (23-22) to walk away with a 5-3 record. The Rays did so with a 4-3 victory Tuesday that snapped a three-game skid.

"We needed a win today to turn this road trip in the positive," manager Kevin Cash said. "With the way we started we had to finish a little better than the way we were going. It was a big win."

Andriese looks to supply the Rays with their sixth win in the last seven games of the Citrus Series while extending his own streak.

He's 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA since being called up from Triple-A Durham on May 8, earning a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels that day. He followed with his first shutout in a 6-0 win against Oakland on May 14 before taking a step back Friday.

The right-hander gave up five hits, including a two-run homer, and four runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-5 victory at Detroit.

Still, Andriese became just the fifth Rays pitcher to open a season with wins in his first three starts, joining Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Garza and Victor Zambrano. Moore was the only one to win at least four straight, opening 5-0 in 2013.

Andriese made his MLB debut out of the bullpen against Miami on April 10, 2015, walking one in a scoreless inning.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton drew that walk and will try to pose a threat to Andriese on Wednesday. Stanton was stuck in a 6 for 57 stretch (.105) before hitting his 12th home run Tuesday. He was stranded in the on-deck circle when Alex Colome sealed his 12th save by striking out Justin Bour looking.

Stanton's struggles were highlighted by 17 Ks while going 1 for 21 in six games before Monday's 7-6 win. He went 2 for 7 with a strikeout against Tampa Bay in Miami.

Story continues

"He's starting to see the ball better," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "That's really what you want."

Marcell Ozuna also doubled twice and reached base for the 31st consecutive game on Tuesday. Ozuna and Stanton hope to provide some offense for Justin Nicolino, who looks to end his own struggles.

Nicolino (2-2, 4.30) opened by allowing six earned runs in his first three starts spanning 19 1/3 innings, but he's coughed up eight in his last two over 10 innings.

The left-hander had allowed one home run in his first 25 innings before allowing two in the second of Friday's 4-1 loss to Washington. He retired the next 10 batters he faced, but the damage was already done.

"That inning they were in attack mode," Nicolino said. "They were swinging. After that I settled in, but I put us in a hole early."
Sure, he wears red white and blue on the outside, but on the inside? It turns out Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, supports the evil, former Nazi organization, Hydra.

Marvel comics introduced the shocking twist Wednesday morning when Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 went on sale  and it turns out there have been hints that this was coming for a long time. TIME spoke with Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort about the decision, the clues and why Hydras rhetoric sounds an awful lot like that of a certain presidential candidate.

TIME: How did Marvel decide to make Steve Rogers a secret Hydra operative?

Tom Brevoort: Nick Spencer, who is the writer of the series, pitched us the story as part and parcel of restoring Steve to his youth and vigor. In the comics, hes been old for awhile. The super soldier serum that was keeping him young had been broken down, so for the 75th anniversary, Nick had this notion that we were going to restore him. But then we went into this other story about Hydra, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

If readers go back and look at older comics, will this hold up?

It will. Issue 2 kind of winds the clock back a little bit and lays out exactly how and why things are the way they are. And it lays out a roadmap for where things are headed in the future. At this point, I dont want to say too much definitively because I want people to read the comic books. But people will be able to connect the dots and follow the trail of breadcrumbs.

How long has this been in the works?

Almost since the beginning of when Nick started writing the Captain America titles, which would have been the end of 2014. So right around there the conversations first started about this. Its been in the works for more than a year.

What does this mean for the Marvel Universe?

It means on the most fundamental level that the most trusted hero in the Marvel universe is now secretly a deep-cover Hydra operative, a fact thats really only known to the readers and to him. That makes every interaction he has with anyone take on a second layer, a second meaning.

Story continues

In the comic the Red Skull of Hydra talks about criminal trespassers who make a mockery of Americas borders and calls the refugees in Germany an invading army bringing fanatical beliefs and crime to Europe. Obviously, this hate speech is nothing new for the organization, but it sounds like rhetoric weve been hearing this election. Is that purposeful?

We try to write comics in 2016 that are about the world and the zeitgeist of 2016, particularly in Captain America. Nick Spencer, the writer, is very politically active. Hes a Capitol Hill head and following this election very closely. So we can talk about political issues in a metaphoric way. Thats what gives our stories weight and meat to them. Any parallels you have seen to situations real or imagined, living or dead, is probably intentional but metaphorically not literally.

What are we supposed to think about the fact that someone literally named Captain America now supports these beliefs?

Again, I dont want to say anything too definitively because were laying out the story. But we want to push that button. There should be a feeling of horror or unsettledness at the idea that somebody like this can secretly be part of this organization. There are perfectly normal people in the world who you would interact with on a professional level or personal level, and they seem like the salt of the earth but then it turns out they have some horrible secret  whether its that they dont like a certain group of people or have bodies buried in their basement.

You should feel uneasy about the fact that everything you know and love about Steve Rogers can be upended.

To ask the blunt question, is this a gimmick?

Every single month whether its a run of the mill month for Captain America or an extraordinary month, our job is to put him in situations that place that character under some degree of pressure and see how he reacts to that. And hopefully our readers are surprised, shocked, elated, see something of themselves, learn something about themselves. To say its a gimmick implies that its done heedlessly just to shock. The proof is always going to be in the execution. So youll have to read the rest of the story to see.

But I certainly believe its not a gimmick. Its a story that we spent a long time on, thats compelling and captures the zeitgeist of the world. It will make readers wonder how the heck well get out of this.
How Have Berkshire Hathaways Top Tech Investments Performed?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Berkshire Hathaway has held MasterCard since 1Q11

According to its 1Q11 filings, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) bought 216,000 shares of MasterCard (MA) worth $60.3 million. In its latest filings at the end of 1Q16, Berkshire reported total holdings of 4.9 million shares in MasterCard. We can see that BRK is optimistic about the companys performance with this increase of 4.7 million shares over the last five years.

MasterCard generated investor returns of 2.7% in the trailing 12-month period and -2.1% in the trailing one-month period. In comparison, it generated returns of -1.8% year-to-date. The companys share price fell 0.9% in the trailing five-day period. Since BRK disclosed its holdings in MasterCard, the companys share price has risen a whopping 242%.

Verisigns share price fell 4.5% in the trailing one-month period but rose 18.2%, 46.6%, and 48.9% in the three-month, six-month, and 12-month periods, respectively, after BRKs disclosure of MA holdings.

Shareholder value

MasterCards dividend yield rose from 0.5% in fiscal 1Q13 to 0.6% in fiscal 1Q14 and 0.7% in fiscal 1Q15. At the end of 1Q16, MasterCard had a dividend yield of 0.8%, or $0.19. In comparison, peer companies Visa (V) and Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) have dividend yields of 0.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

MasterCard accounted for 0.36% of the BRK portfolio at the end of 1Q16 and 2.4% of the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK).

Of the 39 analysts covering MasterCard, 31 have buy recommendations, one has a sell recommendation, and seven have hold recommendations on MasterCard stock.

Analysts stock price target for the company is $112, with a median target estimate of $110. MasterCard is trading at a discount of 15% to its median target.

In the final part of this series, well see how Visa has performed since Berkshire Hathaway increased its holdings.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Oslo (AFP) - Food giants McDonald's and Tesco have signed a "historic" agreement to not expand cod fishing into untouched parts of the Arctic, where the ice melt has sparked fears of a rush on unexploited areas, Greenpeace said Wednesday.

"This is a historic agreement that brings together the main players in the cod fishing" in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, said Frida Bengtsson, a marine environment specialist at Greenpeace.

"In the absence of significant legal protection of the icy waters of the northern Barents Sea, this is an unprecedented step from the seafood industry," she said.

The agreement, which has been signed by global seafood suppliers as well as British retail chains Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, freezes bottom trawling in areas around the Svalbard archipelago.

It requires seabed mapping to determine the fragility of an area before it is opened up for fishing.

The agreement was brokered by environmental group Greenpeace and marks the first time the seafood industry has voluntarily imposed limitations on industrial fishing in the Arctic.

It means that any fishing companies expanding into pristine Arctic waters will not be able to sell their cod to major seafood brands and retailers.

The two dominant professional organisations in the region, Fiskebat for Norway and Karat for Russia, have signed up for the deal along with Danish company Espersen and British-based Young's Seafood.

"Fiskebat agrees not to send its trawlers to fish for cod in the Arctic areas in the Barents Sea, where no regular fishing has been practised in the past," said Jan Ivar Marak, an executive at the Norwegian company.

"Our customers tell us it's important they can be sure the fish on our shelves is caught in a way that doesn't harm the ocean environment, and this landmark agreement means vulnerable marine life in the Barents and Norwegian seas will be protected," said Giles Bolton, a sourcing director for Tesco.

No less than 189 trawlers have a licence to fish in the frigid waters of Svalbard, where 800,000 tonnes of cod are fished per year, according to Greenpeace.

"Cod is doing well, the stocks are good, but global warming is a real cause for concern," because it pushes trawlers further north, said Bengtsson.
Add the Telsey Advisory Group (TAG) to the growing list of informed folks who think Philippe Dauman will be fired from Viacom.

Media analysts at TAG expect Sumner Redstone will replace the French-born company chairman, president and CEO  despite Daumans support from the Viacom board. How? Well, Redstone will just replace the VIAB board, a possibility that TheWrap spelled out for readers yesterday.

That doesnt mean TAG believes Redstone will win em all. The group thinks the sale of a minority stake in Paramount Pictures will proceed, despite the chairman emeritus wishes to keep the film studio whole.

Both predictions would probably help the companys struggling stock, which TAG believes is oversold.

Also Read: Here's How Viacom's Philippe Dauman Could Be Fired

Telsey has had VIAB stocks target price at $53 for a while now. About an hour ago, it actually opened at $41.44 per share  and that was up.

A Paramount stake sale could accelerate deleveraging, share repurchases and an S&P Upgrade, analysts at TAG wrote in a Wednesday newsletter. Should the Trust or [National Amusements, Inc.] be successful in replacing CEO Dauman, we believe the Street would reward VIAB with a multiple closer in-line with its peers.

As far as CBS  the other company ostensibly controlled by Redstone through his privately held National Amusements holding company  TAG expects status quo to be the theme.

In other words, Leslie Moonves job as chairman and CEO is safe. Plus, Telsey doesnt anticipate a forced re-merging of CBS and Viacom, an idea thats been floated lately amid the drama over Viacom stock and leadership.

Also Read: Media Analyst: If Philippe Dauman Isn't Fired, Les Moonves Might Be

As far as Redstones desire to block a sale of a portion of Paramount Pictures, TAG suggested that any move now would probably be too little, too late. After all, the Dauman-led board already approved the stake sale, which is expected to close as early as the end of June.

Story continues

We dont believe that Mr. Redstone (or the Trust) is in a position to replace enough Board members to reverse this decision by June, TAG wrote. We note that the sale would likely generate more than $1B in proceeds enabling VIAB to lower its debt leverage to its 2.75-times target by 4Q16 (September 2016), while still investing in the business and resuming share repurchases.

Analysts concluded: We believe an S&P upgrade could follow these events should revenue and EBITDA improve.

Read TAGs full report and analysis here.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Shari Redstone Calls Viacom's Accusation of Manipulation 'Absurd'

The Story of Viacom Stock: A Sad 22-Month Slide

Sumner Redstone Unveils Replacement Trustees for Philippe Dauman, George Abrams

Philippe Dauman Files Suit to Block Removal From Redstone Trust
Some Israelis say he sows the seeds of fascism. Others insist hes more pragmatic than youd think.

Avigdor Lieberman, the Soviet-born, West Bank-settled politician, has just been named as Israels next defense minister. His agreement to join the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rattling many in the Middle East but is being hailed in Israeli officialdom as an important step toward a broader and more stable governing coalition.

As a student at Jerusalems Hebrew University, Lieberman was a bouncer at a student night club, later becoming its manager. When he entered the Israeli politics in 1988, it was as a loyal protege of Netanyahu, a then-ascendant leader of the Likud party nearly ten years his senior. Lieberman would go on to serve as Netanyahus chief of staff in 1996, seeming to his critics to bring along some of the strong-armed tactics of the job that helped him through college and the less-than-democratic society in which he grew up.

But just a year after holding that key position during Netanyahus first term as prime minister, Lieberman resigned in protest over his bosss acquiescence to a U.S.-brokered, Israeli-Palestinian agreement known as the Wye River Memorandum. Instead, Lieberman decided to break out on his own and form the Yisrael Beiteinu party  or Israel is Our Home  aimed at over a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. An existing party of Russian emigres led by former refusenik Natan Sharansky was not nearly as hawkish as Lieberman, who was then vehemently opposed to the land-for-peace formula embedded in the 1993 Oslo Accords.

While Sharanskys once-formidable party has since disappeared from the political stage, Liebermans has continued to grow. In fact, Lieberman just repaid voters in his Russian-speaking constituency by winning attractive pension benefits for his supporters as part of his price for joining Netanyahus coalition, which has been ruling for a year with a unstable majority of 61 out of 120 seats in the Israeli parliament.

Story continues

Lieberman most recently served as Israels Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2015), but putting him in the defense ministry spot, a particularly important one in this conflict-saddled region, is a hard sell abroad. He is currently advocating for the death penalty for terrorists  although only for Palestinians who kill Israelis, not Israelis who kill Palestinians. He has proposed a solution to the conflict that would strip some of Israels Arab population of their long-standing citizenship, a program dubbed transfer because citizens would be like undesirable pawns transferred to areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Lieberman has continued to question the loyalty of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of the population, and has campaigned to make them sign a loyalty pledge or have their citizenship revoked. Last month, he said Hamas leaders in Gaza should prepare their coffins if they dont hand over the remains of Israeli soldiers.

As I see Mr. Lieberman, theres a big distance between his positions and how he behaves when in office, says Dr. Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University who has closely followed Liebermans career. I dont see him as an ideologue, Sandler adds. Ultimately hes a very pragmatic guy. I can see him as another Ariel Sharon.

A comparison to Sharon, the controversial Israeli general-turned-Prime Minister who died in 2014, doesnt exactly inspire confidence here and abroad that Lieberman would forge a moderate path. But Sharon is remembered by Israelis for pulling Israeli troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, ditching his Likud party to do so. And like Sharon, Lieberman is a secular politician for whom religious ideology is of passing importance. Unlike the three Orthodox Jewish parties already in Netanyahus cabinet, Lieberman views the idea of a God-given Promised Land is an antiquated concept.

That ought to make him more open to a territorial compromise between Israeli and Palestinians. Indeed, his supporters point out, hes said that hed be willing to evacuate his home in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim if a real peace were in the offing.

Hes been criticized for advocating transfer. But if you take his idea at face value, hes saying hell make a deal along the 67 lines, plus land swaps, says an Israeli government source who has worked closely with Lieberman, referring to Israels borders in 1967, before it occupied the West Bank and other territories in the Six-Day War. That means hes accepted a two-state solution. But sure, hes said things that are problematic. Sometimes he plays into his own caricature.

Ashley Perry, who served as an advisor to Lieberman for six years (2009-2015), says that his former boss is often unfairly maligned. I worked with the foreign media, and if I spent my time correcting all the inaccurate statements about him, I would never have slept, he says. Liebermans straight-talk wins points in some corners, says Perry. A lot of people think he talks honestly, and theres a respect for that, including in many Arab capitals.

In the de facto Palestinian capital, the West Bank city of Ramallah and seat of the Palestinian Authority, Liebermans frankness means it will be trickier for Netanyahu to don a mask of moderation.

I think having Lieberman as defense minister will expose the real face of the Israeli right-wing government, says Khaldoun Barghouti, the international news editor of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, a daily newspaper affiliated with Mahmoud Abbass Palestine Liberation Organization.

Netanyahu had a lot of other alternatives that he didnt choose, notes Barghouti, in particular bringing in the Labor Party led by Isaac Herzog. Lieberman has already caused a lot of embarrassment to Israel, and now he will be leading the army.

Netanyahu says the move stabilizes his government, but it may just be the rockiest transition in history. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak warned that the move seemed to be sowing fascism. Lieberman now must step into the shoes of the outgoing defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, who quit last Friday saying he had lost all faith in the Prime Minister.
Ron Unz

Ron Unz doesn't mince words when he talks about his issues with Harvard University.

First and foremost, the Harvard alumnus and former publisher of The American Conservative finds charging tuition at the Ivy League university absurd.

"It's sort of like if Goldman Sachs bought a community college and declared itself tax-exempt," Unz told Business Insider in an interview.

Unz's professional aspirations have run the gamut from an unsuccessful campaign for governor of California in 1994 to an entrepreneurial turn that led him to found Wall Street Analytics, eventually acquired by Moody's. That may make him seem an unlikely proponent of free college at Harvard. But he's proposing just that.

Unz ran for the Board of Overseers in spring 2016 with four other alums  including former Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader  on a ticket to eliminate undergraduate tuition.

As the most outspoken of the bunch when describing his motivations for running, Unz unapologetically called attention to the fact that Harvard has a massive endowment yet enjoys a tax exemption as an educational institution.

Harvard's endowment at the end of last year was $37.6 billion, the largest university endowment in the world.

For now, at least, Unz has put the aspiration to be a Harvard overseer on hold. Harvard alumni elected a new lot of members to the Harvard Board of Overseers on Monday  but none of them were part of "Free Harvard Fair Harvard."

Naturally, Unz feels disappointed but also sees the impact of his campaign.

"I do think we succeeded in focusing a great deal of attention on the hugely disproportionate size of the investment income of the top universities," he said.

Unz's decision to run for the board and try to change Harvard's tuition policy developed slowly over a decade, he said. Unz graduated from Harvard in 1983 with a double major in physics and ancient history. Year after year following his graduation, Harvard fund-raisers would visit him in Palo Alto, California, asking whether he wanted to donate money to the university.

Story continues

The library at Harvard's Adams House

He engaged in friendly discussion with the fund-raisers but always made the point that given Harvard's enormous endowment, he didn't think donating to the university made any sense  just like people wouldn't donate to a wealthy company.

"I use Google all the time, and I think Google's a great company and has great technology, but if Google asked me for a donation, I'd say Google has more money than I do," Unz told Business Insider.

Then, at the end of lat year, he decided to run for the board on a platform of abolishing tuition at Harvard, a move he thinks would make the school more attractive to students from low-income families and ultimately, increase diversity. In addition to racial diversity, he said he's targeting other, less talked about measures, like geographic and socioeconomic diversity.

Unz also aimed to bring more transparency to admissions at Harvard, claiming wealthy families can " buy their children a place at Harvard."

He calls it "the Harvard price" and explain that families with the right connections can give the university "a few million dollars" and gain a spot for their child at the prestigious school.

It's an allegation echoed in Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Daniel Golden's book, "The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges  and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates."

Golden writes that admissions decisions at elite universities don't come down to merit but instead, are a marketplace in which wealthy families can buy admission for the right price.

harvard

Critics of Unz feel differently about his goals and argue they fail to recognize the already substantial contribution Harvard makes toward tuition.

Harvard provides generous financial aid and has awarded more than $1.4 billion to undergraduates in the past decade, Jeff Neal, a Harvard representative, told The New York Times.

Harvard also notes online that "approximately 70% of our students receive some form of aid, and about 60% receive need-based scholarships and pay an average of $12,000 per year."

The opposition also feels the university doesn't have the ability to use endowment money the same way it uses funds from tuition. The endowment isn't like "one big bank account" that can be drawn from for any purpose, Robert Reischauer, an economist and former senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, argued in a letter to the Times.

But Unz claims the financial-aid office still misses a huge population of mostly low-income people who have no idea they're eligible for free or discounted tuition. These people, who aren't plugged into to the message that Harvard is need-blind, miss out on the opportunity, Unz argues, and they never even apply.

"Abolishing tuition at Harvard is a very shocking idea when people first hear about it," Unz said. "But tuition is such a negligible part of Harvard's income that they could very easily abolish it."

For the 2015-2016 school year, Harvard reports 6,700 students and a tuition price of $57,200. If all students pay full tuition, that equates to about $383 million in income for the school year  not so hefty a a sum when you consider the school's endowment as well, on which investment income earned Harvard $1.2 billion in 2015.

For now, Unz is focusing on running as a Republican for a Senate seat in California. Notably, he's bringing attention to education issues in California as well, like removing bilingual education in classrooms and cutting tuition costs at colleges. But he said that he will continue to press the issue of free tuition at Harvard.

"Down the road, I'll certainly be revisiting the issue .... It's surely more than a pure coincidence that just a few weeks after our campaign was covered on the front page of the NYT, several influential senators began pressing Harvard and the other wealthiest universities," Unz said.

NOW WATCH: 7 incredibly tiny details you never noticed in your iPhone





More From Business Insider


At this point, it's relatively safe to assume that either Melania Trump or Bill Clinton will be our next first lady or first gentleman, respectively  and the two couldn't dress any more differently.

There's Trump, with her effortless perfectionism, posing herself as an impressive aspirational figure for anyone who's not quite as designer-level stylish  which is to say, not as rich as she is. Then, there's Clinton, trying so very hard to remain in the background and not draw too much attention to himself, opting for modest tailored suits and muted polos.

To judge what a person is like based on their clothing is reductive, but the way a first spouse dresses matters in the same way that how a presidential candidate dresses matters. Is someone trying to relate to the people and dress casually? Is someone wearing large clothing to appear more powerful? Is someone trying to pose as more of a fashion icon than a political figure? All types of messages (subconscious or otherwise) can come from how a person dresses  for public figures, those messages make an impact.

So, what messages are Trump and Clinton really sending, and what can that tell us about the type of first spouse each of them would be?

Melania Trump and the power of consistency

Source: John Moore/Getty Images

Since she's not too hot on talking politics, Trump's most valuable characteristic may very well be her taste. She is classic. She is cool. She is reserved. She opts for a regular cycle of whites and blacks and blues and reds. She wears long coats over dresses. She wears skirts with jackets. The way she dresses is generally predictable, while her husband's actions remain entirely not.

The message she's sending now is that as first lady, she'd always appear elegant. Consistently so. Her makeup would be pristine. Her hair would fall in large flowy ringlets. Everyone could count on her to be in a sleek dress or expensive coat. Her looks were once her profession, after all, so she knows not to disappoint.

Story continues

"The looks are studiously low-key and uninteresting, not because they are unattractive clothes but because the woman wearing them  the model  has not enlivened them with her individual personality," the Washington Post's Robin Givhan wrote. "What is her personality? The woman who has counseled her husband  the candidate  to be more presidential, seems self-consciously aiming to be very 'first lady.'"

Source: Evan Agostini/AP

However, Trump's ride to becoming first lady hasn't been so typical. For starters, her past includes professional modeling, and with those credentials in mind, she's been able to avoid something that nearly every single prospective first lady has faced: fashion criticism. First ladies have historically been the target of people waiting ever-so-patiently to pounce on a style misstep. Think Michelle Obama's ruffled skirt or Hillary Clinton's makeup-free face.

Because most first ladies aren't politicians, the press likens them more to female public figures or celebrities, who are seen as fair game to taunt.

It would seem like Melania Trump, who already comes with a model's reputation, has even more to prove. But miraculously, she has been able to avoid the cycle of scrutiny by being consistent in her glamour. She's handled red carpet commenters and judges already, so really, this level of fame has naturally found a way to her wardrobe, with her picking mostly classic, very expensive pieces that please the eye. As the Telegraph mused, "Her countenance so far remains serious, her taste seemingly on-point in so far as a woman who lives in a gilded penthouse complete with marble cherub adornment, Rococo recliners, crystal chandeliers and friezes in gold relief can maintain." Clearly, she is in control of how she looks, and that alone can give us a hint as to what sort of first lady she'd be.

As Donald Trump's former political adviser, Roger Stone, told the Washington Post, "She would be the most glamorous first lady since Jackie Kennedy." Already, headlines like "Is Melania Trump the next Jackie Kennedy?" exist. And given her track record so far, he's not completely wrong. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, too, was part of a very wealthy family and took pride in designer clothes, befriending high-end designers like Oleg Cassini. Even Trump herself has voiced interest in being a "traditional," first lady, like Kennedy Onassis, and focusing on the home rather than politics.

Source: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Partly because of that of course, as Mic has reported before, Trump would be the antithesis of Michelle Obama. Throughout her possible years in the White House, she'd likely never peruse a single rack at places like J.Crew and H&M, instead opting to stick to her few favorite silhouettes at events like State Dinners. Rather than appealing to the masses by going to Target (like Michelle Obama famously loves to do), she'd proudly revel in the fact that her shoes are Louboutins and her bags are Chanel. And is there anything wrong with that? No, not really. It's just Trump's lifestyle.

However, one of the things about political dressing is that it should never be a distraction from the speech or politician themselves, and Trump is subverting that idea entirely. One cannot help but at least look at a woman like Trump because of the way she wears clothes. She has the body of an actual British GQ model (tall, thin and large-chested) and expensive, luxury taste, so she does stand in stark contrast to many politicians around her. In that case, she is already unpredictable and that's probably exactly how she wants you to think of her.

Bill Clinton and the power of quiet dressing

Source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Like Trump, Clinton isn't trying to cause a stir  but for other reasons. He's been president. He's had his headlines. He's had his scandals. Now, it's his wife's turn, and he's trying to become more of a background figure, separating his persona from hers.

His wardrobe right now isn't that of a red carpet star like Trump, but of a regular (still quite wealthy) politician, with plenty of blue suits and polo T-shirts. He is casual when he can be, like in a visit to Puerto Rico, and more formal at other times, like at Hillary Clinton's New York primary victory speech.

As the Washington Post noted, "Bill Clinton is sorting out what it means to wear the uniform of power but not possess it. He is settling into the role of backup performer  that silent, onstage partner whose gaze must always be loving and engaged  no matter how familiar those applause lines may be."

And how is he doing that most cleverly? With his attire. Like many men in the political eye, fashion is but a uniform. One or two blue, tan, brown or black suits, with a political pin piercing one lapel. One or two white or blue button-downs. The way he's dressing now is far more "first lady-y" than Melania Trump, calling no attention to his appearance what so ever. And as a man, that's far easier to do than if he were, say, a woman.

Source: James Nord/AP

According to how he dresses, he's most closely drawing parallels to first ladies like Laura Bush, who made little to no waves as first lady for eight years. She wore skirt suits in a range of normal colors. She wore her fair share of figure-flattering dresses. Having been a teacher and librarian, she understood the level of professionalism she needed to uphold. And with Bill Clinton already serving as an American president, he knows this all too well as well.

His message to the public? Don't worry about me. I'm letting her lead.

Although he is regularly making speeches for Hillary Clinton  something Melania Trump is certainly not doing for her spouse  he is relying on his wardrobe and the possible title of "first gentleman" to help him differentiate himself from his wife. Although, the title of "first gentleman" may be more important than he thinks. Since he'd be our first first gentleman, he'd be setting the standard for how one would act in the future. W gs? (He apparently doesn't want to.) Would he become a fashion icon? Would people look at his fashion at all?

Those answers would all be entirely up to him, and because of that, he does have an interesting amount of power in this position. Similarly to his wife's possibly being the first woman president, as the first first gentleman, he'd be making history.

So how will this all work out in November? Only time will tell. What we can predict, though, is that the White House will be an entirely different place than it is now come January.
Melbourne Cup-winner Michelle Payne has been ruled out for at least three months and will miss Royal Ascot after undergoing abdominal surgery following a fall, racing officials said Wednesday.

Payne, 30, came off at Mildura in the northwest of Victoria state on Monday, underwent surgery the following day and was now recovering, Victorian Jockeys Association chief executive Des O'Keeffe said.

"Everything's gone very well since yesterday. Everything's going as Michelle's doctors would hope," he told AFP.

"She'd be expected to remain in hospital until at least next Tuesday."

O'Keeffe said Payne, who last year became the first woman to win Australia's 155-year-old Melbourne Cup, was expected to take an "absolute minimum of three months" to recover.

No further details of her injuries or surgery were released, with doctors limiting bedside visitors to immediate family members, the chief executive added.

The minimum recovery period means Payne will miss Britain's prestigious Royal Ascot next month.

Her older brother and former jockey Paddy Payne said his sister should consider retiring.

"She had a bad fall three years ago and we suggested then to retire, but she maintained she had more to give," he told Melbourne's The Age newspaper.

"And now after what she has been through in the last few days I think she should look at retirement. What's the point in chancing it?

"She's won a Melbourne Cup -- that could never be taken away from her -- and it might be time to get married and have a few kids and just take a break."

Payne has suffered multiple injuries, including falling head-first from a horse when she was 18, fracturing her skull and bruising her brain.
Melissa Gilbert, former star of Little House on the Prairie and president of the Screen Actors Guild, said that she is dropping her bid for a congressional seat in Michigan.

Gilbert said that injuries she suffered to her head and neck in a 2012 accident have worsened.

While I have received the best treatment and therapy I could have asked for, those injuries have only gotten worse, Gilbert said, according to a statement she gave to the Detroit Free Press. As much as it breaks my heart to say this, my doctors have told me I am physically unable to continue my run for Congress.

Democrats had been eyeing the seat as a potential pickup. It is held by Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.).

Gilbert had announced her bid for the 8th congressional district seat last summer, and tapped Hollywood for campaign contributions. She moved to Michigan with her husband, Timothy Busfield, a native of the state. At the time she announced, Republicans almost immediately attacked her over tax liens, although she has said that she was paying it off in installments.

Democratic leaders in the state are expected to move to replace her name on the states Aug. 2 primary ballot, according to the Free-Press.

Gilbert was the latest in a line of former SAG presidents who have entered politics, including George Murphy and Ronald Reagan.

Related stories

'Little House on the Prairie' Movie in the Works at Paramount

Michael Moore to Michigan Governor: I'll Take in Syrian Refugees

'Little House on the Prairie' Star Melissa Gilbert Announces Bid for Congressional Seat
Monaco (AFP) - World champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg smoothed over the cracks in their partnership with polished assurance on Wednesday.

Ten days after their spectacular collision on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, they gave a good impression of wondering what all the fuss was about.

Understandably, like everyone else arriving in the cramped waterside paddock for this weekend's classic Monaco Grand Prix, they wanted to look ahead and talk about a race that defines drivers' talents and lives in the memory longer than most.

The media, however, does not work quite like that and, to the Mercedes team's credit, and the two drivers, they recognised the reality and faced it.

A few years ago, when Hamilton was not a defending three-time world champion, but a younger driver in pursuit of fame, glory, success and wealth, such pressure tended to result in impetuous outbursts of emotion.

He has grown up and so have both his team-mate, who leads this year's title race by 43 points, and his team. Theirs is a mutual and collective understanding of how things are done best under stress.

"It's really just a showing of growth, within Nico and I," said Hamilton. "We stood and spoke to each other today. And, no problemsa

"In the past, there would have been some kind of tension, of some sort, but it was pure respect.

"Just, 'we have all respect for you' and he said the same. We said, 'let's just keep racing.'

"It doesn't change anything in how we're going to approach our racinga I think it's just that we're getting old!

"We're good at our jobs and we know it and we're getting oldera"

Talking to reporters ahead of Sundayas race, Hamilton confirmed the team had held meetings to discuss the incident in Spain that removed both men and their cars from the race.

"It's always good to discuss things so, as a team, we did -- in Barcelona and then at the factory. And, I guess, individually. And, with Nico, I spoke just now. I didn't feel we had toa because, again, we're in that frame of mind -- there is no issue.

Story continues

"You just move on and move forwards. There's nothing you can do about the pasta

"We didn't talk through the incident. We didn't need toa We know what happened. We were there.

"We know how we felt about it, but we're not like the more emotional beings on the planet who talk a lot about these things.

"We don't need to do that. We arrived very cooled and chilled and, as I said, all we need to know is that the respect is still there. We're going to keep racing. Everything's cool."

For his part, Rosberg conceded that he had chosen the wrong mode for his engine at the time of the accident in Spain.

"It was in the wrong position and it was my job to put it in the right position, It's pretty simple," he explained. aThere is not much more to say."

Intriguingly, and unlike Hamilton, he declined to elaborate on any meetings they held to discuss the Spanish crash.

"If we have spoken or not, that needs to be kept internally," he said. "But I can say, between the two of us, it is in the past now. The relationship is the same as beforea

"Going out on track, I am not thinking about Barcelona. I am going flat out to try to win the Grand Prix, which is what I have come here to do."

So why not tell the media about it? "I don't want to," he said. "I just don't feel like it."
JEL10225b PT.JPG

Dr. Paul Tang is six weeks into a new job at the company where he started his career.

The 30-year health-tech veteran who is also a practicing doctor is coming on as Watson Health's "chief health transformation officer." His job? To find ways to use Watson that will help set up a "personalized healthcare" system.

Personalized healthcare means pulling together all the information available about a person: not just their clinical and genetic information but also their social, behavioral, demographic and personal preferences.

"Instead of saying 'what's the matter with you,' which is a disease focused way, I like to think of 'what matters the most to you?' I think we would be better clinicians better doctors if we knew that," Tang told Business Insider.

Essentially, he'll have to find ways to take a whole lot of data on a large number of people, and turn that into individualized approaches for doctors to use on the spot when talking to a patient.

Ultimately, using a wide range of factors  like ease of access to a pharmacy  to predict what is likely to happen to a patient if they follow a certain course of treatment over another, could save money.

Tang gave the example of hypertension, or high blood pressure. If left untreated, it can lead to heart problems. There are drugs available to treat it, but they don't always seem to help.

The goal of personalized healthcare is to figure out if factors like cost, difficulty getting to the pharmacy, or social or behavioral components are what's really keeping the illness under control.

Watson is IBM's supercomputer that can process huge amounts of data to analyze anything from "Star Wars" screenplays to coming up with recipes. Watson can also sift through massive amounts of health data  everything from electronic health records to insurance claims.

That's something a "mere human," as Tang put it would have a hard time doing.

Story continues

"It's paradoxical: You need to know a whole lot of data about a whole lot of people in order to do what's best for the individual," he said.

The hire fits in with a lot of what Watson Health has been up to: In February, the company acquired Truven Health Analytics, a which collects data to find ways to treat patients more effectively while spending less, a concept often known as "value-based care."

The idea with value-based care is that instead of getting paid based on the number of people that come to a hospital, doctors have a financial incentive to do more to ultimately help the patient feel better faster. That way, healthcare providers are paid to keep people healthy and help improve the condition of people living with chronic conditions like diabetes in an evidence-based way. And that's what Tang wants to see more of.

"I'm a firm believer that if we do the right thing for an individual, it will cost less," he said.

NOW WATCH: Scientifically proven ways to make someone fall in love with you





More From Business Insider


Tetelcingo (Mexico) (AFP) - Anguished relatives are standing by as experts dig up a mass grave with more than 100 bodies buried by authorities in Mexico, where morgues are full due to surging violence.

Relatives with missing loved ones have gathered since Monday in the central town of Tetelcingo, waiting behind a security cordon for the operation to empty the two pits, 10 meters (33 feet) deep.

Guillermina Sotelo, whose son has been missing for nearly four years, is one of those hoping for closure from the week-long operation.

"It's an injustice. They should not have been thrown (into a pit) as if they were animals," she said.

The pit dug by authorities in Tetelcingo, a town in Morelos state about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Mexico City, was discovered in March 2014.

It reflects the government's struggle to deal with the explosion of violence and the number of murder victims, which climbs by the day.

Morelos has been one of the Mexican states hardest hit by drug violence plaguing the country, including kidnappings and murders.

As many as 28,000 people are thought to have gone missing in Mexico in the past decade, according to estimates by rights groups and the United Nations.

The families of missing victims were outraged to learn about the mass grave. They demanded an inquiry that led to the exhumation.

The work has been slow to start. Relatives objected to the use of an excavator, arguing that it could damage corpses and prevent the bodies from being identified.

Morelos state prosecutor Javier Perez said the bodies were buried in a mass grave for "public health reasons."

In November, he had warned that public morgues were running short of space.

Mexican authorities are permitted to use mass graves, but they must meet legal requirements including forensic analysis. The investigation into the burial pit in Tetelcingo will determine whether authorities followed protocol in this case.

- Faked signatures -

Story continues

Maria Concepcion Hernandez, whose son Oliver Wenceslao Navarrete was kidnapped and murdered in May 2013, has slammed authorities' handling of the grave.

She brought the existence of the mass grave to public attention after an official told her that her son was buried there after procedural irregularities involving "falsified" signatures in the paperwork.

Her son's body was exhumed in December 2014.

Video shot by the family showed that the young man's corpse was buried under dozens of other bodies.

That violated international protocol, said Roberto Villaneuva, one of the experts taking part in the exhumation.

According to the protocol, "in mass graves bodies must be separated from each other to allow them to be claimed" by relatives, said Villaneuva, director of a program for victims at the Morelos State Autonomous University.

Hernandez said there were 150 corpses in the grave wrapped in plastic, but state officials say there are only 116. They have DNA records for 88 bodies, but 28 others remain unidentified.

Criminal gangs "can make people disappear in one state and abandon their bodies or bury them in graves in other states," said Javier Sicilia, father of a young man who was murdered in Morelos.

"So naturally the families believe that their relative could buried anywhere."

Sicilia is the founder of the Peace and Justice Movement, a group which lobbied for the mass grave to be exhumed.

As the exhumation continued, Antonio Sandoval, whose brother Alfredo is missing, said it felt like "another day in the nightmare."
Mexico Colima violence drug war

Nestled between Jalisco and Michoacan states on the southwest Pacific coast, the state of Colima is one of the smallest in Mexico in both size and population.

But Colima's location is strategically significant to Mexico's criminal organizations, and a rising body count in recent months indicates that two of the largest cartels  Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG)  are battling for control.

The conflict seems to have kicked off in September, when, according to local news site Colima Noticias, a Facebook page purportedly belonging to the CDS, or Cartel de Sinaloa, announced that the cartel was starting a "cleaning" in Colima to rid the state of enemies.

On September 11, the Facebook page  since taken down  said that a Sinaloa cartel official and an alleged member of the Familia Michoacana criminal group had met and "reinforced alliances and arrived at an agreement to continue to secure the citizens ... Extortionists, rapists, kidnappers, bandits, and members of CJNG will be exterminated. Sinaloa is already in Colima."

The announcement was signed "CDS" and referred to "the Sweeper," purportedly the name of the anti-CJNG operation. In October, the state's governor confirmed the Sinaloa cartel's presence.

"The fight is the CJNG against all others, especially group from Sinaloa and what remains there of Los Zetas ... The cartels are fighting principally in [Manzanillo]," a national security official told Jornada in late April. And since last year's announcement, homicides in the state have spiked.

Mexico Colima port cities

The homicide rate in Colima, which has a little over 700,000 residents, grew to 17.7 per 100,000 people in the first quarter of this year.

That rate put Colima higher than neighboring Guerrero state, which has been wracked by violence, and well above the national rate of 3.64 over the same period.

Story continues

In the first four months of 2016, Colima saw 206 homicides  more than the 189 it had in all of 2015. April's 73 homicides were a nearly 950% increase over April 2015. Because of the spike, Colima has displaced Guerrero as Mexico's homicide capital for the first time in four years.

Homicides in Colima infographic

"In relative terms, this is probably the worst epidemic of violence since Ciudad Juarez exploded in 2008," El Daily Post editor Alejandro Hope wrote on Tuesday. "This is even worse, in percentage than the security crisis in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas in 2010-2011."

The cartel clash in tiny Colima is likely related to its position on the coast and to the prominence of its port, Manzanillo.

"Manzanillo is the biggest port on the west coast," University of San Diego professor David Shirk told Business Insider.

"It's very important for both bringing in precursor chemicals, for example, for methamphetamines," Shirk, who directs USD's Justice in Mexico project said, "but also outbound shipments to markets around the world."

The focus on Manzanillo for smuggling purposes is longstanding. In May 2010, the Mexican navy seized over 160 tons of precursor chemicals in two busts at Manzanillo. A year later, two more seizures nabbed nearly 115 tons.

Between September 2009 and mid-2011, roughly 300 tons of precursors were seized at the port  54 tons in a single raid.

Mexico Manzanillo Colima drug shipment seizure

In Colima and neighboring states along the Pacific coast, maritime smuggling "has always been important, and the physical infrastructure and transportation infrastructure from the coast to the center of Mexico, to Mexico City importantly, is vital to all kinds of trade, including illicit trade," Shirk said.

The Sinaloa cartel  which, with its horizontal structure and multiple leaders, has taken the capture of top leader "El Chapo" Guzman in stride  has made a hard push into the southwest in an effort to expand its control over drug production and smuggling in the area.

"There is a lot of ongoing conflict between the cartels for control of more territory because more territory makes it more lucrative for them," Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider, referring specifically to intense heroin cultivation in Guerrero.

A man lances a poppy bulb to extract the sap, which will be used to make opium, at a field in the municipality of Heliodoro Castillo, in the mountain region of the state of Guerrero January 3, 2015. REUTERS/Claudio Vargas/File Photo

"The other cartels are pretty much nonexistent or severely crippled, so [Sinaloa operatives] see this as a opportune moment to really move forward and take over those areas," Vigil said.

Despite the business sense behind the Sinaloa cartel's effort to expand, the ongoing clashes and the players involved suggest a much larger threat than localized bloodshed.

Sinaloa and CJNG are considered Mexico's two most powerful cartels, and may have cooperated to some extent in the past.

"This might be the first open war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and its former senior partner, the Sinaloa Cartel," Hope noted. "If that is indeed the case, Colima might be just the first battleground of a much larger war."

NOW WATCH: Federal agents found one of the longest US-Mexico drug tunnels hidden under a dumpster





More From Business Insider


Yahoo Finance is tracking the stocks youre following, based on your Yahoo Finance ticker searches.

Microsoft (MSFT) - The software giant will lay off up to 1,850 workers as it makes further cuts to whats left of its mobile phone operations acquired from Nokia. Microsoft says it will take an accounting charge of $950 million related to the cuts.

HP Enterprise (HPE)  The company is spinning off its enterprise services business, and merging it with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). The deal, which is expected to close in March 2017, prompted two price target hikes, one from Mizuho (MFG) and the other from FBN Securities.

Whole Foods (WFM)  The company opened its first 365 store, aimed at urban millennials, today in Los Angeles. This is the first of several 365 stores. Whole Foods plans to open two in Washington and Oregon later this year, with 10 more locations planned for 2017.

Monsanto (MON)  Jefferies upgraded the stock to a buy from hold with a $132 stock price target. The investment firm says its highly likely that Bayer will reach a deal to acquire the company at $130 per share or greater.

Michael Kors (KORS)  The luxury retailer is on investors' radars following a report from Wedbush that says Nordstrom (JWN) is removing Michael Kors handbags from its stores at a rapid pace. This comes as Macys (M) offers discounts on Kors handbags due to oversupply.
The Italian Coast Guard released video on May 25 showing the arrival of a large number of migrants in Lampedusa aboard two patrol boats. Their arrival on the Italian island, located about 138 km (85 miles) east of Tunisia and 220 km (136 miles) south of Sicily, comes after a series of rescues in the Mediterranean earlier in the week.

According to reports, between 134 and 150 people arrived in the port on May 25.

Sicilian media reported that one boat was carrying 15 women and six men who had sustained burns possible caused by a gas explosion.

Video from the Italian Navy released on May 23 and 24 showed assistance being provided to hundreds of migrants crammed into rubber dinghies and rickety fishing boats.

Italian media reported on May 23 that some 2,000 migrants were rescued from vessels in the Strait of Sicily during several hours of operations involving ships from Italy, Malta, Ireland and the humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Irish media reported that the Irish naval vessel LE Roisin was involved in the rescue of 274 migrants off the coast of Tripoli on Monday before being reassigned to help in the rescue of another boat of migrants thought to have been carrying 125 people. Credit: YouTube/Guardia Costiera
Last December, Michel Temer wrote a letter to his boss. Temer, the vice president of Brazil, complained that Dilma Rousseff had excluded him from government decisions and treated him like nothing more than a decorative vice president. The note was leaked and published online by several newspapers, and the denizens of the Internet quickly worked their magic, producing memes depicting Temer as a Christmas decoration.

Fast-forward six months and Temer is the interim president of Brazil, put in office as the countrys legislature decides whether to impeach Rousseff, the leader of the center-left Workers Party (PT), over allegations she manipulated economic data ahead of her re-election. Temer is a constitutional lawyer and a member the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the countrys largest political party. (Hes also embroiled in his own political scandals.) In his first days in the presidency, Temer has vowed to fight corruption and introduced measures to reduce the fiscal deficit as Brazil faces its worst recession in decades. He has also named a new cabinet of ministers that has attracted a lot of attention for what its missing: women.

Recommended: Should Obama Apologize in Hiroshima?

All the ministers in the cabinet are men who identify as white, making Temer the first president since Ernesto Geisel, who served from 1974 to 1979, not to include women.

The reshuffling has cut the number of cabinet posts from 31 to 22, and unseated four female cabinet ministers, one of whom was the only Afro-Brazilian minister in the government, according to the AP. Temer aides told Reuters that the cabinet was selected quickly from parties that would support Temer. The acting president had asked Ellen Gracie Northfleet, a judge who in 2000 became the first woman to be appointed to the countrys Supreme Court, to take the office of the comptroller general, but she declined, according to Brazilian media.

Story continues

We tried to look for women, but it wasnt possible, said Eliseu Padilha, Temers new chief of staff, when the cabinet was named.

Last week, Josi Nunes, a female PMDB lawmaker, told reporters that Temer said he would hire women in his government a little further ahead. But for supporters of PT, whose policies have for years promoted social justice and racial equality, Temers decision is troubling. The cabinets composition has raised concerns the new president seeks to make Brazil more conservative. His decision to eliminate the ministry of women, racial equality, and human rights and consolidate it into the justice ministry, as well as to merge the culture ministry into the education ministry, has only compounded their fears.

Recommended: This Is How Sanders's Political Revolution Ends

Temers critics point out his new cabinet is not representative of Brazils population, which is 51 percent female. But it is does mirror the makeup of the countrys congress, which has been about 90 percent male since 2003, and more than that in the years before. For advocates of womens rights around the world, the new cabinet is a step backward, especially as it comes after Rousseff, before her precipitous decline, became Brazils first female president in 2010.

Worldwide, 22 percent of all national legislators were female as of August 2015, up from 11 percent in 1995, according to the United Nations. The current U.S. Congress has 108 female lawmakers, 20 percent of the legislature but a record in American history. Canadas legislature is 26 percent female, though last fall Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the countrys first 50 percent female cabinet. Brazil is behind its fellow South American countries Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Paraguay in female representation in parliament, according to the World Bank. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organization of parliaments, ranks Brazil 155th in female representation among 191 countries.

Women first joined the Brazilian cabinet in 1979 during the military dictatorship under General Joao Figueiredo. All successive presidents named women to their cabinets. A year into Rousseffs first term, the Palacio do Planalto, where Brazils president works, looked different than in previous administrations. Der Spiegels Jens Glusing described the presidents office in 2012:

Planning Minister Miriam Belchior rushes past on her way to visit Chief of Staff Gleisi Hoffmann, with whom she will discuss a multi-billion-real investment program to combat poverty. On the way she is greeted by Ideli Salvatti, the woman who manages the government's relations with Congress. Two floors down, Press Secretary Helena Chagas is talking on the phone. In the front office, several women are reviewing the day's newspapers. Wherever you look in this white marble palace, there are female ministers, female advisers, female experts and female undersecretaries. Only the waiters and the security guards in the entrance hall are men. Thanks to President Dilma Rousseff, everything else at government headquarters is firmly in female hands. Ten of them sit in the cabinet. All but one of her inner circle of advisers are women. This isn't because of quotas. Given a choice between a man and a woman with the same qualifications, she prefers to hire the woman, says Gilberto Carvalho, who runs the presidential office.

When she began her second term in 2014, Rousseff appointed six women to cabinet positions. Earlier this month, after she was suspended, she criticized Temers cabinet picks.

Recommended: A Shocking Find In a Neanderthal Cave In France

Blacks and women are fundamental if you truly want to construct an inclusive country, Rousseff told Bloomberg. From its formation, I think the government clearly reflects that it is going to be liberal in the economy and extremely conservative on the social and cultural side.

This week, Temer, who is two weeks into the job, announced several proposals aimed at salvaging the countrys deteriorating economy. He bashed his critics, saying his new government was the victim of psychological aggression, The New York Times reported Tuesday. For a moment, the Temer who wrote that letter to Rousseff last year appeared. From the Times: Slapping his hand on his desk before television cameras, a perturbed Mr. Temer proclaimed: Ive heard, Temer is very fragile, poor little thing, he doesnt know how to govern. Gibberish!

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Maki Shiraki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors appointed a Nissan Motor adviser as its head of research and development, part of a management overhaul in the wake of a mileage cheating scandal that also prompted it to mark down last year's earnings.

Nissan is preparing to take a controlling one-third stake in Mitsubishi, which is reeling from its third scandal in two decades. Mitsubishi has seen over $3 billion (2.04 billion pounds) wiped off its market value after admitting last month it overstated the fuel economy of at least four of its models in Japan, including two sold by Nissan.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, currently a senior technology adviser at Nissan, will take on the R&D role at Mitsubishi from June 24.

He has been closely involved with the development of all-electric cars, and helped lead Nissan's collaboration in electric fuel-cell cars with Daimler AG and Ford Motor Co. He also previously headed the company's technical research centre in the United States.

Mitsubishi Motors Chairman and CEO Osamu Masuko will also be president, taking over that role from Tetsuro Aikawa, who will leave the company.

Sources told Reuters that Masuko called on Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn for help after acknowledging Mitsubishi cheated on fuel economy tests, and admitted to the need to reform Mitsubishi's insular technology department based 250 km (155 miles) from the firm's Tokyo headquarters.

"There was an understanding that R&D had a big problem, so we asked Nissan for help. As a result we have welcomed Mr. Yamashita," Masuko told reporters on Wednesday.

Masuko also said he did not plan to stay in his role after Nissan takes control later this year.

Mitsubishi, Japan's sixth-largest automaker, also announced a special loss of 19.1 billion yen (118 million pounds) for the year that ended in March related to its manipulation of fuel economy data.

As a result, it said net profit fell 39 percent to 72.6 billion yen in the year that ended in March. It had previously reported that that profit fell by a quarter to 89 billion yen.

The company did not provide forecasts for the current year.

(Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
By Maki Shiraki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors <7211.T> appointed a Nissan Motor <7201.T> adviser as its head of research and development, part of a management overhaul in the wake of a mileage cheating scandal that also prompted it to mark down last year's earnings.

Nissan is preparing to take a controlling one-third stake in Mitsubishi, which is reeling from its third scandal in two decades. Mitsubishi has seen over $3 billion wiped off its market value after admitting last month it overstated the fuel economy of at least four of its models in Japan, including two sold by Nissan.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, currently a senior technology adviser at Nissan, will take on the R&D role at Mitsubishi from June 24.

He has been closely involved with the development of all-electric cars, and helped lead Nissan's collaboration in electric fuel-cell cars with Daimler AG <DAIGn.DE> and Ford Motor Co <F.N>. He also previously headed the company's technical research center in the United States.

Mitsubishi Motors Chairman and CEO Osamu Masuko will also be president, taking over that role from Tetsuro Aikawa, who will leave the company.

Sources told Reuters that Masuko called on Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn for help after acknowledging Mitsubishi cheated on fuel economy tests, and admitted to the need to reform Mitsubishi's insular technology department based 250 km (155 miles) from the firm's Tokyo headquarters.

"There was an understanding that R&D had a big problem, so we asked Nissan for help. As a result we have welcomed Mr. Yamashita," Masuko told reporters on Wednesday.

Masuko also said he did not plan to stay in his role after Nissan takes control later this year.

Mitsubishi, Japan's sixth-largest automaker, also announced a special loss of 19.1 billion yen ($174 million) for the year that ended in March related to its manipulation of fuel economy data.

As a result, it said net profit fell 39 percent to 72.6 billion yen in the year that ended in March. It had previously reported that profit fell by a quarter to 89 billion yen.

The company did not provide forecasts for the current year.

(Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) on Wednesday restated its financial results for the past business year to reflect a special loss of 19.1 billion yen ($173.73 million) related to its manipulation of fuel economy data.

Japan's sixth-largest automaker said net profit fell 39 percent to 72.6 billion yen in the year that ended in March. It had previously reported a net profit of 89 billion yen at the end of April.

The company did not provide forecasts for the current year.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)
The Baltimore City Board of Elections finished on Wednesday its final review of the primary election. As officials from the Maryland State Board of Elections looked on, the Baltimore City Board of Elections went back to work Wednesday morning, analyzing, scrutinizing and counting one last group of outstanding ballots. The election results were in the process of being recertified by the afternoon. State election officials only certify federal and statewide races, not citywide races, so the extra scrutiny was never about results.
Three more Credit Suisse (CS) technology investment bankers have departed the Swiss banks San Francisco office, Yahoo Finance has learned.

Wally Cheng, who specializes in semiconductor mergers and acquisitions, is joining Morgan Stanley as a managing director in San Francisco focused on technology M&A investment banking, one person familiar with the matter said.

While at Credit Suisse, Cheng worked on large M&A deals including NXP/Freescale and Avago/Broadcom.

Cheng, who left Credit Suisse in February, was a key lieutenant of Anthony Armstrong, the former cohead of Americas M&A for Credit Suisse who was poached by Morgan Stanley in October to lead the firm's tech M&A.

Cheng recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect the career move.

A Morgan Stanley spokesperson did not return requests seeking comment.

Christopher Nam, a director of internet investment banking at Credit Suisse, has also departed.

At Credit Suisse, Nam played a role in Lyfts $1 billion private fundraise. He also worked on high-profile IPOs including Alibaba, King Digital, MINDBODY and Zalando.

Nam is joining Mizuho in San Francisco as a managing director and head of internet and digital media investment banking, people familiar said.

Mizuho is among those firms taking advantage of the turmoil with plans to expand the number of traders and investment bankers in North America by 10%, Bloomberg News reported earlier this year.

A spokesperson for Mizuho did not return requests seeking comment.

Jeremy Hux has also departed Credit Suisse where he was a managing director and global head of clean technology investment banking in San Francisco.

A Credit Suisse spokeswoman declined to comment on the departures.

The market volatility in 2016 has made it increasingly difficult to execute deals.

"In the first quarter of 2016 and particularly in January and February, we operated in some of the most difficult markets on record with volumes and client activity drastically reduced," Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam said. "While we saw tentative signs of a pick-up in activity in March and then in April, subdued market conditions and low levels of client activity are likely to persist in the second quarter of 2016 and possibly beyond."

Credit Suisse, which has been suffering from its own unique set of woes, accelerated its restructuring plans amid the banking industry slump. In March, management announced it would cut 2,000 investment banking jobs in addition to already-planned cuts. Management is targeting a headcount reduction of 3,500 by the end of this year.

Just last week, investment bank Jefferies poached five top Credit Suisse technology-focused investment bankers, all of whom were managing directors based in San Francisco, in its efforts to expand its Silicon Valley footprint.
While South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is denying the claim that he became the latest Republican to call on the party to unite behind presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, he wouldnt be the first politician to suddenly shift his rhetoric about Trump after condemning him months ago.

One of Trumps fiercest critics throughout his ill-fated presidential bid, Graham called the frontrunner a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot and said he would rather lose without Donald Trump than try to win with with him. But even he is softening after a cordial, pleasant phone conversation with Trump on national security earlier this month.

Graham joins a list of former presidential hopefuls and leading conservatives who are coming around to Trump despite prior remarks labeling him as racist, unstable and a threat to the party.

Other GOP politicians to drop their caustic opposition to Trumps candidacy include former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who once labeled the real estate mogul a cancer on conservatism. Now, Perry says, hed be open to being Trumps running mate.

Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal similarly raged against Trump in a speech, calling him, among other things, an unstable narcissist. But now, Jindal says, hell vote for Trump.

And while some politicians, like Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, have actively disavowed Trump to the point of considering a third-party run, some of Sasses Senate colleagues have embraced him. Texas Sen. John Cornyn has urged party members to rally around Trump, praising his willingness to listen after a private meeting earlier this month.

View some of the Republicans who have softened on Trump below.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / Morgan Resources Corp. (MOR.V) (the "Company" or "Morgan Resources") announces the TSXV has advised the Company that as it has been unable to satisfy the Continued Listing Requirements in accordance with TSXV Policy 2.5 - Continued Listing Requirements, to maintain its listing as a Tier 2 Issuer. As a result, effective May 26, 2016, the Company's listing will transfer to the NEX, the Company's Tier classification will change from Tier 2 to NEX and the filing and service office will change from Toronto to NEX.

The trading symbol of the Company will change from MOR to MOR.H. There is no change in the Company's name, no change in its CUSIP number and no consolidation of capital.

Also effective October 31, 2014, the Board of Directors adopted By-Law No. 2 (a by-law relating to the nomination of directors) (the "Advance Notice By-Law"), a copy of which is attached to the Management Information Circular as Appendix B which was filed on SEDAR on November 7, 2014. At the meeting of the shareholders of Morgan Resources held on December 4, 2014, the Advance Notice By-Law was ratified and approved by the shareholders.

The Company has set a date of June 22nd, 2016 for its AGM. At the upcoming AGM, a resolution will be presented to allow the Directors of the Company to undertake a consolidation of the Company's shares of up to 10:1 (the "Consolidation"). The Company currently has 37,426,936 common shares issued and outstanding. Subject to shareholder approval and TSXV acceptance, the Company would have approximately 3,742,693 common shares issued and outstanding if the Consolidation proceeded at 10:1. The Board believes that such Consolidation, if implemented, will reduce the outstanding share amount to a level more in keeping with the Company's industry peers, enhance the marketability of the Company's common shares as an investment and facilitate additional financings, if necessary, to fund operations in the future.

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.

For further information please contact:

Chris Carmichael, Chief Financial Officer

647 225-4337

SOURCE: Morgan Resources Corp.
* Nadiya Savchenko lands in Kiev

* She was in Russian jail for nearly 2 years

* Savchenko was swapped for two Russians

* Release may ease Russian tensions with West (Updated with prisoner swap completed)

By Maria Tsvetkova and Pavel Polityuk

MOSCOW/KIEV, May 25 (Reuters) - Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home in Kiev on Wednesday after nearly two years in a Russian jail, part of a prisoner swap in which two Russians held in Ukraine were returned to Moscow.

Handing over Savchenko, whose release had been demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, is likely to ease tensions between Moscow and the West a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia.

"A presidential plane with Ukraine's hero Nadiya Savchenko has landed," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a post on Twitter.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Savchenko, who while in Russian jail was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament, was granted a pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to leave jail and return home.

Peskov also said that the two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were now back in Russia, having landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on a special flight from Kiev.

Ukraine accused them of being Russian special forces officers fighting in eastern Ukraine, though Moscow has never acknowledged the two were following its orders.

SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE

Savchenko, a military pilot, volunteered to fight with a ground unit against pro-Moscow separatists who rose up against Kiev's rule in eastern Ukraine.

She was captured and put on trial in southern Russia, charged with complicity in the deaths of Russian journalists who were killed by artillery while covering the conflict. She was accused of acting as a spotter, calling down the fire that killed the journalists, but denied the accusation.

A Russian court in March sentenced her to 22 years in jail. She is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia, a perception bolstered by her defiant behaviour in court during her trial.

Story continues

At one point, she interrupted the judge reading out his verdict by standing on a bench and singing the Ukrainian anthem at the top of her voice.

Yerofeyev and Alexandrov both told Reuters in interviews last year they were Russian special forces soldiers who were captured while carrying out a secret operation in eastern Ukraine.

Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him."

Russia's relations with its neighbour Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev, but Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large-Russian speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but there is no permanent settlement to the conflict.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
A mother and her toddler daughter were killed by an Amtrak train that plowed into their SUV as it sat on the tracks, police said.

Vanessa Henriquez, 30, and three-year-old Saidy were crushed under the commuter train in San Leandro, California on Tuesday.

Read: Amtrak Service Resumes While Derailment Investigation Continues

The mother was stopped between the crossing gates in heavy traffic, police said.

"It's horrible, it's tragic, but hopefully it's a wake-up call for other people to not stop on the tracks," San Leandro Police Lt. Robert McManus told InsideEdition.com.

Apparently, Henriquez was stuck in a long line-up of cars and was straddling the tracks when the gates came down.

Police and paramedics responding to the collision found the woman and child inside the vehicle, which was trapped under the front rail car.

Read: Chris Christie Booted from Amtrak Quiet Car, Apologizes

None of the 39 passengers onboard the Amtrak train bound for San Jose were injured, a rail spokeswoman said.

Trains along that Northern California route can reach a maximum speed of 79 mph.

Henriquez was a stay-at-home mom who doted on her two children, a relative told a local television station. She had been on her way to pick up her eight-year-old son when she was hit by the train.

Watch: Search Continues For Missing Amtrak Passengers After Derailment

Related Articles:
May 25 (Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Wednesday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com.

MACQUARIE SECURITIES

The institutional equities division of the Macquarie Group appointed Andrew Stancliffe head of cash trading for Europe.

CREDIT SUISSE

The financial services firm named Brent Patry vice chairman, acquisition and leveraged finance capital markets, according to sources.

INVESCO PERPETUAL

The firm, which is part of investment manager Invesco Ltd , said Thomas Moore will join its Henley fixed interest investment team in June.

ABN AMRO

The Dutch bank promoted Brian McGirr to head of its debt solutions platform in Asia.

INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY SECURITIES EXCHANGE

The firm, which is set to launch the world's first regulated securities exchange dedicated to commercial property, appointed Robert Bould non-executive director.

(Compiled by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - MTN Group expects earnings to be under pressure for the rest of the year in its two main markets Nigeria and South African market, the company said on Wednesday, citing a weak exchange rate in Africa's biggest economy. Africa's biggest mobile network operator by subscribers said in statement that weak economic growth in its key markets and tough competition could also negatively impact performance. MTN said it was still negotiating a $3.9 billion fine by Nigerian authorities as the west African country. Nigeria is pushing telecoms firms to verify the identity of subscribers amid worries that unregistered SIM cards were being used for criminal activity in a country still battling with Islamic militant group Boko Haram. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by James Macharia)
Tyson Foods Fiscal 2Q16 Earnings and Updated Guidance

(Continued from Prior Part)

Capital allocation priorities

Tyson Foods (TSN) capital allocation priorities focus on increasing long-term shareholder value. The companys plans include deploying operating cash flow to invest in its consumer-preferred portfolio. Tyson Foods aims for organic growth through capital expansion projects and operational efficiency. It also plans to acquire businesses that support strategic objectives and return cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Recent dividends declared

On May 5, Tyson Foods announced quarterly dividends of $0.15 per share on its Class A common stock and $0.14 per share on its Class B common stock. These dividends will be paid on September 15, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 1.

Tyson Foods utilized the strong cash flows generated during fiscal 2Q16 to repurchase 6.9 million shares for $400 million. So far in fiscal 3Q16, the company has purchased ~3 million shares for $200 million.

On February 10, the company declared quarterly dividends of $0.15 per share on Class A common stock and $0.135 per share on Class B common stock. These will be paid on June 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1.

For the six months ending fiscal 2016, Tyson Foods has returned more than $108 million to shareholders through dividends. Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 0.73%. The companys management has been raising the dividend on a consistent basis for the last five years. It increased by an average annual rate of 20%. The company paid $0.45 per share in dividends to shareholders in 2015.

Tyson Foods peers in the industry include Cal-Maine Foods (CALM), Flowers Foods (FLO), and Pilgrims Pride (PPC). CALM, FLO, and PPC have reported year-to-date returns of 5.5%, -9.7%, and 31.3%, respectively, as of May 11. The PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (PBJ) invests 2.5% of its holdings in CALM.

Story continues

In the next article in this series, well look at Tyson Foods stock reaction to fiscal 2Q16 earnings.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Robert Mugabe supporters marched in Zimbabwe's capital on Wednesday in a show of unity as divisions are widening within the president's party over who might succeed him. Demonstrators were shipped in from all over Zimbabwe for the "One Million-Man" march, organised by the ZANU-PF party's youth wing. They sang pro-Mugabe songs as they spilled out of buses in downtown Harare. "We are here to tell everyone that the youth league is 100 percent behind comrade Mugabe's leadership," said Prosper Machado, a youth leader from central Zimbabwe. "We are saying no to factionalism because President Mugabe is the only centre of power that we recognise. He is our candidate for 2018 (elections) and so there is no vacancy." Mugabe was due to address the rally later in the day. Now 92, Mugabe is the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence from Britain in 1980. As senior members of his ZANU-PF jockey for position in a post-Mugabe era, two factions have emerged, one linked to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and one to Mugabe's wife Grace. Obert Gutu, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said the march was an attempt to paper over a the party's disintegration. "The majority of Zimbabweans are living in grinding poverty and are not happy. So ZANU-PF wants to divert people's attention from the collapsing economy and to massage Robert Mugabe's ego," he said. "If anything, Zimbabweans should march and demand Mugabe's immediate resignation from office." Mugabe's supporters call him an African icon who stands up to the West, but his critics say he has ruined a once promising nation with controversial policies such as the seizure of land from white farmers, which hit commercial agriculture. (Editing by James Macharia and Robin Pomeroy)
By Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The selection of a hard-line cleric as the new Taliban chief on Wednesday all but dashes U.S. President Barack Obama's hopes for opening peace talks before he leaves office, one of his top foreign policy goals, current and former U.S. defense and intelligence officials said. The Taliban leadership council tapped Mullah Haybattulah Akhundzada, a conservative Islamic scholar from the group's stronghold in southern Afghanistan, to succeed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, four days after Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike. U.S. officials had called Mansour a major impediment to peace talks, and some had expressed hope his death would eliminate an obstacle to peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Instead, some experts said, Akhundzada is likely to pursue aggressive attacks throughout the summer, intensifying the pressure on Obama to reconsider his plan to withdraw U.S. military trainers and special forces and leave the decision on how to end America's longest war to his successor. Late last year, Obama announced he would keep 9,800 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan through most of 2016. He added that U.S. troops would be drawn down to 5,500 by the start of 2017.Obama has made extracting the United States from its 15-year war in Afghanistan a top priority, unsuccessfully pursuing efforts to bring the Taliban into talks with successive Afghan governments. "Prospects for the Afghan peace process remain poor. The Taliban leadership, including the new commander, Mullah Akhundzada, believe military victory is only a matter of time," said Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution expert and former CIA officer who headed Obama's first Afghanistan policy review. Riedel said Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency also believed that the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan for five years before their ouster in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, could win a military victory. "The war is entering a more violent phase," he added, his prediction punctuated by a suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 11 people shortly after Akhundzada's selection was announced. TROOP PLAN UNDER REVIEW Confronted with Taliban gains, a weak Kabul government and the emergence of an Islamic State branch, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is reviewing the withdrawal plan and is expected to complete his findings within a month. The administration remains committed to its strategy of pressing for peace talks while providing funds and military advice, training and equipment to Afghan forces, said Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who indicated the U.S. troop drawdown would resume. The Taliban should realize "that they cannot win, that the Afghan security forces aided by us are going to be stronger than them and are going to be able to defend the state of Afghanistan and the government of national unity there, and therefore that the alternative to coming across and making peace with the government is their certain defeat on the battlefield," Carter said on Wednesday in Rhode Island. But current and former U.S. government experts and independent analysts said they saw little chance of that happening, with one U.S. defense official noting the Taliban announcement of Akhundzada's accession made no mention of negotiations. 'WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN SMOKING?' Whenever I hear anyone in the administration talking about the prospects for peace negotiations or how killing Mullah Mansour could improve them, I have to ask what theyve been smoking," a U.S. military officer with extensive experience in Afghanistan, said on condition of anonymity. "Regardless of who leads them, the Taliban have zero incentive to negotiate on their determination to restore their brand of Islamic rule." He and other U.S. military and intelligence officials pointed out that the Taliban had been making steady battlefield gains against Afghan security forces, who have been suffering high casualty rates. Moreover, the coalition government brokered by the United States between Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, his former rival and now the country's chief executive, is riddled by disputes and deeply unpopular. The insurgents have little reason to trust the coalition government or Obama's successor, who takes office in January, to keep any agreement, said a U.S. official with experience in Afghanistan. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Idrees Ali, Yeganeh Torbati and John Walcott; Editing by John Walcott and Peter Cooney)
On a downtown street in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, a crowd of Democratic lawmakers led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined striking Verizon Communications workers on the picket lines. The demonstrators, in front of a Verizon store, called on the telecom giant to come to the table and negotiate an alternative to sending jobs overseas and hiring more non-union workers.

Were asking Verizon to come to the table, to respect the value of work, to recognize their success is only possible because of the productivity of all of you and all your work, Pelosi said to the strikers before taking a protest sign and pressing it up against the glass of the store so that it could be seen inside.

Related: Heres What Happens If Sanders Drops Out of the Race

At another time, it might have been seen as a typical piece of political theater: Democratic leaders support unions. No big deal. But in the 2016 primary season, almost everything carries some political baggage, and Wednesdays appearance by House Democrats at the rally was no exception.

In the Democratic primary, underdog Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has seemingly spent as much time attacking frontrunner Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party establishment as Republicans. One of his biggest complaints has been a lack of commitment to the needs of working people -- whose labor unions have lost influence and whose jobs are still being sent overseas -- and excessive deference to Wall Street.

Its created enormous tension in the Democratic race, as the challenger has wrested typically reliable support -- from labor unions among other groups -- away from the establishment candidate. Hes done it, in part, by using the fact that she gave several speeches to Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece as a cudgel.

Sanders attacks on Clinton have also created a lot of worry about how she will be able to unify the party in the general election if, as expected, she eventually wins the nomination.

Story continues

Wednesdays demonstration of support from House Democrats for striking Verizon workers offers a hint that Clinton wont be going it alone in the fight to win back Bernie supporters in a general election.

Related: Sanders Scores a Big Victory in His Battle with Clinton

One major union backer of Sen. Sanders is the 600,000-member strong Communications Workers of America. It was CWA workers who were on the sidewalk in D.C. Wednesday. In fact, with 39,000 of his members out on strike against Verizon Communications for the past 43 days, CWA president Chris Shelton on Tuesday released a statement that read as though it had been cribbed from a Sanders campaign speech.

Working people across the political spectrum are fed up with Wall Street's overwhelming power in our nation's economy and politics, and with a system thats rigged against ordinary Americans, the statement said.

Verizon workers are on strike he said, precisely because of Wall Streets excesses. Demand for ever-increase share prices, he said, is driving U.S. jobs overseas and slashing benefits. The result is the expanding impoverishment of the middle class that provides a short-term benefit for corporations like Verizon and big Wall Street players but crushes working families and communities.

He concluded, We know that people are frustrated by a corrupt system that rewards the billionaire class over working people families. Working together and looking ahead to January 2017, we expect to win this fight against corporate greed.

Its similar to the critique that Sanders has leveled not just at Republicans but at Democrats whom he sees as complicit in the process, like Clinton.

Clinton and other Democratic Party leaders strongly reject Sanders arguments, claiming that they are very much the party of working Americans. Thats what made the composition of the delegation from the House so interesting.

Related: Study Says Trump Isnt Really Bringing New GOP Voters to Polls

In her capacity at the top Democrat in the House, Pelosi has not endorsed a candidate in the primary. However, as she rattled off a list of other Democrats who were on the picket line or who had been there earlier in the day, it sounded like a roll call of Clinton endorsers: Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Nydia Velazquez, Eliot Engel, and Nita Lowey, all of New York, and Mark Takano of California -- all on the record endorsing Clinton for the nomination.

The only Democrat Pelosi named who has not endorsed Clinton was Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, who has not yet endorsed anyone.

Clinton, whose unfavorable ratings are actually worse with Sanders supporters than they are with the general public, looks to have an extremely difficult task ahead of her when it comes to winning them over before November. But on the picket line in D.C. Wednesday, her supporters on the House showed that she wont be doing it on her own.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
It wasnt particularly odd when adventurer Cody Dial disappeared into the Costa Rican rain forest more than two years ago. The same, however, cant be said for just about everything thats happened since.

National Geographic Channels six-episode Missing Dial chronicles a familys search for its son, who vanished after embarking on an expedition through the Corcovado National Park. The ecological goldmine is a dense jungle in a region known for illegal gold-mining and illicit activity.

A 2015 article about Cody, son of renowned Nat Geo Explorer Roman Cody, highlighted his true crime case, catching the attention of a producer at the cable channel. A year later, Nat Geos presence and its findings may have revealed Codys killer  coincidentally (or probably not) just two days before last Sundays premiere.

Also Read: Wounded Vet Charlie Linville Becomes First Combat Amputee to Summit Mount Everest

I think conspiracy theorists everywhere will have a field day with this, producer Aengus James told TheWrap. It is something that has made my head spin repeatedly. We just sent Episode 6 through online to the network  and this came out.

The this to which James was referring is the fortuitously timed discovery after 25 months of a skull, femur and some other bones beside Codys passport and personal items  all within 72 hours of the series imminent debut. On Friday, Roman Dial walked out of the jungle side-by-side with his translator, carrying his presumed sons remains in a bag.

His dad saw all his stuff, James told us of the emotional moment. It would be bizarre if it wasnt him.

At first, Roman and wife Peggy didnt want anything to do with the documentary, which has since reworked its ending as a result of the twist, after having previously wrapped in early December. Armed with their own private investigators and a bit frustrated by the lack of info uncovered by local authorities, the couple, who were split on their sons fate  Roman thought Cody was dead, Peggy sensed he was alive  finally allowed access.

Story continues

The thing that cameras do  is shine a spotlight on a subject and a story, explained James of their change of heart.

Also Read: Tim Matheson, Cynthia Nixon to Play Ronald and Nancy Reagan in 'Killing Reagan'

And thats when the real leads started rolling in, though James earnestly credits the private investigators over his production. Witnesses, accounts, a suspect and even (ultimately) a confession would all soon be documented by James cameras  but there had been no real physical evidence until mere days ago. Still, the crew got such good stuff, it had to hand over incriminating audio evidence to local authorities, who previously werent thrilled by the outside presence.

Im not gonna pretend to say that they loved the fact that there was a documentary on it, for various reasons, James said in our telephone interview. Or that they loved there were private investigators looking into this  but they were always appreciative of us sharing information.

While now classified as a homicide, there are still differing conclusions forming about what exactly happened to Cody. As you read this, forensic work on the remains is being performed, but those involved are 99 percent sure the bones belong to the young explorer.

Also Read: Nat Geo Wild Will Not Punish Cesar Millan, Network Says (Exclusive)

Meanwhile, James and the gang are still scrambling to update their finale episode in time. Theyve got a few weeks, by which time the Dial Family will hopefully get closure.

Episode 2 of Missing Dial airs Sunday at 10/9c on National Geographic Channel.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Beth Howland, Vera From Sitcom 'Alice,' Dies at 74

Joe Fleishaker, 500-Pound 'Toxic Avenger' Actor, Dies at 62

Burt Kwouk, Cato in 'Pink Panther' Movies, Dies at 85

Nick Menza, Former Megadeth Drummer, Dies at 51 After Collapsing on Stage
By Martinne Geller

VEVEY, Switzerland (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) announced on Wednesday new cost savings as part of efforts to cope with increasing competition and to make its sprawling business more efficient, and stood by its long-term annual sales growth target of 5 to 6 percent.

The world's largest packaged food company identified about 2.5 billion Swiss francs (1.7 billion) in savings over the next three years, in areas such as procurement and factory efficiency. It expects a 200 basis point reduction in costs as a percentage of sales by 2019/2020.

Like rivals, Nestle is coping with a sluggish economic environment and more demanding consumers in emerging markets, particularly China, where it was caught off-guard by how fast consumers embraced e-commerce and healthier foods.

In several cases it has lost market share to small, local rivals that can adapt more quickly than Nestle, which sells thousands of products around the world, with annual sales of about $90 billion.

The target may go some way towards satisfying investors that have grown concerned of late, after Nestle has missed its long-term 5 to 6 percent growth rate for three years, and has also recently not given very detailed margin improvement plans.

Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger declined to comment on margins, telling an investor meeting the company had not yet decided how much of its savings would be reinvested and how much would flow to the bottom line.

The company said there was no change to its 2016 forecast of top line growth in line with 2015, when sales rose 4.2 percent.

"We mix ambition with targets," Chief Executive Paul Bulcke said. "We're not backing off from our ambition."

Nestle's stock has fallen 1 percent this year, underperforming the average of the world's top non-cyclical consumer goods companies. But its shares are valued in line with the average.

CHINA, DIGITAL IN FOCUS

The head of Nestle's business in Asia, Oceania and Africa, Wan Ling Martello, dampened expectations Nestle's Yinlu business in China could see a quick recovery.

Story continues

"This turnaround will take time," she said, stressing though that the business was still good, and seeking to address some of the issues that have hurt it, such as the movement of consumers away from low-priced peanut milk toward higher-end dairy drinks.

Nestle has turned around its U.S. frozen foods business, with revamped marketing, packaging and recipes. Some analysts expect these improvements, and weak comparisons in India due to last years recall of Maggi noodles, will help the company return to its 5-6 percent growth target by the end of this year.

At the investor meeting at Nestle's headquarters near Lake Geneva, the company also announced new initiatives to help it partner with technology companies as it seeks to boost its online presence. The company currently generates about 4.5 percent of its sales online, versus 3.9 percent last year.

(Additional reporting by Angelika Gruber and Silke Koltrowitz in Zurich, Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)
(Adds executive comments on China, details on start-up project)

By Martinne Geller

VEVEY, Switzerland, May 25 (Reuters) - Nestle announced on Wednesday new cost savings as part of efforts to cope with increasing competition and to make its sprawling business more efficient, and stood by its long-term annual sales growth target of 5 to 6 percent.

The world's largest packaged food company identified about 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) in savings over the next three years, in areas such as procurement and factory efficiency. It expects a 200 basis point reduction in costs as a percentage of sales by 2019/2020.

Like rivals, Nestle is coping with a sluggish economic environment and more demanding consumers in emerging markets, particularly China, where it was caught off-guard by how fast consumers embraced e-commerce and healthier foods.

In several cases it has lost market share to small, local rivals that can adapt more quickly than Nestle, which sells thousands of products around the world, with annual sales of about $90 billion.

The target may go some way toward satisfying investors that have grown concerned of late, after Nestle has missed its long-term 5 to 6 percent growth rate for three years, and has also recently not given very detailed margin improvement plans.

Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger declined to comment on margins, telling an investor meeting the company had not yet decided how much of its savings would be reinvested and how much would flow to the bottom line.

The company said there was no change to its 2016 forecast of top line growth in line with 2015, when sales rose 4.2 percent.

"We mix ambition with targets," Chief Executive Paul Bulcke said. "We're not backing off from our ambition."

Nestle's stock has fallen 1 percent this year, underperforming the average of the world's top non-cyclical consumer goods companies. But its shares are valued in line with the average.

CHINA, DIGITAL IN FOCUS

Story continues

The head of Nestle's business in Asia, Oceania and Africa, Wan Ling Martello, dampened expectations Nestle's Yinlu business in China could see a quick recovery.

"This turnaround will take time," she said, stressing though that the business was still good, and seeking to address some of the issues that have hurt it, such as the movement of consumers away from low-priced peanut milk toward higher-end dairy drinks.

Nestle has turned around its U.S. frozen foods business, with revamped marketing, packaging and recipes. Some analysts expect these improvements, and weak comparisons in India due to last year's recall of Maggi noodles, will help the company return to its 5-6 percent growth target by the end of this year.

At the investor meeting at Nestle's headquarters near Lake Geneva, the company also announced new initiatives to help it partner with technology companies as it seeks to boost its online presence. The company currently generates about 4.5 percent of its sales online, versus 3.9 percent last year.

($1 = 0.9908 Swiss francs) (Additional reporting by Angelika Gruber and Silke Koltrowitz in Zurich, Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)
Netflix, Amazon Prime and other video-streaming sites in Europe look set to be subject to 20% European content quotas, plus European product-investment requirements in European Union countries that demand them, under proposed new regulations unveiled Wednesday.

The proposed quotas are part of a massive overhaul of E.U. broadcasting regulations that aims to create a level playing field in video-on-demand services across Europe. The proposals require the approval of European lawmakers to come into effect and would update the E.U.s Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

Announced in Brussels by Andrus Ansip and Gunther H. Oettinger, the European Commission officials leading Europes drive for a more unified digital market, the proposals oblige on-demand providers to ensure at least 20% share of European content in their catalogs, according to a commission press statement. The proposal also clarifies that member states are able to ask on-demand services available in their country to contribute financially to European works.

Unchanged would be rules requiring TV broadcasters to dedicate at least half their viewing time to major types of European content.

Some will see the proposals as a victory for France. The French government and its pay-TV behemoth, the Vivendi-owned Canal Plus, have campaigned long and hard for new Over-the-Top services such as Netflix, which launched in France two years ago, to be subject to the same regulation as national VOD players. The new regulation would pave the way for that.

Ironically, however, the European Commissions new proposals align with Netflix and Amazon Primes core strategy of investing in European content to drive up the number of their European subscribers.

Currently, four territories  France Spain, Croatia and the Francophone region of Belgium  already have investment quotas for VOD services. These are mostly around 2% of VOD operators total yearly turnover, but in France, which has the strictest demands, that figure rises to 26% for movie SVOD services.

Story continues

So far, Netflix, which has been based out of the Netherlands since January 2014, has not been subject to E.U. quotas, only Dutch rules. But under the proposed E.U.-wide regulations, it could be subject to investment quotas in all the European countries it operates in.

Meanwhile, HBO has scheduled a streaming service launch in Spain by years end. It remains to be seen how many of the E.U.s 28 member states will adopt investment quotas and how onerous they might prove.

Netflixs services in the E.U. already boast a 21% share of E.U. films, according to a study by the European Audiovisual Observatory cited by the European Commission on Wednesday. To date, Netflix has ordered eight original series in Europe  four in Britain and one each in France, Italy, Germany and Spain. It also has two co-productions in Scandinavia and multiple global early acquisitions: ITVs Marcella and Channel 4s Kiss Me First, as examples. It is believed to have made a slew of licensing deals on European content at Cannes.

Netflix will raise its overall content budget from more than $5 billion in 2015 to more than $6 billion in 2016, and the piece of that dedicated to original production is growing, and in absolute terms, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said at the premiere of Marseille, its first French original series whose full-financing by Netflix would alone account for a significant chunk of any investment quota imposed by France.

Our members around the world love European programming. Thats why our investment in European programming, including Netflix original titles created in Europe, is growing, said Joris Evers, Netflix head of communications in Europe, reacting to the European Commissions proposals on Wednesday.

The VOD quotas are likely to be welcomed by much of Europes content industry. Within the logic of a level playing field, we think its fair that OTTs that work in Europe should contribute to the growth of the European audiovisual industry by investing in new films and original TV dramas, said Marco Chimenz, president of the European Producers Club.

Chimenzs major concern with the new quotas is that they establish content requirements, regardless of the fact of if its recent product or old library, [which] would prompt the OTTs to accumulate old local titles just to meet the quota.

The proposed regulations would also relax advertising restrictions for European broadcasters. There would still be an overall limit of 20% of broadcasting time from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., but broadcasters would be able to comply with this spread out over that time as a whole rather than by the hour.

To Frances chagrin, the new proposals do not take in social media or video-sharing platforms, such as YouTube, which may be the subject of targeted policy measures in the future.

YouTube laughs, Netflix cries, an article in the French financial daily Les Echos declared Wednesday. Video platforms such as YouTube, in particular, capture a growing part of the ad cake, but escape any control in Brussels project on audiovisual material.

Nick Vivarelli contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said Amazon had announced that it would launch the Prime service in France; in fact, the company has not announced such plans.

Related stories

'BoJack Horseman' Season 3 Premiere Date Set by Netflix

Netflix Hack Day Results Include Private Listening, Personalizable Home Page

Netflix Japan Greenlights Second Drama Series
I know some of our younger readers may find this hard to believe, but way back in the day (Im talking, like, almost 10 years ago) you had to actually go to a brick-and-mortar building to rent movies printed on physical media if you wanted to watch them at home. If you brought them back even a day late, you got charged extra fees. It was a crazy time, man. Of course, such establishments were all put out of business by Netflix. Yet some of us still cling onto a misguided nostalgia for Blockbuster Video and the like. Ironically, the entity that destroyed the video store may be planning to bring it back in virtual reality.

Every year, Netflix has a hack day during which employees propose and design new Netflix features  many of which end up being officially added to the service. This year somebody came up with a virtual reality video store that replicates the mom n pop shops of our youth. All of our favorite categories are now lined up on virtual shelves, and users can pick them up and play them by throwing them at the wall? Okay, I dont remember that being a thing.

Obviously the virtual video store is still pretty rough since it was hacked together in a day, but its a fun, cheeky idea. What do you think? Would you like to see Netflix develop the virtual reality video store concept further? If they add a virtual claw machine, stale popcorn and a mysterious-yet-ultimately-disappointing adults only section, Im in.

(Via Engadget)
Days before Japan will host a G7 summit, NGOs slammed the Asian nation for financing coal-powered energy in developing countries, even as other countries and investors shun the climate-damaging fossil fuel.

Within the G7 bloc, Japan stands out for funnelling more than $22 billion (20 billion euros) into overseas coal plants since 2007, more than the other six countries combined.

Moreover, the club of rich nation's only Asian member has another $10 billion worth of coal projects in the pipeline, according to a report by six environmental groups, including the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and WWF.

Japan will host a two-day meeting of the G7 -- which also includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy -- starting Thursday in the Ise-shima region.

Germany is second on the list in overseas coal financing, having poured some $9 billion into coal-based power over the same period.

"Financing new coal plants and coal development in the era of dangerous climate change is blatantly reckless," Jake Schmidt, the head of the NRDC's international programme said Tuesday on the margins of UN climate talks in Bonn.

Such investments "tie developing countries to the fossil fuels of our past, not the clear energy of our future."

Diplomats from 196 nations have gathered in Bonn five months after hammering through a landmark climate pact that seeks to wean the world economy from fossil fuels, by far the main driver of global warming.

Coal is the biggest climate change culprit, generating more carbon pollution per unit of energy generated than oil or gas.

Some 40 percent of the world's electricity is powered by coal, roughly the same as 40 years ago, according to the International Energy Agency.

China fuelled three decades of double-digit growth mainly with coal, and today accounts for nearly half of world consumption, followed by India.

- Turning away from coal -

But both countries have made a massive push to develop renewables and increase energy efficiency, with China's use of coal tapering off in the last two years.

Story continues

Within the G7, Japan is alone in investing heavily in coal-fired energy on its own soil, with more than 40 new power plants on the drawing board.

The energy-starved country suspended nuclear power generation after an earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011, contaminating a large area.

"Japan continues to be the only G7 country undertaking a coal rush in spite of the Paris Agreement," said Kimiko Hirata, international director for the Japanese NGO Kiko Network.

This fact is likely to stand out at the G7 meeting, which will address climate change among other issues.

Money mainly from Japan and Germany for building coal plants in the developing world since 2007 has gone to South Africa ($5 billion), India ($5 billion), the Philippines and Indonesia ($3 billion each), Vietnam $2.5 billion), and a dozen other countries.

The funds have flowed through multilateral banks and export credit agencies, notably the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, and Euler Hermes in Germany.

Other nations have pulled back from investing in coal, with Britain committing to a complete phase-out of coal power by 2025.

In the United States -- where the country's largest coal mine company, Peabody Energy, filed for bankruptcy last month -- officials have announced the retirement of over 230 coal-fired plants, according to a tally by the Sierra Club.

In Canada, the Province of Alberta has vowed to end coal use in power generation by 2030.

Last month Norway's sovereign wealth fund -- at $864 billion, the world's biggest -- pulled out of 52 coal-related companies to comply with new ethical guidelines.
By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Nigeria was clawing back lost oil production this week after militant attacks on pipelines and an accident at an export terminal hobbled the country's crude exports. A spate of militant activity in Nigeria's oil-producing region slashed output by some 40 percent, to more than 22-year lows, and an ExxonMobil terminal accident forced it to cut output of Qua Iboe, the country's largest export stream. On Tuesday, Italy's ENI confirmed it issued a force majeure - suspension of deliveries because of events beyond its control - on Brass River crude, leaving at least four crude streams under force majeure on Tuesday. But both current and planned exports have already begun to edge higher, according to traders and early July-loading programmes. "The Nigerian issue seems to be easing," one trader said. Planned exports of Qua Iboe were set at 337,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July, the highest since January. Already this week, traders said Exxon Mobil's production was approaching 300,000 bpd, close to the initially planned May exports of 317,000 bpd. Bonny Light exports for July were also pegged at 240,000 bpd, the highest of 2016. Even as both grades remained under force majeure, traders said cargoes were loading with less than two weeks of delay. "Cargoes are loading," a trader said, adding the forces majeure were largely just delaying the loadings of Bonny Light, Qua Iboe and Brass River. Traders said that even Forcados, which has been under force majeure since February, was loading in small amounts via alternative export pipelines. Shell declined to comment, but a spokeswoman referred to earlier comments from Osagie Okunbor, managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), saying it was looking for "viable alternatives of crude exports" while it repaired the primary Forcados pipeline. Still, the prospect of further attacks cast a shadow on Nigeria's oil production, and traders said the loading delays and unpredictability of exports made some buyers reluctant to buy the country's oil. "There is a strong likelihood that the high frequency of attacks on oil infrastructure will continue at least in the short to medium term, resulting in depressed oil output over much of 2016," PGI Intelligence, a UK-based risk management company, said in a note. It added "the government's handling of its crackdown on militants will be key to determining whether violence will escalate". (Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; editing by Susan Thomas)
* Egypt forensics chief denies reports that explosion suspected

* Officials say still too soon to say what brought plane down (Adds sources from Egyptian investigation committee saying plane did not show technical problems before takeoff)

By Lin Noueihed and Tim Hepher

CAIRO/PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) - The EgyptAir jet that disappeared last week did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris, sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said late on Tuesday.

The sources said the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the plane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after less than a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace. Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the plane's final moments.

Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday that the plane had shown no technical problems before taking off, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot before takeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on its website. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11 "electronic messages" starting at 2109 GMT on May 18, about 3 1/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66 passengers and crew on board.

The first two messages indicated the engines were functional. The third message came at 0026 GMT on May 19 and showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot's window. The plane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypt's forensics authority dismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of the body parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashed indicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains and debris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.

Story continues

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explain what brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it entered Egyptian air space, have not been located.

An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body parts had been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of a hand. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said their size pointed to an explosion, although no trace of explosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypt's forensics authority, said this assessment was "mere assumptions" and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

At least two other sources with direct knowledge of the investigation also said it would be premature to say what caused the plane to plunge into the sea.

"All we know is it disappeared suddenly without making a distress call," one of them said, adding that only by analysing the black boxes or a large amount of debris could authorities begin to form a clearer picture.

SCRAPS OF DATA

Investigators do have a few scraps of data in the form of fault messages sent by the jet in the last minutes of flight, logging smoke alarms in the forward lavatory and an electronics bay just underneath, but they are tantalisingly incomplete.

"The difficulty is to connect these bits of information," said John Cox, executive of Washington-based Safety Operating Systems who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks by Britain's Royal Aeronautical Society.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, which would normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiple systems failed, he said, and too many of them to tie in neatly with a single significant explosion.

Investigators also need to understand why, for example, there was no message indicating the autopilot had cut off, progressively handing control back to the pilots as systems failed and computers became unsure what to do.

The Frenchman who headed a three-year probe into the 2009 loss of an Air France jet in the Atlantic said the data published so far appeared insufficient for any conclusion.

Egypt has deployed a robot submarine and France has sent a search ship to help hunt for the black boxes, but it is not clear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by the flight recorders, lying in waters possibly 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) deep. The signal emitters have a battery life of 30 days.

Although government officials have acknowledged the need for international assistance, the U.S. Navy said Egypt had not formally requested American support beyond a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, which was deployed on Thursday.

LAST MOMENTS

Eighteen loads of debris have been recovered, the Egyptian investigation committee said, in a search operation assisted by French and Greek aircraft.

Five days after the plane vanished from radar screens, air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt were still giving differing accounts of its last moments.

In Greece, two officials stood by earlier statements that Greek radar had picked up sharp swings in the jet's trajectory - 90 degrees left, then 360 degrees right - as it plunged from a cruising altitude to 15,000 feet before vanishing.

Ehab Mohieldin Azmi, head of Egypt's air navigation services, said Egyptian officials had seen no sign of the plane making sharp turns, and that it had been visible at 37,000 feet until it disappeared.

"Of course, we tried to call it more than once and it did not respond," he told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims were giving DNA samples at a hotel near Cairo airport on Tuesday to help identify the body parts, their grief mixed with frustration.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla was flying back from medical treatment in France, said the families were being kept in the dark and had not been formally told that any body parts had been recovered.

"All they are concerned about is to find the black box and the debris of the plane. That's their problem, not mine," he said. "And then they come and talk to us about insurance and compensation. I don't care about compensation, all I care about is to find my mother and bury her." (Additional reporting by Amina Ismail, Haitham Ahmed, Ahmed Tolba and Ahmed Aboulenein in Cairo, Lefteris Papadimas in Athens and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Dominic Evans, Toni Reinhold; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Howard Goller)
The Tar Heel state just continues to raise eyebrows. In an attempt at tackling the bullying problem in its schools, North Carolina's New Hanover County recently proposed a ban on skinny jeans and similarly form-fitting bottoms with the stated intention of protecting "bigger girls" from ridicule.

But as many have been quick to point out, forcing the victims to change their behavior in order to avoid harassment doesn't seem the best way to solve the problem.

"From my perspective, telling people that they can't wear something because they are being bullied takes away the choice from them," Chris Furner, the parent of a first grade student at an elementary school that would be affected by the ban, told the Associated Press.

The proposed dress code revision would prohibit leggings and any "excessively tight-fitting pants" along with skinny jeans, WECT reported. Students would only be permitted to wear these garments when paired with tops that "cover the posterior in its entirety."

Skirts, skorts and presumably shorts would be held to the same standards. So, basically, it's sensible slacks and baggy Bermudas for all.

As one might expect, students are not thrilled at the prospect. But fashion hurdles aside, the proposal of the policy has, in turn, highlighted more pressing problems  overpopulation and a shortage of supplies, for example  within the school system that might be more deserving of the administration's attention. Or so suggests feedback offered on Twitter:

Lol the school wants to ban skinny jeans but we still have a shortage of room 4 teachers, supplies, & our teachers get paid the lowest in US

@NewHanoverCoSch Sure, go ban skinny jeans when you have more important things to worry about. Like, how you'll loose funding over HB2

@NewHanoverCoSch I know I'm late but the ban of skinny jeans wouldn't work. that's all we own so unless you're buying us new clothes...

There's also a concern that the measure doesn't weigh equally on boys and girls. As tends to be the case with dress code restrictions, New Hanover County Schools' new mandate appears to prioritize boys' educational experience over girls'  men can't learn with women there, distracting them with skinny-jean-clad butts. One Twitter user challenged the school, "How about instead of trying to control women you teach men that women are not sexual objects and looking at them as such [is] wrong."

Story continues

Fear of bullying, it would seem, isn't the real issue. Lisa Estep, who sits on the New Hanover school board, keyed a lengthy response to the proposal on Facebook: "You can't legislate kindness," she wrote. "But you can teach it. You can't legislate compassion. But you can live it. As a system, we should, as best we can, foster an environment where all students feel included and valued."

Singling out certain students as the reason why certain garments can no longer be allowed doesn't foster inclusivity. It's alienating and it tells "bigger girls" that they're the thing that needs fixing  not the bullying behavior of their peers.
By Tracy Simmons

SPOKANE, Wash. (Reuters) - A former trucking company operator from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch was sentenced on Tuesday to life in federal prison for orchestrating the contract killings of two business rivals but told the judge he deserved to be executed.

James Terry Henrikson, 36, found guilty in February on 11 felony charges, including murder-for-hire, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms by a U.S. district judge in Spokane, Washington, where one of the victims was shot to death.

Addressing the court before his sentence was pronounced, Henrikson expressed no remorse and offered no apologies but spoke in a rambling political diatribe of his opposition to abortion and liberalized marijuana laws.

He also said his case demonstrated how America needs to be tougher on crime.

"I believe this case should have been a death penalty case from the beginning," he said.

Henrikson's conviction stems from the slayings of two associates - Douglas Carlile, fatally shot in 2013, and Kristopher Clarke, bludgeoned to death in 2012. Clarke's body has never been found.

Prosecutors cast Henrikson in court documents and at his trial as a vindictive, ruthless businessman determined to eliminate anyone he viewed as an impediment to his various enterprises in western North Dakota's petroleum fields.

The case came to symbolize the darker side of an energy boom that saw a rapid expansion of drilling rigs, trucking and work camps all tied to a resurgence in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the region's vast Bakken oil shale reserves.

Carlile, 63 when killed, was described by prosecutors as an investor who owed Henrikson money and refused to give up his stake in an oil lease that was of interest to Henrikson.

Clarke was an employee of Henrikson's North Dakota-based trucking company whom Henrikson regarded as disloyal. He believed Clarke was planning either to join a competing trucking firm or start one of his own, prosecutors said.

Story continues

Carlile's widow, Elberta Carlile, told the court she was "thankful there's going to be justice" for her husband of 40 years and father of their six children.

Her eldest daughter, MeLainee McLaine, said of Henrikson: "He has no conscience. He thinks he's God."

Five other men have been convicted in the case.

Timothy Suckow, who was paid $20,000 by Henrikson and pleaded guilty to carrying out both killings, was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison. Two other co-defendants, Lazaro Pesina and Robby Joe Wahrer, received prison terms of 12 years and 10 years, respectively.

Another, Robert Andrew Delao, who pleaded guilty to helping arrange Carlile's killing by acting as a middleman between Henrikson and Suckow, faces sentencing in August. The final co-defendant, Todd David Bates, is slated for sentencing in June.

(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr and Cynthia Osterman)
By Joachim Dagenborg

OSLO, May 25 (Reuters) - Norway will take a first step this week towards using its $850 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, as a tool to combat the use of tax havens, two key members of parliament's finance committee told Reuters on Wednesday.

The country's right-wing minority government will be asked to take a two-pronged approach to regulation, examining both the fund's own use of ownership structures designed to cut its liability for tax on its foreign investments as well as that of companies it invests in, the politicians said.

The move follows the Panama Papers leaks in April, which revealed details of corporate and individual tax evasion and triggered a global backlash against tax havens.

"We need to clarify the extent of the fund's exposure to tax havens," said finance committee chairman Hans Olav Syversen of the centrist opposition Christian Democrats, on which the government frequently relies for support.

"The most probable scenario is that parliament will tell the government to provide a set of tools to help ensure that tax havens, in the real sense of the word, don't find the room for manoeuvre that they've had until now," he added.

The Government Pension Fund Global, commonly known as the oil fund, invests cash from Norway's crude and natural gas production in foreign stocks, bonds and real estate to share the windfall revenues with future generations.

The finance committee is currently processing the government's annual whitepaper on the fund and is expected to publish recommendations to the full parliament on Friday.

"There will definitely be an amendment about tax havens," said Torstein Tvedt Solberg of Labour, the largest opposition party. "As shareholders we don't want companies to conduct negative tax planning. We don't want them to be in tax havens."

FUND'S SUBSIDIARIES

Most of the fund's assets are held in stocks and bonds, but it also owns stakes in more than 800 properties in Europe and the United States, with much of the ownership organised through subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the state of Delaware.

Story continues

Among the arguments for this is to limit the fund's own tax costs, which has now come under scrutiny.

"We believe we will get a majority for a thorough probe into the fund's subsidiaries in Luxembourg and in Delaware to see if there is a better way to structure them. There needs to be a debate about this," Tvedt Solberg of Labour said.

The fund already has several areas where it aims to hold companies accountable, including child labour, climate change and water management. It is also forbidden from investing in some industries, including tobacco makers and producers of nuclear arms.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which operates the fund, said it welcomed the raised awareness around tax havens.

"This subject is, and will continue to be, part of our risk surveillance. As an investor in more than 9,000 companies worldwide, closed jurisdictions and tax evasion are a risk to the fund," NBIM spokesman Thomas Sevang said.

The Finance Ministry declined to comment.

(Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Gareth Jones)
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) is ready to sell its near $14 billion (9.6 billion pounds) stake in rival Roche (ROG.S) without demanding a premium, Chief Executive Joe Jimenez said on Wednesday.

Novartis has been discussing options with banks for selling its Roche shares worth about 13.70 billion Swiss francs ($13.81 billion), potentially providing cash for new deals, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters last month.

It built up its one-third stake in Roche voting stock between 2001 and 2003 under former Chairman Daniel Vasella for a possible merger that never happened.

In the past, Jiminez has said he would want a premium price for the Roche stake, reflecting the difficulty of recreating such a large position in the open market. But on Wednesday, he said that is no longer a dealbreaker.

"We would now think through that, and would potentially make a decision to exit without a premium, if the opportunity were right," Jimenez told investors at an event in Basel.

Pushing ahead with a sale now could make sense for Jimenez, who has been under pressure to improve growth after difficulties with the company's eyecare unit Alcon and new heart drug Entresto.

But after winning a favourable industry recommendation for Entresto last week, it said on Wednesday it remains confident annual sales will peak at around $5 billion, despite first-quarter sales of $17 million.

It stuck to its 2016 forecast for Entresto of $200 million in revenue.

Last week it split its main drugs division into two units, one for cancer, the other focussing on the rest of Novartis' drug portfolio. Seven top executives have left this year, including drugs chief David Epstein last week.

The company is also fighting a lawsuit by U.S. prosecutors who allege its sale force ran a decade-long doctor kickback scheme involving sham events that led to overcharging the federal government. Novartis has disputed the allegations. (http://reut.rs/1VHLpYz)

Story continues

Jimenez said Novartis had moved away from its aggressive "results-oriented" sales approach.

"We had to shift the culture of the company in terms of a compliance standpoint," he told investors, adding he is eliminating "high-risk" speaker programmes for older products that had the potential to blur the line between education and inappropriate drug promotion.

Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch said the company's priorities for cash were organic growth, boosting dividends, "bolt-on" acquisitions and share buybacks.

Novartis stock rose 1 percent to 78.65 francs by 0850 GMT, trimming their decline this year to 9 percent. Roche's illiquid voting stock rose 1.2 percent and its non-voting stock was up 1 percent, in line with a 1.1 percent gain in the European sector index (.SXDP).

(Reporting by John Miller and Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields and Susan Thomas)
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) is ready to sell its near $14 billion stake in rival Roche (ROG.S) without demanding a premium, Chief Executive Joe Jimenez said on Wednesday.

Novartis has been discussing options with banks for selling its Roche shares worth about 13.70 billion Swiss francs ($13.81 billion), potentially providing cash for new deals, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters last month.

It built up its one-third stake in Roche voting stock between 2001 and 2003 under former Chairman Daniel Vasella for a possible merger that never happened.

In the past, Jiminez has said he would want a premium price for the Roche stake, reflecting the difficulty of recreating such a large position in the open market. But on Wednesday, he said that is no longer a dealbreaker.

"We would now think through that, and would potentially make a decision to exit without a premium, if the opportunity were right," Jimenez told investors at an event in Basel.

Pushing ahead with a sale now could make sense for Jimenez, who has been under pressure to improve growth after difficulties with the company's eyecare unit Alcon and new heart drug Entresto.

But after winning a favorable industry recommendation for Entresto last week, it said on Wednesday it remains confident annual sales will peak at around $5 billion, despite first-quarter sales of $17 million.

It stuck to its 2016 forecast for Entresto of $200 million in revenue.

Last week it split its main drugs division into two units, one for cancer, the other focusing on the rest of Novartis' drug portfolio. Seven top executives have left this year, including drugs chief David Epstein last week.

The company is also fighting a lawsuit by U.S. prosecutors who allege its sale force ran a decade-long doctor kickback scheme involving sham events that led to overcharging the federal government. Novartis has disputed the allegations. (http://reut.rs/1VHLpYz)

Jimenez said Novartis had moved away from its aggressive "results-oriented" sales approach.

Story continues

"We had to shift the culture of the company in terms of a compliance standpoint," he told investors, adding he is eliminating "high-risk" speaker programs for older products that had the potential to blur the line between education and inappropriate drug promotion.

Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch said the company's priorities for cash were organic growth, boosting dividends, "bolt-on" acquisitions and share buybacks.

Novartis stock rose 1 percent to 78.65 francs by 0850 GMT, trimming their decline this year to 9 percent. Roche's illiquid voting stock rose 1.2 percent and its non-voting stock was up 1 percent, in line with a 1.1 percent gain in the European sector index (.SXDP).

(Reporting by John Miller and Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields and Susan Thomas)
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday sought to ease Japanese anger over the death of a woman on Okinawa, expressing his "deepest regrets" and saying his country would cooperate in the prosecution of an American arrested over the crime.

A series of crimes, including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run vehicle accidents by US military personnel, dependants and civilians have for years sparked local protests on the crowded island that hosts numerous US military bases.

Public anger boiled over last week after police arrested a former US Marine in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman who had been missing since late April and was reportedly raped and murdered.

"I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets," Obama said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after they held talks.

"The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system."

Obama arrived earlier Wednesday for a two-day summit of Group of Seven countries, which formally begins Thursday.

A US citizen, who works at the sprawling Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, was arrested for allegedly disposing of the woman's body, Okinawan police have said.

Obama's comments came after Abe expressed indignation over the case.

"I feel profound resentment against this self-centred and absolutely despicable crime," he said.

Okinawa was the site of a fierce World War II battle between the US and Japan but is now a key strategic outpost supporting their security alliance.

It hosts the lion's share of US bases in Japan and more than half the 47,000 American military personnel in the country under a decades-long security alliance.

Abe on Monday told Okinawa's governor Takeshi Onaga that he would ask Obama to take action over crimes by US personnel on the southern island.

The case has threatened to overshadow a planned visit to Hiroshima immediately after the summit ends on Friday, though remarks by the two leaders likely helped clear the air.

Story continues

Obama will become the only sitting US president to visit the world's first atomic-bombed city.

The Hiroshima visit by Obama, who has a record of calling for global denuclearisation, has been well received in Japan.

But the heavy US military presence on Okinawa has long been a thorn in the side of the two countries' relations.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans a return visit to Elkhart, Indiana, next week, some seven years after going to the city on his first trip as president, to highlight economic progress there and across the United States, the White House said on Tuesday. The repeat visit to Concord High School on June 1 will feature a town hall hosted by broadcaster PBS, as Obama looks to burnish his legacy in the final year of his administration. Unemployment in Elkhart, a manufacturing center for recreational vehicles and band instruments, has fallen to 4.1 percent from 19.6 percent in 2009, according to a White House statement that also noted improvements in high school graduation and mortgage foreclosure rates. The White House also touted improved healthcare coverage in Indiana and nationally under Obama's signature Affordable Care Act. Obama said that in addition to economic progress already made, he planned to talk about the future. "We still face some tough economic challenges, theres no doubt about it. And all of us have to make some very important decisions about where we go from here," he said in the statement. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Peter Cooney)
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States will cooperate fully with Japan's investigation into a recent case in which a U.S. man was arrested in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman, calling the crime "appalling." "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets. The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system," Obama told reporters. Obama was speaking at a joint news conference after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the eve of a gathering of leaders from the Group of Seven advanced economies. A U.S. civilian working on a base on Okinawa island, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan - was arrested last week in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman. (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi, Thomas Wilson, Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Some lawmakers are still seething over an administration decision nearly two years ago that has shortchanged the Treasury of billions of dollars by shifting the funds to an obscure Obamacare program aimed at protecting insurers against major losses.

The so-called Transition Reinsurance Program was designed as a three-year experiment to help guard against major premium hikes by offsetting the high cost to insurers of providing health care coverage to the least healthy Americans. Essentially, it helps to smooth out losses for insurance companies operating in the Obamacare individual market.

Related: UnitedHealth Makes Good on Threat to Pull Out of Obamacare

But a tax imposed on all insurers in the country to fund the TRP and simultaneously bolster the U.S. Treasury has proven to be grossly inadequate. And an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services decided in 2014 to shift most of the funds to the reinsurance program without consulting Congress.

The diversion of billions in funds is the latest in a series of controversies around the Affordable Care Acts operations and funding. Earlier this month, United Healthcare, the nations largest health insurance company, said it was pulling out of most of the ACA exchanges where it currently operates by 2017 because of serious losses. And a multitude of financial and management problems forced nearly half of the original 23 non-profit insurance coops out of business by late last year.

Earlier this month, Republicans on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee grilled HHS official Andy Slavitt concerning his agencys decision to divert funds away from the Treasury, which some denounced as an insurance industry bailout that comes at the expense of taxpayers.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), argued that decision was unlawful because the Affordable Care Act specifically states that the Treasury would receive funding, according to the Morning Consult.

Related: Obamacares Bait and Switch Has Left Consumers Scrambling in 2016

Story continues

The administration cannot rewrite its own law to make it more convenient for special interests, Murphy said. This is a dangerous precedent and is an affront to the separation of powers. . . Moreover, this program funnels money to insurers  now with money intended for the Treasury  in an attempt to prop up Obamacare.

A new legal opinion prepared by former GOP White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray for the conservative, free-market Galen Institute, concludes that Slavitts Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is diverting $3.5 billion to insurance companies it was legally obliged to remit to the Treasury.

The letter  reported this week by Forbes  said, By the time the books close on TRP for the 2014 and 2015 benefit years at the end of 2016, insurers eligible for reinsurance will likely have received 98 percent of expected payments  or $15.6 billion out of an expected $16 billion.

By contrast, the Treasury will likely have received only 12 percent of expected payments, or just $495 million out of an anticipated $4 billion, according to the letter.

TRP is one of three special programs created under the Affordable Care Act to protect the financial interests of the health insurers that ventured into a new and untested market.

Related: Uninsured Rate Hits New Low, but Obamacares Still a Hot Potato

The so-called risk corridor program was designed to limit losses or gains beyond an allowable range. Insurers that made more than the allowable gains were obliged to return part of it to the program, while companies that badly underestimated their coverage costs could dip into the fund to avert losses.

But Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and other congressional Republicans criticized the risk corridors as another industry bailout and forced sharp cuts in the programs funding over the past two years. Last October, the administration had no choice but to provide 12.6 percent of the $2.87 billion that insurers were seeking to offset losses.

The controversy over the TRP is different because it relates to efforts to hold down premiums and it involves revenues raised by taxing the entire health care industry, not just those insurers taking part in Obamacare.

Slavitt, the acting director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, defended his agencys decision to divert Treasury funds to the TRP during his appearance before the House subcommittee this month.

Related: More Bad News for the Remaining Obamacare Co-ops

Slavitt, who was not at CMS when the decision was made, told lawmakers that it is common for federal agencies to update regulations as officials learn more, according to Morning Consult. While insisting that the agency did indeed have the legal authority, he conceded that the statute was unclear as to what officials should do if the reinsurance pool wasnt as large as expected.

Joseph Antos, a health care expert with the American Enterprise Institute, said on Tuesday that the controversy highlights the porousness of the Obamacare reinsurance provision. If the administration gets away with this, the process will become hollow.

The number was written into law, so it shouldnt have been confusing at all, and the policy action wasnt taken, he said in an interview. In other words, the money never got to the Treasury.

He said that Grays analysis was essentially right, but that he doubted the controversy would be resolved this year, before the election.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Photo credit: Pete Souza/The White House

From Town & Country

We've known for a couple of months that when the Obamas leave the White House early next year, they intend to stay in Washington, D.C. And now, thanks to reports by the National Journal and Independent Journal Review, their new neighborhood has been revealed.

The First Family is reportedly moving to an eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bathroom home on Belmont road in the exclusive Kalorama neighborhood. The 8,200 square-foot house is owned by Joe Lockhart and his wife Giovanna Gray.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="See%20Inside%20the%20Obamas'%20New%20House" customimages="" content="gallery.2535"]

Lockhart served as press secretary and senior advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2000 and also advised John Kerry during his presidential bid. Lockhart and his family, from whom the Obamas will rent the property, reportedly moved to Manhattan in February when he accepted a job as executive vice president of communications with the NFL. Gray is the Washington Editor of Glamour.

Photo credit: Google Maps

The house, which is reportedly worth $6.35 million, includes parking for up to 10 cars (good for his lifetime Secret Service detail!) and a full suite ready for Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, to move into as well. (Robinson now lives with the family in the White House.)

Kalorama has been home to past presidents; Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover all lived there before or after their time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Obama is reportedly the first president to stay in D.C. immediately after leaving the White House since Wilson left office in 1921.

The neighborhood, which is between Massachusetts Avenue NW and Connecticut Avenue NW, has 28 embassies within its limits and is near Embassy Row, so security is already tight in the area. As a former president, Obama will receive lifetime protection from the U.S. Secret Service.

Story continues

Photo credit: AgnosticPreachersKid/Wikipedia

A four-bedroom house in the area averages about $2.8 million, and a luxury real estate broker told the Washington Business Journal that the Obamas would probably need to spend $5 to $7 million for a property that met their needs (the president's net worth is reportedly between $2 and $7 million).

The Obamas are staying in the area so that their younger daughter, Sasha, can finish school at Sidwell Friends in Northwest D.C.. Moving to Kalorama will cut her commute in half-although traffic probably isn't typically a problem for a first daughter.

You Might Also Like
Omar Miller 14

Omar Miller (HBOs Ballers) is set to join Jack Huston and Emilia Clarke in Phillip Noyces Above Suspicion, a thriller that has been adapted from the book by New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey. Miller will portray Denver Rhodes, a hard-working criminal who tips off the FBI over a sour deal. Chris Gerolmo adapted the true story of a newly married FBI poster boy assigned to an Appalachian mountain town in Kentucky where he is drawn into an illicit affair with an impoverished local woman who becomes his star informant. Colleen Camp is producing for Colleen Camp Productions, with Mohamed AlRafi and Tim Degraye producing and financing. Angela Amato-Velez and Amy Adelson also are aboard as producers. Miller, whose credits also include Transformers, Shall We Dance and 8 Mile, is repped by Don Buchwald & Assoc. and Thruline Entertainment.

rooster teeth

After a record-making $2.4 million from backer donations for its first feature film, Lazer Team, Austin-based Rooster Teeth is now over $1M in donations to fund the creation of  get this  a card game based on their live-action comedy series Million Dollars, But  which asks the question, What would you do with a million dollars? and involves crazy skits. They have that million now and will create new cards. The show has more than 22 million views to date and wrapped its second season on March 26. Its initial goal was to raise only $10K. Rooster Teeth is own by FullMedia company Fullscreen, which is majority-owned by Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and Peter Chernins The Chernin Group. Lazer Team was distributed through Austin-based Tugg.

1976 Swimming-women-4x100mFree3_Fotor

Speaking of Tugg, USA Swimming just announced that it is partnering with Tugg to release The Last Gold, a feature-length documentary film on one of the greatest untold stories in Olympic history. It will go nationwide on Monday, July 11. Screenings are scheduled for 136 cities in 34 states. The Last Gold details the heroic efforts of the womens 1976 U.S. Olympic swim team as it competed against the systematically doped East Germans. After a competition of disappointing results, winning no races and facing critical media that heaped on additional pressure, the U.S. women  Kim Peyton, Wendy Boglioli, Jill Sterkel and Shirley Babashoff  rallied together to do as a team what they could not do individually: win gold. The film was directed by 15-time Emmy winner Brian T. Brown and narrated by Emmy-winning actress Julianna Margulies. The Last Gold will have its world premiere June 6 at the LA Film Festival ahead of its theater debut on July 11.

Related stories

'Nobody Knows Anything (Except William Goldman)': First Look At Docu About Groundbreaking Writer

Jack Huston & Emilia Clarke To Star In Phillip Noyce's 'Above Suspicion' - Cannes

Frank Zappa Pic Highest-Funded Documentary Ever On Kickstarter With Final $1.12M - Update
P across the United States are scrutinizing prison sentencing practices and taking steps to counteract the way in which they've become too lengthy over the past few decades. But a new report from the Department of Justice finds that thousands of people are staying in prison for longer than they were originally sentenced to.

According to the New York Times, the Justice Department's inspector general determined that between 2009 and 2014, over 4,300 federal inmates were kept in prison past the date they were scheduled to be released. The figure does not capture prisoners kept in state facilities, which hold a majority of inmates.

Read more: White House Argues Raising the Minimum Wage Will End Crime Faster Than Mass Incarceration

Over 150 inmates endured the extra time in prison due to human error  typically misinterpretation of a judge's punishment or miscalculations of how much time a prisoner served in jail before receiving their sentence. Most of the time this resulted in a release that was up to a month late, but "61 were held for an extra month or longer, and three inmates were kept for more than a year beyond their scheduled release," according to the Times.

Overwhelmingly, however, the late release of a prisoner was attributable to a technical issue that federal prison officials say is not caused by their administrators' mistakes. Most prisoners were released late because of other factors in sentencing, "such as a judge's shortening a prisoner's sentence to less than the time he had served, or a state or local court's imposing a sentence that was not included in the federal system," reported the Times.

But the Justice Department was unsatisfied by the level of information it was able to ascertain as to why exactly those technicality-driven late releases were occurring.
rtr2w69d

Credit Suisse's technology-banking team is being picked apart.

The group has lost six managing directors and one director so far this year, including the bulk of the West Coast tech mergers-and-acquisitions team.

Wally Cheng, a managing director, and Christopher Nam, a director, have left the firm in recent months, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

That's in addition to the five managing directors who left for Jefferies last week.

Anthony Armstrong, who was a managing director and head of technology in the Americas, left the firm for Morgan Stanley last year, as first reported by The New York Times.

Cheng is joining Morgan Stanley as a managing director and a senior M&A expert in the firm's Menlo Park, California, office. His expertise is in semiconductors and hardware. He left Credit Suisse in February.

Nam is joining Mizuho as a managing director and head of the internet-banking team. He previously was a director on Credit Suisse's internet-banking team, and worked closely with Imran Khan, the former head of internet banking who joined Snapchat as chief strategy officer in 2014.

Nam was the lead internet banker on Lyft's $1 billion private placement and on a fundraise for the startup Handy. He also worked on Alibaba's IPO.

Another director, Jon Gegenheimer, has held talks to join Jefferies.

Credit Suisse announced Wednesday that it had hired Marco Chisaro as a managing director in the M&A group, based in San Francisco. He will work with Steve Geller, head of tech M&A, to drive the West Coast tech M&A business. He joins from Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-based development fund, where he headed M&A and business development for Mubadala Technology.



News of the exits and the new arrival follow the departure of five managing directors who left Credit Suisse to join Jefferies' tech-banking team. They are:

Cully Davis is joining Jefferies as a managing director, the head of West Coast technology-investment banking, and the vice chairman of equity-capital markets. Davis was previously cohead of the Americas equity-capital markets' origination group at Credit Suisse.

Bill Brady is joining as vice chairman of Jefferies and chairman of technology-investment banking. He was previously chairman of the global technology-investment banking group at Credit Suisse.

Steve West is joining as a managing director and global head of software-investment banking. West was previously cohead of software-investment banking at Credit Suisse.

Cameron Lester is joining as a managing director, the global head of internet-investment banking, and a global cohead of technology-investment banking. Lester was previously head of global internet-investment banking at Credit Suisse.

John Metz is joining Jefferies as a managing director and global head of enterprise-investment banking. He was previously head of global enterprise-technology banking at Credit Suisse.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: We tested an economic theory by trying to buy people's lottery tickets for much more than they paid





More From Business Insider


Outlander's time abroad has come to an end.

The Starz time-traveling romance drama spent the first half of season two in France as Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) attempted to sabotage the doomed Jacobite rebellion from the political side in Paris, but everything they tried to accomplish for the good of Scotland took a major toll on their marriage. After Jamie broke his promise to Claire to not hurt Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) for one year and Claire suffered a miscarriage, the battered couple decided to return to their home in Scotland, optimistic that they can change history and win the war against the British on the ground.

Read More: 'Outlander' Producer Defends Graphic Rape Scene: "We Wanted to Do It Justice"

The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive first look at Outlander's midseason key art (below) after Jamie and Claire make their way home. While the earlier season-two key art was heavily French-inspired to signal the location change, the midseason poster returns to its Scottish roots. Reading "Long live Scotland," the image shows Jamie and Claire back in the Highlands, leading an army of men including Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) and Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish) on horseback as they attempt to change fate and lead the Jacobite rebellion to victory.

The poster comes on the heels of Starz's announcement that starting in July, the premium cabler would be moving all of its original scripted fare to Sundays. "Sundays are a prestige night and we feel our shows are definitely going to be very competitive, not just in viewership but in the attention-getting business on Sundays," Albrecht told THR. "So it made sense to move."

Outlander airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.
Nearly every new American president of the modern era has viewed the nations immigration policies as deeply flawed. Yet few of these modern executives have been willing to make immigration reformone of the most dangerous issues in American politicscentral to their agenda. Even fewer have had a measure of success doing so. Even the most dramatic and successful of allLyndon Johnsons landmark 1965 reformcame with high political costs and uneven results. Yet, Johnsons battle for reform underscores the way immigration policy can be a potent political tool and offers a model for future presidents.

Today, as in the past, efforts to significantly revise U.S. immigration laws and policies have divided even the most unified party coalitions. Campaigns for sweeping reform in this arena have regularly followed a tortured path of false starts, prolonged negotiation, and frustrating stalemate. And when non-incremental reforms have passed, rival goals and interests have complicated enactment. The result has been legislation that is typically unpopular among ordinary citizens and stakeholder groups alike, and which often places new and sometimes competing policy demands on the government. These dynamicsintraparty conflicts, elusive problem definition, difficult compromises, and unpopular outcomeshave typically frustrated most American presidents.

Lyndon Johnson was well aware of these challenges as a first-year president, yet he forged ahead knowing the fight for sweeping immigration reform would be far more taxing and unpredictable than nearly all of the legislative proposals on his immense agenda. He ultimately expended far more political energy on this issue than anyone on his team anticipated, with bedeviling twists and turns on the path to major reform. The Johnson administration learned that major reform often hinges upon the formation of strange bedfellow alliances that are unstable and demand painful concessions. But they also believed immigrants and refugees served their larger visions for the nation and refused to let nativists use rhetoric against those groups to codify their ethnic, racial, and religious animus. Johnson recognized that failing to spearhead an immigration overhaul would significantly undercut his civil-rights, social-justice, and geopolitical goals. He upended xenophobic policies that had prevailed for half of a century, and his remarkable legislative achievement has had dramatic unforeseen consequences over time, including an unprecedented change in the countrys demographic landscape.

Story continues

Recommended: An Awkward Reality In the Democratic Primary

For all of its potential to reshape U.S social, economic, and political life, immigration reform has made most modern presidents decidedly uneasy. Franklin Roosevelt assiduously avoided clashes with immigration restrictionists in Congress during the 1930s, a period when draconian national-origins quotas barred entry for most newcomers and nativist demagogues blamed unemployment on past arrivals. Decades later, presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton pursued a cautious, reactive strategy toward immigration reform, one in which they responded opportunistically to congressional initiative on the issue. Some presidents have failed spectacularly, including Jimmy Carter, who pursued employer sanctions-amnesty legislation, and George W. Bush, who hoped for comprehensive immigration reform. Most recently, the incoming Obama administration shelved immigration reform when it became clear that nearly every Republican member of Congress (and some Democrats) would derail legislation. Obama eventually followed precedents set by Truman and Eisenhower, taking unilateral executive action to provide deportation relief and economic benefits to particular undocumented immigrants, most notably young people who entered the United States as children (and, later, their parents, a move currently blocked in the courts).

Reticence on this issue, let alone avoidance, will be all but impossible for the next president. Whoever moves into the White House in 2017 will be under enormous pressure to act decisively on immigrant policy. Executive action may offer Band-Aid measures, but its likely to satisfy few, being seen at worst as a crassly partisan, constitutionally suspect maneuver. Efforts at major immigration reform will be both daunting and nearly inescapable.

Immigrants should be asked, What can you do for our country? Not in what country were you born?

Amid this bleak outlook, Johnsons story offers some hope. No other president was more closely identified with liberal immigration reform than John F. Kennedy. But when Johnson came into office, he initially made it clear to White House advisers that he wanted nothing to do with the issue, even though he had pledged to fulfill the agenda of his slain predecessor. For years, Johnson was whipsawed by immigration policy in the Senate. Democrats were deeply divided between southern conservatives opposed to any loosening of restrictions and northern liberals committed to dismantling racist national-origins quotas dating back to the 1920s; these policies reserved about 70 percent of visas for immigrants from just three countries: Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. While Kennedy described immigration reform as the most urgent and fundamental item on his New Frontier agenda, he got nowhere on plans to alter U.S. immigration law due to potent opposition from conservative Democrats like Senator James Eastland of Mississippi and Representative Michael Feighan of Ohio, who controlled the immigration subcommittees of both houses. These lawmakers stood atop a bipartisan coalition that favored immigration restriction in the name of national security, job protection, and ethnic and racial hierarchy.

Numerous White House aides argued that the persistence of these national-origins quotas contradicted Johnsons goals at home and abroad. They were inconsistent with his civil-rights agenda to eliminate from this Nation every trace of discrimination and oppression that is based on race or color, and they provided, as Senator Philip Hart of Michigan put it, grist for the mills of Moscow and Peiping. Eventually, Johnson became a late convert to the cause.

Recommended: The Narcissist

Johnsons first State of the Union Address in 1964 buoyed the hopes of immigration reformers. In this speech, he outlined a civil-rights agenda that championed equal access to public facilities, eligibility for federal benefits, opportunities to vote, and good public schools for all children. We must also lift by legislation the bars of discrimination against those who seek entry into our country, he added. Legislators soon introduced an administration-backed bill that would increase annual immigration to 165,000 and create a preference system allocating 50 percent of visas to applicants with special occupational skills or education that benefited national economic interests. Remaining visas would be distributed to refugees and those with close family ties to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

One week after his address, Johnson held a press conference at the White House that included members of the House and Senate immigration subcommittees as well as a diverse set of reform advocates. As the restriction-minded Eastland and Feighan looked on uneasily, Johnson urged Congress to make U.S. immigration law more egalitarian. He reminded lawmakers that every president since Truman believed existing immigration policies hurt the nation in its Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union. Johnson invoked the language of Kennedys inaugural address: Immigrants should be asked, What can you do for our country? he said. We ought to never ask, he added, in what country were you born? Leading congressional sponsors of the administrations bill, including Senator Hart and Representatives Emanuel Celler of New York and Peter Rodino of New Jersey, praised the measure. When they finished their statements, Johnson caught Eastland off guard by asking him to address the assembled crowd. A surprised Eastland told the gathering he was prepared to look into the matter very carefully and very expeditiously. After a series of tense Oval Office meetings with Johnson in 1964, Eastland stunned Washington observers by agreeing to temporarily relinquish control of his subcommittee to none other than the freshman senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy. Johnsons unusual influence over Eastland removed a formidable impediment to the Hart-Celler bill, but major legislative hurdles remained.

Recommended: How to Persuade People Like a Politician

As chair of the House immigration subcommittee, Feighan made headlines in 1963 for charging that the CIA was infiltrated by Soviet spies and the actor Richard Burton should be banned from entering the country for having an immoral affair with Elizabeth Taylor. One year later, Feighan mobilized restrictionists in both parties to block Johnsons immigration bill. He proposed a rival bill that promised to preserve preferences for northern and western Europeans, exclude nearly all Asians and Africans, favor immigrants with family ties, and maintain exclusions of Communists, socialists, and homosexual people. This maneuver hobbled all reform efforts until after the 1964 election.

After Johnson re-won the White House, his team renewed its push for immigration reform in 1965. Feighan and his allies held two months of hearings, peppering administration officials with questions about a new merit-based preference system and its potential impact on the number and diversity of newcomers. How about giving the welfare of the American people first priority for a change? he asked proponents of progressive reform.

Frustrated by Feighans roadblocks, Johnson led House Democrats to expand the immigration subcommittee with Johnson loyalists as crucial swing votes. Privately, Feighan told anti-immigrant lobbyists he enjoyed enough bipartisan backing to seriously limit radical policy change. Yet he understood that Johnson and reformers now had sufficient political momentum to bypass him, so he entered tough negotiations with the White House.

Eventually, Feighan and his allies agreed to dismantle the national-origins quota system and the so-called Asiatic Barred Zonewhich excluded all Asians except the Japanese and Filipinosif Johnson got rid of the administrations emphasis on immigrant merit and skills. Feighan was convinced (incorrectly, as it turned out) that reserving most visas for immigrants with family ties to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents would decidedly favor European applicants, thus maintaining the nations ethnic and racial makeup. The new preference system in the administrations bill established four categories for family reunification, which were to receive nearly three-quarters of total annual visas. Spouses, minor children, and parents of U.S. citizens over 21 were granted admission without visa limits. The revised bill left roughly a quarter of annual visas for economic-based admissions and refugee relief.

Along with the legal preference system, the non-quota status of Mexican immigrants in particular and Latin Americans in general was a prominent concern for restrictionists in both houses of Congress. Secretary of State Dean Rusk and other foreign-policy advisers denounced the proposal of a cap on Western Hemisphere immigration, arguing that such a step would damage relations with Central and South American countries. The administrations stand on Western Hemisphere immigration came under withering attack in the Senate, however. Southern Democrats, led by Sam Ervin Jr. of North Carolina, threatened to stall action in the Senate immigration subcommittee unless concessions were made. Facing a major logjam, Johnson and pro-immigration lawmakers compromised with Ervin and his restriction-minded colleagues on an annual ceiling for Western Hemisphere immigration. As Johnsons congressional liaison, Lawrence OBrien, explained: Listen, were not going to walk away from this because we didnt get a whole loaf. Well take half a loaf or three-quarters of a loaf.

This sweeping immigration reform is one of the crowningand most controversialachievements of the Johnson years.

Even by the standards of Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society juggernaut, the legislation that eventually passedthe Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, known as INAwas monumental. Although few historians believe the laws champions anticipated just how profoundly it would change the U.S. demographic landscape, Johnson seemed to recognize that its passage was especially significantenough so that he oversaw the staging of an elaborate signing ceremony at the base of the Statue of Liberty. True to form, White House staffers were given strict instructions by the president to physically block political rivals like New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller from the cameras assembled on the dais at Liberty Island. Hinting at the INAs potential impact, Johnson predicted that the new law would strengthen us in a hundred unseen ways. Fifty years later, this sweeping immigration reform is being commemorated alongside the Voting Rights Act as one of the crowningand most controversialachievements of the hard-driving Johnson years.

Lyndon Johnson stands apart from his successors for shepherding landmark immigration reform through Congress. In many respects, he enjoyed exceptional advantages in championing the legislation, including its close association with his martyred predecessor and broader civil-rights reform; the near consensus of foreign-policy experts that reform served national geopolitical interests; a strong economy; an electoral landslide in 1964; and, concomitantly, huge partisan gains in both houses of Congress.

But the fact that even these favorable circumstances did not shield the Johnson administration from an arduous legislative struggle underscores the enormous political difficulty of immigration reform. The law ended a draconian national-origins quota system that was explicitly rooted in eugenicist notions of Northern and Western European superiority. Yet it took 20 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany for Congress to remove these barriers in American immigration law, showing how effectively Cold War nativists knitted together national-security and race-based fears. Its equally revealing that, in the end, Johnsons success depended significantly upon painful compromises with exactly these sorts of nativists. The INA defies simple characterization precisely because of this fact; it is an intricate statute that has created outcomes that were somewhat unexpected when the legislation was passed. This struggle is often hidden by the headlines, which are not wrong, but often rosy in hindsight. The INA marked a monumental watershed in U.S. immigration policy, but this kind of moment will not be easy to reproduce.

This essay is part of the First Year Project at the University of Virginias Miller Center.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
From Cosmopolitan

Just a couple months after Paris Jackson got a tattoo of her father's handwriting on her wrist, she's gotten yet another tattoo in honor of the King of Pop. Featuring a play on Michael Jackson's album cover for Dangerous, the ink includes a highly detailed close-up of her father's eyes along with the outline of a crown and a bunch of animals - and it's absolutely stunning.

"'The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation,'" Paris captioned the photo. "Never forget your roots, and always be proud of where you came from."

Earlier this year, Paris revealed that she'd gotten a tattoo of the words "queen of my heart" in Michael's handwriting, along with the heartbreaking explanation, "To everyone else he was the King of Pop. To me, well, he was the king of my heart." Both tattoos are a beautiful way for Paris to honor her late father - and a perfect reminder of just how incomparable of an artist he continues to be.

Follow Gina on Twitter.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went on the attack at a rally on May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, Calif.  Donald Trump brought his campaign to the doorstep of The Happiest Place on Earth Wednesday, holding a rally guarded by scores of police outfitted in riot gear at a convention center across the street from Disneyland.

But one day after violent clashes outside a Trump rally in Albuquerque, N.M., the same kind of chaos did not materialize here. Taking the stage, Trump continued what seems to be a grudge tour against not only his likely Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton but also a litany of Republicans who had previously mocked him and his unlikely campaign for president.

Speaking to a few thousand supporters, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee went after Weekly Standard Publisher Bill Kristol, a frequent critic of Trumps campaign who once predicted Trump would never be the GOP nominee. Kristol is now looking for a third-party candidate. Hes got some magazine. I dont even know what the hell it is, Trump said, branding Kristol a loser.

The former reality television star also went after Mitt Romney, the partys 2012 nominee and a high-profile Trump critic, calling him a loser who could have won his campaign had he allowed Trump to campaign on his behalf. Trump trashed Romney for not being as rich as he is, and mocked the former candidates stiff appearance on the campaign trail. He walks like a penguin onto the stage, Trump declared. A penguin!

Even Republicans who have endorsed him werent immune from Trumps attacks. At one point, Trump mentioned former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an ex-rival who recently backed his campaign. Hes on the team now, Trump told supporters here. But citing Perry, he added that he still couldnt get past how quickly his former foes tried to make nice after a bitter campaign. Ive never seen people able to pivot like politicians, Trump declared.

But theres one call hes still waiting for, Trump admitted. He told the crowd he still hadnt heard from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, his most bitter primary rival. Though Bush has said he will not back Trump, the real estate mogul predicted Bush would ultimately fold. Hell get a burst of energy, and he will do it, Trump said, reviving his frequent low energy attack line against Bush.

Story continues

SLIDESHOW  Trump protesters and supporters clash in Anaheim >>>

Trumps comments came as he has repeatedly declared he is working to unite a Republican Party fractured over his candidacy, and just one day after he trashed another prominent Republican  New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez  who has so far declined to say whether she will endorse him.

Not unlike at Mondays rally in Albuquerque, Trumps remarks here were nearly equally targeted at Clinton (Crooked, crooked Hillary, he said at one point) and those in his own party who dared to criticize him.

Musing aloud to his audience, Trump mentioned that a prominent Republican, whom he declined to name, had recently told him to be nicer. But Trump admitted he didnt see the value in doing that. Being nice, he said, had not gotten him to where he is today, both in business and as an unlikely political candidate now on the brink of officially capturing the Republican nomination.

But, Trump told his supporters, he would finally be nice if he wins the White House. If and when I win, I am going to be very nice because its a question of good management, Trump promised.
NEW YORK  He has been called an intellectual prodigy and is one of the most influential thinkers and writers in conservative Republican politics.

Yuval Levin, founding editor of National Affairs magazine, is also an informal adviser to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the most prominent Republican national leader to decline  at least so far  to endorse presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Levin also worked as a White House policy adviser to former President George W. Bush and has since been part of a movement within Republican politics to move the party toward a solutions-oriented disposition, in contrast to many in the party whose main goal has been to block the agenda of President Obama and the Democrats.

Levins new book, published Wednesday by Basic Books, argues that American politics is paralyzed by nostalgia. Both conservatives and liberals, Levin writes in The Fractured Republic: Renewing Americas Social Contract in the Age of Individualism, too often try to recreate the past rather than finding creative solutions to the world as it now exists.

Levin spoke with me in the Yahoo News New York studios as part of an ongoing series of interviews about ideas shaping the national political conversation. We also spoke about whether Ryan will endorse Trump. Levin said, It doesnt seem like [Ryan] is inclined to embrace [Trump] completely and endorse him. I think he may have to vote for him.

Amid reports Wednesday  sourced to comments from Trump advisers  that Ryan is moving closer to endorsing Trump, a Ryan spokesperson told me, Theres no update and weve not told the Trump campaign to expect an endorsement. The Ryan spokesman also rejected the idea that Ryan feels his lack of endorsement of Trump has been harmful to the GOP. Hes also not told anyone he regrets anything, the Ryan aide said.

Two other Ryan sources told me Wednesday morning that there was no imminent endorsement of Trump in the works. And Ryans office released a video Wednesday that continued to radically contrast his approach to political leadership with Trumps, though of course there was no mention of Trumps name in the video. But it showed Ryan exhorting his party to speak to the American people in a way thats inclusive, thats optimistic, thats aspirational, thats focusing on solutions.

Story continues

The transcript of my conversation with Levin has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Jon Ward: Your book could also be titled We Cannot Go Back, I think. You write of the 50s and 60s: That time existed  it was not a dream  but it was not the paradise that some now suggest. It was made possible by circumstances that are no longer with us. When you write that, are you telling Trump voters in the Rust Belt that no matter how many threats and tariffs Donald Trump throws out there, those factories are not coming back?

Yuval Levin: I think so. And not just Trump voters, but a lot of people in our politics behave as though the solutions to our problems involve first and foremost finding a way to go back, to go back to that midcentury, mid-20th-century American dream that in different ways is at the heart of so much of our political rhetoric now. I think the challenge we have is finding ways to go forward, to see how things have changed, to see what we might learn from that American golden age, what we might want to bring back in terms of a balance between prosperity and dynamism. But we cant go back to the society we were. No society ever can. That moment in American life was also especially unusual for our country. Going back, which is what Donald Trump wants to do, but is also what Hillary Clinton wants to do and what Ted Cruz wants to do, is really not the right way to think about how to solve problems in politics.

What was so different and unique about the circumstances that created that?

The America that came out of the second world war was very unusually cohesive, united. United by war, by depression, but also by a half-century of social and economic and political forces that were driving everybody to be more like everyone else in American politics. Almost from the moment that the war ended, there began a kind of loosening of that  a liberalization  in the culture first and economics and politics, that over time has meant that those very same forces in American life, rather than driving everybody to be more like everyone else, now drive everybody to be more like himself or herself. Individualism is really the driving force in American life now, and thats good and bad, but our politics is not very good at seeing either the good or the bad. We just see what weve lost, and thats no way to think about how to build for the future.

One of the interesting things in the book, I thought, was that you feel that individualism has been good for higher-income, higher-educated people but not so much for people with less money and less education. Why is that?

Well, I would say it has been good for everyone in certain ways, but the price we paid has been a much heavier price for people who have less education, who have less economic opportunities. In a sense, whats been good is that we have more options, more diversity, more dynamism, more choices in every part of life. We are a wealthier, healthier society, not just the wealthiest Americans. But whats bad is, again and again, a kind of breakdown: a breakdown of family structure, a breakdown of social institutions. People who are wealthy and educated in our society are just better suited to dealing with those kind of breakdowns. Its just easier for them to handle.

Higher-income people are more conservative now.

Yeah, higher-income people live very differently now then lower-income people, in some surprising ways. They are not just very conservative; they are more religious, which I think a lot of people would not expect. Their families are much more traditional, divorce rates are very low, out-of-wedlock birth rates are almost zero. If youre a college-educated woman, youre not having children out of wedlock. So a lot of the social problems we have are very deeply tied together with the kind of breakdown of cohesion that we have seen since the middle of the last century. Naturally, it has been harder to deal with the cost for people who have less resources and less of a foundation for success  thats not surprising. But its a very important fact of American life that we have to keep in mind.

Why do you think that exists, that gap between cultural practice, between people with money and people without money?

Well, I think in a lot of ways what we have seen in the last half-century is what first began as a kind of diffusion, a breakdown of cohesive institutions, that over and over in different parts of American life became different forms of polarization: polarization of income, polarization of political views, polarization of social practices. I think that the wealthier, better-educated parts of our society recoiled a little from the cultural revolution that started in the 60s, pulled back. It was easier for them to do than it could be for people lower down the income scale or with less education. They just found it easier to recover a certain kind of way of life that looks in some important ways like a more traditional way of life. It is much harder for people with less income and less education to do that, and so, again, its polarized the way we live, just as life styles have become polarized in so many other ways.

Now, going back to those manufacturing plants in the Rust Belt. A writer for the National Review named Kevin Williamson wrote in March that some of those towns that have been hard hit by the death of manufacturing in America, his quote was that they deserve to die. What do you make of that?

Well, look, I think that they deserve to live, but the question is how can they thrive without going back? I think that when Donald Trump goes to Pittsburgh and says, Believe me, were going to bring steel back, hes just lying in the way politicians lie to voters. Thats not what a recovery is going to look like in a lot of those towns.

Why is he lying?

Look, the global economy is the reason why steel left Pittsburgh. By the way, it happened 40 years ago. And Pittsburgh has recovered, and places like it have recovered  not by bringing steel back but by trying to find ways to thrive in the 21st century. Pittsburgh has done that. A lot of places in the Rust Belt have not done that, as well. I think that they can learn from 21st-century successes rather than looking for ways to roll back all of the trends that have given us 21st-century America, whether thats immigration or whether thats globalization or trade. Its not that there are not downsides to these things; its just in thinking about how to deal with them, we have to think about how to do it from here, not about how to go back in an impossible way.

You talk in your book about an idea named subsidiarity, which I believe is a Catholic doctrine.

The term is Catholic. I like to think its a Jewish idea, but the term is a Catholic term, thats true.

Its basically the idea that any authority should be at the most local level possible. A friend of mine recently said, I feel like I want to spend most of my time and energy focused on local things: local problems, local solutions. But the media I consume is mostly telling me that I should care the most about what is happening at the national level. How do you think that person, my friend, should process that?

Well, in a sense I think they are both right. I think he should want to spend most of his energy at the local level. I think our political system now is structured in a way that means that most questions are addressed at the national level, or at least most of the big questions we face. Thats why what is required, in part, is a change of how we do business in politics. I think our political system needs to recognize that its going to be easier to solve problems from the bottom up then from the top down. Thats one of the things it means to be a fragmented, fractured society. And so Washington does have to give up some power. At this point, I think your friend is right, that a lot of the things hes concerned about are being debated and worked out and thought through at the national level. I think fewer and fewer of them should be, and more power should be channeled downward toward where people actually live with one another face to face and can address problems in a way thats well-suited to how they live them. Thats going to require a kind of reform of how we understand what politics is and what it does in our country.

Now, you dont just sit in an ivory tower and write books. You are an informal advisor to Paul Ryan, you know him. Do you think that at some point  as you have watched him sort of do this dance with Donald Trump  do you think at some point he is going to have to embrace Donald Trump completely and endorse him? How do you see that playing out?

Well, it doesnt seem like he is inclined to embrace him completely and endorse him. I think he may have to vote for him, looking at the options he has and the alternatives he has and the obligations he has as the leader of the party in Congress, maybe the leader of the party in general. Ryan is resisting that because he is a conservative and Donald Trump in a lot of ways is really making a mockery of what conservatives throughout Paul Ryans lifetime and mine have been trying to work for. Its not hard to see why its hard for him. But he also faces intense pressures that someone like me who just writes his opinion for a living just cannot possibly fathom.

You said he will have to vote for him probably. Does that mean an endorsement?

I dont know how it ends up being worded. But when you say you are going to vote for someone, that is probably an endorsement. Its hard to say. Look, Ryan has certainly resisted that, and I think that is to his great credit, and so far he has managed to do it. But, obviously, he is going to be under intense pressure. He is speaker of the House; he is going to be the chairman of the Republican convention most likely. He is in a tough spot if he doesnt want to support the partys nominee.

And at this point, in July, second week or so in July, you have a lot more states that require signatures to get on the ballot there, which is a big barrier for anybody that would want to run as an independent candidate, to give an alternative to Trump or Clinton. Do you see that happening at this point?

I think its possible. There are certainly some people working for it. But the obstacles to that are very high and I wouldnt bet a lot on it happening right now.

Even though it does seem to me that there is a lot of determination?

And I think there is some demand too, but there needs to actually be a candidate. There needs to be someone who is willing to ruin their life in that particular way, and so far that person has not turned up.

So, it would be a quixotic quest and not a realistic thing?

Look, you never know. This is not the year to make confident predictions of any kind. But, obviously, in our system thats so heavily weighted to favor a two-party structure to elections, it is hard to imagine a third-party option winning the election.

And would you ever consider voting for Donald Trump?

No, I dont think I could. Like I said, I am a conservative. What I believe about America, what I believe about politics, about government is exactly what Donald Trump is making a mockery of throughout this campaign. I also think, just as a matter of character, as a matter of temperament, he is not suited to be president. I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton either, so Im in a place where I havent been as a voter, but it happens.

Lets end on this. I think a good question to ask you here is that a lot of people, a lot of Trump voters, are frustrated that the government is both impotent and incompetent in different ways, at least in their view. They want somebody to come in and fix the problems, and knock heads and get things done. They see Donald Trump as doing that. What do you say in response to that? Obviously, you dont agree with it, but what is the alternative?

You know, my view of this  and this is really the argument of the book too  is that American government in the way we have thought about it since the progressive era isnt going to work in the 21st century. And in order to get a government that works, we have to think differently about how American government ought to operate. Not in an entirely new way. This idea that government should work from the bottom up, the idea of federalism  even of subsidiarity  has always been part of the American way of thinking about government. But its not part of the progressive way about thinking about government. And as long as our politics is a debate about how big the progressive welfare state should be, which is basically what it has degenerated into, I dont think we are going to find those solutions. And I dont think someone like Donald Trump who says, Its not working because everyone is an idiot and I could come in and make it work, is persuasive at all. I think voters who want a government that is more functional and speaks to their concern in the 21st century should see the value of a government that channels power downward toward the public. Thats the argument that conservatives ought to be making. In some ways, its the argument we do make, but not nearly enough though.






By Gopal Sharma and Tommy Wilkes KATHMANDU/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - On his way down from the top of Mount Everest, Indian mountaineer Nava Kumar Phukon saw the woman sway from side to side - a classic sign of severe mountain sickness - as snow and fog reduced visibility to less than 10 feet (3 meters). Phukon's sherpa guide later told him the woman was 34-year old Australian Maria Strydom, who died last Saturday on the high slopes of Everest after making a failed push for the summit. "The sherpa who was trying to help her told me: 'She is going to die'," Phukon said after returning to Kathmandu from his own exhausting but successful summit bid. "I did not have any extra oxygen, clothes or food, not even water to offer to her," Phukon said. "I was so weak myself." Reuters could not independently confirm that it was the same woman, although both the sherpa guides worked for the same agency, Seven Summit Treks, and knew each other. Three deaths in as many days on the world's tallest mountain have renewed safety concerns after eager climbers flocked to the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit for the first time since last year when an avalanche triggered by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Base Camp, and all expeditions ground to a halt. A Dutch national, also with Seven Summit Treks, died last Friday in the notorious 'death zone' where the air is so thin that only the fittest can survive without bottled oxygen, while an Indian perished on Sunday due to exhaustion. Two other Indian climbers have been missing since Saturday, and are feared dead. Officials from Seven Summit Treks said Strydom's body was brought to camp 2 at 6,474 meters (21,240 feet) by sherpas on Wednesday. A helicopter will try to take it to Lukla, the gateway to Everest, and then to Kathmandu on Thursday. Officials said they were also trying to bring the body of the Dutch national to Kathmandu. Deaths are not uncommon on Everest and the number of fatalities this year is close to average. But experts say the lure of reaching the highest point on Earth is increasingly attracting less experienced climbers served by agencies hungry for business. "Climbers are careless and confused about their strength and preparedness," said 30-year old Indian Ratnesh Pandey after summitting Everest on Saturday, without naming anyone. He said temperatures plummeted to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) near the top, while fierce winds closed many of the "weather windows" in the upper reaches, making this year's journey particularly tough. EXPONENTIAL GROWTH Scaling Everest is far from the world's most treacherous climb from a technical perspective. Mountaineering expert Alan Arnette estimates deaths at about 3 percent of attempts, against one in four on Annapurna, a Nepalese massif with its main peak surpassing 8,000 meters. But less skilled climbers keen to conquer the highest points on each of the world's continents often fail to appreciate how much more difficult Everest is than the other six, people in the climbing community say. Competition among low-cost local companies chasing a business that has boomed in recent years and is no longer dominated by international outfits has meanwhile undermined safety standards, they say. Some companies, charging about $30,000 a climb, or half that of high-end firms, are known to have sent relatively inexperienced climbers up the mountain without medically trained guides. "There is this exponential growth in organizations offering guiding services on Everest and because there are so few internationally qualified guides in Nepal, it means the companies are engaging less and less in skilled workers," said veteran climber Andrew Lock, the first Australian to lead a commercial expedition up Everest. Climbing is big business in Nepal, earning the government $3.1 million from 289 Everest permit fees this year. Critics accuse Kathmandu of failing to enforce rules requiring past experience of high climbs, but Tourism Department official Bishnu Regmi said the government was committed to safety. Arnold Coster, who led the expedition for Seven Summit Treks, said his agency was as prepared as any. He said he had personally selected climbers, and that Strydom and her husband Robert Gropel had three experienced sherpas between them. His team tried their best to evacuate Strydom when she got into difficulty, he said, but her condition deteriorated fatally before she reached a helicopter evacuation point. An extra sherpa was sent up to help Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold when he complained of weakness but he died later that day. "As far as I am concerned, we were one of the stronger teams on the mountain. It proves how unpredictable this sport is," Coster told Reuters by telephone from Base Camp. He acknowledged that the industry needed better regulation. "People can just sign up like it's tourism," he said. "There are a lot of people who still have a valid permit from 2015 and didn't show up this year. I think next year is going to be extremely busy." (Additional reporting by Matt Siegel in SYDNEY; Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Ryan Woo)
PDL BioPharma, Inc. PDLI announced that it has committed to an equity investment in privately held Noden Pharma DAC in a bid to acquire global rights to manufacture, market and sell Tekturna and Tekturna HCT.



Under the terms of the agreement, PDL BioPharma will pay equity contributions of approximately $107 million to Noden in the first year and an initial equity investment of $75 million upon the closing of the transaction. It will also pay an additional $32 million equity contribution at the end of one year of closing the transaction.



Moreover, Noden expects to obtain debt financing with regard to the equity investment. PDL BioPharma may contribute additional amounts of equity depending upon the amount of debt obtained by Noden, and requirement for specified milestone payments or other purposes.



PDL BioPharma's investment will eventually reach 88% equity interest in Noden. The company will consolidate Noden's financial statements into its own, which will be immediately accretive to earnings.



We remind investors that Noden Pharma had executed a purchase agreement with Novartis AG NVS to acquire rights to Tekturna and Tekturna HCT for the treatment of hypertension. Tekturna and Tekturna HCT are marketed in ex-U.S. countries as Rasilez and Rasilez HCT, respectively.



We note that the active ingredient of Tekturna and Tekturna HCT, aliskiren, is indicated for the treatment of hypertension. In 2015, Tekturna and Tekturna HCT generated revenues of $154 million.



PDL BioPharma currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY and Pfizer Inc. PFE, both sporting 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



BRISTOL-MYERS (BMY): Free Stock Analysis Report



PFIZER INC (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report



NOVARTIS AG-ADR (NVS): Free Stock Analysis Report



PDL BIOPHARMA (PDLI): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
PARIS  Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who just won two awards at Cannes for his Tehran-set drama The Salesman (Forushande), is resetting his untitled Spanish-language movie with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in advanced talks to star.

Pedro and Agustin Almodovars Madrid-based El Deseo and Alexandre Mallet-Guys Memento Films are on board to produce the project, which is currently in development.

The project was born of Cruz and Farhadis mutual wish to work together, explained Mallet-Guy, who produced Farhadis last two movies, The Past and The Salesman, which just won awards for best screenplay and best actor (Shahab Hosseini) at Cannes.

Farhadi is currently finishing the original screenplay and will visit Spain next month to scout for locations that could feed into the script. Shooting is expected to begin next summer or early fall.

The plot, which, as always with Farhadis films, remains mostly under wraps, revolves around a family of winemakers living in rural Spain.

Its a psychological thriller with a dash of Agatha Christie in it. The script is a real page-turner, Mallet-Guy told Variety. The producer also said the project will weave in some moral themes as in Asghars previous films.

Agustin Almodovar, meanwhile, said the film could offer cultural and industrial crossover which would be highly valuable in the current times.

We admire very much Asghar Farhadis films, and have a host of similarities and common interests, speaking in film terms. In the past, where theres been an affinity with such great artists as Guillermo del Toro, that affinity has ended up generating a project in common, Agustin Almodovar added, referring to 2001s The Devils Backbone, also produced by El Deseo.

Farhadi had initially planned to shoot this Spanish film last October but said he felt nostalgic for Iran and opted to shoot The Salesman instead. Mallet-Guy said scheduling conflicts were also among the reasons for the change of plan. An American actor will complete the cast.

Story continues

Although Farhadi doesnt speak Spanish, hes proven with The Past that he could pull off making a film in a language foreign to him. Indeed, The Past competed at Cannes, earned its star Berenice Bejo the award for best actress and went on to nab a Golden Globe nomination. He has a wonderful intuition and a talent for listening to the music of words, said Mallet-Guy.

Farhadi won the foreign-language Oscar and a Golden Globe for A Separation in 2012.

Related stories

Cannes: Why Asghar Farhadi's 'The Salesman' Signals a Post Nuclear Deal Cinematic Resurgence in Iran

Cannes Film Review: 'The Salesman'

Cannes Film Review: 'The Last Face'
When you hear the phrase floppy disk, your mind (assuming youre of a certain age) flashes back to those ubiquitous 3.5-inch versions that were AOLs Johnny Appleseed in the mid-1990s, spreading Youve Got Mail! across the land. Only the aged among us can recollect what came before: the behemoth 5.25-inch models that owned the (tiny computer universe of the) 1980s.

Thats why it might give you pause to learn that the Pentagonthat epitome of cutting-edge technology and the inventor of the Internetstill uses gargantuan 8-inch floppy disks, fossils from the 1970s, to help operate the nations nuclear weapons.

Legacy IT investments across the federal government are becoming increasingly obsolete, the Government Accounting Office said in a report released Wednesday. For instance, [the Department of] Defense is still using 8-inch floppy disks in a legacy system that coordinates the operational functions of the United States nuclear forces.

For youngsters, a footnote clarifies: Introduced in the 1970s, the 8-inch floppy disk is a disk-based storage medium that holds 80 kilobytes of data. In comparison, a single modern flash drive can contain data from the equivalent of more than 3.2 million floppy disks.

The floppy disks are associated with a nuclear-communications system that was unreliable even when the system was upgraded in the 1970s, says Bruce Blair, a former Air Force ICBM launch-control officer who now studies nuclear weapons at Princeton Universitys Program on Science and Global Security. Command and control always gets the short end of the modernization stick.

The huge floppies are part of the Pentagons Strategic Automated Command and Control System, and are part of a 53-year old computer network, the Pentagons oldestand one of the oldest in the U.S. government, according to the GAO. This system coordinates the operational functions of the United States nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker supports aircrafts, the report noted. It runs on an IBM Series/1 Computera 1970s computing systemand uses 8-inch floppy disksReplacement parts for the system are difficult to find because they are now obsolete.

Story continues

Precisely what does the Strategic Automated Command and Control System do? For those in the nuclear command area, the systems primary function is to send and receive emergency action messagesorders to launch weaponsto nuclear forces, the GAO said.

U.S. Strategic Command, which operates the nations nuclear forces, acknowledges improvements are needed. While the nations strategic nuclear deterrent force remains safe, secure, effective and ready, work remains to be done to sustain and modernize it, says Army Lieut. Colonel Martin ODonnell, a STRATCOM spokesman. His boss, STRATCOM chief Admiral Cecil Haney, told Congress in February that tight budgets were hurting the Pentagons ability to provide a modern nuclear force, including our nuclear command and control capabilities.

The Pentagon needs to get its priorities straight, counters Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a disarmament group that has questioned the need for the militarys plan to replace its nuclear triad of bombers, missile-firing submarines and land-based missiles. It might be a good idea to bring our command-and-control into the modern era before spending $1 trillion on a suite of new weapons.

The GAO said the Pentagon plans to update its data storage solutionsby the end of fiscal year 2017. No word on whether it plans to upgrade to 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch floppies.
The Pentagons ongoing use of an emergency war fund is undermining U.S. national security, according to a new think-tank study.

In an analysis released Tuesday, the Washington-based Stimson Center argues that the Pentagon should phase out the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, which was originally set up to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The sprawling defense agency has come to rely on the fund to fill gaps in its overall budget.

Related: The 10 Most Expensive Weapons in the Pentagons Arsenal

Budget experts have long derided OCO as a slush fund of sorts and accused Capitol Hill lawmakers on both sides of the aisle of using the account to pay for things not related to the wars, such as financing pay and benefits and buying equipment for the military branches, including the National Guard.

Indeed, Stimson points out that the fund now includes money for the European Reassurance Initiative, which covers the costs of sending hundreds of U.S. troops in and out of Europe for brief deployments, military exercises with allies and other training missions aimed directly at countering Russian aggression in the region, especially in Ukraine.

According to Stimson, relying on the OCO undermines the countrys security because it allows the Pentagon to skirt laws meant to control spending and limit the deficit. It also creates uncertainty as suppliers and defense officials wait to see how much Congress doles out each year. And it makes long-term planning difficult since future outlays remain uncertain from year to year.

"We conclude in this report that the uncertainty created by current reliance on OCO, particularly to fund base budget needs, could be detrimental to national security," the 20-page report states. "Given the consequences of continued misuse of OCO, we suggest that President Obama and his successor develop and commit to a credible plan to wind down OCO funding beginning with the expiration of the Bipartisan Budget Act in fiscal 2018.

Story continues

Related: Growing Debt Threatens US National Security: Defense Leaders

The independent study comes as the Republican-controlled Congress struggles to deal with the account. President Obamas fiscal year 2017 budget requested $58 billion in OCO funding, in accordance with the bipartisan, two-year budget agreement signed into law late last year.

However, in marking up their legislation, House authorizers and appropriators decided to funnel around $18 billion into the Pentagons base budget so that the Pentagon can pay for additional procurement and readiness efforts.

The gambit means the fund would run out of money in early 2017 and force a newly-elected president to ask for an emergency supplemental to pay for the ongoing wars.

The White House has threatened to veto the policy road map that allows the move and Defense Secretary Ash Carter has derided the scheme for its short-sightedness.

Meanwhile, Senate lawmakers are sticking to the approach outlined in the budget deal, and have passed policy and spending bills that dont raid wartime funding to pay for base budget needs.

Related: Congress Is Taking an $18 Billion Gamble With the Pentagons War Fund

The difference of opinion could turn into a standoff when the chambers meet to merge their bills.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
As Shari Redstone moves to gain control over Viacom, her father's replacement of Philippe Dauman and George Abrams with National Amusements lawyer Tad Jankowski and Shari ally Jill Krutick as trustees on the trust that will control his media empire marks a dramatic provocation.

Sumner, who turns 93 on May 27, next could sack Dauman, 62, from Viacom's board, too, although corporate bylaws, litigation and the prospect of paying Dauman a massive severance will factor into whether to move quickly or play the long game. Shari, 62, and Sumner are demonstrating confidence by asking a California court to affirm his trust changes. They may feel emboldened by a judge's dismissal in early May of the health care lawsuit brought by Redstone's ex-companion Manuela Herzer. Meanwhile, Dauman is fighting back with his own lawsuit in Massachusetts probate court against Shari for allegedly manipulating her father.

As this Shakespearean drama moves forward, Dauman will have to contend with his past statement in a declaration in the Herzer suit that Sumner Redstone was "engaged, attentive and as opinionated as ever" as late as last October, but that opinion is hardly definitive. "People's conditions can change radically, and Dauman might not have known all the facts or appreciated the full situation. I don't think it will be fatal to him," says Phillips Nizer attorney Elizabeth Adinolfi.

Of potential interest is the deposition that Dauman gave in late April in the Herzer case. Recall that at the time, a judge had not yet ruled on Herzer's attempt to regain control of Redstone's health. When Dauman gave sworn testimony last month, he must have been in a particularly uncomfortable spot. Did he show loyalty to Redstone by repeating his opinion that Redstone was engaged and attentive or did he foresee what was about to happen and walk around his earlier impression of Redstone's mental state?

Because a judge stopped the Herzer trial in the midst of proceedings, what Dauman had to say in his deposition has never been reported. But according to sources, he didn't exactly do Redstone any favors then. Those with knowledge of what happened describe him as backing away significantly from offering any opinion. Surely, had he said anything positive about Redstone's mental state, his lawsuit probably wouldn't be asserting that in early March, Dauman found Redstone during a visit to be "totally non-responsive."

Dauman is now suing to be reinstated on the trust and will argue Sumner is being manipulated by Shari. He will look to use as evidence the awful things Sumner himself has said over the years about his daughter. And as the saying goes, the enemy of thine enemy is my friend. Dauman will now look for testimony from Shari adversaries like former Sumner girlfriend Sydney Holland and hostile granddaughter Keryn Redstone.

But obtaining a finding that Sumner was unduly influenced won't be easy. Although the judge in the Herzer case made no competency ruling, Sumner's comment that Herzer is a "f - ing bitch" suggests he's at least of sound enough mind to register an opinion. If this is any indication of what to expect in the fight, advantage Shari. Will history repeat? Observes attorney Stuart Slotnick: "Ultimately, Sumner Redstone is going to have to show up. A judge is going to want to hear from him. Control of the empire is going to turn on this."

Dauman's biggest weakness continues to be that his last name isn't Redstone. His position as head of Viacom is at the grace of shareholders, and the trust he is fighting over is set up not for him but for the benefit of Redstone's grandchildren. Dauman's moves in a courtroom this week may or may not buy him some time as he pursues a sale of Paramount Pictures among other acts as Viacom chairman, but at some point with the difference between being fired with or without cause being substantial under his employment agreement, money becomes a factor. Negotiating an exit is a looming doorway.

A version of this story first appeared in the June 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato DAVAO, Philippines (Reuters) - On May 14, five days after voters in the Philippines chose Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as their next president, two masked gunmen cruised this southern city's suburbs on a motorbike, looking for their kill. Gil Gabrillo, 47, a drug user, was returning from a cockfight when the gunmen approached. One of them pumped four bullets into Gabrillo's head and body, killing the small-time trader of goods instantly. Then the motorbike roared off. The murder made no headlines in Davao, where Duterte's loud approval for hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office of a crime-weary land. Human rights groups have documented at least 1,400 killings in Davao that they allege had been carried out by death squads since 1998. Most of those murdered were drug users, petty criminals and street children. In a 2009 report, Human Rights Watch identified a consistent failure by police to seriously investigate targeted killings. It said acting and retired police officers worked as "handlers" for death-squad gunmen, giving them names and photos of targets - an allegation denied by Davao police. But a four-year probe into such killings by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines' equivalent of the FBI, hasn't led to a single prosecution, and one senior NBI agent told Reuters it will probably be shelved now that Duterte is set to become president. The nations Justice Secretary last week told reporters the probe may not be able to proceed. Such impunity, and Duterte's demands in recent weeks for more summary justice, could embolden death squads across the country, say human rights and church groups. Already there has been a spate of unsolved killings in nearby cities, with other mayors echoing Duterte's support for vigilante justice. "We've seen it happen in Davao and we've seen copycat practices," Chito Gascon, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an independent Philippine watchdog, told Reuters. "Now can you imagine he is president and the national model for crime-fighting is Davao?" Ask Clarita Alia, 62, who still lives in the Davao slum where her four sons were murdered, and she gives a mirthless chuckle. "Blood will flow like a river," she says. DENIES DIRECTING KILLINGS Duterte, who has been Davao's mayor or vice-mayor for most of the past 30 years, has denied any involvement in the murders. "I never did that," he said on the campaign trail in April, responding to allegations he had directed the killings. An Office of the Ombudsman investigation also found there was no evidence connecting Duterte to the murders. He has, though, repeatedly condoned them. For example, in comments to reporters in 2009, he warned: "If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination. And more recently he has vowed to wipe out crime in six months across the country by killing criminals, drug pushers and "sons of bitches" after he takes office on June 30. "Do not destroy my country, because I will kill you," the 71-year-old former prosecutor told a news conference in Davao on May 15. He has also promised to restore the death penalty in the Philippines, warning he will hang the most heinous criminals twice: once to kill them, then again to "completely sever the head from the body". People here remember pre-Duterte Davao as a lawless battleground for security forces and Communist rebels. The city's Agdao district was so violent it was nicknamed "Nicaragdao" after the then war-torn Central American nation. Today, thanks to Duterte's campaigns against drugs and crime, Davao today feels much safer, say the locals. But it still ranks first among 15 Philippine cities for murder and second for rape, according to national police. ON WATCH FOR ASSASSINS Reuters interviews with the families of four Davao victims, one of whom was a 15-year-old, showed that murders continued even as Duterte campaigned for the presidency. All four killings occurred in the past nine months and bore the hallmarks of a loose-knit group that the locals call the Davao Death Squad. The victims were shot in daylight or at dusk, three of them on the same street in a riverside slum seething with people. The killers rode motorbikes with no license plates, their faces hidden by helmets and masks. Reymar Tecson, 19, was executed last August while sleeping at the roadside. A week later, Romel Bantilan, 15, was shot dead while playing a computer game less than 30 paces away. Tecson's family said Reymar was a drug user, but Bantilan's family insisted that Romel was clean. Romel had a twin brother, and their father, Jun Bantilan, said he had heard "rumors" that the other boy would be next. Most days Jun sits at the end of the street, watching out for assassins. Nearby, in her tumble-down shack, Norma Helardino still wondered why her husband Danilo, 53, was shot dead in January. He didn't use drugs, she said, although "maybe his friends did." The police filed a report but Helardino said she saw no sign of an investigation: "No witnesses came forward." When asked who her husband's killers were, she pointed to her tin roof and said: "Only God knows." The three dead males in the slum were "noted drug dealers," said Major Milgrace Driz, a Davao police spokeswoman. "It is their destiny to be killed because they choose to be criminals," she said. "The mayor has already said there is no place for criminals in the city." Driz described 15-year-old Bantilan as a "recidivist" with a "criminal attitude" who had been repeatedly warned to mend his ways. She said he had delivered drugs for a gang which had probably murdered him over a money dispute. Lack of witnesses meant the three murders remained unsolved despite diligent efforts to investigate, Driz added. Responding to the Human Rights Watch allegations that the police conspire with the death squads, Driz said the police get the names of local criminals through a public hotline but don't kill them. CLOSED AND TERMINATED Human rights activists say official investigations of death-squad killings have been hampered by a lack of witnesses, bureaucratic apathy and political influence. The Human Rights Watch report called on the CHR to investigate whether Duterte and other officials had been involved or complicit in the deaths. A CHR report three years later confirmed the "systematic practice of extrajudicial killings" by the Davao Death Squad. It, in turn, was successful in getting the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate whether Duterte was criminally liable for inaction in the face of evidence of numerous killings. But in a January 2016 letter seen by Reuters, the Ombudsman told the CHR its investigation was "closed and terminated" because it had found no evidence that Duterte or the police were involved in the killings. The letter also dismissed the death squad as a product of "rumors and other gossips". The CHR report also triggered a probe by the NBI. Four years later, it is still ongoing, an agency spokesman said. However, Secretary of Justice Emmanuel Caparas, who oversees the NBI, told reporters on Friday that the status of the investigation was unclear because a key witness, a former gunman, had left protective custody. "It's really just a question now if the witness will surface," he said. And another NBI source, who requested anonymity because he wasn't allowed to talk to the media, said the probe was now likely to be halted. "Who will investigate the president?" he said. (Editing by John Chalmers and Martin Howell)
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Shares in the initial public offering of Philips' Lighting division could price above 20 euros (15 pounds), people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, sources had indicated Philips was looking at a 19-20 euro range for the shares, valuing the company's equity at between 2.85 billion euros and 3 billion euros ($3.2-$3.3 billion)..

At 20 euros per share, the division would have an enterprise value of 4.5 billion euros, including 1.5 billion euros of debt and debt-like items.

One person familiar with the process said the offer would be "easily covered" in the 19-20 euro range. Another said bids for shares placed below 20 euros might not be filled.

Last week, Philips set an initial price range of 18.50-22.50 euros for shares of Lighting, which is set to list on Friday.

Philips spokesman Steve Klink said on Wednesday he could not confirm any revision to the original range.

However, he said the company had been pleased with "extensive investor engagement, and strong demand so far."

Final pricing for the offer is expected late on Thursday, with the shares due to start trading on Friday.

Philips is initially selling a 25 percent stake in the Lighting division, which as a standalone company will be the world's largest maker of lights, in order to focus on its main healthcare technology businesses.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Mark Potter)
JERSEY CITY, N.J.  Four innovators received awards at the fifth annual Genius Gala at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, turning Friday night here into a geekfest.

The brilliant recipients included paleontologist Jack Horner, astrophysicist Kip Thorne, architect Frank Gehry and social psychologist Ellen Langer from Harvard University.

Buzzing drones snapped photos of the guests outside the event, and R2-D2s zipped around the cocktail reception. [See Photos of the Genius Gala Geekfest]

During his acceptance speech, Thorne said he felt "like a fraud" and that he's "not a genius." Thorne honored the colleagues he worked with while discovering gravitational waves this past September. Albert Einstein famously predicted the existence of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, about 100 years ago, in 1915.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) team determined that the gravitational waves were emanating from two black holes that at first circled each at half the speed of light and eventually collided about 1.3 billion years ago.

However, Einstein also famously predicted that gravitational waves would never be detected.

"He said that humans [would] never detect these gravitational waves, because they're so weak," Thorne said. "This superb LIGO team proved him wrong, in the process of proving him right."

It's no surprise Einstein had his doubts. The collision produced waves "that carried off as much power as 50 times all the stars in the universe put together," but by the time LIGO detected these waves, they were fluctuations about a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a proton, Thorne said.

The four awards were interspersed with performances from other brainy guests. Pianist Peter Dugan and violinist Charles Yang, who were trained at Juilliard School in New York, performed a haunting cover of "House of the Rising Sun" by the band The Animals. And American chess champion Fabiano Caruana went head to head with Baltimore Ravens player and Massachusetts Institute of Technology math doctoral student John Urschel in a round of blitz chess. (Caruana won the match, but Urschel put up a good opposition.)

Story continues

Horner was honored for his life's work studying dinosaurs, including his discovery that some of the animals were social, caring parents. Horner advanced in the field of paleontology despite his dyslexia, which made it impossible for him to graduate from college.

Gehry spoke about how he wants to create buildings that "engender feeling."

Langer, who has been called the "mother of mindfulness," was also the first tenured female professor in psychology at Harvard. She spoke about her work in this area, and urged people to question their worlds and embrace uncertainty.

"Most of us, much of the time, are mindless," she said. "Science only gives us probabilities, which is better than not having anything. However, those probabilities are translated as absolute facts, and when you know something absolutely, there's no reason to pay any attention."

Liberty Science Center also announced that it would open the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, with a planned debut in December 2017. The center is also holding drone festivals, including the Liberty Cup, a drone race that will take place this summer, said Paul Hoffman, president and CEO of the center.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Sara G. Miller on Twitter @saragmiller. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Preparing for a rally for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday, police warned protesters not to engage in violence.

The precautionary warning follows an unruly rally for Trump in New Mexico on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of protesters chanted outside the venue, burning campaign paraphernalia and at one point toppling a security fence. Other protesters inside the rally disrupted Trumps speech and were removed from the venue  as Trump taunted them and fired back against recent attacks by his critics.

While we recognize and respect the First Amendment rights of all individuals to express their viewpoints and protest peacefully, we will not tolerate violence or disobedience of the law during the upcoming rally in Anaheim. Police Chief Raul Quezada said in a statement. Everyone has the right to participate without fear of violence or disorder, and we are prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action should it become necessary.

Quezada said protesters are prohibited from blocking sidewalks, interfering with traffic or advocating violence.

The rally is scheduled to take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon.
WARSAW (Reuters) - A senior member of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) signaled on Wednesday it was ready to give some ground to end a constitutional standoff with the EU, though his leader kept up his criticism of Europe in the local press. The right-wing, eurosceptic government has been caught up in an unprecedented row with Brussels institutions over changes it made to Poland's constitutional court that critics say weakened the institution key to upholding democratic checks and balances. The European Commission launched an investigation into the changes in January, raising the prospect of Poland becoming the first EU member to face sanctions for failing to uphold the rule of law. But Poland's prime minister, Beata Szydlo, said after talks with the Commission's deputy head Frans Timmermans in Warsaw on Tuesday that a compromise was in sight. On Wednesday, Poland's deputy foreign minister, Konrad Szymanski, signaled that Warsaw might accept some judges appointed by the last administration that it had earlier rejected. "It is not about concessions in this process, it is not about European Commissions's concessions, but it is all about solutions which will meet all sides' expectations," Szymanski told private broadcaster TVN24. "No aspect of this solution should be treated separately. Some form of introducing these judges is possible, I don't know if all of them, I don't know in what order - it depends on other aspects of the accord," he said. Back in Brussels, Timmermans briefed the Commission on his talks in Warsaw and the executive is due to return to the theme next Wednesday, officials said. It could then decide whether to escalate its formal investigation into whether the rule of law in Poland is under threat under PiS. The maximum, though unlikely, sanction would be stripping Poland of its voting rights in the EU. "EUROPEAN ELITES" CRITICISM Poland's president, a PiS ally, refused in December to swear in three judges who were chosen by the previous administration, and instead appointed three new ones picked by the ruling party, leaving the top court all but paralyzed at the heart of a bitter political dispute. Opposition critics say PiS's efforts to overhaul the constitutional tribunal are part of a broader plan to seize more control over state institutions, infringing on rules of democratic governance. PiS, which swooped to power after a landmark election victory in October, says it is only trying to make the constitutional court more effective and transparent, and calls any criticism politically motivated. Its policies have triggered protests in Warsaw over the last few months. But its eurosceptic message remains popular among large parts of the electorate - opinion polls have actually shown a slight increase in support, boosted in part by generous social spending programs. "Nobody is attacking the constitutional court," party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in an interview with Gazeta Polska daily published on Wednesday. "The European elites are simply unable to come to terms with the democratic choice of Polish voters ... They don't like their choice because it runs against their interests. It's obvious." Kaczynski, the twin brother of President Lech who died in a plane crash in 2010 over Russia, does not hold any government office but remains the main PiS decision-maker. Since coming to power, the nationalist-minded group has tightened its grip on the secret services and public media, increased the number of constitutional court judges required to make rulings and changed the order in which it hears cases. Polish assets have suffered in recent months. The zloty currency fell to a three-month low against the euro on Monday, with traders blaming the constitutional row. (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski and Adrian Krajewski in Warsaw, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels,; Editing by Justyna Pawlak and Ralph Boulton)
From Popular Mechanics

KivuWatt, a plant located in Africa's Lake Kivu, is the only gas water extraction power plant in the world. It just opened last week. The project has been seven years in the making and has the potential to not only contribute up to 60 percent of Rwanda's electricity, but could also stave off one of the strangest natural disasters on Earth: the limnic eruption.

In 1986, Lake Kyos in Cameroon suddenly erupted with carbon dioxide. The disaster sent as much as 1.6 million tons of CO2 into the air; more than 1,700 people suddenly lost consciousness and died. Survivors compared the stench in the air to gun powder and rotten eggs. It took a while, but scientists finally figured out that what had happened at Lake Kyos was a limnic eruption, an explosion of carbon dioxide similar to the eruption of bubbles in soda when you pop the tab. Once a body of water is as saturated with CO2 as Lake Kyos was, all that's needed is a trigger. For Kyos it was a combination of nearby landslides and heavy rain.

Lake Kyos was only the second limnic eruption in recorded history, and the first had been two years earlier. Scientists started to fret over whether this could happen again, and they soon found a likely place for it a little over a thousand miles away from Cameroon: Lake Kivu, bordering both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kivu is central to the economies of the surrounding regions, powering a fishing industry full of sardines, shipping between the two nations, and even a flourishing nightlife with karaoke boats and wedding celebrations. It is 3,000 times as large as Lake Kyos and contains 350 times as much gas. It's a densely populated place that could not be easily evacuated.

However, researchers got an idea: Maybe all that gas could be extracted and used. A new energy plant, KivuWatt, created by the multinational energy company CountorGlobal, has begun to leverage Lake Kivu's unique makeup for energy extraction using the only energy plant of its kind.

Story continues

KivuWatt is a steel and concrete barge weighing approximately 2,700 tons. It's located eight miles off the Rwanadan coast and has four plastic pipes that draw water up from 1,150 feet below the surface. As the water rises, bubbles of methane and carbon dioxide form. Roughly 80 percent of the methane and 40 percent of the carbon are then reinjected back into the lake. The partially degasssed water is then mixed with "wash water" from 130 feet down to eliminate as much carbon dioxide as possible. The end product, which is 85 percent methane, then gets pressurized and sent to a power plant on shore.

Not surprisingly, considering this project is the first of its kind, the challenges have piled up. Kivu's methane-heavy deep water is saline and abundant in nutrients, releasing it too close to the surface could damage the lake's ecosystem and weaken its density stratification. Density stratification is the natural creation of layers within a body of water that prevents nutrients from mixing. Not only is Lake Kivu's stratification important because of the normal reasons, maintaining life which creates environmental and economic ecosystems, but the lake's stratification has played a crucial role in keeping the carbon dioxide trapped below.

KivuWatt reinjects degassed water several hundred feet down (and engineers disagree about exactly how deep it must be to be safe). "Once you punch through those gradient layers, you start damaging the protective mechanism that the lake has to preserve itself," says Phillip Morkel, who helped write reinjection depth guidelines which KivuWatt misses by sixty-six feet. "On a large scale it becomes seriously problematic."

Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently opened the plant, declaring that its "26 MW electricity is a positive step and it's an indication of what is possible to address the electricity challenges." He also invited the Congolese government to use KivuWatt. The next step, as is often the cases in energy projects, is expansion. CountorGlobal hopes to get KivuWatt up to 75 MW of electricity, which could create an energy boon in the region. It's the rare chance to turn a potentially nightmarish scenario into a real positive.

Source: Engineering
May 25 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

The pressure on Deutsche Bank's British chief executive grew yesterday after one of the top ratings agencies cut the German lender's credit standing and warned that his chances of delivering an ambitious turnaround plan were becoming more remote. (http://bit.ly/1OV1LLs)

The Guardian

Britain's leading tax and spending think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has warned that leaving the European Union would force ministers to extend austerity measures by up to two years to achieve a budget surplus. (http://bit.ly/20xYcLS)

French investigators have raided Google's Paris headquarters, saying the company is now under investigation for aggravated financial fraud and organised money laundering. (http://bit.ly/1WPN1Aq)

The Telegraph

U.S. agricultural business Monsanto rejected a $62 billion takeover offer from German drugs and crops giant Bayer yesterday as it believes the current proposal is "incomplete and financially inadequate", but said it is willing to engage in further negotiations. (http://bit.ly/1s8iFvY)

A Portuguese-backed consortium is in pole position to save BHS after Matalan founder John Hargreaves and Select Fashions Cafer Mahiroglu retreated from the bid battle. (http://bit.ly/1U862XP)

Sky News

Twitter has confirmed rumours it is going to stop counting attachments in its 140-character limit, giving users leeway to be more wordy. (http://bit.ly/1UcetV3)

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney came under fire at a grilling by MPs today when he was accused of rehashing "propaganda" on the economic consequences of Brexit. (http://bit.ly/25ft8Ec)

The Independent

Google could face a claim for billions of euros in back taxes after 100 police and tax investigators raided the company's offices in Paris as part of an investigation into alleged systematic fraud. (http://ind.pn/27RpxOT)

The chief executive of French energy giant EDF said the company "can't afford to keep the UK waiting" and hinted a decision regarding the Hinkley Point C nuclear project in Britain could be reached before the summer. (http://ind.pn/1VgHwZW)

(Compiled by Vishal Sridhar; Editing by Sandra Maler)
May 25 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG, two of the world's largest automakers, said they were stepping up to invest in technology start-ups that are working to change the way people travel by car. Toyota said it had formed a partnership with and invested an undisclosed amount in Uber, the biggest ride-hailing company. Gett, the app popular in Europe, said it was working with Volkswagen, and the automaker was investing $300 million in the start-up. (http://nyti.ms/1VhDvEu)

- Monsanto Co rejected Bayer AG's $62 billion takeover offer on Tuesday, calling the takeover approach by the German giant too low. (http://nyti.ms/1Rpd9JL)

- Months after Hewlett-Packard split itself into two publicly traded companies, one of those new smaller businesses plans to become even smaller. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co will sell its enterprise services business, whose offerings include call centers and network maintenance, to the Computer Sciences Corp in an all-stock deal, the companies announced on Tuesday. (http://nyti.ms/1qIulnK)

- Media mogul Sumner Redstone confirmed on Tuesday the appointment of two new members to his irrevocable trust, which will control the future of his companies, as well as new directors to National Amusements, the private theater chain company through which he controls his $40 billion media empire. (http://nyti.ms/1UcFLKR) (Compiled by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru)
LONDON (Reuters) - A giant mural of Donald Trump locked in a kiss with former London mayor Boris Johnson in the style of a legendary Soviet-era image has been unveiled by a group campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union. Painted on the side of a building in Bristol, southwest England - home of the celebrated graffiti artist Banksy - the image reprises a 1979 photograph of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kissing, which was later turned into a mural on the Berlin Wall. It was commissioned by pro-EU campaign group "We are Europe" as what they call a warning of things to come if Britons vote to leave the 28-member bloc on June 23, as advocated by both Johnson and Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in November's U.S. presidential election. Johnson is the "Out" campaign's best-known leader and Trump has said Britain would be "better off without" the EU, which he has blamed for Europe's migration crisis. The 15-foot (4.5 metre) mural is accompanied by the slogan "Not #IN for this?" and a plea for people, especially the young, to register to vote by a June 7 deadline. "People need to look at this image and think - is this the future I want," said Harriet Kingaby, a spokesperson from We Are Europe. Galvanising the youth vote is a key issue for the "In" camp. Surveys show young people are far more likely to be in favour of remaining in the EU but also much less likely to bother to vote. A survey of 2,000 students this month found that 63 percent did not know the exact date of the referendum, while 54 percent were not aware it was being held in June. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Gareth Jones)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, protesters in New Mexico opposing Donald Trump's candidacy threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades.

Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center. During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Trump lashed back at protester, tweeting Wednesday: "The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!" At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security.

Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to, "Go home to mommy."

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."

Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!" Trump later tweeted, "Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd!"

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center's windows as he was leaving Tuesday night, and that glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.

Story continues

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters.

At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state.

Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said. Then added: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."

The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform. "The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.

The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2016

Protesters throwing rocks, charging at police outside of Trump rally in NM. Man live on CNN: "F--- Donald Trump!" pic.twitter.com/Ku1p8qei38

- Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) May 25, 2016

Police say reports of shots fired outside of Donald Trump rally are not verified. However, fires set, rocks thrown. pic.twitter.com/EK07z7uCvp

- Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) May 25, 2016

The Albuquerque Police were providing updates on the scene via their Twitter feed Tuesday night.

Only arrests at this point have been from inside the rally.

- Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016

There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Center Windows by pellet gun

- Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016

Trump won at least 24 delegates in Washington state, with 20 still left to be allocated. He has 1,193 delegates. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination. The billionaire businessman's Tuesday night victory pulls him within 44 delegates of the number needed to become the Republican nominee.

There are no more Republican contests until June 7, when the last five states vote. With a total of 303 delegates at stake in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, Trump should easily clinch the nomination that day.

On the Democratic side, frontrunner Hillary Clinton won the primary in Washington state. Clinton's win might give her some momentum, but it won't get her any delegates. There were no delegates at stake in the Democratic primary. Washington Democrats already awarded their delegates based on party caucuses.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won Washington's caucuses in March, getting 74 delegates. Clinton got 27.

Sanders trails Hillary Clinton in the delegate count and he is running out of contests in his long-shot bid to catch up. Clinton is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president. She is on track to do so in early June, even if she loses all the remaining contests. Clinton has 1,768 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. Sanders has 1,497.

Read More: Donald Trump to Fundraise in L.A. as Hollywood Conservatives Fret Over Backing Him
Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said the relatives of two Russian journalists killed in eastern Ukraine had asked him to pardon Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, convicted of complicity in their deaths.

Putin was shown meeting Yekaterina Kornelyuk and Marianna Voloshina, the widow and sister of two journalists killed in a mortar attack in June 2014, and thanking them for their request, in the first mention on state television of Wednesday's prisoner swap.

Savchenko was convicted over the killing of journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, two months after the start of the pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine and sentenced to 22 years in prison.

She has maintained her innocence, saying that killing unarmed people goes against her principles.

Savchenko, who returned to Ukraine on Wednesday as two Russian prisoners were flown back to Moscow from Ukraine, had reportedly been refusing to ask Putin for clemency. It was not clear whether such a request was made in the end.

Putin said the widows had contacted him "with a request to pardon Savchenko" after a meeting with pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk.

He said he hoped "such decisions dictated primarily by humanitarian considerations will lead to a lessening of confrontation in the well-known conflict zone and will help avoid such terrible and unecessary losses."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "Putin "signed a decree pardoning Savchenko."
She just spent the last year of her life starring in an intense, action-packed TV drama during the week, while filming a movie on her weekends. So what does Quantico star Priyanka Chopra want to do on her vacation?



Nothing. She just wants to veg, she says. And watch TV. Binge-watch TV.

In this exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the upcoming Emmy Magazine cover story on the actress, Chopra, whos starred in more than 50 movies in her native India and is currently filming the big-screen Baywatch movie with The Rock and Zac Efron, says she wasnt originally certain she wanted to tackle a TV role. But when ABC exec Kelly Lee asked her to fly to Los Angeles and read scripts for potential series, she was immediately impressed with Quantico, and liked that the role of FBI agent-in-training Alex Parrish wasnt written specifically for an Indian actress.

Related: Quantico Season Finale Recap: Cutting the Head Off of the Beast

Most importantly, she says, I picked the one I would want to watch.

Alex is completely different from me, Chopra says. Shes like my hero, because shes ballsy and bold, and Im shy a little bit. She doesnt trust anyone  I trust everyone. She  is suspicious of everyone, I believe in the goodness of people. Were completely different personalities. To me, as an actor, thats whats fun to do to be able to leave who you are, and to become someone else completely.

Someone who really, really likes her job. While filming Quanticos first season Monday through Friday in Montreal, Chopra would take a 22-hour flight on weekends to return to India and work on a Bollywood movie with the long trip leaving her enough time to film just one scene each weekend before returning to Canada. Says the actress, My life is pretty much on a plane.
On May 25, 1787, the convention to write a new United States Constitution began in Philadelphia. So who much do you know about the key people in the room?

signershall-hero400

In all, there were 55 delegates at the convention between May 1787 and September 1787, one of the hottest summers on record. Some visited and left during the meetings, and only 39 delegates signed the document in September. Another three stayed to the end and refused to sign the approved version.

To test your knowledge of the seminal Founding Fathers in the State House (later known as Independence Hall) that summer, try your luck at this quick quiz. You can use the quiz player below or click the following link: http://ncc.polldaddy.com/s/name-that-founder
London (AFP) - A rare first edition of British playwright William Shakespeare's works from 1623 sold for 1.87 million (2.46 million euros, $2.75 million) at Christie's on Wednesday, the auction house said.

A private US collector bought the book as well as three subsequent Shakespeare collected works from 1632, 1664 and 1685 for a total of 2.48 million.

"The universality and timelessness of Shakespeare's insight into human nature continues to engage and enthrall audiences the world over," Margaret Ford, international head of books and manuscripts for Christie's, said in a statement.

Ford said earlier: "It is deeply moving to handle the first printed record of his collected plays and to be reminded of their tremendous impact."

The book, known as a First Folio, was published just seven years after Shakespeare's death.

Around 750 copies are believed to have been printed and only around 200 known editions remain.

The anthology contains 36 plays including 18 that were published for the first time -- such as "Macbeth" and "Julius Caesar" -- and would probably have been lost without the First Folio.

Britain in April celebrated the anniversary of Shakespeare's death 400 years ago with a series of events in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in central England.

The University of Oxford confirmed last month that a new First Folio found at the Mount Stuart stately home on the Scottish island of Bute was authentic.
From Popular Mechanics

Gen. George S. Patton once opined that "a good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later." He would appreciate what's happening with his namesake tank.

For three decades, the Raytheon M60 (informally called the Patton) was America's primary main battle tank. Though the tank was replaced in the early 1990s by the M1A1 Abrams, thousands are still operational abroad. They're all candidates for an upgrade that Raytheon says can make them competitive on the battlefield, and at one-third of the cost of a modern main battle tank like a Russian-built T-90S, German-built Leopard 2A7, or America's own M1A2 SEP(v)3 Abrams. It's am appealing idea for M60 users like Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Oman.

"You have hardware that's of 1960s-1970s pedigree. The supply chain for some of the original equipment is gone," says Rimas Guzulaitis, senior director for platform sustainment and modernization at Raytheon "But you still have countries operating them who need to modernize, eliminate inefficiencies, add accuracy and lethality. They need to keep the M60 relevant."

The M60A3 Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) would hot-rod the Patton via kits supplied by Raytheon and its partners. The new V-12 diesel engine is rebuilt with stronger internals, increased fuel and airflow capacity, better cooling and more compression, and coupled to a strengthened transmission. The changes bump its output from 750 to 950 horsepower.

"If you have to stop to shoot, you're opening yourself up to getting hit."

The Patton's turret can be converted from hydraulic to electric power. Hydraulics are hard to maintain and the hydraulic lines running through the M60's hull are downright dangerous. The kit replaces them with digitally-controlled electric wiring and actuators, making the turret quieter and lighter while allowing it to rotate faster. In place of the original 105mm M68 rifled gun, the M60 SLEP slots in a 120mm M256 smooth bore cannon.

Story continues

"It's directly out of the M1A1," Guzulaitis says of the gun. "It's substantially more accurate, definitely more lethal, it's lighter and it allows you to use a wider range of NATO-partner ammunition." The gun's range is "substantially greater than an off-the-shelf M60 cannon," too, thanks to a not only the gun itself but also the new digital fire control and sight systems that come with the SLEP. The new configuration has sighting and fire control linked via Ethernet integrated with a laser day sight and night thermal sight, all connected to the electronic turret drive.

Making the Patton lighter and faster raises the possibility of adding additional armor, though none is offered as part of the SLEP. Nevertheless, Guzulaitis asserts that increased speed, firepower, digital control, and maneuverability are significant self-protection improvements.

"A legacy M60 tank requires you to stop to shoot to achieve a high level of accuracy," he says. "The new system allows you to shoot on the move, which equals increased survivability. If you have to stop to shoot, you're opening yourself up to getting hit."

The fire control portion of the upgrade has been fielded on 80-plus tanks in Jordan for over a decade. Raytheon recently integrated it with the improved drivetrain, turret, and gun in live-fire testing at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The company has yet to ship any SLEP kits, but there are three customers in various stages of Foreign Military Sales approval process right now. That means we'll likely see hot-rodded Pattons in the Middle East soon.
What You Should Know about Toyota's Fiscal 2016 Earnings

(Continued from Prior Part)

A good reputation in margins

Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) has a good reputation of having industry leading margins among its peers. In fiscal 2016 (which ended March 31, 2016), Toyota reported an expanded gross margin of 20.4%, as compared to 19.8% in fiscal 2015. Higher sales of heavyweight vehicles in North America and pricing improvements in Europe and Asia were key drivers.

Mainstream US automakers (FXD) General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) have lower margins than Toyota. This is due to Toyotas strong presence in the luxury vehicles segment as luxury vehicles tend to have higher margins than mass-targeted vehicles. In the past several years, Toyotas margins have also seen a positive impact of the depreciating Japanese yen. By contrast, Italian-American auto giant Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) has had the lowest profitability among peers.

Similarly, Toyotas EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) margin also moved higher in fiscal 2016, rising to 15.8% as compared to 15.3% in fiscal 2015. The companys net profit margin came in almost flat at 8.1% in fiscal 2016, as compared to 8.0% in fiscal 2015.

Marketing efforts and currency factor

In recent years, Toyota has been trying to adjust its pricing strategy to protect its margins in different geographical markets. Improved pricing as a result of these efforts helped the company to expand its margins in fiscal 2016. Higher vehicle exports from manufacturing plants in Asian countries with weak local currencies also gave a boost to the companys margins.

Additionally, Toyotas recent efforts in the direction of cost reduction supported its margin expansion in fiscal 2016. These cost-reduction efforts included minimizing manufacturing and logistics costs and improving plant efficiencies.

In the next part, well look at how Toyotas Financial Services division performed in fiscal 2016.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Realty Income Corporation O has closed the offering of 6.5 million common shares which is likely to add flexibility to the San Diego, CA-based retail real estate investment trusts (REIT) balance sheet.



Before subtracting the expenses related to the offering, the company is expected to generate net proceeds of around $383.8 million. Realty Income intends to utilize the net proceeds for the repayment of borrowing under its $2 billion unsecured revolving credit facility. Also, the company plans to use the proceeds for financing potential investment opportunities and for general corporate purposes.



Notably, Realty Income is focused on providing dependable monthly income to the shareholders, which is supported by the cash flow generated from the property portfolio. Since 1969, the company has been engaged in acquisition and management of commercial properties that accrue rental revenue under long-term, net lease agreements.



Last month, Realty Income reported first-quarter 2016 adjusted funds from operations (FFO) of 70 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. However, it came in higher than the prior-year tally of 67 cents.



The stock presently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the retail REIT space include Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust PEI, Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. ROIC and Saul Centers Inc. BFS. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.



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



SAUL CENTERS (BFS): Free Stock Analysis Report



PENN RE INV TR (PEI): Free Stock Analysis Report



REALTY INCOME (O): Free Stock Analysis Report



RETAIL OPPURTUN (ROIC): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Peter Thiel

Rumors had been swirling that a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist was funding the high-profile lawsuit by Hulk Hogan against the online news site Gawker.

On Monday, even Gawker's founder, Nick Denton, in an interview with The New York Times, seemed to buy into what was once considered a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

And on Tuesday, a report from Forbes by Ryan Mac and Matt Drange said venture capitalist Peter Thiel was the behind-the-scenes benefactor helping to finance the case.

The Forbes report cited only anonymous sources "familiar with the situation." Business Insider could not independently confirm the report. And it said it was unclear whether Thiel was the only person funding Hogan's case. Request for comment from multiple Thiel-associated entities went unreturned.

Hogan, a professional wrestler whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, sued Gawker for publishing a video clip in 2013 of him having sex. In March, a jury awarded Hogan $140 million in damages. Gawker has said it will appeal the verdict.

Denton told The Times he started suspecting something strange about the case after Hogan dropped a claim for "negligent infliction of emotional distress." That claim would apparently have required Gawker's insurance to pay for its defense and its potential payouts.

Dropping the claim meant Gawker would have to pay out of its own pocket, but it also would have potentially resulted in a lower payday for Hogan.

Nick Denton Gawker

A separate report in The Times late Tuesday, citing a "person briefed on the arrangement," said Thiel helped fund the expenses of Hogan's legal team.

What links Hogan to Thiel, the cofounder of PayPal, is unknown, beyond a shared hatred toward the gossip-heavy site.

Thiel once compared the site to Al Qaeda. Gawker reportedly outed Peter Thiel as gay in 2007 and continued to publish pieces on the topic. That prompted Thiel, during a 2009 interview, to compare Gawker to a terrorist organization.

Story continues

"I think they should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters," Thiel said at the time. "I dont understand the psychology of people who would kill themselves and blow up buildings, and I dont understand people who would spend their lives being angry; it just seems unhealthy."

NOW WATCH: Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel explains precisely how Mark Zuckerberg changed the world





More From Business Insider


Between 100,000 and 240,000 women of reproductive age in Texas have attempted self-induced abortions as access to abortion clinics throughout the state becomes more restrictive, according to a study by the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Policy Evaluation Project, known as TxPEP.

Texas is seeing a rise in black market sales of misoprostol, which terminates pregnancy and makes it look as though it was a miscarriage. Miso has long since been popular in regions like Latin America, where abortion access is both extremely difficult and risky.

"It was like we were back in the days of the Wild West, like we have to figure this out by ourselves and just grit our teeth and get through it," a 23-year-old musician who wanted to remain anonymous told Reuters. She, herself, had a self-induced abortion in 2014.

The rise in self-induced abortions correlates with Texas HB2, the state's 2013 omnibus bill on reproductive health, which relates "to the regulation of abortion procedures, providers, and facilities; providing penalties." Critics have argued the bill is unconstitutional and the contentious case has advanced to the Supreme Court where arguments were heard in

Restrictive Reproductive Laws in Texas Have Resulted in as Many as 240,000 DIY Abortions

"This is the latest body of evidence demonstrating the negative implications of laws like HB2 that pretend to protect women but in reality place them, and particularly women of color and economically disadvantaged women, at significant risk," Dr. Daniel Grossman said in a TxPEP press release. Grossman helped conduct the TxPEP study and is a professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

"As clinic-based care becomes harder to access in Texas, we can expect more women to feel that they have no other option and take matters into their own hands," Grossman added.

Source: Susan Walsh/AP

In March, a Texas woman was informed at 20 weeks of pregnancy that her fetus would not be able to survive, yet doctors were legally unable to induce labor as its inevitable death would constitute abortion, which is not permitted so late in the pregnancy. The fetus, instead, had to die inside the womb. The story captured national headlines, as many decried Texas' abortion laws as inhumane.

Story continues

In light of HB2's restrictive amendments to reproductive healthcare access, the state has socially and politically regressed with an increasing number of women resorting to their own medically unsupervised methods.

"We certainly hypothesize that if there is a bad ruling from the Supreme Court that leads to more clinic closures, yes, this will only become more common," Grossman explained.
Senior citizens in only three states have retirement incomes that are large enough to maintain prior living standards, according to new research.

An analysis by the personal finance site Bankrate.com found that retirement incomes for residents in nearly every state fell short of the recommended 70 percent mark. Incomes for retirees in Hawaii, Alaska and South Carolina were the only ones that met the threshold.

Related: The Best States for Retirement 2016

Many financial experts believe a retirees income in retirement should be 70 percent of their working income, but many people fail to hit that target. Millions of Americans across all generations are unprepared for retirement, says Greg McBride, Bankrates chief financial analyst.

To calculate how many people were above or below the target in each state, researchers divided the median annual household income for those 65 and older by the median household income for those between 45 and 64 years old. The data was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2014 American Community Survey.

One of the reasons that retirees in Alaska, Hawaii and South Carolina achieved the minimum rate was because each state boasts relatively large numbers of government and military workers relative to overall population, says McBride. Workers in both categories tend to receive healthy pensions.

An additional benefit in Alaska is that the state offers dividends to residents from a public fund thats invested in oil and gas revenues.

McBride says that residents of states that fared the worst actually had relatively high earnings, but the high cost of living in the states acted as an impediment to retirement savings. Massachusetts had the lowest income replacement rate, with a majority of retirees replacing a meager 48 percent of the income earned by prime-age workers. North Dakota just beat the Bay State, with an income replacement ratio of 49 percent.

Related: What Your Retirement Savings Should Look Like at Age 50

Story continues

If you realize that you dont have enough savings set aside for retirement, McBride recommends working longer or delaying receiving Social Security payments as long as possible. Every year you put off Social Security until youre 70 results in higher payments.

Each additional year you work, thats another year your assets have to grow and one less year your money has to support you in retirement, McBride says.

However, its important to remember that the only reliable way to ensure you have a comfortable retirement is to save and save more when times are good, McBride says.

Here are the top five states for senior income replacement:

1. Hawaii: 73 percent replacement of working-age income

2. Alaska: 71 percent

3. South Carolina: 70 percent

4. Arkansas: 69 percent

5. New Mexico: 69 percent

And here are the five worst:

1. Massachusetts: 48 percent

2. North Dakota: 49 percent

3. New Jersey: 52 percent

4. Minnesota: 53 percent

5. Connecticut: 53 percent

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Gulfstream Pictures has acquired the feature film rights to Richard N. Goodwins The Hinge of the World.

The play was published in 1998 with the title The Hinge of the World: In Which Professor Galileo Galilei, Chief Mathematician and Philosopher to His Serene Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and His Holiness Urban VIII Battle for the Soul of the World.

Gulfstream partners Mike Karz and Bill Bindley made the announcement Wednesday.

Goodwins story tackles a pivotal moment in history when the door of unquestionable faith was beginning to close and that of reason and science open, personified by the power struggle between the Italian mathematician, philosopher and astronomer Galileo Galilei and his arch-opponent and one-time-friend, Pope Urban VIII.

The story depicts how Galileo, with his newly discovered telescope, tries to convince the 17th century Pope that, contrary to the thinking of the Roman Catholic Church, the Earth was not the center of the universe, but revolved around the Sun.

Goodwin is an author, playwright and former political advisor and White House speechwriter to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He and his wife, author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, will executive produce.

Goodwins play was staged in England in 2003 and in 2009 in Boston (retitled as Two Men of Florence) with Edward Herrmann as the Pope and Jay O. Sanders as Galileo.

We are honored to have this opportunity to develop The Hinge of the World into a feature film, said Karz. Richards play transcends the epic confrontation between Galileo and Pope Urban VIII into a broader exploration of timeless, unending battles of science, faith, philosophy and humanity, and we are looking forward to bringing this age-old conflict to the big screen.

The battle between Galileo and Pope Urban really plays out in an exciting and intriguing way, with the earths true place in the world hanging in the balance, said Bindley. We are thrilled to work closely with Richard and Doris to tell this story.

Story continues

Goodwin made a foray into moviemaking previously in 1994s Quiz Show. As special counsel to the Legislative Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, he conducted investigation of the Twenty One Quiz Show scandal, which he chronicled in his 1988 memoir Remembering America: A Voice From The Sixties.

The story from the book became the basis for Robert Redfords Quiz Show, in which Rob Morrow played the role of Goodwin.

Im delighted to work with Mike (Karz) and Bill (Bindley) and the team they will assemble to tackle these history-altering issues and the men behind them for moviegoers to see, said Goodwin. I have always thought that the epic drama between these two larger-than-life men of the 17th century doing combat has the making for a great film.

Earlier this month, Open Road Films released Gulfstream Pictures Mothers Day, an ensemble starring Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis from director Garry Marshall.

Goodwin is repped by WME.
When Richie Sambora and Orianthi release their album of vocal and guitar-driven duets later this year, a handful of country songs will dot the track list. Orianthi broke the news to Rolling Stone Country Tuesday evening, an hour or so before trading solos with Billy Gibbons during a Skyville Live event honoring the ZZ Top frontman.

Flashback: Bon Jovi Perform Somber Duet With Willie Nelson

"I'm a big country fan," said the songwriter, who recorded her most recent record, Heaven in This Hell, at Nashville's Blackbird Studio. "One of the first country artists I got to work with was Carrie Underwood at the Grammy Awards. The great thing about country songs is the storytelling. They're really moving and well-crafted, and that's something Richie and I wanted to explore."

A couple since late 2013, when they crossed paths at a New Years Eve party hosted by Alice Cooper, Sambora and Orianthi share the spotlight on the still-untitled album.

"There are songs where I'm just singing and he's backing me up, and songs where we're singing together," Orianthi adds. "It really takes you on a journey, and there's a great blend to our voices."

Produced by Bob Rock, who previously worked with Sambora on Bon Jovi records including Slippery When Wet and Keep the Faith, the album was recorded across the globe, with sessions taking place in Vancouver, the couple's own home, the Capitol Records building and even Steven Tyler's beachside residence in Hawaii. An official release date has yet to be announced, although Orianthi says the first single could arrive as early as next month.

Related
Madrid (AFP) - Three-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has stressed his desire to remain at Spanish giants Real Madrid beyond the end of his current contract in 2018.

"It is clear I want to stay here, I want to continue here," he told Spanish television station La Sexta on Wednesday.

Ronaldo has been an astonishing success at Real since joining for a then world record 80m ($116 million) from Manchester United in 2009.

The Portuguese has broken the club's all-time goalscoring record with 364 goals in 347 games on route to being crowned as the world's best player in 2013 and 2014.

However, with two years left on his current deal, the 31-year-old has been continuously rumoured with a move to free-spending French champions Paris Saint-Germain or a return to United.

"They can forget everyone else because Real Madrid are the best. It is easy," added Ronaldo.

"There have been good moments and bad moments...that is life.

"Now I am happy and I want to continue being at this club because I don't see any club that is better than Real Madrid.

"If you weigh everything up, there is no one better."

Spanish radio station Cadena SER reported a new deal for Ronaldo could be announced as early as next week after Real take on Atletico Madrid in Saturday's Champions League final.

"It is better that (club president) Florentino Perez says it," continued Ronaldo.

"I think it would be an intelligent move from Real Madrid."
Set in the present progressive tense, the word "storytelling" is inherently one of active motion. And while the story of Kunta Kinte - the enslaved protagonist of Roots - is grounded in horrors of the past, the idea that forward-moving progress could be born out of its retelling was what castmembers celebrated most at Monday night's New York premiere of the History Channel reboot.

"Contextually there's that old saying, plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose - the more things change the more, they stay the same. But I would say that history doesn't repeat itself - it rhymes," Mario Van Peebles, who directed the second episode of the series, said at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. "If we don't look back, if we don't understand where we've been, how do we clearly discern where we're going moving forward?"

Based on the 1976 best-selling and Pulitzer-Prize winning book by Alex Haley, in which the author traces his ancestors back to Gambia and then follows their path to America as slaves and eventually into freedom, the new Roots reimagines the 1977 original that became a cultural phenomenon. More than 100 million people tuned into the finale when the 12-part ABC miniseries came to an end.

The four-night, eight-hour event premiering Memorial Day, which was developed by History from A+E Studios, will be a historical portrait of American slavery that recounts the journey of one family and their will to survive and ultimately carry on their legacy despite hardship.

"It's more than just great television: it's a cultural moment, it's a conversation, it's a work of beauty, it's an incredible story of family strength and perseverance. It's a conversation that unfortunately, 40 years after its original premiere, we are still having," A&E Networks president and CEO Nancy Dubuc said during her opening remarks.

"I am not a fan of remakes, I will be honest with you," LeVar Burton, who starred as the original Kunta Kinte, said to a standing ovation after Dubuc's remarks. "I did not think this would ever happen, I did not think this should happen, necessarily."

Story continues

But executive producer Mark M. Wolper, whose father produced the original Roots, changed Burton's mind with the help of his own story. "I sat my 16-year-old boy down three years ago to watch [the original] Roots, and when it was over he said, 'Okay, Dad, I get why it is important, but it's like your music - it didn't speak to me,' Wolper said on the carpet. "And I realized in that moment, that's why we have to do Roots again."

In remaking the series with the help of historians, the landscape of actual plantations (the original was largely filmed on the Disneyland Ranch) and a robust cast that includes Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose, Anna Paquin and rapper T.I., the new Roots narrative speaks to the children and grandchildren of those who grew up with the original.

"Visual storytelling changes as film evolves," said Paquin, who plays Nancy Holt and walked the carpet with husband James Moyer. "The way that young kids expect TV to look now is very different than it was in the '70s, and this visually looks a way that will draw in younger people, which I think is important."

Lane Garrison, who plays slave master Frederick Murray and was 13 when he first watched the original Roots in junior high, tried to make light of the heaviness on set when he could. "My first day on set was in Napoleonville in Louisiana, and I've got a crazy beard and confederate garb on and I'm in character saying all of these horrible disgusting things," he recalled. "So the minute they yelled 'cut' on the first day, I turned to everyone and waved and said 'Hi, I'm Lane Garrison and it's nice to meet you.' Everyone started cracking up, so that broke the ice." It was his first time on a plantation, "and probably my last," he said.

It was also Rege-Jean Page's first time on a plantation, first time in Louisiana and first time working in the U.S. "Stepping on the grounds that were quite literally fed on the bloodshed in the story - there is something incredible about seeing the direct line of that history to where we stand today," he said on the red carpet. Playing the character of Chicken George, the grandson of Kunta Kinte and one of the series' leads, took its toll. When filming wrapped, Page rented a car in Louisiana and drove for two days straight without a destination in sight before ultimately arriving in Florida, where he "sat out for a week" to recharge from the deeply emotional experience.

"What I learned most about myself in the process was how important where you came from is to your sense of self," said the actor, who grew up between London and Zimbabwe. "You think it's all you, as every teenager does, but it's not. You are your mother, you are your father, you are everything that created your circumstances. But almost to the inverse of that - it's possible to entirely create the world for yourself outside of all that. You are the culmination of everything that was built for you."

That the screening took place hours after a Baltimore City police officer was acquitted of charges in the Freddie Gray trial made its relevance within the current political climate all the more palpable. Castmembers like Chad L. Coleman, who plays Mingo in the miniseries and formerly starred on The Wire, drew parallels. "We're talking about ineffective systems, the same thing The Wire was probing. Systems that - you find, what is your motive? What are we trying to do?" he said. "Based on what we see, they're trying to obliterate and erase the African-American male culture. I can only have hope that we will begin to stop with the same antiquated narrative - we will obliterate black and white and start to call each other what we truly are and we will begin to truly focus on class - and that is the key."

In the 40 years since the book's publication and the miniseries' initial release, new and more horrific historical facts surfaced that led writers to modify the plot. When asked where the story might be another 40 years from now, Olivia Cole, who played Matilda on the 1977 series, suggested that its roots would continue growing.

"I believe in evolution," she declared with a joyous fist pump. "I believe the story will keep evolving, I believe it will become the story of all of us in the process."

Read More: Watch the First Trailer for History's 'Roots' Remake
Where do I come from?



It's a question many Americans ask themselves and for which few have an in-depth answer. For African Americans, that question can be particularly difficult, given the Antebellum practice of forcibly stripping millions of slaves of their pre-American identity and history.



But after working on Roots, the History channel's reboot of the epic 1977 miniseries, based on Alex Haley's novel about his African ancestor Kunta Kinte being sold into slavery, executive producer LeVar Burton and star Malachi Kirby decided to do some digging.





Roots Producer LeVar Burton, Star Malachi Kirby and PEOPLE's Janine Rubenstein Take Genealogy Test to Discover Their History| Roots, People Picks, TV News

"My knowledge of my ancestry, like a lot of black people not living in Africa today, is very vague," Kirby, who's a second generation Jamaican actor from London, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. In playing Kunta Kinte, a man who knows his entire African lineage, "I was like 'Wow, that's what I'm missing right now.' "







Thus Kirby, 26, and Burton, 59, partnered with genealogy testing company 23andMe to find out more about their genetic history. "I've always felt there was piece of me missing," Burton says after receiving his results.



 For more on the stars and stories behind Roots , pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday





Roots Producer LeVar Burton, Star Malachi Kirby and PEOPLE's Janine Rubenstein Take Genealogy Test to Discover Their History| Roots, People Picks, TV News

After interviewing the two stars, for this week's issue, PEOPLE's Janine Rubenstein took part in the genealogy test as well. "It's exciting," she says of discovering her ties to Africa and Europe. "It makes me want to dig deeper."



Check out the video above to see their results and the surprises that were in store.



Roots premieres Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the History channel and runs nightly through Thursday.
By Alister Doyle BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Russia set itself at odds with a drive by China and the United States for rapid ratification of a global agreement to slow climate change when a senior official said on Wednesday that Moscow first wanted a clear set of rules. Negotiating a detailed rule book for the 2015 Paris Agreement for shifting the world economy from fossil fuels could take years, in the worst case, delegates said at May 16-26 U.N. talks in Bonn on implementing the pact. Top greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States say they plan to join the Paris Agreement this year and almost all other nations say they will ratify as rapidly as possible -before the rules are in place. But Russia, the number three greenhouse gas emitter, questioned the plan in a rare sign of disagreement about implementation. The Agreement can still enter into force without Russia, because it requires at least 55 nations representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gases to gain legal force. Russia, the number three emitter, only accounts for 7.5 percent. "The core issue to create the landscape conducive to joining is the development of the book of rules," Oleg Shamanov, Russia's chief climate negotiator, told Reuters. He said it took almost five years to produce rules for the U.N.'s 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which obliged about 40 industrialized nations to cut emissions. "We are hoping that it can be much faster this time," he said. Shamanov said Russia fully backed the Paris Agreement. It was among 175 nations to sign at a ceremony last month in New York, a record number for a first day of a U.N. pact. Rapid entry into force would help strengthen the deal and insulate it from possible challenges - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said last week he would seek to renegotiate the pact if elected. A U.N. rule book will include how countries will report and monitor promised curbs on emissions in coming years and ways to adapt to changes in the climate such as more floods, heat waves, storms and rising sea levels. China and the United States together account for 38 percent and big emitters such as Mexico, Indonesia and Argentina have also indicated they intend to join in 2016. So far, 17 small nations have ratified, with just 0.04 percent of emissions. The U.S. National Resources Defense Council said nations accounting for 50.5 percent of emissions have so far signaled that they plan to join this year. Patricia Espinosa, the incoming head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters last week that it was "not impossible" that the accord could enter into force in 2016 but that "this kind of ratification takes time." (Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday it was holding off from striking rebels with the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front to give other armed groups time to move away from Nusra positions. The ministry said in a statement it had received requests from multiple armed groups, mainly in Damascus and Aleppo, asking for a pause in air strikes. The ministry said taking those requests into account, it had decided to allow more time before it starts air strikes on the Nusra positions. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alexander Winning)
New York (AFP) - A Russian banker was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to conspiracy in what US prosecutors called a Cold War-style spy ring in New York.

Evgeny Buryakov, 41, stood motionless in navy jail scrubs and a brown T-shirt in a Manhattan federal court as Judge Richard Berman sentenced him to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The married father of two, with short brown hair and dark-rimmed spectacles who used to earn $204,000 a year, waived his right to address the court.

Arrested in January 2015, he has already served around half his sentence and is to be deported following his release.

His was the first such espionage case since 10 deep-cover agents, including Anna Chapman, were arrested in the New York area in 2010. They pleaded guilty and were part of a prisoner swap with Moscow.

The murky case, which included the FBI planting covert recording devices hidden in binders, was akin to "a plotline for a Cold War-era movie," chief US prosecutor for Manhattan, Preet Bharara, has said.

The US government says Buryakov worked for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency while posing as an employee for Russian bank Vnesheconombank in Manhattan, and previously in South Africa.

He pled guilty in March to one count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent working on behalf of the Russian Federation.

Prosecutors insist he was an SVR agent but that more serious charge was dropped in his plea deal. He has expressed no remorse, they said.

The defense told the court Wednesday that there were "no factual disputes that need to be resolved."

- Not James Bond -

Prosecutors said the FBI eavesdropped on SVR agents for months with the help of tiny recorders planted in binders of alleged trade secrets handed over by an undercover agent posing as an energy analyst.

The bugs allowed the FBI to listen as Russian spies received tasks from Moscow and fed information back to the SVR from January to May 2013, US prosecutors say.

Story continues

They also allegedly heard the Russians complain about the humdrum nature of their work, far removed from the adventures of James Bond.

Buryakov was accused of working with a trade mission official and another Russian attached to the UN mission in New York who are no longer in the United States.

Fluent in English, Buryakov waived the right to an interpreter and Berman noted a letter from his parents who praised their "wonderful son" and remarked on his gift for foreign languages.

The defendant at one point smiled gently as the judge declined to pronounce the name of his bank, but instead spelled it out.

His two children had also wrote a letter in English requesting their father "to come home soon," the judge said.

His mother, who had been living in Tunisia with her husband who works for the Russian embassy, has moved home to care for them because their mother, an attorney, is working full-time, he added.

The sentence of two-and-a-half years had been agreed upon by both US government prosecutors and the defense ahead of Wednesday's sentencing.

Berman recommended that Buryakov serve the remainder of his sentence at Fort Dix, a low-security jail in New Jersey.
By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI (Reuters) - Already boasting one of the cleanest urban centres in Africa, authorities in Rwanda's capital want thousands of street hawkers to form registered co-operatives or find formal work as they try to raise taxes and make the city even tidier, the mayor said. Kigali has a reputation for order that is rare on a continent of sprawling and often chaotic conurbations, and lately officials have stepped up measures against hawkers on the street, which activists say can be draconian. "Kigalis target is to be a clean city so these street vendors are an impediment to cleanliness," Mayor Monique Mukaruliza told a new conference on Tuesday to explain the plan. She said it included encouraging hawkers to set up co-operatives and register businesses, both of which would pay tax. Plastic bags may litter many African cities, but they are banned in Rwanda, so the capital and its lush green surrounds are free from ragged bits of plastic fluttering on fences or clogging drains. Workers trim grass verges along the well-swept roads of Kigali, a city of about 1.1 million people. Nevertheless, thousands of hawkers - undeterred by what they say is police harassment - still offer juices and fruit or sell cheap sunglasses and trinkets, trying to make living in a nation where per capita income is just $730 a year. Human Rights Watch said in September the authorities beat and arbitrarily detained "undesirables", such as street vendors, prostitutes and beggars. Officials deny the charges. "They take our products and sometimes arrest us," said one woman carrying an infant and selling apples in a car park, who declined to give her name. Each time she is released, she said she returned to the only work she could find. It can carry risks. Theodosie Uwamahoro, 27, a juice vendor at one of Kigali's main bus stations was killed on May 7 after she tried to run away from a member of a district security force, police said. The case is under investigation. "The person who killed this street vendor was taken to the police," the mayor said, without identifying the person accused. The authorities said they were still counting the number of street vendors. The mayor of Nyarugenge, one of three districts in Kigali, said there were almost 5,000 in his area. Mukaruliza said plan was making progress but noted: "We wish this process would be much quicker." (Editing by Edmund Blair and Louise Ireland)
How Salesforce Continued Its Growth Story in Fiscal 1Q17

(Continued from Prior Part)

Salesforces notable shift strategy

Earlier in this series, we discussed Salesforces (CRM) fiscal 1Q17 results and the companys growing relationship with Amazon (AMZN). In early May 2016, a Wall Street Journal report stated that Salesforce is developing its IoT (Internet of Things) Cloud on Amazons AWS (Amazon Web Services). Salesforce announced its planned IoT Cloud in September 2015, which was newsworthy as Salesforce usually runs its offerings and services on hardware that it operates in its own data centers by using Oracles (ORCL) database and other software.

Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Zukin referred to Salesforce IoT Cloud on AWS as a notable shift in Salesforces strategy, adding that his announcement may mark the onset of a closer relationship between the two players (source:TheStreet).

Leading players rethink their strategies

Growing competition in the cloud space has urged players to rethink their strategies and alter them to suit the changing business and customer preference requirements. Microsoft is one such player, and it is pursuing the cloud space aggressively. In 2016, Microsoft (MSFT) let go of its Windows-centric strategy and moved towards supporting Linux. In the words of Mark Russinovich, chief technical officer of Microsoft Azure, Its obvious, if we dont support Linux, well be Windows only and thats not practical.

You may want to consider investing in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (QQQ) to gain exposure to Microsoft, which makes up 8.4% of QQQ. Investors who would like exposure to application software could also consider this ETF. Application software makes up ~28.4% of QQQ.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By Curtis Skinner

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Lawmakers in San Francisco voted to uphold the "sanctuary city" policy on Tuesday, almost a year after San Francisco was flung into a national debate about immigration after an undocumented immigrant was charged in the fatal shooting of a woman.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation that upholds the city's policy on limiting law enforcement from providing assistance to federal immigration authorities aiming to apprehend or deport individuals.

The ordinance exempts from protection individuals who are currently being held on suspicion of committing a felony and were either convicted of a violent felony in the past seven years or convicted of a "serious" felony or have three separate convictions of most any felony in the past five years.

The FREE SF Coalition, a collection of immigrant and minority activist and legal aid groups, called the ordinance "an important step forward for San Francisco's immigrant communities."

San Francisco is one of dozens of U.S. cities with sanctuary policies, which were rooted in shielding Central and Southern American refugees from deportation in the 1980s.

The decades-old policy came under fire last year after Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant, was charged with murder in the apparently random shooting of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle as she walked along a popular pier with her father in early July. Sanchez has pleaded not guilty.

Former San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's department had released Lopez-Sanchez from jail in April 2015 after a drug charge, despite a request from federal officials that he be held until they could pick him up.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump had seized on the shooting to say that it highlighted the country's problems with illegal immigration. When announcing his plans to seek the Republican nomination for president last June, Trump described immigrants from Mexico to the United States as drug-runners and rapists.

A second vote on the city's ordinance is scheduled to be held to affirm the policy next Tuesday. Mayor Ed Lee, who has previously supported the policy, will have 10 days to act on the ordinance if it passes next week.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Saudi Arabia said talks on Wednesday with visiting Iranian delegates on arrangements for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic have been "positive".

Earlier this month, Tehran said "arrangements have not been put together" for Iranians to make this year's pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of the summer, accusing its regional rival of "sabotage".

But Saudi hajj ministry undersecretary Hussein Sharif said the kingdom and its leadership "welcome pilgrims from all around the world".

The two sides discussed "arrangements, as well as organisation and services" for pilgrims, he told reporters after a session of talks with the delegation from Tehran.

He said an agreement had been reached following the arrival of the delegation Tuesday to "use electronic visas which could be printed out" by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran.

A final agreement would be signed at the end of the ongoing talks, he said.

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January after demonstrators burned its embassy and a consulate in the Iranian capital following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Tehran had said that Riyadh insists that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and does not allow pilgrims to be flown in aboard Iranian aircraft, which Iran has rejected.

Sharif did not give a clear answer on the airlines that would be allowed to carry passengers from Iran to Saudi Arabia as air links remain severed.

"Directives concerning the air carrier will come from the Saudi civil aviation authority," said Sharif.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.

Another contentious issue has been security, after a stampede at last year's hajj killed about 2,300 foreign pilgrims including 464 Iranians.
It is clear that the U.S. 2016 presidential campaign will be unlike any other. It will pit the first woman to be a major partys nominee for the presidency against a man who is, without argument, the least qualified candidate to be president in the countrys history  a man who has embraced hate speech, racism, and misogyny as platform planks of his campaign.

In a moment, I will help you make this choice. But, first, let me talk a little bit about the framing of Donald Trump as a candidate.

Im not going to spend much time here presenting the case that Trump represents a threat to the U.S. political system and to American values unlike any significant presidential candidate since, perhaps, George Wallace, Alabamas racist governor who ran in 1968. That case has been made frequently and well elsewhere, most notably and more recently by the estimable and thoughtful Bob Kagan.

Rather, I want to address the issue of how the media has covered Trump and notably why I refer to Trump as I do. No doubt some of his supporters will consider my references to him thus far in this column to be biased. My view is the opposite. My view is if a candidate who runs for president is racist (see: his express views on Mexicans and Muslims here), misogynist (see: his history of disrespecting women here), and is someone who has no experience in government, no experience or understanding of foreign policy, and a business track record that is checkered at best, then objectivity dictates that those with platforms in the media must report and comment on these facts as they are. Donald Trump does not get a pass because he has millions of supporters. He does not get to argue that the statements he has made are somehow protected from judgment because they are offered in the context of a campaign.

If we rely on honest, unbiased reporting to guide our views on Trump as a candidate, then we are allowing him to be defined by a clear record  one he has created for himself in the public eye. And if we use that record, then its impossible not to characterize him, objectively, by his reckless would-be policies and his displays of ignorance and hatefulness, qualities in a president that would be dangerous to America and the world.

Story continues

It is dishonest to present an impostor as the real thing, a poseur as a statesman, a buffoon who plays to the cheap seats as an artist or an innovator. The great error of the media in its coverage of the 2016 campaign has been and continues to be its attempt to legitimize someone who is inherently  in each and every strand of his DNA  illegitimate.

The examples of Trumps recklessness  including his failure to understand nuclear policy in Asia, the role of NATO in Europe, and, especially, his lack of understanding as to why Mexico is such a vital friend of the United States  are manifold. Do you feel that past presidents with experience got us into trouble? Thats certainly true. But heres a cold, hard fact: Those situations would only have been worse with an arrogant, know-nothing, loose cannon like Trump in the Oval Office.

In fact, heres an interesting thought experiment supporting the case that not just experience but experience in the White House matters to be a successful foreign-policy president. Pick the best foreign-policy presidents of the past century from both parties and then ask yourself, what was the one background factor they all had in common? Go on, try it. Lets start with a few presidents: George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt. Each had a very high level of experience and regular contact with the White House on foreign-policy issues before he became president. Four of them were vice presidents. One was supreme allied commander. And one was a top official in the Department of the Navy in the days when it was absolutely central to U.S. defense. There is no substitute for high-level experience in or with the White House, and it is the only reliable preparation for a commander in chief and architect of U.S. foreign policy.

It is impossible to know anything about foreign policy or care anything about Americas interests in the world and support a man like Trump. To suggest that just because many in the establishment are corrupt or dysfunctional, therefore, someone from outside the establishment automatically deserves a chance and must be better is a logical folly. The odds are, given that experience matters, the person without experience will be worse. If, as it happens, that person has, throughout his adult life, seemed dedicated to exercising serial bad judgment  in his business affairs, in his associations with mobsters and other dubious characters, in his treatment of women, in his public statements, in his private behavior  then the case that he might be the answer rather than an even worse problem is made even more ridiculous.

So, what is a responsible voter to do when presented with a candidate like this? There are several options, but voting for such a man is clearly not one of them. A vote for Trump is a vote against women, Mexicans, Islam, and Americas national interests. If you care about a strong defense, you cant support a man who does not understand the value of alliances or the dangers posed by retreating behind our borders. If you care about fiscal responsibility, you cant support a man who advocates for proposals that would bust the U.S. budget. If you support fair trade internationally, you cant support someone who chose to make among his first acts as a candidate verbal assaults on our most important trading partners.

But deciding not to vote for such a man is not enough. Democracy is not a spectator sport. You cannot opt out. Apathy or inaction has an effect. It strengthens those who act. So, at the very least, you have to actively support whichever opponent he might face that actually has a chance of beating him. In this case, that is Hillary Clinton. Whether you love her or are tepid about her, the only way to actively play a role in stopping Trump  which is, as I view it, a patriotic duty  you must support her. There is no alternative. In fact, if you recognize Trump as the monumental threat he is, you should actively support her campaign  and help her defeat him.

As it happens, Clinton is not just the only viable alternative to Trump. She is an extraordinarily gifted woman who would make an excellent president. She would come to office with more foreign-policy experience than any president since George H. W. Bush (and would be the first secretary of state to become president since the middle of the 19th century  despite the fact that prior secretaries of state-turned-president have included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams). She has extensive White House knowledge and was an acknowledged thought leader during the presidency of her husband. She has been a leader on a wide array of domestic issues from health care to advocacy for first responders. She showed a great aptitude for management during her tenure as secretary of state, winning widespread respect across a massive, far-flung, complex global organization.

Moreover, since her earliest days as a lawyer and advocate, she has been known and respected for her brilliant mind, her studiousness, her mastery of her brief. She is known to engender great loyalty among her staff. She is a listener, an empowerer, someone who has a reputation for wanting to be told the truth. I have met with her many times and have cultivated this view over years of writing about her and the administrations in which she has served. I can honestly say that she may be the most impressive candidate for president and one of the most impressive public figures I have ever met. If she were running against the best of the Republican Party, she would deserve to win.

But she is not. She is running against a menace who must be stopped.

Trumps misogyny only underscores one other aspect of this race that is important. Clinton, when elected, will become the first member of Americas majority population to hold its highest office. She will undo nearly two-and-a-half centuries of institutionalized sexism. She will take a step that is essential for American democracy. Because no democracy can be said to be fully functional or truly representative if the majority population  women  are kept from top offices.

Is being a woman reason enough to vote for Clinton? No, gender alone is not enough. But that does not mean it is not a big deal or that it is not every bit as big of a breakthrough for a country with a troubled racial past to elect a black man as president.

In fact, in the midst of this very dark and disturbing campaign year, there is, in fact, a bright prospect. Due to the wisdom of the American people (and the arithmetic of our electoral system  not to mention the odiousness of Trump), Hillary Clinton is likely to be elected the first woman president of the United States in November. We dare not  we must not  take that for granted. But were it to happen, it will produce a watershed in U.S. history that will send an important message to our daughters and sisters and mothers and to all the rest of us. We will have elected a woman president. And we will have done so because she was one of few people in the country best qualified for the office.

Which raises an interesting prospect. In 50 or 100 years from now, when historians look back on this period, with some luck, Trump will be forgotten or seen as an oddity or, better yet, a cautionary tale. But the big story will be that in 2008 American voters elected a black man and that in 2016 they elected a woman. That is to say, in the future, there is a good likelihood that people will look back on the current American electorate and, rather than see the depressing shit show that we lament daily, they will see us as perhaps the most progressive and enlightened in U.S. history.

Of course, that will only happen if voters from both parties have the courage to recognize the unprecedented threat posed by Trump for what it is and see the necessity in taking action against that threat and the manifold benefits of doing so. The action needed is supporting Hillary Clinton to be the first woman to be president of the United States of America  the kind of experienced candidate this country and the world need for the fragile and complex times in which we live.

Authors note: The views expressed above are my own personal perspectives and are not intended to represent an official position on the part of Foreign Policy nor will they impact in any way the fairness of our coverage going forward.

Photo Illustration/Foreign Policy


* Sberbank Q1 net profit $1.8 bln, beats forecast

* Improves guidance for profitability, economy

* Shares outperform MICEX index

* CFO says still not enough good borrowers (Adds improved guidance, CFO comment, bullets)

By Alexander Winning and Oksana Kobzeva

MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - Russia's top bank Sberbank delivered a record first quarter profit despite Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, but warned its margins would remain under pressure.

Sberbank's finance director said on Wednesday any improvements in profitability and loan growth would not be dramatic as Russia's central bank would probably ease monetary policy only modestly, while quality borrowers remained scarce.

One of several large Russian state banks under Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Sberbank has nevertheless outperformed since the Russian economy slumped in 2014.

Sberbank's dominance of the Russian market, where it has around a third of total sector assets and roughly the same share of deposits, has put it in a strong position to capitalise on the economy's more stable footing so far this year.

"With a gradual stabilisation in macroeconomics and potentially some improvement on geopolitics, we could see stronger demand from good names," Sberbank's chief financial officer Alexander Morozov told a conference call.

"But uncertainties remain," Morozov said.

The strong result distanced Sberbank further from struggling rivals and its shares closed 3.5 percent higher, outpacing the broader MICEX index which ended up 0.8 percent.

Russia's second-largest bank VTB made net profit of just 0.6 billion roubles in the first quarter, while many smaller Russian banks remain loss-making.

Sberbank said its net interest earnings rose sharply in the first quarter, while risk management costs fell.

The bank said in a presentation it expected its net interest margin for 2016 to be above 5 percent, versus 4.4 percent last year, while its return on equity would be in the mid-to-high teens versus 10.2 percent in 2015.

It now expects cost of risk this year of 200-250 basis points (bps), versus 250-300 bps in a previous forecast, and a gross domestic product contraction for Russia of 0.7 percent against former estimates for a 2.2 percent decline.

Sberbank's net profit of 117.7 billion roubles ($1.8 billion) in the first three months of 2016 was the first time it had made over 100 billion roubles in a quarter and beat analysts' forecasts of 106 billion roubles.. ($1 = 65.5068 roubles) (Editing by Jason Bush and Alexander Smith)
An Update on Altice's Cablevision Acquisition

(Continued from Prior Part)

Altice after the Cablevision transaction

In the last part of the series, we learned about the progress of Altices (ATCEY) Cablevision (CVC) deal. The companys cable customer relationships are in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

We also learned about Altices acquisition of Suddenlink Communications in December 2015. According to Suddenlink, its key operating areas include Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. Now lets see what kind of scale these two companies may give Altice in the US cable space compared to some of its peers.

The largest US cable player is Comcast (CMCSA) (CMCSK). The second-largest player in the US cable space is the new Charter Communications (CHTR), which was formed by the joining of Charter, Time Warner Cable (TWC), and Bright House.

At the end of 1Q16, Time Warner Cable and the old Charter Communications had ~16.1 million and ~6.8 million customer relationships, respectively. At the end of 2015, this figure was ~2.5 million for Bright House, according to Charter.

Meanwhile, Cablevision was much smaller than Comcast and new Charter Communications. Cablevision had ~3.1 million customer relationships at the end of 1Q16. Note that the same figure for Suddenlink was ~1.6 million at the end of 1Q16.

Growth dynamics of internet and video bases of Cablevision and Suddenlink

In terms of high-speed data customers, as of the end of 1Q16, Cablevision and Suddenlink had ~2.8 million and ~1.3 million customers, respectively. Both companies continued to witness growth in this segments customer base YoY (year-over-year) by the end of the quarter.

Meanwhile, the pay TV bases of these players continued to shrink during 1Q16. At the end of 1Q16, Cablevision and Suddenlink had ~2.6 million and ~1.1 million video customers, respectively.

For diversified exposure to some of the largest cable companies in the United States, you may want to consider investing in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The ETF held a total of ~0.88% in Comcast (CMCSA) and Cablevision (CVC) on May 20, 2016.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By Roselle Chen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Food is at the heart of AMC's drama "Feed The Beast," where family, fatherhood, friendship and fate converge at a fledgling restaurant in yet another new role for David Schwimmer in his life post "Friends." "Feed the Beast," premiering on May 31 on cable network AMC, follows two friends, Tommy (Schwimmer) and Dion (Jim Sturgess), both at respective low points in their lives. Wine sommelier Tommy is broken after the sudden death of his wife and mother to his young son and numbs his pain with alcohol, while Dion, a cocaine-addicted chef, has been released from a prison for burning down a restaurant, only to find the local mob after him. The two attempt to reverse their respective fortunes by opening a restaurant together, named after Tommy's late wife, in New York's Bronx neighborhood. "The food represents life, like a life force, and the whole premise of the show, at least the first season, is pulling Tommy out of this stagnant lifeless state he's in," Schwimmer told Reuters. To most people, Schwimmer is best known as Ross Geller from NBC's hit sitcom "Friends," but the 49-year-old actor has also turned director for films such as "Run Fatboy Run" and most recently has been earning Emmy buzz for his portrayal as lawyer Robert Kardashian in FX's "The People v. O.J. Simpson." For "Feed the Beast," Schwimmer said he watched documentaries such as 2012's "Somm" and drew on master sommeliers such as New York-based Josh Nadel to learn about the intricacies of wine and mine the key ingredients for his character Tommy. "The skill level at how at ease they are at opening a bottle of wine while they're talking about it, it's so beautiful to watch someone that skilled that I knew I had to try to get that down," Schwimmer said. The show comes at a time where the growing foodie scene in New York has divided locals as talented, innovative chefs have been at the forefront of the city's gentrification. "The Bronx is beautiful and people don't know it because people don't go to the Bronx," said Clyde Phillips, writer and executive producer of "Feed The Beast." "It's good news and bad news about gentrification. It brings business and money and jobs there but it also displaces families and upsets the schools, ecosystem, and we address both sides of that in the show." (Reporting by Roselle Chen for Reuters TV; Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators are investigating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (BABA.N) accounting practices to determine whether they violated federal laws, the Chinese e-commerce company said, news that sent its shares down nearly 7 percent on Wednesday.

Alibaba, a massive business selling to a growing middle class in the world's most populous country, said it was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Questions about its growth rate and its relations with affiliated companies have dogged it for years.

The SEC focused on the accounting for logistics firm Cainiao Network, which Alibaba owns with several courier companies in China, as well as operating data from its Singles' Day, an annual sale that accounts for more than the combined sales of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events in the United States, according to Alibaba's annual report filed on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/1XwuQ1o)

Some merchants in China have questioned whether Singles' Day sales are as high as reported by Alibaba.

The annual report included Cainiao profit, revenue and balance sheet data, and Alibaba spokesman Robert Christie said those figures are "exactly the kind of robust and transparent information that will address the underlying issues in SECs inquiry."

There are no other undisclosed U.S. SEC inquiries, Christie added.

Noted short-seller Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates, who has been betting on a huge decline in Alibaba shares, last year called Alibabas delivery and warehousing infrastructure a risk, according to a report he sent out at a conference last November which was seen by Reuters.

Alibaba appears to control Cainiao via 48 percent stake and consolidates the results via equity method, Kynikos said. Cainiaos business is capitally intensive. It is unclear how much of this capital will be spent by Alibaba versus the delivery partners.

Hedge-fund manager John Hempton of Bronte Capital, who has been shorting shares of Alibaba, said the company's accounting for acquisitions was "The next shoe to drop".

Story continues

The SEC advised the company that the investigation should not be seen as an indication that Alibaba had violated federal securities laws, Alibaba said. It added that it was cooperating with authorities.

Up to Tuesday's close, Alibaba's stock had fallen 12.3 pct in the last 12 months. On Wednesday it fell 6.8 percent to $75.59.

(Additional reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee and Peter Henderson in San Francisco, Jennifer Ablan in New York and Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and David Gregorio)
(Adds investor details, comment from company spokesman, updates share drop)

May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are investigating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's accounting practices to determine whether they violated federal laws, the Chinese e-commerce company said, news that sent its shares down nearly 7 percent on Wednesday.

Alibaba, a massive business selling to a growing middle class in the world's most populous country, said it was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Questions about its growth rate and its relations with affiliated companies have dogged it for years.

The SEC focused on the accounting for logistics firm Cainiao Network, which Alibaba owns with several courier companies in China, as well as operating data from its Singles' Day, an annual sale that accounts for more than the combined sales of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events in the United States, according to Alibaba's annual report filed on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/1XwuQ1o)

Some merchants in China have questioned whether Singles' Day sales are as high as reported by Alibaba.

The annual report included Cainiao profit, revenue and balance sheet data, and Alibaba spokesman Robert Christie said those figures are "exactly the kind of robust and transparent information that will address the underlying issues in SEC's inquiry."

There are no other undisclosed U.S. SEC inquiries, Christie added.

Noted short-seller Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates, who has been betting on a huge decline in Alibaba shares, last year called Alibaba's delivery and warehousing infrastructure "a risk," according to a report he sent out at a conference last November which was seen by Reuters.

Alibaba "appears to control Cainiao via 48 percent stake and consolidates the results via equity method," Kynikos said. "Cainiao's business is capitally intensive. It is unclear how much of this capital will be spent by Alibaba versus the delivery partners."

Hedge-fund manager John Hempton of Bronte Capital, who has been shorting shares of Alibaba, said the company's accounting for acquisitions was "The next shoe to drop".

Story continues

The SEC advised the company that the investigation should not be seen as an indication that Alibaba had violated federal securities laws, Alibaba said. It added that it was cooperating with authorities.

Up to Tuesday's close, Alibaba's stock had fallen 12.3 pct in the last 12 months. On Wednesday it fell 6.8 percent to $75.59.

(Additional reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee and Peter Henderson in San Francisco, Jennifer Ablan in New York and Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and David Gregorio)
From ELLE

Backed by overwhelming bipartisan support, the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act was passed in the Senate on Monday. The final vote came to a unanimous 89-0. The bill is the first federal law to outline what basic services victims of sexual violence are entitled to, which means, yes, until now there has been no national legislation to do so.

The Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act ensures that survivors be able to access the results to forensic tests on their rape kit and to have their rape kit preserved for the entire statute of limitations in their state. If for any reason, state officials had plans to destroy a kit, the survivor would have to be notified in writing 60 days prior and would be permitted to request an extension.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (DNH) wrote the new bill, inspired by and with the input of 24-year-old Amanda Nguyen, a rape survivor who still has to fill out a form every six months to have her rape kit preserved. Nguyen told ELLE.com in February that she founded Rise, a national nonprofit that strives to better protect victims of sexual assault, to advocate for a bill like this one.

Now, the legislation is headed to the House. If it passes, it will be up to President Obama to sign it into law.

On the Senate floor on Monday, Shaheen turned her address toward survivors. "You do have rights. We do care about you. And if you choose to come forward, we will be there for you," she said. "And we are going to ensure a justice system that treats you with dignity and fairness."

For Nguyen, the battle isn't over yet. But this victory is sweet. "I remember walking out of the hospital the night after [the assault] happened and feeling so alone and afraid," says Nguyen, who spoke to ELLE.com by phone this morning. "And now to hear senators on the floor of the Senate not only tell my story but talk about an issue that when I started out no one knew about reminded me how much support we have."

This is the proof, says Nguyen, that "a group of volunteers from different backgrounds can work together and pour our hearts out and make change. The voices of everyday citizens still matter."

Add yours to the rallying cry. A change.org petition in support of the bill already has over 100,000 signatures.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of NeuLion, Inc. (OTC MKTS: NEUL) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the board of directors of the company. To obtain additional information, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/neulion-neul

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
BALA CYNWYD, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / Law Office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC announces an investigation of Platform Specialty Products Corporation ("Platform" or the "Company") (PAH) for potential violations of federal securities laws and breaches of the Platform Board's fiduciary duties.

Click here to learn more http://brodsky-smith.com/1080-pah-platform-specialty-products-corporation.html, or call: 877-534-2590. There is no cost or obligation to you.

The investigation concerns a securities class action lawsuit commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. On February 17, 2015, Platform completed its acquisition of Arysta LifeScience Limited ("Arysta"). The complaint alleges that the Defendants made false and misleading statements including failing to disclose: (1) that Arysta made improper third-party payments in West Africa; (2) such payments were unlawful under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; an (3) as a result, Platforms' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

If you purchased shares of Platform between February 17, 2015 and March 14, 2016, and wish to discuss the investigation, or if you have any questions, you may e-mail or call the law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC before June 1, 2016, who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Jason L. Brodsky, Esquire or Evan J. Smith, Esquire at Brodsky & Smith, LLC, Two Bala Plaza, Suite 602, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, by e-mail at investorrelations@brodsky-smith.com. by visiting http://brodsky-smith.com/1080-pah-platform-specialty-products-corporation.html, or calling toll free 877-LEGAL-90.

Brodsky & Smith, LLC is a litigation law firm with extensive expertise representing shareholders throughout the nation in securities and class action lawsuits. The attorneys at Brodsky & Smith have been appointed by numerous courts throughout the country to serve as lead counsel in class actions and successfully recovered millions of dollars for our clients and shareholders.

Story continues

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE: Brodsky & Smith, LLC
Shia LaBeouf in Cannes earlier this month (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Shia LaBeouf is hitting the open road  and hes asking fans for a lift to wherever they want to take him.

Commissioned by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Finnish Institute in London for the MediaLive Festival, and Vice, LaBeouf  per Vanity Fair  is embarking on a month-long cross-country trek accompanied by collaborators Nastja Sade Ronkko and Luke Turner. The gimmick is that, during that time, hell be randomly posting his GPS coordinates to Twitter via the hashtag #TakeMeAnywhere  and anyone can then go pick the trio up at that location and drive them to any destination they please.

Related: The 10 Stages of Watching a Shia LaBeouf Movie Marathon

The former child star-turned-Transformers-headliner-turned-iconoclastic celebrity has been on a performance-art kick as of late. Last November, he live-streamed a video of himself watching all of his movies, in chronological order, at NYCs Angelika Film Center. A month later, he launched an installation called #TOUCHMYSOUL at Liverpools Fact gallery  along with Ronkko and Turner  where he live-streamed himself taking phone calls from fans. And then in February, he again beamed 24-hour footage of himself riding in an Oxford, England elevator for a project dubbed, fittingly, #ELEVATE.

Watch some guys who picked LaBeouf up (some NSFW language):

LaBeouf began his latest adventure on Monday, and so far has taken a group of guys to Colorados Oskar Blues microbrewery, where (according to Time) he regaled them with predictably strange stories and, reportedly, also schooled them on proper cinematographic technique.

You can follow along with LaBeoufs progress via Twitter or at the Vice site.
Shia LaBeouf launched his latest performance arts project, #TakeMeAnywhere, on Monday, which will see him hitchhiking across the country with fans for a month.

LaBeouf teamed with Nastja Sade Ronkko and Luke Turner for the venture, which includes him tweeting out the GPS coordinates of his location. From there, fans can pick him and his team up, and take them on a journey of their choosing.

The Transformers star told Vice that the project was about making friends and finding meaning in life, according to Time.

On his first destination in Colorado, five fans joined LaBeouf for a free lunch at Oskar Blues, a microbrewery in Lyons, Colo. He was talking about his upbringing and how he was raised by a single mother, fan Brandon Glanton told Time.

To have everyone sitting down there, having lunch with him, it was so cool that he was so receiving. He was more humble than you can ever imagine, Glanton added.

The project is commissioned by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the Finnish Institute in London and MediaLive 2016, according to the #TakeMeAnywhere Website. The project is also supported by Frame Contemporary Art Finland and Vice.

LaBeouf is no stranger to performance projects. His most recent ventures include #ELEVATE, in which he live-streaming a 24-hour elevator ride in Oxford, England, and #AllMyMovies, in which he live-streaming himself watching all of his films.

Related stories

Story continues

From Gaga to Shia: 10 Biggest Stories at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Launches Oscar Buzz for 'Loving,' Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Stewart

Why Shia LaBeouf and Joel Edgerton Are the Born-Again Stars of Cannes
* Euro finance ministers approve new aid tranche for Greece

* Debt relief may be offered from 2018

* But weary Greeks see no end to austerity

By Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS, May 25 (Reuters) - While Greece's government trumpeted a debt relief deal with other euro zone countries on Wednesday as the beginning of the end of its bruising six-year financial crisis, many Greeks remained unconvinced.

After years of austerity measures demanded by Greece's international creditors - the latest passed in parliament last Sunday - Greeks wonder whether the sacrifices they have made to stay in the euro were worth the pain.

"We are done, we can't even leave our homes anymore to have a coffee," said Panagiotis Zabetakis, 50, a carpenter who, like one in every four Greeks, is unemployed.

Playing with worry beads at a cheap cafe in an Athens suburb, Zabetakis paid 1 euro ($1.10) for his morning coffee. That will rise on June 1 when the measures passed to secure Wednesday's deal start coming into force.

By next year Greeks will pay an extra 20-30 cents for their coffee and the price of just about everything else will rise too as added tax will (VAT) goes up to 24 percent from 23 percent. Greeks' spending power, meanwhile, is in sharp decline.

"We are running after the Europeans, hoping they throw us a bone which would suffice for a few months. I'm very disappointed," Zabetakis said, criticising the deal which opens the way for debt relief from 2018, but does not include any firm promise to reduce the payments Greece has to make.

VORTEX OF AUSTERITY

Greece have been hit with waves of pension cuts and tax increases since it was forced to seek its first bailout in 2010.

Leaving the meeting in Brussels where he secured 10.3 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in new funds from his euro zone colleagues, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said he hoped the deal marked "the beginning of turning Greece's vicious circle of recession-measures-recession into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece."

Story continues

The deal won a provisional commitment from the IMF to return to the bailout process, but with Germany opposed to cutting the debt pile, euro zone ministers made any relief measures such as extending maturities on loans contingent on Athens respecting strict criteria, something Greeks fear means more austerity.

"This cannot continue ... they (the Europeans) are telling us we will be in debt for 100 years. How can we be pleased?" asked pensioner Eleni Palaiologou, 85.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, elected in early 2015 on a promise to end austerity only to row back and accept a new bailout to avoid being forced out of the euro, struggled to get his coalition to accept the latest reforms.

Scraping through with a narrow majority of 153 members in the 300 seat parliament, there is some stirring dissent. One of Tsipras' lawmakers quit after Sunday's vote.

"We are adopting measures and policies which run counter to the core of our values and policies," the resigned member of parliament, Vassiliki Katrivanou, said on her Facebook page. "But I cannot think of any credible alternative."

On the streets of Athens, a 33-year-old chartered accountant, who declined to give his name fearing repercussions at work, said he was tired of scraping by.

"I feel we are just living in this vortex of austerity measures," he said. "It's a constant of just sacrifices." ($1 = 0.8975 euros) (Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
* Euro finance ministers approve new aid tranche for Greece

* Debt relief may be offered from 2018

* Weary Greeks see no end to austerity

* Markets welcome news, but implementation is still a risk (Adds market reaction, implementation risks)

By Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS, May 25 (Reuters) - Greece's government trumpeted a debt relief deal with other euro zone countries on Wednesday as the beginning of the end of its bruising six-year financial crisis but Greeks remained sceptical and markets were cautious.

After years of austerity demanded by Greece's international creditors - the latest passed by parliament on Sunday - Greeks wonder whether the sacrifices they made to stay in the euro zone were worth the pain.

"We are done, we can't even leave our homes anymore to have a coffee," said Panagiotis Zabetakis, 50, a carpenter who, like one in every four Greeks, is unemployed.

Playing with traditional komboloi worry beads at a cheap cafe in an Athens suburb, Zabetakis paid 1 euro ($1.10) for his morning coffee, half what it would cost in the city centre.

But prices everywhere will rise on June 1 when the measures passed to secure Wednesday's deal start coming into force.

By next year Greeks will pay an extra 20-30 cents for their coffee and the price of just about everything else will rise too as added tax will (VAT) goes up to 24 percent from 23 percent. Greeks' spending power, meanwhile, is in sharp decline.

"We are running after the Europeans, hoping they throw us a bone which would suffice for a few months. I'm very disappointed," Zabetakis said, criticising the deal which opens the way for debt relief from 2018, but does not include any firm promise to reduce the payments Greece has to make.

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Greece has been hit with waves of pension cuts and tax increases since it was forced to seek its first bailout in 2010.

Leaving the meeting in Brussels where he secured 10.3 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in new funds, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said he hoped the deal marked "the beginning of turning Greece's vicious circle of recession-measures-recession into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece."

Story continues

Markets reacted with cautious optimism. Greek government bond yields fell to six-month lows and the Athens stock exchange rose by 1.5 percent.

Analysts said that to regain investor confidence Greece still needs to show it can implement the promised reforms, even though much of the hard work - pushing the measures through a fractious parliament - has already been done.

Ratings agency Moody's said the "implementation risks" of the deal remained high because of the government's thin majority and the backdrop of political and social discontent.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, elected in early 2015 promising to end austerity only to row back and accept a new bailout, managed to scrape together a narrow majority of 153 members in the 300 seat parliament on Sunday and one of his lawmakers quit after the vote.

"We are adopting measures and policies which run counter to the core of our values and policies," the resigned member of parliament, Vassiliki Katrivanou, said on her Facebook page. "But I cannot think of any credible alternative."

UNCERTAINTY

Carsten Hesse, a strategist at Berenberg Bank, said that "the ups and downs of uncertainty will not go away until Greece can finance itself via markets again."

"A vigorous implementation of reforms should provide the base for a swift stabilization of investor and business confidence," said Platon Monokroussos, economist at Athens-based Eurobank.

The deal won a provisional commitment from the IMF to return to the bailout process, despite its doubts that Greece will miss its targets.

But with Germany opposed to cutting the debt pile, euro zone ministers made any relief measures such as extending maturities on loans contingent on Athens respecting strict criteria, something Greeks fear means more austerity.

On the streets of Athens, a 33-year-old chartered accountant, who declined to give his name fearing repercussions at work, said he was tired of scraping by.

"I feel we are just living in this vortex of austerity measures," he said. "It's a constant of just sacrifices." ($1 = 0.8975 euros)

(Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - The Slovak government on Wednesday nominated Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak as a candidate for secretary-general of the United Nations. Lajcak, 53, is a third-time foreign minister in the leftist government led by Prime Minister Robert Fico and served as both the High Representative and the EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon steps down at the end of the year after two five-year terms. Some predict there could up to 15 candidates by the time the Security Council holds its first informal straw poll in July. Under an informal tradition of rotating the top post between regions, it is Eastern Europe's turn. When the United Nations kicked off the race for the job in December, the world body's 193 members were encouraged to put forward a woman candidate. A man has held the position since its inception 70 years ago. Moscow-educated Lajcak, who oversaw the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, has on occasion tempered Fico's anti-immigrant stance in Europe's migration crisis, but also objected to a quota system for distributing asylum seekers among EU member states. Speaking privately in April, some diplomats said former Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Guterres and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark were favourites after each nominee was quizzed for two hours by the General Assembly. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Jason Hovet and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Screen legend Sophia Loren will receive a lifetime achievement award next week at Romania's Transilvania International Film Festival.

The Italian star, whose career spans six decades, will be honored June 4 at the closing gala of the fest's 15th edition in Cluj during her first-ever visit to Romania.

"It's one of the meetings that we badly wanted for many years at TIFF, and I'm glad it's finally happening," festival president and filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu said in a statement. "Sophia Loren is the idol of many generations, a very tonic and charmed presence, with a huge popularity everywhere in the world. It's an honor to have her at TIFF and a moment of happiness for Cluj to meet her, at her first arrival in Romania."

Other stars celebrated at the Transilvania fest in recent years have included Claudia Cardinale, Annie Girardot, Vanessa Redgrave, Catherine Deneuve and Geraldine Chaplin.

Loren has recently been touring the U.S. with a special event, "An Evening With Sophie Loren," which sees her talking about her childhood in war-time Naples, the beauty contest she won at the age of 14 and her spectacular career in film.

The actress has starred in around 100 films during her career and worked with such directors as Vittorio de Sica, George Cukor, Charlie Chaplin and Robert Altman. Loren began her career in 1950, at the age of 15, in de Sica's The Gold of Naples, and later starred alongside Marcello Mastroianni in 1954's Too Bad She's Bad, the beginning of a screen collaboration that included 1964's Marriage Italian Style (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award), the comedy The Priest's Wife (1970) and Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (1963), which boasts a striptease scene that made history.

Her long career has brought her a multitude of honors, including an Oscar for her dramatic role as a mother in Two Women (La Ciociara) in 1961.

In 1991, Loren was celebrated by the American Film Academy with a lifetime achievement award, was declared a "treasure of world cinema" and, in 1999, was recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the great legends of the golden age of Hollywood.

Story continues

More recently, the actress has had a shade of lipstick named after her and appeared in a Dolce & Gabbana commercial for a new fragrance.

Read More: Sophia Loren Gets Her Hands Dirty for New Dolce & Gabbana Video
By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's central bank told lenders to be vigilant on Wednesday after criminals in Japan stole millions of dollars from automatic teller machines using fake credit cards from South Africa's Standard Bank (SBKJ.J).

The criminal gang made 14,000 withdrawals in just three hours from bank machines at 7-Eleven convenience stores across Japan on May 15, withdrawing 1.4 billion yen ($13 million), according to a source familiar with the matter.

Central bank deputy governor Kuben Naidoo confirmed that Standard Bank would shoulder the losses.

"We will work with the law enforcement agencies to try and prevent and tackle those crimes," Naidoo told reporters.

Rene van Wyk, the central bank's registrar of banks, said lenders who rely on outside vendors should be careful as the cyber attacks were taking place abroad rather than in South Africa.

"So that vulnerability will always remain because you're dependant on other parties, so that relationship between vendors and banks, that is one thing that we focus on," he said.

Standard Bank said on Monday it had suffered the losses, not its customers, and that it had alerted the authorities. It estimated its total loss at 300 million rand ($19 million).

The bank has declined to comment further.

The criminals are still at large. Japan's Mainichi newspaper, citing sources, said police suspect more than 100 people were involved in the theft which took place on the morning of May 15, a Sunday, in Tokyo and across 16 Japanese prefectures.

Most ATMs in 7-Eleven stores belong to Seven Bank, a Japanese lender part-owned by Seven & I Holdings (3382.T) which operates the convenience store chain in Japan. It is one of only two Japanese banks that allow withdrawals on foreign cards.

Experts said both banks should shoulder some blame for failing to monitor the flood of transactions, saying they should have had systems in place to detect unusual activity.

Deputy governor Naidoo said the central bank was pleased that Standard Bank had gone public over the theft.

Story continues

"We don't know all the details yet but we're looking into it and we will take all the steps necessary to protect our payment systems and banking systems from similar attacks," he said.

"We are working with the banks to ensure that they are constantly upgrading their ability to detect and repel cyber attacks. But you will always be subjected to these attacks."

(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Sri Lanka appealed on Wednesday for foreign aid to recover from massive floods that caused an estimated $2 billion worth of damage and claimed more than 100 lives.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 35,000 homes were damaged in last week's floods triggered by the heaviest rain for early 25 years, with the capital Colombo the hardest hit.

"We are looking at the maximum possible support," the minister told reporters, adding, though, that he expected foreign countries would foot about 75 percent of total reconstruction costs.

He blamed rampant construction in low-lying parts of Colombo that had been designated as stormwater collection points, as reasons for the flooding which hit about one third of the city's residents.

"The main cause is the filling of marshland and putting up of buildings," the minister said.

Karunanayake said strict new building codes would be introduced from June 1 to prevent such land being reclaimed for construction in future.

He said he was hoping for foreign assistance mostly in the form of grants and loans, but also called for overseas expertise in urban planning to prevent such disasters.

Nations sent emergency aid last week at the height of the disaster, including giant neighbour India which dispatched two naval ships and an aircraft loaded with supplies.

Sri Lanka's parliament has been recalled to meet later Wednesday, a week ahead of schedule, to discuss recovery from the floods that hit almost all the country's districts.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 101 people were known to have died in various locations last week, while another 100 were still listed as missing in the central district of Kegalle.

Landslides ripped through two villages in Kegalle, 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Colombo, with soldiers still searching for victims buried under tonnes of mud.

Sixty-six bodies have so far been recovered in Kegalle, according to the DMC.

Rain has eased since Cyclone Roanu moved away from Sri Lanka, hitting southern Bangladesh on Saturday and killing at least 24 people there, before weakening.
By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will set up an office to independently investigate the cases of thousands of missing people, the government said on Wednesday, in a move to address alleged human rights violations during its long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. The UN Human Rights Commission last year urged the government to probe disappearances including of people who were alleged to have been secretly abducted by state-backed groups and para military during the 26-year conflict which ended seven years ago. Sri Lanka agreed last year to establish a credible judicial process involving foreign judges and prosecutors to investigate alleged war crimes during the conflict with Tamil rebels, in line with United Nations recommendations. The move is a first step to dealing with conflict-related grievances, the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Legislation will soon be presented to parliament to make that commitment a reality," it said. Tamil groups did not respond to calls for comment from Reuters. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) will help thousands of families of missing persons across Sri Lanka to discover the fate of their loved ones, and the circumstances under which they went missing, the foreign ministry said. The OMP will have investigative powers and will probe people who went missing in the conflict and political unrest including "enforced" disappearances. "This is extremely positive. But the challenge in the future is to ensure the law is implemented and educate the public and bureaucracy to cooperate the process," said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council, an independent advocacy group. "No commissions have given the answer to what happened to the disappeared people. This office should tell the relatives of the missing people what exactly happened to them." Juan E. Mendez, a U.N. human right expert said this month that estimates of missing ranged from 16,000 to 22,000 pending cases of missing persons from the time of the conflict and its immediate aftermath. A local investigating commission said in March it had received over 24,000 submissions of missing persons and was still assembling details of them. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government rejected the U.N. recommendations citing it wants to address the human rights concerns without any international pressure. Rajapaksa was unseated in January last year and become an opposition legislator after he lost his prime ministerial bid in August. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Sri Lanka Wednesday announced it was setting up an office to trace thousands of people still missing seven years after the end of its ethnic war, to try to bring closure for families.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the cabinet had approved the creation of an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) with wide powers to investigate the disappearance of more than 20,000 people.

"The need to set up such an office is particularly acute as Sri Lanka has one of the largest caseloads of missing persons in the entire world," the minister said in a statement.

He said a vast number of cases remain unsolved despite the end of the decades-long Tamil separatist war in May 2009.

The OMP will be asked to recommend compensation and clear the way for next of kin to take legal action against anyone responsible for the disappearance of their loved ones, the minister said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told members of the ethnic Tamil minority earlier this year that thousands who are still missing may be dead.

"There are lists of missing people and I am afraid most of them may not be among the living," Wickremesinghe said in the northern city of Jaffna in January.

The army crushed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a no-holds-barred offensive, sparking allegations that troops killed at least 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war.

The then-nationalist leader Mahinda Rajapakse had resisted international pressure to probe alleged war crimes.

However, Rajapakse's successor Maithripala Sirisena, who came to power in January last year, has agreed to a domestic investigation into violations of international humanitarian law.

The Tamil separatist war between 1972 and 2009 claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people.
The Star Trek crew has adventure in their soul and a song in their heart. After infiltrating the shoot of Star Trek Beyond and snooping around the sets (full disclosure: we were invited), we made a startling discovery. The intrepid Enterprise team spent much of their off-duty hours making beautiful music together.

Seriously.

Were on set 15 hours a day, three hours of which is actually shooting so you have to find ways to entertain yourself, Chris Pine, a.k.a. Captain Kirk, told us during our trek up to the Vancouver shoot last July. And how do they entertain themselves?

Theres been a lot of Dubsmash energy of this set, which has been a lot of of fun, Pine said, referring to the messaging app that has become the premiere way to show off ones lip-synching skills. Everybody brings theyre own flavor to it. John Cho [Sulu] has been surprisingly aggressive in his Dubsmashiness.

It became an epidemic. I cant remember, it might have Zoe [Saldana, who plays Uhura] who started it, said Simon Pegg, pulling double duty as Scotty and as a co-writer on Star Trek Beyond.

Esto es lo que sucede cuando me dan mas tiempo libre en la hora de almuerzo en el trabajo. Empiezo hacer dubsmashes a @BombaEstereo ! FUEGO! This is what happens when my lunchbreak at work is extended too much energy and then I start dubsmashing. in spanish! A video posted by Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) on Sep 9, 2015 at 2:02pm PDT

As soon as were done saying lines, we just sit in our chairs and Dubsmash something, added Saldana. Its our comic relief. John, Simon, and Karl [Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy] have a knack for it. They are so spot on.

We all downloaded it, and while we were sitting around during setups, all of a sudden a Dubsmash would come in, Pegg added. They range from songs to bizarre quotes. Karl did a lovely rendition of Depeche Modes Enjoy the Silence.

Story continues

Even Spock got in on the action. Zachary Quinto proclaims himself the master of the art form. I am the reigning Dubsmash champion. Im pretty sure that most people in the cast would say that Im the best. If theyre not, theyre lying. Ly-ing.

But the Trekkers do more than just pretend to sing. They have legit musical chops. Pine (Into the Woods) and Saldana (Book of Life, Nina) have shown off their vocal prowess on screen, and Urban isnt afraid to pick up a microphone. Zach plays the banjo. John plays the guitar. Anton plays the guitar and he picked up the banjo the other day and killed it, said Pine.

And would the current Captain Kirk make like the vintage model and attempt to boldly launch a recording career? Thats very cute, Pine said, smirking. But after thinking a moment, he continued, I do have some music in me, so well see what happens  hopefully people would not bash it as they did with [William] Shatner. Hes an entertainer.

Quinto, who never goes anywhere without his trusty banjo, sees the Dubsmash contests and jam sessions as an extension of the actors mutual admiration. Ive never worked with a group of people that Ive loved this much. I could do every job with this cast, he said. Everybodys serious about the work, but we dont take ourselves too seriously.

constant companion bang up job. A photo posted by Zachary Quinto (@zacharyquinto) on Jul 20, 2015 at 5:52pm PDT

So its only a matter of time before we see Star Trek: The Musical? Coming to Broadway in the spring of 2017, Quinto announced. We can do it in our free time.

Watch out, Hamilton. Youre on notice.

(Updated May 30, 2016 with additional Dubsmash clip from Karl Urbans Twitter.)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f96908%2fscreen_shot_2016-05-24_at_7.47.48_pm

The Force is strong with these pugs.

A fleet of squish-faced Jedi, TIE fighters and a few Star Wars villains took to the streets of Portland on Sunday for the Oregon Humane Society's annual Pug Crawl fundraiser.

SEE ALSO: Pokemon reimagined as tiny pugs are completely adorable

And oh, what a Pug Crawl it was.

The event, which was officially called Star Wars: The Pug Awakens, raised more than $28,000 and hosted more than 2,000 people and 800 pugs.

Regardless, here are some of the craftiest, most creative costumes from the event. We wish these pups would show up in Episode VIII  they might give the Resistance a fighting chance.

May the pugs be with you.

[H/T: AV Club]

BONUS: Toast the dog is your new favorite runway model
An Ohio teen is being hailed as a true patriot after refusing to leave an American flag that had fallen off a pole at his high school.

Cole Dotson, an 18-year-old senior, spotted Old Glory on the ground at the base of the pole outside Continental High School.

Read: 'Avengers' Stars Go on Their Most Important Mission: Visiting a Cancer-Stricken Fan

According to the U.S. Flag Code, the stars and stripes should never touch the ground.

He got out of his car, picked up the flag and called his grandmother, an employee at the school, for help.

Read: Dog Saved Moments Before Being Euthanized When Assistant Finds Paralysis-Causing Tick

His mother posted a photo of her son holding the flag to Facebook with the caption: When your son calls his grandmother and says he has a problem....it's usually not good. This is where she found him this morning. The flag fell to the ground, he saw it, stopped and held it until someone from school could come and put it back up. Proud of you Cole Dotson!"

Eventually, someone from the schools facilities came to bring the flag back up to the top of the pole.

Since being posted to Facebook, the photo of Cole has been shared nearly 45,000 times. His mom, Rhonda Ordway Pester, told InsideEdition.com that the response to the photo had been "overwhelming."

Watch: Playboy Model Veteran Taken Down by Cops after Seizing American Flag at Protest

Related Articles:
A report by the State Department inspector general sharply criticizes Hillary Clintons use of a private email system, concluding that the former secretary of state violated federal rules and ignored warnings from underlings that she was putting her communications at risk of foreign hacking.

Moreover, the report finds that when two State Department officials raised concerns about Clintons exclusive use of a private email server  and that it might be violating federal rules to preserve official records  they were brushed aside by a senior official in Clintons office who told them the matter was not to be discussed any further and instructed them never to speak of the Secretarys personal email system again.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the committee investigating the 2012 attack on American diplomats in Benghazi, immediately issued a statement saying the findings vindicate his panels efforts. But the political impact of the exhaustive 79-page report, which covers the State Departments use of emails going back to 2001, may be blunted by the disclosure that former Secretary of State Colin Powell also violated some of the same rules by using private emails for work-related business. Between 2001 and 2008, more than 90 department employees periodically used private email accounts to conduct official business, it says.

But the report from the State Departments internal watchdog reserves its harshest criticism for Clinton, noting that as the danger of security risks increased during her tenure department guidance against using private emails became considerably more detailed and more sophisticated.  Secretary Clintons cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives.

The report notes that neither Clinton nor her former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, agreed to be interviewed by the inspector general.

A separate investigation by the FBI, focusing on whether Clintons email system  hosted on a private server at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.  potentially exposed national security secrets is expected to wrap up soon.

Story continues

Hillary Clinton (Photo: John Locher/AP)

The report released Wednesday includes new details that undermine some of the Clinton campaigns justifications for the private email system. It found that the arrangement was never reviewed or approved by State Department legal advisers, and it cites several instances in which Clinton was warned by her subordinates against using it. On March 11, 2011, the assistant secretary for diplomatic security emailed Clinton about a dramatic increase in attempts by cyber actors to compromise the private home e-mail accounts of senior Department officials. The likely objective, the official told Clinton, was gain access to policy documents and personal information that could enable technical surveillance and possible blackmail. The personal e-email of family members also is at risk, the official wrote in the previously undisclosed email.

A statement by the Clinton campaign said the report showed that problems with the State Departments email system were longstanding and predated Clintons time as secretary. While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the Inspector General documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email, said campaign spokesman Brian Fallon. The report shows that problems with the State Departments electronic record-keeping systems were longstanding and that there was no precedent of someone in her position having a State Department email account until after the arrival of her successor.

Contrary to the false theories advanced for some time now, the report notes that her use of personal email was known to officials within the Department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the Secretarys server. We agree that steps ought to be taken to ensure the government can better maintain official records, and if she were still at the State Department, Secretary Clinton would embrace and implement any recommendations, including those in this report, to help do that. But as this report makes clear, Hillary Clintons use of personal email was not unique, and she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records.

The report contains new evidence that Clintons private email server  which had been installed in the basement of her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.  was the target of cyberattacks. On Jan. 9, 2011, an outside adviser who provided technical support to the Clinton email system notified Huma Abedin, Clintons deputy chief of staff for operations, that he had to shut down the server because he believed someone was trying to hack us and while they did not get in I didnt want to let them have the chance to. Later that day, the adviser again wrote to Abedin, who was identified only by her title: We were attacked again so I shut [the server] down for a few min. The next day, Abedin emailed Clintons chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and another top aide, instructing them not to email Clinton anything sensitive and stated that she could explain more in person.

Aerial view of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clintons home in Chappaqua, N.Y. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)

In addition to the 2011 warning about security, Clinton was also told that she could be violating rules about preserving internal email communications for federal records. The report found that in 2010, two members of her senior executive staff separately expressed concerns about the private email arrangement. But the director of the Office of the Executive Secretariat for Information Resource Management blew them off, telling one  incorrectly  that department lawyers had approved the system. The two unidentified staffers were forbidden by the director to even bring up the subject. The Director stated that the mission of [the Executive Secretariat information office] is to support the Secretary and instructed the staff never to speak of the Secretarys personal email system again, according to the inspector general report.

The director is not identified by name, but a congressional staffer involved in one of the Clinton email investigations identified him as John Bentel, a now retired career department official. He was questioned by the House Benghazi Committee and said he had no memory or knowledge of the issues he was being asked about, and declined a further request to be interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to a March letter by the panels chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, to his lawyer. The lawyer, Randy Turk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report also includes a newly disclosed email that suggests that Clinton was worried that some of her personal communications might become public if she switched to a State Department email system, as some department officials were urging. In November 2010, when Abedin emailed her that we should talk about putting you on state email or releasing your email address to the department so you are not going to spam, Clinton replied, Lets get separate address or device but I dont want any risk of the personal being accessible.

Although Clinton has admitted her exclusive use of a private email server while she was secretary of state was a mistake, she has repeatedly insisted it did not violate any department rules at the time. She has contended that since almost all her work-related emails were exchanged with other government officials on their government accounts, records of them should have been preserved at the other end. I fully complied with every rule I was governed by, said Clinton in her initial March 10, 2015, press conference on the matter.

But the State Department inspector general report disputes that flatly noting that the department and officials of the National Archives sent multiple notices about the need to preserve work-related emails as government records and to surrender all federal records prior to department government employment. It chastises her for keeping private all 55,000 of her emails as secretary when she left the department in early 2013, and returning only about 30,000 of them in response to a request in late 2014, after her use of the system was discovered by Gowdys committee. None of the returned emails date from her first few months at the department, the report notes.

Sending emails from a personal account to other employees at the Department accounts is not an appropriate method of preserving any such emails that would constitute a Federal record, the report states. Therefore, Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary.

At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Departments policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Benghazi Committee, said in a statement: There is only one reason why these facts are now available to the American people: thorough congressional oversight. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Gowdy was quick to claim credit for setting the investigation in motion, with a statement saying: There is only one reason why these facts are now available to the American people: thorough congressional oversight, including the Select Committee on Benghazis insistence that any truly comprehensive review of what happened before, during, and after the 2012 terrorist attacks in Libya must include public records from the former Secretary of State and her senior staff. While the emails have never been the focus of our investigation, it was necessary to obtain them, and this committee is the first and only one to do so. If anyone wonders why the investigation is not yet complete, the malfeasance and numerous problems identified in this report are Exhibit A, and prove the committee has faced serial delays from day one at the hands of public officials who sought to avoid transparency and accountability.
(This version of the story corrects surname in paragraph 15, clarifies list of donors in paragraph 2) By Megan Rowling ISTANBUL (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Governments and humanitarian agencies have agreed a "Grand Bargain" which aims to cut the costs of administering aid by around $1 billion a year, and ensure more of that money goes to help people in crisis. At the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on Monday, around 20 donor countries, the European Commission and 16 aid organizations - which include several U.N. agencies and the Red Cross - agreed to reduce inefficiencies and slim down overheads. That could help fill an estimated $15 billion annual funding gap to tackle the emergency needs of more than 125 million people globally, and create "a virtuous circle, drawing in more resources" from a wider range of donors, the bargain said. U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the deal, which contains 51 commitments, would lead to better humanitarian response on the ground in conflicts and natural disasters. "It should lead to faster action, better engagement with people affected by crises, more funding for national organizations, greater efficiency and more accountability," he told a launch event in Istanbul. "These are all fundamental to improving support for the people we serve." Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commission vice-president for budget and human resources who masterminded the bargain, said the overheads of aid agencies now soak up around 15 percent of funding. Those would be shaved, with the goal of producing annual cost savings of $1 billion within five years, she added. "I expect more resources in the hands of people in need and the humanitarian workers on the frontline (who) are risking their lives to help them, and I expect less to be spent in the back room in transactions that do not help us get help to the people," she said. The bargain, supported by big donor governments including the United States, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan, also commits them to make their funding more flexible and to put money into longer-term programs that allow agencies to go beyond supplying basic relief. They will also look at how to simplify their systems for distributing money to aid agencies and their requirements for reporting how that money is spent. FRONTLINE RECOGNITION The humanitarian agencies agreed to jointly assess aid needs in a disaster, rather than each producing a separate analysis, and to buy supplies together to bring down costs. Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, welcomed the bargain's commitment to provide 25 percent of humanitarian funding directly to local and national agencies by 2020 - up from only around 2.5 percent in 2015. "There is a recognition of those who are on the frontline," he said. "They are they in places where there is no doctor, no school, where women have to walk the last mile to the water point, often paved with danger." The bargain would free up funds to provide things like insurance and better equipment for those handling diseases, keeping local aid workers safer, he added. World Vision International head Kevin Jenkins said the bargain - which its backers hope will attract more support in the coming months - would not be a panacea for all the problems of the aid system but was "a serious and realistic way forward". "Making change will cost, but staying the same will cost more," he said. (Reporting by Megan Rowling; editing by Alex Whiting. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
You know that one nightmare boss you had who was always up your ass with naggy after-hours work emails that just could not wait until the next business day? What an asshole he or she was. Honestly, sending after-hours work emails should just be outlawed.

Oh, hey! Turns out that in France, it actually is.

Source: YouTube

The Huffington Post reported that a new labor reform bill includes a so-called "right to disconnect" amendment, making it illegal for French companies with 50 or more employees to email its workers outside of standard business hours.

"The development of information and communication technologies, if badly managed or regulated, can have an impact on the health of workers," the amendment, which is bae, states. "Among them, the burden of work and the informational overburden, the blurring of the borders between private life and professional life, are risks associated with the usage of digital technology."

Research does indeed support the idea that checking into your work email during non-work hours  hours that really should be dedicated to living the one and only life that you have to live  can lead to serious burnout. One study from 2014 found that there was an "increased risk of reporting at least one health problem for employees who had been contacted by their employer, or worked in their free time to meet work demands in the last 12 months," compared to employees who used their free time to do non-work things.

Perhaps the United States, a land in which more than half of the workforce emails from home, should take a page out of France's book!
Rome (AFP) - Dramatic images released by the Italian navy Wednesday captured the moment a heavily overcrowded boat overturned in a shipwreck off Libya which left at least five people dead.

The blue fishing vessel, its deck heaving with people, tipped over after the migrants rushed to one side on spotting a rescue ship -- an all too frequent mistake which has led to many disasters in the Mediterranean.

The migrants, many of them men, some already wearing orange lifejackets as a precaution, were captured in rare photographs as they clung to the boat's rails or each other, or dropped like stones into the sea.

Some are seen hanging on to the starboard edge by their fingertips as the trawler rolls, while others try to balance on the rim.

Pictures taken seconds later show the churning waters around the boat peppered with people trying to get away from the vessel which, now overturned, begins to sink, with four people still perched on its upturned hull.

The navy said its Bettica patrol boat had spotted "a boat in precarious conditions off the coast of Libya with numerous migrants aboard" but the trawler overturned shortly afterwards "due to overcrowding".

The Bettica threw life-rafts and jackets to those in the water, while another navy ship in the area sent a helicopter and rescue boats.

- Sounding the alarm -

Survivors can be seen in the photographs wearing life-rings, some swimming towards the Bettica as the helicopter whirrs overhead. The navy said 562 people had been pulled to safety.

The operation wound up late Wednesday without finding any further survivors or victims.

The migrants had sounded the alarm by calling for help using a satellite phone some 18 nautical miles off Libya.

The Bettica went on to pluck another 108 migrants from their dilapidated vessel in a second rescue operation on Wednesday.

It is not the first time a boat making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean has overturned because of sudden movement onboard when help is in sight.

Story continues

In August last year, a Palestinian survivor of just such a shipwreck described the moment the boat rolled as "like being flung from a catapult. I could only see heads, all around, amid the waves, everyone pushing down on everyone else to try and stay afloat".

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 1,370 migrants have lost their lives so far this year as they attempt the perilous crossing to Europe.

The latest arrivals bring the number of people rescued and transferred to Italy since the start of the year to nearly 40,000 following the rescue of more than 6,000 since Monday, according to figures collated by the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) and the coastguard.

The overwhelming majority of those arriving in Italy so far this year have been from sub-Saharan Africa.

Italian media reports warned the number of minors arriving was on the rise. A nine-month old baby girl whose mother died during a crossing this week was being looked after by cultural mediators in the reception centre on Lampedusa island, La Repubblica said.

The UNHCR, aid organisations and the Italian government say there is no sign yet of Middle Eastern refugees switching to the Libyan route to Europe following moves to restrict access from Turkey via the Greek islands.
Global Markets Ride on Crude Rally, Macro Data

(Continued from Prior Part)

European markets continue upward trend

The major European indexes (DBEU) extended their gains from the previous day on May 25, 2016. The rise was primarily attributed to the strong release of German data.

Specifically, the SPDR Euro Stoxx 50 ETF (FEZ) was trading 1.5% higher at 9:30 AM ET. The German DAX and the French CAC 40 were also trading with a positive bias. They rose by 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively.

The gains in non-Eurozone countries were compounded. The United Kingdoms (FKU) FTSE 100 was trading 0.57% higher. Swedens (EWD) OMX Stockholm 30 rose by 0.65%. The Russian (RSX) MICEX index posted decent gains as it rose by 1.1%.

German data strong, but Italian industrial numbers disappoint

The business confidence indexes published by German market research firms GFK and IFO came out above market expectations. The GFK business consumer confidence in May rose to 9.8 against the forecast of 9.6.

The IFO business climate for May rose to 107.7 against the forecast of 107. The IFO expectation rose to 101.6, while IFO current conditions came out at 114.2.

This rise was evident across all major sectors, with the construction sector rising to the highest level since 1991. The manufacturing sector rose for the third consecutive month. Among other European data, the month-over-month Italian industrial orders and sales were reported below forecasts, as they fell by 3.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

Impact on ADRs

Looking at the performance of European ADRs (American depositary receipts) in the banking sector, Deutsche Bank (DB) rose by 3.5% on May 25. French ADR Orange SA (ORAN) rose by 0.41%.

Finnish company Nokia (NOK) rose by a significant 4.4% while Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) rose by 1.3%. CRH (CRH), an Irish construction company, was trading higher by 1.5%.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan on Wednesday accused a senior United Nations humanitarian affairs official it effectively expelled of having filed "false reports" about people displaced by conflict in the east African country.

The UN announced on Sunday that Ivo Freijsen, head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, had been "de facto expelled" after Khartoum refused to renew his stay permit which expires on June 6.

Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said Freijsen had been "non-cooperative" with Sudanese officials.

"He published reports which Sudanese officials do not agree with," Ghandour told reporters.

"He published false reports. For example when there were 11,000 people displaced, he reported 100,000 were displaced.

"He even said that Sudan was suffering from famine."

Ghandour did not elaborate or refer to the areas involving the displaced people.

OCHA regularly reports on the humanitarian situation in war-torn areas of Sudan such as Darfur, where a conflict since 2003 has left tens of thousands of people dead and about 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.

In its latest weekly bulletin it said that meeting humanitarian needs of tens of thousands newly displaced from an upsurge in fighting in the mountainous Jebel Marra region this year was becoming "difficult" amid low levels of funding.

OCHA also monitors South Sudanese refugees who flee to Sudan from war and food shortages in their country.

The United Nations said it had submitted a request on April 10 for a 12-month extension of Freijsen's stay permit in Sudan.

But Ghandour said Sudan had previously regularly renewed Freijsen's permit since he arrived in 2014.

"This man had come to Sudan in January 2014, saying that he was going to be only an acting head of OCHA," the minister said.

"And the foreign ministry kept renewing his permit until June 2016."

Story continues

When asked about Ghandour's remarks about Freijsen, OCHA told AFP it had "consistently" communicated his title to Khartoum in all its documents.

It said the organisation "gathers, analyses and shares reliable data from humanitarian partners, including governments, on humanitarian needs and response".

OCHA also denied it had reported about a famine in Sudan.

Freijsen, who is Dutch, is the fourth senior UN official who has been forced to leave Sudan in the past two years, the UN said.

His departure comes in addition to the "forced closure of international NGO Tearfund in December 2015 and the de facto expulsion of three international NGO country representatives in recent months", the UN said.
Kabul (AFP) - Ten people were killed in Afghanistan Wednesday when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives, striking a vehicle carrying court employees near the capital Kabul, the interior ministry said.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up... in Paghman district, killing 10 people and wounding four others," ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but security forces and Afghan government employees are frequently targeted by Taliban insurgents.

The blast came as the Taliban announced the appointment of influential religious figure Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, in a statement that also confirmed former supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike on Saturday.
Police believe they've recovered the remains of a Washington state couple who are believed to have been killed by two brothers in a property dispute that turned deadly.

One of those brothers, 49-year-old Tony Reed, was arrested in San Diego, California, on May 16, some 1,300 miles away from the scene of the alleged murder.

On Tuesday, police said Reed helped lead them to the bodies of 45-year-old Patrick Shunn and his wife, 46-year-old Monique Patenaude, in a remote area near where their vehicles had previously been recovered.

Read: Husband Declared Not Guilty in Fourth Trial For Wife's Murder

Reed is suspected of helping his still at-large brother, John Blaine Reed, murder the Oso, Washington, couple in April.

Tony Reed was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on May 16 after weeks on the run at the U.S./Mexico border and was transported and booked into the Snohomish County Jail on May 21.

Both brothers fled to Mexico after the alleged killing, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said in a release.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner will confirm the cause and manner of death of the victims.

A lawyer for Tony Clyde Reed told the Daily Herald in Everett, Washington, on Monday that his client turned himself over to authorities to answer to murder charges.

"My client is innocent of the first-degree murder charges," the lawyer said. "He's here to defend himself."

Read: Man Arrested for Killing Girlfriend's 1-Year-Old Daughter He Claimed Fell Down Stairs: Cops

Authorities say John Reeds house was very close to where Shunn and Patenaude lived and, according to a Seattle Times report, the couple had accused neighbors of assault, trespassing and scawling death threats in the mud.

However, it was not clear from the report whether those neighbors were the Reeds.

Shunn sought a restraining order against neighbors, but a court commissioner dismissed the request as groundless in January.

Story continues

The couple was last seen April 11 before family members notified officials they'd failed to make contact for an "uncharacteristically" long time.

Watch: Carlie Trent Meets Men Who Rescued Her As Uncle Is Charged With Kidnapping

Related Articles:
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish lower court upheld on Wednesday the arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, saying the stay at Ecuador's London embassy did not equal detention. Assange, 44, is wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over allegations, which he denies, that he committed rape in 2010. A computer hacker who enraged U.S. authorities by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, he has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid the rape investigation in Sweden. He says he fears further extradition to the United States, where there has been a criminal investigation into the activities of Wikileaks. "The district court finds that there is still probable cause for the suspicion against JA (Julian Assange) for rape, less serious incident, and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty," the court said in a statement. Last year, Sweden's Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Assange to revoke a detention order. Following a statement by a U.N. panel that his stay in the embassy amounts to arbitrary detention, Assange's lawyers again in February asked the Stockholm District Court to overturn the warrant for his arrest. "Unlike the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the district court does not consider JA's stay at the Embassy of Ecuador in London a form of detention," the court said. One of Assange's Swedish lawyers, Thomas Olsson, said the decision will in all likelihood be appealed. "As far as I understand it, the court has not addressed the main issue in the case, whether the delay in the investigation is due to the inaction of the prosecutor, which we mean is a reason to overturn this (the arrest warrant)," Olsson told Reuters. In 2010, Wikileaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 U.S. military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973. (Reporting by Daniel Dickson; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
Beirut (AFP) - Here are key points regarding Raqa, the northern city that serves as the Islamic State group's de facto capital in Syria.

IS now faces a major assault by Kurdish-Arab forces in the surrounding province of Raqa, part of a two-pronged offensive that includes an operation by Iraqi forces to retake the jihadist-held city of Fallujah.

- Raqa as IS's 'capital' -

This city on the banks of the Euphrates River was under IS control for just five months before the group declared its self-styled Islamic "caliphate" in June 2014.

Raqa became the de facto capital for territory under IS control in Syria, where it implemented its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law.

The group terrorised the city's estimated 300,000 residents with beheadings, crucifixions, and other brutal forms of violence.

Particularly gruesome deaths were filmed and distributed in what became a notorious IS propaganda tool.

Figures provided by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group indicate that more than 3,500 people were killed by the end of 2015, more than half of them civilians.

- A model city, a living hell -

IS has tried to depict Raqa as an ideal, functioning metropolis where jihadist-run institutions provide for residents.

But the activist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently has taken to social media to show that the city is in fact devastated.

"People are suffering... They (IS jihadists) don't do anything for the civilians," said RBSS co-founder Abdalaziz al-Hamza.

Instead, many residents are jobless and terrified.

"Because civilians don't have any work, anything to earn money, IS has tried to get them to join them (by promising) salaries, money," he told AFP.

"Ninety percent of things are banned. There is no coffee shop, no school apart from IS schools. Men can't wear jeans."

- Using civilians for cover -

Raqa city and the surrounding province have already come under fire from the US-led air coalition bombing IS and from Russian warplanes backing the forces of Bashar al-Assad.

Story continues

And now, the Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces is fighting to clear IS from territory north of the city.

Although SDF commanders have insisted they are not targeting Raqa city just yet, IS fighters appear to already be taking precautions.

"They (IS militants) are using the civilians as a cover," Al-Hamza said.

RBSS this week reported IS had closed bus stations in Raqa in an attempt to prevent residents from fleeing the city.

Jihadists are also considering setting up bases in schools and other civilian infrastructure in an attempt to shield themselves from air strikes.

- Strategic city on the Euphrates -

Raqa and its eponymous province occupy a strategic location where several major roads intersect on the banks of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.

It is east of Syria's second city Aleppo, just 90 kilometres south of the Turkish border, and less than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from neighbouring Iraq.

Raqa has prospered owing to agriculture in the fertile river valley, and it also benefits from nearby hydro-electric dams that generate power for much of the country.

It was the first provincial capital to fall out of Syrian government control in March 2013.

If IS is eventually expelled from the city, it would be one of the most significant victories against the group since it rose to prominence in 2013.

Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said that if IS loses Raqa, "it's the beginning of the end of their caliphate".
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's new government has no schedule for re-starting trade talks with China, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung said on Wednesday, adding that the pro-independence ruling party first wanted to pass a law governing oversight of negotiations with Beijing. Beijing has already condemned the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposed "supervisory law", and critics in Taiwan say it could paralyze relations with China. The bill requires government officials to get legislative consent before, during and after any talks with Beijing. They cannot sign any agreements with China before all three stages of legislative approval are completed. "The cross-Strait supervisory bill is still in parliament. Trade talks need the oversight, so to hold trade talks would be of no use," Lee said in his first news conference since Friday's inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen. The DPP's Tsai has said democratic principles will rule Taiwan's ties with Beijing while reiterating her government will keep the peace and forge a consistent, predictable and sustainable relationship. She urged China in her inaugural speech Friday to "set aside the baggage of history and engage in positive dialogue". China has regarded Taiwan as a wayward province to be taken by force if necessary ever since defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 after a civil war with China's Communists. The DPP, which distrusts Beijing and traditionally supports independence for Taiwan, took over the reins of government from the more China-friendly Nationalist Party, which had held power for eight years. China on Wednesday reiterated its opposition to the DPP's pro-independence stance, warning of negative consequences if the party fails to recognize Taiwan is a part of China, under a "One China" principle. "If the 'One China' principle cannot be upheld, political mutual trust will no longer exist and is bound to have adverse effects," said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular news conference. "Everyone is very clear about the DPP's history. This party adheres to the 'Taiwan independence' stance...Obviously, it is precisely the DPP which needs to drop the baggage of history," he said. Wang Weixing, a member of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, published a commentary on Tuesday saying Tsai's leadership style was "emotional" and "extreme" because she was single. The commentary, which was first published in the International Herald Leader and re-posted on many Chinese websites including that of the official Xinhua news agency, was later deleted from Chinese news sites, after facing ridicule from Chinese social media users who called the piece sexist. (Reporting by Jeanny Kao; Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING; Writing by Faith Hung and J.R. Wu; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)
Taiwan's new president Tsai Ing-wen practises "emotional" and "extreme" politics because she is a single woman without children, a member of China's organisation overseeing relations with the island has said.

The scathing attack on the newly inaugurated leader came from Wang Weixing, a military analyst and a board member of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

"As a single female politician, she is unburdened by love, and lacks the constraint of family or concern for children," Wang wrote in the International Herald Leader newspaper, which is under China's state news agency Xinhua.

"In political style and strategy, often she tends to be emotional, personal, and extreme. In terms of political tricks, she considers strategy less, tactical details more, and short-term goals are paramount, while long-term goals are less taken into account."

The attack came days after Tsai, Taiwan's first female president, took the oath of office at the presidential palace in Taipei.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 after the Kuomintang nationalist forces lost a civil war to the Communists. But Beijing has always seen the island as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Beijing is highly suspicious of Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party is traditionally pro-independence, and has warned her against any attempt at a breakaway.

It has warned that it would cut off contacts with the island unless she states her support for the concept that there is only one China.

In her inauguration speech Tsai called for "positive dialogue" with the Chinese mainland, but stopped short of any compromise on Beijings "one China" demands.

Wang's long and blistering op-ed also accused Tsai of intending to pursue "hidden independence" for Taiwan. It disappeared from some portals Wednesday and the link to the newspaper's website failed to load.

Story continues

But the article continued to be shared on Chinese social media, with thousands of comments on the Twitter-like Weibo service, many criticising the personal nature of the piece's attacks.

"Why don't official media dare talk about Putin as a 'single guy'?" fumed one user.

"It has nothing to do with politics, attacking a woman like this is just incredibly low," wrote another.

Wang's piece concluded by calling Tsai's personality "clearly two sided", with a private character that is "rather deceptive".

He wrote: "When we deal with Tsai Ing-Wen, we must constantly consider her experience, personality and psychology."
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, named Wednesday as the Afghan Taliban's new leader, was a senior judge during the insurgent group's five-year rule over Afghanistan and a close confidant of its founder Mullah Omar.

Believed to be in his fifties, he hails from Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar like both his former boss -- Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday -- and Omar, who died in 2013.

Akhundzada went on to become the group's "chief justice" after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

He was one of Mansour's deputies alongside Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the feared Haqqani network based out of eastern Afghanistan.

Several senior Taliban sources have said Mansour bequeathed Akhunzada the leadership in his will, though some observers have argued in the past that hereditary succession is against the Taliban's ideology.

Akhundzada is not known for his prowess on the battlefield, having preferred a life of religious and legal study.

He is said to have issued many of the rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Taliban's extreme interpretation of Islam, and adjudicated internal disputes.

"He is a religious scholar who was close to Mullah Omar, a close confidant and an adviser on religious issues who wrote fatwas, and was on the council of Ulema (Muslim scholars)," said Thomas Ruttig, a former diplomat and co-director of the Kabul-based Afghan Analysts Network.

A senior Taliban source familiar with proceedings at the Shura (council) which appointed Akhundzada said he was a unanimous choice, adding the group's rank and file looked to him as a "spiritual leader" who had taught thousands of students in both Pakistan and Afghanistan over 25 years.

According to Rahimullah Yousafzai, considered the region's foremost expert on the Taliban, Akhundzada was in Pakistan during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan -- unlike Omar and Mansour, who earned reputations as fighters as part of the US-backed mujahideen.

Story continues

- Moral authority -

But he returned to his homeland in time to attend the meeting in the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar in 1994 at which Omar declared the birth of the Taliban movement, according to the senior militant source.

It is unclear whether he will follow Mansour in shunning peace negotiations with the Afghan government, though analysts believe he will be more heavily reliant on his Shura than his predecessors.

In terms of seniority, he was second only to Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

"Akhundzada was chosen to avoid further conflict and consultation," said Islamabad-based analyst Amir Rana.

Haqqani was meanwhile named his "senior deputy" while Mullah Mohammad Yaqoub, the son of Mullah Omar, was once again passed over and named a simple "deputy".

"He (Akhundzada) will be a more symbolic leader than a functional leader," suggested Rana. "Maybe Haqqani will deal with the military side and Mullah Yaqoub will deal with the political affairs.

"I think he enjoys some moral supremacy among the Taliban ranks, and he is in a position to keep this consensus intact."

The emergence last year of a splinter group led by Mullah Muhammad Rasool -- as well as competition from the Islamic State group and former allies-turned-enemies the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan -- present a challenge to the Taliban's dominance which would have been hard to imagine in the Omar era.

Akhundzada will have to walk a fine line between hawks calling for intensified attacks in the wake of their leader's death, and more pragmatic elements seeking to negotiate a power-sharing arrangement with Kabul to end the conflict.

Yousafzai projected a rocky road ahead for Akhundzada.

"I think some other sections were not consulted, there is no unification of the movement yet, and I don't see how it can unify under Haibatullah (Akhundzada)," the analyst said.
London (AFP) - Hundreds of Tata Steel workers held a rare rally in central London on Thursday as the company's board in Mumbai said it had yet to shortlist any bidders for the sale of its loss-making British assets.

Wearing safety helmets and Tata's yellow jackets, protesters chanted the slogan "Save Our Steel!" as they marched past the Houses of Parliament.

"We want somebody who will invest in the industry, support the industry and preferably keep us together, keep the plants together," Tony Pearson, who has worked in the sector since 1977, told AFP.

Indian Tata Steel is Britain's biggest steel employer and the fate of around 12,000 jobs in Britain depends on a sale process it launched earlier this year.

British Business Secretary Sajid Javid held discussions with Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday, a day after a deadline passed for interested parties to submit bids to acquire the assets.

The company said on Wednesday it had yet to shortlist bidders out of the seven who have expressed interest.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O'Grady also joined Wednesday's protest.

"The workers are incredibly skilled... They must not be sent down the road, the industry must not be destroyed, and we will make sure it is not destroyed."

O'Grady said Tata "owe it to the people that they've made such good profits out of to ensure that this is a responsible sale.

"It can't be about asset stripping," she said.

During a parliamentary debate, finance minister George Osborne said the government was "doing everything we can to help this industry in a very difficult time including making sure there's tough tariffs on Chinese dumping".

Tata Steel signalled its exit from Britain on March 30, blaming global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe, high costs and currency volatility.

The government has said it will contribute hundreds of millions of pounds (euros, dollars) to any potential deal and take a 25 percent stake in the assets.
New Zealand artist Benjamin Lloyd updated his Facebook page on Sunday with a short message: Nothing brings me more joy than boosting a kids confidence with a custom tattoo 50 likes and ill [sic] go to starship hospital and tat all the kids up.

Within 10 minutes, Lloyd received his 50 likes  and then some. In fact, the post has garnered more than 425,000 likes, with many commenters leaving praise.

Props to you for doing something so wonderful. You will be the light on the kids faces for weeks to come! wrote Kelli Sweitzer-Hock.

So amazing to see artists like yourself in our city who give back especially to children. Seriously amazing job! commented Danyelle Gates.

To those who expressed concern about the effects of inking young kids, Lloyd assured them that the tats arent permanent. He airbrushes the works of art onto his little clients using a custom ink that washes off in the shower, so they get all the coolness without the commitment.

While he hasnt laid out plans with the hospital yet, he hopes to visit later this week.

Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have a beauty story youd like to share with us? Email ybeautystories@yahoo.com.
(Image: Team YP)

Team YP has officially responded to the Capcom Pro Tour rule banning players sponsored by pornographic websites, denouncing any potential ban thats coming its way.

Team YP has never been an adult company, nor have our players ever been asked to display or otherwise represent an adult content brand, Team YP VP Brad Burns told Yahoo Esports. To ban Team YP and its players, we feel, is uncalled for and inappropriate.

Late last Friday, Capcom posted an update to its rules on the Capcom Pro Tour website, banning adult content sponsors, while acknowledging alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and vaping sponsors are accepted on the CPT. The reaction from players and fans forced Capcom to review the ruleset.

We understand everyones concern around the sponsorship rule in the #CPT2016 ruleset. We will review and have an update soon.  Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) May 21, 2016

Team YP is an esports organization started up and owned by adult content publisher YouPorn. Recently, ESL banned Team YP from competition for its association with YouPorn, despite attempts to make concessions to promote itself as a safe for work brand.

The sponsors biggest concern with the latest CPT ruleset is its players, Anton Filipinoman Herrera and Valentin Valmaster Petit, not being able to compete. The way the rule was originally written, if interpreted literally, no players would be allowed to compete at CPT events.

Our overall feeling, which Im sure aligns with any league, tournament organizer, team or player involved in esports, is that we want to see the sport grow and become more legitimate, Burns said. By putting bans on responsible and appropriate sponsors, who cover costs that allows players to play, stunts the growth which creates legitimacy.

Because of the timing of the publication of the rules, there was doubt if Valmaster would be allowed to compete on Saturday at StunFest 2016 in France. He was able to compete but was not allowed to wear his jersey.

Story continues

The issue between Team YP and the CPT is nothing new as it has carried over from a year ago. Capcom did not allow Team YPs players to compete with the YP tag or jerseys at CPT events. Valmaster qualified for Capcom Cup and was not allowed to wear his normal jersey. Instead, he wore a censored pixelated version of the jersey.

At the end of the day, I just want to play my favorite game. Without sponsorship, I cant afford to travel to tournaments. Right now, there are way more skilled players than teams to sponsor them. Team YP is an incredibly professional organization and Ive had a great experience working with them. If this new rule is specifically targeting Team YP to force them out of the CPT, it hurts me personally, and is also bad for esports in general, Filipinoman said in a statement.

Capcom has pulled the rules from the CPT site again, and appears to be re-evaluating and revising them. Meanwhile, Capcom confirmed Team YPs players can compete, but made it clear the sponsor would not be promoted on the CPT.

Capcom communicated directly with Valmaster regarding this issue last year during the Capcom Cup finals and Filipinoman was spoken with recently to confirm he can still compete, a Capcom representative told Yahoo Esports. As stated previously, Capcom wont be promoting Team YP or any other sponsor we deem inappropriate on our live streams, social media or any other forward facing digital media or marketing materials. That said, all players will still be allowed to compete.

Michael Martin covers all things related to Street Fighter V and the Capcom Pro Tour. Follow him on Twitter @Bizarro_Mike.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Peter Thiel is helping wrestler Hulk Hogan bankroll his lawsuit against Gawker Media, according to a report in Forbes. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, in March won a $140 million jury verdict against Gawker in a privacy lawsuit stemming from a sex tape Gawker had published. Gawker, a New York-based website specializing in media and celebrity news, is appealing the verdict. Forbes reported late Tuesday that Thiel, an early backer of Facebook and a co-founder of PayPal , had played a lead role in financing the litigation. A spokesman for Thiel said Wednesday he would be in touch if Thiel decides to issue a statement on the matter. In a statement Wednesday, Gawker acknowledged but did not confirm reports of Thiel's involvement, and said it hoped the appeals court would decide in its favor. Thiel, who is also a founder of a hedge fund and a venture capital firm and has been an outspoken voice on issues including education, is no stranger to Gawker. In 2007, it published an article entitled Peter Thiel is totally gay, people. Thiel kept mum publicly about his sexuality at the time, but has since said he is gay. A longtime supporter of libertarian causes, Thiel recently said he was backing real estate financier Donald Trump in his bid for president. In my experience, the freedom to speak, in the view of most libertarians, is not unlimited, said Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, in an email. If Peter Thiel is indeed backing the lawsuit, I assume that he thinks that disclosing a sex video without the participants permission is a violation of the participants rights  here, a right to privacy. Gawker is also facing lawsuits from Shiva Ayyadurai, an entrepreneur who has made the controversial claim that he invented email, and journalist and writer Ashley Terrill. Lawsuits backed by third parties are not unusual. In most cases, though, they are financial investments in which backers are motivated by the potential proceeds from a large damage award. Secretive third-party financings of lawsuits can put media companies at a disadvantage during litigation, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, in an interview Tuesday. There might be circumstances in which knowing who your real adversary is, or the real party of interest who is making a suit against you may alter ones perception of the case and strategies for defense, Scheer said. (Reporting by Sarah McBride and Heather Somerville Editing by Jonathan Weber and Michael Perry)
A grandfather was brought to tears as this teen decided his prom night wouldn't be same without him, even if he was lying in a hospital bed.

Read: Teen Purrfectly Poses with Pet Cat in Pink Dress for Prom Photos

Mike Miranda from Webster, Texas, couldn't imagine not being able to send his grandson off to prom, his daughter Nicole Leon told InsideEdition.com.

"Their relationship is excellent," Leon said.

She said Miranda has never missed a single one of her son Felipe's major life events, until the 67-year-old found himself in an extended hospital stay following a minor procedure.

"He knew he would not get to see Felipe for prom, and he kept telling my mom that she should leave the hospital to go see him," Leon said.

Little did Miranda know, Felipe couldn't picture the big day without his beloved grandfather, either.

After having his grandmother tell Miranda that he was held up at a friend's house, Felipe, in his boutonniere best, surprised his grandfather in his hospital with his date following closely behind.

In a video posted by ViralHog, Felipe can be seen bursting into the hospital room, and showering his grandfather in kisses. His date can be seen in the background, trying not to tear up.

"When we opened the door and he saw Felipe, it was priceless," Felipe's mom said. "He still, [to] this day, is in awe."

Read: High School Students Get Glammed Up for Prom for Free: 'A Dream Come True'

Now, with graduation just around the corner, the family hopes Miranda will be well enough to return the surprise with his attendance at the ceremony.

Watch: This Poor Guy Asked a Girl to Prom in Front of 2,000 People, and It Didn't Go Like He Planned

Related Articles:
Some are born great...

Never gets old. #FBFhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDYj3IMkRI ...

Some achieve greatness...

If you're struggling this Monday morning 'Chewbacca Mom' Candace Payne should add a sparkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yRv5Jg5TI ...

And some have greatness thrust  or flipped  upon them.

@Mike_Senatore FLIPPED A WATER BOTTLE FOR OUR TALENT SHOW AND ITS THE MOST LIT THING IVER EVER EXPERIENCEDpic.twitter.com/2G0GTiy2O4

Such is the case for Mike Senatore, a "self-described average" teen from North Carolina, whose talent for flipping a partially filled water bottle is simple, astonishing  and taking the internet by storm.

I look up to @Mike_Senatore so much. Truly all I aspire to be in life.

Here's video of Senatore flipping the bottle again, this time taken from an entirely different vantage point in the high school auditorium, in case you missed it the first time.

It is poetry in motion.

@Mike_Senatore YOU ARE A LEGENDpic.twitter.com/iOr8EIyBgU

Wesley Manning, a classmate of Senatore's at Ardrey Kell High School, initially uploaded the video of his friend's senior talent show performance to Twitter on Tuesday.

Three hours later, Senatore knew his bottle-flipping feat was on pace to reach the annals of internet history.

The flip heard round the world

"The minute I walked offstage and was no longer visible to anybody in the audience, I threw my fist in the air," Senatore told Select All, New York Magazine's internet culture vertical. "I high-fived the first person I saw. I knew I'd nailed it, but when I watched the video after I was like 'I didn't realize it looked that good!'"

Story continues

At time of writing, the original video has garnered over 40,000 retweets.

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful talent @Mike_Senatore pic.twitter.com/5DMKzjcIJI

On behalf of all of us who are thirsty for incredible triumphs of humanity: Thank you, Mike Senatore, for flipping your water bottle over the table and into our hearts.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Telstra Corp Ltd on Wednesday said its $1.6 billion sale of a controlling stake in Chinese website operator Autohome Inc to Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd is being challenged by minority shareholders. The telecommunications firm said it intends to contest a petition some minority shareholders filed in the Cayman Islands. It did not identify the shareholders or elaborate on their objections. Telstra does not expect the action to disrupt the sale, a person close to the telco told Reuters, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Telstra declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by Reuters. Telstra, Australia's biggest phone company, on April 15 agreed to sell 47.7 percent of Autohome's total issued shares to Ping An. Within hours, an offer to acquire Telstra's stake at $31.50 a share was made by a consortium of Autohome chief executive and minority shareholder James Qin, and private equity firms Boyu Capital Advisory, Sequoia China Investment Management and Hillhouse TBC Holdings. The offer valued the automotive information website operator at about $3.35 billion. Telstra rejected the offer - a 6.6 percent premium over the amount agreed with Ping An - saying Autohome would benefit from Ping An's expertise in car insurance and financing as it moves away from being purely online and begins offline sales in China. After the sale, Telstra would retain 6.5 percent of Autohome. CEO Qin owned 2.9 percent as of February, regulatory filings showed. Autohome has been controlled by Telstra since its U.S. stock exchange listing in 2013, when its value was about $3.2 billion. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
By Lisa Maria Garza

DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas will file a lawsuit aimed at stopping the Obama administration's guidance to U.S. public schools this month that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday.

"Texas will sue to stop (President Barack) Obama's transgender directive to schools," Abbott said in a Twitter post.

The governor linked to a news article referencing the expected announcement of the legal challenge during a news conference that Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has scheduled for later on Wednesday.

The administration's May 13 announcement upset many conservatives across the country, with Paxton immediately threatening to fight the Obama administration's stance in the latest battleground on the issue of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The U.S. Education and Justice Departments said in a letter sent to school districts nationwide that while its guidance carried no legal weight, they must not discriminate against students, including based on their gender identity.

The directive suggested that school districts defying the Obama administration's legal interpretation could face lawsuits or loss of federal aid.

A similar legal battle is already underway in North Carolina, which in March became the first U.S. state to require transgender people to use restrooms in public buildings and schools that match the sex on their birth certificate instead of one that matches their gender identity.

The federal government filed suit against North Carolina, stating that the law violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The state filed its own suit against the Obama administration. North Carolina's law also has triggered a backlash from corporations, conventions, tourists and entertainers who oppose it.

(Reporting by Lisa Marie Garza in Dallas; Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Will Dunham)
An Indian fashion designer has used transgender women to model her latest collection [Photo: Red Lotus]

An Indian fashion designer is breaking down stereotypes and challenging the way people in India see transgender women with a line of saris modelled by trans women.

Designer Sharmila Nair has named her collection Mazhavil, the local word for rainbow. Since the LGBT community is represented by the rainbow flag, Nair told Mashable. I thought why not give my collection the same shades and use all the colours of the rainbow.



Made under her brand Red Lotus, the saris are made from Hubli cotton that has been dyed with rich natural colours, and paired with printed blouses.

The designer hopes the shoot will help break down stigmas [Photo: Facebook/Red Lotus]

After reading a Facebook post about the Kerala governments groundbreaking equal rights policy for transgender people, Sharmila was inspired to do her bit for inclusion.



Teaming with transgender rights organisation, Queerela, she was put in touch with rookie models Maya Menon and Gowri Savithri who, despite being nervous about taking part at first, were ultimately thrilled to be involved in the project.

The shoot is fast winning hearts for its inclusive message [Facebook: Red Lotus]

Sharmila now hopes the campaign will help to humanise and raise the profile of trans women in India.



It should really open up more opportunities for transgender [people], she told Fusion. People should break the ice.

What do you think of the collection? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

Photo of transgender girl sends a powerful message

Girls African-Themed Dress Called Tacky for Prom by Teacher
The Israeli news outlet Ynet reported earlier this week on a So far, around 50 people have signed up, ranging from ultra-Orthodox to conservative Jews.

The site's founder, who goes by the name Eran, reportedly started the underground website after inspiring friends and strangers alike to contact him in search of a similar relationship. It appears these people acknowledge their LGBTQ identity isn't a "phase," but want to stay in the closet nonetheless.

" I made a list and even set some people up," Eran said to Ynet. "But, as the requests multiplied, I decided that it was in everybody's interest to make a framework for it and give people a place where they could find the kind of relationship that they're looking for."

People on Eran's site have wildly diverse expectations for the arrangement, ranging from an open policy on extramarital affairs to users, like "Seeking Truth," who wrote this message according to Ynet "I'm looking for a woman who doesn't want to follow her orientation, but rather wants to make a real and Jewish home

Source: Mic/Getty Images

Israeli Jews have little hope of obtaining religious gay marriage at home with their actual partners, since marriage law falls under the domain of the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate. For this reason, many Israeli couples of all orientations go abroad to get married, a partnership recognized as "civil marriage" when they return to Israel. Yet the idea of Israel's religious law accepting LGBTQ couples is still a distant pipe dream.

Ron Yosef, an activist who founded the Israeli LGBTQ organization Hod for religious Jews, told Mic he knows Eran but has mixed feelings about his matchmaking project. "This is like turning away from the issue, for yourself and for the community," Yosef said in a phone interview.

Story continues

"It was a common practice [for LGBTQ men to seek heterosexual marriages] until 2008 when Hod was founded. We started talking about the issue and demanding answers from rabbis... For many years Jewish people [in Israel] had no other option."

A Hod survey in 2014 estimated that up to two-thirds of gay ultra-Orthodox men in Israel still marry women. It helps shield them from homophobia and also provides their families with all the benefits given to parents the state officially recognizes as "religious Jews."

Even if those estimates are generous, the stigma associated with being LGBTQ in Israel is still widespread. Last summer, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli man stabbed and killed several people at the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade.

Hod is now at the forefront of working with rabbis to negotiate religious laws surrounding LGBTQ identity and relationships. By 2013, more than 123 Orthodox rabbis in Israel and abroad had signed the community charter in progress, which they call the "Document of Principles." The document argues that coercing LGBTQ people into heterosexual marriages degrades the act of marriage itself and emphasizes the importance of accepting queer people in spiritual communities.

Yosef believes it's the responsibility of individual spiritual leaders to explore how people of faith can honor religious law in a loving gay relationship. "I don't see the Rabbinate [official legal body of rabbis] or the Knesset [Israeli parliament] changing it or allowing gay marriage," Yosef said. But helping people apply ancient traditions to modern life "is the role of rabbis."

"Living a dual life will, in my opinion, usually cause more harm than good."

This phenomenon isn't unique to Israel. Researchers in Utah who surveyed 1,612 LGBTQ Mormon men in heterosexual marriages found over half of the relationships ended in divorce. Researchers at Qingdao University have also estimated that around 16 million gay Chinese men were married to women, the Independent reported in 2013. Shanghai's biggest gay dating site, inlemon.cn, even started its own marriage market in 2010 because of the high demand for these "sham marriages," prompting the launch of Chinese apps like Queers and iHomo to help LGBTQ Chinese people find heterosexual marriage partners.

Even in the United States, "sham marriages" are prevalent in religious communities, though there's no reliable data to suggest how common they are. Author Rick Clemons was married to a woman for 13 years before he came out as gay. He now works as a self-described "life strategist" helping LGBTQ men come out.

"This isn't all about sex," Clemons said in a phone interview. "How different is [a sexless 'sham marriage'] from a [sexless] heterosexual marriage? There are lots of sexless marriages out there in the world... but living a dual life will, in my opinion, usually cause more harm than good."

Source: Mic/Getty Images

Social worker and family therapist Naomi Mark, who works extensively with Jewish communities in New York, agreed that secrecy is harmful to couples, even if they both know about each other's orientation.

"I would never recommend... a lifelong commitment to secrecy," Mark said in a phone interview. "Marriage and intimacy are challenging enough, and complex enough ... I'm not saying it can't ever be done, that this would never work, but I would never suggest that anyone do it."

Despite the psychological risks, this practice is still prevalent in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community the world. In a 2013 Thought Catalog article about being queer in Brooklyn, New York, J.E. Reich pointed out how communities still venerate teachings from esteemed rabbis who encouraged LGBTQ Jews to seek heterosexual marriages.

Meanwhile in Israel, Yosef believes helping gay men marry women is a step backwards, stalling progress for both the individual and the community at-large.

"Sex is holiness, marriage is a unique relationship," he said. "I know dozens of people who got married to a woman...it developed a lot of problems...many of these couples eventually get divorced or cheat on their wives and they [the wives] don't know about it. If this is the meaning of marriage, it's a little bit bullshit."
Djerba (Tunisia) (AFP) - An annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue got under way in Tunisia where security forces were deployed heavily to ward off potential jihadist attacks.

Small groups of pilgrims including families with children began arriving in the searing heat at the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia for the Lag BaOmer festival.

Organisers expect up to 2,000 people to visit over two days, despite heightened worries about security following a string of jihadist attacks in the North African country.

Police and soldiers were out in force while a helicopter flew overhead. The island's Jewish district Hara Kbira was cordoned off and visitors were required to undergo searches.

The number of pilgrims visiting the synagogue has fallen sharply since a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Qaeda struck Ghriba just before the 2002 pilgrimage, killing 21 people.

Before then the event attracted as many as 8,000 people.

Believed to have been founded in 586 BC by Jews fleeing the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the Ghriba synagogue has long been a destination for pilgrims, especially for Jews of Tunisian descent.

Around 1,500 Jews live in Tunisia, down sharply from an estimated 100,000 before the country won independence from France in 1956.

Pilgrims visit the tombs of famous rabbis, pray, light candles and write wishes on eggs.

As usual, many pilgrims prayed for the health or careers of their relatives.

"My wife was seriously ill and, with the grace of God, the year after visiting Ghriba there was a great improvement," said French pilgrim David Slama.

"Since then we have come to offer thanks."

Faced with extremism, it is "our duty to tell everyone that we have to pass on a message of love, peace and respect for others," said religious affairs minister Mohamed Khalil in Djerba.

His tourism counterpart Selma Elloumi Rekik said it was important for Tunisia to hold the pilgrimage.

Story continues

"You came here for this festive occasion and you confirm that Tunisia will remain a land of friendship and joy despite the challenges of violence and hatred," she said.

Traditionally participants have come from Europe, the United States and Israel, but the number of foreigners attending has diminished considerably since the 2002 bombing.

Tunisia's tourism industry is also reeling from attacks last year claimed by the Islamic State group on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and a beach resort that killed a total of 60 people, all but one of them foreigners.

Israel this month advised its citizens to avoid visiting the country because of a "high threat level against Jewish targets".

Last year's Lag BaOmer passed without incident, despite a similar warning from Israel.
Todd Garners Broken Road Productions has signed a two-year first-look deal with Covert Media covering co-financing and co-production.

Broken Roads films have included the two Paul Blart movies for Sony, Tom Cruises Knight and Day and New Lines disaster thriller Into the Storm during its 11-year history. The company had a long-term first-look deal with Sony that expired recently.

Covert was founded in August by financing veteran Paul Hanson, who is CEO. It announced earlier this month that it was financing Ophelia as a new take on Hamlet with Star Wars: Force Awakens standout Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in final negotiations to star.

The alliance is expecting to collaborate on two to four films per year. The companies said the deal will cover a wide range of genres and budgets, reflecting the expertise of the Broken Road team, which includes Garner, Sean Robins and Jeremy Stein. Covert Media will handle global distribution rights on all titles.

The duo told Variety that discussions of a partnership began only a few months ago with a focus on filling the gap in mid-range projects with wide appeal  an area of diminished activity for the six major studios, which have allocated increasing amounts of resources to tentpoles and franchises.

I think we are very much in synch with the needs of the marketplace, Hanson added.

This is a match made in heaven for me and Broken Road, said Garner. Paul and the team at Covert are consummate professionals with great appreciation for what is working in the worldwide marketplace today. The flexibility of independent filmmaking and financing allow us to be more entrepreneurial in the ever changing feature film landscape. Our creative ambitions can become a reality.

Covert and Broken Road are preparing and packaging several titles to present to buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival in September with the first two to be announced in coming weeks.

We are thrilled to be working with Todd and Broken Road, Hanson said. Todd has a perfect eye for distinctive, commercial and quality films spanning a wide range of genres. Together our goal is to bring well-made, high-end projects to the worldwide marketplace that reflect Todds experience and passion.

Story continues

Garner has developed, executive produced or produced more than 100 movies. Hes the former co-president of production for Walt Disney Studios, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures and joined Joe Roths Revolution Studios as a partner in 2000, then oversaw Black Hawk Down, Hellboy and Daddy Day Care.

He also was an executive producer on XXX, Anger Management, 13 Going on 30 and Are We There Yet?

Upcoming projects for Broken Road include Vacation Friends for Fox starring Ice Cube; the recently announced Bad Romance for New Line with Rebel Wilson; and True Memoirs of an International Assassin, starring Kevin James and Andy Garcia, which Netflix is distributing later this year.

Covert is a partnership between global private equity fund Media Content Capital (MCC) and Hanson. Along with Coverts own upcoming production slate, the company will service and support the library and upcoming projects for MCC-owned QED, including Dirty Grandpa, Fury and The Family Fang.

The first look deal was negotiated by Coverts Chet Devaskar with Jacob A. Bloom and Patrick Knapp of Bloom, Hergott, Diemer, Rosenthal, Laviolette, Feldman, Schenkman & Goodman negotiating on behalf of Garner and Broken Road Productions.

Related stories

Digital Star Lauren Giraldo to Produce Latina TV Docu-Series With Covert Media

Covert Media Taps Electus Alum to Head Unscripted TV

Toronto: Elizabeth Kim Schwan Joins Covert Media as President of International
Actor and outspoken marijuana advocate Tommy Chong was deeply hurt when he was dropped at the last minute from introducing Sen. Bernie Sanders during an East Los Angeles rally on Monday, says his daughter.

In a Facebook post, actress Rae Dawn Chong said her father was blindsided when he was uninvited to Sanders' Democratic presidential primary rally in Lincoln Park.

"My daddy had his heart broken recently because he was disinvited to speak at a Bernie rally," she wrote. "If you know my pops he is all heart and maybe a bit of ego too. Ohhhh so he is hurting because he has been a huge Bernie guy from the start."

The actor, best known as half of the iconic pot-smoking comic duo Cheech and Chong, endorsed Sanders back in January, making a video and using social media to express his enthusiasm for his candidate.

Read More: Bernie Sanders' Campaign Drops Tommy Chong as Intro Speaker Hours Before L.A. Rally

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter shortly after he was uninvited, Tommy Chong said he was "insulted" and believed the decision was made because of his association with marijuana.

His daughter agreed.

"Apparently the Bernie Sanders campaign feels marijuana is a 'Gateway Drug' STILL," Rae Dawn Chong wrote. "I just hate when my dad is hurt but I am his daughter. Makes me laugh because Bernie isn't so progressive after all."

In an email to THR shortly after Chong was notified, a Sanders spokesman said, "We appreciate his support but a scheduling issue came up."

Read Rae Dawn Chong's full statement and watch Tommy Chong's Sanders endorsement below.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African sugar producer Tongaat Hulett flagged on Friday an 18 percent drop in full-year profit due to drought, which hit its main sugar growing regions. Headline earnings per share (EPS) for the year ended March are expected to have fallen 17.9 percent to 678 cents, Africa's second biggest sugar producer said in a statement. An El Nino-induced drought in southern Africa has crippled production of maize, sugar and other agricultural products. Tongaat Hulett said its total annual sugar production was expected to have fallen 291,000 tonnes to 1,023 million as the drought scorched sugar cane fields, with the biggest drop coming from South Africa which saw a 40 percent drop in output. Illovo Sugar last week warned its full-year profit could decline as much as 70 percent due to drought conditions. Tongaat Hulett's shares were down 0.43 percent at 112.56 rand by 1355 GMT. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Mark Potter)
Pfizer Inc. (PFE), is a research-based, global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets medicines for humans and animals. The Company's diversified global healthcare portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and consumer healthcare products. Pfizer's Animal Health business unit discovers, develops and sells products for the prevention and treatment of diseases in livestock and companion animals. It sells its products to wholesalers, distributors, retailers, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, pharmacies, individual provider offices, veterinarians, livestock producers, and grocery and convenience stores. Pfizer Inc. is headquartered in New York.

KB Home (KBH), is a builder of single-family homes with domestic operations in several western states, and international operations in France. Domestically, the company builds innovatively designed homes which cater primarily to first-time homebuyers, generally in medium-sized developments close to major metropolitan areas. Internationally, the company also builds commercial projects and high density residential properties such as condominium complexes.



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



PFIZER INC (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report



KB HOME (KBH): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Japanese automotive giant Toyota announced Wednesday it will build a new $489 million car assembly factory in Malaysia with an annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles.

The company said in a statement it "decided to reorganise its production system in Malaysia, given the gradual growth of the Malaysian market, with the creation of a new vehicle plant".

The 670,000-square metre factory, to be located at an industrial estate in the central state of Selangor, will begin operations in 2019.

The existing factory in Malaysia will stop manufacturing passenger vehicles by early 2019 and focus on commercial vehicles instead.

In 2013 Toyota said it would impose a worldwide freeze on the construction of new plants for three years.

Toyota, which has about 6,500 employees in Malaysia, sold 96,000 cars in the country last year.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Toyota has invested 6.1 billion rand ($390 million) to expand the production of its Hilux and Fortuner models in South Africa, its country CEO said on Wednesday. Toyota South Africa said it aims to increase output at the plant, which expects to hit full production in June, by 20,000 units a year and boost exports. The firm says it already exports to 74 countries, mainly in Africa and western Europe. "It also improves our competitive levels so that we can try and strengthen our export base," CEO Andrew Kirby said. South Africa's car industry has drawn investments of over 25 billion rand in the past five years, the government says. BMW's South African unit said it would invest 6 billion rand ($383.40 million) at its plant in the capital, Pretoria last year. [nL8N13B3OP] Kirby said the automotive manufacturing sector faced labour unrest and exchange rate fluctuations and could therefore not rely solely on the domestic market for sales. "For manufacturers in South Africa we need to have a balance between domestic and export volumes," said Kirby. The sector, which includes Toyota, Ford and General Motors, came to a near standstill for over four weeks after around 30,000 workers belonging to the National Union of Metalworker's of South Africa went on strike in 2013, demanding a pay hike. ($1 = 15.6495 rand) (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia)
CarWale Team

Toyota is deeply miffed by the diesel ban in our country. The company is looking at rethinking about their launch plan of new models for the Indian market.

The National Green Tribunal Circuit Bench recently took a decision regarding the ban of diesel vehicles in Kochi. It directed the Kerala government not to register any diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2,000cc and more. However, public transport and local authority vehicles were exempted from this.

First, it was just Delhi and NCR where the ban on diesel vehicles above 2,000cc was imposed and now it has extended to Kerala. Toyota thinks that these orders passed are against principle of natural justice and so will relook at their operations in India.

Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman and director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said We have already started re-looking at our operations. What is hurting us is not so much the ban but the unfairness. Orders are passed without hearing us. It is going against the principles of natural justice. We feel our vehicles are being targeted.

Toyota is saddened by the fact that not all diesel vehicles, but only the ones above 2,000cc have been banned. The Innova and the Fortuner are highly successful models and both have engine options more than 2,000cc. It is natural that the carmaker is peeved as these vehicles cannot be registered in regions where this ban is imposed. Lets wait and watch how Toyota re-aligns its launch strategy, especially when the much-anticipated new Fortuner is due for the Indian market.

Toyota Fortuner

Source: ET

For more news,reviews,videos and information about cars, visit CarWale.com.

Check On-Road Prices | Find New Cars | Upcoming Cars | Compare Cars | Dealer Locator
Toyota Motor Corporation TM announced that it is joining forces with Uber. The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which they will collaborate for ridesharing services. As part of this alliance, Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership (which is an investment fund backed by Toyota and Japanese bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp) will be making an investment in Uber. Toyota expects that this collaboration will help offer secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers.



In todays world of rising vehicle usage, mobility services including ridesharing and car-sharing are gaining momentum. Ridesharing takes into consideration various factors like regulations, business conditions and customer needs.



Under this partnership, Toyota and Uber plan to offer new services and create value for customers. The companies will provide new leasing options wherein customers can lease vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and make the lease payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers. The leasing time period will be flexible and per the drivers requirements. This concept is based on Uber's current Vehicle Solutions program.



Toyota and Uber will also work together in various other fields. They will develop in-car apps to support Uber drivers and share knowledge. They will also establish a special fleet program for selling Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber drivers.



Apart from Toyota, other automakers too are focusing on ride- and car-sharing services. In Jan 2016, General Motors Company GM entered into a partnership with Ubers rival, Lyft Inc. General Motors will invest $500 million in Lyft to support the growth of the latters ridesharing service.



Daimler AG DDAIF announced the acquisition of ride-sharing apps, RideScout and mytaxi in 2014. In 2008, Daimler launched Car2Go, a car-sharing service. BMW has its own car-sharing service, DriveNow, in nine European cities. Last year, Ford Motor Co. F introduced its car-sharing service, GoDrive, in London.



Currently, Toyota carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).



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



FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report



TOYOTA MOTOR CP (TM): Free Stock Analysis Report



DAIMLER AG (DDAIF): Free Stock Analysis Report



GENERAL MOTORS (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it would invest in on-demand ride-hailing company Uber, the latest in a wave of high-profile moves by automakers to embrace their potential upstart rivals as partners, customers and sources of valuable data.

Toyota and Uber will create new leasing options in which Uber drivers can lease vehicles with flexible terms from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through their Uber earnings, the companies said in a joint statement.

Toyota and Uber did not disclose the size of the investment, but the alliance will go beyond just vehicle sales.

The companies said they would be "sharing knowledge and accelerating their respective research efforts." Both Toyota and Uber are researching self-driving cars and other technology that connects travelers to different modes of transportation.

Traditional automakers are racing to ally with ride-sharing partners to avoid becoming bystanders if a significant number of consumers around the world choose to forego vehicle ownership and buy transportation by the mile or the minute.

Technology companies such as Apple (AAPL.O), Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) and startups such as Uber have attracted significant investments, and in Uber's case, a valuation estimated to be higher than General Motors Co's (GM.N), by positioning themselves as a threat to the vehicle market status quo.

Moreover, both carmakers and mobility upstarts are investing in autonomous vehicle technology which they believe will power fleets of self-driving cars in future.

Uber is investing in autonomous technology, including mapping, while Toyota has been opening research labs in the United States, spending $1 billion through 2020 in research and develop for artificial intelligence and robotics to help develop self-driving cars.

Earlier on Tuesday, German automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) announced a $300 million investment in Gett, a smaller ride-sharing company.

Story continues

Earlier this year, GM invested $500 million in Lyft, Uber's main U.S. rival, to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars. GM executives have said Lyft could serve as a platform to launch the automaker's Chevy Bolt, an electric car slated to hit the market late this year.

Uber's alliance with Toyota also follows hard on the heels of Apple's $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, which was seen as a political move by the technology giant to cement its presence in the crucial Chinese market. Apple is also believed to be studying the development of a car.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) is looking at partnerships to expand beyond manufacturing and selling cars, with Chairman Bill Ford saying on Monday that "you'll hear more from us" as the year progresses.

On Tuesday, startup NuTonomy, backed by Bill Ford's venture capital arm Fontinalis Partners, raised $16 million in extra funding to help develop self-driving taxis in Singapore.

Toyota is making the Uber investment through its unit Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership. (http://toyota.us/1Ro2Upc)

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage in San Francisco and Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru; editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Alan Crosby)
By Ginger Gibson and Jonathan Allen WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump this week took his use of sordid accusations against Democrat Hillary Clinton to levels unprecedented in modern U.S. presidential campaigns, in the latest example of the Republican's unorthodox playbook. The presumptive Republican nominee is working to gain stronger footing and offset a big advantage Clinton is likely to have ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election: a huge campaign war chest that she and her allies intend to use to launch a barrage of attacks against him. Trump is using the same strategy he used repeatedly during the Republican nomination fight against rivals like Ted Cruz: making incendiary statements that U.S. television networks cannot resist covering, giving him hours of free media and putting his opponents on the defensive. The strategy may already be working. Trump has raised more than a few eyebrows with his latest round of attacks against Clinton. He has turned history into headlines that play like a virtual reel in the 24-hour news world of cable TV and the internet. Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said the strategy makes sense. "Clearly, she's going to have massive amounts of money," Lewandowski told Reuters. "The difference is Mr. Trump has funded his campaign. What weve been able to do in this campaign cycle is to generate earned media based on Mr. Trumps ability to be a straight talker, and genuine and authentic, and I think thats what drives the news cycle." Trump's latest salvos include a rape accusation against former President Bill Clinton dating to the 1970s and the suicide of an aide to the former president in 1993 - events that the campaign links to Hillary Clinton. An online video released by Trump has various women accusing the former president of rape or unwanted sexual advances. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of helping to silence the women. The Clintons and their supporters have dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated. Then, in an interview with The Washington Post, Trump suggested that the Clintons may have been involved in the 1993 death of Vince Foster, a former aide to Bill Clinton and a friend of Hillary Clinton, even though more than five investigations, including one conducted by Republican special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, concluded that Foster committed suicide in a Virginia park. Trump was alluding to theories over the years that have been circulated in tabloid publications, in the depths of the internet and in books by the Clintons' foes. On Wednesday, Trump's campaign accidentally sent an email to a reporter at Politico revealing that the Republican plans to next attack Clinton regarding Whitewater, a real estate scandal that plagued Bill Clinton's administration. No wrongdoing by the Clintons was ever proven. The attacks have put Hillary Clinton on her back foot. Trump "just continues to gobble news cycle after news cycle," said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who ran the Super PACs that backed Senator Ted Cruz in the primary and aggressively attacked Trump. "Clinton is spending less time campaigning about the future and more time explaining the past than she would probably like. The barrage puts Clinton in a bind. So far, she has opted to ignore Trump's personal attacks and her campaign has offered general pushback. But Clinton risks the negative onslaught dragging down her standing with the public and irreversibly damaging her general election hopes. "I played a lot of hardball in my life, but I don't envy what the Clinton campaign is up against here. Trump himself has totally changed the political dynamic," said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who supports Clinton. "What they can't afford to do is get in the gutter with the guy. He has absolutely no morals or scruples. Getting into the gutter with him is an absolute waste of time." Clinton's campaign and the Super PACs supporting her will not be without funds to try to combat the attacks and launch her own. At the end of April, she had $30 million in her campaign account, compared with Trump's $2 million. And the PAC supporting her, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, had $46 million at the end of April - a total that is likely to grow over the summer. The PAC backing Trump is just getting off the ground. Clinton will also depend on an army of surrogates to try to combat Trump without having to respond to him herself. Trump has already proven he can dispatch opponents without spending much money by defining them to voters through aggressive appearances on news programs. Republican rival Jeb Bush had a more than $100 million advantage going into the primary. But Trump painted him as "low energy" and defined him as inept, a characterization Bush's money was never able to overcome. The PACs backing Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz spent millions assailing Trump. Trump was able to leverage extensive coverage of his campaign by the media to combat their attacks while spending little money on advertising. Trump has been proven an expert at raising attack lines that have already been settled, but insisting that questions remain. He spent years demanding that President Barack Obama produce his birth certificate, despite myriad evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii, including government records of the president's birth in Honolulu. For Trump, some of the attacks are targeted at young voters - those in their early 20s and 30s were too young to have been immersed in news about the scandals of the Clinton years. "You have a whole series of the population who either (a) dont know anything about it, or (b) werent paying attention at the time," Lewandowski said. A Clinton ally said Trump is simply trying to distract attention from his own liabilities - such as refusing to release his tax returns and his own history of problems with women. "The more he raises these outrageous and outlandish charges," said U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, of California, a Democratic leader in the House, "the more he keeps you pedaling in a different direction." (Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)
Donald Trump (Photo: Getty Images)

Donald Trump has been criticized in recent days for dredging up decades-old Clinton conspiracy theories. And now it appears that the presumptive Republican nominees campaign misfired while researching one of them.

Politico obtained an email from Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo to the Republican National Committee asking a researcher to provide information on the Whitewater real estate scandal.

Work up information on HRC/Whitewater as soon as possible, the email read. This is for immediate use and for the afternoon talking points process.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks, who was copied on the email, responded instead to Politico reporter Marc Caputo  no relation to the GOP consultant with whom he shares a surname.

Hicks did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

According to Marc Caputo, its not the first time someone has mistakenly emailed him instead of the Republican consultant.

Its happened before over the years intermittently  not with the Trump campaign but with other campaigns, Caputo told Yahoo News. The last time it did, Caputo recalled, was when he was a reporter for the Miami Herald and Michael Caputo was working for a Florida state senate campaign.

Caputo said he believes the email gaffe was a legitimate misfire. He said he wasnt surprised that the Trump campaign sought information on Whitewater, the real estate investment company the Clintons formed before Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas. After he was elected president, the Justice Department investigated whether the former governor used his influence to secure a $300,000 loan for the company. (Several of Clinton associates were later convicted, but the Clintons were never charged.)

Just this week, the Washington Post published an interview with Trump in which he invoked the Whitewater scandal while musing about the very fishy death of former Clinton White House aide Vince Foster. According to multiple investigations, Foster committed suicide, but conspiracy theories have persisted about his death.

Its the one thing with her, whether its Whitewater or whether its Vince or whether its Benghazi. Its always a mess with Hillary, Trump said.
Donald Trump speaks at a veterans rally, Jan. 28, 2016. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about his media coverage this week after a pair of Washington Post stories revealed that he exaggerated the money raised from a much-touted charity fundraising event.

Amazingly, with all of the money I have raised for the vets, I have got nothing but bad publicity from the dishonest and disgusting media, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee tweeted Monday.

What this really does is show the dishonest slime back there with all the cameras, he added at a Tuesday night rally in Albequerque, N.M. Look at them. Look at them. No, its slime.

In January, Trump held a televised fundraiser on behalf of veterans charities instead of going to a Fox News primary debate. At the time, he was feuding with the cable news network. He said that the event cracked $6 million and that he had personally given a substantial amount.

Donald Trump gave $1 million, OK? Trump said at the Des Moines, Iowa, event.

But the billionaire developer didnt actually move to fulfill that amount until Monday evening of this week, according to a Post story published the next day. He reportedly promised the entire $1 million sum to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation and said he needed the four months since his fundraiser to vet the group. But the Post story noted that Trumps foundation had previously given more than $230,000 to the organization, which honored him at a gala last year.

That promise came after various media outlets asked for months whether the fundraiser had actually distributed the amount touted by Trump. On Monday, he criticized a Post reporter for asking if he had only given the $1 million because of the media scrutiny.

You know, youre a nasty guy. Youre really a nasty guy, he replied. I gave out millions of dollars that I had no obligation to do.

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said last week that the candidate had already contributed the $1 million. Mr. Trumps money is fully spent, he was quoted saying.

Story continues

In another story, Lewandowski told the Post that Trumps event had raised only $4.5 million, not $6 million. He attributed the shortfall to donors who had not fulfilled their pledges. But Trump said at the Tuesday night rally that the number was more than $5.5 million.

Trump told the Post that he didnt say the fundraiser raised $6 million and asked a reporter to play a tape confirming he had said it  which he had. In January, he bragged, We just cracked $6 million, right? $6 million.

Additionally, Trump tweeted at least five times that he raised $6,000,000 at the event. He even tweeted once that the total was $6,000,000.00.

An unbelievable night in Iowa with our great Veterans! We raised $6,000,000.00 while the politicians talked! #GOPDebate  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2016

For his part, Trump repeatedly pointed out this week that he had no obligation to raise money for veterans charities.

I didnt have to do it. I didnt have to do it. But I love the vets, he said at his Tuesday rally in Albuquerque.

All of a sudden its over $5 million, he recalled of his January event. And I said, Thats great. And all of a sudden this dishonest slime, they start writing stories like Why didnt this group get it? Why didnt the money go here? Why isnt the money going out fast enough?
Donald Trump's feud card was full Tuesday night, when the presumptive GOP nominee took aim at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren during a violent rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico.



In his 65-minute speech at the event  where protestors were seen lighting fires and throwing rocks and bottles at police outside  Trump ripped into Martinez, faulting the rising-star Republican and frequent critic of his campaign for New Mexico's economic problems and for accepting Syrian refugees into the state.



"She's got to do a better job," Trump told thousands of his supporters. "She's not doing the job. We've got to get her moving. Come on: Let's go, governor."



"Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico. If I was governor, that wouldn't be happening," Trump added, reemphasizing his proposal for a temporary ban on refugees. He added that if the U.S. doesn't do more to control and vet refugees, "We are not going to have a country."









RELATED VIDEO: What You Need to Know About Trump Clinching the Republican Nomination





Martinez's press secretary, Mike Lonergan, responded with a scathing statement accusing Trump of playing political games and trying to "bully" the governor into endorsing him. "Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the President's Syrian refugee plan," Lonergan said. "But the pot shots weren't about policy, they were about politics. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate a Governor Martinez doesn't care about what Donald Trump says about her  she cares about what he says he will do to help New Mexicans. She didn't hear anything about that today."



The Washington Post writes that Trump's "disrespect" for Martinez will make his already "tone-deaf" outreach to Hispanic voters that much harder, adding that the attack highlights the "hollowness" of his promises to unite the Republican Party.





Story continues





Trump also blasted Clinton in his speech, calling her a "low-life" for using a clip of comments he previously made about the housing bubble burst in her new campaign ad.



"I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy," a 2006 audio recording of Trump says in the ad. "If there is a bubble burst a you could make a lot of money."



The billionaire businessman defended his comments Tuesday night, saying, "Yeah, if it goes down I'm gonna buy ... I'm a businessman, that's what I'm supposed to do. If it goes down, it goes down. I feel badly for everybody. What am I going to do? It's business!"



Warren also chimed in on Clinton's housing crisis criticism of Trump, asking, "What kind of man does that?" in a speech Tuesday night.





Tonight I called out @realDonaldTrump in not-so-subtle terms. Watch this. https://t.co/5tpKNIjVdt a Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) May 25, 2016





Her words prompted a trademark insult from Trump, who called her "Pocahontas," a reference to the controversy surrounding her claims that she is of Native American descent.



"She said she was an Indian. She said because her cheekbones were high, she was an Indian, that she was Native American," Trump said at his rally Tuesday night.



"She is probably the senator that's doing just about the least in the United States Senate," he added. "She's a total failure."



He followed up with a tweet early Wednesday morning: "Goofy Senator Elizabeth Warren @elizabethforma has done less in the U.S. Senate than practically any other senator. All talk, no action!"



Warren fired back Wednesday afternoon in a flurry of blistering tweets, including one that said, "Anytime someone calls out @realDonaldTrump, he replies with right-wing conspiracies & lies. It's not presidential - & getting very old."



"Fling as much mud as you want, @realDonaldTrump," Warren's last tweet to Trump read. "Your words & actions disqualify you from being President - & I won't stop saying it."
There was chaos on the streets outside a Donald Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as critics of the likely Republican presidential nominee hurled rocks at police officers Wednesday night.

Read: Here's What It's Like to Attend A Trump Rally As An African American

Protesters outside The Albuquerque Convention Center battled police in full riot gear and on horseback. Cops set off smoke grenades and pepper spray, while protesters set Trump T-shirts on fire and threw rocks at the venue and authorities.

Some protesters covered their faces with masks. Others carried Mexican flags. Many were heard chanting, f*** Donald Trump!

No one was arrested outside the venue and the police tweeted:

Only arrests at this point have been from inside the rally.  Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016

The battle raged inside the arena as well. Trump screamed for security to get them out as protesters disrupted his speech.

One protester was dragged down stairs by security. Trump mocked another protester that was whisked away by security saying: He cant get a date so hes doing this instead.

One young boy began yelling from the side of the stage. Trump couldn't believe it.

How old is this kid? He's still wearing diapers, the GOP frontrunner said.

Read: Woman Wearing Muslim Head Scarf Thrown Out of Trump Rally After She Stands in Silent Protest

Between disruptions, Trump unleashed a zinger at Hillary Clinton, calling her a lowlife.

The real estate tycoon also took aim at Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has claimed to be of Native American ancestry.

Trump called her Pocahontas.

Warren fired right back, blasting Trump in a speech at a Democratic event Tuesday, saying Trump is a small, insecure money-grubber who doesnt care who gets hurt.

Story continues

Watch: Donald Trump Once Considered the Idea of a Black vs. White Edition of 'The Apprentice'

Related Articles:
The number of air travelers hit a record during the summer of 2015, yet there were no major problems with delays at security checkpoints. A year later, hundreds of infuriated passengers are missing flights every week as they wait hours to navigate security.

What changed? A lot more than most travelers are aware of. Nearly a year ago, teams working for the Department of Homeland Security ran a series of covert tests to see if they could sneak banned and potentially dangerous items past security screeners. It turns out, they could. We found layers of security simply missing, DHS Inspector General John Roth testified before Congress last November. The details of the DHS security audit are secret, but such tests are meant to mimic what terrorists and criminals might try to bring onto a flight.

The security breaches, in turn, triggered a rollback in loosened screening procedures meant to speed travelers through checkpoints faster. Meanwhile, the number of air travelers is up more than 15% since 2013, while the headcount at the Transportation Security Administration, which manages airport security, is down 10%. At TSA, theres a longtime tension between the primary mission of security and the secondary mission of supporting the free flow of commerce, says Jennifer Grover, director of homeland security and justice at the Government Accountability Office. The pendulum may have slipped away from security. Theyre tightening up on security.

The TSA is one of the agencies Americans love to hate, but it has actually put considerable effort into reducing wait times and making screening less invasive. In 2011, it began developing new procedures to move more passengers through expedited screening that eliminates the need to remove shoes and belts, take laptops out of cases and comply with other tedious rules. The core of that effort was the PreCheck program, which lets passengers undergo expedited screening if they pay an $85 fee to enroll for five years and agree to a background check verifying theyre low-risk travelers. That program is still in effect and hasnt changed.

Story continues

But another measure called managed inclusion, begun in 2012, extended Precheck privileges to nonenrollees randomly selected at roughly 120 large airports with dedicated PreCheck screening lanes. The idea was to funnel more people through expedited lanes when theyre underutilized, to ease pressure on the regular lines and streamline wait times for everybody. As part of the program, TSA deployed canine teams, officers trained to recognize suspicious behavior and other tactics to assure managed inclusion wouldnt compromise security. Heres one intriguing diagram showing how TSA revamped the logistics of security lines:

Sources: Goverment Accounting Office, Transportation Security Administration

By early 2014, the number of passengers breezing through expedited screening had jumped roughly sevenfold from the number a year before, according to a GAO report published last year. TSA continued funneling more people through expedited screening until the DHS inspector generals office sent red teams to airports in 2015 to try to sneak banned substances past the screeners. Most details remain secret, but Roth, the DHS inspector general, said in last years testimony that additional layers of security  which were meant to compensate for the lack of risk assessment, were often simply not present. And in an unrelated case, a convicted felon believed to have ties to domestic terrorist groups gained access to expedited screening.



PreCheck not popular enough

At some point last year, TSA stopped using most of its managed inclusion procedures, shunting a significant portion of passengers back into the regular security lines, which are now bulging at airports such as Chicagos OHare, Atlantas Hartfield-Jackson, New Yorks LaGuardia and Dallas-Fort Worth. No quick fix seems likely. TSA and the airlines want more people to sign up for PreCheck, but passengers have been more reluctant than anticipated. TSAs goal is to have 25 million fliers enrolled by 2019, but so far only 2.7 million have signed up. At the current pace of about 1.5 million new enrollees per year, PreCheck enrollment is way short of TSAs goals. Its possible, of course, this summers delays will trigger a wave of new signups.

TSAs staffing levels are based partly on the estimated need for screeners, given predicted air travel and other factors. And it appears TSA underestimated additional staff that might be needed with the cutbacks in expedited screening. TSA stopped managed inclusion and didnt put anything else in its place, says Jean Medina of Airlines for America, the industrys trade group. A modest management shakeup at TSA has been one response to the problem.

TSA, for its part, points out that its budget and staffing have been cut by Congress, even though Congress hiked the TSA fee every passenger pays by 124% in 2014, from $2.50 per flight segment to $5.60. About $1.3 billion of the money collected through TSA passenger fees doesn't go to the TSA, but to deficit reduction. The airline industry is lobbying Congress anew to redirect that money back to TSA, and might get its wish. "There is momentum right now to take a look at the portion of the security fees going to the general fund," says a Senate aide. "This is a good time to make sure everything we're doing with this money makes sense."

Meanwhile, officials in Washington are dickering over whose fault the maddening delays are, while trying to find solutions. TSA and others say steep fees for checked bags on most airlines have compelled passengers to bring more carry-ons aboard, increasing the load of baggage that has to be screened at checkpoints. Some legislators have asked airline CEOs to waive baggage fees during the summer, to help unsnarl the lines. The airlines have basically said no, while pointing out that checked bags have to be screened as well, and arguing that baggage isnt the problem.

What the airlines have done is assign some of their own employees to checkpoints to help with nonsecurity duties and fill manpower gaps. A new airline web site, I Hate the Wait, is meant for passengers to share information (and frustrations) about long lines and help others plan accordingly. Concerned passengers, meanwhile, might want to book flights at off-peak times or find less-crowded, alternate airports if possible. And this summer, you probably cant arrive too early for your flight.

Rick Newmans latest book is Liberty for All: A Manifesto for Reclaiming Financial and Political Freedom. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
Actors are not like everyone else, and that assessment is both a compliment and a diagnosis in The Dresser, a play by Ronald Harwood that has been turned into a claustrophobic but ultimately affecting TV movie starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins.

The setting will be familiar to those whove seen the play or the 1983 Peter Yates film based on it. In a provincial dressing room during WWII, an aging actor-manager known only as Sir (Hopkins) prepares to play King Lear, but its an understatement to say he has trouble focusing on his upcoming performance, or anything else, for that matter. He is eventually propelled into work mode by the sheer force of will of his dresser, Norman (McKellen).

Is Sir mentally or physically ill, or has he begun to slip into dementia? The parallels between the character and Lear are many, and the premise supports plenty of different readings. The actors determined to offer the provinces a solid slice of Shakespearean drama could represent plucky England in her darkest hour, or they could stand in for any group of artists who give their all to their chosen discipline, despite constant trials and the frequent indifference of the universe.

Of course, The Dresser could just be the knowing story of a group of characters who are at the end of their ropes, and who, under their various forms of bluster and repression, have no idea whether any of the sacrifices theyve made were worth the prices theyve paid. Mix that kind of existential angst to the kind of A-list talent on display in this production, and the result is highly watchable, if a bit of a verbal barrage at times.

McKellens Norman spends much of the play motivating his charge, and the ticking clock of the pre-curtain rituals keeps the energy of The Dresser moving smartly in the opening scenes. More than once, he calls to mind the most stalwart of English character types, the iron-fisted and slyly clever nanny who commands her charges to do their duty to King and country  or in this case, to the theatergoers whove stayed in their seats despite the air raid sirens that warn of German attacks.

Story continues

Norman, who is himself continually giving a performance of working-class brio, can be a lot to take, and as the play gathers steam, director Richard Eyre accents the smallness of the dressing room, a battered space decorated in shades of brown, black, and green. Especially at the start, there are few breaks from the dressers non-stop chatter and his endless stories (and here Normans Northern accent might present the occasional obstacle to American audiences). Even if Norman rarely pauses for breath, it might have served The Dresser well to do so now and then in its busy first half.

The plays central premise can be read so many different ways that The Dresser can seem a little glib, and its deeper layers are elusive at times. Its also a bit self-congratulatory: Its not hard to imagine why artists with deep ties to the stage wanted to dive headfirst into a piece that ultimately celebrates their unique bravery.

Several key moments transpire during an eventful intermission in the troupes production of Lear, and during and after that break, The Dresser finds a more contemplative gear, though there are plenty of deliciously catty asides scattered throughout the film. In one aside, Sir mentions having seen a fellow actors Lear: I was pleasantly disappointed, he sighs. He may have seen better days, but both Sir and Norman have the kind of rapier wit most likely to be found in dressing rooms filled with greasepaint and cold tea.

As the film progresses, McKellen and Hopkins find the terrified, small human beings behind the various masks their characters wear, and Sarah Lancashire and Emily Watson are pitch perfect as Madge, a stage manager, and Sirs actress wife, Her Ladyship, respectively. These women and other members of the company have given up all hope of semi-normal lives, for far less glory and attention than Sir, who, despite his wry disgust for critics, carries around a thick book of press clippings.

The Dressers humane wisdom is revealed in moving ways in the films home stretch. Sir, it emerges, is a sort of energy vampire, one who feeds off the neverending service and unrequited love of others. And yet, thanks to Hopkins profoundly wise and subtle performance, its impossible to feel anything but kind regard for the old warhorse. By that end of the movie, the viewer has seen how much mental and physical energy it takes to go out and play Lears mad scene, let alone connect with the play in ways that feel vital and fresh. Sir, who labors in obscurity despite having performed the great Shakespeare plays hundreds of times, has spent his whole life scrabbling for tiny shreds of spontaneity and true inspiration, and given how much focus he had to bring to that search, you can hardly blame him for losing the plot, literally and figuratively.

Was it wrong for Norman, Her Ladyship or Madge to give themselves to the capricious and punishing gods of Art? Especially in a culture that values the stiff upper lip over therapeutic and freely shared truths? Then again, maybe the narrowness of English culture made them desperate to break free, and despite the shabby wigs and down-market surroundings, in their own ways, they do.

Its never too late, muses Thornton (Edward Fox), a member of the company who took up acting after a lifetime spent making rational and unfulfilling choices. He seems relatively content, but Norman, whos clearly a frustrated actor himself, is anything but. McKellens great technique is revealed in the way he slowly reveals the drunkenness of his character (who swigs from a brandy bottle all night), and his bitterness as well.

Its a full house, Norman assures his boss again and again before the company takes the stage. Sir often looks as though he doesnt believe what hes hearing  but hes as addicted to the stage as he is to his dressers blind faith.

Related stories

TV News Roundup: Esquire to Air O.J. Simpson Special; First Look at JLo's 'Carpool Karaoke'

Film Review: 'Misconduct'

Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins to Star in Thriller 'Official Secrets'
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An alleged drug dealing gang member was found dead in a Chicago suburb home where two FBI agents were also shot and wounded while attempting to issue an arrest warrant on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

The agents suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, prosecutors said.

Melvin Toran, 50, was found dead in a Park Forest, Illinois, home where the arrest warrant was being served by the two agents. Toran was set to be charged with narcotics trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement.

Toran, who was an alleged high-ranking member of the Black P Stone Nation street gang, was accused with selling heroin to an FBI informant, prosecutors said.

The attempted arrest by the agents was part of a sweep, dubbed Operation Cornerstone spanning more than two years and involving several other ranking members of the gang.

The agents were treated and released from a local hospital Tuesday afternoon, said Garrett Croon, spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago.

Croon did not say whether Toran shot the agents or if the agents shot him in the suburb about 30 miles (50 km) south of downtown Chicago.

(Reporting by Justin Madden; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft)
(Adds details on TSA staffing and initiatives, industry and administrator comment, byline)

By Jeffrey Dastin

May 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is taking steps to shorten airport lines including moving officers to different posts, but still lacks the staffing to handle peak travel times, Administrator Peter Neffenger said in a Congressional hearing Wednesday.

A shortage of staff and a surge in air travelers have created a nightmare scenario for TSA, with airport wait times in places like Chicago stretching beyond two hours. Neffenger said TSA's insufficient preparation in Chicago was a "failure."

Neffenger said TSA is seeing how it can re-deploy officers who are trained to detect irregular passenger behavior to posts where they check traveler documents, thereby freeing up others to staff screening machines. It also wants to move part-time agents into full-time work.

"There are efficiencies we can gain in the way we deploy our people," Neffenger said.

TSA is projected to screen some 740 million people at U.S. airports this year, up almost 100 million from 2013, Neffenger said. Yet TSA's staffing has fallen more than 12 percent in that time to around 42,000.

TSA is evaluating whether to ask Congress to let it reallocate more money for hiring, according to Neffenger. Earlier this month it was granted approval to put $34 million toward paying extra overtime and hiring 768 new staff by June 15.

TSA has come under pressure from U.S. airlines and airports after it made a decision last year to stop pulling travelers randomly into faster "PreCheck" lanes that do not require them to remove their shoes and other items, prolonging wait times.

The U.S. Travel Association said Wednesday that nearly 22 percent of those who had planned trips this summer will delay or cancel their itineraries or at least avoid air travel because of long airport waits, adding that this would cost the U.S. economy $4.3 billion in lost travel spend.

Story continues

While the summer remains a challenge, Neffenger said TSA is looking at making security more efficient in the long run.

TSA wants to encourage airports to automate the movement of bins for carry-on bags at checkpoints. A test of the technology - already in use in Europe - started this week in Atlanta, the world's busiest airport.

It also is working with software companies to determine how screening machines can better detect prohibited items, and it is hoping to contract new vendors that can enroll more people in "PreCheck" by bringing down fees, Neffenger said.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bernard Orr)
By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - The risk of attempted suicide peaks at several points during enlisted soldiers' time in the U.S. Army, a new study found. Soldiers who were never deployed were at highest risk for suicide attempts during their second month of service. Risk among soldiers on their first deployment was highest during the sixth month of deployment. And among those who'd completed deployment, risk peaked again five months after they'd returned home, researchers found. "Suicide attempts are important targets for care," said lead author Dr. Robert Ursano, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. "We always talk about completed suicide, but completed suicide is just the tip of the iceberg." He and his colleagues write in JAMA Psychiatry that suicide attempts have increased in the U.S. Army over the past decade but haven't been closely studied. Understanding risk factors helps in the creation of interventions for suicide attempts, the researchers add. Their new report focused on 163,178 enlisted Army soldiers on active duty between 2004 and 2009. During that time, 9,650 soldiers attempted suicide. About 86 percent were male, about 68 percent were younger than 30, and most were white, high school graduates and married. While 40 percent of the total population had never been deployed, that group accounted for about 61 percent of the soldiers who attempted suicide. Previously deployed soldiers accounted for 29 percent of the suicide attempts, and currently deployed soldiers accounted for about 10 percent. Regardless of deployment status, risk of suicide attempts was higher among female soldiers, early-career soldiers and those with a recent mental health diagnosis. Deployment status was also tied to suicide attempt risk. Among soldiers with just one previous deployment, odds of a suicide attempt were higher for those with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. The new study can't say why risk of suicide attempt peaks at different times during different phases, but Ursano pointed out that the variations were seen in people of different skill levels in different environments. "Its important to remember both the people and stressors are changing," he said. The new research is a part of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). According to Ursano, Army STARRS is modeled after the famed Framingham Heart Study, which started tracking participants in 1948 and formed the basis for recommendations to maintain a healthy heart. "Suicide attempts are very important to think about," Ursano told Reuters Health. "In the U.S. there are more suicide attempts each year than there are first heart attacks. So suicide and suicide attempts are important to target with interventions." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1TzScUc JAMA Psychiatry, online May 25, 2016.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian militias are not preparing an assault on Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa at present, a militia spokesman said, indicating the limited scope of a new offensive in nearby areas where fighting raged on Wednesday. Movements by the fighters in the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and leaflets dropped on Raqqa urging its citizens to leave had given rise to speculation that they were about to attack the city. Driving Islamic State from Raqqa city would be a major achievement in the U.S.-led campaign against the group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. But a spokesman for the SDF indicated it was not imminent. "The current battle is only to liberate the area north of Raqqa. Currently there is no preparation ... to liberate Raqqa, unless as part of a campaign which will come after this campaign has finished," spokesman Talal Silo said. Leaflets dropped on Raqqa city had urged residents to flee. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that reports on the war using an activist network on the ground, says hundreds of families have left. Syria experts however doubt that the SDF is ready for an attack on Raqqa city. Its most powerful component is the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, and Syrian Kurdish officials have previously said Arab groups must be the ones to lead any assault on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa. The Observatory said there were clashes in the countryside south of Tel Abyad and around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa on Tuesday and Wednesday. It also said the SDF campaign has been supported by heavy air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. The SDF launched an operation at 2pm (07:00 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday to recapture land between the SDF stronghold in Tel Abyad near the Turkish border and the Islamic State's defacto capital in Syria in Raqqa - but there are no plans to advance on the city itself yet. Aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria over the last year or more, though its advances have recently slowed. Syrian Kurdish groups have previously said an attack on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa should be led by Arab militias. Syria experts say the SDF's Arab groups are not yet ready for such an attack, however. Islamic State's territory in Iraq and Syria has shrunk significantly from its peak. The group is also being targeted in a separate campaign by the Syrian military and its allies, including Russia. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Tom Perry and Raissa Kasolowsky)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Comptroller of the Currency fined Wells Fargo Bank (WFC.N) $70 million on Wednesday over mortgage servicing but said it was ending business restrictions it had placed on the bank.

According to the regulator, Wells Fargo made escrow calculation errors between March 2013 and October 2014 that in some cases led to incorrect loan modification denials and "constituted unsafe or unsound banking practices."

The bank also failed to correct deficiencies in a timely fashion and filed payment change notices in bankruptcy courts that did not comply with bankruptcy rules, the comptroller's office also found.

The regulator had imposed consent orders on the bank in April 2011 and amended them in 2013 and June 2015. It said Wells Fargo had now fallen in line with the orders, and it was lifting restrictions on its business.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government welcomed the release on Wednesday of Radio Free Europe journalist Khadija Ismayilova from a prison in Azerbaijan, the State Department said. In September, an Azeri court sentenced Ismayilova, a prominent journalist known for exposing corruption among the ruling elite, to 7-1/2 years in jail. Ismayilova was released on Wednesday after the country's Supreme Court amended her imprisonment to 3-1/2 years of suspended sentence. "We view this as a positive step, and we encourage the Azerbaijani government to drop the remaining charges against her," the State Department said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech)
By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, on Wednesday continued to withhold his support from Donald Trump for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, saying he is not ready to endorse the real estate billionaire, a political neophyte. Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, brushed aside reports that he was ready to endorse Trump during a meeting with reporters in the Capitol. "I haven't made a decision," he said, adding that he had no timetable for doing so. The 46-year-old speaker is the only member of the Republican congressional leadership who has not formally embraced the presumptive Republican nominee. Ryan is expected to chair the party's nominating convention in July in Cleveland. Ryan and Trump were, however, scheduled to speak by telephone on Wednesday evening, a spokesman for Ryan said. "This is not an endorsement call," spokesman Zack Roday said. Ryan set up the call with Trump to continue discussing the party's campaign agenda, a Ryan aide said. Trump's ascent has shaken the party establishment and raised concerns among some Republicans over whether they can unify behind him, given his harsh rhetoric and shifting policy positions in a brutal primary fight that once had 17 candidates. Ryan was asked Wednesday about Trump's comment this week that New Mexico Republican Governor Susana Martinez, who had declined to attend a Trump rally, was not doing her job. Ryan said Martinez was a "great governor" and "a friend of mine," and said he would leave it at that. Ryan said his staff and Trump's were in contact virtually daily. "I want this to be a sincere deliberative process," Ryan said. He dismissed suggestions that the Trump campaign was trying to pressure him, saying, "I don't worry about that stuff." The speaker faces some pressure from inside his party to smooth things over and form a united front against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November. Ryan's statement earlier this month that he was not ready to support Trump was unusual and seen as an effort to keep some distance from Trump and protect Ryan's own presidential prospects for 2020. Ryan said his staff and the Trump campaign have been discussing a wide-ranging policy agenda for the campaign, covering issues from healthcare to taxes and national security. Ryan said the policy agenda on poverty will be announced in the first week of June, with more details later in the month. He said the agenda was for 2017 and would feature "the kind of things that you can get done only with a Republican president." (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)
(Updates with statement from Puerto Rico Governor Garcia Padilla)

By Patrick Rucker

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday backed a plan to help Puerto Rico escape crippling debt and expand the economy, a move that could put a rescue before the House of Representatives within days.

The House Natural Resources Committee endorsed the plan by a 29-10 vote and left intact most provisions endorsed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The plan would empower a federal oversight board to negotiate with investors and decide what they would recover from the roughly $70 billion they lent the island.

Taxpayer money will not be spent in the rescue which would prevent a bailout, Ryan's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Puerto Rico's Governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla praised the bill for elements to help address insolvency, protect essential services and grow the economy. However, he reiterated reservations about the broad power of the oversight board.

"Puerto Ricans are Americans and our democratic rights need to be protected, just like those of American citizens living on the mainland, and the oversight provisions do not meet that obligation," he said in a statement, urging Ryan to amend the bill before it goes to the full House for a vote.

Under the plan, investors may not sue Puerto Rico while the oversight board does its work, and all the island's creditors could face a loss despite recent lobbying from Wall Street interest groups.

Among Republicans who voted on Wednesday, more than half endorsed the rescue plan but a vocal minority warned that it would hurt investor demand for municipal bonds and force issuers to offer higher yields.

"Taxpayers across the country will have to pay ... as markets adjust to this new world," warned Congressman Tom McClintock of California.

The bill, called the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, passed without significant changes.

Speaker Ryan and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, in separate statements on Wednesday touted bipartisan support for the bill. If that holds, lawmakers may guide the rescue past the Senate to President Barack Obama before $1.9 billion in Puerto Rico debt is due on July 1.

Story continues

Republicans may demand more concessions while some Democrats find the oversight board too punitive. Democrats also want guarantees that the island's pension system, which has a shortfall of $40 billion, would be protected first.

With the House and Senate set to begin a week-long Memorial Day holiday break at the end of this week, debate of the bill by the full House is not expected until sometime in June.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington; Writing by Daniel Bases; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bernard Orr)
By Patrick Rucker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday backed a plan to help Puerto Rico escape crippling debt and expand the economy, a move that could put a rescue before the House of Representatives within days.

The House Natural Resources Committee endorsed the plan by a 29-10 vote and left intact most provisions endorsed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The plan would empower a federal oversight board to negotiate with investors and decide what they would recover from the roughly $70 billion they lent the island.

Taxpayer money will not be spent in the rescue which would prevent a bailout, Ryan's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Puerto Rico's Governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla praised the bill for elements to help address insolvency, protect essential services and grow the economy. However, he reiterated reservations about the broad power of the oversight board.

"Puerto Ricans are Americans and our democratic rights need to be protected, just like those of American citizens living on the mainland, and the oversight provisions do not meet that obligation," he said in a statement, urging Ryan to amend the bill before it goes to the full House for a vote.

Under the plan, investors may not sue Puerto Rico while the oversight board does its work, and all the island's creditors could face a loss despite recent lobbying from Wall Street interest groups.

Among Republicans who voted on Wednesday, more than half endorsed the rescue plan but a vocal minority warned that it would hurt investor demand for municipal bonds and force issuers to offer higher yields.

"Taxpayers across the country will have to pay ... as markets adjust to this new world," warned Congressman Tom McClintock of California.

The bill, called the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, passed without significant changes.

Speaker Ryan and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, in separate statements on Wednesday touted bipartisan support for the bill. If that holds, lawmakers may guide the rescue past the Senate to President Barack Obama before $1.9 billion in Puerto Rico debt is due on July 1.

Story continues

Republicans may demand more concessions while some Democrats find the oversight board too punitive. Democrats also want guarantees that the island's pension system, which has a shortfall of $40 billion, would be protected first.

With the House and Senate set to begin a week-long Memorial Day holiday break at the end of this week, debate of the bill by the full House is not expected until sometime in June.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington; Writing by Daniel Bases; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bernard Orr)
By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators questioned on Tuesday whether India's development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

"We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.

(Click http://in.reuters.com/news/picture/pm-modi-in-iran?articleId=INRTSFIAP for PM Modi's Iran visit pictures.)

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.

Biswal said she believed India's relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognized India's need for a trade route.

"From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn't have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.

Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honor.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.

Story continues

She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. "We're looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation," Biswal said.

Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance China's rising power. President Barack Obama has called it "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alistair Bell)
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - A Congressional plan to help Puerto Rico shed billions of dollars in bad debt can win enough support to make its way to a vote in the House of Representatives, U.S. lawmakers who support the measure said on Tuesday.

Under the rescue plan, an independent panel would erase some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt load that has crippled the island state already facing a 45 percent poverty rate and the Zika epidemic.

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a Republican, has endorsed the fix and the fate of the measure could help define his tenure as party leader which began in October.

But Ryan can rely on some Democrats who say the rescue will aid the ailing island even if some of the legislation's provisions are too punitive of Puerto Rico.

"This is the only bill that will attract enough support from our colleagues on the Republican side to pass in a Congress they control," said Rep. Raul Grijalva, the leading Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Grijalva of Arizona said he expects lawmakers will ratify the plan when they write the fine-print of the legislation at a hearing on Wednesday.

Rep. Rob Bishop, the panel's chairman, postponed a law-writing session in April because of opposition to the Puerto Rico rescue but on Tuesday he said he was hopeful.

Ryan and Democratic leaders stress the aid plan for the island means relief without federal spending though investors will see a cut in their Puerto Rican bond holdings and they are fighting for terms that could limit the hit to their portfolios.

A leading voice for investors, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), on Tuesday backed the plan which expects Puerto Rico to control deficit spending.

A Puerto Rico oversight panel, or control board, could veto Puerto Rico spending measures that it finds irresponsible and SIFMA endorsed such "broad powers to enforce and monitor fiscal discipline."

The oversight board would have the power to push creditors to accept a write-down of debt, even over the objections of holdout investors.

The plan would also ask the oversight board to protect the interests of Puerto Rico pensioners who rely on a system that is now under funded by at least $40 billion.

(Reporting By Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and Patrick Rucker; Editing by Bernard Orr)
By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations' most senior humanitarian official in South Sudan denounced on Wednesday the killing of a Slovakian nun who was working as a doctor in the country, where violence is hampering efforts to relieve widespread hunger and sickness. Sister Veronika Rackova is the 54th aid worker to be killed in South Sudan since violence erupted in the world's youngest nation in December 2013, the United Nations said. "I am deeply saddened by this senseless act," Eugene Owusu, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan said in a statement on Wednesday. "Violence against humanitarian workers and humanitarian assets is categorically unacceptable and must stop." Aid workers in South Sudan have been hit by a surge in violent crime, particularly robberies, which the United Nations has said is hampering their life-saving work. [nL8N13I2V7] Rackova was shot in the waist on the night of May 15 while driving an ambulance back from a medical centre where she had been delivering a baby. She died in hospital in neighbouring Kenya five days later. Civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, killing thousands and forcing more than 2.3 million people to flee their homes. Many displaced people are hiding in bushes without access to food, clean water or medicines. Under international pressure, the two leaders signed a peace deal in August, and Kiir re-appointed Machar as vice president and named a new "national unity" cabinet in April. Rackova, 58, had lived in the southern town of Yei, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of South Sudan's capital, Juba, since 2010, according to the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, of which she was a member. The government has arrested three soldiers in connection with the shooting, local media said. Three people were injured on April 25 when a rocket propelled grenade hit a U.N. compound in the northern town of Bentiu, which is home to over 100,000 displaced people. (Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Tuesday pleaded with combatants in Iraq's embattled Falluja to protect civilians escaping the fighting as Iraqi forces shelled Islamic State targets in an attempt to retake the militant stronghold just west of the capital. Earlier the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said a number of women and children had died while trying to leave the city. Over 80 families had managed to escape since May 20, it said in a statement. In New York, a spokesman for the world body issued a public plea on behalf of the nearly 50,000 civilians still in the city. "We're calling on all parties to the conflict to take all measures to protect civilians caught in the middle," Farhan Haq told reporters. "That includes allowing civilians to freely move out of conflict zones and being provided with protection as they disperse." He noted that the United Nations has long wanted the international community to join forces and stop the crimes of Islamic State (IS), also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh. But that must not be done at the expense of innocent civilians. "We have been encouraging united international action in the face of the sort of atrocities that have been carried out by Daesh," Haq said. "At the same time ... we urge that all participants in such operations observe international human rights and humanitarian law." Iraqi forces have surrounded Falluja since last year but focused most combat operations on IS-held territories further west and north. The authorities have pledged to retake Mosul, the north's biggest city, this year in keeping with a U.S. plan to oust Islamic State from their de facto capitals in Iraq and Syria. Falluja is a bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists 50 km (30 miles) from Baghdad that was the first city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. About 300,000 people lived in the Euphrates River city before the current war. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. state personal income taxes tumbled in the key revenue month of April due to lower investment returns from weaker equities and energy prices in 2015, a Reuters analysis of state data found.

This April, personal income tax (PIT) revenue fell by an average of 9.88 percent compared to the same month last year in the 32 U.S. states and Puerto Rico for which Reuters has data.

Taxes on wages and investment income are a top revenue source for the 43 states that collect it. April is the most important revenue month because it contains the tax filing deadline and the tendency of taxpayers who owe money to wait until the last minute to pay.

Personal income taxes make up slightly more than a third of states' total general fund revenue, and sales taxes comprise roughly another third.

Collections have been volatile in recent years, including 2013's "April Surprise," which delivered unexpectedly high revenues to states as taxpayers sold investments to dodge an increase in federal taxes.

Collections plunged in April 2014 then rebounded last year with the help of a robust stock market.

In 2015, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index lost 0.7 percent compared with a 11.4 percent gain in 2014.

"The kinds of income that are kind of driving this are particularly capital gains related to the stock market. If you had to find a No. 1 culprit, that's it," said Don Boyd, Director of Fiscal Studies at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York.

News of falling revenue comes as most states are nearing the end of fiscal 2016 and the beginning of fiscal 2017, leading some to turn to temporary measures to plug budget holes, Boyd said.

John Hicks, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers in Washington, said the 20 percent growth rate in the tax in April 2015 from a year earlier set "an extremely high bar."

He said that PIT withholding has been more stable for states than capital gains-related tax revenue.

Story continues

"The underlying personal income information - even while we've been bouncing for the last few years - has still been on a slow, but increasing trend," Hicks added.

MOST STATES SEE COLLECTIONS DECREASE

Louisiana had the most dramatic drop at 81.5 percent. The plunge was due to a change in the way Louisiana issues refunds as well as a fall in withholding collections because the last day of April fell on a Saturday.

This resulted in some revenue payments being deposited in May, according to Kizzy Payton, press secretary for the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

Louisiana - like North Dakota, where PIT collections fell 34.7 percent - is also feeling the sting from the struggling energy sector. Oklahoma, another key energy producing state, experienced an 18 percent drop in revenue in April.

New Jersey's PIT revenue was down 14.8 percent, largely due to a decline in taxpayers' investment income and the state's tax structure, which relies on wealthy residents.

Oregon's receipts came in a third lower than last year, mainly because excess state revenue during the previous year led to a surplus income tax credit on 2015 returns, said Bob Estabrook, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Revenue.

Lower income tax rates led to revenue drops in Illinois, down 28.8 percent, and in Ohio, down 41.3 percent. But in Kansas, which slashed rates in 2013, revenue was up 23 percent.

Seven states - Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming - collect no income tax, and two - New Hampshire and Tennessee - only levy taxes on dividend and interest income, but not wages.

(Reporting by Karen Pierog; additional reporting by Hilary Russ, Robin Respaut, Rory Carroll and Edward Krudy; editing by Daniel Bases and G Crosse)
Former Ukrainian Army pilot Nadiya Savchenko vowed to fight for Ukraine until the final victory on Wednesday, May 25, after she was released from prison in Russia, where shed been held for nearly two years. Earlier this year, Savchenko was found guilty of involvement in the death of two Russian journalists in 2014 during fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.

Standing by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Savchenko thanked her family, the people of the Ukraine and the rest of the world in a short but defiant speech.

She was captured by the separatists in June 2014 and handed over to the Russians, who sentenced her to 22 years in prison. Savchenko, who was elected to the Ukrainian parliament and resigned from the armed forces during her imprisonment, denied involvement in the journalists deaths.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Savchenko, and she was returned to Ukraine in exchange for two Russians who were captured while fighting with separatists in eastern Ukraine. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Former Ukrainian Army pilot Nadiya Savchenko returned to Kyiv on Wednesday, May 25, after she was released from prison in Russia, where shed been held for nearly two years. Earlier this year, Savchenko was found guilty of involvement in the death of two Russian journalists in 2014 during fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.

She was captured by the separatists in June 2014 and handed over to the Russians, who sentenced her to 22 years in prison. Savchenko, who was elected to the Ukrainian parliament and resigned from the armed forces during her imprisonment, denied involvement in the journalists deaths.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Savchenko, and she was returned to Ukraine in exchange for two Russians who were captured while fighting with the separatists in eastern Ukraine. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
NAGOYA, Japan, May 25 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday there have been an encouraging number of serious offers for Tata Steel's assets in Britain but that there were no guarantees of a successful conclusion.

"We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron told reporters while flying to Japan for a G7 meeting.

"We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can," he said.

In March, Tata announced it wanted to sell its UK steel operation, throwing the future of British steelmaking into question.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Stephen Addison)
By Kylie MacLellan and William James

NAGOYA, Japan/LONDON (Reuters) - Tata Steel (TISC.NS) has received a number of serious offers for its businesses in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday as steel workers marched past Downing Street to put pressure on the government to get a deal.

Britain's steel industry has been hit by cheap Chinese imports, high energy costs and a global supply glut and in March Tata said it wanted to sell its remaining plants in the country, putting 15,000 jobs at risk.

Tata's decision has turned the spotlight on the global steel market and the impact of Chinese exports that could lead to protectionist trade policies.

The British government is keen to avoid job losses just weeks before a referendum on membership of the European Union and has offered financial support to help find a new buyer for Tata Steel UK.

"We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron said on a flight to Japan for a G7 meeting.

A Tata Steel executive said the company was in the process of evaluating bids for its British assets.

Britain's steel industry is not alone in facing tough market conditions, with producers across Europe and the United States also struggling.

Earlier on Wednesday, 12 global steel associations urged the G7 to prevent cheap Chinese steel distorting world markets and inflicting further pain on producers.

SAVING THE INDUSTRY

Tata steel workers highlighted their plight with their protest march on Wednesday past Downing Street and Britain's parliament.

"It's not just about steel. We have to secure the manufacturing base in the UK," steel worker Ian Williams, 32, from Tata's Port Talbot plant in south Wales, told Reuters.

"What we want is for Tata to be a responsible seller but also find the right buyer. What they will have in return is one of the best, most committed workforces in the UK."

Story continues

Sources told Reuters on Tuesday at least four individual bids had been submitted, from management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and investment firm Greybull Capital. Tata did not comment on the bidding process.

Cameron said: "We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can."

Government officials said they were confident the offer of state support would be enough to secure a sale.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid held talks with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai ahead of the company's board meeting later on Wednesday, which is expected to produce a shortlist from among the bidders.

"(Javid) is really encouraged by all the proposals that were submitted. I would describe it as a productive meeting," a government source said. Javid has spoken to each of the bidders.

As well as poring over the details of the bids, the two hours of talks focused on the government's willingness to back the sale with hundreds of millions of pounds of support.

The government has said such support is likely to take the form of loans on commercial terms, and could see the government take an equity stake of up to 25 percent.

Any announcement on which bids Tata is looking to pursue could come later this week.

One of the major hurdles that Britain is looking to remove from the sales process is a 485 million-pound ($710 million) deficit in pension scheme liabilities, although the government said it could not yet comment on exactly how it planned to mitigate that liability.

The BBC reported that ministers were expected to announce on Thursday proposals to overhaul the pension scheme, and the government was considering cuts to pension benefits to help smooth a sale.

However, the Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that while Tata was running its sale process, it was also considering keeping the UK business as it evaluated the performance of its operations and the package of support being offered by the government.

(Additional reporting by Andy Bruce and Michael Holden; Editing by Jane Merriman, Greg Mahlich)
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN envoy for the Middle East expressed alarmed on Wednesday after Hamas authorities in the Gaza strip moved to hold public executions, and urged them to change course.

Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council that public executions are prohibited under international human rights law and that any such killings in the Gaza Strip would be carried out without the approval of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, which is required under Palestinian law.

"I urge Hamas not to carry out these executions and call on President Abbas to establish a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty," Mladenov told the council by video-conference.

The death penalty can be applied only to the most serious crimes following a judicial process that upholds fair trial standards, the envoy said.

"I have serious doubts as to whether capital trials in Gaza meet these standards," he added.

Thirteen men, most convicted of murder connected to robberies, are currently awaiting execution, according to Hamas officials.

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, does not recognize Abbas's legitimacy.

The authorities announced on Sunday that they are planning to carry out a series of public executions.

The last public executions in Gaza took place during the most recent war with Israel in 2014, when a firing squad from Hamas's armed wing killed six men.

Nine death sentences were handed down in the Gaza Strip in 2015 and two in the occupied West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

Around 10 more have been handed down in Gaza so far this year.

Mladenov also warned that a recent upsurge in violence between Israel and Hamas could lead to another war.

A ceasefire agreed in August 2014 "needs to be vigorously upheld by all sides if we are to avoid slipping into another devastating conflict," he said.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The last remaining United Nations sanctions on Liberia were lifted on Wednesday in a decision the United States called a tangible sign of progress in the West African country.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to lift an arms embargo on non-state groups that was imposed 13 years ago to support a peace deal that ended a devastating war.

It was the last punitive measure in force from a sweeping series of sanctions that had included travel bans, assets freezes and a ban on lumber and diamond exports.

US Deputy Ambassador David Pressman said the decision showed "how far Liberia has come" in its transition to peace and marked the first time since 1992 that the country was not under UN sanctions.

Liberia's charge d'affaires George Patten told the council that sanctions had helped stabilize the country and that the government was now ready to take steps to beef up security.

"Targeted sanctions in the context of Liberia have been very constructive," said Patten.

With the international measures now all lifted, Liberia has adopted gun-control legislation and is taking steps to strengthen control of its borders, he said.

- UN peacekeepers stay for now -

The United Nations is also drawing down its peacekeeping mission in Liberia, UNMIL, which now has some 3,700 troops and police on the ground from its high point of 15,000.

On June 30, a security transition will be completed, handing over much of the mission's tasks back to Liberian police and army. By then, there will be fewer than 2,000 UNMIL personnel left.

The council is discussing when to end the mission that helped Liberia during the deadly Ebola outbreak and may still be need as the country heads toward elections next year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the council's decision showed the "significant progress made by Liberia and the sub-region in maintaining stability."

The end of sanctions on Liberia came a few weeks after the council lifted the last remaining measures against Ivory Coast.

Story continues

There is a sharp debate within the council on whether sanctions are a useful tool, with China, Russia and Venezuela arguing that they often fail to encourage better behavior.

Pressman argued that the council "must be creative and courageous in its sanction design," and pointed to the timber and diamond export bans in Liberia as a pressure tactic that could be applied to other conflicts.

Liberia has spent a decade recovering from two ruinous back-to-back civil wars that ran from 1989 to 2003, leaving a quarter of a million people dead and the economy in tatters.

Liberia's ex-president Charles Taylor is serving a 50-year sentence in a British jail for war crimes for his role backing militias that rampaged across Sierra Leone during its civil war.
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday designated two Pakistan-based Islamist groups with links to the Taliban as global terrorist threats.

As "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", US citizens are forbidden from associating with the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and the Jamaat ul Dawa al-Quran (JDQ).

Any assets owned by the groups in places under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and US law enforcement will be authorized to investigate their activity.

According to the US State Department, the TGG is linked to the Tehreek-i-Taliban -- the Pakistani Taliban -- and is based in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan.

The faction, US officials believe, was responsible for the December 2014 massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar that left more than 130 children dead.

The TGG is led by Umar Mansoor, who is said to also have ordered the January 2016 attack on a university in Charsadda that left more than 20 dead.

The designation also says that the TGG was behind the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, in northern Pakistan.

The second group, the JDQ, is said to be based in Peshawar but to have sworn allegiance to the late leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.

In addition to this link to the Afghan movement, the State Department says JDQ has alliances with Al-Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Washington blames the group for the 2010 kidnapping of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan.

Norgrove died after being wounded in the explosion of a grenade thrown by a US Navy SEAL commando during a failed rescue attempt.
Washington (AFP) - The United States said Wednesday that the make-up of Israel's new right-wing coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the government's commitment to a two-state solution in its conflict with the Palestinians.

In a rare comment on the internal politics of a US ally, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington had "seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel's history."

"And we also know that many of its ministers have said they oppose a two-state solution. This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be headed in and what kind of policies it may adopt."

The spokesman also restated the United States' support for a negotiated end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians based on two states living side by side within agreed borders.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had named hardline nationalist Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister and welcomed lawmakers from his Yisrael Beitenu party to the ranks of his coalition.

Netanyahu has continued to insist that he wants to negotiate peace with the Palestinians, but Lieberman's arrival in the cabinet has raised concerns inside and outside of Israel that it will toughen its stance.

"Ultimately we're going to judge this government based on its actions," Toner said.

"We are going to work with this government as we have worked with every Israeli government that preceded it with the goal of strengthening cooperation. And we remain steadfast in our commitment to the security of Israel and to the two-state solution."
Washington (AFP) - America's nuclear force still uses floppy disks designed in the 1970s to coordinate some of its functions, according to a watchdog report released.

The report by the Government Accountability Office points to a number of worryingly outdated "legacy systems" still in use across the US government that are in desperate need of upgrading.

A Pentagon command and control system that "coordinates the operational functions of the United States' nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker support aircrafts," runs on an IBM Series/1 computer and uses 8-inch floppy disks, the report says.

That type of computer debuted in 1976, when Gerald Ford was in the White House.

"This system remains in use because, in short, it still works," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson told AFP.

"However, to address obsolescence concerns, the floppy drives are scheduled to be replaced with Secure Digital devices by the end of 2017," she added.

"Modernization across the entire Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) enterprise remains ongoing."

According to the GAO report, the Pentagon is planning to fully replace the system by the end of 2020.

The GAO said the federal government is spending a lot more on "operations and maintenance" of its computer systems than it is on "development, modernization and enhancement."

Last year, for instance, the government spent $61.2 billion on operations and maintenance, compared to $19.2 billion in the other category.

The report also found that the Treasury Department uses "assembly language code," which was initially designed in the 1950s.

The Office of Management and Budget has started an initiative to replace the legacy IT systems, "but until this policy is finalized and fully executed, the government runs the risk of maintaining systems that have outlived their effectiveness," the report states.
Caracas (AFP) - The political opposition pushing for the removal of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro has vowed fresh protests this week in the volatile South American state.

Here is a guide to who his leading opponents are, what they want and how they are trying to get it.

WHO ARE THEY?

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable is a broad coalition of political groups, dominated by center-right forces such as the Democratic Action party of congressional speaker Henry Ramos Allup, 72. The MUD's most prominent figure is former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, 43. The MUD's secretary general is journalist Jesus Torrealba, 58.

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

The opposition blames Maduro for Venezuela's grave economic crisis. It wants to hold a referendum to remove him from office and then hold elections to form a new government to fix the damage. They want an end to the socialist "revolution" launched by Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez.

HOW CAN THEY GET IT?

Maduro has blocked legislative reforms aimed at cutting short his term, so the opposition has opted for a referendum. It wants to hold one before the end of this year.

If Venezuelans voted to remove Maduro in a referendum after January 10, 2017, under constitutional rules he could hand power to his vice-president until the end of his term in 2019 instead of new elections being held.

The government has warned there will not be time to hold a referendum this year. The opposition has called for street protests to demand the National Electoral Board (CNE) quickly process its petitions for a referendum.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

For the opposition, street protests raise the risk of a crackdown by security forces. Riot police fired tear gas at protesters who tried to march on the CNE last week. Anti-government protests in 2014 led to riots that left 43 people dead.

For Maduro, the loyalty of the security forces is key. The military top brass have declared allegiance to him. Capriles told the BBC he thought poorer, lower-ranking soldiers may feel differently.

Story continues

Political scientist Hector Briceno said Venezuelans were wary of mass protests after past violence in the country. Last week's march to the CNE only drew about 1,000 people.

"The only options the opposition has to press for a referendum are peaceful demonstrations, along with international pressure," Briceno said.

A trio of foreign ex-leaders has offered to mediate talks between the two sides, but otherwise the international reaction has so far been timid.
Yesterday, Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon Communications Inc. VZ warned that the companys second-quarter 2016 financial results may be affected by the ongoing strike of its wireline and cable TV workers which started from Apr 13, 2016.

Verizon and the striking unions, The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), are currently at a stalemate over a new labor contract. The companys wireline employees have been working out of contract since August last year.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez met with the Verizon CEO and the heads of the two unions that represent the companys striking workforce. Perez requested both sides to sit at the negotiation table to resolve the issues. However, nothing fruitful has emerged so far.

The CWA said nearly 40,000 workers have gone on strike. The company however asserted that it is fully prepared for a strike and has trained thousands of its non-union employees to tackle the situation. Verizon has guaranteed full, uncompromised service to its customers during the strike period.

Despite this alternative arrangement, it seems that all is not going well with the company. McAdam stated that the company is currently on track with respect to repairing and maintenance issues of the existing installed bases. However, the number of new installations of FiOS high-speed Internet and FiOS pay-TV has dropped significantly.

As a result, the company may suffer high-speed broadband and pay-TV customer attrition. The situation may become even worse going forward if the strike continues for an indefinite period of time.

It is crucial for Verizon to ensure smooth operations and continuing service even in the face of a walkout. Cable and landline revenues, although not comprising a large share of the pie, come directly from Verizons business customers. In 2015, FiOS generated 29% of Verizons total revenue and slightly less than 7% of operating income.

Story continues

Verizon is already facing severe competitive threat from its telecom rivals, AT&T Inc. T, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS and Sprint Corp. S, and any disruption in services can prove to be fatal for the company. Only time will prove how sound the companys Business Continuity Plans are to overcome such adversities. Verizon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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



AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report



SPRINT CORP (S): Free Stock Analysis Report



VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report



T-MOBILE US INC (TMUS): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
By Martin Petty HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese dissident Nguyen Quang A spent much of Tuesday as a tourist with plainclothes cops - eating fish noodle soup, visiting a temple and a fortune teller  returning home just as President Barack Obama took off from Hanoi aboard Air Force One. "It was a compulsory tour," joked Quang A, 69, a well-known critic of the Communist Party who is famous for creative stunts of his own to make Vietnam's leaders pay more than lip-service to political inclusiveness. Quang A, a former IT entrepreneur, was one of more than 100 Vietnamese who tried to run as independents for last weekend's election to the parliament, which is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. Almost all failed to get on the ballot. Dissent was once the domain of a tiny number in Vietnam who met behind closed doors or found themselves behind bars. It is not as rare these days. Before Obama's visit, a spate of protests erupted over a mass fish kill along the central coast. However, the media is censored and the most outspoken critics of the party's monopoly on power face harassment, arrest and jail for "anti-state propaganda". Quang had an inkling he wouldn't make it to his appointment with Obama, as he put on his best suit and posed for a selfie. Before walking out of the door of his Hanoi home on Tuesday morning, he uploaded the image on Facebook and typed in a message: "May be intercepted, arrested. Advising so people know." It took only a few minutes before 10 plainclothes police bundled him into a car and drove him away. They weren't giving him a free ride to Obama's hotel, where the U.S. delegation had set up a meeting with activists and civil society leaders to discuss Vietnam's deep-rooted resistance to guaranteeing human rights and political freedom. "That was just a cheap trick by those who have no understanding," Quang said of being forced to be a tourist. "I don't judge these security officials. I judge their bosses, their minds are just so addled." At least two other dissidents were blocked on Tuesday from seeing Obama, who only a day earlier had announced the scrapping of an arms embargo on Vietnam, dubbing it a necessary step in a new alliance between two countries with shared concerns about China's military clout. Washington had for years told the communist-ruled state for years that a rollback of the ban on sales of lethal weapons would depend on its commitment to free speech and stopping the harassment, arrest and jailing of its detractors. "There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, accountability," Obama said, acknowledging some activists were stopped from seeing him. Vietnam's foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters queries about the issue. Photos taken before and during Obama's civil society meeting seen by Reuters showed the initial U-shaped seating arrangement had changed substantially, with tables and chairs removed to account for the no-shows. Outspoken lawyer, Ha Huy Son, said he was also stopped from going, as was a journalist, according to Human Rights Watch. Its deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, said by lifting the arms ban, "Obama just gave Vietnam a reward that they don't deserve." Dissidents reacted with dismay that Washington's pursuit of its Asia "rebalance" through security and trade partnerships looked like it was frittering away its last bargaining chips with Vietnam. WEAPONS OVER RIGHTS? The country is among the 12 that joined Obama's signature Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord, which had no human rights provisions for Vietnam beyond establishment of independent labor unions. "The Communist Party wants not only lethal weapon and TPP but also the maintenance of its totalitarianism," said blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh. "They will pretend to improve human rights a little bit, as usual, but actually nothing has changed." On his Facebook page, activist Luu Van Minh said: "Hope that Obama comes to Vietnam to improve human rights? I don't think so. Interests of U.S. weapon firms are the main thing." The removal of the last big hurdle between Vietnam and the United States drew mixed responses from U.S. legislators. Some spoke of a squandering of the only U.S. leverage for pushing Vietnam on free speech and assembly and releasing political prisoners. Others lawmakers said ending the ban was the right move for strategic reasons but called for subsequent weapons deals to be scrutinized with human rights in mind. In justifying the removal, Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said engagement was the best approach in getting Vietnam to make more concessions. Asked how the Obama administration had conveyed its displeasure to Vietnam about his meeting, Rhodes said it would be "following up", to check on the status of those not present. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Ho Chi Minh City and Patricia Zengerle in Washington. Editing by John Chalmers and Bill Tarrant)
In a scene reminiscent of the chaos in Chicago in March, protesters and police clashed outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tuesday night.

Demonstrators reportedly broke through barricades, jumped on cars and threw rocks at police, who countered with smoke grenades in an attempt to clear the anti-Trump crowds gathered outside the city's convention center.

"Reports circulated that a gunshot was fired, leaving a hole in the side of the convention center. Police later said on Twitter that was untrue, and added there was possible damage from a pellet gun. A glass door at the entrance to the center appeared to be broken," the Washington Post reported.

ONGOING: Albuquerque police deploy smoke grenades after protesters threw rocks at police:pic.twitter.com/gsRXLl0psU

Witnesses said protesters threw also bottles at mounted police, burned pro-Trump t-shirts and waved signs calling the Republican presidential candidate a "fascist" and a "racist."

Hundreds protest Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexicohttp://nbcnews.to/1RoZRgt

Authorities reported at least one arrest as a result of the demonstration against Trump, whom activists assailed as a purveyor of anti-immigrant hate:

Several #APD officers are being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one subj arrested from the riot.

The mayhem  an apparent outgrowth of an initially peaceful protest  extended inside the Albuquerque venue as well.

"At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center," Fox News reported.

Story continues

The presumptive GOP nominee mocked those who disrupted his event, sneering at one, "Get out. He can't get a date, so he's doing this instead" and taunting another, "Go home to mommy," KOB TV reported.

Demonstrators weren't the only ones dishing out heated rhetoric: The bombastic billionaire used his stage time in Albuquerque to rail against Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton as "a lowlife" and the news media as "dishonest slime," CNBC reported.

His Twitter feed struck a more upbeat tone:

Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd! Now in L.A. Big rally in Anaheim.

But Trump's social media director, Dan Scavino Jr., tweeted some choice words for the demonstrators:

Watching thugs & punks in Albuquerque- en route to California. They don't even know what they are "protesting!!" @greggutfeld @ericbolling

Trump rallies have a long history of violence.

The Manhattan mogul cancelled a major March event at the University of Illinois at Chicago after brawls broke out between Trump supporters and foes.

A black demonstrator got sucker-punched by a Trump fan at an event that same month in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

And bedlam broke out at a Trump event in Orange County, California, in April, where police struggled to control a protest that resulted in damaged cars, blocked roads and more than a dozen arrests.

As Trump moved closer to securing the 1,237 delegates he needs for the GOP nomination with a win in the Washington state primary on Tuesday night, California authorities were girding Wednesday for possible disturbances ahead of a scheduled campaign rally in Anaheim.
Elizabeth Holmes

Walgreens had a chance to validate Theranos' blood-testing technology before entering into a partnership with them but never made that move, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In 2011, while meeting with Theranos' CEO Elizabeth Holmes, Walgreens had the chance to have the company's proprietary technology, which uses a small amount of blood, vetted by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The Journal reports that this didn't happen, and Walgreens went ahead with a deal to offer Theranos services at thousands of its US drugstores.

Citing interviews with Walgreens employees, Theranos employees and government documents, The Journal reports that Walgreens didn't appear to be in the loop regarding the technology Theranos was using to run its blood tests, instead finding out key events through media reports.

Last week, The Journal reported that Theranos had voided or corrected tens of thousands of tests that it had run in 2014 and 2015. The Journal reports that Walgreens wasn't aware of the decision to do this until the newspaper reported the story.

On Wednesday, Theranos was also hit by a lawsuit seeking class action status in California federal court by a patient who alleges the company falsely claimed it could test small samples of blood.

The lawsuit filed today against Theranos is without merit. The company will vigorously defend itself against these claims, said Theranos spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan.

Walgreens operates 40 of Theranos' wellness centers in Arizona and one in California, which has been closed since a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection found problems with Theranos' Northern California lab. Walgreens reportedly threatened to end its relationship with Theranos if the company didn't get back into compliance with the agency.

Walgreens declined to comment.

Read The Journal's account here.

NOW WATCH: This medical device should make drawing blood a lot less painful





More From Business Insider


Weatherford International: Life after Its Credit Rating Downgrade

(Continued from Prior Part)

Weatherford Internationals returns and key drivers

Oilfield equipment and services (or OFS) companies like Weatherford International (WFT) are affected by rig counts and energy prices. In the past year, the West Texas Intermediate (or WTI) crude oil price has dropped by ~11%.

Weatherford International has underperformed the industry ETFs. WFTs one-year return of -61% net of dividends has been worse than the VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH). OIH returned -29% in the past year. WFT comprises 3.6% of OIHs portfolio.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), the broader energy industry ETF, has produced a return of -18%. Weatherford International has significantly underperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which has returned -1% during the same period.

WFTs peer Superior Energy Services (SPN) has outperformed WFT, producing a one-year return of -36%, net of dividends. WFT also underperformed the US rig count, which fell by 55% in one year.

Weatherford International and crude oil prices

The correlation coefficient between Weatherford Internationals stock price and crude oil prices from May 2015 to the present is 0.58. This indicates a relatively strong degree of correlation between crude oil prices and Weatherford Internationals stock prices.

Analyzing WFTs underperformance and its strategies

Several of Weatherfords international rigs are idle, and its cash flows and EBITDA were negative in 1Q16. The company has almost exhausted its room for workforce restructuring, which had accrued savings in the past. The company has reduced its capex budget for fiscal 2016. Although the company expects to generate positive free cash flow in 2016, it has revised down its guidance.

The companys Zubair EPF contract in Iraq has run into legal trouble. This can reduce WFTs fiscal 2016 free cash flow forecast by an additional $150 million to $200 million. In addition, a significantly lower capex spend can impair WFTs growth prospects.

Story continues

On the other hand, Weatherford International plans to lower its net debt by 7% to $6.5 billion by the end of fiscal 2016. It is possible that Weatherford International may post a shaky performance in the medium to long term.

Browse this series on Market Realist:
An Insider's Tour of Apple in 2Q16: News, Highlights, and Trends

Retail, encryption, and manufacturing in India

Last week, Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook visited India (EPI) and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The duo reportedly spoke on a number of issues including retail stores, manufacturing, app development, and encryption.

Apple is also looking to open three retail stores in the country by the end of 2016, despite rules stating that foreign businesses with a single-brand store need to source 30% of goods from domestic suppliers.

Earlier this year, Apple also wanted to sell refurbished iPhones in India. Apple recently announced that its multi-pronged approach for India includes investments such as the iOS design and development center in Bangalore and a Maps development facility in Hyderabad. Cook went on to say that Indian markets are a top priority for Apple.

Apple also held talks with Indias regional wireless carriers and government agencies. According to AppleInsider, the firm is aggressively eyeing expansion in hardware, retail sales, and internet services, which are subject to regulatory approvals and private sector partnerships.

Apples small share in India

According to Counterpoint, India (EPI) recently overtook the US to become the second-largest smartphone market behind China. But Apple still only commands a 2% share in Indias smartphone market.

According to that report (and as the chart above shows), Samsung (SSNLF) led the Indian smartphone market last year, with Micromax, Intex, Lenovo (LNVGY), and Lava taking the up the remaining four positions among the top five players in this market. Microsoft (MSFT) lost its place among the top five players in this market due to the declining popularity of the Lumia line of smartphones.

In this series, well take a full tour of Apple across regions, peers, products, and financials. Continue to the next part for a look at recent iPhone sales.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Reynolds American's Update on Developing Broad Brand Strategies

(Continued from Prior Part)

Reynolds Americans 1Q16 revenue highlights

Reynolds Americans (RAI) reported revenue increased by 41.8% to $2.9 billion in 1Q16 compared to $2.1 billion in 1Q15. The increase was primarily due to Reynolds Americans increased cigarette volume of 34.2% in 1Q16, largely driven by the addition of the Newport brand.

However, after beating the consensus estimates last quarter, Reynolds Americans revenue missed Wall Street expectations in 1Q16. The consensus has projected revenue of slightly over $2.9 billion.

Volume and market share

The total industry cigarette volume increased by 0.4% during the quarter. This was partly driven by improved economic factors and lower gas prices, which benefited the disposable income of adult tobacco consumers. After adjusting the wholesale inventory changes, industry shipments fell flat in 1Q16. However, total RAIs domestic retail (XRT) market share increased by 0.3% to 34.6% in 1Q16.

Similarly, Altria Groups (MO) 1Q16 net revenue of excise taxes increased by 6.0% to $4.5 billion. However, Philip Morriss (PM) 1Q16 revenue excluding excise taxes fell by 8.1% to $6.1 billion. Excluding the adverse impact of foreign currency, net revenue increased by 2.4% in 1Q16. Vector Groups (VGR) 1Q16 pro forma adjusted revenue also fell by 11.7% to $0.3 billion.

RAIs peers British American Tobacco (BTI) and Japan Tobacco (JAPAF) (JAPAY) release their results on a yearly basis.

Revenue growth opportunities

Reynolds Americans (RAI) completion of Lorillards acquisition and related divestitures to Imperial Tobacco (ITYBY) and the integration of the Newport brand has helped RJR Tobacco to identify new revenue opportunities and expanded presence to drive further growth.

In addition, the vapor collaboration between RJR Tobacco and British American Tobacco (BTI) will facilitate RAIs efforts to efficiently meet the preferences of adult tobacco consumers in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Story continues

In the coming parts of this series, we will focus on Reynolds Americans four operating segments 1Q16 revenue and income.

RAI comprises 0.9% of the WisdomTree High Dividend Fund ETF (DHS).

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Behind Disney's Latest Ploy in the Shifting Media Industry

(Continued from Prior Part)

Shanghai Disneyland

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) views the opening of its Shanghai Disneyland in China (FXI) as a strong revenue growth driver. The company expects to declare its Shanghai Disney Resort open on June 16, 2016. It will be Disneys first resort in mainland China. Disney expects pre-opening expenses for the Shanghai resort to be around $300 million in fiscal 2016.

Disney referred to Shanghai Disneyland at the companys fiscal 2Q16 earnings call and stated that the company is encouraged by the initial feedback received from guests at Shanghai Disneylands trial operations.

Disney has also added its first-ever attraction related to the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean at the theme park in China. The company has also added a Lion King show in the Mandarin language at the theme park. Disney is expecting higher attendance at its Shanghai Disneyland. The park has good connectivity, and it has kept its ticket prices affordable.

Pricing strategy at Shanghai Disneyland

Disney elaborated further on its pricing strategy at Shanghai Disneyland, stating that The pricing that we have in China is for basically peak and off-peak periods, and there are more off-peak days than there are peak days. There is roughly a $20 differential between peak and off-peak and somewhere in the neighborhood of $76 a day for the peak and $56 for the off-peak. There is also some pricing for children and some pricing for senior citizens.

The company also noted that the reaction to the pricing for its theme parks and hotels had been positive so far. Notably, last year, Disneys competitor Comcast (CMCSA) acquired a 51% stake in Universal Studios Japan (EWJ) to fuel its international expansion efforts.

Disney makes up 0.86% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). SPY has 3.4% of it total holdings in the computers sector. SPY also has 0.19% in Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) and 0.13% in CBS (CBS).

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Nearly a month after his last rival dropped out of the presidential race, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has done nothing to moderate his incendiary rhetoric, even when it comes to a fellow member of the GOP.

Speaking at a campaign rally in New Mexico on Tuesday night, the billionaire turned his barbs on the states Republican governor, Susana Martinez, for skipping the event.

Related: Study Says Trump Isnt Really Bringing New GOP Voters to Polls

Youve got to get your governor to do a better job. Shes not doing her job, Trump said, adding that the number of people on food stamps in the state had tripled on Martinezs watch.

Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going. Weve got to get her moving. Come on, lets go governor, the billionaire said at the event, which featured major clashes outside between anti-Trump protestors and local police.

Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico. If I was governor, that wouldnt be happening, according to Trump, renewing his push for a temporary ban on refugees.

GOP reaction to the moguls barbs was probably best summed up Wednesday by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who told MSNBC that the scolding was stupid politics.

Why?

For starters, Trump couldnt have picked a worse target. Martinez is seen as a rising star within the Republican Party, and openly badgering her for her support rubbed many, including some of Trumps vanquished primary rivals, the wrong way.

Related: Trumps Hispanic Outreach Efforts Need Some Work

The truth is @ Gov_Martinez is one of the hardest working and most effective Governors in America. https://t.co/QcADopQCYe  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 25, 2016

Its likely that many Republicans feel the same way DeLay and others do, which is a major threat to GOP unity going into the general election. Party elders are already worried their prospective nominee will be a brick around the necks of Republicans down the ballot and might endanger control of Congress.

Story continues

Martinez herself is the chair of the Republican Governors Association, a key component of the party that can help raise money and drive voter turnout in November. If the head of the crucial organization is at odds with the standard-bearer it only increases the chances of uncertainty at the polls.

Theres also no getting around the fact that Martinez is Hispanic and a woman, two voting groups that overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump and could have outsized influence on Election Day.

A new Fox News Latino poll released last week found likely Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton has an overwhelming advantage over the billionaire among Latino voters, by a three-to-one margin. Its hard to imagine that gap growing wider, but comments like the ones Tuesday night are sure not going to do anything to close it.

Related: Heres a Good Reason to Worry About Trumps Economic Policies

And Martinez wasnt the only woman Trump chided Tuesday night. He labeled Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as Pocahontas, a reference to her claims of having Native American heritage, and called Clinton a low-life.

I will never say this but she screams and drives me crazy, Trump said. I cant listen.

Its worth noting that Martinez isnt backing away from the fight. On Wednesday, her office put out a statement that said she isnt going to be bullied into supporting a candidate.

Apparently, Donald Trump doesnt realize Governor Martinez wasnt elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the presidents Syrian refugee plan, according to Mike Lonergan, the governors press secretary.

But the pot shots werent about policy, they were about politics. And the governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, he said. Governor Martinez doesnt care about what Donald Trump says about her  she cares about what he says he will do to help New Mexicans. Shes disappointed that she didnt hear anything about that last night.

Related: What Trump Has to Do to Win

Meanwhile, Trump senior adviser Barry Bennett backhandedly expressed regret over the episode, adding that efforts to reach out to Martinez had been rejected.

"She's been more than just not talking about Trump, she's been pretty vehemently against Trump the whole time and I think there was an attempt to try to sit down with her and it was refused," he told CNN.

"I don't know who's giving her political advice, but I don't think she's getting very good advice," he added. "I wish that none of this had happened, I wish that she would have endorsed the nominee of our party like everybody else."

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
The FBI and the Securities Exchange Commission are putting the personal finances of one of the Senates leading Republican voices on foreign policy under the microscope.

Politico reports that the feds are looking into whether Sen. Bob Corker (TN) broke any rules when he failed to report millions in income and assets, including stock transactions, in his annual financial disclosures. The Wall Street Journal reported on the omissions last fall, and Corker, who entered the Senate in 2007 after serving as the mayor of Chattanooga, revised years worth of disclosure reports.

Related: Obamacare Insurers Received More than $15 Billion in Taxpayer Bailouts

Specifically, investigators are sniffing around Corkers ties to CBL & Associates Properties Inc., according to The Journal. The Chattanooga-based real estate investment firm has properties across the country and Corker worked there for a little while after college.

Corker remains friends with the companys executives, some of whom have donated to his campaigns, while he has raked in millions in recent years by trading CBL stock. No one at the company has reportedly been contacted by the feds.

Thus far investigators havent found any evidence of wrongdoing and Corkers office adamantly denies any impropriety and blamed the entire probe on a complaint filed with the SEC by advocacy group Campaign for Accountability.

A politically-motivated special interest group that refuses to disclose its donors continues to make baseless charges against Senator Corker, and we know that any effort to examine his actions will result in their smear campaign being discredited, Micah Johnson, a Corker spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Related: Heres Why Clinton Wont Pick Elizabeth Warren as Her Running Mate

The probe is particularly noteworthy because Corker is the chair of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As such, he has become a high-profile opponent of many of the Obama administrations foreign policy efforts, such as last years landmark nuclear deal with Iran, and held the White Houses feet to the fire over a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State and its affiliates in Iraq and Syria.

Story continues

Corker also serves as a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee.

On top of that, Corker is believed to be on Donald Trumps short list of possible running mates. The Tennessee lawmaker trekked to Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday, fueling speculation that he is a finalist to be the presumptive GOP nominees pick for vice president.

Related: 16 Picks for Trumps Vice President

"I have no reason whatsoever to think that I am being considered for vice president, Corker told reporters outside Trump Tower.

This was a meeting between two people who didn't know each other except over phone calls, getting to know one another, he said, adding they talked about China and Russia.

What made the meeting more notable is that it came just a few weeks after Trumps expansive speech last month in Washington where outlined his "America first" foreign policy stance.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
President Obamas visit to Hiroshima, nearly 71 years after it was destroyed by the first atomic bomb, inevitably raises once again the questions of why the United States dropped that bomb, whether it was necessary to convince Japan to surrender and whether it saved lives by making it unnecessary to invade the Japanese home islands.

Beginning in the 1960s, when the Vietnam War disillusioned millions of Americans with the Cold War and the U.S. role in the world, the idea that the bombing of Hiroshimaand the subsequent bombing of Nagasakiwas not necessary gained ground. Led by the economist Gar Alperovitz, a new school of historians also began arguing that the bomb was dropped more to intimidate the Soviet Union than to defeat the Japanese. By 1995, Americans divided so sharply on the necessity and morality of dropping the bombs that a 50th anniversary exhibit at the Smithsonian had to be repeatedly altered and eventually drastically scaled back. Passions have cooled as the generation that fought the war has left the scene and academics have turned to other topics, but the Presidents visit is bound to reignite them.

MORE: Why It Took So Long for a U.S. President to Visit Hiroshima

Because passion, not reason, has largely driven the debate, too little attention has been paid to a number of serous scholarly works and documentary releases that have discredited many of the new theories about the use of the bomb. As early as 1973, Robert James Maddux showed that Alperovitzs argument about the bomb and the USSR was almost entirely without foundation, but Maddoxs work had little impact on the public perception of the event.

Still, those who have continued to argue that Moscow, not Tokyo, was the real target of the A-bombs, have had to rely upon inferences about what President Truman and his top advisers might have been thinking, since there has never been documentary proof that they really felt this way. Meanwhile, other studies have made critical contributions about other aspects of the controversy. Thanks to them, we can see clearly that the Japanese were not at all ready to surrender on American terms before the two bombs were dropped, that they were planning the most determined resistance possible to the planned U.S. invasion, that they had managed to prepare for it extensively, and that the consequences of a longer war could have been far more serious for both the Japanese and U.S. forces than the two bombs.

Story continues

MORE: See the Original Operations Orders for the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The United States objective in the war had been laid down publicly by President Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference in early 1943: the unconditional surrender of all its enemies, allowing both for the occupation of their territory and the imposition of such new political institutions as the Allies saw fit. In the early summer of 1945 those terms had indeed been imposed upon Germany. But as a brilliant 1999 study by Richard B. Frank, Downfall, showed, the Japanese governmentwhile well aware that it could not win the warwas not at all ready to accept such terms. They particularly wanted to avoid an American occupation of Japan, or any change in their political institutions.

Knowing that U.S. forces would have to invade the island of Kyushu before moving to Honshu and Tokyo itself, the Japanese planned a huge, costly battle on Kyushu that would inflict enough casualties to convince Washington to compromise. More importantly, as an excellent study of U.S. intelligence showed in 1998, the Japanese had in fact managed to reinforce Kyushu very heavily, and military authorities in Washington knew it. By the end of July 1945, military intelligence estimates of Japanese forces on Kyushu had risen substantially, and Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall was sufficiently alarmed that, by the time the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, he was suggesting to General MacArthur, who would command the invasion, that he reconsider the invasion of Kyushu and possibly abandoning it entirely.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

As it turned out, the combination of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the entry of the USSR into the war against Japanall within a period of just three daysconvinced the Emperor and the Japanese government that surrender was the only option. More and more evidence has shown, however, that Japan would not have surrendered on American terms before an invasion took place in the absence of the atomic bombs.

The United States, then, dropped the bombs to end the war that Japan had unleashed in Asia in 1931 and extended to the United States at Pearl Harborand thereby probably avoided an invasion that would have meant hundreds of thousands of casualties. Frank also argued in Downfall that many thousands of Japanese civilians would also have starved in the meantime.

That does not mean that we need not ask ourselves about the moral implications of destroying two whole cities with nuclear weapons. Nothing comparable has happened sinceperhaps because of the deterrent effect on all sides of seeing what atomic weapons could doand we must all hope that it will never happen again.

MORE: See What the Only Hiroshima Building to Outlast the Atomic Bomb Looks Like Today

But our quarrel is not really with the use of the atomic bombs specifically, but with the attitude towards human lifeincluding civilian lifethat had grown up during the Second World War. Years before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, British and American strategists had adopted the burning of entire cities as a legitimate means of trying to defeat Germany and Japan. The firebombings of Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo and other Japanese cities had resulted in casualties roughly equal to or greater than the atomic bombings of those two cities. No historian, to my knowledge, has ever tried to trace how the idea that targeting whole cities and their populations was a legitimate tactic became orthodoxy in the British and American air forces, but it remains a very sad commentary on the ethos of the twentieth century. In any event, they had crossed that threshold well before Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The dropping of the bombs horrifies us today, but at the time, it was viewed as a necessary step to end a terrible war as quickly and with the least loss of life as possible. Careful historical research has validated that view.

The Long View

Historians explain how the past informs the present

David Kaiser, a historian, has taught at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Williams College, and the Naval War College. He is the author of seven books, including, most recently, No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War. He lives in Watertown, Mass.
Is Video the Future of the Internet?

(Continued from Prior Part)

YouTube plans to launch 15 to 20 original programs this year

In the prior parts of this series, we discussed Google (GOOG) YouTubes growth potential in the overall video ad market. Lately, YouTube has also shifted its focus on providing subscribers with ad-free video content, much like Netflix (NFLX). Late last year, it launched the YouTube Red subscription service for $10 per month. It streams ad-free videos and music and lets users watch videos offline.

Google has mentioned that its making a big push for YouTube Originals on YouTube Red by encouraging top content creators on YouTube to produce original content. Original content helps a streaming provider strengthen its brand and drive viewing hours. During the 1Q16 earnings conference call, Google mentioned that it already has six original shows and plans to end the year with 15 to 20 original offerings.

Netflix and Hulu are also focusing on original programming

On the other hand, Netflix has even more ambitious plans to offer original programming. This year, it plans to launch around 30 original series, eight original movies, 35 original series for kids, 12 documentaries, and nine stand-up comedy specials. Netflix has already entered 190 countries, with China (FXI) being the only major exception. It plans to use its original programming to gain subscribers in as many countries as possible.

Hulu, another competitor to Netflix and now YouTube, is targeting 600 hours of original programming in 2016. Hulu is jointly owned by 21st Century Fox (FOXA), Comcasts NBCUniversal (CMCSA), and The Walt Disney Company (DIS).

YouTube is second only to Netflix when it comes to broadband traffic share in North America. According to a report from Sandvine, and as the chart above shows, Netflix accounted for more than one-third of peak downstream traffic share in North America in 2015. YouTube had a ~17% share while Amazon (AMZN) was another prominent player with a share of 3%.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Border authorities say they nabbed a woman last week as she attempted to cross the border with a pound of methamphetamine that was disguised as lunch.

Customs and Border Protection officers in Arizona were alerted to the potential presence of narcotics on an Arizona woman as she crossed back into the United States from Mexico Friday.

While conducting a search, authorities say they discovered her bag of burritos weren't chicken, beef or bean  they were meth.

Read: Woman Allegedly Poisons Waffle House Coworker By Spiking His Drink With Meth

The meth burritos contained about a pound, or more than $3,000 worth of the powerful drug, officials said.

The drugs were confiscated and the 23-year-old woman was arrested.

Photos taken after the bust show the ingenious  if insidious  way the woman was attempting to smuggle the drugs.

In a plain grocery bag were what looked like everyday, handmade roadside burritos common in the area.

The burritos were inside paper trays and wrapped in plastic. The smugglers had even garnished the burritos with vegetables for an authentic look.

Read: A Toddler Found a Bag of Crystal Meth While Christmas Shopping With Mom at Walmart

It was one of seemingly endless ways in which drug sellers around the world attempt to get meth from poor countries into rich ones.

In February, smugglers attempted to get $900 million worth of liquid meth from Hong Kong into Australia by putting it inside thousands of silicone bra inserts.

That same month, officials in Georgia stopped an attempt to get some $500,000 worth of meth onto the streets there by hiding it inside fire extinguishers.

Watch: See 'El Chapo' Shackled Behind Bars at Maximum Security Prison

Related Articles:
1. Aishwarya Rai in Naeem Khan 1. Aishwarya Rai in Naeem Khan

The sixth edition of the Hindustan Times Style Awards were held in Delhi last evening, Going by the title of the award ceremony in subject, settling for anything less than perfect on the red carpet was just not in question. The carpet boasted of celebrities with the likes of Sonam Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez and the evergreen Aishwarya Rai, who made a comeback to her classic style after a controversial appearance at Cannes. Lisa Haydon went bold by wearing a netted top over her strapless bralette and paired it with a fringed skirt and a choker. Remind us why we possess so many tank tops again? Scroll ahead for the ones who impressed:


Ise-Shima (Japan) (AFP) - Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima this week "will honour all those who were lost in World War II" the US president said Wednesday, hours after arriving in Japan for a Group of Seven summit.

Obama and his fellow world leaders from the club of rich democracies are gathering for a meeting where much energy will be spent discussing the lacklustre state of the global economy.

But it will be Obama's trip to Hiroshima as the only sitting president to visit the site of the world's first nuclear attack that is likely to dominate the headlines this week.

"Our visit to Hiroshima will honour all those who were lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It will also "highlight the extraordinary alliance that we have been able to forge over these many decades," he said.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada were also making their way to Ise-Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

- Tight security -

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning -- and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics -- attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Story continues

Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive on Thursday morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

A small crowd of well-wishers gathered within sight of the helicopter landing pad to which leaders were being ferried, hoping for a glimpse of one of the stars of the geopolitical stage.

- Spend or save -

The leaders will spend Thursday morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan's native Shintoism.

In line with the animistic religion's traditions, the buildings are regularly replaced, but the shrine is believed to have occupied the same spot for more than 2,000 years.

The sputtering global economy was expected to take centre stage in the formal talks when they begin on Thursday afternoon, although divisions were likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the current malaise.

"The global economy is going to be the biggest theme for the G7 Ise-Shima summit," host Abe told reporters.

"President Obama and I share the recognition that the G7 should seek sustainable and powerful growth globally."

Although China, the world's second largest economy, will not be present, it looks set to loom large over discussions. Japan and the US are keen to corral support for a growing pushback against Beijing's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The G7 will also discuss the spectre of Islamist terrorism, with France's Hollande keen to address the issue after a brutal year that saw France hit twice by jihadists.

The leaders' arrivals brought a measure of relief to members of the global press, who had spent much of Wednesday cooling their heels and interviewing each other.

Japanese television networks swarmed on foreign reporters in the cavernous press centre, demanding to know their impressions of this picturesque corner of the country, and desperate to hear what they thought of the lunch spread.

Journalists were treated to lavish displays of local specialities, from exquisite calligraphy performed with a special ink, to photobooths that transformed users into ninjas -- the deadly black-clad assassins of Japan's feudal era.
Gunter Nitsch sits in his home in Chicago. (Photo credit: Carey Wagner/CARE 2016)

This article originally appeared on The Daily Saint.

Gunter Nitsch lived on the brink of starvation after he and his mother and brother were captured from their home in East Prussia by the Russian Army in 1945 and forced to live in labor camps for three and a half years.

Despite the war raging in Europe, Nitsch and his family had lived relatively unscathed in the countryside. When the Soviet army moved on the offensive through East Prussia in early 1945, Nazi officials gave strict orders to the civilian population not to flee. When his family finally and desperately tried to make their way to safety in the west, it was too late.

Nitsch was seven. His mother worked 12-hour days in the fields in exchange for 300 grams of bread each day. There were no toilets, no showers, no toothbrushes and certainly no toys. At night his mother would go into the field and steal potatoes for her family. Nitschs biggest fear as a child was that his mother would be caught and sent to Siberia.

He was 11 when they crossed illegally into a West German refugee camp, a former ammunition dump. The war was finally over. But his family had no clothes or papers. They were infested with lice and bed bugs. It was the first time I held soap and took a shower in three and a half years. I just washed and washed and washed. I was afraid the dirt around my knees was embedded in my skin, Nitsch said.

The refugee camp was better  there were toilets and he and his family were no longer starving  but still they couldnt afford anything more than bread, potatoes and vegetables. His clothes were shabby, and they barely had enough food, never mind toys to play with. Nitsch became enamored with paper planes, entertaining himself for hours by folding up scraps of paper and watching them soar through the air. Schoolmates called Nitsch and the other refugee kids Pimocken, (Polish for Potato Beetle) and Rucksack Deutsche (Backpack German). It referred to the fact that we came with nothing but maybe a backpack on our back, explained Nitsch.

Story continues

When asked how he kept hope when life felt so hard and uncertain, Nitsch recalled a phrase his mother repeated when he was young: Weeds like us dont perish.

Gunter Nitsch as a child. (Courtesy of Gunter Nitsch)

One day out of the blue in the early 1950s, a package from people in Belville, Penn., came for Nitsch and his family. It had been sent through the new organization CARE (then the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe), which was created to send parcels for people struggling and starving in the aftermath of World War II. I had never seen anything like what I saw in front of me, Nitsch, now 78, said. The box was filled with rice, ham, prunes, fruit salad, all in fancy packaging, cocoa powder, coffee, and a one-pound chocolate bar. When I took a bite of the fruit salad, Id never tasted anything like it. I thought, This must be what angels eat in heaven.

Over the course of two years at the camp, Nitsch and his family received more than a dozen packages from that same family  the Peachys. His mother would write back, and though neither family could read the language, they continued to correspond. After Nitsch moved to the United States in 1964, he and his American wife, Mary, whom he met in New York, tracked down the family in Pennsylvania. Nitsch considers the Peachys among his best and most life-long friends.

They saved my life. They gave us hope.

School and reading books were other areas where Nitsch said he found hope. War changes people, and the best thing someone can do is keep getting an education. He couldnt read enough of the dime novels hed find about the Wild West. I wanted to go to America and be a cowboy.

Instead he got a job at a supermarket when he arrived in New York at the age of 26 and eventually went on to receive his B.A. from Hunter College and his masters degree from Pace University. The Chicago resident has continued to take classes in literature and art and music and history throughout his life.

More than one million CARE packages were sent from the U.S. during the post-World War II era, and the organization recently reached out to some of those original CARE recipients to see whether they wanted to write letters to those who are currently living as refugees. Nitsch jumped at the chance to extend the same lifeline to others that he once received.

Nitsch wrote to 8-year-old Zaher, a Syrian boy living in Jordan, the same age as Nitsch when he lived the life of a refugee.

Zaher is an 8-year-old Syrian refugee living in Jordan. (PHOTO CREDIT: CAREY WAGNER/CARE 2016)

I am 78 years old and live in the United States, Nitsch wrote from his Chicago home in a letter to Zaher. Seventy years ago, when I was 8 years old like you, I was also a refugee. Im writing to share my story with you to let you know that, no matter how bad things may seem, there are good people in this world who can make everything better. (Read and listen to Nitschs full letter to Zaher here)



A week after Nitsch put the parcel in the mail, Zaher sat with his father and siblings in Jordan and opened it. An aid worker helped to translate the letter from English to Arabic. He reminds me of my grandfather, Zaher said as he looked at the current photo that Nitsch included in the package. Zaher then pulled out the paper airplane Nitsch had folded for him. Zahers Airline was written on the piece of paper. Zaher threw it, and he and his sibling giggled as it soared through the air.



Nitsch makes a special paper airplane for Zaher (PHOTO CREDIT: CAREY WAGNER/CARE 2016)

According to the UN, there are currently more than 4.8 million externally displaced refugees by the Syrian Civil War, and more than 1.2 million are living in Jordan.

Living through this war has affected Zahers psychological state so much, Zahers father told CARE. Things are not available the way we need them to be, and I cannot provide for him like I did when we were in Syria.

My hands are tied here. I have nothing to give now.

In regard to Nitschs letter, Zahers father said: I felt like it was me who was also suffering right with him. It was like reading my life.

Nitsch isnt the only World War II refugee who has sent letters to displaced Syrians. After receiving a letter from World War II refugee Helga Kissell, who now lives in Colorado, 16-year-old Syrian refugee Sajeda said: [She] made me feel like I exist.

Syrians have been struck by how similar the stories of the World War II refugees are to their own, in terms of those feelings of isolation and a longing for home, said Brian Feagans, director of communications at CARE. They also have drawn hope from learning that people in dire circumstances much like their own have gone on to live happy, full lives.

Zaher sits with his family in Jordan. (PHOTO CREDIT: CAREY WAGNER/CARE 2016)

But I think the most overpowering emotions are appreciation and comfort knowing there are people out there who care for them, said Feagans.



The Syrian refugees living conditions are undeniably harsh, said Nitsch, so he was relieved to hear Zaher is among the children who are able to still go to school while living in the camp. He wonders what will happen to Zaher, in the same way he wondered as a boy what his future would hold. Will he get a good education, a good job? Will he get married?

The day after receiving the letter from Nitsch, Zaher and his siblings woke up. The 8-year-old boy got dressed, ate breakfast, and filled his backpack with the new markers, pencils, and crayons hed received from Nitsch. He left his temporary home and walked to school with his siblings.

Weeds like us dont perish.

The Daily Saint is a blog focused on people doing good things for one another. Find more stories from The Daily Saint on its Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.
nicholas_christakis

Nicholas Christakis, the administrator at the center of a racially charged debate at Yale, announced that he will not return to the campus in an administrative role at Silliman College.

"I am stepping down from serving as Head of Silliman College at Yale," he tweeted.

Christakis will remain at Yale in a professional capacity, according to Yale's public statement.

The decision comes after months of backlash against Christakis and his wife, Erika, over an email she sent to students suggesting that Yale shouldn't tell them not to wear offensive Halloween costumes.

That backlash included an open letter criticizing Erika, the associate head of Silliman College, signed by hundreds of members of the Yale community.

In an email announcing his resignation sent to members of the Silliman community  one of Yale's 12 residential colleges  Nicholas did not explicitly mention the strife but alluded to his critics.

Emma Platoff, managing editor of the Yale Daily News, tweeted the email:

Last week, I gave my resignation to President Salovey and will be stepping down from my role as Head of Silliman College, effective July, 2016. Erika and I have devoted our professional lives to advocating for all young people. We have great respect for every member of our community, friend and critic alike. We remain hopeful that students at Yale can express themselves and engage complex ideas within an intellectually plural community.

Christakis emphasizes respect for "friend and critic alike" in announcing departure from Silliman pic.twitter.com/RGhxJNvBq6  Emma Platoff (@emmaplatoff) May 25, 2016

A major part of Yale's identity is its residential-college system. The colleges house students for their entire undergraduate experience and include dormitories, dining halls, and gyms.

Story continues

Erika sent the now infamous email in response to an Intercultural Affairs Council email that called on students to be sensitive about the cultural implications of their Halloween costumes, as Inside Higher Ed reported.

Silliman College

She questioned if students should be able to dress in any costumes they liked, offensive or not.

"Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious ... a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?" she wrote. See below for the full email.

Nicholas defended his wife's position and that of free speech, according to the Yale Daily News.

Tensions further flared when protesters took to a courtyard to confront the Christakises. The conversation quickly devolved into screaming, with a protester telling Nicholas Christakis to be quiet and telling him that he was disgusting.

In December, Erika announced that she was stepping down from her teaching role at the Ivy League school.

"I will not be teaching at Yale in the future," she told Business Insider.

It's not yet clear whether Erika will retain her administration role at Silliman, although the Yale Daily News has reported that she will also step down. When asked for comment, Yale University directed Business Insider to its public statement, which mentions only Nicholas' resignation.

Last year, 49 faculty members wrote their own open letter defending Erika against allegations of racism.

Read below for the full text of Erika's email.

Dear Sillimanders:

Nicholas and I have heard from a number of students who were frustrated by the mass email sent to the student body about appropriate Halloween-wear. Ive always found Halloween an interesting embodiment of more general adult worries about young people. As some of you may be aware, I teach a class on The Concept of the Problem Child, and I was speaking with some of my students yesterday about the ways in which Halloween  traditionally a day of subversion for children and young people  is also an occasion for adults to exert their control.

When I was young, adults were freaked out by the specter of Halloween candy poisoned by lunatics, or spiked with razor blades (despite the absence of a single recorded case of such an event). Now, weve grown to fear the sugary candy itself. And this year, we seem afraid that college students are unable to decide how to dress themselves on Halloween.

I dont wish to trivialize genuine concerns about cultural and personal representation, and other challenges to our lived experience in a plural community. I know that many decent people have proposed guidelines on Halloween costumes from a spirit of avoiding hurt and offense. I laud those goals, in theory, as most of us do. But in practice, I wonder if we should reflect more transparently, as a community, on the consequences of an institutional (which is to say: bureaucratic and administrative) exercise of implied control over college students.

It seems to me that we can have this discussion of costumes on many levels: we can talk about complex issues of identify, free speech, cultural appropriation, and virtue signaling. But I wanted to share my thoughts with you from a totally different angle, as an educator concerned with the developmental stages of childhood and young adulthood.

As a former preschool teacher, for example, it is hard for me to give credence to a claim that there is something objectionably appropriative about a blonde-haired childs wanting to be Mulan for a day. Pretend play is the foundation of most cognitive tasks, and it seems to me that we want to be in the business of encouraging the exercise of imagination, not constraining it. I suppose we could agree that there is a difference between fantasizing about an individual character vs. appropriating a culture, wholesale, the latter of which could be seen as (tacky)(offensive)(jejeune)(hurtful), take your pick. But, then, I wonder what is the statute of limitations on dreaming of dressing as Tiana the Frog Princess if you arent a black girl from New Orleans? Is it okay if you are eight, but not 18? I dont know the answer to these questions; they seem unanswerable. Or at the least, they put us on slippery terrain that I, for one, prefer not to cross.

Which is my point. I dont, actually, trust myself to foist my Halloweenish standards and motives on others. I cant defend them anymore than you could defend yours. Why do we dress up on Halloween, anyway? Should we start explaining that too? Ive always been a good mimic and I enjoy accents. I love to travel, too, and have been to every continent but Antarctica. When I lived in Bangladesh, I bought a sari because it was beautiful, even though I looked stupid in it and never wore it once. Am I fetishizing and appropriating others cultural experiences? Probably. But I really, really like them too.

Even if we could agree on how to avoid offense  and Ill note that no one around campus seems overly concerned about the offense taken by religiously conservative folks to skin-revealing costumes  I wonder, and I am not trying to be provocative: Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious... a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive? American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition. And the censure and prohibition come from above, not from yourselves! Are we all okay with this transfer of power? Have we lost faith in young peoples capacity  in your capacity  to exercise self-censure, through social norming, and also in your capacity to ignore or reject things that trouble you? We tend to view this shift from individual to institutional agency as a trade off between libertarian vs. liberal values (liberal in the American, not European sense of the word).

Nicholas says, if you dont like a costume someone is wearing, look away, or tell them you are offended. Talk to each other. Free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society.

But  again, speaking as a child development specialist  I think there might be something missing in our discourse about the exercise of free speech (including how we dress ourselves) on campus, and it is this: What does this debate about Halloween costumes say about our view of young adults, of their strength and judgment?

In other words: Whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people? Its not mine, I know that.

Happy Halloween.

Yours sincerely,

Erika

NOW WATCH: America's colleges are suddenly in crisis mode over race relations





More From Business Insider


Kuwait City (AFP) - The UN envoy said Wednesday that Yemen's warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he prepared to brief the Security Council on progress in negotiations.

"We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

"The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement," he said.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed is to brief the UN Security Council in a closed session later on Wednesday on the progress made in the peace talks which began on April 21 but have been clouded by repeated walkouts by the government delegation.

He clarified on Twitter that he will make the briefing by video conference from Kuwait.

Face-to-face meetings resumed on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after the latest government boycott.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said discussions on Tuesday centred on "various military and security issues including withdrawals and troop movements".

"We are now working on overcoming various obstacles and addressing specific details of an implementation mechanism," he said.

The apparent progress comes after Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said on Monday that the government stood ready to make concessions for the sake of peace.

A Western diplomat familiar with the talks said they had made important progress.

"We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises," the diplomat told AFP, adding that he was "very optimistic" that a deal could be reached.

"We have not seen this momentum towards peace in the past one and a half years... a roadmap plan has been laid down... and it has to work," he said.

- 'National Salvation Government' -

The main sticking point in the talks has been the form of government to oversee a transition.

Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies have demanded a unity government.

Story continues

The government delegation insists that the legitimacy of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi must be respected.

The government has also demanded that rebels implement an April 2015 Security Council resolution demanding their withdrawal from the capital and other territory they have seized since 2014.

To overcome this problem, the UN envoy has proposed a "National Salvation Government," the Western diplomat said.

The proposed government "would be formed on a consensual and inclusive basis and in accordance with the legal references, and would only replace the current government once Sanaa and key government institutions are not under the control of non-state actors," he said.

Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam warned that if no fair solution was reached, the rebels would form the government in Sanaa.

"Yemenis are awaiting a fair solution and if it fails, anti-aggression national forces must fill the vacuum by forming a government to serve the people and confront challenges," Abdulsalam said on Twitter.

The rebel delegation met late Tuesday with the ambassadors to Yemen of the United States, Britain and the European Union and called for the formation of a "consensus executive authority" in Yemen.

They also accused Saudi Arabia of violating the ceasefire, sources close to the delegation said.

Reporters Without Borders urged the rebels to release 10 journalists who began a hunger strike on May 9 to protest against their detention.

Despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen's most populous regions, including the central and northern highlands and the Red Sea coast.
New York (AFP) - Women in New York will soon save cents when purchasing sanitary products, as the state joins the global movement denouncing the so-called tampon tax as sexist and unfair.

The state senate on Wednesday unanimously passed legislation to exempt tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners from the state's four percent sales tax.

The bill will go to Governor Andrew Cuomo to be signed into law, following the states of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania where similar legislation has already passed.

"Repealing this out-of-touch tax has been decades in the making," said New York state senator Susan Serino, who sponsored the bill. "It's a win for women who have largely shouldered the burden of the tax for generations."

Cuomo welcomed the senate's repeal of what he called a "regressive and unfair tax" on women and said he would sign the legislation.

As international outcry spreads about why sanitary products should be taxed, online petitions have collected hundreds of thousands of signatures in multiple countries. Canada and Ireland are among nations who have scrapped such a tax.

In Britain, the government was subjected to a furious backlash when it upheld a five percent tampon tax last year. It subsequently announced it would give millions of pounds raised from the levy to women's charities.

French lawmakers voted last December to reduce the tax rate on sanitary products from 20 percent to 5.5 percent.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  May 25, 2016  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), CAE Inc. (CAE), KLX Inc. (KLXI), TransDigm Group Inc. (TDG) and Esterline Technologies Corp. ( ESL).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Tuesdays Analyst Blog:

4 Defense Sector Stocks to Buy Now

U.S. defense stocks have had a good year up to now, propelled higher by geopolitical factors. Several major companies have posted encouraging results while the broader sector has also reaped the benefits. Meanwhile, global defense spending is likely to rise as a new customer has entered the picture.

The rest of the year is also likely to be favorable for defense stocks since the conditions which led to such gains will probably remain in place. Picking creditable performers for your portfolio makes for a smart move to capitalize on the gains ahead.

Stocks of Sector Heavyweights Rise, Earnings Impress

Stocks of many sector heavyweights have gained considerably over the year while posting encouraging earnings at the same time. For instance, Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenues with both beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.8% and 5.5, respectively. The stock has gained 10.6% over the last three months.

However, this phenomenon is not simply restricted to a handful of companies. The largest ETF covering the sector, the iShares US Aerospace & Defense (ITA), has gained 3.6% year to date and 11.2% over the last three months.

Factors Boosting the Defense Sector

Defense companies thrive when the world is grappling with severe conflicts. Such a situation already exists in several regions of Africa and the Middle East. Meanwhile, sea related tensions are rising in Asia while the military posture of Russia has been a cause for worry. Nearly $29 billion worth of foreign arms sales have already been completed since January.

Story continues

Meanwhile, a new market for arms will become available since Vietnam has been made accessible to U.S. companies. A removal of a ban on arms sales will help the defense industry capitalize on the exponentially high increase in arms imports that the country has been making over the last five years.

However, domestic expenditure on defense has only been modest in recent years. But change is coming to the White House at the end of the year, which may also result in an increase on this front. With a contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump nearly certain, Clinton is being tipped to be ahead at the moment. She is likely to adopt a more hawkish posture, which would result in an expansion in domestic expenditure.

Our Choices

Defense stocks have been doing well this year. With rising global conflict and tensions in South China Sea, the trend is likely to persist. Stocks from the sector will continue to move higher as gains keep coming in.

This is why you must add select defense stocks to your portfolio. We have narrowed down our search based on a good Zacks Rank and other relevant metrics.

CAE Inc. (CAE) provides simulation and modeling technologies, and integrated training services to the civil aviation industry and defense forces around the globe.

CAE has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and its projected growth for the current year is 4.2%. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 5.8% over the last 30 days.

KLX Inc. (KLXI) is a distributor and service provider of aerospace fasteners and consumables for civil and military customers.

KLX has a Zacks Rank #2 and its projected growth for the current year is 9%. The forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio for the current financial year (F1) is 13.30, lower than the industry average of 16.24. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 1.7% over the last 30 days.

TransDigm Group Inc. (TDG) is a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components that are used in in-service commercial and military aircraft.

TransDigm has a Zacks Rank #2 and its projected growth for the current year is 29.4%. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 5.2% over the last 30 days.

Esterline Technologies Corp. (ESL) is a specialized engineering and manufacturing company principally serving aerospace and defense markets.

Esterline Technologies has a Zacks Rank #2 and it has a P/E (F1) of 14.80, which is lower than the industry average of 16.24.Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 0.1% over the last 30 days.

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 >>

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.





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



LOCKHEED MARTIN (LMT): Free Stock Analysis Report



CAE INC (CAE): Free Stock Analysis Report



KLX INC (KLXI): Free Stock Analysis Report



TRANSDIGM GROUP (TDG): Free Stock Analysis Report



ESTERLINE TECHN (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
A swimsuit model accused of gunning down her British businessman ex-boyfriend at his home near Marbella, Spain, has told a Spanish court that she acted in self-defense.



Speaking at the second day of her murder trial at the Ciudad de la Justicia in Malaga, Mayka Kukucova, 26, told the jury that British businessman Andrew Bush had "hit" her and "shot at" her on the night of his death in April 2014, reports the BBC.



Kukucova's defense added that she shot Bush during a violent struggle and was not aware that he had died. That assertion built on testimony from Monday, where Kukucova told the court she had "never wanted to hurt" Bush.



"My client shot him," defense counsel Carlos Larranaga told the jury Monday. "You must decide if Mr. Bush was killed in an aggressive way, or as a method of defense."



Bush, 48, started dating Kukucova after she took a job in his jewelry shop in Bristol, England.



Forensic evidence on Monday revealed that he suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and two to the head  with the final shot to the head providing the fatal blow.



A police officer that arrived on the scene added that he had discovered Bush "face down on the floor, near the front door," adds the BBC. "There was blood everywhere. A revolver was in his left hand."



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



During her testimony on Monday, Kukocova claimed that she and Bush had split one month earlier and that he had given her permission to retrieve some personal belongings from his home on the night in question.



When Bush suddenly arrived home with a new girlfriend, Russian socialite Maria Korotaeva, 22, she told the court that he flew into a rage and started attacking her.



"He started shouting and hitting me and took me strongly by the arms. I said I wanted to go but he said no," Kukocova told the court, reports The Guardian. "He was shouting that he was going to kill me and my family."



Midway through the fight, Kukucova testified she found the gun in her hands and, allegedly fearing for her life, fired repeatedly.



"I don't know how many times the gun went off," she added, according to The Guardian.



Kukocova then fled the scene in Bush's car. Following an international hunt, she turned herself in to authorities in her native Slovakia, some 2,000 miles away, four days later. She was later extradited to Spain.



On Tuesday, the prosecution advanced an alternative theory to the night's events: Prosecutors suggested that Kukucova may have killed Bush in an act of jealousy after seeing him with his new girlfriend, Korotaeva, who was present in court Tuesday.



"Were you jealous after seeing pictures of Mr. Bush together with his new girlfriend online?" asked the prosecutors.



According to the BBC, Kukucova broke down in tears when images of her former partner's body were shown in court and had to leave the chamber. If found guilty of murder, she faces 20 years in prison.



"The facts are that a person has died. There was a homicide but we have not accepted that my client is a murderer," Larranaga stated Monday.




Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi announced plans to build a drone on Wednesday  or two drones, really.

The cheaper one, priced at 2,499 Chinese Yuan (just over $380), will feature a 1080p camera. A pricier 2,999 Yuan model ($457) will shoot 4K video.

Compare that to DJIs devices, which all come in over the thousand dollar mark.

Xiaomi says the Mi drones will have 27 minutes of flying time to a range of 3 kilometers (about 1.86 miles) on their 5,100 mAh batteries. Theres one important caveat to that range though: Like DJI, Xiaomi will build geofences into its drones to prevent customers from flying them into restricted areas.

TechCrunch reports that Xiaomi will begin making the drones available in China this summer, with the cheaper one arriving through crowdfunding.

Theres no news and few hints on plans to sell it in the US though. On the one hand, the company did publish an English live blog of the announcement. On the other, it reads like this:

Our design is inspired by dragonfly, dont they look alike? Drone is an expensive toy for most of the people, therefore we decided to enter to this field. We strive to bring the fun of technology to everyone.

So if youre interested in this not-too-expensive toy and live outside China, youll probably have to wait.

NOW WATCH: Everything we know about the iPhone 7
An app that allows rural doctors to seek advice remotely from experts won Africa's first prize recognising new technology that boosts health on the continent (AFP Photo/Issouf Sanogo) (AFP/File)

Dakar (AFP) - An app that allows rural doctors to seek advice remotely from experts won Africa's first prize recognising new technology that boosts health on the continent.

The award's main sponsor, French international public radio station RFI, said the 15,000-euro ($16,700) grant had been awarded in Dakar to Cheick Oumar Bagayoko, "a young Malian doctor and computer engineer".

Bagayoko's app Bogou beat more than 650 other candidates from francophone African countries for a prize that has also won support from tech giants such as Microsoft, Facebook and Orange.

The winning app is a "tele-expertise tool available via a computer connected to the Internet", RFI said in a statement.

"Bougou allows doctors working in remote areas to ask for advice from specialists from a distance."

Doctors can post details of a patient's problem to specialists logged into the secure app.

RFI said the prize was designed to "support the development of innovative digital services that facilitate access to information and health services in Africa".
TOKYO (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn said on Wednesday it will not sell Sharp Corp's <6753.T> solar power business, amid concerns from business partners over a possible closure of the struggling division. "We want to let you know that we are totally committed to this business," Foxconn founder Terry Gou and Tai Jeng-wu, its vice chairman and the newly-appointed CEO at Sharp, said in a letter addressed to Sharp's solar power business partners. Foxconn, also known by its formal name Hon Hai Precision Industry Co <2317.TW>, is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer. It plans to seal a $3.5 billion deal by the end of June to give it a two-thirds stake in Sharp. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
GE Renewable Energy, a division of General Electric Company (GE), recently introduced new software applications suite for its Digital Wind Farm ecosystem, at the American Wind Energy Associations WINDPOWER 2016 summit.

This new software application is compatible with the companys latest 2 Megawatt (MW) and 3 MW wind turbines. This new product was developed to boost annual energy production (AEP) and augment wind farm profitability. The application is built on the companys highly successful Predix software platform. Predix is the companys much relied upon software platform that acts as the base for all its Industrial Internet applications. In addition, the Predix system provides cyber security protection for General Electrics operational technology.

The wind energy ecosystem leverages Big Data and analytics and pairs a turbine with digital infrastructure  in turn, enhancing production, reducing costs, and boosting availability and efficiency over the life of the wind farm.

General Electrics new Energy Forecasting application is developed in cooperation with Exelon Power, a division of Exelon Corporation (EXC), to help improve wind farm profitability. The application uses weather forecasting data to create more precise financial modeling and better foretell the next days grid supply and fluctuations in demand.

The Energy Forecasting application was installed at four new wind projects in the U.S. Exelon anticipates a 1-3% increase in revenues per site using this technology.

In addition, General Electric unveiled two new applications that improve the operations of wind farms. The Digital Plan of the Day is a scheduling application that improves operations and maintains efficiency for field service teams. The application incorporates a variety of data to help organize and prioritize daily maintenance schedules across all sites.

The company also launched the latest version of its next generation PowerUp application, which is capable of increasing a wind farms annual energy production by around 10%. This application can enhance tuning process to help monitor a sites specific wind environment and lock in the appropriate settings based on the updated information.

Story continues

The two other applications launched at the summit were the Diagnostics application and the Prognostics application. Both these applications will improve a companys operational performance by reducing maintenance costs by up to 10%.

The companys new software applications have already been deployed with pilot customers and will be widely available in the market by the end of 2016.

General Electric carries a Zacks Rank #3(Hold). Other better-ranked stocks in the industry include Honeywell International Inc. (HON) and Koninklijke KPN N.V. (KKPNF). Both Honeywell and Koninklijke carry a Zacks Rank #2(Buy).

GE Renewable Energy, a division of General Electric Company (GE), recently introduced new software applications suite for its Digital Wind Farm ecosystem, at the American Wind Energy Associations WINDPOWER 2016 summit.

This new software application is compatible with the companys latest 2 Megawatt (MW) and 3 MW wind turbines. This new product was developed to boost annual energy production (AEP) and augment wind farm profitability. The application is built on the companys highly successful Predix software platform. Predix is the companys much relied upon software platform that acts as the base for all its Industrial Internet applications. In addition, the Predix system provides cyber security protection for General Electrics operational technology.

The wind energy ecosystem leverages Big Data and analytics and pairs a turbine with digital infrastructure  in turn, enhancing production, reducing costs, and boosting availability and efficiency over the life of the wind farm.

General Electrics new Energy Forecasting application is developed in cooperation with Exelon Power, a division of Exelon Corporation (EXC), to help improve wind farm profitability. The application uses weather forecasting data to create more precise financial modeling and better foretell the next days grid supply and fluctuations in demand.

The Energy Forecasting application was installed at four new wind projects in the U.S. Exelon anticipates a 1-3% increase in revenues per site using this technology.

In addition, General Electric unveiled two new applications that improve the operations of wind farms. The Digital Plan of the Day is a scheduling application that improves operations and maintains efficiency for field service teams. The application incorporates a variety of data to help organize and prioritize daily maintenance schedules across all sites.

The company also launched the latest version of its next generation PowerUp application, which is capable of increasing a wind farms annual energy production by around 10%. This application can enhance tuning process to help monitor a sites specific wind environment and lock in the appropriate settings based on the updated information.

The two other applications launched at the summit were the Diagnostics application and the Prognostics application. Both these applications will improve a companys operational performance by reducing maintenance costs by up to 10%.

The companys new software applications have already been deployed with pilot customers and will be widely available in the market by the end of 2016.

General Electric carries a Zacks Rank #3(Hold). Other better-ranked stocks in the industry include Honeywell International Inc. (HON) and Koninklijke KPN N.V. (KKPNF). Both Honeywell and Koninklijke carry a Zacks Rank #2(Buy).

GE Renewable Energy, a division of General Electric Company GE, recently introduced new software applications suite for its Digital Wind Farm ecosystem, at the American Wind Energy Associations WINDPOWER 2016 summit.

This new software application is compatible with the companys latest 2 Megawatt (MW) and 3 MW wind turbines. This new product was developed to boost annual energy production (AEP) and augment wind farm profitability. The application is built on the companys highly successful Predix software platform. Predix is the companys much relied upon software platform that acts as the base for all its Industrial Internet applications. In addition, the Predix system provides cyber security protection for General Electrics operational technology.

The wind energy ecosystem leverages Big Data and analytics and pairs a turbine with digital infrastructure  in turn, enhancing production, reducing costs, and boosting availability and efficiency over the life of the wind farm.

General Electrics new Energy Forecasting application is developed in cooperation with Exelon Power, a division of Exelon Corporation EXC, to help improve wind farm profitability. The application uses weather forecasting data to create more precise financial modeling and better foretell the next days grid supply and fluctuations in demand.

The Energy Forecasting application was installed at four new wind projects in the U.S. Exelon anticipates a 1-3% increase in revenues per site using this technology.

In addition, General Electric unveiled two new applications that improve the operations of wind farms. The Digital Plan of the Day is a scheduling application that improves operations and maintains efficiency for field service teams. The application incorporates a variety of data to help organize and prioritize daily maintenance schedules across all sites.

The company also launched the latest version of its next generation PowerUp application, which is capable of increasing a wind farms annual energy production by around 10%. This application can enhance tuning process to help monitor a sites specific wind environment and lock in the appropriate settings based on the updated information.

The two other applications launched at the summit were the Diagnostics application and the Prognostics application. Both these applications will improve a companys operational performance by reducing maintenance costs by up to 10%.

The companys new software applications have already been deployed with pilot customers and will be widely available in the market by the end of 2016.

General Electric carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the industry include Honeywell International Inc. HON and Koninklijke KPN N.V. KKPNF. Both carry a Zacks Rank #2 (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



EXELON CORP (EXC): Free Stock Analysis Report



HONEYWELL INTL (HON): Free Stock Analysis Report



GENL ELECTRIC (GE): Free Stock Analysis Report



KONIN KPN NV (KKPNF): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Google says it will offer "advanced protection" for users who may be at higher risk of online attacks (AFP Photo/LEON NEAL) (AFP/File)

San Francisco (AFP) - Google on Tuesday unveiled redesigned ad products aimed at catching eyes on mobile devices and enticing people with nearby offerings at just the right moments.

Changes set to take place later this year include expanding space for text ads and making headlines more prominent.

Early feedback indicates the larger ads draw more "clicks" from "on-the-go mobile consumers" by letting them know more about offerings before tapping into merchants' websites.

Google also introduced local search ads at its free Google Maps service and at Google.com.

Tactics being tested included promoted "pins" appearing in maps to point out locations of coffee shops, gas stations, restaurants or other offerings people may want, Ads and Commerce senior vice president Sridhar Ramaswamy said in a blog post.

"We're experimenting with a variety of ad formats on Maps that make it easier for users to find businesses as they navigate the world around them," Ramaswamy said.

Google remains the money-making engine for parent company Alphabet, with the bulk of that revenue coming from online advertising.

The California-based Internet giant has been working to stay at the forefront of a trend of going online using smartphones or tablets, on which advertising is less lucrative than on desktop computers.

Google tactics have included weaving artificial intelligence into services to better anticipate and cater to people's desires and understanding context of queries to catch people at ideal moments, such as when they are hungry and seeking a lunch spot.

"Every year, there are trillions of searches on Google and over half of those searches happen on mobile," Ramaswamy said.

"To help marketers succeed in this mobile-first world, we have redesigned AdWords -- from the ground-up."
For a while, starting back in 2012, GoPro could do no wrong. A runaway success, the company routinely produced small, portable action camcorders that ranked among the best in our Ratings. (In fact, the Hero4 Silver Standard Edition and the Hero 3+ Silver Edition are still among our recommended models.)

Every few minutes, a new video shot by some intrepid GoPro owner popped up on YouTube, illustrating the eye-popping thrill of life as a surfer, sky diver, alpine skier, mountain biker, rock climber, or SCUBA-diving daredevil. Some of the world's best nature photographers adopted the GoPro action cam as a way to get up close and personal with the planet's wildlife.

Since late 2015, though, that GoPro glow has begun to dim: The decline started with the weak sales of the GoPro Session, designed to appeal to the less adventurous consumer. After a disappointing holiday season, the company discontinued several lower-end models. At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in January, it tried to rebound by announcing two bold new ventures: a GoPro drone named Karma and an amateur-level six-camera virtual reality rig. But the company ran into yet more problems when it announced this month that the drone's release will be delayed until year's end.

Needless to say, the company's stock has suffered. For those of us in the tech industry, its a fall from grace reminiscent of another bright light in the camcorder industry. Namely, the Flip pocket cam, which went belly up in 2011.

Does that mean the end of the action cam is near?

Not really.

The parallels with the Flip are easy to spot. Like GoPro, Flip had incredible brand-name recognition. People didnt refer to its products as cameras; they called them "Flips." And like GoPro, the company forced many traditional camera makers to reinvent their product lines. By 2011, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Kodak, and Sony all had produced their own versions of the pocket cam.

Story continues

But the similarities stop there. Back in 2011, the world was racing to embrace smartphones. Roughly the same size and shape as a Flip camcorder, the devices soon sprouted video features. And, since most people found it essential to carry a phone, it was natural for them to jettison their pocket cams. Why carry two devices that, more or less, did the same thing?



The situation with action cams is different. Many are rugged and waterproof, allowing you to capture video in situations where you'd never expose a smartphone to harm. When was the last time you saw someone strap an iPhone to a kayak?

And, while they do compete with smartphones on some level, action cams often work side-by-side with them, too. Using a camera's app, you can remotely control a variety of features from your mobile devicerecording video, shooting still images, or firing off a burst of shots without handling the camera. In some cases, you can even change the resolution and other settings on the fly, moving from 4K to 1080-res video with relative ease.

Of course, its impossible to predict with certainty where the market will go. In the end, the audience for action cams may not be broad enough to support continual growth for GoPro, but that doesn't mean that the companyor established camera companies like Sony and Garminwill stop producing models. In fact, LG, Xiaomi, and Ricoh have all announced new action cams this year.

And, thanks to the mounting interest in virtual reality headsets, there's a growing call for action cams that shoot 360-degree video. Samsung's new spherical Gear 360, for example, has a second wide-angle lens on the back for shooting VR-friendly clips.

So, for now at least, there's still room for market growthespecially when you factor in sales to police departments and security firms, which frequently use action cams on the job these days. All of which suggests that you're not out of step with technology if you decide you do want an action cam. Your first choice may not be a GoPro, however. While the company does make good cameras, our top-rated action cam is actually the Sony HDR-AS100V. The picture quality is very good and, at $220, the price is nice.







More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S.
To: Microsoft - All Employees

From: Terry Myerson

Date: Wednesday 5/25, 2AM Pacific Time

Subject: Focusing our phone hardware efforts

Team,

Last week we announced the sale of our feature phone business. Today I want to share that we are taking the additional step of streamlining our smartphone hardware business, and we anticipate this will impact up to 1,850 jobs worldwide, up to 1,350 of which are in Finland. These changes are incredibly difficult because of the impact on good people who have contributed greatly to Microsoft. Speaking on behalf of Satya and the entire Senior Leadership Team, we are committed to help each individual impacted with our support, resources, and respect.

For context, Windows 10 recently crossed 300 million monthly active devices, our Surface and Xbox customer satisfaction is at record levels, and HoloLens enthusiasts are developing incredible new experiences. Yet our phone success has been limited to companies valuing our commitment to security, manageability, and Continuum, and with consumers who value the same. Thus, we need to be more focused in our phone hardware efforts.

With this focus, our Windows strategy remains unchanged:

1. Universal apps. We have built an amazing platform, with a rich innovation roadmap ahead. Expanding the devices we reach and the capabilities for developers is our top priority.

2. We always take care of our customers, Windows phones are no exception. We will continue to update and support our current Lumia and OEM partner phones, and develop great new devices.

3. We remain steadfast in our pursuit of innovation across our Windows devices and our services to create new and delightful experiences. Our best work for customers comes from our device, platform, and service combination.

At the same time, our company will be pragmatic and embrace other mobile platforms with our productivity services, device management services, and development tools -- regardless of a persons phone choice, we want everyone to be able to experience what Microsoft has to offer them.

With that all said I used the words "be more focused" above. This in fact describes what we are doing (we're scaling back, but we're not out!), but at the same time I don't love it because it lacks the emotional impact of this decision. When I look back on our journey in mobility, weve done hard work and had great ideas, but have not always had the alignment needed across the company to make an impact. At the same time, Ars Technica recently published a long story documenting our journey to create the universal platform for our developers. The story shows the real challenges we faced, and the grit required to get it done. The story closes with this:

And as long as it has taken the company, Microsoft has still arguably achieved something that its competitors have not... It took more than two decades to get there, but Microsoft still somehow got there first.

For me, thats what focus can deliver for us, and now we get to build on that foundation to build amazing products.

Terry
One of Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile phones.

Microsoft has had a rocky few years as it tries to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone world. This week, it looks like the wheels are finally falling off.

The company announced Wednesday its cutting 1,850 jobs, with 1,350 coming from its Finnish operations, known as Microsoft Mobile Oy, and an additional 500 from other regions. The move also includes a $950 million restructuring charge for the company, with $200 million going to employee severance packages.

The news comes just a week after Microsoft confirmed it was selling its feature phone business to FIH Mobile and HMD Global for $350 million.

Microsofts smartphone struggles speak to a larger issue facing potential competitors to Apples iOS and Googles Android: With so many consumers already embedded in one operating system or the other, creating a viable third alternative is a virtually Sisyphean task.

In fact, according to comScore, Microsofts share of the US smartphone market is a paltry 2.7%. Thats virtually nonexistent next to Androids 52.8% and Apples 43.6%.

Microsoft has been trying to make a foothold in the phone market for years. Unfortunately, its Windows Phone operating system never managed to catch on among consumers.

The companys Windows 10 Mobile operating system was supposed to change that by increasing Microsofts app offerings and creating a kind of universal OS for developers to build software for. But even that hasnt helped the company draw enough consumers away from competitors Apple and Googles Android.

In a statement Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company is now, Focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation  with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same.

We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across mobile platforms, he added.

Microsofts Continuum mode was designed to allow business and general consumers to plug their Windows 10 Mobile phones into special docks that would then essentially turn their handsets into Windows 10 PCs. Ive used the feature, and it certainly feels like the future of computing. But it doesnt quite offer a full desktop user experience  and there still arent very many apps that work with it.

Story continues

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company will, "continue to develop new devices and adapt Windows 10 for small screens, support Lumia Phones," though added, "We have nothing to share about our future product roadmap.

If Microsoft is going to turn around its mobile business, it needs to offer something more compelling than it already does. That or abandon the proposition entirely.

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on April 23, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jean Revillard)

Washington (AFP) - The Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered airplane piloted by Swiss national Bertrand Piccard, successfully flew out of Dayton, Ohio in the dark early Wednesday en route to Pennsylvania, according to a live online feed of the departure.

The single-seat plane with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 is covered in solar cells that power its propellers and charge its batteries. The panels provide the plane's sole source of energy for the flight.

The flight to the Lehigh Valley International Airport is expected to take 17 hours, organizers said.

The gangly plane, which travels at an average speeds of only 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour, flew out of the Dayton International Airport on time at 4 am (0800 GMT).

"I'm a bit sad to leave Dayton, the city of the Wright Brothers, but also excited to continue our adventure," Piccard wrote in a brief message posted on the organizer's blog.

Piccard said he dedicated this flight to the engineers "who worked all night to make sure #Si2 could fly to Lehigh Valley today. A fantastic team!"

The Solar Impulse 2 flight had been originally scheduled for early Tuesday, but problems arose with the fan needed to keep the plane's giant mobile hanger inflated. While rebooting the system the deflating hangar fabric touched parts of the airplane, which has 17,000 solar panels.

"After the fans that keep the mobile hangar inflated experienced a brief power failure, the plane underwent checks to verify that no damages resulted from the event," the organizer said in a statement.

Flight engineers gave a go-ahead on Tuesday after closely inspecting the plane for damage.

The Solar Impulse 2 has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi.

The project aims to promote renewable energy.

The flight to Pennsylvania is the 13th leg of Solar Impulse's projected 16-leg east-west circumnavigation, with Piccard and Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg alternating as pilots.

Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist, initiated the project.
There likely aren't many occasions when you'd want to swallow a tiny robot. But what if such an ingestible bot could be put to work inside your body, targeting a foreign object or patching up an internal wound, before decomposing without a trace?

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has proposed a new, minimally invasive way of using biocompatible and biodegradable miniature robots to carry out tasks inside the human body. The design of the bots is inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Made primarily from dried pig intestines (commonly used for sausage casings), the tiny robots look like a cross between a caterpillar and an accordion. A tiny magnet allows them to be maneuvered by a tuneable external magnetic field, the researchers said. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]

The researchers have already demonstrated origami-inspired robots capable of swimming, climbing and carrying a load twice their weight, but creating an ingestible device that can operate inside a stomach presented a whole new set of challenges, said Shuhei Miyashita, who was part of the MIT team that developed the robot but is now a lecturer of intelligent robotics at the University of York in the United Kingdom.

"The toughest problem we had to solve was that of getting the robot to work in such an unpredictable environment," Miyashita told Live Science. "The robot design was re-created so that it can still walk when flipped upside down and can correspond to the change of the stomach anatomy."

Building a tiny bot

At the heart of the robot's layered structure is a material that shrinks when heated. When this happens, carefully placed slits cut in the outer layer cause the initially flat structure to fold into a series of box-like segments, the researchers said.

This design allows the robot to rely on so-called "stick-slip" motion, in which parts of the robot stick to a surface due to friction during certain movements, but then slip free when the weight distribution changes as the robot's body flexes.

Story continues

But, because this particular robot is designed to work in a fluid-filled stomach, the team redesigned the robot to be more like a fin so that it also provides thrust by propelling water, effectively allowing the machine to swim as well as crawl.

"It is really important to see such small robots enable both actuation [or movement] and biodegradation," said Hongzhi Wang, a professor of materials science at Donghua University in China, who works on self-folding origami-inspired materials but was not involved with the new study. "It has great potential applications to health care."

How it works

In a paper that was presented at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, held May 16-21 in Stockholm, Sweden, the team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory described how they created a synthetic stomach to test the device and devised a two-step process for hypothetically removing a watch battery that had been swallowed. The scientists also demonstrated how the robot can patch the wound the battery leaves behind. [7 Weird Things People Have Swallowed]

A 3D-printed open cross-section of the stomach and esophagus was lined with a silicone rubber mold, which matched both the shape and physical properties of a real-life stomach. The synthetic organ was then filled with a liquid that simulated the properties of gastric fluid.

In the study, one of the robots was rolled up and encased in a pill-size capsule of ice. Once the device reached the stomach, an external array of metal coils created a magnetic field that interacted with the robot's magnet and could be tuned to make the capsule roll toward the ingested watch battery.

The magnet causes the capsule to attach itself to the battery and when the robot rolls away again, it dislodges the battery from the stomach lining. Both the robot and the battery are then naturally passed out of the digestive system, the researchers said.

A second robot is then ingested in the same way, but this time the ice is left to melt and the robot unfolds. The same magnetic array is used to guide the robot to the wound site, which the robot covers before it eventually dissolves. The robot's structure also includes a dissolvable layer impregnated with drugs designed to aid healing, the scientists said. Larry Howell, a professor of mechanical engineering at Brigham Young University in Utah, who works on origami-inspired mechanisms and medical devices, said the new research marks a valuable step forward in creating robots that can carry out medical procedures inside the body.

"The idea of ingesting the robot in an ice capsule for initial delivery, and having it be biodegradable so that it decomposes afterwards, has the potential of having reduced long-term impact compared to some surgical alternatives," Howell told Live Science.

Miyashita said it could be at least six to eight years before these robots reach the clinic, though. Control accuracy needs to be improved, he said, adding that rigorous animal and human testing will need to be conducted first.

Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - A tie-up of Aetna Inc and Humana Inc would be anti-competitive in Missouri for several types of insurance, including individual Medicare Advantage plans where the combined company would have more than a 50 percent market share, the Missouri Department of Insurance said.

The department said in an order, dated May 24 and posted on its website, that if the proposed acquisition of Humana by Aetna were to go forward, the companies would need to stop selling individual insurance, small group and certain Medicare Advantage plans in its state.

The combination would exacerbate a consolidation trend that has contributed to higher insurance prices, the department said.

Aetna announced plans last year to buy smaller rival Humana.

The deal is being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as state insurance regulators and antitrust authorities.

Investors have been uncertain that the purchase will close, in part because anti-trust regulators are also reviewing competitor Anthem Inc's plan to buy Cigna Corp..

"This order does not impede the DOJ approval process. We are disappointed with the Missouri order but expect to have a constructive dialogue with the state to address their concerns," Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford said in a statement.

According to the order, Aetna can submit a plan to the insurance regulator to address the impact of the acquisition.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) candidate Norbert Hofer casts his ballot during the second round of Austrian President elections on May 22, 2016 in Pinkafeld (AFP Photo/Dieter Nagl)

Vienna (AFP) - Austria's closely-watched presidential election was too close to call Sunday, as projections showed a near dead heat between Norbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party and ecologist Alexander van der Bellen.

Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) won 50.1 percent of the vote, compared to 49.9 percent for van der Bellen, the projections on public television showed, with a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.

A huge influx of asylum-seekers, rising unemployment and frozen reforms has driven voters away from the two centrist parties that have dominated Austrian politics since 1945.

They are being forced to watch the battle between Hofer and van der Bellen from the sidelines after their candidates failed to make it through a first round for the largely ceremonial post of president.

Instead, disgruntled Austrians flocked to the FPOe's "friendly face" who has pushed populist themes with a winning smile instead of the inflammatory rhetoric used by party leader Heinz-Christian Strache.

But observers have warned that beneath the smooth image lurks a "wolf in sheep's clothing".

He has already threatened to seize upon never-before-used presidential powers and fire the government if it fails to get tougher on migrants and boost the faltering economy.

Gun enthusiast Hofer, who was left partially disabled after a paragliding accident, has denied that he posed a risk as president.

"I am not a dangerous person," the FPOe star told reporters Sunday after voting in his home town of Pinkafeld, in the eastern Burgenland state.

Hofer's win would also pave the way for the FPOe to head the next government after parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018.

- 'Pest and cholera' -

A victory for the far-right is bound to send shockwaves across the crisis-hit European Union.

While the FPOe's allies including France's Front National will rub their hands in glee, it represents a major headache for EU leaders.

Story continues

Ahead of the vote, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned "there will be no debate or dialogue with the far-right".

Back in 2000, more than 150,000 people marched in the Austrian capital against the FPOe -- then led by the late, SS-admiring Joerg Haider -- after it entered a much-maligned coalition with the centre-right.

This also led to international isolation and turned Austria into an EU pariah.

But times have changed, with eurosceptic and populist parties now posing a serious threat to traditional centrist governments.

In Austria -- the receiver of some 90,000 asylum requests last year -- the main parties have been haemorrhaging support to the FPOe, which consistently scores more than 30 percent in opinion polls.

The demise means the Social Democrats (SPOe) and centre-right People's Party (OeVP) could fall short of being able to re-form their "grand coalition" at the next scheduled election in 2018.

In the last vote three years ago, they only just managed to secure a majority.

Although former Green Party leader Van der Bellen enjoyed backing from many public figures including new Chancellor Christian Kern, he has been a divisive figure, with conservative Austrians accusing him of pandering to the left.

"It's a choice between pest and cholera. Whoever wins, I will wake up on Monday to somebody whom I don't want to represent Austria," said a mother-of-two in her thirties, refusing to give her name, after she cast her vote in Vienna.

The postal vote could prove a tie-breaker in the agonisingly tight race.

Close to 900,000 people -- or a record 14 percent of Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters -- cast their ballot by mail this year. A final result is not expected until Monday.
Uraricoera River is seen during Brazils environmental agency operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima state, Brazil April 15, 2016. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's government plans to lift current limits on foreign ownership of agricultural land, Secretary of Investment Moreira Franco, the person behind privatisation for the new administration, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Franco called the restriction on sales of agricultural land to foreign individuals and companies "nonsense" and said interim President Michel Temer will reconsider the issue.

The restriction was adopted in 2010 by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"The government will discuss the issue, see how it can solve this. It is something completely unreasonable," said Franco.

Lula's administration was concerned at that time that countries such as China could take control of large segments of arable land in Brazil.

Rules overseeing deals were changed to limit the amount of land foreign investors could buy. Formalities with documentation were increased, making deals much more complex.

But without foreign lenders able to receive land as collateral if local borrowers defaulted, the restrictions began to limit international credit, especially in the agricultural sector.

Companies in Brazil's commodities sector have long defended a review of the rules, to allow for more investment to flow into the country, especially in the timber industry.

Pulp and sugar industries are among those defending the end of restrictions.

Moreira Franco also spoke to Reuters about the financially distressed, federal power holding company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA , or Eletrobras.

He said the government is still evaluating what actions to take regarding the company's financial woes, but confirmed Eletrobras plans to sell some assets such as its power distribution subsidiaries.

"We will have to find a solution for Eletrobras," he said.

The company has not posted an annual profit since 2012 and is asking for at least 32 billion reais (6 billion) from the government as compensation for the early renewal of operating licenses in 2013 that sharply reduced its revenues.

Story continues

Moreira Franco did not want to define possible rates of return over investment in projects Brazil intends to auction off to private investors.

But he said the government has no intention of continuing to subsidise credit lines provided by development bank BNDES, thus reversing policies of the previous administration of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

"The government has no conditions to do that. It is not a question of my or the government's desire, it's just the reality," he said.

(Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
(Adds Generali statement in paragraph 5, updates share performance)

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

SAO PAULO, May 24 (Reuters) - Grupo BTG Pactual SA is seeking indemnity from Swiss private bank BSI SA's prior owner after losses tied to a Malaysian fund led EFG International AG to cut the price it paid for a controlling stake in BSI, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Singapore closed BSI's local branch on Tuesday as part of a probe into 1Malaysia Development Bhd, a Malaysian fund that was a client of the bank. As a result, EFG got permission from Swiss regulators to take over BSI from BTG Pactual at a price below the original 1.33 billion Swiss francs ($1.34 billion) announced in February.

According to the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, BTG Pactual will receive less cash from the BSI sale. The Brazilian bank paid insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA 1.5 billion francs for BSI five months before selling up to 80 percent of BSI to EFG.

Sao Paulo-based BTG Pactual now wants compensation from Generali in an equal amount to the difference between the new price and the price announced in February, the source added. Problems between BTG Pactual and Generali mounted since BSI's ties with 1MDB, which is thought to have carried out $4 billion in irregular deals in recent years, were unveiled.

Generali "has not received any communication that qualifies as an indemnifiable claim under the agreement," the Trieste, Italy-based insurer said in a statement. "Moreover, as already stated, Generali is protected by several contractual provisions and BTG Pactual has a duty to mitigate any damage."

Investigators in several countries are trying to determine whether related transactions between 1MDB, banks and clients were funneled into the accounts of influential powerbrokers and politicians.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday withdrew BSI's local status as a merchant bank for serious breaches of anti-money laundering rules, the first time in 32 years it has taken such action against a bank.

Story continues

In a statement, watchdog MAS highlighted an "unacceptable risk culture," regulatory lapses and gross misconduct of BSI's staff. (http://bit.ly/1TtsyAw)

On Tuesday, BSI reiterated a pledge to fully cooperate with the investigations into 1MDB by Singaporean and Swiss authorities.

WOES

The situation adds to woes surrounding BTG Pactual, whose founder Andre Esteves was arrested last November in connection with a corruption probe in Brazil.

The arrest led Esteves, the architect of BTG Pactual's acquisition of BSI, to surrender his executive duties and control of the bank, which suffered massive client withdrawals and sold assets to mitigate the scandal's impact.

One of those assets was BSI, which Esteves saw as a stepping stone towards BTG Pactual's transformation into a global money management powerhouse with more than half its revenues outside Brazil. Since founding the firm in 2008, Esteves wanted to turn BTG Pactual into the largest independent investment bank in emerging markets.

When BSI's merger with EFG was concluded, BTG Pactual would own 20 percent to 30 percent of the new company, behind only the 35 percent stake held by Greece's Latsis family, which controls EFG.

Units in BTG Pactual, a blend of common and preferred shares in BTG Pactual's investment-banking and buyout divisions, gained 2 percent to 18.79 reais in mid-afternoon trading in Sao Paulo.

EFG fell 0.2 percent to 5.59 euros, while Generali added 5.7 percent to 12.84 euros on Tuesday.

BSI, based in Lugano, Switzerland, was founded in 1873 under the name of Banca della Svizzera Italiana. Since the start of the decade, BSI tried to grow wealth management activities in Asia, a region buoyed by China's strong economic growth and a boom in commodities prices. ($1 = 0.9918 Swiss franc) (Additional reporting by Silvio Cascione in Brasilia and Silvia Aloisi in Milan; Editing by Alan Crosby and Andrew Hay)
FRESNO, CA--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - California almond growers will maintain their competitive advantage over other almond producers in upcoming years primarily driven by climate and good soil. Factors that California growers will be faced with include scarcity of water and land which will prohibit the continued rapid growth of almond acreage and likely lead to average yield gains slowing as expansion focuses on Northern California regions. These dynamics and their impact on California's almond production are examined in Rabobank's Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory note titled "California Almonds -- Sales are Poised to Benefit From Price Revelation."

A larger than anticipated crop and reduced purchases from many buyers has fueled the rapid decline in price. Some sales of almonds abroad have unraveled as buyers were reluctant to pay the higher contracted price, leaving the almonds dockside, forcing sellers to find another buyer in the specific region to avoid returning shipment costs. This unprecedented situation has seen the price for almonds fall from historical highs and reset the price for the incoming crop closer to the 10 year average Vernon Crowder, senior analyst with Rabobank and the report's author states, "California almond growers expect a two billion pound crop this fall as is projected by the USDA -- which is about twice as much as produced 10 years ago. More plentiful harvests and now lower prices will again encourage more consumption of almonds," added Crowder. Actual demand for almonds is expected to continue growing globally, as well as domestically.

The report concludes by highlighting the continued increase in planted acreage. "While total almond production in California has doubled in the last 10 years, planted acreage has only increased by 47 percent. About 20 percent of the acreage planted today is non-bearing, the highest proportion since 1998," said Crowder. With California orchards accounting for over 80 percent of global almond production, and demand expected to continue to grow, California almond growers are expected to maintain a competitive advantage among other almond producers.

Story continues

This report is the first of a series of research notes that Rabobank has planned to highlight the major tree nuts grown in the U.S. Research highlighting pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans will be released over the next few months.

The full report is available exclusively to clients of Rabobank and to the media upon request.

About Rabobank, N.A.

Rabobank, N.A. is a California community bank and a leading provider of agricultural financing and full-service banking products to California consumers, businesses and the agriculture industry. With more than 100 retail branches, we serve the needs of communities from Redding to the Imperial Valley through a regional structure that promotes local decision-making and active community involvement by our employees.

Rabobank, N.A. is a division of the Rabobank Group, the premier lender to the global food and agricultural industry and a financial services leader providing commercial, retail and agricultural finance solutions in 48 countries around the world. From its century-old roots in the Netherlands, Rabobank has grown into one of the world's largest and safest banks. Rabobank, N.A. is a Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. www.rabobankamerica.com

About Rabo AgriFinance

As a leading financial services provider for agricultural producers and agribusinesses in the United States, Rabo AgriFinance adds value using industry expertise, client-focused solutions, and by creating long-term business relationships. Rabo AgriFinance offers a comprehensive portfolio of services that give producers the right products to prepare for, and take advantage of, market opportunities. Rabo AgriFinance representatives offer a wide array of financial services and knowledge to help customers realize their ambitions. This comprehensive suite of services includes loans, insurance, middle market agribusiness, input finance and sophisticated risk management products. Rabo AgriFinance is a division of Rabobank, the premier bank to the global agriculture industry and one of the world's largest and safest banks.

About Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR)

The Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group is a global team of more than 80 analysts who monitor and evaluate global market events that affect agriculture worldwide. This international team works to collect key insights into commodity markets; conduct in-depth analysis of the factors that drive sector success (or failure); and examine the megatrends that ultimately influence clients' business strategy. These analysts are internationally respected experts in sectors from protein to produce, inputs to oilseeds, and their knowledge is shared with Rabobank customers.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will further expand air rights and improve the way it allocates international routes to domestic airlines as it tries to encourage them to participate in the international market, the country's aviation regulator said on Wednesday.

In a policy document published on its website, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the country aimed to become a "strong civil aviation nation" by 2020 but it still faced a large number of difficulties, including insufficient safety resources and "a crude way of development".

China's increasingly affluent middle classes has rapidly boosted demand for aviation services in recent years, leading to a shortage of airports and qualified pilots.

The regulator said it would look to establish Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as international airport hubs, and would also support the development of regional aviation networks from border cities such as Urumqi and Kunming through means such as subsidies.

It will promote reforms to air space management and deepen cooperation between civil and military air controllers, with a view to expedite the opening up of the country's lower altitude airspace for civilian use.

There will also be a drive to support the development of the general aviation sector by means such as simplifying approval procedures for airport construction and encouraging the growth of enterprises engaged in emergency care or private jet businesses, the regulator said.

The 18-page-long document provided no details on investment figures or timelines.

Last week, China's Cabinet said it would further open up the country's lower altitude airspace for civilian use, a step that could spur growth in its fledgling general aviation industry by making it easier for smaller aircraft like private jets and helicopters to fly.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Team and Brenda Goh; Editing by Richard Pullin and Ryan Woo)
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Chinese corporations are in talks to take over around 750 megawatts (MW) in wind farms and 600 MW in solar parks in Brazil, Charles Tang, head of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday.

He said there are six Chinese power generation companies involved in the talks, as well as investment funds, but declined to name the investors. Several energy projects in Brazil have run out of cash recently and been put up for sale.

(Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
By Edward Krudy

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - Connecticut is set to approve a $22 million grant to Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, a move that is drawing fire shortly after the state passed austerity measures that slashed spending, laid off workers and froze pay.

The grant is to assist Bridgewater with the "expansion of its facilities in Westport, Wilton, and Norwalk," according to documents posted on the website of the State Bond Commission, which will discuss the grant at a meeting on Friday.

The company in required to create an additional 750 new jobs by 2021 on top of the 1,402 it employs in the state. Funds also include $2 million for employee training and $3 million to install alternative energy systems.

The grant is part of the state's First Five Program, designed to encourage business investments.

"Connecticut is in financial crisis and people are suffering. The Democrats just passed a budget that cuts from the most vulnerable individuals in society," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano in a statement.

Bridgewater manages $150 billion in assets for clients around the world, according to its website. Representatives for the firm did not immediately comment.

Bridgewater could also get up to $30 million in Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment tax credits for a total package from the state of $52 million, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development.

The State Bond Commission is chaired by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy. Malloy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Connecticut's lawmakers passed a $19.7 billion budget earlier this month to close budget gap of nearly $1 billion in the 2016-17 financial year, which starts on July 1. Over 2,500 state workers could lose their jobs and workers in managerial positions have had their pay frozen.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by David Gregorio)
f35b

America's most expensive weapons system ever just hit another snag.

The F-35 Lightning II, Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation fighter jet, is expected to miss another crucial deadline on its march to combat readiness.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon acknowledged that the jet would stumble pass its operational testing phase.

"The target was the middle of 2017, but it's clear we're not going to make that," Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's top acquisition officer, said.

The new schedule date, according to Kendall, is likely to occur in 2018.

The mid-2017 target was itself a postponement because of setbacks with the F-35's sixth and final software release, referred to as Block 3F.

The Block 3F software is part of the 8 million lines of sophisticated software code that underpin the F-35.

If the code fails, the F-35 fails.

f35 final finishes

The latest setback for the F-35 stems from a 48-page December 11 report from Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's top weapons tester.

Gilmore said the stealth fighter wouldn't be ready by its July 2017 deadline.

As first reported by Aviation Week, the Department of Defense report says "the rate of deficiency correction has not kept pace with the discovery rate," meaning more problems than solutions are arising from the F-35 program.

"Examples of well-known significant problems include the immaturity of the Autonomic Logistics Information System (aka the IT backbone of the F-35), Block 3F avionics instability, and several reliability and maintainability problems with the aircraft and engine."

f35

One recommendation Gilmore gives for the F-35's latest woes is to triple the frequency of weapons-delivery-accuracy tests, which are executed once a month.

Story continues

Adding more tests to the troubled warplane will most likely add to the cost overruns and schedule delays, but Gilmore says decreasing testing to meet deadlines will put "readiness for operational testing and employment in combat at significant risk."

According to the DoD report, the Block 3F software testing began in March 2015, 11 months later than the planned date.

f35 and f16

The nearly $400 billion weapons program was developed in 2001 to replace the US military's F-15, F-16, and F-18 aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's "jack of all trades" F-35s were developed to dogfight, provide close air support, execute long-range bombing attacks, and take off from and land on aircraft carriers  all while using the most advanced available stealth capabilities.

Adding to the complexity, Lockheed Martin agreed to design and manufacture three variant F-35s for different sister service branches.

The Air Force has the agile F-35A; the F-35B can take off and land without a runway, ideal for the amphibious Marine Corps; and the F-35C is meant to serve on the Navy's aircraft carriers.

f35 variants

Despite the Block 3F software setback, the Marine Corps last year declared an initial squadron of F-35s ready for combat, making it the first service branch to do so.

The standard for readiness the Marines used, referred to as initial operational capability, is determined separately by each service branch when the aircraft has successfully demonstrated various capabilities.

IOCs are announced prematurely, however, in that all tests and upgrades to the aircraft, such as the Block 3F software update, have not necessarily been completed.

Still, Gen. Joseph Dunford, then the commandant of the Marine Corps, in July declared initial operational capability for 10 F-35B fighter jets.

The Air Force is expected to declare IOC for its F-35As later this year, and the Navy plans to announce IOC for the F-35Cs in 2018.

Even so, America's most expensive warplane's turbulent march to combat readiness is far from over.

F35-C

Here's the full report from the Department of Defense:

NOW WATCH: This is how pilots train to fly America's most expensive fighter jets





More From Business Insider


TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - Global engineering and project delivery company, DRA, announced two new appointments to its team in the Americas. This follows the recent acquisition of Met-Chem, a consulting engineering company headquartered in Montreal, and marks yet another notable step forward in the company's growth strategy.

Mr. Phildi Scholtz, BEng Mech (Hons), has been appointed the Executive Vice President of Projects and Mr. Daniel M. Gagnon, P.Eng, is the Senior Vice President: Mining and Geology and Met-Chem Operations. DRA has been actively growing its operations in North and South America and these appointments further support the Company's objective of expanding its services in the region.

Mr. Phildi Scholtz joins the DRA Americas team from the Group's South African office and brings significant project experience to the team. Phildi was instrumental in a number of large scale projects including Asanko Gold's 3 Mtpa gold mine in Ghana, Xstrata-Glencore's 15 Mtpa Tweefontein coal optimization project in South Africa and Randgold's 7.2 Mtpa Kibali gold project in the DRC. Phildi is a graduate of the University of Pretoria, in South Africa; he joined DRA in 1998.

Subsequent to the acquisition of Met-Chem, from UEC Technologies LLC (part of United States Steel Corporation), earlier this year Mr. Daniel Gagnon has been appointed as Senior Vice President of DRA's Mining and Geology division and heads up DRA's Met-Chem business in Montreal. Daniel previously held the title of General Manager for Met-Chem's Mining and Geology team, with over 18 years' service to the organization. Daniel is also the President of the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Foundation and has been the CIM's co-Vice President for West Africa since 2012. He served as the CIM's VP for Eastern Canada from 2010 to 2015. Daniel received a CIM Fellowship Award for 2016, one of the youngest ever members to receive this award. He is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique in Mining Engineering.

"We are pleased to welcome both Phildi and Daniel to our team in the Americas. They both bring a wealth of experience to the region, knowledge which will not only benefit our business but also our clients. The Met-Chem Mining and Geology team, which Daniel heads up, is recognized for in-depth, quality skills in geology and mining and this team supplements DRA's specialist capability in mineral processing and EPCM project delivery. It is in project management and delivery that Phildi brings exceptional capabilities and together these two engineers further increase the capabilities of our team in the Americas," said Wray Carvelas, CEO of DRA Americas Inc.

About DRA

DRA is a multi-disciplinary global engineering group that originated in South Africa and delivers mining, mineral processing, energy, water treatment and infrastructure services from concept to commissioning, as well as comprehensive operations and maintenance services for the mineral resources and energy sectors. DRA has offices in Africa, Australia, Canada, China, India and the United States.

About Met-Chem

Met-Chem, a DRA Group Company, was established in 1969 as a consulting engineering company, headquartered in Montreal, and provides a wide range of technical and engineering services. Met-Chem is well-recognized for its capabilities in mining, geology and mineral processing and has a talented team of engineering, technical and project management personnel with experience in North America, Latin America, Europe, West Africa and India.
A Baghdad court has handed death sentences to seven other French citizens over the past week (AFP Photo/-) (AL-FURQAN MEDIA/AFP)

The Hague (AFP) - Dutch MPs voted on Tuesday to strip dual nationals of their Dutch citizenship if they join terror groups such as the so-called Islamic State group to fight as jihadists, officials said.

The move comes in the wake of attacks in Paris last year and in Brussels in March, carried out by European extremists thought to have returned home after joining radical organisations in Syria or Iraq as foreign fighters.

The lower house of parliament approved the controversial bill to revoke the Dutch citizenship of people with dual nationality, if they are deemed to have joined foreign terror groups like IS or Al-Qaeda -- even if they have not been convicted of any crime.

The Dutch decision is the latest move as countries across the globe grapple with the problem of how to deal with Islamists leaving to join groups like IS, which boasts between 27,000 and 31,000 foreign fighters from 86 countries, according to a report released in December by the New York-based Soufan security think-tank.

It also comes as French President Francois Hollande has back-peddled on constitutional reforms which included plans to strip convicted terrorists of their French nationality, sparking a fierce debate over the risk that it would create stateless persons.

"These jihadists can pose a threat to national security when they return to the Netherlands," the Dutch justice ministry said in a statement.

"Therefore, even without a conviction on a terror charge, the justice minister can decide to strip a person of their nationality, if that person is deemed to have joined a terror organisation," ministry spokesman Wiebe Alkema told AFP.

The bill now has to go to the upper house in the coming weeks for a final thumbs-up before becoming law.

The ruling would not apply however to those people who only have Dutch nationality, Alkema added. Under international conventions, countries are not allowed to intentionally make people stateless.

Story continues

Justice Minister Ard Van der Steur first proposed the changes to the law late last year, saying they were necessary to stop jihadists returning to the Netherlands.

"The scrapping of Dutch nationality becomes possible as soon as somebody in a foreign country joins a group on a list of terror organisations" such as IS or Al-Qaeda, the justice ministry statement said.

"Once approved, the person will be declared an undesirable foreigner. It will prevent them from returning to the Netherlands or the Schengen zone," it added.

But the bill has caused discord in parliament, with some leftist parties arguing it could lead to even greater radicalisation.

Any decision to scrap nationality can however be challenged before a Dutch court -- and should it rule in favour of the decision, "it can always be appealed before the Council of State," the Netherlands' highest administrative court, the ministry said.

According to past estimates by the Dutch secret services, 200 people from the Netherlands including 50 women have joined IS in Syria and Iraq.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A possible exit of Britain from the European Union would not cause problems for the financial system because it has already been discussed for some time, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told a German newspaper. "If it ends up really happening, who's going to be surprised?" daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted Nowotny as saying in an interview published on Wednesday. Nowotny also said that he did not expect an upcoming ECB stress test to have a negative outcome. "I do not see big problems coming our way," he told the paper when asked whether some banks would fail the test. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Shadia Nasralla)
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2016 / Ecuador Gold & Copper Corp. (EGX.V) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements to settle an aggregate of C$424,330 in outstanding debt (the "Debt") owed to creditors in connection with C$365,581 owing for drilling, exploration, and consulting as well as up to C$58,749 owing for management's expenses and services provided to the Company. The Company is proposing to settle the Debt by issuing an aggregate of 1,088,027 common shares (the "Debt Shares") of the Company at a deemed price of C$0.39 per Debt Share. All Debt Shares issued to settle the Debt will be subject to a four month hold period and the issuance of the Debt Shares will be subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Ecuador Gold and Copper Corp.

Ecuador Gold and Copper Corp. is a Canadian exploration and mining company focused on its gold and copper mineral properties located in the Province of Zamora-Chinchipe in southern Ecuador. The Company has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment of its Santa Barbara Gold and Copper Project dated May 29, 2015, and is currently listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EGX". For additional information, please visit us at www.ecuadorgoldandcopper.com.

For further information please contact:

Heye Daun

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Telephone: +1-604-687 2038 (Vancouver Office)

Email: hdaun@ecuadorgoldandcopper.com

Cautionary Note

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

SOURCE: Ecuador Gold & Copper Corp.
Anti-corruption activists warned the ENI deal to operate a neglected oil refinery in Nigeria may not have followed due process (AFP Photo/DAMIEN MEYER) (AFP/File)

Yenagoa (Nigeria) (AFP) - A subsidiary of Italian oil producer Eni has declared a force majeure following an attack on a key gas pipeline in southern Nigeria, the company said Tuesday.

The measure at the Brass Rivers terminal took effect Sunday after the OgbaimbiriTebidaba pipeline was attacked by suspected militants.

"I can confirm the force majeure on Brass," Eni said in an emailed statement.

Force majeure is a legal term that frees a company from any contractual obligation due to circumstances beyond its control.

The company said the attack on the pipeline -- the second in under a month -- led to an oil output loss equivalent to 4,200 barrels per day.

Nigeria has seen an upsurge in attacks on critical oil infrastructure in recent months, prompting President Muhammadu Buhari to order enhanced security.

Africa's leading economy relies on oil sales for 70 percent of government revenue but income has been hit by the global fall in oil prices since mid-2014 and increased militancy.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said production is now at 1.4 million barrels per day, against a budgeted 2.2 million bpd.

A group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks on pipelines and facilities operated by Shell, Chevron and Nigeria's state-run oil firm.

The Niger delta region was plagued by attacks on oil facilities and personnel in the 2000s by militants seeking a fairer share of the region's oil wealth, until a government amnesty was introduced in 2009.
Netflix launched in 2007 as a mail-order DVD service but is now producing award-winning original content alongside its offering of older shows and movies (AFP Photo/Jonathan Nackstrand )

Brussels (AFP) - US firms like Netflix, Amazon and Apple face quotas for European movies and television shows under EU proposals unveiled Wednesday that also aim to lift cross-border barriers for Internet shoppers.

The proposals are the latest step towards what Brussels calls a digital single market, in which the European Union's 500 million people will no longer be blocked from buying goods and services more cheaply abroad online.

"We have a European film culture and we think European content should be in those programmes," Guenther Oettinger, the German EU commissioner for digital economy, told a press conference in Brussels.

The European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation European Union, called for US web streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime to devote 20 percent of their content in Europe to European movies and television shows.

The proposal also targets Apple's iTunes, which offers movies for download, although EU officials said both Netflix and iTunes already devote 21 percent of their catalogues to European content.

The Commission believes that "there should be a guaranteed share of those programmes," and that "20 percent is a reasonable figure," Oettinger said.

"We are giving businesses some room for manoeuvre to show non-European products," added Oettinger, speaking in German through a translator.

Quotas already set by some member states vary between 10 percent and 60 percent.

Fighting the dominance of Hollywood is a major priority for EU heavyweight France in particular, which has for years subsidised its own national film industry through a special tax on privately-owned broadcasters that rely heavily on US-made content.

The Commission also proposed that member states should be able to ask on-demand services available in their country to "contribute financially to European works," stopping short of calling for a tax.

"We appreciate the Commission's objective to have European production flourish, however the proposed measures won't actually achieve that," Netflix said in a statement.

Story continues

Netflix said it has so far committed hundreds of millions of euros to European productions, including its first major French-language series "Marseille", starring Gerard Depardieu, that premiered this month.

It added many more Europe-produced series were in the pipeline.

The proposals call for member states to allow for independent regulators who will ensure that video-sharing platforms, such as YouTube, protect young people from harmful content, like violence and pornography.

And they call for protecting all citizens from incitement to hatred.

- 'Geoblocking' overhaul -

Meanwhile the Commission also proposed that online firms lift barriers starting next year to Internet shoppers who seek cheaper prices for goods and services on sites in different European countries.

The practice known as "geoblocking" often limits customers to websites in their home countries for services such as car hire or travel, blocking them from seeking better prices on foreign sites.

Under the proposals, for example, automatically rerouting customers to a local version of the online service will be forbidden.

"Discrimination between EU consumers based on the objective to segment markets along national borders has no place in the single market," EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said.

But trade group DigitalEurope said geoblocking is a symptom rather than the cause of a fragmented EU market resulting from differing national living standards, consumer habits, language requirements, consumer laws, copyright and value added tax rates.

"This is like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg," DigitalEurope director general John Higgins said in a statement.

In a related proposal, the Commission called for making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable by introducing greater price transparency to foster competition.

"For 50 percent of our European companies, the main obstacle to flourishing in e-commerce is high parcel prices," Andrus Ansip, the European Commission's Vice President on media issues, told reporters.

The proposed geoblocking ruling currently excludes audiovisual online providers but leaves it open to a review that worries firms that sell music or electronic books.

The European Consumer Organisation welcomed the "great news" on the proposed geoblocking overhaul but regret that ebooks, music, television series, films and sports were still off-limits.

"It is time the EU puts the final nail in the coffin of geo-blocking," organisation head Monique Goyens said in a statement.

The plans must now be approved by member states and the European parliament.
* Greece to get 10.3 bln euros new cash, 7.5 bln of it in June

* IMF willing to join bailout as euro zone offer debt relief terms

* Dijsselbloem hails "major breakthrough", new confidence at table

* Optimism that vicious circle broken - Greece's Tsakalotos

By Jan Strupczewski, Francesco Guarascio and Alastair Macdonald

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - The euro zone gave Greece its firmest offer yet of debt relief in what finance ministers called a breakthrough deal that won a commitment from the IMF finally to return to taking part in the bailout for Athens.

After talks that lasted into the small hours of Wednesday, the Eurogroup ministers gave a nod to releasing 10.3 billion euros in new funds for Greece in recognition of painful fiscal reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist-led coalition, subject to some final technical tweaks.

But a bigger step forward was a deal by which the euro zone agreed to offer Athens debt relief in 2018 if that is necessary to meet agreed criteria on its payments burden. That was enough to secure an agreement from the International Monetary Fund to again join the euro zone in funding the bailout of Greece.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, told a news conference. "This is stretching what I thought would have been possible not so long ago."

Acknowledging the "political capital" European ministers invested to reach the deal -- a nod to strong German objections to debt relief -- Dijsselbloem called it a "new phase" in a six-year drama to stabilise Greece's finances that has taken the 16-year-old euro zone to the brink of break-up.

Mutual trust was returning to the talks, he said, nearly a year after Tsipras's rejection of austerity measures pushed Athens close to be pushed out of the euro.

GREEK OPTIMISM

"I think there is some ground for optimism that this can be the beginning of turning Greece's vicious circle of recession-measures-recession into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece," Tsipras's finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, told reporters as he left the Brussels meeting.

Story continues

The IMF has long insisted on the European governments taking a hit to relieve Athens of some of its debt in order to make its public finances more sustainable. The refusal of Germany and others to do that had led to months of wrangling with the IMF in which Athens had been something of a spectator in negotiations.

While the Europeans did not offer immediate debt relief, or make an unconditional promise of reducing the payments Greece must make to them, they did spell out criteria for it. Athens' gross financing needs show be kept below 15 percent of GDP in the medium term and below 20 percent beyond that.

"The Eurogroup agreed today on a package of debt measures which will be phased in progressively, as necessary to meet the agreed benchmark on gross financing needs," a statement said.

IMF ON BOARD

The IMF's European director Poul Thomsen said he believed the measures would "deliver the necessary debt relief", though he cautioned that it was still up to the IMF board in Washington to determine whether to agree with his assessment. The extent of debt relief that would take place was still not clear, he said.

"It will deliver debt sustainability according to our standard criteria," Thomsen said, insisting that the IMF had not eased its insistence that it would lend more to Athens unless its European creditors ease its debt burden. "I do not see this as a weakening of the debt relief proposals," he said.

But he acknowledged that the Fund made a big concession by agreeing that the debt relief would only be finally decided in 2018, rather than up-front, as was the IMF's initial position.

The easing of Greece's debts could be achieved by various methods, including extending some maturities, the euro zone agreed -- not through a 'haircut' on the nominal debt.

Germany has been insistent that the IMF should take part in the bailout because the Fund's reputation for fiscal rigour, but it has also resisted demands from Washington for debt relief -- a move that Berlin fears would create a "moral hazard", giving euro zone debtors an incentive to break with austerity reforms.

Hardline Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir, who has long been sceptical of help for Greece, said: "It was a complicated birth tonight. It's probably about as good as it gets."

Socialist French Finance Minister Michel Sapin heaped praise on Tsipras for pushing painful reforms through parliament in order to unlock a first tranche of new money worth 7.5 billion euros next month, with another 2.8 billion to come.

"Even if the discussions were long, the atmosphere was always extremely relaxed," he said. "This deal is first and foremost a declaration of confidence in today's Greece."

Before the meeting, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters he was not willing to commit to any action after next year, when Germany holds parliamentary elections in the autumn.

(Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Jan Strupczewski)
Monsanto is displayed on a screen where the stock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. on May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) - Monsanto Co (MON.N), the world's largest seed company, turned down Bayer AG's (BAYGn.DE) $62 billion acquisition bid as "incomplete and financially inadequate" on Tuesday, but said it was open to engage further in negotiations.

Monsanto's decision, first reported earlier on Tuesday by Reuters, puts pressure on Bayer to decide whether to raise its bid, even as the company faces criticism from some shareholders that its $122-per-share cash offer is already too high.

Monsanto shares ended trading up 3.1 percent at $109.3 in New York, substantially below Bayer's bid price, underscoring some investor skepticism that a deal can be done. Bayer shares rose 3.23 percent at 87.15 euros in Frankfurt.

"We believe in the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society, and we have long respected Bayers business," Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said in a statement.

"However, the current proposal significantly undervalues our company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition," he added.

Bayer responded that its $122 per share offer represents "full and certain value" for Monsanto shareholders, but that it looks forward to engaging in constructive discussions with Monsanto.

"We are confident that we can address any potential financing or regulatory matters related to the transaction. Bayer remains committed to working together to complete this mutually compelling transaction," Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said in a statement.

It was not clear what price Monsanto would be willing to sell for but several analysts have suggested Bayer would have to pay much more than the current offer to clinch a deal.

"We believe it is unlikely that the deal gets done at $122 and still believe $135 is a more likely price," JPMorgan analysts wrote in a research note last week.

Story continues

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC, an investment management firm that is Monsanto's 14th largest shareholder according to Thomson Reuters data, agreed with Monsanto's decision to seek a higher offer.

"Monsanto's assessment that the initial offer was inadequate is valid, as we believe it does not appropriately value the companys existing product portfolio," said Michael Knolla, a managing director at Manning & Napier.

Global agrochemicals companies are racing to consolidate, partly in response to a drop in commodity prices that has hit farm incomes. Seeds and pesticides markets are also increasingly converging. This has driven Monsanto to consider a tie-up to build strength.

Monsanto approached Bayer in March to express interest in its crop science unit, Reuters reported at the time. Among the possibilities discussed were an outright acquisition of the crop science unit and a joint venture, or other type of partnership between the two companies.

ChemChina plans to buy Switzerland's Syngenta (SYNN.S) for $43 billion, after Syngenta rejected a bid from Monsanto. Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) and DuPont (DD.N) are forging a $130 billion business.

With German rival BASF SE (BASFn.DE) having previously considered a tie-up with Monsanto, Bayer has moved to avoid being left behind.

Leverkusen-based Bayer's unsolicited bid for Monsanto is the largest all-cash takeover on record, according to Thomson Reuters data, just ahead of InBev SA's $60.4 billion offer for Anheuser-Busch in June 2008.

Bayer said on Monday it would finance its cash bid with a combination of debt and equity.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago, Mike Stone in New York, Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt and Pamela Barbaglia in London; Editing by Tiffany Wu, Bernard Orr)
NEW YORK, NY and PARIS, FRANCE and PANAMA CITY, PANAMA--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - Approximately 500 real estate industry leaders from 65 countries have descended upon Panama City, Panama this week to attend the 67th FIABCI World Congress. This is the first time this respected industry event has taken place in a Latin American country.

"The FIABCI World Congress in Panama will offer our participants a unique perspective focused on 'Connecting Development for a Better World.' Panama's expanding and dynamic real estate market and strong economic potential makes this a perfect venue for this year's event," explained Danielle Grossenbacher, FIABCI World President.

The conference theme, "Connecting Development for a Better World," serves as the basis for the program, which is filled with world-class speakers, international networking and marketing sessions and exciting recreation and study tours, where participants will experience all that Panama has to offer. Special guests include the President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, and Panama's Ministry of Housing Mario Etchelecu. There will also be a unique presentation by the famous Venezuelan Kinetic Artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, whose innovative artwork integrates sculpture with architecture.

Eric Van Hoorde, President of ACOBIR, the organizing association of the event, explains that "the organization of this global real estate congress represents a country event of great significance and is an excellent opportunity for Panama, due to the fact that in recent years we have grown significantly in the global real estate sector. Thousands of people consider Panama as the ideal place to live and do business, due to its important first class infrastructure and its relevant tourist attractions that give the city a cosmopolitan destination connotation."

Ivan Carlucci, President of FIABCI-Panama, added that this event will create new business relationships with representatives of the real estate industry around the world who are visiting from May 21 to 26. "Our goal is to encourage multi-national real estate companies to become established here, especially with vast opportunities generated by the opening of the canal expansion next month. We are committed to being the best hosts for the more than 50 delegations from 65 countries on five continents that visit us," said Carlucci.

Story continues

Katherine Shahani, President of the Organizing Committee for ACOBIR and former President of ACOBIR, referred to the FIABCI World Congress program, which includes global networking events, social activities that will strengthen links between participants and organizations, theme forums, vital presentations from national and international exhibitors, as well as a social program filled with a series of sightseeing and shopping tours. The agenda was designed to combine robust international business with tourism.

One of the many highlights during the Congress will be the FIABCI World Prix d'Excellence Awards Gala Dinner. The FIABCI World Prix d'Excellence, considered the "Oscar" of the real estate industry, is a prestigious honor that recognizes real estate development projects that best embody excellence in all real estate disciplines involved in its creation and illustrates the FIABCI ideal of "providing society with the optimal solution to its property needs." Panama has a nomination with the project The Reserve of Grupo Los Pueblos, winner of the Panama Real Estate Grand Master 2015.

For more information about the FIABCI World Congress, visit the website www.fiabci.org

About ACOBIR

It is the Panamanian Association of Real Estate Brokers and Promoters (ACOBIR), a nonprofit organization that brings together the most prestigious brokerage firms and real estate promoters. Founded in 1973, ACOBIR has conducted great work on behalf of the interests of the brokerage industry and promotion of real estate.

Its contribution to the industry includes participation in the legislative proposals for the establishment of incentives, cooperation in the enactment of laws of traditional benefit for the industry and participation in various issues of national and collective interest.

About FIABCI

FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, is a business network of real estate professionals worldwide. FIABCI provides access and opportunity for real estate professionals interested in gaining knowledge, sharing information and conducting international business with each other. With members in 65 countries, including 100 Professional Associations, 65 Academic Institutions and 3000 individual members from all professions of the real estate sector, FIABCI is the most representative organization of the real estate industry in the world and holds special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.
By Jeremy Wagstaff and Taiga Uranaka

SINGAPORE/TOKYO (Reuters) - Criminals who stole millions of dollars from automatic teller machines across Japan in a three-hour spree probably chose the country because banks consider it a low fraud risk, security experts say.

The gang used counterfeit Standard Bank credit cards to withdraw 1.4 billion yen ($13 million) in 14,000 transactions from ATMs at 7-Eleven convenience stores over three hours on a Sunday morning, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Most ATMs in the 7-Eleven stores belong to Seven Bank, a Japanese bank part-owned by Seven & I Holdings which runs the store chain in Japan, one of only two Japanese banks that allow withdrawals on foreign cards.

The thieves are still at large.

"They were smart in selecting Japan," said one banking security consultant who asked not to be identified.

"They found a badly protected ATM network in a low-risk country, guessing that the fraud analytics software would not automatically block the transactions."

South Africa's Standard Bank said on Monday it had suffered the losses, not its customers, and that it had alerted the authorities. It estimated its total loss at 300 million rand ($19 million). [nL5N18K1CW]

The bank declined to comment further on Tuesday.

Seven Bank said it was cooperating with police. Japan's banking regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and Japanese police declined to comment.

Seven has about 22,000 ATMs across the country. Japan Post Bank also accepts overseas credit cards, but only about 540 of its 27,000 are open 24 hours a day.

Reports in Japanese media said the withdrawals were made on May 15 at ATMs in Tokyo and 16 prefectures across Japan's main island Honshu and neighbouring Kyushu. That would have taken a substantial number of "mules" to make the transactions and ferry the cash, said experts.

"($13 million) in a matter of hours is nothing short of blinding," said Dan Kelly, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity researcher at Dragon Threat Labs.

Story continues

"The use of loopholes in the bank's procedures makes sense, but trying to rustle up a mule network in one country without making too much noise can't be easy."

FLOOD OF TRANSACTIONS

Experts said both banks should shoulder some blame for failing to monitor the flood of transactions, saying they should have had systems in place to catch spikes in unusual activity in so many locations at the same time during what would usually be a quiet period.

"The liability is on the issuing bank, which is Standard Bank, but as the case gets further investigated, more blame will fall on the acquiring bank," said Subhashish Bose, head of anti-financial crime in Asia-Pacific for FICO, a U.S.-based software company that also scores consumer credit risk.

The criminals may have harvested the data in a variety of ways, said the experts - possibly by "skimming" cards - but they would have had limited options when it came to using them to withdraw cash.

For one thing, they would have to pick a country that still uses magnetic strip card technology, not the newer and more secure "chip and pin" system, which would have ruled out South Africa itself.

"If they would have gone to any of the surrounding countries, they would risk detection (and blocking) by Standard Bank's fraud analytics software", which would consider any transaction in such countries to be high risk, the banking security consultant said.

The same risk assessment would have ruled out most other African countries, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia, the consultant added.

Japan, meanwhile, is considered low-risk because of low crime rates and its banks, most of which do not accept foreign cards in their ATMs, the experts said.

Japan has long been ignored by criminal gangs and cybercrime groups because of its relative isolation. But that is changing, say specialists, and the country has yet to catch up.

"They are less experienced in dealing with these frauds and are behind in terms of monitoring, detection and response," said Stephen McCombie, an Asia-Pacific cybercrime specialist at RSA, the security division of data storage firm EMC.

Last year hackers broke into Japan's pension system and leaked more than a million cases of personal data.

($1 = 109.5800 yen)

(Reporting By Jeremy Wagstaff and Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Alex Richardson)
ISE-SHIMA, Japan, May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he lodged a stern protest WITH U.S. President Barack Obama following the arrest last week of a U.S. base worker in connection with the death of a Japanese woman in Okinawa, southern Japan.

"As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday.

"I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by William Mallard)
Barack Obama Shinzo Abe

Japan's prime minister publicly rebuked US President Barack Obama at a press conference on Wednesday, saying that he feels "profound resentment" over a murder allegedly committed by an American in Okinawa.

Shinzo Abe told Obama, who is visiting Japan for the annual G7 summit, that he was lodging a "protest" over the death of a 20-year-old woman who had been missing since April. A US military contractor working on a base in Okinawa was arrested for the crime after she was found in a forest in the city, according to CBS News.

"I feel profound resentment against this self-centered and absolutely despicable crime," Abe said at the press conference on Wednesday.

He continued, addressing Obama:

This case has shocked not only Okinawa, but also deeply shocked the entire Japan. I conveyed to the President that such feelings of Japanese people should be sincerely taken to heart. I also urged the United States to make sure to take effective and thorough means to prevent a recurrence, and vigorously and strictly address the situation.

CBS noted that anti-American sentiment in Okinawa is already high because of the US military's presence in the city.

Obama, in turn, responded that the US is "appalled" by any violent crime carried out by a US contractor.

"We consider it inexcusable and we are committed to doing everything that we can to prevent any crimes to take place of this sort," Obama said, noting that the US would review procedures and make sure that "everything that can be done to prevent such occurrences from happening again are put into place."

Here's the full statement from Abe:

At the very outset of our small group discussion, I firmly lodged a protest against President Obama as the Japanese Prime Minister with regard to the most recent case in Okinawa. The entire time for the small group discussion was spent on this specific case in Okinawa. And I feel profound resentment against this self-centered and absolutely despicable crime.

Story continues

This case has shocked not only Okinawa, but also deeply shocked the entire Japan. I conveyed to the President that such feelings of Japanese people should be sincerely taken to heart. I also urged the United States to make sure to take effective and thorough means to prevent a recurrence, and vigorously and strictly address the situation.

In proceeding with the realignment of the US forces without truly staying together with the feelings of the people in Okinawa we will not be able to make progress. And there is a tough and challenging road ahead of us as we seek to regain confidence, which was lost due to the most recent case. However, we both agreed to do our utmost in areas such as impact mitigation in Okinawa through Japan-US cooperation.

And video of the press conference:

View More: Live News|More News Videos





More From Business Insider


By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA, May 25 (Reuters) - A grand jury in Liberia on Wednesday indicted government officials, including the speaker of parliament and the head of the ruling party, along with London AIM-listed Sable Mining on charges including bribery.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry into Sable's acquisition of an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the watchdog group Global Witness made accusations of wrong-doing in a report earlier this month.

A grand jury in the capital Monrovia accused the defendants of bribery among other crimes, according to the indictment seen by Reuters.

The indictment alleged that the defendants conspired to use their positions to amend Liberia's public procurement and concessions law. It asserted that they succeeded in changing the law to give the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy the power to declare a concession area as a non-bidding area.

The indictment did not specify how Sable Mining allegedly benefited from the change to the law and Reuters was unable to independently determine if Sable actually did.

In its report Global Witness claimed that the amendment allowed the company to win the concession without a tender.

A spokeswoman for Sable said the company would not comment on the accusations made in the indictment, which cover a period including 2010 and 2011.

Previously Sable said the report appeared to be based on "unreliable" testimony from three former business partners.

The indictment named as defendants Sable Mining, parliament speaker Alex Tyler, Varney Sherman, a senator and chairman of President Johnson Sirleaf's Unity Party, and Deputy Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy Ernest C.B. Jones, as well as Christopher Onanuga, a Liberian businessman.

All four men were arrested in Liberia's capital Monrovia on Wednesday and were later released on bail.

Tyler has rejected the Global Witness report, which, like the indictment, alleged that bribery had been used to facilitate Sable's acquisition of the concession.

Story continues

He was not immediately reachable for comment. His office said he was not planning to comment on the indictment, which alleges he requested and received $75,000 to help amend Liberia's procurement and concession law.

As he left court on Wednesday, Sherman told reporters he would not comment on the indictment. While he acknowledged in a May 13 news conference that his law firm had worked for Sable, he denied the Global Witness allegations of wrong-doing.

Neither Jones, accused in the indictment of receiving $5,000 for providing the technical advice for the alteration of the procurement and concession law, nor Onanuga responded to text messages and telephone calls. The indictment did not give specific details of the allegations against Onanuga.

(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
The authorities are working to eradicate duplication of official documents after two well-publicized cases highlighted a rising problem, report Cao Yin in Beijing and Qi Xin in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Thirty provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions are understood to be setting up a system to prevent identity theft in China. Although no details have yet been released, the system will ensure that the information given to authorities is accurate and that identity cards and hukou, or household registration certificates, match the named owners, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Keeping identity-related information secure has become a problem in China. In a report published in July, the Internet Society of China said 78.2 percent of netizens have had their personal details - names, addresses or identity numbers - disclosed without authorization.

The authorities are now acting to tighten up the system in the wake of two well-publicized cases that made national headlines after it was revealed that one woman's college place had been taken by an imposter, while another discovered that she had had no legal status, and therefore no access to benefits, for six years.

A traumatic year

Wang Nana said the past year has been the most traumatic of her life, leaving her panic-stricken and with little hope.

The problem began when the 33-year-old from Zhoukou, a city in the central province of Henan, applied for a bank loan. Her application was refused after the bank ran a credit check that suggested she had submitted inaccurate information on the loan form.

The mystery was solved when Wang discovered that someone else was using her identity, and had even taken her place at college in 2003.

According to the bank's credit check, Wang had graduated from the Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College in 2006, even though she had never attended the school.

"I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that another person had stolen my dream and made it come true for themself. I wanted an explanation," said Wang, who runs a photocopying outlet in her hometown.

Liu Hongli, also from Zhoukou, was shocked to find that her hukou and identity card had been registered in Beijing without her knowledge, and that the police had failed to alert her to the fact her hukou had been nullified in 2010.

"In other words, I have been a 'black householder' (an illegal resident) for six years," the 35-year-old said.

Wang and Liu spent many hours traveling back and forth between their local public security bureau and related government offices to prove their identities, but now, both have some sort of closure.

In Wang's case, three people suspected of fabricating fake identity certificates have been detained while investigations continue. Meanwhile, Liu obtained a new hukou at the beginning of the month, and her case is also being investigated.

Legal professionals said that the cases were just the tip of an iceberg made possible by the country's poor management of identity security.

Although it is just a small piece of paper, the hukou certificate is far more than just proof of residence because it details a person's marital status, eligibility for unemployment benefit, health service status, education opportunities and pension. As such the hukou and an ID card are the most important documents in a Chinese citizen's life.

Moreover, experts say there is a huge difference between the benefits bestowed by rural and urban residence permits - for example, unemployment benefit is lower in rural areas.

The problem of identity theft has fluctuated in recent years. In 2009, nearly 1.7 million people possessed duplicate hukou certificates. In 2013, the police canceled 790,000 fake certificates. The number soared to 2.5 million in 2014, but by March last year, it had fallen to 486, according to statistics released by the ministry in December.

Ruan Chuansheng, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai, said that the fabrication of identities will only be eradicated through stricter law enforcement by public security departments and government offices.

An uneventful life

Wang lived an uneventful life until she discovered that someone had stolen her identity and taken her place at college.

"I was very depressed when I was told that I had 'failed' the college entrance exam, but I got over it. I got married, looked for a job and had children," she said. "My mind went blank when the bank clerk told me that there was something wrong with my identity papers."

In fact, Wang had passed the college entrance exam, but the letter offering her a place at university in 2003 was intercepted by the father of another student, a girl called Zhang Yingying, who then attended college under Wang's name. When she graduated Zhang was presented with a certificate that carried her photo but showed Wang's name and ID number. After graduation, she landed a job as a teacher at a vocational school.

When the Zhoukou police investigated the case, they discovered that Wang's enrollment letter had not been delivered to her home in the city's Shenqiu county, but had instead been handed over to Zhang's father in nearby Shangshui county.

When the investigators uncovered the fact that Zhang had failed the college entrance exam in 2003, her father, Zhang Heting, confessed that he had bribed the teacher in charge of mailing enrollment letters to obtain Wang's. He then bribed police officers to obtain a fake ID card and hukou for his daughter.

Now, 13 people alleged to have been involved in the case have been detained, and three of them - those said to have fabricated false hukou certificates - are under further investigation.

Despite her relief, Wang was still dissatisfied. "I left my home address and phone number with the public security bureau in 2003, and there were plenty of other ways they could have contacted me, so how could such a drama still happen? How could the fake ID card and hukou exist for such a long time?" she said.

Since the case was resolved, the mother of two has regained her confidence and has studied the law related to identity issues.

As a result of the case, Wang appeared on television many times, piquing the curiosity of her 7-year-old daughter.

"She kept asking me why I was on the TV. I couldn't explain, I just told her to study hard and go to college. I still believe knowledge can change a person's destiny," she said.

Now, 13 years after her name was stolen, Wang still wants to study at university and is determined to fulfill her ambition.

Ongoing deception

Unlike Wang, Liu is awaiting the results of further investigations into her case.

In late September, Liu and her husband tried to buy a car, but she was told that her identity information was incorrect. "To my surprise, an online identity system showed another woman's photo on my ID card," she said.

In 2005, a woman surnamed Cheng transferred Liu's ID number and hukou certificate to the Dongcheng district of Beijing, which led to Liu's household registration in her hometown being nullified in 2010, according to a report issued by Beijing police on May 2.

"That is to say, I had not existed since 2010," Liu said.

An investigation showed that having graduated from a vocational school in Henan in July 2004, Cheng had tried to find a job in Beijing, but her attempts were stymied by a ruling that all graduates of universities outside the capital must provide proof of a degree.

With that in mind, one of Liu's colleagues, who was a friend of Cheng, borrowed Liu's graduation certificate issued by Henan University to help Cheng apply for a job in the capital.

Once in possession of the certificate, Cheng's father used it to help his daughter find a job in Beijing and also "transferred" Liu's hukou and ID card to the capital.

Later, when the authorities began a crackdown on ID fraud, they discovered the anomaly, but rather than investigating the case, the police in Beijing and Henan simply canceled Liu's hukou in Henan.

When the deception was uncovered, police in Beijing revoked Cheng's Beijing residency permit and issued Liu with a new one on April 30. Liu said she didn't really question why her colleague wanted to use her graduation certificate, but she never expected so much "drama" to result from her actions.

The police said investigations are ongoing and suitable punishments are being considered for the police officers involved.

Calls for tougher punishments

Ruan, the criminal lawyer, said that he had encountered similar cases when dealing with unrelated legal issues for clients in the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu.

He said incorrect and duplicated identity information is a result of the unregulated nature of work in the public security departments. He urged officials to implement the law in a stricter, more transparent way: "If not, they could face criminal liability charges."

Under the current Criminal Law, anyone who fabricates false certificates faces between three and 10 years in prison.

"Officers in charge of handling certificate-related affairs will also be punished for on-duty failings, including dereliction of duty and accepting bribes," he said.

In addition, some residents purchase fake identities in the slim hope that they will not be detected, "which must be avoided", he said.

"After all, there is a complicated social problem behind these small pieces of paper or card, such as the hukou," he said, adding that closing the gap between rural and urban hukou holders will take time.

In China, if a person spends their entire life working in a big city such as Beijing but does not have a permit to live there permanently, he or she can only collect their pension in the place where their household is registered. For rural residents that can result in a large loss of income.

Self-protection

Ruan conceded that although the rural-urban gap is gradually narrowing, there's still a long way to go: "In the short term, the problem must be reduced by stricter implementation of the law and by raising public awareness of self-protection."

A police officer surnamed Hu is responsible for household registration affairs in Shanghai. She said residents who wish to transfer their hukou must appear at the office in person and produce the relevant documents, including an ID card and a hukou certificate.

"If someone cannot show up, he or she must entrust the matter to another person whose identity has been verified by a third-party institute (brokers employed by members of the public to undertake administration of identity-related documentation)," Hu said.

She confirmed that public security departments do not update information relating to residents' hukou or ID unless a person applies to make an amendment, which is why some people do not realize that their ID cards or hukou certificates have been duplicated or even nullified.

She suggested that people should double-check the reputations of any third-party agencies with which they have dealings, and urged residents to think before handing over sensitive documents such as ID cards and hukou certificates to ascertain what they will be used for.

"People should also pay attention if this type of information is required by government departments and they make copies," she said.

Now, some businesses, including banks, are exploring the use of biometric information, such as fingerprints, to verify people's identities, which Hu said would be a good way of reducing the number of imposters.

For Ruan, the criminal lawyer, the problem lies in the wide gap between rural and urban areas in terms of the benefits provided by a residency certificate: "To eradicate the problem in the long run, we will have to narrow the gap between the urban and rural areas in many spheres, such as providing equal access to education and social benefits. Only then will the problem cease."

Contact the writers through caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

What's in a name?

Situations in which residents must have hukou, also known as a household registration certificate.

To register a newborn baby.

To get married.

To enroll at school.

To prove their relationship with family members.

To purchase a house or car.

To find employment.

Advantages of obtaining a Beijing hukou

Beijing residents can purchase lower-price or affordable housing from restricted stock, while people without hukou can only buy commercial residential properties.

Beijing residents can attend less-expensive public kindergartens and do not need to pay extra fees to attend the best middle and high schools.

Beijing's universities also provide privileges for local students.

Unemployed residents are eligible to collect unemployment benefit.

Some administrative or government departments prefer to employ Beijing residents.

Elderly residents with Beijing hukou receive larger pensions.

Beijing residents have access to free medical care.

Beijing residents can obtain maternity insurance that is not available to some people without hukou.

Beijing residents age 60 and older do not pay to use the city's bus services.

(China Daily 05/25/2016 page6)
Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to prison in March 2015 (AFP Photo/Ben Stansall)

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed says he has been granted refugee status in Britain, after being toppled from power and jailed in a "slide towards authoritarianism" that has forced him into exile.

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment on controversial terrorism charges last year, but was allowed to travel to Britain in January for spinal cord surgery after he fell ill.

The island nation has been rocked by political turmoil in recent years, seriously denting its reputation as an upmarket tourist destination as current leader Abdulla Yameen rules with an iron fist.

"President Yameen has jailed every opposition leader and cracked down on anyone who dares to oppose or criticise him," Nasheed, 49, said in a statement Monday proclaiming his refugee status.

"In the past year, freedom of the press, expression and assembly have all been lost.

"Given the slide towards authoritarianism in the Maldives, myself and other opposition politicians feel we have no choice but to work from exile -- for now."

The Maldives government reacted swiftly, accusing Nasheed -- whose legal team includes the high-profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney -- of trying to avoid serving his prison sentence.

"The government of the Maldives is disappointed, if confirmed, that the UK government is allowing itself to be part of this charade, and further, is enabling an individual to circumvent his obligations under the law," it said in a statement.

Last month, President Yameen stripped Nasheed of his pension and medical insurance benefits granted by the constitution to former leaders.

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said he would continue as their leader and his new status could help focus international attention on the plight of dissidents in the nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims.

"He will continue to be the leader of the party and give leadership to our work from abroad," MDP youth wing leader Shauna Aminath told AFP by telephone.

Story continues

Nasheed secured asylum in Britain in 2004 after a crackdown on dissidents by the-then president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of the current incumbent Yameen.

- Red carpet -

He returned to the Maldives in April 2005 and won the atoll nation's first democratic presidential elections three years later, toppling Gayoom who had been in power for 30 straight years.

Britain's interior ministry declined to confirm the former president's status when contacted by AFP, saying it did not comment on individual cases.

Nasheed was accorded a red carpet welcome and received by Prime Minister David Cameron after arriving in Britain for medical treatment in a deal brokered by the former colonial power along with Sri Lanka and India.

The United Nations has led international criticism of the treatment of Nasheed, who served for four years before he was ousted in what he called a coup backed by the military and police in February 2012.

In 2015 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges relating to the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge in 2012, when he was still in power.

The Maldives, best known as an idyllic destination for honeymooners, has instead been in the headlines with a succession of political dramas.

In November, the Maldives parliament approved a state of emergency for 30 days, but lifted the tough laws within a week after saying it had made progress in an investigation into a blast aboard Yameen's speed boat that wounded his wife and two others on September 28.

Yameen's trusted deputy Abdulla Adeeb was later arrested in connection with the blast and remains in custody charged with attempting to assassinate him.

Adeeb's arrest, which followed his impeachment, was the second sacking of a vice president in just under four months.

Yameen dismissed former vice president Mohamed Jameel after he accused him of trying to topple the government.

And, in April, Maldives police briefly arrested 16 independent journalists while breaking up a demonstration against an alleged crackdown on freedom of speech.
US Ambassador to Morocco Dwight Bush, pictured on February 25, 2015, was summoned by the kingdom over a State Department human rights report (AFP Photo/Fadel Senna) (AFP/File)

Rabat (AFP) - Morocco's foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador on Wednesday to express anger over a "scandalous" State Department report on human rights in the North African kingdom.

The ministry said in a statement it protested to the ambassador, Dwight Bush, over "manipulation and flagrant factual errors" in the report released on April 13.

It questioned "the true aims and motivation" behind the critical report.

"Morocco is a state of institutions and has national structures whose credibility and seriousness are widely acknowledged," the ministry said.

"Serious allegations such as those contained in the State Department report give the impression that these institutions do not fulfil their duties."

It said Morocco was "ready to go all the way to confront" the charges in the report, point by point, before the relevant US authorities.

On Tuesday, the interior ministry branded the report "scandalous" and said Rabat had already in past years complained to Washington over the "biased character" of the annual State Department country reports on human rights.

In the latest report, the State Department highlights alleged "corruption and widespread disregard for the rule of law by security forces" in Morocco.

"The government abridged civil liberties by infringing on freedom of speech and press, including by harassing and arresting of print and Internet journalists," it charged.

The report also pointed to "few examples and no high-profile reports of investigations or prosecutions of abuse or corruption by officials".
Opponents of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protest outside the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) in Caracas (AFP Photo/Juan Barreto)

Caracas (AFP) - Protesters seeking to oust Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro staged fresh street rallies but drew scant turnout, a setback the divided opposition blamed on repressive tactics and a spiraling economic crisis.

Some 500 Maduro opponents gathered in eastern Caracas, waving the red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flag and banners denouncing the daily woes a crippling recession has wrought on the country: shortages of food and medicine, power cuts and violent crime.

But the numbers remained relatively small, especially given that nearly seven in 10 Venezuelans say they want the leftist president to go.

The rally's leader, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, said many Venezuelans could not protest because "most of them are right now queuing for food and medicine."

Other protesters blamed fears of government repression a week after demonstrators braved tear gas during a march against Maduro and the state of emergency he has imposed.

Those disturbances raised fears of deeper unrest in Venezuela, where anti-government rallies in 2014 led to riots that killed 43 people.

"I am marching in fear, but I am marching," said one demonstrator, Daniela Huizi, referring to the threat of government repression.

"If it were not for the strength of arms, they would have nothing."

But experts also pointed to problems and mistakes in the opposition's court.

The low turnout partly reflected divisions between Capriles and other, more radical leaders in the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), a shaky center-right coalition held together mainly by shared hatred of Maduro, political analyst Benigno Alarcon of Andres Bello Catholic University said.

"Capriles kind of did this on his own, to the chagrin of other parties," he said.

- Too heavy on politics -

Fellow analyst Nicmer Evans said the opposition's game plan of pressuring the electoral authorities to organize a referendum on removing Maduro from office focuses too heavily on politics and not enough on the daily problems facing ordinary Venezuelans.

Story continues

"People don't feel like these protests represent them," he said. "They want solutions to social problems, not political ones."

The opposition has presented the electoral authorities with the first of two petitions it must file to trigger a recall referendum.

It is now waiting for the signatures to be counted. The National Electoral Board (CNE) has said it will do so by June 2, but the MUD accuses it of dragging its feet.

Although Maduro is deeply unpopular, time is on his side. If the recall referendum is delayed until next year, he could forestall new elections by simply handing power to his allies.

The protesters gathered near a court that recently barred demonstrations outside the CNE's offices.

Protests were also called in 19 other cities, for which opposition leaders said they did not have turnout figures.

A further protest was planned for Thursday near the CNE headquarters in defiance of the court ban, the opposition said on its website.

Students and professors also called protests for Thursday over severe budget shortfalls at public universities.

- Running out of options -

The opposition is trying to resort to the power of the street after the Supreme Court blocked its efforts to pressure Maduro through the legislature, where it won control in a landslide election victory in December.

The president is said to control the high court and other key state institutions, and so far maintains the public support of the army's top brass -- despite Capriles's call for the military to back a recall vote.

In a gesture of defiance to his opponents and the United States, Maduro flexed his muscles last weekend with a series of military exercises.

He blames the crisis on an "economic war" against him by Venezuelan elites with Washington's backing.

Although Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, the fall in crude prices has slashed its revenues.

Venezuelans must wait in line for hours at shops for rations of basic foods and goods such as flour and toilet paper.

The government is also imposing daily electricity blackouts to save energy.

Looting and lynchings of suspected robbers have been reported over recent weeks.
DOHA, May 25 (Reuters) - Top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Qatar expects exports from its Golden Pass joint venture in Texas to begin in 2021, an advisor to the government said on Wednesday.

Staterun Qatar Petroleum (QP) owns a 70 percent stake in an LNG receiving terminal in Texas that is backed by Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.

With prices down and competition increasing, Qatar is looking to diversify its energy business.

Golden Pass is seeking U.S. government approval to repurpose the facility so that it can export 15.6 million tons of U.S. gas per year.

"We already got the licence...If everything goes right by 2020-2021, we will export the first cargo from Golden Pass," Abdullah al-Attiyah, a former Qatari oil minister who advises the government on energy issues, told reporters at a media briefing in Doha attended by a QP board member.

Qatar shipped 76.4 million tonnes of LNG in 2014, or 32 percent of global supply, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers.

But the tiny Gulf state faces rising competition as new projects in the United States and Australia are expected to come online in the next few years.

Attiyah said the Texas venture would make Qatar a more flexible exporter by allowing it to supply its existing customers in Europe with gas from the United States.

"We will become more dynamic in the energy market," he said.

The country's finance minister said last year that Qatar planned to invest more than $35 billion in the United States over five years in sectors including technology, energy and real estate.

(Reporting by Tom Finn; editing by Andrew Torchia and Jason Neely)
* Issue launched at high yield and limited volume

* No sign of buying by major foreign institutions

* Secondary market trading unusually thin

* Russia accuses West of leaning on banks to abstain (adds comment on liquidity, quote from hedge fund that bought the issue)

By Darya Korsunskaya and Sujata Rao

MOSCOW/LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday hailed its Eurobond issue as a triumph over Western obstruction, but there was no sign that big foreign investors had bought the bond and, unusually for a large issue, there was scant trading in the paper once it was placed.

Russia had sold $1.75 billion in 10-year Eurobonds on Tuesday, smaller than its previous placements, after Western officials warned international banks and investors against taking part. The yield of 4.75 percent was some 50-70 basis points above equivalent secondary market yields.

Russia nevertheless put a positive spin on the issue, the first since Western sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2014 in retaliation for its actions in Ukraine. The bond accounts for just over half of Russia's $3 billion foreign borrowing target for the year.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that foreign investors had been given priority and had bought $1.2 billion of the bonds, with the remainder acquired by Russian non-state banks. State-owned banks were excluded.

Andrey Solovyov, global head of debt capital markets at placement organiser VTB Capital, told Reuters the foreign buyers were "high-quality investors, who very often buy Russian sovereigns".

He said they consisted mainly of investment funds and private banks. British investors had bought a third of the issue, he said, with the next largest geographical shares from continental Europe and Asia.

However, market participants said there had been hardly any trading on the secondary market, where it is more usual for up to 25 percent of a large issue to change hands on the first day.

If demand has been strong, buyers who missed out try to get hold of the paper immediately after the placement, and some who did buy sell it on for a quick profit.

Story continues

"Secondary trading has been minimal ... I have yet to trade," said a trader at a Western bank.

SCEPTICISM

Some analysts and investors were sceptical that genuine foreign participation was as large as the Russian figures indicated, as some of the foreign investors may in fact have been Russians investing from abroad.

"I doubt there were significant - beyond a few hundred million dollars - pure Western investors," said Timothy Ash, head of emerging market strategy at Nomura.

"Even Asian participation seems to have been muted, again perhaps reflecting the complicated technicalities and compliance issues related to this deal."

Solovyov acknowledged that investors had needed time to get used to the technicalities of the issue, which unusually was not being handled by either Clearstream or Euroclear, the two largest international settlement banks, adding:

"There were some geopolitical issues as well, so probably it would not have been a good idea to offer all $3 billion at this yield."

Solovyov said the issue might be topped up later, on better terms for the issuer, but Siluanov said there were no plans for a top-up.

Many potential investors contacted by Reuters said they had been deterred by liquidity concerns, given doubts about whether brokers, clearing houses and custodians would handle the bonds.

"All these restrictions would impact the liquidity around the bonds and, in our view, this particular risk, that of liquidity, outweighed the attractive valuations," said Marcelo Assalin, head of emerging debt at NN Investment partners.

He said these issues outweighed direct concerns about sanctions or the bonds' legality. Liquidity was also a factor taken into account for index inclusion, fund managers said.

Kieran Curtis, investment director for emerging market fixed income at Standard Life Investments, said he did not know of any foreign investors who had bought the bonds.

"It might just be that (the foreign buyers) are a quiet bunch, but also there's a lot of Russian money outside Russia," he said. "So if you wanted to say you had sold this overseas, could you class that as overseas investment?"

"It's difficult to say this was a resounding success - Russia has borrowed less than it hoped for."

However, some like Pavel Mamai, portfolio manager at UK hedge fund Promeritum Investment Management, decided to buy.

"We went into the issue with a two-fold logic - first, we do have the ability to settle locally," said Mamai. "Second, we think the bond will start getting settled through Euroclear, and then there will be decent upside."

"TELEPHONE LAW"

The issue was much smaller than Russia's previous Eurobond issues in 2012 and 2013, each of which raised $7 billion.

Traders said it had traded on the secondary market on Wednesday at a yield of 4.56 percent.

This was much higher than Russia's 2023 sovereign bond issued in 2013, trading at a bid/ask yield of 3.92/3.86 percent.

Despite putting a positive spin on the issue, Russia was clearly frustrated that many foreign buyers had stayed away.

Russia's VTB Capital was the sole organiser of the placement, and Siluanov said Russia planned to bypass foreign banks for future launches, following what he called "absurd" pressure on Western organisations.

He bemoaned what he called "telephone law" - the practice, more normally associated with Russia, in which government officials apply informal pressure by making their wishes known over the telephone.

"Our papers (bonds) aren't under any sanctions, but all the same there has lately been active use of this kind of telephone law in recommendations to investors," he said.

"You can't talk about free movement of capital ... if you don't let your companies and banks earn money. It's absurd."

Siluanov said Russia was continuing to negotiate with Euroclear and other settlement organisations.

"We hope that we will find a solution and will find ways to refrain from attracting international banks in future for issuing our bonds, and use our own issuance infrastructure, both on the internal and external markets," he said.

(Additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva, Lidia Kelly, Claire Milhench; writing by Jason Bush; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - The 4.75 percent yield on Russia's latest Eurobond is "acceptable" in current market conditions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Siluanov also said that foreign investors had come under behind-the-scenes pressure not to participate in the issue and that Russia would find ways in future to bypass foreign banks for such issues.

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Jason Bush; Editing by Alexander Winning)
Salin Bank's New Ag Lending Team: (left to right) Jon Marley, Community President; Matt Wright, Vice President Agricultural Banker; Migual Patterson, VP, Commercial and Agribusiness Banker; and Mary Ann Waterman, Commercial Agricultural Underwriting Officer.Click here for high-resolution version

INDIANAPOLIS, IN--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - An Indiana bank supporting Indiana farmers, Salin Bank has reorganized and expanded its Agricultural Lending Department to better serve this important market. "Agriculture is the backbone of Indiana's past, as well as its future," James P. Alender, President and CEO for Salin Bank states. "We take great pride in supporting local farmers, getting to know them on a first-name basis and understanding their ambitions."

The specialized Ag Lending team includes the following Salin Bank experts:

Jon Marley, Community President for Kokomo, will continue to support farmers and their lending needs. Marley has served for nearly two years as community president for Salin Bank. A graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics, Marley has extensive experience in the agricultural field. Prior to joining Salin Bank, he spent three years at another Indiana bank where he specialized in agricultural lending. Before that, Marley accumulated 25 years of experience in production agriculture, researching and evaluating innovative production techniques; 15 years as a sales representative for Pioneer products; and has experience in the field of federal crop insurance.

Matt Wright, Vice President and Agricultural Lender, returns to Salin Bank after a year as Store manager at Rodkey New Holland. Wright is a graduate of Distinction from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Systems Management and a minor in Food and Agribusiness Management.

"Having started working on my family farm in New Castle, Indiana when I was eight years old -- and continuing to do so today," Wright says, "agriculture is in my blood. This hands-on experience is the cornerstone of Salin Bank's strong personal relationships with our agricultural clients."

Prior to rejoining Salin Bank, Wright served in several positions at Smith Implements, Greenfield, Indiana. Among his roles was AMS Sales Consultant, responsible for the sales and marketing efforts of John Deere Ag Management Solutions products. He was also a Financial Services Officer for 7 yrs with Farm Credit Mid America. Wright is active in Ducks Unlimited as a District Coordinator, the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. He is also with Tippecanoe 4-H as the Sport Fishing Club Leader.

Story continues

Migual Patterson, Vice President and Agricultural Lender, is new to the Salin agricultural team.

"So many farmers have been taken advantage of by other banks," Migual Patterson says. "I take great pride in supporting local farmers with a variety of agricultural lending programs and services that are designed to meet every stage of a farming operation's lifecycle."

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Finance from Purdue University and an MBA in Finance from Purdue, Patterson has served as Vice President of Commercial Banking, Consumer and Agribusiness Group, at BMO Harris

Bank. Before that, he worked as Relationship Manager for First Merchants Bank in Anderson, Indiana. Among his duties, Patterson was responsible for generating agricultural loans of $500,000 or more. He started his agriculture career with Teays River Investments, an Indiana-based agriculture private equity firm.

Mary Ann Waterman has joined the team as Commercial Agricultural Underwriter. Farming is second nature to Waterman. As a child, she grew up on a grain/cattle farm in rural Anderson, Indiana, and participated in 4-H for 10 years. Today, she continues the tradition of farming in her personal life. She and her husband reside in the rural community of Anderson on a small farm on which they raise cattle.

Waterman's Ag credit and underwriting experience includes three years as a loan processor for a mortgage broker: eight years in Mortgage Loan Processing and Underwriting with various lenders; and two years with National City in Portfolio Management, followed by six years in Agricultural Underwriting at PNC Bank.

A graduate of Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business -- Office Systems Administration, Waterman received her MBA from Western Governor's University in 2015 in Strategy and Management.

About Salin Bank and Trust Company

Salin Bank & Trust Company is a family-owned Indiana community bank with assets of more than $780 million. Salin Bank operates 20 banking locations in 10 Indiana counties serving Columbus, Delphi, Edinburgh, Fishers, Flora, Fort Wayne, Galveston, Gas City, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, Logansport, Marion and West Lafayette.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/25/11G099998/Images/Salin_Bank_s_New_Ag_Team-d43b12a236b9b16186689b1e08d3a08d.jpg


Taiwan and the EU were also weak spots.

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports declined at a faster pace in the first quarter on back of persistently weak demand from key trading partners. Statistics from IE Singapore showed that overall NODX contracted by 9% year-on-year in Q1, following the previous quarter's decrease of 3.5%.

Both electronic and non-electronic exports declined during the quarter. While shipments to Hong Kong and Japan expanded on a year-on-year basis, NODX to all the rest of the top markets decreased during the period. The biggest contributors to the contraction were China, Taiwan and the European Union, IE Singapore said.

Meanwhile, total trade dropped by 9.7% in the first quarter, followign the 7.7% decrease in the previous quarter.







More From Singapore Business Review


BANGKOK, May 25 (Reuters) - Thailand wants to negotiate a better return from its petroleum concessions held by Chevron Corp and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production , the Energy Minister said on Wednesday.

Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat said energy policy makers would meet on Monday to discuss increasing the government's share of the revenue in return for extending the contracts, which are due to expire in 2022-2023.

If they fail to reach new deals, another option would be to put the concessions up for auction, Anantaporn told reporters at a seminar, adding that the plan was subject to cabinet approval.

The ministry would only negotiate with the oil companies after getting cabinet approval.

The two contracts account for about 65 percent of Thailand's petroleum output. Under the existing deals, the government receives taxes and royalties equivalent to about 67 percent of pretax profits from production.

Thailand relies natural gas to generate nearly 70 percent of its power and is under pressure to secure long-term energy supplies as its own resources are expected to run out in six to seven years.

About a fifth of its supplies are piped in from neighbouring Myanmar but imports are likely to fall as the country is expected to use more of its natural gas for its own development.

Thailand is also considering raising its long-term target for renewable energy if production costs continue to fall as part of its drive to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the energy minister said.

New technologies have helped cut average production costs for renewables by 30 percent a year in the past seven years to 30 million baht ($840,000) per megawatt, he said, adding they were likely to fall another 20 percent over the next five years.

The military government wants to boost renewable energy to more than 19,000 megawatts, or 30 percent of its total energy production mix, by 2036, the minister said, citing the latest power development plan.

As of April, Thailand had signed contracts with power producers to buy 9,041 MW of renewable energy, mostly biomass and solar, and about two-thirds had already been linked to the national grid, he said.

($1 = 35.6600 baht) (Reporting by Manunphattr Dhanananphorn and Khettiya Jittapong; editing by David Clarke)
Bison meat is losing its reputation as an exotic beef alternative. After becoming nearly extinct in the early 1900s, Americas first national mammal has made a big comeback, thanks in part to the rediscovery of its lean and tasty meat.

Extremely nutrient dense, bison meat has become more popular in restaurants, grocery stores and butcher shops. But if youre looking to purchase the meat, prepare to dig a little deeper into your pocket. At Whole Foods, ground bison costs $9.99 a pound, compared to $7.49 for 85% lean ground beef.

Since the White House named the bison the national mammal on May 9, theres been speculation as to whether or not it will impact the price of the meat. Scott Shellady, a commodities trader for TJM Investments, told Yahoo Finances Seana Smith that he doesnt expect an increase in demand for bison meat to have a huge impact on its price. Instead, he says it could affect the cost of beef.

If you look at cattle (FCK16.CME) prices, its been a volatile year. Were heading toward the lows of the year, so [if bison grows in popularity] it wouldnt be good on top of an already difficult situation, said Shellady.

And in terms of bison being traded as a commodity similar to cattle, Shellady doesnt see it happening any time soon, saying, I think were a long way off in terms of seeing something traded on an exchange as far as bison or buffalo goes.

Despite being relatively new to the market, sales of bison meat in restaurants and retail stores top $340 million a year. And according to the National Bison Association, prices that ranchers receive have been pegged at all-time highs.

More from Yahoo Finance

The almost extinct bison is making a huge and tasty comeback
Donald Trump

Donald Trump referred to protesters outside his rally in New Mexico as "thugs" and "criminals" Wednesday, after demonstrations turned violent on Tuesday night.

"The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. "The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!"

The protests outside the Albuquerque Convention Center on Tuesday night became violent as demonstrators threw burning "Make America Great Again" T-shirts at police officers and overturned barricades, the Associated Press reported.

They held up banners that read "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Protesters reportedly entered the convention center, and the AP reported that Trump was repeatedly interrupted by shouting and scuffles, with security officers trying to remove offenders. Thousands of Trump supporters attended the rally, according to the AP.

Trump mocked protesters by telling them to "Go home to mommy." At one point he asked, "How old is this kid?" He responded to his own question by saying "Still wearing diapers."

Police in riot gear attempted to tame the protests:

Donald Trump

Here, a protester holds a burning T-shirt:

Donald Trump protest

And here are protesters clashing with security officers inside the convention center:

Donald Trump protest

Donald Trump protest

Story continues

Trump has repeatedly promised to build a wall along the US border with Mexico to keep out undocumented immigrants. New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any state in the US.

NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: Why Hillary Clinton is a 'dangerous person'





More From Business Insider


SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - Twilio, the cloud communications platform for developers, today announced that Crisis Text Line, the nation's first and only national, 24/7 crisis-intervention service, is using Twilio SMS to power its service. Crisis Text Line conducts its conversations exclusively by text messages, enabling people in crisis situations to text a phone number and immediately connect with a counselor who is trained to help. The nonprofit, which exchanges over 1.5 million messages per month, now leverages Twilio Programmable SMS to power these conversations. The partnership was announced on stage today at SIGNAL, the developer conference for communications in San Francisco. To learn more, visit www.twilio.org and www.crisistextline.org.

Since its launch in 2013, Crisis Text Line has exchanged more than 17.5 million text messages with people in crisis. The privacy of text messaging has helped the service address those struggling with addiction, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, sexual abuse and other crises. Their data website, Crisistrends.org, is the nation's largest catalog of crisis data. This anonymized dataset has been made available for journalists, researchers, and citizens so that they can understand the crises Americans face and can work together to prevent future crises from happening.

"There is a sense of urgency that comes with every crisis," said Nancy Lublin, CEO and Founder of Crisis Text Line. "When time is limited and emotions are high, text messaging provides those in crisis a safe and private medium to reach out for help. With Twilio, we can easily extend our services, grow our platform and continue to provide hope to even more people."

Twilio.org offers qualified nonprofits $500 in kickstart credits and a 25% lifetime discount on Twilio's communication platform. Twilio.org was started in 2013 to equip nonprofits with communications to advance their missions, and currently partners with over 700 nonprofits including the American Red Cross, the Polaris Project and Doctors without Borders. In 2015, Twilio committed 1% of the company's equity to fund Twilio.org over the next decade.

"At Twilio.org, we believe communication empowers people," said Erin Reilly, Executive Director of Twilio.org. "Crisis Text Line is creating conversations that give people hope, and I'm pleased that Twilio can help extend its reach and provide reliability when it matters most."

About Twilio

Twilio's mission is to fuel the future of communications. Developers and businesses use Twilio to make communications relevant and contextual by embedding messaging, voice and video capabilities directly into their software applications. Founded in 2008, Twilio is privately held and has over 500 employees, with headquarters in San Francisco and other offices in Bogota, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Mountain View, Munich, New York City, Singapore, and Tallinn.

About Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support for people in crisis via text. For more, visit www.crisistextline.org
By Daniel Wiessner and Dan Levine

REUTERS - The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers trumpeted an agreement reached earlier this month to represent New York Uber drivers, saying it "gives organized labor an opportunity to shape the new economy in a way that supports and values workers and their families."

But not everyone in the U.S. labor movement is cheering.

The deal falls short of actual union representation, and it has revealed sharp divisions among labor advocates about how to address a central reality of the so-called gig economy: The classification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

Under the terms of its agreement with Uber Technologies Inc, the Machinists will form an Independent Drivers Guild that will be able to intervene with the company on behalf of wrongly terminated drivers and negotiate for benefits, such as disability insurance and roadside assistance.

The Machinists also agreed to refrain for five years from organizing strikes or unionizing drivers and said they would not push regulators to change the status of drivers from contractors to employees.

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, decried the deal as a "historic betrayal" of drivers because it gives up their most important tools to achieve economic power.

She said her organization had been in talks with the Machinists about collaborating on a driver unionization campaign before the agreement with Uber. The Machinists had successfully organized car service drivers in the past, and Desai said her group believed a similar path would work with Uber drivers.

Jim Conigliaro Jr, general counsel for Machinists Union District 15, said the agreement can help Uber drivers earn more money and work under better conditions in the short term. Longer term, if the National Labor Relations Board were to rule that drivers should be classified as employees, then a unionization drive would be possible.

Story continues

"To us this deal is the best of both worlds," Conigliaro said.

THE CHANGING NATURE OF LABOR

Rideshare companies say contracting, rather than employing, workers keeps costs down and provides the flexibility drivers say they want.

But contract workers are not entitled to the same legal protections employees enjoy, including minimum wage guarantees and overtime pay.

Organized labor has struggled with how to react with the new realities of the rapidly growing part of the economy dominated by gig, or temporary and contract, workers. Some union officials have argued it's crucial to engage in new ways with the changing nature of labor, while others have doubled down on traditional organizing.

"We desperately need risk-taking innovation in search of the next model," said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) vice president David Rolf.

Traditional collective bargaining does not work with on-demand tech companies, but new models, such as the Uber deal, can introduce worker organizing, he said.

Last month, the SEIU drew flack from another union, Unite Here, for negotiating with internet-based home rental company Airbnb Inc to encourage its hosts to hire union-approved house cleaners who would make at least $15 an hour.

The deal was abandoned after Unite Here, which represents hotel workers, attacked the arrangement as "cheap cover" for Airbnb.

"We are appalled by reports that SEIU is partnering with Airbnb," Unite Here spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel said at the time. She accused the rental service of "driving up housing costs and killing good hotel jobs in urban markets across North America."

Seth Harris, a Washington D.C. lawyer who was deputy U.S. labor secretary from 2009 to 2013, said both unions and companies like Uber are formulating strategies for the new labor market in the face of outmoded labor and antitrust laws that restrict their options.

"Both sides are hemmed in, so they have found a way to navigate the narrow path those laws have carved for them," Harris said.

The Machinists are not the only union to engage with Uber drivers. Earlier this year, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers launched a campaign to represent 600 of the company's drivers at New York City's LaGuardia Airport. The union, which like the Machinists is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, backed off after the Machinists launched their drive.

Last month, Uber agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by California and Massachusetts drivers for up to $100 million. Drivers would remain independent contractors under the deal, but Uber said it would help establish an association for them to communicate with the company.

The next day the Teamsters, in conjunction with worker rights group Silicon Valley Rising, announced it would launch a driver association in California. Kara Deniz, a spokeswoman for the International Teamsters, said it is difficult to predict what kind of organization will ultimately be formed.

"As a union whatever we do will be based on discussions with the drivers and their wishes," Deniz said.

The Machinists' deal could make it difficult for other labor groups to take a harder line with Uber, unless drivers are united and clear in their demands, said Catherine Fisk, a labor law professor at the University of California Irvine.

"In the end what any worker organization can get is a function of the solidarity of the workers," she said.

In Seattle, Uber and Lyft drivers worked with the Teamsters to lobby officials for an ordinance allowing them to bargain collectively. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit to block it, which is pending.

Fasil Teka, an Uber driver who helped found the App Based Driver Association in Seattle, said collective bargaining - and the ability to strike - was his main reason for organizing.

Otherwise, he said, "there would be no point in having a union."

The one thing all sides agree on is that the struggle over how to organize labor in the new economy is just beginning, and for some observers, that's not a terrible thing.

"Unions are in a state of crisis and are desperately trying to figure out a model to stay relevant," said Phil Wilson, president of the Labor Relations Institute Inc, which casts itself as "the preeminent firm in countering union organizing campaigns."

(Reporting by Dan Wiessner in Albany, New York and Dan Levine in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by Sue Horton and Lisa Girion)
Kampala (AFP) - Uganda has sent an official complaint to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo after four police officers were shot dead on a lake between the neighbours, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The Ugandan police officers were in a patrol boat investigating reports of illegal fishing on Lake Albert on Saturday when gunmen opened fire. Uganda has blamed DR Congo troops for the killing.

"The four police officers were on official duty on Lake Albert within the territorial sphere of Uganda," Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem said. "They were killed in line of duty and their bodies were taken by the DRC authorities."

DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP there had been "exchanges of fire" between the "forces of two friendly countries" and that they regretted the incident.

He said that a joint investigation commission had been established to determine exactly what had happened.

Tensions have risen between security forces along the lake in recent years, with each side detaining soldiers and police from the other.

"The government has requested that a meeting of security chiefs of both states be held urgently," Oryem said.

"We have made it clear, in future these incidents may compel Uganda to take self-defence measures including hot pursuit of those responsible."
Ban Ki-moon will step down from the post of UN Secretary General at the end of the year (AFP Photo/Ozan Kose) (AFP/File)

Visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday left open the possibility of running for the South Korean presidency after his term with the world body ends.

Ban arrived in his home country earlier Wednesday for a six-day visit that has fuelled speculation he is considering a tilt at its top job.

"On January 1 next year, I will be back as a South Korean," the national news agency Yonhap quoted Ban as telling journalists in the southern island of Jeju.

"I will contemplate and decide then what I should do as a South Korean citizen and I may ask for your advice if necessary."

Yonhap said the remarks were the clearest indication yet that Ban was actively considering a presidential bid, although he stressed that he wanted to focus on his current job until his term ends at the end of this year.

Ban's schedule involves a number of international gatherings, including a peace forum in Jeju.

While he is not expected to hold any formal talks with political officials during his trip, his future has been the main topic of media coverage in the run-up to his arrival.

The soft-spoken 71-year-old will step down as UN chief a year before South Korea's presidential election in December 2017.

The ruling conservative Saenuri party, which suffered a shock defeat in parliamentary polls in April, has made it clear it would welcome Ban as its candidate.

Ban enjoys high popularity ratings in South Korea, where his position is a source of substantial national pride.

Speculation over his political ambitions has been making the rounds for years but Ban has studiously declined substantive comment.

Saenuri party officials have been less circumspect.

"The UN Secretary General is the world's president, and Ban is so experienced and well-connected with all the world's leaders after serving in the top UN job for 10 years," Saenuri Party lawmaker Ahn Hong-Joon said in a radio interview Wednesday.

"Now it's time for South Korea to put him to good use."

Story continues

Not everyone is similarly enamoured with the prospect of a Ban presidency. Some critics suggest his connections would throw up conflicts of interest.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon, seen as a possible liberal candidate in 2017, said Ban should recuse himself from politics for several years after leaving the UN.

"A UN chief can access a slew of confidential information about many countries and I think one can unfairly take advantage of the information when serving a particular country," Park said in a radio interview Wednesday.

A career diplomat, Ban never joined any South Korean political party, although he served as foreign minister under the late liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun from 2004 to 2006.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  May 24, 2016  Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Alt-Energy, part 2, including NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), Sempra Energy (SRE), Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), SunPower Corp. (SPWR) and First Solar Inc. ( FSLR).

Industry: Alt-Energy, part 2

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/81419/are-go-green-plans-brightening-alt-energy-stocks

The extension of key renewable tax credits, reduced solar photovoltaic (PV) capital costs, and low natural gas prices along with state-level renewable mandates will be driving the alternative energy growth trajectory.

After months of suffering from collapsing oil prices, green energy companies suddenly seem to be on firmer footing now. The historic Paris climate change summit gave the renewables sector a shot in the arm last year, while Congress vote to extend federal subsidies for renewable energy has also perked up the space.



Solar and wind energy got a major boost from the environmental tax credit extension that came as part of the $1.15 trillion federal spending bill, which also lifted a 40-year ban on exporting American crude oil. The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) also shows that renewable energy will be the fastest growing power source through 2040, accounting for 27% of total U.S. generation.



Solar and wind are gradually transforming the way we produce and consume energy, driving the ongoing global energy transition. Although some better-established sources of alternative energy  hydro, wind, biomass and waste, not to mention solar photovoltaics (PV)  are supported extensively, niche renewable energy sources such as geothermal and concentrated solar power (CSP) are also on the rise, natural conditions permitting.

Moreover, declining capital costs for technologies are improving their competitiveness. As per Solar Energy Industries Associations (SEIA), national solar PV system pricing fell up to 17% over the course of 2015.

Story continues



Here we take a look at the alternative energy space and attempt to identify this nascent industry's growing strengths.



A Greener White House: "Clean energy" has long been the focus of the current administration. President Obamas "Climate Change Action Plan" and the favorable green energy trends have already done a lot in pushing the sector northward.



On Dec 15, 2015, Congress passed an extension and modification of federal tax credits for new wind and solar generators. The new environmental tax credit extension allows solar power companies to keep claiming federal Investment Tax Credits ("ITC") at 30% of the price of solar energy systems installed by businesses or homeowners. The ITC, which was earlier set to expire at the end of 2016, was forcing developers to rush to finish projects. Now they look good through 2019 with the five-year extension. However, the credit will start to decline, going down to 10% in 2022.



The wind sector also benefited significantly from the production tax credit (PTC) extension. The PTC, which had expired at 2014 end due to Congressional gridlock, was extended through 2020. However, the PTC that pays 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated will be gradually reduced over the next four years before being completely phased out.



In addition, the Obama administrations efforts to restrict carbon emissions are a net positive for renewable energy stocks. On Aug 3, 2015, the White House revealed the final version of its ambitious climate policy. This Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program seeks to cut CO2 emissions from the nation's power plants.

The administration has vowed for CO2 reduction of 28% by 2025 and 32% by 2030, from 2005 levels. This version turns out to be a little stronger than the draft proposal released last summer, wherein the EPA had proposed total CO2 reduction of 29% by 2025 and 30% by 2030.



The plan sets carbon pollution reduction goals for power plants and requires states to implement plans to meet these goals. States have until Sep 2016 to submit plans, but all must comply by 2022. Coal generates about 40% of U.S. electricity and coal plants are the largest source of carbon emissions in the country. Increasing regulatory mandates to safeguard the environment will be a catalyst for renewable stocks.



The proposed rule has influenced utility providers like NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), Sempra Energy (SRE) and Duke Energy Corp. ( DUK) to gradually shift their mode of power generation to solar, wind and water.



The EIA projects that utility-scale solar capacity will expand by more than 13 GW between year-end 2015 and 2017 in the U.S., in tandem with considerable consumption growth in renewables for electricity and heat generation purpose. California, along with North Carolina and Nevada, will account for most of the projected utility-scale capacity additions over the said period.



Anti-Dumping Tariff and Trade Conflict: Washington imposed import duties on solar panels and other related products from China and Taiwan. The U.S. believes that Chinese manufacturers have benefited from unfair subsidies offered by their government. U.S. solar stocks like SunPower Corp. (SPWR) and First Solar Inc. ( FSLR) are expected to make the most of the trade conflict between the U.S. and China.



The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), in Dec 2014, set anti-dumping duties at about 52% on most module imports from China and at 19.5% on most imports of Taiwanese cells. It has also slapped 39% anti-subsidy tariffs on most China-made panels. The move is intended to close a gap in which Chinese companies could use solar cells made in Taiwan to avoid paying higher tariffs.



The Sun Is Everywhere: Solar power is generally located at a customer's site due to the universal availability of sunlight. As a result, solar power limits the expense and losses associated with transmission and distribution from large-scale electric plants to the end users. For most residential consumers seeking an environment-friendly power alternative, solar power is currently the only viable choice. Residential solar is undeniably gaining on utility-scale solar in the U.S. in a marked change in industry dynamics.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com/performance

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



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



NRG ENERGY INC (NRG): Free Stock Analysis Report



SEMPRA ENERGY (SRE): Free Stock Analysis Report



DUKE ENERGY CP (DUK): Free Stock Analysis Report



SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report



FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
2000 - 2022   24 .-   .       focus-news.net,                 () .                  24 .                 24      .       .       24 .
To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below.

Geneva, May 25 (CNA) It is unlikely that there will be bilateral talks between Taiwan and China on the sidelines of this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) following the departure of the head of the Chinese delegation from Geneva.
We value your privacy.

Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy.
Come and enjoy Read more [...]
Watch this clip to see the buffoon in actionThe judge is so very patient, and the prosecution has to be so careful not to give the buffoon some excuse to throw the case.I sure like the judge!Highball, you're right, she has absolutely no remorse for murdering her daughter. The defence would like us to believe that because her father sexually abused her as a child of 8 (absolutely untrue), she became a compulsive liar - yet miraculously has no other scars resulting from the experience. She told her brother that she withheld her daughter from her mother for 31 days because she is "a spiteful bitch". There was tension between Cindy the grandmother and Casey the mother regarding Caylee the granddaugther/daughter. Casey could have given her daughter to her mother and moved out, had her useless life and done whatever she wanted - anything except move home and expect her mother to look after her daughter while she did nothing but party.Since Casey wasn't working, but was pretending to work ... one wonders what she did all day with her daughter when she was away from the house - dragged her shopping? She certainly didn't belong to any mom and tot groups - since there were no children at her 2 year old birthday party. She's quite a monster. Looking at her facial expressions, she's got some really confrontational, hard looks. I can't imagine what a 2 year old must have been thinking looking at that mother. Caylee would have been able to talk about what she did during the day ... was Casey telling her what to say to her grandmother? It's such a bizarre case ... such dysfunctional people.This is going to look like a really long post ... but ...What might have happened? ... I'm always a sucker for the evidence and the prosecution theory. I think that Casey wanted to go on a date with TonE and didn't have a babysitter. I think she thought that maybe she could go to NY with TonE if she didn't have to look after her daughter. Casey put Chloroform on Caylee's face until she was dead, and then put her in the trunk of the car. After a few days, it started to smell in the car, so around the 24th she went home, backed the car into the garage and thought about burying her daughter. She asked the neighbor for a shovel, and then apparently had second thoughts. Instead, she got a couple of garbage bags and bagged her daughter after placing a couple of heart stickers on the duct tape on her mouth. She probably realized that if someone opened the trunk, a body in some garbage bags wouldn't look too good, so she got the Winnie the Pooh laundry bag, and put her daughter inside. She grabbed a blanket, and threw it all into the trunk. A couple of days later (don't have the dates clear in my head) maybe around the 27th, she's out of gas. Somewhere in there, she puts her daughter's body near her house in a place that she and a childhood friend called the "Pet Cemetery". I suppose Casey had her own private funeral for her daughter ... heart stickers, Winnie the Pooh blanket and into the swamp.
This is you on a 'good day' and they are few and far between. ES you have a 'red button' that is about a mile wide. HTF are you going to cope with changes in your demented age?
Who planted more than 480 million trees in Michigan from 1933 to 1942?

What group constructed 7,000 miles of truck trails, built more than 500 bridges, planted more than 150 million fish and spent 140,000 man-days fighting forest fires during the aforementioned time period?

If you guessed any group other than the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), you guessed wrong.

Never heard of the CCC?

You will if writer, documentary filmmaker and living history presenter William Jamerson has anything to do about it.

William Jamerson and the CCC

Starting in 1991, Jamerson began a mission to share the story of the corps after he discovered a roll of 8mm film depicting CCC enrollees harvesting trees at Chittendon Nursery and planting them at the Manistee National Forest, Jamerson writes in the foreword of his book, Big Shoulders.

Big Shoulders captures the experiences the protagonist, Nick Radzinski, had while in the CCC. The book is based on Jamersons interviews with former members of the CCC during their reunions.

Jamerson also presents Nicks stories and captures the essence of the CCC through song and storytelling presentations he makes throughout the country including at Weeping Water City Hall on May 16.

CCC part of New Deal

The CCC was a public work relief program introduced as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal. It provided unskilled manual labor jobs for men ages 18-23 to help them supplement their familys incomes during the Great Depression.

Over the nine years, the CCC enlisted more than 2.6 million enrollees nationally. These young men took part in resource conservation and building projects, fought forest fires, reforested parks, created truck trails, restored riverbanks and built fish hatcheries.

Each CCC enrollee earned $30 a month, Jamerson said. Twenty-five dollars was sent to their families leaving the balance of $5 for the worker.

Their income not only supported their families back home, but also provided much needed revenue to surrounding communities. The CCC did more than restore Americas wilderness; it transformed the lives of young men, many who never had a job before, Jamerson writes in his foreword.

In Weeping Water, Jamerson explained only single mothers were eligible for government relief. They would get powdered milk, cheese, flour, sugar and beans, he said. If families wanted meat, they followed the tracks in the snow of forlorn rabbits.

Many immigrants during the Great Depression were too proud to accept relief, because they fled their homelands to be free of governmental control.

This country was founded on the principles of self-reliance, Jamerson said. Some would rather starve than accept relief.

The CCC, however, offered men a way to earn money for their families and learn valuable work skills. The average CCC enrollee had six to seven dependents, so multiply 2.6 million by six and you get 15.6 million. Thats an estimate. We dont know how many people it kept from starving, Jamerson said.

In Big Shoulders, Nick enlists in the CCC after he is caught stealing a pair of shoes. His own were so worn they flapped when he walked even after he tried to tape and/or glue them together.

Although the beat cop in Nicks town considered him a good boy, Nick and others like him might have turned criminal if they stayed in the wretched conditions they had at home.

Weeping Water CCC camp

The CCC Museum has a reunion on the first Saturday every June. In 1992, I met a couple of dozen who told me, The CCC turned my life around and made me a man, Jamerson told his Weeping Water audience.

A CCC camp was located about 20 miles from Weeping Water. Its establishment was reported in the Weeping Water Republicans Aug. 29, 1935, issue.

Eighteen local men have been employed for the past few days in completing camp construction work, the article reads. As soon as the men are permanently located, sixteen locally experienced men will be regularly employed.

In M.E. Church Notes published in another issue of the Republican, it states that, As a special feature of the Thursday evening service, the CCC boys from the local camp have been invited and will furnish some special music for the service.

Although in many communities, the CCC boys were looked down upon, Weeping Water residents welcomed them.

Weeping Water will miss the boys of the CCC, who were transferred to another camp. They came to us as strangers, a few of them have entered into the activities of our town and have been welcomed into our homes, an article in the Republican states.

Jamerson and the newspaper reports explained the CCC boys in the Weeping Water area were involved in soil erosion services to local farmers. In Murdock, they planted locust trees to help combat soil erosion.

They would take a wind break out and put in a new one, he said.

The only expense on the local farmers part was cost of the materials, Jamerson said. Cs also spent a total of $5,000 a month in Weeping Water. That was a big help during the Great Depression. They kept this town alive, he said. They blessed the lives of hundreds and hundreds of farmers.

Benefits of being a CCC enrollee

There were many benefits to having a CCC camp in the area. Every camp had a doctor and infirmary. If a woman came with a sick child, they would not turn her away. They did many things for your community, Jamerson said.

In Hinckley, Minn., the Cs helped save a life when a young man lost his class ring in a water well and dove in to fetch it. It was not a good idea, but the CCCs saved his life, he said.

In Nebraska alone, they created 1,500 miles of road, build bridges and put in 1,400 miles of telephone poles. They brought electricity to rural Nebraska. We take it all for granted but this is how the Cs won over Nebraska, Jamerson said.

The CCCs worked under adverse conditions including fighting fires in the winter. A lot of these guys werent even shaven, he said. They were often bitten by black flies while working. Why did they put up with it? If you wanted to go home, they were told to just stick their thumbs out. They stayed because of love, love of family. They were putting food on the table for their brothers and sisters. If your brothers and sisters were starving, youd do anything to help them, Jamerson said.

The men also ate well in camp with three square meals a day consisting of ham and other meats, beans, freshly baked bread and desserts.

They got eight hours of sleep. When they hit the hay at 10 p.m., they were asleep, he said.

The Cs also had opportunities to better their education. Unemployed teachers taught classes. Eighteen to 20 percent of the Cs in Nebraska earned their eighth grade diplomas. These guys took these classes voluntarily. They also offered welding, engine repair, carpentry and other classes. It kept them busy at night, Jamerson said. They had good role models in the barracks leaders and educational advisers.

On Saturday nights, they would clean up and head for town. In Weeping Water they would walk to town where they had a bowling alley, movie theater and dance hall, he said.

The CCC gave these men a sense of pride. When youre broke, you dont feel good about yourself, Jamerson said. It gave them self worth.

Eventually, many of these men would join the military forces and provide skills learned in camp during World War II.

About 80 percent of them went into the military and worked their way up quickly, Jamerson said. Half of the Marines were Cs. They never got their dues. Hollywood never made a movie about the Cs. Theyve been forgotten. But their message is clear: You dont ever give up.

Jamerson said a woman summarized what the Cs were most important for. They gave us a lot of great husbands and dads, she told him.
This is the second year for an innovative learning program at Washington Elementary School.

Kindergarten teacher Dan Moran teaches a class of 24 children. Some of them are native English speakers and some are native Spanish speakers.

I developed this curriculum. I taught for six years in a dual language school in Omaha, so thats where my dual language experience comes from. I was recruited for this program. I wanted to be back in Fremont but without an opportunity like this, it wouldnt have happened, Moran said.

Moran grew up in Fremont and his parents reside here. He has spent time studying Spanish both in the United States and has traveled abroad four times to become proficient in the language.

But this program, this way of teaching, is different from the traditional ways of teaching language to children.

The usual way of teaching language to non-English students begins with native Spanish speakers in the class being taught by bi-lingual teachers where learning English is emphasized.

Native English speaking students often have had little contact with native Spanish speakers.

There is another way of teaching that is more deliberate than throwing them all together and hoping they will learn from each other.

On the week the class was observed, it was afternoon.

The students spoke in Spanish. All of them, both native Spanish speakers and native English speakers as well as Moran. That morning they had been all been speaking in English  all of them.

All subjects were taught in the language of the morning or afternoon session. All of the classes usually taught in kindergarten were being taught in the language of that session.

Reading, writing, science and social studies are taught in both languages. All materials are in both languages. There is a sign on the doorway that indicates which language is being spoken in the classroom.

The next week the sessions will be reversed with Spanish in the morning and English in the afternoons.

Since one half of the day is in Spanish, here they know the rules and where to go from day one because we say them in Spanish and English, Moran said.

English speakers have a day-to-day challenge. They have to learn to cope and solve problems in another language. This is invaluable. Anywhere in the state you can find good schools. An opportunity like this will prove invaluable to students both academically and socially, he said.

He speaks on sight words, those words you know by sight such as the and me, the prepositions and common nouns like mom and dad.

At the end of first grade, students are expected to be able to identify 150. In a dual language classroom, that number is doubled. One 150 in English and 150 in Spanish.

Its more academically rigorous, he said. They are writing sentences where, in English, the adjective goes before the noun and in Spanish, the adjective comes after.

Through this kind of rigor, comes opportunity, Moran said. We have doubled the number of transfer students from this year to the next and there is a waiting list. Parents from the Washington School district have requested their children be in this class.

There are also transfers from native English speakers outside the Washington School district.

Children are not expected to be academically proficient in both languages for a few years.

Morans class can read way over the 50 sight words expected by the end of the kindergarten year.

Its incredible how proficient they can become in a year. English language learners maintain and excel in their native language.

At Washington School, the first grade dual language person is in place and this program is guaranteed through fourth grade.

Omaha Public Schools dual language programs go through 12th grade. They are taking college level AP Physics in Spanish.

Think of the scholarships those kids receive, Moran said.

The Omaha School Board supports the goal to increase English language learners.

Colleges and universities see true bilingualism as a credible academic achievement. There are a lot of newer studies that show a bilingual education enhances learning and intellectual rigor, Moran said.

The children gather around a semi-circular table with Moran in a cut-out facing the children. The language is Spanish and the native English speakers around him chime in speaking Spanish as easily as the native Spanish speakers.

There is laughter which knows no language barriers.

Another group sits quietly on a mat, reading. Tables occupy three other groups of children. It is quiet and the children are engaged in their assignments.

There are words on a board in both Spanish and English and flash card are mixed up.

One word may be in English and the next in Spanish so that the students are kept on their toes.

By this time in the school year, the children are used to learning in both languages. Studies show that this kind of dual language learning will help them intellectually throughout their lives.

Diane Stevens, principal at Washington Elementary School wholeheartedly supports this program.

I think the main purpose for English Language Learners is to learn English faster and understand the content of what they are reading, she said. The ultimate goal is to retain high levels of achievement while becoming bi-literate. Just think of the choices the kids will have when they are older and what a gift it will be for them to have these skills.
St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Cedar Bluffs will be hosting vacation Bible school from June 6-10.

Online registration is underway at www.vbsmate.com/stmcb. Each family will receive a CD of the music as soon as registration is received.
The Nebraska Wing Civil Air Patrol was evaluated recently on the wings ability to locate overdue aircraft and missing people, conduct aerial and ground imaging for disaster relief and homeland security, and effectively communicate across the state.

The evaluation was conducted at the Fremont Municipal Airport and was conducted by a team from the U.S. Air Force.

Public Information Officer, Col. Darrell Nelson, Nebraska Wings Commander for the evaluation said the purpose of this drill is to assess and evaluate through a series of mission assignments.

For example, the evaluator team may tell us there is an overdue aircraft or there could be a situation where there are missing people, he said.

According to Nelson, the formal evaluations take place every two years.

The alternate years a smaller team comes in to check and see if we are continuing to do proper training but this is a formal evaluation, he said. This is pertinent for us to do this correctly.

Col. Steve Kuddes from Fremont said at the end of the day the local patrol group received a highly successful mark on their evaluation, which is the second from the highest mark available.

Kuddes said this was up from the last evaluation and they are extremely happy with the outcome.

We were able to accomplish what we wanted to, Kuddes said. The only downside was the people volunteered to be victims for the mass trauma exercise didnt show up for the evaluators and so we werent quite able to complete the first aid evaluation the way we wanted.

Kuddes said they completed the evaluation with more tasks than before, and got very valuable training and interaction with other agencies.

The rest of the summer we will be doing a lot of our own training, he said. With their being flood advisories for the next couple months we will be doing quite a bit of flying for some aerial photography.

Each evaluation, one local cadet and officer are honored.

This year, Kendrick Smith was selected by the air force evaluator as the most valuable cadet, and Kuddes was selected as the most outstanding officer.

With the talent we have and the leadership, its a very high honor.

Civil Air Patrol, the official support of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide.

Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to nearly 27,000 young people participating in the CAP cadet program.
During Wednesdays regular meeting of the Dodge County Board of Supervisors, the board:

Approved a request to rescind action made at the last meeting of a Resolution to direct the County Treasurer to place Tax Sale Certificates on all delinquent taxes and special assessments, due to the wrong Resolution being presented by the County Treasurer, and the adoption of a resolution authorizing the County Attorney to proceed with the foreclosure and sale of real property as referenced in Tax Sales Certificates #130179 and #13019315.

Approved the request for an application for Special Designated License for Burtonian Enterprises LLC, dba Tin Lizzy Tavern of Fremont, Nebraska to serve beer, wine and distilled spirits at a reception from noon until 11 p.m. on June 11, 2016 at the The Group Lodge located at 4349 West State Lakes Road, Fremont, Nebraska.

Received a petition received by the County Clerk from Edwin K. Christoffersen for JDJ Investments, a Nebraska Partnership requesting the removal of their property from an industrial area and confirmed a public hearing date and time to hear testimony on the removal of the property from the Industrial Area scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 22, 2016 and possible act.

Received maps from County Surveyor Boschult outlining the Industrial Area south of Fremont with an outline of landowners properties of those landowners petitioning to have their land pulled out of the Industrial Area. Those hearings are set for June 8 and June 22.

Approved a request of Brad Ferguson of 725 County Rd. K, Scribner, Nebraska to obtain a Conditional Use Permit to operate a Class I Feeding Operation (251 to 1,000 Animal Units) as per Article 12, Section 2, Conditional Uses 2.19 located SE1/4 of the SW1/4 of Section 14, Township 19 North, Range 5 East in Pleasant Valley Township, Zoning District A-1, Intensive Ag.

The next regular meeting of the Dodge County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for June 8, 2016 at 9 a.m., Third Floor, Courthouse, Fremont.
Sun Ping, one of China's top performing artists of Peking Opera, receives an honorary doctorate from Chapman University, a prestigious private university in Orange County, California on May 21, 2016. The honor is for her achievements in Peking Opera and her contribution to the development and promotion of the ancient art. [Photo/Xinhua]

Sun Ping, a veteran Peking Opera actress and educator, was made a of Doctor of Arts honoris causa by Californias Chapman University on May 21.

She was recognized for her significant contributions to cultural and artistic exchanges through Peking Opera performances and lectures around the world (leaving an) indelible mark nationally and internationally (and) for better intercultural understanding, and peace and harmony among cultures and civilizations.

Chapman University, based in Orange, California, is among the US top higher educational institutions in performing arts.

This is the first time a Chinese Peking Opera artist is receiving the degree of doctor honoris causa from a renowned university on the West Coast of the United States since Peking Opera guru Mei Lanfang was given such a title by the University of Southern California in 1930.

Sun, the director of the Center for National Drama Studies at Renmin University and dean of the Institute for the Arts of Beijing Foreign Studies University, has been the countrys key promoter of Peking Opera in the US and Europe since the 1990s.

Related:

Shy star returns
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
The Environmental Protection Agency released a proposal Wednesday that would raise the biodiesel volume requirement under the Renewable Fuel Standard by only 100 million gallons in 2018. The Iowa Biodiesel Board called for growth that more closely matches the industrys potential. IBB Executive Director Grant Kimberley released the following statement:

We commend EPA for releasing their proposed biomass-based diesel volumes in a timely manner. But as the top biodiesel-producing state, those of us in Iowa know that the biodiesel industry can achieve much more significant growth in 2018 than what EPA currently calls for in this proposal. Nationally, our industry already has the feedstock and the production capacity to reach 2.5 billion gallons in a sustainable manner, and were disappointed this proposal is quite far from that industry recommendation. The proposed number, 2.1 billion gallons, is still too low, especially since we are facing biodiesel imports, some of which have the benefit of foreign subsidies.

With international pressure to decrease Greenhouse Gas emissions, biodiesel offers a tremendous opportunity to achieve this goal. On a lifecycle basis, its the single best GHG reduction tool we have thats widely available in the liquid fuels market. In fact, under the RFS law, Advanced Biofuels must reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent compared to petroleum fuels, and according to the EPA, biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 57 percent to 86 percent. In cutting biodiesel targets short, the Obama Administration is missing an opportunity for reduced GHG emissions, greater energy security and more American jobs.

We will work proactively to share information on this with EPA in the coming months, before the Final Rule is announced this fall.

Biodiesel  made from a variety of resources including soybean oil, recycled cooking oil and animal fats  is the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide.

The Iowa Biodiesel Board is a state trade association representing the biodiesel industry.
FOREST CITY  It takes a lot to keep the Tree Town Music Festival going, including provide the power and goods for the guests.

The annual music festival starts Thursday on the grounds the WIT rally grounds, Heritage Park of North Iowa and other property owned by Winnebago Industries. Tens of thousands of people will be town in along with headlining acts Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw.

The energy demands of campers is significant, said Duane Kuhn of the citys utilities department.

The nice thing for Tree Town is that the Winnebago rally grounds is perfectly set up (for a festival), Kuhn said.

The power has already been installed and its enough to handle the demand created by Tree Town campers, he said.

Its a lot of power. Its like a small city out there, Kuhn said of the energy needed by Tree Town campers.

He said that last year it used about one megawatt (of power).

Kuhn worked for the town of Gowrie before starting at Forest City. Gowries population is about 1,000 people.

Back in 1990, the town used (an average of) 1.8 megawatts, Kuhn said. We can run one megawatt and even higher during (the annual week-long) WIT rally. It can run to two megawatts.

While Tree Town guests are getting plenty of power from the city, they also need other supplies, including ice.

We are making very much ice, said Jodi Fank, the manager of Goldys convenience store on U.S Highway 69.

No matter how much we try to get ahead, its never enough, Fank said. Weve learned that in the last two years.

Forest City Foods will also increase its ice supply for the week, said co-owner Andrea Gust.

Water, fruit and beer are also essentials, Gust said.

Thursday is the first day of the festival and it tends to be have the biggest impact at Forest City Foods as guests gather supplies for the weekend, Gust said.

The grocery store also has a Godfathers Pizza franchise. Pizza sales increase during Tree Town, Gust said. The store adjusts its store hours, including pizza hours, for Tree Town.

We will be open until 11 p.m., Gust said. We will also be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Memorial Day.

The grocery store wont deliver pizzas to Tree Town campers this year.

It was just too difficult. There was a lot of traffic, Gust said.

Goldys also adjusts staff during Tree Town, Fank said.

We always want the store to look good, but we add extra people who will be working, Fank said.

Extra staff is needed because we have to keep the restrooms cleaned, Fank said. Shelves also need to be restocked and things that may get damaged need to be fixed, Fank said.

Fank also makes sure to increase inventory of core items  cigarettes, soda and popular beers.

Fank also watches the weather forecast. She will add bug spray and definitely sun block to the stores stock.

Last year it was rainy, Fank said. If rain is the forecast, Fank will make sure the store has lots of garbage sacks guests can use for rain gear.

The festival has an impact on city utilities and businesses within the community, but it will have less impact on the city police this year.

The Forest City Police Department has provided officers and police reserves as security on the Tree Town festival grounds in the prior two years. Tree Town organizers did not hire the department for security this year, Police Chief Doug Jenson said.

The only thing we will be involved in is traffic control, Jenson said.

The city will have 12 to 14 officers at key traffic spots during all four days of the festival, Jenson said. The city is paying for that.

Its probably three to four hours each night, Jenson said.

Those spots are at the entrance of the WIT rally grounds on U.S. Highway 69 and south at the Highway 69 and the airport road blacktop, Jenson said.

Tree Town requires preparation but Jenson, Fank, Kuhn and Gust said its worth it.

Its a great event, Jenson said.

Its a big weekend, Gust said.
OSAGE | State Sen. Rob Hogg, Democratic candidate for the United States Senate, visited constituents in Osage on Wednesday, May 18, during his visit to 16 Iowa communities as part of a push to encourage Iowans to vote in the Democratic primary on June 7.

Those in attendance were members of the Tri-County Democrats (Mitchell, Howard and Worth counties) along with Democrats from Floyd County and across North Iowa.

Also in attendance were state Sen. Mary Jo Wilhelm (D-Cresco) and state Rep. Todd Prichard (D-Charles City).

This election is all about Iowans, Hogg said. I believe we must change the way politics is done in this country. Its why I am visiting 16 Iowa communities this week, and its why I encourage Iowans to vote in the June 7 primary. We need to uplift our democracy so our country can achieve in this generation a safe, healthy, peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and environmental sustainable future for all Americans.

Hogg expressed the need for people to get back to work through investing in infrastructure and increasing the minimum wage.

We can create jobs now which will build a solid foundation for the future, said Hogg.

In addition, Hogg said he was for fiscal discipline, progressive taxation, protecting Social Security and fair treatment of veterans.

Hogg, 49, is serving his third term in the Iowa Senate after two terms in the Iowa House. As a state legislator, Hogg said he had been a strong advocate for education, renewable energy, clean water, public health including mental health and public safety.

Prichard announced he had already vote absentee for Hogg and told party members in attendance to encourage voters to do the same.

Hogg announced his candidacy on Sept. 22 in Callender, Iowa, where his grandmother was born in 1902. He has been endorsed by over 90 current and former state legislators. He was recently endorsed by the Iowa Federation of Labor and AFSCME Iowa Council 61.

We need Congress to work again for our people, our country and our future, said Hogg. We can change the way we run campaigns. We can get Congress to work again and we can build a safe, heathly, peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for all Americans.

Other candidates in the Democratic Senate primary June 7 are Tom Fiegen, D-Clarence; Patty Judge, D-Albia; and Bob Krause, D-Fairfield.
DES MOINES | Legislation to name the Cedar Rapids Post Office to honor an eastern Iowa soldier killed in Afghanistan has been approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and now goes to the full Senate.

The legislation to name the post office the Sergeant First Class Terryl L. Pasker Post Office Building previously was approved by the House. The legislation is co-sponsored by the six members of the Iowa congressional delegation.

Pasker gave the ultimate sacrifice to his country in defense of our freedoms, and this is one way we can recognize his heroism and service to our country, said Sen. Joni Ernst, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee.

An Anamosa native, Pasker, 39, was killed at a checkpoint in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan, July 9, 2011, only days before the end of his combat tour. He is survived by his wife, Erica; parents, Mary and David; brother, Andrew, and two sisters, Christine and Rebecca.
A roundup of Capitol and state government news items of interest for Tuesday, May 24, 2016:

BIOFUEL TAX INCENTIVES: Back on the job Tuesday after a bout with a spring cold, Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law legislation to extend biofuel tax incentives in Iowa.

Senate File 2309 extends several ethanol and biodiesel blended fuel tax credits that are funded through Iowa individual and corporate taxes. Effective in 2018, the production payment currently available for biodiesel manufacturers located in Iowa equal to 2 cents per gallon produced up to a total of 25 million annual gallons for each manufacturing facility is extended seven years to Jan. 1, 2025. S.F. 2309 also extends the tax credits for E-15 plus and E-85 blended gasoline, as well as biodiesel blended fuel by seven years to Jan. 1, 2025.

Other provisions extend and expand the biodiesel promotion retail tax credit. The incentive will continue to provide petroleum retailers 4.5 cents a gallon on blends of at least 5 percent biodiesel (B5) through 2017. From 2018 to 2024, the B5 incentive will drop to 3.5 cents per gallon, but an additional incentive of 5.5 cents per gallon will take effect for gallons of B11 and higher.

Branstad signed the new law at a ceremony held at Renewable Energy Group biodiesel plant in Newton.

Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, who floor managed the bill in the Iowa Senate, called the bipartisan biofuels legislation a win-win-win for Iowa workers, farmers and the environment.

At a time when federal support for biofuels has been uncertain, this legislation provides the long-term, stable commitment the industry needs to invest, innovate, improve and grow, he said. This is important for the more than 40,000 Iowans who work in the biofuels industry. It will also protect our environment by encouraging the use of more biofuels that cut pollution and reduce our use of fossil fuels.

REBOUNDING EGG INDUSTRY: Egg producers say Iowa should be back to full production of 16 billion eggs a year by January.

The nations leading egg farmers saw the number of laying hens cut in half to about 30 million last year due to a bird flu epidemic, causing production to drop to about 8 billion eggs, industry officials said Tuesday.

However, Jeff Hardie of Fremont Farms of Iowa near Grinnell said Iowa currently has about 53 million layers and likely will have all its flocks fully repopulated by the start of 2017.

According to Iowa State University, Iowas egg industry contributes more than $2 billion in total sales and supports 8,800 jobs with more than $502 million in labor income and nearly $23 million in general tax revenue.

During a proclamation signing, Branstad said each egg contains about 70 calories and represents the lowest-cost per serving at 17 cents for high-quality protein that equates to 35.3 grams of protein for every dollar spent.

FORT DODGE FINED: The city of Fort Dodge will pay a $20,000 fine and spend at least $200,000 on improvements under a settlement over alleged violations of federal regulations that occurred at the citys water treatment plant, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced.

Under the settlement, the city must pay the $20,000 fine to the federal government and spend at least $200,000 building a new road to provide emergency vehicles better access to the water treatment plant, the agency said.

Previously, the city also agreed to a compliance agreement requiring it to develop a risk management plan for the facility, which stores high amounts of potentially harmful chlorine gas.

ARTIST SOUGHT: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is encouraging Iowa artists to submit proposals to paint a mural highlighting conservation and water quality efforts in Iowa during the Iowa State Fair this year.

The mural will be part of an Ag Park space in Agricultural Building on the fairgrounds and serve as a visual representation of how conservation should be a focus in both urban and rural areas.

Northeys agency along with several commodity groups are seeking Iowa artists to submit proposals by July 1 for a 6-panel, 8-by-24-foot wall that will be on display during the fair. The mural should reflect agricultures commitment to conservation and water quality within the state as well as the beauty and an overall appreciation for Iowa agriculture.

At least a portion of the mural must be painted during the Iowa State Fair in August. Live painting is required for at least two hours each day between the times of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Iowa artists that are 18 years of age or older are eligible to apply. The selected artist will be notified by July 11 and will receive up to $500 for reimbursement of supplies and a commission of $1,500 upon completion of the mural. The commission is from support from Iowa agriculture organizations and not taxpayer dollars.

More information and a copy of the call for artists and application can be found at www.IowaAgriculture.gov under Hot Topics.

SAFE PICNICKING: With the Memorial Day weekend nearing, officials with the state Department of Public Health are reminded Iowans to grill safely to avoid a food-borne illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 76 million Americans get sick, over 300,000 are taken to the hospital and 5,000 people die from food-borne illnesses  any illness caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water.

Given that, state officials are working to heighten food-safety awareness as thousands of Iowans gather for picnics, cookouts and family get-togethers this holiday weekend.

Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the departments medical director, advises Iowans to cook all meats thoroughly, especially ground meats like hamburgers and sausages  using a meat thermometer to ensure the middle of the meat has reached a temperature that will kill potentially harmful organisms.

Also, keep cold food cold and hot food hot, given that illness-causing bacteria can grow in many foods within two hours and during warmer weather, that time is cut down to within one hour, and dont reuse platters or utensils and have a way to wash your hands prior to eating. For more information on food safety, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/cade/foodborne-illness.

EXXON PETITION: Members of the groups Bold Iowa and Iowa 350 on Wednesday plan to deliver petitions signed by over 1,000 Iowans to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, encouraging him to look into allegations that Exxon lied about climate change.

Activist and former state legislator Ed Fallon said a report by InsideClimate News indicates Exxon has worked to manufacture doubt about the reality of global warming and has lobbied to block federal and international action to control greenhouse gas emissions.

Like Big Tobacco, Exxon knew about the connection between their product and the publics health, said Fallon, director of Bold Iowa.

Des Moines Bureau
CEDAR RAPIDS | An inspector generals report that an Army general retaliated against a National Guard officer for reporting her rape by a more senior officer is exactly why Sen. Chuck Grassley is championing legislation to take the handling of sexual assault cases out of the hands of the military.

This is a perfect example of why it needs to come out of the chain of command and set up a separate prosecution unit for these rapists, the Iowa Republican told reporters Wednesday.

The Department of Defense inspector general offices finding is unprecedented, Grassley said, because its the first time it has substantiated whistleblower reprisal for reporting a sexual assault.

The inspector general found that after a lieutenant colonel commanding a military police battalion reported being raped by a more senior officer, Brigadier General Charles Viet issued her an unfavorable and career-damaging officer evaluation.

It kind of fits with Gillibrands legislation that were trying to get into the Department of Defense authorization up this week to make sure we take the sexual assault cases out of the chain of command, so generals cant interfere like this, Grassley said. Earlier this week, Grassley joined New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand at a news conference calling for passage of her Military Justice Improvement Act to help make sure sexual assault is treated as the serious crime it is.

Her amendment the National Defense Authorization Act would set up an impartial, fair and accountable military justice system. Its necessary to make sure the person who committed the crime is convicted and pays the penalty, Grassley said.

Its also needed to protect the victim of military sexual assault, he said.

Today they are discouraged from doing it because the person who is raped is treated more harshly than the person who did the raping, Grassley said.

Grassley also claimed the military has lied to senators last year when it claimed local prosecutors lacked interest in prosecuting military sexual assault cases. However, Grassley said a report from the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders and reporting by the Associated Press show the Pentagon appeared to be manipulating the facts.

They misled us. Weve been lied to, he said.

A 2014 study of military sexual assault found that more than 20,000 of the 1.3 million active duty members- 1 percent of men and 4.9 percent of women -- had been sexually assaulted in the previous year.

Gillibrands examination of 329 sexual assault cases in 2014 found that 22 percent went to trial with about 10 percent resulting in a sexual assault conviction. Another 5 percent result in conviction on another charge.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Citing the 34-year-old disappearance of Des Moines newspaper delivery boy Johnny Gosch and the 2005 kidnap, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jetseta Gage of Cedar Rapids, Sen. Chuck Grassley said Senate action this week will help protect children from sexual predators.

Too many kids falling prey to sexual predators, Grassley said Wednesday.

The names Johnny Gosch, Eugene Martin and Jetseta Gage, for example, still bring heartbreak to all Iowans, he said, noting that Gosch and Martin, who disappeared in 1982 and 1984, respectively, have never been found. Gage, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act Reauthorization passed the Senate by a vote of 89-0. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee where the legislation originated, said it will help prevent future tragedies and ensure that victims have a good shot at justice.

It was offered in response to these notorious cases involving children who had been targeted by adult criminals, many of them repeat sex offenders.

In addition to providing assistance to state and local law enforcement, Grassley said the reauthorization added a survivors bill of rights to codify additional rights and assure survivors their tragedy will not be shoved aside.

Also Wednesday, Grassley said he was encouraged by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trumps making public a list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

He hasnt expressed a lot of opinion on policy when he was getting the nomination (so) its very essential to express in a whole lot of areas the basic policy he intends to run on and serve on, Grassley said. Its important for Trump as a candidate to continue to express policy decisions that he might follow as a president.

It also put the onus on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to release a list so the American people know the direction of the court she wants.

The more transparency the better off it is, Grassley said.
CEDAR RAPIDS  A Republican-leaning advocacy group criticized Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Patty Judge for her support of Environmental Protection Agency rules regulating Iowa waterways.

The EPAs WOTUS  Waters of the United States  rule is a massive federal overreach that is misguided, places the increased burden of government red tape on farmers and landowners, and impedes our efforts to improve water quality through Iowas innovating nutrient reduction strategy, her successor at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Bill Northey, said Tuesday.

Judge, one of four candidates for the Democratic nomination to face Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in the November general election, said the WOTUS rules are on target.

We are now at a crisis point. We have to address water quality and we have to do that very soon  and the EPA is going to have to be a part of the solution, she said Tuesday on Iowa Public Radios River to River.

Her position is certainly disappointing, said Northey, because he would expect her to understand how devastating the rule will be. Northey spoke during a phone call with Iowa reporters that was arranged by Priorities for Iowa

Its not a partisan issue, according to Jimmy Centers, the groups executive director. All six members of the Iowa congressional delegation, including 2nd District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, have opposed the rules.

Unfortunately, Patty Judge, a candidate that was hand-picked by the Washington elite, would rather align herself with the EPA and President Obama instead of standing up for Iowans, Centers said.

Judge acknowledged that her position is at odds with many in the agricultural community.

I know a lot of my agricultural people, my farm friends, dont agree with me on that, but again, we are at a point where we are going to have to be serious about improving water quality, she told the Des Moines Register.

Judge doesnt believe the EPA intends to regulate ditches and mud puddles in Iowa, her spokesman, Sam Roecker, said. If that needs to be clarified in the language of the rule, she is certainly open to that, but we cant keep kicking the can down the road on water quality in this state.

If Judge is concerned about water quality, Northey said, She certainly should embrace this effort, this innovative Iowa-based solution, not the bureaucratic nightmare that a WOTUS would be.

Judge is in a four-way primary with former state legislators Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause, and State Sen. Rob Hogg. The primary election in June 7.
MASON CITY | Rick Bertrand is not Steve King.

Bertrand, a two-term Republican state senator from Sioux City, considers that one of his biggest selling points as he tries to unseat the seven-term incumbent in the 4th Congressional District Republican primary.

"I think people are tired of Steve King. I think they're tired of his arrogance," Bertrand said Tuesday during an interview at the Globe Gazette. "I think they're tired of his off-the-wall comments, but you can do those things when you have no fear of a primary and no fear of an opponent."

Bertrand to challenge King in primary SIOUX CITY  State Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, announced Thursday he has filed to run 

From an ideological perspective, Bertrand acknowledges that he and King largely share the same conservative views.

Bertrand is a real estate developer who describes himself a pro-life Catholic. He supports civil unions for same-sex couples but believes marriage is between a man and woman.

He and King will debate June 3 in Sioux City.

"From a voting perspective, that part of the debate's going to be boring," Betrand said.

Instead, Bertrand says he plans to focus on restoring the 4th District's agricultural clout in Congress and attract agribusinesses back to Iowa.

"We are the largest ag district in the nation," he said. "We should wield power around that. We have opportunities around that."

He panned King's support of the failed presidential bid of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who did not support the Renewable Fuels Standard.

A group of former Cruz backers has formed a new SuperPAC, Reignite Iowa, which supports King's re-election.

"They said we're gonna come up here and we're gonna reward Steve King for his loyalty," Bertrand said of the SuperPAC. "Texas. Why would Texas come up here and play in Iowa? That's big oil."

King also has the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Gov. Terry Branstad has said he will stay neutral.

The Republican primary is June 7. The winner will take on Democrat Kim Weaver, of Sheldon, in the general election Nov. 8.
STACYVILLE | A Stacyville man accused of shutting a door on the paw of a Mitchell County Sheriff's Office K-9 has lost his appeal on a conviction of interference with a police dog.

Gary D. Eggers, 60, was found guilty by a Mitchell County jury on that charge, a serious misdemeanor, in October 2014. He was fined $315.

The Iowa Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld his conviction.

A sheriff's deputy went to Eggers' home March 28, 2014, to serve him with an arrest warrant and take him into custody.

When Eggers saw the deputy he initially drove his vehicle down the driveway before reversing course away from the deputy, who had parked at the end of the driveway, according to the ruling.

The deputy took his K-9, Winnie, out of the vehicle in an attempt to intimidate Eggers, the ruling stated.

Eggers went inside the house and the deputy and the dog tried to force their way in. During the struggle Winnie's rear paw got stuck in the door jamb, causing her to yelp, the ruling stated.

Eggers allegedly opened and closed the door twice after that, but opened the door to allow Winnie to be freed after the deputy told him the dog's paw was stuck in the door.

Winnie sustained cuts to the padding of her paw and received stitches. She was off duty for two weeks to recover.

Eggers initially was charged with injuring a police dog, a Class D felony, in addition to the interference charge.

On the morning of the trial the parties agreed to treat the interference charge as a lesser included offense of the felony charge. The jury found Eggers guilty of the interference charge.

In his appeal Eggers claimed the verdict was not supported by substantial evidence, but the appeals court ruled it was.

Eggers also claimed the prosecution made improper statements during trial, citing references to him slamming the door and knowing the dog was physically obstructed the second and third time he shut the door.

The appeals court ruled the statement about slamming the door, although emotional, was not inflammatory. The court also determined the statement about Eggers' knowing the dog was obstructed was not an improper argument.

Eggers also claimed his counsel failed to raise justification as a defense. The appeals court ruled this claim is preserved for possible post-conviction relief in district court.

Under Iowa law anyone who knowingly and willfully or maliciously torments, strikes, administers a nonpoisonous desensitizing substance to, or otherwise interferes with a police service dog without inflicting serious injury commits a serious misdemeanor.

Injuring a police dog is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison if the defendant kills, tortures, disables, disfigures or poisons the dog; sets a booby trap to kill, disable or disfigure the dog; or pays a bounty for the purpose of disabling, disfiguring or killing the dog.
MASON CITY  Fifteen months ago Tim Rucker had a potential prison sentence for drug dealing hanging over his head.

Today the Mason City resident is a community volunteer, a homeowner and preparing to start a new career as a truck driver.

Rucker, 42, is also the first graduate of the new version of Cerro Gordo County Adult Drug Court, a sentencing alternative to prison for drug-addicted, non-violent offenders.

A graduation ceremony for Rucker was held in the courtroom Tuesday.

Its been a long road, he said.

Rucker said what he likes about drug court is it gives people like him a second chance.

The county used to have a community panel-based drug court program, which was discontinued in 2010 due to budget cuts.

A new, judge-based drug court program began in February 2015. Participants meet with District Judge James Drew each week for 12 to 18 months.

Drew said this new program started just in the nick of time for Rucker, who received a suspended prison sentence of up to 20 years after pleading guilty in 2012 to felony drug charges.

Drew said Rucker was not doing well on regular probation, but he did not want to pull the plug and send him to prison.

You are transformed, Drew told Rucker during Tuesdays ceremony, which took place in front of other drug court attendees and Ruckers family. The other members of the interdisciplinary team for drug court also were present.

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time, Drew said.

He said despite his issues Rucker has always been a hard worker and was able to remain employed to support his family.

Rucker also served as a mentor for the other drug court attendees, according to Drew.

Probation officer Gretchen Hollander agreed.

They really, really look up to him, she said.

Rucker is now a completely different person than he was a few years ago, she said.

Rucker, who grew up in Los Angeles, said his mother, Debora Johnson, brought him to North Iowa in 2008 because she wanted to see me make better choices.

At first he felt like a fish out of water, he said. Now, however, he thinks Mason City is a great place to live.

Now that Rucker has graduated from the drug court program, he will be on regular probation.

On June 6 he will begin attending North Iowa Area Community College to get the training he needs to become a truck driver.

Rucker, who recently bought a home in Mason City, also volunteers at Community Kitchen of North Iowa and speaks to inpatients at Prairie Ridge Addiction Treatment Services.

Rucker acknowledged he has made his share of mistakes along the way but has learned from them.

He said a lot of the people at his graduation ceremony helped him.

One person can make a difference, he said.
Marjory Ann (Hartwig) Daniels

MASON CITY  Marjory Ann (Hartwig) Daniels, 68, went home to be with the Lord and have a glorious reunion with her husband on May 21, 2016, at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient unit, Mason City, from a catastrophic stroke.

Funeral service will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 26, 2016, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 419 N. Delaware Ave., Mason City, with the Rev. Mark Lavrenz officiating. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Ackley, Iowa. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E., Mason City.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Marjory A. Daniels Memorials in care of the family.

Marjory was born on May 30, 1947, in Osage, Iowa, the daughter of Harold and Verna (Plath) Hartwig of St. Ansgar, Iowa. She graduated from St. Ansgar High School in 1965. Her favorite part of high school was band, playing the clarinet and then the bass clarinet.

After high school she worked at the Marr Knitting Mill in Osage, Iowa. In 1966 she moved to Mason City, Iowa. She worked at Arlans Discount Department store, Target, and North Iowa Community Action. She also was a Secret Shopper for many years and an Independent Sales Representative for several companies and working with a number of stores in Mason City and the North Iowa area.

On April 9, 1972, Marjory was united into marriage to Delmer D. Daniels at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar, Iowa. The couple made their home in Mason City, Iowa, where they were truly blessed with two daughters, Stacy and Wendy. Marjory loved her miracles and was the best mother anyone could ask for. In 2007 she was blessed with her granddaughter Cadence, and in 2011 her grandson Brady, they were her world. She cherished every moment with them and loved watching them grow in all of their activities. She treasured all of the mini vacations to the zoos and other adventures they would enjoy together. They were the twinkle in her eye of a very proud grandma. After Delmers passing she decided to buy a new bass clarinet and join the New Horizons Band at Music Man Square, where she played with such joy and passion in 2007-2014.

She loved camping, fishing, sewing, crafting, reading, listening to music and loved to play the bass clarinet. She also enjoyed dining out and visiting with family and friends, shopping and finding the good deal. Marjory was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Mason City for 43 years where she served on several committees and boards. She was a member of LWML and Miriam Circle, Church Choir and Christian Womens Group. She loved her Lord and her church family.

Marjory is survived by her devoted and loving daughters, Stacy (Dawayne) Charlson, and Wendy (Chris) Rish; two grandchildren, Cadence and Brady Rish, all of Mason City; three brothers, Gary (Jean) Hartwig, and David (Sue) Hartwig, both of Northwood, and Duane (Jeanne) Hartwig, of Waverly; and her in-laws, Janice (Gary) Rinnels, and Galen (Ronda) Daniels, both of Ackley; many nieces, nephews, cousins, specials friends.

Marjory was preceded in death by her husband, Delmer Daniels; parents, father- and mother-in-law, aunts, uncles, and friends.

Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third Street N.E., Mason City, IA; 641-423-2372.
HAMPTON | Franklin County officials held a fact-finding meeting last week with a representative of Prestage Foods of Iowa concerning the possibility of Prestage building a pork processing plant in Franklin County.

Karen Mitchell, director of the Franklin County Development Association, said county supervisors requested the meeting after the Mason City Council turned down Prestage's plan to build a $240 million plant that would have employed nearly 2,000 workers in the next four years.

"It was an informative, constructive meeting," Mitchell said. "We were able to get facts separated from fiction."

She said Franklin officials wanted to learn specifics about the plant and what would be required from both sides to make it work.

While the meeting was just a first step with nothing decided, Mitchell said, "if we thought it was a bad project, we wouldn't have asked for the meeting. Prestage is a fine company."

Mitchell said she was well aware of the turmoil in Mason City that resulted in the 3-3 tie vote of the City Council that defeated the project.

But she said it is worth it for Franklin County to look into it. "We are much more ag-oriented than our neighbors to the north," she said.

Jere Null, Prestage's chief operating officer, attended the meeting. He was an active participant in the company's dealings with Mason City. Mitchell said officials were "very impressed" with him.

She also said it was unfortunate that an organization from outside the area could have such an impact on a local decision, a reference to Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) a Des Moines-based organization that has lobbied vigorously against the plant being built in Mason City.
MASON CITY  A dinner train with locally sourced food.

A childrens museum.

Better marketing of Mason City both outside and inside the city.

It was a night for positive thinking and possibilities Tuesday night during a brainstorming session at First Congregational United Church of Christ organized by its pastor, the Rev. Chuck Kelsey.

His idea was to bring people together to talk about the good things about Mason City and how to make the city even better.

The possibilities are here, he said. If we can just get them out in the community. We just want to think possibilities. I hope were all on that page.

He set the ground rules early on. This isnt about Prestage tonight. If you want to fight that battle, this is not the place, said Kelsey.

He then encouraged a crowd of close to 100 to put forth some ideas, and for the next 90 minutes they did.

Paul MacGregor said hed like Mason City to become part of the Welcoming City program which promotes the celebration of different ethnic groups and recruits immigrants in an orderly manner. He said the program has been successful in Dayton, Ohio, and several other cities. Its been a positive experience, he said.

Barb MacGregor, Pauls wife, said Mason City has a tremendous asset in its rivers. Mason City could be to rivers what Minnesota is to lakes, she said. Were missing a giant opportunity with our waterways.

Sue Kelsey suggested Mason City hold music workshops and bring in guest musicians similar to the writing workshops held in Iowa City every year that draw big-name authors and national recognition. It seems like it would be a good fit, she said.

Max Weaver said the one-of-a-kind Iowa Traction Railroad should be promoted more. Railroading is one of the top three tourist draws in the country. It would be a huge attraction, he said.

The ideas just kept coming  a program for chefs at NIACC; studio apartments for artists; being more solar energy conscious; having a fun campground for kids that would be different from the MacNider Campground where its lights out at 10 oclock.

Those participating were seated at tables throughout the room. At the end of the session, Kelsey invited people who had a passion for one idea or another to get together and talk among themselves  to perhaps find ways of advancing their ideas.
Francis Hanig, 59, lost control of an ATV and crashed into a ditch about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at 190th Street and Vine Avenue, according to a Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office statement. That's about nine miles southeast of Mason City.
MASON CITY  When J.O. Benson was on a plane approaching Vietnam, where he was to serve in the infantry, he looked down and saw explosions on the ground.

The Mason City resident remembers thinking, Whoa, this is for real.

Serving in the Vietnam War was quite a life-changing event, said Benson, now 71.

Benson, who is originally from a small town in Minnesota, was drafted into the Army in 1968 after graduating from Winona State University with a degree in business administration.

He said the draft board told his father, We are just waiting for him to graduate.

He was sent to Vietnam in May 1969 as part of a rifle platoon. He was a sergeant and second in command under a lieutenant.

It made you grow up in a hurry, he said. You are responsible for guys lives.

Benson said the most difficult part was keeping everybody alert and aware.

They would be inserted by helicopter into an area and left there for five to seven days. They did patrols during the day and ambushes during the night.

He said it was stressful but you grew accustomed to it.

Benson said the members of the platoon didnt know each other at the beginning but became close as time went on. He said some of his friends were killed and others were injured.

He said he is glad there were no accidental shootings in his platoon.

You are always worried about that, he said.

He said some of the others had the following saying written on their helmets: When I die I know Im going to heaven because Ive spent my time in hell.

They fought mosquitoes, leeches and red ants. Benson came back with a staph infection in both feet because we were always wet.

A lot of the men developed skin issues, he said.

Benson was in Vietnam for 10 months. He was sent home when President Richard Nixon began drawing down troops.

I was elated, he said.

After coming home he began working for Briggs Transportation in Minneapolis. In 1973 he moved to Mason City to become a Briggs terminal manager. He later served as manager of Fast Food Merchandisers.

In 1994 he developed a hearing problem that led to his retirement.

He and his wife, Gwen, have been married for 47 years. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Until recently I didnt talk about my experiences (in Vietnam) much, he said.

Benson said a lot of people arent even aware he served there.

The They Served With Honor series in the Globe Gazette on Vietnam veterans made me think a lot about that period of time, he said.

Attending Operation LZ in Forest City with his friend Bob Kolbet also made him reflect on Vietnam.

It was a hell of an experience, he said. Im glad I did it, but I wouldnt want to do it again.
On June 2, there will be a private meeting for "selected local leaders" with Prestage and Iowa Economic Development, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. There have been too many private meetings and too many secret negotiations about this project. Trust has been lost.

A crucial first step was skipped -- public meetings to discuss the kind of community we want to be and the kind of economic development we want. It's our town. We have been awakened from our complacency.

The enormous Prestage project was a regional project. Surrounding counties and towns should have been included in a decision about allowing Prestage here. It would cost us all more than we gain. Others have a right to be angry.

I'm baffled by people who say that Mason City is racist and is a dying town. That is not helpful for promoting our town. Saying those things will not make the rest of us give up on believing that we deserve a better kind of project than this one.

When Scott Flory, city administer of Clear Lake, heard about Prestage, he said that Clear Lake looks for projects that enhance quality of life. That is a worthy goal.

I called Iowa Economic Development to ask if we would be offered other development deals if we don't take Prestage. The project manager I talked with said, "Of course." This deal does not affect the next deal.

The longer this slaughterhouse project hangs over our community, the more divided we become. When they go away, we can begin to heal.

Our City Council has voted. It courageously turned down this project in spite of pressure from some powerful people. Everyone had a chance to speak at the meetings. For the sake of our town, let it be over.

JoAnn Hardy, Mason City
It's time for U. S. Rep. Steve King to go. All Iowans should be embarrassed by his action in the Iowa presidential caucus of passing on unverified false information on Dr. Ben Carson dropping out of the race. This was done solely to benefit a candidate for whom he was co-chairman.

King is the only Iowa congressman not to support House Resolution 207 that requests members of Congress try to work with people of the opposite party. His PAC has attacked his current opponent for the House seat because state Sen. Rick Bertrand supported a 10-cent-a-gallon tax increase to fund road and bridges badly in need of repairs. This bipartisan tax increase was supported and signed into law by Gov. Branstad.

I strongly support Betrand to replace our 4th District representative. Vote in the June 7 primary.

Ed Enright, Garner
Delaware, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (WTE) Waste to Energy Market Size was 20.86 Billion in 2015, as per the latest research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Strong focus by regional government to adopt municipal solid waste (MSW) disposable techniques and treatments should drive global waste to energy market growth.

Thermal based waste to energy technology occupied a significant chunk of revenue, which may surpass USD 29 Billion by 2023 with moderate gains. Incineration process based on thermal technology was widely employed across major WTE units.

Get sample pages from our latest research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/456

Alternative thermal technologies, pyrolysis, gasification and plasma arc gasification, are relatively new process for WTE application and have limited installations globally. These alternative thermal technologies can contribute towards lowering carbon emissions but attract high initial investments costs.

Europe waste to energy market size, with major operating plants in Germany, France and UK, dominated the regional industry and occupied over 47% of the total revenue share in 2015. Modernization of WTE plants in order to replace ageing equipments may favor growth in Europe market.

Stringent standards by European government to curb GHG emissions from landfills may also favor waste to energy market size. Rise in power generation owing to rapid industrialization coupled with renewable energy targets set by regional government owing to curb GHG emissions may favor WTE market growth.

The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) from EU has set a binding target to use 20% of energy derived from renewable sources by 2020. The U.S. DOE recognizes WTE as renewable source of energy and includes for progress tracking towards achieving Federal Government goal to derive power from renewable sources.

China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are expected to generate significant amount of MSW over the forecast period. Government of these regions are considering investments to improve MSW collection and treating techniques and are funding projects based on Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

High capital investments for plant commissioning along with component installation may hinder waste to energy market size and restrict participation of new entrants. Lack of technology awareness to generate energy from waste may affect industry growth prospects.

To access sample pages or view this report titled, Waste to Energy (WTE) Market Size By Technology (Biological, Thermal), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, China, Japan), Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023 in detail along with the table of contents, please click on the link below:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/waste-to-energy-wte-market

Key insights from the report include:

Global waste to energy market size is forecast to gain at 6.1% CAGR up to 2023 and generate USD 33.46 Billion.

North America, led by the U.S. waste to energy market share, may witness moderate gains at over 5.5% CAGR up to 2023. North America MSW collection industry is well developed with most of the MSW collected and sent for disposal, recycling or treatment.

APAC, led by Japan and China waste to energy market size, may grow at significant rates up to 2023 and register over USD 12 Billion by 2023.

China thermal based technology is set to grow at over 7.2% CAGR up to 2023. Rising investments to build WTE plants to minimize MSW generation may help to drive demand.

Europe biological technology may witness significant gains over the next several years. Biological technology in Germany may witness grow rates at over 5.8% CAGR and register above USD 625 Million by 2023.

LATAM, led by Mexico and Brazil, is forecast to attain above average growth rates at over 6.3% CAGR up to 2023 owing to measures adopted by regional government for WTE plant commissioning for MSW management.

Global waste to energy market share is competitive. Key companies include Wheelabrator Technologies, Covanta, Hitachi Zosen and Keppel Seghers. Some companies present across value chain provide integrated MSW services right from waste collection to disposal or treatment.

Global Market Insights has segmented the waste to energy (WTE) industry on the basis of technology and region:

Waste to Energy (WTE) Market Technology Analysis (Revenue, USD Billion, 2012 - 2023)

Thermal

Biological

Waste to Energy (WTE) Market Regional Analysis (Revenue, USD Billion, 2012 - 2023)

North America U.S. Canada

Europe Germany France UK

Asia Pacific China Japan

Latin America (LATAM)

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Related Reports:

About Global Market Insights:

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.




WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN), a leading financial services holding company, today commented on the Duff & Phelps, LLP (Duff & Phelps) independent analysis, which determined that none of the allegations in the Gibbs & Bruns, LLPs January 23, 2015 Notice of Non-Performance investigated by Duff & Phelps were supported by evidence.



Duff & Phelps, a global corporate valuation and financial advisory firm, was engaged by Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in its capacity as Master Servicer for 42 Ocwen-serviced Residential Mortgage Backed Securities trusts (Trusts), to investigate allegations regarding the Trusts alleged by: 1) Gibbs & Bruns January 23, 2015 Notice of Non-Performance on behalf of certain Institutional Investors; and 2) Ocwens Consent Orders with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Department of Financial Services.

Duff & Phelps conducted a 12-month review of Ocwens servicing operations, accounting, loan modifications, borrower compliance, and operations and governing practices. This review involved an analysis of thousands of servicing files, data points, invoices, as well as a comprehensive review of the Companys systems and records.

The Duff & Phelps investigation:

Did not find any evidence that Ocwen failed to account for P&I payments to the Master Serviced trusts.

Did not find any evidence that Ocwen charged the Master Serviced Trusts for any undisclosed or mysterious expenses.

Did not find evidence that Ocwen made negative NPV modifications in order to maximize servicing fees and prematurely recoup advances.

Did not find evidence that Ocwen engaged in modifications in order to prematurely recover advances at the time of modification.

Did not find evidence to conclude generally that Ocwen made extreme and imprudent modifications.

Found that Ocwen applied the Stop Advance Tag on loans consistently with Ocwens Stop Advance model and not with regard to whether or not the loan had been modified or whether the borrower defaulted immediately after modification.

Did not find evidence that Ocwen failed to comply with the SCRA requirements for borrowers on active military duty.

Did not find evidence sufficient to conclude generally that Ocwen engaged in deceptive, misleading, or inadequate practices with regard to newly boarded loans.

Did not find evidence sufficient to conclude generally that Ocwen improperly imposed lender-placed insurance.

Did not find evidence to conclude generally that the Master Serviced Trusts were charged higher fees in connection with sales of REO properties involving Hubzu auctions or REALHome brokers as opposed to traditional sales and/or unrelated brokers.

We are pleased with the results of Duff & Phelps year-long independent review. We continue to focus on servicing loans in the best interest of loan investors and on being a leader in helping homeowners, said Ron Faris, President and CEO of Ocwen.

About Ocwen Financial Corporation

Ocwen Financial Corporation is a financial services holding company which, through its subsidiaries, originates and services loans. We are headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices throughout the United States and in the U.S. Virgin Islands and operations in India and the Philippines. We have been serving our customers since 1988. We may post information that is important to investors on our website (www.Ocwen.com).


OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black & Veatch is one of the top ranked U.S. companies in providing summer internship opportunities for college students. The ranking results from a study on the number of interns in 2016 by CollegeGrad.com, a leading entry level job website.



Supporting critical infrastructure projects around the world, approximately 150 interns are working this year in locations across Black & Veatchs U.S. operations. Most are majoring in mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil engineering as well as design and drafting.

To prepare young professionals to meet the complex needs of clients across our business lines, we focus the intern program on delivering an immersive work experience and on the job training, said Lori Kelleher, Chief Human Resources Officer of Black & Veatch. The internship program continues to play a vital role in expanding our workforce of exceptionally capable and highly trained professionals.

Each intern is assigned a company professional who provides mentorship in their field of study and its application to Black & Veatch projects. This includes learning the companys business processes and systems as well as an opportunity to interact with other interns and professionals in different disciplines.

Personal growth and skills training are also a core focus of the program, including development of listening and presentation skills. As part of the program, interns make presentations to their department leadership at the end of the 11 week program about the contributions they have made to the companys business efforts.

Interns also meet with senior leaders of the companys energy, water and telecommunications operations to learn about Black & Veatchs overall business scope. In addition, many interns will visit client project sites to gain insights on infrastructure solutions the company delivers.

We encourage our interns to take advantage of volunteer opportunities with organizations such as Christmas in October and Harvesters to further enhance their experience, said Kelleher. Service in supporting community betterment programs where we live and work is highly valued.

Of the 150 U.S. interns at Black & Veatch this summer, approximately 30 have been part of the program in previous years. The interns are located in 27 company work locations across the country

Editors Note:

 Students from 44 universities are participating this summer. A majority of U.S. interns come from the Missouri University of Science and Technology; University of Missouri at Kansas City; University of Kansas; University of Central Missouri; University of Arkansas; Clemson University; University of Michigan; and the University of Missouri at Columbia.

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.
CHICAGO, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The John Marshall Law School in Chicago has named Troy Riddle as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. At a time when institutions around the country are dealing with questions of racial equality, Riddle's appointment affirms John Marshall's longstanding commitment to legal diversity.

In addition to working with faculty, students and staff to promote a diverse, inclusive and welcoming culture at John Marshall, Riddle will develop programs to assess and promote diversity and inclusiveness at the school. His work will support existing and new measures that attract, recruit and retain students, staff and faculty from diverse ethnic, cultural, social and socioeconomic backgrounds.

"Working in a city like Chicago, where racial tensions can sometimes run high, it is more important than ever to make sure our students, staff and faculty feel equal and included, regardless of their gender, race or anything else," Riddle said.

Riddle began working at John Marshall in 2013 as the director of diversity and outreach. He was later named the law school's Title XI coordinator. Riddle previously served as assistant dean and multicultural affairs officer for Widener University School of Law and as assistant director for Diversity Initiatives at the Law School Admission Council.

Founded in 1899, John Marshall was an early pioneer in opening its doors and admitting minorities, women and immigrants. The law school graduated its first female student, Jessie Cook, in 1903; its first African-American student, James Randle, in 1904 and its first Hispanic student, William E. Rodriguez, in 1912. Today, with more than 34 percent of the student body at John Marshall composed of minority students, the law school's student body is one of the most diversified in the nation according to preLaw Magazine. Of the 1,032 students currently enrolled in the law school's J.D. program, 353 identify as African American, Asian, Hispanic and other diverse backgrounds. The numbers reflect John Marshall's longstanding mission to encourage minority and under-represented students to pursue a career in the law.

John Marshall's community is made up of more than 50 student organizations that represent the diverse interests and pursuits of the student body. These organizations include the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Latino Law Students Association and Middle Eastern Law Students Association. Student leaders from many of these organizations comprise the Multicultural Leadership Council, which works to ensure that John Marshall remains at the forefront of diversity and inclusion. Additionally, the Academic Enhancement Program, developed by the Latino Law Students Association and run by the Office of Diversity Affairs, offers students a forum for course review through weekly assessments and practice exams.

About The John Marshall Law School

The John Marshall Law School, founded in 1899, is an independent law school located in the heart of Chicago's legal, financial and commercial districts. The 2017U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools ranks John Marshall's Lawyering Skills Program 5th, its Trial Advocacy Program 19th and its Intellectual Property Law Program 21st in the nation. Since its inception, John Marshall has been a pioneer in legal education and has been guided by a tradition of diversity, innovation, access and opportunity.
LISLE, Ill., May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, partnered with Marianos and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor a Glendale Heights, Ill. military family on Wednesday.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/90cc3afe-f09d-402f-967c-baac0107c9e1

Eckrich hosted a special presentation outside a Marianos store in Naperville, Ill. to honor, thank and support the Zapata family. The family was surprised with a gift of $5,000 in free groceries at Marianos, courtesy of Eckrich.

As part of the event, crowds of shoppers were treated to samples of delicious Eckrich smoked sausage and deli meat, live country music and an appearance by Chicago country radio station 99.5. In addition, Eckrich provided local military service members and their families with $25 Marianos gift cards to thank them for their service.

Francisco Zapata served three tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps between 2004 and 2007. His wife, Jackie, is his caregiver and a member of the Operation Homefront Hearts of Valor program. The family has three children.

This is amazing for our family, said Francisco Zapata. Im speechless that Eckrich and Marianos have come together to do this. Its not just us out there, but its the family that we leave behind, too. Its nice to see families being recognized and we are really thankful.

The surprise is part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The Zapata family is supported by Operation Homefronts Hearts of Valor program, a network of caregivers for wounded, ill or injured service members. Operation Homefront supports these caregivers through annual retreats, support groups and online communities.

Eckrich, a brand of Smithfield Foods, in its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2 million to the organization since 2012. Now through July 4th, Eckrich is donating 5 cents for every purchase of specially marked products, up to $500,000, to Operation Homefront to assist military families.

Eckrich continues to thank, support and honor our military families across the country, said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. These families make great sacrifices and we appreciate Marianos partnership and support for military families. Today, we were proud to thank the Zapata family for their service and to present them with $5,000 in free groceries.

For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com.

About Eckrich

Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.com.

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, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Cook's, John Morrell, Gwaltney, 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.

About Operation Homefront

A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. With more than 3,200 volunteers nationwide, Operation Homefront has provided assistance to tens of thousands of military families since its inception shortly after 9/11. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefronts expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.
Just to start with, there is a number of b-schools visiting during MBA world tour. Here is the schedule:Delhi - 28 NovMumbai - 30 NovHyderabad - 03 DecBangalore - 05 DecChennai - 07 DecB-Schools participating:# Aarhus School of Business# Aegis School of Business# American University, Kogod School of Business Administration# Aston Business School# AUDENCIA Nantes School of Management# AUEB Athens University of Economics and Business# BI Norwegian School of Management# Boston University School of Management# Bradford University# Brandeis International Business School# Case - Weatherhead School of Management# CEU Business School# China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)# Claremont Graduate University, The Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management# Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management# Drexel University - LeBow College of Business# Duke University, Fuqua School of Business# EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL# EM LYON# ESG - Paris Graduate School of Management# ESSEC Business School - Paris# ETS# Fordham University Graduate School of Business# Georg-Simon-Ohm Management Institute# George Washington University School of Business# Grenoble Ecole de Management - Grenoble GSB# HEC Montreal# Henley Business School# HKU - The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business & Economics# Hult International Business School# IE Business School# Imperial College Business School# Johns Hopkins University, Carey Business School# London Business School LBS# MIP - POLITECNICO DI MILANO# Monterey Institute of International Studies# Nanyang Business School, Singapore# National University of Singapore - Business School# Nottingham University Business School# Ohio State University, Fisher's College of Business# OU Business School# Oxford Brookes University# Pepperdine University's Graziadio School# QS University# QUT  Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, Faculty of Business - Brisbane Gradu# Regents College London# Reims Management School# Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai# Saint Marys University MBA Sobey School of Business# SDA Bocconi# Skolkovo Moscow School of Management# Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong.# TASMAC London School of Business# Temple University, Fox School of Business# The Lisbon MBA NOVA - MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology# Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business# UC Irvine# UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business# Universidad Adolfo Ibanez# University of Alberta MBA Program# University of California, Riverside - The A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management# University of Hull Business School# University of Malaya - UM# University of New Brunswick Saint John# University of Ottawa# University of Rochester Simon School# University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business# University of Surrey - School of Management# University of the Sunshine Coast# University of Toronto Joseph L. Rotman School of Management# University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business# University of Westminster, Westminster Business School# University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Business# Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management# Washington University, Olin School of Business# WHU  Otto Beisheim School of Management# York University, Schulich School of BusinessCheck out http://www.topmba.com/mba-tour for registration details.
Last summer, Dylan Dodd was browsing through antiques in Seattle when he came upon a small wooden figurinea crow, carved in a Japanese style. Admiring its simple design, Dodd bought the tiny bird and brought it back to Brooklyn. He struggled to come up with a name for it until one of his Japanese chefs suggested Karasu. Rough translation? "Little crow."

Hidden behind a large blue door in the back of Fort Greene's Walter's is Dodd's new restaurant Karasu, a cozy yet refined Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar. The food is a take on what Dodd and co-owner Danny Minch call "Kyoto-style dining," which values seasonality above all. Head chef Yael Peet's menu takes cues from izakaya, kaiseki, and robata cooking styles, and her delicious seafood and vegetable plates should be ordered as one cohesive meal.

Since opening late last week, Karasu is offering bowls of Japanese potato salad topped with miso ($7) and bonito-showered rutabaga ($6). Both are crisp and delicious. Peet's menu also boasts octopus slow-braised in onions and sake, house-made pasta with uni, and an aged prime ribeye steak rubbed with fermented koji rice (the latter of which is mouth-watering enough on its own, but when dipped in its accompanying vinegar sauce approaches mind-altering levels of deliciousness that are well worth the $65 price tag).

It's a far cry from the ramen and sushi kitchens that have saturated New York, and Peet stresses that her menu is inspired by modern Japanese tastes, including foreign plates that locals in Tokyo and Kyoto have adopted as their own.

"Since we opened, diners have been really adventurous and tolerant, which is all I could ever ask for," the chef said.



The Dippermouth augments the traditional old fashioned with black walnut, creme de banana, and cold brew (Scott Heins/Gothamist)

The focus on modern Japanese favorites extends to Karasu's bar, which is headed up by ZZ's Clam Bar alum Thomas Waugh. The smoky-sweet "Thrice Rice" is a Japanese take on horchata that includes rice cake, sake, and Laphroaig scotch, while the "Dippermouth" (named after Louis Armstrong) augments the old fashioned by adding black walnut and creme de banane (both $14). Want something simpler? Waugh is serving plenty of sakes, shochu, and Japanese whiskeys straight up. "It's been a really amazing late night vibe in here with people drinking until 2 a.m.," Dodd said.

The windowless space Karasu occupies was once a chiropractor's office, and as Dodd and Minch gradually built its ceiling, walls, and bar, they realized their plan for a casual neighborhood spot was becoming more intricate by the day. "It was really a vanilla box," Dodd said, "and for better or worse the way we designed it was just by doing one thing and then moving on to the next." Karasu's deep blue walls are accented by blond wooden screens imported from Japan, and its bar is lit by tall art deco sconces. A turntable spins jazz records at a level that encourages both raucous conversation and thoughtful solo drinking.

So much of Karasu just looks, sounds, tastes, and feels good (and in the case of the steak, perhaps too good). Inside, everything feels patiently detached from the outside world. Dodd, Minch, Peet, and Waugh have made something much finer than perhaps even they originally expected. If you've got dreams of a trip to Japan, make a detour to Dekalb Avenue.

Karasu is located in the back room of Walter's at 166 Dekalb Avenue // (347) 223-4811 // Kitchen open weeknights 5:30 p.m. - 11:30; Weekends 5:30 p.m. - Midnight; Bar open late // Closed Tuesdays
A 12-year-old Queens boy has suffered serious burns after he tried to light himself on fire for a YouTube "fire challenge" video.

Police say that the preteen, whose name has not been released, was inside his Far Rockaway home around 8:30 p.m. last night when he doused himself in rubbing alcohol and set himself on fire while standing in a bathtub. He wasn't able to turn the shower on to put the fire out though, and he suffered third-degree burns covering more than 40 percent of his body.

According to the Post, he was taken to the Nassau University Medical Center Burn Unit in critical condition, but is expected to live.

The "fire challenge" has been social media stunt for at least two years, with teens across the country burning themselves in the process. "You just see fire, you cant really see nothing, Fernando Valencia, 16, told KABC News about his attempt (in 2014) at the challenge, which ended in him burning his waist and neck. "Since I saw other people fail, I thought I could do the same thing but actually last longer under the flame... I can't really say nothing else besides it was a dumb idea."

Other teens in Florida and Kentucky have also suffered serious injuries trying to pull off the stunt. One 15-year-old who burned himself doing it was asked what he thought would happen when he set himself on fire: "I don't know, I wasn't thinking really."
weren't far off the mark: Mount Sinai announced today that the 127-year-old, 856-bed facility will be replaced by a 70-bed facility within the next four years. Once the new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel Hospital opens in 2020, the current facility will eventually be sold, and will join the ever-growing list of city hospitals that have shuttered in recent years.

Despite rumors circulating earlier this month, Mount Sinai was saying as recently as last week that Beth Israel would not close, but that it was "working on a plan which will enhance existing services and develop new facilities in the Beth Israel community."

That plan, as it turns out, involves shutting down most of the existing Beth Israel facility at 16th Street, after all. New investments will preserve and enhance Mount Sinai Beth Israel's Bernstein Pavilion, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel's Comprehensive Cancer Center West. The new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel Hospital, located at 14th Street just off Second Avenue, will have an emergency department that can handle all emergencies on site, but that will transport patients with complex conditions to other hospitals in the Mount Sinai health system upon stabilizing them. Mount Sinai is adamant that there won't be any losses of services during the restructuring, as the current facility will remain open until the new one is built.

Overall, Mount Sinai will invest $500 million in its new Mount Sinai Downtown network, and it'll likely make that money back in its eventual sale of the 16th Street facility, which is expected to sell for $600 million.

Mount Sinai, the largest private employer in the city, says that it will retrain and place as many employees as possible elsewhere within the Mount Sinai system when MSBI closes; it will also place any potentially displaced physicians-in-training in other programs within the system. All union employees1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East represents over 4,000 nurses and caregivers at the hospitalwill be given other union jobs with equal pay. Between 600 and 700 nonunion employees will reportedly lose their jobs.

"For several years, we have been transforming the Mount Sinai Health System toward a new model of care, where we focus on keeping entire communities healthy and out of the hospital," said Mount Sinai Health System President and CEO Kenneth L. Davis on Wednesday. "Mount Sinai Downtown is a dramatic next step that will enable us to improve access and increase quality by providing care for residents of downtown Manhattan where they live and work."

After St. Vincent's shuttered in 2010, following a series of layoffs, Beth Israel was the last remaining large hospital serving Lower Manhattan. But the hospital, which joined Mount Sinai's network in 2013, has been struggling: it lost $115 million in 2015 and had already lost $23 million in the first quarter of this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. It currently has an outstanding debt of $200 million.

Mayor de Blasio has been a vocal critic of the number of hospital closures under his predecessor's tenure, and he was arrested in 2013, while campaigning for mayor, for protesting the closing of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. De Blasio said today that "major decisions about the future of hospitals have been happening in this city for the past decade, too often based on no plan whatsoever and without a larger strategy in place, and that has to end...While it is good to see that layoffs of unionized staff will be avoided and some important investments made, [Mount] Sinai must work with the community to ensure that the in-patient and emergency care needs of local residents are met."

In a letter sent to Davis last week, a number of elected officials expressed concerns about any downsizing or closure at Beth Israel, which they said "threatens to further strain an already overburdened network of healthcare providers in Manhattan, reduce healthcare options and curtail services in the immediate neighborhood, and eliminate jobs."

But Mount Sinai says that the whole point is to shift away from inpatient care: in announcing this downsizing, officials pointed to data showing that the number of empty hospital beds has been increasing over the past several years, and said that since St. Vincent's closed, the total average daily inpatient census at other hospitals has declined. At Beth Israel, more than 40 percent of beds are typically empty, and the hospital's patient volume has apparently plummeted in recent years.

"When St. Vincent's closed we were told over and over again, 'everyone can go to Beth Israel, don't worry,'" recalled Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer when reached by phone today. "Now, Beth Israel say that they're not closing, that they're getting smallerbut they're getting an awful lot smaller, so I am concerned."

In addition to the shrinking number of inpatient beds, Brewer said she's concerned about making sure Beth Israel can provide all the medical procedures that might be needed by patients who come to the hospital. She would also like to ensure that the current building, which is zoned as a community facility, remains that way, rather than going the way of St. Vincent's and becoming luxury condos.

Brewer isn't the only politician upset by news of Beth Israel's restructuring: City Council Member Dan Garodnick said that while Mount Sinai's plan for a new emergency room is promising, "the planned reduction of licensed in-patient beds from 856 to 70 raises real questions about whether that is adequate capacity for the downtown community; what percentage of patients would need to be moved for appropriate treatment; and how Mount Sinai would expand the number of beds if that proved necessary." Congressman Jerrold Nadler was similarly critical, and said that he is "concerned that the drastic reduction in hospital beds in New York Cityand now twice in Lower Manhattanin recent years will result in insufficient care downtown."

Construction on the new, smaller facility at 14th Street and Second Avenue is expected to begin in 2017. There will be a community meeting on the upcoming changes at Beth Israel at the Bernstein Pavilion tomorrow, at 11 a.m.
Back in March, MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast admitted that unless the state budget was finalized with funding for the MTA's 2015-2019 capital plan, his authority was on track to run out of money for new capital projects by June 30th. The MTA would have been reduced to a maintenance agency, keeping up with safety-critical track repairs but unable to award new contracts for major, arguably critical, projects like new subway cars and buses, and phase two of the Second Avenue Subway.

This week, that fate has been narrowly avoided. On Tuesday the MTA announced that the Capital Plan Review Boarda group with final veto power over state-approved MTA funding planshas voted in the $27 billion 2015-19 Capital Plan, after nearly two years of debate and buck-passing between city and state officials.

"The MTA is the lifeblood of the New York metropolitan areas transportation network and we must ensure it has the capacity to meet the travel demands of the next generation and fuel one of the largest economies on the globe, stated Governor Cuomo, whose investment in NYC's crumbling infrastructure has historically been disappointing.

"Today marks a major step forward for the MTA, and the people of New York, added Prendergast in a statement. "With historic levels of funding through the capital plan, we have the resources and support we need to fulfill the Governor's mandate to renew, enhance and expand our transportation infrastructure."

The state and city agreed to fund the MTA's 2015-19 capital plan in Octoberan announcement that turned out to be a small gesture in the midst of the longest capital plan approval process in state history.



Cuomo and Prendergast announcing new high-tech buses earlier this year (via Governor's Office).

"It's definitely a relief," said William Henderson, director of the watchdog group Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, of the plan's approval. "The MTA has pretty much run out of tricks to shuffle money around."

The plan earmarks funding for Cuomo's controversial renovations to 31 subway stations in NYC, which will likely result in lengthy station shutdowns. $2.5 billion has been set aside for the East Side Access project connecting the LIRR to Grand Central, and $695 million for four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx. Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway has been promised a $1 billion injection (we laid out the asterisks to this promise last month).

But while the MTA now has permission to award new contracts, the entirety of the $27 billion capital planincluding the full $7.3 billion from Governor Cuomo and $2.5 billion from Mayor de Blasiohas not been set aside in neat stacks for the authority's taking. (The Governor's office said on Tuesday that the state budget includes 2/5 of the remaining $7.3 billion.)

"The MTA has an approved spending plan for new projects," Henderson clarified. "But they don't necessarily have the money that funds that. The fear is what they are going to have to do to get all the money. If that means borrowing [from the city and/or state] that requires them to make some changes in their fairs or tolls to support that borrowing, that's a bad thing for riders."

"We're glad the MTA capital plan is finally approved. It's taken well over a year," said Nick Sifuentes of the straphangers advocacy group Riders Alliancea group that has long been skeptical of the governor's monetary commitments. "The question is where that money is going to come from."

Both the Mayor's and Governor's offices have been adamant in recent months that concerns about funding sources for the capital plan are unfounded, describing their commitments as "ironclad."

"Through the Enacted Budget, the State's commitment of $8.3 billion in new funding for the MTA is now law," said state budget spokesman Morris Peters in a statement.
After nearly 20 years of service, the former NYPD commanding officer of the Upper East Sides 19th Precinct is retiring. Deputy Inspector James Grant is less than one month shy of 20 years of service, which is the magic number when NYPD employees get to enjoy full pension benefits. Presumably Grant just wants to spend more time with his family or learn how to fly fish, and his retirement has nothing to do with the private plane trips he allegedly took with prostitutes on someone elses dime.

Grant is one of roughly 20 NYPD executives that the FBI is investigating for allegedly taking diamonds, cash, and trips from Upper West Side developer Jona Rechnitz and Jeremey Reichberg, a powerful member of Borough Parks Orthodox community.

Both of those businessmen have ties to Mayor de Blasio, with Rechnitz donating more than $150,000 to the mayors campaign and to the campaign to elect Democratic state senators. (The mayor has said he would return those donations.)

The Post reported that Grant and Detective Michael Milici were on a flight to Las Vegas from Teterboro Airport in 2014 chartered by Rechnitz and that NYPD officials had sex with a prostitute dressed as a flight attendant. It's not clear how many trips Grant went on, but Rechnitz allegedly paid for trips to London and Rome as well.

Last month Grant was stripped of his badge and gun pending the results of the investigation.

Any questions that hes been asked, hes answered truthfully, Grants attorney told the Times. We anticipate him retiring now and moving on with the next step of his life.

The Post reports that if approved, Grants retirement would take effect on June 21, less than a month shy of his 20-year employment anniversary. The NYPD has a month to decide whether to permit the retirement, or bring departmental charges against him.

If Grant waited the full 20 years, he would have been eligible for a yearly pension equivalent to 50% of the average of his salary for the last three years. According to See Through NY, Grant earned $146,583 in 2013, $154,300 in 2014, and $180,210 in 2015.
We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today
The Parks Department announced this week that it's going to remove or lower chainlink and iron fencing and spruce up perimeter sections at eight NYC parks, in an effort to make the green spaces more explicitly welcoming and erase some lingering vestiges of bad-old-days New York.

"We are making parks more open, welcoming, and beautiful by focusing on improving entrances, edges, and park-adjacent spaces," the department explains on its website. "We'll make entrances easier to find, the edges of our parks greener... and improve sight lines to make our parks safer."

The NY Times reports that community groups and park stewards recommended 690 of the city's 1,700 parks for Parks Without Borders makeovers. The eight winners will get a $40 million cash injection from Mayor de Blasio's OneNYC coffers.

It looks like Central Park's maddeningly slanted perimeter walls won't be going anywhere anytime soon, but here's a breakdown of the parks that will be seeing changes, with a rough outline of the focus areas in each:

Van Cortland Park in the Bronx: The city will renovate the southwest corner of the park near the entrance to the 242nd Street stop on the 1 train. The entrance is currently lined with a rusty, chainlink fence.

Prospect Park: While Park Slope residents have a dramatic open entrance to the park at Grand Army Plaza, the fencing along Flatbush Avenue on the east side of the park is a mix of spiky iron and chainlink fencing.



The Flatbush Avenue edge of Prospect Park (Google Maps).

Seward Park on the Lower East Side: Adjacent to a public library branch, the park is surrounded by tall fencing and has several gates that are often locked (as the NY Times points out, one of the gates is only unlocked when the library is open, meaning access to the park is often limited). The renovations will focus on increasing access to the park by cutting back on fencing all the way around.

"I would love to walk through the park more, but past the library it is all fences, and if you enter the [entrance] on East Broadway you cannot get out anywhere on the Essex side," one resident told the department during the selection process. "If fences are needed, is there a way to make them less visually obstructive?"

Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens: The city plans to add entrances to the park on 111th Street.

Hugh J. Grant Circle / Virginia Park & Playground in Parkchester: The circle, full of benches and green space, is surrounded by a gate that's often locked. The city plans to tear that down and open up the space.



Hugh J. Grant Circle (Google Maps).

Fort Greene Park: The city will focus on the northern edge of the park, which has the fewest entrances. Neighbors who voted for the renovation pointed out that the park is bordered by a solid wall along most of Myrtle Avenue.

Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem: The edges of the park along Edgecombe Avenue and 145th Street have chainlink fencing. The city plans to lower or remove it, and add new benches and tree guards.

Faber Pool and Park on The North Shore of Staten Island: The Richmond Terrace entrance has one pedestrian entrance that's often closed, and two car entrances that make neighbors nervous, especially with small kids.

Parks confirmed on Wednesday that they'll be hosting community meetings for each park later this year. More specific plans will be hashed out with community input.
The police are looking for a suspect who tried to rape a woman on a Brooklyn street a few days ago.

The incident took place on Sunday, May 22, at around 4:30 a.m., on 2nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, according to the NYPD: "The suspect approached the 21 year-old female victim from behind and touched her genitals over her underwear. The suspect then pushed the victim to the ground, pulled off her underwear and attempted to rape her. The victim fought off the suspect and yelled for help."

The suspect then ran into a dark-colored four-door Acura and fled west on 2nd Street.

An image of the car and a sketch of the suspect were released. The suspect was described as being 20-25 years old, 5'8"-6' and 170-180 pounds; he was last seen wearing light colored shorts and a light colored shirt.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of pointing firearms at three individuals early Monday in Helena.

Brandon JC Jones, 21, of Helena, was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a weapon by the Helena Police Department and Lewis and Clark County SWAT Team Monday. The arrest came after officers made telephone contact with Jones, and he agreed to come out of a residence and meet with investigators, according to a Helena Police Department news release.

Jones is suspected of pointing a rifle at three people during an apparent argument over missing money, according to court documents.

The investigating detective wrote in an affidavit that the alleged victims went to a residence on the 2100 block of Townsend Avenue to hang out. Once there, they told law enforcement, Jones offered them marijuana, mollys and alcohol. The alleged victims noticed multiple firearms in the residence, the affidavit says.

At about 4 a.m. Monday, a juvenile female at the residence reportedly accused one of the victims of taking some money. At that point, Jones and a juvenile male allegedly became involved, pointing rifles at the three victims, not allowing them to leave and demanding the money be returned, the affidavit says.

The three alleged victims were able to leave once the money was located, according to the affidavit.

The 17-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of three counts of assault with a weapon and transported to the Great Falls Juvenile Detention Facility, according to the news release.

Jones bond was set at $25,000.

If convicted of assault with a weapon, Jones could be imprisoned for up to 20 years or fined up to $50,000, or both.
Our family has known Hillary Clinton for over three decades. Each of us has worked alongside her on various pressing problems and issues facing America and the world. In doing so, she has become a friend. Perhaps it is helpful to hear from folks who personally know a presidential candidate. It is with that in mind that we share these impressions.

In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, Carol was running Peace Links, an organization that had the bold idea to bring professional women from the former Soviet Union to the United States with the aim of increasing understanding of one another. This was a visionary exercise in citizen diplomacy at a time when engaging with the Evil Empire was risky and unpopular. We asked a handful of states' First Ladies if they would be willing to host the visitors. Hillary was the first to agree. Not only did she invite them to Little Rock, she hosted them at the governors mansion for a public conversation and arranged various visits with schools, businesses and hospitals. Perhaps not surprisingly, more than a few people attacked Hillary for being too progressive for hosting the Russian visitors. We learned firsthand how she identified problems and courageously went to work on a plan to fix them. During her life of public service, her creativity and experience has only grown, and with it has grown our admiration.

Pat met Hillary when he was chair of the House Committee on Labor-Management and Hillary was First Lady, helping develop President Clintons health care proposal. Pats committee had legislative jurisdiction over the legislation. Working closely together on health care, Pat was impressed with her considerable smarts, dedication and joyous sense of humor. They traveled the country, including Montana, listening to folks' needs and doing what they could to craft a plan to solve them. Hillary always came to Capitol Hill and all of the meetings prepared, knowing the issues, saying what she meant and keeping her word. Pat has liked, supported and trusted Hillary ever since that first meeting 26 years ago.

A few years after graduating from the University of Montana, Whitney went to work for Hillary in the White House, serving as the First Ladys trip director. Traveling alongside Hillary to more than 40 states and countries, Whitney got to know Hillary, the person. Hillary is funny and she has one of the best laughs you have ever heard. She is loyal, shes a great mom and a very good friend to many. At her core Hillary is fearless, humble and kind. She is a hard worker entirely driven by public service and she has limitless grit and determination to leave the world better than she found it. Hillary is trustworthy and has never forgotten where she came from or the progressive values she is fighting for.

Whitney has remained close to Hillary since her time in the White House. They worked together on domestic and foreign issues from foster care advocacy when Hillary was a U.S. Senator to development projects in the Congo as secretary of state.

Hillary is a remarkable leader with an impressive track record fighting for progressive causes our family cares deeply about. Each of us is delighted to have worked alongside Hillary to further many of them, but we are most proud to call her a friend of the family.

Pat Williams is a former U.S. congressman, Carol Williams is a former state Senate majority leader, and Whitney Williams is the founder and CEO of WilliamsWorks.
Having had the opportunity to work with Becky Beard for nearly 20 years, I can attest to her professional integrity and understanding Montanas infrastructure challenges. She has been a leader in working with municipal governments throughout the state and has guided many cities, counties and districts through the complicated state and federal funding programs. Becky is a proven roll up your shirt sleeves advocate for a roll-back on business-related regulations. We need representatives with this level of passion and I fully endorse Becky Beard as the citizens' representative for HD80.
BILLINGS -- Not even halfway through 2016, Yellowstone County has already seen as many crash deaths  17  for the year as it did in all of 2015.

Across Montana through May 16, the number of traffic fatalities has increased 45 percent from the same time last year, from 42 to 61.

With those numbers in mind, along with the often busy Memorial Day weekend approaching, state transportation officials spent Tuesday morning in Billings speaking with local organizations and businesses about deadly crashes and the role seat belt use can play in preventing them.

"It's pretty much double in some places in Montana over this time last year," said Mike Tooley, Montana Department of Transportation director. "And those are preventable deaths."

In 2015 in Montana, about 70 percent of the fatalities in automobiles equipped with seat belts involved the victims either not wearing seat belts or not wearing them properly.

During Tuesday's tour, Tooley, along with Montana Highway Traffic Safety Section Supervisor Janet Kenny and MDT cultural liaison Sheila Cozzie, spent time speaking with St. Vincent Healthcare staff about the effects of vehicle crashes, went over child car seat safety with ambulance crews and checked out wrecked vehicles and a local wrecking yard.

A common thread worked its way through each stop: Many fatal crashes can be prevented with seat belt use.

At St. Vincent, Dr. Barry McKenzie, director of the hospital's trauma center, told Tooley that one of his biggest challenges in dealing with crash victims is "knowing it's preventable" and that he's tired of Montana having some of the worst fatality rates in the country.

"The best form of trauma care is trauma prevention," he said, adding that using seat belts, not drinking and driving, not driving distracted and wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle can go a long way to providing that prevention.

In Yellowstone County in 2015, 12 of the 18 crash deaths were in vehicles with seat belts and of those, three-quarters involved improper seat belt use.

To demonstrate the importance of seat belt use, the officials also had the chance to tour one section of the hospital's intensive care unit where half of the patients are there for serious trauma injuries, all but one of whom suffered injuries in vehicle crashes while not wearing a seat belt.

"We don't see or treat a lot of people that were wearing a seat belt," said Justin Logan, a clinical specialist in the hospital's emergency department.

On several occasions, Tooley brought up that Montana doesn't have a primary seat belt law, only a secondary one. That means that while people can be ticketed for not wearing one, they can't be pulled over solely for that reason.

Statistics from other states have shown, Tooley said, that the implementation of a primary seat belt law can increase seat belt usage by more than 10 percent. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, such a law could also prevent 11 fatalities and more than 1,100 injuries each year in Montana, while increased fines for not wearing one could have a similar effect.

Medical officials said they're working on getting such a law passed in Montana.

"We really want to show people what could happen," Tooley said. "Driving is serious business, and I think a lot of people take that simple act for granted."

Child safety

During a stop by American Medical Response, emergency crews there talked with the state officials about proper child car seat use, including how to correctly install them while advising that parents carefully read and follow both the seat's and the car's owner's manuals.

Crews also went over some of the state's traffic injury and fatality numbers involving youth, noting that about 10 children age 14 and younger and 25 ages 15 to 19 die each year in crashes.

"We have a pretty high rate in Montana for these kids," said Andrew Goss, a registered nurse at Billings Clinic and certified car seat technician. "Part of that is making sure they're restrained properly  and parents can set an example there."

Later on, the group visited Hanser's automotive services business, which is one of several companies in the area that tows vehicles after wrecks, to speak with employees and the Montana Highway Patrol while looking at cars and trucks damaged in serious crashes.

MHP Sgt. Scott Ayers said that education is important in getting more people to wear seat belts.

"I can't say enough about the proper use of seat belts and child seats," he said. "If someone wants to survive a crash, that's the No. 1 thing you can do."

Tooley said that it's tough to tell exactly why traffic fatality numbers are up so much this year, but that it's got to change.

As he toured the yard at Hanser's, he came across the mangled remains of a car. Hanser's employees told him the car crashed in a nearby county. The driver, they told him, wasn't wearing a seat belt and died, and a young child was injured.

"None of this has to happen," he said. "How would somebody behave if they knew their car was going to end up here today like this from a crash? I bet they'd change."
BILLINGS -- When Brandon Main was released from the state prison last October, he went back to Fort Belknap.

In all, he'd be away from the reservation about 15 years. Many of the people he grew up with were dead from drug use, and he didn't recognize some of the ones who are still alive. Most of the homes he visited were filled with drugs and addicts.

He relapsed before his first meeting with a parole officer.

Ive been repeating the cycle my whole life," he said. "Ive done a lot of bad things, sold drugs. The last time I was in for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Main has been clean since April 26. He believes this time recovery will work because he's enrolled in the peer mentorship program of the Aaniiih Nakoda Anti Drug Program.

The 37-year-old has been down this road before. Ive been through almost every treatment program the state has to offer from Deer Lodge boot camp to the WATCh program, pre-releases. Ive been through the whole cycle a couple of times," he said. But having someone to talk to who understands his struggle and his culture makes a difference, he said.

Peer mentors are people who have gone through recovery. They do everything from make appointments for the person they mentor to driving them to meetings. They help with court hearings. But mostly, they listen.

Peer mentors must be strong in their own recovery, and they work with people in active addiction or who have been clean for a short time, said Miranda Crasco-Kirk, who runs the program with Charmayne Healy. The two women spoke about their program last week to a gathering of tribal leaders, health care and social workers and others who gathered for a two-day summit on meth abuse in Indian Country put on by the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leadership Council.

They started Jan. 4 and got their first participant in February. Three more enrolled in March, then two in April and eight in May. There are 12 active participants now; two dropped out.

All 14 used more than one drug. Ten of the 14 were intravenous drug users. Eight who have completed the program have had some sort of relapse at one point and eight are in some form of other treatment.

The program is funded from $150,000 seed money from tribe's Island Mountain Development Group. Kirk and Healy are starting to transfer the program to a nonprofit. Tribal leadership comes and goes, they said, and they dont want to be dependent on anyone elses approval to operate.

Meth in Indian Country, said George Horse Capture Jr., vice president of the Fort Belknap Tribal Council, is the new smallpox of the day, and believe you me, its not done feeding on us.

Jonathan Gilbert, chief medical officer for the Billings area office of Indian Health Services, said meth use on the reservations is beyond just a problem.

It is an epidemic, its a plague, he said. Elders call it the end of days, youth call it the zombie plague.  Through the night people are walking through the streets aimless without direction. Crime is up, employment is down, our schools are affected.

Conference attendees shared some stories of successes in treating meth, but also spoke about the many challenges they face. A lack of money to pay for sufficient rehabilitation was a universal problem.

Lenore Myers, director of the White Sky Hope Center, said her organization in Rocky Boy's spends $10,000 to send patients to Seattle for treatment, and the money that pays for the program was recently cut from $90,000 to $50,000. In the drug court at nearby Havre, 75 percent of participants are Native, she said.

Peer mentors are less costly and can help fill the deficiency that on-reservation treatment might have over in-patient clinics out of state.

Kirks husband, Bryce Kirk, is a mentor in the Fort Belknap program. He has been clean two years.

I can sit there and say Ive done this, Ive done this. They can ask you, How did you do that? And I can talk to them about the barriers.

Peer recovery is "the wave of the future in how we can spread out or resources the most," said Erin Awes, a certified addiction counselor at the Crow Wellness Center.

Marshelle Lambert, the meth initiative coordinator at the Bureau of Indian Affair's regional office, said the Billings area is the only one to get money to address meth. It receives $1.4 million thats doled out to 11 tribes and three agencies.

Most of the social services programs are understaffed, she said.

Ken St. Marks, chairman of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, said theres not enough money to reach people, especially pregnant women.

What were finding is a lot of the young ladies are coming to us wanting help and we dont have a place to send them. We dont have the money to send them.

For the first two quarters of this fiscal year, based on what the tribes report to BIA, there have been 27 babies born addicted to meth on the Fort Peck Reservation and 18 on Blackfeet.

Tribes and reservations have rehabilitation centers set up to treat alcoholism, Gilbert said, but they don't work for meth.

This isnt alcohol. The 12-step program doesnt work for methamphetamine.

Meth addiction treatment, he said, takes longer. And those who go through it struggle when they go back home to the situations that the lived in when they were using. People are encouraged to use and their rehabilitation is discouraged, Gilbert said.

People have so little hope in their life they turn to something that gives them happiness for so little time, he said.
Zhang Jinlai gives a speech at the premiere of the Nepali version of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 18, 2016. [Photo/Sina Weibo]

The premiere of the Nepali version of the 1986 TV series Journey to the West launched in Kathmandu in Nepal on May 18.

The series has been broadcasted in many countries, including Myanmar, Thailand, Ghana and Tanzania.

Zhang Jinlai, or Liu Xiao Ling Tong, played the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) in the series, and was invited by the Nepalese government to the premiere.

"In the past 34 years, the series has been broadcasted for more than 3,000 times with a total audience of 6 billion . I am very glad that it can come to Nepal too. Like the Hindu god Hanuman that is widely respected by Nepalese people, Monkey King also punishes devils and brings peace to people. I believe he will also be popular in Nepal," Zhang said.

The translation of the TV series started in 2013, with the support from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal and volunteers who teach Chinese in the country. It was originally scheduled to be broadcast in 2015, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Nepal, yet was postponed due to the April 25 earthquake in Nepal last year and other reasons.

In 2016, the Year of the Monkey, the Chinese Monkey King finally can find his way onto TV in Nepal.

During the premiere, the attendees watched episode 6 together and were moved by Monkey King's wit and humor. Zhang also introduced his stories about the filming of the series to the participants.

Some 150 Chinese and Nepalese officials and representatives attended the premiere and the press conference.
MISSOULA -- Patrick Weasel Head describes himself as an enigma.

"It's hard to put me down as one thing because I've done a lot in life, and I still do a lot in life," he said.

Weasel Head's history, his volunteer work and his life's stories fill page after page. On Sunday, he was honored by the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center Coordinating Council and Missoula Peace Quilters as the 2016 Peacemaker.

Every year for the past 30 years, the Peacemaker award is given to an individual or group that demonstrates a long-term commitment to peace and justice in leadership roles.

Weasel Head will turn 72 years old in November. He was surprised to hear he was receiving the award, but he has some guesses about why, or at least what makes him that enigma.

"Poverty, being in Vietnam, falling in love with a same-sex partner and being together for 31 years, raising my nieces and nephews with solid values, having more grandkids as a gay man," he said of his 22 grandchildren.

***

On Sunday afternoon at Break Espresso, his conversation was punctuated by people saying hello. He's become a recognizable face in the community, especially after serving for 11 months on the Missoula City Council, his term ending in January.

"Never did I expect this kind of engagement in my life," he said. "I always thought I was going to be discreet, live my way of life and move on."

He repeats "engagement" as he talks, emphasizing the importance of getting to know people  really getting to know them  beyond face value. He earned his bachelor and master's degrees from University of Montana and his doctorate from University of Oregon, where he met his longtime partner.

In retirement, he's always busy volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Drive a Van (driving veterans to and from health appointments), Missoula Food Bank and more.

Last year, he wanted to find out "what the other side of society is like," so he became a driver for Paws Up, the luxury ranch resort.

"The people I meet, you wouldn't guess that they're millionaires or movie stars," he said. "Having them talk to me, it equals us out. We're both flesh and blood and bones and brain matter. We're not wealthy, poor, skinny or fat. I like the idea that we're sort of on the same scale."

***

"Growing up is a white concept," he said.

As a child, his family moved around a lot. They lived in small Montana and Wyoming communities, on both his mother's and father's reservations, and in bigger cities such as Butte and Casper, Wyoming.

He faced racism during his freshman and sophomore years of high school in Casper.

"I was one of the few brown-skinned people," he said. "There were Mexicans, Indians, maybe seven in that school. And Casper is an oil town, so you've got rednecks. You never realize what rednecks can do, but they make you feel like you are lower than whale sh, and whale sh is the lowest you can get."

His last two years of high school were in Browning, where he was chosen to be in Boys State, a summer leadership program, due to his respect toward others.

Boys State represents the "elite" of a school, Weasel Head said, though he never saw himself as elite. Today, he believes that if he's elite in any sense, it's his ability to choose quality friends.

"People have values that they pick up in life and you don't know those values until you engage with them," he said. "Engaging with somebody, you learn their values, so you pick and choose your friends as a result of that.

"To this day, I have some of the best friends in the world because of their values. To me, that makes me wealthy, is having those quality friends."

"Growing up," he said, happened when he moved to Missoula for college in the 1960s.

"I thought there was an ideal sort of vision that a person should be viewed as," he said. "For me, it was trying to be healthy and happy, and know the boundaries of life. You don't want to be a law-breaker. You don't want to get other people irritated about you. So you try to feel out things, the boundaries of life, so you don't go outside those boundaries. I was here in the '60s when they were radical. ... We had little protest marches here in Missoula. I participated, but not to the point of being too radical, but being present.

"People ask me, 'Where'd you grow up?' Well, I'm still growing up, I'm still alive. I'm still like a magnet, picking up different pieces of information from different people."

***

Sometimes, that information is discouraging.

He's dismayed with politics, and how people treat one another these days.

He and other retirees pick up and deliver cars for car rental companies. One time, in a car of about 10 people on their way to Billings, one man used a racial slur when talking about President Barack Obama.

Weasel Head said he couldn't take it, and chastised the man for using that kind of language. The man got mad and the group fell silent.

"But we have to stand up for those things," Weasel Head said. "If we don't stand up for them, it's as if we believe them ourselves."

That character is part of the reason he was chosen for the award, said JRPC executive director Betsy Mulligan-Dague.

"For us, we see him as a definite representative of the push to overcome some of this polarity that we have," she said. "It definitely is a refreshing thing to see when much of what we also see in the media and stories around the world is polarity and divisiveness. I think Patrick has found good ways to make would-be enemies into friends, by reaching out and getting to know them a little.

"Any effort, no matter how small, toward peace is a good thing."
The recent column by Steve Chapman: No Apology for WWII Bombs gave me hope that somewhere out there was a kindred patriot who does not relish seeing every veteran and civilian survivor of WWII slapped in the face by our current president.

My parents were members of the generation who fought in WWII. Dad was a tail gunner in England, but his brother, my Uncle Charlie, fought on the ground in the South Pacific. Decades later he still suffered from belated PTSD. Mother, a kind and generous lady, detested the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor until the day she died.

If Mr. Obama does render an apology to Japan for the use of the atomic bomb to end the war, his citizenship should be revoked, and he should be repatriated to Japan. Since when is it deplorable to defend rights and liberties with every weapon in our arsenal? Especially when the enemy has perpetrated a backdoor sneak attack on noncombatant targets. The Japanese ambassadors were in Washington, DC, making nice with our government while their ships were moving into place to launch their war planes.

America and Japan are no longer at war in the military sense. We are allies and competitors in the global economy. America beat Japan in a fight they started. Let it rest there. Germany and England are in the same relationship. Has Great Britain apologized for the bombings and destruction of German cities during WWI or WWII? Has Russia apologized to France for whipping Napoleons army?

Victors do not apologize for being victorious, especially when the other country started the conflict.

A bit of irony: on the front page of the same edition is an article about the oldest surviving WWII veteran. Wonder what he thinks about apologizing for winning the war?

Patricia Tait-Hendrickson, Shelbyville
DECATUR  A possible attempted theft during a narcotics deal led to the stabbing of a teen drug dealer by a customer, which landed the victim in the hospital with a serious wound to his neck.

When police interviewed the victim at his westside residence about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, he said he was selling cannabis to an individual he knew as "Semaj" in the vicinity of Macon Street and Haworth Avenue a short time earlier.

The victim said Semaj may have been under the impression that he was going to keep Semaj's money and not provide him with the cannabis, said a probable cause affidavit by Decatur police detective Tim Wittmer.

At one point during the transaction, Semaj Griffin stabbed him in the neck from behind with a large knife, the victim told police. The victim then ran home and called for help.

Griffin, 18, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Macon County Jail. He was arraigned Tuesday on one count of armed violence, a Class X felony punishable by 10 to 30 years in prison. Griffin is being held on $75,000 bond, pending his preliminary hearing June 1.

The victim was bleeding inside his neck, possibly from a cut artery, hospital personnel told police. The victim required emergency surgery to stop the bleeding in his neck.

A witness told police he was inside a residence near the crime scene when he heard commotion, went outside.

He said he that he saw Griffin outside as well as the victim, both of whom he knew. He said he saw the victim bleeding profusely from his neck. He appeared to have been stabbed, and he ran toward his house, the witness told police.

Meanwhile, Semaj was pacing around outside stating, 'He shouldn't have taken my money,' the witness told police.

Griffin was granted a public defender to represent him after he was found to be indigent.
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is seeking proposals to demolish and redevelop a long-shuttered resort on Lake Shelbyville.

Eagle Creek Resort and Conference Center has been closed since 2009, when mold was found throughout the state-owned, privately managed facility at Eagle Creek State Recreation Area in Shelby County. Previous redevelopment efforts have failed to get off the ground.

The Department of Natural Resources estimates that the necessary improvements, including structural, mechanical, plumbing and safety upgrades, will cost $17.8 million. Included in that cost is work required to comply with current building codes and meet accessibility requirements for people with disabilities.

After reviewing the report and talking with local officials, the IDNR believes it best to plan on demolishing the current resort buildings and seek development proposals for a modern resort complex on that beautiful shoreline site at Lake Shelbyville, department director Wayne Rosenthal said in a written statement. We will consider all ideas for the resort that will result in development of a great visitor destination, and the best deal for taxpayers.

The departments findings are based on an evaluation of the property conducted by Chicago-based Globetrotters Engineering Corp. The company conducted walk-through inspection of the 138-room hotel and conference center in May 2015 and earlier this year.

Among the problem inspectors noted were numerous areas within the hotel facility, namely the kitchen area, banquet rooms and hotel wings . . . with mold, excessive waste and general clean-up issues, as well as the deteriorating effects of water infiltration in many locations.

Spokesman Chris Young said the department will issue a request for information from developers this summer and will set a deadline for responses at that time.

The Department of Natural Resources oversees the Eagle Creek resort and creation area through an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps is committed to working with the IDNR and local officials in providing opportunities for access to the lake and all it has to offer, Jon Summers, the Corps Lake Shelbyville operations manager, said in a written statement.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, who represents the area, said there are several developers interested in the project.

While previous redevelopment efforts have stalled, its different this time around, Rose said.

The key here is (to) get someone that knows what theyre doing from the start, he said. Actual developers of experience, substance and know-how exist that are interested in this property.

The long-term plans for the resort will likely include building a hotel with fewer rooms that can be expanded later if theres demand, Rose said.

Lake Shelbyville business and government leaders are optimistic about the resorts future.

Im thrilled there has been progress, Shelby County tourism director Freddie Fry said. Weve been waiting for someone to have the opportunity to bring back a valuable tourist resource on Lake Shelbyville.

In addition to the loss of hotel and motel tax dollars that fund the Shelby County Office of Tourism, Shelby and Moultrie counties lost sales tax revenues and jobs when the resort was shuttered in 2009. Government leaders from both counties are excited about possibilities for the propertys future. .

Weve been meeting for the last several months in an attempt to help expedite the process of getting Eagle Creek back in a productive state, Moultrie County Board Chairman Dave McCabe said. We have identified several developers.

We have a lot of work to do, Shelby County Board Chairman David Cruitt said. Weve spoken with several experienced developers that have the ability to restore the property to its proper greatness.

An open and thriving Eagle Creek would be an absolutely wonderful asset to the area, said Vonda McConnell, Shelbyville Chamber of Commerce office manager. The number of people it would bring in would increase shopping in our stores, eating in our restaurants and visitors to our attractions. It would make a big difference to the entire community.

Fry said she hoped a new resort would be a year-round asset on Lake Shelbyville.

Having the kind of facility that is not only a lakeside resort, but a meeting area and conference facility would be a welcome year-round revenue generator for the area, she said. It would provide tax revenue, but also showcase Lake Shelbyville as the beautiful destination it is.
This summer, air travel is for people who expect to go to hell and want to know what it will be like. Security lines have reached epic lengths in many airports. Thousands of travelers have missed flights. And the Transportation Security Administration now advises passengers to arrive two hours before departure for domestic flights -- and three in some places.

The agency in charge of aviation security has become a major problem. That's odd, because it was supposed to be a solution. Nearly 15 years after it was created, it's a case study of how firm, well-intentioned government intervention can produce an exploding cigar.

The agency came into being because of the 9/11 attacks, carried out by terrorists who commandeered airliners. A large share of the blame was heaped on airport security firms that didn't intercept the hijackers.

This lapse was not merely the failure of the workers manning the X-ray machines at the nation's airports. It was, we were told, a failure of the private sector, which was responsible for screening -- and the only reliable way to prevent future attacks was to turn security over to the federal government.

A few weeks after the attacks, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt took the House floor to lament the existing system. "The companies that have been doing this have failed the American people," he declared. "We must put security in the hands of law enforcement officers."

His was a common sentiment. Private contractors, we were told, paid their screeners too little, hired employees without adequate background checks and sometimes missed weapons being taken through checkpoints. When Republicans argued for keeping these operators but monitoring them better, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., scorned the idea: "We've had private contractors with government supervision in the past, and we ended up with 5,000 dead."

It wasn't exactly fair to blame the screeners for 9/11. The knives and box cutters reportedly used by the hijackers were not prohibited at the time. The 9/11 Commission faulted the Federal Aviation Administration because its policies "were aimed at keeping bombs out of baggage, not at keeping planes from being turned into guided missiles." Flight crews were trained not to resist hijackers -- which made it easy for the terrorists to take over the planes.

In spite of all that, Congress insisted on establishing the TSA, which today has some 55,000 employees, an annual budget of $7.44 billion and an aversion to self-criticism.

Explaining the recent mammoth delays, it said, "Individuals who come to the TSA checkpoint unprepared for a trip can have a negative impact on the time it takes to complete the screening process." Administrator Peter Neffenger said he was sorry about the people stranded in Chicago last weekend but added, "I won't apologize for doing our job well."

No need, since that accusation has not been heard. The delays would be easier to bear if screeners were relentlessly proving their value. But last year, in an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, undercover agents got banned items past screeners in 95 percent of their attempts.

"After spending over $540 million on baggage screening equipment and millions more on training, the failure rate today is higher than it was in 2007," complained Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Something is not working."

Actually, more than one thing is not working. The agency's culture also undermines safety. "Dozens of Transportation Security Administration employees in recent years have been reassigned, demoted, investigated or fired for reporting lapses or misconduct by senior managers, charges that were later upheld by whistle-blower protection agencies," The New York Times reported last month.

One remedy the agency offers for the recent long lines is for the airlines to stop charging for checked bags, which would mean fewer carry-ons to be inspected. Nice of the TSA to suggest that someone forgo revenue for the greater good, but it hasn't proposed to do the same -- say, by waiving the $85 PreCheck fee to induce more people to sign up for expedited screening.

Even that option might not help, because the agency is already having trouble keeping up with applications. If you want an appointment at one of the Chicago-area sites, expect to wait until July.

One advantage of using private companies to do airport screening is that if they make a botch of it, you can fire them. What would it take for the TSA to get fired?
The recent crystal meth bust in eastern McLean County was a wake-up call for anyone who thinks there's no drug problem in our midst.

The $30,000 haul of high-grade crystal meth was headed toward Saybrook for distribution elsewhere, authorities believe. It probably was manufactured in another country, and was brought to Central Illinois via Atlanta, Ga.

The quantity and quality of the drug, known colloquially as "ice," was a first for the county, Sheriff Jon Sandage said. The arrest was made after a traffic stop by Deputy Bryan Hanner, and was the first major bust attributed to the county's newest K-9, named Rico.

Crystal meth is a highly addictive street drug that can be snorted, smoked or injected with a needle. Abuse can lead to memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior and potential heart and brain damage, according to the Foundation for Drug-Free World.

Crystal meth is more potent than its counterpart, which is is commonly manufactured using cold pills and farm chemicals. The basic form of methamphetamine, which provides a quick, cheap and easy high and is highly addictive, made its way into the Midwest from California almost 20 years ago.

With easy access to interstates and relatively close proximity to metro cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Des Moines, Central Illinois is an attractive spot to sell or transfer drugs from any part of the country. Law enforcement officers have known that for a long time, but it's taken a recent near-epidemic of heroin use for the general public to start taking a hard look at the problem of serious drugs.

Last fall, in an interview with the Quincy Herald-Whig, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Patrick Frazier said crystal meth was making its way in Central Illinois via Mexican drug cartels. When police come across crystal meth, the newspaper said, they're finding it in much larger doses than when they investigated cases involving the traditional form.

Manufacturing differences in Mexico makes that country's crystal meth almost 100 percent pure and a lot cheaper, according to the Herald-Whig, quoting Jim Shroba, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in St. Louis.

Residents of Central Illinois must accept that drugs, crimes, poverty and homelessness are alive and well in our communities and contribute to a vicious cycle that ends with more crime, more poverty and more homelessness as each generation becomes entwined in drug use.

Our police agencies struggle for public acceptance of the jobs they do to keep us safe. It's time for us to step up as a community to fight the problems that contribute to so many preventable issues.
By Grisha Balasanyan

Ashot Yeghoyan, a 55-year-old resident of the Getap village in Armenia, is known by his neighbors as the inventor.

He fabricates farming utensils to make the work of his wife and fellow villagers that much easier.

When we visited the house, the small outside gate was locked. The person who escorted us knew that Ashot cant leave the house and was thus surprised to see the gate locked. We heard Ashots weak voice from the yard, Pull the lock and it will open.

Ashot was home alone. Anahit, his wife, had left at 6 a.m. with other women from the village to collect herbs and greens on the mountain. She locked the gate upon leaving. Anahit left a small box of food for Ashot. Shed return in the evening.

Ashot was outside, soaking up the springtime sun. He started his story at its most difficult page. He says he now has an easier time of recounting what happened in 2006 that left him without the use of his legs. It was July 29, his birthday. They were installing a water pipe in the village. Ashot was then working as a driver and security guard. That day, he went to work as usual. He had lifted a heavy barrel of diesel fuel and soon after started to experience serious stomach pain. He somehow managed to drive back home. An ambulance came and took him to the Yeghegnadzor Hospital. Ashot says that he immediately felt his legs weakening. After examining him, the doctor said that Ashot had suffered a stroke, not a heart attack. They transferred him to a hospital in Yerevan. Not being able to come up with a diagnosis, they started treating him for stroke.

But I didnt suffer a stroke. My spinal vertebrae were misaligned and the nerve had weakened as a result. They started to treat me for another illness and the result was that I ended up in a wheelchair, Ashot recounts, looking down at his feet.

Ashot confesses that at first he had a hard time accepting what had befallen him and that he tried to kill himself.

I couldnt get used to this sort of life. Slowly, I accepted my fate and started to use my free time coming up with ideas and making things to pass the time of day. My advice is that people adapt to their disabilities. Such is life. Its fate and cant be changed. You have to find something to do, to keep busy, and continue living. You always have to maintain a positive outlook, Ashot says.

Farming Tools for His Wife

Ashot uses his free time to invent farming tools based on a bicycle frame. When he feels in the mood, he also creates religious images from ground up glass. They can be seen decorating the walls of his house that reminds one of a trailer hut. Ashot says that while hes an unbeliever, the images come involuntarily. I always see churches in my mind, he says.

Ashot loves to invent things and has all the necessary equipment to do so. With a tool he created, Anahit can now dig furrows much more easily than before. By changing the head, it can also be used to clear the vegetable beds of grass. The tool, when finished, will be able to do four or five different chores.

Ashot found the models for the tools in the internet, choosing the simplest and most practical ones.

Ive made these tools so that my wife has an easier time when it comes to working. Shes had a rough ten years ever since Ive been affixed to this wheelchair. She raised the kids on her own and did all the chores, says Ashot, who has nothing but praise for Anahit.

Ashot adds that it isnt easy for him to fabricate the tools given that he must work seated. Something requiring one hour can take up to two days. Nevertheless, Ashot doesnt complain. What he produces makes life easier for his wife. Thats reason enough.

Ashot points to the trailer hitch in the yard and says his boys made it while they were still in school. There are people interested in buying it, but Ashot is reluctant to part with it. My boys made it. I cant sell it, he says.

While Ashot may not be able to walk, his mind is as nimble as ever. What really irritates Ashot is when some people see him and others with physical disabilities as less than a whole person.

The couple live alone and survive on Ashots 35,000 AMD ($73) monthly disability and 15,000 AMD ($32) allowance.

Theres also his wifes business of collecting herbs and drying them for the winter. Sometimes she sells her wares. Its seasonal work, but provides them with pocket money for daily expenses.

A Trailer Behind a Trailer

Ashot tells me that after the collapse of the Soviet Union the family lived in the office of a sovkhoz (state farm). Later, they moved to the town of Armavir in Russia and owned a three room house. They came back to Armenia when their daughter was sick and doctors advised the family to get her out in the fresh air. They rented a place but were told to move out when Ashot fell ill. They were only able to lay the foundations of a new house on the little patch of land they had. They sold the house in Russia to cover Ashots medical bills. Finally, the family had no place to go other than the small trailer located on the site.

Now, theres a bigger hut next to the old one and the foundations. This was purchased by Habitat for Humanity volunteers who visited Ashot and saw where he and his wife were living. They decided to launch a fundraiser for him.

Ashots Wants a Bigger Place So That the Family Can Live Together

Ashot has five children. His two daughters are married and two sons are in Russia looking for work. The youngest son is in the army, serving on the frontline.

My biggest problem is my medical condition. If I could walk, Id do what was necessary. But given that Im in this state, I would hope for some kind soul to help us out with a small home so that my kids could come and stay rather than wandering here and there. If everyone leaves, should we hand over Armenia to the Turks? he asks.

Ashot doesnt place any hopes for assistance on the government and hasnt applied to the authorities.

Photos and video: Davit Banuchyan
The following is an official press release of Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On May 23-24, the delegation of Armenia headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian participated in the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul. The UN organized summit, aimed to set a forward-looking agenda for humanitarian action to address current humanitarian challenges, was the first of its kind.

The Deputy Foreign Minister delivered a speech at the plenary session of the summit in which he particularly said:

The abhorrent barbarity committed recently by the armed forces of Azerbaijan, including intentional and indiscriminate targeting of the peaceful population, especially children, women, and the elderly, as well as civilian objects, including schools and kindergartens, killings, beheadings, torture and mutilation of bodies is incompatible with the elementary norms of a civilized world. It is a product of a long standing policy of racism, intolerance and incitement to hatred against Armenians, condoned and directly executed by the authorities of Azerbaijan. The grave and systematic violations of international humanitarian law committed by Azerbaijan and the glorification at the highest political level of persons directly involved in the atrocities constitute a crime against humanity and a war crime.

Touching upon the remarks of the president of Azerbaijan, made during the summit the day before, Ashot Hovakimyan emphasized that Azerbaijani president, who bears personal responsibility in initiating the aggression and glorifying the terrorists and ISIL-style brutalities perpetrators, yesterday used this august body to disseminate fabricated allegations against Armenians. None of those lies have any connection with reality. Armenia certainly has no plans of creating a nuclear bomb, and Armenian forces have never used chemical weapons. Since the President of Azerbaijan enjoys quoting former Armenian officials, he could have surely referred to one of his predecessors, who claimed the responsibility of the then Azerbaijani political leadership for killing of their own people in Khojalu.

The Deputy Foreign Minister also touched upon the issue of Syrian refugees, who arrived to Armenia and the governments efforts in providing them shelter. He also attached importance to the assistance, provided to refugees and displaced people by the international community, emphasizing that the values of dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms, must be guaranteed and must not be dependent on the status of the territory where peoples live.

The Armenian delegation participated in the parallel round-table discussions, dedicated to the issues of conflict prevention, assistance to refugees and displaced persons. The Deputy Foreign Minister also took part in the event organized by the MFA of Lichtenstein and dedicated to the genocides prevention.
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.
The redrawing of Wisconsins legislative districts was done in secret, piece-by-piece with input from Republican legislators who served in each region, according to a legislative aide who drew the maps.
State Debate: Will GOP lose its soul? asks columnist John Torinus; West Bend columnist wants state offices out of Madison
Aides to Sen. Ron Johnson, shown here speaking with reporters May 20 in Green Bay, sat on whistleblower tips about problems with care for veterans at the Tomah Veterans Affairs hospital, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper referred to Johnson's office as a congressional black hole. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times. dzweifel@madison.com and on Twitter @DaveZweifel
Dont blame it on Automotion, and dont let unruly behavior by an idiotic few upend a long-time, successful Wisconsin Dells weekend.

These were the two dominant themes voiced by local law enforcement, government and tourism officials Monday following an Automotion weekend that saw near-perfect weather and strong attendance at several local automobile-related events  accompanied by an increase in traffic jams, reckless driving and some untoward behavior by some attendees.

A dramatic increase in complaints and citations  with many infractions of the reckless-driving variety  were logged by local police forces between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, as a throng well above an expected 100,000 streamed into the Dells-Delton area during the 30th annual Automation classic car rally at Noahs Ark Waterpark.

The stream of automobile enthusiasts flocked not only to the venerable classic car rally at Noahs Ark, but also to auto rallies of varying sorts on tap at Mt. Olympus Resort, Bobbers restaurant and the Edge-O-Dells camping resort.

Significant traffic jams and gridlock, accompanied by the occasional squealing tires  known as burnouts  and, in general, reckless driving, especially throughout the day Saturday  kept Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells law enforcement officials on their toes throughout the weekend.

Complaints to the Dells Police Department were up by 50 percent, reported Police Chief Jody Ward, along with a marked increase in citations issued, ordinance violations and written warnings.

Wisconsin Dells police logged 130 complaints  up from 90 in 2015  and issued 94 citations, with 50 ordinance violations and 35 written warnings issued.

Lake Delton police received 178 calls for service, issued 440 citations with a reported 42 crimes, and issued a minimum of 2,000 warnings, according to Lake Delton Police Chief Daniel Hardman.

But while the violations and police citations  along with the reckless driving and unruly behavior that generated them  were dramatically increased over 2015, local officials universally agreed that the weekends events  especially Automotion  are here to stay and will not be sullied by a few so-called idiots.

This is not Automotion. Because we didnt have any problems with Automotion  its the other freak show, said Lake Delton Police Chief Daniel Hardman. Its not fair to Automotion that these idiots and other people do this stuff.

The rednecks that are cruising around and acting like a bunch of idiots, those are the people that are detracting from this event, said Dells Mayor Brian Landers. I dont think theyre here spending money at all, theyre only adding to the congestion and the problems the police are having.

Suggesting that the fines handed out for reckless driving  in the $600 range  arent discouraging people, Landers called for bringing in a fleet of tow trucks to remove offending vehicles when their drivers are out of control.

With a bunch of tow trucks staged and ready to tow vehicles, we let the towing companies charge whatever they want, Landers said. That could be a pretty hefty cost for squealing tires.

Both Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells augmented their full-time staffs with help from other departments in the area, and Ward said that approach will be taken in even greater measure a year from now.

I think this thing has grown to the point where we have to beef up our force even more next year and strategize about how to more effectively deal with the crowds, Ward said. I think its great for the community, however I think we will continue to increase enforcement efforts because theres too many reckless drivers and too many disturbances with the motor vehicles. Well keep dealing with it  thats what we get paid to do.

Automobile-related crashes apparently were fewer than in recent years in the Dells, which had two, and most of the dozens of auto mishaps reported were not serious  thanks in large part, officials said, to the weekend-long gridlock on major thoroughfares that at times slowed traffic to a standstill.

Maybe because the traffic volume was higher than normal, (Wisconsin Dells Parkway) was really like a big parking lot  there really wasnt a lot for people to do but inch along, said Lake Delton Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Darren Jorgenson. I dont recall ever seeing the Parkway get that much of a gridlock for that long a period of time, 

The exception to that trend was a hit-and-run, multi-collision set of accidents Saturday evening in Lake Delton, on the part of a single driver who was suspected of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to a news release from the Lake Delton Police Department.

The driver allegedly fled the first accident scene, where the vehicle he was driving collided with a motorcycle, then struck two pedestrians at a second scene before crashing into a telephone pole and metal railing a short distance away.

The motorcyclist involved in the first accident refused treatment, and the two pedestrians involved in the second incident were transported to a local hospital for treatment  as was the driver of the vehicle who fled.

The driver was later released from the hospital and booked into the Sauk County jail on multiple criminal charges, according to the news release, with names of the individuals involved being withheld until the investigation (by Lake Delton police) is complete.
A Reedsburg man reached a deal with prosecutors Tuesday in which he will serve 60 days in jail and three years on probation for possessing heroin with the intent to sell it.

Adam R. Zimmerman, 26, pleaded no contest to the felony drug possession charge. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession charge and encouraged the judge to withhold sentencing pending Zimmermans compliance with terms of the deal.

He will have work release privileges during his jail time, and must undergo drug addiction counseling as directed by his parole agent.

Mr. Zimmerman will leave here with a criminal record, Sauk County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Ryan said in court Tuesday. Hell leave a felon. Thats a crucifix. But in the end, that burden is a lighter load to bear than the prospect of addiction and a terminal junction.

In August 2015, a team of officers tailed Zimmermans vehicle after receiving information that he traveled to Illinois to pick up a large quantity of heroin, according to the criminal complaint. During a traffic stop in Sauk County, officers retrieved about 10 grams of heroin that Zimmerman had attempted to conceal between his butt cheeks.

Police say Zimmerman later admitted that he paid $1,320 for 11 grams of heroin, and that he typically sold the drugs for $120 per gram.

Zimmerman allegedly told officers he only sold drugs because of his own addiction and to make sure other addicts within his community did not get ripped off.

This was Mr. Zimmermans first contact with the criminal justice system, and obviously we hope it will be his last, said Baraboo defense attorney Andrew Martinez.

Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds agreed to the joint recommendation of the prosecution and defense. He withheld sentencing and ordered the 60-day jail stay followed by three years of probation.

If Zimmerman does not comply with terms of the deal, which also include submission of a DNA sample and payment of $1,158 in court costs, he could be back in court for sentencing on the possession charge. The felony carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.

Reynolds encouraged Zimmerman to push through the hard work of beating his addiction.

This is a significant hammer hanging over your head for the next three years, Reynolds said. I hope you understand that.

Yes, I do, Zimmerman replied.
One sip of this soup is like getting wrapped in your warmest, coziest sweater. Between the thick chunks of vegetables, tender cubes of potato, juicy shreds of chicken (take your pick of boneless breasts or thighs), and thick, creamy broth, it truly doesnt get more comforting than chicken potato soup.

As the temps begin to dip, this is a family-friendly soup to keep on repeat all through fall and winter.
What says summer in Wisconsin better than lying on a beach next to a lake? If that's summer to you, it starts Saturday in Madison.

Four of the city's public beaches will be opening on Saturday to kick off the long Memorial Day weekend, with all beaches set to open on June 10.

The beaches opening this weekend include BB Clarke Beach, 835 Spaight St., Olbrich Park Beach, 3330 Atwood Ave., Tenney Park Beach, 1300 Sherman Ave. and Vilas Park Beach, 1501 Vilas Park Drive.

Those four beaches will be staffed with lifeguards for the three-day weekend, then they'll be without lifeguards until June 10.

Lifeguards will be on duty from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. both this weekend and starting June 10.

Lifeguards at six "neighborhood" beaches will begin their duties on June 10.

Those beaches include Bernie's Beach, 901 Gilson St.; Esther Beach, 2802 Waunona Way; James Madison Park Beach, 614 E. Gorham St.; Olin Park Beach, 1156 Olin-Turville Court; Spring Harbor Beach, 1918 Norman Way, and Warner Park Beach, 1101 Woodward Drive.

Lifeguards will be on duty from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day.

Two city beaches, Brittingham Park Beach, 701 West Brittingham Place, and Marshall Park Beach, 2101 Allen Blvd., are not staffed with lifeguards.

Public Health Madison and Dane County keeps tabs on the water at many of the beaches in the city and county, looking for high bacteria levels and blooms of blue-green algae, which can turn toxic.

Beaches can be closed if water conditions warrant it, so check the department's website before heading to the beach.
A federal appeals court has upheld six criminal convictions against Fitchburg businessman Christian Peterson, but ordered that he be re-sentenced because of an error in calculating his potential sentence.

Peterson, 47, who owned the Pancake Cafe, was sentenced in December 2014 to seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty of bank fraud, making false statements to banks, money laundering and theft from an employee trust fund.

The jury found that Peterson took out bank loans for a now-closed scrap foam business in 2006 and 2007, wiring some of the money directly to a casino, and using some of it to pay a gambling debt. He also took nearly $30,000 from an employee retirement fund.

Judge Diane Sykes, writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, said Wednesday there was easily sufficient evidence to support the jurys verdicts.

But Sykes wrote that $300,000 that was included in a $1.1 million loss figure, used to calculate Petersons possible sentence, should not have been included, because Peterson paid back the $300,000 before his fraud was detected.

Subtracting that amount affects Petersons sentencing guideline range, Sykes wrote, so U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb must re-sentence Peterson, who is serving his sentence at the federal prison camp in Duluth, Minnesota.
A DeForest man who police said tried to kindle a romance with a 15-year-old Utah girl who he last saw when she was 11 was charged Wednesday with using a computer to send lewd messages to the girl.

Leonardo J. Sirios, 50, was also charged with eight counts of possessing child pornography, after police last week seized computer equipment belonging to Sirios from the home where he was living, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court.

Sirios lawyer, Murali Jasti, told Court Commissioner Brian Asmus that Sirios suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2011 from a gunshot wound, and that his behavior may have been influenced by that.

Asmus ordered Sirios to remain in custody, however, on $10,000 bail. Using a computer to facilitate a sex crime carries up to 40 years of combined prison and extended supervision, but a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

According to the complaint:

The girls father contacted police in Vernal, Utah, in December after his daughter began to receive messages from Sirios, who she met briefly in 2012 when she was 11 years old and he attended a family function with the girls uncle.

A detective in Utah took over the girls Facebook Messenger account and from December through March communicated with Sirios as the girl. In the messages, Sirios discusses his attraction to the girl in sexually graphic terms, eventually saying that he planned to go to Utah to be with her.

When state Department of Justice agents went to Sirios home on May 16, he wasnt there, but they found him the next day at his former wifes home in Oregon. He said he was loosely planning to go to Utah to see the girl, and that it was a fantasy to meet her, but that he needed a vehicle.

Sirios admitted to police that he had sent nude pictures of himself to the girl.

Jasti said that while Sirios had talked about going to visit the girl he has no drivers license, no car, no money and no job. He said its possible that Sirios would plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
A Janesville man convicted of his 10th drunken driving offense was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison, and was urged to find a way not to drive after drinking when he gets out.

You will be sober, Circuit Judge William Hanrahan told Mark La Veen, 53, referring to the next four years behind bars. But the next challenge is to completely restructure your lifestyle.

La Veen was arrested in July after a Fitchburg police office watched La Veens car sit through a complete traffic light cycle on Post Road at Fish Hatchery Road, and found him to be asleep. His blood alcohol concentration was 0.09 percent, just above the 0.08 percent limit for drivers. But as a repeat drunken driver, the limit for La Veen was 0.02 percent.

La Veens lawyer, Jon Helland, attributed 24 hours spent mostly working at various jobs to La Veens sleepiness.

His work ethic is better than most I represent, Helland said. I dont know what it takes for Mark to get the message that he just cant (drink and drive).

La Veen will also spend four years on extended supervision after his release from prison. In addition, his drivers license was suspended for three years, and he will have to use an ignition interlock device on any car he owns for three years.

Im sorry I failed again, La Veen said. Its my intention never to drink again.

But Hanrahan said it doesnt matter if La Veen chooses to drink, he simply cant drive afterward. Youre not here because youre drinking again, its because you got behind the wheel of a car.

He told La Veen of another person he sentenced who had crashed his car and killed a friend on his first drunken driving offense.

The difference between him and you, Hanrahan said, is youre a lot luckier.
A Maryland man was indicted on charges of illegally transporting explosives through the mail after he called the U.S. Postal Service to inquire about his missing package, federal authorities said.

Authorities accuse Caleb Andrew Bailey, 30, of attempting to send ammunition and explosives to someone in Wisconsin. The package never arrived at its intended destination. Postal officials discovered the package  full of cartridges and projectiles  when it had ruptured open at a Capitol Heights mail facility, according to the U.S. State's Attorney's Office in Maryland.

Postal officials received calls asking about the package in February and March, saying that the package had never been delivered, prosecutors said.

Bailey arranged to pick up the package at a postal facility on May 5, but didn't show. Law enforcement then executed warrants to search his properties, where they found a machine gun and child pornography prosecutors said.

The indictment also accuses Bailey of creating child porn, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, Bailey faces decades in prison in connection with the various federal charges including illegal possession of a machine gun, unlawful transport of explosives and a child pornography offense, prosecutors said.
Four young people were approached by a Spanish-speaking man in his car on Monday, with the stranger asking the girls if any would like to get into the car before driving off, Madison police said.

The incident happened at about 8:50 p.m. Monday on Post Road at Todd Drive.

There were three girls, ages 8, 10 and 15, and one 8-year-old boy walking together, when the car pulled up near them.

"One stranger spoke to them in Spanish, saying how the girls were pretty and would one like to get into the car," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "The children ran to the home of a trusted adult to report the contact."

The children were not injured.

There were two men in the car, both described as either white or Hispanic, 30 to 40 years old, one with black hair and the other bald. They were driving a gray-colored older Nissan Sentra or Altima.
Wisconsin and 10 other states sued President Barack Obamas administration Wednesday over guidance directing schools to let students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities.

The suit alleges the Obama administration has conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment.

It asks the federal court to declare the guidance unlawful, block enforcement of it and prevent the administration from issuing new guidance.

The guidance from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education reiterates 2014 guidance released by the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights that said the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX covers discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The recent guidance threatens to withhold federal funding if school districts do not comply.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement that after talking to Gov. Scott Walker, he decided to join the lawsuit  led by Texas  to challenge the administrations latest power grab. The suit was filed in a federal court in Texas on behalf of Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Wisconsin and two school districts, in Texas and Arizona.

President Obamas attempts to re-write the laws of our country without congressional consent and approval are not going to be tolerated by the state of Wisconsin, said Schimel.

Walker granted Schimels request to join the lawsuit as this is yet another example of President Obamas unlawful use of executive power, Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.

Evenson said the governor believes the decision of whether to set gender restrictions on school bathrooms or locker rooms should be made by local school districts and not the federal government.

Supporters of the federal governments approach characterized the lawsuit as moving Wisconsin in the wrong direction.

I dont think its a social experiment at all. I think its schools being responsive to the needs of students and families just as they always have been, said Brian Juchems, senior director of education and policy at GSAFE, which advocates on behalf of transgender people. Having people in these positions challenge a students right to feel safe in a school definitely communicates their attitudes and opinions toward transgender students.

Juchems said school districts have been seeking guidance on the issue from the federal government for years as more transgender students assert themselves and as school districts across the country face lawsuits from transgender students alleging the environments in their schools were discriminatory by not having bathrooms or locker rooms associated with their gender identity available.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, said in a statement the lawsuit is an effort to advance an antiquated ideology.

Juchems said Schimels argument is similar to one that was used against allowing same-sex marriage in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin bill failed

The lawsuit comes after a legislative session during which a bill co-authored by Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, that would set gender restrictions on school bathrooms and locker rooms failed to get traction. Kremer hopes to bring the legislation back.

Evenson said Walker would evaluate such a bill if it ever gets to his desk.

On Wednesday, Kremer and bill co-author Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said because Walker signed laws criminalizing taking photos of womens anatomy without their knowledge and parental use of nude images or videos of children for commercial use or sexual gratification and a law making it easier for state investigators to find the IP address of computers containing child pornography, Walker should support a bill setting gender restrictions on bathrooms and locker rooms.

How, then, are we to turn a blind eye when children with different anatomy will be allowed to change in an open locker room within mere feet of one another  something that is potentially disorderly conduct or indecent exposure? Kremer and Nass said in a joint statement.

The original bill would have set a statewide standard for bathroom use in Wisconsin schools. As it stands, schools are free to establish their own policies.

Wisconsins participation in the lawsuit doesnt prohibit state schools from following the federal guidance. Schools could lose federal funding if theyre found not to be in compliance.

If all 424 school districts opted not to comply, at least $877.6 million of federal funding that is expected to come through the state Department of Public Instruction next school year would be lost.

The lawsuit said the states involved stand behind the singular principle that the solemn duty of the Federal Executive is to enforce the law of the land, and not rewrite it by administrative fiat.

Schimel also said the new guidance conflicts with state law, which prohibits discrimination in schools on the basis of sex, race, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, or [disability].

Wisconsin has not chosen to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in our schools, Schimel said. Imposing a new federal standard on top of our states own discrimination policy would undermine our states sovereign choice in how to prohibit discrimination in schools.

N.C. law led to guidance

The federal guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Schimel called the directive a new policy that conflicts with the plain language of Title IX, and is therefore an unlawful interpretation. Title IX does not prohibit gender identity discrimination, but sex discrimination.

Wisconsin Schools Superintendent Tony Evers said discussions about accommodations for transgender students are best held at the local level.

However, the federal Title IX guidance is an important component of those ongoing discussions. At the end of the day, we have an obligation to ensure all students feel safe and can access to the same educational opportunities as their peers, Evers said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Everything U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa knows about impeachment he learned from Wikipedia.

At Tuesdays House Judiciary Committee hearing to consider the impeachment of Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, Issa, the California Republican and dogged investigator of the Obama administration, confessed he was relying on an open-source website.

You and I are not lawyers, Issa told Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who was presenting the panel with the legal case for impeaching Koskinen, so well tax each other a little bit on a constitutional question. According to Wikipedia, at least, the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors constitutionally says it covers allegations of misconduct. ... 

Issa then questioned Chaffetz about each of the examples cited by Wikipedia contributors.

This was a fitting close to the congressional probes of the Obama years. Again and again, Republicans in Congress have dug into President Obamas White House, and each time they have failed to unearth high-level scandal.

Now House Republicans are taking up the low-probability impeachment of the IRS commissioner  even though Koskinen wasnt even working at the IRS until well after the behavior in question, the targeting of conservative political groups, had allegedly occurred. Only three executive-branch officials have been impeached by the House in U.S. history, as my colleague Lisa Rein has noted: Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, and a secretary of war (In 1876).

The case against Koskinen is weak: The Justice Department declined to launch a prosecution, saying its investigation found no evidence that IRS officials acted on political motives. Both Justice and an inspector general first appointed by President George W. Bush cast doubt on lawmakers allegations there was a conspiracy to destroy or hide evidence or hide it from investigators.

And so Obamas congressional accusers defined impeachment down.

I dont believe you have to prove intent, Chaffetz alleged Tuesday.

False testimony or dereliction of duty is still impeachable whether or not the Justice Department determines it as a crime, Issa intoned.

The notion that you can only impeach someone that commits an actual violation of the criminal code is nonsense, asserted Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina.

The Obama-hunters have been thwarted by a relatively scandal-free administration. Second-term scandals are the norm: Nixon had Watergate. Reagan had Iran-contra. Clinton had Monica Lewinsky, and George W. Bush had the Valerie Plame affair, which led to the conviction of Vice President Cheneys chief of staff. But Obama?

The Obama administration has been remarkably scandal-free, David Brooks, a conservative New York Times columnist, wrote this year. Conservative critics of the administration protested that assessment by listing a variety of controversies: a gun-running sting gone bad, mistreated veterans, the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov, the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange, stimulus funds wasted, Edward Snowdens leaks, Secret Service debauchery, the harassment of whistleblowers and journalists, the IRS targeting, Hillary Clintons email server and Benghazi.

There have, no doubt, been screw-ups: failures of policy, misbehavior and poor management. But Obamas accusers have yet to document high-level malfeasance or corruption, and in the case of Benghazi, even some investigations led by Republicans have discredited the allegation.

Support for the impeachment inquisitors Tuesday was iffy: Half the seats in the room were empty when they began, and two hours later, 25 percent were filled. Koskinen blew off the panel. GOP leaders, who stalled the hearing for months, didnt allow impeachment to be used in the title.

Chaffetz made the case for impeachment with a 10-minute video  part documentary, part attack ad  narrated by one of his staffers: This was orchestrated. It was planned. ... Possibility of criminal activity.

Chaffetz rationalized his use of the nuclear option of impeachment this way: Rather than Congress continuing to whine and complain about ... the executive branch, the Founders gave us tools.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, asked if this tool might connect the scandal to the White House.

Chaffetz acknowledged that Ive seen no evidence of that.

But who cares about evidence? By the impeachment standard House Republicans set, the punishment neednt fit the crime  or any crime.

There are lots of ways to screw up in your job that dont rise to the level of meeting the U.S. criminal code, Gowdy argued. The failure to perform the duties of your office could be an impeachable offense.

If so, half the members of Congress would be out of work.
As the parent of a junior at UW-Madison, I want my son to have a great education for a reasonable price. As governor, I want that for every college student in Wisconsin.

That is why I am proud to have signed into law four straight years of tuition freezes for resident undergrad students in the University of Wisconsin System. The freeze has saved the average student more than $6,000 in tuition costs over four years compared to where it was headed during the decade before the freeze. This helps make college more affordable for students and working families.

Ironically, resolutions passed by faculty on several UW campuses include language about the affordability of higher education. They also reference changes to the UW System budget. Where were these resolutions years ago when Gov. Jim Doyle cut $250 million from the UW System? The difference is Gov. Doyle allowed the System to make up most of it on the backs of students through higher tuition.

In fact, tuition went up 118 percent during the decade before our four-year tuition freeze. That amounts to an increase of more than 8 percent per year. Where was the outrage then?

In addition, it is important to note the Systems total annual operating budget is today the largest it has ever been. Thats right, even with the adjustments from state government, which account for about 2 percent of the entire budget, the overall budget is bigger than at any time in UW history.

So why are so many UW faculty upset? Well, the new rules also allow UW officials to shift resources to areas in greater student demand, should the need arise. Setting priorities based on a budget is a common sense practice, and it is one Wisconsin families and businesses are engaged in every single day.

Our university system should be no exception. Instead of keeping a course where a handful of students sign up, campuses can reassign resources to help students get the courses they need to graduate on time. Most of us would call that common sense. If the decision to discontinue any academic program will result in the layoff of a professor, a faculty committee can review it.

The new rules also provide greater accountability for professors and subject them to performance-based reviews. According to UW-Madisons website, a student from Wisconsin enrolled for the 2016-2017 academic year will have estimated costs totaling more than $25,000. The costs for a non-resident student are more than $48,000.

If a student is paying more than $100,000 or nearly $200,000 for four years of college, I believe we should hold performance-based reviews of professors for the sake of our students. If a professor isnt meeting expectations, the new policy requires UW campuses to support professional development opportunities so the professor can improve his or her performance. This is not only good for students, it allows professors to improve as well.

Despite the doom-and-gloom rhetoric, we didnt eliminate tenure. We eliminated the job for life guarantee tenure once provided for faculty regardless of performance. Now we are asking for accountability and flexibility to add value to our university system. As for free speech, there should be equal protections for everyone on campus, not just tenured professors, to engage in a free and open debate of ideas.

The bottom line is students deserve access to high quality education that is affordable for them and the working families that help support them. We must look to deliver value and excellence to Wisconsin, not guarantee job for life tenure. The common sense reforms recently enacted do just that.
Police scrutiny and reform are still needed nationwide to prevent more deaths such as Freddie Grays.

The acquittal Monday of a Baltimore police officer on charges relating to the death of Freddie Gray should not be seen as a vindication of the police department, its policies, its training or its oversight of officers.

Criminal trials are pending for five other officers, each of whom must defend his or her actions on April 12, 2015, the day Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury after he was arrested, shackled and loaded into a police van without a safety restraint. But verdicts in those cases likewise will serve neither to uphold current police practices nor brand the entire department as criminal.

There have been, and there may continue to be, police officers throughout the United States who have no business being in uniform because their temperament or attitudes make them wrong for what is among the nations toughest and most dangerous  and increasingly most thankless  jobs. And some of them, insufficiently vetted, improperly trained and inadequately supervised, may well engage in conduct that properly meets the definition of a crime.

But police reform does not and should not consist solely of a hunt for bad officers and cannot be measured by how many are criminally convicted.

There have been police departments in which the abuse of authority is not merely tolerated but encouraged, and in which such abuses become standard conduct.

In Baltimore and elsewhere, stories are told of rough rides in police vans that officers intentionally mete out to suspects as a brazen and certainly unlawful display of power. Surely there is criminal culpability to be found if thats what fatally injured Freddie Gray last year.

But what if Grays treatment was the result of inadequate police leadership, unprepared officers and a series of basic failures in procedure, all exacerbated by lax oversight and discipline? There might be no crime  and yet the city might still have been providing policing that is so inadequate as to be what can only be deemed criminally deficient.

Grays death has led to an examination of police practices in Baltimore and other cities. Two trials  the one in which Officer Edward Nero was acquitted Monday and one earlier this year that resulted in a mistrial  have produced testimony about the Baltimore Police Departments inconsistent application of standards and decidedly non-rigorous training.

The mayor and police commissioner have taken some first steps to improve oversight. The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the departments civil rights record. Acquittals do not obviate the need for such scrutiny and reform. Convictions cannot substitute for it.
Strong thunderstorms were starting to pop up in western Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon, a possible sign of things to come for the Madison area Wednesday evening and night.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning at about 2:30 p.m. for parts of Sauk County, while a line of storms had also developed in northwestern Wisconsin.

The storms are accompanying warm and humid conditions; the high climbed to 83 in Madison as of 2 p.m.

Storms are forecast through the Memorial Day weekend and beyond in Madison, with the least likely time for storms coming on Thursday.

Highs should stay in the upper 70s to mid-80s through Tuesday.

The day-to-day outlook:

Wednesday night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4 a.m., low around 64.

Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, high near 85.

Thursday night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 8 p.m., low around 65.

Friday: A 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 8 a.m., high near 80. Up to a quarter-inch of rain is possible, more in storms.

Friday night: A 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, low around 64. Up to a half-inch of rain is possible.

Saturday: A 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, high near 79. Up to a quarter-inch of rain is possible, more in storms.

Saturday night: A 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, low around 63.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, high near 80.

Sunday night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m., low around 61.

Monday; A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, otherwise mostly sunny, high near 82.

Monday night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, low around 61.

Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, high near 81.
SPRINGFIELD - The bill that House Speaker Mike Madigan passed last Wednesday while thousands of AFSCME workers rallied on the streets outside the Capitol fell short of the 71 votes needed to override Governor Rauner's veto today.

Democrat State Rep. Jack Franks of McHenry voted "Present" and Chicago's Scott Drury voted "No" with the Republican caucus, denying the votes needed. While Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) is recorded as voting "Yes," on the official roll call, he stood on the floor after the vote saying he intended to vote "No" and someone voted "Yes" for him.

The Senate Democrats would have easily overridden the veto, and the only obstacle was the Democrats Speaker Madigan consistently cannot whip effectively.

UPDATE x1: Governor Rauner's office responded shortly after the failed vote, saying,

HB 580 was unprecedented and unaffordable, and simply another attempt by the Majority Party in the legislature to insert themselves into the contract process and put hard working families in Illinois on the hook for a $3 billion tax hike. The Governor thanks those members who took the pro-taxpayer position today, and believes it is now time to move forward and find compromise on a balanced budget with structural reforms that will put our state on the path to prosperity.

HB 580 "would have allowed government-worker unions to unilaterally take contract negotiations out of Rauners hands and delegate decisions worth billions of dollars to a panel of unelected, third-party arbitrators who are not accountable to taxpayers," Illinois Policy Institute reported after the vote.

"This legislation has been a critical component in the battle between Rauner and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has made contract demands that would cost Illinois taxpayers an extra $3 billion over the next four years. Despite having signed a tolling agreement with the governor in September 2015  which is still in effect  outlining a procedure to resolve contract disputes and promising to negotiate in good faith, AFSCME pushed for this unfair bill, which would have allowed the union to circumvent that very agreement. HB 580s failure means the agreed-to process can continue," IPI said.
Toyota said that the plant, to be built in the central state of Selangor, will have an initial capacity of around 50,000 units a year.

By India Today Web Desk: Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday that it will build a second factory in Malaysia as part of expansion to meet rising local demand.

The new 2 billion ringgit ($488 million) plant will be built by Toyota and its local partner, UMW Corp. Toyota said that the plant, to be built in the central state of Selangor, will have an initial capacity of around 50,000 units a year.

advertisement

ALSO READ: Toyota, Mercedes-Benz to re-consider investment plans in India

The plant is expected to begin operations in early 2019 and will help double Toyota's production volume in Malaysia to around 100,000 units a year, said Akio Takeyama, deputy chairman of UMW Toyota Motor.

He said the new plant will focus on manufacturing passenger cars, including energy-efficient vehicles, while its current factory will churn out commercial vehicles.

Vehicle sales hit 666,674 units in Malaysia last year, making it the third-largest auto market in Southeast Asia after Thailand and Indonesia.

ALSO READ: Toyota recalls 1.6 million US vehicles for Takata air bags

Toyota sold nearly 94,000 vehicles in Malaysia last year. It used to be the best-selling foreign car in Malaysia, but was overtaken by Japanese rival Honda last year.

--- ENDS ---
This year Karnataka class 12 results revealed an overall pass percentage of 57.20.

By India Today Web Desk: The second Pre-University (PU) examinations result revealed an overall pass percentage of 57.20 in Karnataka.

Kimmane Ratnakar, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education announced the results today, May 25, 2016.

Pass Percentage



This year's pass percentage is about 3 percent lesser than last year; it was 60.54 percent in 2015

The pass percentage of rural colleges was recorded at 56.66 per cent, which is less than that of urban colleges (57.36 per cent).

According to information revealed by the Department of Pre-University Education, the pass percentage for science combinations stood at 66.25, while it was 64.16 for commerce and 42.12 for arts combinations

For students, who took the examination in English medium, the pass percentage was at 65.71, however, for the candidates who preferred Kannada medium the percentage was 46.89.

advertisement

Continuing with the trend, this year also girls performed better than the boys. The girls scored 64.78 percent as against boys, who could scored only 50.02 per cent.

Merit holders



This year around 41,373 students secured distinction by obtaining marks above 85 per cent.

Around 1.89 lakh students have secured the first class, i.e. above 60 per cent

78,301 have secured second class, i.e. above 50 per cent

54,548 have secured pass class, i.e. 35 per cent and above.

The top five districts that have performed well:



Dakshina Kannada (90.48 pass percentage)

Udupi (90.35)

Kodagu (79.35)

Uttara Kannada (76.44)

Bengaluru South (70.88).

Perfect 100 score:



This year, as many as 1,997 students have scored full marks in business studies, 1,585 were able to achieve this feat in accountancy, 1,519 could get cent percent in mathematics and 1,280 in chemistry.



Click: Read the success stories of CBSE Class 12 toppers from across India

Read: Gaya teen, gunned down by MLA son, scores 70 per cent in CBSE Class 12 Click here

for more education related news.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Aditi Khanna

London, May 24 (PTI)Three Indian-origin MPs have joined 20 others from Commonwealth backgrounds to issue an open letter today calling for the UK to leave the European Union (EU) in the June 23 referendum, claiming that Brexit would allow better India-UK trade deals.

UK employment minister and British Prime Minister David Camerons Indian Diaspora Champion Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak, the UK-based son-in-law of Infosys chief Narayana Murthy and Suella Fernandes have all signed the letter.

advertisement

They claimed that Brexit would allow better India-UK trade deals.

"Britains trade policy is controlled by the EU. That means we are unable to sign bilateral free trade agreements with countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand or for that matter any other non-EU state. Commonwealth countries like India have been in talks with the EU about doing a trade deal since 2007 ? to no avail," the letter reads.

It adds: "As well as damaging our economy, membership of the EU has left Britain vulnerable to the pressures of mass uncontrolled levels of immigration from Europe. The pressures this causes means that we have to turn away qualified doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs from non-EU countries who would make a positive contribution to this country.

"The ancestors of many people we represent fought alongside the British in two world wars, but are now forced to stand aside in favour of people with no connection to the United Kingdom. This is unfair."

The opposing camp, favouring Britains membership of the EU, has dismissed claims of better India-UK ties in the event of Brexit.

UK foreign office minister in charge of India, Hugo Swire, reiterated in his statement today that Britain would be "stronger, safer, and better-off staying in a reformed EU, benefiting everyone in the UK, including India and other Commonwealth citizens living here".

"We help secure huge amounts of EU development funding for both these countries and many others like South Africa, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. And we continue to push the EU for free trade deal with many Commonwealth countries like Australia and India," he said.

Making a direct appeal to Indian-origin voters, he added: "Many of you have spent years living, working and contributing to the UK. And most of you still have deep ties with India; whether through family, property, or returning to live there again one day.

"So the outcome of this referendum will affect not only your life, but your loved ones back in India for decades to come.

"Whatever side you come down on, the most important thing is that you have your say. Dont miss the opportunity to vote in this historic moment."

advertisement

British government officials will be entering a four-week so-called "purdah" period from Friday, which prevents any official activity that could be perceived as an attempt to sway the outcome of the June 23 vote.

It means civil servants will no longer be able to publish reportsin the run-up to referendum day under Electoral Commission rules. PTI AK NSA

--- ENDS ---
In a statement sent to media, the insurgent group said its new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of Mansour's deputies.

By AP: The Afghan Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that their former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike last week and that they have appointed a successor.

In a statement sent to media, the insurgent group said its new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of two of Mansour's deputies. It said he was chosen at a meeting of Taliban leaders, which was believed to have been held in Pakistan.

advertisement

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Mansour was killed in Pakistan on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a US drone, an attack that is believed to be the first time a Taliban leader was killed in such a way inside Pakistani territory. Pakistani authorities are believed to have given shelter and support to some Taliban leaders over the Afghan border. The insurgents have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government since 2001, when their own Islamist regime was overthrown by the US invasion. The US and Afghan governments said Mansour had been an obstacle to a peace process that had ground to a halt when he refused to participate in peace talks earlier this year. Instead, he intensified the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year. Mansour had led the Taliban since last summer, when the death of the movement's founder, the one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar became public. Mansour ran the movement in Mullah Omar's name for more than two years. The revelation of Mullah Omar's death and Mansour's deception led to widespread mistrust, with some senior leaders leaving the group to set up their own factions. Senior Taliban figures have said his death could strengthen the movement, as he was a divisive figure. The identity of his successor was expected to be an indication of the direction the insurgency would take, either toward peace or continued war. Akhundzada is a religious scholar known for issuing public statements justifying the existence of the extremist Taliban, their war against the Afghan government and the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. His views are regarded as hawkish, and he could be expected to continue in the aggressive footsteps of Mansour. Wednesday's statement said two new deputies had also been appointed - both of whom had earlier been thought to be the main contenders for the top job. They are Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was also one of Mansour's deputies, and the son of Mullah Omar, Mullah Yaqoub.

The Taliban statement called on all Muslims to mourn Mansour for three days. It also attempted to calm any qualms among the rank and file by calling for unity and obedience to the new leader.

--- ENDS ---
The Congress questioned why Amitabh Bachchan was roped in to host Modi govt's show in New Delhi. The actor clarified he is not hosting the show but a part of it.

Bachchan said he will only be hosting a segment of the show. (File Photo/PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: The Congress today used actor Amitabh Bachchan as its arsenal to target the Narendra Modi government over the upcoming mega-show in Delhi to celebrate the government's two years in power.

In a massive leak of tax documents last month, dubbed as Panama Papers, Amitabh's name figured in the list of Indians having undeclared foreign assets. While the actor had then denied links with any foreign firm claiming that his name may have been misused, the Congress has now questioned the BJP's move to rope in Bachchan for the Delhi show on May 28.

advertisement

WHY AMITABH AS HOST, ASKS CONGRESS

Talking to reporters, senior Congress leader and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the government must make it clear why someone like Amitabh Bachchan whose name surfaced in the Panama Papers should be seen in the PM's company.

"We have no issues with Amitabh Bachchan or Modi doing programs. I am sure Amitabh Ji will come out clean in Panama Papers. But would it not send a wrong message to all investigative agencies when a person accused of money laundering will host a program to celebrate two years of Modi government? Modiji had promised to bring back black money and punish everyone involved," Surjewala said.

AMITABH CLARIFIES

Moments after the Congress mounted an attack on him, Amitabh Bachchan came out with a clarification, saying he is not hosting the show but only a segment of it.

"I am not hosting the show. I am only doing one segment which is concerned with the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative, which is very close to my heart," a statement issued by the actor's PR firm stated.

Son Abhishek also rallied behind his father, saying Bachchan senior is not participating in any 'political event.'

"He is not hosting any political event. He is hosting a part of the event which is about educating the girl child and it is not a political event," Abhishek said.

BJP'S INDIA GATE GALA

The May 28 show at Delhi's India Gate will feature some of the big names from the Bollywood. Actors like Juhi Chawla, Anil Kapoor and Anupam Kher will also be seen in the 5-hour show. Also Read:

2 years of Modi: Superstar Amitabh Bachchan to host Delhi bash

BJP has a song for two years of Modi rule



--- ENDS ---
The African diplomats urged the Indian government to guarantee the safety of Africans in India, including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will "address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia"

By India Today Web Desk: The Indian government, seeking to woo the 54-nation African continent, was expected to answer some tough questions from the African diplomatic community who have decided to stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations in protest while seeking strong action over the murder of a Congolese national in the capital and other "attacks and harassment" of Africans in various parts of the country.

advertisement

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj reached out to the envoys, assuring them of safety and security. "I have asked my colleague Gen V K Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries in Delhi and assure them of Indian Government's commitment to the safety and security of African nationals in India," she tweeted.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS African heads of missions met in emergency session on Tuesday and said there was a climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi This was forcing the African heads of mission "with little option than to consider recommending their governments not send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted". "They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African (Congo national) and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," a statement by the Group of African Heads of Mission said. Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi. The statement said that the African heads of mission have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators". In January, a mob in Bangalore allegedly attacked and stripped a Tanzanian girl after dragging her out of the car in which she was travelling along with her three friends. Her friends were also beaten. The African diplomats urged the Indian government to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will "address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia" They called upon the media, civil society, think tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans in India. Sushma Swaraj said General VK Singh will hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security. "We will also launch a sensitization program to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country," she tweeted. "I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons. I have already asked Lt Governor of Delhi to take steps and ensure that this case is tried by a Fast Track Court, Swaraj tweeted.





--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) The artists including a Frenchman who were allegedly forced to write "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" instead of a Urdu couplet on a DJB property in northeast Delhis Shahdara by a mob, were questioned and later let off by the police after "verification".

"The police received a call about someone writing something on the wall in a foreign language. The two men were questioned only to verify why and what they were writing on the wall," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) A K Singla said today.

advertisement

The incident took place on May 20 when French artist Swen Simon and Akhlaq Ahmed were painting a couplet in Urdu on a wall of the Delhi Jal Boards building in Shahdara.

"They said that they were working for a Delhi government campaign. This too was verified after talking to the concerned minister and they were let off," Singla said adding that the police ensured that no law and order issue takes place there.

However, Delhi Water minister and DJB chairman Kapil Mishra alleged that a group of RSS workers "misbehaved and forced" the artists commissioned by the AAP government to deface their own wall-writing in praise of the capital in Urdu and replaced it with words Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

However, the RSS "vehemently" refuted the charges and said that it doesnt believe in any kind of violence or such activity.

"AAP leaders are trying to make RSS a punching bag. They are indulging in such kind of things only to divert the public attention from the utter failure of administration in Delhi," spokesman of Delhi unit of RSS said. PTI VIT DEY RG

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Kolkata, May 25 (PTI) Left Front chairman Biman Bose today said that attacks on the opposition parties in West Bengal increased after the declaration of Assembly results.

"In the 2011 Assembly elections, we accepted the verdict of the people and played a constructive role as an Opposition. In 2016 also we said that but the attacks have increased," Bose said at a protest-meeting here.

advertisement

He alleged that activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress are spreading "terror" against Opposition in Kolkata and in the districts.

"There were elections in five other states also but attacks are taking place only in West Bengal," he said alleging that their party offices were being attacked and in some cases houses of their supporters burnt down.

In the protest-meeting which will also be held tomorrow at Esplanade, Congress leaders Krishna Debnath, Abdul Manan, Manoj Chakraborty and Omprakash Mishra were also present.

Asked about the Left-Congress alliance by reporters, Bose said, "We are together fighting against terror and killings that are taking place in the state". PTI NIK MD ANP

--- ENDS ---
Calcutta Cacophony is an online city group that has a take on everything food, from 'lebu cha' to Kolkata biryani and roshogolla.

By Shreya Goswami: Bengalis are more than a little quirky and have this undying love for all things delicious. They might be the politically aware intellectuals or the rebellious "I-don't-like-sweets" kind, but they will never say no to food. And if the food is traditional Kolkata fare, you'll find your usually amiable and quiet Bong friend agog with excitement.

Any Bengali will claim Kolkata biryani to be the best biryani ever cooked. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

advertisement

This identity, deeply associated with food from Bengal's leading and capital city, is what Calcutta Cacophony is all about. The co- founders, Ankita Chakraborty and Rishi Raj Ghosh, work on the premise that "Kolkata is a city, Calcutta is an emotion". They've been posting various details about the emotion that is Calcutta--from sharing pictures of the city to events and popular food myths--since April 2015.

For Bengalis, the potato is as important as the meat in biryanis. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

Also read: Light, tangy and fishy, Assam's masor tenga is all you'd want to have through the summer



Kolkata biryani has more subtle flavours than other Indian biryanis. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

If you don't know what kind of food myths Bengalis have, Calcutta Cacophony will enlighten you. Take biryani for example. While people drool over Lucknowi and Hyderabadi biryanis, Bengalis are staunch supporters of their own Kolkata biryani. What makes the Kolkata biryani so special you might ask? It has no curry leaves or an excess of masala. It's soothing, sublime, and has one ingredient that makes it amazing for Bongs--potato.

The prawn vs hilsa debate is a significant part of the Bengali adda. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

Then there is the age-old Ghoti (West Bengal/Mohanbagan) vs Bangal (East Bengal) rivalry. Find out what your Bong friends antecedents are through their food habits. Do they like prawn more than hilsa? Do they like their curries spicy or a little sweet? All of this is made easy by the 'khaddo roshik' (foodie) series which roughly divides up all the food choices you can make.

Bengalis love their fish, but asking them to choose their favourite can lead to a great dilemna. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

Though a lot of these posts might be a bit difficult for non-Bengalis to understand, Calcutta Cacophony does have a slide series just for those who don't know how particular Bongs are about their food, its types and its pronunciation. While fish is just rahu and pomfret for a lot of people, Bengalis know they come in more varieties.

Do you pronounce roshogolla the right way? Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony Do you pronounce roshogolla the right way? Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

Also read: Nabanno in Hyderabad offers a taste of Bengali food and culture



And it's 'roshogolla', not rasgulla, as you'll find your friends correcting you time and again. Apart from the food-oriented posts, Calcutta Cacophony does slip in the occasional culinary reference just to prove that 'khai khai' (gluttony) is always lurking somewhere in the Bengali mind. So if you find a sudden slide that calls for 'Gondhoraaj lebu Mojito' (Kaffir lime mojito), don't be surprised.

What is just fish for you is a market full of varieties for a Bengali. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony What is just fish for you is a market full of varieties for a Bengali. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Calcutta Cacophony

advertisement

What Calcutta Cacophony and a few other groups, like Bongtastic, are doing on social media is to share Bengali household and community myths with everybody out there. So take some time out and click on that Facebook slide your Bong friend just shared. It'll make you laugh and at the same time let you know what special dish you should ask your quirky Bengali friend to make for you next.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Patna, May 25 (PTI) Bihar police today claimed to have cracked journalist Rajdeo Ranjans murder case by arresting five persons in Siwan district.

"The police arrested five persons in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan and recovered a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles," Additional Director General of Police (ADG Headquarters) Sunil Kumar told reporters here.

advertisement

The arrested were identified as Rohit Kumar, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Ishu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta, the ADG said.

He said Rohit Kumar has admitted that he fired on the scribe resulting in his death.

Search is on for some more persons involved in the crime, he added.

The police have also seized a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles used in the crime, he added.

Rajdeo Ranjan, district bureau head of a leading vernacular newspaper, was shot dead by unidentified men when he was going on his motorcycle near fruit market on station road under town police station area of Siwan on May 13 evening.

The killing had drawn country-wide criticism for Nitish Kumar government as a reflection of the slide in law and order situation in the state. PTI AR SNS SUS IKA

--- ENDS ---
This satellite image shows the Yongshu Jiao of China's Nansha Islands. [Photo/Xinhua]

In its compulsory arbitration proceedings with respect to its disputes with China in the South China Sea, the Philippines has accused China of interfering in the Philippines exercising sovereignty and jurisdiction in its territorial waters. The Philippines claims that the region extending 200 nautical miles from its coast, except the 12-nautical miles of high-tide land, is its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

It also claims that China's claim of historical rights within the nine-dash line in the South China Sea violate its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the non-biological resources in the seabed and ocean bottom.

But there are mistakes in its claims, as well as in its proving of them.

The Philippines' claims are based on a false pretext. China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the domestic laws of China quoted by the Philippines make it clear that China's territory includes the Nansha Islands.

Before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Institute of International Law raised the concept of the regime of islands as early as 1924; this was later included in the Convention. Even the regime of islands defined by the Convention does not exclude the rights of Islands that are considered by customary international law as a group.

Therefore, the Nansha Islands as a whole have the right to claim territorial sea, economic exclusive zone and continental shelf. Besides, UNCLOS does not exclude continental countries from exercising the system in their overseas islands and many countries govern their overseas islands as a whole.

The Philippines is also distorting the facts by saying that China did not claim historical rights within the nine-dashed line until 2009. On that basis, it claims exclusive jurisdiction over the resources in the said zones and claims China has opposed it exploring for oil at Liyue Tan (Reed Bank).

The fact is, China issued a statement opposing oil exploration at Liyue Tan, which is part of Nansha Islands, as early as 1976.

The Philippines also claims that China has deprived Philippine fisherpersons of their traditional livelihood, which is against UNCLOS. By "traditional livelihood" they mean fishing rights; they even quoted a 1734 map, drawn by Spanish colonialists, to prove that Philippine fishing there can be dated back to the colonial era. They also quoted two documents, one in 1953 and one in 1973, to support their claim.

The problem is, they quoted the map from an academic essay in 2014, which in itself does not prove anything. The two documents they cited only have conclusions such as Huangyan Island being a main reef fishing area for the Philippines, without any actual support. They lack supportive materials such as what kinds of fishing vessels they use, their maritime charts, materials about the fishing staff, as well as what fish products they have.

China has sovereignty over Huangyan Island; therefore it has the right to chase away Philippine fishing vessels that intrude in the said maritime zones. By doing so China acts in accordance with international laws, and the actions it takes are common practice.

Therefore, the Philippines has committed several mistakes in trying to prove China "interfered" its exercising sovereignty and jurisdiction, and in the livelihoods of Philippine people fishing around the Huangyan Island.

Its arbitration proceedings is on the wrong pretext, distorted facts and is self-contradictory.

The author is an associate researcher at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
By PTI: anniversary programme

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) BJP today came out in strong defence of megastar Amitabh Bachchan for his association with an event to mark the second anniversary of Modi government despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose. A host of BJP leaders, including Union Ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child which the megastar will attend on May 28 and attacked Congress for its "mental disability" in raising a row over it.

advertisement

BJP leader and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchans name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no affect if he attends the event to mark two years of Narendra Modi government on Saturday. "See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things. "Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm," he said when asked about Congress charge that the actors presence will not go down well with probe agencies. Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court. "You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said. BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for Congress to be "jealous about". BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said the row created by Congress "only reflects its mental disability" as its own leaders are embroiled in corruption and are out on bail. Party MP Paresh Rawal said the Congress is "issue-less" and is thus creating an issue and dubbed it a "bogus issue" like the row created over the return of awards by writers and litterateurs in the wake of Dadri lynching incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues are expected to attend the event Zara Muskura Do (Smile Please) at India Gate to be hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the NDA government. PTI NAB MP IAS SKC RG

--- ENDS ---
Police chief Pierre Vandersmissen was treated for a head injury after he was hit with a stone in the back.

By AP: The Brussels police chief was injured on Tuesday during clashes at the end of a major anti-austerity demonstration attended by around 50,000 people in the center of the Belgian capital.

Police chief Pierre Vandersmissen was treated for a head injury after he was hit with a stone in the back by a red-clad man and fell to the ground during rock throwing by a few dozen protesters after most of the marchers had already disbanded.

advertisement

With a pepper spray canister, Vandersmissen had been chasing people who had attacked police even though he was not wearing extensive protective gear. He was taken to hospital and is expected to be released on Wednesday.

The demonstration was called to protest the center-right government's social and economic policies, which trade unions say cut deep into the foundations of Belgium's welfare state.



Police attend to injured police officer during trade union protest in Brussels. Photo: AP

In all, two police officials and eight protesters were injured in the clashes, during which police fired water cannons. About a dozen people were detained. It was a repeat of previous anti-austerity protests when the violence of dozens overshadowed the march of tens of thousands.

GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS VIOLENCE

The government said in a statement "it condemns the violence committed by a minority" but added it took note of the large size of the demonstration demanding changes.

Under the slogan "Our cup runs over" the main unions joined in the march, united in their opposition against moves to increase workers' flexibility at work, longer careers before pensions kick in and less pay under tougher conditions.

The trade unions say the center-right free market policies of Liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel over the past two years are costing an average family about 100 euros ($112) a month, while the promise of many extra jobs remains elusive. Instead the trade unions want the government to tackle tax evasion.

Socialist union leader Rudy De Leeuw denounced the attack on Vandersmissen and said that if the unidentified attacker turns out to be a member of the union, he will be expelled.

--- ENDS ---
The lawsuit seeks compensation for unlicensed use of fourth-generation (4G) cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones.

By Reuters: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Wednesday said it sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd claiming infringement of smartphone patents, the Chinese firm's first intellectual property challenge against the world's top mobile maker.

Huawei has filed lawsuits in the United States and China seeking compensation for what it said was unlicensed use of fourth-generation (4G) cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones.

advertisement

"We hope Samsung will ... stop infringing our patents and get the necessary license from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward," Ding Jianxing, president of Huawei's Intellectual Property Rights Department, said in a statement.

Samsung told Reuters it would "take appropriate action to defend Samsung's business interests" without elaborating further.

The lawsuit marks a reversal of roles in China where firms have often been on the receiving end of patent infringement disputes. In smartphones, makers have grown rapidly in recent years but different intellectual property laws outside of China have slowed overseas expansion.

Last year Xiaomi Inc was forced to briefly halt sales of handsets in India after a patent infringement complaint from telecom equipment maker Ericsson.

In the broader smartphone industry there has been a flurry of patent lawsuits in recent years, most notably between Samsung and U.S. rival Apple Inc.

Apple sued Samsung in the United States in 2011, claiming the Korean maker used unlicensed technology and imitated the look of the iPhone. The pair subsequently filed a number of suits against each other in several other jurisdictions but agreed in August 2014 to drop all litigation outside the United States.

In China, Samsung's fortunes saw it become the biggest smartphone vendor before being leapfrogged by local brands and losing market share to late-comer Apple. It is now ranked sixth by sales, trailing Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Apple and Xiaomi.

Last year, Shenzhen-based Huawei invested 59.6 billion yuan ($9.2 billion), or 15 per cent of annual revenue, in researching and developing technologies, products and wireless communications standards, the company said in its statement.

Huawei, which generates most of its revenue making telecommunications infrastructure, said it has been granted 50,377 patents globally as of Dec. 31.

Samsung, also the world's No.1 memory chip and television maker, said in a May 16 filing it held 110,145 patents globally at end-2015 and invested 14.8 trillion won ($12.45 billion) in research and development as well as intellectual property last year.



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Imphal, May 25 (PTI) Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh Suhag today reviewed the security situation in Manipur where a combing operation to nab insurgents responsible for gunning down six Assam Rifles personnel on May 22 continued for the fourth day.

"We are still searching for them. The terrain is very difficult to negotiate, with dense jungles and mountains. Our intelligence network is working and we are hopeful of getting some clues soon," a military intelligence officer told PTI.

advertisement

The officer said they are not sure if the militants have crossed the Indo-Myanmar border, which is about 25-30 km from Joupi in Chandel district, where the Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed.

During his visit, the Army Chief stressed on the need to carry out further relentless operation against insurgent groups active in the region.

Singh, accompanied by Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, discussed the issue with Assam Rifles Inspector General (South) Major General V S Sreenivas and commanding officer of 29 Assam Rifles battalion.

He was briefed on the incident and on the ongoing combing operation and the steps taken to neutralise the insurgents involved in the attack.

While, CorCom, an umbrella body of the valleys proscribed outfits, has claimed the responsibility for the ambush, the Army did not rule out the involvement of militant outfit NSCN(K), which was behind the killing of 18 army personnel in the same district last year.

The Army has already said it will hit back hard on the militants who carried out the attack, which killed a junior commissioned officer and five soldiers on May 22 afternoon.

The Army and Assam Rifles have been running a combing operation to trace the militants. PTI NIK MD TIR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Computers of senior government officials at Cabinet Secretariat, ministries of external affairs and IT were compromised by a Chinese cyber espionage group between February and March this year, a Russian software security company has claimed. The attackers were able to sent emails from account of a cabinet secretariat official with malicious attachment, Kaspersky said in a report.

advertisement

"On March 28th several malicious document were sent to various recipients at the Cabinet Secretariat of Government India from the email account of Ms ..., Deputy Secretary at the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the nodal agency of the Government of India," the report said.

Kaspersky discovered comments in Chinese languages in various filed it has obtained from Chinese cyber espionage group Dantis network. "Danti is highly focused on diplomatic entities. It may already have full access to internal networks in Indian government organizations," Kaspersky claimed.

"The origin of Danti is unknown, but Kaspersky Lab researchers have reason to suspect that the group is somehow connected to the Nettraveler and DragonOK groups. It is believed that Chinese-speaking hackers are behind these groups," the report said.

The cyber security firm has identified the campaign by the group leveraged the exploit for CVE-2015-2545 in Microsoft Office in February 2016.

"As a result, several emails with attached DOCX files were uploaded to VirusTotal. The email recipients were connected to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs," the report said.

It said that Indian embassy in Hungary, Denmark and Colombia were tragetted by Danti.

"In the case of the Indian Embassy in Hungary, it looks like the original message was forwarded from the embassy to the Indian IT security team in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and uploaded later to Virus Total," the report said.

It said that Danti masqueraded email of senior government officials and shared to official email ids of India mission.

An email sample published in the report showed an e-mail sent to Indian Embassy in Hungary by fake account of an IT Ministty official but the signature carried full details of the official including his designation, phone number, office address etc.

"In order to attract the attention of potential victims, the threat actors behind Danti have created emails in the names of several high-ranking Indian government officials. Once the exploitation of the vulnerability takes place, the Danti backdoor is installed and this subsequently provides the threat actor with access to the infected machine so they can withdraw sensitive data," the report said. PTI PRS MR

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Objecting to the use of term "divyang" to address people with disabilities, a disability rights group has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to withdraw the notification renaming viklangjan as divyangjan in Hindi nomenclature of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

According to a recent government order, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will now be known as Divyangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag in Hindi, dropping the word viklangjan from its previous nomenclature.

advertisement

"Our attention has been drawn to gazette notification of May 17 renaming the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities as the Divyangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag in Hindi. Disability is not a divine gift. And the use of phrases like divyang in no way ensure de-stigmatisation or an end to discrimination on grounds of disability," National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled said in its letter.

"What needs to be addressed are stigma, discrimination and marginalisation that persons with disabilities are subjected to on account of the cultural, social, physical and attitudinal barriers that hinder their effective participation in the countrys economic, social and political life. Mere change of terminology is not in any way going to alter this," it added.

The disability rights group had also written a letter to the PM in January objecting to the same when Modi had referred to replacement of the word viklaang with the word divyaang during his monthly broadcast of Mann Ki Baat programme.

"We had pointed out in our letter that invoking divinity will in no way lessen the stigma and discrimination that persons with disabilities have been historically subjected to and continue to encounter in their daily lives. Exclusion and marginalisation cannot be addressed by using patronising terms like divyang," it said.

"We urge you to withdraw the notification about renaming of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities," it added. PTI GJS RCJ SK RCJ

--- ENDS ---
Police say that this Delhi-based gang had a pan-India reach and all government and private banks were being targeted by them.

By Shashank Shekhar: With cheques of several companies, firms, and big corporate houses being cloned at an alarming rate to withdraw money from banks, corporate account holders and banks are becoming more alert by the day.

Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh has nabbed four people from Delhi - including a doctor - who forged hundreds of cheques using high-tech methods. They had even successfully managed to say out of the banks' radars so far.

advertisement

Those arrested have been identified as Gagan Sehgal, Dharmesh Kumar, Bobby Choudhary and Ashish Sood. Gagan was the mastermind of the gang and had done his MBBS from Meerut. Ashish used his technical knowledge to clone cheques using a special software. Police have seized cheques of different banks, a laptop and a printer from their house in east Delhi.

High-tech

Police say that this Delhi-based gang had a pan-India reach and all government and private banks were being targeted by them.

According to investigators, the gang using various softwares could recreated cheques to the hilt, including colour, font, size and patterns used by respective banks.

Their first step was to get the copy of a cheque by an account holder of any corporate bank. It was found that some of the bank employees were working in nexus with the gang and used to scan and send them pictures of the cheques that they were to replicate.

"Bank officials were getting a commission of 10 per cent of the total money from the gang. Such people are on our radar who will be caught soon," a police official said.

Targets

Only private companies with current accounts were targeted as they do several transactions in a day and it is a little difficult to immediately verify a transaction.

Now the biggest task before the gang was to know the number of cheques left with the account holder. For this detail, they used to call the customer care of the bank posing as account holders.

"Usually a customer executive asks three basic questions - name of the account holder, address and last two transactions - to which, the gang by means of the Internet could easily provide answers. When the bank officials asked for other details like date of birth and last transaction, they would avert the questions on grounds of being busy and the likes," said Triveni Singh, additional superintendent STF.

From the customer care they managed to seek out the balance in account and number of cheques used and left with the firm.

Modus operandi

Now as every bank uses different paper for their cheque books so the gang got their accounts opened using fake documents in all the banks to get the possession of their welcome kit, which includes a cheque book, in which name of account holder is not printed. Then, using an editing software depending on the bank, they mostly replicated the colour and fonts used by them. The existing MICR code (unique code) was deleted using a chemical and the account number and MICR code of the firm on target was printed on the cheque.

advertisement

The last step before the gang was to copy the cheque which they did by keeping the original cheque on a sheet of glass. A high-watt bulb was put under the glass and the signature was copied on the cloned cheque.

Police claim there are several such gangs in operation who have duped over hundreds of banks and corporate houses but no one is ready to come out in the open.

This case was cracked by a private bank, who registered an FIR at a police station in Greater Noida about the misuse of their cheques.

Almost all the banks were targeted by this gang. Police are yet to ascertain how many people were duped and the total money made by the gang. The gang was operational for the last two years.

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
"I was told I should gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips, get a b**b job, lose the puppy fat..."

By Indo-Asian News Service: Bollywood's outspoken actress Richa Chadha has come out in the open about her battle with bulimia, which began when she was asked to "gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips" for her showbiz journey--something that led her "confidence to evaporate".

She spoke about the eating disorders that exist among industry members, a "best kept secret", at a TedX Talks, a platform that helps people share ideas that will motivate and inspire others.

advertisement

Richa, who has found popularity with unconventional roles in films like Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Fukrey, Gangs Of Wasseypur and Masaan, spoke about how she thought she was beautiful and intelligent as a child, but her self-confidence took a beating when she headed out to chase her Bollywood dreams.

As a part of the TEDx Talks, Richa, whose latest release is Sarbjit, said, "Till I lived in Delhi, with my parents, I always felt beautiful and intelligent. It was only when I became an actor that I felt my confidence evaporate."

"Self-doubt exists in everyone's minds. But I do feel actors have it a lot worse. We deal with rejection on many levels on a daily basis. While we deal with civilian (yes, that's what I call people that don't work in showbiz) issues, we also have to listen to, in my cheeky humble opinion, people that aren't so blessed themselves tell you that you are very unsuitable looking."

Picture courtesy: Instagram/richachadha9

Sharing some secrets, she said, "I was told I should gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips, get a b**b job, lose the puppy fat, grow my hair out, or cut it, get highlights, or fake eyelash extensions, squat for a bigger b**ty, get fake gel nails, run in heels, wear spanx, pout will talking, focus on dilating the pupils, and listen attentively."

"I crumbled under the pressure like a wrecking ball had hit me."

Bulimia, she said, was the "Big B" that she had to deal with.

"Anyone know what that is? It's when you consistently hate what you look like, and compulsively induce vomiting, throw up all the food you eat, accompanied often by binge eating, general anxiety and sadness and believing basically that you are unworthy."

"What are the implications of it? You become drastically unhealthy, low on nutrition, with lack of sleep and basically over time have little zest for anything at all. I hated myself, gained weight in a strange way and felt like a failure."

"Eating disorders are the best kept secret of showbiz."

The TedX Talk featuring Richa will be showcased online next week.

--- ENDS ---
Gawande told India Today that "market value of the three-acre land in Bhosari was approximately Rs 40 crore, but Khadse purchased it from the original owner in the name of his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary at a throwaway price of Rs 3.75 crore."

He further added that "The land was purchased on April 28, 2016 from the original owner Abbas Ukani, a resident of West Bengal, keeping its present owner and MIDC in the dark".

Gawande had informed MIDC about this and have asked them to file complaint against Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse.

Meanwhile, a statement from Khadse's office says, "There was no question of changing reservation of MIDC plot at Bhosari as acquisition process was in progress. The process for acquisition of land is being independently implemented by MIDC."

The original owner, Abbas Ukani, wanted to reclaim the plot from the MIDC and moved the High Court last year. After the High Court dismissed the case, Ukani approached the revenue department. While the case is still pending, Ukani allegedly sold the land on April 28.

According to sources, MIDC regional officer has received no complaint. Moreover, MIDC only leased industrial plots and don't sell it to private parties.

India Today is in possession of a letter sent by MIDC official which clearly says that the authority is not in possession of the land acquisition award as the original owner of the land Abbas Ukani claims that he hasn't received any compensation for the land. He had sent a notice to the principle secretary regarding this on 20-6-2015 and replying to that the law department had said that he should be given compensation as per the Sec 32 of the MIDC Act. But as per the notification on 26-10-1971 and as per MIDC Act Sec 32(4) this land belongs to the government.

As per letter dated 3-10-1969 that time the cost of that land was Rs 6000/- per acre. Further the letter mentions that this land is in possession of MIDC since 1971 and MIDC has already allocated this land for a company which is operating from this area and its an industry notified area.

Meanwhile, the Modi government has asked for a discreet probe into the alleged telephone conversation between Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Commission has charged Google with abusing its dominance to promote its shopping service over rival services.

By Reuters: The European Commission will examine the terms of use of web platforms such as Google, Amazon and Apple Inc's App Store for businesses to decide whether further regulation is needed to curb possible unfair practices.

The European Union executive on Wednesday presented the conclusions from a year-long inquiry into online platforms such as Facebook, Google and eBay, ruling out a single law for them but saying it would target specific problems in areas such as copyright and telecoms.

advertisement

The Commission also proposed a reform of the bloc's broadcasting rules which will include an obligation on providers of online video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon to devote at least a fifth of their catalog to European works.

EU member states will also have the option of requiring streaming services not based in that country but targeting their audience to contribute financially to the production of European works.

"I want online platforms and the audiovisual and creative sectors to be power houses in the digital economy, not weigh them down with unnecessary rules," said Andrus Ansip, EU Commission Vice-President in charge of Brussels' strategy to create a single market in the digital world.

On Wednesday, the Commission also unveiled proposals to make online shopping across borders easier. [L5N18L6CX]

Online platforms - largely U.S. tech companies - have come under increased scrutiny in the 28-nation bloc for their business practices as well as handling of swathes of data.

The Commission said its inquiry had highlighted a number of problems in relations between businesses and platforms, including the imposition of unfair terms and conditions, refusal of access to markets and important business data and the promotion of the platform's own service to the disadvantage of competitors.

The EU executive will probe further into the allegedly "unfair" practices and decide if further action is needed next year.

Separately, the Commission has charged Google with abusing its dominance to promote its shopping service over rival services.

In an upcoming reform of EU telecom rules the Commission said it will look at both deregulating telecom companies where they face competition from similar services, such as Microsoft's Skype or Facebook's WhatsApp, and extending some telecom data protection rules to platforms providing similar services.

Telecom firms have long complained about the lack of a level playing-field with tech firms who can provide messaging or calling services without being subject to the same rules.

A reform of the bloc's copyright rules expected after the summer will address concerns by the music industry that platforms such as YouTube do not pay artists enough when their content is uploaded.

The new broadcasting rules will become law when approved by the European Parliament and national governments.



--- ENDS ---

advertisement
The mastermind of the failed terror bid in December, 2015, was Maulana Abdul Rehman, who played a major role in plotting the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines' IC 814 flight.

A botched terror test run in New Delhi has set alarm bells ringing for the security agencies about a new ISI-backed module whose operatives were able to infiltrate the national capital by posing as Afghan medical tourists, intelligence sources have disclosed to India Today.

THE MASTERMIND

The mastermind of the failed terror bid in December, 2015, was Maulana Abdul Rehman, better known as MAR in jehadi circles, the highly-placed sources have revealed. He is believed to be a plotter of the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines' IC 814 flight.

advertisement

Rehman has now fallen out with Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and one of the three terrorists India freed to secure the release of the IC-814 passengers.

Backed by Pakistan's ISI and the Haqqani network, Rehman launched his first terror attempt on India in November when he sent two of his men to target five locations in Delhi with chemical bombs, intelligence officials said.

TERRORISTS USED MEDICAL VISA

The two infiltrators - identified as Pakistani Ahmed Khan Durrani and Afghan national Abdul Qadri - used the medical-tourism method to enter into New Delhi. Durrani posed as an Afghan patient and Qadri his attendant, the officials explained.

Pakistani terrorist Ahmed Khan Durrani

Durrani had a forged passport issued in the name of Sohaib Abbas.

They chose a Lajpat Nagar neighbourhood, popular with Afghan medical tourists, to rent a room with the help of a local Afghan contact. Their Delhi address - M-3, Kasturba Niketan Complex, Lajpat Nagar-II - passed police verification in the last week of November, a copy of which was obtained by India Today.

Afghan national Abdul Qadri

EXPERT IN MAKING CHEMICAL BOMBS

Durrani had undergone a training in making chemical bombs. When triggered, such explosives produce a high-intensity fire capable of causing substantial damage in mere five to six minutes.

The duo remained in contact with their handler, identified as Abid, who had set up a control-room in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan-Afghan border.

DELHI'S ISKCON TEMPLE, MALLS ON HIT LIST

They recced locations across Delhi. On their hit-list was the Iskcon temple and a plush mall and three other targets, security officials revealed.

The two bought bomb-making materials, such as fireworks for gunpowder, wires, bottles and watches, from Old Delhi markets.

They were able to make six chemical bombs which they planned to use in serial attacks in second week of December, sources added.

TERROR TRIAL RUN GOES AWRY

But a trial run went awry forcing them to abandon their sinister plan. The two men panicked after a bomb they tried to detonate in the bathroom of their room sent huge smoke out of their building.

Scared, they flushed all their devices and fled to Afghanistan on the next flight available, intelligence officials said.

After investigators unearthed the terror plan, intelligence agencies alerted the police in Kabul who then arrested Durrani and Qadri. Explosives and secret documents were recovered from their possession.

advertisement

SECURITY AGENCIES WORRIED

Indian Intelligence officials, however, describe the entire modus operandi as alarming, with a new module using a new route of medical tourism to strike India.

The mastermid of the terror plan Maulana Abdul Rehman (MAR) heads an organization called Al Barkat Trust and has an office in Peshawar, security officials said. His trust has established the new group called Jaish-ul-Haq. Rehman's second-in-command has been identified as Dr Zubair.

MAR has a syndicate of terrorists who are recruiting and training for anti-India operations, intelligence sources added.

Also Read:

Delhi Police arrests 12 Jaish terrorists, who were planning major attack on city



Delhi, Mumbai, Goa put on terror alert

--- ENDS ---
According to the NIA, 23-year-old computer engineer Mohammed Naseer was deported from Sudan while attempting to head to Libya and Syria to join the Islamic State.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: "Welcome to Sudan", a message on ISIS recruit Mohammed Naseer's Lenovo phone number 97155551**** is now an important part of evidence, in the first chargesheet of NIA in the ISIS case.

The investigating agency is set to file its first chargesheet in the ISIS case, against Mohammed Naseer, a 23-year-old computer engineer from Tamil Nadu, who was deported to India from Sudan on December 10 last year.

advertisement

Interestingly, the two main witnesses in the case are the terror recruit's own father Mohammed Pakeer and a terminally ill cancer patient Yusha Kashmiri.

Mohammed Pakeer who has given a statement under section 164 Crpc about his son's misadventure into ISIS and how he failed to dissuade his son. A statement under Section 164 can be used as evidence in court. Naseer's phone which was seized by NIA, also had a message of Naseer to his father Pakeer, which was found in the draft box of his mobile.

The message to the father stated. "I have reached Sudan. I am joining the ISIS. Please take care of the family." This now is part of digital evidence gathered by NIA.

Digital trail



Mohammed Naseer left a wide digital trail. He has close to two dozen accounts in various social media platform sites and downloaded mobile applications including Facebook, Twitter, Telegram. NIA has scanned at least 15 of them, which they believe are important to the investigation. While NIA sought Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) from USA on servers like gmail and yahoo which are based there, there has been procedural delay. But Nia may have to file a chargesheet without the evidence as Naseer is close to completing 180 days in arrest. Under section 167 of code of criminal procedure, an accused can get default bail if chargesheet is not filed against him within 180 days in case he has been arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

ALSO READ: ISIS investigations: NIA to send Letter Retrogatory to Ireland and New Zealand



But NIA, which since 26/11, have been in touch with FBI over various terror cases, has managed to elicit a response on the mail trail through Emergency Disclosure report (EDR), providing inevitable evidence against Naseer. However the drawback with EDR is that it cannot be used in court procedures and is not "admissible evidence."

FBI has however confirmed that there were several exchanges between father and son on email ID's. Mohammed used Pmohamednaserjobs@hotmail.com to his father on pmameer34@yahoo.co

According to the NIA, Naseer was deported from Sudan while attempting to head to Libya and Syria to join the Islamic State. Pakeer has corroborated Naseer's jihadi links, and has revealed how his son (took) the wrong path. In the statement, Pakeer has revealed how Naseer's behaviour turned suspicious, and how he was drawn to reading jehadi literature," a source said. Evidence which was collected from his Dell computer. FSL lab technicians will also stand witness in the regard.

Hailing from Thanjavur, Naseer did computer engineering at MNM Engineering College in Chennai between 2010 and 2014. It was during this period that Naseer and a couple of his friends started visiting a mosque in Chennai run by the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath, a non-political Islamic organisation that preaches a puritanical version of Islam. In December 2014, he joined Takmeel Global in Deira as a web developer and graphic designer on a monthly salary of 2,500 dirhams. Unhappy with his work, he started watching videos of IS propaganda. Through Twitter, his journey to become ISIS Jihadi eventually materialised.

advertisement

Terror connection



Investigators claim that in August 2015, Naseer began communicating on Twitter with 'Mad Mullah', an IS propagandist whose profile message was, "for Hijrah (migration) to Libya, for advice". He used several twitter id crazy, khalid bin al waheed, abu, khalid al hindi and telegram id like carry me.

Naseer allegedly expressed the desire to go to Syria, and Mad Mullah told him that due to heavy security on most routes to Syria and its border, the only option available was through Sudan. Mad Max is said to have promised Naseer accommodation, a job and food in Sudan, and encouraged him to travel on to Libya, saying he would be the first Indian IS fighter to do so. Through twitter a scanned copy of passport was sent by Naseer to Madmullah for Sudanese visa to be arranged.

advertisement

Naseer has reportedly told interrogators that he managed to secretly remove his passport from the custody of his employers, and that a visa for Sudan was e-mailed to him by Mad Mullah. He traveled from Dubai to Sudan on September 25 on a Flydubai flight, after reportedly deleting all his IS-related e-mails, WhatsApp and Telegram accounts.

While the second witness is Yusha Kashmiri, a Dubai-based Kashmiri who is ailing from kidney cancer is also an important witness. In last stage of terminal cancer, NIA is in process of taking his dying declaration. Yusha, who is currently be treated at Rajiv Gandhi cancer institute has already made a statement under section 161 of Crpc to NIA, as he was not deemed fit to depose before a magistrate, which is otherwise mandatory under section 164 of crpc . Yusha who was an acquaintance of Naseer in Dubai, told interrogators that Naseer was radicalised and intended to join ISIS. Yusha Kashmiri flew to India in December, 2015 soon after Naseer was deported from Sudan to India. A dying declaration, under section 32 of Indian evidence act is considered credible and trustworthy and will be a shot in the arm for investigators. Sources say " even if a dying declaration cannot be made, his deposition in 161, will be used."

advertisement

Despite hiccups, NIA believes they have strong evidence. There will be much scrutiny of the first chargesheeted case against ISIS. There have been 49 arrests by various state police and NIA. NIA has in total registered six cases against the ISIS recruits, including a larger conspiracy against India.

ALSO READ: How chilling ISIS video tried to attract Indian youth



--- ENDS ---
In her complaint, the junior officer has accused her senior, a Surgeon Commander by rank, of attempting to molest her twice on successive days earlier this month.

By Jugal R Purohit: At a time when the government and the armed forces are exhorting women to take up careers in the uniformed services, this is hardly the endorsement they needed.

A celebrated, top Indian Navy (IN) doctor, currently posted in the capital is in the dock over accusations of molesting his female colleague, a junior naval medical officer. In her complaint, the junior officer has accused her senior, a Surgeon Commander by rank, of having twice attempted molesting her over successive days earlier this month. Shockingly the first instance reported allegedly took place inside the residence of IN's Chief of Personnel (COP) Vice Admiral AR Karve, where the duo had gone to treat the admiral's ailing mother. The navy has taken cognisance and ordered a Board of Inquiry (BoI) - the first step in investigation of the alleged instance.

advertisement

When the alleged incidents took place, the Surgeon Commander was posted at INS India, the establishment looking after administrative and logistical requirements of the navy in the national capital. Sources informed that the doctor has not been reporting to duty in recent days. The doctor was recently recognised for his meritorious service by the leadership of the IN.

"The first alleged instance occurred on Friday, May 6, when the lady officer sought to use the bathroom at Karve's residence. After this, the Commanding Officer of INS India and senior authorities include Controller of Personnel Services (CPS) Rear Admiral KK Pandey were alerted by her. That it had no impact can be confirmed by the alleged second instance when the senior again made an approach. That was when the lady gave an ultimatum and authorities ordered a probe," said a source.

Navy's zero-tolerance outlook

The navy contested this and said there was no delay whatsoever. It also rejected allegations of being slow.

Captain DK Sharma, IN spokesperson said, "We are seized of the matter and BoI was ordered immediately on receiving the complaint. Navy has a zero-tolerance outlook on such matters. Please wait for the enquiry to conclude and we can assure you that justice will be done."

The navy also informed that since Vice Admiral Karve was away on a visit to Visakhapatnam, wife was in Mumbai and mother alone in New Delhi, a team of doctors was sent to the residence to attend to the ailing mother.

Navy sources defended the move saying under special circumstances, sick patients can be treated at home.



File photo of women officers in Indian Navy.

It was reliably learnt that the BOI report is soon to be handed over to the naval headquarters following which a final decision will be taken in the case.

What is also raising eyebrows is the place of occurrence. "Military doctors are not supposed to treat a patient at home. If the patient is in such a bad condition, then he/she should be in the hospital," said a source. A military doctor, when asked to explain this anomaly, said, "There is a legal framework and there is a humanitarian framework. The later supersedes the former but the former still exists." IN sources however said it was done keeping in mind the humanitarian aspect and given the seniority of the officer concerned.

advertisement

Women officers in armed forces



Unlike in the past, more number of streams within the army, air force and navy are opening up for women. The navy, in fact, only in April announced its first permanent commission for women officers, becoming the last among the three services to do so.

Apart from opening up fields like education, naval constructors, the navy is also looking at finalising a 'policy for women officers to serve on select warships that have appropriate facilities for women'.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed the Parliament in December last year that excluding officers in the Medical, Dental and Military Nursing Services branches, army had 1412 women officers, air force had 1128 women officers and the navy had 418, all of them on Short Service Commission (SSC).

In a similar case reported in August 2014, a young woman officer holding the rank of a Lieutenant had complained against her senior, a Commander rank officer in the IN's Eastern Naval Command for making advances towards her. Her complaint was supported by other civilian naval employees. However, when the navy investigated the case, of the five charges only one could stick and the Commander was handed out '18 months forfeiture of seniority and consequential penalties'. The said officer quit the force.

advertisement

ALSO READ: Srinagar Unani hospital under scanner after medical superintendent arrested for rape



- Writer is a Senior Special Correspondent with India Today and tweets @JRPUR

--- ENDS ---
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said the state government took these steps to protect the interests of students from the weaker sections and rural areas to ensure a level playing field.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged the central government to take necessary measures ensuring that the state continues with the existing system of admission to medical and dental colleges.

Jayalalithaa thanks PM



In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, text of which was released to the media here on Wednesay, she thanked him for promulgation of the ordinance providing for exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for the 2016-17 academic year.

advertisement

She said the Ordinance would temporarily address the ssue for the current year.

"As I have pointed out to you in my earlier letters, the government of Tamil Nadu has taken a number of steps, starting from 2005, towards systematising the admission process to medical colleges, and after careful consideration, later abolished entrance examinations for professional undergraduate courses in the State, by enacting the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006," she said.

Empowering the weaker sections



Jayalalithaa said the state government took these steps to protect the interests of students from the weaker sections and rural areas to ensure a level playing field.

She said students from rural and poorer socio-economic backgrounds will be unable to compete with urban elite students in such common entrance examinations, which are designed to favour the urban elite.

"For admission to postgraduate courses, the government of Tamil Nadu gives preference to those who have served in rural areas, with special weightage for those working in hilly and tribal areas," she said.

"The introduction of NEET would nullify the implementation of these policy initiatives and socio-economic objectives of the State, as the regulations for a National Test may not have such enabling provisions," Jayalalithaa said.

According to her, the national test is out of tune with the prevailing socio-economic milieu and administrative requirements of Tamil Nadu.

ALSO READ: Amid Amma chants, Jayalalithaa sworn-in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for the sixth time



--- ENDS ---
Recruited by a Gurugram-based retail house, Sarita's first day at work was on Monday, and she recalled the ordeal she went through while accompanying her boss.

By Sneha Agrawal: Sarita, (name changed) had taken the last exam before graduation and was all excited to carve out a career in the world of fashion designing. The 25-year-old had no inkling that her first step into the world of her choosing would leave her scarred for life, wherein she would have to bring in charges of alleged sexual harassment against her employer.

advertisement

VICTIM RECALLS HARROWING ORDEAL



Recruited by a Gurugram-based retail house, Sarita's first day at work was on Monday. A resident of South Delhi, she told Mail Today, "I left home around 11 am for my office which is located on MG Road. The managing director of the company had a brief conversation with me and asked me to wait. After three hours, he asked me to accompany him to the company's unit at Kapashera border. I was a little hesitant but other colleagues encouraged me to accompany him."

She alleges that the moment she got inside the car, she was asked uncomfortable questions. "The MD asked me if I drink alcohol and the kind of dresses I like to wear. After reaching the unit, I asked about the office environment in order to see if the problem I faced a few minutes ago had also been faced by others. I had made my mind to quit," she said.

'I FEARED I COULD BE ANOTHER NIRBHAYA'



"On my way back from the unit, the MD took a detour and told me that if I wanted to get ahead in life I would have to enjoy alcohol and attend various parties. I tried reasoning with him, but he told me that if I did as he said, the sky would be the limit for me. He got down to buy beer and made me drink forcefully. He then started touching me inappropriately. I feared I could be another Nirbhaya. I begged him to drop me at the nearest Metro station but he did not listen. He insisted I accompany him to his house and go back home the next day. When he noticed that I absolutely refused to obey him, he dropped me at Sikanderpur Metro station around 6 pm," she alleged.

POLICE ACTION



An FIR was registered against the MD at DLF Phase II police station under Section 354 (A) (A man committing any of the following acts: physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) in the middle of the night.

The girl alleged that the MD had tried to settle the matter out of court when she was recording her statement before the magistrate on Tuesday. "The accused has been arrested and will be produced before the court on Wednesday," said Inspector Sudeep Singh of DLF Phase II police station.

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
By PTI: From Aditi Khanna

London, May 25 (PTI)Britains foreign secretary Philip Hammond was forced to issue a denial after his own Conservative party colleague claimed the "chief mouser" at the UKs Foreign Office could be a European Union (EU) spy.

Palmerston, a cat that was adopted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had been recently announced as the "chief mouser" to help tackle the problem of mice in the building in central London.

advertisement

However, as the debate around Britains membership of the EU heats up in the lead up to the June 23 referendum, a member of the camp in favour of remaining in the economic bloc told the House of Commons yesterday that those in favour of Brexit may fear Palmerston has not been fully vetted.

"There is a serious point here. Can I ask my right honourable friend whether Palmerston has been security cleared or not... can I ask him, has he been positively vetted by the security service and scanned for bugs by GCHQ? And can my right honourable Friend assure the House ? and the more paranoid element in the Brexiters - that he isnt a long term mole working for the EU Commission," Tory MP Keith Simpson asked Hammond.

The foreign secretary chose to the address the bizarre query, claiming Palmerstons attendance record had been impeccable.

He told MPs: "He is definitely not a mole. I can categorically assure my honourable friend that Palmerston has been regularly vetted."

On a lighter note, he added: "As for being a sleeper, he is definitely a sleeper, Im told very often in my office... his attendance record has been 100 per cent and my experts tell me that pretty much rules out of the possibility of him being a commission employee."

He went on to reveal that the chief mouser had been performing his duties well and had caught three mice in his first six weeks.

"He has settled in perfectly and is performing his services more than satisfactorily," he said.

The senior minister also claimed that the cat was proving an internet sensation and could have more Twitter followers than he does by the time Parliament breaks up for the summer in July. PTI AK SUA AKJ SUA

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2016, signed by President Pranab Mukherjee today states that irrespective of any court order, states will be free to hold medical entrance exams for this academic year.

The Ordinance which was issued this evening in the form of a gazette notification states that "...notwithstanding any judgement or order of any court, the provision of this section shall not apply in relation to the uniform entrance examination at the undergraduate level...

advertisement

"...for the academic year 2016-17 conducted in accordance with any regulations made under this Act in respect of state government seats (whether in govt medical colleges or in private medical colleges) where such state has not opted for such examinations."

The Ordinance was clearly referring to a recent recent Supreme Court verdict which said that second phase of NEET will be held on July 24 and will be applicable to all government and private medical colleges.

At the same time, the Ordinance makes it clear that there will be a "uniform entrance examination to all medical institutions at the undergraduate level and post-graduate level through such designated authority...

"...in Hindi, English and such other languages and in such manner as may be prescribed and the designated authority shall ensure the conduct of uniform entrance examination in the aforesaid manner," the notification said.

The Union Cabinet cleared the Ordinance hours after both Houses of Parliament were prorogued by the President on May 19.

As per law, at least one of the House of Parliament should not be in session to enable the government to come out with an Ordinance. PTI NAB TDS SMJ PAL SMJ

--- ENDS ---
People all over the internet are fawning over this adorable Hawaiian baby's gravity-defying hair and deep blue eyes.

By India Today Web Desk: After 2-month-old Isabelle rocked the internet with her unusually smart and full head of hair, here's another internet sensation.

Meet baby Coral, another two-month old from Hawaii who has left the internet fawning at her deep blue eyes and gorgeous mane of dark 'gravity-defying' hair.

This beautiful girl and her glamorous hair... A gift wrapped in joy from creator God. A photo posted by Michael Rader (@picgenic) on May 17, 2016 at 6:17pm PDT

Her parents Michael and Andrea Rader who run a Vlog on YouTube about their life in Hawaii, posted this adorable picture of baby Coral on Imgur and it has attracted close to a million views.

advertisement

Imgur users couldn't get enough of the baby girl's unique hair-style and beautiful eyes and of course they went berserk with comments.

While some who were jealous of Coral's raven locks said "She has more hair than me", others drew some accurate comparisons, "2 months and already got James Brown's haircut," one wrote. "Did you give birth to Rapunzel?" another asked.

Check out some adorable pictures of baby Coral below:



Happy Mother's Day to this amazing mama! Coral couldn't ask for a better mom! A photo posted by Michael Rader (@picgenic) on May 8, 2016 at 7:26pm PDT

Coral and her wild hair. A photo posted by Michael Rader (@picgenic) on Apr 7, 2016 at 3:44am PDT

Beautiful baby Coral's first time at the beach. A photo posted by Michael Rader (@picgenic) on Apr 7, 2016 at 6:58pm PDT

Coral's life has been documented from the day she was brought home to her first walk - and her first trip to the beach. Check out the YouTube vlogrun by her parents called Mike and Drea.





--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Government is making all efforts and trying its best to create consensus for smooth passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, a senior Finance Ministry official said today.

"The government of the day is making all out efforts and trying its best to create consensus for the smooth passage of GST and the upper house of Parliament would be able to pass the legislation in the forthcoming session of Parliament", Ajay Tyagi ,Additional Secretary in Finance Ministry said at an event here.

advertisement

He was addressing a seminar on National Agriculture Market, a release by PHD Chamber said.

Tyagi further pointed out that bringing about uniformity in taxation and other areas of economic engagement is one of the prime objectives of the Modi government, the release said.

With the passage of much talked about GST, the distortions in goods and services would disappear, he said.

"It would also make sure that multiple taxations including variant mandi taxes be rationalised after GST is enacted as it would also facilitate to bring about a placement of single national agriculture market in the country to enable farmers to obtain the maximum gains of their produce," he added.

Executive Director, Commodity Derivatives Market Regulation, Sebi S K Mohanty said national agriculture market for which the government has made a beginning would be conclusive in due course of time.

Efforts are afoot to integrate over 500 mandis in the country through electronic mode, he said. PTI KPM MR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, May 25 (PTI) A Hindu businessman was today hacked to death in Bangladesh after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money to drug addicts, the latest murder in the Muslim-majority nation which has witnessed a series of brutal killings of secular activists and minorities by Islamists.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe store owner, was murdered inside his shop in Gaibandha of northwestern Gobindaganj Upazila.

advertisement

"The assailants slit throat using sharp weapons leaving him dead instantly," the officer in-charge of the police station in the neighbourhood Mozammel Haque told reporters.

He said police immediately launched an investigation into the murder and arrested one Nepen Chandra in connection with the murder.

The victims family claimed that some local drug addicts tried to extort money from Pramanik a few days ago and when he refused to pay, an argument broke out at the shop.

Pramaniks son Debashish Chandra told reporters that his father could be a victim of the drug addicts.

"There was heated exchange of words after my father refused to pay them the money they demanded," he said.

Police, however, said they were yet unclear about the motive and identity of the assailants.

Bangladesh in recent period witnessed a wave of murders of liberal and secular activists, writers and minorities by suspected Islamist militants.

A Muslim homoeopath doctor being their last victim last week in western Kushtia.

The Islamic State reportedly claimed responsibilities of most of the murders but Bangladeshi authorities rejected the claims.

"The home grown militants are repeatedly trying to prove their links with international outfits like IS or al Qaeda," a senior home ministry official had said after last weeks murder.

"Our investigations found no link of any international group to the incidents (clandestine attacks) in Bangladesh."

A Buddhist monk, a atheist student, two gay rights activists, a liberal professor, a Hindu tailor and a sufi Muslim leader were the other victims of the deadly attacks since last month. PTI AR NSA

--- ENDS ---
HP Enterprise, based in Palo Alto, California, will now concentrate on selling data center hardware, software and other commercial tech gear to big organizations.

By AP: Hewlett Packard Enterprise is continuing to slim down by selling its business services division to competitor Computer Sciences Corp.

Both companies said the deal is worth about $8.5 billion to shareholders in HP Enterprise, one of two companies formed last year by the breakup of struggling tech giant Hewlett-Packard, Inc.

HP Enterprise, based in Palo Alto, California, will now concentrate on selling data center hardware, software and other commercial tech gear to big organizations. It's spinning off a technology outsourcing and management services business that includes operations the old HP acquired when it bought Electronic Data Systems Inc., for nearly $14 billion in 2008.

advertisement

CEO Meg Whitman said the "enterprise services" division helped bring in customers. With roughly 100,000 employees, it contributes more than a third of HPE's revenue. But the division has lagged other segments in both growth and profit. Analysts say some of the operations acquired from EDS were outdated.

Whitman announced the deal Tuesday as HP Enterprise reported better-than-expected revenue for its fiscal quarter ended April 30.

Investors liked the news: HP Enterprise stock rose more than 10 per cent in after-hours trading after the deal was announced. Shares in CSC surged more than 27 per cent.

Whitman has been trying to overhaul a once-mighty tech conglomerate since she became chief executive of the old HP in 2011. Nearly a decade ago, the old HP led the tech industry with annual sales above $100 billion, boosted by several large acquisitions including EDS and the personal-computer maker Compaq.

But the company struggled to keep up with industry trends, as consumers bought fewer PCs and businesses shifted to new models of commercial computing. Whitman oversaw a split last year that led to the creation of HP Enterprise and a second company, HP Inc., that's focused on selling PCs and printers.

Spinning off the services division will leave HPE with businesses producing about $33 billion in annual revenue, the company said Tuesday. It said the deal should boost annual revenue for Tysons, Virginia-based CSC to about $26 billion. HPE shareholders will get a cash dividend of $1.5 billion and a 50 per cent stake in CSC, which will assume about $2.5 billion in debt and other liabilities.

Including the services division, HPE reported $320 million in profit on $12.7 billion in sales for its most recent quarter. Profit rose 5 per cent and sales were up 1 per cent from a year earlier. Most of the sales growth came from its computer hardware division.

--- ENDS ---
Dr Pravin Kumar Jha, a senior resident doctor at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, said that he was returning from his clinic at Paliganj in Patna district at around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday when he saw six persons on two motorcycles chasing his car.

By Giridhar Jha: Motorcycle-borne armed criminals made a daring attempt to kidnap a doctor while he was returning from his clinic in Bihar. They assaulted his driver, shot at his compounder before taking away his car. The doctor, however, managed to dodge them under the cover of darkness.

Dr Pravin Kumar Jha, a senior resident doctor at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, said that he was returning from his clinic at Paliganj in Patna district at around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday when he saw six persons on two motorcycles chasing his car. Suspecting foul play, the doctor asked the driver to slow down the vehicle near Dulhin Bazar police station and slunk out of it in the darkness. The criminals soon arrived there and assaulted the driver Mithilesh Kumar with the pistol butts.

advertisement

They also shot at the compounder Rajiv Ranjan. They later took away the car. An FIR in this connection was lodged at the local police station. The police subsequently recovered the car but could not trace the miscreants.

The Patna police said that it might have been a bid to commit loot but the doctor suspected it to an attempt to kidnap him. Further investigations are on.

ALSO READ: Journalist Rajdeo Ranjan shot dead in Bihar's Siwan



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) In a fire-fighting exercise after killing of a Congolese youth, India today assured African countries of safety of their nationals and tried to persuade their envoys to attend an ICCR-hosted Africa Day event here tomorrow.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister V K Singh went into damage-control mode after the African Heads of Missions (HoMs) sought deferment of the event, expressing outrage over the recent killing and demanded steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".

advertisement

While Swaraj assured that India was committed towards the safety and security of African nationals, Singh met the representatives of African heads of missions to assuage their concerns while strongly condemning the killing of the youth here last week.

According to Indian officials, Singh "impressed on the African HoMs the need to continue the tradition (Africa Day celebrations) but also said that India would be guided by them in the matter" after which the African side said they will revert on the issue after deliberating on it internally.

They said the African side seemed to be satisfied with Indian efforts to bring to book the culprits of recent attack and were likely to attend the celeberations tomorrow.

When asked if they will attend the celebrations tomorrow, Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said, "Lets see. There is still a day left," in an apparent indication that they may participate in the event.

Earlier, the envoys of the 42 African nations, taking strong exception to killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver last week, said they will not attend the "Africa Day" celebrations as the African Community in India, including students, are in a "state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver."

"The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said in a statement.

However, the MEA in a separate statement said all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated.

Oliver was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw. MORE PTI MPB/PYK VMN

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, May 25 (PTI) A 30-year-old Indian was among four persons arrested for allegedly smuggling 2.7 kilogrammes of cocaine worth over NRs 53 million into Nepal.

A special team of Nepal Police arrested the four who are part of an international drug cartel in separate raids here over three days, officials said.

advertisement

The value of the seized cocaine in the international market has been estimated to be over NRs 53 million.

Police also seized NRs 1.3 million in cash from them.

It was one of thebiggest seizures of narcotics in Nepal in the recent period.

The arrested persons were 30-year-old Indian national Touhid Khan, a Venezuelan national,one for Guinea and a Nepalese man, police said.

Nepal Police sources said a Chinese national is suspected to be involved with the cartel, but he has been absconding.

Police said the Nigerian group spread in Peru, Brazil, Malaysia, Pakistan and India were involved in the smuggling of cocaine to European countries, making Nepal a transit point. PTI SBP ABH

--- ENDS ---
The issue that is bothering the two parties has been the seat that was allotted to the DMK's second most powerful leader, MK Stalin at the swearing in ceremony of AIADMK leader, J Jayalalithaa. He was made to sit in the tenth row.

The fight in Tamil Nadu appears to have begun in right earnest. The AIADMK and the DMK have begun to play their respective roles, which in the past have been rather poor, in right earnest.

The issue that is bothering the two parties has been the seat that was allotted to the DMK's second most powerful leader, MK Stalin at the swearing in ceremony of AIADMK leader, J Jayalalithaa.

advertisement

Stalin was made to sit in the tenth row. But, Jayalalithaa's candidate who lost the election, actor Sarath Kumar, was right in the front row. It made the DMK supremo, M Karunanidhi, promptly lash out at the "vengeful" attitude of Jayalalithaa.

Rivalry

Unlike other states, the rivalry between the two Dravidian parties is such that if one gets elected, the other does not even attend the assembly session. That tradition is carried to the swearing in ceremonies as well.

Stalin, however, broke that tradition when he was Mayor of Chennai. He attended the swearing in ceremony of Jayalalithaa.

He thought of repeating that gesture this time too but Jayalalithaa's defence was that she was not aware of his plan to attend the swearing in ceremony. In response to Karunanidhi's statement, she too issued a statement to say that protocol rules permit him to only sit in the row that was allotted to him.

She said : "I am informed that the Public Department had followed the Protocol Manual in allocating seats in the hall for the event. If this seating plan caused him any discomfiture, I would like to assure him that there was no intent to show disrespect to him or his party. Had the officers brought to my notice that Thiru MK Stalin would be attending the event, I would have instructed the officers in charge of the arrangements to provide him a seat in the first row, relaxing the norms in the Protocol Manual."

Tough battles



The first spat, as much as it is polite, appears to be only the beginning of tough battles which both the parties will be fighting in the legislative assembly. This is the first time in a decade that the Opposition DMK has 98 members in the assembly as against the ruling AIADMK's 137. The numbers could well be indicative of the battles that are likely to take place in the house.

Meanwhile, Stalin was elected leader of the DMK legislature party which, in effect, means he would be the leader of the opposition in the assembly.

Also Read:

Jaya is ready to take revenge even during her oath-ceremony: Karunanidhi



--- ENDS ---

advertisement
North Korea is one of the world's most secretive states. These set of pictures reveal a snapshot of life as a soldier in North Korea's highly militarised society.

A North Korean civilian and soldiers look at a Chinese tour boat from the banks of the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong. Picture: Reuters/Jason Lee

By India Today Web Desk: Even in the era of fast paced technology and internet, North Korea remains the most secretive country in the world.

Sporadic information about the country and the people are known, but the highly militarised society is still a hard nut to crack.

North Korea military officially called the Korean People's Army, has 1.19 million people on active duty (1.02 million army personnel, 60,000 navy and 110,000 air).

advertisement

10 years military service is mandatory for all men and this is longest conscription in the whole world.

North Korean men are required to join the military at the age of 17 and serve for a decade.

Military service was made compulsory for women in the year 2015. They serve for seven years. According to a report in Telegraph , as much as 22 per cent of the North Korean military is made up of women.

All of them are put through a grueling training routine. This photo series by Reuters ranging from 2006 to 2015 reveal the difficult lives that people serving the Korean People's Army lead.

Take a look at some of the rare pictures below:

REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

A soldier salutes from atop a vehicle carrying a missile past a stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang.



Soldiers shout slogans as they march past a stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Soldiers shout slogans as they march past a stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials.

Senior North Korean military officers follow the performance celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang. Picture: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Senior North Korean military officers follow the performance celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang.



North Korean soldiers do push-ups at the banks of the Yalu River, at the North Korean town of Sinuiju. REUTERS/Stringe

North Korean soldiers do push-ups at the banks of the Yalu River, at the North Korean town of Sinuiju.

A soldier guards an army installation on the banks of the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong. Picture: Reuters/Reinhard Krause

A soldier guards an army installation on the banks of the Yalu River.



A North Korean soldier points his gun at the photographer as he trains on the bank of the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju. REUTERS/Adam Dean A North Korean soldier points his gun at the photographer as he trains on the bank of the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju. REUTERS/Adam Dean

advertisement

A North Korean soldier points his gun at the photographer as he trains on the bank of the Yalu River.

A North Korean soldier kicks a goat on the banks of the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju. REUTERS/Jacky Chen

A North Korean soldier kicks a goat on the banks of the Yalu River.



--- ENDS ---
By Giridhar Jha: In another instance of growing lawlessness in Bihar, a Lok Janshakti Party leader was shot dead in the Naxal-infested Dumaria block of Gaya on Wednesday.

HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Sudesh Paswan, the block president of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's party, was canvassing for his wife Maya Kumari, a mukhiya candidate from Kachar panchayat, in the ongoing panchayat election when he was gunned down by unidentified motorcycle-borne criminals at Duaath village. His cousin Sunil Paswan, who sustained injuries in the shootout, succumbed to his injuries after he was rushed to a hospital. The killings, said to have been executed by the Maoists, had spread panic in the area. The murder took place barely a few hours after the Bihar police claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan killing case by arresting five persons, including the alleged main sharpshooter. Another LJP leader Brijnathi Singh was gunned down on the outskirts of Patna earlier this year.

advertisement

ALSO READ | Blood on Bihar's streets again after senior journalist is shot dead near railway station

Bihar teen shot dead by JD-U leader's son for overtaking in Gaya



--- ENDS ---
Sixteen years after State Legislative Assembly passed the autonomy resolution, which was later rejected by Government of India terming it as 'unacceptable', National Conference has taken the issue back to the Assembly, asking the Government of India to reconsider the resolution passed by the House in 2000.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : National Conference has taken the controversial Autonomy issue back to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. In a fresh resolution submitted to the House, the party is asking the Government of India to reconsider the resolution passed by the House in 2000.

ABOUT THE AUTONOMY RESOLUTION:

Sixteen years back the State Legislative Assembly had passed the autonomy resolution, which was later rejected by government terming it as 'unacceptable'.

In the resolution, submitted to the NC has urged the House to convey to government to reconsider the autonomy resolution that seeks restoration of pre-1953 position of the state.

The Autonomy resolution was passed on on June 26, 2000 during National Conference-led government headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah. The issue coming up again puts the ruling PDP in a tight spot.

advertisement

"Yes we have submitted the resolution in the house. We would want the speaker to allow a discussion on it. We would also want to see the PDP supporting it as they have been talking about upholding the special status of the state", said NC senior leader Ali Mohd Sagar.



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal today directed the Principal Committee, constituted for rejuvenation of Yamuna, to inspect the site on river floodplains where a three-day festival was organised by Art of Living (AOL) under the patronage of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered the Principal Committee to assess the damage caused to Yamuna flood plains and submit a final report within two weeks.

advertisement

The Principal Committee was constituted by the tribunal for implementation of Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project 2017 and is headed by Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources. It also comprises of three experts members -- Professor C R Babu, Professor A K Gosain and Professor Brij Gopal.

The green panel also asked AOL to file its reply within three days on an application which had alleged the spiritual guru had termed its earlier order as "politically motivated".

During the brief hearing, the counsel appearing for AOL refuted the contentions of Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan who had said that the spiritual guru should be held responsible for the statement made before media allegedly "scandalising the tribunal and interfering with dispensation of justice by the tribunal".

The tribunal also asked AOL whether the foundation has deposited the environment compensation as directed by it on March 9 for damaging Yamunas biodiversity.

The counsel for AOL replied that it was ready to furnish the amount as bank guarantee instead of "payment of balance amount".

"Keep your bank guarantee with you," the bench said while posting the matter for next hearing on August 2.

On March 9, the green panel had cleared the decks for the three-day cultural extravaganza of AOL on the flood plains of Yamuna river but had imposed a fine of Rs five crore on it as environmental compensation.

It had slapped fine of Rs five lakh on Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Rs one lakh on the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for not discharging statutory functions.

The tribunals order had come on the pleas by NGOs and environmentalists who had sought cancellation of the festival on the ground that it would seriously endanger the fragile ecosystem on the riverbed. PTI PKS RKS VMN

--- ENDS ---
The village doesn't have a health center or a high school, but one thing that is prominently visible is the slogan of 'Adarsh Gram' plastered on walls.

By Siraj Qureshi: At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah will celebrate the completion of the second year of the Modi government, villages chosen as part of the 'Adarsh Gram' scheme by his MPs would feel deceived.

MODI'S DEVELOPMENT = SOLAR LANTERNS?



None of the villages in Agra adopted by MPs at Modi's behest have anything to show for in the name of development except some solar lanterns.

advertisement

Union Minister of State for HRD and Agra MP Ram Shankar Katheria had adopted Pilkhatra (Jalesar) and MP Babulal had adopted Pusenta (Saiyyan) at the beginning of the scheme, but a visit to these villages is enough to prove that the MPs haven't even slept facing them in months.

Located about 15 km from Jalesar, Pilkhatra is mired in squalor.

NO HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL BUT PAINTED SLOGAN OF ADARSH GRAM



The primary school of this 'Adarsh Gram' is being used as a place to tie cattle and the primary health centre is merely there for show with no staff present. Very few houses of the village have toilets.

The primary school was built in 1997 and since then, no higher educational institution has been opened in this village.

Most people in the village have been educated only up to 8th standard as the nearest high school is several kilometres away.

One thing that is prominently visible in the village though, is the slogan of 'Adarsh Gram' painted on several walls.

A local resident Bhagwan Singh told India Today that in the name of Adarsh Gram, they only received solar lights and have seen MP Katheria just once in two years.

However, when asked about the state of his adopted village, Katheria claimed that the village is being equipped with electricity, toilets, hospital, high school etc. The main link road is being constructed and the primary school will soon get recognition to hold classes up-to 10th standard.

ADARSH GRAM = NO LIGHT AT NIGHT?



Similar was the state of the second village Pusenta adopted by Agra (Rural) MP Babulal.

The first sight of the village is that of wires hanging from leaning electric poles.

Ninety-five percent of the hand-pumps in the village do not work. The main road is badly damaged and the lanes are filled with mud, making walking through the lanes a difficult task. There is no arrangement for lighting at night. The primary health centre is in shambles.

A local youth Ram Prakash said that Babulal had adopted this village merely in name and has done nothing here.

advertisement

Resident Pradhan Chaturbhuj Sharma said that the MP had been given a list of issues faced by the village, including road, toilets, health center, hand-pumps and community hall but none of them have even begun in the past two years and there was little hope that anything will be done in the coming three years.

When questioned, Babulal claimed that he had planned several developmental projects for the village, but all of them are stuck at the state government and local administration level.

He said that he was making continuous efforts and the village will certainly become 'Adarsh Gram' as envisioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also read:

Qawwality Time: Raising A Din About Achhe Din

'Acche din are here, it's time to smile' says BJP govt on completing 2 years in office



--- ENDS ---
The 5G technology will guarantee delivery of 100 megabit per second speed at homes and will be capable of handling 1000 times more data traffic when it will be commercialised by 2020.

By Press Trust of India: Nokia Networks is in talks with Indian telecom operators to start trials of next generation 5G networks even as the country is yet to see full-scale roll out of 4G technology based mobile voice and data services. The Finnish telecom equipment maker is already testing the fifth-generation networks with global telecom giants like US-based Verizon, Korean SK Telecom and Japan's NTT Docomo.

advertisement

The 5G technology will guarantee delivery of 100 megabit per second speed at homes and will be capable of handling 1000 times more data traffic when it will be commercialised by 2020, Nokia Networks Head of Mobile Broadband Milivoj Vela said on the sidelines of an event today. In India, Nokia Networks is part of Telecommunications Standards Development Society which is working on 5G, and is in discussion with telecom operators to start 5G trials.

However, Indian telcos are still investing in 4G technology to roll out the fourth generation networks and large parts of the country are yet to be covered under the high-speed data and voice services. Talking about 5G networks, Vela said that 5G will focus on data services while voice calls will be facilitated through 4G technology.

Also read: 5G explained: How fast it is and what it will do for you

"It will be used for purposes beyond voice and data communications carried by people today. It will has less than 1 millisecond latency that will be used by machines for quick action like for to stop in case it identifies any obstacle, surgery from remote location etc." "Discussion about spectrum (at global level) in which 5G will operate will finish by 2019. Commercial 5G deployment will start in 2020. Then you will see 100 mbps guaranteed speed everywhere," Vela said.

He said that 5G will operate in spectrum band above 6000 Mhz and the technology will be launched in phases. "One cell (mobile antenna) in 5G will be able to handle 1000 times more data traffic in 2020 compared to data traffic in 2010. We have already achieved 1 million devices connected to single cell site and 30 gbps speed on 73 Ghz band in lab," Vela said.

At present spectrum band between 700 Mhz and 2.6 Ghz are available for mobile services in India. Wi-fi services are generally used between 2.4 Ghz to 5.9 Ghz. "Already 4G is taking voice calling to high definition voice calls and voice call cannot be better than this. 5G will about high quality data experience. It will enhance telepresence (web conferencing) to a level where one will not feel the difference if a person is in room or on telepresence," Vela said.

Also read: Nokia to cut 10,000-15,000 jobs worldwide

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
By PTI: New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) The process of online application for National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-II (NEET) for admission into medical and dental colleges will begin tomorrow, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) said today.

NEET-II will be held on July 24 this year, CBSE said in a statement adding that online application could be submitted on website www.aipmt.nic.in.

advertisement

It added that as per the directions of the Supreme Court, left out candidates who could not register or appear in NEET-I (AIPMT-2016) or those having the apprehension that they had not prepared well, subject to submission of an undertaking to give up their candidature for NEET-I, can apply in NEET-II.

This test will be applicable for admissions to the All India Quota seats, State Government Quota seats where the State Government concerned so opts and Private, Management or NRI Quota seats in all Private Medical and Dental Colleges or any Private or Deemed University.

The detailed information regarding test, syllabus and eligibility criteria will be available on the website www.aipmt.nic.in, the statement said.

It asked candidates to check all the detailed information before submission of application form.

Yesterday, President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to two ordinances which exempted state government medical and dental colleges from Supreme Court-ordered single All India entrance examination NEET.

The states now have the option of either conducting their own exam or be part of the NEET to fill 85 per cent of the Under Graduate (UG) medical and dental seats. 15 per cent of the remaining seats will be filled through NEET route by all India counselling. PTI ADS DBS RG DBS

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Melbourne, May 25 (PTI) Scientists have developed perfect thin film light absorbers, a breakthrough that may lead to low-cost infra-red technology for improved night vision devices.

The findings may help save millions of dollars in defence and other areas using sensing devices, and boost applications of technology to a host of new areas, such as agriculture.

Infra-red devices are used for improved vision through fog and for night vision and for observations not possible with visible light; high-quality detectors cost about USD 100,000 and some require cooling to minus 200 degrees Celsius.

advertisement

Researchers at the University of Sydney demonstrated a dramatic increase in the absorption efficiency of light in a layer of semiconductor that is only a few hundred atoms thick - to almost 99 per cent light absorption from the current inefficient 7.7 per cent.

The team discovered perfect thin film light absorbers could be created simply by etching grooves into them, said Martijn de Sterke from the University of Sydney.

"Conventional absorbers add bulk and cost to the infrared detector as well as the need for continuous power to keep the temperature down. The ultrathin absorbers can reduce these drawbacks," de Sterke said.

"By etching thin grooves in the film, the light is directed sideways and almost all of it is absorbed, despite the small amount of material - the absorbing layer is less than 1/2000th the thickness of a human hair," he said.

Bjorn Sturmberg, who carried out the research as a PhD student at the University of Sydney, said the findings did not rely upon a particular material but could be applied to many naturally occurring weak absorbers.

"There are many applications that could greatly benefit from perfectly absorbing ultra-thin films, ranging from defence and autonomous farming robots to medical tools and consumer electronics," Sturmberg said.

The structures were much simpler to design and fabricate than using existing thin film light absorbers, which required either complex nanostructures, meta-materials and exotic materials or difficult-to-create combinations of metals and non-metals, said Lindsay Botten, Director of Australias National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).

"There are major efficiency and sensitivity gains to be obtained from making photo-detectors with less material," Botten said.

The findings appear in the journal Optica. PTI MHN SAR SAR

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as Kerala chief minister today. The 72-year-old Left leader took oath with 19 ministers at Thiruvananthapuram's Central Stadium with nearly 50,000 people attending the ceremony.

Here are the highlights:

The CPI-M led Left Democratic Front swept the just concluded Assembly polls, winning 91 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly, showing the door to Oommen Chandy's Congress-led government that was in power since 2011. Vijayan, who won from Dharmadam constituency by 36,000 votes, served for 17 years as the CPI-M's Kerala state secretary. "Yes, the people of Kerala have high hopes in our new government and we will also rise to the occasion to make that a reality and deliver," said Vijayan, soon after submitting his list of cabinet ministers to Kerala Governor P Sathasivam. Vijayan, a man of few words, was picked for the top post by the CPI-M ahead of veteran leader and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan, who will be 93 this year. However, Achuthanandan was the star campaigner for the party and largely instrumental for its massive win in the state. Such is Achuthanandan's clout in Kerala politics that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him, and not Vijayan, to congratulate for the Left's victory. "CPM veteran VS Achutanandan is Fidel Castro of Kerala. He will continue to guide and inspire the party," party's general secretary Sitaram Yechury had said in what was seen as an attempt to pacify the veteran leader.

advertisement

HERE IS THE LIST OF MINISTER'S WHO TOOK OATH TODAY:



1. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

2. EP Jayarajan

3. TM Thomas Isaac

4. KK Shailaja

5. AK Balan

6. TP Ramakrishnan

7. G Sudhakaran

8. Kadakampally Surendran

9. AC Moideen

10. J Mercykuttyamma

11. C Raveendranath

12. KT Jaleel

13. VS Sunilkumar

14. P Thilothaman

15. E Chandrasekharan

16. NK Raju

17. CK Saseendran

18. Ramachandran Kadannapally

19. Mathew T Thomas

- With inputs from Revathi Rajeevan



--- ENDS ---
The president also called for greater market access in China for Indian IT and pharmaceutical companies, and said there was "great potential" for deepening economic and trade ties.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday made a strong pitch to Chinese investors in the country's manufacturing hub of Guangzhou asking them "to be a partner in India's growth story" as he promised "a conducive environment" for Chinese firms.

The president also called for greater market access in China for Indian IT and pharmaceutical companies, and said there was "great potential" for deepening economic and trade ties.

advertisement

INDIA'S COMMITTED TO CHINA



"We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China," he said. "India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story."

Speaking to a business forum in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of the wealthy manufacturing heartland province of Guangdong that accounts for one-fourth of bilateral trade, he said India "will facilitate your efforts to make your investments in India profitable".

Mukherjee said the fast-growing bilateral trade, up from $ 2.9 billion in 2000 to over $ 71 billion last year, and rising investment flows were a "matter of satisfaction".

TRADE IMBALANCE



At the same time, with a record $48 billion trade imbalance in China's favour, he said India "would like to see a greater market for our products in China - particularly in sectors where we have natural complementarities - as in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and IT-related services and agro-products."

The president left Guangzhou for Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, and met the Vice President and Politburo member Li Yuanchao at an evening reception hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Li told the reception economic ties were deepening, evident in "major cooperation projects including pioneering initiatives in railways and industrial parks".

"There is high complementarity and large potential," said the Politburo member, adding that China wanted both sides "to strengthen political mutual trust" and "properly handle differences".

MEETING WITH THE CHINESE PRESIDENT



Thursday will see the political leg of the visit, when the president meets with China's President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, and also delivers a policy speech at Peking University.

At Thursday's talks, both sides will have the opportunity to address recent differences such as over India's membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

China's official Xinhua news agency in a commentary played down differences, saying the president's visit was "beginning a new dance between the Elephant and the Dragon" and would "yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability".

POLITICAL COMMENTARY CREATING DIFFERENCES?



The agency blamed Western media for trying "to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants". It cited reports that said India's recent deal to develop the Chabahar port in Iran was aimed at China's Gwadar port project in Pakistan, saying "such hype is both untrue and harmful."

advertisement

"China and India do have differences, but those differences are outnumbered and dwarfed by their consensuses and aspiration for win-win cooperation," the commentary said.

"Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation-addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions. For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda."

Also read:

President Pranab Mukherjee begins 4-day China visit with call to reduce differences



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: attacks too

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Expanding its ambit of probe in the Pathankot terror attack, NIA has decided to examine other terror cases involving Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to gather more evidence against the outfit.

NIA sources said the agencys probe was not event-specific and it would like to look at the role of the terror group in other cases as well.

advertisement

There were striking similarities between the attacks undertaken by Jaish in Tandgdhar in North Kashmir, Kathua and Samba in Jammu region and Dina Nagar (in Punjab) that took place last year.

NIA teams have been sent to all these places to examine the evidence collected by the local police and quiz those arrested after securing permission from the court, the sources said.

They said the agency could spot glaring similarities in the modus operandi of the terrorists, who staged attacks in Kathua, Samba and those involved in the assault on Pathankot IAF base on the intervening night of January 1-2 this year in which seven people were killed.

The sources said the group which attacked the Samba army camp was also carrying enough eatables and supplies for a long haul fight with security forces and the arms and ammunition used by them were also the same.

The attack in Samba on the Jammu-Pathankot highway took place on March 21 and two terrorists were involved. The team also visited Kathua where Rajbagh police station was attacked by a group of terrorists on March 20 last year.

In the Samba attack both the terrorists were killed, while in Kathua two militants were gunned down in a fierce exchange of gunfire which also claimed the lives of three security personnel and a civilian.

In the Tangdhar area, three heavily-armed militants of JeM carried a terror strike at army camp near the Line of Control, triggering a fierce gunfight in which all the attackers and a civilian were killed and a soldier was injured. PTI SKL SK SK

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, May 23 (PTI) As more and more Indians are becoming experimental while choosing their holiday destinations, they are mostly looking for off-the-beaten-path places like Bhutan, Russia and Middle East to satisfy this adventurous need in them, according to a survey.

"In 2015, Indian travellers are the most experimental in Asia Pacific when it comes to choosing holiday destinations. Keen to uphold this reputation in 2016, Indian travellers are seeking adventures off the beaten track to scratch that travel itch," global travel search site Skyscanner revealed.

advertisement

The survey is based on actual searches on Skyscanner from April 2015 - April 2016 for a travel period from May 2016 to December 2016.

The survey revealed the unconventional travel destination rising most in popularity is neighbouring Bhutan with a 75 per cent increase in search from 2015.

"The Thunder Dragon Kingdom is drawing Indian travellers in their droves this year too," it added.

"Considering the adventurous nature of Indian travellers coupled with increasing disposable incomes and continuously improving travel options, its no wonder these destinations are appearing on more and more their bucket lists. The surge in pop culture references in movies and literature may also be influencing tourists to look out for unfrequented destinations," Skyscanner India Manager, Growth Strategy, Ravish Doctor said.

Bhutan was followed by Russia, where searches jumped 47 per cent year-on-year and is becoming a tourist hot spot for Indians.

In addition to the famed Faberge Eggs, the vodka and the ballet, tourists are discovering Russia through the Byzantine architecture and new holiday destinations such as Sochi, the Black Sea resort and home of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Affordable and varied flight routes along with the weakening Ruble are also bringing in more tourists to the snow clad country.

Away from the glitz and glamour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, alternative Middle Eastern destinations like Iran and Jordan have seen a rise of 21 per cent and 15 per cent Y-o-Y, respectively.

With the ease of visa rules and change in policies, it is becoming an attractive unconventional destination, it added. PTI SM NP MR

--- ENDS ---
Savchenko was captured and put on trial in southern Russia, charged with complicity in the deaths of Russian journalists who were killed by artillery while covering the conflict.

By Reuters: Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home in Kiev on Wednesday after nearly two years in a Russian jail, part of a prisoner swap in which two Russians held in Ukraine were returned to Moscow.

Handing over Savchenko, whose release had been demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, is likely to ease tensions between Moscow and the West a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia.

advertisement

"A presidential plane with Ukraine's hero Nadiya Savchenko has landed," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a post on Twitter.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Savchenko, who while in Russian jail was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament, was granted a pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to leave jail and return home. Peskov also said that the two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were now back in Russia, having landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on a special flight from Kiev.

Ukraine accused them of being Russian special forces officers fighting in eastern Ukraine, though Moscow has never acknowledged the two were following its orders.

SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE

Savchenko, a military pilot, volunteered to fight with a ground unit against pro-Moscow separatists who rose up against Kiev's rule in eastern Ukraine.

She was captured and put on trial in southern Russia, charged with complicity in the deaths of Russian journalists who were killed by artillery while covering the conflict. She was accused of acting as a spotter, calling down the fire that killed the journalists, but denied the accusation.

A Russian court in March sentenced her to 22 years in jail. She is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia, a perception bolstered by her defiant behaviour in court during her trial. At one point, she interrupted the judge reading out his verdict by standing on a bench and singing the Ukrainian anthem at the top of her voice.

Yerofeyev and Alexandrov both told Reuters in interviews last year they were Russian special forces soldiers who were captured while carrying out a secret operation in eastern Ukraine.

Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him."

RUSSIA'S RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE

Russia's relations with its neighbour Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev, but Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

advertisement

Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large-Russian speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but there is no permanent settlement to the conflict.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Sebi today barred Ruchi Soya Industries and National Steel and Agro Industries from the securities market for alleged fraudulent and manipulative in trading in castor seeds at the NCDEX.

The latest crack down for irregularities in the commodities derivatives market comes less than three months after it banned 16 brokers and traders from the securities market for manipulation in castor seeds trading at the bourse.

advertisement

The two companies have been barred from "buying, selling or dealing in the securities market, either directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever, till further directions", Sebi said.

"... I, prima facie, find that the acts and omissions of Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd and National Steel and Agro Industries Ltd has, not only disturbed market equilibrium, but also indicate manipulative and fraudulent design to form a cartel and corner the castor seed market," Sebi Whole Time Member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal said in the order.

He noted that prima facie Ruchi Soya Industries and National Steel and Agro Industries being part of Ruchi group entities have violated the position limits prescribed by erstwhile Forward Markets Commission (FMC) in October and December 2014.

Noting that detailed investigation of entire scheme, plan, device and artifice employed by concerned entities is necessary, Sebi said the role of four other entities funded by Ruchi Soya Industries -- Stride Multitrade Pvt Ltd, Bharat Foods Co-operative Ltd, Anuj Jain and Sisne Polymers Pvt Ltd.

These four entities were among the 16 against whom action was taken by Sebi through its order on March 2.

"The connected entities, acting in concert under a premeditated plan, have acquired dominant market share in castor seed contracts traded at NCDEX.

"Their acts, conduct, behaviour and dealings connote a deceptive conduct designed to deceive or defraud market participants and by camouflaging/ masking their actual position in castor seed, they have interfered with free market forces of supply and demand," Sebi said in the latest order.

Allowing the entities that are prima facie found to be involved in such fraudulent, unfair and manipulative transactions to continue to operate in the market would shake the confidence of the investors in the commodities market, it added.

On March 2, Sebi had barred 16 brokers and traders from the securities market for manipulation in castorseeds trading at NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange).

These entities had either traded or facilitated trade of castorseed contract at the leading commodity bourse.

NCDEX had suspended trading in castor seed contracts on January 27, 2016, pursuant to which Sebi had also launched its probe in respect of trading in these contracts at NCDEX for the period beginning January 1. PTI RAM SOM

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
By PTI: Mumbai, May 25 (PTI) Setting an ambitious agenda for this fiscal, Sebi today announced it will put in place stringent norms for high frequency trades along with higher penalties for misuse, initiate strong action against auditors for lapses and expressed hope that P-Note users will start directly investing in the Indian market. The watchdog also plans to seek delisting of over 4,200 listed companies whose shares are not being traded, apart from having an online platform for sale and purchase of mutual funds. As part of efforts to further strengthen the domestic markets and protect investor interests, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) eyes more strong regulations for credit rating agencies that among others will require such entities to disclose reasons for their actions. Concerned over misuse of the high-frequency or algo trade, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said a strong set of norms will be in place in 3-4 months to ensure fair opportunity for trading entities.

advertisement

"While Sebi is among the first regulators to have some kind of regulations in place on HFT (High Frequency Trading), there is a need to make it stronger. We are working on that.

"It is not only about misuse of algo trade and co-location facilities, but also about fairness, and we are trying to address the issue. We are now looking to increase penalty for its misuse," Sinha said at an interaction here. The regulator will soon be floating a discussion paper in this regard. To weed out shares that are not being actively traded, Sebi will push for delisting of more than over 4,200 listed companies while promoters refusing to provide an exit opportunity to investors will face strict penal action. In addition, Sebi has warned of stringent action against auditors who turn a blind eye to lapses in financial accounts of listed firms. Setting out Sebis agenda for the current fiscal, Sinha emphasised that delisting of these companies is one of the key focus areas. Close on the heels of making norms stricter for Participatory Notes (P-Notes), Sinha today ruled out any concession for hedge funds with riskier profile in Indian markets and stressed that P-Note users should eventually move to direct route of investing in Indian markets. MORE PTI BEN BJ RAM ARD

--- ENDS ---
Additional Director-General of Police (ADG) Sunil Kumar said that the main shooter, Rohit, has confessed to his crime.

By Giridhar Jha: The Bihar police on today claimed a major breakthrough in the Siwan journalist killing case by arresting five persons, including the main shooter.

ADG Sunil Kumar said that the main shooter, identified asRohit Kumar, has confessed to his crime, however, the motive behind the murder isyet to be ascertained.

Latest developments:

Additional Director-General of Police (ADG) Sunil Kumar said that the Siwan police and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had taken five persons into custody who have confessed to their involvement in murder of Rajdeo Ranjan, the bureau chief Hindustan daily. The arrested persons have been idenitified as Rohit Kumar, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Ishu Kumar, Sonu Kumar Gupta and Rajesh Kumar. A countrymade pistol and three motorcycles have also been recovered from their possession, the ADG said. He claimed that Rohit, the main shooter in the case, has confessed to having shot the scribe and identified the spot of crime. "The forensic science laboratory report of the seized pistol and the motorcycles will further throw light on the case," he said. The ADG, however, said that the main accused in the case was still at large. "The motive behind the killing is also not yet known. The hunt for the other accused in the case is still on." The ADG said that the CBI has also started its investigation in the case. Ranjan, 45, was shot dead at a fruit market near Siwan railway station by the motorcycle-borne criminals shortly after he came out of his office at around 7:30 pm on May 13.

advertisement

Main shooter Rohit.

Also Read:

Exclusive: RJD member linked to Shahabuddin detained in Bihar journalist murder case



Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was No. 7 on Shabuddin's hit list of 23





--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan may not have put her sartorial best forward while walking the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival--for the 15th year in a row--but her purple lips definitely gave people a lot of things to talk about. We, for one, loved the L'Oreal brand ambassador's bold beauty experiment on the red carpet.



Also read: You'll be surprised to see the way Aishwarya rocked purple lips at Cannes

advertisement

However, it seems like we aren't alone, as Sonam Kapoor too thought that the actress' choice looked great. While in the past, Sonam and Ash have been embroiled in a cold war--because Sonam called her an "aunty"--this time, she only had good things to say about fellow L'Oreal ambassador, while speaking to PTI, "The whole idea of fashion and make-up is for people to discuss it and I guess she wanted to be discussed. She achieved what she wanted to achieve with it, which I think is great. I think it (purple lip colour) looked great and she carried it off with aplomb."

When asked if she would ever try a shade like that, the Neerja actress said, "I have done purple lipstick in the past, I have even done black for a shoot... People haven't spoken about me!"

Also read: Dosa to Rumali Roti: Sonam Kapoor's red carpet appearance sure kept Twitter hungry

One of Sonam's red-carpet appearances at the festival, a saree-inspired Ralph & Russo gown, was also poked fun at. Unfazed by it, Sonam, who thought the gown was her best outfit, said, "There were just one or two people (who cracked jokes on the dress) but I think it was my most incredible look. I don't believe in taking anything personally. I dress for myself and I felt beautiful."

This year, the actress stuck to just Ralph & Russo on the red carpet, with the British couture house customising outfits for the Khoobsurat actress. "They (Michael and Tamara) are very good friends of mine. I spent New Year's with them. I wanted to do something Indian-inspired and they kind of love India and love me. That's why I did jhumkas and a saree-gown, which I think was incredible."

(With inputs from PTI)



--- ENDS ---
For PG courses though, the exam will be held under NEET for 2017-18 session in December this year. The declaration came after President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday gave his assent to the ordinance on NEET.

For PG courses though, the exam will be held under NEET for 2017-18 session in December.

By Neetu Chandra Sharma: All private colleges will now come under the ambit of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the Centre said on Tuesday. However, in a major relief to parents and students, while considering the state governments' concerns over state-level examinations already conducted in regional languages and different syllabi from All India Pre-Medical Test, the Centre has given state governments the option to either conduct their own exams or opt for NEET to fill undergraduate seats.

advertisement

For PG courses though, the exam will be held under NEET for 2017-18 session in December this year. The declaration came after President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday gave his assent to the ordinance on NEET.

"NEET is being implemented from the current year itself for UG admissions in all private institutions in respect of their seats. The first phase was conducted on May 1 and the second phase shall be held on July 24. Only state government seats in government medical colleges and state government seats in private institutions will have exemption if the concerned state government so chooses in the current year," said JP Nadda, Union health minister.

"The management quota seats shall be filled by the respective private colleges, associations of colleges and/or private universities, deemed universities through the NEET UG-2016 examination only, in all the states even for this year. From next year, starting with PG examination in December 2016, NEET will fully apply without any exemption," he added.

"The states that have deferred the exams are West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Andhra Pradesh. PG exams in December 2016 will be a complete NEET," said Nadda.

"The states had not effectively put forth their views in the right perspective before the Supreme Court. In order to provide them relief, we brought this Ordinance," he said.

The medical fraternity has raised concerns over exorbitant fees expected to be charged by private colleges with the implementation of NEET. "As private colleges have hinted at an increase in fees, there has to be strict regulation in this regard on the state level and there should be a cap on fees in private colleges," said Dr AK Chandna, member, Dental Council of India (DCI).

--- ENDS ---
Probe agencies are looking into allegations that Italian defence manufacturer Finmeccanica and its subsidiary, AgustaWestland, spent nearly Rs 360 crore to bribe influential people in India to manipulate specifications related to the chopper's flying capability to bag the contract.

Investigators have found that the AgustaWestland bribe money moved through Intersellar Technologies handled by Fakeermahamood on behalf of Gautam Khaitan.

A sting operation by India Today has laid bare the kickbacks trail running through Mauritius in the AgustaWestland chopper scam and smoked out suspect Gautam Khaitan's well-entrenched connections that allegedly helped him launder the bribe money via shell companies. Members of India Today's special investigation team (SIT) entered the Port Louis office of Shakil Fakeermahamood, who Enforcement Directorate sleuths believe may have managed the flow of dirty money in the now-cancelled aircraft deal.

advertisement

Probe agencies are looking into allegations that Italian defence manufacturer Finmeccanica and its subsidiary, AgustaWestland, spent nearly Rs 360 crore to bribe influential people in India to manipulate specifications related to the chopper's flying capability to bag the contract.

Funds for bribes

Khaitan, a Delhi-based lawyer, was arrested in 2014 for allegedly routing funds for bribes in the Rs 3,600-crore helicopter deal. He was released on bail in January last year. According to an Enforcement Directorate charge sheet, he funnelled kickbacks through shell companies in Mauritius. So far, no investigator from India or Italy has been able to reach out to Fakeermahamood, accused of managing Khaitan's Interstellar Technologies company in Mauritius by proxy.

"Yes, everybody knows him in Mauritius," Fakeermahamood told the India Today team when asked whether he knew Khaitan.

"He was adviser of (the) financial services commission," the offshore consultant disclosed. Fakeermahamood was referring to the Mauritian body that regulates and licenses non-banking financial and global businesses in that country.

Khaitan, he added, was well-known in the Mauritian government circles. According to the ED charge sheet, Khaitan received money from suspected middlemen Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The lawyer, however, denies collecting bribes.

Investigators have found that the AgustaWestland bribe money moved through Intersellar Technologies handled by Fakeermahamood on behalf of Khaitan.

Legitimate fee

Khaitan has largely remained evasive about his Mauritian networks during his questioning by the ED. Fakeermahamood defended his alleged client Khaitan, saying the lawyer had charged a legitimate fee for facilitating the chopper deal. "If you take the case of Mr Khaitan, he's a lawyer... Everybody pays consultancy fees," the Mauritian operative said, unaware he was being filmed secretly.

"The guy who negotiated to get the contract from the Italian company was paid consultancy fees for their work to be done for this thing." At the same time, Fakeermahamood admitted bribes may have been paid in the helicopter deal.

"There is good money and there may be bribery. I can understand. But there's work done," he said. "We don't know which part is bribery." Fakeermahamood insisted Khaitan was not the brains behind the scam. "He cannot be the mastermind....He's a lawyer. How can he be a mastermind?"

advertisement

Khaitan would have charged a legit fee for his services, he reiterated. "But did he give the bribe? That's the question to all."

In his statement to the ED and CBI, Khaitan's employee Manish Jain admitted that his boss had asked him to contact Fakeermahamood in connection with some undisclosed money wires.

--- ENDS ---
The emergence of Asian countries as a major attraction was discussed in an eye-opening afternoon session with Vishal Sinha, chief operating officer of TUI Holidays, Naresh Rawal, vice-president of Star Cruises and Arzan Khambatta, head of India, representative office, Macao.

(From left) Vishal Sinha, Naresh Rawal and Arzan Khambatta at the Mail Today Tourism Summit 2016 in New Delhi on Tuesday.

By Mail Today: Far from the days of being a relatively cheap holiday destination, Asia is drawing in the big bucks with evolved travellers that are willing to spend for a taste of culture and new experiences.

The emergence of Asian countries as a major attraction was discussed in an eye-opening afternoon session with Vishal Sinha, chief operating officer of TUI Holidays, Naresh Rawal, vice-president of Star Cruises and Arzan Khambatta, head of India, representative office, Macao.

advertisement

The industry stalwarts spoke of how the desi traveller is looking to neighbouring countries for everything from destination weddings to adventure activities. As Rawal shared, "Around 10 years ago, we aimed at selling rooms with the itinerary stretching to a maximum of 2-3 nights. Today, the new-age Indian is happy to book premium cabins for five nights, and Indians are the largest contributors to Star Cruises because they no longer consider it an expensive experience."

South-East Asian countries are no longer looked at as the cheaper cousin of European holidays. As Sinha shared, "We're speaking of evolved travellers, who want to explore Buddhist trails in Japan, the Jeju Islands in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan - people plan much in advance, and they really want to immerse themselves in the culture."

In fact, countries like Macau are drawing young Indians for pre-weddings celebrations with its vibrant night life and variety of activities. Khambatta revealed, "We see a number of bachelorettes being hosted in Macau because of the safety and exciting club culture. It's also very popular for destination weddings because there are no visa charges, and hotels having huge infrastructure to host the functions."

As Khambatta added, "The learned traveller is doing research before arriving and knows what to expect, with the number of apps and websites that have emerged."

With new options increasing, Asian countries are ready to offer something new and exciting for every kind of visitor, to meet every type of expectation.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Agartala, May 25 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar would not join the meeting of North-East Council (NEC) scheduled for tomorrow in Shillong, top CPI(M) sources confirmed here today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governors and Chief Ministers of eight North-eastern states were supposed to be present in the meeting.

Tomorrows NEC meeting assumed significance keeping in mind the Prime Ministers presence who is expected to brief the states of the region about the Act East Policy, one of the newly launched programme of the NDA government.

advertisement

"The Chief Minister, who is also a Politburo member of CPI (M), will attend the partys state committee meeting beginning on the same day. Thats why he decided to skip the NEC meeting", said a senior party leader.

After attending the party meeting, the Chief Minister will leave for Delhi to attend crucial CPI (M) Politburo meeting scheduled for May 28.

However, Governor Tathagata Roy, Industries and Commerce Minister Tapan Chakraborty and Chief Secretary Yaspal Singh would represent the state in the NEC meeting. PTI COR SUS AMS LNS

--- ENDS ---
JeM's North Kashmir commander Saifullah, along with another militant, believed to be a foreign national and a cadre of JeM, was killed in encounter.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed to have killed two Pakistani militants including Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Saifullah in Srinagar in an encounter late on Monday night.

JeM's NORTH KASHMIR COMMANDER KILLED

JeM's North Kashmir commander Saifullah, along with another militant, believed to be a foreign national and a cadre of JeM, was killed in an encounter that began inside a residential house in the densely populated Saraiballa area of the city. The area is close to many important government installations including the civil secretariat, assembly complex and the J&K High Court.

advertisement

As per the sources in the police, the two militants, including Saifullah, had left from Handwara-Sopore belt of North Kashmir and arrived in Srinagar. The sources also added that the duo may have been part of a plan to execute major strikes in Srinagar particularly around the city.

Srinagar witnessed two attacks on policemen on Monday that left three police personnel dead. There is however no clarity on whether the two Jaish militants killed later in the night had any role in the serial attacks carried out in the day.

Also read:

Srinagar: 3 policemen killed in 2 separate encounters, Hizbul Mujahideen claims responsibility





--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Yoshita Singh

United Nations, May 25 (PTI) India has said the success record of UN peacekeeping deployments in Africa may have been a "mixed one" due to complexities of geo-politics and political will but important lessons can be drawn for the international community by analysing them.

"While the largest UN peacekeeping deployments have been in Africa, their record of success has been a mixed one, partly reflecting the complexities of geo-politics, political will and the capacities and resources, backing the peacekeeping efforts. Important lessons can be drawn from analysing the various missions," Indias Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Tanmaya Lal said yesterday.

advertisement

The African Union (AU) peacekeeping efforts have formed the precursor and the basis for several UN peacekeeping efforts in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Central African Republic and Somalia.

Participating in a Security Council debate on UN-AU Peace and Security Cooperation, Lal said regional organisations can have several advantages in terms of dealing with crises in their regions.

The organisations may become quick responders and have a much better understanding of the complexities of their region, besides enjoying advantages of language and intelligence.

They can also act as buffers until the deployment of the UN Peacekeepers. Many regional organisations may face serious constraints of capacity, resources and conflicting geo- political interests.

"Priorities of the UN Security Council and those of the regional organisation could also differ significantly," he said, adding that maintaining peace and security across the world continues to be a massive challenge for the international community.

He said, "The nature of conflict itself has been changing with an increasing involvement of non state actors. While the UN continues to be heavily invested in the peace and security efforts, it is difficult for the UN to succeed on its own".

Lal pointed out that currently Indian peacekeepers serve in eight UN peacekeeping missions on the African continent.

He cited the example of the first ever Female Formed Police Unit provided by India and deployed in Liberia, saying the unit received recognition for providing a role model for encouraging female participation in Police and for pursuing gender balance more widely.

Underlining Indias longstanding close links with Africa, he said the tradition of south-south solidarity continues to strengthen and was reinforced during the third India-Africa Forum Summit last October when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a significant enhancement of the scale of Indias development partnership.

India would extend concessional credit worth USD 10 billion and provide additional grant worth USD 600 million over the next five years to Africa. PTI YAS CPS ASK CPS

--- ENDS ---
"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a joint press conference at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran. (PTI Photo)

By Reuters: US senators have questioned whether India's development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.

"WATCHING CLOSELY"

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

advertisement

"We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

PM MODI SEALS CHABAHAR DEAL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.

Chabahar is less than 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar port, being developed by China. Chabahar is less than 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar port, being developed by China.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.

Biswal said she believed India's relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognized India's need for a trade route.

"From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia," she said. "It needs access that it doesn't have."

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.

MODI TO VISIT US IN JUNE

Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honour.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.

She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. "We're looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation," Biswal said.

Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance China's rising power. President Barack Obama has called it "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."

Also Read:

India, Iran ink pact to develop Chabahar port; our dosti as old as history, says PM Modi



13 reasons why PM Modi's Iran visit is historic



--- ENDS ---
According to the report, the company had invited its Finland-based phone developers to a meeting in Espoo on Wednesday.

By Reuters: Microsoft Corp will stop designing and manufacturing mobile phones, Finland's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported on its website citing an unnamed source.

A spokesman for Microsoft Finland declined to comment on the report which said the company had invited its Finland-based phone developers to a meeting in Espoo on Wednesday.

The U.S. company entered the phone business in 2014 by buying Finnish firm Nokia's once-dominant handset unit for about $7.2 billion.

advertisement

It failed to turn the business around and took a $7.5 billion writedown last year.

This month Microsoft announced a sale of its entry-level feature phones business for $350 million, but said it would continue to develop its Lumia smartphones.

--- ENDS ---
The USP of this range is the added high video quality produced by combining 4K Ultra HD resolution with HDR technology.

By Manish Sain: Sony today announced its new range of Bravia 4K HDR TVs in India. The line-up adds X9350D, X9300D, X8500D to the company's high-end 4K TVs. The USP of this range is the added high video quality produced by combining 4K Ultra HD resolution with HDR technology.



The top-end Bravia X9350D comes with Sony's unique technologies- 4K Processor X1, 4K X-Reality PRO, Triluminos Display and X-tended Dynamic Range. The TV will be available in 164 cm and 139 cm display sizes.



advertisement

The company claims it to "perform thousands of adjustments every second to dynamically enhance resolution, colour and brightness". The price of X9350D will be announced at its launch in June this year.



The Bravia X9300D has been priced at Rs 3,64,900 and Rs 2,64,900 for the 164 cm and 139 cm display sizes respectively. With the help of Slim backlight drive with X-tended Dynamic Range PROTM, the X9300D can reproduce far brighter visuals with more depth than a conventional LED TV.



The Bravia X8500D is the cheapest of the lot. It has been priced at Rs 1,94,900 and is available in only 139 cm display size.



The 4K HDR range TVs supports Google's official Android TV operating system. The users can explore Google Play on the TVs and browse through a huge number of apps and games which are customized for TVs.



The Bravia smart TVs also support Google Cast, which lets the user connect their smartphones, Android or iOS, to the TV. Google Cast makes it easier to stream audio and video from a smartphone to a TV.

Also read: Google Chromecast review: Make all speakers smart

--- ENDS ---
The IPKat is very grateful to David Pellise and Juan Carlos Quero of Pellise Abogados in Barcelona , for telling him about a new reference that is fizzing its way to the Court of Justice of the European Union.



Interested in the limits of parallel importation? Then pour yourself a stiff G&T and read on. The Barcelona Commercial Court (n 8) in Spain has essentially asked the CJEU to rule on what happens when the owner of a trademark right has caused uncertainty as to the function of origin.





The famous SCHWEPPES trade mark: it looks

the same worldwide, but ownership varies

from one EEA country to another

The dispute relates to parallel imports of soft drinks bearing the famous SCHWEPPES trademark. The defendant, Red Paralela SL (for whom Pellise Abogados acted), imported SCHWEPPES drinks into Spain from other European Economic Area (EEA) countries, most notably from the UK. The plaintiff, Schweppes SL, took action as the exclusive licensee of its sister company, Schweppes International Limited, which owns the Spanish trademark registration for SCHWEPPES.





The imported products were genuine UK-branded SCHWEPPES drinks, but the trademark rights are divided across the EEA, and not (Red Paralela would argue) in the most transparent way. Apparently, in 1999, Schweppes International sold the trademark rights in many EEA countries, the UK among them, to the Coca-Cola Group. However, for some countries, such as Spain, the trademark rights were retained by Schweppes International and licensed within the group, while in yet other countries such as the Netherlands, Schweppes International retained ownership but licensed the rights to Coca-Cola.





The IPKat understands this to mean that in any given EEA country, one can buy genuine SCHWEPPES tonic water, but this might have been produced:





by a Schweppes International subsidiary such as Schweppes SL in Spain





by Coca-Cola as the trademark owner, as in the UK, with no involvement of Schweppes International or any associated company, or





by Coca-Cola as the licensee of Schweppes International, as in the Netherlands





Presumably, Schweppes International can only object to parallel importation in the second of these cases, but the question now raised is whether it should even be able to object in the second case, particularly in view of the "global brand image" issue. Schweppes International promotes a global brand image (as the Barcelona Court puts it) which is associated with the United Kingdom, from where the brand originates. The IPKat understands this as referring to the fact that both Schweppes International and Coca-Cola promote the SCHWEPPES-branded products as being in a direct lineage from the invention of the soft drink in 1783 by Jacob Schweppe.





Confused yet? The IPKat suggests you have a G&T.





The Spanish subsidiary, Schweppes SL, has apparently been pretty successful until now in enforcing this market division between different EEA countries, having successfully brought many infringement actions on the basis of the Spanish registration, obtaining more than forty injunctions and favourable decisions of first instance from different Spanish Courts.





However, in view of the arguments raised by the defendant Red Paralela SL, the Barcelona Commercial Court (n 8) has decided to refer four questions to the EU Court of Justice. Two of these four questions deal specifically with the limits of the trademark function of origin.





The first question asks:





Is it incompatible with Article 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 7.1 of Directive 2008/95/EC and Article 15.1 of the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 for the holder of a trademark in one or more Member States to prevent parallel importation or marketing of products, bearing a virtually identical trademark owned by a third party, from another Member State, when the holder has promoted a global brand image associated to the Member State from which the products intended to be prohibited came?





The second question asks:





Is it incompatible with Article 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 7.1 of Directive 2008/95/EC and Article 15.1 of the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 for the holder of a well-known trademark to use it in a manner that generates confusion in the average consumer regarding the corporate origin of the product?




Tabatabai also noted that his clients and their fellow defendants had been made subject to multiple charges for the same purported offenses. But these offenses were hardly recognizable as crimes, even by the extremely loose standards of the Iranian judiciary. They have been judged to be guilty of such offenses as spreading propaganda and insulting authorities through their writings, yet the judge in their cases failed to so much as specify which of their writings contained the supposed offending material

The main reason given for their arrest is that they were sending news and information to news agencies and media outside Iran, the lawyer was quoted as saying. This observation and the surrounding circumstances closely reflect a number of other well-known political cases, including that of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, an American-Iranian dual national who was held without trial for nearly a year before being tried and sentenced for such offenses as collaborating with hostile governments.

Rezaian was ultimately released as part of a prisoner swap between Iran and the US in January, but in the meantime there was much advocacy on his behalf in the West. His brother Ali Rezaian explained the emerging case against his brother by telling the media that he had essentially been accused of watching local Iranian news and discussing it with family and friends in the United States.

The cases against two of Tabatabais clients, Ehsan Mazandarani and Isa Saharkhiz appear to be similar, insofar as some of their writings were apparently criminalized just by virtue of being published on a website that is based in France and publishes content in both Farsi and English. Tabatabais third client from the November arrests, Davoud Asadi, was not a journalist but was reportedly targeted by regime authorities in order to mete out a sort of proxy punishment to his brother, a journalist living and working in France.

IranWire concludes its article by saying: Tabatabais account of the current climate in Irans jails and courts suggests a renewed hostility toward individuals with links outside Iran, whether they work as journalists or promote business opportunities. Once again, those sections of Iranian society hoping for a more open Iran following last years nuclear deal will be bitterly disappointed.

But as numerous other reports, including reports in Iran News Update have emphasized, this renewed hostility has not only been directed toward persons with specific links to Western entities. Neither has it been expressed exclusively through political imprisonments. The imprisonment of Western-linked journalists appears instead to be part of a much more general crackdown on pro-Western attitudes and any social trends that are viewed as out of step with the regimes official hardline Islamic ideology.

Last week, Western media widely picked up on reports detailing a sting operation that led to the arrest or prosecution of 29 individuals linked to an Instagram modeling network, which posted pictures of women without their legally mandated Islamic head coverings. Earlier, regime authorities had also boasted that thousands of undercover agents of the morality police would be deployed on the streets of Iranian cities to report instances of illegal or un-Islamic behavior, including improper veiling.

Supposedly Western-style dress and the public mingling of male and female Iranians are viewed as symbols of Western infiltration by the regime and by its hardline supporters. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei specifically warned against such infiltration, through economic, political, and cultural channels, in the immediate aftermath of the July 14 Iran nuclear agreement, which some expected would lead to more general reconciliation between Iran and the US.

Consequently, the pushback against perceived Western influence has been severe. And mistreatment of political prisoners aside, it has sometimes taken on violent dimensions.

In 2014, with the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in power and already well on its way to a nuclear agreement, the countrys parliament introduced legislation to give greater power to the Basij civilian militia of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, encouraging them to act as a separate morality police, confronting people in public over improper veiling and other supposed violations. Opponents of the clerical regime linked these efforts a series of acid attacks that were carried out against women that same year. The National Council of Resistance of Iran even alleged that those attacks had been carried out specifically by agents of the regime.

But whether directly linked to the regime or merely supportive of it, hardliners have also launched attacks against other purported symbols of Western influence, in line with the legislation and policies of the Iranian government. Last year, the regime passed legislation criminalizing the act of dog-walking, on the basis of dog ownership being seen as a Western phenomenon. This led to incidents of attacks on pets, their owners, and shelters caring for dogs.

IranWire reports that one such incident occurred on May 22, after an animal shelter east of Tehran received a number of threats, including officials letters from the local government insisting that the shelter be moved outside of city limits. As the staff was arranging for the relocation, the shelter was broken into and set on fire with the animals inside. Some dogs were found to have had their throats cut and others died from poisoning.

With mere symbols of Western influence being a source of such anger and violence among Iranian hardliners, it is easy to imagine that actual progressive, pro-Western, or pro-democratic attitudes would be subject to even more aggressive repression. As the BBC indicated on Tuesday, this may explain the particular pressure that has been exerted on Iranian teachers recently.

The BBC article quotes an Iranian teachers labor movement leader as saying that violations of human rights have grown more frequent and more severe in recent months. Hashem Khastar says that he has been personally arrested three times for peaceful labor organizing activities, a movement that he describes as ultimately aiming to achieve democracy. He adds that teachers are being constantly arrested, often in secret, with security forces threatening families in order to keep the situation from being more widely publicized.

The report also quotes Haldis Holst, the deputy general secretary of Education International, as saying that teachers in Iran face double pressure because they are involved in the formation of labor unions that are illegal in Iran, and because they work in a profession that helps to shape the ideas of the youth, and therefore are a prime target for social control and the enforcement of ideas of conformity and the rejection of concepts that are supposedly foreign to the Islamic Republic.
Jannatis ascendance to the head of the body was described by Reuters as a likely surprise to the Iranian electorate, which voted on the composition of the Assembly in national elections in February, which were portrayed as a victory for relative moderates in much of the media. Jannati himself only narrowly retained his place on the supervisory body, being the very last of the 16 top candidates who were elected from the capital city of Tehran.

This outcome was presumably made possible in part because Jannati already holds the position of head of the Guardian Council, another federal-level body of clerics, which serves to review legislation and candidates to high office for compatibility with the Iranian regimes fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. In the run-up to the February elections, the council famously eliminated up to 90 percent of the candidates who were recognized as reformists.

The purported reformist victories in the subsequent election were only achieved by filling out candidate lists with traditional conservatives, thus leading some reformist politicians and citizens to accuse President Hassan Rouhani and other supposed moderate or betraying left-leaning positions. In spite of the high expectations presented in some media for Rouhanis wing of Iranian politics, a great many citizens on the political left were quoted as saying that they planned to sit out the elections, citing a lack of real prospects for change.

These criticisms helped to undermine the notion of a genuine victory for the reform wing, and now Jannatis newfound leadership of the Assembly of Experts has done the same. That is, as Reuters points out, the latest developments are a sign that hardliners are still in firm control of the body in charge of choosing the next supreme leader.

The Assembly of Experts is elected in eight year cycles, meaning that its current membership will indeed choose the new supreme leader unless Khamenei exceeds most expectations regarding his lifespan. It is, however, quite possible that the head of the organization will have to be replaced before Khamenei, as Jannati is already 90 years old. But there is little reason to believe that this will have a substantial impact on the ultimate outcome of the selection process, considering that the membership that elected Jannati will otherwise remain in place.

By endorsing Jannatis leadership, the rest of the body has tacitly endorsed his public platforms, which are renowned for being virulently anti-Western and anti-Israeli. An Assembly of Experts with this composition promises to be a long-term threat to what many see as President Rouhanis pursuit of detente with Irans traditional Western enemies. On the other hand, some doubt that Rouhani is sincerely committed to such a project in the first place. They argue that his contribution to a nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers was only motivated by the same strategy that he described years earlier when he was the countrys lead nuclear negotiator: maintaining a calm environment in which Iran can quietly pursue some of those activities that brought it under foreign scrutiny.

Still others insist that it doesnt much matter whether or not Rouhanis alternative foreign policy positions are severe, since the office of the president wields very little power in the Islamic Republic. Ultimate authority on virtually all matters of state rest firmly in the hands of the supreme leader, and Khamenei has expressed tremendous skepticism about the nuclear deal, as well as voicing harsh criticisms toward the US in the wake of that deals conclusion.

Khameneis own rhetoric has been both echoed and amplified by other hardline forces inside the Iranian regime, which also remain effectively unchallenged by the outcomes of Februarys elections. Especially prominent among them are officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the law enforcement and paramilitary organization that wields considerable influence over Iranian law and society, and also by some accounts over the Assembly of Experts.

It was the IRGC that was behind the January seizure of 10 American sailors who strayed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island. It was also the IRGC that carried out at least six ballistic missile tests since the conclusion of a preliminary nuclear agreement. Each of these test-launches was conducted in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions calling upon the Islamic Republic to avoid work on nuclear-capable weapons. Some of the launches involved weapons that were painted with the words Israel must be wiped out.

On Tuesday, Christian Today reported that Ahmad Karimpour, a senior advisor to the IRGCs foreign expeditionary Quds Force, had doubled down on that rhetoric by declaring in an interview with Iranian media that the IRGC would be capable of destroying Israel in less than eight minutes. Karimpour added that such action would be taken specifically on the order of the supreme leader, thus highlighting the hardline attitudes toward foreign adversaries that are expected of Khamenei and of his successor.

Optimistic narratives about the February elections frequently suggested that a less hardline Assembly of Experts could have a serious moderating impact on Irans long-term foreign policy. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a supposedly moderate former president and close ally of President Rouhani, even went so far as to suggest that the Assembly could challenge the concept of a single supreme leader and replace it with a governing council.

Jannatis election undermines such ideas, which were apparently not given widespread merit in the first place. And more than that, it further undermines the notion that current US policy toward the Islamic Republic could help to encourage moderating trends within the regime. That narrative came under particular scrutiny last month in the wake of a New York Times Magazine profile of White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes, detailing how he used claims about President Rouhanis moderation in order to make the nuclear deal more palatable in the American media.

On Sunday, The Tower added more detail to the account of how this narrative took hold. In particular, it highlighted collaboration between media outlets like NPR and funding organizations like the Ploughshares Fund, which provided 700,000 dollars in grants to NPR since 2005 and mentioned Iran in all grant communications between the two organizations since 2010.

The Ben Rhodes profile indicated that the Obama administrations Iran policy had been established before President Rouhani came to power in 2013. In this sense, the notion of a potential moderate near-term future for the country served pre-established ends, leading many to accuse the Obama White House of willful fabrication following Rouhanis election.
[May 24, 2016] Walsh College Opens Cyber Lab To Advance Student Progress In Cyber Defense And Information Technology

TROY, Mich., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Walsh College has created a custom learning space for training future cybersecurity professionals that offers realistic, hands-on opportunities to experience the physical security countermeasures faced in information technology environments. Part of the new addition and renovation at the College's Troy campus, the Walsh Cyber Lab provides dedicated space for research and intellectual support to train students on various leading-edge technologies in the growing discipline of cyber defense. It has been designed in response to the growing demand for highly trained cybersecurity graduates. The Walsh Cyber Lab includes workstations, virtualization screens, and threat maps pinpointing virus and malware infestations around the world. It provides a "cloud" environment to provide penetration testing and defense deployment from anywhere in the world. In addition, the Cyber Lab offers modern infrastructure equipment where students can learn about the latest technologies used in business environments, as well as physical servers that can be used for virtualization. Walsh College is designated as a CAE-CD  National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense (CD)  by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Effective through the 2021 academic year, the designation underscores the College's commitment to high quality undergraduate and graduate information technology (IT) degree programs. Walsh has had a CAE designation since 2006.

"Companies, health care facilities, educational institutions, and other major users of information technology are demanding graduates who can provide sophisticated knowledge and the technical ability to defend systems from outside attack," said Barbara Ciaramitaro, Ph.D., professor and chair, Decision Sciences, Walsh College. "We believe our Cyber Lab enhances and expands knowledge received in the classroom." She added, "It gives Walsh students a competitive advantage in the industry with practical, real-world experience that is both valued by students and demanded by employers." In addition to developing technical skills, communication skills are emphasized in Cyber Lab interactions, said David Schaefer, instructor, Decision Sciences. "Employers tell us they need graduates who can ffectively and succinctly explain IT challenges and solutions in this area for their organizations. While the actual work is important, the ability to communicate clearly about emerging issues has become critical."



Walsh teaches students both offensive and defensive strategies to guard organizations against cyberattacks, noted Schaefer. Walsh, one of five colleges or universities in Michigan to receive the NSA CAE-CD designation, offers four IT degrees: Bachelor of Science in IT (BSIT), Master of Science in IT (MSIT), Master of Science in IT Leadership (MSITL), and a dual Master of Business Administration (MBA)/MSITL degree. A concentration in cybersecurity within the graduate-level programs is offered as well.

In addition to ensuring that its programs meet the NSA CAE/CD requirements, Walsh College has also mapped its courses and programs to align with two other external standards: Department of Defense (DoD) 8570 and the Department of Homeland Security NICE Framework. To support its efforts in providing leadership in cybersecurity education, Walsh established the Center for Cybersecurity Leadership (CCL). The CCL, one of four Walsh College research centers, was established in collaboration with the Management and Decision Sciences Departments of Walsh College, with strong support from business, military, and government leaders. For more information on the Walsh College Cyber Lab, visit www.walshcollege.edu/CyberLab. WALSH COLLEGE Founded in 1922, Walsh College is an all-business, private, independent, not-for-profit, fully accredited college. It offers 20 undergraduate and graduate business and technology degrees, as well as certificate programs. One of the region's largest business schools and one of Michigan's top three graduate business schools, Walsh has locations in Troy, Novi, Clinton Township, and Port Huron, as well as online. Walsh degree programs include accounting, finance, information technology, management, marketing, taxation, and other fields. The faculty integrates theory and application to prepare graduates for successful careers. It includes four Fulbright Scholars, the most of any business school in the state of Michigan. There are about 27,000 alumni, most of whom live or work in Michigan. Walsh is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org ) . The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (www.acbsp.org) accredits specific degree programs. CONTACTS: Brenda Meller/Assistant Vice President, Marketing, Walsh College [email protected] or 248-823-1205. Elaine Green/Account Supervisor, Airfoil Public Relations [email protected] or

248-304-1456. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371560

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371559

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371561 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walsh-college-opens-cyber-lab-to-advance-student-progress-in-cyber-defense-and-information-technology-300274128.html SOURCE Walsh College

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 24, 2016] Nimble Storage Announces First Quarter 2017 Results

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL), the leader in predictive flash storage solutions, today reported financial results for the fiscal first quarter 2017. The company has released a discussion of these results by posting the current Shareholder Letter on its website at http://investors.nimblestorage.com. "We saw strong customer and channel partner interest in our All Flash Arrays with deal sizes substantially above our overall average. All Flash Arrays accounted for 12% of our total array bookings during the first quarter after launch," said Suresh Vasudevan, chief executive officer. "Our Unified Flash Fabric combines industry-leading All-Flash and Adaptive Flash arrays into a single architecture that accelerates every application at a total cost of ownership that is unmatched in the industry." "We delivered solid financial results in Q1 as we executed against our financial and operational plans as outlined last quarter. We saw steady progress in larger deals greater than $250K, which were up 51% year-over-year, and continued growth in our customer base, which was up 48% year-over-year," said Anup Singh, chief financial officer. First Quarter Fiscal 2017 Financial Highlights: Total revenue increased 21% to $86.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, up from $71.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, up from in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. GAAP gross margin for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 was 63.4% compared to 65.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

Non-GAAP gross margin for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 was 65.7% compared to 67.6% in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

GAAP operating loss was $42.2 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to a loss of $28.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to a loss of in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. Non-GAAP operating loss was $19.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to a loss of $7.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to a loss of in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. GAAP net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 was $42.7 million , or $0.51 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 of $29.0 million , or $0.38 per basic and diluted share.

, or per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 of , or per basic and diluted share. Non-GAAP net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 was $20.1 million , or $0.24 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $8.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016, or $0.10 per basic and diluted share. An explanation of non-GAAP measures and a reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP results are provided below. Forward Outlook: Nimble Storage provides guidance based on current market conditions and expectations. For the second quarter of fiscal 2017, Nimble Storage expects: Total revenue in the range of $93.0 to $96.0 million

Non-GAAP operating loss in the range of $16.0 to $18.0 million

Non-GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share in the range of $0.19 to $0.21 based on weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 85.0 million Business Highlights Nimble Unveiled a New Series of Predictive All Flash Arrays. The Nimble AF-Series All Flash Arrays deliver absolute performance; superior scalability and non-stop availability at a total cost of ownership (TCO) that is up to 33 to 66 percent lower than competitive arrays. Powered by Samsung 3D V-NAND-based solid-state drives, the AF-Series scales capacity to new industry heights with up to 553TB of raw capacity in a 12U configuration with a single array and two expansion shelves.

The Nimble AF-Series All Flash Arrays deliver absolute performance; superior scalability and non-stop availability at a total cost of ownership (TCO) that is up to 33 to 66 percent lower than competitive arrays. Powered by Samsung 3D V-NAND-based solid-state drives, the AF-Series scales capacity to new industry heights with up to 553TB of raw capacity in a 12U configuration with a single array and two expansion shelves. Unified Flash Fabric Makes the Flash Data Center a Reality. The Nimble Unified Flash Fabric enables flash for all enterprise applications by unifying All Flash and Adaptive Flash arrays into a single consolidation architecture with common data services.

The Nimble Unified Flash Fabric enables flash for all enterprise applications by unifying All Flash and Adaptive Flash arrays into a single consolidation architecture with common data services. Introduced Innovative Business Model: Timeless Storage. The Timeless Guarantee provides investment protection and upgrade certainty with an option to receive a free faster controller upgrade after three years. The business model offers all-inclusive pricing with no forklift upgrades and the flexibility to purchase storage as a capital investment or as Storage on Demand service.

The Timeless Guarantee provides investment protection and upgrade certainty with an option to receive a free faster controller upgrade after three years. The business model offers all-inclusive pricing with no forklift upgrades and the flexibility to purchase storage as a capital investment or as Storage on Demand service. Inaugural Net Promoter Survey Yields Score of 85. In January 2016 , Nimble executed its inaugural NPS customer survey and earned a score of 85, reflecting an outstanding customer experience with Nimble products and support.

In , Nimble executed its inaugural NPS customer survey and earned a score of 85, reflecting an outstanding customer experience with Nimble products and support. Awarded 5-Star Rating in CRN's 2016 Partner Program Guide. For two consecutive years Nimble has received the highest rating on CRN's definitive listing of technology vendors that serve solution providers or provide products through the IT channel.

For two consecutive years Nimble has received the highest rating on CRN's definitive listing of technology vendors that serve solution providers or provide products through the IT channel. Global Survey Results Reveal the Impact of Application Performance Delays. The "Mind the Gap" report published by Nimble Storage in collaboration with Oxford Economics found that delays in propagating and refreshing application data (the app-data gap) can cause significant productivity drains and economic losses. U.S. companies may be losing as much as $7.5 billion of worker time annually due to delays and downtime.

The "Mind the Gap" report published by Nimble Storage in collaboration with Oxford Economics found that delays in propagating and refreshing application data (the app-data gap) can cause significant productivity drains and economic losses. U.S. companies may be losing as much as of worker time annually due to delays and downtime. Nimble InfoSight Research Shows More than 50% of Performance Issues are Non-Storage Related. "Can Machine Learning Prevent Application Downtime?" analyzes data collected by Nimble Storage and points to the most pertinent hurdles impacting the speed at which companies access the data that powers applications, showing that 54% of all issues have nothing to do with storage.

"Can Machine Learning Prevent Application Downtime?" analyzes data collected by Nimble Storage and points to the most pertinent hurdles impacting the speed at which companies access the data that powers applications, showing that 54% of all issues have nothing to do with storage. Obtained IBM Testing Certification for SVC. Nimble storage solutions are certified with IBM SAN Virtual Volume (SVC), offering joint customers additional options to deliver high availability, data protection and mobility for their mission critical applications. Conference Call Information As previously announced, Nimble Storage will host a live question and answer conference call and webcast today at 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT) to discuss its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. Interested parties may access the call by dialing 877-604-9673 in the U.S. or 719-325-4773 from international locations. In addition, a live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on the Nimble Storage Investor Relations website at http://investors.nimblestorage.com. The live webcast will be archived and available on this site for 45 days. A replay of the conference call will be available for 45 days. To access the replay, please dial 888-203-1112 and enter pass code 2350418. Callers outside the U.S. and Canada should dial 719-457-0820 and enter pass code 2350418. Non-GAAP Financial Measures To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, Nimble Storage has disclosed in this release and the accompanying tables non-GAAP financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP. The company provides non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, non-GAAP free cash flow and adjusted EBITDA. In computing these non-GAAP financial measures, the company excludes the effects of stock-based compensation, which is a recurring non-cash expense for the company. The company has provided reconciliation below of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the Q2FY17 forward outlook for non-GAAP operating loss or non-GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share is not available without unreasonable efforts as the quantification of stock-based compensation expense requires additional inputs such as number of shares granted and market price, that are not ascertainable. The company discloses these non-GAAP financial measures because they are key measures used by the company's management and board of directors to understand and evaluate operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve the annual budget and to develop short-term and long-term operational and compensation plans. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating non-GAAP financial measures can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of the company's business. Accordingly, the company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating the company's operating results in the same manner as the company's management and board of directors. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and, as such, should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of the company's results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: Non-GAAP financial measures do not consider the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation, which is an ongoing expense for the company; and

Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate non-GAAP financial measures differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking" statements that are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. We intend for such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including our current beliefs and expectations concerning our future financial results, business plans, strategy and objectives, competitive position and industry environment. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors including, but not limited to, those related to our future financial performance, which is inherently uncertain, unforeseen delays in product development or introduction, uncertainty around market acceptance of our solutions, our ability to increase sales of our solutions, including recently introduced products, our ability to attract and retain customers and to sell additional solutions to our existing customers, our ability to develop new solutions and bring them to market in a timely manner, pricing pressure (as a result of competition or otherwise), introduction of new technologies and products by other companies, changes in technologies, which could render our solutions less competitive, our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property, the effectiveness of our channel partners and sales team, our ability to convert leads into sales, our ability to recruit new or keep our existing key talent, global economic conditions, fluctuations in foreign currency rates and our ability to continue to expand our business and manage our growth. Moreover, we operate in very competitive and rapidly changing environments, and new risks may emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Further information on these and other factors that could affect our financial results are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by our forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although our management believes that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances described in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, neither the company, nor any other person, assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this presentation to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law. Nimble Storage Resources Nimble Storage Website

Case Studies and Videos

Follow Nimble Storage on Twitter: @NimbleStorage

Follow Nimble Storage on LinkedIn

Visit Nimble Storage on Facebook

Visit the NimbleConnect Community About Nimble Storage

Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL) is the leader in predictive flash storage solutions. Nimble offers a Predictive Flash platform that combines flash performance with predictive analytics to predict and prevent barriers to data velocity caused by complex IT infrastructure. Nimble customers experience absolute performance, non-stop availability and cloud-like agility that accelerate critical business processes. More than 8,100 enterprises, governments, and service providers have deployed the Nimble Predictive Flash Platform across more than 50 countries. For more information visit www.nimblestorage.com and follow us on Twitter: @nimblestorage. Nimble Storage, the Nimble Storage logo, CASL, InfoSight, Timeless Storage, Data Velocity Delivered, Unified Flash Fabric and NimbleConnect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nimble Storage, Inc. Other trade names or words used in this document are the properties of their respective owners. Press Contact:

Kristalle Cooks

408-514-3313

[email protected] Investor Relations Contact:

Edelita Tichepco

408-514-3379

[email protected]







Nimble Storage, Inc. Preliminary Consolidated Statements of Operations (In thousands, except per share amounts) (Unaudited)

























Three Months Ended









April 30,









2016

2015









(Unaudited)

(Unaudited) Revenue:













Product







$ 68,385

$ 60,193 Support and service





18,032

11,095 Total revenue





86,417

71,288 Cost of revenue:











Product (1)





23,791

19,141 Support and service (1)



7,807

5,652 Total cost of revenue



31,598

24,793 Total gross profit





54,819

46,495 Operating expenses:











Research and development (1)



26,147

21,709 Sales and marketing (1)



60,444

44,443 General and administrative (1)



10,442

9,261 Total operating expenses



97,033

75,413 Loss from operations



(42,214)

(28,918) Interest income, net





73

68 Other income (expense), net



(224)

76 Loss before provision for income taxes

(42,365)

(28,774) Provision for income taxes



317

212 Net loss





$ (42,682)

$ (28,986) Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.51)

$ (0.38) Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share, basic and diluted 83,154

76,506































(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:





Cost of product revenue



$ 615

$ 545 Cost of support and service revenue

1,385

1,157 Research and development



6,146

5,431 Sales and marketing





10,613

10,111 General and administrative



3,788

3,741 Total stock-based compensation expense

$ 22,547

$ 20,985

Nimble Storage, Inc. Preliminary Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands)





















As of







April 30,

January 31,







2016

2016







(Unaudited)



Assets











Current assets:









Cash and cash equivalents

$ 202,984

$ 211,160 Restricted cash, current

183

793 Accounts receivable, net

46,877

50,432 Inventories



15,483

15,994 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 6,263

5,212 Total current assets

271,790

283,591 Property and equipment, net

49,898

47,404 Restricted cash, non-current

79

74 Other long-term assets



803

680 Total assets



$ 322,570

$ 331,749













Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity





Current liabilities:









Accounts payable



$ 26,085

$ 24,330 Accrued compensation and benefits

16,933

19,325 Deferred revenue, current portion

58,191

54,580 Other current liabilities

8,595

8,933 Total current liabilities

109,804

107,168 Deferred revenue, non-current portion

62,017

60,265 Other long-term liabilities

8,334

8,708 Total liabilities



180,155

176,141 Commitments and contingencies







Stockholders' equity:









Common stock



77

75 Additional paid-in capital

505,265

476,271 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (238)

(731) Accumulated deficit



(362,689)

(320,007) Total stockholders' equity

142,415

155,608 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 322,570

$ 331,749 Nimble Storage, Inc. Preliminary Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands) (Unaudited)

























Three Months Ended









April 30,









2016

2015









(Unaudited)

(Unaudited) Cash flows from operating activities:









Net loss







$ (42,682)

$ (28,986) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:





Depreciation





5,141

3,312 Stock-based compensation expense



22,547

20,985 Loss on disposal of property and equipment



89

- Provision (recoveries) for allowance for doubtful accounts

38

(1) Allowance for inventory reserves



(25)

25 Changes in operating assets and liabilities:









Accounts receivable





3,517

(8,982) Inventories





(604)

(906) Prepaid expenses and other assets



(1,211)

(199) Short term restricted cash







610

- Accounts payable





759

2,625 Deferred revenue





5,363

11,812 Accrued and other liabilities



(1,840)

(7,992) Net cash used in operating activities

(8,298)

(8,307) Cash flows from investing activities:









Purchase of property and equipment



(6,776)

(8,057) Change in restricted cash





(5)

(2) Net cash used in investing activities

(6,781)

(8,059) Cash flows from financing activities:









Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net of repurchases

846

2,108 Proceeds from issuance of stock under employee stock purchase plan 5,568

7,201 Excess tax benefit from employee stock plans



-

124 Net cash provided by financing activities

6,414

9,433 Foreign exchange impact on cash and cash equivalents

489

(2) Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

(8,176)

(6,935) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period



211,160

208,394 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period



$ 202,984

$ 201,459 Nimble Storage, Inc. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (In thousands, except per share amounts) (Unaudited)

























Three Months Ended









April 30,









2016

2015















GAAP gross margin





$ 54,819

$ 46,495 Stock-based compensation



2,000

1,702 Non-GAAP gross margin





$ 56,819

$ 48,197















GAAP operating margin





$ (42,214)

$ (28,918) Stock-based compensation



22,547

20,985 Non-GAAP operating margin





$ (19,667)

$ (7,933)















GAAP net loss







$ (42,682)

$ (28,986) Stock-based compensation



22,547

20,985 Non-GAAP net loss





$ (20,135)

$ (8,001) Interest income, net





(73)

(68) Provision for income taxes



317

212 Depreciation





5,141

3,312 Adjusted EBITDA





$ (14,750)

$ (4,545)















GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted



$ (0.51)

$ (0.38) Stock-based compensation



0.27

0.28 Non-GAAP net loss per share



$ (0.24)

$ (0.10)







Shares used to compute GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted 83,154

76,506 Shares used to compute Non-GAAP net loss per share 83,154

76,506















GAAP net cash provided by operating activities

$ (8,298)

$ (8,307) Purchase of property and equipment



(6,776)

(8,057) Non-GAAP free cash flow





$ (15,074)

$ (16,364) To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nimble-storage-announces-first-quarter-2017-results-300274215.html SOURCE Nimble Storage

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Dashlane Raises $22.5 Million in Series C Funding; Announces Strategic Partnership with TransUnion

NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dashlane, an award-winning password manager and leader in online identity management, announces the closing of $22.5 million in a Series C round of funding. The round is led by TransUnion (NYSE: TRU), a global leader in information solutions, including credit monitoring and identity protection, and also includes participation from previous investors Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. The round brings Dashlane's total funding to date to $52.5 million. "Today marks an important milestone in our path forward as an identity management company," said Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. "Our mission has always been to make identity and payments simple and secure everywhere. This new round of funding, combined with the strategic relationship with TransUnion, will strengthen our ability to achieve this vision by giving us the capital to accelerate our roadmap, as well as the ability to further integrate new powerful services for our users." The friction and security challenges of digital identity lie as much in logins and passwords as in the way individuals provide their payment information to digital merchants and services. Consumers are worried about their payment details being stolen when they buy online and frustrated when they see valid transactions being declined. This new round of funding and strategic additions to the board will increase Dashlane's ability to solve these core challenges of digital identity for both consumers and businesses. Dashlane and TransUnion will work together to create innovative services for their respective customers. These integrated services will focus on credit monitoring, identity and fraud protection, credit information and breaches. TransUnion will also help Dashlane expand its distribution through TransUnion's multiple partner channels in the U.S. and globally. As part of the round, John Danaher, president of TransUnion Consumer Interactive, will join Dashlane's board. "We are impressed by Dashlane's capabilities from a product and technology standpoint," said Danaher. "Dashlane's mission is straightforward, and the company is uniquely positioned to benefit from the ever-increasing need for simple, secure digital identity solutions. We feel TransUnion, with its vast array of credit and identity protection services and its global consumer reach, can help accelerate Dashlane's growth even further." The round of funding comes as Dashlane is expanding its network of partnerships with large financial institutions. Dashlane recently announced a partnership with Banamex, the largest bank in Mexico and a subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc., and will announce more partnerships with leading banks and payment networks in the coming months. The company can also announce that Carl Pascarella, former CEO of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), has joined its board as an independent director. "Dashlane's ability to facilitate payments and help reduce fraud is uniquely relevant for financial institutions," said Pascarella. "I am excited to have an opportunity to lend my experience to help the team at Dashlane accomplish their vision for secure information and online payments." On the addition of Mr. Pascarella, Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit states," Carl immediately understood the potential we had to make checkout easier and more secure. His decades of experience, including 12 years s CEO of Visa, and his unique network will allow us to make a major impact in the financial services world."



Dashlane, which launched its product in April 2012, was the first company to introduce numerous innovations in digital identity management, such as secure password sharing, emergency access, and its landmark Password Changer. In the past few months the company has expanded the capabilities of its product to serve the needs of the business world and will introduce more business-focused services in the near future. Dashlane helps more than 5 million consumers in over 150 countries manage their digital identities. The company has also facilitated $6 billion in e-commerce transactions to date.

About Dashlane

Dashlane makes identity and checkouts simple with its password manager and secure digital wallet app. Dashlane allows its users to securely manage passwords, credit cards, IDs, and other important information via advanced encryption and local storage. Dashlane has helped over 5 million users manage and secure their digital identity. The app is available on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, and has won critical acclaim from top publications, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Dashlane is free to use on one device, and Dashlane Premium costs $39.99/year to sync between an unlimited number of devices. Dashlane was founded by Bernard Liautaud and co-founders Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron, and Jean Guillou. The company has offices in New York City and Paris and has received $30 million in funding from Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at Dashlane.com About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

Information is a powerful thing. At TransUnion, we realize that. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways information can be used to help individuals make better and smarter decisions. We help uncover unique stories, trends and insights behind each data point, using historical information as well as alternative data sources. This allows a variety of markets and businesses to better manage risk and consumers to better manage their credit, personal information and identity. Today, TransUnion has a global presence in more than 30 countries and a leading presence in several international markets across North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through the power of information, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies and families and safer communities worldwide. We call this Information for Good. www.transunion.com About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) invests in early-stage, hyper-growth startups, partnering closely with entrepreneurs to build durable businesses. BVP is a global firm with offices in Menlo Park, Cambridge, New York, Mumbai, Bangalore, Herzliya, and Sao Paulo. With $4.5 billion under management, BVP invests anywhere from $100,000 to $75 million in innovative companies like LinkedIn, Yelp, Skype, CornerstoneOnDemand, Pinterest, Box, and Twilio. Over 100 BVP companies have gone public. Learn more at bvp.com and follow us on Twitter @BessemerVP. About First Mark Capital

Based in New York City, FirstMark Capital invests in ground-breaking companies that are creating new markets with innovative technology solutions or fundamentally changing existing markets by applying a fresh approach and new business model. A venture leader with more than $2 billion in capital commitments, FirstMark's team of investment and operations professionals have decades of real-world experience and leadership in core technology markets, making the firm uniquely qualified to offer industry insight, relationships and the operational expertise to build lasting businesses. Select historical investments include: Riot Games (Acquired by Tencent Holdings); Duck Creek Technologies (Acquired by Accenture); Netgear; Boomi (Acquired by Dell); First Advantage (Acquired by First American Corporation); StubHub (Acquired by eBay); Netegrity (Acquired by CA); Flarion (Acquired by Qualcomm); OutlookSoft (Acquired by SAP); Vallent (Acquired by IBM); and Navic Networks (Acquired by Microsoft). Current investments include: SecondMarket, Knewton, Pinterest, OpenGamma, Shopify and Lumos Labs. For more information, please visit: www.firstmarkcap.com. About Rho Ventures

Rho Ventures (www.rho.com) has a multi-stage investing strategy focused on high-growth companies in large markets. Rho Ventures' investments span new media, healthcare, IT, communications, energy technology and other disruptive technologies. Rho Ventures brings nearly 30 years of venture experience, combined with its partners' deep sector expertise and its far-reaching network to assist each portfolio company. This approach has allowed Rho to participate in the growth of some of today's most innovative and successful companies, including Active Power, Capstone Turbine, Ciena, Compaq Computer, EverydayHealth.com, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences, IntraLinks, iVillage, MedImmune, ReachLocal, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Tacoda. Rho Ventures is currently investing from Rho Ventures VI, a $510 million fund. The firm has offices in Palo Alto, Calif., New York and Montreal, with investments across the globe. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dashlane-raises-225-million-in-series-c-funding-announces-strategic-partnership-with-transunion-300273181.html SOURCE Dashlane

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 25, 2016] Gartner Identifies Think Silicon a 'Cool Vendor' in Novel Semiconductors for Neural Networks

TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Think Silicon S.A. a leading provider of ultra-low power Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) and imaging solution-IP for wearable, mobile devices and IoT platforms, today announced that is has been recognized in the April, 27th 2016 'Cool Vendor' in Novel Semiconductors for Neural Networks, 2016 report by Gartner1, a leading information technology analyst organization. Each year Gartner identifies new Cool Vendors selected for the "Cool Vendors" report which are innovative, impactful and intriguing in key technology and publishes a series of research reports highlighting these innovative vendors and their products and services. According to the report, "neural networks are one of the hottest areas in technology. We highlight custom silicon solutions that will shorten the timeline for mainstream deployment of DNNs (Deep Neural Networks) in existing and new applications. "We believe it is an honor to see our efforts have been further validated by a designation in the Cool Vendor report by Gartner. The Think Silicon team designed from bottom-up a ultra-low-power GPU platform which scales widely for different applications and markets and enabling our customers to improve their business performance", said c-founder and CEO George Sidiropoulos.



At CES 2016 in Las Vegas, Think Silicon launched NEMA|p (PICO) and NEMA|t (tiny) the world smallest and most power efficient 2D and 3D Graphics Processor Units (GPU). Based on ultra-low-power (ULP) saving methods, the NEMA-GPU increases the battery life of small-display devices up to 100% (from average 3 to 6 days). Think Silicon leverages the ULP technology with the GPGPU component by providing the compute engine for customized FPGA and SoC. Think Silicon is working on a prototype with thirty-two (32) GPGPU cores (<0.2mm2 per core @ 28nm), containing a fixed-point arithmetic and has extensive multithreading capabilities (128 threads per core). The GPU defines a new class of products with a competitive architecture to execute highly parallel DNN applications and offer substantial power savings over existing solutions. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

1 Gartner "Cool Vendors in 'Novel Semiconductors for Neural Networks, 2016" by Michele Reitz, Martin Reynolds, James F. Hines, Nathan Nuttal, Gerald van Hoy, 27 April 2017. Gartner subscribers may access the full report here:https://www.gartner.com/doc/3298118?ref=AnalystProfile&srcId=1-4554397745 About Think Silicon: Think Silicon S.A. (TSi) is a privately held Limited Company founded in 2007, located in Patras, Greece (HQ), Toronto, Canada (Business Development & Marketing office) and San Jose, CA, USA (Sales office). The Think Silicon team specializes in developing high performance graphics IP technology for ultra-low power and area limited IoT applications.



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
CHARLESTON -- Two Mattoon teenagers pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that accused them of damaging vehicles by throwing eggs off of an Interstate 57 overpass.

Alec D. James and Sawyer T. Scott, both 18, wrote letters of apology as part of the sentences they received, the type of which means they could end up with no records of convictions.

James, for whom court records list an address of 3108 Marion Ave., and Scott, whose address on record is 109 Oman Court, and two other Mattoon teens were arrested in connection with the April 1 incident.

James and Scott were charged as adults, while the other suspects were charged as juveniles because they were both 17 at the time of the incident. The other two suspects' cases are still pending, according to Assistant State's Attorney Jess Danley, who's prosecuting the cases.

On Wednesday, James and Scott both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct charges. With the agreements reached in their cases, each was sentenced to a year of court supervision.

A court supervision sentence means there will be no record of a conviction if they follow all their court-ordered requirements.

James and Scott presented their letters of apology in court on Wednesday. Each was also ordered to pay about $650 in fines and court fees.

Danley said the damage from the incident was "scattered" and there were three vehicles for which damage could be verified.

Negotiations toward the plea agreements didn't lead to restitution orders but owners of the damaged vehicles have the option for pursuing that through civil cases, Danley added.

Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick imposed the sentences by accepting the terms of the plea agreements recommended by Danley and attorney Chris Wetzel, who represented James and Scott.

The four teens were arrested on the night of April 1 after Illinois State Police responded to a report of eggs being thrown at vehicles off an I-57 overpass about five miles south of Mattoon, according to case records.

The four suspects were located in a parked vehicle on a rural road near the overpass and admitted throwing the eggs, the records also say. They say several vehicles were damaged and some windshields were broken.

The charges against James and Scott accused them of "endangering the safety of another person" by throwing the eggs off the overpass. A reckless conduct charge conviction has a maximum possible sentence of a year in jail.
PARIS (JG-TC) -- A Marshall man is wanted by police for allegedly shooting his brother and throwing him from a vehicle onto a roadside in rural Edgar County.

An Edgar County Sheriff's Office press release reported that a deputy was on routine patrol when he found a wounded man, Michael D. Brown, 51, of Marshall, lying beside the road on Illinois Route 150 at Vermilion Road at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Brown had been shot and apparently had been thrown from a vehicle, according to the press release. The deputy rendered medical care until Edgar County Special Service Area ambulance arrived with the Vermilion Fire Department to care for Brown.

Illinois State Police Zone 5 investigators were called to assist the Edgar County Sheriff's Office in the investigation. The Paris Police Department also assisted.

The Edgar County Sheriff's Office reported that investigators believe that the victim's brother, Kevin L. Brown, 47, of Marshall was the shooter. The Illinois State Police, working with the Edgar County state's attorney, has issued an arrest warrant for Kevin Brown, known as "Burn Boy" and "BB."

Kevin Brown is now a wanted fugitive in this case and is considered to be armed and dangerous, according to the press release. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Kevin Brown is asked to contact the Edgar County Sheriff's Office at 217-465-4166.
Thailand Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR)

Grant No. TF018769

Request for Expression of Interest

for individual consulting services of

The Technical Officer for Low Carbon City (LCC) Program

Package Reference No. CS-2

1. The Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization) has applied a grant from the World Bank and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this grant to payments under the contract for Thailand Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR).

2. The Services include; (1) Prepare TOR for hiring consultants to conduct activities under the LCC program; (2) Coordinate the selection and hiring of the LCC consultants; (3) Support TGO staff to manage all relevant activities as defined in the LCC program; (4) Coordinate with the key stakeholders, such as the World Bank, local municipal offices, and the consultants, in agreement with their roles; (5) Prepare periodic reports (both Thai and English) on the progress of implementation of all activities under the LCC program and also cooperate with the EPC technical officer to collect all information and provide progress reports of all activities under PMR; (6) Follow up/monitor the operation in progress of the consultants; (7) On-site visit with the consultants to ensure that all activities under TOR are completely conducted; (8) Coordinate with TGO staff on logistical arrangement of internal and external meetings; and (9) Any other related assignment as assigned by the Project Director. The estimated duration of the assignment is during the PMR from May, 2016 to October, 2018 (2 years and 6 months).

3. The Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization) now invites eligible individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested individual consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the Services (CV with academic background, experiences in similar assignment, knowledge of local conditions (if any) etc.).

4. A consultant will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out by the World Banks Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by Bank Borrowers, dated January 2011. The minimum qualifications are:

At least Masters degree in Environmental Engineering, Energy Engineering, Environmental Science, Environmental and Social Development, Urban Planning, or other related fields;

Minimum 3 years of relevant working experiences in Project Management, Project Coordination, and Stakeholder Consultation will be the advantages;

Good command of written and spoken English are considered essential;

Comprehensive knowledge in urban development, environment & GHG management, statistical & data analysis are required;

Excellent communication and supervisory skills;

Must have the demonstrated capability in management, leadership, analytical, and team-working skills;

Proficiency in using relevance software, i.e. Words, Excel, PowerPoint, and Program for mathematical and statistical analysis.

5. Interested individual consultants may obtain further information from Background documents at the address given below, Monday  Friday, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

6. Expressions of interest must be delivered to the address below by no later than May 31, 2016. By 5 P.M.

Terms of Reference (ToR) CS-2 is online available at:

http://conference.tgo.or.th/download/tgo_or_th/Announce/Job/WB2016/CS_2_PMR.pdf
Each week, the Lincoln Journal Star brings you a list of the upcoming holidays dedicated to the foods we eat -- or need to try.

Here's the holiday fare for May 25-31:

May 25: National Wine Day and National Brown Bag-It Day. Its a nice pairing, if it doesnt get you in trouble. FYI: The oldest bottle of wine ever found dates back to 325 A.D.

May 26: National Blueberry Cheesecake Day. We, Americans, celebrate many cheesecake-themed holidays in a given year. The dessert dating back to ancient Greece didnt come to America until 1872. Did you know Austria once sold cheesecake-flavored stamps? And if blueberries are not your thing, May 26 also is National Cherry Dessert Day.

May 27: National Grape Popsicle Day. Originally called the Epsicle, it was named for its 11-year-old accidental inventor, Frank Epperson, who had left a cup of homemade soda on the porch overnight and discovered it frozen in the morning. In 1923, he renamed the refreshing treat Pops Sicles because it was made with soda pop, according to fillyourplate.org. Heres a bit of trivia: The original ice cream truck driver was a Nebraska man who traveled by horse cart selling Popsicles to children.

May 28: National Hamburger Day. What better way to culminate National Hamburger Month? Americans eat roughly 50 billion burgers a year. The average American eats three burgers a week. And 71 percent of all beef consumed in U.S. restaurants is in the form of a burger, according to Burgerweb.com.

May 29: Coq au Vin Day. The translation of this French dish is rooster with wine. It is a popular French dish made with braised chicken that is slowly cooked with red wine, mushrooms, pork fat and various spices. According to some legends, Coq au Vin has ties to Julius Caesar or Napoleon, but most historians agree that the dish was invented by peasant families in an effort to make the meat of old roosters more edible, according to punchbowl.com. Chef Julia Child made the dish popular in the U.S.

May 30: National Mint Julep Day. The official drink of the Kentucky Derby, the mint julep has been around for more than 200 years. Traditionally a mint julep is made with mint leaf, bourbon, sugar and water and served with shaved ice in a silver or pewter cup, according to punchbowl.com.

May 31: National Macaroon Day. The macaroon is a flourless cookie and is popular among the Jewish community, especially during Passover when Jews cannot cook with flour. Macaroons are made from ground nuts and leavened egg whites. Macaroons were believed to have been first made in an Italian monastery in 1792, according to holidayinsights.com.
An attorney for the city of Lincoln Tuesday asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to reverse a district judge's quarter-million-dollar judgment against it for police calling an innocent woman a crook online and on TV, arguing it was done in good faith.

But Shayla Funk's attorney, Vince Powers, countered that it wasn't just police trying to identify a suspect. Lincoln Police Department personnel involved with the Crime Stoppers website admitted at trial the posts were written to try to get more hits online, he said.

"This wasn't done in good faith. This was done in bad faith," Powers said.

At the center of the case is a May 17, 2013, post on the department's Facebook page and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Crime Stoppers website titled "Takes All Kinds."

"This young lady doesn't look like your typical crook, but she is!" it said. "She used someone's stolen credit card and made a fake deposit at the ATM, then withdrew some cash. If you know who she is, leave us a tip HERE!"

Next to it was a picture of Shayla Funk, an occupational therapist with a master's degree. Fund was withdrawing cash from her own account on April 29, 2013, outside a Lincoln business.

Because of an incorrect time stamp on the video, the bank had given police video of the wrong person in a theft case.

Police didn't check out Funk's story that she was withdrawing her own money until another tip came in saying Crime Stoppers was ruining an innocent woman's reputation. Then police asked, and within two hours, the bank confirmed Funk was telling the truth.

But by that time, police had featured the case in two segments on KOLN/KGIN-TV.

Funk sued Crime Stoppers and the city for libel and slander in 2014. When the case went to trial last July, the Facebook post still was online.

The city acknowledged the posts were untrue and defamatory, but argued they were privileged because police made them in the interest of solving a crime.

Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns found the city legally responsible for Funk's damages and ordered the city to pay her $259,217.60.

In oral arguments Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Max Kelch asked Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Elliott why it wasn't false information for police to leave the Facebook post online after July 10, when it had the bank records that cleared Funk.

Elliott argued the original post's publish date was May 17, 2013, before Funk even had been identified as the person in the picture. Police never altered, changed or added to the post after that.

Kelch pressed.

"My point is once you know it is false information, is it your position that you can continue ... to publish false information?"

Elliott argued it was published the day it was posted, even though it remained up after. She said the courts haven't looked at whether what was published could be accessed later.

"In your view there's no obligation for a timely retraction regardless of media?" Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman asked.

Elliott said there would be a preference to remove it as soon as you know.

Powers said it was pretty extraordinary for the city to argue it could leave a post up calling Funk a crook, knowing it wasn't true.

"Government sometimes gets out of control," he said. "But traditionally it is the judiciary through judges and juries who rein them in."
A legal battle over whether the death penalty question will be put to Nebraska voters in November reached the state's highest court Wednesday.

Death penalty opponents Christy and Richard Hargesheimer of Lincoln contend the petition drive that gathered some 169,000 signatures should be deemed invalid because those behind it had failed to disclose Gov. Pete Ricketts as a sponsor.

But the state and a pro-death penalty group both contend that even though Ricketts and his father contributed one-third of the $913,000 raised by Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and his close allies took roles to promote it, it didn't make the governor a sponsor.

Last year, the Hargesheimers sought an injunction to keep Secretary of State John Gale from placing the question on the ballot. In February, Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret dismissed it, and the couple appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

In oral arguments Wednesday, an attorney for the couple got 15 minutes to make his case for why Maret's decision should be reversed and to answer questions from the Supreme Court justices before attorneys for Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and the state got a shared 15 minutes to argue why the decision should stand.

Nebraska law requires proponents to file a sworn list of every sponsoring person, company or association of a referendum prior to gathering signatures but it does not define how one qualifies as a sponsor, and many of the justices' questions went to that issue.

Lincoln attorney Alan Peterson, who represents the Hargesheimers, made two arguments. One, that Ricketts was a sponsor; and two, that the statement wasn't sworn.

Asked how he would define sponsor, Peterson said a reasonable approach would be to define it as the primary initiating force.

He said to meet the requirements set out in the 2003 decision in Loontjer v. Robinson, "it seemed to us ... the public has to be informed who is behind the initiative or referendum."

"Who is the initiator, the instigator?"

But Assistant Attorney General Ryan Post argued that Peterson's proposed standard is "unworkable and would chill involvement in the democratic process."

He and Omaha attorney Steven Grasz, who represents the pro-death penalty group, said sponsors are those who assume statutory responsibility for a referendum once a petition process begins.

"It's a question of law. It's not a moving target," Grasz said.

He said the other side was "grasping at straws" in raising one additional issue: Alleging it was an error for Judge Maret to consider a sworn statement of petition sponsors in her decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

He said Peterson hadn't raised the issue of whether the document was sworn until a reply brief to the Supreme Court, so he couldn't raise it now.

"It's very clear that the decision in this case really had nothing to do with whether she took judicial notice of the document or not. It's a question of law and it was decided on the face of the complaint," Grasz said.

At most, he argued, it was harmless error, and therefore not worth a reversal.

Peterson said he raised the issue in response to a misstatement of facts. He argued the statement listing sponsors was not sworn because those who signed it were not under oath and that the judge was wrong to rely on it in reaching her decision.

"There is a difference," Peterson said, "and it is critical."

The Supreme Court took the case under advisement.

Last week, Maret heard arguments in a second suit involving the same petition. In that case, Beatrice attorney Lyle Koenig is challenging the title and explanatory statement, drafted by Attorney General Doug Peterson, that would appear on the ballot if it does go before voters.

She hasnt yet ruled on that case.
Bomb squad investigators found no clear danger after a computerized voice called in a bomb threat to Schoo Middle School Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Office staff got the threat about 10 a.m. and followed protocol by calling 911 to alert police and fire crews, Lincoln Fire Investigator Damon Robbins said.

Staff at Schoo Middle School evacuated, as did and the adjoining Fallbrook YMCA. Everything was back to normal by 11 a.m.

Crews searched the school at 700 Penrose Drive and found the threat wasn't credible, Robbins said.

Schools in Colorado and on the East Coast recently received similar telephonic bomb threats from a computer-generated voice, the investigator said.

"Someones got too much time on their hands or something Robbins said.
Its official.

The University of Nebraska Regents on Wednesday unanimously approved the appointment of Ronnie Green as University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor.

Chosen by NU President Hank Bounds over two outside candidates, Green succeeds Harvey Perlman, who is returning to the UNL College of Law.

Green's salary is $464,000. He will not receive an additional housing or vehicle allowance, but he'll get a deferred compensation package equal to 11.5 percent of his annual salary.

Last year, shortly after Perlman announced he'd step down as chancellor, Green was named interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, the No. 2 administrator at UNL.

He was recruited to lead UNLs Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources in 2010 and was vice president in charge of the universitys agriculture efforts within the NU presidents cabinet.

On Wednesday, the regents also approved Ronald Yoder as interim vice chancellor of IANR and Marjorie Kostelnik as interim senior vice chancellor of academic affairs. Green has launched national searches for both positions.
Leading up to the primary election, a new salvo of political robocalls hit Nebraska phones essentially every day for 60 days straight.

Those prerecorded messages included anonymous voices targeting incumbent state senators for supporting last year's gas tax hike. Others featured Gov. Pete Ricketts or former Gov. Dave Heineman urging people to support their chosen candidates.

"Nebraskans are receiving a barrage of calls," the state Public Service Commission said in a news release days before the May 10 primary.

The commission regulates the calls, which use automatic dialing technology to reach thousands of phones across the state in minutes. And with more robocalls sure to hit before the Nov. 8 general election, regulators are exploring options for limiting them and clamping down on questionable practices.

On Wednesday, Public Service Commission staff discussed possible rule changes designed to encourage more transparency about who is paying for robocalls and to further restrict how long the calls can last.

"You don't want it to go on and on and on," said Frank Landis of Lincoln, one of three commissioners who participated in the discussion. "You're not dealing with something that people want to hear for the most part."

Federal authorities banned telemarketers from making unwanted robocalls in 2009. But the rule doesn't apply to political messages or calls from charity organizations, and First Amendment concerns have kept most states and the federal government from expanding upon it.

A federal appeals court overturned South Carolina's ban on the calls for that reason last year.

As a result, fear of annoying voters is sometimes all that keeps political groups from calling even more.

That's one reason the state requires robocalls to clearly identify what organization is making the call, including contact information. Vendors placing political robocalls also must use licensed machines and submit their scripts to the Public Service Commission within 24 hours after the calls take place.

Those rules might not go far enough, commissioners agreed Wednesday.

"The public's entitled to more information than that," Landis said. "If a party's paying for it, then that ought to be part of the message."

Commission staff plan to propose a rule update requiring calls to include information on the identity of not only who is making the call but also which campaign, political party or political action committee is paying for it.

The agency also plans to set a time window  the first 25 seconds, perhaps  during which that identification must take place, instead of just saying it has to be at the beginning of the call.

Another concern raised was with the commission's two-minute time limit on autodialer calls.

Nebraska might be the only state with such a restriction, and it's tricky to enforce because autodialer companies are only required to submit written scripts of their calls  not audio recordings that would give a better sense of how long the calls take, said Gene Hand, the commission's director of telecommunications.

Political pollsters dislike the two-minute limit because it doesn't account for people's response times to the recorded questions, said Commission Chairman Tim Schram of Gretna.

But Landis and Commissioner Crystal Rhoades of Omaha noted many of the calls are so-called push polls  with leading questions designed to yield a particular result  and don't merit sympathy from the commission.

"They are not conducted for the purpose of research, they are conducted for the purpose of persuasion," Rhoades said. "I see no reason to extend the torture."

Commissioners agreed to consider requiring sample audio recordings from robocallers to make sure the calls aren't exceeding two minutes.

Commission lawyer Nichole Mulcahy said none of the proposed changes should require action by the Legislature. However, the state's rulemaking process will probably last longer than November.

"We're going to be living with our current rules for the general election this year," said Schram.
Trackside Bar & Grill, 13901 Guildford St., Waverly. Raw chicken in walk-in cooler stored above beef steaks and pork roasts, raw beef steaks stored above milk, items rearranged (corrected). Three-door prep table holding food at unsafe temperatures; all foods above 45 degrees discarded (corrected). Dish area spray arm hangs into food plane of sink, repeat. Can of Raid insecticide in dry storage, removed (corrected). Open, unapproved drink container in kitchen on prep table (corrected).
You are about to read a newspaper article. Do you care whether all the facts in it are true? If so - what could convince you that they are or are not? A friend? A neutral website? Someone in authority?

If you aren't really sure, then welcome to the world of fact-checking. In the past several years, as it has become easier to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories on the Internet, politically neutral fact-checking websites have sprung up in response. The Post itself created an early version, the "Fact Checker" column, led by Glenn Kessler, which awards up to four "Pinocchios" for dubious statements made by politicians from both political parties, depending on their level of outrageousness. Others include PolitiFact.com, FullFact.org in Britain, Chequeado in Argentina and StopFake.org in Ukraine.

All of these organizations have had real successes. Chequeado played a major role in the latest Argentine election. StopFake has helped both Ukrainians and outsiders understand the degree of Russian media manipulation in their country. Former Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush once spoke of not wanting to be "PolitiFacted" for getting things wrong.

Nevertheless, there are limits to what fact-checking can achieve. Those who have tried to measure the impact of fact-checking have found that there are many kinds of audiences, and that fact-checking affects each of them differently. All people are more likely to believe in "facts" that confirm their preexisting opinions and to dismiss those that don't. But those with unusually strong opinions - those who are more partisan - are less likely to change their views, more likely to claim that fact-checkers themselves are "biased," and even more likely to spread their views aggressively to their friends. This has always been the case, but social media now multiplies the phenomenon: In a world where people get most of their information from friends, fact-checking doesn't reach those who need it most.

The constant growth of information may be undermining the effectiveness of fact-checking, too. As Jill Lepore of the New Yorker has written, the sheer quantity of facts now available makes people cynical about truth itself. Can anything really be "known" if Google customizes its searches for particular people and places? With so many sources of information available, isn't it better to assume they are all wrong? If truth is passe - if we really do live in a "post-fact world" - then there isn't any reason for liars to feel any shame, let alone worry about being "PolitiFacted."

These may sound like philosophical questions, but in the campaigns of 2016, they are beginning to loom larger as a problem for democracy itself. Exhibit A is Donald Trump, who lies repeatedly and is fact-checked repeatedly, with no noticeable impact on either his own behavior or that of his supporters. Britain's European Union referendum campaign is also plagued by deliberate misuse of facts. Over and over,the "Leave" campaign refers to the 350 million pounds ($511 million) that Britain supposedly pays to the European Commission every week. Over and over, that number is shown to be fiction, by InFacts.org (whose editorial board I am on), BBC Reality Check and others. The number remains painted on the side of campaign buses, and nothing changes.

These problems aren't exactly new: The question of what is propaganda and what is truth has plagued politics since politics began. But the nature of information in the social media age means it keeps getting easier for politicians, partisans, computerized "bots" and foreign governments to manipulate news, and it keeps getting harder to correct this. Fact-checkers are, for the moment, one of the best solutions. But they work only for people who want them to work, and that number may be shrinking.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The nation's 32nd president doesn't have a hit Broadway musical to his name. But FDR may soon be back in style.

The table is set. It goes beyond the superficial, such as Hillary Clinton's decision to announce her presidential campaign on Roosevelt Island in New York. Or the fact that Donald Trump, another New Yorker, is courting what would have once been considered the FDR constituency of working-class Americans.

Many of the themes that Franklin Delano Roosevelt grappled with as president have returned at full force in the 2016 election. And while the Squire of Hyde Park is a Democratic icon, this time around, the issues challenge leaders in both parties.

After all, this isn't the first time we've heard a loud cry from the "America First" crowd.

In Roosevelt's era, many Americans were battle weary after World War I and resisted any kind of foreign intervention. This despite the horror stories coming out of Europe in the late 1930s. If the attack on Pearl Harbor hadn't settled the matter, there is no telling how long the United States would have stayed on the sidelines -- to its great shame.

"We were so isolationist," said Jed Willard, director of the FDR Center for Global Engagement, "that we're willing to throw France -- the country that basically invented us -- under the Nazi bus."

Located at Harvard, Willard's think tank is committed to finding solutions to the problems of the 21st century.

Eight decades later, Americans are still butting heads over whether the United States should assume an isolationist stance or take an active role in global affairs. Trump flirts with the former, while Clinton embraces the latter.

Also, this election isn't the first time that the cause of working Americans has been taken up by a 1 percenter.

Roosevelt was born into wealth and privilege. While he was at Harvard as part of the class of 1904, his family paid top dollar so he could live in Westmorly Court (now Adams House), one of the most luxurious buildings at the college. While other students roughed it elsewhere with spartan accommodations, Roosevelt enjoyed what were then extravagant amenities such as electricity, central heat, prepared meals and a fireplace.

Yet, as president, he ultimately built his legacy as a defender of the poor and the architect of that great social safety net known as the New Deal. During the Great Depression, in the poorest homes in America, the entire family would huddle around the radio eager to hear what "Mr. Roosevelt" had to say.

Historians say John Kennedy was the television president. If so, Roosevelt was undoubtedly the radio president. A gifted communicator, FDR spoke confidently with a knack for calming people's fears -- especially in uncertain times.

Despite a cushy upbringing, Roosevelt made it his business to care for the poor and downtrodden. For this, he paid a price.

While Trump hasn't, at least up to now, experienced any sort of backlash for championing the interests of blue-collar workers in states hard hit by, for instance, the loss in manufacturing jobs, Roosevelt was seen for decades as nothing less than a traitor to his class. According to Willard, it is one of the reasons that Harvard -- for much of the 20th century -- didn't do more to celebrate one of its most famous alumni.

"Roosevelt got us through the Depression without turning us into a fascist or communist state," Willard said. "He invented the United Nations and the international finance banking system. He created solutions that lasted."

FDR also made mistakes, such as the "court packing" controversy and the ghastly internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Still, overall, historians consistently rank him in the top three of U.S. presidents alongside George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Willard is not optimistic that we'll see that kind of greatness again.

"We need a president who can reignite America's story," he said. "Frankly, I think it's going to take a while. These days, we tend to demonize those we disagree with, and that builds a structural barrier to forging compromise and making deals."

He's right. We need candidates who grasp the genius of America and accept that they owe the country an incalculable debt -- and not the other way around.

Unfortunately, this year, there isn't likely to be such a person on the ballot.
Love that bomb

What a sweet sensation

Just push the little button,

For complete annihilation!

--Dr.Strangelove and the Fallouts, 1964

Americas complicated  and, in some respects, waning -- relationship with the power of the atom has been on full display in recent weeks.

Earlier this month the Omaha Public Power District announced that the Fort Calhoun Station will split its last atom by the end of the year and embark on the long process of decommissioning the plant.

The nuclear power plant is the smallest in North America. Its high operation and maintenance costs relative to its output of electricity meant that it no longer was economically viable, according to OPPD officials.

At the height of the Cold War era nuclear plants popped up across the country. Now they are dwindling in number. Since 2013 seven plants have been slated for decommissioning, even though proponents of nuclear power warn that closing the plants will make it difficult to reduce carbon emissions in the United States.

One by one, the artifacts of the Cold War days are vanishing. Soon to meet its demise is one of the remaining fallout shelters in Lincoln.

The roughly 10-by-15-foot bunker beneath the KFOR Radio tower in Wyuka Cemetery still has a 36-pound box of biscuits and 17.5-gallon tanks of drinking water.

As Journal Star reporter Peter Salter wrote, The structure that was built to withstand a nuclear hit cant survive this citys appetite for apartments. Wyuka is selling the land to a developer and the plans require KFORs tower to move 200 feet to the southwest.

In an odd coincidence, both announcements came shortly before President Barack Obama became the first U.S. President while in office to visit Hiroshima, the site of the worlds first nuclear bombing.

In a way, however, the presidents visit underscored the threat of nuclear annihilation that still lurks in the world.

Obama said a focus of his visit to Japan would be to emphasize how two former adversaries came together to become one of the closest partnerships and closest allies in the world.

Strategically that relationship is becoming more important as China is increasing the number of its nuclear-capable missiles and developing and testing missile defenses and satellite weapons.

Meanwhile Russia continues to upgrade its arsenal of several thousand warheads and missiles, and North Korea continues its nuclear testing.

The possibility of nuclear war no longer has top-of-the-mind awareness that it had back in the days when school children were taught to duck and cover, nonetheless the threat not only lingers, but grows. The age of the atom wears on with no end in sight.
In the Journal Stars May 18th edition, Senator Ben Sasse was quoted by Jennifer Rubin (" Sasse could be the top pick, Romney the backup ," May 18) as saying, Democrats pretend like we can make America Europe again by expanding 1960s entitlement programs, and too many Republicans believe that we can solve the problem by making America 1950 again.

I remember reading various comments about world demographics in regard to aging populations. The trend seemed to be that countries with a higher percentage of older citizens have issues with entitlements. Older citizens want some security of government support as they do in our nation. Many European countries and other countries, such as Japan and Russia, reportedly have older populations than the USA. Politicians, and particularly conservatives, point out we dont want to be like Europe but as citizens continue to live longer and have less funds for their retirement days, it only make sense that more will be needed for the senior citizens. The threat that we will be like Europe does not solve the problem. We simply have an aging population. However, the fairly large population of millennials who demographically appear to out number baby boomers may ease the burden.
WINNEBAGO  The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is moving forward with a federal program designed to return land to American Indian tribes.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with the tribe to implement a land buy-back program.

The program was created as part of a class-action settlement between 500,000 American Indians and the U.S. government. The settlement provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractional land interests and restore them to tribal ownership.

The dispute began in the 1880s when Congress divided tribal lands into parcels that were assigned to individual Indians. The settlement is intended to strengthen tribal sovereignty by consolidating fractional land interests for communal uses, such as providing new housing sites or roads.
Sunday Leonard, is a scientist at the Climate and Clean Air Coalition based in Paris. [Photo by Lucie Morangi]

Policies developed and implemented by China are indicative to its strong commitment towards achieving environmentally-friendly socio-economic development. Coming at a time when countries are strongly pushing for sustainable economic growth, these successes can be emulated and scaled up to reverse global warming.

"The Chinese government is surely moving towards achieving improved air quality in their cities. They have prioritized the issue," said Sunday Leonard, a scientist at the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a program hosted by the United Nations Environment Program.

He was among researchers who worked on The Climate and Environmental Benefits of Controlling SLCP's in PR China, a report that was released in September last year. Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs)are substances such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and many hydro fluorocarbons, which have a significant impact on near-term climate change but have a relatively short lifespan in the atmosphere. It can last for a few days to about a decade.

"The report shows that China is consistently developing and implementing innovative policies. It will definitely achieve its goals in the near future," said Leonard, who is in Kenya attending the United Nations Environment Assembly, which represents the highest level of governance for international environmental affairs in the UN system.

According to the report, China's five-year plans (FYP) contain several important environmental-related targets and encourage significant investment in achieving these targets.

The report shows that among the targets are those that could contribute to improved local air quality. This includes the goal of decreasing energy consumption per GDP by 20 percent and reducing total sulfur dioxide emissions by 10 percent as contained in the 11th FYP. Another goal is increasing non-fossil fuel proportion in primary energy consumption to 11.4 percent, decreasing energy consumption per GDP by 16 percent, reducing carbon dioxide emissions of GDP by 17 percent, decreasing total nitrogen oxides emissions by 10 percent and total sulfur dioxide emissions by 8 percent as contained in the 12th FYP.

"National records show that the air quality-related targets in the 11th FYP were achieved and exceeded," the report stated, adding that success is also being achieved towards the 12th FYP, including the adoption of technologies that significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions per GDP.

"China leads in technology that captures dusts and sulfates emitted during coal mining. It has helped to reduce black carbon emissions from the power sector, reversing what could have otherwise been a major black carbon emission source in the country," said the scientist from Nigeria who is now based in France.
Dear Amy: I'm a middle-aged, white, gay man living in West Hollywood. I'd like your advice on the proper way to give a friendly acknowledgment to women as I pass them on the street.

I try to make eye contact and smile when I walk past people. However, I often find that women respond in a way that suggests they feel threatened by my attention. For example, they look down at the ground and walk faster.

I'm not physically imposing. In West Hollywood, in particular, I figured women would assume that I'm gay and just being polite, with no potentially dangerous sexual overtones.

Pretending not to see someone seems rude and disrespectful. If I were to ignore a black or Latino man on the street, I would expect them to think I was being racist. Aziz Ansari's show "Master of None" included an episode where several women felt slighted when a man didn't make eye contact and shake hands with them as he did with their male companions.

I realize that I come from a position of relative safety and privilege that a random woman walking down the street alone might not enjoy.

What's the proper way for me to politely acknowledge a woman that lets her know I'm just being friendly and have no malicious intent? I want polite human contact, but I'm tired of people treating me as though I'm a threat. -- Hollywood Hello

Dear Hollywood: Based on my (limited) experience hanging out in West Hollywood, if a stranger were to greet me on the street, I'd immediately think, "Wow! You must be new in town." I don't think of LA as a "howdy stranger," kind of place.

You are overthinking this to an extreme degree. You assume that women don't meet your gaze because they are afraid of you. You also assume that all women have working gaydar, making all gay men immediately identifiable; and also that gay men are universally nonthreatening because -- according to your assumptions -- (white) gay men never commit crimes of violence.

If this is a universally persistent issue with you, get a friend to test your street vibe (by walking with you), and dial it down, if necessary.

Aziz Ansari could no doubt make a great episode for his series from this one question (Aziz, call me?), but you shouldn't create drama where there isn't any.

If some women don't return your friendly eye contact, it might be because they're shy, rude or headed to an audition.

The answer is for you to be yourself, and to let others be themselves.

Dear Amy: I'm a 16-year-old guy and I go to a small private school. There is a girl that I feel really close to, but she is polyamory and cannot commit. This is affecting my life. I was already diagnosed with depression, but this is making it worse.

She sometimes acts like she loves me, but sometimes treats me like any other person. How can I tell if she wants to have a relationship with me or just use me as a "side guy" for when she is bored? I'm not sure. We have never hung out outside of school. I think we are both just too afraid to ask the other to hang out. I'm not sure how she feels about me. -- Confused

Dear Confused: At 16, it is not unusual to be "polyamory" (loving more than one person). The teenage years are supposed to be a time of learning, experimentation and growth.

Relationships can be confusing, but the best way to try to sort things out is to communicate. You can ask, "Do you want to hang out some time?" and see how that goes. As you get to know one another better, you will be able to judge more accurately how she sees you.

I hope you will be brave, but please -- always love yourself first. Knowing and loving yourself will bring out the best in you. Make sure to check in with your therapist to manage your depression.

Dear Amy: "Torn (Over) Letter" was worried about the contents of a letter his mother had given him with the instructions that he open it after her death. I agree with your advice to open it now in the presence of a therapist.

My mother had a very similar plan, which was interrupted by other circumstances, but I learned that she was intending to punish me from the grave. It was a very cruel and cowardly act, and it still hurts to this very day. -- Sad Daughter

Dear Sad: I am very sorry.
Sgt. Allard Robert Kennedy, World War II

Personal and soldierly qualities of Army Sgt. Allard Robert Kennedy of Abbotsford, who was killed in action in New Guinea on Dec. 14, 1942, were highly praised by his commanding officer, Capt. Omar Crocker, in a letter written to his wife, Elsie, in Madison. After extending sympathy to the family, Captain Crocker said in part:

It is needless for me to say that Allard was a real soldier until the end; that he was popular and looked up to by the men of the company is history. He was more than a buddy and pal to most of the men, a big brother would be a more suitable description.

During the entire time that Sgt. Kennedy was in the company, he was the clerk, a job that entails close association with the men of the company as well as the commander. To say that Sgt. Kennedy did his job well is putting it mildly. He was the best clerk in the division.

He was a real soldier in the field and when the time came to move up to the battle line, Sgt. Kennedy volunteered his services on the front line rather than remain back of the lines, behind a typewriter.

Those close to Sgt. Kennedy can lift their heads high and look the world in the eye with the assurance that he died bravely in defense of his country and in action.

My message: Lets not forget the veterans on Memorial Day

 Rod Kennedy, 76, Caledonia, Sgt. Kennedys nephew; Rod was 2 years old when his uncle was killed
Master Sgt. Brian Keith Naseman, War in Iraq

Master Sgt. Naseman, U.S. Army, Wisconsin Army National Guard, was my platoon sergeant during my first deployment in 2005-2006 to Kuwait. He was one of the best Army non-commissioned officers I have ever known, the greatest leadership mentor I have ever had, and was a true best friend to me and my family; he was family.

He served from March 17, 1990, to May 22, 2009.

Master Sgt. Naseman served for eight years in the Ohio National Guard as a combat engineer. In 1998, he transferred to the 1-126 Field Artillery Battalion of the Wisconsin National Guard as a cannon crew member. Master Sgt. Naseman deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in 2005-2006 as a platoon sergeant for D Company 2-128 Infantry, and in 2009 as a platoon sergeant for the 108th Forward Support Company. He consistently performed his duties with honor and excellence as illustrated in numerous near-flawless NCO evaluations.

His awards include two Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, the Army Good Conduct Medal, three Army Reserve Component Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, three Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, as well as additional state awards and recognitions.

What I remember most about Master Sgt. Naseman was his selfless service and love. He loved the privilege of being able to serve his country, he loved to mentor and share experiences with his brothers and sisters in arms, he put the mission of the Army before himself, but most of all, he wore the love of his family and friends on his sleeves.

The message I would like to relay for Memorial Day is that it is not just the soldier whom we must remember. We must also focus on what the soldier fought for, sacrificed their time for, and ultimately sacrificed themselves for: our freedoms, our lives, our families. Memorial Day is simply an annual reminder so that we never forget that our freedom comes at the cost of soldiers and Gold Star Families who live Memorial Day every day of their lives.

 SFC Colin Hackney, 36, Wisconsin Army National Guard, Reedsburg

Submitted by Peggy Naseman, 51, Racine, who was Master Sgt. Nasemans wife
RACINE  The first lawyer to enter the race for the countys top prosecutor spot is bowing out of the race, he told The Journal Times on Tuesday.

Racine-based lawyer Eugene B. Loftin, 34, of Mount Pleasant, said he was offered a full-time teaching position last week at Trinity International University near Deerfield, Illinois. Thats the university from which Loftin graduated in 2006 with a bachelors in psychology.

I got an offer that I really couldnt walk away from, Loftin said, adding he will be teaching Intro to Criminal Justice and American Courts classes.

After Loftin said he would run for DA, incumbent District Attorney Rich Chiapete said on April 26 that he would not seek re-election.

Loftin said he will maintain his Racine law firm, Loftin Legal, at 209 Eighth St., where his practice includes criminal defense and civil law, estate planning and business and tax work. Hes worked in Racine since 2009. However, Loftin said he will scale back the cases he takes, possibly down to two or three per month.

Ill take on the cases that matter to me. I like to bring passion to whatever I do, whether its teaching or in the courtroom, he said.

Loftin has served as an adjunct faculty member in the criminal justice program at Carthage College in Kenosha.

Candidates

Loftins departure leaves two candidates vying for the post.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, of Caledonia, is running as a Democrat. Racine County Deputy District Attorney Tricia Hanson, of the Town of Norway, is running as a Republican.

The general election is Nov. 8. Since only one Democratic candidate now is seeking office, there will be no primary on Aug. 9 unless another Democratic candidate files for the position.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. on June 1 to submit their nomination papers and declarations of candidacy to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

GAB spokesman Reid Magney said Binger hasnt yet filed his declaration of candidacy. Hanson hasnt filed her campaign finance registration and cannot raise any money until doing so, Magney explained.

Candidates economic interest statements are due at 4:30 p.m. on June 6, Magney said.
RACINE  A Racine County sex offender may be released from a state institution to live in Kenosha County despite staunch opposition, a judge ruled Tuesday evening.

The ruling came in the case of a Racine County man locked away in a secured treatment center nearly a year after a Racine County judge agreed to his release.

Michael L. McGee, 53, was convicted in November 1987 in Racine County Circuit Court of second-degree sexual assault and burglary. During a Racine burglary, he raped a 26-year-old woman, authorities said.

McGee had been scheduled to be released to a Town of Wheatland home by May 20, until Kenosha County officials intervened earlier this month. Hes still locked up  raising constitutional issues, his defense attorney says  because no suitable housing has been located in Racine County and Kenosha County officials are fighting his placement in a rental house there.

While a change in state law should have made it easier to place sex offenders into housing after serving out time in an institution, that hasnt proven to be the case, authorities testified Tuesday.

Staff with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services have been searching since last May for suitable housing for McGee.

We have not identified one (housing location) that would allow us to place an individual on supervised release (in Racine County), Angela Serwa, supervised release specialist with the department, testified on Tuesday.

Hundreds of houses have been searched in Racine and Kenosha counties, Serwa said.

In a seven-page written decision released Tuesday evening, Racine County Circuit Judge Allen Pat Torhorst ruled that McGee may live in the Wheatland home. He stated that Kenosha Countys position is without merit, ordering that McGee be placed in the house by June 3.

Changes in state law

Before McGees prison term was up, he was declared a sexually violent person. He was involuntarily civilly committed to Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, where convicted sex offenders are held for indeterminate periods of time, until some are deemed eligible for release. McGees period of commitment there began on May 25, 2004.

State law usually requires that convicted sex offenders then be returned to their home county. But state law allows for sex offenders to be placed in another county if good cause can be shown as to why that should occur.

Previously, the state appeared like a patchwork quilt of different county, city and local ordinances regulating where sex offenders could not live. However, state law changed on March 1 when Act 156 kicked in. That effectively nullified the bevy of differing ordinances.

Act 156 simply states the sex offenders placement should ensure he is in a residence that is not less than 1,500 feet from any school premises, child care facility, public park, place of worship or youth center.

Even after Act 156, roughly 28 convicted sex offenders are waiting to be released, Serwa testified. In almost every case, the holdup is because suitable housing hasnt been found, said clinical psychologist Stephen Kopetskie, court assessment and community programs director at Sand Ridge. Finding housing historically has been the problem.

Mr. McGee is one of several Racine County residents (for whom) weve been searching for appropriate placement. (Racine County) is one of the more difficult places for us, Kopetskie said.

The state must enter into an agreement with a landlord or homeowner allowing a sex offender to live there, Kopetskie explained. But landlords or property owners face stress and intimidation if they rent to sex offenders, he said  in part accounting for the shortage of housing.

The Wheatland house is a viable, lawful placement for Mr. McGee, Kopetskie testified.

Serwa said the Town of Wheatland house currently is vacant and convicted sex offenders previously have been placed in that home on supervised release. The last time a convicted sex offender lived there was in 2012.

McGees defense attorney, Robert Peterson, said it is unconstitutional to keep McGee confined in Sand Ridge.

Mr. McGee cant remain in custody pending the creation and approval of a Racine placement, Peterson said, asking for McGee to be released within seven days.

Park or playground?

Jennifer Kopp, first assistant corporation counsel for Kenosha County, argued that good cause doesnt exist for McGee to be placed in Kenosha County.

The house is about 100 feet from the home being rented by Mark Anthony Smith-Rogers, he testified. He lives with his 28-year-old fiancee and their 1-year-old son. Rogers said his 15-year-old niece babysits for them, and his 12-year-old autistic brother visits, as does his fiancees 8-year-old brother.

While McGee is not a convicted child sex offender, he was accused in 1992 of molesting a 10-year-old male relative, Kopp said. But Kopetskie and Serwa said because McGee never was convicted of child sexual assault, and the Racine County District Attorneys Office dismissed that case, McGee isnt a serious child sex offender  the legal requirement to bar him from living so close to Rogers son.

Convictions are what matter here, not accusations, Kopetskie said.

Kopp argued the home is close to a county bicycle path, which she said is considered a county park and therefore McGee cannot live nearby.

Serwa and Kopetskie said state law does not consider a bike path to be a park, so McGee may live there.
SOMERS  A 34-year-old Kenosha woman was killed Wednesday morning when she lost control of the car she was driving on Interstate 94 and it rolled over on the Highway 142 off-ramp.

The Wisconsin State Patrol said the name of the victim was being withheld until her relatives had been notified.

Police said the woman was driving north on Interstate 94 at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday when the car rolled over at the Highway 142 ramp.

The woman, the only occupant of the car, was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said.

The State Patrol and its traffic reconstruction unit were assisted at the scene by the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department, Somers Fire and Rescue, and the state Department of Transportation Regional Incident Management Coordinator.
MOUNT PLEASANT  David Sinclair started with a sweet and finished with a sweat.

The 81-year-old former Racine resident who now lives in Naples, Florida, was among about 600 people who attended the 2016 Lifestyle & Retirement Expo held Tuesday at Roma Lodge, 7130 Spring St.

To tell you the truth, I really just wanted the free kringle, Sinclair said with a chuckle. But there are many interesting booths. Its nice to get out and walk around.

Sinclair completed his visit with a seminar on exercising with joint pain or arthritis presented by David Ross, an orthopedic surgeon at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. That session left Sinclair a tad fatigued and a little sweaty.

I worked off the kringle, Sinclair said.

More than 50 vendors participated in the event, coordinated for the third year by The Journal Times to benefit the community. Companies represented included healthcare agencies, financial planning firms, funeral homes and legal experts.

The expo was billed as a one-stop shopping opportunity for everything having to with retirement.

Along with the kringle, Sinclair also checked out a few funeral homes. Its never too early to begin thinking about the end, he said.

Racine attorney James B. Pruitt, of Pruitt Law Office, said he took several appointments for people seeking advice on wills, trusts and estate planning.

People know that is an important issue, Pruitt said. Im glad they are thinking about it.

Pruitt said the event had a steady stream of visitors, and was especially crowded in the first few hours.

This has been an extremely well-attended event, said Heidi Ward, an advertising account executive at The Journal Times. The vendors seemed extremely pleased on how things worked out.

This was the first time the expo was held at Roma Lodge. Vendor booths were set up throughout the facility. Most vendors offered some kind of give-away along with their information. The first 300 visitors received a free tote bag.

Sponsoring the event were Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints, S.E. Wisconsin Hearing Center, Festival Foods, Steinberg Financial and Living Resource Center.
CALEDONIA  As Lee Mulder, 69, of Racine, reflected on Olympia Brown Elementary School, his mind immediately went to the drive he would take every morning to the place where he worked and taught for more than two decades.

For 22 years, I would drive down Erie Street  in the fall it was like driving in northern Wisconsin with the trees  pull into the parking lot to see the sun rising, Mulder explained. I thought this is the greatest place in the world to work and with some of the greatest people. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Mulder was one of scores of people  former and current teachers, staff members, students, parents and community members  who crowded into the halls of Olympia Brown, 5915 Erie St., Tuesday evening.

While the walls were lined with students artwork as part of the schools annual fine arts night along with performances from the schools music groups, the event also served as a way for current and former members of the Olympia Brown community to say goodbye to the building thats been their school for decades.

When school starts back up again in September, students and staff will resume classes at a new building at 5 Mile and Novak roads, leaving behind the building that the school has inhabited for more than 40 years.

During Tuesdays event, students and staff shared memories of their time at the school and the bonds they formed over the years with their peers and colleagues, such as Brittnee Kowalewski, 20, of Caledonia.

Its sad to know that its not going to be here anymore. I had so many memories, I met some of my closest friends here, I just feel like its all going away now, Kowalewski said.

The schools current lakeside building started as one of the buildings on the campus of the former Dominican Sisters College of Racine and has been in use by Unified since November 1974, initially as a temporary location for students and staff displaced when a fire destroyed Crestview School.

Although the building is big enough to hold both Olympia Brown and the adjoining REAL School, administrators, staff and students have complained that the old college facility has not been well-suited for use as an elementary school. In addition, administrators have said the building needs about $17 million in maintenance.

With voters' consent through a $128 million referendum in 2014, the Racine Unified School District opted to construct the new, 67,000-square-foot building for Olympia Brown with a budget of about $15.1 million, though the final cost is expected to come in lower.

While Olympia Brown is leaving, the current building will remain in use while its co-inhabitant, the REAL School, remains there for the 2016-17 academic year. Administrators plan to move the REAL School to the Sturtevant Sportsplex, 10116 Stellar Ave., in fall 2017; it remains unclear what will happen to the current Olympia Brown building and property after that.

People make a school

Janet Vetrovek, 67, Caledonia, who worked at Olympia Brown from 1975 to 2006 and still tutors in her retirement, also noted the bit of serenity.

Its always sad to leave a place that you watched so many children grow and be nurtured and be successful, Vetrovek said. "The plays we would put on at the theater, the music concerts that we did for parents, and the programs that we put on were all wonderful memories.

Mulder  who meets weekly with Vetrovek and several other former Olympia Brown staff members  said he regrets seeing the building go away, but he noted it is really the staff and students at the school who have made it such a great place to work and hes excited to see what they will do with a new building.

Its the people here, thats why Im back here tonight, Mulder said. Even though I retired seven years ago, many of the people who are still teaching are near and dear to me.
For 74 years, Leons in Milwaukee has been selling frozen custard.

They have been doing business as they feel they should be.

Then this month, the little custard shop made big news when a report came out that the shop was requiring workers to speak only English to customers.

The way it was reported, you would think this was new.

But, Ron Schneider, who owns the custard shop at 3131 S. 27th St., said in an interview with The Journal Times that this is far from new.

Its the way he has been doing business since the beginning and he has been working at the shop for 52 years. He started at his dads shop when he was only 14.

He explained this is a business decision. He has roughly 30 employees and only a few who he knows of speak Spanish. He cannot guarantee on a regular basis that a Spanish-speaking person will be working at the front and he doesnt want staff in the back to have to stop what they are doing to come up to the front. In addition, he wants consistency so some days no Spanish-speaking staff may be working and he doesnt want customers used to ordering in Spanish and then being upset if no one is there to help on a given day.

For him, its solely a business decision and businesses should be able to make their own decisions as long as they are upholding the law.

Schneider said he doesnt turn away any Spanish-speaking customers. Any customers who want custard are welcome to come and order.

If someone cannot speak Spanish, he said workers can point and try to communicate with customers in other ways.

Schneider said, The greatest thing that has made America successful is the freedom  The freedom is what gives you the opportunity to be diverse.

He uses his freedom to make his own policies and he said, since his English policy has gotten publicity, his business has soared and he has gotten letters of support from around the nation.

Not everyone agrees. Since news about Leons policy came out, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin (LULAC) has requested that the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigate the English-only policy.

In a press release, LULAC said, The law is clear on this issue and offers few exceptions.

However, the press release did not elaborate on what the law is on this matter and it doesnt appear as clear as the press release states.

This is not a case where a business is turning away a certain race or ethnic group.

If Leons is breaking the law, Schneider should change policies. But otherwise, it seems as though this has been blown out of proportion.
131 cases of VAW in Baisakh month alone: Report

Despite various organisations running campaigns against gender-based violence across the nation, still it is rampant in the country.
2 rape victims disowned by families

Two teenage rape victims, aged 15 and 19, from Suspakshyemawati VDC in Dolakha, have been disowned by their families after learning about their pregnancy. They are presently living at a womens shelter in Charikot, the district headquarters.
Assistance for quake-stricken remains a daydream

More than a year on after the massive 7.6 Richter scale earthquake heaved Nepal, aid money for the survivors in Dolakha is yet to trickle through largely due to the snail-pace effort of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).
Cong objects to PM Olis provocative statements

The main opposition Nepali Congress has taken exception to some provocative statements made by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Madhes issues during an all-party meeting on Tuesday.
Father detained in suspicion of trafficking daughter

A 48-year-old man from Urleni of Nuwakot district was presented before the District Court on Tuesday evening here in a case accusing him of selling off his daughter to a 'broker'.
Four dead in Nawalparasi mini truck accident

Four people were killed in a mini truck accident at Harkapur of Nawalparasi along the East-West Highway on wednesday morning.
Gathabandhan seeks proper letter for talks

Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis renewed effort to resume talks with the agitating parties failed to materialise on Tuesday after the latter refused to show up demanding a proper invitation.
Govt committee to study gas card system

The Supply Ministry has formed a four-member committee to study implementation of card system for the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Govt directs local bodies to take lead

The government has decided to mobilise local bodies in all 14 districts worst-hit by last years earthquakes to lead reconstruction efforts in their respective areas.
Govt to relocate unused rail tracks

The government has planned to relocate two railway tracks at Sirsiya Dry Port in Birgunj to another part of the terminal as they have been lying unused.
Huawei sues Samsung over patents

Huawei is suing its tech rival Samsung over claims that its patents have been infringed.
Humanitarian politics

Nepal should prepare well for the next disaster, build capacity for aid utilisation
India prez: One Belt, One Road initiative should reflect common interest

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has said that projects such as the China-led One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative should be governed by commonly agreed international norms and practices and should reflect the interest of all the concerned parties.
Journo Jha arrested for taking protest pictures

The arrest of journalist Shesh Narayan Jha has been criticised in the social media.
Nepali cops nab members of intl cocaine racket

Nepal Police have arrested members of an international racket involved in smuggling cocaine into European countries via Nepal.
No need to rewrite statute, amendment will do: Mahato

Sadbhawana Party leader Rajendra Mahato said on Tuesday that the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) was for amending the constitution, not for rewriting it.
One killed, 17 injured in separate accidents

One person was killed when a motorcycle was hit by a vehicle at Chalise in Gajuri, Dhading.
Four looters arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested four looters, who were at large after looting ornaments, cash and mobile sets from different people, giving them juice and biscuits laced with intoxicating substance.
Short-handed factories running below capacity

Factories based in the Butwal Industrial Zone have been hamstrung by labour shortages forcing them to operate at less than their potential capacity.
Singaporean held with 3 kg gold from TIA

A Singaporean man was arrested with three kilogram gold from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Tuesday night.
Mohan Guragain is a desk editor at The Kathmandu Post. He edited a provincial youth-oriented monthly paper for nearly two years before joining The Himalayan Times in 2008. Guragain also writes occasionally on politics and socio-economic issues. He joined the Post in 2010.
Syria conflict: Kurds launch campaign north of IS-held Raqqa

A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters has begun a campaign to expel Islamic State (IS) militants from land north of Raqqa.
Translocated rhino gives birth in Bardia Natl Park

One of the five rhinos translocated to the Bardia National Park (BNP) two months ago has given birth to a healthy calf on Sunday, indicating that translocated species are capable of adapting to new habitats.
Two Indian men arrested with 2 kg gold

Two Indian men were arrested with two kilograms of gold from Bhairahawa in the district on Wednesday.
US seeks death penalty over Charleston church shooting

The US justice department is seeking the death penalty in the case of the Charleston church shooting which claimed nine lives last year.
Will cooperate with court proceedings: Dahal

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that he will cooperate with the Supreme Court proceedings regarding a contempt of court case against him.
South Korea's Air Force website has been experiencing problems for 13 days due to an unidentified hacking attack, local officials said Wednesday.

An official said the Air Force suspended its website operations from the early morning of May 12 when malicious code was found in it.

The Air Force is currently operating a temporary website to provide public services such as information on conscription and other notices that affect the public.

The armed forces branch and the military's Cyber Warfare Command are conducting an investigation into how the site was hacked and whether there is any leak of classified information.

According to the official, there has been no damage reported from the hack so far, saying the outflow of military information is impossible as the Air Force's website is separate from internal networks.

Another official said initial probes showed that the possibility of a North Korean attack is low.

He said that there has been a rise in hacking attempts targeting the South Korean military and military-related organizations.

On May 12, South Korea's military opened an investigation into alleged North Korean hacking attempts carried out on local defense suppliers after learning that unknown emails were sent to several of these companies and arms-trading agencies.

In April, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, a key South Korean builder of naval warships, was hacked, which led the military to conduct an investigation into whether any military secrets were leaked and whether North Korea was involved. (Yonhap)
It's undeniable that the importance of Africa in the nation's diplomacy has been ignored. This can be evidenced from the fact that only three Korean presidents had visited the continent before President Park Geun-hye embarked on her first trip to Africa Wednesday.

President Park's visit to the so-called last growth engine of the global community comes five year after Lee Myung-bak, her predecessor, visited Congo, Ethiopia and South Africa. Most notable is that she will be the first Korean head of state to visit Uganda. Other countries included on her itinerary are Ethiopia and Kenya.

There has been much talk about cooperative partnerships between Korea and Africa; but their relations have stopped short of full-blown cooperation, stuck in Korea's business-as-usual economic aid. So President Park's trip to the three largest economies in East Africa seems well-timed.

The three countries are known to be making remarkable economic progress even without viable natural resources. As a whole, the African continent has boasted political stability and high economic growth amid speculation that the number of middle-class Africans would surpass 500 million by 2030.

According to the International Monetary Fund, seven out of the top 10 countries in economic growth from 2011 through 2015 were in Africa, with Ethiopia ranking first. All this points to Africa's high potential as a market and a partner for economic cooperation.












AAA projects more than 38 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend. That is the second-highest Memorial Day travel volume on record and the most since 2005. Spurred by the lowest gas prices in more than a decade, about 700,000 more people will travel compared to last year. Locally, over 755,000 Wisconsin residents will travel, a 2.2 percent increase over last year. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, May 26, to Monday, May 30.

Americans paid the cheapest quarterly gas prices in 12 years during the first three months of 2016. AAA estimates that Americans have saved more than $12 billion on gas so far this year compared to the same period in 2015. The strong labor market and rising personal income are also motivating people to travel for Memorial Day this year.

Low gas prices driving increase in auto travel

Nearly 34 million (89 percent) holiday travelers will drive to their Memorial Day destinations, an increase of 2.1 percent over last year as a result of lower gas prices. Air travel is expected to increase 1.6 percent over last year, with 2.6 million Americans taking to the skies this Memorial Day. Travel by other modes of transportation, including cruises, trains and buses, will fall 2.3 percent, to 1.6 million travelers.

Lowest Memorial Day gas prices in 11 years expected

AAA expects most U.S. drivers will pay the lowest Memorial Day gas prices since 2005. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline on Memorial Day 2015 was $2.74 and $3.66 the year before.

Gas prices peak in most years before Memorial Day, which means we could see gas prices decline later this summer if normal trends apply, said Nick Jarmusz, director of public affairs for AAA Wisconsin. The big wild card is the cost of crude oil, and no one has a good idea of where crude oil prices are headed later this year. If crude oil keeps going up, then we would see higher gas prices, but if crude remains flat then most drivers should pay the cheapest summertime gas prices in 11 years
Who cares about a trade war?

You, dear reader. Or at least you should, despite the bloviations of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Usually, when making reckless threats about the economic furor hell unleash upon China, Mexico and other major U.S. trading partners, Donald Trump claims theyll all cower helplessly in terror in response. Such a skilled negotiator is he that no country would dare retaliate. Hence, in the battle to Make America Great Again, no trade war will ever materialize.

But at his first campaign rally in almost two weeks, Trump also offered another, slightly different justification for his hot-headed comments. A hedge, if you will.

As usual, he savaged our current trade deals, calling them disgusting, the absolute worst ever negotiated by any country in the world. As usual, he said that China and other countries are killing us, that we are viewed as the stupid country. And, as usual, he pledged to slap gigantic tariffs on products manufactured abroad. Such measures, he promised, would deter further offshoring, bring jobs back and make the rest of the world behave and respect us.

But he added one additional argument. Rather than just assuming away the possibility of a trade war, he suggested it would be no big deal if one erupted.

These dummies say, Oh, thats a trade war. Trade war? Were losing $500 billion in trade with China. Who the hell cares if theres a trade war?

Lets take his question at face value. Whats so terrible about a trade war?

Plenty, for both us and our trading partners.

As my Washington Post colleague Jim Tankersley reported in March, Moodys Analytics has modeled the consequences of the specific trade policies Trump advocates. These include a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports and a 35 percent tariff on Mexican imports.

Trump is right that China and Mexico should fear tariffs of this magnitude: They would indeed throw both countries into recession, according to the Moodys model. Unfortunately, the resulting damage would drag us down with them, and within a year the United States would probably tumble into recession.

Heres why.

If other countries choose to retaliate  or punch back, in the Trumpian vernacular  by introducing tariffs of their own, our own exports will get more expensive to buyers abroad. If our exports get more expensive, the employment of millions of workers in export-supporting industries becomes endangered, too. As export dependent businesses shed workers, those businesses and their newly laid-off workers will have less money to spend, causing knock-on effects throughout the economy.

A downward spiral would result, leading to about 7 million fewer American jobs than there would be in the absence of Trumps machismo-driven trade policy.

Even if Mexico and China for some reason chose not to levy retaliatory tariffs, mind you, Trumps policies would still batter the U.S. economy. Thats because tariffs here  just like any other taxes  are not costless.

If we levy new tariffs on Mexican and Chinese imports, those imported products become more expensive to U.S. consumers. Which means Americans have less spending power. Which means they buy less in general, and fewer dollars land in the pockets of U.S. retailers and other producers. Which means those U.S. businesses in turn can employ fewer workers.

According to the Moodys model, if we raise tariffs as Trump desires and there is (astonishingly) no retaliation from abroad, we may not fall into recession, but well still lose out on several million jobs.

What about Trumps claim that raising tariffs would encourage more companies to move their manufacturing activities to the United States? The likely magnitude of this effect looks small, according to Moodys calculations, especially if firms believe the tariffs will be temporary. And even if some jobs were reshored, its not clear those jobs would be terribly desirable.

Americans romanticize the manufacturing industry because it used to provide stable, middle-class jobs to large numbers of U.S. workers. The kinds of manufacturing jobs available today look pretty different, though.A recent report from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that about a third of families of front-line manufacturing workers receive some form of public assistance because they earn so little.

Finally, theres another, scarier reason to fear Trumps dangerous trade policies. The capitalist peace theory posits that commerce and economic interdependence help prevent violent conflict. Or as Frederic Bastiat is credited with observing (perhaps apocryphally), when goods dont cross borders, soldiers will.

In other words: Its not called a trade war for nothing.
The Childrens Museum of La Crosse will be hosting a summer-long exploration of the science of watersheds, aquatic animals and the ocean.

Ocean Bound! offers fun, hands-on environmental science for the whole family. Explore the Ocean Bound! traveling exhibit, included with museum admission and membership, to embark on a journey through watersheds to see how everyones actions on land affect the ocean.

The exhibit will be in place between May 28 and Sept. 4. It was created by the Sciencenter of Ithaca, N.Y., with funding from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

The museum is located at 207 5th Ave. S., La Crosse. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Regular admission: $7 per person (infants and members free).
Wisconsins highest court will review a decision to deny an appeal by a Minnesota man serving consecutive life terms for the 2012 murders of a father and son at their downtown La Crosse camera store.

Jeffrey Lepsch, now 43, appealed the District 4 Court of Appeals decision in November to uphold his convictions for the killings of Paul Petras, 56, and his 19-year-old son, A.J., on Sept. 15 at the now-shuttered Mays Photo on Main Street.

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments from attorneys in late summer, said Lepschs attorney, Steven Zaleski. It will either affirm the Court of Appeals decision or grant Lepsch a new trial.

Its rare for the Supreme Court to accept cases, Zaleski said. But the case is rich with issues and problems.

Lepsch argued on appeal that nine of the 12 jurors either believed he was guilty before they heard the case or found law enforcement more credible than other witnesses. He also argued that he wasnt present when the clerk of court read an oath to jurors, a violation of his right to an impartial jury and public trial.

Attorneys selected the jury in less than six hours, a process that was fast and short, especially considering the gravity of the charges and the extent of the pre-trial publicity, Zaleski argued in documents to the Supreme Court.

Perhaps both a reason for and a consequence of such an abbreviated process is that the trial court did not provide for a comprehensive examination of each prospective juror, especially those who presented beliefs or opinions which made them ripe for dismissal, he stated.

Zaleski argues to the Supreme Court that the jurors did not meet the standard of impartiality required by the U.S. Constitution.

It is a problem if a juror may arguably meet the Wisconsin standard for impartiality but not the federal standard, he stated.

The jury, after a six-day trial in La Crosse County Circuit Court in July 2013, found that Lepsch shot Paul and A.J. Petras, then emptied display cases of 27 pieces of camera equipment worth $17,000 and walked from the store with four bags to his minivan at Fourth and Main streets.

Police found A.J. Petras body near the stores safe and his fathers in the bathroom hours later when Sherri Petras went to check on her husband and son.

Surveillance video, cellphone and vehicle records led investigators to Lepsch, a broke, unemployed hobby photographer living in Dakota at the time of the killings.

Investigators traced every piece of equipment stolen from Mays to Lepsch  in his home, his van or sold online to support his family of five.

He is serving consecutive life terms without the possibility of release plus 30 years, the maximum possible.

Prosecutors contend Lepsch failed to prove jurors were biased, pointing out they said they would base their verdict on evidence presented at trial. His rights were not violated when the jury was sworn outside his presence because the administration of the oath is not part of jury selection under state statute, prosecutors wrote.

The appellate court rejected Lepschs argument that the jury sworn outside his presence violated his rights and ruled none of the jurors was biased, finding they told the court they would judge the credibility of all witnesses equally, would decide their verdict on the evidence and understood the presumption of innocence.

The court also found his trial attorneys did not fail him during jury selection because he did not prove juror bias.
Black River Country Bank will host its third annual Milk for Moola Challenge on June 1 from noon to 1 p.m. at its Black River Falls and Melrose offices.

The event is the banks way of kicking off June Dairy Month celebrations, making a contribution to a local organization for every Milk for Moola participant. This year a donation will be made to the Jackson County Dairy Project Committee, which will put the money toward filling the youth fair baskets with cheese. Black River Country Banks past donations have gone to Jackson County Youth Dairy Exhibitors and the Jackson County Dairy Promotion Committee.
The family of a Wisconsin veteran who died from a combination of medications prescribed by Veterans Administration doctors is optimistic after the House passed a bill May 10 to reform the VAs use of painkillers.

Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old former Marine from Stevens Point, was being treated at the Tomah VA Medical Center in August 2014 when he died from the toxic combination of medicine, according to VA reports.

His death was at the center of a 2015 report from the Center for Investigative Reporting highlighting excessive opioid painkiller prescription rates at the hospital, which some veterans called Candy Land.

Simcakoskis mother, widow and daughter were on Capitol Hill as guests of U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, co-sponsor of the Jason Simcakoski Promise Act, which directs the VA to update its opioid prescription practices.

Heather Simcakoski said she hopes the Senate will pass a larger VA reform bill, which contains similar language named for her husband and that the two chambers can reconcile them.

I think this is a huge honor for him, and I think hed be extremely proud, she said. Im just excited to see it brought through to the finish line.

Kind, D-La Crosse, credited the Simcakoskis for their involvement with the bill and their support in rallying lawmakers.

The human element sometimes gets lost, Kind said. When you have a family showing up at the doorstep  it humanizes everything we do here.

Jasons mother, Linda Simcakoski, said while she would like to see additional VA reforms, the opioid bill is a start.

We just feel that we want to make a change so no other family has to go through this situation, she said. When these men and women come out  theres no reason they should have to fight for their lives (in the VA).
Women from the area discovered that laughter is the best medicine when they attended Womens Night Out event at Black River Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, May 11.

The hospital hosted 250 women who laughed with comedian C. Willie Myles who has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central and toured with Toby Keith, Aretha Franklin and the Temptations.

Myles shared every-day stories about life in the Midwest. His home state is Alabama and sharing his perspective on Wisconsin and Minnesota created non-stop laughter throughout the show.

Amy Yaeger, marketing and business development director for BRMH, said, the hospital was pleased with the turnout.

Were honored that 250 women took time from all the pressures and stresses of being a woman to slow down, laugh and to celebrate being a woman, she said. We were surprised to have all seats reserved, nearly a month ahead of the show.

After the comedians show, women took tours to learn about services available at Black River Memorial Hospital. Area vendors also provided information and services.
It was June 1966, and Harlan Springborn and I were waiting at the La Crosse Airport for a plane that would fly us to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. There we would go to Fort Lewis, Wash., where we had gone through basic training together. Then we had a month-long summer cruise in the Pacific on our way to Vietnam where we spent a year in the Central Highlands with the 4th Infantry Division. After returning from Vietnam, we lost touch with each other and it took 37 years before we got reunited.

Fast forward to 2016.

People had been telling us about the Freedom Honor Flight that flies veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials. Its supported solely through donations and run by volunteers. There is no cost to veterans. Applicants are accepted to go on the flight on a first-come, first serve basis, with priority given to World War II veterans and veterans with a terminal illness. The trip takes place all in one day, leaving in the early morning and arriving back in the evening. Each veteran is accompanied by a volunteer guardian who assists the veteran throughout the day. They also have trained medical personnel and a doctor on the airplane and on each bus. Physicians and paramedics accompanying each flight help with oxygen, medication and personal needs, enabling those with chronic health problems or disabilities to attend.

A year ago in May, I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fast-growing, malignant tumor in my brain. It has affected my ability to use my left side and to walk without assistance, so I was reluctant to apply. Plus, I felt guilty going before all the World War II and Korea vets had a chance to go. People kept urging me to submit an application. I finally decided to apply and was accepted. My friend, Harlan, also applied as a Vietnam veteran and to be my guardian on the trip. He was accepted, too. We left for Vietnam together from La Crosse airport and now 50 years later, we would leave together on the flight to Washington, D.C. Even though I was accepted, I still had feelings of guilt about going while so many older veterans from World War II and Korea hadnt been on the flight. Even up until a week before the flight, I wasnt sure that I should be on this trip.

Fast-forward to May 7, 2016, 5:30 a.m. We were waiting at the La Crosse Airport hangar to get our flight. La Crosse has taken more than 1,600 veterans on flights to date. The May 7 flight had seven World War II veterans, 78 Korean veterans and three Vietnam veterans. There were others on the flight, like myself, who were accepted under the TLC  The Last Chance program  which allows terminally ill veterans to fly under priority status.

Around 8 a.m. that morning our plane lifted off and headed for Washington, D.C. It was a long and exhausting day, but one that we will never forget. Id worried about being a burden to the people who had to help me get around. I normally use a walker because my balance has been affected and Im not that mobile. They wanted us to use their wheelchairs on the airplane and buses. Those of us who had mobility problems would use the wheelchairs provided by the organization. When we landed in Washington, D. C., there were four buses ready to pick us up. This is a very well-planned and run operation. They really know what they are doing. Its a volunteer organization, supported solely through donations. There is no paid staff. Harlan was my guardian. I felt sorry for him because he had to push me around all day. It couldnt have been an easy task, but he never complained.

Our first stop was at the World War II Memorial. I got off the bus in my wheelchair, using the bus lift ramp and then went around looking at the memorial. One thing that really got Harlan and me was realizing the tremendous loss of lives in World War II. There were gold stars on a panel, representing 100,000 U.S. lives. Then it was back on the buses and to the Korean Memorial, which was one of my favorites. The Vietnam Wall was next.

When Harlan and I stood by the Vietnam wall, we didnt realize how overpowering it was going to be until we saw all those names ... thousands of names. You realize that each one of those was a person that at one time was just like us. Harlan made the comment, How were we so lucky that we survived when so many of our friends didnt? It was very sobering for both of us. It also was depressing, and we both agreed it made us very angry. Weve had 50 bonus years that they didnt have.

As we drove through Arlington Cemetery, Harlan made a comment about the thousands of white tombstones. The cemetery is immaculate. Then we watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknowns. You dont want to miss that if you visit Arlington. Next we were off to the Marine Corps memorial. I didnt realize how huge the Iwo Jima statue was until we got up next to it. We got to see the new Air Force memorial near it, which was built after 9-11. It had been a long, tiring day. On the flight back to La Crosse we enjoyed a box lunch. I managed to sleep for a short time.

As we neared the hanger at La Crosse, we could see that the big door was open. It was 10:15 p.m. There must have been 1,000 people waiting. As we came down the ramp from the airplane, people lined both sides, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service. It was unlike anything Id ever experienced before. I think all of us were very surprised. The Westby Area High School Band performed on Saturday evening, when the Freedom Honor Flight returned from Washington, D.C. While on the tarmac, the band played a variety of patriotic songs honoring the veterans while we departed from the airplane. I want to thank Monte Dunnum, Kory Dahlen and the band for coming out to welcome us home. It was greatly appreciated.

It was great traveling on the same flight with Joel Volden, a Korean veteran from Westby. His grandson, Todd Volden, was his guardian. It was a great experience for both of them. Todd learned a lot more about his grandfathers experiences in the military. One of the highlights of the trip was spending it with the other veterans and visiting with them. I would highly recommend that other veterans take advantage of this trip if you get a chance. Applications are available at veterans organizations or online at www.freedomhonorflight.org. A fall Freedom Honor Flight, flown out of La Crosse, is set for Sept. 17.

Veterans are selected in order of application, though World War II veterans have priority status. Ten of the veterans on the spring flight, including me, were flying under the TLC. I thank the Freedom Honor Flight organization for this opportunity.

Fifty years after leaving for Vietnam together, Harlan and I are still friends and it was an honor to go to Washington, D.C. with him.

When Harlan and I got inside the hanger, we had a surprise. Two friends we had served with in Vietnam had come to La Crosse to greet us. Ray Slaback from Monroe, originally from Readstown, and George Strop, from Byron, Minn. I hadnt seen George since we left Vietnam. That was a great way to end a very memorable day.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow will stay in La Crosse.

In an email sent Tuesday night, Gow said he had withdrawn from the presidential search at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. Gow was one of three finalists for the position, and met with the university community and the South Dakota Board of Regents earlier this week.

The other two finalists for the position are Don Capener, the dean of Davis College of Business at Jacksonville University in Florida, and Timothy Downs, provost and chief academic officer at Niagara University in New York. A news release Wednesday informed the public the regents would announce the new president at Northern State during an event Thursday afternoon.

Northern State serves about 3,500 students, including 450 graduate and 200 international students, on its 75-acre campus in Aberdeen, a city of 27,000 on the South Dakota plains. In an interview, Gow said he met with students, faculty and community members, but in the end, the university just was not the right fit for him at the moment.

What we have at UW-L is very special, Gow said. And youre not likely to find it anywhere else.

Gow was named chancellor of UW-L in 2007, and before that he served as both the interim president and provost of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln and was the dean of the college of liberal arts at Winona State University.

He is the senior chancellor serving in the UW System. Gow was also a finalist for president of State University of New York at New Paltz in 2011, but he withdrew from consideration.
It was a simple college assignment: Research an issue and deliver a persuasive speech that drives other students to act.

Most select public policy or a cause, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse communications professor Joseph Van Oss said.

But ballistic vests for police canines? Never.

There was a need, first-year student Jenna Goulet argued. The canines protect their handlers and the community and they need protection, she said.

I didnt know anything about the canine units in La Crosse, Van Oss said. Quickly, I said, OK, you convinced me.

Two of the La Crosse Police Departments three narcotics detection dogs wore expired vests. A new canine that will join the agency later this year also will need one. Each vest is $1,200.

I always knew protective vests were important, Goulet said. These dogs sacrifice so much for us. Sometimes the dogs are sent in first and if they dont have protection, theyre a sitting duck. Its a good investment.

The agencys support empowered Goulet to set a $3,600 goal to outfit the canines with stab and bulletproof vests that shield their vital organs.

I thought, Lets shoot for it, but even if we get one vest, thats still pretty cool, she said.

Her professor was the first to contribute.

When you have a person come along who is this exceptional, you have to support that, Van Oss said.

Goulet, of Hartland, Wis., raised $3,490 in less than one month between a coin drive and a GoFundMe webpage. She told her professor that while the contributions exceeded her expectations, she was $110 shy of her goal.

He said, Jenna, check your figures again, she said.

Van Oss had donated another $111.

I thought, What the hell? Get her over the line, he said. She went way, way, way beyond the assignment.

The departments canine unit, which also includes an explosives detection dog, relies on donations. The handlers and the agency were humbled at Goulets contribution, La Crosse Police Chief Ron Tischer said.

It was incredible for a young person to take on that big of an endeavor, he said. I think it goes to show her dedication to the community and compassion for the dogs.
BATON ROUGE, La.  Louisiana is poised to become the first state in the nation to expand its hate-crime laws to protect police, firefighters and emergency medical crews  a move that could stir the national debate over the relationship between law enforcement and minorities.

If signed by the governor, the new law would allow prosecutors to seek greater penalties against anyone convicted of intentionally targeting first responders because of their profession.

Existing hate-crime laws provide for larger fines and longer prison terms if a person is targeted because of race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or affiliation with certain organizations.

The state House unanimously supported extending the laws, and the bill gained overwhelming support in the state Senate. The measure met no objection from committees in either chamber.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat whose grandfather, father and brother have served as sheriffs, is expected to sign the bill into law this week, said his spokeswoman, Shauna Sanford.

Lawmakers in five other states have recently tried to pass similar so-called Blue Lives Matter bills, but each effort stalled, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Critics regard the laws as unnecessary and say they could weaken current hate-crimes statutes.

People convicted of assaulting police officers already face increased penalties in many states, including Louisiana. And crimes against public-safety officials are being investigated and prosecuted vigorously under current Louisiana law, said Allison Padilla-Goodman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, who wrote the Louisiana governor asking for his veto.

Expanding the hate-crime laws may open the door to other job categories being added, and thereby dilute the laws impact, she wrote.

She said Louisiana law-enforcement agencies underuse the current law and underreport hate crimes. FBI statistics show only six of the states 86 departments reported any hate crimes in 2014, the most recent data available.

Nine hate crimes were reported statewide in 2014. the same challenge either way, he said. Its difficult to prove motivation in some cases, but when the facts are there, we will pursue it.

Adams group does not collect data on how often district attorneys use the current law, he said.

The national Black Lives Matter movement spread quickly after the 2014 police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and activists now seek reforms in policing nationwide.

Louisianas legislation was prompted by a number of high-profile attacks on police, including the killing of a suburban Houston deputy who was shot 15 times in an August 2015 ambush, according to the Republican lawmaker who proposed the bill.

This gives more of a deterrent for people just to pick out a law officer because hes a law officer and attack him, said state Rep. Lance Harris of Alexandria.

Latoya Lewis, co-chair of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Youth Project 100, suggested the Louisiana governors support of the bill would be a commentary on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Supporting this bill puts the broader community on a back burner in Louisiana, she said. This would not be a positive reaction to our cries, but only show how much power there is against the people trying to stop the harassing and murder in the streets by police.

Statistics do not support a change in law, Lewis added, saying that thousands more people were killed by police last year than officers killed in the line of duty during the same period.
About the same time Donald Trump was brandishing his newly found credentials as a key defender of the right to bear arms by aiming a barrage of verbal bullets at Hillary Clinton at the National Rifle Associations annual celebration, a man was waving the real thing at a security point near the White House.

For his trouble, Trump hopes to win millions of votes.

For his trouble, the man who refused to drop his weapon won a bullet in the chest from the Secret Service and perhaps a chance to survive.

Somehow, the two separate events seem fittingly connected, or at least intertwined in the irresponsibility that rages in this countrys love affair with deadly weapons.

Trump comes newly to his position on guns, having shortly after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting praised President Barack Obamas efforts to put new restrictions on the sale of guns. But politicians change their minds, particularly when there is an opportunity to lambaste an opponent over one of the touchiest issues in American culture and to stretch the truth more than a little and receive huzzas for it.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee sighted in on Clintons stated intention to expand background checks of prospective gun owners and to close loopholes that allow gun show trading with no checks at all. What Clinton really is aiming at is the abolition of the Second Amendment, he charged, an act that would leave average, law abiding Americans defenseless in an increasingly violent society. Hows that for buying into your hosts (the NRAs) line without reservation and receiving thunderous (or should we make that hysterical) applause for it?

First of all, Clinton is not so foolish as to tweak the snout of firearms lovers by suggesting anything as radical as destroying the Constitutions stated privilege of gun ownership, no matter how desirable that may seem, especially so after one of those sensational mass murders that comes so frequently now. One may not like Clinton, the expected Democratic candidate, for a variety of reasons. But she is not stupid about the power of the NRA and other shills for firearms manufacturers.

The one thing that Trump said that is certainly accurate is that the NRA is the most powerful lobby in the nation. That is so because those who oppose it have no comparable dedicated voice, and because of that, politicians are scared to death of it, even those who understand how wrong-headed and dangerous the groups policies are. Trump wasnt the only politician or prospective officeholder to humble himself at the lobbys yearly gathering, pledging fealty and genuflecting to those who would give up their weapons only after they were pried from their cold, dead hands, as Charlton Heston, the movie star who was one of the NRAs more colorful presidents, once famously said.

Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, who has a history of embarrassing his state but wants a second term and once thought about running for president, swore his allegiance to the lords of gunpowder as a card carrying member of the NRA.

He bragged to the Louisville, Ky., crowd that Indiana allows freedom-loving Hoosiers to carry concealed weapons in the 100-year-old state park system. Now thats something to be proud of! Its that kind of insensitivity that cost him his higher aspirations but should provide for an easy re-entry into local talk radio if he needs it. Listeners abound who favor that sort of Genghis Khan palaver.

Much of Trumps contention that Heartless Hillary would disarm Americans in high-crime neighborhoods, whether its a young, single mom in Florida or a grandmother in Ohio, is, of course, just eyewash. When was the last time such a woman pulled out a 9 millimeter and blew away the bad guy? That certainly applies to grandmothers in Ohio, bless them.

The crowd that watched the drama at the security point near the White House was sizable. In an age where packing heat has become as common as reports of the latest shootings, its probably a fact that someone was carrying. But as usual in these cases, no civilian acted. Its probably a good thing.

What is disturbing in this year of political turmoil is that single-minded, one-issue voters are likely to ignore whats really important in this election  experience and sanity, for instance.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a stay of a Dane County Circuit judges decision to strike down the states right-to-work law, reinstating the law while an appeal is pending.

The order by the state District 3 Court of Appeals, based in Wausau, overrules a decision made earlier by Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust to not issue a stay of his own ruling throwing out the law on the grounds that the law unconstitutionally takes property from unions without compensation.

In issuing the stay, presiding Judge Lisa Stark said we conclude the State has established there is sufficient likelihood of success on appeal to warrant the grant of the stay and that the lower court erred in concluding unions would suffer harm if a stay were issued.

The right-to-work law prohibits unions and employers from entering into agreements that require all employees to pay fees to join a union, either in the form of membership dues or fair share payments for those who opt out of joining a union but are still represented by it.

Three unions, including the AFL-CIO, sued the state after the law was enacted, arguing that state and federal laws require unions to provide collective bargaining services to all employees in a represented workplace, regardless of whether they pay union dues. They argued that made the states right-to-work law an illegal taking of their services.

Attorney General Brad Schimel, who oversees the state Department of Justice, in April requested an emergency stay of Fousts ruling, arguing it should be put on hold pending an appeal to avoid confusion.

In a court filing seeking a stay of Fousts ruling, the DOJ argued that continuing to enforce the states right-to-work law wouldnt substantially harm labor unions  an argument the appeals court supported on Tuesday.

The unions responded by arguing that the intention of the law is to favor businesses at the expense of a small proportion of workers  the fewer than 10 percent who are members of unions.

This attempt to place the entire burden of the law upon a small group further weakens the defendants showing of harm, the unions wrote in their response.

In a statement released Tuesday, DOJ spokesman Johnny Koremenos said the appeals courts decision to grant a stay gives our citizens more certainty as the law works its way through the courts.

We feel confident the law will ultimately be found constitutional, as it has been in more than half the States across the country, said Koremenos.

A request for comment from the Wisconsin AFL-CIO was not immediately returned late Tuesday.

State Journal reporter Rob Schultz contributed to this report.
Wisconsin's free ID program works to mitigate racial disparities that may result from the state's voter ID law, a witness for the state testified Wednesday in federal court.

Non-white voters are far more likely than white voters to request a free ID from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which they're able to do under a requirement in the voter ID law signed by Gov. Scott Walker in 2011.

Lawyers challenging that law and several others say that's an example of the disparate burden placed on non-white voters by the series of voting changes implemented in Wisconsin between 2011 and 2015. Beyond the photo identification requirement, those changes include restrictions on early voting and the elimination of straight-ticket voting.

But University of Georgia political science professor M.V. Hood III testified on Wednesday that "the state has continued to move to mitigate the effects of the (voter ID) law," in part by issuing free IDs.

His testimony came during the second day of the state's defense.

Black voters are more than five times as likely as white voters to go through the process to receive a free ID in order to vote, according to DMV data.

Asked by an attorney for the plaintiffs whether that demonstrates a "big problem" with the law, Hood said he views it as "mitigating a negative effect of the law, potentially."

"To the degree that a racial gap in ID possession may exist in Wisconsin, it is clear that the no-cost state ID program is acting to alleviate any such disparity," Hood wrote in an expert report filed with the court.

Lawyers challenging the laws are arguing that lawmakers intended to discriminate against non-white voters by passing them.

Attorneys for the state argue the plaintiffs are using anecdotal, "one-in-a-million" cases as an argument to strike down the laws. They have noted the state's increased turnout in elections that have occurred since the voter ID law was passed in 2011 and emphasized the free ID program.

Plaintiffs include One Wisconsin Institute, Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund and individual voters. The trial is expected to conclude Thursday.

On Wednesday, the court heard testimony from city and county clerks representing suburban communities near Milwaukee.
China and the United States will kick off their annual high-level bilateral meeting early next month in Beijing to address a set of serious bilateral economic and security issues.

The Eighth Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) will be the last one to be held under the Obama administration.

Nathan Sheets, the US undersecretary of treasury for international affairs, praised the last few years' S&EDs for making progress in such areas as promoting rule of law, strengthening regulatory transparency and encouraging economic reforms.

Sheets said he was especially happy with last year's S&ED, which took place a few months before President Xi Jinping's state visit to the US in September. "We were able to have a robust exchange of ideas and make concrete progress on an ambitious set of economic outcomes," he told a group at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.

Sheets said the US will engage China on a number of key issues this year, including global excess industrial capacity, investment liberalization and macroeconomic rebalancing. He gave a long list of US concerns, from market access to a level playing field and exchange rates.

Chinese officials have not publicly talked about their agenda for this year's S&ED. But China has long pressed the US to lift its outdated restrictions on high-tech exports to China, to make the CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) review process of Chinese foreign direct investment in the US fairer and more transparent.

Sheets said the two authorities were discussing mechanisms to facilitate RMB trading and clearing in the US, something he described as a "priority highlighted in President Obama's meeting with President Xi last September."

He said the US is waiting for a new negative list from China in negotiating a high-standard Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).

Hope for a BIT to be concluded under the Obama administration has been dampened by the 2016 US election. The Obama administration is still trying to get a divided Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Anti-trade rhetoric has been running strong on the presidential campaign trail.

Sheets noted that China has begun embarking on a reform agenda towards more sustainable and balanced growth by addressing issues such as industrial overcapacity, opening up the service sector, strengthening the social safety net, implementing land reform and promoting a more market-based financial system.

"Constructive engagement with China is important for the United States and for the millions of American jobs which depend on a strong, stable and growing global economy," he said.

"This year's S&ED will be the last in the Obama administration. I must stress that the continued cooperation with China on the diverse set of issues covered in the S&ED is crucial not just for our respective countries, but globally as well," he said.

While a slowing Chinese economy has drawn wide concern, IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said that China "certainly can continue to make an important contribution as the biggest single contributor to global growth for some time."

"Don't forget, in 2015, China's growth was equivalent to adding an economy the size of Poland or Sweden to global GDP," he said in Washington on Tuesday.

Robert Zoellick, the former president of the World Bank, said on Monday that the US and China could find common interest in China's One Belt One Road Initiative.

Sheets, when asked to comment on the possible cooperation, did not say whether the US will participate in the Belt and Road or the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He repeated the US rhetoric of ensuring high environmental and governance standards by the AIIB.

The Obama administration drew wide criticism even within the US for its negative response earlier to China's AIIB initiative, something widely seen as a rising China playing a positive and constructive role on the global stage.

China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice-Premier Wang Yang will head the Chinese delegation to this year's S&ED. The US team will be led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Kerry will also join China's Vice-Premier Liu Yandong for the Seventh China-US Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE).
The Wisconsin Historical Society has been named one of four recipients to receive a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to support state government electronic records projects.

The grant will support the societys three-year project, which seeks to implement a sustainable electronic records workflow and transfer management system from state agencies to the society. It will also create a more robust access system to provide Wisconsin residents easier access to electronic records being preserved by the State Archives.

As the permanent repository for state agency records that have completed their records life cycle, the society has been fulfilling this mandate since the 1940s with paper records. The recent flood of digital records in state government, however, has required the incorporation of new technologies and methods to adapt to the electronic world.

The society is starting this process through a collaborative partnership with several state agencies; the Governors Office, the Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Natural Resources. Through these initial partnerships, the teams will work on improving records management policies, and documenting the tools and processes used to identify and schedule electronic records transfers to the Society. It will also provide staff training in electronic records governance best practices.

The policies and procedures that are developed in this preliminary phase will be tested later in the grant period with other state agencies. The society will also share its findings at national forums to provide a road-map for other states facing the same challenges.
You have the power to keep local news strong for the coming months. Your financial support today keeps our reporters ready to meet the needs of our city. Thank you for investing in your community.

Stories like these are only possible with your help!

Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe



In the past week, two potential Grindr hookups ended with a carjacking, according to KTLA 5. In Adelanto, 24-year-old Victorville resident Steven Thomas met with his victim on Saturday and demanded the victim's wallet and car. He brandished a firearm in the process. In Victorville, 24-year-old Adelanto resident Allan Soto met up with his victim on Monday and forcibly stole the victim's car. The victims had "blindly met" up with the suspects using Grindr, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. Both suspects were arrested within days.

According to the Times, a Grindr spokesperson responded to the crimes by saying, "As part of both joining the app, and on our page, we educate users on best practices around safety."

Reports of Grindr being used for criminal purposes have cropped up in the past, particularly abroad. Overseas, there have been reports of thieves and corrupt officials using the social apps to track and blackmail gay men, according to the L.A. Times. In countries where homosexuality is a punishable crime, this tactic is especially dangerous.

Inder Vhatwar, a fashion entreprenuer in Mumbai, said in the Times article that an acquaintance was ambushed by two men when he embarked on a Grindr meetup. His wallet, iPad and laptop were stolen, and the culprits "threatened to disclose the incident."

Using Grindr? Brush up on safe practices with the app's safety tips page.
The United States Army has agreed to let a Sikh man wear uncut hair and a turban while serving in the military.

The Army announced its decision on Captain Simratpal Singh at the end of March.

Ten years ago, Singh entered the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. At the time, he cut his long hair because of the militarys rules about physical appearance.

The Sikh religion bars men from having haircuts. Sikh men let their hair grow. Men are also required to wear a turban on their heads as a sign of their religious beliefs.

Singh thought the Army would only let him serve if he cut his hair. He told VOA it was a difficult decision. But the day he entered West Point, he promised himself he would find a way to return to his religion.

"It was excruciating experience and an excruciating decision to make, and the only way I could justify it then was that promise I made to myself. And to be honest with you, I wouldn't want any kid to have to go through that.

Singh completed his studies at the military academy in 2010. He then became an Army Ranger and was sent to Afghanistan in 2012. He received the Bronze Star, an award for his military service.

The U.S. Army has let more than 100,000 soldiers keep their beards for medical reasons since 2007. But 10 years after he joined, Singh has had a difficult time getting the same treatment.

Last year, he asked the Army to let him follow Sikh religious rules on appearance. The Army gave him a temporary exemption, so that he could let his hair grow. But the Army then asked him to go through $32,000 in tests before agreeing to a long-term exemption.

Part of the testing required him to show that he could put on and remove a gas mask without his hair causing problems.

Singh then decided to take the Army to court because of the testing requirement. US District Judge Beryl Howell chose to block the testing in March because of concerns about Singhs right to religious freedom.

"Thousands of other soldiers [can] wear long hair and beards for medical or other reasons, without  such specialized and costly expert testing," Howell wrote.

The judge also stated that Singh had already completed a standard gas mask test successfully.

Singh is the first active-duty Sikh US soldier to receive this kind of exemption since the defense department began making changes two years ago. U.S. military leaders also have taken steps to ease rules about appearance for other religious groups.

Attorney Amandeep Sidhu represented Singh in his case against the military. Sidhu says the fight is far from over. The Army still asks Sikhs to prove their hair, beards and turbans have no effect on the health and safety of their military units or how well they operate.

Yes, Sikhs have served in the US military, but well prove it to you again, and these guys will deploy to Afghanistan and they will seal their gas masks and they will wear helmets.

Eric Baxter is another lawyer for Singh. He says it is the responsibility of the Army to include every soldier.

"Whenever the Army has had to expand to include minorities, or women or others, you don't say, Well, let's see if this upsets the soldiers. You tell the other soldiers to get in line and respect all Americans.

The exemption for Singh is not permanent and the Army can remove it at any time. But Singh is happy knowing he kept his promise to return to his beliefs.

"Ten years later  to be true to myself, is a pretty extraordinary feeling.

Singh and other Sikh soldiers like him hope that these exemptions become permanent. He does not want other Sikhs hoping to join the military to have to choose between their country and their religion.

Im Pete Musto.

Aru Pande reported this story for VOANews.com. Pete Musto adapted the report for Learning English. Additional information came from the Reuters news service. George Grow was the editor.

Now its your turn. Should members of religious groups in the military should be able to wear what their religion tell them to? Should the military have less rules about how soldiers look? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

turban  n. a head covering that is worn especially by men in some parts of the Middle East and in southern Asia and that is made of a long cloth wrapped around the head

appearance  n. the way that someone or something looks

excruciating  adj. causing great mental or physical pain

justify  v. to prove or show something to be just, right, or reasonable

beard(s)  n. the hair that grows on a man's cheeks and chin

exemption  n. freedom from being required to do something that others are required to do

gas mask  n. a mask used to protect the face and lungs against poisonous gases

active-duty  n. full-time service in the police or armed forces

attorney  n. a person whose job is to guide and assist people in matters relating to the law

unit(s)  n. a single thing, person, or group that is a part of something larger

deploy  v. to organize and send out people or things to be used for a particular purpose

seal  v. to close something tightly so that air or liquid cannot get in or out

helmet(s)  n. a hard hat that is worn to protect your head

extraordinary  adj. extremely good or impressive
Last week, Google held a conference where the company announced what it has planned for the coming months.

Googles 2016 I/O conference for software developers took place in Mountain View, California. The event was held just a short distance from Googles headquarters.

This year the company talked about combining mobile and search products with new services, other products and application programs, better known as apps.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is an example. Google Assistant is a service designed to help users get things done. It learns about you through your questions, as if you were talking to a person who knows you.

Using advanced technology, Google Assistant can communicate as if it were a real person. For example, someone is standing in front of a sculpture and asks Google Assistant, "Who is the artist?" The service would know where the person asking the question was and what he or she was talking about, providing the name of the sculpture's artist as the answer.

So the user can then say, "When was he born?" and Google Assistant would know the question relates to the artist named in the earlier answer.

The service can also search a users photographs and videos. The user can ask to "search my photos for hugs." Google Assistant then provides all of the images of individuals hugging.

The service will be offered on wireless devices, computers, televisions, cars and in the home.

Google Home

Google Home is a new device that provides Google Assistant using your voice. Like Amazons hands-free speaker Echo, Google Home can play music, perform searches and help direct projects.

Home has a speaker at the bottom to play music, podcasts and audiobooks. The top is white, but the base will be available in different colors and materials.

Users will be able to connect to Google Home in more than one place so music can be played throughout the users home. It can also connect to Chromecast, Googles video streaming device, so you can ask Google Home to show you something on TV.

Home should be available in the next few months.

Allo

Google is launching a new messaging app called Allo. The app uses your phone number so it is easy to connect with your contacts.

Within Allo, users can send text messages, photos, stickers and emoji images. Allo lets users SHOUT or talk softly, changing the size of the font, emoji or sticker with a slider.

Users can add photos and draw on photos within Allo.

Google Assistant is available within Allo. Users can ask Google Assistant questions and get answers within the Allo app. For example, a user can ask, "When is my next appointment today?" and get the answer without leaving Allo.

The new app comes with a feature called Smart Reply. Smart Reply learns how you speak and suggests answers based on what you would say. The more you use Allo, the better the suggestions should become. It can even suggest emojis and stickers, if you are the kind of person who uses those.

Smart Reply works with photographs, understanding what is in the photo. For example, you receive a photo of some tasty linguine with white clam sauce. The Smart Replies might say, "I love linguine!" Google has found Smart Replies to be correct in interpreting photos 90 percent of the time.

Sign up at Google Play to get a notice when Allo becomes available.

Duo

Duo is Google's new video chat app. Duo is similar to Apple's FaceTime, but available only as video and only on mobile devices.

The new app will work across different devices so an Android user can call an iPhone user, for example. Like Allo, Duos operations are based on the user's phone number.

This video shows how Duo works:

Duo can adjust the quality of a video based on the strength of the Internet signal. If the user has a weak Internet connection, the video will adjust to a lower quality so the chat can continue.

Duo will be available later this year on Android as well iPhone and iPad.

Sign up on Google Play to be get a notice when Duo becomes available.

Android Auto

Google has signed up over 40 car makers to offer Android Auto, the infotainment system for automobiles. Over 100 models of cars offer Android Auto. Google expects this number to double by the end of the year.

More than 100 apps are available on Android Auto. The service is available in 30 countries; however, not all apps are available in all countries. Google Assistant will be available on Android Auto.

"Ok, Google" will be coming to Android Auto so you can use your voice to start a search. The Google traffic app Waze soon will be available in Android Auto to provide real-time traffic and driving information. Google is also working on connecting phones wirelessly to Android Auto.

Im Caty Weaver.

Carolyn Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Are you looking forward to these new products and services from Google? Would you like to use Google Assistant? Would you find it handy to have Google Assistant available in your home, car and phone?

Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made by carving or molding clay, stone, metal, etc.

emoji - n. a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc., in electronic communication

font - n. a set of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks that are all one size and style

slider - n. a control that is moved horizontally or vertically to control a variable, such as the volume of a radio

chat - v. to talk over the Internet by sending messages back and forth

adjust - v. to change (something) in a minor way so that it works better

infotainment - n. programs that present information (such as news) in a way that is meant to be entertaining


There is a saying that laughter is good for the soul.

When we interviewed Iraqi-American Andy Shallal at his Washington, D.C. restaurant, we did more laughing than talking.

Until the conversation turned to freedom of expression.

Shallal, 60, was born in Iraq. In 1966, his father, a diplomat, was assigned to the United States. Two years later, when Saddam Hussein seized power in Iraq, Shallal's father was out of political favor.

The family could no longer return to their homeland.

Shallal attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and medical school at Howard University. He worked awhile as a researcher in medical immunology at the National Institute of Health.

His passions -- food, friends and expression -- led him to open his restaurant called Busboys and Poets, in 2005. There, customers can eat, read, watch performances and express their political views freely. At Busboys and Poets, his customers include activists against the Iraqi War, as well as visiting celebrities.

Shallal expresses himself artistically in many way. At Busboys and Poets hangs a civil rights mural called Peace in the Struggle Wall. Shallal is the painter. He holds leadership positions in numerous peace movement organizations. Among them are Iraqi-Americans for Peaceful Alternatives, created prior to the 2003 invasion, and the Peace Cafe, which seeks to promote Arab-Jewish dialogue.

As you listen to his story, you might find your thoughts and struggles echoed in his words.
Japan is struggling with its economy as the country hosts the yearly meeting of the G-7 industrialized nations.

Japan has the worlds third-largest economy, behind the U.S. and China. Many countries copied Japan when it had a strong and growing economy.

Japan has been dealing with deflation for many years. Deflation is a decrease in the amount of available money or credit in an economy that causes prices to go down. Deflation can often cause a recession.

The population in Japan is growing older and the country is not diverse. Most people in the country are ethnic Japanese. Last year, people in Japan criticized Miss Japan, Ariana Miyamoto, for not being Japanese enough. She has a Japanese mother and a black American father.

Many Japanese also do not support mass immigration, which other countries have used to make up for, or balance, the effects of a declining and aging population.

Savings vs. spending

Takuji Okubo is the managing director of Japan Macro Advisors. He says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not understand problems the labor market or with pensions. He says the prime minister has been just unable to tackle any reforms.

Many of Japans public pension plans do not have enough money to make payments. This has caused many families to believe the plans will fail, so they save a lot of money.

The average Japanese family has about $164,000 in savings. That is much higher than that of families in other developed countries.

Young Japanese working in their first jobs do not earn a lot of money, so they do not have much to spend. And people who are retired and have savings are worried about their monthly payments, so they are not spending money either.

Manabu Goto operates a small, 50-year-old food store in Tokyo.

Goto has opened the store on weekends and added more products. He wants to attract more customers and convince them to spend more money.

However, he says the policies of the prime minister have failed to get citizens to spend because people are uncertain about the future. So the government needs to try something else.

Structural changes are needed

Martin Schulz is a senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute. He says the Japanese market is shrinking overall. It makes it very difficult to get it moving again. This requires some major structural changes and these take time.

Among the needed changes, he says, are: to open the economy, to change the structure of the farming industry and to help Japanese companies invest in Southeast Asia. He says these changes will help the Japanese economy improve over a 10 to 15-year period.

William Saito is an advisor for the Japanese Cabinet. He says its just confidence. If you look at the last 20 years -- the economic fundamentals, the infrastructure, government politics -- these things havent actually changed.

Shin Fukushige is a managing director for the technology company Seikoware. He says, there has been a huge improvement in psychology in the past ten years. But it is difficult for many Japanese who begin new businesses to convince workers to join their companies."

Many of Japans large companies were created many years ago. But many large and successful companies in the United States were created in the past 20 or 30 years, including Apple and Google. This has helped the American economy grow.

Experts are asking how to help Japans old and slow-moving economy grow. Some of them believe actions have already been taken that will show results in the years ahead.

What to watch for

After the G-7 meeting this week, many people will closely watch the actions of the Bank of Japan. The banks leaders want people to wait a few more months for recent government measures to take effect. If these measures are not successful, the bank could take strong action. Some experts hope the bank will place fees on savings and force companies to sharply increase wages.

However, the other G-7 nations do not want Japans government to lower the value of its currency -- the yen. That would make the countrys exported products less costly and could hurt the economies of other countries.

Im Mario Ritter.

VOA Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Steve Herman reported this story from Tokyo. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, or visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

struggle  v. to try very hard to do, achieve or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems

host  v. to be the host for (a social event, a group of people, an event, etc.)

deflation  n. a decrease in the amount of available money or credit in an economy that causes prices to go down

diverse  adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

pension  n. an amount of money that a company or the government pays to a person who is old or sick and no longer works

tackle  v. to deal with (something difficult)

retire  v. to stop a job or career because you have reached the age when you are not allowed to work anymore or do not need or want to work anymore

attract  v. to cause (someone or something) to go to or move to or toward a place

structural  adj. relating to the way something is built or organized; relating to the structure of something

period  n. a length of time during which a series of events or an action takes place or is completed

fundamentals  n. one of the basic and important parts of something

psychology  adj. the way a person or group thinks

currency  n. the money that a country uses; a specific kind of money


The U.S. led a group of planes on airstrikes Tuesday against Islamic State positions in Raqqa, Syria.

A British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the attacks targeted IS on the outskirts of the city. This could have been to avoid civilian casualties, although civilian deaths were reported.

IS has declared Raqqa its capital in Syria. Political activists in Raqqa say Islamic State is using innocent people as human shields. They say IS places fighters and weapons in civilian housing.

The reports come a day after a group of Syrian militias backed by the U.S. moved against IS north of Raqqa. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the move in a video posted online.

The SDF are made up of at least 25,000 Syrian Kurds, as well as 5,000 to 6,000 Syrian Arabs.

The new push against IS is on areas north of Raqqa, not the city, a senior commander for the U.S. allied group told VOA.

The SDF commander said his troops were moving with tanks and other heavy weapons toward areas north of Raqqa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported intense fighting between SDF and IS forces around villages about 56 kilometers north of Raqqa.

Colonel Steve Warren is a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State. He said the coalition will support SDF, but U.S. Special Forces are giving assistance and advice, not fighters.

U.S. officials have downplayed expectations that forces will be able to capture Raqqa anytime soon.

A European diplomat told VOA the plan is to surround much of Raqqa and capture villages north, west and south of the city.

Hussam Eisa, from Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, said most civilians have fled those towns for Raqqa.

In Washington, U.S. Senator John McCain told VOA's Azerbaijani Service that capturing Raqqa would be "very difficult."

It is going to take a very big and important effort. [Islamic State] will not go down easy, McCain said. They will fight to retain their territorial capital.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Jeff Seldin, Sirwan Kajjo and Mutlu Civiroglu reported this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and visit us on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

outskirts  n. the outer parts of a city or town

human shield  n. a person or group held near potential targets to prevent attacks

liberate  v. to set people free from an occupation

civil war  n. a war between citizens of the same country

downplay  n. to make something appear less important, or minimize

territorial  v. relating to the ownership of an area of land
Learning a new language is not easy, but an Egyptian in Washington, D.C., says he knows how to make it less difficult.

Tamer Elsharkawy teaches Arabic to children. He says that the magic key to teaching language is culture.

Elsharkawy came to Washington through the State Departments Teachers of Critical Languages program. The program brings teachers from China and Egypt to the United States. One of the goals of the program is to help American students learn Chinese and Arabic.

The program helps the teachers and students learn about the cultures of other countries. Elsharkawy says learning languages helps students learn more about the world.

Some parents reach out with me to because they wanted to know how to deal with their children here in Washington, D.C. about this kind of stuff like Islamophobia. They are not Muslims, but they want to teach their children something correct about this topic. So this is a part of what we are doing.

Spanish is the native language of many of Elsharkawys students at Cooke Elementary School. So, many of them are learning English and Arabic at the same time.

Flora Lerenman teaches English at Cooke Elementary. She helped the school become a part of the Critical Languages program. She says learning two languages at the same time helps the children learn faster. And she says the children are learning more than just a new language.

I really believe in students having a global education and an international outlook.

Elsharkawy said he is also learning about the world. He has explored the local Muslim community and the many cultures in Washington.

I think Washington, D.C., is, like, the most fantastic place for anyone from any nationality to be here -- lots of colors, lots of religions."

Elsharkawy says he knows that the children at the school -- some of whom are as young as five years old -- might not remember all of the Arabic words he teaches them. He says they might even forget his name. But he says he hopes that they will always remember him as a teacher they liked and respected.

Im Caty Weaver.

VOA Correspondent Arash Arabasadi reported this story from Washington. VOAs Marissa Melton contributed to the report. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

reach out to  expression contact; communicate with

Islamophobia  n. dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.

outlook  n. the way that a person thinks about things

fantastic  adj.extremely good
Opponents of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attacked and injured several police officers and damaged a building during a campaign event in New Mexico.

Protestors threw rocks, plastic bottles and other items at police officers outside the convention center in Albuquerque. The police returned with pepper spray and smoke grenades. Police said several officers were injured and at least one person was arrested on Tuesday evening.

Trump was interrupted many times during his speech inside the convention center. Protestors shouted at him and held signs criticizing him. Thousands of Trump supporters applauded loudly when he insulted the protestors and told security officers to remove them.

Doug Antoon is an attorney in Albuquerque. He said rocks smashed the convention centers windows as he was leaving the event. He said, This was not a protest -- this was a riot. He said the protestors were members of hate groups.

It was the first campaign event for Trump in New Mexico, a state with many Hispanic residents.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez is the head of the Republican Governors Association. She is the only Latina governor in the nation. She has strongly criticized Trumps statements about illegal immigrants. And she has attacked his plan to build a large wall along the border with Mexico. She has visited Mexico to try to increase trade between the country and her state.

During his speech, Trump noted that the state has many economic problems -- including an increase in the number of people who need government aid to buy food.

We have to get your governor to get going. Shes got to do a better job, OK? Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going, he said.

Michael Lonergan is a spokesman for the governor. He said Martinez supports changing the states welfare policies. And he said Trumps criticisms werent about policy -- they were about politics. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans -- and she did not hear that today.

Trumps supporters said they like his policies to increase security at the border with Mexico and to stop the number of people who are crossing the border without permission from the U.S. government. But some of them said they were frightened by the violent protests outside the gathering.

Karla Molinar is a student at the University of New Mexico. She said she took part in protests to stop Trumps speech because she believed he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is unfairly blaming them for the countrys problems.

The Associated Press reported this story from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

pepper spray  n. a substance made from a chemical found in peppers that causes temporary blindness and pain to the nose, throat, and skin when it is sprayed on someone

smoke grenade  n. a bomb that produces a lot of smoke when it explodes

welfare  n. a government program for poor or unemployed people that helps pay for their food, housing, medical costs, etc.

bully  v. to cause (someone) to do something by making threats or insults or by using force
A lot has changed in the past few months, but there's still a lot of time before the election. Here's what things look like now.
Daily Maverick will host the 5th edition of The Gathering on 10 June 2016 at Vodaworld from 8am to 5pm. It focuses exclusively on the upcoming local elections, bringing together South Africa's top politicos and putting them under the spotlight of the Daily Maverick's experienced team of journalists.

Confirmed speakers include Pravin Gordhan, Cyril Ramaphosa, Mmusi Maimane, Julius Malema, Jay Naidoo, Sisonke Msimang, Iraj Abedian, Ranjeni Munusamy, Herman Mashaba, Floyd Shivambu, Parks Tau, Marianne Thamm, Stephen Grootes and Mark Heywood.

Styli Charalambous, CEO and publisher of Daily Maverick says, Its been surreal to watch the growth of this event from its first iteration in front of 150 people into the juggernaut it is today. We could not get bigger names to an event like this and every year seems to improve on the high standards set before. People are blown away by the intensity, passion and vibe this event seems to create. From the speakers, performers and even the attendees, the buzz is like nothing you have ever experienced at a conference. Unlike other events, you wont want to miss a single session.

Speakers are offered a short opportunity to address the audience, before the team of journalists do what they do best - interrogate and evaluate. Keeping things edgy, in true Daily Maverick style, the event is hosted by John Vlismas with serious discussions interspersed with doses of culture and satire from Lebo Mashile and Deep Fried Man.

Tickets are available online at Ticketpro, click here.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might say sporting a purple lipstick at Cannes was a call taken by her cosmetic brand but Sonam Kapoor believes the Sarbjit actress opted for the shade because she wanted to be talked about.

Aishwarya, who completed her 15 years at Cannes this year, shocked one and all when she attended screening of a film swearing a purple lipcolour.

When asked what she felt about Aishwaryas purple lips outing and the flak it received, Sonam said the actress should be happy with the attention she got.

The whole idea of fashion and make-up is for people to discuss it and I guess she wanted to be discussed. She achieved what she wanted to achieve with it, which I think is great, Sonam told PTI.

When told that Aishwarya has called it LOreals prerogative, Sonam, 30, quipped, I dont think she walked for LOreal that day. There was an Amul ad on it, people were discussing it. I think it was great to do it on a 15th year, its cool. She was trending everywhere.

Sonam, who is also one of the celebrity faces of the cosmetic brand, said she liked the colour and felt Aishwarya carried it off "with aplomb".

When asked if she would ever try a shade like that, the Neerja actress said, I have done purple lipstick in the past, I have even done black for a shoot People havent spoken about me!

One of Sonams red carpet appearance at the coveted festival, a sari-inspired long white gown, was also poked fun at.

Unfazed by it, Sonam, who found the gown her best outfit, said, There were just one or two people (who joked about the dress) but I think it was my most incredible look. I dont believe in taking anything personally. I dress for myself and I felt beautiful.

Interestingly, the actress stuck to just one designer brand, Ralph & Russo.

They (Michael and Tamara) are very good friends of mine. I spent New Years with them. I wanted to do something Indian-inspired and they kind of love India and love me. Thats why I did jhumkas and a sari-gown, which I think was incredible.

While fashion critics keep a close eye on stars red carpet outfits at Cannes, for Sonam, the festival is about broadening her horizon as an actor by meeting international artists.

Meeting people across the world always broadens your horizon. Being a part of Indian film industry is like you are living in a cucoon. You dont feel like theres more to life than that, Sonam said.
Congress, on Wednesday, launched a direct attack on superstar Amitabh Bachchan, questioning the government if it was an appropriate time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to share the dais with the megastar at an upcoming social event as the megastar's name allegedly appeared in the Panama Papers reports.

The actor, who is the brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, will host a segment of the programme to be hosted by R Madhavan, the Times Now reported.

The event is part of the two-year celebration of the Modi government at the Centre.

"Would it be fair? ....What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad

illegally" when they see the Prime Minister sharing dais with the accused, party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

"We have no objection to Amitabh Bachchan hosting NDA programme, but what signal will it sent to investigation agencies?" asked the Congress spokesperson according to the ANI.

Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star hosting the event which is expected to

be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not dilute the fight against black money.

He recalled that Prime Minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those

guilty. During the poll campaign, BJP leaders had promised to deposit Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in the bank account of every individual once the black money is uncovered.

The government is organising the eventZara Muskura Do (Smile Please)which will have several performances and

programmes highlighting its "achievements".

The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan.

Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will

be highlighted during the show.

However, the in-charge, Communications, All India Congress Committee Randeep Surjewala might have exceeded his brief as he was wrong in saying that the megastar was hosting the event.

Reacting to the Congress charges, Bachchan in response to a Times Now query, said, "I am doing only a segment of the programme as the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It is for the government to decide."

Later in the evening, son Abhishek Bachchan, denied that the senior Bachchan is hosting any political event.

"Hes not hosting any political event. Hes part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child. Thats not a political event," said Abhishek.

The BJP also came out in strong defence of the megastar for his association with an event to mark the second anniversary of Modi government despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama Papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child which the megastar will attend on 28 May and attacked Congress for its "mental disability" in raising a row over it.

BJP leader and Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama

Papers will have no affect if he attends the event to mark two years of Modi government on Saturday.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things.

"Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no

harm," he said when asked about Congress' charge that the actor's presence will not 'go down well' with probe agencies.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for Congress to be "jealous about".

Party MP Paresh Rawal said the Congress is "issue-less" and is thus creating an issue and dubbed it a "bogus issue"

like the row created over the return of awards by writers and litterateurs in the wake of Dadri lynching incident.

Bachchan's name had cropped up in the reports as part of a global expose of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100 global media organisations, based on millions of leaked documents of the Panama law firm Mossak Fonseca.

A high-level probe team has been constituted, with members drawn from the various agencies of the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) based on the orders issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian authorities have already said not all off-shore funds need be illegitimate. In response to the allegations, Bachchan's office sent a rejoinder, which was also posted on his Twitter account.

"On Panama disclosures, I wish to state that queries continue to be sent to me by the media. I would humbly request them to kindly direct these to the GOI (Government of India) where I, as a law abiding citizen, have already sent, and shall continue to send, my responses," the post said.

"I stand by my earlier statement on the misuse of my name in the matter and in any event the press reports do not disclose any illegal act committed by me."
Despite his punch-happy avatar in films, Akshay Kumar is generally the picture of calm when off screen.

If recent reports are to be believed, however, Akshay lost his cool in a major way on the sets of a comedy show recently. The reason was some derogatory jokes directed at his Housefull 3 co-star Lisa Haydon.

Mid-Day states that Akshay was promoting his film Housefull 3 during an episode of Comedy Nights Bachao, along with cast members like Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez and Lisa, when the incident occurred.

Apparently, all was well until comedian Siddharth Jadhav made a remark about Lisa looking like a kangaroo, because she was from Australia. It is believed that Siddharth also referred to the actress as a black African.

Akshay felt the affront was uncalled for, and pushed Sidhdarth  which turned into a shove  and reportedly sent the comedian flying across the stage.

Sources from the sets were quoted as saying that both Lisa and Jacqueline were the targets of increasingly offensive jokes on the Comedy Nights set, and that Riteish and Akshay had grown visibly uncomfortable with the direction the humour had taken.

One of the sources also said that Akshay was also upset because Lisa couldnt understand all the jokes in Hindi that were being made about her, and felt it was necessary to put a halt to it.

Recently, another popular comedy show, headlined by Kapil Sharma, found itself in trouble after a group of nurses agitated against jokes on an episode that showed them in an offensive light.

Incidentally, Siddharth Jadhav posted photos of himself with Riteish Deshmukh on social media, after the episode shoot was completed. Riteish also responded to the tweet by saying, "(Siddharth) you were great on the show."

Siddharth also denied that he had made any offensive jokes about Lisa, with this tweet:
Shekhar Kapur's TV series Will, the account of young William Shakespeare's life as he arrives in London to establish a career in theatre, has been given 10-episode series order for a 2017 premiere by TNT.

Kapur, best known for helming Elizabeth, has directed the pilot which comes from Craig Pearce, the longtime writing partner of filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. It stars British newcomer Laurie Davidson in the title role, reports Deadline.

Pearce wrote the script and executive produces with Kapur, Alison Owen (Elizabeth) and Debra Hayward (Love Actually), as well as Vince Gerardis, Howard Braunstein and Louise Rosager.

The project was previously set up at HBO.

Will explores the adventures of a young William Shakespeare (Davidson), as he arrives in London at the brink of the punk-rock theatre scene in 16th century. Kapur's version of Shakespeare's life is contemporary, it documents his sheer brilliance and talent, and deals with universal themes of the performing arts.

Will has an energy and style that is unlike anything else on television today, said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, in this article by Coming Soon. Shakespeare was a 16th century rock star, and Will perfectly captures in contemporary terms what that must have felt like for the young writer and his fans. We are delighted to be working with such an extraordinary team of executive producers and cast in putting a fresh, bold spin on the story of Shakespeare.

Watch the trailer here:

(With inputs from PTI)
E-commerce giant Flipkart is now facing the heat from the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad after it deferred the joining dates from June to December due to a restructuring exercise, reported The Economic Times. The startup had hired 18 students from IIM-A.

IIM-A sent a strongly worded letter to Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal, asking him to guarantee the jobs of the students and offer a compensation monthly starting June, as against the Rs 1.5 lakh compensation that Flipkart has offered to give as a joining bonus. It has also said Flipkart's move is 'utterly unacceptable'.

IIM-A's placement committee chairperson Asha Kaul has asked for a conference call with Flipkart "where all the relevant stakeholders can engage to reach a mutually acceptable solution", The Economic Times report goes on to add. The letter has been forwarded to various other B-schools to ask if they would be interested to join in on the call.

IIMs are considered a major recruiting ground by companies. The move has potential to hurt Flipkart's recruiting for years to come, says a report in the Livemint. The delay will not only have a negative impact on Flipkart's relationship with IIM-A but with other B-schools as well.

With fund flow into Indian startups narrowing, companies such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have been facing a cash crunch. They are being forced to cut their recruitment to the lowest possible minimum, says an earlier report in the Livemint.

According to the ET report on Wednesday, Flipkart is looking to reduce its burn rate, and is trying to reduce its fixed costs.

An earlier report in the same newspaper had said that Indian startups are gearing up to cut jobs in their pursuit of profitability.

Anil Kumar, chief executive of RedSeer Management Consulting, has been quoted as saying in the report that Startups "are being forced to bring down their operating expenses drastically and look to be profitable at the gross margin level".

Seen in this context, Flipkart's latest move to postpone joining date of new recruits is part of the painful restructuring that the company is undergoing.
Brussels: Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday agreed to extend further bailout loans to Greece as well as debt relief, in what they called a "major breakthrough".

After talks that ended late Tuesday night in Brussels, the 19 eurozone ministers - known as the Eurogroup, agreed to unlock 10.3 billion euros ($11 billion) in new loans, BBC reported.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters early on Wednesday.

The move came after the Greek parliament on Sunday approved another round of spending cuts and tax increases demanded by international creditors.

The ministers also said debt relief would be eventually offered to Greece.

Poul M Thomsen, director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European Department, welcomed the recognition that Greek debt was unsustainable and relief was needed.

He warned, however, that the IMF board in Washington still had to agree to the fund's participation. He also said that the extent of debt relief was still not clear.

On Sunday, the Greek parliament passed new budget cuts and tax rises at the weekend, in order to unblock much-needed aid to help meet the country's debt repayments over the coming months.

The bill also created a state privatisation fund requested by eurozone finance ministers.

The government, led by the leftist Syriza coalition, agreed to a third bailout worth 86 billion euros ($96 billion) last year.
In an effort to accrue varied viewpoints on the basics of customer experience, the role of technology and striking a balance between systems & emotions, three distinct industry experts were brought together on the same platform to share their ideas about key driving parameters of customer service.

A panel discussion by Joe Fuster witnessed the leaders in technology from three diverse industries - Sushil Mankar, VP of IT and CX initiatives, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., Priten Bangdiwala, VP Digital Business & CRM, Aditya Birla Management Corp Pvt. Ltd. and Saurabh Chandra, Head of IT, Myntra Online.

The whos who of technology innovation and customer service industry unanimously agreed that even though customer service is chiefly technology-driven, it isnt just limited to technology. When an experience is being sold, a personal touch is essential. The integral necessity is the tenacity of the business to respond with an action to impress the customers. People expect to be delighted and dont bother if it is done physically or digitally.

Watch this panel discussion video to understand the importance of tapping the right emotions while innovating technologically as now more and more people are moving to their devices.

This is a sponsored post.
Among cities that will take part in the smart city contest third round are Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar, and Jammu city.

According to an official statement, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu gave assurance to Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh at Guwahati that both the cities would be part of the smart city project.

He also tweeted earlier that both these cities will be there in the challenge.

Happy tht both Jammu and Srinagar from J&K have been allowed 2 take part in d #SmartCityChallenge for selection of Smart Cities. All d best.  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 24, 2016

The Deputy Chief Minister, while making the case for taking up the two cities under the Smart City project, said it has been a long-pending demand of the state and has been taken up at various fora already.

Apart from Srinagar and Jammu, there are other cities also going to be part of the next challenge such as Bangalore and Amaravati, the new capital city Andhra Pradesh.

Amaravati, capital city of Andhra is included to take part in the competition for selection as a #SmartCity today. 1/  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 24, 2016

Bengaluru city is included in the competition for selection as a #SmartCity today. Hope the public representatives, city and state admn 1/  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 24, 2016

However, with the targeted number of smart cities increasing to 109 or so from the stated 100, signals are emerging that the challenge is not all that insulated from politics.

A report in The Indian Express on Wednesday cites officials at the ministry of urban affairs as saying that despite the insistance on objectivity and merit, the selection process has indeed geopolitics as its under current.

There are two cases in point here: J&K and Uttar Pradesh. While J&K was supposed to have only one city, the state has been allowed to have two cities in the challenge. This is because there were fears that there could be AIIMS-like agitation if only one city was allowed to participate.

It is to be remembered that the first list of 20 cities did not have any city from J&K. According to this report in The Hindu, the agenda of alliance between PDP and BJP in March 2015 had a promise to "include the winter capital, Jammu, and the summer capital, Srinagar, in the Smart Cities project".

The present move seems to be an attempt to keep the promise.

The case of Uttar Pradesh is also not different. While the state government had zeroed in on Raebareli, the BJP MP from Meerut had a problem for not including the city in the contest, says the IE report.

Again, state capitals including Patna, Shimla, Itanagar, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram have also been included in the challenge. And this is after chief minister of some of these states communicated to Naidu personally.

Clearly, politics has crept into the smart city selection process.
Mumbai: Reserve Bank deputy governor S S Mundra has raised concerns over one-third of ATMs being non-functional and warned the banks of penal action if the compliance levels are not met.

Mundra quoted a survey of 4,000 ATMs conducted by a Reserve Bank team recently wherein it has found that almost one-third of these machines are not in working conditions. The ATMs surveyed were situated in various parts of the country and were of various banks, he said.

"The survey results are not comforting in any way. Almost one-third of the ATMs were found to be not working at that point," Mundra said here at a banking event on Wednesday.

The RBI survey has also found many violations of various regulatory instructions such as on display material, facilities for differently abled, etc, he added.

"We will be taking necessary supervisory action in this regard," the deputy governor said.

The government and the RBI have taken financial inclusion as one of the top agendas and ATMs are one of the ways to attain that objectives, he said, adding despite that banks are being found not adhering to the compliance levels prescribed by the regulators.

Led by state-run banks, 56 commercial banks together had 1,00,671 on-site cash vending machines and 96,656 offsite machines as of February this year as per the RBI data.

After the big push to install ATMs in remote places by the past UPA government, where there is no physical presence of a bank, banks, especially private sector ones, have been going slow in putting up new cash vending machines of late.

While private sector lenders are pushing online and other tech-driven tools to widen their reach to cut cost, the state-run ones are going slow as there is no government push.

Though there has been an curtailment on free ATM transactions since November 2014, there has not been any increase in inter-bank ATM usages.

Most banks complain that without adequate user fees, ATMs are a loss-making business for them.
Sebi barred Ruchi Soya Industries and National Steel and Agro Industries from the securities market for alleged fraudulent and manipulative in trading in castor seeds at the NCDEX.

The latest crack down for irregularities in the commodities derivatives market comes less than three months after it banned 16 brokers and traders from the securities market for manipulation in castor seeds trading at the bourse.

The two companies have been barred from "buying, selling or dealing in the securities market, either directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever, till further directions", Sebi said.

"... I, prima facie, find that the acts and omissions of Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd and National Steel and Agro Industries Ltd has, not only disturbed market equilibrium, but also indicate manipulative and fraudulent design to form a cartel and corner the castor seed market," Sebi Whole Time Member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal said in the order.

He noted that prima facie Ruchi Soya Industries and National Steel and Agro Industries being part of 'Ruchi group entities' have violated the position limits prescribed by erstwhile Forward Markets Commission (FMC) in October and December 2014.

Noting that detailed investigation of entire scheme, plan, device and artifice employed by concerned entities is necessary, Sebi said the role of four other entities funded by Ruchi Soya Industries -- Stride Multitrade Pvt Ltd, Bharat Foods Co-operative Ltd, Anuj Jain and Sisne Polymers Pvt Ltd.

These four entities were among the 16 against whom action was taken by Sebi through its order on March 2.

"The connected entities, acting in concert under a premeditated plan, have acquired dominant market share in castor seed contracts traded at NCDEX.

"Their acts, conduct, behaviour and dealings connote a deceptive conduct designed to deceive or defraud market participants and by camouflaging/ masking their actual position in castor seed, they have interfered with free market forces of supply and demand," Sebi said in the latest order.

Allowing the entities that are prima facie found to be involved in such fraudulent, unfair and manipulative transactions to continue to operate in the market would shake the confidence of the investors in the commodities market, it added.

On March 2, Sebi had barred 16 brokers and traders from the securities market for manipulation in castorseeds trading at NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange).

These entities had either traded or facilitated trade of castorseed contract at the leading commodity bourse. NCDEX had suspended trading in castor seed contracts on January 27, 2016, pursuant to which Sebi had also launched its probe in respect of trading in these contracts at NCDEX for the period beginning January 1.
NEW DELHI India has said Apple Inc must meet a rule obliging foreign retailers to sell at least 30 percent locally-sourced goods if it wishes to open stores in the country, a senior government official told Reuters.

Apple is hoping to expand its retail presence in India, one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets, at a time when sales in the United States and China have slowed.

A change in legislation last year exempted foreign retailers selling high-tech goods from the rule, which states 30 percent of the value of goods sold in the store should be made in India.

However, Apple's products were not considered to be in this category, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the matter.

He declined to be named as the decision by the finance ministry is not public. A finance ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

"They did ask for a waiver but didn't provide any material on record to justify it. The decision was taken only after a thorough examination of their application," the source said.

The waiver is available only for investment in "state of the art" or "cutting-edge technology", he added.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Wednesday. Most Apple products are made in China.

The decision is a setback for the U.S.-based company just days after a four-day trip to the country by Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook who met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Saturday. The trip was supposed set the stage for Apple's expansion plans.

Sources have said Apple planned to open at least three stores in India by the end of 2017.

Separate sources had previously told Reuters that Apple held talks with Indian government officials about a relaxation of the rule before it filed an application to open stores in January.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh, writing by Himank Sharma; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Amritsar: Three labourers were killed when a wall of the under-construction new premises of Amritsar Central Jail in Amritsar collapsed on Tuesday evening.

The constructions are going on at Fatahpur area in the outskirts of the city, where the wall collapsed killing three labourers and injuring as many, police said.

Those killed in the incident have been identified as brothers Kalicharan (32) and Vijaypal (18) and Chanderpal (32), all residents of Uttar Pradesh.

Construction of the new jail is going on a war footing as the government has planned to shift inmates from old prison to the new one at the earliest.

The old jail premises have already been auctioned by the PUDA for residential and commercial plots.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has admitted a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of certain provisions of an Act which require minority educational bodies to admit not less than 51 percent of the sanctioned strength of minority students in the state.

The petitions contended that the requirement under Section 6(2) of the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institution Act for an unaided minority educational institution to admit not less than 51 percent of the sanctioned intake of minority students from within the state was "illegal and unconstitutional".

"Even though, we have issued rule (admitted the petition), in each of these petitions, we do not deem it appropriate to grant any interim reliefs staying operation of Section 6(2) of the Act or staying Rules 3, 7 and 9 made under the Act," a bench of Chief Justice DH Waghela and Justice MS Sonak said in a recent order.

"At least prima facie, the petitioners have failed to demonstrate why or in what manner the impugned rules are ultra vires the Act or otherwise in contravention to the provisions contained in Articles 14, 19 and 30 of the Constitution. The grant of interim relief, at this stage, will possibly throw out of gear the elaborate admission process devised under the Rules," the bench observed.

The High Court admitted the petitions and placed them for final hearing on 16 June.

Counsel for petitioners, Rafiq Dada and Anil Anturkar, submitted that Section 6(2) of the Act stands vitiated on account of excessive delegation to the executive in the matters of framing policy, and it suffers from the vice of microclassification because it restricts admission to the minority students to 'within the state of Maharashtra' and in any case, and is violative of the rights guaranteed by Article 30 of the Constitution of India.

Article 30 of the Constitution gives right to the minorities, whether based on religion or language, to set up educational institutions of their choice anywhere in the country.

The lawyers submitted that the rules made under the Act, in particular rules 3,7 and 9, are ultra vires the provisions contained in Section 6(2) of the Act and even otherwise are violative of Articles 14, 19 and 30 of the Constitution.

The lawyers quoted apex court judgements to contend that the rights conferred upon minority institutions under Article 30 of the Constitution are absolute and the state, even by legislation, has no right or authority to impose any fetters upon the right of minority institutions to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

Dada argued that the Supreme Court in St Stephen's College case has held that the minority-aided educational institutions are entitled to prefer their community candidates to maintain the minority character of the institution and the state may regulate the intake in this category with due regard to the need of the community in the area, which the institution is intended to serve.

He also submitted that the ceiling of 51 percent referred in the said decision represents the maximum seats that a minority institution can retain for itself and not minimum, as provided in the impugned legislation.

Relying upon this dictum, Dada contended that the requirement under Section 6(2) of the Act, which provides an unaided minority educational institution to admit not less than 51 percent of the sanctioned intake of minority students from within the state, is illegal and unconstitutional.

The advocates for the petitioners further contended that as per the trends in last few years, the unaided minority educational institutions are not getting sufficient number of students belonging to minority communities.

As per the statistics placed on record by the petitioners, in 20132014, hardly four students from the minority community were admitted in GH Raisoni College of Engineering as against the intake capacity of 540.

In 2014-2015, only three students from minority community were admitted and in 2015-2016, nearly 26 students were admitted.

The court, however, was of the view that in any case, the circumstances that the petitioners' un-aided minority educational institutions are not getting sufficient number of minority students to fill in its intake capacity, is not prima facie a ground to fault the legislation itself or in any case, to seek a stay upon the implementation of the same.

Since the court admitted the petitions and placed them for final hearing on 16 June, the bench also issued notice to the Acting Advocate General Rohit Deo in each of these petitions.

On next occasion, the AG would have to appear in person and argue on behalf of the state.
New Delhi: The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its ex post facto approval for the introduction of two constitutional amendment bills in parliament to grant Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to certain communities in some Indian states.

An official announcement said tribes like Bodo Kachari and Karbi (Mikir) in Assam, Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, Bhuyan, Dhanuhar, Kisan, Saunra, and Saonra Dhangad in Chhattisgarh and Bhogta, Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi, Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, and Khairi in Jharkhand would benefit.

The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also decided to accord ST status to Malayali Gounder, Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran tribes in Tamil Nadu.

The new amendments will also benefit Darlong tribe in Tripura and Irular, including Villi and Vettaikaran, in Puducherry.

The new communities given the ST status will be able to derive benefits of major schemes like post-matric and national overseas scholarships, national fellowship, concessional loans from National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, hostel facility for ST boys and girls etc.

"In addition, they will be entitled to reservation in services and admission to educational institutions," an official statement said, adding that existing entries in the list of Scheduled Castes in case of Jharkhand and Other Backward Classes/Most Backward Classes of central/state lists would be consequently modified.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved its judgement in the case of the 52-year-old Danish woman who was allegedly gangraped by nine people, including three juveniles two-years back, for 6 June.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar heard the final arguments of Delhi Police and defence counsel, and fixed the case for pronouncement of verdict.

During the proceedings, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava argued that testimonies of the woman and an eye witness, medical and forensic evidence, including DNA test reports, clearly nails the five accused in the case.

He said the woman had clearly identified three of the six adult accused in the court, while she was not completely sure about the others.

Advocate Dinesh Sharma, legal aid counsel for the accused, claimed that his clients were falsely implicated in the case and that eye witness Shivji Singh was a planted witness.

He also argued that as it was a sensational case and under the pressure of top police officials and media, the cops implicated his clients who were innocent.

According to the prosecution, the nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of 14 January, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near New Delhi Railway Station.

All nine accused were arrested. The five adult accused  Mahendra alias Ganja (27), Mohd Raja (23), Raju (24), Arjun (22), Raju Chakka (23)  are in judicial custody and facing trial. Shyam Lal (56), who was in judicial custody, died in February.

Three other accused were juveniles against whom inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board is in progress.

The prosecution has examined 27 witnesses in support of its case while the accused had opted not to lead any evidence in their support.

During the trial, the accused claimed innocence and denied the charges of raping the woman.

They claimed that a day prior to the alleged incident on January 14, 2014, they had hired a prostitute and had physical relations with her and had not done anything with the Danish woman.
New Delhi: A senior decorated Navy officer has been sent on leave and a Board of Inquiry ordered against him after a junior woman officer accused him of molesting her twice, including once at the house of a top admiral.

Navy sources said the incident happened this month.

"We are seized of the matter and a Board of Inquiry has been ordered into the incident which is likely to submit its report soon.

"Navy has a zero tolerance policy for such issues. Appropriate action will be taken once the inquiry is completed and the report is submitted," Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said.

Sources said the woman, a Lieutenant, has complained that her senior, a surgeon commander rank, molested her twice.

Incidentally, one of the incident happened at the house of a senior Admiral. At the time of the incident, the senior Admiral was on official duty in Vishakapatnam.

He had called for the medical team to check on his 95-year-old mother who is bed ridden.

The accused doctor was awarded with Vishist Seva Medal this year.

PTI
The terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has started marking North Indian cities in order to carry out a spate of Pathankot-style terror attacks, reported The Times of India.

The above statement is a part of a report sent by the military intelligence to the state government of Punjab on 18 May. The report also claims that JeM is getting help from Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) and The Indian Mujahideen (IM).

The report specifically mentions that the JeM commander Awais Mohammed, who has been given the task of carrying out the attacks, is expected to visit Malaysia, from where he will obtain a fake Malaysian passport to enter India.

Three new JeM 'offices' in Pakistan's Punjab, Pakhtunkhwa and Balakot have been opened while the old ones in Kohat and Hazara are being revived, says the report.

This news surfaced at a time when a court on Tuesday sent three JeM suspects to 14 days of judicial custody accused for planning terror attacks in Delhi and nearby areas.

Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh had remanded the three: Mohammed Sajid, Shakir Ansari and Sameer, to judicial custody till 6 June after Delhi Police told him that accused are no longer required for further custodial interrogration.

The three were therefore presented before court, after the expiry of their earlier police custody remand.

Sajid, one out of the three arrested, is said to be one of the most wanted terrorists. His hand got burnt while preparing a bomb sometime ago. He was arrested from Gokulpuri in east Delhi on 4 May.

The other two arrested are Shakir and Sameer. They too were said to be directly linked to JeM, which was blamed for the 2 January attack on the Indian Air Force base in Punjabs Pathankot.

According to police, the three were active and plotting to target sensitive and crowded areas in the national capital. They were being closely observed by security and intelligence officials, before they were busted in separate raids carried out in parts of Delhi and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. An IED was also recovered in the raid.

(With inputs from IANS)
Srinagar: Pro-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested in Srinagar on Wednesday on the eve of a protest shutdown called by the separatists against a proposed colony to house ex-servicemen in the Valley.

The JKLF chief was arrested from his party's Abi Guzar area office adjacent to the city centre Lal Chowk.

"He has been taken into preventive custody and lodged in Kothibagh police station to maintain law and order in the city," a senior police officer told IANS in Srinagar.

Earlier in the day, police placed Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, under house arrest in his uptown Nigeen residence in Srinagar city.

Mirwaiz Umer, Malik and senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani have called for a protest shutdown on Thursday against the alleged setting up of a Sainik (ex-servicemen) colony by the central and state governments in the Valley.

The separatists have also called for post Friday prayer protests in the Valley the day after.

State government spokesman and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar had last week denied that a Sainik colony was being set up anywhere in the Valley.

The state government has been maintaining that the request for allotment of land for setting up an ex-servicemen colony by permanent residents of J&K had been received and as yet no land has been allotted anywhere for the proposed colony.
Srinagar: Two local journalists were on Tuesday asked by an army officer to leave an event which they were covering in Srinagar after they did not stand up for the national anthem.

The journalists working with daily newspapers Kashmir Reader and Rising Kashmir were asked to leave the event - Passing-Out Parade - held at the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regimental Centre, Rangreth on the outskirts of the city, after they did not stand up for the national anthem.

"Army had invited us to cover the event, not to participate in it. When the Indian anthem was played, I was jotting down notes for my story. After the anthem finished, one Colonel Burn came up to us and asked us to leave," Kashmir Reader correspondent Junaid Nabi Bazaz told PTI.

Bazaz alleged Colonel Burn "misbehaved" with them.

"He misbehaved with us. He said 'all people here stood up for the anthem and the flag except you. We do not need people like you here so leave'. So we left afterwards," the journalist said.

Confirming the incident, Srinagar-based Defence Spokesman Colonel NN Joshi said he saw that the two journalists did not stand up when national anthem was being played and when a contingent holding the tricolour was passing through.

"I went up to them and explained to them the sanctity involved. They both said they were jotting down notes for the story. However, while I was talking to them, the officer (Colonel Burn) came and naturally, it was his sentiment, and he asked them to leave," Colonel Joshi said.

He said he had brought the matter to the notice of the army's top brass in the Valley.

"I appraised the seniors about the incident. I apologised about the incident but the journalists should also understand that there is so much sanctity involved about the event and the national anthem and national flag," he said.

Bazaz said after the event, Colonel Joshi apologised for "Burn's behaviour".

"He apologised for the incident and told me that Burn should have talked to him instead of expressing himself before us. Colonel Joshi also said he raised the issue of Colonel Burn's misbehavior with the higher ups," the journalist said.
Shortly after Pinarayi Vijayan took oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala, the LDF government appointed Additional Director General of Police B Sandhya to head a new team to probe the rape-murder of Dalit law student in Kerala.

Considering that the rape and murder case had dominated the news cycle during the election season, appointing B Sandhya, an officer who successfully implemented the Janamaithri Suraksha Project (Community policing project), is perhaps Vijayan's way of sending a strong message that he is on top of things. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had earlier attacked the former government headed by Oommen Chandy of "inaction"  "Police have failed to get any lead about the culprits even five days after the incident," said Balakrishnan.

The law student, hailing from a poor family was brutally raped and assaulted and then murdered at her house at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district on 28 April.

The 30-year-old student's severely mutilated body was found by her mother after she had returned home from work. Two persons were taken into custody in connection with the rape and murder, however this hasn't resulted in definite results.

The culprits are apparently still on the run. Former chief minister Chandy had described the crime as "shocking" and said that the culprits will be brought to book.

Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Caste and Tribes registered a suo motu case into the incident and asked police to submit a report on the progress of the probe by 28 May while the Kerala Human Rights Commission ordered that the probe be handed over to the Crime branch.

The National Commission for Women report claimed that the previous police team probing the case had not conducted a fair investigation. "NCW found that there were several gaping holes in the investigation. All avenues of the matter were not explored and it seemed that the administration was merely searching for a scapegoat rather than conducting the inquiry in a fair and impartial manner. It was also observed that police conducted the probe in a lackadaisical and apathetic manner. For example, postmortem was allegedly conducted by a post-graduate student and the crime scene was compromised," the report alleged.

Consequently, TP Senkumar, chief of Kerala Police, however said that there were no major lapses that could have impacted the probe. "If there is any minor lapses, we don't need to examine that at this stage. Nothing impacting the investigation has happened. Investigation team is doing a very good professional work. I am sure that it will succeed," he said.

with inputs from Agencies
Mumbai: A 28-year-old woman, who was 'harassed by her in-laws' for money, allegedly threw her three minor children into a well and then jumped into it, in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

Priyanka Balaji Wankhede, a resident of Betsavangi village in Nanded district, ended her life after pushing her sons Pratik (three), Kapil (five) and daughter Sakshi (seven) into a well, near the village on Monday, an official from Sonkhed police station told PTI.

"Her brother told police that her in-laws were harassing her and pestering her to bring one lakh from her parents," the official said.

Priyanka's husband Balaji Wankhede, father-in-law Ganpat Wankhede and mother-in-law Lilavati Wankhede have been arrested, police said.

A case has been registered under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498 (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC, he said.

The three accused were produced before a local court on Tuesday, which remanded them in police custody for five days, he said.

Priyanka, who got married nine years back, was cremated along with her children yesterday on a single pyre.
On Sunday morning Merin Joseph, Assistant Superintendent of Police of Munnar, Kerala, woke up to a fine article  10 most beautiful female IPS and IAS officers in India. Yes, sounds like one of those 'comprehensive' pieces on the 10 best places to eat this weekend or 10 beautiful places to visit. Joseph was not (rightly so) pleased. She took to social media to express her disgust about the the existence of such sexist material on the internet. She blew off her steam on Facebook and pointed out how such articles propagate patriarchal structures.

We have to appreciate the amount of effort that the research team of (bhaskar.com) must have put in to dig out the most beautiful IAS and IPS officers. What did that exercise involve? We wonder. Joseph pointed out how publications have never gone to such great lengths to hunt out the top 10 handsome male IAS and IPS officers. She wrote, "Have you ever wondered why we never see a list of the most handsome males in the IAS and IPS?" That really would have been a mammoth task since there are three women IAS officers to every 20 male IAS officers.

The bold IPS officer also pointed out that there is a lot that is wrong with Indian media, especially, the "vernacular" press and wrote that a "shameless objectification of women" propagates patriarchal structures and reduces "a lady's worth to her face value."

Putting the brave female officers of the country on the same pedestal as her male counter parts, she mentioned, "These are bold and brave officers working in the complex bureaucratic system in India, negotiating their way through the good, bad and ugly of our body politic  and here we have a list of officers whom people can ogle at. It's seriously disgusting, constricting and very very demeaning to our identities as smart, intelligent self made women."

Social media came out in support of Joseph, the post gained traction. Some comments on her post read, "Really shameful...but this is what Indian media is all about...they forget that whoever has reached that position has done so on their individual merit and if IAS IPS were interested in exposing themselves they would have selected modelling and not this reputed profession..woman's beauty is her intellect not face value.."

One of the commentators was quick to point out that he knew of her only through such articles, "Madam, i didn't want to tell u this but i came to know about u from similar kind of article...Your pics had been viral on social networks.." One must appreciate his honesty. The website soon took the piece down, and we are glad!

But this is not the first incident of objectification of women (in power) that has taken place this week. Many media websites took to introducing Assam's latest female MLA Angoorlata Deka with sensational headlines like Meet the BJP MLA Who Is Famous For Her Beauty or BJP Ki is Mahila Vidhyaka Ke Khoobsurti Ke Charche or A new beauty sensation in politics. Some even cited appointing her as Modi's greatest achievement  not because she was excellent at what she did, but because she was excellent at being beautiful.

The ever helpful twitterati couldn't help ogling at her. Photos comparing Angoorlatas look in her films and during her modelling day were positioned next to those of her as a BJP MLA, presumably to drive home the point about her beauty. Director Ram Gopal Varma, known for his action-packed thrillers like Ice-cream, also confessed his fascination for the MLA by pointing out, "If MLA can look like this, Achche din aagaye hai..Thank you Angoorlataji,Thank you Modiji..1st time I love politics." Varma should probably get a room, or at least a pair of socks.

If MLA can look like this,Achche din aagaye hai..Thank you Angoorlataji,Thank you Modiji..1st time I love politics pic.twitter.com/WPzJgmnb13  Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 24, 2016

Joseph put the media frenzy to shame and stated, "People may have gone to Mars but their mindsets havent changedI wanted to use my celebrity status to serve the people and contribute to the development of the society. Such comments are uncalled for. People need to grow intellectually. Henceforth, I will not react to such comments.

Maybe they are beautiful, and maybe their beauty does deserve a sonnet or two. But maybe not judge them just for that? Shall we say its time to put their career first?
Srinagar: A policeman was killed on Wednesday as militants attacked the security guards of a former MLA in Pulwama district two days after three cops were gunned down in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.

The incident took place in Monghama village where the former National Conference MLA Ghulam Mohiuddin had gone to attend a marriage function, police said.

His Personal Security Officer (PSO) Shabir Ahmad and another guard were waiting in a private car outside the venue when three pistol-borne militants struck, a police officer said.

The militants tried to snatch the service rifle from the PSO which led to a scuffle, the officer said, adding in the process, Ahmad received minor injuries on the face.

Militants then fired a few shots, resulting in injuries to constable Riyaz Ahmad Ganie. He was hit in the throat and

succumbed to his injuries later at a hospital, the officer said.

The militants fled from the site along with the weapon of the PSO taking advantage of the panic which followed the shooting, he said.

A hunt has been launched to nab the militants and recover the weapon, the officer said.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the incident which comes two days after three policemen were shot dead in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.

While two policemen were killed by militants in an attack at Zadibal locality of the summer capital on Monday, another policeman, who was guarding a protected person, was shot dead at Tengpora locality of the city the same day and his service rifle was also snatched.
Post the AgustaWestland chopper scam, the current government has decided to scrap a deal approved by the previous UPA government to buy 98 Black Shark torpedoes from a subsidiary of Finmeccanica for the INS Kalvari submarines to be launched this year, reported The New Indian Express.

The first of the Kalvari fleet was expected to be launched by the end of this year, but may now have to be launched without torpedoes, the report added.

The Times of India reported that the process of procurement from Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacque (WASS), a subsidiary of Finmeccanica (involved in the chopper scam), will now be closed and a fresh global tender will be floated. The report adds that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has directed officials to urgently look for an alternative, as the submarines of INS Kalvari are set to be launched soon.

The Navy, which has called the torpedoes an absolute operational necessity, had been waiting on the approval of the legal opinion asked for by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on whether it can place the order to a subsidiary of the firm embroiled in the Choppergate scandal.

DNA added that SeaHake torpedos from Germany's Atlas Elektronik and France's F21 torpedos are under consideration, and it could eventually become a part of 'Make in India' because torpedoes are needed for other projects as well.

In January 2014, the AK Antony-led Defence Ministry had approved a Rs 1,200-crore project to acquire 98 Black Shark torpedoes from WASS as it had emerged the lowest bidder during the process, reported The New Indian Express.

The Scorpene is part of the ambitious Project 75 of Indian Navy's submarine programme, undertaken in collaboration with French firm DCNS, which will include six such vessels joining the fleet over the next few years. All the six submarines under this project are to be indigenously built at Mumbai's Mazagon Dockyard Ltd. 30 percent of the equipment is said to have been made in India.

Initially, AgustaWestland was only barred from all future contracts, but its ongoing contracts were not going to be hindered. A partial ban was imposed on Finmeccanica as a complete ban could affect combat readiness, reported NDTV.

Six submarines, being built at the Mazagon Dock along with French firm DCNS under a project called P-75, costing Rs 23,562 crore has already been delayed by over four years and has overshot the budget by around Rs 5000 crore as well, NDTV and The Times of India reports added.
Guangzhou: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday invited Chinese entrepreneurs to participate in the 'Make in India' initiative and said India was committed to providing "conducive atmosphere" for investment from China.

The president, who is on a four-day visit to China, said India believes that there is "great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among our nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges".

"To realize the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. India is committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China," Mukherjee said.

"We believe that stepping up our two-way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship initiatives of Government of India," he said.

The president said India is ready to facilitate more collaborations between the two countries.

"India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," he said.

Mukherjee also stressed that India is a "young nation" and "our primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development".

"We are steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in our country. China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us," he said.

Mukherjee arrived here on Tuesday and will be also travelling to Beijing.
Gyandev Ahuja is back.

The Rajasthan BJP MLA who first made news earlier this year when he exposed just what is 'anti-national' about JNU students  he claimed that 2,000 Indian and foreign liquor bottles, over 10,000 cigarette butts and 4,000 beedis, 50,000 pieces of bones, 2,000 chips and namkeen wrappers were found in the campus on a daily basis, along with 3,000 used condoms and 500 abortion syringes  is now claiming that rapes happen in JNU every day, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Perhaps, stupidity knows no bounds.

I stand by what I said.Rapes happen daily in #JNU. It is hub of criminal activities:BJP Rajasthan MLA Gyandev Ahuja pic.twitter.com/fNvcfa9dWU  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

Adding to his statement, Ahuja said that the "statues of the members of Nehru-Gandhi family should be brought down" and that "people will spit on them", as quoted on ANI's Twitter page.

Ahuja, who became an MLA, in 1998, earned the sobriquet of Lankesh from then chief minister Ashok Gehlot due to his unruly behaviour resembling that of a mythological character. In the 90s, after allegedly slapping a cop on duty, Ahuja refused to appear before the police for almost a decade and remained on the list of people wanted by them.

In an interview with the BBC last year, Ahuja boasted about holding classes on the virtues of the cow and lamented that the gau mata wasn't given enough importance in the country.

What's next, Ahuja?
Itanagar: Sanctioning of funds for development activities is not an issue as the central government is adopting all possible ways to develop the North East region, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said.

The union minister's assertion came yesterday during his visit to the fire accident site at Seppa in East Kameng district to take stock of the situation.

At least 27 houses were reduced to ashes in a devastating fire at ALC colony at Seppa on 20 May.

Inquiring about the actual cause of the incident and number of families affected, Rijiju informed that he had already discussed the matter with the chief minister and has requested him to provide all necessary assistance, an official release informed here today.

The union minister also assured to extend necessary support in reconstruction and rehabilitation, it said.

Promising he would always be there for the development of the region, Rijiju asserted his party is pro-poor and pro-development.

Rijiju also wanted to know the status about the construction work at Government Model College, Seppa and other development activities being undertaken in the district, it said.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key speaks during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (not pictured) in Sydney, February 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

SUVA - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is expected to make an official visit to Fiji next month, leading local newspaper Fiji Sun reported Wednesday.

Key is scheduled to be in Fiji on June 9 to 10 for a two-day official visit, on which a planning committee is understood to be working, the Fiji Sun said, quoting "an informed government source".

Key's visit will be a follow-up to Foreign Minister Murray McCully's visit in February in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston, which claimed 44 lives and left a path of massive destruction in Fiji.

In New Zealand, Key has signaled that more aid may be in the pipeline for Fiji.

"This will be a significant step forward in the relations between the countries. No New Zealand prime minister has made an official visit to Fiji since 2006," the newspaper commented.

"Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Fiji soured after the 2006 takeover. Australia and New Zealand deserted Fiji and were instrumental in Fiji being suspended from Pacific Islands Forum," the paper continued.

Relations between Fiji and the two developed neighbors thawed after Voreqe Bainimarama's Fiji First party won the 2014 general election, in which Bainimarama was elected prime minister.

However, the situation was complicated when the Fjian prime minister did not attend the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea last September.

Bainimarama has repeatedly said that he objects to Australia and New Zealand's "undue influence" -- which the two countries deny -- and said he believes Pacific Islands Forum no longer serves the best interests of Pacific islands, and that he would not attend the Pacific Islands Forum until Australia and New Zealand become development partners rather than full members.
Srinagar: Separatist militants on Wednesday killed a civilian who was abducted late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

"Militants today (Wednesday) morning killed a civilian identified as Liyaqat Ali Chatwal in Rajwar forests," a senior police official told IANS.

"He was kidnapped Tuesday night from Watsar village where he had gone to meet his sister."

A probe has been launched to investigate the murder, the official added.
Guwahati: Abolition of inter-state check gates and keeping the chief minister's convoy to the minimum were some of the decisions taken at the first cabinet meeting of the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP-AGP-BPF alliance government in Assam on Wednesday.

Stating that peoples expectations were high, Sonowal said the government has to fulfill its poll promises and

maintain people-to-people contact.

The chief minister asked his council of ministers to work for the welfare of the state and to address people's

grievances at the "earliest", the Chief Minister's Office said.

Sonowal also asked his ministers to devote their "maximum time" for the welfare of the people in line with the

Central policy of 'minimum government, maximum governance', the CMO said.

Other decisions taken at the cabinet meeting include doing away with interviews for the employment of 3rd and 4th grade state government employees.

The CMO said the cabinet took the decision in line with the Central government policy that there would be no

interview for 3rd and 4th grade Assam government employees.

The decision to abolish the inter-state check gates was taken as operation of several 'syndicates' were giving

rise to illegal activities, the CMO said.

The decision to keep the CM's convoy to the minimum was to ensure that public are not inconvenienced, the CMO

said.

PTI
Bhopal: US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on Wednesday said he travels extensively to learn about developments in states with an investment point of view and to have a better interaction with people.

"We travel as much as we can to learn about what's happening in states from investment point of view, clean energy point of view, people-to-people exchange and things we can do to deepen our relationship, to meet government officials, and that makes a big difference in how you can carry out your work in New Delhi," Verma told PTI after visiting the Taj-ul-Masajid in the old city area.

The US Ambassador arrived here on a day-long visit for the first time.

"You have a better appreciation of what's happening in important state like this and talk to the people and hear their mind. That's why we come here," said Verma, who has been travelling all over the country.

"We have been travelling all over the country. In fact, I have been to 21 states, 55 cities and we travel as much as we can to learn about what's happening in states," he said when asked about the purpose of his visit before he headed to meet Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

He described the historic Taj-ul-Masajid as an "amazing place."

"It's an amazingly beautiful place. It was an honour to meet the leaders of the mosque, their place of learning, place of history and place of culture," he said.

"It is a great place of history and we wanted to be here and pay respect and to know about this amazing structure," he said.

The envoy wrote in the visitor's book, "Thank you for showing me this amazing place of worship, inspiration and learning. It was a great honour to be here."

Upon arrival at the grand mosque, Verma was welcomed by Darul Uloom Taj-ul-Masajid committee head and other members.

The committee's communication head Mohammd Aamir Ansari and other members showed him various parts of the mosque.
Srinagar: A 28-year-old youth was shot dead on Wednesday by suspected militants in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, police said.

Bullet-riddled body of Liyaqat Joo was recovered from the forest area of Wadder Payeen in Handwara, 85 kms from Srinagar, a police officer said.

Joo who is a resident of Wadder Payeen, was suspected to have been killed by militants, the officer said.

Police has registered a case and started investigations, the officer said adding a hunt has been launched to nab the culprits behind his murder.

Meanwhile, the officer said a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the two militants who were shot dead in a brief gun battle at Sarai Bala locality in the heart of Srinagar on late Monday evening.

The recoveries included two AK assault rifles, four magazines, 86 rounds, a pistol with a magazine and two rounds, three hand grenades, a grenade thrower and a pouch, he said.

The two militants including Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Saifullah were killed by police during a raid at Sarai Bala on Monday, sparking protests by locals who contested the police version and claimed that the duo were killed in a "fake encounter".

Shops and business establishments in the area and adjoining business centres including Maharaj Bazar, Hari Singh High Street and Gonikhan remained closed for the second day today to protest the killings.
Picture a scene right out of a Bollywood movie. Different characters walking up to the witness box in a court room, swearing in the name of the holy Bhagavad-Gita to speak the truth and nothing but the truth. What happens later on in the plot is known to any Indian movie buff.

But the Congress party leadership seems to have taken a leaf out of that common plot and forced its newly elected MLAs in West Bengal to sign an undertaking to "solemnly affirm" and "swear" their "unqualified allegiance to Indian National Congress led by Hon'ble Congress president Smt Sonia Gandhi Ji and Hon'ble Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Ji."

What needs to be highlighted here is the fact that they swore their allegiance to the Gandhis on a Rs 100 stamp paper. Any undertaking or affidavit given on a stamp paper can have legal implications also; if the terms of the undertaking are violated by the signatory, then he or she may have to face legal consequences, civil or penal. It can't be a harmless signature for it is on a legally admissible stamp paper, at least that's the way an ordinary citizen would perceive it.

The 44 Congress MLAswho got elected vouching free speech and internal party democracyhave one too many reasons to worry. The Congress leadership, at some time in the future, can decide to push for legal action against them for willful or inadvertent violation of any of the items listed in their undertaking. The terms of solemn affirmation are so broad that a vindictive person (if it turns so) can punish them for anything it defines, and not just for what is in consonance with unqualified allegiance to the Indian National Congress, led by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

These MLAs have sworn that they will not indulge in anything along the lines of what some of their colleagues recently did in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, or defect to TMC or BJP in the future, or not utter anything against Rahul Gandhi's leadership  the way that so many Congress leaders across the country have done.

In short, stop them from listening and believing to what erstwhile insiders like Himanta Biswa Sarma have said about Rahul, Sonia and the Congress leadership structure  first resign from the seat and Congress party and then voice your dissent against party or against leadership, state or central.

JUST IN: Congress issues 'loyalty' affidavit to newly elected MLAs in West Bengal pic.twitter.com/XrbXAdKiqX  News18 (@CNNnews18) May 25, 2016

The undertaking the Congress legislators undertook read:

"I, as a member of the legislative assembly, will not get involved in any anti-party activity. Even if I do not agree with any party policy and/or party decision, I will not make any negative comment thereon and/or I shall not take any negative action to the detriment of the party. In such a scenario, I shall resign from my post of MLA before making such comment and/or taking such action....abide by the party guidelines...follow guidelines framed by the CLP leader and the chief whip in the floor of the assembly."

In this election, the Congress in alliance with the Left Front contested 92 seats and won 44  up by two seats, an increase of about 3.21 percent in the vote share. The Congress, as a pillion rider immensely benefited from the alliance with the Left Front but the same was not true vice versa.

The Left Front's vote share went down by 14.31 percent and the number of seats went down by 30, to score a paltry 32 out of 199 seats it contested. In the last Assembly polls in 2011, the Congress had contested in alliance with the Trinamool Congress and has doubled its numbers in Assembly, from 21 to 42.

That the Congress leaders have some reasons to anticipate problems in the West Bengal Legislature party is also true. In two successive elections, it has aligned with both the mainstream parties in the state, the TMC and the Left Front, electorally benefited from them and then ditched. Who do they go with now in the next elections? Would they face a rout if they contest on their own?

It's no secret in political circles that while each MLA or MP relishes his present, he or she keeps weighing future prospects. In their own wisdom, the Congress leadership would think of this undertaking as a masterstroke to contain dissidence and anti-party activity, while also placing the demigod status of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi on record, on stamp papers. That's typical of Congress  sycophancy at its peak. Rewards, if any, could be foreseeable by those who masterminded this sycophantic oath of affirmation.

There is another interpretation of it. Since the Congress fought these elections in alliance with the Left Front, it had hoped to form a government and take an oath for office as minister of the state  "I XYZ do swear, in the name of God that I will bear true faith solemnly affirm and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister...."

Having been completely denied that chance by the people, the best they could manage was to swear their "unqualified allegiance to the Indian National Congress led by Hon'ble Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi Ji and Hon'ble Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Ji". That way it could be taken as a consolation prize, both for the legislator concerned and the so called party High Command.

Yes, as the newly elected Congress MLAs along with others will have to take another oath, as established by the law. But if you are a Congress man or woman then you will have to swear by your loyalties with the 'First Family' first, affirmation of the oath to the constitution can follow later.
The 72-year-old CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala at Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, along with his 18-member cabinet.

The CPM General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury and politburo member, Prakash Karat, were also present at the swearing-in ceremony, along with Vijayan's rival VS Achuthanandan.

Thiruvananthapuram: LDF's Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as the CM of Kerala pic.twitter.com/RT7Kd7RK0c  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

Vijayan's cabinet will have 19 members (including the chief minister)  the CPM will have 12 berths, the CPI four and three other LDF constituents  the JD(S), the NCP and the Congress (S) would get one each. However, there are only two women in the cabinet  KK Shylaja and J Mercykutty Amma who also took their oath on Wednesday.

The CPM has named its ministers, including three  Thomas Issac, AK Balan and G Sudhakaran  who were also ministers in the VS Achuthanandan cabinet (2006-11), while the new faces in the Kerala government are EP Jayarajan, KK Shailaja, AC Moideen, Kadakampally Surendran, TP Ramakrishnan, C Raveendranath, J Mercykutty Amma and KT Jaleel (who won as a CPM-backed Independent).

After Vijayan, CPM leader E Chandrasekharan and JD(S) MLA from Thiruvalla Matthew T Thomas took oath. Thomas will hold the irrigation and water resources portfolio.

The top post comes after a long wait for Vijayan, who had to race ahead of his rival VS Achuthanandan. In the 16 May Assembly polls, the CPM-led LDF had been voted to power by winning 91 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly, drubbing the Congress-led UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy that could only manage to secure 47 seats.

Achuthanandan had stated that he will continue to be the sentinel of the people, "I wish Vijayan and his new government the best to build a new and resurgent Kerala."

Vijayan had earlier remarked that "this will be a people's government and will function for the welfare of the people. There will be no caste, religious and political barriers and we will function with that spirit." He further added, "The 16 May Assembly election was fought fiercely. That is over. Various candidates have been elected and those who got majority are forming the government. For the state's betterment, everyone should work together," he said seeking cooperation from all sections of the people.

The 72-year-old toddy-tapper's son, who was the CPM state secretary till last year, is known for his organisational skills and had a short stint as the state's power minister during 1996-1998. His political career, however, took a backseat when he was accused of handing over a contract to Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for modernisation of three hydel projects. The Lavalin scam still remains the biggest corruption scandal ever against CPM in Kerala. The CBI court later dismissed the charges against Vijayan, however, it took a while before Vijayan could make a political comeback.

Vijayan is often described as 'stiff' and as a leader "with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala"; his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line. In fact, in the run up to the assembly election, Vijayan tried to soften his austere image and sported a smile whenever he appeared on television and interacted with people.

Before his ceremony, Vijayan called on Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam and handed over a list of his 19-member cabinet. "People are seeing this government with a lot of expectations," he said.

On the new government's stand on corruption, Vijayan said, "There is corruption at various levels. It has come to my notice that some people are going round saying they are 'CM's men'. Perhaps they do not know my way of functioning. Such type of people should be kept at bay and we need to be careful."
Editor's note: Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav is on a ten-day padyatra of drought affected regions of Marathwada in Maharashtra. He will file dispatches for Firstpost during his march. This is the first of the series.

It must have been the heat. Or else, why would I react so to the perfectly sane and sage advice from our own prime minister? Why would I find his address insufferable, obscene and pompous?

After all, he was talking about the drought, something that I want to hear about. He was advocating drought proofing, not wasting a drop of water, more crop per drop  things that I often talk about. Why this hot-headed reaction then?

I was trying to catch an afternoon nap under the shifting sun-shade of a mango tree in the rural hinterland of drought-affected Latur. It was the second day of our Jal-Hal padyatra. We had walked for about 15 kilometres in the forenoon, much more than we had anticipated.

That is when a colleague alerted me to the agency report about the prime minister's Mann Ki Baat. I scanned through the report, was annoyed, asked for a full copy, was furious and surprised at the intensity of my reaction. Was it just the heat? Or my proximity to the unfolding tragedy?

Maybe. But consider another thought. Obscenity usually does not lie in words. It often lies in the context in which an otherwise harmless word is spoken. If a columnist or a professor has expressed these sentiments, it could be excusable, perhaps even welcome.

But when the man tasked with responding to a disaster takes to musing right in the middle of a crisis, something is out of place. And when he uses these sagely utterances to cover up his own inaction and for thinly disguised self-promotion, perhaps there is something obscene here.

A simple fact check might help.

The prime minister patted his own back for meeting all the CMs of drought affected states separately, not in a group as may have been done in the past. What he did not mention is what the CMs asked for and what he has done about it.

Fact is that state governments have been asking for money from the National Disaster Response Fund. They were given much less than what they needed and asked for, that too after considerable delays. Uttar Pradesh, for example, got its funds after the end of the financial year.

Ever since the yatra began, we have been listening to the woes of the poor, agricultural labour. They are desperate for jobs. The construction work they can get is very infrequent. Farm work is not available now.

In any case, women get just Rs 100 per day. They all want MNREGA work that pays Rs 191. The trouble is that MNREGA is starved of funds by the central government. The situation is much worse in Maharashtra, where the entire scheme has been captured by the rural-landed class. The prime minister chose to applaud Maharashtra for its drought management.

He also patted (who else?) the Gujarat government for the use of technology in combating the drought. The fact is that the Supreme Court indicted the government of Gujarat more than once for following antiquated, colonial practices of annawari and for failing to use modern indices and remote sensing data.

Modi spoke of preventing water wastage. Who can possibly disagree with that? But it is one thing to talk about petty wastage, quite another to take on water misuse, diversion built into our models of growth.

Next to the mango tree, there was a private tanker filling up water from one of the few functional wells. Just two weeks ago, P Sainath had shown us slides of advertisements for residential complexes with swimming pool on each floor! I was waiting for the PM to talk about such matters or about the massive diversion of water from agriculture to industry and cities.

He did not.

Moral of the story: Switch on your AC before you switch on the next Mann ki Baat!

The author is co-founder of Swaraj Abhiyan and the national convener of Jai Kisan Andolan
Guwahati: Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday accepted his responsibility for the Congress' debacle in Assam Assembly polls and apologised to the people for not being able to fulfil their expectations.

"Yes, I am responsible for the poll debacle. I am the leader. If I am not responsible, then who will be?" Gogoi told a press conference when asked if he would take the responsibility for the poor performance of Congress.

Probably his government failed to fulfil the expectations of people and so they were defeated in the poll, he said.

"We will analyse why we faced such a debacle. We must have committed some mistakes. We apologise to the people for

that. We will now strengthen the party. We are working on how to reorganise the party. The challenge is to find out the mistakes and go to people," Gogoi said.

Stating that the situation this time was similar to 1985 when AGP came to power, foreigners issue had played the

main role then, "also like this election".

"AGP had benefited that time and now it is BJP. They (BJP) succeeded in dividing the people by doing publicity that

existence of Assamese and Hindus are at stake... We took steps on infiltration issue. But the way RSS presented it, we could not guess it. Already reports have come out that over 25,000 RSS members worked during the polls," Gogoi said.

He said the Congress workers are not disheartened as 31 percent of people of Assam voted for the party, while BJP

alone got 29 percent votes and BJP-led alliance got 41 percent.

"In 2011, we got 39 percent votes. This time it decreased from that, but increased from what we got in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We are thankful to the people for giving us chance to serve them for 15 years. We succeeded in many fronts and also failed at some," Gogoi said.

Saying that he does not have any plans to retire from active politics as of now, Gogoi said Congress will now prepare itself for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The three-time chief minister said Assam has many problems like unemployment, flood, corruption and immigration.

"I hope that the new government will focus on them and we will also co-operate with them as a constructive

opposition. In the sealing of border, 95 percent work has already been completed. For sealing the river border, we had written to Centre earlier. We are blamed for foreigners issue. We will be now happy if the new government detects foreigners as soon as possible," he said.

Gogoi also disapproved new minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement during the poll campaigning that the base year to identify the foreigners should be advanced by 20 years.

"We do not support shifting the base of identifying foreigners to 1951 from 1971 at present. This is a settled

issue between AASU, AGP and government. What is the point to unsettle it again?" he questioned.

Talking about Centre's responsibility towards the state, Gogoi hoped they will help Assam in every aspect.

"Without Centre's help, it is difficult for a poor state like Assam to progress. Sarbananda is lucky to have the support of the prime minister," Gogoi said.

PTI
Srinagar: Divided Kashmiri separatists have found a new cause to join hands against the government's purported plans to set up enclaves for migrant Hindu families and soldiers who retire serving in the restive state.

This is for the first time after the 2008 Amarnath land row that top Kashmiri separatists  Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yaseen Malik  have agreed to form an "issue-based alliance" and stop the government from "engineering demography" of India's only Muslim-majority state.

Malik, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), is said to be the mastermind of the "new found unity" of the otherwise divided Kashmiri separatists, a source told IANS.

The JKLF chief first met Geelani at his upscale residence in Srinagar on Monday and a day later, the two had a meeting with Mirwaiz.

Geelani, who broke away from the Hurriyat Conference in 2003 over "ideological" differences with Mirwaiz, said it was imperative to "fight together, but peacefully" and not play "mute spectators to the government's plan to change the demography of our state".

Geelani said the separatist leadership was not against any plan to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits, who fled the valley in early 1990s at the start of the Pakistan-sponsored armed insurgency.

"But, why separate enclaves? We will welcome them but not in settlements. They have their homes here. The government's approach is immoral and undemocratic. Our unity on this issue shall continue," the 86-year-old chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat told IANS.

The Mehbooba Mufti-headed PDP-BJP government has, however, ruled out exclusive colonies for retired army soldiers.

But a 2015 proposal note of the state government says the divisional administration in Kashmir has agreed to allot "173 kanals (some nine hectares) of land on payment in the old air field area (in Srinagar) for some 26 officers, 125 junior commissioned officers and 900 others".

Naeem Akhtar, state education minister and the government's spokesperson, denied and said no land has been marked for "sainik colonies" and "there is no question of making separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits".

Mirwaiz said "the situation" had brought them together as the government was planning to do away with the "the special status" of the state.

He alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had traded interest of Kashmiris for its "lust of power".

"The PDP has given the control and power of running the state to the BJP," Mirwaiz told IANS.

Malik said since the government was playing "foul" with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the separatist leadership needed to stay together to foil its "dangerous plans".

He refused to divulge details of the planned agitation but said that they have called for a complete valley-wide shutdown on Thursday against separate settlements.

Even mainstream parties like the opposition National Conference have sided with the separatists in opposing the plan of separate colonies for retired troopers.
Srinagar: Opposition National Conference and Congress on Wednesday disrupted the Governor's address to the Jammu and Kashmir legislature protesting against AFSPA, "shortage of ration", among others, and staged a walkout.

As soon as Governor NN Vohra rose to address the members of the Assembly and Legislative Council, National Conference and Congress MLAs took to their feet. The National Conference members started shouting slogans demanding revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed in the state.

They also demanded "adequate" supply of foodgrains to the people of the state and dismissal of Forest Minister Lal Singh for allegedly making threatening remarks against Gujjars in Jammu region last week.

The NC members shouted slogans like 'AFSPA ko wapas karo' (revoke AFSPA), 'Bhashan nahi ration chahiyay' (we do not need speeches, give ration) and 'Lal Singh ko barkhast karo' (dismiss Lal Singh).

The Congress members alleged that the PDP-BJP coalition government has failed on issues like implementation of National Food Security Act and regularisation of daily wage workers in various government departments.

Members of both the opposition parties later walked out from the hall even as the Governor refused to pay heed to the protest and continued his address.

However, Independent MLA from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who had joined the opposition protest, remained in the House and continued to shout slogans during Vohra's speech.

Rashid, carrying a banner, was seeking to know the fate of the time-bound magisterial inquiry into the killing of youths in Handwara allegedly by the army on 12 April following alleged molestation of a girl by a jawan.

"We want to know what happened to the inquiry into Handwara killings," Rashid said. As Vohra was reading out various schemes and welfare measures to be implemented by the state government, Rashid said, "You (Governor) do not represent us. You are a non-state subject. We are supposed to have an elected Sadr-e-Riyasat (president of the state)...you represent Delhi."

The controversial MLA also told the Governor that he was "made to lie" by the government. "Not even one percent of what you have been made to say (in the joint address) is true," he added. The Legislative Assembly will now meet on Thursday for taking up obituary references while discussion on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Pinarayi Vijayan is starting as the chief minister of Kerala on a strong note. Kerala ministers who took oath on Wednesday offer the right mix of everything a first-time chief minister can hope for  experience and people with proven track records in their own fields. More important, hell have less trouble from smaller coalition partners that were a constant pain for the outgoing Oommen Chandy government. The LDFs dominant mandate with 91 out of 140 seats is a clear advantage.

But Vijayan has big challenges too. The first is within his party  the corrective force led by VS Achuthanandan, which would act in full swing if Vijayan fails to get his act right and deliver on poll-promises. Second, Vijayans relationship with the BJP-ruled centre is crucial. If he fails to work out a good rapport with the Modi-administration, itll be difficult for him to secure funds to push ahead the capital-intensive development plans of the southern state including new roads, ports and airport. The Chandy government had nothing much to show on the progress card as far as major development initiatives were concerned.

As a political leader, Vijayan doesnt command the popularity and public-support of Achuthanandan, nor the backing enjoyed by Oommen Chandy from Muslim, Christian minority pressure groups that have a significant say (constituting 45 percent of the population) in the affairs of the state. But, Vijayan is known as a taskmaster in Keralas CPM circles and is known to get the work done without creating much hype. Vijayans brief stint as the power minister in 1996-1998 is regarded as an above-average performance.The only black mark was the SNC-Lavlin episode. Vijayan, as power minister, was one of the accused in the multi-crore scam related to the award of hydroelectric infrastructure contract to Canadian company SNC-Lavalin in 1995, which resulted in huge losses to the state exchequer. On 5 November 2013, Vijayan and 6 other accused were cleared of charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Court for lack of evidence. But, his image took a hit during the allegations and counter allegations.

Once the honeymoon period is over, there is a big to-do list that awaits Vijayan, some of which have to be addressed in the immediate future and some over the medium-to-long term. These are both political and economical.

First, reinstating the feeling of security in the state that has shaken following the Jisha murder case in Perumbavoor is a major task. Chandy governments failure to arrest the accused in the case despite weeks after the daylight murder hurt its prospects in the state-polls, especially among women voters. One of the promises Achuthanandan  CPMs star campaigner in state elections  in the run up to the polls was bringing justice to Jisha once the LDF government comes to power. In a recent presser, Achuthanandan reminded Vijayan about this promise by saying he will continue to remain as the sentinel of people of Kerala, taking up their issues. On Wednesday, Vijayan announced that the government will set up a new investigating team to nab Jisha's murderers. But the question is can Vijayan ensure speedy justice to Jisha? Remember, this is the first time Vijayan has addressed this issue after securing the mandate. If Vijayan fails to fulfill that promise, VS is sure to hit back.

Second, Vijayan has to get the formula right for states liquor policy. The UDFs flip-flop on liquor policy has done much damage to the Chandy government. There wasnt consensus clearly even within the Congress party and UDF on how to take ahead the promised liquor ban. The governments move of closing down a majority of bars but letting only the ones with five-star rating to continue with liquor license backfired. Instead of a blanket ban, the government could have come with a phased reduction. In October, the High Court directed the state to re-open 250 bars. The frequent flip-flops and the alleged bribery case against UDFs finance minister KM Mani turned the liquor-policy as a forgettable episode for UDF government. Will Vijayan get the solution right?

Third, Keralas economy, largely dependent on foreign remittances and tourism, is on the verge of a crisis. The state has debt of over Rs 154,000 crore, of which 60 percent will have to be repaid in five years. According to a CAG report tabled in Kerala assembly in February, the state has failed to meet fiscal deficit targets and capital expenditure on development declined during the last four years while debt liability increased.

Kerala has heavily depended on borrowed funds since 2011-12 even for meeting primary expenditure. This raises the big question. How will Vijayan find money for capital expenditure necessary to give a leg up to the states economy? According to the CAG report, capital expenditure on development showed a declining trend since 2012-13. Out of the 80 percent non-plan revenue expenditure, 60 percent was incurred on salaries, wages, pension and interest payments.

Fourth, the Vijayan-government will also face additional challenges to accommodate the problem of returning Malayalis from Persian Gulf on account of massive job losses in the region in the aftermath of crash in oil-prices. Till this time, the state doesnt have a strong industry base to give employment to its people  one of the reasons why there is a exodus of talent to other states from Kerala. Can Vijayan assure the people with employment generation?

The bottom line is this: Vijayan, 72, has tough days ahead to steer the economy and also to tackle the immediate political challenges. Vijayans task will be even more difficult if infighting begins within CPMs state unit and can get worse if Vijayan fails to find an equation with the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

But then Vijayan, the son of a toddy tapper, who fought his way through constant struggles within and outside his party, is no stranger to such challenges.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister-designate Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday called on Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam and handed over a list of his 19-member cabinet.

The governor greeted Vijayan with a bouquet and exchanged pleasantries. The meeting lasted for about 15 minutes. Vijayan told reporters at Raj Bhavan that he had handed over the list containing names of his ministers.

"People are seeing this government with a lot of expectations," he said. When asked if any decisions can be anticipated to match the expectations of the people, he quipped "wait and watch."

Before proceeding to Raj Bhavan, he visited AKG Centre, the headquarters of CPI(M)'s office. Hundreds of party workers, who had come from various parts of the state, especially from Kannur and Kasaragod districts in north Kerala, cheered him as he left for the Raj Bhavan.

72-year-old Vijayan, son of a toddy tapper, will be sworn in as 12th Chief Minister of Kerala at a function at the Central Stadium at 4 pm.

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony which is expected to be attended by CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat and people from all walks of life, including thousands of party workers.

In the 16 May Assembly polls, the CPI(M)-led LDF had been voted to power by winning 91 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly by drubbing the Congress led UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy which could manage only 47 MLAs. BJP and independents won one seats each.
It has been a long wait for Kerala's chief minister in-waiting Pinarayi Vijayan. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) winning 91 of the 140-member Kerala Assembly seats was not enough, Vijayan had to race ahead of his arch rival and CPM veteran VS Achuthanandan for the top post in Kerala politics. On Wednesday, Vijayan will be sworn-in as the chief minister of Kerala, along with his team of 18 cabinet ministers.

Elaborate arrangements has been made for the ceremony, though it might not match up to the style and grandeur of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's swearing-in ceremony. Around 35,000 people are expected to attend the event, which is being held at Central stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Security has been beefed in the city, reported The Deccan Chronicle. Whether its red gerberas or roses, the red colour will dominate the occasion, marking the return of the Left government in Kerala. The CPM General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury and politburo member, Prakash Karat, will attend the swearing-in ceremony. According to Manorama Online, Malayalam superstar Mammootty is expected to attend the ceremony.

The 72-year-old leader, who was the CPM state secretary till last year, is known for his organisational skills. He had a short stint as the state's power minister during 1996-1998. His political career, however, took a backseat when he was accused of giving contract to a Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for modernisation of three hydel projects. The Lavlin scam still remains the biggest corruption scandal ever against CPM in Kerala. The CBI court later dismissed the charges against Vijayan, but politically it took him time to recover from it.

Vijayan is often described as a leader "with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala"; his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line. In fact, in the run up to the assembly election, Vijayan tried to soften his austere image and sported a smile whenever he appeared on television and interacted with people. He even engaged with the electorate through social media forums.

While VS Achuthanandan is considered to be a mass leader, Vijayan has the support of the party cadres. Despite Vijayan's hold over the party, for a long time it was firebrand leader Achuthanandan who remained the face of the CPM in Kerala. Vijayan was suspended from the politburo in 2007 along with Achuthanandan after the two openly criticised each other through the media. Later they were reinstated in the politburo. However, Achuthanandan was again dropped from the highest party body for breaching party discipline.

Achuthanandan is close to Yechury and his Bengal lobby in the CPM, while Vijayan has been an open supporter of Karat. A day after the election results were announced, Yechury announced that the party favoured Vijayan as the chief minister of Kerala. Though Achuthanandan fostered hope of taking the post of the chief minister once again, Yechury rejected the idea amid pressure from the Karat group.

It's truce now for the two leaders. Achuthanandan had stated that he will continue to be the sentinel to guard the interests of the public in Kerala. A businessmen with close links to the LDF told Firstpost that if Vijayan is the CM, VS wont let him do his work, and if VS is the CM Vijayan wont let him do his work.

The Vijayan cabinet will have 19 members (including the chief minister) and the CPM will have 12 berths, the CPI four and three other LDF constituents - the JD(S), the NCP and the Congress (S) would get one each.

The CPM named have its ministers, including three  Thomas Issac, AK Balan and G Sudhakaran  who were ministers in the VS Achuthanandan cabinet (2006-11), while new faces are EP Jayarajan, KK Shailaja, AC Moideen, Kadakampally Surendran, TP Ramakrishnan, C Raveendranath, J Mercykutty Amma and KT Jaleel (who won as a CPM-backed Independent).

"This will be a people's government and will function for the welfare of the people. There will be no caste, religious and political barriers and we will function with that spirit," Vijayan said while addressing his first press meet after being elevated as chief minister-designate of the new government.

"Everyone has the right in this government and society should understand that if people turn their back, democratic process will not be complete. It is the people's cooperation that strengthens democracy," he said, asserting that government will function for justice, brotherhood, prosperity and growth.

On the new government's stand on corruption, Vijayan said, "There is corruption at various levels. It has come to my notice that some people are going round saying they are 'CM's men'. Perhaps they do not know my way of functioning. Such type of people should be kept at bay and we need to be careful."

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday named Samajwadi Party as its main rival in the next year's assembly election in Uttar Pradesh even as he exuded confidence that his party will form the government in the key state.

Shah also rejected the contention that the party was on a sticky wicket in Gujarat following the violent Patidar quota agitation, claiming that it will win a two-thirds majority in the state, where polls are due next year end.

He dismissed reports that the BJP brass was mulling over removing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and said the party

had not discussed the issue.

In an interaction with journalists, he said it had not been decided yet whether to name a chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh, a tactic it successfully deployed in Assam, saying all states are different.

"It is certain that BJP will get a majority in Uttar Pradesh," he said, adding the party had a strong base in the state where it won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.

His strong expectation from UP was not linked to the party's win in Assam, Shah said, adding the key Hindi

heartland state was "easy" even before the polls in the northeastern state.

Asked about the party's election agenda for Uttar Pradesh, Shah said development would be the top priority as the entire state was in a "mess" from "top to bottom" under Samajwadi Party's "misrule".

Shah said he considered SP as the BJP's main adversary because of its larger support base than Mayawati's BSP. The

saffron outfit has been trying to wean away Dalit votes from Mayawati-led BSP.

To a query whether he was under pressure to deliver UP to the party, he said "There is always pressure for me".

Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's plan to contest the UP polls, he said if Nitish factor worked, it

would only benefit BJP. He was apparently referring to the split of secular votes the presence of Kumar's JD(U) in the electoral fray could cause.

Shah, who led party to victory in several states but under whom BJP suffered massive losses in Delhi and Bihar, also rejected the contention that it was at a disadvantage in Uttarakhand following its failed bid to topple the Harish Rawat government.

"There is a massive anti-incumbency wave in the state. We will come to power whenever polls are held," he asserted.

The hill state will go to the polls with Uttar Pradesh next year.

Asked about the likely reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers, he said it would happen whenever it has to.

Shah parried a question about whether Ram temple will be a poll issue for BJP in the UP polls, saying it has been in the party's manifesto and the party wanted a resolution based on either consensus or court's verdict.

The party is holding its national executive in Allahabad on 12-13 June and he would be going to the state three times before that, Shah said, underlining UP's priority in his scheme of things.

He also made light of questions about AAP gaining in strength in Punjab, where polls are due early next year,

saying he had heard so only through media and was yet to make an independent assessment.

"Punjab is not Delhi. Mass base matters," he said, suggesting Arvind Kejriwal's party's lack of roots in the

state would go against it.

Asked if BJP agreed with party MP Subramanian Swamy's aggressive stand on a host of issues, including his recent

demand that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan be sacked, Shah said, "What I say is the party's line."

Commenting on the recent assembly elections, he said he was "happiest" about Kerala results as the party-led alliance had bagged 15 percent votes and noted that before BJP formed its governments in Gujarat and Karnataka for the first time it had hardly polled 11-12 percent votes.

On being asked about BJP's mission of 'Congress-mukt Bharat', Shah said the slogan is often "misinterpreted".

The BJP chief said the Congress party stood for "sacrificing" national interest for its "selfish" gains and for "misgovernance" and getting rid of this is what he meant by "Congress-mukt Bharat".

If Congress loses everywhere, it is good for BJP, he said.
Kolkata: A senior Congress leader in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu of "influencing" the election results in an assembly constituency where a BJP candidate got elected.

Referring to the Kharagpur (Sadar) seat in West Midnapore district, from where state BJP president Dilip Ghosh emerged winner, former Bengal minister Manas Bhunia said Prabhu had done the "manipulation" during his visit to the railway town.

"Prabhu came here and manipulated the railway officers, staff, contractors and the administration," Bhunia, an ex state Congress president, told IANS.

Ghosh pulled off a surprise victory, getting the better of nonagenarian Congress candidate Gyan Singh Sohanpal, who had won ten terms from the constituency, and was undefeated since 1982.

Bhunia termed Sohanpal's defeat as "unfortunate" from the railway town.

Kharagpur is a bustling divisional headquarters under the South Eastern Railway.

Bhunia claimed that lack of time was a major reason for the Congress-Left Front alliance in the state coming a cropper in the polls.

"The LF and the Congress have conflicting political ideology. But we did not get enough time for proper assimilation and synchronisation to ensure reciprocal transfer of votes," he said.

Although Bhunia himself retained his seat from Sabang, the LF-Congress could secure only 77 seats (Congress 44, Left Front 32 and an independent backed by the alliance). The Trinamool Congress emerged victorious by capturing 211 seats in the 294-member assembly.

However, Bhunia said an in-depth study and analysis was needed to comprehensively identify the reasons for the debacle.

But the Congress leader did not buy the argument by a section of the Left that the Congress failed to transfer its votes as per expectation to the Left candidates in some of the constituencies.

"Congress also has the same allegation against them," Bhunia said.

He said the future of the alliance would depend on the decisions by the Left and the Congress, both at the national and state level.

Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress for striking an "under the table deal" Bhunia said: "Seven per cent votes of the BJP went to the Trinamool, through scientific manipulation of transfer of votes by the RSS machinery."
In many premier institutions girls outnumber boys. They account for more than 60 per cent of students in several courses of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Indian Institute of Mass Communication follows a similar pattern. This is more or less the trend in higher education at the national level. Things are looking up in the states too. A Union government study shows that the count of girl students is increasing in southern states of India, whereas in states like Bihar and Jharkhand they have some ground to cover to match the boys.

While more girls are getting educated, only a few of them are making it to the top after getting into professions. Academia is a case in point. Here the data not only surprises, but frightens. A study shows that there are only 13 women vice-chancellors in India, 6 of which are so in women universities. Forty universities are directly under the central government and there are only two women vice-chancellors in these institutions.

If only three percent of all vice-chancellors are women then there ought to be questions raised on the selection process. After talking to various stake holders it emerges that there may be a deep rooted perception among the selectors that women professors lack the administrative capability to run highest seats of learning. Though we don't know for sure, but it can be argued that these positions are mostly political in nature and reaching these positions needs certain manipulative skills which women professors don't seem to possess. There may be gender bias in the composition of the selection committees and that might result in the bias against the women.

According to UGC norms, the eligibility to become vice-chancellor requires at least 10 years of experience as a professor. Data shows that only a few women university teachers reach that level. Despite a good number of women becoming lecturers, very few of them make it as HoDs and deans. In state universities state norms are applied. In some of them administrative services officers are given additional charge of vice-chancellor. But do they do justice to the additional charge?

In central universities vice-chancellors are appointed for five-year tenures. Thus for five years, they are the principal academic and executive officer of the university. Cant a women shoulder this responsibility efficiently? There can be no doubt about a woman's leadership and administrative capabilities. They have proved to be excellent teachers and outstanding administrators. There must be something in our system that keeps women distant from higher academic posts.

If we look at the data for Indian universities, there are 87,262 male professors and 29,285 women professors. There are 1,24,631 male associate professors whereas only 63,965 women associate professors, almost half in number. At the position of assistant professor there are 5,71,828 men and 3,74,349 women. As the numbers suggest, as we go to the upper rungs of the ladder, we find lesser number of women. What can be done to remove this glass ceiling?

The state of affairs and perception about womens administrative abilities need to change. Vice-chancellor is the highest position in a university, and it also mirrors governments views on women. We need to have a balanced picture.

The recent statement of the HRD minister Smriti Irani in the science congress is also indicative of the same social malady that all family responsibility is dumped on women only. A male academicians only concern is career but women academicians don't have the same luxury as they have to juggle workplace and home. Most of the time the child-rearing responsibility is not shared in equal measure with the husband, as a result of which a woman lags behind in career growth. Our society isn't liberal enough to compensate a woman for the lost time and opportunity. When it comes to research or scientific pursuits, a woman often ends up sacrificing her career.

A welcome step has been taken by the HRD minister recently to encourage women and the differently-abled to pursue research. UGC has relaxed norms allowing students eight years instead of the present six to complete Ph.D and three years instead of two to complete the M.Phil degree. In addition, she has increased maternity, child care leave up to 240 days for women candidates.

As HRD ministry is more sensitive to gender issues now, this seems to be the time some corrective measures will fill the gap at the top level of the academia.
Kabul: The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike.

The surprise announcement coincided with a Taliban suicide bombing that targeted court employees near Kabul, killing 11 people in an assault that illustrated the potency of the insurgency despite the change of leadership.

Akhundzada, formerly one of Mansour's deputies, faces the enormous challenge of unifying an increasingly fragmented militant movement while it remains unclear whether he will emulate Mansour in shunning peace talks with the Afghan government.

"Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the Shura (supreme council), and all the members of Shura pledged allegiance to him," the insurgents said in a statement.

It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies. Analysts had previously seen them as the most likely candidates for the leadership.

"The leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and commander of faithful, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was martyred in a US drone strike in... Pakistan's Balochistan province," the statement said, in the insurgents' first confirmation of his death.

Before his killing, Mansour had written a will handpicking Akhundzada to be his successor, Taliban sources told AFP, in an apparent bid to lend legitimacy to his appointment.

US President Barack Obama, who authorised the drone strikes, had confirmed the death Monday.

He said Mansour had rejected efforts "to seriously engage in peace talks", asserting that direct negotiations with the Afghan government were the only way to end the attritional conflict.

"The new leader's appointment is a good opportunity for the Taliban to return to peace talks and rebuild their country," Afghan presidential spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal told AFP.

"If they reject peace talks they will face the same fate as Mansour."

But "the status quo remains unchanged" after Akhundzada's appointment, Taliban expert Rahimullah Yousafzai told AFP.

"I don't foresee any shift from Mansour's policies. He is unlikely to negotiate peace with the Afghan government."

- 'Moral supremacy' -

Other observers say Akhundzada, who is from Kandahar, is seen as more of a spiritual figurehead than a military commander.

"Even if he favours peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus within the supreme council" where many vehemently oppose negotiations, said analyst Amir Rana.

"Akhundzada enjoys some moral supremacy within Taliban ranks but he will be more of a symbolic leader than a functional leader," he added.

Rana stressed that his deputies will likely play a more active role, with Haqqani overseeing the military side and Yakoub the political side.

The US killing of Mansour showed that Washington has at least for now abandoned hopes of reviving the direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, which broke down last summer.

It marked a significant shift for Washington, highlighting a new willingness to target the group's leaders in Pakistan and risk retaliatory attacks against struggling Afghan security forces.

Saturday's drone attack, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement which had seen a resurgence under Mansour.

He was killed just nine months after being formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon confirmation of founder Mullah Omar's death.

Omar died in 2013, but his death was kept secret for two years, with Mansour issuing statements in his name  a revelation that helped fuel internal opposition and splintered the group into rival factions.

Akhundzada faces a similar challenge in unifying Taliban ranks.

A breakaway faction led by Mullah Rassoul rejected Akhundzada's appointment, saying he was selected inside Pakistan without any broad consultation with field commanders in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to try to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid any fresh air strikes.

The Taliban said Wednesday's suicide attack in Paghman district near Kabul, which the UN condemned as "cowardly", was in revenge for the execution of six Taliban-linked inmates.

The executions earlier this month were approved as part of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's new hardline policy against the insurgents after a brazen Taliban attack in April killed at least 64 people.
Washington: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, top US Senators have expressed deep concern over religious freedom, increasing attack on civil society and human rights in India, with the Obama Administration saying it was having a dialogue with the country on these issues.

"The situation does raise concern about religious freedom in India," Colorado Senator Cory Gardner said during a Congressional hearing on India convened by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, while expressing his concern on recent incidents of religious intolerance when artists returned their awards, said he is hoping to raise this issue with Prime Minister Modi when he travels to Washington DC next month.

Describing the anti-conversion laws in some states as problematic, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, a Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concern over religious freedom in India.

Some of the members also raised the issue of denying visas to the members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Agreeing with the concerns of the Senators, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal said while the Obama Administration has been raising these issues and concerns at the highest level and is having a dialogue with India on this issue, it is the vibrant civil society of India which is itself the most robust and string voice on this.

"There has been fairly vigorous and vociferous debate within India with respect to religious freedom and religious tolerance," Biswal said, adding that there is no more robust voice than the voice of the Indian people that is taking up these issues with increasing vigour and public debate.

"It is on the headlines of Indian newspapers that you are seeing a very active engagement on this issue. I think, these are issues, these are values that we hold very dear, that we bring into the conversation. But we try to do it in a constructive way possible to not take away the fact that these are issues that Indian must grapple with and get right for their own country, for their own democracy, for their own society," Biswal said in response to a question.

"And that we in the United States have experiences to share, lessons to share, best practices to share. But we seek to do that in a way that respects and honours the fact that this democracy has a very vibrant and a very vocal civil society and media and political party system that is also trying to get this right," she said.

Cardin alleged that India has inconsistent record in the manner in which they treat women and girls.

"So tell us the progress being made in dealing with slavery in our relationship with India. This is democratically, a friend. Are we being candid with them with regard to trafficking," he asked.

"Absolutely we are being candid. It's an issue of Indian capacity to address the very large," Biswal said, adding that there is increasing awareness in commitment at the national level to try to deal with these issues.

"But there is a long way to go. It would be increasingly incumbent upon India to advance the rule of law to all aspect of the society," she added.

Senator Kaine said the heartening aspect of India today has a vibrant civil society that is not shy at all raising these issues.

Citing a recent report of the International Religious Freedom, the Republican Senator said the situation of religious freedom has deteriorated in India.

"One of the concerns that we have raised with our counterparts in India is the regulatory and legal framework that seeks to constrain the activities of the civil society organisations, whether they be Indian or international organisations. This is a continuing area of concern," Biswal said.

Gardner alleged that foreign non-governmental organisations are being harassed by the Indian government.

"It's deeply concerning to me," he said, citing the example of Colorado-based Compassion International.

"In India Compassion International has been sued by the Income Tax four times. Their assets have been seized. They have had their employees and church pastors interrogated for hours by intelligence bureau. Twelve separate visa applications have been denied," Gardner said.

"We are concerned about the attack on civil society within India. They have to be effectively be able to speak. (But) it does not relieve us from developing and working with leaders in India that recognise that these are not western values, these are universal issues that India needs to make progress on," Cardin said.

In a massive country like India it is a huge challenge to deal with issues of uniform capacity and capability to address the rights of every individual citizen, said Biswal in response to concerns being expressed by the Senators.

"We do think that there is a lot more that can and should be done to address issues of trafficking and child labour," she said.

"In all of our interactions, we raise issues particularly if we have specific instances or cases of concern to seek Indian responses and actions," she added.

"India has 12-14 million slaves. There are 27 million slaves in the world. How does a country like this has 12-14 million slave in the year 2016? How does that happen?" Senator Bob Corker Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee asked.

Responding to a question on denying visa to members of USCIRF, Biswal said the Administration has tried to impress the Indian government to provide them with visas.

She also noted that the successive Indian governments have denied the visa.
Seoul: Ban Ki-Moon was due to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday for a six-day visit that has fuelled speculation the UN chief is lining up a tilt at the presidency of his home country.

Ban's schedule involves a number of international forums, including the UN NGO conference in the southern city of Gyeongju.

While he is not expected to hold any formal talks with political officials during his trip, it is his political future that has been the main topic of media coverage in the run-up to his arrival. The soft-spoken 71-year-old will step down from the post of UN Secretary General at the end of the year  12 months before South Korea's presidential election in December 2017.

The ruling conservative Saenuri party, which suffered a shock defeat in parliamentary polls in April, has made it clear it would welcome Ban as its candidate.

Ban enjoys high popularity ratings in South Korea, which has taken substantial national pride from his position as head of the United Nations.

Speculation over his political ambitions has been making the rounds for years, but Ban has studiously declined to comment, saying only that he is focused on the remainder of his term as secretary general.

Saenuri party officials have been less circumspect.

"The UN Secretary General is the world's president, and Ban is so experienced and well-connected with all the world's leaders after serving in the top UN job for 10 years," Saenuri Party lawmaker Ahn Hong-Joon said in a radio interview today.

"Now it's time for South Korea to put him to good use," Ahn said.

Not everyone is similarly enamoured with the prospect of a Ban presidency, with some critics suggesting his connections would throw up conflicts of interest.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon, seen as a possible liberal candidate in 2017, said Ban should recuse himself from politics for several years after leaving the UN.

"A UN chief can access a slew of confidential information about many countries and I think one can unfairly take advantage of the information when serving a particular country," Park said in a radio interview today.

A career diplomat, Ban never joined a South Korean political party, although he served as foreign minister under the late liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun from 2004 to 2006.
BRUSSELS Belgian police searched houses in the city of Antwerp on Wednesday and detained four people on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group and trying to drum up recruits to fight with Islamist militants in Syria or Libya, state prosecutors said.

Two were formally arrested while the other two were given a conditional release.

"They are suspected of trying to recruit individuals to travel to conflict zones in Syria or Libya," a prosecutors' statement said.

It said no weapons or explosives were found in the house searches and there was no apparent link with the March 22 suicide bombings at the international airport and on the metro in Brussels which killed 31 people.

But it said some of the four planned to join the Islamic State militant group and a preliminary investigation showed they may also have been planning attacks in Belgium.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey A car bomb attack on a gendarmes station in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast killed three members of the security forces and wounded three others on Wednesday, Interior Ministry officials said.

The dead included a soldier and two village guards who belong to a state-backed militia that fights Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels along with soldiers and special police units, security sources said.

The attack occurred in the village of Anitli in Mardin province, which borders Syria.

The PKK has waged a 31-year campaign for greater autonomy in the region. The conflict reignited in July after a ceasefire and peace process spearheaded by President Tayyip Erdogan collapsed.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers, police and militants have been killed in the latest spasm of violence.

(Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan and Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
United Nations: Seeking to internationalise the issue of India's proposed maps bill, Pakistan has said depiction of the "disputed territory" of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India in the bill is in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and is "factually incorrect and morally unacceptable."

Pakistan had last week sought UN intervention on the draft bill in the Indian Parliament over the map of Kashmir, with its ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi writing to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President for the month, Abdellatif Aboulatta of Egypt.

In the letter, released to the media by the UN on Tuesday, Lodhi referred to India's draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016 and said Pakistan has "serious concerns" over the bill.

"However, in violation of UNSC resolutions and international law, the official map of India has been depicting the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir as a part of India which is factually incorrect, legally untenable and morally unacceptable. Sadly, the international community and the United Nations have failed to take notice of this Indian action," Lodhi said in the letter.

Lodhi said in the letter that the international community should "honour" its responsibility to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"More than 65 years later, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are still waiting for the international community and the United Nations to fulfil their commitments by holding an independent and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices.

"Failure on the part of the UN to ensure the sanctity of UN resolutions has resulted in blatant violations of international law as well as human rights abuses of the Kashmiri people. The Indian government has been using force as state policy, which has been exacerbating the situation. In view of this, the UN should intervene to uphold UNSC resolutions and urge India to stop such acts which are in violation of international law," she said.

India had reacted strongly to Pakistan seeking UN intervention on the Indian draft bill on map, saying it was an "entirely internal legislative matter" and Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi on it.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said that India "firmly rejects" repeated and increasing attempts by Pakistan to impose on the international community matters that it has always been open to address bilaterally with it.

"The Government firmly rejects Pakistan's repeated and increasing attempts to impose on the international community matters that India has always been open to address bilaterally with Pakistan," Swarup had said in response to a question on Pakistan Foreign Office press release on India's Geospatial Bill.

Lodhi cited UNSC resolutions, saying the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the "will of the people, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations."

She said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a "UN declared and internationally accepted disputed territory".
Olympia: Facing no active opposition, Donald Trump on Wednesday cruised to victory in the Washington state primary and was just one step away from clinching the Republican presidential nomination to set up a likely clash with Hillary Clinton in the November polls.

The win in Washington state where he received 76.2 per cent of the total votes polled brought him less than 10 delegates shy of clinching the nomination.

The victory -- winning at least 40 of Washington's delegates -- means 69-year-old Trump now has 1,229 of the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the GOP nomination, according to CNN estimates.

Four more Washington delegates are still to be decided, potentially boosting the real estate tycoon's total even higher.

In the primary, Trump garnered over 76 per cent of the vote as Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich each earned 10 per cent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson earned 4 per cent of the vote.

Washington did not have enough delegates to put him over the line. However, its results do leave him inches short of it with a slate of contests on June 7 in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota sure to seal the deal.

"Thank You Washington," Trump tweeted after major news channels projected his win in the state.

Trump's victory, however, was overshadowed by the clashes between anti-Trump protesters and police outside his event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Protesters broke through police barricades, lit fires and threw rocks at the city's convention centre, smashing one door. Some taunted police and jumped on police vehicles.

Officers in riot gear and on police horses moved the protesters away from the convention centre as anti-Trump chants rang through the city's streets.

Trump is the only Republican candidate left in the race to the White House from the Republican party, which was crowded with as many as 17 candidates at the start of the primary season early this year.

On the other hand, the race to the White House in the Democratic party which had just three candidates at the start of this year, is still open.

While 68-year-old Clinton is likely to clinch the nomination because of the lead she has in delegate count, her opponent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont has refused to call off the race till the last vote in the primary election is cast.

Campaigning in California, Sanders told his supporters that he would not let Trump become the US President.

Sanders' campaign on Tuesday released a new television spot that will run in California ahead of the state's 7 June primary election.
DHAKA Islamic State claimed responsibility for stabbing an elderly Hindu businessman to death in Bangladesh, monitoring service SITE said on Wednesday, in what would be the second killing by the militant group in the country in less than a week.

The Muslim-majority South Asian nation has witnessed a surge in Islamist violence in the past year in which members of religious minorities, liberal activists, academics and foreign aid workers have been killed.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe trader, was found hacked to death in his shop on Wednesday in the northwestern rural district of Gaibandha, police said.

Police found his body lying in pool of blood, police official Mozammel Haque said.

"The attackers slashed his throat with sharp weapons leaving him dead on the spot," he said, adding that one person had been picked up for questioning.

Islamic State claimed the killing of a village doctor on Friday.

The government has denied that Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in the country of 160 million and says home-grown Islamists are responsible for the wave of attacks.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told Reuters in an interview published earlier on Wednesday that Islamic State was trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming killings, adding there was enough evidence implicating domestic militant groups.

Since February last year, at least 27 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher and two gay right campaigners, have died in attacks linked to militant groups.

Islamic State has claimed 18 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and Al Qaeda most of the rest, according to SITE.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; editing by John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Tokyo: Survivors of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima will be present when US President Barack Obama lays a wreath at ground zero, reports said on Wednesday.

Former United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese will also attend the event, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, with US officials hoping their presence will remove any impression it is an apology.

Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front of a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims on Friday, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the city.

Earlier, he told Japanese television he will not say sorry for the bombing.

American airmen launched the world's first atomic strike when they bombed Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945, causing deaths of about 140,000 people.

Tens of thousands were killed by the fireball that the powerful nuclear blast generated, with many more succumbing to injuries or illnesses caused by radiation in the weeks, months and years afterwards.

The southern city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb three days later, killing 74,000 people, in one of the final acts of World War II.

The speed, circumstances and repercussions of then US president Harry Truman's decision remain contentious. In Japan, perhaps a majority believe the mass bombing of civilians was unnecessary and may even have been a crime.

Many Americans believe that it avoided an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan toward the end of World War II.

On Tuesday, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui met with Abe and demanded that Obama meet with atomic bomb victims, newspaper reports said.

"If victims and the president meet face to face, he may be able to understand the feelings of the victims," Matsui told reporters after his meeting with Abe, the Yomiuri reported.

Obama is due to arrive in Japan later on Wednesday for a meeting of the Group of Seven industrial powers, which begins on Thursday.

Obama will likely have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday , top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.
ISE-SHIMA, Japan Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the killing of a young woman in Okinawa which has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island.

Obama, joining Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit, expressed regrets over the killing for which a U.S. base worker has been charged.

"As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday.

"I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said.

Obama, arriving from a visit to Vietnam, told a joint news conference after his meeting with Abe: "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets...The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system."

Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden.

Many also associate the bases with crime, pollution and noise. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations.

Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely.

Obama is also set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit.

Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by.

"I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy," Abe told reporters earlier.

The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters.

With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country's own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.

Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations.

The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Thomas Wilson, Ami Miyazaki, Kylie Maclellan, Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Linda Sieg and William Mallard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ralph Boulton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Australia: A war of words between Johnny Depp and an Australian minister reignited Wednesday with Barnaby Joyce claiming he was the Hollywood star's Hannibal Lecter after being told he looked as if he was "inbred with a tomato".

The pair have been at loggerheads since Depp's wife Amber Heard failed to declare the couple's two dogs when they arrived in Queensland state a year ago.

Joyce, who is deputy prime minister and agriculture minister, threatened to have Pistol and Boo put down unless they "buggered off back to the United States" for breaking Australia's strict quarantine laws.

Actress-model Heard last month pleaded guilty to falsifying her immigration arrivals card and was placed on a $720 one-month good behaviour bond.

The couple also released an awkward video apologising for their actions, with Joyce mocking Depp as looking like "he was auditioning for the Godfather". The apology was posted on YouTube by the department of agriculture and has been viewed almost five million times.

Depp hit back on Tuesday evening, telling US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that Joyce "looks somehow like (he's) inbred with a tomato".

"I'm just saying. I mean, it's not a criticism. I was a little worried... he might explode," he added.

Joyce struck back with some choice words of his own.

"I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter, I'm inside his head, I'm pulling strings and levers. Long after I've forgotten Mr Depp, he is remembering me," he told reporters on the campaign trail near Tamworth in New South Wales state.

He added, "Keep on advertising me Johnny. The Australian people know we did the right thing. When I walk around the streets of Tamworth or the streets of Bundaberg or Martin Place in Sydney, whether they like me or not, they say, well, we don't completely like you but you were right on that one. We can't have rabies coming into the country. Who does the fella think he was?"
Kathmandu: Nepal's Madhes-based parties, which have been agitating for nearly a year demanding better representation in parliament and the administrative divisions envisaged in the new constitution, on Tuesday boycotted an all-party meeting called by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.

The Prime Minister called the all-party meeting to negotiate a settlement of all the contemporary as well as constitutional issues, the Prime Minister's press adviser Pramod Dahal told Xinhua News Agency.

"The Madhes-based parties did not join today's (Tuesday) meeting, but the government still hopes that the agitating parties will sit for the dialogue," he said.

Noting that the Prime Minister wrote a six-point letter to the Madhes-based parties on Monday calling them to sit down for talks, the adviser said the prime minister was making all efforts to address the genuine demands of Madhes-based parties through political and peaceful means.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Oli said he is sincere about addressing the genuine concerns raised by the Madhes-based parties and finding a way out from the ongoing political impasse in the country, according to Dahal.

"The government is flexible and positive about addressing the genuine demands of the Madhes-based parties. The prime minister wrote a letter to Madhes-based parties on Monday requesting them to have a fresh round of dialogue. We hope the agitating parties will soon join the negotiations," said Agni Kharel, law minister and the government spokesperson.

The opposition party urged the prime minister to create a conducive environment to sort out pending issues raised by the Madhes-based parties.

"Today's meeting did not yield any positive results as the Madhes-based parties shunned the meeting. We have urged the government to create a conducive environment to invite the agitating parties for talks and resolve the turmoil," Nepali Congress leader Mahesh Acharya said.

Rajendra Mahato, a leader of the agitating alliance, on Tuesday told the local media: "We have received the letter sent from the prime minister. We have taken it very positively."

The Madhes-based parties and fringe ethnic groups claim that the constitution is discriminatory and does not ensure adequate political autonomy to them.
ANAHEIM, Calif. Protesters at a rally in Southern California held by Donald Trump on Wednesday carried signs saying "Stop Nazi Trump" and "Make America Hate Again," as a large police presence stood by a day after a Trump event in New Mexico erupted into chaos.

Police outnumbered the 100 demonstrators outside the convention center where Trump was speaking. Many were unhappy about Trump's views on Hispanic immigrants and ripped apart a pinata resembling Trump and placed the paper mache head on top of a flag pole with a large Mexican flag.

Police had warned they would take "swift" action if protests at the event, in Anaheim, escalated. About 100 police officers stood watch behind metal barricades and another 50 sheriffs deputies lined up along the convention center.

Inside, Trump was disrupted by protesters as he spoke, including one who waved a Mexican flag.

"Do not hurt him," Trump said as a man was led out of the arena. "I say that for the television cameras. Even though he is a bad person."

Trump's appearances in the U.S. West in areas with significant Hispanic populations have drawn large protests - such as Tuesday night's violence in Albuquerque, where rock-throwing demonstrators were arrested. Trump's remarks that Mexico is sending criminals and rapists to the United States, made when he launched his campaign last year, have been a lightning rod for protesters.

Trump's problems with Latino voters could dampen his Nov. 8 election hopes. A poll by the political research group Latino Decisions found 87 percent of registered Hispanic voters view Trump unfavorably. States like Nevada and New Mexico have growing Hispanic populations that could tip the election.

Trump's trip west came ahead of the California and New Mexico nominating contests on June 7. Trump also planned to hold several large fundraising events while in California. It is the first high-dollar fundraising event the New York real estate mogul has held after largely self-funding his primary campaign.

Mike McGetrick, one of two people carrying "Latinos for Trump" signs at the Anaheim rally, said he is part of a group called America First Latinos, whose website describes its members as believing in "the rule of law, hard work and the American Dream." He said his neighborhood in nearby Orange is "being overrun" by undocumented immigrants.

"There are so many of them, and theyre everywhere," said McGetrick, 62, a retired city worker. "I can tell an illegal from a regular person just like that."

Supporters of the presumptive Republican nominee have been hopeful that his likely opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, will be dogged by her own problems to offset his difficulty with some populations. On Wednesday, Clinton faced renewed criticism about her use of a private email server while secretary of state after a report by the State Department's inspector general said she had violated agency policies.

Trump only briefly addressed the report in his appearance in Anaheim.

"Not good," he said. "Inspector generals report, not good."

"CRIMINALS!"

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Trump called the protesters in Albuquerque "thugs who were flying the Mexican flag."

"The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!" he said.

Trump headed next to Anaheim, which is about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Los Angeles. At the city's 7,500-seat convention center, authorities boosted staffing levels, deployed officers on motorcycles to control traffic and urged attendees to be on their best behavior, Anaheim Police Sergeant Daron Wyatt said.

"We respect the rights of everyone to protest and get their word out," Wyatt said, adding they must do so "peacefully and within the confines of the law."

City officials said they were prepared for Trump's appearance.

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said, "Everyone has the right to participate without fear of violence or disorder and we are prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action should it become necessary."

On Tuesday night, hundreds of protesters tried to swarm the convention center in Albuquerque where Trump spoke, knocking down barricades, waving Mexican flags and hurling rocks and bottles at police officers in riot gear. Police responded with smoke bombs and pepper spray.

Police said they made arrests both outside and inside the rally, where protesters continually interrupted Trump's speech. The police department's Twitter feed said officers were treated for injuries caused by thrown rocks.

(Reporting by Megan Cassella, Suzannah Gonzales, Emily Stephenson, Amy Tennery, Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Writing by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Bill Trott and Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
ANAHEIM, Calif. Police in Anaheim, California, warned they would take "swift and decisive enforcement action" if protesters get out of hand at a Donald Trump rally on Wednesday, a day after a violence broke out at the Republican presidential candidate's campaign event in New Mexico.

Trump's appearances in the U.S. West in areas with significant Hispanic populations have drawn large protests - such as Tuesday's violence in Albuquerque, where rock-throwing demonstrators were arrested - because of his remarks that Mexico is sending criminals and rapists to the United States.

Trump's problems with Latino communities could dampen his Nov. 8 election hopes. A poll by the political research group Latino Decisions found 87 percent of registered Hispanic voters view Trump unfavourably and states like Nevada and New Mexico have growing Hispanic populations that could tip the election.

Mike McGetrick, one of two people carrying "Latinos for Trump" signs at the Anaheim rally, said he is part of a group called America First Latinos. He said his neighbourhood in nearby Orange is "being overrun" by undocumented immigrants.

"There are so many of them, and theyre everywhere," said McGetrick, 62, a retired city worker. "I can tell an illegal from a regular person just like that."

Supporters of the presumptive Republican nominee have been hopeful that his likely opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, will be dogged by her own problems to offset his difficulty with some populations. On Wednesday, Clinton faced renewed criticism about her use of a private email server after an inspector general report cited her for violating agency policies.

California and New Mexico both hold primary elections on June 7 and on Tuesday night, hundreds of protesters tried to swarm the convention centre in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Trump spoke, knocking down barricades, waving Mexican flags and hurling rocks and bottles at police officers in riot gear. Police responded with smoke bombs and pepper spray.

Police said they made arrests both outside and inside the rally, where protesters continually interrupted the billionaire New York developer's speech. The police department's Twitter feed said officers were treated for injuries caused by thrown rocks.

"CRIMINALS!"

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Trump called the protesters "thugs who were flying the Mexican flag."

"The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!" he said.

Trump is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) in Anaheim, a city about 25 miles (40 km) from Los Angeles. At the city's 7,500-seat convention centre, authorities boosted staffing levels, deployed officers on motorcycles to control traffic and urged attendees to be on their best behaviour, Anaheim Police Sergeant Daron Wyatt said.

"We respect the rights of everyone to protest and get their word out," Wyatt said, adding they must do so "peacefully and within the confines of the law."

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said, "Everyone has the right to participate without fear of violence or disorder and we are prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action should it become necessary."

Previous Trump appearances in the area have been marked by disruptions. Seventeen people were arrested last month at a Trump rally in Costa Mesa, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Anaheim, media reports said, after protesters blocked traffic and threw rocks and debris at motorists and police.

Despite Trump securing the Republican nomination and beginning to build a consensus within his party, his trip west also has revealed the continued divisions within his own party.

While speaking in New Mexico, he criticized the state's Republican governor, Susana Martinez, by saying, "Shes not doing her job."

Martinez has not endorsed Trump and has said she will continue to press him on how he will help her state.

"The potshots werent about policy, they were about politics," Martinez's office said in a statement in response to Trump. "... Governor Martinez doesnt care about what Donald Trump says about her  she cares about what he says he will do to help New Mexicans. Shes disappointed that she didnt hear anything about that last night."

(Reporting by Megan Cassella, Suzannah Gonzales, Emily Stephenson and Steve Gorman; Writing by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: Protesters lit fires, smashed a door and threw rocks outside a Donald Trump rally on Tuesday night in the state of New Mexico  the latest scuffle to follow the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign.

The scene outside Albuquerque's convention centre was chaotic as police ushered protesters away from Trump's event and into the nearby streets, CNN reported.

The protesters had broken a glass door to the convention centre. Some taunted police and jumped on police vehicles as officers in riot gear and on police horses moved them away from the convention centre's exits.

Trump had already left the event.

The scene was reminiscent of the violence between Trump supporters and protesters in Chicago in March.

This time, though, police kept protesters and Trump supporters apart, and did not arrest or clash with the protesters.

Despite initial word of gunshots, Albuquerque's police department said on Twitter that there was "no confirmation" of gunshots.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun," the department tweeted.

Inside Trump's event, protesters disrupted him sporadically. At least three were forcefully removed by police after they refused to leave.

A group of a dozen protesters in the grandstands around the stage where Trump spoke unfurled banners that read 'Undocumented Unafraid' and 'We've heard enough'. Another banner accused Trump of being a fascist.
COLOMBO Sri Lanka will set up an office to independently investigate the cases of thousands of missing people, the government said on Wednesday, in a move to address alleged human rights violations during its long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels.

The UN Human Rights Commission last year urged the government to probe disappearances including of people who were alleged to have been secretly abducted by state-backed groups and para military during the 26-year conflict which ended seven years ago.

Sri Lanka agreed last year to establish a credible judicial process involving foreign judges and prosecutors to investigate alleged war crimes during the conflict with Tamil rebels, in line with United Nations recommendations.

The move is a first step to dealing with conflict-related grievances, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Legislation will soon be presented to parliament to make that commitment a reality," it said.

Tamil groups did not respond to calls for comment from Reuters.

The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) will help thousands of families of missing persons across Sri Lanka to discover the fate of their loved ones, and the circumstances under which they went missing, the foreign ministry said.

The OMP will have investigative powers and will probe people who went missing in the conflict and political unrest including "enforced" disappearances.

"This is extremely positive. But the challenge in the future is to ensure the law is implemented and educate the public and bureaucracy to cooperate the process," said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council, an independent advocacy group.

"No commissions have given the answer to what happened to the disappeared people. This office should tell the relatives of the missing people what exactly happened to them."

Juan E. Mendez, a U.N. human right expert said this month that estimates of missing ranged from 16,000 to 22,000 pending cases of missing persons from the time of the conflict and its immediate aftermath.

A local investigating commission said in March it had received over 24,000 submissions of missing persons and was still assembling details of them.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government rejected the U.N. recommendations citing it wants to address the human rights concerns without any international pressure. Rajapaksa was unseated in January last year and become an opposition legislator after he lost his prime ministerial bid in August.

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Kabul: A suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul during morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing 10 people, an Afghan official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives' vest as he walked by the vehicle in the western part of the city, said Najib Danish, the Interior Ministry's deputy spokesman.

The attack came as the Taliban named a new leader following the death of their former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a US drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.

The casualties in Wednesday's bombing included both court workers and civilians and the explosion also wounded four people, Danish said.

The minibus belonged to the judiciary department in neighbouring Maidan Wardak province and was taking the workers there when it came under attack, he added.

Within an hour of the assault, the Taliban, who often target government employees in their war against the state, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The claim came from Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, in an email sent to the media.

"This attack was carried out as revenge for the killing of six innocent prisoners in Kabul," the statement said. It was a reference to the hanging early this month at a Kabul prison of six Taliban members convicted of terrorism.

President Ashraf Ghani's office at the time said he had "approved executions of six terrorists who perpetrated grave crimes against civilians and security personnel."

The executions were the first approved by Ghani since he took office in 2014, promising to end the war.

After the hanging, a Taliban statement accusing Kabul and the United States of torture, inhumane treatment and "killings under suspicious circumstances."

The suicide attack in Kabul was the second of its kind on the judiciary this month a judge was gunned down by unknown attackers in Kabul earlier in May.

The last major attack in Kabul was on 19 April, when a massive bomb killed 64 people and wounded hundreds. The Taliban also claimed that bombing.
El Cajon, California: Each night, 18-year-old Ryan Wilcox sleeps under a portrait of himself dressed as Captain America  the pinnacle of human strength and endurance.

The Marvel Comics fan knows a thing or two about those heroic attributes. He is battling cancer for a second time in his life, and so when he recently received some bad news about his prognosis, his schoolmates rallied and called in the Avengers.

On Monday, the 67-pound teen answered his front door and was shocked at what he saw: Iron Man Robert Downey Jr and Captain America Chris Evans had not only put aside their differences on how to save the world, they had teamed up with Iron Man star Gwyneth Paltrow to carry out a mission to lift Wilcox's spirits.

"Hey what's up buddy?" Evans is heard as Wilcox shakes his head, doing a double take in a video taken by Paltrow outside his home in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon. "We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd cruise by."

"Hey guys," says Wilcox, wearing a T-shirt featuring Captain America's shield.

Paltrow, who plays Pepper Potts in the Iron Man films, hugged Wilcox's mom, as the other two stars plopped down on the carpeted living room floor. The celebrities spent an hour at the home, conversing with the teenager, like they were old friends, his mom, Amy Wilcox, said.

"She told me this is a gift from one mom to another mom," Amy Wilcox said. "She knew how happy it would be for me to see Ryan so happy."

Wearing a blue "Stark" hat with Downey's autograph on the bill, Wilcox was still reveling Tuesday in what he described as the best day of his life. He joked how his home was worth a billion dollars now and promised to preserve his game chair, where Downey sat at one point.

"It was really cool hanging out with them. That really picked me up," said Wilcox, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm going to get through this."

Captain America has been a symbol of strength for Wilcox. The film series has kept him going, keeping him distracted as he has undergone chemotherapy and bone marrow treatments during numerous hospital visits.

Wilcox was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer at the age of 16. His mother said the cancer may be the result of chemotherapy treatments he underwent to fight a brain tumor at the age of three.

He had a bone marrow transplant from his 14-year-old sister in April 2015, but he had a relapse in December of that year. In February, he had to leave school because his immune system was too weak, and last month the family was told the treatments are not working so far and his disease is progressing, his mother said.

"Ryan is fighting every single day," she said.

Thousands of students at Grossmont High School held a rally two weeks ago, chanting "Ryan Strong." Scores were dressed in red, white and blue in honor of his favorite superhero. Then a group of students made a plea on Facebook for the cast of Captain America: Civil War to visit Wilcox.

Evans responded within days of the posting with a video message telling Wilcox to "stay strong."

Evans on Monday signed the shield in the portrait of Wilcox dressed as Captain America above his bed. It reads: "Stay strong Brother!! Chris Evans. CAP."

Wilcox said Captain America inspires him because he "never gives up."

"Strength doesn't really come from muscle," Wilcox said, repeating the quote he coined that now is on T-shirts sold to raise funds for his cancer treatment. "It comes from your spirit, and your heart and love."
Washington: The US is hopeful of concluding a key military logistics agreement with India and making progress on other foundational pacts in the defence sector ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington next month, a top American official has said.

"We are hopeful that progress would be made on some of the foundational agreements including the logistics agreement that might be concluded prior to the (US) visit (of Prime Minister) and we are looking to see if there are other things that we can take on board," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on India.

Biswal made the remarks while responding to questions on possibility of signing any security agreements between India and the US during the Prime Minister's visit.

Biswal said after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's recent visit to India, the two countries are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow the armed forces of the two countries to use each other's bases for resupply and repair.

"We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean," she said on Tuesday.

Modi is coming to the US on the invitation of US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the White House on 7 June. He has also been invited by House Speaker Paul Ryan to address a joint session of the Congress.

"We have already strengthened our security cooperation in a number of key fronts and certainly (Defense) Secretary Carter's visit earlier this year was key in advancing many of those things," Biswal said in response to a question from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We are looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation. We just launched the maritime security dialogue. We have undertaken a great a deal of activities in terms of co-production and co-development of various next generation technologies. We are looking to see if there are additional things that we can conclude during the Prime Minister's visit," Biswal said.

In recent years, the United States has become one of India's largest defence suppliers, totalling nearly USD 14 billion and up from less than USD 300 million eight years ago.

These sales include C-130 and C-17 transport planes, Poseidon (P-8) maritime reconnaissance aircraft and Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

The deal for those helicopters was just finalised last September and will support thousands of American jobs, Biswal said.

"These deals not only increase interoperability between our armed forces, they also help buttress the growing economic ties through partnership and cooperation between our nations," Biswal said.

In her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the transformation in defence and strategic ties with India stands as one of the great changes of the past fifteen years.

"India went from seeing Russia as its primary defence partner to diversifying its suppliers, and from a limited defence relationship with the United States to one in which it exercises more with US forces than with any other country," Ayres said.

"India recently participated in this year's Red Flag held in Alaska, took part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) last year, and will do so again this year," she said.

Sadanand Dhume of American Enterprise Institute said despite occasional hiccups, US-India ties have witnessed a steady upward trajectory since the late 1990s.

India conducts more military exercises with the US than with any other country.

Over the past 10 years, total US defence sales to India have grown from USD 300 million to approximately USD 14 billion.

India now has 10 heavy lift C-17s, the largest fleet outside the US, he said.

"Military exercises are also growing in complexity. Last year, Japan joined the US-India Malabar naval exercises as a permanent member. Since 2012, India has also participated in PACOM's Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise," Dhume said.

"Thanks in large part to the efforts of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, the Defence Technology and Trade initiative also shows promise as the two countries move toward co-production and co-development on six projects spanning protective clothing for soldiers to aircraft carriers," Dhume said.
Washington: The US is "watching very closely" India's growing ties with Iran after it recently pledged $500 million for developing the Chabahar port and will see if its legal parameters and requirements are being met, the Obama Administration has told lawmakers.

As of now, there is no military or counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries that could be a cause of concern for the US, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing.

She said the US is "watching very closely" India's relationship with Iran.

"We also track very closely what their economic engagement is and make sure they understand what we believe are legal parameters and requirements," Biswal said.

"With respect to the announcement in the Chabahar port, we have been very clear with the Indians on what we believe are the continuing restrictions on the activities with respect to Iran and what we have done," she said.

She was responding to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Iran visit from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Modi's visit, that saw the signing of a bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port for which India will invest $500 million, came months after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following Tehran's historic nuclear deal with the Western powers over its contentious atomic programme.

"Obviously nothing appears to be in violations of our agreements. But how do we see India as partner in fighting extremism and financing terrorism?" Cardin said as he expressed concerns that India's economic relationship with Iran would further boost Tehran's alleged activities to support various terrorist groups.

She said that India's burgeoning ties with Iran are driven by ever growing energy needs and using the Persian Gulf nation as a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Biswal in her answer said that "they (Indians) have been very responsive and receptive to our briefings, to what we believe the lines are. And we have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place.

"But with respect to India's relationship with Iran, which I do believe is primarily focused on economics and energy issues, we do recognise that from the Indian perspective that Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia."

"For India to be able to contribute to the economic development of Afghanistan, it needs access that it does not readily have across its land boundary. And India is seeking to deepen its energy relationship with the Central Asian countries and looking for routes that would facilitate that.

"That said we have been very clear with the Indians what our security concerns have been and we would continue to engage them on those issues," said the US official.
"It was almost as if Steph overheard": Steph Ewing and Kerry Moss. "The nurses took care of the medical side and personal care with so much gentleness and kindness, so we could just love on her and each other," she said. But a constant anxiety tinged her final days with her daughter. Kerry Moss with her daughter Steph Ewing on her wedding day, nine months before Ms Ewing died of brain cancer. "We had a lot of staff mentioning palliative care was a short-term thing. They kept saying we had a two-week stay. Two weeks was really the maximum," Mrs Moss said.

"I was looking at my daughter who we brought in because we couldn't look after her at home. She had a catheter in and multiple other issues and the prospect of having to leave was terrifying. "It was almost as if Steph overheard, I wouldn't be surprised if she did, the staff say 'she's only got two weeks here'  because she passed away 13 days in," Mrs Moss said. During the past five years, medicare payments for palliative care have jumped almost 80 per cent as the ageing population drives up demand for services, according to a report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released on Wednesday. NSW has the lowest number of palliative care nurses per population of any Australian state or territory. And with fewer than one palliative care physician for every 100,000 people, NSW also fails to meet the minimum recommended number of specialist physicians set by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine.

Nurses at Steph's hospice seemed to be constantly operating on a skeleton staff, and there was no doctor on site on weekends, Mrs Moss said. "Steph's last days were over the Anzac long weekend  as Steph was deteriorating we couldn't get answers to our questions, and we didn't know what to do to help her," she said. "We were scared and I obviously didn't want my daughter to be in discomfort or pain or suffering. The lack of access [to specialists] was concerning," she said. Steph's family watched the draining effect palliative care had on staff. "Some of those nurses were so young. The burnout must be terrible," Mrs Moss said.

Cancer Council NSW is urging the state government to provide additional funding for 129 full-time-equivalent nurses and 10 physicians to bring the state up to standard and meet the growing demand for services. "Palliative care nurses and doctors do a wonderful job, but we know there just isn't enough to support our population," the council's manager of policy and advocacy, Kelly Williams, said. "It means some people won't get access to palliative care and won't receive the sort of pain relief they might require, or specialist needs and access to services," she said. "It takes away people's choice, and it's only going to get worse as our ageing population grows, " Ms Williams said. If the workforce were brought up to scratch, patients could better choose how they spent their final months, weeks or days  whether it be in hospital, a hospice facility or at home, Ms William said.

The additional specialist staff would mean NSW would have 12.5 FTE nurses and one physician per 100,000 people. "If we don't have that level of staff, your options for care are limited," Ms Williams said. Patients and their families often have some fear of palliative care and the level of treatment available. "People can be reluctant to take it up and some doctors, with the best intentions, are reluctant to recommend it because it signals the end. "But it's much broader than that. It's about making sure people can make the most of the time they have," she said.
A man accused of indecently assaulting a teenage schoolgirl on a crowded Sydney train was likely captured on CCTV camera around the time of the attack, police say.

The 17-year-old girl was on her way to school during Wednesday morning's peak when a man, described as wearing sunglasses and possibly a black turtleneck, put his hand under the girl's skirt and allegedly indecently assaulted her.

Sydney Trains Credit:Fiona Morris

Chief Inspector Traci Watt, from the Burwood Local Area Command, said the incident occurred on a crowded carriage about 8.30am between Strathfield and Ashfield railway stations.

The man was standing beside the girl at the time, before touching her inappropriately.
Nobody at the Commonwealth Bank seemed overly concerned when customer Matthew Pearce told staff the bank had given him $123 million by mistake.

They just laughed and shrugged their shoulders, Mr Pearce told Channel Nine.

'I was pretty shocked': Matthew Pearce and his surprise bank balance. Credit:Channel Nine

The Melbourne glazier awoke in November last year to find his phone telling him that a small personal bank balance had somehow risen overnight to the princely sum of $123,456,789.01.

"It [his banking app] actually gave me the option to transfer the money and BPAY it, so I could actively transfer money into someone else's account," he told Channel Nine.
JEFFERSON CITY  Some Missouri taxpayers are waiting more than two months to get their state income tax refunds this year.

After reports in February noted the waiting time for a refund check could be as little as a week, the Missouri Department of Revenue now says it could take as long as 10 weeks to get your money back.

We are currently asking taxpayers to allow eight to 10 weeks for the processing of refunds as we are reviewing more returns to ensure fraudulently claimed refunds are not issued, noted Department of Revenue spokeswoman Michelle Gleba in an email.

She added that returns filed at the beginning of the tax season typically take about a week to process.

The amount of time to process returns increases as the tax season progresses, Gleba said Tuesday.

As of May 19, Department of Revenue officials have processed 2.8 million individual returns.

While the wait may be frustrating, Missouri isnt alone is slowing down the refund process because of an increase in tax scams.

In 2013, fraudsters filed 3 million returns nationally, and the Internal Revenue Service paid out more than $5 billion to crooks. Missouri said it identified $85 million in fraudulent refund filings in 2014. This years tally is at $11.5 million, Gleba said Tuesday.

Prosecutors are trying to crack down on the fraud.

In March, 13 people were sentenced in federal court in Springfield, Mo., for their roles in a tax-preparation scheme that claimed nearly $340,000 in fraudulent refunds.

The conspirators recruited individuals to assist in filing fraudulent returns and obtained their identifying information, including their names and Social Security numbers. They used that information to file federal income tax returns that included fictitious employment information and reported wages that had not been earned and employment taxes that had not been withheld.

In another case, three Springfield, Mo., women were indicted in federal court this year for their alleged roles in a $300,000 tax fraud ring. The trio were accused of using other peoples names and Social Security numbers to file false income tax returns and then keeping the refunds.

Russ Signorino, executive director of the St. Louis-based Gateway EITC Community Coalition, agreed that the delay is longer than in past years. But, he said the number of complaints from their 10,000 customers hasnt been unusual.

At least with our clients, it hasnt been much of an issue, said Signorino, whose organization assists people in Missouri and Illinois in filing their taxes.

In Illinois, Department of Revenue officials say it is taking them about three weeks to process returns that are filed electronically. This is due to a number of identity and fraud checks that weve initiated to combat against fraudulently filed returns, said spokesman Terry Horstman.
Communities often hold festivals to show what makes them special. In the West Coast state of California, farmers near Fresno celebrate their figs and those around Gilmore showcase their garlic. The wine-producing region of Temecula, 100 kilometers north of San Diego, offers local vintages in an annual festival, with hot-air balloons for added excitement.

One weekend each May, dozens of hot-air balloonists come to Temecula Valley. Windy conditions on Saturday restricted the altitude, but the sight of even tethered balloons hovering in the air was spectacular. For pilots,the ride is always exciting, yet relaxing, says balloonist Kim Lynch.

Up, up and away



"The appeal of ballooning is the ability to just leave all your worries on the ground," she said.

Balloons are unloaded from small trucks, then laid out and inflated with fans and propane burners. Once in the air, control is limited, said pilot Scott McClinton, who drove across the country from Louisville, Kentucky."We can go up and down, but we really are at the mercy of the wind," he said. Despite the lack of control, he says "it's just the most peaceful feeling in the world."

This festival, operated by a non-profit association, has grown in its 33 years of operation. Longtime volunteer Jeffrey Gaier says it offers hot air balloons in the morning, wine in the afternoon, and the evening glow of propane burners lighting up the sky.Throughout the weekend festival, there is music.

Temecula Valley, with more than 40 wineries, is the largest wine-producing region of Southern California. It cannot yet rival the wine-growing regions of in the northern part of the state, Napa and Mendocino, but some of its vintages earn praise from wine critics.

Visitor Jin Paek of Los Angeles is trying a sample. "I like weather and wine and balloons," he said, sipping a cabernet.

Wine and ballooning



The vintners range from large, like the long-established Calloway Vineyard,to the small three-year-old winery of a husband-and-wife team, the Lorenzis.

"Our Italian friend said I can show you how to make wine, so he [my husband, Don] made up one gallon, and the rest was history," she said.

Their winery produces just 2,400 cases of wine a year, with prices ranging from $20 a bottle to more than $400 for a bottle.

Local entrepreneurs show off their services. Anthony Oshinuga, a commercial pilot whose immigrant parents came from Nigeria, offers tours by airplane with stops at local wineries. He says tourists from Asia and Europe have discovered this valley, drawn by its wines, scenery, and a nearby casino run by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

The local history and culture are all on display one weekend each year, with a stunning array of hot-air balloons as part of the attraction.
An unspecified number of North Koreans working at a Pyongyang-run restaurant overseas have escaped their workplace and will come to South Korea, South Korean officials said yesterday.

The announcement by Seouls Unification Ministry came after South Korean media reported that two or three female employees at a North Korean-run restaurant in China fled and went to an unidentified Southeast Asian country earlier this month.

Its the second known group escape by North Korean restaurant workers dispatched abroad in recent weeks. In April, a group of 13 North Koreans who had worked at a North Korean-run restaurant in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo defected to South Korea.

The latest escapes will likely enrage Pyongyang, which typically accuses Seoul of trying to abduct or entice North Korean citizens to defect. South Korea has denied the accusation.

After the 13 workers  a male manager and 12 waitresses  arrived in Seoul in April, Pyongyang claimed they were kidnapped by South Korean spies and repeatedly demanded their return. South Korea said the workers chose to resettle in the South on their own. It was the largest group defection by North Koreans to the South since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011.

A brief Unification Ministry statement confirmed that some other North Korean restaurant workers abroad fled, but didnt elaborate. Officials at the unification and foreign ministries refused to provide further details about the North Koreans and their escapes, citing worries about their safety and potential diplomatic problems with concerned countries. It was unclear when they would arrive in Seoul.

New Focus, a Seoul-based online news outlet run by a North Korean defector, was among the first to break the news Monday. It said the group comprised three women in their 20s who had worked at a North Korean-run restaurant near Shanghai.

The defector head of New Focus, who uses the pseudonym Jang Jin-sung in interviews because of worries about the safety of relatives left behind in the North, said yesterday that the information came from people who guided the North Koreans after they escaped from their restaurant. He refused to identify the guides.

South Koreas Yonhap news agency reported yesterday that the North Koreans had worked at a restaurant in the central Chinese city of Xian and that they may have traveled to Thailand. Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP
Chief Executive Chui Sai On met the President of the Supreme Court of Portugal, Antonio Gaspar, this week at the Santa Sancha Palace. During the meeting, Mr Gaspar mentioned that strengthening the cooperation with Macau would bring mutual benefits and would help to maintain Macaus special judicial system within Chinas judicial system. According to a government statement, the CE stressed that judicial independence has been and will continue to be the cornerstone for the citys development, adding that the government respects the spirit of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary institutions, as stated in the Basic Law.

Word national avoided when naming Taiwan universities

Taiwanese universities whose names include the word National are seeing the word being deleted or replaced with Taiwan by the Macau government, related associations, and some media outlets, according to a report by Macau Concealers. The report says that the Tertiary Education Services Office has avoided using the word for many years, and that it resorts to names such as Taiwan University and Chengchi University as opposed to the institutions full names, National Taiwan University, and National Chengchi University. According to a Jornal Cheng Pou report published this week, similar changes can be found in several local media sources, including Macao Daily News and TDM.

So admits treatment of greyhounds can improve

Ambrose So, the Chairman of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), said that the Canidromes existence is still justifiable as the space promotes economic diversification in the gaming area. Speaking to Radio Macau on the sidelines of this weeks elections for the board of the Clube Militar, So commented on the campaigns to close the facility and admitted the need to improve its treatment of animals, saying, I think that there is room for the Canidrome to improve [in] this aspect.
Improved relations between the U.S. and Vietnam must not lead to greater pressure on China or threats to its interests, an official Chinese newspaper said yesterday.

While China applauds the spirit of reconciliation between Hanoi and Washington, whatever common interests the two countries pursue, they should never compromise Chinas national interests and threaten regional security, the English-language China Daily said in an editorial.

The comments point to Beijings underlying concerns about closer ties between its chief regional rival and its southern neighbor, with which it is in dispute over ownership of islands in the South China Sea.

Any attempt to enlist Vietnam in an effort to contain China bodes ill for regional peace and stability, as it would further complicate the situation in the South China Sea, and risk turning the region into a tinderbox of conflicts, the newspaper said.

China on Monday formally welcomed Washingtons decision to fully lift a five-decade arms embargo on Vietnam during a visit by President Barack Obama, saying it is happy to see Vietnam develop normal and friendly cooperative relationships with all other countries, including the United States.

China has looked on warily as the U.S. and Vietnam have steadily strengthened their relationship in recent years, in line with growing Vietnamese concern over Chinese moves to assert its maritime claims.

Despite being fraternal Communist neighbors, China and Vietnam fought a border war in 1979, and clashes in 1988 over their conflicting claims in the South China Sea killed dozens of people. The tensions reared again in 2014, when China parked an oil rig off Vietnams central coast, sparking confrontations at sea and deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam.

While the China Daily noted Obamas assertion that lifting the arms embargo had nothing to do with China, the outspoken nationalist tabloid Global Times dismissed that notion outright, calling it a very poor lie which reveals the truth  exacerbating the strategic antagonism between Washington and Beijing.

The U.S. is taking advantage of Vietnam to stir up more troubles in the South China Sea, the newspaper said. AP
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has lost a court case over the registration of his trademark in the MSAR, after the Court of Second Instance sided with a local company claiming to be in the process of negotiating a Trump-branded real estate development in Macau. The court permitted the local company, Trump Companhia Limitada, to retain its trademarks, Trump, Trump Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower. The proceedings began in 2009 when Trump Companhia complained that the businessman had not made use of a trademark that had been registered four years earlier. A lengthy legal battle has now concluded its first saga, with the Economic Services Bureau approving all three trademarks for the local company, however the Court of Second Instance has indicated that Donald Trump may still be able to file a new case. The presidential candidate has already filed an appeal, however it was rejected by judges last month, according to TDM. The decision by the Court of Second Instance nevertheless sentenced the Macau-based company to pay judicial fees for accusing Donald Trump of filing an appeal maliciously.
Craig Samborski is the President of event production company Draw Events, and has produced concerts and festivals in the U.S. and Canada since 1992.

Last year, Samborski held an exhibit in Philadelphia of the giant duck  the one currently cruising near the Science Center  about a year after it was shown in a separate Los Angeles event, also organized by Samborski.

The event producer came under fire from Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who to this day claims that Samborski is not authorized to show the duck without his permission and that he had stolen the construction plans for the artwork.

As per the artists demand, the duck must be constructed locally prior to exhibition. In other words, Hofman does not provide the artwork for exhibition.

Samborski, who objects to these accusations, explained in an email interview what it was like to work with Hofman.

Macau Daily Times (MDT)  You have an interesting story about negotiating with Hofman about bringing the inflatable duck to your first show in Los Angeles. What happened?

Craig Samborski (CS)  In Los Angeles, where we debuted our duck the year before our Philadelphia exhibit, a former colleague did most of the negotiations with Hofman and his wife, Kim, did most of the communication on his behalf.

Dealing with Hofman and his wife was confusing and frustrating, perhaps partially because of the language barrier. It became very evident after we received the plans from him that something was wrong.

He was contracted to produce technical plans to build an 18-meter tall duck, but he sent us plans for a 12-meter duck. When confronted with this, he told us to have the companies building the duck and pontoon to simply do the math on the pieces [in order] to scale it up to 18 meters.

That might sound simple, but it was far from it. Both companies refused to build from his plans because they were not really technical plans to build the duck, but more like clues. The companies wanted engineering drawings that would conform to safety and structural standards. By the time of the Philadelphia show, I was already done with Hofman.

MDT  You previously described what Hofman sent you as a sketch, but what had he promised you?

CS  He promised us technical plans, which we were led to believe would include the complete instructions for building the duck. But they did not.

When asked to provide technical plans for the [contracted] 18-meter duck and not the 12-meter duck, Hofman asked for an additional 7,500 euros [MOP67,000].

[Instead of paying this sum] each of the companies working on the duck were contracted to create their own plans to conform with the size we needed, and both the duck and pontoon were built to engineering safety standards.

Once we realized that we had to come up with our own plan, it took about six weeks to get the duck built. In reality, once we realized Hofman would be of no assistance and we moved on without him, the project became much easier.

MDT  What happened when you wanted to re-exhibit the duck and how did Hofman respond?

CS  Hofman claimed that he had a copyright over the duck and that there was an agreement with us to never show the duck again [after Los Angeles] without paying him an additional licensing fee; I believe he was seeking 50,000 euros [about MOP447,000] for each re-display.

However, once we realized that the plans were not really plans, and [given that he was now] seeking additional sums from us, I moved forward on my own and considered the agreement with him breached due to lack of performance. He has spoken out in the media a couple of times about this, but behind the scenes, he refused to provide any sort of legal copyright documents.

MDT  What do you think of the copyright claim that Hoffman has put forward? Is the claim justified?

CS  He has never actually asserted a copyright claim legally as far as I know, just in the media and via threats. My intellectual property attorney has researched this and there is no copyright or trademark owned by Hofman, at least in the United States. Hofman was confronted about this twice in writing from us and has failed to produce any documentation or even to respond to our letters.

MDT  There were doubts over whether the duck was really worth the alleged USD20,000 (MOP160,000) for its visit to Pittsburgh. Can you disclose how much you paid for the exhibit?

CS  Another matter of frustration for me. At about the same time that I was discovering what Hofmans actual drawings were, we found out how much Pittsburgh paid him. I had heard USD25,000 for the licensing fee, but USD20,000 could be right. Then, from me, Hofman was asking for 100,000 euros [MOP895,000]. Yet another slap in the face from Hofman, [as I discovered that] they were the same plans he had sent Pittsburgh: plans for a 12-meter duck. Keep in mind, this is just the cost for his plans, you still have to pay to build the duck, which I can say is more than six figures.

Ultimately, we abandoned Hofman and his plans and got this duck built. However, when he received the 50,000 euros from us, he expected another 50,000 euros [as well as] 60 percent of the sales from the little rubber ducks we sold as souvenirs, for which we paid and procured.

I am guessing that the vast majority of the amount that was paid in Macau went to Hofman.

MDT  According to the organizers of the exhibit in Macau, it did. Do you think it was worth the money?

CS  Paying Hofman for the plans was not worth it. It was the most disheartening experience I have had professionally. I am very happy about the project as a whole. The duck is a great attraction and truly brings happiness to many, many people, which makes me very happy.

I was stunned when I did the currency conversion to see how much Macau paid for the duck. All in all, my duck cost less than one-third of that amount. Based on the fee difference between Pittsburgh, myself and what Macau paid, there is a serious question about what Hofman is paid for. Had I known Macau was interested in the duck, I would have happily brought my duck there for just a fraction of what Macau had to pay.
The Health Bureau (SSM) has responded to an accusation from a patients family that the Hospital Conde S Januario did not provide timely treatment.

The clinical condition of this patient has been properly monitored by CHCSJ and there was no delay in her treatment, the bureau replied in a statement this week.

This statement from the health authorities came in response to comments from the family of a female patient, who had used an electronic platform to accuse the hospital of delaying her treatment.

The SSM also stated that the decision of sending patients for medical treatment abroad is always dependent on the professional decision of specialist physicians, in compliance with the needs and status of the patient and in accordance with the strict standards set by law.

The bureau added that it understands the impatience of the patient and family, acknowledging also that the patient possesses the right to choose which medical institution should perform the surgery.

In the statement, the bureau added that the patients family members have been calling for the patient to undergo a surgical procedure in Hong Kong, instead of the planned surgery today in the Public Hospital.

The SSM said that since childhood, the patient has suffered from a tumor in the soft tissues of her leg, and that several medical procedures had been carried out previously, including a number of surgeries in mainland China.

Aside from her treatments in mainland China, the patient has reportedly been in the care of the CHCSJ Oncology Service, which recently decided that since there were no signs of a relapse, the patients next surgery would be carried out by the CHCSJ Plastic Surgery Service, meaning that the patient would not need to go abroad for her procedure this time.

The plan was communicated to the family of the patient. However, the family continued to request for the procedure to be done in Hong Kong and have not responded to the booking of the surgery in the CHCSJ, SSM claimed, adding that the hospital is hopeful that the family will still contact the institution for proper treatment of the patient. RM
The government is seeking a closer partnership with the mainlands National Health and Family Planning Commission, including the possibility of Macau being provided with access to a special team of medical professionals based in the mainland.

According to a statement from the Government Information Bureau, local medical professionals would be able to liaise with their mainland counterparts and benefit from their knowledge. Such an arrangement would also assist the MSAR in the development of its own medical facilities.

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, who is part of a delegation visiting the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, raised the possibility of such an initiative during a meeting on Monday, with the mainlands Minister of National Health and Family Planning Commission, Li Bin.

During the meeting between Tam and Li, Tam proposed that medical professionals from Macau might be able to receive some training at health institutes on the mainland.

In addition to further cooperation with China, additional collaboration with Hong Kong authorities has been proposed, particularly in the fields of medical training, emergency response mechanisms for public health incidents, patient transferals, the management of hospitals and issues relating to bone marrow transplants.

Tams visit to the World Health Assembly, the decision-

making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), will also see him meet with the director-general of WHO, Margaret Chan.

The Macau delegation includes Secretary Tam, the Director of the Health Bureau, Lei Chin Ion, the Director of the Conde S. Januario Hospital, Kuok Cheong U, and consultants to the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture.

The Assembly, now in its 69th session, will run until Saturday in the Swiss city of Geneva. It is themed, Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. DB
Two very different visions of the hell that is war are seared into the minds of World War II survivors on opposite sides of the Pacific.

Michiko Kodama saw a flash in the sky from her elementary school classroom on Aug. 6, 1945, before the ceiling fell and shards of glass from blown-out windows slashed her. Now 78, she has never forgotten the living hell she saw from the back of her father, who dug her out after a U.S. military plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.

People were walking like zombies, with their flesh scraped and severely burned, asking for help, for water. A little girl looked up, straight into Michikos eyes, and collapsed.

Lester Tenney saw Japanese soldiers killing fellow American captives on the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines in 1942. If you didnt walk fast enough, you were killed. If you didnt say the right words you were killed, and if you were killed, you were either shot to death, bayonetted, or decapitated, the 95-year-old veteran said. He still has the bamboo stick Japanese soldiers used to beat him across the face.

Different experiences, different memories are handed down, spread by the media and taught in school. Collectively, they shape the differing reactions in the United States and Japan to Barack Obamas decision to become the first sitting American president to visit the memorial to atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima later this week.

The U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima, and Japan surrendered six days later, bringing to an end a bloody conflict that the U.S. was drawn into after Japans surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Japan identifies mostly as a victim rather than a victimizer, Stephen Nagy, an international relations professor at the International Christian University in Tokyo, said. I think that represents Japans regional role and its regional identity, whereas the United States has a global identity, a global agenda and global presence. So when it views the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, its in the terms of a global narrative, a global conflict the United States was fighting for freedom or to liberate countries from fascism or imperialism. To make these ends meet is very difficult.

A poll last year by the Pew Research Center found that 56 percent of Americans believe the use of nuclear weapons was justified, while 34 percent do not. In Japan, 79 percent said the bombs were unjustified, and only 14 percent said they were.

Terumi Tanaka, an 84-year-

old survivor of the Nagasaki bombing, said of Obama: I hope he will give an apology to the atomic bomb survivors, not necessarily to the general public. There are many who are still suffering. I would like him to meet them and tell them that he is sorry about the past action, and that he will do the best for them.

The White House has clearly ruled out an apology, which would inflame many U.S. veterans and others, and said that Obama would not revisit the decision to drop the bombs.

A lot of these people are telling us we shouldnt have dropped the bomb  hey, what they talking about? said Arthur Ishimoto, a veteran of the Military Intelligence Service, a U.S. Army unit made up of mostly Japanese-Americans who interrogated prisoners, translated intercepted messages and went behind enemy lines to gather intelligence.

Now 93, he said its good for Obama to visit Hiroshima to bury the hatchet, but theres nothing to apologize for. Ishimoto, who was born in Honolulu and rose to be an Air Force major general and commander of the Hawaii National Guard, believes he would have been killed in an invasion of Japan if Japan had not surrendered.

It would have been terrible, he said. There is going to be controversy about apologizing. I dont think there should be any apology. [] We helped that country. We helped them out of the pits all the way back to one of the most economically advanced. Theres no apology required.

Beyond the deaths  the atomic bombs killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 73,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945  the effects of radiation have lingered with survivors, both physically and mentally.

Kodama, the Hiroshima schoolgirl, faced discrimination in employment and marriage. After her first love failed because her boyfriends family said they didnt want radiated peoples blood in their family, she married into a more understanding one.

The younger of her two daughters died of cancer in 2011. Some say she shouldnt have given birth, even though multi-generational radiation effects have not been proven.

Obama doesnt have to apologize, Kodama said, but he should take concrete actions to keep his promise to seek a nuclear-free world.

For me, the war is not over until the day I see a world without nuclear weapons. she said. Mr. Obamas Hiroshima visit is only a step in the process.

Nagasaki survivor Tanaka views the atomic bombings as a crime against humanity. A promise by Obama to survivors to do all he can for nuclear disarmament would mean an apology to us, he said.

He added that his own government also should take some of the blame for the suffering of atomic bomb victims. It was the Japanese government that started the war to begin with, and delayed the surrender, he said, adding that Japan has not fully faced up to its role in the war.

Japan did issue apologies in various forms in the 1980s and 1990s, but some conservative politicians in recent years have raised questions about them, said Sven Saaler, a historian at Sophia University in Tokyo.

In particular right now when Japan has a government that is [] backpedaling in terms of apologizing for the war, if now the U.S. apologized, that also would be, I think, a weird signal in this current situation, Saaler said.

Tenney, one of only three remaining POWs from the Bataan Death March, wants Obama in Hiroshima to remember all those who suffered in the war, not just the atomic bomb victims.

From my point of view, the fact that the war ended when it did and the way it did, it saved my life and it saved the life of those Americans and other allied POWs that were in Japan at the time, he said at his home in in Carlsbad, California. I was in Japan, shoveling coal in a coal mine. No one ever apologized for that. [] I end up with black lung disease because they didnt take care of me in the coal mine, and yet there is no apology, no words of wisdom, no nothing.

Obamas visit is firmly supported by Earl Wineck, who scanned the skies over Alaska for Japanese warplanes during World War II.

Hes not going there like some of them might, and keep reminding them of all their transgressions, the 88-year-old veteran of the Alaska Territorial Guard said. That should have ended after the war, and I think a lot of it did, but of course, theres always people who feel resentment.

Japan occupied two Alaskan islands during the war. The battle to retake one of them, Attu Island, cost about 3,000 lives on both sides.

We hated them, Wineck said But things change, people change, and I think people in the world should be closer together.

How so?

One Tokyo high school student has a suggestion. Mayu Uchida, who said she cried when she heard survivors recount their memories on a school trip to Hiroshima, wants Obama to bring home what he learns and tell any supporters of nuclear weapons how horrifying they are.

He could also suggest, promoting opportunities for more Americans to visit Hiroshima, or to hear the story of Hiroshima, the 18-year-old said. It will be even better if those opportunities are available for younger generations like us. Mari Yamaguchi & Julie Watson, Tokyo, AP
The 7th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF) will start on June 2 at the Venetian, as announced yesterday by Irene Lau, Executive Director of the Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and by Yu Xiaohong, vice chairman of the China International Contractors Association (CICA).

Both the IPIM and the CICA are organizing this two-day event, which will be accompanied by the 2nd China-CELAC Forum, arranged by Chinas Ministry of Commerce. To date, the IIICF has received registration requests from more than 1,400 people, including contractors and consultant service organizations.

According to Yu, IIICF has formally invited more than 50 officials to attend, all of whom are at deputy minister level, or higher. Guests range from across 35 countries and regions, including Kenya, Botswana and all Portuguese- speaking countries and include the Secretary of the Treasure of Angola, Joal Boa Francisco Quipipa, the Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication of Zambia Yamfwa D. Mukanga, among others.

Besides government officials, more than 20 international financial organizations, and more than 40 engineering companies will send their executives to attend the forum. UBS, China Railway Construction Corporation, and UK Trade & Investment are some of the companies that will be present.

In 2012, Macau held the IIICF for the first time, which had previously been organized in Beijing. This year, as told by Yu, the forum takes place to highlight Macau, [] and to reinforce the influence of Macau in the international co-operation of infrastructure facilities.

Last year, approximately 1,200 people participated in the forum, where, according to Lau, five contracts involving Macau, and three other contracts associated with Portuguese-speaking countries were signed among the companies that joined IIICF.

Furthermore, on the first day of the forum, the China International Project Contracting Report 2015 will also be released. Staff reporter
Greek authorities began the gradual evacuation of the countrys largest informal refugee camp yesterday, persuading more than 1,500 people to leave the Idomeni site for other organized facilities in northern Greece.

An estimated 700 police were participating in the operation, but there were no reports of violence or protests.

Greeces left-led government has pledged that no force will be used, and says the operation is expected to last between a week and 10 days. Journalists were blocked from entering the camp.

By late afternoon, 32 buses carrying a total of 1,529 people had left Idomeni on the countrys border with Macedonia, police said, while earth-moving machinery was used to clear abandoned tents.

Vicky Markolefa, a representative of the Doctors Without Borders charity, said the operation was proceeding very smoothly and without incident. We hope it will continue like that, she said.

The camp, which sprang up at an informal pedestrian border crossing for refugees and migrants heading north to wealthier European nations, was home to an estimated 8,400 people  including hundreds of children  mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

At its peak, when Macedonia shut its border in March, the camp housed more than 14,000, but numbers have declined as people began accepting authorities offers of alternative places to stay.

In Geneva, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said the evacuation appeared to be taking place calmly, and the U.N. refugee agency was sending more staffers to Idomeni.

As long as the movement of people from Idomeni is [] voluntary in nature [and] that were not seeing use of force, then we dont have particular concerns about that, he said.

It often does help to move people into more organized sites, when theyre willing to move to those places, he added.

In Idomeni, most have been living in small camping tents pitched in fields and along railroad tracks, while aid agencies have set up large marquee-style tents to help house people. Greek authorities have sent in cleaning crews regularly and have provided portable toilets, but conditions have been precarious at best, with heavy rain creating muddy ponds.

Recently the camp had begun taking on an image of semi-permanence, with refugees setting up small makeshift shops selling everything from cooking utensils to falafel and bread.

More than 54,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in financially struggling Greece since countries further north shut their land borders to a massive flow of people escaping war and poverty at home. Nearly a million people have passed through Greece, the vast majority arriving on islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

In March, the European Union reached an agreement with Turkey meant to stem the flow and reduce the number of people undertaking the perilous sea crossing to Greece, where many have died when their overcrowded, unseaworthy boats sank. Under the deal, anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands from the Turkish coast after March 18 faces deportation to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

But few want to request asylum in the country, which has been struggling with a deep, six-year financial crisis that has left unemployment hovering at around 24 percent.

Greek authorities are also eager to reopen a railway line  the countrys main freight train line to the Balkans  that runs through the camp and has been blocked by protesting camp residents since March 20.

Anastassios Saxpelidis, a spokesman for Greek transport companies, said that the 66-day closure has cost transporters about 6 million euros (USD6.7 million).

Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman on immigration, said the line should open in coming days.

The government has been trying for months to persuade people to leave Idomeni and go to organized camps. This week it said its campaign of voluntary evacuations was already working, with police reporting that eight buses carrying about 400 people left Idomeni Sunday. Others took taxis heading to Thessaloniki or the nearby town of Polycastro.

On the eve of the evacuation operation, few at the camp appeared to welcome the news.

Its not good [] because weve already been here for three months and well have to spend at least another six in the camps before relocation, Hind Al Mkawi, a 38-year-old refugee from Damascus, told The Associated Press on Monday.

Abdo Rajab, a 22-year-old refugee from Raqqa in Syria, has spent the past three months in Idomeni, and is considering paying smugglers to be sneaked into Germany.

We hear that tomorrow we will all go to camps, he said. I dont mind, but my aim is not reach the camps but to go Germany. Costas Kantouris, Idomeni, AP
President Barack Obama yesterday pressed Vietnam to allow greater freedoms for its citizens, arguing that better human rights would improve the communist countrys economy, stability and regional power.

On his second full day in the southeast Asian nation, Obama also met with activists and entrepreneurs as part of a push for closer ties with the fast-growing, strategically crucial country. The visit included the lifting of one of the last vestiges of Vietnam War-era antagonism: a five-decades-old arms sale embargo.

In a speech at the National Convention Center, Obama sought to balance a desire for a stronger relationship with Vietnam with efforts to hold its leadership to account over what activists call an abysmal treatment of government critics.

Nations are more successful when people can freely express themselves, assemble without harassment and access the internet and social media, Obama said.

Upholding these rights is not a threat to stability but actually reinforces stability and is the foundation of progress, Obama told the audience of more than 2,000, including government officials and students from five universities across the Hanoi area. Vietnam will do it differently than the United States does [] But there are these basic principles that I think we all have to try to work on and improve.

Freedom of expression is where new ideas happen, Obama said. Thats how a Facebook starts. Thats how some of our greatest companies began.

Journalists and bloggers can shine a light on injustice or abuse when they are allowed to operate free of government interference or intimidation, he added. And, stability is encouraged when voters get to choose their leaders in free and fair elections because citizens know that their voices count and that peaceful change is possible. And it brings new people into the system, Obama said.

Obama also traced the transformation of the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship, from wartime enemies to cooperation. He said the governments are working more closely together than ever before on a range of issues.

Now we can say something that was once unimaginable: Today, Vietnam and the Unites States are partners, he said, adding that their experience was teaching the world that hearts can change.

Earlier yesterday, Obama met with six activists, including a pastor and advocates for the disabled and sexual minorities. He said several others were prevented from coming. Vietnam has made remarkable strides in many ways, Obama said, but there are still areas of significant concern.

Obama also referred in the speech to Chinas growing aggression in the region, something that worries many in Vietnam, which has territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Beijing.

Obama got a round of applause when he declared that big nations should not bully smaller ones, an allusion to Chinas attempt to push its rivals out of disputed territory. Obama said the United States will continue to freely navigate the region and support the right of other countries to do the same.

After Hanoi, Obama flew to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. He visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda, considered one of the most beautiful pagodas in southern Vietnam and a repository of religious documents that includes more than 300 statues and other relics. A strong smell of incense hung in the air as visitors frequently burn incense outside the main temple to announce to the heavens their arrival.

As Obama paused before one statue, a guide explained that if he wanted to have a son, he should pray to her.

I like daughters, Obama replied.

Shifting from the historical to the modern, Obama also stopped by the Dreamplex business complex in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, a space for startup entrepreneurs that fits with Obamas message about the potential benefits of closer ties to Vietnams growing economy and its burgeoning middle class.

Obama visited with several entrepreneurs at the modern Dreamplex, learning about a virtual game that helps people recover from nerve injuries and a smart phone that can serve as a laser cutter. But Obama cautioned that you have to be careful where you point it.

The meeting gave him another chance to promote the benefits of what he says will be enhanced trade under a 12-nation trade deal that is stalled in Congress and opposed by the leading U.S. presidential candidates. He said the pact, if approved, will accelerate economic reforms in Vietnam, boost its economic competitiveness, open up new markets and improve labor and environmental standards.

During his address, he said the agreement would give Vietnamese workers the right to form labor unions and would prohibit forced and child labor. He also predicted it would lead to greater regional cooperation.

Vietnam will be less dependent on any one trading partner and enjoy broader ties with more partners, including the United States, Obama said. Foster Klug, Nancy Benac, Hanoi, AP
By visiting Hiroshima, Barack Obama parachutes himself into a seemingly endless dispute among key U.S. allies and trading partners over World War II. In Tokyos decades-long tug-of-war over history with its neighbors China and South Korea, its the American president who could end up losing.

Many in China and South Korea feel that Japan got what it deserved when U.S. atomic bombs detonated in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and in Nagasaki three days later. They resent what they see as Japans focus on the bombs victims instead of the millions of civilians killed, raped and enslaved by Japanese troops. They worry that the first-ever U.S. presidential visit to Hiroshima will allow Japanese conservatives, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to further distance the country from its wartime sins.

Despite this anxiety, however, theres also a growing desire to work with Japan, the worlds No. 3 economy, on diplomacy, security, tourism, culture and trade. This is especially true in South Korea, a fellow democracy and U.S. ally.

Here, then, is a look at some of the issues that will roil beneath the surface as South Korea and China closely watch Obamas visit:

WHOS THE VICTIM?

Its complicated: Many in Northeast Asia claim the role.

Japans sense of victimhood stems from the more than 200,000 dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and from the huge numbers of civilians killed in U.S. air raids on major cities in 1945; 100,000 were killed in the Tokyo firebombing alone. Yet not only did Japan instigate the Pacific war with its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, decades of colonial and wartime aggression before that claimed hundreds of thousands of victims in China and South Korea.

Those killed by the atomic bombs include an estimated 20,000 Koreans, many brought to Japan for slave labor.

We [South Koreans] think we were the real victims. For China, their pride was hurt a lot because they think they were in charge before being badly battered by Japan, Lee Myon-woo, an analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute, said. The Japanese think they also suffered a lot because of the West. Each country has a victim mentality [] and its not something that we can easily overcome.

The White House says Obama isnt going to Hiroshima to apologize, but just being there will be seen that way by many.

Assigning too much importance to the bomb, critics in Japans neighbors argue, distracts from Tokyos current expansion of its military and the hawkish Abes efforts to distance Japan from its wartime past. Some also worry that it signals a preference by Washington for Tokyo over Seoul.

The United States and Japan ignore our country a bit, said Park Jeong-mi, 50, from Seoul. I am dissatisfied with the fact that the U.S. president will visit Japan and also go to the specific area, Hiroshima, when Japan has not made an official apology to our country yet for its wartime atrocities.

Japanese leaders have apologized repeatedly in the past, but in recent years, Abe has been viewed by South Korea, China and others as attempting to backpedal those apologies and previous acknowledgements of wartime atrocities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said recently that Japan, when it invites leaders to Hiroshima, should reflect that it will never tread on the path of militarism again, as it once brought unspeakable suffering to its people and [the] people of Asia and around the world.

Yukio Okamoto, a former Japanese diplomat, said the Japanese people simply want Obama to honor the dead. He said it will be seen by the Japanese people as the United States facing for the first time the incident eye-to-eye.

WHATS AT STAKE?

The White House wants the visit to look forward, not back.

My purpose is not to simply revisit the past, but to affirm that innocent people die in a war, on all sides, that we should do everything we can to try to promote peace and dialogue around the world, that we should continue to strive for a world without nuclear weapons, Obama told Japanese public broadcaster NHK in an interview aired Sunday.

Japan and its neighbors, however, could end up interpreting the trip differently. That holds risks for burgeoning cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea.

History disputes have rarely hurt economic and cultural ties among the three neighbors, but they have upset regional security efforts. Seoul, for instance, has been reticent to directly share North Korea-related intelligence with Tokyo because of fear about a domestic backlash to cooperation with Japans military.

Both Beijing and Seoul have sometimes been accused of using anti-Japan sentiments to stir up nationalist grievances in order to push domestic agendas or distract attention from governing failures.

Regional ties have recently improved. South Korea, Japan and China held a three-way summit in Seoul in November, and Seoul and Tokyo forged an important, but much criticized and still not implemented, deal late last year to compensate Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japans military.

These relatively positive feelings, a rarity in Northeast Asia, could fade if Japan is seen as trying to use Obamas visit to minimize its wartime aggression  or if South Koreans and Chinese think Obama is being indifferent to their painful experiences.

Obama will say all the right words, but the image of him being there will still upset many [in the U.S., as well as in Asia], Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank, said in an email. At this point, its a lose-lose for Obama.

WALKING A FINE LINE

Obama will try to focus on his vision of a world without nuclear weapons while avoiding anything that portrays Japan exclusively as a victim.

Theres some debate, however, about how, or if, hell tackle the past.

The visit will entirely be framed in a futuristic discourse, for example about the future nuclear-zero-goal, said Victor Cha, an Asia expert at Georgetown University. There is, I think, a desire by Obama to heal the past, but I dont think he will make any direct reference to it. Others disagree.

In order to try to satisfy audiences in the United States, Japan and the rest of East Asia, Obama will criticize Japans pre-

A-bomb wartime actions and call for a world free of nuclear weapons, but he wont criticize American use of the bomb, according to Charles Armstrong, an Asia expert at Columbia University.

This balancing act might not be enough.

He will be criticized by Americans, Koreans and Chinese for being too soft on Japan, Armstrong said, and by Japanese for being too critical.

Some observers hope Obamas visit could lead to something that they say has proven extremely difficult for Japan: An honest accounting of its wartime record. They want reciprocal visits by Abe to Nanjing, China, for instance, to honor those killed in the 1937 massacre there, or to Pearl Harbor, which was attacked 75 years ago this December.

The powerful image of an American president ready to finally confront the brutal and morally questionable acts of the war can only be truly successful if he can use it to press for similar actions on the part of the Japanese toward their Asian neighbors, Asia experts Gi-Wook Shin and Daniel Sneider recently argued. Foster Klug, AP
BUHL  The Buhl Chamber of Commerce is launching a new craft and farmers market this summer, hoping to attract visitors from across the Magic Valley.

The market is slated for the second Saturday of each month, coinciding with an event each time, such as a community-wide yard sale in June.

City leaders decided they wanted to organize an activity to draw people to Buhl.

Were trying to get folks to the downtown area, said Michelle Olsen, administrator of the Buhl Chamber of Commerce.

It will be the third farmers market running this summer in Buhl. Other markets include the West End Senior Center Wednesday Market, which starts in mid-July, and 12th Avenue Farmers Market, running Thursdays starting in early June.

The Buhl Chamber of Commerces market will most likely continue through September, but will depend on the weather. Our weather is so hard to predict when the summer starts winding down, Olsen said.

Market organizers plan to talk with vendors from the other two markets to see whod be willing to participate on Saturdays. The market will be in Legacy Square next to the West End Senior Center on Main Street.

Lynnette Butler, the senior centers site director and West End market organizer, said she hasnt heard which vendors plan to participate in the new market.

Organizers hope to offer live music during second Saturday events.

Right now, we are working on trying to find some bands who might be willing to play, Olsen said.

In June, the markets opening will coincide with a community-wide yard sale. Buhl residents can sign up to be included on a yard sale map, which visitors will be able to pick up at the Buhl Chamber of Commerce.

There wont be a fee to be included in the yard sale listing, Olsen said. And it will be free for vendors to participate in the farmers/craft market. Participants should call the chambers office to sign up.

For shoppers, downtown Buhl stores may also offer special sales during second Saturday events and the senior centers thrift store will be open starting at 8 a.m.

The senior center is also planning a breakfast fundraiser June 11, including blueberry, sweet potato and plain pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, hash browns and coffee. The cost is $7 per plate.
TWIN FALLS  Three years after dropping out of high school, Cassidy Neaderhiser is earning her diploma and wants to go into an unlikely career: teaching.

I never thought Id want to do anything with being a teacher, the 18-year-old said. But now, she wants to become an art teacher to help others find their own talents and abilities.

Shes among 88 Magic Valley High students who will graduate Wednesday.

After dropping out of school as a sophomore, she came to Magic Valley High School, an alternative school in Twin Falls, to catch up. It was a long road to earn her diploma, she said.

I just had a bad past of not going to school, Neaderhiser said.

Although her mother didnt push her to attend, she decided she needed to return to high school.

It was her grandfather who pushed her to be more independent and take charge of her future.

When Neaderhiser started at Magic Valley High, she had only two class credits. That left dozens more shed have to complete in order to graduate.

She came as a junior needing pretty much everything, school counselor Amy Rothweiler said.

At first, Neaderhisers focus was on only graduating, not making friends. I was nervous every day, she said, and didnt socialize much with her classmates. But over the years, thats changed.

Before arriving at Magic Valley High, she felt on the fray at school, Rothweiler said.

But at Magic Valley High, she got involved in school activities. I think kind of getting involved helped her feel connected, Rothweiler said.

One of Neaderhisers best high school memories: working with Rothweiler to figure out how shed graduate. She wouldnt be able to graduate with her class last year, but is earning a diploma Wednesday.

The one-on-one help from teachers at Magic Valley High, she said, made the difference in catching up.

Rothweiler described the teenager as very driven, motivated, smart and capable.

Neaderhiser works part-time at Once Upon a Child in Twin Falls to support herself and she lives with her boyfriend. A flexible work schedule and wonderful manager allowed her to work and go to school, she said.

In addition to in-person classes, Neaderhiser took night classes, went to summer school, completed PLATO online credit recovery classes and did independent study classes.

As of Friday, she was still working on her final four credits. Her goal was to get it done over the weekend so she wouldnt have to attend summer school.

School had not been good for her prior to coming to us, Rothweiler said. But Neaderhiser was determined to graduate.

At the beginning of this school year, She told me, I can do this. I just need to have a plan, Rothweiler said. I commend her for her determination.
MARSING  Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Tuesday toured a massive wildfire rehabilitation effort in southwest Idaho thats part of the federal governments new wildfire strategy and then announced $10 million for projects in 12 states to reduce wildfire threats.

Its easy for folks to think we cant respond quickly, but we can respond quickly, Jewell told about 30 federal land managers gathered in the small town of Marsing before heading out to an area where a wildfire last year scorched 436 square miles in Idaho and Oregon.

Jewell issued a secretarial order last year calling for a science-based approach to safeguard greater sage grouse while contending with fires that have been especially destructive in the Great Basin. The order also calls for rehabilitating burned areas, and her visit to Idaho gave her a chance to check up on the work.

One of the things that is very gratifying about what is going on here is that its putting the secretarial order into action, she said, standing on the side of a hill overlooking thousands of acres that have undergone rehabilitation.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to see which rehabilitation efforts work best. Some 2,000 sample monitoring plots are being tracked to measure results of techniques that could become templates for future wildfire rehabilitation efforts.

Theyre looking at doing the research necessary to understand whats happening on this landscape to apply in the future, Jewell said. Thats not something that would have happened before this focus on rangelands and this understating of this sagebrush habitat and its importance.

Experts say trying to get in desirable plants to prevent non-native invasive species, particularly fire-prone cheatgrass, from coming back is a key part of the rehab plan.

We have to put in a functioning ecosystem, Cindy Fritz, a natural resource specialist with the Boise District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, told Jewell.

Sagebrush steppe supports cattle grazing and some 350 species of wildlife, including sage grouse. The bird didnt receive federal protections under the Endangered Species Act last fall, but various efforts to protect sage grouse habitat have been put in place.

Those efforts continued Tuesday when Jewell, following her tour of the rehabilitation area, announced in Boise the $10 million worth of projects mostly aimed at preventing sage grouse habitat from burning.

The money is part of the Wildland Fire Resilient Landscapes Program intended to restore public lands.

Recipients include:

Southern Utah, which will receive $3.5 million to improve habitat for greater sage grouse.

Nevada and California, which will receive about $1 million to protect habitat for Bi-State sage grouse on the border.

Colorado and Utah, which will receive $1 million to improve Gunnison sage grouse habitat.

The Santa Clara Pueblo area in New Mexico, which will receive $800,000 to protect cliff dwellings and other cultural sites.

Idaho, which will receive $500,000 to remove conifers in greater sage grouse habitat.

Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, which will receive nearly $1 million to restore resiliency in the fire-adapted Longleaf Pine ecosystem.

Dan Buckley, a member of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise that deploys the nations wildfire fighting resources, said Jewells order has caused a change in how sagebrush steppe is viewed.

Now that its elevated as a secretarial priority its become more important to the larger firefighting community, he said.
Everybody loves government funding  for things they think are needed. The problems come when they look at their tax bill plus all the things that they think are not needed. Most people want to drive on good roads, but people who live in high-traffic areas want convenient mass public transportation. We need local and national public safety, but that costs a lot of money, intrudes on private freedoms and on occasion is found to be corrupt. How wide should the safety net of public welfare be?

Ill never forget the tax year when I realized that Id paid more in taxes than my yearly salary my first year in the Navy! Have you ever thought: Theres a down payment on a house, a new car, all new appliances, college tuition for a year? Taxes do take away some of the spending power of our hard-won income. If we are no longer in the workforce, our income is somewhat fixed, and an increase in taxes can mean a decrease in our quality of life.

As a student of history, Ive found that problems with taxes have been with civilizations since they have had written records. Ive just returned from two weeks visiting historical sites in Virginia where there are remnants of wars fought for the right to representation when deciding on taxation and the extent that government can control private property. History is clear that there will always be debate over these issues, but war needs to be avoided at all costs.

For three and a half decades, the political philosophy of small governmentwith emphasis on only the amount of government that everyone agrees is needed  has been replaced by an increasingly louder activist mantra of lower taxes. It supports a strategy of starve the beast. With its strong appeal to individual spending power, this mantra has swayed many to support it without examining the larger picture of what it has done to effective government and public well-being.

There is a vicious circle at work. Taxes are cut. Government has less funding. Government does not have the financial resources to do an adequate job. There are outcries about how government is inefficient, ineffective, and only addresses the issues of those with the loudest voices or the biggest wallets. Government must be punished, so taxes are cut.

This strategy also uses another mantra, freedom. Now I can remember when, as a kid, I wanted no restrictions on doing whatever I wanted. Thankfully, my parents taught me the golden rule and that made a significant difference in how I interacted with others. It also set up the major struggle of my life: What do I have to give up for the good of others? This conundrum applies to family, friends and society at large.

Governments can do many good things. They provide public education and health. They provide the agencies for public safety. They provide the infrastructure of transportation, clean water and public recreation opportunities. They provide a safety net of public programs for general welfare that can be supplemented effectively by private charity. They provide security for a marketplace that otherwise could be filled with charlatans.

Government must also be inspected, audited, quality controlled and held accountable. How fortunate we are that our system of government allows for this! Instead of starving the beast, we need to scrutinize our government(s) and fund them to an extent they can be effective as well as efficient. Government spending should not be a reward for political financial support and it should not continue to fund programs that are no longer needed.

We need our politicians and bureaucrats to be collaborative in holding government accountable and wisely deciding how much funding is needed for a government that meets the needs of all the people. Tax policy and funding are the subjects for other debates, but what is clear that starving the beast in the name of unlimited freedom is not working for our benefit.
The Egyptian army announced Tuesday that it killed six terrorists in the north of the restive Sinai province where the army is at loggerheads with IS-affiliated militants.

The army also destroyed 56 underground hideouts in different locations, namely south of Arish, Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah. Blankets, mattresses, clothes as well as four motorcycles, and three four-wheel drive cars equipped with machine guns were discovered in the hideouts.

On Monday, the army spokesperson Mohamed Samir indicated that 13 terrorists were killed in gun battle with army forces.

As many as 30 improvised explosive devices that can be planted on moving targets were also neutralized or destroyed northwest of Mount Halal, reports say.

Army forces also discovered 50 anti-tank mines, a location used to store explosives. They also seized materials used to manufacture IEDs, including 100 plastic barrels of explosive materials and five bags of ammonium nitrate, Samir revealed.

Egyptian security and army forces have been facing repeated attacks from Islamists in the Sinai following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The Islamists who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 vowed to bring down President al-Sisis regime.
The appointment of a hardline right-winger as Israels defense minister represents a real threat to regional stability, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday.

In response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to bring in ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister, Erekat said the existence of this government brings a real threat of instability and extremism in the region, and such an appointment would result in apartheid, racism and religious and political extremism.

By bringing the hardline Yisrael Beitenu nationalist party to his coalition, Netanyahu has formed what is being called the most right-wing government in Israels history.

Lieberman is replacing Moshe Yaalon who resigned to protest, he had said, the Prime Ministers recent conducts and because of lack of trust in Netanyahu.

Lieberman, himself a Jewish settler, would be responsible, in his capacity as defense minister, for implementing Israels policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Lieberman, 57, an advocate of the death penalty for the perpetrators of anti-Israeli attacks, however pledged to be balanced and said he was committed to responsible, reasonable policy at a ceremony at Parliament during which Netanyahu announced the deal with Liebermans Yisrael Beitenu party.

The appointment of the leader of Yisrael Beytenu party has caused fears and worries in several countries as many fear that Libermans party known us ultra-nationalist may jeopardize peace efforts with Palestinians.

The hardliners appointment has also sparked deep concern among Israeli centrist and left-wing politicians, as well as among some of Netanyahus Likud party colleagues.

Netanyahu has sought to ease fears, saying he will continue to seek peace with the Palestinians and oversee the defense ministrys policies, which include control over most of the occupied West Bank.

Negotiations with the Palestinians are in a deadlock since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina on Tuesday called for action to support African countries affected by drought and climate change announcing that the African fincial institution will lead the way and triple its climate finance to $5 billion per year by 2020.

He made the announcement in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 5-day AfDB Annual Meetings on energy and climate change held in Lusaka, Zambia.

According to Dr Adesina, Africa, which contributes less than 3% of the global greenhouse emissions, is suffering from the effects of El Nino, which has caused severe drought in fourteen countries with thirteen located in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Dr Adesina who took office in September last year demanded a climate justice for Africa, calling on the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility to pay for the insurance premium of African countries to the Africa Risk Capacity Agency.

This will allow them to cope with extreme climate events  like Senegal which received $17 million pay out to mitigate the impacts of drought, he said, announcing that AfDB will lead the way and triple its climate finance to $5 billion per year by 2020.

He also indicated that the Bank is providing financing of $549 million to support countries to deal with drought and reduce vulnerability.

He said the AfDB will invest $12 billion in the energy sector over the next five years to deliver on the New Deal on Energy for Africa  the Banks strategy.

We expect to leverage $45-50 billion into the energy sector, he added.
Lari appreciates: 1 USD equals 2.1878 GEL - NBG buys $20m at Foreign Exchange Auction

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has purchased 20 million dollars at the Foreign Exchange Auction to control the national currencys rapidly changing value against the US dollar.Georgias central bank purchased $20 million USD at the Foreign Exchange Auction to ensure the Georgian Lari (GEL) did not strengthen too quickly and cause negative effects for local businesses.The weighted average exchange rate saw 1 USD equal 2.1872 GEL.This was the seventh intervention this year since the Lari started depreciating in 2014.In January the bank sold $60 million on the foreign exchange market to support the ailing Lari.No interventions were made in February however within the last three months NBG purchased $115 million USD in total.In particular the Bank made its first intervention on March 17 when it purchased $5 million USD at the Foreign Exchange Auction; then $10 million USD (March 21, April 14, April 20) and then $20 million USD (on April 21, on May 5, on May 10 and again on May 17) as the Lari firmed.Despite the NBGs actions the Lari continued to appreciate, and yesterday Bloomberg's trading platform fixed the Lari below 2.20 mark.From yesterday, 1 USD equalled 2.1878 GEL. The previous rate was 2.2003 GEL.Meanwhile, 1 Euro cost 2.4788 GEL, down from the previous rate of 2.4903 GEL.The Georgian Lari started to gain value against the US dollar after falling dramatically 18 months ago. Now the GEL was also starting to strengthen against the Euro.The Georgian Government and the countrys economic team forecast the Lari would strengthen further, however the current macro-economic situation did not accurately provide a strong base to quickly evaluate the Lari.Despite the fact Georgia was receiving more income from tourism and a growing number of international tourists are visiting the country, there was a significant misbalance in January-April trade, according to experts.Compared to last year Georgia received 38 million GEL (about $17 million/15 million*) more income in March from international tourism, said Georgias Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili, howeverGeorgias trade deficit equalled $2.071 million, which made up 63 percent of total trade turnover.The National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) said in January-April 2016 the value of goods exported from Georgia decreased 12 percent to $608 million, while the value of goods imported grew 14 percent to $2.7 billion.As for money transfers, Georgia received more money from abroad in April 2016 compared to the same month of 2015. The sum of money transfers coming into Georgia in April 2016 was four percent or $3.7 million USD more year-on-year (y/y), said NBG. Remittance figures showed $94.8 million USD was transferred into Georgia in April 2016.The Georgian economic experts said all these figures did not provide a proper base that the Lari would gain value so fast. They doubted the Laris evaluation was mainly caused by receiving more investments, however Geostat will publish data on Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) on June 9.
Georgian honey enters European market

By Messenger Staff

Since signing a free trade agreement between Georgia and the European Union (EU), this is Georgias first chance to export Georgian honey to the EU market without any additional fees, EU Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman told reporters after holding a meeting with Minister of Agriculture Otar Danelia on May 17.According to Janos Herman, the meeting was very interesting and honey export issues were discussed in depth.This is a result of hard work and cooperation between Georgia and the EU. I would like to say this is the sweetest news being provided to you in the recent period, he has remarked.The Euro Commission Food Safety Directorate has addressed the commission recommending Georgia be listed alongside other countries that export honey to the EU.Georgias Association Agreement and its the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which Georgia signed with the EU in 2014, stated that the country could export 1,500 tonnes of honey to EU markets every year.It was stated that the demand for honey in the EU was growing by six percent every year.About 55 percent of the honey consumed in Europe - about 150,000 tonnes - was imported from countries outside the EU.Georgia produced about 4,000 tonnes of honey in 2015 while in 2014 year Georgian beekeepers exported 5.4 tonnes, valued at $54,200 USD.The fact that Georgia will start exporting to the EU market is very good news, and it will be a encouraging for other local business to become involved in international exports. The Government should inform people about the products they can successfully export to Europe and provide support for small and medium sized businesses.
@PatriciaMazzei

Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to blast Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his administration.

"To put it simply, Mr. Speaker: Venezuela is on the verge of total collapse," Ros-Lehtinen said. "And what an impact that will have throughout our hemisphere. It is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when."
Nearly six months before Florida chooses the next president, the people who count votes in Florida are deep into planning how to do it right while anticipating everything that could possibly go wrong.

County supervisors of elections are meeting at a beachfront hotel in Clearwater, discussing how to improve voter outreach, adapt to better technology and reduce the potential for political mischief. One of the first panel discussions was entitled "Long lines, long ballots and long hours -- a presidential year."

The conference follows Florida's record turnout in the March 15 presidential preference primary, which has prompted state officials to predict that statewide in November could exceed 80 percent in a year when congressional and state Senate districts have been redrawn. Secretary of State Ken Detzner will soon roll out a voter education toolkit that will ramp up the use of social media to connect with voters.

The unprecedented chaos that followed the 2000 presidential election in Florida has taught voting to anticipate what could go haywire. In a presevtation to supervisors, Maria Matthews, director of the state Division of Elections, described one "unusual" aspect of this year's election.

It's a proposed constitutional amendment by the Legislature, dealing with a solar energy tax break, that will appear on the Aug. 30 primary as Amendment Number 4. (The other lower-numbered amendments will all appear on the November ballot).

"It may create some confusion for your voters," Matthews said. "You're going to have to expect that one."

Florida saw a record-high turnout in the March presidential preference primary, and Secretary of State Ken Detzner's office will roll out a voter education toolkit next month that will ramp up the use of social media to connect with voters.

"We're ready," said Martin County Supervisor Vicki Davis.

Florida is fertile territory for vendors looking to sell products. Clear Ballot, a Boston company, markets ClearAudit, a tool to audit vote totals rather than conducting manual audits. The technology is in use in 13 counties, including Bay, Broward, Leon and Nassau. A company kiosk shows the many dizzying ways (photo at left) that voters in Tallahassee marked ballots in a close 2012 election for an obscure soil and water conservation district that required a recount.

Even Theresa Lepore is at the conference. Sixteen years after the recount, the former Palm Beach County elections supervisor says she's still stopped constantly by people who want to talk about the "butterfly ballot" central to the 2000 meltdown. Lepore is a consultant for Democracy Live, a vendor that develops electronic ballots for overseas and military voters and voters with disabilities.
HELENA  Robocalls are like the sink full of dirty dishes in Montana elections that nobody wants to wash, except Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl.

On Monday, Motl issued a decision that says a robocall made on behalf of a Democrat running for the Public Service Commission violated Montanas campaign rules, though not because placing the call was illegal  which it is  but because the call didnt say who paid for it.

Gail Gutsche, one of three Democrats running for the PSC seat for District 4, filed a complaint earlier this month against one of the other candidates in the primary, Mark Sweeney of Philipsburg. The other Democrat running is Lee Tavenner of Missoula. District 4 includes Granite, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Sanders and Ravalli counties.

Gutsche said Sweeneys campaign paid for a commercial advertisement, the robocall, that didnt say who financed it.

The call, placed May 3, was recorded by former state Rep. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte, who also ran unsuccessfully for one of Montanas U.S. Senate seats in 2014 and is running unopposed this year for Buttes House District 74 seat.

In the call, Curtis said Sweeney can bring the PSC back into balance and asks for people to vote for Sweeney in the primary on June 7. The five-seat PSC has been all Republicans since 2012.

State law says robocalls cannot be made for political campaign purposes. Thats clear enough, but enforcement is another matter.

Robocalls are considered a crime and dont fall under the enforcement umbrella of the commissioner. Instead, they are lumped into the same category as animal cruelty, defamation, concealed weapons and deviate sexual conduct.

Violations are enforced, or would be if that ever happened, in the criminal justice system through a complaint filed in the county where the call was received.

But county attorneys have never taken it that far, even though the state has had robocalls in every election since at least 1992, the first election year the calls were illegal.

Understandably, Montana county attorneys have not viewed a violation of law stemming from an automated political campaign phone call as having the same level of importance as a crime involving the physical safety of a person, Motl wrote in his finding.

But robocalls cost money, which means they must be reported by candidates doing the spending. Thats how Motl was able to find Sweeney in violation of campaign rules by not properly attributing who paid for the call by including the name and address of the person who made or financed it.

A campaign finance report due Thursday should indicate how much the calls cost to produce and make.

Sweeney admitted the lack of attribution was an oversight when contacted by Motl after the commissioner received the complaint. He apologized and pulled the calls immediately.

Those actions were appropriate, Motl wrote in his finding, but the actions still cause harm to the public. Sweeney may face a fine, though the amount of which hasnt been determined yet.

When the commissioner finds a campaign violation, he forwards his findings to the county attorney, in this case Missoulas, for their consideration. Typically the county attorney waives his or her right to prosecute and sends the complaint back to Motl, who can then set a fine. If the candidate does not agree to pay, the commissioner can take the complaint to District Court.
Missoula County Public Schools has hit two road bumps in its facilities projects.

MCPS trustees approved two contractors bid withdrawals Tuesday night  though the approval came with a warning to all potential bidders.

To reinforce to them, look, somebody's already used a get-out-of-jail-free card, said trustee Mike Smith. There aren't any more.

Environmental Contractors and Sirius Construction both withdrew their bids, for Lowell School asbestos abatement and Paxson School construction, respectively.

Environmental Contractors originally bid $30,000 to perform the asbestos abatement work at Lowell, a project thats set to take off in less than three weeks. MCPS executive director of business and operations Pat McHugh said after the district awarded the contract, the company contacted the district May 16, saying they had missed some material components in their bid and asking if they could withdraw.

"Due to a scheduling conflict we sent an inexperienced individual to the pre-bid walk," the letter read.

Along with the trustees approval of the bid withdrawals, they also waived the forfeiture of the companies bid security. Environmental Contractors bid security was $3,975; Sirius was $115,215. Trustee Heidi Kendall wondered if $3,975 would really be that much of a burden on Environmental.

Really, you had two requests for withdrawal at the same time, McHugh said, and I think that it wouldve been difficult for us to come to the board and suggest a withdrawal waiver and forfeiture on one and not the other.

Youre right, $3,975 as a burden would not likely be significant and its not likely the contractor wouldve turned it over to surety. But the other is a different deal. Thats $115,000. Thats severely impactful to contractors when they cash in the security of that amount to their insurance company.

Bid withdrawals are rare, McHugh said, and on Tuesday night MCPS saw two.

We do want to convey the message that were expecting due diligence and best judgment by bidders, he said. They ought not consider the waiver in this case to be a message that well be waiving those in the future.

Trustees Jennifer Newbold and Vicki McDonald wondered if there was anything that could be done on MCPS end to avoid this happening.

Were not interested in shifting that burden to us, McHugh said. We dont have and dont ask for a qualification of their bid or detail of their bid. Theyre professionals, they do this for a living, they have a number and expectation by us that they follow the specs. Thats an error in their judgment on their behalf to miss that.

Trustee Diane Lorenzen pointed out that Tuesdays decisions were the best options given the situation.

First of all, were not in the business of making money off forfeitures, so it's not about the money," she said. "The last thing we want is someone who decides to go through with the project and proceeds in a hostile way. We dont want a contractor at one of our schools whos angry, who knows he's lost his shirt. So if we let him off the hook, and even if we let somebody else off the hook ... in the big picture of things, I think were in better shape this way.

In Paxsons case, the bid was instead awarded to Missoula-based Western Interstate Inc. for $1.3 million.

***

JCM Architecture updated the board on the designs of the Chief Charlo, Jefferson and Vo-Ag projects.

Chief Charlo will get a new, enhanced entry, said principal architect Jeff Maphis. ... Quite a few teachers and administrators have said that parents, when they first come, dont know what door to go into. Inside, the main reception desk will be revamped with a new window to improve line of sight. The main area will be enclosed with glass and the lobby area will be secured with double doors. The project is expected to finish by Aug. 12.

Jefferson, which is acting as Franklin School's swing space next school year, will also get a new entry. Crews also will open up and redirect the vestibule, with a larger lobby and new reception desk, remodeled principal's office and family resource center. An accessible bathroom and flex space will be added, the teacher's lounge will be remodeled and the school is getting new paint, finishing and lighting.

Maphis said in his 33-year career, the vocational agriculture center's meat processing facility addition is "probably one of the more unique projects I've ever worked on." The facility will "provide a sustainable way for the school district to provide food from the field to the table," he said.

Architect Eric Abrams said the existing wood shop is the most feasible location for the new facility as it has the most open space.

"The more complex part of the project was the process, the flow through the facility," he said. "As we were developing the floor plan, we paid a lot of attention to how the meat is handled from when you enter into the building to the finished product.

"We had to figure out how to make their process work (Lolo meat locker's) within an educational setting, which involved enlarging some spaces for a mass amount of studs ... as well as adding some handwash areas so they don't have to spend all morning washing their hands."

***

Trustees awarded several other contracts Tuesday night.

Seeley-Swan High Schools construction contract went to Great Falls-based Wadsworth Builders Company for nearly $1.6 million.

Field Turf was named as the vendor for the MCPS Stadium track and artificial turf projects, budgeted at $2.7 million. The company got overwhelming support from the district committee for its use of EPDM rubber, ability to meet the districts timeline and Montana references. Field Turf has worked on projects at University of Montana, Montana State University and Loyola Sacred Heart High School.

Progressive Roofing also was awarded three partial roof replacement projects, at Lewis and Clark School, Washington Middle School and Meadow Hill Middle School, with cost estimates of $82,981, $98,550 and $245,330, respectively.
A scuba diver for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been sentenced for abusive sexual contact that occurred while he and a female colleague were working in Glacier National Park.

Lawrence L. Lockard, 67, of Bigfork, will spend six months in prison for the incident, which happened last fall. He had been a career employee of the FWS at the time of the sexual contact, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Montana.

Lockard knew the victim had been drinking, that she had taken sleep medication, and that she was wearing ear plugs when he climbed into her bed in the cabin they were sharing, touched her inappropriately and attempted to remove her clothing, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Lockard and two other FWS employees were on a work-related scuba diving trip to Quartz Lake, northeast of Polebridge in Glacier Park last September, court documents say.

The victim and Lockard were staying in a cabin while the third person slept outside in a tent to avoid disturbing them with his sleep apnea.

***

On the second night of the trip, the female co-worker woke to find Lockard in the bed with her, touching her inappropriately and attempting to remove her clothing, according to Melissa Hornbein, public information officer for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Montana.

The victim immediately got out of bed, and Lockard returned to his bed, Hornbein says in a news release. The victim informed him the following day that he never had permission to touch her.

She still suffers from fear and anxiety, and has trouble sleeping, the victim told U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen.

National Park Service Special Agent Justin Ivary said Lockard admitted to him he knew the victim was asleep, that she had taken sleep medication and was wearing ear plugs when he got into bed with her, and that he knew what he did was wrong.

Lockard was both the victims supervisor, and 17 years her senior. Anna Munoz, spokeswoman for the Mountain-Prairie Region of the Fish and Wildlife Service, did not return a phone message Tuesday afternoon seeking information on Lockards employment status with the agency since criminal charges were filed.

Christensen said Lockards lack of criminal history, admirable employment record and standing in the community did not offset the unwanted sexual contact, and he enhanced the sentence to six months because Lockard was aware the victim was wearing ear plugs, had taken sleep medication and had been drinking.

The judge also ordered Lockard to pay almost $22,000 in restitution to the victim.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Duerk prosecuted the case.
A Missoula man is in jail on $1.5 million bail after warrants were issued in Nevada for his arrest on charges that he sexually assaulted children.

Anthony Michael Maustionnio, 50, was arrested and booked into Missoula County jail on Monday, charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and a fugitive from justice status.

According to a warrant issued May 2 by an Elko County, Nevada judge, Maustionnio is charged with six counts of felony sexual assault on a child and two felony counts of lewdness with a child. No other details are available regarding the alleged crimes.

On Tuesday in Missoula Municipal Court, Maustionnio was given a six-month suspended jail sentence on the misdemeanor drug charge after pleading no contest, and will have to pay $210 in fines and fees, as well as attend a drug intervention course.

In Missoula County Justice Court later in the afternoon, Maustionnio said he wished to waive his extradition to Nevada. Justice of the Peace Karen Orzech set his bail at the $1.5 million requested by the Nevada warrant.
MISSOULA  Laird A. Robinson passed away after a nine year courageous battle with cancer with his wife Loretta by his side. Laird was born on Sept. 5, 1942, at Walla Walla, Washington, where his father attended school at the time. Laird attended Paxson Grade School and went on to attend and graduate from the Missoula County Public High School in 1960. Laird continued his education at the University of Montana to include a double major in biology and history graduating in 1966. He was also president of the Phi Delta fraternity house.

Laird married Helen Ferrlan on June 12, 1965, and had two sons. Eventually Laird and Helen were divorced.

Laird began smoke jumping with the Missoula Smokejumpers around 1962 till 1965. He would return to smoke jumping after serving in the military in 1971 till the mid-1970s.

Laird entered ROTC in 1963 and entered the U.S. Air Force as an officer in 1965 earning the rank of captain. Eventually he departed with an honorable discharge in 1971. After serving in the Air Force, Laird continued federal employment with the U.S. Forest Service until retirement with nearly 40 years of service. Laird worked on a large incident management fire team and next in a professional capacity in public affairs and eventually retired in special projects at the Regional Office in Missoula.

Laird would also serve as Norman MacLeans research partner in the book Young Men and Fire. The two built a special bond and relationship that would last until Normans death in 1990.

Laird would later serve in a volunteer capacity as the president of the National Smokejumpers Association.

Laird married Loretta Robinson on May 1, 1998, and remained happily married until his death.

Laird left behind his father R.H. Ty Robinson; his brother John Robinson and sister-in-law Anita Robinson; his wife Loretta Robinson; his son Tyler Robinson and grandson Logan Robinson; his son Calvin Robinson, wife Christine and granddaughters, Grace and Audrey.

Laird is preceded in death by his mother Elizabeth Jean Robinson.

To say that Laird was an avid outdoorsman would be an understatement. Laird was an expert woodsman who enjoyed every adventure involving hunting and fishing. He especially liked elk hunting, salmon fishing, steelhead fishing and bird hunting. Time spent with friends and family outdoors was not only a way of life but a religion.

Laird was a great son, spouse and dad and will be missed by all those he leaves behind on his next adventure.

Funeral Services for Laird A. Robinson are scheduled for Tuesday, May 31 at 11 a.m. at the Holy Spirit Parish, 130 S. Sixth St. E., with a reception to follow. Burial with military honors will follow at the Western Montana State Veteran Cemetery. Laird passed away on Monday, May 23, 2016, in Missoula at the age of 73. His family suggests that memorials in his name be sent to the National Museum of Forest Service History, 1615 S. Catlin St., Missoula, MT 59801 or on line at forestservicemuseum.org; or to Hospice of Missoula, 800 Kensington Ave., Missoula, MT 59801. Condolences for the family may be left at gardencityfh.com.
Big Sky High School Spanish students didn't learn about people in Latin America on Tuesday from a textbook or even a video.

They leveraged technology to actually talk to the people they're learning about via Skype at the Second Intergalactic Gathering of Indigenous Movements of Latin America.

Gathered at the Roxy Theater, community members and International Baccalaureate Spanish students talked to the audience about what they learned, and heard from experts via Skype calls.

The learning symposium happened for the first time in the fall of 2012, on a smaller scale. This year, they took it up a notch as Big Sky IB Spanish teacher Jay Bostrom began lessons on Latin American indigenous movements. They didnt read about the movements, though. Students contacted the tribes, leaders of indigenous movements, human rights activists and others through Skype, email, phone and social media.

Indigenous peoples in North and South America are calling for the establishment or restoration of their individual human rights, recognition of their identities and culture, and protection of their land and natural resources.

We tried to get direct quotes from them, and we just wanted to represent them as transparently as we could without our interpretation of what they wanted us to tell the community here in Missoula, said senior Matthew Tillman.

One of the highlights of the day was a Skype session with world-renowned linguist Noam Chomsky, who talked about indigenous movements around the world and the stark contrast between rich and poor nations.

You have the richest, most powerful country saying loud and clear: Let's race to the precipice as fast as we can, and fall over it," Chomsky said of U.S. attitudes toward climate change. "Let's go to the other extreme, Bolivia, the poorest country in South America. ... Bolivia is the one country that has established the rights of nature, the rights of survival as part of their legal system. ... The difference is Bolivia has an indigenous majority, and the indigenous population has been able to use the majority position to take a substantial amount of political power."

***

This project was a huge undertaking for Bostrom and his students.

They spent time in and out of class, sometimes after school and Skype calls as early as 5 a.m. due to the time difference. As Bostrom talked in his classroom Monday afternoon, he was simultaneously Skyping with journalist Gloria Munoz Ramirez, one of the speakers Tuesday. She has worked extensively in Chiapas, Mexico, covering, for example, the Zapatista movement.

For them, theres an inspiration piece to this, Bostrom said of his students. They want to know: What else might we do to organize ourselves, and not take as inevitable something thats been passed on to us as inevitable?

The idea is to make the education relevant and personal to the students.

These are real human beings, Bostrom said. One of the students who was studying the COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) movement in Honduras, their leader was assassinated two months ago, right before we started this project. For students, its to say, 'Wait a minute, were not just doing a school activity like Model UN. Were actually doing something where what were talking about is real.' 

Its been eye-opening for the students.

Ive gained a whole new perspective on whats out there, outside of how our government, how things are run around here, said junior Alex Simmons. There are so many other ways of doing things. Just getting exposed to that has really expanded my views.

Plus, its a more meaningful way to learn the language, said junior Gabriel Miller.

Actually having to use it to write emails to these people and communicate and speak with them over the phone or Skype, he said. I feel like thats really been more beneficial than any bookwork or worksheets.

***

Many students were shocked by the connections between the U.S. and these indigenous movements.

Through this presidential election cycle, students are learning that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was involved in the overthrow of a democratically elected leader in Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, which has led to this huge humanitarian crisis, where a very oppressive regime is in power, Bostrom said.

Without this course, Tillman and Simmons both said these issues never would have occurred to them.

For me, what was incredibly eye-opening was recognizing how much of what goes on in the United States affects them, Tillman said, citing NAFTA and corporations taking land from indigenous peoples. After studying these groups, how some of the policies weve implemented, how its directly affected their movements.

Theyre not just learning from the indigenous movement leaders themselves. Students were tasked with calling corporations such as Chevron and Texaco to learn more about their side.

Its to inspire the students about the fact that they have more power than they think, Bostrom said. I think that its a really, really jaded time politically. Students are feeling that, too.

"I think when students get to say, 'Wait a minute, why do we have to do it this way?' ... Theres a fear to go against convention and orthodoxy, and theyre saying, 'No, lets write our own version, make democracy look like what we want it to look like.' 

Junior Lance Fisher said this project sets an example for what can be done at the high school level: How important a project can be, how relevant it can be?

People say a lot of high school is preparing you for whats next, but in this project, Id see when I was working on stuff that this is what that next step would be, Fisher said. Not only does it accelerate you forward in the learning process, but it also creates an example and a goal for future projects.
Three candidates are vying for the principal seat at Willard Alternative High School.

It's a position that at the end of the school year will be left open by Jane Bennett's retirement. Executive regional director Karen Allen said about 30 applied, and by Tuesday's community meet-and-greet the candidate pool had been narrowed to three:

Shawn Clark, principal of Browning High School

Matt Clausen, assistant principal of Big Sky High School

Kevin Ritchlin, Academic Programme coordinator at Suzhou Singapore International School in Suzhou, China

Superintendent Mark Thane said the district hopes to have a decision made by the end of the week.

***

The most rewarding experience of Clark's 25-year education career so far has been as an ESL teacher in Washington, he said.

He's a Montana native who also taught in Cut Bank before teaching in Washington. He then moved into administration, as assistant principal at Browning High, principal at Shelby middle and high schools, and three years ago became the principal at Browning High.

Clark wants to diffuse Willard's reputation among some as less-than. Willard's image problems are no different from those the alternative schools in Browning face, he said.

"There's a perception that alternative school students get less of an education," he said. "We need to do a really good job of communicating that alternative doesn't mean less. It means different."

That can change through "instructional rounds," he said: Having teachers from the other mainstream high schools come to Willard to see firsthand what happens in the classroom.

"Our goal should be to help students meet their aspirations," he said.

***

Clausen is no stranger to Willard. He taught there for six years.

Substitute teaching in an alternative school in Minnesota two decades ago, Clausen said what stuck with him was seeing the importance of relationships.

"It planted that seed for me about what could be different about education that I never even realized had been missing from all my experiences up to that point," he said.

Clausen worked in the independent study program for two years in Missoula County Public Schools  the precursor to Willard. He then taught at the school for six years, before getting his master's degree and moving into administration.

He was assistant principal at Meadow Hill Middle School, then became assistant principal at Big Sky High two years ago.

"When I went to be assistant principal at Big Sky, I did that knowing that one day I wanted to be principal at Willard," he said.

He was frank about Willard's perception.

"Let's call some of it out. (The perception is) Willard's the druggie school," he said. "I've heard a lot of those."

In his work with students and families at Big Sky, Clausen said he still has to dispel that myth. The best ways to do that, he said, are to get Willard students into the community and to bring in counselors from the other high schools, who can then take back what they learned.

"Why I want to come back to Willard as an administrator is that I think a lot of what Willard offers, its core values as a program are akin to my core values. It all starts with relationships," he said.

***

Ritchlin may be in China, but he worked for 10 years in MCPS.

He wasn't able to be in Missoula for the interview process, but called in to the community meeting via video. For two years, he's worked at Suzhou Singapore International School in Suzhou, China.

Before that, he taught at Big Sky High for six years in its Native American studies program, "the most rewarding experience as a teacher." He's also taught at Hellgate High.

Answering a parent's question, Ritchlin said the arts are vital to a student's education.

"Arts education is the cornerstone of a lot of what we do in Missoula County Public Schools in that it allows students to express themselves in a different way," he said. "I certainly support the arts in terms of what it provides to students, especially at-risk students and students who are seeking an alternative pathway to their education."

He also emphasized the importance of getting the students out in the community, as well as himself.
Im working for and proudly supporting Dave Strohmaier for Missoula County Commissioner.

Im fortunate to have worked for dozens of local Democratic candidates for over 20 years in Missoula, as my day job. One of the reasons I enjoy being involved with local governance and politics is because people tend to behave decently. We build community and tend to do it well. We visit in the grocery store, our kids go to school together, we serve on community boards together. This leads to a civil dialog about issues versus the disgraceful actions we see at the national stage of late.

However, I was deeply disappointed in the letter written by Emily Bentley (on May 18th), a supporter of Daves opponent. I know Emily. Yet her use of name calling like nanny stater and suggesting offensive actions seem more in line with the ugliness we have seen in this years presidential primary and not the issues based positive campaign I think we would all like to see.

Sadly it appears Daves opponent has embraced Emilys attacks as seen on her Facebook page. My hope is that her supporters will ask her to stick to the issues and stay away from name-calling and negative attacks.

Im supporting Dave Strohmaier because he is a true statesman, a collaborative leader, and a respectful listener who seeks other perspectives before making judgment and acting on an issue. That is how good policy is made, not by attacking others.

Lets not let our county politics go the way of deadlock and nastiness we see in Washington, D.C. By choosing to vote for Dave Strohmaier I am voting transparent collaboration, moral decency and innovative problem solving. I hope you will join me in voting for Dave Strohmaier for Missoula County Commissioner.

Jim Parker,

Missoula
Throughout the seemingly endless battle about what to do with the historic Missoula Mercantile building, I find it interesting and disappointing that no one on either side of the issue has offered any kind of innovative vision of what the property could become and what role it should play in Missoulas future.

The developers just want to sell it to any willing bidder and add yet another boring, soul-less franchise joint to our downtown. And the preservationists simply go around shouting, Save the Merc!, presumably so it can just sit there and continue to rot. Are there no visionaries left in this town?

For what its worth, heres an idea. Picture a series of signs along 1-90 running from North Dakota to Idaho, increasing in frequency as one nears Missoula. Most of them read: Visit the Historic Missoula Mercantile, Home of the Worlds Longest Soda Fountain! As tens of thousands of tourists rushing between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are lured from the freeway and enter the restored, renovated building, they are completely immersed in early 20th Century America. The fountain is huge, running the full length of the building along both Front and Higgins. Everything from the music, to the period costumes of employees, to the stuff sold is as close to vintage as possible. There are also specialty shops or kiosks offering the sort of touristy items that one cannot buy anywhere elsethings impulse-buyers love. Upstairs there could be more specialty shops or perhaps a unique vintage restaurant or tavern, or, who knows, maybe a unique downtown bed-and-breakfast. You can solve the obvious parking issues by erecting a parking garage where the old Merc parking lot sits and/or offering an hour of free parking anywhere downtown to any vehicle with an out-of-town license plate.

What is the main thing you are looking for when you are traveling for pleasure? For me and many others, we are looking for unique experiences. Thats what this offers. As the place catches on I could easily see the Mercantile building motif expanding the entire length of the Higgins Avenue block between Main and Front streets. Eventually a restored streetcar line could run between the Merc and the Carousel, and later clear out to the Historic Park at Fort Missoula.

You naysayers who believe something like this could never catch on obviously have never visited Wall Drug in South Dakota. Lets face it folks, the lumber industry is dead in this town, and right now Missoula has relatively little to offer in the area of unique tourist experiences. It seems that were at a crossroads, but have been given a terrific opportunity cleverly disguised as a decaying old building.

Missoulas politicians and business leaders concerned about their own legacies need to start asking themselves, What do I want my community to become, another Anytown, U.S.A. stuffed with faceless franchise joints (and right now we seem to be headed well down that road), or someplace different, someplace unique, someplace special?

***

Don Spritzer has have lived in Missoula nearly all of his adult life and is the author of Roadside History of Montana.
BILLINGS - The Billings attorney arrested for driving drunk with her children in the car appeared for arraignment Tuesday via video from a treatment center in Minnesota.

Michele Lynn Braukmann, 39, plead not guilty before Yellowstone County District Court Judge Gregory Todd to three felony charges of criminal child endangerment as well as two misdemeanor charges for possession of an open alcohol container and operating a vehicle without proper registration.

Assistant attorney general Chad Parker, also appearing by video, said Braukmann had tried to hide a missed drug test from prosecutors. She contacted her court-ordered monitors, asking them not to report the missed test.

"I've never seen someone being allowed to control the process such as Ms. Braukmann is appearing to do," Parker said.

Braukmann's behavior indicates a long history of alcohol problems and she is charged with very serious crimes, Parker said.

Braukmann said she only requested the missed test not be reported because she missed it while being admitted to her treatment facility. She said she would release all medical records from her time there. She expects to complete her treatment in another three weeks, at the earliest. When she returns to Billings, Todd ordered she continue with court ordered alcohol monitoring.

At about 10 p.m. on April 16 near 60th Street West and Grand Avenue, investigators say Braukmann was driving with three children in the car when a Montana Highway Patrol trooper pulled her over. Braukmann had an open bottle of vodka in the car and a breathalyzer test registered her blood alcohol content at 0.247 percent, more than three times the legal limit, according to documents.

The charges, which were detailed in an affidavit prepared by Parker, included Braukmann's alleged conversation with the Montana Highway Patrol after being pulled over.

Braukmann told the trooper she was "an attorney for the city of Billings" and "she defended police officers," according to the affidavit.

She added that she had Billings Police Chief Rich St. John's telephone number on "speed dial." The trooper sent the three children, two 11-year-olds and one 7-year-old, home and took Braukmann to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

At the jail, Braukmann continued to tell law enforcement she "worked for the city of Billings and with city leaders." She said she was a "moral person" and that the trooper who arrested her should be out "arresting other people and not her," documents state.

According to her profile page on the Moulton Bellingham website, where she works, Braukmann is a shareholder and board member of the firm. She represented cities through the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority. Braukmann handled civil rights, excessive force and related claims against police departments and general negligence claims involving city departments.
BILLINGS - A Billings-area man appeared in court Tuesday on charges that he threatened a woman and shoved a gun into her mouth during a domestic dispute.

John Clayton Ellinghouse, 41, faces a count of felony assault with a weapon and made his initial appearance in Yellowstone County Justice Court.

Judge David A. Carter set bond at $40,000.

According to court documents, Ellinghouse learned about an extramarital affair and became violent, hitting himself with a belt. He also put a gun in a woman's mouth and pulled the trigger, charges state. The gun did not discharge.

Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office responded to his home on Monday.

When reached over the phone by a deputy, Ellinghouse denied that anything happened. When the deputy said they needed to talk, Ellinghouse said that "the last time he did this it did not go good for law enforcement," charges state. After his arrest, he refused to comment.

Ellinghouse, who owns a concrete fabrication business, was included in the Billings Gazette's "40 Under 40" list in 2013.

Detention center officials confirmed that Ellinghouse posted bond and was released on Tuesday. He is required to wear a GPS monitoring device. He is scheduled to appear in Yellowstone County District Court on June 7.
BILLINGS - A suspect in a shooting at the Rimrock Mall parking lot Saturday appeared in court Tuesday.

Bryan Travis Antelope, 23, faces six felony and two misdemeanor counts in the case: four counts of assault with a weapon, one count of tampering with evidence, one count of criminal endangerment and two counts of criminal mischief. The last two are misdemeanors.

Judge David A. Carter set Antelope's bond at $250,000 during the hearing in Yellowstone County Justice Court.

Billings police responded to the mall parking lot at 2 a.m. on Friday after witnesses reported someone shot at them. Five people were inside two vehicles in the parking lot. Officers noted a dent in one driver's side door where a bullet had hit, according to court documents. A tire in the other car was blown from a shot.

Officers took a description and soon found Antelope walking in the parking lot of a Phyllis Lane apartment complex, charges state.

While officers were stopping Antelope, another man got out from under a car and ran, court documents state. Officers caught him and found a handgun near the car under which he hid.

After his arrest, Antelope agreed to speak with police. According to court documents, he said he had heard a feminine voice call him a "bitch," so he fired on the group in the parking lot. He told police that he wasn't going to be "punked," charges state.

Antelope said that when they left, he gave the gun to the other man, who hid under the car.
SAN FRANCISCO  Automakers are looking toward a technology-driven future, one where they increasingly acknowledge that getting around may not require owning a car.

On Tuesday, two of the worlds largest automakers, Toyota and Volkswagen, said they were stepping up to invest in technology start-ups that are working to change the way people travel by car. Toyota said it had formed a partnership with and invested an undisclosed amount in Uber, the biggest ride-hailing company. Gett, the app popular in Europe, said it was working with Volkswagen, and the automaker was investing $300 million in the start-up.

The alliances are the latest in a string of pairings between technology companies and traditional automakers that are scrambling to reposition themselves. For decades, automakers had abided by the well-worn formula of making bigger and more powerful cars to fuel their growth.

But start-ups like Uber and Lyft and technology companies like Google and Tesla have disrupted that cadence. These companies, mostly located in Silicon Valley, have in the last few years sped the development of self-driving cars, electric vehicles and ride services.
HONG KONG  A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar has killed at least 12 people, and dozens more might have been buried by the collapsed hillside, an official said on Tuesday.

The landslide in Kachin State on Monday night came after heavy rainfall in recent days. Twelve bodies were recovered, but as many as 100 people were feared missing, said U Tin Soe, a member of Myanmars lower house of Parliament from the Hpakant area, the center of jade mining in Kachin.

Although many large-scale mining operations had stopped because of the monsoon, individual workers who pick over scrap piles were still laboring in Weikha village outside Hpakant when they were caught in the deluge, Mr. Tin Soe said.

Hand-pickers were still digging there, he said. That is very risky.

Many informal workers comb the waste piles from mining operations looking for jade that has been left behind. In November, about 120 such miners in the Hpakant area were killed in a landslide that engulfed a village of flimsy shacks and tents.
A conservative news site posted what it said was audio proof that filmmakers behind a documentary about the gun control debate deliberately edited video to portray gun-rights activists as unable to answer questions about background checks.

The audio, posted by The Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday, seemed to differ from the video shown in the documentary, Under the Gun, in which a group of activists appear to fall silent during an interview with the news anchor Katie Couric.

If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun? Ms. Couric asks. The next shot in the film is of the activists looking on with blank stares instead of answering the question.
AUSTIN, Tex.  The Obama administration on Wednesday faced the first major court challenge to its guidance about the civil rights of transgender students in public schools, as officials from 11 states filed a lawsuit testing both the scope of federal anti-discrimination law and the governments sweeping interpretation of it.

The officials, in states from Arizona to Georgia to Texas to Wisconsin, brought the case in Federal District Court in Wichita Falls, Tex., and said that the Obama administration had conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over common-sense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights.

The lawsuit asked the court to block the federal government from implementing, applying or enforcing the new rules, regulations and guidance interpretations.

Wednesdays litigation fed into the nations intensifying, and suddenly fast-moving, debate about the rights of transgender people and, in particular, whether the administration has exceeded the scope of current laws defining discrimination in the United States.
Anaconda is known for its quiet, small-town atmosphere with its mountain scenery and main street dotted with lampposts.

Every now and then, however, a quiet afternoon in Buttes sister city is interrupted by bass-heavy music erupting from a building on Park Avenue.

But Anaconda residents arent starting a nightclub, as one might believe.

Instead the sounds are from InMotion Studio  a group fitness center at 217 E. Park Ave. in downtown Anaconda.

Business co-owner Erin Nicholes said she, along with Larisa Bartoletti and Camille Everett, started the business in 2013, and the three female entrepreneurs havent looked back since.

Today the studio offers classes in Pilates and yoga with instructor Kristine Smith. Clients can also take power and conditioning classes, Booty Barre (a workout that combines dance with yoga and Pilates) and Oula: a workout regimen invented in Missoula that brandishes the nickname dance mania for the soul.

Nicholes, 36, said the idea for the studio came about organically when Everett, 33, moved from Missoula to Anaconda and brought with her a habit for doing Oula.

Before being exposed to the rhythms of dance mania for the soul, Everett said she had always disliked exercise.

I had tried everything, Everett said. I tried the treadmill and the elliptical and I hated it all  I didnt like the monotony of it and I didnt like how hard it was.

But in Oula Everett found something that was fun and fit her upbeat, outgoing personality. Eventually she got a certification to teach the dance-based workout.

With Oula I just kind of forgot about (the exertion)  because its all based on Top 40 hits and songs that you could sing along to, she said. I just kind of lost myself in it.

Once Everett moved to Anaconda, she and Nicholes thought bringing Oula to Anaconda would be fun.

The two began teaching the class at a local health club. But soon, Nicholes said, the classes grew and they found themselves teaching 5 to 6 days a week with up to 40 people attending at a time.

We thought, given the interest in it, that we could probably do well if we opened our own studio and added other classes that went well with Oula.

At that point Nicholes and Everett decided to launch InMotion studio with Bartoletti, 37, a family friend who shared the women's passion for fitness.

Since 2013 theyve seen their business grow from three class formats to 10. Nicholes said their established client base has grown about three times since 2013, and they are constantly on the lookout for new certifications and workouts to keep their clients engaged.

In addition, they have added a retail component, which boasts higher-end workout gear thats hard to find in Butte and Anaconda.

Everette has been doing the merchandising and said shes made an effort to stock the shelves primarily with gear from women-owned and local companies.

One company shes particularly excited about is Live Montanably  a new, Philipsburg-based business devoted to funky, Montanan-themed caps, shirts and memorabilia.

As for the growth of InMotion Studio, Nicholes said, she is excited and energized by the response and attributes the successes to the business's emphasis on how clients feel instead of how they look.

Our classes are all based on the experience, she said. Our clients do lose weight, if thats what they want to do, and they do come here to look better  but we really focus on how you feel with the idea that if you feel good, thats going to be projected in how you look.

Bartoletti agrees.

For me it just means that were not super result-based. Were more about providing a fun workout and then the results come.

And what makes clients feel good, the three business women said, is the fun factor.

They said working out doesnt have to feel like a chore  it can actually be fun

Working out doesnt have to be hard and it doesnt have to feel bad, said Nicholes. It shouldnt be about what you cant do  it should always be about what you can do.

Everett, meanwhile, said what makes InMotion special is its judgment-free atmosphere.

I think for women (especially) its important that they dont feel judged, said Everett. I love our studio because I feel like you can just walk in and you are free to be whoever you are.

When asked what message they have for perspective clients, Nicholes responded,

You should come play with us  its really fun.
HELENA  Robocalls are the like the sink full of dirty dishes in Montana elections that nobody wants to wash, except Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl.

On Monday, Motl issued a decision that says a robocall made on behalf of a Democrat running for the Public Service Commission violated Montanas campaign rules, though not because placing the call was illegal  which it is  but because the call didnt say who paid for it.

Gail Gutsche, one of three Democrats running for the PSC seat for District 4, filed a complaint earlier this month against one of the other candidates in the primary, Mark Sweeney of Philipsburg. The other Democrat running is Lee Tavenner of Missoula. District 4 includes Granite, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Sanders and Ravalli counties.

Gutsche said Sweeneys campaign paid for a commercial advertisement, the robocall, that didnt say who financed it.

The call, placed May 3, was recorded by former state Rep. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte, who also ran unsuccessfully for one of Montanas U.S. Senate seats in 2014 and is running unopposed this year for Buttes House District 74 seat.

In the call, Curtis said Sweeney can bring the PSC back into balance and asks for people to vote for Sweeney in the primary on June 7. The five-seat PSC has been all Republicans since 2012.

State law says robocalls cannot be made for political campaign purposes. Thats clear enough, but enforcement is another matter.

Robocalls are considered a crime and dont fall under the enforcement umbrella of the commissioner. Instead, they are lumped into the same category as animal cruelty, defamation, concealed weapons and deviate sexual conduct.

Violations are enforced, or would be if that ever happened, in the criminal justice system through a complaint filed in the county where the call was received.

But county attorneys have never taken it that far, even though the state has had robocalls in every election since at least 1992, the first election year the calls were illegal.

Understandably, Montana county attorneys have not viewed a violation of law stemming from an automated political campaign phone call as having the same level of importance as a crime involving the physical safety of a person, Motl wrote in his finding.

But robocalls cost money, which means they must be reported by candidates doing the spending. Thats how Motl was able to find Sweeney in violation of campaign rules by not properly attributing who paid for the call by including the name and address of the person who made or financed it.

A campaign finance report due May 26 should indicate how much the calls cost to produce and make.

Sweeney admitted the lack of attribution was an oversight when contacted by Motl after the commissioner received the complaint. He apologized and pulled the calls immediately.

Those actions were appropriate, Motl wrote in his finding, but the actions still cause harm to the public. Sweeney may face a fine, though the amount of which hasnt been determined yet.

When the commissioner finds a campaign violation, he forwards his findings to the county attorney, in this case Missoulas, for their consideration. Typically the county attorney waives his or her right to prosecute and sends the complaint back to Motl, who can then set a fine. If the candidate does not agree to pay, the commissioner can take the complaint to District Court.
County officials want the public to know that a planned Uptown parking garage will not be funded through increased taxes.

But the parking garage will be paid for with property tax dollars from an Uptown tax-increment financing district, and the final cost could still be $7.5 million  $500,000 more than the $6 million to $7 million figure officials had held to for months.

Community Development Director Karen Byrnes told the Urban Revitalization Board on Tuesday that the final price tag for the garage could be $7.5 million.

Byrnes said the additional $500,000 could result from soft expenses that included costs for designing, engineering, purchase of the property off of Park Street and development agreements with owners of two adjacent properties.

Those were different than the hard costs of constructing the building, she said, but county officials had not proclaimed that distinction for this or other major public projects in the past few years.

Byrnes said a story about the project and its costs in Tuesdays editions of The Montana Standard did not make it clear where funding for the garage would come from.

Previous stories did, noting that bonding for the garage would be backed by new property tax revenue from the Uptown tax-increment financing district (TIF).

As some previous stories about that district have noted, TIFs alone do not mean tax increases.

They only capture property taxes paid on building improvements and new developments in an area so the money can be reinvested in that area. Without a TIF, the additional tax dollars would be doled out to all taxing units such as schools and local governments.

An Uptown TIF in place since 1980 expired in June 2014 and a new one was drawn and established.

Under that, any additional tax dollars paid because of building improvements  anything from a deck added to a house to the new NorthWestern Energy headquarters  are captured. It is that revenue  now and in future years  that will be used to back the bonds and pay them off, whether they are floated by one or many lending institutions.

But that revenue results from added developments, not tax increases, and tax dollars outside the Uptown TIF district wont fund any part of the garage project.

Although URA board member Bob Brown questioned the higher dollar figure Tuesday, the board was and has been complimentary of the planned parking garage and how the project has unfolded. Some commissioners, however, have criticized the process.
Florence Jane (Bebe) Mantha, 83, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on May 12, 2016.

She was born Oct. 23, 1932, on the family ranch near Silver Star, Montana, to Otto Carl and Jane Bernice (Bonawitz) Nolte.

Bebe lived most of her life in Twin Bridges, Montana. After she graduated from high school, she married her sweetheart, Donald LeRoy (Curly) Mantha on June 19, 1950. They lived a few memorable years in Homestake, near Butte and moved back to Twin Bridges where they raised three daughters. They were married for 65 years.

She worked at Hurds Drug Store (later McAlears), Dr. Bruce Beithons office, Twin Bridges Children Center, Ruby Valley Hospital and Tobacco Root Mountains Care Center before retiring.

Bebe played the piano, but most of all she loved to sing. During the late 60s and 70s, she, along with a wonderful group of talented friends known as the Chug Chug Girls, entertained many people in the valley with dance, music, and laughter. She sang in the Church of the Valley Choir and the Ruby Valley Chorale. She was a member of the Red Hats Society and enjoyed playing cards with her friends. Mom had many dear friends throughout her life and spoke highly of them all.

Bebe is survived by her daughters, Paulette Jane (Mike) Stanphill of Malad, Idaho, Donna Lee Mantha of Augusta, Montana, and Kristy Lynn Sewell of Eugene, Oregon. She was blessed with seven grandchildren, Andy (Angie) Allen, Jeff (Jen) Allen, Scott (Amber) Allen, Karlee (Perry) Shank, Ross Mosher, Brittany Sewell, and Brianna Sewell. She had 10 great-grandchildren who brought her much joy. She is also survived by sisters-in-law, Gloria Mantha, Inez Mantha, brother-in-law Ed McRea, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Fred, Robert and George Nolte; and husband Don, who passed away April 26, 2016.

A special thank you to Home Park Assisted Living, TRM Care Center, and all those that gave her great care and support.

A memorial service for Mom and Dad will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 11, from the Church of the Valley in Twin Bridges with Rev. Joel Trenkle officiating. A graveside service with military honors will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Laurin Cemetery.

Arrangements entrusted to K&L Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to a place of your choosing.

Express condolences at www.mtstandard.com.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kathy Best has been named editor of the Missoulian and the Ravalli Republic, Publisher Mark Heintzelman announced Wednesday.

Best is currently the editor and vice president for news at The Seattle Times. In that role, she has helped lead the newsroom to three Pulitzer prizes and multiple national print and digital journalism awards, including for video and multimedia presentations. Shes known for her commitment to significant watchdog and investigative journalism, innovative explanatory reporting and engaging storytelling that illuminates the heart and soul of a community. She has spent the last nine years in Seattle helping the newsroom learn to do all of those things well on multiple platforms  from desktops to mobile and from social media to Sunday print.

The opportunity to lead the Missoulian and Ravalli Republic allows me to return to my first and deepest love -- great community journalism, Best said. I cant wait to help these talented newsrooms take their work to the next level, giving print and digital readers in western Montana relevant and engaging news they cant get anywhere else. Were going to have some fun.

Newspapering is part of a family tradition for Best. She worked for her familys newspaper in central Illinois, the News-Progress in Sullivan. It was there that she learned the basics of newspapering, from taking photos to selling ads. She continues to be a co-owner of the newspaper with her brother.

Best started her career with the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa. From there, she moved to Springfield, Ill., to cover state government and politics for the Lee Enterprises Capitol Bureau. She also covered local, state and national news for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and was an editor for The Baltimore Sun, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Heintzelman said hiring Best was a unique opportunity to get a journalist with first-class talent who also knows how to help a newsroom develop the skills and mindset to meet the needs and expectations of digital, as well as print, readers. Heintzelman said he also looks forward to her outreach into the community.

Best plans to start at the Missoulian on June 27, and inherits an award-winning staff of around 30. She will appoint the papers next city editor and will focus, in filling all vacancies, on high ethical standards, a commitment to accuracy, and compelling writing  from tweets to full-blown stories.

Best is no stranger to Montana. She has been a guest lecturer at the University of Montana journalism school and has hired its graduates. She also has been a regular visitor to Missoula and western Montana.

She is married to Andrew Schneider, winner of two Pulitzer prizes for investigative reporting. Schneider also broke the story of one of the nations worst environmental disasters in Libby, Montana, where a vermiculite mine contaminated with asbestos poisoned and killed hundreds of miners and their families and sent toxic minerals across the U.S. and Canada. He and David McCumber, now the editor of the Montana Standard, eventually wrote a critically acclaimed book documenting the failure of government at all levels to protect Libbys miners and the heroism of two Libby residents and three EPA investigators who tried to bring justice to northwest Montana.

Best and Schneider own two unruly Labrador retrievers who are eager to become Montana dogs.

 Missoulian
The company that keeps the coal-fired Colstrip power plant running has notified five of its owners that theyll need a new operator by May 2018, if not sooner.

Talen Energy, which owns a share of the Colstrip and is paid by the power plant's five other stakeholders to run the four-unit power plant, told Montana Lee Newspapers its role is not economically viable and a new plant manager is needed.

This decision is part of Talen Energys overall strategy to conclude our business operations in the state, said Todd Martin, Talen spokesman. Talen Energy will continue to work with all of the Colstrip stakeholders to create the best possible outcome for employees, customers and the community as we facilitate the successful transition to the new operator.

Talen was obligated by contract to give two years' notice to the owners of Units 3 and 4 to assure enough time to find a new operator. The shareholders of those units are Washington utilities Avista Corp., and Puget Sound Energy; Oregon utilities Portland General Eclectic and PacifiCorp; and NorthWestern Energy, a South Dakota company that is Montanas largest gas and electric utility.

Ownership of Colstrip Units 1 and 2 is evenly split between Talen and Puget Sound Energy. The new operator will run those units also, Martin said.

The new operator wont be NorthWestern Energy. In an earlier meeting with Puget Sound Energy, Talen and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, NorthWestern said it wasnt interested. NorthWesterns position hasnt changed, said Butch Larcombe, company spokesman.

Talen, and formerly PPL Montana, have performed as operator for the past decade, Larcombe said. However, no owner is required to serve as the operator. The owners will get together soon to discuss Talens decision and develop a plan for operating the facility in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

There are companies that specialize in operating power plants, said Grant Ringel, of Puget Sound Energy. Now that Talen has given its notice the plant owners will choose one.

Talen's exit as operator won't be a major factor in Colstrip's future.

"I'm not sure changing operators changes the dynamics that much compared to the overriding market pressures," Ringel said, namely low energy prices pulled down by cheap natural gas, which has made coal power less competitive.

The Monday announcement wasnt unexpected, said Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip.

This announcement didnt make me want to burn a house down, Ankney said.

Talen CEO Paul Farr said earlier this month that his company will lose millions in terms of operating Colstrip through the balance of the year. The market price of electricity, largely because of cheap natural gas, has fallen below the profit margin or coal-fired power.

Talen is more vulnerable to market prices than Colstrips other owners because it is unregulated. The other Colstrip owners are regulated utilities guaranteed fixed profit percentages by the states in which they do business.

Talen reported a $341 million net loss in 2015. The companys value has fallen 70 percent since it was spun off of Pennsylvania Power and Light.

Three other Colstrip owners are on a slow walk to the exits. Puget Sound Energy is banking money for the eventual shutdown and cleanup of Units 1 and 2. It took a change in Washington law so Puget could began amassing money for the units eventual closure.

Initially, Washington legislators prohibited Puget from using the funds for seven years, but Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee eliminated that time limit so the utility could spend the money sooner if shutdown came earlier. Climate change concerns prompted the new law.

PaciCorp has to stop using coal power in Oregon by 2030. Portland General Electric has to drop coal power by 2035. Those deadlines stem from a 2016 law introduced in response to a consumer petition for the utilities to drop coal power immediately. Concerns about climate change drove the discussion.

PacifiCorp has said it will continue to use Colstrip to provide electricity to customers outside Oregon.

Avista Corp. remains committed to Colstrip.

"This doesn't change our view on Colstrip, the value of Units 3 and 4, and how it works with our energy portfolio into the future," said Mary Tyre, Avista spokeswoman.

Montana elected officials have attempted without success to steer Colstrip's outcome.

There are 2,300 people in the company town that shares the power plant's name. Roughly 80 percent of the households draw paychecks from the power plant or the coal mine that feeds it.

In addition to pressure from Oregon and Washington, Colstrip could also face compliance issues with the federal Clean Power Plan, which calls for a 47 percent cut in Montana smokestack carbon dioxide emissions. The Clean Power Plan has been put on hold by a lawsuit filed by Montana and other coal states.
WEST GLACIER  Going-to-the-Sun Road near Apgar remained open for just two hours Tuesday, before a noon landslide brought logs and debris tumbling across the pavement, blocking two culverts, diverting water, and turning the road into a river for about an hour, according to Glacier National Park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald.

The road has been closed since. Crews will continue clearing debris and open it again on Wednesday.

Flooding had first briefly closed the road Monday, although it was later opened to a single lane before being shut down for the night.

Steigerwald said it opened to two lanes of traffic at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Two hours later came the landslide, about two miles northeast of the Apgar Campground.

The area got four inches of rain in 48 hours, Steigerwald said. Its just so saturated.

She described the latest incident as a mudslide filled with logs that jammed two additional culverts. Approximately 50 yards of the road became a river for about an hour, and portions of the shoulder were washed out.

Only visitors with existing reservations at Lake McDonald Lodge are being allowed through, Steigerwald said. The flooding was near the foot of the lake.

Going-to-the-Sun has not yet fully reopened for the summer, but visitors can normally drive 16 miles from the West Entrance to Avalanche Creek at this time of year.

Snowplow crews have been pulled from the Logan Pass area to help clear the logs and debris off the road near Lake McDonald.

The storm that dumped all the rain in the Apgar area also deposited two feet of new snow above 6,000 feet in the park, Steigerwald said. Logan Pass sits 6,647 feet above sea level.
MISSOULA  A professional-quality handmade violin stolen from a musician with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra during the weekend is back in the hands of its owner after it was sold to a pawn shop, which recognized the item as having been stolen.

Sarah Harmsworth posted on her Facebook page Monday afternoon that her instrument, as well as case and two violin bows altogether valued at around $8,000, had been sold to a Missoula pawn shop for $50.

The instrumentwas taken out of Harmsworths car sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Stephen Sethney, manager of Cash 1 Pawn, said some of his employees had recognized the violin and case from a description Harmsworth posted online that had been shared on social media. The store contacted her and the police on Monday to say it may have her instrument.

I think our employees are really proactive at trying to find out things like this, he said. Unfortunately, in this business, stuff like that happens all the time.

Sethney said every time they buy something at his shop, they require the seller provide identification partially because of circumstances where the item may have been stolen. All information has since been turned over to the Missoula Police Department.

On Tuesday, public information officer Sgt. Travis Welsh said they have a suspect in the case, and an investigation into the theft is ongoing.

Harmsworth, a University of Montana student who is also principal second violinist for the Missoula Symphony, said everything that had been in her violin case was recovered except for her sheet music.
Let's start with where the data comes from: The Commissioner of Higher Education, which collects employment data from students one year after they graduate, and the Department of Labor.

The Montana University System finalized a memorandum of understanding in 2007 with the state's Department of Labor and Industry that allows the MUS to track the labor force outcomes for recent graduates. Nearly all employed Montanans are identified in the Department of Labors Unemployment Insurance records (You wouldn't be if you're self-employed, for example. The state's data grabs about 80 percent of graduates).

Using these records, MUS can ascertain how many graduates obtain work in Montana and what wages they receive. That's from this PDF, which gives a bit more insight into the data.
ORIGINAL NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION

JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association

Plaintiff,

vs.

Ruth Champagne; Parties in Possession; Unknown spouse, if any, of Ruth Champagne, et al.

Defendants.

You are notified that a petition has been filed in the office of this court naming you as a defendant in this action. The petition was filed on March 29, 2016, and prays for foreclosure of Plaintiffs mortgage in favor of the Plaintiff on the property described in this notice and judgment for the unpaid principal amount of $109,925.22, with 5% per annum interest thereon from August 1, 2015, together with late charges, advances and the costs of the action including (but not limited to) title costs and reasonable attorney's fees, as well as a request that said sums be declared a lien upon the following described premises from June 19, 2009, located in Muscatine county, Iowa:

The West 180 feet of the following described tract of land, to-wit: Commencing at a point on the East line of Columbus Street in the City of West Liberty, Iowa, which is 30 feet East and 76 1/2 feet North of the center Section 12, Township 78 North, Range 4 West of the 5th Principal Meridian, and running thence East 180 feet, thence South 76 1/2 feet to the quarter section line, thence East along the quarter section line, 806.7 feet, thence North 146 1/2 feet, thence West 986 1/2 feet to the East line of Columbus Street, thence South along the said Street line to the point of beginning, commonly known as 804 North Columbus Street, West Liberty, IA 52776 (the "Property")

The petition further prays that the mortgage on the above described real estate be foreclosed, that a special execution issue for the sale of as much of the mortgaged premises as is necessary to satisfy the judgment and for other relief as the Court deems just and equitable. For further details, please review the petition on file in the clerk's office. The Plaintiffs attorney is Halley Ryherd, of SouthLaw, P.C.; whose address is 1401 50th Street, Suite 100, West Des Moines, IA 50266.

NOTICE

THE PLAINTIFF HAS ELECTED FORECLOSURE WITHOUT REDEMPTION. THIS MEANS THAT THE SALE OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY WILL OCCUR PROMPTLY AFTER ENTRY OF JUDGMENT UNLESS YOU FILE WITH THE COURT A WRITTEN DEMAND TO DELAY THE SALE. IF YOU FILE A WRITTEN DEMAND, THE SALE WILL BE DELAYED UNTIL TWELVE MONTHS (OR SIX MONTHS IF THE PETITION INCLUDES A WAIVER OF DEFICIENCY JUDGMENT) FROM THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS YOUR RESIDENCE AND IS A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING OR UNTIL TWO MONTHS FROM ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS NOT YOUR RESIDENCE OR IS YOUR RESIDENCE BUT NOT A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING. YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT OF REDEMPTION AFTER THE SALE. THE PURCHASER AT THE SALE WILL BE ENTITLED TO IMMEDIATE POSSESSION OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY. YOU MAY PURCHASE AT THE SALE.

You must serve a motion or answer on or before 15th day of June, 2016, and within a reasonable time thereafter file your motion or answer with the Clerk of Court for Muscatine County, at the county courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa. If you do not, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

If you require the assistance of auxiliary aids or services to participate in a court action because of a disability, immediately call your District ADA Coordinator at 563-326-8783. If you are hearing impaired, call Relay Iowa TTY at 1-800-735-2942.

By: Jeff Tollenaer

CLERK OF THE ABOVE COURT

Muscatine County Courthouse

401 East 3rd Street,

Muscatine, IA 52761

IMPORTANT:

YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE AT ONCE TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS.
MUSCATINE, Iowa The City of Muscatine held a public information meeting on the proposed road improvements to Grandview Avenue on Tuesday, with representatives from various elements of the project available to answer questions and discuss concerns with Muscatine Residents.

The project is in the preliminary stages with a proposed concept, and Mike Fisher, of Impact7G, said the City is on the schedule for funding for a portion of the project, approximately $1.55 million, for the fiscal year 2018/19 through the Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP).

The proposed project would stretch from Pearl Street to the Highway 61 intersection on Grandview Avenue. The improvements were part of the City of Muscatine's Comprehensive Plan, and the current proposed concept includes a three lane roadway, and a possible roundabout at the intersection with S. Houser and Sampson Streets.

The next step for the project will be examining the environmental impact, which is required by the Iowa Department of Transportation, which has categorized the project as a Programmatic Categorical Exclusion (CE) according to Iowa DOT and Federal Highway Administration NEPA review guidelines.

Fisher said that, although the plan would have a low environmental impact, the project will need to meet federal requirements for environmental review.

"We want to make sure we're looking at historical resources, archaeological resources that might be beneath the roadway, Brier's Ditch from a wetland standpoint," he said.

The concept that was developed HBK Engineering will remain mostly within the existing right-of-ways, which Fisher said will be positive for the project's impact.

"Because of that there will be less of an impact on structures, wetlands, and endangered species... it really is an innocuous project from the standpoint of environmental impact," he said.

The process will move forward through examination and documentation of the design concept, and how it will remain within an existing disturbed area, and according to Fisher, the structures along Grandview Avenue will be a large area of focus in the documentation process.

"Really the biggest issue that we'll study is the structures themselves from an historic standpoint, and what we don't want to do is have a structure that's eligible for the national registry and then have our vibration or construction cause any damage to a structure like that," he said.

Protection of the historical structures along the roadway will mean that the proposed three lanes will have to be narrowed in certain sections, but Fisher said the goal of the project is to improve the area's development and create a safer roadway for motor vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

"What we would like to see is what will attract people here, make it more developable...we want to design a roadway that meets the purpose and the needs of the project," Fisher said.

For more information about the project contact City Engineer Jim Edgmond at jedgmond@muscatineiowa.gov.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  With one day left to go in the school year, eighth graders at Central Middle School were honored for their achievements with a graduation ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

Families packed the auditorium to see the students receive academic and activity awards. The 192 soon-to-be high school freshmen were also called up to the stage one by one to receive certificates recognizing their completion of eighth grade and middle school.

"They kind of come to us as children and they kind of leave us as young adults," said Central Principal Terry Hogenson. "We are always excited about their potential when they go through our system and excel the way that they have. We appreciate all that you (parents) have done to support us and support them.

"It takes a village to raise a child. I truly believe that. We can't do it alone. And all of you have been very supportive of us through thick and thin and I appreciate that very much."

Nearly 50 students were honored as "Presidential Education Award" winners. To be a presidential award winner, the honoree must finish middle school with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher in sixth, seventh and eighth grades as well as score 85 percent or higher in the Iowa Assessment reading or math tests throughout middle school.

Twenty-four percent of the 2016 eighth grade class earned that designation, Hogenson said.

Graduating eighth-grader Whitney Winter shared her thoughts on the years past and those to come as a student at Muscatine High School.

"Three years ago we were we graduating fifth grade and getting ready for middle school. Today we are graduating eighth grade getting ready to go to high school," Winter said. "Most of us were absolutely terrified to go to a new school. We thought this school was so large and confusing but now it seems like a maze, still confusing but we don't get lost as often."

Winter said they will always be Central Middle School students.

"Now we are going together into a bigger school with more kids. We will be making new memories in high school just as we have here. But some of us will be separated by classes, new people or clubs,' Winter said.

"I'd like to say thanks to the teachers for well, teaching, the students for the memories, wait, did I just thank myself? I'd also like to thank the parents for supporting us, getting us to school and giving us lunch money. We have one day left as middle schoolers so let's make it count."

Thursday is the last day of school in the Muscatine school district.
MES, Iowa  What would life be like with true wellness and wellbeing? Iowans have been reflecting on that question over the past few months in a pilot program from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Theyve been contemplating their relationships, their finances and their physical health. Theyve been talking about being involved in their communities and having a purpose in life. As a result, theyve come to understand that finding wellness and wellbeing isnt something to achieve and check off a bucket list. Instead, its an ongoing journey that varies with each person.

About 75 Iowans have participated in Wellness and Wellbeing: What about me? since the educational workshop series began in January. Small groups have gathered in Muscatine, Black Hawk, Carroll, Jasper, Kossuth, Linn, Monona, Polk, Wapello, Washington and Winneshiek counties. Each group met for seven weekly 45-minute sessions.

Wellness and wellbeing is not an end, its a journey. Your needs will fluctuate depending on where you are in your life. The program can be applied at any point, said Debra Sellers, the lead faculty member on the Wellness and Wellbeing: What about me? planning team.

Its all about taking time out of your busy schedule to reflect on the lifestyle choices youre making to meet your own goals for your relationships and your financial and physical health," Sellers said.

Sellers and a team of human sciences specialists and other ISU Extension and Outreach staff developed the educational workshop series using a framework described by Tom Rath and Jim Harter in their book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements.

The Iowa State team has piloted the program with nonprofit agencies and faith-based organizations and in a worksite wellness program with utilities workers. The pilots will be completed by the end of June and then the team will review the feedback theyve received. In three to six months theyll follow up with interested participants to see if theyve made any changes to improve their wellness and well-being and find out if the program has made a difference in their quality of life.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the Muscatine YMCA youth and teen center expansion. Donations will be taken at the door, with raffles and silent auctions, and 20 percent of food and drink sales will be donated to the Y.
MUSCATINE, Iowa West Middle School now has a way for students to read books over the summer without visiting the school library.

A visit from the creator of Little Free Libraries, Todd Bol, led Amy Matteson's sixth grade English language arts students to create one of their own outside West Middle School.

Little Free Libraries operate on an honor system, where students can place a book in the box and take a new one out, a free trade that will allow students to read books they may not have seen before over the summer.

Matteson said she hoped the project would promote reading, especially by making books available in the neighborhood.

"I'm hoping that it will give them a chance to find books to read over the summer, and for the community, there is an elementary school across the street and some of the books are more elementary based, and some parents might enjoy them too so it's something that everybody could enjoy for reading," she said.

All 70 of Matteson's students submitted art and design suggestions for the little library, but Sophia Thomas's design was voted winner. She wanted to have a picture of someone special to the students on the side of the library, and Rosie, a service dog at West Middle School, is now proudly displayed.

"She can help you if you're feeling sad," Sophia said.

Twelve-year-old Rosie belongs to Theresa White, a counselor at West Middle School, and has been working with students at West for around three years. As students left the school building to see the new Little Free Library, Rosie came outside as well, and students called "Hi Rosie" and patted her head as she wandered past.

Students placed books in the Little Free Library for the first time on Wednesday, and Shawn Bishop took the first book.

"I'm definitely going to be using it, I think it's a great way for people who don't have any books to come and get some they can read," he said.

Sophia said she thinks the library will get plenty of use.

"I think a bunch of people will use it to read over the summer," she said.

Sean Justus volunteered his time and materials to construct the Little Free Library, and Jame Hayes, an art teacher at West Middle School, helped with the painting.

The fourth Little Free Library in Muscatine stands outside West Middle School, and community members are welcome to exchange books and find new things to read.
WAPELLO, Iowa Offices in the Louisa County Courthouse, and potentially several other outlying departments, may soon have a new phone system. The new system would replace the current one, which became outdated after Louisa Communications switched equipment last year, causing some services to be lost.

Louisa County Technology Director Chuck Borschel presented a series of bids for a new system to the Louisa County Board of Supervisors during the boards regular meeting Tuesday.

Borschel said he had specified an initial base bid be provided for running lines and providing equipment to each office in the courthouse. In addition to that base bid, he also requested contractors to provide bids to extend the system to the former Louisa County Jail, which will be renovated later this year and is expected to house the countys veterans affairs office, emergency management (EMS) department, community services (mental health/general assistance) and the supervisors meeting room.

An alternate bid that would extend the phone system to the Louisa County Public Health Service (LCPHS) building on U.S. Highway 61 in Wapello was also specified.

In addition to the county offices identified, Borschel said he had also asked the companies to submit a bid that would connect the clerk of courts office to the new phone system. That office is located in the courthouse, but is now part of state government. The cost for incorporating that office would be paid by the state, Borschel reported.

Although three companies submitted bids, Borschel said the only bidder to provide the full slate of bids he had specified came from Integrated Technology Partners (ITP), Wilton.

That company bid $14,500 for the base bid, with four additional quotes to extend the service to the other offices. Those costs included $1,287 to extend the service to the jail site, which ITP arbitrarily assigned to its community services bid; and $645 each for the veterans affairs, emergency management and supervisors meeting room extensions.

ITPs bid for extending the system to the (LCPHS) building was $3,806, while the bid for the clerk of court extension was $3,630.

Supervisors Paula Buckman questioned whether spending the money on the LCPHS system was worthwhile, since it was possible that office could eventually be moved to the county complex once the supervisors, EMS and veterans affairs office move to the renovated former jail.

Borschel assured her the equipment could be used at a new site. County auditor Sandi Elliott also said the LCPHS needed the updated system for transferring calls and other needs.

Since the bids were not included on the supervisors agenda, they did not take any formal action, but were unanimous in directing Borschel to notify officials and move forward with the ITP bid.

Other bids came from Access Systems, Burlington, $14,967; and Panasonic Systems, Muscatine, $12,360. Neither bid met the full specifications for the project, according to Borschel.

In other action, the board held its regular monthly department head meeting. The department heads reported generally routine activities with current programs and events.

The supervisors also approved a fireworks permit for Vonnie Helmig and a cigarette permit for Caseys General Store, Newport.

A resolution appointing a mental health advocate to cover Louisa County as part of a regional program was approved by the board.

The board also approved an environmental covenant for an abandoned Oakville gas station.
WAPELLO, Iowa  Louisa County has been approved as one of the next counties in Iowa to receive a "Freedom Rock."

A committee has been formed and secured approval from the artist Ray (Bubba) Sorensen for Louisa County to be one of the next counties to receive a Freedom Rock

The Freedom Rock is a large (approx. 60+ ton) boulder located in rural Iowa that is repainted every year with a different Thank You for our nations Veterans to honor their service to our country. "Bubba" Sorensen II, was inspired by the movie Saving Private Ryan, as well as, wanting to give veterans a unique recognition on Memorial Day.

Sorensen paints The Freedom Rock on his own with the tremendous support of family and friends. Sorensen is not commissioned to paint the rock but is able to do so each year with the generous help of donations.

While painting murals across the country Sorensen had the idea of spreading the message of The Freedom Rock to other small communities across Iowa. The idea in part came from the 99 county tours that both Sen. Grassley and journalist Kyle Munson took part in, and so the Freedom Rock Tour was born.

For the next few summers Sorensen and his family will travel the state of Iowa to put a (smaller and unique to their area) Freedom Rock in each county.

Now the work begins for the Louisa County committee with the site selection, securing a rock and advertising and seeking funds for the expenses. The total cost of the completed project will be between $15,000 and $20,000.

At this time, the site has been selected at Grandview beside the All Veterans Memorial. Plans are being discussed for the layout and how best to complement both memorials. The site will have easy access from Highway 61.

The committee decided to make this a countywide project as opposed to a city project to cover a larger percentage of the county's veterans.

Sorensen wants every county in Iowa to have its own rock and this will be Louisas. Sorensen says he is booked up to 2020 but is running ahead of schedule and may be able to move up the Louisa County rock depending on weather and financing.

Sorensen researches each county and will paint a patriotic theme that depicts that county's military history.

Lee and Van Buren counties are also slated to have Freedom Rocks with Lee Countys set for painting Oct. 3-13.

The committee is in the process of making the residents of Louisa County aware of this exciting new project and securing donations. This is a great place to honor our veterans and especially those of Louisa County.

Everyone is encouraged to visit Bubba Sorensen web page and scan through all the pictures of his painted patriotic rocks that are completed throughout Iowa. Donations can be sent to Louisa County Freedom Rock, State Bank of Wapello, in care of Bill Small, 306 N. Second St., Wapello, Iowa 52653.
MEDIAPOLIS, Iowa  Great River Health Systems Red Hot Mamas program is taking a road trip to Mediapolis.

A ladies tea is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at The Chop House, 913 Wapello St. in Mediapolis.

Lisa Decker, D.N.P., Great River Clinic, Mediapolis, will discuss the causes of and treatments for hot flashes, menopauses number one symptom. Reservations are appreciated. Please call 319-768-3491.

Red Hot Mamas is a program that educates women about physical and psychological changes as they age, and helps them make informed health care decisions. Monthly programs are offered at Great River Health Systems through November.

For more information or to register, please visit www.redhotmamas.org.
She's sandwiched between the needs of aging parents and the demands of young children. Her frustration is palpable. She's fed up with her employer's inflexibility over her schedule and with her boss's attitude that equates motherhood with undedicated slacking off.

True, her schedule has to accommodate occasional doctor's appointments and school events for children, as well as the emotional rollercoaster of watching her parent's health decline. But she has a full-time career and a track record of success in a business that she dearly loves.

Guess what. This woman is now a man.

Among the more interesting findings of a new report on work/life conflicts is the dramatic rise in lawsuits by men who feel discriminated against as they try to manage it all. Welcome to the workplace, gentlemen.

It's a sad commentary on gender, but the fact that men are increasingly being moved to sue their employers over family responsibilities will help change attitudes and policies. And they have to change.

The massive rise in discrimination lawsuits involving family responsibilities like child care, elder care, and maternity and paternity leave is "the biggest challenge employers never (saw) coming," according to Cynthia Thomas Calvert, the author of "Caregivers in the Workplace."

More fathers than mothers now report work/life conflict, according to the study, which was conducted by the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings.

That shift is reflected by an astonishing 269 percent rise in lawsuits decided in the last decade that involved family responsibilities. The 4,400 cases studied cost employers nearly a half-billion dollars in verdicts and settlements between 2006 and 2015, yet these likely constitute only a fraction of what actually went through the courts.

Most of these cases go forward through a patchwork of protections. But Calvert also points out that no federal law exists that explicitly bans discrimination based on family responsibilities.

The majority of cases studied involved pregnancy and maternity leave. But men, as their numbers grow as caregivers, are now fighting attitudes that working women have long faced. WorkLife Law, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on ending employment discrimination against caregivers, runs a hotline, and 25 percent of the calls are now from men.

Increasingly, it is fathers who are offended when denied a plum assignment based on the perception that they won't be as committed to their company. Now it is men who are angered that they are denied paternity leave or are passed over for promotion because they spend time caring for a disabled child.

A lot of the problems are the result of employees being penalized at work not for their actual job performance but based on assumptions and biases that too often are not recognized -- at least until the lawsuit is filed.

Calvert's study shows that the complaints occur in virtually every industry and at every level of employment, including top managers. And all races and genders were represented in the cases studied -- although racial bias can further complicate workplace assumptions about how employees with family duties will or should behave.

Most employees will at some point in their careers become a caregiver. The study found that of the 43.5 million adults who gave unpaid care to either an adult or a child with special needs in 2014, nearly a quarter were millennials.

It's tempting to believe that the country is sorting these issues out and heading in a better direction, that the gains of technology and awareness of our aging population are causing workplaces to realign policy and practices.

In reality, we are in the midst of ideological battles about work in general. Consider the fights over efforts to strip workers of their right to collective bargaining, debates about the minimum wage and the growing gap between what CEO's earn and the salaries of everyone employed beneath them. The relationship between work and life is in turmoil in America.

So much of modern politics skirts these issues. However, judging by this 44-page report, they are urgently important to most voters. Forget the culture wars, Donald Trump's bluster and Hillary Clinton's email server. The concerns of the average voter are closer to home and work. Yet who is speaking for families struggling to manage it all?

Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.
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 []
Vox Telecom has launched its Business Class Fibre products, which it says offer a world-class fibre-to-the-business service.

Business Class Fibre enables businesses to truly optimise and drive the efficient coexistence of voice, video, data, and other IP-based services over a single network, said Vox.

The new fibre products are available in capped or uncapped varieties at different line speeds, and feature voice channels and PBX extension options  depending on which package users select.

A fair usage policy applies to uncapped packages, where line speeds are slowed depending on how much data is consumed.

An installation fee of R5,500 is applicable. Users who sign a 3-year contract receive free installation.

Vox Business Class Fibre Uncapped Packages Line Speed 10Mbps 50Mbps 100Mbps Contention Ratio 10:1 10:1 10:1 Fair Usage Limit 50GB  5Mbps / 1TB  1Mbps 2.5TB  25Mbps / 5TB  5Mbps 5TB  50Mbps / 10TB  10Mbps Price R2,499 R4,499 R8,999 Capped Packages Line Speed 50Mbps 100Mbps 1,000Mbps Data Cap 50GB 100GB 1TB Contention Ratio 10:1 4:1 4:1 Price R1,799 R2,499 R8,999

More on Vox

Vox Telecom launches Private Cloud Services  first in South Africa

Where you can get Vox Telecom fibre-to-the-home
Many companies in South Africa and Africa already trust Amazon Web Services with their online presence, and this is set to grow in the future.

Thats the word from Michael Needham, Head of Solutions Architecture for CIS, Russia, Middle East, and Africa at Amazon Web Services (AWS), who was speaking at the 2016 MyBroadband Cloud & Hosting Conference.

AWS already has over 1 million customers, and Amazon EC2 instance usage is increasing at a rate of 95% year-on-year.

Many international brands like Reddit, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Vodafone, Netflix, and Pinterest make use of Amazon Web Services.

Many African players also trust AWS for their operations, including Travelstart, Paygate, Mix Telematics, and Medscheme.

Needham said they have a strong African focus, which is supported by good account management, solutions architecture, enterprise support, access to specialists, and certification and training.

He said cloud services have become the new normal and unlocked the potential for faster innovation and more robust systems.

Needham encouraged companies to sign up and leverage the AWS free tier, and make use of the free training offered by the company.

More on Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services direct link to South Africa

High-speed access to Amazon Web Services in South Africa
2016 has been the year of virtual reality, with all three major VR platforms releasing this year.

The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are already circulating around the world and content is being created for the platforms at an impressive rate.

Many South Africans are excited to get their hands on an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive and join the rest of the world in experiencing the future of gaming. However, the cost of good PC components and hardware make virtual reality an expensive pipe-dream for most gamers.

Although the local pricing of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive hasnt been released yet, the international price of the cheaper platform is $600  which at the time of writing translates to around R8,750.

In addition to the cost of a virtual reality platform, gamers may need to invest in PC components or a whole new rig in order to use a VR headset.

The cost of VR-Ready PC components

Below are the Oculus Rifts hardware requirements, which will also be suitable for the Vive headset:

Intel Core i5 4590 equivalent or greater

Nvidia GeForce GTX 970/AMD Radeon R9 290 equivalent or greater

8GB RAM

2x USB 3.0 port

HDMI 1.3

Windows 7 OS or greater

VR ready PCs listed on the Oculus Rift website are priced at a minimum of around $1,000, which does not bode well for the pricing of local machines.

To get an idea of what South African customers will be spending on VR-Ready machines, we found the cheapest components available which met the Oculus Rifts requirements.

The components below represent the cheapest VR-Ready components that are still reliable and of decent quality. Pricing from a variety of sources were considered, including Evetech, Rebeltech, Wootware, and Raru.

VR-Ready PC Components Component Model Price Motherboard MSI Z97 Guard-Pro ATX R1,723 Processor Intel Core i5 4590 R3,897 Graphics Card Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 R5,599 Memory Kingston Value 8GB DDR4 2,133 MHz R626 Power Supply Cooler Master B 500W Ver. 2 R774 Case Bitfenix Comrade ATX White Windowed R532

Total Price: R13,151

The above desktop includes all the essential components required to use the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, not including software or peripherals.

Although the overall build is still relatively expensive, it is not as costly as the rigs listed by Oculus. It must be noted that the above build is designed as a low-cost computer and would not have as many features as a more expensive desktop.

Considering the international price of the Rift and the local price of a budget VR-Ready PC, the cost of both an Oculus Rift and a VR-Ready PC in South Africa is estimated at around R22,000.

More gaming news

MSI Vortex gaming PC  pricing and specifications

Intel unveils new Apollo Lake processors for 2016

Massive Makro gaming and tech price cuts in Carnival opening
In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, demonstrators at a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades. Authorities labeled it a "riot."

New Mexico Donald Trump rally turns violent



Police respond, fire pepper spray at protesters



Trump responds: "Go home to mommy"

Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.



During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.



The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."



At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.



Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."



He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."



Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"



Trump later tweeted "Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd!"



The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.



Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.



"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.



Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.



During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."



Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.



Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.



"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."



The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.



"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."



Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.



Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.
Touched-up in teal and hand-painted that way, the Mercadito Food Truck is a new business venture owned and operated by Francisco Valentin Salazar Atayde.

Visually, the color, along with design flourishes such as the chalkboard menu that matches the colorful offerings on the front of the truck, sets Atayde apart from the number of food trucks around Napa.

But looks arent everything. Atayde said he wants his business to be something entirely different.

The idea (for the business) basically comes from cooking since I was 16 or so. I always wanted to have a place where I could cook and present my ideas and whatever I learned, Atayde said.

A spate of learning and culinary exploration came after his arrival to the United States, where he found work as a cook.

However, he missed the tastes and flavors of his homeland since the food being called Mexican was a flavorless, cheaply made imitation, Atayde said.

He thought he could do better. Atayde wants to bring the flavors from his past into the present via Mercadito Food Truck.

What he offers is twofold: a menu with a selection of traditional Mexican food and one with a selection of fusion food.

So basically when it says traditional, its food from Mexico City. The huaraches (are) from Mexico City. On the traditional menu, we dont have burritos cause burritos are a Mexican-American food, Atayde said. Were trying to avoid that for now.

The fusion part of the menu includes sandwiches and salads. Its where we try some of the newer stuff, some healthier stuff.

The businessman said he likes to serve organic food.

The beans  we dont get them canned  we cook the beans every morning. The pesto sauce; the vinaigrette, we make that ourselves. The bread, we get it from Sciambra, Atayde said. Mercadito Food Truck tries to source many ingredients locally.

In Spanish Mercadito means little market, and this also has a significance rooted in Ataydes past.

In Mexico, when you go to the mercado, you can find anything, including traditional foods called pambazos, chilaquiles, sopes and tostadas, plus fruit, candies, chips and drinks.

Basically thats our idea, he said.

For example, the truck sells organic whole fruit. So when you go get a sandwich or something, you have the option to buy a piece of fruit to go with it.

This wish to emulate Mexican mercados, albeit at a much smaller scale, is the source of another of Mercadito Food Trucks distinguishing features.

Every week or two Atayde will be offering a different dish on the menu based on what the Eatwell Farm of Dixon, one of the several used, sends.

Mercadito Food Trucks logo includes a stylized sugar skull, drawn by Atayde himself, which looks toward the right side of its brain, alluding to the popular notion of the right brain hemisphere being the creative side.

Likewise, his creativity is where Atayde will be drawing from when creating something new for his menu.

Some people tell me its going to be too hard to constantly have a different traditional dish in addition to my permanent menu and that it might be a little crazy, but this is what I want, he said.

This is what I have been missing and I want to share it with friends, family and whoever is willing to try a good dish inspired from good times.
As part of a long-term succession plan implemented by the Phelps family to maintain family ownership and management, Joseph Phelps Vineyards has promoted Elizabeth Neuman to the post of director of business development and Will Phelps to director of marketing.

Members of the familys third generation, Neuman and Phelps were also appointed to the executive management team of Joseph Phelps Vineyards and will participate in all senior management business matters.

This appointment is a significant move in a long-term succession plan that began with the involvement of the familys second generation in 1998, the hiring of a family business adviser in 2012, and the appointment of two independent members to the board of directors in 2013.

Our family is committed to maintaining and nurturing Joseph Phelps Vineyards as a family-owned and -run winery, said Bill Phelps, president of Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

Granddaughter of Joe Phelps, Elizabeth Neuman was the first member of her generation to join the family wine business, beginning in 2011. She joined the winery as a sales representative and received a promotion in 2013 to regional sales manager, representing Joseph Phelps Vineyards in seven markets on the East Coast and Midwest.

Neuman graduated from Lehigh University, earning a degree in business administration. Prior to joining Joseph Phelps, Neuman was wine consultant at Southern Wine & Spirits fine wine division. She is studying for her executive MBA.

The grandson of Joe Phelps and son of Bill Phelps, Will Phelps was the second member of his generation to join the family wine business, beginning in 2012. He previously held a sales representative position within the company, supporting sales and distribution of Joseph Phelps wines in California.

Phelps attended the University of San Diego, earning a degree in business administration. He held a regional sales manager position with Trinitas Cellars that included responsibilities in Southern California and the Midwest prior to joining Joseph Phelps. In 2015, he received an executive wine MBA from Sonoma State University.
The Calistoga Fire Department hosted an open house and blood drive on Saturday, and even the sudden onset of showers could not dampen the spirits of the crowd.

Children and parents flocked to the Firehouse on Washington Street to eat hot dogs, tour the firehouse, climb onto the fire engines, inspect the firefighting gear, meet the community firefighters, pick out complimentary plastic fire helmets, and learn about the lifesaving equipment that was on display. And while parents and grandparents chatted with the uniformed crew and munched on wieners and chips, the kids sneaked around the side of the firehouse to gallivant in the inflated bouncy house that was tethered to the building. There were plenty of smiles and familiar greetings all around.

Oddly, however, there were two salvaged cars sitting in the driveway of the firehouse, surrounded by yellow barrier tape. Some of the children were curiously peering in through the taped windows at something or someone inside.

Meanwhile, back in the training room of the fire station, Blood Centers of the Pacific had set up shop. There were reclining cots and a small crew of trained phlebotomists to help volunteers donate to the community blood banks of Northern California.

Then, at exactly noon, We Are the Champions blared over the P.A. system as the main event was about to begin: the extrication demonstration.

Dressed in full regalia  helmets, pants, boots, coats and thick protective gloves  three firemen stepped through the yellow barrier tape. One started a gasoline-powered compressor, while a second snaked an orange hose over the car. The third muscled a large claw-like device to the passenger side of the vehicle. A stopwatch was passed to a boy in the audience, and one firefighter announced they would break into the car and extricate the victim within 15 minutes. That was when the clouds opened, and a steady rain began to fall.

Dont worry about the rain, the fireman said. A lot of times this is exactly the conditions we have to work in. A lot of accidents happen during a rainstorm. This is kind of normal for us.

The boy started the stopwatch and the huge metal jaws of the extricator came to life, chewing into the drivers door, while a second firefighter strode casually around the vehicle smashing the taped windows with a metal ram.

Well within the allotted 15 minutes, the doors had been removed, pillars of the car had been snapped, the dashboard mechanically retracted, and the roof lifted gingerly from the vehicle.

It was then that a life-sized dummy, dressed in a red jumpsuit, reclining in the front seat of the wreck, was fully revealed.

Kids cheered. Parents clapped their hands. And one member of the audience  looking over the fully demolished car  quipped, Boy, am I glad I didnt park in that spot today.

A second demonstration  on the second car  was scheduled for the afternoon.
May 14

3:47 a.m.: While on routine patrol, officers checked a vehicle parked on Tubbs Lane near Highway 128. A subject had become tired and was resting before continuing their trip.

4:38 a.m.: While on routine patrol, officers assisted a motorist in the 1800 block of Lincoln Avenue. Officers were able to resolve the vehicles problem and the driver was able to continue on their trip.

10:59 a.m.: Officers responded to a report of a subject trespassing in the 1400 block of Lincoln Avenue. Officers contacted the subject and advised him of the complaint. The subject agreed to leave and was asked not to return by the business owner.

11:15 a.m.: Officers responded for a suspicious container left on Lincoln Avenue near Washington. Officers located the container, determined it was nonthreatening and brought it back to the station as found property.

3:16 p.m.: While on routine patrol, an officer stopped to assist a citizen in the 1400 block of Lincoln Avenue. The same subject who had been contacted earlier for trespassing was cleaning out their vehicle while parked on Lincoln Avenue.

4:39 p.m.: Officers and fire personnel responded for a dumpster fire in the 1300 block of Berry Street. Officers remained on scene until the fire was extinguished.

8:19 p.m.: Officers responded for a complaint of loud music in the 1600 block of Lake Street. Officers made contact with the resident playing loud music and had them turn the music down.

10:20 p.m.: Officers responded to a report of a possible drunken driver on Petrified Forest Road. Officers were able to locate the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop nearby. The driver was evaluated by officers who determined the driver was not under the influence.

May 15

3:03 a.m.: Officers responded to a report of a suspicious subject in the 1700 block of Lincoln Avenue. Officers contacted the same subject from earlier, who had been cleaning his vehicle on Lincoln. The subject claimed someone else was knocking on doors and possibly following him. Officers checked the area and were unable to locate any other subjects.

8:59 a.m.: Officers responded to Pioneer Park for a report of a bicycle left at the park. Officers located the bicycle and brought it back to the station as found property.

3:44 p.m.: Officers responded for a snake on the pedestrian bridge behind Pioneer Park. Officers located the snake, which was getting an early start on its summer tan, and had the snake move to a safer location for sunbathing.

3:59 p.m.: Officers responded to a complaint of a municipal code violation on Brannan Street. Officers located subjects who were working on a vehicle on public property. CMC 10.36.110 prohibits repair or maintenance on a vehicle parked on public property that is not of an emergency nature and is not brief in nature. The registered owner was contacted and advised of the municipal code.

5:05 p.m.: Officers responded for a possible intoxicated driver on Foothill Boulevard near Hazel. Officers stopped the vehicle and determined the driver was not under the influence.

5:22 p.m.: Officers responded for a subject acting strange in the 1500 block of Lincoln Avenue. Officers located the subject and were able to contact family members. The subject was returned home and back into the care of family members.

6:37 p.m.: Officers responded back out to Brannan Street for a municipal code violation. It was reported that subjects were working on a vehicle again. Upon arrival, it was determined to be a different group and vehicle than previously. Officers contacted the registered owner and advised them of the municipal code.

10:45 p.m.: Officers responded for a barking dog in the 1100 block of Berry Street. Officers determined the dog was not in any form of distress. The canines family was not home at the time.

11:26 p.m.: Officers responded for a suspicious subject on First Street near Fairway. The subject appeared to be hiding in the bushes. Officers did not locate any subject and checked the area throughout the night.

May 16

8:40 a.m.: Officers responded to check on a subject in the 1400 block of Third Street. Officers located the subject sleeping on a porch. The subject was on private property, was not trespassing and did not require any medical attention.

7:41 p.m. Officers responded to a complaint of loud music in the 1600 block of Harley. Officers located the vehicle and the music was turned off.

May 17

11:32 a.m.: Officers responded for a suspicious subject in the 1800 block of Mora Avenue. Officers located the subject, who was the same subject from May 15 on Lincoln Avenue. The subject had returned home with family prior to officers arrival.

4:03 p.m.: Officers responded to a take a vandalism report in the 900 block of Washington. Subjects damaged a vehicle window during the evening hours. Officers are investigating the report.

9:09 p.m.: Officers responded for a subject acting suspicious in the 1700 block of Lake Street. The subject was located on Grant Street and determined to be the same subject from Mora Avenue earlier.

11:19 a.m.: Officers responded to a report of loud music in the area of Berry and Myrtle streets. Officers checked the area and were unable to locate any loud music.

8:06 a.m.: Officers responded to check the welfare of the subject from the 1800 block of Mora Avenue due to the multiple contacts over the last few days. Officers confirmed that the family was working on getting assistance for the subject.

May 18

5:59 p.m.: Calistoga Police Department responded to assist the California Highway Patrol with a hit-and-run accident on Bennett Lane. The driver was identified and officers remained on scene until CHP had completed their investigation.

6:26 p.m.: Officers responded for a possibly intoxicated subject loitering on Lincoln Avenue near Cedar Street. Officers located the subject, who stated they were waiting for a bus ride, and determined he was not intoxicated.

8:36 p.m.: Officers responded to a report of children screaming in the area of Berry and Myrtle streets. Officers located a group of juveniles who were playing and determined none of them were in distress.

May 19

12:06 p.m.: Officers responded to a welfare check in the 1800 block of Mora Avenue. Officers made contact with the subject from previous events, at the request of the family. The subject declined medical assistance and officers confirmed additional assistance was being provided.

9:56 p.m.: Fire and police officers responded for possible wires arcing in the 1000 block of Cedar Street. Fire personnel determined the power line was not damaged, however a tree branch was falling against the wire. PG&E was contacted.

May 20

3:59 p.m.: Officers responded for a report of two juveniles in the 1300 block of Berry Street. Officers contacted the juveniles, who were waiting for a parent to pick them up.
Mike OConnor shouldnt be alive  and for days in the hospital, people kept reminding him of it. He had suffered what his doctors and nurses called a widowmaker heart attack.

People kept using that term over the next couple of weeks, he says, now half a year after his near-fatal heart attack. They were surprised I was alive. It was disconcerting.

OConnor was one of six medical success stories highlighted Tuesday at the fifth annual Survivors Reunion, sponsored by the Napa County EMS Society. The event featured stories where teamwork  from quick-thinking bystanders to emergency responders to doctors and nurses in area hospitals  helped save a life.

One thing youll realize is how many people it takes to save a life, said Dr. Andrew Nothmann, an emergency physician at Queen of the Valley Medical Center and master of ceremonies for the event at Black Stallion Estate Winery in Napa, as he introduced the key players in each of the six stories.

OConnor awoke early one morning last fall in his Calistoga home feeling an unfamiliar discomfort. After taking aspirin and hoping the feeling would pass, it became obvious that something was wrong. His wife Vicki, a nurse at St. Helena Hospital, called 911 and OConnor was taken to St. Helena Hospital.

There, he suffered a massive heart attack, one that should have killed him. But thanks to quick work from his wife and first responders and hospital workers, he is not only alive to see his two children finish high school, he is back to work and even running lightly.

In the hospital people kept looking at me, kept poking me, he recalls. They thought I was dead.

For Napa resident Robert Porter Jr., the story was very different, but the outcome was equally happy. Last spring, two would-be robbers entered his workplace, Napa Valley Jewelers, and began beating the longtime employee. Owner Kent Gardella fought off the attackers with a metal tool, but not before his friend and employee had suffered a major heart attack.

Amid the chaos caused by the attack, Gardella administered CPR, under the direction of a dispatcher, while firefighters from the nearby Napa station, including Porters long-time friend Capt. Steve Stuart, raced to the scene.

I believe in God and he was in control of everything, said Porter, now recovered and returned to work. He put the people in the right place at the right time.

Porter says he remembers nothing of the attack and relatively little of the days afterward as he struggled to recover. But, he said, he is grateful for everyone involved in saving him.

I just say thank you very much  thank you for saving my life, Porter said. Theres not a whole lot you can say.

Stuart recalls hearing the call and knowing his friend was badly hurt.

I prayed and drove at the same time, he said.

Events like the annual survivors reunion are good for victims and rescuers alike, said Stuart, who recently retired from the department. Even for seasoned emergency workers, he said, it is humbling to see how much goes into saving a life.

You get to see the team youre on, he said. You know how Hollywood likes to make heroes? There are no heroes (in real cases). There are 30 people on the team that makes this possible.

Others featured at Tuesday evenings event, sponsored in part by the Napa Valley Register, included 3-year-old Carlos Benji Manzo of Napa, who wandered out of his home and fell into a swimming pool while his grandfather was helping another child who had been injured in a bike wreck. His grandfather was able to pluck the toddler from the water and bring him to the emergency workers attending to the other child. Benji has made a full recovery.

John Jack Corrigan of Napa collapsed at his gym, where he was a regular sight, with a major heart attack. Bystanders performed CPR and medical workers saved his life. Today, he is back to his regular workouts.

Jeanette Mahoney of Napa awoke in the middle of the night feeling ill, then collapsed in her bed. Fiance Bill McClendon relied on his decades-old experience as a military medic, assisted by an emergency dispatcher, to keep her alive until help could arrive. After a year of recovery, she said she feels normal again.

Calistoga restaurant owner Mary Cardoza felt crabby while preparing for lunch service one day. She called boyfriend Mark Porter, who brought firefighters to her aid. She suffered a major heart attack as she was being treated in the hospital, but today she is mostly recovered. She said the experience has changed her outlook on life  she has cut back on her work hours and is considering selling her restaurant: I dont want to die in there, she said with a laugh.

One uniting theme of the stories, in addition to the broad range of rescue and medical skills needed to save a life, was the importance of quick action by civilians  bystanders and loved-ones alike.

If you dont know CPR, please learn it because it happens so fast, McClendon told the crowd at the ceremony. Its easy, and you can really save a life.
The Napa Valley College Trips and Tours program will host a travel seminar session at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 3, in room 838 on the Napa Campus.

Travel company representative Jay Fehan will highlight coming trips, explain the registration process, answer questions from prospective travelers and share photos from past excursions.

Napa Valley College group trips go to to Australia, Greece, New England, Americas Music Cities, New Orleans, Iceland, and Spain and Portugal. All you need is a spirit of adventure and the desire to make new friends.

The Australia & New Zealand trip is set for September when you explore the diverse wonders of the lands down under.

For the Exploring Greece & Its Islands trip in September, travelers will discover the ruins of ancient Greece on this 15-day tour.

Colors of New England, a trip in mid-October, will travel New England from historic Boston to the rocky coast and mountains of the north.

The Americas Music Cities trip is in October. From New Orleans to Memphis, Tennessee and Nashville, experience the rich history of jazz. Or concentrate on New Orleans only on a late-October departure.

Other trips planned for 2017 include Icelands Magical Northern Lights in February; Spains Classics & Portugal in March; Heritage of America in April.

For more information about individual trips or the June 3 seminar, contact Jenny Sercu at 967-2940. A parking permit is not necessary.
The City Council has approved a new three-year contract with the Napa County Sheriffs Office to staff the American Canyon Police Department.

The fixed-price contract requires the city to pay the Sheriffs Office more than $18 million from 2016 to 2019. The citys current contract with the Sheriffs Office expires on June 30.

The new deal calls for 3 percent annual increases. American Canyon will spend $5.85 million starting with the 2016-2017 fiscal year, $6.03 million in 2017-2018 and $6.21 million in 2018-2019.

For $18 million, American Canyon will get two dozen officers and commanders, composed of one chief, four sergeants and 19 police officers.

In addition, City Manager Dana Shigley wrote in her report to the City Council, we receive full services from the Sheriffs Office Investigation bureau, CSI Lab, search and rescue, SWAT, Major Crimes Task Force, property/evidence division, specialty equipment and all other relevant services on an as-needed basis.

Shigley called the 3 percent annual increases reasonable.

The American Canyon Police Department may grow by one additional officer during 2018-2019 to meet expected demands for police services if the citys residential and industrial sectors continue to grow.

If all of these [development] projects come to fruition, said Councilmember Kenneth Leary, referring to Watson Ranch as well as planned commercial growth, we will need that officer.

The council, however, decided to not approve the new position for now. Mayor Leon Garcia, Leary and others said it was more prudent to wait and make the final decision prior to the last year of the new contract.

Shigley and Councilmember Joan Bennett complimented the work of the Sheriffs Office, which has staffed American Canyons police force since the citys incorporation in 1992.

Were getting very good service, said Bennett.

Shigley wrote in her report: Over the years, the City and the Sheriffs Office have developed a positive working relationship and the community has been very pleased with the level of service we receive.

Sheriff John Robertson was equally glowing about his departments dealings with American Canyon. This has been a great relationship; its worked very smoothly, he said.

The sheriff also noted American Canyons pro-police views among many residents, particularly at a time when many communities were holding demonstrations critical of cops.

Its been pretty difficult the past couple of years with law enforcement, said Robertson. You have to thank this community because it has supported the officers and the professional staff in the American Canyon Police Department.

Local residents held rallies outside the police department two years ago praising police officers.

The pro-cop demonstrations were in contrast to others in the Bay Area at that time when people called for justice following controversial police killings in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore and New York City.
Napa County is close to finalizing an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to address how the county Election Division will improve its outreach to Spanish-speaking-only voters.

The county under the agreement must provide Spanish-language assistance at polling places and voter assistance centers. It must have a Spanish language elections coordinator and a Spanish language advisory council, a county report said.

In addition, the county in November will transfer from providing ballots in either English or Spanish to dual-language ballots at the request of the Department of Justice.

Thats the result of a sudden April 27 trip that Registrar of Voters John Tuteur, Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza and County Counsel Minh Tran took to Washington, D.C. to meet with Department of Justice officials. The county scheduled the trip on April 25.

Im very proud of what we accomplished working with the Department of Justice, continuing that partnership, Pedroza said.

Tuteur had no argument with the Department of Justice goals.

What they want is what I want, he said. The question is, how do we do it.

Tuteur reported on the trip Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisors delayed a previously scheduled May 10 report because negotiations with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division were at a sensitive point.

All of this arose from monitoring the Department of Justice did locally during the June 2014 and November 2014 elections. Tuteur said the agencys response to that monitoring came in April, setting off the latest round of events.

Apparently, the events involved the possibility of a lawsuit. An April 21 email from Tran to Department of Justice officials said that the Board of Supervisors had reviewed the various allegations relating to the June 2014 election and the proposed settlement offer.

The Board Chair, Alfredo Pedroza, would like to request an opportunity to meet with you to personally express the countys commitment to come into compliance with the Voting Rights Act and also to explain the adverse impacts this lawsuit would have on the community, Tran wrote.

But the pending settlement agreement appears to have wrapped up the issue to everyones satisfaction.

Tuteur said one of the challenges is finding enough bilingual volunteers to work the polling places open on Election Day and the voter assistance centers open Election Day and the three previous days. He is getting ready to forward to the Department of Justice for the June 7 election the names of the volunteers and their language abilities, he said.

I dont think we got 100 percent, but were very close, he said.

Two weeks ago, the county passed policy making it easier for bilingual county workers to volunteer to work the polls.

Tuteur recently did such things as create the Spanish Language Assistance Advisory Council, attend a Puertas Abiertas workshop for Spanish-speaking voters and work with Latino Outreach to place bilingual voter registration in grocery stores that serve the Spanish-speaking community.

Gary Margadant of Napa Vision 2050 criticized the Board of Supervisors for cutting short an April 26 session on the Syar quarry appeal at 3 p.m. so Pedroza and Tran could make the Washington, D.C. trip for the Department of Justice meeting. Participants in the Syar hearing didnt get enough advanced warning, he said.

Pedroza said the hearing hasnt been cut short, but will resume on July 11.
When the state recently informed the Napa Valley Unified School District about the graduation and dropout rates of its students, Elena Toscano was brought to tears.

They made me cry the other night, said Toscano, assistant superintendent of instruction. Seriously, I was so excited.

The data provided by the California Department of Education showed NVUSD had both increased the number of students graduating and reduced the number of them quitting school.

The improvements were district-wide as well as in key demographic groups, including Hispanics and special education students.

Its pretty telling of all the work weve been doing, so many system pieces put into place, to see this kind of growth and our graduation rates hitting higher numbers, Toscano told the NVUSD Board of Trustees. Its pretty exciting for all of us.

The state data revealed the school districts overall graduation rate went up nearly 5 percentage points from the 2013-2014 school year to 2014-2015, from 87.3 percent to 92 percent.

NVUSD also outperformed the statewide graduation rate (82.3 percent) by nearly 10 points.

Additionally, two of the districts high schools posted impressive graduation figures.

Napa High School saw its graduation rate go from 86 percent in 2013-14 to 94.6 percent in 2014-15 (up 8.6 percentage points), while American Canyon High Schools rose from 90.2 percent to 97 percent (up 6.8 percentage points).

ACHS graduation rate for Filipinos, the largest group in American Canyon, was 98 percent, which also topped the statewide graduation rate for Filipinos (93 percent).

A breakdown of the numbers showed even more remarkable improvements for English Learners and special education students in the district.

The percentage of students graduating whose first language is not English leaped 14.5 percent, from 67.9 percent in 2013-14 to 82.4 percent last year.

Special education students experienced nearly as large an increase in graduation rates, going from 63.5 percent to 77.2 percent.

This is a testament to all the hard work everyone is doing, said Superintendent Patrick Sweeney, to get kids ready for college and careers.

As good as the graduation numbers were, other statistics were even better for the districts efforts to reduce student dropouts.

Overall, the percentage of kids dropping out went down from 8.9 percent in 2013-14 to 4.6 percent in 2014-15, a reduction of 4.3 percentage points.

But the really noticeable improvement occurred among English Learners (EL), the majority of whom are Hispanic in the district. Two years ago, nearly 22 percent of EL teens quit school.

By last year only 5.7 percent dropped out  a change of 16.2 percent.

Great progress, said Toscano. This is why I was crying the other day.

Convincing more Hispanic kids to stay in school and get their diploma has also contributed toward the district shrinking its graduation gap.

Five years ago, 90.1 percent of whites and 82.4 percent of Hispanics graduated, leaving a gap of 7.7 percentage points between the two groups.

By 2015, 93.8 percent of whites and 89.7 percent of Hispanics graduated, producing a narrower gap of 4.1 percentage points.

Toscano said the plethora of good news was the product of nearly 12 years of work by the district, which launched its College and Career Readiness initiative in 2005.

That was also the year Toscano took over as assistant superintendent for instruction. But she wasnt about to take all the credit for the achievements.

These kids were first readers when I started this job, said Toscano to the school board meeting that included educators and administrators, so its been a long journey for a lot of people in this room.
California will open the gates to state parks  including one Upvalley  on Memorial Day for active and retired military members.

Veterans, active-duty service members and reserve military personnel will receive free admission Monday at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park north of St. Helena, the state Department of Veterans Affairs announced.

The offer also applies to 141 other state parks, beaches, nature reserves, historic monuments and recreational areas, along with eight vehicle recreation areas and the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

Those seeking to enter state parks without charge must show a valid military ID or DD Form 2014 indicating an honorable discharge. Acceptable documents include a federal Department of Veterans Affairs member ID card, or a state driver's license or identity card bearing the new veteran's designation.

For a list of participating state parks, visit http://bit.ly/1sOUmUu
Approximately 350 graduates  the largest graduating class in Napa Valley College history  are expected to cross the stage to receive diplomas on Friday evening.

The colleges 73rd annual commencement ceremony will have two valedictorians  Mario Valadez of Napa and Jan Francine Dulay of Vallejo.

Born in South Central Los Angeles to teenaged Mexican parents and raised in East Oakland and Hayward, Valadez overcame a difficult childhood before relocating six years ago to American Canyon after his parents separated.

At American Canyon High School, Valadez struggled with his studies while adjusting to a new community, supporting his father at drug rehabilitation meetings and looking after his two younger siblings. He said he almost gave up.

But Valadez slowly adjusted to culture shock.

Gone were the prevalent issues of violence and poverty, and I was almost uncomfortable in such a tranquil community, he said. I was now trying to understand why my new community was so drastically different from the environments I had grown accustomed to. I was introduced to issues that were nonexistent in the ghettos I grew up in, such as the status of wine and hospitality industries.

Upon graduating, he enrolled at Napa Valley College and found an immediate interest in politics, coupled with support and encouragement from SSS TRiO and my amazing professors.

SSS (Student Support Services) TRiO is a federally funded program at the college designed to help first-generation Americans succeed in college.

At NVC, Valadez became a leader and a scholar. Beginning in the fall of 2015 he served as an intern in Rep. Mike Thompsons office. On campus, he became Interclub Council Representative to the Puente Club.

Im thankful for all my amazing professors who have aided me in my writing and communication skills, as well as my political knowledge, said Valadez, who has communicated face-to-face with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, among other politicians, regarding social issues and civic engagement.

We are all human, and at times we might fail, but you cant give up, he said.

He has been accepted by Stanford University, where he plans to continue his education this fall, majoring in political science.

JAN FRANCINE DULAY

Valedictorian Jan Francine Dulay, who came to Vallejo from the Philippines at the age of 8, has spent the past 13 years finding her path in life.

After graduating from Jesse M. Bethel High School, the Vallejo resident enrolled at Napa Valley College, although she did not have a car.

Every day, my dad drives me to school  he likes to make sure I get to class on time, she said. She figures he drove 31,680 minutes during her two years at NVC. Meanwhile, her mother sent daily texts, reminding her to eat lunch.

During her time at NVC, she worked with UC Berkeley graduate students to map homeless encampments. She represented students at an educational forum at San Quentin State Prison. And she developed a passion for writing.

Napa Valley College has helped me find my path, says Dulay. Where I was once a decent high school student who kind of did really good work, now Ive been to several anthropology surveys and dig sites, Ive been to San Quentin, carved my own stamps and written hundreds of pages of essays.

If not for Napa Valley College, I would be a random college student in a big university who was still exhibiting signs of high-school senioritis. But being here for two years has woken up the 6-year-old in me who wanted to be an astronaut lawyer for alien defense.

Following graduation, she will continue her path in the fall at UC Davis, where she plans to study sociology and become a kindergarten teacher.

Im setting my sights on becoming a teacher so that one day Ill be able to inflict the same kind of fiery passion in another student, she said.

I want to help motivate kids to stay in school, to let them know education is a good thing, she said.

More information about Fridays commencement is available at 256-7362 or http://www.napavalley.edu/studentservices/Commencement/Pages/welcome.aspx
In our commentary printed on May 24, we discussed some basics about how the presidential primary election works. This time, we want to focus on the relatively new law that has changed how Californians vote for U.S. senators and representatives to the U.S. House, as well as to major state offices. We will also cover how local voting works.

In 2010, California voters passed Proposition 14, called the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act (53.73 percent, yes; 46.27 percent, no). This act amended the state constitution and transformed all but U.S. presidential elections into an open primary election, also called a voter-nominated election. This means that political parties no longer pick those who are running for office. Candidates must state their party affiliation or nonaffiliation, but this is informational only and is based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that on a California ballot political parties have a right of association, even in an open primary.

Prop. 14 was immediately appealed by individuals representing a broad spectrum of political interests, and in 2011 an appellate court ruled that the new ballot system was, indeed, constitutional. It has been implemented in the 2012 and 2014 ballots, but few people we have talked with understand the laws implications.

Before 2012, each political party had its own candidates. Only party members were sent a ballot containing a partys candidates (plus cross-over or no party preference voters, if allowed by the party). Now, every voter, regardless of any or no party affiliation, can vote for any candidate in all state and federal primary races, except for U.S. president. Every registered voter receives the same ballot, regardless of any or no party affiliation.

In the June 7 primary election, voters choose from 35 statewide candidates for U.S. senator (replacing Barbara Boxer). The top two winners out of these 35 candidates will proceed to the general election. It does not matter whether one candidate gets 70 percent of the vote and the runner-up gets 30 percent of the vote; both names will appear on the general election ballot in November. So two Democrats might be nominated for the senatorial race, or two Republicans, or a Green candidate, or even someone who does not state a party preference. If one person is running uncontested, she or he will also proceed to the general election.

Every two years, voters in the 5th Congressional District (Napa is one of five counties in the district) elects its representative to the U.S. House. Incumbent Mike Thompson (Democrat) will go up against two other Democrats and one Republican in the primary; two of them will face off in the general election.

Other races in the open primary for Napa County are for Senate District 3 (four candidates) and Assembly District 4 (four candidates). Vote for one each; you will see each of the top two again on Nov. 8.

While Californians have not yet seen major changes in voting habits based on the open system, it has widened the opportunity to run for office to just about anyone and has had an effect on the controls parties had on candidates. While parties may endorse candidates, it is no longer mandatory to have party backing to be on the ballot. Witness those 35 candidates for U.S. senator, of which 11 state no party preference.

There are two differences between voter-nominated races (in which the top-two winning candidates in a primary race are nominated by voters to go on to the general election) and nonpartisan races. Candidates for local office cannot state a party preference. But most importantly, this is a true election: only when there is no clear majority do the top-two local candidates in a primary proceed to the general election.

In Napa County, candidates for Districts 2, 4, and 5 are competing to be on the countys influential Board of Supervisors. Only voters in these three districts will receive ballots containing the supervisor contests. See your local pamphlet for candidate details. Winners of all races, whether elected in June or November, will take office on Jan. 2, 2017.

Joyce Kingery is president and Robyn Orsini is vice president of the League of Women Voters of Napa County (lwvnapa.org). This is the second of a two-part commentary.
VALLEJO -- Vallejo police have tentatively identified the 5-year-old Vallejo boy who died in a suspected arson Sunday morning as Dayleon Seil-Shuemake.

Darrylone Shuemake, 53, believed to be the boy's father, is suspected of starting the fire in the home at 827 Stella St. Police said he is dangerous and anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call Vallejo police or their local police agency.

Lt. Joseph Iacono said the boy's name and his relationship with the arson suspect have not yet been confirmed by forensic evidence.

"We are still working on this part of the investigation," Iacono said this afternoon.

The two-alarm fire was reported around 9:53 a.m. The boy's mother suffered second- and third-degree burns and a 13-year-old boy also suffered minor burns, Vallejo Fire Department officials said.

Firefighters said neighbors tried to rescue the boy from the home but were unsuccessful.
The St. Helena Historical Society created a unique opportunity last Saturday for St. Helenans to investigate the roots of their community in the St. Helena Catholic Schools gym. Titled Museum for a Day, this years annual event featured the Hispanic heritage of the Napa Valley, displaying memorabilia from founding Hispanic families.

Weve tried for a number of years to bridge the cultural divide between our Anglo heritage and our Hispanic heritage, said Susanne Salvestrin, president of the society. And this year weve made a special effort with the participation of a number of families who have graciously offered to display some of the family things from St. Helenas founding Hispanic families.

One such family was the Hurtado family, which displayed a large number of photographs and memorabilia across a long line of tables with the De Haro family of St. Helena.

Luis Hurtado had carefully spread out the charro garments that his three nephews had worn on a number of special occasions. Hurtado said that the handmade costumes were sewn in Jerez Zacatecas, Mexico, and he explained the differences between the terms charros  the traditional horsemen and cowboys in central-western regions of Mexico  and vaqueros  who wore a different outfit, and who were, according to Hurtado, ranch hands.

Hurtado said that as a boy he  and later his nephews  would wear these charro outfits to baptisms, Quinceaneras, and on days of Mexican celebration such as Cinco de Mayo. The costumes included several broad sombreros, intricately sewn chaps and beautifully embroidered jackets.

On another table he displayed a number of artifacts, including a stone mortar and pestle for grinding corn, a beautiful stone metate  a rectangular shaped stone on three legs used to finely grind the nixtamalized corn for tortillas  and a wooden tortilla press. These kinds of traditional implements, Hurtado said, have changed very little since Pre-Columbian times.

The array of items, family photographs and memorabilia stretched across the gymnasium, and there were many family members from the Hurtado family and the De Haro family, who were anxious to talk about their ancestry. Some were also open to talk about their personal histories growing up in St. Helena.

Hurtados cousin, Josefina Hurtado, talked about how her father had come to the Napa Valley during the Bracero program  a time when the United States allowed Mexicans temporary entry into the U.S. as migrant workers. She said he had worked at Beringer Brothers Winery, and that her father brought his family to live in St. Helena in 1956.

Josefinas personal history  though perhaps not unique in St. Helenas Hispanic community  has certainly been colorful. She remembered marching as a child in the 60s along Highway 128 in front of Beringers and Krug with the legendary Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers union. She said that this experience was crucial to her interest in community and social justice.

I was just a child, she said. So I didnt fully understand the significance of all we were doing. Yet that march really started me on a path and inspired my involvement in our community.

Though she moved for a time to Sacramento, the memory of St. Helena was always drawing her back. When youre young, you just want to leave, she said. But when Id come back to visit, I was always reminded of my roots. And so, she said, she returned with her own family to the town where shed grown up.

Josefina became increasingly involved in the community and has become one of the pillars in St. Helena community  running for school board, becoming a member of the citys Multicultural Committee, and frequently organizing Hispanic-focused community activities in the Napa Valley. That intense involvement and devotion to community has currently led her to become the program director of the Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center in Napa.

Theres something about the Napa Valley, she said laughing. I think it gets into your blood.

Family stories, displays of family photographs, family memorabilia and awards were just some of the vast array of resources that were available for viewing. There were early photographs of St. Helena founders from the 1870s, beautiful arrangements of handmade quilts, farm implements, and even a horse-drawn barrel wagon outside the gym recently donated by Beringer Vineyards. Music and traditional Mexican fare were served, along with a dance recital by Ballet Folklorico in traditional costumes.
New research on 5,000-year-old pottery fragments found in China shed light on the region's earliest beer brewing practices - and may provide new insight into the history of Asian agriculture.

"This beer recipe indicates a mix of Chinese and Western traditions - barley from the West, millet, Job's tears and tubers from China," Jiajing Wang of Stanford University, who led a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, told Agence France-Presse.

Wang and her team analyzed this ancient alcohol by scraping yellowish residue out of the pottery remains - fragments of vessels they think were shaped for the various stages of beer making. They were found in an underground site in Shaanxi province. Their results indicate a brew made from a variety of wild and cultivated grains, plus a few tubers, such as yam and lily, that would have made the sour suds a bit sweeter. Unfortunately, we won't get to try this historic beverage for ourselves, because the researchers don't know the exact ratio of ingredients used in the recipe.

At the dig site, they report, they found the sort of grain husks one would expect to see scattered around an ancient brewery. Microscopic analysis of the residual gunk inside the vessels revealed starch grains that had been mangled as they would be during malting and mashing. They also found what they believe to be ancient stoves used to heat mashed grains - important in the process of transforming the carbs into boozy sugar. The would-be brewery's underground location would also have been ideal, as it would have allowed beer makers to keep their product cool.

With that evidence, Wang and her team think they've found the oldest known beer brewery in China. Archaeologists have found evidence of rice fermentation dating to about 9,000 years ago (which may actually be the first evidence of humankind's tendency to tipple), but barley beer, which showed up in the Middle East about 5,400 years ago, was thought to be a more recent addition to Chinese culture.

In fact, the researchers say, the presence of barley at their archaeological site pushes the grain's Chinese history back by about 1,000 years. Their discovery suggests that barley, which contains high levels of a protein that converts carbohydrates into sugar during the fermentation process, was actually brought into China for the purposes of beer brewing, then slowly made a transition into use as a food crop about 3,000 years ago.

"It is possible that when barley was introduced from western Eurasia into the Central Plain of China, it came with the knowledge that the grain was a good ingredient for beer brewing," Wang told Live Science. "So it was not only the introduction of a new crop, but also the knowledge associated with the crop."

The exotic foreign drink may have helped to foster social interactions and reinforce hierarchies, the researchers wrote in the study. And their dig site indicates that Chinese brewers had already mastered many of the beer making techniques used today.
The Trinchero family will open the third and final piece of its Trinchero Napa Valley winery complex north of St. Helena on June 25. It contains new public and private tasting rooms, which will allow the winerys current hospitality center to shed those duties.

That hospitality center was the second phase of the winerys buildings. First, fittingly, came a winery.

Bought for the views

The Trinchero family, which produces Sutter Home wines, is the largest wine company in Napa Valley and one of the largest family-owned wine companies in the business. It bought the former Folie a Deux winery property that now houses its flagship winery in 2004.

We bought the property mainly for the location and views, said Roger Trinchero, the companys chairman. They dedicated the property for their best wines, all bearing their family name.

His brother, Louis Bob Trinchero, was also present on a recent tour, although hes now retired from the company. Bob invented white zinfandel, which fueled the familys original success.

The property also includes 22 acres of vineyards.

The Trincheros now use the Folie a Deux brand for Sonoma-based wines. One of its wines, the tongue-in-cheek Menage a Trois blend of three red grapes, helped launch the craze for red wine blends and became another mega-hit for the family.

After buying the Folie a Deux property, the family tore down the old winery and replaced it with an exceptional, well-equipped facility for winemaker Mario Monticelli that was completed in 2007. Roger Trinchero added, The profitability of our Sutter Home and other wines let us expand.

The 22,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art winery was designed with the express purpose of crafting small lots of Napa Valley wine. Features such as a custom barrel chai, small-lot red wine fermenters and a cold room constructed to carefully preserve and stabilize the temperatures of just-harvested grapes make it one of the most modern in the industry.

The winerys hospitality center was completed in 2009. It sits on the site with the best views over the valley, yet replaced a parking lot. It contains numerous event spaces, a bocce court and a commercial kitchen.

Its also filled with memorabilia that helps tell the story of the Trincheros journey from Italy to New York City to Napa Valley. We wanted our hospitality center to feel like home, said Trinchero.

Trinchero Napa Valley also sits on some of the oldest wine caves in the entire region, and they completely refurbished them in 2011. It houses 170 barrels, as well as the Trinchero familys private cellar, which includes some of the earliest vintages of Sutter Home from the (Mario and Maria Trinchero bought Sutter Home in 1948) among many other collectibles.

A blend of tradition and today

The new tasting room is similar in appearance to the current hospitality center, but with a more modern look inside.

The architectural style evokes early California, while elegantly fitting into the agrarian surroundings. Bobby Torres, third-generation Trinchero family member and a graduate of UC Berkeley with an architectural degree, shaped the creative vision for the Trinchero estate.

The 5,000-square-foot tasting room has ceilings of 16 to 22 feet. The open floor plan features a large interior door and window system separating the entry/reception from the public tasting room, and a similar door and window system in the VIP tasting area.

Local designer Erin Martin created interiors that offer warmth, timelessness and luxury to the visitor experience. Each design element is influenced by the familys Italian roots and history from being in the Napa Valley, as well as in New York City.

All furniture is custom-made, with heavy leather, brass materials, accents of linen and an antique bronze mirror. Its a masculine decor, with colors in brown and cognac tones.

The facility includes ceiling art by Michael Dute, one of the worlds premier decorative painters, in the main tasting area and unique work such as a tooled leather wall by Casey Gunschel in VIP bar space.

The architect, San Francisco-based BAR Architects, also worked on the other buildings.

Facility Development Corp. of Santa Rosa is the contractor. The company has collaborated with the Trinchero family in other projects, including the huge new highly automated Westside facility in Lodi, Terra dOro winery in Amador, and the Main Street facility in St. Helena.

The landscaping around the buildings includes California valley oaks and live oaks, as well as cork oaks and other ornamental trees like dogwoods, pistache and Japanese maple. Ornamental shrubs and ground cover are both native and nonnative to California, but most are drought-tolerant and require low maintenance.

The site also has an inviting outdoor space with a fire pit, paths, stairways and terraces.

The Trincheros arent talking about the cost of the new building, but Roger Trinchero said that Torres has an unlimited budge for the project, and he exceeded it!

Its the culmination of a lot of years in Napa Valley, and we intend to be here a long time, he said as he introduced many of the following generations of Trincheros who work in the wine company.
NATO is helping Iraqi officers learn how to find and defuse Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). Between 1 May and 6 June 2016, two dozen officers are undertaking courses at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre in Amman, Jordan. NATO is also providing train the trainer instruction, enabling the officers to build the professionalism of the Iraqi forces by sharing their new skills with colleagues with the support of the NATO Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence.

The project which includes technical training and the provision of search equipment was developed and initiated by NATOs Science for Peace and Security Programme and implemented by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Iraqs counter-IED operations will support humanitarian efforts to return displaced populations safely to their homes.

The Alliance began training Iraqi officers in Jordan in April 2016, and over the coming months, approximately 350 will be trained in areas including military medicine, civil military planning and countering improvised explosive devices. At the request of the Iraqi government, NATO is now assessing the possibility of conducting training inside Iraq as well.

Building the defence capacities of partners is an important way in which NATO projects stability beyond its borders.
Thank you so much, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Its great to be back and thank you for your warm welcome. And thank you for your very strong support to NATO.

Italy has been a driving force within the Alliance. And it was great to sit together with you now and to address the different challenges and the way NATO is responding to a new and more challenging security environment.

And Italy is contributing in so many different ways. You are participating in the Baltic Air Policing, you have assets in our Mediterranean Operation Active Endeavour. And you contribute a substantial number of forces both for our operation in Afghanistan, the Resolute Support Mission and to Kosovo.

Add to that that Italy also plays a lead role in the increased readiness and preparedness of our forces, being a lead nation for our Very High-Readiness Joint Task Force or our new Spearhead Force.

And I would also like to mention that Italy hosts different important NATO assets and facilities like for instance the new Alliance Ground Surveillance capability, cutting-edge drones, which will increase our ability for situational awareness and reconnaissance and the collection of information, which is going to be hosted at the Sigonella base in Sicily.

So you are contributing in many many different ways and Im very grateful for the strong contribution of Italy to the Alliance.

This is important because we are faced with a both more assertive Russia to the east but also with turmoil, violence spreading across the wider Middle-East region and North-Africa.

And NATO is responding. Weve just had excellent discussions on how we prepare for our next Summit in Warsaw in July and there we are going to address how we can strengthen our collective defence and deterrence and also how we further develop our approach to Russia based on both strong defence but also political dialogue, keeping the channels for political dialogue open with Russia because NATO doesnt seek confrontation. We dont want a new Cold War. And therefore we will make sure that we keep channels for political dialogue open with Russia.

We will also address how NATO can project stability beyond our borders, helping local forces to secure their own countries against violent extremism.

And NATO has started to train Iraqi officers, we will address how we can scale that up, enable Iraq to fight ISIL and to stabilise their own country.

We are also working with countries like Jordan and Tunisia.

And we stand ready to help Libya build its own defence institutions if so requested by the new Government of National Accord in Libya as part of broader UN-led efforts.

And I spoke recently with Prime Minister Sarraj on how NATO can assist and he will soon send a team of experts to NATO to identify how we can help the new Libyan Government of National Accord.

Our training mission in Afghanistan is another important contribution to combatting extremism and terrorism. Last week we agreed to sustain our Resolute Support Mission beyond 2016 and we continue to count on Italys commitment as a lead nation in Afghanistan and I visited myself the Italian forces in Herat: they are professional, they are committed and they are making a real difference in Afghanistan, helping the Afghans to build their own security.

We also discussed our plans to deepen EU-NATO cooperation. We are working closer together than ever before, the EU and NATO.

In the Aegean, where NATO is helping cut the lines of illegal trafficking and illegal migration. And we can do more, especially when it comes to cooperation in the central Mediterranean. So I strongly welcome the Italian initiative for closer coordination with the EU in the Mediterranean, making sure that NATO and the EU work together addressing the challenges we see in the Mediterranean, including how NATO can support the EU Operation Sophia.

And we are working on how we can contribute to address the common challenges and threats in the Mediterranean, it will be one of the issues that we will also address at our Summit in Warsaw.

So we have a broad agenda, approaching the Summit in Warsaw.

I am impressed by the way we are able to stand together, be united, and respond to a new security environment.

And I look forward to meet you again in Warsaw where we will make important decisions and make the Summit in Warsaw a landmark Summit for the whole NATO Alliance.

Thank you once again for receiving me and my delegation.
Daily Sabah: Armenian, Turkish special representatives next meeting planned in Turkey

The Telegraph: US President Biden mispronounces Rishi Sunak's name

Dollar falls, euro rises

New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife are richer than royalty

Klaar: EU actively engaged in Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process at all levels

Nissan reveals updated Juke crossover

FM briefs Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor on Armenia position on normalizing relations with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan prepares for peace with Armenia but dramatically increases military budget

North Korea completes preparations for nuclear test

Azerbaijan manipulates facts, creates information pretext to encroach on Lachin corridor

Azerbaijan military aggression against Armenia is discussed at Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly conference (PHOTOS)

Peskov says details of gas hub with Turkey were being worked out

Konstantin Zatulin on ban on his entry into Armenia: I see it as insulting move

Putin's spokesman says building wall on Russian-EU borders is nonsense

Turkey begins its part of work on gas hub agreement with Russia

Kremlin responds to Macron's appeal to Pope to negotiate with Putin

Millliyet: Turkish and Finnish delegations hold talks on NATO membership in Ankara

Zelenskiy: Ukraine receives not 'a single cent' on $17 billion rapid recovery plan

Rishi Sunak takes office as Prime Minister of Great Britain

Indonesian armed woman tries to break into presidential palace

Pashinyan's family newspaper writes that Konstantin Zatulin is forbidden to enter Armenia from now on

President Raisi accuses U.S. of information terrorism, organizing riots in Iran

AraratBank and 4090 Charity Foundation team up for the education of war participants

Ursula von der Leyen: EU to provide Kyiv with 1 billion for urgent restoration of energy supply

World Bank to provide Armenia with EUR 22.6 million of additional credit funds

Macron asks Pope to call Putin to solve Ukraine crisis

PM: Azerbaijan hinders search of Armenian soldiers' bodies in occupied territories

German president assures Ukraine of his full support

Armenia ruling force MP: Major powers have told us You should sign that agreement by the end of the year

WSJ: Saudi Prince Bin Salman mocks Biden in private talks

OSCE needs assessment mission is briefed on situation in Armenias Jermuk after Azerbaijan military aggression (PHOTOS)

Armenias Pashinyan to Kazakhstans Tokayev: Mutually beneficial cooperation corresponds to our countries interests

Driver, 41, dies in hospital 2 days after Armenia car accident

US: Former student opens fire at school

Turkish Finance Minister says he would seek gas discount from Gazprom

US State Dept.: We are interested in seeing stable Caucasus where we work both with Armenia and Azerbaijan

US plans to allocate $25M to project to strengthen Armenia economy

Copper prices decline

Armenia premier: Italy is friendly country, important partner for us

Pashinyan to Xi: We will succeed in qualitatively raising Armenian-Chinese political dialogue to new level

World Bank allocates Ukraine additional $500 million

Zelenskyy: If Moscow says Ukraine is making dirty bomb, then Russia made it

Newspaper: Anti-CSTO consolidation initiative group of Armenia sends petition to parliament speaker

World oil prices going up

Newspaper: Armenia PM forbids political teammates to say anything about Karabakh

Azerbaijan opens fire at Armenia positions

Largest cruise liner in world 'Icon of the Seas' presented

U.S. police officers mistake pet cat for mountain lion

Joe Biden gets another Covid-19 booster shot

US imposes sanctions on Nicaragua's gold mining industry

Kremlin says Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents prepare to meet

Leading Party Sponsor: Conservative Party is not fit to run Britain

'From Old Memory': Drivers can't see road signs on section of North-South highway under construction in Yerevan

Russian MFA: We are sure that attempts of external forces to split Moscow and Yerevan will not succeed

Yair Lapid: Israel is deeply concerned over Russia and Iran's military ties

Another school shooting in U.S.: 3 dead, including shooter

Azerbaijani Armed Forces shell Armenian positions

Kenyan police shoot and kill prominent Pakistani journalist

OSCE representatives visit villages affected by Azerbaijani aggression in Syunik Province

US presidential adviser calls OPEC's decision to cut oil production political move

Lavrov: Russia and Iran gave comprehensive answers about alleged use of Iranian drones

Netanyahu's comeback dominates Israel's elections

Georgian president complains that she was not informed about Aliyev's visit

S&P Global Market Intelligence: Recession in Eurozone looks increasingly inevitable

Benny Gantz tells his Ukrainian colleague that Israel will not supply weapons to Kiev

Greek Armed Forces can effectively respond to any provocation by Turkey

Qatar urges to depoliticize oil and gas

General Staff of Armed Forces head discusses Ukraine with his British colleague

Zelenskyy: Russia wouldn't cooperate militarily with Iran if Israel had not denied air defense systems to Kyiv

Azerbaijan sends note in connection with 'anti-Azerbaijani statements' on Channel One

Goldman Sachs foretells European business worst year since global financial crisis

Artificial intelligence leads political party in Denmark

Aliyev says Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route should be increased

U.S. State Department official expresses support for Armenia's sovereignty

Iranian MFA: IRGC exercises on borders with Azerbaijan are not directed against any neighboring state

Pashinyan: Damage caused to country by corruption must be restored

Rishi Sunak to become UK PM

Armenia official: Defense sector expenses will increase the most, state budget allocations will increase by 160bln drams

Iranian president congratulates Xi Jinping: Tehran is determined to expand comprehensive relations with Beijing

Russian MOD: Work on Ukraine's 'dirty bomb' comes to end

Dollar drops, euro goes up in Armenia

Fly Arna planning to conduct 2 weekly flights between Yerevan and Beirut

Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan doubles gas and oil exports to Europe via Georgia

Two quakes hit near Tbilisi

Aliyev: Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement signing will be guarantee of peace in entire South Caucasus

Over 1.5 million light bulbs lit simultaneously in India: New Guinness World Record

Garibashvili: Georgia is ready to support peaceful neighborhood initiative in South Caucasus

Azerbaijan to export 157 GW of electric energy via Georgia

3, including one foreigner, arrested after illegal weapons, ammunition found in Armenia town house

Milliyet: Turkey has tightened control over the Bosphorus Strait due to mines in the Black Sea

Northern France hit by tornado

Armenia FM to head for Vatican on official visit

NYT: Israel gives Ukraine intelligence data to fight UAVs

Police detains opposition activists in Azerbaijan

Armenia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs to meet in Brussels in first week of November

Azerbaijani Defense Minister goes on working visit to Turkey

Artsakh ombudsman shows Azerbaijan destruction of Armenian cultural heritage

Naryshkin urges international community not to allow Ukraine's nuclear status

Azerbaijan president visits Georgia

Macron: Ukrainian conflict should not make us forget about Armenia, Syria, Iraq and other wars
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict affects US-Azerbaijan relations.

Carnegie Center analyst Peter Stroinski, who was in Armenia and Georgia after the war which Azerbaijan had unleashed against Nagorno-Karabakh in early April, told the aforesaid to Voice of America Armenian service.

As per Stroinski, the violence in April shocked the population not because they did not expect a flare in hostilities, but simply because the events did not unroll as expected.

The analyst said he was paying attention to the certain anger that was generated towards Russia, both in terms of supplying weapons to the two conflicting sides as well as the absence of Russias expected loud support of the Armenians.

In Stroinskis, words, even though the Karabakh conflict does not directly affect the United States, it is of the latters interests that there will be peace in the region.

US Congressman Adam Schiff, who is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has affected relations between the United States and Azerbaijan.

According to Schiff, we have witnessed Azerbaijans aggression, and perhaps the most apparent of this aggression is its continuing aggressive demeanor along the Line of Contact.

He added that Azerbaijans unwillingness toward the installation of ceasefire control devices along the border line is concerning for the United States.
Dozens of members of the British Conservative Party threaten to dismiss Prime Minister David Cameron, reports the Daily Mail.

According to the source, the MPs were outraged at Cameron 's recent statement on leaving the UK out of the EU , which points to the self-destruction of the Great Britain outside the EU.

In the assessment of the Prime Minister the UK will plunge into recession, which will bring to the loss of 820 thousand jobs, decline of GDP by 6% in two years, 4 % reduction of the average income, and devaluation of the currency. Many MPs believe that this statement is deliberately misleading people. In addition, they pointed out that only six months ago, Cameron announced that the UK will be able to survive outside the European Union. Following the announcement, the MPs told that after the referendum of June 23 they intend to deliver a vote of no confidence to the Prime Minister, regardless of the referendum results.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NKR/Artsakh MFA) statement on Azerbaijani falsifications has been disseminated at the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council.

Spokesperson at the MFA of Armenia, Tigran Balayan, tweeted about the aforesaid.

On May 20, the NKR MFA had issued a statement.

On May 17, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry voiced another farfetched accusation of the alleged use of prohibited ammunition, including shells with white phosphorus, during the military operations on April 2-5, 2016.

Continuing its usual campaign of disinformation of the international community, Azerbaijan does not disdain resorting to fraud and outright manipulation. To add weight to its propaganda, the Azerbaijani side tries to involve foreign diplomats and military attaches accredited in Azerbaijan.

Falsification and distortion of the reality have long become regular, constituting an integral part of Azerbaijan's foreign policy. Back in 1992, the Azerbaijani side made similar accusations of the alleged use of chemical weapons, which were then denied by the UN special fact-finding mission. Based on the findings and conclusions of the UN experts set forth in the UN Security Council document S/24344 dated July 24, 1992, the UN Secretary-General noted that no evidence of the use of chemical weapons had been presented to the team.

In subsequent years, the Azerbaijani side has been making similar absurd and unconfirmed accusations of the use of nuclear weapons against Azerbaijan in 1993 and disposal of nuclear wastes in the NKR (PACE document N 9444 dated May 7, 2002), transformation of Armenia and the NKR to a depot of bacteriological weapons (PACE document N9336 dated January 31, 2002), cultivation and production of drugs, etc. In doing so, the Azerbaijani side referred to nonexistent scientific journals, reports, organizations, and laboratories.

Resurrecting its old allegations, Azerbaijan does not only try to justify its policy of use of force and denial of full and strict compliance with the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, on which the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries insist, but also aims to distract the attention from the real war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani army against the military servicemen and civilian population of the NKR.

In this regard, we call on the international community to treat the unfounded statements of the Azerbaijani side with utmost criticism.

For its part, the NKR is ready to host a special monitoring mission for an on-site study of all the facts and investigation of the circumstances of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5, 2016, as well as the violations of the norms of international humanitarian law committed during that period, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement reads.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told Hungarys Magyar Nemzet newspaper that the current crisis in relations between Russia and the EU was the result of persistent unwillingness of partners to build a dialogue on the basis of true partnership. The text of interview is published on the official website of the Russian MFA.

Lavrov stated that unfortunately, a short-sighted line towards seizing geopolitical space has prevailed in Brussels, including through the implementation of the initiative of Eastern Partnership on the division of peoples to ours "and" others ". Revolution in Ukraine supported by a number of EU countries became the culmination of such a course. He also mentioned that the Ukrainian crisis highlighted a high degree of the EU dependence on the political and economic influence of Washington.

Lavrov expressed confidence that no reasonable alternative to a mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and the European Union exists.

"Russia has repeatedly expressed readiness to cooperate with the EU on a broad range of issues - from abolition of short-term visas to rapprochement in the energy sector", he mentioned, TASS reported.

At the same time Lavrov noted that business should not be as usual when they tried to impose cooperation schemes that do not meet Russian interests or to put before the come true facts.

Lavrov said that they are still confident that gradual establishment of economic and humanitarian cooperation in the area from the Atlantic to the Pacific which is based on the architecture of equal and indivisible security, stems from mutual interests. Harmonization of processes of the European and Eurasian integration would be an important step in this direction.
YEREVAN.  Since May 10, dozens of civil engineers and structural craftsmen based at the Robins Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Georgia have been working on important renovations at Yerevan Elderly Institute #1, in the capital city of Armenia, improving the safety and conditions of 12 residential suites and the common area of the institute.

The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that these members of the 116th Civil Engineer Squadron of the Georgia Air National Guard came to Armenia as part of the U.S. militarys Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program. The military engineers replaced the flooring of the institute, making the entire facility safer for the elderly who rely on it. They also repaired bathrooms in the building, worked on sewage lines and electrical wiring, and replaced and refinished many walls. The renovation provided crucial skill-set training for the engineers, who were able to practice their skills in real-world settings. At the same time, the renovation continues the long-lasting friendship between the Armenian people and the citizens of the United States.

We will be grateful for many years for the work you have done here, said Khachik Sargsyan, director of Yerevan Elderly Institution No. 1. The work carried out here will help ur residents with hot water and heating and provide a safe and cleaning living environment.

These members of the Georgia Air National Guard represent some of the best of the best in the U.S. military, and now they have a personal understanding of the Armenian people that they can carry with them as they return home, said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, who was joined at a ribbon cutting for the renovated facility on Wednesday, by the Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Issues Artem Asatryan.

This is the third year the U.S. European Commands Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program has been active in Armenia.

Through efforts such as this renovation, in partnership with the Armenian government and civil society, we at the Embassy are working to improve the lives of the Armenian people and help this historic nation have the secure, peaceful, and prosperous future it deserves, Ambassador Mills said.
Migration deal between the EU and Turkey is not doomed to failure, German chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

Merkel said that the rumors said that the agreement will never take place and they should not even try. When it took place, they said that it would never work. There will be new problems, and they will say that now it became unambiguously clear that the agreement is really doomed to failure. She does not think so and does not work so.

According to her, the implementation of the agreement is a process, and the work on it will continue. She noted that while some aspects, such as the abolition of the visa regime for Turkish citizens, was delayed due to non-performance of all necessary conditions, the EU will work to overcome these difficulties.

Earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened to abandon the EU migration agreement, if the EU fails to provide the citizens of his country's with a visa-free regime.

In early May, the European Commission (EC) suggested European Parliament (EP) and the EU Council to remove visa restrictions for citizens of Turkey, if Ankara fulfills the remaining conditions for the abolition of visas until the end of June. These included measures to prevent corruption, negotiations on an operational agreement with Europol, judicial cooperation with all member countries, the revision of legislation on the fight against terrorism.

The official spokesperson for European Parliament President Martin Schulz told RIA Novosti that the European Parliament will begin legislative process on the issue of visa-free regime for citizens of Turkey only after Ankara fulfills all requirements without exception. Erdogan stated that Turkey will not revise the anti-terrorist legislation, and accused the EU of duplicity.




ORANGE COUNTY, Florida  The Florida Highway Patrol reported that an Brevard County, Florida man died as a result of injuries he sustained in a crash that occurred on State Road 528 near mile marker 34 at 1:35 p.m. on Tuesday.



(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});





22-year-old Annette Soto Diaz of Palm Bay, Florida was driving a 2012 BMW westbound on State Road 528 in a heavy rain. Diaz told FHP troopers that the BMW started to hydroplane, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. The BMW left the roadway onto the north shoulder and then struck a tree.





A passenger in the BMW, 24-year-old Alex Santiago, was killed in the crash. Another passenger, 26-year-old Vassell Ewar, suffered serious injuries. Diaz did not have any injuries. All three are from Palm Bay, Florida




17:06

The Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that two-years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre have seen only "corruption" and "hooliganism" and claimed the Prime Minister's Office has been reduced to an "international travel agency".



"Modiji got massive mandate on the development plank and the only development in the country has been done by PMO which is now functioning as an international travel agency. The officials have been reduced to travel agents who keep on arranging his visits to one country or the other," AAP leader Dileep Pandey said.



"These visits are planned only in hope that situation or relations with other countries will improve but we have seen how they have gone worse be it with Pakistan, China or Nepal.





"There is no consistent, transparent, convenient foreign policy and the country has not reaped any benefits from your foreign trips. The FDI that you boast about has only turned out to be short term investment by foreign companies which come here for 3-4 months, make profits and leave," he added.



The AAP leader alleged that the Modi government was attacking educational institutions such as JNU, AMU, Allahabad University, BHU and FTII among others only to establish RSS ideology and it resorts to hooliganism to crush voices of dissent.



"They attacked so many educational institutions. We all know what happened in JNU, FTII, AMU and now in BHU. Their sole agenda has been to establish RSS ideology there. Wherever there are voices of dissent they resort to hooliganism" he said.



"There is hooliganism on chanting or not chanting of Bharat Mata ki Jai, Akhlaq was killed over beef, Rohith Vemula was forced to commit suicide. All these were part of the two-years of their regime," Pandey added.



Party leader Ashutosh alleged, "He is the first PM in our history to bow down in front of Pakistan. While he hugged Pakistan PM, Pathankot attack followed and ironically we asked the same party to investigate the attack who conducted it".





"Following three levels of corruption-regional corruption, national corruption and international corruption-Modi has proved himself to be standing parallel to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.





"He not only kept silent on various corruption issues be it of Vasundhra Raje, Lalit Modi, Agusta Westland, Smriti Irani's degree or his own degree. Be it Supreme Court or High Court, BJP government was slammed but they did not learn any lessons. People feel let down for having voted for the party," he added.
Japan's top government spokesman on Wednesday denied a newspaper report that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to delay a sales tax hike planned for next year. The Yomiuri newspaper had reported, without citing sources, that the Abe had told his junior coalition partner of the decision on on Tuesday, saying a tax hike would make it more difficult to beat Japan's long-running deflation problem."No such thing happened as far as I know," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, repeating that the premier will decide on the sales tax "appropriately at the appropriate time."The Yomiuri said Abe was expected to announce the tax hike delay after the current parliamentary session ends on June 1.The government is scheduled to raise the levy to 10 percent from 8 percent in April next year unless there is a significant financial crisis or a major natural disaster.After opposing the tax hike, some domestic proponents of the premier's reflationary "Abenomics" programme have recently changed their views, urging Abe to implement the tax rise and offset any harm to consumption with a big spending policy.REUTERS RSD RK0915 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750563.Xml
Bhubaneswar (Odisha), May 25 (ANI-Businesswire India): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan visited a plant run by entrepreneurialfirm Milk Mantra in Gop. On a scheduled visit to the state, Rajan expressed an interest to visit an entrepreneurial venture and meet the entrepreneur who started it as well as interact with the farmer community to understand the impact on their lives Milk Mantra has made. Dr. Rajan spent time understanding how Milk Mantra was started, its growth and the impact on the ecosystem. He then saw the state of the art plant and was shown how Truly Pure milk was processed, packed and stored till dispatch. The team explained how processing of value added products was done and the innovation in packaging and processing technology done by Milk Mantra. Dr. Rajan also spoke at length with Milk Mantra farmers to know how their individual and societal economy started to change after becoming stakeholders in Milk Mantra's sourcing chain. Dr. Rajan listened intently to the farmer stories of how after they joined the Milk Mantra family they had payments made to them at the right time, better access to loans to buy more cows, insurance for the cows etc. Dr. Raghuram Rajan commended the work done by Milk Mantra's young team. He said, "By taking an everyday commodity product like milk, they have created an ecosystem for farmers to have better livelihood, and for public to have quality nutrition and enhanced health." Srikumar Misra, Founder and CEO Milk Mantra said, "The financial inclusion and impact that Milk Mantra is creating through a completely product led business model needs policy framework support at various levels and it's an honor that Dr. Raghuram Rajan visited us and listened to our story and the challenges we face. Our team was highly inspired and motivated by Dr. Rajan's visit." Milk Mantra is India's first VC funded agri-based startup, located in Odisha. It has launched two innovative brands - Milky Moo range of dairy products, and MooShake, functional ready-to-drink healthy milk beverage. They have 2 state-of-the-art plants, one in Gop and one in Sambalpur. They have recently commissioned a 3rd plant to increase their capacity owing to the increasing consumer demands. (ANi-Businesswire India)
Bindi Yadav is presently lodged in a jail after he was arrested on his alleged involvement in helping his son and hiding evidences in the murder case.

Meanwhile, District and Sessions Judge Sajal Mandilwar on Tuesday sought the case diary and proceedings of a lower court in connection with the regular bail petition of suspended JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi, the mother of Rocky Yadav, and also accused in liquor prohibition case.

Aditya Sachdeva , a businessman's son and Class 12th student, was allegedly shot dead by Rocky Yadav for overtaking his vehicle here on May7.

Police had arrested Rocky on the May10.

Next hearing in the case is slated for May 27. (ANI)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday announced a Rs 10-lakh cash reward for information leading to arrest of the accused involved the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village and theft of a 'bir' from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district. The CBI in a statement said it needs the cooperation of the general public for providing information about persons who have indulged in theft and then desecrating the holy Granth Sahib. "If on the information of any person, the persons involved are traced, he would be given a cash reward of Rs. 10,00,000/- (Ten Lakhs) by the CBI," it added. "The information may also be given to any nearest branch of the CBI located anywhere in India. The name of the informant will be kept secret," it added. Punjab government had earlier on November 1 had handed over the probe to CBI into the Bargari village sacrilege incident in Faridkot. These related to the theft of Guru Granth Sahib at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in June, the putting up of posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala villages in September inciting Sikhs to protest against the theft of the holy book and the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib with torn pages of the holy book being found at Bargari in October. The CBI in its statement has said that any person having any information of the whereabouts of the above mentioned persons may inform the following CBI officers immediately on the address, telephone and mobile phones mentioned below: Abhishek Dular, Superintendent of Police CBI/Special Crimes-III CBI Headquarters Building, 3`d Floor, CGO's Complex, New Delhi Tel. - 011-24368644, Mobile. No- 9418834911 N. Krishnamurthy, Duty Officer Additional Superintendent of Police, CBI/Special Crimes-III CBI Hors Building CBI HQrs Building, 3`d floor, CGOs Complex, New Delhi Tel. 011 24368646 Tel. 011- 24368646 Mobile No- 9968081143. (ANI)
The development comes nearly five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his radio address 'Mann Ki Baat' on December 27, last year, had said physically challenged people have a "divine ability" and the term "divyang" should be used in place of "viklang" for them.

The Centre had proposed the change in name of the department by amending the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.

Now, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities ('Viklangjan' Sashaktikaran Vibhag) will be Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities ('Divyangjan' Sashaktikaran Vibhag), according to an order issued by Cabinet Secretariat.

It said that President Pranab Mukherjee has given approval to the new nomenclature. (ANI)
Five people including two children and a woman were killed on the spot when thecar in which they were travelling collided with a lorry at Tekriyal village of Kamareddy Mandal in this districttoday. The victims belonging to one family and hailing from Aluri village were on their way from Hyderabad to herewhen the accident occurred, police said. A case has been registered and an investigation is under way, police added.UNI VV CS 1025 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-750619.Xml
One worker was killed and 15 others injured, two of them critically in a blast at SrikarLaboratories, a Pharmaceutical Company in Parwada Mandal on the outskirts of Steel city today. Police said the blast occurred in ammonia condenser in a chilling unit. About 35 workers were on duty when the incident happened. The deceased was identified as K Ramakrishna (29), an operator in the chilling unit. Deputy Commissioner of Police ( ZONE-II) Dr G Ramgopal Naik said two workers, who were in critical condition,have been shifted to Seven Hills Hospital and the others were being treated at a private hospital in Gajuwaka.UNI XC CS 1040 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-750623.Xml
Australian shares bounced sharply off a two-week low on Wednesday, led by gains in the energy and resources sectors as strong data in the United States boosted commodity prices and Wall Street stocks.The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.7 percent, or 87.53 points to 5,383 by 0207 GMT. The benchmark fell 0.4 percent to a 2-week low on Tuesday."Housing data in the U.S. came out much better than expected and that lit a bit of a fire in the financial sector which has carried through to the local segment," said Chris Conway, head of research and trading, Australian Stock Report.New U.S. single-family home sales recorded their biggest gain in 24 years in April, touching a more than eight-year high as purchases increased broadly, a sign of growing confidence in the economy's prospects."Energy prices pushed higher overnight so that sector is also seeing some gains," Conway said.Financial stocks led the index higher, rising 0.85 percent. Shares in Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Macquarie Bank Ltd all rose more than 2 percent.Energy and resources firms also marked sizable gains thanks to gains in commodity and oil prices.Shares in Woodside Petroleum Ltd rose more than 3 percent, while Origin Energy Ltd rose more than 4 percent after oil prices rose more than 1 percent. Global miner BHP Billiton jumped 3.5 percent.On the negative ledger, shares in Wesfarmers Ltd edged down almost 0.5 percent after Australia's biggest company by sales said it will take impairment charges totalling up to A$2.2 billion.New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.7 percent or 51 points at 6,922.65, as sentiment got a lift from better markets offshore.Xero was up 3.6 percent while Orion Health Group added 3.5 percent. In the other direction Tower continued to shed ground after its disappointing result, trading down 4.8 percent.Domestically investors will be looking to the government's budget Thursday for direction. REUTERS RSD RK0901 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750535.Xml
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday trained guns at Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh for dubbing the 2008 Batla House encounter as 'fake' and said that he should be investigated by the NIA for deliberately misleading the nation. Swamy, who is the BJP's Rajya Sabha MP, told ANI it should be found that why is the Congress leader deliberately misleading the country and is doing it on behalf of whom. "Digvijaya Singh should be investigated, he should face the NIA...I think Mr. Digvijaya Singh should agree to get himself investigated by the NIA," he added. Singh yesterday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government to order a judicial probe into the 2008 encounter at Batla House in Delhi in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed. "Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid," Singh said. The encounter, which had taken place during the former UPA regime, recently came into news amid a claim by an alleged ISIS operative that he had fled Batla House right before the police raided it. Batla House encounter, officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested. Encounter specialist and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was also martyred during the incident. According to the reports, Mohammed Sajid alias Bada Sajid is one of the six persons who feature in the 22-minute video allegedly posted by the Islamic State recently, however he was one of the terrorist who was claimed killed in the encounter. A Delhi court had in 2013 sentenced to life the lone convict and suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad in the case for killing decorated police officer Sharma and injuring two other policemen. (ANI)
In the aftermath of a Congolese national's murder here last week and the African diplomatic community seeking strong action from the government, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh will meet heads of African missions to assure the country's nationals' safety and security in India. "I have asked my colleague General V.K. Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries and assure them of Indian government's commitment to the security of African nationals," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Wednesday. "V.K. Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security," she said. Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi. On Tuesday, African heads of mission held a meeting here regarding the incident following which they issued a statement seeking strong action from the government. The heads of mission stated that they were being left with little option but to advise their respective governments against new students to India. "The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," the statement by Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday. "They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said. Woldemariam said the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators". In his statement on Tuesday, Woldemariam said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted". "Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said. The African envoys also said they would stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26. In a separate tweet on Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj said the government would launch a sensitisation programme to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country. "When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits," she said. "I would like to assure African students in India that this was an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons." Swaraj said that she has asked Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najib Jung to take steps and ensure that this case was tried by a fast track court. "Jung has assured me that he will take immediate action in this regard," she said. --IANS ab/py/vm ( 552 Words) 2016-05-25-12:28:03 (IANS)
Business and other activities remained paralysed in parts of the summer capital, Srinagar, where two militants were killed by security forces on May 23. Shops and business establishments in main business hubs of Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), Mehraj Baza, Sarai-Bala, Naaz crossing Gonikhan and Iqbal park remained closed against the killing. However, traffic was plying normally on busy routes. Additional security forces and state police personnel also remained deployed in these areas to prevent any law and order problem. Situation across the river Jehlum, including at historic Lal Chowk, and Budshah Chowk was normal with business and other activities going on peacefully.Police claimed that two foreign militants , including a commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces at Sarai Bala area in the city near here on May 23 night. One ak rifle and large quantity of arms and ammunition, including hand grenades were recovered from the slain militants, who were killed about ten hours after Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) shot dead three police personnel, including an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI).However, locals contested the police claim and said the slain militants were staying in a rented room and were students.UNI BAS ADG SB1208 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-750673.Xml
However, official sources said restrictions on separatist leaders had been imposed to maintain law and order.

A spokesman of the HC Advocate Shahidul Islam told UNI that a large number of security forces and state police personnel were deployed outside the Nigeen residence of Mirwaiz today. Later Mirwaz was informed that he has been put under house arrest and he cannot leave till further orders. Advocate Islam said Mirwaiz was scheduled to chair a meeting of the amalgam at Rajbagh headquarter office, called to discuss the latest situation, particular with regard to alleged anti Kashmiri policies of the centre and state government.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the hardline HC Aiyaz Akbar said Mr Geelani and Mr Shah remained under house arrest.

He said they have been put under house arrest since their return from New Delhi. Aiyaz said the separatist leaders were not even allowed to offer Friday prayers in a mosque by the authorities.UNI BAS ADG RK1234

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-750748.Xml
The Uttar Pradesh government has embarked upon several initiatives to control the ever growing air pollution with an innovative 'Green Up, Clean UP' drive and planning for clean energy in future. UP principal secretary environment and chairman UP Pollution Control Board Sanjeev Saran here has claimed that after registering a Guniness book of world record to plant one million sappling in the day last year, the state government is going for plantation drive of 50 million plants on July 15 next under its Green UP , Clean UP initiative, Inaugurating a two days' national workshop on the subject 'Combating Air Pollution in North India' organised by UP Embassy in collaboration with Research Triangle International, USA and with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi here today, Mr Saran said that UP government was concerned about the growing level of air pollution in the state and dealt up several schemes to aware the people, children and others for taking up initiatives to counter it. "It is an achievement that 200 kilometers of forest area has been increased through plantation drive in the state during the past two years of which 4 nautical miles are of dense forest area," he claimed while narrating how the UP government was constructing Metros in the cities, managing traffic and had banned polythene bags to counter the rising air and other pollution. The official also appreciated the role of National Green Tribunal( NGT) of giving directions to the state from time to time particularly in the pollution of rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and suggesting ways to prevent it. He said in Lucknow, the authorities have already phased out diesel public transportation system and has made fast traffic corridor like Shahid Path to minimise the air pollution." There is no dearth of funds and the state government is really concerned with the existing air pollution," he said, adding that dust due to construction work, sewege, vehicles are some of the reason for the air pollution. Mr Jonathan Kessler, Senior Diplomat, US Embassy, in his key note address, claimed that the situation in India on the context of air pollution in 2015 was just similar like United States of America(USA) witnessed in 1950-60. In US after 1970, the situation turned and now it has become the cleanest country of the world. He also claimed that clean energy has earned a good fortune for US. "On investment of one dollar, in return we have received 30 dollars," he further claimed. Mr Kessler also narrated in detail about the WHO report which says about the poor condition and the mortality rate due to degrading air pollution in India. He said, for the most part, in democratic countries like the US and India, action comes when people understand the level of pollution they are exposed to and the health effects that result. For someone who cares about air pollution, the past few years have been an exiting time in this country.Dr Prakash Doraiswamy, of RTI International said that the cities in US record just around 12 micrograms but in the cities of Northern India it was above 100 micrograms, ten time more. Mr Mark Azua, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, US embassy said that air pollution is one of the most important aspect of human life and US and India are collaborating each other to control the menance. In her welcome address Prof, Manju Mohan, of India Lead, IIT New Delhi, said that UP is densely populated and hence several cities of the state were witnessing air pollution above the danger level. She said that the cities of Lucknow, Kanpur, Varnarsi and several others are witnessing dangerous level of air pollution. She also raised the issue of industrial air pollution in Gajraula, Kanpur and in other places of UP. The workshop in Lucknow is the last of the four such initiatives by the US Embassy after Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur between May 17 to May 24.The officials claim that these workshops support President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to develop cooperative efforts to study the effects of air pollution. US officials said here today that the objective of these workshops is to provide a forum to initiate and strengthen collaboration between US and Indian air quality experts, consider best practices to combat air pollution in North India, and build consensus and strategy for follow-on action. US policy-makers, international scientists, and industry-sector experts are expected to attend. UNI MB ADG SB1206 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-750653.Xml
A senior Congress leader in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu of "influencing" the election results in an assembly constituency where a BJP candidate got elected. Referring to the Kharagpur (Sadar) seat in West Midnapore district, from where state BJP president Dilip Ghosh emerged winner, former Bengal minister Manas Bhunia said Prabhu had done the "manipulation" during his visit to the railway town. "Prabhu came here and manipulated the railway officers, staff, contractors and the administration," Bhunia, an ex state Congress president, told IANS. Ghosh pulled off a surprise victory, getting the better of nonagenarian Congress candidate Gyan Singh Sohanpal, who had won ten terms from the constituency, and was undefeated since 1982. Bhunia termed Sohanpal's defeat as "unfortunate" from the railway town. Kharagpur is a bustling divisional headquarters under the South Eastern Railway. Bhunia claimed that lack of time was a major reason for the Congress-Left Front alliance in the state coming a cropper in the polls. "The LF and the Congress have conflicting political ideology. But we did not get enough time for proper assimilation and synchronisation to ensure reciprocal transfer of votes," he said. Although Bhunia himself retained his seat from Sabang, the LF-Congress could secure only 77 seats (Congress 44, Left Front 32 and an independent backed by the alliance). The Trinamool Congress emerged victorious by capturing 211 seats in the 294-member assembly. However, Bhunia said an in-depth study and analysis was needed to comprehensively identify the reasons for the debacle. But the Congress leader did not buy the argument by a section of the Left that the Congress failed to transfer its votes as per expectation to the Left candidates in some of the constituencies. "Congress also has the same allegation against them," Bhunia said. He said the future of the alliance would depend on the decisions by the Left and the Congress, both at the national and state level. Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress for striking an "under the table deal" Bhunia said: "Seven per cent votes of the BJP went to the Trinamool, through scientific manipulation of transfer of votes by the RSS machinery." --IANS int/ssp/rn/vm ( 373 Words) 2016-05-25-13:28:05 (IANS)
Promising to provide a conducive environment to Chinese investors, India today invited them to be partners in its growth story and make profits out of their investments. ''We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship initiatives of the government. India will facilitate efforts of Chinese investors to make their investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies," President Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing the India-China Business Forum event at Guangzhou. The President said India believes that there is great potential for economic and commercial cooperation between the two nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges. ''The stability of our relationship in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilising these opportunities and coming together. To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities," the President said. Mr Mukherjee also said India is a young nation and its primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development. ''We are steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in our country. China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us. We believe that stepping up our two way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations," he added. He also said both the countries must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both economies.UNI ASH SV ADG 1350 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0134-750947.Xml
The suspense over the next Chief Minister in the Union territory of Puducherry continued with the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) not convened so far to elect its leader even after seven days of the announcement of the Assembly election result. With former Union Minister V Narayansamy, former Chief minister V Vaithilingam and PCC President A Namasivayam were in the race for the post of the Chief Minister, the local party unit itself could not reach a consensus resulting in not convening the CLP meet. Hectic parleys were held in the National Capital as almost all the elected members were camping there. Mr Namasivayam who returned to Puducherry was once again summoned to New Delhi by Party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to hold discussions. The AICC observers Gulam Nabi Azad and Mukil Wasnik will be reaching here in a couple of days when all issues would be sorted out ,Mr.Namasivayam told newspersons when contacted . A similar situation arised in 2001 when the CLP leader could not be decided following tussle for the Chief Minister post and the CLP entrusted the task to AICC President Sonia Gandhi. She selected Mr.P.Shanmugham. In 2001,through the election results were announced on May 11,a government was constituted here only on May 22 with Mr.shanmugham heading it. However, Mr.Shanmugham was forced to resign after six months as no congress members were prepared to resign their post to facilitate Mr Shanmugam to contest and win the polls. UNI PAB CS 1330 / 1343 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-750931.Xml
An accused arrested by the Thane police on the charges of possessing banned gutka has been acquitted by the Thane district court in the want of substantial evidence . Accused, Surendra Rampalat Chaurasiya (37) of Bhayander was acquitted of all the charges by the District Judge N N Shrimangale as he observed that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the charges against him. The prosecution told the court that the police and FDA officials seized banned articles like Gutka, Pan Masala from the possession of the accused on December 08,2013. Even when the trial was on in the district court, the officials of the FDA and Police department destroyed the seized goods on their own and in the want of evidence the charges could not be proved in the court. .UNI XC NV PR RK1340 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-750788.Xml
Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, ex-Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma and two-time MP from Allahabad Rewati Raman Singh were among seven candidates from Samajwadi Party who filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh today. Real estate promoter Sanjay Seth was also among the candidates who filed nominations. In a surprise late night move, the SP changed one RS candidate, denying ticket to sitting member Arvind Kumar Singh. In his place, Surendra Nagar filed nominations for the Upper house of Parliament. Interestingly, Amar Singh who filed his nomination as a Samajwadi Party candidate, was yet to rejoin the party formally after being expelled in February, 2010. Eight candidates of the SP also filed their nominations for the Legislative Council for vacant 13 seatsMore UNI MB SW RP1540 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-750990.Xml
Tasting a crushing defeat after 15 years of uninterrupted power in Assam, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today accepted responsibility for the Congress' debacle in the state and apologised for failing to check corruption, which was one of the primary reason of the party's defeat. Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters here, Mr Gogoi said, "As the leader, I accept responsibility for the defeat." He admitted that the Congress could not live up to the expectations of the people and hence it has been voted to sit in the Opposition for the next five years. Conceding that there were failures and deficiencies of the Congress in many fields, the three-time former CM accepted that failure to check corruption was an important cause for the debacle. He, however, added that the party will do introspection to find out its weaknesses and start working on regrouping and rejuvenating it. He said, "The Congress had suffered worst defeats in 1978 and 1985 state elections. But we had bounced back and we will start working on it immediately." The octogenarian leader, who has been elected to the new Assembly from Titiabor LAC, added that he will not retire from active politics any time soon. Mr Gogoi said the Congress will play its role of a constructive opposition and cooperate with the BJP-led coalition government to work for the welfare of the people. He rued that the BJP had played the old card of foreigners' issue to come to power in the state, an issue that was promoted by the AGP when it had swept to power in 1985. He said, "The BJP and RSS succeeded in instilling fear among the Assamese people over their very identity and existence and managed to grab majority power." On the new government's announcement of publishing a white paper on the alleged irregularities in the state's finances, Mr Gogoi said all facts were already published by his government and he was prepare for any scrutiny. The Congress had lost the recently concluded state polls, winning only 30 seats in the 126 member state Assembly. A BJP-led alliance of AGP and BPF has formed the government with 86 seats in their kitty. UNI SG PL SB NS1543 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-751084.Xml
Police said here that the miscreants abducted farmer Guddu Singh (42) when he was asleep outside his house and later killed him with the sharp edged weapon outside the village. The body had been sent for the post-mortem.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the killers. UNI XC DH PL SB AS1529

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-751131.Xml
The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi here.

The MoU would enable setting up of a joint working group with members from ISRO and UAESA, which will further work out an action plan including the time-frame and the means of implementing the MoU.

Promotion of space cooperation between India and UAE was highlighted during the visit of Mr Modi to the UAE in August 2015 and at the 11th meeting of India-UAE Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation held at New Delhi in September, 2015.

Subsequently, a delegation from UAESA visited ISRO technical facilities on September 16, 2015 and discussed on the avenues of building space cooperation including signing of a MoU.

Accordingly, ISRO and UAESA, considering their mutual interest in expanding the applications of space technology for peaceful purposes signed a MoU in New Delhi on February 11, 2016.UNI NC SW SB 1650

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0070-751336.Xml
The first Cabinet meeting of the one-day-old BJP-led coalition government in Assam was chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal here today, where the portfolios for the ministers were also distributed. Four chief decisions were taken at the first Cabinet meeting, which was held at the Brahmaputra State Guest House atop Kharghuli hills in the city here. All eight Cabinet ministers and two ministers of state (independent charge) attended it. The Cabinet meet reportedly decided to abolish all check gates in the state, which had allegedly turned into money collecting points for nefarious elements. In keeping with the BJP's pre-poll promise, the Cabinet reportedly decided to do away with the system of oral interview for fourth grade jobs. While it was decided that most ministers will not use red beacons on their vehicles, the number of vehicles in the chief minister's convoy would be cut down, reports said. Meanwhile, the chief minister also distributed portfolios to his new ministers. Among the portfolios Mr Sonowal kept under himself are Home, Political, Revenue, Power, Border Area Development, Assam Accord Implementation. Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma has been given Finance, Planning and Development, Health, Education, Tourism and Guwahati Development Department, among others. Among the other portfolios distributed by the chief minister are Agriculture to Atul Bora, Forest and Environment to Pramila Rani Brahma, Water Resources to Keshab Mahanta, Excise and PWD to Parimal Suklabaidya, Irrigation to Ranjit Dutta, Commerce and Industry and Transport to Chandra Mohan Patowary and PHE to Rihon Daimary. Among the departments allotted to the two ministers of state with independent charge are Panchayat and Rural Development to Naba Kumar Doley and Labour and Employment to Pallab Lochan Das. UNI SG PL SB BL1655 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-751295.Xml
Controversy broke out today over the participation of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in a ceremony to be held at India Gate to mark the completion of two years of the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre.The Big B himself came out in open to clarify his presence on the occasion is limited to highlight the achievement of the 'Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao' campaign. Mr Bachchan said he was not hosting the function to held at India Gate, according to Times Now editor-in-Chief Arnaub Goswami who quoted the actor. "Let the government decide whether I should be there in the event or not as the government has invited me to the segment on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in the capacity of being a designated UN Ambassador on Girl Child," Mr Bachchan told the news channel. He also took to Twitter saying it was misinformation that he is going to host the event. "Not hosting ..only doing a small segment on 'beti bachao, beti padhao", the actor said in a tweet. He said that the ceremony would be hosted by actor R Madhvan, not himself, as is being reported. The Big B feigned ignorance about the attack launched at him by the Congress. The clarification on the part of the Bollywood superstar came after questions were raised by the Congress over his participation in the high profile event of the Government. The party said the black money charges against the Big B were under investigation in the wake of Panama papers leak. Congress media chief Randip Surjewala, while raising red flag over the government's invitation to Mr Bachchan, asked what signals were being sent to the probe agencies investigating the case. The Bollywood veteran was appointed UN Ambassador for Girl Child in 2014 though he had been associated with UNICEF since 2002 and was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in April 2005. In the same year, he supported UNICEF's effort to create awareness about sexual violence against children and the threat of AIDS against them through the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS campaign. UNI MK RP1804 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-751530.Xml
Indian Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry in connection with an incident of molestation of a junior medical officer by her senior Naval doctor. "The Indian Navy had received a complaint of a case of alleged molestation on May 6," Captain DK Sharma told UNI, adding, "The Navy took cognisance of the complaint and a BoI (Board of Inquiry) was ordered immediately." He said the BoI was in final stages of completion and the report is likely to submit shortly. In her complaint, the junior officer alleged that her senior, a Surgeon Commander by rank, twice attempted molesting her inside the residence of Navy's one of the top officers, where they had gone to attend the admiral's ailing mother. "It is also informed that the senior officer at whose residence this alleged incident has happened was on duty to Visakhapatnam and his spouse works in Mumbai. At the time of the alleged incident, only the ailing mother of the senior officer was at home and she is bed ridden," said Capt Sharma. "It is to reiterate that Indian Navy has a zero tolerance on such matters. Wait for the enquiry to conclude and justice would be done," the spokesperson said. UNI MK SW SB 1848 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-751676.Xml
A police spokesman said here this afternoon that a 20-years-old-girl, who was not identified, consumed some poisonous substance at her Branird house , Kokernag, in south Kashmir. She was immediately rushed to a local hospital from where she was referred to District Hospital at Anantnag.

A 26-years-old youth (name withheld) also consumed some poisonous substance at her Tathan house also in Kokernag.

He was shifted to District Hospital Anantnag for treatment, where from he was referred to SMHS Hospital, Srinagar for further treatment.

In another suicide attempt, a man (name withheld) consumed poisonous substance in his Badgam house. He was shifted to Sub District Hospital Magam for treatment wherefrom he was referred to JVC Hospital Bemina for further treatment.

It was not immediately clear why they attempted to commit suicide, he said adding police has registered cases and started investigation in all the three incidents.UNI BAS SB AS1808

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-751342.Xml
The body of Ritu Yadav, first year B Tech student, who allegedly committed suicide in Greater Noida on April 20, was cremated here today, after a panel of doctors conducted second post-mortem. The cremation was performed 36 days after the death of the girl. The girl's father Dr Vishamber Singh said here that the body was cremated only after the doctors conducted the second post-mortem. Earlier the family of the girl, a native village Sehnapur in Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh, refused to cremate expressing doubt on the police theory of suicide. Dr Singh today reiterated that his daughter had not committed suicide and that it was a cold blooded murder. The second post-mortem was performed on the demand of the family members as they were not cremating the body alleging that the girl was murdered. Villagers and relatives alleged that Noida police was hiding facts and not investigating the case from a murder angle. However, the police on its part says that it has registered a case of abetment of suicide on the basis of Ritu's suicide letter and have sent her four flat mates to jail. Police says she had jumped off the 7th floor of her apartment in NRI City after a tiff with her flatmates on April 20. Ritu's body was preserved with the natural herbs at an orchard in her native village since the past one month by her family who suspect that she was murdered. Meanwhile, the locals also supported the family in their demand for justice. The body was taken out of pit yesterday in the presence of Ajay Kumar Sharma, a police officer of Kasna police station in Noida, who is investigating the case, and additional district magistrate (Sadar) Kannauj Sunil Kumar Shukla, besides locals and family members following mounting pressure on police after Ritu's father claimed that she was murdered by her four flatmates. The 19-year-old reportedly committed suicide a day after being confronted by flatmates for alleged shoplifting. The police have registered a case of abetment of suicide against four students who lived with the victim. She was a first year Computer Science student at an engineering college in Greater Noida.UNI MB SB NS1814 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-751364.Xml
The trilateral Chabahar transport corridor project, including a special economic zone, not only marks a major milestone in India's strategic ties with Iran, but it also the failure of Pakistan's "myopic" tactics to deny India transit to Afghanistan, say experts. India, Iran and Afghanistan on Monday inked the Chabahar trilateral transit and trade corridor deal that will ensure easy movement of goods between the three countries, bypassing Pakistan. India is to invest up to $500 million in the project to develop Chabahar port, located on the coast of Gulf of Oman and over 70 km from Pakistan's Gwadar port that China is developing. The Chabahar port transport and transit corridor would help link trade routes from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. "It is a big step forward for India's strategic interests. Our relations with Iran had almost been in the backburner because of the sanctions; but now it has been taken forward to a strategic level," former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh told IANS. Iran is a critical player in the Middle East and an important partner in our oil supplies, he said. Singh said the biggest impact of the deal would be on Afghanistan, "especially as Pakistan has always regarded Afghanistan as part of its strategic depth and created problems for India to have a presence there. India has been working on an alternative route, bypassing Pakistan, and with the Chabahar agreement this will become a reality," the expert added. He said besides the Chabahar deal, the 12 agreements inked during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tehran are also a "big step forward". "Mr Modi also emphasized on the importance of cultural links, the Mou between ICCR and its Iranian counterpart is significant," he added. "All in all it is a very positive move by the government and it needs to be appreciated for taking the bold step," Singh said. Former Indian envoy R. Dayakar termed the Chabahar agreement an "important milestone" and added that it serves the common economic interests of Iran and India. "India is putting the money and developing the infrastructure. And Pakistan is the loser because of its myopic vision of not giving transit to India," Dayakar told IANS. According to the expert, the political dimension of the deal was secondary, and the primary aspect was the market and economy. "Pakistan's delaying tactics in providing transit access to India has backfired," said Dayakar, adding that the Modi government accelerated the process. "The project was in the pipeline since 2003, under the previous NDA government." According to him, the Chabahar port is better than Gwadar. "It will have more transparency, and greater economic potential than Gwadar, as it also has a special economic zone," he added. --IANS rn/vm ( 473 Words) 2016-05-25-19:28:04 (IANS)
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) congratulated Mr Pinarayi Vijayan for assuming office as the Chief Minister of Kerala, after the landmark victory of Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the recently concluded Assembly Election in Kerala. In a statement issued here today, Mr V P Nandakumar, Chairman, CII Kerala State Council said, "CII would work closely with the new Government towards achieving an inclusive, socio-economic growth with emphasis on infrastructure, healthcare, entrepreneurship, skill development, tourism, agriculture & food processing besides others. The CII looks forward to forging a strong partnership with the Government of Kerala in rolling out the reform measures towards making Kerala a preferred destination of choice for investments in manufacturing and services sectors, it added.UNI CGV MVR AK 1919 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0312-751590.Xml
National Award winning filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has rescheduled the release date of his upcoming period drama Rangoon, which will now see the light of day on February 24, next year. Vishal has now given a perfect birthday gift to Shahid Kapoor, whose birthday falls on Febraury 25.'Rangoon' was earlier slated to release on September 29, 2016.The 'Haider' director in a statement said, "I am very happy with what I achieved during the 'Rangoon' shoot. The upcoming movie is very close to my heart and I want audience to perceive it as my best work."The 50-year-old director further said that even the movie's leading lady Kangana Ranaut was thrilled to learn about its release date, as her superhit flick 'Tanu weds Manu' had also released in the same period. ''Given that it's Shahid's birthday on 25th February, there is no better way to celebrate," the ace Director said.Vishal further said that Rangoon will be even more special for him as it has been 10 years since he collaborated with Saif Ali Khan after 'Omkara' and will be an interesting experience for him to work with the actor again.The flick stars Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranuat in lead roles and is a period drama set during the World War II. UNI SHS RJ 1924 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-751732.Xml
Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr.K.Sivan today said the recent experimental launch of ReusableLaunch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator was a success and India has joined a elite group of nations with this success. Talking to reporters here, he said the mission was to do the experiment and use the data for developing a launch vehicle which could return and would be re-used again using a cost-effective method in ten years time. This mission had cost about Rs.100 crore. India has joined the elite club of nations like the US, Russia, Japan and Europe in the reusable technology of space vehicle, hesaid. This indigenously developed first vehicle was built by VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram. Dr Sivan said this mission also was used to test the heat resistant material which could withstand heat upto 2000 deg C while reentering the atmosphere. Dr Sivan said Indian scientists were poised to develop a much more complex sophisticated technology at an affordable cost in the re-entry mission. He said there was a plan to develop a five km sophisticated runway to precisely land the reusable launch vehicle. ''ISRO is planning to launch 60 to 70 satellites in the next five years if we use the technology which is reusable and cost effective'', Dr Sivan said. He also said that there would be a test on the use of carbon material which could be used for soldiers in Siachen area, thermal coat to protect houses from excess heat. Referring to the Mars Orbiter Mission Mangalyaan, Dr.Sivan said the parameters of the satellite was satisfactory and the data received from it was being continuously monitored and used among the scientific community at ISRO and NASA.UNI GV MVR AK 1957 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-752039.Xml
Bokaro SP Y S Ramesh here said that a country made pistol, couple of live cartridges, five mobile phones and a SUV was recovered from them.

The arrested have been identified as Amit Kumar, Dhanjay Rawani, Pradeep Kumar Singh, Romi Kumar Barnwal and Prahlad Sonar.

Mr Ramesh said that the arrested had on May 1 abducted a trader Vijay Prasad near circuit house under Bokaro steel city police station area. Later, they had released Prasad due to increasing pressure. UNI XC-AK AKM SB VN2016

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-751925.Xml
The Congress on Tuesday questioned the government's decision to invite Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to host a show at India Gate here on May 28 to highlight the Narendra Modi government's achievements in the last two years. "We don't have any objection either to Amitabh Bachchan or Prime Minister Narendra Modi because we respect Bachchan as an actor and Modi as the prime minister but what signal will it send to the agencies investigating the Panama Papers leaks," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters here. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to think over it," he added. The Congress leader said that although Bachchan had denied his involvement in the Panama Papers controversy and "I sincerely hope that he will be exonerated, but it (invite) sends a wrong signal to the investigating agencies as well as the nation". "In the Panama Papers case, one of the names that has come out happens to be of the artiste concerned and his family. "When a person accused of such thing is seen hosting a programme to celebrate two years of the Modi government, does it not send a signal to the investigating agency not to proceed against those who are under suspicion for having stashed black money abroad in foreign bank accounts?" Surjewala asked. The event at India Gate is likely to include talk shows on the government's achievements, interspersed with cultural programmes. "Would it not defeat and weaken both morally, ethically and also perhaps legally, the drive of the prime minister to punish every individual found to have stashed black money abroad. This is something that he must ponder over," he said. --IANS sid/tsb/bg ( 287 Words) 2016-05-25-22:36:03 (IANS)
Police said here that criminals opened fire on the candidate Mohammad Riazuddin at Daudpur village, causing serious injuries to him. He was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in serious condition.

Poll rivalry appeared to be the reason behind the killing, police said, adding that raids were being carried out to nab the criminals.

As it is, husband of a Mukhiya candidate and his cousin were shot dead at Kachar panchayat under Dumaria police station area in Gaya district, earlier during the day.

Cases of violence were also reported from other parts of the state in the last eight phases of Bihar panchayat elections while polling for two phases is to be held on May 26 and 30. UNI XC-KKS RJ GC2244

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-752270.Xml
Judge of special CBI court Sarvjeet sentenced Mr Nayan to rigorous three years imprisonment after he was found guilty in a bribery case.

The court also slapped fine of Rs 35,000 on Mr Nayan failing which he would have to undergo additional imprisonment of six months.

According to the prosecution, Mr Nayan had raided a business establishment in the year 2000 in Patna division when he was posted as excise Inspector. During the raid, he had seized documents from the establishment and demanded Rs 40,000 as bribe for returning it.

The CBI had caught red handed while he was receiving Rs 10,000 as bribe on March 24, 2001 and a case in this connection was registered.UNI XC-KKS AKM RJ GC2237

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-752271.Xml
Addressing Indian diaspora after his arrival here on Tuesday evening, President Pranab Mukherjee said as the most advanced emerging economies India and China are making major contributions to world growth and if 2.5 billion people of both the nations come and walk together, it will be a great event. "India's policy towards China is expanding areas of cooperation, reducing differences," the President noted. Noting that members of the Indian Community are unofficial ambassadors of India in the country which they live, President Mukherjee said, "Members of Indian Diaspora carry part of India in their hearts at all times." Saying India is proud of its diaspora, the President called upon them to contribute in transforming lives of billions of Indians. "We invite Indian Diaspora to contribute its best in gigantic task underway of transforming lives of billions of Indians." Underlining the prospect of expanding relationship between the two nations, the President said, "Frequent bilateral visits reflect expanding relations between the two great nations, which have made phenomenal progress in bilateral relations since 1990. "Trade between India and China has increased US $ 2.9 billion in 2000 to more than US $ 71 billion today. Besides, India and China are closely cooperating with each other in most multilateral fora," said the President. "India, which is a founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) supported the membership of China from the day one. India argued in WTO that it is wrong to keep China with its vast population out of the WTO," said President Mukherjee, adding that both the nations were the founding members of G-20. Earlier, President Mukherjee was welcomed by Vice Governor of Guangdong Zhongyou and Vice Minister Liu Zhenmin on his arrival at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the evening. President Mukherjee is on a state visit of China from May 24-27. In Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong, which is the only Chinese province with an economy of over USD 1 trillion, his program will highlight the business and cultural linkages, which provide a durable foundation for growth and development of bilateral ties, said Joint Secretary (East-Asia) Pradeep Rawat during a media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday. The second and most important leg of visit will begin on May 26 in Beijing. "Rashtrapatiji will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening, where he will meet with the top leadership of China in Beijing," said Rawat, adding senior dignitaries from China will attend various cultural and educational functions being organised during the visit. Elaborating on his programmes in China, Press Secretary to President Mukherjee Venu Rajamony said in Guangzhou, he will be meeting both the Governor of Guangdong province as well as the Party Secretary of Guangdong province. "The Party Secretary is hosting a special lunch for him, which is a very rare gesture. Normally when a dignitary visits the city of Guangzhou, it is only expected that the Governor meets him, but here the Party Secretary is both meeting him and hosting a lunch," said Rajamony at the media briefing. "After he reaches Beijing, the very first function that he has is a reception jointly organised by the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Indian Embassy. Here the Vice President of China will be personally present," he said. The next day when he goes to the Peking University and he delivers an address he receives a report as well from the Vice Chancellor's Round Table, the Minister for Education will be present. "He will have meetings with the Chinese Premier and the Chinese President. Next day before he leaves, he will be meeting the Chairman of the National People's Congress, which is the equivalent of the Speaker in India. So an entire range of leaders will be with him, will be interacting with him, will be exchanging ideas with him and the President will have an opportunity to interact with all of them," he added. "The second point I would like to highlight is," he said, "the President has been to China several times before. He has been to Guangzhou twice before, the very first time when he was Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission as well as the Minister of Commerce. He was invited by the planning authorities of China at that time. And the last time he visited Guangzhou was as External Affairs Minister to inaugurate the Indian Consulate which operates there. The president has also visited China previously as Defence Minister, when the Defence Framework Agreement was signed." On this visit, the President is accompanied by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar and four Members of Parliament, including Dr Bhushan Lal Jangdey, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (BJP), and Lok Sabha MPs K.C. Venugopal (Congress), Sudhir Gupta (BJP) and Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt. He will also be accompanied by senior officials from the Rashtrapati Bhavan as well as the Ministry of External Affairs. He will be taking with him an academic delegation. This is part of the special focus that he gives to improving the quality of higher education in the country. In his capacity as visitor to 114 Institutions of higher learning within the country, he has, in particular, emphasised the need for Indian education institutions to expand their contacts with foreign counterparts to engage in exchange of faculty, exchange of students, joint research etc. "So in this particular tour the President will be taking with him the Director of IIT Delhi, the Director of IIT Bhubaneswar, the Director of IIM Kolkata, the Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Gujarat, the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jammu, Director of VNIT Nagpur, and Director of NIT Agartala," said the Press Secretary, adding that there would also be an officer from Ministry of Education, who would accompany him. (ANI)
The Russian Defence Ministry has denied reports that Islamic State militants destroyed four Russian helicopters at an air base in Syrias Homs province. All Russian combat helicopters currently stationed in the Syrian Arab Republic, are performing routine tasks destroying terrorists. There have been no losses among the personnel of the Russian air base there, Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in an official statement on Tuesday, reported RT online. Stratfor, a private intelligence and analytical company, previously reported that Russian helicopters and supply trucks were destroyed in an Islamic State attack, basing the data on a comparative analysis of satellite images of the T4 airbase in Homs province. The Syrian Air Force base, according to Stratfor, had been used by Russian helicopters which were providing support to government troops during fighting for the liberation of Palmyra. On May 14, IS announced that four Russian attack helicopters and 20 supplies trucks were destroyed by fire. Around the same time, according to Stratfor, Syrian government sources reported random explosions in the T4 base area. The analysis of satellite images taken on May 14 and 17 prompted the intelligence company to conclude that four helicopters were actually destroyed at the base, as well as trucks, with a Syrian MiG-25 also being damaged. Stratfor claims that the nature of the damage seen in the satellite images indicates that the base fell under attack. Konashenkov, however, stresses that the authorship of rumors about the destruction of Russian combat helicopters and trucks belongs to IS agitators, who unsuccessfully tried to sell this alleged news some 10 days ago. Concerning the pictures of the Syrian air base, the Defence Ministry representative noted that burned aircraft and automotive electronics, as well as numerous craters from missile explosions have been there for more than one month and are the result of heavy fighting in the airfield area between the Syrian government troops and terrorists. --IANS ahm/ ( 328 Words) 2016-05-25-05:54:03 (IANS)
The United States Senate Armed Services Committee approved a proposal to set up a new fund to reimburse Pakistan for its efforts in the war against terror, which also delinks the country from Afghanistan. According to Dawn, the committee's chairman, Senator John McCain, introduced the bill, which sets aside up to $800 million for reimbursing Pakistan and the proposal is included in the Senate version of the National Defence Authorisation Act, 2017, passed on May 18. The current arrangement reimburses Pakistan from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) and has received a total of $3.1 billion since 2013. The CSF expires in the 2016 financial year, which ends in October. The bill, however, requires Pakistan to keep open ground communication lines to Afghanistan for receiving reimbursements from this fund and $300m is linked to taking action against the Haqqani network. The new provision focuses on Pakistan and on US national security interests and in doing so, it breaks the link between Pakistan and Afghanistan. During a debate in the committee, lawmakers noted that the U.S. has already withdrawn most of its troops from Afghanistan and the U.S.-led coalition is also winding up its activities. While considering the proposal, the committee noted that "Pakistan has been a long-standing strategic partner of the United States" and expressed its desire to continue a "strong and enduring" relationship between the two countries. The committee also expressed the concern that "continued reliance on Coalition Support Funds for the provision of security assistance to Pakistan could negatively impact US support of Pakistani operations to combat terrorism". (ANI)
A former plumbing assistant from New York City was arrested and charged with providing material support to Islamic State by trying to help an undercover law enforcement official travel to Syria to fight with the militant group.Sajmir Alimehmeti, a 22-year-old from the Bronx borough, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, which said he had expressed support for Islamic State since 2014.He is among nearly 90 people who since 2014 have faced US charges over crimes related to Islamic State, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq and has claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people.The US citizen was arrested at his Bronx residence yesterday morning, where authorities found an Islamic State flag, a martial arts weapon and combat-survival knives, Assistant US Attorney Brendan Quigley said in court.They also found a passport wrapped in 2,400 dollars cash, a sum that Quigley said correlated with an amount Alimehmeti had claimed to have saved to travel to Syria to join Islamic State."He repeatedly expressed his own desire to travel overseas," Quigley said.Sylvie Levine, Alimehmeti's lawyer, argued unsuccessfully for bail for her client, a former plumbing assistant who studied to work in funeral services, saying he had not acted on much of his alleged talk about supporting Islamic State."He voices his desire to do something, but doesn't take further action," she said.According to the complaint, Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York Police Department officials posing as Islamic State sympathizers began meeting with Alimehmeti after the United Kingdom twice denied him entry in 2014.During his second attempt, when he arrived at Heathrow Airport, authorities discovered numerous images of Islamic State flags and explosive attacks on his cellphone, the complaint said.Prosecutors said last week, Alimehmeti helped an undercover official obtain travel documents and equipment in order to go to Syria to join Islamic State.The complaint said he told undercover operatives that he and his brother planned to travel to Syria but his brother was arrested in Albania, where his parents live, and that he had saved 2,500 dollars to go to Syria but needed a passport.The complaint said Alimehmeti had applied in October for a new US passport, making false claims about losing his old one amid concerns the UK rejection stamps it carried would raise suspicions. REUTERS AKC PS PM0437 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0139-750495.Xml
US President Barack Obama chided Vietnam on political freedoms after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him in Hanoi, a discordant note on a trip otherwise steeped in amity between the former foes.Tens of thousands turned out to welcome Obama on the second leg of his visit, Ho Chi Minh City, which was called Saigon until April 1975 when North Vietnamese tanks rolled in to bring US-backed South Vietnam under communist rule.Many in the crowds lining the streets chanted "Obama, Obama," some held handwritten signs reading "Obama, we love you," and one woman held a boy dressed in a Captain America costume, complete with shield.Underlining the importance of the growing economic ties between the countries, Obama held an open forum with young entrepreneurs and laid out the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact between 12 Pacific Rim countries.The high point of his visit came on Monday, with an announcement that Washington was scrapping its embargo on the sale of lethal arms to Vietnam. That clears the biggest hurdle remaining between two countries drawn together by concern over China's military build-up.Critics said that by removing the ban, a vestige of the Vietnam War, Washington had put concerns about Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea first and given up a critical lever to press Hanoi for improvements in human rights.'FREEDOMS STILL A CONCERN'One prominent intellectual, Nguyen Quang A, told Reuters that about 10 policemen had come to his house at 6:30 a.m. and put him in a car that was driven out of the capital until Obama was about to leave.An outspoken lawyer, Ha Huy Son, said he was also stopped from joining Obama's meeting with six other civil society leaders. Human Rights Watch said a journalist who was also invited had been arrested on Monday.Quang A, a former IT entrepreneur, was one of more than 100 Vietnamese who tried to run as independents for last weekend's election to the parliament, which is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. Almost all failed to get on the ballot.Before he was taken away, Quang A posted on Facebook a photograph of himself dressing for the meeting with Obama, with the message: "Before going. May be intercepted, arrested. Advising so people know."Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Obama noted that several activists had been blocked from meeting him and said this was an indication that, despite some "modest" legal reforms "there are still folks who find it very difficult to assemble and organise peacefully around issues that they care deeply about.""There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, accountability with respect to government," he said.US officials said that lifting the arms embargo would make it easier for Washington to engage with Vietnam on such issues.In Washington, members of the US Congress, including Republicans as well as some of Obama's fellow Democrats, criticized the policy shift alongside about a dozen Vietnamese human rights activists."This is the definition of a bad deal," Republican Representative Chris Smith said at a news conference. "This is not smart diplomacy, it is surrender of US interests and values."Democratic Representative Adam Lowenthal said, "I am very disappointed that we lost yet another opportunity to elicit any kind of commitment from the Vietnamese government on improving the human rights of the Vietnamese people."TOUTING THE TPPIn a speech before leaving Hanoi, Obama stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China has been turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbors."Big nations should not bully small ones. Disputes should be resolved peacefully," he said, without naming China, which claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea.China's Global Times, run by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, said the decision to lift the embargo showed a willingness to relax standards on human rights for the sake of containing China.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in Ho Chi Minh City with Obama, told reporters that Washington's efforts to normalize relations with Vietnam were not aimed at China."This is not about China. Nothing that we did here or (are) arguing here is focused on China. It is focused on the fastest-growing marketplace in the world," Kerry said.Obama interviewed three entrepreneurs at Ho Chi Minh City's "Dreamplex," which hosts budget tech start-ups with support of angel investors and Silicon Valley funds. He also touted the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, especially for unlocking entrepreneurial innovation.Vietnam's manufacturing and export-led economy is seen as the biggest TPP beneficiary. Annual US-Vietnam trade swelled to 45 billion dollars last year from 450 million dollars when ties were normalized. Washington is a big buyer of Vietnam's televisions, smartphones, clothing and seafood.But the TPP, which would remove tariffs across a 12-nation bloc worth a combined 28 trillion of gross domestic product, is not a done deal. Opposition is expected in Washington amid concern about competition and a loss of US jobs.REUTERS AKC PS PM0602 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0139-750503.Xml
Thirteen-year-old Siti Maryam says she suffers headaches and nausea after harvesting tobacco leaves with her bare hands during four years of working on her family's farm in Indonesia.Maryam, who is among the thousands of children a rights group says work in hazardous conditions on farms in the world's fifth-biggest producer of tobacco, spoke to Reuters in a field near the east Java city of Probolinggo."I feel dizzy, get headaches and feel like vomiting," said Maryam, listing symptoms that match a condition experts call acute nicotine poisoning, or "green tobacco sickness".Indonesia is one of the world's fastest-growing markets for tobacco products, with about $16 billion of cigarettes sold last year in the country of 250 million, an increase of 13 per cent from 2014, says market research firm Euromonitor International.But a lack of information leaves families oblivious to the risks their children face while working on tobacco farms, said Margaret Wurth, a researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.Several big companies lack procedures to screen out tobacco that involves the effort of children working in hazardous conditions, the group said in a report today."As a result, these companies risk contributing to the use of, and benefiting from, hazardous child labour," it added.The group interviewed 227 people, among them 132 children aged between 8 and 17, who said they worked on tobacco farms in four Indonesian provinces.But the report risks generalising the whole of Indonesia and some children do work in non-hazardous conditions on tobacco farms, the chairman of the Indonesian tobacco farmers' association, Soeseno, told Reuters."The root of the problem is poverty in certain small villages," he said.Parents getting children to help is in line with cultural norms in some areas, Soeseno, who goes by one name, like many Indonesians, said by telephone.Customers do not normally ask whether child labour is involved, said Suradi, a trader who buys tobacco from farmers in Probolinggo for resale."When I send the tobacco to the storehouse it only depends on the quality," he told Reuters.Human Rights Watch said it contacted some of the biggest companies operating in Indonesia, such as Philip Morris International Inc, Djarum Group and PT Gudang Garam Tbk .Philip Morris welcomed the report, sustainability officer Miguel Coleta told Reuters, adding that the company sourced almost 70 per cent of its tobacco through direct contracts with Indonesian farmers, versus about 10 per cent four years ago.But change requires many stakeholders to cooperate, including the Indonesian government, he added. "We are talking about a massive market, millions of people," Coleta said in an interview. "It's not something easy to reform overnight."Indonesian tobacco firms Djarum and Gudang Garam did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.In the tobacco field in Probolinggo, a dozen children helped to sow seeds, earning about 0.73 dollars to 1.10 dollars for working seven hours a day."I work here just to help my parents and help to fulfill our needs," said 15-year-old Waradatul Yaumi. REUTERS RSD RK0905 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750532.Xml
On May 14, five days after voters in the Philippines chose Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as their next president, two masked gunmen cruised this southern city's suburbs on a motorbike, looking for their kill.Gil Gabrillo, 47, a drug user, was returning from a cockfight when the gunmen approached. One of them pumped four bullets into Gabrillo's head and body, killing the small-time trader of goods instantly. Then the motorbike roared off.The murder made no headlines in Davao, where Duterte's loud approval for hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office of a crime-weary land.Human rights groups have documented at least 1,400 killings in Davao that they allege had been carried out by death squads since 1998. Most of those murdered were drug users, petty criminals and street children.In a 2009 report, Human Rights Watch identified a consistent failure by police to seriously investigate targeted killings. It said acting and retired police officers worked as "handlers" for death-squad gunmen, giving them names and photos of targets - an allegation denied by Davao police.But a four-year probe into such killings by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines' equivalent of the FBI, hasn't led to a single prosecution, and one senior NBI agent told Reuters it will probably be shelved now that Duterte is set to become president. The nation's Justice Secretary last week told reporters the probe may not be able to proceed.Such impunity, and Duterte's demands in recent weeks for more summary justice, could embolden death squads across the country, say human rights and church groups. Already there has been a spate of unsolved killings in nearby cities, with other mayors echoing Duterte's support for vigilante justice."We've seen it happen in Davao and we've seen copycat practices," Chito Gascon, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an independent Philippine watchdog, told Reuters. "Now can you imagine he is president and the national model for crime-fighting is Davao?"Ask Clarita Alia, 62, who still lives in the Davao slum where her four sons were murdered, and she gives a mirthless chuckle."Blood will flow like a river," she says.DENIES DIRECTING KILLINGSDuterte, who has been Davao's mayor or vice-mayor for most of the past 30 years, has denied any involvement in the murders. "I never did that," he said on the campaign trail in April, responding to allegations he had directed the killings. An Office of the Ombudsman investigation also found there was no evidence connecting Duterte to the murders.He has, though, repeatedly condoned them.For example, in comments to reporters in 2009, he warned: "If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination."And more recently he has vowed to wipe out crime in six months across the country by killing criminals, drug pushers and "sons of bitches" after he takes office on June 30."Do not destroy my country, because I will kill you," the 71-year-old former prosecutor told a news conference in Davao on May 15.He has also promised to restore the death penalty in the Philippines, warning he will hang the most heinous criminals twice: once to kill them, then again to "completely sever the head from the body".People here remember pre-Duterte Davao as a lawless battleground for security forces and Communist rebels. The city's Agdao district was so violent it was nicknamed "Nicaragdao" after the then war-torn Central American nation.Today, thanks to Duterte's campaigns against drugs and crime, Davao today feels much safer, say the locals. But it still ranks first among 15 Philippine cities for murder and second for rape, according to national police.ON WATCH FOR ASSASSINSReuters interviews with the families of four Davao victims, one of whom was a 15-year-old, showed that murders continued even as Duterte campaigned for the presidency.All four killings occurred in the past nine months and bore the hallmarks of a loose-knit group that the locals call the Davao Death Squad.The victims were shot in daylight or at dusk, three of them on the same street in a riverside slum seething with people. The killers rode motorbikes with no license plates, their faces hidden by helmets and masks.Reymar Tecson, 19, was executed last August while sleeping at the roadside. A week later, Romel Bantilan, 15, was shot dead while playing a computer game less than 30 paces away.Tecson's family said Reymar was a drug user, but Bantilan's family insisted that Romel was clean.Romel had a twin brother, and their father, Jun Bantilan, said he had heard "rumors" that the other boy would be next. Most days Jun sits at the end of the street, watching out for assassins.Nearby, in her tumble-down shack, Norma Helardino still wondered why her husband Danilo, 53, was shot dead in January. He didn't use drugs, she said, although "maybe his friends did."The police filed a report but Helardino said she saw no sign of an investigation: "No witnesses came forward." When asked who her husband's killers were, she pointed to her tin roof and said: "Only God knows."The three dead males in the slum were "noted drug dealers," said Major Milgrace Driz, a Davao police spokeswoman."It is their destiny to be killed because they choose to be criminals," she said. "The mayor has already said there is no place for criminals in the city."Driz described 15-year-old Bantilan as a "recidivist" with a "criminal attitude" who had been repeatedly warned to mend his ways. She said he had delivered drugs for a gang which had probably murdered him over a money dispute.Lack of witnesses meant the three murders remained unsolved despite diligent efforts to investigate, Driz added.Responding to the Human Rights Watch allegations that the police conspire with the death squads, Driz said the police get the names of local criminals through a public hotline but don't kill them.CLOSED AND TERMINATEDHuman rights activists say official investigations of death-squad killings have been hampered by a lack of witnesses, bureaucratic apathy and political influence.The Human Rights Watch report called on the CHR to investigate whether Duterte and other officials had been involved or complicit in the deaths.A CHR report three years later confirmed the "systematic practice of extrajudicial killings" by the Davao Death Squad. It, in turn, was successful in getting the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate whether Duterte was criminally liable for inaction in the face of evidence of numerous killings.But in a January 2016 letter seen by Reuters, the Ombudsman told the CHR its investigation was "closed and terminated" because it had found no evidence that Duterte or the police were involved in the killings. The letter also dismissed the death squad as a product of "rumors and other gossips".The CHR report also triggered a probe by the NBI. Four years later, it is still ongoing, an agency spokesman said.However, Secretary of Justice Emmanuel Caparas, who oversees the NBI, told reporters on Friday that the status of the investigation was unclear because a key witness, a former gunman, had left protective custody. "It's really just a question now if the witness will surface," he said.And another NBI source, who requested anonymity because he wasn't allowed to talk to the media, said the probe was now likely to be halted."Who will investigate the president?" he said. REUTERS RSD SB1052 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750621.Xml
Selbham carried the gold concealed on a microwave and amplifier.

He had flown into Kathmandu on a Malindo Air flight and arrived at 8.30 p.m. local time yesterday.

"Customs officials checked him and found 37 pieces of gold weighing three kilogram hidden on an amplifier and a microwave," the Kathmandu Post quoted customs official Tulasi Chaulagain, as saying.

He added that foreigners are allowed to carry only 50 grams of gold in Nepal.

Meanwhile, the arrested man has been kept at customs custody. (ANI)
The United States has assured Pakistan that it respects the country's territorial integrity but made it clear at the same time that it would continue striking terrorists posing threats to American forces. Washington also politely declined to identify the area where a US drone killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour."This was a strike directed against this individual, Mansour, in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. We certainly do respect Pakistan's territorial integrity," US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told a media briefing yesterday."But as we've said before, we will carry out strikes to remove terrorists who are actively pursuing and planning and directing attacks against US forces."Mr Toner said that while the strike reiterated the US determination to eliminate any threat to its troops, it also reflected a political motive to influence the absence of peace talks."There can be multiple reasons for it, but I think the primary (reason) is removing someone who was actively pursuing, planning, carrying out attacks against US and Afghan forces in the region."When a reporter asked him to pinpoint the area where Mullah Mansour was killed, the US official said: "I don't have any more clarity of where the actual strike took place. What I can say is, in that border region. I just can't say on which side of the border it was."Mr Toner, however, disagreed with the suggestion that he was questioning Pakistan's claim that the Taliban leader was killed on its territory. "The Pakistani government is able to speak on behalf of itself. I'm not going to doubt its claim. I'm just saying the information we... are willing to share is that it was in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region." "We certainly do respect Pakistan's territorial integrity, but as we've said before, we will carry out strikes to remove terrorists who are actively pursuing and planning and directing attacks against US forces," he said.The official also said that the Obama administration would continue to talk to Pakistan about how to collaborate and cooperate on rooting out the terrorist groups that "continue to use Pakistan's territory to carry out attacks".The strike, he said, "sends a clear message that those who target our people and the Afghan people are not going to be given a safe haven".The only option available to the Taliban was to "pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict", he added.This, he said, was "a clear choice" and now it was up to the Taliban to accept it or not."There are ways to... identify the fact that you're willing to engage in a peaceful way. And, frankly, Mansour showed absolutely no predilection towards engaging in any kind of peaceful political process."While acknowledging that the Taliban had not yet been defeated, he said their choice to opt for violent means had reduced."If you're going to carry out attacks, if you're going to lead attacks against our forces and against Afghanistan's forces, then you're going to be targeted and you're not going to have safe haven," he said.The drone strike, he said, sent the message to the Taliban to decide what their future would be and whether they could be part of "a peaceful political future for Afghanistan". UNI XC AT 1210 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0105-750767.Xml
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's election agenda focusing on jobs and growth is at risk of being hijacked by the country's harsh immigration policy and controversial network of offshore detention camps for asylum seekers.Canberra has vowed to stop refugees sailing from Indonesia and Sri Lanka and landing on its shores, instead intercepting boats at sea and holding those on board in camps in far-flung Papua New Guinea and Nauru.Now Turnbull, who ousted conservative Tony Abbott in a party coup last year promising a more progressive agenda, is facing calls of xenophobia for refusing to condemn his immigration minister's claims that refugees will steal Australian jobs and strain the social safety network.Australia goes to the polls on July 2.Peter Young, former director of Australia's detention centre network, said this week that police had accessed his phone records, in part over his criticism of the country's detention policies.Young accused the government of attempting to cover up deaths in custody, as well as intimidating medical staff and aid workers from revealing the conditions in the camps.The immigration and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Earlier this month Australia said it had agreed to compensate a charity for wrongly accusing it of inciting refugees to self-harm in protest at conditions on Nauru in 2014."The thing that the government doesn't want people to know is that putting people in these situations and exposing people to these health conditions is causing them to die. If that is to be part of their plan then they should be transparent, they should make people aware of them," Young told Reuters."If they don't speak out, they are not behaving in a way that is ethical."In the past month, two asylum seekers have set themselves on fire in protest against their treatment on Nauru where there have been reports of child abuse. One of them, an Iranian man, died.Papua New Guinea has said it plans to close the Manus centre after its Supreme Court ruled it unlawful, raising questions about where the refugees will be resettled.Border security and immigration have swayed Australian elections before. The conservative government last year pledged to take 12,000 refugees from Syria on top of its 13,750 annual quota. The centre-left opposition Labor Party says it would double the annual quota to 27,000. REUTERS RSD SB1225 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750728.Xml
US Secretary of State John Kerry today launched Vietnam's first privately funded university in what he said marked the next stage of an evolving relationship between the United States and Vietnam.The Harvard-affiliated Fulbright University in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's commercial center, will be the first independent, non-profit university in Vietnam, the White House said in a statement.The launch comes at the end of a three-day visit to Vietnam by US President Barack Obama, part of his administration's "pivot" to Asia that emphasizes the importance of the fast-growing region to the United States."The war is an indelible but increasingly distant memory, and for most it is not a memory at all," said Kerry, who served as a young US naval offer in the Vietnam War, which killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 US troops."Certainly, the students who are going to enroll in this university are far more interested in plugging into the world economy than being stuck in the past.""That reality is clearly reflected in the changing relationship between Vietnam and the United States that we saw even changing over the course of the three-and-a-half days," he added.The university will be chaired by Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska senator and veteran of the Vietnam War who lost his leg during combat.Obama is the third US president to visit Vietnam since the former enemies restored diplomatic relations in 1995.REUTERS RSD SB1246 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750838.Xml
According to CNN estimates, winning at least 40 of Washington's delegates means the New York billionaire now has 1,229 of the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination.

Four more Washington delegates are still to be decided, which could add to Trump's total delegate count.

Following his decisive win in Indiana which forced his remaining rivals out of the race, he became the presumptive GOP presidential nominee earlier this month.

However, his victory was overshadowed on Tuesday night, as clashes between anti-Trump protesters and police outside his event in Albuquerque, New Mexico drew more attention.

Protesters broke through police barricades, lit fires and threw rocks at the city's convention center, reports CNN.

As anti-Trump chants rang through the city's streets, officers in riot gear and on police horses moved the protesters away from the convention center.

Late Tuesday evening, Police in Albuquerque showed restraint, noting on Twitter that none of the protesters outside the Trump event had been arrested.(ANI)
Kenya's military said today it had killed 21 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia where its troops are trying to defeat the militant Islamist group that has often struck civilian targets inside Kenya.Kenyan troops, which are in Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) deployment, struck a group of al Shabaab fighters in the west of the country, near the Kenyan border, David Obonyo, spokesman for Kenya Defence Forces, said in a statement.Al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis abu Musab said its fighters had killed five soldiers, wounded eight and burnt one military vehicle in the fighting. The reports could not be independently verified.Al Shabaab, a hardline Islamist group, ruled large parts of Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of Mogadishu by AU and Somali troops. It still control some rural areas and carries out frequent attacks in the capital and other areas in its attempt to dislodge the Western-backed government.In January, Kenyan troops took heavy losses when al Shabaab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde near the Kenyan border. Al Shabaab said it killed more than 100 soldiers. Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.The group killed 148 students at Garissa University in northeast Kenya in April 2015, the worst militant attack in the country in almost two decades. An al Shabaab attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi in September 2013 killed 67 people.REUTERS RSD AS1419 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-750974.Xml
British Prime Minister David Cameron said today there have been an encouraging number of serious offers for Tata Steel's assets in Britain but that there were no guarantees of a successful conclusion."We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron told reporters while flying to Japan for a G7 meeting."We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can," he said.In March, Tata announced it wanted to sell its UK steel operation, throwing the future of British steelmaking into question. REUTERS JW AS1523 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-751136.Xml
US President Barack Obama sought today to ease growing Asian worries about the raucous election campaign to succeed him which has been dominated by the incendiary rhetoric of mogul Donald Trump, now the Republican Party's nominee."I think other people sometimes look at our election system and say 'what a mess'," Obama told a townhall meeting with young leaders in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon."But usually we end up doing okay because the American people are good people ... Sometimes our politics doesn't express all the goodness of the people," he said, without referring specifically to any of the presidential candidates.Obama made the comments just before ending a three-day trip to Vietnam, whose high point was an announcement that Washington's ban on sales of lethal weapons to the country - a vestige of the Vietnam War - would be completely lifted.Obama repeatedly insisted that lifting the embargo was not a response to Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea. Critics accused Washington of throwing away a powerful lever it had to press communist-ruled Vietnam for improvements in human rights.White House officials say the arms move was a natural step to take with a country that, once an enemy, is now a key part of Obama's strategic 'rebalance' towards Asia and an important trade partner as its economy grows apace.Obama also announced the Peace Corps would begin operating in Vietnam for the first time."EVENTUALLY VOTERS MAKE GOOD DECISIONS"Across Asia, policymakers have been startled by Trump's "isolationist" foreign policy pronouncements, which have challenged much of the status quo in Washington's relations with the region.Many fear Trump will feed insecurity in nations worried about China's growing power, embolden nationalists and authoritarians, and unravel Obama's 'pivot' to the Asia-Pacific.At the townhall in Ho Chi Minh City, a young woman who had been an exchange student in Montana asked Obama what he thought of the prospects that Trump or Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders following him to the White House."Usually, eventually the voters make good decisions and democracy works," replied Obama, whose criticism of Trump has sharpened since he all but clinched the Republican nomination. "Things are going to be ok. I promise."Thousands of people lined the streets of Ho Chi Minh City for a second day to cheer enthusiastically and wave mini-flags of Vietnam and the United States as Obama drove by on his way to the airport for a flight to Japan.At his freewheeling townhall, where he was greeted with a standing ovation, Obama noted that two-thirds of the country's population were born after 1975, when the war ended with North Vietnamese tanks rolling into Saigon to bring US-backed South Vietnam under communist rule.Obama prodded Vietnam's leaders on political freedoms during his visit after critics of the government were prevented from meeting him. When a woman rapper at the townhall asked him about supporting arts and culture, he segued into an appeal for people to be allowed to express themselves.TRADE, CLIMATE CHANGEHowever, his unusually long one-country visit was warm and mostly about strengthening diplomatic and economic relations.Annual US-Vietnam trade has swelled from 450 million dollars when ties were normalised in 1995 to 45 billion dollars last year. Washington is a big buyer of Vietnam's televisions, smartphones, clothing and seafood.Obama repeatedly touted the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, of which export-led Vietnam will be one of the biggest beneficiaries, if it survives opponents in Washington concerned about competition and a loss of US jobs.He also talked about the challenges of climate change when asked about the drying-up of the Mekong River in the rice-bowl delta of southern Vietnam, urging Southeast Asian countries to work together.The Mekong River, which sustains 60 million livelihoods as it flows through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is under threat from at least 39 hydro-electric dams being built or under development upstream of Vietnam, most of them in China.Low river levels have allowed seawater to penetrate inland, ruining vast swathes of cropland in the fertile delta.Obama did not name any of the upstream countries but said the United States would provide smaller member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with technical assistance and evaluations of what needs to be done."Hopefully ... that information can be used to negotiate on an international level to try to prevent some projects that might have very bad effects," he said. "One of the things that we've seen in ASEAN is that when small countries band together as a unit, then the power magnifies."Japan is the final stop on Obama's swing through Asia, where he is attending a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations starting Thursday.REUTERS JW AS1535 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-751165.Xml
A Swedish lower court upheld today the arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, saying the stay at Ecuador's London embassy did not equal detention.Assange, 44, is wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over allegations, which he denies, that he committed rape in 2010.A computer hacker who enraged US authorities by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, he has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid the rape investigation in Sweden.He says he fears further extradition to the United States, where there has been a criminal investigation into the activities of Wikileaks."The district court finds that there is still probable cause for the suspicion against JA (Julian Assange) for rape, less serious incident, and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty," the court said in a statement.Last year, Sweden's Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Assange to revoke a detention order.Following a statement by a UN panel that his stay in the embassy amounts to arbitrary detention, Assange's lawyers again in February asked the Stockholm District Court to overturn the warrant for his arrest."Unlike the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the district court does not consider JA's stay at the Embassy of Ecuador in London a form of detention," the court said.One of Assange's Swedish lawyers, Thomas Olsson, said the decision will in all likelihood be appealed."As far as I understand it, the court has not addressed the main issue in the case, whether the delay in the investigation is due to the inaction of the prosecutor, which we mean is a reason to overturn this (the arrest warrant)," Olsson told Reuters.In 2010, Wikileaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 US military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.REUTERS JW SB1540 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-751210.Xml
The European Union's Mediterranean naval force is offering to train Libyans to run a small coastguard fleet to be able to fight people smuggling in under three months, the admiral in charge of the mission said today."In 14 weeks we can train the first 100 men in international waters by turning one of our ships into a school," Admiral Enrico Credendino said in an interview with Italy's la Repubblica newspaper."There are eight patrol boats ready for delivery that had been equipped by Italy for the Libyan government before civil war broke out," he said.More personnel and boats will be needed, he said, but further resources will have to be set aside in Brussels first and then "in three or four months the Libyans will be able to act autonomously".The EU force, known as operation Sophia, was set up to fight people smuggling in the south-central Mediterranean, but it cannot enter Libyan waters without an invitation from the government, of which there are two vying for power in Tripoli and Benghazi.On Monday and Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said 5,600 migrants had been rescued, including by ships participating in the Sophia mission. More than 30,000 have come so far this year, down slightly from last year, the Italian government has said.The Libyan coastguard has also intercepted migrant boats, with 550 turned back to Libya on Tuesday and 850 on Sunday.Officials fear the numbers will increase as weather conditions continue to improve. Credendino said that some 150,000 migrants were in Libya and ready to make the crossing, much less than some have estimated."Today the estimate is that between 30 and 50 percent of gross domestic product in Tripolitania (northwest Libya) comes from people smuggling, with entire tribal clans earning money from it," Credendino said.Islamic State militants in Libya are not directly involved in people smuggling, he said, but do extort the traffickers who operate in their territory, he said.For the EU force to intervene directly in Libya or to impose a weapons embargo, a United Nations resolution and more resources would be needed, he said.REUTERS JW BL1712 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-751463.Xml
The militant group has given no further details regarding Akhundzada background who replaced Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, three days after he was killed in a drone strike.

Meanwhile, the former Afghan Intelligence Chief Rahmatullah Nabil has said that Akhundzada was a village Mullah and has no military or political experience, reports Khaama Press.

He also tweeted, "Haibatullah, a village Mullah, 56, no military and political experience, Yaqoub, 24, no mil & politic exper, Saraj will b defacto leader."

Nabil meant that other deputy, the leader of the Haqqani terrorist network, Sirajuddin Haqqani will be defacto leader of the group.

The Taliban group in a statement confirmed the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and appointment of Mawlavi Akhundzada and his deputies earlier today. (ANI)
Pakistan today voiced its concern over the US drone strike in Balochistan which reportedly killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour. In a meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale at Army headquarters, Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif said the drone attack, which was a violation of sovereignty, was detrimental to Pak-US ties and regional stability and damaged peace efforts, an Inter-Services Public Relations statement was quoted as saying by the daily,' The Dawn.'Gen Raheel Sharif said Pakistan's efforts against terrorism are exceptional.The US drone strike was the first in Balochistan's history.Gen Sharif, while terming the attack a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, said Islamabad had already conveyed a set of 'red lines' to the US in 2010, specifically mentioning attacks in Balochistan as a no-go area. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif criticised the US drone attack on Sunday, describing it as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. He also lodged a strong protest over the US attack.Mansour was reported killed in Pakistan on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a US drone in Balochistan. The US and Afghan governments said Mansour had been an obstacle to a peace process that had ground to a halt when he refused to participate in peace talks earlier this year. Instead, he intensified the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year.Yesterday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that the government cannot confirm yet that the person killed in the incident in Balochistan was Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. UNI XC JW RP1817 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-751658.Xml
ABU DHABI, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy Sultan Al-Mansouri said Wednesday UAE is keen to strengthen co-operation with China on the basis of One Belt and One Road initiative, UAE state news agency WAM reported.

Al-Mansouri delivered the statement to WAM, following his visit to China's Hong Kong. Al Mansouri said that the UAE and Hong Kong share numerous economic goals that have contributed to the development of the growing economic relations between them.

The visit to Hong Kong on May 18-19 included the participation of the UAE delegation, led by the Minister of Economy, in a number of dialogue sessions within the activities at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong.

The Belt and Road initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, launched by the Chinese president in 2013.

The Minister of Economy stressed the importance of the China-proposed initiative as it has a direct impact on the promotion of international trade by opening up opportunities for the development of economic co-operation among more than 60 countries across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa, the WAM report quoted Al-Mansouri.

Stressing that the UAE's economic and trade relations with China and Hong Kong are strong, Al-Mansouri said that there are many opportunities to promote existing economic relations to the highest levels.

The UAE, a major oil supplier and the economically most diversified Gulf Arab country, is keen to strengthen co-operation with China's mainland and Hong Kong, said the minister.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 25 (Xinhua) -- China's "One Belt One Road" initiative will bring new opportunities to silk road countries and those countries should catch the opportunity to strengthen cooperation and realize common development, officials from Kazakhstan, Singapore, Estonia, Latvia and Tajikistan said during their speeches at Astana Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Astana Economic Forum opened on Wednesday in the Kazakh capital of Astana. Officials from different countries gave advises to the implementation of "One Belt One Road" initiative at the subforum of "One Belt One Road and Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)".

Kazakhstan's Vice Economic Minister Timur Zhaksylykov said, "One Belt One Road" has many meeting points with EEU. He hopes that by working together, different countries will realize economic development and promote trade among Eurasian countries. He said "One Belt One Road" initiative and EEU could cooperate in trade, elimination of tax barriers, transportation and infrastructure.

Kazakhstan expressed hope to connect the high-speed railway in China and Europe, because it will greatly increase the transport efficiency between China and Europe.

Kazakhstan's Vice Energy Minister Aset Magauov said, Kazakhstan's energy industry benefits mostly from China's economic growth. Being an important energy export market, China's significance to Kazakhstan will continue to grow. China's economic growth and its cooperation with Kazakhstan are important.

Tajikistan's Economic Development Minister Nematullo Hikmatullozoda said, "One Belt One Road" initiative brought great opportunities and new concepts. Central Asian countries should catch this opportunity and take up more responsibilities, strengthening cooperation and exploring business opportunities together. He said Central Asian countries play an irreplaceable role in building Silk Road Economic Belt and they support the spirit and proposal of Silk Road Economic Belt.

Cooperation between China and Central Asian countries will inject more momentum to Silk Road Economic Belt. He made suggests that more countries join the "One Belt One Road" initiative.

Latvia's Minister of Social Welfare Uldis Augulis said, "One Belt One Road" initiative can promote the building of Eurasian Land Bridge, which will bring great benefits to Eurasian countries. "One Belt One Road" countries must eliminate the bottleneck of Silk Road's development on the basis of common interest.

He said Silk Road countries should create a coordination mechanism to push forward multilateral cooperation. The "16+1" multilateral dialogue platform created by China and East Europe can play an important role in the development of Silk Road Economic Belt.

Singapore's Minister of State, Minister of Trade & Industry, Ministry of National Development Koh Poh Koon said, Silk Road Economic Belt will bring great opportunities to Silk Road countries, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries can play an important role in promoting "One Belt One Road" initiative.

He made suggestions that Silk Road countries eliminate trade barriers and find each one's own development strategy. He said China is an important guarantee whether "One Belt One Road" initiative will succeed, while Kazakhstan is the "button" of Silk Road Economic Belt. As the largest landlocked country, Kazakhstan is the key player that connects China, Russia and Europe.

Financial Minister of Estonia Sven Sester said building Silk Road Economic Belt will bring new business opportunity and make silk road countries become not only communication centers, but also bring them new business prospects that can stimulate economic growth.

As an EU country, Estonia can play an important role in pushing forward "One Belt One Road" initiative and trade between Europe and Asia. Estonia is dedicated to constructing railway networks, so as to smooth commodity transportation among China, Russia and north European countries.

Related:

UAE says Belt and Road initiative vital for bilateral economic ties

ABU DHABI, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy Sultan Al-Mansouri said Wednesday UAE is keen to strengthen co-operation with China on the basis of One Belt and One Road initiative, UAE state news agency WAM reported.
Western Union links TT with Cuba

Western Union Company, a leader in global payments services, announced yesterday the activation of Western Union Money Transfer services to Cuba from Trinidad and Tobago at GraceKennedy Agent locations nationwide.

GraceKennedy is the Western Union Agent in 11 Caribbean countries.

As the first US com- pany with scale to move money from across the world to Cuba in minutes, we are pleased to extend the service from Trinidad and Tobago to Cuba, as we continue our phased roll-out from additional countries throughout the year, said Sean Mason, Vice President and General Manager for Western Union in the Caribbean. Our current movement of remittances from the U.S. to Cuba funds regular expenses and micro businesses, driving entrepreneurism, innovation and employment opportunities. We are excited to be able to gradually offer our services to the Cuban Diaspora across the Caribbean, Mason added.

We are thrilled to add this new community to our family, reinforcing our customer- focused approach. It is a privilege to connect Cubans in Trinidad and Tobago to their home community in a matter of minutes, echoed Michelle Allen, Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Money Services.

Remittances can be sent to family members and other Cuban nationals for family expenses and personal support for businesses.

Customers can benefit from the large footprint Western Union offers to send money.

In Cuba, receivers can pick up their funds in local currency from more than 490 Agent locations across all of Cubas 16 provinces and 168 municipalities. This is a significant presence and it is represented by multiple classes of trade  from retail stores to exchange houses. The activation of Western Union Money Transfer Services from Trinidad and Tobago to Cuba comes soon after the removal of the transaction limits and corridor restrictions that were in place for the Trinidad and Tobago market.

Customers are now able to transact with Western Union to most countries, including China and Columbia, under the previous processes and procedures using both TTD at the FX Trader locations and USD at all Western Union locations.

The Cuban population outside of Cuba is approximately 1.4 million as of 2015. They reside across North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, the EU and the CIS countries.

Nearly 96 percent are concentrated in five countries including, US, Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Canada. However, Cubans reside in as many as 72 countries.

Cash remittances to Cuba in 2013 reached US$2.8 billion with 90 percent originating from the US. Remittances reached 62 percent of Cuban households, sustaining about 90 percent of the retail market and providing thousands of jobs.
Charged for hiding fugitive

They were not called upon to plead and were granted bail of $100,000 each.

Roger Bissoon, 39, was captured last week Thursday by police officers at a house in Palmyra Village after being on the run since February 22. He was charged with attempted murder of wife Rachael Chadee, 36, and has since appeared in court with the case being adjourned.

Yesterday, husband Mohammed and wife Maralyn were handcuffed and taken before magistrate Ava Vandenburg Bailey, who read the charge to them which was laid by Corporal Neil Nanan of the Ste Madeleine Police Station. It states that last week Thursday, at Sam Avenue, Palmyra Village, they knowingly and believing that the said Roger Bissoon had committed an arrestable offence of attempted murder, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, did harbour the said Roger Bissoon with intent to prevent his apprehension or prosecution.

The charge was laid under the Criminal Law Act Chapter Five (1) 10:04. It was laid indictably and as a result, the husband and wife were not called upon to plead. Court prosecutor Kassiram Lutchman said that he had no objections to bail being granted because as far as he was able to ascertain, there were no previous or pending cases against the Mohammeds.

A party of police officers went to a house in Palmyra Village last week Thursday and found Bissoon, according to a police report, hiding between a mattress and a bed. Attorneys and police officers said yesterday that they could not recall in the last 20 years, anyone being charged in Trinidad and Tobago with harbouring a fugitive.

Attorney Andre Rajkumar who represented the couple, told magistrate Vandenburg that the husband and wife had been in custody since their arrest last week Thursday, were parents of five children and were not a flight risk.

Mohammed works as a handyman and Maralyn is a housewife.

The magistrate ordered that the bail be granted with Clerk of the Peace approval.
Laventille man shot dead

He was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EW MSC) in Mt Hope, but was pronounced dead on arrival. At the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday, relatives said Henry was mentally unstable and was treated at the St Anns Psychiatric Hospital. He worked as a loader in a wholesale store located on Nelson Street.

He would normally be on Nelson Street for work but he was from Picton Road, said his sister, Sheena Trotman.

He was an innocent man. He never bothered anybody. Having someone who is so innocent taken away from you through this senseless violence, it is never easy, Trotman said
Man, 42, guilty of raping girl, 14

The trial of Ramnath began before Justice Maria Wilson and a jury of nine members, in which the victim, who is now 30, testified and revealed the attack on the morning of a day between February 6 and 12, 2000. Ramnath,who was 26 at the time, offered to help the then teen carry water upstairs to her house. She was alone at home, her parents having gone to work. She was at the time a student of a Junior Secondary School attending the evening shift.

State Attorney Hema Soondarsingh assisted by attorney Kimberly Gunness, led evidence from the woman, that she was 14 at the time and Ramnath told her he would assist her in taking the water upstairs.

She did not oblige and went into her mothers room and locked the door. Ramnath managed to open the door. She testified that he had sex with her and afterwards, threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

She further testified that he wrote the girl a letter, in which he told her that if she did not have sex with him again, she would get sick. She again refused, but she became scared on a day between February 28 and March 3 of the same year, when he had sex with her. The State called five witnesses, including the womans mother and the officer who laid the charge, Sgt Matthew Noel.

Ramnath did not testify nor did he call any witness, however, through his attorney Ramesh Deena, he proffered a defence on the basis that there was consent. The jury returned verdicts on both two counts of rape.

A Probation Officers report was ordered by the judge and on June 1, Ramnaths will be sentence
God still loves you

My mom will be happy to know that the souls who took her earthly life can still make it to heaven if they turn away from their wicked ways and truly repent. If they allow God to transform them, Bharath said as she called her mother, a harmless dove. In life, Ramlochan offered prayers for everyone among them, families, neighbours, governments and even the people of Israel. She specifically prayed for people to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, Bharath noted.

Eulogising her mother, Bharath reminded mourners that killing, stealing and hating only bring emptiness. But when people accept Jesus Christ into their lives, He fills that void with love, joy and unexplainable peace. As such, the individuals are no longer slaves to sin. Two men stumbled upon Ramlochans body along a gravel road last week Wednesday off the M2 Ring Road in La Romaine. Her head was bashed in. Ramlochan lived at St Johns Road, South Oropouche and was last seen alive the day before. Bharath, who is a news presenter at CNMG added: As my moms only child, her eyeball, her most prized earthly possession, apart from her CDs of course, not once did I ask God, why? Who am I to question my King? She said there are many many angles which can be used to combat crime including putting systems in place to boost the criminal justice system and rehabilitation even.

That is perfectly fine. By all means, do what you have to. But our man-made system can never eradicate lawlessness and sin. Only a deep connection to the source, our maker Himself can truly transform our land. Yes, we have systems in place to attempt to control lawlessness on the earth.

But this earth is no paradise, Bharath added.

Sharing some fond memories of Ramlochan, Bharath recalled that everything about her mother was about God since she lived a life pleasing to the Lord. The mother was known both at South Oropouche and at Chaguanas for blasting gospel music- which was her joy and happiness.

The bereaved daughter urged the congregation not to focus on Ramlochans death but rather about the life she lived. Who said when you give your life to the Lord that you are immune to the pain and suffering on this sinful earth? In fact, you are even more prone to attacks when you are a child of God. Being in this world means you are in this world but you are not of this world, Bharath said.

Standing next to her husband, Jason and his mother Dawn Badal, Bharath reminisced that Ramlochan shared messages of love and peace with passion to others and it was no task for her. If I can be half the person she ever was, I will be fulfilled . My mom made me laugh. I can just see her facial expression when she hugs her King in heaven. She was the closest thing to me - my best friend, my biggest fan, Bharath added.

Badal (Vernas mother- in-law) also paid tribute saying that Ramlochan was well versed in current affairs and politics. Badal described her as a gentle spirt and a woman of faith.

She made sure she shared the word of God with others. She was quiet but yet a powerful warrior, Badal added.

Despite her grief, Bharath smiled and hugged several mourners, many of whom offered words of comfort.

Ramlocan was later taken to the South Oropouche Public Cemetery for burial.

An arrest is yet to be made in the murder and Homicide Bureau, San Fernando, is continuing investigations.
Students protest at International School

On Monday, the students wore black and gathered in the corridors at the school holding placards.

Yesterday, the students wore white and held placards while chanting, Bring back the Horse referring to one of the teachers, John Horsfall, who has been with the school since its inception in 1994. The other two teachers are Sarah Lambert and Richard Sieunath.

A source at the school told Newsday the teachers were given their termination letters recently and when the students and teachers found out, they were upset.

This is the first time teachers have taken a stance because the school is saying the jobs of the three teachers have become redundant but are hiring foreigners to take their jobs, the official said.

The official is not doing her administration duties properly and the school is in chaos, the source noted.

In a circular sent out to the school yesterday, the school Board assured parents and teachers that no employee has been fired. However, the Board noted that in light of the economic climate and the resulting impact on enrolment at the school, certain changes would be made. These changes will mean that the school will no longer need the services of a few members of staff from the new academic year. The school has notified the affected members of staff and they will be compensated for their years of service with the school, the Board stated.

These changes at the school include the merging of the middle school and the high school into a secondary school under the supervision of a secondary school principal and Dance will no longer be offered at the secondary school.

We assure you that the standard and quality of the schools service will not be affected by these changes and that all necessary steps are being taken to assist the schools students in making a smooth transition into the new academic year, the Board said.
Recession hits vulnerable harder

The appeal came from Community Resource Manager of United Way of Trinidad and Tobago (UWTT), Linda Ramsumir.

In times of recession, its tight all the way around but every little bit makes a difference and I think when you cant give cash, you can give of yourself and we saw evidence of for this years National Day of Caring. There are people who didnt give money but they said, I can give you four hours of my time, and this is bigger than financial contributions.

In times of recession, people tend to give more because the vulnerable need you more.

So I urge (donors) not to stop but to continue giving of their time and/ or money, Ramsumir said.

Ramsumir was speaking with Newsday on Sunday at the Barataria location of UWTTs 2016 National Day of Caring. There were more than a dozen different activities taking place simultaneously across the country that day.

The Barataria event, held at the Republic Bank Sports Club, Eighth Avenue extension, Barataria, focused on residents of childrens homes and their caregivers.

Gervase Warner, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the UWTT National Day of Caring described the Barataria event as a day of fun and a real demonstration of love and caring.
Carmona takes Argentina ambassador to school

The President was addressing students of the Buenos Ayres Government Primary school, Buenos Ayres village, Erin yesterday.

And with outgoing Argentine Ambassador, Marcelo Salviolo, who has visited the school which bears the name of the Argentina capital, Buenos Aires, on a regular basis, also in the audience, Carmona said he too had come from humble beginnings and had attained the highest position in the land.

Before I became President, I was just like you, going to a primary school in a cocoa field, in Santa Flora. But through hard work and through education, I was able to become what I am today being a former prosecutor and a former judge and now President, Carmona said.

I am not waving my flag here, I want you to believe in yourself because you are capable of doing the same thing that I did and even greater, he said.

Carmona said the schools teachers were similar to those of developed countries such as Canada as they taught differently abled students with regular students.

The fact that among your numbers, the teachers teach differently abled children in the same classroom and that is rarity.

Do you all know, for example, that you are doing what first world countries, specifically Canada, are doing by ensuring that those persons who are differently abled enjoy the same environment, the same education, the same compassion as someone who is able, Carmona said.

Meanwhile, Salviolo, described his tour of duty in Trinidad and Tobago as a wonderful experience having learned about the islands customs and cultures.

It was a wonderful time for me. I learned a lot about your twin island Republic, your wonderful country and your people, the diversity, the customs, the cultures for instance in this wonderful school, the Buenos Ayers Government Primary School, Salviolo said.

Asked about his favourite moments, he said: It is going to be a long list but one of those is (the opportunity) to share with the children here, year after year, and to show them some things about Argentina.
UNC loses La Horquetta/Talparo...again

As there is no right of appeal to Londons Privy Council yesterdays determination by the appellate court is final. In a majority ruling, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Judith Jones held that in election law, time lines were to be strictly adhered to by persons presenting such petitions .

In their oral ruling, the two appellate judges dismissed Mahabirs appeal, and ordered that he pay two thirds of costs assessed by the High Court, which also threw out his petition on the basis that the notice of security had been served out of time. Justice of Appeal Rajendra Narine dissented .

The La Horquetta/Talparo constituency won by the PNMs Cuffie in the September 7 general election, was one of six being challenged by the UNC. The others are Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph, San Fernando West and Moruga/Tableland. The UNC was granted leave to present petitions on September 18, and the next day (a Saturday) lodged the petitions with the Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court who in turn passed it on to one of his colleagues on September 21, at which time it was stamped and filed .

According to Cuffies lead counsel Douglas Mendes SC, the five day period would have started on September 19, as provided for by the Representation of the Peoples Act. The judges agreed, saying the petitioner fulfilled his obligation under the statute by presenting the petition the courts registrar on the Saturday, and as such the time started on that date .

The case turned on the interpretation of Section 107 (4) of the Representation of the Peoples Act and Rule 7 (2) of the Election Rules, CJ Archie noted, as he held that he did not see a conflict between the Rule and the Act. He said under the Rule, all that was required was for the petitioner to deliver the petition to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, for the time to have started running. He disagreed with Mahabirs lawyer Anand Ramlogan SC, that a court stamp or some acknowledgement of receipt of the petition was required from the Registrar .

Ramlogan further argued that the mere lodging and acceptance of the petition did not amount to presentation of the petition under the Act, as there was nothing from the court to certify that the petition had been received. Further, he noted that the petition was filed out of time but the problem arose with the timing of the presentation of the notice of security to Cuffie. He asked the court to err in favour of petition going forward. But Mendes was adamant that in election petition matters, if you slip, you slide. Cuffie, who is the Public Administration and Communications Minister, won the La Horquetta/Talparo seat by margin of 2,822 votes. In November, the Court of Appeal, in a majority ruling, threw out a challenge from the PNM and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), of Justice Mira Dean-Armorers decision to grant the UNC permission to pursue the petitions. The UNC has argued that the decision to extend the polls by one hour was illegal .

Hearing of the petitions will take place from June 27 to 30 .

Cuffie said he was gratified the appellate court confirmed the validity of his electoral victory. It is a decision I never doubted and I look forward to similar validation of the other five constituencies in which there have been legal challenges, Cuffie said. The validation of the court, he added, only reinforces my commitment to t
Govt goes after UNCs Ramdeen

The Senate Presidents ruling came as Government  in the first disciplinary motion for the 11th Parliament  tabled a Motion of Privilege alleging a breach of the rules protecting senators.

UNC and Independent Senators described this move  which effectively saw Government come to the defence of a member of the Independent bench  as unprecedented.

In tabling the motion, Government Whip in the Senate Franklin Khan said the alleged breach had wide implications. Rights and immunities exist to ensure this Senate collectively, and each Senator individually, can undertake their functions without being molested, harassed, obstructed or impeded, Khan said. He further said, an action becomes improper where it becomes an attempt to intimidate or attack a Member on the account of how he voted or on account of what he said in this place. The Government took issue with Ramdeens statements that Junkere, who voted in favour of the controversial SSA (Amendment) Act 2016, was employed by the Attorney Generals office since 2015. He also cited Ramdeens statement that Junkere did not indicate to the Parliament that he was on the payroll of the Attorney General.

Junkere has confirmed holding a brief for which no invoice was submitted up until the time of the debate of the legislation. This brief came about under the previous administration.

Kangaloo said the substantive matter was for a senate committee to decide, but a prime facie case had been made out.

In immediate reaction, Ramdeen said, I have not as yet seen the grounds of this motion but I can say at no point in time were my statements intended to breach any Standing Order or to intimidate. Independent Senator Dhanayshar Mahabir  the most senior Independent  expressed surprise at the move to table the disciplinary motion.

I am a little taken aback, Mahabir said. If there was any issue, it should have come from the Independent bench. But it is a privileges motion. They are free to do it as we are free. He said, however, he had no plan to bring such a motion.

I have been subject to more than my fair share, Mahabir said.

I have been criticised in and out of the Parliament.
Independent senator gets warning

Shrikissoon questioned Junkeres invitation to a meeting on May 9  to which all Independent senators were invited  with Attorney General (AG) Faris Al-Rawi and technocrats on the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) (Amendment) Bill 2016. Only Junkere and Senator Ian Roach attended that meeting. They voted with the Government to pass the Bill in the Senate on May 10.

Junkere was appointed a temporary senator on May 3 in the absence of David Small. On May 10, Small was excused from that days sitting of the Senate by Senate President Christine Kangaloo and Junkere was appointed temporarily to the Independent bench again. Noting that Small chaired a joint select committee meeting on May 9 and debate on the SSA Bill resumed on May 10, Shrikissoon asked, So if Senator Small was in the country on the 9th (of May), then in what capacity was Mr Justin Junkere invited to the special meeting with the AG
What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames

news
Consciousness remains after organ death: New study finds mind does not die with the body

(MindBodyScience.news) What happens to us after we die remains largely unknown; however, a growing body of research suggests that awareness may continue beyond clinical death, a medical term that no longer carries a black and white definition.

Prior to the 1950s, clinical death meant vital organs, such as the lungs, heart and brain, had stopped working. However, due to technological advancements, humans can now be kept alive via mechanical ventilators, leading to a new definition called brain dead. People declared brain dead and kept alive by a ventilator have blood circulation and the ability to fight off infections, as well as birth a child.

The themes relating to the experience of death appear far broader than what has been understood so far, or what has been described as so called near-death experiences, said Dr. Jerry Nolan, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Resuscitation, which published a study examining the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death.

Mental activity may persist beyond death

Sponsored by the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, the study suggests that mental activity persists beyond death, but memories of the experience may disappear due to medical drugs or brain injury.

The study titled AWARE (Awareness during Resuscitation), interviewed 2,060 patients from 15 hospitals in the UK, US and Austria. Researchers say that 39 percent of the patients they interviewed who had survived cardiac arrest, described a perception of awareness, but interestingly did not have any explicit recall of events.

This suggests more people may have mental activity initially but then lose their memories after recovery, either due to the effects of brain injury or sedative drugs on memory recall, said lead study author Dr. Sam Parnia, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Director of Resuscitation Research at The State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Of those who reported having a sense of awareness following death, 46 percent said that they experienced a broad range of mental recollections incompatible with near death experiences (NDEs), including fearful and persecutory experiences.

If its all-natural all the time, youll find it here  Shop now!

Just 9 percent reported experiences that were compatible with NDEs, while 2 percent said they had awareness compatible with out-of-body experiences (OBEs) with explicit recall of seeing and hearing events.

One individual reported consciousness and awareness three minutes after their heart had stopped

One case was validated and timed using auditory stimuli during cardiac arrest, the study reports.

This is significant, since it has often been assumed that experiences in relation to death are likely hallucinations or illusions, occurring either before the heart stops or after the heart has been successfully restarted, but not an experience corresponding with real events when the heart isnt beating, said Dr. Parnia.

In this case, consciousness and awareness appeared to occur during a three-minute period when there was no heartbeat. This is paradoxical, since the brain typically ceases functioning within 20-30 seconds of the heart stopping and doesnt resume again until the heart has been restarted. Furthermore, the detailed recollections of visual awareness in this case were consistent with verified events.

Thus, while it was not possible to absolutely prove the reality or meaning of patients experiences and claims of awareness, (due to the very low incidence (2 per cent) of explicit recall of visual awareness or so called OBEs), it was impossible to disclaim them either and more work is needed in this area. Clearly, the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice, she added.

Scientists hope the results of the study will spur further research into this life or death matter.

Reporting by Julie Wilson, NaturalNews.com.



More:

MindBodyScience.news is part of the USA Features Media network. Check out all of our daily headlines here.

Submit a correction >>
Victims of 9/11 can now officially sue Saudi Arabia, Senate decides

It isnt a vote that is likely to please Americas longtime oil supplier and erstwhile ally in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, but the Senate has nevertheless approved a measure that would allow American victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sue the royal government.

As reported by The Hill, Congress upper chamber approved the measure May 17, in defiance of opposition from the White House. President Obama has said he will veto the legislation if it makes it out of the House.

This bill is very near and dear to my heart as a New Yorker because it would allow the victims of 9/11 to pursue some small measure of justice, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said. [This is] another example of the [John] Cornyn-Schumer collaboration, which works pretty well around here. Schumer was referring to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Despite Obamas veto, members of the Senate predicted that it would be overridden. Schumer has said he would not uphold a veto and said he didnt think most senators would, either.

I think we easily get the two-thirds override if the president should veto, Schumer said.

Cornyn added that he and Schumer are in discussions with leadership in both parties to get an expedited vote on the bill in the House.

The same day the measure passed the Senate, White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeated Obamas opposition to the measure, as if it ultimately will matter if his expected veto is overridden.

Given the concerns we have expressed, its difficult to imagine the president signing this legislation, Earnest said.

As The Hill noted, the bill allows victims of terror attacks on U.S. soil or surviving family members to bring lawsuits against nation-states that have engaged in any activity supporting terrorism.

Though there is bipartisan support for the bill, it hit a snag in April after failed GOP presidential contender Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., blocked it over concerns that it may open up the U.S. to lawsuits from foreigners who would accuse Washington of also supporting terrorism. Graham dropped his hold on the measure over the recent spring recess.

Despite the bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill does not face certain passage in the House, as Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has sounded a skeptical tone over it.

I think we need to look at it, Ryan told reporters last month. I think we need to review it to make sure we are not making mistakes with our allies and were not catching people in this that shouldnt be caught up in this.

Others have said the legislation could undermine U.S. national security.

Meanwhile, BlacklistedNews reported earlier this month that the official version of the 9/11 narrative and story was beginning to unravel, which is partly why the effort to allow 9/11 victims to sue Riyadh  the vast majority of the 19 hijackers were Saudi and there have been intimations that the Saudi government supported them while they were training for their mission in the U.S.  is moving forward.

The site also noted that a small segment of the 9/11 Commission report was classified and could hide the truth about Saudi involvement:

Underneath the visitors center in the United States Capitol is a secure room where the House Intelligence Committee stores highly classified files. In that room is a file titled Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters. It is twenty-eight pages long and it contains apparently damning information on the events leading up to the attacks on 9/11.

Those twenty-eight pages tell a story that has been completely removed from the 9/11 Report, said Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch back in 2014.

Indeed, Lynch has read the missing segment and claims they offer[ed] direct evidence of complicity on the part of certain Saudi individuals and entities.

Read the full BlacklistedNews report here.

Sources:

BlacklistedNews.com

NewYorker.com

NewsTarget.com

9-11Commision.gov

RT.com

TheHill.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

Submit a correction >>
Kajal Aggarwal's foot injury made into a romantic sequence in 'Do Lafzon Ki Kahani'

Bollywood, Wed, 25 May 2016 NI Wire

Kajal Aggarwal who will be seen playing a role of a blind girl in the upcoming romantic movie 'Do Lafzon Ki Kahani' injured her left foot while shooting in Malaysia.

Her injury was so appalling that they couldn't shoot a particular sequence of the film. The makers of the film who were having a tight schedule in Malaysia, managed to change that particular sequence in to a romantic one. And voila, that perfectly fit the bill. This impromptu fitting of the sequence was a boon and turned into a good add-on to the script.

Adding to this, the director Deepak Tijori says, Kajal had a real bad foot injury and being an outstation schedule we couldn't reschedule the shoot. Hence we immediately decided to incorporate a romantic sequence with her leg injury. Kajal being the sport that she is, agreed to shoot for the song in spite of being in pain.

Jayantilal Gada (pen) presents, Directed by Deepak Tijori, Produced by Dhiraj Shetty, Avinaash V. Rai & Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Co Produced by Siddhanta Ashdhir, Vikas Katyal, Aksshay Jayantilal Gada, Kushal Kantilal Gada & Reshmaa Kadakia, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani' starring Randeep Hooda and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles is all set to release on 10th June,2016.

View More : 'Do Lafzon Ki Kahani'
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.
Valls is set to meet with the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday to discuss the peace initiative.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he would speak to President Francois Hollande about the proposal while an aide to Valls later said there was little new in Netanyahu's remarks.

"We highly appreciate the French efforts to launch an global peace conference in order to put an end to the brutal Israeli occupation", Hamdallah said. "We want two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, and I urge you not to let the Palestinian leadership shirk this hard choice".

Valls, who presents himself as "a friend of Israel", recalled how "the continuation of settlements ruins the establishment of a viable Palestinian state, when there is only one solution: two states for two peoples". "In the world of fact, the leading powers of the world will unwittingly enable the Palestinians to continue avoiding negotiations".

As Israel has rejected the French peace initiative to end Israeli occupation, and Palestinians welcomed it, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has been pushing efforts to hold a three-way summit wit hthe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

During Valls' visit, French and Palestinian representatives signed three financial agreements, providing support for several projects in Palestine, including wastewater management in Hebron.

There has also been talk of the potential for a Cairo-led plan that could result in a summit between Abbas and Netanyahu, with ties between Israel and Egypt having improved in recent months.

In fact, Netanyahu did not wait for Valls to visit Israel, for the first time as the French Prime Minister, to express his rejection for Paris's peace initiative represented by holding an global conference in June, without the presence of the two parties involved, and another conference in the coming fall.

According to Al Jazeera, earlier this year, former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said France would recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem if the conference and efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks failed.

A Valls aide said the only new element in Netanyahu's comments was his mention of talks in Paris.

He has at the same time criticised Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank, considered a major stumbling block to peace.

"And both peace treaties, achieved through direct negotiations, have stood the test of time", Netanyahu said. It will create a Palestinian state not to live side-by-side next to Israel, but to eliminate Israel.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. The Palestinians, along with the worldwide community, have accused Netanyahu of undermining hopes for peace by expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the heartland of a hoped-for Palestinian state.
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.
An anti-Trump protest once again spiraled out of control Tuesday night, this time outside the presumptive Republican nominees rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What started as an assembly of about 1,000 peaceful demonstrators turned violent as the evening progressed and protesters reportedly broke through police barricades, lit fires, and threw plastic bottles and rocks at police officers stationed at the rally.

Some protesters waved Mexican flags and chanted, fu*k Donald Trump, according to Politico; others held signs calling Trump a racist and a fascist, the Washington Post reports.

Protesters shouting "fuck Donald trump!" (And playing the song) as cops on horses tell them to disband. pic.twitter.com/FCrnzQKezj  Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) May 25, 2016

Protestors are throwing rocks at police officers. Protest is turning violent. https://t.co/gYiOiZZlIQ pic.twitter.com/50TBNMZ5ad  Evan D. Folan (@EFolan_ABC7) May 25, 2016

Protesters are throwing burning t shirts at trump rally pic.twitter.com/rVbGmHsW6x  john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) May 25, 2016

Authorities used smoke to break up the crowd (protesters on the scene claim officers used tear gas, but the Albuquerque Police Department said none was used), and the number of protesters dwindled as the night drew on. In one case, an officer resorted to violence, spraying a woman with pepper spray and throwing her to the ground.

Shit is going ham at this trump rally pic.twitter.com/Dq0h0lFKM5  john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) May 25, 2016

Cops dropping gas in albu pic.twitter.com/be96hon2rR  john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) May 25, 2016

The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it's just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time.  Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016

Somebody sprayed, thrown down on the ground by police live on @CNN just now. #Albuquerque pic.twitter.com/KjxOsGlTET  Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) May 25, 2016

Once the rally had ended, Trump supporters were barred from exiting through the main door because of the chaos. A few tangled with protesters outside the convention center.

Scene after Trump rally in NM: glass door to convention center smashed. Riot police diverting crowd from main exits pic.twitter.com/lfcIRDnS3s  Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 25, 2016

Main exit for Trump rally in Albuquerque is blocked due to protesters outside, attendees have to file out alt exits: pic.twitter.com/pqdvt9FW1f  Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) May 25, 2016

Protests continue in the streets. Trump supporter caught in the middle. pic.twitter.com/3zMHMKIPD6  Evan D. Folan (@EFolan_ABC7) May 25, 2016

Police disputed initial reports of shots fired, saying the damage to the convention-center windows (one was shattered) was likely caused by a pellet gun.

Chaotic scene at Trump /Albequerque. Police here say shots were fired. They are getting ready to release tear gas. And window is shattered.  Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) May 25, 2016

There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Center Windows by pellet gun  Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016

According to the New York Times, only protesters inside the rally were apprehended by security. The Albuquerque Police Department confirmed that at least one arrest was made and that several of its officers are being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks.

For his part, Trump called the rally great.
Dylann Roof will face the death penalty. Photo: Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images/2015 Getty Images

Good morning and welcome to Fresh Intelligence, our roundup of the stories, ideas, and memes youll be talking about today. In this edition, Dylann Roof will face the death penalty, Fergusons city attorney steps down, and something has Stephen King shaking in his boots. Heres the rundown for Wednesday, May 25.

WEATHER

Serious storms continue to soak the central states today with more rain, more wind, more hail, and maybe even a few tornadoes  all the more reason not to take the beautiful, hot, and sunny weather in New York City today for granted. [USA Today]

FRONT PAGE

Death Penalty Sought for South Carolina Church Shooter

Federal prosecutors have announced they will seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man who shot and killed nine unarmed African-Americans at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year. According to the Justice Department, the decision was based on Roofs lack of remorse, racist motivation, and the fact that three of his victims were elderly. State prosecutors are also seeking the death penalty in their case against Roof; the announcement comes just a few weeks before the first anniversary of the slayings.

EARLY AND OFTEN

Ferguson City Attorney Steps Down

Stephanie Karr has resigned from her post as city attorney of Ferguson, Missouri, after a Justice Department report on the towns police found Fergusons entire legal and policing systems were flawed and exploitative, and that Karr, in particular, would go after lawyers who challenged the often crippling fines and punishments meted out by her office. Protesters have been calling for Karrs resignation for weeks. [Reuters]

More Than 400 People His Supporters Have Never Heard of Come Out Against Trump

More than 400 writers have signed a petition against Donald Trump saying Trump, appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society and that he, encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities. The petition  shared on Lithub  ballooned to more than 1,000 signatures after celebrity writers like Stephen King, David Eggers, and Junot Diaz shared it on their social-media accounts. When Stephen King is scared, you know you have a problem. [NYT]

Another Kentucky-Obsessed Sanders

Bernie Sanders has officially asked for a re-canvas in Kentucky, the state he narrowly lost to Hillary Clinton last week. Clinton carried the state by the slimmest of margins: less than 2,000 votes. Regardless of who officially won or lost, Kentucky was technically a delegate tie for the two candidates, which is unlikely to change no matter the outcome of the re-canvasing. (And yes, were intentionally not saying recount  Sanders would have to pay for a recount, but a re-canvasing just means theyll double-check the tallies at voting machines and absentee ballots.) [WaPo]

Bernie Sanders Makes His Most Powerful Enemy Yet

Bernie Sanders just does not give a  hoot. In what we would describe as the full-Bulworth portion of his campaign, Sanders addressed crowds in Anaheim, California  home of Disneyland  and decided to go after Disney by asking how many people in the crowd worked for Disney (many) and how many earned a living wage from the corporation (none). Not only is Disney pretty beloved, but the cryogenically frozen head of Walt Disney is the number-one Illuminati overlord  so be careful out there, Bernie. [Politico]

THE STREET, THE VALLEY

Monsanto Rejects Bayer Merger Offer

Monsanto has rejected a $62 billion buyout from German firm Bayer that would have made the new company the largest supplier of seeds and crop chemicals. On rejecting the deal, Monsanto made it clear it liked the idea of a merger, just  ahem  more money, please. So, well see where this goes. [Bloomberg]

Apple Doubles Down on Encryption, Welcomes Security Expert Back Into the Fold

A recent rehire of security expert and encrypted-communication-company developer Jon Callas should silence anyone who thought Apple was planning on backing down from its commitment to unbreakable encryption technology. Of course, that stance puts the company at odds with the federal government, which thinks encryption can unfairly protect criminals. [Reuters]

Shares Jump Over HP Reshuffling

A reorganization at technology old-guard Hewlett Packard has sent shares up more than 10 percent. HP announced yesterday it would spin off its IT services business and merge it with Computer Sciences Corporation, another major IT company, in a move worth $8.5 billion. We remember when HP used to make printers. [WSJ]

Car Companies Take Sides in Coming Car-Service Wars

Competition between ride-sharing services is heating up, and now car companies are choosing sides. It has just come to light that Volkswagen invested $300 million in Gett, an Israeli car-calling app that apparently manages to offer rides for as little as a dollar; the investment will help Gett expand across Europe and into New York City. Meanwhile, Toyota has announced a new partnership with Uber: It will invest in the company and offer special leases that car owners can pay off through working as Uber drivers. [CNet]

MEDIA BUBBLE

Big Changes Underway at Vice

Among layoffs that include foreign correspondents, the entire U.K. editorial team, and up to 15 people in the U.S., the biggest news out of Vice Media is a promotion. Josh Tyrangiel is now in charge of Vices entire news division and has the mammoth task of unifying Vices disparate news platforms. [Politico]

Hulk Hogans Multimillion Dollar Sex-Tape-Secret-Racist-Rant Lawsuit Takes a Strange Turn

Its not paranoia if they really are out to get you. It looks like Gawker founder Nick Denton might have been onto something when he speculated that shadowy forces in Silicon Valley were behind Hulk Hogans recent legal actions against the company. We now know that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has hated Gawker since the site tried to out him eight years ago, really has been footing the bill for Hogans considerable legal fees. [CNet]

Twitter Chooses Being Solvent Over Being Like Twitter

Beleaguered tech company Twitter has been trying to shake things up in the quest to become profitable, and yesterday it announced its most fundamental change to date. It seems the rumors were true, and Twitter will in fact loosen the character-count restrictions for tweets so that GIFs, photos, links, and up to 50 user handles will no longer count against the permitted 140 characters. Users will also be able to retweet themselves, which is just what this generation was clamoring for all along. [CBS]

PHOTO OP

Albuquerque Burning

Protests outside a Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, turned violent last night. Protestors threw flaming projectiles and rocks at police, and officers fired smoke grenades, sprayed pepper spray, and used horses to disperse the crowd.

Donald Trump to protesters in Albuquerque, N.M.: Go home to mommy https://t.co/Klg1wRolO2 pic.twitter.com/YZUBNVBm36  The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 25, 2016

MORNING MEME

We Hope Chewbacca Moms Wild Ride Never Ends

Chewbacca Mom for president  or for the next Bond.

OTHER LOCAL NEWS

Small-Town Hero Persecuted

Geoffrey Eltgroth is in trouble. The Cedar Park, Texas, man has been charged with criminal mischief after going through with a hilarious plan to change an electric road sign warning of Construction Ahead to read Drive Crazy, Yall. Eltgroth was able to guess the signs username and password in order to change it; were guessing Guest and Password. [CBS]

Call the Fuzz! Juveniles Run Afoul of the Law

Oakland-based California Highway Patrol Officers are sharing a video of what they describe as their slowest chase ever. When some baby geese wandered onto the freeway, a CHP SUV was dispatched to slowly guide the errant goslings back into the bay from whence they came. Its worth watching the video, but surely an SUV wasnt the best tool for this job? [UPI]

HAPPENING TODAY

Tensions High As Obama Meets With Abe Ahead of G7

President Obama will meet with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe today to discuss crime in and around U.S. military bases in Okinawa; last week, a U.S. citizen was arrested on the island on the suspicion of murdering a Japanese woman. They will also talk about global issues such as the economy and terrorism. [Reuters]

Now Its Philadelphias Turn to Freak Out: Soda Tax Comes to the City of Brotherly Love

Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenneys proposed soda tax comes up for its first city-council vote today. The bizarrely divisive tax would see an additional three cents applied to every ounce of soda, with the proceeds going toward new schools and expanded pre-K education. Still, as New Yorkers well know, people hate it when you tax their soda. [The Note Book]



Racing Legend Goes Under the Knife

Shirley Muldowney, a towering figure in the world of drag racing, is going into surgery today; the five-hour procedure will remove her right lung, where a cancerous stage-two tumor was recently discovered. The 75-year-old released a statement saying: Im a fighter, always have been, and Im going to fight this as best I can with everything I got. [NYT]
Legendary former Rep. Paul Broun wants a RINO trophy on his wall. Photo: Douglas Graham/AP

With the Republican nomination contest being essentially over (yes, theres a primary in Washington, but it doesnt matter who wins or loses) and the Democratic battle taking a brief break (yes, Washington Democrats will vote, but its only a nonbinding beauty contest primary), it will be a quiet political Tuesday night except for runoff elections in Texas and down-ballot primaries in Georgia.

In the latter primaries, though, theres an intriguing right-wing effort to purge two North Georgia Republican congressmen for being insufficiently right-wing: specifically for voting for John Boehner for speaker before the Ohioan quit and for voting to keep the federal government open despite its funding of Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.

What makes it all interesting is that the two solons in question  11th-district representative Barry Loudermilk and ninth-district representative Doug Collins  would be considered a tad out there themselves in much of the country. Loudermilk (a freshman who ran to the right of another hero of the mad fringe, Bob Barr, in his original primary) is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and an outspoken constitutional conservative. Collins, whos notable for being both an ordained Baptist minister and a lawyer, is probably best known for defending military chaplains (hes one himself in the Reserves) who get a little carried away with proselytizing.

But while both congressmen are facing multiple opponents all shrieking at them for their alleged betrayal of True Conservatism, Collins has drawn the marquee challenger: his former House colleague Paul Broun, a favorite of extremism aficionados everywhere.

Until he left the House for a failed Senate bid in 2014, Broun was one of those pols who said incredible things with every other breath. Perhaps his most famous moment was when this member of the House Science Committee delivered a speech in his district referring to evolution and various other scientific teachings that conflict with his conservative Evangelical views as lies from the pit of hell. So notorious was Broun as a proud know-nothing that a significant number of write-in votes in his district were cast for Charles Darwin.

Now Broun is aiming his peculiar brand of thunder and lightning at Collins, and he has the advantage of having represented about half the current ninth district before the last rounds of redistricting. But Broun is being dogged by ethics charges dating from his congressional service that recently led to a criminal indictment of his former top chief of staff.

Both Loudermilk and Collins are expected to come out on top in tonights returns. But the catch is that Georgia requires majorities for nominations, and being knocked into a crazy-low-turnout runoff would be perilous for either incumbent. A wild card is that North Georgia right-wing activists have already been stirred up by the treachery of another of their own: Governor (and former ninth-district congressman) Nathan Deal, who recently vetoed a religious liberty bill aimed at making anti-LGBT discrimination easier. (On the principle of in-for-a-penny, in-for-a-pound, Deal, who is safely in his second and final term, subsequently infuriated the gun lobby by vetoing a campus carry bill getting rid of restrictions on shooting irons at colleges and universities. Where will the betrayals end?)

The one thing we know for sure is that theres no degree of extremism in the GOP that will give Democrats a chance at either House seat. These are two of the most profoundly Republican districts east of Utah. And, so far as we know, Charles Darwins not even in the race.
Its cold comfort for Libertarians crushed by Rand Pauls failure, but Gary Johnsons doing pretty well. Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP

To the disappointment of devotees of laissez-faire government, from wild-eyed crypto-anarchists to grim Randian Objectivists, the rumored Libertarian moment that presidential candidate Rand Paul was supposed to usher in did not arrive. Indeed, a Donald TrumpHillary Clinton general election has to be a real nightmare for libertarians.

But theres a silver lining to these darkening clouds. Precisely because Clinton and Trump leave many voters cold, likely Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is suddenly polling in double digits in general-election trial heats  barely double digits (10 percent in surveys from Fox News and Morning Consult), but double digits nonetheless. Its ten times the percentage Johnson actually won as the Libertarian nominee in 2012, when he set a high-water mark for his partys presidential candidates. Hes heavily favored to win at this weekends Libertarian nominating convention, and has already announced his running mate will be another former Republican governor, William Weld of Massachusetts.

To be very clear, Johnson will not be one of those third-party candidates with a sufficient concentration of support to have a chance at breaking into the electoral college and perhaps even throwing the presidential contest into the House of Representatives. His impact on the race is more likely to involve tipping very close states in one major-party direction or another, and thus luring major-party candidates to adopt Libertarian-friendly policies or themes. Given the extreme unhappiness of a lot of Republicans with Donald Trump, along with significant #NeverTrump talk of the Libertarians as a protest-vote option, youd figure Johnson is drawing his support disproportionately from the GOP. But maybe not: Both of the recent polls showing Johnson at 10 percent also show him winning equivalent support from self-identified liberals and conservatives, and 18 percent from voters under 35.

Typically, third-party candidates lose support as the general election approaches, sometimes dramatically. Johnsons short-term goal is to boost his support in polls up to the 15 percent level, where he might force his way into the presidential debates. This could become an obsession for Libertarians; part of that communitys makeup is the implicit belief that everyone can be converted if exposed to enough rational haranguing (thats probably one reason Ayn Rands signature novel was so insanely long). One thing Johnson has going for him, other than a good start, is that his two-governor ticket is likely to look pretty well-qualified compared to Trump and whoever his running mate turns out to be. And if the Trump-Clinton contest turns out to be as nasty and negative as we all expect, then Johnson will benefit from staying above the fray. The major-party battle could get so heinous that the earnest fanaticism of the Libertarians will seem refreshing. And besides, as Americans, theres a little bit of Libertarian in all of us, God help us.
Manafort and the guy he works for. Photo: William B.Plowman/NBC; Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images

Now that hes locked up the Republican nomination, Donald Trump is racing to upgrade his campaign headquarters  including a new office arrangement that would functionally separate the two warring factions of his staff, insiders say. Next month, according to three campaign sources, newly appointed chairman Paul Manafort will be moving into a renovated space on the 14th floor of Trump Tower, which formerly housed the Apprentice set. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, meanwhile, will likely remain in the unfinished offices on the fifth floor. Pauls group is moving in there, an insider said. Hes running everything.

It makes sense that Trump might want to keep Manafort and Lewandowski apart. Multiple campaign advisers have described a vicious civil war between the two and their loyalists. (But another campaign source downplayed talk of a Manafort-Lewandowski rift: Corey and Paul are working together and there is a cohesive team effort as the campaign prepares for the general election.)

The jockeying for power apparently started as soon Trump hired Manafort in March as his convention manager. Manaforts camp is made up of veteran operatives Rick Gates, Rick Wiley, Michael Caputo and newly hired pollster Tony Fabrizio. Lewandowskis crew includes early staffers like communications director Hope Hicks and deputy campaign manager Michael Glassner.

In recent weeks, the feud has been playing out in public. Manaforts side, according to sources, was furious after the Washington Post reported on May 10 that Trump had tapped Lewandowski to oversee the vice-presidential search.

Manafort used the article as leverage with Trump in getting a recent promotion to the role of campaign chairman and chief strategist, according to two insiders. Lewandowski was outraged by the perceived demotion. On the night of May 18, he and Hicks reportedly got into a public screaming match on Park Avenue, with multiple sources telling the New York Post that the two were fighting over how to handle the announcement of Manaforts new role.

Hicks declined to comment.
Make the GOP Lose Hispanics Again. Photo: Getty Images

After a majority of Americans opted for free stuff instead of Mitt Romney in 2012, the GOP conducted an autopsy on its nominees failed campaign. The party concluded that it needed to recalibrate its policies and messaging to appeal to three groups of voters that were turning bluer by the day: Latinos, women, and young people.

Three and half years later, the presumptive GOP nominee  an old, white, misogynistic billionaire campaigning on a platform of mass deportation  suggested the Republican Latina governor of New Mexico might be too lazy to do her job, while young protesters clashed with police in a haze of smoke bombs just outside the rallys gates.

Since 2000, the number of people on food stamps in New Mexico has tripled. We have to get your governor to get going, Trump told a crowd of thousands in Albuquerque Tuesday night. Shes got to a better job, OK? Your governor has got to do a better job. Shes not doing the job.

Governor Susana Martinez was supposed to be a major presence on the 2016 campaign trail. While Martinez was not yet ready to run for the presidency herself, the GOP had hoped to see her stumping for Jeb Bush in 2016, providing Hispanic swing voters with a living, breathing preview of the partys future. The Establishments attachment to this vision is so strong, theyre still clinging to it now that Trump is the nominee, floating Martinez as the potential vice-presidential pick of a man she clearly despises.

But Martinez was too busy to attend Trumps rally Tuesday night and has refused to give the Donald her endorsement. And so the former Apprentice host told her constituents they may need to fire her.

Hey! Maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico! Ill get this place going, Trump mused. Shes not doing the job. We got to get her moving, come on lets go governor!

He went on to chastise Martinez for refusing to nullify federal law for the sake of keeping Syrian refugees out of her state.

Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico. If I was governor, that wouldnt be happening, Trump said. They say the governors have no choice, but if Im governor, I have a choice, believe me.

Martinezs office issued a statement in response to the Donalds ravings.

Apparently, Donald Trump doesnt realize Governor Martinez wasnt elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the presidents Syrian refugee plan, the statement said. But the pot shots werent about policy, they were about politics. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans and she did not hear that today.

Another former candidate for the future of the Republican Party came to Martinezs defense.

The truth is @ Gov_Martinez is one of the hardest working and most effective Governors in America. https://t.co/QcADopQCYe  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 25, 2016

For now, though, this is Donald Trumps party  a coalition of white dudes, Caucasian males, and European American men.

They say Im setting records with men  its so unexciting to me, Trump told New Mexico. I want to set records with women, not with men.
Baudelaire would have been #NeverTrump. Illustration: Portrait of Charles Baudelaire by Gustave Courbet

Donald Trump just lost the Iowa Writers Workshop. On Tuesday, more than 400 literary luminaries  including Stephen King, Dave Eggers, Amy Tan, Junot Diaz, and Cheryl Strayed  signed on to An Open Letter to the American People decrying the Donalds candidacy. Heres the CliffsNotes version:

Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power;



Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement, and achieves consensus through reasoned debate;



Because American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one anotherwe, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.

The letter was published on Lit Hub, alongside an essay by Iowa writer Lyz Lenz that likens Trump to the Faulkner character Flem Snopes, an allusion certain to resonate with swing voters in Cuyahoga County.

Of course, just because Trumpists arent especially likely to be swayed by Lenzs essay or Dave Eggerss disapproval doesnt mean writers shouldnt lend their voices to the cause of anti-fascism. And who knows? Maybe somewhere, out in the heart of Real America, theres a tearful man in a Make America Great Again T-shirt staring at his dog-eared copy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and thinking, I gotta give Crooked Hillary another look.
Roof at a court appearance in July. Photo: Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man who shot and killed nine black churchgoers in a racially motivated attack in Charleston, South Carolina, last June. In a statement, Lynch said the decision was compelled by the nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm.

According to the New York Times, federal prosecutors filed additional documents citing aggravating factors in Roofs case, including that hed expressed hatred and contempt towards African-Americans, as well as other groups, and his animosity towards African-Americans played a role in the murders charged in the indictment. They also wrote that he had demonstrated a lack of remorse and targeted the church group in order to magnify the [attacks] societal impact.

Roofs lawyers previously said he would plead guilty and face a lifetime in prison, provided the death penalty was ruled out. Roof is also facing state murder charges; if hes convicted, the penalty is death. Hes due back in federal court on June 8, when prosecutors will discuss a date for his trial.
Harry Reid says hell no to Warren leaving her Senate seat. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

This week, Elizabeth Warren delivered a speech at the Center for Popular Democracy that made donkeys everywhere salivate at the thought of her savaging the mogul 24/7 as a member of the national Democratic ticket. But whenever Warrens name comes up as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton, objections immediately arise concerning the impact of her departure on the Senate. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid raised the volume on these objections:

Do you think its wise to even consider pulling someone like a Sherrod Brown or an Elizabeth Warren out of the Untied States Senate at a time when Democrats are trying to win the body back? MSNBCs Joy Reid asked the Nevada Democrat. If we have a Republican governor in any of those states, the answer is not only no  but hell no. I would do whatever I can, and I think most of my Democratic colleagues here would say the same thing, Reid said on MSNBC.

The issue, of course, is that a Republican governor would appoint a fellow Republican to the vacant seat if the Democratic national ticket won, perhaps fatally undercutting what would otherwise be a Democratic majority in the next Congress.

This objection, of course, only makes sense if Democrats have exactly 50 Senate seats the day after the general election. Otherwise, the loss of one seat, however lamentable, is peanuts if the senator in question is of tangible value to the ticket, as (arguably) Warren and perhaps Brown would be.

Beyond that, its worth mentioning that all Senate vacancies are not filled in the same manner. In Massachusetts, as a matter of fact, the governors interim appointee only serves until a special election, which must be called within 145 to 160 days after the vacancy arises. If, for example, Warren were to be elected vice-president on November 8, she could resign her seat immediately, and Governor Charlie Baker would have to hold a special election by mid-April, in which Democrats would almost certainly be heavily favored so soon after a Democratic national victory. Even if the Warren seat wound up being the tiebreaker for control, Republicans would hang on to the Senate for less than three months.

But theres another scenario that eliminates even this risk: If Warren is chosen as veep, she could resign her seat immediately and force Baker to hold a special election before the end of 2016. Yes, a Baker-appointed interim would deprive the Democrats of a Senate seat in the waning days of this Congress, but its not like the Legislative branch is really doing anything of great importance, is it?

In any event, unless Harry Reid has already had the final word on this subject, Democrats might want to talk him into ratcheting down that hell no to a heck, maybe.
Thats weird  Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Donald Trump is an electoral disaster  the most unpopular major-party nominee in the history of polling. The most hated by women, Hispanics, and the blacks. Heck, more than a third of Republicans cant stand him. He broke the GOP in two, and it may never be whole again. There arent enough white men in America to put him in the White House. Congress is now in play. Suburban conservatives will become Hillary Clinton Republicans. Americas first female president has already won.

How young we were in April. How naive. Thirty days ago  when the discourse was dominated by the sentiments listed above  Clinton was routinely posting double-digit leads over Trump in head-to-head polls. Back then, an NBCWall Street Journal survey had her beating the mogul by 11 points. The same poll now has her up three. The ABC NewsWashington Post pollsters had Clinton up nine in March  they have her trailing Trump by two today. The RealClearPolitics weekly polling average now has the mogul ahead by a fraction of a point.

This rapid shift in the state of the race raises two big questions: Why is this happening? and Will it keep happening? Lets take them one at a time.

Why have the polls shifted so dramatically for Trump in recent weeks?

There are two key points here, both equally important:

Republicans are not actually divided.

Donald Trump remains a divisive figure among Republicans who serve in Congress, write for blogs, or cogitate in think tanks. But to the ordinary Republicans out in Real America, the Donald is about as unifying as any other nominee. Back in the heat of the primary fight, when Trump was calling Ted Cruzs wife ugly  and the senators father a suspect in the Kennedy assassination  the mogul did generate some ill will among a subset of the GOP base. In April, the NYT-CBS pollsters found that 36 percent of Republicans disapproved of the Donald. Now, with the primary wrapped up and the Donalds wrath focused squarely on Heartless Hillary, that number has fallen to 21 percent.

Trump remains a historically unpopular nominee, but so is Clinton. And now that Cruzs minions have climbed aboard the Trump train, his negatives are looking roughly equivalent to hers. Whats more, the Donald appears to be winning the votes of some his despisers: As my colleague Ed Kilgore has noted, the most recent ABCWashington Post survey shows conservative Republicans backing Trump over Clinton by a 92-3 margin  even though 22 percent of such voters think Trump isnt qualified to be president. In other words, even among the shrinking percentage of Republicans who dont like Trump, there is little doubt that their tribes vulgar ignoramus is preferable to the enemy factions gun-hating, Obama-loving, rape-enabling, Benghazi betraying she-tyrant.

Bernie Sanders is going down swinging.

Hillary Clinton is starting to pull away from the Vermont senator in polls of the Democratic primary. But as Sanderss softer supporters migrate to Hillary, the resolve of hard-core Sandernistas has grown firmer. As the Upshots Nate Cohn observes, Aprils polls showed Clinton winning between 71 and 82 percent of Sanders supporters in her head-to-heads with Trump. In the latest batch of surveys, that range is between 55 and 72 percent. In the most recent YouGov poll, 61 percent of Sanders backers voiced an unfavorable view of Clinton, while only 38 offered a favorable one  a record high and record low, respectively, in YouGovs polling of the Democratic race.

Sanders doesnt seem to be concerned by this trend. The senator remains harshly critical of Clinton and the Establishment politics she represents. In recent weeks he has criticized the Democratic Party officials in Nevada for disenfranchising his supporters at the states convention, endorsed the (admittedly objectionable) DNC chairs primary challenger, and framed Clintons refusal to debate him in California as an affront to democracy. All the while, the insurgent socialist has promised to take his political revolution all the way to the convention.

So is this thing really going to be close?

The betting markets dont seem to think so. But then the betting markets once thought 2016 would be the year of the Jeb! And considering how thoroughly the Trumpster fire has humiliated political soothsayers this cycle, it seems unwise to offer a single, definitive answer. So, instead, here are two contradictory ones:

No. Sanders supporters will come home, and Clinton will reestablish a healthy lead.

This is a uniquely good time to be the Donald: Trumps primary is over, while his presumptive opponents rages on. Back in March, when the GOP race was still hotly contested, just 17 percent of his rivals supporters saw Trump favorably. Now, in trial heats with Clinton, he boasts the near-unanimous support of his partys base.

But even with that support, Trump is mired around 43 percent in general-election polls. And while his standing with Republicans has improved, hes still abhorred by the demographics he routinely demeans (women, Hispanics, Hispanic women). There is no reason to think hell gain significant ground with these groups in the coming months. Clinton has a massive fundraising advantage and will be able to mine Trumps vast back catalogue of racist and sexist musings for dynamite negative ads, which will incessantly remind Ohios single women and Floridas Latinos why they cant let the Donald become their president.

The stubborn loyalty of Sandernistas is the only thing keeping Trump competitive. And precedent strongly suggests that once Bernie turns his populist fury on the billionaire across the aisle, the party will unite and Clinton will pull away. In 2008, John McCain caught up to Obama after receiving the Republican nomination  but once the protracted Democratic race finally came to an end, the future president regained a comfortable advantage. Whats more, several recent polls portray a Democratic Party less divided than it was at this point in 2008.

May 2008, NYT/CBS poll: 60% of Clinton backers say they'd vote Obama



May 2016, NYT/CBS poll: 72% of Sanders backers say they'd vote Clinton  Taniel (@Taniel) May 19, 2016

As NPR notes, late-May presidential polls have a terrible track record. At this point in 1988, Michael Dukakis led George H.W. Bush by ten points. Right now the safest bet is to trust the fundamentals: Virtually all recent surveys show there are more Democrats than Republicans in the 2016 electorate; the incumbent partys president has a high approval rating; the Republican candidate is an incoherent, transparently misogynistic pathological liar who has irrevocably alienated critical swaths of the electorate  and many of his own partys top donors and intellectuals. By the time the confetti falls in Philadelphia, Trump will no longer be visible in Clintons rear-view mirror.

Yes. Sanders supporters hate the Democratic Party, and Trump is a unique political talent.

Clinton supporters opposition to Obama in 2008 was categorically different from Berners antipathy for this years Democratic front-runner. The latter are disproportionately young, independent, and alienated from the Democratic Party. The Clinton-Obama race was primarily an argument about qualifications and competence; the Clinton-Sanders race is a referendum on the need for revolutionary change. Trump doesnt need to win over the revolutionaries  he just needs to make them disgusted enough with the major-party offerings to stay home or go Green.

Sure, May polls are historically inaccurate, but this years race is a special case. Ninety-seven percent of Americans already have an opinion of Clinton and Trump. In May 2012, 14 percent of the country had no opinion on Mitt Romney; in 1988, a quarter of America had nothing to say about Dukakis. The people know what their options are. And they are evenly divided.

Clinton has always had trouble growing her support over the course of a campaign. Trump, in an admittedly limited sample, has enjoyed the opposite trajectory. This is a change election, and Hillary is a synecdoche for the last two decades of Establishment rule. And dont forget about her damn emails. America has never been so ripe for tyranny.
Photo: Noah Berger/Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images

In 2007, Gawker Medias tech-industry gossip site, Valleywag, outed powerful Facebook investor Peter Thiel as gay, in a post bluntly headlined Peter Thiel is totally gay, people. In the comments, Gawker founder Nick Denton wrote that the tech billionaire was so paranoid that, when I was looking into the story, a year ago, I got a series of messages relaying the destruction that would rain down on me, and various innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, if a story ever ran.

Its taken Thiel a decade, a lawsuit, and an alliance with an ex-pro wrestler, but he seems to be fulfilling his promise. Forbess Ryan Mac and Matt Drange reported last night that Thiel has been secretly funding Hulk Hogans lawsuit against the company over a portion of a sex tape published on Gawker in 2012, which ended in an enormous $140 million judgment in March. The Times confirmed the Forbes report today. And, while its never good news to learn that a vindictive libertarian billionaire has been covertly financing your enemies, the timing of the revelation is perfect for Gawker, which is back in court today in the first stages of appealing the ruling. What better way to rally the crowd to your side than with the surprise unmasking of Hogans tag-team partner?

Its a surprise thats been in the works for months. A handful of media reporters Select All spoke with said that Denton has been pushing the theory that Thiel was backing Hogan since at least last year, when the Hogan team dropped a claim (negligent infliction of emotional distress) that would have kept Gawkers insurance company, Nautilus, on the hook for damages. The theory was first publicly floated by Dan Abrams in early March of this year, in a post called Might a Gawker Hater Be Covering Hulk Hogans Legal Bills? (Abrams wrote that hed received a tip that certain Tampa lawyers believe a benefactor agreed to cover Hogans legal fees in some capacity.)

It seemed unlikely, Abrams pointed out, that Hogan, who lost 70 percent of his assets in a 2011 divorce, could afford the enormous fees that his lawyers were no doubt racking up; but it also seemed unlikely that lawyers working on contingency would keep refusing settlement offers  let alone take a deep-pocketed insurance company out of the picture.

Abramss post didnt go very far beyond the circles in which the theory was already moving. But on Monday night, the New York Timess Andrew Ross Sorkin published an item, Gawker Founder Suspects a Common Financer Behind Lawsuits, that tracked closely with Abramss. My own personal hunch is that its linked to Silicon Valley, but thats nothing really more than a hunch, Denton told the Times.

It was a somewhat odd item to run on the first page of the Times Business section  essentially, an opportunity for Denton to air out what sounded at the time like a crazy rumor  but, in short order, Forbes was on the scene: Citing people familiar with the situation, Mac and Drange identified Thiel as the person bankrolling the operation. When reached by phone on Tuesday, they write, Denton said that he did not know of Thiels involvement but had heard that name[.] (Thiel has so far declined to comment.)

According to a tweet from Mac, the Forbes reporters worked on the story for more than a month  but one imagines that Denton giving an interview to the Times on the subject was a powerful motivator to finish and publish the scoop. And now, on the day Gawker is back in court, Thiels involvement has gone from inside rumor to reported news.

The sympathizing effect of the news among journalists is already evident. For much of the Hogan trial, Gawker has been (at best) held at arms length by its peers  but the secretive involvement of a tech industry billionaire with deep pockets and a desire to see a media outlet destroyed is far more worrisome. As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo wrote  though not without a to-be-sure-Gawkers-published-stories-I-hate aside  the impact of being able to destroy a publication you dont like by combining the machinery of the courts with anonymity and unlimited funds to bleed a publication dry. Glenn Greenwald, a critic past Gawker stories outing gay men, emphasized that it shows how financial struggles can destroy free press: no $ for sustained reporting, fear of rich targets.

But even if the revelation has made Denton a more sympathetic figure, the impact of the news on the actual trial, if any, has yet to be seen. Earlier today, Judge Pamela Campbell denied Gawkers motion for a new trial, as well as its motion to reduce the $140 million in damages. This was to be expected; Hogans hometown courtroom was never even remotely sympathetic to Gawkers defense. The question now is the extent to which the Thiel story will affect Gawkers chances in the appellate court, which are historically much more sympathetic to free speech proponents than standard juries. Its much harder to present Hogan as a simple man bullied by New Yorks media elite when youve got the financial backing of one of the most powerful men in Silicon Valley.

This post has been updated with news of todays Hogan trial proceedings.
Photo: Pat Canova/Getty Images

While North Carolina continues to battle over a passed anti-LGBT law, last week an Oklahoma Senate committee introduced its own bathroom bill. On Tuesday, it failed to pass.

Two Oklahoma Republicans wrote the bill and zealously won the race: It was considered the first statewide bill to directly oppose the Obama administrations guidelines for protecting transgender students from discrimination (a.k.a., letting students use whichever facilities align with their gender identities). The law would have let Oklahomas public-school students request a religious accommodation for same-sex facilities based on sincerely held religious beliefs (or: based on a certain fear of people who are different from them). Students could request restrooms, locker rooms, and showers be open only to the gender their fellow students were assigned at birth.

The bills authors, Senator Brian Bingman and House Speaker Jeffrey Hickman, presented the legislation as an emergency response; a companion resolution reportedly called for impeaching President Obama for constitutional overreach. These caused an uproar: Chambers of commerce from Oklahomas biggest cities issued severe warnings against what happened in North Carolina.

On Tuesday night, Hickman pulled his name from the bill, blocking it from being passed in a House committee. Why? Its unclear. But it was a good move.

House committee hearing on transgender bill - it appeared to be dead earlier today. What a change of events. @kfor pic.twitter.com/TgiVxGoALM  Abby Broyles (@abbybroyles) May 24, 2016
The complete crew. Photo: Owen Kolasinski.com/BFA

While the male bottle blonde is being cyberbullied, the female is receiving death threats from an internet troll.

TMZ reports that at least five celebrities have received death threats from the same man, and those celebrities are all part of Taylor Swifts squad of professional beautiful people. Although the first target was Jaime King, the troll seems obsessed with Swifts Hollywood friend group, telling Swift, I will kill some of you. He also told Delevingne, I will kill your friends and I am excited about this, and tweeted to Hadid, people gon die theyre gon die die die die! Even Teigen, who was not invited onstage during the 1989 tour, was the target of a posse-related threat: gonna give it one shot, but I probably gonna end up murdering your friends.

Police are searching through Twitters records to find the culprit. Just another day of being a woman on the internet.
The wonderland murders.



Edited at 2016-05-25 01:17 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

No wonder she's been dealing with insomnia her whole life

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I keep hearing about this, but I'm too scared to google it.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Kate Bosworth played Lois Lane in Superman Returns. Although she did not suffer any physical attacks, accidents or illnesses, she lost her romantic relationship with actor Orlando Bloom in 2006, which she blamed on the Superman Curse.



lmao.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Can Henry's receding hairline be blamed on this?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

they have different last names so no - one is Reeves and the other is Reeve.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

S&S drives me mad because the host is so ignorant of mental illness and well being, he only contributes to further stigmatizing people that are suffering. I had to stop listening



Anyway, I recommend Lore, Unexplained, and even Real Ghost Stories Online (they update too much but there can be some good eps found). Nocturne is more exploratory and educational but sometimes what goes on at night can be creepy. Vanished and Thin Air can be interesting if you like missing persons' cases.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I used to love Lore but the guy behind it is so rude. :\ I can't enjoy it the way I used to.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I really like Generation Why. Also seconding the Lore recommendation.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I can't quite seem to find one I enjoy... most of the hosts put on such a stupid voice that I can't take it seriously

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i can't stand sword and scale, the guy is relies too much on audio recordings, and when he talks, i don't feel like he brings anything interesting to the case. i listened to his jonestown episode and he had an author of one of the most recent jonestown books and barely asked her anything interested, then just played the death tape and some other jim jones recordings for 3/4 of the episode.



i really like thinking sideways, i think they're funny although sometimes the younger guy can be annoying. i also listen to last podcast on the left, generation why and sofa king podcast but those three all really suffer from not having a female co-host or poc, the sofa king guys especially.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Lore is a great one and it had good music. I like to listen to it before bed. lol :/

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I highly suggest The Black Tapes Podcast and, if you're really into conspiracies, TANIS.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Check out My Favorite Murder podcast.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Omg I was listening to the most recent episode about the 2 kids in the freezer/refrigerator during work and D:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Sword & Scale episodes 33 & 34 about Luka Magnotta ruined my life. It was honestly so disturbing to listen to.



Other than that, the other one I found interesting was about Vince Li.



I second whoever recommended The Generation Why. I have greatly enjoyed the majority of their podcasts.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Limetown is extremely well-produced and you can devour the whole season in a day, but the next season is postponed indefinitely and it ends on a massively terrifying cliffhanger

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I love true crime...it's an addiction. I listen to Serial, Thinking Sideways (ooh I just logged onto my Podcasts and they did an episode on the disappearance of Ben McDaniels), Unknown History and True Murder.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I've listened to a couple episodes of case file and they really creep me out. Its goes really in depth about different murders and provides good information on all the people involved.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Someone Knows Something. It's a podcast that follows the true story of the mysterious disappearance of a 5 year old boy in a small Canadian town. I just started it and can't stop listening, but it's getting very creepy with psychics and strange people in a remote village...

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





Here is the link if you are interested:



Edited at 2016-05-26 02:24 am (UTC) This isn't a podcast but there is a pretty interesting YouTube channel called "Ask a Mortician" where she goes over questions that people have regarding what happens to the body after death and death related questions. I kind of fell into a black hole one day and watched all of her videos- they are both informative and funny.Here is the link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/user/OrderoftheGoodDeath

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

the hinterkaifeck murders. people assume it was a guy who didn't want to pay child support to the daughter but idk.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

do you have any links about it?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

hinterkaifeck murders. def very creepy!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

hoooooly shit I just read about these.



I cant believe a group of modern day peopled claimed this was a "crime of passion"...everything about the evidence screams this was personal AND planned out. especially since so much weird shit was happening on the farm weeks in advance of the attacks (footprints from the forest to the house, footsteps in the attic, attempt to break into the tool shed).



im also super creeped out that the daughter victim and the father victim had an incestous relationship that is COURT DOCUMENTED. like jesus christ.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

of all the unsolved murders i've read about, that one fucks me up the most

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The Elizabeth Short murders are solved to me tbh. While his son reaches a lotttt, I completely believe George Hill Hodel did it. He was even the prime suspect.

Reply

Thread

Link

100% - it's just such a shame there was never any justice and never will be.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeppp. :/ He didn't even go to jail for molesting his daughter.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I 100% agree

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE.



George Hodel bought and lived at the SOWDEN HOUSE? and thats where he lived when the murder happened, and thats where the victim was tortured and bisected?



literally you can not see my face right now but I cant....I lived right below that street. I LOVED the sowden house. loved it. I was hoping to get married there some day since you can rent it now.



BUT NOT FUCKING ANYMORE OMFG.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

This. It was an abortion gone awry

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Elizabeth Short's is still the one that fucks me up the most ever since I saw a documentary that confirmed she was still alive when her killer started cutting into her.

Reply

Thread

Link

oh fuuuuuuuuck D:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yup :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I was stupid and looked at the pictures



They still haunt me

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

OMG I love your Cassidy icon!!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Fucking A :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

FUCK

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

omg that's awful.

Do you remember which documentary it was?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Oooo, could you please tell me the name of the docu???

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yay creepy post!



this past weekend, me and my friends rented out a cabin and the first night, friend A dreamt that friend B was talking to a woman, friend B dreamt that she was talking to a woman she couldn't see, and friend C (who practices some curandero stuff) said that she saw a woman, but that she seemed relatively harmless.



that weekend really made me think about what i truly believe in lol, as an atheist/agnostic

Reply

Thread

Link

i've had weird ~connected~ dreams with my friends too, where we dream the same thing or about each other in the same dream etc and it's always something weird and eerie, it's a bit unnerving.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

You Must Remember This is a great podcast for Hollywood stories in general, but definitely for mysteries too.

Reply

Thread

Link

i love it and just finished the manson series but her over-enunciation can be sooo distracting - i just had to tell someone who might understand.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I totally get what you're saying, sometimes I feel like she's compensating for a mumble or a speech impediment the way she overemphasizes words, but I can usually hear past it.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol I know what you mean. I think when it's a creepy subject, like the Manson murders, it works because it adds to the unrest you feel when listening but it's so exhausting thinking about how hard she tries to sound like that.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm pretty sure she's fighting a lisp.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

awesome suggestion, thanks

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Her topics are starting to bore me though. Some weeks I just delete the episodes. But there are some I've saved and repeat like the Manson series, Judy Garland and Gene Tierney.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Great suggestion! This a fun one to listen to. I love Old Hollywood stories and the podcaster is pretty well versed in her history.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i love this podcast so much!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The Natalie Wood case freaks me out. People know more than they let on.

Reply

Thread

Link

And Wagner will probably get away with it for the rest of his life.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeeeeah, that's some shit.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Of course they do. Whether Robert Wagner pushed her in or not he's still responsible in my eyes because of the condition she was and he just left her there like screw you. My poor bb :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I think he's responsible but my only issue with the push theory is that she was found wearing her coat and pajamas. So unless she was already out there doing something when he came up behind her or whatever, I'm not sure why she would be dressed in that.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Always. The thought of letting someone drown is just ... OMG. And I will always believe that Robert Wagner heard her screaming and ignored her.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

yeah, absolutely. I really hope the truth will come out one day :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Another detail that haunts me about this case is that she was found with those huge eyes open. Just the thought of that :( I'm so thankful you can google image her without post mortem pics popping up.



At least I think you can.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

The part that is so disturbing is that she was absolutely TERRIFIED of water and had an intense fear of drowning. To die at the hands of your worst fear is so beyond fucked up :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

oh god, I was worried this was an ONTD original and the poor OP had to search for photos of them. Seriously, NEVER google any of them, I'm scarred for life after trying to look up characters after the black dahlia movie.



also I had no idea about Jack Nance, omg.

Reply

Thread

Link

Omg i saw the black dahlia pics too. Terrifying

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i always google image search this shit. idk why i do this to myself. morbid curiosity, i guess.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

same

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I do it too. After midnight. Then I wonder why I never sleep well, lol.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i've seen the black dahlia photos and autopsy photos at the museum of death here in hollywood. i think i've become a little desensitized about it but it's still crazy to see it all

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I loveeeee these kinda posts ty OP!





Reply

Thread

Link





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hill_Hodel 100% believe that George Hill Hodel killed Elizabeth Short. I've watched a bunch of docs and read up on it a ton - I'm completely convinced it was him.

Reply

Thread

Link

OMG me too!!

Did you see that episode of "Most Evil" with his son talking about it?

I believe he did it, too.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

And he could have been the Zodiac killer

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

nah, there's more compelling evidence for at least 1 if not 2 other people being Zodiac.



but he definitely killed Short.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Care to share some titles? I'd love to watch/read on the subject

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I love to read about unsolved mysteries. The Black Dahlia one is so beyond fucked up, I wonder what kind of person would have the courage to do this.

Reply

Thread

Link

perhaps 'courage' isn't the word one would use to describe this

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Probably not but I couldn't think of another word at the time 

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Spangler YES here for this post. May I add Jean Spangler's disappearance and rumored connection to Kirk Douglas.

Reply

Thread

Link

ofc he's connected.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ugh, i just read about that, natalie's whole life just makes me so sad.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I cannot wait until Kirk dies. So much shit is going to come out about him. Amazing how he's one of the last old Hollywood stars still kicking.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

kirk douglas has been alive for too long tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

He needs to die

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Not that Kirk Douglas isn't a POS, I'm pretty sure Spangler's disappearance is tied to George Hodel, is most speculated for the Black Dahlia murder as well. Spangler was pregnant and supposedly trying to get an abortion at the time, and Hodel was one of the few Hollywood doctors that performed them

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Very strange that he allegedly called to police to say he was not the Kirk in the note.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I wish I could find the post I read on his murder that convinced me he was killed by Mary Miles Minter's mother Charlotte Shelby. It was probably on /r/UnresolvedMysteries but I'm not sure.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

There was a book out called Cast of Killers which postulated just that.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
That gif will forever be the best.

I've been told we can't be racist because black. But black people can surly be racist. Hell black people can be racist towards each other.

Reply

Thread

Link

Pretty much. I know there's a lot of racism in the Latinx community too and it upsets me so much. Why?!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

hahaha omg we latinos are soooo racist to hell and back.



Edited at 2016-05-25 07:28 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Racism includes an element of power that's why.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

yup. my mom's family (i'm biracial, they're senegalese) are quite racist. having grown up in that kind of environment, even my mother's surprised she's not racist at all and even married a white man. my step-sisters live in montreal and think it's too ethnic. they think that only the senegalese and quebecers should be allowed there *shrugs*

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Yeah I know ONTD likes to mince words, but imo some of the people I know are straight up racist, even though they're POC.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

THIS!! I see it so much living in my city. Black people act like they can say whatever racist thing they want because we are black & oppressed. FOH! There are other minorities who suffer racism & to contribute to that then act like it's okay is wrong. It's racism.



I also agree about the racism amongst our own race too.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

What is the context of the gif? Is it after Leo wins? lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

this thread is such a fucking mess

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

(not directed at you OP)



any discussion over the real issue of minorities discriminating against other minorities always devolves into this dumb fucking discussion over the definition of 'racism' that ontd is never going to see eye to eye on.



why can't we just agree that all racial/ethnic groups can be dicks and judge/prejudice/discriminate against other racial/ethnic groups and leave it at that.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

omg y'all are dumb lmfaooooo

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

That gif is amazing!



I haven't yet figured out how in the world one minority can go against another ...

Reply

Thread

Link

I haven't yet figured out how in the world one minority can go against another ...



Please let me know when you find out. That shit pisses me off so much. We could do so much if we actually came together.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

because minorities aren't a monolith and their struggles are different. let's not be dense

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

having different struggles doesn't mean it makes it ok to insult other people's cultures or skin tones tho

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

ok but you would think facing discrimination of any kind should make a person more empathetic to other people's struggles

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I haven't yet figured out how in the world one minority can go against another ...



idk it's not that baffling to me. it's not like each minority group faces the exact same issues, y'know? non-asian poc largely don't experience the model minority stereotype (for example), so to a certain extent i understand where that ignorance is coming from. esp when you consider how the model minority stereotype is used by white people to pit poc against each other.



and it's disheartening but i think a lot of poc just don't want to be at the bottom of the pecking order so they're willing to shit on other poc.



Edited at 2016-05-25 01:56 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

In the same way white people do. They see people who look different or act different or are from a different place and immediately let their own fear and ignorance take over any sense of rational thought.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

because when the world treats you like garbage, sometimes the only way to get by for some people is to try and make somebody lower than you so you don't feel like you're the one on the bottom?



like of course it's terrible and cruel and just as unacceptable as racism perpetuated by whites, but there's an element of sadness too because it hurts to see people who are similarly persecuted tear each other down instead of lift one another up because it's only helping white people continue to shit all over all of them.



idk, it's fucked up and complicated.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link





"Racism in Africa is multi-faceted and dates back several centuries. In all parts of the world there have been some forms of racism. This may have been created through strong national ties within certain groups, making them think other peoples are of less value than ones of their own nation, or a consequence of a belief that some peoples or races are inherently superior to others. This may have been strengthened by European colonialism, drawing lines which didnt take into consideration the different peoples dwelling within the newly formed provinces. These were never changed when former European colonies gained independence. As a consequence some African nations have been plagued with inner conflicts, racist attitudes and tribal warfare."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Africa#Colonial_Era_Racism probably due to the correlation between colonialism and racism, at least this is applicable in africa."Racism in Africa is multi-faceted and dates back several centuries. In all parts of the world there have been some forms of racism. This may have been created through strong national ties within certain groups, making them think other peoples are of less value than ones of their own nation, or a consequence of a belief that some peoples or races are inherently superior to others. This may have been strengthened by European colonialism, drawing lines which didnt take into consideration the different peoples dwelling within the newly formed provinces. These were never changed when former European colonies gained independence. As a consequence some African nations have been plagued with inner conflicts, racist attitudes and tribal warfare."

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Because anyone can be an ignorant shithead?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Obviously every minority has a different set of struggles. That's no argument. No one could be that dense even though some of you think that I am so I need to spell it out.

I'm basically saying ... The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Maybe because we've all been influenced, in some shape or form, to treat people who are different from us in a bad way. Admittedly I was really racist when I was a kid. I dropped the n word like it was nothing. And a lot of it had to do with what I saw/heard from other people. It wasn't until I learned how overtly racist I was, that I stopped. I'm still learning of course. It's a process to unlearn all of the bias, that I've been taught as a kid. And I guess it's the same for other minorities, we are all taught some form of bias (racial/gender/orientation/etc) growing up, we just gotta let ourselves be educated enough to unlearn that shit.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

within certain ethnic groups there's like some weird deep rooted cultural prejudice that goes on

my friend who is korean started dating a vietnamese dude in university and her family was not really happy at first because apparently vietnamese are seen as lessers to koreans. her family eventually came around and she's married to him now.



it's kinda similar to how in india families of certain castes won't interact with people of other castes

hell, the taliban was created out of inter ethnic rebel group fighting

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

bc a lot of POC are desperate for that white seal of approval & will do anything they can to climb the ladder/be seen as "closer to white" by virtue of putting others down. there's obviously historical reasons for this desire but that's basically what it comes down to

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Well, we all live in a world dominated by white supremacy. Being a minority doesn't make you immune to all the negative and racist attitudes that are infused into almost every part of daily life. People absorb antiblack attitudes without realizing it, people absorb antisemitic, islamophobic, anti-asian, colorism, etc etc etc, beliefs just by virtue of existing in a racist world. And, as always, people are hard-pressed to look at themselves and recognize/admit to/fix such fucked up beliefs. It's "easier" on one's pride and self-image to double down and claim that your bigoted belief system is justified, or that it's just how it is, or that your racism is okay because you experience racism yourself, because that way you don't have to change. Humans dislike being wrong and will go to extremes to keep themselves feeling justified.



Also, it's a definite tactic to pit minorities against each other to shift focus from white culpability. Not saying that inter-minority prejudice shouldn't be called out, it absolutely needs to be otherwise it tends to grow, but how often here on ONTD alone have we seen it spiral down into thinly veiled (and sometimes not so) bigotry being disguised as social justice?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I don't understand it either.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao chadwick!

Reply

Thread

Link





NO, SATAN! These posts bring out the ugly in so many people. Let's love each other guys. Let's say no to racism together.

Reply

Thread

Link

MTE.

How about we tell about changes, good things we have observed lately?



I gave a seminar in Colonia (Germany) last week about Queer Pedagogy (intersectionality was a big part of the class) and my class had a lot of women and some POC too and they all worked together and were so intelligent and interested and they understood all the concepts so fast. Me and the other teacher, we are so happy with them. I am going to miss them (they are my first). There are people out there interested in being there for each other, in learning about the world. We just have to find them and work with them.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

unless you were giving this class to 5 year olds, your comment sounds super patronizing

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I'm guessing people think your comment is patronizing because your comment reads as if you're truly shocked that POC were able to grasp what you were discussing and that they were able to work well with others.



You sound like all of the patronizing teachers or employers I've had that have been so shocked because I could formulate a sentence. Smh.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

i knew the toxic oppression olympics and POC bashing each other was coming before i even clicked.



Chad and the other white racist trolls are loving this post, I'm sure. :/

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

girl, when i saw the title, i knew this post would have like 400 comments. you know the whiteys here are loving this.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The GIF is the only reason I'm posting in this, never seen it before and it's gold.

Reply

Thread

Link

Omg is that Black Panther? I wonder what was on his mind while giving Leo the look lol

Reply

Thread

Link

Ugh yesterday my aunt was telling me about an incident in elementary school where a bully stole her books. She felt the need to tell me the bully was "a big black girl who looked just like an ape"



Later in the convo she said she told my cousins they were not allowed to have black friends. Oh and that my great grandparents were some kind of higher ups in the kkk.



I was so upset I didn't even know what to say to her. She is beyond disgusting, I don't know how to deal with her in the future.

Reply

Thread

Link

Sign her up for scientology literature and don't answer her phonecalls.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LOL

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yooo can i do that to my racist neighbor?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LMAO

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmfaooo

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

crying

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My husband's grandma is such a bigot and I never know how to deal with it. She's sexist like crazy too. Women shouldn't hold political office because we're just not good at it, do we really need the right to vote, etc.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

there was once a magazine with a cover talking about the divorce of one of our famous models, her ex is black and my great aunt's husband went about it somewhere along these lines: it's about time, she was too good and too pretty for that monkey



guess who lost all their appetite in that very second and went home

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

jfc your aunt sounds like a horrible person

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

There is nothing that infuriates me more than when people bring up race unnecessarily. The thing that makes me cringe the most is on Facebook when someone has to point out how they feel positive about a person DESPITE the person being a minority. A girl I went to high school with is always liking posts to try to make herself feel less racist. "This Black man was stopped by police and thanked the police for doing their job!" or "This Black child holds the hands of her white friend!" She is constantly sharing posts about how racism is taught ... followed by some trash post where she is teaching her kid that Obummer is a commie Muslim and it is his fault there won't be another Black President.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

There is some truth to this, but it ends up normalizing racism instead of suggesting people change their way of thinking to get rid of their prejudices.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

racism between POC is so sad.

Reply

Thread

Link

mte, there should be solidarity but it seems like there is absolutely none sometimes.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

that's really all I have to say to this too

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

it really is...poc solidarity is a myth =/

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

fr fr

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It really is.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

it really is, it's upsetting

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

this part was really sad:



The bullying tested her resolve and broke it. I told my mom, I dont want to do this anymore. She returned to India defeated



I'm glad she's doing so well in America now





(OP can you add the 'asian celebrities' and the 'bollywood' tag?)

Reply

Thread

Link

that is sad :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Sure :)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

She's so gorgeous but her acting is terrible tbh

Did quantico get any better? I stopped watching after 5 eps or so

Reply

Thread

Link

Dude, it got way, way worse lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

....okay I'm curious how did it get worse? I stopped at episode 3

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

It got waaaay worse but the finale was pretty good.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

not according to ontd and tumblr's revised definition of what racism is

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i find most older people i know even the ~pro black~ type tend to be this way. honestly gets me down and confuses tf out of me. its so upsetting honestly.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I live in Mexico and the past few months a lot of immigrants have come to my city because they're trying to go to the US (I live like 3 hours away from the border) and a lot of people are really racist towards them. Police men take their money and their documents and leave them without nothing. It's really sad. They're always on the streets asking for money so they can eat and save money to go to America, so I try to help them when I can. But it pisses me off because everyone complains about Mexicans being treated like shit in the US and then you do the same shit with people from Central and South America here. Hell, they don't even respect indigenous people, so I can't say that I'm that surprised.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

wow this infuriates me (part act the popo)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Ok, who designed that site layout I'm trying to read the story and it just made me pissed off.

Reply

Thread

Link

wow, this is truly one of the most annoying website layouts i've encountered in a while



i can't even use safari reader on it ugh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

omg it's truly terrible

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol ia, it's super annoying

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

it reminds me of powerpoint animations

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

seriously. that's way worse than the zayn article.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Complex has such a beautiful layout in my opinion. I guess I'm the only person here who likes it.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
One of the key factors in the survival of the Bakken oil patch in the future will be affordable transportation options. Bakken producers receive lower realized prices for their output due to the transportation costs associated with moving the product as well as the difficulty in storing it. This issue has been a persistent problem for years, but crude by rail has helped make the issue less problematic over time. Pipelines are the next step for the Bakken if it is to become a sustainable long-term oil producing area.

Yet putting in a simple pipeline may be more difficult than it appears - a state of affairs that may jeopardize the long run feasibility of shale production in North Dakota. The pertinent example here is TransCanada and its Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada ran into an unjustified level of hostility towards its pipeline. Opponents and proponents in that debate both widely inflated claims about either the costs or benefits of the pipeline. Keystone XL would have had a modest positive economic impact on the U.S., and it would have made it mildly easier for the Canadians to ship crude. Environmentalists acted as though Keystone XL would spill millions of gallons of oil daily and wreck the ecosystem forever while proponents loudly proclaimed the pipeline the answer to a stagnant U.S. economy. Both groups exaggerated greatly. Related: BP Faces Setback In Worlds Largest Unexplored Oil Basin

The same situation is starting to play out in Iowa.

Energy Transfer Partners is looking to build a pipeline that connects the Bakken to a distribution hub at Pakota, Illinois. The route crosses a 346-mile stretch of Iowa and would require that Energy Transfer Partners subsidiary, Dakota Access, which is building the pipeline, buy land from nearly 1,300 different property owners.

This type of situation is particularly difficult since the refusal of a single landowner to sell a right of way on their property can make the project unfeasible. Given that level of negotiating power, landowners can often demand huge sums for their property right of way. In situations like this, eminent domain exists to help the State push projects through. Since Dakota Access is not a State sanction utility, its unclear if the company can use eminent domain in the circumstances. Several property owners are suing for the right to refuse to sell a right of way to the pipeline. Its unclear at this stage if the property owners oppose the pipeline personally or if they are simply looking for an above market payout for their right of way. In either case, the suit has the potential to impact the Bakkens future. Related: The Biggest Winner Of The Oil Bust: Interview With Aeromexico

The $3.8 billion pipeline is facing a few other hurdles as well of course, but the eminent domain lawsuit is emblematic of the situation that affects so many major projects across the U.S. Many developments today face significant hurdles from a small minority that opposes the project for a variety of personal reasons. In some cases, projects like Keystone XL are opposed on environmental grounds, but in other cases even renewable energy projects like offshore wind farms or desert solar farms can run into trouble.

There are few easy solutions to these types of issues, given the competing needs of economic efficiency and individual rights, but it is clear that they are reducing economic competiveness and growth at a time when the country needs both.

By Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The OPEC meeting is only a week away, but the chances of a positive result are as remote as ever. Rising oil prices, the heightened rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Saudi Arabias willingness to go it alone will make a deal all but impossible.

First of all, Iran is not in a cooperative mood. According to the IEA, Iran has managed to boost oil production to 3.56 million barrels per day in April, its highest level since November 2011. Oil exports also jumped 600,000 barrels per day to 2 million barrels per day. Importantly, Irans output now stands at pre-sanctions levels, a key threshold that the Iranian government says it needs to reach before it would consider any cooperation on production limits with OPEC. However, Iran thus far does not see it that way, insisting that it still has more ground to make up.

More importantly, however, is Saudi Arabias shift in attitude. In a once unthinkable development, Saudi Arabia is backing away from OPEC. The cartels largest, most important, and most influential member will leave the group rudderless. Countless obituaries have been written about OPEC since November 2014, but the new direction that the Saudi monarchy is heading in all but ensures diminished influence for the oil cartel. Related: Saudi Market Share Takes A Hit As Russia Doubles Oil Exports To China

Saudi Arabias spurning of OPEC has been building for some time. In November 2014 it abandoned any plans to limit production in order to prop up prices, a strategy to pursue market share that has led to some downsides, but has largely achieved its goals. Saudi Arabia has seen revenues plummet, but it is producing at record levels and outlasting rival producers. U.S. shale, for instance, is down about 1 million barrels per day (mb/d) from the April 2015 peak, and more than 70 North American drillers have gone bankrupt.

But Saudi Arabia has gone further to distance itself from OPEC. In April, Saudi Arabia scuttled the production freeze deal in Doha, killing what would have been only a modest agreement that put limits on oil output. By all accounts, the emergence of the young Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led to a harder line from Saudi Arabia. The replacement of long-time oil minister Ali al-Naimi a few weeks later solidified perceptions of a new era in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has very little inclination to limit its output just as its strategy is bearing fruit, and even less of a willingness to work with Iran, its regional rival, who it is battling in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. Saudi Arabia is going it alone and oil production is now close to record levels, above 10.2 mb/d.

Crucial to Saudi Arabias downgrading of OPEC on its list of priorities is its ambitious project to transition the country away from an overwhelming dependence on oil sales. The Vision 2030 economic plan will involve the partial privatization of Saudi Aramco, with proceeds to be invested in a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, which in turn will make strategic investments in non-oil assets. If it IPO goes forward, Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds largest oil producers and still the most important player in OPEC, will be the only OPEC member without a fully state-owned oil company. Related: OPEC Head Calls for $65 Oil

Saudi Arabias decision to walk away from Doha, combined with the colossal economic reforms it is putting in place, all but assure that it no longer cares about cooperating with OPEC members to influence market prices for crude oil.

The main take-away from Saudi Vision 2030 is that theres just no role for OPEC, Seth Kleinman, head of European energy research at Citigroup Inc., told Bloomberg in a recent interview. Or, you can have an OPEC without Saudi Arabia, which just isnt much of an OPEC. Given that Saudi Arabia is the only country with significant spare capacity, which is what allows it to ramp up and down oil production, OPEC is more or less meaningless without its largest producer.

Moreover, even if Saudi Arabia was not embarking on this epochal change in the structure of its economy, there is little reason for OPEC to limit production at its upcoming meeting in Vienna. Oil prices are finally rebounding, up more than 80 percent from the February lows. Outages in supply from Canada to Nigeria have tightened markets. U.S. production is down 1 mb/d and will continue to fall for the foreseeable future. And even oil inventories appear to be leveling off.

"I don't think OPEC will decide anything," a source from a major oil producer in the Middle East told Reuters. "The market is recovering because of supply disruptions and demand recovery." An OPEC delegate told Reuters that any changes to the cartels policy is off the table. Nothing. The freeze is finished, the OPEC source said.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
U.S. shale oil companies are filing for bankruptcy at an alarming rate, whereas, their counterparts in Argentina are having a gala time. When the U.S. shale oil drillers were struggling to earn $39 per barrel of oil, Argentina was offering $67.5 per barrel to their producers.

Due to the oil price crash, the worlds capital spending in oil and gas has reduced by approximately 20 percent in 2015. By comparison, U.S. oil and gas companies have reduced spending by 40 percent last year, according to Moodys Investors Service.

On the other hand, Argentinas state-run oil company YPF increased spending by only 4 percent during the same period.

Is this model of regulated oil prices in Argentina replicable in the U.S.?

Though this seems to be a good solution, this is not sustainable or beneficial in the long-term. Related: Wells Fargo Reduces 66% of Credit Lines to Oil and Gas Players

Prior to 2014, when oil prices were high, the cost of U.S. shale oil production was estimated to be between $70-$90/b, according to different analysts. But when crude prices declined, shale oil producers were forced to innovate and reduce costs, which has decreased the cost of production to $60/b in the third quarter of 2015.

As the oil prices continued to drop further, shale drillers continued to modernize, further reducing the cost of production in 2016.

Along with the technological advances, the productivity of the companies has also increased. They are utilizing their manpower wisely and funds prudently.

The world is recognizing the need for cleaner fuels and a preference to move away from fossil fuels. Hence, there are many experts who believe that oil prices are unlikely to touch $100/b again.

On the other hand, the biggest oil trading company, Vitol, has forecast a likely range of $40-$60/b for the next decade. Had the U.S. protected the shale oil producers, they would not have taken steps to cut costs.

The high prices paid to the oil companies in Argentina is borne by the consumers. Such a practice in the U.S. would have reduced the disposable income available to American households. Related: Why Cheap Shale Gas Will End Soon

It may not have a huge effect on the top 10 percent of households, but if youre earning $30,000 or $40,000 a year and drive to work, this is a big deal, said Guy Berger, United States economist at RBS back in January 2015, when crude prices were close to the current prices of $49/b.

Now that the shale oil drillers have considerably reduced production costs, if crude oil prices rise even to $60-$70/b, they will reap windfall profits. Their longevity has increased, and they are here to stay.

As a result, following Argentinas approach is not long-term positive for the industry. U.S. shale oil companies have drastically cut costs in order to survive, ensuring that they will be competitive over the long-term.

By Rakesh Upadhyay of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The origin of tarot cards is uncertain; the 78-card deck might have been invented in 15th century Italy, but its also been traced back to Egypt and Israel and, by the 18th century, was very popular in France. Three centuries later, tarot is having a comeback in many places, including Milwaukee.

Recently, I started teaching tarot at Waxwing, 1800 E. North Ave., and it has been a really transformative experience. I never thought I liked teaching but, it turns out, I really do. I also have been able to share my knowledge of and love for the cards with dozens of other people, including FOX6Nows Brian Kramp, who stopped by to shoot a segment at Waxwing last month and while he was there had me pull a few cards for him.

The segment airs today  Wednesday, May 25  during "Studio A," which is on from 4 to 5 p.m. on FOX (channel 6). Kramp and his wife are about to welcome their first child (who was born on Monday) and, not surprisingly, the cards reflected this. (The World card in the deck, drawn upside down, made perfect sense in Kramps case because his world truly is about to be turned upside down.)

This is where the cards sometimes get iffy for some people. They think they are too general like newspaper horoscopes and that people stretch too far to force them to be a Magical Truth. I completely understand this, but in my experience there is an uncanny coincidence that the cards we choose are often the cards we need the most to reflect on an aspect of our lives that is not working.

For me, tarot is not a fortune telling device  it does not give you an exact date of your death or disclose what day of the week you are going to finally find your soulmate or your new favorite sandwich shop. For some readers, tarot does serve more as a glimpse into the future, but for me, it is mostly about the here and now and a tool to understand myself and the people and situations in my life.

The cards themselves are only as special, or even as magical, as we make them. They are, of course, made in factories, not by fairies or spirits from beyond, but when studied and taken to heart, the cards  in combination with our minds and intuition  can offer a lot of interesting food for thought.

I started reading tarot cards 13 years ago when a friend gave me my first deck (in tarot culture, it is best if ones first deck is a gift) and taught me the meanings of the cards. I took voracious notes, which I still have today, and continued to read my cards, the cards of others and as many books and articles about the deck as I can.

There are numerous people in Milwaukee who have been reading cards for a lot longer. Theresa Reed, aka "The Tarot Lady," became interested in tarot 35 years ago.

"One day, I was at Walden Books searching for astrology books in the tiny New Age section when I spied a tarot deck. On a whim, I decided to buy it. I had seen tarot cards in movies and I thought they seemed interesting. I went home, took the cards out of the box, started reading and never stopped," says Reed. "Ive been reading tarot professionally now for 25 years and Im still as passionate and curious about those cards as the day I first laid my hands on a deck."

Today, Reed operates a successful business offering tarot readings via email, phone and, occasionally, in person.

"I work with clients from all walks of life  from homemakers to CEOs to artists," she says. "My tarot readings are meant to empower the client. While the cards can show what may be ahead, you always have the ability to change course at any given time. As I always say: 'the cards tell a story but you write the ending.'"

Reed also mentors tarot students, wrote a book "The Tarot Coloring Book" (dropping November 1 by Sounds True Publishing) and is currently collaborating with Kyle Cherek (host of "Wisconsin Foodie" and "Chef Talk") called "Tarot by the Mouthful," a weekly blog series in which they go through the tarot deck, card by card, and relate it to food.

"Im not only a tarot reader but Im also a big-time foodie. I love to cook and eat," says Reed. "Its been so much fun. Ive learned a lot about food from Kyle and I think he has learned a few new things about tarot from me. Were almost finished with the whole deck so it will be coming to a close this fall."

Jen Cintron is a long-time tarot card reader as well. She purchased her first deck a couple of weeks before her 18th birthday from a Borders Bookstore in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she was born and raised.

Today, she offers one-on-one readings, in person and also via telephone, Skype and email. She also does readings at parties and leads team-building events. Locally, she reads at Ascended Gifts' Spirit Fair, the Riverwest Farmers Market (on occasional Sundays) and will be doing readings at a tent during Bastille Days this year.

She also started a Facebook group, the Milwaukee Tarot Coterie for Milwaukee tarot enthusiasts of all skill levels and walks of life or anyone who's just curious about the cards and wants to learn more about them.

"I can't wait to geek out with you all," says Cintron.

Cintrons relationship with the cards has changed over the years. Although originally smitten with the deck, she had what she describes as a "crisis of faith and creativity" and studied, then worked, in science-related fields for five years.

After being diagnosed with  and beating  thyroid cancer in her twenties, Cintron realized she had deviated from her truth path as an artist and musician. She dusted off her old tarot deck, realized it wasnt quite right for her, so she got a couple of new decks and in 2010 started her business, Intuitive Insights Tarot.

"I have regular clients in San Francisco, New Orleans, Honolulu and I've done email readings for folks in India and Germany," she says. "Thank goodness Im a night owl."

She also became, and is currently, the vocalist of the gypsy swing band, 4th Street Elevator.

For Cintron, one of the best parts about reading cards are impressing the skeptics. "I love it when a skeptic gets that cognitive dissonance look on their face like, This is just a coincidence, but what a striking coincidence," she says. "Sometimes I'm just blabbing on about what I see in the cards, even if it doesn't make sense to me, and then the client says, Wow! You are more right than you know! And that's totally cool. The message was for them, not for me."
Not counting the folks at the Public Policy Forum  who, if I weren't an avowed atheist, I would say really and truly do the lord's work  no one ever reads municipal budgets to look for the good things.

Nope, if you're poring over a proposed budget, you're almost certainly doing it because you want to know how much of your tax dollars are being wasted on things you hate. This is doubly true if you host a right-wing talk radio program, since bad municipal budgets are great for ratings.

So when talk radio read the proposed 2016-17 Milwaukee Public Schools budget and saw the words "Black Lives Matter" on a budget line, it exploded.

The original inflammatory charge, that MPS would be giving almost half a million dollars to the loose national coalition going by the name Black Lives Matter, was, of course, false.

Rather, "Black Lives Matter" was the name given to a proposed local program that would fulfill part of the promise of the "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, a national project spearheaded by President Barack Obama and that MPS has been working on for two years already, largely with grant money rather than tax dollars.

The half-million dollars in question, as was clearly indicated in other parts of the actual MPS budget proposal, was for three additional teachers, for planning time to develop some culturally responsive curriculum and to spread restorative practices into more MPS schools. No funds will go to any national or local group affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement.

That didn't stop the original talk radio story from rocketing around the right-wing echo chamber, from Fox News to The Daily Caller to Glenn Beck's The Blaze. All were incensed that public tax dollars would go to, or be used to promote the goals of, Black Lives Matter.

It should surprise no one  it certainly did not surprise me  that talk radio is ready to believe the worst about public schools and that their allies in conservative media around the country are right there to amplify the message, even when the message is a big fat lie. Indeed, there is a strong new effort on the part of public school teachers and their allies to curb the spread of lies through talk radio underway right now, and that might even be making talk radio more sensitive to what's in school budgets than normal.

I guess it also should surprise no one that the right-wingers are also terrified of what might happen should Black Lives Matter and its goals be met, but it still does. It should not surprise you because what the movement does want  inasmuch as a loose coalition of groups can have institutional goals  is all pretty reasonable.

Black Lives Matter is not some black supremacist organization determined to ignite white genocide or spread violence against anyone, including police or the authorities. The analogy I have heard and find myself using to explain the situation is that if someone says, "Save the rainforest," they're not advocating we clear-cut all the rest of the trees. Rather, the rainforest is the resource under attack most and thus most in need of our help. An MPS spokesman, when asked about why the budget used that terminology, said "the name speaks to some of the issues raised by the movement, specifically racial disparities in education"  disparities you have to work hard to ignore when it comes to education in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

When you look at Milwaukee, our public schools and the majority-minority students in our schools are clearly under attack. It is not necessarily a literal physical attack, as happened to black men like Michael Brown and Eric Garner to spur the Black Lives Matter movement nationally, although I could argue that repeated attempts to strip MPS of its property is a kind of physical attack.

Rather, there are sharp and persistent economic and ideological attacks being perpetrated against MPS and its students constantly  everything from dramatically cut state aid to the fact that competition between sectors in Milwaukee's education landscape has left the district with a disproportionate share of the city's special-needs students and English language learners. The city itself is hyper-segregated, and we are barely a generation removed from one of the nation's last prosecuted cases against real estate redlining. Wisconsin incarcerates black men at an alarming rate, and even as violent crime falls around the state and nation, murders in Milwaukee have spiked the last two years.

Aside from the daily barrage from talk radio, MPS and its students are the target of regular insults and attacks by politicians all over the state, from the governor's mansion on down. The current fracas over the Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program is a good case in point: Where conservative legislators had hoped merely to splinter the district from the outside, they've gotten the double-win of also creating vast and potentially permanent schisms inside the district and among its allies.

But panic about any loss of white male superiority is the default setting for right-wing media; any suggestion that black and brown children in Milwaukee deserve equal protection, financial help from those around the state more fortunate and curriculum that is relevant to their lives is automatically suspect to conservatives.

That includes nominal Democrat and Sheriff of Milwaukee County David Clarke, who took advantage of the Black Lives Matter budget line from MPS to slam the district yet again. He is a frequent critic of basically anyone not named David Clarke who holds office in Milwaukee, from Mayor Tom Barrett and County Executive Chris Abele to the MPS school board. He's a rising star in conservative circles, with regular appearances on Fox News and gatherings like the recent National Rifle Association leadership forum.

Clarke is one of the many who have blamed the Black Lives Matter movement, which was born of police violence but not anti-police, for a rise in deaths of police officers around the country. The problem is, as I have written before, there is no increase in violence against police officers. It just doesn't exist. And to the extent that any organized attacks on law enforcement are happening, those attacks are led by anti-government right-wingers rather than Black Lives Matter-associated groups.

About MPS using the name to represent greater cultural responsiveness and more restorative justice in the district, Clarke told RightWisconsin that it is an "insult," and that any police officers who work with MPS ought to bail because of it. Worse, he said, "This is more about brainwashing than it is about learning and preparing people to be critical thinkers." Yes, Sheriff, trying to develop curriculum to help black and other minority students stay and succeed in school is "brainwashing."

You know what does sound like brainwashing? "They ought to offer a program on how to respect authority, how to respect the police, how to comply with their lawful commands," which was Clarke's advice for what MPS ought to do instead. If there's anything that seems like the opposite of teaching students to be critical thinkers, it's something like this, which teaches students never to criticize authority at all but rather to obey authority in all respects.

That's a really bitter pill for MPS and its students to swallow considering that the current "authority"  the governor and his legislative allies, not to mention their supporters in Milwaukee's overwhelmingly conservative media market  want nothing less than the dissolution of the Milwaukee Public Schools entirely. The "authority" has segregated this city and devastated funding to its most vulnerable. The "authority" has for decades  for centuries, really  taught black and brown children through words and actions that their lives aren't worth an equal share.

If that's the "authority" Clarke wants me and my students to obey, no thank you. I cast my lot instead with those who believe black lives matter more than unquestioned obedience to that status quo.
A Common Council ordinance has been drafted that would significantly reinforce the citys ability to put unemployed or underemployed people to work, while also better ensuring economic opportunities for small and locally-owned businesses.

The proposal will be discussed tomorrow, Thursday, May 26, by the Workforce Organizational Reform Committee (WORC) when it meets at 10 a.m. at Employ Milwaukee, 2342 N. 27th St., room 118. WORC Chair Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II will be joined by Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton to discuss the measure during a news conference at 9:45 a.m. Thursday outside the Employ Milwaukee building.

Ald. Stamper said the city  and especially the Downtown area  has seen a significant amount of new development in recent months, with some estimates of the total value of these projects at approximately $3 billion. "This surge in new development connected with the new arena, Northwestern Mutual and other projects represents a generational opportunity to provide employment, career development and economic opportunities for city workers and locally-owned and operated smaller businesses," he said.

"The changes in the ordinance also significantly boost the opportunity for people to learn valuable skills while working as an apprentice or as a trainee  something that wasnt offered under our original RPP program," Ald. Stamper said.

Pres. Hamilton said the move by the Common Council to bolster the Residents Preference Program (RPP) is meant to hold the city accountable to achieve the goals of its various workforce development and economic participation initiatives (RPP, SBE-Small Business Enterprise, LBE-Local Business Enterprise).

"We recognized that we needed to do a much better job at providing these critical employment and skill opportunities for people who need it the most, and that is what the changes (in the ordinance) are designed to produce," Pres. Hamilton said.

The measure that will be discussed Thursday by the WORC includes the following significant changes to the citys workforce development and economic participation initiatives:

The five-year qualification period for RPP workers is removed and the amount of time a person needs to be unemployed to qualify for the RPP program is shortened. These changes make it easier for residents to 1) become RPP qualified and 2) remain RPP qualified.

Developers and contractors are required to hire one-quarter of RPP workers from the impoverished areas of the City of Milwaukee and are required to hire a certain percentage of apprentices or on-the-job trainees.

Incentives are created to promote the use of RPP workers, SBEs and LBEs by contractors and developers. These incentives include:

An additional award standard for LBEs who are also SBEs.



Credits awarded for exceeding the required percentage of workers hired from impoverished areas or hired as apprentices/on-the-job trainees.

Contractors or developers unable to meet the requirements of the RPP program are allowed to hire unemployed or underemployed residents to work on projects in Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha Counties, provided those residents began their employment on projects in the city.

The creation of an RPP Review Commission for review of RPP compliance, performance and other program matters.

The WORC has held five meetings, including two dedicated solely to input from developers, contractors, compliance monitors, trades, unions, RPP workers, and other training and community agencies.

Ald. Stamper offered sincere thanks to his fellow WORC members. "We have been blessed to have the experience and breadth of knowledge from some dedicated city staff members, and I want to thank Dan Thomas (Department of Public Works), Lori Lutzka (Department of City Development), Nikki Purvis (Office of Small Business Development), and Ronald Roberts (Department of Neighborhood Services) for their outstanding and dedicated service," he said.

The ordinance is expected to be taken up by Council committees in June, with the possibility of going before the full Council on June 14.
One of the pillars of freedom is free speech. Without it a democracy becomes an oligarchy (rule by the elite) and from there devolves to a kakistocracy (rule by the least competent). Free speech only exists when the public has access to all of the information upon which it can, individually and collectively, form an opinion. Back in the 60s and 70s, the Free Speech Movement was populated with Americas intellectuals, students, and liberal activists  its sanctuary was Americas college campuses.

It showed its greatest impact during the protests against the war in Vietnam* and the civil rights movement. It resulted in such things as the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Freedom of Information Act and a myriad of lesser actions at the state and federal level to ensure that citizens not only could exercise their rights but had the information upon which to exercise those rights and most importantly that the organs of government did not suppress that access.

Oregon was in the vanguard of the Free Speech Movement. Reed College, the University of Oregon, and Portland State University were knee deep in the movement. As usual with any liberal movement it included the goof balls who mistook vulgar for valuable and thus gave rise to such inane decisions as in State v. Robertson in which completely nude dancing was deemed a form of free speech and later in City of Nissa v. Duforth that live sex acts were also protected speech. It was this stretch of credulity that gave witness to Oregons absolute commitment to free speech.

But that was then. That was back when Oregons uber liberals were in the distinct minority. But not today. Today, Americas left in general and Oregons ruling leftist elite have abandoned any support for free speech. They are critical of free speech that does not agree with their orthodoxy. And in places like Oregon (Portland in particular) where they dominate government, they use the power of government to suppress  in fact, prohibit  speech with which they do not agree. The latest incident has been reported on FOX News this past week, citing a story published first by the Portland Tribune:

The Portland Public Schools board voted last week to ban any materials that cast doubt on climate change, the Portland Tribune reported. According to the resolution passed May 17, the school district must remove any textbooks and other materials that suggest climate change is not occurring or that says human beings are not responsible for it. A lot of the text materials are kind of thick with the language of doubt, and obviously the science says otherwise, said Bill Bigelow, a former Portland public school teacher who worked to present the resolution. Bigelow says textbook publishers are yielding to pressure from fossil fuels companies. We dont want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry.

That last statement by Mr. Bigelow should read: We dont want kids in Portland learning anything that disagrees with our opinions.

That point was amplified in the FOX News report:

A petition, meanwhile, circulated by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) currently lists nearly 32,000 signers, including 9,000 Ph.D.s, who say, there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earths atmosphere and disruption of the Earths climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.

The original article by the Portland Tribune contained even more eye-popping information:

School board member Mike Rosen introduced the resolution. He also leads NW Ecoliteracy Collaborative, a project focused on environmental curriculum standards. However, he says that work has been on hold. I have become concerned about its ability to make progress and not have a conflict with being a school board member, Rosen said, noting that he is now instead working part-time for the Audubon Society of Portland. I dont want there to be a conflict between my school board work and this nonprofit.

Wow. For a person demanding that texts not agree with what might be written by the Exxon public relations Mr. Rosen has no similar concern with demanding that texts agree with his employer.

This ban on information follows repeated scientific studies debunking the findings of those committed to climate change regarding the origins and cause of any climate change occurring. When facts, scientific studies and disclosures of errors in progressive thought begin to permeate, the liberals reliably respond by seeking to silence dissent. It is the equivalent of those Neanderthals in the hip-hop movement that think dropping the mike ends the contest.

Oregon is not an isolated case. There is a concerted effort by Americas left to repress free speech and more importantly free thought by denying the public access to critical information. It runs from the guaranteed inept like the Portland School Board all the way to the presidency where aides of President Barack Obama  without fear of disciplinary action  have bragged about deliberately withholding information from the press and public regarding the fact that Mr. Obama began negotiations of the fateful Iran nuclear deal with the criminal Mahmoud Amadinejads regime in Iran rather than the supposed more moderate regime of Hassan Rouhani.

The suppression of information has become the hallmark of the lefts liberal icon  Mr. Obama and his administration. Just this past week a federal district judge who was systematically and intentionally deceived by Mr. Obamas justice department barred any further appearance by Justice Department lawyers until they had successfully completed a course on ethics. There is nothing that Mr. Obama has touched that has not been shrouded in deceit and intentional withholding of critical information  not Obamacare, not the IRS scandal, not Operation Fast and Furious, not Benghazi, not the State Department scandals involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (no slouch at deceit and withholding of information herself) and not the executive orders banning deportation of illegal immigrants.

In the end, the weakness of ones arguments is defined by the lengths to which you would go to repress disagreement.

____________________________

*Curiously the anti-war movement of the Vietnam era tolerated extraordinarily diverse thought. It included those opposed to war in general, those opposed to the war in Vietnam in particular, those who were supportive of communists regimes such as in North Viet Nam, the Viet Cong and the Khmer Rouge, those who were simply anti-government, and those who, like me, were protesting the sacrifice of young lives in a war that successive presidents (John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon) refused to win or to withdraw rather were content to grind up my generation in order to save face about losing.
Phuket, Thailand  Phuket International Academy (PIA), located within the grounds of Thanyapura, in the north of Phuket, is set to become the first and only United World College (UWC) in Thailand, after two years of hard work and discussions with the London based organisation.

With an alumni represented by more than 55,000 graduates from all around the globe, UWC has gained a worldwide reputation for developing young people who have a desire to work towards achieving peace and sustainable future.

We are excited about the direction in which the school is moving, said Julian Whiteley, Chief Executive of Phuket International Academy. We aim to challenge our students in all areas of our educational programme and encourage them to take the initiative, exercise self-discipline and accept responsibility for their actions. By so doing, they will develop the skills and qualities necessary for them to live happy and successful lives.

The decision to create a UWC in Phuket will transform the educational landscape on the island and promote growth in the north, particularly with the school being so close to the airport.

Already, I have talked with some parents who are changing their life plan because they want their children to be educated at a UWC. We have also had a number of people contacting us from Bangkok as they have heard the news and intend to move to Phuket to be part of our community.

Julian Whiteley, formerly the Head of the United World College of South East Asia, Singapore, which is widely acknowledged as being amongst the top ten international schools in the world, moved to Phuket because he shared the vision of the founder of Thanyapura and Phuket International Academy.

Not only are the aspirations of UWC and Phuket International Academy very similar, they align perfectly with my own philosophy of education and life. At the heart of this is a deeply held belief that education is about the personnel development of all aspects of a child, it is not just about academics. Whilst it is possible to learn a certain amount in the classroom, so much more can be learnt by interacting with the world outside school. Hence the emphasis we place on outdoor education and service to the community.

In August, the school will welcome 25 scholars from around the world who have been selected, not because of their academic ability, but their leadership skills and desire to be future change-makers. They will add to the cultural diversity of the school

Phuket International Academy, due to become United World College Thailand in August 2016, is located at Thanyapura, 115/15 Moo.7 , Thepkasattri Rd., Thalang, Phuket and can be reached via phone at +66 76 336 076 or through their website www.phuketinternationalacademy.com.

Metinee Kingpayom, top model and commentator of The Face and The Star

Initially, I feel lucky that I decided to choose PIA for my son, Skye, as the school has a great environment. The school provides a wide range of great facilities for both children and parents as well as activities that all can join together and bond a good relationship.

I really feel excited to hear that PIA will become the United World College of Thailand (UWCT) according to their excellent reputation across the world. United World College (UWC) is well recognised by its unique design of curriculum offering a wide vision for the students. We are living in the modern world and studying only in textbook is not enough to make a successful person.

There are already a number of mix nationality in PIA and after it becomes UWCT, there will be even more diversity of nationality. I believe that the mix nationality, race and culture together with the smart designed curriculum of UWC will enhance our children to learn to understand others and respect the difference. These children is growing up to create a bright future and peacefully develop the world to a better place.

Boon Yongsakul, Chairman of Boat Development Company

PIA was my choice because I could see the great environment in the school. The surroundings are very natural and people are nice. I want my kid to grow up in this friendly atmosphere.

I heard about PIA getting chosen to be UWCT. It is a really great opportunity as I recognise that UWC is a very well-known educational network that creates an academic program making students learn more than just in the classroom but the wide world.

I am keen to see the great changes when it completely becomes UWCT as I believe in the UWC brand and even believe that there will be more and more UWC network across the globe.

Anthony Gould, Director of Galileo Maritime Academy

When we moved to Phuket we visited all the leading international schools and were particularly impressed by the atmosphere at PIA. The friendliness of staff and students to all of us and the attitude of the head of school towards our daughter Victoria was warm and genuine. The location is stunning and the facilities are amazing, so it was an easy choice for my wife and I and also for Victoria.

I was quite excited to hear that PIA was to become the Thailand UWC because the UWC movement appeals to my sense of humanity, i.e. that openness, awareness and sharing throughout education and in a transnational context are the keys to living a valuable life and creating a better world. So I am happy that my daughter will be part of that movement and we hope that she will grow up with an open mind and worldly understanding way beyond pure academic achievement.

Garry Kirkland, Project Director , Marriott Vacation Club, Asia Pacific

I chose PIA for my children because of the IB program. By teaching children to consider their learning in both local and global contexts, IB supports a strong international view of the world.

When I heard that PIA was chosen to be a UWC school I knew that the PIA students international view would develop to an even higher level. The diversity of students provided by the UWC connection will provide learning experiences for the children to consider all questions from an even more diverse global context, important for educating the international leaders of tomorrow.

I welcome the UWC and look forward to the new energy that will be created by the diversified student mix.
The red sea urchin, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, is one of the world's longest-lived organisms Credit: MDI Biological Laboratory

Sea urchins are remarkable organisms. They can quickly regrow damaged spines and feet. Some species also live to extraordinary old ages andeven more remarkablydo so with no signs of poor health, such as a decline in regenerative capacity or an increase in age-related mortality. These ocean Methuselahs even reproduce as if they were still youngsters.

MDI Biological Laboratory Associate Professor James A. Coffman, Ph.D., is studying the regenerative capacity of sea urchins in hopes that a deeper understanding of the process of regeneration, which governs the regeneration of aging tissues as well as lost or damaged body parts, will lead to a deeper understanding of the aging process in humans, with whom sea urchins share a close genetic relationship.

In a paper recently published in Aging Cell, a leading journal in the field of aging biology, with Andrea G. Bodnar, Ph.D., of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Studies, the scientists shed new light on the aging process in sea urchins, raising the prospect that the physical decline that typically accompanies aging is not inevitable.

They studied regenerative capacity in three species of sea urchins with long, intermediate and short life expectancies: the red sea urchin, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, one of the world's longest-lived organisms with a life expectancy of more than 100 years; the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, with a life expectancy of more than 50 years; and the variegated sea urchin, Lytechinus variegatus, with a life expectancy of only four years.

The scientists hypothesized that the regenerative capacity of the species with shorter life expectancies would decline as they aged. Much to their surprise, however, they found that regenerative capacity was not affected by age: as with the very long-lived sea urchin, the regenerative capacity of the species with a shorter life expectancy did not decline with age.

"We wanted to find out why the species with short and intermediate life expectancies aged and the long-lived species didn't," said Coffman. "But what we found is that aging is not inevitable: sea urchins don't appear to age, even when they are short-lived. Because these findings were unexpected in light of the prevailing theories about the evolution of aging, we may have to rethink theories on why aging occurs."

The MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution focused on increasing healthy lifespan and harnessing the natural ability to repair and regenerate tissues damaged by injury or disease. The institution develops solutions to complex human and environmental health problems through research, education and ventures that transform discoveries into cures.

Coffman and other scientists working in the institution's Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Medicine study tissue repair, regeneration and aging in a diverse range of organisms that have robust mechanisms to repair and regenerate tissue.

The prevailing theory of the evolution of aging holds that aging is a side effect of genes that promote growth and development of organisms that have a low likelihood of continued survival in the wild once they have reproduced. Many organisms with a low expectation of survival in the wild experience rapid decline once they have reached reproductive maturity.

But Bodnar and Coffman's findings contradict that theory. They found that although the variegated sea urchin, L. variegatus, has a much lower life expectancy in the wild than the other two species they studied, it displayed no evidence of a decline in regenerative capacity with age, which suggests that senescence may not be tied to a short life expectancy in the wild.

The scientists are planning future studies to identify why short-lived sea urchins experience negligible senescence, and, in particular, the role of the immune system in maintaining youthful function into old age.

Explore further New mechanism for wound healing identified

More information: Andrea G. Bodnar et al. Maintenance of somatic tissue regeneration with age in short- and long-lived species of sea urchins, Aging Cell (2016). Journal information: Aging Cell Andrea G. Bodnar et al. Maintenance of somatic tissue regeneration with age in short- and long-lived species of sea urchins,(2016). DOI: 10.1111/acel.12487
Credit: Dr Michelle Power

Human sewage disposal in Antarctica presents a risk of introducing non-native bacterial species, specifically E. coli, into endemic Antarctic wildlife, potentially affecting its diversity and evolution, a new research project led by Macquarie University has found.

Funded by an Australian Antarctic Science Grant from the Australian Antarctic Division, the research has detected genes in seals, penguins and invertebrates that are commonly associated with from humans.

At the invitation of the Australian Antarctic Division, Dr Michelle Power from Macquarie University joined the field team at Davis research station to examine how sustained human waste discharge from research stations has the potential to affect the diversity and evolution of native Antarctic microbes, as well as introduce disease to wildlife in the ecosystem.

With most research stations located on the coast of Antarctica, the research provides scientific evidence to support development of improved regulations for human waste disposal.

"Some of the identified strains that we have detected in seals are known to cause disease in humans and birds. Antibiotic resistance genes, currently a major global issue, were discovered in many of the strains we tested. The antibiotic resistance genes were not detected in penguins or seals but were found in an Antarctic shellfish species which filters the water for its food," said Dr Power.

As part of its commitment to protecting the Antarctic environment, the Australian Antarctic Division undertook a larger study to assess the environmental impact of sewage discharge in Antarctica in 2009/10.

The study included the collection of marine sediments at various coastal points within a 10 kilometre radius, in addition to faecal samples from southern elephant seals, Adelie penguins and Weddell seals. Divers also collected fish, heart urchins, Antarctic soft-shelled clam and conducted detailed surveys of seabed communities as part of the larger study.

Guidelines currently in place for treatment of sewage, established by the Antarctic Treaty system, allow research stations to dispose of untreated sewage directly into the sea  within certain parameters. These include conditions that allow for its rapid dilution and dispersal into the marine environment. Research led by Australian Antarctic Division marine scientist, Dr Jonny Stark, shows that such conditions are unlikely to occur at most Antarctic stations.

Australian Antarctic Division Chief Scientist, Dr Gwen Fenton, said the Division partnered with research and industry to undertake a major engineering project to design and upgrade wastewater treatment for use in Antarctic conditions in response to the combined results of the studies.

"A secondary treatment plant was commissioned at Davis research station in December 2015 and an advanced level treatment plant is due to be installed in 2016/17. This will convert effluent into some of the cleanest water in the world. Both Casey and Mawson research stations have a secondary wastewater treatment plant, with both scheduled for upgrade," Dr Fenton said.

"With more than 30 nations operating in Antarctica, and around 4000 people living in Antarctic research stations during the summer months, the potential impact of their presence to the surrounding ecosystem cannot be underestimated," continued Dr Power.

The comprehensive steps taken by Australia to understand and address the environmental impacts of wastewater discharge at Australia's research stations represent Antarctic best practice, and reinforce Australia's international leadership in the fields of Antarctic science, operations and environmental management.

Wastewater management is recognised by all national Antarctic programs to be a complex issue, and a wide range of technologies are in use across Antarctic stations. Further steps to prevent the introduction of non-native species and disease will be discussed at the next Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting will be held in Chile later this month.

"There is currently no acceptable measure of impact of untreated sewage disposal in Antarctica and I would argue that simple genetic tools can, and should be used to determine the extent of gene pollution across Antarctica," continued Dr Power.

Explore further Northern invaders threaten Antarctic marine life

More information: Michelle L. Power et al. Escherichia coli out in the cold: Dissemination of human-derived bacteria into the Antarctic microbiome, Environmental Pollution (2016). Michelle L. Power et al. Escherichia coli out in the cold: Dissemination of human-derived bacteria into the Antarctic microbiome,(2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.04.013
More than 200 Canadian scientists are asking the government to reconsider a hydroelectric dam project in the western province of British Columbia, citing in part the rights of indigenous communities.

Although the Site C project on the Peace River has received federal cabinet approval and some required permits, "that does not mean that the Canadian and British Columbian governments cannot step back from the project," Royal Society of Canada president Maryse Lassonde said in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The letter, date last Thursday, was only made public on Tuesday.

Lassonde said she was voicing the concerns of a group of scholars, including several members of the Royal Society of Canada. The society said "over 200 leading scientists" were involved.

"The Royal Society of Canada is deeply concerned about how that approval was achieved. Indeed, project approval goes against the Canadian government emphasis on evidence-based decision-making," Lassonde said in the letter.

The concerns included the fast-tracked approval process for Site C, as well as outstanding concerns regarding "First Nations treaty and Aboriginal rights," the letter said.

Aboriginal concerns were apparently not considered by the government approval panel, while two First Nations court cases related to the dam are pending but construction is already underway, the letter said.

"Work on the Site C project should be discontinued for this reason alone."

Last year, subsidiaries of Spain's Acciona and South Korea's Samsung were part of a partnership that won the main civil works contract for the Site C dam, which is projected to have an overall cost of Can$8.3 billion ($6.3 billion US).

The civil works contract includes an earth fill dam, two diversion tunnels and the foundation for the generating station and spillways.

Contracts still to be awarded include those for supplying turbines and generators, construction of power plans and transmission lines, and moving a highway.

Explore further Cambodia approves controversial dam plan

 2016 AFP
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University Electrical and Computer Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering conducted a survey on falls among the elderly, and discovered that Americans are very worried about their elderly parent fallingand that this worry leads to action.

Every 13 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall. Every 20 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall-related trauma. It's understandable, considering these statistics, why the College of Engineering survey found that 54% of 1900 U.S. adults are worried about an older parent falling, and why 81% of respondents expressed an interest in new sensor technology that can anticipate and prevent falls.

Two researchers, Associate Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Pei Zhang and Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Haeyoung Noh, are currently developing such active fall-prevention sensors for both senior care facilities and private homes that can determine both who is in danger and where they are. Their technology monitors an individual's gait and can send mobile alerts not only to nurses and caregivers but also to the individual themselves if their gait changes threateningly. While the goal is to anticipate and prevent falls, the technology is programmed to immediately notify someone, which can include emergency responders, should an individual experience a sudden falleven if the person is unconscious.

"Many older adults in senior care facilities are restricted to wheelchairs when not under the direct care of a nurse, but this technology could allow them to regain some of their independence," says Noh, whose sensors are currently being tested at Vincentian Home in Pittsburgh and Lucas Physical Therapy and Fitness in Sunnyvale, California.

Of the 1,900 people in the survey, a little over 1,000 adults are concerned their parent may experience a fall, and 70% of these individuals worry at least every week, if not every day. The frequency and amount people worry is not influenced by whether the parent lives by themselves or not, though people are slightly less troubled if the parent lives in an assisted living or senior care facility. However, 62% of those with parents in assisted living or senior care facilities still worry once a week or every day.

All of this anxiety explains why, according to the survey, people are very responsive about caring for their parents. They frequently visit their parents, and also have neighbors or staff who look after them. 44% of respondents said they or a sibling checks in on their parent daily, while 33% said they or a sibling checks in every week. Another 12% said they stop by as needed. In addition, 56% of respondents reported that neighbors or staff physically check on their parent daily, while 27% said someone visits every week.

Although there was no difference among gender or age, the survey did discover that those with higher education levels and higher incomes worry less. The survey does not suggest why this may be, but it does show that those with higher incomes are not more likely to have their parent in a senior care facility or assisted living facility, nor are they more likely to have a live-in caretaker for their parent. However, it does appear that more people with higher incomes have Life Alert for their parentsalthough only 15% of respondents have parents with Life Alert.

"Our sensors are designed to predict and anticipate falls so individuals can worry less about their parents with the knowledge that our technology will discover their parents are not walking the way they normally do, whether because of medication or because they've become fatigued," says Zhang.

About the survey: The first part of the survey included 1,900 adults representative of the U.S. population, while the second portion screened for the 1,000 adults among the original 1,900 who said they are worried about their parent falling. The survey was conducted with new sensor research at Carnegie Mellon University in mind to gain insight into how many people are worried about falls, what actions they take, and also to discover breakdowns for anxiety by demographic.

Explore further Researchers find worries about elderly falls lead to preventive action
The Dutch biotech start-up In Ovo is the first company to develop a large-scale solution for determining the sex of a chick while it is still in the egg. This fast and cheap technique can be applied mechanically at hatcheries, which was not possible before.

In Ovo's innovation brings us one step closer to preventing the mass death of day-old male chicks. There are other techniques for determining the sex of a chick before it has hatched, such as measuring the level of estrogen in the egg. But this method takes four hours and it is very expensive, which makes it unsuitable for use in hatcheries. In Ovo's technology now makes this possible.

Determining the sex of a chick in a matter of seconds

According to founders Wouter Bruins and Wil Stutterheim, In Ovo is the first company to determine the gender of an unhatched egg in a matter of seconds. The company has identified new substances that indicate the sex of an egg as early as day nine of incubation. These substances are fast and relatively easy to detect, says Bruins. The technique has been tested at a Dutch hatchery, where the company was able to hatch roosters and hens separately on several occasions. The method is also fast enough to separate large amounts of eggs automatically. The first prototype for a sorting device is currently being developed.

Important innovation

This new technique is an important breakthrough. On a yearly basis, over 45 million male chicks are killed in the Netherlands alone because they cannot be used for egg production. Globally, 3.2 billion roosters are killed every year. In addition to preventing a lot of unnecessary suffering, the method also yields environmental benefits. Fewer eggs have to be hatched, resulting in lower energy consumption and a lower CO2 output. In Ovo's invention consequently also offers hatcheries financial advantages.

Explore further German scientists seek way to end live chick shredding
Coal barges head upstream on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Credit: Peter Dowley

In China, coal is king. The source of about 70 percent of the nation's energy supply, it has long been the engine of the Chinese economy. But the reign of coal, which has the highest carbon content of all fossil fuels, has resulted in unintended consequences, from local air pollution to global climate change. While China is currently moving ahead with a national carbon market covering large emitters, an ongoing question remains whether and how the country might also directly restrict the use of coal to tackle the triple threat of air pollution, climate change, and energy insecurity. One option under discussion involves imposing limits on the use of coal or on all fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) at the national or regional levels.

Now a study by researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Policy of Global Change, Tsinghua University, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) examines this option in detail. Appearing in the May 2016 issue of Energy Economics, the study compares the economic impacts of imposing coal, energy, and carbon caps at regional and national levels.

Using the China Regional Energy Model (C-REM), a multi-commodity, multi-regional computable general equilibrium model of the Chinese economy that represents 30 of its provinces, the researchers found that a cap on coal only would cost about twice as much as a cap on all fossil fuels while cutting fossil energy use to the same level, and exact economic hardship on regions where demand for coal is high and availability of low-carbon substitutes is low. For the same level of carbon reduction, a coal cap would impose a much higher and more concentrated economic impact.

According to the study, the most cost-effective energy cap policy would be to combine a cap on "downstream" fossil fuel use (processing and consumption by manufacturers and consumers) with a national energy saving allowance trading system among provinces. This system closely approximates a cap on carbon because coal, which is reduced most cost-effectively by an energy cap, also has the highest carbon content among the fuels targeted. Under the fossil energy cap-and-trade policy envisioned by the study, provinces where energy savings costs are higher could use more fossil energy by buying permits from other provinces where those costs are lower.

"A cap on all fossil fuels rather than on coal alone, along with a cross-provincial energy saving allowance trading system would not only give China more flexibility in how it reduces CO2 emissions but also avoid significant economic impacts in those regions that depend heavily on coal," says Da Zhang, a Joint Program postdoc who co-authored the study with MIT Sloan School of Management Assistant Professor Valerie Karplus (who has directed the MIT-Tsinghua China Energy and Climate Project for the Joint Program) and ETH Zurich Assistant Professor Sebastian Rausch.

Interestingly, the researchers also found this approach nearly as effective in reducing CO2 emissions as a national CO2 emissions trading system that puts a price on fossil energy use based on its carbon content, because both policy designs will result in similar coal-use reduction patterns across provinces. Since it would be easier to implement, an energy cap could serve as a steppingstone to a robust CO2 emissions trading system.

Since the study concluded, China ultimately decided to pursue a national CO2 emissions trading scheme starting in 2017. The study suggests the merits of this choice, which performs better than all energy cap designs considered.

"Our study compares the economic performance of a menu of potential policy designs, and it shows the value of China's decision to focus on controlling carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade system, especially compared to a system that only constrains coal use, missing other carbon-intensive fuels and exacting sharp and concentrated regional economic impacts," says Karplus.

Explore further Carbon pricing under binding political constraints

More information: Valerie J. Karplus et al. Energy caps: Alternative climate policy instruments for China?, Energy Economics (2016). Valerie J. Karplus et al. Energy caps: Alternative climate policy instruments for China?,(2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2016.03.019

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
Future POS is an award-winning restaurant point of sale company with over 20 years of experience developing software for the hospitality industry. Decades of industry experience has placed them in the top five hospitality POS companies in two separate surveys.

Their rock-solid software and unrivaled connectivity provide the backbone for numerous high volume independent restaurants and chain restaurants alike.
SYRACUSE  Eleanor M. Maloney, loving and devoted mother and wife, passed away May 22, 2016, in Syracuse, New York after a brief illness.

Mrs. Maloney was born Nov. 13, 1922 in Vernon, Connecticut.

After graduating high school, she was hired by Bell Telephone Co. as an operator. During World War II, she enlisted in the Womens Army Corps, and served at an Army Air Force Base in Presque Isle, Maine. After the war, she returned to Connecticut, and was employed at the Scottish Union Insurance Co. in Hartford, Connecticut, as switchboard operator. It was in Connecticut that she met her future husband, William, and started their family.

The family spent nine years living in Novato, California, and then moved to Glens Falls in 1968, living there for the next 40 years. In Glens Falls, Mrs. Maloney was employed for several years by The Post-Star, Warren County Children and Family Services and, finally by Glens Falls Hospital, where she worked for 22 years both as a switchboard operator and a medical data specialist. She retired from the hospital in 2000. Mrs. Maloney attended St. Marys Church in Glens Falls, and for many years was a daily communicant. She was also active in various prayer groups and other church activities. In 2008, Mrs. Maloney sold her home in Glens Falls, and moved to Syracuse to live with her son, Robert, and his wife Marilyn, and their daughter Meghan. She lived out the rest of her life very happily in their loving care.

Mrs. Maloney was predeceased by her husband William F. Maloney.

She is survived by four sons, Edwin (Valinda) of Redding, California, William (Cynthia) of Palo Alto, California, Robert (Marilyn) of Syracuse and Michael (Kellie) of Schenectady. Mrs. Maloney is also survived by her five grandchildren, Kerry Maloney, Paige Fleener, Caitlin, Meghan and Joseph Maloney. She also has one great-granddaughter, Finley Fleener.

At Mrs. Maloneys request, services and internment will be private.

Arrangements are under the care of the Regan Denny Stafford Funeral Home, 53 Quaker Road, Queensbury.

For those who wish, online condolences can be made to the family by visiting www.sbfuneralhome.com.
GLENS FALLS | A Fort Edward man was arrested on a felony criminal contempt charge Sunday, the third time in less than a year he has been charged with the count for allegedly violating an order of protection, police records show.

Scott C. Randall, 44, was arrested Sunday after Glens Falls Police were sent to the park at Haviland Cove for a report of an order of protection violation, police said.

They found Randall was with a person who has an order of protection against him, and because of at least one prior criminal contempt conviction, he was charged with felony criminal contempt, Glens Falls Police Chief Tony Lydon said.

Randall was also arrested for alleged order of protection violations in Glens Falls last November and last July, prior media reports show. He also served a state prison sentenced between 2010 and 2013 for a felony driving while intoxicated, state records show.

Randall was arraigned Sunday and sent to Warren County Jail for lack of bail.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, said she remains convinced prosecution of sexual assault in the military should remain with military commanders.

I do not think we should take authority away from the commanders. I think we should strengthen our outreach at the earliest level, Stefanik said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

But she would not necessarily vote against the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act if it contains a measure to transfer jurisdiction from commanders to independent military trial lawyers.

Most important is getting the NDAA through the House and the Senate, through conference committee and on the presidents desk. So I will look at every amendment with a fresh set of eyes, she said.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is pushing to add an amendment to the Senate version of the defense policy bill to transfer jurisdiction to independent military trial lawyers.

Once the Senate passes its version of the legislation, a joint House and Senate conference committee will negotiate differences with the version the House passed May 18, before a final vote in both houses.

Gillibrand has said it is a conflict of interest for military commanders, who can be biased, to prosecute sexual assault cases.

Gillibrand has been advocating to change jurisdiction since 2013, and she released a new report on Monday that examined files from 329 sexual assault cases that occurred at U.S. military bases in 2014.

Stefanik, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said she is reviewing the report with colleagues on the Military Personnel subcommittee, which added provisions to the House version of the Defense Authorization Act to address sexual assault in the military.

Sexual assault is wrong in any circumstances, Stefanik said.

The House version includes the following measures:

Prohibits retaliation against a victim or someone reporting a crime;

Prohibits inappropriate relationship between recruits/trainees and a person in a position of special trust;

Establishes mandatory minimum two-year confinement for certain sex offenses;

Requires public access to court documents and pleadings;

Provides increased opportunities for victim rights input at preliminary hearings;

Extends annual sexual assault prevention report requirement;

Requires new annual report on domestic and child sexual abuse;

Encourages Department of Defense to provide increased access to medical and mental health treatment for male sexual assault victims;

Requires increased training for investigators.

Stefanik has said military leaders, including some at Fort Drum, believe investigations should remain with commanders, but other prevention measures should be taken.

Stefanik said she has spoken with soldiers at Fort Drum about implementing Not In My Squad, a sexual abuse prevention initiative.

We need awareness for our youngest soldiers that there is zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military, she said.
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

Read more
Fred Ofosu Darko, President of IoD-Ghana, said, IoD-G is demonstrating its commitment to improve the use of corporate directors in a way that supports business growth and productivity. Together with IFC, we are creating a pool of trainers that will boost the adoption of corporate governance best practices in a wide range of companies and support growth in the economy.

IoD-G has been working in partnership with IFC since October 2015 to help encourage companies adopt and institute good corporate governance practices in Ghana.

Adopting good corporate governance provides companies with the tools needed to respond to stakeholder concerns.

Ronke-Amoni Ogunsulire, IFC Country Manager for Ghana, said, One of our key focus areas is to help Ghanaian businesses grow. Corporate governance is an important tool that can help move them to a different level; for example, adopting corporate governance practices can help companies attract a more diverse pool of investors to grow their businesses. We are pleased to work with IoD-G to build a database of trainer resources to help more businesses understand and use these tools.
According to the AMG act, Reggie Rockstone has proven to be a veteran in Ghanas music who does not act right.

In retrospect, Criss Waddle launched a verbal attack on Shatta Wale and his loyal SMF fans as he described Shatta as a liar, a pretender, an ingrate and a thief.

In a video, Waddle spelled his disdain for his one-time best friend and accused him of stealing his Bie Gya song and using sorcery to stop the shine of other artistes he cannot compete with.

He could not fathom why Reggie Rockstone wore the ADLDAS hoodie Shatta Wale shot his Bie Gya music video with to the 2016 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards considering the controversy between him [Waddle] and Wale with respect to the song title.

VIP also called us when the situation came; not Reggie Rockstone. He doesnt act right Because as Grandpapa of Hiplife, he could have called Shatta and I to settle the issue. He can even call me or Shatta separately and calm the situation. You dont wear AdLdas to VGMAs.
Criss Waddle in a interview on Hitz FM stated that he has lost respect for Hiplife grandpapa, Reggie Rockstone as he has proven to be a veteran in Ghanas music who does not act right.

The 'Ayi' rapper could not fathom why Reggie Rockstone wore the ADLDAS hoodie Shatta Wale shot his Bie Gya music video with to the 2016 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards considering the controversy between him [Waddle] and Wale with respect to the song title.

VIP also called us when the situation came; not Reggie Rockstone. He does doesnt act right Because as Grandpapa of Hiplife, he could have called Shatta and I to settle the issue. He can even call me or Shatta separately and calm the situation. You dont wear AdLdas to VGMAs.

I lost respect for Reggie Rockstone because of that thing. Was he taking sides or what was he trying to do? Was he trying to say it was okay Shatta and I were in that situation? On the real, Reggie Rockstone could have been the best person to maintain peace. He could have worn a Criss Waddle footwear and then a Shatta AdLdas hoodie to prove he wanted unity Why do we even call him the Grandpapa? He doesnt act right, Criss Waddle said.

But reggie Rockstone seems unperturbed as he opines Criss Waddle never disrespected him but registered his displeasure.

His tweet read:

It would be recalled that Criss Waddle launched a verbal attack on Shatta Wale and his loyal SMF fans as he described Shatta as a liar, a pretender, an ingrate and a thief.
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!
In a press release, the AU chair said Africas progress depends on the collaborative efforts of all its member states, including civil society, the private sector, religious institutions, academia and the media.

Dlamini-Zuma said these cannot be achieved without strong commitment to pan Africanism as many challenges lies ahead of the continet.

This year's celebration is under the theme: Human Rights with a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women.

According to her, it makes sense to invest in women because it is a guarantee for sustainable peace, stability and cohesion on the continent.

She asked Africans to ask critical, legitimate and tough questions, in order to achieve the organisations vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.
Whilst praising the founders of the Union and also the ingenuity of African leaders who continue to help realise the pan-African dream he also urged them to allow themselves to be reviewed by each other.

He said "our continent has also established the African peer review mechanism and this mechanism should enable us have our own African leaders peer reviewing each other.

This year's celebration is under the theme: Human Rights with a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women.
The Labour Commission had earlier requested that JUSSAG calls off the strike, but that order has been defied by the association.

A statement signed by president of the GBA, Mr. Benson Nutsukpui, said the Bar views this development as unfortunate considering its adverse effect on the administration of justice in Ghana.

The adjudication of cases nationwide has been rendered impossible and all work in our courts has virtually ground to a halt since the commencement of the strike action. The result is that citizens seeking justice in our courts are being deprived of the audience and adjudication that they deserve and have a right to.

The GBA is concerned that the underlying cause of this strike, implementing the consolidation of salaries of JUSAG members, has been long-standing and should have been definitely and conclusively resolved much earlier than now, the GBA noted.

It said The Bar considers as unfortunate, the recurrent situation where such labour matters are not addressed timeously, leading to avoidable industrial actions that cost the nation and its citizens in ways that may never be fully appreciated. It is important that the Government and the National Labour Commission attend to and address such issues with dispatch to avoid such unfortunate consequences.

We specifically entreat the Government to immediately expedite action on all matters relating to the implementation of the consolidation of salaries of staff of the Judicial Service once and for all.

While expressing unalloyed sympathy with the cause of JUSAG, the GBA is concerned about the course of action and the probably unintended, yet grave consequences of the strike action. We, therefore, appeal to the members of JUSAG to resume work, thereby empowering their leaders with the moral authority to conduct any negotiations and pursue their legitimate claims on their behalf, the statement said.
PRESS FREEDOM STATUS: Partly FreeLEGAL ENVIRONMENT: 8 / 30(0=BEST, 30=WORST)POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT: 12 / 40 (2)(0=BEST, 40=WORST)ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: 11 / 30 (1)(0=BEST, 30=WORST)PRESS FREEDOM SCORE: 31 / 100 (3)(0=BEST, 100=WORST)Status change explanation: Ghana's status declined from Free to Partly Free due stepped-up attempts to limit coverage of news events and confiscation of equipment; increases in violence directed at journalists by the police, the military, political party members, and ordinary citizens, including the first murder of a journalist in more than 20 years; and continued electricity outages that impaired media production and distribution.OverviewGhanas reputation as one of the freest media environments in sub-Saharan Africa was tarnished in 2015 by a series of physical attacks against journalists, often by state officials, as well as by intensifying legal and financial pressure on reporters and media outlets.Key Developments In December 2015, Parliament adopted guidelines requiring the operators of public electronic communications or broadcasting services to submit content to a government media commission for approval before dissemination. The failure to do so can result in fines or a jail sentence of up to five years. Two senior judges sued a number of journalists and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) advocacy group for defamation in connection with an expose implicating them and other members of the judiciary in a widespread bribery scandal. Radio journalist George Abanga was shot and killed in September, marking the first murder of a journalist in connection with their work in more than 20 years. Frequent power outages forced media outlets to turn to costly alternative power sources in order to publish or broadcast.Legal Environment: 8 / 30While freedom of the press is legally guaranteed, protections for the media have eroded under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama. In December 2015, Parliament approved content standards regulations that compel operators of public electronic communications or broadcasting services to obtain authorisation from the National Media Commission (NMC) before the content is disseminated. Violations can result in fines or a jail sentence of up to five years. The measures passage prompted concern among media freedom advocates that authorities were effectively reintroducing criminal penalties for journalistic activity.Criminal libel and sedition laws were repealed in 2001, but the publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace remains a misdemeanor under Ghanas criminal code. Current and former public officials, as well as private citizens, sometimes pursue civil libel suits with exorbitant compensation requests against journalists and media outlets.In September 2015, a High Court judge, Justice Paul Uuter Dery, sued prominent investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas, three other journalists, and the executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) advocacy group for contempt of court in connection with an expose Anas had produced over a period of two years that implicated Dery and more than 30 other judges, as well as over 100 judicial service staff, in a widespread bribery scandala story that had a major impact on Ghanas political and judicial systems. Dery also sought an injunction against a video Anas had produced that featured footage of the alleged bribe-taking. In November, Gilbert Ayisi Addo, another High Court judge implicated in the scandal, sued nine parties including journalists, media outlets, and the MFWA for defamation in connection with the public screening of the video, and is seeking heavy damages. The cases were pending at the years end.The 1992 constitution provides for freedom of information, but there is no legislation to implement this guarantee. After more than 10 years of consultation between lawmakers and civil society organisations, a draft right to information bill went through a second reading in Parliament in 2015; it had not been passed at the years end. Observers praised the draft bill for its robust provisions, many of which were inserted following pressure from civil society groups in Ghana.In February 2015, the National Communications Authority awarded Afriwave Telecom a contract to establish a single clearinghouse through which all voice and data communications would pass. Civil society activists expressed concern that its establishment could permit government monitoring of phone calls, text messages, e-mail, and other communications, and could introduce the possibility of a large-scale telecommunications shutdown for political reasons. They also said it could prompt an overall increase in the cost of telecommunications services for consumers.Political Environment: 12 / 40 (2)While the constitution protects the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) from government interference, political parties attempt to influence coverage. Private media face editorial pressure from their owners, particularly those with political connections. Mahama has called for increased regulation of the media in order to avoid the spread of false information that could damage the countrys international reputation, and, citing increasing partisanship, has called for radio stations to invite fewer political party representatives to their talk shows.The constitution prohibits censorship, but Parliaments approval of new content regulations for broadcasters in December 2015 has raised concerns about the issue. Additionally, in August the Ministry of Communications Information Services Department (ISD) issued guidelines requiring that ISD officials accompany foreign media workers when filming, and that they submit final newsreels to the ISD before they are aired publicly. Journalists who refuse to accept the conditions will be denied permission to work in Ghana.Journalists faced an increased risk of physical attacks while performing their jobs in 2015, from government and military officials, the police, and members of the public. Such attacks typically went unpunished. In February, police officers attacked reporters who were trying to film a dispute between the police and a motorist. An official investigation was promised but no results had been issued at the years end. In May, military officers attacked Michael Creg Afful of the private radio station Oman FM while he was photographing a construction site being developed by a firm owned by the presidents brother, who was on the scene at time. The officers also seized Affuls phone and deleted photographs he had taken. The same month, supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party attacked a Starr FM journalist who was attempting to interview them at a meeting. In June, residents attacked journalists from multiple outlets who were covering a demonstration against the demolition of homes in Accras Old Fadama neighbourhood; police failed to protect reporters during the incident.In September, Stan Dogbe, a top aide to Mahama, assaulted and smashed the tape recorder of a GBC journalist he had accused of eavesdropping; the incident took place at a hospital where members of the presidential press corps were being treated following a car accident. The GBC declined to file a police report, treating the case as an internal matter. Subsequently, the MFWA and 155 journalists jointly petitioned Mahama to sanction his aide, but they did not receive a response from the president by years end.In September, George Abanga, a reporter with the radio stations Success FM and Peace FM, was shot dead in the western Brong Ahafo region by unknown assailants as he was returning from covering a dispute between cocoa farmers. According to local reports, his killing was likely related either to his coverage of defections from the ruling National Democratic Congress party, or to his coverage of the theft of fertiliser from cocoa farmers in the region. His death represented the first time a journalist had been murdered in Ghana in over 20 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.Economic Environment: 11 / 30 (1)Ghana has a total of 58 authorised television operators and 390 FM radio stations, of which 37 are state-owned, 273 are private, 63 are community-owned, and 17 are operated by universities. Dozens of newspapers, including two state-owned and two private dailies, publish regularly. Use of the internet is growing, but penetration remains low, at approximately 19 percent in 2014. Blogging and social networking have increased in urban centers.Economic sustainability is a challenge for Ghanas media. The GBC receives inadequate funding from the government and must sell advertising to support operations, which leaves the outlet dependent on the large corporations that can afford its rates. Meanwhile, electricity fluctuations, known as dumsor, had adverse effects on media houses in 2015, forcing them to turn to costly alternative power sources in order to publish or broadcast. Journalists are poorly paid, and many are willing to accept money in exchange for covering particular events. In April, Mahamas chief of staff came under criticism for giving between 500 and 1,000 cedis ($130 and $260) to prominent journalists he had invited to a meeting, including some known for criticism of the government. Most reportedly accepted the money.
Can you believe that those of us, we dont even regard ourselves as Nkrumaists. Those who call themselves Nkrumaists are the worst offenders; criminals. From Mills till now, not even one single policy resembles anything Nkrumah stood for or believed in.

We did everything possible to lift up this country and thats why people kept wishing we were back. But as soon as we handed over; the guy [former president Mills] turned the wheels one 180 degrees. Some of the most outrageous things were happening. I remember trying to tell Mills and giving him details about some of the issues but it surprised me though that for a brilliant man like him, [Mills] he couldnt see, Former president Rawlings said.

He made this known while addressing a delegation from the Association of Cuban Trained Ghanaian Professionals at his residence on Tuesday.

According to him, Ghana has strong institutions but lack competent leaders to manage those institutions, a situation he believes has affected the success of this country..

Defending his 1979 coup, Former president Rawlings said You know we did our bit from the 80s. In 1979, we had no choice; people were angry and it was a time of rage. We had to handover but then we had to come back again in 81 or 82. We could have stayed on for another eight or sixteen just to work to consolidate situations very well and proper.

And I made a suggestion to my colleagues that considering that people are becoming saturated with us or with me, let me let Justice Annan takeover and I can be his number 2 or step aside.

He can serve four years or eight years then I could come back; and that will be sixteen years of consolidation because what we had noticed was that his characters will destroy anything and everything so lets not allow it.

Some of my comrades said no and that its never been done before. Is that not what Putin did recently? We would have been the first to do it here.
The Independent reports that Wednesday mornings raid was the second time Googles Paris headquarters had been searched, the first being in June 2011.

READ MORE: Scratch Blocks Google and MIT create a programming language for children

Analysts say the current tax impasse appears to be an isolated case as there has been no such reports in other Google European offices in Ireland.

It is also believed that the European Unions new resolve to strictly police the tax compliance of multinational companies operating in the region, to ensure that their taxes are being paid to member countries and not their home countries, strongly instigated Googles raid.

Google said: We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions, according to Independent.co.uk.
A good example of this is how people scolded upcoming actress

Some people arent thinking right sha.... u got beaten and u posted pics online,brothers nd sisters fight. bla bla bla... its a family issue not a social media thing,u are blowing tins out of proportion!!! oh really? i dont see it that way am sorry. its because of dumb silences we have so many manics roaming the streets causing harm to other peoples kids. Violence starts in a day but the way u handle it determines if it stops. if i had died,it wld av been a differnt story circulating based on family coding and some1 elses daughter becomes the next victim. this is my own way of discipline. disgrace him openly nd let him know its unacceptable. at least i didnt get him arrested nd i ddnt give up his identity and detailed info on what led to the brutal attack cos its all based on parental favoritism and religious fanaticism. if disgracing myslf and my family by speaking out against this will make my brother a better man and save a life in future and also create awareness against sibling abuse which has led to grievous regrettable circumstances in most homes then am not sorry wrote the actress in her defense.

This mentality of sweeping it under the rug is what prevails in Nigerias celebrity circles. There have been numerous stories of Nigerian male celebrities beating up their spouses with incriminating evidence yet nothing was done about it.

Years ago K Solo was accused by his wife of domestic violence with photos to support her claims. After the initial raising of dust nothing was done. No investigation from the police and no backlash from the music community. Today K Solo is still making beats and has not been taken to task for what happened in his marriage.

Nigerian rap veteran Zaaki Azzay was reported to be in a violent marriage. His wife made claims that she was regularly battered by the rapper. Nothing has been done these claims till today.

This attitude towards domestic violence is in contrast to what we have in other parts of the world. Chris Brown was treated like a pariah after beating up Rihanna. Even in the case of rape, celebrities have stayed away from Bill Cosby over rape charges.

We as a society and celebrities included need to start taking domestic violence issues very seriously. Investigations must be made and questions must be asked.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The woman who had rescued the baby, Kachit Krongyut, 53, reportedly disclosed that she had been taking her six cows to grave in the field where the baby had been buried when she had heard voices.

Upon her arrival at the spot where the child had been buried, Kachit had noticed a freshly dug up section of the field which she had proceeded to dig up only to find a baby's foot.

Kachit had then screamed for help from her family who had helped her rescue the baby and then had him transferred to the hospital.

Speaking with bangkok.coconuts.co, Kachit said:

"At first, I thought someone had buried their pet alive, but then I saw a foot.

"I tried to control myself and called for help. The baby was buried with its face facing down."

Kachit's husband, Pornchai, who had reportedly helped with rescuing the baby also disclosed that he had noticed footprints and heard a motorbike close to the scene of the discovery, and informed police, who are now reported to be trying to track down its parents.
The trio were reportedly killed after Tep Phal, 73, had been using the 105mm shell sticking out of the ground, as a makeshift workbench at his home in Preah Sdech district, Prey Veng province, Cambodia, on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

Tep Phal had been using the flat bottom of the shell as a work surface to beat a small piece of metal in shape with an ax.

The Provincial chief of police, Mr Sreng Chea, disclosed that Tep Phal had been preparing the metal piece as cap for a wood stake he had planned to use in tethering his cows.

Speaking on the sad incident, Mr Chea further disclosed:

"According to relatives and villagers, he had it since the 1980s and always used it as a surface to hit things, but it never exploded."

When the shell had finally exploded on that fateful day at about 11:30 a.m., it had instantly killed Tep Pha and the two children identified as, Phal Nary, 12, and her brother, Phal Dara, 9.

Mr Chea adds:

"I think maybe he did not think it could explode. Its very shocking because the family lost three members at once."

Mr Chea also said that the authorities had often informed locals about the dangers of these decades old artilleries, revealing that it had been a long time since such an explosion had claimed a life in the province.

Romcheck commune chief, Pheung Ry, said:

"When it exploded, his wife was in the house, but his two grandchildren were playing near him, so they were killed along with their grandfather."

Mr. Ry revealed that he often saw the shell at Tep Phals house but had no idea that the old man was using it as a workbench, adding that Tep Phal who had been a teacher, should have known better.

"Previously, CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center] officials had educated villagers in my commune, but he kept it in secret.

I think he thought it would not explode."

The bodies are reported to have been cremated, as the government has now advised villagers to report any case where an artillery is uncovered, but not to touch it themselves.

The country remains littered with old mines, bombs and rockets across, with little or nothing to be done to get rid of them.
Reports say about 300m from the stolen funds, was stashed away in an autonomous British territory, Jersey.

The Bailiff of Jersey, Mr Micheal Birt, had earlier promised to release 315m, after initially repatriating 140m in 2014.

Onyeama said Often times, what happens is that the people who claim to have ownership will come up with a challenge. For instance, the one in Jersey is about 300m. Everything had been done to repatriate the money; it was no longer contested and then at the last minute, it was contested by the people who were supposed to forfeit the funds.

So of course, the authorities in Jersey had to oblige. As much as they would have liked to just go ahead to repatriate it, they had to go through some legal procedures because that party will have their lawyers and then we will have to start going through legal issues all over again. So, that is the challenge.

The minister said this on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at a press conference held to mark 365 days of President Buhari in office.
The MoU, which was signed at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House, Ikeja, is expected to cost N844 billion in a Public Private Partnership initiative and would be completed in three years.

According to the Governor, the 4th Mainland Bridge, has become necessary following the phenomenal growth of the State with a population of over 21 million people, which has in turn increased commercial activities and traffic gridlock.

This has made it imperative for us to have a 4th Mainland Bridge that will serve as an alternative route to the Eastern axis and decongest traffic in the State, Ambode said in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna.

More importantly this bridge will provide the required transportation compliment to the rapidly growing industrial activities on the Eti-Osa  Lekki  Epe corridor of the State.

Ambode said the proposed alignment of the Bridge will pass through Lekki, Langbasa and Baiyeiku towns along the shoreline of the Lagos Lagoon estuaries, further running through Igbogbo River Basin and crossing the Lagos Lagoon estuaries to Itamaga Area in Ikorodu.

The alignment will also cross through the Itoikin road and the Ikorodu  Sagamu Road to connect Isawo inward Lagos Ibadan Expressway at Ojodu Berger axis.

This structure will be a Four-lane dual carriageway with each comprising three lanes and two metres hard shoulder on each side. The bridge will be constructed to have a generous median to allow for both future carriageway expansion and light rail facility. There is no gainsaying the fact that huge benefits will be derived from this project but most importantly, make life more comfortable for Lagosians.

The Bridge would also accommodate three Toll Plazas which are still being tested from financial point of view and it would serve as a major boost to the actualisation of the Lekki Master Plan, the Governor said.

Ambode said this is the first time in the history of the state that government will be embarking on the construction of a long-span bridge and expressway without Federal funding, as the project is to be solely funded by the private sector.

The Bridge, among others would accommodate cyclists and pedestrians and feature two service areas as well as additional pedestrian crossing.
The three-man panel of the court led by Abdul Aboki,agreed with the lower court's decision, sayingKanu's bail refusal was right considering the nature and the circumstances of his case.The lower court has the power to exercise its discretion on the matter and the exercise of such discretion by the trial judge did not amount to denial of fair hearing to the defendants. the court held.

The issues are resolved against the appellants. Ruling of the trial court is hereby upheld, the court held on Wednesday, May 25.

Kanus lead counsel, Chuks Muoma (SAN), had filed an appeal challenging the ruling of the high court.

He had argued that the lower court was wrong to deny his client bail.
For the past four out of the seven years of the Boko Haram crises, we hardly celebrate marriages. We are now happy that now, some of us are now celebrating their marriages, a resident of Maiduguri, Mala Usman said.

This wedding took place in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Apart from underscoring the return of peace in the city, the wedding showed coming together of two interesting cultures - Alganba and the Shua Arab people of Maiduguri.

The Alganbas are migrants from Niger Republic who are mainly hired as domestic workers by wealthy residents.
According to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, the President's spokesman on Wednesday, May 25, Buhari stated this in his farewell message to the outgoing Iranian ambassador, Saeed Koozechi.

We made a terrible mistake by becoming a mono-product economy hinged on oil and we are now in a volatile situation, due to the crash in oil prices, he said.

We have seen the benefits of diversification which helped Iran to survive many years of sanctions and still come out strong. We are now fully committed to economic diversification.

Most of the things on our import bills can be produced here. And we are determined to achieve that self-dependency, the President said.

At a separate audience with the outgoing Chinese ambassador, Gu Xiaojie, Buhari gave an assurance that the federal government would strive to meet its obligations under bilateral agreements with China for the development of critical infrastructure in Nigeria.

He said the administration would uphold contractual agreements with Chinese companies for the development of essential infrastructure which it inherited from past administrations, saying the projects would be speedily completed.

The President also stressed his commitment to the completion of the Mambilla Power Project which, he said, is of great strategic importance to his governments efforts to ensure that Nigeria does not become over-reliant on gas-powered electricity generation.

----------------------------------------------
The $115 million bribe was distributed through Fidelity Bank to politicians to secure the victory of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.

It was reported that Sterling Bank and Access Bank refunded N5 billion and $5 million (N1 billion) respectively, being part of the looted funds.

The EFCC also reportedly recovered N17 million from former Secretary to the Government of Bauchi State, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Dandija, and two others from the state.

Report said Fidelity Bank also refunded N49 million, which is said to be the profit the bank made for helping Alison-Madueke to share the $115 million to designated people in the country.

This puts the aggregate of the recovered funds at N6.66 billion while N16.64billion is yet to be recovered.

The former minister gave the $115 million to Fidelity Bank for onward distribution to some officials of the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members across the country.

Alison-Madueke was reported to have sourced $88 million from some oil companies while she contributed N26 million.
Governor Fayose told hunters in Oke Ako  Ekiti state to defend themselves if attacked by Fulani herdsmen.

He also said anyone who desires to rear cattle in the state should get a ranch.

The Governor promised to make sure that the state House of Assembly passes a law that will ban grazing.

Yoruba socio-cultural group, undefinedfor taking what it called a bold step.

Another group from the South-East, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has praised Fayose for his courage.

IPOB also asked Governors in the South-East to also emulate the Ekiti state Governor, so the Fulani herdsmen menace can be nipped in the bud.

Fayose blamed President Buhari, who he referred to as the patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, for not calling his people to order.
This is coming after the union called off its indefinite strike action on Sunday, May 22, 2016, after a meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Deputy Director, (Press), Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Samuel Olowookere, in a statement said The negotiation between the Federal Government and Comrade Ayuba Wabba-led NLC will reconvene tomorrow (today) by 2:00 pm and the venue is the conference hall of Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The Federal Government had also reached an agreement with the Joe Ajaero-led faction of NLC.

The minister of labour, Chris Ngige, later said the government would not continue with the negotiations if the strike was not called off.

The labour union decided to embark on a nationwide strike action, following the increase of the pump price of fuel to N145.

The Federal Government announced the increase on Wednesday, May 11, 2016.
Governor Fayose, on Monday, May 23, 2016, banned grazing and cattle rearing in Ekiti state, following attacks on Oke Ako community in Ikole Local Government Area of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

Punch reports that the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communication and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, in a radio interview, quoted Governor Fayose saying The people are angry because the person elected to secure their lives is keeping quiet and taking side with these Fulani criminals, I dont want to call them herdsmen. Herdsmen to my mind do not carry Ak-47.

These people are another version of Boko Haram that should be tackled headlong. We saw the Agatu killings and we dont need to wait till they kill over 400 people before we act. That was why we took this step (banning cattle grazing) in Ekiti. I want to believe other governors will emulate this.

undefinedfor taking what it called a bold step to ban cattle rearing and grazing in the state.

Also, another group from the South-East, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has praised Fayose for his courage.
Onyeama announced this in Abuja on Tuesday at a news conference to mark one year of President Mohammadu Buharis Administration.

The minister, who did not disclose the names of the countries making up the bloc, noted with concern that trading among African countries had been very low.

"Africa is the centrepiece of our foreign policy but it is a paradox that as a Nigerian, you cannot go to an African country without a visa unlike what is obtainable in Western Europe.

"To address this as a leader in the continent, the country is at a point of introducing an initiative to promote African trade as part of the country's foreign policy of Africa as the centrepiece, he said.

Onyeama said Nigeria was trying to come up with an initiative, like the one in Western Europe where one could enter any sister country without a visa.

According to him, what we are trying to do at the ministry is to promote visa-free, free movement of business people.

"We want to start with about eight countries or see if they come up as a group of eight countries. At the presidential level, they agreed to that, and signed up to free movement.

"If we can achieve that within a year, then other countries may want to join and we believe this is a better way to go than institutional etc, as countries take so long to ratify agreements.

"We believe we can just start off, eight countries and they agree among themselves, then others will come in," he said.

Onyeama also added that it would not help if the continent continued to export just raw materials to developed nations.

He said the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was working towards enhancing doing business with ease in Nigeria.

Onyeama said the ministry was working with the immigration to see rise in the number of visa issued to businessmen and investors

"It is one of the cardinal strategies for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to facilitate investors doing business in Nigeria", he said.
This is following an extensive negotiation meeting involving the state government, NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which was held on Monday, May 23, 2016.

The workers, who were protesting the non-payment of their salaries since January 2016, vowed not to end the strike until the government paid them.

Punch reports that the workers and the government reached the following resolutions: Labour has accepted the position of the state government to pay 50 per cent of monthly salaries to workers effective from February 2016 and expects the government to effect full payment of workers salaries as soon as the allocation from the federal account accruing to the state improves.

Labour equally states clearly that the 50 per cent of salaries payable to workers is not a downward review of workers salaries. That is to say, that the outstanding 50 per cent shall be paid as soon as the federal allocation to the state improves to complete the monthly salaries of workers.

That in line with the ongoing payment of January 2016 salaries to workers, the government should facilitate the process of payment of salaries to the outstanding MDAs and parastatals, including pensioners without further delays.

That a monthly meeting should be scheduled between labour and government in order to have a joint review of the economic recovery of the state.

The state Governor, undefinedthe striking workers.
This was disclosed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Acting Commissioner of Police, ACP Olabisi Kolawole, in Abuja on Wednesday, May 25.

The Nigeria police force in its renewed determination to rid the society of crimes and all forms of criminality has arrested five of the suspects involved in the midnight raid on Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local government area of Enugu state on 25/04/2016, Kolawole said in a statement.

Operatives of the IGPs Intelligence Response Team (IRT) based on credible technical intelligence swooped on them. The IGPs IRT, based on the intelligence gathered on the attack, arrested the following suspects viz: Mohammed Zurai, Ciroma Musa, Sale Adamu, Suleiman Laute and Haruna Laute, and recovered one Gionee L88 mobile phone with memory card containing the video recording of the massacre in the community.

She also said that on May 6, the police intercepted a 3-man syndicate of deadly bank robbers/kidnappers and recovered arms, ammunition, dynamites and rifle servicing tools from them.

The statement said the gang members had been terrorising Rivers, Imo and Enugu States, respectively.

According to the statement, items recovered from them include 3 AK-47 rifles; 1 LAR rifle; 310 rounds of live ammunition; 12 rifle magazines; rifle servicing tools; cache of dynamite explosive; 1 Toyota Highlander Jeep; 1 Toyota Venza jeep; and 1Ford Edge Jeep.
He was abducted and subsequently killed by unknown gunmen on the night of Saturday, March 26, along Kamazo - Kaduna Refinery Road, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Speaking today Wednesday, May 25, 2016, as part of activities marking the one year anniversary of Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Elrufai, the head of Opretaion Yaki, Col. Yakubu Soja (Rtd.), said the abduction and subsequent killing of Inusa is not connected to kidnapping but a case of assassination.

"The killing of the Colonel is not kidnapping," Soja said, adding that Kaduna is the best state in Northern Nigeria when it comes to security."

"There is no security crisis in Kaduna because you can drive from morning to night without problem. You can drive from Zaria to Zonkwa without problem because Kaduna is safer when compare to all Northern Nigeria states," Soja added.

He said traditional rulers are now unlike before, involved in the fight against crimes.
The judgment was reached by presiding judge, Justice Okon Abang today, May 25, 2016.

According to Justice Abang, the court lacks the jurisdiction to grant the application because of an existing order instructing Metuh to deposit his passport with the chief registrar of the high court.

He also said that the depositing of the passport was one of the requirements of Metuhs bail.

This is not a case of sympathy, but a case of law. This court has no jurisdiction to entertain this application, Abang said according to The Cable.

The court is not Father Christmas to give to the defendant what it did not ask for. The application lacks merit. It is accordingly dismissed. The court cannot set aside its decision, he added.

Metuh had made the application to travel after an associate claimed that he was suffering from diabetes, arthritis and hypertension.

The former PDP spokesman is facing charges of money laundering to the tune of N400 million.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Buratai stated this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday, May 23, after the inauguration of soldiers accommodation and 500 KVA generator, donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) described the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, as criminals.

Whatever these criminals (Niger Delta Avengers) are doing is a criminal act. We will deal with them accordingly," he said.

We are looking at all the areas that we should address and we are doing that, including the criminals in the name of Niger Delta Avengers. They are not avenging anything. They are criminals.

Nobody has offended them. They have their own criminal intentions and we will deal with them accordingly.

They have been attacking our troops locations and killing our soldiers. We will not tolerate that. We will deal with them accordingly, according to the law.

We will look for them wherever they are. That is how we will treat them. They are not agitating for any enclave or any state.

They are just committing criminal acts. That is how we see it.
This is contained in a statement signed by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, in Abuja.

The statement said NAF was zealous about optimising indigenous capacity and willing to expand existing frontier of collaboration with research institutions in the country that possessed the potential to enhance its operations.

The statement said it could be achieved by leveraging on the existing partnership with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

"The possible areas of collaboration, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar noted, include: extending the range of rocket release beyond 1.5 km for Mi-35 helicopters and development of guided munitions.

"As well as weapon delivery capacity for own made Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), it said.
Ezekwesili , who is also the co-convener of the BBOG campaign, said the country is suffering from a leadership crisis.

The former World Bank executive said We have serious leadership crisis, even having an excellent president, it is not sufficient. At the end of the day, you can buy competence, capacity but you cant buy character. A nation cannot buy character. Character is the foundation in which competence and capacity can deliver result."

Adding that At every point in time, we must weigh ourselves. We try to live a life of character. When we started this advocacy, I said that if we take money, we will run into crises. I said that we must put everything where our conviction lies and it has worked for us. Members have sacrificed a lot, their money, time, talent and other things. Thats character. Life is not all about doing something to gain something.

We should always have the mind set that if only God need is one person to change the country, let the one person be you. May we never be found wanting when it comes to character."

She has been at the forefront of the campaign for the return of the Chibok girls who were kidnapped in their school by Boko Haram members.
On why Metuh was not present at the continuation of his trial on Tuesday, his counsel, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), told the presiding judge, Justice Okon Abang that his client is on bed rest at the National Hospital, Abuja, on doctor's orders.

Ikpeazu then presented to the judge a medical report signed by a neurosurgeon consultant at the National Hospital, Dr. O.O Olaleye, confirming that Metuh is on a bed rest at the hospital.

On this basis, the lawyer sought an adjournment of the case contending that the situation in section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, in which the judge is allowed to proceed with a criminal trial without the defendant present in court, had not arisen.

The provision of the law provides that the court may proceed with a criminal trial if a defendant already granted bail is absent from court in violation of a court order or in the absence of any good reason for the absence of the defendant.

But while acknowledging that Metuh indeed has a good reason to be absent from court, Justice Abang said that the medical report failed to indicate the period which the rest would last, which, he said, cast a shadow of doubt on its credibility.

He ruled: "I have considered section 352(4) and 266(a) and (b) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act cited by counsel.

I think the first defendant has good reason to be absent from court today.

The medical report is not really helpful to the court as to the period he will be on the bed rest.

As an expert, the medical doctor ought to have provided the period in his medical report which the first defendant would have had an adequate and sufficient bed rest.

I have been wondering if this omission was in good or bad faith because it is expected of a medical doctor to have stated the period of the bed rest. It cannot be hanging in the air.

Justice Abang however ruled that since the medical report is not sufficient the court is enjoined to be guided by section 396(5) of ACJ act.

In the light of this, this matter is adjourned till May 30 without fail for the continuation of the evidence-in-chief of the fifth defence witness.
He said We encountered challenges; were we expecting to encounter those challenges? yes; did we think that we will meet the quantum or volume of those challenges?

We didnt anticipate that things were this bad. We thought you go to government and there would be money for you to run government and others.

The minister said this while fielding question from newsmen on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

Amaechi also said Now you have the situation where there is no money to run government. I hate to use the word difficult; I hate to use the word impossible but we met things close to difficult and impossibility.

That is why Nigerians are impatient; they want to see results and for them, change is not about change in structure, it is about change in their pocket.

Because their pocket is getting dried and they wanted us to put some more resources in their pocket.

Because of the structural changes that we want to put in place is not getting all that they want to get.

What I usually say to people is that we beg you to give us time; we will achieve our objective if you give us time and we will both thank God for that opportunity.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently accused Rotimi Amaechi of pushing for the declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
The witness said that an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that Saraki did not declare a property he bought in 1993 during his assets declaration of 2003.

But when Sarakis lawyer, Paul Usoro (SAN), asked the Wetkas to verify exhibit 20, a letter by the EFCC asking the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) for information on the property Saraki did not declare, he admitted that the commission tendered an incomplete evidence.

I believe that in the course of administrative work and numbering some parts went missing, the witness said.

Usoro further stated that Saraki, in an attempt to ensure transparency in his transactions, gave the power of attorney, that is - the authority to act for another person in a specified or all legal or financial matters - to both Akao and Allied Properties.

In his testimony, the witness also stated that according to Exhibit 125 and 126, the original Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and all other supporting documents of the Maitama property in question, were in the name of David Baba Akao.
The disease is responsible for the destruction of many tomato fields, leading to a scarcity of the vegetable.

The disclosure was made by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

The pest can also attack even pepper and Irish potato. So we are confronting something quite serious. But the good thing is that we are tackling it right now as experts will commence work immediately, Ogbeh said.

We are bringing the commissioners and governors of states to jointly attack this pest, which, if not dealt with, will create serious problems for food security in our country.

We have called in experts and we have studied the profile of what we have to do with the pest. Unfortunately, ordinary pesticides cannot deal with this `tuta absoluta because it has a way of multiplying so fast. It produces almost 250 offspring per cycle; we are in contact with a group which had dealt with this in other countries and they are offering us solutions.

In the next few days we shall get to work on this and begin treatment. It is going to be quite expensive as it will cost about five naira per tomato plant, he added.

The affected states are Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau and Lagos.

---------------------------------------------------------
As the rumours continue to circulate that, lots of names have popped up as potential replacement, and the Internet really want Anderson as the next and first female James Bond.

ALSO READ: undefined

The actress tweeted a mock-up poster of herself as 007 as created by a fan. Following her tweet, fans jumped on the idea of her as a female 007.

Check out some Twitter reactions to Anderson as a potential Bond in 2017.

ALSO READ: undefined

In 2015, Craig revealed that he would rather slash his wrist than take up another Bond movie.

Who do you think should be the next Bond?
"On my last visit to Warri I wrote an article on my blog on , now I'm adding the 7th reason. You will have to watch this vlog to find out what it is!" she wrote.
The duo will clash in a sizzling on-screen confrontation in front of millions of TV viewers across Africa, dissing each other in comic mockery.

After lip syncing (or miming) to two songs of their choice, just one of them will lift the Lip Sync Battle trophy.

ALSO READ: undefined

Commenting on her appearance in the upcoming episode, Funke Akindele said, Im sure people will be expecting to see a lot of Jenifa inspired dance moves, but I have a lot more in store for my fans. Im going to have fun bringing some real Nigerian flavour to the stage, and showing Joselyn Dumas that Nigerians are not just better at Jollof.

Responding, Dumas said I was highly elated; when I found out I was going to be on Lip Sync Battle Africa and going up against Funke Akindele has proven to be exciting and scary at the same time. We all know how energetic Funke can be.

ALSO READ:

The African version of the global TV hit, Lip Sync Battle Africa is hosted by South African actress and TV presenter Pearl Thusi, alongside Nigerian superstar,

Episode five of Lip Sync Battle Africa airs on on Saturday, May 28, at 18:00 WAT.
The Lagos PDP made the allegation via a statement released by its Publicity Secretary, Taofiq Gani, Daily Trust reports.

According to the PDP, the preparation for Buharis visit was a fraud and another expose that the APC is too haphazard in governance, hence the total disconnect between the state governor and the Presidency, thereby causing the state not to know that the president had changed his mind on visiting the state.

We demand that the over N3.2bn claimed to have been spent to welcome the president to Lagos must be accounted for. The beneficiaries of the contracts and the costs of the contracts involved in the ceremonies must be made public for Lagosians to know. This is needless waste of public funds, the statement added.

However, the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Joe Igbokwe dismissed the claim saying that the PDP is not to be taken seriously.

Let them wait until they take over leadership in Lagos; until they win election in Lagos and sit in Alausa, then they can decide on what to do. Ambode is hitting every corner of Lagos, working hard in every corner of the state; they dont know what to do. Whats their business if he spent N20bn? Lagos is working, everything is working, he said.

Buhari was scheduled to visit Lagos on May 23 but was eventually represented by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

--------------------------------------------------
Buhari was sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2015.

Fayose, who is one of the most unrelenting critics of the present administration, said with the recent hike in fuel price, the Federal Government is indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax on each litre of petrol from the Nigerian masses.

Despite his electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it, President Muhammadu Buhari increased the price to N145! With this increment, Buhari has further impoverished Nigerians," Fayose said.

Nigerians should be reminded that on April 14, 2015, President Buharis ally and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Tam David-West, told Nigerians that Gen. Mohammed Buhari (who was then President-elect), will reduce the fuel pump price from N87 to N40 per litre. Buhari did not debunk this statement made by his friend and major supporter.

Also, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan reduced the petrol pump price from N97 to N87 per litre in January 2015, former Lagos State Governor who is now Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola said N10 reduction of the petrol pump price was too low and that Nigerians will get a better deal under Buhari. Fashola tweeted on January 18, 2015; On PMS price reduction by N10. Now they listen. Oil the raw material drop over 50%, N10 is just about 10%. Good try but Nija can get a beta deal.

In rewarding Nigerians for electing him as president, President Buhari opted to increase petrol pump price by N58.50!

The first justification of the increment was removal of subsidy. But Nigerians were later stunned when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo said pump price of petrol was increased because Nigeria was broke!

In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

Simply put, the Federal Government is indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy. Buhari is no doubt acting like the proverbial Agbalowomeri Baale Jontolo (A king that exploit his extremely poor subject to further enrich himself)",the Governor said.

Fayose further stated: It is on record that on May 2 this year, the federal government, in the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Template released in Abuja, told Nigerians that it was subsidising petrol at N12.62 per litre.

In 2012 when the Dr Jonathan removed fuel subsidy and increased petrol price to N141 per litre, crude oil was selling at $111 per barrel.

If not wickedness, how can petrol price be increased to N145 per litre when crude oil is now selling at $49 per barrel?

Increasing petrol pump price by N58.50 when the federal government claimed it was subsidising the product at N12.62 per litre is clear wickedness on the part of President Buhari.

In the history of Nigeria, increase in price of petrol has never been as high as it was done by Buhari, putting Nigerians in severe hardship as the product affects every sector of the economy.

Too bad, those who opposed removal of fuel subsidy in 2012 and funded the Occupy Nigeria protest are the ones canvassing support for this Buharis wicked one year anniversary gift to Nigerians.

The labour unions are now completely cowed, dashing completely hope of the common people of Nigeria.

Interestingly, this is not the first election promise by APC/Buhari that have been jettisoned since they got into office. The N5,000 unemployment benefits promised the downtrodden was derisively put down by this President as largesse with the president spurning the emotional plea of his own wife to the contrary. To add salt and insult unto injury, he traveled abroad to make the statement.

Despite the mindless and indefensible hike in fuel price, the commodity is still not available. Minister of state for Petroleum says there is no forex to pay for fuel import; yet there is forex to indulge Buharis foreign-trip profligacy.

Presidential spin doctors and APC chieftains labouring to hoodwink the people speak glibly of how so-called deregulation will make products available, reduce cost through competition and the interplay of market forces as well as encourage private sector to build more refineries. But thank God who loves Nigerians so much, the lies of these people was by divine arrangement, I suppose, revealed by no less a person than the junior minister Ibe Kachikwu himself when he said importation of fuel continues till 2019.

Nigerians should be reminded that the manner of hardship being faced now was also faced during Buharis first coming as a military dictator when people had to queue for essential commodities. Now, Nigerians cant even afford common tomato to prepare soup.

So Nigerians you have heard the truth: Under Buhari/APC, it is almost certain that our suffering will continue till 2019."
Gana and other aggrieved party leaders had organized a separate national convention on Saturday, May 21, in Abuja, while another convention was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where Sheriff was removed and an interim leadership installed.

In an interview with Vanguard, the former minister said the key objectives of the faction, which was to remove Sheriff's leadership, has been achieved.

"We wanted a leadership that is credible, a leadership that will emerge through a constitutional process," he said.

"They realised that some of the congresses were not done properly, they also realised that the processes of zoning were not acceptable and that the process of putting the former chairman was not acceptable and so, a lot of very important decisions have been taken which are in the overall interest of the progress of both our party and believe me, even of the nation.

"The convention has been postponed, there will be a proper convention and in the interim we have both the Board of Trustees and the National Caretaker Committee and I believe that they will work together and we will also cooperate with them to redirect the party, sanitise the party and ensure that we have a strong united and vibrant party. That is what we want."

On whether he would support the interim leadership of the party led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Gana said his faction will work with the new committee but said some of the people who fought for the change should have been part of the interim officers.

"Makarfi was part of us. Where we were (at Abuja Convention ground), we were being consulted on a regular basis by some of the leaders who were in Port-Harcourt. To be fair to them, they were phoning us, through the chairman of the Governors Forum. We were in consultation," he said.
Precisely eight out of the 12 members of the former NWC including the former Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; Deputy National Secretary, Mr. Onwe Solomon; National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwon and the National Woman Leader, Dr. Kema Chikwe.

Others are National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, National Youth Leader, Abdullahi Maibasira; National Financial Secretary, Bolaji Anani and the National Treasurer, Alhaji Buhari Bala.

In a statement the eight of them jointly signed, they said they have accepted the outcome of the partys national convention held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which dissolved their committee.

According to them, they resolved to support the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee to steer the affairs of the party.

The National caretaker committee constituted by the national convention on May 21, 2016, is fully within the powers of the national convention under section 33 (5) (e) of the partys constitution," the statement said.

We recognise the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee of the PDP and offer the committee all our support and cooperation.

As responsible and honourable party members who have had the privilege of serving the party at the highest level, we dont support and are not party to any suit, action or activity seeking to challenge the decisions of the national convention in appointing the national caretaker committee or dissolving the former NWC, which had, at any rate, earlier agreed to go.

In the absence of the then national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the then deputy national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, presided over the convention in accordance with section 33 (1) (a), 35 (3) (b) of the constitution of the party.

However, the trio of the ousted PDP National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, the National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, and the National Auditor, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju have dragged the party to court, contesting their removal from office.

It is however not clear why the National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Mustapha Abubakar, did not go along with the Secondus' caucus given that he is from Kaduna State like Makarfi.

------------------------------------------------------
The court granted the interim restraining injunction on Tuesday, May 24.

The court also barred Adewale Oladipo from parading himself as the national secretary of the party.

The two party leaders were removed from office at the PDP national convention held on Saturday, May 21, and a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, was appointed to replace Sheriff.

A Federal High Court in Lagos had earlier on Tuesday nullified Makarfi's appointment, and ordered the reinstatement of Sheriff.

The court in Port Harcourt has however mandated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Makarfi committee in all matters pertaining the conduct of primary elections for political offices and the submission of the PDP List of candidates for any elections to be conducted by INEC pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on notice.

The court also granted a restraining order on all members of the partys National Working Committee from receiving nominations or submitting names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as officers or candidates of the PDP in whatever capacity pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice brought by the party.
The council labelled this act an irresponsible and a global wastage of Niger Delta resources.

The spokesperson of IYC worldwide, Eric Omare, in a statement, said, it is sad and provocative that Mr. Mohammed Indinmi who operates in different parts of the Niger Delta region and has failed woefully in his corporate social responsibility to the host communities could donate such a whopping amount of money to a private institution in far away America whereas the communities and people hosting his company, Oriental Energy wallow in poverty. Mr. Indinmi has no single record of contribution to community development in Nigeria, not even in the terrorist ravaged north east.

We state that the money Mr. Indinmi wasted in far way America is Niger Delta money and the people of the region must work towards recovery all their resources in the form of oil blocks awarded to people like Indinmi."

IYC called on youths of the Niger Delta region to close ranks and work towards addressing the aged  long injustice of past Nigerian Presidents awarding oil blocks to their friends and relatives while the people of the Niger Delta region wallow in poverty.
According to Vanguard, Onyeizu, who is currently a postgraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said that the strategy would require unbundling the downstream sector into 3 strategic modes namely: Downstream-Upstream node, Downstream-Midstream node, and Downstream-Downstream node.

The three-node approach, according to him, is policy-based and would require critical enablers, which include locating new refineries at operational bases of producing companies; collaborating with International oil companies and indigenous producers to operate the refineries while NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) positions itself as a non-operating partner with oversight functions (and) provides 100 per cent funding for the construction of these refineries

The technology component is the user-friendly mobile application Petrol-Solve 1.3, which will provide real time monitoring of fuel volumes and for product distribution network management from the point of vessel loading to end point filling stations," reported the Daily Trust.

Onyeizu said that using this strategy he could solve in 12 months the long-time fuel scarcity problems that have been confronting Nigeria.
The AbsorbPlate is a new invention by an ad agency called BBDO Bangkok, in association with the health board. The normal-looking plate claims to soak up to about 7ml of oil, or an average of 30 calories, from every meal that sits on it.

Mashable reports that the plate is part of the Thai government's efforts to combat the country's obesity problem.

Thai food is generally known to be cooked with very large amounts of oil. A study published by the Thailand Business News last year revealed that Thailand is ranked second in the whole of Southeast Asia for its high obesity rates.

According to Mashable, BBDO Bangkok says the plate has been launched as a trial, and thousands of plates have been given out to local restaurants.

I will definitely want to test out this plate on my dinner table. What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below.
Due to a 2012 ruling of the Oregon Supreme Court, it is difficult to prove 'substantial pain' in child abuse cases, as it is believed that victims can not speak for themselves; making it difficult for police to bring charges against the babysitter.

READ ALSO : 10 times senator inspired Nigerians on twitter

Alicia, the toddler's mother had left him with the babysitter for only two hours back in march, returning to see that the kid had been given a black eye, with bruises on his arm and back.

"It's not fair and I want my son to have justice, and I want everybody else who is dealing with this to be able to come forward and be the voice for the people that need help," said Quinney.

The babysitter admitted to police that he indeed hit Jacob, but he was not arrested, prompting the family to share their frustration on social media, where the pictures of the boy's bruised face quickly got attention.
Haibatullah Akhunzada, a religious scholar who was named in a United Nations report last year as the Taliban's former chief justice, will lead the movement, it said in a statement.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a feared network blamed for many deadly bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, will serve as deputies.

The announcement, following a meeting of the Taliban's main shura, or leadership council, ended days of confusion during which the Taliban declined to confirm the death of Mansour in a drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.

"All the shura members have pledged allegiance to Sheikh Haibatullah in a safe place in Afghanistan," the statement said. "All people are required to obey the new Emir-al-Momineen (commander of the faithful)."

Akhunzada, believed to be around 60 years of age and a member of the powerful Noorzai tribe, was a close aide to Omar and is from Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan and the heartland of the Taliban.

An official Taliban account on Twitter posted a photograph of Akhundzada, informally known as Mullah Haibatullah, with a white turban and a long, greying beard.

The post listed his full title as Amir-ul-Mumineen Shiekh ul Quran Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The hardline Taliban movement banned human images for breaching their strict interpretation of Islam during their five-year rule over Afghanistan, which ended when they were ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign.

QUESTIONS OVER PEACE TALKS

Senior members of the insurgent group had been keenly aware of the need to appoint a candidate who could bring disparate factions together and repair the splits that emerged last year when Mansour was appointed.

However, there was no immediate indication of whether the appointment would lead to a shift in the stance of the Taliban, which under Mansour ruled out participating in peace talks with the government in Kabul.

A spokesman for Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah called on the new Taliban leader to join talks, or face dire consequences.

"We invite Mula #Haibatullah to peace. Political settlement is the only option for #Taliban or new leadership will face the fate of #Mansoor," spokesman Javid Faisal said in a tweet.

The United States, Pakistan and China have also been trying to get the militants to the negotiating table to end a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel and left Afghanistan seriously unstable.

News of the appointment came as a suicide attack on a bus carrying staff from an appeal court killed 10 people and wounded four west of the Afghan capital, Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Taliban have made big gains since NATO forces ended their main combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, and now control more of the country than at any time since they were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
The coastguard said this meant more than 5,600 migrants had been rescued from various boats and dinghies in the southern Mediterranean in just two days, with every ship in the area being called on to help with the complex operation.

Humanitarian organisations say the sea route between Libya and Italy is now the main route for asylum seekers heading for Europe, after a European Union deal on migrants with Turkey dramatically slowed the flow of people reaching Greece.

Officials fear the numbers trying to make the crossing to Italy will increase as weather conditions continue to improve.

Earlier this month, Italy said some 31,000 migrants, mainly from Africa, had reached the country by boat, slightly down on 2015 levels. However, the number of new arrivals has picked up markedly in recent days.
The decision has no bearing on a ban on international trade in rhino horn. Potential domestic buyers could include those who see rhino horn as a store of wealth that could appreciate in value and those who want it as a decoration.

Possibilities open to the department include changing legislation or making the issuing of permits - required to buy, sell or possess rhino horn - so onerous that the domestic trade is effectively stifled, officials have said off the record.

It was not clear if the department could lodge a final appeal with the Constitutional Court.

The court action was initiated by private rhino ranchers and associations. According to the latest figures from South Africa's Private Rhino Owners Association, about 6,200 rhinos are in private hands, about a third of the national population.

Rhino horn can be harvested as it grows back and it can be removed from a tranquilised animal.

Supporters of rhino horn trade say the money earned could be used for conservation and to pay for security. Opponents counter that a legal trade could tempt poachers who kill rhinos to launder their "blood" horns with clean supplies.
Sister Veronika Rackova is the 54th aid worker to be killed in South Sudan since violence erupted in the world's youngest nation in December 2013, the United Nations said.

"Violence against humanitarian workers and humanitarian assets is categorically unacceptable and must stop."

Aid workers in South Sudan have been hit by a surge in violent crime, particularly robberies, which the United Nations has said is hampering their life-saving work.

Rackova was shot in the waist on the night of May 15 while driving an ambulance back from a medical centre where she had been delivering a baby.

She died in hospital in neighbouring Kenya five days later.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, killing thousands and forcing more than 2.3 million people to flee their homes.

Many displaced people are hiding in bushes without access to food, clean water or medicines.

Under international pressure, the two leaders signed a peace deal in August, and Kiir re-appointed Machar as vice president and named a new "national unity" cabinet in April.

Rackova, 58, had lived in the southern town of Yei, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of South Sudan's capital, Juba, since 2010, according to the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, of which she was a member.

The government has arrested three soldiers in connection with the shooting, local media said.
The European Union and NATO have said they stand ready to help the unity government in Tripoli, if requested, to combat smugglers sending migrants into the Mediterranean towards Europe. Tripoli, for its part, faces a threat from Islamic State fighters who exploited past conflict between rival governments to extend their power.

In a letter, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj sent a broad request for security training, but now Germany and France want the United Nations to move first, something Russia is unlikely to support because it feels the West went too far in 2011.

Germany has suggested that the NATO alliance may need an invitation from the European Union to help in Libya.

"Europeans now have what they asked for, namely a unity government ruling from the capital," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "They should take care not to burden it with unrealistic demands, from ending the migrant crisis to defeating Islamic State."

Germany is wary of a long-term commitment, scaling back the language in a statement by European Union foreign ministers this week by insisting the bloc seeks U.N. Security Council approval to stop arms trafficking even on the high seas, diplomats said.

France sent special forces and intelligence commandos to conduct covert operations against Islamic State in Libya, Le Monde reported in February. But French diplomats in Brussels are more cautious about a big NATO role, despite a warning last month from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that some 450,000 refugees in Libya could flee to Europe.

Deployment of NATO combat troops appears out of the question.

"We are looking at a support role, one that is low profile," said a senior French official involved in Libya policy. "The risks are very real and our resources modest."

The remarks contrast with gathering momentum a month ago at EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels and a special dinner of EU foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg in which Libyan maritime and security missions were on the table.

"The situation is apparently not grave enough for us to act," said a senior NATO diplomat. "We need a real crisis."

Just 480 kilometres (300 miles) from Europe's coast, Libya's slide into anarchy over the past five years has made it an outpost for Islamic State militants and a staging post for sub-Saharan African migrants aided by traffickers.

But the failure of the West's 2011 intervention still weighs on Western officials, even as the United States urges the Europeans to take a bigger role in securing its neighbourhood.

"SECURITY VACUUM"

Britain and the United States want a much bigger role for both NATO and the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged NATO to link up with the EU's naval mission "Sophia" in the Mediterranean to tackle smugglers.

Lawmakers in Britain say the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean is too limited to have an impact on smugglers, as it is too far out to destroy boats, catch traffickers or head off migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya.

"A mission acting only on the high seas is not able to disrupt smuggling networks, which thrive on the political and security vacuum in Libya, and extend through Africa," a British parliamentary report said this month.

Alain Le Roy, the secretary general of the EU's foreign service, defended the Sophia mission, saying that more than 80 traffickers had been arrested and up to 200 boats destroyed.

EU foreign ministers have approved training of Libya's navy and coast guard in international waters. Sophia's chief, Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, told La Repubblica on Wednesday the coast guard could be trained in 14 weeks.

On the ground, the United States and Italy, Libya's former colonial power, are leading calls for action and Rome is willing to send around 5,000 personnel to help the country. Washington is developing military options including deploying U.S. special forces against Islamic State militants.
Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during Bible study at Charleston's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in a massacre that shook the country and intensified debate over U.S. race relations.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses.

In a court filing, federal prosecutors cited a number of factors for seeking the death penalty, saying Roof singled out victims who were black and elderly, and showed no remorse. They also cited "substantial planning and premeditation."

A friend of Roof, 21-year-old Joseph Meek, pleaded guilty last month to concealing his knowledge of Roof's intention to carry out the attack, saying then that Roof planned the shooting for six months and wanted to start a race war.

Roof's lawyers have said he would agree to plead guilty, rather than face trial if prosecutors ruled out capital punishment. But defense attorney Michael O'Connell, declined comment on Tuesday's decision when reached by phone.

Roof also faces the death penalty if convicted on separate, state murder charges in a trial set to begin in January.

The state prosecutor trying the case said last September that some of the victims' families were opposed to a death sentence due to their religious beliefs, while others felt it was appropriate.

Steve Schmutz, an attorney representing families of three victims, said his clients "support whatever decision the U.S. government is making in this case, and I'm sure they support this decision."

Some relatives of the slain worshippers tearfully offered words of forgiveness during Roof's initial court appearance.. Nearly a year later, views diverged on the federal death penalty decision.

"It's a great message being sent by the government that this won't be tolerated," Kevin Singleton, whose mother was among those killed, told the local Post and Courier newspaper.

The relative of another victim cited the Bible in calling for Roof to spend his life in prison rather than die.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Only three federal prisoners have been executed in the past half century and none since 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The best-known of those was Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.
The five of the eight Democratic candidates for Nevadas 4th Congressional District descended on Pahrump on Thursday in their last attempt to court Nye County voters ahead of early voting.

The five of the eight Democratic candidates for Nevadas 4th Congressional District descended on Pahrump on Thursday in their last attempt to court Nye County voters ahead of early voting.

Susie Lee, Ruben Kihuen, Dan Rolle, Rodney Smith and Brandon Casutt answered questions about immigration, jobs, veteran services, solar energy and infrastructure and a host of other issues during Nye Countys first Democratic debate that was put on by the Nye County Democratic Central Committee.

The Nevada 4th Congressional District race is expected to be one of the most competitive races in this primarys season as Democrats are looking to regain the control of the seat that was taken by Republican Cresent Hardy in a surprise victory over Democrat Steven Horsford in 2015.

Lucy Flores, Morse Arberry Jr. and Mike Schaefer didnt attend the event. Flores campaign representative read a statement to the audience.

Im running for Congress because Nevada needs someone who is not afraid to stand up, speak out and fight back in Washington, Flores said in a statement.

The five candidates talked about a number of issues in Nevadas Congressional District 4, such as infrastructure and rural Nevadas potential for renewable energy.

I think with renewable energy, the state of Nevada has the opportunity to be at the top of the good list, Lee said.

She said the recent decision by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission to change the net-metering tariff for rooftop solar customers is an abdication of responsibility by the Legislature.

Rolle also criticized the PUCs decision.

It should be easier and more affordable to get renewable energy and its now more complicated and more expensive to get renewable energy, he said.

Additionally, Lee said the state has an opportunity for drone technology.

In 2013, Nevada was selected as one of six states where the FAA could test unmanned drones in civilian airspace.

I think we need to continue to give companies incentives to invest in renewable energy here, in Nevada, Lee said.

Candidates also talked about immigration reform and their support for citizenship for DREAMers, young immigrants with temporary legal status through the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Rolle called for changing the dialogue on immigration.

We have to stop the dehumanizing dialogue thats happening in our country, he said.

Smith said many of those who come to the United States may not necessarily become citizens but just want to work.

We really need to determine as of now, who do we want here, how do we want to bring them in here and is our system to bring them here as effective and as efficient as it should be, he said.

Kihuen whose campaign was endorsed by former President Bill Clinton as of Tuesday said he supports immigration reform and the path to citizenship.

Theres a reason why theres an American dream. Theres no such thing as a Mexican Dream or Canadian Dream. Theres the American Dream, and we have to allow that opportunity for those who are willing to work hard for it, Kihuen said.

Lee said Democrats and Republicans should work together on the immigration issue.

Nevada is ground zero for the need for comprehensive immigration reform, she said.

Each candidate also pledged to pay visits to Pahrump on a regular basis, if they get elected. Casutt said he wants to establish a liaison with veterans. Smith promised to create a constant dialogue. Lee said she would pay quarterly visits to the town.

Candidates also answered a series of questions on veteran services. Funding, wait times and staff levels dominated the discussion.

We need to make sure that theres proper funding, it needs to be a priority, Casutt said.

Rolle proposed providing veterans with a single-payer health care system and single-payer Medicare system.

We need to have some type of whistle-blower program in our VA to help us get rid of some of those inefficiencies and ineffective people who are currently working and we need to increase the percentage of people who are veterans that are actually working at VA, Smith said.

Kihuen called for streamlining the process for veterans to get benefits and apply for benefits.

All candidates criticized privatization of a veterans administration.

Kihuen said he will fight tooth-and-nail to make sure that veteran services are funded to the levels when President Obama first took office.

The five candidates spoke harshly about the Republicans opposition to the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland as Supreme Court justice.

Kihuen said the current Republican-controlled Congress is one of the least productive Congresses in the history of America, if not the least productive.

This is not an unprecented move. This is a political move by the Republicans who control Congress right now to not allow the president to make an appointment, Kihuen said about the Republican opposition to Garlands nomination.

All of us, unitedly, we need to tell them, Do your job, Casutt said.

Lee said the Republican opposition to the SCOTUS nomination was a prime example of the dysfunction in Washington, D.C.

She also added that Nevadans should elect former attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto as their next U.S. Senator.

Early voting starts on May 28 with the primary on June 14.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77
Five people were arrested last week after a several-week investigation into a home burglary in the valley.

Five people were arrested last week after a several-week investigation into a home burglary in the valley.

The Nye County Sheriffs Office apprehended Liselotte Kelso, 47, Jacob Noel, 43, Stacey Wooten, 40, Phillip Russell, 38, all of Pahrump and Donald Strohshine, 41, from Victorville, California in connection with the crime.

The investigation into the incident began on March 28, after deputies were dispatched to a home on the 2000 block of South Hacienda Street for a possible residential burglary.

Police allegedly discovered that the home had been forcibly entered and a significant amount of property was stolen from the residence.

NCSO detectives developed leads as to where the stolen property was and the identity of the pair of individuals allegedly involved in the burglary.

Detectives from the General Assignment Division, Street Crimes Unit, Scorpion Task Force and NCSO patrol deputies simultaneously executed search warrants at two local addresses in the 1000 block of East Haiwee Street and the 1000 block of East Laguna Street where the stolen property was being stored, police said.

Detectives interviewed and arrested the five suspects from both locations.

The investigation led to the recovery of the majority of the stolen property from both addresses, as well as drug paraphernalia and trafficking amounts of methamphetamine from the Haiwee address.

Kelso and Noel were charged with eight preliminary counts, including conspiracy to commit home invasion, home invasion, conspiracy to commit burglary and burglary. Strohshine and Russell were charged with three preliminary counts, including possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of schedule I controlled substance and low level trafficking of schedule I controlled substance, all of which Kelso and Noel were also charged with.

Wooten was charged with a single preliminary count of possession/transfer of stolen property for her alleged role in the incident.

The five suspects were booked at the Nye County Detention Center and held on various amounts of bail.

Noel, ($20,000 bond), Russell ($5,640), Strohshine ($5640), and Wooten ($5,000) are set to be in court Thursday, and Kelso ($20,640 bond) will be in court for formal charging on May 31.

The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information about this case is urged to contact Detective Wesley Fancher at 775-751-7000 or anonymously online at ncso_detectives@co.nye.nv.us.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
With their win, Pahrump Valley has clinched a playoff spot in the 3A southern regional tournament. The Trojans need just one more win or a tie by Equipo Academy to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Mountain League.
CARSON CITY  A state judge Friday signed off on new language for a proposed referendum seeking to repeal Nevadas new commerce tax.

CARSON CITY  A state judge Friday signed off on new language for a proposed referendum seeking to repeal Nevadas new commerce tax.

Carson City District Judge James Wilson issued an order after a brief telephone conference call with lawyers.

A group called RIP Commerce Tax, led by Republican state Controller Ron Knecht, now faces the difficult challenge of collecting 55,000 signatures  about 17,000 from each of Nevadas four congressional districts  over the next four weeks. Signatures must be turned in by June 21.

But first organizers must refile the referendum with the secretary of states office. Knecht late Friday conceded the effort will be difficult.

On May 11, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled the original measures description of effect  a required 200-word explanation of what the petition does  was flawed because it didnt tell voters what effect it would have on the state budget.

Justices invalidated about 20,000 signatures already collected and told supporters theyd have to start over.

The commerce tax was part of a $1.5 billion revenue package pushed by Gov. Brian Sandoval and approved by the 2015 Legislature to fund the state budget and the governors education agenda.

It imposes a levy on businesses with $4 million or more in annual revenue and is projected to generate $60 million a year.

The referendum would give voters the final say on whether it stays on the books or is repealed.

The Coalition for Nevadas Future, a group of business interests that supported tax, challenged the petition in court, claiming among other things that the way it was written was misleading and deceptive.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com. Find @SandraChereb on Twitter.
Republican candidates from several races across the state sought support of Nye County voters during a meet-and-greet on Saturday.

Republican candidates from several races across the state sought support of Nye County voters during a meet-and-greet on Saturday.

During a three-hour event that took place at the Nye County Republican Central Committee headquarters in Pahrump, Republicans who seek seats in Nye Countys districts I, II and III spoke about their agendas and backgrounds.

They were joined by Republican candidates for Nevada Assembly District 36 and the U.S. Senate.

Nevada Assembly District 36 candidate Tina Trenner, who has been building up her grassroots campaign, spoke at the event.

Its really just a great experience going out talking to people, said Trenner, who has been actively canvassing neighborhoods in the vast Assembly District 36.

Trenner is the main opponent of incumbent Assemblyman James Oscarson. She said she is dedicated to protecting domestic water well owners rights and fighting back taxes.

Incumbent commissioner Donna Cox, who is running for re-election this season, spoke about Nye County commissioners accomplishments within the past couple of years.

Weve accomplished a lot despite the fact that we did not have a lot of money. But I think our biggest accomplishment was the fact that we didnt raise taxes, she said.

Cox said she has a vested interest in Nye County.

She called herself a true conservative and said she is making sure that the budget is watched and taxes are not going up.

We had new businesses come in and we have a lot of new businesses lined up to come in, she said.

John Koenig, a candidate in the most crowded District II race, sought to highlight his experience on the towns various boards and knowledge of local issues. Koenig is chair of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission. He is also a member of the Pahrump Regional Transportation Commission and the Capital Improvements Advisory Subcommittee.

I really know in-depth what the issues are, he said.

He said some of the biggest issues in Nye County are budget, attraction of new business and water.

An accountant and business owner from Amargosa Valley, Scott Mattox, who is running for Nye County Commission District I, called for better taking care of seniors and veterans and prioritizing the countys budget. He said rural roads have become one of his chief issues since he launched his campaign.

U.S. Senate Republican candidate Sharron Angle and Bill Tarbell also attended the event.

Sharron Angle, who unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Harry Reid in 2010, is again seeking nomination from the Republican party for the U.S. Senate.

We do need citizen representatives, not career politicians, thats what we need, Angle said in her speech.

Angle told the Pahrump Valley Times she hopes to get support from Nye County voters in the upcoming primary.

Every vote is important. Id like to have everyones vote in Nye County, she said.

Our economy is depressed, we need someone whos interested in deregulating government and making sure that we can offer an atmosphere for business to grow not only in the state but also across the nation, she said.

In his address to the audience, Tarbell said he will stick to the Republican principles, if elected.

Tarbell said he will bring commitment to the principles that are contained in the Constitution, commitment to service of the people and to remain connective to the people of Nevada.

Tom McAllister, political campaign director for Dr. Joe Heck, the Republican congressman and frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race, spoke on behalf of Heck at the event.

He is a little bit of everything which makes him such a great candidate in the time when we are facing the threats from ISIS, the time when we are dealing with threats with Obamacare, the time when we are dealing with economic downturns, Congressman Heck has experience in all those areas, which makes him a great fit to become Nevadas next U.S. senator to replace Harry Reid, because 30 years is way too long, McAllister said at the event.

The Nye County Republican Central Committee so far has endorsed John Koenig in Nye County Commission District II and Scott Mattox in District I. No endorsements have been made in District III.
The Aug. 6 FOX News debate may have been the turning point that set Donald Trump on the path to the Republican nomination for president.

The Aug. 6 FOX News debate may have been the turning point that set Donald Trump on the path to the Republican nomination for president.

It was Americas first look at the political Trump on a national stage against more than a dozen seasoned political professionals.

And, as the kids say, he crushed it. And he went on to crush the entire field in the GOP primaries.

Still, there are deniers and doubters among the Republican establishment class. And, to be perfectly honest, among many average voters. But depending on how many such fence-sitters watched Megyn Kellys recent interview with Trump on FOX News, that may turn out to be the turning point that puts him in the White House.

For the first time many voters got to see the other side of the two Donald Trumps that Ben Carson referred to a few weeks back. He made peace with a former adversary and was poised, personable and gracious.

You might even say, presidential.

Heres the thing: Everyones known Hillary Clinton for decades. No great shift in opinion about her is going to occur, especially among Bernie Sanders supporters. The opposition to Hillary is set in stone.

On the other hand, Trump is new to the political stage. He still has the potential to change some of the perceptions about him going into the fall campaign. And if his interview with Kelly is any indication, hes going to successfully do so.

Still, there are some never Trumpers out there. One prominent member of that club is Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse. But keep in mind, Sasse is one of legions who Trump thumped personally during the primaries.

Recall that just prior to the Iowa caucus, Sasse started a fight by tweeting at Trump: You brag abt many affairs w/ married women. Have you repented? To harmed children &spouses? Do you think it matters?

In response, Trump unloaded on Sasse as only Donald Trump can: @BenSasse looks more like a gym rat than a U.S. Senator. How the hell did he ever get elected?

So lets acknowledge that Sasses opposition to Trump is at least as much personal as ideological. That said, in response to a question I posed to the senator at a private dinner recently in D.C., Sasse repeated his position that he cannot support the Republican nominee for president, maintaining he was looking out for the long-term interests of his young children.

OK, fine. We all should do that. However

How on Gods green earth can anyone, especially a conservative, think four, or maybe eight, years of Hillary in the White House is in the best long-term interest of his kids?

Or mine.

Or yours?

I dont think Ben Sasse is a gym rat. I do, however, think hes dead wrong.

#NeverHillary.

Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com. You can reach Chuck at ChuckMuth.com.
Union members of Laborers' Local 309 walked the picket line for a third day Wednesday after contract negotiations broke down with a group of the Quad-City region's building companies.

Brad Long, business manager for Local 309, Rock Island, said the strike affects about 300 of its 940 members. The union represents laborers in the building and heavy/highway construction industries across the bistate area, but only the building workers are on strike. They include laborers in Rock Island and Mercer counties in Illinois and Scott County in Iowa. Their contract expired April 30, he said.

The laborers began picketing Monday at various job sites, including Davenport Central High School's expansion, as well as many of the local construction companies' headquarters. Other jobs being picketed include John Deere Harvester in East Moline and the 3M plant in Cordova.

"Each day, we're ramping up," Long said, adding that "every job we picket, we shut down. Each day, we're adding another 15 projects."

Steve Tondi, the president and CEO of Quad-City Builders and of Associated General Contractors, is negotiating on the construction companies' behalf in his role with Quad-City Builders.

"I represent all the companies that have a labor contract," he said.

Both Tondi and Long said the strike could affect several large construction projects. Some of the largest companies involved in the contract dispute include Estes Construction Co., General Constructors, Ryan Associates, Ryan Companies, Russell Construction and Treiber Construction.

Tondi said the companies offered a six-year contract last week and "they walked away from it." He said no new talks have been scheduled.

"We don't want to do this, we feel there is no alternative," Long said of the union's first strike since 1988. "We just want to get back to the table."

According to Long, the union has called in a federal mediator, but the association refuses to meet with the mediator.

"There's only one issue, and it's wage," Tondi said. "They are the last group to settle. We have agreements with the carpenters, finishers, iron workers and bricklayers."

He added that the other trades approved contracts with a raise of 3 percent or less.

"They want a bigger percentage than everybody else got," he said.

Long said the union is asking for a 3.6 percent raise, and the other side has offered 2.8 percent or 2.9 percent.

"We're not that far off, but they said they gave us their final offer, and we rejected it," he said.

If the strike continues, he said it could affect many other construction projects scheduled to begin soon, including a new police department in Silvis and a project with Augustana College in Rock Island.

"Who loses is the guys who are on strike," Tondi said. "They lose hours ... That work is going to get done one way or another. Usually, you don't get enough raise (in a new contract) to make back those days you lost."
Look for the longest line at the Freight House Farmers Market, and it will likely lead somewhere sweet.

It will lead to sprinkled doughnuts, chocolate-drizzled cookies or loaves of baked bread. And just like tales of growing corn and raising chickens, it will lead you to a few conversations worth pausing for.

It will lead you to farmers who sell organic beef, but don't leave the farm without a batch of fruit pies. It will lead to makers and bakers who have been doing this for two or three or four decades.

Ask around the sweet-treat community, and you'll get about a dozen different recipes for the best chocolate chip cookie.

Take a moment to wait for a Vietnamese iced coffee at Deb's Daily Grind, so you can spot the husband-and-wife barista team. They'll be busy, but you'll want to compliment their matching T-shirts that read "But first, coffee."

Keep walking, and you'll overhear at least three warring opinions about who would win a round of "Cupcake Wars" at the market. And you won't know who to side with until a few more trips to the farmers market.

By the end, it would've been a sweet road indeed. Read on for five sweet treats to sample at Davenport's Freight House Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.

My Girl's Cake Shop

Katie Gessey has one word to describe her mobile cake shop: Vintage.

The logo of My Girl's Cake Shop nods to Rosie the Riveter, and the light blue camper where she sells cupcakes is straight out of the 1960s  well, it's actually a 1968-edition.

And the cupcakes, some placed in polka-dotted holders, certainly share Gessey's sense of style.

"I have more options than I can even list on the website," she said. "It goes on and on."

Gessey went to pastry school in Chicago and has been baking out of her home for the past five years. The mom of three didn't want to open a brick-and-mortar store, but was worried about keeping her cupcakes from melting outside at markets and festivals.

Cue the camper.

It required about three months of labor to flip and renovate the camper. Gessey sewed new curtains and applied fresh coats of paint. And, it definitely draws attention.

"It's a conversation starter," she said. "I hear people walking by talking about how unique it is, and they stop by for a photo and I hope they stay to try something."

Roasted almonds

Watch a batch of roasted almonds swirl around and Mike Hemmer probably has you hooked. That is, if the smell didn't catch you already.

The Bettendorf resident has been selling his cinnamon and sugar covered almonds, pecans and cashews since 1998. He's at the farmers market on the weekends and sets up at area malls during the week.

"This kind of things takes people back to their childhood," he said. "Even the smell brings back nice memories."

And, as far as treats go at the market, Hemmer says his almonds are on the healthy side and made with all-natural ingredients.

"A lot of people get the sweet tooth at the farmers market," he said. "And this is one of the better things you could have."

Cookie monster cupcakes

There's one cupcake type that Jami Eis can't show up to the farmers market without.

She makes a variety of cupcakes with simple frosting and sprinkles and changes combinations each week depending on what's seasonal.

"But I always, always have the cookie monster one," she said. "People have come to expect it."

At Eising on the Cake Bakery, the blue-frosting-covered treats get plenty of pointing and stares.

Eis took orders out of her home for about 15 years before venturing to the farmers market. Along with cupcakes, she makes desserts for weddings and birthday parties, and she owes much of her business to the market. Profits grew by 70 percent.

"It's gotten our name out there," she said. "When people see who's making the thing, word spreads like wildfire."

Pie

Katie Brammeier's family farm has been around for more than 100 years in Wilton, Iowa. They grow vegetables and sell organic beef.

But at the farmers market, plenty of people stop by for her pies with a selection that includes, among others, rhubarb crumb, cherry, pecan and strawberry.

"Pie is a happy food," she said. "And we like to make people happy."

Brammeier has been serving up homemade pies for 25 years at the market, and she knows pies serve a role in the same way fresh produce does.

"Not everyone wants to or has time to make their own pie," she said. "They see this and their eyes light up."

Nancy's Corn

His wife was out of town, so Marvin Remrey and his grandson, Caden, were left in charge of the Nancy's Corn stand on Saturday morning.

Sitting in his lawn chair watching over dozens of popcorn bags in the back of his truck, Remrey almost felt at home.

"We've been doing it so long that the market used to have only six stands," he said. "Now look at what it's become  it's a lot bigger."

Caramel corn is their best-seller, but Caden said his favorite is a colorful, fruity blend called Frosted Rainbow.

"It's a crowd favorite," his grandfather said. "Especially for the kids."
Madi Diaz and Emily Greene pooled their collaborative songwriting talents and the result is Riothorse Royales slow-and-steady tempo and hauntingly layered vocal melodies.

The bands success is due in large to their individual talents, but also their ability to work together and traveling thousands of miles from tour stop to tour stop to perform live.

Everyone is kind of tired from touring, but we are all together, said Greene, half of the often considered duo, Riothorse Royale, on the phone during the 300-plus mile drive from Nashville to St. Louis.

Sharing the van with Greene is Diaz; the groups sound engineer, Kevin Winrich, and their friend/drummer, Hamir Atwal.

The Los Angeles-based band will play Saturday at Daytrotter, 324 Brady St., Davenport.

In this band, were definitely collaborators and working together, Greene said. Its been really fulfilling and an amazing artistic relationship, and were really kind of coming together in a moment of time where everything is blissful and amazing.

Greene and Diaz attended Berklee College of Music, Boston, and reconnected in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

As far as both of us in our careers, every show you learn something new. As a band weve become highly connected on stage, as far as knowing what someone else is going to do, she said. "When someone does something that surprises and excites you... I think all the things ricocheting off each other is what makes the live shows so fun for us and also what makes us learn from each experience.

Love our tour family  pic.twitter.com/WJAnc2kwSp  Riothorse Royale (@RiothorseRoyale) May 22, 2016

Riothorse Royale draws comparison to the sister-indie-power-pop band Haim and also Lana Del Rey, but deliver a slightly darker spin.

Were on the same page creatively: When someone has an idea, the other one is quick to say Oh yeah, Ive got this one too," Greene said. "So we bounce back and forth off each other. Were both really grateful for it."

Riothorse Royale released The Guest House, a five-song EP last year, and is working on their studio album, but arent giving away too many secrets on the title or even what songs will be included.

Heartthrob City : @lexii0022 A photo posted by @riothorseroyale on May 11, 2016 at 3:20pm PDT

Im not sure. Im not sure wed let you know either, Greene said, chuckling. Were still working it out, you know.

Were really enjoying it," she added. "Its actually been ... very natural. Kismet, for sure.
A $1 million first-degree warrant has been issued for a 21-year-old woman who police and prosecutors say was an accomplice in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jescie J. Armstrong in late April.

Chelsea Michelle Raker faces two counts of first-degree murder. One of the charges carries a possible prison sentence of 45 years to life because a firearm was involved.

She also faces a charge of aiding a fugitive to flee. The charge alleges that Raker drove co-defendant Kire G. Carr, 17, away from the scene of the shooting and out of Rock Island County.

She has not yet been located and is not believed to be in the Quad-City area, Rock Island County States Attorney John McGehee said.

Raker, originally from Savannah, Georgia, is 5 foot, 6 inches tall, about 120 pounds and has brown hair.

Rock Island police were dispatched just before 2 p.m. April 27 to the 500 block of 20th Avenue after receiving a report of shots fired inside a home.

Officers found Armstrong, who had been shot in the head, inside the residence. He was taken by ambulance to Trinity Rock Island, where he later died.

Police also found suspected marijuana and a scale on the floor of the dining room, according to court documents.

Carr, who is believed to have shot Armstrong while committing an armed robbery, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service the next night at an apartment in Columbus, Ohio.

Marshals said in a news release that Carr and a female accomplice were involved in a dispute with several others that led to the shooting of Armstrong. The marshals said Carr was staying in Columbus briefly and had plans to flee to coastal Georgia.

Carr is charged with four counts of first-degree murder. He remained at the Mary Davis Detention Home in Galesburg, Illinois, on a $1 million cash bond Wednesday.

Carr will be back in court June 10 for a pretrial conference.

A warrant on the aiding a fugitive to flee charge was issued for Raker on May 3. McGehee said the details of the charge were initially sealed in the hopes that Raker would be quickly located.

A first-degree murder warrant was issued Tuesday.

At this point and as the investigation has proceeded, we believe that we have probable cause to file these two other charges, which are much more serious, McGehee said.

The first charge alleges that Raker acted with another for whose conduct she is legally accountable and while committing an armed robbery caused Armstrongs death.

The second charge alleges that Armstrong was killed when a firearm was discharged during an armed robbery.

McGehee said it is alleged that Raker was in Columbus with Carr after the shooting, but was not present when he was arrested.

McGehee said no other charges are expected at this point.

The aiding a fugitive charges is a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison.

Anyone with information as to Rakers whereabouts is asked to call the Rock Island Police Department at 309-732-2677 or 309-786-5911.
Davenport police officials and representatives from a coalition of minority and community groups came together Tuesday to emphasize that they're working together to improve relations, and they unveiled a new agreement that calls for ongoing traffic-stop studies, a commitment to training and regular dialogue.

The four-page agreement is mostly a formal restatement of existing practices. And members of the community groups broadly praised the department and Chief Paul Sikorski. But they also expressed concern over a relative lack of minorities employed by the department, something one person said is made clear in a new police promotional video.

Racial tensions between police departments and minorities have been evident in communities around the country, from Baltimore to Ferguson, Mo.

That sort of unrest hasn't happened here, but studies of traffic stops in Davenport have pointed to a disproportionate number of minorities affected. Loxi Hopkins, president of Quad-Cities Interfaith, one of the groups that has been meeting with the police department, said the studies have shown evidence of "racial profiling," but she added conditions have improved.

"In spite of the early data that showed racial profiling, we believe that the Davenport Police Department is making great strides to overcome the racial profiling and long-ingrained attitudes of perhaps some of the officers," she said.

Hopkins praised improved training at the department, too. But she added that the "distress of many in the community" has built up over time and won't dissipate quickly.

There appeared to be some disagreement about what the traffic studies, conducted by a St. Ambrose University professor, actually demonstrate.

Sikorski said the studies can't show whether racial profiling is present, only that there is a disproportionate impact, which he acknowledged. Still, he said the studies do provide a statistical base of information and the department has worked to improve training on fair and impartial policing to better understand biases. He added the community groups also help.

"I think this group is doing a really good job in moving forward in educating and analyzing and re-analyzing and then putting things forth as a group," he said. "And it's not just the police department trying to figure out how we can get better. But it's the police department and the community figuring out how do we get better and how do we police better."

The agreement with the police department is with the Davenport Community Advisory Panel, which includes the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, LULAC, the Davenport branch of the NAACP and Quad-Cities Interfaith. It sets up monthly meetings and calls for an annual report that includes statistics and other information "concerning police interactions and biased-based profiling in Davenport." It also calls for training, both for officers and for community advocates who will be educated on the department's internal affairs process.

Officials said that a similar agreement had existed previously but it expired. This one was signed in February.

Members of the coalition also said Tuesday they hope for more progress in the hiring of minorities. Janet Woods-Bragg, vice president of the Davenport NAACP, said the police department's new promotional video did not show any racial minorities.

"We not only have to say we're a diversified community. We have to show it, and that's through hiring," she said.

Sikorski said he and the department's command structure agree more diversity is needed. He said he would like to have seen racial minorities in the video, too, but it was voluntary and he didn't want to single out employees for participation. He also added, "it's not a recruiting video. It's a humanizing the badge video."
Exelon announced Wednesday its Quad-Cities nuclear plant in Cordova failed to clear the PJM electricity auction, a blow to the company's revenue picture.

The company, which has said it will close the money-losing Quad-Cities Station if the state of Illinois doesn't pass legislation to help it by the end of the month, reiterated that call again Wednesday.

The capacity market alone cant preserve zero-carbon emitting nuclear plants that are facing the lowest wholesale energy prices in 15 years, Chris Crane, president and CEO of Exelon, said in a statement. Without passage of comprehensive energy legislation that recognizes nuclear energy for its economic, reliability and environmental benefits to Illinois, we will be forced to close Quad-Cities and Clinton ..."

Exelon has said without approval of the legislation by the end of the spring session, scheduled for May 31, the Clinton, Ill., plant would close in 2017 and the Quad-City plant in 2018. It had earlier said the Cordova plant also had to clear the capacity auction, which is a means of awarding long-term energy contracts. But Exelon spokesman Bill Stoermer said Wednesday that had the company been successful in the auction, it would have simply meant the plant could stay open until 2020.

The capacity auction was for the 2019-20 planning year.

The failure to clear the auction, Stoermer said, is "particularly discouraging" for the Cordova plant, but "we must wait for the legislative process to conclude before making a decision about the plants future."

Exelon says its Quad-Cities and Clinton, Ill., nuclear plants have lost $800 million between them over the past seven years.

Earlier this month, the company announced a new legislative effort aimed at stemming those losses that includes a Zero Emissions Standard that would help plants that can prove to state regulators their revenues cant meet costs and risk expenses. Revenues to help those plants would come from a monthly surcharge of 25 cents for the typical utility customer, Exelon says.

The utility says the plan puts nuclear energy on a level playing field with other sources of energy. However, critics call it a bailout for an already-profitable company that will cost ratepayers, some of them in downstate communities that would not get adequate benefits. Crain's Chicago Business estimated last week that Illinois ratepayers would pay $250 million next year to keep the Clinton and Cordova plant open.

The Cordova nuclear plant is a major employer in the Quad-Cities. About 800 people work at the plant, and its facility generates $8 million in property taxes annually, the largest for a single property taxpayer in Rock Island County.

Area leaders have lobbied for the legislation, and hundreds of employees and supporters rallied Tuesday in Springfield to support it.

In a letter to the Quad-City Times last week, Tara Barney, chief executive of the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce, said the loss of the plant would be "significant," particularly in Rock Island County, which she said is already facing difficult choices.

Henry Marquard, the chamber's government affairs director, said Wednesday that the local plant's failure to clear the auction "reiterates the importance and cruciality of getting legislation passed to make sure nuclear energy is recognized as the clean energy that it is."

He and Barney traveled to Springfield last week for the public utilities committee hearing, at which Barney testified.

"She testified to the plant's economic impact to the Quad-Cities and to Illinois," he said.

Illinois lawmakers still have not scheduled the legislation for a floor vote. Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, on Wednesday estimated the odds of passage by the end of the spring legislative session at "50-50."

"We're not just talking jobs and dollar amounts," Marquard said, adding that having Exelon as a clean energy provider is important to the state's big picture as it faces a new Zero Emissions Standard. "We're pushing the state to be proactive so we are ahead of that (new standard)."

He said the chamber will "double down" its efforts to draw attention and support to Exelon's plight.

"Right now, Exelon is getting more attention than any other issue for us," he said.

(Jennifer DeWitt contributed to this report.)
Good afternoon, Quad-Cities. Here is your National Weather Service forecast.

This afternoon there is a 40 percent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Skies will be partly sunny with a high near 84 degrees. South winds will be 10-15 mph with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tonight there is a 40 percent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Skies will be mostly cloudy with a low around 67 degrees. South winds will be 5-10 mph.

Thursday there is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m. Skies will be partly sunny with a high near 87 degrees. South winds will be around 10 mph.

Thursday night there is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Skies will be mostly cloudy with a low around 66 degrees. Southeast winds will be 5-10 mph. New rainfall could be between a quarter and half of an inch.

Can you Beat the Elite?

You'll have to register for the July 30th QCT Bix 7 by June 15 for that opportunity and a chance to win $2,500 cash. Here's how to sign up.

All Bix 7 entrants who register for the race before June 15 will be eligible for the random drawing by Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf.

This winner will be given the opportunity to race and beat the overall winner of the Bix 7 road race. The person selected will be given a head start  2-3 miles, possibly more  depending on the needed handicap to make the event competitive.

If the person beats the first place, world-class runner to the finish line, he or she will win $2,500. To get you in the mood, here's another training video.

Learn more about the Bix 7.

Double vision in Walcott

Today's the last day of school at Walcott School. That's music to the ears of both students and teachers at the K-8 facility. It's good on their eyes, too. You see, the school is attended by 16 sets of twins plus four teachers who have twin siblings. That's a lot of seeing double. How do you tell them all apart? A bleary-eyed Jack Cullen has the details.

Exelon says Q-C plant fails to clear auction, closure next?

Exelon announced today that its Quad-Cities nuclear plant failed to clear the PJM capacity auction, a blow to the company's revenue. The company, which has said it will close the Quad-Cities plant if the state of Illinois doesn't pass legislation to help it by the end of the month, reiterated that call again. Read more.

Duo combine talents in haunting rhythms
Rich Clewell and Scott Tunnicliff are Scott County institutions. Their respective backgrounds in local government and economic development make them the obvious choices for Democrats in the June 7 primary for Scott County board.

The Democratic bench isn't as deep as the GOP's this cycle, as the parties jockey for the seats held by Board Chairman Jim Hancock and Supervisor Tom Sunderbruch. Several of the six Democratic candidates spoke purely in vague terms. They dealt in national talking points that, in reality, don't always reduce well into local policy.

Clewell is clearly a man of conviction. He's bright and informed. As vice president of Davenport Community School Board, his support of Superintendent Art Tate's likely bid to violate state law in the name of fairness is noteworthy. Since 2001, Clewell's public focus has been narrowed to education, and he's served in that capacity with distinction, balancing the district's needs with the necessary responsibility to the taxpayer.

If elected, Clewell would lobby to "revisit" the floating industrial zones, potentially setting up a vote to repeal. Clewell's voice would be an important side of the argument heading into November's general election. Clewell also offers an unusual opinion on the future of Strategic Behavioral Health's proposed mental health facility in Bettendorf, which has garnered consistent support from county officials. Clewell first backed the concept. But, now, he's been swayed by officials at Genesis and Trinity, who promise the mental health crisis will be addressed. Again, Clewell's take offers a necessary side of the debate.

Tunnicliff hadn't opened the county budget prior to meeting with us. From all appearances, Tunnicliff is cruising through the primary relying on name recognition to carry him.

That said, the Hilltop Campus Village director knows a thing or two about government and regulation. He's been steeped in it for years.

Hilltop has grown and thrived under the watchful eye of the former economic development consultant. The neighborhood's voice rang louder in Davenport city affairs. Simply, Tunnicliff has an established record of representing his constituents. It's a track record that would easily transition into a seat on the county's legislative body.

Unlike Clewell, Tunnicliff has no interest in rehashing the floating zone issue. High regulatory thresholds and the likelihood of lawsuits make it unlikely that industry will be jumping on the new land use tool, he argues. He supports the SBH proposal, stating that existing providers need to "put up."

The stark policy contrasts among the Democrats should be welcomed. After all, Scott County Board has, to its credit, largely operated outside of partisan limitations for years.

It's about issues. And that's OK.

Emilyne Slagle, a millennial from Blue Grass, has the most long-term upside of any candidate in the race. She makes no bones about her political ambitions. She talks passionately about issues such as raising the minimum wage, which two counties in Iowa have already done. But Slagle has never held an elected post. She's never sat on an appointed commission. She's just not ready. Slagle would be well served by a few years on Blue Grass City Council or county Planning and Zoning Commission. Lofty goals are one thing. The practical realities of making policy and overseeing a budget are another.

It's not about paying dues. It's about knowing the process, a requirement of any competent elected officials.

Clewell and Tunnicliff are familiar with the hoops through which government must leap. It's know-how that Democrats should back on June 7.
The federal government has announced a program to provide $1.3 billion in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the farm loan relief program funded from $3.1 billion set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act allocated toward assisting distressed borrowers of direct or guaranteed loans administered by USDA. The law was passed by Congress and signed by Biden in August. The money anounced Tuesday is the first round of payments designed to help farmers hard hit by pandemic-induced market disruptions or climate-driven natural disasters including drought stay in business or re-enter farming. The USDA says additional programs are to come.
DES MOINES  Iowa Democrats this week are getting a good look at the four candidates who hope to earn their nomination for this years U.S. Senate race.

Two forums and a televised debate are on the docket this week as Democratic voters attempt to decide which candidate to support in the June 7 primary, who to put up against longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

However, only half of the primary field attended the first of the three events, a forum hosted Tuesday by the Des Moines South Side Democrats. Sen. Rob Hogg and attorney Tom Fiegen attended the event; former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge had a previously scheduled campaign event in Waukee, and veterans advocate Bob Krause said he is tending to his ailing father.

Hogg was a popular candidate at Tuesday nights forum, which included the three Democrats running in Iowas 3rd Congressional District.

I like Mr. Hogg. Pretty solid. I like that hes got a proven track record, said Ruth Thompson, of Des Moines. Let me just say, for the record, theres not a loser in the bunch. Theres only one that Im just not crazy about. Im not going to name names. But theres not a loser in the bunch. I could feel happy voting for any of them.

But I think (Hogg) most closely aligns not only with the things that are important to me, but I think he can win (in the general election).

Bob Mulqueen, also of Des Moines, said he supports Hogg, who he said he has known for years and worked with on legislative issues.

I think that hes somebody whos capable of mounting a general election campaign that is capable of beating Senator Grassley, Mulqueen said.

The candidates fielded questions on sentencing reform, immigration policy, education funding, campaign finance reform and water quality.

Hogg and Fiegen attempted to draw distinctions on water quality. Hogg said as a state legislator he has brought together various stakeholders  farmers, business leaders and environmental advocates  to work on Iowas water quality issues.

Fiegen criticized the Iowa Legislature, calling it worthless on water quality, and decrying the level of state funding dedicated to water quality program.

There is no leadership (in the Legislature), Fiegen said, adding he believes farmers who are found to have polluted Iowas waters should be required to pay for water quality improvement efforts, not taxpayers.

All four candidates are slated to appear in Thursday nights debate, which will be televised by Iowa Public Television.
CEDAR RAPIDS  A Republican-leaning advocacy group criticized Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Patty Judge for her support of Environmental Protection Agency rules regulating Iowa waterways.

The EPAs WOTUS, or Waters of the United States, rule is a massive federal overreach that is misguided, places the increased burden of government red tape on farmers and landowners and impedes our efforts to improve water quality through Iowas innovative nutrient reduction strategy, her successor at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Bill Northey, said Tuesday.

Judge, one of four candidates for the Democratic nomination to face Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in the November general election, said the WOTUS rules are on target.

We are now at a crisis point. We have to address water quality, and we have to do that very soon  and the EPA is going to have to be a part of the solution, she said Tuesday on Iowa Public Radios River to River program.

Her position is certainly disappointing because, as a former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, he would expect her to understand how devastating the rule will be, Northey said during a phone call with Iowa reporters that was arranged by Priorities for Iowa.

Its not a partisan issues, according to Jimmy Centers, the groups executive director and former spokesman for GOP Gov. Terry Branstad. All six members of the Iowa congressional delegation, including 2nd District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, have opposed the rules.

Unfortunately, Patty Judge, a candidate that was hand-picked by the Washington elite, would rather align herself with the EPA and President Obama instead of standing up for Iowans, Centers said.

Judge acknowledged that her position is at odds with many in the agricultural community.

I know a lot of my agricultural people, my farm friends, dont agree with me on that, but again, we are at a point where we are going to have to be serious about improving water quality, she told The Des Moines Register.

Judge doesnt think the EPA intends to regulate ditches and mud puddles in Iowa, her spokesman Sam Roecker said.

If that needs to be clarified in the language of the rule, she is certainly open to that, but we cant keep kicking the can down the road on water quality in this state, he said.

If Judge is concerned about water quality, Northey said, She certainly should embrace this effort, this innovative Iowa-based solution, not the bureaucratic nightmare that a WOTUS would be.

Judge is in a four-way primary with former state legislators Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause and state Sen. Rob Hogg. The primary election in June 7.
The South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity Womens Business Center at Black Hills State University will host the monthly Women in Networking lunch at the Spearfish Holiday Inn Swarm Room Tuesday, June 14 from noon to 1 p.m.

Junes Spotlight Speaker will be Dr. Rachel MK Headley, Cobblestone Science. Cobblestone Science is a company dedicated to helping their clients, from small business to giant organizations, solve problems by developing their ability to plan, manage stakeholders, and create schedules, according to a news release from SD CEO.

Meetings are held monthly on the second Tuesday of each month. Women from any community in the Black Hills are welcome and may bring a door prize to promote their business.

No commitment to membership is needed to attend the first meeting. Register by June 9 by calling 642-6435 or visiting BHSU.edu/SDCEO.

Registration for each monthly meeting is $15 and includes lunch. Late registration or those without a reservation will be charged an additional $5 fee.

Individual membership and business membership options are available, the release stated.
Seth Tupper Enterprise Reporter Enterprise reporter for the Rapid City Journal and author of "Calvin Coolidge in the Black Hills." Follow Seth Tupper Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

"News" broke yesterday that Tom Daschle, the Democratic former U.S. senator from South Dakota, has endorsed Hillary Clinton.

I was surprised at the description of the endorsement as a new announcement, because I reported it 12 days ago. Granted, I buried the endorsement deep within a story about Bernie Sanders' visit to South Dakota, so it's not surprising that it got little notice. But I had good reason for downplaying it. I had emailed Daschle on May 10 to ask if he'd made an endorsement (he's a superdelegate, so his endorsement is important), and on May 11 he sent a reply in which he described the endorsement as old news and sounded a bit irritated by my ignorance.

"I announced my support for Hillary Clinton quite some time ago," Daschle's email said.

Again, that was written May 11. But I guess neither his earlier endorsement nor my subsequent mention of the endorsement gained any traction, because yesterday the Clinton campaign announced the old announcement once again in this news release:

Former Senator Tom Daschle Endorses Hillary Clinton

Today, former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle endorsed Hillary Clinton to be the next President of the United States. In his endorsement, the former senator argued Clinton is the best choice to raise wages and break down barriers holding back South Dakotan families.

Secretary Clinton has dedicated her life to fighting for the right of every American family to find opportunity, success, and security, former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said. She has been an unwavering voice for the underprivileged. Her leadership has been tested and is resolute both at home and abroad. I fully endorse Hillary Clintons campaign for President because she has the personal strength and conviction to defend the values that South Dakotans and Americans care about most.

A South Dakota native, Daschle served as a US Senator from 1987  2005. Daschle will work with the campaign to encourage voters to head to the polls and voter for Hillary Clinton at the June 7 primary.
HELENA, Mont. | Representatives of a pipe company started with money embezzled from the Chippewa Cree Tribe pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsely claiming to be a minority-owned business controlled by a former tribal leader who was later convicted in a corruption investigation.

The claim that former state legislator and Chippewa Cree Construction Corp. CEO Tony Belcourt owned 51 percent of MT Waterworks LLC gave the company an advantage when competing for government and tribal contracts as a disadvantaged business enterprise, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad said in court documents.

But Belcourt joined the new company in 2010 as an equal partner with two non-Native Americans and he had no role in its management, prosecutors said. Belcourt's ownership also was diluted when he split his share of MT Waterworks with James Eastlick Jr., who was a psychologist on the Rocky Boy's Reservation and a partner in another business with Belcourt.

By exploiting a minority preference it was not eligible for, MT Waterworks made nearly $4.8 million in gross profits for work in Montana and South Dakota between March 2010 and December 2012, and with much of that work coming from Belcourt's Rocky Boy's Reservation, prosecutors said.

"The company was able to block legitimate competition and leverage its claim of 'Indian preference' to secure a majority, if not a virtual monopoly of the business in pipe and pipe supplies at Rocky Boy's," Rostad wrote in court filings.

Belcourt's partners in the company were Kevin McGovern, a Billings businessman with experience in the construction industry, and Kent Boos, who previously worked for a Virginia-based plumbing wholesaler. The criminal charges were filed against the company, not the individual partners, according to the indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Boos represented the company in a plea deal with prosecutors and Boos entered a guilty plea to charges of false claim to Native American preference and false statements to the U.S. during a Wednesday court hearing. The plea deal calls for the company to pay a $350,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris gets the final say on whether to impose the agreed-upon penalty. The judge scheduled a Sept. 15 hearing.

The company's attorney, Mark Parker, said Boos and McGovern had no role in representing MT Waterworks as a disadvantaged business enterprise. He instead pinned it all on Belcourt.

"We didn't have any way to challenge the government's accusations about what Tony was doing," Parker said. "We really were stuck with what Tony did while he was flying the MT Waterworks flag."

Court filings by the U.S. Attorney's office cite emails from Boos to contractors touting MT Waterworks as a minority-owned company and invoking laws that require the company's preferential treatment. The prosecutor declined to comment on Parker's remarks or why Boos and McGovern were not charged.

Belcourt, a former Democratic representative from Box Elder, pleaded guilty in 2014 to stealing federal stimulus aid meant for tribal construction projects through a complicated scheme of shell companies and kickbacks. He invested $101,000 of that money as his stake in MT Waterworks.

Belcourt is serving 7 -year prison sentence. Eastlick also pleaded guilty to multiple charges in the federal government's wide ranging investigation of corruption on Montana reservations, and is serving a six-year sentence.
SIOUX FALLS | A South Dakota man who authorities believe embezzled more than $1 million from his employer had significant debt when he killed his wife and four children before taking his own life last year, according to claims against his estate.

Mid-Central Educational Cooperative's late business manager, Scott Westerhuis, owed $15,000 for an outstanding credit card, nearly $46,000 to a man who worked on his property and nearly $120,000 in unpaid borrowing for vehicles, the Argus Leader reported.

Authorities say Westerhuis shot his wife and their four children, set fire to their house near Platte and killed himself in September.

Jim Brenner, who owns Jim's Electric in Armour, South Dakota, said he's struggling to pay bills without the money Westerhuis owed for renovations to a storage building and the family's gymnasium.

"It is frustrating," Brenner said. "But, I guess, what do you do?"

Court files showed claims including more than $15,000 for an American Express credit card balance and nearly $4,500 owed on an online payment account. Westerhuis also had nearly $120,000 in unpaid loans on a boat, a pair of four-wheelers and four vehicles. The Ft. Randall Federal Credit Union has a claim against Westerhuis' estate, but a manager declined to comment to the newspaper.

Authorities say Scott and Nicole Westerhuis used the nonprofit American Indian Institute for Innovation, where they had fiscal oversight, to embezzle money from their employer, Mid-Central, before their deaths.

Three current or former Mid-Central employees have been indicted on felony charges stemming from a financial investigation surrounding the GEAR UP program launched after the murder-suicide.

Scott Westerhuis killed his family just hours after the state informed Mid-Central it was losing a contract for GEAR UP  a federal program aimed at helping high-poverty middle and high school students prepare for college  because of financial problems and accounting failures.

Court documents from the criminal investigation say the couple took money from Mid-Central's bank account without authorization to fund the Institute's payroll. At the end of November 2015, the Institute owed Mid-Central as much as $826,000 for payroll, according to a filing.

The estate issues, including a $2 million claim against Scott Westerhuis' estate from Mid-Central, sit among a tangle of civil litigation sparked by the GEAR UP scandal. An administrator for Westerhuis' estate declined to comment to the newspaper.
LAS VEGAS | Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas fear that backers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy would use names and information disclosed in evidence to target court officials and intimidate witnesses in the criminal case stemming from a 2014 armed standoff near Bundy's ranch, according to court filings.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden and prosecutors say in the filings that they've received several threats, including a recent Facebook post that named a government attorney with a message that "it would be a joy ... to read about the lone wolf attack that put this rabid dog down for a dirt nap."

Prosecutors are asking the court to order defense lawyers to keep confidential evidence that the government shares with them.

The Associated Press, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and rural Nevada newspaper publisher Battle Born Media are seeking to challenge the effort as an infringement on First Amendment free speech and press rights.

"The government is walking a fine line to try to carve out an exception to the First Amendment," said Margaret McLetchie, an attorney fighting for the media. She termed the government a gag order.

To make her case, she first has to get the judge to let the media challenge it.

Prosecutors argue the news outlets are a third party with no legal standing in the criminal case.

Bogden and prosecutors have declined comment. They say the court filings speak for themselves.

Bundy and 18 other defendants have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, obstruction, weapon, threat and assault charges in the tense gunpoint standoff in April 2014 against government agents and cowboy contractors.

All 19 are in custody, with trial scheduled next February. Each faces the equivalent of life in prison.

Most have also filed documents opposing the proposed gag order.

"There's a certain irony to this case," McLetchie said Monday, noting that many charges hinge on whether the defendants threatened and assaulted government agents. She said the public has to be able to assess the evidence.

"It's especially important, in a case where the government is prosecuting people who are its critics, that the public be able to assess what really crosses the line from criticism to illegal threats," McLetchie said.

Bundy maintains that states are sovereign and the federal government has no authority over public land where he grazes cows. He summoned supporters to his side after the federal Bureau of Land Management obtained court orders authorizing the round-up of cattle from the scenic Gold Butte area near his ranch outside Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

The agency said that over 20 years, Bundy racked up more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees and fines.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured in the confrontation before the government abandoned the round-up.

Prosecutors have circulated among defense attorneys a proposed order to keep records confidential, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen issued a temporary order sealing the information until she decides whether to hear McLetchie's argument against making the order permanent. A hearing hasn't been scheduled.

McLetchie first will file a response to prosecutors' most recent filing.

"Counsel for the government continue to receive through the mail, communications ... designed and intended to threaten and intimidate," the document said.

"The simple fact is that the defendants and their associates use whatever information they can glean from whatever source available to attempt to intimidate and interfere with federal process  whether it's an impoundment or a court proceeding," prosecutors wrote.
BILLINGS, Mont. | Donald Trump has picked up the backing of Montana's lone member of the U.S. House a day before the presumptive Republican presidential candidate holds a rally in Billings.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke became the only statewide elected official to back Trump with his announcement Wednesday.

Zinke he says he doesn't agree with Trump on everything, but believes the New York businessman would be stronger on national defense than Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton.

The first-term lawmaker from Whitefish said in a statement that he would introduce Trump at Thursday's rally at the MetraPark Arena in Billings.

Zinke says the terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya when Clinton was secretary of state was personal for him because he had friends die there.

Montana's primary elections are June 7.
Known for its raucous music entertainment at the annual Sturgis rally in August, the campground concert complex will shift gears in hosting around 5,000 Christians from across the world. Organizers hope the "Light Up the Hills" rally also will become a yearly gathering.
Three people charged in connection with a 2015 traffic stop that left a South Dakota state trooper badly injured pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two of their four original charges in a deal that includes testifying against a former co-defendant.

Jonathan Melendez, 22, Chase Sukert, 24, and Desiree Sukert, 26, all residents of Washington state, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and being an accessory to a crime.

Pennington County prosecutors agreed to drop illegal use of a firearm and other drug charges in a deal for their information against Donald Willingham.

Willingham, 34, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. He allegedly led the Oct. 24, 2015, attack on Bader, who stopped the vehicle carrying the four defendants on Interstate 90 east of Rapid City.

Bader suffered serious injuries during the struggle while attempting to arrest the group.

In April, the court granted Willinghams request for a separate trial because his co-defendants made incriminating statements against him.

Melendez and the Sukert siblings each signed a statement of factual basis admitting their roles. Before accepting their guilty pleas, 7th Circuit Judge Wally Eklund listed the rights that Melendez and the Sukert siblings were giving up by accepting the plea agreement. They agreed to waive a jury trial, remaining silent, being presumed innocent, and calling and questioning witnesses.

Desiree Sukert, who appeared last, was asked by Eklund an additional question: Since the time of your arrest, have you been mistreated by any member of law enforcement? She said no. She started dabbing at her eyes with a tissue when Eklund began talking about the penalties for the charges the three faced: up to 15 years in prison and $30,000 in fines for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, as well as 5 years in prison and $10,000 in fines for being an accessory to a crime.

After the hearing, States Attorney Mark Vargo said his plan is to conclude Willinghams trial before his three former co-defendants are sentenced. But Vargo noted the judge will decide their sentencing date.

Willingham is detained at the Pennington County Jail on a $5 million bond. Melendez and the Sukerts have been released on a bond of $50,000 apiece.
PIERRE | The state Aeronautics Commission talked Tuesday about a very big year ahead for public airport projects in South Dakota.

There possibly will be about $43.8 million in work, according to Bruce Lindholm, an administrator for the state Department of Transportation.

The estimate is based on pre-applications filed for 2016.

Public airports normally use a combination of local, federal and state funding to pay for projects.

Last year, projects totaled about $20 million. A typical year runs $30 million to $35 million.

Jon Becker, a state airport projects engineer, said $43 million could be the most the program has seen.

In a number of years, anyway, Becker said.

Commission Chairman Skip VanDerhule, of Yankton, said the large amount of projects was great.

The money being spent in South Dakota is certainly good for our economy, no doubt about that, VanDerhule said.
Hillary Clinton recently told a crowd of Kentucky primary voters that she'd put her husband and former President Bill Clinton in charge of the economy if she wins in November. She said Bill will be "in charge of revitalizing the economy because, you know, he knows how to do it."

Though, honestly, I'm likely to vote for Hillary in a two-way match-up against Donald Trump (I've already noted here why I think his trade-war rhetoric would be a disaster for South Dakota's ag economy), I wish she'd lighten up on the over-hype about Bill Clinton and his economic performance.

He didn't set off the information technology boom nor create the sharp drop in oil prices that kept the '90s economy perking. And as far as the grain and livestock markets  the lifeblood of South Dakota's rural economy  are concerned, Clinton's administration was a disaster. Prices stagnated during the 90s, falling in real terms as S.D. producers had to pay continually higher prices for their operating supplies.

President Clinton's main farm policy "achievement" was signing the notorious Farm Bill of 1996. It was a ham-handed effort at eliminating subsidies. Dubbed the Freedom To Farm Act in Washington, it was known as the Freedom to Fail Act in the local ag community.

Subsidies gradually had to be reinstated to prop up farmers who couldn't otherwise survive the selloff in ag prices that occurred by the end of Clinton's tenure in the White House. Clinton simply did not understand that price volatility is such an inherent component of agricultural markets that the government always has to stand ready to help out ag producers when plunging prices, often caused by global and natural events beyond their control, threaten to put them out of business.

Free marketeers might say so what, but a productive rural economy guarantees the food supply to this nation of 300 million people. President Clinton expressed some concern about the bill's lack of a safety net, but went ahead and signed it just the same, going along with the GOP Congress and leaving a lot of American farmers in pretty tough shape during the next few years, when prices did indeed collapse.

Further kow-towing to the financial libertarians in Congress, Clinton closed out his last term by signing a couple of the most disastrous financial deregulation bills in history. The most well-known is the Financial Services Modernization Act, which disintegrated the firewall between brokers and bankers, making easy money lending to unqualified borrowers a way of life that blew up in 2008.

The second is less well known but just as insidious in effect. It was the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 1999, which allowed the derivatives market to trade independently of oversight and regulation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Clinton's handiwork turned into a near-apocalypse eight years later.

I don't think Bill Clinton understood the implications of what he was doing, either on farm policy or financial deregulation. Using him and his track record as a prop for her economic platform is predictably political, but Hillary should know that doing so runs the risk of sudden exposure.
North Dakota tribes want to organize to promote tourism. Its an effort that makes sense and will benefit the entire state.

Theres a lot of interest in Native American culture in this country and abroad. Its not unusual to find European tourists on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation or Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, so its only logical to try to increase the numbers.

Plans to organize were discussed last week at the North Dakota Native Tourism Summit in Bismarck. The new tribal tourism association would be an affiliate of the national American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association. The new group would develop plans to draw more tourists to the reservations.

There are five reservations at least partially in North Dakota and they are scattered across the state. If they become larger tourist destinations they will attract more visitors to other tourism locations. Visitors to Fort Berthold might want to package trips to Medora, Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Fort Union into their stop at Fort Berthold.

Because everyone benefits from increased tourism, partnerships with the new tourism association can play a key role in making the effort a success. The tribes can work with state government for marketing, other towns in creating a larger tourism package and colleges in providing a workforce.

Les Thomas, vice chairman of the Turtle Mountain Tourism Association, said "Tourism in North Dakota is all about partnerships." The new tourism group has a chance to make these partnerships work. Tourism has been the states third leading industry behind energy and agriculture and theres no reason we shouldnt be able to grow it.

The new tourism association will report to the United Tribes Board of Directors and will meet again at the annual Tribal Leader's Summit in Bismarck in September. They may adopt a strategy for seeking a state appropriation, possibly as part of the Tourism Division's budget, to help fund tribal marketing and tourism development.

A financial boost from the state would be helpful. The tribes, however, aren't looking for much from the tourism budget. The cooperation of everyone involved and a good strategy should spell success.
Plea for pardon of Russian men convicted of terrorism submitted to Ukrainian President

MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI)  Petition for pardon of two Russian nationals, Alexander Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev convicted of terrorism by Kiev court, has been forwarded to Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday citing Aleksandrovs lawyer Valentin Rybin.

Rybin refused to name people who had lodged the petition until Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev leave Ukraine.

Oksana Sokolovskaya, the lawyer for Yerofeyev, said that she knew nothing about filing the petition.

Shortly before the sentence of Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev took effect, Poroshenko adjusted the procedure of pardon in Ukraine. According to the amendments, not only convicts but their relatives, defense lawyers, ombudsman or members of the Commission for a pardon can now seek pardon.

Ukrainian authorities claimed that Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev were captured in an eastern region of the country during an attack on a bridge on May 16, 2015.

The men, who faced terrorism charges, serve in the Third Special Forces Brigade, which is based in Togliatti, a city in southern Russia, according to Ukrainian officials.

The men also faced allegations of waging of a war of aggression, illegal border crossing, illegal carrying weapon and ammunition, illegal entry to an occupied territory and unleashing of war.

Moscow strongly denies the allegations. The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the men "were not on active service in the Russian Armed Forces" at the time of their capture in May 2015.

In April, the Goloseyevsky District Court of Kiev sentenced Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov to 14 years in prison each.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities began a military operation in Donbas against the local residents who objected to the coup. According to the UNs latest data, over 6,200 people have been killed in the conflict. Ukrainian officials and some Western states have repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in Ukraines domestic issues.

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that it has had absolutely no part in the events in southeastern Ukraine and does not supply the self-defense forces with military equipment and ammunition; that it is not a party to the domestic Ukrainian conflict and is interested in Ukraine overcoming the political and economic crisis.
Ravalli County District Judge Jeffrey Langton told Ravalli Countys Republican Women that he was seeking his fifth and final term Tuesday.

His opponent, Robert Myers, promised that he would serve no more than two if elected in June.

The two candidates for District 21s judicial seat offered their views of the office and something about themselves at the noon luncheon the Republican Women organization Tuesday.

The mostly cordial affair became testy only once when Myers took the incumbent judge to task over his recent decision to sentence a Washington State heroin drug dealer to 30 years suspended.

Myers was referring the sentence of Marlen Ravelo who was arrested in October with nearly a quarter million dollars in heroin and methamphetamine in the vehicle she shared with two others.

Langton accepted a plea bargain agreement in the case that called for the suspended sentence and a requirement that Ravelo pay $78,750. Ravelo was then placed in federal custody where she was expected to receive up to a 10-year sentence in a federal penitentiary.

Myers said Ravelo brought 2,500 hits of heroin into the community after she had been released on bail from distributing drugs in Washington State.

Even if there is a good reason (for the suspended sentence), we have just now sent a message that it is now cheaper to bring drugs here, Myers said. Youre not going to get jail time if you cooperateI just think we have to think about what kind of message are we sending. Are we inviting people here?

Langton replied the woman was headed to a federal penitentiary where she will be held without the possibility for parole for about 10 years.

The question is do we want to send her to a Montana prison at the expense of Montana taxpayers or do we send her to a federal prison at the expense of all 50 states? Langton said. She also has to pay a fineIt will require her to sell the home she has in Port Angeles.

Part of the reason she got the sentence she did was that she rolled over on some much bigger connections, Langton said. Law enforcement was asking that I give her that break because the people she disclosed to them would lead to bigger busts of bigger distributors.

Langton said the woman was a drug addict who was selling drugs to support her own habit.

Shes not somebody in an office tower that is directing shiploads of drugs, he said. She was trying to sell to support her own habit. She paid a heck of a price. If you want to call than an invitation to come sell drugs in Montana, then go ahead and say it.

Myers was also asked about his decision to represent the now disgraced former Ravalli County treasurer, Valerie Stamey.

Myers assumed the initial representation of Stamey after she was dismissed from her position and has recently filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the Bitterroot Star.

In response, Myers told a story about spending a day with his cousin on his grandparents farm, which included some ponds where his cousin had set out fishing lines. A snapping turtle had taken the bait and his cousin had indicated he was going to kill it.

Myers said he put up such a protest that his cousin changed his mind.

That is built into my nature, Myers said. When I see somebody almost solitarily on their own with almost all of society against them, Im going to defend that person.

Myers said thats his position as a lawyer, but would take a different tact if elected judge.

Im about being fair, making sure that this system is running right, but when it comes to representing people, Im dogged about it, Myers said. Thats what I didI didnt feel it was fair with all the scrutiny. That was my perspective on it and I didnt know all the facts. I was contacted and I took the case.
An El Mirage, California man was charged with felony aggravated assault and stalking after he allegedly ignored a restraining order, broke into a womans house and strangled her eight times.

Donald Ray Schermerhorn, 51, appeared Monday before Ravalli County Justice Jennifer Ray on the felony counts and misdemeanor charges of partner or family member assault and violation of a standing order of no contact.

Schermerhorn has been before Ray before on assault charges. On April 29, the judge ordered him to stay away from the woman after he was charged with assaulting her.

On May 22 at about 3 p.m., Ravalli County sheriffs deputies were called to a residence off of Burnt Fork Road, east of Stevensville, for a report of a disturbance.

The responding deputy made contact with a woman who was either Schermerhorns estranged wife or girlfriend.

She reported that at about 11 a.m. that day, she had responded to a knock on her door and found Schermerhorn standing on her porch, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

She immediately slammed the door shut.

The woman began running toward the back bedroom of her trailer, but Schermerhorn allegedly caught up with her and shoved her in the back with both hands.

When she reached the back bedroom, the woman said Schermerhorn threw her to the ground, straddled his legs around her and placed his right hand on her neck as he began to strangle her.

He told the woman she was a piece of (expletive), slut and whore.

The woman told the deputy that Schermerhorn was laughing and had a smirk on his face as he strangled her. She said he strangled her about eight times throughout the day, each time for two or three seconds.

Schermerhorn told her that he could kill her if he wanted, the affidavit said.

When the woman had the opportunity, she exited the trailer and started walking down the road in an attempt to get to her sisters home.

The deputy was able to observe red marks on the side of her neck. She reported that her neck was sore just below her ear. She also told the deputy that she was about to have a mental breakdown.

The woman said there had been a history of domestic violence between Schermerhorn and her. She said he had been arrested several times and was currently prohibited from having contact with her due to a pending partner or family member assault charge.

She told the deputy that he had continued to send her text messages despite the court order. The messages said that he was watching her. She believed he was living in a nearby abandoned trailer.

When a deputy spoke to Schermerhorn, he allegedly admitted to making contact with the woman despite the court order. He claimed that since the woman asked for contact, he wasnt in trouble.

A sheriffs sergeant had been in contact with the woman a few days prior to the incident. At that time, she complained that Schermerhorn was violating the order by texting and calling her. A review of records on her phone confirmed that he had been doing just that, the affidavit said.

Ray set bail at $25,000.
Not since Colstrip 1 and 2 were built in the mid-1970s or since Montana Power broke up in the early-2000s has there been such an important time in energy production in Montana? Washington and Oregon have recently decided not to buy electricity generated from coal. Talon Energy, formerly PPL, recently met with Governor Bullock and indicated Colstrip 3 and 4 are a liability.

Market effects are having huge impacts on coal production and electrical generation worldwide, but nowhere will the impacts have more of an effect than here in Montana. Changes are occurring almost daily. Recently the plan to build the Tongue River Railroad was scrapped. The Otter Creek Coal Tracts south of Miles City that the railroad was to serve has been abandoned. Jobs will be lost and taxes reduced. We need to prepare for these market changes now and look for opportunities to lessen their impact.

Montana is an energy rich state with diverse sources of generation. We export nearly 50 percent of the power we generate. Over half of the electricity generated (51 percent) is currently produced by burning coal. Other sources of electrical generation in Montana include hydroelectric (37 percent), wind (7 percent), natural gas (2 percent) and oil (1 percent).

Past governor Brian Schweitzer once referred to Montana as being the Saudi Arabia of wind energy. We currently produce less than 1/10 of 1 percent of that potential, developing just 1 percent of that wind energy potential could generate twice as much electricity as we currently produce. The trouble with wind (fortunately) is that it doesnt always blow, so it needs to be backed up with other sources of generation.

In 2011, NorthWestern Energy (NWE) built a 150 MW natural gas electrical generating facility near Anaconda. The David Gates facility was built to integrate with wind energy that was being built in north central Montana, specifically the Spion Kop Wind Farm. When the wind isnt blowing, the natural gas plant will fire up to meet demands. The project was permitted for 200 MW, so it has the capacity to increase by another 50 MW.

Another energy source that is promising and can work when the wind isnt blowing, is pump store hydroelectric such as the Gordon Butte Project in Meagher County near Martinsdale. This off-stream hydroelectric facility has nearly completed its Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) permitting process and has the capacity to generate 600 MW of electricity.

One of Montanas greatest energy assets is our electrical transmission grid. There are currently twin 500 KV lines running from Colstrip supplying power to the west coast. These lines will continue to deliver desirable clean energy to Washington, Oregon and California. Wind farms and pump stored hydro and other generating facilities will be built in close proximity to take advantage of these transmission lines.

Rooftop solar has good potential, with electricity being generated at the place of consumption: our homes and residences. NWE, as the regulated utility, needs to work with the PSC and consumers to find ways to develop this source that is mutually beneficial for both the utility and the consumers.

Energy efficiency also has great potential on both the generation and consumption side. NWEs hydroelectric dams were constructed in the early 1900s and can be retrofitted and upgraded to produce more power through efficiency. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council in a recent document estimated that in the Pacific Northwest region, nearly 85 percent of new energy needs over the next 20 years could be met with conservation and efficiency.

In Montana we have a secure, diverse, clean energy portfolio that is backed by our own hydroelectric, wind, natural gas and coal generated electricity. The future is bright. As a member of the PSC, I will fight for rate payers and consumers and demand electricity costs reflect this diversity and that it remains affordable and dependable. As consumers we have a lot at stake. Changes are taking place and we need a strong representative who understands these complicated technical issues. We need someone who is on the job daily, interacting with other professionals and working for our best interests while on the PSC. I am that person. Please support my efforts.

Mark Sweeney

Philipsburg
Guwahati, May 24 : Assam's new Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that, his government will work to make Assam a illegal foreigners free state and corruption free state.

"My government will work to make Assam a illegal foreigners free and corruption free state. Another priority of our government is to give proper social security to the all citizens of the state," Sonowal said in his first speech after taking oath as the new Chief Minister of Assam.

Sonowal appealed to the people of Assam to help the government for development and other issues of the state.

11 ministers along with Sarbananda Sonowal had taken oath on Tuesday at Veterinary college field, Khanapara in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, senior leader LK Advani, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, union ministers, satradhikars of Majuli.

BJP and ally partners AGP and BPF had won 86 seats including 60 of BJP in Assam assembly poll.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month, listens to the proceedings with assistant defense attorney William Maguire during a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston, South Carolina July...REUTERS/RANDALL HILL

Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a racially motivated attack at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study session at Charleston's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The killings shook the country and intensified the debate about race in America.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses. In a court filing, federal prosecutors accused him of holding racist views, targeting the victims because of their race and lacking remorse as factors justifying their decision.

His federal trial had been delayed while U.S. prosecutors decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys have said he would plead guilty if he did not face the possibility of execution and that they could not advise him until federal prosecutors decided.

Roof's attorney, Michael O'Connell, declined to comment on the prosecution's decision when reached by phone on Tuesday.

Roof also faces the death penalty if convicted on separate, state murder charges in a trial set to begin in January.

Owing to their religious beliefs, some of the victims families do not believe in the death penalty, while others felt it was appropriate, the state prosecutor trying the case said last September.

Steve Schmutz, an attorney representing families of three victims, said his clients "support whatever decision the U.S. government is making in this case, and I'm sure they support this decision."

When Roof was charged days after the shooting, some relatives of the slain worshippers tearfully offered words of forgiveness during an initial court appearance. One asked God to have mercy on his soul, while others noted that the victims would have urged love.

Almost a year later, views diverged on the U.S. government's death penalty decision, the local Post and Courier newspaper reported.

Its a great message being sent by the government that this wont be tolerated, Kevin Singleton, whose mother was killed, told the newspaper.

The relative of another victim cited the Bible in calling for Roof to spend his life in prison rather than die.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Only three federal prisoners have been executed in the past half century and none since 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The best-known of those was Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against Sub Inspector Sudhir Bikram Shah of Nepal Police on Wednesday.

The CIAA has filed the case alleging Shah for submitted fake certificate of Intermediate level (I.A), acquired from Bihar Intermediate Education Council Patna, India in the year 1995, for the purpose of initial recruitment.

The CIAA has sought maximum punishment under sec 12 and 29 of the former aCorruptiona Control Act, 1961 and sec 16(1) of prevailing Prevention of Corruption Act 2002 from the Shah.
Kathmandu, Nepal: At least four people have been killed and 17 others were injured in a road accident at Harkapur, Gaindakot Municipality-11 of the Nawalparasi district on Wednesday.

The incident occurred when a mini truck with registration number Ba 2 Ka, 1137, which was heading for Kathmandu from Salyan district, collided with a tree at around 5.00 on Wednesday morning.

Among the injured, six have reported as critical in condition. Though the death of four persons is conformed from the district police Nawalparasi, the identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained.

The injured passengers are receiving treatment at Bharatpur-based Chitwan district Hospital. It is suspected that careless driving would have led to the accident.

Similarly, at least four people have been injured when a passenger bus carrying wedding attendants met with an accident at Talibhatta in Itahara-3 of Morang along the Urabari-Baradganga Road on Wednesday morning.

According to the reports, the bus with registration number Me 1 Kha 1960 met the accident at around 7:10 am. The injured are undergoing treatment at local Hospital.




. Three deaths in as many days on Mt Everest on Nepal side last weekend

. Mountain reopened after last years earthquake

. Lower-cost climbing boom re-ignites safety fears

KATHMANDU/NEW DELHI: On his way down from the top of Mt Everest, Indian mountaineer Nava Kumar Phukon saw the woman sway from side to side  a classic sign of severe mountain sickness  as snow and fog reduced visibility to less than 10 feet (3 metres).

Phukons sherpa guide later told him the woman was 34-year old Australian Maria Strydom, who died last Saturday on the high slopes of Mt Everest after making a failed push for the summit.

The sherpa who was trying to help her told me: She is going to die, Phukon said after returning to Kathmandu from his own exhausting but successful summit bid.

I did not have any extra oxygen, clothes or food, not even water to offer to her, Phukon said. I was so weak myself.

Reuters could not independently confirm that it was the same woman, although both the sherpa guides worked for the same agency Seven Summit Treks and knew each other.

Three deaths in as many days on the worlds tallest mountain have renewed safety concerns after eager climbers flocked to the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit for the first time since last year when an avalanche triggered by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Base Camp, and all expeditions ground to a halt.

A Dutch national, also with Seven Summit Treks, died last Friday in the notorious death zone where the air is so thin that only the fittest can survive without bottled oxygen, while an Indian perished on Sunday due to exhaustion. Two other Indian climbers have been missing since Saturday, and are feared dead.

Officials from Seven Summit Treks said 13 sherpas bringing Strydoms body down the mountain had encountered heavy snowfall at about 7,700 metres on Tuesday. When the weather improves they will resume the rescue, and her body will be flown to Kathmandu later this week, before the spring climbing season shuts with the onset of the monsoon.

Deaths are not uncommon on Mt Everest and the number of fatalities this year is close to average. But experts say the lure of reaching the highest point on Earth is increasingly attracting less experienced climbers served by agencies hungry for business.

Climbers are careless and confused about their strength and preparedness, said 30-year old Indian Ratnesh Pandey after summiting Mt Everest on Saturday, without naming anyone.

He said temperatures plummeted to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) near the top, while fierce winds closed many of the weather windows in the upper reaches, making this years journey particularly tough.

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

Scaling Mt Everest is far from the worlds most treacherous climb from a technical perspective. Mountaineering expert Alan Arnette estimates deaths at about 3 percent of attempts, against one in four on Mt Annapurna, a Nepali massif with its main peak surpassing 8,000 metres.

But less skilled climbers keen to conquer the highest points on each of the worlds continents often fail to appreciate how much more difficult Mt Everest is than the other six, people in the climbing community say.

Competition among low-cost local companies chasing a business that has boomed in recent years and is no longer dominated by international outfits has meanwhile undermined safety standards, they say.

Some companies, charging around $30,000 a climb, or half that of high-end firms, are known to have sent relatively inexperienced climbers up the mountain without medically trained guides.

There is this exponential growth in organisations offering guiding services on Mt Everest and because there are so few internationally qualified guides in Nepal, it means the companies are engaging less and less in skilled workers, said veteran climber Andrew Lock, the first Australian to lead a commercial expedition up Mt Everest.

Climbing is big business in Nepal, earning the government $3.1 million from 289 Everest permit fees this year.

Critics accuse Kathmandu of failing to enforce rules requiring past experience of high climbs, but Tourism Department official Bishnu Regmi said the government was committed to safety.

Arnold Coster, who led the expedition for Seven Summit Treks, said his agency was as prepared as any. He said he had personally selected climbers, and that Strydom and her husband Robert Gropel had three experienced sherpas between them.

His team tried their best to evacuate Strydom when she got into difficulty, he said, but her condition deteriorated fatally before she reached a helicopter evacuation point.

An extra sherpa was sent up to help Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold when he complained of weakness but he died later that day.

As far as I am concerned, we were one of the stronger teams on the mountain. It proves how unpredictable this sport is, Coster told Reuters by telephone from Base Camp.

He acknowledged that the industry needed better regulation.

People can just sign up like its tourism, he said. There are a lot of people who still have a valid permit from 2015 and didnt show up this year. I think next year is going to be extremely busy.
Police parade two Indian nationals held with one kg gold in Bhairahawa on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Photo: Armed Police Force

Bhairahawa, Nepal: Two Indian nationals have been arrested in Nepal while possession of one kg gold from Bhairahawa of Rupandehi district on Wednesday.

A group of Armed Police Force (APF) nabbed Hari Om Kumar (25) and Sujit Kumar (26) both from Motihari of Bihar state of India.

According to the APF, the duo were arrested from the Eye Hospital Chok in Bhairahawa while they were found to have wrapped the gold in a white cloth and tied it on the waist to smuggle to India.

Following the arrest, both were handed over to the Bhairahawa-based Belahiya Customs Office for investigation. The market price of the seized gold is around Rs 4.77 million.
KATHMANDU: Various student unions on Wednesday issued a joint appeal for legal action against the schools shying away from implementing the School Fee Determination Standard Directive, 2072.

The 14 student unions including Nepal Students Union, All Nepal National Free Students Union and All Nepal National Independent Students UnionRevolutionary held a joint press conference demanding action against as many as 13 schools in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

The schools that have fallen under the student unions scrutiny include Rato Bangala, DAV, Little Angels, Ideal Model, GEMS, Brihaspati Vidya Sadan, Siddartha Banasthali and Galaxy among others.

NSU spokesperson UP Lamichhane said recent inspections carried out in those schools showed absence of financial transparency while more than Rs 30,000 was being charged in grade one.

Likewise, irregularity in scholarship distribution, fees charged under unnecessary topics and physical infrastructure were found to be in violation of set standard, he added.

The student unions have drawn attention of Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel towards the urgency for taking immediate steps to ensure that the directive was enforced, Lamichhane said.RSS
The UNO DotNetNuke website has been shutdown.

If you were attempting to use a page or resource on the UNO DotNetNuke site that you believe is crucial to your department,

contact the IT department Help Desk at (504)280-HELP(4357).





The University of New Orleans Home Page




Walk for Kristin Smart

Dennis Mahon has organized a public walk starting at 5 p.m. Friday in San Luis Obispo to raise awareness about Kristin Smart's case and her disappearance.

Participants will walk from the home where the off-campus party was held at 135 Crandall Way to the Grand/Perimeter intersection on the Cal Poly campus, following the route that Smart took the night she vanished. The walk should take about 20 minutes.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/kristinsmart/.
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).
 DOJ Inspector General report details (impressively?) rare cases of untimely release of federal prisoners | Main | "Many serving sentences for marijuana offenses deserve clemency" 

May 25, 2016

Making a friendly pitch for SCOTUS to consider constitutional limits on extreme judicial sentencing increase based on uncharged homicide

Regular readers know that I have long been troubled by significant sentence increases by judges based on so-called acquitted conduct, and that I have filed a number of federal appellate briefs articulating my concerns. Building on some of that prior work, I recently had a chance to work on an amicus brief in support of certiorari in Hebert v. US, a case out of the Fifth Circuit involving an extreme sentence increase based on uncharged conduct. The full amicus (which the fine folks at the Jones Day in DC made so fine) can be downloaded below, and here are excerpts from its start providing context and key arguments:

It is difficult to imagine a starker violation of the Sixth Amendment and due process than what transpired below. Mr. Hebert pleaded guilty to a $16,000 fraud that carried a guidelines range topping out at 5 years. After persuading Mr. Hebert to admit responsibility for his fraud and accept punishment for that crime, the Government ambushed him at sentencing by asserting that he had committed an intentional murder along with the fraud to which he had confessed. The Government then asked the district court to find it was more likely than not that Mr. Hebert committed this un-charged, non-admitted, never-convicted, non-federal crime. Then, on the basis of that judicial determination, the district court gave Mr. Hebert a 92-year sentence  a sentence the Government has conceded and the Fifth Circuit recognized would have been substantively unreasonable under the post-Booker sentencing regime absent a judicial finding of murder, Pet.App.22a  again, a crime with which Mr. Hebert has never even been charged. Because Mr. Hebert has never been charged with  much less convicted of  murder, he remains entirely innocent of that crime. If the Government wishes to convict Mr. Hebert of murder, it is welcome to try. But what it cannot do is use Mr. Heberts confession to lesser crimes as the springboard for de facto convicting him of a far more serious crime in a judicial proceeding with no jury, the civil standard of proof, and none of the criminal justice systems fundamental rules and procedures.... There are at least two constitutional provisions that, under this Courts well-established jurisprudence, forbid this inverted regime. First, this Court has made clear that a criminal defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to have a jury find the facts behind his punishment. Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616, 621 (2016). That right reflects the vital role of the jury as the circuitbreaker in the States machinery of justice  a role that cannot be relegated to making a determination that the defendant at some point did something wrong [as] a mere preliminary to a judicial inquisition into the facts of the crime the State actually seeks to punish. Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 30607 (2004). The Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial is a constitutional protection of surpassing importance, Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 476, yet the decision below makes a mockery of it.... Second, this Court has long recognized that due process forbids grossly unfair procedures when a persons liberty is at stake. Specifically, this Court has indicated that (1) judges are sometimes limited from imposing distinct new punishments based on a new finding of fact that was not an ingredient of the offense charged, Specht v. Patterson, 386 U.S. 605, 608 (1967) (citation omitted); (2) the safeguards of due process in criminal cases are concerned with substance rather than [any] kind of formalism, Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 69899 (1975); and (3) constitutional concerns are raised whenever sentencing findings become a tail which wags the dog of the substantive offense, or when the government restructures criminal prosecutions to evade the commands of the Constitution. McMillan v. Pennsylvania, 477 U.S. 79, 8889 (1986). The simple principle that unifies these decisions is fatal to the legal rule embraced below: Due process forbids prosecutors from manipulating the criminal justice system to evade its core protections. Applied here, that principle barred prosecutors from waylaying Mr. Hebert at sentencing with allegations of a far more serious crime for which he has never been indicted or convicted  allegations that depend, moreover, on evidence which the prosecutors were apparently unwilling to subject to the crucible of a criminal trial or test against the burden of proof they must carry there. Due process demands more. Download Berman Amicus in Support of Cert in Hebert

May 25, 2016 at 10:28 AM | Permalink

Comments

92 year sentence for $16K fraud seems problematic.

Posted by: federalist | May 25, 2016 10:32:45 AM

What the Justice Department and a U.S. District Judge have done to this man is just unconscionable, and is wholly inconsistent with the fundamental machinery of our system of justice.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | May 25, 2016 10:59:23 AM

"persuading Mr. Hebert to admit responsibility for his fraud and accept punishment for that crime"

adding insult to injury

The argument made might have open-ended implications, but the breadth of the punishment is so extreme for the convicted crime, it seems the sort of thing where you might get at least five justices to accept the case & write a limited opinion to deal with such excessive cases. The line drawing issues might trouble a few justices, but the case does seem blatant enough to warrant it.

Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2016 11:18:31 AM

"persuading Mr. Hebert to admit responsibility for his fraud and accept punishment for that crime"

adding insult to injury

The argument made might have open-ended implications, but the breadth of the punishment is so extreme for the convicted crime, it seems the sort of thing where you might get at least five justices to accept the case & write a limited opinion to deal with such excessive cases. The line drawing issues might trouble a few justices, but the case does seem blatant enough to warrant it.

Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2016 11:18:35 AM

I agree that such extreme sentencing enhancements based on allegedly relevant conduct are both improper and shocking, but I think you're stretching things a bit by implying that the prosecutors ambushed Hebert with the murder allegations after he took the plea. The Fifth Circuit decision makes clear that allegations regarding the murder were included in paragraph J of the indictment, so while Hebert wasn't actually charged with the murder, he knew the government would try to pin it on him.

Posted by: Jonathan Edelstein | May 25, 2016 12:02:18 PM

Sorry for duplicate (posts sometimes don't save at first) ... appreciate the last comment too -- these excesses at times have caveats like that which help clarify just what is at issue. Will be interested to see what the professor thinks of it.

Meanwhile, 2A rights in jail?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bundys-want-better-jail-conditions

Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2016 12:07:58 PM

Mr. Edelstein, I think your point is well-taken, but even with the notice, what was he supposed to do, not plead guilty? It seems odd that the "notice" somehow makes the unfairness less, although it does take the air out of the "ambush" storyline.

Posted by: federalist | May 25, 2016 1:16:59 PM

Looks to me as though the DA and Judge are both traitors to their oath to uphold the Cobstitution abd i War time n9 less. Would seem to call for the ultimate punishment. Summary Execution as a warning to others... That is what they like using other defendants for



Posted by: Rodsmith3510 | May 25, 2016 1:46:14 PM

This is why God made rifles.

Posted by: BarkinDog | May 25, 2016 1:53:40 PM

Hate to beat a dead horse, but the problem here is sentencing ranges. If you have a sentencing range that allows a 92-year sentence for a $16,000 fraud, one day somebody is going to get that sentence based on his bad character.

You can't have it both ways. You can't complain that sentencing laws give too much power to prosecutor's to change the potential punishment by adding and proving additional "enhancing" facts (or opting not to prove those facts) while at the same time objecting to the judge considering anything other than the admitted facts.

A judge faced with Al Capone for tax evasion should be able to impose the maximum sentence because the defendant is Al Capone, and the evidence is enough to convince the judge that the tax evasion charge is the tip of the iceberg. What that maximum sentence should be should depend upon the degree of tax evasion. If you don't have a maximum sentence, then you have a very, very, very bad person getting a very, very, very long sentence for a relatively minor offense. That long sentence does not offend me given who is getting it, but it does take a lot of the power to enforce laws away from the executive and give it to the judiciary and minimizes the significance of the jury.

Posted by: tmm | May 25, 2016 1:55:56 PM

The "ambush" involves the Govt's eagerness to have Hebert not only "convicted" at sentencing, but also extremely/maximally punished for "intentional murder" after getting his guilty plea on various fraud charges. Specifically, at sentencing the Govt sought the stat max on all the fraud conviction counts consecutively --- 153 years of imprisonment! Ironically, the district judge here gave Hebert 60 years less than what the prosecution asserted was necessary.

Posted by: Doug B. | May 25, 2016 2:05:07 PM

Doug--ambush implies a lack of notice--here there was.

Posted by: federalist | May 25, 2016 2:28:21 PM

Whether or not this was an ambush is quibbling. Certainly, it was an unexpected development.

On the main topic I find myself in agreement with tmm. The underlying problem here isn't the acquitted conduct, the underlying problem here is a statute that allows for the imposition of a cruel and unusual punishment. The acquitted conduct is just the means that justified the ends in the judge's mind, but the ends could have been justified on the basis of some other means besides the acquitted conduct if the judge and prosecutors had been willing to put in the work.

So the normative question is whether the 92 years for the 16K fraud violates the 8A. Yes, it does IMO. A 92 year sentence is effectively life in prison for a non-violent crime with minimal victim impact. That is cruel and AFAIK it is unusual.

Posted by: Daniel | May 25, 2016 3:33:13 PM

Fair enough, federalist (and, for the record, I dickered a bit with the lawyers who co-authored this brief about the wording and contents of the brief). But my understanding of the record is that the defendant did not believe (nor have notice) that the feds would be seeking a stat-max sentence on all counts based on the allegation of intentional murder. The defendant knew that the feds thought him responsible for the fraud victim's disappearance, but I do not think he knew or even had substantive notice that the feds at sentencing were going to seek a sentence that would necessarily depend on him being "found guilty" of intentional murder.

Posted by: Doug B. | May 25, 2016 3:38:33 PM

"does not offend me given who is getting it, but it does take a lot of the power to enforce laws away from the executive and give it to the judiciary and minimizes the significance of the jury"

The second part does "offend" some people.

As to "who is getting it," who's to say? It is "un-charged, non-admitted, never-convicted" conduct. Not quite Al Capone. A rather heinous murder would be necessary for me to think 80+ years above the average is warranted for something like safety reasons. Loads of murderers get out in a fraction of that time. Convicted murderers.

Seems the problem is the "minor" offense can get you that level of punishment. It opens up this level of judicial power that will get deference in appeals.

Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2016 3:40:39 PM

"the Government ambushed him at sentencing by asserting that he had committed an intentional murder along with the fraud to which he had confessed"

I can see where people can think it is misleading.

Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2016 3:42:03 PM

The more I understand the system, the more upset I become about Al Capone getting that much time for tax evasion. We accept it because it's Al Capone, but there was nothing resembling the orderly rule of law in that case.

This case continues that problem. I think the solution is far narrower sentencing ranges based on the amount involved. But that would require micromanaging sentences and I know Judges don't like to do that.

Posted by: Erik M | May 26, 2016 2:04:30 PM

Post a comment


The shadowy (but not really) Unicode Consortium has approved 72 new emoji after a flood of public input which will be included in the Unicode 9.0 release, arriving in June 2016. The new batch includes new smiley faces like Cowboy, Drooling Face, and Rolling on the Floor Laughing, as well as some other additions that are sure to come in handy like a scary clown face, a hand taking a selfie, fingers crossed, and a tumbler of whiskey  not to mention two new food items that are clearly going to enable us to indicate "penis" now with three different sizes to choose from, with cucumber and baguette joining the now overused eggplant.

Below, a few more, and I'm pretty sure that Almost-Vomiting Face is going to become incredibly popular for obvious reasons.





You can see the entire list here, and note that we will all have to wait for the next release for things like Dumpling, Fortune Cookie, and Face With One Eyebrow Raised.

The Unicode Consortium is just "a little known tribunal of engineers in Mountain View," most of them at places like Apple and Google, as ABC 7 explains, just 11 of them in fact, who all pay $18,000 a year to become voting members. They are open to any and all public suggestions, however, and as the consortium's president Mark Davis insists to the station, "A lot of people are surprised that anyone can propose an emoji. [But] Anyone can propose an emoji."

Bay Area residents Jennifer Lee and her friend designer Yiying Lu were behind the proposed dumpling, fortune cookie, and Chinese takeout box emoji that will be coming next year, saying that they were surprised that Chinese food was under-represented in the existing visual language.

As we learned this month, there's a campaign started at Google pressing for emoji of women in the workforce  given that the only female emoji are either mothers, dancing girls, or they're doing their nails  but those are not part of this release. But given the Google connection at Unicode, we're likely to see more depictions of working woman in an upcoming release, and hopefully, maybe, we can start cutting some of the dumb ones no one uses like the office supplies and that nondescript beige purse.

And for all you philistines out there who don't think emoji are important, I point you to the fact that Oxford Dictionaries selected one as their "Word of the Year" for 2015  it was, naturally, Face with Tears of Joy or Laughing Through Tears, depending on your preference.

Previously: Google Presses Unicode For 'Working Women' Emoji
Look who was in Chinatown Tuesday. @billclinton stops by a bakery to shake hands pic.twitter.com/pT5MG3jk8p  joegarofoli (@joegarofoli) May 24, 2016

Bill Clinton arrived in SF Tuesday morning and made an appearance at a breakfast reception as part of a speaking and fundraising tour as he stumps for his wife in the presidential race. The former president made campaign stops Monday in Sacramento and Stockton ahead of the June 7 California primary, and this afternoon he was scheduled to appear at a fundraiser in Fremont, as KTVU reports.

As the Mercury News tells us, Bill did a meet-and-greet for about 15 minutes this morning at the Washington Bakery and Restaurant, "posing for photos and sharing pleasantries with patrons who spoke limited English." This was before he was whisked off to the more expensive SF breakfast fundraiser where tickets went for between $250 and $2,700.

Bill Clinton stops by Chinatown bakery for photos and handshakes. via @joegarofoli https://t.co/gysQ70UTYt pic.twitter.com/FRs5JjYIZi  SFChronicle (@sfchronicle) May 24, 2016

Regarding a brand new, totally sinister 15-second ad spot launched by the Trump campaign yesterday referring to the former president's past sex scandals and implying that he is a rapist, Clinton responded to a reporter saying, "I don't answer Mr. Trump. I trust the voters."

Hillary Clinton will join her husband Wednesday for a fundraiser in Atherton, followed Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at Parkside Hall in San Jose for a rally.

Previously: Video: Hillary Clinton Says 'California Counts,' Sounds Unsure About Legal Weed
Draymond Green doesn't bump mainstream, he knocks underground.

In this advertisement, the Golden State Warriors forward has been magically transported  by his Beats headphones, apparently  into the video for E-40's 2006 Hyphy anthem "Tell Me When To Go." Nota bene: This only works if you are Draymond Green and have coordinated with Dr. Dre et al. for the rights to superimpose yourself into the video.

For reference, the original:

Incidentally, Green fans are undoubtedly relieved that he's playing tonight: Despite a well-aimed (accidental?!) kick to Steven Adams' groin, he's merely been fined upwards of $21k. We trust he was paid handsomely for this commercial and will be able to swallow the fine.

[H/t: SF Egotist]

Related: Warriors' Draymond Green Super Wasted On Camera, Dissing Cavs, Likely Drinking Since Last Night
#BREAKING: Amtrak train crashes into car in San Leandro, killing two. https://t.co/M7r8icdYzT pic.twitter.com/GolOO19BoU  NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) May 24, 2016

An Amtrak train and an SUV collided in San Leandro this afternoon, killing two people.

NBC Bay Area reports that rescue teams were on the scene but the car was trapped beneath the train. Meanwhile, KTVU learns that the victims were a mother and her three-year-old child.

The collision occurred on the railroad tracks near Washington Avenue and Halcyon Drive. The circumstances of the collision remain unknown.

#BREAKING: 2 people are dead after an Amtrak train struck a vehicle in San Leandro. https://t.co/seFPFcH9iW pic.twitter.com/KNPCehV1tV  ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) May 24, 2016

Just yesterday, he Chronicle writes that a man was hit and killed in San Leandro by Amtrak, and around the Bay Area, two more were killed by trains, one by Caltrain and one by BART.

KTVU has updated their coverage with information from Amtrak. The train in question was Capitol Corridor Train No. 532 en route from San Jose to Sacramento, which, in the area of the collision, might have been going as fast as 79 mph.

A witness tells KTVU that the SUV was stopped on the tracks when it was hit, and a KTVU reporter tweets that the car was stuck in traffic when it was hit and dragged by the train.

SUV was stuck in traffic when @Amtrak_CA train hit at 1:30p dragged car at least 1/8 mile @SanLeandroPD #KTVU pic.twitter.com/dIWK0DtAbh  taramoriarty (@taramoriarty1) May 24, 2016

Roads in the area that have been closed are back open according to the San Leandro Police Department.

WASHINGTON IS NOW OPEN.

Road closed on Washington Ave at Chapman. https://t.co/QtyCe4LSAi  San Leandro PD (@SanLeandroPD) May 24, 2016

The East Bay Times reports that no one aboard the train was hurt in the crash. The SUV was dragged a quarter of a mile under the car of the train, they confirm.
John Burris isn't a political activist. "Making speeches? Nobody can win that," he says ruefully over tea in his Oakland law offices. "You can say what you want, I can say what I want, and we both go home."

No. Burris, a relaxed 71-year-old, wants to win. Rather than speechifying, his "calling  I feel that strongly," he says, was the law. "A lawsuit you have to respond to... That's why I love being a lawyer. Somebody wins the argument. Something happens."

Burris' most notable victory  there have been many  might still be the 2003 Oakland "Riders" case, and he has not tired of discussing it. Police officers wrongfully arrested, beat, and planted evidence on 119 plaintiffs, he argued, settling with the city for $10.9 million. Beyond winning the argument and the money, the largest such payout in Oakland history, the settlement led to departmental reforms. Something, as he might say, happened.

Still, as of 2012, the Oakland Police Department had not fully complied with the terms of the settlement in the Riders case. That's illustrative. "There's no doubt we're in an uphill fight all the time, all the time," he says of reform efforts. Take Burris's first prominent case, that of a 14-year-old African American boy shot and killed by Oakland Police in 1979. Now, in 2016, Burris' biggest case is a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the family of Mario Woods, a 26-year-old African American man shot and killed by San Francisco Police. What, if anything, has happened?

If Burris' work is Sisyphean, it might be so in the manner Camus intended: Not without real accomplishment. What happens happens case by case, says Burris, who was taking on around 50 police brutality lawsuits a year in 2009 according to an article in Real Clear Politics. He hasn't appeared to slow much since then. "When you bring a lawsuit, and it focuses on an event, the department, internally will change," Burris says, repeating himself, not just emphatically, but assuredly: "They will change."

To make sure, Burris aims to keep the pressure on. "We always have a number of cases pending against the City and County of San Francisco and the Sheriff's Department," Burris says of his law offices, a team of nine lawyers. "I know that, from a positive point of view, I can make change happen," he says. "If you listen to what I say, you might change your approach to how you deal with the mentally impaired. Or an edged weapon. If you assess why you didn't win a case, you can see that the approach was wrong, the tactic was wrong, and then the tactics can be changed."

John Burris was born in Vallejo in 1945. Though he lived in a predominantly black community, he attended a largely white public school. "I don't know. Maybe it was a test question," he told the Chronicle in a 2005, suggesting he scored his way in. "I was pretty smart." Burris earned his bachelor's degree from Golden Gate University and worked briefly as an accountant, where a higher up told him "I want you to be the Jackie Robinson of this firm, of accounting." Instead, he went to Berkeley's business school, and then, after interviewing black lawyers for a project, to UC Berkeley's School of Law.

During a summer internship at a law firm in Chicago, he was mentored by Ralph Metcalfe, a democratic congressman who was part of the so-called "Daley Machine." When Metcalfe's doctor was beaten by police officers, the congressman responded with a congressional meeting, then a commission to investigate police brutality in Chicago. Every day for the summer of 1972, Burris interviewed black people  "a string of them all day"  mostly men, who were beaten by police. As a kid in Vallejo, he says, "You get chased around here and there, you were familiar with cops. But you didn't really feel the weight of it." Other than the Civil Rights movement, which he watched closely as a child, "where you really had the clash with police over the status quo," he says he hadn't been fully, viscerally aware of the brutal treatment to which black bodies were subjected in America.

Burris practiced law as an Associate Attorney at Jenner and Block, then, as Assistant States Attorney in Cook County, Illinois. He was Deputy District Attorney with the Alameda County District Attorneys Office from 1977 to 1979, and a partner at Harris, Alexander, and Burris before founding his own offices. 1991 was a breakthrough year for Burris: He won a $3.8 million jury verdict for Rodney King in a case against the LAPD and a $42,000 settlement for the late Tupac Shakur in a brutality case against the OPD. Burris has been on the other side of lawsuits, too. King sued him and two other lawyers for malpractice in a suit that was dismissed in 2001. In 1996, he was suspended by the California Bar Association when his law firm sent misleading solicitations to mass disaster victims. He attributed the error to members of his staff.

"It's easy to represent famous people," Burris says, "and I have." By contrast, "Nobody cares about Mario Woods, at least in the police agency. I feel very fortunate that I get to represent him... I feel very strongly that I am representing people who would otherwise not be represented."

While "the African-American community has always known, in a relative sense, about police brutality," Burris agrees that the public consciousness of police violence toward black and brown citizens has grown. If so, the knowledge has been hard-won. On New Year's Eve, 2009, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black man, as he lay face down at Oakland's Fruitvale Station. Burris took up the case of his mother and daughter, and in 2011 the Chronicle reported that BART had agreed to a cumulative $2.8 million settlement with them.



"It's David and Goliath," says Burris. While he says "the most despised person in the entire system is the African American male," he'd extend that metaphor to "other minorities who are disadvantaged. If you're at the lower end of the political strata or the economic strata, you don't have much purchase."

But in America, Goliath is not felled by one blow. On December 2nd, 2015, San Francisco police officers shot and killed Mario Woods in the Bayview neighborhood in a scene, captured on video, that has been likened to a firing squad. On December 11, Burris announced that he had filed a civil rights lawsuit against SFPD on behalf of Woods' family. [The] killing is an outrage and an affront to the African American community, he said at the time. That case, as well as a Department of Justice review of the San Francisco Police Department, is ongoing.

Burris acknowledges that he's taking on a powerful, often hegemonic system, but when I put his David and Goliath metaphor back to him, he immediately demurred. "That's just a metaphor. I don't have a view that I'm tackling the whole world, because then I'd go under." Instead, he says "I'm taking on a larger system  but it's one chunk at a time. It's not like I'm saying I'm going after the Oakland police department  although, I've done that, but that's because I had a case that allowed me to do it."

"I don't know that we beat Goliath," Burris concludes "We get some justice, not full justice."

Related: Two SFPD Officers Who Shot Mario Woods Previously Faced Excessive-Force Lawsuits

$11 Million In Damages Awarded To Man Shot In Back By San Jose Police


Today the Department of Little Known San Francisco Curiosities, with the aid of the SFMTA's Moving blog, is here to explain what those yellow circles in the middle of traffic lanes around San Francisco mean.

You know the ones, with the sticks that come out of them pointing different directions, like so.





As it happens, these are guides for Muni bus and trolly operators indicating spots where there are breaks in overhead electrified wires. As the SFMTA explains, they "help operators time their acceleration properly as their electric trolley poles and train pantographs pass through the 'breakers' that connect different sections of wire."

The arms pointing in different directions are to indicate where the break in power would occur depending on the vehicle being driven  double-length bus vs. streetcar, for example.

Further, to get technical, some vehicles have to power off as they roll through some of these intersections or switches. Per Quora:

The driver must power off [in certain situations]. Firstly, he doesn't want to switch the points. Also, in all overhead wire intersections, at some stage a negative wire must cross a positive wire, and one intersecting wire is protected by isolators  a dead section. An electric bus, under load, drawing 100 amps at 550 volts DC will cause a big, destructive arc if the bus drives onto the dead section (where the wires actually cross) under power. And it's jerky for the passengers, too.

So there you go. Now when you spot one of these yellow "pancakes" waving an arm, you'll be able to sound smart/nerdy explaining this to your friends.
Correction: This post originally stated that Supervisor Peskin's proposal had been killed. It has not been, and this post has been corrected to reflect that.

SF Supervisor Katy Tang and Mayor Ed Lee have a plan for taller buildings with more affordable housing in their proposed Affordable Housing Bonus Program, but more progressive-identified Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Eric Mar have their own, somewhat loftier ideas. Those rival density bonus plans have been at odds, the Business Times illustrated yesterday: The Tang-Lee plan allows for two extra stories on market-rate development projects with 30 percent or more affordable housing, while, by contrast, the Peskin-Mar proposal would only offer height increases to 100 percent affordable housing projects and would limited them to two additional stories.

The contest of ideas didn't last long: The Board of Supervisors voted yesterday on Peskin's motion to hold a hearing on his version of the program, and killed it then and there.

Peskin and Mar's plan, outlined last week, would also require conditional use permits in spite of a February law exempting 100-percent-affordable projects from that hurdle. Furthermore, development would be limited to sites that lie vacant, precluding the demolition of existing structures and building on those sites.

Peskin called the plan "Density Done Right: The 100 percent affordable alternative" in an Examiner op-ed yesterday, writing that "As evidenced by the energy at last weeks '100 percent affordable alternative' rally and press conference, people are excited to tackle a new vision for housing creation and preservation."

Tang has been critical of the opposing plan, as has been Tim Colen, executive director of the San Francisco Housing Action Committee. "It's a very disappointing proposal," Colen told the Business Times yesterday. "We don't understand how it would produce any housing at all. This is public money." That last remark speaks to the idea that development of below-market-rate rents building would likely rely completely on public subsidies.

And, of course, all of this could be moot if Governor Brown has his way. He's got a proposed state law working its way through the legislature that could, if it passes as-is  which it likely won't?  allow developers who include even a small amount of affordable housing in their plans to bypass all the local approval hurdles that make development in SF as slow as it is. It's billed as "density bonus" legislation, but it would actually be a massive change for places like SF where development is often kept in check by neighborhood groups, the Planning Commission, and others.

Related: Gov. Jerry Brown Declares War On NIMBYs And Planning Commissions With New Housing Bill
SIOUX CITY | Brian H. Smith recalled receiving an offer to work as a "secret shopper."

Everything, from the invitation email to the prospective employer's website seemed genuine, the Sioux City man said.

It seemed so real. They sent me an advance paycheck and everything, Smith recalled.

But the Western Union money transfer was canceled after he sent them money, bilking him out of $3,000.

My advice: If you see an offer online, even if its from someone you think you know, dont take it. Its all fraudulent, in my opinion, Smith said.

Smith shared his story Tuesday at a public forum in Sioux City organized by the Iowa Insurance Commission.

Seniors are often the target of financial scams because, simply put, they have money saved and are trusting, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart told an audience at the Sioux City Convention Center.

Gerhart and other experts told about 140 people who attended the Iowa Fraud Fighters public education program how to protect themselves from a variety of scams.

I know you all believe in Iowa Nice, Gerhart said. But, sometimes, its OK not to be nice when it comes to scammers.

Con artists often target Americans 60 years of age and older, swindling more than 7 million seniors a year for nearly $3 billion annually, he said.

Geoff Greenwood, spokesman for the Iowa Attorney's General Office, said the top scam they hear about is residents who are contacted by criminals posing as IRS officials.

The IRS will never call you asking for your bank information, or your Social Security number, and so on, Greenwood said.

For more information on fraud, scams and how to defend against them, visit IowaFraudFighters.gov.
SIOUX CITY | A man who belonged to the same gang as Jamal Dean was recently found guilty of lying while testifying at Dean's sentencing hearing.

A U.S. District Court jury in Sioux City in April found Cesar Ramos, 27, of Sioux City, guilty of three counts of making false material declarations. He faces a sentence of up to five years in prison on each of the charges. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ramos and Dean were in the same gang, and Jaime Espinoza was in another gang. According to statements Ramos gave to investigators, he drove Dean away from near the scene where Espinoza was shot.

When asked about the incident during Dean's sentencing, Ramos said he didn't remember. The jury found that Ramos' statements in the courtroom amounted to perjury.

Dean, 24, of Sioux City, was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015 after being found guilty in federal court of several charges in connection with two separate robberies of cash, drugs and cars from drug dealers in April 2013.

To bolster the case that Dean was a violent offender who deserved a sentence higher than what federal sentencing guidelines called for, prosecutors introduced evidence of incidents that included a violent sexual assault when Dean was 14 and two shootings in March 2012.

Dean also was sentenced to 25 years in prison on a state charge of attempted murder for the April 29, 2013, shooting of Sioux City police Officer Kevin McCormick.
Mark Hannan, 19, entered his plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to a single count of theft by an employee of a gaming establishment on Indian lands.

According to court documents, from Nov. 1 through Feb. 15, Hannan worked at the Native Star Casino, which is owned and operated by the Winnebago Indian Tribe of Nebraska. On several occasions, he withdrew money from the casino cashier's case totaling approximately $15,000 and used the cash for his own personal use, court documents said.
SIOUX CITY | James Lalley began fighting the enemy overseas when he was 17 years old.

It was 1946 and many Americans probably couldn't point to Korea on the world map. It would be the first of Lalley's three campaigns, as he added a tour of duty in Vietnam and was called up for Desert Storm, a war that ended before the Sioux Cityan landed in the Middle East.

Lalley on Friday will speak to open the Sixth Annual Remembrance Run/Walk, an event that raises funds for South Sioux City's Siouxland Freedom Park, this event's permanent home.

The Remembrance Walk/Run commences at 6 p.m. Friday. Participants pay an entry fee to run or walk in an effort to promote wellness while recognizing the sacrifices of past and present members of the military and their families.

Some 1,921 participants have logged in excess of 11,142 miles during the event's first five years, efforts that have generated more than $40,000 for Siouxland Freedom Park, home to the half-scale replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

Lalley, one of 50 Vietnam veterans featured by the Sioux City Journal and the Betty Strong Encounter Center in a 2015 series and exhibit, has studied military history for decades. He'll share his thoughts about the origin of Memorial Day, a day that used to be called Decoration Day.

"In the old days, Decoration Day was a day to honor Civil War dead," said Lalley, 87. "There were slaves in the South who would annually decorate the graves of Union prisoners who died while in Confederate captivity. They were buried in the South. I think that was the first known instant of the public decorating Union war dead."

Lalley decorates the graves of servicemen in his family, including his father, Edward J. Lalley, who served his country in World War I, and a brother, Thomas Lalley, who was stationed on the border dividing West Germany and East Germany during the Cold War.

Both men are buried at Calvary Cemetery in Sioux City, along with Lalley's wife, Kipp Lalley, who died eight years ago. He decorates all their graves this time of year.

Lalley returned from Korea in 1947 and used the G.I. Bill to pay for his study of economics at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. He was working in management with the U.S. Postal Service in Sioux City in 1956 when his manager, a veteran of World War II, asked him to report to his office.

"He was a National Guard guy who fought in North Africa and Italy," Lalley recalled. "He was a tough guy and he asked me if I had served in Korea, and if I had a college degree."

When Lalley answered both in the affirmative, his manager said, "You get your butt up to the National Guard Armory and get a commission," Lalley recalled.

He followed the order and served in Vietnam during 1968 and 1969. Kipp Lalley gave her husband a St. Christopher money clip during a final embrace before he left to serve in the U.S. Army's 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in South Vietnam.

Kipp told her husband that St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, would bring him home safely.

James Lalley carried the medal with him through fire fights and mortar attacks. He fought the enemy and lived to tell about it, coming home to join Kipp in raising three children, Stephen, Michael and Marijo.

Lalley achieved the rank of colonel in 1980, serving as inspector general with the Iowa Army National Guard. He retired from the military and from the U.S. Postal Service in 1985.

He still dabbles in military history in retirement. He also builds military models. And, yes, he still carries that St. Christopher medallion.
SIOUX CITY | The Second Annual Thunder on the Missouri motorcycle ride at 2 p.m. Sunday crosses from Iowa into Nebraska for a time of reflection at the replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Siouxland Freedom Park, on Foundry Road in South Sioux City.

U.S. Navy veteran Larry Foster, who served in Japan, Spain and California, from 1971-73, heads up the event based on the national Rolling Thunder ride, which starts at The Pentagon and culminates in a visit to The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

"A group of us veterans sat around a couple of years ago," Foster said. "We'd all done the national ride on this date and at this time. Now that we've got the only permanently mounted half-scale (Vietnam) replica wall in South Sioux City, we asked, 'Why not have our own ride?'"

The 2015 event attracted 80 motorcycle riders from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. This year's event, according to Foster, may see double that number.

The Thunder on the Missouri ride departs the Tyson Events Center at 2 p.m. Sunday. Riders will cross from Sioux City into South Sioux City on the Veterans Memorial Bridge, then proceed to Siouxland Freedom Park, where a short program and time of reflection will be observed, hosted by U.S. Air Force veteran Mike Newhouse.

Riders will then head back to Sioux City for a reception at the Ickey Nickel Bar & Grill.

A candlelight vigil at 9 p.m. Friday serves to help open the Memorial Day weekend at Siouxland Freedom Park, Foster reported.

"We're selling a patch to all riders this year in our hopes that we can raise a little money from the ride for the Freedom Park," Foster added.

Those participating, he said, need only to have a motorcycle, no matter the brand, and a willingness to offer honor and respect to veterans, particularly those listed on the wall at Siouxland Freedom Park.

"This was not a group of military personnel who were appreciated at the time for what they did," Foster said. "We're trying to bring honor and respect for those (servicemen and servicewomen), especially the 58,272 who did not come home."

For information on the Second Annual Thunder on the Missouri, call Larry Foster at 712-252-1021.
As a past Republican Woodbury County chair I am writing in support of Sen. Rick Bertrand being elected to represent our 4th Congressional District in Washington, D.C. I believe that Sen Bertrand is well-suited to move the needle, so to speak, to the right without alienating other players. I have great respect for his opponent but, frankly, it is time for a change. We deserve a congressman who will be relevant to the debate and not just do interviews and travel on the people's dollars.

Many candidates, while running for an office, say that they will only serve (insert number) terms, then go home as the Founders envisioned. This hardly ever happens. There is always just one more bill to sponsor or co-sponsor or just one more issue to try to bring to the forefront.

I believe that Sen. Bertrand will take his youthful energy to D.C. and make things happen. We have hoped to see that happen since 2003 and we are still no more relevant than before.

Please join me in voting for Sen. Rick Bertrand in the Republican primary on June 7. - Barb Vakulskas Sioux City
DES MOINES | Thousands of stingless wasps are being enlisted to slow the onslaught of an imported pest attacking Iowas ash trees.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship say they are turning to the parasitic wasps that are natural enemies of the emerald ash borer, which is now present in 31 Iowa counties.

Mike Kintner, the departments ash borer and gypsy moth coordinator, said the biocontrol effort will begin Thursday with the release of several thousand wasps at Whitham Woods near Fairfield.

It's not a silver bullet to rid Iowa of the ash borer, Kintner said, but the introduction of natural enemies will be a long-term management strategy to lessen the borers adverse impact.

They (the wasps) seek out the emerald ash borer larvae and then the larvae of these wasps actually will feed on the emerald ash borer, so they basically become a parasite, said Laura Jesse, an extension and outreach entomologist at Iowa State Universitys Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic.

This is the first release of the natural enemies of the ash borer in Iowa, which has roughly 52 million rural ash trees and 3.1 million urban ash trees. But Kintner said he expects additional sites may be treated with biological releases to suppress and slow the spread of the destructive insects.

Emerald ash borer was first detected in the United States in 2002 and was confirmed in Iowas Allamakee County in 2010, prompting state officials eventually to quarantine the transport of firewood among all 99 counties as a way to contain the problem.

Were doing all we can to help slow down the spread of this and using the parasitic wasp is one more component, Kintner said.

Following rigorous USDA testing and research on one or more parasitic wasp species that are native to Asia, similar releases of the wasps have been made in 23 of the 25 U.S. states where emerald ash borers have been detected, added Kintner. He said the ash borer infestation in and around Fairfield in Jefferson County led to the decision to release the wasps, which are harmless to people and pets.

It helps suppress the numbers, he said. Its definitely not going to eradicate or put a total halt to the spread of emerald ash borer. We know that for certain. But its just one more thing that we can use to help slow it down.

Jesse said there will be follow-up monitoring as the parasitoids -- produced and supplied by a facility in Brighton, Mich. -- get established at the Jefferson County test site.

This is another non-native species and we dont want to risk any problems from them, she said. Theyre very careful in their screening process that any biological control that they release will not jump to a different host. We certainly wouldnt want it moving to our native wood-boring beetles that are not causing a problem.
Innovative business owners are constantly finding new ways to use eco-friendly materials in various products. Bamboo Watches Australia is just one example. The Australian based company uses, you guessed it, bamboo to make quality watches. Read more about the company and its story in this weeks Small Business Spotlight.

What Bamboo Watches Australia Does

Sells Australian made bamboo watches.

Business Niche

Creating an eco-friendly product.

How the Business Got Started

Because of a connection through Kickstarter.

Ricky Zurvas, owner of Bamboo Watches Australia told Small Business Trends, I discovered a small Aussie brand through Kickstarter that was launching a range of Bamboo Watches and Sunglasses. I had never seen a unique product made out of bamboo and knew the product was validated because how successful the campaign ended. I could see this was a great product to sell as it was eco-friendly and made out of bamboo. I decided to reach out to the brand owners and launch a store selling bamboo watches. I plan to branch out into other related eco-friendly and sustainable accessories in the future.

Biggest Win

Launching a successful affiliate program with social media influencers.

Zurvas says, This low cost tactic has grew our traffic and sales combined with other traffic strategies.

Lesson Learned

Email marketing is important.

Zurvas explains, One of the biggest mistakes I made was not building a email list as soon as possible. If I could start over, one of the first tasks on my to-do list would have been to create a email campaign. If youre not building a list youre losing sales!

How Theyd Spend an Extra $100,000

Social media influencers.

Zurvas says, Most of our traffic comes from social media influences. I would invest heavily in this area and go for the much larger accounts to drive more traffic and sales.

Favorite Communication Tool

WhatsApp.

Zurvas explains, Im constantly in contact with my supplier and our most effective communication is a mobile instant messenger whatsapp. Highly recommend it for no cost team communication tool!

Favorite Quote

Its not about money or connections. Its the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business. And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time -Mark Cuban

* * * * *

Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program
The number of small businesses offering their employees a retirement plan has dropped by almost 50 percent.

According to Capital Ones Spark Business Barometer, political uncertainty and poor retail conditions have forced a vast number of small businesses to scale back hiring plans  with just 26 percent of owners saying they plan to take on new staff in the next six months.

Of those businesses that plan to hire, only half can afford to take on full time employees.

Small Business Retirement Plans Drop

Meanwhile, just 13 percent of small business owners now provide their staff members with access to a 401(k) plan. That figure represents a five percent drop from last year  and a stark decline from the final quarter of 2014, when around one in four small business retirement plans were being offered to employees.

Only seven percent of businesses with five or fewer employees are now offering a 401(k), compared to 30 percent of those employing 20 to 49 people.

When pressed, business owners told researchers at Capital Ones ShareBuilder 401k that they were shying away from providing retirement plans largely because of the high costs associated with such schemes.

Our research shows many small business owners believe theyre too small to have a plan, or that starting and maintaining a 401(k) plan would be very costly, said Stuart Robertson, president of ShareBuilder 401k.

That being said, he went on to add these perceived barriers were generally misconceptions that needed to be overcome.

Were focused on helping small business owners understand how straightforward, accessible and affordable a 401(k) plan can be, he said. Any business of any size  including owner-only  can establish a plan and they arent required to make matching contributions.

Elsewhere, the report found that business optimism has floundered across the first quarter of 2016. Just 34 percent of business owners say they are experiencing good business conditions so far this year.

Nearly one in five companies surveyed said business had been poor.

Keri Gohman, Capital Ones head of small banking, said that political uncertainty surrounding Novembers general election could be playing a role in dwindling levels of financial optimism.

The report found that one in four small business owners are more worried about who will become president next year than they are about competition, hiring and retaining talent and the regulatory environment.

Now is a critical time for small businesses as the country anticipates a change in leadership and new opportunities and challenges, such as market dynamics and new regulations and tax laws, which can have a significant impact on business results, she said.
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
Baltimore, Md., May 2, 2015. A rally and march in Baltimore after state's attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that six Baltimore Police Officers would be prosecuted in the death of Freddie Gray. (Photo: Susan Melkisethian, via Flickr, with Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)

Today's verdict is a tragedy for Baltimore. We mourn the loss of Freddie Gray today as much as we did on the day he passed, because we are still fighting and striving for justice. There are neighborhoods in Baltimore, like Freddie's, that have been plundered and neglected for decades upon decades, and all while our city government has poured money into developing space for our richest residents.



Baltimore has a white supremacy problem, and our police and courts are just one part of it. Enough. We demand justice for Freddie Grayequal justice across every neighborhood of Baltimore, and ensuring that the lives of all of our residents are valued. It starts with real and substantial investments in our schools, transit, and infrastructure. The lives of Baltimore's poorest and blackest residents are just as important as our richest and whitest, and it's time we prove that.

After reading Judge Barry Williams 25-page explanation of his not guilty verdicts in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero, it can easily be said that this is what a little justice looks like.An experienced, diligent jurist, after listening to all the testimony, goes through the case presented by the state charge by charge, and judges the facts by the law. That's how criminal charges are supposed to be judgedthough it often doesn't happen.That this was a black judge and white cop as defendant matters little, though it did to those handful of angry protesters still hoping stoke the anger of a city.Experienced African American defense attorneys who weighed in on the caseDwight Pettit, Warren Brown, Del. Curt Andersonfound the judge's decision sound, as did their white colleagues.Many black defendants in Baltimore courts may not get the same level of careful jurisprudence, but that does not justify finding an innocent cop guilty.The protesters did not really want justice for Edward Nero. They wanted revenge for the death of Freddie Gray, they wanted retribution.Some of these folks need a cause to occupy them, and they say foolish things.Most distressing was a statement emailed out for Charly Carter, director of an organization called Maryland Working Families. Subject line: "Baltimore Has a White Supremacy Problem."It is a mystery how convicting Nero of crimes Judge Williams found he did not commit achieves justice for Freddie Gray or any of these important goals. Keep in mind that the city has already agreed to pay the Gray family $6 million to settle a civil liability.Monday's verdict also made me reread what I wrote last May: " Political prosecution of police helps restore order in Baltimore ," justifying State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby decision to charge the six police officers. The speculation in that piece got some things wrong, but much of still makes sense to me from a pragmatic political point of view.But the prolonged, prolix nature of the prosecution, the trials, the appeals and yet another failure to get a conviction does make you wonder whether the peace the prosecution of the officers bought was worth the price of this long grinding of the wheels of justice.The charges against some or all of the officers may have been unjustified, as some said at the time. That's certainly what Judge Williams found in the case of this one cop."No justice, no peace," says a slogan used to justify protests and unrest.But in a saying etched on a wall of his memorial, Martin Luther King said, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."With the Nero verdict came a small slice of justice, and for the moment, contrary to the wishes of a few, the peace has held.
LA PLATA, Md. (May 25, 2016)Defining your own successes and having the courage to move forward in life were just two of the important key messages shared with graduates and guests at Charles County Public Schools' (CCPS) first official 2016 graduation. On May 20, eight graduates of the Adult Independence Program, also known as AIP, were honored for their successes in a ceremony held at North Point High School that celebrated each of their individual accomplishments.



Honored graduates this year included Crystal Adkins, Nicholas Adriani, Elisha Frimpong, Isaac Green, Stephon McClellan-Dempsey, Robert Mullins, Tiskisha Robison and Alice Whitney.



At the start of the ceremony, each graduate walked in front of an auditorium filled with guests to take their seat on the stage. These students were ready to celebrate one thing they all had in commonthe completion of their AIP studies. In the same moment of time when each graduate took the stage, the group shared something else with each other that day: a smile that beamed from ear to ear and a strong sense of accomplishment. The excitement of these students to celebrate their latest accomplishment was on full display.



What made the ceremony unique was the recognition of each graduate by guest speaker Adriane Faulks-McCann. Faulks-McCann is the founder of Aaron's Hope Inc., a non-profit organization she launched several years ago to help community members with autism learn the skills necessary to be successful within the workforce. Prior to the opening of the organization, Faulks-McCann worked as part of the AIP program and serves as a home and hospital teacher for CCPS.



During her remarks, Faulks-McCann shared her memories of working with each graduate and reflected on their AIP experiences. "You are my motivation. My hope. Hope is the healing which leads to opportunity and the possibilities that empower. And here you areI commend you for having the courage to keep moving. You are all awesome," Faulks-McCann said to the graduates.



She talked about Adkins' ability to "dress to the nines" and admired her for her commitment to being a team player. She described Adriani as a patient and gentle person who loved to gift her with handmade earrings. "Your perseverance is strong Nick. You keep on pushing through," Faulks-McCann said to Adriani. She described Frimpong, who goes by Eli, as a "tall glass of awesome" and an extremely dedicated worker, and said if you ever wanted to hear the truth from someone to go and talk to Green. "He tells it like it is," she said.



After graduation, McClellan-Dempsey plans to work at the Arc of Southern Maryland, a place Faulks-McCann said his skills will serve him well. "You are one of the most detail-oriented people I know," she told him. Mullins also plans to work at the Arc of Southern Maryland and was described by Faulks-McCann as a gentleman who loved to compete in track and field events and work as part of a team.



Robison and Whitney are well known among AIP staff for their love of helping others and for being kind and considerate. Whitney plans to work at the Spring Dell Center and Robison will continue her employment through Creative Options, a program that assists community members with disabilities in transitioning into employment and other skill-based training programs. "This is the beginning of defining your own successes," Faulks-McCann said in her closing remarks.



Prior to the handing out of diplomas, Christina Sprague, a CCPS instructional specialist who works with students in AIP, told the graduates to celebrate their accomplishments and to remember there are people who will always support them.



"We are very proud of your accomplishments and are proud to have had the opportunity to work with you over the last three years. You are not alone and have a whole community here to support you," Sprague said.



AIP provides students with community-based learning experiences that give each student the experiences of an independent adult. Throughout the duration of the program, which is designed for students ages 18 to 21, students acquire adult skills and apply them to community environments.



Students in the program are trained to search for employment and to complete job applications, as well as how to access the public transportation system. There were 13 participating employers in the 2015-16 program.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said for a long time that, when it comes to U.S. Supreme Court justices, he likes people like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Last week, as the Republican Partys presumptive nominee for the White House, he released a list of judges he thinks might fill the bill should he get to nominate someone to the nations highest court.

The list contained 11 names six judges on federal appeals courts, six on state supreme courts. All are relatively conservative and some clerked for Scalia or Thomas. Many have addressed an LGBT-related case in the course of their careers on the bench and, most of the time, their rulings came down against the LGBT party to the case.

The purpose of the list appears to be an attempt by Trump to reassure Republicans who worry that, as president, he would not be reliably conservative. In March, he reassured them that the reliably conservative Heritage Foundation was helping him prepare the list. The Foundation spends a great deal of time and resources to oppose such things as marriage equality, transgender accommodation to public restrooms, and religious exemptions to non-discrimination laws.

In a May 19 interview with Fox News Sean Hannity, Trump emphasized that he got help preparing the list from reliably conservative Federalist Society and U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama). And initial reaction to the list from various conservative groups and figures was strongly supportive.

But Trump also gave himself some wiggle room. In a May 18 press release announcing the list, Trump couched the list as representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and that he would use it as a guide in choosing a Supreme Court nominee. In a Twitter post that night, he said he may be adding to the list. The next day, he told Hannity, This would be the list I would either choose from or pick people very close in terms of the spirit and the meaning of what they represent.

Columnists in various conservative publications and blogs began to pick up on the hedge. One, in the National Review, said it smacks of desperate pandering to conservatives and questioned whether Trump actually means any of this. Another, from the Volokh Conspiracy, called the list meaningless, saying that Trumps calling it a guide is not a commitment to choosing from the list.

Even the head of a Heritage Foundation affiliate told Fox News Sunday the list gets a question mark at the end. Does he really mean it? Is this a fraud?

National LGBT legal groups did not respond to requests for comments on the list, but given Trumps well-known proclivity for self-contradiction and memory lapse, the future value of his Supreme Court list is a question mark. For whatever value it might have now in providing a guide to Republican presidential candidates mindset, here is a glimpse into what the records of the 11 judges are on LGBT-related concerns:

Steven Colloton of Iowa, 53, 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: In a decision he authored for a 2 to 1 majority in December 2005, Colloton affirmed immigration authorities decisions to deny asylum to a gay man from Zimbabwe. William Kimumwe came to the U.S. three years after Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe declared homosexuality to be illegal and began making anti-homosexual pronouncements. The immigration judge said that Mugabes hostility to gays was insufficient to establish a well-founded fear of persecution. Colloton said Kimumwe did not establish evidence that his return to Zimbabwe would necessarily lead to serious mistreatment. In September 2013, Colloton authored a 2 to 1 panel decision that said a district court had wrongly denied a preliminary motion to an evangelical Christian that would have enabled him to distribute Bibles during a Twin Cities Pride Festival in a public park in Minneapolis. But Colloton also joined a unanimous three-judge panel decision in December 2006 that affirmed the right of a group of pro-LGBT students to a preliminary injunction that gave them equal access to facilities at their public school.

Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, 50, 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: In August 2009, Hardiman wrote an opinion for a three-judge panel, saying a gay man could not say he was discriminated against because of religion because his employer fired him because the employers religious beliefs were that a man should not lay with another man. However, the Hardiman panel ruled that the gay employees claim that he was discriminated against because of sex should have been submitted to a jury.

Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, 49, 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: Kethledge joined a 2 to 1 majority in a 2012 decision that dismissed the claims of three pastors who said the federal Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act violated their religious beliefs against gay people. The three claimed they had a right to exercise their religious beliefs by publicly denouncing homosexuality and that the Hate Crimes law would chill their exercise of religion. The majority agreed with the district court that, because the pastors were attempting to try a hypothetical situation, they did not having standing to challenge the law. In 2012, Kethledge joined a panel decision against a man who was subjected to relentless harassment by another male employee. The panel said the victims claim of a hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act could not stand because the man could not prove that his harasser was bisexual or gay. That same year, Kethledge also joined a panel decision that ruled against a woman who lost her job with a university in Ohio after she penned an op-ed piece for a local newspaper objecting to comparisons between the black and gay civil rights movements. The op-ed also expressed opposition to non-discrimination policies that she was responsible for enforcing at the university.

Diane Sykes of Wisconsin, 58, 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: Sykes wrote a 2 to 1 panel decision in 2006 that granted the Christian Legal Society a preliminary injunction to be recognized as a student group at the Southern Illinois University School of Law despite its policy of banning gay members, in violation of campus policy. In 2009, Sykes authored a three-judge panel decision that ruled against two employees who claimed their religious beliefs against homosexuality caused them to be subjected to discrimination based on religion by their employer. The panel decision noted that one employee repeatedly violated the employers overtime policy and the other had a long history of performance problems. In 2013, Sykes authored a panel decision that upheld the right of businesses to cite the religious beliefs of their owners to discriminate against employees by denying health coverage for contraception. In writing the opinion, she discussed a hypothetical case of a pie-making company run by devout Baptists refusing coverage to a gay employees spouse and child. She said it was far from clear how the case would come out.

Raymond Gruender of Missouri, 52, 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: In 2008, Gruender joined a panel ruling against a gay male nurse with HIV who claimed he was fired based on disability discrimination. In a 2012 case involving a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, Gruender joined the full circuit court in upholding a city ordinance restricting protests near funerals. In a 2016 panel decision, Gruender joined a procedural ruling in favor of a member of the Westboro Baptist Church who said the state of Missouris restrictions on protests near funerals violated her rights to free exercise of religion and speech.

William Pryor of Alabama, 54, 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: Pryor joined a three-judge panel decision this year that said the court had no authority to review a Haitian transgender mans petition to stay in this country because he had been convicted of crimes and had failed to establish a likelihood of future persecution. In 2011, Pryor joined two other judges to affirm a district court ruling in favor of a transgender employee. The employee claimed her employer fired her based on sex and because of her gender identity disorder. The district court ruled for her on the basis of sex discrimination. Citing the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark decision in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, the panel agreed that discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the equal protection clause. That same year, Pryor also concurred in a decision that upheld the right of a university to require a student seeking a masters in student counseling to follow a remediation plan to improve her ability to counsel LGBT students. The student sued, saying being gay is wrong and is a lifestyle and that the remediation plan violated her First Amendment right of speech and religion. The district court denied her request for a preliminary injunction, and the panel including Pryor upheld that denial. But Pryor wrote a concurring opinion to make clear that a university should not be able to take adverse action against a student based on the concern that the student might, in a variety of [non-university] circumstances express views at odds with the preferred viewpoints of the university.

State Supreme Court judges: The remaining five judges on Trumps potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee list are members of state supreme courts. While their records on LGBT issues are sparse, they are also less likely to be considered qualified and experienced enough on federal court issues to be nominated to the nations highest federal court. They include:

Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court, 49, who worked in the administration of President George W. Bush as a policy adviser in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He also worked for a conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and served as deputy attorney general under then Texas Attorney General (now governor) Greg Abbott. He was appointed to his current position by former Governor Rick Perry. He is best known for mocking the U.S. Supreme Courts deliberation of marriage equality by posting a Twitter message, I could support recognizing a constitutional right to marry bacon.

Thomas Lee of the Utah Supreme Court, 51, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and conservative 4th Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III.

Allison Eid of the Colorado Supreme Court, 50, also clerked for Clarence Thomas.

David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, 41, also clerked for Clarence Thomas.

Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, 47, clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and for conservative federal appeals court Judge David Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit.
Black hole NASA

Using data from NASAs Great Observatories, astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes.

Researchers combined data from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds. They discuss their findings in a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Our discovery, if confirmed, explains how these monster black holes were born, said Fabio Pacucci of Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, who led the study. We found evidence that supermassive black hole seeds can form directly from the collapse of a giant gas cloud, skipping any intermediate steps.

Scientists believe a supermassive black hole lies in the center of nearly all large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. They have found that some of these supermassive black holes, which contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun, formed less than a billion years after the start of the universe in the Big Bang.

One theory suggests black hole seeds were built up by pulling in gas from their surroundings and by mergers of smaller black holes, a process that should take much longer than found for these quickly forming black holes.

These new findings suggest instead that some of the first black holes formed directly when a cloud of gas collapsed, bypassing any other intermediate phases, such as the formation and subsequent destruction of a massive star.

There is a lot of controversy over which path these black holes take, said co-author Andrea Ferrara, also of SNS. Our work suggests we are narrowing in on an answer, where the black holes start big and grow at the normal rate, rather than starting small and growing at a very fast rate.

The researchers used computer models of black hole seeds combined with a new method to select candidates for these objects from long-exposure images from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer.

The team found two strong candidates for black hole seeds. Both of these matched the theoretical profile in the infrared data, including being very red objects, and also emit X-rays detected with Chandra. Estimates of their distance suggest they may have been formed when the universe was less than a billion years old

Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult, said Andrea Grazian, a co-author from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy. However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates to date.

The team plans to obtain further observations in X-rays and the infrared to check whether these objects have more of the properties expected for black hole seeds. Upcoming observatories, such as NASAs James Webb Space Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope will aid in future studies by detecting the light from more distant and smaller black holes. Scientists currently are building the theoretical framework needed to interpret the upcoming data, with the aim of finding the first black holes in the universe.

As scientists, we cannot say at this point that our model is the one, said Pacucci. What we really believe is that our model is able to reproduce the observations without requiring unreasonable assumptions.

NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandras science and flight operations.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington.

NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission, whose science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado.

For more on NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

For more on NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

For more on NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
Black Holes and Dark Matter NASA

Dark matter is a mysterious substance composing most of the material universe, now widely thought to be some form of massive exotic particle.

An intriguing alternative view is that dark matter is made of black holes formed during the first second of our universes existence, known as primordial black holes. Now a scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, suggests that this interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes detected last year.

This study is an effort to bring together a broad set of ideas and observations to test how well they fit, and the fit is surprisingly good, said Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard. If this is correct, then all galaxies, including our own, are embedded within a vast sphere of black holes each about 30 times the Suns mass.

In 2005, Kashlinsky led a team of astronomers using NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope to explore the background glow of infrared light in one part of the sky. The researchers reported excessive patchiness in the glow and concluded it was likely caused by the aggregate light of the first sources to illuminate the universe more than 13 billion years ago. Follow-up studies confirmed that this cosmic infrared background (CIB) showed similar unexpected structure in other parts of the sky.

In 2013, another study compared how the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) detected by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory compared to the CIB in the same area of the sky. The first stars emitted mainly optical and ultraviolet light, which today is stretched into the infrared by the expansion of space, so they should not contribute significantly to the CXB.

Yet the irregular glow of low-energy X-rays in the CXB matched the patchiness of the CIB quite well. The only object we know of that can be sufficiently luminous across this wide an energy range is a black hole. The research team concluded that primordial black holes must have been abundant among the earliest stars, making up at least about one out of every five of the sources contributing to the CIB.

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most important unresolved issues in astrophysics. Scientists currently favor theoretical models that explain dark matter as an exotic massive particle, but so far searches have failed to turn up evidence these hypothetical particles actually exist. NASA is currently investigating this issue as part of its Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope missions.

These studies are providing increasingly sensitive results, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where dark matter particles can hide, Kashlinsky said. The failure to find them has led to renewed interest in studying how well primordial black holes  black holes formed in the universes first fraction of a second  could work as dark matter.

Physicists have outlined several ways in which the hot, rapidly expanding universe could produce primordial black holes in the first thousandths of a second after the Big Bang. The older the universe is when these mechanisms take hold, the larger the black holes can be. And because the window for creating them lasts only a tiny fraction of the first second, scientists expect primordial black holes would exhibit a narrow range of masses.

On Sept. 14, gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years away were captured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. This event marked the first-ever detection of gravitational waves as well as the first direct detection of black holes. The signal provided LIGO scientists with information about the masses of the individual black holes, which were 29 and 36 times the Suns mass, plus or minus about four solar masses. These values were both unexpectedly large and surprisingly similar.

Depending on the mechanism at work, primordial black holes could have properties very similar to what LIGO detected, Kashlinsky explained. If we assume this is the case, that LIGO caught a merger of black holes formed in the early universe, we can look at the consequences this has on our understanding of how the cosmos ultimately evolved.

In his new paper, published May 24 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Kashlinsky analyzes what might have happened if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO. The black holes distort the distribution of mass in the early universe, adding a small fluctuation that has consequences hundreds of millions of years later, when the first stars begin to form.

For much of the universes first 500 million years, normal matter remained too hot to coalesce into the first stars. Dark matter was unaffected by the high temperature because, whatever its nature, it primarily interacts through gravity. Aggregating by mutual attraction, dark matter first collapsed into clumps called minihaloes, which provided a gravitational seed enabling normal matter to accumulate. Hot gas collapsed toward the minihaloes, resulting in pockets of gas dense enough to further collapse on their own into the first stars. Kashlinsky shows that if black holes play the part of dark matter, this process occurs more rapidly and easily produces the lumpiness of the CIB detected in Spitzer data even if only a small fraction of minihaloes manage to produce stars.

As cosmic gas fell into the minihaloes, their constituent black holes would naturally capture some of it too. Matter falling toward a black hole heats up and ultimately produces X-rays. Together, infrared light from the first stars and X-rays from gas falling into dark matter black holes can account for the observed agreement between the patchiness of the CIB and the CXB.

Occasionally, some primordial black holes will pass close enough to be gravitationally captured into binary systems. The black holes in each of these binaries will, over eons, emit gravitational radiation, lose orbital energy and spiral inward, ultimately merging into a larger black hole like the event LIGO observed.

Future LIGO observing runs will tell us much more about the universes population of black holes, and it wont be long before well know if the scenario I outline is either supported or ruled out, Kashlinsky said.

Kashlinsky leads a science team centered at Goddard that is participating in the European Space Agencys Euclid mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2020. The project, named LIBRAE, will enable the observatory to probe source populations in the CIB with high precision and determine what portion was produced by black holes.

Reference:

LIGO Gravitational Wave Detection, Primordial Black Holes, and the Near-IR Cosmic Infrared Background Anisotropies, A. Kashlinsky, 2016 June 1, Astrophysical Journal Letters [http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L25, preprint: http://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04023].


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Last week, US President Barack Obama announced he designated Tunisia as a major non-NATO ally of Washington. Following the statement, media reports suggested the Tunisian government allowed the alliance to deploy a military base in the north African country.

"This is not true, there are no such plans. Tunisia would never agree to the presence of any foreign military base on its territory," Mohamed Ennaceur told RT in an interview.

Ennaceur stressed his opposition to the US and NATO intentions to use army and air forces to fight terrorism in Libya, as that would be an intervention.
"The lifting [of the arms embargo] on Vietnam adds another dimension to the US rebalance to Asia. Clearly, Vietnam is strengthening its ties to the United States," she explained.

Previously, the United States had approved other concessions to Hanoi to ensure Vietnam's membership within the US-led, 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, Goto pointed out.

"Now with the lifting of the arms sale ban, not only will Hanoi's relations with Washington be strengthened further, it will make Vietnam a stronger partner in the camp to ensure the status quo in the region."

University of Copenhagen History Professor Matthew Dal Santo told Sputnik the lifting of the arms embargo had more to do with growing US and Vietnamese fears about the rise of China rather than with Washingtons need for closer ties with Hanoi.

"The White House claim that the decision [to lift the embargo] has 'nothing to do with China' belongs to that category of patently false foreign policy statements that insult intelligence and erode the public's confidence in their elected leaders," dal Santo said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Farmers in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria brought their tractors, buses and cattle to major cities for a nationwide rally against what they perceive are the governments anti-agricultural policies, national media reported Wednesday.

Farming lobby group Farmer Power stands against retrospective milk price cuts and calls for a tax of 0.50 Australian dollars ($0.36) for every liter of fresh milk sold, the countrys ABC broadcaster reports.

"[Farmers] do not need any more loans, they're at the end of their line of credit now," Farmer Power vice president Alex Robertson was quoted responding to the government extending a low-interest loan scheme.
According to Danish, the bomb attack took place in Kabuls 5th police district and targeted a vehicle carrying Maidan Wardak provinces appellate court employees, Khaama Press news agency reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which Danish confirmed was carried out by a suicide bomber, the media reported.


KOROLYOV (Moscow Region) (Sputnik)China is considering cooperating with other countries on Moon exploration, the deputy chief of Chinas National Space Administration (CNSA) said Wednesday.

"A study is being conducted to justify the importance of lunar exploration. We are considering working together with other countries in this sphere," Yang Liwei said.

Yang, who is the first Chinese astronaut to go to space, was speaking in the Russian city of Korolyov near Moscow, which is hosting a three-day conference on manned space exploration.
The recent announcement by the US president that Washington is going to lift in full its decades-long arms embargo to Vietnam comes as a wake-up call for Russia, according to Anton Tsvetov, a researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).

Moscow will have to work harder to maintain strong ties with Vietnam, the foreign policy expert suggested in his conversation with Voice of America.

The view is echoed by another Russian expert, chairman of the Russia-Asia Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center Alexander Gabuev, who suggested that the market environment will be more competitive, but Russia has a strong position in terms of value-for-money of its systems, the Vietnamese military's long-standing ties to Russian producers and the need to train personnel.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Afghanistan Security forces killed 61 militants during special operations through the country over the past 24 hours, the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Dozens of militants were injured in the operations, which were carried out with the support of the Afghan Air Force and the Artillery units, according to the ministry.

Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency, with other extremist groups expanding their activities in the country as well.
"The subsequent disbursements to be used for arrears clearance and further debt servicing needs will be made after the summer."

Greek government sources told Euronews earlier that Athens would receive the first installment of $8.3 billion in June and the second "sub-tranche" of $3.1 billion in September. Athens owes the IMF nearly 300 million euros this June and up to 450 million euros under the first bailout program in 2010.

Greece signed a deal with its creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) and some Eurozone nations, in July 2015 for a third bailout package worth 86 billion euros ($96 billion) in exchange for unpopular austerity reforms that include pension cuts and tax hikes.
Earlier in May, a State Department official told Sputnik that the US government has decided not to send any representatives to the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia , and has cautioned American companies against working with Russian authorities.

The reaction was predictable. They have always said it, and continue to say that they will ignore major events, particularly the economic ones that are held in Russia. This was not a surprise, Zasypkin said. Business-wise, we think this is incorrect behavior, because businesses should decide for themselves, it should not be pressured.
Russia is working on eliminating customs barriers to expand its market to other countries, including Central Asia and Armenia, Zasypkin pointed out.

"American companies enjoy greater opportunities. It is easier to invest into operations on a big scale than before. Their interest [in the Russian market] has not diminished, and even increased in some cases," he added.

Since the downturn in the relations between the United States and Russia, Washington has been warning US companies against working with the Russian authorities and cautioning American banks that doing business with Russia presents certain risks.

Relations between the United States and Russia have been strained since the start of the Ukrainian crisis and Crimeas referendum to secede from Ukraine and reunite with Russia in 2014.

The US government took a hard line on Russia, accusing it of interfering with Ukrainian affairs, and imposing several rounds of economic sanctions.

Russia has repeatedly refuted all allegations and called the imposition of sanctions counterproductive.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Energy cooperation between Russia and China is the key point in the countries' bilateral agenda, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui told Sputnik in an interview.

"We consider cooperation in the energy sphere to be very important, I would say, a key point on the agenda of Chinese-Russian business cooperation," Li said.

The ambassador added that the two countries' leaders actively support increasing collaboration in the energy sphere, which has great potential.


NEW DELHI (Sputnik)The countries have been in talks on Rafales since 2012 but disagreements on the pricing and Indias demands for additional guarantees have hindered the signing.

Frances current offer stands at some 7.8 billion euros ($8.6 billion), the Indian Financial Express newspaper said, citing sources.

However, Indias request for bank guarantees was declined by Paris, according to the media outlet.
Noting the opaque language of the deregulation deal, Warren suggests that the TPP will grant corporations "sovereignty" over nations, especially in terms of labor protection, minimum wage and environmental safeguarding. Companies will also be able to challenge food safety inspection procedures.

Under the TPP, environmental restrictions could be overridden, Warren warns. Providing Japan's high demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an example, Warren says TPP will encourage more fracking in the US, as the US has major amounts of gas that could be mined using fracking technology, which is currently restricted due to environmental damage.

Asked which nations would profit from the TPP, Warren said there were none. "I honestly do not believe," she said, "that there will be a single nation that will do well." She also noted that multinational corporations, not nation-states, will benefit from the agreement. With TPP in effect, corporate status will be elevated to practical omnipotence. She points out that all citizens, especially working people, will be exploited, and will largely impact developing countries.
"We are doing everything to create conditions for further investments, especially," Putin said during a meeting with French businessmen.

The Russian president noted that despite all the difficulties, there has been a growth of mutual investments between the two countries.
Despite that the number of migrants arriving in Germany in the first three months of 2016 dropped, from 120,000 to 20,608, crime statistics show no sign of decline. In 2016, to date, 368 far-right offences have been registered, including 73 acts of violence. Notably, the statistics include attacks not only on migrants, but also on aid workers, elected representatives, journalists and politicians; everyone and anyone involved in migrant accommodation.

Investigators in Germany warn that there might be a well-funded far-right organization behind the attacks. Although no nation-wide activist network has been detected, a report by German Criminal Police Office's (BKA) notes "a high crime density in each region, the number of classified instigator and relevant persons, the availability of weapons or explosives and ever-increasing verbal radical rhetoric."

Far-left offences have increased as well, with some 9,600 offences said to have been reported in 2015, of which 2,246 were identified as acts of violence, primarily against far-right opponents or police.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The European Union is in "violation of international law" as it has failed to take steps to tackle corruption under the UN convention, Dominic Raab, a UK junior justice minister, said.

Raab, who is a prominent pro-Brexit campaigner, cited a Transparency International report, which indicates that the European Union has failed to start implementing the UN convention against corruption eight years after approving it, which constitutes a "baffling delay."

"We are pouring huge amounts of money into the EU, huge sums that could be spent on schools and hospitals and whatever else British elected lawmakers decide. People ask, understandably, why are you pouring it into the EU, which has got these rising reports of fraud?" the minister said, as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.
Former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosaw Sikorski also commented on the problems with the transportation of troops, however coming up with quite an unexpected solution:

"We need a Schengen area for American tanks. Maybe we should rename tanks as tractors? Here in Europe we already have experience with reclassifying vegetables as fruits and vice versa," Sikorski then stated.

The Schengen Area is the area including 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their mutual borders. It mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy.

In a separate effort, Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed amendments to the law on the fundamentals of deployment and movement of troops of foreign states on the territory of Poland.

These amendments will allow NATO high readiness Response Force to enter Poland not only in critical cases but also at time of peace.
The CGT has called on other nuclear power plant workers to shut the reactors hoping it will convince the authorities to withdraw the labor law.

The labor bill has given rise to multiple protests across the country in the past months. Among the reforms proposed by the government are highly unpopular attempts to increase daily working hours and simplify firing procedures.

Last week, up to 400,000 people took part in labor reform protests across France, including blockades at fuel depots and refineries, which have resulted in significant fuel shortage across France.
The Danish People's Party (DF) is a conservative, nativist and strictly anti-immigrant party which has repeatedly dominated Denmark's liberal media with its hardcore rhetoric condemning the government's clumsy integration policy. Some prominent party members have gone so far as to call Islam the first and foremost threat to the Danish society. Nevertheless, charismatic Pernille Vermund , head of the rival right-wing party , argues that the DF itself has gone soft on immigration policy.

"We want to walk out of the refugee convention and stop all asylum processing in Denmark," Vermund told TV2 News. "We want to send home all immigrants here with temporary residence permits, even if that means sending people back to war-torn nations. These countries are not depopulated in any way," she continued.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that the cabinet had agreed new measures to integrate migrants.

"I think it is a milestone that the federal cabinet has passed a law on integration," Merkel told reporters at a press conference in Meseberg north of Berlin, as quoted by national broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Merkels coalition partner from Social Democrats, described the decision as the first step toward a law on immigration. It still needs support of the national parliament.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said on Wednesday that an end to the constitutional row between Warsaw and Brussels was possible with a comprehensive solution, which would meet the expectations of all sides.

The European Union is concerned about reforms introduced by Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which include extending control over state media, limiting the judicial freedom of the Constitutional Tribunal and banning abortions. In January, the European Commission opened an inquiry into the changes, and regularly assessed progress in its dialogue with Poland on the issue.
"If that is not what will happen no decision and no law in the framework of the readmission agreement will come out of the parliament of the Turkish Republic," Erdogan said at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

The arrangement between Brussels and Turkey states that any refugee who lands on the Greek islands must be sent back to Turkey.

The deal also stipulates that with every Syrian refugee that is being returned to Turkey from the Greek Islands, another Syrian will be resettled into the EU. Turkey will also need to prevent new sea or land routes for irregular migration opening from Turkey to the EU. Once these irregular routes have reduced or ended, a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated. This will be a system of solidarity between the EU and Turkey to provide protection for any persons displaced by the conflict in Syria to Turkey.

Our opinion of the EU Turkey deal. We don't like it one bit. https://t.co/fU9jzMpH8G  Natalie Roberts (@docnat) May 15, 2016

The EU has pledged to support Turkey by funding them with US$6.8 billion over the next four years, to assist with the refugee crisis.
Sweden's mainstream media seems to have adopted a new mantra: whenever anything bad happens, blame it on Russia. However, one of the disturbing details is that not only the tabloids are dishing out the xenophobic gossip; even the nation's most reputable sources have indulged in disseminating such speculation with the clear intent of induce fear in the population. They paraded out a number of esteemed "experts" on terrorism, who were given carte blanche to express their opinions without the benefit of doubt.

According to an opinion piece by Ivan Midjich of the NGO We Are Dalarna, published by Nyheter24, Sweden must stop "crying wolf" and pointing at Russia every time something unexpected happens.

The first to blatantly accuse Russia was 'terrorist scientist' Hans Brun, who was caught with his foot in his mouth last year when he falsely accused Iraqi national Mutar Muthanna Majid of being a jihadist. Majid was seized by police after a major nationwide awareness campaign, only to be subsequently released and fully acquitted.
The South Stream pipeline was intended to traverse the Black Sea to deliver Russian natural gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria to avoid exporting gas through Ukraine. The European Commission was against the implementation of the project as it was allegedly in breach of the EU third energy package, under which one and the same company cannot own the gas and operate the pipeline. In 2014, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would halt the implementation of the South Stream.

The Nord Stream-2 is the gas pipeline joint venture, which is expected to provide an additional route for the Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea, bypassing the Baltic countries and Poland.

The pipeline project is opposed by Brussels and Washington amid fears of increased reliance on Russian gas supplies, which could threaten Europes energy security.

A number of EU countries expressed their support for the Nord Stream-2, in particular, Austria and Germany. In parallel, several other EU leaders, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, European Commission Energy Union Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and European Council President Donald Tusk expressed concern over the pipeline construction.
Anti-Terror Laws

In order for Turkey to activate the visa-free travel, Ankara must meet 72 conditions imposed by the EU, however disagreements lie over Turkey's anti-terrorism laws.

Brussels is demanding that Ankara change its laws to fall in line with European conditions, amid fears many academics and journalists are being arrested an charged for "terror propaganda."

Anti-terror law in #Turkey misused in order to label any opponent of Erdogan as terrorist says @joostlagendijk at #EGP24  European Greens (@europeangreens) May 21, 2016

However Turkish officials have hit back, accusing the EU of double-standards over the issue, while also taking aim at Brussels' reluctance to send aid money designed to help Turkey deal with the refugee crisis.

"Turkey is not asking for favors  what we want is honesty," Erdogan said.

"Turkey is supposed to fulfil criteria? What criteria are these I ask you?"

Now that it looks like #Erdogan is unhappy with the EU-Turkey deal, here on Lesbos we're expecting the #migrant-#refugee flows to start soon  Nikolia Apostolou (@NikoliaA) May 25, 2016

While the EU-Turkey refugee deal, seen by many officials in the bloc as being crucial to stemming the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe, has already been implemented, there are fears disagreements over visa-free access and Turkey's anti-terror laws could scupper the agreement.

EU officials are already under pressure to stand up to Erdogan, as many believe the Turkish president is bullying Brussels with his demands for Turks to have visa-free access to the bloc's Schengen zone.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The refugee camp that has sprung up in the Greek village Idomeni near the border with Macedonia is a disgrace for all of the EU member states that are refusing to take in refugees, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said Wednesday.

"This is a disgrace for those [EU] member states which are not willing to accept refugees and are leaving Greece alone [to deal] with this problem," Schulz told the German newspaper Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung.

EU countries that have refused to accept refugees are the ones to blame for this state of affairs, he added.
Vietnamese in Odessa protest the armed attack.

Nam Dang, one of the witnesses of the attack, told Sputnik that the raid was unfortunately not the first attempt at persecution suffered by the Vietnamese community.

"Armed people dressed in black, calling themselves members of the security services, then the police, then tax inspectors, broke into the housing complex, breaking the doors, and took money and valuables."

"They were more like robbers than law enforcement officials. They didnt show any documents, or any protocol to do with the raid," he said.

"This is not the first time something like this has happened. The worst attack was during the Tet (Vietnamese New Year) celebrations last year. There was no active response from the authorities."

Dang explained that this time, representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy are working with the local authorities to make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice; the Vietnamese government has also summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the incident, Thanh Nien News reported on Wednesday.

"We, the victims, gathered outside the police headquarters. Yesterday we went to the regional and city administration, who promised to investigate," he said.
The decision by Simons to sign up for the Denk party was widely ridiculed in the press, which described it as a party of pro-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whingers. One paper, The Parool led its front page with an analysis headlined "Immigrants have had enough."

Sylvana Simons kreeg afgelopen week enorm veel kritiek over zich heen. Vanavond vertelt de presentatrice erover. pic.twitter.com/mEMrIc84Kb  RTL Late Night (@RTLLateNight) 23 May 2016

(Tweet: "Sylvana Simons received a huge amount of criticism last week. The Tonight presenter talks about it.")

The paper said the Denk party reflected the fact that migrants are "the victims of a hostile society. Why should they have to work harder to prove themselves, why don't they get jobs and why are they constantly asked to justify their religion?

"Simons might very well fan the flames of immigrant discontent", the paper concludes.

The fact that such a high-profile personality has joined Denk will play into the hands of rising right-wing anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe, enflamed by the migrant crisis, which has seen a huge influx of migrants  many Muslim  into the continent.
Combining the above figures, Brussels Airport lost more than 1.17 million passengers over the first four months of 2016 compared to the same period last year, the paper reported.

The airport administration expects the situation to normalize in a few more months.
"The independence referendum was talked about in every workplace and every pub, and people flocked to public meetings and to new, online media to discuss it. None of that is happening now," Dunion told Sputnik.

Speaking to Sputnik on Wednesday, Jonathon Shafi, co-founder of Scotland's Radical Independence Campaign, who has worked with socialist movements across Europe, suggested that there's less interest in Scotland as  as the polls suggest  the vote in Scotland is easy to predict.

"Unlike in England, in Scotland the result is essentially known  it will be a Remain vote. In England where UKIP et al have more traction it has a more dynamic undercurrent," Mr Shafi told Sputnik.

Right-Wing Rhetoric Off-Putting

Election results over the past several years in Scotland suggest that Scottish voters tend to hold more left of center views than the rest of the UK.

'Scotsman' poll shows 54% support for Scotland staying in the EU and 32% support for Brexit. One month to go  JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) May 23, 2016

Mr Shafi suggested that many in Scotland find the right-wing nature of arguments on both sides of the EU referendum off-putting.

"Both sides are right-wing  UKIP on the one hand and the big business on the other. Added to this, both sides use 'Project Fear' methods of mobilization. This puts people off."

Gary Dunion suggested that the political involvement in Scotland only really took off during the independence referendum when the rhetoric moved toward the left of center.

"The pro-independence campaign launched with a fairly right-wing strategy, using big-business voices to assure the people that independence wouldn't harm their profits. It was only after it took a sharp leftward turn  thanks in large part to the success of the grassroots Radical Independence Conference  that enthusiasm and passion picked up," Dunion said.

Can Scotland hope to be a truly independent nation with most of our laws still made by EU? #YesScot #Brexit #SNP pic.twitter.com/NAt17wrI8G  David Hamilton (@Daibhidh92) May 13, 2016

And Jonathon Shafi said that engagement in the current EU debate could pick up, "if the left was well-organized around an internationalist, anti-austerity, anti-TTIP, pro-democracy out position. As it stands that terrain [the Leave campaign] is almost entirely dominated by the right."

This is not an opinion shared across the board by political commentators in Scotland, however.

'Electoral Exhaustion'

Duncan Hothersall, a prominent 'No' campaigner and editor of Scottish Labour Party blog Labour Hame, said he didn't believe there to be that big an ideological divide between Scotland and England.

"Scots aren't significantly more left of center than people elsewhere in the UK. I don't think levels of engagement are to do with the arguments being put forward. People aren't listening to the arguments," Hothersall told Sputnik.

He suggested that Scottish voters were more likely suffering from "electoral exhaustion," having had the referendum in 2014, UK General Election in 2015 and Scottish Parliament elections in May of this year.

Do the voter's of Scotland really want a Republic with Nicola Sturgeon having her strings pulled by Brussels #brexit pic.twitter.com/IrEgV341M9  Jim Kerr (@JimKerr1973) May 14, 2016

Duncan also questioned the idea that the result is pre-determined:

"Many people believe the result to be a foregone conclusion in Scotland; I don't. I think the lack of interest has more to do with electoral exhaustion, wariness of referenda following indyref, and the lack of engagement from political figures. The First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon] has barely mentioned it."

Could Scotland Tip the Vote?

Recent polls have suggested that support for the EU is so high in Scotland that it may tip the vote towards remaining in the EU, despite a leave vote across the rest of the United Kingdom.

Gary Dunion believes that this could be due to a dislike of the Conservative party within Scotland, who currently hold only 1 of the 59 Scottish seats in Westminster.

"Because both the In and Out campaigns are led by right-wing forces  Cameron and Osborne in the former case and Boris Johnson and UKIP in the latter  it is difficult to present any kind of positive, left-wing vision on either side," Dunion said.

Nevertheless, I believe the vast majority of left-wing voters will support remaining in the EU, in the knowledge that our government is a radically right-wing one and therefore our prospects for advancing, or at least defending, social justice are better in cooperation with other EU countries than with an unfettered, isolated Cameron or Johnson government outside the EU."
Among the prevented attacks, the newspaper cited a case in 2011, where a terrorist planned to poison potable water tanks intended for tourists. The publication also recalled that the Spanish authorities regularly intercept Islamic State (IS) recruiters and suspected affiliates, primarily of Moroccan descent.

On March 22, a series of blasts hit Brussels Airport and a metro station located near to the EU institutions in the center of the city, killing 35 people. IS, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The militant group also claimed responsibility for the November 13 Paris attacks, which killed 130 people and injured over 350 others, raising global terrorism concerns and stirring Europe to reinforce its safety and security measures.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) The European Commission (EC) and Poland are close to resolving disagreements over reforms to the Constitutional Tribunal in the country, EC Vice President Andrus Ansip said Wednesday.

"There is a constructive dialogue between the European Commission and Polish government. I have got an understanding that the Polish government wants also to find way out of this situation, to find solution. And according to my understanding, we are pretty close to that," Ansip told journalists at a press conference in Brussels.
President Nicos Anastasiades canceled the planned meeting after discovering Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci had been invited to this week's World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul.

"With regret President Anastasiades has ascertained there is no fertile ground to hold a planned meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader on May 27," government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said.

#Akinci visit and the ensuing reaction from #Anastasiades is "as per convention" of TR but also CYP diplomacy (1/2) #Cyprus  Mustafa Cirakli (@m_cirakli) May 24, 2016

The cancellation of Friday's planned meeting is the first hurdle in rejuvenated peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, with relations between the government in Nicosia and Turkish Cypriot officials improving in recent times.
As well as causing a stir at the swimming pool, local residents also complain that Arab guests leave trash in the town's parks, and are noisy at night.

"The leaflets show where the town's children's play areas, squares and parks are located so that Arab guests don't just congregate in one place, which can cause problems and clashes with the locals," Hanza said.

The flyers, which have been distributed with the help of tourist agencies, also feature helpful diagrams to get key messages across, such as the need to observe the speed limit.

Last year some Middle Eastern emigrants who have been living in the Czech Republic for a long time helped to bridge the cultural gap, by putting up signs in Arabic, and picking up litter.

Abbas Ikhaf, a Syrian emigrant who has lived in the Czech Republic for a long time, acted as an assistant to the authorities by explaining local customs to Arab guests, who seemed better able to take the advice on board from a fellow Arab speaker.

Ikhaf, who is taking on the responsibility again this year, said that some "multicultural days" which also take place in Teplice are a good chance to build bridges.

"This is a possibility to get to know each other, talk about the difficulties. A lot of people from Teplice perhaps don't even know what Muslims are like. They only know them from the news," he explained.

However, locals told Radio Praha that they remain unconvinced about the prospect that the leaflets, or multicultural events, bring the communities closer together.
British politics has been swept by clashes over whether the country should remain in or leave the European Union, and a public vote on the issue is due to be held on the 23rd of June.

"If they try to move against Cameron before the referendum, it would be used by the Remain supporters to say they are trying to stop the referendum because they know [they] would lose," Brooks said.

Overall, he noted that the Conservative Party is in trouble and faces a lot of problems, because there is substantial support for Brexit  "there are very dissatisfied with what they feel as misinformation being given out by the Remain campaign led by the prime minister himself."

UK citizens are set to vote on June 23 in a referendum on the country's EU membership, after British Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of the 27 other EU member states reached a deal in February to grant the United Kingdom a special status within the bloc.

Supporters of the United Kingdom exiting the bloc argue that EU membership has eroded Britains independence to legislate, direct its economy and control its borders. Opponents warn that leaving the European Union could deeply harm the countrys economy.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova  Britain's attempts to pit the world against Russia by presenting it as an unpredictable alien power are dangerous, a member of the French parliaments National Defense Committee Nicolas Dhuicq told Sputnik on Wednesday.

UK Ambassador to France, Sir Julian King said at a meeting of the National Assemblys Defense Committee last week, where Dhuicq was present, that London regarded Moscow as increasingly aggressive and opposed to the West. Russia's support of militias in east Ukraine, he claimed, showed it was growing unpredictable and ready to violate international laws.

"The response is a disquieting one, describing Russia as an unpredictable country and a dangerous one. A country not respecting international law, and a danger in itself to the rest of the world," Dhuicq told Sputnik.
LONDON (Sputnik)  At least three Russian companies, namely Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), Ilyushin, and Russian Helicopters have confirmed their participation in United Kingdom's Farnborough International Airshow, event's organizers said Wednesday.

"We have 21 registered exhibitors at the show this year including with a large Russian Pavilion in the exhibition halls and a chalet. Confirmed exhibitors include Russian Helicopters, Ilyushin and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft," an airshow spokeswoman told RIA Novosti.

Answering the question about possible problems with visas for Russian delegation members to enter the United Kingdom, the spokeswoman said that London "would recommend them contact their local visa issuing office for advice and support."
The judicial inquiry into the April parliaments dissolution was initiated by the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the largest Albanian party in Macedonia, which refused to participate in the coming elections.

Two other big Macedonian parties the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) also decided to abstain from participation in the June elections leaving the ruling Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization  Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) the only party that was going to take part in the elections.

The Macedonian political crisis erupted last year after the opposition accused the ruling party of intercepting phone calls of about 20,000 people, including police officers, judges, journalists and diplomats.

The crisis escalated on April 22 when countrys President Gjorge Ivanov pardoned 65 politicians and their associates, accused of various crimes. In return, Macedonian opposition launched protests aimed at withdrawing the pardon.
LONDON (Sputnik)  The United Kingdom has lost $10 billion in revenues in 2015 due to sanctions against Russia and Moscow's response measures, the Russian Embassy in London said Wednesday.

"As for the total trade volume, just last year it decreased by almost 50 percent compared to 2014, and the loss of revenue amounted to around $10 billion, according to our estimates," embassy spokesman Konstantin Shlykov told reporters.

Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated in 2014 after Brussels and Washington accused Moscow of fomenting violence in neighboring Ukraine. The West has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia as a result of these allegations.
According to government documents published in a special state-run tabloid, new categories of small, mid-sized and "micro" private businesses were added to a master plan for social and economic development, approved by the Cuban Communist Party Congress last month.

"Private property, in certain means of production, contributes to employment, economic efficiency and well-being, in a context in which socialist property relationships predominate," the documents read.

While no immediate details were offered, the new business categories appear to be the next stage in wide-ranging reforms initiated by President Raul Castro, who stepped in after his brother Fidel Castro retired in 2008.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Netanyahu reportedly held late-night talks with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Kahlon and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin  who is said to be negotiating on behalf of Likud.

"It appears that Yisrael Beiteinu has decided to be flexible about Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's offer, and is willing to step back some of its demands," Netanyahus Likud party source told the Haaretz daily.
"Russian aircraft using parachute systems have delivered 32.5 tons of food products received from the UN to Deir ez-Zor, which had been besieged by Daesh militants," the ministry said Tuesday.

Russia has been supplying food, medicine and construction materials to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria since the beginning of 2016.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Jordan does not rule out deploying troops to ward off the Daesh militants from its border with Syria, Jordanian Ambassador to Russia Ziad al-Majali said.

"Military action is only possible to protect our borders from terrorists," the ambassador told RIA Novosti, when asked about Jordans potential contribution to the Syrian crisis settlement.

Al-Majali noted that a military resolution of the Syrian crisis would be "unacceptable." Jordan has always supported the political settlement of the conflict in Syria and the international efforts to end the civil war in its neighbor state, the ambassador added.
DUBAI (Sputnik)  The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) will convene for a meeting in Riyadh on May 26 to discuss the Syrian political process, HNC spokesman Riyad Naasan Agha said Wednesday.

"Today we will fly to Riyadh, the committee will begin the meeting tomorrow. We will discuss the current situation in Syria, assess the political landscape and its future," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.

According to the spokesman, the duration of the meeting has not yet been determined.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)According to the spokesman, some of these militant groups are ready to provide their coordinates to the Russian reconciliation center in order to join the ceasefire once the terrorists have been forced out of the territories under their control.

"Over the past few days, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the warring sides [in Syria] has received about a dozen calls from the leadership of armed groups in various Syrian provinces, particularly Aleppo and Damascus, asking [us] not to strike until they have completed their engagement with militants from the Nusra Front terrorist group," Konashenkov told reporters.

"With this in mind, it was decided to extend the period of work with separate militias on their accession to the ceasefire, engagement with the terrorists and definition of precise areas under their control, before [we launch] strikes on extremist positions," the spokesman added.


CAIRO (Sputnik)The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led coalition will review the Russian proposal to cooperate in fighting the Daesh terror group during the liberation of the Syrian city of Raqqa, SDF spokesman Talal Selo said Wednesday.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces General Staff, in coordination with the US-led international coalition, will decide whether to accept the proposal of cooperation with the Russians, or the operation will be continued only by us and the international coalition. The alliance [SDF] and the coalition will make a decision on the issue," Selo said.

He noted that it is difficult to set a time frame for the liberation of Raqqa because it depends on a number of factors. Selo added that the operation may also include the city of Deir ez-Zor as well as the northern outskirts of Aleppo.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance has managed to take over a strategically important village near Raqqa as part of an operation to liberate the Syrian city from the Daesh, Tackir Kobani, a SDF representative, told Sputnik Turkiye on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Kurdish-led forces with the assistance from a US-led international coalition launched an offensive to free the northern part of the Syrian Raqqa province from the jihadist group outlawed in the United States and Russia.

"Several villages were liberated from Daesh. We also managed to take control of a large settlement Kirtaca, located in the vicinity of Raqqa," Kobani said in an interview.
Tackr Kobani also said that the SDF, using heavy armaments, are currently encountering a fierce fighting with Daesh near the village of Tlsemer.

Fleeing from the villages the jihadists lay mines and set traps on the way of their retreat. However a large number of militants have been killed.

The civil population of the area is actively cooperating with the SDF in the operation, he added.

Russia prepared to coordinate w/ Raqqa offensive. Liberation could come earlier if US were more open to cooperation. pic.twitter.com/hPpHquin88  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) 25  2016 .

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia is ready to coordinate efforts with US-led coalition and Kurdish forces in Syria on the liberation of Raqqa.

"Raqqa is one of the aims of the anti-terrorist coalition, just like Iraqs Mosul. We are confident that these cities could have been liberated more effectively and faster if our military officials (of Russia and US) would have started coordinating their actions much earlier," the foreign minister noted.

On Friday, Russia proposed conducting joint airstrikes with the US-led coalition in Syria against an al-Qaeda-linked group al-Nusra Front and other factions, in an effort to seek more coordination with the West in the Syrian conflict.
Last July, Yenigun, a journalist and news anchorman for Turkey's independent television channel Flash TV, criticized the so-called 'Green Road' project, an infrastructure project aimed at linking local highlands and tourist areas in eight Turkish Black Sea provinces. The journalist criticized the initiative and said that it was "harmful to the environment and the people of the region," and faces criminal charges as a result.

Speaking to Sputnik Turkey, the journalist commented on the case against him, and the situation faced by independent Turkish media as a whole.

Yenigun emphasized that "more than anything," he "was surprised and disappointed that the decision to initiate legal proceedings was made with the personal approval of the justice minister. This means that the minister thought it appropriate to initiate an investigation regarding my freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the Constitution."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  A team of Iraqi officers is undergoing training in Jordan in order to learn how find and defuse Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), according to a statement issued by NATO on Wednesday.

"Two dozen officers are undertaking courses at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre in Amman, Jordan," the statement said.

The goal of this program is to train the Iraqi officers for counter-IED operations aimed at supporting humanitarian efforts to return displaced populations safely to their homes.
The medical personnel are currently working on the site, while the countrys armed forces boosted security in surrounding areas, the media outlet added.

Violence in Turkey escalated in mid-2015, when the Turkish government launched a military campaign against the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, in the country's southeast. Violence escalated further in December, when the Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions.
"We would hope that he [Akhundzada] would seize the opportunityto choose peace and to work towards a negotiated solution," Toner stated. "We hope he makes that choice now."

Toner also confirmed that Akhundzada was not on the US designated terrorist list.
"The thing that we have discussed and agreed on is to purchase two helicopters for our army," Stefanovic told journalists at the 7th international meeting of high representatives overseeing security issues.

The 7th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues is being held in Grozny, Chechnya, on May 2425 and is attended by representatives of more than 60 countries. Such meetings are held every year in a Russian city at the initiative of Russias Security Council.
"The bill ensures that the programs and activities of the US Intelligence Community (IC), including Department of Defense (DoD) intelligence elements, are authorized in law and optimally resourced to protect the nation from threats at home and abroad."

The release included a statement from the House Permanent Select Committee Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, who expressed hope the US Senate will pass the measure soon.
"At the moment, the main difficulty lies in the fact that Daesh militants use city dwellers as human shields," Jamal told Russias Izvestia daily in an interview.

The diplomat said extremists use civilian structures, including schools, residential buildings and hospitals, as hideouts.
Obamas remark was "a transparent falsehood, and one could almost see his nose growing as he said it," the former US diplomat said.

If Vietnam does buy large quantities of US weapons, it will boost its influence on US foreign policy and feed pressures for Washington to step up its confrontations with China, Jatras warned.

"Vietnam is the worlds eighth-largest arms importer with purchases virtually all aimed at China, and therefore it is set to become another Saudi Arabia in terms of the influence it exercises over US policy."

Washington was needlessly provoking clashes with China just as it was against Russia on the other side of the world, Jatras emphasized.

"The Obama administration has treated Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea with the same recklessness evident in NATOs beefed-up presence in the Baltic and Black seas with respect to Russia."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing on Tuesday that Washington coordinated with the SDF in efforts to reclaim Raqqa, but declined to elaborate whether it was cooperating with Russia in the liberation campaign.

"We are not currently planning any joint military operations with Russia," Baldanza said late Tuesday.

The spokesperson said the Pentagon "continue[s] to use" the existing memorandum of understanding with the Russian Defense Ministry to ensure flight safety in Syrian airspace. She added that Washington holds regular interagency discussions with Russia and other partners in supporting the cessation of hostilities.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The companies receiving the contacts included Leidos, ARCADIS, Tetra Tech, Highlands Ranch, Colorado and Black Veatch, the announcement noted.

"[The companies] were awarded a $250 million contract for architectural and engineering environmental support, South Atlantic Division, Army Corps of Engineers," the announcement stated on Tuesday.

Work on the contracts will be carried out over the next five years, the Defense Department added.
"Today, May 24, the Cabinet approved the draft national defense concept developed by the Ministry of Defense, which provides for national measures to ensure the protection of peace, national threat and during wartime," the statement read.

It argued that the concept was "significantly influenced by changes in the regional security environment, leading to an increased threat to Latvia."
"Vietnam is equipped almost entirely with Russian weapons. It does not make sense to dilute this highly desirable uniformity of equipment by adding complexity to spare parts and maintenance requirements," he said.

"Any sale is going to be accompanied by a loud airing of concerns about Vietnam's human rights practices in the US Congress. I don't think much will be sold," he observed.

The motive for Obamas move was clearly to encourage Vietnam to take a more confrontational stand against China in disputes in the region, Freeman maintained.

"This is clearly a gesture of solidarity with Vietnam against China. So the United States is back to the old game of attempting to block Chinese influence in Southeast Asia and using Vietnam to check alleged Chinese ambitions."

However, Freeman also suggested that Hanoi was unlikely to provoke any major confrontations with Beijing, despite growing support from Washington.

"I have great confidence that Vietnam, like other Southeast Asian countries, intends to be cautious in aligning itself against China or with the United States."

China should not over-react to Obamas lifting of the arms embargo and Vietnamese policymakers should not anticipate too much coming out of it either, Freeman cautioned.

"I think this gesture, while appropriate, should not cause either alarm in Beijing or jubilation among the Vietnamese. And US arms manufacturers should avoid unrealistic expectations of major sales to Hanoi," Freeman concluded.

In response to scrapping the arms embargo, the Vietnamese government has signed a deal to purchase 100 Boeing commercial jets, worth about $11.3 billion. The two countries appear to be heading toward a full normalization of relations, providing the West another foothold in Beijings neighborhood.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  France will begin delivering air defense systems to Georgia in January 2017, Georgian Armed Forces General Staff head Vakhtang Kapanadze said Wednesday.

In 2015, Georgia singed two agreements with France on the purchase of air defense systems.

Deliveries will be made gradually, I cant give an exact date. Yes, its planned to start in January 2017, but a part may be delivered earlier, another part later. There is no such thing as [immediately] delivering one type of equipment and thats it. Some part we will receive, but for another part well need to prepare a place, Kapanadze told RIA Novosti.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  The Indian government has finally decided to drop a 300 million Euro defense deal with a subsidiary of Italian firm Finmeccanica.

The deal originally involved the purchase of Black Shark Torpedoes, which were to be an integral part and the primary weapon of India's six new scorpene-class submarines. Each submarine was designed to be fitted with 16 torpedoes, which are by Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS) of Italy. Sources from the Ministry of Defense say that Minister Manohar Parrikar has directed officials to search for an alternative to the torpedoes.

WASS Italy, a Finmeccanica Company, emerged as the successful bidder in the procurement tender of Heavy Weight Torpedoes for the '75 Submarines' project. Subsequently, because of the Groups involvement in the 556 million euro VVIP AgustaWestland Helicopter scandal, the procurement was put on hold in July 2014.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  The ongoing Rafale saga seems to be in the doldrums once more, as whatever India has proposed so far it has been disposed of by the French government. France has also rejected a bank guarantee for the deal.

Dassault Aviation initially offered to sell 36 Rafale fighter aircraft for around 10.5 billion euros but the Indian government has asked for a 30 percent discount. The issue over the price has so far proved to be a sticking point in the deal.

Now in a fresh move to clear the stalled Rafale deal, the French government has offered a new price and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has written a letter to Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar regarding the deal. According to the defense ministry sources, France has now offered to sell 36 fighters for 7.8 billion euros which is around 7 percent less than the original price offered by Dassault Aviation.
At the same time, the analyst warned, the US and NATO have not only been consciously raising their conventional potential in Eastern Europe, but also looking to improve their nuclear capabilities.

"Europe had and continues to have a series of storage facilities for [US] nuclear bombs (in the UK, Germany and Italy, and similar stores in Turkey). We are talking about 400 tactical nuclear warheads. To be fair, traditional nuclear bombs are not very effective today; NATO would first have to break through our air defenses, which have demonstrated serious successes in recent years."

"Therefore, the Americans are placing elements of their missile defense system in close proximity to Russia. Most recently, the US opened their 'anti-missile' defense base near the Romanian town of Deveselu. Here they've already delivered 24 Standard-3 missiles, but it is well-known that their universal Mark-41 launchers can be reloaded with Tomahawk nuclear-armed cruise missiles. And these are no longer defensive but offensive weapons. Furthermore, cruise missiles are the most effective way to break through air defenses. A similar base is planned for deployment in Poland in the coming years."

Asked by the online paper whether the US moves are an indication that the strategic nuclear balance is under threat, and whether Russia should consider abandoning the START 3 Treaty when it expires in 2021, Alexandrov emphasized that there is no need to panic, and that "it's not at all inevitable for events to develop along these lines."

"In recent years, the arsenal of our strategic nuclear forces has been complemented by the solid-fuel mobile and silo-based RS-24 Yars (equipped with multiple warheads), as well as the Bulava sea-launched missile. It is expected that the two-stage liquid-fuelled Sarmat ICBM will enter active combat duty in the coming years, as will the rail-based Barguzin system."

"Therefore, there is no threat to nuclear parity. Moreover, the US missile defense system is not at a level of development where it could upset the balance of forces and threaten Russia's security."

Still, Alexandrov noted that he "could not exclude that such a threat may come about in the future. So we have to watch closely what the Americans are doing and to have the capability to build up our nuclear forces if necessary. As soon as our military receives evidence that the US is close to having systems capable of intercepting Russian ICBMs, then, it would be necessary to leave START-3 and increase our strategic nuclear forces in both quantitative and qualitative terms."
TBILISI (Sputnik)  Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey plan to conduct joint military drills in Georgia in summer 2017, the head of the Georgian Armed Forces General Staff said Wednesday.

"Yes, that is our plans but something may change They [the drills] will be massive and will focus on counterterrorist and security issues," Maj. Gen. Vakhtang Kapanadze told RIA Novosti.

The joint military drills of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey were announced on May 15, at a meeting of the countries defense ministers in the city of Gabala, northern Azerbaijan.
The reason for this, Ishchenko noted, is that "around these parts, an opponent for the SEALs other that the Russian Black Sea Fleet simply does not exist. The rest of the coast is occupied by loyal allies of the North Atlantic Alliance, and those wishing to join it as soon as possible (Abkhazia being the only exception)."

Furthermore, the analyst recalled, "it would not be inappropriate here to recall that fast attack craft from the US Navy's Special Operations Forces have already been to Sevastopol in the past, and unannounced to the command of the Black Sea Fleet at that."

"It happened on September 29, 2000, when, without giving notice, two Mk V-type special operations craft, each capable of accommodating up to 16 underwater saboteurs, entered the south bay of the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, and moored at the marine station jetty."

"As it turned out, we were not informed of the guests' visit, even though it had all been discussed in advance with KievNothing was reported regarding the nature of the mysterious visit. The territory of the sea port was completely closed off for city residents," Ishchenko noted.

Recalling that the reason for the SEALs' presence is pretty obvious when it comes to their operations in third world countries as part of the War on Terror, the analyst wrote that "it remains unclear what has now brought them close to our Crimea, where for decades the only shots that have been fired have been training shots. Naturally, the answer is well understood not only in Washington, Brussels, Kiev and Sofia, but in Moscow as well. And Russia will be prepared accordingly."
The Sunni-dominated city faced the worst of the systematic effort to expunge loyalists of Saddam Husseins secular Baath Party, in a process now known as de-baathification, from positions within the Iraqi government, including ordinary social sector positions in education, medicine, and engineering.

The once prominent Sunni middle class found themselves the subject of persecution at the hands of the Shia-led government, and violent Shiite militias, notably Muqtada al-Sadrs Mahdi Army.

The widespread alienation of Sunnis and the repeated violent tides of ethnic cleansing by Shiite militias forced many secular Sunnis into league with the violent Daesh extremist group, whose Iraqi branch is now dominated by a cadre of former Saddam Hussein loyalists.

With the government unravelling in Iraq, and the violent Mahdi army once again threatening to seize control of the country, the situation has been described as waves of ethnic cleansing by competing and increasingly extremist sectarian militias  the Mahdi Army, supported by Iraqi forces on the Shia side, and Daesh, along with al-Qaeda, on the Sunni side.

In this descent into social cataclysm, the Iraqi army, along with loosely-affiliated Shia militias, looks to liberate Fallujah, using American weapons and support, but with many residents of the Daesh-occupied city fearing another violent round of ethnic cleansing. On Tuesday, Loud & Clears Brian Becker sat down with Iraqi-American and foreign policy analyst Raed Jarrar to discuss the latest offensive.
"Romero Juca is the president of the PMDB, which is the key party behind the interim government of Temer, which is to say he is very high up, so this interim government is already facing a crisis," explained Dominguez. "The Green Party, a very small party which is part of Temers coalition, has already decided to withdraw from the government. Temers administration is beginning to crumble away because it is so illegitimate and it is involved in so much corruption that it is unbelievable."

Why did Juco and other establishment figures want to oust Rousseff?

"They decided to impeach her according to the leaked recording because she wouldnt stop the investigation that implicates hundreds of them in the Congress," said Dominguez. "Based on what we know, about 300 of them are being investigated for corruption in the lower house and in the senate over 60% of the members are also being investigated for corruption."

What about the popular protests in Brazil against Temer?
Russia's TVEL, a subsidiary of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has been supplying nuclear fuel to Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) since its first unit started operations in 1982. During the late 2000s, Russia helped restore and expand capacity of the NPP.

"Of course, we are aware of the increased attention our joint project receives from European institutions, particularly the European Commission, which has initiated a number of investigations in this regard. We see no reason to doubt at this stage that the Hungarian government, which has repeatedly stated its commitment to the project, will be able to provide the necessary clarifications to the questions raised by Brussels," Lavrov told Hungarys Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
According to the official, the Russian side has called on Washington to warn their allies among the Syrian opposition that they should distance themselves from the Nusra Front extremist group.

"We strike Nusra Front and do not touch the rest," Bogdanov said.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force across Syria on February 27, but it does not apply to terrorist organizations active in the country, such as the IS and Nusra Front, both outlawed in Russia.
BUDAPEST (Sputnik)  The Russia-NATO Councils work should be based on the principles of consensus and equal rights, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

We have a general understanding that the work of the Russia-NATO Council should be guided under all circumstances by agreed upon principles that suggest equal rights and consensus, Lavrov said after talks with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Budapest.

The NATO chief stated that he would report to the ministers that while the council meeting did not help solve all problems between the alliance and Russia, it was nevertheless useful and included frank and open discussions on various issues.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the EU that the Turkish parliament would block any laws related to the Turkey-EU deal on migrants, if Ankara was not granted its key demand of visa-free travel within the European Union.

If that [visa free travel] is not what will happen no decision and no law in the framework of the readmission agreement will come out of the parliament of the Turkish Republic, Erdogan said at the close of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Our foreign ministry, our EU affairs ministry will have discussions with the Europeans. If there is a result then great. If not, then I'm sorry, the Turkish president added.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi (The Jewish Home) leader Avigdor Liberman signed a political partnership agreement that appoints Liberman as the country's defense minister and includes his faction in the governing coalition, local media reported on Wednesday.

"Now we are joining hands to move Israel forward," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the Jerusalem Post.

Netanyahu added that the country's government with Liberman as defense minister "will continue to uphold the responsibility to Israel's security."
The official, however, stressed that the EU will continue to cooperate with Turkey on the refugee deal. "But we must not remain silent," he underscored.

Nothing even hinted at any trouble after Turkish President Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting Monday and agreed to continue dialogue regarding the EU-Turkey visa liberalization.

However, that did not prevent Erdogan from de facto blackmailing the German leadership on Tuesday by threatening to drop the refugee agreement with the EU if it does not lift its visa requirements.

"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest salvo at the European Union came when Angela Merkel least expected it," Arne Delfs of Bloomberg writes, "The German chancellor was winding up the first day of a two-day cabinet retreat at a Baroque schloss near Berlin when Erdogan threatened to tear up the central plank of Turkey's refugee accord with the EU."

"Coming just 24 hours after he and Merkel met during a UN conference in Istanbul, the volley caught the government off guard with the chancellor pushing back only on Wednesday after the conclave ended," the journalist remarks.

Whether one likes it or not, it is Erdogan who is currently controlling the flow of migrants entering the EU. The Turkish president believes that he has the upper hand in the situation and has no scruples about twisting the EU's arm into making concessions.

He even went so far as to lambast Brussels for not keeping its promises on financial aid to Turkey.

"When we look at what has been done so far, unfortunately, we see that this [financial] support is not progressing as promised," Erdogan emphasized as cited by Associated Press.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Meetings of Russia-France Intergovernmental Commission and Interagency Council on economic cooperation will be held by the end of 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"We are rebuilding the mechanisms of mutual cooperation. After a long break, the work of the Interagency Council and the Intergovernmental Commission on economic cooperation, which are headed by prime ministers on both sides, has been resumed, and an agreement to hold their meetings by the end of the year has been reached," Putin said.
Worse yet, energy experts have repeatedly pointed out that the gas Ukraine buys from Slovakia is actually Russian gas reclassified 'non-Russian' and pumped back into Ukraine at a profit for European energy companies. Meanwhile, residents of rural areas have complained that they have had to stop using gas altogether in favor of traditional wood stoves, saying they simply cannot afford the new utility rates.

Meanwhile, Mirnaya continued, "Ukrainian companies continuing to die off from the loss of the Russian market. Thanks to the factual termination of economic relations between the two countries, these losses have also been compounded by the loss of transit for Ukrainian goods heading to the Caucasus and Central Asia through Russian territory."

As far as Western markets are concerned, formally, Ukraine has been granted access to European markets with the signing of a free trade agreement earlier this year. "In truth, even the most ardent supporters of the Maidan among businessmen have had to admit that the European market cannot compensate for the loss of the Russian one. Moreover, the obligations imposed on Ukraine by Brussels (a ban on export restrictions for raw materials required by Ukrainian industries, and requirements on a transition to EU standards) have proven too heavy a burden."

"Ordinary Ukrainians," Mirnaya recalled, "suffer together with businesses, facing a freeze on salaries and a sharp increase in utilities prices and unemployment; this is the policy imposed on the government by the IMF." And this in spite of Candidate Poroshenko's promises to turn Ukraine into a thriving economy with high wages and a European standard of living.

Western Benefactors Running Out of Patience

With ordinary Ukrainians finding Poroshenko's election promises out of whack with his actual policies (something confirmed by his falling approval ratings, from the 64% approval in May 2014, to 10% approval in May 2016), Ukraine's foreign partners in Brussels and Washington have also grown increasingly frustrated and disillusioned.

"The IMF periodically throws Kiev some money, but less and less and under increasingly harsh conditions," the Mirnaya noted. "The Maidan victors' honeymoon with Europe and the United States ended a long time ago," the journalist added.
If Clinton wins, Washington will beef up its military presence in the Middle East and Central Asia. And don't forget Libya, the scholar notes, stressing that there is little reason to think that Clinton is not ready to approve yet another Libyan operation to eradicate the Daesh hotbed there.

Thrall envisions that US war hawks encouraged by Clinton could approve the permanent stationing of 50,000 US troops in Iraq to prevent Daesh from rising and to help the country's economy to "recover."

However, both Syria and Iraq would become yet another quagmire for the US military force. Moreover, by expanding its military campaign in the region Washington risks aggravating further tensions with Russia.

Even if NATO and the Pentagon win in the short-term, there is no guarantee that a new terrorist threat won't emerge in the long-run in the Middle East.

"The military victory will have done absolutely nothing to resolve the fundamental sectarian and political conflicts that have riven Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Nor will the victory have made the US any more capable of fostering stability and democracy. Beyond this we cannot forget that ISIS [Daesh] itself grew out of the chaos that followed the 2003 invasion," Thrall stresses, adding that a new intervention would only raise the risks of future terrorist attacks against the US and its allies.

As for Afghanistan, "despite 2,300 American casualties and roughly a trillion dollars spent" in the country to date, all of Washington's efforts have been fruitless: Afghanistan is still unable to survive without life support.

If Clinton reverses Obama's decision to withdraw US troops from the Central Asian region, Washington's treasure and the Americans' lives could be wasted in vain.

"How likely is this nightmare scenario?" the scholar asks.

"All three decisions are entirely plausible given the decisions made by the previous two presidents. Hillary Clinton's own behavior as Secretary of State and her comments on the campaign trail only make them more so," he stresses.
"The first is that we're bent on militarily dominating the entire globe there's no place on the planet that doesn't matter to the indispensable nation, we care about every nook and cranny on the planet and we're interested in being militarily dominant here, there, and everywhere. That's the first dimension. The second dimension is we're deeply committed to transforming the world we're deeply committed to making everybody look like us."

For her part, Center for Strategic & International Studies analyst Kathleen Hicks argued that US grand strategy hasn't actually undergone any dramatic shift since the end of the Cold War, and has essentially been the same since 1945, when the US's interwar isolationist tendencies yielded to aspirations for global hegemony.

With much of the conference dedicated to US-Russia relations, Dorminey explained that while "it's possible that the panelists are stuck in a Cold War mentality," it's "more probablethat the preoccupation with the Soviet Union and modern-day Russia stems from the fact that Russia has remained the only country capable of posing a significant threat to America's position of power."
"We all know from our experience that permanent isolation brings nothing. After all only dialogue can help," Gabriel said as quoted by the Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper.

Relations between Russia and the European Union, including Germany, as its member state, deteriorated amid the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions since the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict.
We have also seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israels history, Toner stated. This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be headed in and what kind of policies it may adopt.

The US government will work with the new coalition in Israel and remains steadfast in its commitment to both Israeli security and a two-state solution, he added.
The Japanese people want these bases closed, and protests are growing. Will these voices be seriously heard when Obama meets Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G7?

A close ally of Brazils acting President has stepped aside after being caught on tape talking of the need to have President Dilma Rousseff impeached. Do the leaked tapes clearly point to Dilmas removal from office as being nothing more than a stage managed political coup? Becker is joined by Dr. Francisco Dominguez, the head of the Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies at Middlesex University.

Bernie Sanders is facing mounting pressure from the Democratic Party establishment to end his presidential campaign, but instead hes ramped up his criticisms of party elites. Sanders had accused the DNC of seeking to annoint Hillary Clinton as the Party's nominee. Becker is joined by Ted Rall, author and editorial cartoonist.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The fourth case of the Zika virus in Russia has been registered, head of federal health and epidemic monitoring service Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova said Wednesday.

We have registered the fourth case of the Zika virus brought into Russia, Popova told journalists.

The virus was detected in a man who had recently returned from the Dominican Republic, she added.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Vorota Arktiki, located in the Gulf of Ob near the Yamal peninsula, was built to facilitate year-round sea transport in extreme weather conditions.

"You may begin loading," Putin said via a video link, as a tanker waited at the terminal.

"This is a new step in exploring Yamal, and, in essence, a new step in developing the Novoportovskoye field. This is a notable, a significant event, I mean that the project is one of the most capital-intensive in the Russian energy industry. Over the last three years, $186 billion has been allocated for completing the project, innovative technical solutions have been applied," the president said.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russias state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport has not made a final decision on the extent of its participation in the United Kingdom's Farnborough International Airshow this year, a source in the corporation said Wednesday.

"This exhibition is part of Rosoboronexport's plans. However, given the obstacles that were faced during the last show, we have not made a final decision regarding the scope of our participation," the source told reporters.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russias space agency Roscosmos confirmed that the state corporation would not send a delegation to Farnborough, also due to the possible recurrence of obstacles caused by the UK authorities. The Russian state technology corporation Rostec reportedly may also pull out or limit its participation in the airshow.
GROZNY (Russia) (Sputnik)  The Russian Security Council estimates that some 90,000 people died in terror attacks over the past two years, most of them in Africa and the Middle East, the council's secretary said Wednesday.

"In the past two years alone, the world saw more than 32,000 terror acts, with some 90,000 people falling victim to terrorism," Nikolai Patrushev told reporters in the city of Grozny.

Patrushev said the majority of assaults had been conducted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq and Syria. The death toll in Syria and Iraq doubled in comparison to 2013, while attacks became even more sophisticated and brutal.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia is planning to harvest some 106 million metric tons of grain in 2016, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said Wednesday.

"We are planning to harvest around 106 million tonnes thus year with favorable weather conditions," Tkachev said at a meeting with ministry's high-ranking officials.

Russia harvested 104.8 million metric tons of grain in 2015.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)There is a steady trend for the improvement of Russian macroeconomic indicators, including GDP, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"Last year we lived through the problems caused by the gross domestic product's shrinking. There is a decline [of GDP] for the first quarter of this year as well, but it is two times smaller than it was for the same period in the previous year. Therefore, a trend for the macroeconomic indicators' improvement, including GDP, is steady," Putin said on the meeting with French business.

Putin also expressed confidence that Russian authorities will be able to further maintain stability of the economy.
The dual incidents, in which an American spy aircraft imperiled the lives of airline passengers, calls into question the professionalism of US military surveillance, and asks whether the latest provocative exercise by Washington is aimed at baiting Moscow into conflict or simply an act of supreme incompetence.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov acknowledged that American spy planes conduct flights along eastern Russia daily, but "this time, while maneuvering along the international air route, the US spy plane created a real threat of collision for passenger aircraft, which could lead to catastrophic consequences."
The module uses passive life support, which means it will get its heat and air from the space station.

"We dont know at this point [what] the radiation will be," NASA Project and Technical Integration Manager for the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Rajib Dasgupta stated on Tuesday. "Once we get the data, it might look like the expandables are giving us some benefits for radiation protection."
"Two Big Ears has revolutionized how humans hear sound with software," spokesperson for Facebook told Sputnik.

Abesh Thakur who co-founded the company with Varun Nair told Scottish newspaper The Herald that the deal wasn't out of the blue and explained how their software "can digitally create how humans hear.

"If I blindfolded you and spoke to you from any point in space, you'd be able to point in space, you'd be able to point out where I might be standing or which room I was in.

"These are natural things the human brain can do. What we do is create all that using software and algorithms," Thakur explained.

"It hasn't happened out of the blue in the sense that our technology has been quite popular and has been used on Oculus and other devices," Thakur said.
Waring and his UFO hunting compadres claim that video taken by the International Space Station shows a mysterious alien object hovering in low earth orbit. The website 'UFO Sightings Daily' argues that the shininess of the object is due to its metallic surface and that the footage provided is one of the best examples of a UFO captured by the space station in years.

NASA however, have denied that the speck of light is anything extra-terrestrial.

The explanation offered by the US space agency is far less exciting than that of UFO hunters, NASA insist that the mysterious object is nothing more than a reflection on the windows of the Space Station, something which is apparently quite common.
Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact. We believe AI should be an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible safely.

Others involved in the project include Musks PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, tech giant Infosys, and cloud-based computing platform Amazon Web Services.

"If I were to guess what our biggest existential threat is, its probably that. So we need to be very careful with the artificial intelligence," Musk said at a symposium held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Telegraph reported. "With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon."

The team at OpenAI arent the only ones concerned that super-intelligent computers could become sentient and see humanity as a liability.

The iconic Professor Stephen Hawking has also expressed concerns that artificial intelligence could eventually begin re-designing itself at a rate that will make them too intelligent for human control.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Footage inside the convention center and outside in downtown Albuquerque depicted a chaotic scene of smashed windows, hurled rocks and police using pepper spray to disperse protesters.

"Only arrests at this point have been from inside the rally," the Albuquerque Police Department tweeted late Tuesday.

Police are tear-gassing anti-Trump protestors in New Mexico in the vicinity of the candidate's rally. It's on your TV, and harrowing to see.  Amrit Singh (@amritsingh) May 25, 2016

It later said "most" anti-Trump protesters have left, adding that the "remaining contingent is only looking to cause trouble [and] be destructive."
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Leaders in the US Republican Party are considering comprehensive reforms to the presidential nominee selection process to address the flaws exposed during this years primary season, the US press reported.

Party activists are pushing in internal deliberations to "sharply limit" open primaries so that only registered Republicans are allowed to vote, the New York Times publication said Tuesday, citing GOP officials. The officials are cited as blaming open primaries for allowing presumptive nominee Donald Trump garner votes and secure a path toward the nomination.

His latest victory in the northwestern state of Washington on Tuesday puts him 48 delegates short of securing the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination race.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Several police officers were injured during clashes with demonstrators protesting against US Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in Albuquerque, New Mexico, local police said on Twitter.

The protesters reportedly threw rocks at police horses and lit fires late on Tuesday outside an Albuquerque Trump rally, after the presidential contender won the Washington state primary.

"Several #APD officers are being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one subj arrested from the riot," the Albuquerque police said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A group of 471 US writers have started a petition to express their opposition to the candidacy of Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States.

"The rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response. For all these reasons, we, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States," the writers said in a joint letter accompanying the petition.

The petition has already received more than 6,500 signatures since its launch on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her predecessors did not comply with the Department of States policies on keeping records, State Departments Office of Inspector General said in a report on Wednesday.

"Secretary Clinton should have preserved any federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary," the report stated, as quoted by Politico.

In addition, the inspector general concluded that State Departments problems with records "go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State."
"The fact that China would perceive that [cooperation with Vietnam] as some sort of provocation to them I think says more about Chinese attitudes than it says anything about our [US] attitude," Obama noted.

The US-Vietnam relationship is based on mutual interests, including expanding trade and enhancing cooperation in a range of areas, Obama emphasized.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said earlier this week that Beijing welcomes the thaw in US-Vietnamese relations, and added that arms supplies restrictions on Hanoi were a product of the Cold War that needed to be removed.

On Tuesday, Beijing's state-run news agency China Daily said in an editorial that the United States and Vietnam must avoid sparking a regional "tinderbox." The article noted that Obamas visit to Vietnam had already "born fruit" in the form of lifting the arms embargo on Hanoi.

The South China Sea contains a number of disputed islands, including the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands. Vietnam has been a vocal claimant to disputed territory in the South China Sea, where China has built up a military presence in recent years.

Obama is visiting Japan to attend the two-day G7 Summit set to begin on Thursday in the city of Ise-Shima, and plans to visit the city of Hiroshima before departing on Friday. The US president is on the second leg of a weeklong trip to Vietnam and Japan.
The film, based on Kyles memoir of being a Navy SEAL, is the highest grossing American war movie of all time, but documents obtained by The Intercept prove that, at best, the author may not have been truthful.

All told, Kyle wrote in his book, I would end my career as a SEAL with two Silver Stars and five Bronze [Stars], all for valor.

According to official military records and confirmed by Navy officials, Kyle, known as the deadliest sniper in US military history, received one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars with Valor. A Navy official told The Intercept that Kyle was spoken to at least once by an official who warned him that his medal count was inaccurate.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  In addition to Wisconsin, the other states named as plaintiffs in the case are: Alabama, West Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. A school district from Texas and one from Arizona are also named plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

"President Obamas attempts to re-write the laws of our country without congressional consent and approval are not going to be tolerated by the state of Wisconsin," Schimel stated. "I have decided to join my colleagues from across the country in challenging the Obama administrations latest power grab."

The lawsuit claimed Obamas directive is not based in law and would cause major changes to the way school districts in the United States operate.
During the hearing, Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher asked the four-person panel whether they believed that the royal family of Saudi Arabia did not know and was unaware that there was a terrorist plot being implemented that would result in an historic terrorist attack in the United States, in the lead up to 9/11?

Roemer and Simon Henderson, the director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, did not raise their hands.

Congressman, that is just too difficult a question for someone to raise their hand or put their hand down, Roemer explained, before suggesting that Rohrabacher read the 28-pages of the 9/11 report that were deemed classified, regarding international support for the attack.
"Elevating Cyber Command will ensure that our military is always one step ahead of our adversaries in light of the increased global threats today," US Senator Steve Daines stated.

Last month, CYBERCOM Commander Adm. Michael Rogers told the US Senate that elevating the designation would "generate better mission outcomes" against increasing cyberthreats.
Police officials quickly confirmed to alarmed residents that it was a scheduled military training exercise. Still, many residents took to social media to report their anger and confusion.

Anyone know what's going on in the sky above Beech Grove right now? Did we go to war and no one mention it? one resident tweeted.

 Mary @ Trusty Chucks (@themarygraham) May 24, 2016

Were about a block away on 14th & no one told our street. Whole neighborhood was out bc we thought the world was ending, another noted.
Other navies, such as Russia and China, build quieter and faster submarines, asserted Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who suggested that the US is merely investing to keep up, as undersea superiority is not a birthright.

Im very confident in our undersea superiority, Carter said, speaking to sailors at the New London submarine base in the state of Connecticut on May 24. Im also confident well retain it, but its not a birthright. We have to work at it. We have to spend money on it, which were doing and will do. We have to be innovative in technology, and we have to have really good people.

While the US Navy routinely claims that they are not the anti-submarine warfare technology leader, the country has nonetheless outspent the next six global navies, combined.
Flight records show that 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis, two Canadians, as well as citizens from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, were aboard EgyptAir MS804.

A French naval craft is provide hydrophones, specialized microphones to seek the pings emitted by the flight recorders. According to a spokesperson in Paris, it will be "several more days" after the equipment arrives to the site before the flight recorders are located and retrieved.

No extremist group has taken responsibility for the crash and, until the flight recorders are studied, the cause of the tragedy remains unknown.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The vaccination against Ebola created by Russias Vektor scientific center has passed the first phase of clinical tests on 60 volunteers and has shown its effectiveness, the head of Russias consumer watchdog said Wednesday.

We literally turned over all the documents the day before yesterday to the Russian Health Ministry to register the first stage of clinical researchThey passed successfully. The vaccine proved to be highly effective with a 100-percent [effectiveness] after two inoculations, Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova said.

In March, Russia claimed it obtained the legal basis to test a recently-developed Ebola virus vaccine. According to reports, 2,000 Guinea citizens are to be vaccinated during the test.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A source at Russias space agency Roscosmos on Wednesday confirmed that the company would not send a delegation to the United Kingdom's Farnborough International Airshow.

"We do not, in fact, plan on taking part in the Farnborough aerospace exhibitionthere will be no additional comments," the Roscosmos source told RIA Novosti.

Earlier in the day, Russian media outlets quoted a letter sent by Roscosmos deputy head Sergey Saveliev to the state corporation's enterprises stating that agency head Igor Komarov had taken the decision on the lack of practicability of trying to take part in the exhibition.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The United States will probably not seek Russias help concerning technologies to build icebreakers because of political considerations, Deputy Head of the Economic Section of the Russian Embassy to the United States Grigory Zasypkin told Sputnik.

"America needs icebreakers. They have already allocated money for the construction of an icebreaker," Zasypkin said. "I doubt very much that they will turn to us for help in terms of technology. This is a political issue."

Zasypkin noted that there are countries with very good expertise in constructing icebreakers, but Russias expertise is unique and no country or entity can compete with it.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  US-Russian collaboration in the Arctic is concentrated on the environment, science as well as on issues facing the indigenous peoples there, Deputy Head of the Economic Section of the Russian Embassy to the United States Grigory Zasypkin told Sputnik.

"The Arctic is really now a depoliticized area, an island of peace and of constructive dialogue," Zasypkin said. "The United States is chairing the Arctic Council, and forms the agenda for cooperation, so the focus is primarily on environment, science and indigenous peoples issues. These are now the main points of contact, as well as the topics discussed in the framework of the Arctic cooperation."

Zasypkin noted that on the economic front, there is some cooperation though it is not big, such as concerning the development of transportation infrastructure.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Resuming flights between Russia and Egypt requires more bilateral contacts and efforts to improve airport and aircraft security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Sputnik.

"We are working on it, there are constant intensive contacts between the Russian and the Egyptian sides, there is mutual understanding, we exchange visits regarding air travel issues, airport security, the safety of passengers and aircraft. This requires more contacts and efforts," Bogdanov said.

According to Bogdanov, the Russian side wants the air travel to resume "as soon as possible."
Those joining terror groups are mainly from Russia's North Caucasus region, Ilyin noted, adding that four quarters of these are uneducated, under 30 years of age and poor.

Recruit travel routes pass mainly through Turkey and Egypt, as well as Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, according to the NAC deputy head.

Russia, like other countries around the world, has been exposed to the risk of becoming a potential recruiting ground for radical Islamist networks. The Russian Interior Ministry said last December that up to 2,000 Russian nationals were estimated to be involved in the activities of the Islamic State terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, which is operating primarily in Iraq and Syria.

In early 2016, the leader of the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, said that over 800 people from Dagestan had gone to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside terrorists.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia would like the next round of the intra-Syrian talks to be held on May 30, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Sputnik.

On Tuesday, a Syrian opposition source told Sputnik that the next round of the Syrian proximity talks would take place on May 30 in the Swiss city of Montreux.

"We would like [the talks to be held on May 30], because we support the idea of accelerating the political process in order to save time," Bogdanov said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) , currently negotiated by the EU and US authorities, will impact the economic cooperation between Russia and the EU member states, Deputy Head of the Economic Section of the Russian Embassy to the United States Grigory Zasypkin told Sputnik.

"If the TTIP deal is reached, it will really be a new era in the way to conduct foreign trade. It will indeed affect everybody," Zasypkin said.

The senior diplomat noted that the European Union is one of Russias key partners.


KIEV (Sputnik)Aleksandrov and Yerofeev were each given 14-year jail terms by a Ukrainian court after being convicted of fighting on the side of the self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic in the countrys east. Aleksandrovs defense attorney Valentin Rybin told RIA Novosti early on Wednesday that his defendant had filed a mercy petition with the office of the Ukrainian president.

"You watch the decision. This is the decision of the question of what is going on now, this is what was agreed upon," Valentin Rybin told RIA Novosti.

When asked to specify if this meant that Savchenko was being swapped for the two Russians, Rybin said, "Yes, thats how it is."


ASTANA (Sputnik)The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in June may start informal talks on forming a free trade zone with Iran, Eurasian Economic Commission Trade Minister Veronika Nikishina said Wednesday.

"[The decision was taken] to start informal talks on a possible signing of a temporary free trade zone agreement, which will precede a comprehensive and all-inclusive agreement, but will benefit us in terms of reducing dutiesthese are informal consultations, in June, we will possibly start such consultations," Nikishina told reporters on the sidelines of the Astana Economic Forum.

In March, Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Likhachev said that a dedicated Joint Study Group is expected to decide on the format of the Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EEU and Iran during the first half of 2016, adding that the format would not be in a pure form.


MADRID (Sputnik)Earlier in the day, EU Judicial Agency Eurojust confirmed two arrests were carried out in Rome past weekend on a case related to Portuguese and Russian citizens, suspected of transferring confidential information to a foreign intelligence service for money.

"The embassy can not give official comments at the moment, as the official Portuguese authorities have not notified us on anything, although they should in such a case," Evgeniy Skobkarev told RIA Novosti.

The press attache added that there had also been no official confirmation by the Portuguese authorities that one of the arrested was a Russian citizen, such information was only reported by media.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with Cubas visiting vice-president Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday, among other important appointments, his spokesman said.

"The Russian president is expected to attend a series of quite important meetings after the sitting of the Economic Council Presidium. The president will meet with the first vice-president of the Cuban Council of State, Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is here," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Apart from seeing the high-ranking Cuban official, Putin will also continue negotiations with French business executives and members of the Franco-Russian Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Council.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Governments worldwide increasingly use the charges for carbon emissions as a source of revenue, the World Bank Groups said in its latest report on carbon pricing published Wednesday.

According to the advance brief from the report, released Wednesday, in 2015, $26 billion were raised from governmental charges for carbon emissions, which is 60 percent more than in 2014.

"As more countries move to put a price on carbon pollution, well see the benefits to peoples health, the environment and more investments towards a low carbon future," Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank Group John Roome said, as quoted on the organizations website.


WASHINGTON (Sputnik)US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that his upcoming visit to Japans Hiroshima stresses commitment to a nuclear-free world.

Our visit to Hiroshima will honor all those who we lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of the world without nuclear weapons, Obama stated in a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Energy intensive industries can cut CO2 emissions by 80 percent and enhance their competitiveness at the same time, however, to do so a reform to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is needed, it was claimed in the new Carbon Market Watch report published on Wednesday.

"Under the EU ETS, energy-intensive industries are allowed to pollute for free and are even able to profit from their pollution to the tune of billions. The EU ETS currently does not send the right signals for the climate friendly transition needed in our economy, nor does it reward the frontrunners that have invested in low-carbon technologies," EU Policy Director at Carbon Market Watch Femke de Jong said.

According to Carbon Market Watch press statement, the introduction of smart public policies that involve reforms to the EU ETS, is currently being negotiated. These new policies will set a higher carbon price and move from subsidizing industry pollution to investment in low-carbon innovations.
Earlier on Wednesday, Afghanistans Taliban insurgency confirmed Mansour's death through its spokesman and named Akhundzada as the group's new leader.

Stump said the United States supports an Afghan-led and owned process for a negotiated resolution of the conflict in the country.

"All groups, including the Taliban, should be part of such a dialogue so that Afghans can talk to other Afghans about the future of their country," he added.

Afghanistan is experiencing significant political, social and security-related instability, as radical extremist organizations, including the Taliban, continue to stage attacks against civilian and state targets.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Berlin should have refrained from supporting the agreement on migration concluded between Ankara and Brussels, as it turned out to be a failure, a chairman of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) told Sputnik.

"The migration deal between the EU and Turkey failed. Germany should have never supported it. It was a big mistake," Georg Pazderski said.

Pazderski added that the submissive strategy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding relations with Turkey, particularly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the migration issue "obviously failed."


ROSTOCK (Germany) (Sputnik)On Tuesday, Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukaev said Moscow was open to resume the dialogue on EEU-EU single economic space.

"[We will negotiate ] in any format convenient for our European partners [We] will act as it would be convenient for Europeans, as soon as they are ready," Alexey Likhachev told reporters.

The Russia-led EEU, in existence since January 2015, provides for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor among its five member states: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Terry Strada, National Chair of 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism, and widow of Tom Strada, who died in the north tower of the World Trade Center during the 2001 attacks, believes the classified pages will confirm what she and others suspect regarding Saudi Arabias involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

"Nearly every significant element that led to the attacks of September 11 points to Saudi Arabia," Strada said, adding that "Money is the lifeblood of terrorism. Without money, 9/11 wouldnt have happened."

Former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who has been calling for the papers to be released for almost ten years, believes there is a "smoking gun" to be found within their pages. "I think the linkages are so multiple and strong and reinforcing that its hard to come away from reading all this material and not feel that there was a support network, and that support network came from Saudi Arabia," said Graham, who believes the classified documents are just the tip of the iceberg.

"They will also open the path to other materials. There are thousands of pages of documents, which speak to the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the 19 hijackers."

He asked, "Could those 19 people have carried out a plot as complex as 9/11 while maintaining anonymity in some cases for more than a year and a half while they were in the United States without having some support?"
The publicity department for the Grand Circuit has sent out its weekly story that recaps and previews Grand Circuit races.

This Week: Molson Pace, The Raceway at Western Fair District, London, Ontario; Art Rooney and Lismore, Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, NY; and Maxie Lee Memorial, Dorothy Mullin Invitational and Betsy Ross, Harrahs Philadelphia, Chester, Pa.

Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit will take place at three locations this weekend. Action begins on Friday (May 27) at The Raceway at Western Fair District with the $150,000 Molson Pace for free for all pacers. Three-time defending champion State Treasurer drew the coveted rail in his quest for a historic fourth consecutive title.

Yonkers Raceway will host the $300,000 final of the Art Rooney Pace (three-year-old colts/geldings) and the $100,000 Lismore Pace (three-year-old fillies) on Saturday (May 28). Elimination winner Missile J leads the field in the Art Rooney Pace.

Harrahs Philadelphia will host three Invitational events on Sunday (May 29), each with a purse of $200,000, in the Maxie Lee Memorial for older trotters, the Dorothy Mullin Invitational for older pacing males and the Betsy Ross for older filly and mare pacers.

Last time: Last weekends Grand Circuit action was highlighted by the Battle of Lake Erie for older pacers. Despite the presence of Foiled Again, the wealthiest horse in harness racing history and millionaires Luck Be Withyou and All Bets Off, the Battle of Lake Erie was billed as a rubber match between the defending U.S. Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit, conditioned by Clyde Francis, and the three-year-old Breeders Crown winner Freaky Feet Pete, who is trained by Larry Rheinheimer. After all, this was the fourth encounter between the two superstar four-year-olds and Freaky Feet Pete held the advantage over the 2015 champion at 2-1.

Sent off at odds of 1-2, Wiggle It Jiggleit and driver Montrell Teague easily snatched the lead from Post 1 immediately after they paced away from the gate. The other seven members of the field surprisingly enough seemed content to allow Wiggle It Jiggleit to roll unopposed on the front through a half in :55.4. That is when reinsman Trace Tetrick decided it was time to put some pressure on Wiggle It Jiggleit and pulled Freaky Feet Pete, who was the publics second selection at 6-5, from fourth position to challenge his rival.

Although the Indiana champion appeared to be moving at full throttle after three-quarters in 1:23, he could not pass Wiggle It Jiggleit or even draw close enough alongside to look him in the eye in the stretch. As the horses strode towards the finish line, Wiggle It Jiggleit only placed more distance between himself and his opponents, as Freaky Feet Petes early efforts were clearly responsible for him retreating several hundred yards before the wire.

This allowed All Bets Off, at odds of 30-1, to come on and collect second place. Freaky Feet Pete was third and Luck Be Withyou rounded out the superfecta. The winning margin was four and a quarter lengths and the mile was paced in 1:49.4.

Owned by George Teague Jr. Inc. and Teague Racing Partnership, Wiggle It Jiggleit is trained by Clyde Francis.

In other Grand Circuit action from over the weekend, Iron Mine Bucky survived a miserable first quarter in the slop and went on to capture the faster division of Saturdays $116,304 Currier & Ives at the Meadows. Cufflink Hanover took the other division in the stakes event for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters.

Iron Mine Bucky hadnt raced since winning an Oct. 2 Keystone Classic split at the Meadows, and he got just the sort of journey  stuck outside  winning driver George Dennis didnt want. But the Hambletonian-eligible son of Explosive Matter-My Foolish Dream persevered on the outside and overpowered the leader, 2-5 favourite Hititoutofthepark. Iron Mine Bucky prevailed in 1:55.2, one and a half lengths better than Steed, while Hititoutofthepark saved show. Greg Haverstick trains Iron Mine Bucky, who extended his career bankroll to $132,023, for Iron Mine Branch LLC.

Cufflink Hanover has won three of four starts since adding hopples, and he again looked useful and professional. He worked out a pocket trip behind Truemass Volo, then blew by him in the lane to triumph in 1:55.4. Hollywood Highway found late room for second, two lengths back, with Truemass Volo third. Driver David Miller owns the Andover Hall-CR Savoire Faire gelding with the Enzed Racing Stable of the colts trainer, Nifty Norman.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2016, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farm is the sponsor for the 2016 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders following the past weekend:

Drivers: 1. Jordan Stratton  161.5; 2. Daniel Dube  120; 3. Matt Kakaley  100; 4. George Brennan  98; 5. Jason Bartlett  90.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke  158; 2. Jeff Bamond Jr.  138; 3. Peter Tritton  134.5; 4. Rene Allard  120; 5. Clyde Francis - 62.5.

Owners: 1. Harry von Knoblauch - 134.5; 2. Bamond Racing  85; 3t. Burke Racing Stable  45.55; 3t. Weaver Bruscemi  45.55; 5. Courant A B - 40.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place at Mohawk next weekend and will feature the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes for three-year-old colt pacers and the second leg of the Graduate for four-year-old open pacers and trotters.

(Grand Circuit)
Heres a sampling of what people had to say at Tuesdays hearing about the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals west of Longview.

How many use plastic bags or plastic of any sort in their daily lives? The reality is this: give up 30 percent use of your automobile, and then I will sincerely believe you are committed to this instead of just ... I dont want to see coal.   Jim Hill, city councilman for the City of Kelso, regarding those against the coal dock. He was not representing the City of Kelso.

We care about the area. We care about the fish. Theres more jobs created in the last two years in just solar than coal. Coal is a dying industry. We needed it for a long time. We do not need it now.  David Medford of Tigard, Ore.

Coal dust is not a significant impact and is expected instead to meet all applicable standards ... Opponents ask the questions and now they have been answered in an objective way. If the complaints continue about coal dust we will all know its just a device hoping to scare people.  Bill Chapman, CEO of Millennium Bulk Terminals

I dont have statistics. I dont have big words, but I have my heart, and I have my Indian ways. Nothing is worth our lives. Nothing is worth our future. Raymond Estrada, of the Yakima Nation, testifying against the terminal with young daughter dressed in indigenous clothing

My concerns here today are the risks to the fish and the natural environment of the Columbia River. Not only does (the river) support business and recreation, but there is some heritage there as well.  Tim Lenihan, 48, of Forest Grove, Ore.

I do have some frustrations over what has happened over the last few years. As a senator that should be concerned about industry and jobs (coming) into the state, it just bothers me that this thing has been going on at 3 years at this point. We should have a permitting process that is much speedier than this.  State Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, criticizing the lengthy permitting process, which actually has been going on more than four years.

Im against the coal because I have grandchildren that have asthma and I believe he that is more important than anything else  Dawn Little, 48, Longview

Im here telling you Millennium cuts no corners. Im glad weve hit this milestone with the release of the draft EIS. We need to show were a state thats open for business.  Richie Allison, 42, Castle Rock

This project would have the greatest impact on the poor and ethnic minorities. Many people in the Highlands are stuck  I lay awake last night in my bed sleepless, listening to sounds of the industry all around me.  Nicole Digerlando, 46, of Longview

Thanks to Millennium Bulk Terminals, I have a stable job that allows me to spend time with my kids. ... I firmly believe you can have both family wage jobs and be good stewards of the environment.  Lisa Nathan, Longview, 49, of Longview

I dont mind the trains. Its the coal dust Im mostly concerned about. My concern is not just local.  Patricia Culver of Skamania County

My health and my property have suffered because of these coal trains.  Toni Montgomery, 69, of Vancouver

In Montana, we consider the word neighbor a verb. Its an active word. ... The bottom line is were your neighbors and youre our neighbors, he said to a cheering crowd at the anti-coal rally following the hearing. What happens where we live (in Montana) affects you and vice versa. Coal companies ... are not good neighbors.  Brad Sauer, 56, of Eastern MontanaI think there isnt a politician out there that hasnt fought for family wage jobs and it sounds to me like these are family wage jobs ... There are impacts in the area, and were see if the proponents can mitigate those or avoid those.  state Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen

We already have some pretty big obstacles in attracting new doctors, new pharmacists... to come to our community and stay here. ...The dramatic increases of just the coal train traffic would reduce the prices of home between 5 and 20 percent.  Kathy Thompson, Longview realtor citing a study on the effects of coal traffics on the housing market

I look at our members that havent been working and are unemployed. I look at a community that is devastated by drugs, crime, and I wonder why its so costly to do business in our state.  Bruce Barnes of Vancouver, union electrician
Bearing signs, planting flags and dressed in red or blue, about 1,000 people descended on the Cowlitz County Expo Center Tuesday to testify at the first public hearing on the draft environmental study of Longviews proposed coal export dock.

Testimony began at 1 p.m. and was to conclude at 9 p.m., following a one-hour dinner break.

Despite the impassioned opinions about the project here and across the region, no disturbances were reported. A visible police presence was notable across the Expo Center grounds. The hearing was packed, but the audience was polite, waving signs in shows of support and refraining from catcalls and other rudeness.

Many opponents of the Millennium Bulk Terminals proposal wore red, while those supporting the facility wore blue. At the start of the afternoon hearing, the red shirts only slightly outnumbered the blue, but reds eventually overwhelmed the room as the event wore on. The opponent/supporter ratio was less lopsided in the evening session.

Red signs blasting the project studded the lawn outside the expo center. Some read Fossil Free with a bright red X. Others said Keep it in the ground. Nearby, a line of blue flags read Washington Jobs, and pro Millennium signs were placed in between anti-coal posts.

Officials expected about 2,000 people to attend the hearing. There was no official count, but attendance seemed to fall far short of the forecast.

Eastern Montana ranch owner Brad Sauer, 56, was one of those to arrive early. Dressed in a red, button-down shirt and wide-brimmed hat, Sauer said the proposed export dock will encourage mining and degrade water quality in his region near Billings.

My big message is itll negatively affect our ground water, he told a reporter, emphasizing that bad water quality could lead to poor health and create problems at his ranch. Additional mining in our area is not good.

Sauer said he felt the DEIS was well done but failed to adequately assess the impacts to states outside Washington.

I really hope (Washington) agencies here consider impacts to me, he said. (The DEIS) stops at the Washington line, and Im not aware of any overarching document with all the states involved in this  nobody seems to have the whole picture.

The slogan Building it Right was printed on periwinkle blue t-shirts and dark blue signs surrounding Millenniums center at the Floral Building.

In a lawn nearby, 260 green Washington flags were staked into the ground, each representing 10 indirect and direct jobs the coal dock would create. A sign depicting a happy family with the words, Washington Jobs and Washington Families, marked the entrance of the rally spot. Inside, tables were set up facing a stage where a rally was to be held at 4 p.m.

The $680 million terminal would ship 44 million tons of Rocky Mountain coal to Asia annually from the old Reynolds Metals Co. plant west of Longview.

The project has taken on aspects of an environmental holy war, with opponents predicting the project will blanket Longview and communities along the rail lines with black dust, cause congestion at rail crossings and worsen global climate change when the coal is burned in Asia.

Supporters, pointing to the 3,000-page environmental study, say coal dust wont be a problem and that the region needs the terminals 135 direct jobs, $16 million annual payroll, millions of dollars in tax revenue and other economic benefits, including thousands of construction jobs.

Despite the obvious effort in both camps to get out as many supporters as possible, the EIS review process is not a popularity contest. From a strictly legal point of view, EIS hearings are meant to highlight flaws, omissions and strengths of the environmental study.

Clearly, though, both sides hoped to impress decision makers with strong shows of force. The meeting was run by Cowlitz County, the state Department of Ecology and ICF International, a consulting firm that helped write the environmental study.

Selected through a lottery system, most attendees would not get the opportunity to speak despite the seven-hours set aside for testimony. Each speaker had two minutes to deliver comments. Bill Chapman, Millennium CEO, and elected officials werent part of the lottery and were given their own times to speak.

Whats more heartbreaking (than) to see a family sitting at home watching T.V. because theres no work? Mentally, that hurts for a population, said Ken Botero, Longview City Council member. When it comes to jobs or coal and oil, the voice of the voters ... people would rather have jobs than environment.

The red shirts in the audience immediately reacted with audible gasps and protest, but any further noise was quickly squashed by the moderator.

Andy Harris of Multnomah County said the economic benefits are not worth the health risks he said the coal dock could pose.

What is the economic impact of emergency room visits ... and who will pay for these costs?

Instead of clapping or hollering, the sound of flapping signs could be heard from the audience showing their support for speakers. Blue signs went up when Millennium worker Dave Gillihan, 61, of Longview said the area needs the family wage jobs Millennium would create.

Your pot shops and hamburger joints do not provide great benefits, Gillihan said.

Mike Iyall, Cowlitz Tribe council member, spoke against the terminal and said the environmental study does not adequately address protection of the (salmon) restoration work that were doing on the river.

Another coal dock opponent, Calvin Quek, who is the finance director for Greenpeace East Asia, testified by Skype. He echoed opponents assertions that the international market for coal is weakening, even in Asia, despite official government estimates that coal use will remain high for decades to come.

I think over the long term, coal port terminals in the U.S. are not investments that are economically viable, and certainly in China, at least, youre going to see more and more efforts to diversify away from coal.

And Jakob Swan, 31, representing a Vancouver brewery, said he doubted that topping agents sprayed on rail cars adequately prevent coal dust from blowing off.

Rowan Digerlando of Longview, a 17-year-old student at Discovery High School, said in her daily walks to school she often thinks of children who will be exposed to coal dust and locomotive diesel fumes from the eight, 100-car trains that would haul coal into Longview daily.

A lot of these kids have asthma. What do yo think the coal dust and diesel fuel particles could do to their lungs? ... Children will die if we brought in coal trains. I dont want this to happen, Digerlando said.

State Sen. Ann Rivers, who represents north Clark County, chastised opponents over the coal dust issue, saying the EIS does not support their fears.

Theres been much fear mongering about the residual coal dust ... so I was pleased to see the science does not support that, she said.

During a hour-long dinner break at 4 p.m., both sides split into separate rallies. Millennium supporters crowded in a building on expo grounds to eat a buffet lunch and listen to speeches.

(Millennium) embraces this community like no other company has in a long time, said Jason Lundquist, president of International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union Local 21. Lundquist led the crowd in chanting solidarity to signify that they were working together for a common goal.

Outside the expo center, red shirts surrounded a stage of speakers. Some opponents held up signs reading Coal export=climate catastrophe and We (heart symbol) the Columbia.

The promise is jobs. Yet Millennium is only offering a total of 135 jobs by the year 2028, said Dana Minium, 57, of Kalama. And they want to do this on 416 acres of prime, deep port, waterfront property. What right-minded business person would accept such a sour deal?
Longview police haven't tracked down the caller who made the lunchtime bomb threat Wednesday to Kessler Elementary School.

Kessler's bomb threat appears to be connected to a wave this week of computerized bomb threats nationwide and in the United Kingdom, though police have not officially connected the two, Community service officer Cindy Lopez Werth said Wednesday.

Werth said the school's unique phone system may make it difficult to track calls.

Police said the call was left at the school around 12:04 p.m. and was received by a secretary in the front office. The secretary described the caller to police as a computerized, robotic voice. The caller indicated there was a bomb inside the school, police said.

No bomb was ever found. Police still are investigating.
tech2 News Staff

Seems like Tim Cook's tour of India did not turn out to as fruitful as many perceived it to be. Mint reports that the Apple CEO failed to be impress the finance ministry, hinting that its glass-laden Apple Stores may have to wait, once again.

After the government relaxed the mandatory sourcing norms in November, Apple had applied for exemption on grounds that it was introducing state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology to the country. However, on insistence of the finance ministry, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) was asked to review the same. The DIPP found that there was "nothing to show that Apple's technology is cutting edge" revealing that Apple may have once again hit a roadblock when it comes to opening its Apple Stores in India.

The DIPP reportedly hinted that since the technology is not what was conveyed by Apple, it would create controversy since there were other companies that have lined up for exemption as well. This would include Chinese companies such as LeEco and Xiaomi that seek waiver of the 30 percent local sourcing norm.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently arrived in India on an action-packed 4-day tour that saw him meeting plenty of individuals from Prime Minister Modi to India's top brass in the banking and telecom segments and even attending a Bollywood party hosted by actor Shahrukh Khan.

The CEO even announced the opening of Apple's new development centre in Hyderabad. The company is determined to focus on tapping the abundance in skills and potential available in the country. This investment is expected to accelerate the company's Maps development and create up to 4,000 jobs.
tech2 News Staff

Late last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had announced his objective of bring Google's Project Loon to India at the Google for India event. The idea was to bring high speed connectivity to rural areas. The balloons were compared to floating cellular towers, with increased range.

Project Loon in India hit a roadblock when Google wanted to use 700 MHz - 800MHz spectrum in India. This is a particularly expensive band in the spectrum, and used by telecom operators for telecommunication purposes. There was a fear that Google's Project Loon's balloons would interfere with the telecom services.

Another fear was that the balloons might interfere with civil aviation activity. The government suggested that Google tie up with a local telecom service provider for obtaining the spectrum, and invited Google for collaborating with the government owned BSNL. The government had asked Google to submit a fresh proposal to do this.

Google seems to have done exactly that. According to a report in the ET, BSNL is providing technical support for Google in realising the pilot. The balloons will be tested over either Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh for a period of four days. When the Loons were tested in Sri Lanka, they were actually launched from South America. The balloons float high in the stratosphere, on the edge of space, well above the flying height of commercial airlines. They are barely visible to the naked eye.
hidden

Indian students have won six awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the US where New Delhi's Shreyas Kapur was declared the grand winner of the "Google Thinking Big Award." Organised by Intel Corporation and the Society for Science and the Public in Arizona this month, the Indian team comprising 16 students won a total of $9,500 in three grand awards and three special awards in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, biomedical engineering and mathematics, Intel declared in a statement on Tuesday.

Kapur from Modern School at Barakhamba Road won the award for the "project that addresses a large and seemingly-impossible problem, by finding an elegant solution with broad impact". His project titled "Cellphone-based Optometry using Hybrid Images" also won him third position in both the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Biomedical Engineering award.

Arvind Krishna Ranganathan from Ecole Mondiale World School in Mumbai won the second place for his project titled "Deterministic Approach to the Position, Trajectory, and Collision Prediction of Particles within Bounded Two-Dimensional Environments". Suhani Sachin Jain and Divya Kranthi of Centre Point School in Nagpur won the third award in plant sciences for developing an "Innovative Strategy using Endophytes for Effective Biocontrol of Insect Pests in Cotton".

Vasudev Malyan of Maharaja Agarsain Public School in Delhi won fourth spot in translational medical science for the development of a "Novel Paper Sensor as a Diagnostic Test for Multiple Sclerosis". The 16 Indian students were selected to attend ISEF as finalists of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) 2016 that featured more than 1,700 young scientists selected from 419 affiliate fairs in 77 countries.

The Intel Foundation also awarded $1,000 grant to each winners school and to the affiliated fair they represented.

IANS
tech2 News Staff

Samsung could always be called the pioneer when it comes to adding new features to Android devices. They included a fingerprint reader at a time when Google did not natively support it and now it is looking to include an Iris scanner as an added security feature for its upcoming Galaxy Note 6.

First reported by Forbes, Samsung has apparently registered a new trademark according to a Dutch website called Galaxy Club. The trademarks according to the website include a 'Samsung Iris' and 'Samsung Eyeprint' that do sound like Iris scanning technologies similar to the ones used by Microsoft on its flagship Lumia devices. Both trademarks were submitted to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

Indeed, this could be used as a second layer of security as fingerprint readers are now natively supported by Android devices. With the growing adoption of fingerprint scanners, Samsung could be looking at offering something new in the form of an Iris scanner that so far has been offered by a very limited number of manufacturers like Fujitsu and TCL.

While Microsoft's Lumia 950 smartphones are not exactly a shining example of iris scanning technology, there is a chance that Samsung could use its Eyeprint tech for apps that are connected to its enterprise offerings. For now it cannot be confirmed whether Samsung will include the new technology in its upcoming Galaxy Note 6 smartphone or whether it plans to include the same in its the next S series smartphone. But with productivity and security being the Note Series' key offering we think the Note 6 stands a better chance.
hidden

Toyota Motor Corp and Uber said on Tuesday they would partner to explore ride-sharing, including an investment by the Japanese automaker in the on-demand ride company, the latest in a wave of high-profile partnerships between carmakers and ride-sharing services. Toyota and Uber will create new leasing options in which car purchasers can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers, the companies said in a joint statement.

Traditional automakers are racing to find ride-sharing partners as a response to the rush of technology companies such as Apple, Alphabet's Google and private companies such as Uber that are reshaping the global auto industry. Earlier on Tuesday, German automaker Volkswagen announced a $300 million investment in Gett, a smaller ride-sharing company.

The Toyota-Uber partnership comes more than four months after General Motors' $500 million investment in Lyft, Uber's main U.S. rival, to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars. More recently, Apple said it would invest $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, seen as a political move by the technology giant to cement its presence in the crucial Chinese market.

At the same time, Ford Motor Co is looking at partnerships to expand beyond manufacturing and selling cars, with Chairman Bill Ford saying on Monday that "you'll hear more from us" as the year progresses.

Toyota is making the strategic investment through its unit Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership.
tech2 News Staff

AHA Taxis (a division of WAAH Taxis Private Limited) and an online aggregator for outstation travel has added two senior professionals, Shailly Tyagi, earlier co-founder at markNmove and Ghanendra Singh, earlier co-founder at LogiXir to its team. Both professionals come from the startup ecosystem, having previously run their own ventures and will be in senior strategic roles at AHA Taxis.

Shailly Tyagi joins AHA Taxis as Head of Customer Experience where she will be overseeing the operations of this function. She was earlier co-founder at markNmove, an inter-city logistics marketplace. Shailly has also worked with InnovationM, a specialised consultancy in the mobility space and at HCL Infosystems Ltd where she started her career. markNmove, the company she co-founded was started with an intent to aggregate the unorganised market of Indian logistics. The company focused on optimising return trips through its proprietary technology platform, thus offering a competitive price point for shipments.

Ghanendra Singh has joined AHA Taxis as Head of Driver-Partner Engagement. Previously he co-founded Bangalore based LogiXir, an intra-city logistics company. Ghanendra has also worked with Force Motors and VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. LogiXir, the company he co-founded was started with a vision to make intra-city logistics more efficient, more affordable and available on-demand. Ghanendra is an MBA from IIM Indore.

Amit Grover, co-founder and CEO at AHA Taxis, said, We are delighted to welcome two seasoned start-up professionals to our team. Both Shailly Tyagi and Ghanendra Singh have had an intense first innings with start-ups and I am confident that they will add immense value at AHA Taxis in managing customers and partner relationships respectively and helping AHA Taxis to the next level.

Noida based AHA Taxis was founded in January 2015 and the company claims it has a presence in more than 300 cities.
Full verdict on Khaleda plea against Barapukuria coalmine case published

The full text of the High Court verdict rejecting a petition filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking quashing of trial proceedings in Barapukuria coalmine corruption case was published on Wednesday. An HC bench comprising Justice Md Nuruzzaman Noni and Justice Md Abdur Rob signed the copy of the verdict. Fixing June 12 for charge framing in the case, the bench said with rejection of the appeal, the trial will now continue at the Court of Dhaka-3 Special Judge Aminul Islam. Earlier on October last year, the HC cleared the way for the lower court to resume the trial proceedings against Khaleda Zia in the Barapukuria graft case. On September 17, 2015, the HC in an order rejected the petition. On August 30, the same bench concluded the final hearing on the petition after closing arguments in the trial of the case. On February 26, 2008, the ACC filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station, accusing Khaleda and 10 of her former cabinet colleagues of taking Tk159 crore in kickbacks on the Barapukuria coalmine deal awarded to the highest bidder, instead of the lowest one. Responding to a petition filed by Khaleda, the HC on October 16, 2008, stayed the case proceedings and issued a rule asking the ACC to explain why the case should not be quashed. The Appellate Division later upheld the stay order as well, leaving the corruption case in the cold. Khaleda, however, managed to secure a permanent bail in the case on January 15, 2012. Following a petition of the Anti Corruption Commission, the HC revived the case on March 2. On August 23, the HC turned down two petitions filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking all records of and the final report on Barapukuria coalmine graft case from the authorities concerned. HC verdict on Khaleda plea for quashing Barapukuria case Sep 17. -- Dhaka, May 25 (UNB)
Arrest warrants issued against 27 BNP leaders

Dhaka, May 25 (UNB) - A court here on Wednesday issued warrants for the arrest of 27 BNP leaders in an arson case filed with Jatrabari Police Station. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Qamrul Hossain issued the arrest warrants against the 27 BNP leaders, including its senior leaders Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, Maruf Kamal Khan and Mir Sharafat Ali Sapu, taking cognisance of the charges pressed against them by police. The court also directed the investigation officer of the case to submit a report by July 18 on execution of the arrest warrants. Police submitted the chargesheet against 38 BNP men, including Khaleda Zia, in the case on May 18, 2015. Khaleda Zia and six other accused are now on bail while four others in jail. Earlier on January 23 last year, at least 29 people suffered burn injuries as miscreants hurled two petrol bombs at a Glory Paribahan bus at Katherpul of Jatrabari around 9:30pm on its way to Rupganj from Gulistan. One of the injured, Nur Alam, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on February 1, 2015. Sub-inspector of Jatrabari police station KM Nuruzzaman filed two cases -- one for killing and the other for hurling petrol bombs -- under the Special Powers Act on January 24 showing Khaleda as the mastermind behind the incident.
WHO, Bangladesh work for sustainable dev in health sector



Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleq said the government is working together with the World Health Organization (WHO) aiming at achieving the target of sustainable development in the health sector.

"The present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been able to reach basic health services to the doorsteps of commoners," he said this at the 69th WHO plenary session in Geneva, the capital of Switzerland, according to a message received here on Tuesday.

The 69th World Health Assembly (WHA) hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) began on May 23 and will continue till May 28. The 69th WHA is the world's highest health policy-setting body, focussing on specific health agenda. Health ministers from 194 member states around the world are participating in the six-day conference.

As part of the government plan, he said, a number of programmes have been undertaken to reach universal health care services to the poor people across the country.

The state minister raised Bangladesh successes in community clinic, vaccination, Vitamin 'A' campaign programme and falling down of mother and child mortality rate before the plenary session.

Besides, the government is giving priority for providing health services through e-health and mobile phone. He said priority has also been given to ensure transparency, accountability and measures for the health index.

Health Secretary Syed Monzurul Islam, secretary general of Shwadinata Parishad Professor Dr Abdul Aziz and concerned other high officials are taking part in the conference.


Trump leads Hillary in opinion poll

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump (L), Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Dawn. Com, Washington :For the first time in the ongoing presidential campaign, Republican outsider Donald Trump has moved ahead of the leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in popularity, according to an opinion poll.A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Mr Trump leading Mrs Clinton 46 per cent to 44 per cent among registered voters. That's an 11 per cent swing against Mrs Clinton since March.Another poll, by NBC News and Wall Street Journal, shows Mrs Clinton at 46 per cent to Mr Trump's 43 per cent. Previously she led 50 per cent to 39 per cent.In the latest Real Clear Politics average, she is two-tenths of a point behind Mr Trump.Poll results have also affected Mr Trump's media coverage. Previously, the US media depicted him as a megalomaniac and narcissist who endorsed violence and racism and could lead the country to a disaster if elected. But now the media has begun to describe him as a more serious politician with a real possibility to make it to the White House after the Nov 6, 2016 election.The change happened within a month. Until mid-April, Mrs Clinton had a big lead in national polls.Explaining the change, the New York Times noted that "Mr Trump has made gains in unifying his party's base, while Mrs Clinton has not done the same with hers. If anything, her problem with voters of Bernie Sanders has gotten a bit worse".ABC News noted that Mr Trump's "enhanced competitiveness reflects consolidation in his support since his primary opponents dropped out, and it comes despite significant challenges to his candidacy".Mrs Clinton leads among women, non-white voters, college graduates and voters between the ages of 18 and 39 years. Mr Trump leads among men, white voters, voters without a college degree and all voters over 40 years old.In the ABC poll most of the registered voters who plan to vote for Mr Trump say they mainly oppose Mrs Clinton than actually support the New York businessman.By comparison, the registered voters who plan to vote for Mrs Clinton are split over whether or not their vote is a result of their support for the former secretary of state or their opposition to Mr Trump.Mrs Clinton's allies, however, blame it on Mr Sanders. They say that the long primary fight between the two, which looks like it could go all the way to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, has taken a toll on Mrs Clinton's standing in the polls."I don't think he realises the damage he's doing at this point," one Clinton ally told The Hill, a congressional news outlet.Protests outside Trump rally in New Mexico turn violentAP, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICOProtests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent on Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades.Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention Centre, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention centre smashed.During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labelled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.
Afghan Taliban appoint new leader, Kabul urges peace

Haibatullah Akhundzada

Reuters, Kabul :

The Afghan Taliban named one of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour's deputies to succeed him on Wednesday, after confirming Mansour's death in a U.S. drone strike at the weekend.

Haibatullah Akhunzada, a religious scholar who was named in a United Nations report last year as the Taliban's former chief justice, will lead the movement, it said in a statement.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a feared network blamed for many deadly bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, will serve as deputies.

The announcement, following a meeting of the Taliban's main shura, or leadership council, ended days of confusion during which the Taliban declined to confirm the death of Mansour in a drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.

"All the shura members have pledged allegiance to Sheikh Haibatullah in a safe place in Afghanistan," the statement said. "All people are required to obey the new Emir-al-Momineen (commander of the faithful)."

Akhunzada, believed to be around 60 years of age and a member of the powerful Noorzai tribe, was a close aide to Omar and is from Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan and the heartland of the Taliban.

An official Taliban account on Twitter posted a photograph of Akhundzada, informally known as Mullah Haibatullah, with a white turban and a long, graying beard.

The post listed his full title as Amir-ul-Mumineen Shiekh ul Quran Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The hardline Taliban movement banned human images for breaching their strict interpretation of Islam during their five-year rule over Afghanistan, which ended when they were ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign.

Senior members of the insurgent group had been keenly aware of the need to appoint a candidate who could bring disparate factions together and repair the splits that emerged last year when Mansour was appointed.

However, there was no immediate indication of whether the appointment would lead to a shift in the stance of the Taliban, which under Mansour ruled out participating in peace talks with the government in Kabul.

A spokesman for Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah called on the new Taliban leader to join talks, or face dire consequences.

"We invite Mula #Haibatullah to peace. Political settlement is the only option for #Taliban or new leadership will face the fate of #Mansoor," spokesman Javid Faisal said in a tweet.

The United States, Pakistan and China have also been trying to get the militants to the negotiating table to end a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel and left Afghanistan seriously unstable.

News of the appointment came as a suicide attack on a bus carrying staff from an appeal court killed 10 people and wounded four west of the Afghan capital, Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Taliban have made big gains since NATO forces ended their main combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, and now control more of the country than at any time since they were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

Mansour, a former deputy to Omar named as leader after the Taliban announced that Omar had died more than two years earlier, faced widespread suspicions that he had deceived the movement by covering up his predecessor's death.




Swedish court upholds Assange arrest warrant

Reuters, Stockholm :

A Swedish lower court upheld on Wednesday the arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, saying the stay at Ecuador's London embassy did not equal detention.

Assange, 44, is wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over allegations, which he denies, that he committed rape in 2010.

A computer hacker who enraged U.S. authorities by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, he has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid the rape investigation in Sweden.

He says he fears further extradition to the United States, where there has been a criminal investigation into the activities of Wikileaks.

"The district court finds that there is still probable cause for the suspicion against JA (Julian Assange) for rape, less serious incident, and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty," the court said in a statement.

Last year, Sweden's Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Assange to revoke a detention order.

Following a statement by a U.N. panel that his stay in the embassy amounts to arbitrary detention, Assange's lawyers again in February asked the Stockholm District Court to overturn the warrant for his arrest.

"Unlike the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the district court does not consider JA's stay at the Embassy of Ecuador in London a form of detention," the court said.

One of Assange's Swedish lawyers, Thomas Olsson, said the decision will in all likelihood be appealed.

"As far as I understand it, the court has not addressed the main issue in the case, whether the delay in the investigation is due to the inaction of the prosecutor, which we mean is a reason to overturn this (the arrest warrant)," Olsson told Reuters.

In 2010, Wikileaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 U.S. military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.




Construction of Ctg Medical Varsity to begin soon: Nasim

Health and Family Welfare Minister Md Nasim addressing the view exchange meeting with the Divisional Health Directorate officials in Chittagong on Tuesday.

Chittagong Bureau :

Minister for Health and Family Planning Md. Nasim told that the construction work of the proposed Chittagong Medical University will start immediately as soon as the site is selected.

He disclosed it while exchanging views with the officials of the Divisional Health office in city on Tuesday as chief guest. During the views exchanging, Civil surgeons of the Chittagong division presented the shortage of ambulances and manpower in respective districts. He assured the Health officials of the division to provide the required manpower and ambulances in the civil surgeon office and the upazila health complexes in phases.

The minister also said the people of Chittagong demanded a Medical university as such Prime Minister has approved their demand and the university will be located in separate places other than existing Medical college premise. He said as soon as the site is selected, the construction will begin immediately. The minister called upon the leaders of the medical associations and health official to render their services for the welfare of the people with ultimate goal of strenghthening the hands of the Prime Minister Sk. Hasina .

He said during the tenure of the present govt, tremendous development achieved in health sector across the country. In the meeting, among others Director general of Health Dr. Din Md. Nurul Hoque, Health Director Alauddin Majumder , BMA Chittagong unit President Dr. Mujibul Hoque Khan, Principal of CMC dr. Selim Md. Jahangir, Director of CMCH Brig.gen. Jalaluddin, Dr. Badiuzzaman and civil surgeon Dr. Azizur Rahman siddiqui spoke on the occasion.

Health also unveiled the plague of ICU in Coxsbazar Medical college hospital through video conference from Chittagong. The speakers demanded a modern health complex in the present location of the Heath Directorate office like Family planning complex in Agrabad in city.


Nazrul memorial centre in Ctg soon: Noor

Minister for Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor addressing a discussion meeting marking the 117th birth anniversary of the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at Chittagong outer stadium as chief guest on Tuesday.

Chittagong Bureau :

Minister for Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor said under the supervision of Nazrul Institute, a Nazrul Memorial Centre (Smriti Kendra) will be established in the port city as desired by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He disclosed it while addressing the 117th birth anniversary of the National poet Kazi Nazrul Islam held at Chittagong outer stadium premises as chief guest.

In his brief address said Nazrul was a poet of revolutionary spirit, peace and equality and we get bravery forces from his poems as such to sustain his revolutionary and peace , Nazrul smriti Kendra will be established in Chittagong very shortly.

He said Bangabandhu declared Kazri Nazrul Islam as a national poet of Bangladesh as such all his family members visited Bangladesh with invitation of visiting Bangladesh.

He said this is first time that the birth anniversary of the national poet is being celebrated in the port city. Mentionable that President Md. Abdul Hamid was supposed to grace the occasion as chief guest but due to inclement weather, he could not attend the anniversary function.


9 more police stations in Ctg soon

Chittagong Bureau :

Nine more police stations will be established in Chittagong district including metropolitan areas in phases. Activities for establishing these thanas are progressing. Police administration of Bangaldesh has taken this steps for new thana in Chittagong recently. Reliable sources said the proposed new thanas include a full-fledged thana for Ctg University campus, 4 new thanas in the existing police stations jurisdiction of Chittagong dividing old bigger thana areas and 4 thanas under Metropolitan police authority areas. Besides, 8 information centres cum outpost will be setup in the district police jurisdictions.

Sources said earlier it was proposed for 6 thanas in the district but later it was amended for 5 thanas . Police sources said in the meantime government sanctioned additional 1,200 police forces for CMP and 600 for district police . While contacted district police super AKM Hafiz Akhtar said Prime Minister in the meantime has directed to increase the police forces in the country.

He said the manpower in Chittagong district is insufficient and shortage of transports. He said the proposed thanas in Chittagong district area viz. University thana, South Rangunia thana, South Raozan thana, Sangu thana in Satkania and Kalarpol thana in Patiya upazila.

Deputy police commissioner of CMP Faruk Ahmed told this correspondent that following the increase of criminals in metropolitan areas, new 4 thanas proposed named Bhatiary thana, Kuwaish thana, Fathehabad and Sikalbaha thana. Mentionable that the activities of police administration begins with 14 thanas under 14 upazilas of the district after emergence of Bangladesh but now functioning 16 thanas including two new thanas i.e. Bhujpur thana under Fatikchari upazila and Jorargonj thana under Mirsarai upazila . Sources said CMP begins journey with 6 thanas in 1978 and now stands at 16 thanas . After creation of new 4 thanas , CMP will run with 20 thanas, sources said.


Uttara Bank appoints two new DMDs

Economic Reporter :

Sultan Ahmed and Md. Abdul Kuddus have recently been promoted to the rank of Deputy Managing Director of Uttara Bank Limited (UBL). Prior to the appointment, they were Executive General Manager of the Bank.

According to a press release, Sultan started his Banking career in Uttara Bank Limited in 1988 as a Probationary Officer. He served in various positions in the Bank including Zonal Head at Zonal Office and Divisional Head at Head Office.

Sultan obtained his B.A. (Hon's), M.A. degree in English from Rajshahi University. He attended many training programmes and workshops at home and abroad. Before joining in the bank he worked as a lecturer of english at Nandina degree college, Jamalpur.

He comes from a respectable Muslim family of Village Betaga, Upazila Madargonj, District Jamalpur.

Moreover, Abdul Kuddus started his Banking career in Uttara Bank Limited in 1990 as a Probationary Officer. He served in various positions in the Bank. He performed excellent job in Credit Division, ICTD, BOD, RMD and RPD of Head Office, Dhaka for a long time. He also worked as Branch Manager very successfully. He Joined at Head Office in 2009.

Abdul Kuddus obtained his B.Com. (Hon's) degree in Management in 1986 and M.Com. in 1988 from Dhaka University. He attended many training programmes, seminars, symposiums and workshop at home and abroad.

He comes from a respectable Muslim family of Small Berola, Upazila Nangalkut, District Comilla and was born in 1963.
Tributes to Nazrul

Marking the 117th birth anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam family members placing wreaths at his Mazar on Dhaka University campus on Wednesday.

Staff Reporter :The 117th birth anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was observed across the country on Wednesday. Different eminent personalities, politicians, academicians, cultural activists, family members of the poet, poetry lovers and people of various professions paid rich tributes to the national poet on the occasion.The poet's birth anniversary was also celebrated with due respect on the Dhaka University campus where he was laid to rest.The main programme of Nazrul Jayanti was held in Chittagong M.A. Aziz Stadium under the theme "Communalism and Religious Fanaticism: Relevance of Nazrul." President Advocate Abdul Hamid was scheduled to attend the programs as the chief guest, but could not attend the function because of inclement weather.The President sent a message which was read out in the function by Secretary of the Cultural Affairs Ministry Begum Aktari Momtaz.Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor chaired the programme while Chittagong City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin was present as special guest. Nazrul's granddaughter Khilkhil Kazi also addressed the function.The day's programme in Dhaka began with placing of wreath by the cultural affairs ministry at the poet's grave on the DU campus in the morning.Different organizations, including the DU and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, took various programmes like seminar, discussion and cultural events, on the occasion.DU teachers, students, officials and employees led by its Vice-Chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, gathered at Aparajeya Banglaat 9:30am. Later, they marched towards the grave of Nazrul in a procession where the DU VC, on behalf of the university placed wreath.A discussion meeting was held at the RC Majumdar Arts Auditorium on the campus at 11am. A memorial meeting took place on the mazar premises with the vice-chancellor in the chair.Presided over by DU Vice-Chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, the meeting was addressed by Nazrul expert Prof. Dr. Rafiqul Islam, Arts Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. M. Akhtaruzzaman, Social Science Faculty Dean Prof. Farid Uddin Ahmed and Finance Environmental Sciences Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. ASM Maksudul Kamal.Bangla Department Chairperson Prof. Dr. Begum Aktar Kamal conducted the meeting.Terming Nazrul as the poet of humanity and liberty, Professor Arefin Siddque said the songs, poems and essays of Nazrul are still relevant in combating militancy and terrorism at home and abroad.Nazrul Academy arranged a four-day programme on the occasion that began on Tuesday at its Moghbazar office.The local administrations celebrated Nazrul's birth anniversary at Trishal in Mymensingh and Daulatpur in Comilla, the places having memories of the poet.The birth anniversary of the national poet was also celebrated in educational institutions and district headquarters.Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private television channels aired special programmes and the newspapers published special supplements highlighting the life and works of the national poet.An evening of recitation and songs by Khilkhil Kazi and Salauddin Ahmed will be held at 6:30pm on Friday at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) in Dhaka.Born on May 25, 1899 at village Churulia in Burdwan district of West Bengal in India, Nazrul through his fiery poems had inspired people of the sub-continent to fight against injustice and repression of the colonial rule.
Legal notices served on doctors

UNB, Comilla :

Barely a week after the DNA test report by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) revealed evidence of rape of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, legal notices have been served on the physicians who conducted autopsies on the slain college student's body.

President of Bangladesh Jatiya Mohila Ainjibi Samity Advocate Salma Ali on behalf of Tonu's father sent notices to three doctors asking why legal action will not be taken against them for not getting any evidence of rape in the first autopsy and for making delay in revealing the second autopsy report.

The notices were sent to Mohsin-uz-Zaman Chowdhury, principle of Comilla Medical College Hospital, Dr Kamada Prashad Shaha, head of the Forensic Department of the hospital, and Dr Sharmin Sultana, who conducted the first autopsy.

The body of Tonu, 19, a second year history student of Victoria College and a member of Victoria College Theatre, was recovered from Comilla's Moinamati Cantonment area on the night of March 20.

Police suspected that she had been raped before the murder. The following day, victim's father filed a case with Kotwali Model Police Station in connection with the incident. Tonu was buried at a grave at Mirzapur village in Muradnagar upazila on March 21.

Later, on March 29, Tonu's body was exhumed for the second autopsy as the doctors didn't find any evidence of rape in the first autopsy. On May 17, the CID disclosed that it found evidence of rape on Tonu's body in its DNA test. The killing of the college student sparked widespread protests across the country.
Warrant against Khaleda part of plot: BNP

Staff Reporter :The BNP on Wednesday alleged that the government is trying to make the party chief Begum Khaleda Zia upset by filing various cases against her. The party also accused the ruling party men of vote rigging in nine municipalities where polls were held yesterday. "Begum Khaleda Zia is the symbol of democracy, and that is why, unelected government fears her and tries to make her upset by filing false cases against her," said the party Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, while addressing a press briefing at Nayapaltan office yesterday. "The government cannot imprison Khaleda Zia in any jail of the country," said Rizvi. In reply to a question, the BNP leader said that the party would give formal response about the cases filed against Khaleda Zia, including Baropukuria coalmine corruption case. " The government's behavior is prank. They are trying to net Khaleda Zia in false cases. She is an indomitable democratic leader."Rizvi accused the government of not filing cases against the ruling party men even if they commit crimes. "There were some cases filed against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, but the government withheld those by using State power.Highlighting the situations in nine municipalities where polls were held yesterday, Rizvi alleged that the ruling party men rigged votes, which they did in the Union Parishads elections recently held by phases. The ruling party men captured many vote centers at Noakhali, Chhagalnaiya, Raipura, Kasba and other municipalities before starting of vote casting. "The Awami League men have organised terror acts in all the nine Municipalities and drove away voters," alleged Rizvi. The party Joint-Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, Khairul Kabir Khokon and central leader Syed Emran Saleh Prince, among others, were present on the occasion.
AL leader, his brother shot dead in Laxmipur

Staff Reporter :

An Awami League leader and his brother were gunned down by unidentified miscreants in a broad-day light in Laxmipur Sadar Upazila on Wednesday.

The deceased were identified as Ismail Hossain, 45, and his brother Ibrahim Hossain Ratan, 42. They are sons of Shafiqullah from Boshikpur village under Sadar Upazila. Both were activists of ruling Awami League. Victims' cousin Harunur Rashid said, the deceased were sitting at a tea stall near Badyer Bari crossing in Bashikpur Union at about 11:00am. At that time, four to five youths in an auto-rickshaw came to the spot, sprayed bullets from point blank range and left the place. One of the miscreants was wearing mask, he said.

The two brothers were rushed to Laxmipur Sadar Hospital where the on-duty doctors declared them dead.

Local people claimed that Ratan was an identified criminal. His rivals might have launched the attack, they said.

A S M Mahtab Uddin, Superintendent of Police (SP), said "We are investigating the incident." Police are trying to arrest the killers, the police official said.
Curtailing High Court`s power resented

Chief Justice and Bar Assoc not consulted

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :Senior lawyers on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the "Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2016" that increased pecuniary jurisdiction of district judges to dispose of the civil cases. They also sounded skeptical on whether it would bring the desired results or may even work in the negative. The government on May 12 issued Gazette Notification to the effect that the "Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2016" has been put into effect forthwith. But the unilateral move of the Law Ministry caught the lawyers in the higher judiciary by surprise. They believe since the issue is highly sensitive in many respects, the Law Ministry and the Attorney General Office should have consulted all stakeholders to take commonly agreed decisions on the amendment clauses. Senior lawyers at Bangladesh Supreme Court have resented the Law Ministry's one sided action and demanded review and more consensus amendments that would address the critical realities in the ground. Already exhausted by pending cases, they said, with the increase of pecuniary jurisdiction the lower courts will have to deal with more cases and face further backlog of pending cases intensifying miseries to the litigants. "It is unfortunate that the government passed the law without any discussion with the legal community. It should take consent from the stakeholders prior to the making the amendments final," Yusuf Hossain Humayun, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told The New Nation on Wednesday.He opined that the enhancement of the pecuniary jurisdiction of district judges should have been done with due consultations with the Bar Association and the judges, particularly the opinion of the Chief Justice was more important in this respect. The Supreme Court Bar Association President expressed the fear that the amendments have been done to address the problem of judicial delays, at High Court but it might in some cases end up in "speedy delivery of injustice" because many other reasons. "We have already brought it to the notice of the Chief Justice and we will sit with the Law Minister soon seeking further review of the amended Act," he added.The Government gazette notification enhanced the power of the lower judiciary in dealing with high value cases. As per the amended Act, a district judge would deal with the civil cases worth Tk five crore which was earlier Tk five lakh, senior assistant judges to Tk 25 lakh which was Tk four lakh while capacity of assistant judges has been increased to Tk 15 lakh from Tk two lakh.The High Court will now have jurisdiction over suits which are above the value of Tk five crore. Opposing the enhanced pecuniary jurisdiction of district judges, Senior Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder and the Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council told The New Nation on Wednesday that it will not bring any good for the judiciary as well as for the litigants."The government might have framed the law to reduce workload of the High Court by transferring civil suits, valued up to Tk five crore, to the district courts. But we think it would not help much in the sense that the district courts have already been hit by pending cases. Even they lack of necessary infrastructures and manpower to deal with the additional pecuniary jurisdiction," he observed.Wondered by the big jump in district judges' pecuniary jurisdiction, Baset Majumder said, it is not a wise decision to extend the jurisdiction all of a sudden and it should be done in phases. "It was a matter of deep regret that the law was enacted without discussion with the lawyers' community. Even the Law Ministry hurriedly issued the notification causing much discontent to the judiciary," he said, adding, 'The law should be framed after holding wide range of discussion with the legal community so that it can give a collective effort to make the law time-befitting and praiseworthy." Baset Majumder further said now on the litigants may not get the justice because civil suits valued up to Tk five crore to be heard by one district judge whereas a division bench of the High Court comprising two judges earlier would hear such cases to ensure a fair justice.
Hajj pilgrims ID regn must by May 30

Kamruzzaman Bablu :The Religious Affairs Ministry has finally decided that registration is a must within May 30 for getting Hajj pilgrim identification number this year. It has been notified in an emergency letter signed by Shahidullah Sarkar, Assistant Secretary (Hajj-02) of the Religious Affairs Ministry that the privately managed pilgrims must complete their registration within May 30. Otherwise they will not be allowed to perform Hajj this year.It says, those, who will be in the waiting list, will get an opportunity of performing Hajj this year as per their serial number of enrolment if any of the already registered pilgrims fail to go to Saudi Arabia due to non-payment of Hajj package fees, or sickness, or death or any other reasons.Saudi Arabia allotted a quota of 101,758 for Bangladeshi pilgrims for performing Hajj this year.Of those, 10,000 will perform Hajj under government management and 91,758 will go under private management. The private Hajj agencies will be allowed to send 88,204 pilgrims from the quota while the rests 3,554 persons of private quota will go to Saudi Arabia as support staff."It had been seen in the past that some of the enrolled pilgrims finally failed to deposit their Hajj package fees due to financial constraints, unwanted sickness or even death. It creates a vacancy in the Hajj quota," said HAAB Secretary General Sheikh Abdullah. Considering the situation, HAAB requested the government to extend the registration time." He added that the registration would prepare a waiting list for the pilgrims. They will get scope of performing Hajj according to their serial numbers, in case of such vacancy.He said, the registration process will continue until May 30 according to the government's previous decision. Those, who will enroll their names in the waiting list, will get priority for performing Hajj in 2017, if they failed to go Saudi Arabia this year.Earlier, an inter-ministerial meeting also decided to rearrange the Hajj agencies minimum pilgrim's quota. Those agencies that failed to register the minimum quota of 150 pilgrims within the stipulated period will get a chance to fill their quota of pilgrims from other agencies. The highest number of pilgrims for each Hajj agency has been fixed at 293 pilgrims.The agencies that failed to fill their quota of registering sufficient pilgrims would have to submit a combined list coordinating with other agencies. Otherwise, they would fail to send pilgrims in Saudi Arabia this year. Anwar Hossain, Senior Public Relation Officer of the Religious Affairs Ministry, also told that the decisions would be maintained meticulously. There will be no extension of time after May 30. he said, Considering the situation, next Friday and Saturday the registration server will remain open from 10 am to 6.pm.According to Hajj office sources, a total of 618 pilgrims have enrolled their names to perform Hajj under government management against the quota of 10,000.
Global community urged to help climate-induced migrants

UNB, Dhaka :

Speakers at a discussion in Istanbul have urged the global community to come forward to help climate-induced migrants in the climate vulnerable countries like Bangladesh.

They said the climate-induced migrants, the innocent victims of global warming caused by rich countries, deserve equity, capacity and human rights

from the global community. The discussion titled, 'Climate-induced Displacement: Humanitarian and Right Perspective' was held at Lutfi Kirdar Convention Center on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, according to a message received here on Wednesday. Fifteen civil society organisations from the global south and north - Act Alliance, Asian Disaster Risk Reduction Network (ADRRN).
UK 'disagrees' with BD explanation on recent killings

bdnews24.com :

The UK says it does not agree with the Bangladesh government's explanation over the recent killings of secular writers, bloggers, rights activists and members of religious minorities.

Several British MPs expressed their concerns over Bangladesh situation during Tuesday's session at the UK Parliament. MP Simon Danczuk asked whether it was time for "some form of sanctions to try to get Sheikh Hasina to hold a proper general election as soon as possible."

Replying queries, Minister of State Hugo Swire said that there was a 'disagreement' over Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina holding 'opposition' responsible for the killings and blaming the victims for 'insulting Islam.'

"...we think the problem goes beyond that," said Swire, the minister of state for the foreign and commonwealth office. Bangladesh has seen a wave of attacks on secular writers and bloggers as well as on members of religious minorities since the February 2015 murder of writer Avijit Roy on the Dhaka University campus.

Middle East-based militant group the Islamic State and the al Qaeda have reportedly claimed the murders, but Bangladesh government holds 'home-grown' extremists responsible.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been blaming the opposition for the killings for what she claims is an attempt to 'destabilise the country'. The foreign minister echoed during his recent meeting with envoys to EU countries in Bangladesh. According to Minister AH Mahmood Ali, it's the Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliates, who are orchestrating the murders, to 'tarnish' Bangladesh's image in the global arena.
2 held with 135 bombs in city

Staff Reporter :Police seized at least 135 petrol bombs from the city's Kafrul area on Tuesday night. They have detained two persons in this connection. The detained persons are Rezaul Karim and Kabir Hossain, police said. Shikdar Shamim, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kafrul Police Station, said "They were caught red-handed while trying to carry out subversive activities at Swadhinata Chattar at around 11:30 Tuesday night." They were shown arrested in a case filed under Special Powers Act, the police official said. A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent them to jail when police produce them before the court, the OC said.
Coalmine case against Khaleda to continue

UNB, Dhaka :The full text of the High Court verdict rejecting a petition filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking quashing of trial proceedings in Barapukuria coalmine corruption case was published on Wednesday.An HC bench comprising Justice Md Nuruzzaman Noni and Justice Md Abdur Rob signed the copy of the verdict. Fixing June 12 for charge framing in the case, the bench said with rejection of the appeal, the trial will now continue at the Court of Dhaka-3 Special Judge Aminul Islam. Earlier on October last year, the HC cleared the way for the lower court to resume the trial proceedings against Khaleda Zia in the Barapukuria graft case.On September 17, 2015, the HC in an order rejected the petition.On August 30, the same bench concluded the final hearing on the petition after closing arguments in the trial of the case. On February 26, 2008, the ACC filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station, accusing Khaleda and 10 of her former cabinet colleagues of taking Tk159 crore in kickbacks on the Barapukuria coalmine deal awarded to the highest bidder, instead of the lowest one. Responding to a petition filed by Khaleda, the HC on October 16, 2008, stayed the case proceedings and issued a rule asking the ACC to explain why the case should not be quashed. The Appellate Division later upheld the stay order as well, leaving the corruption case in the cold.Khaleda, however, managed to secure a permanent bail in the case on January 15, 2012.Following a petition of the Anti Corruption Commission, the HC revived the case on March 2.On August 23, the HC turned down two petitions filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking all records of and the final report on Barapukuria coalmine graft case from the authorities concerned.
Let ACC fight corruption within the country

THE New Nation reported on Tuesday that the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has initiated investigation into financial irregularities at 11 high profile Bangladesh missions abroad. Indiscipline and financial scandals in those missions are going almost out of control as allegations galore against them and the ACC said they have initiated the probe based on such allegations. The ACC has been so far blamed as a spineless body and public perception about the organization is very poor until now, which has only exonerated the pro-government people and implicated people opposed to the government in cases to justify its presence. We hope that the new Chairman of the Commission knows about the people's view and in our view should start with fights to stop corruption in public organizations within the country before jumping to Bangladesh missions outside. It is unnecessary to create opportunities to make foreign visits by ACC officials and the Chairman himself when corruptions galore at every public institutions bringing them to the brink. Dishonest people have swindled huge money from state-owned banks under fictitious loan accounts. Money from Bangladesh Bank accounts in New York has been stolen and all indications suggest that people within the central bank collaborated with hackers in the money heist scheme. Politicians and contractors are ruthlessly exploiting big development projects like flyovers under ghost billing and false projects accounts. Our question is why the ACC does not see these scandalous financial irregularities and business deals siphoning money from banks and state exchequer. Everyone had expected that ACC would open investigations into the money heist of Bangladesh Bank and other state-owned banks. Even ACC said it was watching the Central Bank money heist issue but its disclosure of opening probe in Bangladesh foreign missions abroad suggest that they are not chasing corruption where it is hurting the most and making schemes to visit abroad in the name of probing foreign missions. We don't deny that these foreign missions as reported in our daily are swarming with corruption, there is no doubt their financial irregularities are also hurting the nation. But when the ACC is making its choice of opening investigations it does not see the massive corruption around it and planning for overseas probe. We would like to ask the ACC authorities please see around and catch the dishonest people who are destroying the country's banks and financial institutions. It is not time for pleasure trips anyway.
Opponents of the "Pastor Protection Act" proposal by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, said existing law offers the protections sought and the measure was unnecessary.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana's state senators on Tuesday refused to enact a new law declaring that pastors and churches don't have to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies or allow them in their facilities.

The Senate Judiciary B Committee voted 3-2 to shelve the bill, which had the overwhelming support of the House.

Opponents of the "Pastor Protection Act" proposal by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, said existing law offers the protections sought and the measure was unnecessary.

"I believe that we do have stringent religious freedom protections in the current law in Louisiana," said Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans. "We don't need this law."

Johnson described the proposal as "harmless" and narrowly tailored to protect people's religious beliefs. When asked by Peterson, he couldn't provide an example of a minister or clergy in Louisiana encountering any impediments to practice their beliefs.

"There hasn't been a recent case. That's a good thing," Johnson said.

But he said he wanted to make sure that doesn't happen and his proposal would further define the protections for clergy to practice their "sincerely held" beliefs.

Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, said the bill seemed like a "knee-jerk reaction" to last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage. He said similar arguments were made after a high-court decision invalidated laws that banned interracial marriage five decades ago.

"My father once told me that, regardless of how you feel about something, you should never put discrimination in law. I feel like when I look at your bill we're putting discrimination in law," Morrell said.

In his introduction, Johnson, who is running for Congress, told senators the legislation had nothing to do with business or tourism and didn't draw the type of criticism from those industry sectors that more broadly written bills received in other states.

But Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, testified against the proposal Tuesday, saying he was concerned about the message it would send to businesses. He described it as a "very damaging bill" that could cost the state millions, citing backlash in other states on religious-objections bills.

"Louisiana's brand right now is seen as more progressive than many of our Southern states," Perry said.

In support of the proposal, Gene Mills, president of the conservative Louisiana Family Forum, cited Bible passages describing marriage as between a man and a woman and said "religious freedom historically has trumped state regulation."

"It seems like this would be a reasonable accommodation to afford that protection," he said.

Morrell and Peterson said the state's Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, enacted in 2010, covers Johnson's concerns. Johnson replied that "the table has been reset" since the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage and a restatement of protections is needed.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards didn't take a position supporting or opposing the bill, though he previously said the measure wasn't needed and he didn't believe pastors were "under threat of anything adverse happening to them if they don't officiate a gay wedding."

Voting to reject the bill were Sens. Morrell, Peterson and Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte. Voting for the bill were Sens. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, and Greg Traver, D-Shreveport. Committee Chairman Gary Smith, D-Norco, didn't vote.
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.
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
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.
BENTON  Franklin Hospital board members voted 4-3 Tuesday to terminate the contract of their chief executive officer, Hervey Davis, effective Aug. 31.

But the vote might not have counted, Chairman Brent Young acknowledged a day after he and three other board members voted in favor of the termination.

After checking with the board's attorney on Wednesday, Young said the board does need to have five members vote in favor of terminating the contract.

That differs with a contract stipulation that the full board must be present for such a vote, and with board bylaws that runs contrary to the contract, stating that all matters taken up by the board for a vote can advance by a majority among those who are present, regardless of number as long as a quorum is met.

Two board members were absent were absent Tuesday.

It does supersede the bylaws, Young said of the contract after conferring with the hospitals attorney. The contract could be recalled for another termination vote at any time.

Hospital leadership, building plans under evaluation, chairman says BENTON  Franklin Hospital directors are evaluating a billing breakdown that led to $5 milli

Young said he voted in favor of the termination for two reasons. A lack of communication between Davis and the board in the last year was one.

A set of fresh eyes help, he added.

Davis has been CEO since 2002 and is largely credited for saving the financially ailing hospital at that time from closing. Among changes he instituted was to convert the hospital into a critical access hospital, reducing the number of active beds to focus more on outpatient care and increase Medicare reimbursement rates.

But hospital officials, chief among them Davis, have come under a litany of criticism since at least last year, both from the public and its own, including its chief of medicine and its hospitalist, Dr. Tim Morthland, who is now suing Davis and other leaders for alleged wrongful termination of his contract earlier this year.

Young, however, said his decision to terminate Davis contract had nothing to do with Morthland.

In July, Young said an evaluation of the administration was needed after a billing gaffe that resulted in millions of dollars behind in both unpaid bills and uncollected invoices.

The backlog, caused by a lack of personnel, came at a time of other alleged mismanagement from a citizens group who objected to a proposed $8.2 million plan to expand the hospital.

Davis' contract has been in place since 2009, including a clause for it to automatically renew annually once it expired in 2014. The renewal takes place at the end of December.

Tempers flare at hospital meeting BENTON  Accusations of a lack of accountability, communication and professionalism aimed at

But Davis acknowledged the board is within its right to terminate the contract at any time. He added, however, that he does not believe the motion to terminate would have passed if the full board had been present.

If all nine board members had been there, I believe there would have been a different outcome, Davis said.

Voting to retain Davis contract were Julie Bowles, Joyce Ragan and Mary Stevens.

Stevens, on the board since 2001, said the vote came up because Davis had submitted a proposal that he would resign, but be retained as a consultant. With two members absent, she said she felt more time was needed to discuss the leadership change with the full board.

"He's put his heart and soul into the hospital after 14 years, Stevens said. "He's done a fantastic job."
Additionally, the JALC board approved a tentative budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The budget will be inspected for 30 days, said Steve O' Keefe, director of college relations at JALC, after which officials will vote to establish the financial plan in June.

"It will go into the effect July 1," he said.

Also, the group of trustees accepted annual dismissals of grant staff members  effective June 30  as a result of the uncertainty for grant funding for the 2017 fiscal year.

"This is something that happens almost yearly," O' Keefe said. "There are some people who are paid a hundred percent by grant who, if we have not received any funding for their grant, would be honorably dismissed.

"If the grant kicked through they will be called back."

The administrators also recalled four professionals affected by the reduction in force, which occurred in March.

Among those recalled were two faculty and two staff members, said O' Keefe.

"One from social sciences and one (who) works in the library, and then two staff members from the Center for Business and Industry," he said.
SPRINGFIELD  Buoyed by a labor rally outside the Capitol last week that drew an estimated crowd of 10,000, Illinois House Democrats on Wednesday made another failed attempt to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners veto of a bill that wouldve sent stalled union contract talks to arbitration.

Rauner vetoed a similar bill last year, calling it the worst legislation hed ever seen, and the House fell three votes short of overriding him. This time around, the override failed by two votes.

The governors office was quick to praise the outcome, issuing a statement thanking those members who took the pro-taxpayer position today.

It is now time to move forward and find compromise on a balanced budget with structural reforms that will put our state on the path to prosperity, spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a written statement.

The bill would have applied to any state contract that has expired or will expire between June 30, 2015, and June 30, 2019, and would have authorized an independent arbitrator to decide on an issue-by-issue basis which side had made the more reasonable offer.

Rauner said the bill would have taken the power to negotiate away from him and given it to an unelected arbitrator who wouldnt be accountable to taxpayers.

Supporters said the bill was necessary due to anti-union statements Rauner made while campaigning for governor and because his administration has walked away from the bargaining table with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents 38,000 state employees.

The bills sponsor, Rep. Chris Welch, D-Hillside, said it represented a serious concession on the part of unions because they would be giving up their right to strike.

Welch urged fellow lawmakers to listen to the voices of those who filled the streets outside the Capitol last week.

This is not about Rauner versus (Democratic House Speaker Michael) Madigan, he said. This is not about AFSCME. This is about those real people you heard from last week.

Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, another supporter, noted that voters are already being flooded with robocalls and campaign mailers claiming that the bill would result in a $3 billion tax increase.

Its just the machine perpetrated by (the governors office) to go against working men and women in this state, Smiddy said.

Shortly after the vote, the Illinois Republican Party sent out emails targeting Democratic lawmakers who voted in favor of the override, including Reps. John Bradley of Marion and Brandon Phelps of Harrisburg.

The state GOP said each lawmaker sent a clear signal today that he wants to raises taxes on Illinois families by $3.6 billion.

AFSCME has said the cost claims that the governor and other Republicans have made are wildly exaggerated because they include costs associated with the unions existing contract.

We are deeply disappointed in the 48 legislators in the House today who failed to override Gov. Rauners veto of the fair arbitration bill, AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said in a written statement. They sided with the governor against the people of Illinois and against the public service workers who protect kids, care for veterans and the disabled, respond to emergencies and keep us safe.

The Rauner administration in January moved to have an impasse declared contract talks with AFSCME. An administrative law judge for the Illinois Labor Relations Board is currently hearing arguments in that case. The hearings are scheduled to conclude this week, but a decision is not expected until July at the earliest.

If Administrative Law Judge Sarah Kerley sides with the state, it could clear the way for Rauner to impose his contract terms on the union.
SPRINGFIELD  A measure that would give Illinois adoptees more information about why they were adopted is heading to the governor's desk.

The plan sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Ann Williams and state Sen. Toi Hutchinson would require state adoption agencies to give adoptees age 18 and older information detailing the reasons for the adoption.

Illinois Senate members approved the plan Tuesday on a 53-0 vote. It now goes to Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Supporters say it is important for adoptees to have information about the nature of their adoption. But some cautioned that expanding rights to adoption information can infringe on birth parent confidentiality. The proposal only discloses non-identifying information about the biological parents.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.  A Carbondale attorney and adjunct professor at the SIU School of Law was reprimanded on Tuesday by the Missouri Supreme Court.

The action taken on Tuesday against Thomas Margolis, of Carbondale, was in response to a motion for reciprocal discipline, given that he was previously disciplined by the Supreme Court of Illinois.

The Illinois Supreme Court suspended Margolis license for 30 days this past fall, from Oct. 13, 2015, to Nov. 12, 2015, during which time he was not allowed to practice law. He was suspended for failing to appear at a scheduled arbitration and making false statements to his opposing counsel and an arbitrator about his availability for the arbitration while representing a client in a workers compensation matter, according to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois.

Further, the record states that Margolis, while representing another client in two other separate workers compensation matters, did not communicate with the client concerning significant events in the cases and took action on the clients behalf without consulting with the client.

Margolis, now working as an independent lawyer in Carbondale, previously served as the managing attorney for the multi-state insurance defense firm Allen, Kopet & Associations, PLLC overseeing workers compensation defense claims out of the firms offices Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Southern Illinois. A 1993 graduate of the SIU School of Law, he is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.

Having completed his suspension, Margolis license is active. Margolis said he has acknowledged his errors and accepted the punishment. Tuesday's reprimand by the Missouri Supreme Court did not include any further ramifications for his license.

According to his SIU biography, Margolis is an experienced trial attorney in matters of workers compensation, insurance defense litigation, subrogation and family law.
With less than a week left before the scheduled adjournment of the General Assembly on May 31, Southern Illinois schools superintendents are busy drafting worst-case scenario plans for the upcoming school year should lawmakers fail to authorize a K-12 funding plan.

Superintendents say that a variety of options are on the table  and they acknowledge that few of them will be popular if they are forced in that direction.

They include pushing back the start date for the school year, possibly to as late as November, or starting the school year on borrowed money and closing school for an extended break a few months later should the money run dry and state funding remain tangled in a protracted stalemate in Springfield.

Schools that rely more heavily on state funding versus local property taxes are the ones that are considering the most drastic actions. Thats the majority of school districts in Southern Illinois.

Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 gets just more than half of its roughly $20 million budget from the state, Superintendent Chris Grode said, which means hes among those facing the agonizing process of figuring out what to do if a budget deal doesnt come through.

We cant operate the whole year, without state funds, Grode said. Our plan is to start and get so many days in and stop if necessary. We hope we can make it to November before we amend our calendar before going on an extended break.

These concerns are playing out as a handful of school funding reform proposals are being volleyed about in the Illinois House and Senate. The plans on the table either rewrite or make significant tweaks to a nearly 20-year-old formula that is roundly criticized as outdated and ineffective at targeting funds where the needs are most critical.

We need to know something because weve got to make plans. Thats why youre hearing the conversations locally about can we open or not, said Regional Office of Education No. 21 Superintendent Matt Donkin. The regional office he oversees provides support services to 22 public school districts in Franklin, Massac, Johnson and Williamson counties.

If no budget is passed, a handful may not open, he said. Others are looking into the school year to see how far they can go with available funds.

Recently, the Elverado School District 196 sent a letter home to parents and community members informing them of the difficult decisions they are being forced to consider in light of the budget impasse, including the possibility of an interruption of the school year scheduled to start in August. Superintendent Kevin Spain could not be reached by deadline on Tuesday, but a message on his schools website addresses the issue. The board would like you to know we are not trying to cry wolf, it reads. These are dire times for the district, but you can be assured that we will scratch and fight to keep the district going.

He encouraged concerned citizens to reach out to elected leaders, including Rauner, state Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, both of whom represent the districts that include the school.

The top priority

Thats why a K-12 budget is the top priority for school administrators, Donkin said. Ideally, that will be included as part of an overall state budget, he said, but administrators are hopeful that even if a full state spending plan cant be ironed out by months end, lawmakers and the governor will at least agree to a spending plan for schools before the start or school that will keep the doors open.

Thats what happened this past year when Gov. Bruce Rauner and lawmakers agreed to send just under $7 billion to K-12 schools, ensuring general state aid payments would be delivered in August 2015.

While lawmakers can be called back after the May 31 scheduled adjournment date, thats a critical day for passage of legislation because votes beyond that date require a supermajority for passage. Among the speculation floating around Springfield and elsewhere is that lawmakers may pass an overall budget before adjournment, or at least a K-12 spending authorization plan. More doomsday scenarios suggest lawmakers will wait to act until the Nov. 8 election, and then theres further conjecture about whether a lame-duck General Assembly would take action, or punt to the one newly seated in January.

Meanwhile, schools have no choice to weigh all the possibilities, and create various backup plans accordingly.

Jackson County school administrators have a meeting scheduled for May 31 to discuss each schools contingency plan for what they plan to do if there if there is not an education budget passed by the time school is scheduled to start, said Carbondale High School Superintendent Steve Murphy.

Murphy said Carbondale, which gets about 10-15 percent of its annual budget from the state and about 78 percent from local sources, should be able to open and operate through the school year. But he noted that all schools in the area affect each other because they often share resources such as special education teachers and vocational education facilities, and they play each other in sports.
There are some things that we just take for granted. Like death and ultra-high Illinois taxes, we take it for granted that kids will be out of school for the summer and go back in the fall. Well, now they actually get out of school in mid-spring and go back in mid-summer, but the pattern  and the twelve weeks of summer vacation  are a constant.

Make that were a constant.

As explained in todays front-page story, the ability of some local school districts to open their doors in August is nowhere near the certainty that weve come to expect. Without a state budget and the influx of funding promised by our state constitution, classes in the Elverado School District may not start up in the fall while the Murphysboro School District  and others  would start in August and go until the money runs out  ironically, somewhere very close to Election Day.

The constitution of the state of Illinois reads as follows: The State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education. Unfortunately, that particular section of the constitution can be found in the fiction section of your local school library.

Illinois ranks dead last in state support of public education, currently providing less than 30 percent of the necessary funding. It is very safe to say that our entrenched representatives in Springfield have not taken that primary responsibility very seriously.

Meanwhile, a gaggle of K-12 funding options have been introduced, analyzed, dissected, sliced and diced. Republican legislators seem to like the keep-the-formula-the-same-but-throw-more-money-at-it plan floated by Gov. Rauner. Democrats have rallied around the funding restructure formula proposed and shepherded by Sen. Andy Manar. Democratic Sen. Andy Manar.

And then, of course, theres the compromise bill being proposed by Sen. Jason Barickman which bridges the gap to an "evidence-based" model that he and educators have been working together on. On his legislative website, Barickman states the following: Ultimately, our evidence-based solution is scalable and realistic, regardless of the budget decisions made by political leaders.

Except that our editorial board has talked with Education Secretary Beth Purvis about the governors plan and weve sat across the table from Manar on several occasions, and they each seemed pretty convinced that evidence was on their side.

And so the Illinois constitutions promise to provide for an efficient system of high quality public educational institutions and services has now disintegrated into a free-for-all that reduces efficient to being the one that gives my school district more money. Sen. Gary Forby submitted an op-ed last week in which he explained his vote in favor of Manars SB231 by saying that the measure would add over $10 million in state funding to schools in his district. More equals better.

Tragically, the school funding trifecta described above has done little to build consensus among either legislators or school superintendents. And while Springfield fiddles, Southern Illinois schools burn. Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 Superintendent Chris Grode said that without state funds we cant operate the whole year. We hope we can make it to November before we amend our calendar before going on an extended break.

It should never have come close to this point.

Purvis says that putting an end to prorated K-12 funding is the governors top priority. We say, prove it.

Manar seems to be looking at and considering the compromise proposal from Barickman. We say, do so quickly.

The future of our kids education is at stake here. Its that important. Political compromise on this essential issue would be a welcome step toward proving that our elected officials want to fulfill their primary responsibility.
SPRINGFIELD  A wing of the Springfield Museum has officially been named the Orangeburg County Military Museum.

Orangeburg County Council made the designation to acknowledge the work the Springfield School Restoration and Use Board has done to develop the military wing of the museum over the past several years.

More than 80 visitors had a chance to tour the military exhibits during an Armed Forces Day Open House on May 21.

The S.C. Military Museum has donated uniforms, equipment and display cases to the facility, which features exhibits ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror.

The S.C. Military Museum has sponsored and assisted us beyond belief and is committed to continue to do so, Sylvia Hiers, chairman of the Restoration and Use Board, said.

Stephen Jeffcoat, the registrar and public affairs officer of the S.C. Military Museum, said the Columbia-based museum had donated approximately 100 items to the Springfield museum. Hiers noted that Ewell Sturgis, director of the S.C. Military Museum, has provided invaluable assistance with the project.

Retired U.S. Air Force Chief MSgt. Doyle S. Tipton and his wife, Pat Winningham Tipton, are enthusiastic supporters of the Springfield Museum. Mrs. Tipton, who graduated from Springfield High School in 1959, said her husband had a combined 42 years of military and civil service. She added that she formerly worked with the South Carolina National Guard. Both she and her husband have donated military flags to the museum.

Hiers said U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) William H. Salley of Springfield, a former mayor of the town, has been involved in developing the military wing since the museums inception.

Mrs. Hiers and her volunteers do a wonderful job out here. This is one of the better military museums I have seen in a long time, District 4 Orangeburg County Councilman Heyward Livingston said during the open house. I thank Mrs. Hiers, and thank all for coming out.

Judson Bowers, 7, of Blackville and Beth Fulmer of Springfield performed patriotic selections on the piano in the reception room, which was decorated in red, white and blue. Refreshments were served.

The Orangeburg County Military Museum, located at 210 Brodie St. in Springfield, is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Saturday hours are also being planned. Visitors and tour groups are welcome.

For more information about the museum or to arrange special tours, call 803-258-3764 or 803-258-3152.
Bill Clinton has had his problems lately, but there's no doubt the former president is the best booster the Democratic Party has had since leaving office in January 2001. Even now, although he's clearly slowing down, Clinton is the party's most effective surrogate for wife Hillary.

Republicans haven't had the same luck. The only two-term GOP president in the last generation, George W. Bush, has stayed mostly out of politics in the seven years since he left the White House.

Bush's absence has caused some hard feeling among Republican politicos who wish they had a popular ex-president to bring more money and attention to GOP candidates. On the other hand, they know Bush's troubled time in office permanently diminished his post-presidential status. And now, to top it off, Bush, along with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, has taken the extraordinary step of refusing to endorse the presidential candidate of his own party.

In short, facing a difficult general election campaign and in need of all the help it can get, the GOP's ex-president situation is a mess.

George W. Bush left office with a job approval rating of just 28 percent after 9/11, two wars, and an economic collapse. He has since regained much of his popularity with Republicans. But even within his own party, Bush's status is shaky.

On Feb. 15, Bush broke his rule against campaigning to travel to South Carolina to appear at a rally on behalf of his brother Jeb. The Jeb Bush campaign was already in its final days, and there was nothing W. could do to save it. But W. still got a rousing reception.

Before the rally began, when the master of ceremonies asked the crowd, "Are y'all ready to see the president?" a huge roar went up. They weren't cheering for Jeb. The audience that W. attracted was by far the biggest of Jeb's campaign.

But at a Republican debate just a couple of days earlier, Donald Trump, who has criticized George W. Bush's presidency throughout the campaign, slammed the war in Iraq as "a big, fat mistake." Then Trump went further to say that George W. Bush "lied" the nation into war.

"They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none," Trump said. "And they knew there were none."

Jeb Bush stood haplessly by, unable to defend either himself or his brother.

So were South Carolina Republicans outraged by Trump -- did they take offense on behalf of George W. Bush? Not really. Republicans I talked to at the W. rally were evenly split on whether the war was a disaster, and even though most didn't agree with Trump's assertion that Bush lied, they weren't up in arms about it. And a few days later, Trump won the South Carolina primary.

It was a concise lesson in the ambiguities of George W. Bush's legacy for Republicans.

On the other hand, Bush could have helped his party by appearing at fundraisers and other events where an ex-president -- even an ex-president with a troubling legacy -- would still be a big draw. His refusal to do so has left some resentments.

Katon Dawson, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican party, has no complaints about Bush's treatment of the state while in the White House. But afterward has been a different story.

"He was gracious to South Carolina -- eight visits, raised us money, wonderful access to the White House," said Dawson. "But then he went home and retired. We've asked him (to come), and the answer is no. The first time we saw him was when he came to bail his brother Jeb out."

Now Bush is likely to make relations with Republicans around the country even more difficult by refusing to support the GOP nominee. Some anti-Trump conservatives cheered the move, but state Republican parties are coming around to the reality of a Trump nomination.

But how could Bush support the candidate who slapped down his brother and trashed his own White House record? That would be a stretch even for a nimble politician.

Still, the refusal to support Trump makes Bush and his family look like they are putting personal interests over the party. And in the end, some Republicans wonder whether that might end up helping Trump.

"The ruling class, the establishment folks, the Nantucket-Kennebunkport-Lake Winnipesaukee crowd is opposed to Trump," said Curt Anderson, a top strategist for the Bobby Jindal campaign who is not part of any campaign now. "Trump is from a lower caste, he's too loud at dinner parties. I would be surprised to learn that their refusal to endorse is based on ideological concerns of any kind."

In the end, the Bush factor is too complicated to compute. A former president who is unpopular with many voters but popular with donors; who is pulled in different directions by family and party loyalty; who shies away from politics while his Democratic counterpart still draws crowds and moves voters.

Some Republicans like to send around a photo of a smiling Bush with the caption "Miss me yet?" The problem is, there's no clear answer.

-----

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
COLUMBIA  A portrait of slain state Sen. Clementa Pinckney at one of his favorite places will hang in another place he held dear.

Pinckney's portrait was unveiled Wednesday in a ceremony with colleagues, friends and family packing the South Carolina Senate chamber.

The painting depicts Pinckney in Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston with light beaming through a stained glass window. Pinckney was leading a nighttime Bible study at the church when he died in along with eight others last June 17. Police said they were gunned down by a man motivated by racial hatred.

Pinckney's two young daughters pulled the purple drape off the portrait by Larry Lebby. The elder, Eliana, put her arm around her mother, whose voice waivered as she spoke of her late husband.

Jennifer Pinckney said the tributes for his public service were "just a small, small sliver of a great gentle giant of a man who always made a smile and who spoke with authority."

Sen. Gerald Malloy recalled how his friend helped the less fortunate in his public life and saved souls in his spiritual life.

"When we look at the portrait of Sen. Pinckney, we need to be reminded of both how he lived and why he was killed in a massacre," Malloy said. "He was killed because of ignorance and intolerance."

Pinckney is only the second African-American to be honored among the roughly 30 portraits in the Senate chamber. The other is a fellow pastor I. DeQuincey Newman, who in 1983 became South Carolina's first black senator since Reconstruction.

Malloy said Pinckney's portrait means his voice will always boom over the Senate he loved.

"He still talks," Malloy said. "He speaks to us about what we should strive for. And the potential cost for standing for what we believe in."
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan can hold joint military exercises, aiming to improve combat readiness and mutual vigilance of the three countries, in summer 2017 in the territory of Georgia.

The statement was made by the head of the general staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Major-General ,Vakhtang Kapanadze



Yes, it is planned, but anything may be changed ... The exercises will be large-scaled, and main focus will be put on counter-terrorism and security issues he told RIA Novosti answering the question, whether its true that the joint military exercises will be held in Georgia in the summer of 2017.

The agreement on holding joint exercises was previously reached during the meeting of defense ministers of the three states in Azerbaijans city of Gabala this May.

During the fourth trilateral meeting, the parties reiterated the importance of enhancing the combat readiness of the three countries armed forces, trilateral development of military education and training, development of cooperation on cyber security, and further improvement of trilateral exercises on the protection of oil and gas pipelines.

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan that enjoy the friendly and fruitful relations are actively working to strengthen their trilateral military and defense cooperation in a sustainable manner.

In recent years, the three countries relations reached the level of strategic partnership and play an important role in ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development, the welfare of the three nations.
/By Azernews/

By Rashid Shirinov



Skyscanner, a service of tickets and hotels search, has studied the Russian tourists favorite vacation destinations. The number of tickets sold to Azerbaijan has increased almost twice.

The service interviewed 260,000 Russian tourists and examined their tickets booking through the website. The research showed that 52 percent of Russian bookings have been made to Russian resorts, TASS reports.

As to foreign travels, Russians prefer spending their holidays in Spain and Italy. However, the countries start giving their positions to the recent trend of traveling to the neighboring countries among Russians.

Thus, sale of tickets to Georgia has almost doubled as compared to the last year. Those preferring Azerbaijan increased in number by 90 percent, Bulgaria by 31 percent and Kazakhstan by 20 percent.

Thus, Baku has ranked the fifth in the recent research of Travel.ru on the foreign cities most visited by Russians during their May holidays. The tourists remained here for approximately 3 days and paid about 50 dollars per day for accommodation.

Baku also entered the top-three list of cities in neighboring countries beloved by Russian tourists. They were Minsk, Baku and Tbilisi.

The main tourist-attracting factors of Azerbaijan are the countrys nature, ancient sites and magnificent architecture. The country has a developed tourism infrastructure, nine climatic zones, and five world heritage sites of UNESCO.

Lately, Azerbaijani authorities invested much in tourism sector. As a result, the country is reachable for tourists of all financial capabilities - Baku and Azerbaijan in general, provide all types of accommodations from cheaper hostels to luxurious hotels.

Moreover, Baku has adorable beaches due to its seashore location. Tourists also accent the countrys cuisine of myriad dishes and the hospitality of the nation.

Overall, Azerbaijan welcomed over 2 million tourists in 2015. That may be linked with several major high-level events held in Azerbaijan for the last years. The first European Games took place here in the summer of 2015. Formula 1 Grand Prix races will be held in Baku in June. The event will take place right in the streets of Baku, revealing its beauty for international spectators. Furthermore, Azerbaijan is going to accept the Islamic Solidarity Games next year, expecting elite athletes from over than 30 countries of Asia and Africa to join.

All this create favorable conditions for informing tourists about Azerbaijan and make it one of the most visited countries of the region.




The ceremony of signing an agreement on "Our Home - Israel" party's joining the Israeli ruling coalition was held in Tel Aviv, Lev Spivak, director general of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association (Aziz) told Trend by phone from Israel May 25.

"Our Home - Israel" party is led by Avigdor Lieberman, candidate for the post of defense minister.

"After a week of negotiations, when it seemed that they were at an impasse, the Israeli government accepted "Our Home - Israel" party's terms on pension reform for the repatriates," Spivak said.

"Lieberman will take one of the three most important ministerial posts in Israel," Spivak added.
Bahrain's Housing Ministry has acquired necessary land in several areas of the kingdom for the construction of 25,000 new housing units for its citizens, said a report.



The provision of lands that are suitable for housing projects and services embodies the government's keenness to ensure the needs of Bahraini citizens, including housing, reported BNA, citing the housing minister.



The move stems from the Royal Order to build 40,000 housing units across the kingdom, it stated.



Bassim bin Yaqoob Al Hamar said the ministry had rehabilitated the acquired land lots and provided them with all facilities, including streets and roads, in cooperation with the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry.



Al Hamar said with this acquisition of land lots, the ministry would be able to provide more than 3,500 housing units in Ramli, 746 in Sitra's Block 609.



The residents of thesehousing units will also get many multiple services and facilities, including green areas, open areas, mosques and schools, it added.
Dubai-based real estate developer Limitless has confirmed that its early payment of Dh2.07 billion ($563 million) to banks and trade creditors will take place on Saturday.



The announcement follows last week's announcement that the company has successfully concluded its restructuring agreement with lenders, and is set to clear a significant amount of its debt with an immediate payment to cover the first instalment seven months ahead of time, and 80 per cent of the second instalment 18 months early, said a statement from Limitless.



The Dubai company had instructed its agent bank to release Dh1.9 billion to banks and Dh163 million to trade creditors, it stated.



The restructuring agreement requires Limitless to pay its outstanding Dh4.45 billion in bank debt in three instalments in December 2016, 2017 and 2018.



However, the company will pay Dh2.07 billion - representing 43 per cent of the companys outstanding bank debt and 28 per cent of the money owed to trade creditors - immediately, it said.



Limitless chairman Ali Rashid Lootah thanked the Dubai government and its lenders and trade creditors for their trust and support in helping them reach this milestone.



"We are committed to the restructuring agreement, to meeting our obligations, and to developing our assets in order to fulfil our commitments to investors," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Aramco paid tribute to its top performers in environmental protection and stewardship at an awards ceremony in Dhahran recently.



At the 11th Saudi Aramco Presidents Award for Environmental Excellence for 2015, the spotlight was on superior performers who protect the areas in which they live and work while carrying out some of the biggest industrial operations in the global energy industry.



Competition for the award is intensifying as more company departments redouble their efforts to boost overall environmental performance, said Osama I Fageeha, manager of the environment protection department (EPD).



In 2015 alone, Saudi Aramco departments pursued 250 initiatives  a clear sign of how important environmental protection is to the company.



Although we are only recognising five organizations today, I would like to emphasise that all operating and supporting organisations have exerted significant efforts to protect the environment, Fageeha said.



Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser praised the departments endeavours in protecting the environment, congratulating the awardees on their achievements and thanking them for being role models of environmental stewardship.



The winning departments for 2015 were:

* Operating organisations: Yanbu Refinery Department; Hawiyah NGL Recovery Plant Department; Abqaiq Plants Operations Department

* Service organisation: Aviation Department

* Most improved organisation: East-West Pipelines Department (EWPD).



For Abqaiq Plants Operations it was the fifth triumph since the inception of the prize.



Khalid S Al Ghamdi, acting manager of Abqaiq Plants Operations, said: This is a unique achievement, and those five wins are commendable because they indicate a level of commitment to the cause of environmental protection that has been sustained over the years in Abqaiq Plants.



The Environmental Management System (EMS) was instrumental in setting clear goals for the winners. Saudi Aramcos Aviation Department developed an EMS to continually improve its performance in environmental protection. The department used international best practices to customize the EMS to its operations and set clear KPIs to measure and monitor environmental performance.



EMS allows you to move step by step toward achieving your goals, said Mohammad E Shammakhi, Aviation Department Environmental Coordinator. - TradeArabia News Service
Oman-based Ithraa, a leading inward investment export development agency, said that its management team will travel to Iran, to meet with leading Iranian businesses operating in logistics, metals and healthcare sectors, later this month.



Ithraas director general of investment promotion Sayyid Faisal Al Said will head the team, and will also hold trade and investment talks, said a statement from the agency.



Al Said said: Our visit to Tehran has been designed specifically to enhance dialogue between us and our Iranian counterparts and to capitalise on the existing trade and investment ties our two countries enjoy.



Iran is the second largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region after Saudi Arabia, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $393.7 billion in 2015, added the statement.



It also has the second largest population of the region after Egypt, with an estimated 78.8 million people in 2015. The Iranian economy is expected to grow by about 4 per cent this year, it said.



Al Said added: The sultanate is open for business and the government is committed to supporting non-oil Omani export growth and encouraging inward investment. This is the message we will be delivering to colleagues in Tehran.



Trade missions are invaluable in developing new and existing markets overseas for Omani businesses, and the objective of this visit is to build on the existing strong economic links Oman enjoys with Iran, he said.



The meet will serve to bolster productive trade and investment relations and reinforce the potential for Omani exporters in the fast growing Iranian economy which will ultimately mean jobs in Oman, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
SSAB, a leading Nordic and US-based steel company, recently held a roadshow in the UAE to introduce its latest product lines, Hardox and Strenx, to customers in the region.



The company held informative seminars across Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Al Ain, said a statement from the company.



It also presented key enhancements and advantages that different grades of Hardox steel bring to the cement, concrete and crusher industries, it said.



Attended by the companys fleet, maintenance and operations personnel, the events also gave insights on SSABs Strenx product line, which is a high performance steel used in the marine and construction industry, it added.



Globally recognised for hardness, toughness and weldability, Hardox is a family of abrasion resistant steel grades with application ranging from demolition tools, mining and quarry equipment to industrial machinery and usage in other wear-intensive environments, said the statement.



According to SSAB, Hardox 600 provides about 600 per cent greater service life than mild steel (or three times longer than the famous Hardox 450) in iron ore mining environments, and a 500 to 600 percentage improvement over mild steel when working with waste rocks.



Apart from this, its superior impact toughness and guaranteed hardness through thickness also play an essential role in increasing product life, while enhancing operational efficiency. The Hardox range is also workshop friendly, and is easily machinable, bendable and weldable, and is available in the form of bars and tubes, it said.



Cement industry is another key area where the Hardox range can add significant value. Specifically, Hardox 600 is highly suited for various cement industry applications such as the mould for concrete bricks, feeders and hoopers, chutes, hammers and louvre rings. With high impact toughness and greater cost efficiency, the product line can help cement manufacturers reduce downtime and improve profitability, it stated.



SSABs product lines are supported locally by UAE-based Hardox Wearparts service centre, which helps in building customised solutions and supporting customers applications with dedicated after sales and maintenance requests when using Hardox or Strenx plates, it said.



Ozgur Yalcin, area sales manager Middle East, SSAB, said: We are really excited to bring SSABs innovative product range spearheaded by the Hardox product set, to the UAE.



The response to our roadshow has been enthusiastic, and we are confident that attendees got a really good overview on how Hardox and Strenx can add value in their industries and applications, he said.



Held over four days, the seminars were interactive and the positive feedback from existing customers was encouraging too. As an organisation, we are really focused on customer satisfaction and I am sure that Hardox 600 and Strenx 700, supported by our local Hardox Wearparts service team will greatly help the regions cement, concrete and crusher organisations in driving efficiency and profitability, he added.  TradeArabia News service
Qatar Airways Cargo, the worlds third largest international cargo carrier, recently celebrated its 10 years of services in Kenya.



A gala reception was held to commemorate this milestone achievement earlier this month, and was attended by the cargo carriers customers and business partners, including Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Abdulla, Qatar's ambassador to Kenya, and Yatich Kangugo, acting managing director of Kenya Airport, said a statement from the company.



Qatar Airways Cargo commenced services to Nairobi in 2006 with two Airbus A300 freighters. Today, Qatar Airways Cargo operates seven Airbus A330 freighters and transports belly-hold cargo on 21 passenger aircraft to Nairobi each week, offering a total capacity of 232 tonnes into Nairobi and 362 tonnes out of Nairobi each week, it said.



Over the past decade, Qatar Airways Cargo has established itself as a trusted air freight service provider in Kenya, connecting the city of Nairobi to a global network of more than 150 destinations on its young and modern fleet. The cargo carrier is constantly innovating and introducing effective air transport solutions to meet its customer and market needs in the East Africa region, it added.



The company has seen remarkable expansion to its operations in the African continent. Today, the cargo carrier operates freighters to seven destinations (Accra, Djibouti, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Lagos and Nairobi) and provides belly-hold cargo capacity to 23 cities in the worlds second largest continent. Perishables such as flowers, fruits, vegetables and meat remain the top exports from Nairobi, destined mainly for Europe and Middle Eastern countries, said the statement.



Kenya is among the top three largest flower exporters in the world and the highest exporter of flowers in Africa. Qatar Airways Cargos QR Fresh solution provides a seamless cool chain service for perishables from the origin airport through to the final destination via its fully-automated hub in Doha. The use of refrigerated trucks at the carriers cargo terminal in Doha ensures the cool chain is unbroken, it stated.



Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways chief officer cargo said: We are proud to have completed 10 successful years of freighter operations to and from Nairobi. Kenya is an important market for us, and we are a great partner with the businesses that need high quality, reliable cargo services.



We anticipate continuous growth as we begin our second decade of freighter operations into the country. We owe our success to our customers, business partners and local stakeholders for their tremendous support over the years, he said.  TradeArabia News Service
Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it will recall almost 1.6 million additional US vehicles for front passenger side Takata air bag inflators that could rupture.



Earlier this month, Takata Corp said it was declaring another 35 million to 40 million US inflators defective at the urging of US regulators, a move that more than doubles the number of inflators recalled. Faulty Takata inflators have been linked to more than 100 injuries and 13 deaths worldwide.



Toyota said the new recall includes some but not all Corolla, Matrix, Yaris, 4Runner, Sienna, Scion xB, Lexus ES, GX and IS vehicles built between 2006 and 2011.



Toyota said it has now recalled 4.73 million vehicles in the United States for Takata air bags.



Other reports from the 17 automakers now recalling Takata vehicles are due this week.



On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Daimler AG said another 197,000 vehicles in the US will need to be recalled  but all have been recalled in previous driver-side airbag calls.



Last week, Takata filed reports with US auto safety regulators declaring nearly 14 million air bag inflators defective -- in the first of a series of required reports. Takata agreed to expand recalls by 35 million to 40 million inflators in several tranches through 2019, adding to the 28.8 million recalled before May 4.



This is the largest recall in US auto safety history. Malfunctioning Takata air bag inflators can explode with too much force, sending shrapnel into vehicles.



Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tesla Motors Inc, Fisker Automotive and Jaguar Land Rover will recall Takata air bag inflators, bringing the number of automakers involved to 17, including Honda Motor Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.



Jaguar Land Rover is a Tata Motors Ltd brand. - Reuters
Russian shipbuilder Krasnye Barrikady has been awarded a near-$1 billion contract by Iran to build five offshore drilling rigs for use on Iran's part of the Gulf shelf, a company official told Reuters.



The project, which was under discussion for almost two years, will be financed jointly by Russia and Iran, the official said.



Iran will soon make a 15 per cent advance payment on the $200 million price of the first rig, he said. - Reuters


A consortium of Egypt's Orascom Construction (OC) and Belgian Besix Group has won the contract from Arab Petroleum Pipelines Company (Sumed) for the construction of a new pier in Ain Sukhna area of Suez governorate at an investment of $350 million, said a report.



Work will start on the project next month and will be completed in a period of ten months, reported Amwal Alghad. The pier is set to receive the third regasification boat, it added.



A leading Belgian group playing an active role in the construction of buildings, infrastructure, environmental projects and roads, Besix along with Orascom will build a two-km-long pier along with two other sub-piers; one with the depth of 15m and another 19m deep.



Egyptian petroleum ministry - represented in Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) - eyes contracting on the third boat to get imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) shipments.



The pier will facilitate processes of transporting and trading all petrochemical, chemical, and gas products on which Egypt contracted to import so as to cover large part of citizens' needs of oil and gas products, it added.
Domestic card spends in the UAE increased by 12 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to a report on consumer card spends by Network International, a leading payment solutions provider in the Mena region.



Spending by UAE-issued cards continues to show the strongest growth along with the rest of the countries in the GCC whose spends have increased by 3 per cent, it said.



Overall card spending in the country increased by 7 percent, largely due to the influence of regional consumers while e-commerce card spends grew by a staggering 27 per cent.



Bhairav Trivedi, chief executive officer, Network International, said: Domestic card spenders in the UAE continue to remain the most positive influence on the economys growth. With increased card spending seen from the GCC countries, savvy retailers should continue to gear their marketing strategy toward regional consumers attitudes and preferences as they emerge to be the largest target market for the countrys business owners. Additionally, online spends have increased more than ever before and represent the changing shopping preferences of customers in the country. Retailers will have to adopt to these shifting patterns and expand their online offerings to take full advantage of the growth potential of e-commerce.



Tourism trends affect spends

The report finds that overall tourism spends declined by 6 per cent in the UAE. Due to a continuous appreciation in the US dollar along with a bullish global economic outlook and a fall in the prices of crude oil, the largest declines came from China (26 per cent) and Russia (24 per cent).



While overall card spending from Europe and North America has decreased by 3 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, the following countries display strong positive spending growth for the first three months of 2016: Finland (+28 per cent), United Kingdom (+15 per cent), and Ireland (+15 per cent), it said.



Hungry for more and more

The most promising sector in the UAE is undoubtedly the F&B industry with increased domestic card spending of 19 per cent and overall card spends increasing by a healthy 17 per cent.



Top international card spending growths came from the MEA region including Saudi Arabia (+31 per cent), Egypt (+29 per cent) and Qatar (+27 per cent). However, Americans also displayed an increased appetite with a strong 20 per cent growth while the UK had a positive 12 per cent growth in the sector.



Pressure on luxury and hotels

The luxury retail market took the largest hit in the first three months of 2016 with a decline in card spends of 15 per cent as compared to last year resulting significantly due to the decline in Chinese (52 per cent) and Russian (42 per cent) spending in this sector. There was also a significant decline in card spends by United States (32 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (29 per cent) as well but a modest decrease in domestic card spending of 5 per cent softened the impact overall.



Both overall and domestic card spends in the hotels industry fell slightly by 3 per cent in Q1 2016 (with a 10 per cent decline in average per purchase spend). Interestingly, card spending from the United Kingdom spiked upwards by 17 per cent.



Supermarket spends increase

Supermarkets card spends as expected, are dependent on domestic consumption and grew by 21 per cent. Surprisingly, the largest spike in supermarket spending came from cards issued in Egypt (+70 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (+43 per cent), the report said.  TradeArabia News Service


Latif Shoe Select celebrated the launch of a new anniversary collection, in association with Barker Shoes, at an exclusive event at Moda Mall.



The event took place at the shop with the presence of the current managing director, Abdulaziz Alujan as well as several dignitaries from Bahrain.



The long-standing franchise offered attendees a memorable experience by showcasing a skilled artisan making a shoe. Attendees enjoyed first picks of the new collection of footwear.



The event aimed at raising awareness about the 135th anniversary of Barker Shoes and about the highly reputable brand.



Latif Shoe Select is an example of a successful local start-up. The shop has several locations and caters to a plethora of different clientele under its other names including Piccadilly and Latino.



The event also offered attendees a sneak peak of the latest footwear from not only Barker, but also Crockett and Jones and Caretti.  TradeArabia News Service


Top officials and guests at the ceremony

Bahrain-based Dadabhai Travel, a leader in travel and hospitality services, recently marked the 35th anniversary of its founding with a gala dinner at the Gulf Hotel in Manama, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

To read further, please visit GDNonline.




Emirates is bringing back its Iftar service for customers travelling during the holy month of Ramadan.



The special boxes have been re-designed and will be available across all cabin classes on select flights including those to and from the Gulf region as well as Umrah groups travelling to Jeddah and Madinah.



The Iftar boxes will allow those observing Ramadan to break their fast with a nutritious and balanced meal. The service has been a mainstay on Emirates flights for over 20 years and is available for the whole month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin on June 6 this year.



The boxes feature a new look with a clean and modern Arabesque design inspired by the region. The Iftar service is a further commitment towards an exceptional travel experience, providing comfort and convenience to customers who are observing the holy month of Ramadan and allowing them to enjoy the world class meals the airline is known for.



This years Ramadan boxes will have a new menu designed by Emirates chefs. These menus feature a Middle Eastern flavour, while remaining distinctly global, and will be refreshed mid-Ramadan. The Iftar box includes options such as zaatar chicken with hummus, spinach fatayer, halloumi cheese and cucumber sandwiches, traditional sweets such as mammoul and dates, as well as yoghurt.



Emirates utilises a unique tool to calculate the correct timings for Imsak (the time to commence fasting) and Iftar while in-flight. It calculates the exact Ramadan timings using the aircrafts longitude, latitude and altitude; ensuring the greatest level of accuracy possible while onboard. When the sun sets, passengers will be informed of the Iftar time by the captain. This tool was developed to supplement Emirates annually produced booklet on the timings for Ramadan, available on every flight.



A snack box will also be provided at boarding gates allowing customers to break their fast prior to boarding or while boarding. The snack boxes will feature pastries like cheese fatayer and Arabic sweets like baklava and will be served for flights departing close to Iftar at Emirates hub in Dubai International Airport Terminal 3. On certain routes, these boxes will be offered to customers prior to Imsak.



Both variations of boxes will feature a box of dates, symbolic of Ramadan. During the holy month, cold meals will be served in lieu of a hot one on all flights to Jeddah and Madinah, including Umrah day flights.



Emirates award-winning ice system will feature popular movies such as Zinzana and Omar wa Salwa. These are in addition to 49 Arabic movies, 19 channels of Arabic TV programming, and 94 Arabic audio channels, including the Holy Quran channel. - TradeArabia News Service
National carrier Oman Air has announced plans to launch a new service between Muscat and the Iranian city of Mashhad from June 1.



This is Oman Airs second destination in Iran, following the launch of flights to Tehran in 2012. The carrier will operate daily flights aboard Boeing 737-800 aircraft.



Flights will depart Muscat International Airport at 14.00hrs and arrive at Mashhad International Airport (also known as Shahid Hashemi Nejad Airport) at 17.15hrs. Return flights will depart Mashhad International Airport at 21.45hrs and arrive in Muscat at 23.50hrs.



Announcing the launch of the new service, Oman Airs chief executive officer, Paul Gregorowitsch, said: Oman Air is delighted to be launching a new service between Muscat and Mashhad from June 1. The launch is in response to significant customer demand and we anticipate a high level of early bookings. The service will strengthen the well-established bilateral trade links between Oman and Iran and deliver further opportunities for the two nations.



Commenting on the new service, Oman Airs deputy CEO and executive vice president commercial Abdulrahman Al Busaidy said: Oman Airs new service to Mashhad will offer travelers from throughout our international network the opportunity to discover an exciting and vibrant new destination. Furthermore, our guests from Iran to Muscat and onward destinations will now have even greater choice and convenience, whilst enjoying Oman Airs unique hospitality and award-winning inflight services. The new service is sure to prove an overwhelming success.



Return Economy Class seats from Muscat to Mashhad are currently available at a promotional rate of OMR110 ($284.7) per person, and return Business Class seats are available from OMR300 ($776.6) per person. Return flights from Mashhad to Muscat cost from $409 in Economy Class or $872 in Business Class.



Mashhad is Irans second most populous city, with around 2.8 million inhabitants. It is also a major centre for cultural, religious and business affairs. Located in the north East of Iran, Mashhads economy is based on trade in fruit, nuts and spices, gems and jewelry, perfume and textiles. It is also Irans second largest manufacturing center for the automobile industry. - TradeArabia News Service


Preferred Hotels & Resorts has welcomed international hotelier Claudio Roscigno as the its regional director, Middle East & North Africa, based out of the brand's new regional headquarters in Dubai.



With over 15 years of industry experience and an international pedigree that includes senior executive roles with Rosewood Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Roscigno has developed front office and food and beverage (F&B) operations and experienced new hotel openings across three continents. In addition, he has held responsibility for various regional sales office set-ups and headed-up specific task force management projects.



"Claudio's well-rounded industry expertise and regional exposure in Beirut and Doha will add a new dimension to our business as we grow our Dubai-based team and MENA portfolio. The Middle East & North Africa region is pivotal in our growth strategy, which is already on its own fast-track growth trajectory, with a total of 91 hotels from 14 countries joining our portfolio in 2015," said Saurabh Rai, executive vice president, Preferred Hotels & Resorts.



"I am looking forward to maximising the opportunities and overcoming the challenges that an exciting and demanding role like this will afford. The Mena region is one of the fastest-growing luxury hotel markets in the world today and my front office, sales and marketing experience will stand me in good stead, as Preferred Hotels & Resorts continues to expand its regional footprint," said Roscigno.



On top of ensuring optimal revenue generation and exposure for existing Preferred Hotels & Resorts properties in the region, in his new role, Roscigno will be targeting Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Manama, Bahrain; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon as part of the development plan. - TradeArabia News Service
Thursday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A St.; noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 5:30 p.m., 456 S. Walnut; 6 p.m., Douglas, Congregational United Church of Christ, 405 N. 6th St.; 7 p.m., Shepherd of the Valley, public welcome; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, closed; 7 p.m., Edgerton, 763 Center St.; 7:30 p.m., Douglas, 628 E. Richards; 8 p.m., Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church, 4600 S. Poplar; 8 p.m., 917 N. Beech St.; 8 p.m., 328 E. A St. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: 307-351-1688.

Al-Anon: 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 7:30 p.m., 328 1/2 E. A (upstairs).

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 4700 S. Poplar (church basement), closed. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Muni ladies golf

pairings

Playing Park and Links, 9 a.m. shotgun start. Please check in 15 minutes prior to tee time. Park #1, Wheatley, Santoni, Stolte; Links #9A, Marsh, Watters, Farmer; Links #9B, Haydel, Sanford, Pingel; Links #8A, Meyer, Chadwick, Hansen; Links #8B, Schneider, Schmidt, Balas; Links #7A, McCarrel, Dressor, Fancher; Links #7B, Ortiz, Warren, Hill; Links #6A, Bain, Clark, Foster. For changes or additions, please call pro shop at 233-6620.

KW seniors

Seniors last day (turn in signed graduation ceremony agreement, pick up cap and gown, if not on watch or fine list). Seniors, submit final transcript request for college (in Counseling Office).

Five Trails hears pregnancy support

The Five Trails Rotary Club will hear from Joy Shain at noon at the Casper Petroleum Club. Community members are welcome to attend this presentation as guests of the Five Trails Rotary Club. Ms. Shain is the program director for Early KinCare (EKC), a Natrona County community based resource program focused on providing expectant mothers with resources to promote healthy pregnancies and enhance prenatal brain development.

Birds topic of

wildlife group

The Werner Wildlife Museums Wildlife Study Group will hold its May get-together at noon and again at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Zach Hutchinson, community naturalist for Audubon Rockies will demonstrate how to catch and band birds and then will allow participants to try their own luck at using the methods.

The Wildlife Study Group meets monthly in the Wyoming Room at the Werner Wildlife Museum, located at 405 E. 15th St. Anyone interested in learning about wildlife in the inter-mountain west and who would like to meet others who share their interests are welcome. For more information, contact the museum at 235-2108.

OLLI online signup

The Sizzlin Summer Sign-Up for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Casper College will be held with online registration.

OLLI members will receive a registration time in the mail. Registration times begin at 2 p.m., and each members time is randomly generated by computer. Those who choose not to register online, do not get a registration time, or who plan to join OLLI when they register, may come to the Chapman Lobby to join and/or register between 5 and 6 p.m., said Karen Arnold, lifetime learning specialist.

For those unable to attend the sign up, registrations will be taken by phone at 268-2099 or in person at the OLLI office, Room 408B in the Nolte Gateway Center after Thursday.

Family continues suicide support

Good Grief, Support will continue at 5:30 on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month (including this week, May 26) at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. The family of J.R. Hunter, who died from suicide in June 2015 began the support before the especially tough holiday season. Anyone who is grieving a suicide, death, or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance at the meeting, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential. The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend.

County Dems meet

Natrona County Democrats are called to meet at 6:30 p.m., at the IBEW Hall, 691 English Dr. Vital updates will be provided: actions at state and national conventions affecting Natrona County races, dates, candidates, registration, polls, voting options and strategies. The party will provide the main entree for a potluck, attendees will bring the sides. A brief business meeting will be followed by an Electing Democrats Update. Voter registration will be available. RSVP your intentions to attend to Dorothy Bullard, 265-0717, or bdorothy@tribcsp.com or to Cherie Schoonover, 265-6597, or gschoonover@bresnan.net.

Civil Air Patrol

Cadets meet

Civil Air Patrol Cadets for youth age 12-20 meet Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m., at the National Guard Armory, 5905 CY Ave.

Historical society meets

The Natrona County Historical Society will meet at 7 p.m., at the Oil and Gas Commission Building, 2221 King Boulevard. After a brief business meeting, the program will be presented by Steve Kurtz on the history of the town of Mills.

Kurtz is retired from Worthington, Lenhart and Carpenter (now WLC), where he worked for 30 years. During that time, he served as the Natrona County planner, the town planner for Evansville, and the town planner for Mills. In addition, he published a magazine for planners, The Western Planner, for 15 years and wrote a book, Separate and Distinct: A History of the Town of Mills, Wyoming.

Summer semester registration

Through June 10, high school summer semester (for credit recovery only) and drivers education registration takes place at the Fairgrounds Center, 2000 Casper St. For more information, call 253-4307.
Police arrested a Casper woman Tuesday for allegedly driving drunk with two children in her car, according to an offense report.

Rebecca Ann Jenson had a blood alcohol concentration of .23, nearly three times the legal limit for driving in Wyoming, the report states.

Jenson, 30, is charged with two counts of child endangering, as well as driving while under the influence. She was being held in the Natrona County Detention Center as of Wednesday morning.

Officers observed Jenson driving a car about 9:45 p.m. near 15th and Beverly streets, the report states. Her car was speeding and weaving in and out of its lane. When police pulled her over, they discovered Jensons daughter was in the car, as well as another woman and her daughter. The childrens ages were redacted from the report.

Jenson told police she had drunk two beers at a barbecue, according to the report. She completed field sobriety tests as well as a breathalyzer.

The other woman was also drunk, the report states. Police arranged for the woman and the two children to go to a relatives home.
This spring's annual Boy Scout Antler Auction in Jackson has raised more than $175,000.

It was the third-highest-grossing auction for the Boy Scouts since the auction began 49 years ago.

Just over 11,500 pounds of antler were sold at the auction held last weekend. That's close to a thousand pounds more than last year, and a ton more than the 10-year average.

The most expensive antlers sold for $155 per pound for a 25-pound set. The set featured one antler at six points and the other at seven points. The most expensive skull sold for $1,800.

Most of the proceeds go to the National Elk Refuge for habitat enhancement projects. About 25 percent goes to the Jackson District Boy Scouts.
John Meena, an independent who had run for Wyomings sole U.S. House seat, said Tuesday he is ending his bid.

It was a fun journey, but I must allocate my time to my career at this moment, Meena said in an email. I will be back in a few short years.

Meena, 25, is a database administrator and accountant for the Wyoming School Facilities Department who lives near Buford.

He was the only candidate in the crowded race who was not affiliated with a political party. U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, is vacating the seat at the end of the year.

In a race where candidates were expected to raise big bucks  Republican Liz Cheney, daughter of the former Vice President Dick Cheney, is expected to raise $1 million  Meena firmly opposed fundraising. He planned to spend virtually no money on his campaign, using social media and asking people for support over the telephone.

In April, the first campaign finance reports for Congress were due to the Federal Election Commission, showing fundraising for the first quarter of the year. Meena submitted a report to the FEC, even though he didnt have to because he didnt raise $5,000  the minimum required to report contributions.

The report for the the Zero Dollar Campaign for John Meena was thorough; all categories were completed. And all the boxes were filled in with zeros  from contributions to loans to expenditures.

Meena is the second congressional hopeful to exit the race. Republican Charles Tyrrel of Casper also recently suspended his campaign, citing needs in his pizzeria, Charlie Ts. Neither candidate has endorsed anyone for the office.

I hope the people of Wyoming elect a true Wyomingite that will represent them fairly, Meena said.
The number of passengers who board flights at Riverton Regional Airport has decreased by two-thirds in recent years, the result of travelers scattering to other airports when commercial service from Great Lakes Airlines became sporadic.

Flights are frequently canceled, as the Cheyenne-based company struggles to find pilots with enough training and rest time. People are booking trips through other airports, including Casper/Natrona County International Airport, said Kyle Butterfield, Rivertons airport manager.

In 2013, 13,000 commercial passengers departed from Riverton. In 2014, the number of passengers declined to 7,600. Last year, it was 3,800.

But Butterfield hopes all of that is about to change. A new air service will begin July 1, when a Colorado company operating under the brand Denver Air Connection will offer daily flights to Riverton and the Sheridan County Airport.

Weve definitely seen a shift in the flying public, Butterfield said. Theres been some leakage. A new air service provider, we hope, will be able to recapture some of that.

Great Lakes stopped offering flights in Sheridan over a year ago. The company did not return a message from the Star-Tribune.

Denver Air Connection was drawn to the Wyoming markets through promises of revenue from the state and two communities. The Wyoming Aeronautics Commission approved a $1.2 million grant. Sheridan and Riverton each will provide $795,000, said Sheri Taylor of the Wyoming Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division.

This is just a revenue guarantee, which means if the airline doesnt make enough revenue to cover the cost of the operation, this makes up the difference, Taylor said. If the service ends up making enough revenue, then the community and state would pay nothing.

The flights will touch down in Wyoming three times a day through June 30, 2017.

In the morning, a Denver Air Connection plane will depart Sheridan, stop in Riverton and land in Denver. In the early afternoon, the plane will leave Denver, stop in Riverton and Sheridan and then return to Denver.

In the evening, it would fly from Denver to Riverton and Sheridan. The plane would be grounded overnight in Sheridan for the next days trip, Taylor said.

Sheridan County Airport has had flights with Denver Air Connection since November  about six months after losing Great Lakes  thanks to a state grant. Bruce Garber, one of several Sheridan and Johnson county residents that worked to bring regular commercial service to the airport, said the flights have helped the local economy.

People spend money in Sheridan, Gerber said. That money would have gone to Billings, the closest city with an airport that Sheridan travelers started using when air service was canceled.

Its easier to do business and there is more business going on because it is easier to get here, he said. This has just been a great project, with collaboration from state and local governments and the private sector.
CHEYENNE  The Capitol Square Project faces another legal challenge, this time from one of the states top five elected officials.

State Treasurer Mark Gordon is suing the Capitol Building Rehabilitation and Restoration Oversight Group, claiming that the way the projects contracts have been carried out violates the Wyoming Constitution.

Specifically, Gordons complaint states that the legislation authorizing the Capitol Square Project is unconstitutional because it did not include the state treasurer, nor did the contracts for the restoration work receive approval from the state treasurer.

Gordons lawsuit cites Article 3, Section 31 of the Wyoming Constitution, which states that all such contracts involving expenses for repairing and furnishing the halls and rooms of the Legislature shall be subject to the approval of the governor and the state treasurer.

The suit seeks prospective declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of the state law authorizing the project and the treasurers legal requirements to be involved in the project.

The suit also asks the court to issue a prospective permanent injunction that would prohibit the oversight group from entering into any contracts or expending any public funds for the repairing and furnishing of the halls and rooms of the Legislature and its committees without the approval of the treasurer.

Gordon said the lawsuit is not an effort to stop the Capitol project. Rather, its an attempt to clarify his offices role in the work.

Its about the authorities of the treasurers office, Gordon said. All Im asking are what are my duties under that constitutional provision.

Gordon said he believes his office is required to play a role in the Capitol project, according to the state constitution.

A few members of the Capitol Oversight Committee contacted by the Tribune Eagle did not wish to comment, with some citing pending litigation.

The lawsuit was filed in Laramie County District Court on May 16.

Gordon is being represented by Sheridan attorney Anthony Wendtland.

In March, Casper Republican Gerald Gay and Uinta County resident Karl Allred filed their own lawsuit related to the Capitol project. That suit alleged state leaders violated Wyoming law when they handed out $500 million in contracts.
When Lori Carroll started the initial design sketches for a kitchen in a new Foothills home in 2012, she had a good feeling, and told co-designer Debra Gelety she thought there was something special about the project.

That feeling turned out to be justified, as Lori Carroll & Associates recently won the 2016 Best Kitchen award from the National Kitchen & Bath Association for the design.

It takes a team of people to produce this type of kitchen.  Theres a host of people that put all their design expertise together to create this, Carroll said, citing the work of cabinet fabricators, granite installers, electricians and others.

The collaboration reaches back to before construction started on the house, homeowner Barbara Goldberg said, with an initial meeting between various contractors involved in the project.

One of the reasons that we had such an extraordinarily wonderful experience with the entire building of the house was we had a fabulous contractor, an amazing landscape architect, a wonderful architect and a fabulous designer. So the whole team really worked, Goldberg said.

The NKBA judges rate designs based on functionality, quality, durability, flexibility, aesthetics, style and innovation, Carroll said.

A few elements likely set this kitchen apart:

The countertops are made of two different materials: Tortuga quartzite and ice-age granite. The latter is also used for the backsplash and a wall feature in the connected dining area.

While the clients wanted a clean, contemporary design, they also wanted warmth, Carroll said, so the kitchen was completely wrapped in afromosia, a wood she characterized as having beautiful, exotic qualities.

Thick glass cabinets allow those in the kitchen to see through to the mountains beyond the property, which Goldberg said makes it feel very open.

Connected to the pantry is a garage for storing appliances. It has an automated door, allowing easy access and eliminating counter clutter.

The best-looking projects are not necessarily the winners; designs must also exhibit functionality and safety and meet the needs of the client, according to NKBA evaluation criteria.

The client was not interested in a kitchen just for show. Previous commercial work Carroll did for Goldberg and her husband established trust and familiarity, which allowed the designer to create a kitchen with her clients in mind, one with form and function in equal measure.

She uses every inch of her kitchen, Carroll said of Goldberg.

I think thats one of the things that really rings true about the kitchen is that its beautiful  and its being used, Goldberg said.

The NKBA is the premier association for kitchen and bath professionals, according to the nonprofits website, and has more than 60,000 members. Over 400 projects from the United States and Canada vied in several categories for honors in the 2016 competition.

In 2006, Lori Carroll & Associates earned the NKBAs Best Kitchen and Best Bath awards, which qualified as the Pinnacle of Design distinction.

Only NKBA members can enter the competition, and Carroll is quick to point out that the name of her company on the award could obscure how important collaboration was in the execution of the design.

Im honored to be part of these teams. Its just a nice feeling. Its even a more rewarding feeling  when you hear how much (clients) love the finished product. That to me is worth all the energy.

While Carroll declined to say how much the award-winning design cost, she said the price of a kitchen design or remodel can vary widely depending on the scope of the project.

Professional touch-up and remodeling projects can start at around $15,000, while the costs of ground-up designs virtually have no limit, she said, adding that the choice of appliances, counter materials, furniture and lighting can alter the price drastically.
The Adult Coloring Group gathers monthly at Woods Memorial Library in Tucson to destress, be creative and make new friends. Video by Angela Pittenger, Arizona Daily Star.
Labrador retrievers and German shepherds remain among the most popular dog breeds year after year, but some underrated breeds like the Bedlington terrier and the Tibetian spaniel, despite lower ranks in popularity, have outstanding qualities making them the perfect Fido friends.

Data analysts at PetBreeds, a Graphiq vertical search engine, acquired data from the American Kennel Clubs 2015 dog breed rankings, developed an index and compiled a list of the most underrated dogs. The PetBreeds Index combines seven different breed criteria including: intelligence, longevity, health, lifetime costs, general maintenance, adaptability and protective/guard skills.

Of the 184 pups recognized by the AKC, the breeds showing the largest positive improvements between the PetBreeds Index and the AKCs ranking were considered the most underrated. In the case of ties, the breeds were listed alphabetically. Some dogs on this list, like the Greyhound are well-known, while others are more obscure. Find out which underestimated canine companion tops the charts.
PHOENIX  Arizona is joining with Texas today to challenge a directive by the Obama administration that schools must let transgender students use restrooms that match their self-proclaimed sexual identity.

In a prepared statement, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the president "has no business setting locker room and restroom policies for our schools.''

"Deciding how to protect our children and preserve their privacy, while balancing these complicated issues, is best done locally and not by some one-size-fits-all decree from Washington, he said.

Brnovich has the backing of state schools chief Diane Douglas who had previously blasted the administration's announcement.

"When Arizona students attend school, they deserve a safe environment that is free from bullying and discrimination, regardless of their gender identity, she said in her own statement.

"I know that our districts and schools have policies in place to ensure that is the case, she continued. "The fact that the federal government has yet again decided that it knows what is best for every one of our local communities is insulting and, quite frankly intolerable.

The issue arises under Title IX, a section of federal law which makes it illegal to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex in any education programs or activities receiving federal assistance.

In a joint memo earlier this month, the federal departments of Justice and Education said the law requires educators to deal with transgender student consistent with their gender identity. They said it is irrelevant what sex is listed on a student's records.

"No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus, education Secretary John King Jr. said in a statement when the directive was released.

Gov. Doug Ducey previously blasted the Obama administration for interjecting itself into what he sees as a strictly local matter.

"This is not an issue we're having in Arizona, he said in a prepared statement.

"This is an issue we're handling on the local level, Ducey continued. We don't need Washington D.C. or the federal government telling us how to run our schools.

State schools chief Diane Douglas was equally condemning.

"This directive is yet another example of federal overreach negatively impacting our state's schools, she said in her own statement.

"Every local community across Arizona is unique, Douglas said. "I know that the people who live in those communities should be making the decisions when it comes to this and many other education issues.''

But U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has defended the move.

"This guidance gives administrators, teachers and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies, she said in her own statement. Lynch said classrooms need to have "environments that are safe, nuturing and inclusive for all of our young people.

State lawmakers attempted to address the issue on a more global basis three years ago.

Then-Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, introduced legislation to make it a crime to enter a public restroom designated for one gender or the other if someone is "not legally classified on a birth certificate as a member of that sex. His measure also would have applied to showers, baths, dressing rooms or locker rooms.

That move came a month after the Phoenix City Council voted to extend its anti-discrimination laws to those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Foes quickly dubbed it the "bathroom bill, saying the provisions about public accommodations could result in businesses being prosecuted for refusing to let transgender men use the women's room.

Kavanagh said state action was needed. Otherwise, he said, any man who simply "thinks of himself as a woman could be free to go into a women's locker room and disrobe.

"That's unacceptable behavior, he said.

But officials in Tucson, which has had a similar ordinance since 1999, said no one had ever raised an issue or filed a complaint about who was using which bathroom.
Paul Babeu

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu warned Memorial Day travelers in the western part of the county to be wary of drug cartel assassins.

Babeu urged caution on the part of his deputies and encouraged campers, hikers, mountain bikers and all-terrain vehicle riders using back roads, trails and campsites in areas known to be drug smuggling corridors to consider carrying firearms.

Mondays advisory cited recent cases in Pinal County that Babeu said involved cartel hitmen, known as sicarios in Spanish, attacking the rip crews that steal drug loads from rival cartels.

In an email included in the advisory, Tim Gaffney, deputy chief of administration at the sheriffs office, relayed a warning from the supervisor of the anti-smuggling enforcement unit.

Gaffney pointed to an incident in early April near Sunland Gin Road south of Casa Grande in which a drug smuggling suspect fired a shot at Border Patrol agents.

Several days later, Gaffney wrote, the Border Patrol and the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office responded to the Vekol Valley west of Casa Grande where a member of a rip crew reportedly was shot while stealing a drug load.

In an incident Monday south of Arizona City on the Tohono Oodham Nation, Gaffney said the Border Patrol received a call for medical help for a person who was shot in a gunfight.

During interviews it was confirmed that the cartel has hired sicarios  hit men  to come and eliminate rip crews in the area, Gaffney wrote. These sicario crews have been advised to shoot and kill rip crews on sight.

The Pima County Sheriffs Department did not report any incidents involving drug cartel assassins in the western desert areas that it patrols.

We havent seen activity like that down here, said department spokeswoman Deputy Alicia Cartwright.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, said in a statement that agents put themselves in harms way every day to stop drug smuggling and seize firearms and drug proceeds headed to Mexico.

Some of this work is not publicized in the interest of prosecuting criminals and understanding their organizations, the agency said.

The agency works with local law enforcement on several task forces that focus on dismantling the criminal networks perpetuating violence in Arizona, the statement read.

The Border Patrol referred questions about the Pinal County cases to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office said the Pinal sheriffs office has referred cases from April but could not confirm whether the cases involved rip crews.

In the news release, Babeu said Pinal deputies arrested 21 cartel scouts and many more smugglers last year.

Its a distressing reality that President Obama is unwilling to protect the public from armed incursions across the border and well into Arizona, Babeu said in the news release.

A reporter asked Babeu whether the travel warning and criticism of the Obama administration were related to his current campaign for District 1 in Congress. In response, Babeu said it has everything to do with that and he has been talking about cartel violence since he was elected sheriff eight years ago.

Its obscene to me the fact that we have this going on, that we have cartel members that literally think that they own the place, Babeu said.
A man has surrendered in connection with the May 4, shooting of a Marana businessman, police say.

Ruben Duran Munoz, 63, turned himself in to authorities at a port of entry in Nogales on Tuesday.

Hes been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of John Kai, Jr., 69.

Kai was shot at his Marana business and Munoz was soon identified as a suspect.

Munoz is being held at the Santa Cruz County jail pending extradition to Pima County, the Marana Police Department said in a news release.

Kai is recovering from his injuries and has been released from the hospital, police said.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has sided with Pima County in a lawsuit over an effort by the state to shift more of an education tax burden onto taxpayers here.

Pima Countys lawsuit, filed last summer, claims a state budget change last year unconstitutionally forces millions of dollars in education spending that had previously been handled by the state onto Pima County taxpayers.

Before Mondays ruling, Pima County was facing a $7.4 million bill, almost all of which was due to the Tucson Unified School District. Thats a result of a 2015 state law that changed the way Arizona handles situations in which homeowners are assessed property taxes that exceed 1 percent of their propertys full cash value.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry included a 10-cent primary property tax hike in the coming fiscal years proposed budget to help cover the additional cost. However, he told the Arizona Daily Star on Tuesday the increase may no longer be necessary with the ruling.

In the ruling, Judge Christopher Whitten said the Legislature unconstitutionally gave a state commission the power to determine which jurisdictions are liable when homeowners tax bills exceed the 1 percent threshold.

The power and responsibility to tax is vested in the Arizona Legislature and may not be delegated by it, he wrote of the responsibilities given to the Property Tax Oversight Commission.

The county had set aside $8.4 million in last years budget for payments to TUSD, expecting that the commission would split the $15.8 million bill among Tucson, Pima Community College and TUSD. However, the commission decided in March that Pima County would bear all of the costs.

As a result of the commissions decision, 77 percent of the parcels in Pima County, the majority of which are located outside TUSD boundaries, will pay this additional property tax to TUSD, according to a memo written by Huckelberry a month before Whittens decision.

Since 1980, when Arizona voters approved the 1 percent primary property tax cap, the state had provided tax credits to property owners to compensate them for school district tax bills that pushed total property tax burdens over the cap, according to several memos written by Huckelberry.

However, Senate Bill 1476, which passed during last years legislative session, capped the amount of so-called Additional State Aid to Education that the state would provide to each county at $1 million and gave the oversight commission the power to determine how to apportion the remainder to local jurisdictions.

It was in response to that legislation that Pima County sued the state.

With the legal win, Huckelberry said, the method of dealing with overtaxed property owners reverts to the previous system, at least for the foreseeable future.

If it hadnt gone our way, then wed be recommending the tax increase, knowing that obviously both parties can appeal, Huckelberry said of the ruling. Now that we at least (know) in Superior Court that we won, were inclined to simply assume that were not going to be liable for that payment this year.

Whittens ruling says the defendants have until May 27 to object to it, and that a signed judgment will be provided by June 30.

A spokeswoman with the Arizona Attorney Generals Office and a staffer for Gov. Doug Ducey said the ruling was still being reviewed and that no decision about an appeal had been made.

Huckelberry said the county intends to file a request to recoup attorneys fees accrued at the Arizona Supreme Court, where the suit was originally filed, and with Maricopa County Superior Court.
Developers will have to pay $1.4 million, plus 3.5 percent annual interest, for a road and other improvements that Pima County built over the last year or so that officials say should have been built by the developers in the first place.

Thats according to a settlement of a 2014 Superior Court lawsuit recently reached between the developers behind Star Valley, a large residential subdivision west of Tucson off Valencia Road, and the county.

The settlement, which will soon be formalized in a development agreement between the parties, puts to rest a dispute that saw the county threaten to rescind the development plan for large swaths of Star Valley and one of the developers file a separate lawsuit in federal court alleging defamation on the part of county officials, among other charges.

Beyond paying back the road construction costs, the developers must:

Pay back costs for a temporary traffic signal at the new intersection at Camino Verde and Valencia;

Pay half the costs for a traffic light at the nearby Wade Road-Valencia intersection;

And agree to extend some roadways and build sidewalks as future development occurs, among other terms laid out in the settlement agreement.

The plaintiffs also agreed to dismiss the defamation suit, which was filed in late 2014.

He tried to get out of a $1.4 million obligation and was not successful, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said of the settlement and Joseph Cesare, one of the principal developers behind Star Valley.

Huckelberry said the county went ahead on the Camino Verde construction on its own last year because having just one entrance to a large development was a public safety issue.

Excerpts from the 1987 ordinance approved for Star Valley, and included in a 2015 memo written by Huckelberry, seem to require the developers to build off-site transportation improvements, like the Camino Verde extension, at their own expense.

However, Cesare and the other plaintiffs argued that if those improvements were required, they could have been covered by the more than $5 million in impact fees the developers have paid the county since the early 2000s, according to court documents.

If (the developers) had signed an agreement to pay for construction of additional, off-site infrastructure, this would effectively have obligated (them) to pay twice for the same infrastructure because (they were) already paying for this off-site infrastructure through (their) development impact fees, reads the complaint of the defamation case filed against the county in federal court by Cesare and his company, S.V.A. Corp.

Huckelberry said state legislation requires that those impact fees be spent exclusively on road improvements, not on new roadways, and that all the fees paid so far by Star Valley had gone to work on Valencia.

When reached for comment, Cesare deferred questions about the settlement to his attorney Evan Thompson, who represented Cesare in the Superior Court suit, but not the defamation case.

Basically neither side admits liability and neither side is agreeing the other side is right. What both sides decided is it makes sense to resolve this this way, Thompson said of the settlement.

Disputes over what is required and who should foot the bill are also less likely to recur now that the obligations laid out in the settlement will soon be written down and agreed to by the parties, Thompson said.

From a business perspective, its a win-win for both sides, in that the developer has surety now and they dont have to keep wondering whats going to happen next. And the county doesnt have to fight with the developer, because the county knows what their responsibilities are, he said, adding that it was his clients position that there hadnt been such a signed development agreement between Star Valley and the county before.

With their new agreement with the county, the developers will also now be able to price property in Star Valley appropriately, according to Thompson.

Developers will pay down the principal and interest in $1,500 payments with each new building permit application they submit, according to the terms of the settlement.
The Week That Was in Asia Photo Gallery

In this Monday, May 9, 2016, photo, a worker fills water in one of the many tanks of the Jaldoot water train at the Miraj railway station, Miraj, 340 kilometers (212 miles) from Latur, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Many trains pull into Latur's railroad station but none is as eagerly awaited as this train that pulls into the parched town in the dead of the night. That train called "Jaldoot" or the Messenger of Water brings millions of liters of the precious liquid that the drought-plagued central Indian district so desperately needs. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
Help India!

By TCN News,

New Delhi: The Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) organized a lecture on Communal Violence and the Identity of Groups which was attended by several scholars, university teachers, social activists and prominent citizens.

Support TwoCircles



L-R: Prof. Shamim A. Ansari, Professor of Psychology at Aligarh Muslim University; Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Chairman, IOS; Prof. ZM Khan, Secretary General, IOS

The lecture was held here at its conference hall on Saturday.

Delivering the lecture, Shamim A. Ansari, Professor of Psychology at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), observed that communal violence was one of the most vulnerable conditions that not only widened the gap among the groups, but was also detrimental to nations growth and development. Emphasizing the need for controlling communal violence for the sake of nation-building, he said that the identification of reasons for such a national social evil was very important.

Ansari held that post-Independence scenario witnessed frequent occurrence of communal tensions, usually turning into communal violence in which lives of innocent people and properties were lost. He explained that factors like, personal identity, social identity, prejudice, social alienation in the form of socio-economic and educational deprivation, reservation of Muslims, chauvinism of the majority community in the form of self-righteousness and perceived cultural superiority contributed to the eruption of communal violence. He also said that there had been several reasons for group identity crisis that might be seen in the light of historical perspective of groups residing in a particular society and the nation at large.

Ansari pointed out that the sense of belonging to the nation too had a role to play in certain situations. He proved his point by saying that the output in private sector was bigger than that of the public sector. This was due to the pressure on the workers to work maximally for the greater profit of the company. But no such thing happened in the public sector which incurred heavy losses due to non-performance of its workers. Holding that education and employment were co-related, he opined that the deprived must get an opportunity to develop. Owing to the presence of the holy Quran and Hadith, Muslims had a strong identity. Their teachings made the Muslims not to be fearful of death which was not found in any other religion. While lamenting that the media had failed to play an important role in creating an atmosphere conducive to peace and harmony, he said that the government, too, was found failing in its duty to promote brotherhood, communal and social harmony.

Prof. ZM Khan, Secretary General, IOS held that the communal violence was multi-dimensional. It could be studied from the angle of psychology, politics and sociology. Several scholars had studied the subject and drawn their conclusions. With the advancement of science and technology, the reach of social media was not bound by country or continent. Islamophobia was such a falsehood that gripped the world today, he said. He felt satisfaction that India was still safe from the scale of strife that was being witnessed in Syria and other countries of the Muslim world.

Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Chairman, IOS in his presidential remarks announced that the IOS would hold a national dialogue programme in the first week of September in which representatives from major religions would be invited to deliberate on communal harmony. An effort was made to put an effective curb on communal violence by bringing the Anti-Communal Violence Bill in Parliament, but the stiff resistance put up by the then main opposition party and the complicity of members of BJP stalled the bill.

He said that the communal forces in the country used violence as a tool to come to power. They successfully polarised Hindus against Muslims in their bid to attain power. They knew when and how to use a person in their sinister design to spark off communal violence. The rioters took advantage of the fact that the Muslims by nature were uncompromising on their identity. He held that during Indias freedom movement, the RSS had advised Hindus not to waste their energies on it and keep their power reserved for use against Muslims and the Christians when the time came. Calling Islam a religion of peace and well-being of the entire mankind, he noted that the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) freed the maximum number of slaves.

The programme was attended by Ammama Sabri, Prof. Shafiq Ahmed Khan Nadvi, Kamal Ahmad, Col. (retd.) Abdul Rasool Khan from USA, Dr. Tariq Ashraf, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, Syed Ahmadullah, Afroz Alam Qasmi, Rashiduzzafar, Abdul Hafiz, Abdul Haq Falahi, Nihal Ahmad, Mohd. Minhaj Ahmad, Shakeelur Rahman, Qamar Ashraf, M. Shamsuddin, Safi Akhtar, Waseem Ahmad Fahmi and Dr. Bismil Aarfi among others.


Help India!

New Delhi : The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval to a law on setting up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country.

The approval to the amendment to The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, will also facilitate conversion of the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, to an IIT.

Support TwoCircles



The new IITs will come up at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Palakkad in Kerala, Dharwar in Karnataka, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Goa and in Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The approval will bring the six new IITs and the ISM within the ambit of the Act of 1961 and declare them as institutions of national importance, a government statement said.
Help India!



Foundation stone of Frank & Debbie Islam Management Complex was laid at AMU in February 2016

By TwoCircles.net news

Support TwoCircles



Boston: Entrepreneur Frank Islam was honored with Philanthropy Leadership Award at a program here on Sunday may 22, 2016. The award was given by TwoCircles.net on the occasion of ten-year anniversary of the daily news website.

Mr. Islam couldnt be there to receive the award personally. But in a statement read on the occasion termed this special because of the nature of the work that TwoCircles.net (TCN) does which is to bring voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless and stamp out the stereotypes that others may have of Muslims.

Mr. Islam said that he sees his philanthropy activity as strategic investment in the future rather than simply as charity. I engage in philanthropy not only to pay back for what I have been given but also to pay it forward so that others can give as well, said Mr. Islam in the speech released on the occasion.

Frank Islam is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He has been involved in civic and political issues affecting this country. Earlier this year he donated $2 million to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to build a new School of Management Complex and endow a Chair for entrepreneurship and innovation at AMU. This is the biggest donation AMU has received in its history and his generosity has established Mr. Islams commitment to education and his home country.

Mr. Islam appreciated the work that TCN does and asked people to dig down deep and support TCN in its cause. Even though TCN disseminates news, as I see it, it is really in the education and inspiration business, added Mr. Frank Islam.

TwoCircles is a Massachusetts-registered non-profit organization with a 501(c)(3) tax-exemption status from the IRS.

Full speech of Mr. Frank Islam:

Thank you Kashif and your colleagues at TCN for choosing me to receive the Philanthropy Leadership Award. I am truly honored to have been selected for this award and wish that I could be there with all of you today at your anniversary celebration to accept it. Unfortunately, a prior commitment prevents me from participating in this joyous occasion. (Pause)

I receive many awards but this one is special because of the nature of the work that those of you at TCN do. TCNs focus as a non-profit online news organization for the marginalized sections of India is a much needed one.

You bring voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless and stamp out the stereotypes that others may have of Muslims. By doing so, you are helping to make India and the world a better and fairer place. My hat is off to you and I applaud your good work.

TCN takes its name from a Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar who said, I belong to two circles of equal size, but which are not concentric. One is India and the other is the Muslim world. As I read that quote, I thought that I belong to three circles, India, the Muslim world, and the United States of America.

It is my being in that third circle and realizing the American dream that empowered and enabled me to become a philanthropist and to be recognized by TCN. I engage in philanthropy because I believe that, as John F. Kennedy put it, To whom much is given, much is expected.

I engage in philanthropy not only to pay back for what I have been given but also to pay it forward so that others can give as well. Thats the perspective I bring to my giving. I do not see philanthropy as charity but as a strategic investment in the future.

It is my understanding that one of the primary reasons that I am being given this award is because of the financial support that my wife Debbie and I are providing to help my alma mater Aligarh Muslim University to build a new School of Management Complex and also for endowing a chair for entrepreneurship and innovation at AMU.

Given that, I would to share a little of what I said at the laying of the Foundation stone for the Management Complex in March of this year because it explains why I concentrate much of my philanthropy on education and is of relevance to the mission of those of you here at TCN as well.

At the foundation stone, I said the following:

From this Management Complex will come the future leaders who will make India and the world a better place? I am confident that prediction will come true also. While the bricks and mortar are important, far more significant, however,  in terms of my confidence in my prediction  is who will be in and what will go on in this setting? This will be a home for Aligarh business faculty and students. It will be a place for the sharing of information and the imparting and development of knowledge. It will be a space where faculty and students can collaborate on innovative projects. It will be an educational empowerment zone. Debbie and I recognize and understand this. That is why we made instituting an Endowed Chair in our name part of our conditions for providing funding support for the Management Complex. The person in that Chair will provide the essential intellectual and emotional capital to match the buildings bricks and mortar. We expect that person to be a thought leader and a mentor to those management and business students who will graduate from Aligarh. Our overriding motivation in supporting the Management Complex is because of the emphasis it will place on preparing the students at AMU to become entrepreneurial leaders who will engage in economic development activities that will create jobs and opportunities for thousands of people throughout India and in other parts the world. While I was in India in March, I also had the privilege to give the convocation address to students graduating from AMU. Here is part of what I said to them: Much has been accomplished here:  India is the largest democracy in the world  India is now the worlds fastest growing major economy  India is fast emerging as a regional and global power and leader Still, much needs to be done. This is especially true for Muslims and other minorities. In spite of begrudging progress, too many Muslims in India remain socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged. The statistics on Muslims in poverty and without education here in India are stunning. As you become successful in your chosen line of work, because Aligarh has prepared you well and empowered you both academically and spiritually, you have the capacity to take India and Muslims to greater heights. Therefore, I ask that you to find a cause that matters to you and to get involved. Take my word for it, the psychic return that you will get on that investment of your time and talent will be priceless. It will mean as much to you as any paycheck you ever get or all the money that you earn. Although your cause must be your cause, I would suggest that you consider doing something to benefit the Muslim population in India. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, the statistics on Muslims in poverty and without education here are stunning. Many of your Muslim brothers and sisters need assistance. Your commitment to helping make things better for them could make a difference for a lifetime  both for them and for you.

As you can see, I am passionate about education and about the responsibilities that we as Muslims have to assist our Muslim brethren. I know that this is a passion and a commitment that I share with you at this event for TCN.

So, in closing let me ask you to dig down deep and give what you can to support TCN. Even though TCN disseminates news, as I see it, it is really in the education and inspiration business.

As I said at the beginning of my comments, TCN gives voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless, and stamps out stereotypes that others may have in Muslim.

Thanks again for this recognition. I wish I could have been with you in person today. But, since I cannot, rest assured that I am with you in spirit and committed to the same cause that you are pursuing.
In yet another example of violence on the campaign trail, Donald Trump's rally in New Mexico went up in flames. Protested crashed the event, burning pro-Trump flags, while attacking police horses with bottles and rocks.

Violence on the trail

Hundreds turned out to voice their opposition to the billionaire real estate mogul in Albuquerque Tuesday night. Following a disturbing trend over the last few months, angry protesters took to the streets and started a violent outbreak. As reported by The Hill on May 24, via reports from the Albuquerque Police Department, the evening quickly turned sour.

WATCH: Protests turn violent at Trumps New Mexico rally https://t.co/MvN4FgEDqD pic.twitter.com/MwKyeCeQjO  The Hill (@thehill) May 25, 2016

"Protesters are now throwing bottles and rocks at our Police Horses," the Albuquerque Police Department tweeted out. Conflicting accounts reported possible gun shots and tear gas being used, though the Albuquerque Police Department were quick to silence the rumors.

Scene after Trump rally in NM: glass door to convention center smashed. Riot police diverting crowd from main exits pic.twitter.com/lfcIRDnS3s  Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 25, 2016

Other reports from on the ground show protesters setting fire to pro-Trump flags and signs, throwing them into the crowd, while the police were forced to confront those inciting violence.

Protesters are throwing burning t shirts at trump rally pic.twitter.com/rVbGmHsW6x  john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) May 25, 2016

Glass doors at the convention center where the rally took place were shattered, as reporters were told to remain inside to avoid injury.Protesters could be heard screaming "F**k Donald Trump," while the crowd descended into chaos.

As of press time, no arrests have been, though the crowd has yet to back down.

Shit is going ham at this trump rally pic.twitter.com/Dq0h0lFKM5  john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) May 25, 2016

History of violence

Various reports and documented incidents of violence have been reported at Trump rallies across the country. Starting in February, acts of violence against reporters and protesters have become the norm.

Prior to a rally in Chicago in March, the Trump campaign was forced to cancel the event as protesters clashed with supporters, which ended up flowing to the outside of the building. During a rally last month in California, anti-Trump protesters were caught bashing police car windows, while stomping onto of the vehicles.

Election forecast

Despite the violence and controversy that has surrounded his campaign, Trump has managed to emerge as the Republican nominee. According to Real Clear Politics most recent rolling average, the former host of "The Apprentice" has erased Hillary Clinton's double-digit lead, pullingeven in a hypothetical general election match up.
A famous CNN TV reporter and presenter of Africa Voices program, Keturah King, was on Tuesday arrested by police at the Leopold Sedar Senghore International Airport in Dakar, Senegal and detained at a police station in the capital.Journalist King who is said to be on a short vacation in Dakar accompanied her boyfriend, a nephew to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, had a bitter confrontation with airport security officers leading to her severe harassment and detention.

King, a British of Nigerian origin was said to have been forcing her way to get access to the departure lounge of the airport without any passport or any identity card to show she was travelling, knowing fully that its only reserved for travelers, police sources confirmed.

Bruised on the fingers and leg

Police denied her access, which resulted in a heavy scuffle and led to her suffering some injuries during the struggle.Intervention efforts by the Nigerian ambassador in Senegal failed after the police proceeded to file charges against her. The case file has been submitted to state prosecutors Wednesday.

Journalist King took to social media to spread the information. She took to her twitter account to cry for help and alert the international community as well as the government of Senegal of the incident saying he was locked in a room with groups of male officers who were using profanity towards her, physically manhandling her and telling her to put her phone away and not to record them.

Sheis due to appear in court today, Wednesday 25 May. The journalist shared pictures of her showing bruises on her legs and fingers.

CNN yet to officially comment

CNNs African Voices highlights the continent's most dazzling trendsetters who create their own subcultures in areas such as travel, fashion, art, music, technology and architecture according to its site.

The cable network is yet to make any statements regarding the incident.

Senegal is one of the most tolerant and press free nations in Africa with media houses producing some of the most critical contents towards the government. Reports are hardly heard of journalists being harassed or physically abused. Though the former French colony is yet to decriminalize defamation, it is gradually moving towards adopting a legislation to give more access to information.
The African Development Bank Group has signed a USD $9 million agriculture and food security loan with the Gambia, rescuing the government of President Yahya Jammeh from its failed Vision 2016 food security and self-sufficiency drive.

The Agriculture Value Chains Development Project (AVCDP) will involve the production, processing and storage of rice and livestock to increase on a sustainable basis the income of rural farmers and businesses engaged in production, processing, storage and marketing of rice and livestock.

Project intended for rural farmers and businesses

The AfDB loan will target farmers in the countrys Upper River Region where poverty and food and nutrition insecurity are highly endemic. Many in the region are subsistence farmers. It is expected that the loan will help create jobs for young people within the next five years. AfDB acting Vice President of Sector Operations Kapil Kapoor signed the agreement on behalf of the bank while Abdou Kolley, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Minister signed on behalf of the government of The Gambia.

Kapoor said the project which takes off from existing agricultural projects in The Gambia is in line with the banks High 5 priorities, more particularly its Feed Africa component and hopes that the Gambia will accelerate its implementation to ensure success.

The project to help Africa become net food exporter

The High 5s is the five development priorities of the Africa Development Bank: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. The priorities are essential focus areas in transforming the lives of the African people in line with the UN agenda on Sustainable Development Goals.

Feed Africa main objective is to make the continent a net food exporter by 2025, a transformation of which will involve mobilizing resources, representing a significant opportunity for potential to drive inclusive and green growth actors along the value chains. Estimated to benefit an overall 12,450 households comprising of 3,320 women and 4,980 men with additional 4,150 people to benefit indirectly, the project is among the banks 15 agriculture value-chain engagements across Africa.

Loan to strengthen relations between The Gambia, AfDB

After penning the loan agreement with high hopes, Gambias Finance Minister Abdou Kolley, said the loan agreement will help further cement the already smooth and long standing relations between the bank and the government of The Gambia.

The government of the Gambia under President Yahya Jammeh had set a target that by 2016, The Gambia will reach its food self-sufficiency goal of eat what you grow and grow what you eat which many described as an already failed endeavor. The countrys presidency announced it will stop the importation of rice by 2016, a goal still far off with the nation importing about $50 million worth of rice.

Gambias government said the loan will greatly help in the realization of the food-sufficiency goal of President Yahya Jammehs Vision 2016 to ensure that it is not only a political propaganda but a reality.
Action taken against people involved in suspected leak of exam questions Updated: 2016-04-30 09:44 (chinadaily.com.cn)

BEIJING - Action has begun against those implicated in the suspected leak of questions used in civil servant recruitment exams, authorities said Friday.

The exams were held in 26 provincial regions last Saturday. That evening, someone who sat the exam in eastern Jiangxi Province posted pictures of the exam papers on China's version of Twitter, Weibo.

Exam questions used in 24 of these regions came from the same question database, the examination and recruitment department of the State Administration of Civil Service (SACS) said.

Investigations have been launched.

Jiangxi police found evidence implicating an educational and training agency in profiteering from cheating.

Those involved have been put under "coercive measures," the SACS said, without specifying the exact measures, which may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.

Investigators have not yet found any evidence of questions being leaked before the exam started.

SACS vowed zero tolerance for cheating and any action that compromises the fairness of recruitment exams, saying that organizations and individuals involved in organized cheating will be held to account.
Chinese premier stresses reform, innovation Updated: 2016-05-25 00:19 (Xinhua)

WUHAN -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has highlighted reform and innovation to upgrade growth during his visit to Shiyan and Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Monday and Tuesday.

Reforms of state-owned enterprises should be carried out consistently and the market should be invigorated so that enterprises can be real market entities, he said when visiting a heavy truck manufacturer in Shiyan.

Independent innovation should be highlighted to sharpen competitive edges, he added.

Digestion of excessive production capacity is a key task in supply-side structural reform and inefficient production capacity must be cut firmly, he said when visiting Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp.

He also urged governments at various levels to protect the interests of laid-off workers.

Li visited Wuhan Donghu New Technological Development Zone, a base for China's photoelectron industry and a National Independent Innovative Demonstration Zone.

About 60 percent of Wuhan's economy is underpinned by new dynamics such as high-technology and modern services.

Cultivating new development dynamics and transforming traditional ones can create more jobs and help digestion of steel and coal production overcapacity, he noted.
Taiwan's new leader 'must clarify stance' Updated: 2016-05-26 03:34 By Peng Yining(China Daily)

Question regarding 1992 Consensus cannot be evaded by Tsai, mainland spokesman says

Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, DPP, Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. [Photo/IC]

The Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs spokesman, Ma Xiaoguang, said on Wednesday that the island's new leader must, without any equivocation, clarify her stance on cross-Straits relations.

Ma, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a regular news conference that Taiwan must clarify the issue.

In a speech after taking office on Friday, new leader Tsai Ing-wen was ambiguous, despite cross-Straits relations being of the utmost concern to people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, Ma said.

Tsai did not explicitly recognize the 1992 Consensus, which says that both the mainland and Taiwan are parts of one China, and she offered no concrete proposal to ensure the peaceful and stable growth of cross-Straits relations, he said.

"The issue is a question that must be answered  it cannot be evaded," said Ma.

The cross-Straits cooperation process will only continue when the island's new leader fully endorses the one China principle, Ma said.

The mainland opposes all separatist activities advocating "Taiwan independence" in the name of "law amendments", he added.

"No one shall test our resolution and capability to safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
A recent trip to Lower Manhattan for a dentist's appointment reminded me of the ubiquitous Chinese presence in the city.

As I was walked down Broadway after getting out of the subway, I saw a China Daily USA vending box outside Trinity Church. Heading south toward the famous "Charging Bull", which symbolizes New York's standing as a financial capital, I witnessed scores of Chinese tourists, mostly middle age or older, streaming to the bronze structure.

Some also lined up to take photos nearby with a gracious New York City police officer.

Arturo Di Modica of Italy spent $360,000 to build the 7,100-pound (3,200-kilogram) bull sculpture that stands 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and measures 16 feet (4.9 m) long. It's the type of landmark that passers-by probably assume dates back at least to the 1929 stock market crash. It doesn't.

Di Modica created the bull after the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people".

On Dec 15, 1989, in an act of "guerrilla art", Di Modica and helpers placed it beneath a 60-foot Christmas tree on Broad Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange as a Christmas gift to the city.

The police promptly impounded the popular metal bull. A public outcry followed, which led the city Parks Department to install it two blocks south in the plaza at Bowling Green on Dec 21, 1989. (Bowling Green, created in 1733, is New York City's oldest park and still has its original fence from that century.)

According to NYC & Co, the city's travel organization, New York had a record 58.3 million visitors in 2015. Of the city's four largest international markets  the UK, Canada, Brazil and China  China, which sent 852,000 visitors to the city in 2015, had the largest rate of growth (14 percent).

Chinese tourists regularly flock to the downtown area to visit the various landmarks, such as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, but I wonder how many of them are aware of the area's ancient American history.

That part of New York is where the city started as the Dutch settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam; it was renamed New York after the English took it by force in 1664. They occupied the city until the late 1770s, when the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War followed.

A short walk east from the bull is Fraunces Tavern, a Colonial-era inn still open today and where General George Washington bade farewell to his troops on Dec 4, 1783.

"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you," Washington told his Continental Army officers. "I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."

And on Wall Street, a couple of hundred feet from where the bull was first placed, sits Federal Hall, where Washington took the oath of office as the first US president and which served as the first US capitol building.

As I entered the lobby on Broadway for my appointment, sitting on the reception desk of the building was that day's edition of China Daily.

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
Triangle Tire ready to roll in China Updated: 2016-05-25 11:41 By Paul Welitzkin in New York(China Daily USA)

As he toured the Triangle Tyre Co Ltd facilities in China in 2015, tire industry veteran Manny Cicero felt a sense of dj vu.

"I started a long time ago with Bridgestone when it was a largely unknown Japanese company," he recalled.

"When I went to Japan and saw the Bridgestone facilities for the first time, I was amazed and realized that this company has potential," he said. "I had a similar feeling when I went to Triangle in China."

Cicero is now the CEO of Triangle Tire USA, a start-up subsidiary of Triangle Tyre Group in China, a well-known tire manufacturer on the mainland for 40 years. Although it has been selling its line of tire products in the US for some time, Cicero said the company is making a major push in the US market to become a global brand.

"If you want to build a global brand you better be in the US," said Cicero.

Last year, Triangle established its American headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, after opening a technical center in Akron, Ohio, in 2011.

Now all of Triangle's factories are in China. "We are looking at building a plant outside of China, but there has been no commitment yet on where it will be located," Cicero said.

The Franklin headquarters staff is at about seven right now. "We hope to go to about 20 employees by the end of the year," said Cicero.

The Akron center serves as a research and development facility that employs 10 engineers to "help us develop better products for the North American market", added Cicero.

Triangle offers full lineup of tire products. Triangle Tire USA will market medium/heavy truck tires, as well as passenger and light truck tires, including ultra-high-performance, winter and specialty trailer tires. The company also offers off-the-road tires for the construction and mining industries.

Cicero said the company is changing its US distribution strategy. Previously it relied on third-party representatives to market its tires. That model "wasn't sustainable for long-term growth and brand building."

"We are now looking for distribution partners who want to co-invest with us in building the Triangle brand," Cicero said.

He said ideal partners would include tire retailers and commercial dealers with multiple outlets.

Cicero has been meeting with key US tire distributors to discuss how Triangle can help expand their business. The company aims to attract quality distributors "and to support them in marketing and sales to help build the Triangle brand."

Cicero said that while he was at the Triangle facilities in China, he realized that it was a sophisticated company with modern factories and an outstanding product lineup.

"When you see Triangle in China, you realize this shouldn't be a low-priced tire. This company makes quality products that offer real value," he said.

Privately-owned Triangle operates five plants and another research and development center in China.

The firm ranked as the 15th largest tire maker globally in 2014 with sales of about $2.87 billion, according to Rubber & Plastics News annual ranking.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 05/25/2016 page2)
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.
HCM CITY - Viet Nams cashew industry is expected to enjoy strong export growth in the coming years, especially shipments to the US, according to the Viet Nam Cashew Association.

Viet Nam has been the worlds largest cashew nut exporter for many years, with exports reaching US$2.5 billion last year.

This year the US has surpassed China to become the largest buyer of Vietnamese cashew as exports topped $1 billion in the first five months, Nguyen uc Thanh, Vinacas chairman, told a seminar in HCM City on Monday organised by Vinacas and Thanh Nien newspaper.

ang Hoang Giang, Vinacas deputy chairman and general secretary, said Viet Nam accounted for more than 50 per cent of the cashews reaching the US market, exporting over 28,500 tonnes worth more than $220 million in the first four months, up 8.8 per cent in volume and 18.6 per cent in value year-on-year.

To further promote exports to the US, Vinacas will send a business delegation at the end of this month to attend the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in San Diego.

There are virtually no obstacles in exporting to the US and currently zero tariffs, Giang said.

Thus while the Trans Pacific Partnership would have no bearing on the rate, We think [it] will bring more intangible value for the Viet Nam cashew industry in terms of brand and value ... In particular, US consumers and businesses will know more about Vietnamese cashew nuts.

Thanh said with import markets increasingly paying attention to hygiene and food safety, Vietnamese exporters should focus on quality.

Vu Thai Son, general director of Long Son Joint Stock Company, said an increase in cashew output in Viet Nam and Cambodia coupled with strong improvement in processing machines and a diligent workforce would enable the industry to develop in the next two to three years.

But profit margins would fall due to fierce competition, he said.

Son and many others agreed that the biggest challenge for the industry is its dependence on raw cashew imports. According to Vinacas, Viet Nam also ranks first in raw cashew import.

The country imports 500,000- 700,000 tonnes of raw cashew annually, mostly from Africa.

Son said with the price of raw cashew rising sharply since last year, many sellers in Africa reneged on their contracts, demanded prices should be increased by $100-150 per tonne or delivered poor quality cashew, causing difficulties for Vietnamese businesses, who are in turn competing with each other and offering higher and higher prices.

Delegates suggested that businesses should report African defaulters to the association to boycott them.

Vietnamese businesses should co-operate to avoid problems with imports, they added. - VNS
HCM City Party Secretary Dinh La Thang and Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.  Photo soha.vn

Viet Nam News HCM CITY  HCM City Party Secretary inh La Thang yesterday repeated his wish to locate the Viet Nam Stock Exchange (VSE) in HCM City at a meeting held with Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue in the city.

Early this month, Thang sent an official letter to the Prime Minister, saying that the VSE should be located in HCM City, which is opposed by the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry suggested the merger of the HCM City and Ha Noi stock exchanges into the Viet Nam Stock Exchange, with headquarters in Ha Noi.

In the letter, Thang said that HCM City was now the national economic hub, with total GDP during the 2011-2015 period reaching annual growth of 9.6 per cent, 1.6 times higher than the national average.

Financial activities, including HCM City Stock Exchange, have greatly contributed to the citys development.

At the HCM City Stock Exchange, total capital value of listed companies was 88 per cent of total market capital, accounting for 28.5 per cent of GDP by the end of 2015.

It has helped enterprises mobilise a huge amount of capital serving production and trading.

A national stock exchange is often located in a countrys financial centre, Thang said.

Tran ac Sinh, chairman of the HCM City Stock Exchanges management board, said that the VSE should be located in HCM City to take advantage of international development.  VNS
Secretary of the city's Party Committee inh La Thang receives Howard Lutnick, the Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald  a US-based financial services firm.  Photo motthegioi.vn

Viet Nam News HCM CITY  HCM City committed to create all possible business conditions for US firms as well as international investors for the benefit of both enterprises and the city.

Secretary of the citys Party Committee inh La Thang made the statement yesterday while receiving Howard Lutnick, the Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald  a US-based financial services firm.

He lauded US investors in choosing HCM City to locate a financial tower project, expressing his hope that the project in Thu Thiem Urban Area would commence soon, making the area a financial centre in the region and attracting more world financial giants.

He said he believed that after the visit of US President Barack Obama, there would be a new wave of investment from American businesses, especially when the Trans-Pacific Partnership comes into effect.

The city leader also expressed his hope that President Obama will help further foster partnerships between HCM City and US localities, making the US the largest investor in the city. Meanwhile, the city was preparing a qualified workforce to meet investors requirements, he added.

For his part, Howard Lutnick briefed his host on Cantor Fitgeralds plan to invest in the financial tower project in HCM City, saying that it could serve as an important point to rotate financial flow in the Southeast Asian region in the future.

Commenting that HCM City is a busy and dynamic locality with a strong start-up spirit among the youth, Lutnick pointed to abundant partnership opportunities for US investors. He also revealed Cantor Fitzgeralds interest in the city.

TPP perspectives

Vietnamese and US entrepreneurs also had a chance to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Ha Noi on Tuesday in an event held by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Adam Sitkoff, Executive Director of AmCham Viet Nam, said the TPP would bring numerous benefits and opportunities for companies, investors, workers, farmers and consumers in both Viet Nam and the US.

Once fully implemented, the TPP would pave the way for a digital economy, strengthen creative industries and help ensure fair competition.

The trade deal, signed by the economic ministers of 12 countries in New Zealand on February 4, would play an important role in improving the local business climate and open up many opportunities for Viet Nam to speed up industrialisation, modernisation and globalisation, he added.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said Viet Nam was now in a transitional period and should focus on enhancing its competitiveness. The most important issues include vocational training, carrying out agreements with labourers and tackling pollution.

He noted it was necessary to remove all barriers and obstacles that hamper the growth of businesses, especially small- and medium-sized ones. All enterprises must be treated equally to compete under transparent regulations.

The private economy should receive more opportunities to access big markets. Viet Nam should also stimulate competition, attract foreign investment and develop supply chains, Michael Froman added.

At the event, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said Viet Nam used free trade agreements like TPP or the EU  Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement because it wanted to help its products make inroads into global markets.

By reducing import tariffs for many regional and global countries to zero, Viet Nam would be more attractive to domestic and foreign investors, Khanh noted.  VNS
HCM CITY  US President Barack Obama discussed the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and Viet Nams entrepreneurial growth during a talk with 100 young businesspeople in HCM City yesterday.

The US President last night spoke at the Dreamplex Co-Working Space at the Miss Ao Dai Building in the citys District 1 and saw products made by young Vietnamese, including virtual games created for people with nerve injuries, a smartphone-controlled laser cutter, and other innovations.

Dreamplex, which now has 60 start-ups, is a place for young entrepreneurs. Though the business model is popular in the US, Europe and Asia, it is fairly new to Viet Nam.

Next month at our global entrepreneurs summit, something that I have been hosting now for several years, I will welcome eight Vietnamese entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley so they can learn from some of the best entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the world, he told the audience at Dreamplex.

Dreamplex is not only home for digital entrepreneurs like you, but it is also a place where you can share ideas and work together and build a community that supports each other, he added.

Incubators like this allow Viet Nam, alongside its emphasis on entrepreneurship, to see more start-ups happening in this country than ever before.

Obama said that entrepreneurship was the fuel for prosperity that puts rising economies on the path to success.

Its what gives young people, like so many of you, the chance to channel your energy and your passion into something that is bigger than yourselves, he said. It allows us to go across countries and cultures to solve some of the worlds biggest challenges.

"Ultimately, what makes start-ups and entrepreneurs successful is good ideas and human capital. Obviously, investors are important and infrastructure is important. But the most important thing is people. The culture of entrepreneurship has really begun to grow in Viet Nam," he said.

The world is taking notice, said Obama, who noted that a leading global venture capital firm called 500 Startups had just launched a US$100 million-fund in HCM City.

Three young entrepreneurs, Hang o, vice president of Seedcom; Le Hoang Uyen Vy, managing director of Adayroi; and Khoa Pham, director of legal & corporate affairs for Microsoft took part in a panel discussion with the US president after his speech at Dreamplex.

Obama spoke about the interconnectness of todays world and the global marketplace, and the need for every business to think globally. With good products and business strategies, companies can now reach billions of people, he noted.

Pham told the President that he returned to Viet Nam to give the same opportunities to Vietnamese that he had received in the US.

He praised the spirit of entrepreneurship in Viet Nam, saying that it had inspired him to return and continue to work with Microsoft in the place of his birth.

Obama told the entrepreneurs that the 12-country TPP trade agreement represents a huge portion of the worlds marketplace, creating standards for trade and commerce that are fair, that create a playing field that has high standards, including intellectual property protection, he noted.

He closed his message with encouraging words for the countrys dynamic entrepreneurial community.

My message the other day is that I believe in you, America believes in you, and we will keep investing in your success. Ultimately, its the inventors and dreamers people like those that Ive just met, those who we will hear from soon and all of you in the audience, who are going to shape Viet Nams future in the decades to come, he said.

I think that if you had any doubt about the outstanding future of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, then all those doubts have been pushed away because of the outstanding presentations by these three individuals. Give them a big round of applause, Obama said at the end of the talk with the young businesspeople.

Relations between the US and Viet Nam are at a historic high following the establishment of the US-Viet Nam Comprehensive Partnership in 2013 and the celebration of 20 years of diplomatic relations in 2015.

Trade between the two countries has nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops $45 billion.

US exports to Viet Nam increased by 23 per cent in 2015, the largest increase of the USs top 50 trade partners, and only one of two markets with double-digit growth.

At the same time, the US remains Viet Nams largest export market, growing 24 per cent year-on-year.

Economic ties between the two countries are poised to expand even further with the implementation of the TPP agreement, which would hold nearly 40 per cent of the worlds GDP, accountable to the highest labour, environmental, and intellectual property rights standards of any previous trade agreement, while leveling the playing field for workers and businesses, the White House said in a press release.

The US has committed to help Viet Nam continue on its path of economic reforms, including efforts required to fully implement its commitments under the TPP through technical assistance, the department said.  VNS




HCM CITY  HCM City will host its annual Southern Fruit Festival at Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9 from June 1-9.

The festival is organised by the citys Tourism Department and the park to honour the agricultural values of Viet Nam and the southern region.

The event will feature more than 150 kinds of fruit at below-market prices with discounts of 20-40 per cent, and display fruits that satisfy VietGap and Global Gap standards, and a giant and rare fruit collection.

It will also present different kinds of fruit-based drinks and food by bartenders and chefs from the citys restaurants and hotels.

The annual festival is a popular cultural tourism event to promote Vietnamese fruits. However, it also offers a chance to support farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta affected by the prolonged drought and saline intrusion.

The organisers plan to launch a programme called Week of Vietnamese Fruits at hotels, trade centres, supermarkets, traditional markets and grocery shops in the city from June 1-7 to show consumers how to identify safe fruit.

Under the programme, supermarkets like SatraMart, Satrafoods, Co.op Mart and Co.op Xtra will offer discounts of 20-35 per cent on southern fruits like Ninh Thuan red grape, Hoa Loc mango, watermelon, dragon fruit, longan, guava and durian.

The organisers said they encouraged all sellers to donate a part of their revenue from selling Vietnamese fruits to help farmers affected by drought and saline intrusion.

They will also call for organisers and businesses to raise money that will be used for scholarships and water containers for children in the affected regions.

According to the Southwest Steering Committee, the Mekong Delta region provides 55.5 per cent of rice, 70 per cent of fruits, and 69 per cent of seafood for the country.

Drought and saline intrusion in the region occurred earlier than expected this year and was more severe than in previous years.

It has damaged nearly 200,000ha of rice, 85,000ha of fruits, and 3,000ha of aquaculture products.  VNS
SEOUL  Beautiful images of Viet Nams world heritages are being introduced to the South Korean people at an exhibition at Yoondang Arts Hall in Seoul.

This is the first photo exhibition to be co-held by the Vietnamese and Korean governments and aims at popularising Vietnamese images in Korea.

Some 100 pictures taken by Vietnamese photographers, which are on display at the exhibition, have recorded precious moments at the 16 Vietnamese picturesque locations which have been recognised as world heritage sites by UNESCO.

The displayed pictures were selected from the best entries sent to world heritage photo contests in recent years by Viet Nams Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibitions.

Through the exhibition, Koreans can see the Complex of Hue Monuments in the central province of Hue, Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh, My Son Sanctuary in the central province of Quang Nam and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the central province of Quang Binh, as well as nha nhac cung inh (royal court music) in Hue, xoan singing in the northern province of Phu Tho, Hoi An Ancient Town in Quang Nam and Thang Long Citadel in Ha Noi Capital, along with the cultural space of the Central Highlands gongs and many others.

This is the first time that the Korean Cultural Centre in Viet Nam has introduced pictures of Viet Nam to the Korean people, the centres director, Park Nark-jong, said. We hope to have more chances in the near future to boost cultural exchanges between the two countries to a desirable level.

The 10-day exhibition was co-organised by Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Pham Huu Tri, Kim Dae-hyun, director of the Heritage Promotion Bureau under the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration.  VNS
HA NOI  On Saturday, artists from Ha Noi Guitar Club will present a guitar concert entitled La Fantasia  The Music Inventions.

Part of the New Music show series, which has been created by experimental music composer Vu Nhat Tan, the concert will feature guitarists Tuan Khang, Truong Giang, Duy Phong, and Hung Phong.

While Tuan Khang is a graduate of the Viet Nam National Academy of Music and won first prize at the National Guitar Festival 2002, Hung Phong is one of the very few classical guitarists who contributed significantly to the widespread development of guitar playing among students.

Becoming a classical artist from the student guitar movement, Truong Giang began his performing career in 2012. An elegant, sophisticated and energetic recital style has made Duy Phong become the most influential fingerstyle guitarist today.

The concert will start at 8pm. Heritage Space is on 1st floor, Dolphin Plaza, 28 Tran Binh Street, My inh 2, Nam Tu Liem District.

Tickets cost VN250,000, and VN200,000 for students and members of Heritage Space, respectively.  VNS
LONDON  Christies auction house has been fined 3,250 (US$4,750) for selling a piece of elephant ivory without the correct documentation, London police said Tuesday.

The silver-mounted tusk, put up for auction last year, did not have the right documentation under wildlife protection laws, a police statement said.

A representative for the auction house pleaded guilty in London for selling the ivory, in contravention of an article in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

"The tusk in this case was mounted on silver but was basically a raw, unmodified elephant tusk and therefore should not have been offered for sale without the correct documentation," said Rowena Roberts, wildlife officer for Londons Kensington and Chelsea borough.

"These laws were established to protect the worlds remaining elephants." Christies stressed that it took the protection of endangered species seriously and had a training programme in place.

"Christies unequivocally condemns the slaughter of elephants for illegal ivory and will not sell modern ivory, or unworked tusks of any age," a statement said.

"This was an isolated incident and we believe that the honourable response was to accept the charge as made."

The 63-year-old owner of the ivory was charged with offering it for sale, police said.

Elephant numbers are in decline with 30,000 killed every year in Africa out of a population of between 450,000 and 500,000 to satisfy demand for ivory in Asia, where raw tusks sell for around $1,000 a kilo (2.2 pounds).  AFP
BEIRUT  Kurdish-Arab forces launched a major assault against the Islamic State group in Syrias Raqa province on Tuesday and Iraqi forces advanced on it in Fallujah, piling pressure on the jihadists in two strongholds.

The twin offensives marked some of the most serious ground efforts against IS since the group declared its self-styled "caliphate" straddling the Syrian-Iraqi border in 2014.

Territory under IS control has been steadily shrinking for months but it has carried out a wave of attacks including bombings in the Syrian regimes coastal heartland on Monday that killed 177 people.

It was the "deadliest bomb attack" on any regime-held area in Syrias five-year war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces on Tuesday announced its largest offensive to date against IS territory north of the IS stronghold of Raqa city.

The offensive was aimed at pushing IS from the provinces north and securing other areas, the alliance said in statement on Twitter.

Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren confirmed the assault, saying it was "putting pressure on Raqa".

US air strikes would support thousands of SDF fighters, some of whom had been trained and equipped by American forces, he said.

If Raqa falls, "its the beginning of the end of their caliphate," Warren said.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello said an assault on Raqa city "is not in our plan now."

A source within the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units said US ground forces would take part in the attack, but Sello denied this.

Just before the SDF announcement, Russia said it would be ready to coordinate with both Washington and the SDF in an offensive for Raqa.

End to IS myth?

The US rejected a Russian proposal last week for joint air operations against jihadist groups in Syria.

The anti-IS coalition headed by Washington has set its sights on Raqa in Syria, as well as Fallujah  and eventually ISs main bastion of Mosul  in Iraq.

"Its clear that if the US wants to eliminate IS, it has to attack it on multiple fronts at the same time," said Washington-based Syria analyst Fabrice Balanche.

"Cutting the route between Raqa and Mosul isnt difficult today. It will put an end to the myth of a transnational IS," he said.

On Tuesday, Iraqi forces closed in on Fallujah after capturing the nearby town of Garma and cutting IS off from one of its last support areas.

"Federal forces advanced towards the east of Fallujah early today from three directions," said police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat.

The Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella paramilitary organisation, dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias heavily involved in the operation, said ground was also gained south of Fallujah.

With forces converging, concerns grew that the estimated 50,000 civilians believed to still be inside had nowhere to go.

"Families who have been suffering food and medical shortages over the last months now risk being caught in the crossfire," said the Norwegian Refugee Councils country director Nasr Muflahi.

It was "absolutely vital that they are granted safe routes out of there," he added.

Officials from Anbar, the vast western province in which Fallujah is located, said small numbers of civilians had managed to sneak out.

Scramble to save ceasefire

A Fallujah resident reached by telephone said there was heavy shelling on the northern edge of the city.

"Daesh (IS) is still imposing a curfew, preventing people from coming out on the street," said the man, who gave his name as Abu Mohammed al-Dulaimi.

It was unclear what kind of defence IS was prepared to put up in Fallujah, a city that looms large in modern jihadist mythology since 2004 battles that saw US forces suffer some of their worst losses since the Viet Nam War.

Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft have been pounding Fallujah and its surroundings to support the operation.

The offensives came as Washington and Moscow scrambled to salvage a shaky ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels intended to pave the way for peace talks.

The US envoy for Syria has urged rebels to respect the February 27 ceasefire after they gave its brokers  Washington and Moscow  until Tuesday afternoon to stop an advance on rebel strongholds outside Damascus.

"We recognise that the CoH (Cessation of Hostilities) is under severe stress, but believe that to abandon it now would be strategic error," Michael Ratney tweeted.

Staunch regime ally Russia also called for a 72-hour truce in Eastern Ghouta and Daraya near Damascus from Tuesday.

And the two areas were relatively calm, with clashes subsiding since dawn, said the Observatory.  AFP
HA NOI  Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

They voiced delight at the successful outcome of the meetings between the Vietnamese leaders and US President Barack Obama  who is on an official visit to Viet Nam  along with the signing of highly-anticipated agreements, especially those on economy, trade, investment and cooperation in climate change prevention and war consequence settlement.

Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh asked for both sides active coordination to realise the outcomes of the high-level meetings.

US Secretary of State Kerry joined the Vietnamese leader in reiterating the success of President Obamas visit to Viet Nam and considered this a testament to the great strides in bilateral co-operation over the last two decades since diplomatic ties were re-established.

He thanked the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, other ministries and localities for working closely with the US side before and during the US Presidents visit.

At the talks, Minh and Kerry discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, including promoting ASEANs centrality in regional issues and the role of the blocs partners to help ensure peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Prior to the event, they witnessed the signing of a letter of intent on the Cooperative Humanitarian and Medical Storage Initiative to serve humanitarian cooperation in searching for US soldiers missing in action, search and rescue, and natural disaster response.

Viet Nam and the US also inked a letter of agreement on law enforcement and criminal justice sector assistance, and a framework agreement under which Viet Nam allows some US Peace Corps volunteers to teach English in Ha Noi and HCM City.  VNS
Viet Nam News HA NOI  The Japanese Government yesterday announced emergency aid worth US$2.5 million for Viet Nam to address drought and saltwater intrusion consequences in the central and Mekong Delta regions since late 2014 due to the effects of El Nino.

The aid will be delivered through the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), according to the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam.

The aid will be spent on supporting hard-hit areas with clean water, sanitation and food. Damages caused by the drought and saltwater intrusion include reduced agricultural production, a lack of fresh water and food, and malnourished women and children.

Japan will cooperate with Viet Nam in quickly and efficiently deploying the aid, as well as consider joint efforts on measures in the medium and long term.  VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City authorities will move a market selling chemicals and additives far from the city center, a source said yesterday.

The news was confirmed at a meeting chaired by the HCMC Peoples Committee deputy chairman Tran Vinh Tuyen early this week. The city authority official also discussed measures to tackle the illegal sale of harmful chemicals at Kim Bien market in District 5.

The city Peoples Committee will pursue criminal punishment for serious violations involving harmful chemicals. And they will sanction those selling chemicals in violation of State regulations.

Phan Hoan Kiem, chief of the citys Market Management Department, said about 600 companies and individuals are producing, importing, and trading in chemicals in the city.

There are 16 additive and chemical traders in the Kim Bien Market. More than 93 individual shops also sell industrial chemicals and additives in the area surrounding the market.

At the meeting, the deputy chairman of the city Peoples Committee said: We hear many complaints about sale of chemicals from residents. Veteran State officials have been asking illegal sellers to stop trading in Kim Bien District.

The main concern of residents now is food safety.

According to the chairman, the demand for chemical food additives and flavouring is strong. And State management of exploitation and sales in this field is still weak and has wide gaps.

City authorities must be responsible for food safety. So they are determined to control imported chemical sales and to stop the misuse of chemicals as food additives for the wrong purposes.

Tuyen asked the Kim Bien market management board to investigate chemical trading again.

Tuyen also entrusted the Department of Industry and Trade with setting up a new chemical trading centre in the Binh Tan district by June 20th, at the latest. The new chemical trading centre will have criteria on fire and explosion prevention, and regulations on buying and selling chemicals.

Tuyen said buyers must show identity cards and disclose intended use, in order to buy dangerous chemicals, such as acids. And sellers must take responsibility if criminal cases result from their chemical sales. Individuals or companies that build chemical stores near residential quarters will also be strictly punished, he added.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, deputy director of the citys Industry and Trade Department, said the city has no regulations on chemical use and trading. So it is difficult to keep close control of sales.

Packages of chemicals and additives must be stamped with details of their origin. Only trading companies are allowed to buy industrial chemicals, Hoa said.- VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Education and Training has requested city and provincial Peoples Committees to set up their own development plans on education and training in order to reduce the number of teachers being enrolled in some areas.

The ministry noted in a circular sent to authorities last weekend that the number of teachers being enrolled for kindergarten and primary training should be significantly lower this year.

The reduction is aimed at combating a surplus of teachers, which in turn adds to unemployment figures as recent graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to find work in these areas.

The circular noted that this was one of the important development targets for the education and training sector in some localities.

As well as teacher training, the ministry also requested cities and provinces to authorise reductions in enrollment for all areas which are suffering similar surpluses.

The MoET asked local education and training authorities to restructure targets for their education programmes, moving from those of large quantity and scale into high quality and effectiveness instead.

Local education and training units themselves should find their own financial sources and be responsible for the quality of education in degrees, post graduate and master, university and college.  VNS
QUANG NAM  The police of the central province of Quang Nam coordinated with the local police force of Nam Giang District to raid illegal mineral and gold mining operations yesterday morning.

Over 100 illegal gold miners were arrested at the gold mining operation near Song Tranh Nature Reserve. Arrested miners included both local residents and workers from the neighbouring provinces of Nghe An, Hoa Binh, and Thai Nguyen.

Nam Giang District police will receive and manage these miners, then send them back home.

The police destroyed 22 tents set up to shelter gold miners and 43 pieces of equipment, including diesel engines and electric generator, and 1,000 water pipes. All of these items were used for illegal gold mining.

Police and local authorities are also preparing to fine thirteen mine owners who hired labourers for illegal mineral mining.

The raid was part of an inspection campaign of all illegal mineral mining operations. The initiative was launched by the Quang Nam Province Peoples Committee after the collapse of gold mines killed four miners in April.  VNS
HA TINH  uc Tho Districts Military Command in the central province of Ha Tinh successfully removed a 340kg bomb from a local fish breeding lake yesterday, according to a local source.

The bomb was discovered three days ago by irrigation workers when they were dredging a fish lake owned by a local household at uc Long Commune to construct canal systems for the Ngan Truoi Irrigation Project.

The bomb, believed to have been dropped by the US Army during the war, measured 1.5m length and 50cm in diameter.

Workers immediately informed communal authorities and experts were dispatched to the scene.

The military has now moved the bomb to a safe location and are preparing to destroy it using a controlled explosion.  VNS
HCM CITY  US Secretary of State John Kerry and HCM City Party Committee Secretary inh La Thang yesterday presided over the official launching ceremony for Fulbright University Viet Nam in HCM City.

The chairman of HCM City Peoples Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong, handed over the decision for establishment of the university to former US Senator Bob Kerrey, who is chairman of the FUV Board of Trustees, and Fulbright University Viet Nams Founding President am Bich Thuy.

With the decision, the university will be in a position to welcome its first intake of students later this year and begin preparations to build a flagship campus at Sai Gon High Tech Park in District 9.

The city government has allocated 25 hectares of land to the university.

Kerry said at the event that US-Viet Nam relations had changed a great deal over the years, and that the ties were stronger than ever.

The people here are very dynamic, and Vietnamese students will study at this university and be able to take part in the world economy, he said.

Noting that Viet Nam has 25 million people under 25 years old, Kerry said that education would decide the future of the country.

It took more than 20 years to heal the wounds from the war. It will take an additional 20 years for better achievements in friendship of the two countries, and this university can be seen as a seed planted today, Kerry said.

HCM Citys Party Secretary Thang said he was delighted to welcome FUV to HCM City.

I am confident that FUV will contribute meaningfully toward the emergence of HCM City as a hub of innovation for the region and the world, he said.

Former US Senator Bob Kerrey said the university would open an exciting new chapter in the history of US-Viet Nam cooperation in higher education, as it would embody meritocracy, freedom of academic inquiry, autonomy and accountability.

The US government has committed more than US$20 million in funding to support the launch of the innovative new university.

The university has secured more than US$60 million in funding commitments in cash and in-kind.

However, the school needs to mobilise US$100 million over the next three years, according to founding president am Bich Thuy.

Kerry, who has been visiting Viet Nam for decades, said he had long wanted to strengthen education cooperation between the two countries.

In December 2013, visiting Viet Nam for the first time as Secretary of State, Kerry met members of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program. The idea of establishing a Fulbright University in Viet Nam was then proposed. VNS
The pact between India and Iran to develop the strategically located Chabahar port, along with the one with Afghanistan on road and rail network, will counter China and Pakistan's alliance in South West Asia, BMI Research said today.

"The agreement between India and Iran to develop the latter's port of Chabahar is a major boost for both countries, as well as Afghanistan. In particular, growing co-operation between the three countries will counterbalance China-Pakistan alliance in the geopolitics of South West Asia," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran earlier this week, the first by a Indian Prime Minister in 15 years.

A "milestone" pact on the strategic Chabahar Port in southern Iran, which will give India access to Afghanistan and Europe bypassing Pakistan, was among the agreements signed by India and Iran, which also agreed to cooperate on combating radicalism and terror.

Besides the bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port, for which India will invest $500 million, a trilateral agreement on Transport and Transit Corridor was also signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran, which Modi said could "alter the course of the history of the region".

The bilateral agreements signed by India and Iran after detailed discussions between Modi and President Hassan Rouhani included one on setting up of an aluminium plant and another on laying a railway line to give India access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

BMI Research, a Fitch Group company, said the governments of India, Iran and Afghanistan have taken a significant step towards closer co-operation by signing an agreement on May 23 to develop Iran's southern port of Chabahar.

"Once the port is developed, it will provide a major boost for Indo-Iranian trade, and also provide a new route for Afghanistan's exports, bypassing Pakistan.

"In particular, the new port at Chabahar is designed to compete with Pakistan's port of Gwadar, which is being developed with Chinese assistance as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," it added.

CPEC in turn is part of a much bigger Chinese initiative known as 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR), which envisages new land and sea routes connecting China to Western Eurasia and East Africa.

Iran stands to benefit from Chabahar as it will get an enhanced port from which to export more goods to India and the Asia-Pacific region at a time when it is seeking to reintegrate itself into the global economy, BMI Research said.

Iran will also benefit from increased Indian investment. For their part, it seems that Indian firms are seeking to gain first-mover advantage in one of the world's biggest new emerging markets, at a time when Western companies are still hesitant about entering Iran, it said.

India will strengthen its ties with Iran and thus its economic presence in the Gulf region.

In addition, trade to and from Chabahar will allow India to increase commercial influence in Afghanistan, physically bypassing Pakistan, whose generally hostile stance towards India impedes New Delhi's ability to develop ties with Kabul, it added.

India's interests in Afghanistan are mainly focused on challenging Pakistan's position, but India is also interested in tapping Afghanistan's natural resources and those of Central Asia, the agency said.

Afghanistan will get a new trade outlet to the Gulf, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean bypassing the port of Karachi in Pakistan.

Afghan-Pakistan relations are complex and frequently strained due to Islamabad's past support for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The Taliban suffered a blow on May 20, when its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike, BMI Research said.
INDEPENENCE  Jurors on Tuesday heard about the abilities of a severely disabled teenager at the heart of a malicious prosecution case involving a paraeducator at Independence Junior/Senior High School.

Authorities said Fayla Cannon came forward with messages indicating abuse the teen had allegedly written using a hand-over-hand technique in October 2014. But investigators said the teen didnt have the cognitive ability to write the accusations and Cannon made up the claims.

As the defenses case continued Tuesday, jurors heard from two special education teachers who had worked with the teen as a student.

Erin Rosburg told of how the teen came up with an answer she hadnt thought of when he was asked a question about a Black Lagoon book they had read.

I was surprised because it required a more higher order of thinking skill, Rosburg said. She said she never had a clear picture of what the teen knew.

Both Rosburg and teacher Jonathan Carey said they had used the hand over hand writing technique, steadying the teenagers hand or having him guide their hands, to communicate.

He responded well to me if I had a whiteboard, and I would write on the whiteboard and he would put his hand on my hand to feel what I was writing, Carey said. If I was to write a question, he might finish the question, know what Im going to say. Or I might write a question, and I might give him options, he might circle the answer.

He said the student had a sense of letter shapes and making words out, but they never had in-depth conversations.

Rosburg said she believed he was able to form sentences with the hand over hand, but she couldnt recall any specifics, and it was never lengthy.

Not pages of information, she said.

Carey said the teen also was able to speak one- to three-word responses.

Carey said Cannon was paired with the teen when decisions were made about pursuing goals for the students life skills like self feeding and bathroom use. He said Cannon and the student were a good fit, and the student made progress with her.

My opinion of her was that she did her job very well. Probably the best para we had in the building, Carey said.

He also said he saw no problems between Cannon and teens former paraeducator or between Cannon and the teens parents, who were the subject of the abuse allegations. Rosburg said the teenager always seemed happy with Cannon and was responsive to her.

Trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday with additional witnesses.
WATERLOO  The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61 People Committee announced its endorsement of Democrat Gary Kroeger for the Iowa House District 60 seat.

Kroeger, of Waterloo, is challenging third-term incumbent Iowa Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, in the general election.

AFSCME is excited to endorse Gary Kroeger. Our members know that he can be counted on to support working families and protect the rights of workers. Our members work hard and never quit. We see those same values in Gary, AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan said in a statement.

Kroeger, who has belonged to a union throughout his career, said he was proud to get the endorsement of public sector workers. AFSCME Iowa Council 61 represents 40,000 public employees in the state.

Kroeger also has been endorsed by UAW Local 838 and Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 125.

Kroeger is an advertising executive at Mudd Advertising in Cedar Falls and lives in Waterloo with his two sons, Chris and Alex.
DES MOINES -- The city of Fort Dodge will pay a $20,000 fine and spend at least $200,000 on improvements under a settlement over alleged violations of federal regulations that occurred at the city's water treatment plant, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced.

Under the settlement, the city must pay the $20,000 fine to the federal government and spend at least $200,000 building a new road to provide emergency vehicles better access to the water treatment plant, the agency said. Previously, the city also agreed to a compliance agreement requiring it to develop a risk management plan for the facility, which stores high amounts of potentially harmful chlorine gas.

Biofuel tax incentives

Back on the job Tuesday after a bout with a spring cold, Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law legislation to extend biofuel tax incentives in Iowa. Senate File 2309 extends several ethanol and biodiesel blended fuel tax credits that are funded through Iowa individual and corporate taxes.

Effective in 2018, the production payment currently available for biodiesel manufacturers located in Iowa equal to two cents per gallon produced up to a total of 25 million annual gallons for each manufacturing facility is extended seven years to Jan. 1, 2025. S.F. 2309 also extends the tax credits for E-15 plus and E-85 blended gasoline, as well as biodiesel blended fuel by seven years to Jan. 1, 2025. Other provisions increase the biodiesel blended fuel tax credit for biodiesel blends of B-11 or greater from the current .045 cents per blended gallon to $0.055 per blended gallon effective Jan. 1, 2018, and decreases the tax credit for biodiesel blends classified as B-5 or higher but not as high as B-11 to $0.035 per blended gallon -- also effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Artist sought

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is encouraging Iowa artists to submit proposals to paint a mural highlighting conservation and water quality efforts in Iowa during the Iowa State Fair this year. The mural will be part of an "Ag Park" space in Agricultural Building on the fairgrounds and serve as a visual representation of how conservation should be a focus in both urban and rural areas.

Northey's agency along with several commodity groups are seeking Iowa artists to submit proposals by July 1 for a 6-panel, 8 foot by 24 foot wall that will be on display during the fair. The mural should reflect agriculture's commitment to conservation and water quality within the state as well as the beauty and an overall appreciation for Iowa agriculture.

At least a portion of the mural must be painted during the Iowa State Fair in August. Live painting is required for at least two hours each day between the times of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Iowa artists that are 18 years of age or older are eligible to apply. The selected artist will be notified by July 11 and will receive up to $500 for reimbursement of supplies and a commission of $1,500 upon completion of the mural.

The commission is from support from Iowa agriculture organizations and not taxpayer dollars. More information and a copy of the call for artists and application can be found at www.IowaAgriculture.gov under "Hot Topics."

SAFE PICNICKING: With the Memorial Day weekend nearing, officials with the state Department of Public Health are reminded Iowans to grill safely to avoid a food-borne illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year, 76 million Americans get sick, over 300,000 are taken to the hospital and 5,000 people die from food-borne illnesses - which is any illness caused by eating contaminated food or water. Given that, state officials are working to heighten food-safety awareness as thousands of Iowans gather for picnics, cookouts, and family get-togethers this holiday weekend. Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the department's medical director, advises Iowans to cook all meats thoroughly, especially ground meats like hamburgers and sausages -- using a meat thermometer to ensure the middle of the meat has reached a temperature that will kill potentially harmful organisms. Also, keep cold food cold and hot food hot, given that illness-causing bacteria can grow in many foods within two hours and during warmer weather, that time is cut down to within one hour, and don't reuse platters or utensils and have a way to wash your hands prior to eating. For more information on food safety, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/cade/foodborne-illness.

EXXON PETITION: Members of the groups Bold Iowa and Iowa 350 on Wednesday plan to deliver petitions signed by over 1,000 Iowans to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, encouraging him to look into allegations that Exxon lied about climate change. Activist and former state legislator Ed Fallon said a report by InsideClimate News indicates Exxon has worked to manufacture doubt about the reality of global warming and has lobbied to block federal and international action to control greenhouse gas emissions. "Like Big Tobacco, Exxon knew about the connection between their product and the public's health," said Fallon, director of Bold Iowa.

REBOUNDING EGG INDUSTRY: Egg producers say Iowa should be back to full production of 16 billion eggs a year by January. The nation's leading egg farmers saw the number of laying hens cut in half to about 30 million last year due to a bird flu epidemic, causing production to drop to about 8 billion eggs, industry officials said Tuesday. However, Jeff Hardie of Fremont Farms of Iowa near Grinnell said Iowa currently has about 53 million layers and likely will have all its flocks fully repopulated by the start of 2017. According to Iowa State University, Iowa's egg industry contributes more than $2 billion in total sales and supports 8,800 jobs with more than $502 million in labor income and nearly $23 million in general tax revenue. During a proclamation signing, Branstad said each egg contains about 70 calories and represents the lowest-cost per serving at 17 cents for high quality protein that equates to 35.3 grams of protein for every one dollar spent.
CEDAR RAPIDS  An inspector generals report an Army general retaliated against a National Guard officer for reporting her rape by a more senior officer is why Sen. Charles Grassley is championing legislation to take the handling of sexual assault cases out of the hands of the military.

This is a perfect example of why it needs to come out of the chain of command and set up a separate prosecution unit for these rapists, the Iowa Republican told reporters Wednesday.

The Department of Defense inspector general offices finding is unprecedented, Grassley said, because its the first time it has substantiated whistleblower reprisal for reporting a sexual assault.

The inspector general found after a lieutenant colonel commanding a military police battalion reported being raped by a more senior officer, Brigadier General Charles Viet issued her an unfavorable and career-damaging officer evaluation.

It kind of fits with (Sen. Kirsten) Gillibrands legislation that were trying to get into the Department of Defense authorization this week to make sure we take the sexual assault cases out of the chain of command, so generals cant interfere like this, Grassley said.

Earlier this week, Grassley joined Gillibrand, D-N.Y., at a news conference calling for passage of her Military Justice Improvement Act to help make sure sexual assault is treated as the serious crime it is.

Her amendment the National Defense Authorization Act would set up an impartial military justice system. Its necessary to make sure the person who committed the crime is convicted and pays the penalty, Grassley said.

Its also needed to protect the victim of military sexual assault, he said.

Today they are discouraged from doing it because the person who is raped is treated more harshly than the person who did the raping, Grassley said.

Grassley also claimed the military has lied to senators last year when it claimed local prosecutors lacked interest in prosecuting military sexual assault cases. However, Grassley said a report from the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders and reporting by The Associated Press show the Pentagon appeared to be manipulating the facts.

They misled us. Weve been lied to, he said.

A 2014 study of military sexual assault found more than 20,000 of the 1.3 million active duty members  1 percent of men and 4.9 percent of women  had been sexually assaulted in the previous year.

Gillibrands examination of 329 sexual assault cases in 2014 found 22 percent went to trial with about 10 percent resulting in a sexual assault conviction. Another 5 percent result in conviction on another charge.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Citing the 34-year-old disappearance of Des Moines newspaper delivery boy Johnny Gosch and the 2005 kidnap, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jetseta Gage of Cedar Rapid, Sen. Chuck Grassley said Senate action this week will help protect children from sexual predators.

Too many kids are falling prey to sexual predators, Grassley said Wednesday.

The names Johnny Gosch, Eugene Martin and Jetseta Gage, for example, still bring heartbreak to all Iowans, he said, noting that Gosch and Martin, who disappeared in 1982 and 1984, respectively, have never been found. Gage, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act Reauthorization passed the Senate by a vote of 89-0. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee where the legislation originated, said it will help prevent future tragedies and ensure that victims have a good shot at justice.

It was offered in response to these notorious cases involving children who had been targeted by adult criminals, many of them repeat sex offenders.

In addition to providing assistance to state and local law enforcement, Grassley said the reauthorization added a survivors bill of rights to codify additional rights and assure survivors their tragedy will not be shoved aside.

Also Wednesday, Grassley said he was encouraged by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trumps making public a list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

He hasnt expressed a lot of opinion on policy when he was getting the nomination (so) its very essential to express in a whole lot of areas the basic policy he intends to run on and serve on, Grassley said. Its important for trump as a candidate to continue to express policy decisions that he might follow as a president.

It also put the onus on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to release a list so the American people know the direction of the court she wants.

The more transparency the better off it is, Grassley said.
CEDAR RAPIDS  A Republican-leaning advocacy group criticized Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Patty Judge for her support of Environmental Protection Agency rules regulating Iowa waterways.

The EPAs WOTUS  Waters of the United States  rule is a massive federal overreach that is misguided, places the increased burden of government red tape on farmers and landowners, and impedes our efforts to improve water quality through Iowas innovating nutrient reduction strategy, her successor at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Bill Northey, said Tuesday.

Judge, one of four candidates for the Democratic nomination to face Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in the November general election, said the WOTUS rules are on target.

We are now at a crisis point. We have to address water quality and we have to do that very soon  and the EPA is going to have to be a part of the solution, she said Tuesday on Iowa Public Radios River to River.

Her position certainly disappointing because as a former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture he would expect her to understand how devastating the rule will be, Northey said during a phone call with Iowa reporters that was arranged by Priorities for Iowa

Its not a partisan issues, according to Jimmy Centers, the groups executive director and former spokesman for GOP Gov. Terry Branstad. All six members of the Iowa congressional delegation, including 2nd District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, have opposed the rules.

Unfortunately, Patty Judge, a candidate that was hand-picked by the Washington elite, would rather align herself with the EPA and President Obama instead of standing up for Iowans, Centers said.

Judge acknowledged that her position is at odds with many in the agricultural community.

I know a lot of my agricultural people, my farm friends, dont agree with me on that, but again, we are at a point where we are going to have to be serious about improving water quality, she told the Des Moines Register.

Judge doesnt believe the EPA intends to regulate ditches and mud puddles in Iowa, her spokesman Sam Roecker said. If that needs to be clarified in the language of the rule, she is certainly open to that, but we cant keep kicking the can down the road on water quality in this state.

If Judge is concerned about water quality, Northey said, She certainly should embrace this effort, this innovative Iowa-based solution, not the bureaucratic nightmare that a WOTUS would be.

Judge is in a four-way primary with former state legislators Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause, and State Sen. Rob Hogg. The primary election in June 7.
PARKERSBURG  Everyone remembers it in their own way, said Perry Bernard, mayor of Parkersburg.

For Bernard, then a City Council member sitting in for his brother, May 25, 2008, was a humid, odd-feeling day. A tornado warning cut a play date short. He sent the neighbor kids home and headed to the basement with his family.

It came up so quick, Bernard said.

At 4:56 p.m., an EF5 tornado hit Parkersburg, destroying some 288 homes, 22 businesses and killing seven of the towns roughly 1,800 people. The twister swept across Butler, Black Hawk and Buchanan counties, leaving destruction in its wake. Two New Hartford residents were also killed.

Bernards house was completely destroyed.

He watched as tree upon tree was sucked up by the winds. He felt an enormous pressure as the storm passed over his house, a pressure so strong it felt like his head was going to pop off.

As he emerged from his basement, the scene was utter destruction.

Half of my house flew east and half of my house flew west, he reflected with a laugh. Rubble from four to five different houses littered Bernards front yard.

The sight was somewhat familiar to Bernard, who had lived through a category five hurricane, Hurricane Andrew, in 1992.

The tornado caused $100 million in damage.

The towns revival has been hailed as a model for other cities recovering from natural disasters, said city administrator Chris Luhring. Eight years later, Luhring senses the sights of the community point forward rather than backward.

Theyve read that book, Luhring said of the community. And theyre ready to move on. Luhring said the community didnt take time to dwell on the destruction  it moved quickly.

He points to the Aplington-Parkersburg High School, reconstructed in time to hold fall classes in 2009  just more than a year after it was destroyed. Luhring said the one-year goal for reconstructing the $19 million school was impossible, but the feeling at the time was it had to be done quickly.

You had to fix the physical before you could fix the psychological, Luhring said. Its hard for a high school kid to feel normal when theyre drinking out of an elementary school water fountain. Aplington-Parkersburg High School held classes in the Aplington elementary and middle schools until the high schools reconstruction.

Luhring said rebuilding the school restored hope in the community and spurred the successful regrowth that would follow.

Bernard, too, felt a sense of urgency to bounce back.

Within 15 minutes, my wife and I were thinking of how we could rebuild and get our house back, he said.

Luhring said the city has awarded some 250 new residential building permits since 2008 and has greatly surpassed in new businesses what it lost. Bernard said Parkersburg doesnt have room for all the new businesses requesting permits.

Its been eight years, and some people passing through have no clue that a tornado ever went through here, Bernard said.

Bernard said recent years were devoted to finishing up infrastructure repair  water mains and sewage pipes damaged by the tornado. Otherwise, the town has come into its own economically since the destruction.

Bernard estimates the towns population will be around 2,000 by the next census  some new residents came to Parkersburg because of the successful revival.

Luhring said Parkersburg has a pay it forward duty to towns that go through similar disasters. Parkersburg is seen as a bullet train model of rapid regrowth, Luhrig said. He acknowledged the aid received from surrounding cities, the state of Iowa and the federal government as well.

Its nice to be a model and have other communities call up asking for advice, he said. We get to give them advice and say, This works.
Bill Clinton has had his problems lately, but theres no doubt the former president is the best booster the Democratic Party has had since leaving office in January 2001. Even now, although hes clearly slowing down, Clinton is the partys most effective surrogate for wife Hillary.

Republicans havent had the same luck. The only two-term GOP president in the last generation, George W. Bush, has stayed mostly out of politics in the seven years since he left the White House.

Bushs absence has caused some hard feeling among Republican politicos who wish they had a popular ex-president to bring more money and attention to GOP candidates. On the other hand, they know Bushs troubled time in office permanently diminished his post-presidential status. And now, to top it off, Bush, along with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, has taken the extraordinary step of refusing to endorse the presidential candidate of his own party.

In short, facing a difficult general election campaign and in need of all the help it can get, the GOPs ex-president situation is a mess.

George W. Bush left office with a job approval rating of just 28 percent after 9/11, two wars and an economic collapse. He has since regained much of his popularity with Republicans. But even within his own party, Bushs status is shaky.

On Feb. 15, Bush broke his rule against campaigning to travel to South Carolina to appear at a rally on behalf of his brother Jeb. The Jeb Bush campaign was already in its final days, and there was nothing W. could do to save it. But W. still got a rousing reception.

Before the rally began, when the master of ceremonies asked the crowd, Are yall ready to see the president? a huge roar went up. They werent cheering for Jeb. The audience W. attracted was by far the biggest of Jebs campaign.

But at a Republican debate just a couple of days earlier, Donald Trump, who has criticized George W. Bushs presidency throughout the campaign, slammed the war in Iraq as a big, fat mistake. Then Trump went further to say George W. Bush lied the nation into war.

They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none, Trump said. And they knew there were none.

Jeb Bush stood haplessly by, unable to defend either himself or his brother.

So were South Carolina Republicans outraged by Trump  did they take offense on behalf of George W. Bush? Not really. Republicans I talked to at the W. rally were evenly split on whether the war was a disaster and, even though most didnt agree with Trumps assertion Bush lied, they werent up in arms about it. And a few days later, Trump won the South Carolina primary.

It was a concise lesson in the ambiguities of George W. Bushs legacy for Republicans.

On the other hand, Bush could have helped his party by appearing at fundraisers and other events where an ex-president  even an ex-president with a troubling legacy  would still be a big draw. His refusal to do so has left some resentments.

Katon Dawson, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican party, has no complaints about Bushs treatment of the state while in the White House. But afterward has been a different story.

He was gracious to South Carolina  eight visits, raised us money, wonderful access to the White House, said Dawson. But then he went home and retired. Weve asked him (to come), and the answer is no. The first time we saw him was when he came to bail his brother Jeb out.

Now Bush is likely to make relations with Republicans around the country even more difficult by refusing to support the GOP nominee. Some anti-Trump conservatives cheered the move, but state Republican parties are coming around to the reality of a Trump nomination.

But how could Bush support the candidate who slapped down his brother and trashed his own White House record? That would be a stretch even for a nimble politician.

Still, the refusal to support Trump makes Bush and his family look like they are putting personal interests over the party. And in the end, some Republicans wonder whether that might end up helping Trump.

The ruling class, the establishment folks, the Nantucket-Kennebunkport-Lake Winnipesaukee crowd is opposed to Trump, said Curt Anderson, a top strategist for the Bobby Jindal campaign who is not part of any campaign now. Trump is from a lower caste, hes too loud at dinner parties. I would be surprised to learn that their refusal to endorse is based on ideological concerns of any kind.

In the end, the Bush factor is too complicated to compute. A former president who is unpopular with many voters but popular with donors, who is pulled in different directions by family and party loyalty, who shies away from politics while his Democratic counterpart still draws crowds and moves voters.

Some Republicans like to send around a photo of a smiling Bush with the caption Miss me yet? The problem is, theres no clear answer.
With opioids taking more than 28,000 lives in 2014, a leading cause of accidental deaths in the nation, the House and Senate are finally addressing the scourge.

After the Senate passed comprehensive legislation in March, the House last week approved 18 bills dealing with an epidemic affecting 2 million people. A conference committee must reconcile the differences, but the focus is on treatment.

Opioids encompass a wide range of legal painkillers or opiates, originally derived from the opium poppy, as well as illegal narcotics such as heroin. Prescribed painkillers, often made with synthetic sources, include oxycodone (OxyContin, Fentora, and Percocet and Percodan, which also contain acetaminophen) and hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet and Norco).

Fourteen years ago, pharmaceutical companies convinced regulators and the medical community supposedly non-addictive opioids were a remedy for many painful conditions. Perdue Pharma led the way, aggressively marketing OxyContin beginning in 1996. But in 2007, it pleaded guilty to misleading authorities on OxyContins addictive nature and paid a $600 million fine. The drug would have total sales of $27 billion through 2014.

From 1999 to 2012, all U.S. painkiller prescriptions quadrupled to 259 million  more than the adult population. Opioid-related deaths tripled to 28,647 in 2014 with 19,000 blamed on prescription drugs, the remainder on heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 45 percent of heroin addicts are addicted to painkillers.

While it makes sense to attack problems at the source  prescriptions, the Law of Unintended Consequences kicks in with opiates.

According to a recent survey by IMS Health, opioid prescriptions have declined every year since 2012. The Drug Enforcement Agency and the CDC began limiting hydrocodone in 2014. Yet opioid-related deaths have increased as addicts turned to heroin instead.

Marcia Wulfekuhle, an addiction therapist at Pathways Behavioral Services in Waterloo, told The Courier earlier this year alcohol remains the leading area addiction, but heroin has grown from 2 percent to 4 percent in just three years. Seventy percent of the heroin addicts told her their gateway drug was a pain pill.

Admissions to substance abuse clinics in Iowa for heroin addiction  primarily in Polk, Johnson, Linn, Black Hawk, Dubuque and Scott counties  reached a record high of 2 percent last year, an increase of 0.6 percent, according to the state Office of Drug Control Policy. There were 19 heroin-related Iowa fatalities in 2014.

Admissions from prescription drug abuse dropped 1 percent to 5.3 percent.

Congress should be commended for putting the emphasis on treatment.

The Senate bill, approved 94-1, would provide grants to states, local governments and nonprofits to improve prescription drug monitoring and treatment for addicts, while expanding prevention, education and law enforcement initiatives.

The House bills include provisions for an inter-agency task force to set standards for doctors to manage painkillers and requires states receiving federal grants to ensure infants born to opioid-addicted mothers will be cared for safely after leaving the hospital.

According to a National Institutes of Health survey published in November, about 75 percent of people with drug-use disorders do not receive any treatment, because of overwhelmed facilities or lack of insurance, although Medicaid and policies procured on the health insurance exchanges require coverage.

Treatment also can take many forms, including drugs such naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an overdose, and buprenorphine, an opioid that can wean addicts from more dangerous opioids, including heroin, according to the CDC.

States have been active. The American Academy of Pain Management, representing medical professionals who receive funding from the drug industry, estimates state legislatures are considering 375 proposals to regulate painkillers and pain clinics.

Some states have online databases so doctors can determine if a patient is getting prescriptions from other doctors. West Virginia, an epicenter for the epidemic with numerous worker-related injuries, has turned to pain management clinics, which rely on drugs other than opiates, injections, physical therapy and counseling.

While its good Congress is finally recognizing the problem, paying for the programs is a major obstacle. The White House wanted $1.1 billion and congressional Democrats $600 billion, but Republicans insist funding must come from offsets in other programs.

Finding the money is a priority. Long-term it has budgetary benefits, given that 46.3 percent of inmates in the federal prison system are in for drug-related offenses (16 percent in states). So reducing that total is a potential offset.
Simple remedy

ROBERT SIEGLAFF

WATERLOO  In The Courier on May 27 there was an article from the Washington Post describing how the arctic is warming at an unusual rate, especially Alaska and Greenland. Weather in our own United States is affected by the warming of the water in the Pacific as is the south polar region. A short while ago an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal telling how Russia employs 42 ice breakers, with 14 more on order at $1 billion each. These keep hundreds of miles in arctic ice free for commercial shipping. Open water absorbs heat quite readily from the sun. This warmed water travels around the world, affecting weather as it goes.

I sent a letter to the Wall Street Journal and our two senators suggesting Russia close this practice of ice breaking. This would seem like a direct way of solving at least some of the problem. So far I have received an acknowledgement from Sen. Joni Ernst, otherwise, no response.

Perhaps this is too simple a remedy for at least some of the climate change.

Class project

SYDNEY GRAFF

WATERLOO  Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta Catholic Middle School service-learning class has been looking at the issue of animal abuse and puppy mills. We researched the issue and became aware of a bill that was up for vote in Des Moines. We invited Rep. Timi Brown-Powers to come and talk to us about the issue of puppy mills in Iowa.

Did you know Iowa is the second-largest offender? Thousands of adult breeding dogs are confined in barns and semi-trailers. And Iowa puppies are shipped to pet stores all across the country. Even if you love cats, take it from that view. what if your cat or pet was being treated like these dogs are. These dogs are not being treated the way they need to be. Dogs cant speak for themselves, so lets take a stand and help them. Be a part of the solution, learn more about Iowas puppy mill problem and visit www.iafriends.org.

Thanks, Blum

PAUL L. EDDISON

WATERLOO  As a Vietnam veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, I would like to thank Congressman Rod Blum and his office for being so responsive to the requests to support all veterans and co-sponsoring the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015.

When passed, this legislation would select a facility within the Veterans Affairs Department to be a center for researching, diagnosing and treating health conditions of those family members descending from service men and women who were exposed to toxic materials during their military service. It also would offer VA care to children of service members who suffer from medical conditions due to their parent or grandparents toxic exposure, including Agent Orange in Vietnam, Gulf War neurotoxins, Iraq and Afghanistan chemical weapons as well as other chemicals and toxins.

The Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015 was introduced in April and now has 198 cosponsors, including Blum. Thank you, congressman.
past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)
If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

 What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that.

The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players.

 How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long!

 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

 Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home.

Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice

It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices

 Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves.

 Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino.

 Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information.

 Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead.

With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks

Betway:

Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway.

Coral Casino:

Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account.

Ladbrokes Casino:

Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

Paddy Power Casino:

Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

William Hill Casino:

William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival.

Bonus: 100% Match Bonus up to 100  Register Now

Betway: 100% Match Bonus up to 100  Claim Now

Coral Casino: 25% Cash Back on Deposits  Claim Now

Ladbrokes Casino: 35% Cash Back on First 3 Deposits  Claim Now

Paddy Power Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200  Claim Now

William Hill Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200  Claim Now

If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit.
Canl Bahis siteleri sektoru son derece onu ack ve farkl ozelliklere sahip bir sektordur. Elbette bahis secenekleri arasnda yuksek kazanc getiren alan kuskusuz canl bahistir. Peki, canl bahis nedir?

Canl Bahis Nedir?

Canl bahis adndan da anlaslacag gibi devam eden musabakaya bahis yapmaktr. Bu bahis musabaka devam ederken de yaplabilir olmasdr. Basta futbol olmak uzere voleybol, tenis, hentbol, basketbol, buz hokeyi ve masa tenisi gibi spor organizasyonlarna canl bahisler yaplabilmektedir. Canl bahis siteleri bu oyunlarn hepsine yuksek oranlara bahis yapmanza imkan tanr. En fazla tercih edilen futbol canl bahisleri diger alanlara gore daha fazla on plandadr. Siteden siteye degisen sartlar ve uygulama esaslar soz konusu olsa da kurallar sabittir.

Canl bahisi populer klan ve heyecan katan en onemli ozellikle musabakann basladg ana dek bahis yapabilmedir. Canl bahis icerisinde yer alan secenekler kazanma sansnz da dogrudan arttrmaktadr. Ilk korneri kim kullanr, ilk tac, gol, sar kart, krmz kart gibi futbol musabakas icerisinde olabilecek hemen hemen her seye bahis yaplabilmektedir. Normal bahisegore de son derece yuksek oranda olmas avantajl yonlerini ortaya koymaktadr. Nitekim dogru secenek ksa surede kazancl ckmanza etki edecektir.

Strateji ve dogru analizle 90 dakika gibi bir surede anaparanzkatlayabilirsiniz. Tabi bunu basarabilmek icin mutlaka musabakaya dair ayrntlar iyi degerlendirmek gerekir. Soz konusu musabakann detaylarn inceleyip, cezal, sakat oyuncu veya performans dusen takm oyunu gibi detaylar bilmek canl bahiste kazanc belirleyen onemli unsurdur. Guvenilir Canl bahis hem heyecanl zaman gecirmeyi hem de musabakalar takip ederken para kazanmay saglamaktadr.

Canl Bahis Nasl Oynanr?

Bahislerinizi guvenilir sitelerden gerceklestirdiginiz zaman herhangi bir sekilde para cekme de sorun yasamazsnz. Guvenilir bahis siteleri tespit edip sonrasnda da uyelik islemlerini tamamlamanz gerekmektedir. Belirlenen uyelik sartlarn yerine getirip hesabnza da paray aktardktan sonra bahis islemlerini sorunsuz yapabilirsiniz. Peki, canl bahis nasl oynanr?

Oncelikle bahis konusunda mutlaka dogru site arastrmas yapmalsnz. Yapacagnz arastrma neticesinde buldugunuz site uzerinden canl bahisislemlerini gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Bunun icin uye olup, hesaba para atp, canl bahis bolumune girmelisiniz. Sonrasnda dahil olmak istediginiz musabakann saatini ogrenip, gerekli analizleri yapmalsnz. Tahminlerinizi belirledikten sonra karsnza ckacak olan bahis sayfasndan istediginiz hamleyi yapmalsnz. Bahis tutarn belirledikten sonra musabaka baslayacaktr.

Canl bahis diger normal bahis esaslarna gore farkllklar icermektedir. Bunlardan en onemlisi musabakann gidisatna gore islem yapabilir olmaktr.Ayrca musabakann 2. Yarsna gore hamle yapp ayr bir bahisin soz konusu olmas da ciddi avantajdr. Dogru hamle ile sizde istediginiz bahisi yapp kazanc elde edebilirsiniz. Nitekim canl olarak yapacagnz bahis icin mac oncesi raporlara gore hareket etmek onemlidir. Cunku takmlarn durumlarn analiz etmek tahmin gucunu arttracaktr. Misal tamnn en iyi oyuncusu sakat ya da kart cezals ise takmn performansnda dusus yasanacaktr. Buna ek olarak takmn deplasman performans ile evinde ki performans ayr olacaktr. Burada da takmn musabakay nerede yaptgna bakmak gerekir. Bu ayrntlar da iyice analiz ettikten sonra bahsinizi yapp kazanmann keyfini yasayabilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri

Son derece yuksek getiriye sahip bahis sektoru uzun zamandr faaliyet gostermektedir. Cok ciddi rakamlarn soz konusu oldugu bu sektor zamanla sanal ortamlara donusmustur. Elbette guvenli ve bir o kadar da avantajl olan bu siteler cok yonlu frsatlar sunmaktadrlar. Canl iddaa siteleri gerek yeni uyelere gerekse de hali hazrdaki uyelerine bolca bonus frsatlar vermektedir. Yatracagnz tutara gore belirlenen bonuslar site icerisinde rahat hareket etmenizi de saglayacaktr.

Canl bahis sitelerini kullanmadan once mutlaka guvenli olup olmadgna goz atmalsnz. Zira baz kullanclar guvenli olmayan sitelerden yaptklar islemlerden dolay magdur olmaktadrlar. Nitekim guvenli ve sorunsuz hizmet sunan yurt ds site tercih etmek en dogru secenektir. Sektorde uzun yllar faaliyet gosteren siteleri tercih edebilirsiniz. Bu alanda yer alan yabanc siteler musteri memnuniyetine onem vermektedir. Oncelik site kullanclarn sorunsuz sekilde bahislerini yapabilir olmasn saglamaktr. Bahis sitelerinde amac hem daha fazla kullancya hizmet vermek hem de sektorde emin admlarla ilerlemek onceliklidir. Dogru site tercihi ile sizde canl bahislerinizi sorun yasamadan gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Sizler icin hazrlams oldugumuz canl bahis siteleri listesi su sekildedir;

Mobilbahis Tempobet Bets10 Bahigo 1xbahis Betboo Youwin Superbahis

Sralams oldugumuz bu siteler sektorde basarl islere imza atms sitelerdedir. Canl bahis konusunda beklentileri karslayacak olan bu siteler sizlere kolaylk sunmaktadrlar. Bol bonuslu secenekle de sizlere farkl bahis yonlerini sunacaklardr. Sistemsel etki icerisinde her zaman etkin sonuc alabilmek icin surekli olarak faaliyet icerisindedirler.

Canl Bahis Taktikleri

Bahis sektorunun en fazla dikkat edilmesi gereken hususu dogru taktik ve dogru tahmindir. Elbette dogru tahmini yapabilmek icin analizi cok iyi yapmak gerekir. Canl bahis taktikleri arasnda ilk sra analiz gelmektedir. Analiz yapamadgnz zaman basarl tahminlerde bulunmanz pek de mumkun degildir. Cunku bahiste onemli olan konu musabakann analizini cok iyi yaplmas gerektigidir. Canl bahisin ozelliklerini iyi bilmek ve nasl bir hamle yapacagnz bilmek gerekir. Ozellikle riskli maclarda yaplacak degerlendirmeler cok daha onemlidir.

Canl bahis yapacaklarn takip edecegi degerler takmlarn durumlar ile alakal olmaldr. Performans uzerine kurulu bahis sisteminde takm degerlendirmesine iyi bakmak gerekir. Iki takmn son 5 macta nasl bir sonuc ortaya koyduguna bakarak hareket etmek onemlidir. Ayrca hangi takm evinde daha iyi performans sergiliyor diye de ayrca bakmak gerekir.

Analizlerle alakal puan durumlarna da goz atmak cok onemlidir. Puan degerlendirmesinde oncelikle takmlarn ihtiyaclar ile dogru orantl hareket etmek gerekir. Cunku olusturulan performans takmn da durumunu ortaya koymaktadr. Nitekim istenilen sonucu elde edebilmek icin tum ayrntlar bilmek gerekir. Takm ici duzenden tutunda da takmn son durumuna kadar her ayrnt onemlidir. Iki takmn birbirleri arasnda ki sonuclar da incelemek gerekir. Burada dikkat edilecek detaylarn basnda maclarda kac gol oldugu ve gollerin hangi dakikalarda atldgdr. Cekismeli gecen musabakalarda bazen goller ilk yarda daha fazla olurken baz maclarda da ikinci yarda daha cok gol olmustur. Iki takm arasnda ki maclarda gollerin cogunlugu ilk yarda geliyorsa buna gore bahis yapabilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Bonuslar ve Kampanyalar

Bahis yapanlar veya yapmay dusununler sitelerin sunmus olduklar frsatlar merak etmektedirler. Cunku siteler daha fazla kullancya erismek icin her donem kampanyalar duzenleyerek kullanc odakl hamleler yapmaktadrlar. Canl bahis bonuslar ve kampanyalar oldukca populer olup, siteler bu konuda adeta birbirleri ile yarsmaktadrlar. Birbirinden farkl ozelliklere sahip olan kampanyalar size frsatlar sunmaktadr. Daha cok kazanma ihtimalinizi arttran bu bonuslar daha cesur olmanza da dogrudan etki edecektir. Nitekim bonuslar sitelerin cekiciligini ve avantajlarn arttrmaktadr. En cok kazandran canl bahis siteleri bedava bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin http://www.milano2018.com/canli-bahis-siteleri-2022/ linkinden yardm alabilirsiniz.

Hos geldin bonusu ile baslayan ve sonrasnda para yatrdkca bonus veren cok sayda site bulunmaktadr. Canl bahis bonusu veren siteler yeni uyelere sunduklar frsatlar farkl kampanyalarla mevcut uyelerine de sunmaktadrlar. Hali hazrda siteyi kullananlarn da bonus frsatlarndan yararlanmalar icin donemsel kampanyalar olusturmaktadrlar. Boylece baska sitelere gidisler olmayacag gibi site de daha keyifli zaman gecirmek mumkun klnmaktadr. Bu tur eklentiler yapan sitelerde musteri memnuniyeti daha fazladr.

Bahis siteleri ozellik ve uygulama bakmndan farkllklar bunyelerinde bulundurmaktadrlar. Verilen bonuslarn olusturulmas ve kullanclar aktarlmasnda yatrlan para miktarlar belirleyici olmaktadr. 1.000 TL yatran bir kullanc yuzde 20 bonus frsat olan bir kampanyadan 200 TL bonus kazanabilmektedir. Yatracag tutar 10.000 TL oldugunda bu bonustutar 2.000 TL olabilmektedir. Gerceklesen ve uygulanan esaslar tamamen donemsel olarak yaplan kampanyalarla alakaldr. Iyi Canl bahis siteleri bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin sitelerin vermis oldugu oranlar takip edebilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Yatrma

Online Canl bahis yapacaklarn merak ettigi konulardan bir digeri de para yatrma islemleridir. Oldukca onemli olan bu konuda hata yapmamak cok onemlidir. Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemi sanlann aksine son derece basittir. Oldukca basit ve uygulama esas dogru etki olusturan bu yapda sizde islemi rahatca tamamlayabilirsiniz. Para yatrma konusunda su yolu izleyebilirsiniz.

Guvendiginiz ve herhangi bir sekilde aklnzda soru isareti kalmayan bahis sitesine uye olmanz gerekmektedir. Uyelik islemini sorunsuz sekilde tamamladktan sonra para yatrma islemine gecebilirsiniz.

Kullanacagnz siteye uye olduktan sonra karsnza kullanc ad ve sifresini gireceginiz yer gelecektir. Buraya giris yaptktan sonra site icerisine islemlere devam edebilirsiniz.

Sitede yer alan para yatrma sekmesine tklayp sonrasnda karsnza gelen sayfay inceleyebilirsiniz. Para yatrma bolumunde yer alan ksma ne kadar para yatracagnz yazp devam tusuna basmalsnz.

Yatrmak istediginiz tutar girip sonrasnda da devam tusuna bastktan sonra karsnza kart bilgilerinizi gireceginiz sayfa gelecektir. Kredi kart kullanarak para gondermek isteyenlerin tercih ettigi bu sayfa tum bilgiler girilip islem onaylanmaldr.

Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemini gerceklestirmek icin hesaba havale secenegini de kullanabilirsiniz. Site icerisinde musteri hizmetleri ile iletisime gecerek banka hesap numaralarn ogrenebilirsiniz. Belirtilen IBAN numarasna istediginiz tutar havale edebilirsiniz. Havale ederken acklama ksmna yazlacak bilgilere dikkat etmelisiniz.

Kredi kart veya banka havalesi ile gerceklesen para yatrma islemi sonucunda site hesabnzdan bakiyenize bakabilirsiniz. Bakiyenize gore dilediginiz sekilde bahislerinizi gerceklestirebilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Cekme

Canl bahiste dogru hamleler ve dogru tahminler sonucunda kazandgnz bedeli geri almak isteyebilirsiniz. Kazanclarnz istediginiz banka hesabnza cekebilmek icin uymanz gereken kurallar soz konusudur. Oncelikle bahis sitelerinden para cekebilmeniz icin uye olurken dogru bilgi paylasmnda bulunmanz gerektigidir. Cunku canl bahis sitelerinden para cekme islemi icin kullanc hesab ile talep edilen banka hesap bilgilerinin ortusmesi gerekir. Yani uye olurken verilen bilgi ile banka hesab kime ait ise o bilgiler ayn olmaldr. Bu uygulama sitenin hem kullancsn hem de kendisini guvene alma politikasdr. Ayrca frsatclarn onune gecerek yeni bir uye olusumunun da onune gecmek amac gutmektedir. Uye olan kisi farkl para cekilme talebi verilen hesap farkl oldugunda para cekme islemi gerceklesmeyecektir.

Bahisleriniz sonucunda kazanc elde edebilir ve bu kazancnz da hakknz olarak almak isteyebilirsiniz. Burada son derece basit uygulama soz konusu olurken siteler aras farkl gorunumler soz konusu olabilir. Fakat yine de tum sitelerde uyenin site icerisinde para cekme bolumune girmesi yeterlidir. Burada cekilecek olan tutarn belirlenmesi ve hesap numarasnn girilmesi ile birlikte islem onay gerekecektir. Para cekme taleplerinde sizden gerekli bilgiler istenmekte ve havale islemi istenilen bilgiler esliginde yurutulmektedir. Dogru bilgi paylasmak sorunsuz para cekebilmeniz en onemli kuraldr. Istenilen bilgiler girildikten sonra site sorumlular gerekli kontrolleri yapp herhangi bir sorun yoksa ksa surede hesabnza gerekli paray aktaracaklardr.

Canl Bahis Sitelerinden Para Cekmek Icin Istenen Belgeler

Bahis sitelerine uye olduktan sonra baz kullanclar para cekme taleplerinin karslanmadg konusunda sikayetlerde bulunmuslardr. Bu sikayetlersektorde uzun zamandr bulunan guvenilir bahis siteleri de yer almaktadr. Fakat sikayetlerin dayanaklarna bakldgnda ise islerin tamamen farkl oldugu gorulmektedir. Yasanan bu durum kullanclarn hatal bilgi girmesi ve uyelik bilgileri ile banka bilgilerinin uyusmamas ile dogru orantldr. Birde canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler eksik ya da hatal olarak sunulmus olabilir. Ortaya ckan karsklar neticesinde para cekme talebinde bulunan kisi istedigini alamadg icin sikayetci olmaktadr. Oysa ki istenilen bilgiler dogru ve istenilen evraklar eksiksiz sunulsa para cekme islemi sorunsuz olacak.

Sitelerin para cekme konusunda dikkatli hareket etmesi hilelerin ve illegal faaliyetlerin onune gecmek adnadr. Cunku baz kullanclar farkl bilgiler vererek ikinci hesap acabilmektedirler. Bazen de bilincsizce hatal bilgi girilebilmektedir. Hatal islemlerin cozumu konusunda islem yaptgnz sitenin musteri temsilcileri ile gorusebilirsiniz. Talepleriniz dogrultusunda para cekme islemlerinde ki sorunlar giderilecektir. Canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler listesi su sekildedir;

Kullanc bilgileri ile banka bilgilerini karslastrmak icin kimlik fotokopisi

Banka hesap bilgileri

Ikametgah ve kisiye ait herhangi bir fatura.

Kacak Iddaa

Turkiyede dogrudan bahis yapmak icin resmi kanallar kullanlabilmektedir. Fakat tercih edilen ve oran olarak cok daha fazla frsatlar sunan kacar iddaasiteleri bulunmaktadr. Bu siteler kanunlara aykr sekilde yaplmakta olup, yasal bir dayanag yoktur. Elbette bu sitelerin kurulus merkezi Turkiye olmayp, ds ulkelerdedir ve faaliyetler belirlenen siteler uzerinden yaplmaktadr. Kacak Iddaa oldukca riskli olup, cok dikkatli olunmas gerekir.

Kacak Bahis

Kanunlar cercevesinde istediginiz gibi bahis yapamayabilirsiniz. Bahis yapabilmek icin ya kanuni olarak sorun olmayan ulke dsnda ki kumarhanelere gitmeniz veya kacak bahis sitelerinden islem yapabilirsiniz. Zira bu durum tehlikeli olsa da cok sayda site guvenli sekilde bu alanda hizmet vermektedir. Kacak bahiste oldukca fazla secenek bulunurken yuksek oranda kazanc sunuyor olmas da ragbeti arttryor.

Illegal Bahis

Bahisin bircok alanda yasak oldugu Turkiyede bu alanda cok sayda yabanc merkezli siteler hizmet vermektedir. Illegal bahis sektorunde faaliyet gosteren siteler guvenli hizmet anlays ile kullanclarna frsatlar sunmaktadr. Yurt ds merkezli bu siteler sorunsuz sekilde hizmetlerini surdururken bulunduklar ulkelerde kanunlara uygun sekildedir. Elbette faaliyet noktasnda bulunduklar ulkelerde sorun teskil etmese de Turkiyede faaliyet gostermeleri kanunin yasaklanmstr.

Yasads Bahis

Gerek olusturulan etkenler gerekse de ortaya konulan riskler yasads bahis de oldukca tehlikelidir. Kanunlarn mudahil olduklar bu alanlar da hem kullanclar hem de populer bahis yaptranlar tum riskleri goze almaktadrlar. Fakat yasaklardan uzak sekilde guvenli hizmet sunan siteler de bulunmaktadr. Takipler neticesinde kapatlan sitelerin muhakkak alternatifleri kurularak yollarna devam etmektedirler.

Canl Iddaa Siteleri Nelerdir?

Dunya genelinde kabul gormus cok sayda guvenli hizmet veren populer bahis siteleri bulunmaktadr. Elbette bu siteler dunyann bircok ulkesinde faaliyet gosterse de Turkiyede yasaktr. Sektorde yer alan cok sayda legal iddaa siteleri bulunmaktadr. Herhangi bir kanunsuzlugun olmadg bu sitelerden hzl ve guvenli islem yaplabilmektedir. Tabi bu sitelerde uygulanan oranlar yasal olmayan sitelere gore daha dusuktur. Illegal sitelerin tercih edilme sebeplerinin en onemli etkeni de olusturulan oranlardr. Peki, Iddaa siteleri nelerdir? Faaliyetleri ve uygulama esaslar nelerdir?

Turkiyede faaliyet gosteren yasal iddaa siteleri listesi su sekildedir;

Iddaa

Bilyoner

Tuttur

Birebin

Oley

Nesine

Misli

Iddaa

2004 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslayan Iddaa Spor toto tarafndan kurulmus olup, ilk etapta bayilik seklinde calsmaya baslamstr. Elbette zamanla gelisen teknolojiye ayak uydurarak internet uzerinde de populer bahis severlerin hizmetine sunulmustur. Kuruldugu donemde devletin resmi kurumu olarak faaliyet gosterirken gelinen yeni donemde ozellestirilmistir.

Bilyoner

Turkiyede faaliyetine 2006 ylnda baslayan Bilyoner ilk ozel yasal bahis sitesi olma ozelligine sahiptir. Guvenilir bahis siteleri Turkiyede bunlardr. Ksa surede populer olan site halen faaliyetlerini sorunsuz sekilde surdurmektedir.

Tuttur

Ksa surede adndan bahsettirmeyi basaran Tuttur 2009 ylnda faaliyetlere baslamstr. Guvenilir bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almstr. Gunumuze dek bircok alanda populer bahis yapanlara frsatlar sunarken avantajlar ile de begeni toplamstr.

Birebin

Kullanc odakl calsmalar surdurse de 2011 ylnda sektore giren Birebindiger sitelere gore daha az ragbet gormektedir. Bahis oynamak ise bu sitede oldukca kolaydr. Elbette farkl yaklasmlara sahip olmasndan dolay ilerleyen sureclerde adndan sklkla bahsettirecek gibi gorunuyor.

Oley

2009 ylnda Dogus yayn gruplarnn istiraki olarak kurulmus olup yasal olarak herhangi bir sorunu olmayan sitelerdendir. Bahis siteleri arasnda hzl cks yapms bir sitedir. Oley yapms oldugu yenilikler ile kullanclarn da dikkatini ksa surede cekmeyi basarmstr.

Nesine

Birbirini takip eden surecte Nesine de yine 2006 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslamstr. Yasal bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almay basaran firma ksa surede sevilen ve ragbet goren bir site olmustur.

Misli

2009 ylnda sektore cok hzl giris yapan Misli cok sayda reklam filmi ile on plana ckmay basarmstr. Internet uzerinden hem yasal hem de sorunsuz hizmet veren bahis sitelerinden bir tanesi olmustur.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Kayt ve Uyelik Islemleri

Her zaman populerligini koruyan ve surekli gelisim gosteren canl bahis gun gectikce daha da gucleniyor. Bahis oynamak icin ise sitelere uye olunmas gerekir. Yuksek getirisi ve begeni toplayan faaliyetleri ile cok sayda site bu alanda faaliyet gostermektedir. Elbette sorunsuz sekilde uye olmanz ve faaliyetler gostermeniz de oldukca kolaydr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri dakikalar icerisinde gerceklestirilecek yapya sahiptir.

Uye olacagnz siteyi belirledikten sonra siteye girmeniz gerekmektedir. Girdiginiz sitenin ana sayfasnda uye ol ya da kayt ol bolumu bulunacaktr. Siteler arasnda degiskenlik gosteren bu alanda temel unsurlar bulunmaktadr. Elbette farkllklar olsa da temelinde benzer bilgiler uye olmak isteyen kisilerden talep edilmektedir.

Uye ol bolumune tkladktan sonra karsnza uyelik bilgi formu ckacaktr. Bu formda sizin kim oldugunuzu ogrenmek ve sitenin guvenligini saglamak adna islemler yaplmaktadr. Uyelik formunda yer alan ad soyad bolumunu eksiksiz ve dogru sekilde doldurmalsnz. Sizden bu formda istenen bilgilerin tamamn girmeniz istenecektir. Istenen bilgiler mutlaka dogru ve eksiksiz sekilde olmaldr. Eksik veya hatal bilgi uyelik islemlerinde sorun teskil edebilir. Yine de yanls bilgi girisine ragmen uyelik islemleri tamamlanabilir. Fakat boyle bir yol izleyenler sonrasnda buyuk skntlarla karslasabilirler. Bu skntlarn basnda da para cekme islemlerinde yasanan sorunlardr.

Uyelik islemleri dikkatli ve ozenle doldurulmas gereken yapdadr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri gerceklestirilirken verilen bilgiler site yonetimi tarafndan muhafaza edilmektedir. Herhangi bir sekilde 3. Sahslarla paylaslmas gibi bir durum soz konusu degildir. Bu faaliyetleri surduren sitelerin guven unsurlar arasnda bu nokta onceliklidir.

Bahis sitelerine uye olurken hatal bilgi paylasmnda bulunmak size faydadan cok zarar verecektir. Diyelim ki bilgileri hatal girdiniz ve uyelik onayland. Uyelik tamamlandktan sonra siteye para yatrdnz ve kazanc elde ettiniz. Kazancnz sonrasnda hesabnza almak istediginizde karsnza banka bilgileri bolumu gelecektir. Para cekme talebi gerceklestikten sonra site uyelik bilgileri ile banka hesap bilgileri ortusmez ise paranz alamazsnz. Boyle bir durumla karslasmamak adna bu hususa ayrca dikkat etmelisiniz.
May 25, 2016 | By Benedict

In a milestone moment for the British National Health Service (NHS), surgeons have used a 3D printed replica of a patients cancerous prostate to aid surgery on the gland. The procedure was carried out at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust in London.

3D printing is now used all around the world as a tool for surgical planning. The process, which has already saved countless lives, is a simple but effective one: medical staff obtain scans of a patients anatomy, turn those scans into a digital 3D image, then turn that 3D image into a 3D printed model. That 3D printed model can then be delivered to the operating surgeon, who can closely examine it in preparation for the procedure.

Although the use of 3D printing during surgical planning is an exciting medical technique, it is not yet available to all. Given the experimental nature of medical 3D printing and the costs associated with high-quality 3D printing equipment, 3D printers are much more likely to be found in wealthy private clinics than more modest medical practices. It is therefore exciting to learn that 3D printing has now been used, for the first time ever, in the British NHS, the free national healthcare system available to all residents.

Professor Prokar Dasgupta, a surgeon who has performed similar operations with 3D printed surgical models at other clinics, performed the milestone procedure at Guys and St Thomas Hospital in London, where a 65-year-old patient was being treated for a cancerous prostate tumor. The surgeon was able to get a close look at a 3D printed replica of the tumor before commencing surgery, enabling him to eliminate a good deal of improvisation which might otherwise have been required: Using this 3D model, we can plan surgery better, we can counsel the patient better, and we hope to be able to remove the cancer successfully, Professor Dasgupta said. If I didnt have this, there would be an element of guesswork.

The 3D printed model was made in a lab at the hospital using data from an MRI scan. The printing process took a total of 12 hours, and cost around 150 - 200 ($220 - 293). The robot with which Professor Dasgupta performed the operation cost 2 million. As well as giving the surgeon a general idea of the shape and location of the tumor, the 3D printed prostate also revealed that one side of the gland was smooth, which enabled Professor Dasgupta to leave an important nerve bundle undamaged. These bundles are important to the patient, the surgeon said. They go to the penis and help with the recovery of erections.

Professor Dasgupta may have made history by becoming the first NHS surgeon to utilize 3D printing in surgical planning, but the surgeon believes that the technology has an important role to play in the present and future of medicine: It shows you the power of MRI, it shows you the power of this software, it shows you the power of 3D printing, he said. If it proves to be as useful as it seems, I think it has a great future.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:









dr sanjeev jain urologist India wrote at 6/16/2016 2:41:24 PM:well done dr Prokar ! I believe it will be a benchmark for other radical surgeries , for example TCC bladder .deserve applauds !dr sanjeev jain urologist India wrote at 6/16/2016 2:39:50 PM:well done dr Prokar ! I believe it will be a benchmark for other radical surgeries , for example TCC bladder .deserve applauds !




May 25, 2016 | By Alec

Image credit: stv.tv

Brain tumors are a particularly horrible form of cancer about which very little is known; occurring in around 250,000 people around the world every year, it is especially prevalent in underage cancer patients and treatment methods are not very effective. Fortunately, a team of Scottish researchers from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh have just found a new 3D printing solution that will make research and medicine development far easier: 3D printed brain tumors which can be used during laboratory testing.

This potentially revolutionary application is still under development, with research being led by Dr Nicholas Leslie, a tumor biologist at Heriot-Watt Universitys Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, and by 3D printing expert Dr Will Shu. The UK-based Brain Tumour Charity has provided them with a grant of 67,000 (approximately $98,000 USD) to fund the research. The study itself is part of a much larger multi-million pound brain tumor research initiative.

But this isnt the first time brain tumor cells have been studied in laboratory environments. Cells grown in a lab or taken from patients have been studied before, but unfortunately those cell clusters tend to behave very differently than when theyre actually part of a tumor in a patient. A cells behavior is primarily dictated by its environment, which makes studying the effectiveness of treatment methods very difficult. Another option is animal testing, but again the results are not fully comparable to human patients.

But thats where 3D printing comes in. The Heriot-Watt University team will be using cutting edge 3D bioprinting hardware to recreate actual brain tumors. These will be made from patient tumors and will include stem cells from an incurable and highly aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, which is the most common tumor type found in adult brains. 3D printed tumors made from other types of cells from patients will also be realized, combined with a dense mixture of matrix proteins and other cells to mimic the brain environment of an actual person.

Image of cancer cells (Heriot-Watt University).

The goal is to secure an easily-reproducible and far more effective platform for drug treatment testing, which is still absent today. About 5,000 people in the UK alone die from malignant brain tumors, and many more are diagnosed with this form of cancer. When combined with other research initiatives backed by the Brain Tumour Charity, including studies into treatment methods for common tumors found in children, the Scottish researchers hope to better prepare medical procedures for this devastating form of cancer.

As Dr Leslie explained, their 3D bioprinting technology is now up to the challenge. We have developed a novel 3D printing technique to print brain tumor cells for the first time, cells that continue to grow rapidly, more closely mimicking the growth of these aggressive tumors in real life, he explained. Our goal is that this should provide a new way of testing drugs to treat brain tumors, leading to new treatments and speeding up the process by which new drugs become available to patients. For this reason were happy to be funding this pioneering project at Heriot-Watt included in our major research investment introduced today.

Dr Shu further said that the study will be a collaborative effort involving cancer biologists, engineers and clinicians. The team already has extensive 3D bioprinting experience involving stem cells. Shu added that this 3D printing solution should pave the way for experiments that were impossible to set up in the past. The prognosis for newly diagnosed brain tumor patients is currently very poor and improvements have been very limited, in large part due to the failure in clinical trials of many new drugs, he told The National. We hope our research will help develop a model that closely matches... the response of individuals brain tumors to drugs, allowing more effective treatment to be carried out for patients.

The Brain Tumour Charity hopes that this new 3D printing initiative could bring new impetus to a research field that has been stagnant for too long. Progress towards more effective treatments for brain tumors has been too slow for too long, said the charitys chief executive Sarah Lindsell. We urgently need new ideas to bring hope to the thousands whose lives are affected every day by this devastating disease. That's why we are delighted to be funding this pioneering project at Heriot-Watt as part of our major research investment announced today.

Right now, treatment methods for brain cancer are limited to surgery and chemoradiation  a mixture of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But even this is not always effective, and the disease can progress very rapidly. This was the case for Debbie Wilkie, who was diagnosed with a glioblastoma two years ago at the age of 48. She followed all procedures, but the tumor recurred and she is now receiving palliative care. Debbie and I were married for less than six months before she was diagnosed in 2014. Now time has run out for us. There are no more options for Debbie, her husband Neil said. I hope this research funded by The Brain Tumour Charity will make a real difference, so that one day a glioblastoma diagnosis is not an automatic death sentence.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:












May 25, 2016 | By Benedict

Macedonian fashion designer Irina Tosheva has used 3D printing to create unique pieces for her latest collection, Riza", which has been showcased at events in Kosovo and Macedonia. The designer worked with MK3D, a Macedonian 3D printing service provider, to print the pieces on a Zortrax 3D printer.

Although todays rainclouds might suggest otherwise, summer is virtually upon us, which means putting those wooly jumpers back in the cupboard and whipping out your shorts, sandals, and 3D printed dresses. Thats what Macedonian fashionista Irina Tosheva is doing at least, as she takes her unique 3D printed fashion collection to various catwalk events around Eastern Europe.

Toshevas new collection, titled Riza, is strongly influenced by traditional Balkan dress, but incorporates unique 3D printed elements into both its jewelry and clothing pieces. The unusual outfits, which favor shades of light rose, jade, lilac and pale yellow, were first seen at the beginning of April at an event in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, and have since been spotted at Skopje Fashion Week in Macedonia and other events.

Many elements of the collection are actually collaborative works between Tosheva and aspiring architect Nikola Kunglovski. Together, the pair researched traditional Macedonian ornaments, before incorporating elements of those items into digital 3D sculptures. These creations were then transformed into sketches for jewelry, clothing, and bag designs.

Tosheva wanted these traditional yet futuristic pieces to be 3D printed. Not having a 3D printer themselves, however, Tosheva and Kunglovski sought the help of Dejan Brazansky, a 3D printing expert at local 3D printing shop MK3D Printing, who was able to turn the 3D designs into 3D printable files. Once the designs were checked for errors, they were then sliced and sent to a Zortrax M200 3D printer using Zortraxs Z-SUITE software.

The entire 3D printing process for the trendy pieces lasted around 200 hours, during which almost 2kg of various shades of Zortrax Z-ULTRAT filament was used up. The MK3D team opted for a 0.14 mm layer thickness, to ensure perfect accuracy and to enable the pieces to be printed thin and lightideal for integration with fabrics.

Zortrax, founded in Olsztyn, Poland, has previously offered its 3D printing technology to other fashion designers. In 2015, the company worked with Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, whose 3D printed dresses and other pieces have frequently grabbed headlines in both the fashion world and the tech blogosphere. According to Zortrax, the 3D printer company is enjoy healthy sales, with its M200 desktop 3D printer recording three times as many sales in 2015 than in 2014.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:












Jimena Canales in Nautilus:

On April 6, 1922, Einstein met a man he would never forget. He was one of the most celebrated philosophers of the century, widely known for espousing a theory of time that explained what clocks did not: memories, premonitions, expectations, and anticipations. Thanks to him, we now know that to act on the future one needs to start by changing the past. Why does one thing not always lead to the next? The meeting had been planned as a cordial and scholarly event. It was anything but that. The physicist and the philosopher clashed, each defending opposing, even irreconcilable, ways of understanding time. At the Societe francaise de philosophieone of the most venerable institutions in Francethey confronted each other under the eyes of a select group of intellectuals. The dialogue between the greatest philosopher and the greatest physicist of the 20th century was dutifully written down.1 It was a script fit for the theater. The meeting, and the words they uttered, would be discussed for the rest of the century.

The philosophers name was Henri Bergson. In the early decades of the century, his fame, prestige, and influence surpassed that of the physicistwho, in contrast, is so well known today. Bergson was compared to Socrates, Copernicus, Kant, Simon Bolivar, and even Don Juan. The philosopher John Dewey claimed that no philosophic problem will ever exhibit just the same face and aspect that it presented before Professor Bergson. William James, the Harvard professor and famed psychologist, described Bergsons Creative Evolution (1907) as a true miracle, marking the beginning of a new era. For James, Matter and Memory (1896) created a sort of Copernican revolution as much as Berkeleys Principles or Kants Critique did. The philosopher Jean Wahl once said that if one had to name the four great philosophers one could say: Socrates, Platotaking them togetherDescartes, Kant, and Bergson. The philosopher and historian of philosophy Etienne Gilson categorically claimed that the first third of the 20th century was the age of Bergson. He was simultaneously considered the greatest thinker in the world and the most dangerous man in the world. Many of his followers embarked on mystical pilgrimages to his summer home in Saint-Cergue, Switzerland.

More here.
Alejandro Chacoff at n+1:

FROM A DISTANCE, the causes of the Brazilian crisis seem obvious. A corrupt government, after fourteen years in power, begins to suffer the consequences of erratic policies: a deep recession follows, and protesters then take to the streets to overthrow the government. This explanation isnt so much unfounded as insufficient. The government is corrupt, but so are all the other parties. The economy is in recession, but there have been other periods of turbulence in the past, and not all of them led to a coup. Protesters are on the streets, yet they make up a small demographic, and are unrepresentative of the larger population. To state that a couple of organs in a body have failed says little of the disease that overtook it. Im not sure, though, that watching the corpse decompose from up close yields any kind of special explanatory power. It may well be that those farther away are better equipped to explain things.

To watch the maggots scuffle and reproduce on the bodythink of them as various members of the executive, legislative, and judiciaryis less revolting than it is profoundly boring. And yet none of us here are able to look away. In Rio, where I live and write for a monthly magazine, the crisis often seems to be the only topic of conversation. Once a week, I head to the magazines offices in Ipanema. There, for about twenty or thirty minutes, my colleagues and I exchange pleasantries and drink coffee. Then someone will pull up a video of the latest outrage: a right-wing congressman justifying his vote to oust President Dilma Rousseff by paying homage to a deceased torturer from the military dictatorship; a lawyer, responsible for filing the impeachment request against the President, waving the Brazilian flag in her hand as she shouts incantations against the republic of the snake; the popular leftist musician and supporter of the ruling Workers Party (PT) Chico Buarque confessing that he didnt in fact write his own songs, but rather bought the lyrics and melodies off the street from a guy named Ahmed.

more here.
The outcome of a silent heart attack is as bad as a heart attack that is recognized while it is happening, Elsayed Z. Soliman, M.D., study senior author and director of the epidemiological cardiology research center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said in a statement. And because patients dont know they have had a silent heart attack, they may not receive the treatment they need to prevent another one.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is severely reduced or cut off completely, damaging the heart muscle. Typical symptoms include chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness or cold sweats.

But there can also be nontraditional signs like unexplained fatigue, pain or discomfort in the throat, neck or jaw, or what seems like heartburn  symptoms so mild, theyre barely noticed, if at all, Soliman said. Evidence of these silent attacks is usually discovered accidentally while testing patients hearts for other reasons, the study showed.

Researchers analyzed the records of nearly 9,500 adults ages 45 to 64 already enrolled in a national study analyzing the causes and outcomes of hardening of the arteries. Over a period of nine years, 317 participants had silent heart attacks, while 386 had heart attacks with more recognizable symptoms.
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.


Enters Agreement for iFOREX to Pilot Digital KYC Service

Melbourne, May 25, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - iSignthis Ltd ( ASX:ISX ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a pilot agreement with the industry leader in online trading, iFOREX. iSignthis will integrate with iFOREX to pilot and optimize the ISX Digital KYC service. A successfully optimized pilot will provide iFOREX with a user friendly onboarding system.



Highlights:



- iSignthis executes pilot agreement with global online CFDs trading platform, iFOREX



- iSignthis Digital KYC service to be made available to German iFOREX customers from mid to late 2016



The aim of the two month pilot is to optimize the iSignthis service, and to demonstrate compliance to the stringent requirements of CySEC and the EU's 4th AML Directive ("4AMLD"). The 4AMLD is set to come into effect in June 2017 within the EU.



Post successful pilot, and subject to finalisation of contract, the iSignthis service opens up the potential customer market for iFOREX to any of the worlds 3.5Bn financially included persons. The iSignthis service will be able to onboard customers who elect to pay by credit card to iFOREX within minutes.



iFOREX is one of the largest online trading platforms in the industry. Having experienced exponential growth every year, iFOREX have expanded their client base generating mass trading volume and providing vast financial assets to traders located across the globe. Their online trading platform can be easily accessed from mobiles, laptops and tablets which has enabled users to trade whenever they choose, whilst also receiving instant professional support when needed.



iSignthis Managing Director John Karantzis said "We are excited to be piloting our recently released 4AMLD customer due diligence KYC solution with industry leader, iFOREX. Noting that both the 4AMLD and PSD2 are now visible on the horizon, we are delighted by the foresight shown by iFOREX to solve the challenges associated with 4AMLD and PSD2 ahead of time, and offer their customers a seamless, quick and low friction onboarding experience."



About iFOREX



The iFOREX Group was founded in 1996 by an elite team of financial experts and is now considered to be one of the largest and most respected online trading groups in the industry. iFOREX provides clients with tools needed in order to maximize their profit potential such as customizable leverage of up to 400:1, a wealth of limit order to control their portfolio and 3 Trading Platforms that are suitable for both advanced and novice traders. The Platforms incorporate all the well-known features and tools such as one click deal execution, limit orders, hedging capabilities and stop loss level for exposure closing. With access to over 250 tradable products, the iFOREX platforms are easy to use, fully customizable and available in over 21 languages. iFOREX also provides real time margin protection, automatically executing risk management precautions in order to prevent any negative balance.



Read more about the company at their website http://www.iforex.com/.





About iSignthis Ltd





iSignthis Ltd (ASX:ISX) (FRA:TA8) is a hybrid monetary financial institution and also a RegTech leader in remote identity verification, payment authentication with deposit taking, transactional banking and payment processing capability. iSignthis provides an end-to-end on-boarding service for merchants, with a unified payment, electronic money and identity service via our Paydentity(TM) and ISXPay(R) solutions.

By converging payments and identity, iSignthis delivers regulatory compliance to an enhanced customer due diligence standard, offering global reach to any of the world's 4.2Bn 'bank verified' card or account holders, that can be remotely on-boarded to meet the Customer Due Diligence requirements of AML regulated merchants in as little as 3 to 5 minutes. Paydentity(TM) has now onboarded and verified more than 1.5m persons to an AML KYC standard.

iSignthis Paydentity(TM) service is the trusted back office solution for regulated entities, allowing merchants to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, and focus on growing their core business. iSignthis' subsidiary, iSignthis eMoney Ltd, trades as ISXPay(R), and is an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, offering card acquiring in the EEA, and Australia.

ISXPay(R) is a principal member of Mastercard Inc, Diners, Discover, (China) Union Pay International and JCB International, an American Express aggregator, and provides merchants with access to payments via alternative methods including SEPA, Poli Payments, Sofort, PRZ24 and others.

Probanx Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of iSignthis Ltd, provides API based access to CORE Banking solutions, SEPA Core, SEPA Instant and SEPA business scheme, for neobanks, banks, credit unions and emoney institutions, and provides a bridge to the Eurosystem's Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink service.
Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.


Orocobre Industrial Minerals Lithium Conference Presentation

Sydney, May 26, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Orocobre Limited ( ASX:ORE ) ( TSE:ORL ) (Orocobre or the Company) wishes to advise that the attached presentation will be used by the Company Chairman James Calaway at the Industrial Minerals 8th Lithium Supply & Markets Conference in Las Vegas USA.



The presentation provides information on:



- The journey, challenges and time involved in advancing a project from exploration through to commercial production



- Performance and forecast production and cash operating cost



- Price expectations



- Product quality profile



- Expansion timeline



To view the presentation, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/5P2W9A13





About Orocobre Limited





Orocobre Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange ( ASX:ORE) ( TSE:ORL) (OTCMKTS:OROCF), and is building a substantial Argentine based industrial chemicals company through its portfolio of lithium, potash and boron assets. In partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) and JEMSE, Orocobre has built and is now operating the world's first commercial, brine-based lithium operation constructed in approximately 20 years.

In 2018 Orocobre announced the Stage 2 Expansion of its flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility in Argentina. The Stage 2 Expansion will add 25,000 tpa of lithium carbonate production capacity, taking full production and capacity to 42,500 tpa of lithium carbonate for sale to industrial, technical and battery markets, positioning Orocobre as one of the world's largest and lowest cost lithium chemicals producers.

Additionally, Orocobre and Toyota Tsusho Corporation have commenced construction of the 10,000 tpa lithium hydroxide plant in Naraha, Japan. The construction of the Naraha Lithium Hydroxide Plant will further cement Orocobre's position as a global lithium chemicals producer operating at the bottom quartile of the lithium cost curve. This new hydroxide plant will be the first of its kind in Japan and will provide Orocobre product diversification suitable for different battery technologies and the potential for significant margin growth on our primary lithium carbonate being converted to battery grade lithium hydroxide.
On the eve of the City Council voting on a budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year that would include a one-time allocation of $300,000 to create a fund to combat climate change and the effects it has on the impoverished, Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales held a noon press conference outside City Hall on Tuesday he said was part of a final push to rally public support for the Verde Fund.

The mayor said the funds purpose is to ignite interest from outside city government and to show that Santa Fe is committed to the taking on the challenges of reducing poverty and meeting the citys goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.

We know that poverty is at our doorstep, we know that climate change is at our doorstep, and as a city we have no choice but to confront it head on and do it through policy and through funds that can be leveraged with other resources in the community to bring solutions to this challenge, he told a small gathering made up mostly of supporters and a couple of reporters.

Gonzales, who proposed the idea of creating such a fund while campaigning for mayor in 2014, was surrounded by representatives from the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, the Sierra Club, Kitchen Angels, Santa Fe Forward, a non-profit group formed by Gonzales supporters shortly after he was elected mayor, and others.

The Verde Fund would be created by a one-time allocation of $300,000 in unbudgeted excess land use permit fees. The proposed resolution creating the fund calls for the city manager to then seek out recurring sources of funding in future years.

On the issue of poverty, Gonzales said 20 percent of Santa Fes families are classified by the federal government as living in poverty, 25 percent of its children are classified as being persistently hunger, and more than 70 percent of children in Santa Fe Public Schools come from families with incomes low enough to be eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches.

Its really set up to spark more investment outside city coffers to go into addressing the issues of poverty and climate change, and its really meant to be a community-wide program; its just a city-led effort, he said, adding that while the city would be creating the fund, the community as a whole is going to be responsible for helping us to meet the goals that we have.

The mayor and others mentioned that more than 2,500 people have signed a petition in support of the fund and more than 30 local organizations were also on board.

But not everyone is as excited about it as they are. Some members of the public have said during budget hearings that the city should be addressing more tangible needs, like road improvements and water system infrastructure. And on Monday the Public Works Committee rejected the proposal in its current form by a 3-2 vote.

During budget hearings aimed at closing a projected $15 million deficit headed into the fiscal year beginning July 1, some people have raised the objection that the city shouldnt be spending $300,000 to create a fund while also cutting back hours at the citys three libraries as a cost savings measure.

Asked about that Tuesday, the mayor first said that he was optimistic the budget could be passed without reducing hours at the libraries. He then said that it shouldnt be viewed as a libraries versus Verde Fund proposition.

The difference is that the libraries do rely, long term, on vast amounts of city money to support them to keep them open. I think thats an important city responsibility that we have to shoulder 100 percent of those costs going forward. And the issue of funding the libraries needs to come from recurring sources of revenue, like the property taxes we have, like the GRT taxes we have. So I think to the public that has asked that question its important that, as difficult it is for us to communicate it, its important to understand there are different pots of money.

Asked about possible sources of recurring sources of funding, the mayor said gross receipt taxes  ruled out as an initial source of revenue  could be one of several possibilities.

He did not mention a proposed amendment being offered by City Councilor Joseph Maestas, which calls for using 25 percent of the Human Services fund as not only seed money but the recurring source the city is seeking.

Maestas was one of three city councilors  Chris Rivera and Ron Trujillo being the others  who voted down the Verde Fund proposal during the Public Works Committee meeting.

I support the fund, particularly on the social safety net side addressing poverty and social justice, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. But if were using anticipated revenues from land use fees, there is absolutely no alignment between that money and its intended use, and thats a principle weve been using during this budget process  It represents expansion, and there is not room for any kind of expansion unless it can pay for itself. This amendment seeks to find a permanent solution for funding and to abide by the management principles to formalize the funding.

Maestas pointed out that some of the citys share of gross receipt tax revenue goes to the Human Services fund, which is used for such things as food and shelter, medical services, and other safety net services for low-income families.

Also at Tuesdays press conference, the mayor announced that he will be traveling to Beijing, China, early next month as part of a White House delegation.

I will be in Beijing in early June, at the invitation of the White House, to talk specifically about the Verde Fund and to be able to learn from mayors throughout the world what they are doing to bring sources of revenue to address the issue of climate change on poverty, he said.
PHOENIX  As prescription pain relievers increasingly fuel addictions around the country, Arizona is moving to curb the sale of unnecessary prescription drugs and reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.

State officials pushed through two new laws during the recently ended legislative session. The laws take a two-fold approach: to prevent addiction and to mitigate deaths once it takes hold.

Under a law set to take effect next October, doctors will have to check a statewide database before prescribing addictive pain medications such as oxycodone, in most circumstances. A second law that goes into effect in August allows pharmacies to dispense an antidote that immediately reverses overdoses from opiate-based drugs.

We are committed to ensuring that more substance abuse treatment options are available, and hope that those who are given a second chance at life because of this legislation will seek help in overcoming their addiction, Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement.

Arizona has the 12th highest rates of prescription drug abuse in the country with non-fatal opiate overdoses increasing by 100 percent in just five years between 2008 and 2013, according to an Arizona Criminal Justice Commission report from 2015.

Under one of the new laws, family members and friends will have easier access to a drug that can stop overdoses from opiates such as heroin and oxycodone. Pharmacists will be allowed to dispense the drug naloxone hydrochloride, known by the brand name Narcan, without a prescription.

The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy is working to develop standards for dispensing the drug that will include counseling on when and how to use it, said Kelly Fine, CEO of the Arizona Pharmacy Association.

Fine said the drug will likely cost $20 or less through insurance. Those without insurance may be eligible for reduced prices depending on patient assistance programs, she said. It is not clear however, whether insurance will cover the drug for a family member or friend buying it for someone else, Fine said.

The new law also gives immunity from liability to doctors and pharmacists who dispense the drug and to anyone who administers it in good faith to someone they believe has suffered an overdose.

Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, designed the legislation to make it easier for loved ones of heroin or other opiate users to save their lives if they overdose.

This next step is where we will be able to see even more lives saved because we are putting it in the hands of people who are in the best position to help, she said. At the time of an overdose, every second counts.

A second law that Ducey backed requires doctors to check the states prescription monitoring database before prescribing drugs that contain opioids or benzodiazepine, a type of tranquilizer.

Doctors are already required to check a voluntary database, but this would make it mandatory, except in certain circumstances such as hospice care.

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain hills, sponsored the legislation to stop drug abusers from gaming the system.

It will reduce the number of drugs on the streets, associated car accidents, overdoses and personal and family misery that goes along with opiate use.

Kam Gandhi, executive director for the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy, said the program will also help doctors access more information to better manage their patients medical needs.

Its a scary amount of narcotics that are prescribed in this country and the state, he said. So hopefully we can curtail some of this addictive behavior.
CAIRO  Egyptian forensic experts have examined human remains retrieved from the site of the EgyptAir Flight 804 crash, officials told news agencies on Tuesday, amid conflicting statements on whether the initial findings suggest an explosion brought down the plane.

Senior forensic officials, speaking to Reuters and the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, were quoted as saying that the small size of the body parts suggested that some type of explosion tore the plane apart last week over the Mediterranean. All 66 people aboard were killed.

But in a statement carried by state television, the head of Egypts forensic authority, Hesham Abdelhamid, called the reports mere assumptions that do not reflect any official position from investigators.

A police official close to the investigation said Tuesday that a small number of bags carrying remains had arrived in Cairo and that nothing indicates yet what the cause of death could be.

But the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, said that some of the bodies had disintegrated  suggesting that a blast had occurred.

The conflicting remarks underscore the pressures facing Egyptian authorities after the crash last Thursday of the Paris-to-Cairo plane. Officials say all theories remain on the table, but speculation has increasingly focused on the possibility of a terrorist attack.

Such a conclusion by investigators would mark another major blow to Egypts battle against militants  including factions linked to the Islamic State  and to the nations struggling tourism industry, a critical source of revenue.

The pieces of bodies recovered are small, a senior official told the AP, indicating that a blast probably tore apart the aircraft, scattering passengers and wreckage. However, no traces of explosives have been detected on the body parts, Reuters reported.

More than 20 bags of remains, including 80 pieces, have been retrieved, the agencies reported.

Egypts civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathy, said last week that terrorism is more likely to have brought down the Airbus A320 than mechanical failure.

According to the AP, a report published by an organization affiliated with Egypts Ministry of Civil Aviation notes that the same plane had made an emergency landing in 2013 after one of its engines overheated.

Flight 804 had been en route from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared from radar screens over the Mediterranean Sea about 2:30 a.m. Thursday. Automated messages sent from the aircraft in the minutes before the crash said smoke was detected aboard, near the nose of the plane and in one of the bathrooms, French investigators said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi said this week that all scenarios are being considered in the investigation. The plane was said to have made abrupt turns before plummeting from its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet, according to Greek officials involved in the investigation. The airliners last contact was with Greek air traffic controllers, who said the pilots reported no problem.

But the head of Egypts National Air Navigation Services Co. said Monday that the plane did not swerve or lose altitude before it disappeared, the AP reported. The reasons for the discrepancy remain unclear.

Egypt is engaged in a battle against Islamist insurgents, including an Islamic State affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula. In October, a bomb smuggled onto a Russian flight departing from Egypts Sharm el-Sheikh resort exploded in midair, downing the airliner and killing more than 200 people.

The crash led many nations, including Russia, to halt flights to and from Egypt until security was bolstered at its airports. The EgyptAir flight that crashed last week had flown to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and the Tunisian capital, Tunis, before landing in Paris.

Islamic State militants also have targeted France, including attacks last fall that killed at least 130 people in cafes and a concert hall in Paris. In March, the Islamic State carried out attacks at the airport and a metro station in Brussels.

Cunningham reported from Istanbul.
HANOI, Vietnam  While President Barack Obama pressed his Vietnamese hosts Tuesday to ease their human rights abuses, some dissidents  as if to illustrate his point  were barred from meeting with him in Hanoi.

Speaking to university students, Obama tried to persuade the Vietnamese government and people to insist on freedom of speech, assembly and religion, not least as a way to allow new ideas to gain hold and innovations to help the economy thrive.

Upholding these rights is the fullest expression of the independence that so many cherish, including here, in a nation that proclaims itself to be of the people, by the people and for the people,' Obama said, citing a line from the Vietnamese constitution thats nearly a mirror of Abraham Lincolns famous Gettysburg Address ode to democracy.

But human rights advocates were outraged that three dissidents were barred or discouraged from meeting with Obama, pointing to their absence as a sign that Vietnam hasnt earned the warming of relations and strengthened business relationships that Obama is in this country to promote.

Its like the government is putting on a demonstration for Obama of their repressive governance, said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch.

The day provided a vivid illustration of the conflict at the heart of Obamas mission to the former Cold War enemy nation this week, as well as to other authoritarian nations he sees as on the brink of possible reform.

Though nations including Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos are expanding their economies rapidly and presenting themselves as potential U.S. partners in trade and global security, Obamas decision to engage with their governments links him with leaders at odds with dearly held American values like freedom of speech, religion and assembly.

On Tuesday, government agents reportedly pressured the three activists to keep them from sitting down with Obama, according to U.S. officials and Human Rights Watch.

Journalist Doan Tran was arrested on Monday, Sifton said. Nguyen Quang, an economist and candidate for National Assembly, was detained and prevented from leaving his house. Ha Huy Son, a lawyer who has represented dissidents, was also prevented from traveling to meet Obama.

White House officials confirmed that the civil society leaders were stopped from going to the meeting but did not detail how.

Sifton said the episode is more evidence that Obama never should have taken the dramatic step Monday of dropping the Vietnam War-era arms embargo against the communist government wholesale, without exacting concessions on human rights violations.

The Vietnam regime has demonstrated today that it doesnt deserve the closer ties the U.S. is offering, he said. Detaining or preventing civil society from meeting President Obama is not just an insult to the president, its also a human rights abuse in itself, a deprivation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of movement.

But Secretary of State John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran traveling with Obama this week, said the incident shows exactly why U.S. engagement with the country is so critical. He said the meeting with dissidents, albeit without the full participation the U.S. had sought, could not have been imagined 20 years ago, when the U.S. first took steps to normalize relations with Vietnam. And it only could have happened because of Obamas direct advocacy with his counterparts.

Thats at the center of President Obamas foreign policy, Kerry told reporters, noting the approach here was also being applied to Cuba and Myanmar as well as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The kind of transformation Americans might expect will not take place overnight, he added. The Vietnamese have had to be able to learn to manage and exercise certain rights and freedoms.

We have to recognize the road that theyre on is going to be a roller coaster ride to some degree, he continued. But as long as its moving in the same direction, thats what is important, as long as the United States itself remains faithful to our values, and were always pushing in the right direction.

It was significant, White House aides noted, that Obama himself public acknowledged the absence of some dissidents from his meeting. He said it showed that while there has been some modest progress on human rights, many still lack the full freedom to express dissent.

Its my hope that the government of Vietnam comes to recognize what weve recognized and what so many countries around the world have recognized, and that is that its very hard to prosper in this modern economy if you havent fully unleashed the potential of your people, Obama said, adding that it was a message he brought directly to the four leaders he met with separately on Monday.

The deepening of ties seen on Obamas visit, including his lifting of the ban on sale of lethal weapons, was an important step, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., even if he would have liked to see more done on human rights.

Hopefully, this, over time, gives us more leverage to influence how Vietnam treats its people, he said.

Obama must continue to press the Vietnamese on these issues, said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former Vietnam prisoner of war who, along with Kerry, helped pave the way for normalization of relations.

I was hoping that the president would insist before he went to meet with the dissidents of his choice. And he didnt do that, McCain said.

The Vietnamese government has not made enough progress on human rights, said McCain, who has repeatedly traveled to Vietnam and has regular contact with its leaders.

Every time I meet with them, I mention that, he said. And strangely enough, they seem to acknowledge it.



(Staff writer Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this report.)
WASHINGTON  Native American leaders are protesting the latest plan by a Paris auction house to sell off part of their tribal history, and their demand for the return of their ceremonial objects is getting bipartisan support.

Hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia are scheduled to go up for bidding Monday at Paris EVE auction house, including a Plains war shirt made with hair from human scalps and sacred Hopi objects that resemble masks and are considered to be living beings by the tribe.

Ahead of the sale, the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian held an emergency meeting Tuesday with tribal officials, the State Department and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Also at the meeting was U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican whose proposed congressional resolution urges federal agencies to seek their return.

Pearce also is calling for a study to examine how often these kinds of cultural items fall into the hands of traffickers on the black market.

The Paris auctions have been a diplomatic issue for years between the United States and France, where U.S. laws prohibiting the sale of Native American ceremonial items hold no weight.

It drives us to tears. Its that upsetting, said Eileen Maxwell, a museum spokeswoman. Its very frustrating that there is no legal recourse now.

Other objects to be auctioned off include an Acoma Pueblo ceremonial shield, ancient jewelry and effigies linked to the Hohokam, who once inhabited part of present-day Arizona.

Selling the mask-like pieces that the Hopi consider the physical embodiment of their ancestors is particularly galling to the tribe. Each time they go up for bidding, the Hopi argue that their ancestors spirits are being sold off.

With Mondays auction looming, Acoma Pueblo Gov. Kurt Riley sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and others urging them to make every effort to persuade French authorities to intervene.

Riley made an emotional appeal at Tuesdays meeting, seeking the return of the Acoma Pueblo ceremonial shield to the centuries-old village in New Mexico. Tribal leaders said it was illegally taken from the community atop a mesa southwest of Albuquerque, and that by pueblo law, it is a sacred item that should never have been removed.

Through tears, he said seeing cultural items go up for sale has caused the pueblo emotional harm.

How it left the pueblo, we dont know. However its mere existence outside the pueblo tells us an event occurred in violation of Acoma law, Riley said. A black market for these cultural items has emerged in the United States.

A lawyer for the pueblo said tribal officials are also trying to arrange a meeting or conversation with the French government and are relying on U.S. officials to facilitate.

France has a long history, tied to its colonial past in Africa, of collecting and selling tribal artifacts. The Paris-based Indianist movement in the 1960s celebrated indigenous cultures, and interest in tribal art in Paris was revived in the early 2000s following the high-profile  and highly lucrative  sales in Paris of tribal art owned by late collectors Andre Breton and Robert Lebel.

___

Hudetz reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
SANTA FE  Guests who were staying at the Hotel Encanto the night Santa Fe Sheriffs deputy Jeremy Martin was killed by gunfire from former deputy Tai Chan in October 2014 told jurors about the gunshots that woke them up and the bloody scene they saw the next morning as Chans trial for first-degree murder entered its second day in Las Cruces.

Chan, 29, is accused of shooting Martin, then 29, in the back after a heated argument on Oct. 28, 2014 while the two were staying after transporting a prisoner to Arizona. Attorneys for Chan, fired from the sheriffs office after the shooting, maintain he shot fellow deputy Martin in self defense.

A security guard testified he heard shots and he saw Chan running after Martin, who was shouting for help. A defense lawyer said the guard had changed his story since talking to police the night of the shooting. There was also testimony from hotel workers about Martin looking for Chan in the hotel lobby shortly before the shooting upstairs.

Tanya Tartaglia of Bisbee, Ariz., said she was fast asleep when she and others staying in her room were woken up by a commotion in the next-door room. We heard a loud boom against the wall, she said. It startled all of us. We heard a big boom, and then, Get the (expletive) out of here. I thought it might have been people partying.

Tartaglia then said she said she heard six or seven gunshots right outside her door. She said the stress and uncertainty of the situation caused her to have an asthma attack.

Georgia resident and hotel guest Randy Hudson said he was awakened by a loud dispute in the room directly above him. He said he then heard rapid gunfire, followed by a pause, and then three more shots. He locked his door and tried climbing out his window out of fear, but said the window wasnt able to open wide enough for him to fit through. Im just trying to get over this, Hudson said. Its probably the scariest thing Ive ever experienced in my life.

Tartalia said she left her room the next morning and was escorted by a maintenance worker. She said she saw two bullets in the hallway wall across from her room a foot or so off the floor, and she said she got a peak into the room where the deputies argument took place. There was a lot of blood on the queen-size bed closest to the door, she said. Tartaglia said she saw a lot of blood in the hallway and elevator. It was a bizarre thing to see, she said. There was a lot of (blood) in the elevator.

Chans attorney argued in opening statements that his client shot in self-defense. Prosecutors are arguing that Chan shot 10 rounds at Martin, who tried to escape down a hallway, then into an elevator. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. The first witness to take the stand Tuesday was Sarah Martin, the widow of Deputy Martin. Sarah Martin said shed met Chan once and talked to her husband about 30 minutes before the fatal shooting.

The trial is being streamed live on the KOAT-TV website.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Spring in New Mexico can truly be enchanting. The cottonwoods in the bosque begin to leaf out, our community celebrates the Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque, and until recently, the High Plains Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival showcased the spring mating ritual of a bird emblematic of the Western plains. Today, however, the lesser prairie chicken is imperiled and needs all the conservation help it can get, including protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The High Plains Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival began in 2002 in Milnesand, running for 11 years in a row. Birding enthusiasts, scientists and conservationists traveled from around the world to attend this unique festival. Local ranching families prepared delicious meals for festival attendees, including home-made barbecue sandwiches and pie, and hosted visitors like family members.

The festival evolved into a collaborative effort among locals, conservationists, academics and government agencies, bringing attention to the plight of the lesser prairie chicken.

By 2013, lesser prairie chicken populations had diminished to the point that recreational viewing of the birds on their mating grounds, or leks, was no longer viable.

The birds population count in New Mexico was in a free fall, plummeting from an estimated 9,443 birds in 2008 to about 637 in 2014. While a severe drought has taken the most recent toll on the lesser prairie chicken, the birds have faced threats for centuries. The birds habitat has been decimated by energy development, roads and agriculture, leaving the species hanging on to just 16 percent of its habitat across its historic range.

In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally listed the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the ESA, but in September a federal judge reversed that decision, and now the Obama administration has dropped its appeal of that ruling. To make matters worse, in April of this year, Congress added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the lesser prairie chicken from being listed under the ESA.

With no option to enjoy the High Plains Festival this year, I traveled to Capitol Hill to speak with members of our congressional delegation about the benefits communities reap from protecting endangered wildlife and the need to recover species through the ESA.

The act has saved hundreds of species from extinction, and it can work for the lesser prairie chicken and for local communities too, if Congress will just give it a chance.

Milnesand is just one of many local communities that benefit from wildlife conservation and ecotourism. For example, proceeds from the 2012 Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival were used to support local services by helping to purchase a piece of equipment for the volunteer fire department. In Craig, Colo., tourism focused on the greater sage grouse brings in thousands of dollars every year. And in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, visitors hoping to see wolves contribute more than $35 million to the regional economy.

Wildlife-based recreation is a big business across our country. Over 90 million people hunt, fish and watch wildlife, generating over $144 billion in expenditures.

Yet wildlife protections for the lesser prairie chicken, the greater sage grouse, the wolf and many others continue to be targeted by special interests in Congress.

Keeping the ESA strong and in place is essential to protecting our wildlife heritage and helping the many communities throughout the West that depend on wildlife-based economic activities. We cannot allow Congress or special interests to weaken our nations bedrock conservation law or undermine these important economic and cultural benefits.

The lesser prairie-chicken, which booms loudly enough to attract mates from across the prairie, may find its plight falling on some deaf ears in Washington. Although the Fish and Wildlife Service has dropped its appeal, it still has the ability to re-propose the listing, and if enough of us stand for wildlife conservation and the Endangered Species Act, we may yet hear the booming of lesser prairie chickens across the shinnery oak-covered sand hills of southeastern New Mexico once again.
In his recent book, The Math Myth: And Other STEM Delusions, political scientist Andrew Hacker argues, among other things, that we should not require high school students to take algebra.

Part of his argument, based on data some have questioned, is that algebra courses are a major contributor to students dropping out of high school. He also argues that algebra is nothing more than an enigmatic orbit of abstractions that most people will never use in their jobs.

There is no doubt that this kind of argument resonates with people who had bad experiences in a math class in their past, and for this reason Hackers book is getting lots of attention. On the other hand, there are many reasons why I and many others in the mathematical community disagree with Hackers opinions.

Fundamentally, Hacker has a misunderstanding of what algebra is.

The word algebra comes from the Arab word al-jabr, which means to balance. Using it in a mathematical context dates back to a Persian manuscript in the ninth century, which introduced the beginnings of what grew into what we now study in high school.

The big idea that distinguishes algebra from the mathematics that had come before is to think of operations taking place simultaneously on whole collections of numbers rather than on a single number.

We all learn early in life that two plus one equals three and that two times three equals six  thats simple arithmetic. A natural follow-up question would be whether there are any numbers other than two that, if you multiply them by the number that is one greater, gives a result of six.

This is cumbersome to say in words, which is why mathematicians prefer to phrase the question in terms of variables and ask about the numbers x that give you x(x+1)=6, or equivalently, x(squared)+x-6=0.

At this point, you may be having flashbacks to a high school class where you had to memorize something called the quadratic formula, which allowed you to deduce that the only numbers x satisfying that equation are 2 and -3. But the right way of thinking about the quadratic formula is not as a tedious expression but as a process that allowed you to find the solutions x for any relationship of the form ax(squared)+bx+c=0.

In other words, using algebra has allowed us to go from solving a single arithmetic problem to solving many problems simultaneously without doing substantially more work.

Hacker believes that algebraic thinking will not be relevant to most students in their later lives. I could not disagree more.

The idea of performing operations on a collection of numbers at the same time is exactly what you are doing when you put a formula into a spreadsheet and then use the same formula on different cells.

You use algebraic thinking when you figure out how to adapt the recipe you use for a family of four to a dinner party of 12.

You use algebra to calculate how the results of the next ball game will affect your favorite teams winning percentage.

You use algebra when you decide whether it makes more sense to itemize the deductions on your income tax return or take the standard deduction.

Even people whose jobs never require them to write down an equation, let alone solve an equation for x, use algebraic thinking all the time in their daily lives.

In Hackers defense, I have no doubt that some high school algebra teachers, maybe even a majority of them, spend their time emphasizing arcane definitions and complicated formulas instead of the problem-solving skills, copious applications, and intrinsic beauty that should be at the core of an algebra class.

As with too much of education these days, the push toward standardized testing has led to an increased emphasis on memorization over conceptual understanding, and that is a shame.

But if math classes are not doing what we think they should, then we need to address those issues directly through better support and training for our teachers and better curricula, rather than holding them up as a straw man that we can use to attack the idea of students taking mathematics at all.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
NORTHERN SYRIA  The raw Sunni recruits in crisp camouflage uniforms, popping off rounds at the firing range at a U.S. training camp here, illustrate the dilemma for the U.S. as it seeks to form a strong military force to drive the Islamic State from its capital, Raqqah.

The U.S. could try to build the Sunni army it would want, ideally, to capture Raqqah, a Sunni city. But that might take years.

Or it can go with the army it has, which is dominated by the tough, experienced Kurdish fighters from the YPG militia. Theyre anathema to Turkey, to the north, and to the official Syrian political opposition. But the rampaging Syrian Kurds get the job done.

The U.S. is trying to do some of both, by building a new opposition coalition under the makeshift banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which integrates Sunnis, Christians, Turkmen and other inexperienced fighters with the larger, powerhouse that is the YPG. Thats not ideal politically but it makes military sense.

We do, absolutely, have to go with what weve got, says Gen. Joseph Votel, the Centcom commander who oversees the war here, at the end of a long Saturday spent touring SDF bases. A small group of reporters was on the trip, on condition that we couldnt write about it until we had left the country. It was a rare chance to report from inside Syria.

The practical reality is that only the Kurds have the muscle now, not the Sunnis, and Votels job is to achieve military objectives on the ground by continuing to roll back the Islamic State.

This attempt to integrate the weaker Sunnis with stronger Kurds represents a more pragmatic alternative to the earlier $500 million train and equip program to create, in effect, a new Sunni-dominated army  which collapsed last summer.

Despite bitter objections from Turkey (which claims the Kurds are part of the terrorist PKK), U.S. commanders decided to go with the battle-hardened Kurdish fighters who had savaged the Islamic State in Kobani in 2014 and began to liberate a big swath of northeast Syria. Starting last October, they tried to graft less-experienced Sunni and Christian forces into the SDF coalition.

The Syrian Kurds are ferocious fighters, men and women alike. We met several leaders of the Kurdish womens militia, called the YPJ.

Wearing beaded headdress over military camouflage, they said they had all fought in front-line combat. U.S. advisers say the Kurdish women are so tough they sometimes go into battle with suicide belts, so they wont be captured by Islamic State fighters who would turn them into sex slaves.

American advisers tell awe-struck stories of YPJ warriors who fought to the last woman in Kobani. The equality of male-female sacrifice, proclaimed on billboards in Kurdish regions, is a breath of fresh air, in a Middle East where womens rights are suppressed.

Votel says the U.S. has learned from earlier Syrian missteps not to try to build a perfect force, but to work with the allies it has. When adding recruits to the SDF, he says, we had to shorten the training period, and focus it more on combat basics, adapting to the forces that existed rather than trying to remake them.

Sunni sheikhs, always opportunistic, seem to be buying into the strategy as their best hope against the Islamic State. We met three such leaders who are sending their young tribesmen to fight with the Kurdish-led group.

The sheikhs described how some members of their tribes around Raqqah are beginning to defect from the Islamic State  and pleading for relief from the barbarous extremists.

We found that the YPG is the only force that can liberate us, says Sheikh Mohammed al-Mila of the Tufaiha tribe.

A similar view is expressed by Kino Gabriel, a local Syriac Christian leader whose small militia of 500 to 1,000 has allied with the Kurds. The alternative, he says, was a lose-lose situation for all of us. None of us could defend the area by ourselves.

Here, at least, the U.S. cant be accused of trying to build Switzerland in the Middle East. Its raw realpolitik, and sometimes the pieces dont fit.

Nujin Dirik, the commander of the Kurdish womens militia, says shes fighting for a place the Kurds call Rojava, which they hope will be an autonomous region someday.

But Col. Ali Hajo, an SDF Arab commander from the northern town of Jarablus, says hes fighting for a nation called Syria.

The strategy has an unstated theme: Destroy the Islamic State now; worry about the future of Syria later.

Email: davidignatius@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

Lost amid Georgia OKeeffes legendary florals and landscapes stand the highly abstracted barns she painted in upstate New York.

Last week, Santa Fes Georgia OKeeffe Museum filled a significant hole in its collection by buying The Barns, Lake George, 1926 at Christies for $3.3 million.

For us, its a significant, important piece in our collection because of the historical moment of this period, OKeeffe curator Carolyn Kastner said. It will be a great addition for us to tell the story of her continued experience of abstraction. Our visitors dont know that story.

The painting, which has not been publicly exhibited in 50 years, portrays three rustic barns that surrounded the Alfred Stieglitz family property overlooking the shores of Lake George in New York. Stieglitz was an impresario, photographer and gallery owner. He and OKeeffe married in 1924. The pair regularly vacationed at Lake George while they lived in Manhattan.

This is a very distilled view of a bucolic subject, Kastner continued in describing the painting. Its a flat perspective of these geometric forms.

The Barns, Lake George, 1926 was shown during the artists lifetime at the OKeeffe retrospective at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. It has hung in the private collection of Marion Kippy Stroud, an arts patron and founder of the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, since 1946. Stroud died in August.

The painting will go on view at the OKeeffe Museum sometime within the coming months.

It will need to be reframed and protected, Kastner said.

In the summer of 1929, OKeeffe made the first of many trips to northern New Mexico. She made the state her permanent home in 1949.

Although OKeeffe produced only a handful of barn paintings, the images have become symbolic of her time at Lake George. Raised on a Wisconsin farm, OKeeffe felt a strong connection to the structures.

The museums My New York gallery focuses on the significance of both New York City and Lake George in OKeeffes artistic and personal development.

Of the subjects OKeeffe pursued at Lake George during the 1920s  her most prolific decade  the barns around the Stieglitz property connect her directly both to his family and other American modernists. Barns conveyed a sense of a rural, regional identity linking modernism to an idealized agrarian past. They also served as a counterpoint to industrialization.

Funds for the painting came from the 2015 sale of OKeeffes Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932) for $44.4 million in 2015, the most ever paid for a work by a female artist.
HELSINKI  A Swedish court has turned down a request to overturn the arrest warrant of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The Stockholm District Court says it made the decision because Assange is still wanted for questioning in a case of suspected rape and there is a possibility he might evade prosecution.

The court said Wednesday that no new circumstances had come to light warranting another detention hearing.

Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, is wanted for questioning by Swedish police over rape allegations when he visited the country in 2010.

The court said that it disagrees with an earlier U.N. panel hearing, which found Assanges stay at the embassy constitutes arbitrary detention.
MUSKEGON, Mich.  A western Michigan man accused of abducting a 16-year-old girl last month has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 36-year-old jogger in 2014, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Jeffrey Willis, 46, of Muskegon Township, is charged with open murder and using a firearm in a felony in the death of Rebekah Bletsch. Hes also facing several child pornography charges and prosecutors have said he is being investigated in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk.

Today is still a sad day for many people, but is a happy day for law enforcement, prosecutor D.J. Hilson said at a news conference.

Ballistics matched a handgun seized from Willis minivan with bullets found in Bletschs body and shell casings found at the scene of her death, according to investigators. As far as authorities know, Willis and Bletsch didnt know each other before she was killed, Hilson said.

Willis had been under investigation in her death since he was charged in April with kidnapping and other crimes in an incident involving a 16-year-old girl in Muskegon Countys Fruitland Township. She told investigators she jumped out of Willis van to escape.

She probably doesnt realize how much of a hero she is, Hilson said of the girl.

According to a detectives statement in the kidnapping case, investigators found a pistol, ammunition, syringes with liquid, a ball gag, chains, a mask and a bar with wrist restraints in Williss van. They found child pornography and videos of bound women in his home.

Authorities have said Willis also is being investigated in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, who was 25 years old when she went missing from the gas station where she worked. On Wednesday, Hilson said he wouldnt take questions about that case.

Asked whether Willis was being looked at in other cases, Hilson said investigators were keeping lines open.

Willis is being held on $1 million bond. The public defenders office, which is representing him, said it doesnt comment on pending cases.

A passer-by discovered Bletschs body on June 29, 2014, along a Muskegon County road about three-quarters of a mile from where she lived. Authorities believe Bletsch had been jogging along on her regular route when she was killed. She died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Its been a rough couple of years, but weve had our faith and trust in law enforcement and they havent let us down, her father, Nick Winberg of Muskegon, said at the news conference.

Authorities said Bletsch had valuables on her, but nothing was taken.
HELSINKI  A Swedish court on Wednesday rejected a request to overturn the arrest warrant of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange because there were no new circumstances to consider.

The Stockholm District Court said it made the decision because Assange is still wanted for questioning in a case of suspected rape and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty.

The court said it saw no reason to hold another detention hearing saying he would remain detained in absentia.

Thomas Olsson, Assanges lawyer in Sweden, says he would appeal the decision because the passivity of the prosecutor had delayed the investigation in an unacceptable way.

The prosecutor ought to have arranged for an interview with Mr. Assange at a far earlier stage and she hasnt presented any reasons for not arranging an interview, he told The Associated Press.

Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, is wanted for questioning by Swedish police over rape allegations stemming from his visit to the country in 2010. He denies all the accusations against him made by two women.

He has refused to go back to Sweden for fear of being extradited to the United States because of an investigation into WikiLeaks dissemination of hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents. Last year, a U.S. federal court confirmed there are active and ongoing attempts to prosecute him and WikiLeaks in an investigation involving espionage, conspiracy, and computer fraud.

Referring to an earlier hearing by a U.N. panel that Assanges stay at the embassy constitutes arbitrary detention, the Stockholm court said it disagrees with the evaluation and that it does not consider his stay at the embassy as a form of detention.

The British and Swedish governments have both rejected the U.N. panels non-binding findings.
The woman who made news last night when she was dragged from the Donald Trump rally by her feet after causing a disturbance spent the night in jail on misdemeanor charges.

Tylina Hardy, 30, was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, according to jail records. Hardy said she was one of about a dozen people who presented themselves as supporters to get into the rally with the goal of causing a disturbance.

My goal was just to let (Trump) know that hateful rhetoric is not welcome in Albuquerque and New Mexico, Hardy said in an interview Wednesday morning.

As Trump was speaking, Hardy started screaming stop the hate, stop the hate, stop the hate. She said nearby Trump supporters started grabbing her and pulling her hair before authorities arrived and pulled from the Convention Center floor where the rally was being held.

I was wrangled down and definitely scuffed up, Ive got a good size bruise, she said. Granted, I was fighting to be seen and not being extremely cooperative.

Hardy said she hopes to get off with community service.

Though footage of her being pulled from the rally by her hands and feet appeared on news stations, she said things changed once she got into a convention center hallway. She described her arresting officers as jovial and said they spent a couple hours palling around until she was booked into jail.

Albuquerque police officials have said one person was arrested inside the Trump rally on Tuesday night. Outside the rally, protests turned violent and several people were detained and multiple officers were injured after getting hit with rocks and debris.

Celina Espinoza, a police spokeswoman, said more information on the riot will be released this afternoon.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

The smell of rotting trash filled the air as the protest spun out of control.

A group of young men overturned an enormously heavy trash bin and rolled it into the street, just off Civic Plaza, leaving a trail of empty water bottles, fast-food wrappers and a banana peel.

And then about a half-dozen volunteers  mostly women  lifted the bin upright and started tossing the trash back in.

It was another example of the push and pull of Tuesdays riotous night in Downtown Albuquerque, ignited by a mix of protesters, people attending a Donald Trump rally and, perhaps, folks just looking for trouble.

About 8,000 people turned out for the rally inside the Albuquerque Convention Center  where Trump vowed to win New Mexico and criticized Gov. Susana Martinez, a fellow Republican  as protesters gathered outside.

Hours later, the cleanup and recovery began even as smoke lingered in the air.

On Wednesday, people on all sides of the conflict began to take stock and trade blame.

Mayor Richard Berry said the city will work diligently to hold accountable those few individuals who came to perpetrate violence, endanger others and damage property. Police arrested three people inside the rally and one outside.

City Council President Dan Lewis, who attended the rally and supports Trump, said councilors will work to make sure theres money available to repair broken windows and other damage to the Convention Center.

Liberal advocacy groups, he said, should share in the blame for what happened.

You cant bring the gas and the matches to the party then act shocked when a fire erupts, Lewis said.

But the ultimate responsibility for violence, he said, lies with the people who engaged in it.

At one point, protesters threw rocks and flaming T-shirts at police, and a half-dozen officers were injured, the police department said.

George Lujan, a spokesman for the SouthWest Organizing Project, said his group knew people would turn out to protest Trumps hateful, bigoted rally, so SWOP did what it could to keep the demonstration peaceful.

Trump brings hatred and divisiveness everywhere he goes, Lujan said.

At a rally in Iowa earlier this year, Trump told the audience to knock the crap out of anyone preparing to throw a tomato and hed pay the legal fees.

Javier Benavidez, executive director of SWOP, was among the protesters escorted out of Tuesdays rally in the Albuquerque Convention Center, though he wasnt arrested. The crowd booed as Benavidez shouted, Stop the hate.

Trump pointed his finger and gave him a dismissive wave.

Peacekeepers

The SouthWest Organizing Project trained about 20 volunteers as peacekeepers  obvious in their yellow vests  to de-escalate conflicts outside the Convention Center. They, too, endured the rock- and bottle-throwing as they tried to keep people safe, Lujan said.

It was pretty indiscriminate, he said.

The peacekeepers, at one point, led the crowd on a march through Downtown  an attempt to burn off peoples energy and move angry protesters away from Trump supporters entering and leaving the rally, said Rodrigo Rodriguez, one of the peacekeepers and a community organizer for SWOP.

Peacekeepers also held hands, at one point, to form a human chain between protesters and police officers.

I think the protesters and the police and the Trump supporters were all antagonizing each other, Rodriguez said. The peacekeepers were literally just trying to keep a barrier between all sides, trying to de-escalate the situation.

But after dark, Lujan said, as more people arrived at the protest  and some of the original protesters left  the tone changed.

We cant control the entire protest.  We stayed there as long as we could, Lujan said.

People yelled racist taunts and obscenities at each other; shoved, punched and kicked others, even as the target fell to the ground; and threw bottles, rocks and flaming T-shirts.

Police officers, peacekeepers in yellow vests and other ordinary folks stepped in repeatedly to try to defuse confrontations, help the fallen stand up and clean up the trash.

Lewis said it isnt fair to blame Trump for the violence any more than it would be fair to blame President Barack Obama.

To see an officer and the fear on his face, Lewis said in an interview, thats pretty shocking that people would put law enforcement officers through that  people who are there to protect and serve.

Troublemakers

In a written statement, SWOP said it would never condone any type of violence and that its not the groups role to provide policing.

The mayor issued a statement thanking people who protested peacefully. Berry, a Republican, didnt attend the Trump rally.

The freedom to support the candidate of your choice and to protest is a sacred First Amendment right granted to all Americans, Berry said. When civil protests are interrupted by those who turn to violence, we are fortunate to have our first responders there to protect our community and all those who participate in our American democracy.

City Councilor Ken Sanchez, a Democrat, thanked police officers for their work.

Last night, he said, officers had literally hundreds of opportunities to engage the protesters with violence, but instead, at their own peril, they patiently redirected them until they dispersed.

Sanchez added that the violence that erupted last night was not the result of peaceful protests by local community action groups, but rather was the result of incitement by a small but organized group of troublemakers whose sole intent was to act out.




DALLAS  Federal prosecutors say a Texas man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to U.S. agents about his support for a terrorist group.

Prosecutors say 38-year-old Bilal Abood (bih-LAHL uh-BOOD) of Mesquite was sentenced Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in October to making a false statement involving international terrorism to a federal agency.

Prosecutors have said that after being denied boarding of a 2013 flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Abood said he was traveling to Iraq to visit family.

Abood later traveled through Mexico and eventually reached Syria. U.S. agents interviewed Abood after his return and he denied supporting terrorist groups.

A search of his computer revealed his online oath to the Islamic State leader.
FLORENCE, Ariz.  An Arizona sheriff has warned holiday hikers and campers to beware of cartel assassins who have been ambushing rivals and stealing drugs and money.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu recommends that anyone using backroads, campsites or trails in an area south of the county be extra cautious and consider carrying a firearm.

Babeu, who is running as a Republican for an open seat in Arizonas 1st Congressional District, says no civilians have been hurt.

The federal Bureau of Land Management oversees two national monuments with portions in southwestern Pinal County, north of the Mexico border.

BLM spokesman Adam Milnor says criminal activity in the area ebbs and flows and activity is now in the higher range.

Milnor wouldnt discuss Babeus comment that people consider carrying guns.

He says the agency recommends that people going into the wilderness be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activity to authorities.
The head of the Albuquerque Heading Home initiative says it should be supported by donations from the business community because in the long run it saves taxpayer dollars that can be used elsewhere for the benefit of the city.

Dennis Plummer, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Heading Home, the umbrella organization overseeing Albuquerque Heading Home and other programs, told a breakfast meeting of the Economic Forum of Albuquerque on Wednesday that $3 million has been saved since 2011 by housing the most medically fragile and chronically homeless.

Plummer pointed to a 2013 study conducted by the University of New Mexicos Institute of Social Research that showed it was 31 percent cheaper to house people than to allow them to remain on the streets.

Housing them also decreased their hospital visits by 36 percent; their inpatient costs by nearly 84 percent; and their medical outpatient costs by 39 percent. It also decreased the cost that would have been involved with jailing them by 64 percent.

Once a person or family from the target group is identified, Plummer said, they are fast-tracked to get a home.

Thats contrary to what we used to think, that you need to become housing ready and earn that housing, he said. By getting people into housing first, they get assigned a case manager who plugs them into social services, including those that address the reasons they became homeless in the first place  alcohol or drug abuse, or untreated medical conditions and mental health and behavioral issues.

Among those housed, Plummer said, there has been a 486 percent increase in the use of social services.

It has an amazing ripple effect, Plummer said. Once housed we can integrate them back into the community.

Many formerly homeless people eventually go back to work or school. When they become independent and no longer need housing support from Albuquerque Heading Home, the housing vouchers can be used to help another person or family, Plummer said.

The cost to house a person ranges from $10,000 to $12,000 a year, depending on the size of the family. By comparison, vouchers for a motel, at an average cost of $45 a night, would cost $16,425 a year.

Two unidentified forum members on Wednesday each pledged to cover the cost to house a homeless person or family for a year.

Its a remarkable show of how the community is getting behind the initiative, Plummer said.

The Economic Forum of Albuquerque is a nonpartisan business leaders group dedicated to improving the local community by improving the quality of jobs, education and government.
SANTA FE  Forest Supervisor Maria Garcia has issued an order prohibiting the possession, storing or transporting of marijuana within the 1.5 million acres of Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico. And that goes for medical marijuana, too.

Possession and use of marijuana are already illegal under federal law. Pot is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, on par with heroin and LSD, although four states  neighboring Colorado among them  and the District of Columbia have legalized it for recreational use and 24 states  including New Mexico  have approved it for medicinal purposes.

Julie Anne Overton, a spokeswoman for Santa Fe National Forest, said the order not only serves to remind people that possessing or using marijuana is illegal and that using Forest Service land to grow pot is illegal, but it also gives Forest Service law enforcement personnel the ability to effectively catch and release offenders.

One of the advantages of having a closure order in place is that this gives them the flexibility to be able to do a misdemeanor citation as opposed to a full-blown arrest, she said. So in cases of simple possession  they can just issue a citation.

She added that the order also covers medical marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law. The penalty is a fine of no more than $5,000 for an individual ($10,000 for organizations) and up to six months in prison.

A press release says that the order complies with the Controlled Substances Act and other federal regulations allowing for short-term protection of resources, public health and safety. It also protects resources by eliminating the unpermitted removal of trees and plants within Forest boundaries.

Overton said that part of the order addresses growing operations, not that that has been a huge problem for us. She said that since October 2014, there have been just two discoveries of growing sites on Santa Fe National Forest land.

Although the order is scheduled to expire in two years, the forest supervisor can extend it. Other orders issued by Santa Fe National Forest in recent years include closures of areas considered habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse in the Jemez district, banning target shooting in the Pecos/Las Vegas district, public nudity throughout the forest, and seasonal road closures at various locations.
Armanino, the largest independent accounting and business consulting firm in California, announced on Wednesday that its eighth annual Great Give will take place on Thursday, May 26. The yearly community service event sees the firm and all of its offices volunteer with nonprofits for a full day of philanthropic efforts that serve Armanino's local communities.

Thursday's event is expected to see 528 participants working on 33 projects throughout the country. Since the Great Give's inception in 2009, Armanino has donated nearly 15,000 hours of volunteering.

The Great Give is one of the most popular events at the firm because it speaks to the values of our employees and the company, said Andy Armanino, managing partner of Armanino, in a statement. The nonprofit organizations we volunteer with make a difference in our work and living communities all year-round, and to be a part of their missions is a great honor for all of us.

I never miss the Great Give, its one of my favorite events, stated Tina Ennis, senior consultant. I get to work with colleagues from different parts of the firm, and make lasting friendships while working together for a day to make a real impact for a worthy cause.

Armanino's 2016 Great Give will be working with the following groups and programs:

San Francisco Bay Area: Easter Seals Central California  Camp Harmon, St. Bonaventure Catholic Community, San Damiano Retreat, Kids Against Hunger, Tri-Valley YMCA, Eden Area YMCA, Sunflower Hill, Bay Area Childrens Theatre, Fred Finch Youth Center, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland Zoo  East Bay Zoological Society, Catholic Community of Pleasanton, St. David of Wales School, Saint Patrick School, MedShare, Bay Area Video Coalition, Peer Health Exchange, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, SF-Marin Food Bank, Family Supportive Housing, Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, Humane Society Silicon Valley, Sacred Heart Community Services, Montalvo Arts Center

Los Angeles Area: Child Development Institute  Early Learning Center, Assistance League of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Mission, The Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, New Horizons

San Diego: San Diego Food Bank

Portland, Oregon: The Nature Conservancy

Naperville, Illinois: Morton Arboretum and the Buddy Poppy Program

To follow Armaninos 8th Great Give throughout the day, follow #AHH_GreatGive on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook this Thursday. For more on the Great Give and Armaninos philanthropic programs, head to the firm's site here.
The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday on protecting small businesses from IRS abuse, a day after the House Judiciary Committee held a misconduct hearing in an effort to oust IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Wednesdays hearing followed up on a hearing in February 2015 on the IRSs use of civil asset forfeiture to seize money from small businesses accused of money laundering. Some businesses made deposits of just under $10,000 to avoid complicated bank-reporting requirements, but were then accused of structuring transactions and had their funds seized by the IRS. The IRS changed its policies in October 2014 to stop such forfeitures in the future, but many business owners have fought to get back the funds that were seized (see Lawmakers Urge IRS to Return Seized Assets to Maryland Farm Couple). At Wednesdays hearing, lawmakers pressed IRS officials to explain why some small businesses are still waiting to get their money back.

"The IRS knew that seizing money from farmers and store owners who appeared to be structuring their transactions wasnt right unless they were doing it to cover up other crimes, said subcommittee chairman Peter Roskam, R-Ill. Thats why the IRS announced a new policy in October 2014, that it wouldnt seize money unless it was derived from an illegal source. Thats a better policy than what the IRS was doing before, and we were pleased to hear about the acknowledged need to do better. Now, a year and a half later, we want to know how things are going under that new policy. And, indeed, a new policy doesnt right all wrongs. Those people whose assets were seized under the old policy were not treated fairly. Several of them have sent petitions to the IRS and DOJ asking for their money back. The IRS granted one of those petitions and gave back $154,000. From all accounts, the IRS did this because it was the right thing to do. However, DOJ has not provided any relief, either financially or procedurally, to those who have petitioned for return of their funds. Those petitioners deserve a fair, transparent review process and an answer.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, noted that since the previous hearing, he and other members have written a number of letters requesting updates on the policy change. Together, we asked what can be done for those taxpayers whose assets were seized before the change, he said. We must do more to resolve this issue for small businesses. It is the right thing to do; it is the just thing to do.

Koskinen and IRS Criminal Investigation chief Richard Weber explained the IRSs policy change. We believe the IRSs current policy strikes a balance between the needs of law enforcement and the rights of property owners, they said in their written testimony. By concentrating on illegal source structuring violations, we are now able to devote our limited resources to investigating the most egregious federal violations, including those cases where structuring activity is indicative of other, more serious crimes. This change in policy does not render prior seizures unlawful, as structuring is still a federal felony regardless of whether the source of the funds is legal or illegal. Rather, the policy is intended to more closely realign IRS priorities by focusing on other criminal violations within its jurisdiction. IRS-CI will continue to investigate structuring violations as they relate to other financial crimes, including tax and money laundering violations.

They said the IRS has a new process going forward to elevate the review and approval process for Petitions for Remission or Mitigation in certain structuring seizure cases under which IRS Criminal Investigation would consider granting relief or make a recommendation to the Justice Department.

Robert Everett Johnson, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a law firm that has been representing a number of businesses who had their assets seized by the IRS, also testified at the hearing. Today, over one year later, the government still has not corrected its abuse of the structuring laws, he said. The government has not returned money that was seized and forfeited before its policy change. Randy Sowers has filed a petition asking the government to return $29,500 seized in May 2012, and the government has not answered that petition although more than 10 months have gone by since it was filed. More than 600 individualswho together had over $43 million taken by the IRS because of how they deposited or withdrew money from the bankalso continue to wait for some measure of justice. At the same time, small business owners continue to face persecution at the hands of federal prosecutors because of their bank deposits.

He pointed to Vocaturas Bakery, a third-generation family business located in Norwich, Conn., which had over $68,000 seized by the IRS in May 2013 under the structuring laws. The government has now held the Vocaturas money for over three years without bringing its case before a judgeviolating statutory deadlines set by Congress as well as internal DOJ policies, said Johnson. Just recently, in February 2016, the government pressured the Vocaturas to plead guilty to criminal structuring charges and to agree to forfeit both the initial $68,000 seized by the IRS as well as an additional sum of approximately $160,000. When the Vocaturas refused, federal prosecutors retaliated by serving the Vocaturas with an overbroad grand jury subpoena seeking eight years of almost every financial record generated by the business.

Sowers also testified at the hearing about how he was still waiting for his money back. I am a man of my word, and I stick to my agreements, but my agreement to give up $29,500 was made under overwhelming pressure, including the implicit threat that federal prosecutors would try to put me in jail if I did not agree, he said. I do not believe such an agreement is valid. To me, it was a case of extortion by the government. Over 10 months have gone by since I filed my petition. I am still waiting for the governments response. The IRS took something that does not belong to them and that they had no right to take. Now I am asking them to do the right thing and give it back.

Another witness, Calvin W. Taylor Jr., who operates C.W. Taylor Farms in Maryland, described how the IRS had seized over $90,000 from his businesss bank account in 2011, effectively cleaning it out, even though IRS agents initially told him they didnt think he had done anything wrong.

We recently filed a verified petition with the U.S. Department of Justice asking it to return the money that was illegally seized from us, together with interest, attorney fees and other costs, he said. The DOJ acknowledged our petition, and it included a letter it says it sent last June that appears to make a veiled threat to still prosecute me. We do not see how even if we should get our money back that we will ever be whole. This was a devastating and undeserved blow to our family that undermined our faith in the federal government, caused unwarranted embarrassment and harm to our family and our business, and was a very ugly chapter of our lives. With all the illegal financial activity going onsuch as drug dealing, human trafficking and terrorist financingthe DOJ and the IRS should have better things to do than stealing legally earned money from hardworking taxpayers.

Impeachment

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held the first of two hearings into accusations against IRS Commissioner Koskinen related to the loss of emails from Lois Lerner, the former director of the IRSs Exempt Organizations unit (see House Committee Plans Misconduct Hearings for IRS Commissioner). Koskinen declined to attend the hearing, saying he had received short notice and still needed to prepare for Wednesdays hearing. However, he submitted a statement to the committee defending his conduct and arguing against impeachment. He plans to attend the second hearing.

Koskinen pointed out that Lerners actions took place prior to his tenure at the IRS. She was forced to retire in 2013 in the midst of the uproar over the extra scrutiny that some political groups received when they applied for tax-exempt status from the IRS. Koskinen directed the IRS to recover her emails when he took over the agency in 2013, and even though her hard drive had crashed the IRS was able to recover 78,000 of her emails, including 24,000 from the period affected by the hard drive crash. He only discovered in 2014 that some of the backup tapes had been deleted and some of Lerners emails were unrecoverable.

While the allegations raised by some members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are serious and relate to acknowledged errors made by the IRS, the Constitution reserves the use of impeachment for treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors. None of my actions relating to the issues above, viewed in light of all the facts, come close to that level, Koskinen wrote. I would also note that impeachment has been used only on very rare occasions in the 228-year history of our Constitution. Aside from two Presidents, the only impeachment of a member of the Executive Branch occurred in 1876. If the Committee were to go forward and pursue impeachment in this instance, especially in light of the utter lack of support for the allegations, it would set an unfortunate precedent, diminishing the ability of the Federal government to attract experienced, dedicated people to positions of leadership. Some have suggested that my impeachment would be an appropriate means of holding the IRS accountable for acts of others that occurred before I came to the agency. This approach would make it particularly hard to attract new leaders when they are needed mostwhen a critical agency is in crisis following serious mistakes, needing both to reform its practices and respond to investigations. That would be a great loss for the government and for the country.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, testified before the Judiciary Committee and argued for impeaching Koskinen. As members of Congress we have no reason to have any confidence that Mr. Koskinen will run one of the most powerful agencies with any integrity, he said. Nor can the American people feel confident the agency wont misuse its power under his direction. For these reasons, it is time for Congress to act and remove him as head of the agency.

IRS Budget Cuts

Separately on Tuesday, House Republicans unveiled legislation that would cut the IRS budget by $236 million.

House Democrats criticized the proposal. The House Republicans newly proposed IRS budget cut shows that they still dont grasp the consequences of their actions, said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. Cuts made by Republicans to the IRSs budget since 2010 have resulted in terrible customer service, outdated technology, and the lowest level of audits in a decade. When Congress last year increased the IRSs budget for customer service, not surprisingly, customer service improved. We should restore the IRSs funding, not continue to cut it. The bill would also stop the IRS from implementing the Affordable Care Acta move that would take health insurance away from more than 20 million Americans. Republicans must put an end to these attacks on the IRS for political gain, and realize that their proposals have real consequences for hardworking Americans.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced legislation that would require presidential nominees such as Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, to release their tax returns.

Wydens bill, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, would require candidates to release their most recent three years of tax returns to the Federal Election Commission within 15 days of becoming the nominee at the party convention. Should the candidate refuse to comply, the Treasury Secretary would provide the tax returns directly to the FEC for public release. The bill also provides for redaction of certain information, as the FEC deems appropriate.

"Since the days of Watergate, the American people have had an expectation that nominees to be the leader of the free world not hide their finances and personal tax returns, Wyden said in a statement Wednesday.

Trump has so far refused to release his tax returns until the Internal Revenue Service finishes auditing them. He has claimed that the IRS has been auditing his tax returns every year since 2002, but has declined to release even the tax returns that the IRS has finished auditing, claiming they are linked.

In interview I told @AP that my taxes are under routine audit and I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election! he tweeted earlier this month after reports emerged that he might not release his tax returns before the election (see Trump Doesnt Expect to Release Tax Returns by November).

The IRS has said that he is not prohibited from releasing any tax returns that are being audited, and President Richard Nixon released tax returns that were under audit in 1973.

Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, has been pressing Trump to release his tax returns, pointing out that she and her husband Bill Clinton have released their tax returns ever since 1977. She noted that the last time Trump was required to disclose his tax returns to New Jersey gambling regulators in 1981, they revealed that for two years in the 1970s he paid no federal income taxes because of real estate deductions.

Not a penny, she said, according to The Wall Street Journal. It may be that he hasnt ever paid federal income tax. Thats why we want to see his tax returns.

Trump has said that he fights to pay the lowest tax rate possible, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, reiterated that point to CBS News, saying, He is going to pay the smallest amount of taxes possible, which I think the American people also understand. Every deduction possible. He fights for every single dollar. Thats the mindset you want to bring to the government.

Wyden pointed out that for nearly 40 years presidential candidates from major political parties have voluntarily released their tax returns during the campaign. Tax returns deliver honest answers to key questions from the American public, he said. Do you even pay taxes? Do you give to charity? Are you abusing tax loopholes at the expense of middle class families? Are you keeping your money offshore? People have a right to know.
The Indian Navy has launched a multimedia campaign aimed at attracting the best talent to join the Navy. The campaign, conceptualised and executed by Carat Communications, comprises two 60-second TVCs, seven follow-up 30-second TVCs, OOH, radio and digital. The campaign takes forward the Ocean of opportunities theme of the previous Navy campaign, also created by Carat Communications.

The latest campaign talks about working with the Navy, which constantly offers more on every parameter and thereby influencing career choices amongst young men and women of today.



The objective

With a gamut of career choices now opening up for the Indian youth in the private sector, the defence services have a difficult task in attracting the best talent to become officers. The objective, therefore, was to present the Navy as a career option that offers something extra  the privileges of working with cutting-edge defence technology, the satisfaction of serving the nation, the pride of being a naval officer.

The agency brief was to project the Navy as a modern technological force in the forefront of extending Indian influence across the oceans, offering fulfilling careers at sea, on land and in the air.

The most credible ambassador for the Indian Navy to talk to the youth is the naval officer. Therefore, they are the faces of the campaign. They voice their reasons for joining the Navy, the fulfilment of their expectations, their security for their future.



The films

The two 60-seconders show Navy officers preparing for duty, donning their uniforms. Their voiceovers describe their motivation to join the Navy, the role they play in the countrys defence and the tangibles and intangibles they get in return. Intercut with their preparations are shots of the Navy in all its aspects and in all its glory that sync with what the voiceovers are describing. The films end with the naval officers exhorting the youth to follow in their footsteps. The Navy gives you more, is their message.

The seven 30-seconders talk about the different values the Navy imparts to its officers. These values are once again fronted and voiced by officers. Each film takes a single letter that unites these values, for example, Ability, Action, Authority; Confidence, Courage, Career; Desire, Duty, Destiny, etc. Again, the sign-off is The Navy gives you more.



Watch the films:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiiPOYmFeQ8



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaflRsXMlt4



Commenting on the campaign, R Ravi Shankar, National Head, Carat Communications, said, It was an absolute privilege to work on a campaign of this size and scale for the Indian Navy. The campaign is essentially about how the Navy scores favourably on every parameter that the youth of today seek in their career of choice. We used our proprietary research tools to zero in on these parameters and discussed them at length with senior officers in the Navy before translating them into creative. The result is a 360 degree campaign that not only builds on our already established An ocean of opportunities theme, but also projects facts about a career in the Navy, which make it such an attractive and unique option.

We decided to keep it simple and show the Navy for what it is, and the officers for who they are. Let them speak for themselves. Our objective was simple  rongte khade hone chahiye (Give one goosebumps). When youngsters consider the armed forces, we want the Navy to be first on their list, added Kaevan Umrigar, Creative Head, Carat Communications.



We lived on an aircraft carrier like a sailor to shoot mid-seas action. We shot inside warships, submarines, and fighter aircrafts. There are no rehearsals when you are shooting warships in action. The film-making challenge was to produce Hollywood-style war film images while shooting in a documentary mode, said Zahir Mirza, Producer and Director, Labradog Films.

Peer comments

Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Senior Creative Director at JWT India, felt that the campaign looked exactly like an AV or a pictorial presentation. He added, This basically just talks about how joining the Indian Navy would help you prepare for battle and lot of that and go underwater and this & that. So for me it sounds almost exactly like the client has dictated what the film should be and I understand as a Government sort of account there are restrictions, I mean most government accounts do tell you exactly what is to be done; but there are ways to go about it in such a way that you strike a perfect balance between what the client wants and what the client should have.

Continuing further Dasgupta said, Just by telling the youth that there is more to life and we give you more, you are not really saying that what more it is that you are giving. The youth is attracted to wealth, the youth is attracted to the fast life and the perks. The campaign doesnt talk about this. It sounds and looks exactly like an AV and Im not sure if it is going to do anything for the Indian Navy as well in terms of recruiting people.

Yogesh Rijhwani, Creative Director, Scarecrow Communications, too, felt that the campaign could have been better. He said, The attempt to evoke a sense of patriotism seemed quite forced, but for the sake of the cause, I do hope it inspires our youth.

When asked if he were to make this ad, what his approach would be, Dasgupta replied, I would approach it in a slightly more warmer way. Right now the commercial is quite cold. In a sense that it is very product-oriented. I would approach it more in terms of human life and what the Indian Navy can do for you. Right now the commercial is more like what you can do for the Indian Navy, what you can do inside the Indian Navy. So I would actually swing it around and say what the Indian Navy could do for you. And thats a more personal story.

On the other hand, Rijhwani said that he would have chosen a more emotional story centered on one protagonist. Alternately, the current format could have gone several notches higher if it was written with more heart and voiced by someone with stature, say Naseeruddin Shah, he remarked.

Campaign credits:

Client: Indian Navy

Creative agency: Carat Communications

Creative Head: Kaevan Umrigar

Creative team: Kaevan Umrigar, Ganesh Naik

Account Management Team: Vineet Neb, Deeshant Bhandarkar

Director (of the film): Zahir Mirza

Producer: Zahir Mirza

Production House: Labradog Films

DOP: Rakesh Haridas
Dr Subhash Chandra has resigned as Director & Non-Executive Chairman of Zee Media Corporation with effect from May 24, 2016. Zee Media has informed BSE of this development.

Meanwhile, based on recommendations of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee, the Board of Directors of Zee Media has approved the Rajendra Kumar Arora, CEO, as an Additional Director. Aroras appointment as an Executive Director & CEO of Zee Media is for a period of three years with effect from May 24, 2016.

Arora had joined Zee Media Corporation as COO in May 2015, where he has been looking after the operations of 10 Zee Media channels.

Prior to joining Zee, he was with News Nation Network as CEO  Broadcasting, where he had the overall charge of the operations of the seven channels of ITV Network.
The International College of Engineering & Management (ICEM) has signed a memorandum of understanding with CAA International (CAAi), the state-to-state advisory arm of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA).





Signed by Affan Khalfan Al Akhzami, ICEM Managing Director and CEO, Maria Rueda, CAAi Managing Director and witnessed Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of Oman Air, the MoU supports the extension of ICEMs CAAi accredited Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting training, into new geographic locations. Under the existing agreement, ICEM is an accredited CAAi training provider and authorised by the UK CAA to provide training in Oman on the Structured Learning Programme for rescue fire fighting personnel in accordance with UK CAA CAP 699  Standards for the Competence of Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) Personnel.



Under the MoU, CAAi has also offered to provide training consultancy services in Oman, through a blend of theoretical and on-the-job training programmes.



Since gaining full CAAi accreditation in 2013, ICEM has trained hundreds of airport fire fighting professionals to UK CAA CAP 699 standards. After the signing ceremony, Mr Al Akhzami said: I am delighted to sign this MOU with CAAi. I believe that the combination of ICEMs reputation for training and education coupled with CAAis international brand will form a formidable partnership, not only in Oman but also across the region. We at ICEM are proud to work with internationally recognised bodies who can strengthen Omans organisational capability and help to develop and nurture local Omani human capital. I look forward to a long, strong and prosperous relationship.
CTC Aviation announced today that applications are open once again for its Qatar Airways airline pilot career programme.





Open to all nationalities worldwide, the programme  CTC WINGS MPL in partnership with Qatar Airways - takes aspiring pilots with little or no flying experience directly to the First Officers seat of Qatars Airbus A320 aircraft, within two years.



The training programme lasts for approximately 18-months, consisting of six months of classroom and theoretical knowledge training, followed by five months of core skills flight training at CTC Aviations Crew Training Centre  Hamilton (NZ) or Phoenix (USA).



Trainees will then return to the UK and complete further training on both A320 full-flight simulators, at CTC Aviations Crew Training Centre  Southampton, completing their training with A320 aircraft base and line training with the airline. Graduates of the programme will then join the airline as an A320 First Officer based out of Doha, flying Qatar routes worldwide.



CTC Aviation has been selected by Qatar Airways to deliver the CTC WINGS MPL programme since 2012. Now, 34 graduates have launched exciting airline pilot careers withQatar Airways, with more due to complete their training and begin flying the line later this year.
Barksdale B-52s drop bombs in exercise with Jordanian forces

Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, returned May 24 from a 35-hour, 14,000-mile nonstop mission to Jordan as part of this years exercise Eager Lion with Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF).



Eager Lion is an annual U.S. Central Command exercise hosted by the Jordan government to test responses to conventional and unconventional threats in a joint environment. Exercise mission sets are based on a fictional adversary and range from border security, command and control, and cyber defense to battlespace management. Eager Lion 16 marked the second consecutive year of the integration of the multi-role, heavy bomber into the exercise.



During the exercise, B-52 crews conducted air intercept training with Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft and executed a live conventional weapons demonstration directed jointly by JAF and U.S. ground controllers.



Executing these global bomber training missions supports successful integration into geographic combatant command and multinational operations, such as the current B-52 deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, said Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the U.S. Strategic Command commander. Our participation in two Eager Lion exercises in as many years allows us to continue to build relationships with our allies and partners in the region and beyond, better enabling us to confront todays global challenges.



Combined with the long-range nature of the flight, which involved four aerial refueling operations, this mission showcases the flexible capabilities of the bomber force and its ability to integrate with other nations around the world.



STRATCOMs bomber force regularly conducts combined training and theater security cooperation engagements with allies and partners, demonstrating the U.S. capability to command, control and conduct global bomber missions anywhere. B-52 participation in exercise Eager Lion follows the deployment of B-52s to Moron Air Base, Spain, in February and March, where they participated in Norwegian exercise Cold Response and French exercise Serpentex, as well as the deployment of B-2 Spirits to the Indo-Asia-Pacific in March. Additionally, in April, a B-52 flew a sortie to France to integrate with the French air force, and a B-52 also flew to South America to train with the Colombian air force.
The Air Force Reserve: A heritage of innovation

Faced with continued budget uncertainty, leaders throughout the military have struggled to maintain the balance between mission execution and taking care of their people.



I recently had the opportunity to meet with our elected officials from Washington during an annual Capitol Hill Visit to discuss, among other things, the impact of the military budget on day-to-day operations at the unit level.



Thanking them for passing the bipartisan appropriations for fiscal 2016 was an important theme during our conversations and we were also able to discuss specific issues relating to the Air Force Reserve.



I left Washington, D.C., the next day grateful for the opportunity to interact with our elected officials and discuss the issues were facing.



The Air Force Reserve Command is known for being resourceful. Recently, the Air Force Reserve commander, Lt Gen. Jackson, launched a major command-wide innovation campaign to capture and implement best practices that improve mission execution and process efficiency. Indeed, saving time and money is integral to our Reserve culture and a cornerstone of the Air Force Reserve mission of Providing Combat-Ready Forces.



At the Rainier Wing, we have embarked on our Continuous Process Improvement journey to include performing an Enterprise Value Stream Analysis for each of our 18 units. This endeavor identified 86 wing processes requiring immediate improvement. To date we have completed 38 process improvement projects and we hope to have the remaining 48 completed by years end.



Implementing a culture of Continuous Process Improvement has definitely postured the Rainier Wing for continued success regardless of future budget challenges.



Of course, the entire U.S. military has an impressive history of innovation. For me, one story of a famous Reservist stands out as a poignant example of how innovation has a direct and positive impact on military operations.



Major Jimmy Doolittle served as a Reservist. In his civilian job, he was the manager of Shell Oil Companys Aviation Department. Doolittle convinced Shell to produce 100 octane aviation gasoline. Before World War II, Doolittle realized that if the United States got involved in the war in Europe, it would require large amounts of aviation fuel with high octane.



Fuel is rated according to its level of octane. High amounts of octane allow an aircrafts piston engine to burn its fuel efficiently, a quality called anti-knock because the engine does not misfire, or knock.



At that time, high-octane aviation gas was only a small percentage of the overall petroleum refined in the United States. Most gas had no more than an 87 octane rating.



Doolittle pushed hard for the development of 100-octane fuel (commonly called Aviation Gasoline or AvGas) and convinced Shell to begin manufacturing it, to stockpile the chemicals necessary to make more, and to modify its refineries to make mass production of high-octane fuel possible.



As a result, when the United States entered the war in late 1941, it had plenty of high-quality fuel for its engines. On Jan. 2, 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army Air Forces promoted Doolittle to lieutenant colonel and assigned him to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan a retaliatory strike on Japan.



On April 18, 1942, Doolittle and the 16 B-25B Mitchell bomber aircraft under his command took off from the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet. While the raid did not cause great damage to Japan, it had a significant psychological impact on both Americans and the Japanese.



Innovating how we operate is something weve always done in the military and future budget certainty and predictability might be a challenge, however, Im confident well find a way to ensure were always mission ready.
I recently attended a Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program conference held in Orlando, Fla., with my wife, DeAnne. This conference helped Airman who are deploying -- and their families  on how to manage life while the deployed member is gone.Since I work in Air Force public affairs, Id already attended two of these events, but was with the group of military people that makes the trip to support Yellow Ribbon. My wife is a Key Spouse at Westover, and she worked one too.This time we were going as actual attendees.The February Florida weather was far gentler and kinder than the harsh cold of New England. We soaked up the sun with palm trees looming over us, spent time at Orlando's impressive attractions, and most important, got a good look ahead at what we could expect while I'm scheduled to be deployed later this year.For each Airman and his or her family, the Yellow Ribbon experience is what you make of it, and the Air Force is counting on that factor. The Air Force pays its Airman to go -- and covers the airline tickets and hotel and food costs for the two-day event. Yellow Ribbon events are massive in size and details. Typically, between 700 and 900 people pack the hotel and convention center. Just over 700 people attended our event.Examples of common-sense planning are too numerous to mention, but one that stood out was a family communication plan. The facilitator was a superb public speaker, and his booming but reassuring voice carried a message of vitality and priority for my loved ones. I learned not only about how important that phone call or email is, I learned that planning how to properly communicate is equally as crucial.I left this event reassured that the Air Force Reserve is working hard to take care of its people. Budget cuts, furloughs, and downsizing have clouded recent years of my career, which now spans 20 years. Yellow Ribbon was like a break in those clouds. The optimism from this program and its facilitators was as bright and warm as that ubiquitous Florida sunshine.For Airmen and their families, I can only endorse this program. Yellow Ribbon reaches out to you and reminds you of your commitment to your country and to your family. The efforts of the people that work these events combine into an arm that reaches out from the heart of the Air Force. There were a lot of Westover Airmen in Florida. One of them was 1st Lt. Steven Marchegiani, Westover's Yellow Ribbon coordinator. He saw to filling out each of the spouses' travel vouchers. By hand. And he stuck around after the event ended and made sure that the Patriot Wing Airmen had all the information they needed to be paid.Yellow Ribbon will be there for us following my deployment too. We plan on it. You should too.Attend your pre- and post-deployment Yellow Ribbons. This account scratches the surface of the level of kindness and support from our United States Air Force to thousands of military families.Go get it and be part of the experience.EDITORS NOTE: MSgt. Biscoe is the superintendent of the 439th AW Public Affairs Office. His opinions are his own. Airmen wanting more information about Yellow Ribbon can view the AFRC video here:
Wounds within: a veteran, a PTSD therapist, and a nation unprepared

I wish the story didnt sound so familiar.



On June 22, 2004, Marine Lance Cpl. Jeff Lucey used a hose to hang himself in the basement of his house in Belchertown, Mass.



Surrounding him lay a semi-circle of photographs. In the center was Jeff Luceys platoon group photo from his deployment to Iraq.



One year earlier, as a Marine Reserve truck driver in Nasiriyah, Jeffs orders had been clear: Dont stop the convoy, not for anything. Fighting was intense in that part of Iraq, and stopping the convoy could put Marines lives in danger.



A sergeant in Jeffs unit told reporters, The convoy commanders were explicit. Hit em. Crush em. They received close SCUD missile fire.



The 20-year-old saw dead Iraqis.



The authors of The Wounds Within, psychotherapist Mark Nickerson and professor Joshua Goldstein, chronicle Jeffs heartbreaking decline after he returned from Iraq.



He withdrew, drank more, and had episodes of angry outbursts. But he was reluctant to seek help. Part of this storys tragedy is the stigma associated with PTSD.



Jeff didnt want to jeopardize his dream of becoming a Massachusetts state trooper, so he refused the treatment that could have saved his life, until it was too late.



The opening chapters relay the story of his familys agonizing efforts to help. The book also unflinchingly shows multiple failed intervention attempts and missed opportunities  the familys, the Marine Corps (Jeff self-identified as having symptoms and was still discharged), the Veterans Administrations (they turned him away even after hed threatened suicide because hed been drinking), and the therapists.



But something rises from the ashes. The Wounds Within begins with tragedy and ends with hope. Not rainbow-colored, positive-thinking hope; this is smart, well-documented hope. The author is a leader in the field of treating post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. Adding to the credibility, 83 footnotes reference key books, media stories and academic articles related to PTSD treatment.



The Wounds Within may feel like two books. After the tragedy, which filmmaker Oliver Stone rightly calls a powerful family drama, comes a series of insights about deployment which rings true on every page. If youve deployed, or know someone who has  and after 14 years of war you probably do  then this book will help you understand the combat veteran in your life.



For example, the section on hyperarousal explains why your war vet friend avoids crowds and sits at a restaurant with his back to the wall.



The discussion of intrusions helps explain why your spouse breaks out in a sweat at the sound of a door slamming, or how the smell of diesel exhaust triggers a flashback.



The authors coin a phrase that says the job isnt over when vets redeploy: theyre entering the home zone. Veterans received hours of training before entering the war zone; much less before returning home. Nickerson writes, skills that work well in a war zone can create problems in the home zone.



The book also chronicles a common reaction of returning war vets - impatience with civilian concerns about what they see as trivial matters of everyday life. In one transformative section, the authors recognize that even given the problems associated with combat-zone deployments, many veterans have a counterbalancing strengththe resilience they have developed in tough conditions. The veteran can come back stronger, wiser, and more compassionate.



With the right support, negative traits can be diminished -- and must be, because more than one life is riding on the veterans healing.



When a vet has PTSD, Nickerson said at a reading, the whole family has PTSD. He mentions a second wave of uncounted casualties  family members and loved ones.



Full disclosure: Last year, acting on a friends urging, I heard Mark Nickerson read at the Clapp Memorial Library in Belchertown, the town where Jeff Lucey grew up, a few months after I returned from Afghanistan.



While Jeff Lucey's father sat to the side of the crowd, Nickerson told Jeffs story and explained effective healing strategies.



Nickerson noted the "lag time" between returning home and PTSD onset. "During a trauma, part of you seizes up and locks away memories of the event," he said. Then something opens up those memories: a loud noise, the smell of dust, a dream. Symptoms vary, he told the crowd, but there are some hallmarks of PTSD.



At first, you're happy to be back, so PTSD doesn't set in right away. But at some point the classic signs appear: intrusive memories or emotions, being amped up and hyper-vigilant, depression, which he said is the body's defense against being too anxious.



Numerous questions from audience members focused on the theme of how do I get my friend, son, nephew, grandson, to go to counseling? It's tragically routine for veterans not to seek counseling because of the perception (and often reality) of mental-health issues being a career-killer, he said. Additionally, "people in military service are by nature helpers," he said, and not inclined to seek help. They are the strong ones, not the ones needing care.



After the library talk, I read his book. It was unlike anything Id read about how PTSD works. It felt great to read that PTSD didnt have to be a life sentence. Indeed, Nickerson titles a seminal chapter, Full Recovery: Treating PTSD.



The authors debunk the extreme notions of veterans as either superheroes or damaged goods. Then they dig into the hard and good work it takes to heal. People think that working with a compassionate counselor is enough to make therapy work, they write, but research shows that in addition to being an empathic listener, the therapist must have trauma-specific skills and training for successful PTSD treatment.



Nickerson urges people with PTSD to approach their own healing as seriously as they prepared for war. Combine proven healing methods such as education about how PTSD works, relaxation techniques, group or family therapy, medications, and psychotherapy.



The VA and DOD guidelines say evidence shows that four psychotherapy treatments are most effective.



For exposure-based therapies, the vet returns to harsh memories and re-process thoughts about the event(s).



Cognitive-based therapies work to change thoughts and actions connected to the event(s).



Stress-inoculation training combines recalling the traumatic event with relaxation techniques.



The method of psychotherapy Nickerson uses is called Eye Movement Desensitization, which uses alternating eye movements, similar to what youd experience during REM sleep, to reprocess and take the sting out of bad memories.



The authors define what it means to reprocess a traumatic memory: vets recall the memory, stare hard at the trauma with adult eyes in a safe environment, and come away with the memory in its proper place  as a memory that no longer controls current behavior or has the power to push them into trauma mode.



Since Nickerson uses EMDR therapy, he spends more time explaining that treatment. The results are impressive. One study on EMDR treatment for combat veterans with multiple experiences of traumatic stress reported that 12 treatment sessions resulted in a 77 percent elimination of PTSD.



In another study, combat vets symptoms dropped from severe to mild in just eight sessions for vets with physical wounds. Veterans with no injuries saw marked improvement in four sessions. This flies in the face of the Vietnam-era belief that PTSD is just something you live with. Its a profoundly hopeful message, and reason enough to encourage vets to seek help.



Editors note: The opinions in this review are the authors own, and do not indicate endorsement or necessarily reflect the opinions of the DOD or U.S. Air Force.


Eglin shows child what its like to be an F-35 pilot

After spending the past few weeks watching Top Gun and videos of the F-35 Lightning II, Christian Loafman was ready for his May 18 visit to Eglin Air Force Base as its first F-35A Pilot for a Day.



I feel the need, the need for speed, the 9 year old said.



The program, which started 26 years ago, allows units to get involved with the community and for children to experience a day in the life of an Air Force pilot. At age 2, Christian was diagnosed with progressive infantile scoliosis and autism. Since then, he has had multiple surgeries, wears a brace and attends weekly therapies to overcome his limitations.



Christians mother, Kerri Loafman, described her son as very outgoing and larger than life, with a love of all things Lego. She shared that her son has been over the moon since he was chosen as the 33rd Fighter Wings first F-35A Pilot for a Day almost two weeks ago.



Weve counted down every single day, every minute, Kerri said. Every day he would wake up and ask, Is today the day?



Driving up to the wing, Christian was surprised to see a sign welcoming him to the 33rd FW. Upon arrival they were greeted by Christians wingman, Maj. Mike Krestyn, the 33rd Operation Support Squadron chief of scheduling, who helped him transform into an F-35A pilot.



The duos journey began at the 58th Fighter Squadron where the new pilot met the squadron commander, Lt. Col. Brad Bashore, and was given his flight suit complete with squadron patches and a nametag.



While touring the squadron, the young pilot received a mission brief from 2nd Lt. Colin Backet, the 33rd OSS unit intelligence chief, where he learned the kinds of information pilots receive before flying.



Being able to give Christian one of these briefs was truly amazing, Backet said. At the end of the day that's why I joined the military; to try to make a difference anyway I could. I hope he will remember this experience for a long time to come.



After the briefing, Christian was escorted to an F-35A static display where he received an up-close view of a jet that displayed his name on the side. Crew chiefs from the 58th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Tech. Sgts. John Accurso and Michael Arwood, spoke with him and presented the young pilot with a squadron T-shirt.



I have been in this unit for 3 1/2 years and spoke to many (distinguished visitors) -- by far Christian was the most important DV I have had the honor to meet, Accurso said. Seeing his face when he saw his name on the jet was priceless and one of the highlights of my time here at Eglin.



While on the flightline, the young pilot was visited by the 33rd Maintenance Squadron wizard, the squadron mascot, and surprised by agents from the Marvel comic book series S.H.I.E.L.D. The agents brought superheroes Captain America and the Winter Soldier along to escort Christian to the 33rd MXS for a look at where the heroes weapons were made and where Airmen and Sailors create tools to maintain the F-35A.



The Winter Soldier, played by Capt. Josh Gradaille, the 33rd AMXS fabrication flight commander, believed being a superhero for Christian's visit was one of the most rewarding experiences as an officer.



"His response and expressions alone were extremely rewarding, Gradaille said. The folks who were fortunate enough to meet Christian all agree that we need more (programs) like Pilot for a Day; it reinvigorates our desire to serve."



At the 33rd MXS, metals technicians demonstrated a water jet cutters capability, and afterward, Christian received an F-35 silhouette memento.



Nondestructive inspection and low observable Airmen showed Christian how to repair panels similar to the Helicarrier seen in the Marvel movies and presented him with a miniature F-35A tail complete with stickers to decorate it. The Avengers superheroes also gifted him action figures in their likeness as souvenirs from their meeting.



Christian then traveled to the 33rd OSS pilot fit facility to fly the F-35 flight simulator under the guidance of Tech. Sgt. Omar Robinson, a 96th Aerospace Medicine Squadron aerospace and operational physiology technician. He also tried on an F-35 helmet and participated in an aircraft flight safety equipment demonstration.



As soon as (Christian) walked into the room, he jumped into the (flight simulator) with no hesitation and was ready to go, Robinson said. After giving him a tutorial, he started flying and caught on extremely quick. He was a natural. He had a huge smile that lit up the entire room.
Davis-Monthan sets standard for tracking deployed Airmen

Airmen at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base created an innovative tool, now used Air Combat Command-wide, for leadership to track their Airmen downrange.



Two Airmen from the 355th Communications Squadron crafted the tool, called the Blue Line Tracker, for a simpler way to compile this information.



This could possibly replace the different tools that people use to track their deployed personnel and it makes things much easier for them, said Senior Airman Brian Williams, a 355th CS knowledge management journeyman. There was no set standard between the units and when we all tried to come together and create a standard it was very difficult because they all had their set ways of doing things. We created a standardized system where a lot of the work is done behind the scenes.



Maj. Jonathan Guerrero, the 355th CS deputy commander, presented the tracker to ACC leadership in March after the squadron successfully created and utilized the tool at the start of fiscal year 2015.



We had over 1,200 folks deployed, which was the largest deployment on base since World War II, he said.



With the help of the 355th Force Support Squadron, Installation Personnel Readiness pulls deployment requirement manning documents from a database that provides the Air Force cross-functional integration for the four main functional domains: operations, logistics, manpower and personnel.



This information is later imported into the tool. The tool is automatically updated every week taking only a few minutes.



After the six default queries to input personal information about the deployed member is completed, the squadrons have the choice of entering optional data fields such as care package sent, spouse contact, and deployed email.



The wing commander all the way down to unit deployment managers all have access to the tracker to view unclassified information on all deployed Airmen in their unit.



The innovative tracker is now being used by multiple ACC installations to aid base leaders management of their deployed Airmen.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found out that wireless systems of the same kind were used in terror attacks which took place in Kathua, Samba and Pathankot.

Besides, modus operandi of the three attacks was same, convincing the NIA not to probe the three cases separately.

In a fresh development that highlights Pakistans indifference towards fighting terrorism, it has been reported that terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is planning Pathankot and Gurdaspur-style fidayeen attacks in north Indian cities with the help of spy agency ISI and Indian Mujahideen.

A report submitted to the Punjab government by military intelligence mentions that terrorist sleeper cells have started a recce to replicate Pathankot and Gurdaspur attacks.

Pointing out some specific details, the report said that JeM commander Awais Mohammed, resident of Okara, is trying to enter India via Malaysia. And for this, he will use a fake Malaysian passport.

He has been tasked with monitoring the fresh strikes, it said.

It also stated that JeM is reviving its network and has opened at least three new centres in Pakistans Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

JeM is reviving its offices and network in Kohat and Hazara region. JeM is also reinvigorating its recruitment drive. A new training facility has also been constructed by JeM at Balakot, the TOI report quoted intelligence report which was submitted on May 18.

It is also that JeM is running its training camps from its seminary in Bahawalpur.

Another alert issued by intelligence agencies said that Delhi Assembly could be the next target of the Pakistan-based terror group JeM, responsible for January 2 terror attack at the frontier IAF base in Pathankot.

The agencies have shared inputs with Delhi Police asking them to review the existing security apparatus at the building and other important installations in the city.

NIA sources further denied to refute that Dina Nagar attack was handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The NIA is collecting more information apropos of attack in Pathankot, JeM as an organisation and its role in the attack, sources further said.

The alert also said that important schools and colleges may be targeted.
The nationwide drought is only making the lives of farmers and citizens wretched. Heat wave extending across several parts of India with temperatures crossing 40 degrees is responsible for drought. Going by the figure, as per the data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 4, 2016, 3,228 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in 2015, the highest since 2001. This means on an average nine farmers ended their lives. According to the Central Water Commission, water availability in Indias 91 reservoirs is at its lowest in a decade, with stocks at a paltry 29 per cent of their total storage capacity.

India should wake up and authorities concerned be it a politician, bureaucrats or general public should understand the grave situation in store for us due to the rapidly changing climatic conditions. The greatest impact of drought is seen among the weaker sections of the society. These include landless labourers, small marginal farmers and artisans like weavers.

Over 55 crore farmers and rural populations across 13 states are in the grip of drought, and it is a multi-dimensional crisis. The 2016 drought is of richer and more water-guzzling India. Drought is human-made. The oppressive drought is a continuing phenomenon, especially in the context of global warming. The ground water stored underground over hundreds of thousands of years has depleted. This classless famine makes for a crisis that is more severe and calls for solutions that are more complex. One cannot say India cannot implement the measures like above to improve its water retention. The insensitivity on the part of Governments and the business class is appalling. It is heart-rending to read about people walking miles to get a small pot of water. Right from independence the problems of drought and flood management have remained unresolved.

The shortage of power has forced the farmers to spend more on diesel consumption. On the other hand, crop diversification needs to be advertised in a well-managed manner before acceptance. In the cities, slum dwellers have been badly affected because they cannot afford to buy water from private tankers. The money-lender charges high rate of interest and the inability of farmers to repay the loan compel them to forfeit their mortgaged property. In extreme cases, they even commit suicide.

Modern technologies should be implemented to revive the agricultural economy. Water storage should be given top priority. If weather forecasting information is available beforehand to farmers, they can be trained to tackle the situation by storing grains and water in a manner so as to fight the drought situation. Skill should be developed in this field too.

What we need is the long term planning and vision to tackle drought. We need to reduce water usage in all sectors  from agriculture, urban areas to industries. The severity and intensity of famine is not about lack of rainfall; it is about the lack of planning and foresight.

Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Amitabh Bachchan said on Wednesday that he will not host an event to commemorate a central government anniversary, but only doing a small segment on the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, even as the Congress Party launched a scathing attack on the film star whose name allegedly appears in the Panama Papers leak.

Earlier, Congress lashed out at Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who is set to host Zara Muskura Do, the special function organized by government on completion of Narendra Modis two year in power. Congress raked up the controversy surrounding Panama Papers, where Bachchans name appeared in the list of Indians who have stashed their money abroad. They have accused Bachchan of increasing his proximity with the ruling regime to influence the probing agencies.

It is legally, ethically and morally wrong to have Big B as the host of Zara Muskura Do event. By having Bachchan as host, what message is the government trying to send? said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. He further recalled the Panama controversy where Bachchans name propped up. The legendary actor was alleged to be the director of numerous offshore companies in Panama Islands and British Virgin Islands, by certain publications. The Panama papers showed Bachchan c client of Mossack Fonseca, the firm which offers its services to people across the nation who want to float offshore entities in tax havens.

Reacting to the Congress charges, Bachchan said, I am doing only a segment of the programme as the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It is for the government to decide.

Bachchans name had cropped up in the reports as part of a global expose of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100 global media organisations, based on millions of leaked documents of the Panama law firm Mossak Fonseca.
The Congress aggressively attacked the Narendra Modi government over the upcoming mega-show in Delhi to celebrate the governments two years in power. The event was supposed to be hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. Congress questioned Modi government that why Amitabh Bachchan has to be a part of the government celebration as his name figured in the list of Indians having undeclared foreign assets. While, the actor had then denied links with any foreign firm claiming that his name may have been misused, the Congress has now questioned the BJPs move.

On the other hand, senior Bachchan denied hosting the show. He is only doing one segment that is concerned with the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative, which is very close to his heart. Anyway, we all know he is mega star and exposing him is not that easy, as Panama has many big names linked to BJP that is the reason party is mum on this big expose. However, there is nothing inappropriate if an eminent personality like of Amitabh Bachchan participates in the initiative of Beti Bachao campaign.

It is very well known fact that, Bachchans and Gandhis have personal differences. The Bachchan familys ties with the Gandhi family dated back to the early 20th century when Harivansh (Amitabhs father) and Motilal Nehru, being from the same city of Allahabad were both iconic and close aides. Their friendship reached the pinnacle when Big-B and his family lent moral support to Rajiv in late 1960s during his marriage with Sonia, which was opposed by Indira. It was Big Bs mother who acted as a mediator between the young couple and Indira during their courtship and successfully convinced Indira to accept the marriage. The friendship continued throughout 1970s and early 80s too, with families sparing some time to visit each other and discuss about Big-Bs possibility of entering full-time, active and serious politics. There were a fuss fuss that Mrs. Indira Gandhi talked to Manmohan Desai and asked him to give a break to Mr. Bachchan in Hindi Film Industry.

However, things started taking a different turn in late 1980s when the Bofors scandal was exposed and alleged many including Rajiv and Bachchan for receiving kickbacks and indulging in serious corruption. This was the turning point when Bachchan started distancing himself from Rajiv to avoid tarnishing of his image (Bachchan was given clean chit later). In the early 1990s, the relationship between families turned sour especially after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The Gandhi family was expecting Big-B to join Congress and assist Sonia, which he clearly refused citing his priority for film industry. This offended the Gandhis who felt betrayed by him. Few years later, when Big-B was in a financial crisis (due to bankruptcy of his company ABCL), he felt betrayed by the Gandhi family because he was expecting them to lend some support. This mutual feeling of disloyalty compounded and led to further events of further betrayals and rifts that widened especially after the Bachchan familys ties with Amar Singh became stronger.

In the recent controversy, numerous Indians who figure in the list of those who have used tax havens to park their money have claimed that their investments were legal, while many have maintained silence. While superstar Amitabh Bachchan responded to the revelations, the media adviser to his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai, was quoted by media reports as saying that the documents were untrue and false. There are many names in Panama Papers, including Heads of state, politicians, celebs and lawbreakers, they are named in a massive cache of leaked files exposing almost 40 years of intricate methods to make use of offshore assets. Offshore bank accounts are located outside a clients country of residence, usually in tax haven territories chosen because of financial and legal advantages. They can be used to hoard money away from the oversight of national banking systems, evading regulatory oversight or tax obligations. Companies or individuals often use shell companies  set up purely a vehicle for financial transactions and initially amalgamated without significant assets or operations  to disguise ownership or other information about the funds involved. Nothing has so far proven or investigated but in the name of Amitabh the politics is worsening between BJP and Congress, and an eminent personality like him has no other option than rendering explanations getting into an awkward situation.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
With an eye on the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election the Shiv Sena has come forward with a proposal to provide water connection to slums constructed after 2000. The standing committee of the BMC had rejected this proposal one and half year back but now legislators and corporates have revived their demand for luring slum voters. The water rights committee had filed a petition with the Bombay High Court for providing water supply to slums constructed after 1st January 2000. The court had ordered for providing water connection to illegal slums. However, the standing committee had failed to implement it effectively and the decision was deferred.

According to sources from BMC said, Corporators have demanded regularisation of slums dating back to 2000. They also want water connection, electricity and other amenities to be provided to these residents.

Currently the people residing in illegal slums have to rely on the BMC for their water supply needs or else they indulge in theft of water. Sometimes they have to pay exorbitant price to tanker operators for purchasing water. Thus if the court order is implemented effectively then it will end malpractices like water theft and eliminate wastage of water. Around 58 lakh people reside in slums in Mumbai as the civic body has failed to prevent the mushrooming of slums in the metropolis. The tanker mafia are stealing water and selling it at higher rates to slum dwellers. To prevent this malpractice, the civic body had planned to provide water supply to illegal slum dwellers at four rupees and 32 paise. Since the water tax is increasing by 8 per cent every year hence one thousand litres of water will cost Rs 466.

On the other hand, Mumbaikars are not pleased with the legislators proposal of providing water connection to illegal slums.

Sameer Wadekar a Borivali resident said, The city is currently facing a 15 per cent water deficit, which has forced the civic body to continue with the water cuts. However after providing water to slums there is a possibility of water theft and rise in illegal water connections in the city. Already there is too much wastage of water in slums. Therefore Mumbai may have to grapple with water shortage.

Adarsh Singh a Kandivali resident said, Why do politicians think about regularising slums and providing water to these areas before the onset of election? Instead the BMC must take steps to augment the water stock for the city which will address the water scarcity issue.
Telecom regulator Trai will come out with a consultation paper on internet-based telephone service in a month.

We are bringing out consultation paper soon on internet telephony. It is a matter of weeksA month, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma said when asked about the regulators views on calls made through mobile applications.

There has been a huge debate in the industry over the framework for calls being made using the internet through various mobile applications.

Recently, telecom industry body COAI had objected to application-based calling service of state-run BSNL saying it is violates present norms.

The BSNL service allowing customers to make landline calls using mobile phone and vice-versa was launched by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in presence of telecom secretary J S Deepak on March 17.

Through the app, BSNL customers travelling abroad will be able to connect their landlines through mobile and make calls without attracting heavy ISD charges.

Sharma further said the paper will explore framework for internet telephony in the present context.

Internet-based calls have also led to start of net neutrality debate in India when telecom major Bharti Airtel decided to charge these calls separately in December 2014 but withdrew the plan after public protest.

Sharma said the regulator will separately work on net neutrality issue and start with a pre-consultation paper.

The pre-consultation paper on net neutrality will be issued within a couple of days. We are ensuring that the consultation paper is comprehensive and addresses all the issues. Hence, we are having limited or pre-consultation on net neutrality, Sharma said.

He said net neutrality is an extremely important issue and has many dimensions and the government has also asked it for comprehensive advise.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya













Web Toolbar by Wibiya

Date: 1995.

Place: Not mentioned.

In 1995, during a lecture, Alex Collier, a worldwide famous extraterrestrial life researcher who claimed having had constant contact with Andromedans (an alien race), affirmed that there was a certain possibility that a part of the Japanese archipelago will sink.

There is a possibility that a part of Japan will sink. It will not be an accident. It will be created by the World Government, he stated.

Sixteen years after, in 2011, the reality seemed to confirm Mr Collier affirmation. On 11 March, at about 3 p.m. (JST), a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, 70 kilometres east of the Tohoku Region. This event killed almost 16,000 people, and caused severe damages to the countrys infrastructure. For example, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant suffered a serious loss of coolant that caused a nuclear meltdown. This incident was considered as the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Was it a coincidence? Draw your own conclusions

For further information: http://agoracosmopolitan.com/news/ufo_extraterrestrials/2011/08/17/617.html

Fukushima: Ethical Extraterrestrial contactee warned humanity in 1995

Alex Collier in 1995 indicated (above video) "There is a possibility that a part of Japan will sink. It will not be an accident. It will be created by the World Government."

It appears that soc-called "conspiracy theorists" are being vindicated by more and more of their allegations 'coming true'.

Alex Collier is a self-described extraterrestrial contactee. He was in constant contact with a species known as the Andromedans. The Andromedans are apparently similar in aspect with the ET characters from the movie "Avatar".

The future may be changed, it's not something fix. That's why some "famous" predictions never happened.

internet site reference: http://humansarefree.com/2011/03/will-japan-sink-into-ocean.html








Web Toolbar by Wibiya













Web Toolbar by Wibiya

Date: 12 August, 2011.

Place: Outer space.

Since the beginning of space exploration, there have been many rumours about astronauts witnessing unknown flying devices while being in outer space.

For example, an article published in 1962 in TIME magazine affirmed that, during a mission, Major Robert White exclaimed on the radio, in reference to some strange objects he had seen: There are things out there! There absolutely is!

Eleven years later, in 1973, famous newspaper Los Angeles Times released a press report on Captain Eugene Cernan, who was the commander of Apollo 17 mission. When consulted about UFO phenomenon, he commented: Ive been asked (about UFOs) and Ive said publicly I thought they (UFOs) were somebody else, some other civilization.

Then, in 1989, MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) member Donald Ratsch released an alleged recording of a radio contact between space shuttle Discovery and its control base in Houston. The astronauts informed: uh Houston, this is Discovery. We still have the alien spacecraft under [observance] (this part of the recording is not clearly audible).

Additionally, astronaut Scott Carpenter, who was a member of the Project Mercury (the first manned spaceflight of the United States), indicated that at no time, when the astronauts were in space were they alone: there was a constant surveillance by UFOs.

Prestigious Indian newspaper The India Daily also pronounced on this matter. Evidence has come up which now points to the fact that there are thousands of alien space ships that control the space around the Earth. The alien space craft follow the terrestrial missions closely.

Draw your own conclusions

For further information: http://agoracosmopolitan.com/news/ufo_extraterrestrials/2011/08/12/517.html

Astronauts talk about UFOs

Astronauts often detect Extraterrestrial space craft trailing Space Shuttle other missions the India Daily reports.

Evidence has come up which now points to the fact that there are thousands of alien space ships that control the space around the Earth. The alien space crafts follow the terrestrial missions closely, The India Daily further reports, which also obtained information that, The astronauts see them all the time.

NASAs Astronaut Scott Carpenter indicated that At no time, when the astronauts were in space were they alone: there was a constant surveillance by UFOs. LINK

Uh Houston, this is Discovery. We still have the alien spacecraft under [observance])? (note last word difficult to make out on tape).

Astronauts Talk alleges that the previous statement was recorded by Baltimore resident Donald Ratsch (MUFON member) from a HAM radio rebroadcast between the space shuttle Discovery and Houston ground control, on March 1989 03/14/89 6:42 EST.

Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17 In a Los Angeles Times article in 1973 Cernand said, about UFOs:

Ive been asked (about UFOs) and Ive said publicly I thought they (UFOs) were somebody else, some other civilization.

A Time Magazine article cited that Major White exclaimed over the radio in 1962: There ARE things out there! There absolutely is!
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2016 - The Senates agriculture spending bill that advanced Thursday would provide supplemental payments to farmers who believe they have been shortchanged by the Agriculture Risk Coverage program that was created by the 2014 farm bill.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., proposed the provision for the supplemental payments. It would provide up to $5 million that USDAs Farm Service Agency could use in a temporary program for farmers who missed out on ARC payments that were made to neighbors in adjacent counties.

The fiscal 2017 agriculture spending bill, which the Senate Appropriations Committee approved 30-0, also would mandate labeling of biotech salmon and roll back USDAs proposed new requirements for convenience stores that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

The full Senate is not expected to debate the bill before June. The legislation funds USDA and the Food and Drug Administration.

Hoevens ARC provision would cap spending on the supplemental county-based ARC payments at $5 million, the estimated cost of the subsidies. The bill would set up an alternative way of calculating ARC payments, based on yields in contiguous counties. It would also require USDA to designate states that could participate in the pilot program. If the spending cap is exceeded, the payments would be pro-rated.

Its a very important fix in making sure that farmers are treated fair, said Hoeven.

But USDA issued a statement saying the department was still evaluating the pilot program included in the language to determine how, if signed into law, we would administer the pilot." There is no similar provision in the House version of the bill.

The provision was contained in a managers amendment along with the provision targeting USDAs proposed SNAP retailer rule, which increases the types of foods that stores must offer to participate in the nutrition program.

In a statement, USDA said it was extremely disappointed with the measure, estimating that the requirements would impose a one-time cost of only $140 on stores. The rule has always been about increasing access and choices of healthier food for low-income Americans and is an opportunity to help our most vulnerable.

The committee largely sidestepped a heated battle within the organic industry over USDAs proposed new requirements for organic livestock and poultry. The rule would, among other things, force organic egg producers to allow their hens to roam outside, not just in enclosed, covered porches, as is now a common practice.

The bill includes language urging USDA to consider the concerns of producers, but the legislation wouldnt stop USDA from moving forward with the rule. The chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that the issue can be addressed during negotiations with the House, if we can develop a consensus.

The committee adopted the biotech salmon labeling requirement, proposed by Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on a voice vote. The assurances from FDA about the safety (of biotech salmon) have not been sufficient to allay the concerns, said Murkowski.

Additionally, the committee agreed to maintain the existing ban on USDA inspection of horse slaughter.

The legislation also would increase the Food and Drug Administrations funding for implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) by more than the White House requested, and would fund a new Foreign Agricultural Service office in Cuba, a priority for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Funding for FSMA is a top issue for state agriculture departments and other agencies that will be responsible for much of the inspections required by a series of new rules. The Senate bill would increase FSMA funding for the budget year that starts Oct. 1 by $40.2 million, $15 million more than President Obama requested. The House version contains an increase of $33 million.

The extra amounts in the Senate and House bills still aren't enough, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which estimates that states will need $100 million per year to enforce the new regulations on fruit and vegetable growers and food and feed processors.

While this installment is important, incremental increases forestall full implementation of FSMA (from) reaching the preventive protection of our food supply envisioned when the law was passed, NASDA said.

The bill also would fund another administration priority -- on-farm monitoring of antibiotic resistance -- at $5 million. The research, which will be conducted by USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is a key part of the White House strategy for combating antibiotic resistance.

The bill would boost agriculture research and fund new incentives for military veterans to go into farming. Vilsacks office would get $5 million for outreach to veterans and $2.5 million would go to the Food and Agriculture Resilience Program for Military Veterans (FARM-Vets) under the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The bill also would waive Farm Service Agency loan application fees for veterans.

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative would receive $375 million, a $25 million increase. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program would be increased by $2.3 million.





#30




The Senate today voted to reverse farm bill law and shut down the USDAs catfish inspection program.

The 55 to 43 vote was a win for Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, who have been for years calling the switch of catfish inspection from FDA to USDA a massive waste of taxpayers money.

The passage of the measure, a resolution of disapproval that is allowed for under the Congressional Review Act, now sends the issue to the House.

I am pleased to see this measure pass in the Senate, and I look forward to continued bipartisan support in getting this resolution through the House," said Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo. This is another power grab by Washington and a blatant waste of the people's hard-earned tax dollars.

But beyond just the cost, Sen. McCain argued that it was an international issue and threatened the continued ire of Vietnam.

Lets be very blunt  McCain said, speaking before the vote. The reality of this is to stop competition from foreign sources, specifically one of which is the country of Vietnam.

The Senate vote will also be welcome news to Vietnam, which continues to rail against the increased regulations being demanded of its catfish farmers from USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service. Vietnam recently sent an open letter to the World Trade Organization, calling the USDA inspection program an illegal trade barrier disguised as a food safety measure.

But Sen. John Wicker, R-Miss., stressed that USDA is already doing a much better job that FDA ever did at insuring unsafe catfish isnt allowed into the U.S. He pointed to the fact that less than a month after USDA took over import inspection from FDA on Apr. 15, the Department has already blocked two shipments of Vietnamese catfish that were found to be contaminated with banned chemicals.

When FDA inspected in 2014-2015, FDA picked up two shipments with known carcinogens in two years, he said.

But Sen. Shaheen said today she didnt accept that argument: Despite what my colleague from Mississippi has said, theres no evidence that the (USDA) catfish program provides any additional food safety benefit. It was designed to create a trade barrier.

Americans were more likely to get struck by lightning than get sick from imported catfish, she added.

But catfish farmers took the vote today hard.

Do you find the information on Agri-Pulse helpful? See even more ag and rural policy news when you sign up for a four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription.





Todays passage of S.J. Res. 28 by the U.S. Senate is a setback for American Consumers, said Catfish Farmers of America spokesman Chad Causey. This issue is about food safety. FSIS, in a few short weeks, has already provided a much higher level of inspection than FDA ever did. In literally the first few inspections by FSIS, they denied entry on two shipments of Vietnamese (catfish) for crystal violet and malachite green contamination.

And the group Food and Water Watch agreed, saying USDA has already shown that it is far more capable of inspecting catfish.

The House must not follow the Senates misguided resolution to revert back to FDA oversight of catfish safety, said Wenonah Hauter, the groups executive director. USDAs inspection program relies on continuous government inspection and applies to both domestic and imported products. This is a more protective system for consumers.

#30

For more news, go to:
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016  Witnesses told the House Agriculture Committee today that sell-by and use-by labels on food products need to be standardized to help consumers make better choices and to help reduce food waste in the richest country in the world.

In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, told the crowded hearing room that a staggering 40 percent of the food grown in the U.S. is wasted every year, while at the same time some 45 million people are receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

He said todays hearing  the committees first-ever review of the food-waste issue  is a tremendous opportunity for us to take a closer look at our food chain and figure out a way to ensure that food grown in this country reaches the dinner table, not the trash can.

The leadoff witness was Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, who earlier this month, along with Sen. Dick Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced a bill to reform date labeling, which she said has been identified as one of the most cost-effective methods for reducing food waste.

Pingree pointed out that more than 40 states require date labels on certain food products, without distinguishing whether the labels reflect quality or safety. In addition, more than 20 states restrict or ban the sale or donation of food after the date, when for the most part the food is perfectly safe to eat.

Her bill, she noted in a fact sheet, proposes the establishment of a uniform national system for date labeling in order to clearly distinguish between quality and safety dates. It would entail creating two labels, one saying expires on for food that really is unsafe to eat after a certain date, and another that says best if used by, for everything else.

The bill would also make sure that no states or local health department could ban the donation of perfectly good food, just because the date on the label has passed, she said in prepared remarks.

Democrat Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the panels ranking member, was the only lawmaker to challenge Pingrees proposal, and he did so gently. He noted that consumers are already confused by the many different types of information that can be found on food labels, and that even-more crowded labels are coming as GMOs become more common.

Most of the other witnesses at todays hearing agreed with the need to standardize the date labels, while calling for additional action to tackle food waste.

Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, said food manufacturers and retailers are often concerned about two issues when deciding whether to donate excess food to food banks and other charities: cost and liability. She pointed out that federal law already provides strong liability protection for food donations, and that the 2016 omnibus spending bill expanded opportunities for businesses to claim an enhanced tax breaks for food donations.

Leib said businesses and consumers need to be educated about these provisions in the law.

John Oxford, president and CEO of L&M Cos., in Raleigh, North Carolina, said Congress could help with the food waste problem by dealing with immigration. The company grows its own fruits and vegetables and markets crops for growers across the U.S., Mexico and Central America. Oxford is also chairman-elect of the Produce Marketing Association, which represents 2,700 companies that market fresh fruit and vegetables in the U.S. and 44 other countries.

We certainly need help on the labor issue, he said in his prepared remarks. I recognize this is a difficult issue to tackle politically, but we need Congress to take action to make sure there are enough workers to gather the crops before they rot in the fields.

Witnesses also agreed that Congress could help reduce food waste by providing funds to help charities buy the trucks and refrigerators they need to move and store the food that is being donated.

Are you following food labeling issues? Agri-Pulse is the place for the latest news on the topic. Sign up for a four-week free trial subscription.





Meghan Stasz, senior director of sustainability with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, testified on behalf of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), an initiative of 30 companies formed in 2011 by GMA, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Restaurant Association. Member companies work across sectors to identify sources of food waste, increase the amount of food sent to food banks and decrease what is sent to landfills.

In 2014, she said, FWRA companies recycled nearly 94 percent of their food waste generated from manufacturing and last year donated over 800 million pounds of food to food banks.

Still, she said, Industry cannot solve this problem alone. Consumers are responsible for 44 percent of food waste sent to landfills. If were going to make a serious dent in food waste as a nation, we need to find was to help consumers reduce waste.

The other witnesses were Jesse Fink, managing director of Mission Point in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America, in Chicago.

#30

For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack may have less than a year left in office, but that isnt stopping him from delivering forward-looking remarks to ag stakeholders.

Speaking to members of the Organic Trade Association at the groups policy conference, Vilsack pointed to what he felt was a major flaw in the development of the 2014 Farm Bill: a focus on savings. While he didnt speak against spending fewer taxpayer dollars, he said that starting conversations from a perspective of desired savings can lead to shortchanged programs.

Thats what happened last time. They started with Well, we have to save $23 billion, how do we do that? he said. When you start with that question, everything else gets constrained . . . Its better to say, Whats the need?

Vilsack specifically mentioned issues with rural poverty and opioid abuse, a hot button issue in recent months on Capitol Hill.

Shouldnt we start with the proposition that this is an important place and we need to invest in it? he added. We obviously dont have unlimited resources, but when you start with How do I save $23 billion, you end up shortchanging a lot of good things.

Its amazing that we got the bill we got, Vilsack said of the bill President Obama signed into law in February of 2014. Were making the case we need to have future administrations continue it  in my view  and have future agriculture secretaries understand that their portfolio is much broader and much more diverse than I think folks thought of this department eight years ago.

In a broad set of remarks, Vilsack also touched on the debate surrounding the labeling of foods containing biotech ingredients. He said he hopes Congress can see the light and come up with a solution that he thinks needs to include mandatory disclosure. He says he sees it as USDAs responsibility to assist in the providing of that disclosure.

Keeping your eye on farm bill news? Were covering it and lots of other ag and rural policy news. You wont miss a beat if you sign up today for a four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription.





So if Congress cant or wont make tough decisions, I have told both Senator (Pat) Roberts and Senator (Debbie) Stabenow Im happy to make them. But we just need to make them, Vilsack said. He said that he thinks the discussion over whether or not labeling needs to happen should be over, and that it is time for action.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Vilsack also addressed the catfish inspection debate currently before the Senate, saying his only request to Congress is that they make up their mind over who should handle the inspections. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 55-43 to remove inspection duties from USDA and return the responsibility to FDA.

#30

For more news, go to
PKK Shoots Assyrian Paraglider in North Iraq

Wisam Nona, an Assyrian paraglider in the Kurdistan Region, was shot by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters on May 20, 2016. ( Kurdistan24) On Friday, a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighter shot an Assyrian paraglider for accidentally paragliding in a village that PKK claim is their "military area." Wisam Nona is a Christian from Amedi city, Duhok Province. He has been paragliding in the Kurdistan Region mountains for seven years. Nona was shot by a PKK fighter in Sargali village near Amedi. "Nona's health condition was very bad because he was shot three times, injuring his chest, belly and hand," The General Director of Health in Duhok, Dr. Nizar Ismat, told Kurdistan24 on Monday. Ismat stated that Nona lost a lot of blood, and his liver was severely wounded when he was brought to the hospital on Friday. "It was good that Nona was brought to the hospital immediately," Ismat said. "Doctors have provided necessary medical treatment for him, and we hope his condition will improve." Nona explained the story of the incident to Kurdistan24 and stated that the PKK fighter shot him after insulting and beating him first. "I was paragliding from the sky in Amedi area near Sargali village, and I didn't know that PKK fighters were there," Nona explained. "One of the fighters came to me and asked me for identification and I told them that I was a paraglider." "Why did you paraglide here, don't you know it is a military location?" The fighter had asked, according to Nona. "How should I know it is a military area? It is a village, how come it became a military location," Nona responded. He also mentioned that the fighter started to damage the parachute, but when Nona tried to defend himself, that is when the fighter started to shoot him. "I was shot by three bullets but I don't know what kind of weapon they used. I was laying injured on the ground for 30 minutes," Nona stated. Most of Nona's family live in Canada, but because of his love for the homeland, he stayed in the Kurdistan Region. He often participates in the Peshmerga's fight against the Islamic State (IS) as a volunteer. Turkish jets often patrol the Kurdistan Region borders and villages, aiming to target the PKK bases in the area. Kurdish villagers and residents continuously complain and ask PKK fighters to avoid their areas as villagers' lives fall at risk and their agricultural fields are damaged due to the airstrikes.

Reporting by Masoud Mohamed and Mewan Dolamari. Editing by Karzan Sulaivany.
Assyrians in Iraq Who Fled ISIL Fearful to Return Home

Mortars fired by ISIL at the Peshmerga and Dwekh Nawsha litter the ground in Baqofah, Iraq. ( Adam Lucente/Al Jazeera) Baqofah, Iraq -- Broken tools and damaged vehicles line the narrow streets of the Iraqi Christian village of Baqofah. Electricity flickers on and off in the homes, most of which have been trashed. Mortars fired by fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) lie just outside the village walls. Like many Christian villages in Iraq's Nineveh region, Baqofah was seized by ISIL and ransacked in 2014, only to be retaken by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters soon afterwards. While the area has remained relatively calm since then, neighbouring Tel Eskof recently came under attack again by ISIL suicide bombers and snipers. ISIL-occupied Batnay, meanwhile, is just a few kilometres away. The violence has prompted many Iraqi Christians in the area to flee to camps for internally displaced people throughout Iraq's Kurdish region. As anti-ISIL operations near Mosul continue, many are reluctant to return home. "The first thing we ask for is safety. We need our own forces to protect us after the liberation," Mansour Sharbil, who fled from the Christian town of Qaraqosh and is now staying at Erbil's Ankawa 2 camp for internally displaced people, told Al Jazeera. The camp, which sits next to a camp called Ankawa 1, currently hosts around 5,500 displaced Iraqi Christians, who live in caravans and subsist on aid from NGOs and churches. "When they are liberated, we'll return," added camp resident Ibrahim Shaba Lalo, who is also from Qaraqosh. "But without international protection, it will be very hard to return." This year, the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army began operations to retake the area surrounding Mosul from ISIL, including some Christian-majority parts of Nineveh. Residents have started to return to some villages, while others remain in the hands of ISIL. Still others are uninhabited, serving as bases for the Peshmerga and Christian paramilitary groups. Some camp residents expressed frustration that the US-led anti-ISIL coalition has so far failed to restore safety to their villages. But on the frontlines in Baqofah and Tel Eskof, Christian paramilitaries say they are ready to protect their villages after ISIL is pushed out of the broader area. "We' re ready any time," said Safaa Khamro, a soldier in the Nineveh Plain Forces, a Christian paramilitary group. He blamed political squabbling, including a disagreement between Baghdad and the regional Kurdish government over who has jurisdiction in the area, for the slow pace of progress. "The political crisis between Baghdad and the [Kurdistan Regional Government] is the reason we haven't taken [this territory back] yet," Khamro told Al Jazeera. Brigadier-General Helgurd Hikmet Mela Ali, media director at the Ministry of Peshmerga, said the timeline for retaking Greater Mosul was not the Peshmerga's decision. "The international coalition and the Iraqi army will decide the start," Helgurd told Al Jazeera. "The main reasons Mosul hasn't been liberated lie with the Iraqi army, because up to now, they are not ready to start." From the Iraqi army's perspective, on the other hand, the battle for Mosul is moving along as planned. "Definitely the Iraqi army is ready to take the city [Mosul] from ISIL, and we have expelled them from part of the area south of the city," Brigadier-General Firas Bashar, spokesman for the Iraqi army's Liberation of Nineveh Operations command, told Al Jazeera. Operations in this area began last March. Bashar paints Peshmerga-Iraqi army coordination in a more positive light than the Kurdish and Christian fighters in Tel Eskof. "Our relationship with the Peshmerga is one of permanent coordination," he added. "This is because ISIL kills all who fight them, whether they're Muslim, Christian or Yazidi." Romeo Hakari, secretary-general of the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party, which is affiliated with the Nineveh Plain Forces, said international cooperation was necessary to secure Nineveh's liberation. "We need to wait for international cooperation," Hakari told Al Jazeera from his Erbil office. "The decision is not a local one; it's in the West." Back in Baqofah, a Peshmerga soldier sits in a central village booth, holding an AK-47. Just outside the village walls, a Peshmerga unit and fighters with Dwekh Nawsha, an allied Assyrian Christian paramilitary group, guard the perimeter from inside two local homes. "We guard Baqofah all day and night," said Samir Oraha, a Dwekh Nawsha leader. A large pair of binoculars sits atop their base for this purpose, trained towards ISIL-occupied Batnay. "Our relationship is very good with the Christians," said General Tarek Suleiman, who serves next door with the Peshmerga in Tel Eskof. "We work together like brothers." Nineveh's Christians, meanwhile, eagerly await the day when they can safely return home to their villages. Many residents of the Ankawa 2 camp do not work, citing a lack of opportunities for displaced Iraqis. "It's like living in prison here," Lalo said. "We want to see our homes."
May 24, 2016

Irans current buyback scheme, which reduces the role of international partners to that of service providers, has been very unpopular among international oil companies. It has been a major factor in the reduction of investment in the Iranian energy sector.

Upon taking office in August 2013, President Hassan Rouhani vowed to amend the fiscal terms for cooperation with international partners. His efforts led to the November 2015 unveiling of the framework for a new oil contract scheme, the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), which aimed to attract investment and technology to Irans energy sector. Making the case for a win-win solution, Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh noted that the IPC was designed to meet Irans needs while being attractive to international partners.

In contrast to the buyback scheme, the IPC seeks to take into account the concerns of foreign companies. It allows for more flexible remuneration and longer engagements while international companies are also allowed to book oil reserves. At the same time, the IPC is intended to empower the Iranian energy industry as international investors are required to partner with an Iranian counterpart.

Against the backdrop of the IPC announcement and the Jan. 16 Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which led to the lifting and termination of several energy and financial sanctions, international energy companies have rushed to Tehran. Numerous memoranda of understanding have been signed, including by Frances Total, Germanys Wintershall and Italys ENI.

However, no investment decisions have yet been made and Iran has yet to present the IPC's actual details. A conference in London to this end has been repeatedly postponed in the past two years. Iranian officials have suggested that the latest cancelation was due to visa issues, although this explanation falls short of clarifying why Iran has not come forward with precise details on the IPC.

It appears as though political tensions over the IPC are mounting in Tehran, leaving the future of the new framework for oil contracts up for debate. In this vein, two main issues are at stake.

At the forefront, there is an internal debate in Tehran about whether Iran should seek cooperation with international partners at all. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and ultra-conservative politicians argue that self-sufficiency and independence are the way to protect the Islamic Republics economy. Attaching first priority to the economy, Khamenei argues that the main point is that the people of Iran should do something to liberate themselves from vulnerabilities in the face of the enemies threats and enmities. On the other side of the debate, Rouhani and his administration are calling for moderation. In politics and economics alike, the administration emphasizes constructive interaction with the outside world.

Underneath this debate lies another competition between the two camps. Here the struggle is about the economic benefits of a potential re-integration of the Iranian energy sector into the global markets. In the past decade, when EU and US sanctions forced Western companies out of the Iranian energy sector, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took over large swaths of the industry. In doing so, they were aided by former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who in 2011 handed the Oil Ministry over to Gen. Rostam Qassemi, an IRGC commander.

Since assuming office in 2013, moderate-leaning Rouhani has been challenging the IRGCs role in politics and the economy. The opening of Irans energy sector threatens the IRGCs position. As such, the fine details of the IPC remain a highly politically sensitive matter.

In this struggle, the hand of the Rouhani administration may have been strengthened recently as Iranians elected a rather moderate parliament, voting out several hard-liners and giving mandates to many of the presidents allies. As a result, disputes between the government and parliament  a regular feature of Iranian politics  might become milder. This could give way to IPC policies more in line with the presidents approach of reaching out to international partners. Although the conservative-controlled Guardian Council would still need to approve any IPC bill passed by the parliament, endorsement by both government and parliament would constitute a crucial step forward.

Government officials have recently announced that the IPC will be ready by July, a timeline that accounts for several months for the incoming parliament to take shape. Nonetheless, it should be borne in mind that the political and economic clout of the conservatives is still substantial, as they command key positions in the Guardian Council, the judiciary as well as the security apparatus. Significant portions of the Iranian economy, including the energy sector, continue to remain under the de facto control of institutions linked to this camp.

Hence, for any IPC legislation to be successful, some form of elite consensus will be necessary. It remains to be seen whether a proposal can be found that will be acceptable to the various political factions at home while attractive enough to companies abroad to serve its purpose. The reality is that the future of the IPC remains uncertain. Only time will tell whether the Rouhani administration will succeed in opening a new chapter for Irans troubled energy sector.
May 24, 2016

ALEPPO, Syria  It was the most dangerous journey ever, said Abu Alaa (a pseudonym), describing his trek, which ended in the northern Aleppo countryside in an area controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA). He arrived in Khalfatli, a village about half a mile from the Syrian-Turkish border, after having lived for two years under Islamic State (IS) control in the city of al-Bab.

Since November 2015, IS has prevented civilians from leaving areas it holds to limit displacement to territories held by the FSA, the Bashar al-Assad regime or the Kurds. To escape IS surveillance, civilians take unauthorized roads late at night and try to reach their destination at sunrise. The typical journey is extremely dangerous, requiring travel through areas laid with land mines as well as some experiencing fighting between IS and the FSA.

On May 20, at sunrise, families began arriving in Khalfatli, to the west of villages controlled by IS. All of them were visibly fatigued following an arduous journey by foot. Still living in fear, none would agree to speak to Al-Monitor with the exception of one person. Perhaps they were concerned for relatives still living in IS-held areas. Abu Alaa, the boldest among the group, shared his experience with Al-Monitor.

My heart sank all the way, fearing that [IS] knows about us, he said. We planned this journey a month ago. We walked for two hours. They were the longest of my entire life.

Explaining why he had fled, Abu Alaa said, Life has become like hell in IS-controlled areas. Apart from interference in the smallest details of our lives  whether our clothes, shaving, customs and traditions  the regime shelling and US-led coalition airstrikes also made our life even darker. IS-controlled areas have been the target of airstrikes by the Syrian regime, the US-led coalition and Russia, which entered the Syrian war in September.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has accused the Assad regime of targeting civilian areas in IS-controlled areas. It said that the regime carried out airstrikes against Raqqa, an IS stronghold, on March 18 and 19, killing 32 civilians, including six children. The targets were civilian areas, with no military or weapons facilities in the vicinity.

Although the US-led coalition has caused the fewest deaths among civilians, on May 21, 10 people died in coalition attacks on Arshaf, a village in the Aleppo countryside. According to SNHR, from September 2014 until Feb. 13 of this year, 267 civilians were killed in coalition strikes.

Abu Alaa hails from al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo in Aleppo governorate, which has been under the heaviest regime and Russian airstrikes, particularly since January, when regime forces began advancing in eastern Aleppo.

Abu Alaa said, Since the regime reached the Kuweires military air base and battles broke out there, my city has come under daily shelling, which further prompted me to flee the IS area. Life has become unbearable there.

For purposes of security, the FSA checks the IDs of all civilians fleeing IS. It moved the internally displaced persons arriving in Khalfalti to camps in the northern Aleppo countryside, supervised by humanitarian organizations, including IHH (the Humanitarian Relief Foundation), the Turkish nongovernmental organization. Al-Monitor spoke via Skype with Ahmad Mohamad, an activist with the Aleppo-based Syrian Institute for Justice, for additional information. Mohamad has been in Turkey since he fled his hometown of Manbij after IS took control of it in January 2014.

IS has planted land mines along dividing lines with the FSA, he said. This is the biggest danger. Dozens of civilians were killed by land mines while fleeing IS areas, including a family of nine that I knew.

In order to avoid the minefields, civilians pay large sums of money to smugglers. The people are used by the smugglers, Mohamad said. They pay up to $400 per person to be guided along routes that are not surveilled by IS and are free of land mines.

Mohamad added, Those caught fleeing IS areas will be investigated by IS and incarcerated for a period of time. Yet the smuggler will get the harshest punishment. He will be fined large sums and imprisoned for a long time.

Civilians in IS-controlled areas feel like they are living in a large prison. For them, the only way to escape this hellish reality is to put their lives in even greater danger while leaving behind their homes, livelihoods and relatives.
May 24, 2016

Imagine throwing a huge fundraiser. You proudly plan it for months. You invite all the must-have, high-society elites. On the big night, the place is packed, but at the last minute the big spenders  the ones you really want  don't show.

Turkey knows the feeling.

Turkey hosted the first UN World Humanitarian Summit on May 23-24 in Istanbul. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan had predicted in January that "all state and government heads will be coming to Turkey.

But they didnt come.

Official figures from the United Nations were impressive, showing that 9,000 people from 173 countries attended, including about 1,000 Turks, along with 900 media members. The number of countries represented was larger even than the G-20 summit held Nov. 15-16 in Antalya, Turkey.

But the political heavyweights were noticeably absent this week: Britain, France and China were not represented at all, and the United States and Russia sent delegates at the undersecretary and deputy minister levels. It was no surprise that Russia didn't send a high-level emissary, given its frosty state of relations with Turkey, but many were hoping the US president would attend.

Zeynep Gurcanli of the daily Sozcu attributed the low-level US representation to the latest crisis between Ankara and Washington over assistance to Syrians." The US Agency for International Development announced earlier this month that it had suspended assistance to Syrians in Turkey because of corruption.

About 50 presidents, prime ministers and ministers or their deputies attended the summit. Participation from Europe was limited; most of the European countries that attended were those affected by the Syrian refugee wave. Other participants were generally friends of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or leaders of countries that Turkey supports politically and financially.

Why was attendance lower than expected?

Former Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel told Al-Monitor the attendance reflected Turkeys foreign policy. Participation at this conference did not match expectations because of the foreign policy. In [Ahmet] Davutoglus days as the foreign minister, his policies isolated Turkey. Davutoglu resigned this month.

Al-Monitor also asked retired ambassador Onur Oymen, now a senior member of the opposition Republican People's Party, why the rich countries had not shown interest. He said, We know why Putin didnt come. Others might have been worried about terror. Actually, not all countries regularly participate in such summits. Their attendance depends on the topic discussed.

Oymen added, "When you go to a humanitarian assistance summit, then your [financial assistance] role is exposed. Europe has always lagged behind assistance targets. This might have affected their decision to stay away. What can they say at such a summit? How would they explain their reluctance to give 1% of their [gross domestic product (GDP)] as assistance? Rich countries are not helping enough. This may have kept them away. Turkey, on the other hand, is a country that gives a high level of foreign assistance when compared with its GDP.

At the summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said 130 million people in the world need assistance to survive.

Erdogan noted in his opening speech that Turkey is hosting more than 3 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Whether Syrian or Iraqi, we will never close our doors to people, he said. Erdogan pointed out that Turkey has already spent $10 billion on Syrian refugees and plans to send $6.4 billion this year in humanitarian and development aid to more than 140 countries. He called on developed countries to do their part.

But some of the countries that most needed to hear his appeal weren't there.

In a press conference at the end of the summit, Erdogan criticized the G-7 countries (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) for not participating, saying, It is sad that leaders of G-7 countries, other than [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, have not attended. He noted that Turkey has proposed setting up a new city in northern Syria. Developed countries have been briefed, but question the security of such a project. Erdogan added, "I say we will declare no-fly zones and take security measures. We dont need to fear terror organizations.

Referring to the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) the EU had pledged for the refugees, Erdogan said, "We see that their promised support has not materialized. My colleagues say 1 billion euros will arrive before July. Turkey is not asking for charity. This support is for the people in the camps.

Erdogan concluded his press conference by warning that unless the EU takes steps before June 30 to abolish visa requirements for Turks, the parliament will not approve the refugee readmission agreement. (Erdogan did not mention that parliament had already approved that agreement May 3.)

Doctors Without Borders pulled out of the summit at the last minute, saying it had lost hope that the event would tackle the weaknesses of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities. The group was right. The two-day summit did not adopt measures that promise relief for the humanitarian drama the world is experiencing, because leaders of countries that could contribute the most to such a solution were not in attendance.
May 25, 2016

In early April, as renewed fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region made headlines in Turkey, there was little talk of the crucial role of Israeli weapons in the clashes. Only the daily Hurriyet reported on Azerbaijan's use of the Israeli Harop armed drone, which generated Armenian protests.

Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Omer Celik summarized why the issue should be important to the press: Azerbaijans battle is our battle; their martyrs are our martyrs. Indeed, Azerbaijan consistently scores as Turkey's closest friend in Turkish public opinion polls, while Israel maintains its status as a serious threat in the same polls.

Intriguingly, Israel is Azerbaijans main arms supplier, a situation that poses a puzzle: Why have Turks remained silent as Azerbaijan, their closest friend, and Israel, their greatest rival  if not necessarily enemy  have grown closer? The silence of two sections of Turkish society is particularly noteworthy: One is Turkish ultra-nationalists, whose commitment to Azerbaijan is near-absolute; the other is Islamists, who miss no opportunity to bash Israel. Why are these two groups, whose protests are rarely if ever curtailed by the police in Turkey, ignoring this development?

The Israeli-Azeri cooperation has expanded as Israeli-Turkish relations have soured since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent think tank in Yerevan, Armenia, told Al-Monitor, Israel has replaced Turkey as an essential military patron of Azerbaijan, as seen in the 2012 deal involving the Azerbaijani procurement of drones and anti-aircraft missile defense systems from the state-run Israel Aerospace Industries for $1.6 billion. Giragosian explained that the bilateral relations are not limited to the weapons trade. The countries' interests converge in three main areas  security and military, including intelligence cooperation; energy and trade; and geopolitical strategy, he said.

So why are Turkish Islamists and ultra-nationalists remaining silent as their rival Israel expands its presence in Azerbaijan? There are at least two intertwined explanations for this rational ignorance: the medias silence and political pragmatism.

There is an undeclared media gag order in Turkey on publishing, and not just on anti-AKP stories considered unpleasant for the government. The Israeli-Azerbaijani relationship is diligently ignored in mainstream media. Hence, several leading figures of grass-roots Islamist and nationalist movements told Al-Monitor they are not aware of the extent of the strategic friendship between Turkeys best friend and its most outspoken rival in the region. It was particularly noteworthy that none of the ultra-nationalists and only one of the Islamists was willing to go on the record with their views on the subject.

A middle-aged, self-described bozkurt (a nickname for a member of the Gray Wolves, the Turkish ultra-nationalist group) who worked in organizing youth told Al-Monitor, Our youth are happy to see Azerbaijan triumph. We all wish it was mostly Turkish-made weapons being used, but we are not there yet. In the meantime, we cannot fuss about the identity of the manufacturer. Turkey sells arms to Azerbaijan as well.

When reminded of the increasing presence of Israeli intelligence in Azerbaijan, as well as in the oil and gas trade, realpolitik came to the fore. Approaching the question in a frivolous manner, the Gray Wolf said, Our [Turkish] relations are much better with Israel now, so are the Azerbaijanis. Who is going to call the kettle black? Times have changed.

Times have changed indeed, as one of the last critical pieces of news on the topic from the Turkish government dates back to a 2011 story on Hurriyet. Back then, Turkey had asked Azerbaijan to scale back its relationship with Israel. So the age-old saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" has become the tacit motto of the Turkish government in the Israeli-Azeri strategic friendship. Behind closed doors, the Turkish-Israeli-Azeri bloc seems to be working fine on almost all fronts. For the ultra-nationalists, a potential Azeri victory over Armenia overrides their dislike of Israel.

Turkish Islamist groups are more conflicted about the issue. Most of these groups cherish any negative news about Israel. Though Israel bashing in Turkey has softened noticeably in the past year, one can still spot at least a couple of anti-Israeli opinion pieces daily with a good dose of anti-Semitism in the conservative media outlets. So it is difficult to imagine these groups are warming up to the idea of being friends with Israel.

Indeed, a comparison of Kadir Has Universitys Foreign Policy Perceptions research findings of 2015 and 2016, released May 18, reveals a significant indication of how the Turkish public justifies its silence and acceptance of Israeli arms flooding Azeri markets. The percentage of those Turks surveyed who view Azerbaijan as a friend has jumped from 37.2% in 2015 to 59.3% in 2016. There has been a significant decrease in the percentage of those who see Israel as a threat: from 42.6% in 2015 to 26% in 2016.

Turkey's increased anti-US and anti-Russian reporting this year has led to a significant shift in Turkish perceptions of the United States and Russia. Survey respondents consider them the top two major threats, at 44.1% and 34.9%, respectively. Foreign policy perceptions are known to be highly susceptible to fluctuations in news reporting, as these Turkish findings show. So a good portion of Turks have accepted Israel's apology for the Mavi Marmara flotilla and replaced Israel on the threat perception scale with the United States and Russia. Al-Monitor contacted Osman Atalay of the Humanitarian Relief Fund in Turkey, which is known for its rallies against Israel, but he declined comment.

Some Islamists, however, are willing to speak up. One group is the independent Salafi ultra-conservative Islamic sect, which does not associate with the established religious orders. Twelve individuals who self-identified as Salafists told Al-Monitor it is not worth protesting against Israel or Azerbaijan because both are infidels. One shopkeeper from Adiyaman said, What do you expect from the Shia? They are the infidels ... of course they will collaborate with the Jews. This was surprising to hear because most critics of the Azeri government brand the country as a supporter of the Sunni Islamic State. Yet again, the same confusing scenario is true for almost every other Muslim country.

Kadir Akaras, chairman of Ehli Beyt Scholars Association, which represents Turkish Shiites, was blunt in his criticism of Israel during a TV program in April. He went on the record asking, We approach [the disputed] Karabakh as we approach Palestine and view Armenia as we view Israel. Why wouldn't the Saudi-led coalition of Muslim countries come to the assistance of Azerbaijan?

One of the openly outspoken groups against Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has been the Kurdish Islamist Party Huda-Par. Huda-Pars spokesperson Sait Sahin was straightforward in his position, saying, Turkey's 'zero problems with neighbors' policy collapsed completely. Turkey strained its relations with Russia and since then has been sending positive messages toward Israel; hence, we cannot expect Turkey to protest Azerbaijans friendship with Israel, he told Al-Monitor.

Overall, as Azeri-Israeli strategic cooperation deepens, we are once more reminded that radical groups in Turkish society are still taking their cues from the government and are in sync with the state. Hence, it would be too soon to interpret the results of Kadir Has University's research as a significant change in anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey. A more sober analysis would be that even the hatred for Israel can be controlled if it is in the interest of these groups.
May 24, 2016

TINDOUF, Algeria  Sahrawi refugees have been dependent on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs for more than four decades. They live on support provided by the United Nations or other civil society organizations to help improve everyday life in the refugee camps. However, as such help is decreasing with the refugee crisis spreading across Europe and the Middle East, some Sahrawis are becoming entrepreneurs.

Ambarka Mohamed Salem decided to turn humanitarian assistance into an opportunity for Sahrawi women to become self-sufficient. Like her peers, she fled the Moroccan-occupied territory of Laayoune, in the disputed Western Sahara region, when she was 10 years old.

I first arrived to the camps with my parents on Dec. 25, 1975, she told Al-Monitor. Forty-one years later, Mohamed Salem is the director of a factory that makes "melhfas," a traditional garment for Sahrawi women. The project, which began June 5, 2013, is financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), a government agency. The factory, made of mud bricks, is surrounded by sand. Inside it, 18 women work six hours a day, six days a week. The type of melhfa made there measures 6 meters by 1.6 meters (20 feet by 5 feet). "It is made of imported cloth from Mauritania, Mohamed Salem said.

The trading industry has long connected the camps with the Mauritanian town of Azwairat. So, Mauritanian and Sahrawi merchants have found a company that provides transportation to and from the camps. Mauritania and Algeria are the only countries Sahrawis can enter without a passport, including even Spain, the former colonial ruler of the Western Sahara. Because of the convenience and proximity of Mauritania, Sahrawis travel there to buy the raw material for any business that they want to start in the camps.

The melhfa is a common garment worn by both Sahrawi and Mauritanian women, who are identified by the apparel. There are several stages to making the outfits. The young women in the room divide roles as they cut fabric into pieces. After they stitch the fabric, it is ready for tailoring. After it is dyed, it is dried outside in the open air. Each worker makes 32 melhfas per month," Mohamed Salem told Al-Monitor.

The factorys first production run was donated to families who have lost members in the Western Sahara war, and people with special needs in the camps, she said.

The factory is now self-sufficient and sells melhfas designed for religious and cultural events. Mohamed Salem said she hasn't been marketing the garments, as production is limited, but the workers made at least 2,500 mehlfas in their last production run, according to administrative office staff.

Our goal is to expand this project to include all camps because all Sahrawi women wear melhfas, said Mohamed Salem.

Despite such success, her hopes might be tempered by the Swedish government redirecting its funds to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees instead of Swedish nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The repercussion of that change is already hitting the NGOs. Swedish NGO Practical Solidarity is one of the main sponsors of Mohamed Salem's project, and has supplied refugees with second-hand clothes since 1976. This year, it cut its donations in half because of the lack of funding. Also, Mohamed Waddad, the cooperations director at the Sahwari Arab Democratic Republic Ministry of Equipment, told Al-Monitor, Sidas financial assistance to the melhfa factory has been reduced in the last two years. He said Sida helped with the cost of transporting the second-hand clothes, but if the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, takes charge, the project will have to buy the clothes and fund the shipping, "which will double the cost.

Even so, Mohamed Salem is resolved to continue her project. She has brought her daughter into the business as administrative manager. Glaila Mohamed Salem has a small office in the storage area, where hundreds of melhfas sit stuffed on shelves. When her mother was asked about how she will overcome the financial obstacles, she said, I have been in way more difficult situations and I overcame them. She said her daughter is amazed by some of the stories she tells. When I tell her that we used these melhfas as shelters when we first came here to Tindouf, Glaila widened her eyes, unable to believe this.
Ghost Train Brewing Co. should be open by late summer, owner Taylor DeBoer said.

The brewery got approvals from the Birmingham City Council and Design Review Committee this week, and DeBoer said he's waiting on some final approvals, but hopes to start construction Thursday.

Ghost Train Brewing is in the process of opening its first tasting room at 2616 3rd Ave S. - the former space of Cahaba Brewing. Taylor DeBoer is a former partner at Cahaba Brewing.

Renovations of the building include a 25-foot bar and two new ADA-compliant bathrooms. Ghost Train will have a 10-barrel brewing system.

"Our equipment is en route to Birmingham right now," DeBoer said. "We're so excited."

Ghost Train is currently contract brewing at Crooked Letter Brewing Co. in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, but will brew in-house once the project is finished. The brewery already distributes throughout the Birmingham retail market through Birmingham Budweiser.

ServisFirst Bank is financing the project.
Tyler Perry.png

Tyler Perry gave the commencement address to Tuskegee University graduates on May 7, 2016. (Tuskegee University)

Filmmaker and actor Terry Perry recently inspired Tuskegee University graduates with his commencement address.

He spoke about the experience, and the honorary doctorate he received Tuesday night on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon."

"Should I be calling you Dr. Perry now," Fallon asks.

Using a British accent, Perry replies that he received a doctorate from Tuskegee University. "I don't know what I am a doctor in, but I started talking like this since I received it," he said.

Perry said he stole his speech from Oprah.

"Life is not always going to be easy. But no matter want happens, you go out there and do your best," he said.

Read more about his speech here. Watch the Perry clip below.
The child therapist who initiated an investigation of child abuse against a Birmingham Catholic priest testified today in Jefferson County Court that the priest's son told her his father abused him.

Another therapist who interviewed the child offered similar testimony. And the boy took the stand himself.

A trial began Monday for David Lawrence Stone, a Catholic priest and former EWTN TV host who was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12. The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now eight years old. Stone has been embroiled in a custody battle.

Stone, 55, formerly known as Father Francis Mary Stone, was host of the TV program "Life on the Rock" on Eternal Word Television Network.

Leah Waller, a therapist at Wellspring Christian Clinic, said the child was brought to her for counseling because he had anxiety about going to visitation with his father in 2012.

"The anxiety was very high about going to visit Dad," Waller said. "He said, 'Dad hurts me.'"

Through game-play using toy dinosaurs representing the boy and his parents and Legos representing the child's father's home and his mother's home, Waller asked the boy to explain what happened when he went to visit his father.

He first described watching television, using a dinosaur representing his father and a baby dinosaur representing himself. He then described bath time, and showed the two figures rubbing their bottoms together in what the child described as "The Butt Game."

Waller said she notified the mother and said he needed further counseling sessions.

"That was concerning," Waller said of the child's description of "The Butt Game."

In the child's next counseling session, he again did game play in which he described visiting his father, who he said he put his finger in his butt while the boy was lying in bed.

Waller said she is required by law to report suspected abuse to the Department of Human Resources and she filed a report. "I stated to the mom that I was reporting abuse to DHR," Waller said.

She wrote a letter to DHR saying that the boy's visits to his father should be supervised. "If he was going to have visits to his father, they needed to be supervised," Waller said.

Another therapist also testified later on Tuesday that she interviewed the child and he made allegations of abuse against his father.

Cyndi Abercrombie, forensic interview specialist for The Prescott House, a children's advocacy center, said that she interviewed the child on June 20, 2013, when he was five years old.

Abercrombie said the child told her that while he was sleeping, his father would put his finger in his butt. She asked him to draw on a diagram where his father touched him.

Prosecutors then showed a video recording of the interview to jurors.

Boy testifies in court

The child also appeared on the witness stand and pointed out his father. Judge Clyde Jones asked if the boy knew why he was there. Referring to his father, he said, "He hurt me." Jones gave the boy two toy soldiers and the boy used the two toys to demonstrate where his father put his hand on him.

Stone's attorneys have argued that the allegation of child abuse is false. Stone has been in a lengthy custody battle with Christina Presnell, the mother of his child.

The relationship between Stone and Presnell started when she was working for EWTN. Presnell worked as a human resource coordinator for EWTN. She met Stone in 1998, went to confession with him as her priest and considered him her spiritual adviser, then began a sexual relationship with him in 2001. They kept the relationship secret, but were discovered when she became pregnant. EWTN fired Presnell in 2008 and Stone was put on a long-term leave of absence.

Stone no longer is a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, the order of priests founded in 1987 by Mother Angelica, who also founded EWTN. Stone no longer lives at the Annunciation Friary in Irondale.

Stone said after the first day of the trial that he is innocent and he wants to pursue custody of his son.
Is it patronising or appropriate of the government to nudge indigenous people out of alcoholism and into jobs?

At a dinner party in Sydney, I inadvertently stumbled on to controversial territory and nearly got thrown out by the host.

I was ranting about the shocking disparity in Australia between indigenous (Aboriginal) people and everybody else.

On average, Aboriginal Australians die 10 years younger than everybody else, I pointed out. They are far more likely to be jail; far less likely to be in work.

Casual racism against them seemed, I said, ingrained in Australian society.

White settlers had come into Australia and massacred thousands of black people already here.

Theyd then tried to breed out the Aboriginal from the rest. In the 1950s and 1960s Aboriginal children were stolen from their parents by the government.





Aboriginal people only got full rights to vote in 1967.

All of this was recent; an ongoing sore. Even today, I said, how insensitive to have Australia Day celebrated on January 26, the anniversary of the day white settlers first arrived; a day Aboriginal people commemorate as Invasion Day?

Every non-Aboriginal person, I finished with a flourish, had a duty to feel guilty.

I was among friends and, I assumed  people who felt similarly. I was wrong.

My host  who had been listening and, it turned out, seething  roared.

What did I know  an Englishman who had only been in Australia a couple of years?

How dare I suggest Australians should feel guilt? Hed been born in Australia; he was just as indigenous as any Aboriginal person, and had as much right to be here as anyone.

Australias Aborigines werent the only ones to be conquered by people from elsewhere. In Europe, ancestors of Romans arent expected to feel guilt or repent for the sins of distant, dead relatives.

So why should he? White Americans arent constantly harangued about the harm done to American Indians when their ancestors travelled west from Boston. Why should white Australians be ashamed?

READ MORE: Does Australia have a racism problem?

The explosion subsided. Sitting in his home, eating his food, I said I saw what my friend was saying.

We are still friends today. But, for a moment, it was a close-run thing. Inadvertently, Id hit a very raw nerve.

But the conversation, or argument, has stayed with me ever since. With every story I have written about indigenous affairs, it has been in the back of my mind.

Because  and heres the thing  when I said that night I saw what he was saying, I wasnt lying. I did.

I still do.

Stories on Aborigines

Im just back from the northwest of Australia, a sparsely populated, fiercely hot part of the country called The Kimberley.

There I shot various stories. One was about now elderly Aboriginal farm workers who  until the 1960s  had their wages withheld because they werent deemed responsible enough to handle money.

Even my friend wouldnt argue with the injustice of that.

But what of my second story about the introduction of government debit cards loaded with government payments which can be used anywhere  except to withdraw cash, gamble or buy alcohol?

Is that patronising and racist policy, as many Aboriginal people claim? Or an appropriate way to nudge Aboriginal people out of alcoholism and into jobs?





How about the potential closure of remote Aboriginal communities, which is to be covered in a forthcoming story?

Is it fair that  as a cost-saving measure for government  Aboriginal people may be denied the right to live on their traditional land?

The instinctive left-of-centre response to both those controversies is to side with Aboriginal people, as victims of ongoing white oppression. But is it that simple?

In the UK, indigenous people are Anglo-Saxon  white.

Even though some of the white working class have high unemployment levels and poor levels of health, their problems are not seen through the prism of race.

People dont generally rally to indigenous Britons in the way they do to indigenous Australians.

Few support, for example, affirmative action for Britains white underclass; if the government withdraws a benefit, its not decried as racist.

As for the ancestors of [white] settlers needing to feel guilt about coming to Australia: by that logic, shouldnt descendants of more recent immigrants  Greeks or Lebanese economic migrants, or refugees from Afghanistan, Syria or Iran  also feel ashamed?

Yet the same Australians who would describe themselves as advocates for indigenous Australians are the most fiercely supportive of [new] immigrants and their entitlements.

In todays Australia there are rallies in support of todays boat people, but  implicitly  against the boat people of the 18th century.

I can see how many find that contradictory.
Shia militias taking part in offensive on ISIL-held Iraqi city have been accused of sectarian acts.

As the battle for ISIL-controlled Fallujah has intensified, so has the sectarian rhetoric.

Various militia leaders and officials have made comments of a sectarian nature.

Uproot this cancerous tumour, one Shia militia leader said.

Cleaning Fallujah means cleaning Islam and Iraq, said another militia leader while addressing his fighters.

The media wing for the militias, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, has published videos showing its fighters chanting sectarian slogans while firing rockets on Fallujah.

Other videos show what seems to be indiscriminate firing by multiple rocket launchers.

Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is also the secretary general of the ruling Dawa Islamic Party, has said that Fallujah represents the head of the snake which raised terrorists and takfiris.

READ MORE: Thousands of civilians trapped in Fallujah

Up to 50,000 troops including army, police, counterterrorism personnel, Shia militia men and Sunni tribal fighters are taking part in the offensive that began on Monday.

More than 15 Shia militias are involved.

Its a fact that some of these militias, which are armed and funded by Iran, are stronger than the Iraqi army.

The US-led coalition has in the past refused to allow these militias to participate, fearing sectarian reprisal attacks. Its not clear if the coalition leaders think differently this time around.

Over the past two years, the Shia militias have captured many towns and villages from ISIL.

But in some areas theyve been accused of looting, sectarian acts and refusing to allow the Sunni population to return to their homes.

Critical offensive

This offensive is critical for the government for a number of reasons.

Securing Fallujah means securing the capital Baghdad.

But the government is also under pressure to restrain these forces from carrying out sectarian attacks and practices.

Fallujah is less than 30 minutes by car to the west of Baghdad.

The city was an al-Qaeda stronghold after the US-led occupation in 2003. Several other armed groups were also present in the city.

The US launched two major offensives on the city in 2004. More than 20,000 Marines were stationed there to pacify it.

OPINION: A new formula in the battle for Fallujah

In 2013, Fallujah and other cities in Abnar province witnessed anti-government demonstrations, calling for Malikis government to end what protesters said was marginalisation of Sunnis and sectarian policies.

And in 2014, ISIL got its grip on the city.

Around 100,000 people still live in the city and they are now caught between ISIL and the government forces.

It is crucial for the Iraqi government to win the hearts and minds of the people in Fallujah.

So far, the practices of the attacking forces are not promising.
The battle is Iraqs latest attempt to push the Popular Mobilisation Forces and Coalition into a single battlespace.

Michael Knights is the Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He specialises in the politics and security of Iraq. He has worked in every Iraqi province and most of the country's hundred districts, including periods embedded with Iraq's security forces.

On May 22, the Iraqi government announced the opening of the long-awaited battle of Fallujah, the city only 30 miles west of Baghdad that has been fully under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group for the past 29 months. Fallujah was a critical hub for al-Qaeda in Iraq and later ISIL in the decade before ISILs January 2014 takeover.

On the one hand it may seem surprising that Fallujah has not been liberated sooner  after all, it has been the ISIL-controlled city closest to Baghdad for more than two years. The initial reason was that there was always something more urgent to do with Iraqs security forces.





In January 2014, the Iraqi security forces were focused on preventing an ISIL takeover of Ramadi next door. The effort to retake Fallujah was judged to require detailed planning and a hasty counterattack seemed like a pointless risk.

In retrospect it may have been worth an early attempt to break up ISILs control of the city while it was still incomplete.

Inconclusive siege of Fallujah

Then came the loss of Mosul and the battles for Haditha, Samarra, Tikrit, and Baiji. The battle to free Ramadi was fought throughout the length of the war until its recent liberation.

READ MORE: How to prevent sectarian backlash from Baghdad bombings

The Iraqi security forces, mainly Shia elements of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), settled into a long and inconclusive siege of Fallujah.

For the PMF, which experienced disappointing battlefield results from the spring of 2015 onwards, Fallujah became a way to give the impression that it was still a key player on the Iraqi battlefields.

This siege has caused tremendous material damage to Fallujah, which was never fully rebuilt after the great battles of 2004, when US Marines cleared the city in highly destructive block-by-block fighting.

As importantly, around 70,000 civilians out of the citys 350,000 original residents remain in the city out of choice or because they are too scared to try to escape.

Shortages of food and medicines within the Fallujah pocket have caused civilian illnesses and deaths that would be preventable under normal circumstances.

The current offensive to liberate Fallujah seems to have been driven by a combination of factors: the mass-casualty bombings in Baghdad during May, the pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to show positive results in any field, and the hiatus between the end of the battle of Ramadi and the likely start of the battle of Mosul in the late summer or autumn.

Shortages of food and medicines within the Fallujah pocket have caused civilian deaths and illnesses that would be preventable under normal circumstances. by

Lessons from previous battles

In theory, there is space for a quick Fallujah operation before Iraq begins to isolate Mosul from the south and west in the autumn and then assault Mosul city itself in the winter. But will it be quick?

The much publicised beginning of the broader Mosul operation launched in March 2016 gave the impression that the city itself was close to being liberated: In fact the fighting was more than 100km from Mosul city.

In Fallujah the relieving forces are much closer  often 5-10km from the edges of the city  but the publicity surrounding the opening days of the offensive have raised expectations of an immediate entry into Fallujah a little too high.

This first week of Iraqi operations have been aimed at rolling back ISILs control of outlying areas to the north of Fallujah at Karma, and to the east and south of the city.

The Iraqi Air Force has mounted its most intensive operations of the war to selectively strike ISIL targets in Fallujah with its US-supplied F-16 and AC-208 precision-strike aircraft, Chinese armed CH-4 drones, Russian-supplied attack helicopters and new Czech-supplied L-159 jets,

The operation clearly shows that the Iraqi government, the PMF and the coalition have learned important command-and-control lessons from previous battles.

READ MORE: Iraq  Are Shia leaders ready for sectarian healing?

The Iraqi government, supported by the US-led coalition, is coordinating the battle for Fallujah. They are picking the targets for aerial strikes and commanding the broad framework of the operation.

The PMF, which includes Sunni PMF from the rural areas around Fallujah, are fighting a loosely connected battle that is focused on Fallujahs rural outskirts.

Some PMF elements, such as Kataib Hezbollah or Asaib Ahl al-Haq, will not receive US air support, but Iraqi aircraft will be on call to help. Importantly, Badrs leader Hadi al-Amiri said on May 24 that PMF units would not enter Fallujah city.

This division of labour is the product of lessons learned in the battles of Tikrit, Bayji and Ramadi. The PMF cannot go it alone in such battles and do not achieve good results in intense urban fighting where coalition intelligence and strike capabilities are critically important.

But Iraqs security forces and the coalition have learned that the PMF are pretty good at clearing and occupying the rural zones around contested cities and preventing ISIL reinforcements from arriving, which is a necessary part of any effort to liberate a city.

The Iraqi government has learned that excluding the PMF entirely, as in Ramadi, can cause resentment. Time will tell how quickly and how effectively ISIL resistance in Fallujah will be overcome but the formula being used at Fallujah represents a positive evolution for the war in Iraq.

Michael Knights is the Lafer Fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has worked in every Iraqi province and most of the countrys hundred districts. He is a member of the Atlantic Councils Task Force on the Future of Iraq.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Haibatullah Akhunzada, member of the conservative old guard, to head group whose last leader died in a US drone strike.

An Afghan Taliban spokesman has confirmed the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the armed groups leader, in a US drone strike and announced the appointment of Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada as his successor.

The Taliban spokesman told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqub, son of former leader Mullah Omar, have been appointed the groups new deputy leaders.

We confirm the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and after thorough discussion and meetings with the respected Taliban members among the group weve decided to name Haibatullah Akhunzada as our new leader, he told Al Jazeera.

The announcement followed confirmation on Monday by President Barack Obama that Mansoor was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistans Balochistan province.

Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistans chief executive, said on Twitter on Sunday that Mansoor was dead. Afghanistans spy agency also said he had been killed.

Mansoor was chosen to head the Afghan Taliban last summer after it was announced that the groups longtime leader Mullah Omar had died two years earlier.

The Taliban seized power and ruled Afghanistan in 1996, but were toppled by US-led invasion after September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Almost 15 years later, about 13,000 troops from a US-NATO coalition remain in the country, including about 9,800 Americans.

The Taliban is fighting to impose Islamic law and drive the foreign forces out of the country.

The violence left about 11,000 civilians killed or wounded last year alone as well as 5,500 government troops and police officers.

Well-known figure

Al Jazeeras Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said Akhunzada is a well-known figure in the group.

He is not a new man in Taliban leadership; he was the second deputy of Mullah Mansoor, he said.

He is very respected. Hes an old man, definitely older than Mullah Omar, who referred to him [Akhunzada] as his teacher.

Akhunzada is from Kandahar, from the Noorzai tribe. Its a strong tribe among the Taliban leadership. All these things are signals that he might be able to unite the Taliban. That looks like one of the reasons they didnt choose [Sirajuddin] Haqqani as the leader.

READ MORE: Death of a warlord will change nothing in Afghanistan

Al Jazeeras Azimy said Akhunzada has held the role of chief justice within the Taliban previously.

He was very active and a senior member of the Quetta Shura, he said.

The Taliban has repeatedly refused to take part in peace talks sponsored by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, which comprises representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US.

The group also shows no signs of easing its ongoing spring offensive against the Afghan government.









The new Taliban leader is known to be a Stone Age mullah who strongly believes in the Taliban, Sami Yousafzai, an Afghan expert who has met both the late Mansoor and Akhunzada several times, told Al Jazeera.

The appointment of Akhunzada could affect the peace process. He was very close to Mullah Omar and is known as a hardline mujahid [fighter] who will bring the Taliban together and will make sure the group gets stronger.

A Taliban source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Taliban under Akhunzada has pledged to take revenge against foreign forces and the Afghan government for Mansoors killing.

READ MORE: Ashraf Ghanis war strategy will fail

They [the foreign forces and Afghan government] should now fasten their seat belts as the attacks will continue and will be stronger than before, he told Al Jazeera.

We will be taking our revenge and will also make sure we come out stronger than before.

The warning coincided with an attack that claimed the lives of at least 10 people on Wednesday.

A suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives, striking a vehicle carrying court employees near the capital Kabul, according to the the interior ministry.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Taliban leadership dispute

Mullah Mansoor was appointed as the new leader of the Taliban in August last year after the death of Mullah Omar. The move was rejected by some senior Taliban commanders and led to deadly infighting.

A breakaway faction elected its own leader, Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund, and battled Taliban under Mansoors leadership.

Commenting on the appointment of Akhunzada, the spokesman for the breakaway faction, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, said the decision was taken just among a handful of senior Taliban leaders.

Akhunzada was appointed in the same way to how Mullah Mansoor was appointed, without consulting with anyone, Manan Niazi told Al Jazeera.

Mullah Yaqub has been promoted as well but is powerless and is not knowledgeable enough to lead the Taliban movement.

Manan Niazi said his breakaway faction will continue to fight against the Taliban under Akhunzada and will not stand united with the group that has forgotten Mullah Omars purpose.

God has taken our revenge and Mullah Mansoor got killed. He was a shame to the Taliban movement and was completely opposite to Mullah Omar.
Victims in Aranayake still in shock a week after massive mudslides killed more than 100 people with another 100 missing.

Aranayake, Sri Lanka  In Siripura, one of three Sri Lankan villages completely buried by a massive landslide a week ago, a grieving Priyanthi Sudeepani, 42, continues to hold on to hope for her sons return.

Yet, most here are aware that no survivors will be found after mudslides ploughed into their villages, killing 101 people and leaving 107 others missing on May 18. N early 2 90,000 Sri Lankans have been affected by floods and landslides since last week.

A plane crashed into the mountain, so I thought, and then a ball of fire came tumbling down taking away my entire family, a sobbing Sudeepani told Al Jazeera from a relief camp, kilometres away from what was once her village.

Inclement weather that triggered the mammoth landslides in three hamlets in central Sri Lanka affected more than 10,500 people. Rendered homeless, they have taken temporary refuge in dozens of relief camps.

For villagers such as Sudeepani, the shock of losing homes and all prized possessions in a split second is overshadowed by the reality that their loved ones too are buried beneath.

I am waiting with hope, please help me to find them, said Sudeepani, hands clasped in a pleading gesture.

But a rescue official said there is no chance of that happening.

There is no question of survivors here. It is now assumed all those missing are dead, said the head of relief operations, Major-General Sudantha Ranasinghe.

More than 200 military personnel have been deployed to the disaster zone to work with volunteers .

The Aranayake landslides are the worst disaster in Sri Lanka since the 2004 tsunami killed more than 30,000 people.

State of shock

Many survivors are still in shock. Inside temporary shelters, the slightest noise makes some rush to a corner where they huddle with hands covering their terror-struck faces, fearing another rolling hill is ready to bury more people.

Some still speak incoherently, unable to explain their anguish. Those who have taken temporary shelter at relief centres have also been receiving counselling.

There is the fear of the unknown  and the known. They fear a future uncertain and the return to villages that no longer exist, said Mahieash Johnney from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society.

Kusumseeli Geekiyanage, 57, accused authorities of not issuing warnings of any impending disaster, despite days of heavy rain. She said no evacuation orders were given.

There is not a trace of our village any more. No trace of our homes, our people, she said, crying. There is no Siripura. Its completely gone.

Refusing to leave

Nearby, many villagers have refused to take up temporary shelter at relief centres, preferring to stay despite the risk to their personal safety.

Some survivors wanted to stay on in the hazardous zone. Evacuation to safer locations was made difficult by their resistance. They feared their properties and possessions would be lost, but look what has happened? Natures fury has not spared them of anything, said Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera, Sri Lankas military spokesman.

In 2002, Sri Lankas National Building and Research Organisation declared Aranayake a highly hazardous area not suitable for human habitation, made more dangerous by bad land-clearing practices.

At Sri Seelananda Maha Vidyalaya in Bulathkohupitiya, the worst-hit village, Keerthiratne Guruge, 48, said villagers are angry with authorities because of the lack of warning.

Nobody knew  and see what happened, said Guruge, gesturing towards the displaced families inside a relief centre.

They [the authorities] claim some public announcements were made, but there isnt anyone who heard one. Do authorities wait till entire villages are buried? You can never give our homes back, our village back, he said, fighting back tears.

Slow recovery

As the rescue workers continue to trudge their way through muddy terrain searching for bodies, the task was made difficult by slippery slopes and the inability to transport heavy equipment.

In some areas, there are compost pits and agricultural wells, which are veritable deathtraps as they are now covered by layers of mud, explained Major-General Ranasinghe.

Another landslide hit Matala Kanda in the Aranayake area on Saturday with no casualties reported. Yet, it triggered a new wave of panic among survivors.

The next phase in their ordeal is return and resettlement, having to go back to destroyed homes and mourn the dead.
Finance ministers agree to offer Greece debt relief in 2018 if needed and release 10.3bn euros in bailout funds.

Eurozone finance ministers have reached a deal with Greece to start debt relief for the country as demanded by the International Monetary Fund, and to release 10.3bn euros ($11.5bn) in bailout funds.

The IMF had said that easing Greeces debt burden was a condition for its continued participation in the bailout programme, despite opposition from Germany to giving the country more favours.

The 19 ministers from the countries that use the euro met on Tuesday two days after the Greek parliament passed yet another round of spending cuts and tax increases demanded by its creditors.

After reaching a deal at late-night talks in Brussels, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Eurogroup chief and Dutch finance minister, said the ministers had achieved a major breakthrough.

Greece urgently needs the next tranche of bailout money to repay big loans to the European Central Bank and IMF in July.

It has already fallen behind in paying for everyday government duties and wages.

Hard part of talks

Dijsselbloem said the ministers had agreed to release the 10.3bn euros, the reward for completing the first formal review of its 86bn euro bailout programme approved last July.

Greeces creditors would pay a first 7.5bn-euro tranche in June and the rest in a series of later disbursements.





A hard part of the talks was defusing the row between Greeces creditors, the eurozone governments and the IMF, over the state of the Greek economy and debt relief.

The ministers agreed to offer Athens debt relief in 2018 if that is necessary to meet agreed criteria on its payments burden.

The Eurogroup agreed today on a package of debt measures which will be phased in progressively, said Dijsselbloem, adding that he was glad to confirm the IMF would now stay on board.

Euclid Tsakalotos, Greeces finance minister, said he believed there was some ground for optimism for the future.

This can be the beginning of turning Greeces vicious circle of recession measures into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece and turn the corner in favour of the virtuous cycle, he said.

In a report on the eve of the Eurogroup meeting, the IMF had warned that Greek public debt at the current level of about 180 percent of gross domestic product was unsustainable and must be reduced.

WATCH: Counting the Cost  Can Greece be saved?

The IMF said that without restructuring, the debt load could soar to as much as 250 percent of output by 2060.

Germany, the eurozones economic powerhouse, had been deeply opposed to alleviating any of Greeces debt and claims it is not necessary for now.

But, fortunately for Greece, Germany also firmly wanted the pro-reform IMF to remain in the bailout and Berlin will have to cede ground on debt relief to achieve that.
As anti-ISIL operations near Mosul continue, many are sheltering at camps in Iraqs Kurdish region.

Baqofah, Iraq  Broken tools and damaged vehicles line the narrow streets of the Iraqi Christian village of Baqofah.

Electricity flickers on and off in the homes, most of which have been trashed. Mortars fired by fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) lie just outside the village walls.





Like many Christian villages in Iraqs Nineveh region, Baqofah was seized by ISIL and ransacked in 2014, only to be retaken by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters soon afterwards. While the area has remained relatively calm since then, neighbouring Tel Eskof recently came under attack again by ISIL suicide bombers and snipers. ISIL-occupied Batnay, meanwhile, is just a few kilometres away.

The violence has prompted many Iraqi Christians in the area to flee to camps for internally displaced people throughout Iraqs Kurdish region. As anti-ISIL operations near Mosul continue, many are reluctant to return home.

The first thing we ask for is safety. We need our own forces to protect us after the liberation, Mansour Sharbil, who fled from the Christian town of Qaraqosh and is now staying at Erbils Ankawa 2 camp for internally displaced people, told Al Jazeera. The camp, which sits next to a camp called Ankawa 1, currently hosts around 5,500 displaced Iraqi Christians, who live in caravans and subsist on aid from NGOs and churches.

When they are liberated, well return, added camp resident Ibrahim Shaba Lalo, who is also from Qaraqosh. But without international protection, it will be very hard to return.

This year, the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army began operations to retake the area surrounding Mosul from ISIL, including some Christian-majority parts of Nineveh. Residents have started to return to some villages, while others remain in the hands of ISIL. Still others are uninhabited, serving as bases for the Peshmerga and Christian paramilitary groups.

Some camp residents expressed frustration that the US-led anti-ISIL coalition has so far failed to restore safety to their villages. But on the frontlines in Baqofah and Tel Eskof, Christian paramilitaries say they are ready to protect their villages after ISIL is pushed out of the broader area.

It's like living in prison here. We want to see our homes. by Shaba Lalo, displaced Iraqi

We re ready any time, said Safaa Khamro, a soldier in the Nineveh Plain Forces, a Christian paramilitary group. He blamed political squabbling, including a disagreement between Baghdad and the regional Kurdish government over who has jurisdiction in the area, for the slow pace of progress.

The political crisis between Baghdad and the [Kurdistan Regional Government] is the reason we havent taken [this territory back] yet, Khamro told Al Jazeera.

Brigadier-General Helgurd Hikmet Mela Ali, media director at the Ministry of Peshmerga, said the timeline for retaking Greater Mosul was not the Peshmergas decision. The international coalition and the Iraqi army will decide the start, Helgurd told Al Jazeera.

The main reasons Mosul hasnt been liberated lie with the Iraqi army, because up to now, they are not ready to start.

From the Iraqi armys perspective, on the other hand, the battle for Mosul is moving along as planned. Definitely the Iraqi army is ready to take the city [Mosul] from ISIL, and we have expelled them from part of the area south of the city, Brigadier-General Firas Bashar, spokesman for the Iraqi armys Liberation of Nineveh Operations command, told Al Jazeera. Operations in this area began last March.

Bashar paints Peshmerga-Iraqi army coordination in a more positive light than the Kurdish and Christian fighters in Tel Eskof. Our relationship with the Peshmerga is one of permanent coordination, he added. This is because ISIL kills all who fight them, whether theyre Muslim, Christian or Yazidi.

Romeo Hakari, secretary-general of the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party, which is affiliated with the Nineveh Plain Forces, said international cooperation was necessary to secure Ninevehs liberation.

We need to wait for international cooperation, Hakari told Al Jazeera from his Erbil office. The decision is not a local one; its in the West.

Back in Baqofah, a Peshmerga soldier sits in a central village booth, holding an AK-47. Just outside the village walls, a Peshmerga unit and fighters with Dwekh Nawsha, an allied Assyrian Christian paramilitary group, guard the perimeter from inside two local homes.

We guard Baqofah all day and night, said Samir Oraha, a Dwekh Nawsha leader. A large pair of binoculars sits atop their base for this purpose, trained towards ISIL-occupied Batnay.

Our relationship is very good with the Christians, said General Tarek Suleiman, who serves next door with the Peshmerga in Tel Eskof. We work together like brothers.

Ninevehs Christians, meanwhile, eagerly await the day when they can safely return home to their villages. Many residents of the Ankawa 2 camp do not work, citing a lack of opportunities for displaced Iraqis.

Its like living in prison here, Lalo said. We want to see our homes.
Leader of hardline Yisrael Beiteinu party had repeatedly said there will never be a Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman have signed a coalition agreement paving the way for the ultranationalist politician to become the new defence chief.

With the deal signed on Wednesday, Netanyahu will have the support of 66 parliament members, including those from Liebermans Yisrael Beiteinu party.

The agreement also widens Netanyahus current one-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, a goal the Israeli leader has said he has sought since winning a fourth term last year.





I believe the developments in the region have created new challenges for us all. But I also believe they have created new opportunities for peace, and I intend to seize those opportunities. A broader government, a more stable government, will make it easier to do so, Netanyahu said after the announcement.

The new government, which is largely made up of ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties is being described as the most right-wing in Israels history.

I think the number one priority for Netanyahu is to stay in government, thats what is motivating him. He has an unstable government. He needs to bring in another political party, Mitchell Barak, Israeli political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Over three decades, Lieberman has at times been Netanyahus closest ally and other times a fierce rival.

The party of Lieberman, a former foreign minister, has far-right policies on a variety of topics, most particularly his opposition to peace talks with Palestinians and support for settlers in the occupied territories.

Lieberman is one of Israels most polarising politicians and has a reputation for making inflammatory statements, including calling for the bombing of Egypts Aswan Dam, and drowning Palestinian prisoners in the Dead Sea. He has also repeatedly said there will never be a Palestinian state.

READ MORE: Palestinians in Gaza pour scorn on Lieberman threats

With the his appointment, Lieberman is now responsible for Israels military and intelligence agencies. He will also oversee Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories and the four million Palestinians living in the area.

The Palestinian presidents adviser promptly denounced the appointment, saying Lieberman was a fascist minister who will promote settlements.

Lieberman left a political alliance with Netanyahu in 2014, arguing that the prime ministers responses to attacks out of the Gaza Strip were not muscular enough.

According to the deal, the government agreed to allocate about 1.4bn shekels ($363m) to pensions of elderly Israelis, including immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Liebermans largest support base.

Netanyahu has sought to ease fears over Liebermans appointment, saying he will continue to seek peace with Palestinians and oversee the defence ministrys policies.

But given his new defence ministers past comments and hardline positions, few are convinced, said Al Jazeeras Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from West Jerusalem.

The deal closes a tumultuous week in Israeli politics. Moshe Yaalon, the defence minister, suddenly resigned last week after Netanyahu reportedly offered his post to Lieberman.
Human rights group BTselem says it will no longer file complaints with a system that habitually fails Palestinians.

Citing a raft of deep systemic failures, human rights group BTselem has announced that it will no longer cooperate with Israels military law enforcement system.

For the past 25 years, BTselem, which documents Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, has served as a subcontractor for the system by submitting complaints about soldiers alleged misconduct, gathering relevant documents and evidence, and requesting updates for affected Palestinian families.

While the goal was to help to bring justice to Palestinian victims and deter future misconduct, the reality has been the opposite, BTselem said in a scathing report released on Wednesday.

BTselems cooperation with the military investigation and enforcement system has not achieved justice, instead lending legitimacy to the occupation regime and aiding to whitewash it, the report noted.

BTselem will no longer play a part in the pretence posed by the military law enforcement system and will no longer refer complaints to it  The fight for human rights will be better served by denouncing this system and exposing it for what it is.

READ MORE: How many Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel?

The report details a number of cases in which Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israeli soldiers under questionable circumstances, but after a series of apparent investigative failures, no one was held accountable.

In one example, Wadi Samarah, 15, was fatally shot in the back of the neck by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin in September 2007. Samarah, who was targeted as he ran from a group of youths who had been throwing stones at military vehicles, was given no prior warning before the rubber-coated steel bullet was fired towards his head, according to witness accounts.

However, the case was closed for lack of sufficient evidence in early 2014, more than six years after Samarahs death.





This case is by no means unique. Since the start of the second Intifada in 2000, BTselem has requested investigations into 739 cases in which soldiers killed or injured Palestinians, used them as human shields, or damaged their property.

In 25 percent of these cases, no investigation was ever launched. In nearly half, or 343 cases, an investigation was launched but subsequently closed with no action taken. More than 100 cases are still under processing, but in all of those that have gone through the system, charges were laid in just 25, with another 13 referred for disciplinary action.

These outcomes are the result of incompetent investigations that fail to get at the truth, with few efforts made to collect external evidence or challenge soldiers statements, BTselem said.

The military law enforcement system is plagued by a host of issues in the basic way it is run: The system is inaccessible to Palestinian complainants, who cannot file complaints with the MPIU [Military Police Investigations Unit] directly and must rely on human rights organisations or attorneys to file the complaints on their behalf, the report found.

The processing of each complaint lasts months, and even years, so that often enough soldiers who are the subject of the complaint are no longer under military jurisdiction.

Obtaining updates about cases in the system is also fraught with difficulties, as the Military Advocate General Corps operates under a blanket of secrecy, BTselem said: Any attempt to obtain information from them requires repeated communications and in many cases, the information that is ultimately provided is incomplete.

Asked about BTselems announcement, an Israeli army spokesperson maintained that the military justice system is an independent and professional entity, noting any complaints submitted via this system are probed and, when warranted, an investigation is launched.

For years the [Israeli army] has been receiving information regarding events which stray from the path of what is expected by [army] personnel  All information received is examined thoroughly, the spokesperson said, noting the Israeli army would continue to act as required to enforce the law and maintain the norms among soldiers.

INTERACTIVE: Building the occupation

The criticisms cited by BTselem, however, have been echoed by other organisations, including the Adalah legal centre, which advocates for the rights of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories.

Our experience engaging with Israels investigatory mechanisms for many years shows that these mechanisms do not comply with the international standards of independence, impartiality, effectiveness, promptness and transparency, Adalah lawyer Nadeem Shehadeh told Al Jazeera.

As such, the inherently flawed structures of Israels mechanisms make it nearly impossible to obtain criminal investigations, prosecutions, and punishment of perpetrators of serious violations of international law.

Israel's investigatory mechanisms ... do not comply with the international standards of independence, impartiality, effectiveness, promptness and transparency. by Nadeem Shehadeh, Adalah lawyer

Among the key criticisms of Israels military law enforcement system is its failure to probe the legality or rationale of the directives underlying soldiers actions, with investigations focusing narrowly on the conduct of implicated soldiers.

In 2014, after Israeli soldiers fatally shot 14-year-old Yusef al-Shawamreh for breaking through Israels separation fence to access his familys farmland, the case was swiftly closed with no charges laid.

BTselem pointed to numerous deficiencies in the investigative process, including a failure to examine the appalling logic of the militarys apparent plan to lie in ambush for Palestinians breaking through the barrier and to deliberately harm them as a deterrent to others.

On average, in a sample of cases between 2000 and 2011, BTselem found that it took four years from the time of the incident to the conclusion of processing the case. In the event that charges are ultimately laid, this will happen long after the incident, when the witnesses memory of events has grown dimmer and the evidence has disappeared, impeding the possibility of a fair trial.

The semblance of a functioning justice system allows Israeli officials to deny claims that Israel does not enforce the law on soldiers who harm Palestinians, BTselem said, noting it would no longer prop up a system whose real function is measured by its ability to continue to successfully cover up unlawful acts and protect perpetrators.

BTselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli told Al Jazeera that while Palestinians would still have other options for mediating their cases, this action would help to draw public attention to the systems severe flaws.

Palestinians will still be able to approach other organisations, or private lawyers, but we will advise people who ask us to do this that we consider it counterproductive, Michaeli said.

Follow Megan OToole on Twitter: @megan_otoole
Nadezhda Savchenko, jailed over deaths of two Russian journalists, returns to Ukraine after prisoner swap.

Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko has called on citizens of Russia to raise themselves from their knees shortly after being freed from Moscow following a two-year imprisonment for her role in the conflict against pro-Russian rebels.

Savchenko said on Wednesday that if Russians wanted peace with Ukraine, they had to defy the government.

I want to say hello to the Russians and to say that there is nothing to fear, she said at a joint news conference with Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko shortly after landing in Kiev.

Of course Russia is not the country where it is easy to raise from the knees, but if they want to live in agreement with us, they have to raise from their knees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned her as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen jailed in Ukraine.

Poroshenko sent his plane to pick up Savchenko in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and bring her home to Kiev, where she received a heros welcome.

Savchenko apologised to those who died fighting for Ukraine that she was still alive and pledged to help other Ukrainian fighters jailed in Russia to gain freedom.

I apologise that I am still alive and I am always prepared to sacrifice my life, she said.

Convicted murderer

Al Jazeeras Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said that in Russia Savchenko was viewed as a convicted murderer.

He also pointed out that while Savchenko was received as a hero by Ukraine, two Russian prisoners that were received back to Moscow in exchange were almost being swept under the carpet.

Very, very little media attention is being paid on them, because the Kremlin doesnt want to have to say what they were doing in Ukraine to start with, he said.

Ukraine divided  stories from warring sides

Savchenko was captured by Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and sentenced in March to 22 years in prison for her alleged role in the deaths of two Russian journalists in the conflict zone. Her refusal to bend after nearly two years in Russian custody has made her a national hero in Ukraine.

The two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian defence ministry claimed they had resigned from active duty.

They were tried in a Kiev court, which sentenced them to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

Savchenkos lawyers have refused to say whether she also filed for a pardon. However, suggesting that she did not, Putin said he decided to pardon her after the relatives of the killed journalists petitioned him to show mercy for Savchenko.

Her release came a day after Putin, Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany spoke by telephone about ways to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Western leaders had long been calling for Russia to free Savchenko.
           2005     ..        










ACTUALITES Bengaluru, India: Mirwaiz (only hope for Kashmiris) should be faithful to Islam, before becomes irrelevant

Alwihda Info | Par Hem Raj Jain - 25 Mai 2016



Sub:- Mirwaiz (only hope for Kashmiris) will become irrelevant in public life of J&K, if does not become faithful to Islam.

--- The way All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman, Moulvi Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a melancholy manner addressed Kashmiri Muslims on Friday at the historic Jamia Masjid Srinagar (J&K) by saying that [The trend of educated Kashmiri youth taking up arms (as in the armed resistance movement of 1990s) is a reaction to the oppressive policies adopted by Indian authorities in Kashmir and the continuous human rights violations at the hands of Indian forces]  is sad to say the least. Because in view of all the political leaders of Kashmiris (in PDP, NC, PC etc) have failed to address the problem of Kashmiris, the APHC Chairman Mirwaiz is the only Kashmiri Muslim leader left who can not only bring succor to Kashmiris but can also contribute immensely in restoring the lost glory of Islam across the world, if Mirwaiz does the following:-



(1)- First and foremost Mirwaiz (more so being a Maulvi) should understand that he needs to be faithful to Islam otherwise he will become irrelevant in public life of Kashmir. Every religion by nature is proselytizing, only difference is that in contemporary human-rights-friendly world this should be done in a legally acceptable peaceful way. Moreover every religion came in existence during monarchy (rule of kings and emperors) hence most of their values (about this-worldly matters) come in conflict with democratic values. Hence every religion needs to be updated which is a slow and creative process.



(2)- Anyone who has not merely read Quran but has practiced its basic principles knows that Islam is a religion closest to democracy. Hence when human-rights-friendly Islam can become the religion of most of the mankind all over the world, the talk full of melancholy by Mirwaiz about a political model (so-called separation or independence for Kashmir) where Kashmiri Muslims will be a minuscule paranoid group is patently un-Islamic [also due to the reason that misguided Jihadis like ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc have not only brought bad name to Islam but has left millions of Muslims bleeding & weeping profusely especially in NAME and AF-PAK region and in such a gory situation in Islamic world Mirwaiz through Kashmir can easily (comparatively) bring succor to the beleaguered Muslims and can restore the lost glory of Islam all across the world].



(3)- As far the statement of the US Secretary of State for External Affairs, John Kerry, in which he had said that  [New Delhi and Islamabad had no option but to resolve Kashmir issue] - the Mirwaiz welcomed it and said Kashmir is attracting so much international attention and focus was a proof that the resistance movement of Kashmiris was being acknowledged internationally. But Mirwaiz naively forgot that in present global scenario of Jihadi terrorism (by ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc) USA and other countries will neither allow a new Islamic independent country (even of Kashmiri Muslims) nor assimilation of Kashmir in Pakistan on the basis of popularly conceived terrorist-promoting religion (Islam).



(4)- Hence Mirwaiz should show not only pragmatism but also allegiance to Kashmiris (of POK) too. This can be done if Mirwaiz endeavors to establish a political model in J&K and in India and ultimately in SAARC which will establish a global political order commensurate with the basic principles of Islam. This new global political order is the need of the hour as explained at: http://www.alwihdainfo.com/Explosive-development-in-India-has-huge-potential-of-attracting-ISIS-in-SAARC_a33775.html and it can easily be ushered into if Mirwaiz launces or patronizes a new national political party with head office at Srinagar (J&K) and branch offices in all the States and union territories of India [this party will attract huge support from overwhelming majority of India including Muslims, tribes, socially oppressed and backward castes of India who all have been left behind in the economic race of India].



(5)- Many issues which Mirwaiz raised while addressing a one-day delegate session of the Singpora Block on Tuesday - like Sainik colonies, separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits, refugee colonies, new industrial policy to grab the land of the people of J&K, Article 370, autonomy to J&K etc - will atomically be solved once Mirwaiz Party will demand and work for retrieve of POK in view of the fact that the last word on Indias partition is yet to be written and due to said political party of Mirwaiz the Federal, Secular, Socialist, Democratic SAARC (FSSDSAARC) will be a reality sooner than later.



Therefore Mirwaiz should not waste any time and energy in meaningless efforts and instead should launch / patronize a new national political party [with head office at Srinagar (J&K) and branch offices in all the States and union territories of India] which is bound to prove also a stepping stone for restoring the lost glory of Islam all over the world.



Regards



Hem Raj Jain



(Author of Betrayal of Americanism)



Bengaluru, India





Dans la meme rubrique : < > Le rugby a Madagascar : le pays fou du rugby TeslaCoin : plateforme de trading ou cryptomonnaie ? Tchad : un projet dassistance et de protection en faveur des migrants au Batha Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)




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]
Gage Skidmore

Global, national and local media outlets are reporting that daylong protests over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's appearance in Albuquerque have become violent.

The Guardian has obtained photos which appear to show local police forces using pepper spray against protesters.

The Santa Fe New Mexican writes that police and sheriff's deputies in riot gear were deployed when protesters stormed the entrance to the convention center in downtown Albuquerque.

The New York Times reports that protesters threw rocks at police horses outside the event.

In other news, here's a special rocanrol video to provide comfort in these troubled times.

Peace, Albuquerque.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
Eric Williams Photography

Lots of folks in these parts are on about the Turquoise Trail and how driving north on old NM-14 to Golden, Madrid, Cerrillos and Santa is one of the richest and most rewarding experiences available to day trippers in New Mexico.

But for my money the path with the most interesting ghost towns, Pueblo ruins and sun-baked N.M. towns on the edge is the one less traveled. That trip involves heading south in Tijeras, into the Manzano mountains, navigating NM-337 south to NM-55 and then onto US Route 60. Along the way be prepared to check out European settlements dating from the early 1800sincluding apple trees planted at the beginning of the 19th century, graveyards dating back to the 1830s as well as abandoned and rustic remnants of towns where there are signs warning against tourist photography.

Additionally, this route contains access to two of the most complete and fun to visit colonial Pueblo ruins in the area, Quarai and Abo. Dating from the early 1600s, these small Indigenous villages were centered on large mission churches but were left behind due to drought as their inhabitants sought refuge closer to the river on the other side of the Manzano Mountains. What they left behind is amazing.

Engaging this trip takes about a day. There are a few bed and breakfast type operations on the route, which is basically a circle that begins in Burque and travels through Tijeras, Chilili, Tajique and Manzano before cresting in Mountainair and turning down the mountain west toward Belen and I-25. There are a few hotels in the town of Estancia and a couple in Mountainair too if you care to extend this sojourn into a multi-day event.

After driving through Tijeras (if you need some grub or a quick ice cold drink, check out Molly's Bar right at the freeway exit), head south into the Manzano Mountains. They rise precipitously at first and the road is full of switchbacks and sharp curves. But once you get up into the trees, there's a broad plain to the east; the road meanders before approaching the rugged hills and valleys of the mountain range.

Chililiwith a population of about 137is the first stop, but it's not a place to stay for long. Chilili is part of an old Spanish land grant. Many of the remaining occupants of this ghost town can trace their lineage directly to those who settled the area at the end of the 18th century. There are some really interesting buildings and sites to check out here, but be aware: Historically the townsfolk have been hostile to outsiders. The rolling hills around the town are wonderful and more awaits farther down the road.

About 12 miles down the road, NM-337 comes to an end. A left, east on NM-55, takes travelers to Estancia, a ranching community on the edge of the great plains. By going right, one heads back into the mountains

Tajique is an engaging place, it's the next town on the circuit right after turning onto highway 55. Like many of the settlements in the area, Tajique was originally occupied by a combination of Spanish colonists and Pueblo peoples in the 1600s, was abandoned due to water issues and Apache raids, and not reoccupied until the early 1800s. Unlike some of the other towns in this area, Tajique is apparently thriving. There are decent shops, it's tourist-friendly and the cemetery on the edge of the burg is historically relevant and fascinating.

The ranching community of Torreon follows. The outcropping of houses, trailers and livestock pens is followed by a swath of open road before wanderers come upon a very cool quartet of places to visit, including the ghost town of Manzano, the ruins of Quarai and Abo, and Manzano Mountains State Park. Manzano has some of the oldest apple orchards in the United States, a stately adobe church, many historic buildings, early 20th century farm machinery; traces of the past are everywhere, but mostly the people have moved on to larger somewhat more stable communities like Estancia or Mountainair.

Eric Williams Photography

The ruins at Quarai and Abo, just a few of miles further on (or in the case of Abo, just outside of Mountainair), are some of the most extensive, well-preserved archeological sites in the state. Founded by Tiwa people, Quarai included a huge mission church built in about 1630.

Abo was founded by Tompiros of the Pito tribe. Under the direction of Fray Francisco de Acevedo, they built a small village on the escarpment south of the Manzano mountains in 1629.

Both communities were very vulnerable. Ultimately Indigenous and Spanish settlers left the places to decay in the dust of the drought at the end of the 17th century. Lots of photo opps, a location in the foothills of the mountains and tangible encounters with our regions glorious past make the stops at Manzano, Quarai and Abo essential parts of this journey.

The Manzano Mountains State Park is nearby. It's just like the Sandias but rougher, less populated and a bit drier climate-wise. There's great camping there in the summer and UNM houses a fancy observatory and telescope on Capilla peak, at the top of the mountain range.

All of this is just about 10 miles from Mountainair, the outer limit of this expedition south and east of Burque. At the intersection of NM-55 and US-60, Mountainair used to be a hub of rail activity. The town's famous Shaffer Hotelnow closed for renovationsis said to be haunted by several ghosts from the Old West, says owner and amateur historian Joel Marks.

From Mountainair, the downhill road back to Belen and I-25 includes an odd, old roadhouse midway down the hill and a stretch of abandoned rancheros (some of which have been known to be used by squatters and meth-cookers). There is also a beautfiful glimpse of the verdant Rio Grande valley that is a sure reminder of why so many people left so much behind in those ghost towns and ruins we've all just passed through on the way back to Burque.
Dateline: Colorado

Heres a handy reminder why background checks are essential in the field of child care. A Colorado woman is facing charges of robbery and child abuse after allegedly robbing a bank while babysitting two kids. Rachel Einspahr, 28, was arrested on Friday, May 13, after police say she pulled up to the drive-through lane at the Colorado East Bank & Trust in Severence with two children and passed a note to the teller through a vacuum tube. According to CBS Denver, the note read, Do not sound alarm, the man in the very back wants $100s and $50s ... no dye packs or trackers ... he has gun on my kids. Fearing the children were in danger, the teller handed over $500 in cash. Deputies from the Weld County Sheriffs Office were able to catch up to Einspahrs white SUV shortly after the incident. There was no man in the vehicle at the time. At first Einspahr tried to maintain that an unknown man had forced her to go to the bank and steal the money. Deputies interviewed the two children, however, and they said they had been to the bank and the park and had not been kidnapped at gunpoint. During the questioning, Einspahr allegedly told police, I cant go back to jail. She eventually confessed to the crime, telling police she needed the money to pay off the $15,000 restitution/plea deal for a previous crime. Turns out the bad babysitter had already been charged in a case involving over 30 counts of forgery, ID theft and felony theft. In addition to that case, she also has a second open case in Larimer County on two counts of ID theft, according to her arrest affidavit. She was taken to the Weld County Jail on one count of robbery and two counts of child abuse. The children were unharmed.

Dateline: Louisiana

A state representative withdrew an amendment that would have required Louisianas exotic dancers to be young and thin after a sharp rebuke from colleagues. Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, had brought Senate Bill 468which would require exotic dancers at strip clubs to be at least 21 years of ageto the floor of the house. Thats when Rep. Kenny Havard, R-Jackson, proposed an amendment to the bill that would require strippers to be between the ages of 21 and 28 and no more than 160 pounds in weight. The lawmaker eventually withdrew the amendment after Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, labeled it offensive. State Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, jumped in, calling the debate a disrespectful and disgusting example of sexism in the male-dominated legislature. It was a bad idea, Stokes told her colleagues. I cant even believe the behavior in here. I think we need to call an end to this. I hear derogatory comments about women in this place regularly. I hear and I see women get treated differently than men, and Im going to tell you what, you gave me the perfect forum to talk about it right now. Havard later told the New Orleans Times-Picayune his amendment was meant as a joke and that hes never witnessed any sexism in the state legislature. I havent seen that at all, he told the newspaper. Thats why Im not going to apologize. It would give credence to that comment. Senate Bill 468minus Havards amendmenteventually passed 96-0.

Dateline: Florida

A man tried to warn Key West police that actress Shirley MacLaine would be responsible for bringing a string of biblical plagues down upon the islandand ended up getting arrested on drug charges for his trouble. Keysnet.com reports that on April 10, artist William Selesnick called police to warn them that a series of fires would be set by followers of famed Hollywood star Shirley MacLaine. Key West Police Officer Todd Stevens noted in his report that, When pressed whether these would be literal or metaphorical fires, Selesnick told me I would have to wait to find out. Selesnick called police from the Lighthouse Guest House at 11:05am, telling dispatchers that the series of fires would be followed by a riot and cleansing rains. Police responded to the 64-year-old Selesnicks temporary residence and ended up discovering a small mound of marijuana resting atop a laptop computer. According to officers Selesnick, asked us if he could roll one. Instead he was arrested for misdemeanor possession of about two grams of marijuana. Selesnick was released from Stock Island jail early the next morning after posting a $328 bond. The next night police say he was shot in the thigh after an argument with a man named William Langford. Police say the two events were unconnected. So far anyway, MacLaine has refrained from torching Key West.
Allan Mendelowitz, a former top regulator and current president of the ACTUS Financial Research Foundation, is a man on a mission.

He wants to fix the "total mess" of data standards in the financial world. The chief risk officer at a large bank recently complained to Mendelowitz about the fact that all trading data sits on traders' desks. Management and risk officers don't get a chance to see it until the day is over.

"It's absolutely absurd," Mendelowitz said in an interview last week.

Working with a group of data scientists, former regulators, economists and academics that include Thomas Day, co-managing partner of software firm FinRenaissance, Mendelowitz has helped to create open source software designed to bring order to the way financial data is collected and analyzed.

It's called ACTUS (an acronym for Algorithmic Contract Types Unified Standards) and the basic idea is this: most of what happens in a bank  mortgages, deposit accounts, checking accounts, credit card agreements, commercial loans, credit default swaps, etc.  boils down to some kind of contract. Party A will pay party B an amount of X under Y and Z terms.

Though these contracts may be hundreds of pages long and written in language that even lawyers might find confusing, most can be rewritten as mathematical equations, the ACTUS group claims. They have created more than 30 such algorithms that turn legalistic contracts into equations and numbers that computers can read and understand.

When banks use ACTUS and link their day-to-day systems to it, they will get a live view of the status of all their contracts. That should enable them to monitor cash flows, see liquidity positions, identify risk problems and view counterparty risk.

With such a system in place, Jamie Dimon, who in mid-April 2012 dismissed the London Whale's large credit default swap positions as "a tempest in a teacup," might have seen exactly how much money the infamous trader had put at risk before he racked up $6 billion in losses.

"The London Whale was subject to risk oversight the way it's done in the big banks," Mendelowitz said. "He was given a value at risk or VAR limit, which is the cap on the maximum amount he was permitted to risk losing over a relatively short time period. Quantifying exposure relative to the VAR limit is based on a model. The London Whale exceeded his VAR limit, so he changed his model. There's no way a chief risk officer can have insight into the implications of such trades without having access to the granular data."

A View of Systemic Risk

Mendelowitz isn't just trying to help banks, but also their regulators. Giving an agency like the Office of Financial Research access to live ACTUS information streamed from the largest U.S. institutions would let supervisors see problems before they blow up.

"When the crisis hit in 2008, it became readily apparent no one had a clue what was going on," he said. Regulators allowed Lehman Brothers to fail, without having any visibility into the effects on its counterparties.

The agencies want to know how banks are connected to one another, Day said.

"How is JPMorgan connected to Bank of America, what's the network effect? That's called systemic risk," he said in an interview. "That's what the Federal Reserve System is supposed to be measuring and managing. A single bank can fail, but contagion and transmission of the virus, one bank to the next, is what causes a financial crisis."

For regulators to get a consolidated view of all banks and their trading and lending positions with one another requires the industry-wide adoption of a data standard, Mendelowitz and Day noted.

ACTUS works with an ontology the EDM Council developed called Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO) that acts as the data standard. It harmonizes data across repositories in a common language the way the Rosetta Stone let people read a message in hieroglyphs by providing the same exact text in Greek. So, for instance, if one bank calls a customer number field "cust-no" in its databases and another uses "cust#," those could be mapped to a common data scheme so a computer would recognize they mean the same thing.

"We provide the standard definition of what's in the contract and feed it into [ACTUS's] standard cash flow algorithms," said Mike Atkin, managing director of the EDM Council.

The contract-level data is needed to do forward-looking analysis, measure how much pressure is building up in the system, and evaluate who is vulnerable, Mendelowitz said. "Unless you have a way of representing the obligations, the financial contracts, in a standard that supports analysis, even with legal entity identifiers, you're like a bird with one wing and you can't fly."

Why a Bank Might Want ACTUS

ACTUS can allow institutions to obtain a view of risky behaviors (as in the London Whale case) and stave off a major loss, embarrassment and/or regulatory scrutiny. A bank could also gain better insight into its own liquidity, cash flow, and income and run what-if analyses.

A bank could use ACTUS to feed more precise data into its market, behavior, and counterparty risk models.

It could help also banks meet regulators' data requests, for instance for stress tests and compliance with the Basel Committee of Banking Supervision's 239 principles for risk data aggregation and risk reporting.

Theoretically, it could reduce banks' regulatory burden. Mendelowitz said using ACTUS as the standard for granular financial data could eventually reduce the cost of stress testing and the burden of regulatory reporting.

"The stress tests are unbelievably expensive, drawn-out exercises," he said. "It takes the banks months and hundreds of millions of dollars to do the stress tests. If the feds collected granular balance sheet data in the right data standard on an ongoing basis, you could stress the entire system at will  even daily  at a fraction of the cost incurred now."

Banks might not want regulators peering into every contract they hold. However, Mendelowitz said they don't really have a choice. "The regulators already have the right to demand anything they want from the banks," he said. "The problem now is, they're demanding all sorts of stuff that imposes extremely high costs on the banks and the banks don't get any benefit from it. They do not use the data and analytics in the regulatory reports to manage their risk or run their banks. By creating this computational infrastructure and relying on an algorithmic representation of the components of the balance sheet, suddenly this gives the banks something they can use to better understand risk, and gives the regulators something they can use to understand risk without imposing excessive reporting costs on the regulated financial institutions."

Banks could also gain operating efficiencies through fixing data problems. One investment bank executive estimated his company could reduce operating expenses by 20-30% by using ACTUS and FIBO to do straight-through processing.

"If you've got systems that don't align with each other, you're spending a lot of time reconciling and cross-referencing, and that winds up being expensive," Atkin said.

Implementation of ACTUS throughout a bank should take eight to nine months, Day estimated.

To be sure, there are likely to be challenges, including the fact that the industry is mired with 30 to 40-year old technology and resistant to change. If bank regulators mandate the use of ACTUS, bankers are likely to complain and regulators may back off.

But the mission makes a lot of sense. People throughout the industry have been talking about common data standards and having a systemic view of risk since before the financial crisis. It would behoove stakeholders to take a close look at both FIBO and ACTUS and consider their usefulness.

Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at penny.crosman@sourcemedia.com.


Shore Community Bank in Toms River, N.J., has called on some old friends to lead the board of directors.

The $239 million-asset bank said in a press release Wednesday that Howard Butensky was appointed chairman. Butensky in 1996 founded Shore with David Rosen, who has been appointed vice chairman. Both men have been board members since the bank's founding.

Butensky succeeds the retiring Jerry Boisseau, who had led the board since 2012 and will be chairman emeritus.

Butensky is a practicing attorney in Tuckerton, N.J., and associate counsel to the New Jersey Zoning and Planning Officials, a nonprofit organization of citizen planners and residents appointed to local planning and zoning boards; he is also a former attorney for the Borough of Tuckerton and Toms River Township. Rosen is president and owner of Good Friend Electrical Supplies in Toms River and serves as a trustee for a number of organizations, including the Ocean County College Foundation.


WASHINGTON  Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt sounded alarm bells Wednesday about Federal Home Loan banks' reliance on short-term funding in the form of discount notes.

During a speech to the banks' directors conference, Watt noted that at the end of 2015 discount notes made up 54% of outstanding Home Loan Bank debt, compared with 43% in 2014 and 39% in 2013.

"Short-term funding requires more frequent debt rollover than longer-term funding and this could become a safety and soundness issue if liquidity dries up unexpectedly," Watt said. "The FHLBs and the Office of Finance are having ongoing discussions about how to address this issue."

Watt's warning alarmed Jaret Seiberg, a Washington policy analyst at Guggenheim Partners.

Forcing the Home Loan banks to rely on "longer-term financing will boost the cost of advances," Seiberg wrote in a note to clients. "That could be a negative for housing by raising the costs of mortgage lending that is supported with advances."

Watt also reiterated concerns regarding insurance companies and large bank members, saying that some Home Loan banks have large exposures to a few individual members.

"Across the system, the top four borrowers accounted for 24% of aggregate advances at the end of 2015," Watt said. "We continue to encourage you to exercise due diligence to establish conservative haircuts and controls over collateral pledged" to support advances.

Seiberg said the comments suggest "more scrutiny over big users of advances."

"That could result in big borrowers using the FHLB system for fewer advances. Anything that reduces volume risks raising costs for all borrowers," Seiberg said in his research report.

In his speech, Watt said that 2015 was a very profitable year for the Home Loan banks and they continued to build retained capital and increased their assets by 6% to $969.6 billion due primarily to increases in advances to member depository institutions.

He also told the directors that the FHFA is developing a new exam guide to improve racial and gender diversity within the ranks of the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

"We are developing diversity and inclusion examination activities that we will integrate into the agency's supervision program," Watt said. "Our goal is to ensure that diversity and inclusion examination activities will be part of our regular examination work conducted for all regulated entities in 2017."

Watt said that the FHFA has surveyed the 11 Home Loan banks, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, about their existing practices with regard to diversity and inclusion, as well as their supplier and workforce diversity programs and reporting procedures.

"FHFA staff followed up on the responses to the survey by visiting each FHLBank and the Office of Finance to interview officials, a process we are currently finishing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well," Watt said. "This information will be critically important in enabling us to establish benchmarks against which we can measure and evaluate each entity's progress going forward."

The FHFA is also considering whether to provide guidance about incorporating diversity and inclusion in assessing Home Loan bank executive incentive compensation programs.

"I applaud the efforts already being undertaken voluntarily by the Chicago, Dallas and Pittsburgh FHLBanks to tie their executive compensation to specific diversity and inclusion goals," Watt said.


Ted Cruz began campaigning on the transfer of public lands (TPL) from the federal government to the states, and the people, in Nevada, in mid-February, a week before the Nevada caucuses. He campaigned in, and won, Elko and adjacent counties, the birthplace of the Sagebrush Rebellion, the only part of the state where he prevailed. The same issue, TPL, won him the Alaska caucuses a week later. His big wins in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado were also, in large part, due to this issue. In the Far West, the federal ownership of public lands is very important to voters.

The Libertarian Party of Alaska has adopted a resolution endorsing TPL, and I expect that the national party, and its candidate, will follow suit. The Alaskans who go to Orlando this weekend will tell their fellow Libertarian delegates of the supreme importance of this issue to Alaskans, especially as Prudhoe Bay runs dry. This issue could be worth the three electoral votes of the Last Frontier.

Or more. When Ted Cruz spoke to the Wyoming Republican State Convention on April 16, he got one standing ovation. His promise to fight for the transfer of the public lands to the state, and people, of Wyoming brought the delegates to their feet. Not unlike Alaska, the State of Wyoming and its budget are getting crushed by changes in the energy industry. They're getting desperate. TPL could get three more electoral votes in the Cowboy State. Add Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico, and you're up to 36 E.V.s. Vast areas of these states are owned and mismanaged by the federal government, and for every Cliven Bundy, there are thousands of residents of the Far West who want their land returned to the states and the people.

Libertarians are, by nature, big thinkers with lofty goals for upending the current political system. They argue about everything from vaccination to campaign finance reform. But to actually win electoral votes, the Libertarian candidate should focus his message and narrow it to three straightforward issues. I would add to TPL two additional points of emphasis  adopting a Balanced Budget Amendment through the use of Article V and the end of the racial discrimination that hides under the euphemism of affirmative action. I think those three issues are fully in tune with the American people, and all three serve to contrast the Libertarian with both Trump and Clinton. The base of the Libertarian Party should be the Far West, and all three of these issues are strong there.

All three of these issues highlight the fecklessness of Congress. The Libertarian candidate should run not only against Trump and Clinton, but against a Congress so paralyzed by corruption that federal management of public lands is an expensive disaster, spending and deficits are existential threats, and racial antagonism is stoked by a racial spoils system that does far more harm than good. This is all Congress's doing.

What do these Congressmen actually do while they're in Washington? Rep. David Jolly of Florida knows: they raise campaign cash, every day, for most of their waking hours. That's just about all they do. Jolly, who's running for the Senate, has a bill to prevent congressmen from raising money while they're in D.C. A great idea, with seven co-sponsors. It's DOA.

Everyone knows that Congress is corrupt, and yet virtually no incumbents have lost their party primaries this year. They have the money to beat off any challenge, and the gravy train rolls on. Sanders voters appreciate this fact more than most. Rather than dirty themselves by voting for the thief Clinton, maybe some of them could go Libertarian. They're that pissed off, so anything is possible.

As the Kristol-Romney dream of an independent candidacy fades, more Never-Trumpers need to take a look at a one-night stand with the Libertarians. Not a marriage, but if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

And what if Clinton beats Trump and the Libertarian? What lesson will be learned? Don't nominate another Trump, and move the Republican Party in a libertarian direction, where it needs to go anyway. Away from Chamber of Commerce crony capitalism, toward youth and entrepreneurship. Away from the Nanny State to individual liberty.

The fly in this ointment is illegal immigration. If the Libertarian Party is less than foursquare against it, none of this works. It's up to the Libertarians who meet in Orlando this weekend to decide if they want to make a difference this year.

Fritz Pettyjohn was the chairman of Reagan for President of Alaska, 1979-80, and a Republican member of the Alaska House and Senate. He blogs at ReaganProject.com.
While I dont hear the sound of artillery in the distance advancing toward our home in the Maryland suburbs, I have heard for a long time and increasingly so, what I perceive to be ominous sounds of executive, legislative, and juridical barrages emanating from nearby Washington, DC, encroaching upon our personal and religious freedoms, threatening not only our American way of life, but the human dignity of all.

Having grown up within a mile of the Beltway during the Cold War, the greatest fear dominating my childhood and adolescence was that I might one day look up and see a brilliant mushroom cloud rising over DC. At the time, it never occurred to me that the biggest threat to our nation would come not from a foreign enemy, but from within the halls of power in our nations capital.

Our government Leviathan is very real and has grown to previously unimaginable proportions. Its ever-increasing reach seems to know no bounds. And what was once perceived to be Leviathan's mostly fiscal threat to the health and well-being of our nation is now a monstrous moral threat.

Leviathan's vast bureaucracies are now its foot soldiers, who have busied themselves with weaponizing executive edicts, errant court rulings and out-of-control regulatory powers against all who disagree with our Ruling Elites never-ending social/moral engineering experimentation.

When will a critical mass of Americans of every race, creed, and color wake up and recognize Leviathans hot breath on the napes of all our necks, and finally exclaim, once and for all, Enough is enough?

Same-Sex Marriage: What is it really?

The Supreme Courts 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage -- and lets start off by calling it what it really is: genderless, anti-conjugal, anti-complementarity, anti-rational marriage -- has no foundation. Far from being built on rock or even sand, it rests precariously on the head of a pin, on the evanescence of modern sophistry and emotion. There is nothing there to uphold this decision, pulled from a penumbra -- from the shadowy twilight surrounding our Constitution -- while the enormous cumulative mass of human history, of every single major world religion and tradition, of biology, of human reason and natural powers of observation weigh against what five men and women, robed in black, seated on the highest court in the land, have wrought.

United States Supreme Court Justices

Kagan, Breyer, Ginsberg, Kennedy and Sotomayor

at the 2013 State of the Union Address

Our country, along with most first world countries, has been lulled into believing that genderless, anti-conjugal, anti-complementarity, anti-rational marriage was and is inevitable. But inevitability rests with primordial, immutable natural Truth, not contemporary falsehood or popular fashion.

And so while current efforts to preserve religious liberty remain vitally important, they actually circumvent the real battle, unintentionally aiding in the maintenance of the pretentious euphemism. Battling solely on the grounds of religious liberty is tantamount to bowing to this strange ideology -- a type of foreign occupying force, if you will -- which has overtaken our land.

The real battle, the valiant battle -- the heart of the matter -- is to unmask the lie which multitudes, especially Christians, have bought into via our own dullness and passivity.

A Blanket of Dullness, Darkness, and Depravity

A blanket of dullness, darkness and depravity has been settling over our nation and the rest of the civilized world for a hundred years, eclipsing light and truth for many. And while we might correctly recognize evidence of this as it plays out in society  in popular culture, in politics, in our judiciary, in our educational system  the real battle begins and resides elsewhere: What we now see happening is occurring because Christians have allowed their own minds to become dull, darkened, and depraved. Weve allowed this to happen, not out of malice toward God or bad intentions, but because our dull minds have resulted in weak wills and a weakened, impotent, often confusing and contradictory witness to the Gospel  a cafeteria Gospel, an a la carte form of faith which allows us to embrace the simple and easy while steering clear of that which is more difficult and challenging, requiring thought and determination, honest self-examination and change.

The fact is, whatever the battle for religious liberty was preceding Obergfell, it was a more manageable one until the lie of the century -- or the euphemism of the century, if you will -- was enshrined by the Supreme Court. This has been followed by an avalanche of moral consequences. Now tyranny is at our doorstep. Just ask certain bakers, florists, photographers, reception hall and B&B proprietors. Just ask children who are held in contempt by bureaucrats in our school systems if they refuse to share bathrooms with members of the opposite sex. Theyll tell you its true.

And for those who roll their eyes at the mention of slippery slopes when it comes to this ruling, our president, his administration and members of the judicial, academic, and media elite and their vast bureaucracies are now robbing children of their God-given, biological identity. This is not compassion on anyones behalf by any stretch of the imagination. It is pure, unadulterated child abuse. Ironically, elites who think of themselves as progressives continually prove themselves to be a force for regression, bringing us all back to a time and a form of culture that proceeded respect for human dignity and rights.They unwittingly condemn vast swaths of individuals, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, to their dark machinations.

Ronald Reagan once said that if we Americans dont fight for freedom within our own shores, One day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our childrens children what it was once like in the United States when men were free. Today Reagan would be moved to amend his comment: "One day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our childrens children what it was once like in the United States when men were free... and the human dignity of all was respected and upheld."

SCOTUS: Condemning the Same-Sex Attracted to Exclusion from Conjugal Marriage

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in Obergfell v Hodges (the 2015 landmark Same-Sex Marriage Case), concluded that for gays and lesbians:

Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilizations oldest institutions.

Yet in constructing such an opinion, Justice Kennedy has accomplished the opposite of what he set out to do: He condemns gays and lesbians to exclusion from conjugal marriage  from the only true definition of marriage, and sentences us to a sterile, synthetic life apart from marriage. He insists that people have a right to define themselves, and yet it is our humanity, our biology, and not our self-perceptions which define each of us. His words are perhaps the most diabolical, anti-human judgment to be issued by a member of the United States Supreme Court since the Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade decisions.

In attempting to somehow manufacture equal dignity for mono-gendered couples, the United States Supreme Court has set in motion unintended consequences, with many children, same-sex attracted people, and rising generations set up to become collateral damage.

Lets be clear: Gays and lesbians don't want marriage. They want something different from marriage. Gays want a committed, sexual relationship with another man. And in practice, sometimes these relationships are monogamous, but the vast majority will quickly evolve into open relationships of one sort or another. Why? Gay monogamy tends to become very boring very quickly because of the missing component of complementarity.

Non-homosexuals (the 98.3% of Americans not identifying as gay or lesbian) are able to find and cling to their missing half who completes them. However, the elusive fantasy man that most gays long for and spend their lives searching for is an impossible dream.

Quentin Crisp, in his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, identified the conundrum facing most gay men: If the Great Dark Man met me, he would not love me. If he did love me, he could not be my Great Dark Man. In other words: If I found my dream man, no matter how masculine and virile, if he were interested in me either sexually or romantically or both, he could no longer be the man of my dreams, for he would no longer be 100% straight. His appeal would be utterly lost. One senses the snickering of the Father of Lies somewhere in the wings behind the hopeless, discouragement-fraught dreams of many gay men. No wonder so many become depressed, never finding themselves truly attached to another. There is no enduring unitive function and the procreative function of marriage is completely absent in homosexual marital acts. There is no well of eternal meaning from which to draw.

Varnishing mono-gender relationships with the term marriage and its accouterments does nothing to bring a new day of hope to lesbians and gays.

The Immutable Meaning of Marriage: An Ensign, Beckoning to All

In the spring of 2015, I originated an Amicus Brief for the United States Supreme Court which came to be known as Same-Sex Attracted Men and Their Wives and which was submitted in the Obergfell v. Hodges case in support of allowing states to maintain the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. Twelve same-sex attracted men, married to women, contributed to this effort. Our goal was to let the Justices know our stories -- stories which have been regularly suppressed by the media. We are not supposed to exist. Our existence -- and the thriving of our families -- threatens to undermine the narrative that same-sex marriage is the only route to happiness for the same-sex attracted.

Here is the conclusion of our brief which sums up the message we wanted the justices to hear:

Striking down man-woman marriage laws on the basis of constitutional discrimination would thus send a message to the same-sex attracted that there is only one choice for them, that man-woman marriage is unattainable, that they are acting against their nature for desiring it, and that pursuing it will be dangerous for them, their spouses, and their children. But the opposite is true. The man-woman definition of marriage is not an insult; it is an ensign, beckoning to anyone -- regardless of sexual orientation -- that the union of a man and a woman is of unique significance in light of its procreative power and complementary capacity.

The man-woman definition of marriage -- conjugal, complementary marriage -- is an ensign not because it is a good idea, or the best among many. It is a bright ensign because it is the truth, undeniably displayed in nature and in each of our physical beings. We are made male and female, as complements to each other. And when male and female come together, they form a single procreative organism. The suggestion that the marriage of infertile couples is a logical inconsistency which throws open a door to genderless marriage is a ruse, a straw man argument. Whether they produce children or not, they become that single procreative organism.

When two males or two females attempt to join together sexually, they remain two males or two females. To base marriage solely on romantic or sexual interests requires averting our minds from easily discernable truth.

Our stories are not based on reparative therapy, so-called attempts to pray away the gay, or other efforts to change sexual orientation. Rather, we fully accept the reality of our same-sex attractions and fully affirm our individual self-worth, just as we are. We also attest that our attractions do not dictate our relationships. While we may not have a choice about our attractions, we do have a choice about our relationships. And rather than choose the now culturally acceptable and popularly celebrated traditional same-sex relationship, we instead have chosen marriage to a woman.

Heres what the proponents of same-sex marriage and the many who have passively accepted its arrival may never be able to comprehend: Sex within marriage is about generously giving of ourselves, not taking what our eyes and minds covet. I would rather live freely according to reason, in harmony with the universe, than as a prisoner living according to the dictates of nothing more than hormone-triggered impulses.

The Supreme Court has now finalized and federalized the message -- that for the same-sex attracted, marriage to a member of the opposite sex is an impossibility, even meaningless, and only same-sex marriage can bring gays and lesbians the personal and family fulfillment and happiness that is the universal desire of the human heart.

That one-size-fits-all message is false, yet this is what five members of the court have set in stone. The bright shining light of natural law is there for all to see, as it was for the authors of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as well as for every single major world religion and tradition throughout human history, yet last year five sets of eyes turned their gaze away from that bright light, as if truth had been eclipsed, and instead they peered covetously into the surrounding penumbra, dragging marriage -- and the very meaning of male and female -- into a twilight world.

Portions adapted from Doug Mainwarings forthcoming book, Marriage, Ground Zero: The Real Battle Dawns. Last year he originated and coauthored an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals consolidated same-sex marriage cases (Obergfell v Hodges), popularly known as "Same-Sex Attracted Men and Their Wives". Doug can be reached at doug.MGZ@aol.com
On Monday Judge Barry G. Williams acquitted Baltimore police officer Edward M. Nero of all charges stemming from the arrest, transport and death of Freddie Gray. While this is good news for those who regard the prosecution of police officers in the Gray matter little more than mob justice, Williamss verdict as declared from the bench was on narrow legal grounds. In acquitting the officer, Williams (who has consistently tried to help out the prosecution) also did Baltimores States Attorney Marilyn Mosby a huge favor by not throwing out her unprecedented and dangerous theory of the case. That theory, which second guesses and criminalizes police judgment on the street, can still be used against Neros colleague Officer Garrett Miller, and following that Lieutenant Brian Rice, who were also involved in the detention of Gray.

Williams could hardly do anything but acquit Nero given the extraordinary dearth of evidence that the officer did anything remotely unreasonable, or anything to harm Gray. In fact, Neros role in the arrest was according to fellow officers and independent witnesses marginal at best. Miller, forced to testify by Williams under a grant of limited immunity, declared that he and not Nero detained Gray before they both helped load him into a police van. Thereafter, neither buckled-in Gray, since a new policy that made this mandatory came out just a few days before, had not been disseminated, and the responsibility for buckling in passengers was on the van driver. Accordingly, Williams ruled that there were no credible facts that Nero was directly involved in the arrest.

On this scanty evidence Williams ruled that the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on any count. But of course this is the standard in any criminal case. What Williams left in place was the prosecutions principal theory of the case against Nero -- that he was criminally liable for an alleged error in judgment in making a so-called Terry stop. Terry stops are the common police practice of briefly detaining a suspect on grounds of reasonable suspicion. Running from police in a high crime area, as Gray did, is well established as sufficient grounds for such a stop. Nonetheless, the prosecution argued that in stopping Gray police erred and that therefore detaining him and touching him were not only mistakes in judgment (normally handled if true by releasing the suspect, administrative action and potential civil liability) but criminal assaults on his person.

During closing arguments Williams questioned the prosecution about their theory, but a few days later, in explaining his verdict Williams didnt reach this issue because he did not have to. Neros involvement in the stop itself was minimal. Williams avoided the issue and by doing so has effectively granted the prosecution another shot at making the case against Miller and/or Rice who were also involved in the stop.

Williams has presided over both police trials brought up to this point in the Gray matter, with five more to go. Those are the retrial of Officer William Porter (a jury trial before Williams resulted in a mistrial) and four other officers yet to be tried, among them Miller and Rice. Van driver Officer Caesar Goodson is scheduled to go next and faces the most serious charges. Oddly, it seems that Williams is scheduled to preside over all the trials, though it is hard to see how he can continue if Miller or Rice also demand a bench trial. Like Nero its probable that neither will wish to take their chances with a jury in the racially polarized city (Miller and Rice are also white.) Having been the trier of fact in Neros case, it is hard to see how Williams could sit in judgment of Miller, (who testified under the immunity grant) or Rice who initiated and supervised the stop.

By refusing to rule on the legal validity of the prosecutions theory in Neros trial Williams preserved the issue to reconsider should he try Miller and Rice, or for other judges to consider should he not, without establishing a precedent that they would be obliged to follow. He also imposed a gag order preventing defense attorneys from arguing publicly as to the injustice of these trials continuing. Williams has leaned the prosecutions way throughout the case, and despite acquitting Nero, has done it again. In effect, the prosecutors now get to reshuffle the deck and try again with both Miller and Rice. Chances are that eventually the cards play in a way the will give them, and their boss Ms. Mosby, a sacrificial police victim for the mob.
Donald Trump, we are assured by the first two big pages of Google when you search for "Trump news," is the meanest, nastiest, most racist (etc., etc.) son of a bachelor to come down the pike in many a long year. Our angelic media cultists are shocked, shocked by... (etc., ad nauseam). The GOPe has battled heroically to protect us from this beast, but the idiot voters out in the boonies (etc., etc., you remember the rest). So here we are, stuck with a nominal Republican who actually fights. Forty million ticked-off voters are backing him, and they don't care about niceties. Being nice got this country into the ungodly mess we have today. The other word for "nice" is "gimme da money, sucker!"

I didn't like it when Trump insulted Carly Fiorina in the debates, and I hope that backstage he has apologized to her. But it's pretty clear why he performed his spectacular war dance in the debates. It's not Jeb Bush who was the big target. It's the embedded Washington power cult, both nominal parties, the Permanent Government now grown fat and lazy with trillions of dollars regardless of performance, the corrupt city machines in Chicago and New York, which are now state and regional political machines, the Senioriate in Congress --- people with enough seniority to laugh at passing presidents -- the radical Lefties Obama has planted as delayed-action bombs in the bureaucracy to explode in future "leaks" and "exclusives" for their pals at the New York Times, the Soros money-power cult that finances and directs the Democratic radical base, tens of thousands of lobbyists who have welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood and similar sweethearts to their moneyed ranks, and the NYT-WaPo Organs of Propaganda who put old Soviet apparatchiks to shame.

Question: Are the real power brokers in DC sufficiently scared yet to listen to fed-up voters?

Probably not. Right now if the Don dropped his famous line "You're Fired!" nothing would happen. Nothing.

The Donald drove our old, beloved National Review into spectacular hysterics, where it is still stuck, trying to figure out how to climb down from its tall tree without looking ridiculous. Still, a hoo-hah may turn out to be useful, since any comfy power cult can use a good purgative every few years. It's been too long since Bill Buckley graced its pages. Those terrified old moths flying out after the Donald's O-kaze (Japanese great wind) are already settling down on more peaceful pools in the swamp.

The big, big question is whether anything can shake our deeply dysfunctional establishment, which actually welcomed the Nazi-era Muslim Broederbund with open arms, including Muslim Sister Huma and her hubbie the exhibitionist. The Ikhwan feeds Muslim terrorism, and has ever since 1929. Its high point was the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the greatest Arab peacemaker of the 20th century. Now the Brotherhood has its tentacles deep into the Clintons (witness Sister Huma and Hillary), as well as in Turkey, which has just announced that Uberfuehrer Erdogan is taking dictatorial power in the only Muslim nation that managed to keep a modern, tolerant state alive for fifty years. Just to demonstrate the new power of neo-Ottomanism, Erdogan ordered his US-equipped air force to shoot down an annoying Sukhoi-24 (from behind, violating agreed-on flight rules), and killed the surviving pilot who ejected and was parachuting down. Putin was trying to embarrass Erdogan by exposing criminal collusion between Turkey and the demonic followers of ISIS, an obvious collusion that has been ignored by Barack Hussein Obama and NATO. So Erdogan shot down the Russian jet that was getting too close to his own ISIS-oil smuggling operation. Now the Russians have backed off Erdogan, who is stilling getting billions of dollars of Iraqi oil stolen by the Islamic State, when it isn't massacring Christian children for their parents religion.

None of this, none, should be happening. The greatest moral and strategic failure of the West since the Cold War has been to collude in the rise of Jihad. Not just tolerate. Not just retreat, but actively collude in a criminal movement by any definition of international humanitarian law. In the aftermath of World War II and the Nuremberg Trials, the West uniformly agreed that genocide was about as evil as evil gets. Terrorism was clearly understood as deliberate murder and mayhem directed at innocent non-combatants purely for political gain. Armies wore uniforms and insignia that clearly identified them as combatants, and therefore more likely to be targeted than innocent bystanders. Von Clausewitz had nothing but contempt for the irregular Cossacks who hid in the general population in the wake of national armies, to rape, loot and kill non-combatants. War is the worst thing people do to each other except for ISIS-type outright sadistic killing of the most innocent for the sake Allah and his bloodthirsty priesthood.

Post-WWII rules of combat emerged against the fresh history of the Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust. With the crumbling of the Soviet Empire it looked as if domestic mass-murder might also be almost universally condemned. Millions of people expressed noble intentions. Now we can see that the Rad-Left/Jihad alliance was already being planted in the 1960s and 1970s, according to Admiral James Lyons and others. The United Nations lost every last shred of decency when the genocidal Sudan was elevated to the Human Rights Commission of the General Assembly, and Kofi Annan literally stood by and did nothing during the Rwanda genocide.

Nobody knows these days how to define "terrorism," but before the rise of the Left/Jihad Axis of Evil, the meaning of terrorism was clear enough. Terrorism is murder, plain and simple, deliberate murder against civilians, regardless of age, gender and all the rest. Every civilized nation has incorporated post-WWII definitions of criminal murder of civilians in its codes of military justice. The Dutch Army has punished its own soldiers who stood by during the Srebrenica massacres and did nothing. The United States, Britain, Israel, and a few other countries enforce rules of decency in combat.

But the United Nations has surrendered completely to the dark side, singling out Israel and favoring Jihad. According to the "authoritative" ulema of Saudi Arabia, the ruling priesthood, ISIS is doing nothing un-Islamic. The Ayatollahs of Iran advocate nuclear genocide every single day, and we just found out that the White House used a thirtyish English Lit major to lie to a compliant media about the contemptible US-Iran deal. But he is just a scapegoat. American collusion with genocide-promoting Ayatollahs comes from the top, and dontcha forget it.

Of course Anti-American hatred is rife at the Jihad-controlled UN and the massively corrupt EU, all busily revising the truth to make the 7th century war theology look normal.

These are the defining events of the Obama era. They are not incidental side effects. They are completely intentional, and the once-proud city of Washington, DC, is now completely degraded, morally and even in matters of national survival. George Washington was an intensely, even an obsessively moral man, a man who kept a diary to track his own faults, where he fell short of his own ideals. It was not an unusual habit in the founding generation of the United States. Everybody knew about political, sexual, and moral corruption, because they could see it in plain sight in France, England, Ireland and the rest. The Founders knew all about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. They understood history and they understood politics, because they understood human nature. But in spite of their intimate knowledge of the worst things that people can do, they had higher hopes for the New World.

Donald Trump is fighting to become the new broom in the fetid swamps of DC. His voters don't care much about nice manners, maybe because they know or suspect the Augean stables that need cleaning. They are right on the facts and right on the moral issues. They are placing their hopes in Trump, who is a mere human being, no more and no less.

It will take more than one person to make things better. Trump has been quietly telling the truth about taboo subjects like Jihad and the puritanical strictures of PC. The newsies are predictably fainting in horror, or pretending to. But morally they are fluff, blowing with the winds of fashion, from day to day. Total lightweights, every single one. The web-based media are both freer and more morally serious.

Trump is a serious guy, I believe, since he has been talking about the same policies in the same words since 1988. He has been consistently close to the mainstream of conservative thought, on almost all the things that matter. The media obsessed with trying to destroy him, and he has survived so far. (Without help from National Review and The Weekly Standard).

The liberal attacks will never stop. If they ever do, it will mean that Trump is finished. This is a fight, and it will remain contentious as long as the Left controls the corporate media. Get used to it. Flags and parades come long after the war is over, if ever.

But Trump has the right enemies.

It will take a lot of people, working together to rescue the country and the culture, to make a difference.

Abraham Lincoln's generals kept losing battles to Robert E. Lee's more agile forces in the first part of the Civil War. Finally, in despair, Lincoln asked "Where can I find a general who fill fight?" The answer was Ulysses S. Grant, who was not a perfect human being.

American voters have been asking the same question.

Now we have a general who will fight.

He's not just a pretty face. In fact, he's not even a pretty face.

But he's got a good sense of humor, and so far he's beaten a lot of the competition.

At some point, if he succeeds, he will need a lot of support from people who share the same basic values. Many voters are skeptical, which is the right thing to be.

But this is the best chance we've had in many years. If Trump is good enough -- not perfect, just good enough -- he will need a lot of help.

It's up to you.
If nothing else, Vladimir Putin is a leader who paints Russias image with broad strokes. He overcame a KGB and Communist past to create a kind of democratic autocracy in Russia. He literally, and figuratively, restored Christianity and Orthodox churches across the land. In his spare time, Putin rides Harley Davidson bikes with the Night Wolves, Russias first post-Communist motorcycle club, an organization that might be the only state-sponsored political club for bikers on the planet.

The Russian president rehabilitated the Russian armed forces, too, in the wake of the Afghan/Chechen debacles. More recently, Putin has unchained the bear and altered the complexion of politics and dissent in the Caucuses, Georgia, Ukraine, and now Syria. Russian pushback against NATO expansion and regime change follies is a predictable, if not understandable, response to a hapless Brussels. Why European politicians seek a fight with Russia in the middle of an Islamic migrant blitz is a mystery to tacticians, strategists, and veteran diplomats alike.

The Russian president recently exposed Turkey, too, as NATOs Achilles heel, a terrorist 5th column between East and West. NATO turned a blind eye to the Erdogan/Baghdadi oil cartel until the Russian Air Force began destroying northbound convoys. The CFO for the Turk/ISIS consortium appears to be Billy Erdogan, son of the duplicitous Turkish president. Across the border, Syria was another small war stalemate until Putin stepped in.

Russians still carry American astronauts into space, too, while Washington maintains spite sanctions against Moscow -- a testimony to Russian character and Obama era vapidity. With Putin, diplomacy is often just a door left ajar. The Russian space taxi serves Americans at NASA and affirmative action astronauts worldwide. The cutting edge of extra-terrestrial travel now requires a Kazak base and a Russian rocket.

Unlike European and American leaders, Vladimir Putin has no illusions about existential threats like open borders, Islamic imperialism, or religious fascism.

The Muslim world has been providing fighters to a half century of global jihad that targets and kills Americans and West Europeans with near impunity. Ironically, no Muslim nations are burdened with economic sanctions like those imposed on Russia. Indeed, America and Europe are now suffering from atrocity fatigue. Muslims continue to kill and maim while Washington and Brussels continue to rationalize global terror as the new normal.

For apologists, calling Islam a great culture is the feckless rhetoric of enablers.

The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is similar to the Russian sanctions, movements motivated by bias and historical bigotry. Just as Israel won a series of wars against predatory Arabs, the West won the Cold War with inept Communism -- and Europe still cant take yes for an answer from a Russia that has reinvented itself.

Victory Day, celebrating Soviet success in World War II, has become the most significant holiday on the Russian calendar under Putin.

Unlike America and Europe; victory, success, and the need to oppose fascism, including the religious variety, are mainstays of contemporary Russian vigilance. President Obama is about to visit Hiroshima in Japan; he has declined invitations to celebrate Victory Day in Russia. Of the WWII Big Three allies that defeated fascist Germany and imperial Japan, Russia sacrificed the most to defeat the Nazis and save Europe. Russia may have to rescue Europe from itself again in the 21st Century.

While the Russian president cultivates a never forget ethic, the American president seems to never remember. Indeed, Barack Obama, as with Muslim history, seems to be ignorant about the legacy of uncommon cultures -- and the difference between friendly and lethal competition. If a liberal like Roosevelt could make common cause with Joseph Stalin and a conservative like Ronald Reagan could do business with Mikhail Gorbachev, how is it that a political footnote like Barack Hussein Obama cant do business with Vladimir Putin?

The face of 21st century fascism is religious  and Islamic. Theres not much difference between secular and religious totalitarians. Coercion, terror, and atrocity are what they have in common. Alas, Europe, with the possible exception of Brexit England, seems to be channeling early 20th Century behaviors that enabled National Socialism. Recall that Italy and Spain made common cause with fascism. France and Belgium rolled over like tarts, and most of Scandinavia allowed Hitlers vermin to take control uncontested. Neutrality in Europe before and during WWII was another word for appeasement. In the North, the flavor was Quisling; in the South, collaboration was called Vichy. The EU and NATO are not about defense today so much as they are about flirting with similar historical folly.

The parallels between midcentury Europe and early the early 21st Century European Union are difficult to ignore anymore. Euocrats seem not to have a clue about common cultural or common kinetic defense. Terrorists live cheek to jowl with oblivious Belgians. The European Union seeks to solve the 5th Column problem now by making Turkey an open border too!

Some days its not difficult to conclude that clueless Europe and ruthless Mecca deserve each other. In the distant past, Islam was at the Gates of Vienna. Now the crescent and sword knocks on the doors of Westminster Abby. If common sense were currency, the European Union would be insolvent.

The loss of a clueless West Europe is sure to provide new opportunities for new alliances. Given the endemic chaos and aggression emanating from the Muslim world; Russia, China, and the United States might be the logical core for a new big three, alliance against 21st Century totalitarians. One of the most obvious advantages of a new global military coalition would be economy. Unlike NATO dependencies, the Chinese and Russians will surely pay their own way.

Ironically, China and Russia are already fiscal allies, in so much as both have emerged as a kind budget Viagra for the US Department of Defense. Its difficult to justify huge defense budgets at the Pentagon if the real threat is 5th column migrants and terror driving a Toyota.

Only one candidate in the US presidential primaries suggests that small wars, strategy, and alliances should on the table in 2016. Hard as it is to forecast how such a discussion might go, any movement in new directions would be an improvement over the new normal; cooked threats, sanguinary inertia, and suicidal appeasement.

Time is not a European or American ally when conflict is a war of a thousand cuts.

G. Murphy Donovan is a former Intelligence officer who writes about the politics of national security.
Anthony Weiner's facial bones are very close to the skin, which is stretched like a snake's, taut over its typically grimacing expression. It is rarely in repose, depositing a permanent snarl onsite when the camera focuses on him in the astonishingly naked documentary eponymously titled Weiner: Inside his failed race for City Hall, which goes from the former congressman's yowling days in the fraternity of the city council to his inglory as a sexting disgrace, his sort-of recovery as he lies to feign injured innocence ("I was hacked!") about the tawdry episodes that brought him down to the revisiting of his "problem," scandalizing the city and sailing further daggers into the heart of his powerfully connected spouse, Huma Abedin, arguably the closest adviser to Hillary Clinton for the past decade or so.

Whether you favor Huma or not, she is sufficiently modest, well behaved, even elegant that you keep wondering: why on Earth should she stay with this fraught human freighter of recklessness? She leaves the camera frame often, managing to keep her fury and pain at the threshold, but not Vesuvial.

Weiner's half-hearted rehab efforts at a do-over fail to resurrect his tarnished image. Carlos Danger by the end is decidedly a grievously self-injured, acrid portrait of what had seemed, years earlier, to be a promising career in public service, even given Weiner's unavoidable tendency to the nasty insult and mantle of entitlement manifested before the Fall. He was a tendentious pit bull for a while there.

"I have one daughter," remarks Hillary to a camera for some reporter not connected to this film, "but if I had another daughter, it would be Huma." Without a doubt, much of the fascination emanating from the screen is seeing and hearing the hidden mover, Huma, whom most people are familiar with from photos on planes and runways but have never heard. Even non-fans cannot help but be stirred to sympathy for this woman, clearly at the breaking point. You ask yourself: what could possibly salve this mess in her private life? What bargain with which devil prevailed on her to stay in his infested nest?

The camera crew is helmed by a former staffer turned filmmaker of the disgraced congressman, so there was a measure, one supposes, of trust before the go-ahead. As the film advances, in taxis and limos, on the streets of colorful Queens and the Bronx, in the chambers and in the arid, underfurnished campaign offices, the audience cannot believe Weiner let this all be caught on tape. The furious meltdowns with constituents, the titillating and confrontational interviews where he plays possum, arguments with rabbis in Boro Park, the clammily intimate tete-a-tetes in the kitchen with a visibly ambushed and humiliated Huma.

It won a Cannes award for Best Doc, and one can see why. One just does not understand how this peculiar, Denali-size ego and combusting implosive device could spin and pirouette and posture for the 400 hours of footage winnowed down to these cannot-believe-it two hours.

Although the public has right now a surfeit of massive egos, rarely have we seen one so willing to permit a film crew to colonoscopize a man so monumentally unable to stop his sexting tropism. His acid barbs fly, to all and sundry, including to the filmmakers, who come in for some vintage Weiner vitriol.

Not incidentally, it's being lauded as one of the most intensive scrutinies of inside-the-campaign documentaries ever.
Democratic lawmakers are giving serious consideration to asking the chairman of the Democratic National Committe, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to stept down from her position.

"DWS," as she is known in party circles, has had a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease for her entire tenure as party leader. But it was her poorly disguised advocacy for Hillary Clinton's nomination that caused Bernie Sanders to announce his opposition to her chairmanship. And with Democrats casting about for ways to placate Sanders leading up to the convention, DWS becomes an attractive target.

Washington Examiner:

A report published late Tuesday found some members of Congress are giving full consideration to Sanders' recommendation. An unspecified group of lawmakers are considering ousting the Florida representative if she cannot unify the party despite its division between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. "There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz's head on," one pro-Clinton Democratic senator told the paper. While Schultz has not shared any plans to step down from her leadership position, lawmakers who support the Vermont senator have said Schultz has unfairly advocated for Clinton throughout the primaries. "I don't see how she can continue to the election. How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts," another anonymous lawmaker said. Democrats defending Wasserman Schultz include Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, Tim Kaine of Vermont, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. But Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the only public supporter of Sanders in the Senate, admitted the DNC chair could do more to bring liberals together since Republicans appear to have their nominee. "It's very important for her to adopt a role of pouring oil on troubled waters. She did the opposite last week when she poured gasoline on the events that occurred in Nevada," Merkley said.

Sanders has been complaining about Schultz since the beginning of the campaign, especially the debate schedule the DNC published. But the general feeling in the party is that Clinton, who is close to clinching a first ballot nomination, needs to reach out more to Sanders and address some of his concerns.

To that end, key Sanders supporters have been given spots on the Platform Committee, while party leaders have been asking other Democrats to refrain from putting pressure on Sanders to withdraw. Schultz may become a casualty of the effort to unify the party, which would be ironic. For all the verbal gaffes she's made over the years, tilting the scales in favor of Hillary Clinton is among the least of her transgressions.

For Republicans, the prospect of a national election without Debbie Wasserman Schultz to laugh at and make fun of is a disaster. All right-thinking Republicans should immediately write the Democratic National Committee to plead with the party leadership to keep her on through the election. She is a gift that keeps on giving to the GOP.

Save DWS!
Once upon a time, such as the late 1990s, Caracas was one of the great cities of Latin America.

It didn't have tango like Buenos Aires or a carnival like Rio, but it had all the signs of a cosmopolitan modern city. I remember a couple of business trips down there, and it was a great city. I recall an Italian restaurant across from the hotel that made you feel as though it was the Venezuelans who had really invented lasagna and pasta.

That was then, and this is now. Like the once great city of Havana, Caracas is now one gigantic mess.

We just learned from our friend Dr. Carlos Eire that there's even a shortage of Coca-Cola:

As the Normalization Circus continues to gain strength, the Castronoid colony of Caracastan is going into an ever steeper death spiral. It seems that the final unfolding of the Bolivarian Revolution has arrived. Its dreadful, as dreadful as dreadful ever gets. as dreadful as it was in the island nation formerly known as Cuba some fifty-odd years ago. In that Cuba of long ago it only took about two years to reach the implosion now being experienced by Venezuela. And in that long-dead Cuba  now known as the Castro Kingdom  the implosion has been going on for over half a century. Can Venezuela find a way out? Perhaps. But only if King Rauls storm troopers are sent back home immediately Oh, the wonders of 21st century socialism! But dont expect to find many journalists blaming the Venezuelapocalypse on socialism. No. All of these calamities are due to falling oil prices, mismanagement, and political turmoil caused by those selfish bastards who cant appreciate socialism.

A few years ago, a Latin American friend went to Cuba and took lots of pictures of Havana. My parents nearly cried as they saw some of the photos of the city. It was like seeing pictures of a son or daughter wasting away, with zero self-esteem. The elegance of Havana was gone. The decadence of communism was all around.

My guess is that many Venezuelans must be having the same reaction.

Nothing is perfect, but Caracas was one of those cities that you were happy to visit. It had fantastic cuisine and a modern infrastructure. You could see people working hard but enjoying life as Venezuelans know how to do. Like pre-Castro Cuba, the people were hardworking and elegant, and they knew how to throw a party!

Memo to the thousands madly in love with Bernie Sanders: Take a trip to Caracas, and you will see what "Sanderismo" looks like.

And make sure you bring a roll of toilet paper just in case the hotel or your host runs out!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Nothing remarkable here except the lack of outrage resulting from the lack of reporting.

Michigan, and the Dearborn area in particular, is a beehive of Arab culture. In this video, the federal financial subsidization of immigrants is melded with a federal subsidization of non-assimilation.

Extended financial support greets and welcomes customs and culture in direct conflict with American values and traditions.

In Michigan, food stamps are issued to Arab men and their wives. Thankfully, it is limited to four wives.

The federal government sponsors non-assimilation and fosters what essentially is illegal behavior. To allow multiple wives is to allow a different system of law. To allow a different system of law is to cede a portion of our country.

Can it be anything but intentional?

For the federal government to not only allow, but foster such activity boggles the mind of any patriot.

The federal government in the past seven years has surreptitiously fostered the degradation of the United States of America. The transformation has led to a tapping into our wealth (if a nation $19 trillion in debt can qualify) and a demographic destruction of the fabric of America at the hands of curious immigration standards and practices.

Though our history of immigration is deep, those prior to this era at hand, the Irish, Swedish, German, et al., assimilated. The laws and language of America became their own as they maintained a pride in their heritage. Additionally and of equal importance, that influx of immigration did not expect governmental handouts.
The pernicious legal doctrine of disparate impact threatens to claim another commonsense and useful practice. Steve Birr of the Daily Caller News Foundation reports:

Four Latino families filed papers to sue their Virginia landlord Monday after he threatened eviction due to illegal family members living on the premises. The civil rights lawsuit filed by families living in Waples Mobile Home Park in Fairfax County, Va., claims it is discriminatory to require a social security number for residency. The landlords at the mobile home park are requiring residents to provide either a social security card, passport or valid visa with documentation to renew their leases, reports The Washington Post.

Now, keep in mind that people illegally in the United States could be deported any time, and landlords would be left with a vacant property, unprotected by the legal niceties of a lease. And renting to someone who flouts the law might not be the wisest choice.

On its face, the requirement makes perfect sense. And it is applied not just to one group; it applies to anyone of any ethnicity. But because members of one demographic category (an artificial one, at that: Hispanic includes Caucasians from Spain, Mexicans of Aztec ancestry, and Argentines  all of whom have little in common with one another other than the Spanish language), it can be twisted by the courts into a discriminatory practice.

Unfortunately, I would not bet against the plaintiffs in this case.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman
The 2012 Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, is showing surprising strength in early polls against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Johnson received less than 1% of the vote in 2012, but he got 1.2 million votes  a Libertarian party record. He is vying for the nomination against two lesser known candidates  radio talker and activist Austin Peterson and former fugitive John McAfee.

But with the strong negative feelings by voters against both Trump and Clinton, Johnson, if he gets the nomination, has an opportunity to upend the race. He is currently polling at 10%, which is the best showing by a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996.

Five Thrity Eight:

In early May 1968, George Wallace, whose candidacy as a third-party candidate running on what can politely be called an anti-civil rights message has been much-talked about this year, got 14 percent in a Harris Survey as well as in a Gallup poll; he eventually won nearly 14 percent of the national vote. The most serious third-party candidate in recent memory was Ross Perot, who third-wheeled his way onto the political stage in 1992 and 1996, eventually taking 19 percent and 8 percent of the national vote in those respective years. In May of 1992, Perot, a former businessman, was polling gangbusters; a Gallup poll found him at 35 percent and an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey had him at 30 percent. Perot entered the race in February of that year, a few weeks after the county was initiated to the first of Bill Clintons sex scandals, and in the midst of a tough economy for President George H.W. Bush  plenty of voters were looking for other options. Four years later, he was still polling well for a third-party candidate, but not nearly at his 1992 levels: May polls (not to be confused withmaypoles) had Perot at 17 percent (ABC/Washington Post), 12 percent (NBC/Wall Street Journal), and 10 percent (Gallup1). But that was the 90s, back before most of us in the interior of the country had ever even seen an avocado let alone mashed it up on toast. How have third-party candidates polled recently? Johnson ran as the Libertarian candidate in 2012, and won about 1 percent of the national vote, becoming the most successful Libertarian candidate ever; in polls done in May and June of 2012, he was polling at 2 percent. Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee in 2008, also polled at 2 percent in the late spring of that year.

Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, may not be the most dynamic candidate in the race, but he has experience running a national campaign and may have access to some big donors. His pick for vice president, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, was the attorney for casino mogul Steve Wynn, who is likely to back the Libertarian candidate this election cycle. Considering that Johnson raised only $2 million in 2012, a big infusion of cash into his campaign would certainly make him more visible and potentially competitive in some states.

The question of whom he would draw more votes from, Republicans or Democrats, is unanswerable at this point. Conventional wisdom says he would take far more Republican votes away from Trump. But this election is different. It is shaping up to be a non-ideological election, so Johnson has the potential to take a rougly equal number of voters from both sides.

What usually happens with third-party candidates is that they poll well in the spring and the summer and then fade away to nothing in the fall. But nothing about this race is "usual," which is why the Libertarian Party convention next month bears watching.
American higher education is in the process of surrendering to self-pitying, self-righteous bullies riding the wave of victimology that has obsessed liberal elites ever since the Civil Rights movement protested genuine injustices half a century ago. The chaos and moral and intellectual bankruptcy that have resulted now seems to have a poster campus: Oberlin College in Ohio.

A long and disturbingly fascinating piece in the New Yorker by Nathan Heller, titled The Big Uneasy, offers an overview of the turmoil there and conversations with some of Oberlins dissatisfied radicals. Heller acknowledges the leftist domination of Oberlin, calling it a school whose norms may run a little to the left of Bernie Sanders.

The overall tone of the piece is fairly deadpan, but some of the descriptions of the radicals, many of them self-descriptions of exemplars of the schools outreach in the name of diversity, are parodic.

 I tracked down Cyrus Eosphoros, the student whod worried about the triggering effects of Antigone. (snip) Eosphoros is a trans man. He was educated in Mexico, walks with crutches, and suffers from A.D.H.D. and bipolar disorder. (Hed lately been on suicide watch.) He has cut off contact with his mother, and he supports himself with jobs at the library and the development office. He said, Im kind of about as much of a diversity checklist as you can get while still technically being a white man. Half a century ago, Eosphoros might not have had access to elite higher education in the United States. In that respect, he is exactly the sort of studentbright, self-made, easily marginalizedwhom selective colleges like Oberlin have been eager to enroll. So I was taken aback when he told me that hed just dropped out for want of institutional support. Theres this persistent, low-grade dehumanization from everyone, he said. Somebody will be, like, Yeah, I had a class with a really great professor, and it was wonderful, and Ill be sitting there, like, Oh, yes, that was the professor who failed me for getting tuberculosis, or That was the professor who, because I have double time on exams, scheduled them during lunch. 

Then there is the Afro-Latinx (the x stands for refusing to identify with the boring and overly restrictive bipolar gender dichotomy) Megan Bautista:

Oberlin had modified its grading standards to accommodate activism around the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings, and Bautista had hoped for something similar. More than thirteen hundred students signed a petition calling for the college to eliminate any grade lower than a C for the semester, but to no avail. Students felt really unsupported in their endeavors to engage with the world outside Oberlin, she told me.

Another of the student thought-leaders at Oberlin, Zakiya Acey, complains about having to seek out professors who would go easy on him because the demanding life of a protester is making it difficult to actually do theuhwork:

Because Im dealing with having been arrested on campus, or having to deal with the things that my family are going through because of larger systemshaving to deal with all of that, I cant produce the work that they want me to do. But I understand the material, and I can give it to you in different ways. Theres professors who have openly been, like, Yeah, instead of, you know, writing out this midterm, come in to my office hours, and you can just speak it, right? But thats not institutionalized. I have to find that professor.

Oberlin used to be a highly respectable liberal arts college, an upholder of high academic standards, and highly selective in its admissions policies. It also boasted of a proud history of being one of the first colleges to admit women and blacks. But in its embrace of the fashions of liberalism, and in its outreach to non-traditional students who do not hold traditional standards of excellence in any level of esteem, it is losing its soul, and indeed, its mind.

At least its president, Marvin Krislov, had the wisdom to reject a 14-page letter from the Black Student Union containing 50 demands, including $8.20 pay per hour for demonstrators last December. And alumni, aghast at the nonsense turning their beloved alma mater into a joke, are pressuring the school to show signs of a spine.

The sickness enveloping Oberlin extends throughout much of higher education. I am not sure that self-correcting mechanisms will be able to rescue once noble endeavors from their folly.

Hat tip: Katherine Timpf, NRO
There is some confusion and denial in the mainstream media over the real impacts of the ongoing boycott of Target (TGT) because of its controversial bathroom policies allowing men into women's rooms and vice versa, which came into force April 19.

The left-of-center Associated Press released a superficial report last week on the causes of Target's current financial situation:

Target's weak store sales and its expectations for this quarter, released Wednesday, pushed shares down 9 percent in morning trading. Shares of almost every retailer followed suit in what is shaping up to be a miserable year ... Shares of J.C. Penney, Kohl's, Macy's and Nordstrom fell as well. Shares of Wal-Mart, which reports earnings on Thursday, fell almost 4 percent.

Companies such as J.C. Penney, Kohl's, Macy's, and Nordstrom are not Target's true competitors. Their market caps are much smaller than Target's, and they cater to a far smaller cross-section of the retail sector. Target's natural competition comes from broad-spectrum discount retailers such as Walmart (WMT) and Costco (COST), which hold similarly sized market caps, and lesser so from other larger low-cost retailers such as Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR).

The likely impact of the consumer boycott against Target can be determined by comparing its market cap performance for equal periods before and after the transgender policy came into force against that of its competitors. As the graph below shows, Target's normalized market cap has declined far more than any of its competitors since April 19.

But as is clear, there is some modest variability in the post-April 19 market cap performance for each of Target's competitors. To determine which is the best comparison for assessing the impact of the boycott, we need to look at the pre-April 19 correlations between each competitor and Target's market cap.

The best pre-April 19 correlation with Target's market cap is Walmart. From March 14 through April 18, there was excellent agreement between the market cap of the two companies, whereas the other competitors saw substantially worse agreement with Target's market cap.

Although past performance is not always a good predictor of future trends, in this type of widely used correlational analyses, the message is typically correct. Where the financial performance of two companies was closely correlated in the past, and a loss of correlation coincides with an event, the event is usually seen as essentially the sole cause of any subsequent fiscal deviation.

In other words, the likely effect of the Target boycott can be best determined by comparing the post-April 19 performance of its market cap against Walmart. The market cap of the two companies tracked closely before April 19 but began to progressively deviate soon after consumers and investors became aware of Target's bathroom policy.

Walmart's current market cap ($220.83 billion) is effectively equivalent to where it was on April 19 (219.38 billion). By comparison, Target's current market cap ($41.22 billion) is $9.2 billion lower than it was when the bathroom policy was implemented ($50.39 billion).

Consequently, the rational conclusion is that the Target boycott has already directly cost the company more than $9 billion in market cap. Even if we adopted a more conservative approach that averaged the post-April 19 market cap performance of all Target's natural competitors, we still end up with nearly the same boycott-induced loss of market cap.
One of Ponces most recognizable landmarks is Parque de Bombas, the citys old firehouse building and now a firefighting museum. This brightly colored red and black candy striped building, located at the Plaza Las Delicias town square, directly behind the Ponce Cathedral, was Puerto Rico's first ever fire station.

The building was built in 1882, originally as the main exhibit pavilion dedicated to agricultural and industrial exhibits for the 1882 Exhibition Trade Fair. It was designed by a Spanish army officer, who also happened to be a professional architect. Made mostly out of wood, Parque de Bombas draws influence from Moorish and Gothic Victorian architecture, and consist of a large and open central space flanked by two lateral towers, two stories in height. The open space was used as garage facilities for the fire trucks, and the two towers as living quarters and exhibition areas. An elegant central two-sided stairway with elaborated cast iron railing leads to a mezzanine area used as administrative offices.

Photo credit: Jose DeJesus/Flickr

The building came into use as a fire station in 1883 when a massive fire threatened to engulf the city, and volunteer firefighters started operating from the building. The firefighters fought the fire for several days before it could be extinguished. At that time, Puerto Rico didnt have a permanent firefighting force. Its firefighters were drawn from citizens volunteering for the service.

The importance and necessity of a fire service was felt by Ponces Spanish Governor Miguel De La Torre in 1823. Three years earlier a large fire had occurred in Ponce that almost destroyed the town. Deeply concerned by the lack of a fire service, Miguel De La Torre made it mandatory for every male between 16 and 60 years to be a volunteer firefighter. Firefighters at this time had to provide their own fire-fighting tools such as picks, shovels, and buckets. Unfortunately, once Governor De La Torre left his post, the fire corps was also abandoned.

When another major fire occurred in 1845, Conde de Marisol, the then ruler of the island, once again created a new voluntary fire-fighting organization. The fire fighting force was reorganized in a more permanent manner in 1883, but it wasnt until 1885 that Parque de Bombas became Ponce's official fire station a function which it served for more than 100 years.

In 1990, the station's fire-fighting duties were fully transferred to another nearby station, and the building was converted into a fire-fighting museum. Today, you will find exhibits of firefighting equipment and memorabilia from the fire station including pictures of the heroic men who fought the 1883 fire.

Photo credit: ponce.com

Photo credit: www.gotourspuertorico.com

Photo credit: damian entwistle/Flickr

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: Expedia.com

Photo credit: fortherock/Flickr

Sources: Parque de Bombas Wikipedia / Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps Wikipedia / www.puertorico.com
Everywhere you look, Apples iPhone pops up. Half the world seem to use one and months after being launched, Apples Best Ever iPhone posters still litter tech stores. The iPhone has exerted a considerable influence on popular culture, from forcing mobile System-on-Chip designers to redesign chipset technologies every year rather than every other year, through to scores of iPhone-holding, duck-faced, selfies using a mirror and the rear camera despite Apple inventing the front facing camera in 2010. And when somebody of importance to the smartphone industry is caught using the wrong device for their assumed preferences, this makes headline news. Todays news story concerns Eric Schmidt, Alphabets executive chairman, admitted to owning an iPhone at the Startup Fest in Amsterdam. Eric alluded to his iPhone ownership during a conversation with CNBC in addition to a Samsung Galaxy S7. He said that he prefers the Galaxy S7 because it has better battery life, stating: It has a better battery. And those of you who are iPhone users (know) Im right.

The supposition that Eric would not own or use an iPhone because he works for Alphabet, Googles parent company, is a very two dimensional way to think. Putting aside Apples claim to go thermonuclear on Googles Android back in the day, Google may own Android but their business is about advertising revenue and ultimately the Android platform is one means of encouraging customers to use Googles services. Google have developed many apps for the iPhone and iPad to work with its services, and by and large these are good quality applications too. Ultimately, Google doesnt need to care so much how a customer is using their services, just that they are. Developing good quality applications to connect to the Google services for different platforms, be these Apples iOS, Microsofts Windows, BlackBerry, LINUX, Samsungs Tizen whatever the platform, it does not matter.

Advertisement

And finally, Apple get an awful lot right with the iPhone. Their control over the platform means that they are able to very tightly integrate the software with the hardware, which gives customers a good experience. They have successfully pushed carriers to the side when it comes to software updates and circumvented any meddling with putting third party applications onto the device: the iPhone is not too dissimilar to the Google Nexus in that it only comes with the operating systems core applications (although we would note that on the Nexus, some applications maybe uninstalled whereas on the iPhone they cannot, so are usually relegated to an obscure folder hidden away). Most iPhones are updated to the latest version of the operating system shortly after launch. The devices are generally and eventually well made, at least after the first few weeks after launch  you did spot that Apple modified the iPhone 6 Plus to stop it from bending, right? Ultimately, there are far worse ways to access Googles products and services than something running iOS.
Google has been pushing forward rather quickly with their self-driving car project. After announcing that they were working with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to add 100 of their 2017 Chrysler Pacificas to their fleet, they are now announcing a 53,000 square-foot development center for self-driving cars, which will be in Novi, Michigan. This is just outside of Detroit, where the majority of their partners reside. Many of you may know that Detroit and the surrounding area, is home to Chrysler, General Motors and Ford  thats why the city is called the Motor City. The reasoning for Google coming to Novi, is to be closer to their partners, so they can continue their work in the self-driving car industry. It will also make it easier for Google to collaborate with their partners.

In their post on Google+, the team announced that one of their first tasks in this new facility will be to ready their self-driving Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans. Google has 100 of them, or will have 100 of them before the end of the year, which they will be adding to their fleet of test vehicles. These hybrid minivans are important for the self-driving car project because its the first minivan that Google has added to their fleet. Allowing them to test a brand new type of vehicle with their autonomous software. Where Chrysler is virtually right down the street from this new space that Google has picked up, its not surprising to see that fitting these new Pacificas with their software is going to be their first task at hand.

Advertisement

Google also mentioned that they will be moving into this space throughout 2016. Right now its a pretty empty, but very large building. Something of this size is needed to test out self-driving cars. Although with the M-City test track on the campus of the University of Michigan, its a bit surprising they didnt get space closer to Ann Arbor to use their track, which is already set up  which Ford is using from time to time.

Self-driving or autonomous vehicles might not make it to the public for a few more years, but that doesnt mean there isnt loads of testing left to do. Something that Google is wanting to get done as soon as possible, so these autonomous vehicles can be made available to the public.
News broke yesterday that Huawei, the worlds largest maker of 4G LTE network equipment, was suing Samsung on patent grounds. Specifically, Samsung was alleged to have made illegal use of patented Huawei network technology, including systems to allow their phones to access 4G LTE networks. Huawei brought suit in the United States, despite them not operating networks there, and in China, where they are based, looking for billions of dollars in damages, though a specific amount was not mentioned. The Korean tech giant finally got a chance to speak on the matter of the lawsuits after the smoke cleared, and it seems that Samsung will be filing a countersuit against Huawei.

Samsungs head of intellectual property, Ahn Seong-ho, told the media that Samsung is planning to take defensive measures in this situation, including a lawsuit. While he did not say outright that the lawsuit would be against Huawei, its an obvious assumption, given the situation. With Samsung accused of violating 11 Huawei patents related to 4G LTE, how Samsung plans to react and what their countersuit may touch on is a bit less obvious though. To make things a bit more mysterious, a Samsung representative refused to comment or provide any additional details, saying that Samsung was still looking into the case themselves.

Advertisement

Bill Plummer of Huawei said of the case that Huawei has a long and storied history of successful licensing deals, and that the company hopes for Samsung to do the right thing in this case. It is still unknown what specific damage amounts may be sought, which patents have been violated and when the case may begin on Huaweis end, while Samsung is keeping lips tight about the countersuit. With both sides keeping the utmost secrecy, its hard to say at this point who may end up with an advantage in the courtroom and what could be at stake as far as monetary penalties, deals, and even the possibility of larger implications outside of this particular case. Keep in mind that its not a total certainty that Samsung will coutersue at all, merely something said by a Samsung executive. If they do pursue this line of action though, it will be interesting to see what grounds upon they sue, and to watch two of the worlds biggest OEMs duke it out in court.
Xiaomis 2015 sales goal was set at 80 million handsets, but the company was unable to reach such numbers. Xiaomi has sold 70 million smartphones in 2015, and even though they were unable to hit their sales goal, this is still the best result the company managed to pull off since they were founded back in 2010. That being said, Xiaomis devices are usually in high demand as soon as they become available, and the company often finds itself unable to meet the demand, which is why they sell limited quantities of their handsets through a number of flash sale events. Well, it looks like Xiaomi is definitely planning to change that in the future, their CEO, Lei Jun, took over control of the companys supply chain yesterday, at least according to a leaked document. That being said, a new piece of info regarding all this surfaced recently, read on.

The company has sold quite a few Mi 5 units thus far, but considering they can only offer so many units a month, they find themselves in a really hard spot. Xiaomi has held four flash sales for the Mi 5 thus far, and the phone was sold out in a matter of seconds. Xiaomi is currently able to push out around 700,000 Mi 5 units per month, and theyre looking to increase that number. According to a new report from China, Inventec will help Xiaomi increase their production capacity, and thanks to Inventecs help, Xiaomi should be able to manufacture 1 million Mi 5 units per month. According to this report, Inventec has increased the production capacity utilization ratio of their Nanjing plant to 90%, and is looking to expand their production capacity in the near future in order to be able to push out even more devices.

Advertisement

All in all, these are great news for Xiaomi, if this info is accurate, of course. The demand for the Mi 5 seems to be really strong in China, not to mention other markets in Asia that are looking forward to the device. As most of you know, Xiaomi is still mostly focused on Asia, though there are several markets outside of Asia the company is currently selling their devices in, but they still didnt expand to Europe or the U.S., such expansion is expected in the future, but we dont know when will it happen exactly.
Yesterday the unannounced Samsung Galaxy C5 was spotted in a leaked official press render, showcasing the smartphone in gold flavor from all angles. The leak seems to precede an imminent market launch in China, but while the Galaxy C5 is expected to be unveiled tomorrow, the time for leaks is not yet over. Today the Samsung Galaxy C5 was spotted online once again in a new series of leaked press renders, and this time, we have the opportunity to overview the handsets overall design in three additional colors besides gold, namely gray, silver and pink gold.

The Samsung Galaxy C5 is a metal-clad mid-range smartphone and it is a part of a new series of Samsung Galaxy handsets planned for a market release in the following weeks / months. The Samsung Galaxy C5 along with the Galaxy C7 is likely to be officially announced in China tomorrow, and so far the Galaxy C5, at least, has been the subject of numerous leaks and rumors. The latest leak consists of a rich gallery of press renders flaunting the handsets exterior design from all angles and (re)confirms that the Samsung Galaxy C5 will be available in at least four colors covering the metal unibody design.

Advertisement

While Samsung has been keeping quiet in regards to what makes the Galaxy C5 tick, several leaks so far hinted at the same hardware configuration, consisting of a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor, an Adreno 405 graphics chip, 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory expandable through a microSD card slot, LTE connectivity, and a 2,600 mAh battery. The smartphones back panel accommodates a 16-megapixel camera coupled with a dual-LED flash, and on the opposite side resides a generous 8-megapixel sensor. The Samsung Galaxy C5 is expected to run Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box, featuring the companys proprietary TouchWiz user interface on top. Once again and leaving the hardware configuration aside, the Samsung Galaxy C5 should be announced in China tomorrow, where rumors have it that the terminal will hit the shelves for a price of around $330. As for the smartphones availability details outside of China, not much is known at this point but it is possible that Samsung will shed more light on the matter following the Galaxy C5s debut.
The Internet of Things is a term used to describe a network of billions of interconnected devices designed to simplify modern life. The networking hardware and software will sit between the devices, sensors and objects to be connected and in many cases the cloud computing muscle that performs the smart side of things. The Internet-of-Things technology will be designed to run over a number of different platforms, from using current carrier consumer networks, through Wi-Fi, and through dedicated IoT networks. Many carriers are interested in getting IoT devices to use their networks, aware that this is a readily tapped resource and how the majority of IoT devices are optimised for slow data requirements. In other words, when a typical IoT device requires Internet access, it does not need to transmit or receive much data and it will work with slow data rates. As such there should be a relatively low impact on cellular data networks designed to handle smartphone and tablet data speeds and amounts.

Weve news today that Samsung and SK Telecom have created a partnership to build the worlds first network designed for the Internet of Things. The network will be released in the city of Daegu, South Korea, next month and the joint venture are planning on rolling the network out to cover the rest of the country shortly thereafter. The new network will be available for businesses to use and will operate on the 900 MHz band, which is used in South Korea as an unlicensed public spectrum called the ISM band, for Industrial Scientific and Medical. The operators are using a LoRaWAN, long range WAN, and it will support various technologies designed to allow it to cooperate in an unlicensed part of the specturm, similar to LTE-E and related technologies. One of the features includes Listen Before Talk, whereby the network hardware checks that a given frequency is not in use before starting to transmit data. The new network will be paired up with a new service model called the Internet of Small Things, or IoST; this will be used to help create business opportunities using Low Power Wide Area Network technologies, which is designed to optimise the sending and transmission of relatively small amounts of data at very low speeds, below 5 Kbps.

Advertisement

Daegu are planning on using the new network to experiment with city-wide IoT technology, such as using streetlights to collect weather, pollution and traffic information, and to adapt illumination accordingly. Youngky Kim, Samsungs President and Head of Networks Business, said this of the announcement: Now is a critical moment for ICT companies looking for new future business opportunities such as IoT services We are very pleased to partner with SK Telecom for its pioneering IoT vision. Samsung will contribute in creating the ecosystem for enabling significant changes driven by new IoT services.
Three years ago, Samsungs smartphones were about having a suitable model available for every type of customer. The company offered dozens of models across the different markets, providing customers with many, many choices of device. There are different families in the Samsung Android range, such as the premium build but middling specification Galaxy A family, the entry level Galaxy J family and the flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note ranges. However, sales were struggling: the business was producing model after model of similar but not identical handsets and each was selling in relatively small numbers but still requiring the design, development and tooling to be put into production. Furthermore, 2013s Galaxy S4 and 2014s Galaxy S5 flagship models did not sell as well as they were hoped. Samsungs policy of pushing numbers higher  each year had a more powerful processor, bigger and higher resolution display, and more megapixels for the camera  was not working.

In recognition of the pressure on the business, things started to change. Weve seen management changes over the last two years and a reduction in the number of models. Samsung opted for best in class rather than highest numbered components for 2015s Galaxy S6 flagship, a trend which has continued for 2016s Galaxy S7, which by way of example comes with a 12MP rear camera (compared with a 16MP rear camera for the Galaxy S6) and in some markets a quad core processor compared with the octa-core processor of the Galaxy S6. Samsung have adopted metal design and AMOLED panels  something of a Samsung speciality  are available in the lower and mid-range models.

Advertisement

In the first quarter 2016, Samsungs smartphone business enjoyed its strongest profit for almost two years  although it is far too soon to determine if the business is through the worst.The Galaxy S7 launch was deliberately moved forward into the first quarter and it remains to be seen how the rest of the year pan out. Regardless, Samsung has another battle: worldwide handset sales are weakening. Nevertheless, it was important that Samsung stabilise sales as Kim Gae-youn, Samsungs smartphone product planning vice president explained: Weve now gotten to a point where we can secure a baseline profit even if the market stagnates, so long as we dont make a bad mistake. Im confident we can hold our ground.

There is still some way to go. Samsungs product family still has many models, even if more are using shared components with other devices. Industry research shows that Samsung has reduced its portfolio by around one third. The business faces massive internal resistance: individual divisions do not want to lose their product family. Kim reports: There are also different needs depending on individual markets, so regional sales staff naturally cant be happy when the company moves to rationalize and restructure from a global structure. The transition process is painful. One unnamed Indian Samsung executive explained that the number of different smartphones meant things were confusing for customers.

One key market remains difficult for Samsung: China, where the business is ranked sixth in terms of sales. Having offered middling level handsets to Chinese customers for years, in 2016 the business is going to change and offer high end devices, costing upwards of $500. Here it believes it has the ability to innovate devices and compete with local manufacturers.
It has been a long time coming, but after a short delay from their projected date, Telus and Koodo are pushing out Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The update is about 1GB in size so you might want to have WiFi access to speed things up. These updates are usually done on a rolling basis, so if you do not see a download notification, you can always manually check and force it by going to Settings -> About Device -> Software Update -> Update.

Besides the new Marshmallow update, you will also receive the newest version of Samsungs TouchWiz, which is improved considerably over the past couple of years. Samsung continues to tweak its User Interface each year, and this is the lightest TouchWiz we have ever seen. It takes less memory and processing power from the device and allows it to run faster and smoother than ever before. Samsung claims it provides enhanced usability and an updated visual design.

Marshmallow brings some nice features to the Android OS  Google Now on Tap is one of those. You can hold down the home button and get more information about key features found on your display  say you were searching for tourist attractions and wanted to know about one without leaving your web position, you could press the home button and up will pop more details about that topic. The ability to authorize mobile payments with you fingerprint sensor is now baked into Marshmallow, making it very easy for app developers to incorporate this feature into their apps. Doze is a very exciting feature to help extend your battery life. It does this with an advanced power saving mode that will restrict the sending and receiving of background data when your device is sleeping. As soon as you wake the device, it will immediately start those background processes. Google added more security when it came to adding a new fingerprint to your library of authorized prints. You will now be required to use a pin, pattern, or password to add any additional prints. Quick Connect provides you a list of current selectable devices and previous connections to make it faster and easier to connecting your phone with nearby devices.
Does competition drive innovation? Most would agree it does. So does Valves hardware engineer Alan Yates, at least in principle. Namely, earlier this week, Yates contributed to a Reddit thread discussing the possibility of Oculus Rift becoming bad for the VR industry by basically stating that Oculus copied the original prototype of the HTC Vive virtual reality headset. More specifically, Yates explained that while Oculus developed its own computer vision-based (CV) camera tracking and came up with an original fresnel lens design, the first consumer version of Rift is otherwise a direct copy of the architecture of the 1080p Steam Sight prototype. The prototype in question was borrowed by Oculus back when Valve installed one of its Valve Rooms at their former headquarters in Irvine, California.

Yates finished his train of thought by saying he would describe Oculus as the first SteamVR licensee, suggesting that history will probably come up with a different, far more revolutionary term for the Facebook-owned company. While Valves hardware engineer was definitely not posting to reddit in any official capacity, its still interesting to see the first signs of tensions between the currently largest VR players on the planet. That isnt to say the two arent working with each other and third parties in order to popularize VR technology  for example, Oculus is doing quite a lot to bring more content to Samsungs Gear VR headset  but Yates accusations are definitely not frivolous. Naturally, its currently unknown whether he has a hidden agenda guiding his publicly voiced opinions or not, but when someone who was so closely involved in the development of SteamVR and HTC Vive accuses you of being a copycat, you should probably take notice. Thats presumably exactly what Oculus will do, so expect to see the companys answer to Yates aforementioned claims really soon.

Of course, its also worth noting that Yates does admit to Oculus developing its own CV tracking, as well as coming up with a unique fresnel lens design for Rift, which isnt exactly insignificant. Once you take out the tracking aspect and the said flat lens made of concentric rings out of the device, what you get really is a relative copy of Valves Steam Sight prototype, but the thing is  thats a pretty primitive prototype compared to what Rift is today. In other words, Yates claims are just a tiny bit less harsh in reality than what they sound like at first.
(ANSA) - Rome, May 25 - Melanoma skin cancer is on the rise among young Italians, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) said Wednesday.

In 2015, 20% of new diagnoses - or 2,260 cases - were made among patients aged 15-39, and 17% of melanoma patients hospitalized in 2001-2008 were aged 31-40.

The incidence of melanoma almost doubled in just over a decade, from under 6,000 new cases in 2004 to 11,300 diagnoses in 2015.

While some people are genetically prone to skin cancer, doctors stressed it's important for everyone to reduce risk by using adequate protection against UV light from the sun as well as lamps in tanning salons.

Prevention is also key, because melanoma is curable in over 90% of cases if caught early. Doctors recommend going to a qualified dermatologist for a skin check-up once a year.


(ANSA) - Cagliari, May 25 - A British WWII-era P311 submarine that went missing in January 1943 has been found by a Genoese diver just off the coast of the island of Tavolara.

Massimo Domenico Bordone found the wreck at a depth of 90 metres near the small island off the northeast coast of Sardinia.

Despite his two decades of experience diving in the waters off Sardinia, Bordone, who discovered the sunken relic with technical support from Corrado Azzali's Orso Diving in Poltu Quatu, said that the find was an emotional moment.

"The characteristic that makes this find particular, almost one-of-a-kind, is the on-deck presence of two Chariot manned torpedoes," Bordone told ANSA.

"The sailors used them to get close to targets and prepare explosives".

Submarines that vanished without a trace were fairly common during WWII, making up a sort of "ghost fleet".

According to embarkation documents, this particular sub went missing after it left Malta with a crew of 71 British sailors.

The condition of the vessel, which was damaged by a probable explosion but is still sealed shut, makes it likely that the bodies are still inside. The sub's mission was to reach the Sardinian port of La Maddalena and to destroy two Italian cruisers that were seen as dangerous.

At the time that the sub went missing, the Badoglio Proclamation of September 8, 1943, announcing an armistice between Italy and the Allies was still months away.

During the submarine's mission, it ran into an undetected naval minefield near Tavolara.

"At the time, some fishermen said that they had heard a blast during the night," said Bordone. Now, this relic that was among the most searched-for in the Mediterranean will become a divers' tourist attraction, above all for those who have a passion for history.


(ANSA) - Rome, May 25 - The defence ministry on Wednesday denied press reports that Italian peace-keeping troops were involved in illegal food-trafficking in Lebanon. The ministry said that "having heard from the UN command in Lebanon, investigations are in course and at the moment there is no evidence that the personnel of the Italian military contingent are involved in this affair". Earlier UNIFIL Spokesman Andrea Tenenti said that no evidence had been found so far to back reports that United Nations peacekeepers, including Italian blue helmets, were involved in illegal food-trafficking. "So far there is no evidence to confirm a systematic operation linked to the trafficking of food, and even less the involvement of some members of the contingents," Tenenti said about the reports in Spanish daily El Pais. He added, however, that internal investigations has been running "for some time" and these were continuing.


(ANSA) - Rome, May 25 - An Italian group has won a 400-million-euro contract to construct the dome and support structure for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Situated in the Chilean Andes, the E-ELT will be the largest optical-near-infrared telescope in the world and will be managed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). E-ELT will be completed by the ACe consortium with Astaldi, Cimolai and the EIE group among the subcontractors. The contact for the dome and the support structure was signed in Germany on Wednesday by ESO Director General Tim de Zeeuw, Astaldi President Paolo Astaldi and Cimolai President Luigi Cimolai, with Italian Education Minister Stefania Giannini among those present.

The E-ELT will gather 13 times more light than the largest optical telescopes existing today. It should advance astrophysical knowledge by enabling detailed studies of planets around other stars, the first galaxies in the Universe, super-massive black holes, and the nature of the Universe's dark sector.

It is estimated that Italian firms have won contracts worth a total of 800 million euros over the last 15 years.

"This booty is the incredible return from the Italian expertise in this sector," said Nicolo D'Amico, the head of the Italian National Astrophysics Institute (INAF).


Art: Caravaggio painting in Lampedusa for Museum of Trust Works from across Mediterranean, Mattarella to attend opening

(ANSAmed) - PALERMO, MAY 25 - The Uffizi Galleries have chosen a Caravaggio painting in remembrance of young Aylan - the three-year-old who died while escaping from the Syrian war and became a symbol for all migrant victims - for display in the first exhibition at Lampedusa's Museum of Trust and Dialogue for the Mediterranean, set to open June 3 in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.



The painting is a Sleeping Cupid, an angel in a deep sleep, which will now become a tribute not only to the young boy on the Turkish beach, but to all of the children who have died at sea during their voyages of hope, as well as those who were born and those who were rescued and managed to survive.



The painting is just one of dozens of works on loan from major museums across the Mediterranean that will make up the museum's first exhibition.



On the same day of the Museum of Trust's inauguration, the doors will also open to the Archaelogical Museum of the Pelagie Islands, which was made possible through efforts by the Region of Sicily and the Superintendency for Archaeological and Cultural Heritage of the Province of Agrigento led by Caterina Greco.



In addition to Mattarella, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini will also attend the inauguration, along with Mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa Giusi Nicolini and directors of the museums participating in the initiative.



The museum is the result of a project by First Social Life with the City of Lampedusa and Linosa and the October 3 Committee, under the direction of Giacinto Palladino and Alessandro de Lisi with Valerio Cataldi; in cooperation with MiBACT, the Region of Sicily, the Superintendency of Agrigento, the Tunisian Culture Ministry, the Tunisian National Institute for Heritage and the Italian Cultural Institute of Tunisia.(ANSAmed).




'Italian company' to help Egyptair black-box search Hired by serach team

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MAY 25 - An unspecified "Italian company" and a French one have been hired to help find the black boxes of the Egyptair flight that went down north of Alexandria with 66 passengers and crew on board Thursday, the president and CEO of the airline, Safwat Musallam, told a press conference Wednesday.



He said the two companies had been hired by "the search team" and not by Egyptair. (ANSAmed).




Lebanon: El Pais, UN peacekeepers illegally resold food Anonymous source said most active were from Ghana and Italy

(ANSAmed) - Rome, May 25 - UN peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are at the centre of a food-trafficking operation in Lebanon, according to a report by Spanish daily El Pais online. It said that two investigations are currently underway: one by the Lebanon Economy Ministry and the other by the UN. According to the newspaper, food that was marked for the troops, and therefore not authorised for sale, has been found for sale in numerous local supermarkets.



UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti and Lebanon Economy Ministry General Director Alia Abbas were both contacted by El Pais and confirmed that investigations are underway, but didn't offer any additional details due to privacy.



"Ghana (with 870 Blue Helmets) and Italy (with 1,206 soldiers, and currently in charge) are the two most active battalions in the illegal resale of food, among the five that have been reported," said R.D., one of the newspaper's informants, and another "six international and local UNIFIL workers". "UNIFIL took the appropriate measures, within the mission and in strict cooperation with UN General Headquarters," Tenenti told El Pais in an email, and added that speculation shouldn't be made until the investigation is complete.



R.D. works for the Lebanon branch of Italian food supply company Es-Ko, which El Pais said "between 2006 and 2015 obtained multi-million-euro contracts for food distribution to UNIFIL troops".



El Pais estimated that the scam was worth around four million euros over a five-year period. (ANSAmed).




ROME - A new tragedy took place on Wednesday in the Strait of Sicily: a boat carrying more than 500 migrants capsized off the coast of Libya. The Italian Navy provided life rafts and life jackets from the ships Bettica and Bergamini. About 562 migrants were rescued and 5 bodies were recovered.

During routine surveillance in the Strait of Sicily, the Navy vessel Bettica spotted the overcrowded boat, which was having trouble staying afloat. The boat capsized shortly after, and hundreds of migrants fell into the water.

Rescue operations began immediately, while the nearby Navy ship Bergamini sent a helicopter and naval rescue vessels. Both the survivors as well as the bodies of the 5 drowned migrants were taken aboard the Bettica.

Meanwhile, 1,017 migrants including women and children are expected to arrive at the port of Salerno at around noon on Thursday.

In the meantime, a Coast Guard boat carrying about 1,045 migrants has arrived in the Sicilian port of Palermo. Among them, 250 children who were rescued days ago in the Mediterranean sea.There have been no reported cases of health issues or emergencies from that group of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, who were rescued most likely by a tugboat. They are currently travelling on the Norwegian boat Siem Pilot that brought more than 500 migrants to the port of Salerno on April 1.
Italy to bring up migrants at G7, Renzi says 'Paris and Brussels attackers grew up in EU, not Med coasts'

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 25 - Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Wednesday that Italy would be introducing the issues of energy and migration at the G7 in Japan. In his newsletter Enews, Renzi said that he was ''very happy with the renewed interest in Italy's proposals'', and especially the Migration Compact. He noted that he wanted to bring attention to the fact that the evacuation of the Idomeni migrant camp on the Greek-Macedonian border had begun on Tuesday.



''And, faced with the demagogy and at times verbal violence against refugees, I would like us to remember - as we pointed out yesterday to the NATO secretary general - that the threat to our cities is often from the extremism and radicalism of our peripheries, not from Idomeni and Lampedusa migrants.'' ''I am very happy about the rekindled interest that Italy is sparking in the field of proposals. These are times when it is very easy the world over to get up and engage in polemics.



Launching specific proposals and alternatives is instead not always easy. We are trying the second route and not playing at who shouts the loudest, which fosters tensions; we are instead making proposals. This is why we are insisting on a strategy for Africa and with Africa with the 'Migration Compact'. And this is why we are insisting on energy, on a global strategy that invests in new technology like our major companies in the sector are doing, from smart meters to renewable energy,'' Renzi wrote.



On the issue of migration, he added that those involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels ''had been raised a few kilometers from NATO headquarters or of the EU headquarters, and not on the coasts of the Mediterranean. The truth often doesn't make the news, however, while fear does.'' (ANSAmed).




Italy to hold 2017 G7 in Sicily says Renzi Premier makes announcement in e-news

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 25 - Premier Matteo Renzi announced on Wednesday that Italy will host the 2017 G7 summit in Sicily. "I write to you while I fly to Japan for the (2016) G7," Renzi said in his e-news. "The Japanese presidency has put many issues on the agenda, as it waits to pass the baton to Italy, which will organise the 2017 event in Sicily". (ANSAmed).




RABAT - The Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Editors (FMEJ) is asking the government to tighten regulations on the sale of newspapers and ban them from being read in coffee bars, libraries, hotel lobbies and quite possibly even schools. They say that one copy is being read by too many people. On Monday the topic was taken up at a closed-door meeting between Culture Minister Mustafa Khalfi and FMEJ representatives. Although the meeting was supposed to be kept secret, news of it leaked in an interview with Khalfi in the Moroccan edition of Huffington Post.



"Newspaper editors are in crisis," Khalfi said. "We need to take severe measures to limit the damage. According to an FMEJ study, each newspaper copy is ready by an average of five people".



And so the solution is the ban, which Khalfi announced will become part of a series of measures that will make up the body of a law on the press now being debated in Parliament.



Institutional advertising will do the rest, with public awareness campaigns to inform potential readers.(ANSAmed).


AGERPRES special correspondent Doroteea Purcarea reports: Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said on Tuesday that Romania has become, after the inauguration of a missile shield at Deveselu, a security provider, not just a security consumer.

"The main goal of this visit [to the US] was to confirm Romania's interest in strengthening cooperation under the strategic partnership with the US, which has already delivered results. Therefore there are not only declarative items. (...) We have already got results as far as security and defence cooperation is concerned. The missile defence shield at Deveselu has been recently put into operation, which is an important element not only for Romania and the US, but hopefully also for the NATO defence system in this region. (...) We have become security providers, not only security consumers," Ciolos said at a meeting with members of the Romanian community in the Washington DC area.

He mentioned that, "starting from this experience we already have and from a mutual trust we already have," he wanted this visit to the US to also boost economic cooperation.

"I wanted this visit to also boost a more intense cooperation on the economic dimension, because, in the end, the best way to keep peace and stability is to encourage prosperity, and prosperity means economic development, investment," said Ciolos.

Over 150 persons participated in the meeting hosted by Romania's Embassy in Washington.

The meeting began with the national anthems of the two countries and a speech delivered by Romania's Ambassador to the US George Cristian Maior.
Signed by Affan Khalfan Al Akhzami, ICEM managing director and CEO, Maria Rueda, CAAi managing director and witnessed Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of Oman Air, the MoU supports the extension of ICEMs CAAi accredited Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting training, into new geographic locations. Under the existing agreement, ICEM is an accredited CAAi training provider and authorised by the UK CAA to provide training in Oman on the Structured Learning Programme for rescue fire fighting personnel in accordance with UK CAA CAP 699  Standards for the Competence of Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) Personnel.

Under the MoU, CAAi has also offered to provide training consultancy services in Oman, through a blend of theoretical and on-the-job training programmes.

Since gaining full CAAi accreditation in 2013, ICEM has trained hundreds of airport fire fighting professionals to UK CAA CAP 699 standards.

Al Akhzami said, I am delighted to sign this MOU with CAAi. I believe that the combination of ICEMs reputation for training and education coupled with CAAis international brand will form a formidable partnership, not only in Oman but also across the region. We at ICEM are proud to work with internationally recognised bodies who can strengthen Omans organisational capability and help to develop and nurture local Omani human capital. I look forward to a long, strong and prosperous relationship.
The special boxes have been re-designed and will be available across all cabin classes on select flights including those to and from the Gulf region as well as Umrah groups travelling to Jeddah and Medina.

The Iftar boxes will allow those observing Ramadan to break their fast with a nutritious and balanced meal. The service has been a mainstay on Emirates flights for over 20 years and is available for the whole month of Ramadan expected to begin on 6 June this year.

The boxes feature a new look with a clean and modern Arabesque design inspired by the region. The Iftar service is a further commitment towards an exceptional travel experience, providing comfort and convenience to customers who are observing the holy month of Ramadan and allowing them to enjoy the world class meals the airline is known for.

This years Ramadan boxes will have a new menu designed by Emirates chefs. These menus feature a Middle Eastern flavour, while remaining distinctly global, and will be refreshed mid-Ramadan. The Iftar box includes options such as zaatar chicken with hummus, spinach fatayer, halloumi cheese and cucumber sandwiches, traditional sweets such as mammoul and dates, as well as yoghurt.

Emirates utilises a unique tool to calculate the correct timings for Imsak (the time to commence fasting) and Iftar while in-flight. It calculates the exact Ramadan timings using the aircrafts longitude, latitude and altitude; ensuring the greatest level of accuracy possible while onboard. When the sun sets, passengers will be informed of the Iftar time by the captain. This tool was developed to supplement Emirates annually produced booklet on the timings for Ramadan, available on every flight.

A snack box will also be provided at boarding gates allowing customers to break their fast prior to boarding or while boarding. The snack boxes will feature pastries like cheese fatayer and Arabic sweets like baklava and will be served for flights departing close to Iftar at Emirates hub in Dubai International Airport Terminal 3. On certain routes, these boxes will be offered to customers prior to Imsak

Both variations of boxes will feature a box of dates, symbolic of Ramadan. During the holy month, cold meals will be served in lieu of a hot one on all flights to Jeddah and Medina, including Umrah day flights.

Emirates award-winning ice system will feature popular movies such as Zinzana and Omar wa Salwa. These are in addition to 49 Arabic movies, 19 channels of Arabic TV programming, and 94 Arabic audio channels, including the Holy Quran channel.
The award-winning airline will fly to Chiang Mai five times a week via Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, with an A330-200.

The largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand, Chiang Mai will be the fourth city in the Asian country to be served by Qatar Airways, which currently flies to Bangkok and Phuket, and will commence flights to Krabi on 6 December. With the addition of Krabi and Chiang Mai to its network Qatar Airways will increase its flights to Thailand from 39 to 48 per week by the end of 2016.

Qatar Airways senior vice president East Asia & South West Pacific, Marwan Koleilat, said: As we are constantly expanding our network in South East Asia, the popular tourist destination of Thailand is an obvious target for growth. We have seen increased travel demand for our services to Thailand and now with the introduction of our award-winning product to popular secondary cities such as Chiang Mai and Krabi, we provide overseas visitors and tour operators with greater flexibility and ease of travel when designing their Thailand holiday itineraries.
A gala reception to commemorate this milestone achievement was held last week and was attended by the cargo carriers customers and business partners, including Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Abdulla, Qatar's Ambassador to Kenya, and Yatich Kangugo, acting managing director of Kenya Airport.

Qatar Airways Cargo commenced services to Nairobi in 2006 with two Airbus A300 freighters. Today, Qatar Airways Cargo operates seven Airbus A330 freighters and transports belly-hold cargo on 21 passenger aircraft to Nairobi each week, offering a total capacity of 232 tonnes into Nairobi and 362 tonnes out of Nairobi each week. Over the past decade, Qatar Airways Cargo has established itself as a trusted air freight service provider in Kenya, connecting the city of Nairobi to a global network of more than 150 destinations on its young and modern fleet. The cargo carrier is constantly innovating and introducing effective air transport solutions to meet its customer and market needs in the East Africa region.

Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways chief officer cargo said: We are proud to have completed 10 successful years of freighter operations to and from Nairobi. Kenya is an important market for us, and we are a great partner with the businesses that need high quality, reliable cargo services. We anticipate continuous growth as we begin our second decade of freighter operations into the country. We owe our success to our customers, business partners and local stakeholders for their tremendous support over the years.
Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet...
Best Technology Products and Services

Would you like to submit an article in the Technology category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article.

Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us.
Best Finance Products and Services

Would you like to submit an article in the Finance category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article.

Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us.
Best Health Products and Services

Would you like to submit an article in the Health category or any of the sub-categories below? Click here to submit your article.

Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us.
An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2022 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in Singapore, compiled by the professionals at Dezan...
All the latest Ashbourne news. Ashbourne is an historic market town in Derbyshire. Situated on the southern edge of the Peak District, it is known as the 'Gateway to Dovedale' and the 'Gateway to the Peak District'. Ashbourne is famous for the annual Royal Shrovetide Football Match, which has been played since at least 1667, although its origins may date back centuries earlier. Ashbourne became a Fairtrade town in March 2005. The popular Tissington Trail, which follows the route of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway, starts on the edge of town. Keep up to date with the latest news from the town by signing up for our newsletter.
by Kamran Chaudhry

Tehreek Rwadari, an interfaith movement that promotes respect for all religions and peace building in the country, celebrated its first anniversary yesterday. At the event, activists stressed the difficulties minorities, women and children face, as well as the lack of security. Extremism, mistrust and intolerance are the root causes.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  Activists from different religions came together at a seminar yesterday celebrating the first anniversary of Rwadari Tehreek (Movement for Tolerance), an association that promotes respect for all faiths in Pakistan.

At the gathering, held at the Lahore Press Club, participants identified the challenges facing the country and unanimously stressed the need to build a peaceful nation to counter hatred, terrorism and religious extremism. Several prominent political, religious and civic leaders attended the event.

Activists stressed the urgency for a national security plan, a ban on hate speech and racist comments in textbooks, as well as religious pluralism.

As ubiquitous intolerance is in society so it is in politics. Talking about the blasphemy law has become a taboo, said Saadia Sohail, a member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly. Many parliamentarians told me that they worry when speaking on this topic in the media.

For her, gender discrimination is an additional factor. Speaking about pro-women bills is not easy even when you are on the government benches. When they are interrupted, male lawmakers rebuke women lawmakers because they were elected on reserved seats.

During the opening speech, Samson Salamat, a Christian who chairs Rwadari Tehreek, called on all citizens to respect everyones culture, traditions, ethnicity and language in accordance with the principle of "live and let live."

Our people, especially the children have been deprived of their right to recreation, social gatherings, games, education, he explained.

Islamic laws have led to group violence, activists said, including the persecution of minorities and extrajudicial murders. For rights advocates, "Extremism is at the heart of the Taliban insurgency and rampant terrorism."

Rwadari Tehreek president Abdullah Malik knows all about this. The administration has to be notified even for peace rallies, he noted. Often they tell us to go underground and that our names are on the hit list.

In view of this, Salamat believes that "the Government, state apparatus, political parties and all other stake-holders should adopt short term and long term policies and strategies to counter the culture of hatred, extremism and violence in the name of religion and sect. Mere lip-service cannot reverse the worst ever situation; hence, we demand practical steps.

And it is not always one way. A protestant clergyman who spoke at the seminar pointed out that he has to face opposition from his own people for frequently inviting people of different faith at his Cathedral.

(Shafique Khokhar contributed to this article)
After a year and a half of work, a Kadazan language version is available for the members of small ethnic groups in Sabah State. For Archbishop Joseph Marino, apostolic nuncio to Malaysia, the project is "a significant event in the life of the Church in Kota Kinabalu, giving many people access to the history of salvation.

Kota Kinabalu (AsiaNews)  The decision to produce audio Bibles in indigenous Malaysian languages is now a reality.

This is a significant event for the life of the Church in Kota Kinabalu, said Mgr Joseph Marino, apostolic nuncio to Malaysia, after the audiobook version of the Bible in Kadazan language was released earlier this month. The latter is spoken by some ethnic minorities in Malaysias Sabah State.

"This audio tool will enable many more people to have access to the Bible, added the prelate. The latter is the source of the stories of our faith, of the history of salvation. It is the source of our life, the Church coming out of herself to meet the world and undertake its missionary purpose.

It all began in 2014 when some parishioners in the diocese of Kota Kinabalu discovered Faith Comes by Hearing International (FCBH), an international not-for-profit recording company that has produced audio Bibles in 977 languages spoken by six billion people.

After inquiring, Kota Kinabalu Catholics realised that the New Testament was not available in the Kadazan and Dusun languages.

With the help of Louise Rose of the FCBH, they worked for a year and a half to produce 10,000 Gospel texts in the Kadazan language with some 30 people lending their voice. Recordings in Dusun are still ongoing and should be completed later this year.

Multilingual versions of the Bible can be downloaded anywhere in the world from www.Bible.is.

During the Mass celebrated for the recordings launch, Archbishop Marino cited Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium Apostolic Exhortation, noting that the primary reason for evangelising is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known? (n 264).
by Victoria Ma

Nine, all from ethnic minorities, were ordained by Ma Yinglin, Kunmings illegitimate bishop. Mgr Wu Junwei, bishop of Yuncheng (Shanxi), ordained Fr Han Bo in Jinzhong Cathedral. Mgr He Zeqing, bishop of Wanzhou, ordained Fr Peng Yueyu of Chongqing.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  As the world prayed for the Church in China, local Catholics celebrated the ordination of 11 new priests on the feast day of Mary Help of Christians, which coincided with the Day of Prayer for the Church in China established by Benedict XVI in 2007.

Nine of the eleven new priests were ordained by an illegitimate bishop, Mgr Ma Yinglin of Kunming diocese. This is the second time that he ordains priests.

Faith Press today published the list of new consecrated clergymen. Mgr Wu Junwei, bishop of Yuncheng (Shanxi), ordained Fr Han Bo at Jinzhong Cathedral. Dozens of priests concelebrated the service. Fr Francis Li, from Hong Kong, who is related to the new priest, was also present.

Mgr He Zeqing, bishop of Wanzhou in southwest China, ordained Fr Peng Yueyu of Chongqing. More than 30 priests from Nanchong, Chengdu, Leshan, Yibin, Pingliang, Nanchang, Wanzhou, and Chongqing were present at this ceremony.

The nine priests ordained by Ma Yingling hail from the dioceses of Dali and Kunming, and belong to China's ethnic minorities. They were ordained at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kaiyuan, Honghe Prefecture.

Fr Ma Yongping, an ethnic Tibetan, comes from Dali, whilst Fr Mao Qiaoshun is an ethnic Jingpo. Fathers Xiong Zhenglin, Tao Youde, Deng Jinmin, Tao Guangrong and Yang Weiming, all ethnic Miao, come from Kunming. The last two, Fathers He Yingping and Bi Hezhong, come from the same diocese, and are ethnic Yi.

Mgr Ma Yinglin heads the Council of Chinese Bishops and was ordained without a papal mandate in 2006.

This is the second time he ordains new priests. The first time was in Dali in March 2012, involving six priests, also from ethnic minorities.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The German Government has conferred the Cross of Merit on Sister Hermanelde Pulm, for her commitment to the care of the poor in India for over 50 years. The award was presented by Consul General Michael Siebert, in representation of President Joachim Gauck. The German missionary has lived in India since 1963, where she works at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri (on the outskirts of Mumbai), which provides medical care to all citizens and particularly to the poor, regardless of the religion professed.



The ceremony took place on May 23 in Mumbai. The nun was awarded the prestigious "Bundesverdienstkreuz", the most important contribution that the Federal Republic of Germany gives to individuals who work for the good of the nation. Over the years, the award was presented to heads of state, political leaders, emperors and queens.



Sister Hermanelde, 79, belongs to the Order of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). Germany wanted to reward her "decades of commitment to those in need in India." During the ceremony, the consul said: "She spread a positive image of Germany among so many people, but never seeking the limelight. She has helped so many children, young people, mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts in the pediatric ward, both physically and spiritually. "



Recalling the nickname that patients have coined affectionately for the nun, "Amma" (spiritual mother), the representative thanked her for having "turned that building that the inhabitants called 'a jungle' hospital into the structure it is today the Holy Spirit Hospital. With her work, she has inspired volunteers and doctors. "



Siebert said that "even today Sister Hermanelde collects clothes and books for the slums residents. All she does is for the good of those who go to the hospital, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, or what religion they belong to. " "As the representative of Germany - he concluded - I want to say that my country is grateful for her outstanding contribution to the relations between India and Germany."
Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has struck a deal overnight with the ultranationalist Israel Beitenu, who will now enter government. Its leader Avigdor Lieberman will be part of the executive, holding the post of the new defense minister. He takes the place of the resigning Moshe Yaalon, who left the post in recent days because of disagreements with the prime minister.



Likud and Israel Beiteinu confirmed the agreements making this the most right-wing Government in Israel's history. It will be ratified in Parliament today.



With the entry of Lieberman and his party, the executive will boast today a majority of 66 MPs, shoring up a government that until now enjoyed had a narrow majority in the Knesset.



At the same time another Israel Beitenu deputy will to take on the post of Minister of Immigration.



Prime minister Netanyahu has tried assuage fears over the Lieberman coalition, stressing that peace efforts will continue [in reality negotiations are long stalled] with the Palestinians. The Prime Minister will also continue to "monitor" the policies promoted by the Ministry, which also controls activities in the Occupied Territories in the West Bank.



Moshe Yaalons resignation which paved the way for Liebermans entry into the executive, was sparked by his clash with the prime minister over the words of the Israeli armys number two spoken on May 4 last.

In a speech at the Institute Massuah, General Yair Golan compared the current trend in Israeli society to "the nauseating process" of Nazi Germany of the '30s. The words were part of a much broader discourse, but have enraged much of the political class and leadership. They also ignited heated discussion between the prime minister and his defense minister, with the latter's resignation.



Meanwhile, Netanyahu is also facing judicial storm clouds. Yesterday a government commission issued a critical report on alleged "spree" made by the premier in his travels. The story dates back more than 10 years, when he was finance minister. The report is now in the hands of the judiciary, which could open an investigation into the head of government and further aggravate the political and institutional crisis of a nation that - as claimed by human rights activists and NGOs - is becoming increasingly right wing and attacking democratic values.
by Xie Qircan

For the first time, since the appointment of bishop Stephen Lee, the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China took place at a diocesan level, in the cathedral, in the presence of the bishop. The memory of the martyrs, Chinese and foreign, who evangelized China; the prayer to Mary so that Christians may face the new challenges of a Chinese society in transition. It is the duty of all Chinese faithful to evangelize China.

Macao (AsiaNews) - In line with the Universal Church and as part of mainland China, the Diocese of Macao yesterday celebrated the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.



In past years, the celebration was held at a parish level, with vigils of prayer and with some testimonies. This year, the first since the appointment of the new bishop Stephen Lee, the celebration was held only in Macau Cathedral, presided over by Msgr. Lee.



The vigil, which began last night at 20, was articulated using three languages: Cantonese, English, Portuguese. On either side of the altar there were two panels with two screens through which flowed a short presentation of the martyrs of China, local Catholics and foreign missionaries, along with a brief history, illuminating and inspiring Christians today who are part of this society in rapid transformation and who in China face many difficulties.



The Gospel was proclaimed in the three languages and the Holy Spirit invoked to guide the witnesses of the Gospel in times of persecution, gifting them eloquence in front of the world's authorities.



In his homily, Msgr. Lee spoke of how this celebration takes place in the month of May, dedicated to Mary. He highlighted the many Marian devotions in the world, but above all the power of prayer to Mary by the Church in China, with many places of pilgrimage scattered around the country.

The bishop stressed three important points for Macau Catholics. First, he asked the Virgin Mary to help the Church in China grow in the faith, as it prepares to face new social challenges. This growth of faith must take place between bishops and priests, religious and laity together. Secondly, he asked that the Virgin Mary give strength to Christians in facing the hardships and difficulties arising from their exercise of faith in China, following the example of the martyrs of the past. These difficulties have long been known to Macau Catholics: they are born of the nature of Chinese society, from the economy, from ethnic conflicts.



Finally, Msgr. Lee asked the Virgin to foster evangelizing zeal in the hearts of the Chinese to bring the joy of the Gospel to people. He pointed out that the present moment is an opportune time for Chinese Catholics to evangelize all of China.

The vigil concluded with a moment of silence before the Blessed Sacrament and the prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan in the three languages. The celebration ended with the hymn to Mary, Queen of China.
The Ministry of Education has not paid 50 million shekels promised at the beginning of school year. The government wants to merge the schools into the public system, which would rob them of their Christian vocation and multicultural identity. Msgr. Marcuzzo announces an international mobilization campaign.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - The Israeli Ministry of Education "has not kept faith with the agreement" and did not pay the Holy Lands Christian schools the agreed sum of necessary finds. They promised "50 million shekels per year", half "in the first three months," and half "in the following", but so far "nothing has been honored" and "we are now at the end of the school year".

Bewilderment and disappointment haunt the words of Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem, as he confirms to AsiaNews that the government has withheld the funds needed for the survival of Christian institutions. The agreement was reached at the end of a tough battle fought last September against the Israeli Ministry of Education cuts, which delayed the beginning of the school year.



The agreement also provided for the creation of a bilateral commission, called to investigate and resolve "outstanding issues" between the schools and ministry. However, continues the prelate, after months of work and "despite the many proposals that we have made, thanks to the commendable work of a Jewish lawyer," the other party has declared that "there are no solutions, no steps forward."

Last September Christian schools protested for four weeks, by postponing the start of the school year, against the cutting of funds and the nationalization of the institutions unilaterally decided by Israel. Teachers and students reported double discrimination: the government had reduced subsidies to cover only 29% of the costs; at the same time, it had placed a limit on fees that schools can seek from families.



The Church of the Holy Land and the European bishops have supported the struggle of parents and pupils.



Depending on the subsequent agreement, the Israeli government had pledged to pay a first installment of 50 million shekels for the school year 2015-2016 (12 million euro, compared with a budget for schools in Israel 11.5 billion ), also cutting the budget in force since 2013. The students were given the right to full-time teachers and who would be paid for further training, sick leave and special permits. The two sides have also agreed on the creation of a commission, called to settle future disputes.



"They repeat always the same thing - says Mgr. Marcuzzo - insisting that Christian schools come within the public system. For us it would not be a problem, provided we do not lose our identity and the particularity of the schools, which would otherwise lose the meaning for their existence".

The 47 Christian institutions account for about 33 thousand pupils Christians, Muslims, Druze and Jews from all over the country. In recent years, the government has been gradually and persistently reducing state funding and suggesting their integration within the public sector; a solution that would eliminate the independence and the values of the same schools. The ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, which have the same status as their Catholic counterparts, receive full funding from the Government and enjoy complete autonomy.



However, the government "has not made any new proposal" and this says the prelate, has alarmed us. As a result we want to launch an information campaign and garner a national and international mobilization. We wrote to the embassies in Israel, the Secretariat of State in the Vatican, we want Israel to explain this lack of agreed funding. It is a very serious matter. "



Msgr. Marcuzzo reports that the leaders of the Church of the Holy Land - the patriarch, the bishops, the Episcopal Conference - have repeatedly requested a meeting with the prime minister, who has never responded. A partial opening came from the president, who met with Catholic leaders but to no avail.

"Now we want to raise public awareness  concludes the patriarchal vicar  and publicize the story as much as possible. We hope to involve Catholics and associations in the United States, that perhaps will put pressure on the Israeli government. In the meantime, however, our schools and our students continue to suffer and the risk of closure looms. (DS)
Catholics took to the streets last Saturday to defend their bishop, vilified by state media. Mgr Hop had accused government authorities of ineptitude in tackling the environmental disaster. The dioceses presbytery council signed a petition addressed to the authorities. Fishermen are caught between dead fish and Beijings fishing ban.

Hanoi (AsiaNews/EDA)  Tens of thousands of Catholics continue to hold prayer vigils and torchlight processions to express their disappointment with the governments attitude towards the environmental disaster that killed hundreds of thousands of fish and devastated the livelihood of fishermen in the countrys central provinces.

In the diocese of Vinh, one of the hardest hit, the faithful have rallied around their bishop, Mgr Paul Nguyen Thai Hop who, along with local pastors and laity, has been outspoken in his criticism of the authorities.

Everything started on 6 April when thousands of dead fish washed up on beaches in the central provinces of Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue.

In early May, reports indicated that the fish had died as a result of pollution caused by a 17-metre sewage pipe that discharges wastewater directly into the sea near the Hung Nghiep steel plant, owned by Formosa Plastics.

The company admitted that it was dumping 12,000 cubic metres of wastewater every day. The last time it did it (perhaps in April), they used 300 tonnes of extremely toxic chemicals to cleanse the sewer.

On 13 May, Mgr Hop wrote a pastoral letter in which he slammed Hanois indifference to the "panic, impoverishment and indignation people have had to go through. This was followed by a campaign of vilification against the prelate on local TV.

On Saturday evening last week (21 May), local Catholics took to the streets in various places to defend their bishop. In Hoa Yen Parish, more than a thousand people took part in an 8 pm Mass. Some 238 of them, including the auxiliary bishop and the bishop emeritus, signed a petition put forward by the presbytery council to the central and provincial governments (pictured).

The letter calls on the authorities to give an update about the case against Formosa Plastics, and notify the citizenry as to whether it was continuing its operations. It also pleads with them to heed what people are asking in their peaceful demonstrations. So far, the government has used an iron fist against protest in various cities.

For Vietnamese fishermen, the situation is hard. In addition to the pollution, they face a Chinese ban on fishing in much of the South China Sea, from 16 May to 1 August, including waters close to northern Vietnam, and around the Paracel and Spratly islands.

China had adopted the same measures in 2015 to penalise foreign fishing fleets and ensure its control over sea lanes where some US$ 5 trillion transit.

The Chinese are also training some 350,000 paramilitary forces to deploy on armed fishing shops, ready to attack and sink the competition.

For Tran Van Linh, head of the Managing Board of the Fisheries Joint Stock Company, Beijings ban "is only an excuse to intimidate, arrest and attack our fishermen".

(Paul Nguyen Binh contributed to this article)
A disgraced, former UK judge, sacked for watching porn on court computers, has raised doubts about the lawfulness of the sacking.



He was removed from his judicial position for viewing pornographic material on judicial IT equipment, along with two other judges."



The Judicial Conduct Investigations office said it was an inexcusable misuse of his judicial IT account and unacceptable conduct.



Warren Grant, the 61-year-old former judge, has now made an employment law claim against the Ministry of Justice, citing the Disability Discrimination Act, saying his behaviour stemmed from a mental illness triggered by marital problems.



The case, before the London Central Employment Tribunal, heard from Matrix Chambers barrister Mathew Purchase, who said Grant had broken strict guidelines when he used is work account to access pornography.



This wasnt a case of watching pornography one or two times, or even 10 or 20 times, but was persistent  several times a day  over a 14-month period or so, Purchase said.



Grant told the hearing that his work wasnt affected during the time he was drawn to pornography between December 2012 and February 2014.



The tribunal is continuing and could award Grant between 18,000 and 30,000 in damages if it finds him to be a victim of disability discrimination.



Grant was one of three English judges sacked last year for watching adult content at work.
Financial institutions, employees and customers are facing a clampdown by US authorities as part of its fight against tax evasion. Herbert Smith Freehills has partnered with specialist US tax lawyers at Sharp Partners to advise firms in Singapore and Hong Kong about the potential impact.During an investigation into Swiss banks, the US Department of Justice traced funds to Asia-Pacific and is now focused on following the money. Sharp Partners William Sharp said that the US authorities knows who they are tracking and will now target the financial institutions to which their funds have been transferred.Berwin Leighton Paisner has hired a team from Hong Kong boutique William KK Ho & Co. which specialises in asset financing for aircraft and ships.The team of 5 lawyers includes partners William Ho and Jackson Chow along with associates Karen He, Clara Lam and Calvin Leung. They will be joined at BLP by paralegal Victoria Li and three business services staff.All will move to BLP in Hong Kong on 18July 2016. Linklaters has announced that Charlie Jacobs has been elected senior partner. He has been with the firm for his entire career, 26 years so far. He will begin his initial 5-year term on 1October 2016, succeeding Robert Elliot.Jacobs has worked on some of the largest M&A deals in the market, most recently for SAB Miller on its proposed acquisition by ABI InBev and Glencore on its acquisition of Xstrata.Bird & Bird has hired Kristy Peacock-Smith as a partner in its Sydney office. She joins from K&L Gates where she was senior counsel and was previously with Herbert Smith Freehills and FCB Lawyers.Peacock-Smiths appointment strengthens Bird & Birds Asia-Pacific employment practice with her experience of general employment law and a key focus on industrial law.Anthony Woo joins the Hong Kong-based marine practice at Clyde & Co later this week. He has extensive experience in shipping, commodities and arbitration related matters and will join from Hill Dickinson where he has been a partner since 2014.
We talk quite a bit in the family violence context about male perpetrators of family violence, but there are also some female perpetrators of family violence, said Tasmanian attorney-general Vanessa Goodwin Some of those are ending up in the prison system.Drug usage, potentially the involvement of ice, changes their offending profile so they are more likely to be involved in offences of violence.She said the prison system was sitting at 87% capacity.But according to a report by the ABC, the union estimated that the average inmate number at the Mary Hutchinson womens prison, which has capacity for 46 female inmates, was 52, higher than the average indicated by a Department of Justice spokesperson at 43.The state government said on Thursday that it would spend $4.7m for 20 extra beds for the prison, and $700,000 in funding for Ron Barwick Minimum Security Prison.The Mary Hutchinson Women's prison has been operating at either full capacity or over capacity for at least the last six to eight months, said Sarah Lovell from United Voice, who welcomed the funding.Lovell said prison workers need assistance to cope with the changes.We would hope that the Government is matching any increase in funding that will increase capacity, with an increase in staffing to match that, she said.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
Hi,



We got some issues regarding to 820 online application,

1. We put a wrong street number of a friend address in the application. She also now has completed form 888 with her correct address.

2. Our 4th person to give us form 888 is currently overseas and we'll be for sometime, and we decided not to use him.



Our question is :

Which form should we use to notify the DIBP? Form 1022 or Form 1023?



Thanks for your help.

Regards.
Here is a peek at Ducati 959 Panigale that will be launched soon.

1- Baby Panigale? With a 955cc L-Twin motor, it is a little crazy to call this the baby of Ducatis sport bike range. But the increased engine displacement was necessitated to help meet Euro-IV emissions. Displacement increase is by increasing the stroke, at 60.8mm it's the same as the 1299 Panigale! Power is up to 157hp from 148hp. Torque has increased from 99Nm to 107.4Nm. And, those ungainly exhausts are there to meet the sound emissions. Deal with it.

2- Chassis - The 899s chassis as with the bigger Panigales was a monocoque design and much appreciated for its sweetness. So much so, that some of its setup was said to have been used for the 1299 Panigale. So, we cant really complain that the 959 hasnt been changed dramatically on the chassis front. The only change is the 4mm lower swingarm pivot location which helps get a bit more out of the rubber at the rear.

3 - Missing in Action - The 959 doesnt get cornering ABS  a feature that we have seen even on the bigger Panigale and the Multistrada. Neither does it get the colour TFT display, instead making do with a LCD. And the 959 also does without electronically adjustable suspension. Weep. However, three rider modes - Race, Sport and Rain; eight-level traction control; Ducati Quick Shifter; and EBC - engine brake control with three levels of adjustability are offered on the baby Panigale. It comes with a slipper clutch as well.

4 Service, Less: The increased torque and maximum power values do not imply shorter service intervals, therefore, valve-clearance inspections are still only required every 24,000km (15,000 miles). General services are required every 12,000km (7,500 miles) or 12 months.

5- Living fast - Ducati insists that the 959 (despite being a new litre class bike, sorry to repeat) is a bike thats ready to straddle track and streets. Its 810mm seat height (lower than a KTM RC200, yes.) and torquier motor go a long way in building on that claim. At Rs 14.04 lakh ex-showroom, the 959 Panigale sits in a sweetspot of power and price, with the less powerful, less exotic and less expensive Triumph Daytona 675R and the more powerful and more expensive (over Rs 16 lakh) Japanese litre class bikes.

While we will have to wait till we get the 959 Panigale on Indian roads to talk about its everyday usability, we will be testing its race-track cred at the Chang circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Look out for our experience from the saddle of the 959 Panigale shortly.
The carmaker plans to ramp up production of the Ameo at its Chakan plant; has invested approximately Rs 720 crore in the development of the compact sedan.

Volkswagen India has started production of the Ameo compact sedan at its Chakan plant. The carmaker plans to rapidly ramp up production of the Ameo, which was globally revealed at the Auto Expo in February 2016, to build up enough inventory before market introduction.

The Ameo is available in both petrol (1.2-litre three-cylinder MPI) and diesel (1.5-litre four-cylinder TDI). The car has been designed and developed for the Indian market, following extensive feedback from domestic market customers. With safety being one of the top priorities for Volkswagen, the Ameo comes equipped with dual front airbags and ABS as standard across all variants. The compact sedan also gets segment-leading features such as cruise control, rain sensing wipers and static cornering lights.

Commenting on the start of production, Dr Andreas Lauermann, president and managing director, Volkswagen India, said: This day marks an important event in the journey of Volkswagen in India. The Ameo symbolises yet another first as it has specifically been created for Indian customers. Due to the expected high demand for the Ameo, we have recently added a third shift to support the extra production volumes at our plant. We are committed to ensuring that our customers get their Ameo as soon as possible.

Also present was the chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, who said: Volkswagen India adds yet another feather in its hat as the all-new made-for-India and made-in-India Ameo is rolled out today. It is not only a matter of pride for Volkswagen but for all of Maharashtra and I would like to share my heartiest congratulations with the company. This roll-out means a lot to us as it explains to the world what Make in India actually means. He added, Be it in the area of skill development among the youth, employment generation and Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to make Maharashtra drought-free by 2019, Volkswagen is playing an active role in all aspects and I am thankful for this.

Bookings for the Ameo have been open across all VW showrooms in India for the last two weeks.

Volkswagen has invested approximately Rs 720 crore in the development of the Ameo, setting up new equipment for its production as well as ramping up the manufacturing. Since 2007, the total investment by Volkswagen in India currently stands at approximately Rs 5,720 crore (around 825 million euros).

The Chakan plant currently manufactures the VW Polo, Vento and the Skoda Rapid. The Volkswagen models are manufactured for both domestic and export markets in right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive versions.
Even though the Maybach Motorenbau nameplate is part of Mercedes-Benz now, its history began in 1909 when it was founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son as a part of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH. Maybach later became a standalone brand and ultimately became a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz in 2015.



The refreshed S-Class Maybach was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018. The major changes were represented by a reinterpreted radiator grille, an optional two-tone exterior paint and a new set of luxury 20-inch multi-spoke wheels.



Mercedes offered nine different color combinations available on request. For a lacquer effect, customers could opt for a second bodywork clear coat, which was applied by hand in Maybach Manufaktur's facilities.



The interior was available in a combination of armagnac brown/black and savanna beige/black. The exclusive Nappa leather could be ordered in gold, copper or platinum. The wheelbase length was increased by 20 cm compared to the longest wheelbase seen on an S-Class sedan so far, offering the rear passengers more space, albeit it was not as long as an S-Class Pullman.



The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class came with three engine options: S 560 with a displacement of 3982cc developing 469 hp, S 560 4matic with the same specs and S 650 with a displacement of 5980 cc producing 630 hp thanks to a hand-built V12. The S650 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, while the S 650 needs only 4.7 seconds.
We may be more acquainted with the bee's final product than the insects themselves, and when we're talking thousands of them in one place, that may be for the better. Especially when it's a bee army out on a mission.

4 photos
The important news here is that approximately 271,000 MY2013-2014 Ford F-150 vehicles will be expected at authorized Ford dealers for the replacement of the brake master cylinder. Additionally, dealers will also replace the brake booster if they find leaks in the master.Ford explained this repair was necessary because they discovered that some vehicles can suffer reduced brake effectiveness because of a potential brake fluid leak. The vital liquid could leak from the brake master cylinder into the brake booster.If this happens, the risk of a crash is increased. Ford has explained that a car will not entirely lose braking force, as the rear wheels are not affected by the problem.Not all F-150 models are affected by the potential problem, and some of the vehicles were sold in Canada and Mexico. Certain 2013-2014 Ford F-150 vehicles with the 3.5-liter GTDI engines are targeted by this campaign.They were built at the Dearborn Truck Plant between August 1, 2013, and August 22, 2014. The rest were made at the Kansas City Assembly Plant starting August 1, 2013, through August 31, 2014.According to the press release, the Blue Oval is aware of nine accidents where this potential problem is alleged as the linked to the cause. No injuries were sustained in the nine accidents. However, another alleged injury is mentioned in the press release, and it indicates interaction with the vehicles brakes," but not correlated with an accident.Meanwhile, the safety compliance recall announced today by Ford only targets five Lincoln MKX vehicles. The Blue Oval will replace the seatback trim cover for the second-row seat. According to Ford, the left-side second-row trim cover was intended for the Chinese market, which meant the unintended cover of the center tether anchor.Ford will install a tether cover bezel instead of the misplaced part. Ford Motor Company is not informed of any accidents or injuries caused or related to this mishap.
ECU

So, what can you do to keep up? Well, the aftermarket world offers tons of solutions, with most owners going for the lightweight exhaust-wrap-and-maybe-wheels approach.Sure, such a pathway won't make your Aventador go round the Nurburgring in under 7 minutes like the Superveloce, but, if anybody made a survey on SV owners, you'd easily be convinced such a feat isn't necessary.Nevertheleless, when it comes to putting on a show, which, if you ask us, is the primary mission of any Sant'Agata Bolognese machine, tuning exhaust can rival and even best the hardware on the SV.The video below, which takes us to the recent Vmax200 high-velocity event in the UK, comes to demonstrate that. Among others, the speed festival was a good occasion for an Aventador SV to drag race a "standard" Lamborghini Aventador that had been gifted with a custom exhaust and perhaps anremap.The two duked it out on the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground's runway, which meant the driver had two miles to attend their business - mind you, this length also includes the deceleration distance.The piece of footage below allows us to see the two V12 Raging Bulls going at it, while also providing delicious individual soundtrack samples for each of the cars. And, as we mentioned in the title of this story, we're asking you to be the judge of this aural competition.P.S.: Yes, this is the event that saw a Koenigsegg One:1 hitting 240 mph, so you shouldn't wonder why the SV owner tried to improve his trap speed by covering the panel gaps on his supercar.
The group consists of 26 students specialized in various automotive skills, who took part in Skodas professional training this year.Atero is the third project of its kind for Skoda, as the Czech brand has started letting vocational training students build one-off vehicles since 2014. Work on the Skoda Atero Coupe started at the end of last year, and the entire project took 1,700 hours to complete.The team worked under the supervision of Skoda specialists and instructors to ensure the vehicle is fully functional. This is a notable mention for a concept, as some of these are built just for exhibition purposes and cannot move or drive properly.As you can see, the car is painted black, but has red accents. Skoda calls the colors Black Magic, and Corrida Red. The only red-painted elemnets are the air intake and diffuser inserts, as well as the radiator grille, rear wing, spoilers, and door sills. The classic red-and-black combination is also present in the interior, where students placed LED ambient lights in red, as well as a 1,800-watt audio system with 14 speakers.From a technical point of view, this model comes with a 1.4-liter TSI engine that develops 125 HP , mated to a seven-speed DSG gearbox. The power plant was not modified, but the vehicle comes with 18-inch Turini wheels borrowed from the Skoda Octavia , and these hide manually-perforated brake discs on the front axle.The biggest modifications involved changing a Skoda Rapid Spaceback from a five-door to a two-door configuration. The students had to move the B-pillars to the rear of the vehicle, while also inclining the C-pillars.The roofs slope was increased and altered in several points, while the window line was also modified. Compared to the previous cars created by students that participated in the vocational project at the Skoda Academy, the Atero has undergone the most changes.
They will start with trials in countries where ride-sharing is expanding, and will take into account regulations, business conditions, and customer needs.Toyota will contribute with new leasing options provided through Toyota Financial Services. The latter will offer new plans, including some that will allow Uber drivers to cover their payments with earnings generated while driving the vehicle.The initiative is built on Ubers current Vehicle Solutions program, and includes a flexible leasing period, which is based on driver needs.Toyota believes that this partnership will provide secure, convenient, and attractive mobility services to the public. At the same time, they get the chance to be involved in a new form of movement, as well as selling more vehicles.The former happens without the risk of investing blindly in a start-up or starting an all-new company in the field, while the latter should come from the partners drivers.The two companies, each a respectable giant in its segment, will also explore this collaboration through knowledge sharing. Both Toyota and Uber will develop in-car apps to support Uber drivers, as well as design a fleet plan to sell Toyota and Lexus cars to Uber. The last fleet might be used both by executives of the company, and regular drivers alike. Both partners will also think of new ways to provide new value to customers.As we explained in a similar news regarding alternative mobility solutions , Toyota has said in its press release that this undisclosed investment is made to enter the world of mobility services while car usage trends are expected to go down. Like Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors , Toyota wants to make sure it has a spot in the world of mobility, and signing a deal with one of the leading companies in the field is surely on point.
to be loved

With power comes responsibility, and much of that responsibility has to do with learning not to take advantage of your prerogatives. This is what a lot of people from the force seem to forget, claiming that people should show a little more leniency since the police is there to protect them, so they need to be cut some slack.But we don't want that. We want police officers to be role models for the rest of the citizens - that's the only way they can legitimize their status of law enforcers.But they too are human, and sometimes they commit mistakes. Some are more serious than the other (see the videos mentioned above), but whatever the case, here is where another aspect intervenes: the public wants to see the officers take responsibility for their actions. If the regular Joe has to abide by the law, so does the officer Joe. And the laws are the same for everyone.That's exactly what happened at West Pier in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where a Police Car from South Yorkshire had overstayed in the parking lot beyond the ticket's time limit. Graham Rhodes, an eyewitness, told The Mirror that he could see the warden thinking about what to do, unable to make a decision.He went on to ticket two more cars before returning to the squad car and making a few phone calls. In the end, he placed the ticket on the car as the crowd that had gathered around in the meantime started to cheer."It felt like I was witnessing karma in action. It was a really odd situation where people weren't sure whose side they were on," Graham told the British publication. "I think people were just pleased to see that the rules were applied equally to the police as with anyone else. There was no bias. It was a strange atmosphere because normally people wouldn't take a traffic warden's side, but this time, they did."However, their joy was to be shortlived as the decision was later overruled. South Yorkshire Police claimed that emergency vehicles were allowed in the 118-space seafront car park, so there was no need for the officers to pay for their stay. Well, at least the traffic warden felt what it's likenot to be hated by the people for a few minutes.
The German automotive consortium calls the deal a strategic investment, meant to bring an expansion of on-demand mobility services in Europe. The two partners want to explore new business models, which should increase future sales, which will form a substantial share of future revenue for the German company.Gett is a company that employs an app with the same name and used to be called GetTaxi. It operates in over 60 cities worldwide and is one of the fastest-growing services of this kind. Naturally, its main rival is Uber , which it occasionally taunts in some commercials, including the one we posted as this articles top photo.Volkswagen has announced its plan to become a world leader in mobility solutions by 2025. As Matthias Muller, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group, explained in a statement, this partnership is just the first milestone in the companys strategy. Like other automakers, Volkswagen is focusing on integrated mobility solutions.The term keeps being brought up by car manufacturers these days, like General Motors, BMW, Ford, and other companies discuss this idea. Heres a quick explanation: automakers realize that a day will come when people will not buy as many cars as they do today. Before the massive decline in automotive sales, customers will have to find alternative mobility solutions.These alternative mobility solutions are currently being called on-demand mobility services. They mean that a client, usually a Millennial, does not want to buy a car or any motorized vehicle for their daily trips. Instead, the individual prefers to use public transport, taxis, and to rent cars when they have no other options.Automakers probably hate the idea that their primary product will not be desired by a generation which is affording more and more these days, but they can reinvent themselves. This reinvention process will not consist of just offering rent-a-car services, but providing users with access to mobility solutions only when they need them.Imagine an app that can summon a car to your location , and you just get in and drive. The service would only charge a fee for the time spent in the car, along with a monthly subscription. With the advent of autonomous vehicles , this service is less than a decade away from us.
After acquiring more than 34% of the Mitsubishi, Nissan Motor Co is planning to use their stake in placing the former global tech chief to lead the reform in the smaller company.

According to Reuters, sources from the Nissan said that the $2.2 billion buyout of 1/3 of Mitsubishi will determine the future of the company after they've been included in the fuel economy data scandal. This includes the plan of Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi to tap Mitsuhiko Yamashita as Mitsubishi's tech chief. The two companies are said to have been finalizing the talks just weeks after Nissan bought shares from the company.

Further, it is known that Yamashita was the Nissan's executive vice president that is in charged for product and technology research and development. He was in the position from 2005 until he ended it in 2014. The two sources who talked to the media declined for their names to be revealed since they were not given authority by the companies to speak on their behalf. Meanwhile, a spokesman from Mitsubishi didn't respond to give comments.

Economics Times reported that on Wednesday, if the news proved true, Yamashita will be the head of Mitsubishi as tech chief since it will be the finalization in the upcoming emergency board meeting. It is among the perks of Nissan as they've given huge investment in the company.

The 34% stake of Nissan in Mitsubishi gives them the ability to atleast nominate a third of the executive personnel of the company. Nissan Chief Executive, Carlos Ghosn, released a statement saying that he's already believed that a Nissan executive is set to take position in Mitsubishi. The comment gave cue to industry analyst and bankers that Mitsubishi is set to another journey.

Mitsubishi is still on the verge of recovering since this is their third scandal in 20 years which proved hurtful to the company due to a $3 billion loss in market value. It was after they've admitted that they are at fault in fuel economy of four models in Japan.
This might define the term rude awakening for pilots. Various media sources are reporting that two Delta Air Lines pilots commanding a flight from Germany to Kuwait fell asleep at the controls of their Boeing 767-400ER and only woke up after flight attendants banged on the cockpit door to tell them there were two Greek F-16s on their wing. To make matters worse, the incident occurred only a few hours after EgyptAir Flight 804 disappeared in the same general area. Weve asked Delta for confirmation of the sleeping part but so far the airline has only issued the following reassuring statement: While transiting to Greek airspace, the flight crew of Delta flight 8957, a charter operation from Hahn, Germany to Kuwait, was unable to establish radio communications with Greek air traffic control for a short period. This occurred during a handoff between air traffic control agencies and communications were expeditiously re-established. At no point did the Boeing 767-400ER leave its planned route of flight.

In the cabin, however, things were apparently not so calm, according to media reports. After repeated attempts by ATC to contact the airliner with no result, the F-16s were scrambled. The fighter pilots tried to raise the big Boeing on the radio and when that didnt work, they tried lights and hand signals from abeam the aircraft. They reportedly could clearly see the snoozing pilots. When the fighters moved up beside the airliner, they were, of course, in full view of the passengers, who alerted the flight attendants. It apparently took a few raps on the cockpit door to rouse one of the pilots. The aircraft landed routinely at its destination but its likely that things will be anything but routine for the pilots for the next while.
25 May 2016 11:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

"We are on the verge of death. People live in poverty, they have been turned into slaves, it can not last long, it will be followed by discontent and protests, and then the revolution. No normal Armenian would stay in this country for an extra day if given the option to emigrate.

This view of a young Armenian guy interviewed by local media echoed the findings of the recent polls, which showed that 60 percent of all Armenians want to leave their country and settle abroad. The polls were perceived by many to be the beginning of the end as the official data also shows the miserable picture.

Last year, the population of Armenia fell below the level of 3 million for the first time in nearly 40 years, according to the Armenian Statistics Agency. In 2015, the countrys population decreased by 12,000 people, while during the last five years it decreased by 35,000 people, and since gaining independence in 1991 by 634,700 people. Thus, based on the 2011 census, 2.9 million people live in the country as of January 1, 2016.

These figures should be the clear-cut warning to the ruling elite and policy makers, but the government only seems fighting against this trend.

Over 1.5 million people left Armenia since the country gained its independence in 1991. Groundless territorial claims for the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and aggressive policy with regard to neighbors have paralyzed the country both economically.and politically. The emigration rate still continues to alarm observers.

Some have referred to it as a crisis, a disaster, and a serious threat to the nation. But ordinary people only want to live. In case of Armenia, people migrate when they fail to find livelihood opportunities on their own soil and are left with no other options for livelihood.

Also cited as reasons to emigrate were corruption and monopolies in the business sector, the level of independence of the courts, and problems in the education system.

Maybe most surprising, two-thirds of those emigrating, or considering doing so, are young people with basic desiresfood, good schools and a job.

In its recent article, Armenian media outlet Aravot showed a miserable, actually an apocalyptic picture of the current situation in Armenia caused by migration.

The author quite reasonably points out that in case the migration continues with this trend then in Armenia there will be only elderly and poor people, who cannot leave and can barely make ends meet with a meager pension. Of course, a group of billionaire oligarchs will still be in Armenia, the author says.

The economic chaos and migration, however, is making the situation in provinces even worse - washing out already empty villages and triggering fears of hopelessness. Locals continue to suffer without jobs, adequate social services and help.

In the villages of Armenia, one can also see an active emigration. Here live mostly older people, who are regarded as the second-class citizens. They have sent the young abroad with the hope for better life and hope of some earning. We have tried to live one day in the village.. .there was no anyone in the streets, no children, no youngster. In the evening, only 2-3 lights are on in the villages where 150-200 people used to live. Darkness and silence leave a lasting impression. "

The author, recognizing that emigration has become the biggest tragedy of Armenian people, urged to prevent the disaster with "joint efforts of the government and people."

The Armenian government meanwhile, is too busy with political battles and constant provocations against Azerbaijan, to see the migration realities.

Recently, a very cynical proposal was voiced by MP Tevan Poghosyan, who offered to create "a donor bank of sperm of recruits", who have been sent to fight in the occupied lands.

At a time when mothers of the dead soldiers urge the government to stop its aggression, when thousands of young Armenians leave the country or even commit suicide just because they does not want to fight for protecting the occupied territories, the MPs proposal shocked observers.

Instead of ending the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and eliminating the risk of self destruction of Armenian citizens, and fighting corruption and theft on a national scale with a view to stop the exodus of the population and young people, the countrys rulers voice barmy offers.

Along with the trend of increasing emigration, the birth rate in Armenia is declining. The results of UNFPAs 2009 study show that 68.3 percent of the 1,139 survey respondent families said they are not planning on having a second child, while 16.4 percent are and 13.6 percent could not answer the question. Financial issues and a feeling of uncertainty towards the future were the main reasons the respondents were reluctant to have children.

Garik Hayrapetyan, UNFPA Armenia Assistant representative, talking to media, recently stated that after the 2008 crisis, the situation worsened in demography. The migration balance again became negative and amounts to about 30,000 people a year.

Demographer Ruben Yeganyan believes that the Armenian population would be 4.3 million instead of current 2.8 million if migration was eliminated.

Following the latest census, the number of our resident population is of 3.2 million people, while the existing population is of 2.8 million, he said adding that over the next 50 years, the population may decrease by 1.5 million people.

Yeganyan said migration in Armenia has become an endless process since the 1990s, adding that the country suffers from a chronic disease that causes emigration.

We have created a sick country, sick state, a chronically sick and migration is the result of this sickness, he said.

The most dangerous fact is that some regions of Armenia, according to official statistics, have turned into areas with aging populations. Armenia media cites the Tavush region, where the natural population growth was only 5 percent, as a bright example. That is, in a region with a population of 125,000 people, the number of births was higher only 5 than the number of deaths. Lori, Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions are also on the brink of the zero growth.

Difference between births and deaths in Armenia, that is the rate of natural increase in 2015 was 12,980 people. This index decreased by 8.7 percent compared to 2014, reports Armenpress. What refers to born alive, then in 2015 they amounted to 41,815 people which decreased by 2.8 percent as compared with 2014. The population growth rate was the lowest since 2008. That is, the population is inexorably aging.

All the above mentioned prove that people leaving Armenia, are not in search of better life, they are looking for opportunities to survive at all. Wherever they go everywhere will be better than Armenia, because it cannot be worse.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:56 (UTC+04:00)

Armenian armed forces have 13 times violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan on the line of contact over the past 24 hours, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry May 25.

Armenian armed forces stationed in Berkaber village of Armenia's Ijevan district and Dovekh village of the Noyemberyan district opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located in the Gushchu Ayrim and Kemerli villages of the Gazakh district.

Armenian army also violated ceasefire from the positions near Garakhanbeyli, Horadiz, Gorgan villages of the Fizuli district, and from nameless heights in the territory of Goranboy, Khojavand and Fizuli districts.

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
25 May 2016 18:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still a conflict that's long faded from the spotlight and world powers lack joint position over its resolution.

For over 20 years the Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolved despite the taken steps ad efforts. Armenia remains unpunished for crimes that it committed against Azerbaijanis, occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijans territory and seeks to prolong the resolution of the conflict to preserve the status quo.

Neil MacFarlane, professor at St Anne's College of the Oxford University, is among the supporters of idea that the international community has no united position on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Some outside actors want peace, others want to maintain instability, some support one side, and others support another side. Thus, there is no united position," said MacFarlane while talking to Trend.

The expert believes the international community doesn't make effective efforts to change the status quo.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict appears to have returned to its previous state before the events of April," noted MacFarlane.

The tensions between two South Caucasus nations  Armenia and Azerbaijan have skyrocketed in April following the Armenian provocations along the contact line of the two countrys troops.

The hostilities, which renewed harshly since a fragile ceasefire reached between the two sides back in 1994, slightly fall following a new truce reached through Moscows mediation. The recent Vienna meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents gave rise to hope that the conflict can be resolved peacefully preventing the conflict from becoming an all-out war.

The OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, proceeding talks based on the renewed Madrid principles.

MacFarlane further added that the incidents of April were more serious than usual. "It is good that the military confrontation has receded, but the events do underline the fragility of the situation, and the possibility of accidental escalation," the expert assures.

Since the escalation of the situation on the frontline, both neighboring and world countries have expressed their concerns over the escalation of the tensions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 13:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Modern medicine allows parents to determine the gender of the yet unborn child, so that impatient parents can swamp wardrobe with pink or blue clothes before the kid even showed up.

But in some cultures learning the sex of a baby before birth can lead to a foetus being aborted. Many experts claim that prenatal sex selection in the past 20 years will lead to an alarming demographic masculinization, which can lead to serious social and economic implications.

Although the situation with the choice of a childs gender is not deplorable in Azerbaijan compared to other nations, where the preference for male children is part of the general inequality of women, the country, experiencing annual rate of population growth, reveals a decrease in the fertility of girls.

Farid Babayev, Adviser to Azerbaijani representative office of the United Nations Population Fund, stressed that Azerbaijan ranks second for violation of gender ratio of newborns.



Currently, 100 girls fall per 116 boys in Azerbaijan, with population of about 10 million people, what means that boys are 10-11 percent more than girls.



Until 1975-1980, there were no deterioration in gender ratio of newborns in Azerbaijan. Since 1998, dynamics of deterioration in gender ratio has increased, he said.

If not to prevent this deterioration, number of men will increase in the future, what can make it difficult to restore gender equality, according to Babayev.

The adviser noted that almost half of pregnancies terminated artificially in Azerbaijan and this trend grow by a woman's age and number of pregnancies.



Three-quarters of pregnancies in women between the ages of 34-35 artificially terminated, he said, adding that women artificially terminate pregnancy after second delivery in order to regulate fertility.



Azerbaijani traditions and mentality for centuries called for large families. However, today many Azerbaijani families prefer to have two children with one girl and one boy. Thats why for many families it doesn't matter whether first born is girl or boy.

The statistics show that only 2 percent of first pregnancies end in abortion, while this figure reaching to 80.4 percent in the fifth and subsequent pregnancies.

Just very few families in Azerbaijan think that having compulsory heir is necessary, who generally resort to selective abortion.

Chairman of the Committee on Social Policy Hadi Rajabli said that Azerbaijani law bans selective abortion. Selective abortion means abortions from 12 to 22 weeks considering social preconditions.

Despite this, doctors say the sex of the unborn baby to parents and in case its a boy, a woman bears him, while its a girl, she wants an abortion. This problem cannot be eliminated only by restrictions. Necessary propaganda is needed, he said.



Referring to religion Rajabli noted that Islam does not accept destruction of girl babies.



Media also should be engaged in this process. Doctors doing abortions should be revealed and further brought to a public censure. At the same time, the health Ministry also should report selective abortions and take appropriate measures, he suggested.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:11 (UTC+04:00)

A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on May 25.

The new edition includes articles about that Karabakh conflict must sooner or later be resolved peacefully, Azerbaijan as only country transporting Caspian gas to Europe, Azerbaijan among leaders in tea drinking, Naftalan becomes popular tourism center for foreigners, etc.



AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

The online newspaper is available at www.azernews.az.
25 May 2016 11:45 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The Jordanian embassy in Baku has arranged an official reception on the countrys national holiday - the Day of Independence.

Governmental officials, MPs, ambassadors of foreign countries in Baku, representatives of the international organizations and public figures joined the ceremony to celebrate Jordan with such a significant date, Azertac reports.

Ambassador Mohammad Nassar Ibrahim al-Habasneh addressed the event, speaking of the path the country passed after gaining state independence.



He underlined, that during these years his country achieved great successes in the economic and cultural spheres, and that Jordan holds worthy place among the world community.

The Ambassador noted that bilateral relations between Jordan and Azerbaijan successfully develop thanks to the heads of states  King of Jordan Abdullah II and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

He also congratulated President and people of Azerbaijan on 28 May- Republic Day, wished dynamic progress and new successes.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev congratulated the friendly people of Jordan on the landmark event on behalf of the Azerbaijani President, and conveyed greetings and best wishes of the head of state to the ceremony participants.

The Deputy Minister said that the two countries enjoy successful cooperation in economic, cultural, trade, information, communications and tourism spheres.

Mammadguliyev said that the reciprocal visits of the heads of state, meetings and talks at high level create favorable environment for development of bilateral relations in the years to come.

Over the past years bilateral interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Jordan, are dynamically developing in all areas, reaching an unprecedented high level of strategic partnership.

The Jordan Kingdom relates to Azerbaijan as reliable economic and political ally. Jordan repeatedly voiced intention to activate ties with Azerbaijan, which is the leading country in South Caucasus and to invest heavily in economy of the country.

Amman and Baku also have ambitious plans to expand their cooperation in education, culture and other fields to serve the interests of their peoples.

Azerbaijani Embassy was opened in Jordan in 2006 and in 2007, Jordan Embassy was established in Azerbaijan.

Jordan is a country that has consistently and clearly supports Azerbaijan's fair position on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict within the framework of international law. Jordan supports Azerbaijan in the framework of international organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other international organizations.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:44 (UTC+04:00)

An Azerbaijani version of Azerbaijan Diary book by well-known American author and journalist Thomas Goltz has been presented at ADA University, Azertac reports.

Goltz, speaking at the presentation ceremony on May 24, said that in 1993 it was very difficult to imagine that Azerbaijan could have become what it is today.

He noted that the book provides an insight into the first years of Azerbaijan`s independence, saying he met with national leader Heydar Aliyev in Nakhchivan at that time.

Rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev, for his part, said Thomas Goltz was one of a few people who supported Azerbaijan at its difficult times. The rector described the book as a precious source for those who want to study modern history of Azerbaijan.

Deputy Head of the U.S. mission in Azerbaijan Derek Hogan said the largest part of the book highlighted the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He noted that the book was translated through collaboration between the Embassy and ADA University.

The book is the record of Goltz`s experiences when he was detoured in Baku in mid-1991.

Goltz become a unique outside witness to the transformation of the country, from the bloody Black January to the Karabakh War, to the dealmaking which set the Azerbaijani oil wealth into full flow. This true story makes for a spellbinding action adventure, packed with intrigue, passion and politics, it's a must-read for anybody who wants to lay peepers on a crackling good yarn.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:35 (UTC+04:00)

Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Head of working group on Azerbaijani-Latvian inter-parliamentary relations Kamran Bayramov paid a visit to Riga, Latvia, Azertac reports. The visit aimed to boost Azerbaijani-Latvian inter-parliamentary ties, as well as to develop cooperation in the field of local self-government.

The Azerbaijani delegation attended the 27th Congress of the Local governments Union of Latvia. The MP also met Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia Kaspars Gerhards. Kamran Bayramov informed the Minister about the reforms carried out in the field of local self-government.

Mr. Bayramov also provided an insight a cause and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the recent escalation taken place in the troops contact line. The MP also became familiar with the activity of the Liepaja City Duma and had a meeting with the officials.

The parties exchanged views on prospects of establishing relations between Liepaja and the cities of Azerbaijan. Kamran Bayramov has also met Minister of Finance of Latvia Dana Reizniece - Ozola.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 18:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Non-cash payments have become more popular among Azerbaijani population during the last years. More and more citizens transfer their money into their bank cards rather than using cash money.

The Central Bank and the government of the country realize what enormous expenditure is necessary to ensure cash handling, and try to stimulate the commerce in non-cash form in every way, Igor Kovalyov, the regional manager of VISA in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Moldova, told Trend.

Last year, Azerbaijani populations purchases in trade networks were almost fully made by cash  92% versus 8% of non-cash payments. This year, the situation has slightly changed in favor of cashless payments  now 10% of trade networks payments of Azerbaijan are held without using cash.

Kovalyov told about VISAs desire of stimulating non-cash payments in Azerbaijan. In many countries of the region cardholders are offered various bonuses and discounts for using electronic payments to encourage cashless payments. As a result, consumers often use cards for making daily purchases and can make sure about more convenience of this payment method, its security and speed. Due to this, there was an increase in the use of payment cards in all the countries of the region, including in Azerbaijan, he said.

Cash money are quite expensive -- a number of studies show that countries spend about 1-2% of their GDP to ensure the circulation of money in cash. First of all, cash should be printed and safely transported. In case of cashless money, these problems do not come up.

The study held by Moodys, the international rating Agency, for VISA in 2016, showed that the increase of electronic payments use in Azerbaijan has added $70 million to GDP, Kovalyov stressed. Moreover, the development of cashless payments contributed to annual creation of around 1,130 new workplaces.

Non-cash payments are also handy for travel purposes. Bank cards let travelers omit the problem of changing their cash into the money of country they are going to visit. Furthermore, travelers get rid of the necessity of carrying large amount of physical money during their travel.These facts make cashless money even more appropriate for use.

All countries aim at increasing the share of cashless transactions, but the methods and ways are different. Each market is at its level of development with special priorities. We are happy to share our expertise and technologies to help the development of cashless payments worldwide, Kovalyov stressed.

VISA is a global payment system that provides cardholders, merchants, financial and governmental institutions in more than 200 countries to fast, secure and reliable electronic payment network. The company was founded in 1958 in California, U.S. Currently, 35 of 37 Azerbaijani banks are memebers of VISA.

@RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan can hold joint military exercises, aiming to improve combat readiness and mutual vigilance of the three countries, in summer 2017 in the territory of Georgia.

The statement was made by the head of the general staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Major-General ,Vakhtang Kapanadze



Yes, it is planned, but anything may be changed ... The exercises will be large-scaled, and main focus will be put on counter-terrorism and security issues he told RIA Novosti answering the question, whether its true that the joint military exercises will be held in Georgia in the summer of 2017.

The agreement on holding joint exercises was previously reached during the meeting of defense ministers of the three states in Azerbaijans city of Gabala this May.

During the fourth trilateral meeting, the parties reiterated the importance of enhancing the combat readiness of the three countries armed forces, trilateral development of military education and training, development of cooperation on cyber security, and further improvement of trilateral exercises on the protection of oil and gas pipelines.

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan that enjoy the friendly and fruitful relations are actively working to strengthen their trilateral military and defense cooperation in a sustainable manner.

In recent years, the three countries relations reached the level of strategic partnership and play an important role in ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development, the welfare of the three nations.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:10 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Editor-in-Chief of The Business Year magazine Leland Rice and its Regional Director Betul Cakaloglu in Baku on May 25, Azertac reports.

Rice stressed the importance of President Aliyev's participation and his speech at the World Humanitarian Summit, which was recently held in Istanbul. He underlined Azerbaijan`s role in strengthening the international cooperation and in global economic processes.

President Aliyev hailed the importance of the World Humanitarian Summit, saying it was the first international humanitarian event in this format and its agenda covered a wide range of areas.

Pointing to the international economic cooperation, the head of state highlighted the work done towards Azerbaijan's integration into the world economic system.

Cakaloglu, in turn, informed the head of state about the activities of the magazine.

Saying the magazine has been cooperating with Azerbaijan for nearly six years, she hailed the magazine's relations with a variety of continents and countries around the world.

Later, Rice said that the magazine named President Aliyev "The World`s Person of the Year 2015", and presented the award to the head of state.

He said that President Aliyev was honored for his role in Azerbaijan's making significant contribution to ensuring energy security of Europe and diversifying energy sources, for establishing and realizing the Southern Gas Corridor project and its integral elements  Shahdeniz-2, TANAP and TAP projects, excellently organizing important international events, including the first ever European Games and showing the world big potential of Azerbaijan, the country's efforts made towards the creation of East-West and North-South transport corridors, Azerbaijan's becoming an international transportation and transit hub, providing practical support for the development of inter-civilizational and inter-cultural dialogue, hosting international humanitarian events for encouragement of multicultural values and other successful activities in ensuring peace and security in the region.

President Aliyev thanked The Business Year magazine for the award.

Saying the most important aspects of the policy pursued by Azerbaijan was highlighted by the magazine's editor-in-chief Lalenda Rice, President Aliyev stressed the significance of regional cooperation in addressing the issues as economic diversification, energy security, multiculturalism, as well as in Azerbaijan's becoming a center of the international transport and investing in this infrastructure.

Underlining that the regional cooperation is based only on mutual trust, the head of state said that the mutual trust in its turn was established through the promotion of multicultural, religious and ethnic tolerance values.

President Aliyev thanked The Business Year magazine for promoting Azerbaijan and delivering the truths about the country to the international audience.

After the meeting they posed for photographs.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

There will be a significant growth in the investments of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development`s (EBRD) in Azerbaijan in 2016, said EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti as he met with chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan`s Financial Market Control Chamber Rufat Aslanli.

Chakrabarti said EBRD attached great importance to relations with Azerbaijan, adding that the Bank backs reforms conducted in the country.

In his turn, Aslanli spoke about the state of the Azerbaijani financial market and the medium-term strategy of Azerbaijan's Financial Market Supervisory Body.

Aslanli said Azerbaijan's Financial Market Supervisory Body is ready for a close cooperation with the EBRD for recovering the country's banking sector.

The meeting stressed that there is a great potential for intensifying the Azerbaijan-EBRD cooperation.

Azerbaijan has urged the European Reconstruction and Development Bank (EBRD) to render technical support for establishing a free trade zone in the Alat settlement at the initial stage, said Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani economy minister at a meeting with Suma Chakrabarti.

The minister stressed the possibilities of cooperation in the field of transit, as well as within the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which is an important part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Mustafayev informed the guest about the reforms underway in Azerbaijan in various spheres, including the entrepreneurship.

"Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the relations with the EBRD," Mustafayev said, adding that Chakrabarti's visits to the country testify to the expansion of successful cooperation.

"Azerbaijan appreciates the EBRD's financial support rendered for the development of public and private sectors," the minister said. "Using of the best practice, modern technologies and know-how in the projects, being implemented together with international financial institutions, including the EBRD, is important for us."

Chakrabarti, for his part, stressed that the EBRD's purpose is to support the developing countries and the Bank will intensify its efforts in this direction

"The EBRD rendered financial support for nine projects in Azerbaijan in 2015, he added.

Chakrabarti also noted that EBRD and Azerbaijan can cooperate in the fields of tourism, infrastructure and establishment of special economic zones.

The EBRD has so far allocated the loans totaling $2.9 billion to Azerbaijan for implementation of 164 projects, including 154 private sector projects.
25 May 2016 13:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

A delegation representing European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was on an official visit to Azerbaijan. The delegation was led by the president of the bank Suma Chakrabarti.

Azerbaijan Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, during the meeting with the head of the bank, underlined the need in technical support for establishing a free trade zone which is located in the Alat settlement of Bakus Garadagh district.

Suma Chakrabarti in his turn said that the EBRD will consider the issue of investing in the free trade zone which includes the territory of Azerbaijans Baku Sea Trade Port.

EBRD will thoroughly investigate the issue. The bank is involved in the operations of free trade zones in other countries. Firstly, we should examine the issue from the economic point of view, he said.

Creating a free trade zone is considered to be a milestone of Azerbaijan's policy to strengthen the country's position as a regional logistics and transportation hub due to its advantageous position at a crossroads of Europe and Asia nearby important markets such as China, Turkey, Iran and Russia.

Chakrabarti noted that the EBRD is planning to increase its investments in Azerbaijan in 2016. He underlined that the bank has a large role to play in the region, it attaches great importance to the cooperation with Azerbaijan and supports reforms implemented in the country. He noted that the investments in the private sector, particularly in the non-oil sector had been significantly raised in recent years.

The banks priorities in Azerbaijan are focused on promoting market-driven economic diversification and developing a sustainable financial sector to support private sector development. Regional economic connectivity and integration is one of the key priorities of the bank. Given the high potential of Azerbaijan's agricultural sector and its importance in terms of regional development, the bank places a special emphasis on the agricultural industry and considers offering an agricultural financing instruments and technical assistance to the Azerbaijani banks with the view to develop their capacity for providing assistance to support agricultural lending.

EBRD invested about 270 million to Azerbaijan last year. So far the bank allocated the loans at the extent of $2.9 billion for implementation of 164 projects, including 154 private sector projects.

The EBRD, which was was established in 1991, provides loans and investments for private and public sector projects in the areas of finance, infrastructure, industry and commerce.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan, which is Switzerlands most important trading partner in the South Caucasus, enjoy good ties, since the federal republic in Europe cooperates with the country for over 20 years.

Relations between the two countries are characterized by open dialogue and are based on several key areas including energy policy and finance.

Swiss investors are interested in the real sector of Azerbaijan. The country exports to Azerbaijan mainly comprise jewellery, watches, machinery, and pharmaceutical products. Jewellery products and fuels account for the bulk of its imports.



Trade and economic relations between the two countries are intensive.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Switzerland Akram Zeynalli believes that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Switzerland does not reflect the full potential of the two sides and that there is a possibility for its extension.



The trade turnover between the two countries constituted about 379 million Swiss francs in 2015, 212 million of which fell on the share of export from Azerbaijan. Although this is the highest indicator among the South Caucasus countries and one of the highest rates among the CIS countries, I think, it does not reflect the full potential of our countries, he told Swiss edition of "Our Newspaper".

The diplomat said 65 Swiss companies are successfully operating in Azerbaijan, including giants such as Novartis, Holcim, Stadler Rail, ABB, etc. It is noteworthy that the Swiss invest mainly in non-oil sector, where the Holcim is leading, he said.

Several Swiss companies are operating in Azerbaijan, which have invested $220 million in the country's economy. Recently famous Swiss company SIKA joined the list of the foreign companies doing business in the country.

The company which plans to build a plant, producing construction mixtures has become a resident of the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park, with the aim to accelerate the economic and industrial production development of Azerbaijans non-oil sector.

A Swiss company is involved in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project that will transport Azerbaijani natural gas via Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania to Italy by the end of the decade.

I also want to emphasize the activities of bilateral intergovernmental trade and economic commission, which meets every two years, examines the current state of economic relations and develop proposals for their improvement. The last meeting of the commission was held in Bern in May 2014 and in Baku this March.

A harmonious tableau of beautiful images, Switzerland is one of the favorite destinations for many Azerbaijanis. In 2013, 2,500 Azerbaijanis applied for Swiss visa and a year later the number of applications has doubled, reaching 5,000.

Despite lack of a direct flight linking Azerbaijan and Switzerland creates certain difficulties, the two countries try to fix the issue.

To incentive trips, business and other contacts, the two countries have already completed the negotiations on visa facilitation for citizens of both countries, and the agreements are ready for signature, according to Zeynalli.

But I want to clarify that we are not talking about the absolute abolition of visas, but about facilitation of issuance for certain individual categories, as well as the abolition of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports he added.

--

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 18:05 (UTC+04:00)

The representatives of Azercell Telecom continue to meet students in the frame of Career Days events.

This time the company joined a career event First step in career that took place at the Azerbaijan University. The representatives initially gave the visitors detailed information about Student Programs, including Summer Internship Program. It was informed that the Summer Internship Program started on May, 16 and over 200 applications have been received so far. The deadline for application is scheduled for May, 25. They pointed out that young students qualified in the selection process of Summer Internship Program will get an opportunity to work and get experience for three months in the company. Initial round of selection process involves the evaluation of application forms. Selected students and graduates will take various tests, exercises and also be interviewed by the company representatives. The selection is conducted based on academic achievements, knowledge and interests of the applicants in the field of specialization. In the final round, shortlisted candidates will take interviews.

Internship at Azercell, leading company in telecommunications market, provides students with unique opportunities to apply their academic knowledge in a real working environment. In addition, students can get knowledge straight from the source in telecommunications industry and become engaged in exciting and demanding projects. The program also helps the further career development of the young fellows.

Following the detailed information about student programs, the representatives gave some advice to young specialists striving to build career with Azercell. A special electronic address was created for enquiries. They also answered the questions of those wishing to get recruited by Azercell.

Azercell Telecom continuously assists talented youth to build career and find their places in labor market. With its own initiative, Azercell has organized Career Days on a regular basis.

Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996 and since the first years sustains a leading position in the market. Azercell introduced number of technological innovations in Azerbaijan: GSM technology, advance payment mobile services, M2M,MobilBank, GPRS/EDGE (mobile internet), 24/7 Customer Care, full-time operating Azercell Express offices, mobile e-service ASAN imza (ASAN signature) and others. With 48,2% share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 99,8% of the countrys population. In 2015, the number of Azercells subscribers reached 4,5 million people. In 2011 Azercell deployed 3G and in 2012 the fourth generation network  LTE in Azerbaijan. The Company is the leader of Azerbaijans mobile communication industry and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector. Azercell is a part of Telia Company Group of Companies serving 186 million subscribers in 17 countries worldwide with 27,000 employees.
25 May 2016 11:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku Art Villa gallery will host the exhibition "Fruit pop art" organized by the NGO Arts Council Azerbaijan on May 26.

"Fruit pop art" is a series of works reflecting a static realism in a pop-art, Trend life reports.

The solo exhibition of young national artist Yasemen Asad will begin at 19:00.

Yasemen takes her first steps as a professional artist in art studio of artist Abbas Culfali . Copying other artists' work, she has learned how to draw realistic landscapes and portraits.

Constantly experimenting with color and form, the artist sought new ways of self-expression. Gradually, the realism in her works gave way to more modern trends.

Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain, but became true art movement in New York City with artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.

It coincided with the globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. The visual art is characterized with different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture.

As an example, Peter Blake designed covers for Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Moreover, he starred actresses like Brigitte Bardot in his pictures.

The Independent group (IG), a collective of artists, architects, and writers who explored radical approaches to contemporary visual culture during their meetings in London became the forerunners to British Pop art.

Their group discussions centered on pop culture implications from elements such as mass advertising, movies, product design, comic strips, science fiction and technology.

American pop art was given its greatest impetus during the 1960s. Coupled with the contested war in Vietnam, the resulting art was more brutal and aggressive. Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns were representatives of American pop art.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 12:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Russian News Agency TASS has presented a selection of interesting paintings at the 10th International Fine Art Festival "Traditions & Contemporaneity in Moscow, Trend Life reports.

TOP 15 Most interesting exhibits of the festival feature the work of People's Artist of the USSR, Azerbaijan and Russia Tahir Salahov and honored artist and a member of Azerbaijan Artists Union, Sakit Mammadov.

The Festival, which has become a landmark in Russias cultural life, is an established and convenient site to share expertise, opinions and knowledge for people of art, educators and many others who are interested in culture and art.

Over the past 10 years, the project has attracted 4,700 artists and galleries from 50 countries and 60 regions of Russia. Festival events have been attended by more than 2.5 million people.

This year, the exhibition will display the works of 300 artists from 40 countries, including Azerbaijan, Angola, UK, Italy, France, etc.

The most interesting exhibits at the festival also include works by Zurab Tsereteli and exhibits from renewed galleries such as Mamontov's Gallery, Ridzhina Gallery, NEW OLD ART GALLERY and others.

Sakit Mammadov is one of the most famous artists, whose works are in major art galleries and private collections around the world. His latest exhibition in London, which took place in the spring caused a furore among art critics. The artist himself was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

His paintings "Offended angel", "Heritage", "Unison", "Clowns on holiday "aroused great public interest.

The biography of the Azerbaijani artist is included into the Encyclopedia 'People of our millennium' which is released with the support of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Federation Council, State Duma, UN and UNESCO information center.

National artist Tahir Salahov is one of the most prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani art.

The artist sensitively catches the rhythms of life and able to listen and hear the time. He is the master of portraits, landscape pictures, still-life paintings and large many-figured paintings.

Salahov is the vice-president and honorary president of the International Association of Plastic Arts of UNESCO, the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts, People's Artist of the USSR, Azerbaijan and Russia, and is the winner of a number of high awards, including the State Prize of the USSR and Azerbaijan.

He became one of the leading representatives of the so-called "severe style", a trend in Soviet art of the 1960s that aimed to set off a hard, publicist, and realist view against the ceremonial "polished reality" of the Joseph Stalin era.

Portraits occupy a special place in Tahir's creative activity. He has painted the portraits of Azerbaijan's foremost composers - Gara Garayev and Fikrat Amirov along with Azerbaijani poet Rasul Rza and Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, to name a few. Each portrait reflects Tahir's efforts to draw out the inner worlds of his subjects.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 14:01 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A new season of Azerbaijan Fashion week 2016 kicked off in Baku on May 23.

The first large-scale fashion project of the country that meets the standards of the fashion weeks held in Paris, Milan, London and New-York is ongoing at Boulevard Hotel Baku, Trend Life reports.

The ceremonial opening of the event was attended by French Ambassador to the country Aurelia Boucher.

"Azerbaijan has rich traditions in fashion and creating clothes. Historically, Azerbaijan is famous for its silk works. Holding Azerbaijan Fashion Week in Baku will allow to familiarize the audience with both the works of Azerbaijani designers, as well as representatives of the world of fashion," she said.

French Ambassador stressed that as part of Fashion Weekdue to last by May 26, the world-famous French designer Jean-Claude Jitrois will present his collection in Baku. He is the inventor of supple leather and sewing outfits for world stars such as Sharon Stone, Monica Bellucci, Celine Dion, Beyonce, Lady Gaga.

The world of fashion and haute couture dresses have long been a thriving business in France. So, she said, France every year exports lux suites in the amount of 7 billion EUR, fashion business also provides a large number of jobs.

"That is why the fashion industry can be called one of the areas for diversification of the economy," said Mrs. Boucher.

Director of Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2016 Nijat Bakhshaliyev, for his part, said that the project aims to popularize growing fashion industry in Azerbaijan and give an opportunity to young and talented designers to show their work to the world.

Producer of Azerbaijan Fashion Week Sayat Dosibayev said the event brings together international experts of the fashion industry. It's a place that gathers local and international buyers, press and fashion critics together.

The event will feature fashion shows of famous national and international designers such as LIBAS (Azerbaijan), ALLA Couture (Russia), SS by Sergey Shabunin (Kazakhstan) and JITROIS (France).

Besides, guests will also enjoy fashion collections of Kazakh designers Alex Chzhen, Khafiz Khan, Lamanukaeva, Zherebtsov, Eliz, Georgian brands-Salle De Mode, Jgenti, Tiko Nebieridze and Ukrainian fashion houses Anzhella Bezroda Gorobets and Snezhanna. Azerbaijan is presenting by Nargiz Shakhbazi, K Fabuel, Boutique One and Fidan Osman.

As part of the Fashion Week, Boulevard Hotel Baku will open a showroom AFW, where one will get a chance to buy trendy fashion style clothes presented at the shows, and pieces from many others brands such as UGLY, Dameli, Datuna, Tako Dvaliashvili, Natia Tkhelidze, Samidel, Tamta Shindelishvili, Verbena, Smirnova.

The two-day event stipulates holding of a fashion show, after party, exhibition and sale, welcome party and workshop for the guests.

During the show, guests will enjoy fiery parties in Pacifico club on May 23, chill-out AFW in Pivnaya Apteka on May 24-25 and in Enerji club on May 26.

Azerbaijan Fashion Week is held twice a year in November and May. More than 40 designers from Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, France and Spain participated in last two seasons.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A series of concerts dedicated to The Republic Day, celebrated on May 28, took place at Azerbaijan State Philharmonic.

Students of different music schools have been demonstrating their talent in front of Baku audience during two weeks.

This time, the concert featured the performance by students of the Central School of Art named after Gara Garayev.

The concert began with the performance of Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli. Then, a student of the second class, Alipasha Shahgaldiyev, performed "Children's concert" in C major by V.Shelokov

The performance of young musician was so fascinating, that the audience showered him with flowers and gifts!

The first part of the concert also featured the performance of the scholars of the Fund "New names", the laureates of international contests of Zarrin Aliyeva (violin) and Orkhan Huseynov (piano), laureate of Republican and international competitions Elnara Tagizade (violin) and laureate of the international competition, presidential scholar Nargiz Aliyeva (violin). They performed the works by P. Sarasate, I. Hummel, J. Confusa and Saint-Saens.

In the second part, guests were presented the piano music of Beethoven, Saint-Saens, R. Schumann and F. Chopin. Laureates of Republican and international contests Cavid Yusifzade and Nargiz Aliyeva, the laureate of the Republican contest Sabina Rzazadeh and the fifth grader Jala Guliyeva demonstrated their own supreme skills and artistic virtuosity.

"Every concert on scene of the Philharmonic is a great experience for me, said Elnara Tagizadeh, a student of school, laureate of Republican and international competitions.

"Many musicians are dreaming to perform with the symphony orchestra under the baton of Fuad Ibrahimov, but not everyone is meant to be. I am happy to be among the chosen ones. I want to express my gratitude to my teacher Vakhtang Imanov, who puts so much effort in my training," she added.

All students met the expectations of their teachers, who anxiously watched their performances and rejoiced in their success.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Azerbaijan state owned energy company SOCAR and BP signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly explore potential prospects in the block D230 in the North Absheron Basin in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, according to a joint statement by SOCAR and BP issued May 24.

As part of the government's plan to ensure that all of Azerbaijan's offshore waters are fully explored, this MOU gives BP the exclusive right to negotiate an agreement with SOCAR to explore and develop the block D230, the statement says.

The MOU was signed in Baku on May 24, on behalf of the government of Azerbaijan by Rovnag Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, and Gordon Birrell, BP's regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

BP and SOCAR are linked with a long history of an effective partnership, Abdullayev said, reminding that BP has been the main investor and operator of great projects of regional and global significance in Azerbaijan. The relationships between the two companies continue growing.

The two companies have achieved successful results in all projects they have cooperated in, noted the president of SOCAR.

"Today we are signing a new Memorandum of Understanding which will lay the foundation of a new offshore project. This will become another opportunity underpinning our long-term relationship with BP", Abdullayev stated.

"This is an important day for both Azerbaijan and BP," Birrell said in his turn. "It continues the cooperation that will enable us to work together to ensure the long term future for Azerbaijan's oil and gas production through exploring new opportunities."

"Based on our extensive experience in exploration around the world and our expertise based on the best technology available in the industry, we look forward to this new opportunity and are committed to contribute to maintaining oil production in Azerbaijan for many decades," he said.

Block 230 covers areas in a water depth of up to 300 meters with the reservoir depth of 3,000-5,000 meters.

BPs office was opened in Baku in 1992. Since then, the company participated in a series of the upstream project in Azerbaijan together with SOCAR.

BP Azerbaijan is an operator of Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields, where the Azeri Light oil is being produced.

With a 25.5% share, BP is also the operator of the Shah Deniz gas field, which production was commissioned in 2006. Stage 2 development of this gas condensate field is a giant project expected to open up Azerbaijan as a major gas supplier to the European market through a Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network.

BP operates also the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline which passes through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport Caspian oil to the Mediterranean coast.

The company signed a PSA agreement with SOCAR to explore and develop Shafag-Asiman structure in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea as well.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

The company has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine, as well as, trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria, and other countries.

SOCAR owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania and Switzerland.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:59 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and German Uniper energy company will create a joint venture for the production of steam and energy.

Head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev and President of Uniper Klaus Schafer signed the relevant agreement on May 25 for the establishment SOCAR-Uniper Ltd. joint venture.

SOCAR will own 51 percent of the joint venture, while Uniper 49 percent.

In addition, the sides have signed a preliminary project agreement on the construction of a steam turbine generator unit.

The generator aims to increase energy efficiency of the Steam Generator Complex of Azerkimya Production Units Ethylene-Polyethylene plant and produce additional energy.

In accordance with the Azerbaijani president's decree, dated April 2, 2010, "Concerning Improvements in the Petrochemical Industry's Management System", the Azerikimya State-Owned Company was transferred to SOCAR.

The Syndicate operates an ethylene-polyethylene plant, a surfactants plant, an organic synthesis plant, a machinery maintenance plant, a chemical engineering institute, a repair and construction division, a transportation and special equipment division, and a storage facility.

Upgrades will be made and involve the replacement of older facilities with state-of-the-art plants that meet international standards, according to the syndicate's long-term development plan.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 12:19 (UTC+04:00)

The first deliveries of steel line pipes and bends, to be used in the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) section traversing Greece, have started arriving at the ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala, TAP reported.

The first vessels and trains carrying approximately 1,500 line pipes and 200 bends have already arrived to the ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala. These will be stored at the Main Marshalling Yards of Thessaloniki, at the Thessaloniki Port Authority, and at Kavala, at its "Philip II" port.

All pipes will subsequently be transferred along the routing of the pipeline, according to the report.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

A Ceremony marking the beginning of construction for the project was held on Tuesday, 17 May in Thessaloniki.

According to the TAP's report, approximately 32,000 line pipes will be used for the construction of the pipeline section crossing in Greece.

Line pipes are produced by the Greek company Corinth Pipeworks S.A. (495 km) and the German company Salzgitter Mannesmann International GmbH (270 km). Salzgitter is also manufacturing the hot formed bends.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 16:28 (UTC+04:00)

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Saudi Fund for Development and the Japanese government have expressed interest in financing construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the head of the TAPI Pipeline Company consortium Muhammetmyrat Amanov said, the Ministry of Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan reported.

The IDB is ready to finance construction of the pipeline in Turkmenistan as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.

The final appraisal of the project costs is currently underway.

It was earlier reported that three main areas for participation by foreign partners in the project were examined: trade, particularly supply of pipe and gas equipment; financing through provision of loans; and investment in the TAPI project and in development of the big Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan.

Turkmengaz and Turkmenneftegazstroy are leading construction of the 214-kilometer pipeline segment in Turkmenistan, from the Galkynysh field to the Afghan border.

The contractors for construction of the pipeline segments in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be chosen in international tenders.

The main document for the TAPI, called the Ashgabat Interstate Agreement, was signed in 2010.

The groundbreaking ceremony for TAPI's Turkmen section was held in mid-December of 2015.

The estimated cost of the project will exceed $10 billion. The annual capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 33 billion cubic meters. It is planned that the total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. Some 214 kilometers will pass through the territory of Turkmenistan, 774 kilometers - Afghanistan, 826 kilometers - Pakistan.

The project is expected to be completed in late 2019.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 17:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Azerbaijans state owned oil company SOCAR closed its official representative office in Geneva naming the fall in oil prices as a reason that forced the company to make structural reforms.

The unexpected threefold drop in oil prices over the last year and a half has forced SOCAR to optimize costs and restructure its various divisions, Akram Zeynalli, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Switzerland told Swiss edition of "Our Newspaper".

"Given that SOCAR was represented in Switzerland by three different structures, namely, the official representative office, SOCAR Trading, and SOCAR Energy Switzerland, the company decided to close down the its representative office in Geneva," said the ambassador.

He further noted that SOCAR Energy Switzerland operates the filling stations network in Switzerland very efficiently rather than the SOCAR representative office by gradually expanding the network across the country.

"I have to state that when possible, I ask my interlocutors about SOCAR's filling stations and I assure you that everyone, filling up the tanks of their cars there, is pleased with the quality of service," told Zeynalli.

"SOCAR's activity has justified hopes and customers are pleased with it," he said, adding that SOCAR has become a competitive company.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, commenting on the closure of the companys official representative office in Geneva, said that SOCAR like any other company made appropriate decisions in response to the fall in commodity prices.

He added that the decision on suspension of activities of SOCAR's all foreign offices was made in December 2015.

"Functions of representative offices passed to the Baku office and companies, which are fully owned by SOCAR," explained Abdullayev.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

The company has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine as well.

The company exported 350,000 tons of oil products in January-March 2016 compared to 348,600 tons exported in the same period of 2015.

1.23 million tons of oil products were exported by SOCAR in 2015 compared to 1.2 million tons of exports in 2014.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 10:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Rufiz Hafizoglu

The new composition of Turkey's government makes it possible to understand the political and economic situation in the country.

The new government consists mainly of the ministers who took up their positions before the parliamentary election of June 7, 2015.

Only four ministers are new political figures in the Cabinet of Ministers. Among them are the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Ahmet Aslan, Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Mehmet Ozhaseki, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Ozlu and Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Betul Kaya.

Today, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the new Cabinet of Ministers shows that there are no staff problems in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Nevertheless, the fact that the new government includes only four new ministers indicates that there are staff problems.

The AKP's staff shortage has already become a topic of discussion in Turkey, especially after a number of leading politicians, such as Ahmet Davutoglu, former prime minister, Abdullah Gul, ex-president, Bulent Arinc and Ali Babacan, former deputy prime ministers, were debarred from the party's political life.

Also it is not ruled out that after Ahmet Davutoglu has left the government, the AKP's political future is directly linked to the current president. That is, in case if the current president leaves his position, the AKP will lose its relevance.

Creation of a new "opposition" from the members of the current ruling party is also discussed.

After approval of the new Cabinet of Ministers in Turkey, a number of issues arose regarding a possible change in Turkey's energy, as well as domestic and foreign policies.

The new Prime Minister Binali Yildirim answered these questions in his first speech in brief.

He said Ankara sees the instability in the South Caucasus as its own problem. This shows that Ankara's policy towards the South Caucasus will not change.

Regarding the relations between the EU and Turkey, Yildirim clearly stated that Turkey has problems in its relations with the EU.

Appointment of ex-press secretary of the AKP, Omer Celik, as the minister for EU affairs shows that no one should expect any changes in Ankara's relations with the EU, as Celik is a more conservative politician in comparison with the ex-minister for EU affairs Volkan Bozkir.

No serious changes are expected in Turkey's energy policy.

As for the Russia-Turkey relations, the new Cabinet of Ministers, led by the new prime minister, is powerless. This issue is not in the competence of the new government - it is up to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and of course, Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

In short, no serious political changes should be expected from Turkey's new government.

Nevertheless, the approval of the new Cabinet of Ministers can be considered as a serious momentum for Turkey's transition from the parliamentary to the presidential system of government.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 15:09 (UTC+04:00)

Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the state and prospects of the multifaceted Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation, topical issues of international politics, the Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA) reported.

Lavrov arrived in Tashkent to participate in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-states.

President Karimov highly appreciated the results of the Uzbekistan-Russia summit talks in Moscow in late April.

Karimov and Lavrov confirmed their interest in the joint implementation of new investment projects for the production of competitive products as part of the agreement on the main directions of development and intensification of economic cooperation in 2015-2019.

Lavrov shared his views of the recently concluded meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers, stressing that Uzbekistan's constructive presidency in the SCO allows being confident in the successful holding of the Summit of Heads of State in Tashkent in late June 2016.

The views on other promising areas of the Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation were also exchanged during the meeting.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 17:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Sanctions imposed by the West on Iran over its nuclear program did not affect the countrys gas production, said Kamran Dadkhah, associate professor of Economics at the Northeastern University via email to Azernews on May 24.

By referring to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Professor Dadkhah stressed that the data shows that Irans gas production has continuously been increasing.

Iran has the potential of attracting foreign investment to its gas sector and turning the country into a major producer and exporter, that is, a position commensurate with its reserves, which is the second in the world, told Dadkhah.

"Nevertheless, in order to attract foreign investment, Iran needs to initiate a number of structural changes in the economy, its laws and its relationship to the West, particularly the United States," noted the professor by adding that Iran has already taken some steps including changing its oil and gas contracts but much more needs to be done.

The expert further added that international oil and gas companies are interested in investing in Iran. The country has vast amount of gas reserves, and because of lack of investment and technology its production is far below its capacity, he said, adding that few issues stand in the way of international companies rushing in.

Dadkhah explained that international banks are reluctant to provide finance for such investment as some sanctions still in place against Iran.

Secondly, many economic activities are in the hands of the affiliate companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Many of these entities and individuals running them are under sanctions, and dealing with them could potentially bring sanctions and fines against companies and banks doing business with Iran, he added.

Finally, the international companies did not like the old buy back contracts proposed by the Iranian government, said Dadkhah by reminding that in the past years, these contracts were revised twice but that did not change the attitude of companies.

However, the new government in Iran has proposed a new type of contract (Iranian Petroleum Contracts) that may make a difference. Already some hard-liners are opposing such contracts, said the expert.

He also elaborated that the old contracts had three main characteristics that made the international energy companies reluctant to invest in Iran. First, they were not partnerships, and companies did not own a portion of the discovered oil or gas. The company would be paid for its service a portion of the extracted oil or gas.

Second, they were short-term contracts, usually lasting 5-7 years, added Dadkhah.

In addition, the risk factor was not taken into account, said the professor by emphasizing that the Iran Petroleum Contracts (IPC) offer joint ventures between international companies and Irans national oil or gas companies. They will last 20-25 years, and allowance will be made for the risk factor.

It is hoped that the new contracts open the way for the revival of Irans oil and gas industries, said Dadkhah.

Irans natural gas (in billion cubic meters per day)

2013 2014 (est.) Production 161.3 172.6 Consumption 157.3 170.2 Exports 9.3 9.6 Imports 5.3 6.9

Today, Iran lacks the necessary technology and infrastructure to expand its gas production, said Dadkhah adding that if the Iranian government is able to take the necessary steps mentioned above, it could easily increase gas production and exports.

The expert also noted that Iran is a net exporter of the gas, and its imports from Turkmenistan and its swap deals with Azerbaijan have to be considered within business and economic context.

Iran provides gas to its northern part from gas purchases from Turkmenistan and swap deal with Azerbaijan.

If it is too expensive to build a pipeline from southern Iran to the north and through the Alborz mountain range, then it makes economic sense to import gas from north and export it from the south, he added.

However, once the new technologies are in place and gas production is expanded, building a pipeline to the north may become economical, said Dadkhah.

Earlier, planning director of the national Iranian gas company Hassan Torbati Montazeri noted that Iran will build network of pipelines with a total length of 5,000 kilometers in its territory during the next five years. The Islamic Republic needs $15 billion in investment for the construction of new network of gas pipelines.

The amount of the foreign investment is yet to be determined.

Curently, Irans estimated gas reserves amount to 33 trillion cubic meters.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 17:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Iran plans to organize a transit route from its port city of Bandar Abbas to Europe, Hassan Ashouri, Deputy Managing Director of Iranian Railway told media.

Taking into account the complicated Turkish-Russian relations, Iran proposed an itinerary of rail and road links which are designed to start from Bandar Abbas, then enter Azerbaijan and follow to Georgian Batumi and Poti ports.

Ashouri added that an agreement between the three countries has already been reached. Hence, goods will be shipped to the ports of Bulgaria through the Black Sea. Afterwards they will enter Romania and thereon achieve the rest of Europe.

Ashouri also noted that while Rasht-Astara railway, connecting Azerbaijan and Iran railroads, is not completed yet, the freight will still be transported by roads there.

He mentioned that transporting goods from Indian Mumbai to Europe by means of this route will also be possible. The notable aspect is that the route will omit Turkey on its way. Taking this into account, the expected transportation period of freight will reduce from 45 to 23 days.

The Deputy Director also noted that a branch of the route can be extended to Moscow and then to Finland in the framework of the Iranian-Russian railways agreement.

In February, Azerbaijan suggested to establish a rail link connecting Iranian Bandar Abbas and Finnish Helsinki. The project of North-South corridor from India to Helsinki was proposed by Taleh Ziyadov, the Director General of the Baku International Sea Trade Port, in the CIS Global Business forum in Dubai.

The North-South corridor with a length of 5,000 kilometers is designed to carry more than 20 million tons per year. It is a multimodal route for transportation of passengers and cargo from Russia's St. Petersburg to the Mumbai port. The corridor is designed to carry transit cargo from India, Iran and other Persian Gulf countries to the territory of Russia (the Caspian Sea) and further - to Northern and Western Europe.

@RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 18:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

South Korean oil and gas company GS seeks to ink a new deal to return to South Pars gas projects after it had cancelled a former agreement with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

The company, which in 2010, inked a deal worth $ 1.2bn with NIOC for the gas sweetening facility in 6-8 phases of South Pars field and canceled it after a while - is at the negotiation table to sign two lucrative deals with the NIOC in South Pars again, reported Iranian Mehr news agency on May 24.

Hamidreza Jalali, the head of Industrial Projects Management of Iran (IPMI) told that the deal had been signed with GS in management, operation, and financing of the projects.

Once finalized, the deal will give GS legible to work in South Pars 14th phase, he said by adding that GS will finance the sweetening project to operate the unit by March 2017.

Five phases of the South Pars field are expected to become operational during the current year.

Recently, South Korean President Park Geun-hye paid his first official visit to Tehran. During three day visit, he headed a large business delegation of over 230 executives, and officials of the two countries signed 19 memorandums of understanding.

Overall cost of the contracts signed between the two countries is expected to amount from $13 to $17 billion.

The two countries plan to cooperate in various fields including oil, gas and petrochemical, energy, transport, technology, insurance and banking, construction, health system, as well as, custom, legal and cultural issues.

Overall, trade turnover between Iran and South Korea stood at $6.1 billion in 2015 while the figure was $17.4 in 2011 before sanctions were imposed against Iran by the Western countries.

In addition, Iran and South Korea plan to increase bilateral trade from current $6 billon per year to $18 billion.

Iran and South Korea intend to upgrade the mutual trade ties to strategic economic relations in future.



South Korean firms will invest in Iran and their activities in the Islamic Republic will be accompanied with transfer of technology into the country.

Under the newly signed documents, the South Korean entrepreneurs will work in Iran's energy, mining and infrastructure sectors.

Moreover, South Korean energy giant KOGAS signed 3 deals with National Iranian Oil Company to explore development opportunities in the gas fields of the Persian Gulf.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 May 2016 15:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov



Skyscanner, a service of tickets and hotels search, has studied the Russian tourists favorite vacation destinations. The number of tickets sold to Azerbaijan has increased almost twice.

The service interviewed 260,000 Russian tourists and examined their tickets booking through the website. The research showed that 52 percent of Russian bookings have been made to Russian resorts, TASS reports.

As to foreign travels, Russians prefer spending their holidays in Spain and Italy. However, the countries start giving their positions to the recent trend of traveling to the neighboring countries among Russians.

Thus, sale of tickets to Georgia has almost doubled as compared to the last year. Those preferring Azerbaijan increased in number by 90 percent, Bulgaria by 31 percent and Kazakhstan by 20 percent.

Thus, Baku has ranked the fifth in the recent research of Travel.ru on the foreign cities most visited by Russians during their May holidays. The tourists remained here for approximately 3 days and paid about 50 dollars per day for accommodation.

Baku also entered the top-three list of cities in neighboring countries beloved by Russian tourists. They were Minsk, Baku and Tbilisi.

The main tourist-attracting factors of Azerbaijan are the countrys nature, ancient sites and magnificent architecture. The country has a developed tourism infrastructure, nine climatic zones, and five world heritage sites of UNESCO.

Lately, Azerbaijani authorities invested much in tourism sector. As a result, the country is reachable for tourists of all financial capabilities - Baku and Azerbaijan in general, provide all types of accommodations from cheaper hostels to luxurious hotels.

Moreover, Baku has adorable beaches due to its seashore location. Tourists also accent the countrys cuisine of myriad dishes and the hospitality of the nation.

Overall, Azerbaijan welcomed over 2 million tourists in 2015. That may be linked with several major high-level events held in Azerbaijan for the last years. The first European Games took place here in the summer of 2015. Formula 1 Grand Prix races will be held in Baku in June. The event will take place right in the streets of Baku, revealing its beauty for international spectators. Furthermore, Azerbaijan is going to accept the Islamic Solidarity Games next year, expecting elite athletes from over than 30 countries of Asia and Africa to join.

All this create favorable conditions for informing tourists about Azerbaijan and make it one of the most visited countries of the region.

@RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The coalition opposing the latest ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana in Florida is launching an advertising campaign aimed at sowing doubt about the measure among voters.

New advertising campaign by coalition against medical marijuana legalization

No on 2 tells voters Florida is on a precipice of becoming like California and Colorado

Medical Marijuana supporters say the comparison is inaccurate

Calling itself No on 2 - a reference to Amendment 2 - the coalition is following a strategy medical marijuana critics employed successfully in 2014, when a similar amendment narrowly failed to pass by the constitutionally-required 60 percent threshold.

Then, as now, ads warned Florida was on the precipice of following in the footsteps of California and Colorado, where marijuana legalization laws have resulted in the establishment of hundreds of dispensaries.

"OK, it looks like Amendment 2 will put almost 2,000 pot shops in Florida?! Jeez! More pot shops than Walmarts and Walgreens combined!" a three-minute online video released this month by No on 2 declares.

Medical marijuana supporters say it's an inaccurate comparison between Florida and Colorado. The Centennial State has legalized marijuana for recreational use, while Amendment 2 would limit use to patients suffering from "debilitating medical conditions." The ad is being criticized for neglecting to account for the strict licensing requirements that would be enacted if the amendment were to pass.

"I think what they've done, I mean, frankly, is to try to find some argument that would raise some question of doubt that what will happen in Florida will be some wild California experiment, which is exactly what the Legislature did to avoid that," said Jeff Sharkey, who along with lobbyist Taylor Patrick Biehl runs the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida.

With the No on 2 blitz already underway, Amendment 2 supporters, led by the group United for Care, are planning to rev up their own advertising campaign this summer. A May Quinnipiac University poll found 80 percent of Florida voters support the amendment.
Multiple fire crews have contained a two-alarm fire at an east Tampa business that destroyed a warehouse.



The large fire that broke out at Coastal Wipers, 6803 E. Parke Blvd., smoldered as white plumes took over the scene. The flames ultimately caused walls of the building to collapse.

No injuries were reported

Building destroyed; flames have been extinguished



Officials say emergency call initially came in as a burglary

According to the property's owner, about 30 people work at Coastal Wipers. He said he's already been in contact with most of them regarding the fire that broke out at about 4 a.m.



Officials said the call initially came in a a burglary at the warehouse. Responding deputies discovered the flames.



Firefighters from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and Tampa Fire Rescue responded to the scene.



Crews found heavy flames inside of the building and quickly switched to attacking the flames outside, according to Nacole Revette with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.



At least two walls of the building collapsed, Revette said.



"[The main thing right now] is to make sure everyone is safe and that no other businesses are in danger," Revette said.



Revette said the fire has been contained to the building, and crews have slowly brought the flames under control.



According to the company's website, Coastal Wipers is a 33-year-old family-owned business that manufactures wiping cloths, microfiber cloths and sorbent products.



No injuries have been reported.



The building is a total loss.


The last time Emma Coronel saw her husband, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, it was for a 45-minute talk May 13, closely watched by four guards with cameras attached to their helmets, according to reports,

>> Click the gallery above to learn more about El Chapo's past

The couple didn't discuss the Mexican drug lord's looming extradition, but instead, talked about family. He asked about his children and encouraged Coronel to stay strong.

"I'm in love with him," Coronel told Blog del Narco. "He is the father of my daughters. I think I've already shown that I will continue to follow him anywhere."

RELATED: People are buying up El Chapo's gaudy shirts

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department's ruling Friday gave the green light to Guzman's extradition to the United States. Friday's ruling covered an extradition request from a Texas federal court related to charges of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, money laundering, arms possession and murder, and a separate extradition request from a federal court in California.

Coronel has defended the 58-year-old alleged drug trafficker saying he has never been violent toward women and that he's never done drugs in front of her. She believes the Mexican government is trying to "get even" with him for embarrassing high-up officials.

RELATED: Story of war between ISIS, 'El Chap' debunked

The couple, who are 32 years apart in age, met after Guzman saw the teenage Coronel win a beauty pageant at the Coffee and Guava Fair in the city of Canelas. They married the day she turned 18, on July 2, 2007. She is Guzman's third wife and, in 2011, she gave birth to twin girls in Los Angeles. Coronel was born in San Francisco and has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Mexico.

Guzman was arrested in January after almost six months on the run following his escape from a maximum-security prison through a mile-long tunnel that opened to the floor of his shower.

He had already escaped once before in 2001 and spent more than a decade as one of the world's most wanted fugitives until he was recaptured in 2014.

RELATED: 24 members of El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel arrested, says ICE

Earlier this month, Guzman was suddenly transferred to a prison near Ciudad Juaraez after he was initially placed in the same Altiplano prison from which he escaped through the tunnel. Officials said the reason for the move was because of improvements being made at Altiplano.

"They want to make him pay for his escape," Coronel, 26, said in February. "They say that they are not punishing him. Of course they are. They are there with him, watching him in his cell. They don't let him sleep. He has no privacy, not even to go to the restroom."

Reporter Matt Levin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Apparently nothing is going to be easy about public education in Texas. Instead of a system that gets better each year, we have one that usually takes one step back for every two steps forward. If your child's teacher were grading this, he or she would note tersely in red ink "lack of consistency" and "needs to learn from previous mistakes."

The latest glitch even has a local connection. Jennifer Rumsey, a teacher at Orangefield High School, joined three other parents in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency for ignoring a new law requiring the state's standardized test to be shortened. The plaintiffs said that the STAAR test - the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness - was taking longer than the limit of two to three hours. Rumsey said her fifth-grade daughter took two four-hour STAAR tests this spring.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America closed Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., in late 2014. However, the Pinellas County tax collector issued the shuttered hospital a tax bill of $118,657 in 2015.

An HCA entity, Edward White Hospital, Inc., has filed a lawsuit, claiming the appraised value of $5.4 million that the 2015 tax bill was based on is too high for a vacant property, reports SaintPetersBlog. The hospital was operational during 2013 and most of 2014, and its assessed value for those years was $5.3 million and $5.5 million, respectively

The director of the Florida Department of Revenue, the property appraiser and tax collector are named as defendants in the suit.

More articles on healthcare finance:

6 latest hospital bankruptcies, closures

South Dakota hospital set to lose Medicare funding over EMTALA violations

Halting 340B funding would force 73% of hospitals to cut staff, study finds
New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System has unveiled a plan to shutter 856-bed Mount Sinai Beth Israel and replace it with a much smaller 70-bed facility.

Mount Sinai said less than 60 percent of the hospital's beds are occupied, on average, and patient volume at the financially troubled hospital has decreased by double digits since 2012. Beth Israel and its affiliates have lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years. In the first nine months of 2015, the teaching hospital posted an $85.6 million loss, which exceeded a budgeted loss of $75.6 million.

To address these issues, the system will invest $500 million to replace Mount Sinai Beth Israel with a smaller facility, located two blocks from the current campus. Funds will also be used to expand primary, specialty, behavioral and outpatient surgery services.

The plan to transform Beth Israel will take place over four years. The current hospital will remain open during that time.

Mount Sinai will retrain and place as many of the Beth Israel employees within the system as possible. However, between 600 and 700 nonunion employees are expected to lose their jobs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mount Sinai said all union employees will either keep their jobs or be retrained for new ones at equal pay.

Mount Sinai will sell the property where Beth Israel sits, which has a current value of about $600 million, according to WSJ.

The system also put an apartment building housing medical residents up for sale. The 24-story Gilman Hall, which Mount Sinai acquired in 2013, is among a cluster of buildings the teaching hospital uses for academic space, medical offices, hospital facilities and for housing resident physicians. One source familiar with the property told Crain's New York Business that the building could sell for up to $80 million.

Tenants at Gilman Hall have been told they must move out by June 30. Some resident physicians are pleased they will be able to move out of the dated building, which was built in 1969, according to Crain's.

More articles on healthcare finance:

South Dakota hospital set to lose Medicare funding over EMTALA violations

8 hospitals' finances hurt by EHR costs

Mount Sinai Beth Israel plans downsizing as losses mount
The following hospital and health system CFO moves were announced since May 5.

1. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System named Lewis Seifert CFO of its multi-state division.

2. Kimberly Hodgkinson was named executive vice president and CFO of Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth.

3. Chris Olsen, CFO of St. Charles Parish Hospital in Luling, La., will leave his post in June.

4. Douglas Thompson was appointed CFO of Boston-based Partners HealthCare's insurer Neighborhood Health Plan. He was also named vice president of population health finance, a new executive position created by Partners and NHP.

5. Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University Health System named Melinda S. Hancock as its new senior vice president and CFO.

6. Shane Jacques was named CFO of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Upper Peninsula Regional.

More articles on executive moves:

Marin General appoints new chief development officer: 4 things to know

CEO picked to lead Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis: 5 things to know

UConn Health appoints Dr. Dirk Stanley first CMIO
Vice President Joe Biden's National Cancer Moonshot is hosting a summit in Washington, D.C., on June 29 at Howard University, the Associated Press reported.

The White House also plans to organize regional summits on the same day across the country. The summits will congregate scientists, oncologists, donors and patients to discuss strategies for prevention, detection, access and data sharing, according to the report. It is the first cancer summit to focus broadly on the disease, rather than one specific form.

The list of attendees has not yet been announced, but the public will be able to partake in the summit online, according to the report.

More articles on leadership and management:

An Epic go-live, the opioid crisis and more: Mass General's CNO weighs in

Republicans unveil healthcare bill maintaining parts of ACA

4 tips for how to follow through on your goals
Here is a ranking of the 50 states by the percentage of adults who did not see or talk to a general physician in 12 months.

This list is based on data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The percentage of adults who did not visit a general physician in the 12 months from 2013-14 range from 15.9 percent in Vermont to 48.1 percent in Montana. The national average was 34.0 percent.

State-level differences in the percentage of uninsured Americans may affect healthcare access and utilization. For example, the percentage of adults who did not see a general physician within 12 months was lower in states with partnership marketplaces as opposed to Federally Facilitated Marketplace states.

Estimates are based on the 2014 National Health interview survey, a nationally representative sample of the noninstitutionalized U.S. population between the ages of 18 and 64.

States total 50, although the list includes ties, which are represented with bullets and result in a numerical listing of 43.

1. Vermont  15.9 percent

2. Delaware  18.4 percent

3. Virginia  23.9 percent

4. Pennsylvania  26.4 percent

5. Michigan  27.2 percent

6. Wisconsin  27.4 percent

7. New Hampshire  27.6 percent

8. North Dakota - 27.7 percent

9. Oklahoma  28.3 percent

10. Rhode Island  28.5 percent

 Massachusetts  28.5 percent

11. Tennessee  29.1 percent

12. Ohio  29.3 percent

13. Iowa  29.4 percent

14. Connecticut  29.6 percent

15. District of Columbia  30.3 percent

16. Maryland  30. 6 percent

17. New York  31.0 percent

18. Alabama  31.1 percent

19. Maine  31.2 percent

20. Kentucky  31.9 percent

21. Missouri  32.8 percent

22. Illinois  32.9 percent

23. Arkansas  33.2 percent

24. Oregon  33.5 percent

25. Minnesota  33.7 percent

26. New Jersey  34.7 percent

27. Indiana  35.6 percent

28. Kansas  36.0 percent

 West Virginia - 36.0 percent

29. Louisiana  36.5 percent

30. Washington  36.7 percent

 California  36.7 percent

31. North Carolina  37.4 percent

32. Florida  37.7 percent

33. Colorado  37.9 percent

34. Arizona  38.6 percent

 Georgia  38.6 percent

 Texas  38.6 percent

35. Hawaii  39.0 percent

 Wyoming  39.0 percent

36. Mississippi  39.3 percent

 Utah  39.3 percent

37. Nebraska  40.4 percent

38. Idaho  41.5 percent

 South Carolina - 41.5 percent

39. New Mexico  41.7 percent

40. Nevada  43.7 percent

41. Alaska  45.8 percent

42. South Dakota  47.7 percent

43. Montana  48.1 percent
Amid challenges to reduce wait times, the VA Health Care System is launching an initiative at its Palo Alto, Calif., branch with CVS Health to give veterans access to same day appointments.

The urgent care pilot will give more than 60,000 veterans in Northern California access to CVS' MinuteClinics for acute care services, such as treatment for common illnesses and minor injuries, as well as some preventive services like screenings, smoking cessation and contraceptive care.

"The diverse geography of our veteran population requires us to think about access as providing the right care at the right place at the right time  as defined by the veteran. We are particularly excited about working with MinuteClinic because they share our commitment to high-quality care and our belief in meeting veterans' needs as efficiently and effectively as possible," Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, MD, deputy chief of staff for VA Palo Alto Health Care System, said in a press release.

Veterans who call VA Palo Alto's Nurse Helpline can be referred to the closest of 14 MinuteClinic locations, where they can walk in, get a same day appointment and fill a prescription. This option could change access to care drastically for veterans. A March 2016 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found 120 out of 180 veterans had to wait between 22 days and 71 days from the time they requested an appointment to be seen by a provider. Sixty were never seen by a provider over the study period.

CVS' MinuteClinic President Andrew Sussman, MD, told NPR if the partnership in Palo Alto is deemed successful after one year, he hopes to roll it out across the country.

More articles on integration and physician issues:

What physicians think about the opioid crisis: 5 survey takeaways

Study: Despite critical need, most Americans unlikely to enroll in clinical trials

Alaska medical board suspends license of physician over painkiller prescriptions
The Department of Justice has intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit against Prime Healthcare, alleging the Ontario, Calif.-based hospital chain defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars by billing Medicare for medically unnecessary inpatient short-stay admissions, which should have been classified as outpatient or observation cases.

Karin Bernsten, RN, filed the whistle-blower suit against Prime in 2011. She serves as director of performance improvement at Prime's Alvarado Hospital in San Diego. A judge ordered the lawsuit unsealed in December 2013, and the government joined the case this week.

In the suit, Ms. Bernsten accuses Prime leadership of forcing caregivers at Alvarado Hospital to avoid admitting patients for observation. The suit estimates that Alvarado's fraudulent short-stay inpatient admission billings exceed $8 million. Ms. Bernsten claims the same practices were used at Prime's other hospitals throughout California, which resulted in false billings totaling more than $50 million.

In its motion to intervene in the case filed Monday, the DOJ said multiple witnesses who have worked at various Prime hospitals alleged Prime Healthcare President and Chairman Prem Reddy, MD, would criticize emergency department physicians and demand their termination if he decided they were passing up opportunities to admit Medicare beneficiaries to the hospitals. Dr. Reddy would also allegedly increase work hours for ED physicians who had admitted more Medicare beneficiaries and decrease work schedules for those who had a relatively low rate of admission.

Prime Healthcare General Counsel Troy Schell said he's confident the hospital network will be exonerated.

"The allegations under investigation arise from complex regulation and a lack of clarity between what federal regulators and physicians believe necessary to adequately document medical necessity for hospital admission," Mr. Schell said. "Similar investigations have involved almost every major health system and hundreds of hospitals across the country."

More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits:

Whistle-blower claims 33 hospitals submitted more than $1B in fictitious costs

15 latest healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements

Senator sues to prevent Rhode Island hospital from scaling back services
Earlier this week, a series of letters reviewed by The Wall Street Journal unveiled the proposed merger between Anthem and Cigna could be delayed or derailed due to squabbles between the insurers. But Anthem's CEO begs to differ.

The letters cited three areas of contention between the two health insurers: Anthem's lawsuit against Express Scripts, discrepancies about a closing date for the deal and potential delays in the regulatory review process.

But during a panel at the UBS Global Healthcare conference this week, Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish denied claims that his company is bickering with Cigna. "The reality is the process is working very well," he said, according to CNBC. "The two teams are working extremely well together. We're meeting deadlines on all the submittals."

Regarding the alleged contentions between the insurers, Mr. Swedish said the insurer has been working with antitrust regulators to ensure the review process stays on track. "I think we will get a determination from the [Department of Justice] in the not too distant future," he added, according to the report.

His thoughts were echoed by Anthem General Counsel Thomas Zielinski, who said the insurer expects to meet with the DOJ in July, when more details regarding the approval, rejection or conditions of the merger will be revealed, according to Reuters.

Even if the DOJ requests the insurers meet certain conditions, General Counsel Zielinski is confident the merger will be a success. "If I have to get there, I do believe there are ways that we could construct a remediation plan ... that the DOJ would be comfortable with," he said, according to CNBC.
To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below
SABMiller employs around 69,000 people in more than 80 countries

The European Commission has approved AB InBev's 71 billion takeover of SABMiller on the condition that "practically the entire SABMiller beer business in Europe" is sold off.

SABMiller said clearance from the antitrust watchdog represents a "significant milestone for the deal" and paves the way for completion in the second half of the year.

AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, has already moved to sell SABMiller's Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands to Japanese firm Asahi. It has also signalled its intent to sell SABMiller's businesses in central and eastern Europe.

The regulator had raised concerns that the deal would hurt competition and result in higher prices for drinkers in several countries including Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Romania and Hungary.

Margrethe Vestager, head of competition policy at the European Commission, said: "Today's decision will ensure that competition is not weakened in these markets and that EU consumers are not worse off.

"Europeans buy around 125 billion euros of beer every year, so even a relatively small price increase could cause considerable harm to consumers. It was therefore very important to ensure that AB InBev's takeover of SABMiller did not reduce competition on European beer markets."

The mega-merger marks the largest takeover of a UK-based firm as well as the fourth biggest in global corporate history.

SABMiller employs around 69,000 people in more than 80 countries and has global annual sales of more than 26 billion US dollars (18 billion).
The visit is part of a Tourism Ireland campaign to increase the number of Italians travelling to Northern Ireland

Some of Italy's leading travel agents have been touring Northern Ireland's best-known visitor attractions.

Their visit is part of a Tourism Ireland campaign to increase the number of Italians travelling to Northern Ireland.

In 2014, there was a 13% rise in the number of Italian tourists visiting here. That is expected to grow again with the launch of a new direct Ryanair flight from Milan to Belfast in September.

The group included representatives of Italy's biggest online tour operator, Travelcube.

On the itinerary was a drive along the Antrim coast and visits to Carrickfergus Castle and The Gobbins. The travel agents also spent some time in Belfast.

Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland's manager for Italy, said the organisation was building on the legacy of the 2014 Giro d'Italia and exploring opportunities created by the new air route.

"Our aim is to enthuse the travel agents, so that when they return home they will be even better informed to advise their clients," she added.
Film star Alan Rickman left an estate worth more than 4 million.

Rickman, who appeared in screen hits ranging from Die Hard to Harry Potter, died on January 14.

His will specified that the bulk of his wealth will go to his wife Rima Horton.

The actor, who played Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, revealed last year that he had quietly wed his partner of 50 years in New York in 2012.

They had been together since they met as teenagers and had no children.

His will showed that he also left a legacy sum to his three siblings David and Michael Rickman and Sheila Innes.

The will, one of 41 million stored and digitised by Iron Mountain on behalf of HM Courts & Tribunals Service, dealt with all the star's assets except those in America and Italy.

Following his death, many of Rickman's co-stars including Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Daniel Radcliffe paid tribute to the 69-year-old, who had suffered from cancer, as having been a kind and generous actor.

His final film, Alice Through The Looking Glass, is due for release in cinemas on Friday.

Fans will hear him as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar, Absolem, a role he played in the 2010 film Alice In Wonderland.

His last on-screen appearance was in the recently released Eye In The Sky, in which he starred opposite Dame Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul.

Dame Helen said it was "Alan as we all knew him and remembered him - so it's a lovely way to say goodbye".
McFly have postponed their current tour after drummer Harry Judd injured his neck.

The 30-year-old star announce d on his Instagram page that he had a slipped disc and said he was "gutted" the band's Anthology Tour was delayed. It was unclear how he sustained the injury.

He wrote to his 500,000 followers: "I'm absolutely gutted to say that we've had to postpone the tour as I've herniated a disc in my neck.

"I've honestly tried everything to make it work, but I'd never want to do a tour where I wouldn't be able to give you guys the 110% performance you deserve every night."

He concluded: "I'm going to do all the rehab possible to get myself ready to do the most epic shows we've ever put on."

The band's official website said Judd had "an acute disc herniation" at C6/7 level, the section of the spine near the base of the neck.

Band member Tom Fletcher said: "Sorry we've had to move the tour. Completely Harry's fault.

"All complaints to be sent to @mcflyharry. On a more positive note, it gives Danny more time to learn the words to our songs. See you all in September."

Judd, 30, won the 2011 series of BBC One's popular ballroom series Strictly Come Dancing and e arlier this year he took part in Sport Relief which raised 56,838,844 for charities and ventures in the UK and abroad.

Chart-toppers McFly, whose hits include All About You and 5 Colours In Her Hair, have recently started touring in their own right again after a stint with boyband Busted.

McFly's Anthology 2016 tour will see the band, including Dougie Poynter and Danny Jones, play three-night residencies in cities including Dublin, Manchester and Glasgow.

Tickets for the original dates will be honoured at the rescheduled shows.

:: Visit www.supercity.mcfly.com/tour For more information and details.
A Co Antrim man who caused the death of a "dedicated and highly-skilled" nurse in a "horrific" two-car collision has been handed a five-year jail sentence.

Neil McKee (26), from Castleburn Road in Carrickfergus, was also banned from driving for seven years for causing the death by dangerous driving of 53-year-old Heather Steele.

The former G4S employee was told he will spend half his sentence in prison, with the rest on supervised licence after release.

Belfast Crown Court heard McKee's Seat Leon crashed into Ms Steele's Suzuki Ignis in Carrickfergus at around 8pm on August 27, 2014.

McKee was driving well in excess of the 40mph limit on the main Belfast to Carrick road, and caused the collision at the junction of Castlerocklands Road.

Several witnesses observed McKee's driving just prior to the collision, with one describing the speed as "phenomenal".

Another witness, whose car was overtaken by McKee, estimated the car was being driven at speeds between 60-70mph. The witness said: "I thought it was being driven so dangerously it was going to kill someone."

Passing sentence, Judge Gordon Kerr said McKee came before the court with a clear record, and accepted he had shown remorse. It also emerged that since he caused Ms Steele's death, McKee has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The father of a Co Tyrone woman convicted of failing to report to authorities that her husband had gone to Syria to join Isis has claimed his daughter is the victim of a "miscarriage of justice".

Lorna Moore (34), who was originally from Omagh but was more recently living in Walsall in the West Midlands, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Monday.

But yesterday, her father Noel Moore, from Mountjoy, also in Co Tyrone, said his daughter was wrongly convicted.

He told the BBC that she was unaware of her husband's intentions and did not deserve her custodial sentence.

"It was a miscarriage of justice - it couldn't be anything else," Mr Moore said.

"My daughter didn't know where the man was going. She didn't know that the man was going to go away. He didn't come back home after a week of holidays.

"How would you be feeling if it happened to your daughter? It's a very difficult time, what else could it be?"

Trainee mathematics teacher Moore converted to Islam in 2002 after a Protestant upbringing in Northern Ireland. A court was told she wanted to travel to Syria with her three children, including a baby that was at the time 11 months old.

Her husband, Sajid Aslam (34), was part of a network that responded to an Isis call for volunteers in 2014.

Despite her claims of innocence, Moore was convicted of planning to take her children to the warzone earlier this week.
A 26-year old Belfast woman has admitted obstructing police in connection with the murder of Kyle Neil.

Mr Neil (23) was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack at a house in the Mill Street area of Comber on April 12 last year.

Wesley Harry Vance, formerly of Church Gate Studios in Comber, was due to stand trial alongside co-accused Stephanie Todd at Downpatrick Crown Court on charges arising from last years murder.

A jury has been sworn to preside over the murder trial - however despite initially denying a murder charge, 27-year old Vance changed his plea and admitted murdering Mr Neil.

Following the plea, trial judge Mr Justice Colton told him: Now that you have pleaded guilty to murder, the mandatory sentence that I must impose is one of a life sentence.

Todd was due to stand trial on two offences arising from Mr Neils murder - namely assisting offenders by driving the deceaseds body in the boot of Ford Fiesta from Mill Street in Comber to Windsor Road in Belfast on April 12, and of driving with excess alcohol.

She denied both charges and was due to be tried by a jury, but following legal discussions, a new charge was added to the bill of indictment.

When Todd was charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of his duties on April 12 last year, she replied guilty. She was also re-arraigned on the driving with excess alcohol charge, which she also admitted.

Prosecuting barrister Laura Ivers said that in light of the guilty pleas, the Crown was prepared to leave the assisting offenders charge on the books, not to be proceeded with.

Mr Justice Colton thanks all those involved for their hard work in bringing a resolution to what he called a very difficult, tragic and complex case.

The jury was then dismissed by the Judge, who also released Todd on bail.

She will be sentenced alongside Vance at Belfast Crown Court next month.
One of the Commonwealth war cemeteries around the Somme battlefield in northern France

Martin McGuinness has decided not to accept an invitation to attend a memorial service marking the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme saying he does not want to be at the centre of controversy.

The Deputy First Minister revealed yesterday that he planned to visit the battle site next week instead, but he will not be in France for the major commemoration on July 1.

Speaking on BBC's Stephen Nolan radio show on the matter of attending the 100th anniversary, Mr McGuinness said: "I aware there has been controversy - people saying they won't go to the Somme if I was there.

"I am not going to be at centre of controversy preventing anyone from going to the Somme.

"If my attendance at any event at the Somme offends people then I won't be there."

There was controversy last week after the Belfast Telegraph reported that Mr McGuinness was considering an invite from the Somme Association to attend the event at the Ulster Tower. It is one of a series of major ceremonies planned across the UK and France to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of battle.

Read More

Men of the 36th (Ulster) Division were among the 100,000 Allied soldiers who went over the top to fight the Germans on July 1, 1916.

The Northern Ireland service takes place at the Tower, which stands as a memorial to members of the Ulster battalions who fought at the Somme. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister were among a number of dignitaries named on the guest list.

A source said: "A reply was received from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister's office indicating that the First Minister will attend on July 1, but he (Mr McGuinness) would not be."

However, Mr McGuinness will visit the battle site ahead of the centenary. He is taking up an invitation from the Flemish government to visit Flanders Field next week, and will also visit the Somme.

He will be attending with senior Sinn Fein member and special advisor Conor Heaney whose great grandfather and great uncle were killed at the Somme.

Mr McGuinness said it was "a sincere effort" to recognise the suffering and the significance the centenary holds for the unionist community.

Mr McGuinness said: "World War One is an important part of Ireland's multi-layered history during which tens of thousands of Irish people lost their lives. If we are to build understanding and reconciliation on this island, we all need to recognise and accept the complexity of the historical events and differing political narratives that make us who we are as a community and as a people.

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed the move.

He said: "The timing of this visit is particularly significant, happening in the run up to the centenary. The events of that day and the service and sacrifice of those men are of utmost importance to the Protestant unionist and loyalist communities in Northern Ireland. It is extremely significant this is being recognised by Mr McGuinness and his colleagues."

The invite to Mr McGuinness had caused anger in the unionist community.

Last week Phil Hamilton, a member of Rathcoole Friends of the Somme Association who is due to attend the service in France, said he would pull out if Mr McGuinness attended.
A promoter and writer who worked with some of the music industry's biggest stars has published his third murder mystery novel.

Paul Charles writes in the morning before the music world wakes up.

He launches his latest Inspector Starrett mystery in Belfast on Thursday. St Ernan's Blues is set in a real house off the Donegal coast - a retirement home for priests.

He said: "I try and get real locations. It just makes that story by association feel more real.

"It has a uniqueness about it and a great feel about it.

"It starts with a crime and it ends with a crime."

Mr Charles is one of the best-known talent agents and tour promoters in the UK and Ireland.

He has worked with artists such as Rory Gallagher, Robert Plant, Van Morrison and Paul Brady.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles leaves the centre after his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles leaves the centre after his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles unveils a plaque at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles unveils a plaque at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the First Minster Arlene Foster as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the Gavin Robinson MP for east Belfast as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the Deputy Lord Mayor for Belfast Guy Spence as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the First Minster Arlene Foster as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

The Prince of Wales shakes hands with Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute. Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (left) speaks with President and Vice Chancellor of Queens University Belfast Professor Patrick Johnson (centre) and Professor John McCanny as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute. Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute.Niall Carson/PA Wire

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster curtseys for The Prince of Wales as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute.Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (front, second right) attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (front, second left) attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (left) is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (left) is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public what to see Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public what to see Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Two protesters, one with a "Brits Out" banner, await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

School children await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

People await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

People await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall leaving Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Gardai provide security as the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive in Donegal Town during a visit to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (partially obscured) leaving Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Ellie Nichoilan, 9, speaks with the Prince of Wales at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Ellie Nichoilan, 9, speaks with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Two women protest during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A women protests during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Two women protest during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (bottom left) are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales (right) is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meets Philomena Barry, 90, who was the housekeeper of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, as Charles visits Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales meets Philomena Barry, 90, who was the housekeeper of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, as Charles visits Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visit Donegal Castle on May 25, 2016 in Letterkenny, Ireland. The royal couple are on a one day visit to Ireland having spent two days across the border in Northern Ireland. It is their first trip to Donegal. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as they visit the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA

The Duchess of Cornwall meets students during a visit to the Ballyraine National School in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. PA

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ontop of the boat house at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as they visit the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ontop of the boat house at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as his visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA

A "dank, damp and dangerous" church transformed into a heritage and arts centre was described as "remarkable" by Prince Charles as he officially opened it yesterday.

The Prince of Wales was in the Portico centre in Portaferry on the second day of his official visit to Northern Ireland.

Formerly known as Portaferry Presbyterian Church, the building has undergone a 1.5m renovation over the past eight years.

It is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in Ireland, and the current building is modelled on the Temple of Nemesis on the island of Rhamnous.

In 2009, the small congregation asked Friends of Portaferry Presbyterian Church to carry out a condition report for the "dank, damp and dangerous" building.

With the bill set to run into millions of pounds, it became clear that the congregation would not be able to carry out the work alone.

The building was handed over to the Friends of Portaferry Presbyterian Church, and with the help of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other supporters, a complete overhaul from the roof to the foundations was carried out.

The project involved completely rebuilding the church's 100-year-old organ and the creation of a new modern extension.

The building will now become a community centre and will host cultural, educational and heritage events. It will also continue to be used as a working church.

Charles is famous for his love of architecture, although he has antagonised many architects with his belief that traditional and modern buildings should complement one another. With its clear classic styling, he gave the Portico the royal seal of approval yesterday, saying it was a pleasure to open the building, and paid tribute to the hard work of those involved in the in transforming it.

His Royal Highness joined the congregation and invited guests in giving thanks for their new church in a service led by the Rev David Gray.

As Charles unveiled the plaque for the building and became the first person to sign its visitors' book, he said: "It is a remarkable project and for me it is very special to be able to join you on this occasion to rededicate this building.

"I hope it will provide everybody who lives in this particular town with something very special for the future."

Mr Gray added: "I think it's absolutely wonderful that the Prince of Wales has taken the time to come to share with us what is a very big occasion in the life of the congregation and in the life of Portico.

"I know he has a great interest in architecture and arts and culture, so I hope he enjoyed it."

Ian McDonnell, chairman of the Friends of Portaferry Presbyterian Church, said: "This has been a long road and today is such a big milestone for us. We're absolutely delighted to have His Royal Highness here.

"We now have a wonderful building, set fair for the next 170 years. It is a building for the whole community to enjoy and a building that still is the spiritual home of the local Presbyterian congregation, as this site has been since 1665."

The prince was presented with a hurling stick by members of the local GAA club and a line drawing of Portaferry before he made his way outside to greet guests and local residents.

Lord Mayor of Ards and North Down Alan Graham said: "This truly is an amazing building and it's great to see it restored to its former glory. It's excellent that Prince Charles took the time to come and open it.

"This has been one of the biggest days for the community of Portaferry. They gave him a wonderful welcome."
The Prince of Wales said "the relationship between Britain and Ireland is now better than ever".

The Prince of Wales sampled award-winning sausages made by brothers Diarmuid (left) and Ernan McGettigan at McGettigan's butcher's shop in Donegal town

The Prince of Wales has said he hopes conflict zones around the world copy the Northern Ireland peace process.

On a whistle-stop tour of Donegal in the Irish Republic - a year after his emotional trip to where his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA in 1979 - Charles praised the people of the region.

"As I mentioned in Sligo last year the relationship between Britain and Ireland is now better than ever," he said.

The Prince was speaking during a civic reception at Letterkenny Institute of Technology after spending more than half an hour on The Diamond in Donegal town with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, shaking hands with hundreds of well-wishers.

"And the relationship between the communities on this island has changed fundamentally since the peace agreement of 1998 this is as evident here as anywhere," he said.

"The border is of the merest consequence and Co Donegal, Co Derry, or Londonderry, and Co Tyrone operate as a single economic entity to the great benefit of their inhabitants.

"So, I can only applaud the people of all three counties for proving that it is possible for communities that have been divided for so long to overcome their differences and create a peaceful and prosperous life together.

"I do so hope that the example you have set will be copied in other areas of the world that have suffered so much conflict."

The day-long visit to Ireland is the latest royal bid to solidify transformed relations with the Republic.

The Prince's symbolic step comes after the Queen's historic visit in 2011, when she became the first British monarch to set foot in the country for a century.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ontop of the boat house at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as his visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ontop of the boat house at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as they visit the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA PA The Duchess of Cornwall meets students during a visit to the Ballyraine National School in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. PA PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as they visit the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA PA Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visit Donegal Castle on May 25, 2016 in Letterkenny, Ireland. The royal couple are on a one day visit to Ireland having spent two days across the border in Northern Ireland. It is their first trip to Donegal. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meets Philomena Barry, 90, who was the housekeeper of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, as Charles visits Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meets Philomena Barry, 90, who was the housekeeper of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, as Charles visits Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (right) is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (bottom left) are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Two women protest during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A women protests during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Two women protest during the visit of Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Irish TV presenter Noel Cunningham (left) as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales is greeted by well wishers as they visit Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Ellie Nichoilan, 9, speaks with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA Ellie Nichoilan, 9, speaks with the Prince of Wales at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (partially obscured) leaving Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA Gardai provide security as the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive in Donegal Town during a visit to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall leaving Donegal Castle in Donegal Town, as Charles visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA People await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA School children await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Two protesters, one with a "Brits Out" banner, await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Donegal Town, as Charles is visiting the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 25, 2016. See PA story IRISH Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public what to see Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public what to see Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-05-2016: Members of the public pictured with Prince Charles. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Portico Presbyterian Church in Portaferry CoDown Northern Ireland. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker. The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (left) is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (left) is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (front, second left) attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales is greeted by Lord Lieutenant for County Down David Lindsay as he visits the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (front, second right) attends a service of thanksgiving and dedication during a visit to the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. The Grade A listed building, formerly Portaferry Presbyterian Church, has undergone a 1.5m restoration to create an arts and heritage centre used by all sections of the community. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster at Hillsborough Castle in County Down. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 24, 2016. See PA story ULSTER Charles. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster curtseys for The Prince of Wales as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute.Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute.Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales (left) speaks with President and Vice Chancellor of Queens University Belfast Professor Patrick Johnson (centre) and Professor John McCanny as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Prince of Wales shakes hands with Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster as he arrives at the Northern Ireland Science Park at Queen's University Belfast, where he officially launched the University's first Global Research Institute. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the First Minster Arlene Foster as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the Deputy Lord Mayor for Belfast Guy Spence as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the Gavin Robinson MP for east Belfast as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles is greeted by the First Minster Arlene Foster as he begins his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles signs a visitors book at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles unveils a plaque at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles unveils a plaque at the end of his visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles chats to staff at the end of visit to the centre. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles leaves the centre after his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 23rd May 2016 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales starts a two day visit to Northern Ireland by launching Queen's University's first Global Research Institute at ECIT(Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology)beside the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Area of Belfast. Prince Charles leaves the centre after his visit. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ontop of the boat house at Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal, as his visits the Republic of Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed Anglo-Irish relations. PA

Security was tight for the couple's engagements, with two women protesting on the edge of Donegal town and about 30 republicans making their opposition known with placards a few hundred yards from Letterkenny IT.

Charles and Camilla also toured Donegal Castle, the Magee Donegal tweed factory and local artisan butchers McGettigans.

They also had a private visit to Glebe House, the home for nearly 30 years of renowned artist and friend of the Prince, Derek Hill.

The day trip ended in Glenveagh National Park and Castle.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said the return visit by the royals marked Ireland and Britain's 21st century relations.

"Last year, your visit was a powerful demonstration of our two countries' shared focus on peace and reconciliation, with many elements in your programme also demonstrating 21st-century links between us - in education, in science and in many other walks of life," he said.

"If I were to characterise your welcome visit today to Donegal, it might be one which marks our 21st-century friendship, and our ever-growing efforts to work together.

"Working together between Britain and Ireland. Working together north and south on this island. Working together across our open border, between neighbouring counties - indeed between good and friendly neighbours."

Charles opened his speech in Letterkenny with a few words in Irish, echoing the ground-breaking efforts of the Queen in Dublin Castle.

"Ta athas mor orm a bheidh anseo i Leitir Ceanainn," he said, meaning I'm very happy to be here in Letterkenny.

The Prince praised the culture of the county before closing with a few more well-judged words as Gaeilge.

"It really is always, if I may say so ladies and gentleman, the greatest possible pleasure for my wife and I to visit this wonderful country," he said.

"We enjoyed ourselves so much in County Galway and County Sligo last year that we simply had to come back. We are particularly happy to come to Donegal, a place of dramatic and beautiful scenery, of music and story-telling, of myth, legend and the Irish language, and a place, of course, where the link between man and the land is still so well understood.

"It is also a place of innovation and creativity, as the work of this institute shows."

And not to be outdone the Duchess also dropped in a few words in Irish as she gave an impromptu speech to the 220 pupils and their teachers at Ballyraine National School in Letterkenny.

She asked the gathered crowd: "Cad e mar ata sibh?" (how are you?).

And she went on to express the couple's wish to come back to Ireland.

"We love coming back to Ireland and are always surprised by the warmth of the welcome we get here and can't wait to come back again," she said.
A west Belfast man has appeared in court accused of raping a 12-year-old girl and fathering a son as a result.

Connor Whyte (19), who refers to himself on social media as Conaire Adams Whyte, arrived at Belfast's Laganside Courts yesterday to be told that he will return again to court in the summer.

The former De La Salle pupil, also known as 'Mitch', was charged with rape after DNA tests were conducted on the baby by police. Police launched an investigation last year after the girl, who is now 13, became pregnant in July 2015.

The victim, also believed to be from west Belfast, gave birth to a boy in April, making her one of the youngest ever mothers in the UK.

Whyte, of Crocus Street, off the Springfield Road, was arrested in the Lenadoon area in October after police were advised about the young girl's pregnancy.

It is understood that he denied he was the father of the child and was released on police bail.

However, police waited until the baby was born and then carried out DNA tests before charging Whyte with rape of a child under 13.

The results of the DNA tests are understood to form part of the case against him.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that Whyte is now a recent dad of two sons, having fathered another child by a different woman last year.

He is believed to have been in a relationship with the child's mother, but they have since broken up.

The family of the alleged young victim are understood to have been left deeply shocked by the schoolgirl's pregnancy when it came to light last year.

Dressed in a grey hooded top as he entered the dock at Belfast Magistrates Court, Whyte spoke only to confirm he was aware of the alleged offence. Asked if he understood the charge, he replied: "Yes".

No further details of the case were disclosed. A prosecution lawyer asked for a six-week adjournment to allow efforts to prepare for a possible preliminary inquiry hearing at a future date.

According to recent statistics, 98% of teenagers who gave birth in 2014 were over 16. The youngest mother in the UK is thought to have become pregnant when she was still in primary school at the age of 11.

The girl, from London, gave birth in April 2014 aged 12 years and three months. In summer 2014, a north Belfast woman became Britain and Ireland's youngest known grandmother at 29 when her 15-year-old daughter gave birth.

The age of sexual consent in Northern Ireland has been reduced from 17 to 16. It is a criminal offence to engage in any sexual activity with any child, with a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment. Where the sexual activity involves rape, the maximum is life imprisonment.

The number of teenage girls to give birth here has been steadily decreasing in recent years.

Figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed that in 2014, 839 children were born to teenage mothers.

Whyte left on continuing bail, flanked by two blonde females and two males. He will return to Laganside court on July 5.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Parliament Buildings with his new ministerial team Mairtin O Muilleoir, Michelle ONeill, Meagan Fearon and Chris Hazzard

Sinn Fein has surprised political observers by announcing a younger, fresher team of ministers at Stormont in what is seen as a direct response to both the rise of Gerry Carroll and a more youthful, radical SDLP.

In a complete break with party tradition - apart from Martin McGuinness - none of the ministers have an IRA past.

The Deputy First Minister said he was confident Mairtin O Muilleoir, Michelle O'Neill, Chris Hazzard and Megan Fearon would perform strongly.

Read More

Meanwhile, speculation mounted last night that 29-year-old independent unionist Claire Sugden could be on course for the Justice portfolio, but Stormont insiders said that the final decision would go down to the wire. "Nothing is over the line yet," one added.

The young East Londonderry MLA was remaining tight-lipped on the possibility of a life-changing appointment. If Ms Sudgen is not nominated, a DUP MLA is likely to take the ministry.

Alliance was last night described as "completely out of the running". A unionist source said: "Alliance has burned its boats. It overplayed its hand."

Alliance sources said there had been no contact between their party and the DUP over the ministry.

The Assembly is due to meet at midday with the Justice Minister's appointment being the first item on the agenda.

The DUP-Sinn Fein nominee will be proposed and MLAs will then vote on the issue.

The d'Hondt system will run after that, with the rest of the ministers being appointed.

The DUP's Simon Hamilton is seen as being a certainty for another term in the Executive.

At least one other woman is expected to join Arlene Foster in holding a ministry.

Sinn Fein's Mr O Muilleoir is tipped for either Finance or Economy Minister.

The 57-year-old businessman and former Belfast Lord Mayor is the most experienced politician among the party's new group of ministers.

There was some surprise that Conor Murphy and Michelle Gildernew were omitted from the ministerial team, but sources said there were still opportunities for them to be appointed as committee chairs and that both would perform prominent media roles for the party.

Sinn Fein is likely to rotate its ministers mid-term, with Mr Murphy seen by many as a future Deputy First Minister should Mr McGuinness stand aside.

The Deputy First Minister said he had "the utmost confidence" in his new team.

"They are all intelligent, committed, dedicated Irish republicans who understand the challenges that face us in the next five years," he added.

The inclusion of 24-year-old Ms Fearon was the biggest surprise in the line-up. From a well-known republican family in Dromintee in south Armagh, she has been a Sinn Fein member for nine years.

She replaced Mr Murphy as MLA for Newry and Armagh four years ago, making her the youngest political representative in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

She has a politics degree from Queen's University and has sat on several Stormont committees.

A nationalist source said: "It was no surprise to see Sinn Fein putting forward two women, but what was more unexpected was the youth of the team.

"That's a direct response to competition from within nationalist politics, with Daniel McCrossan, Claire Hanna, and Nichola Mallon all being very prominent in the SDLP."

The younger, fresher team is also seen as a direct response to the rise of People Before Profit, and particularly Gerry Carroll who topped the poll in West Belfast. Sinn Fein was criticised for running five ex-prisoners in the constituency.

Mr Hazzard was regarded as a rising Sinn Fein star until a car-crash performance on BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show, but others defended him saying he was defending "crazy policies".

Sinn Fein's decision to keep Ms O'Neill on also raised eyebrows, but sources insisted she was a consistently strong performer.
Alan McBride, whose wife and father-in-law died in the Shankill bombing, addresses a wreath-laying ceremony marking the anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombing

Wendy Doherty, from Lucan, whose pregnant mother Collette died in the blasts, laying a wreath with her son Tyler (10)

A hand is placed on the memorial at a wreath laying ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

British Prime Minister David Cameron stands accused of stonewalling repeated calls to open up files on the indiscriminate slaughter of 33 people including a pregnant woman.

As the Dail unanimously backed the latest demand for official documents to be disclosed on the no-warning 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombings, Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned the case was central to ongoing reconciliation.

"Access by an independent international judicial figure to all original documents related to the Dublin/Monaghan bombings would bring substantial progress to the investigation of the atrocities so far," he said.

"It would give the families of victims and survivors the surety at least of transparency and full disclosure.

"Without that, those affected understandably cannot come to terms with the suffering inflicted on them."

Mr Kenny, who has repeatedly raised the case with his Downing Street counterpart, said it must be "adequately addressed if we are to achieve a genuinely reconciled society."

It is the third time in the last eight years an all-party motion has been passed in Dublin demanding London allow access to files on the Dublin/Monaghan bombings.

Expand Close UVF carnage: the aftermath of bomb in Monaghan in 1974, one of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in which 33 people were killed / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp UVF carnage: the aftermath of bomb in Monaghan in 1974, one of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in which 33 people were killed

Last week, rock stars U2 were among those who left wreaths at the memorial on Talbot Street in Dublin, where one of the three bombs in the capital exploded, in what was the bloodiest day of the Troubles.

It was addressed to Justice for the Forgotten, which campaigns for an investigation into alleged British state collusion in the atrocities.

Two others bombs were detonated on Parnell Street and South Leinster Street in the co-ordinated attacks in the middle of the evening rush hour on May 17.

Expand Close Alan McBride, whose wife and father-in-law died in the Shankill bombing, addresses a wreath-laying ceremony marking the anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombing PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Alan McBride, whose wife and father-in-law died in the Shankill bombing, addresses a wreath-laying ceremony marking the anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombing

About an hour and a half later the fourth no-warning bomb was set off in Monaghan town.

The attacks - which also injured hundreds - were blamed on the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, said a number of previous inquiries raised serious concerns about the non-cooperation of the British authorities.

"It is clear from the evidence that loyalist paramilitaries undertook the bloody deed, however the sophistication and co-ordination of the attacks raise serious issues around the potential orchestration of the explosions by elements of British security forces," he said.

Mr Martin said Mr Cameron was "stonewalling" calls for information on "indiscriminate slaughter" that extinguished entire families with the pain still felt in silent homes across the country today.

"The ongoing refusal of Prime Minister Cameron to release the relevant documents is a fundamental barrier to achieving real closure," he said.

"How long do we have to wait for a meaningful response from the British Prime Minster?"

He added: "The whole truth is needed."

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein leader, said Britain has never been open and honest about the role its intelligence services played in working with "unionist death squads".

"It is now accepted that as a matter of fact that collusion was policy and administrative practice," he said.

"This isn't just a passive British government.

"This is an active effort to thwart efforts to get to the truth."
The Irishman was piloting the Cessna when it crashed

An Irishman was among five people who died when a skydiving tour plane crashed and caught fire in Hawaii.

The pilot of the small plane was named locally as Damien Jimmy Horan, from Tullamore, Co Offaly.

The incident happened on Monday morning on the island of Kauai.

Mr Horan, two skydive instructors and two tandem jumpers were believed to be onboard.

Four of them were pronounced dead at the scene while a fifth died later in hospital, local reports say.

Offally county councilllor Thomas McKeigue said the Horans were well known in Tullamore as a "friendly, hard-working and a very decent family."

"It's very tragic when a young person dies like this," he told the Irish Times.

"He was known as a very genuine, easy-going and talented young man."

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is providing consular assistance.

The plane was a single-engine Cessna 182H, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also working with officials to determine the cause of the incident.
The 21st birthday of a Northern Ireland-born soldier killed in Wales will be marked today with a "quiet remembrance" by his family and friends here and in Spain.

Private Matthew Boyd's family in La Linea and Carrickfergus said they would spend the day remembering the life of a man they described as "funny and popular, with the cheekiest grin".

Mr Boyd was killed on a night out in Brecon last month. Two men aged 22 and 23 have been charged with his murder.

His mother, Michelle Rogers, said she planned to hold a barbecue at the family home that would be attended by Matthew's stepfather, Jeremy, his friends and members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, in which he served for five years.

The family, originally from Greenisland, moved 13 years ago, and Matthew and brothers James (22) and Darren (16) soon adapted to their new life. Sister Katie (10) was later born there.

The soldier, who has been described as handsome, outgoing, charismatic and daring, signed up for the Army aged 16.

His superiors said he was a dedicated man who would have been proud to serve alongside younger brother Darren, who recently joined up.

His mother described how the fighting instinct was always in her son, who was born prematurely at just 30 weeks at the Jubilee Maternity Hospital.

"He was a little fighter," said Mrs Rogers, who also told how she had been overwhelmed by the amount of tributes paid to Matthew from all over the world.

"He was not supposed to be born until July and they said he would be in hospital until October, but he was out by June," she added. "He was definitely born with that fighting instinct. He was one of the loves of my life - all my kids are - I am just so proud of him.

"People say you can love your kids too much, but I don't believe that you can. I absolutely adored him - we all did.

"He lived life to the fullest, never looking back. He just got on with things.

"He was always joking, and I know that he would be looking at us all now and laughing at all the media attention he's got. But he would have loved it too.

"We all really miss him, but we will celebrate his life and the joy he brought to us."

Big brother James also paid tribute to the Manchester United fan, recalling how his mother once dressed them both head-to-toe in the team's kit.

James said he was "so scarred" that he turned to supporting rivals Liverpool.

"Matthew was the life and soul of every party," he added. "He would put a smile on everyone's face. No matter how much he would wind you up, you would always have ended up giggling at his cheeky ways.

"He was definitely a man for the ladies, with his smile and with his witty charm, and they fell in love with him."

Mrs Rogers, who is a member of the Methodist Church in Gibraltar, also expressed her thanks to the many people across the world "who have lifted us in prayer".

Matthew will receive a full military funeral, and his life will be marked at the Cenotaph in Carrickfergus on the day of his burial by his relatives in Northern Ireland.
A shortlist of bidders is being compiled for Tata's UK assets as hundreds of steelworkers march in London

Tata will consider the bids for its UK business but the process is still ongoing, its executive director has said.

Koushik Chatterjee told a news conference in Mumbai that the company had identified short-listed bidders, but they needed to be evaluated.

He would not give a rundown of the firms which have made bids, but said some had sought clarifications.

The management buyout team bidding to purchase the UK assets has made it clear it is working alone rather than in conjunction with another group.

There have been reports that Excalibur has met officials from Liberty House about a possible link-up.

Excalibur said in a statement: "Excalibur Steel UK Ltd was created as an entity to manage the financing of an employee and management-led buyout of Tata Steel UK Ltd.

"Recent media speculation has suggested that Excalibur is not pursuing this objective independently. This is incorrect. Excalibur is working alone and is not currently contemplating acting in conjunction with any third party."

Hundreds of steelworkers from across the UK marched through Westminster to keep up the pressure on Tata and the Government to save the crisis-hit industry.

They chanted "Save Our Steel" as they walked past Parliament.

Mr Chatterjee said that as a "responsible" company, Tata fully understood how the process worked, describing the position as an "ongoing sale."

The board will consider the next step and how the bids stack up in terms of ranking.

"We have identified short listed bidders which we need to evaluate."

Mr Chaterjee said Tata continued to work closely with the UK government. Business secretary Sajid Javid has travelled to Mumbai to meet Tata officials, while Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones is also in the city talking to the company in a sign of how important steel is to Wales.

Mr Chatterjee said: "We are running a credible process, working with the Government. Each step has been done with a lot of careful consideration. We need to consider these bids, understand who wants what, and how, and understand the implications for Tata."

Tata will engage with the bidders "in due course", said Mr Chatterjee, adding: "It is not done until it is done."

He maintained that good progress was being made and insisted Tata did not want to delay the process.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined the workers' march and said his party was doing everything it could to support the steel industry.

"We have to secure enough time to make sure the industry has a future. The industry is strong and the workers are incredibly skilled. It cannot be allowed to go to the wall."

Workers said the future was uncertain.

Kevin Faulkner, who works at a Tata plant near Wolverhampton, said: "There are mixed feelings about all the bidders, to be honest. They would all have a different impact on the workers.

"Obviously we are also worried about what will happen to our pensions. "

Jason Bartlett, who works at a Tata tin plate site at Trostre, South Wales, said: "The mood everywhere is one of uncertainty. We don't know what the future holds. We have seen difficult times in this industry and the impact of previous job losses has been devastating."

Unite leader Len McCluskey said: "Nothing has been resolved yet, but the strong campaigning from the workforce has at least made the Government think again and now have a much more positive approach.

"The fact that the Government is prepared to invest 25% in the business should give confidence to potential bidders - and it might even result in Tata reversing its original decision.

"We await the news from Tata, but our fight goes on to secure the steel industry for the sake of manufacturing and the country's industrial strategy.

"We also want Tata to be a responsible seller - and any buyer must be responsible too."

Dave Hulse, of the GMB, said: " This march was an opportunity for all unions to send a clear message that we need a long term strategy to support our industry and safeguard vital jobs.

"We expect Tata to sell to a responsible buyer, in it for the long term. We don't want to be back in this position in 12 months' time."
The UK's anti-slavery commissioner has called on police to "up their game" on the issue, as he warned authorities are not in a "fair fight" with criminal gangs.

Kevin Hyland said modern slavery demands a similar response to other serious crimes and spoke of a need for a "cultural shift" to ensure more perpetrators are caught.

In an interview with the Press Association, he raised concerns about resources devoted to the problem, describing investment by the international community as "shockingly poor".

Modern slavery includes forced labour or criminality, domestic servitude and trafficking, and official estimates suggest there are up to 13,000 potential victims in the UK.

Mr Hyland was appointed as the country's first independent anti-slavery commissioner 18 months ago to spearhead the Government's response.

In his latest assessment, he suggested the issue was not receiving sufficient resources.

"If we looked across the UK today, what would be the numbers of police officers looking at drugs and narcotics, for example? What would be the number that are looking at counter-terrorism?" he said.

"Quite rightly there would be very large numbers looking at both.

"But if we look at a crime where the commodity suddenly becomes a human being, what are the numbers looking at this crime? I think they would be shockingly low. This needs to be addressed like any other serious organised crime."

Mr Hyland continued: "If you look up and down the country you would find in every policing area a response that's available to deal with drugs crime, sexual exploitation, volume crime - and quite rightly so.

"But actually this crime is of such a high risk and so prevalent that forces really need to up their game on this and start to respond to it in the same way."

Organised criminal groups are estimated to be making 150 billion a year from human trafficking, modern slavery and forced labour, the commissioner said.

"Yet the investment by the international community is shockingly poor, estimated to be in the region of a billion," he said. "How can that be a fair fight?"

Mr Hyland said he wanted to see a "really big increase" in the number of offenders pursued through the criminal justice system.

" We need a cultural shift in policing to understand this is a crime that needs a persistent pursuit of those who commit these crimes," he said.

He stressed there have been "significant improvements" in some areas, with dedicated responses which have led to an increase in recording, arrests and prosecutions.

But in other places "we see very little response", he said, adding: "I'm still seeing failings whereby cases are missed because they are not identified as trafficking or they are misidentified as something else."

Mr Hyland also highlighted the issue of crime recording, saying it was "nowhere near good enough".

He said: "How can it be that in 2016 people are reporting crime to law enforcement agencies and then it's not being recorded properly?

"Incidents which are suggesting there's human trafficking and modern slavery are being reported to the statutory agencies, but for some reason they are not recording it in what is the recognised way as required by the Home Office's national recording standards.

"That is something which is pure basics."
The respected think-tank said a vote to Leave could see public finances take a 20 billion to 40 billion pound hit in 2019/20

A fresh warning about the potential economic cost of Brexit has been issued by the head of the World Trade Organisation, who warned import tariffs would cost the country billions.

WTO director general Roberto Azevedo said the UK would have to negotiate membership of the organisation - as it is currently represented by the EU - and trade deals with countries around the world.

The intervention came as the rival camps in the referendum debate clashed over a stark warning about the potential impact of Brexit from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), with David Cameron hailing it as the "independent gold standard" but Leave campaigners claiming it was influenced by funding from Brussels.

The WTO estimated the cost of additional tariffs on goods imports to British consumers after Brexit would amount to 9 billion, while British merchandise exports would be subject to a further 5.5 billion in tariffs.

Mr Azevedo told the Financial Times: " The consumer in the UK will have to pay those duties. The UK is not in a position to decide 'I'm not charging duties here'. That is impossible. That is illegal."

Setting out the scale of the challenge facing the UK if it voted to Leave on June 23, Mr Azevedo said: "Pretty much all of the UK's trade would somehow have to be negotiated."

Brexit campaigners have suggested that the UK would pull out of the single market in the event of a Leave win, and Britain could face being cut out of existing trade deals negotiated between the EU and other countries.

Mr Azevedo said: "It is a very important decision for the British people. It is a sovereign decision and they will decide what they want to decide. But it is very important, particularly with regard to trade, which is something very important for the British economy, that people have the facts and that they don't underestimate the challenges."

The intervention by the WTO chief follows warnings from other major international economic bodies and the respected IFS think-tank, which forecast that Brexit could lead to two more years of austerity.

The report said a vote to Leave could see public finances take a 20 billion to 40 billion hit in 2019/20, if gross domestic product is 2.1% to 3.5% lower over the period, as predicted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

It also rejected a key claim from the Leave camp that EU membership involves sending 350 million a week to Brussels which could be used in the UK.

Mr Cameron - whose policies have often been savaged by the IFS - said it was "always held out as the independent gold standard".

"What they are saying about the 350 million claim and what they are saying about the effect upon our economy of Brexit, that is very, very powerful and it backs up what the Treasury and others have been saying," he said as he arrived in Japan for the G7 summit.

Vote Leave dismissed the IFS as a "paid-up propaganda arm of the European Commission" which could suffer a financial hit from Brexit because it benefits from EU funds.

"The IFS is not a neutral organisation. It would face an 800,000 deficit if we vote Leave," the campaign said.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage told the Press Association: "They've taken loads of EU money over the last 10 years to produce a report in an attempt to frighten us. They're using our money to tell us what we should think. I think the whole thing is an absolute disgrace."

IFS director Paul Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the think-tank received European funding for some of its "academic work" - as did other institutions outside the EU.

He said: "For the last 30 years, the IFS has built its reputation on the independence and integrity of our work and actually there is no sum of money from anywhere in the world which would influence what we said because, if it did, then the point of the IFS and the reasons ... that we are listened to after budgets and so on would simply be lost."

Andrew Lilico, chairman of Vote Leave-affiliated Economists for Britain, criticised the approach adopted by the Brexit campaign, saying on Twitter: "The IFS - for whom I used to work - is not a paid up propaganda arm of the EU. I hope that clears that up.

"Over-simplified messaging, fear-mongering & controversialism are hard-minded campaigning. Accusing folk of corruption & ill intent isn't."

Chancellor George Osborne was repeatedly challenged by Brexit-backing Tory backbenchers as he stood in for Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Osborne told the Commons: "I don't think it's any great revelation that different Conservative MPs have different views on the European Union.

"That's why we're having a referendum, because this issue does divide parties and families and friends and we made a commitment in our manifesto that the British people would decide this question."

Andrew Lilico, chairman of pro-Brexit group Economists for Britain, attacked the Leave campaign's response to the IFS report as he insisted the body was independent.

Accusing the Leave side of "campaigning failures", Mr Lilico told BBC Radio Four's The World At One: "The statement they have made is inaccurate.

"I also don't think that a strategy of responding to serious, thoughtful economic analysis by simply playing the man and not the ball, calling people corrupt, or in other cases with the OECD, going on about expenses claims, or the IMF and attacks on them, it just seems silly to me.

"Just attacking individuals as corrupt and so on isn't sensible campaigning. I don't believe it's the kind of thing that appeals to the British public. Personal attacks just don't get us anywhere."

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable said: " The economic case for remaining in Europe has been comprehensively made. Day after day the Leave campaign's central arguments fall apart.

"Vote Leave want to move to the WTO, but the head of the WTO has warned leaving the EU could cost the UK billions in trade and lead to years of damaging uncertainty.

"The comments from the WTO are especially important as Boris Johnson has made clear that his vision of a 'Brexit future' lies within a WTO framework."
The sunken wreck of a British submarine from the Second World War with 71 bodies sealed inside has been found by divers off the coast of Sardinia.

The P311 submarine mysteriously disappeared 73 years ago in the Mediterranean and was found at a depth of 100 metres near the island of Tavolara by experienced Italian wreck-hunter, Massimo Domenico Bordone.

The wreck was found after Mr Bardone noticed an 84-metre long object when he researched depths of 80 metres.

HMS P311 went missing in January 1943, after making its last contact on New Years Eve, along with its crew. The discovery confirms all on board died. The ship sat on the Gallurese seabed, acting as a steel coffin and depriving the crew of oxygen. Experts suggest the inner chamber was not flooded when it sank.

It looks like she probably went down with air sealed inside, meaning the crew eventually died of oxygen deprivation, Mr Bardone told Italian newspaper, La Nuova Sardegna.

The vessel left Malta on 28 December 1942 on a mission to destroy the Italian battleships Trieste and Gorizia in the port of Maddalena, on an island of the same name off the coast of Sardinia. Officials think the ship sunk after striking a mine in the gulf of Olbia, north eastern Sardinia.

Mr Bardone found the wreck in almost perfect condition, save for a damaged area on the prow from the explosion.

Expand Close Partial view of a British submarine downed off Sardinia during World War II. An Italian diver claims to have located the long-lost wreck of the British submarine HMS P311 that was downed off Sardinia during World War II. Diver Massimo Bondone told the La Nuova Sardegna daily that he found the P311 at a depth of 80 meters (262 feet) off the isle of Tavolara during a dive. (Massimo Bondone via AP) AP / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Partial view of a British submarine downed off Sardinia during World War II. An Italian diver claims to have located the long-lost wreck of the British submarine HMS P311 that was downed off Sardinia during World War II. Diver Massimo Bondone told the La Nuova Sardegna daily that he found the P311 at a depth of 80 meters (262 feet) off the isle of Tavolara during a dive. (Massimo Bondone via AP)

The Royal Navy said the wreck would most likely not be moved, despite the bodies inside.

Independent
Greek authorities have begun a second day moving people out of the sprawling Idomeni refugee camp on the country's northern border with Macedonia.

Some of those staying in Idomeni had already boarded two buses waiting to take them to other camps by the time police arrived.

More than 700 officers were deployed but no violence was reported in the operation that began at dawn on Tuesday in the camp of more than 8,000 people. Journalists have been banned from approaching the site.

Authorities said about 2,000 people were moved on Tuesday. The evacuation is expected to last several days.

The Idomeni residents are being transported to newly built shelters set up by local authorities and the army.

"It was a calm night," said Vicky Markolefa, spokeswoman for the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders. "What we are seeing is that people are leaving voluntarily. There has been no problem."

The evacuation definitively dashed the dreams of thousands who had been camping there for months in the hope of eventually being able to cross over and continue toward Europe's more prosperous heartland.

But Balkan and European borders have been closed to refugees since March in an attempt to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands who have crossed the continent and headed for wealthy European countries by making their way to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

The border closures have stranded more than 54,000 people in Greece. At its peak in March, the camp at Idomeni housed more than 14,000 people, but numbers began declining as people accepted offers of alternative places to stay.

During the evacuation's first day, some staying at Idomeni left on foot to avoid being transported to official camps.
PERHAPS the chair of the European Movement NI, Ian James Parsley, should have shown less haste in criticising the Leave campaign for their faux pas regarding Northern Ireland's "net contribution" to the EU (Write Back, May 19).

In the event of an exit, Mr Parsley states: "Throw in the rising cost of living and the facts are..." However, in my opinion, these are not facts, as they have neither occurred, existed, been experienced, nor can they be verified.

Mr Parsley is correct in his assertion that facts are important to voters, so here are some for your readers (courtesy of the Office for Budget Responsibility and HM Treasury):

l UK net contributions to the EU - 7.4bn (2010); 8.1bn (2011); 8.5bn (2012); 10.5bn (2013), 9.8bn (2014)

l In the years 2013 and 2014, 18 of the 28 member states received more back from the EU than they put in, with the UK being one of the top three net contributors.

The same document also provides a little doom-laden prophesy of its own:

l UK net contributions to the EU are forecast as - 10.8bn (2015/16); 9.7bn (2016/17); 8.4bn (2017/18); 9.3bn (2018/19); 9.6bn (2019/20) and 9.9bn (2020/21).

The question your readers need to ask themselves is: can we really afford to be receiving less than 50% of our contributions back from the EU while subsidising more than 60% of EU member states? I know my answer is 'No'.

And that is why I will be voting to leave the EU on June 23.

FACTS NOT FICTION

Belfast
EVERYONE will admire the way Turkey has taken in and helped so many refugees from Syria and it should receive support from other countries in doing this, as President Erdogan says.

The question of how to bring peace to Syria is a different matter. President Erdogan argues that "to give Syria's democracy a chance to flourish" we must defeat Assad as well as Isis.

So, the way to peace in Syria is to enforce a ceasefire between Assad and moderate rebels and destroy Isis. That is a realistic proposition. Then have elections.

Insofar as possible, there should be justice, peace and reconciliation as in other countries coming out of civil strife and war. Then there should be a Marshall Plan for Syria, led by America and Europe with contributions from the Gulf States.

David Cameron has said "there has to be Third Way" in Syria. After over five years of war surely it is clear that there is no Third Way.

BRENDAN O'BRIEN

London
British troops go forward in support of an attack on the village of Morval during the Battle of the Somme

If I was a unionist I would want Martin McGuinness to attend the commemorations of the Battle of the Somme. I would not be disgruntled at his decision to accept an invitation to mark the centenary. In fact, I would probably be punching the air at the news - though unionists don't do much air-punching, do they?

That he would want to go would surprise me, but I would grab this opportunity to present him with a record of carnage in a conflict which almost trivialises the Irish republican struggle that erupted in the same year of 1916, then trickled down the following century.

Here was bloodshed on a massive scale, as men were ordered out of the trenches and into the machine-guns of the Germans, to be cut to shreds in the muck, piling on top of each other and rained on by shrapnel and body parts.

I would welcome McGuinness to the Somme, if only for the chance to adjust his sense of proportion so that he might be wary of ever again calling the Troubles a "war".

Horrible as the Easter Rising was, with its 400 dead in a week, 57,000 British and Irish soldiers died on the first day of the Somme - that's 20 times as many dead in one day as in the whole period of the Troubles since 1969.

Yet republican lore treats the Great War as a sideshow to the main event.

In the bars here, they sang The Foggy Dew:

It was better to die 'neath an Irish sky

Than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar

Or in Flanders, or the North Atlantic, for that matter.

The far greater number of Irishmen who went to war in Europe, rather than stay to fight Britain on Irish soil, were written out of republican history as deluded saps, people who had shamed themselves and missed the main event.

And many of them kept their mouths shut, having come home to a transformed Ireland that didn't want to acknowledge their story. But what they had been part of had been immeasurably bigger, immeasurably more tragic and horrible.

And a visit by a former IRA leader to the scene of the biggest battle in the history of the British Army, to pay respect to those who died, has immense significance.

It will erase the tradition of putting republican memory before the memories of the greater number of people who fought in Europe.

It will concede something that was anathema to republicans for almost a century: that those Irish who were used as cannon fodder at the Somme and herded into the guns by incompetent generals - the "donkeys" - were our brothers and that their sacrifice was greater than most of those who stayed at home.

Why would a unionist not relish extracting such an acknowledgement from Martin McGuinness, such a reversal of an inane old prejudice, even if it is only expressed in his symbolic presence and not in the pleasing words of a confession of past ignorance?

Well, one reason may be that the unionism is clinging to an old prejudice of its own; that the Somme was, in some way, most important as a unionist sacrifice. For that is the place it has in much of their history and lore. Like other globally significant events since, from the Iraq invasion to the Brexit vote, here things have their real importance in how they play out in the sectarian mix.

So, as for republicans the Somme has been the irrelevance of deluded Irishmen fighting the wrong war, for unionists it is the pledge of loyalty that earned them the right to remain British in Ireland. And each view has irritated and amplified the other.

And a million graves in France retain a significance that relates to nothing that any of those men had in mind in the moment before the bullets struck, or the mine exploded under him.

Yet, that seems to be the hardest lesson to learn about the Great War; it was not about us, except that it was all about us as British - as we all were then - and as Europeans, who might have come under German conquest.

The folly of imagining ourselves as central to such a massive turn of history stays with us, in the quibbling over Martin McGuinness attending the Somme centenary commemorations.

That fantasy was at work in the thinking of the Irish Republican Brotherhood when it plotted the Rising, imagining somehow that Ireland would be more free under the Kaiser, or that a victorious Kaiser would have been more easily shaken off.

And it is there in the romantic nostalgia among unionists for a day on which Ulster made a difference and earned the right of payback from the Crown.

The difference we made that day was only to the size of the mountain of dead, as our people were piled on with the others. But everything is about us - even the Middle East today.

And one fear of unionists may be that, when Martin McGuinness commemorates the Somme, he will gain a moral advantage over them; be seen to honour their dead while they boycotted the commemorations of the Easter Rising.

The problem with that way of thinking is that it accepts the line that the Somme represents one side of an historic quarrel and the Rising another.

The Somme doesn't belong to unionists. Among those thousands of men who charged the guns that day were Irish nationalists and republicans, who had bought into the idea that Britain would be indebted to them and give them Home Rule - just as unionists had bought into the idea that the same Britain would keep them in the fold on the same terms.

The whole bloody business was far too big for anyone to own and the memories are harboured still in too many diverse families around the world for anyone to claim to speak for them all.

Then there is the practical argument; that maybe it would be better now if McGuinness did not go. He will become the story, or the focus of protest, and that huge grief may be diminished again to the size of a local squabble.

Still, the prize for putting up with that momentary distraction will be that republicanism will pay its dues to the far greater number of Irishmen who fought in the trenches than fought in the streets of Dublin, or the ditches and lanes of Cork and Tipperary.

Unionists, or others, who fail to see that as some kind of progress, or even as a victory, are dull indeed.
Shutterstock.com

Over the last 40 years the death penalty has been a topic of hot debate within the church. However, wrongful executions has caused some believers to rethink their respective positions, despite what the Bible has stated. For the most part the church has been a supporter of the death penalty because it is in the Bible, but the younger generations are also redefining the stance regarding capital punishment, believing it is morally incorrect and it does not reflect the heart of Jesus.

The Old Testament is supportive of the death penalty and overall there are over 50 Scriptures that talk about the death penalty in both the Old and New Testament. We see this in Deuteronomy 21. If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day, so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance. Basically, this is a death for a death, an eye for an eye.

Richard Albert Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He wrote in an opinion piece for CNN that believers should support capital punishment. The act of murder must be confirmed and corroborated by the eyewitness testimony of accusers, and the society is to take every reasonable precaution to ensure that no one is punished unjustly, he wrote. While the death penalty is allowed and even mandated in some cases, the Bible also reveals that not all who are guilty of murder and complicity in murder are executed. Christians thinking about the death penalty must begin with the fact that the Bible envisions a society in which capital punishment for murder is sometimes necessary, but should be exceedingly rare."

However, there has been a shift with the youth who believe that God should judge the person who murders, not man. According to a Barna Group poll 40 percent of practicing Christians supported the death penalty, and support was even lower among younger Christians. About 23 percent of practicing Christian millennials agreed with the statement. The study also shared that only 5 percent of Americans agree that Jesus would approve of capital punishment. How about the innocent who are murdered? Would Jesus be opposed to the entire process? We know the criminal system is not without its flaws since DNA testing surfaced. This was the case of Claude Jones of Texas, who was accused of murdering a store clerk in 1989 and was put to death in 2000. Jones pleaded his innocence until the end. DNA tests were completed and the strand of hair that prosecutors submitted as evidence was not from the accused.

Equal Justice USA is working to make the criminal justice system fair and more effective. Humans make mistakes in cases and being 100 percent accurate is not possible. The DNA era has given us irrefutable proof that our criminal justice system sentences innocent people to die. Evidence we once thought reliable like eyewitness identification is not always accurate. DNA evidence has led to hundreds of exonerations, but it isnt available in most cases. And when a life is on the line, one mistake is one too many. Can the system be fixed? Not according to Equal Justice USA. We expect justice to be blind. Otherwise its not justice at all. Yet poor defendants sentenced to die have been represented by attorneys who were drunk, asleep, or completely inexperienced. Geography and race often determine who lives and dies, and after 30 years we have not found a way to make the system less arbitrary. Every effort to fix the system just makes it more complex  not more fair. The longer process prolongs pain for homicide survivors, forcing them to relive their trauma as courts repeat trials and hearings trying to get it right. Most cases result in a life sentence in the end anyway  but only after the family has suffered years of uncertainty."

Are we justifying murder? Author Shane Claiborne strongly believes we are as a nation and as Christians. He is pleading for Christians to do the sameend the death penalty. In his book Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why Its Killing Us, Claiborne pleads that people will start thinking of Jesus and His position. There is a better way to serve justice and using Scripture to justify murder, Claiborne claimed. There are plenty of other problems with the scriptural maneuvering used to justify the contemporary practice of the death penalty with a few verses from the Bible, in the same way that a few verses were misused to justify slavery, he wrote in a blog RedLetterChristians.org. He continued to write that setting aside other compelling arguments against the death [penalty] such as the fact that the determining factor for execution is often not guilt but economics and race. I want to focus on Jesus. As many Scriptures on the death penalty that are found, we also can find what the Word said about mercy like: "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. And for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. There is one more in Peter to look at. "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

The question we can ask ourselves is Should we support the death penalty? Should this be based on our own convictions, or what Claiborne suggested? It goes back to the old adage, What would Jesus do? Let us know what you think as we move forward into the future and into the election season.

Corine Gatti-Santillo is a freelance digital journalist, editor, and content producer. She is also the The Christian Post Voices Editor. She is also a former editor at Beliefnet.com.
Indian journalists pay respects to slain colleagues Rajdeo Ranjan and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in New Delhi, May 16, 2016.

Indian police claimed a major breakthrough Wednesday in the recent killing of a journalist in the eastern state of Bihar, saying they had arrested five people in connection with the case, including a man who allegedly fired at the reporter.

The five suspects  Rohit Kumar, Vijay Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Ishu Kumar and Sonu Gupta  were hired to kill Rajdeo Ranjan, bureau chief of the leading Hindi-language daily Hindustan, police said, adding that none of them had previous criminal records.

Police said Rohit Kumar confessed to firing at Ranjan, who was shot five times at close range in the head and neck by motorcycle-borne assailants in Bihars Siwan district on May 13. Ranjan was one of two journalists killed this month in separate shootings in eastern India.

In the Ranjan case, police have recovered a 7.65 bore pistol and three motorcycles, including the one used as the getaway vehicle, Additional Director General (ADG) of Police Sunil Kumar told reporters, without divulging more details about the suspects.

He said the arrests were made in an overnight operation that began late Tuesday.

District Superintendent of Police Saurabh Shah told BenarNews that his teams investigation relied on both technical and human intelligence.

Over the last 12 days, we were tracking two different groups of suspected hit men. We eventually zeroed down on this group, whose routes mirrored Ranjans, Shah said.

He said the suspects were being interrogated to determine the identity of the individual who contracted the hit on Ranjan, who was well known in the region for his reports on alleged criminal activities and corruption.

Hired killers

ADG Kumar labeled a sixth man, Laddan Mian, a person of interest in the case. Mian is believed to be a close aide of ex-member of parliament Mohammad Shahabuddin, who is serving a life term for an attempted murder conviction.

Last week, Shahabuddin was shifted from the Siwan district prison to a jail in Bhagalpur.

Inspector General (Prisons) Anand Kishore told BenarNews that Shahabuddin was moved because of an internal security audit report that cited security concerns if the ex-MP and district strongman remained in Siwan jail.

While speaking with BenarNews last week, Ranjans family had hinted at a political link to his death.

Following announcement of the arrests on Wednesday, Ranjans father, R.K. Choudhury, said he was pleased that the media attention in the case had forced authorities to act swiftly, but voiced concern over the real culprits being brought to book.

The people arrested are hired killers. Im waiting for those who hired these killers to be acquainted with the law, Choudhury told BenarNews.

Good beginning

Ranjans killing, which occurred less than 24 hours after another journalist, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, was shot dead in a similar fashion in the neighboring Jharkhand state, had sparked a series of protests by Indian journalists last week.

The killings came barely a month after Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked India, the worlds most populous democracy, 133rd of 180 countries on its 2016 World Press Freedom index.

This is a good beginning. The pressure on the government and police by Indian journalists seems to have paid off, Press Club of India president Rahul Jalali told BenarNews.

But we need to be careful as to how the police build the case from here. We need to ensure that those who are really involved, the people who contracted these five shooters are brought to book, he said.

In Jharkhand, which forms part of the region affected by a Maoist insurgency, police said they had arrested three people in connection with Singhs killing.

Superintendent of Police A.K. Jha said Singh was killed because he refused to pay a levy of Rs. 700,000 (U.S. $10,400) to a breakaway faction of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist group.

This group is called the Tritya-Sammelan Prastuti Committee [TPC]. We have heard of similar demands before, Jha told BenarNews.

We can confirm three arrests so far in the case, Jha said, identifying the three men as Birbal Sao, Jhamman Sao and Suraj Sao. We suspect three more to be involved and search is on to nab them.
Chusnul Chotimah, a survivor of the 2002 Bali bombings, stands with her son, Musoffa Adha, at their home in Sidoarjo, East Java, May 15, 2016.

Nearly 14 years later, Bali bomb victim Chusnul Chotimah says shes still waiting for the Indonesian government to help pay for surgery and drugs needed to treat her injuries from the attack.

Do I have to come to Jakarta and sleep in front of the State Palace only to attract the presidents attention? If they refuse to help, I would request for their help to just euthanize me. I have no power to live like this anymore, Chusnul told BenarNews.

Chusnul was badly burned and disfigured in one of two bombings on Bali on Oct. 12, 2002, and has shrapnel embedded in one of her legs. Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant group linked with al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the twin attacks in Balis Kuta tourist district that killed 202 people.

Chusnul, who was living in Bali at the time, was buying food with a friend in Legian Street when a bomb went off inside Paddys Bar, some 100 meters (328 feet) away.

Chusnul has since returned to her home village of Sidoarjo, in East Java province, where she earns a meager living selling vegetables.

Some money from a Balinese NGO, which helped her to pay for an operation in Australia soon after the attack, ran out long ago and she is deeply indebted to a money lender who loaned her cash for other medical treatments, Chusnul said.

Sixty percent of my body suffered burn injuries, including my face, she said in a phone interview.

Now my debt has reached Rp. 128 million [U.S. $9,370].

But Chusnul is not alone, according to Dwi Welasih, an activist with the Indonesian Survivor Foundation (YPI), an NGO that supports victims of terrorist attacks.

Besides Chusnul, there are many others in need of medical treatment. We have tried to talk to the Ministry of Health, but still have had no further response, Dwi, who was injured in the deadly bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003, told BenarNews.

I feel sad because we cant do much about it. The organization has sought assistance from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), but the procedures are tight, so we still dont see any aid provided for the victims, Dwi added.

Where is the money?

Chusnul has sent three letters to Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo, but said she was still waiting for help from his administration. Four months ago, an official from the State Secretarys office acknowledged one of the letters and promised that the government would aid her, she said.

According to Chusnuls son, Musoffa Adha, 24, his mother has yet to receive Rp. 20 million (U.S. $1,467) allocated by the government to injured Indonesian survivors of the Bali attack, via the nations hospital system.

Where is the money my mother supposedly received? When my father demanded an answer from the hospital, they declined, saying they have no idea about it, Musoffa told BenarNews.

My goal is to bring about another surgery for my mother because she always feels pain in her injured leg. With the rest of the money collected, we have planned to start a food stall, so she doesnt have to sell vegetables around the village anymore, he added.

Apart from feeling humiliated when people in the village ask her about the scars on her face, Chusnul said some conservative Muslim residents had come to look down on her and her family because they had lived in Bali, considered a hive of immorality and hedonistic activity.

Several of my friends blamed my mother for working in a tourism island like Bali, though she earned money in a halal way for the sake of her children, Musoffa said.

No special institution

Responding to questions about Chusnuls case, Oscar Primadi, a spokesman for Indonesias Health Ministry, told BenarNews on May 20 that he had not been informed about it.

He said he would check into her case, adding that the she could also claim public health services and benefits through the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS), which is open to all Indonesians.

Ahmad Yunianto, chairman of the Crisis Management Centre at the ministry, explained that no special institution had been established in Indonesia to assist victims of terrorist attacks.

It should be part of the obligations of [every] local governments health or social agency, particularly in giving assistance for an individual and their longtime medical treatment, he told BenarNews.
The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on Wednesday denied allegations from three Filipino fishermen that they were beaten after being caught encroaching into Malaysian waters near the disputed Spratly islands more than two weeks ago.

The RMN have conducted an investigation to look into what really happened in the incident. Till now, there is no truth in the claims by the Filipino fishermen, RMN Chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said in the statement.

The fishermen, Nelson Plamiano, Arlon Sandro and Odelin Baisa, were part of a 22-member crew of the fishing boat Justin Lloyd, which reportedly ventured into waters claimed by Malaysia in the South China Sea.

On Monday, the trio told Philippine media that they were handcuffed and beaten during a four-hour detention on May 9. Two days later, relatives told Philippine media about the alleged abuse, but the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard did not respond to requests for details about the detention.

This week, the fishermen asked the Philippine government to sue those responsible for their assault, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The navys Western Command told the Inquirer that their complaint was being addressed, but did not name Malaysia.

According to the statement from Ahmad Kamarulzaman the Malaysian investigation concluded that the Philippine boat had entered the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ), requiring the check by the RMN patrol boat.

The fishermen were ordered to show their identification. The fishing trawler skipper then sent three of its crew in smaller boats to approach our vessel. Two of the fisherman complied with the demand, while another decided to jump into the sea to avoid inspection, he said.

He said Malaysian sailors rescued the fisherman. After checking their identification, the fishermen were returned to the trawler and ordered to leave Malaysias EEZ, Ahmad Kamarulzaman said.

Counterparts with the Philippine navy have been informed of the investigation, he added.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


For Immediate Release, May 24, 2016 Contact: Patrick Sullivan, (415) 517-9364, psullivan@biologicaldiversity.org Shell Pipeline in Northern California Has History of Oil Spills, Documents Show TRACY, Calif. A Shell pipeline that just spilled at least 21,000 gallons of oil near the Northern California city of Tracy has leaked at least twice before in the past year, according to state documents uncovered by the Center for Biological Diversity. A September 2015 leak from this pipeline released more than 21,000 gallons of oil approximately half a mile from the current spill site, a report from the Governors Office of Emergency Services shows. The same line leaked again in November as the company was making repairs and doing testing to address the September leak. This pipelines disturbing history of oil spills requires immediate action from regulators, said Kristen Monsell, a Center attorney. Shells leaky pipeline should not be allowed to resume pumping oil without officials taking a hard look at this entire line to see if corrosion or poor maintenance might be contributing to these problems. Pipeline leaks are just too dangerous to shrug off. A Plains All American pipeline rupture in Santa Barbara County last year spilled more than 120,000 gallons of oil onto the California coast, killing hundreds of birds and marine animals.



An analysis of federal pipeline data commissioned by the Center showed there have been nearly 8,000 serious pipeline breaks nationwide since 1986, causing more than 2,300 injuries and nearly $7 billion in property damage. The vast majority of those incidents have involved oil pipelines, spilling more than 2 million barrels  or 84 million gallons -- into waterways and on the ground over the past 30 years. More than 35 percent of these incidents have been caused by corrosion or other spontaneous structural failures. Since 1986, pipeline accidents in the United States have spilled an average of 3 million gallons of oil or other hazardous liquids per year. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


For Immediate Release, May 24, 2016 Contact: Jamie Pang, (858) 699-4153, Jpang@biologicaldiversity.org House Republicans Unveil Another Anti-wolf, Anti-endangered Species Appropriations Bill 114th Congress Has Now Launched Nearly 20 Legislative Attacks on Wolves WASHINGTON Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives today introduced a bill to fund the U.S. Department of the Interior that includes a poison-pill rider to end federal protections for wolves in Wyoming and the western Great Lakes and to undermine other endangered species protections. The legislative rider would undo two court decisions affirming that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wrongly removed Endangered Species Act protections for the wolf. The bill is the 18th attack by the current Congress on gray wolves nationwide and the 12th attack targeting wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming populations. This is the most extreme, anti-wolf Congress our country has ever seen," said Jamie Pang, an endangered species campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. Rather than allowing for wolf recovery to follow a course prescribed by science, a small group of politicians has repeatedly tried to undermine species protections through unrelated policy riders tacked onto must-pass federal spending bills. The Fish and Wildlife Service removed protections for gray wolves in the Great Lakes region (Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota) in 2011, and in Wyoming in 2012. In both instances federal judges overturned agency decisions for prematurely removing protections, failing to follow the requirements of the Act and failing to follow the best available science. Republican lawmakers have responded by repeatedly attempting to remove protections from wolves and open the animals up to state-regulated hunting and trapping. Since the passage of the 2011 wolf rider that removed protections from wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, there have been almost 30 legislative attacks on wolves in Congress. Already in 2016 there have been 10 legislative attacks, surpassing the number of anti-wolf bills for all of 2015. In addition to this rider, the appropriations bill also contains language preventing the greater sage grouse from being protected under the Act, and would weaken protections for salmon and the Delta smelt in Californias Bay-Delta region. This shameful meddling is harmful to science, harmful to the rule of law, and harmful to our democratic processes, said Pang. Congressional lawmakers know that 90 percent of American voters support the Endangered Species Act, which precisely is why they have to resort to such back-door attempts at weakening the law. Despite overwhelming public support for the Endangered Species Act and the species it protects, there has been a greater than 600 percent increase in Republican-led legislative attacks on endangered species since the landmark ruling in Citizens United. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
When I recently found myself at the launch of a financial giant's new head office in Sandton, Johannesburg, I was quite unprepared for the brand's unflinching leap into an entirely original and inclusive art space.

While corporate art sponsorship has long been the territory of financial services, this particular financial giant has done something quite unexpected. You see, much like the beloved British drama, Upstairs, Downstairs, there seems to be two standard settings for businesses in the financial sector when it comes to their interiors and corporate culture. One setting for the people who sit downstairs, and quite another for the ones a little higher up.

The downstairs people tend to get offices that look like a retail space, usually plastered wall to wall with retail branding, and peppered with decidedly unsubtle illustrations that arent shy about hammering home various corporate values.

And the upstairs people? Well they get all the art, the framed pops of colour which may be more subtle about conveying the corporate culture, but they still give you a quick flash of the inside of the corporate wallet. Kentridges and Sterns don't come cheap.

Enter the branding era of the 90's - retail and consumer facing spaces were suddenly translated into branded experiences. This movement meant that art exclusively became an intrinsic part of the upstairs set and a core investment and sponsorship strategy.

Fast forward a couple of decades and financial services have emerged with incredibly vast and valuable art collections, making them the heroes of South African arts patronage. Yes its absolutely wonderful, but I have to ask myself, what does all this do for corporate culture and the broader base of staff that don't have access to the hallowed halls upstairs? Especially when you consider the current economic downturn and that spending money on luxuries like art might get you a bit of flak from your staff.

Faced with the choice of either making their new head office look and feel like a retail brand, or going the expensive route of starting a massive high-end art collection, they decided to go with neither. What this client wanted was some African spirit and a more holistic visual style for the entire building  including the call centre, the hospitality facilities, and upper management.

It was a challenge they brought to Designvow, a senior graphic design team with a reputation for being creative hit men and delivering one exceptional creative project after another. The teams lateral approach was to use Clienteles inherent diversity in its people and the spirit embedded within its culture to inspire what would become the branded visual language for the new offices.

In doing so, the Designvow team did what few have done before. They gave the staff the opportunity to be part of the creation by inviting them to give their interpretations of what they believed were South African objects and symbols that reflected their culture. Based on those interpretations, and inspired by contemporary South African textures, colours and symbols, Designvow created artworks of each element. Some painted, some drawn, others printed.

And every one of those artworks combine to create one 6m x 4m grandmaster of artwork that greets you at the new entrance. Vibrant, engaging, authentic the effect is breath-taking.

But thats not where it ends. Partnering with architecture and design company Savile Row, the design team took every one of those elements, pulled them all apart again, and cascaded them throughout the entire building, both upstairs and downstairs in formats that suit the practical purpose of each room.

In the call centre areas, where the walls take a bit more wear, they transformed the artworks into wallpaper. In the more serious business areas, they framed the artworks. In essence, Designvow created one truly unique piece of art that encompasses this particular clients corporate culture and refashioned it all over the building in different formats to create a seamless experience for both guests and staff.

Now these new buildings and interiors have tipped corporate culture on its head. Rather than worrying about keeping up with the Joneses in the art game, this down to earth brand has stayed true to its values, invested in local talent, incorporated art that originated from its own staff, and ultimately created something unique that vibrantly communicates its corporate culture on all the floors. Both upstairs and downstairs.

Original. Authentic. Inclusive. That is the future of corporate culture.
Nigeria has taken delivery of the single, largest consignment of drugs to combat schistosomiasis (bilharzia), one of the most endemic tropical diseases the continent.

The west African country has received around 34m Praziquantel tablets to distribute to school children as part of a collaboration between Merck and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to WHO, Nigeria has the highest incidence of schistosomiasis in the world. It is estimated that around 37% of the overall population (64.1m people) requires treatment. Nigeria has been participating in the Merck Praziquantel Donation Programme since 2008. To date, the company has donated nearly 105m tablets and treated nearly 20m patients, mostly primarily school children.

Source: Merck Group

With more than 235m people requiring treatment, schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent tropical diseases in Africa. The worm disease is widespread in all regions of Nigeria, above all among children. We are therefore grateful for every sustained initiative that supports us in fighting the disease, says Nigeria's minister of health, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole.

We want to eliminate the disease and give children the opportunity to participate in the economic development of their home countries. Our donation to WHO  enough to treat 13,6m school children  shows that we are on the right track. However, millions still suffer from schistosomiasis. And we know that we alone cannot solve the problem with our tablets, says Stefan Oschmann, chairman of the executive board and CEO of Merck.

In Africa, Merck is supporting educational and awareness programmes, researching schistosomiasis therapies for very young children and cooperating with partners in the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance, among other things. Furthermore, in the future we will collaborate even more closely with our partners to finally eliminate the disease, Oschmann concludes.
A string of acquisitions since Rhodes Foods (RFG) listed on the JSE in October 2014 helped its interim revenue jump 53.5% to R2bn, the company reported on Monday. After tax profit in the six months to end-March was up 89.2% to R110m.

Rhodes does not pay an interim dividend. Its policy is to pay a third of its diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) at its financial year to end-September.

Its interim revenue included sales from acquisitions Pacmar, Boland Pulp, Saint Pie, and Deemster for the full six months while General Mills was included for four months and Alibaba Foods for two months. These acquisitions contributed 37.4% to the growth in turnover.

The severe drought affecting large parts of SA had had only a limited effect on the group, CEO Bruce Henderson said in the results statement. But if the drought persisted, it could hurt the group's production costs and volumes in the second half of its financial year.

Rhodes, whose brands include Bull Brand, Magpie and Squish, said it intended to grow rapidly organically and via acquisitions. Rhodes supplies private label food products to a number of local and international retailers.

"Momentum will be maintained on expanding the group's presence in sub-Saharan Africa and growing the international business," it said.

"The recent acquisitions should perform strongly in the second half and entrench the group's position in the new categories of fruit juice, baby food, bottled salads and pickles, and bakery products," Henderson said.

Source: BDpro
A monster truck on the rampage stunned guests at the East Rand Galleria Mall last week, when it crushed two vehicles parked just outside a Burger King restaurant, but what initially seemed like a massive accident turned out to be a stunt pulled off by the burger company to promote its biggest 100% beefburger- the Big King XXL.

The truck, weighing more than six tons and standing 3.8 metres tall, is one of only two of its kind in South Africa. Just like at popular monster truck shows in the US, the larger-than-life truck had locals amazed as it revved its 700 horsepower engine at a deafening sound of 150 decibels, crunching its way across the parking lot.

Burger King South Africa customers who purchase a Big King XXL Burger or Big King XXL medium or large meal between 19 May and 31 July, 2016, stand the chance of winning a trip for two to one of the forthcoming Monster Jam events in 2016, in the US, worth R100,000.

To enter, visit a Burger King restaurant, buy a Big King XXL burger, and SMS the unique code on the till slip to 32320. Ts and Cs apply.
Despite the untapped opportunities that exist on the continent, trade between various African countries is still largely restricted as a result of various regulation barriers and a lack of supporting infrastructure and scale, according to Matthew Conroy, trade manager of Maersk Line South Africa, who says that increasing the production of manufactured goods on the African continent and the further standardisation of trade regulations are both the key to improving inter-regional trade.

According to the United Nations recent Economic Report on Africa, over 80% of Africas exports are shipped overseas, mainly to the European Union (EU), China and the US.

In light of Africa Day, a day to celebrate the progress that the continent has made, while reflecting upon the challenges we face in a global environment, it is important to note the role of intra-Africa trade as a catalyst for growth across the continent. Currently, intra-Africa trade only accounts for 10% to 12% of trade on the continent. This is in comparison to the high levels of intra-regional trade recorded in Europe (60%) and Asia (40%).

Amid falling commodity prices and looming projections of decelerated GDP growth, intra-regional trade is not playing the role on the continent that it could, which is largely due to the nature of the goods being produced. Many African countries extract and export primary commodities, but rely heavily on imports for manufactured goods. Increasing the production and export levels of manufactured goods will increase the level of intra-Africa trade, Conroy said.

Need to break dependence

This view was echoed by South African Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies, during the recent launch of the eighth iteration of the Industrial Policy Action Plan to 2018/19. Davies said that the economy needed to break its dependence on raw commodity exports by moving to more diversified manufacturing-based value addition.

Conroy, however, noted that the lack of infrastructure and scale poses massive restrictions in Africa. Consumer markets are smaller, which means less profit incentive, and we simply dont have the scale that Asia, for example, has. Infrastructure investments, therefore, need to be continually activated to address these restrictions.

Today, one-third of the annual spend on infrastructure globally stems from private companies. The Maersk Group, for example, has contributed to efficiency gains in Apapa terminal in Lagos, which is now one of the most modern and efficiently run terminals in Africa, Conroy added.

A positive example of how manufactured exports can boost economic development is South Africas automobile industry. We see a huge demand for vehicles that are manufactured in South Africa in other African countries, such as Nigeria, Mauritius and Madagascar. As a result, we are seeing positive growth in vehicle exports to the rest of the continent, said Conroy.

Standardisation of regulations

Another shift that Conroy points out as necessary in driving levels of intra-Africa trade is the standardisation of regulations across the continent. Essentially, there are 54 countries in Africa and 54 different sets of rules, which results in additional red tape for trade partners. The simpler and more standardised these regulations become, the more intra-regional trade we will see happening, he said.

Developing networks and partnerships can also have a positive impact on trade activity on the continent, Conroy explained. Having networks and partnerships within the countries that businesses trade in is essential and, too often, should networks not exist, countries continue to do business with the partners that they have always done business with. For example, maybe Nigeria has always sourced in Asia simply because they dont have a contact in South Africa. With operations in virtually every country on the continent, we assist clients to develop these networks in regions that they may not have had in the past.

Despite the challenges that exist in Africa, the Maersk Group is very confident in the opportunities that Africa offers trade partners and businesses, said Conroy. Maersk has recently relocated the head office of Safmarine  one of our core brands - from Copenhagen to Cape Town. This move signifies how committed we are to the development of African economies, and how we are continually looking to strengthen our clients ties to the rest of the continent.

While intra-regional trade in Africa has seen a recent decline, largely due to the weakening oil price, Conroy remains optimistic about the long-term outlook for the continent, and confirms Maersks commitment to enable trade across the continent. We are constantly mapping out the African market and re-evaluating the demand for new and innovative products in the region. The direct South Africa-Pointe Noire product is the latest in a series of new Maersk products that have been released to boost trade on the continent, an exercise that will continue over the next few years, he concluded.
The Mortimer Harvey Group has geared itself for original content-creation with the launch of Gravitate - an innovative multi-video content-generation and production company that has all platforms covered, from broadcast to mobile.

Its another point of differentiation for the Mortimer Harvey Groups omni-channel offering, allowing us to help our clients build unique and relevant brand narratives for a new generation of consumers, says Andrew Fradd, Mortimer Harvey Group Managing Director.

Gravitates core team includes seasoned industry experts, Denys Webb, Frederick Louw and Quintin Jones, boasting 28, 20 and 10 years experience, respectively. Its a collection of award-winning, free-spirited creatives who have made it their business to master the dynamics of local and global techniques, trends and formats, while maintaining the hunger to experiment and evolve.

Specialising in bringing brands to life, Gravitate creates original content and programming at an optimum cost-to-quality ratio, deliverable to any platform, including television, cinema and connected devices. Significantly, Gravitate is establishing itself as one of the leading developers and producers of advertiser-funded programming (AFP)  one of the most powerful and least intrusive brand-building tools available to marketers.

Mortimer Harvey prides itself in being at the forefront of the marketing industry and now we, at Gravitate, look forward to creating further emotional connections with ever-changing and discerning viewers, says Webb.

About Mortimer Harvey

Mortimer Harvey is an independent, omni-channel, results-driven consulting, marketing and integrated communications company that delivers hardworking strategy, business, advertising and marketing solutions. Their regional offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Cairo, Egypt, are well placed to help their clients achieve the widest possible reach.

The company delivers true omni-channel solutions and a full go-to-market service to clients through their team of in-house industry specialists in all fields.

Mortimer Harvey Advertising and communications, including above-the-line, below-the-line, promotions, shopper and retail marketing, digital, CRM and direct marketing. MH Africa Middle East OmniChannel services, plus go-to-market strategy development informed by data-driven insights operating across Africa and the Middle East. MH Digital Content development and implementation for online, social, mobile, app and digital platforms. MH Public Relations Public relations and media management. Boom.Studio A new record label that challenges traditional music marketing. Gravitate Multi Video Programming and content generation. Kulcha.Click Influential tastemakers creating authentic brand experiences at the intersection of culture and content. Loyal Solutions A state-of-the-art, Cloud-based loyalty programme management platform with real-time benefits. Stream.Digital Live and on-demand video streaming and content distribution. LM&P Brand promotions, events and experiential marketing.

For further details, visit mortimerharvey.com

For further information please contact:

Jacques Verster at Mortimer Harvey

Tel: +27 (0)11 996 2833

Cell: +27 (0)83 276 9009

Email: moc.yevrahremitrom@seuqcaj




Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has noted a judgment handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) regarding the moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn.

An original application challenging a 2009 moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn was brought by Johan Kruger in 2012, joined by John Hume in 2015, the Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday, 24 May.

The application was supported by Wildlife Ranching South Africa and the Private Rhino Owners Association of South Africa.

Last year, the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, set aside the moratorium.

Pursuant to this judgment, the minister filed an application for leave to appeal to the High Court, which was dismissed. Subsequently, the minister petitioned the SCA for leave to appeal, the department said.

On Friday, 20 May, the SCA dismissed the ministers application for leave to appeal with costs. No reasons were given for this order.

Minister Molewa is considering the implications of the judgment and will brief the public in due course.

The department said the judgment does not relate to the international trade in rhino horn for commercial purposes, which is still prohibited in terms of the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Both the possession of rhino horn and the trade in rhino horn, including any derivatives or products thereof, is subject to prior authorisation: namely the issuing of the relevant permits in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, (NEMBA) 2004 (Act No 10 of 2004), the department said.

A person who is found in possession of a rhino horn, or who sells a rhino horn within the borders of South Africa, or who exports a rhino horn from the country without the relevant permits, is guilty of an offence and may, if convicted, be liable to a fine not exceeding R10m, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
Political uncertainty, high unemployment rates, slow economic growth and severe drought has created a perfect storm of economic and political events for South Africa. This has placed pressure on the economy, forcing companies to restructure in order to adapt, compete and survive.

According to Deloittes South African Restructuring Outlook Survey 2016, close to 39,4% of business restructuring experts expect a recessionary economy driven mainly by political uncertainty and corruption, concerns around global economic health and poor commodity prices.

Despite these expectations, the same number of respondents believe that the extent of distressed funding available will be advanced. This highlights how few South African businesses are able to use this tool to manage financial stress.

Understanding SAs restructuring market

Restructuring refers to any formal or informal process involving a financial and operational restructuring of a companys affairs as a result of financial stress, explains Nisha Dharamlall, restructuring services leader at Deloitte South Africa.

To better understand the challenges and expectations of South Africas restructuring market in 2016, Deloitte surveyed over 30 key restructuring professionals in the country. The survey started in 2014 and is in its third year. Respondents included a selected mix of commercial banks (40%), development finance institutions (21%), lawyers (16%), business rescue practitioners (10%) as well as academics and other key restructuring professionals (13%).

Key themes that emerged from the survey

Resources including mining, agriculture and construction are most at risk of being in distress in the next year.

80,6% of restructuring teams expect an increase in activity in the next 12 months.

Protecting the business still ranks as the top priority of restructuring projects.

Early identification of financial distress remains one of the main areas where restructuring professionals believe the local restructuring industry could be improved.

15,7% of respondents report that amend and extend the debt is the most frequently used form of restructuring. This is followed closely by exit via sale of business and business rescue.

Only 1,9% of respondents highlighted the use of distressed funding as a feasible restructuring option, highlighting the continued infancy of the development of this critical industry.

Existing banks are still the preferred source of distressed funding for the majority of respondents (21,7%) but existing shareholders are listed as the second most preferred option (16,9%).

6% of respondents have had a less than 25% success rate in business rescue, 38,7% of business rescues have a success rate over 75% and informal restructurings overall have a higher success rate than business rescue.

Success in business rescue is cited as a better return for creditors  along with the business continuing on a solvent and liquid basis.

54,8% of respondents believe that business rescue practitioners are not adequately skilled or qualified, mainly as a result of their lack of experience or type of qualifications.

The board of directors are the most likely to place a company in business rescue, and commercial banks (secured creditors) are most likely to oppose a business rescue.

Commercial banks have the highest level of awareness and understanding of business rescue, and (unsecured) creditors have the lowest.

Overall, over 64% of respondents still believe that business rescue is currently effective.

Daniel Terblanche, restructuring services leader at Deloitte believes that: Despite restructuring being in its infancy in South Africa, results are encouraging in that the industry understands that it requires more support in financial restructuring. This is a significant trend at a time when increasingly more businesses in South Africa will need to become literate in managing financial stress professionally.
Anglo American's enterprise development arm, Zimele, in collaboration with the National Treasury's Jobs Fund, has helped to establish entrepreneurial projects like the Lambasi agriculture initiative - a jointly owned farming operation in the Lambasi Farms area in the Eastern Cape, trading as Fundirite (Pty) Ltd.

Lambasi Chief Mthuthuzeli Makwedini, Technoserve intern Kamvalethu Hoyi, business advisor Jabulile Sithole, Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC, Mlibo Qobohiyane and Technoserve intern Siyabonga Mbuzwa at a maize plantation in Lambasi. Picture sourced from Dispatch Live

Now, two years since its inception, the Lambasi agricultural initiative will celebrate its second harvest after having successfully aggregated 900 hectares of arable land into a single commercial farming entity, representing 490 individual landowners. This was largely achieved through the vision of Paramount Chief, Inkosi Mthuthuzeli Mkwedini.

In addition to stimulating economic activity in Lambasi, the initiative has also garnered 100 seasonal jobs and significant off-take agreements for beans, yellow and white maize, and other agricultural produce with Farmwise Grains.

Training and skills development

Anglo American Zimeles Sebenza Fund (the jointly funded entity with the Jobs Fund) invested R14 million in Fundirite to finance land preparation, input costs, planting, harvesting, training as well as the technical support provided by an international non-profit agency, Technoserve. As part of the training and development programme, 294 farmers have been trained to date in technical and business related aspects.

Our approach is to support and elevate the aspirations of the businesses, communities and entrepreneurs we fund and support. These farmers believe that their business has scope for growth. As they expand to other crops, such as sunflower, potatoes, and beans, it is clear that the farming operation will spur much-needed economic development in the community, says Hlonela Lupuwana-Pemba, managing director of Anglo American Zimele.

Sagay Moodliar, Technoserve SA country director says, When we started two years ago, we realised that many community members in the Lambasi area were farming maize and beans as individual subsistence farmers with very uneven outcomes on yields and quality. We saw this as an opportunity for the Lambasi community to come together and pool their land and resources in order to undertake commercial farming practices. The farming operation is creating economies of scale, wealth and addressing the challenge of food security.

International food manufacturing company Kellogg is providing significant technical training and base-line research and analysis. As a global food company, Kellogg has a significant role to play in helping to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, commented Sylvia Radebe, head of communications and corporate affairs for Kellogg South Africa.

Turning rural areas into hubs of economic activity

The Eastern Cape Province from Butterworth to Bizana (former Transkei region) represents the most active labour sending area for Anglo American - particularly its platinum mines - and boasts more than 200,000 hectares of arable land and coastal microclimate conducive to farming.

This day bears testimony to our conviction as government, that working together with the private sector, traditional leadership and communities, we can transform our rural areas into hubs of vibrant economic activity. Effective public-private partnerships are vital in achieving our goal of bringing one million hectares of underutilised land into production and overcoming the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality," says Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana.

The project is part of Anglo Americans ongoing commitment to realising the objectives of South Africas National Development Plan. Rural development, through sustainable enterprise, has the potential of transforming the lives of many South Africans.
The leaves in many vineyards are turning fine shades of red as the Western Cape eases into autumn, but what many visitors don't know is that this color is also a sign of a virus that is having a serious impact on wine production and its economic viability.

Vergelegen vineyards, modern cellar in background

The good news, however, is that a pioneering, multi-million rand project, which has seen swathes of vineyards treated, or uprooted and replanted, is bearing fruit for a historic Helderberg wine estate. Wine quality has improved, production increased, and its methods are being adopted as far afield as New Zealand, Israel and the Napa Valley of California.

Anglo American-owned Vergelegen in Somerset West began its hugely ambitious project to eradicate leaf roll virus from the estate in 1999. That first, newly-planted vineyard on the farm is now 17 years old, making it the worlds oldest virus-free vineyard of its type.

The virus was discovered in South African vineyards in 1936, but farmers thought it was impossible to eradicate. The disease, spread by mealybugs, is much more apparent in red wine cultivars, but also affects white wine cultivars. Leaf roll virus diminishes the quality and volume of the harvest. Eventually, the vines become uneconomical and must be uprooted  yet another burden for a sector that is already under severe financial constraints.

The team at Vergelegen is led by MD Don Tooth and winemaker Andre van Rensburg. They have worked closely with Professor Gerhard Pietersen of the Agricultural Research Council - Plant Protection Research Institute at the University of Pretoria.

Prof Gerhard Pietersen in Vergelegen vineyard

Professor Pietersen, whose research was funded by Winetech, sought an agricultural property where he could demonstrate the scientific and commercial value to the industry if the virus could be well-managed and even eradicated. A sustainable model had to be established, with a balance between replanting vineyards and ongoing commercial farming.

It was not a decision we took lightly, says Tooth. But we have set our sights on being recognised as one of the best wine producers in the world, so considered it a long-term investment in the future quality of our wine. Besides the replanting costs, the estate also had to buy in grapes to make up the shortfall after the vineyards had been uprooted. The programme was implemented in three phases: planting new, intact vineyards; uprooting badly-infected red wine cultivar vineyards and replanting them; and testing and treating white wine cultivars that, apart from Chardonnay and Semillon, do not readily show the effects of the virus.

Phase one:

Vergelegen planned to replace 25 hectares of citrus with vineyards and accordingly, in 1999, the first completely clean vineyard was planted. These vines were regularly tested and any infected vines were removed. The virus has virtually been eradicated here.

Phase two:

The farm was divided into two  clean, young vineyards and infected, old vineyards. The team implemented a programme involving a pheromone bait, spraying (and occasional application via drip irrigation) of systemic insecticide, with low toxicity to mammals, at various stages of the production cycle.

Increasingly, Vergelegens alien-clearing programme is now providing more natural solutions. In a programme believed to be the largest private conservation undertaking in South Africa, some 2,000 of 2,200 hectares of land have been cleared of invasive alien vegetation.

As the indigenous fynbos returns, it attracts increasing numbers of birds and insects. Amongst them is an abundance of ladybirds, one of the most effective predators of mealybugs. Birds and other predatory insects also eat other pests that prey on the vines. In attracting these predators, the fynbos and buchu growing near the vineyards act as a form of natural pesticide, limiting the need to use chemical applications for mealybug control.

Another interesting finding, says van Rensburg, is that mealybugs are spread mainly by people and tools, not by wind and birds as thought. Accordingly, the newly-planted vineyards are located as far as possible from old, infected vineyards and farm boundaries. Workers and their tools have been divided into two distinct teams and no worker may move from an infected to a clean vineyard.

Vergelegen workers are limited to specific vineyards

As mealybugs can live for several years on vine roots, old vineyards are cleared as thoroughly as possible and the ground is left fallow for two years before replanting.

Phase three:

Many of the older white wine cultivar vineyards still produce superb wine and are only replaced when the production and quality decrease. As the white cultivars do not reveal clear symptoms, the estates winemaking assistant and laboratory technician Martiza van Rensburg and her team check the vines for infection annually.

Every block and plant is recorded on a chart. Adjoining sections are tested and if a result is positive, every vine in a section is tested. Over 16,000 tests were undertaken on over 127,000 vines in 2012 alone. Last year, only 35 out of more than half a million vines revealed signs of leaf roll virus. Internationally, in more temperate climates such as Europe, the impact of the leaf roll virus is not as great as in harsh, dry environments. The virus does not spread as fast in New Zealand as in South Africa, but its wine producers are starting to address the problem in the same way as at Vergelegen. Its pioneering treatment is also being implemented in Israel and the Napa Valley.

Assistant winemaker Maritza van Rensburg

Quality wines are made in the vineyards, not the cellar, and wine produced from virus-free vines will continue to improve year after year, says Tooth. It is the only way to positively change South Africas wine image internationally. For too long weve been regarded as cheap and cheerful when in fact top South African wine can hold its own with some of the best in the world. In terms of wine quality, there are encouraging signs. Vergelegen won seven international gold medals last year alone, from AWC Vienna (the worlds biggest wine competition), the San Francisco International Wine Show, the International Wine Challenge and the Lyon International Competition in France.

Van Rensburg recognises that it will be his successors who will really benefit from the estates foresight. There arent enough old vineyards in the country, which is a problem because the quality of the fruit gets better over time. My successors should be able to make wine from vineyards that are 40-60 years old, ensuring that Vergelegen will still be producing quality wines well into the future.
The hotel industry goes hand in hand with excellent security, as it is an integral part of a hotel's success. Hotels invest heavily in security measures, given that lack of it can render both guests and staff susceptible to a glut of perils not to mention damaging the hotel's reputation. Nevertheless, hotels offering accommodation in high-risk regions, despite their use of CCTV and camera control, face pervasive risks which require professional handling to avoid escalation.

The recent attack by al-Qaida at a beach in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, was a big blow to the West African countrys hotel industry, with effects likely to foil the governments target of one million tourists this year. Reports show that over the past three years, the Ivorian government has invested 151 billion CFA, approximately $266,000 in hotels, in a bid to improve the industry and revitalize tourism. Attacks by gunmen in a hotel in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso earlier this year, plus other terrorist attacks and politically instigated conflicts across African countries such as Mali, Somalia, Burundi, Chad, South Sudan - Juba, Central African Republic and northern parts of Nigeria such as Borno; continue to undermine the African efforts of tapping revenue from the hotel and tourism industries.

While combined efforts from the United Nations Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the government of Somalia and other organizations of good will to restore peace and security in the war torn country are seen to be gaining mileage, security concerns remain inevitable with frequent terrorist attacks from the notorious Al-Shabaab militant group.

The security situation

Jazeera Palace Hotel is one of the most popular hotels located in Mogadishu, Somalia. The hotel bore the weight of terror in Mogadishu after it was struck by a suicide bomber in July 2015, causing massive destruction. The aftermath of such a major security incident, in any given scenario, causes incredible loss of property and in some cases loss of life and lifelong injuries. Huge revenues are also lost to competitors who take advantage to advance their business while the victim takes time to re-build, if at all.

Speaking to Jovago.com, Justus Kisaulu, the general manager of Jazeera Palace Hotel, which re-opened in November 2015, notes that the security situation in Somalia, and specifically Mogadishu, is improving day by day. Despite the negative publicity we get, sometimes we may go for months without any major incidence. Crime and terrorism has been largely deterred by mounting road blocks at various roads, intelligence led operations and professionally training the police force among other measures, he explained.

Guest confidence

Jazeera Hotel is a proof of resilience and optimism of the hotel industry in the face of terror. The hotels occupancy rate remains high at roughly 80%, hosting mainly business people, government officials, government delegations, foreign diplomats and NGOs. Kisaulu acknowledges that guests remain concerned about their security when on transit, prompting Jazeera to provide armored vehicles to mitigate the level of risk.

The hotel industry in Bauchi State in Northeast Nigeria has also reached its nadir from being targeted by Boko Haram insurgents. In spite of the spate of insurgency, Bauchi is bestowed with rich natural assets, being home to Ankara National Park and some of the best accommodation facilities in the area. Juliet Okere, the manager of Polycon Guest Inn in Bauchi, says the presence of security personnel in the recent past as a panacea to the insurgence menace has gone a long way in bringing calm in the state, thus boosting guests confidence to tour the area.

Remarkably, Juliet credits local Nigerians for their trust and contribution in restoring the hotel industry in the region, which has for years been debilitated by the presence of Boko Haram. While uncertainties surround the future of the industry in Bauchi and other Nigerian states such as Borno which are still writhing against the insurgents, Juliet, like many other hotel stakeholders, remains optimistic that collective efforts will show light at the end of the tunnel.

The role of the inernet and online booking

Despite the security challenges, the hotel industry is defying all odds to remain relevant and competitive. Internet uptake in these terrorism prone countries has also contributed highly to revolutionizing the sector, with the use of online booking platforms such as Jovago and Expedia; which enable travelers to book their accommodation online. According to Jazeeras GM, Internet in these countries is so crucial because of the increase in international guests and does reduce human movement within the city, thus reducing risk of being targets. This is the driver of the business now and in the future.

A report by the International Peace Institute shows that, while last year saw Sub-Saharan Africa overcome a number of important challenges, it also saw the continuation and often the creation of social, political, and economic obstacles that will define the continents security outlook in 2016. Hopefully, concerted efforts to curtail terrorism which is a global threat, will pave way to the writing of a different script, with a positive outlook for the hotel industry in regions with high security threats.
Topco Media is excited to host the second annual Vision 2030 Summit, 8-9 June 2016 at Emperor's Palace in Johannesburg. The Minister in the Presidency and chairperson of the National Planning Commission (NPC), the Honourable Jeff Radebe, will once again open the summit. Other prominent speakers include Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, South African politician and advocate, Dr Mathews Phosa, and Tom Moyane, the Commissioner of SARS.

This year, the summit is proud to host some of the highest esteemed companies in South African society, including Tiger Brands, Anglo American, Curro Holdings, AfroCentric Health, The Mega Water Corporation, Aurecon, Cisco Systems SA, MMI Holdings, SBV Services, Kwikspace Modular, IQ Business and Mineworkers Investment Trust. This years summit will focus on the theme of infrastructure and will host a total of 12 breakaway sessions as well as a fast-track networking session.

This summit promises to be an informative and productive experience for members of both the public and private sector. Attendees will gain practical insight, with opportunities to network and form partnerships with the aim of embracing the NDP (National Development Plan,) a plan intended to be embraced by all South Africans. The NDP is an almost universally lauded document to grow South Africas economy, eliminate poverty and reduce inequality.

Some of the focal points for this years summit will elaborate on the implications of the NDP on the regional economies, why the NDP forms the basis of all government activities as well as the critical success factors for education in South Africa and lastly, how to create sustainable healthcare for all.

Business leaders are encouraged to attend the summit in order to share experiences and gain access to the opportunities presented by the NDP, link businesses with government and network with key decision-makers.

This years summit will be joined by the following media partners: Engineering News, Mining Weekly, IMIESA, Water and Sanitation, Resource, InAfrica24, Inside Mining, Transport World Africa, Public Sector Manager, SA Building Review and SA Business Integrator.

Vision 2030 Summit welcomes the opportunity to secure interviews with the media. To apply for media accreditation, gain more information about the summit or how you can be involved in this exciting initiative, please contact Micheline Frantz: az.oc.ocpot@ztnarf.enilehciM - 086 000 9590.




The categories have been named for the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries, which recognises readers' favourite restaurants. The winners are determined by highest average star ratings - awarded by the public on eatout.co.za - over a year-long period.

The categories for 2016 are as follows:

 Best African Eatery

 Best Asian Eatery

 Best Bistro

 Best Burger Eatery

 Best Coffee Shop

 Best Country-Style Eatery

 Best Indian Eatery

 Best Italian Eatery

 Best Seafood Eatery

 Best Steakhouse

 Best Food Truck (new)

 Best Tapas Eatery (new)

 Best Mexican Eatery (new)

The Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries were held for the first time in 2015, with 10 categories for each province. In response to crowd favourites and to reflect current restaurant and food trends across the country, we decided to add three more categories for 2016  Best Food Truck, Best Tapas Eatery and Best Mexican eatery, said editor-in-chief of Eat Out, Anelde Greeff.

Mercedes-Benz is sponsoring theses accolades for the second consecutive year. Said Selvin Govender, marketing director of Mercedes-Benz Cars: The Best Everyday Eateries gives people the opportunity to celebrate the more casual restaurants that they love to visit regularly with their friends and family. We encourage Eat Out readers to give their favourite eateries a chance to shine by reviewing them before the closing date.

How it works

Over the course of the year, members of the public visit eatout.co.za to rate and review the eateries theyve visited recently. In each of the categories for each province, the qualifying restaurants with the highest average star ratings between 1 October, 2015, and 30 September, 2016, will be awarded at this years Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries. There will be two celebrations of the winners in October 2016  one in Gauteng and one in Cape Town. Restaurants that perform well in their category but dont meet all the criteria to win are eligible for highly commended certificates.

For each review posted, Eat Out will pledge a meal for a hungry child through Stop Hunger Now Southern Africa. Eat Out is also giving away R1000 to one reviewer per month until the end of September 2016. All the reviews written in the year period until that date will influence which restaurants take home the top prizes in each category.

Write a review at www.eatout.co.za/write-review
The new-look Good Food & Wine Show will be held in Cape Town at the CTICC from 27 to 29 May, 2016. Highlights will include Sherwyn Weaich's appearance at the Albany Bakeries stand and the Baking Theatre, where The Gourmet Bushie will show audience members how to get fresh and innovative at family mealtime.

The Good Food & Wine Show celebrity chef line-up features a host of local and international stars, including: Jenny Morris, J Something, George Colombaris, Sherwyn Weaich, Adriano Zumbo, Siba Mtongana, Sarah Graham, Bertus Basson, Chef Christo, Claire Allen, and Siphokazi Mdlankomo.

For the first time, the 2016 Good Food & Wine Show will centre on a set theme. This year, the driving force behind the thinking, recipes and innovations is Fresh. In other changes, the event has been extended to three full days, while opening times have also been lengthened. There is more good news for pensioners, who don't have to bother thinking about an entry fee on Friday, 27 May, while entry to the Chef's Open Theatre is free to the public for the duration of the event.

The Baking Theatre

The Baking Theatre, sponsored by Albany Bakeries, is another big highlight. It will host a range of activities, including a fascinating series of My Kitchen appearances from Executive Chef, Braai Master and television host Sherwyn Weaich and his much loved Gourmet Bushie brand.

The Baking Theatre focusses on food, family and friends, said Thabile Gwiji, brand manager of Albany Bakeries. Running a family kitchen can be a real long-term challenge and Albany has always looked for ways to make this mission easier and more exciting for mums and family chefs. The Baking Theatre allows us to do just that.

The Gourmet Bushie is an increasingly popular and prominent lifestyle reality cooking brand that was born following a string of high-profile appearances from Weaich on shows such as MasterChef and Ultimate Braai Master, among many others. In recent years Weaich and The Gourmet Bushie brand have travelled across Europe and southern Africa, cooking alongside local and international chefs and hosting demonstrations and experiences at high-profile events. Supporting the live Gourmet Bushie experience, Weaich writes a weekly food column and an online food blog, which reach roughly 3.4 million readers.

The Gourmet Bushie brand is a perfect fit for Albany, said Gwiji. The essential idea for Albany at the Good Food & Wine Show is to create amazing experiences through food, and there is no one in the country who understands South African food and South African families like Sherwyn. It's no accident that he is so popular - he creates experiences that we can all share with family and friends, and that live on in our daily lives.

Audience interaction

Members of the audience can expect to be pulled from the crowd to interact with Weaich in his quest to tame the kitchen flames. His fast-paced show will keep fans of all ages and persuasions on the edge of their seats, while delivering regular insights on how to create easy, inspiring dishes sure to leave the family demanding more.

Weaich will also entertain visitors at the Albany Bakeries stand, where he will demonstrate how to create dishes that keep the family fuller for longer. Demonstration highlights include Chicken Piccata with Albany Bread Salad, Albany French Toast with an Ameretto Creme, Toast with Honey, Mascarpone Cream Cheese and Nutella, and Albany Banana and Dulce-leche Bread Pudding. Visitors to the Albany Bakeries stand will, of course, get to nibble on a range of tasty samples, and also stand to win an Albany Hamper at any time. In addition, Albany's innovative recipe cards will allow mums and other family chefs to take their new culinary discoveries straight back home, and into the kitchen.

We're really excited about the fact that the experiences at the Baking Theatre and the Albany Bakeries stand will all be very interactive, concluded Gwiji. This is a fantastic opportunity for South African families to get together and have fun, to experience new tastes, flavours and ideas, and to take a breath of tasty new air back home with them. We look forward to seeing Cape Town there.

For recipes, competitions and more information on Albany at the Good Food and Wine Show, follow on Facebook.

Opening times: Friday and Saturday: 10am to 10pm, Sunday: 10am to 6pm.

capetown.goodfoodandwineshow.co.za
On the next Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show on Thursday, 26 May 2016, from 9-10am, show host Warren Harding look at creative service agency Havas Boondoggle ( @boondoggleza ).

With a plethora of awards to its name, including Effies and over 10 Cannes Lion (six of which are Gold), Havas Boondoggle are looking forward to bringing something new to the South African digital agency space; drawing on the best of their European experience, with the best of South African expertise.

Pieter Goiris, chief executive officer at Havas Boondoggle joins us to look at the agency history, the departments and the trends affecting the advertising industry. We end off the feature by looking at the future of the agency, and what opportunities lie in South Africa.

Check out the agency here: http://havasboondoggle.co.za/.

Tune into Biz Takeouts every Thursday from 9am-10am live from the 2oceansVibe Radio studio in Cape Town as we discuss the topics that matter in Marketing & Media.

How to listen

Comments or questions

Podcast

A podcast of the show will be available in the Biz Takeouts special section on Biz later during the week.
This week, we find out what's really going on behind the selfie with technophile and Apple fetishist Joanne Lurie, head of creative at Urban Brew Studios.

Rolling with my homies. #TBT #SquadGoals

1. Where do you live, work and play?

Lurie: Im a Durban girl by birth and a Joburg girl by choice. I can be found playing in the corridors of my hearts home, Urban Brew Studios.

2. Whats your claim to fame?

Lurie: My triple chocolate brownies are well-known nationwide (by nationwide, I, of course, mean I once took a Tupperware of them to my family in Durban.).

3. Describe your career so far.

Lurie: I would describe the beginnings of my career as a beautiful mistake. After having stumbled into the industry, the rest of it would be characterised as a collection of adrenaline, sleepless nights, stupid questions, brilliant ideas, unshakeable instincts, a constant learning curve, the greatest moments of your life, and nerves of steel.

4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.

Lurie:

Apple anything. If Apple released paperclips, youd find me in the queue to buy them.

Pencils. Im obsessed with pencils. I have over 100 freshly sharpened ones on my desk at all times.

A good quality tequila. I dont have that on my desk, I promise.

on my desk, I promise. My passport. It tells all the secrets of my life of adventure.

5. What do you love about your industry?

Lurie: Innovation. Our industry is fluid and forever changing. In order to stay ahead of the pack, you have to innovate. Innovation is everything.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

Lurie: The thing I love most about my job is that theres no such thing as an average day. Theres nothing average about the work we do and theres absolutely no room for average in this industry.

7. What are the tools of your trade?

Lurie: The right side of your brain. A thick skin. A strong will. And a gut you trust.

8. Who is getting it right in your industry?

Lurie: Anyone who manages to make beautiful, innovative TV, despite the challenges involved, is getting it right. Im proud to say that the list of industry achievers is far too long to mention.

9. What are you working on right now?

Lurie: As the head of creative at Urban Brew Studios, Im lucky enough to get the chance to work across all of our productions. That means my day will take me from youth TV and music shows to talk shows and game shows, and everything in between.

Im also busy developing some pretty groundbreaking new shows, so watch this space!

10. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.

Lurie: Digital, digital and digital. Oh wait, also, digital.

11. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

Lurie: In bed late at night. It explains a lot about my sleeping habits.

12. Whats your secret talent/party trick?

Lurie: My secret talent is shocking people with my party trick, which is called The Doo Doo Shot. Its a shooter I learnt how to make in Nigeria, which includes vodka, an olive, lemon juice and an unhealthy amount of Tabasco. Most people love it and it has only led to one hospitalisation.

13. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Lurie: Thousands of notes to myself. Lists and notes. Notes and lists.

14. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?

Lurie: Accept that nobody is indispensable and then go out and make yourself as indispensable as humanly possible. Dont be afraid to ask questions. Dont turn down internship opportunities. Everyone has to start somewhere. Never ever utter the words, Thats not my job!

Simple as that. You can read more about Urban Brew Studios by clicking here, and interact with Lurie via Twitter and Instagram.

*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
The Fairlady Women of the Future Awards 2016, in partnership with Santam, has announced the names of the panel of judges presiding over the awards. They are Thuli Madonsela, Leanne Manas, Jo-Ann Strauss, Yegs Ramiah and Suzy Brokensha.

Fairlady editor, Brokensha has always believed that women should be part of the workforce but particularly in South Africa, where female entrepreneurs can contribute so much to the growth of this economy. It is not only about personal growth, although that is a huge part of work. It is also about building this country into the energetic, vibrant economy it should be. We believe in women, we believe in business and we believe that women have the potential to turn the South African economy around. I will be looking for someone who has spotted a gap in the market and whose business could become a game changer in our economic environment.

Santam Director, Ramiah will be looking for a female entrepreneur who is passionate and has pulled out all the stops to pursue her dream and turn it into a business. Ramiah also believes female entrepreneurs should not give up too easily. Typically, the first 1000 days or three years are the hardest for any business. Those entrepreneurs who reach this critical milestone are the ones that come up with creative solutions to obstacles and challenges, are eager to learn, adapt quickly, inspire others and stay focused through good times and bad.

Advocate Madonsela, South Africas highly respected Public Protector, is looking for a candidate with a servant heart and someone who believes in South Africas future. She believes that South Africa is a great place for entrepreneurs - that there are more gaps in the system and, therefore, more opportunities here than in countries that have been operating in a globalised environment for many years. The winner must see herself as part of a force to build our communities, this nation, our continent and, ultimately, a better world.

Media entrepreneur and international speaker, Strauss is a hardworking mom. She sees entrepreneurship as a great opportunity for mothers, allowing for creativity and flexibility. I will be looking for strong, capable women who have not just dreamed their dreams, but have made them come true through sheer determination and resilience. This is what sets the Fairlady Women of the Future Apart.

TV presenter, radio host and MC, Manas is a part of our morning every day, hosting Morning Live on SABC 2. For Leanne, the entrepreneurial spirit is something that needs nurturing, as that is where jobs are created. I want the winner to be someone whose business is making a difference in her community by creating meaningful and sustainable jobs and by empowering women.

Competition details

The Fairlady Woman of the Future 2016 award goes to an entrepreneur, 25 years or older, whose business has made it past 1001 days (basically, the first three years) and who is well on her way to creating an empire. The Fairlady Rising Star 2016 goes to an entrepreneur between the ages of 16 and 25, whose business is older than six months but still within the first 1001 days of business.

Entry forms and terms & conditions are available on www.womenofthefuture.co.za. Entries close on 17 June 2016.
On this Africa Day, the Right2Know campaign has highlighted the gross violations of the right to free expression taking place across the continent, as well as the continued imprisonment of journalists.

Right2Know

This is the full text of the R2K statement:

From Cape to Cairo we continue to witness attempts by the powerful to clamp down on media rights and free expression. Some of the most glaring abuses have taken place from Egypt to Eritrea, Kenya and Angola, where the governments of these countries offer stark proof of the oppressive relationship between power and respect for freedom of expression.

With shock we witnessed severe police brutality towards Kenyan protesters earlier this month. We stand with those who have condemned these acts of brutality, and call for respect for the right to protest by Kenyan authorities.

In Egypt, 152 people were sentenced for breaking a draconian law that effectively bans protests, also this month. The countrys compromised judges are in the habit of handing down severe penalties to dissenters and critics of the regime after brief hearings marked by procedural irregularities. The judiciary has been drawn fully into the states apparatus of repression and now appears to exist simply to process those brought before it for sentencing.

The highly publicised trial and sentencing of the three Al-Jazeera journalists  Peter Greste, Baher Mohammed and Mohamed Fahmy  showed just how farcical the courts in Egypt have become. Their trial was presided over by the notorious Mohammed Nagy Shehata, Egypts Executioner Judge, who seemed to relish his minor celebrity status by sporting dark glasses in court and who is said to have sarcastically told the journalists Happy World Press Freedom Day. Over a year ago, Shehata ratified the mass death sentence of 183 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and, days later, sentenced 230 people to life in prison over their alleged role in a mass sit-in, to which police responded with live ammunition.

On the pretext of combating terrorism, the security forces stamp out dissent with extreme brutality and almost total impunity, filling the countrys prisons with political prisoners and activists whose only offence has been to stand up against the regime. Egypt is currently one of the worlds biggest jailers of journalists, most of them locked up on trumped up charges.

The Angolan authorities show similar contempt for fundamental rights. As in Egypt, the Angolan judiciary is used for political ends. In March this year, 17 youths were given jail terms of between two and eight years  essentially for reading a well-known book by author Gene Sharp on non-violent civil resistance. They were charged for allegedly planning a plot to topple President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The charges stemmed from a June 2015 meeting in which the group discussed the book.

This Africa Day, we express our admiration and solidarity for the many other courageous activists, journalists and bloggers across Africa who refuse to be silenced, even in the face of serious danger

Last year, in what was essentially a show trial, a Luanda court sentenced journalist Rafael Marques de Morais to a six months suspended sentence for criminal libel. Marques was persecuted for exposing serious human rights abuses in Angolas diamond mining areas that implicated the countrys top generals. The judiciary duly acted on the generals bidding.

We remember Eritrean journalist Seyoum Tsehaye, incarcerated now for 14 years  the longest served sentence by any journalist in Africa. We call on the Afweri regime to release him immediately.

This Africa Day, we express our admiration and solidarity for the many other courageous activists, journalists and bloggers across Africa who refuse to be silenced, even in the face of serious danger to their own lives. We remain mindful that the noble ideal of free expression in South Africa, enshrined in our constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights was hard won and must be determinedly defended.

We call on the South African government to actively promote free expression at home and abroad, whether practiced in the form of peaceful protest, a critical media, or any other form of expression. We demand the African Union show greater commitment to promoting protection of journalists and encourage freedom of expression.

Source: Right2Know
We connect brands with the mass market where it matters most-close to home.
They had been trapped in fighting between KIA 3rd Brigade, 27th Battalion and government troops on the morning of May 23. A Civilian Protection Group member, Naw Mai, said that clashes occurred at around 6 a.m. on May 23 between Mai Khaung and Lai Kar Zuap villages.

All the villagers who were trapped in fighting escaped. There were no more villagers in the conflict area. They came back by themselves through the paths they knew. There are over 50 villagers who came back to the camp. They live here but work in the conflict area, he told Mizzima.

Fighting between KIA and Myanmar Army has been ongoing since May 15.

Myanmar Infantry battalions under the command of Light Infantry Division (LID) 99 and KIA 38th Battalion under the command of KIA 6th Brigade fought on May 22 in Phaung Sai area in Mongkok Township, northern Shan State. Col. Zau Gam from KIA 4th Brigade said that over 20 houses in Man Pein village were burnt down after the fighting.

We heard that the Myanmar Army lost 2 personnel in that fighting and villagers managed to flee from the area in advance, he said.

There were over 20 houses in Man Pein village and all the villagers fled to the Sino-Burma border, he added.

Clashes have taken place daily in KIA 4th and 6th Brigade controlled areas and fighting between Shan State Progressive Party and Myanmar Army have also continued. The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar Army also continue to fight near Pan San village, Kyaukme Township.
The flared up old issue of Rohingya, due to the US ambassador to Burma, Scot Marciels stand point of addressing the chosen nomenclature as it preferred by the said ethnic group and the US Secretary of State John Kerrys inquiry following his recent visit, pushed Aung San Suu Kyi to take up position that she has so far tried to avoid.

While this tip-toeing around or asking for sympathy and more space, regarding the Rohingya issue might be necessary for a short period of time, the armed ethnic conflict that have flared up to a new height in Kachin and Shan States these days is alarmingly and disturbing, which needs immediate attention for the National League for Democracys (NLD) national reconciliation commitment hinges upon on how fast and effective the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) could be implemented, in words and deeds.

In this respect, the Suu Kyi-led, newly renamed, National Reconciliation Peace Center (NRPC) seems to be moving towards adopting the previous regimes well-beaten path of peace process, so much so, people are starting to say that her program is, in fact, an old wine in a new bottle.

Let us examine in the light of recent political development, if this is really the case.

The Rohingya terminology

Her tip-toeing around the racial and religious conflict was explained as largely due to the fact that the risk of inflaming the issue was so high, only by just mentioning and using the terms Rohingya and Bengalis, that are politically and emotionally highly charged.

The Buddhist nationalists label the group Bengalis, casting Burmas more than one million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, according to various news reports.

The Arakan Buddhists object to the term Rohingya just as much as the Muslims object to the term Bengali, Suu Kyi said during a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the capital Naypyitaw.

One positive statement Suu Kyi said was that her new government was determined to address deep hatreds in western Rakhine State. And in addition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr Kerry both stressed that the ability to self-identity was important for people all over the world. We are not in any way undermining peoples desire to establish their own identity, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said.

Suu Kyi, who has faced criticism internationally for not speaking up for the Rohingya, pledged to work towards a situation where the communities live peacefully and securely outside the camps.

That is why we say that we need the space to build up trust and security within the community, Suu Kyi added.

The 21st Century Panglong Convention

According to U Khun Myint Tun, chair of the Pa-Oh National Liberation Organisation, the new governments peace plan will be built on the foundation laid by former president U Thein Sein, though non-signatories will also be invited.

What we understand is the 21st-century Panglong Conference will be held in accordance with the provisional timeline of the NCA. It is just a replacement to the Union Peace Conference. With a few changes, I think the new government will follow the old peace process laid out by President U Thein Sein, he said.

The newly renamed NRPC, which formerly was Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), meanwhile has formed two sub-committees, one headed by Lieutenant General Yar Pyae would meet with the signatory Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs), while the other led by U Tin Myo Myo, who is also head of the NRPC, would liaise with the non-signatories. Reportedly, in U Tin Myo Wins team prominent ethnic politician U Khun Tun Oo was said to be included as a member, according to Myanmar Times report.

However, regarding the new regimes soliciting of the remaining EAOs to join the political dialogue, it is not clear whether all the 13 non-signatory EAOs will be included or the military, also known as Tatmadaw and Burma Army, rejected 3 EAOs  Kokang or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Palaung or Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA)  will be left out.

The military has said that the said 3 EAOs would have to surrender first, before they could participate in the peace process.

On top of this, the NLD usage of the word phrase those that deserves and appropriate to participate in the peace process would be included is hardly an all-inclusive pledge, even if the partys political commitment is said to be so.

Burma Army position on peace process

According to the Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaings much publicized press conference of 13 May, the military position on the peace process could be summarized as the following:

It adheres to the constitution and thus also accepts the President leading role of the country;

It will support Suu Kyis Panglong-like convention;

EAOs need to sign NCA first before participating in the peace process; and

MNDAA, TNLA, AA must surrender first to be part of the peace process.

Apart from that, on question of 25% militarys non-elected, allotment in the parliament and its subsequent withdrawal from politics, Min Aung Hlaing reiterated with his usual answer that it would be according to the desire of the people, if armed conflicts ended and peace is restored.

But to underpin the militarys independence from that of the administration, the military leaders, including the Commander-in-Chief, maintained that they could continue to take up responsibility and run their own affairs, even after the pensioned age of 60.

Military activities and development

Meanwhile, the military despite its public commitment to support Suu Kyis 21st Century Panglong Convention, it has been conducting military offensives in the Shan and Kachin States.

On 19 May, Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) issued an eight point statement, of which its doubtfulness on Burma Army was stressed and its aim to derail the Suu Kyi initiated Panglong-like convention by staging offensives on SSA positions in Lashio and Hsipaw Townships was mentioned. It went on to protest the onslaught and demand the Burma Army to immediately stop the offensives.

Again on the 58th anniversary of Shan Revolution Day, that has been started by 31 Shan patriots in Mong Ton Township, on 21 May 1958, called on all EAOs to unite and strive for ethnic rights.

(We) urge all our ethnic armed brethren to unite hand-in-hand to fight for our ethnic rights in unison, using diverse actions, stated the statement.

On 21 May, Daung Khar, Chief technical advisor of the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA) , told BBC that he was disappointed and ruminated for the new governments silence on the military using of combat aircraft against the KIA and that they wont be asking for help from the regime, for it has already known the situation. He went on to stressed that the 21st Century Panglong Convention will be meaningless, with the war on ethnic groups going on.

During these few weeks, the MNDAA, TNLA, that the military refused to accept as negotiating partners, tendered resignation to the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) a coalition of 11 EAOs alliance, which is still pending, has led many to think that the United Wa State Army (UWSA)-led military alliance in the north of the country, might become a reality. This means, the alliance to be formed would include some 5 to 6 EAOs that would weaken the UNFC militarily.

Meanwhile, the escalation of wars in Shan and Kachin States continue unabated, citing criminal activities like illegal logging, taxation of the EAOs and also area clearance and control policy, to create more white areas or government control areas, before the Panglong-like Convention really started.

Analysis

Apart from the possible problematic or debacle of all-inclusive policy line of the NLD with the military demanded non-inclusive posture, vis a vis the EAOs, the time has also come for the NLD to tackle the mentioned issues head on.

The Rohingya issue, which is based on religious hatred and racism, would need a clear policy on how to go about. This should be a kind of denazification  entnazifizierung in German -, which was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society of the National Socialist ideology (Nazism), to build awareness of how a responsible democracy-adhering society needs to behave and thus is a long term undertaking. But beating around the bush wont help. The civilian-based initiative of harmonious living together among different races and religions are already there, albeit at a very rudimentary stage, but needs institutional support and as well, decisive secular form of governance commitment that is a must in a democratic society.

Similarly, ethnic conflict that have plagued the country for so long needs bold, innovative approach rather than being bogged down in the first step of actual nationwide ceasefire, due to lack of political will.

The Burma Armys usual mantra of protecting sovereignty and upholding national unity is not conducive and helpful. More so, if it combines this with its commitment of creating more white areas prior to the actual political dialogue, to be at an advantaged bargaining position.

Actually, this doesnt make sense as an agreed Union Accord will resolve all these problems with one stroke, for soon as a political settlement of a genuine federalism solution is reached.

In a nutshell, if Suu Kyi and NLD dont want its peace initiative to be termed as an old wine in a new bottle, there is only one option open. And that is, as time and again being advocated by well-wishers and keen observer of the country, to wipe the slate clean or create a level playing field, by unilateral ceasefire declaration from the part of the government, for it is a must and necessary step, rather than beating around the bush. Of course this will be only possible with the Burma Armys willingness and commitment, so that the initiated 21st Century Panglong Convention will have its real meaning and become a reality.
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
As you all know, there are significant challenges in the way of Papua New Guinea finding its way forward towards a realistic path for building a sustainable economic future.

While we are certainly making some progress, at present we are a long way from achieving that vitally important goal.

While there are many other facets to the ongoing peace-building efforts in Bougainville, there is little prospect for success in peace-building without sustainable economic development.

In the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, we face additional challenges and constraints. At the same time, its not always realised that we also have some uniquely positive attributes and possibilities.

I must address two significant issues I expect to be of considerable interest or concern to potential investors.

The first concerns what I see should be the limited direct role of government in future economic development in Bougainville.

The second concerns the fundamental importance of the PNG national government and the ABG together achieving complete implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

It is, after all, their joint creation, directed to responding to both sources and impacts of the terrible nine year Bougainville conflict (1988-1997).

In my view, government should not be directly involved in economic activity. There is ample evidence from experience in Port Moresby  and some in Bougainville  of the grave risks associated with direct government involvement in business activities.

We all know the kinds of problems here. They can include: corruption; mismanagement; conflicts of interests; and diversion of scarce resources actually needed to provide and improve the basic services and infrastructure needed to attract responsible investment in the first place.

Rather, government involvement should, as far as possible, be limited to three main areas of responsibility:

First, necessary regulation setting broad parameters within which economic activity should occur; Second, provision of basic services needed for economic development; Third, provision of infrastructure and similar things needed to support sustainable economic development.

Under the constitutionally based autonomy arrangements under the Bougainville Peace Agreement, responsibility in Bougainville for regulation of business is at present divided between PNG and ABG laws.

As the process of transfer of powers to the ABG continues, it will increasingly be a matter for Bougainville laws. We recognise that differences in regulatory regimes in the same country can be a factor that can cause concerns for investors.

At the same time, I must emphasise that the ABG will sometimes be obliged to take a different regulatory approach from that of PNG. After all, the Bougainville Peace Agreement of 2001 states that the major purpose of the autonomy arrangements under which the ABG operates is to empower Bougainvilleans to solve their own problems, manage their own affairs and work to realize their aspirations.

It is sometimes forgotten that the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement was entered into in order to end the worst, the most violent, divisive, and bloody conflict ever fought between Pacific Islanders.

The agreement was between the national government and leaders of the major groups in the previously opposing Bougainville factions. But it was also witnessed by the international community  including representatives of the UN, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu.

In witnessing the agreement, the international community was seen as committing to supporting the full implementation of the agreement.

The extent of its implementation to date, though far from complete, has contributed to reducing tensions and divisions, and towards building sustainable peace. But divisions, tensions and suspicions remain.

Amongst other things, tensions and suspicions continue over the referendum on Bougainvilles political future. The referendum is a difficult issue, even for some in Bougainville.

Many there see the referendum as essential to finally resolving a question that has festered since the 1950s. But there are also some who remain concerned that Bougainville is too divided to have a free and fair referendum.

But of course, for many in the national government, few issues could be more sensitive and threatening than the possible separation of Bougainville from PNG. Some opposition to the referendum being held in accordance with the Agreement is still sometimes evident.

Of course, the provision for the referendum can also be a source of concern for potential investors. It could suggest uncertainty and tensions around Bougainvilles political future, which could undermine confidence of financiers and investors.

Its perhaps not surprising then that one or two potential investors have hinted at being interested to know if the referendum might be delayed for an extended period, or perhaps a decision made not to hold the referendum.

However, its essential to recognise that in circumstances where a long-term destructive and divisive conflict has been resolved by a solemn agreement, witnessed by the international community, that the referendum must be held. There are much graver risks of instability and uncertainty should that promise not be honoured.

I am far from certain what the outcome of the referendum will be. The vital thing, to me, is to ensure that there is a fair and honest process that helps us all resolve the question of Bougainvilles political future.

If the process is handled in the right manner, with complete integrity and transparency, then whatever the outcome, all parties should be able to cooperate in working cooperatively together after the referendum.

Presentation by John L Momis, President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville to the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum, 15-17 May 2016 in Cairns, Australia

You can read the complete speech here - Download 'The Way Forward', by John L Momis


SeaHake torpedos. Photo: Atlas Elektronik.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian Defence Ministry is now looking for an alternative for the chopper scam tainted Italian defence conglomerate Finmeccanica's heavy weight torpedos for the Scorpene submarines.



Defence sources said the proposal to acquire 98 Black Shark torpedoes for the six under construction French Scorpene submarines for a price of Rs 1,200 crore has been nixed.



"There is an alternate that is being worked on," the sources said adding that the SeaHake torpedos from Germany's Atlas Elektronik could be an option.



Black Shark torpedoes, made by Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS), a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, had emerged the lowest bidder to arm the Scorpene submarines, the first of which will be handed over to the Navy by September this year.



However, the proposal to acquire it had been stuck because of the VVIP chopper scam.



The Navy had been pushing for it citing "operational necessity". However, sources said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has now decided to go for an alternative.



Atlas Elektronik had come second during the bidding and sources said the reason for it to lose was due to certain differences between the Germany company and the French firm which is making the submarine in collaboration with MDL in Mumbai.



"However, it seems that the differences have been resolved now," sources said adding that either a fresh tender could be placed or the government may go in for direct purchase.



If the issue is not resolved fast, the Navy would be inducting the first Scorpene submarine without its main anti-ship attack system.



Sources said the Scorpene class submarines' have already been customised to integrate its fire control system with the Black Sharks.



Integrating another type of torpedo, will not only cost extra but also more time, the sources said.



Six submarines are being built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd with technology from French firm DCNS under an over Rs 25,000 crore project called P-75.




The Soyuz rocket lifts off with a pair of Galileo navigation satellites from French Guiana on May 24, 2016. An Arianespace photo

KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA (BNS): Europe inched a step closer towards operationalising its own satellite navigation system by successfully orbiting two more satellites for the Galileo constellation.



The 13th and 14th satellites of the series were launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 5:48 am local time (08:48 GMT) Tuesday, European rocket firm Arianespace which conducted the mission, said.



The twin Galileos were deployed into orbit close to 23,522 km altitude, at 3 hours and 48 minutes after lift-off, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced.



The coming days will see a careful sequence of orbital fine-tuning to bring them to their final working orbit, followed by a testing phase so that they can join the working constellation later this year, it said.



"Today's textbook launch has added two more satellites to what has become Europe's largest satellite constellation," commented Jan Woerner, Director General of ESA.



"Today's launch brings Europe's Galileo constellation halfway to completion, in terms of numbers," remarked Paul Verhoef, ESA's Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities.



The multi-billion-euro satellite navigation and search and rescue system will ultimately consist of 30 orbiters, and is expected to become fully operational by 2020.



Tuesday's launch was also the Galileo's last flight by the Russian Soyuz rocket this year.



Before the end of 2016, Arianespace will launch four more Galileo satellites, using an Ariane 5 ES launch vehicle, enabling the system to offer its initial services.






HANOI (AFP): The US has fully lifted its ban on weapons sales to Vietnam, President Barack Obama has announced during a visit to Hanoi, unpicking a decades-old embargo on the one-time enemy.



"The United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some fifty years," he said on Monday at a joint press conference alongside his Vietnamese counterpart President Tran Dai Quang.



Both countries are warily eyeing China's military build-up in the disputed South China Sea.



But Obama was keen to separate the decision to allow arms sales to the communist nation from shared concerns over Beijing's claims to contested waters.



"The decision to lift the ban was not based on China...but on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process moving towards normalisation with Vietnam," he said.



"At this stage, both sides have developed a level of trust and cooperation including our militaries," the US leader added.



Vietnam's leader Quang welcomed the rollback of the Cold War-era ban on lethal weapons exports.



Obama's three-day visit to Vietnam comes some 41 years after the North Vietnamese army and its Viet Cong allies marched into Saigon, humiliating the world's preeminent superpower.



The rollback of the arms embargo is highly symbolic of a shift in relations that has seen a surge in trade and cultural changes between the two countries that were locked in a bitter, bloody conflict just a generation ago.



The US is cosying up to Asia-Pacific countries in a strategic shift to tap the trade potential of the region and as a bulwark to the influence of regional superpower China.



Vietnam's military spending has surged in the last decade, by 130 per cent since 2005, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.



But much of Vietnam's arsenal is made up of ageing Russia-built equipment.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON  Premier Rachel Notley is dismissing opposition accusations that her NDP governments carbon tax bill contains invasive and arbitrary rules on search and seizure.

Notley told the house Wednesday that Bill 20 contains rules surrounding search warrants that are commonplace in Canada, and she accused the Wildrose party of fomenting fear.

The opposition is taking language that has appeared in government legislation provincially and federally for years and theyre suggesting that we invented it to create a new right that quite frankly doesnt exist, said Notley.

If thats not fear mongering, I really dont know what is.

Bill 20, introduced Tuesday, is designed to give Notleys government the legal power to hike taxes on heating bills and gas at the pumps to fund its new multibillion-dollar carbon levy, starting in 2017.

Gas prices are to go up by 4.49 cents a litre next year and to 6.73 cents a litre in 2018. Diesel prices will rise by 5.35 cents a litre next year and 8.03 cents a litre the year after that.

Farmers, for example, will be exempt from the carbon gas price hike on top of the 9 cents a litre discount they already receive under the Alberta farm fuel benefit.

The discounted farm gas is restricted to vehicles related to farm activity.

Farmers need to obtain permits and cannot use the discounted gas for off-farm pursuits, such as recreational vehicles.

Under Bill 20, officials who believe there are breaches of the levy can get a search warrant to go on properties, check fuel tanks, vehicles, buildings and computer hard drives.

If they feel that someone is at immediate risk of harm or evidence might be destroyed they can proceed without a search warrant, but a search warrant or the owners permission is needed to get into someones home.

Wildrose critic Nathan Cooper told the house that Notley is violating the sanctity of property and privacy that she once fought for in opposition.

Surely the premier would agree that any legislation that gives the government the right to enter virtually any property without a warrant is a step too far, said Cooper.

Outside the house, Progressive Conservative Leader Ric McIver said he will fight to amend or remove the search provisions in the bill.

Its very offensive and its something that needs to be fixed, said McIver.

Bill 20 fulfils a promise made by Notley to bring in a program to fight climate change and give Alberta more credibility on the international stage when it fights for oil and gas infrastructure such as pipelines.

The government estimates the levy will cost the average family $400 or more a year in direct and indirect costs, with much of that rebated to households in the middle and lower-income bracket.

The fund, along with levies on large industrial emitters, is expected to bring in more than $9 billion to the government over the next five years to fund green projects such as expanded public transit.
JOY KISSELPAR | Australian Broadcasting Corporation

THE University of Papua New Guinea has suspended the school's first semester for an indefinite period, effectively ending a student boycott of classes.

Students have been boycotting for more than two weeks, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill over alleged corruption and mismanagement.

Acting chancellor Dr Nicolas Mann said the university council's decision is based on recommendations from the university senate.

The senate consist of lecturers, professors and heads of schools within the university.

Students were told they have 48 hours to vacate the campus and that all support amenities for students will cease after that time.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL  Marc-Antoine Gervais says everyone knows lighting up on a patio with a glass of beer is the best cigarette you can smoke.

But unfortunately for Gervais that luxury will be over as of Thursday as Quebec becomes the latest jurisdiction in North America to crack down further on smoking in public places.

Its a bit annoying, he said as he enjoyed a puff on the patio of the Sir Winston Churchill Pub on downtown Crescent Street. Its blocking my rights.

A no-smoking sign is seen on a patio Wednesday, May 25, 2016 in Montreal. Quebec's anti-smoking law will kick in Thursday prohibiting smoking on outdoor patios. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

As of Thursday, Quebecers will also no longer be allowed to smoke in a car transporting a child under 16 years old or in outdoor play areas intended for children. Additionally, smoking will be outlawed on vacation campgrounds and skating rinks used by minors.

And of course, no more smoking on any of the citys so-called terrasses (the French word regularly used by English-Montrealers to describe patios), which spring up everywhere in mid-April.

Tammy Aggett, general manager at Madhatter Pub, a popular bar for youthful alcohol aficionados from nearby universities, said the new law will make it easier for people to steal beer if they have to go outside to smoke.

Puffers will leave their drinks to light up and some of them wont return to pay their tab, she said.

With younger clientele it happens quite often, Aggett noted.

Quebec banned indoor smoking inside bars in 2006. Since then, bar owners have blamed the law for what they call a steady decrease in clientele.

While its unclear what direct effects the 2006 restrictions may have had, Allan Bruce, who has worked at Montreals Brutopia brew pub for 19 years, said he notices fewer people smoking nowadays.

Oh yeah, people smoke way less, he said. Its obvious.

Quebecs new law goes further than pushing smokers off patios. Theyll have to stand nine metres away from any door, air vent or window to which the public has admittance.

Aggett said the nine-metre rule will mean more noise complaints from hotels and other establishments as smokers congregate outside to puff.

She said her wait staff will likely have to field complaints from neighbours and visits by police as well as having to boss smoking patrons around.

The government is getting what they want by putting the onus on everybody else to do it for them, she said.

But for non-smoker Marianne Allaire, the new law is a good thing.

I have rights too, she said, sitting with a friend on a sidewalk patio. I choose not to smoke and I appreciate that Im here and I dont have the smoke come to me, so its good.
Already have an account? Log in here 

Quebec smokers will no longer be able to indulge on bar and restaurant patios as of Thursday. A look at rhe situation in other Canadian jurisdictions:

We need your support!

Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A new study in the journal Nature finds that Albertas oilsands are one of the largest sources of organic aerosol air pollution in North America.

Data from airborne measurements over the bitumen-producing region in August 2013 found that oilsands production generates at least 45 to 84 tonnes per day of the tiny particulate matter  comparable to mega-cities such as Paris and Mexico City.

The study, whose lead authors are Environment Canada scientists, says secondary organic aerosol production should be taken into consideration when assessing the environmental impact of current and planned oilsands development.

A dump truck works near the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the city of Fort McMurray, Alta., on June 1, 2014. A new study in the journal Nature finds that Alberta's oil sands are one of the largest sources of organic aerosol air pollution in North America. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

And it suggests heavy-oil extraction projects around the globe are likely large sources of this type of air pollution.

The oilsands on its own as a global source is probably not very significant, research scientist John Liggio of Environment Canada said in an interview Wednesday.

But you have to keep in mind that extraction of viscous, heavy oil is happening all over the world. Thats the globalness of it. This type of process is expected to occur in multiple places, wherever you extract bitumen, heavy oil, and so on.

Secondary organic aerosols are produced when volatile organic compounds interact with sunlight and other airborne chemicals to create tiny particles, which have been found to cause lung and heart problems and other health effects.

The Nature study found that low-volatility organic vapours from mined oilsands material is directly responsible for the majority of the observed secondary organic aerosols downwind from oilsands mining projects.

Multiple flights over the course of a month aboard a National Research Council aircraft and using mass spectrometers found differing plumes up to 100 kilometres downwind of oilsands projects.

And while other pollutants such as black carbon and sulphate aerosols dissipated as the plumes spread in width from 39 kilometres to 79 kilometres, the secondary organic aerosols, or SOAs, remained relatively steady, indicating a significant SOA formation rate within these plumes, overriding the effect of dilution, says the Nature article.

Shao-Meng Li, who co-authored the study with Liggio, said the study of SOAs has been done mostly in cities. This is the first time that the contribution from a specific industrial sector has been able to be measured, in significant part due to northern Albertas lack of other heavy industry or emission sources.

Because of the uniqueness in that area (of Alberta), because of the non-source, if you will, we are able to thoroughly study and specifically say this is from that industrial source sector, Li said in an interview. In a big urban area, its a lot more difficult to isolate different sources.

Air pollution rather than climate impact was the focus of the study, said the government research scientist, although particulate matter in the atmosphere is known to absorb solar radiation.

The researchers said they havent pinpointed the exact emission sources within oilsands projects, whether it be tailings ponds, the mines themselves or processing. They also dont know what effect in situ oilsands extraction  which uses steam to melt bitumen deep underground and then pumps it to the surface  has on the formation of secondary organic aerosols.

And theyd like to test those oilsands plumes at a different time of year to see how seasonal changes impact the formation of SOAs.

Were hoping in the next couple of years well have another study, in another season, looking at different sources, including in situ  and different parts of the facilities as well, said Liggio.

 Follow @BCheadle on Twitter
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A lawyer is accusing the federal government of withholding important documents from people seeking redress for alleged abuse in Indian residential schools.

He also says the government misled the committee charged with supervising the compensation process.

And that oversight committee, the lawyer argues, is unwilling to do anything about it.

The case is an example of how residential school survivors are dependent on the federal government to provide records that support their demands for justice, leaving them feeling like the decks are stacked against them.

There seems to be no way to make Canada actually hand over the documents that it itself believes are relevant to the arguments it makes why people cant claim anything under this process. And there is no one who wants to hold them to account, said Montreal-based lawyer David Schulze.

Schulze was representing a client seeking compensation through the Independent Assessment Process set up to navigate individual claims of abuse related to Canadas Indian residential school system. The case was related to her time as a student at Fort George Anglican Residential School, also known as St. Philips, located in what is now called Chisasibi, in northern Quebec.

Schulze, who said he cannot go into detail about what happened at the hearing for reasons of confidentiality, said at one point there was an issue of whether Fort George was a residential school or a day school.

The problem, Schulze said, is that while he was relying on documents the government provided, and being told that he had access to all the relevant records, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada was doing new research.

Schulze said he found out in April 2015 after his clients claim had been dismissed that the Indigenous Affairs department had prepared a memo in December 2014 containing new information about the school based in part on 52 previously undisclosed documents.

The memo, which Schulze provided to The Canadian Press, outlined evidence that the Fort George school was not in fact a day school but subject to the so-called administrative split  a legal technicality the government has used to convince adjudicators to reject many claims for reasons of jurisdiction.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said in February that she has ordered her department to review the practice.

Schulze said that while this new information would not have necessarily led his client to win, it would have allowed everyone to understand the issue in the same way.

He has filed for another review of the claim.

Indigenous Affairs spokeswoman Valerie Hache emailed a statement Thursday saying the federal government is committed to the fair and timely adjudication of claims and that 34,000 of 38,000 claims have been settled successfully so far.

In this case, Canada has met all its disclosure obligations, said the statement, which did not provide a reason for why that disclosure took so long.

The bigger problem, Schulze argued, is that he is not the only one the government was keeping in the dark.

The minutes for the March 3, 2015 meeting of the oversight committee showed they discussed issues regarding changes to school narratives  the IAP documents summarizing each school and records relating to abuse.

 . . . Canada stated that to the best of Canadas knowledge, it has disclosed all documents in its collection related to years of operation. If new relevant information becomes available, Canada will bring it into the narrative, said the minutes posted online.

Schulze contacted the oversight committee to aruge the government had misled it. But he said he was disappointed by the response from committee chair Mayo Moran.

The nature of our role in what is an independent adjudication process is such that the oversight committee cannot intervene in any way in individual claims that are before adjudicators, Moran, who is also provost and vice-chancellor at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, wrote Mar. 2.

Schulze said he was not asking the oversight committee to investigate the individual claim  just alerting them to the possibility the federal government was not being upfront in answering its questions and asking what they were going to do about it.

All I can take from this is the oversight committee is there to accept any nonsense that Canadas representatives want to tell them, Schulze said in an interview.

In an emailed statement to The Canadian Press, Moran said it would be inappropriate to comment on a case that is currently before an adjudicator, but added the committee does not supervise the conduct of parties and that independent adjudicators assess appropriate disclosure on a case-by-case basis.

NDP MP Charlie Angus, the indigenous affairs critic, wrote a letter to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould Wednesday asking her to review the actions of government lawyers.

The failures of the process are so egregious in this case that it is incumbent upon you . . . to take steps to remediate these breaches of legal, moral and professional standards, Angus wrote.

Wilson-Rayboulds office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 Follow @smithjoanna on Twitter
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/05/2016 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VICTORIA  The West Coasts top-ranking naval officer says theres no room for sexual misconduct on board his ships, and hes on a mission to offer support and comfort to victims of abuse.

Rear Admiral Gilles Couturier said Wednesday in an interview with The Canadian Press he wont tolerate sexual misconduct offences in the Canadian Forces.

The Chief of Defence Staff (Gen. Jonathan Vance) has said, not in my Canadian Armed Forces,' said Couturier. Ill say, not in my navy. Those kind of people, again, are not the kind of image, the kind of folks Im looking for. If they are predators, they dont belong in my outfit. Ill be as simple as that.

Rear Admiral Gilles Couturier, commander Maritime Forces Pacific, speaks during an interview at the Union Club in Victoria, B.C., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

The commanding officer of Maritime Forces Pacific said military investigations of alleged sexual misconduct incidents have increased since the Canadian Armed Forces formed a crisis response centre last year at the Department of National Defence.

Couturier said the increase was expected after the military opened itself to hearing allegations.

We like to think we made some progress as an organization, as an institution in the Canadian Armed Forces, said Couturier. People believe theyve got a better opportunity to make their case and well listen. Were telling them, well support you. Let us know what happened, and well help you.

Former Supreme Court of Canada justice Marie Deschamps delivered a report last year documenting what she described as a culture of sexual harassment in the military.

The Canadian Forces highest-ranking woman, Maj.-Gen. Christine Whitecross, dismissed reports last May that her work on a response to Deschamps review was being constrained by a top military directive to ignore certain recommendations.

Deschamps made 10 recommendations, including forming an independent complaints process for victims of sexual abuse.

Couturier said he was stung by Deschamps report.

I was hurt, he said. I felt I failed in some area. Im very keen to make people not afraid to come out.

He said he was particularly wounded by Deschamps finding that people in the navy fear reprisals if they come forward with their stories of sexual misconduct.

People are scared the chain of command is going to affect their career, said Couturier. My message to you and my message to everybody I talk to is thats so far from the truth. If you have an issue come to us and well help.

He said stamping out sexual misconduct in the military remains a work in progress.

We are not there yet, but we are much more open, Couturier said. Were taking action to deal with what weve observed as a miss in our way of doing business.

The naval officer said Canadian women should feel comfortable and safe embarking on careers in the navy.
GEDDES  With construction crews in the process of a $50 million improvement project at the New York State Fairgrounds, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the investment could open the door for a private operator to manage the site.

The revelation was made during Cuomo's visit to the fairgrounds Wednesday. He toured the construction zone, where work continues on an expanded midway and a 315-site RV park.

Cuomo briefly mentioned the possibility of privatization while speaking to a crowd of business leaders, construction workers and local officials near the main gate.

After the event, he said the state previously met with private firms about potentially taking over operations at the fairgrounds. These meetings occurred before the state decided to make improvements at the venue.

"We were not in a position to really attract a top-tier private sector operator," he said. "With the investment in the facility, I want to try again.

"I think we now have a facility that is very enticing, that has a lot of possibility and a lot of options and we're going to do a request to see what kind of private sector operators might be interested in working with us on a joint venture or taking over the operation."

A task force launched by Cuomo will evaluate the state's options. The 12-member panel will be led by Matthew Millea, the deputy director of state operations. Other members include state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Acting State Fair Director Troy Waffner.

The group will hold public meetings and submit a report to Cuomo by the end of the year.

Cuomo first announced the $50 million fairgrounds project last year. The work will include a new expo center, equestrian facilities and improvements at Chevy Court, the fair's free concert stage.

The expanded midway and RV park are also part of the transformation project.

"With this investment, this is a highly attractive facility," Cuomo said.

The midway, RV park and additional park space should be completed before the Syracuse Nationals Car Show in July  one month before the fair begins on Aug. 25.

"The improvements that have been made here are absolutely beautiful," Mahoney said.

Cuomo and Mahoney also unveiled a new main gate at the fairgrounds. There are two stones at the top of the middle section of the entrance. Etched in the stones are two years  1840, when the first state fair was held, and 2016 to mark when the new entryway was built.
A congressional committee held a hearing Tuesday on legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. John Katko to study whether an Oswego County historic landmark should be granted national park status.

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands heard testimony from Katko, R-Camillus, on the significance of Fort Ontario, a site in Oswego that was a military base during the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

"Preserving this historic location as a national park will not only preserve the rich history but has the potential to grow tourism and boost the regional economy of central New York," Katko said.

During the latter half of World War II, the fort became a refugee camp, mostly for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. Nearly 1,000 people were housed on the site.

The fort is now a state historic site and is home to the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.

In December, Katko unveiled a bill that would require the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, to study whether Fort Ontario should be added the national park system. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, who also represents Oswego County in Congress.

Similar legislation has been introduced by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

The measure has been a priority for Katko, who believes it will not only preserve the site's history, but also boost tourism in central New York.

At Tuesday's hearing, Katko brought a photo of refugees who stayed at Fort Ontario during the final two years of World War II. The photo is usually displayed in his Washington office.

"I want people to see that to understand the historical significance and the lives that were saved in World War II and what it represented as America being a place that people can come and start a new life," he said.
A Dublin man, who tried to take back his guilty murder plea, has been handed the mandatory life sentence for beating a man to death during a robbery.

Thomas Horan, who was in his 60s and living in sheltered accommodation, was also strangled with a belt and had a plastic bag placed over his head.
Under-pressure garda commissioner Noirin O Sullivan has denied her legal team was instructed to "impugn the integrity" of whistle-blower Maurice McCabe or to claim he was acting maliciously, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Reporter.

The head of An Garda Siochana made the claim in a lengthy statement released today just hours before a high-profile Dail debate on the controversial O'Higgins report .

As previously revealed by the Irish Examiner, documents at the OHiggins Inquiry showed that Ms OSullivans legal team claimed Mr McCabe was motivated by malice when he highlighted malpractice within the force.

The revelation has pushed the Government and senior Garda management into a major crisis that mirrors the same difficulties which occurred two years ago and led to the eventual retirement of then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

However, speaking as a Dail debate on the issue is set to begin and a day before she is due to meet privately with the new Policing Authority to address the matter, Ms O Sullivan broke her silence to deny she or her legal team have done anything wrong.

She continued that her role means she had every right to interrogate and cross-examine the evidence put forward by Sergeant McCabe, and claimed the "misinformation" about her own legal team's actions has "damaged" public confidence in the gardai "in a very unfair way".

"Constraints, which reflect important principles of law, restrict my capacity to address the issues which have been raised in relation to the approach taken by An Garda Siochana before the O Higgins Commission," the statement from the garda commissioner said.

"However, I can confirm that An Garda Siochanas legal team was not at any stage instructed to impugn the integrity of Sergeant Maurice McCabe or to make a case that he was acting maliciously.

"There are clear constraints around the question of making public comment about this matter. I cannot offend against the basic principles of the rule of law, and that regard must be had to the statutory confidentiality of commission proceedings, the relationship between lawyer and their client and questions of basic fairness.

"What is at the heart of the present controversy is that, despite legal prohibitions and the clear view expressed by Justice O Higgins about the confidentiality of the commission's proceedings, certain selective information purporting to relate to those proceedings has been put into the public domain.

"By 'selective' I mean transcripts of no more than three minutes of what happened at a commission which ran for 34 ten-hour days, generating thousands of pages of transcripts.

"This has been accompanied by an unsourced and unverified account of an alleged part of the proceedings.

"Whatever the sources of information or misinformation that has been put into the public domain, the inevitable effect is the risk to public confidence in An Garda Siochana being damaged in a very unfair way," she said.

Ms O Sullivan said her role as Garda Commissioner means she has "a duty to all [An Garda Siochana] members and former members" and as such needed to interrogate the information put forward by Sergeant McCabe.

Defending this approach, she said: "Having regard to the nature and seriousness of the allegations, and the duty to assist the commission in its task of establishing the facts and truth, I cannot see how it would be in any way unreasonable, improper or avoidable to appropriately test and cross-examine the evidence of all persons giving evidence to the commission, including Sergeant McCabe."

Statement from Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan 25 May 25, 2016

The O'Higgins Commission Report presents inescapable lessons for An Garda Siochana, based on our shortcomings in a number of critical areas including our dealings with whistleblowers. We must radically and permanently change that pattern and we will apply the insights and learnings from our recent experiences in developing a Garda Whistleblower's Charter. As will be detailed below, actions to address this have already been undertaken and others are in progress.

There are clear constraints around the question of making public comment about this matter. I cannot offend against the basic principles of the rule of law; and that regard must be had to the statutory confidentiality of Commission proceedings, the relationship between lawyers and their clients and questions of basic fairness.

With reference to my previous statement of the 16th May 2016 there have been calls for further clarification regarding the instructions given to the legal team representing An Garda Siochana and the approach adopted by it, in relation to the proceedings of the Commission.

What is at the heart of the present controversy is that, despite legal prohibitions and the clear view expressed by Mr Justice O'Higgins about the confidentiality of the Commission's proceedings, certain selective information purporting to relate to those proceedings has been put into the public domain. By "selective I mean transcripts of no more than three minutes of what happened at a Commission which ran for 34 ten hour days, generating thousands of pages of transcripts. This has been accompanied by an unsourced and unverified account of an alleged part of the proceedings.

Whatever the sources of information or misinformation that has been put into the public domain the inevitable effect is the risk to public confidence in An Garda Siochana being damaged in a very unfair way.

Mr Justice OHiggins, as the Sole Member, having had the opportunity to hear and examine 97 witnesses and weigh the submissions made by the legal representatives of all parties subject of the proceedings, decided what should and should not be included in his Report. In this context, it is worth noting that the Commission points out that it conducted its proceedings with particular regard to its duty of compliance with the requirements of constitutional and natural justice.

As Garda Commissioner having fully accepted the findings of the Report, it falls to me to move swiftly to implement its recommendations.

This I have done.

While it is important to dispel any public concern in relation to this issue, I have to be mindful of section 11 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 which provides that a commission shall conduct its investigation in private. I am advised that everyone involved in the proceedings of the OHiggins Commission is bound to respect the privacy of those proceedings. Furthermore, in relation to communications with the legal team representing An Garda Siochana, it is important in terms of receiving advice and giving instructions that privilege in such communications is protected so as not to adversely impact on the workings of An Garda Siochana and its entitlement to seek and obtain legal advice on a confidential basis in this instance and in the future.

These constraints, which reflect important principles of law, restrict my capacity to address the issues which have been raised in relation to the approach taken by An Garda Siochana before the O Higgins Commission. However, I can confirm that An Garda Siochanas legal team was not at any stage instructed to impugn the integrity of Sergeant Maurice McCabe or to make a case that he was acting maliciously. I would emphasise that the overriding objective of An Garda Siochana, and its legal team, was at all times to assist the Commission in carrying out its statutory functions and to establish all relevant facts in relation to the matters referred to it for investigation as set out in its terms of reference.

This brings me to the charge which is in the public domain that is the most difficult to deal with sensitively and which is one of the reasons I have been reluctant to enter into public comment about this matter. Whatever its source, the net charge that is now being made is that the credibility and motivation of Sergeant McCabe was challenged. I can only deal with this on the basis of what is set out in the Commission Report and I am conscious that this involves dealing with certain findings in relation to allegations of corruption and malpractice. I have no wish to rehearse this matter again but it is simply impossible not to do so in addressing it.

As Commissioner of An Garda Siochana I have a duty to all its members and former members. Having regard to the nature and seriousness of the allegations, and the duty to assist the Commission in its task of establishing the facts and truth, I cannot see how it would be in any way unreasonable, improper or avoidable to appropriately test and cross examine the evidence of all persons giving evidence to the Commission including Sergeant McCabe.

The Commission found, in relation to certain allegations; these hurtful allegations to be unfounded and in at least one case based on a belief, but unsupported by evidence, and that those against whom such complaints were made lived for many years under the strain of those allegations.

An Garda Siochana is fully accountable for its actions or indeed inaction. We operate fully within the framework of accountability and oversight which the Oireachtas sets. I will be appearing before the Policing Authority tomorrow where I will deal with these matters to the fullest extent possible.

In addition to the above, I have taken the following steps to address other matters arising:

 There has been a suggestion in recent reportage that two senior officers had sought to misrepresent before the Commission the contents of a meeting they held with a Sergeant in Mullingar in 2008. In those circumstances, and in order to resolve any public disquiet, misplaced or otherwise which may arise, and in the interest of fairness to all involved, I have requested the Minister for Justice, pursuant to her powers within the Garda Siochana Act, to refer that aspect to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission for the purpose of investigating it in the public interest.

 On receipt of the Report, I directed Deputy Commissioner John Twomey to fully examine the content, findings and recommendations of the Report and to address any issues arising from that examination, including lessons learned that may further inform An Garda Siochanas Modernisation and Renewal Programme. The programme which addresses, among other things, the fundamental issues arising in the OHiggins report in relation to renewal of our culture, training, supervision, victims support and investigative practices, will be formally published in early course.

 In relation to whistleblowers, I have been consistent at all times: dissent is not disloyalty and as a service we are determined to learn from our experiences. An Garda Siochana agrees that whistleblowers are part of the solution to the problems facing the service. In this regard, yesterday we met with representatives from Transparency Ireland who have agreed to work with us to create an environment to ensure protected disclosures and people making them are welcomed and protected in An Garda Siochana.

 A Protected Disclosures Manager has now been appointed and we have begun establishing a dedicated team who will be appropriately trained to oversee all matters related to whistleblowers.

In conclusion and as stated at the outset, An Garda Siochana fully accept the findings of the OHiggins Commission and we are committed to learning all lessons and fully implementing the recommendations.
The position of Garda Commissioner Noirin O Sullivan is untenable, despite todays detailed statement

Earlier today, the head of An Garda Siochana denied that her legal team was instructed to "impugn the integrity" of whistle-blower Maurice McCabe or to claim he was acting maliciously.

A Dail debate on the controversial O'Higgins report is due to take place later today.

Commenting on the Garda Commissioners latest statement, Sinn Fein spokesperson on Justice, Deputy Jonathan OBrien, said: We acknowledge that the Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan has published a statement today; however, we believe that it fails to provide the clarification necessary in relation to her direction to her legal counsel during the OHiggins Commission.

It is abundantly clear that, due to the wording of the legislation in question, the Garda Commissioner is not precluded from providing this clarification.

Instead, the Garda Commissioner has chosen to point to the fact that she believes it would be unfair to address the partial transcripts in the public domain, yet goes on to state that her legal team was not instructed to impugn the integrity of Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

He added: We welcome the Gardai meeting with Transparency Ireland with regard to how whistleblowers are treated, and the appointment of a new Protected Disclosure Manager.

However, the fundamental question remains as to whether Garda Commissioner OSullivan is the most appropriate person to oversee changes and improvements in how whistleblowers are dealt with given her alleged conduct during the OHiggins Commission of Inquiry.

Her position is untenable.

Statement from Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan 25 May 25, 2016

The O'Higgins Commission Report presents inescapable lessons for An Garda Siochana, based on our shortcomings in a number of critical areas including our dealings with whistleblowers. We must radically and permanently change that pattern and we will apply the insights and learnings from our recent experiences in developing a Garda Whistleblower's Charter. As will be detailed below, actions to address this have already been undertaken and others are in progress.

There are clear constraints around the question of making public comment about this matter. I cannot offend against the basic principles of the rule of law; and that regard must be had to the statutory confidentiality of Commission proceedings, the relationship between lawyers and their clients and questions of basic fairness.

With reference to my previous statement of the 16th May 2016 there have been calls for further clarification regarding the instructions given to the legal team representing An Garda Siochana and the approach adopted by it, in relation to the proceedings of the Commission.

What is at the heart of the present controversy is that, despite legal prohibitions and the clear view expressed by Mr Justice O'Higgins about the confidentiality of the Commission's proceedings, certain selective information purporting to relate to those proceedings has been put into the public domain. By "selective I mean transcripts of no more than three minutes of what happened at a Commission which ran for 34 ten hour days, generating thousands of pages of transcripts. This has been accompanied by an unsourced and unverified account of an alleged part of the proceedings.

Whatever the sources of information or misinformation that has been put into the public domain the inevitable effect is the risk to public confidence in An Garda Siochana being damaged in a very unfair way.

Mr Justice OHiggins, as the Sole Member, having had the opportunity to hear and examine 97 witnesses and weigh the submissions made by the legal representatives of all parties subject of the proceedings, decided what should and should not be included in his Report. In this context, it is worth noting that the Commission points out that it conducted its proceedings with particular regard to its duty of compliance with the requirements of constitutional and natural justice.

As Garda Commissioner having fully accepted the findings of the Report, it falls to me to move swiftly to implement its recommendations.

This I have done.

While it is important to dispel any public concern in relation to this issue, I have to be mindful of section 11 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 which provides that a commission shall conduct its investigation in private. I am advised that everyone involved in the proceedings of the OHiggins Commission is bound to respect the privacy of those proceedings. Furthermore, in relation to communications with the legal team representing An Garda Siochana, it is important in terms of receiving advice and giving instructions that privilege in such communications is protected so as not to adversely impact on the workings of An Garda Siochana and its entitlement to seek and obtain legal advice on a confidential basis in this instance and in the future.

These constraints, which reflect important principles of law, restrict my capacity to address the issues which have been raised in relation to the approach taken by An Garda Siochana before the O Higgins Commission. However, I can confirm that An Garda Siochanas legal team was not at any stage instructed to impugn the integrity of Sergeant Maurice McCabe or to make a case that he was acting maliciously. I would emphasise that the overriding objective of An Garda Siochana, and its legal team, was at all times to assist the Commission in carrying out its statutory functions and to establish all relevant facts in relation to the matters referred to it for investigation as set out in its terms of reference.

This brings me to the charge which is in the public domain that is the most difficult to deal with sensitively and which is one of the reasons I have been reluctant to enter into public comment about this matter. Whatever its source, the net charge that is now being made is that the credibility and motivation of Sergeant McCabe was challenged. I can only deal with this on the basis of what is set out in the Commission Report and I am conscious that this involves dealing with certain findings in relation to allegations of corruption and malpractice. I have no wish to rehearse this matter again but it is simply impossible not to do so in addressing it.

As Commissioner of An Garda Siochana I have a duty to all its members and former members. Having regard to the nature and seriousness of the allegations, and the duty to assist the Commission in its task of establishing the facts and truth, I cannot see how it would be in any way unreasonable, improper or avoidable to appropriately test and cross examine the evidence of all persons giving evidence to the Commission including Sergeant McCabe.

The Commission found, in relation to certain allegations; these hurtful allegations to be unfounded and in at least one case based on a belief, but unsupported by evidence, and that those against whom such complaints were made lived for many years under the strain of those allegations.

An Garda Siochana is fully accountable for its actions or indeed inaction. We operate fully within the framework of accountability and oversight which the Oireachtas sets. I will be appearing before the Policing Authority tomorrow where I will deal with these matters to the fullest extent possible.

In addition to the above, I have taken the following steps to address other matters arising:

 There has been a suggestion in recent reportage that two senior officers had sought to misrepresent before the Commission the contents of a meeting they held with a Sergeant in Mullingar in 2008. In those circumstances, and in order to resolve any public disquiet, misplaced or otherwise which may arise, and in the interest of fairness to all involved, I have requested the Minister for Justice, pursuant to her powers within the Garda Siochana Act, to refer that aspect to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission for the purpose of investigating it in the public interest.

 On receipt of the Report, I directed Deputy Commissioner John Twomey to fully examine the content, findings and recommendations of the Report and to address any issues arising from that examination, including lessons learned that may further inform An Garda Siochanas Modernisation and Renewal Programme. The programme which addresses, among other things, the fundamental issues arising in the OHiggins report in relation to renewal of our culture, training, supervision, victims support and investigative practices, will be formally published in early course.

 In relation to whistleblowers, I have been consistent at all times: dissent is not disloyalty and as a service we are determined to learn from our experiences. An Garda Siochana agrees that whistleblowers are part of the solution to the problems facing the service. In this regard, yesterday we met with representatives from Transparency Ireland who have agreed to work with us to create an environment to ensure protected disclosures and people making them are welcomed and protected in An Garda Siochana.

 A Protected Disclosures Manager has now been appointed and we have begun establishing a dedicated team who will be appropriately trained to oversee all matters related to whistleblowers.

In conclusion and as stated at the outset, An Garda Siochana fully accept the findings of the OHiggins Commission and we are committed to learning all lessons and fully implementing the recommendations.
The Government could face the first major test of its strength in the new Dail tonight in a motion on water charges.

It is calling on opposition parties to back down from calls to immediately scrap Irish Water and support an independent commission instead.
Prince Charles has begun a whistle-stop trip to Ireland in the latest royal bid to solidify transformed relations with the Republic.

The day of engagements in Co Donegal comes a year after Charles's emotional trip to Co Sligo and the harbour village where his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, was murdered by the IRA in 1979.

The symbolic steps taken by the heir to the throne come after the Queen's historic visit to the Republic in 2011, when she became the first monarch to set foot in the country for a century.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Donegal town at around 11am amid tight security.

They were welcomed to Donegal Castle by Irish dancers and musicians and toured some of its restored rooms and the banqueting hall before walking through the town.

Several hundred people including local schoolchildren surrounded the Diamond in the town centre for the visit. A security cordon was placed around the town for the visit with all those hoping to greet the royal couple being screened.

They stopped at the Obelisk commemorating the Four Masters who wrote the first history of ancient Ireland in the 1600s.

The pair also spent time meeting locals, and called into a renowned local butchers, McGettigan's, where they met owners Ernan and Diarmuid, who offered them samples of their award-winning sausages.
The victim of a plane crash in Hawaii earlier this week has been identified as an Irishman from the Midlands.

The man is believed to have been the pilot of a plane offering sky-diving trips.
Democrats are lining up to challenge state Sen. Jim Seward as he vies for a 16th term in Albany.

Jermaine Bagnall-Graham, an Army veteran from Chenango County, and Audrey Dunning, an attorney in Herkimer County, are seeking the Democratic nomination in the 51st Senate District race.

Dunning, of Ilion, announced her candidacy two weeks ago. She has considered running for public office before, but decided with the presidential election on the ballot this year that it would be the best opportunity to unseat Seward, R-Milford, a longtime incumbent.

"I think there are many people out there who are as fed up with the status quo as I am," she said in a phone interview.

A few of the issues on Dunning's platform include education, addressing concerns with the state's health insurance exchange and providing more transparency in the state budget process.

Bagnall-Graham, of Sherburne, served in the U.S. Army and now works as a clinical systems analyst at Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown.

He said his campaign's goal is to combat corruption in the state Legislature.

"Today begins a journey towards restoring integrity to the 51st state Senate District," Bagnall-Graham said. "For too long, our Albany insider state senator has failed to represent our values in Albany. I pledge to be an open and accessible senator to constituents, not special interests."

So far, Bagnall-Graham has picked up endorsements from the Cayuga and Chenango county Democratic committees.

Ian Phillips, chairman of the Cayuga County Democratic Committee, said Albany needs a new direction.

"The Cayuga County Democrats are proud to see Jermaine, a veteran and dedicated father, take on the challenge of cleaning up our troubled state capital," he said.

Bagnall-Graham and Dunning first must circulate petitions to secure their spot on the primary ballot. If both submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, the primary will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13.

The winner of that primary will face Seward, R-Milford, who has served in the state Senate since 1987.

Seward had surgery to treat bladder cancer in April, but announced his intention to run for re-election.

Jeff Bishop, a spokesman for Seward, said the senator is still recovering from the surgery, but is planning to return to the Senate during the final month of the legislative session.

"Senator Seward will be making a formal re-election announcement shortly, and is eager to resume his normal, active schedule which includes traversing the 51st Senate District to meet with those who live and work here and discussing his plans to continue working for lower taxes, economic growth and upstate parity," Bishop said.

The 51st Senate District covers a wide swath of upstate New York. The district includes all or parts of nine counties, including six towns in southern Cayuga County.

Seward is a heavy favorite to win re-election. The district has 63,806 active registered Republicans and 50,816 Democrats.

As of mid-May, Seward's campaign had $412,238.26 in the bank.
After failing to turn up for a court action to have him jailed, former politician Ivor Callely has handed himself in, more than week after judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Callely (aged 58) of St Lawrence's Road, Clontarf, was jailed for five months in 2014 for using false invoices to claim expenses 4,207.45 at Leinster House, Kildare Street between November 2007 and December 2009 while he was a member of the Seanad.

In an unrelated case, a bench warrant for his arrest was issued on May 17 by Dublin District Court.

The proceedings result from his failure to comply with terms of a 2013 district court judgement compelling him to pay a 1,755 debt, provide details of his means or else face jail.

Last week the court also heard he failed to provide the documentation.

He owes the money to Galway-based accountants Gallagher & Company who have asked the court to issue a committal order.

He appeared in custody this evening before Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court.

Dressed in a dark blazer and grey trousers he remained silent during the proceedings.

Garda Patrick Watson told the court that at 4pm today he arrested Ivor Callely by appointment at the court on foot of the bench warrant. When cautioned he made no reply.

Gda Watson furnished him with a copy of the warrant and he told the court there was no objection to bail.

Defence solicitor Padraig Donovan handed in a medical certificate explaining that was the reason why his client did not appear in court last week.

He confirmed the civil proceedings related to a debt and he added that it was hoped that it would be resolved in two or three weeks.

Judge Brennan granted bail in Callely's own bond of 100 and ordered to him to appear again on June 8 next when the civil proceedings will resume.

After an hour in custody, he emerged from the court house.

Last month, Callely, who claims he has needs a 2,500 a month for a reasonable living, had said he had done his best to contact the creditor about the debt but Judge Michael Coghlan had told him he was in contempt of court orders and was facing jail.

During that hearing, on April 19, Judge Coghlan had held off on proceeding with a committal order.

However, threatening to jail him, the judge had said he was not impressed with his evidence and wanted to see proof of Callely's income and expenditure.

He had also given the former TD and Senator a formal warning that he would issue the committal order if he did not provide the court and the creditor with adequate information in advance of May 17.

The court heard that 1,755 was owed by him to the accountancy firm.

There was also a successful additional application to increase the amount outstanding by another 150, a result of expenses from hiring a private investigator to establish the whereabouts of Callely who also spends time in Northern Ireland and also has an address at Howth Road, Killester, Dublin 3.

The court had also been told he had not notified lawyers for the accountancy firm of a change of address.

The court heard he did not keep touch with Gallagher & Company after the original judgement was given in the district court in June 2013.

The ruling included an instalment order stating Callely had to pay 100 a month to clear his debt.

The former politician has given evidence and provided a statement of his means which he said had been vouched by an assets management agency.

However lawyers for Gallagher & Company said they had not been furnished with Callely's income and expenditure documents.

In evidence he had said that he has an income of 7,683 a month.

He pays 4,800 a month on a lease for a commercial property in Dublin which he lets out but he explained it was difficult to find tenants able to afford the rent.

Judge Coghlan has said Callely's vouched statement of means did not stand up to scrutiny and that the court needed to see the lease agreement.

Explaining why he has not paid the debt Callely had said that his lawyers were also looking for a payment of legal fees arising out of his criminal charges and other proceedings which he was not in a position to pay.

The court heard he owes approximately 250,000 to the legal firm; he also said he owes 5m to AIB and 11m to another creditor.

It was put to him that in the three years since the district court judgement was made he never picked up the phone to contact Gallagher & Company and they were forced to make the court application.

I try to be reasonable with everyone, Mr Callely had said.

He had claimed he left numerous telephone messages but the court heard that the solicitors for the accountancy firm only received one message.

Judge Coghlan noted from his statement of means that Callely has 2,500 in living expenses.

The former politician had said it was 800 a week, which he claimed was an amount set out by an insolvency advisor for reasonable living.

Judge Coghlan had said that he was not satisfied with the documentation furnished by the ex-politician and told him that he was not interested in third party information which he described as estimates. He said he was interested in forensic evidence.

He has told him that an instalment order is in place and he has failed to make any repayments and this was nothing short of a contempt of at least two court orders, the judgement and the instalment order.

As he adjourned the case on April 19, he had said he was giving him a month to produce full explanations for every penny of his income.

The judge warned he was giving him a formal warning that he will require a full root and branch vouched statement of means setting out his income and a schedule of his expenditure.
Update 11.30am: Taoiseach Enda Kenny is to meet the Garda Commissioner this evening and has said the government will not be intimidated by criminal gangs, writes Elaine Loughlin, Political Reporter.

Mr Kenny has told the Dail that the current escalation of gangland murder and crime is different to previous instances in Limerick and Dublin as there is now an international aspect where murders are ordered from abroad.

He said more cooperation will be needed between international police forces t4o tackle what he described as a murderous feud.

Its very distressing when I read of the lock-down of schools and the fear of parents that something is going to happen their children.

Government are not going to be intimidated by this sort of murderous feud.

He said a taskforce dealing with the local issue will be set up and there will be a national strategy to deal with drugs is to be developed.

However, Mr Kenny said that it would take time, more garda resources and funding to jail those responsible for the recent spate of murders.

It took years to deal with the McCarthy-Dundons, it took years to deal with Gilligan, it took years to deal with The General, Mr Kenny said.

The State and the Government are not going to lie down in the face of this intimidation.

The Taoiseach is due to meet the Garda Commission Noirin OSullivan at 7pm for an update on how gardai are policing the area in Dublins north inner city.

Micheal Martin highlighted that this weeks killing had been the seventh murder in 100 days which shows the degree of power that these gangs are wielding on our streets despite extra garda resources being put in place in the area.

He said children as young as 13 and 14 are being recruited by gangs and can earn a fortune by selling prescription drugs on the streets.

Mr Kenny said legislation would be prepared around the illegal sale of prescription drugs.

Referring to the criminals as parasites who thrive on the deprivation and desperation of communities Labour leader Brendan Howlin said crimes like this feuds like this dont exist in a vacuum.

Asking for specific details on how the Government intends to respond he said: Words are not enough today.

This is not about any member of this House, its not about scoring points. Its about a community under siege, Mr Howlin told the Dail.

Earlier: The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he has asked for a briefing with the Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan in the wake of the latest gangland shooting.

However, Kenny has said an international joint-policing operation is needed to properly tackle the latest wave of killings.

In the Dail this morning the Taoiseach has said the latest killings were directed from overseas and Gardai can not end the feud alone.

Kenny did say he would meet O'Sullivan this evening to discuss the resources available to Gardai to play their part.

Ive asked the Minster of Justice and the Garda Commissioner with the Assistant Commissioner to come (meet me) this evening for a full security briefing at 7pm to deal with this issue and Ill inform the House of the ongoing activity here, said Kenny responding to a question from Fianna Fail Micheal Martin.

Believe me Deputy Martin, the State and Government are not going to lie down in the face of this intimidation.

READ MORE:

Read More:
A man, arrested in connection with the death of another man in Rathmines in Dublin, has been released without charge.

The man in his 60s was taken into custody at Rathmines Garda Station yesterday evening.
Two people have been arrested following a reported security breach at Shannon Airport this morning, writes Pat Flynn.

The incursion involved two peace activists who attempted to reach a US military aircraft with the intention of searching it at about 6am this morning.

At the time, the aircraft was being protected by members of An Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces.

It is understood the pair were spotted by Gardai and intercepted before they reached the aircraft.

They are believed to have tried to inspect a Lear jet they believed was being used by the US Air Force, which was parked at the airport overnight.

They were arrested and removed from the area before being taken to Shannon Garda station for questioning.

A red cross was also drawn on a taxi area as part of the protest.

The Galway Alliance Against War, which also campaigns against US military stop-offs in Shannon, claimed a plane was taking off during the incursion.

"This incident not only highlights Ireland's complicity in the slaughter in the Middle East and Central Asia, but how easily security at Shannon warport can be breached. It is time to end this scandal at Shannon," a spokesman said.

It follows similar previous incidents where activists have entered Shannon to supposedly inspect the US military which they believe use the airport in breach of Irish and international law.

In July 2014, TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly were arrested after scaling a fence at Shannon.

They were both fined in court, but later jailed for refusing to pay the penalty.

The pair were released from prison within hours of their arrests.

* Additional reporting by PA.
A convicted child rapist who fled the UK has been detained in Brazil after three years on the run.

Antonio Pedro De Olivera Alves was sentenced to 11 years in prison after raping a 12-year-old girl in January 2012.
Belgian prosecutors have detained four suspected Islamic State (IS) group recruiters who they say may have planned new attacks in the country.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Wednesday that all four were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
CLARION UNIVERSITY

Dean's list

 Nicole Jackson, Scipio Center

NAZARETH COLLEGE

Graduates

 Noah Clark, of Auburn, Master of Science degree in occupational therapy.

 Heather Gage, of Auburn, Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Julie Shaw, of Auburn, Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Amy Sovocool, of Auburn, Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Cheri Westmiller, of Auburn, earned a Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Lisa Westmiller, of Auburn, Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Melissa Woodman, of Auburn, Master of Social Work degree in social work.

 Tyler Albrecht, of Auburn, bachelor's degree in health sciences and psychology.

 Katherine Dec, of Auburn, magna cum laude, bachelor's degree in psychology and inclusive education.

 Sean Doyle, of Auburn, cum laude, bachelor's degree in Business administration.

 Nicholas Sherman, of Auburn, cum laude, bachelor's degree in music therapy.

PAUL SMITH'S COLLEGE

Dean's list

 Timothy Murphy, of Auburn, who also earned a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in culinary arts and service management.

 Joshua Tallman, of Auburn

EMPIRE FARM DAYS

Katie Bower, of Union Springs, and Allyson Bunnell, of Aurora, are among the 29 Junior Dairy Leaders, representing New York, Connecticut and Vermont, who will graduate at the 2016 Empire Farm Days event in Seneca Falls. The graduation ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, in the Dairy Profit Seminar Center at Empire Farm Days at Rodman Lott & Son Farms, 2973 Route 414, Seneca Falls. It provides the Junior Dairy Leaders with the opportunity to highlight their year-long experiences, demonstrating the dynamic aspects of dairy education and career options.

SUNY POTSDAM

Graduates

 Stacie Hawley, of Auburn, Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology

 Erin Johanns, of Auburn, magna cum laude, Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies

 Margaret Mc Cabe, of Auburn, cum laude, Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and sociology

 Mark Sobierajski, of Cato, magna cum laude, Bachelor of Science degree in computer science

Sigma Tau Delta

Katherine Daloia has been accepted into the college's Tau Rho chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. The induction ceremony was held April 17 on the campus's Thatcher Hall. Daloia is a junior majoring in English and communication, and a 2013 graduate of Auburn High School. She is the daughter of Connie and Debra Daloia, of Auburn.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Dean's list

 Carrie Hinchman, of Skaneateles, a behavioral neuroscience major

WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY

Dean's list

 Kaela Fiutak, of Skaneateles

ALFRED STATE COLLEGE

Dean's list

 Daniel R. Burns, son of Shelly and Patrick Burns, of Donovan Road, Auburn, and a 2015 graduate of Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School in Port Byron. His major is electrical construction and maintenance electrician, electrical trades.

UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO

Mitchell Hares, son of Marion and Scott Hares, of Cayuga, graduated summa cum laude, majoring in civil engineering. He served as vice president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and his team won first place in the regional steel bridge competition. The ASCE team will now compete in Provo, Utah in the National Steel Bridge competition at the end of May. Mitchell has accepted a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Buffalo region.

CAYUGA COUNTY 4-H

The New York state Horse Bowl Contest took place April 9 at Cornell University, with the Horse Judging Contest following April 16 at Morrisville College. Representing Cayuga County were Payton Youngers, Emily Bates, Kenai Cameron and Nyree Jennings. Payton placed ninth in the Junior Horse Bowl and second in Junior Horse Judging, and Emily placed 20th in the Senior Horse Bowl.

AUBURN/CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Seven scholarships were awarded to new, continuing, nontraditional age and transferring Cayuga students for the 2016-2017 academic year:

 Incoming freshmen: Ivy Richards of Auburn High School and Abigail Leonti from Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High in Port Byron

 Continuing student: Caleb E. Bolha, of Auburn

 Nontraditional-age student: Christine DePropero, 98, of Auburn

 Transferring graduates: Rebecca McDonald, 16, of Seneca Falls, transferring to Hobart and William Smith Colleges; Martha Caster, 16 of Fulton, transferring to SUNY ESF; and Kevin Gauthier, 16 of Auburn, who has been accepted into Upstate Medical University.
A suicide bomber has targeted a vehicle carrying court employees in Kabul, killing 10 people.

The attack was confirmed as the Afghan Taliban named a new leader, after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike last week.

Najib Danish, the interior ministry's deputy spokesman, said the bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives vest as he walked by the vehicle in the Afghan capital.

He said the explosion, which took place during the morning rush hour in the western part of the city, also wounded four people. The casualties include both court workers and civilians.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility. The last major attack in Kabul was on April 19, when a massive bomb killed 64 people and wounded hundreds.

The insurgent group said its new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of Mansour's two deputies. It said he was chosen at a meeting of Taliban leaders, which was believed to have been held in Pakistan.

Mansour was killed in Pakistan on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a US drone. It is believed to be the first time a Taliban leader was killed in such a way inside Pakistani territory.

Pakistani authorities are believed to have given shelter and support to some Taliban leaders over the Afghan border. The insurgents have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government since 2001, when their own Islamist regime was overthrown by the US invasion.

The US and Afghan governments said Mansour had been an obstacle to a peace process that had ground to a halt when he refused to participate in talks earlier this year. Instead, he intensified the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year.

Mansour had led the Taliban since last summer, when the death of the movement's founder, the one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar became public.

Mansour ran the movement in Omar's name for more than two years. The revelation of Omar's death and Mansour's deception led to widespread mistrust, with some senior leaders leaving the group to set up their own factions.

Senior Taliban figures have said his death could strengthen the movement, as he was a divisive figure. The identity of his successor was expected to be an indication of the direction the insurgency would take, either toward peace or continued war.

Akhundzada is a religious scholar known for issuing public statements justifying the existence of the extremist Taliban, and the war against the Afghan government.

His views are regarded as hawkish, and he could be expected to continue in the aggressive footsteps of Mansour.

The Taliban said two new deputies had also been appointed - both of whom had earlier been thought to be the main contenders for the top job. They are Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was also one of Mansour's deputies, and the son of Omar, Mullah Yaqoub.

The Taliban statement called on all Muslims to mourn Mansour for three days. It also attempted to calm any qualms among the rank and file by calling for unity and obedience to the new leader.
A newspaper published by China's official news agency has said the new president of rival Taiwan is more "extreme" in her politics because she is unmarried and lacks the emotional balance provided by romantic and family life.

The comments were part of an editorial that denounced President Tsai Ing-wen as a strident advocate of self-governing Taiwan's formal independence from China, something Beijing says it will use military force to prevent.
KARACHI: Gold prices on Saturday continued to fall on the local market, traders said. The prices slid by Rs 1000 to...
Cayuga County will hire a law firm to assist the county health department with shutting down a Locke mobile home park.

Walnut Grove Mobile Home Park on Tucker Hill Road has not had a working sanitation system for its water supply since 2013, among other violations occurring as far back as 2012, said Eileen O'Connor, the county's director of environmental health. The current fine for the violations has amounted to $28,000.

O'Connor said should the mobile home park be shut down, the Health Department will reach out to residents with a contact from the county's Social Services Department to provide them with assistance in relocating.

Thelma Slater-Chapman and Andrew Chapman, owners of the park under the name Four Winds LLC, had hoped to sell it, which is why legislators had voted to table hiring an outside law firm back in October.

"It has not been sold, and we don't see any indication that that's moving forward, so the county is taking action to obtain the fine and take steps to close the mobile home park down due to the fact that they have numerous violations, specifically regarding their water system," O'Connor said.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Slater-Chapman said she had a potential buyer, but the individual wanted many of the park's issues to be fixed before a sale, something she said she does not have the money for.

She said currently Walnut Grove has about eight tenants, and about three or four of them pay their rent.

Slater-Chapman and her husband, both in their 80s, are overwhelmed by the Health Department's compliance requests, she said. They had hired an individual several years ago to perform water system maintenance, but Slater-Chapman said that person failed to do his job. The couple makes occasional trips to Florida, too, and it seems to Slater-Chapman that many of the park's maintenance issues happen when they are away.

"My husband and I know what we've been through in the past few years," Slater-Chapman said. "I got blamed for things that I didn't do. I haven't hired anyone else because the Health Department won't get their noses out of it."

O'Connor said the water operator Slater-Chapman referred to had not been in the mobile home park's employment for at least two years. She also said the Health Department is in touch with residents, and still provides boil-water notices to them since their office cannot verify that the water is safe.

In addition to not receiving the required water samples or maintenance reports, O'Connor said the park does not have an operating permit.

"These are long-standing violations," O'Connor said. "We've tried to get compliance, and we've been very unsuccessful with the owner of this mobile home park. At this point we're turning it over to the attorney's office to take the next step."

The county Legislature voted Tuesday afternoon to hire Harris Beach law firm to assist with the matter.

Slater-Chapman's attorney, Carl DePalma, said he would not comment on pending litigation.
MANILA: The use of LNG imports for power generation in the Philippines next year should not be a disincentive for...
Don't Miss the Latest News

Subscribing is the best way to get our best stories immediately.
A Summerhill family lost their mobile home in a fire Wednesday after multiple fire departments and emergency service response teams battled the blaze for about two hours.

Cayuga County 911 dispatch received the initial call to 5788 Skinner Hill Road in Summerhill around 11:28 a.m.

Brian Dahl, the director of the county's Emergency Management Office, said the home was a total loss, but no one was hurt.

"Nobody was home," he said. "They were at a doctor's appointment, so there were no injuries. No fatalities. No firefighters were hurt."

Departments from Homer, Locke, Sempronius, West Niles, New Hope, Fleming, Owasco, Dryden, Aurelius, the county Emergency Management office, New York State Police, the Cayuga County Sheriff's office and Four Town Ambulance responded to the scene.

Dahl said the fire was under control by about 1:30 p.m. The home's location far from the road with one-lane access and no water source made the fire a challenge, but crews brought several tanker trucks with water to extinguish the flames, Dahl said. The fire was under control by about 1:30 p.m.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Dahl said no foul play was suspected.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family of two adults and one child.
Panadol is short in the market and this has been catching eyes of media, politicians, all and sundry. Everyone has ...
LONDON: Britains former finance minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday he was standing to replace Liz Truss as...
Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Thursday, ahead of U.S. inflation data which is likely to shape the...
The Shine Dome was appropriately bathed in the amber-golden sunlight of this never-ending Indian Summer as, on Wednesday, we bustled up to the Dome to hear the presentation The bright future of solar energy.

The brainy jamboree of Science at the Shine Dome 2016: Human Plus continues inside the Dome. On Wednesday there was a radiant presentation on solar energy given by Associate Professor Kylie Catchpole of the ANU.

Solar energy

Back to the Dome in just a trice but first to explain today's column's sweet little masterpiece of street art.

Surely we have all wondered what Sideshow Bob of The Simpsons would look like if, imitating Dame Edna Everage, he dyed his amazing thatch of red hair a lovely shade of wisteria. We need imagine it no more, for here he is, just added to a wall in Saint-Etienne in France by witty street artist OakOak.
Con man Harold Hill was nowhere to be found - perhaps he'd skipped town. But some of the other residents of River City, Iowa, came down to the Canberra Railway Museum on Wednesday to launch the forthcoming Queanbeyan Players production of The Music Man. It will be the directorial debut of longtime Canberra actor Joseph McGrail-Bateup.

Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical - for which he wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book with Franklin Lacey - tells the story of Hill (played by Gordon Nicholson), an early 20th-century scamster who travels to towns, identifies a potential source of juvenile delinquency, and claims it can be solved by forming a boys' band that he will teach using his "think" system. But he has no musical ability at all: after selling instruments, books and uniforms he simply leaves town and moves on to the next location.

The Music Man Callum Doherty (12) who plays Winthrop Paroo Credit:Rohan Thomson

The show includes the songs Seventy-Six Trombones and Till There Was You - the latter became a hit for The Beatles.

McGrail-Bateup said, "Meredith Willson made more money out of The Beatles' recording of that song than he did out of the musical itself."
A man who attempted to use a machete to force his way into the property where his ex-girlfriend was staying and who slashed the tyres and smashed the windscreen of a car, has been sentenced to jail.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell sentenced Peter Blundell, 35, to a total of 10 months imprisonment. With time already served and part of the sentence suspended he will leave jail at the end of May.

Blundell appeared at the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday with an oversized grey bomber jacket shrouding his tall frame, and winked at two supporters in the courtroom.

The court has heard that early on the morning of March 17, 2015, weeks after leaving court on "conditional liberty" following similar offences, Blundell went to a property where his ex-girlfriend was staying with her partner and demanded to be let in.

Blundell left the property after he was refused entry, but not before slashing tires and smashing the windscreen of a car. He returned about 7am and again demanded entry, this time holding a machete and using it to bang on the door.
UPDATED: The Aboriginal artists who designed the Western Bulldogs indigenous jumper say they have been exploited by the AFL and have refused to sign a licensing contract with the league saying it would remove their creative rights.

The Ballarat-based Pitcha Makin' Fellas remain disillusioned their work has been undervalued by the AFL, which under its general jumper agreement has refused to financially compensate the group.

Peter Widmer, the Ballarat artist who assists the six-man collective, said he planned to present the Bulldogs on Thursday with a revised contract, which he believed would be signed before the Bulldogs wore the guernseys onto the MCG on Sunday, taking on Collingwood, in the Sir Doug Nicholls indigenous round.
The DIY clause Contract: "You shall provide all necessary equipment, tools and other materials, at your own expense". Joellen Riley, the Dean of Law at Sydney University: All the expenses and risks of operating as an Uber driver fall on the driver, including the cost of phone data. As the contract itself warns, the devices use a lot of data. Nathan Keats, principal at W.G. McNally Jones Staff: You take all the risk. You have to provide the car, the insurance, pay the tax and are essentially liable if anything goes wrong. The contract can then be cancelled on 7 days' notice without Uber needing to provide a reason.

The 'fare ground' clause "[Uber] reserves the right to change the service fee at any time". JR: Uber can change the fares at any time without notice and it can also change its own percentage cut at any time without notice. NK: You get notified of a job, you get told the fare, and that is the maximum you can charge.

Andrew Stewart, John Bray Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide: There's no guaranteed payments for the work you do. You can go your own way clause "[Uber] reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions of this agreement at any time". JR: Uber can even change any of the terms in this contract, at its own discretion, at any time.

AS: The ACCC has made it clear it is prepared to challenge businesses on the issue on unfair provisions. The Uber yourself clause "[Uber] does not represent, warrant or guarantee that your access to or use of the Uber Services ... will result in any requests for transportation services". JR: It doesn't guarantee you will get any customers. It doesn't guarantee the app will always be working. In fact, it says that the app may be 'unavialble at any time and for any reason'.

The green tomatoes clause "[Uber] reserves the right, at any time ... to deactivate or otherwise restrict you from accessing of using the driver app". "If you do not increase your average rating above the minimum average rating within the time period allowed (if any), [Uber] reserves the right to deactivate your access to the driver app". JR: If your ratings from customers fall below the minimum average, you will have your access 'deactivated'  although if you are lucky you might be given a period of time to improve your rating first, but that it at Uber's discretion.

The 'Netherlands' clause "This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of The Netherlands." JR:The law of the contract is the Netherlands, and any dispute over its terms has to be arbitrated in Amsterdam. That is a long way to go to fight a dispute. NK: The relevance of that are twofold - the Independent Contractors Act does not apply and disputes are to be determined under the laws of the Netherlands.
Monsanto rejects Bayer $62 billion acquisition bid

Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 25th May 2016

Agricultural giant Monsanto has rejected US $62 billion acquisition bid from pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer AG.

Monsanto this week said its Board of Directors unanimously believed the proposal was incomplete and financially inadequate. The company however said it was still open to further negotiations.

Monsanto decision

We believe in the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society, and we have long respected Bayers business, said Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

However, the current proposal significantly undervalues our company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition, he said.

In response to Monsantos decision, Bayer AG said its offer provided full and certain value for the company but it was looking forward to new discussions with Monsanto.

We are pleased that Monsantos Board shares our belief in the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society, said Werner Baumann, Chief Executive Officer of Bayer AG.

We are confident that we can address any potential financing or regulatory matters related to the transaction. Bayer remains committed to working together to complete this mutually compelling transaction, Baumann said.

Concequences if bid were to be successful

If the acquisition proceeds, Monsanto and Bayer AG will become the worlds largest seller of farming chemicals and seeds.

Bayer AG was established in Germany over 150 years ago and specialises in chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

It sells a wide range of pharmaceutical drugs in Australia and New Zealand along with health products for animals and livestock. Bayer AG also sells numerous herbicides, insecticides and other agricultural related products.

Monsanto was established in 1901 and is based in the US. It is a seed producer but also manufacturers herbicides. It is one of the wolds largest producers of genetically modified (GM) crops.

In Australia, Mansanto is well-known as the producer of Round Up and for its role in backing and funding a farmer who grew GMO crops. It successfully defended a legal action brought by an organic farming neighbour. The case was reported on several occasions by Australian Food News.
Governments around Australia are again playing politics with the lives and liberty of Indigenous people. As a nation, we should have no tolerance for such inequity and injustice.

This week the Northern Territory is set to introduce punitive bail laws that will see more young people locked up.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrives to deliver his Closing the Gap speech in February 2016. Credit:Andrew Meares

Fair to say the Northern Territory's youth justice system is in crisis: the youth detention facility is a decommissioned adult prison and Indigenous young people constitute over 95 percent of the youth detention population. The answer to complex social issues should not be a resort to short-sighted 'lock 'em up' politics.

We all want a safer community; we all want to reduce crime. The question is what's the best way of achieving this?
A swarm of an estimated 20,000 bees has targeted a woman's car for 24 hours, possibly in pursuit of a queen bee trapped inside.

Carol Howarth, 65, returned to her silver Mitsubishi in a Welsh car park on May 22 to find the back of it covered with bees, the London Telegraph reported.

Park ranger Tom Moses, 41, saw the swarm as he drove through the town of Haverfordwest and stopped to help.

"It was spectacular," Mr Moses said.
1. Barnaby's Indonesia comment sparks anger

The Deputy Prime Minister was on the front-foot yesterday making light of Johnny Depp's arrogance and failure to understand the importance of Australia's biosecurity laws, that was, until he went on the ABC's regional live-tv debate.

Joyce's joining-of-the-dots that the flow of asylum seeker boats increased after Julia Gillard's former Labor government stopped sending live cattle exports has angered Jakarta. (If you think that reads badly watch the video to see how it went down in person.)

Overnight The Sydney Morning Herald's stellar Indonesia correspondent Jewel Topsfield has been in touch with Marty Natelegawa, who was foreign minister at the time. Fair to say he is more than shocked that the Australian government would suggest the Indonesians would put asylum seekers lives in danger by sending them across the seas out of some kind of petty payback.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dodged questions about the size of the budget "black hole" his party claims to have found in Labor's costings, arguing the onus is on the opposition to explain the disparity.

Mr Turnbull went on the offensive a day after Treasurer Scott Morrison was left red-faced and conceded major errors after he initially said Labor had a $67 billion black hole in its budget costings and then walked it back to "at least $32 billion and as much as $67 billion".

His pursuit of Labor over its costing came despite the fact closer analysis of the Coalition's figures indicates the Labor black hole may be as low as $22 billion, including about $18 billion in so-called zombie measures stuck in the Senate.
The Colorado murder suspect who evaded a Flagstaff police chase on May 15 is in custody.

Kenneth Ray Bastidos was arrested without incident earlier today in the 2600 block of East Huntington Drive in Flagstaff, according to information from the Flagstaff Police Department.

In addition to Flagstaff police, other agencies involved in the investigation and arrest were the FBI Northern Arizona Safe Streets Task Force and the Metro Narcotics Unit.

Bastidos has an arrest warrant for first-degree murder out of Adams County, Colo., and he has been booked into Coconino County Jail.

For more on the story, see Wednesdays Arizona Daily Sun.
Eight years of NAPLAN results have shown that a lower level of parental education corresponds with a lower average score in numeracy.

Meanwhile, students in the bottom socio-economic quartile are, on average, almost three years behind those in the top quartile and are more likely to drop out before finishing year 12.

Students who struggle to concentrate in the classroom fall behind very quickly. Credit:Fairfax Media

A student from a socio-economically disadvantaged background is five times more likely to perform badly in numeracy compared with peers from wealthier backgrounds.

Professor John Pegg.

The problem is caused by a complex mix of factors, says Michael Strahan, principal at Curran Public School in Sydney's south-west, and while schools can't change a student's background or home life, given the right support they can work to minimise its impact their education.

"It's really a targeted teaching approach," he says. "That comes back to evidence based learning  you track it, you make sure that the kids are improving and then you evaluate whether you need to adapt your teaching or get more support."

That's the logic behind Evidence for Learning, a social enterprise funded by the Commonwealth Bank which launched Tuesday in Melbourne and is backed by Mr Strahan and other principals. It includes a grants program designed to identify and roll out proven programs that target disadvantaged kids nationally.

It comes as part of a sector-wide shift to promote evidence-based learning techniques in schools  something many say is discussed more in policy circles than used in classrooms.
A man has been charged after he allegedly used a pair of scissors to cut off a female bus passenger's hair on a journey into Sydney's CBD last month.

The 19-year-old man will face court on Wednesday charged with assaulting the woman, also aged 19.

The incident occurred on a route 339 bus from Clovelly to the city. Credit:Lisa Wiltse

She was left in tears when a chunk of her long, dark hair was snipped off as the route 339 bus travelled through Moore Park on April 13.

A witness told Fairfax Media at the time that a "creepy, freaky" couple had been sitting behind the woman on the bus, which travels from Clovelly into the city, about 9.15am when the woman suddenly became distressed.
Thirty minutes before he was shot dead by gunman Man Haron Monis, Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson sent an ominous text to his loved ones.

"He's increasing agitated ... walks around when he hears a noise outside with a hostage in front of him ... wants to release one person out of good faith - tell police," the text, sent at 1.43am on December 16, 2014, read.

The message was conveyed to police 10 minutes later, but Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins, who was in command of the siege at the time, says he was never made aware of it.
The Brisbane Metro, which formed the centrepiece of the Liberal National Party's 2016 council election campaign, will cause "financial pain" for the city, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk told an industry briefing on Wednesday.

The seven-kilometre, rubber-tyred Brisbane Metro would run between Woolloongabba and Herston, along existing busways, the Victoria Bridge and a new inner-city tunnel.

Brisbane City Council will open the tender process to deliver the Metro's business case almost immediately, with the call going out for designers, engineers, bus network planners, along with financial and legal requirements.

The briefing on the project at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon attracted about 250 industry figures, which a council spokesman said was more than similar briefings held for the Bus and Train Tunnel (205), which has since been scrapped, and Kingsford Smith Drive (45).
Peter Van de Wetering's teenage victim had only been in Australia for a fortnight when she was force-fed chocolates laced with sedatives, cable-tied and raped in a shearing shed.

But her tormentor had spent months planning the ordeal, scouting a remote location and even buying fake facial hair for a disguise.

The rape of the backpacker was likened to Australian horror film Wolf Creek (pictured above).

The result, the Brisbane District Court heard on Wednesday, was a brutal attack on a young female backpacker who was finally living out her long-held aspiration to travel Australia.

"This offending involves an entirely ruthless pursuit of a young and innocent woman for your sexual gratification," Judge Terry Martin said.
PHOENIX -- Arizona joined with Texas today to challenge a directive by the Obama administration that schools must let transgender students use restrooms that match their self-proclaimed sexual identity.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas contends Congress never gave the administration the power to enact such sweeping rules when it enacting laws prohibiting sex discrimination by schools receiving federal dollars. In fact, the attorneys cite comments by congressmen when the measure was approved in 1972 saying it was never the intent to sexually integrate same-sex facilities.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is taking the lead, is arguing that the issue goes beyond a pure question of law. He said federal agencies "have conspired to turn workplaces and educational setting across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic processes, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights.''

In a prepared statement, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the president "has no business setting locker room and restroom policies for our schools.''

"Deciding how to protect our children and preserve their privacy, while balancing these complicated issues, is best done locally and not by some one-size-fits-all decree from Washington,'' he said.

Brnovich has the backing of state schools chief Diane Douglas who had previously blasted the administration's announcement.

"When Arizona students attend school, they deserve a safe environment that is free from bullying and discrimination, regardless of their gender identity,'' she said in her own statement.

"I know that our districts and schools have policies in place to ensure that is the case,'' she continued. "The fact that the federal government has yet again decided that it knows what is best for every one of our local communities is insulting and, quite frankly intolerable.''

The issue arises under Title IX, a section of federal law which makes it illegal to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex in any education programs or activities receiving federal assistance.

In a joint memo earlier this month, the federal departments of Justice and Education said the la requires educators to deal with transgender student consistent with their gender identity. More to the point, they said it is irrelevant what sex is listed on a student's records.

"No student should ever have to go through the experience of felling unwelcome at school or on a college campus,'' education Secretary John King Jr. said in a statement when the directive was released.

But the lawsuit said the directive is seriously flawed, with no requirement for a medical diagnosis or treatment before a student selects his or her "gender identity.'' Nor, the attorneys general argue, is there any time frame.

"In other words, a student can choose one 'gender identity' on one particular day or hour, and then another on the next,'' the lawsuit states.

"And students of any age may establish a 'gender identity' different from their biological sex simply by notifying the school administration,'' it continues. "The involvement of a parent or guardian is not necessary.''

Aside from saying the administration acted without legal authority, the challenging states also say the directive is "coercive'' in threatening to withhold federal funds. It says direct federal dollars into public schools averages more than $55.8 billion annually, a figure they said comes out to $1,128 per student.

Gov. Doug Ducey previously blasted the Obama administration for interjecting itself into what he sees as a strictly local matter.

"This is not an issue we're having in Arizona,'' he said in a prepared statement.

"This is an issue we're handling on the local level,'' Ducey continued. "We don't need Washington D.C. or the federal government telling us how to run our schools.''

But U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has defended the move.

"This guidance gives administrators, teachers and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies,'' she said in her own statement. Lynch said classrooms need to have "environments that are safe, nuturing and inclusive for all of our young people.''

State lawmakers attempted to address the issue on a more global basis three years ago.

Then-Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, introduced legislation to make it a crime to enter a public restroom designated for one gender or the other if someone is "not legally classified'' on a birth certificate as a member of that sex. His measure also would have applied to showers, baths, dressing rooms or locker rooms.

That move came a month after the Phoenix City Council voted to extend its anti-discrimination laws to those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Foes quickly dubbed it the "bathroom bill,'' saying the provisions about public accommodations could result in businesses being prosecuted for refusing to let transgender men use the women's room.

Kavanagh said state action was needed. Otherwise, he said, any many who simply "thinks of himself'' as a woman could be free to go into a women's locker room and disrobe.

"That's unacceptable behavior,'' he said.

But officials in Tucson, which has had a similar ordinance since 1999, said no one had ever raised an issue or filed a complaint about who was using which bathroom.

Kavanagh eventually dropped the proposal saying he could not get the necessary votes.
For Alison Kenny, today should have felt like a victory.

After a history of family violence, her former police officer husband Guy Felton had been convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order for assaulting her and their son.

But for Ms Kenny, the court win on Wednesday came with a bitter aftertaste.

She is relieved her abuser now has a criminal record, but says it will make little material difference to his life.
New Delhi: The former president of the Maldives has been granted refugee status in Britain, his office said, months after he entered the country on medical leave from his 13-year prison sentence on terrorism charges.

The former president, Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected head of state, was jailed for ordering the military to arrest a sitting senior judge, which the court said was an abduction and punishable under a section of an anti-terrorism law. His supporters denounced the action as politically motivated, imposed by a government loyal to the longtime leader he had replaced, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed in London in January. Credit:AP

Mr Nasheed and his supporters have been joined by a chorus of countries that have objected to his imprisonment, including Canada, India and the US. His trial was described as deeply unfair by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and human rights lawyers, including Amal Clooney, have lobbied for his release.

The Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with nearly 400,000 people, has experienced continued turmoil in the months since Nasheed's sentencing. The government has ousted or arrested officials whose loyalty to the current president, Abdulla Yameen, Gayoom's half brother, has been questioned, and it has cracked down on protest rallies.
The Colorado murder suspect who evaded a Flagstaff police in a high-speed chase a little more than a week ago is in custody.

Kenneth Ray Bastidos, 29, was arrested without incident Tuesday in the 2600 block of East Huntington Drive in Flagstaff, according to information from the Flagstaff Police Department. He was booked into the Coconino County Detention Facility on a first-degree murder warrant stemming from a deadly shooting that occurred May 4 at a motel in Adams County, Colo.

The department has been working with the FBIs Northern Arizona Safe Streets Task Force and the Metro Narcotics Unit to located Bastidos since he eluded FPD officers and Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers on westbound Interstate 40 following a 10-minute pursuit in the city May 15.

According to the FPD report from the chase, Bastidos and his girlfriend traveled from Colorado to Flagstaff in a white 2014 Toyota Corolla he had rented from an acquaintance for $80 a day. At about 1:15 p.m. May 15, Bastidos girlfriend ran into the lobby of a hotel located in the 2900 block of East Route 66 claiming the man she was traveling with was trying to kill her. She told a 911 dispatcher she was wanted by the FBI and Bastidos was wanted for murder. Dispatchers notified nearby law enforcement agencies about the suspect.

Bastidos was spotted repeatedly driving around the hotel, leaving and coming back. His girlfriend told officers he had done methamphetamine the previous day and may have a gun or a knife. She also said he might commit suicide if contacted by police.

At about 2:10 p.m., an FPD officer located the suspects Toyota Corolla on East Seventh Avenue in Lower Greenlaw Estates. The officer turned on lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the vehicle near East Lakin Drive and North Steves Boulevard but the suspect fled at high speed eastbound on East Route 66. At times, he cut through parking lots, hopped curbs and drove through landscaping to evade officers.

FPD policy usually requires officers to break off a pursuit if it poses a significant risk to other drivers and pedestrians. In this case, FPD Sgt. Margaret Bentzen said, the officers and their supervisors decided to continue chasing Bastidos because he was suspected of murder.

There were so many people in the area at that time, she said. Were really lucky nobody got hurt.

Bastidos sped to East Marketplace Drive and onto South Mall Way before circling around to Country Club Drive and onto westbound I-40, where he weaved through traffic and, at times, drove on the shoulder. FPD officers followed him onto the congested freeway, where they estimated his speed at roughly 120 miles per hour.

The lead FPD officer in the chase noted in his report that a marked DPS unit pulled out of the median to join the chase just west of the East Butler Avenue overpass. At 2:21 p.m., a DPS trooper told dispatchers he had lost visual of the suspect vehicle at the Interstate 17 exchange.

The trooper and FPD officer drove into Flagstaff on South Milton Road believing Bastidos may have gone back into town. About two minutes later, a bystander called 911 saying he may have spotted the white Corolla speeding south past Flagstaff Pulliam Airport on I-17. Police could not confirm those reports.

FPD officers picked up Bastidos female passenger after she called police, but they had no reason to hold her. She is not wanted in connection with the May 4 Colorado homicide.

Bastidos is expected to be arraigned in Coconino County Superior Court this week before being extradited to Colorado on the murder charge. Flagstaff police have not said whether he will face local charges. The investigation is ongoing.
Washington: The first shoe dropped Wednesday, when presumptive Democrat presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was sternly rebuked in the report of a top-level State Department investigation of her controversial use of a private email server  stashed in the basement of her home  while serving as the US's top diplomat.

And she knows not the day nor the hour when the second shoe might drop  that'll be the report of a parallel FBI investigation into references to classified information in dozens of emails moved on the server, including more than 20 which the CIA deemed to be 'top secret.'

But amidst reports that the former Secretary of State had yet to be interviewed by the FBI and that she and her staff had refused to cooperate with the inspector general's investigation, the report cut through the Clinton campaign's 'no-problem' spin, with a declaration that while she had been obliged to discuss her use of the basement server with cyber security officials, there was no evidence that she had done so.

The 78-page report, leaked ahead of its planned release on Thursday, states that State officials "did not  and would not  approve her exclusive reliance on a personal email server to conduct departmental business".
National aggregator eChoice has partnered with a major buyers agency in a move it says will help their clients provide a more holistic service.The aggregator says the corporate partnership with Cohen Handler will enable brokers to offer clients the expertise of an experienced industry specialist to assist in purchasing their property.This will allow brokers to offer aspiring homeowners and investors who already have loan pre-approval the chance to have the necessary support to get a step ahead of the buying competition in the Australian property market, eChoice general manager of aggregation, Blake Buchanan, said.According to Buchanan, it can often take borrowers 6-10 months to find a property after being approved. However, this partnership can potentially reduce that property search time to 2-8 weeks.Buyers who have applied for a loan and have been actively looking for a property for 60 days or more will be immediately connected to a Cohen Handler buyers agent to help progress their search.So for both the broker and client, this is a significant value proposition at a time when its most needed.Jeremy Bedwani, general manager of corporate at Cohen Handler said the partnership will help thousands of Australians achieve their dream of home ownership sooner.This collaboration is based on a mutual commitment and willingness to continue innovating and creating new ways to help customers find the right property sooner.
The MFAA and FBAA have both praised ASIC for extending the parameters of its review into remuneration in the mortgage broking sector.Siobhan Hayden, the chief executive of the MFAA said the association worked closely with ASIC during the development of the scope, both directly and with engaging brokers for the two round tables in Sydney and Melbourne. She said the final scope aligns closely with the majority of the recommendations in the MFAAs March 2016 submission.Hayden has also said the association endorses ASICs confirmation the review will extend beyond mortgage brokers.We also endorse the inclusion of referral and introducer businesses as part of this review, as they are sometimes involved in remuneration outcomes which may be considered as unregulated and may involve receipt of a benefit without proper disclosure, Hayden said.The exclusion of less significant products such as reverse mortgages and construction loans is also welcome.The FBAA  who also worked closely with the regulator in informing the review  has also welcomed its scope. However, the FBAAs Peter White says it is what was expected.ASIC is looking at outcomes, and ensuring that however a broker is remunerated it doesnt impact the appropriate outcome and needs of the borrower, he told Australian Broker.So whoever is in that chain  lenders, mortgage managers, comparison sites etc.  that directly or potentially impacts commission earned by brokers and/or incentives and referral fees should be included.The review has always been about how brokers are remunerated, regardless of who they are paid through or by.
Burglary

Flagstaff police are investigating a burglary in the 3800 block of North Fanning Drive.

According to the police report, the resident returned home from work at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday. When he got there, he noticed the back window was broken. Three flat screen televisions were stolen from the home. The victim also noticed a bottle of Southern Comfort that had been in the freezer was now on a bed in another room.

The investigation is ongoing.

Charged with DUI

 Ed Garivan Rivera, 23, of South Elden Street was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with DUI at 10:24 p.m. Sunday.

 Thomas Nagle III, 31, of North Main Street was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with extreme DUI at 7 p.m. Saturday.

 Nolan James Store, 29, of Leupp was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with extreme DUI at 11:07 a.m. Saturday.

 Ryan Willis Charley, 23, of Winslow was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with DUI at 2:22 a.m. Saturday.

 Thomas Keenan, 28, of Peotone, Ill. was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with DUI at 1:01 a.m. Saturday.

 Nicholas William Kogos, 28, of North Switzer Canyon Drive was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department and charged with DUI at 12:07 a.m. Friday.

City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME, submit a tip online at www.coconinosilentwitness.org, or text the word Flagtip along with your information to 274637 (CRIMES). Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

History is written by the wieners!

This year marks a century in business for Coney Islands most celebrated brand  Nathans Famous frankfurters. To celebrate the occasion, the grandson of franchise founder Nathan Handwerker has penned a behind-the-counter history of the family business. Nathans Famous: The First 100 Years of Americas Favorite Frankfurter Company, by William Handwerker is the perfect beach read while in Coney Island.

In his book, Handwerker recalls his first day behind the counter at the Coney Island restaurant in 1967 at the age of 13, when he noticed the ability of his grandfathers famous franks to attract people from all walks of life and background.

It was so great see the different kinds of people that came in  theyd be in suits and ties, or shorts, it didnt matter  everyone enjoyed the experience, he said. I came home and distinctly remember saying to myself One day I have to write a book about this. 

The authors first job was keeping the front counter stacked with cups and ice during the busy summer days on Surf Avenue. But his book stretches back in Poland in the late 19th century, where his grandfather got his first experience in the food business at the age of six, selling knishes door-to-door to feed his poor family.

In 1912, Nathan Handwerker sailed to New York in the bowels of a passenger ship, sleeping with his shoes on to protect the little money he stashed in his socks. Within four years he had joined the restaurant industry, married his wife Ida, and opened his frankfurter stand in Coney Island, selling franks made with her special spice recipe.

The business grew with each successive generation of the Handwerker family, pushed by an obsession with quality. In his book, William recalls how adamant his grandfather was that no employee refer to his frankfurters as lowly hot dogs even in his later years.

Heaven forbid he ever heard anyone call his product a hot dog,  he wrote. If they did he would quickly remind them: You should never call them hot dogs. Hot dogs are made from inferior meats. Nathans frankfurters are made from all beef and a special formula! 

He definitely thought hot dogs were inferior to frankfurters, but he eventually acquiesced, he said.

Handwerker left the family business in the 1990s, but still makes time to visit the Nathans stand where he started working. Like so many of Nathans customers, he makes his way down with family on summer days before a Brooklyn Cyclones game, when the Peoples Playground is in full swing.

Well buy a bunch of tickets for family and friends and we all go to Nathans, he said. Its just the best, you cant beat it.

Nathans Famous: The First 100 Years of Americas Favorite Frankfurter Company is in bookstores now. $17.95.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 2602508 or e-mail him at dlync h@cng local.com .
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

76th Precinct

Carroll Gardens-Cobble HillRed Hook

Shot in the dark

Some malefactor shot a guy in the leg while he was walking down Clinton Street on May 21, police said.

The 29-year-old victim told police he was near Henry Street at 1:10 am when he heard gun shots and then realized a bullet had hit his right lower knee, a police report said.

Emergency responders tool him to New York Methodist Hospital.

Tough teens

Two delinquents pushed a fellow teen down and bashed him while he was down on Smith Street on May 23.

The 15-year-old victim told police the two good-for-nothings pushed him to the ground near Fourth Place at 3:56 pm and punched him in the stomach and face. The two jerks tried to grab his bag and cellphone, but ended up running away with nothing, according to a report.

Caffeine withdrawals

A knave stole a womans bag  containing her wallet and Starbucks gift cards  after she got off a bus on Wolcott Street on May 19.

The woman told police she noticed her pocketbook was missing once she got off the bus near Van Brunt Street. It had her brown leather Cole-Hann wallet inside, which contained her Zipcar card, MetroCard, five credit cards, $200, two gift cards for the coffee chain, and her drivers license, police said.

The jerk also made unauthorized charges on her cards, according to authorities.

Wheel crime

A thief rode off with a guys bicycle and a bunch of his bike equipment from the hallway of his Luquer Street building while he was gone between May 12 and May 18, police said.

The victim told police he left his home near Clinton Street on May 12 at 9 pm, and when he returned at 4:15 pm six days later, his gray Raleigh clubman bike was gone, along with his black bike seat, pinhead bike lock, black Kryptonite bike lock, and bike rack.

 Julianne Cuba
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

94th Precinct

GreenpointNorthside

Squeezed

A shark tricked a man into hugging him so he could pick his pocket on Lorimer Street on May 20.

The victim was crossing Frost Street at 11:15 pm when the perp approached him and said, You dont recognize me? You dont remember me? according to the report.

The weasel then embraced the victim, grabbed the guys phone from his front left shirt pocket, and fled, the report said.

Threes a crowd

A ruffian inserted himself into an argument on Sixth Street on May 20 by smashing one of the squabblers in the head with a bottle, police said.

Two people were locked in a heated debate near Wythe Avenue around 1:30 am when a stranger approached and hit one of the quarrelers in the face with the glass bottle, causing a laceration, police said.

He then fled toward Wythe Avenue, while the victim was taken to a nearby hospital, according to a report.

On the prowl

Sneaks hit up a Wythe Avenue club on May 15, swiping one womans wallet and anothers cellphone.

A weasel lifted a womans wallet from her purse at the hotspot near N. 12th Street around 9 pm, a police report said.

The victim said she was wearing her purse with the zipper open, and noticed the wallet was missing when she went to get her cellphone, the report said.

Several hours later, someone stole another womans phone out of her purse while she was busting a move at 1 am, cops reported.

Police said the second victim was drunk when she reported the crime three hours later, so she could not give a serial number at the time.

Dinners on her

Someone swiped a Metropolitan Avenue womans wallet on May 16 and used her credit card for a junk-food fix, a police report said.

The victim, who lives near Union Avenue, is unsure of when her wallet disappeared, but she got an alert that someone had used her card for a $10 feast at a fast food outlet at 7:15 pm, police said.

 Tatiana Hernandez
UB bear geneticist to appear in Animal Planets MONSTER WEEK special, YETI OR NOT

Researcher Charlotte Lindqvist analyzed DNA samples for the special which will be broadcast May 29

University at Buffalo biologist Charlotte Lindqvist, left, with Mark Evans, veterinarian, explorer and host of YETI OR NOT, in Lindqvists lab on UBs North Campus. Credit: Copyright Icon Films Ltd.

Myths and legends are not my area of expertise, but it certainly is intriguing how science can help shed light on some of these mysteries. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Among scientists, not much is known about the evolutionary history of brown bears in the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau. These rugged creatures, which represent two subspecies of the worlds brown bears, are critically endangered and rarely sighted in the wild.

That, says University at Buffalo biologist Charlotte Lindqvist, was one reason she jumped at the opportunity to analyze DNA for YETI OR NOT, an Animal Planet special that explores the origins of the fabled Yeti  a mysterious bipedal creature that is part of the mythology of the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.

Many people have speculated that bears may have played an important role in the provenance of the Yeti legend, so Lindqvist, an internationally known expert on bear genomics, thought the Animal Planet project could yield samples of Himalayan bear DNA for her research. She was also fascinated by the idea of using modern science  in particular, genomics  to help trace the roots of ancient myths.

The Animal Planet special, YETI OR NOT, will air on Sunday, May 29 at 9 p.m. EST as part of the networks popular television event, MONSTER WEEK, which runs from May 26 to June 2.

The show will be hosted by Mark Evans, a veterinarian and explorer, who will seek to sift fact from folklore as he searches for a rational explanation for the Yeti.

The special will feature Lindqvist's genetic analysis of untested biological specimens believed by locals to be from Yetis. Produced by British production company Icon Films, the show will include scenes shot on UB's North Campus and in UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences in downtown Buffalo.

Previous genetic tests of alleged Yeti samples suggested that it might be some kind of special or perhaps hybrid bear, and I was excited to test this theory and collect more samples and data from bears in this region since they are really hard to get, said Lindqvist, PhD, an assistant professor of biological sciences in UB's College of Arts and Sciences.

As one of the world's foremost experts on bear genomics, her past research on polar bears, black bears and brown bears has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a high-profile academic journal.

While Lindqvist was initially drawn to YETI OR NOT by the opportunity to analyze rare bear samples, she is also fascinated by the subject matter. She suspects that many human myths have roots in phenomena observed in the physical world, and she is interested in how science can give context to folklore.

Im interested in this idea of legends: Where do they come from? They may be something that have been passed down for thousands of years, from generation to generation, and they may represent a kind of collective memory about something people may have actually encountered in the environment, she says. Myths and legends are not my area of expertise, but it certainly is intriguing how science can help shed light on some of these mysteries.
UB architectural historian joins prestigious Institute for Advanced Study

A bastion for academic freedom, the institute is one of the worlds leading centers for curiosity-driven research.

Despina Stratigakos, associate professor and interim chair of architecture at the University at Buffalo, has been selected as a 2016-17 member of the Institute for Advanced Study.

BUFFALO, N.Y.  University at Buffalo architectural historian Despina Stratigakos has been invited to advance her research on the wide-ranging architectural influences of Germanys Third Reich as a 2016-17 member of the Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey.

A bastion for academic freedom, the institute is one of the worlds leading centers for curiosity-driven research.

Stratigakos, associate professor and interim chair of architecture at UB, will focus her research on the massive construction schemes undertaken in Norway following Germanys invasion in 1940 and what they reveal about the National Socialist vision of colonial territories in the postwar world Adolf Hitler imagined.

Norway provides us with a unique view of what much of the world might have looked like had the Nazi regime succeeded in its global colonization plans: Cities designed to enforce in their very structures Nazi ideology, vast transportation systems meant to move resources to the metropole and special cities reserved for German occupiers, who would have ruled from their protected enclaves, Stratigakos said.

While it sounds like science fiction, this disturbing plan was partially realized in Norway, and remains a ghost presence in the Norwegian landscape.

Founded in 1930 by education reformer Abraham Flexner, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton has served as a model for protecting and promoting independent inquiry.

The institutes community of scholars has grown to more than 7,000 historians, mathematicians, natural scientists and social scientists. Among its faculty and members are 33 Nobel Laureates, including Albert Einstein.

As a historian and writer interested in the intersection of architecture and power, Stratigakos has produced award-winning scholarship related to Germany, modernism and 20th-century architecture. In 2008, she released A Womens Berlin: Building the Modern City.

Stratigakos critically acclaimed Hitler at Home (Yale University Press, 2015) reveals how Hitlers domestic spaces became part of the National Socialist cultural imagination and the basis of a propaganda campaign that shaped a softer image of the Fuhrer in Germany and abroad.

Stratigakos has also published widely on issues of diversity in architecture.

Her just-published book, Where Are the Women Architects? (Princeton University Press, 2016), uses the architectural profession as a lens into issues affecting women across male-dominated occupations, arguing that the emergence of a third wave of feminism in architecture provides opportunity for concrete change.
A Hopi man will spend the next four decades in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas L. Rayes sentenced Theodore Kootswatewa, 65, to 40 years in prison Monday after a jury in Phoenix found him guilty in February of aggravated sexual assault of a minor and abusive sexual contact. The victim was an 11-year-old girl with cognitive disabilities.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of California prosecuted the case after the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona was recused from it.

According to a press release from the prosecutors office, two witnesses testified at trial that they saw Kootswatewa and the victim in an abandoned trailer in Second Mesa on March 27, 2014. One witness approached the trailer out of concern for the child. The witness testified that the victim was crying outside the trailer. The girl reported that Kootswatewa had tried to rape her. The witness then saw Kootswatewa leave the trailer.

The witness contacted the Hopi Indian Police Department, which arrested Kootswatewa the same day. The FBI later took over the investigation.

The jury heard from civilian witnesses, law enforcement and a sexual assault nurse examiner during the week-long trial. The prosecution also presented forensic evidence about presence of male DNA in the victims underwear.
COVID testing as we know it wouldn't have happened without this NJ lab
THE NOODLE MAKER OF KALIMPONG

The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet

Gyalo Thondup with Anne F Thurston

Random House India

384 pages; Rs 599



It is not always easy to tell someone else's story. It is even more difficult to tell that story in the first person, organising, interpreting and assembling a coherent and flowing narrative drawn from what must have been weeks and months of personal interviews and conversations. It is a tribute to Anne Thurston's skill as a writer that the narrative retains the feel of a first-hand account throughout.

This a the story of Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who now lives in Kalimpong and runs an ancient noodle-making factory adjacent to his compound. It is also the story of Tibet and its tragic loss of independence and identity, assaulted by forces its insular leaders could neither comprehend nor confront. And the rest of the world preferred to look away.

Mr Thondup is a fascinating character, growing up in the pristine but primitive environs of Tibet's Amdo province. His life is transformed dramatically when his younger brother is identified, through divination, as the 14th Dalai Lama and the entire family moves to Lhasa. Mr Thondup is despatched to Nanjing, then the post-war capital of China, to learn Chinese and study the country's culture. He lived under the personal care of the Kuomintang leader, Chiang Kai-shek, who apparently grew quite fond of him.

Mr Thondup learnt to speak Mandarin and married a Chinese lady. But while he was away, Lhasa was the scene of dark political intrigue and factional struggles. The Tibetans were oblivious to the dramatic changes taking place in the world around them, complacent in the belief that, as in ages past, Tibet would remain sheltered by its high mountain ranges, icy deserts and, of course, the power of its faith. Mr Thondup was aware of the disaster looming over Tibet, particularly after the Communist armies under Mao Zedong had liberated China. From his new base at Kalimpong he tried to alert the ruling elite in Lhasa of the dangers. Jawaharlal Nehru used Mr Thondup to warn the Tibetan leadership that the Chinese under Mao would try and occupy their country by force and that they should mobilise and prepare well in advance to resist the inevitable assault. Nehru offered assistance both in weapons and training but there was no response from the Tibetan government.

Thus, it appears that contrary to generally accepted wisdom, Nehru did not readily acquiesce to the Chinese incorporation of Tibet, but there was no response to his offer of help from the Tibetans. Once the Chinese swiftly occupied Tibet in 1950 and the Lhasa government signed the "17 point Agreement" accepting Chinese rule, Nehru decided that there was no choice but to acknowledge the ground reality.

Mr Thondup alleges that Nehru went back on his promise to grant Dalai Lama political asylum when the latter came to visit India in 1956 for the 2,500th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. In his account, Nehru, under the influence of Chinese Premier Chou Enlai, persuaded the Dalai Lama to go back to Tibet with a solemn assurance given by the Chinese that the 17 point Agreement would be strictly observed. But that did not happen and events led inexorably to the 1959 Tibet Revolt and the Dalai Lama's escape to India. This time, Mr Thondup praises Nehru for agreeing to grant his brother asylum unhesitatingly despite being aware of what this would mean for the already strained India-China relations.

Another theme in the book is the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in assisting Tibetan resistance. Mr Thondup is very critical of the American role, accusing the CIA of giving paltry assistance in weapons and training, enough to needle the Chinese but never to constitute a serious threat. He should know since he was the conduit for much of these clandestine operations.

When Deng Xiaoping became China's top leader in 1979, he invited Mr Thondup to Beijing to discuss the possible return of the Dalai Lama to China. This was an important meeting and is covered in some detail by Mr Thondup. Deng conveyed that "except for independence everything is negotiable. Everything can be discussed." Deng agreed to facilitate movement of Tibetans living in India to freely visit their families and go on pilgrimage to religious sites. He also agreed to a proposal to open a liaison office for the Dalai Lama in Beijing to be in regular touch with the Chinese government.

For a time conditions did improve though the liaison office was never established. When I visited Tibet for the first time in 1984 I met several Tibetan monks and traders from Tibetan settlements across India. This initial promise of reconciliation, however, was never realised as conditions in Tibet deteriorated and the talks went nowhere particularly with the Chinese insisting that the Dalai Lama accept Tibet as an inalienable part of China and agree to live in Beijing and only visit Tibet occasionally. Some later openings also failed to deliver and here the finger is pointed at the Indian agencies that were apparently not keen to have the talks succeed. If this is true then it is short-sighted. With political reconciliation between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese, the Tibet issue would lose its salience in India-China relations and could make it easier to resolve the border issue.

This is an important book, throwing light on some very murky yet far-reaching developments in our neighbourhood. Thucydides said, "The strong do what they can and the weak suffer because they must." That about sums up the tragedy of Tibet.

The reviewer is a former foreign secretary. He is currently chairman, RIS and senior fellow, CPR
Group may end its long wait for a port facility in the north coastal region of Andhra Pradesh if it emerges successful in a competitive bid next month. The state government has set June 30, 2016 as deadline for submitting bids for the selection of developer for the green-field Bhavanapadu Port project in Srikakulam district.

In December, 2015 the government had short-listed three firms to bid for the project. Along with Adani, the home-grown port operators -- Gangavarm Port Limited and Navayuga of CVR group which runs the Krishnapatnam Port -- are the chosen trio, all with a strong back-ground in running the port operations. The spokesperson of one of the short-listed confirmed that they would be very much in the fray.

The process for selection of developer for Bhavanapadu Port was to be delayed after the government faced a stiff resistance against land acquisition from local people.

Consequently the government authorities had to scale down the extent of land proposed for acquisition by almost 50% to 2,500 acres from 4,700 acres, which was originally envisaged. The land was also meant for the port-based industrial activity.

"The proposed waterfront will remain the same. We have reduced the extent of acquisition in other land parcels as we had to avoid the villages from the whole process,"Ajai Jain, secretary, Infrastructure and Investment Department of AP government told Business Standard.

Despite these hiccups the project has generated considerable interest among the prospective bidders owing to its strategic location. Situated in the AP's northern most coastal district of Srikakulam, the proposed port can serve the hinterlands of Odisha and Chattishgarh besides catering to the immediate catchment beyond the port city of Visakhapatnam, particularly for bulk cargo like coal.

To be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBOFT)-basis, this green-filed non-major port will be awarded to whoever offers the highest revenue share to the government. The project is expected to cost around Rs 3,000 crore in the first phase, which comprises of five berths among other infrastructure. It has to be completed in three years from the date of award of the project, according to the government.

Group's desire to invest in AP was not new. About 7-8 years ago the company had approached the state government with a proposal to develop a port as well as a port-based industrial park in an extent of over 10,000 acres in the same region.

Adanis have revived their plans after chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's government had chosen to develop Bhavanapadu Port under the public private mode soon after it came to power two years ago. The location makes sense for group as the port can serve the hinterlands of the mineral rich Odisha and Chattishgarh where it already have mining and logistic operations.

Earlier there were unconfirmed reports suggesting that Adani was looking for a buy-out of a majority stake in an existing private port in AP. Last year the company had acquired Kattupally port from L&T in Tamil Nadu.

A senior executive of a port company-based in AP earlier told Business Standard that the new port was not going to impact the business of the existing ports on the Andhra seacoast as there will be no overlapping as far as the hinterlands of the existing ports in AP were concerned.

While Adani has a strong port-based logistic operations located both on the Western and the Eastern seacoasts of the country, the operators of Gangavaram Port Limited and CVR group had emerged as strong players in port operations in this region.
Gujarat-based food and edible oils firm Adani Wilmer and Madhya Pradesh-headquartered Ruchi Soya Industries have tied up to form a joint venture company for procurement, marketing, sales, and distribution of products such as soya food, oil seeds, and biodiesel.The new joint venture (JV) company will cater to domestic food demand and both Adani Wilmer and Ruchi Soya will provide manufacturing support to this JV.The share price of Ruchi Soya saw movements in both directions on the BSE on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had barred Ruchi from dealing in commodities and entering capital markets, alleging cartelisation in castor-seed futures in January. (Sebi is the market regulator.) As a result, Ruchi Soyas share price fell 19 per cent, but following of JV with Adani, recovered. The shares closed at Rs 22.6 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday, a 2.5 per cent rise over the previous close.Through their joint venture, Adani Wilmer, Adani Enterprises, and Wilmer International will hold a stake of 66.66 per cent in the JV company, while Ruchi Soya will hold the rest  33.34 per cent.

A non-binding term sheet has been signed. A new joint venture company will be formed. Each party will contribute its portfolio of brands in relation to the products such as oil seeds, soya food, grains, castor oil, oleochemical, and biodiesel, said Atul Chaturvedi, chief executive of Adani Wilmer. The name of this new company will be decided after we form the company and complete all legalities. The investments and the new brand name are yet to be decided," said Chaturvedi. The joint venture company will have the exclusive right to originate, market, and distribute finished products of and Ruchi Soya in India. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, said: The proposed partnership between and Ruchi will have a positive impact on the overall agricultural landscape of India. We look forward to taking the next leap forward." Dinesh Shahra, managing director of Ruchi Soya, said: We feel we'll be able to leverage on each other's strengths to truly make a difference to the agricultural backdrop of the country."

According to the joint statement by the both companies, the proposed integration of Adani Wilmar's and Ruchi Soya's downstream businesses will serve as a catalyst for the further expansion of both parties' product portfolios and allow the joint venture to reach and address the consumer tastes, preferences and aspirations of India's 1.3 billion consumers.
PHOENIX -- The state Board of Investment, headed by Proposition 123 foe Jeff DeWit, is raising new legal questions about whether it can give schools the extra money voters just approved.

In a letter Tuesday, DeWit, who as state treasurer is chairman of the board, is asking Attorney General Mark Brnovich whether the new formula for taking money out of the state land trust is legal. DeWit is repeating his contention that any change requires approval from Congress which provided Arizona with the land in the first place.

Both Gov. Doug Ducey and legislative leaders who supported the ballot measure have taken the position such consent is unnecessary.

But the request raises some new questions about not just the legality of the measure but the timing of the distribution -- and even whether some public schools are eligible.

Brnovich does not have a lot of time to respond: The ballot measure specifically requires the treasurer to distribute a lump sum of nearly $260 million to schools by the end of June.

In his letter to Brnovich, DeWit points out that one lawsuit already has been filed in federal court seeking to have the increased funding declared illegal given the absence of congressional action. He wants advice on whether his office can withdraw the money and give it out while that lawsuit is pending.

Along the same lines, DeWit said board members want to know if they will be personally liable if they go ahead and distribute the money and a court later declares the move illegal.

And there's an entirely new issue.

DeWit points out that the federal law that created Arizona and gave it 10 million acres of federal land to support schools, college and universities requires they "shall forever remain under the exclusive control" of the state.

He said that raises a question since some of the funds will be distributed to charter schools. These are technically public schools but under Arizona law can be operated by private, for-profit corporations.

What that may mean, said DeWit, is they are not under "exclusive government control."

If Brnovich finds that argument persuasive, the implications go beyond the Prop 123 dollars. DeWit said charter schools already are getting some of the annual distribution of trust proceeds.

Gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato declined to comment on the request for the legal opinion, referring all questions to Brnovich.
and Retail, part of Aditya Birla Group, has acquired the rights for global fashion chain Forever 21 in the country for an undisclosed sum.

Forever 21 had a three year old tie up with DLF Brands and wanted to exit the partnership for a much aggressive play in the country, said sources. Myntra was also in talks to buy the rights of Forever 21, reports said earlier.

has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US based Forever 21 to acquire its exclusive online and offline rights for Indian market and its existing store network in India from the current franchisee Diana Retail, the company said on Wednesday in a release.

Pranab Barua, managing director of ABFRL said, "The proposed acquisition is in line with our strategic intent to create the largest integrated branded fashion player in the country. With the acquisition of Forever 21 India business, we aim to create a strong foothold in the womenswear business in the western wear segment. Currently, the western womenswear segment is growing at more than 20 per cent. The proposed acquisition will further strengthen leadership position of ABFRL in the branded fashion space."



Forever 21 entered the country in 2010 through a Middle East-based group Sharaf Retail, but could not scale up. In 2013, it forged a partnership with DLF Brands to open 40-50 stores in five years in the country, but could not open stores as planned.

Jatin Malhotra, director, global expansion, Forever 21 said: "Forever 21 has built a very strong franchise in India in the last few years and has already become a brand of choice for fashion conscious women. The young demographics of the country and emergence of fast fashion segment offers opportunity for rapid growth for the brand. The partnership of Forever 21 and ABFRL will help establish Forever 21 as one of the largest womenswear brand in the country".

Founded in 1984, Forever 21 operates more than 730 stores in 48 countries with retailers in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany and others. Forever 21 has brands like Forever 21, XXI Forever, Love 21 and Heritage in its portfolio.
French dating app, Happn, which went live in 2014 in Paris, is now turning to the Indian market for expansion. The firm is targeting one million customers by 2016 in the country.

To aid this plan, it also plans to set up an India office, which will mirror its Paris office and will work with as few employees as possible.

also plans to launch a digital marketing campaign soon and, maybe, go offline as well. The company will spend $1.12 million this year to fund its expansion plan.



The dating app competes with the likes of the well-established Tinder and Truly Madly for space on the phone memory real estate but it believes that the difference in business model will help it cut away from the rest and achieve its 1 million customer goal by the end of the year.

The app is different from the other dating apps. We dont promise you love. There is no algorithm, we just try to connect with you with someone in your vicinity, said Didier Rappaport, CEO and founder, . If the user is at a public place, say a museum, or at a party and turns on the app they will be able to see others in the vicinity and will be able to make a connection. The user has to hit the heart, there is no swiping right or left. If the other person discovers them and hits the heart too, they will chat, said Rappaport. But this feature works only if the two are in a set radius.

has not had an official launch in the country, but claims to have already gathered 200,000 customers through the word of mouth.

The company pays homage to the missed connection tab on Craigslist where singles post listings on the platforms if they spotted someone at a public place they wanted to meet and could not. Rappaport admits that it is a continuation of that and also that the existing apps were trying to keep connections virtual while he wanted to connect them in the real world.

But the missed connections tab picked up a lot of flak when anti-social elements and solicitation overtook the platform. We use Facebook as our verification platform. Maybe later, we will let users sign up without connecting to their personal social media profile, he said.

While this makes the used cases smaller, Rappaport claims that the company is adding 2 million customers every month.

Like other dating apps who had to change their strategy (while some transformed their platform, others tweaked their algorithm) when they entered India, Happn, too, is doing something against the norm by setting up a team in the country. The company has about 80 employees operating out of the Paris headquarters and has made plans to expand to 120 by the end of the year and 200 by the end of 2017 after which they will stop hiring.

Happn has raised over $20 million in two rounds of funding and reports said it was planning to raise another $30 million soon. It reportedly has 17 million users globally across 40 cities.
is ramping up its respiratory business with the launch of an inhaler which alerts asthma patients on low dosage. The drug maker launched the country's first digital dose inhaler today and plans to launch an another inhaler over next six months. claims that the new inhaler launched today gives a far more accurate indication of dosage levels than existing metered dose inhalers.

The market for respiratory drugs in India is pegged at around Rs 7,000 crore with formulations and cough syrups accounting for bulk of the share. Other categories include inhalers and nebulisers.

"Respiratory business contributes around 15% of our Indian business. We are seeing growth in upwards of 20% in this segment and we aim to achieve the same growth this year," said Sujesh Vasudevan, president and head of formulations of India and Africa, . Cough syrups contribute a big share to the company's respiratory portfolio while the share of inhalers is smaller. Vasudevan hopes to double the sales of inhalation products with the launch of the new product today.

"We are conducting trials and have sought the Drug Controller General of India's approval to introduce a new inhaler. We hope to launch it in six months," he added.

Cipla is a market leader in inhalation category in the domestic market. Other with significant presence in the segment include GSK Pharmaceuticals and Lupin.
Flipkarts decision to defer joining dates of new Indian Institute of Management (IIM) recruits has put students and authorities on a sticky wicket.

Sources said the joining dates have been deferred from June to as late as December. So far, IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is the only one to have expressed concern. The e-commerce major has claimed that it has taken this step because of ongoing restructuring in its business.

IN A NUTSHELL IIM-A had sent a strongly worded letter to Flipkart, protesting the announced delays to recruit freshers

This letter had been marked to other premier B-schools such as IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Lucknow and FMS Delhi

said delay in joining dates of new campus recruits is due to ongoing organisational restructuring

The authorities at IIM-A have sent a strongly worded letter to Flipkart, marking other premier B-schools such as IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Lucknow and the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.

Both IIM-B and IIM-L confirmed they have received a communication from Flipkart, and were mulling further action.

We have not talked to . We are in consultation with our students on what actions can be taken. The students will have to decide whether they would want to wait or look for alternative opportunities, said Sapna Agarwal, head, career development services, IIM-Bangalore IIM-A has proposed a joint call with stakeholders and other B-schools. Asha Kaul, chairperson, placements, was unavailable for comments; an e-mail sent to the institute went unanswered



Flipkart, in a public statement, said the delay in the joining dates of new campus recruits was because of ongoing organisational restructuring that involves creating new business units and merging some. It cited examples of integrating its engineering organisation while creating a new unit  the customer shopping experience group.

As a part of this ongoing restructuring, the campus program will also go through a comprehensive overhaul to ensure that it is in line with our new business structure and that our campus recruits start working towards larger company goals from Day One, the company said.

had extended offers to about 10 candidates each at IIM-A and IIM-B, while it made offers at IIM Lucknow, too, among other B-schools.

At the outset, let me share that this was a difficult decision for us to arrive at and we feel the disappointment of students. At the same time, it is important for us to land our campus hires into Flipkart at the right time and into meaningful roles which gives them opportunity to learn and grow, said Nitin Seth, chief people officer, Flipkart, wrote in a letter to the IIMs.

Neeraj Dwivedi, chairperson, placements, IIM Lucknow, said the decision was not welcome. He added the institute was trying to gather more information before taking a call.

Flipkart has communicated to us about the deferred joining. However, we have not initiated communication with them yet. We are willing to join IIM-A in the call. However, students are not here on campus. So we are going slightly slow on this. Obviously, no one welcomes this, he said.

The placements representative of one of the older IIMs said some of the candidates who were supposed to join on Monday came to know about deferred joining only the previous Friday.

Ola on right track

Ola Cabs, on the other hand, maintained it was on track as far as joining dates were concerned.

We are on track in terms of joining dates for on-campus hires. All students hired, are joining according to the given dates and we look forward to welcoming them. We are looking to hire and onboard top talent through the off-campus route as well, the company said in an official statement.

Candidates are exploring various alternatives before taking a decision and the institute will work accordingly, the representative said.

Earlier GirnarSoft, which owns CarDekho.com, had confirmed deferring joining dates of recruits from IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-Udaipur. The start-up cited work in progress at office space as the reason for the deferment.
Proxy advisory firm Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) has raised serious concerns on Ricoh India, a subsidiary of Japanese major Ricoh Co. In its report, the firm questions the limitation in the period of auditing and upgrading the companys rating in the absence of financial statement.

The investigation by auditors (Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, PwC) was limited to the period from April 1, 2015 to September 30, 2015. This indicates that the management believes that the accounts for the period prior to April 1, 2015 are in order, reflecting a true and fair picture of the companys affairs. How the company be so definite and fraud, if any, started only after April 1, the SES report said.

The report also raised doubts on India Ratings, a credit rating agency that had upgraded non-convertible debentures rating to IND AA- from IND A.

J N Gupta, former executive director of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the managing director of SES, said: Sebi must ask a pertinent question - how did the agency upgrade the rating in the absence of accounts / financial statement?



Adding: The period for auditing raised suspicion, as it is not definite nor clear when the purported fraud took place.



In an email response, a spokesperson said, The company has initiated a forensic investigation based on concerns highlighted by the auditors in their review of the financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. Further, the company is undertaking an ongoing internal investigation based on the findings of the independent agencys report. All these developments as well as the summary of the auditors review and the independent agencys review have been reported through regular voluntary disclosures made by the company to the BSE. We will be able to comment post the completion of the internal investigation.



These apart, the report also talked about the possible reason behind definite audit period. Promoters are duly represented in the board and till March 2015, the managing director was from promoter group. Is limiting forensic audit to post 1st April 2015 an attempt to ring-fence promoter MD? said report.

Besides, half-yearly accounts for the period ending September 2015 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year raises more questions than probable answer. Such comparison creates a doubt on the authenticity and truthfulness of accounts. Investors are unable to find which accounts to rely on, the SES report added.

It will be in the interest of capital market and investors that Sebi initiates step in the right direction to allay the fears of investors and by swift action ensure that investors confidence in the market remains intact. It must be treated as a one-off case rather than widespread malaise, said Gupta.

The SES report also emphasises certain wrongdoing. Whether it is just a case of cooking books to show good performance or a case of diversion of funds or siphoning of funds, it is not clear as of now.



This is not the first proxy firm that had reviewed the profile and its management in near terms. Recently, InGovern, another proxy firm, recommended government-appointed directors on the board of Ricoh India. The firm has also requested Sebi to intervene in the matter. Sources said Sebi was looking into the matter and analysing the proxy firms report.

Anil Singhvi, founder director of IIAS and chairman of Ican Investments Advisors, said: Sebi should ask the management about the loan amount which has increased exponentially. In March 2014, the total borrowing was Rs 367 crore and now it stands at Rs 1,300 crore.



The issue gained momentum when PwC, appointed by the companys audit committee for forensic view of accounts, indicated wrong doing and an unsupported transaction in the book of account of the company. Besides, the firm has failed to submit its limited review reports to the regulator for two consecutive quarters - September and December 2015. It reported its September 2015 quarter results on May 19 after much delay.
Former Ranbaxy promoters on Tuesday assured the Delhi High Court they would keep assets secure to be in a position to make the Rs 3,500-crore payment to Japanese conglomerate Daiichi Sankyo, which had in 2008 bought a majority stake in the Indian pharma major.

A Singapore arbitration court recently imposed this fine after it found the Singh brothers guilty of concealing information while striking the deal with the Japanese company.

Daiichi filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court asking for an interim order to secure the Singh brothers' assets equivalent to the extent of the award amount, Rs 2,562 crore, decided by the Singapore arbitration court. In addition, Rs 1,000 crore has to be paid as interest and lawyers' fees.

In its petition, the Japanese company expressed apprehension that the brothers would dispose their assets and take them out of India by the time the court arrived at a final decision on this award.

"We have an imminent fear that there may be various alienations (asset sell-off) by RHC Holdings in case there are no protective measures provided by the court. We request you to ask the respondents (Singh brothers) to issue a statement of safeguard and security," said Gopal Subramanium, appearing on behalf of Daiichi Sankyo.

The Singh brothers have a majority shareholding in RHC Holdings, a private limited company with assets of around Rs 10,000 crore. Fortis Healthcare and Religare, which are listed companies, are controlled through RHC Holdings.

Justice V Kameswar Rao, who presided over the proceedings in Delhi High Court, said he needed to be sure that the award was secure. He did not issue a formal order after Kapil Sibal, who was arguing for the Singh brothers, told the judge any such court order to issue a formal statement of assurance would adversely affect the listed . He said since these two were listed, there was no need for apprehensions of a quick asset sale. "They (Daiichi Sankyo) have shown no evidence whatsoever which can be considered as basis for their apprehension," he said.

In response to queries from Business Standard, the RHC Holdings spokesperson said it could not offer any comment because the matter was sub judice. The stocks of Fortis Healthcare and Religare did not show much movement on Tuesday, increasing by 0.12 per cent and decreasing by 0.04 per cent, respectively.

In 2013, Daiichi had launched the arbitration proceedings in Singapore, alleging that the Singh brothers had concealed and misrepresented critical information concerning US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Justice (DoJ) investigations into Ranbaxy in 2008, when the Japanese major acquired a controlling stake in the company.

Consequently, the arbitration court awarded Daiichi Rs 2,562 crore through a 2-1 majority order. Justice AM Ahmadi, former Chief Justice of India, gave the dissenting opinion dismissing all claims of the Japanese company.
With the new ban on diesel vehicles above a certain engine capacity (2,000cc) in Kerala, on the lines of the earlier one in the National Capital Region, Japanese automobile maker Toyota said it would look at launching a petrol version of its popular Innova brand, and of other products.

The company said if the ban continued, 13 per cent of its sales would be hit. Its Innova and Fortuner have taken a hit.

The uncertainty might hit capacity utilisation of its Rs 1,000-crore new diesel unit, expected to soon go on stream. Its capacity would be 110,000 units a year, for the domestic market.

IT WILL BE A DRY SPELL 13% of its sales would be hit, if the ban continues,

of its sales would be hit, if the ban continues, 8% drop in sales in NCR

drop in sales in NCR 2,000 cc above new vehicles should not be registered in Kerala and those more than 10-year-old should not run on the roads across six cities of the state

above new vehicles should not be registered in Kerala and those more than 10-year-old should not run on the roads across six cities of the state Major hit has been on Innova and Fortuner

has been on Innova and Fortuner 4,400 units a month is the sales of Innova, down from 5,800-6,000

units a month is the sales of Innova, down from 5,800-6,000 900 units a month is the Fortuner sales, down from 1,600 units

The company's sales in the NCR (National Capital Region) have already dipped by about eight per cent.

On Kerala, the NGT (National Green Tribunal) has said new diesel-run vehicles above 2,000cc should not be registered and those more than 10-year-old should not run in six cities of the state.

Akito Tachibana, managing director, Toyoa Kirloskar Motor, told this newspaper on Wednesday diesel was the victim of mistaken perceptions.

We need a long-term vision. All of a sudden, our car is banned, after putting so much of investment. We don't have a future if they ban diesel, said Tachibana, noting it takes close to five years to develop a new car.

T S Jaishankar, deputy managing director, said government policy lacked a long-term view. If this uncertainty continued, it would be a question mark on the 'Make in India' initiative. Enough time should have been given before taking such steps as a ban, he said. Quite unlike the clear road map for switching to Euro-VI fuel standards, with getting time to shift.

If diesel is bad, said Jaishankar, why not ban all vehicles operating on it? Why only those above a certain engine capacity?



The major hit has been on the Innova and Fortuner. Before the NCR ban in December 2015, sales of the former were 5,800-6,000 units a month; these are now 4,400 a month. Fortuner sales are now 900 units a month, down from 1,600 units due to ban in NCR.

However, Toyota Kirloskar welcomes the part of the NGT order on banning diesel vehicles above 10 years of age. Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman, said it would improve air quality by getting rid of older and higher polluting vehicles. "At the same time, we respectfully disagree with the order of banning the registration of diesel vehicles above 2,000cc in Kerala...The unintended beneficiaries are those who produce less than 2,000cc vehicles with the same diesel that is said to be polluting."



Asked if the company would invest in a petrol engine plant, Jaishankar said it was too early to discuss that. "We are waiting for the apex court's decision. We will take a call after that, he said.
& Retail, part of Aditya Birla Group, today said it has acquired online and offline rights for US-based fast fashion chain Forever 21 in India. Ashish Dikshit, business head, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle at Aditya Birla Fashion, talks to Raghavendra Kamath about the companys strategy and plans ahead.

How much will you pay for the acquisition?

We will pay between Rs 170 crore to Rs 200 crore subject to final agreement and settlement.

What was the idea behind acquiring rights for Forever 21 given that you have your own brands and fashion chain?

If you look at fashion market globally, fast fashion is largest part of the market. In India also, more women are moving towards westernwear and its growing. Forever 21 is a renowned brand and its preposition is attractive. It is important move for us to expand the portfolio and long term plan to grow this business.

We want to expand faster, build large scale and reach large customer base with the experience we have and give the investment it needs to grow.

Do you see any synergies between Forever 21 and Pantaloons or brands of Madura?

No synergies. We see it as a standalone large opportunity. We want to build Forever 21 as a large independent business in the long term.

Can you please throw some light on the expansion and capex plans you have for Forever 21?

It is difficult to speak on that now. We have just announced the acquisition. Couple of quarters down we will be able to talk on that.

Are you planning to grow the online part also?

Yes. As more and more shoppers are going more online, it will be strong preposition.

Why do you think Indian chains have not gone for fast fashion in a big way?

Fast fashion in womens' wear is new concept in india but worldwide it is a huge market. Globally, they have deep understanding of this segment. Thats why we have taken partnership route.
Air India is gearing up to execute the governments regional connectivity push.

In keeping with the plan of connecting under-served routes, the state-run carrier is adding almost 50 routes. Most of these are new.

Some of the proposed direct connectivity routes are Delhi-Porbander, Mysuru-Goa, Delhi-Pantnagar, Lucknow-Dehradun and connectivity to the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

Chairman Ashwani Lohani on Wednesday met the representatives of 15 states. I met with officials of state governments to find out potential routes. The representatives gave us many suggestions and we will finalise a plan in 10 days, he said.

Lohani said the airline was trying to increase its domestic connectivity, especially in smaller towns, using smaller aircraft such as ATR-72 and ATR-42. With our new fleet acquisition plan, we plan to connect unconnected cities. This also makes perfect business sense.



The airline has asked for viability gap funding (VGF) from the state governments to ensure it does not have to face losses in case the routes turn out to be unviable. Some routes like Mumbai-Nagpur will be profitable. So we dont need any support. For the others, we have asked for viability funding. Many state governments like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have shown interest, Lohani said. VGF can come in the form of a state government underwriting losses that the airline makes in the route.

The airline plans to have a fleet size of 43 aircraft by the end of 2018. By March 2017, we will at least have 18 ATR-72s in our fleet, the chairman said. The airline would simultaneously start working on crew recruitment and finalising other logistics for the proposed fleet expansion, he added.
Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy valedictorian Naomi Francis grew up surrounded by creativity, from the design of her family's home to her hobbies of artwork and dancing.

Francis father, Northern Arizona University professor Allen Francis, designed the familys house to have a net zero energy use, a project that might have inspired Francis to pursue industrial design in college.

I think living in a design-oriented household helped me be aware of design elements, she said.

Francis, who plans to attend Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, in the fall, said even as a child she liked to create drawings and designs of technology she created in her mind. She said sketching the imaginary technology combined some of her favorite subject areas, art and science.

Ive always wanted to do something with design, Francis said. I like to combine art with science.

Francis said she has always been interested in improving the design and functionality aspects to everyday situations.

I like looking at the aesthetic and functional aspects of something, and deciding how can you make that more functional, and at the same time, more pleasing to use, she said.

She has also received multiple awards and scholarships for her mixed media artwork, including earning a scholarship at the Mingus Mountain Regional Juried Student Art Show earlier this month.

Ive always enjoyed drawing and fine art for fun, Francis said. But since taking art classes at FALA with Janeece Henes, she has introduced me to mixed media art and taught me to be more adventurous with my art.

Francis has danced ballet for most of her life, and she plans to continue dancing as a hobby throughout college. Additionally, she has served as the president of the FALA branch of the National Art Honors Society, completed community service projects that included painting murals around town and other activities for local, statewide and international charity work, and she will give a speech at Fridays graduation ceremony as valedictorian.

Francis is a member of the first graduating class to have attended FALA for all six years from middle school through high school. The school added seventh and eighth grades in 2010.

Ive learned so much about art at FALA, Francis said. But Ive also done a lot of growing and learning about myself as a person here.

Francis said participating in a trip to the United States' border with Mexico to do service in Mexico and see the deportation process up close was a life-changing experience for her, and she said memories from the experience reflected in some of her artwork.

She said FALA provided her with supportive teachers and a community to express herself as an artist.

FALA is a really unique school, she said. It really allows students to grow and work independently while still having guidance from teachers. It leaves room for you to play around and see what youre interested in, and the teachers are genuinely involved with the students.

Francis, whose mother is from Germany, plans to go on a hiking and backpacking trip through Europe over the summer. She said she plans to travel to Germany, France and Italy, and is planning backpacking trips through the Austrian Alps and the Black Forest in Germany. Francis said her parents have always been adventurous, and they passed on a love for travel and adventure to her.

While she said she is both excited and nervous to move to Tempe for college, Francis said she is looking forward to the new opportunities and experiences that college will bring.

I think its going to be a really good opportunity to grow, she said. There are so many things and so many interests I might not even know I had because I havent been exposed to it yet.
As debate over bans grows across India, 15 people die every dayor one every 96 minutesfrom the effects of drinking alcohol, reveals an IndiaSpend analysis of 2013 Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the latest available.

The per capita consumption of in India increased 38%, from 1.6 litres in 2003-05 to 2.2 litres in 2010-12, according to this World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which also revealed that more than 11% of Indians were binge drinkers, against the global average of 16%.

The data explain the wide political support for crackdowns on alcohol, although experts point out that is a health problem not a moral one.

rd May, the first day of her fourth term as chief minister. In April, Bihar imposed In Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa shut down 500 liquor stores on 23May, the first day of her fourth term as chief minister. In April, Bihar imposed prohibition , a ban on the sale, production and consumption of alcohol. In August 2014, Kerala restricted the sale of liquor to five-star hotels.

Pre-poll surveys in Kerala and Tamil Nadu found wide support for prohibition, 47% of men and women in Kerala and 52% in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Express reported.

The leading reason for the ban, respondents said, was alcohol-fuelled domestic violence.

Before the latest crackdowns on alcohol, Gujarat and Nagaland were the only Indian states with prohibition.

Maharashtra tops alcohol-related deaths

Maharashtra reported most alcohol-related deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, according to the NCRB data, with experts saying high rates of alcoholism correlate with high crime rates.

Major crimes and accidents are fuelled by alcohol, which also leads to sexual harassment of women and robberies, S Raju, of Tamil Nadus Makkal Adhikaram (Peoples Power) told the BBC. Alcohol abuse is also the reason why Tamil Nadu has the largest number of widows under 30 years of age.

A quarter of all hospital admissions and 69% of all crimes in Kerala are due in part to intoxication, according to the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, an NGO, quoted in The Economist.

Five people died every day in 2014 after drinking spurious liquor

In 2015, consumption of illegally brewed liquor claimed more than 100 lives in Malwani, Mumbai, triggering widespread outrage. As many as 1,699 people died in 2014 after consuming spurious/illicit liquor, an increase of 339% from 387 in 2013.

However, prohibition may not reduce addiction and deaths, Vikram Patel, a leading public health expert with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, argued in this Indian Express column.

Prohibition of substances which give pleasure to people does not work, he wrote. Addiction is a health problem, not a moral one, and there are many proven strategies which can reduce its burden. The desire to address the serious social problems caused by a minority of those who consume alcohol by prohibition is a travesty of the experience of history and public health science. Prohibition is rejected by most public health scientists who know this field; even the World Health Organisation does not recommend it.

Notes:

The data for deaths due to alcohol influence nationally as well as state-wise have been stopped since 2014 and are included in sudden deaths overall; therefore, we have taken the 2013 figures and analysed accordingly. There is a possibility of more deaths due to alcohol influence under the heart attacks/epilepsy category; however, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of deaths, and hence, we have just used the figures under influence of alcohol.

(IndiaSpend is a data-driven, public interest journalism non-profit)
Amit Shah, President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said today that the will get a two thirds majority in Gujarat, no matter who the Chief Minister of the state was. Gujarat is slated to go for assembly elections in 2017.



Amid chatter that incumbent Anandiben Patel could be replaced because of the BJP's unpopularity on account of the way the state government had handled the issue of reservation as demanded by the agitationists led by Hardik Patel, Shah made no comment on a possible change of leadership but asserted that the would win two thirds majority, not just a majority.



"Read my body language and hear what I am saying. will get two thirds majority. I could have said we will form the government. I am going beyond that," he told reporters at a function to celebrate two years of the BJP-led government at the centre.

Shah was less confident about the Akali Dal-BJP coalition's chances in Punjab saying: "I have not been there yet so I am not sure how we will fare there".

About the recent tensions between the PDP-BJP alliance inJammu and Kashmir, he said all coalitions faced some difficulties but these were not insurmountable. He also said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill will be passed in the Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session.

"The Congress is the soleexception that is preventing the bill. You should ask them what they aregaining from their stance of preventing Parliament from functioning" he said,adding the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)'s victory in TamilNadu was an important development and that party was committed to India'sprogress.

Shah said the party had not yet decided if it would projecta face as the party's chief ministerial candidate in UP. The functioning of theUP unit of the BJP is being toned up for the forthcoming assembly election andthe campaign will be flagged off with a rally in Saharanpur that will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.

As part of its secondanniversary, the BJP will hold meetings and rallies in around 200 places acrossIndia from May 26 to June 10. It has prepared copious propaganda material ofits achievements, including how Mudra Bank loans have been disbursed to 32.5 millionpeople across the country, a third of whom are women.

Of the other ministers, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Patna, Dehradun, Puneand also Pathankot in Punjab. The Punjab city had suffered a terror attack in January. All ministers will criss cross, the country to address rallies in constituencies that are not their own.
The recent study by the Delhi-based Centre for Science & Environment on white bread, bun, pav and pizza in New Delhi has put the spotlight firmly on potassium bromate, a chemical compound commonly used for baking.

The additive is used to strengthen dough and improve the shelf life of . It is also an affordable additive in comparison to ascorbic acid, a naturally occurring organic compound that is used to strengthen dough, says Ramesh Mago, president of the All India Manufacturers' Association. "This makes potassium bromate a viable alternative for the bread industry, since ascorbic acid cannot be used on its own. It has to be combined with some other enzymes to improve the quality of dough, which is key to the baking process," he says.

KNOW YOUR POISON Potassium bromate is used to strengthen dough, improve the shelf life of bread

It is also an affordable additive in comparison to ascorbic acid

EU and countries such as Canada, Brazil, Argentina and China have banned it

Potassium bromate, say experts, also helps bread to rise during the baking process, which is why it is a popular additive with local bakers. "While the US hasn't banned potassium bromate, the European Union and some other countries such as Canada, Brazil, Argentina and China have," says Ashwin Bhadri, chief executive, Equinox Labs, a Mumbai-based food testing and consulting company.

Bread makers say the permissible limit for potassium bromate in bread in the US is higher, at 75 parts per million, in comparison to Indias 50 ppm. Mago argues its use is widespread in the US, though there are breads available that do not use it.

In its study, CSE noted that potassium bromate was a Category 2B carcinogen, meaning it could cause cancer, while potassium iodate could trigger thyroid disorders. We found 84 per cent of the samples positive with potassium bromate/iodate. We re-confirmed the presence of potassium bromate/iodate in a few samples through an external third-party laboratory. We checked labels and talked to industry and scientists. Our study confirms the widespread use of potassium bromate/iodate, as well as presence of bromate/iodate residues in the final product," said Chandra Bhushan, its deputy director-general.

The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said it would issue a notification shortly to remove potassium bromate from its food additives list.

However, bread makers argue that working out a replacement in manufacturing will take time and they should get three to six months for a switch.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has asked the Centre to let the state continue with its existing system of admission to medical and dental colleges and not be forced to implement even in the future.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, a first after taking over as the CM, Jayalalithaa thanked him for the speedy promulgation of an Ordinance on Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). It provided for an exemption from for this academic year (2016-17) with respect to the state government seats (in government or private medical colleges) at an under-graduate level.

This has, for the time being, put to rest the mental agony, stress and anxiety of lakhs of students and their parents that are aspiring for medical admission in the current year under the state quota, she said.

"The introduction of would be a direct infringement on the rights of the state and would cause grave injustice to the students of Tamil Nadu who have already been covered by a fair and transparent admission policy laid down by the government of Tamil Nadu, which has been working well," the Chief Minister wrote.

While the Ordinance would temporarily address the issue for the current year, Tamil Nadus situation is distinct and different from other states, she said.

The government has taken a number of steps, from 2005 onwards, in the direction of systematising the admission process to medical colleges, later abolished entrance examinations for professional undergraduate courses in the state, by enacting the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006. This Act was finally given effect to after receiving the assent of the President under Article 254(2) of the Constitution. This Act has been upheld by a decision of the Division Bench of the Madras High Court which was affirmed by the Apex Court, she explained.

This measure was taken keeping in view the interests of students, particularly from the weaker sections and rural areas, to ensure that a level playing field is created, she added.

Common entrance exams favour urban elite

The AIADMK governments stance is that the rural students and students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds will be unable to compete with urban elite students in such Common Entrance Examinations, which are designed to favour the "urban elite". The rural students will be put to great disadvantage because they lack the resources to enroll in training institutions and access materials available to urban students.

A large number of socially and economically backward meritorious rural students have benefited by the states decision to abolish the Common Entrance Examination, she claimed.

The introduction of NEET would nullify the implementation of the policy initiatives and socio-economic objectives of the State, as the regulations for a test may not have such enabling provisions. The test is out of tune with the prevailing socio-economic milieu and administrative requirements of Tamil Nadu.

She requested the Prime Minister to take necessary measures to ensure that Tamil Nadu is permitted to continue its existing system.
President said, India's policy towards China is, expanding areas of cooperation and reducing differences while addressing the Indian community in Guangzhou, China on Tuesday.

"India's policy towards China is, expanding areas of cooperation, reducing differences. Frequent bilateral visits reflect expanding relations between the two great nations. There has been phenomenal progress in bilateral relations since 1990. Trade between the two countries has increased from $ 2.9 billion in 2000 to more than $71 billion today. There is immense potential for growth in trade, investment and mutual economic cooperation," said President Mukherjee.

The President said India and China are closely cooperating with each other in most multilateral fora.

"India, a founding member of WTO supported the membership of China from day one. It argued in WTO that it is wrong to keep China with its vast population out of the WTO. India and China both are founding members of G-20. As the most advanced emerging economies, they are making major contributions to world growth," he added.

He said if 2.5 billion people of India and China come together and walk together, it will be a great event. Intensifying cooperation in trade, investment, development experience, sharing of best practises and cooperating in all areas is the biggest guarantor of peace, development and prosperity and this will ensure the onward march to progress of both nations.

President Mukherjee further said that the members of the Indian Community are unofficial ambassadors of India in the country in which they live.

"They carry part of India in their hearts at all times. India is proud of its diaspora. He invited the Indian diaspora to contribute its best to the gigantic task underway of transforming lives of billions of Indians," he added.
Ahead of his important discussions with President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese leaders tomorrow, today said India and China must expand their shared interests for the good of the world and move forward significantly enhancing their convergences.

Making his maiden visit as the Head of the State, Mukherjee, a veteran of the Indian political system, feels this was necessary not just for the good of the two countries but for the world in general.

"This is the message that I bring on this visit," the President told PTI as he began the Beijing leg of his four-day State Visit to China.

"Experience leads me to believe that our two nations do have the capability to significantly enhance our convergences-and move forward.

"A rising India and rising China must expand their shared interests - not only because it is good for them (but also for the good of the world). This is the message that I bring on this visit," he said.

He was replying to a question on what his experience was on his meetings in China with leaders during the visit that began yesterday in the highly-industrialised province of Guangdong and his interactions with several important personalities.

Mukherjee, 80, who has visited China in various capacities during his long political career including as Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, had last night said that the cardinal principle of Indian diplomacy and its relationship with China is expanding areas of agreement and reducing divergence.
On his visit to China, Indian promised a conducive environment for Chinese investors and urged them to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship programmes of the government to boost bilateral trade.

"We will facilitate your efforts to make your investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies," said President addressing a meeting of the India-China Business Forum here on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

The forum, attended by industrialists and businessmen of both sides, was told by the President that India would like to see greater market for Indian products in China in a bid to balance bilateral trade, which is now in China's favour.

This, he said, would particularly be needed in sectors where the two countries have natural complementarities as in drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and IT-related services and agro products.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that there is emerging focus on two-way investment flows," he said.

The President noted that the bilateral trade between India and China has grown steadily since the turn of this century from $2.91 billion in 2000 to $71 billion last year.

Guangdon province boasts of a $1 trillion economy with high manufacturing and other industries along with being a powerful export house of China. It has sister province relationship with Gujarat and Maharashtra.

A pilot smart city cooperation project has been announced between Shenzhen and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat last year.

Referring to the links of 2nd century before the Christian era between Guangdong and Kanchipuram through a direct sea route, Mukherjee said this is an exciting time for India and China to reinforce the old linkages and join hands for new.

Noting that India has recorded a growth rate of 7.6% each year for over a decade now, he said India believes that it cannot grow in isolation.

"In an increasingly interconnected world, India would like to benefit from technology advances and best practices of different countries.

"The comprehensive reforms introduced in key areas of our economy have enhanced the ease of doing business in India. Our foreign investment regime has been liberalised through simplified procedures. And removal of restrictions on foreign investments," he said.

The President said these reforms have renewed the interest of global investors in India. In 2014, there was a 32% growth in investments and in 2015, India emerged as one of the biggest global investment destinations, he said.

Mukherjee said India would like more of China's overseas direct investment which has now crossed USD $100 billion mark.

He said the Indian government was setting up industrial corridors, investment and manufacturing zones and dedicated freight corridors to stimulate investment in this sector.

Its '100 Smart Cities" initiative will transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, he said.

"India welcomes your participation in these programmes. Chinese companies, with inherent strengths in infrastructure and manufacturing, can look towards India as an important destination in their 'Going Global' strategy.

"On their part, Indian companies can partner with Chinese enterprises in the new domain of 'Internet of Things' which underlines the 'Made in China 2025' strategy," he said.

The President said he was happy to note that a good start has been made by Chinese businesses who are investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India.

Bilateral cooperation in India's railway sector is also progressing well, he said.

A good number of premier Indian IT firms and other manufacturers are present in China, he said and noted that Indian entrepreneurs were also considering the prospects of jointly exploring opportunities in third countries.

Summing up, the President said India believed there was great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among the two countries, which faced similar opportunities on coming together.

"To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities.

"We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, CII President Naushad Forbes said there was huge potential for doing much more in terms of bilateral investment and trade between the two countries.

He said there was huge opportunity for China to participate in India's infrastructure sector.

The strength of the Indian economy is in the hundreds and thousands of firms in the private sector, Forbes said.

"It is not just a few decisions but these private enterprises who make the difference. We welcome Chinese investment in various sectors including automobiles and electronics. Similarly pharmaceuticals and IT sector in China provide good opportunities for the Indian companies," he said.

Chinese Council for Promotion of International Trade Chairman Jiang Zengwei, in his speech, said Chima is interested in participating in India's 'Make in India' and 'Smart Cities' initiatives.
A Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and his brother were shot dead on Wednesday by Maoists during campaigning for panchayat polls in Bihar's district, police said.

LJP leader Sudesh Paswan and his brother Sunil Paswan were killed in broad daylight near Tola Dubat in Gaya, about 100 km from here, a district police official said.

Maoists also torched two cars and a motorcycle used in the campaigning in support of the slain LJP leader's wife, who is in the fray for the village head's post.

According to police officials, Maoists left behind pamphlets claiming the LJP leader was punished for being a police informer.

Later, hundreds of local residents protested against the killings by blocking roads and demanding the arrest of those involved in the crime.

Early this week, Maoists slit the throats of three people for allegedly working as police informers.
Please see the correction at the bottom of the story.



These two years have been about the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) civil society versus the others. Entrenching the first in the heart of policy making and atmosphere-building eco-systems has gone hand-in-hand with controlling the dissent of others. The attempt has been to redraw the government's engagement with civil society and also recast the latter. Think tanks seen linked with the BJP, such as the Vivekanada International Foundation and India Foundation have finally arrived in Lutyens' Delhi. Associations of NRI friends got occasions to showcase their adulation for Prime Minister Modi and get it beamed back to build an atmosphere.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a four day visit to China, said on Wednesday that there is great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among the two nations and called on the Chinese investors to be part of India's economic growth story.

Addressing the India-China Business Forum event, the President said that the stability of the relationship between the two nations in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilising these opportunities and coming together.

"To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. India is committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," the President said.

Adding that India is an economically young nation, President Mukherjee said that India's primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development.

He also said that India is steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in the country.

"China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us. We believe that stepping up our two way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship initiatives of Government of India," he said.

Assuring that India will facilitate efforts of Chinese investors to make their investments in India profitable, the President said that advantage must be taken of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both the nations' economies.
The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved an investment of Rs 10,736 crore in five railway projects involving decongestion of the existing network, through doubling and tripling of existing lines.

"Most of these lines are over-saturated with a capacity utilisation of more than 100 per cent. The doubling and tripling projects would benefit multiple states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh," rail minister Suresh Prabhu said.

He added the funds for implementing the projects would be sourced through a combination of Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) from the finance ministry and Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR). "Most of these projects would be completed in a period of three to five years or even before that," Prabhu said.

The projects include doubling of the 467-kilometer Pune-Miraj-Londa line in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 3,627 crore; doubling of 116-Km Surendranagar-Rajkot project in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 1,002 crore; and doubling of 180-Km Roza-Sitapur-Burhwal broad gauge single line in Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,295 crore.

The cabinet also approved laying 264-Km Vizianagaram and Titlagarh third line project at a cost of Rs 2,335 crore. "The 3rd line is an alternative route to over-burdened existing line.

This link also opens an alternative route to oversaturated Kharagpur - Jharsuguda section Howrah-Mumbai Grand Trunk Route and Howrah-Chennai section main line. Districts in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh would be benefitted through this project," an official statement read.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also gave its approval for taking up Bina-Katni third line project involving an investment of Rs 2,478 crore. The 278-km long railway line is likely to ease passenger flow and freight traffic in Sagar, Damoh and Katni districts in Madhya Pradesh.
The Centre has formally withdrawn the gazette notification of May 18 wherein it had capped the licence fee for all new genetically modified seed technologies and also sought to regulate the bilateral agreement between seed technology licence providers and licensees.

The notification was officially withdrawn on Tuesday.

The central government, based on the advice of the Controller and after consultation with the committee referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause 5, hereby rescinds the notification of Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare) published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary Part-II, section-3, sub-section-(ii), dated the 18th May, 2016 vide S.O. No. 1813(E), dated the 18th May, 2016, the notification said.

The clause was one of the main contentious points according to licence providers. It required all existing bilateral agreements between seed licence providers and licensees to adhere to the new pattern within the next 30 days, failing which the agreements would be considered null and void.

The Centre has now decided to put the May 18 notification in the public domain for 90 days. Any action will be taken only after that.

The new agreement says licence providers will not have any say on choosing whom to give a licence and anyone who fulfils the criteria would be eligible.

The notification capped the trait value (equivalent of licence or royalty fee) for all new genetically modified (GM) seed technologies at 10 per cent of the maximum sale price. The fee will be capped for the first five years from the time the technology is commercialised in India, after which it will be lowered at 10 per cent each year. This was in addition to the retail sale price of BT cotton seeds, which has already been regulated by the government.

Cotton is the only crop in which GM technology is allowed for commercial use in India. Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd, a subsidiary of seed giant Monsanto, might have been impacted the most due to the notification as it was the biggest licence provider of GM seeds in India.
The Union mines ministry has convened a meeting of ministers of mineral bearing states at Jaipur in Rajasthan on Friday to discuss on various issues pertaining to development of mineral sector in the country.

The issues to be taken up at the meeting include preparedness of states for e-auction of the major mineral blocks, setting up of district mineral foundation (DMF), status of collection under National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET), framing of minor mineral rules, and curbing illegal .

So far, six mineral blocks have been auctioned in Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh. The mineral blocks need to be prepared for putting them up on mineral auctions by every state government.

On DMF and NMET, the meeting would take stock of the status of collection of money and its utilisation by the state governments.

In case of minor minerals, the Union mines ministry has prepared draft guidelines for of minor minerals which was circulated to the state governments.

The ministry would review the status of framing of rules by the states for grant of minor mineral concessions.

To curb incidences of illegal mining, a ' Surveillance System for major minerals is being developed with the help of Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications & Geo-Informatics (BISAG), Gujarat under Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeiTY) with the use of space technology. The state governments have been asked to make available digitised lease-wise information for all major mineral leases in their state for expediting the development of MSS. The penal provisions for illegal mining cases under Section 21 have been enhanced to a maximum penalty of Rs five lakh and jail term if five years.

The meeting would also take stock of the level of adoption of IT in mineral regulation and administration by the state governments.
There will be financial restructuring of central government-owned Hindustan Steel Works Construction (HSCL), engaged in civil infrastructure construction projects, to enable its takeover by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), also owned by the Centre. This decision was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

The paid-up capital of the HSCL is Rs 117 crore. Under the proposal, the government's non-plan and plan loans, along with accumulated interest thereon and guarantee fee, worth Rs 1,502 crore, will be converted into equity. Accordingly, equity capital of the company will be raised to that extent. The paid-up equity capital will become Rs 1,619 crore.

Against this, the accumulated loss of Rs 1,585 crore, as on end-March 2015, will be set off. After writing off the accumulated losses, the equity and paid-up capital of HSCL will become Rs. 34.3 crore. will infuse Rs 35.7 crore as equity into HSCL and the latter would become its subsidiary. will hold 51 per cent equity in HSCL and the government holding would come down to 49 per cent. The paid-up capital of HSCL will become Rs 70 crore.

and HSCL have similar business activities. Established in 1964 for construction of modern integrated steel plants, HSCL has diversified into other civil infrastructure construction. NBCC is a Navratna enterprise, in the construction sector.

The decision will benefit both companies, went an official statement.

HSCL started incurring losses since 1978-79, mainly due to absorption of a large workforce from several other public sector units (PSUs), and from private companies, increasing the staff from 4,100 in 1970 to 26,537 in 1979. The revival package approved by the government in 1999 and further attempts for financial restructuring were not successful.

A Committee of Secretaries recommended in July 2015 that the steel ministry explore the possibility of merger, takeover of HSCL by another PSU in a related sector. A Group of Secretaries (GoS) was constituted to prepare a paper on the way forward. On its recommendations, a Cabinet note was prepared for financial restructuring of HSCL and its takeover by NBCC.

The government will provide one-time support of Rs 200 crore for settling term loans from commercial banks. It will also bear the contingent liability of Rs 110 crore as decided by the Supreme Court in compensation for voluntary retirement scheme liabilities. In addition, it will pay the interest dues on the bank loans for 2015-16, amounting to Rs 44 crore, and the amount of interest up to the date of takeover of HSCL by NBCC.

Other decisions

The Cabinet also approved financial restructuring of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation (HFC), to revive the sick company. This would include waiver of a government loan of Rs 1,916 crore as on end-March 2015 and interest dues on the loan as of date. The interest amount was Rs 7,163 crore as on March 31 last year.

The Cabinet also approved transfer of 56 acres of the ash dyke land of its Barauni unit to Bihar State Power Generation Company, to settle HFC dues and for faster revival of that unit.

This Cabinet decision will facilitate deregistration of HFC from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, by making its net worth positive. The Barauni unit has been defunct since January 1999.

There is no functional urea unit in the eastern part, except two small units at Namrup (Assam). The annual consumption of urea in the country is 32 million tonnes, of which 25 mt is produced indigenously. A new unit at Barauni will meet the growing demand of Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand. It will also ease the pressure on railway and road infrastructure due to transportation of urea from the western and central regions, also saving in government subsidy on freight. This unit will create opportunities for 400 direct and 1,200 indirect jobs.

The Barauni unit will also serve as an anchor one to the Jagdishpur-Haldia gas pipeline being laid by GAIL, considered important for growth of the economy and infrastructure in eastern India.

YES Bank

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also granted approval for raising the foreign investment limit to 74 per cent in YES Bank from the existing 41.87 per cent, without any sub-limits. This will result in foreign direct investment of $1 billion (Rs 6,900 crore).

Approvals also came for:
The oil ministry on Wednesday formally launched the auction of 67 discovered small oil & gas fields and announced the contracts for all the acreages with reserves worth Rs 70,000 crore are likely to be placed by January 2017. State-run firms Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will continue to hold the leases until the award.



In the past, both the government and the DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons) created obstacles and reserves worth Rs 70,000 crore remained locked. Our government has brought a separate policy with switch over to revenue-sharing model and launched the bid round. All contracts will be signed by January 2017, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in a post-launch briefing.



The 67 blocks were originally discovered by ONGC and OIL, but could not be developed due to their small size or technical and geological constraints.



The ministry had originally identified 69 blocks, including 63 held earlier by ONGC and six discovered by OIL. However, two of the blocks have been removed from the list of acreages to be auctioned. Of the 67 blocks on offer, 28 discoveries are in Mumbai offshore and 14 are in the Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra coast. Also, 10 discoveries are located in the Assam shelf area. The biggest discovery on offer is D-18 in Mumbai offshore with 14.7 million tonne oil reserves.



The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) Atanu Chakraborty said the regulator will open its date room for investors simultaneously in Noida and multiple foreign locations, including London and Calgary, on June 6. Bidding will commence from July 15 and last till October 31, 2016. Based on the interest observed, the blocks will be awarded to successful bidders within two months of the last date of bid submission. Contracts will be signed within one month of the award.

"This is an excellent opportunity for companies to participate in the bidding round because it comes at a time when the cost of services for the E&P sector is low globally," ONGC chairman DK Sarraf said. Another senior official close to the development said the government expects more interest to flow in from small but technically sound investors, though some of the big E&P companies may also participate.

The 67 blocks on offer are present in 46 contract areas with 625 million barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas of in-place reserves spread over 1,500 square kilometer in onland, shallow water and deepwater areas. Pradhan said the guiding principles behind the auction were enhancing output, attracting investment, employment generation, transparency and minimising administrative discretion.

Domestic road-shows for the bidding will be held in Mumbai on June 6, followed by similar events in Bangalore and Guwahati while international road-shows will be conducted across six geographies including Singapore, Houston, London, Dubai, Calgary and Perth.
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) is holding a two-day national conclave on the theme, 'Increasing US India Trade to $500 billion', in Hyderabad on June 3, 2016.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the event, which would be attended by about 300 delegates including the business leaders such as GMR Group Chairperson G M Rao among others, said on Wednesday.

According to Senior Vice-Chairperson Govindhari, the objective of the conclave was to promote Indo-American business, trade and economic relations in investment, technology transfer, collaborations, JVs among other areas.

Currently Indo-US trade stands at $100 billion with a compounded annual growth rate of 13 per cent in the past 10 years. To achieve a quick four-fold increase over the present trade volume, as much as 60 per cent growth will have to come from unblocking trade in key sectors like aerospace and defence, infrastructure, and logistics, energy, services and manufacturing, Govindhari said.
On Tuesday, when Tech Mahindra announced that it was dropping its plan to start a payments bank, thanks to the long payback time, it became the third licence holder, out of 11, to do so.

Last week, a consortium of Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank and Telenor Financial Services had given up its plan to set up a . In March, Cholamandalam Investment and Co too had opted out.

LIST OF LICENCE HOLDERS Reliance Industries

Aditya Birla Nuvo (Idea Cellular)

Airtel

Vodafone

Dept of Posts

FINO PayTech

National Securities Depository Ltd

Paytm (Vijay Shekhar Sharma)

Players who dropped out

Tech Mahindra

Dilip Shanghvi

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance

As the launch deadline approaches, there are only eight players left to fulfil the Reserve Bank of Indias ambitious plan to start niche in the country.

Profitability concerns, coupled with the limited scope of business activity, are proving to be the biggest deterrent. Those who have backed out have cited competitive pressure on the margins as the main reason. Experts believe that it will take a minimum of three to five years to break even.

RBIs restrictions and rules are so tough that it is difficult for a standalone to make money, says Suresh Ganapathy, financials analyst, Macquarie Capital.

The evolution in technology over the past ten months, after the licences were issued, is another reason that has forced the players to rethink their plans. NPCI's Unified Payments System is set to completely revolutionise digital money transfer by making sending money as simple as a text message.

At the same time, competition in the digital banking space has intensified with entering the fray. With their captive customer base and deep pockets, they have an edge over other payments banks and digital wallet players.

WHY LICENCE HOLDERS ARE BAILING OUT Payments banks are not allowed to lend. This will limit their earning potential

Profits will be a challenge as margins are very thin

As income channels are limited, payments banks will be under pressure to generate volume

Competition has intensified in the digital money transfer space with banks joining the race

Government initiatives aimed at the unbanked population have considerably reduced the scope of doing business for payments banks

The changes in technology have been rapid. Banks have become very nimble which raises questions over the long-term consistency of the payments banks business model, says Abizer Diwanji, head of financial services at EY. And these players have already seen the aggression of the existing players which is only expected to intensify further.

Inclusion is the goal

Through payments banks, RBI wants to improve financial inclusion. These banks will provide small savings accounts and payments/remittance services. They are allowed to accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh. However, they cannot lend or issue credit cards.

As a result, their main source of income will be fee income and not the net interest income as in the case of universal banks. Given that in order to woo customers, payments banks may initially have to offer a higher rate compared to the 4 per cent offered by most commercial banks, their net interest margins will come under pressure.

Analysts believe that it is mainly the telecom companies that will be able to survive the heat. The Nachiket Mor Committee on these niche banks had stated that the telecom companies that have wide reach and also have a connect with the un-banked population will be able to establish themselves quickly.

Out of the remaining eight players, three are telecom companies: Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.

Ganapathy seconds this view. He believes that they can give extra payment options to their customers and therefore stay relevant to them. They are not in the business to make more money  if they dont do it, the original mobile business will suffer. So to be competitive, they need to be in the payments solutions, he adds.

Some of those who are still in the race say that initially a lot of players got into it without fully comprehending the business model as it was for the first time that the banking regulator had introduced niche banks into the country. Once they realised that there was no precedence, they started to rethink their plans.

I think the business model as envisaged would definitely have challenges in terms of their making any commercial sense of the transactions of procuring customers, having a balance, using that only for the purpose of parking in government securities, passing on incentives on payments from vendors back to the customer. The whole model must have some business proposition; then only this will be viable, says Deloitte Partner Kalpesh Mehta.

Yet another challenge that has emerged over the past one-and-a-half years is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana that was also aimed at bringing the un-banked population under the established financial system. Since its inception, banks have opened 21.87 million accounts.

Still, the payments banks remain hopeful, given that in urban areas consumers have more than one bank and therefore there is still scope to reach out to these players. However, as experts point out, the truth is that the scope indeed has reduced considerably.

Out of the 41 who had applied for a payments bank licence, RBI gave in-principle approval only to 11.

However, questions on the profitability of these banks are not being raised for the first time. But, as Diwanji explains, the initial excitement over niche banks was there because for the first time corporations were being allowed to get into the banking space. But with profits looking like a distant dream, in at least the first three to five years of operations, not surprisingly, these corporations are seeing their enthusiasm slowly fade away.
Last quarter, Kolkata-based emerged as one of the worst performers in the banking sector. Mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) weighed heavy on the banks balance sheet, steering it closer to the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) prompt corrective action triggers, along with a possible candidature for merger with a stronger bank. However, with Vinod Rai, chairman of the Board Bureau (BBB) recently saying the bank would be re-energised as a standalone institution and not merged, bank employees are looking to intensify measures for a turnaround.

In the 1990s also, faced a crisis, and was at the brink of closure. However, on insistence from employee unions, the proposal was abandoned. Now too, as the BBB chairman has said, we are confident that the bank will survive, and we are all working hard to recover dues, mobilise CASA (current account and savings account) deposits, curtail costs and improve customer service, said K Vijhayan, general secretary, All India Employees Association.

Notably, are required to set aside up to three per cent of their net profit for the staff welfare fund. The actual amount by each bank depends on the number of employees. In FY16, UCO Bank had posted a net loss of Rs 2,799 crore. Thus, the employees this year might not be entitled to the fund.

UCO Bank had posted a net loss of Rs 1,715 crore in the fourth quarter of FY16, against a net profit of Rs 209 crore in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, the banks net loss increased by around 15 per cent as it had posted a net loss of Rs 1,497 crore in the third quarter of FY16.

While UCO Bank had to make significant provisions for asset quality review as mandated by RBI, there are other factors that contributed to the banks high losses.

Notably, since 2012, UCO Bank has been enjoying interest-free deposits on account of rupee-trade mechanism with Iran. UCO Bank was the only conduit for payment among to settle trade with Iran. Under the mechanism, 45 per cent of oil imports of Indian oil companies are settled in rupee denomination at UCO Bank. With sanctions in Iran lifted, the banks corpus of fund from the scheme has been shrinking. Against the peak collection of Rs 23,000-25,000 crore of deposits, the corpus has now come down to around Rs 10,000 crore. This apart, the NPAs at UCO Bank are on a higher side due to the high share of corporate loans in the banks lending portfolio. While most banks have a corporate-retail mix of 50:50, in case of UCO Bank, the share is around 60 per cent, leading to higher NPAs, according to Charan Singh, executive director of UCO Bank.

If the net NPA of a bank is 10-15 per cent, RBI-imposed restrictions set in, such as limitation in entering new lines of business, making dividend payments, increasing stake in subsidiaries, and special drive to contain NPAs.

In the last quarter, the total provision & contingencies for the bank was Rs 2,283 crore, against Rs 1,018 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, a growth of 124 per cent. The provision coverage ratio of the bank rose to 53.87 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY16, against 52.65 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
A national meeting of the Ministers in-charge of Mining Department of all State Governments has been convened under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Jaipur on 27th May 2016 to discuss the key issues pertaining to the mining sector. .

.

This would be the second such meeting of the Mining Ministers of all the States for discussing the issues at the highest level of governance in the mining sector. .

.

The Jaipur national meeting of the Mining Ministers would provide an appropriate platform to discuss, review and firm up the way-ahead in expediting the pace of reforms initiated by the MMDR (Amendment) Act effective from 15.01.2015 and its adoption in respect of minor minerals as well. This high level meeting of the States Mining Ministers will enable intensive discussion on the issues, challenges and opportunities in the mining sector to realize its optimum potential and provide an effective platform to showcase the recent policy initiatives of the Government of India. It will also help the Central Government to take feedback on further improvements in the policy environment in the mining sector. .

.

The inaugural session will be chaired by the Union Minister of Steel & Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. It is expected that 11 Ministers from respective states who have confirmed their participation would detail the efforts of the State Governments for promoting ease of doing business in the mining sector. They will highlight the key issues which the States may have encountered during the implementation of the reforms in mining and minerals sector. The Union Secretary Mines, Shri Balvender Kumar will start the discussion with a presentation apprising the States about the key issues of the mining sector and their current status. .

.

The 2nd session of the one-day meet would be a technical session to be chaired by Union Secretary (Mines) Shri Balvender Kumar, wherein all the key issues of the mining sector will be discussed in depth amongst the officials of Mines Departments across all States and help in exchange of experiences and information. .

.

The key issues for discussion include the preparedness for e-auction of major mineral blocks, management of District Mineral Foundations (DMF), National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET), minor mineral rules, effective ways of curbing illegal mining, adoption of IT/newer technology for mineral administration, extension of Mining Leases & timely processing of Saved Mining Lease Applications before 11.01.2017. .

.

So far, Mining Ministers of the 11 States have confirmed their participation for the meeting. Besides this, a total of 12 more States have confirmed their participation through the senior officers In-charge of the Mining Departments. .

.

The meeting is being organized by the Ministry of Mines, through active participation and co-ordination by Geological Survey of India (GSI), National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO) & Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL). The Mining Department of the State of Rajasthan is the co-host of this national event. .

.

The first meeting of the Mining Ministers was held on the 19th of January 2015, immediately after the MMDR Amendment Ordinance was implemented. The first meeting was extremely fruitful in firming up the strategy for implementation of the unfolding policy paradigm based on maxim of fostering transparency and realization of fair value. .

.

More than a year has passed since the reforms have been actuated. During this period the Central Government has come out with needed sub-ordinate legislation and other auction templates, based on which several blocks have been put up on auction by the State Governments and the NMET & DMFs have been constituted. Furthermore, newer technologies such as information technology & space technology are being adopted for efficient and good mineral regulation and administration. For making this path breaking programme a success, close collaboration with the State agencies is warranted. These all issues are on the agenda for discussion with the States for firming up credible and time bound action plan for effective implementation of reforms in the context of major minerals and also roll out a similar regime based on transparency in dealing with grant of concessions of minor minerals by the States. .

.

YSK/Uma
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee addressed the India-China Business Forum event at Guangzhou today (May 25, 2016). .

.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said India believes that there is great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among our two nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges. The stability of our relationship in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilizing these opportunities and coming together. To realize the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. India is committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story. .

.

The President said India is a young nation. Our primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development. We are steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in our country. China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us. We believe that stepping up our two way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in Make in India and other flagship initiatives of Government of India. India will facilitate efforts of Chinese investors to make their investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies. .

.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh which has been registered as a Society under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 with effect from 20th August 2015. .

.

The Cabinet also approved introduction of a Bill namely the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for inclusion of the NIT, Andhra Pradesh in its First Schedule. .

.

The post- facto approval of the Cabinet for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 2001 would give a legal entity to NIT, Andhra Pradesh. The proposed amendments to the NITSER Act, 2007 will ensure a high levels of public accountability and increased participation of the. stakeholders in the administration and academic activities of the Institute. .

.

This Institute is being funded by the Government of India. It is being run and managed by their respective Society registered under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 till such time this Institute is brought under the National Institutes of Technology Science Education and Research Act (NITSER) 2007. The accounts will be audited by the C & AG of India and will be laid in both the Houses of the Parliament. .

.

Background:.

.

NIT, Andhra Pradesh has been set up to cater to the needs of State of Andhra Pradesh which did not have NITs. NIT, Andhra Pradesh will specifically be benefitted the State of Andhra Pradesh and the whole country in general. NIT, Andhra Pradesh will be covered under the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007 to declare it an Institution of National Importance, which will ultimately help in addressing the aspirations of people in the main stream of technical education. .

.

NIT, Andhra Pradesh was established at temporary campus of West Godavari District: of Andhra Pradesh. The State Government of Andhra Pradesh has also provided a land for NIT-Andhra Pradesh at West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. As per policy of Government, 50% of the seats in NITs are earmarked for the eligible domicile students of States / tits where the NITs are situated. NIT, Andhra Pradesh will ensure that the students of State of Andhra Pradesh will get adequate opportunities to pursue research at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels, in an inter-disciplinary knowledge regime and research environment. .

.

As per Schedule 13 (Education) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 according to which the Government of India shall take steps to establish 'Institutions of National Importance' in the 12th and 13th Plan periods in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, the Ministry of HRD decided for setting up of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh through a temporary campus as an Institution registered under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 with a view to bring the NIT, Andhra Pradesh under the ambit of the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER), Act, 2007 through an amendment in the existing Act and declaring NIT, Warangal as its mentor Institute for the first 2-3 years or till such time NIT, Andhra Pradesh is well established at its permanent site. The permanent site of NIT, Andhra Pradesh has already been finalized at Air-Field lands of Tadepalligudem Mandal in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. .

.
In the aftermath of the insurgent attack on Assam Rifles convoy in Chandel District on 22 May 16 in which One Junior Commissioned Officer and five soldiers were martyred, Gen Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff along with Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi, Army Commander, Eastern Command visited 29 Assam Rifles battalion today. .

.

The COAS interacted with Maj Gen VS Sreenivas, IGAR (South) and Commanding Officer of the battalion and was briefed on the incident including the combing operations in progress and the measures undertaken to neutralise the insurgent group involved in the attack. The Chief stressed on the need to further carryout relentless operations against the insurgents active in the region. .

.

The COAS expressed his condolences to the families of the martyrs and directed the officials to ensure all required support was extended to the families. The Army Commander meanwhile, reiterated that, such acts of violence by insurgents strengthen our resolve to continue operations against insurgent groups with an aim to ensure lasting peace and prosperity in the region." .

.

Col Rohan Anand, SM.

PRO (Army)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Pune-Miraj-Londa railway line project at an estimated cost of Rs.3,627.47 crore and expected completion cost of Rs.4,246.84 crore with 5% escalation per annum. .

.

The length of the railway line will be 467 km. The completion period of the project will be five years. .

.

Besides travelling people, industries in and around Miraj-Londa section will have additional transport capacity to meet their requirements. Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between Pune-Miraj-Londa section thereby increasing the revenue of Railways. .

.

Background: .

.

Miraj is a junction station on Londa to Mumbai double line route via Sangli, Karad, Satara. The Pune-Miraj section is non-electrified single line on diesel traction and it is oversaturated. The additional traffic running over and above 100% of utilization is proposed to be diverted on the proposed doubling. The doubling of the section would come as an advantage as it would strengthen the rail network necessary to operate more passenger trains with increased speed and better efficiency. Doubling between Bangalore-Hubli and Hospet-Vasco-da-gama is already in progress. Once these works are completed, there will be tremendous increase in traffic over the Miraj-Londa section. Therefore, doubling between Pune-Miraj-Londa is required. .

.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Roza -Sitapur Cantt.- Burhwal Broad Gauge single line project at an estimated cost of Rs.1,295.42 crore with expected completion cost of Rs.1,486.46 crore with 5% escalation per annum. .

.

The length of the railway line will be 180.77 km. The completion period of the project will be five years. .

.

Doubling of this line between Burhwal junction and Roza junction will fulfil the demand of the increasing traffic leading to socio economic development of area. Besides, there will be continuous double line track available from Gorakhpur to Delhi via Sitapur Cantt. and Moradabad. Barabanki and Sitapur districts of Uttar Pradesh would also be benefitted through this project. .

.

Background: .

.

Roza -Sitapur Cantt.- Burhwal is a single line section. On one side Gorakhpur-Lucknow is already double line section and on the other side that is Delhi-Lucknow via Moradabad route is also a double line section. Burhwal-Sitapur falls in the jurisdiction of North-Eastern Railway and Sitapur-Roza falls in the jursidiction of Northern Railway. The project route is starting from Burhwal junction (on Gorakhpur-Lucknow double line section) and passing through Sitapur Cantt. connects to Roza junction (on Delhi-Lucknow via Moradabad on double line section). The area through which the project line traverses is having big Military installation at Sitapur Cantt. After completion of this double line, there will be continuous double line track available from Gorakhpur to Delhi via Sitapur Cantt. .

.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Surendranagar-Rajkot project at an estimated cost of Rs.1,002.39 crore with expected completion cost of Rs.1,137.17 crore with 5% escalation per annum. .

.

The length of the railway line will be 116.17 km. The completion period of the project will be four years. .

.

Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between Okha-Rajkot, Porbandar-Kanalus, Veraval-Rajkot and Maliya Maiyana / Navalakhi-Dahinsara-Wankaner section. .

.

Background: .

.

Surendranagar-Wankaner-Rajkot Broad Gauge Section is an important and saturated single line section carrying traffic originating and terminating at various destinations in Saurashtra region of Gujarat State. This single line has to carry the passenger as well as freight traffic originating /terminating between Okha-Rajkot section, Porbandar-Kanlus section, Veraval-Rajkot section and Maliya Maiyana / Navalakhi-Dahinsara-Wankaner section. In addition to this, freight traffic from two branch lines namely Sikka-Kanalus junction and Windmill-Jamnagar sections are also converged on to the project route. This makes the project route very busy single line section with very high potential to further growth due to the high industrial development envisaged in Saurashtra region in the coming years. .

.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for financial restructuring of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Limited (HFCL). The Cabinet, amongst other things, approved waiver of GoI loan of Rs. 1916.14 crores (as on 31.03.2015) and the outstanding interest on GoI loan as on date (the interest amount was Rs. 7163.35 crores as on 31.3.2015). The Cabinet also approved transfer of 56 acres of Ash Dyke land of Barauni unit to Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited (BSPGCL) to settle dues of HFCL for faster revival of Barauni Unit. .

.

This Cabinet approval will facilitate de-registration of HFCL from BIFR by making its net worth positive. It will clear the way for faster revival of Barauni unit of HFCL. This unit is lying defunct and was not in operation since January 1999.

Therefore, the unit and other associated facilities were lying unutilized. It is important to mention here that there is no functional urea unit in the Eastern part of the country except two small units at Namrup (Assam). .

.

The annual consumption of urea in the country is approx. 320 LMT, out of which 245 LMT is produced indigenously and rest is imported. The setting up of a new unit at Barauni will meet the growing demand of urea of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. It will also ease the pressure on railway and road infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions and thereby saving in govt. subsidy on freight. This unit will create opportunities for 400 direct and 1200 indirect employments. .

.

Barauni unit will also serve as anchor unit to Jagdishpur- Haldia gas pipeline being laid by Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), which is critical for development and growth of economy and infrastructure in eastern India. .

.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for financial restructuring of Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited (HSCL). It has also approved its takeover by National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Urban Development. .

.

The existing paid up equity capital of the HSCL is Rs.117.1 crore. Under the proposal, the Government of India Non Plan Loan and Plan Loan along with accumulated interest thereon and outstanding guarantee fee worth Rs.1502.2 crore will be converted into equity and equity capital of the company will be raised to that extent. The paid up equity capital of the company will become 1619.3 crore. Against this, the accumulated losses of Rs.1585 crore, as on 31.3.2015, will set off. After writing off of the accumulated losses, the equity and paid up capital of HSCL will become Rs. 34.3 crore. NBCC will infuse funds of Rs. 35.7 crore as equity into HSCL. HSCL will become subsidiary of NBCC with NBCC holding 51% equity holding. The shareholding of Government of India in HSCL will be reduced to 49%. The equity and paid up capital of HSCL will become Rs.70 crore. .

.

NBCC and HSCL are Government of India enterprises with similar lines of business activities.

The decision will benefit in economies of scale for NBCC and would assist in better manpower utilization. NBCC and HSCL will benefit from each others resources and expertise. HSCL will be able to fulfill its commitments of execution of projects and the orders. .

.

Government of India will provide one-time support of Rs.200 crore for settling term loans availed from commercial banks. It will also bear the contingent liability of Rs.110 crore (approximately) as decided by the Supreme Court in compensation for VRS liabilities. In addition, Government of India will also pay the outstanding interest on the bank loans for the financial year 2015-16 amounting to Rs. 44 crore approximately (till 31.03.2016) and the amount of interest up to the date of takeover of HSCL by NBCC. .

.

Background: .

.

HSCL was established in the year 1964 for construction of modern integrated steel plants. Over the years the company has diversified into other civil infrastructure construction projects. HSCL started incurring losses since 1978-79 mainly due to absorption of large workforce of several PSUs and private companies increasing the workforce from 4,100 in 1970 to 26,537 in 1979. The revival package for HSCL approved by Government of India in 1999 and further attempts for financial restructuring the company were not successful. .

.

The Committee of Secretaries recommended in July, 2015 that Ministry of Steel may explore the possibility of merger/takeover of HSCL by another CPSE in a related sector. A Group of Secretaries (GoS) was constituted to prepare a Paper on way forward for HSCL. On the recommendations of the GoS, and the subsequent consensus, a Cabinet Note was prepared for financial restructuring of HSCL and its takeover by NBCC. .

.
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on the eve of their Independence Day (May 26, 2016). .

.

In a message to His Excellency Brig. (Retd) David Arthur Granger, the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the President has said, On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me great pleasure to convey to Your Excellency, warm felicitations on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. .

.

The relations between India and Guyana are based on the solid foundation of shared history and culture. These have been further strengthened through exchanges of high level visits and people-to-people contacts. Your Excellencys meeting with Prime Minister of India in New York in September 2015 has imparted a fresh impetus to our ties. I am confident that this spirit of cooperation will be further enhanced in the coming years. .

.

I take this opportunity to convey to Your Excellency my best wishes for your well being and for the continued prosperity and progress of the friendly people of Guyana". .

.
Former Taliban Chief Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's Balochistan province The on Wednesday announced influential religious figure Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader after confirming supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike. Haibatullah was one of two deputies under Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday, the first known American assault on a top leader on Pakistani soil. "Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him," the Islamist group said in a statement. It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of the US, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies. Mansour's killing is a major blow to the militant movement just nine months after he was formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle, and sent shockwaves through the leadership. Haibatullah's appointment comes after the Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to find a unifying figure for the leadership post. Taliban sources told AFP the supreme council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid airstrikes.
was due to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday for a six-day visit that has fuelled speculation the UN chief is lining up a tilt at the presidency of his home country.

Ban's schedule involves a number of forums, including the UN NGO conference in the southern city of Gyeongju.

While he is not expected to hold any formal talks with political officials during his trip, it is his political future that has been the main topic of media coverage in the run-up to his arrival.

The soft-spoken 71-year-old will step down from the post of UN Secretary General at the end of the year -- 12 months before South Korea's presidential election in December 2017.

The ruling conservative Saenuri party, which suffered a shock defeat in parliamentary polls in April, has made it clear it would welcome Ban as its candidate.

Ban enjoys high popularity ratings in South Korea, which has taken substantial national pride from his position as head of the United Nations.

Speculation over his political ambitions has been making the rounds for years, but Ban has studiously declined to comment, saying only that he is focused on the remainder of his term as secretary general.

Saenuri party officials have been less circumspect.

"The UN Secretary General is the world's president, and Ban is so experienced and well-connected with all the world's leaders after serving in the top UN job for 10 years," Saenuri Party lawmaker Ahn Hong-Joon said in a radio interview.

"Now it's time for South Korea to put him to good use," Ahn said.

Not everyone is similarly enamoured with the prospect of a Ban presidency, with some critics suggesting his connections would throw up conflicts of interest.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon, seen as a possible liberal candidate in 2017, said Ban should recuse himself from for several years after leaving the UN.

"A UN chief can access a slew of confidential information about many countries and I think one can unfairly take advantage of the information when serving a particular country," Park said.

A career diplomat, Ban never joined a South Korean political party, although he served as foreign minister under the late liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun from 2004 to 2006.
Oil extended its advance to near $50 a barrel as weekly US industry data showed crude stockpiles declined, easing a glut. Futures rose as much as 1.7 per cent in New York Wednesday, marking a third day of gains. US oil inventories, which are near the highest in 80 years, dropped by 5.14 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That would be biggest decline since December. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release data later Wednesday. Oil has surged more than 85 per cent from a 12-year low in New York earlier this year on signs the ...
Donald Trump's rally in New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump demonstrators clashed with police, hurling rocks and burning clothes at officers, the latest scuffle to hit the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's campaign.

The "unlawful assembly" went on rampage, lighted fires and threw rocks at the police officers and their horses outside Trump's rally at a convention centre in New Mexico's Albuquerque. The police resorted to launching smoke bombs to disperse the violent crowd which overturned barricades and hurled rocks.

The protesters disrupted the 69-year-old New York-based real estate tycoon's speech several times yesterday. Most of the protesters were escorted out one by one.

"Go ahead, get them out of here," Trump told one of them.

However, the police had a tough time in controlling the demonstrators who were protesting against the policies and rhetorics of Trump.

"This is an unlawful assembly," Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik told protesters over a loudspeaker.

According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally. The police were in anti-riot gears.

In a series of tweets, Albuquerque said the protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police horses.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun. The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it is just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time," he tweeted.

While protests have not been a new phenomenon to Trump rallies, this is the first after he earned the Republican party's presidential nomination early this month.

Last month in California, pro- and anti-Trump protesters clashed with each other outside a city council meeting while in New York, a protester at a rally was shoved in the face twice by a Trump supporter.
The deal between India and France for 36 Rafale fighter jets has hit another roadblock, with the French government rejecting Indias request for a sovereign or bank guarantee, The Indian Express reported Wednesday. Instead, it has offered a comfort letter from that countrys prime minister, the report said.

India is yet to reply to any of the letters written by the French side. Earlier, the Law Ministry had raised objections to the French refusal to give a bank guarantee. The Defence Ministry declined to answer the newspapers queries, saying it wouldnt comment on an ongoing deal. According to the report, the French Defence Minister on April 1 wrote to Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar saying that Euro 7.8 billion for 36 jets is the best deal his country can offer. India asked for a 30% cut in the Euro 10.8 billion deal.

The deal is for the purchase of 36 fighter jets manufactured by Dasssault Aviation. Earlier, India was supposed to buy 126 of these fighters, but after price negotiations failed, that number was cut to 36. India will have to make 15% of the payment at the time of signing the deal.

There have been significant delays in the deal. It started off in 2012, but since then both the countries have gone on election mode and the change in government resulted in renegotiating the deal from scratch. Since India scaled down its demand from 126 fighters to 36, it will receive them in ready-to-fly condition. However, the first jet will be delivered in 36 months after the signing of the deal and the last will be delivered over seven years.

India is going for a changed configuration of the jets, unlike Qatar and Egypt, who purchased the same version flown by the French air force. India has demanded an Israeli helmet-mounted camera and a third-party weapons system.

There was a chance to close the deal this year when French President Francois Hollande visited India as the chief guest on Republic Day. But price negotiations once again came in the way. Now, the deal faces further delays given Presidential elections in France next year.
As steps into new destinations and increases the frequency of its current schedules, its parent Singapore Airlines (SIA) is shoring up its strategy for the four brands it plies in India. Keen to tap into the growing desire of Indians to fly abroad, especially in non-metros, SIA is using its no-frills ( and Tigerair) and premium carriers (Singapore Airlines and Silkair) to reach out to fliers in the low to premium segments with an identity that merges seamlessly across its brands.

BUDGET FLYING

A number of international airlines have their no-frills brands catering to Indian fliers, flying out of multiple cities in India to different destinations AIR ARABIA  to Sharjah

 to Sharjah Air Asia (and AirAsia X)  to Kuala Lumpur

 to Kuala Lumpur Fly Dubai to Dubai

to Dubai Tigerair (SIA)  to Singapore

 to Singapore (SIA)  to Singapore and beyond

Scoot is aiming for the budget platform, currently being served by a number of domestic and international carriers. In doing so, Scoot hopes to leverage SIA's long-standing association with India and the strong recall the brand has among fliers across categories. And at the same time it is giving wing to its parent's ambitions to be the largest international airline across segments, in India.

The last in a chain of four brands that SIA introduced in the country, Scoot currently flies Singapore-Chennai and Singapore-Amritsar and plans to add Jaipur to the list by October this year. It is a low-cost, medium-to-long haul carrier. Leslie Thng, chief commercial officer of Scoot and Tigerair, the two budget offerings from SIA, says that India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world.

The Indian aviation market grew by 27 per cent in 2016 over the previous year, making it the fastest growing market in the world, according to the passenger traffic data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). With Scoot SIA will be present in all four spaces including premium (Singapore Airlines), full service (Silk Air), low cost (Tiger Airways) and low cost-cum-medium and long haul (Scoot). It is also a partner with the Tata group in Vistara.

What drives SIA to fly so many brands? The strategy is to penetrate the market and widen the base at the same time. SIA is using Silkair and Tigerair, which have smaller aircraft, to penetrate and grow the market. Having developed the market, it secures the relationship by flying in larger aircraft from Singapore Airlines and Scoot.

A new holding company, Budget Aviation Holdings, is looking at ways to maximise the synergy between Tigerair and Scoot. But the brands will continue to operate as separate identities for the time being. Scoot took over operations from Tigerair for its Singapore-Chennai route. Tigerair is for passengers travelling to Singapore while Scoot targets passengers going beyond, to Australia, Taipei, Korea and Japan. Scoot is aiming at 80-85 per cent occupancy in its Indian operations over a period of time. Almost 60 per cent of the total airlines market in South East Asia is low cost carrier market, the company says.

However, many budget airlines have crashed to the ground in India, despite the best plans and the biggest advertising budgets. Competitors such as AirAsia X and Jetstar Asia have been badly bruised, indicating that the ride is not going to be smooth. Thng believes that Scoot will score on quality of flying experience. Besides, he says the airline's operating costs are lower due to the fuel efficiency of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts. Scoot, he claims, will run up expenses at least 15-40 per cent lower than traditional airlines.

Interestingly, for a budget airline, Scoot is banking on the quality of its service. Thng says that his airline will offer far more choices to the flier than any of the others. "We offer comfort, better pricing and our values are attractive," said Thng, who is targeting both leisure and corporate travellers.

Analysts believe that Scoot will rely heavily on transit traffic to fill up its new flights from India. The company will be looking at tier II cities in the country for expansion and it would look at a pan India presence over a period of time, says Bharath Mahadevan, country head (India), Scoot.

The airline expects 50-80 per cent of passengers from India to fly onwards on its network in Southeast Asia and Australia. Also, it will tap into the demand for cargo transfers and Scoot can carry 10-12 tonnes daily on each flight. It is also banking on cross-selling opportunities with Singapore Airlines.

However, the big challenge for the brand will be dealing with customer expectations. Since Scoot is relying heavily on SIA's brand pull, it will have to contend with customers expecting a similar service even when flying on a budget. Thng says that the airline will focus on educating consumers travelling on a full service carrier and then hopping on to a low-cost connecting flight. There will be some product differences; there will be some things low cost carriers will not do. But, he says, "We are hopeful that cross selling among the four airlines will work."



Scoot currently has 11 aircraft and will be adding another nine 787 Dreamliners to its fleet. "In the future we want to operate daily service to the destinations we are operating," says Thng.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to reduce the number of listed companies on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The move follows an off-site meeting of Sebis top team last month where several focus areas were discussed, including reduction of listed companies which have been suspended.

Sebi chairman U K Sinha said more than 3,000 companies were listed on regional exchanges for which exit plan has been spelt out. Of these, 511 have opted to upgrade and get listed on main bourses.

On BSE and NSE together, there are 1,200 listed companies which have been suspended for more than seven years. Sebi plans to enable an exit option for shareholders of these companies. We will ask stock exchange concerned to appoint third party firms to determine the valuation of these firms to provide an exit to shareholders, said Sinha.

If promoters dont pay investors the determined price, then they would face the risk of being barred from entering the capital market for up to 10 years. They would also not be allowed to be directors in companies. About 5,400 companies are listed on the BSE and NSE.

Sebi has many other priority areas for 2016-17. One of them is to take action against auditors of companies involved in manipulation, or other violations, if there is substantial proof of the auditors involvement. So far, Sebi was only able to recommend the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to take action against such auditors. The 2014 amendment to the Sebi Act gives us powers to take action against auditors too, Sinha added. Once implemented, this would be another deterrent for capital market manipulators.

Regulating high frequency trading (HFT) or algo trading, which accounts for 40 per cent of the volume in equity and derivative markets, to protect the integrity of the markets and create a level-playing field is another priority area for Sebi.

Sebi will finalise new set of norms to tighten algo trading, aimed at fair access to market data of exchanges. Options that are under consideration include action on two parts. The first would be to remove the speed advantage that algo traders in co-location facilities enjoy and the second would be to create a level-playing field in information dissemination such as tick-by-tick trading data between algo and manual trades.

Sebi will release a discussion paper on algo trading soon. Penalties for violating algo norms would be raised substantially. Sebi is finalising explicit guidelines to ban manipulative algorithm trading strategies.

The regulator is also working on separate queues for co-location players orders and non-colocation players orders so that those who enjoy speed advantage due to physical proximity to the exchanges server should not use tick-by-tick orders of the whole market.

Another option that Sebi is evaluating is to split bulk orders of high frequency traders or introduce a delay. Co-location facilities for commodity exchanges for the time being is ruled out.

Among market participants, mutual funds and domestic institutions have emerged as strong counterbalance to foreign investors, said Sinha. Foreign portfolio investors holding of the free float came down from 21.35 per cent in March 2015 to 21 per cent in March 2016. In the same period, mutual funds holding went up from 4.81 per cent to 5.79 per cent, while that of other domestic financial institutions grew from 6.72 per cent to 7.97 per cent.

Sinha said people shopping online is a much higher number. Hence, a committee under Nandan Nilekani has been set up to finalise norms for allowing buying and selling of mutual funds on technology platforms, including e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Flipkart.

The committee will meet on May 30.

The committee will decide the responsibility and liability of the e-commerce player and the structure of the entity to deal in funds. This trading will be linked with Aadhaar for KYC (know your customer) purpose and their registration and regulation procedures are also being discussed.

SEBIS PLAN FOR 2016-17
The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) platforms started in early 2012 by the two national bourses, BSE and NSE, to enable smaller companies to list and raise money, have found support from some state governments.

The Gujarat and Rajasthan governments have announced subsidies to pay for the expenses of SMEs going public through initial public offerings (IPOs) of equity. The governments of Maharashtra and West Bengal will employ venture capital (VC) funds to invest in the IPOs, say sources.

The Gujarat government is now reimbursing 10 per cent of the IPO expenses of SMEs in the state, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh each. Rajasthan has announced a similar policy, to reimburse up to Rs 2.5 lakh towards IPO expenses for SMEs there.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) and the Maharashtra government have come together to set up a Rs 200 crore VC fund, to provide easier financing options to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The investment will be in the form of equity and the fund is soon expected to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Similarly, the MSME and textiles departments of the government of West Bengal are readying a Rs 200-crore West Bengal MSME VC Fund. The government will provide Rs 100 crore and the rest will be mobilised from other investors. Sidbi has agreed in principle to join the fund, with a 15 per cent share in the corpus, and will also manage the fund (through Sidbi Venture Capital). A fifth of the fund shall be earmarked to provide incubation support for start-ups through tie-ups with established entities in the state such as the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, among others.

We are in discussion with policy makers and state governments to kickstart initiatives to support their SMEs. The funding can help SMEs to grow their businesses faster and in turn contribute to state economies, said Mahavir Lunawat, managing director of Pantomath Capital Advisors, a merchant banking firm that handles SME issues.

Adding: Large institutions such as mutual funds, banks and insurance companies should be mandated to earmark a small portion of their portfolio in SME IPOs.



At present, BSE has 120 companies listed on its SME platform; NSE has 36. Both exchanges had launched separate SME platforms in March 2012, after the regulator came out with easier listing and disclosure guidelines, to help small companies tap the capital market. The SME segment is still grappling with issues such as lack of liquidity and lacklustre institutional participation. Both exchanges are in talks with institutions and state governments to improve participation in the segment, said sources.

Noteworthy institutional participation in past SME IPOs include investments by the Central Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra in Opal Luxury Time Products and that of ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Union Bank of India in Mitcon Consultancy & Engineering Services.
The Afghan authorities have closed the Angoor Adda border crossing in South Waziristan after it was handed over to them.

The neighbouring country also claimed about 10 km inside Pakistan as its territory and demanded its control, reports Dawn.

The border closure has caused great inconvenience to thousands of people, including women and children, who have found themselves stranded in the scorching heat amid hundreds of truck and trailers loaded with goods disallowed by the Afghan authorities to cross the border.

The border has been closed till further orders from Kabul, an Afghan diplomatic official said, adding the country's forces now guard the crossing round-the-clock.

Pakistan handed over the contentious Angoor Adda border crossing in South Waziristan to the Afghan authorities earlier on Saturday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations called the move a "strategic intent to improve border management".

The gesture was envisioned to bring momentum to the establishment of peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border.

More than five-decade-old border crossing facility at Angoor Adda, around 35 km off South Waziristan's regional headquarters of Wana, has been a bone of contention between the two countries ever since it was built nearly an year ago.

The gate and compound were manned by the Pakistan Army personnel until recently.

The recent accord between the two sides brought relief to a large extent to the people on both sides of border, but the closure has faded all their hopes away.
Air India has announced the institution of 100 more aircrafts over the next four years aimed at encouraging better connectivity and easing transportation for the passengers.

Air India chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani, today tabled a meeting with the representatives of various state governments to discuss the liability and feasibility of different routes.

"The solo aim of this meeting was to understand the needs and demands of the sates. We aim to connect tier-2 and tier-3 cities in various states to provide a proficient flying experience to our passengers. We have laid out a plan along with the state governments to prepare a fair spread-out across the country," he said.

"Market is growing rapidly and our share in market which used to be quite high is going down steadily. This is the time we react. If market grows, we should also grow proportionately. Since more and more people are travelling these days, fanning out more options will not only help the regular flyers but also attract new ones," he added.

The airlines is also working to tie up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which will facilitate any regular passenger to fly with Air India using the same ticket if failed to get a confirmed seat.
Imagine, Captain America in a homosexual relationship with Bucky the Winter Soldier.

Now this is what the Marvel comic fans are pressurising for, with the hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend trending on Twitter, reports News.com.au.

This idea came up after evaluating the equation between the two characters in all the three parts of the Captain America series. Some fans aren't content with the two men being just good mates.

In 'Captain America: The First Avenger,' best mates Bucky Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan), and Steve Rogers aka Captain America (played by Chris Evans) fight alongside each other in World War II. But at the end of the film, Bucky falls to his death, or so we are led to believe.

In 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier,' Captain America discovers that Bucky isn't dead but was instead rescued and brainwashed by HYDRA into becoming an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. After an epic fight scene with Captain America, Bucky starts to remember his true identity and ends up saving Captain America's life.

In the latest film, 'Captain America: Civil War,' Captain America assists Bucky to overcome his brainwashing by helping him remember more about his past.

Some time back, Disney fans too took to their Twitter handles to ask for a girlfriend for Frozen's lead character, Princess Elsa.

This campaign trended with the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend and recently the 2013 'Frozen' princess, played by Idina Menzel, extended support to the campaign.
Army Chief General Raheel Sharif in a meeting with the United States Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale has expressed serious concerns over the US drone strike in Balochistan which killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

The US drone strike was the first-ever in the province which has long been a 'red line' for Islamabad.

The army chief in a meeting yesterday said the drone attack, which was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, was detrimental to Pak-US ties and regional stability and damaged peace efforts, the Dawn quoted an Inter-Services Public Relations statement, as saying.

He said that Islamabad's efforts, successes and sacrifices in fight against terrorism were unparalleled.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also criticised the US drone strike, describing it as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has officially lodged a strong protest with the United States over the attack.
Two unidentified bike-borne assailants opened fire on Nalanda Medical College's senior resident doctor Praveen Jha's car last night.

Jha managed to escape unhurt, while his driver and compounder got seriously injured.

The incident took place in Dulhania Bazaar area of Patna.

The injured were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where they are currently undergoing treatment.

The police are currently investigating the matter.
The Congress today distanced itself from party general secretary Digvijaya Singh's fresh claims on the 2008 Batla House encounter, saying it was not a fake encounter and, therefore, there was no need to sensationalise the same.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the party's stand has always been very clear that it was not a fake encounter as ascertained by the Delhi High Court and the Human Rights Commission (NHRC) .

"The stand of the Congress Party is very simple and clear. We always maintain that it was not a fake encounter. There is no point of calling individual statements," Singhvi told ANI.

"The Government of India's stand then and now is the same. And, therefore, I think there is no need to sensationalise this issue," he added.

Meanwhile, former Mumbai Police commissioner and BJP lawmaker Satyapal Singh accused the Congress of always helping those who are on the wrong side when it comes to security.

"This has been a character of the Congress Party that when it comes to security, they have always put that aside and have always helped the wrong people," Singh told ANI.

"As far as this Batla encounter is concerned, the court and the NHRC have already made it clear that whatever the police said it was right and it was not a fake encounter," he added.

The Congress general secretary yesterday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government to order a judicial probe into the 2008 encounter at Batla House in Delhi in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed.

"Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid," Singh said.

The encounter, which had taken place during the former UPA regime, recently came into news amid a claim by an alleged ISIS operative that he had fled Batla House right before the police raided it.

Batla House encounter, officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested.

Encounter specialist and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was also martyred during the incident.

According to the reports, Mohammed Sajid alias Bada Sajid is one of the six persons who feature in the 22-minute video allegedly posted by the Islamic State recently, however he was one of the terrorist who was claimed killed in the encounter.

A Delhi court had in 2013 sentenced to life the lone convict and suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad in the case for killing decorated police officer Sharma and injuring two other policemen.
The Congress on Wednesday questioned Centre's decision of selecting super star Amitabh Bachchan to host its show marking two years of the NDA government and said the step might send wrong signals to Multi Agency Group (MAG) probing Panama paper leaks.

"We have no objection to Amitabh Bachchan hosting the NDA programme, but what signal will it send to investigation agencies?," said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, while addressing a press conference.

According to reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a nod to Bachchan's selection after he had a detailed meeting with Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Bachchan's name featured in the Panama Papers.

First, records from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca showed Bachchan served as director of four offshore shipping companies - an allegation he denied. Later, more damning records emerged that suggested that the actor attended the companies' board meetings via telephone conference.

Bachchan will host a five-hour-long show on May 28 to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the last two years at the iconic India Gate.

The event is likely to comprise talk shows over the government's achievements, interspersed with cultural programmes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the function.
Amid news that the Central leadership in the Congress had asked its' newly elected MLAs in West Bengal to sign a written declaration on a stamp paper asserting that they would not leave the party, sources said that no such action has been initiated.

According to reports, the Congress leadership is unhappy with such rumours doing rounds.

It was being speculated that after the nine MLAs in Uttarakhand had switched sides to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress reportedly took this step to keep its flock the state assembly intact.

The BJP described this development in the grand old party as highly demeaning and hilarious.

However, the Congress accused the BJP of toppling governments and said that the saffron party's malicious intentions are the reason behind propelling such an endeavour.

"What West Bengal MLA's have done it must be there decision, they must have got together for whatever reason. I have a feeling that with the recent history months where the BJP used money, power, blackmail to threatens some of our MLA's and weaken their resolve in regard in regard to their loyalty towards the Congress," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.

"Perhaps it could be that if we get together and all of us make a pledge to the Congress leadership, we will able to help each other if any such problem comes and a more united front can be established," he added.

While the Trinamool Congress won the elections with 211 seats in the 294-member assembly, the Left-Congress alliance was relegated to 76 seats. The Congress is the principal opposition party in West Bengal after winning 44 seats in the recently concluded elections.
Independent legislator Engineer Rashid staged a protest inside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday over the delay in the magisterial probe of the Handwara killings, and sought an explanation from the PDP-BJP state government on why it was retracting on its promise of completing the enquiry within a month.

Representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Conference and the Congress also take part in the protest inside the assembly and staged a walk out.

"The chief minister has announced that the magisterial probe will be completed within a month. Government has not been able to complete the magisterial probe within promised stipulated time period of one month. The assembly runs under Delhi, everything is controlled from Delhi. The governor is the agent of Delhi," Rashid told ANI here.

Handwara witnessed massive clashes between the police and locals on April 12 after the news of a girl being molested by an army soldier spread. The area was under curfew for a week.

Five people were killed in firing by security forces during the protests. But in a controversial video shot inside a police station, the girl had denied the molestation allegation. The girl has later changed her statement saying she was under pressure.

"They (policemen) spoke to me nicely so I narrated the whole incident to them. After which they told me not to tell the real story to anyone. And added that if I divulged anything, then my family and me might land in trouble. They threatened our lives. I told them that to lie is wrong and I won't lie. There and then, one of the three policemen got up and slapped me and forced me to lie. I retaliated for a while and then I succumbed to their pressure and changed my statement," said the victim.
Flood waters have started receding in Sri Lanka's Central province and other areas, even as the death toll has risen to 101, the Disaster management Center (DMC) has said in its latest report.

At least 100 people are missing and presumed dead in the landslides-hit Kegalle district in Central Province, reports the Colombo Page web site.

As floods subsided across the country revealing the full extent of damage, the displaced have started returning to their damaged homes.

Around 119,694 people are still housed in 258 relief camps across the country.

While army troopers are still engaged in search and recovery efforts in landslide struck areas, the Sri Lanka Air Force has decided to suspend the deployment of helicopters for rescue and relief operations till the weather improves.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society has urged people returning to their homes to be cautious on health issues and diseases.

OCHA has warned that with the large quantities of standing water, communities are increasingly at risk of leptospirosis and water-borne, skin diseases and vector-borne diseases and early detection of the diseases was important.
Extending greetings on Africa Day to the people of Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said Africa is the centre of India's attention, adding New Delhi's engagement with the country is intense and regular.

"Africa is the centre of our attention. Our engagement with Africa is intense and regular. The warmth of the people of Africa and their friendship is a source of immense pride and strength for us," he tweeted.

The Prime Minister's statement comes in wake of the brutal murder of an African student in the capital.

India today assured that justice will be done and stringent punishment will be given to those involved in the attack.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that New Delhi deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa, with which the country has had a historically close relationship and asserted it will be ensured that the African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur.

Asserting that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated, the statement said that thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is personally monitoring the matter, earlier said that the Indian government was committed to the safety of African nationals in India.

Earlier on May 21, the Delhi Police detained one person in connection with the murder case.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will leave for Japan today to participate in the G7 Summit.

The 42nd G7 Summit will be held on May 26-27, 2016, in Kashiko Island, Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

Leaders of Group of Seven member states - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, and representatives of the European Union will attend the summit.

President Sirisena, the first Sri Lankan leader to attend the summit, was officially invited by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as an Outreach Partner.

This year's summit will be held under the objective to share the key values of democracy, rule of law and human rights by pointing out the best way towards peace and prosperity.

The attention will also be focused on the global economy and trade, foreign policy, climate change and energy, development, quality infrastructure development and health.

President Sirisena will make use of this rare opportunity, which has been given to a leader of a non-member country to participate in the G7 Summit, to promote the country's image and attract economic partnerships and investment from the .

The Sri Lankan President will get an opportunity to brief fellow leaders about the steps taken, first under the 100-day program and secondly, since the August 17 Parliamentary elections to strengthen democratic institutions, judicial independence, freedom of expression and human rights.

The leaders are scheduled to engage in candid discussions on foreign policy issues, including counter-terrorism and other issues.

President Sirisena is scheduled to hold discussions with five other leaders from Asia on the sideline of the G7 Summit.
Global internet and ecosystem conglomerate LeEco is riding high on its ambitious globalization plans. The company has taken the momentous step towards promoting economic and cultural ties between China and Russia.

LeEco signed a quadripartite memorandum with Institute of Internet Development (IID), Russian Export Center and JSC Digital Television to export Russian media content to China and other markets and build Le Ecosystem in Russia.

With the introduction of its unique vertically integrated ecosystem in Russia, LeEco will provide Russian users an all-new experience delivered through the Internet, smart devices, smart applications and cloud. For its foray into the Russian market, LeEco plans to invest over USD 100 million.

As the world's fastest-growing Internet ecosystem company over the past year, LeEco plans to set up its Russia office in the summer of 2016 which would be responsible for the building of Le Ecosystem in Russia.

In line with its efforts of making a strong mark for itself globally, with the signing of the memorandum LeEco will synergistically combine its powerful ecosystem and Russia's rich media content resources to expand in the Russia market and further reinforce LeEco's global competitiveness.

The signing of the MoU was done in the presence of LeEco Co-Founder and Vice Chairman, Liu Hong and IID Chairman, Herman Klimenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin's special adviser on Internet-related affairs.

Liu Hong, together with Li Hui, also attended the signing ceremony for Chinese-Russia strategic movie cooperation and the ceremony for the appointment of Victor Xu, CEO of LeEco Russia and Eastern Europe, as Advisor to the General Office of the President of Russia.

The memorandum will provide an action framework for the promotion of Russian movies, TV dramas, animations and other video products in China and other markets. In addition to providing a globally accessible platform for the distribution of Russian content, LeEco will assist Russian partners in content localization such as translation, licensing and authorization in China and other countries.

India has played a key role in scripting LeEco's global success story, with trend setting products and record-breaking sales. With the release of the Le 1s and Le Max earlier this year, followed by the launch of the first 'Made for India' superphone, Le 1s Eco, the company has successfully sold an astounding number of 500,000 superphones in 100 days, making it a record of sorts for a new entrant in a fiercely competitive smartphone market in India.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Wednesday condemned the murder of its leader Sudesh Paswan in Bihar's Gaya and demanded President's Rule in the state in view rising crime.

LJP leader Chirag Paswan lashed out at the ruling 'grand alliance' for prevailing lawlessness in the state, and said those raising their voices are being murdered.

"Killings are happening on daily basis. Daily doctors, journalists and leaders are being murdered. People who raise their voice are being killed. We demand that President Rule be imposed immediately in the state," he told ANI.

Sudesh Paswan was campaigning for panchayat elections near Dumaria when he was shot dead.

As per reports, the reason behind his killing is not immediately known.
President Pranab Mukherjee has arrived in Beijing on the second leg of his four-day state visit to China where he will hold talks with top leaders, including his counterpart Xi Jinping, on bilateral, regional and international issues.

President Mukherjee is likely to raise the issue of India's entry to Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Chinese view on this besides China's reaction to India's recent move at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar during his talks with the Chinese leadership.

The president, who will also hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Li Che Quiang, was received by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and others on his arrival at Beijing.

Pranab Mukherjee today held discussions with Governor of Guangdong Zhu Xiaodam.

Addressing the India-China Business Forum event at Guangzhou earlier, President Mukherjee invited the investors from the country to be partners in India's growth story.

President Mukherjee said India believes there is great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among the two nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges.

"The stability of our relationship in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilizing these opportunities and coming together," he added.

The President further said that India welcomes Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship initiatives of Government of India.

"India will facilitate efforts of Chinese investors to make their investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies," he added.

President Mukherjee's four-day visit is being considered crucial in improving bilateral relations especially in the background of the new dynamics in relations between both sides ever since Narendra Modi-led government took office in India.
Following the death of Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the U S Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said one roadblock to peace in Afghanistan has been eliminated.

"Protecting American forces wherever they are in the will always be one of my top priorities as Secretary of Defense," Khaama Press quoted the U S Defense Secretary, as saying in a statement.

"The confirmation that our precision airstrike Saturday killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour makes clear my commitment to address threats to our troops, NATO forces, Afghan military personnel and the innocent Afghan civilians who are working together so bravely to improve security in that country," he added.

The Defence Secretary said removing Mansur from the battlefield eliminates one roadblock to peace in Afghanistan.

"I want to thank the U.S forces that carried out this important operation, and reaffirm that we will continue to disrupt networks and individuals that threaten the United States and our forces abroad," he said.

He reaffirmed defense department's support to the Afghan government in its efforts to build a brighter and safe future for the citizens.

"The Department of Defense will also continue to support the government of Afghanistan's effort to build a brighter and safer future for the people of Afghanistan," Carter said.
Ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has expressed confidence that his team's top drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will not crash again as it happened in last week's Spanish Grand Prix.

The Spanish GP saw Rosberg seize the lead after making a pass at turn one from Hamilton, who was on pole position. But the reigning world champion soon lost control into turn three and entered an incorrect setting on the steering wheel.

The duo collided when Hamilton tried to slide up the inside at turn four, thus ending Rosberg's seven-race winning streak.

Reflecting on the crash, Wolff said that the drivers had learned a lesson from it and that they would not repeat it again, Sport24 reported.

Wolff admitted that he felt really bad when he thinks about Barcelona collision and said such kind of incidents happen in every two years, referring to a collision between the two team-mates at Spa in 2014.

Earlier, Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda pointed the finger at Hamilton for what had happened in Spain, but Wolff insisted that they were both to be blamed for the crash.

He insisted that the team provide them with the best possible cars and that it was the driver's responsibility to get the best out of them and bring them back safe.

Despite the crash, Rosberg stands at the top of the Formula One points table, holding a comfortable lead of 39 points over Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Former Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi has penned a heartfelt letter to Rafael Nadal where he has expressed his support to the Spaniard who is seeking to clinch his 10th French Open title.

Agassi has bagged a total of eight Grand Slam titles, including one French Open crown in contrast to Nadal's 14 titles, with nine of those achieved at Roland Garros.

Agassi, in his letter, said he was amazed to see Nadal's remarkable record at French Open, pointing out that it took him most of his career to achieve the title for a single time, Sport24 reported.

"It took me most of my career to accomplish the herculean task of winning the French Open one time .Watching you attempt to win it for the tenth time is not only remarkable ... it is inspiring. You make me believe in life that anything is achievable and nothing is impossible. Go get 'em," he wrote in a letter.

Earlier, Nadal kicked off his French Open campaign on a winning note by brushing aside Australia's Sam Groth 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round contest that lasted for one hour and 20 minutes.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion will next face Argentina's Facundo Bagnis in the second round on Thursday.
Negligence of any kind, and most certainly of the medical form, should in the normal course invite harsh punitive action, but not so in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where two doctors of a nursing home got away with a 'mere one-year suspension' for causing severe burn injuries to an infant hours after its birth.

Recalling the incident that took place four hours after the birth of their daughter Sudiksha on January 8, 2013, her parents, Lalit Kumar and Sapna Sneha, said that Dr. Satish Mishra and Dr. Abha Rani Mishra of the Shekhar Nursing Home advised them to keep their child in a warmer.

The nursing home is located in Varanasi's Shivpur area.

During the night, the warmer short circuited, leaving the infant severely burnt. Shockingly, nobody was present in the room when it caught fire.

The tragedy left the child handicapped and scarred.

"She was born in January8, 2013. Her face was burnt three hours after birth due to the negligence of the doctors. Her face can't be healed completely," said Lalit Kumar.

He said that the doctors had assured him that the child would be attended to round-the-clock by nursing staff. Today, he squarely blames the two doctors for his daughter's plight.

According to reports, the couple has been running from pillar to post, knocking on every possible door, ranging from the health ministry to the medical council and to organisations dealing with human rights, seeking justice, but to no avail.

So far, all that they have been able to achieve is a year's suspension for Dr. Satish Mishra and Dr. Abha Rani Mishra.

They want the health ministry to cancel the license of the two doctors and the medical council to bar them from practicing for life. They are also seeking compensation from the nursing home for negligence.
The Investigating Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that it has still not received any response from Pakistan on Supplementary Letters Rogatory sent to the neighbouring nation it in connection with the probe in the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base.

According to sources, the NIA is trying to collect more information like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as a terrorist organization and its role in the attack.

Sources also said there was use of similar wireless system in terror attacks carried out at Kathua, Samba and Pathankot.

Every target selection and modus operandi was same, so we are not investigating all these cases separately, said NIA sources.

The NIA sources also said that the agency is not denying from the fact that Dina Nagar attack was not handiwork of the JeM.

It is reported that the JeM is allegedly planning to replicate the January 2 terror strike and has activated sleeper cells to carry out recess in cities across north India to set ground for the same.

As per reports, the militant group is being aided by the ISI and is also receiving help from Indian Mujahideen to plan fresh attacks.

The Interpol had earlier issued a fresh Red Corner notice against JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf for their alleged involvement in the Pathankot attack.

According to NIA sources, JeM suspect Shahid Latif is the main handler in the Pathankot attack and that his location at the moment should probably be in Pakistan.

Latif was first arrested in 1994, convicted in 1995 and his jail term was over in 2010. After that he deported to Pakistan through the Atari Border.

Sources added that besides a notice on Masood and Rauf, the Interpol is also in the process of issuing a Red Corner notice against Latif and JeM suspect Shahid Latif.

Masood Azhar, his brother Abdul Rauf, Jan and Latif are being touted as the main culprits into the deadly attack on the Indian Air Force base.
Asserting that the exodus of Kashmiri pundits from Jammu and Kashmir is perhaps one of the saddest chapters in post independent history, the Congress on Wednesday said anybody opposing their return to the home soil is perhaps the greatest anti- act possible.

"It is extremely unfortunate that a very enlightened section of the Indian society that has contributed immensely to India in every manner became internally displaced people in their own country. We owe it to the Kashmiris to ensure that they go back to their homeland in an atmosphere of safety and security," Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI.

Asserted that it was crucial to create a secure environment in which the pundits can return home, he added it is indeed unfortunate that this tragedy took place when there was a front government at the Centre supported by both BJP and the Left.

Earlier, the government had said that it favoured the creation of a "conducive atmosphere" for the Kashmiri pundits to go back to the Valley.

Suggesting that the migrants should be inspired to go back to their place of birth, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said the very culture of Kashmir, the composite culture which the Kashmir boasts of, is incomplete without the presence of Kashmiri Pundits over there.

However, it came as a shock when Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said there is no land in Kashmir for making Sainik colonies and there is no question of making exclusive colonies for Kashmiri Pundits in the valley, adding that if there is a proposal it will have to be the one where everyone is allowed to live together.

There are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri Pandit families, who migrated from the Valley due to the onset of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s.

About 40,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families are living in Jammu, around 20,000 in Delhi-NCR and about 2,000 families are settled in other parts of the country.
Pakistan International Airline's (PIA) maintenance crew has recovered 27 kilograms of heroin on board during an intelligence-based raid on Wednesday.

The heroin, concealed in lavatory panels, was discovered during routine maintenance at the PIA hangar at Karachi's international airport.

The reports revealed that customs officials conducted a raid at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport where they seized nine packets of heroin from the lavatory of a Europe-bound aircraft parked in the hangar.

The aircraft had arrived from Lahore on the evening of May 24 and was expected to fly onwards to Europe, but was instead sent to the hangar for routine maintenance.

It is pertinent to mention that this is not the first attempt to smuggle illegal drugs using similar means.

The authorities are aware of the method used by the smugglers but are yet to make any arrests.

The narcotics were confiscated by the Customs and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials at Karachi airport. An investigation into the incident has been initiated

PIA crew members have also been arrested in the past for attempting to smuggle narcotics on flights bound for international destinations.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan visited a plant run by entrepreneurialfirm Milk Mantra in Gop.

On a scheduled visit to the state, Rajan expressed an interest to visit an entrepreneurial venture and meet the entrepreneur who started it as well as interact with the farmer community to understand the impact on their lives Milk Mantra has made.

Dr. Rajan spent time understanding how Milk Mantra was started, its growth and the impact on the ecosystem. He then saw the state of the art plant and was shown how Truly Pure milk was processed, packed and stored till dispatch. The team explained how processing of value added products was done and the innovation in packaging and processing technology done by Milk Mantra.

Dr. Rajan also spoke at length with Milk Mantra farmers to know how their individual and societal economy started to change after becoming stakeholders in Milk Mantra's sourcing chain. Dr. Rajan listened intently to the farmer stories of how after they joined the Milk Mantra family they had payments made to them at the right time, better access to loans to buy more cows, insurance for the cows etc.

Dr. Raghuram Rajan commended the work done by Milk Mantra's young team. He said, "By taking an everyday commodity product like milk, they have created an ecosystem for farmers to have better livelihood, and for public to have quality nutrition and enhanced health."

Srikumar Misra, Founder and CEO Milk Mantra said, "The financial inclusion and impact that Milk Mantra is creating through a completely product led model needs policy framework support at various levels and it's an honor that Dr. Raghuram Rajan visited us and listened to our story and the challenges we face. Our team was highly inspired and motivated by Dr. Rajan's visit."

Milk Mantra is India's first VC funded agri-based startup, located in Odisha. It has launched two innovative brands - Milky Moo range of dairy products, and MooShake, functional ready-to-drink healthy milk beverage. They have 2 state-of-the-art plants, one in Gop and one in Sambalpur. They have recently commissioned a 3rd plant to increase their capacity owing to the increasing consumer demands.
Three Frontier Corps (FC) officials, including a commanding officer, have been killed as unidentified armed men opened fire at their vehicle in Peshawar's Patang Chowk area on Wednesday.

The officials were en-route FC Headquarters, Peshawar, when their convoy came under attack in Faqirabad police station's jurisdiction, reports Dawn.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Abbas Majeed Marwat said the vehicle was approaching Patang Chowk from Ring Road when the assailants fired, killing two soldiers on the spot.

The injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Mubarak Zeb Khan said District Officer FC Ameer Badshah and two constables - Gul Rehman and Gul Rasool - were on their way to headquarters as usual when their double cabin pick-up truck came under fire.

The police surrounded the area and launched a search operation, though no immediate arrests were made.

Initial investigation suggests a 9mm pistol was used to kill the men and 12 bullet casings have been recovered from the scene.
The Nepal Police on Wednesday arrested two Indian nationals in possession of one kg undeclared gold from Bhairahawa of Rupandehi district.

An Armed Police Force (APF) team nabbed Hari Om Kumar and Sujit Kumar of Motihari, India, from the Eye Hospital Chok in Bhairahawa, reports The Himalayan Times.

DSP Shankar Khanal said that the duo had wrapped the gold in a white cloth and tied it on the waist.

Both have been handed over to the Bhairahawa-based Belhia Customs Office for investigation.

The market price of the seized gold is around Rs. 4.77 million.

The arrested duo was trying to smuggle from Kathmandu the gold, which was brought from Hong Kong, to India via Belhia border.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned a suicide attack in Kabul which killed at least 11 people on Wednesday.

"The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns today's suicide attack in an outlying western suburb of Kabul which killed eleven civilians and injured ten," Khaama Press quoted a statement by the UN mission as saying.

The statement highlighted that the suicide bomber detonated against a shuttle bus transporting employees of the Maidan Wardak provincial court killed children.

"The blast, that occurred in the Pul-e-Bagh Daud Area of the Paghman District of Kabul Province, killed and injured civilian passengers of the bus and bystanders in the area, including six children," the statement said.

The UN mission verified 14 separate attacks targeting judges, prosecutors and judicial staff, which killed at least nine civilian and left nineteen injured, as well as four incidents of abduction of judicial staff since January 1.

The statement said that the Taliban claimed responsibility for seven of these incidents.

Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, condemned the attacks saying, "Attacks against judicial authorities are cowardly and contrary to international humanitarian law."

He added "I unreservedly condemn today's attack, demand accountability for the perpetrators and urge authorities to do everything in their power to ensure adequate protection of judicial officials.
Sales rise 10.52% to Rs 133.51 crore

Net profit of Astrazeneca Pharma India declined 98.53% to Rs 0.56 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 38.13 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales rose 10.52% to Rs 133.51 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 120.80 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015.

For the full year,net profit reported to Rs 5.26 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against net loss of Rs 20.84 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales rose 12.24% to Rs 526.46 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 469.05 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales133.51120.80 11 526.46469.05 12 OPM %2.4033.77 -3.12-2.43 - PBDT5.3042.15 -87 23.19-5.56 LP PBT1.0638.13 -97 5.76-20.84 LP NP0.5638.13 -99 5.26-20.84 LP

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Bank of India rose 0.93% to Rs 81.10 at 9:57 IST on BSE, with the stock turning volatile after the bank reported a net loss of Rs 3587.09 crore in Q4 March 2016, higher than net loss of Rs 56.14 crore in Q4 March 2015.

The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 323.05 points or 1.28% at 25,628.52.

On BSE, so far 4.62 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 6.14 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock lost as much as 2.17% at the day's low of Rs 78.60 so far during the day, which is a 52-week low for the counter. The stock rose as much as 1.61% at the day's high of Rs 81.65 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 207.95 on 27 May 2015. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 24 May 2016, sliding 17.63% compared with Sensex's 2.06% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 6.24% as against Sensex's 9.6% rise.

The mid-cap state-run bank has equity capital of Rs 934.03 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Bank of India's total income fell 7.3% to Rs 11384.91 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 49879.13 crore as on 31 March 2016 as against Rs 36519.14 crore as on 31 December 2015 and Rs 22193.24 crore as on 31 March 2015. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 13.07% as on 31 March 2016 as against 9.18% as on 31 December 2015 and 5.39% as on 31 March 2015. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 7.79% as on 31 March 2016 as against 5.25% as on 31 December 2015 and 3.36% as on 31 March 2015.

The bank's provisions and contingencies rose 142.5% to Rs 5470.36 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

The Government of India held 68.01% stake in Bank of India (as per the shareholding pattern as on 31 March 2016).

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Sales rise 9.08% to Rs 192.27 crore

Net profit of Bannari Amman Spinning Mills declined 31.22% to Rs 1.52 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 2.21 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales rose 9.08% to Rs 192.27 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 176.26 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015.

For the full year,net profit rose 44.58% to Rs 18.55 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 12.83 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales rose 13.21% to Rs 755.46 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 667.28 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales192.27176.26 9 755.46667.28 13 OPM %9.487.23 -12.1811.93 - PBDT8.866.60 34 56.5444.68 27 PBT2.312.17 6 27.7318.02 54 NP1.522.21 -31 18.5512.83 45

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Sales rise 6.11% to Rs 1.91 crore

Net profit of Bombay Cycle & Motor Agency declined 36.00% to Rs 0.32 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 0.50 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales rose 6.11% to Rs 1.91 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 1.80 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015.

For the full year,net profit declined 1.79% to Rs 1.65 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 1.68 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales rose 10.57% to Rs 7.53 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 6.81 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales1.911.80 6 7.536.81 11 OPM %14.1412.78 -19.5219.53 - PBDT0.540.52 4 2.562.41 6 PBT0.500.49 2 2.412.27 6 NP0.320.50 -36 1.651.68 -2

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh which has been registered as a Society under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 with effect from 20th August 2015.

The Cabinet also approved introduction of a Bill namely the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for inclusion of the NIT, Andhra Pradesh in its First Schedule.

The post- facto approval of the Cabinet for establishment of NIT, Andhra Pradesh as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 2001 would give a legal entity to NIT, Andhra Pradesh. The proposed amendments to the NITSER Act, 2007 will ensure a high levels of public accountability and increased participation of the. stakeholders in the administration and academic activities of the Institute.

This Institute is being funded by the Government of India. It is being run and managed by their respective Society registered under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 till such time this Institute is brought under the National Institutes of Technology Science Education and Research Act (NITSER) 2007. The accounts will be audited by the C & AG of India and will be laid in both the Houses of the Parliament.

Background:

NIT, Andhra Pradesh has been set up to cater to the needs of State of Andhra Pradesh which did not have NITs. NIT, Andhra Pradesh will specifically be benefitted the State of Andhra Pradesh and the whole country in general.

NIT, Andhra Pradesh will be covered under the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007 to declare it an Institution of National Importance, which will ultimately help in addressing the aspirations of people in the main stream of technical education.

NIT, Andhra Pradesh was established at temporary campus of West Godavari District: of Andhra Pradesh. The State Government of Andhra Pradesh has also provided a land for NIT-Andhra Pradesh at West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. As per policy of Government, 50% of the seats in NITs are earmarked for the eligible domicile students of States / tits where the NITs are situated. NIT, Andhra Pradesh will ensure that the students of State of Andhra Pradesh will get adequate opportunities to pursue research at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels, in an inter-disciplinary knowledge regime and research environment.

As per Schedule 13 (Education) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 according to which the Government of India shall take steps to establish 'Institutions of National Importance' in the 12th and 13th Plan periods in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, the Ministry of HRD decided for setting up of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh through a temporary campus as an Institution registered under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001 with a view to bring the NIT, Andhra Pradesh under the ambit of the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER), Act, 2007 through an amendment in the existing Act and declaring NIT, Warangal as its mentor Institute for the first 2-3 years or till such time NIT, Andhra Pradesh is well established at its permanent site. The permanent site of NIT, Andhra Pradesh has already been finalized at Air-Field lands of Tadepalligudem Mandal in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of two Bills in the Parliament for certain amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 so as to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and identification of new communities in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The following communities as per approved modalities were found to be eligible for their inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in the list of Scheduled Tribes:

Sl. No.

State / Union Territory

Inclusion / Exclusion / Rectification / Identification

Community

1.

Assam

Inclusion

i) Boro, Boro Kachari, Bodo, Bodo Kachariii) Karbi (Mikir)

2.

Chhattisgarh

InclusionRectification of Hindi Version of the Notification

iii) Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, Bhuyaniv) Dhanuhar / Dhanuwarv) Kisanvi) Saunra, Saonravii) Dhangad

3.

Jharkhand

Inclusion

viii) Bhogta, Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri)ix) Puran

4.

Tamil Nadu

Inclusion

x) Malayali Gounderxi) Narikoravan, Kurivikkaran

5.

Tripura

Inclusion

xii) Darlong

6.

Puducherry

Identification (First Order)

xiii) Irular (including Villi and Vettaikaran)

After the Bill becomes as Act, members of the communities included in the list of Scheduled Tribes will be able to derive benefits meant for Scheduled Tribes under the existing schemes. Some of the major schemes of this kind include Post Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, National Fellowship, Top Class Education, Concessional Loans from National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, Hostels for ST boys and girls etc.

In addition to above, they will also be entitled to benefits of reservation in services and admission to educational institutions.

Consequently, existing entries in list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in case of Jharkhand and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) / Most Backward Classes (MBCs) of Central / State lists would be modified.

Background:

The Constitution of India provides certain privileges / concessions to the members of Scheduled Tribes which are notified under the provisions of Article 342 of the Constitution of India. First list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a State or Union Territory is to be issued by a notified Order of the President after having consultation with the State Government concerned. Any subsequent inclusion in or exclusion from the list of Scheduled Tribes can be effected through an Act of Parliament as envisaged under clause (2) of Article 342.

The Government approved Modalities in June, 1999 as amended in June 2002, for considering proposals in regard to modifications in the lists of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. According to the approved Modalities, amending legislation to the concerned Constitution Order is proposed only in respect of such proposals of the concerned State Government / Union Territory Administration, which have been agreed to both by the Registrar General of India (RGI) as well as the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Maldives for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism.

The Memorandum of Understanding with Maldives will be instrumental in increasing arrival from this important source market.

In recent years, Maldives has emerged as an important tourism generating market for India.

Objectives:

The main objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding, are:

a) To expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector

b) To exchange information and data related to tourism

c) To encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, including hotels and tour operators

d) To establish exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resources Development

e) To invest in the Tourism and Hospitality sectors

f) To exchange visits of Tour Operators/Media/Opinion Makers for promotion of two-way tourism

g) To exchange experiences in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management

h) To participate in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other's country and

i) To promote safe honourable and sustainable tourism

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Pune-Miraj-Londa railway line project at an estimated cost of Rs.3,627.47 crore and expected completion cost of Rs.4,246.84 crore with 5% escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 467 km. The completion period of the project will be five years.

Besides travelling people, industries in and around Miraj-Londa section will have additional transport capacity to meet their requirements. Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between Pune-Miraj-Londa section thereby increasing the revenue of Railways.

Background:

Miraj is a junction station on Londa to Mumbai double line route via Sangli, Karad, Satara. The Pune-Miraj section is non-electrified single line on diesel traction and it is oversaturated.

The additional traffic running over and above 100% of utilization is proposed to be diverted on the proposed doubling. The doubling of the section would come as an advantage as it would strengthen the rail network necessary to operate more passenger trains with increased speed and better efficiency. Doubling between Bangalore-Hubli and Hospet-Vasco-da-gama is already in progress. Once these works are completed, there will be tremendous increase in traffic over the Miraj-Londa section. Therefore, doubling between Pune-Miraj-Londa is required.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Roza -Sitapur Cantt.- Burhwal Broad Gauge single line project at an estimated cost of Rs.1,295.42 crore with expected completion cost of Rs.1,486.46 crore with 5% escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 180.77 km. The completion period of the project will be five years.

Doubling of this line between Burhwal junction and Roza junction will fulfil the demand of the increasing traffic leading to socio economic development of area. Besides, there will be continuous double line track available from Gorakhpur to Delhi via Sitapur Cantt. and Moradabad. Barabanki and Sitapur districts of Uttar Pradesh would also be benefitted through this project.

Background:

Roza -Sitapur Cantt.- Burhwal is a single line section.

On one side Gorakhpur-Lucknow is already double line section and on the other side that is Delhi-Lucknow via Moradabad route is also a double line section. Burhwal-Sitapur falls in the jurisdiction of North-Eastern Railway and Sitapur-Roza falls in the jursidiction of Northern Railway. The project route is starting from Burhwal junction (on Gorakhpur-Lucknow double line section) and passing through Sitapur Cantt. connects to Roza junction (on Delhi-Lucknow via Moradabad on double line section). The area through which the project line traverses is having big Military installation at Sitapur Cantt. After completion of this double line, there will be continuous double line track available from Gorakhpur to Delhi via Sitapur Cantt.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for doubling of Surendranagar-Rajkot project at an estimated cost of Rs.1,002.39 crore with expected completion cost of Rs.1,137.17 crore with 5% escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 116.17 km. The completion period of the project will be four years.

Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between Okha-Rajkot, Porbandar-Kanalus, Veraval-Rajkot and Maliya Maiyana / Navalakhi-Dahinsara-Wankaner section.

Background:

Surendranagar-Wankaner-Rajkot Broad Gauge Section is an important and saturated single line section carrying traffic originating and terminating at various destinations in Saurashtra region of Gujarat State.

This single line has to carry the passenger as well as freight traffic originating /terminating between Okha-Rajkot section, Porbandar-Kanlus section, Veraval-Rajkot section and Maliya Maiyana / Navalakhi-Dahinsara-Wankaner section. In addition to this, freight traffic from two branch lines namely Sikka-Kanalus junction and Windmill-Jamnagar sections are also converged on to the project route. This makes the project route very busy single line section with very high potential to further growth due to the high industrial development envisaged in Saurashtra region in the coming years.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for financial restructuring of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation (HFCL). The Cabinet, amongst other things, approved waiver of GoI loan of Rs. 1916.14 crores (as on 31 March 2015) and the outstanding interest on GoI loan as on date (the interest amount was Rs. 7163.35 crores as on 31 March 2015). The Cabinet also approved transfer of 56 acres of Ash Dyke land of Barauni unit to Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited (BSPGCL) to settle dues of HFCL for faster revival of Barauni Unit.

This Cabinet approval will facilitate de-registration of HFCL from BIFR by making its net worth positive. It will clear the way for faster revival of Barauni unit of HFCL. This unit is lying defunct and was not in operation since January 1999.

Therefore, the unit and other associated facilities were lying unutilized. It is important to mention here that there is no functional urea unit in the Eastern part of the country except two small units at Namrup (Assam).

The annual consumption of urea in the country is approx. 320 LMT, out of which 245 LMT is produced indigenously and rest is imported. The setting up of a new unit at Barauni will meet the growing demand of urea of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. It will also ease the pressure on railway and road infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions and thereby saving in govt. subsidy on freight. This unit will create opportunities for 400 direct and 1200 indirect employments.

Barauni unit will also serve as anchor unit to Jagdishpur- Haldia gas pipeline being laid by Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), which is critical for development and growth of economy and infrastructure in eastern India.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for financial restructuring of Hindustan Steel Works Construction (HSCL). It has also approved its takeover by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Urban Development.

The existing paid up equity capital of the HSCL is Rs.117.1 crore. Under the proposal, the Government of India Non Plan Loan and Plan Loan along with accumulated interest thereon and outstanding guarantee fee worth Rs.1502.2 crore will be converted into equity and equity capital of the company will be raised to that extent. The paid up equity capital of the company will become 1619.3 crore. Against this, the accumulated losses of Rs.1585 crore, as on 31 March 2015, will set off. After writing off of the accumulated losses, the equity and paid up capital of HSCL will become Rs. 34.3 crore. NBCC will infuse funds of Rs. 35.7 crore as equity into HSCL. HSCL will become subsidiary of NBCC with NBCC holding 51% equity holding. The shareholding of Government of India in HSCL will be reduced to 49%. The equity and paid up capital of HSCL will become Rs.70 crore.

NBCC and HSCL are Government of India enterprises with similar lines of business activities.

The decision will benefit in economies of scale for NBCC and would assist in better manpower utilization. NBCC and HSCL will benefit from each other's resources and expertise. HSCL will be able to fulfill its commitments of execution of projects and the orders.

Government of India will provide one-time support of Rs.200 crore for settling term loans availed from commercial banks. It will also bear the contingent liability of Rs.110 crore (approximately) as decided by the Supreme Court in compensation for VRS liabilities. In addition, Government of India will also pay the outstanding interest on the bank loans for the financial year 2015-16 amounting to Rs. 44 crore approximately (till 31 March 2016) and the amount of interest up to the date of takeover of HSCL by NBCC.

Background:

HSCL was established in the year 1964 for construction of modern integrated steel plants. Over the years the company has diversified into other civil infrastructure construction projects. HSCL started incurring losses since 1978-79 mainly due to absorption of large workforce of several PSUs and private companies increasing the workforce from 4,100 in 1970 to 26,537 in 1979. The revival package for HSCL approved by Government of India in 1999 and further attempts for financial restructuring the company were not successful.

The Committee of Secretaries recommended in July, 2015 that Ministry of Steel may explore the possibility of merger/takeover of HSCL by another CPSE in a related sector. A Group of Secretaries (GoS) was constituted to prepare a Paper on way forward for HSCL. On the recommendations of the GoS, and the subsequent consensus, a Cabinet Note was prepared for financial restructuring of HSCL and its takeover by NBCC.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Sales rise 7.76% to Rs 33.19 crore

Net profit of Fortis Malar Hospitals declined 44.64% to Rs 1.24 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 2.24 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales rose 7.76% to Rs 33.19 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 30.80 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015.

For the full year,net profit declined 18.80% to Rs 6.22 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 7.66 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales rose 9.91% to Rs 129.30 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 117.64 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales33.1930.80 8 129.30117.64 10 OPM %2.957.69 -4.646.40 - PBDT2.834.16 -32 13.3214.38 -7 PBT2.043.41 -40 10.1611.67 -13 NP1.242.24 -45 6.227.66 -19

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
The Japan share market ended lower in thin trading for the second straight session on Tuesday, 24 May 2016, as the yen's appreciation and weak Chinese shares hurt investor sentiment. Risk sentiments were also subdued on caution ahead of key events later this week including the two-day Group of Seven summit in Ise-Shima from Thursday and a speech by U. S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday.

However, market's downside was also limited by lingering hopes for fiscal action by the government and additional monetary easing by the Bank of Japan. The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 155.84 points, or 0.94%, to close at 16,498.76. The Topix index of all first-section issues ended down 12.18 points, or 0.91%, at 1,326.50. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1294 to 550 and 153 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.00% to 25.95 a new 1-month low.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Market is seen opening higher, tracking strong leads from Asian markets and overnight gains on the Wall Street. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 70.29 points at the opening bell.

In overseas markets, Asia markets spurted today, 25 May 2016, after encouraging reports on the housing market saw gains in US stocks. US new home sales data out yesterday, 24 May 2016, showed a jump in April to their strongest monthly pace in more than eight years, with prices setting record highs.

Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 815.53 crore yesterday, 24 May 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 989.95 crore yesterday, 24 May 2016, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news, Tech Mahindra's consolidated net profit rose 18.15% to Rs 897 crore on 2.72% rise in revenue from services to Rs 6883.70 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q3 December 2015. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 2.2% to Rs 1161.30 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q3 December 2015. The EBITDA margin dropped to 16.87% in Q4 March 2016 from 16.95% in Q3 December 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016. Meanwhile, the company has dropped its plan to set up a payments bank. The company had received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India in August 2015 for setting up a payments bank.

Axis Bank said that the bank has incorporated a company, A.Treds, which is registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Registrar of Companies, Mumbai, on 23 May 2016. A.Treds is incorporated as a subsidiary company of the bank, Axis Bank. A.Treds will be engaged in undertaking the business of setting up and operating a trade receivables discounting system, as per the in-principal approval received from the Reserve Bank of India. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016.

Bharti Airtel (Airtel) will be watched. On 17 March 2016, Airtel and Videocon Telecommunications (VTL) entered into a definitive agreement, wherein, Airtel proposed to acquire, for an aggregate consideration of Rs 4428 crore, the rights to use 2 x 5 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band allotted to VTL by the Government of India for six circles - Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh , UP (East) and UP (West). The proposed transaction has been successfully concluded on 24 May 2016 following all necessary approvals and the satisfaction of all the conditions (including conditions stated in the Spectrum Trading Guidelines), the two companies said in a joint statement after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016.

Cipla's consolidated net profit fell 68.85% to Rs 80.87 crore on 5.62% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 3266.54 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016.

Bank of India posted a net loss of Rs 3587.09 crore in Q4 March 2016, higher than net loss of Rs 56.14 crore in Q4 March 2015. Total income fell 7.34% to Rs 11384.91 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 49879.13 crore as on 31 March 2016 as against Rs 36519.14 crore as on 31 December 2015 and Rs 22193.24 crore as on 31 March 2015. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 13.07% as on 31 March 2016 as against 9.18% as on 31 December 2015 and 5.39% as on 31 March 2015. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 7.79% as on 31 March 2016 as against 5.25% as on 31 December 2015 and 3.36% as on 31 March 2015.

An upward revision in monsoon forecast for the June-September 2016 south west monsoon season from private weather forecaster Skymet and gains in European stocks aided the upmove on the domestic bourses, with the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the Nifty 50 index snapping a four-day losing streak yesterday, 24 May 2016. The Sensex gained 75.11 points or 0.3% to settle at 25,305.47. The Nifty rose 17.80 points or 0.23% to settle at 7,748.85. Skymet revised higher forecast for the 2016 southwest monsoon to 109% of the long period average (LPA) from 105% of the LPA predicted earlier. The announcement from Skymet hit the market towards the close of the trading session.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Tech Mahindra jumped 5.59% to Rs 506.05 at 9:25 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit rose 18.15% to Rs 897 crore on 2.72% rise in revenue from services to Rs 6883.70 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q3 December 2015.

The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 May 2016.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 307.01 points, or 1.21%, to 25,612.48.

On BSE, so far 78,672 shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 1.62 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 510.75 and a low of Rs 494.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 668.75 on 25 May 2015. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 407.50 on 29 February 2016.

Tech Mahindra's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 2.2% to Rs 1161.30 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q3 December 2015. The EBITDA margin dropped to 16.87% in Q4 March 2016 from 16.95% in Q3 December 2015.

Meanwhile, the company has dropped its plan to set up a payments bank. The company had received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India in August 2015 for setting up a payments bank.

Tech Mahindra said that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 24 May 2016, recommended a dividend of Rs. 12 per share for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY 2016).

Tech Mahindra is a specialist in digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering solutions.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Army chief General Dalbir Singh on Wednesday visited the 29 Assam Rifles battalion and stressed on "relentless operations" to fish out the insurgents operating in the north-east.

The army chief, accompanied by Eastern Command's General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lt. General Praveen Bakshi, interacted with the battalion's Commanding Officer Major General V.S. Sreenivas.

The army chief was briefed on Sunday's ambush -- in which six soldiers of 29 Assam Rifles were killed by insurgents in Manipur's Chandel district -- as well as the ongoing combing operations and measures taken to neutralise insurgents of Corcom, the apex body of six proscribed underground organisations.

"The army chief stressed on the need to carry out relentless operations against the insurgents active in the region," an official statement said.

General Singh also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and directed officials to ensure all support to them.

--IANS

ao/tsb/bg
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday stuck to his earlier stance that the 2008 Batala House gunfight here was "fake" even as a video footage telecast on a TV channel claimed that a suspect Bada Sajid was seen in a "IS video".

"First of all I always said it was a false and fake encounter and I still hold the same view.

"It is for the investigative agency to prove that (presence of suspect is IS video). We had asked for a judicial probe... if that had been accepted everything would have come out in the right perspective," the Congress leader told media persons here.

Suspected terrorist Mohammed Sajid alias Bada Sajid, who reportedly escaped from Delhi on the day of the gunfight at Jamia Nagar area of south Delhi could be one of the fugitives who featured in an alleged IS propaganda video, said a TV report on Tuesday.

It claimed Bada Sajid is one of the five people who allegedly featured in the 22-minute video posted by the IS recently. Police and home ministry sources said Sajid belonged to the Azamgarh module of the Indian Mujahideen (IM).

The Congress leader had claimed earlier that the gunfight in which Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was killed was "fake", saying: "My objection to the 'encounter' was simple as in an 'encounter', no one can get five shots on the head."

On the case of Sajid, he said: "There are hundreds of Sajids, I do not know."

However, he said if the government, the National Investigation Agency and Research and Analysis Wing have any evidence against anyone to prove about their involvement in such terror acts, "they should be strongly prosecuted".

Meanwhile, a home ministry source merely said that the matter as reported in the TV channel will be looked into.

The Batala House gunfight took place a week after five serial blasts in Delhi on September 13, 2008 in which at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured.

The issue of alleged "fake encounter" was also used politically chiefly by Samajwadi Party and Congress.

Seven Delhi police personnel had stormed an apartment building in Batla House in Delhi's Jamia Nagar were that terrorists from the Indian Mujahideen were allegedly hiding.

Two suspected terrorists were shot dead while one named Shahzad was arrested and a fourth had reportedly managed to escape. They all belonged to the Azamgarh area of Uttar Pradesh.

--IANS

sid-nd/vd
FC Barcelona's Brazilian defender Dani Alves has revealed he is under an injury cloud ahead of next month's centenary edition of the Copa America in the United States.

The 33-year-old said on Tuesday that he has been playing with plantar fasciitis, an overuse injury affecting the sole of the foot, since November, reports Xinhua.

"I have been injured for the past six months. It's been uncomfortable but it hasn't stopped me from playing," Alves was quoted as saying by Brazilian news portal Globoesporte.

"I've been receiving treatment. I want to be 100 percent to help my country. It's a great honour to play for my country and when I get called up there won't be any tiredness. But I have to be at my best physically to be able to give my best. If I'm not 100 percent fit, I won't play."

Brazil will already be without Alves' Barcelona colleague Neymar for the continental tournament.

The forward was left out of the squad after the Catalan club said it would not release him for both the Copa America and Olympics to be held between August 5 to 21.

Brazil will begin their Copa America campaign against Ecuador in Pasadena on June 4.

--IANS

pur/vm
The union cabinet on Wednesday gave ex post facto approval to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the Maldives for strengthening cooperation in tourism.

The MoU with the Maldives will be instrumental in increasing the tourist arrivals from this important source market.

In recent years, Maldives has emerged as an important tourism generating market for India, an official release said after a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the official communique, the main objectives of the MoU are: to expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector, to exchange information and data related to tourism and encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, including hotels and tour operators.

It will also seek to establish an exchange programme for cooperation in human resource development, invest in tourism and hospitality sectors and exchange visits of tour operators, media and opinion makers for the promotion of two-way tourism, the release said.

Both sides will participate in travel fairs and exhibitions in each other's country and "promote safe honourable and sustainable tourism".

--IANS

nd/tsb/bg
The CBI on Wednesday arrested the former director of West Bengal-based private company Basil International Ltd in its ongoing investigation into a chit fund case.

Dr. P.P.S. Sethi was arrested on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust and diversion of funds, said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer.

The officer said that Sethi was the founder director of Basil, an asset management company, which issued product scheme cards and preference share certificates against public collection without taking permission from the regulatory bodies.

"The company had collected Rs.3,500 crore from the public," said the officer.

A total of 246 cases have been registered by the CBI against 128 companies, including Basil International Limited, Saradha Group, Rose Valley, Unipay 2 U, Jeevan Suraksha, Prayag, Abyss Assam Group and Daffodils Group of Companies.

--IANS

rak/rn/bg
With African heads of mission demanding strong action from the government in the wake of a Congolese man's murder in the national capital last week, India on Wednesday moved to assuage the grievances of the envoys and assured them of the safety and security of African nationals in the country.

The Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) on Thursday, from which the envoys said they would stay away, will also now be held as scheduled.

According to sources, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh who met with Eritrean Ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, also the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, and a few other diplomats, strongly condemned the criminal act and assured them that the strongest legal action would be taken.

Masonda Ketada Olivier, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run.

On Tuesday, Woldemariam in a statement on behalf of all the African heads of mission, sought strong action by the Indian government against the perpetrators of the murderous attack on Oliver.

Woldemariam said the envoys requested that the event be postponed, and that the African nations also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except for a cultural troupe from Lesotho.

"This is because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver," the statement said.

The sources said on Wednesday that Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung and Delhi Police chief Alok Kumar Verma have been spoken to and they were pursuing the matter.

Stating that Singh assured the heads of African missions of the Indian government's full support, the sources said Singh would also do an outreach event with African students along with embassies concerned to reassure them of their safety.

"It was also decided that the minister of state would meet the African heads of mission every three months," they said.

"On the issue of the ICCR's Africa Day event, Singh impressed upon the African heads of mission the need to continue the tradition but also said that we would be guided by the African heads of mission in the matter."

Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that the ICCR has received the green signal from the authorities concerned to go ahead with the Africa Day event.

Earlier on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she has asked Singh to meet the heads of mission of African countries and assure them of the Indian government's commitment to the security of African nationals.

"V.K. Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security," she said.

In a separate tweet, Sushma Swaraj said the government would launch a sensitisation programme to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits," she said.

"I would like to assure African students in India that this was an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons."

Sushma Swaraj said she has asked Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung to take steps and ensure that this case was tried by a fast track court.

"Jung has assured me that he will take immediate action in this regard," she said.

In a separate statement, the external affairs ministry described the death of Olivier as "very unfortunate" and said that "we condemn the incident unequivocally".

It said Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, who handled relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of mission, including Woldemariam.

He explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the incident his ministry got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted promptly.

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," the statement said.

--IANS

ab/bg
With African heads of mission demanding strong action from the Indian government in the wake of the murder of a Congolese national here, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh was deputed on Wednesday to allay the concerns voiced by the envoys.

"I have asked my colleague General V.K. Singh to meet the heads of mission of African countries and assure them of the Indian government's commitment to the security of African nationals," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

"V.K. Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security," she said.

Masonda Ketada Olivier, 29, was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run.

On Tuesday, African heads of mission held a meeting here regarding the incident following which they issued a statement seeking strong action from the government.

The heads of mission stated that they were being left with little option but to advise their respective governments against sending new students to India.

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," the statement by Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday.

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said.

Woldemariam said the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators".

He said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said.

The African envoys also said they would stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26.

In a separate tweet on Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj said the government would launch a sensitisation programme to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits," she said.

"I would like to assure African students in India that this was an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons."

Swaraj said she has asked Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung to take steps and ensure that this case was tried by a fast track court.

"Jung has assured me that he will take immediate action in this regard," she said.

In a separate statement, the external affairs ministry described the death of Olivier as "very unfortunate" and said that "we condemn the incident unequivocally".

It said Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of mission, including the dean of the African diplomatic corps.

He explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the incident his ministry got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted promptly.

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," the statement said.

It said that Sinha also pointed out to the envoys that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially motivated.

"Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues. Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship," it said.

"We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur," it added.

--IANS

ab/dg
DKNY, a leading New York-based fashion brand, has opened its first outlet in Noida with its store in DLF Mall of India here.

This is the latest brand to make its entry at the shopping complex, which already houses international brands like H&M, Vero Moda, Zara and Forever 21 already.

DKNY entered the Indian market in 2009 through an exclusive boutique agreement with DLF brands and the latest store -- spread over an area of 975 sq ft -- has wallets, handbags and footwear from the spring 2016 collection on display.

"DKNY has been one of the most loved fashion brands since its launch. We are very pleased to strengthen our operations in Delhi, NCR as it is a key market for the brand," Timmy Sarna, managing director and CEO of DLF Brands, said in a statement.

DKNY has recently taken on a new creative direction, debuting with the spring 2016 season. Designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, both born and raised in New York, have come on board as its creative directors.

--IANS

nv/rb/dg
Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday agreed to extend further bailout loans to Greece as well as debt relief, in what they called a "major breakthrough".

After talks that ended late Tuesday night in Brussels, the 19 eurozone ministers - known as the Eurogroup, agreed to unlock 10.3 billion euros ($11 billion) in new loans, BBC reported.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters early on Wednesday.

The move came after the Greek parliament on Sunday approved another round of spending cuts and tax increases demanded by international creditors.

The ministers also said debt relief would be eventually offered to Greece.

Poul M Thomsen, director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European Department, welcomed the recognition that Greek debt was unsustainable and relief was needed.

He warned, however, that the IMF board in Washington still had to agree to the fund's participation. He also said that the extent of debt relief was still not clear.

On Sunday, the Greek parliament passed new budget cuts and tax rises at the weekend, in order to unblock much-needed aid to help meet the country's debt repayments over the coming months.

The bill also created a state privatisation fund requested by eurozone finance ministers.

The government, led by the leftist Syriza coalition, agreed to a third bailout worth 86 billion euros ($96 billion) last year.

--IANS

ksk
Bihar Police on Wednesday arrested five shooters involved in journalist Rajdeo Ranjan's murder.

Ranjan, Siwan bureau chief of Hindi newspaper Hindustan, which is part of HT Media, was shot dead at a busy market near Station Road on May 14 .

A joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Siwan district police arrested the five shooters, a district police said.

According to police officials, arms and motorcycles used by shooters in Rajan's killing were also recovered.

Police in Siwan said that Ranjan's killing was part of a pre-planned conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Bihar Director General of Police P.K. Thakur said that police have identified the shooters involved in the killing of the journalist.

Protests against the killing continued in Patna and also in other parts of the state.

The protesters, including mediapersons, have demanded justice for Ranjan's family of Ranjan.

The Bihar government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already recommended a CBI probe into the journalist's killing

--IANS

ik/ksk/vm
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday launches 20 Nirbhaya buses of Rajasthan State Transport Corporation with multiple safety measures to better protect women passengers.

"Certain unfortunate incidents in the recent past have forced the ministry to take this step, so that women travelling in buses are more safe," Gadkari said in a statement here.

Nirbhaya bus security measures include Vehicle Tracking System (VTS), CCTV and panic buttons on every seat.

"The VTS and the panic buttons will enable the police to know the exact location of the bus and provide prompt assistance," he said.

Gadkari said directions in this regard will be given to other states in due course of time, adding that buses in the future should be manufactured with such safety features to contain anti-social elements.

After June 2, the ministry will issue a notification mandating public vehicles with a seating capacity of more than 23 seats to fix closed-circuit television, VTS and panic buttons while vehicles below 23 seats will be asked to install VTS and emergency buttons, the statement added.

--IANS

sth/tsb
Infused with mango flavour and coloured emerald green, "Trinamool Rosogollas" are selling by the thousands in the eastern metropolis, courtesy the West Bengal assembly election outcome.

Raking in the moolah, Maa Gandheswari Sweets in neighbouring Howrah district claims to have sold over 15,000 of these spongy and syrupy delights after the counting of votes ended on May 19.

On May 27, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will be sworn in chief minister again after leading the party to a resounding victory in the assembly polls.

"We have already received orders from the party for the swearing-in and we expect to sell thousands more. They are going to our customers across Kolkata. Starting from the counting till the next day, we sold over 15,000 of the green rosogollas," Keshto, the shop owner, told IANS.

Predictably, the green rosogollas are more in demand post the results.

"Prior to the counting, we had made sweets themed on all the parties, the BJP (saffron coloured sweets), tricolour sweets representing the Left-Congress alliance and the green Trinamool rosogollas. But after the results, the green ones have virtually flown off the shelves," he said.

The shop has also crafted 2.5 feet edible dolls of Banerjee from 'kheer'.

"One sample will be sent to Banerjee on the day she is sworn in," he said.

--IANS

sgh/ask/rn/bg
Actor Simbu, despite being active in Tamil filmdom for over two decades, says he has never yearned for stardom. He credits his upbringing for this attitude towards his career and life.

"I don't even remember the first time that I faced the camera. I come from a family of actors and since I started acting at a very young age, I experienced stardom at a time when I didn't even understand it. I was too young to even realise why people would pinch my cheek when I used to go out with my dad," Simbu, son of popular Tamil actor-filmmaker T. Rajendher, told IANS.

Having witnessed stardom from close quarters from a very young age, he said he never aspired for it.

"My parents raised us in such a way that my brother (Kuralarasan) and I never got carried away by fame and stardom. We were always prepared for the worst. Tomorrow, even if nobody is willing to produce a film with me, I know I can make my own film," he said.

Simbu's forthcoming Tamil romantic comedy, "Idhu Namma Aalu", will hit the screens on Friday. It is finally releasing after a long delay, much like his last release "Vaalu".

Admitting that his career went through a roller-coaster ride over the last few years, Simbu said: "For people who don't know how they climbed up the success ladder, it will always be a struggle to climb up when they fall down. I worked my way up to the ladder, so I know I can get back where I belong."

In the last four years, Simbu has had just two releases. The interim gap, he points out, has helped him self-introspect.

"I've grown fond of spirituality and life. I found answers to a lot of questions about myself and to other things around me," he explained, adding that he feels he has become a better individual.

In Pandiraj-directed "Idhu Namma Aalu", Simbu is paired with his former lover Nayanthara, and he says the film is unlike anything audiences have seen from him before.

"I haven't done anything like this. The film has no fight scenes, no introduction song, and even the special number 'Maaman Waiting' isn't as glamorous as how such songs are usually shot. In a way, it's a risk that I'm doing this project but I still chose to do it because of its story," he said.

The film throws the spotlight on the months leading to a wedding.

"When audiences watch the film, they can easily relate to the story. The conversations between Nayanthara and me will particularly appeal to every young couple. This is the kind of film that will work even with a newcomer. However, it will do much better with a star and that's why I was interested in doing it," he added.

"Idhu Namma Aalu" introduces Simbu's brother Kuralarasan as composer.

Lauding him, Simbu said: "When I work with other composers, I sit and get the kind of songs I want. Kural knows what exactly I want and he will strive hard to deliver it. He gave me the kind of tunes that he knew I will like. His contribution has been phenomenal and I'd love to collaborate with him again."

Soon after the release of "Idhu Namma Aalu", Simbu plans to go on a holiday. Upon return, he will resume work on Tamil thriller "Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan", while awaiting the release of Tamil action-drama "Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada".

(Haricharan Pudipeddi can be contacted at haricharan.p@ians.in)

--IANS

hp/rb/vt
To bring their counselling expertise closer to more Indian students wishing to study abroad, major student placement service provider IDP Education has recently opened three new student placement offices in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

"India plays a very important role in IDP's global portfolio and this is reflected with the opening of our new offices in the country," said Harmeet Pental, regional director South Asia, North America, Britain, said in a company release.

The new offices opened in Vishakapatnam, Thane and Surat have increased the number of student placement offices in India to 21 across 19 cities in the country.

"We are extremely delighted with the launch of new offices and look forward to provide the best in class service to all students who aspire to study abroad and help them achieve their dream of getting quality international education," Piyush Kumar, country director, IDP Education, India said.

The new initiatives are in line with IDP Education's aim of engaging more students with them for international study by providing them with the guidance to get through the best spread of institutions from Australia, Britain, US, Canada and New Zealand.

"With our team of well trained and experienced counsellors and over 45 years of experience globally, IDP aims to provide personalised counselling to students and help them with their entire journey from course and university selection, to application submission, offer letter acceptance, tuition fee payment, visa assistance and pre departure orientation," the statement added.

--IANS

gb/dg
Indian Mujahiddeen activist Mirza Himayat Baig, sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents, on Wednesday allegedly attacked murder convict Rajesh Daware, who is sentenced to death, in the Nagpur Central Jail, jail officials said.

The attack occurred in the kitchen premises of the high security Nagpur Central Jail where Baig hit Daware on his head with a ladle. Security officials immediately rushed to stop the brawl from escalating.

Daware was rushed to the prison hospital while Dhantoli police station lodged a first information report against Baig, the officials said.

The reason for the brawl was not yet clear and police and prison authorities were investigating the incidence.

Baig was arrested for the February 13, 2010, blast in the German Bakery restaurant in Pune and later the Pune sessions court sentenced him to death.

However, on March 17, 2016, the Bombay High Court absolved Baig of all serious charges pertaining to the terror act and commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents.

Daware and his associate Arvind Abhilash Singh, who were both college students, were sentenced to death by a Nagpur sessions court on February 4, 2016, for the sensational vendetta killing of eight-year-old Yug Chandak on September 1, 2014.

Yug was kidnapped and killed by Daware to take revenge on Dr. Chandak who sacked Daware as office assistant a fortnight earlier.

The rare double death sentence in a single case was upheld by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 5, 2016.

--IANS

qn/py/vt
As the Narendra Modi government completes two years, it's been a mixed bag as far as foreign policy is concerned, with the handling of relations with close neighbours Pakistan and Nepal sticking out like a sore thumb, despite making advancement in engaging with the rest of the world.

Modi, who has visited 40 countries since he took power in May 26, 2014, is slated to visit the US, Qatar and Afghanistan in early June, keeping up the tempo of foreign sojourns.

But the "lack of clarity" on its Pakistan policy and the "mismanagement" of relations with Nepal has raised eyebrows, especially as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been aggressively advocating neighbourhood outreach. The fate of the resumed bilateral dialogue remains clouded after the Pathankot attack, despite Modi's December 25 stop-over visit to Lahore.

With regard to China too, though high level bilateral visits are continuing, India seems to have gained no advantage, with Beijing not showing willingness to resolve the boundary question. China is also continuing to back close friend Pakistan but stymieing india's attempts to ban Jaish-e-Mohamed terrorist Masood Azhar in the UN and also blocking India's move to get NSG membership.

Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor feels Modi's foreign policy record "is at best mixed".

"Though Modi has travelled extensively and brought a lot of energy in the personal conduct of foreign policy, the results are yet to be seen," Tharoor told IANS.

"A number of promised investments announced are yet to materialize, and on a number of key areas there has been rather negative developments," he said.

Tharoor said the government's Pakistan policy has been "rather incoherent, showing ups and downs, and inconsistencies that have certainly led to a considerable amount of confusion to what our policy is, not least among his own followers in the BJP".

Tharoor said that Nepal has been a "a major setback and embarrassment for India".

"It seems a clear example of a government which is a centralised authority in the PMO but the PMO has taken its eye off the wall and the MEA advice was therefore not acted upon on time, and the result is a mismanagement of Nepal relations," Tharoor added.

Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh feels while "it has been a very brilliant and dynamic foreign policy as regards is concerned, but not so successful so far as strategy is concerned, to reach the goals".

He feels Modi has "invested a lot of energy in foreign policy" and travelled to many countries, including many where prime ministers had not visited for a long period, and also helped in consolidating the strategic partnership with the US, the government has not fared so well with regard to China and Pakistan.

The former foreign secretary says Modi took a bold step in visiting Lahore, "but after Pathankot there is no clarity in our policy towards Pakistan; It is not clear whether the government favours continuation of dialogue or has it suspended it."

He said in relations with China, it was being expected that the Chinese would bring in large investments to India, "but that has not happened, and there are no indications the Chinese want to settle the border issue; they continue with claims on Indian territory and troops violate the LAC," he said, adding that Beijing's military-nuclear and military cooperation with Pakistan is on the rise.

"Neither in the case of China or Pakistan has the government shown that it has the kind of strategic thinking that enables us to deal with it," he added.

(ATTN EDITORS: This is the fourth in a series of stories on two years of the Narendra Modi government. Editor, IANS)

(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at ranjana.n@ians.in)

--IANS

rn/ky
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, an ultra-nationalist legislator, signed a deal on Wednesday to expand the governing coalition.

Lieberman's party Yisrael Beytenu, or 'Israel Our Home', was brought in and Lieberman was offered the post of defence minister as the new political partnership was signed in parliament.

The partnership is expected to further increase Netanyahu's slim lead in the Israeli parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.

Netanyahu vowed that his new government will "pursue peace with Palestinians", whilst "ensuring the security of Israeli citizens".

"My policy has not changed," Netanyahu said.

Lieberman, known for his hardline stance on security matters, said: "We are all committed to peace with our neighbours."

Lieberman is replacing Moshe Ya'alon, who resigned on Friday claiming that extremists have taken over Israel.

Ya'alon, considered as a strong voice of moderation in the far-right government, said he no longer trusts Netanyahu after the latter offered his post to Lieberman in a bid to expand the coalition.

Lieberman is a Jewish immigrant from Russia and many of his supporters are of Russian descent.

He secured $360 million in the deal in order to increase the pension stipends of Russian veterans.

Surprisingly however, Lieberman, known for disliking Netanyahu, expressed his willingness last week to engage in coalition talks after the prime minister had reportedly reached an agreement with the centre-left Zionist Union.

--IANS

py/dg
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the union cabinet's approval for the inclusion of Malayali Gounder, Narikoravan and Kuruvikaran communities in the list of scheduled tribes.

The cabinet chaired by Modi on Wednesday approved the introduction of two constitutional amendment bills in parliament to expand the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and identification of new communities in the union territory of Puducherry.

Jayalalithaa said the long pending demand of the state had been accepted and that she conveys her heartfelt thanks to Modi.

--IANS

vj/tsb/bg
Divided Kashmiri separatist leaders have found a new cause to join hands against the government's purported plans to set up enclaves for migrant Hindu families and soldiers who, retire serving in the restive state.

This is for the first time after the 2008 Amarnath land row, that top separatists - Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yaseen Malik have agreed to form an "issue-based alliance" to stop the government from "engineering demography" of India's only Muslim-majority state.

According to a source, Malik, who heads the Jammu and Liberation Front, is said to be the mastermind of the "new found unity" of the otherwise divided separatist leaders.

The JKLF chief first met Geelani at his upscale residence in Srinagar on Monday and a day later, the two had a meeting with the Mirwaiz.

Geelani, who broke away from the Hurriyat Conference in 2003 over ideological differences with the Mirwaiz, said it was imperative to fight together, but peacefully and not play mute spectators to the government's plan to change the demography of our state.

Geelani said that the separatist leadership was not against any plan to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits, who fled the valley in early 1990s at the start of the Pakistan-sponsored armed insurgency.

"But, why separate enclaves? We will welcome them but not in settlements. They have their homes here. The government's approach is immoral and undemocratic. Our unity on this issue shall continue," the 86-year-old chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat said.

The Mehbooba Mufti-headed PDP-BJP government has, however, ruled out exclusive colonies for retired army soldiers.

But a 2015 proposal note of the state government says that the divisional administration in has agreed to allot "173 kanals (some nine hectares) of land on payment in the old air field area (in Srinagar) for some 26 officers, 125 junior commissioned officers and 900 others".

Naeem Akhtar, state education minister and the government's spokesperson, denied and said no land has been marked for 'sainik colonies' and there is no question of making separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits.

The Mirwaiz said that 'the situation' had brought them together as the government was planning to do away with the 'the special status' of the state.

He alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had traded interest of Kashmiris for its 'lust of power'.

"The PDP has given the control and power of running the state to the BJP," Mirwaiz said.

Malik said that, since the government was playing "foul" with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the separatist leadership needed to stay together to foil its 'dangerous plans'.

He refused to divulge details of the planned agitation but said that they have called for a complete valley-wide shutdown on Thursday against separate settlements.

Even mainstream parties like the Conference have sided with the separatists in opposing the plan of separate colonies for retired troopers.
Union Minister Shripad Yasso Naik on Wednesday said that yoga should be kept out of politics as he launched the new website of the AYUSH ministry and web portal for International Day of Yoga (IDY) here.

"My request to all the people is to keep yoga out of politics. Do yoga and stay healthy," Naik said on the controversy surrounding the International Day of Yoga over 'Surya Namaskar' and the chanting of 'Om' while doing yoga.

"Surya Namaskar and chanting Om are not part of the protocol for yoga day. It is people's choice whether they want to chant Om or not," Naik said.

"The event would be the same as last year. If nobody was forced to chant Om last year, then why this controversy this time around?" the minister for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) added.

He said that close to 200 countries would be participating in this year's Yoga Day event on June 21. The main function would be held at Chandigarh in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also set to participate.

Last year, 192 countries participated in the event.

Naik said this time around four new 'asanas' (postures) have been included and the protocol has been extended by 15 minutes as compared to the last year and would now be of 45-minute duration.

"We are introducing four new 'asanas' and extending the event by 15 minutes as compared to last year," he said.

On the newly-launched website and Yoga Day portal, Naik said that it has been developed as part of Digital India programme, using content management framework (CMF) approach.

The new portal for IDY has a provision for news to provide all the updated and relevant information relating to International Day of Yoga 2016, the minister said.

"It has a social wall where all the social media interactive platform shall be available for the visitors to keep track on the discussions and participate in them," he added.

--IANS

mak/rn/vt
A third jail outside the county  or in this case, the state  has been added to the list of holding locations for inmates as space issues continue to hinder the Gage County Detention Center.

The County Board of Supervisors approved a contract during its Wednesday meeting to house some inmates in Washington County, Kansas, as needed.

The county previously held inmates it didn't have room for in Saline or Dawson counties, though Board Chairman Myron Dorn said Dawson County has run into space issues of its own.

Dawson County informed us a month or two ago that for a while here theyre not going to be able to take any more, he said.

In January 2014 the Gage County Board approved contracts with Saline and Dawson counties to house inmates at a cost of $50 and $45 per inmate per day, respectively.

The county had previously considered Washington County as an option, though making arrangements with a jail in another state took more time than those in Nebraska.

Gage County will pay $35 per day for each inmate held in Washington County.

While the rate is cheaper than the agreements with Nebraska counties, board member Dennis Byars pointed out housing inmates in other jails is becoming a significant annual expense.

I hope the people of Gage County start looking at how much its costing us and everything were doing, having our deputies hauling people back and forth instead of having them right here in our own facility, he said. Its expensive. It costs a lot of money.

The Washington County Jail is also relatively close to Beatrice. The facility, as well as the Saline County Jail in Wilber, are each less than an hour drive from Beatrice.

The Dawson County Jail, located in Lexington, is a three hour drive from Beatrice, which has prompted complaints from people wishing to visit inmates.

There were people complaining they couldnt visit, but like I tell them, its not my fault theyre in jail, said Sheriff Millard Gus Gustafson. We do what weve got to do. Hopefully between three contracts we can make things work the best we can.

Gustafson commended Washington County for being easy to work with, and said even the option of housing inmates in Saline County has dwindled since the agreement was put into place.

Theyre getting particular who they take, Gustafson said. Because of that, Washington came up again and theyve been very cordial to assist us on that. Well give that a try, and actually weve got 2-3 there now.

Gustafson added the Washington County jail is a newer style, and capable of housing 30-34 inmates. Jailers from Kansas have also expressed a willingness to meet Gage County deputies at the state line for transfers, if the department is short staffed or needs deputies back in a hurry.
B.K. Birla group company Kesoram Industries will continue to focus and strengthen its tyre business even though it sold its tyre manufacturing plant at Laksar in Haridwar, a top official the company said on Wednesday.

"We are not going out of the tyre business. We have sold a tyre manufacturing facility not the tyre business to JK Tyres. We will strengthen our tyre business and will come up with new products," said tyre maker's whole-time director and CFO Tridib Das.

The company sold its Haridwar tyre manufacturing plant to JK Tyre for Rs 2195 crore.

"With the sale of the plant, we gave out a 555 tonnes a day capacity of producing truck and bus bias tyres, two-three wheeler tyres and truck and bus radial tyres. Of the total capacity, 320 tonnes a day was for manufacturing of truck and bus bias tyre," he said.

"We are concentrating to build our Balasore plant as a state-of-the- art facility. The production of two-three wheeler tyres has already started in the plant," Das said.

The Odisha plant capacity stands at 275 tonnes a day on bias tyre and 60 tonnes a day in two-three wheeler tyres," he said.

He said that the company would source only truck and bus radial tyres from China as of now and we will produce the rest, he said.

The Balasore plant where capacity utilisation stands at 70 percent can produce 1.85 lakhs tyres a month. "We will meet the demand of 3.5 lakhs tyres a month," he said.

The company plans to invest Rs 300 crore for producing passenger car radial tyre facility, he added.

--IANS

bdc/ahm/
The West Bengal government on Wednesday reinstated a host of police and administrative officers earlier transferred out by the Election Commission during the assembly polls. Four police officers were put on compulsory waiting.

The state government shuffled 16 IPS officers, including six superintendents of police (SP) transferred by the Election Commission.

Fourteen IAS officers, including P.B. Salim, who was shifted out from the post of South 24 Parganas district magistrate (DM) earlier, were part of the shuffle.

The transfers come days after the Trinamool swept back to power with a massive mandate.

Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, during the poll campaign, repeatedly hit out at the EC for transferring out the officers and declared she will bring them back once the polls were over.

The SPs back to their earlier districts are Kunal Agarwal in Burdwan, Prasun Banerjee in Malda, Arnab Ghosh in South Dinajpur, Mukesh in Birbhum, Bharati Ghosh in West Midnapore and Tanmay Ray Chaudhuri in North 24 Parganas.

Four IPS officers, including R.M. Khan who was posted as South Dinajpur SP by the EC, have been put on compulsory waiting.

Among the shifted IAS officers are Antara Ancharya, transferred to North 24 Parganas from East Midnapore, and Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar, who has now been made the commissioner of panchayats and rural development department.

The transfers come days after Rajeev Kumar's reinstatement as the Kolkata police commissioner. Kumar was shifted out by the EC during the assembly polls.

--IANS

and/ssp/tsb
Microsoft said on Wednesday that it would lay off 1,350 people in Finland, as a result of its plan to streamline its smart phone hardware business.

"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms," said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, Xinhua news agency reported.

The redundancies in Finland were part of its overall plan to cut 1,850 jobs worldwide, and the company would record an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million, said the company in an announcement.

-IANS

lok/ahm/
A union minister from Gujarat has written to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel against State Energy Minister Saurabh Patel-Dalal, complaining that the latter was ignoring an important issue that he had raised with him.

In his letter to the chief minister dated May 23, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs in the Narendra Modi government Mansukh Vasava, stated that he had written to Saurabh Patel with a request to provide additional two-hour electricity to the farmers in South Gujarat, on the lines of the state government decision to provide 10-hour electricity to north and central Gujarat farmers, but his request fell on deaf ears.

Vasava said this move by the state government was fuelling resentment among farmers in South Gujarat for they are unable to irrigate their crops because of inadequate power supply.

Vasava, who shared his letter on his social media platform, asserted that it appears Saurabh Patel was "not interested" in solving the problems of farmers, so much so that he had not even bothered to reply to his letter of April 29, 2016.

Saurabh Patel could not be contacted on the issue.

--IANS

desai/rn/bg
Muslim representation in the new West Bengal assembly remained at 59, the same as last time, constituting 20 percent of the total house strength of 294.

However, the Trinamool Congress and Congress have more members from the community, while the Left's share was reduced to half.

Among the newly elected Muslim members, 32 won on Trinamool Congress tickets, five more than the previous house.

The Congress managed to increase the number of its Muslim faces to 18 from 13 last time, reaping the benefit of its alliance with the Left Front.

On the other hand, the Left Front's strength has gone down to nine from 18 five years back.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had 13 Muslim lawmakers in 2011. Now it has only eight.

Among other Left Front constituents, in the previous house the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) had two Muslim members each.

The Samajwadi Party had one legislator from the Muslim community in the previous house.

This time, none of the Muslim candidates nominated by the RSP made it to the assembly, while the AIFB managed only one. The Samajwadi Party will have no representation in the new house.

The prominent Muslim winners include Firhad Hakim, Javed Khan, Abdur Rezzak Mollah and Mohammed Siddiqullah (all Trinamool Congress), Abdul Mannan (Congress), Anisur Rahman (CPI-M) and Ali Imran Ramz (AIFB).

Among the major losers were minister Abdul Karim Chowdhary of the Trinamool from Islampur constituency, Sahajahan Choudhury of the CPI-M from Mangalkol, and Touab Ali of the CPI-M from Samserganj constituency.

Abu Nasar Khan Choudhury, the younger brother of late Congress stalwart A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, won from Sujapur constituency in Malda district as a Congress nominee in 2011.

But contesting on a Trinamool ticket, he lost to Congress nominee and his nephew Isha Khan Choudhury this time around.

The Trinamool Congress emerged victorious in 211 seats as the single largest party in the 294-member house.

The Congress won 44 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to win three seats. Among the Left parties, the Communist Party of India-Marxist won 26 seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party got three, the Communist Party of India secured one and the All India Forward Bloc won two seats. Independents and others won one seat.

--IANS

bdc/ssp/py/vt
Pakistan supports increase in the number of seats for Africa in the UN Security Council, Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.

Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi, in a 15-member Security Council debate on UN-AU Cooperation, on Tuesday highlighted the role of regional organisations in addressing issues related to international peace and security.

Lodhi said Pakistan has long-standing commitment to UN peacekeeping and will continue to extend every possible cooperation to the international community for global peace and stability.

African countries have three seats on the Security Council, with no permanent member and Lodhi supported more African seats to deal with conflicts in the 54-nation continent.

--IANS

py/dg
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani for approving Goa's first IIT centre.

"Goa takes one more step towards becoming a knowledge centre," tweeted Parrikar who is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and a former Goa chief minister.

Earlier this month a team from the HRD ministry was in Goa to inspect a 280-acre site at Loliem in South Goa, which had been shortlisted for setting up the premier educational institution.

Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said that the upcoming Indian Institute of Technology in Goa would be mentored by IIT Mumbai.

--IANS

maya/bim/bg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Pinarayi Vijayan on being sworn in as the new Kerala chief minister.

"Congrats to Pinarayi Vijayan & his team. Centre looks forward to working closely with the newly sworn-in LDF Government for Kerala's progress," the prime minister tweeted.

CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, 71, was administered oath as the 22nd chief minister of Kerala at the Central Stadium at Thiruvananthapuram by Governor P. Sathasivam.

--IANS

nd/rn/bg
Pro-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested in summer capital on Wednesday on the eve of a protest shutdown called by the separatists against a proposed colony to house ex-servicemen in the valley.

The JKLF chief was arrested from his party's Abi Guzar area office adjacent to the city centre Lal Chowk.

"He has been taken into preventive custody and lodged in Kothibagh police station to maintain law and order in the city," a senior police officer told IANS in .

Earlier in the day, police placed Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, under house arrest in his uptown Nigeen residence in city.

Mirwaiz Umer, Malik and senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani have called for a protest shutdown on Thursday against the alleged setting up of a Sainik (ex-servicemen) colony by the central and state governments in the Valley.

The separatists have also called for post Friday prayer protests in the Valley the day after.

State government spokesman and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar had last week denied that a Sainik colony was being set up anywhere in the Valley.

The state government has been maintaining that the request for allotment of land for setting up an ex-servicemen colony by permanent residents of J&K had been received and as yet no land has been allotted anywhere for the proposed colony.
A NASA scientist has suggested a possible link between primordial black holes -- formed during the first second of our universe's existence -- and dark matter, a mysterious substance composing most of the material universe.

According to astrophysicist Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, this interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes detected last year.

"This study is an effort to bring together a broad set of ideas and observations to test how well they fit, and the fit is surprisingly good," said Kashlinsky.

"If this is correct, then all galaxies, including our own, are embedded within a vast sphere of black holes each about 30 times the Sun's mass," he added.

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most important unresolved issues in astrophysics.

NASA is currently investigating this as part of its Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope missions.

"The previous and new studies are providing increasingly sensitive results, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where dark matter particles can hide," Kashlinsky added.

The failure to find them has led to renewed interest in studying how well primordial black holes -- black holes formed in the universe's first fraction of a second -- could work as dark matter.

Physicists have outlined several ways in which the hot, rapidly expanding universe could produce primordial black holes in the first thousandths of a second after the Big Bang.

The older the universe is when these mechanisms take hold, the larger the black holes can be.

Because the window for creating them lasts only a tiny fraction of the first second, scientists expect primordial black holes would exhibit a narrow range of masses.

In September last year, gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years away were captured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.

This event marked the first-ever detection of gravitational waves as well as the first direct detection of black holes.

The signal provided LIGO scientists with information about the masses of the individual black holes, which were 29 and 36 times the sun's mass, plus or minus about four solar masses.

These values were both unexpectedly large and surprisingly similar.

"Depending on the mechanism at work, primordial black holes could have properties very similar to what LIGO detected," Kashlinsky explained.

In his new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Kashlinsky analyses what might have happened if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO.

"Future LIGO observing runs will tell us much more about the universe's population of black holes, and it won't be long before we'll know if the scenario I outline is either supported or ruled out," Kashlinsky added.

--IANS

na/ksk
The Russian Defence Ministry has denied reports that Islamic State militants destroyed four Russian helicopters at an air base in Syria's Homs province.

"All Russian combat helicopters currently stationed in the Syrian Arab Republic, are performing routine tasks destroying terrorists. There have been no losses among the personnel of the Russian air base there," Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in an official statement on Tuesday, reported RT online.

Stratfor, a private intelligence and analytical company, previously reported that Russian helicopters and supply trucks were destroyed in an Islamic State attack, basing the data on a comparative analysis of satellite images of the T4 airbase in Homs province.

The Syrian Air Force base, according to Stratfor, had been used by Russian helicopters which were providing support to government troops during fighting for the liberation of Palmyra.

On May 14, IS announced that four Russian attack helicopters and 20 supplies trucks were destroyed by fire. Around the same time, according to Stratfor, Syrian government sources reported "random explosions" in the T4 base area.

The analysis of satellite images taken on May 14 and 17 prompted the intelligence company to conclude that four helicopters were actually destroyed at the base, as well as trucks, with a Syrian MiG-25 also being damaged. Stratfor claims that the nature of the damage seen in the satellite images indicates that the base fell under attack.

Konashenkov, however, stresses that "the authorship of rumors about the destruction of Russian combat helicopters and trucks belongs to IS agitators, who unsuccessfully tried to sell this alleged news some 10 days ago."

Concerning the pictures of the Syrian air base, the Defence Ministry representative noted that "burned aircraft and automotive electronics, as well as numerous craters from missile explosions have been there for more than one month" and are the result of heavy fighting in the airfield area between the Syrian government troops and terrorists."

--IANS

ahm/
BJP president Amit Shah said on Wednesday that the party has not decided if it will project a chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh and noted that the ruling Samajwadi Party was his party's main rival in the assembly polls there next year.

Shah said he was confident of the BJP coming to power in Uttar Pradesh, adding that "maladministration" of the Samajwadi Party government will be the main issue in the assembly elections.

"The SP will be the main challenge in Uttar Pradesh as it has strong base and its cadre is also comparatively strong," Shah told journalists here at a function held here to mark two years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Asked if the party has decided to replicate in Uttar Pradesh its action in Assam to project a chief ministerial candidate, Shah said: "We have not decided what to do."

Asked if the option was open, he replied in the affirmative.

Following its debacle in the Bihar assembly polls last year, the BJP projected a chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam and won the polls along with its allies.

Uttar Pradesh is expected to go for assembly polls early next year and there has been speculation on whether the BJP will project a chief ministerial candidate.

Asked about the Ram temple issue, Shah said that it figures in the party's manifesto.

On Punjab, which will also go for assembly polls early next year, Shah said the party will stick to its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Without naming the Aam Aadmi Party, seen as a contender for power in the state, he said "there is hype visible."

"The spread at the grass-roots level also matters. Punjab is not Delhi. It matters if the party has a base," he said.

Answering a question on Bihar, Shah said the BJP had "done a lot of analysis" over its defeat in the state elections in 2015.

Asked if there will be change of leadership in Gujarat, he said the issue had not been discussed.

"Whenever elections are held in the state, the BJP will win with thumping majority," he said.

--IANS

ps/tsb/bg
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday said the party has not decided if it will project a chief ministerial candidate for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls next year and that the ruling Samajwadi Party would be the BJP's main rival.

Shah said he was confident of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coming to power in Uttar Pradesh, adding that "maladministration" of the Samajwadi Party government will be the main issue in the assembly elections.

"The SP is the main challenge in Uttar Pradesh as it has strong base and its cadre is also comparatively staunch," Shah told select group of journalists here at a function to mark two years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Asked if the party has decided to replicate in Uttar Pradesh its model of projecting a chief ministerial as done in Assam, Shah said "we have not decided what to do."

Asked if the option was open, he said "Yes."

Following its debacle in Bihar assembly polls last year, the BJP projected a chief ministerial candidate in Assam and won the polls along with its allies.

Uttar Pradesh is expected to go for assembly polls early next year and there has been speculation if the BJP will project a chief ministerial candidate.

Asked about the Ram temple issue, Shah said that it figures in the party's manifesto.

On Punjab, which will also go for polls early next year, Shah said the party will stick to its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal. Without naming Aam Aadmi Party, which is seen as a contender for power in the state, he said "there is hype visible."

"The spread at the grassroots, this also matters. Punjab is not Delhi. It matters whether the party has a base," he said.

Answering a question on Bihar, he said the party has "done a lot of analysis" over its performance in the state.

Asked if there will be change of leadership in Gujarat, he said the issue had not been discussed.

"Whenever elections are held in the state, the BJP will win with thumping majority," he stressed.

Shah said he was "most happy" over the party's performance in the Kerala assembly polls where the party entered the assembly for the first time.

He said the party will contest the next polls to form the government in the state.

On the party's victory in Assam, he said it was a "big ideological achievement."

"We are getting emotional phones from party workers," he said.

Asked if the Congress or a third front will be the main rival of the BJP in the next general elections, Shah said that "the situation was not yet clear."

"Congress is getting squeezed," he added.

Answering a query, he said that party's slogan of Congress-free India meant ridding the administration of the ills of the past.

Asked about the major challenge he faces, Shah said that keeping up accomplishments was itself a very big challenge.

--IANS

ps/rn/bg
Tripura Police have arrested three Bangladeshi officials for allegedly entering India through an illegal route, police said here on Wednesday.

"We have arrested three Bangladeshi officials aged between 28 and 38 years on Monday for entering India through the unofficial route in Sonamura (in western Tripura). They hold diplomatic passports," Sipahijala district police chief Pradip De said.

Later, an Indian youth was also arrested for helping the Bangladeshi officials enter India through the illegal route.

"They are now lodged in Sonamura jail and senior police officials are interrogating them. Huge luggage were also found with the intruder," De said.

He said the Bangladeshi officials told the police that they intended to go to Turkey via New Delhi. Police are also verifying their passports.

In March, police had arrested 58 Bangladeshi nationals, including women and children, in two phases after they entered Tripura illegally.

Tripura shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh. However, most parts of the frontier are fenced, mountainous and riverine.

--IANS

sc/bim/dg
Income Tax authorities have served notices to several Tripura ministers and legislators belonging to Left parties for allegedly not providing returns to the IT authorities, officials and party leaders said here on Wednesday.

"Income Tax authorities under the directions of the union finance ministry have served notices under section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to several Tripura ministers and MLAs to provide details about their income," an official of the Income Tax (IT) department here told IANS on condition of anonymity.

He said: "The ministers and legislators have to personally meet the IT officials in Guwahati and submit details about their income. This is not a serious issue. It is a routine affair."

The official said that the ministers and MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) have to explain about their total income and the income shown in the affidavits submitted along with their nomination papers during the last assembly elections in February 2013.

So far three ministers, PWD and Health Minister Badal Chaudhury, Forest Minister Naresh Jamatia, Social Welfare Minister Bijita Nath and Tripura assembly member Keshab Debbarma have received the IT notices.

The IT official said: "All the ministers and legislators who did not submit the IT returns are supposed to get the same notice and have to personally meet the IT officials in Guwahati."

Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 empowers the income tax authorities to conduct inquiries. It provides powers to summon persons or witnesses, examine them under oath, compel production of books of account and documents and issue commissions.

Confirming the receipt of the IT notice for the first time, CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) Tripura state committee secretary Bijan Dhar said that as per the law all the ministers and MLAs would do the needful in response to the IT notice.

"Currently Tripura's Left Front ministers are getting salaries on an average Rs.40,000 and the MLAs Rs.30,000 per month. According to our party guideline, all ministers and MLAs belonging to CPI-M have to deposit their full salaries to the party fund and in return the party gives them Rs.14,000 per month as allowance," Dhar told IANS.

Dhar, a CPI-M central committee member, said the ministers and MLAs while submitting affidavit along with their nomination papers during the last assembly elections in February 2013 had shown the allowance given by the party.

He said that already MLA Keshab Debbarma in response to the IT notice went to Guwahati to meet the officials.

The Tripura assembly last month passed a bill hiking the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers, speaker, deputy speaker and legislators by 15 percent.

--IANS

sc/rn/bg
The mortal remains of two troopers, who were killed along with four others of 29 Assam Rifles in an ambush in Manipur, were brought to their villages in Himachal Pradesh and cremated on Wednesday, officials said.

Subedar Baldev Sharma of Maruda village near Shahtalai in Bilaspur district and rifleman Bhupender Kumar of Gohar in Mandi district were among the six who were killed when their convoy was ambushed in Manipur on May 22.

Both the soldiers were cremated with full military and state honours in their villages. A large number of people joined in the cremation, a government spokesperson told IANS.

Local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Rikhi Ram Kaundal attended the funeral of Baldev Sharma, while member of parliament Ram Swaroop Sharma and legislators Jairam Thakur and Vinod Kumar participated in the funeral of Bhupender Kumar.

Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed grief over the death of the troopers.

--IANS

vg/ask/rn
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received some unsolicited advice on his two-day Iran visit from an unlikely source: one-time Democratic Party vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman.

The maverick former Senator, who has repudiated much of his earlier liberalism in favour of a hawkish foreign policy outlook, now chairs an organisation called United Against Nuclear Iran that opposes closer ties with the country that had labelled the US "The Great Satan" for decades.

In this capacity, Lieberman has taken it upon himself to issue a press release warning Modi of the risks of doing business with Iran because it sponsors Hamas and Hezbollah.

"Prime Minister Modi has a special opportunity to focus his efforts on pressuring Iran to halt its destabilising and provocative behaviour, rather than prematurely rewarding the regime with lucrative business opportunities," the press release quotes Lieberman as saying. He seems to be unaware that India did business with Iran even when the US-led sanctions regime was in place.
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.

Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.

Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.

Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.

26 years of website archives.
The Union government has revoked the set of licensing guidelines it had issued on May 18 for the agricultural technology sector. This is a welcome step, even though the idea that such guidelines had been proposed and notified was a cause for concern because of the impact they would have had on the genetically modified sector. It is important to note that the proposed guidelines arose out of a sharp disagreement for some time between the government and the world's largest seed company, Monsanto, over the local prices of GM seeds in India, in particular for Bt-cotton. This form of GM seed has received wide acceptance among Indian farmers, and almost 90 per cent of the area under cotton uses Monsanto-developed seeds. Last December, the agriculture ministry notified the Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order, which returned cotton seeds to the ambit of the Essential Commodities Act, essentially making their prices a matter of government intervention. Subsequently, it had notified new licensing guidelines, which were rightly seen as another step in this undeclared dispute, since they would have essentially capped the royalty payments from Indian seed farms for all new varieties of Bt-cotton seeds to Monsanto's local joint venture (with Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds).
Attributing 'growing sins' to the increased income of the temples, Andhra Pradesh CM N said that the the income of temples has grown by 27%.

"People are committing sins and to get rid of them they are going to temples and offering money," the Chief Minister remarked, during his inaugural address at the two-day conference of district collectors on Wednesday.

At the same time, he pointed out that the sale of liquor is going down, which is one of the reason of reduced income of the state.

"More people are taking (Sabarimala) Ayyapa Swamy 'deeksha' and abstaining from liquor consumption for 40 days. To that extent, our liquor sales are going down," he observed, albeit in jest.



Asking the district Collectors to develop a "competitive spirit", Naidu said 2016-17 financial year should be taken as the base year for competition among districts in various development indicators.

"Your focus should be on inclusive growth and balanced development. Also, strive to achieve at least 80% satisfaction among people (in service delivery). Only then, you work will be appreciated. There is a correlation between your work and people's satisfaction," Chandrababu noted.

"Andhra Pradesh is a two-year baby. Our aim is to become one of the top three (states) in India by 2022 and number one by 2029. We have a 'Vision-2050' by when we aim to become the number one investment destination of the country. Let us all take responsibility and work together," the Chief Minister told the Collectors and top bureaucrats.

State Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu pointed out that there were disparities between districts in terms of performance and different sectors like agriculture, industry and services.

"If we set this right, the overall growth will improve. We have targeted a growth of 15% in 2016-17 fiscal. Education, health and individual economic status are key elements in achieving the growth rate," Yanamala said.

He asked the Collectors to concentrate on these three elements apart from other sectors.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker said that for the first time in the country, AP has prepared estimates of Mandal Domestic Product, analysing sector-wise performance of each mandal in the state.

The Chief Minister released the MDP report and a book on performance appraisal and district economic scenario in the state.

Another book on sustaining momentum of inclusive double-digit growth was also released.

Deputy Chief Ministers K E Krishna Murthy (Revenue), N China Rajappa (Home), Chief Commissioner of Land Administration Anil Chandra Punetha, ministers and top bureaucrats also attended the conference.
LINCOLN, Neb.  Gov. Pete Ricketts will lead a delegation to China later this year to promote business relationships with Nebraska's fourth-largest trading partner, the governor announced Tuesday.

The group will include representatives from the Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development and Nebraska businesses that want to expand into global markets. Members will travel to Xi'an, Shanghai and Hong Kong on Nov. 9-15.

The delegation will meet with Chinese business leaders as well as government and academic officials. Members will participate in the nation's premier agricultural fair, the China Yanling Agricultural Hi-Tech Fair, which is expected to draw 1.6 million visitors over five days.

Nebraska opened a trade office in Shanghai in 2013, and former Gov. Dave Heineman visited China for a trade mission in 2012. Ricketts said returning to the country is important because the Chinese place a heavy emphasis on developing relationships with their trading partners.

"It takes a long time to develop those relationships," Ricketts said. "It's just not something that's done the first time you show up. And so we need to continually go back there, let them know that these are the people you can deal with in Nebraska, that they can be trusted."

Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director Courtney Dentlinger said the mission is intended to help small and mid-sized businesses break into a market where they may feel intimidated. About 50 people have expressed interest in joining the trip so far. Dentlinger said her department is still accepting requests from companies that want to join the trip.

State officials will also discuss ways to help Nebraska's agricultural producers gain access to Asian markets, said Greg Ibach, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Hong Kong has grown into one of the top export destinations for Nebraska beef, and the nation as a whole remains a major consumer of the state's agricultural products.

"We need to continue to have those conversations, to continue to ask for their business," Ibach said.

Ibach said the missions help promote Nebraska to businesses that aren't familiar with the state.

"When most people from outside of the United States think about the United States, they think about California or New York," he said. "They're thinking about the coasts. The big agricultural heartland is a mystery to them."

Ricketts has previously led trade missions to Europe and Japan. Members of the delegation must pay their own way.
Chief Minister-designate Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday handed over a list of his 19-member to Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam.

The governor greeted Vijayan with a bouquet and exchanged pleasantries. The meeting lasted for about 15 minutes. Vijayan told reporters at Raj Bhavan that he had handed over the list containing names of his ministers.

"People are seeing this government with a lot of expectations", he said.

When asked if any decisions can be anticipated to match the expectations of the people, he quipped "wait and watch."

Before proceeding to Raj Bhavan, he visited AKG Centre, the headquarters of CPI(M)'s office.

Hundreds of party workers, who had come from various parts of the state, especially from Kannur and Kasaragod districts in north Kerala, cheered him as he left for the Raj Bhavan.

72-year-old Vijayan, son of a toddy tapper, will be sworn in as 12th Chief Minister of at a function at the Central Stadium here at 4 p.m..

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony which is expected to be attended by CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat and people from all walks of life, including thousands of party workers.

In the May 16 Assembly polls, the CPI(M)-led LDF had been voted to power by winning 91 seats in the 140-member Assembly by drubbing the Congress led UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy which could manage only 47 MLAs.

BJP and independent won one seats each.
Twelve persons including a French national and four women were killed and 27 injured in two separate road accidents in Uttarakhand today prompting Chief Minister Harish Rawat to ask officials to think up ways to rein in such mishaps.

Four women were among eight killed in Sult area of Almora district and 15 others injured when the bus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge at Chaurighatti near Bhatronjkhan.

The mishap occurred around 8 AM killing eight on the spot and leaving at least 15 injured, District Disaster Management Officer Rakesh Joshi told PTI on the phone.

Eight bodies were recovered from the spot located about 60 km from the district headquarters and 15 others who sustained injuries have been rushed to PHC Bhatronjkhan and the civil hospital Ranikhet, he said.

Four of the injured were later referred from Ranikhet civil hospital to Sushila Tiwari Hospital Haldwani, Joshi said.

Though 15 injured have been hospitalised their number could be a little more as some who escaped with minor injuries were taken to hospital by relatives and acquaintances and were discharged after first aide, he said.

The Garhwal Motor Owners' Union bus met with the accident when it was going from Masi in Almora district to Ramnagar in neighbouring Nainital district, Joshi said.

The bodies have been identified as Kanti Devi (70), Asha Brijwasi (60), Gobindi Pandey (40); Bhairav Datta Joshi (36), Pradeep Thapliyal (40) and Sabbir Ahmad (32).

Two bodies one each male and female could not be identified, he said.

In the other incident post afternoon four persons including the French national and a Delhi resident were killed and 12 others injured when a jeep (TATA Max) fell into the Yamuna at Silai bend on Delhi-Yamunotri road in Uttarkashi district.

24-year-old Martin, the French national, was among three persons killed on the spot whereas Delhi resident Devanand Jha succumbed to injuries at Badkot hospital, SDM Badkot Rajkumar said.

12 others including Lithuania resident Greta were also injured in the mishap who continue to be under treatment at Badkot hospital, he said.

Chief Minister Rawat expressed grief at the loss of lives in the two incidents. He also visited the Ranikhet Civil hospital to enquire after those under treatment and announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased.

He also asked officials to make adequate arrangements for the treatment of the injured.

He also asked officials to devise measures to control such tragic incidents as he expressed concern over growing road accidents in the state.
Three persons were today killed in incidents of wall collapse and uprooting of trees as a strong dust storm lashed Uttar Pradesh even as light to moderate rains brought the soaring temperature down considerably in northern and eastern states.

Heat wave conditions abated in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal following fresh spell of rains.

In Delhi, the mercury settled below the 40 degrees mark as the city recorded light to moderate rains in the afternoon. The maximum and minimum temperatures in the national capital were 38.6 and 27.4 degrees, respectively.

The MeT office said the Safdarjung weather station, data of which is considered the official figure for the city, recorded 0.4 mm of rainfall while areas under Palam, Ayanagar and Ridge observatories received 0.8 mm, 8.9 mm and 0.4 mm of rainfall, respectively, till 5.30 PM.

The showers were accompanied by strong winds measured at speeds of up to 60 km per hour at the Safdarjung observatory and 92 km/hour at Palam.

In Uttar Pradesh, a 12-year-old boy was killed when a wall collapsed on him following a dust storm in Manjhanpur area of Kaushambi district. Two more persons died after trees fell on them during a dust storm in Jaunpur ditrict.

According to the MeT office, chief amount of rainfall was gauged in Lalganj - 2 cm, Kerakat, Mohamadabad, Rasra and Varanasi - 1 cm each.

Meerut, Faizabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Varanasi, Allahabad recorded a dip in day temperatures. Jhansi and Agra were the hottest at 42 degrees.

West Bengal had a pleasant day with Bankura recording the day's highest temperature at 37.3 degrees. Several parts of Kolkata witnessed showers in the afternoon that kept the temperature just a degree above normal at 36.8.

Day temperatures at Sriniketan, Burdwan and Asansol were recorded at 37.1, 36.8 and 36.9 degrees, respectively.

The MeT department has predicted thundershowers in some parts of Gangetic West Bengal in the next two days.

In neighbouring Bihar, light to moderate-intensity showers brought day temperatures down by a several notches. Maximum 5.3 mm of rainfall was recorded in Bhagalpur, while Gaya was the hottest place in the state at 41.4 degrees.

In Odisha, Bhawani Patna and Titlagarh sizzled at 45.5 and 45 degrees, respectively even as the coastal areas of the state reported light rains.

Rainfall, accompanied with gusty surface winds, is likely



to lash many places in Odisha due to a low pressure area in the neighbourhood with MeT office asking fishermen to be cautious while venturing into the sea.

Yesterday's well marked low pressure area now lies as a low pressure area over Vidarbha and adjoining Telengana and South Chattisgarh, the meteorological centre here said.

The associated upper air cyclonic circulation extends upto 7.6 km above mean sea level.

Under its impact, rain or thunder shower is likely to occur at many places over Odisha during next 24 hours.

Districts in sub-Himalayan West Bengal received heavy precipitation while a few places in the southern parts of the state got moderate rainfall as the Met department forecast more heavy downpour in the north.

Cooch Behar received 59.2 mm rainfall, the state's highest in 24 hours from last morning, the Met department said.
Police today identified three of the four persons who allegedly shot dead a 60-year-old eatery owner in southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area following a heated argument over payment of bill.

Three of the accused have been identified and police teams are conducting raids at their hideouts in Delhi-NCR, a senior police official said.

Two police constables, who were deployed at a picket near the eatery, have been suspended for alleged inaction and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against them, the official said.

Vasudeo alias Pappu was allegedly shot at in his eatery around 10.15 PM on Monday in presence of several other customers, including two policemen who were not on duty. He died in the wee hours yesterday.

The victim's wife had passed away earlier this month and he is survived by his 16-year-old adopted son.

Being chased by the eatery staff, the accused fled from the spot taking advantage of darkness, as streetlights had stopped functioning in the area after the dust storm that evening, and dodging the two police officials deployed in a picket near the eatery.

The images of the assailants could not be captured by any of the CCTV cameras in the neighbourhood, largely because of the darkness. However, they were identified with the help of the registration number of the car in which they had fled, police said.

The investigators managed to take note of the car's registration number, except for two digits in the last four-digit part.

Police then acquired a list from Uttar Pradesh Transport Department (as the car had a UP registration number) with details on the same and shortlisted the car, the official added.
Chhattisgarh government has disbursedscholarshipof Rs 12.42 crore to over 87,000 students belonging to families oftenduleavecollectorsin the state during the last fiscal.

"State Minor Forest Produce (Trading and Development) Co-operative Federation had introduced scholarship programmes for the children oftendupattacollectorto encourage them pursue studies," a government spokesperson said here today.

Scholarshipof Rs 12.42 crore has been given to 87,260 students in the financial year 2015-16, he said.

In 2014-15, 26,707 students received scholarship of Rs 3.20 crore, he said.

Under 'Shiksha SahyogScholarship'scheme, students from class 9thto 12thare being givenscholarshipof Rs 600 in every six months.

Besides, the meritorious children were given scholarshipunder Shiksha Protsahan scheme for pursuing professional courses like engineering, medical, law, MBA and nursing, the official said.

Under the Shiksha Protsahan scheme, selected students are given cashscholarshipof Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000.

One student each is selected from each of the Primary Minor Forest Produce Co-operative Society area. The selected students get ascholarshipof Rs 10,000 in the first year and Rs 5,000 each in the next subsequent three years till the completion of the course.
Military operations in the past four days have seen 88 militants killed in Egypt's restive North Sinai province so far, army has said.

In a statement, Egyptian army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir said that the raids targeted militants in the cities of Shiekh Zwayed and Rafah in the province.

Samir said that 88 militants were killed in army raids during the past four days in North Sinai.

He added that 263 hideouts and shelters, 57 houses, 10 vehicles and five motorcycles used by militants in their terrorist attacks were destroyed.

Three suspected militants were arrested during the raids, Samir said.

The raids were part of the third stage of the "Martyr's Right", the largest and most comprehensive military operation aimed at rooting out militants based in the Sinai.

The first stage of "Martyr's Right" was launched by security forces in response to an attack in October 2014 that killed 33 security personnel.

Meanwhile, four security forces members were killed yesterday when they were trying to defuse a bomb in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, medical and security officials said.

The bodies were transferred to the Al-Arish military hospital while security forces have combed the area for other potential bombs, they said.

Egypt's North Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, following massive protests against his rule, by the military.

Over 700 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.
Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra today challenged Rahul Gandhi for a debate on water and power "crisis", a day after it was announced that the Congress vice president will hit streets on May 28 against the alleged electricity and water shortage in the national capital.

"I want to challenge Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to debate with me on power and water crisis as his party is claiming. I also want to challenge Gandhi to speak on these two issues for half an hour during his party's torchlight procession," Mishra said here.

AAP's Delhi unit convener Dilip Pandey also hit out at the Congress scion and advised him to focus on states where his party was in power.

"The situation of water and electricity supply is much better in Delhi than the areas where Congress is in power. I believe you should focus on them so that you don't lose out on votebank there. Do tell me if you need any help in improving the supply in those areas," Pandey said in a letter to Gandhi.

He said he will meet Gandhi at the torchlight march on May 28.

"Welcome to the politics of Delhi Rahul Ji. It would be better if you leave the responsibility of opposing wrong policies of the Narendra Modi government on Arvind Kejriwal. You are not even able to do that properly," he said.

"To privatise electricity supply in Delhi, Congress leaders Sheila Dikhit and Ajay Maken indulged in corruption," he alleged, adding, "AAP has pulled up the discoms (power distribution companies) after it came to power and has improved the situation.
The Afghan Taliban today announced influential religious figure Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader after confirming supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike.

"Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him," the insurgents said in a statement.

It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies.

Haibatullah was one of two deputies under Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil.

Mansour's killing is a major blow to the militant movement just nine months after he was formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle, and sent shockwaves through the leadership.

Haibatullah's appointment comes after the Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP the supreme council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid new potential air strikes.
Outraged over the recent killing of a Congolese national, African countries have demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia" and sought deferment of the celebrations of Africa Day by India, which today assured them of safety and security of their nationals.

The envoys of the African nations, taking strong exception to killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver last week, said they will not attend the "Africa Day" celebrations scheduled tomorrow and that India must take "concrete steps" to guarantee the safety and security of its African nationals.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said the envoys of 42 African countries met and deliberated extensively on recent attacks against its nationals.

"The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said in a statement.

He also said that the African envoys have asked for a postponement of the ICCR-organised event to mark Africa Day tomorrow because the African Community in India, including students, are in a "state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver.

Responding to the concerns of the African envoys, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said government has directed concerned authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of the Congolese national.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits. I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons," she tweeted.

Minister of State in the Ministry V K Singh has been asked to meet the heads of missions of African countries to assure them India's commitment towards safety and security of the African nationals, she added.

Oliver was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area following a brwal over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi



Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of murder of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals will be ensured.

"She (Swaraj) has asked Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh to meet the Heads of Missions of African countries and assure them of the government's support to safety and security of the African nationals.

"VK Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security. We will request State Governments to depute Commissioner of Police in all such meetings," said the MEA statement.

The MEA said Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of missions yesterday, including the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Eritrea and assured them that stringent punishment will be given to those found guilty.

"Secretary (ER) also pointed out that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated. Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues.

"Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship. We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur," it said.

Sinha explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the last week's incident, the MEA got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted "promptly".

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," said the MEA.

Woldermariam said the envoys have expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India "have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators."



"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," he said.

He further said,"They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom Lesotho. This is because the African Community in India, including the students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years including Mr Oliver.
Amid demands for scrapping of AFSPA in parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern states, an article in pro-RSS journal 'Organiser' has favoured its continuation in such areas till government trains and prepares state police to contain insurgency.

"Government of India should train and prepare the state police to contain insurgency. The Centre should plan for phase-wise extensive training of State Police. Till then, Army may be deployed and they should remain armed with AFSPA," an article in the RSS-aligned weekly said.

The article also sought a probe into the role of some parliamentarians, whom it alleged having "underground connections" with terrorists and "are paid" by them.

"Government of India should investigate some parliamentarians' underground connections with terrorist elements operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam and punish them for their patronage to anti-nationals and terrorists. These law-makers raise paid-questions in Parliament. Their action challenges the sovereignty of the country," it says.

The article also took a dig at JNSU president Kanhayia Kumar, saying, "There are many Kanhaiyas around who support anti-national activities in the name of 'free speech'. They are ever ready to defend traitors in Parliament, fight in courts on their behalf and create opinion in favour of these terrorists. Such parliamentarians are reported to be heavily paid by terrorist leaders for raising questions in favour of anti-national elements."



The article said either is there law or the law is dormant due to lack of political will power and it is because of these lacunae, the defence forces are demoralised.

"Terrorists in league with pseudo-human rightists try to implicate army jawans on fake grounds, even sometime misusing girls for allurement. They try to drag jawans into court. The jawan is suspended and his life becomes miserable.

"The family members suffer uncountable agony. The jawan is dragged into Military Court and the Civil Court as well, At this point of time, AFSPA comes at the rescue of such a battling jawan," the pro-RSS said.

It also hit out at so-called human rights activists who act as sympathisers of terrorists, the article accuses them of being "in league" with each other in trying to implicate Army jawans on fake grounds and drag them to courts while "even sometimes misusing girls for allurement".
National carrier Air India commenced operations to Hyderabad via Jabalpur from Bhopal under its 'Connect India' programme yesterday, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening regional connectivity.

Flight AI 9863 on Bhopal-Jabalpur-Hyderabad shall operate four days a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Air India said in a statement.

The flight will take-off from Bhopal at 0845 hrs and reach Jabalpur at 0950 hrs. It will take-off from Jabalpur at 1020 hrs for its onward journey and will arrive in Hyderabad at 1220 hrs.

The return flight AI 9864 will take-off from Hyderabad at 1250 hrs and will reach Jabalpur at 1450 hrs. The flight will leave Jabalpur at 1520 hrs and will touch down at Bhopal at 1625 hrs, it said.

Air India will commence another direct flight AI 9867/9868 between Bhopal and Jabalpur from June 16.

The flight will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it said.

(REOPENS DEL 66)



According to Lohani, some states even suggested that the national carrier could look at starting overseas flights from newer places.

Nagpur-Nashik, Raipur-Kolkata and Kolkata-Ahmedabad were among the virgin routes that were discussed during the meeting with representatives from the states.

The national carrier expects to have additional 100 aircrafts, including single aisle, wide body and regional jets, in the next four years.

Lohani said that many states were willing to offer VGF or other means of financial support to ensure that Air India does not incur losses by starting new flights for regional connectivity.

"We will not require VGF for all the flights as potential does exist for many of the routes that were suggested. But where VGF is required the states are willing to provide us funding," he noted.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might say sporting a purple lipstick at Cannes was a call taken by her cosmetic brand but Sonam Kapoor believes the "Sarbjit" actress opted for the shade because she wanted to be "talked about".

Aishwarya, who completed her 15 years at Cannes this year, shocked one and all when she attended screening of a film swearing a purple lipcolour.

When asked what she felt about Aishwarya's purple lips outing and the flak it received, Sonam said the actress should be happy with the attention she got.

"The whole idea of fashion and make-up is for people to discuss it and I guess she wanted to be discussed. She achieved what she wanted to achieve with it, which I think is great," Sonam told PTI.

When told that Aishwarya has called it L'Oreal's prerogative, Sonam, 30, quipped, "I don't think she walked for L'Oreal that day. There was an Amul ad on it, people were discussing it. I think it was great to do it on a 15th year, it's cool. She was trending everywhere."



Sonam, who is also one of the celebrity faces of the cosmetic brand, said she liked the colour and felt Aishwarya carried it off with "an aplomb."



When asked if she would ever try a shade like that, the "Neerja" actress said, "I have done purple lipstick in the past, I have even done black for a shoot... People haven't spoken about me!"



One of Sonam's red carpet appearance at the coveted festival, a saree-inspired long white gown, was also poked fun at.

Unfazed by it, Sonam, who found the gown her best outfit, said, "There were just one or two people (who cracked jokes on the dress) but I think it was my most incredible look. I don't believe in taking anything personally. I dress for myself and I felt beautiful."



Interestingly, the actress stuck to just one designer brand, Ralph & Russo.

"They (Michael and Tamara) are very good friends of mine. I spent New Years with them. I wanted to do something Indian-inspired and they kind of love India and love me. That's why I did jhumkas and a saree-gown, which I think was incredible."



While fashion critics and young women keep a close eye on stars' red carpet outfits at Cannes, for Sonam, the festival is about broadening her horizon as an actor by meeting international artists.

"Meeting people across the world always broadens your horizon. Being a part of Indian film industry is like you are living in a cucoon. You don't feel like there's more to life than that.
After Arvind Kejriwal met Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, who was recently attacked, Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh today said the AAP convener is only fond of fishing in troubled waters.

"Beyond your compulsive fondness for fishing in the troubled waters, you had no purpose in visiting the Sant as you could neither offer any solace nor any solution to him (the Sant) after the murderous attack," Capt Amarinder said.

"You could not find time to visit the spot of the killing of the Congolese citizen, who was lynched in your backyard, Vasant Kunj, or stage a protest against the brutal act and still you have full day to visit Punjab", he said, questioning Kejriwal's "double standards".

The PCC president said, "It was quite characteristic of Kejriwal to wait for an untoward incident so that he could peep into Punjab and seize the photo opportunity ahead of the elections and run away without even meeting the media as he has no answers or explanation about the purpose of his visit."



"In normal routine, Kejriwal was last seen running away from a Ludhiana marriage place after being confronted by angry protesters," Amarinder said, adding, "otherwise, true to his habit, he will wait for something untoward to happen in Punjab so that he gets an excuse to come".

He said, when terrorists attacked the Pathankot airbase, Kejriwal visited the two martyrs' families in Punjab, while he did not bother to visit another who was from his home state Haryana.

"And now again he came to Punjab to grab the photo opportunity to pay lip service to the aggrieved Sant", he said, adding, he was doing it with an eye on the 2017 assembly elections in the state.

Amarinder urged the people to recall his tenure as chief



minister of Punjab between 2002 and 2007 and compare it with that of the Akalis in the state and the AAP in Delhi.

He cautioned the people to vote carefully lest they ended up "pushing Punjab into chaos and anarchy again".

The Congress leader alleged that the Akalis had "destroyed Punjab beyond redemption".

"Their main achievement has been pushing an entire generation into drugs," he alleged, adding, "Beware, lest they destroy another generation as well."



Amarinder said his "only cherished dream" now was to "bring back the cheer on the faces of Punjabis" which has gone "missing" over the last nine years of the SAD-BJP rule.

He criticised the Parkash Singh Badal government's policy of hiring employees on a contractual basis.

"My government will ensure that employees are recruited on a regular basis and on proper pay scales," he said, while criticising the state government for hiring teachers and doctors "on very low wages".

Later, talking to reporters, Amarinder slammed Badal for the alleged sacrilege incidents in the state over the last few months.

Holding the chief minister squarely responsible for such incidents, he said adoption of such tactics before the polls was the "hallmark" of Badal whenever he saw his "throne in danger".

"Parkash Singh Badal often tries to polarise the society to garner votes whenever he sees his chair in danger," the state Congress chief said.

Amarinder claimed that the Badal government was "ill-equipped" for the ensuing paddy procurement season. "It has absolutely no arrangements in place, including money for procuring paddy," he said.

On reservation for the "poor among the general category", the state Congress chief said he would ensure that the "downtrodden" sections in the category got "some sort of a relief" by reserving "some percentage of the quota available to it".

Amarinder promised to find a solution to the "ever increasing menace of stray animals" in the state by increasing the size of 'gaushalas' (cow sheds) and undertaking the fencing of the "existing beeds" (areas with a thick vegetation).

(Reopens DES-41)



In Chandigarh, Punjab Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi said sacrilege incidents were blot on the Badals.

He appealed to the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib to immediately withdraw 'Fakhre Qaum and Panth Rattan' conferred on Badal in the past as the CM has not done anything for the community.

"Sukhbir being the president of Shiromani Akali Dal and the home minister of Punjab should take responsibility for these (sacrilege) incidents," Channi said, adding he should at least apologise to the people,... If he can't muster moral courage to tender his resignation".

The Punjab CLP leader alleged religious scriptures of all the major faiths have been desecrated over the period beginning with Guru Granth Sahib last year.

Security agencies seem to be helpless for which accountability must be fixed, he said.
The amount of Rs 3.44 crore released by the Maharashtra Government to the District Social Welfare Office of Yavatmal Zilla Parishad in March, to be disbursed to 175 government-aided hostels, lapsed, sources said.

The district administration had demanded the money for grant to the Government aided hostels, but after it was released, it was not withdrawn by the district officials. As a result, it reverted to the Government, officials said.

The matter came to light when State Social Welfare Commissioner held a review meeting in Pune recently.

Yavatmal District Social Welfare Officer Jaya Raut said the amount could not be withdrawn in time because of the slow internet connectivity on that day.

"There are 175 students hostels under our jurisdiction, most of them run by NGOs," she said, adding that over 6,000 students are enrolled in these hostels.

"The amount has gone back and we have received Rs one crore afresh for the fiscal year 2016-17 from the Govt and we have started distributing the same to the hostel managements," Raut said.

She admitted that a show-cause notice was issued by the Social Justice Commissioner in this regard, and added that the district office had given a due reply.
The artists including a Frenchman who were allegedly forced to write "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" instead of a Urdu couplet on a DJB property in northeast Delhi's Shahdara by a mob, were questioned and later let off by the police after "verification".

"The police received a call about someone writing something on the wall in a foreign language. The two men were questioned only to verify why and what they were writing on the wall," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) A K Singla said today.

The incident took place on May 20 when French artist Swen Simon and Akhlaq Ahmed were painting a couplet in Urdu on a wall of the Delhi Jal Board's building in Shahdara.

"They said that they were working for a Delhi government campaign. This too was verified after talking to the concerned minister and they were let off," Singla said adding that the police ensured that no law and order issue takes place there.

However, Delhi Water minister and DJB chairman Kapil Mishra alleged that a group of RSS workers "misbehaved and forced" the artists commissioned by the AAP government to deface their own wall-writing in praise of the capital in Urdu and replaced it with words 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'.

However, the RSS "vehemently" refuted the charges and said that it doesn't believe in any kind of violence or such activity.

"AAP leaders are trying to make RSS a punching bag. They are indulging in such kind of things only to divert the public attention from the utter failure of administration in Delhi," spokesman of Delhi unit of RSS said.
The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and the Agricultural Marketing Department of the Telangana government, would soon enter into an agreement to strengthen the agri marketing systems in the state.

A team comprising officials from the department and experts from ASCI would undertake visits to study the best marketing practices in the country. To start with, it would visit the markets in neighbouring Karnataka.

Telangana Minister for Marketing T Harish Rao announced this after chairing a meeting held at ASCI's Bella Vista campus here, an official release said today.

ASCI Chairman K Padmanabhaiah led an experts team which came up with suggestions to help out for improvement of the Agricultural Marketing activities.

The priority initiatives for cooperation include knowledge support for e-integration of markets, research and evaluation studies and capacity building activities.

ASCI experts were also asked to help the department in simplifying the existing Acts and rules.

A team of officials led by A Sharath, Commissioner and Director, Department of Agricultural Marketing; ASCI's Director General Paramita Dasgupta and the Director of the Centre for Public Policy, Performance and Governance M Chandrasekhar took part in the deliberations, the release said.
In deference to new Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's decision to keep his convoy to the minimum, police will strike a balance between his instructions and the fundamentals of security.

"We will strike a balance between the Chief Minister's instructions without compromising on security or causing inconvenience to the public", Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting here.

"We will strike the balance for his (Sonowal) satisfaction," said Sahay responding to reporters query how he would provide security to the chief minister in view of the cabinet decision today to keep his convoy to the minimum to ensure people are not inconvenienced and his decision to stop at all red light signals.
The Salesians in Assam prayed for their former student and Assam's new Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal stating that it is a historic moment for the state and the Salesian family.

The Salesians are a family of men and women founded by a Catholic priest, Fr. John Bosco, which in Italian is translated Don Bosco.

The Salesians here had offered prayers for their alumni on the eve of his oath taking as the 14th Chief Minister of Assam heading the BJP-AGP-BPF coalition government, a release by religious organisation 'Matters India' said today.

After the prayers, Guwahati Salesian Provincial Fr. V M Thomas said, "This is a historic moment for the state and the Salesian family when one of our own illustrious alumni is taking the reins of the state".

"Don Bosco is the reason we are here," he told the members of the Salesian Family which has more than 30 constituent bodies all over the world.

Fr. Thomas also added that three Sonowal brothers had studied at Don Bosco School, Dibrugarh and that the school had waived the fees for one of the brothers and educated him free.

Fr. Thomas recalled Sonowal addressing some 60 leaders of the province during their provincial chapter on February 20 last where he spoke about the moral values he had learnt at school.

"I have become what I am because of the education I received at Don Bosco," the provincial quoted him as saying in the meeting.

Fr. Thomas said he has confidence that Sonowal will build "a civilisation of love, peace and justice ushering in a new era of hope and development for the aspiring youth."



Salesian Sister Grace, superior of St Mary's Guwahati, recalled that Sonowal as the MP of Dibrugarh frequently helped their Little Flower School in Dibrugarh, the release said.

The prayer meet at the Salesian Provincial House was attended by some 80 Salesian priests and brothers, sisters, alumni office bearers and Salesian cooperators.
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.
India announced on Wednesday auction of 46 small discovered and gas fields, holding about Rs 70,000 crore worth of hydrocarbon reserves, that were "given-up" by state-owned ONGC and India.

The auction, to be conducted on simpler contractual terms together with pricing and marketing freedom, will be the first licensing round in over four years.

Domestic and international roadshows for the auction will begin on June 6 and e-bidding will start on July 15 and close on October 31. Bids will be finalised by mid-November and contracts signed by January, Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

India liberalised its exploration and production regime almost two decades ago when in early 1990s it auctioned about 28 fields to private and public investors.

In late 1990s, it further liberalised its E&P sector with the introduction of New Exploration Licensing Regime (NELP) regime that allowed 100% FDI and offered a level playing field to private and national oil companies, he said.

NELP was based on Production Sharing Contract (PSC) that meant sharing of revenues with government post recovery of cost by contractor.

"Unfortunately, the PSC regime has witnessed several litigations and arbitrations, most of them related to issues emanating from key PSC provisions such as cost recovery, work programme, operational, administrative and regulatory inflexibility.

"Apart from adversely affecting India's domestic oil and gas output, such disputes have also hurt India's image as a serious E&P destination," Pradhan said announcing the bid round.

Fields will be given to those who offer the maximum share of oil and gas to the government, he said.

Stating that India is yet to unlock all of its hydrocarbon potential, he said the auction will help boost domestic production and cut import reliance.

The fields offered for international bidding hold 625 million barrels of in-place oil and gas reserves.

Pradhan said the 46 fields that are offered are actually 67 small and marginal discoveries that have been clubbed.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) "surrendered" these as they could not develop them because of huge overhead cost and uneconomic size, he said.

He said ONGC and OIL can bid for the fields on offer.

Asked if the two state-owned firm could not have developed them if the new terms of pricing and marketing freedom were given to them as being offered to private firms, Pradhan said, "No I dont think so."



He however did not say as to why ONGC and OIL would bid again for these fields.

Last exploration licensing round concluded in March 2012. That was the Ninth round of bidding under NELP. A total of 256 block were awarded in the nine rounds of NELP.

In the new round, as many as 67 idle discoveries of state-owned ONGC and OIL have been clubbed into 46 fields for offer in the international bidding round. Of these, 28 discoveries are in Mumbai offshore and another 14 are in the prolific Krishna Godavari basin.

As many as 10 discoveries in the Assam shelf.

The discoveries were given up as late as 2012-13. In-place reserves in these identified discoveries/fields is about 88 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas.

The biggest discovery among the lot is the D-18 in Mumbai Offshore that alone holds 14.78 million tonnes of in-place oil reserves.

Among the gas discoveries, the largest is ONGC's B-9 find in the offshore Kutch basin that has an in-place reserve of 14.67 bcm.

Spelling out salient features of the Marginal Field Policy, UP Singh, Additional Secretary in the Oil Ministry, said the auction will be done on a new revenue sharing model where bidders will be asked to quote the revenue they will share with the government at low and high end of price and production band.

The new revenue sharing regime will replace the controversial PSC model where oil and gas blocks are awarded to those firms which show they will do maximum work on a block.

The PSC regime allowed all their investments to be recovered from sale of oil and gas before profits are shared with the government. This model was criticised by CAG which said it encouraged companies to keep raising cost so as to postpone higher share of profits to the government.

Also, single licence for exploration and exploitation of conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbons will be issued and operators will have freedom to sell oil and gas on arms on arms length market price, he said, adding that there would be no cess on crude oil.
Private sector Axis Bank today said it proposes to raise Rs 2,000 crore by way of issuing Basel-III compliant debentures.

"The Bank proposes to raise funds by issuing unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated debenture (Basel-III compliant tier II debenture issue) amounting to Rs 2,000 crore plus green shoe option", it said in a regulatory filing.

The Board of Directors of the bank will consider the proposal to issue and allot the above securities through circular resolution, it added.

The Basel-III norms have been introduced by the RBI in the Indian banking system since 2013 in a phased manner, with an aim to improve and strengthen regulation, supervision and risk management within the banking sector.

According to a Fitch Ratings report last year, banks in India will need about USD 140 billion to ensure full compliance with the Basel III norms by 2018-19.

Axis Bank stock closed 2.67 per cent higher at Rs 502.35 apiece on BSE.
With its focus on Uttar Pradesh which goes to polls early next year, BJP will launch a series of programmes to highlight the achievement of its government that completes two years with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a major public rally in Saharanpur tomorrow.

BJP national general secretary Anil Jain said that top cabinet ministers and party leaders will also hold various programmes to highlight the achievement of the government across the country from May 27 to June 15.

"With Prime Minister's event, programmes to highlight the achievement of government which completes two years tomorrow will begin. Prime Minister will address a programme on May 26 at Saharanpur," Jain said.

Asked whether Saharanpur has been selected by the party as Uttar Pradesh is going to polls early next year, Jain said UP is a boll bound state and one cannot deny that the decision to hold PM's programme there is because of that.

"Prime Minister's programme had to be started from some place or the other. Party leadership decided on Saharanpur. It is well known that elections are there and its a poll bound state. Last year, PM's programme was in Mathura.

"Then there was no election. But one cannot rule out the reason of elections for picking Saharanpur," he said adding that PM will be in Shillong on May 27 while Party chief Amit Shah will interact with media on the same day.

The BJP leader said that from May 27, the programme will be launched all over the country covering almost all the states. "The programme will cover 198 cities while 33 teams have been formed in which Cabinet ministers, Minister of States and party leaders are there. These three member team will visit six states," he said.

On May 27, Ministers and prominent party leaders will hold programmes all over the country. This include programmes of Rajnath Singh in Delhi, Sushma Swaraj and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Jaipur, Arun Jaitley in Lucknow, Venkaiah Naidu in Bangalore and Manohar Parrikar in Chennai.

The others include Suresh Prabhu in Kolkata, Sadananda



Gowda in Nagpur, Uma Bharti in Haldwani, Ram Vilas Paswan in Amritsar, Ravi Shankar Prasad in Mumbai, J P Nadda in Varanasi, Chhattissgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh in Telangana, Ananth Geete in Goa, Narendra Singh Tomar in Ranchi and others.

He said that at most of the places, there will be public rally, while workers will meet beneficiaries of various government schemes, farmers, youth and women and meeting with intellectuals of that particular area will also take place.

He said that maximum number of cities have been included in UP and 200 nerve centres across the country have been picked where leaders will go and tell about the achievements and schemes of the government.

"Every MP has been urged to stay one night in their areas and take these programme (to tell about two years achievement) to the grassroot level," he said.

Asked how will the party organise such programmes where its presence is almost nil, Jain said,"In which state BJP is there and in which ones it does not have any presence, these programmes has not been decided based on that," he said.

He said that the party's National Executive will be held in Allahabad from June 12-13.

Asked about newly sworn in Kerala chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's full page advertisements coming on prominent newspapers today, Jain said,"Whatever ideology left used to follow, they are not able to prove that. They are changing and this question should be asked to Sitaram Yechury.
BJP workers burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Harish Rawat here today and accused him of "stopping" telecast of programmes of a private channel which had made a purported sting CD on him, a charge rubbished by the CM's media adviser as the saffron party's "rumour mongering".

BJP's Mahanagar unit workers burnt the CM's effigy at Parade Ground in the heart of the city and alleged that after being grilled by the CBI in New Delhi in connection with the sting operation Rawat asked his aides to stop telecast of programmes of the channel.

Terming it as an attack on the fourth pillar of democracy, slogan shouting BJP members said they will not tolerate a move like this which reminded them of the Emergency.

Pradesh BJP President Ajay Bhatt said the restrictions imposed on the telecast of programmes of a particular channel was reminiscent of the press censorship of Emergency days but BJP will oppose any such attempt to gag the press.

Party spokesman Vinay Goel also condemned the move.

However, Rawat's spokesman and media adviser Surendra Kumar refuted the charge saying BJP was spreading just another lie.

"It is mere sensationalism and rumour mongering by BJP. The Congress government has always believed in freedom of expression and will continue to believe in it. But we also appeal for judicious use of this licence which is everybody's responsibility," Kumar said.

One of the representatives of the channel claimed the telecast of its programmes was stopped at most places across the state soon after Harish Rawat's interrogation by the CBI in Delhi last evening but as the move evoked sharp reaction from different quarters including the main opposition, its telecast was restored by afternoon today.

The channel had made the sting CD which purportedly showed Harish Rawat negotiating a deal to buy support of rebel MLAs.
Brazil's Congress early today approved a deficit spending plan proposed by the interim government of President Michel Temer after 16 hours of debate.

The government says it is facing a record 170.5 billion reais (USD 48 billion) primary budget deficit in 2016, far higher than suspended president Dilma Rousseff's earlier fiscal target of a 97 billion reais deficit.

The new deficit target reflects what the economy team says is the significantly worse financial picture uncovered after Rousseff's departure.

The primary deficit, a key indicator for creditors, measures the difference between government spending and revenue, excluding interest payments on debt.

To try and balance the books, Temer has proposed austerity measures and bringing efficiency to the bloated government.
The Cabinet on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval to a pact between India and Japan for promoting sustainable and low-carbon development here.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon development in India," a press release said.

The MoU will help India address issues and barriers in this area.

The proposal includes undertaking of activities such as update on the current and future policy trend in Indian power sector with wide coverage from R&M and Life Extension (LE) to new power development in India. It will also identify barriers that could be addressed through mutual collaboration by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Japan Coal Energy Centre (JCOAL).

Both nations will identify issues to be addressed regarding existing and upcoming facilities, and also operation and maintenance at either of them.

It provides for implementation of full-fledged diagnosis and/or other available and effective measures including Residual Life Assessment (RLA) and Conditional Assessment (CA) study with priorities on, but not limited to the target power stations under the Pre-Primary Study and the Cooperation.

The number of target power station(s)/unit(s) will be decided through mutual consultation by CEA and JCOAL.

It also provides for consideration of justifiability and feasibility of individual cases of power development based on generation technologies in terms of funding from the existing financial instruments and/or other available bilateral financial schemes.

Both nations will consider the possibilities for acquisition of carbon credits with bilateral/multilateral offset schemes that are anticipated to be materialised in the future upon consideration of financial side of individual cases of power development.

There will be an annual workshop in India and CCT Transfer Programme in Japan for bilateral knowledge and technology exchanges.

Both nations will hold an annual joint meeting attended by representatives of the Parties to discuss issues that have arisen or may arise in the course of implementation of the Project.
Railway projects worth Rs 10,736 crore were cleared by the government today for improving infrastructure in various states, including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat that go to polls next year.

The projects, including three for doubling of existing rail lines and two for laying a third rail line on busy routes, were cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I am happy to say that the CCEA has approved projects worth Rs 10,736 crore for doubling and tripling (of railway lines). There are a total of five new projects, three doubling projects for 763 kms and two third line projects for 514 kms.

"The benefit of these projects obviously will go to several states but two important states will benefit immensely, one is Gujarat and the other is Uttar Pradesh," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said at a press conference after the meeting.

Providing details of the projects, he said, in Gujarat the CCEA has given approval for doubling of Surendranagar-Rajkot project at an estimated cost of Rs 1,002.39 crore with expected completion cost of Rs 1,137.17 crore with 5 per cent escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 116.17 kms. The completion period of the project will be four years.

"It is a major push to Gujarat's industrialisation ability," he said.

He said the doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between Okha-Rajkot, Porbandar-Kanalus, Veraval-Rajkot and Maliya Maiyana - Navalakhi-Dahinsara-Wankaner sections.

In UP, he said the doubling of Roza-Sitapur Cantt-Burhwal broad gauge single line project has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 1,295.42 crore with expected completion cost of Rs 1,486.46 crore with 5 per cent escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 180.77 kms. The completion period of the project will be five years.

The doubling of this line between Burhwal junction and Roza junction will fulfill the demand of the increasing traffic leading to socio-economic development of the area. Besides, there will be continuous double line track available from Gorakhpur to Delhi via Sitapur Cantonment and Moradabad. Barabanki and Sitapur districts of UP would also be benefited through this project.

Prabhu said the CCEA also gave its nod for doubling of



Pune-Miraj-Londa railway line in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 3,627.47 crore and expected completion cost of Rs 4,246.84 crore in five years keeping in view the 5 per cent escalation per annum.

The length of the railway line will be 467 kms.

Besides the travelling people, industries in and around Miraj-Londa section will have additional transport capacity to meet their requirements.

Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic on the Pune-Miraj-Londa section thereby increasing the revenue of the Railways, a railway ministry statement said.

The Pune-Miraj section is non-electrified single line on diesel traction and it is oversaturated.

"The additional traffic running over and above 100 per cent of utilisation is proposed to be diverted on the proposed doubling. The doubling of the section would come as an advantage as it would strengthen the rail network necessary to operate more passenger trains with increased speed and better efficiency," it said.

Prabhu said the CCEA also granted approval for the Vizianagaram and Titlagarh third line project at an estimated cost of Rs 2,335.68 crore. The length of the railway line will be 264.6 kms. The completion period of the project will be five years.

The third line is an alternative route to the over-burdened existing line and this link will also open an alternative route to oversaturated Kharagpur-Jharsuguda section Howrah-Mumbai Grand Trunk Route and Howrah-Chennai section main line of East Coast Railways.

Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of Odisha and Vizianagaram and Babbili districts of Andhra Pradesh will benefit from this project.

The section is oversaturated with present capacity utilisation of 106 per cent and there is a huge detention to rolling stock.

The Bina-Katni third line project under West Central Railway (WCR) was also approved at an estimated cost of Rs 2,478.23 crore and expected completion cost of Rs 2,917.06 crore in five years. The line will be 278.7 kms long.

Besides facilitating passenger travel, the thermal power plants in the area will get a third line for transportation.

It will also greatly ease the ever-increasing freight traffic between Bina-Katni section increasing the railways' earnings. Sagar, Damoh and Katni districts of Madhya Pradesh will benefit from this project, the ministry said.

The Bina-Katni is critical and busy section of WCR serving coal rakes for thermal power plants at Chhabra Gugur and Jhalawar in Rajasthan and paints, oils and lubricants (POL) traffic for Mahadevkhedi in Madhya Pradesh. At present, the capacity utilisation of the section is 136 per cent, the statement said.

Asked if the approved projects had been accounted for in the Rail Budget, Prabhu said, "Most of them are a mix, but some projects mentioned are with trans-budgetary support and some with extra-budgetary support."



The completion of these projects, he said, will be between three to five years but the time limits given are outer limits and the government will be able to complete the projects earlier.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Anti-Terrorism Squad to probe the allegation that Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse received phone calls from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's house in Karachi.

"Both I and the Chief Minister wanted the matter to be investigated...So the Chief Minister has asked ATS to probe it," Khadse told reporters today.

Khadse, the senior-most BJP leader in the state cabinet, claimed he had documents to prove that his mobile phone was hacked to show as if calls were made, and added that he would hand over all the evidence in this regard to the investigating agencies.

The beleaguered minister said the matter was already being investigated by the cyber crime cell and local police, and the Director General of Police was supervising the probe.

Spokesperson of AAP, Preeti Sharma Menon, had levelled the allegation against Khadse last week.

The minister today also sought to know why no questions were being asked about former AAP leader Anjali Damania's alleged dubious land deals in Raigad district.

Menon had alleged, citing the call records obtained from a Pakistani telecom company by an Ahmedabad-based hacker, that calls were made from Dawood's house in Karachi to a mobile number registered in Khadse's name.

Khadse had later rubbished the allegation saying the number was not in use for the last one year.

The minister today also said he took the help of BJP MLC Gurmukh Jagwani, who has relatives in Pakistan, to verify Dawood's address cited in documents produced by AAP, but it proved to be "fictitious".

(Reopens BOM 13)



Meanwhile, a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Ibrahim would be nabbed soon, Opposition NCP took a dig at the government, asking if the gangster's phone calls to Khadse were made during the negotiations to bring him back.

"The Home Minister should clarify if the Centre is using Eknath Khadse to carry out negotiations to bring Dawood back to the country. That would explain the underworld don's calls to his number," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has intervened to seek the extradition of an Indian wanted in the UK on rape and murder charges, it emerged today.

Cameron has reportedly also told Opposition Labour party MP Stella Creasy that he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in reference to the case of Aman Vyas, who is now living in New Delhi.

In a letter to Creasy, Cameron said his government will "do everything possible to secure the swift return of Mr Vyas, so that he may stand trial for the crimes he is accused of", the 'Evening Standard' reports.

Scotland Yard believes 31-year-old Vyas may be involved in a string of late-night attacks in north-east London over five years ago.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised charges over the alleged murder and rape of 35-year-old Michelle Samaraweera, who was attacked and strangled in 2009 after she went out to buy milk while staying with her boyfriend in Walthamstow, north-east London.

The CPS has also authorised charges againstVyasover three allegations of rapes in the two months before Samaraweera's murder and the Metropolitan Police are investigating whether he is responsible for five other sex attacks.

"Officers are working with the Indian authorities," the Met Police said.

Vyas was on a student visa in Britain when the alleged attacks took place.

He was arrested in July 2011 boarding a plane at Delhi airport that was bound for Auckland, New Zealand.

He was granted bail in November 2011.

Campaigners and Samaraweera's family members are now planning a protest outside the Indian High Commission in London on June 1 to demand progress.
A Canadian man who stabbed to death five fellow students at a Calgary house party was not criminally responsible for the 2014 rampage due to mental illness, a judge ruled today.

Justice Eric Macklin found Matthew De Grood, 24, suffered from psychosis which put into question whether he knew the killings were morally wrong.

The court heard De Grood had become withdrawn and started posting online about the end of the world, zombies and Darth Vader a month before the April 2014 attack.

The son of a senior Calgary police officer and a University of Calgary alumnus who was headed to law school, he stabbed fellow alumni at a home in a quiet suburban neighborhood that was hosting a party marking the end of classes.

The defense said in closing arguments De Grood had believed, in his delusion, that he was defending himself from werewolves and vampires, and that the only way to kill them was to stab them in the heart.

De Grood will now be detained at a mental health hospital and meet annually with a review board that will determine his eligibility for safe release.

Miles Hong, the brother of one of the victims, told reporters outside the courthouse the verdict will be a "recurring nightmare" for the victims' families.

"The end of this trial is not the end of the journey for us. We continue to be broken," Hong said.

"There will be no peace for us. Our wounds will never fully heal because every year our families will have to wonder what will be the fate of the man who destroyed so many lives," he said.

"Every year we will be forced to re-live the details of our family (member)'s death and the anguish and sorrow.
Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett-starrer 2015 lesbian drama "Carol" today kick started the seventh Kashish Mumbai Queer Film festival.

The five-day extravaganza will showcase old and new LGBT films.

"Carol", also starring Rooney Mara, is a poignant story of a love affair between a young aspiring photographer and an older woman going through a difficult divorce set in 1950s.

The theme of the fests this year is "7 Shades of Love".

It underlines that at the core of human relationships is the capacity to love each other and offer respect so that each person can like equality and dignity.

The fest had Hollywood star Ian McKellen as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony.

About his experience in Mumbai, McKellen said, "It was five years ago when my best friend asked me to come to India, because his husband is Indian. We came with an ex-boyfriend of mine from New Zealand and we went to Rajasthan. Everywhere we looked, we looked for gay population. We couldn't find you because you were hiding in Mumbai."



Over 182 films from 53 countries will be screened at the festival.

The three venues for the fest are Liberty cinema, Alliance de Francaise and Max Mueller Bhavan.

This edition, the 'country in focus' is Brazil with the festival screening 11 films from the country.

The competition section will showcase 41 films that will be judged by an eminent international jury panel, which comprises National Award-winning actress Rajeshwari Sachdev, TV actor Manav Gohil, filmmaker Parvathi Balagopalan, theatre director Kaizaad Kotwal and Andrea Kuhn.

American film "Those People" will close the festival.

Anupam Kher's acting academy, Actor Prepares, will sponsor cash prize for the three top competition categories- Rs 30,000 for best narrative feature film, Rs 20,000 for best Indian narrative short film and Rs 20,000 for best performance in a lead role.
States cannot keep an IAS or IPS officer suspended for more than a month, as per new procedures issued today by the Centre.

Besides, state governments will have to inform the Centre within 48 hours about the suspension of an all India services officer--Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS).

The new procedure assumes importance as officers like Ashok Khemka, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Durga Sakthi Nagpal and Kuldip Narayan, among others, have allegedly been victims of arbitrary suspensions and transfers.

The suspension of an IAS, IPS and IFoS officer, suspended on charges of corruption, shall not exceed two years except on the recommendation of the Central Review Committee, headed by Secretary in Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the latest procedures said.

Also, IAS officers working under central government cannot be suspended without the nod of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An IAS, IPS and IFoS officer, when placed under suspension, the information in this regard shall be communicated to government of India expeditiously and within the period of forty-eight hours, an order issued by the DoPT said.

A copy of the suspension order along with the reasons or grounds of suspension shall be communicated to the Cadre Controlling authority in the Central government not later than 48 hours, it said.

"Where a state government passes an order for suspension of a member of service it will be valid for a period of thirty days from the date from which the member is placed under suspension. Further extension for thirty days requires confirmation by the central government," the DoPT said.

All ministries have been asked to ensure that a charge



sheet against a government employee accused of corruption is issued in time even if the case is probed by CBI or other agencies.

It is noticed that in many cases charge sheets are not issued despite clear prima facie evidence of misconduct on the ground that the matter is under investigation by an investigating agency like Central Bureau of Investigation, the guidelines said.

"It has been reaffirmed in a catena of cases that there is no bar in law for initiation of simultaneous criminal and departmental proceedings on the same set of allegations," it said.

In cases of acquittal also, if the court has not acquitted the accused honourably, charge sheet may be issued.

An acquittal on technical grounds or where a benefit of doubt has been given to the accused will have no effect on a penalty imposed under service rules, as while in a criminal trial the charge has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. In the departmental inquiry, the standard of evidence is preponderance of probability, DoPT said.

An appeal by the accused against conviction, but where the conviction has not been overturned or stayed, will have no effect on action taken under the service rules even if court has directed stay or suspension of the sentence, it said.
A high-level meeting chaired by Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and State Ministers in charge of Mining will review the progress of mines auction among other issues this Friday.

The meeting, to be held in Jaipur, is second such high-level meet of Mining Ministers of all the States for deliberating on issues of governance in the sector. The first meeting took place in January last year, Mines Ministry said.

"Key issues for discussion include the preparedness for e-auction of major mineral blocks, management of District Mineral Foundations (DMF), National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET), effective ways of curbing illegal mining, adoption of IT for mineral administration, etc," the Ministry added.

So far, Mining Ministers from 11 States have confirmed their participation for the meeting. Besides this, a total of 12 more States have confirmed their participation through the senior officers in-charge of the Mining Departments, it said.

"This high level meeting of State Mining Ministers will enable intensive discussion on the issues, challenges and opportunities in the mining sector to realise its optimum potential and provide an effective platform to showcase the recent policy initiatives of the Centre," it added.

Last month, on the sidelines of the first Maritime India Summit in Mumbai, Tomar had said that states will offer 100 additional mines bearing minerals such as iron ore, bauxite and limestone for auction by 2016-end.

Seven months after auction process was initiated for 47 mines across 12-mineral bearing states, only six blocks have managed to find buyers -- prompting the Centre to direct states to put in "greater efforts".

States had identified 47 mines bearing minerals such as iron ore, bauxite, gold and limestone for auction in the first phase. Only six mines have been auctioned, which will earn a revenue, including royalties, of Rs 18,146 crore.
Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi today described Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal's claim of an improved law and order situation in Punjab as "absurd" and "bizarre".

Sukhbir had reportedly said yesterday that the crime rate in Punjab had fallen since his government took charge in 2007, citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

"It is shocking that the ghastly crime scene in Punjab does not prick the conscience of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal," Channi said.

Bringing up the attack on Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, Channi questioned Sukhbir how he would explain an incident like that if crime was indeed falling in the state.

"What was all the more horrifying was the fact that a prominent person with whom the assailants were associated had warned of retaliation in case his organisation was criticised," he said.

Channi also cited the murder of Mata Chand Kaur, the wife of a former Namdhari sect chief, at Bhaini Sahib, and said the assailant was yet to be arrested.

He claimed incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib had taken place and investigations had made "no progress".

Channi also hit out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for announcing a series of functions to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of Punjab, at a time when the situation in the state was "deteriorating".
Chief of Army Staff Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag today visited Imphal and took stock of the situation following the May 22 ambush in Manipur's Chandel district that had claimed the lives of six Assam Rifles personnel.

Defence sources confirmed the Army chief's visit and said he left afterwards.

Six Assam Rifles personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed in the ambush by heavily-armed militants on May 22 at Joupi Hengshi near Indo-Myanmar border.

The personnel were ambushed when they were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district.

The slain personnel belonged to 29 Assam Rifles and CorCom, an umbrella body of the valley insurgent groups, has claimed responsibility for the ambush.

Yesterday, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Corps, Lt Gen Abhay Krishna too visited Imphal and told media that nothing can dilute the resilience of the Indian Army.

Search was on in the jungles to apprehend the militants behind the attack, he had said.
A high-level Chinese delegation from Yueyang city province was today accorded a warm welcome here by the members of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC).

The delegation was welcomed by city mayor Ashok Murtadak, Deputy Mayor Gurmit Bagga and others, NMC said in a statement.

NMC officials had a discussion with the delegates on making Nashik a 'sister city' with Yueyang and exchanging cultures between the two cities, it said.

A film on the city's development was shown to the delegation, which also addressed members of the Nashik Industries and Manufacturers' Association (NIMA), the statement added.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today urged US investors to take part in the Global Investors Summit (GIS) to be held in Indore in October.

The chief minister, who met US Ambassador to India Richard Verma, also requested US to become the partner country for the three-day summit starting October 21.

"GIS is going to be held in Indore from October 21-23. US investors have been extended invitation for it. The two countries share ideological similarities on the issue of terrorism and climate change.

"Besides, the two nations have become closer and therefore, Chouhan requested America to take part in the summit as partner country," an official release said.

Chouhan informed the visiting envoy that a decade ago, Madhya Pradesh was counted among the backward states but today its growth rate is in double-digits.

Madhya Pradesh has set a target to irrigate 60 lakh hectares and conserved small and big water bodies in an effective manner which has positive impact on agriculture.

He added that people in the state work in harmony and cited the example of the just concluded month-long Simhastha Kumbh Mela in which nearly eight crore people participated, the statement said.

Chouhan also informed him that the state is establishing a 'Happiness Ministry' which will work on measures to keep people happy.

Verma said the ties between the two countries have become stronger and both want to grow in every area together, it said.

He praised the state for progress made in social and economic spheres and added that there are immense possibilities for working in clean and green energy sector.

On this, the Chief Minister informed him that the world's largest solar power plant is being established in Rewa with an installed capacity of 750 MW. It will be operational in next two years.

Besides, Asia's biggest solar energy plant of 135 MW capacity is already established in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh.

Chouhan added that the state government has formulated a policy for investment in defence sector, the release said.

To a query on simplifying procedures for doing business,



Chouhan informed him that a single window system is being implemented in the state.

He also highlighted steps taken in social sectors, especially efforts made by the state government towards saving the girl child, improving sex-ratio and girls' education, among others.

Referring to religious freedom in the state, Chouhan informed the Ambassador that even in his official residence, festivals of all faiths are celebrated and added that people of the state believe in social harmony.

He cited the example of a storm that hit Simhastha Mela recently during which Muslims gave shelter to the affected people not only in mosques but also in their homes.
The Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) is all set to launch its campus at Chandrapur in Vidarbha region from the coming academic session, Union Minister Hansraj Ahir said today.

CIPET is managed by the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

"The institute offers diploma and and engineering degree courses and it already has a branch in Aurangabad. The Chandrapur unit, for which the state has agreed to provide 15 acres land, would have 2,500 seats," Ahir said at a press conference here.

Along with the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Engineering Research (NIPER) proposed in Nagpur, it would add to the region's growing importance as an academic hub, the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers added.

Ahir said he recently held a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai, wherein it was decided that a medical devices park would be set up at Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport (MIHAN) at Nagpur, for which the ministry would serve as a facilitator.

Stents used in heart surgeries could be one of the products which could be produced at this park, he said adding, "Currently, cost of a stent runs into couple of lakh rupees as it is imported. If produced domestically, the cost could come down to around Rs 20,000 only."



Among other plans of his ministry, Ahir said bulk drug parks would be established in Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat.

After closure of public sector Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd and Hyderabad-based Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), India depends on imports from China for its bulk drug needs. Now the ministry wants to start new units while also reviving the HAL and IDPL units under the 'Make in India' programme, the minister said.

"There is a proposal to start a park in Aurangabad, where the state government is willing to provide 200 acres of land," Ahir said.
Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh Suhag today reviewed the security situation in Manipur where a combing operation to nab insurgents responsible for gunning down six Assam Rifles personnel on May 22 continued for the fourth day.

"We are still searching for them. The terrain is very difficult to negotiate, with dense jungles and mountains. Our intelligence network is working and we are hopeful of getting some clues soon," a military intelligence officer told PTI.

The officer said they are not sure if the militants have crossed the Indo-Myanmar border, which is about 25-30 km from Joupi in Chandel district, where the Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed.

During his visit, the Army Chief stressed on the need to carry out further relentless operation against insurgent groups active in the region.

Singh, accompanied by Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, discussed the issue with Assam Rifles Inspector General (South) Major General V S Sreenivas and commanding officer of 29 Assam Rifles battalion.

He was briefed on the incident and on the ongoing combing operation and the steps taken to neutralise the insurgents involved in the attack.

While, CorCom, an umbrella body of the valley's proscribed outfits, has claimed the responsibility for the ambush, the Army did not rule out the involvement of militant outfit NSCN(K), which was behind the killing of 18 army personnel in the same district last year.

The Army has already said it will hit back hard on the militants who carried out the attack, which killed a junior commissioned officer and five soldiers on May 22 afternoon.

The Army and Assam Rifles have been running a combing operation to trace the militants.
Opposition Congress today said political masters at the helm of affairs should also be held accountable for large-scale violence during the Jat quota agitation in February and demanded that the Prakash Singh Committee report submitted to the state government on the issue be made public.

Led by former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the party submitted a memorandum to the Governor, urging that the report be made public.

The party alleged that the state government was training guns on Hooda to divert the public wrath it faced over its "inept" handling of the Jat agitation.

"This government formed the Prakash Singh Committee. What is the reason that they are not making the report public," senior Congress leader and former Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma told reporters after a party meeting convened by Hooda.

"People want to know what does the report contain. (Retired IPS officer) Prakash Singh himself has said that the findings of his committee should be made public," he added.

Thirteen of the 15 sitting Congress MLAs including Hooda, 65 former MLAs, six ex-MPs, Congress' Rohtak MP and PCC members took part in the meeting.

However, state Congress legislature party leader Kiran Choudhary was not present.

Talking about the Prakash Singh Committee report, Hooda said, "The government is hiding facts. The truth must come out. Officers are being made scapegoats. Why won't political masters be held responsible, those who were at the helm."



He said that Congress had demanded that the incidents of violence during the Jat agitation be probed by a Supreme Court judge.
Donations made to the American Veterans Center are tax-deductible. The American veterans Center is a project of The American Studies Center, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational foundation.

Dear Bobby Tony,You may remember me as the actor from shows like CSI NY, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, and movies like Apollo 13 and Of Mice and Men . One of the most impactful roles I've ever played was Lt. Dan in the movie, Forrest Gump . For me, that one role has created an enduring connection to servicemen and women throughout the military community.While we can never do enough to show our gratitude to our nation's defenders, I believe we can always do a little more. This is why I put aside BBQs with friends and going to the beach on Memorial Day. Instead, each year I head to DC to remember and honor our fallen.I remember how thrilled I was when the American Veterans Center reached out to me back in 2005 to tell me they REVIVED the National Memorial Day Parade, an vent that had been dormant for nearly 70 years. They invited me to DC to participate in the first parade, and guess what? I've come back every year since.This is a special year for me. You see this year, we're commemorating the 75thanniversary the American entry into World War II. Seventy-five years ago, the nation was hit at Pearl Harbor and the entire country pitched in to help.didn't make it home.I'm not sure if you know this, but the U.S. Government is not providing any funding to remember this important anniversary. With nearly 600 WWII vets dying every day, this is likely the last major anniversary many of them will see. The sad part is that the National Memorial Day Parade has to actually PAY the government about $80,000 just for the permits to put on the parade! That doesn't even include the additional costs to run the parade, like what the American Veterans Center pays to fly out to DC or the food they need to provide as lunch for the active duty troops marching in the parade.That is one reason why my foundation, the Gary Sinise Foundation, is paying to bring in about a dozen WWII vets to be in the parade. These great men are coming in not to be thanked, but to honor their buddies who didn't make it home all those years ago.Why am I telling you this? Because I hope you will join me in supporting the parade. In fact, I'm challenging you to support this great event with a donation of $41 to represent the year the US entered WWII , or $75 for this special 75th anniversary . If you can give more, please try, because I know that this is an important event that NEEDS help, which is why I am honored to support it and hope you will, too. Your support will help pay for some additional WWII vets and their families to come to the parade. Your dollars also pay for lunch for the hundreds of active duty troops participating in the parade.Listen, I know you may not be able to join me in Washington to honor our fallen, but if you can't send a gift to help support the parade, I do hope you will take time out of your Memorial Day and go to a local veterans' cemetery, send a note to a family of the fallen, visit a veteran and thank them for their service, or just take time out of your busy day to honestly think about the men and women who gave their lives to defend OUR daily freedoms as an American.Again, I believe the American Veterans Center's National Memorial Day Parade is an important way to honor our fallen and remember the great country we live in. I hope you, too, will consider supporting this great event. Sincerely,Gary SiniseHonorary Grand Marshal, National Memorial Day Parade
Congress today distanced itself from party leader Digvijay Singh's fresh claims on the 2008 Batla House encounter, insisting that it was genuine as has been reaffirmed by the then Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

"The courts and the NHRC had upheld it as genuine," party chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

His statement came close on the heels of Patil reaffirming that the encounter was genuine and asked Congress general secretary Singh to prove his claim.

Surjewala said the party has regard and respect for Singh, who is an "elder", but the stand taken by the then Congress government and the then Home Minister on the issue is "proper".

Singh on Tuesday had stuck to his earlier stance that the Batla House gunfight, in which two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists were killed, was "fake" even as video footage telecast on a TV channel claimed that a suspect Bada Sajid was seen in an "IS video".
As the Modi government celebrates its second anniversary tomorrow, Congress has decided to come out with a booklet and a video highlighting its "failures", provoking a sharp reaction from BJP with Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu accusing it of engaging in "negative" politics as it is "nervous".

Party general secretary Digvijaya Singh will address a press conference in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi tomorrow while Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and party spokespersons Kapil Sibal and Randeep Singh Surjewala will train tgheir guns on the government in Delhi as part of the plan charted out by the Congress.

"Congress party will be releasing a video and booklet on issues where the Modi government has failed India. Entire country expected Modiji to have governance as the centre point of his agenda. This has been missing. After leading BJP to victory in 2014, Modi and his government have utterly failed on all the important indices of development.

"Modi government has become one of rhetoric and theatrics. Government is yet to begin its principal agenda of governance and development. BJP has failed the people of India," AICC Communication Department Chairman Randeep Surjewala alleged.

In a series of tweets, Surjewala said that the state chiefs of Congress as well as CLP leaders will also bring out the state issues while Congress leaders will hold press confrerences across the nation on May 26 and May 28.

Reacting sharply to the Congress plans, Naidu said marking the completion of two years in office on May 26, the NDA government is confidently going to the people with its report card of achievements "in contrast to Congress, which continues to be nervous and diffident".

"With the successes achieved by the NDA Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on various fronts from putting economy back on rails to restoring India's image internationally, the Congress appears to be clueless on what to say.

"Instead of going to people to explain our shortcomings, if any, they have decided to conduct mega press conferences," Naidu said.

Naidu, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Urban



Development, also mentioned that 33 Union ministers will be travelling across the country to report to the people on its "achievements" and policies across 200 centres.

"Normally, the Opposition goes to the people to complain and the government uses the media to publicise its achievements," he said, arguing, the ministers going to the people is a "sign of the confidence" in the government about its work.

"While we are confident, the Congress is diffident. We are moving forward and the Congress is pulling backward. The Congress is continuing with its negative politics and appears to have not learnt any lessons even after the recent verdict," he alleged.

Congress has planned to bring out a booklet titled "Do saal, Deshka bura haal" which will feature "omissions and commissions" of the government which came to power on promises of 'acche din'.

Press conferences will be held at 27 places tomorrow, and 25 on Friday.

President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee will be addressing a press conference in Kolkata on May 27. The same day P Chidambaram will address a press conference in Delhi and Jairam Ramesh in Lucknow.

The Congress has also roped in a number of former chief ministers to address these conferences seeking to puncture NDA government's claims of achievements.

While the video will be released tomorrow, the booklet will come out on May 28.
today sought to embarrass the Narendra on the association of with an event in New Delhi on May 28 to mark its second anniversary at a time when the mega star is being probed in the Panama papers expose.

"Would it be fair? What message it would send to investigating agencies going into siphoning of funds abroad illegally" when they see the Prime Minister sharing dais with the accused, party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star hosting the event which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not dilute the fight against black money.

He recalled that Prime Minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those guilty. During the poll campaign, BJP leaders had promised to deposit Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in the bank account of every individual once the black money is uncovered.

The government is organising the event-- 'Zara Muskura Do' (Smile Please)-- which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its "achievements".

The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan.

Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show.
Telecom regulator Trai will come out with a consultation paper on internet-based telephone service in a month.

"We are brining out consultation paper soon on . It is a matter of weeks...A month," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma told PTI when asked about the regulator's views on calls made through mobile applications.

There has been a huge debate in the industry over the framework for calls being made using the internet through various mobile applications.

Recently, telecom industry body COAI had objected to application-based calling service of state-run BSNL saying it is violates present norms.

The BSNL service allowing customers to make landline calls using mobile phone and vice-versa was launched by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in presence of telecom secretary J S Deepak on March 17.

Through the app, BSNL customers travelling abroad will be able to connect their landlines through mobile and make calls without attracting heavy ISD charges.

Sharma further said the paper will explore framework for in the present context.

Internet-based calls have also led to start of net neutrality debate in India when telecom major Bharti Airtel decided to charge these calls separately in December 2014 but withdrew the plan after public protest.

Sharma said the regulator will separately work on net neutrality issue and start with a pre-consultation paper.

"The pre-consultation paper on net neutrality will be issued within a couple of days. We are ensuring that the consultation paper is comprehensive and addresses all the issues. Hence, we are having limited or pre-consultation on net neutrality," Sharma said.

He said net neutrality is an extremely important issue and has many dimensions and the government has also asked it for comprehensive advise.

Trai recently came up with a consultation paper on providing free internet service.

Sharma said the paper on free data is to explore way for starting "toll free" kind of service in data world.

"There already exist toll free number for making calls on which caller from any network can make calls. Similarly, we are trying toll free kind of system for data services. We are not against free data. We are against the architecture which gives pipe (internet connection) providers to do gatekeeping function," Sharma said.
A Delhi court has refused anticipatory bail to a builder accused of raping a 24-year-old woman in return for selling her a residential plot here.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit refused to grant the relief to the accused, a resident of Delhi Cantonment area, saying that the allegations levelled against him were serious.

"In this case, the complainant had clearly explained the circumstances in which she had not levelled the allegations of rape at the first instance. Moreover, the allegations are such that the case is not made out for anticipatory bail.

"Accordingly, the anticipatory bail application of the accused is dismissed," the court said.

The man had sought anticipatory bail on the ground that there was inconsistency in the woman's statements.

He also claimed that the woman was extorting money from him and the allegations levelled against him were false.

As per the prosecution, the woman had lodged an FIR stating that the accused had molested her on March 19 in connection with the purchase of a residential plot.

Later in her statement before a magistrate, the woman said that the accused had also raped her on the date of the incident. However, the police officials told her not to say these facts in the FIR otherwise she would be defamed.

The complaint had also claimed that the accused had also threatened the woman, saying that he was connected to several senior police officers.

(Reopens LGB2)



After coming out of the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Lalji Patel told reporters that he will continue to fight for the Patidar community.

"I have full faith on India's judicial system and therefore I believe all those who were jailed while fighting for the community will be released soon. We have been fighting for the Patidar community and will continue to work for the community," he said.

To a question, he said he would not join politics.

"We have been working with Sardar Patel Group for the last 17 years but I never indulged in politics," he said.

"Our talks with government for reservation will continue," he added.
A special court has extended the period of investigation till June 10 against three accused persons, recently deported from UAE for their alleged ISIS links, in a case of alleged conspiracy to carry out terror strikes in India and other countries.

According to the sources, special judge Rakesh Pandit extended period after National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the court that the probe was still underway in the case.

The court also extended the judicial custody of accused persons -- Sheikh Azhar Al Islam, Mohammad Farhan Shaikh and Adnan Hussain -- till June 10.

"After going through the entire material brought before me, the period of investigation and judicial custody of accused persons is extended till June 10. Let they be produced before the concerned court on June 10," the judge said in an in-chamber proceeding.

The source said that the NIA, in its application, had submitted that a lot of work was remaining in the investigation in the case.

Earlier, the agency had told the court that the accused persons were required to be interrogated to unearth the larger conspiracy of ISIS in India and abroad.

It had also told told the court that they were active supporters of Islamic State and remained in close contact with several active members of IS using internet, telephone and other means of communication in furtherance of its activities.

It had told that there was a larger criminal conspiracy of IS activities in India and abroad including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians by the IS and the accused persons were involved in it.

Adnan, who hails from Karnataka, Farhan who is from Maharashtra and Sheikh Azhar from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested on January 29 by the NIA after being deported from the UAE.

The trio were detained by the NIA on arrival from the UAE



at the IGI airport here.

The three suspects, along with other unknown associates, were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train Indian citizens, located in India and abroad, for planning and executing terror attacks, according to the NIA.

On September 15 last year, the UAE had deported four Indians suspected to have links with ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

The UAE had also sent back last year a 37-year-old woman Afsha Jabeen for allegedly recruiting youths for ISIS.

In January 2015, Salman Mohiuddin of Hyderabad was arrested when he was preparing to board a flight to Dubai on way to Syria via Turkey.

According to Indian intelligence agencies, around six Indians who had joined the ISIS were reportedly killed in different incidents in Iraq and Syria.
A Delhi court today reserved for June 6 its judgement in a case in which a 52-year-old Danish woman was gangraped allegedly by nine persons, including three juveniles, two-years back in the national capital..

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar heard the final arguments of Delhi Police and defence counsel and fixed the case for pronouncement of verdict.

During the proceedings, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava argued that testimonies of the woman and an eye witness, medical and forensic evidence, including DNA test reports, clearly nails the five accused in the case.

He said the woman had clearly identified three of the six adult accused in the court while she was not completely sure about others.

Advocate Dinesh Sharma, legal aid counsel for the accused, claimed that his clients were falsely implicated in the case and eye witness Shivji Singh was a planted witness.

He also argued that as it was a sensational case so under the pressure of top police officials and media, the cops implicated his clients who were innocent.

According to the prosecution, the nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near New Delhi Railway Station.

All nine accused were arrested. The five adult accused - Mahendra alias Ganja (27), Mohd Raja (23), Raju (24), Arjun (22), Raju Chakka (23) - are in judicial custody and facing trial. 56-year-old accused Shyam Lal, who was in judicial custody, died in February.

Three other accused were juveniles against whom inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board is in progress.

The prosecution has examined 27 witnesses in support of its case while the accused had opted not to lead any evidence in their support.

During the trial, the accused claimed innocence and denied the charges of raping the woman.

They claimed that a day prior to the alleged incident on January 14, 2014, they had hired a prostitute and had physical relations with her and had not done anything with the Danish woman.
Ahead of the shutdown called by separatists, moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was today put under house arrest while JKLF chief Yaseen Malik was taken into custody to foil their programme tomorrow against Sainik colonies and Kashmiri Pandit townships.

Mirwaiz was put under house arrest this morning when a large contingent of police arrived at his residence in Nigeen area, a Hurriyat spokesman said here.

He was scheduled to head a meeting to discuss Hurriyat strategy to resist Sainik colonies and Pandit townships in the valley, the spokesman said.

Malik was taken into custody by police from his office at Abi Guzar here, a JKLF spokesman said.

He said the police raided the JKLF office this afternoon and arrested Malik.

Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani continues to be under house detention.

Mirwaiz, Geelani and Malik, on Monday, had jointly called for a shutdown for tomorrow against the establishment of Pandit colonies and Sainik Colony in the Valley.
The LDF government, which assumed office in Kerala today, decided to handover the probe into the brutal rape and murder of a 30-year old Dalit woman to a new team headed by a senior woman IPS officer, taking a serious view of alleged lapses in the investigation so far.

ADGP B Sandhya would head the team that would probe the case of rape and murder of the law student last month, which was in focus during the assembly polls campaign with political parties attacking the then UDF regime for tardy progress in the investigation and failure to nab the culprits. There were lapses from the time of preparing the 'mahazar' to the cremation of her body, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said briefing reporters on the decisions taken in his first cabinet meeting.

"Public opinion is that the present probe mechanism should change and a women police officer should investigate," he said adding, "In view of that, the cabinet decided to appoint a new team headed by ADGP B Sandhya."



The woman was murdered in her home on April 28. The accused are yet to be arrested.

The murder, which took place in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, had been a major campaign plank of the LDF in the run up to the May 16 assembly elections.

There was widespread dissatisfaction over the manner the investigation was handled with the culprits yet to be brought to book even aftermore than a month of the crime.

The government also decided to ensure that the victim's mother would be given Rs 5,000 monthly pension so that she would not be forced to take up odd jobs for her living. The victim's sister would be given a job immediately, Vijayan said.

The previous UDF government had decided to give the victim's elder sister a job to enable the family to pull through. However, this has not yet been implemented. A house was being built for the family and it would be completed in 45 days time, Vijayan said.

The incident had drawn comparisons to the 2012 Delhi gangrape case that sparked widespread outrage and nationwide protests demanding an end to the growing incidents of sexual assault and abuse of women across the country.
The daughter of one of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing late last year has called on US authorities to help end her father's "unofficial and illegal" detention in China.

Four booksellers working for a Hong Kong publishing house which specialised in gossipy works about Chinese leaders went missing from various locations in October, with another disappearing at the end of December.

They all reappeared eventually in mainland China.

The disappearances fuelled growing unease in Hong Kong over the erosion of freedoms in the semi-autonomous city, which was handed back to China from Britain in 1997.

"It has now been eight months since my father and his colleagues were taken into custody. I still haven't been told where he is, how he's been treated, or what his legal status is," Angela Gui said at a US congressional hearing yesterday in Washington DC.

Her father Gui Minhai, a Swedish national and co-owner of the Mighty Current publishing company, failed to return from a holiday in Thailand in October.

His "unofficial and illegal" detention "is especially shocking in light of the fact that my father held Swedish and only Swedish citizenship", she told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Three other booksellers disappeared on the mainland and one went missing from Hong Kong itself.

Gui mysteriously re-emerged on state broadcaster CCTV in January, and said he had returned to China to "take legal responsibilities" for killing a college student in a car accident 11 years earlier.

In another televised confession in February, he said he tried to smuggle illegal books into China.

Angela Gui said she wanted "the US to take every opportunity to ask China for information on my father's status as well as urge that he be freed immediately".

Swedish authorities have said they were "quite concerned" about the incident and have called for more openness from Chinese authorities.

Three other booksellers -- Cheung Chi-ping, Lui Por and Lam Wing-kee -- have blamed the company's illegal book trade on Gui.

All four are under criminal investigation on the mainland.

The fifth bookseller, Lee Bo, has said he travelled to China to assist with the investigation and returned to Hong Kong in March.
Outgoing community college system president says students in study did not match demographics of those who would enter into transfer agreement

The Student Services Building at Durham Tech (Image courtesy Stanford-White Engineering)

RALEIGH A report commissioned by the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System on the potential impact of the North Carolina Guaranteed Admission Program contains inaccurate information that should be acknowledged during legislative discussions about any changes in NCGAP, says George Fouts, interim president of the NCCCS.Passed into law last year by the General Assembly, NCGAP is a program designed to ensure that lower-performing students can enroll at the UNC system. Under the program, students who complete the first two years of their studies at a community college would be guaranteed admission at a UNC campus.UNC administrators and state legislators who are skeptical of NCGAP are basing their assumptions on data that has not accounted for recent education reforms that have boosted transfer success between community colleges and the UNC system, said Fouts, who on July 1 will relinquish his seat to incoming NCCCS president James Williamson.Following NCGAP's passage in 2015, state legislators tasked UNC and NCCCS to research the impact of the program and to determine the right path for implementation between both systems. The resulting report , which was released earlier this year by RTI International, projected several problems with NCGAP, including lower enrollment rates at UNC's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and lower graduation rates across the system as a whole.the report stated.Given the report's findings, the UNC Board of Governors voted in March to recommend delaying the university's adoption of NCGAP, with UNC President Margaret Spellings expressing concern over the effect the program might have on the university.Spellings stated during a March 4 board meeting.But while the report has raised questions about the difficulty of implementing NCGAP, Fouts said the research itself is flawed in several ways, citing problems with the selection of the student test group as just one of his concerns.In an addendum written to the legislature, the community college board stated that the student test group - a 2009 cohort made up of 971 North Carolina high school graduates - was a bad match for the purpose of the research, considering a 2014 "articulation: agreement that is expected to improve transfer rates between community colleges and state universities.That agreement guaranteed credit transfers to all 16 UNC institutions for students who completed an associates degree or who held 30 credit hours of general education coursework. It also reduced the total number of credit hours required to complete a community college degree, and added a college transfer course as a degree requirement.Fouts said. With the changes in the articulation agreement,The cohort for the study had been selected before NCCCS could offer input into the research process, Fouts said, and while the community college board was able to suggest some changes, the process was too far along for RTI to alter the test group.In one paragraph of the report's data findings summary, the researchers noted the shortcomings of the NCGAP test group.the report states.the report continues.Still another misunderstanding about NCGAP, said Fouts, is a misconception that a community college education does not satisfy the standards set forth by the UNC system. This idea was voiced in March by Fayetteville State University Chancellor James Anderson, who said that he didn't understand why UNC would want to enroll students in a community collegeFouts, who calls the remarks regrettable and uninformed, said that Anderson later sent NCCCS an apology to correct his statement. Still, the incident revealed a pervading "pop culture" assumption about the structure and purpose of the community college system, he added.Fouts said.While Fouts agrees that concerns about NCGAP's impact on HBCUs are legitimate, he also points to the community college system as a main provider of education for North Carolina's at-risk and minority students, with minority students comprising 39 percent of last year's overall community college enrollment. Additionally, some of NCCCS's largest universities - like Durham Technical Community College - see minority student enrollment exceeding 55 percent.Even so, Durham Tech President Bill Ingram, who says he's in the minority of opinion among his NCCCS colleagues, believes that NCGAP's impact on HBCUs will be overwhelmingly negative, and should be reconsidered.Ingram said during a recent radio interview Ingram suggested collaborations between individual campuses might be more productive than a systemwide agreement.Ingram said.Discussions about proceeding with NCGAP's rollout continue between the community college system, UNC, and the General Assembly, but Fouts and the community college board hope that implementation of the law soon moves forward.Fouts said.
Delhi government's Food and Civil Supplies Department today conducted an inspection of godowns to prevent hoarding and keep a check on prices of pulses in the national capital.

Five teams, each headed by sub-divisional magistrates were deployed in Rohini, Naharpur, Kondli, Mayur Vihar, Shahdra, Dakshin Puri, Sangam Vihar and Narela area. Seventeen godowns were assessed during the check, a release by the department stated.

The inspection was conducted after 2,700 quintal pulses was seized a couple of days back during inspection of godowns and around 30 godowns were found storing pulses in excess of stock limit.

The department will continue such inspections to prevent hoarding of pulses by dealers and retailers so that it remains available to the consumers in the national capital at affordable prices, the release added.
Discrimination charges against Euro Disney over job adverts that called only for "European" candidates should be dropped, prosecutors today said.

The trial was triggered by a complaint from anti-racism groups nine years ago over job adverts in the commuter paper 20 Minutes in 2006, looking for "cast members" but stipulating that they had to be "of European nationality".

The prosecutors said that it had not been established that the discriminatory infraction had been committed by the company or the person who designed the job ad.

In its defence Euro Disney, which runs the theme park east of the French capital, spoke of "human error" saying the advert was a one-off that had been badly worded.

Adverts for the same positions placed at job centres and on its official website did not use the same wording.

French activist group SOS Racisme claimed the adverts were discriminatory and made an official complaint in February 2007.

The trial at a courtroom in Meaux near Disneyland Paris, was due to be concluded on Wednesday but judgement was delayed until June 7.

A guilty verdict would carry a possible 225,000-euro (USD 250,000) fine, but prosecutors recommended to the judge that the charges be dropped.

Prosecutors had already called, in 2013, for the case to be dropped, but a group of former SOS Racisme campaigners appealed that decision.

"Do prosecutors serve the interests of discrimination victims of Euro Disney?" said Samuel Thomas, now with anti-discrimination group Maison des Potes, who made the initial complaint and appeal.

Euro Disney has a turnover of 1.3 billion euros and employs 15,000 people.

It says it has some 100 nationalities speaking 20 languages among its staff, and won a "Diversity Label" status from the government in 2008 in recognition of its efforts to build a mixed workforce.

With nearly 15 million visitors per year, Disneyland Paris is the most popular private tourist destination in Europe.

It is also the biggest private employer in the Paris region.
Doctors in government hospitals in Delhi will be on strike tomorrow demanding increase in their salaries and allowances.

They also threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 1 if their demands is not fulfilled.

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), an umbrella organisation of 15,000 resident doctors across 41 government hospitals in the national capital, has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revise the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which they termed were "particularly discriminating to doctors".

"We will be on strike tomorrow for a day. If our demands are not fulfilled even after that, we will go on indefinite strike from June 1," said Dr Narayan Dabas, Convenor, FORDA.

Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry Arun Panda today held deliberations with Medical Superintendents of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung hospitals and later said "our hospitals have put in place contingency plans so that all emergencies, trauma cases are taken care of.

"Senior doctors will handle the situation tomorrow. We are still trying to make them (FORDA) see reason. RML has cancelled all leave. Senior doctors have been asked to come and attend patients. Hospitals think they can handle the situation. All trauma and emergency will be taken care of. The MS of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung have also talked with FORDA," Panda told PTI.
The US drone attack on Pakistan's soil to kill Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour is detrimental to bilateral ties, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif said today.

Sharif told this to US Ambassador David Hale who visited the military's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the army said, adding that the situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on May 22 came under discussion.

"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the Chief of the Army Staff said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for ongoing peace process for regional stability," army said.

It is for the first time that army has spoken on the issue.

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yesterday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a US drone strike last week.

He had condemned the drone attack as violation of Pakistan's territory and said it may lead to serious implication for relations between Pakistan and US.
Delhi University teachers today continued with boycott of evaluation of undergraduate exams for the second day in protest against the new UGC criteria to ascertain the academic performance of the faculty members.

Twelve evaluation centres of the university remained close today as well as the teachers refused to accept the clarification by HRD ministry over the new rules saying the workload will not increase.

The new gazette notification has increased the workload for assistant professors from 16 hours of "direct teaching" per week (including tutorials) to 18 hours, plus another six of tutorials, bringing the total up to 24 hours. Similarly the work hours of associate professors have been increased from 14 to 22.

However, the HRD ministry yesterday defended the new UGC criteria for Academic Performance Indicators (API) for college and university teachers, saying it provides "more flexibility" even as it ruled out any possibility of reduction in number of teaching jobs.

"The clarification is not only deceptive but is an attempt to divert the issue raised by teachers about workload and promotions," an agitating teacher said.

"We will continue with our protest for two more days and the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) will convene a general body meeting on May 28 to review the situation and decide future course of action," he added.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party today attacked the HRD Ministry over the new circular saying the NDA government is following "failed policy" of UPA and is planning to harass DU teachers by increasing their working hours.

"The Modi government is trying to impose the decision of previous Congress-led UPA government to introduce points system for promotion of DU teachers, which the former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal could not due to stiff opposition from faculty," AAP said in a statement.

"The latest UGC notification appears to have been brought with the sole intention of not filling up the large number of vacant teaching posts in the colleges of DU," it added.
France expressed its "deepest regret" today at a decision by the Egyptian authorities to expel a journalist working for the French Catholic daily La Croix.

Correspondent Remy Pigaglio was put on a plane out of the country "for no reason", the newspaper's publication director Guillaume Goubert told AFP.

Pigaglio "was returning from holidays in France on Monday when he was detained by airport security," he said.

"After a night in the cells, he was expelled for no reason, although all his papers were in order," Goubert added.

"France deeply regrets this decision by the Egyptian authorities," said a foreign ministry statement.

Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault discussed the issue with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry yesterday, it added.

President Francois Hollande raised the question of media freedom during his visit to Egypt in April, the statement added.

Goubert said airport police had confiscated Pigaglio's passport and mobile phone and that it was hours before he was able to contact the French embassy.

"It appears that Egypt's intelligence service was behind the decision," he said.

In a statement published in La Croix, Pigaglio said no one had questioned him and he still did not know why he had been expelled.

Paris-based press freedom campaigners Reporters without Borders said it was "very disturbed" at the and called for an explanation from the authorities.

"Given the circumstances, everything suggests that this was designed to intimidate all the foreign correspondents based in Cairo," said a spokeswoman.

Earlier this month, Egypt's journalism union accused the authorities of declaring war on media freedom.

In late April, Amnesty International criticised the authorities for a crackdown on anti-government activists.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was elected in 2014, was feted by millions of Egyptians opposed to the rule of his predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, whom he toppled in 2013.

But he faces growing discontent over what critics call his heavy-handed rule.
Egypt has contracted two foreign companies to help locate the black boxes of the doomed EgyptAir plane to find out what caused the aircraft to crash in the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board.

EgyptAir said that it has sough help of a French and an Italian companies in the search for the black boxes.

EgyptAir flight MS804 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Thursday, before it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea with all 66 passengers and crew on board presumed dead.

Egypt's Army said on Friday thatair and naval forces have found parts of the debris and some of the passengers belongings and human remains from north of the coastal city of Alexandria.

According to a technical log signed by the plane's pilot before takeoff, the plane showed no signs of technical issues before departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

The Aircraft Technical Log had been signed by an EgyptAir inspector at the French airport after he conducted a routine examination, Ahram Arabic website reported.

Al-Ahram also published a document from the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which showed that the doomed Airbus 320 jet transmitted 11 electronic messages.

The first two messages indicated that the engines were functioning properly.

The third message, which was sent around four minutes before the plane vanished from radar, indicated a rise in the temperature of the cockpit's right-side window. The plane then continued to send messages for three more minutes before dropping off radar screens.

Earlier this week, Aviation Herald, a prominent Austria-based website specialising in air accidents, said in a report that the jet sent seven alarm messages minutes before disappearing indicating smoke on board, both in the lavatory as well as in the aircraft's avionics area underneath the cockpit.

Officials say this data is insufficient on its own to unravel the mystery of the crash.

Egypt and France have deployed vessels in the Mediterranean in search of the plane's black box recorders, which could be critical in identifying the cause of the disaster.

The depth of the water in the area where the plane is believed to have crashed presents a challenge to search efforts.
Asserting that India has demonstrated an "increased willingness" to address concerns of the industry while balancing its domestic interests, a top American trade advocacy group has told US President Barack Obama that foreign investors are buoyed by the vibrancy of India's investment landscape.

Encouraged by the advancements made by the two governments, US India Business Council (USIBC) in its letter dated May 23, said it looked forward to continuing dialogue and progress on matters related to innovation, technology transfer, movement of professionals, and other non-tariff barriers in the upcoming commercial and strategic dialogues.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated an increased willingness to engage in dialogue to address the concerns of the industry while balancing India's domestic interests," Mukesh Aghi, president said in the letter.

"Relations between the US and India are at an all-time high, due to in no small measure to the work you have accomplished with Prime Minister Modi," he said in the letter, a copy of which was made available to PTI yesterday.

With Modi's upcoming visit to Washington DC in early June, the fourth visit in the last two years, believes that this is an opportune time to reflect upon the successes of the US-India strategic and commercial partnership and the avenues in which they can continue to secure the progress of the two nations.

"Despite deep legislative challenges, Modi has incrementally worked on micro-level reforms to boost investor confidence. These include accelerated infrastructure investment, greater openness to foreign direct investment in defense, civil aviation, railways, and insurance, passage of a bankruptcy code, and facilitating a transparent auction of key natural resources," the letter said.

Observing that India is improving its tax regime, the letter noted that the two countries recently finalised bilateral advance pricing arrangements under which they have resolved more than 100 pending transfer pricing cases.

The tax reforms presented in the latest budget were unprecedented and lay the ground work to create an attractive environment for foreign investors.

"As you will agree, consensus-building is challenging in democracies and the above-mentioned reforms have been critical for foreign investors, who continue to be buoyed by the vibrancy of India's investment landscape," Aghi said.

"All of these reforms have resulted in improving India's Ease of Doing Business index according to the World Bank," he said.

India and the US are more aligned than ever before on matters of defense cooperation, homeland security, joint training, and cybersecurity, he added.

The recent introduction of "Advancing US -India Defense Cooperation Act" in the US Senate and its companion bill in the US House of Representatives, which was adopted into the 'National Defense Authorisation Act,' elevates India as an important partner that can uphold security in Asia and around the world.
Britain's foreign secretary Philip Hammond was forced to issue a denial after his own Conservative party colleague claimed the "chief mouser" at the UK's Foreign Office could be a European Union (EU) spy.

Palmerston, a cat that was adopted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had been recently announced as the "chief mouser" to help tackle the problem of mice in the building in central London.

However, as the debate around Britain's membership of the EU heats up in the lead up to the June 23 referendum, a member of the camp in favour of remaining in the economic bloc told the House of Commons yesterday that those in favour of Brexit may fear Palmerston has not been fully vetted.

"There is a serious point here. Can I ask my right honourable friend whether Palmerston has been security cleared or not... Can I ask him, has he been positively vetted by the security service and scanned for bugs by GCHQ? And can my right honourable Friend assure the House - and the more paranoid element in the Brexiters - that he isn't a long term mole working for the EU Commission," Tory MP Keith Simpson asked Hammond.

The foreign secretary chose to the address the bizarre query, claiming Palmerston's attendance record had been impeccable.

He told MPs: "He is definitely not a mole. I can categorically assure my honourable friend that Palmerston has been regularly vetted."



On a lighter note, he added: "As for being a sleeper, he is definitely a sleeper, I'm told very often in my office... his attendance record has been 100 per cent and my experts tell me that pretty much rules out of the possibility of him being a commission employee."



He went on to reveal that the chief mouser had been performing his duties well and had caught three mice in his first six weeks.

"He has settled in perfectly and is performing his services more than satisfactorily," he said.

The senior minister also claimed that the cat was proving an internet sensation and could have more Twitter followers than he does by the time Parliament breaks up for the summer in July.
Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko returned home to a hero's welcome today after nearly two years in a Russian prison, drawing a line under a damaging diplomatic spat between Moscow and Kiev.

The 35-year-old army helicopter pilot flew home as part of an apparent prisoner swap with Moscow, with two alleged Russian soldiers leaving Ukraine earlier in the day.

"I'm ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield," a defiant Savchenko declared as she touched down on home soil, wearing a white T-shirt bearing the Ukrainian trident, a national symbol.

A presidential motorcade was on standby at Kiev's main Boryspil airport to whisk Savchenko to Poroshenko's office where she was to be decorated by the president, two sources told AFP.

In Ukraine, she has become a symbol of resistance against what Kiev sees as Moscow's aggression in the east and has been elected to parliament in her absence.

While in prison, she launched several hunger strikes to protest her detention, refusing both food and water during her high-profile trial in southern Russia.

She constantly defied the Russian authorities and even raised her middle finger at the court in March.

Kiev and its Western allies view Savchenko as the latest pawn in Moscow's broader aggression against Ukraine that has seen Russia seize the Crimean peninsula and fuel the separatist uprising in 2014.

Savchenko's return will be seen in Ukraine as a rare political victory for Poroshenko, who has been struggling with mounting economic troubles, squabbles among his allies and festering violence in the east of the ex-Soviet country.

Savchenko, an Iraq war veteran, was convicted in March over the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine and sentenced to 22 years behind bars. She had been held in captivity in Russia since June 2014.

The crop-haired military helicopter pilot denies any involvement in the shelling deaths of two Russian state television reporters.

Kiev has long been pushing for a prisoner swap to free Savchenko, and Poroshenko said in late April that he hoped she would return home "in a few weeks."



"It's been a long and complicated road," lawyer Nikolai Polozov said on Twitter.

"But we have been able to prove that there are no insurmountable tasks and we've managed to free the hostage from the jaws of Mordor," he added, referring to a savage land in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Earlier in the day, two alleged Russian soldiers, Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, sentenced by Ukraine to 14 years in prison for fighting in the rebel-held east, arrived in Moscow, Russian national television reported.
With the arrest of four persons, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) has unearthed a gang allegedly involved in withdrawing cash from several people's bank accounts by cloning their cheques, police said here.

The accused, identified as Gagan Sehgal, Dharmesh Kumar, Ashish Sood and Bobby Choudhary were arrested from Delhi yesterday, they said.

The gang was active in Delhi-NCR region and other states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra for some time, they said.

Their activities came under the scanner when Ravi Kumar Tiwari, branch manager of Axis Bank, Sector Alfa-1, filed a complaint on April 25 about some people cloning the cheque of an account holder and withdrawing Rs 8 lakh from the account, Triveni Singh, additional SP (UPSTF), said.

Police had arrested two persons Rahul Kumar Singh and Vikram Pratap Singh on April 26, and following the leads from the duo police apprehended the other gang members yesterday, he said.

During interrogation, Sehgal, the alleged kingpin of the gang, said that they used to visit different banks and would get details of accounts and prepare clone cheques using coral draw software, he said.

Police have recovered a car, two laptops, one printer, 10 mobile phones, 20 cloned cheques worth Rs 2 crore, and five cheque books from their possession, he said.
At least four gangsters, allegedly involved in cases of murder and extortion, exchanged fire with police at Butter Kalan village in the district.

The gun fight broke out last night when police, acting on a tip-off, raided a house in the village, and were shot at.

The officers retaliated, but the gangsters managed to escape, police said.

The accused were identified as Manpreet Singh, Surjit Singh, Ranjit Singh and Gagandeep Singh.

Police have registered a case in this connection and launched a manhunt.
Former Chief Minister on Wednesday accepted his responsibility for the Congress' debacle in Assam Assembly polls and apologised to the people for not being able to fulfil their expectations.

"Yes, I am responsible for the poll debacle. I am the leader. If I am not responsible, then who will be?" Gogoi told a press conference when asked if he would take the responsibility for the poor performance of Congress.

Probably his government failed to fulfil the expectations of people and so they were defeated in the polls, he said.

"We will analyse why we faced such a debacle. We must have committed some mistakes. We apologise to the people for that. We will now strengthen the party. We are working on how to reorganise the party. The challenge is to find out the mistakes and go to people," Gogoi said.

Stating that the situation this time was similar to 1985 when AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) came to power, foreigners issue had played the main role then, "also like this election".

"AGP had benefited that time and now it is BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). They (BJP) succeeded in dividing the people by doing publicity that existence of Assamese and Hindus are at stake... We took steps on infiltration issue. But the way RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) presented it, we could not guess it. Already reports have come out that over 25,000 RSS members worked during the polls," Gogoi said.

He said the Congress workers are not disheartened as 31% of people of Assam voted for Congress, while BJP alone got 29% votes and BJP-led alliance got 41%

"In 2011, we got 39% votes. This time it decreased from that, but increased from what we got in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We are thankful to the people for giving us chance to serve them for 15 years. We succeeded in many fronts and also failed at some," said.

Stating that he does not have any plans to retire from active politics as of now, Gogoi said Congress will now prepare itself for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The three-time Chief Minister said Assam has many problems like unemployment, flood, corruption and immigration.

"I hope that the new government will focus on them and we will also co-operate with them as a constructive opposition. In the sealing of border, 95% work has already been completed. For sealing the river border, we had written to centre earlier. We are blamed for foreigners issue. We will be now happy if the new government detects foreigners as soon as possible," he added.

Gogoi also disapproved new Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement during the poll campaigning that the base year to identify the foreigners should be advanced by 20 years.

"We do not support shifting the base of identifying foreigners to 1951 from 1971 at present. This is a settled issue between AASU (All Assam Students Union), AGP and government. What is the point to unsettle it again?" he questioned.

Talking about centre's responsibility towards the state, Gogoi hoped they will help Assam in every aspect.

"Without centre's help, it is difficult for a poor state like Assam to progress. Sarbananda is lucky to have the support of the Prime Minister," he added.
Government today approved the financial restructuring of state-run Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited (HSCL) and its takeover by another PSU NBCC.

HSCL will become subsidiary of National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) with the later holding 51 per cent equity. The government's shareholding in HSCL will be reduced to 49 per cent, according to an official statement.

As per the proposal, the government's loan and along with accumulated interest thereon and outstanding guarantee fee worth Rs 1502.2 crore will be converted into equity and equity capital of the company will be raised to that extent.

The existing paid up equity capital of the HSCL is Rs 117.1 crore and it would be raised to Rs 1,619.3 crore.

After writing off of the accumulated losses, the equity and paid up capital of HSCL will become Rs 34.3 crore. NBCC will infuse funds of Rs. 35.7 crore as equity into HSCL.

Government will also provide one-time support of Rs 200 crore for settling term loans availed from commercial banks. It will also bear the contingent liability of about Rs 110 crore as decided by the Supreme Court in compensation for VRS liabilities.

NBCC and HSCL, both state-run PSUs, are in similar lines of business activities. The decision will benefit in economies of scale for NBCC and would assist in better manpower utilisation.
The PDP-BJP government is committed to safeguarding the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and will strive for achieving reconciliation and development, Governor N N Vohra told the Assembly today amid ruckus created by opposition National Conference and Congress.

In his customary Address to the joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council at the start of the Budget session, he also hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "bold" efforts to reach out to Pakistan, like his visit to Lahore, would have "positive" impact on the state.

"The state government is committed to safeguarding the special status which has been accorded to Jammu and Kashmir in the Constitution of India and has been also spelt out in the 'Agenda of the Alliance' which forms the basis of the PDP-BJP coalition government," Vohra said admist disruptions by opposition National Conference and Congress members.

His assertion came against the backdrop of allegations by opposition that the special status was being diluted.

Vohra said it augurs well that at the national level, the Prime Minister is personally pursuing the sub-continental agenda of peace which will have a positive outcome for normalizing the situation in the state.

"The Prime Minister's bold initiative of reaching out to Pakistan in a bid to establish lasting peace in the region has been welcomed in the state and revived the hope for peace, particularly along the borders where the lives of the people have been shattered.

"The impact of the Prime Minister's visit to Lahore and the subsequent bilateral dialogues at different levels have generated hope for our state, which has for long borne the brunt of unstable relations between the two countries," he said.

The Governor said the state government is committed to pursuing and strengthening the path of peace and dialogue for achieving reconciliation and development.

"The people of the state are hopeful that the revived



initiatives for the establishment of friendly relations with our western neighbour will have a positive outcome for the restoration of peace and normalcy, particularly for the people residing in the border areas who live in an environment of insecurity and have, over the years, continued to suffer human and economic losses," the Governor said.

"To enhance the dividends of peace, the state government is working to develop border tourism, particularly in the areas of Suchetgarh and Chamliyal," he said, adding "We are hopeful that with the various ongoing initiatives falling in place we shall soon enter an era of normalcy, peace and prosperity, which the people of the state have been yearning for."



Vohra lauded the role of security forces in maintaining law and order and undertaking counter-insurgency operations.

"The state police, alongwith other security forces, is playing an important role in maintaining law and order and undertaking counter insurgency operations. Their professionalism, courage and patience merits appreciation," he said.

"However, incidents like the one which took place the other day in which three of our dedicated police personnel were killed in a cowardly act, set us back every time we are moving towards normalcy," he added.

Besides the need to maintain a constant vigil to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the Governor urged the civil society to come out strongly, in one voice, against such incidents and "send a clear message that we shall act against any move which is against the interest of our society and the security of the country".

Vohra enlisted various steps taken by the government to improve the lot of the people particularly in key sectors like education, social welfare, health and tourism.

"The government is engaged in reorienting and upgrading the education system to make it an 'enabler' and not merely a 'certification department'," he said adding the establishment of institutions of excellence like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) will soon engender a definitive improvement in the quality of professional education in our State.

Vohra also mentioned the success achieved by some local entreprenuers.

"Already, encouraging reports are coming in about groups of self-assured entrepreneurs succeeding in establishing their own enterprises, particularly in Horticulture, Handicraft, Information Technology and other sectors".

The state government has come out with schemes to match and enhance the endeavours of the young entrepreneurs whose initiatives are already bearing fruit, he said adding skill development is a thrust area for the government and significant initiatives have already been taken in this regard.

Vohra, a former bureaucrat, said "as a former civil servant I note, with enormous satisfaction, that a growing number of our talented boys and girls are getting into the All India Civil Services every year".
Government has finally enforced the decision of retirement fund body EPFO to almost double the maximum sum assured under its insurance scheme to Rs 6 lakh for its 4 crore subscribers.

In September, Employee Provident Fund Organisation's apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) had decided to increase benefits under the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme from Rs 3.6 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

However, the notification to amend the scheme could not be issued by Labour Ministry as it was stuck in the Law Ministry.

"The notification to enhance EDLI amount has been issued. It (the maximum sum assured) has been enhanced from Rs 3.6 lakh to Rs 6 lakh," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told reporters after launching a modernisation plan for National Academy for Training & Research in Social Security (NATRSS).

Besides, he said, the decision to provide 8.8 per cent rate of interest to over 4 crore EPFO subscribers for 2015-16 has also been notified.

Some officials present on the occasion said however that they have not received the notification and are still settling the PF claims at 8.75 per cent for 2015-16.

The minister was here at NATRSS to preside over a function where institute was renamed as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Academy of Social Security (PDUNASS).

Under the modernisation plan, PDUNASS will be developed as an international centre of excellence in the area of social security administration.

PDUNASS will also collaborate with bodies like International Social Security Association (ISSA) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to encourage research in the field of social security.

Given the pre-eminent position that India enjoys in SAARC, it is appropriate that India's foremost Social Security Organisation EPFO, takes a lead in fulfilling the training needs of the other constituent countries of SAARC, officials said.

The minister announced that PDUNASS will be developed as an international centre of excellence in the area of Social Security Administration and Research.

To begin with participation of officers from Social Security Agencies in the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) countries would be invited.

Social Security Professionals from the BRICS group of countries would be associated for experience sharing and learnings.

Collaboration with a reputed University will also be explored to lend academic support and recognition to the research related work done by PDUNASS.
Eurozone ministers today reached a vital deal to unlock urgent cash for Greece but analysts warned promises to tackle the country's debt mountain are sketchy, spelling trouble further down the road.

The agreement unlocks 10.3 billion euros (USD 12 billion) in bailout cash that Greece needs to repay big loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, having already fallen behind in paying for everyday government payments and wages.

The US-based IMF has made easing Greece's huge debt burden a condition for its continued participation in the bailout programme, despite opposition from Germany to giving Athens more favours.

The 19 ministers from the countries that use the euro met two days after Greek lawmakers passed yet another round of spending cuts and tax hikes demanded by its creditors.

Eurogroup chief and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem called the deal, hammered out at late-night talks in Brussels, a "major breakthrough".

The bailout rewards Athens for meeting the terms of its 86-billion-euro bailout programme agreed last July.

Greece's creditors will pay a first 7.5-billion tranche in June and the rest in a series of later disbursements.

Greek government bonds soared in response to the deal, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond to below 7 per cent for the first time since November as the once very real chance of Greece quitting the eurozone was now seen as remote.

"The question of eurozone membership is off the table," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told a cabinet meeting in Paris today. "The crisis between Greece and the eurozone is over and behind us."



The Athens stock market firmed initially, but quickly turned lower, losing 0.3 per cent in mid-afternoon.

The hardest part of the talks was defusing the row between Greece's creditors, the eurozone governments and the IMF, over the state of the Greek economy and debt relief.

"The Eurogroup agreed today on a package of debt measures which will be phased in progressively," said Dijsselbloem.

"For the first time there is a clear and binding roadmap for debt relief," Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili said.

But analysts, pointing to a lack of detail on such a deal, suspected negotiators simply postponed thorny discussions.

"In a spectacularly sophisticated show of kicking the can down the road, debt relief will be considered - later," said Paul Donovan, an economist at UBS. "With nothing so vulgar as amounts of money being discussed.
Some unidentified bike-borne gunmen today ambushed a vehicle and killed three paramilitary soldiers here in Pakistan's restive northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province, police said.

The vehicle carrying Frontier Constabulary personnel was heading towards Patang Chowk from Ring Road when unidentified assailants struck and opened indiscriminate fire at them, killing three personnel on the spot, senior Superintendent of Police Abbas Majeed Marwat said.

The victims include a district officer and two constables. They were moving towards headquarters when their vehicle was ambushed by the armed assailants.

Soon after the incident, police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area to nab the culprits who managed to flee the spot.

Initial investigations suggest a 9 mm pistol was used by the gunmen, police said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack so far but the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan often target military personnel and civilians in the country's restive northwestern region.
US Ambassador to India Richard Verma today said he travels extensively to learn about developments in states with an investment point of view and to have a better interaction with people.

"We travel as much as we can to learn about what's happening in states from investment point of view, clean energy point of view, people-to-people exchange and things we can do to deepen our relationship, to meet government officials, and that makes a big difference in how you can carry out your work in New Delhi," Verma told PTI after visiting the Taj-ul-Masajid in the old city area here.

The US Ambassador arrived here on a day-long visit for the first time.

"You have a better appreciation of what's happening in important state like this and talk to the people and hear their mind. That's why we come here," said Verma, who has been travelling all over the country.

"We have been travelling all over the country. In fact, I have been to 21 states, 55 cities and we travel as much as we can to learn about what's happening in states," he said when asked about the purpose of his visit before he headed to meet Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

He described the historic Taj-ul-Masajid as an "amazing place".

"It's an amazingly beautiful place. It was an honour to meet the leaders of the mosque, their place of learning, place of history and place of culture," he said.

However, he said, "I am sorry that students were not here and next time I will come back and meet some of the students."



"It is a great place of history and we wanted to be here and pay respect and to know about this amazing structure," he said.

The envoy wrote in the visitor's book: "Thank you for showing me this amazing place of worship, inspiration and learning. It was a great honour to be here."



Upon arrival at the grand mosque, Verma was welcomed by Darul Uloom Taj-ul-Masajid committee head and other members.

The committee's communication head Mohammd Aamir Ansari and other members showed him various parts of the mosque.

(REOPENS BOM31)



Earlier in the day, Verma met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior state officials to discuss US-India cooperation and developments in the state.

"Verma expressed his happiness that Chhattisgarh stood second in 'Ease of Doing Business' in the entire country. There is political stability in the state and relentless progress in almost all sectors," an official release said.

"The atmosphere is conducive for expanding American business interests in the region. The Ambassador said he would encourage the American investments in higher education, innovation, smart city, pharmaceutical companies, IT and medical field," it added.

During the meeting, Singh gave a detailed presentation on the potential for investment in the state.
Delhi High Court today refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking directions to the "concerned authorities" not to hear false and frivolous cases and complaints, particularly against judicial officers.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said there was no public interest in the matter and dismissed the plea, which also sought direction to the Registrar General of Delhi High Court to "make a circular for protection of the judges of Delhi High Court" from frivolous pleas against them.

"This writ petition is frivolous. Your prayer is that frivolous writ petition should not be entertained. This matter is not of public interest, therefore, we decline to entertain it," the bench said.

The petition, filed by advocate Pradeep Sharma, has referred to a recent report regarding a letter written against a judge of High Court by a complainant and alleged that "blaming an individual (judge) shows frustration of the complainant" and sometimes it is also done to "attract cheap publicity".
A Hindu businessman was hacked to death in on Wednesday after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money to drug addicts, the latest murder in the Muslim-majority nation which has witnessed a series of brutal killings of secular activists and minorities by Islamists.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe store owner, was murdered inside his shop in Gaibandha of northwestern Gobindaganj Upazila.

"The assailants slit throat using sharp weapons leaving him dead instantly," the officer in-charge of the police station in the neighbourhood Mozammel Haque told reporters.

He said police immediately launched an investigation into the murder and arrested one Nepen Chandra in connection with the murder.

The victim's family claimed that some local drug addicts tried to extort money from Pramanik a few days ago and when he refused to pay, an argument broke out at the shop.

Pramanik's son Debashish Chandra told reporters that his father could be a victim of the drug addicts.

"There was heated exchange of words after my father refused to pay them the money they demanded," he said.

Police, however, said they were yet unclear about the motive and identity of the assailants.

in recent period witnessed a wave of murders of liberal and secular activists, writers and minorities by suspected Islamist militants.

A Muslim homoeopath doctor being their last victim last week in western Kushtia.

The Islamic State reportedly claimed responsibilities of most of the murders but Bangladeshi authorities rejected the claims.

"The home grown militants are repeatedly trying to prove their links with outfits like IS or al Qaeda," a senior home ministry official had said after last week's murder.

"Our investigations found no link of any group to the incidents (clandestine attacks) in ."

A Buddhist monk, a atheist student, two gay rights activists, a liberal professor, a Hindu tailor and a sufi Muslim leader were the other victims of the deadly attacks since last month.
Union Information and Broadcasting ministry has asked Fashion TV to abide by norms or face action citing a programme aired by the channel in which skimpily clad models were shown not as per the programming code.

In an advisory issued today, the ministry said that in a programme 'Fotos', aired in November 2014, the channel had shown models dressed in skimpy bikini gave indecent poses.

"Such indecent presentation of women's body appeared to denigrate women, was suggestive/obscene and also against good taste and decency," the ministry advisory said, adding that a Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued to Fashion TV in May last year.

The matter was examined by an Inter-Ministerial committee (IMC) in January where representatives of the channel submitted that the content mainly focuses on international fashion trends and lifestyle related topics.

The representatives said the intention of the channel was to cover contemporary fashion-lifestyle trends and they have been sourcing such content for 32 countries.

They also clarified that the channel was being downlinked in Asia (lndia including) and the European countries through single satellite link and the content was meant for all such countries and they assured that now, they have changed the satellite link for Asian countries and the filtered content will henceforward be downlinked in lndia.

The IMC drew the attention of the representatives that although Fashion TV a niche channel, it is required to conform to various parameters of obscenity, considering the totality of the Indian conditions and conform to various provisions of the Programme Code.

Having considered all aspects, the IMC decided that an "advisory," be issued to the channel to abide by the Programme and Advertising Codes and to be more careful in future.

Acting on the recommendation, the I&B ministry today issued an advisory saying that any violation shall entail such action against Fashion TV channel as deemed fit in accordance with the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Rules.

The ministry also issued a warning to one and advisories to two other channels today over content aired by them.
Jammu and Kashmir government's top priority in the next two years is to ensure speedy implementation of Prime Minister's Rs 80,000 crore development plan which will enable the state to not only respond to any arising natural calamity but also catalyse all-round economic growth, Governor N N Vohra said today.

"This fully funded Plan of Rs 80,000 crore, an aggregate of sectoral initiatives, is to be executed over the next five years. The annual phasing of the Plan will be based on the absorptive capability and the spending capacity of the Government and its implementing agencies," Vohra said in his joint address to the legislators which marked the beginning of five-week budget session here.

Vohra said that Jammu and Kashmir Government's top priority in the next two years is to ensure speedy implementation of Prime Minister's Rs 80,000 crore development plan.

He said a large part of the relief component has already been distributed to those whose houses had been partially or fully damaged in the floods.

"To accelerate trade and business activity in the state, the government will soon provide interest subvention, which will generate substantial liquidity support for revival of the business and trade. The government has already received the resources for implementing this important initiative," he said.

The Governor said the government is keen to diversify the sources for financing economic development.

Apart from the assistance received from the Centre in the form of the Prime Minister's development plan, the government is working to mobilise private investment to supplement public expenditure by seeking assistance from multilateral agencies like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The government is also seeking to tap domestic private



investments, he said.

"Private investments are needed not only for promoting industry and its allied sectors. A very disconcerting factor, which has severe implications for the economic growth of the state, relates to the declining public investment in the agriculture sector," Vohra said.

"There is urgent need to reverse this trend and provide incentives for attracting private investments in agriculture and allied sectors, particularly for development of horticulture and animal and sheep husbandry.

The High Density Mission in Horticulture is potentially a game changer and can be a sweet spot for private investors," he added.

Vohra said the state government is very keen to access clean energy and secure funding which various environmental agencies are providing.

"This appears the most advantageous route for promoting sustainable development without impairing the ecology and environmental eco-system of our state which is known for its natural beauty and resources," he said.

"We will also seek to create, with the help of the government of India, three Eco Battalions to help in protect the ecology and environment of our state," he added.

Vohra said the government will encourage Public Private Partnership (PPP) to seek private investment.

"To begin with, 34 ITIs have been covered under PPP. The government will explore PPP for the delivery of social services, particularly in the health sector," he said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he congratulated his friend T M Thomas Issac for, what he sarcastically said, taking over as "Finance Minister of Somalia".

Modi had compared the infant mortality rate among tribals in Kerala with that of African country Somalia during the election campaign rally, which triggered widespread criticism from political parties in the state.

Ramesh said he made a phone call to Issac soon after he saw reports that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has decided to give the crucial Finance Ministry portfolio to the CPI(M) leader, who is also an economist.

"I called Issac and congratulated him on taking over as Finance Minister of 'Somalia'. He had a hearty laugh and said Modi's comment was an insult to all Malayalees," the former Union minister told PTI.

Both the Congress and CPI(M) had flayed the Prime Minister for not withdrawing his controversial remarks that "the situation with the child death ratio among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is scarier than even Somalia."



During his conversation with Issac, Ramesh also took a dig at factionalism in the CPI(M), telling him to keep an eye on V S Achuthanandan whom a ceremonial title of 'Kerala's Fidel Castro' was awarded by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

"I told Issac watch out for Fidel Castro and G Sudhakaran," the Congress leader said.

Sudhakaran, considered to be a rival of Issac in the CPI(M) in Alappuzha district, is the new Kerala PWD Minister.
The Islamic State group is preventing people from fleeing Fallujah amid a military operation to recapture the city west of Baghdad, a local Iraqi official and aid groups said today.

Thousands of civilians are estimated to remain inside Fallujah, located about 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, which IS has held for over two years.

On Sunday, government forces launched a large-scale offensive, teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the US-led coalition.

Nearly 20 families have fled from Fallujah's outskirts, where sporadic clashes have been taking place, since the offensive started, said Shakir al-Issawi, the head of the council in the nearby town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah.

Al-Issawi said no families managed to flee today as IS militants tightly control the city outlets.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid group working with refugees and the displaced in Iraq, reported that only 17 families has fled Fallujah since Sunday night and that most had fled from the city's outskirts.

"There is no information for civilians about safe exits," said Becky Bakr Abdullah, an NRC spokeswoman.

"There is also the fear of being killed for attempting to flee," Abdullah said, explaining that multiple families said IS is threatening residents with death if they attempt to flee.

The International Organization for Migration put the number of newly displaced families at 125, about 750 individuals, in the past two days.

Meanwhile today, the spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group made up mostly of Shiite militias, said the forces continued to dislodge IS militants from key areas in the town of Garma, east of Fallujah, which is considered the main supply line for the militants.

Karim Al-Nouri added that forces had secured three safe corridors for families to flee, but the militants blocked those outlets to prevent them from leaving.

Fallujah was the site of two bloody battles against US forces in 2004. It is part of the so-called "Islamic Caliphate" the militants declared in territories under their control in Iraq and neighboring Syria. IS still controls key areas in Iraq, including the second-largest northern city of Mosul.
India today said "inability" of the UN Security Council to prevent emergence of conflicts in various parts of the globe including in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan has underlined the need for its urgent reform.

In an address at the Plenary of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, India's representative Ambassador Rahul Kulshreshth also said there was a need to have distinction between migrants, refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as they are governed by different international laws.

"One cannot but take account of the root causes for the ongoing humanitarian emergencies - which are deeply embedded in the recent conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria.

"Evidently, the inability of the UN Security Council in preventing the emergence of these grave conflict situations is rather obvious. This also points starkly to the need for urgent reform of the UN Security Council," he said.

India has been strongly pushing for reform of the UN Security Council and getting its permanent membership.

On addressing the problem of refugees, Kulshreshth said India has been generally supportive of the principles of burden sharing and solidarity in respect of refugees.

"We believe that responsibility sharing should be based on agreed principles of CBDR (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities) and not equitable responsibility sharing.

"We are also concerned at voices seeking to divert resources away from development programmes, which will have a deleterious effect on developing countries," he said.

The Indian representative said the principles of charter of the United Nations needs to be preserved as World Humanitarian Summit embarks on trying to define a new international humanitarian architecture.

"With an annual deficit in humanitarian assistance of USD 15 billion, the need for more effective and streamlined UN humanitarian structures and finding additional sources of funding, is rather urgent," he said.
Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's talks with the Chinese leaders, the state media today criticised the western media for attempting to drive a "wedge" between the two Asian giants by "hyping up" competition between them over Iran's Chabahar port.

The visit of the Indian President, which follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's India trip two years ago, is set to open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations and yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability, state-run Xinhua agency said.

Mukherjee arrived here today from Guangzhou after addressing a India-China Business Forum in which top Chinese and Indian businessmen took part.

He is due to have talks with Xi and other Chinese leaders here tomorrow.

"But some Western media have attempted to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants," it said, specially highlighting Chabahar port which will be developed by India to open transit routes from Iran to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.

"One of the latest targets of their (western media) smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Iran's southern port of Chabahar. The seaport is about 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable," the commentary said.

"Such hype is both untrue and harmful. China and India do have differences, but those differences are outnumbered and dwarfed by their consensuses and aspiration for win-win cooperation," it said.

"The common interests and interdependence between China and India are deep and close, and robust enough to withstand the onslaught of those ill-intentioned Western media," it said.

"Yet the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among Western media. Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation-addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions," the commentary said.

"For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda," it said.

Recalling Mukherjee's interview with Chinese journalists



ahead of his visit in which he said India and China have witnessed "unprecedented expansion and diversification of bilateral relationship," the commentary said there was 23 fold increase in trade between the two countries in the last 14 years.

"In fact, the first 14 years of the 21st century witnessed a 23-fold-increase in the trade volume between the two partners. With frequent exchanges among their top leaders, the two neighbours have successfully developed deep mutual trust and profound common interest," it said.

"The two sides have reached consensus even on their thorniest issue -- the border dispute. India seeks a 'fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable' settlement of the question," and China is committed to working with India to accelerate the negotiation and solve the issue at an early date, it said.

The two countries have established a number of boundary- related mechanisms, including the Special Representatives' Meeting on China-India Boundary Question, whose 19th round was held in Beijing last month, it said.
Indian flour mills have contracted to import 3 lakh tonnes of wheat from Australia and France for shipment in July-September in view of likely shortfall in domestic output because of severe drought.

Last year too, private flour millers had purchased about 5 lakh tonnes of wheat from Australia for the first time in a decade in due to sluggish supply of domestic high protein wheat and lower international prices.

"I know deals have taken place for import of wheat. Traders have contracted 3,00,000 tonnes of wheat from Australia and France and the shipments will reach here between July and September," Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India Ex-President M K Datta Raj told PTI.

Wheat imports are being undertaken due to low global prices and also local traders are expecting a shortfall in the domestic output because of drought, he said.

Local traders feel that the government's wheat production estimate is on the higher side and there would be a shortfall of at least 4-5 million tonnes due to drought impact, he added.

Even the government's wheat purchase has not picked up much and has been at 22.8 million tonnes so far, against the target of 30.5 million tonnes set for this year.

As on April 1, the state-owned FCI had a wheat stock of 30 million tonnes, much higher than the actual requirement of 7.46 million tonnes.

Despite drought in over ten states, wheat production has been pegged at 94.04 million tonnes for the 2015-16 crop year (July-June), when compared to 86.53 million tonnes in the previous year, according the Agriculture Ministry's third advance estimate.
A 23-year-old Indian man was arrested by US immigration authorities and has been charged with illegally trying to enter the US by using a fake driver's licence.

Chintamkumar Patel, who faces up to an year in prison, made his initial appearance last week before US Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller in the US Virgin Islands after being charged in a complaint with using a false document to defraud the United States.

US Attorney Ronald Sharpe announced said Patel was released pending further proceedings after a detention and preliminary hearings.

According to the complaint, Patel arrived at the Virgin Islands airport on May 19 and at immigration presented a false New York driver's licence.

Patel was a ticketed passenger on an American Airlines flight to the mainland US.

Under federal law, if convicted of using a false document to defraud the US, Patel faces a maximum of one-year in prison and a USD 100,000 fine.
The Budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly began on a stormy note today with Opposition National Conference and Congress disrupting the Governor's customary Address and staging a walkout while protesting against AFSPA, "shortage of ration" and some other issues.

The government criticised the opposition parties for such a behaviour, saying they should have first listened to the Governor's Address and then made their point in a democratic manner.

As soon as Governor N N Vohra rose to address the joint sitting of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, National Conference members started shouting slogans demanding revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed in the state.

They also demanded "adequate" supply of foodgrains to the people of the state and dismissal of Forest Minister Lal Singh for allegedly making threatening remarks against Gujjars in Jammu region last week.

The NC members shouted slogans like 'AFSPA ko wapas karo' (revoke AFSPA), 'Bhashan nahi ration chahiyay' (we do not need speeches, give ration) and 'Lal Singh ko barkhast karo' (dismiss Lal Singh).

The Congress members also were on their feet, alleging that the PDP-BJP coalition government has failed on issues like implementation of National Food Security Act and regularisation of daily wage workers in various government departments.

As the Governor refused to pay heed to the protests and continued his address, members of both the opposition parties later walked out.

However, Independent MLA from Langate Sheikh Abdul



Rashid, who had joined the opposition protest, remained in the House and continued to shout slogans during Vohra's speech.

Rashid, carrying a banner, wanted to know the fate of the magisterial inquiry into the killing of five youth in clashes between protestors and security forces in Handwara following alleged molestation of a girl last month.

"We want to know what happened to the inquiry into Handwara killings," Rashid said.

As Vohra was reading out various schemes and welfare measures to be implemented by the state government, Rashid said, "You (Governor) do not represent us. You are a non-State subject. We are supposed to have an elected Sadr-e-Riyasat (president of the state)...You represent Delhi."



The controversial MLA also told the Governor that he was "made to lie" by the government. "Not even one per cent of what you have been made to say is true," he alleged.

The Legislative Assembly will now meet tomorrow for taking up obituary references while discussion on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address will take place on Friday and Saturday.

Commenting on the ruckus, Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said it would have been better if the opposition had first heard the Governor's address.

"It is very welcome that the opposition is trying to raise issues that they think are of public interest. But it would have been better if they had heard the address of the Governor and then made their point. That would have been more democratic," Akhtar told reporters.

On the alleged anti-Muslim remarks made by Lal Singh, Akhtar said the minister has denied the remarks.

"Lal Singh has contradicted it and said he never made those remarks. And he has also very significantly said that even if this avoidable controversy has caused some hurt, he apologises for that. It should rest at that," he added.

About the strike called by separatists tomorrow, Akhtar said such a thing was not happening for the first time.

"We have been living with this. We hope the people, who are the ultimate arbiters, see through this that certain people want to rake up issues that don't exist, just perhaps to subvert the feeling of the positivity that has come back to Kashmir. Some economic activity has revived, tourism is seeing a boom. I think some people don't like that," he said.
Press Release:

North Carolina Partnership for Children, Incorporated

Martha Eblen (Buncombe County)  Eblen is the corporate secretary at Biltmore Oil Company and is the owner of Eblen Short Stop Store in Asheville. In 2011, Martha received an Outstanding Volunteer award from Governor Hunt and was awarded the Buncombe County Woman of the Year. She earned a Masters from the University of Tennessee in Anthropology and a B.A. in Anthropology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. She is a published author and a fourth-generation native of Asheville.

 Eblen is the corporate secretary at Biltmore Oil Company and is the owner of Eblen Short Stop Store in Asheville. In 2011, Martha received an Outstanding Volunteer award from Governor Hunt and was awarded the Buncombe County Woman of the Year. She earned a Masters from the University of Tennessee in Anthropology and a B.A. in Anthropology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. She is a published author and a fourth-generation native of Asheville. Dr. Melissa Johnson (Wake County)  Dr. Johnson received her bachelor's degree from Duke University and completed her PhD in clinical psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980. Her clinical, teaching and research activities have all focused on infant mental health and development, as well as on children with medical issues and their families. She has also been published on the use of play and imagination in children's coping. Since 1986, she has been employed at WakeMed and Wake Area Health Education Center as a pediatric psychologist. She provides clinical services to children from birth to age three and their families, as well as serving as an educational resource for professionals in the region and as instructor and mentor for medical and graduate students.

North Carolina State Water Infrastructure Authority

Johnnie Carswell (Burke County)  Carswell is the Chairman of the Burke County Board of Commissioners. He is also a Correctional Training Specialist at NCDPS.

Underground Damage Prevention Review Board

Christopher W. McGee (Johnston County)  McGee has been appointed chairman of the board. He is the Transportation Field Services Manager for the city of Raleigh. He also serves as President of the Streets Division Board for the American Public Works Association and holds a Professional Engineer license.

North Carolina Radiation Protection Commission

Diana Hart (New Hanover County)  Hart is the Senior Vice President of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. She and her team focus on driving nuclear safety culture, risk reduction, EHS compliance, remedial projects management and other key EHS initiatives across the business. Her previous experience includes 16 years in the nuclear industry across the EHS function, quality, and operations. She was the General Manager of Hydro Facilities for Exelon, where she spent nine years in a variety of roles, including Radiation Protection Technical Support Manager at their Limerick Station and Director of Environmental Operations for all Power facilities. Hart began her career with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a Radiation Specialist. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has a Master's of Science degree in Radiological Health Physics from San Diego State University in San Diego, California, and a Master's of Science degree in Environmental Engineering and Science from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

 Hart is the Senior Vice President of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. She and her team focus on driving nuclear safety culture, risk reduction, EHS compliance, remedial projects management and other key EHS initiatives across the business. Her previous experience includes 16 years in the nuclear industry across the EHS function, quality, and operations. She was the General Manager of Hydro Facilities for Exelon, where she spent nine years in a variety of roles, including Radiation Protection Technical Support Manager at their Limerick Station and Director of Environmental Operations for all Power facilities. Hart began her career with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a Radiation Specialist. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has a Master's of Science degree in Radiological Health Physics from San Diego State University in San Diego, California, and a Master's of Science degree in Environmental Engineering and Science from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. David Tobin (Wake County)  Dr. Tobin is founder of Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists. As a Diplomate of the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, Dr. Tobin specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of all foot and ankle conditions. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and earned his Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine from the Dr. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in 1983.

 Dr. Tobin is founder of Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists. As a Diplomate of the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, Dr. Tobin specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of all foot and ankle conditions. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and earned his Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine from the Dr. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in 1983. Dr. Paul Davis (Mecklenburg County)  Dr. Davis is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has been practicing Chiropractic Physical Medicine for 10 years. Dr. Davis received his undergraduate degree in Biologic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also attended Virginia Commonwealth University graduate department where he pursued an interest in clinical physiology. He is a graduate of the Life University School of Chiropractic, where he completed his internship. He is an active member of the North Carolina Chiropractic Association, The NCCA Political Action Committee and American Chiropractic Association.

 Dr. Davis is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has been practicing Chiropractic Physical Medicine for 10 years. Dr. Davis received his undergraduate degree in Biologic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also attended Virginia Commonwealth University graduate department where he pursued an interest in clinical physiology. He is a graduate of the Life University School of Chiropractic, where he completed his internship. He is an active member of the North Carolina Chiropractic Association, The NCCA Political Action Committee and American Chiropractic Association. Jack Cowsert (Wake County)  Cowsert is a State Materials Quality Engineer at NCDOT. He manages asphalt, chemical, physical testing and soils laboratories, as well as structural members section. He attended North Carolina State University where he earned a BSCE in Civil Engineering.

 Cowsert is a State Materials Quality Engineer at NCDOT. He manages asphalt, chemical, physical testing and soils laboratories, as well as structural members section. He attended North Carolina State University where he earned a BSCE in Civil Engineering. Melanie Butler (Wake County)  Butler is a Chief Existing Buildings Code Consultant and Chief Rehabilitation Code Consultant.

 Butler is a Chief Existing Buildings Code Consultant and Chief Rehabilitation Code Consultant. Roger Sit (Orange County)  Sit is an Adjunct Assistant Professor Environmental Sciences & Engineering and Radiation Safety Officer at the UNC Department of Environment, Health and Safety. Sit received his Ph.D and Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering from University of California-Berkley.

North Carolina Pesticide Board

Dr. W. Benson Kirkman (Wake County)  Dr. Kirkman is a Principal at W. Benson Kirkman. He has been on the NCPB since 1995. He is also a former Raleigh City Councilman. This is a reappointment.

 Dr. Kirkman is a Principal at W. Benson Kirkman. He has been on the NCPB since 1995. He is also a former Raleigh City Councilman. This is a reappointment. Dr. Thomas "Allen" Scarborough, Jr. (Wake County)  Dr. Scarborough is the current Vice-Chair of the NCPB. He is the Trade Flow Manager for North American Regulatory Affairs at Bayer CropScience, where he has been employed for over 30 years. This is a reappointment.

 Dr. Scarborough is the current Vice-Chair of the NCPB. He is the Trade Flow Manager for North American Regulatory Affairs at Bayer CropScience, where he has been employed for over 30 years. This is a reappointment. William S. Harding (Beaufort County)  Harding is the owner of Southside Farms in Chocowinity. This is a reappointment.

 Harding is the owner of Southside Farms in Chocowinity. This is a reappointment. Don F. Rogers (Johnston County)  Rogers in the owner of Neuse River Home Inspection Service in Clayton. This is a reappointment.

North Carolina Parks and Recreation Authority

W. Neal Lewis (New Hanover County)  Lewis has been appointed chairman of the board. Previously, he was the New Hanover County parks department director. He received a B.S. in parks and recreation administration from North Carolina State University.

 Lewis has been appointed chairman of the board. Previously, he was the New Hanover County parks department director. He received a B.S. in parks and recreation administration from North Carolina State University. Lewis R. Ledford (Wake County)  Ledford is the executive director for the National Association of State Park Directors and the former North Carolina state parks director. He worked in the N.C. state parks system starting in 1976 and was named director in December of 2003.

North Carolina Holocaust Council

Jonathan Wade (Jackson County)  Wade is the Senior Digital Learning Specialist for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. He was selected for the post in order to increase and expand digital learning opportunities for North Carolina teachers through NCCAT. He is a reappointment for this board.

 Wade is the Senior Digital Learning Specialist for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. He was selected for the post in order to increase and expand digital learning opportunities for North Carolina teachers through NCCAT. He is a reappointment for this board. Raymond Holder (Lenoir County)  Holder is a former North Lenoir High School history teacher. His classroom focus shifted when he met Holocaust survivor Gizelle Abramson. He received the 2010 Irena Sendler Award for "Repairing the World," and he is regarded as one of the world's leading Holocaust educators. He is a reappointment for this board.

 Holder is a former North Lenoir High School history teacher. His classroom focus shifted when he met Holocaust survivor Gizelle Abramson. He received the 2010 Irena Sendler Award for "Repairing the World," and he is regarded as one of the world's leading Holocaust educators. He is a reappointment for this board. Judi Strause (Mecklenburg County)  Strause founded the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem program for abused and neglected children, a model adopted by the N.C. Legislature for its statewide Guardian ad Litem program. Her concern for the welfare of children led to the formation of the Children's Law Center, a nationally known organization that represents children in the legal arena. She has served on the boards of directors for the Family Center, Charlotte Drug Education, Children's Law Center, and Community Link. She is a reappointment for this board.

 Strause founded the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem program for abused and neglected children, a model adopted by the N.C. Legislature for its statewide Guardian ad Litem program. Her concern for the welfare of children led to the formation of the Children's Law Center, a nationally known organization that represents children in the legal arena. She has served on the boards of directors for the Family Center, Charlotte Drug Education, Children's Law Center, and Community Link. She is a reappointment for this board. Mitchell Rifkin (Mecklenburg County)  Rifkin is with the Hobart Financial Group team of retirement and 401(k) specialists. He will serve as a retirement consultant with a focus on asset protection through life and legacy planning. He is a reappointment for this board.

 Rifkin is with the Hobart Financial Group team of retirement and 401(k) specialists. He will serve as a retirement consultant with a focus on asset protection through life and legacy planning. He is a reappointment for this board. Pamela Pate (Orange County)  Pate is a retired public school teacher in Orange County. She is active in the community in addition to her duties of outreach and education on the Holocaust Council. She is a reappointment for this board.

 Pate is a retired public school teacher in Orange County. She is active in the community in addition to her duties of outreach and education on the Holocaust Council. She is a reappointment for this board. Luceil Friedman (Chatham County)  Friedman is a former professor at UNC Chapel Hill in the Department of Asian Studies, Hebrew Language Lecturer. She has also worked at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro. Friedman has a Masters from Indiana University and Bachelors from Rutgers University.

North Carolina Perfusion Advisory Committee

Laura Mavretic (Wake County)  Mavretic has been a certified mediator since 2000. She graduated cum laude from Furman University and earned her J.D. from Campbell University School of Law. She was a Commissioner of the N.C. Industrial Commission from 1995 until she retired in 2011. After retirement, Laura began a mediation practice limited to workers' compensation cases. Her work experience includes one and a half years as an appeals referee at the N.C. Employment Security Commission, over six years as a local government attorney, two years as a law clerk for the N.C. Court of Appeals, and several years of private practice. Laura is a past council member for the N.C. Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Section. This is a reappointment.

North Carolina Private Protective Services Board

Larry Proctor (Guilford County)  Proctor is a retired business owner in Greensboro. He was co-owner of Sedgefield Lawn and Garden as well as Sedgefield Outdoor Equipment from 1974 until his retirement. Proctor has also been active on several local and state boards. Locally, he has been co-chairman of the Equalization and Review Board, Chairman of the Boards of Trustees for Pleasant Garden United Methodist Church, and a board member for his local fire department and crime stoppers. At the state level, he currently serves on the alarm system licensing board and is a former member of the Governor's Crime Commission.

Roanoke Island Historical Association Board of Directors

Carole A. Warnecki (Dare County)  Warnecki has been appointed Governor's designee. She worked for 30 years in the life insurance industry and has resided in Dare County for 20 years. Warnecki currently serves as Secretary of the Dare County Board of Elections and is the Corresponding Secretary for the Outer Banks Woman's Club. She also holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt and helped start Kym Rock's "Fight Like a Girl" National Women's Self Defense Program.

North Carolina Board of Chiropractic Examiners

Dr. Jessica Benningfield (Iredell County)  Dr. Benningfield was raised in Greensboro. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her chiropractic education at Palmer. Jessica comes from a family of over 40 chiropractors spread over three generations. These chiropractors have spent their lives serving the chiropractic needs of those in their communities all over the country. Dr. Benningfield enjoys working with children and maternal patients. She uses much of her expertise through nutritional and dietary counseling as well as many pregnancy related concerns.

 Dr. Benningfield was raised in Greensboro. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her chiropractic education at Palmer. Jessica comes from a family of over 40 chiropractors spread over three generations. These chiropractors have spent their lives serving the chiropractic needs of those in their communities all over the country. Dr. Benningfield enjoys working with children and maternal patients. She uses much of her expertise through nutritional and dietary counseling as well as many pregnancy related concerns. Dr. Bruce Hilton (Burke County)  Dr. Hilton came to Hickory in 1981 after graduating from what is now known as National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, III. Through the years, he has made a name for himself in the chiropractic world. He has a postgraduate degree in orthopedics, making him a diplomat to the American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedists, as well as being a Fellow of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists. Additionally, he is president of the North Carolina Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and a member of the North Carolina Chiropractic Association and the American Chiropractic Association. This is a reappointment.

 Dr. Hilton came to Hickory in 1981 after graduating from what is now known as National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, III. Through the years, he has made a name for himself in the chiropractic world. He has a postgraduate degree in orthopedics, making him a diplomat to the American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedists, as well as being a Fellow of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists. Additionally, he is president of the North Carolina Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and a member of the North Carolina Chiropractic Association and the American Chiropractic Association. This is a reappointment. Adam Bridgers (Mecklenburg County)  Bridgers is an Associate for Fisher and Phillips Law in the Charlotte office. Bridgers has practiced for over five years and represents businesses and business owners across North Carolina faced with business and employment related disputes. He regularly practices in the areas of business and employment litigation. He has experience at both the state and federal levels, including several cases before the North Carolina Business Court. During law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Charlotte Law Review and a member of the moot court team. He spent two summers at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, where he gained significant business litigation experience. He also gained invaluable legal experience as a summer law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney and as a judicial extern to U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler, both judges in the Western District of North Carolina. This is a reappointment.

North Carolina 911 Board

Robert N. Yarborough (Guilford County)  Yarborough is Senior Director of Government Relations in Greensboro. He is the primary contact for all local government relations activities for the state. He supervises two government relations directors and a department coordinator and is responsible for all state and local franchise regulatory functions for over 360 franchises including renewals and state-issued franchising. He provides support and expertise to the state and national cable telecommunications associations on legislative issues. He is Vice President of the N.C. Association of Workforce Development Boards.

Contact:

Crystal Feldman

govpress@nc.gov

Raleigh, N.C. The Office of Governor Pat McCrory announced the following appointments today:The board ensures that all children have access to high quality early childhood education and development services, develops a comprehensive, long-range strategic plan for early childhood development, and provides high quality early childhood education and development services for children and families through public and private means.The purpose of the Commission is to identify the State's water infrastructure needs, develop a plan to meet those needs, and monitor the implementation of the plan.The Board shall review all reports of alleged violations of the Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Act and accompanying information. If the Board determines that a person has violated any provision of this Article, the Board shall determine the appropriate action or penalty to impose for each such violation.Commission duties include advising the Department of Health and Human Services in the development of comprehensive policies and programs for the evaluation, determination, and reduction of hazards associated with the use of radiation and to adopt, promote, amend and repeal rules, regulations and standards relative to radioactive materials.The Pesticide Board is the governing board for the programs of pesticide management and control set forth in the North Carolina Pesticide Law of 1971.The Parks and Recreation Authority receive private and public donations, appropriations, grants, and revenue for the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. Members work to allocate funds for land acquisitions, repairs and improvements.The council works to develop educational programs to prevent future atrocities similar to the genocide during World War II.The committee adopts rules, requirements and standards that the North Carolina Medical Board uses to license and regulate the practice of perfusion.The purpose of the board is to approve, deny, suspend, revoke or take other disciplinary action against applicants and licensed members under its control. The board also administers the licensing and sets educational and training requirements for people, firms, associations, and corporations.The mission of the Roanoke Island Historical Association is to commemorate the history of the first English colonies in North America on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. This mission is primarily accomplished by the annual production of the symphonic outdoor drama The Lost Colony, and through educationally engaging events and programs.The board regulates the practice of chiropractic in the state to determine the qualifications of individuals seeking to practice chiropractic, authorizes persons who have met the statutory requirements the privilege to so practice, and enforces the statutory provisions governing the practice of chiropractic.The board develops the 911 State Plan, administers the 911 Fund and the monthly 911 service charge, distributes revenue in the 911 Fund, establishes policies and procedures to fund advisory services and training, and investigates revenues and expenditures.
Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko has been freed after nearly two years in a Russian prison and is expected in the Ukrainian capital Kiev shortly, several sources in the Ukrainian presidency have said.

Savchenko was expected to land in Kiev this afternoon, one source told AFP, while two more sources said that the 35-year- old was expected to be decorated by President Petro Poroshenko.

Earlier in the day two alleged Russian soldiers, Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, sentenced by Ukraine to 14 years in prison for fighting in the rebel-held east, left Ukraine, opening the way for a swap with Savchenko, Yerofeyev's lawyer Oksana Sokolovska said.

"Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov are no longer in Ukraine, which means that the pardoning has taken place," Sokolovska said.

"They have already crossed Ukraine's border."



Savchenko's sister Vira said she was waiting for Nadiya's return home.

"We are waiting for a statement from the presidential administration," she wrote on Facebook, adding: "We simply do not know which airport to go to."



Savchenko was in March convicted over the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine and sentenced to 22 years in a Russian prison.

The crop-haired military helicopter pilot denies any involvement in the shelling death of two Russian state television reporters.

Savchenko - who was fighting in a pro-Kiev militia group against rebels in east Ukraine - insists she was kidnapped by separatist fighters before the journalists were killed in June 2014 and then illegally smuggled to Russia.

In Ukraine, she has become a symbol of resistance against what Kiev calls Moscow's aggression in the east and has been elected to parliament in absentia.

Kiev and its Western allies see Savchenko as the latest pawn in Moscow's broader aggression against Ukraine that has seen Russia seize the Crimean peninsula and fuel the separatist uprising.

Kiev has long been pushing for a prisoner swap to free Savchenko, and Poroshenko said in late April that he hoped she would return home "in a few weeks.
Welcoming the Centre's decision to include three communities from Tamil Nadu in the Scheduled Tribes' list, a demand made by the state in 2012, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today expressed joy over her government's efforts in this regard yielding result.

She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his cabinet approving the state's pending demand.

Jayalalithaa recalled that her government had in 2012 written to the Centre, seeking to implement the Lokur Committee recommendation that Narikoravan, Kurivikkaran and Malayalee Gounder be included in the ST list.

In a statement, she said she had in 2013 wrote to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Narikoravas should be included in ST list to ensure that the nomadic community lives a life of dignity.

Today's Union Cabinet approval "will pave the way for the Narikorava, Kuruvikkaran and Malayalee Gounder communities get all the welfare and live a life of dignity", she said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for the cabinet approving the demand of the state government, which had been pending for the last few years," she added.
Actor Justin Theroux suffered a number of injuries while filming "The Leftovers", including a broken nose, shattered hand and broken knuckles.

The 44-year-old actor, who is married to Jennifer Aniston, admitted he had to visit hospital after hurting himself while filming the three seasons of the show, reported Female First.

The Leftovers panel discussion during the 2016 Vulture Festival, he said: "I went to the hospital. I got 10 stitches in my lip and I broke my nose.

"Both episode eights in both seasons I shattered my hand, I got stitches in my head, and I broke my knuckles.
Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin, who is playing the role of an Anglo-Indian woman in Konkona Sensharma's directorial debut, has picked up a little bit of Bengali for her character.

"I had to learn some Bengali for the film as I am playing a woman who is half Bengali. There are some Bengali words in the film," Kalki told PTI.

Konkona is making her directorial debut with "A Death In The Gunj", which also stars Kalki, Ranvir Shorey, Vikrant Massey, Om Puri and Tanuja.

The film traces the journey of five individuals who are on a holiday.

It was shot extensively in McCluskieganj town, near Ranchi, which was once famous for its considerable population of Anglo-Indian community, but has gradually dwindled in numbers after the sixties.

"There is one scene in the film where everyone is singing the famous Bengali song 'Dhitang dhitang bole'. I had to learn it by heart. It was fun and interesting. Bengal has such a rich culture," Kalki said.

Born to French parents in Puducherry, which was once a French colony, the actress who is playing a 34-year-old woman called Mitali, said she could relate to her character because of the French connect.

The shooting of the film is over and it is now on the editing table.

Kalki, who has done critically acclaimed films like "Margarita with a Straw", "Dev D", "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "That Girl in Yellow Boots" will now be seen in a comedy drama film "Waiting" alongside Naseeruddin Shah.

The film is about a special relationship between two



people from different walks of life who befriend each other in a hospital, while nursing their respective comatose spouses.

"My marriage is just five weeks old while Naseer's marriage is 40 years old. He is a philosophy professor, while I am a social media addict advertising girl who is dramatic and throws tantrums all the time. We both belong to two different worlds," Kalki said.

On whether she is happy with the kind of roles being offered to her, the actress replied in the positive.

"I am happy, but it is very unpredictable. For nine months I can be without work as if I will never get work again," she said.

The actress, who also acts in theatres, has been writing poetries for her own from childhood, which she says help her organise thoughts and formulate her thinking process as an actor.

"I also keep going to live poetry performances in Mumbai and also read out my poems sometimes," she said.

All unpublished so far, two of her poems include "An Ode to Coffee" and "Modern Life".

"It's all work in progress as I keep changing one or two lines later on," she said adding she is planning to attend the Bangalore Poetry Festival later this year.
A Kenyan military official today said Kenyan troops in Somalia killed 21 suspected al-Shabab extremists who were plotting an ambush in southern Somalia.

Military spokesman Col David Obonyo said a lone gunman shot at the Kenyan troops yesterday and fled while the troops were on the way to Tabda. Obonyo said the troops searched the area and found rebels planning an ambush.

Kenya troops are among the African Union troops bolstering Somalia's weak UN-backed government against an insurgency by al-Shabab rebels which are linked to al Qaida.

Al-Shabab espouses the Saudi Arabian Wahabi version of Islam, which follows strict Shariah law and has carried out amputations and executions, including stoning to death.

Despite losing control of Somalia's major cities, al-Shabab frequently carries out violent attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries.
Young spinner Kuldeep Yadav scalped three wickets as Kolkata Knight Riders produced a fine bowling performance to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 162 for eight in the IPL Eliminator, here today.

Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep returned with figures of three for 35 to deny Sunrisers a huge total and was ably supported by Morne Morkel (2/31) and Jason Holder (2/33).

Sent into bat, Sunrisers were dealt a big blow when Shikhar Dhawan departed in the last ball of the second over.

Dhawan started on a bright note and struck Morkel for back-to-back boundaries before perishing in search of one too many as the South African pacer went through his defence.

Warner and Moises Henriques then stitched a fine 59-run stand for the second wicket that came off 46 balls to stabilize Sunrisers innings before Kuldeep scalped two wickets in consecutive balls to derail the Hyderabad outfit.

Henriques (31 off 21 balls) became Kuldeep's first victim as the batsman gave a straight forward catch back to the bowler in search of a big shot just after clobbering him over long-off for a six and then Warner was bowled in the very next ball as Sunrisers slumped to 71 for three after 10 overs.

Sunrisers opened the floodgates in the 13th over when Yuvraj Singh (44 off 30) lofted Kuldeep straight over the head for a four and a six.

Deepak Hooda (21 off 13) clobbered Sunil Narine for a six in the first ball off the 15th over before Yuvraj finished off the over with another boundary. The 16th over from Jason Holder yielded 14 runs for Sunrisers but also witnessed the dismissal of Hooda who was run out.

Sunrisers promoted big-hitting Ben Cutting up the order ahead of Naman Ojha but the Australian failed to make any impact as he was foxed by a googly from Kuldeep and Robin Uthappa did the rest behind the stumps.

But Yuvraj looked in vintage touch as he hit the bowler for consecutive fours in 17th over to take Sunrisers forward.

Just when it looked Yuvraj would register his maiden half-century of the ongoing IPL, the left-hander perished, bowled by Holder.

Towards the end, Bipul Sharma (14 not out off 6) played a short cameo as he walloped Morkel for two hits over the fence in the final over to take Sunrisers past the 160-run score.
A labourer was killed today when a milk tanker overturned and fell on him after colliding with a container in Udaipur district, police said.

The tanker which was on its way to Delhi collided with the container and overturned and fell on the footpath where labourer Kalu Meghwal (30) was sleeping, they said.

Meghwal died on the spot while drivers of both the vehicles were injured in the accident, police said, adding their condition is stated to be stable.
An unusual practice by the Congress to secure a signed affidavit from 44 new party MLAs in West Bengal pledging loyalty to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi today drew derision from BJP and TMC which dubbed it as "bonded labour".

The Congress, however, maintained that it was a "voluntary" exercise by the legislators.

Trinamool Congress(TMC) poked fun at the Congress, saying it was attempting to check cross over of its MLAs to the ruling party by asking them sign court papers, saying this showed that the party does not have faith in their own elected legislators.

The need for a signed pledge that they would not leave the party was proposed by Adhir Chowdhury, the chief of the West Bengal unit of the Congress, at a meeting with the new legislators yesterday ostensibly to keep its flock together and all those present were reported to have agreed.

"I do swear my unqualified allegiance to Indian National Congress led by Honorable Congress President Sonia Gandhi ji and Honourable Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi ji", the MLAs said in an affidavit to the Congress President. The undertaking, made on a Rs 100-stamp paper, also seeks to ensure that the MLAs will not get involved in "anti-party activity".

BJP national general secretary Anil Jain took a dig at Congress over the "signing" of a declaration on a stamp paper by the MLAs pledging that they would not leave the party, saying such practice of "bonded labour" can only happen in that party.

"All those who have been loyal (to the family)...This kind of practice of bonded labour can happen there (Congress). Only in Congress can a person be bound to power and family," Jain told reporters in Delhi.

Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said no instructions for proving the loyalty have been issued by the AICC or the General Secretary In-charge.

"This is a voluntary exercise and nothing more should be read into it", he told reporters in Delhi.

In reply to a volley of questions, he, however, said that during the last Assembly, 10 Congress legislators in the state were "poached" in violation of the Anti-Defection law.

He suggested that if legislators by their own volition were doing it, it is a matter which will be looked after by the state leaders.
An 18-year-old man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison for fatally shooting an Iraqi man taking photos of his first snowfall in Texas.

KDFW-TV of Dallas-Fort Worth reports that a Dallas County jury sentenced Nykerion Nealon yesterday, one day after convicting him of murder in Ahmed Al-Jumaili's death. Nealon could have been sentenced to up to life in prison.

Al-Jumaili was outside his Dallas apartment complex taking pictures of snow with his wife and brother on the night of March 4, 2015, when he was shot.

Nealon told officers that he had been hunting for people he thought had shot at his girlfriend's nearby apartment complex.

Al-Jumaili fled violence in Iraq to reunite with his wife. He'd been in Texas just three weeks when he was killed.
Food giants McDonald's and Tesco have signed a "historic" agreement to not expand cod fishing into untouched parts of the Arctic, where the ice melt has sparked fears of a rush on unexploited areas, Greenpeace said today.

"This is a historic agreement that brings together the main players in the cod fishing" in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, said Frida Bengtsson, a marine environment specialist at Greenpeace.

"In the absence of significant legal protection of the icy waters of the northern Barents Sea, this is an unprecedented step from the seafood industry," she said.

The agreement, which has been signed by global seafood suppliers as well as British retail chains Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, freezes bottom trawling in areas around the Svalbard archipelago.

It requires seabed mapping to determine the fragility of an area before it is opened up for fishing.

The agreement was brokered by environmental group Greenpeace and marks the first time the seafood industry has voluntarily imposed limitations on industrial fishing in the Arctic.

It means that any fishing companies expanding into pristine Arctic waters will not be able to sell their cod to major seafood brands and retailers.

The two dominant professional organisations in the region, Fiskebat for Norway and Karat for Russia, have signed up for the deal along with Danish company Espersen and British-based Young's Seafood.

"Fiskebat agrees not to send its trawlers to fish for cod in the Arctic areas in the Barents Sea, where no regular fishing has been practised in the past," said Jan Ivar Marak, an executive at the Norwegian company.

"Our customers tell us it's important they can be sure the fish on our shelves is caught in a way that doesn't harm the ocean environment, and this landmark agreement means vulnerable marine life in the Barents and Norwegian seas will be protected," said Giles Bolton, a sourcing director for Tesco.

No less than 189 trawlers have a licence to fish in the frigid waters of Svalbard, where 800,000 tonnes of cod are fished per year, according to Greenpeace.

"Cod is doing well, the stocks are good, but global warming is a real cause for concern," because it pushes trawlers further north, said Bengtsson.
Press Release:

Judge quotes movies to rebuke Justice Dept. lawyers in Obama immigration case

By Seung Min Kim

Politico

May 19, 2016

A federal judge slapped an extraordinarily unusual order on Justice Department lawyers on Thursday, saying they misled him about details of President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, ordering up names of certain immigrants here illegally and calling on the administration's attorneys to take a legal ethics course every year.In a sternly-worded order, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen argued that lawyers for the Obama administration were intentionally deceptive when they discussed how many work permits had been issued under Obama's November 2014 immigration directive. The Supreme Court is currently weighing the legality of Obama's actions.Hanen wrote in the 28-page order filed Thursday.At issue is a batch of work permits issued by the Obama administration to certain immigrants without legal status shortly before Hanen handed down his order blocking the implementation of Obama's controversial executive actions. All together, Obama's actions could affect more than 4 million immigrants here without legal status.The November 2014 directive not only granted work permits to undocumented immigrants who have U.S. citizen children, but it expanded a separate 2012 Obama program that gave those benefits to young immigrants who came to the United States illegally.The 2012 program issued permits for two years at a time. But in 2014, the administration decided to bump that time period up to three years. That meant about 100,000 immigrants getting their work permits renewed after November 2014 got a three-year document, only to have the entire program put on hold by Hanen's order in February 2015. The administration also disclosed that 2,700 work permits had been mistakenly issued, even after Hanen's order.The Obama administration worked aggressively to retrieve the 2,700 permits, using phone calls, texts, e-mails and even at-home visits to rescind them. For the 22 people with those permits that they couldn't find, the administration ultimately stripped their deferred action status  which protects the immigrants from being deported and gives them work permits.But in Thursday's order, Hanen said the Justice Department knew since November 2014 that the administration was issuing the three-year documents, thus engaging in months of deceptive cover-up on those 100,000 work permits. The tone in Hanen's order was also unusual: It quoted from the recent film "Bridge of Spies" and from the classic Christmas movie "Miracle on 34th Street."Hanen wrote, referring to the "Miracle" character.Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said:Hanen ordered the Obama administration to file a list of each immigrant who received the work permits in each of the states suing the government over the executive action  a coalition of about two dozen states led by Texas. The immigrants who received three-year permits between November 2014 and Hanen's injunction have retained their documents.The judge saidBut the order is already alarming immigration advocates.said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice.As for the ethics courses, Hanen laid out detailed instructions: Any Justice Department attorney who appears in a court, either state or federal, in one of the 26 states currently suing the Obama administration over immigration is required to attend a legal ethics course every year.It has to be at least three hours of ethics training per year, and self-study or online courses won't suffice.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.The broader legal case, Texas vs. United States, was argued at the Supreme Court in April. A decision is likely expected in June.
A 13-year-old girl was allegedly



brutally raped and dumped near a railway track in South-east Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area, police said today.

The minor girl, an orphan, is admitted in AIIMS and her condition is stated to be critical.

The victim lives with her maternal aunt at a village near Pul Prahladpur. She went missing on May 17, and a search operation was conducted but she could not be found, a senior police official said.

In the wee hours of May 18, locals spotted the victim lying unconscious near the railway track.

She was then rushed to AIIMS where doctors confirmed the sexual assault and a case was registered under relevant IPC sections and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, police said.

However, the accused is yet to be arrested.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal today met the girl at AIIMS.

"The girl has been brutally raped and we are suspecting it to be a case of gangrape. She is mentally challenged. She has severe injuries on her body.

"She has undergone a major surgery and according to doctors it will take her at least four months to recover. Her condition as of now is critical," Maliwal said.

"Delhi police did not officially informed us of the case. We will send notice to the Delhi police for the same. Both the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will have to sit together, make a high level committee and discuss steps to curb crime and atrocities against minors and woman," she added.
A 13-year-old girl was brutally raped and dumped near a railway track in South-east Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area allegedly by a teenager who lives in her neighbourhood, police said today.

The minor girl -- who is an orphan and mentally challenged -- is admitted in AIIMS and her condition is stated to be stable now.

"The accused, whose age is being verified, was apprehended today," Joint Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R P Upadhyay said.

The victim lives with her maternal aunt at a village near Pul Prahladpur. She went missing on May 17, and a search operation was conducted but she could not be found. In the wee hours of May 18, locals spotted the girl lying unconscious near the railway track and raised an alarm, a senior police official said.

She was then rushed to AIIMS where doctors confirmed the sexual assault and a case was registered under relevant IPC sections and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

It took the police around a week to identify the accused as the girl is not in a condition to give a statement. The locals were questioned and it emerged that the girl was last seen with the teenager, who is a vagabond, the official said.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal today met the girl at AIIMS and the commission later issued notice to the Pul Prahladpur police station seeking to know why it was not informed about the incident.

Despite repeated phone calls, DCP (southeast) M S Randhawa could not be reached for comments.

"The girl has been brutally raped and we are suspecting it to be a case of gangrape. She is mentally challenged. She has severe injuries on her body. She has undergone a major surgery and according to doctors it will take her at least four months to recover. Her condition as of now is critical," Maliwal said.

"It is shocking that despite the Delhi High Court ruling which mandates informing the Crisis Intervention Cell (CIC) counsellor duly approved by the Commission, as soon as the complaint of sexual assault is received at the police station, but in this case the counsellor was not informed by the police," she added.
Delhi Water minister Kapil Mishra today met DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi and demanded immediate withdrawal of notices slapped on some of the inmates by the varsity's Undergraduate Hostel for Girls (UGHG) administration for protesting against erratic water supply in a hostel about a month ago.

Mishra also wrote a letter to Tyagi, saying the hostel administration's act was of "reprehensible, inexcusable and oppressive" nature.

"Met DU VC, he has assured me that notices to hostel girls will be withdrawn," Mishra said in a tweet.

Over 200 students of UGHG had staged a dharna on April 23 which went on till 2.30 AM the next day in protest against erratic supply of water to the hostel.

Mishra, who also heads Delhi Jal Board, had met the protesting students and addressed them at around midnight.

Water supply was restored on April 25.

A month after the protests, parents of some of the inmates received letters sent by the hostel administration.

The letters said the act of girls was in "violation of rules and discipline" laid down in the bulletin of information of the hostel, which the students and their parents had undertaken to abide by at the time of admission.

In his letter to DU VC, Mishra said "Has Delhi University's womens' hostel along with its complete lack of administration which deprived the students their right to water, also waived their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression?



"Isn't there any responsibility of the university and its hostel to ensure basic facilities and not make students' lives difficult if not comfortable?" he said.

Demanding "immediate" withdrawal of the notices, he urged the VC to ensure that such incidents do not take place on the DU campus or its hostels.
A senior decorated Navy officer has been sent on leave and a Board of Inquriy ordered against him after a junior woman officer accused him of molesting her twice, including once at the house of a top admiral.

Navy sources said the incident happened this month.

"We are seized of the matter and a Board of Inquiry has been ordered into the incident which is likely to submit its report soon.

"Navy has a zero tolerance policy for such issues. Appropriate action will be taken once the inquiry is completed and the report is submitted," Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said.

Sources said the woman, a Lieutenant, has complained that her senior, a surgeon commander rank, molested her twice.

Incidentally, one of the incident happened at the house of a senior Admiral. At the time of the incident, the senior Admiral was on official duty in Viashakapatnam.

He had called for the medical team to check on his 95-year-old mother who is bed ridden.

The accused doctor was awarded with Vishist Seva Medal this year.
Opposition National Conference and Congress today disrupted the Governor's address to the Jammu and Kashmir legislature protesting against AFSPA, "shortage of ration", among others, and staged a walkout.

As soon as Governor N N Vohra rose to address the members of the Assembly and Legislative Council, National Conference and Congress MLAs took to their feet.

The National Conference members started shouting slogans demanding revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed in the state.

They also demanded "adequate" supply of foodgrains to the people of the state and dismissal of Forest Minister Lal Singh for allegedly making threatening remarks against Gujjars in Jammu region last week.

The NC members shouted slogans like 'AFSPA ko wapas karo' (revoke AFSPA), 'Bhashan nahi ration chahiyay' (we do not need speeches, give ration) and 'Lal Singh ko barkhast karo' (dismiss Lal Singh).

The Congress members alleged that the PDP-BJP coalition government has failed on issues like implementation of National Food Security Act and regularisation of daily wage workers in various government departments.

Members of both the opposition parties later walked out from the hall even as the Governor refused to pay heed to the protest and continued his address.

However, Independent MLA from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who had joined the opposition protest, remained in the House and continued to shout slogans during Vohra's speech.

Rashid, carrying a banner, was seeking to know the fate of the time-bound magisterial inquiry into the killing of youths in Handwara allegedly by the army on April 12 following alleged molestation of a girl by a jawan.

"We want to know what happened to the inquiry into Handwara killings," Rashid said.

As Vohra was reading out various schemes and welfare measures to be implemented by the state government, Rashid said, "You (Governor) do not represent us. You are a non-state subject. We are supposed to have an elected Sadr-e-Riyasat (president of the state)...You represent Delhi."



The controversial MLA also told the Governor that he was "made to lie" by the government.

"Not even one per cent of what you have been made to say (in the joint address) is true," he added.

The Legislative Assembly will now meet tomorrow for taking up obituary references while discussion on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address will be held on Friday and Saturday.

(REOPENS DES11)



Reacting to the development, Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said it would have been better if the opposition had first heard the Governor's address.

"If the opposition is trying to raise issues they think are of public interest, it is welcome.

"But it would have been better if they had heard the address of the Governor and then made their point. That would have been more democratic," Akhtar told reporters.

On the alleged remarks made by Lal Singh, Akhtar said the minister has denied the remarks.

"Lal Singh has contradicted it and said he never made those remarks. And he has also very significantly said that even if this avoidable controversy has caused some hurt, he apologises for that. It should rest at that," he added.

On the strike called by separatists tomorrow, Akhtar said it was not for the first time a bandh has been called in Kashmir.

"We have been living with this. We hope the people who are the ultimate arbiters, will see through this that certain people want to rake up issues that don't exist. Just perhaps to subvert the feeling of positivity that has come back to Kashmir.

"Some economic activity has revived, tourism is seeing a boom. I think some people don't like that," he said.
Haryana Minister for Department of Public Works (Buildings and Roads) Rao Narbir Singh today stressed on the need to constitute a separate Gurgaon Development Authority, keeping in view the rapid urbanisation in the NCR.

There is a need to constitute a separate Gurgaon Development Authority on the pattern of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Greater Noida Development Authority, he said.

He said Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), which was responsible for maintaining all the cities in the state, was unable to properly maintain the sectors in Gurgaon.

He said more than 250 units of renowned multi-national companies are operating in Gurgaon and over 120 sectors have been formed by HUDA. Still, there is need for a separate development authority to manage the rapid urbanisation taking place here, he said.

Apart from this, the number of sectors in Faridabad and other cities included in the NCR have also increased significantly, he said in an official release.
Nepal's journalist organisation today condemned the arrest of a reporter whom it said was taking photographs of a protest outside government offices in Kathmandu.

Police arrested Shesh Narayan Jha on Monday together with a protester who splashed red paint on the walls of the Singha Durbar government complex.

"It is a serious violation of press freedom and freedom of expression to arrest a journalist as he takes pictures and charge him with public offence," Ujir Magar, general secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, said in a statement.

"The federation condemns this incident and demands Jha's immediate release."



The protester, 21-year-old Ishan who goes by one name, was demanding an investigation into the use of excessive force by security officials during demonstrations in recent months against Nepal's new constitution that saw more than 50 people killed.

He is also calling for an independent committee to initiate talks between the government and anti-charter protesters, who say the constitution adopted last September leaves them politically marginalised.

Prazit KC of the city police told AFP that Jha was arrested for his alleged involvement in the protest and not for taking photographs.

"When Jha was caught he was not taking pictures and did not carry a camera. He did not say he was a journalist, otherwise we would have released him," he said.

"We are investigating how he is involved."



The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition against the arrests tomorrow.

It comes amid fears that freedom of expression may be under threat in the Himalayan nation.

Last week a British tourist was arrested for allegedly joining a protest against the constitution. He was later released.

Earlier this month Canadian software developer Robert Penner was ordered to leave Nepal over tweets deemed to "incite conflict".

The constitution, the first drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to cement peace and bolster Nepal's transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability and a 10-year Maoist insurgency which ended in 2006.

But several rounds of talks between the government and the protesting parties have failed to secure agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister joined forces today with a hardline nationalist who is set to become defence minister, forming a government considered the most right-wing in the nation's history.

Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party will add five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previously wafer-thin majority if the coalition deal is given parliamentary approval as expected.

Lieberman, who has spoken of harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists", will take over the key role of defence minister after being sworn in.

The two men, who have in the past been bitter rivals, announced the deal at a ceremony at parliament, with Lieberman pledging to be "balanced" and saying he was committed to "responsible, reasonable policy."



Netanyahu said that "we are joining hands now to march Israel forward."



The move to hand the defence ministry to the 57-year-old hardliner has sparked deep concern among Israeli centrist and left-wing politicians, as well as among some of Netanyahu's Likud party colleagues.

Religious nationalists from the Jewish Home party already hold key cabinet positions in Netanyahu's government.

Moshe Yaalon, a Likud member who resigned as defence minister on Friday and who has also served as armed forces chief, warned of a rising tide of extremism in the party and the country as a whole.

Former Labour prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak went further, saying Israel's government "has been infected by the shoots of fascism."



The Palestinian leadership condemned Lieberman's move into the government.

"The existence of this government brings a real threat of instability and extremism in the region," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP, adding that the appointment would "result in apartheid, racism and religious and political extremism."



Others say that Lieberman is above all a pragmatic politician who aspires to be prime minister one day, noting that he will face opposition from the security establishment if he seeks to carry out some of his most controversial ideas.

An example of his provocative style was recently on display in comments directed at Ismail Haniya, Islamist movement Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.

Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, named today as the Afghan Taliban's new leader, was a senior judge during the insurgent group's five-year rule over Afghanistan and a close confidant of its founder Mullah Omar.

Believed to be in his fifties, he hails from Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar like both his former boss -- Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday -- and Omar, who died in 2013.

Akhundzada went on to become the group's "chief justice" after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

He was one of Mansour's deputies alongside Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the feared Haqqani network based out of eastern Afghanistan.

Several senior Taliban sources have said Mansour bequeathed Akhunzada the leadership in his will, though some observers have argued in the past that hereditary succession is against the Taliban's ideology.

Akhundzada is not known for his prowess on the battlefield, having preferred a life of religious and legal study.

He is said to have issued many of the rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Taliban's extreme interpretation of Islam, and adjudicated internal disputes.

"He is a religious scholar who was close to Mullah Omar, a close confidant and an adviser on religious issues who wrote fatwas, and was on the council of Ulema (Muslim scholars)," said Thomas Ruttig, a former diplomat and co-director of the Kabul-based Afghan Analysts Network.

A senior Taliban source familiar with proceedings at the Shura (council) which appointed Akhundzada said he was a unanimous choice, adding the group's rank and file looked to him as a "spiritual leader" who had taught thousands of students in both Pakistan and Afghanistan over 25 years.

According to Rahimullah Yousafzai, considered the region's foremost expert on the Taliban, Akhundzada was in Pakistan during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan -- unlike Omar and Mansour, who earned reputations as fighters as part of the US-backed mujahideen.

But he returned to his homeland in time to attend the meeting in the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar in 1994 at which Omar declared the birth of the Taliban movement, according to the senior militant source.
Days before Japan will host a G7 summit, NGOs slammed the Asian nation for financing coal-powered energy in developing countries, even as other countries and investors shun the climate-damaging fossil fuel.

Within the G7 bloc, Japan stands out for funnelling more than USD 22 billion (20 billion euros) into overseas coal plants since 2007, more than the other six countries combined.

Moreover, the club of rich nation's only Asian member has another USD 10 billion worth of coal projects in the pipeline, according to a report by six environmental groups, including the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and WWF.

Japan will host a two-day meeting of the G7 -- which also includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy -- starting Thursday in the Ise-shima region.

Germany is second on the list in overseas coal financing, having poured some USD 9 billion into coal-based power over the same period.

"Financing new coal plants and coal development in the era of dangerous climate change is blatantly reckless," Jake Schmidt, the head of the NRDC's international programme yesterday said on the margins of UN climate talks in Bonn.

Such investments "tie developing countries to the fossil fuels of our past, not the clear energy of our future."



Diplomats from 196 nations have gathered in Bonn five months after hammering through a landmark climate pact that seeks to wean the world economy from fossil fuels, by far the main driver of global warming.

Coal is the biggest climate change culprit, generating more carbon pollution per unit of energy generated than oil or gas.

Some 40 per cent of the world's electricity is powered by coal, roughly the same as 40 years ago, according to the International Energy Agency.

China fuelled three decades of double-digit growth mainly with coal, and today accounts for nearly half of world consumption, followed by India.

But both countries have made a massive push to develop renewables and increase energy efficiency, with China's use of coal tapering off in the last two years.

Within the G7, Japan is alone in investing heavily in coal-fired energy on its own soil, with more than 40 new power plants on the drawing board.

Money mainly from Japan and Germany for building coal plants in the developing world since 2007 has gone to South Africa (USD 5 billion), India (USD 5 billion), the Philippines and Indonesia (USD 3 billion each), Vietnam USD 2.5 billion), and a dozen other countries.
On Thursday, May 19th at around 1:50pm, deputies and school administrators of Washington High School responded to a classroom after the teacher called for assistance dealing with a disorderly student. The incident was still rapidly evolving when the deputies arrived. Tiesherah Smith, dob 12/25/99, was being asked to move away from the other students in the class and to leave the classroom. Smith moved towards the door of the classroom, but turned around, dropped her book bag on the floor, then aggressively moved towards some of the students in the classroom. A school administrator attempted to block Smith's path, while a deputy grabbed her by the waist and redirected Smith back towards the door. Smith refused to obey the commands to leave the classroom given by the school administrators and the deputy. Smith once again attempted to circle back towards the students in an aggressive manner, the deputy shoved Smith towards the door and told her to leave the classroom. After being pushed, Smith fell to her knees. The deputy grabbed Smith, and led her out of the classroom. Once in the hallway, Smith was handcuffed, then escorted to an administrative office.Smith was placed under arrest and charged with Disorderly Conduct and Resist, Delay, or Obstructing a law enforcement officer. Smith's mother was contacted and she was transported to the Magistrate's Office. Smith was placed in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $1000 secured bond.On Monday, May 23rd, 2016, Smith's father, Jermaine Orintha Ebron, and mother, Tieshe Archie, came by the Sheriff's Office and filed a complaint against a deputy for what they allege was excessive force during the aforementioned incident. Mr. Ebron and Ms. Archie produced a 4 second video clip that only showed the deputy shove Smith and Smith falling to the floor. While being escorted away from the Sheriff's Office, Ebron made several disparaging remarks towards the Sheriff's Office and stated he would be going to the media.The Sheriff's Office obtained a court order and presented it to Beaufort County Schools for them to release the video recording that they had of the incident. The recording, recorded by one of the students in the classroom, was reviewed during our investigation into the incident. The video appears to be the same video footage of what was presented by Mr. Ebron and Ms. Archie, just longer in duration. The full video shows how Smith was acting before her encounter with the deputy. The footage showed Smith repeatedly scream at, using profane language, assaulting by bumping into a male student, and eventually striking her male victim. After reviewing the video footage obtained from the school, an additional charge of assault has been filed against Smith. The assault charge has not been served on Smith at the time of this press release.Sheriff Coleman states,Sheriff Coleman went on to say,This press release and the accompanying video of the incident will be downloaded to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office website located atChief Deputy Charlie RoseBeaufort County Sheriffs Office210 North Market St.  Washington NC 27889
A 43-year-old Nigeria national has been arrested from New Delhi for allegedly cheating a Pune-based woman of over Rs 16 lakh in online lottery fraud, police said today.

The accused, identified as Igwe Festus Abraham, has been remanded in police custody till May 31, they said.

The investigation was initiated by the Cyber cell of Pune Police after a woman registered a complaint of losing Rs 16.18 lakh to cheaters in January this year, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber and Economic offence Wing) Deepak Sakore said.

"The woman had received a mail in September 2015, informing her that she has won a lottery worth 500,000 GBP (Rs 4.92 crore). She provided her bank and other details as asked in the mail," the DCP said.

"The accused then called up the woman and asked her to deposit money from time to time under the pretext of various taxes and fees," Sakore said.

The accused met her at a hotel in Pune and gave a bag, telling her that it contained US dollars and even took out four notes from the bundle. He applied some chemical on the notes to show its genuineness.

"He told her that since the chemical was over, he will have to procure it from the UK, so that remaining notes can be analysed. He then left by handing over the suitcase to the woman," Sakore said.

The woman took the notes to the foreign exchange, where she came to know that the suitcase contained plain papers, the officer said, adding, "After realising that she has been duped, the woman lodged a police complaint."



"We successfully tracked the accused and arrested him in New Delhi," said Sunil Pawar, an Inspector with Cyber cell.

During investigation, police came to know that the accused has duped around 100 people across the country and got Rs 3 crore deposited to his various bank accounts.
Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, who survived a murderous assault last week, today said he would not back any political party in the of assembly elections in Punjab due early next year.

His remarks came after Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal met him at his headquarter Gurdwara Parmeshwar Dawar in Patiala today and held a closed-door meeting with him for about half an hour.

"I have nothing to do with politics. Neither in the past nor in future would our outfit support any political party," Dhadrianwale told reporters after the meeting.

Just like other political leaders, Kejriwal had come to express his solidarity and condolences for the demise of a follower-cum-fellow preacher in the May 17 attack near Ludhiana, he said.

Meanwhile, Patiala MP Dharamvir Gandhi, who had been suspended from AAP long back, took a dig at Kejriwal over the visit.

"AAP has also started doing traditional politics and visiting Dera for political support now," he said.

He warned Congress, Akalis and AAP against mixing politics with religion.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today refuted the charge of "political vendetta" leveled against him by his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with the probe into allotment of industrial plots in Panchkula to Associated Journals Limited.

Hooda, two-time Chief Minister of Haryana and senior Congress leader, hit back, saying he was not going to be cowed down by the probe and the government can order probes by the thousands for the decisions he took while he was in power.

Khattar refuted Hooda's charge over CBI raids in connection with allotment of industrial plots to AJL during the previous Congress rule.

"The misdeeds during his time are being exposed one by one, therefore he (Hooda) is getting nervous and fearing that he might land behind bars," Khattar told reporters here.

Khattar said "he (Hooda) is feeling that the misdeeds committed during his regime will be exposed one by one, therefore he might be thinking to adopt the policy of offence is the best defence but it is not going to benefit him".

The Chief Minister was asked to comment about Hooda's meeting with Congress party workers today, in which 13 sitting MLAs of the Congress, 65 former MLAs, six ex MPs, Congress' Rohtak MP, PCC members, among others took part.

In the meeting, the Congress leaders hit out at the Khattar government and demanded that it should make public the Prakash Singh Committee report on the Jat stir violence issue.

The Chief Minister said "the Committee's report is based on facts and findings which would be presented in the High Court in appropriate time."



Khattar also said that there were several issues about alleged irregularities committed during the time of previous Congress government which were being investigated by various agencies.

"This government only believes in political vendetta.

They are not bothered about works of welfare for the people. When they have nothing to show in their 20 months rule, they have unleashed vendetta to divert public attention," Hooda alleged.

Earlier this month, the Haryana State Vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against the then chairman of Haryana Urban Development Authority, a post held by the then CM, and some HUDA officials for illegally re-allotting a plot to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in Panchkula in 2005.
Premier stock exchange NSE today said it has set up an academy that will offer all existing programmes offered by the bourse and meet the industry's demand for the trained financial market professionals.

NSE Academy Ltd would first offer a 11-month post graduate certificate programme in global financial markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad and regular classes will start from July 27.

The course has been designed by market professionals, keeping in mind demands from a large number of captive units of MNCs, KPOs, BPMs, custodians, pension funds, among others, NSE said in a statement.

"Most of these companies are registered with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) / Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) - the US and Singapore's regulatory authorities and require financial market professionals for serving their US and international clients," it added.

Apart from meeting demands from large corporates, the academy would help provide trained manpower for International Finance Corporation (IFC) coming up in the GIFT city, Gujarat.

NSE is also in the process of setting up an international exchange at IFC.

"NSE's efforts can actually make our students stand out as professionals in the global capital markets," NSE managing director and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna said.

According to the exchange, the participants will develop skills to handle international clients and will be exposed to the best market practises, during a week-long Singapore immersion programme, which comes with 15 global regulatory certifications in financial markets from the USA, Singapore and India.
Following assurance from Health Minister Atanu Sabyaschi Naik, the striking students of SCB nursing school here today decided to call off their protests temporarily.

"If our demands are not fulfilled within a reasonable time, we will revive our agitation again," the agitating students said. The students had been agitating for nearly three weeks demanding removal of their school principal Kajal Rani Sinha.

Alleging that the Principal had been torturing them physically and mentally for long, the students had petitioned the SCB Hospital superintendent. But when an in-house probe committee gave a clean chit to the principal, the students created uproarious scenes inside the campus forcing the State government to close the school indefinitely on May 12.

Since then the students had been urging the authorities to take appropriate action against the principal and restore normalcy in the campus by lifting the closing order.
The Obama Administration has strongly defended its decision to back India's membership in the NSG, rebutting a known anti-India Senator who opposed the move.

"The President (Barack Obama) has reaffirmed that US views that India meets not only the missile technology control regime but also it is ready for NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) membership," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.

She was responding to a question from Senator Ed Markey, who opposed the move of India becoming a member of the NSG, arguing that it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Markey said that the NSG has "agreed to a set of factors that must be taken into account when considering whether to accept a new member. Among those factors is that the State must be a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or an equivalent nonproliferation agreement".

"And that it must accept full scope safeguards from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In other words, Indian membership would require us either to set these factors aside or to revise them. So which of these two options, revising the rules or setting them aside does the administration plan to pursue?" asked Markey, one of the lawmakers who had led the effort opposing the civil nuclear deal during the Bush Administration as a member of the House of Representatives.

He interrupted Biswal several times as she tried to explain the Administration's position and that India meets the criteria to be a member of the NSG.

"Is the (US) going to ask for revision of the rules or set the rules aside for India?" he asked multiple times.

Biswal said: "I do believe that in our engagement with the NSG, we have made the case that we believe that India has complied with and is consistent with the requirements of the NSG and therefore should be considered for membership."



"So you are saying that you are not exempting India from NSG member guidelines, and they are in compliance with the guidelines. Is that the Administration's perspective?" the Democratic Senator asked.

"Our position is that India is very much consistent with the NSG," Biswal said.

"Are they in compliance with the membership guidelines?" Markey said.

"It is our considered opinion that India has met the requirements and therefore should be considered," Biswal said as she was again interrupted by Markey.

"I do not think, any clear reading of the NSG rules could lead to that logical conclusion," Markey said as he tried to put India and Pakistan on the same boat of nuclear non-proliferation and NSG membership.

Markey stressed that India's membership to NSG should require New Delhi signing comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT), agreeing to halt production of fissile material before pursuing for NSG membership.

"And that would be a strong message. Why is that? Well,



it is because since 2008 when we also gave them an exemption the country has continued to produce fissile material for its nuclear weapons programme, virtually unchecked," he said.

"At that time Pakistan warned us that the deal would increase the chances of a nuclear arms race and since that time, Pakistan has declared its intention to give control over battlefield nuclear weapons to front line military commanders and it has declared its intentions to use nuclear weapons earlier in a conflict with India," Markey said.

"In your view how would granting a State specific exemption to India would affect Pakistan's choices? It would complicate efforts to get Pakistan refrain from undertaking destabilising actions such as deploying battlefield nuclear weapons," he asked.

Biswal said: "We have a separate and specific dialogue with both countries to address both our concerns.

"I do believe that we address the interest of both countries on their own merits. And we have very distinct and robust discussions with both countries.

In his remarks, Markey argued that if India joins the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) it would be the only participating government that is not a party to the NPT.

He claimed that the Administration's move is creating an action reaction in South Asia leading to a never ending escalation that ultimately brings these battlefield nuclear weapons closer and closer together.

Addressing the lawmakers, Biswal also dwelled on Indo-Pak ties, saying: "We have long encouraged India and Pakistan to engage in dialogues and address some of the many issues that continue in that relationship."



The US, she argued, has a very important relationship with each country and it seeks to advance its ties with each country.

"We do not see this as a zero sum," she said when asked about India-Pakistan relationship.

The US does recognise that for India and Pakistan, there are a number of outstanding issues between them that would be benefitted by dialogue, Biswal said.

"On the other hand, we do understand that countering and combatting terrorism is an important objective not just for India, for Pakistan and for Afghanistan but for the United States across that area. So these are areas where we try to support conversations across all of our bilateral relationships as well as pushing countries in the region to address it themselves," she said.

"We do believe that increasingly there is a recognition that no kind of terrorist organisation will be acceptable. You can't differentiate between good terrorists and bad terrorists.

"We are starting to get that recognition back in at least the commitment that the countries in the region are making to us. We do need to see more in terms of actions in that space. We continue to push on those issues," Biswal said in response to a question.
President Barack Obama said today he plans to use his historic visit to Hiroshima with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reflect on the suffering of war and the need to take steps to prevent it.

Abe said he had no plans to reciprocate Obama's gesture by paying his own visit to Pearl Harbor.

Obama's opened his trip to Japan with much intrigue about his upcoming stop in the city where the US dropped the first atomic bomb. But that first-ever visit by a sitting American president was caught up in the controversy in Japan over the recent arrest of a former Marine in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa.

Abe ripped into Obama while demanding US steps to prevent further incidents. Obama told Abe that the US would support having the suspect prosecuted through Japan's legal system.

Obama's comments on Hiroshima after meeting with Abe offered a preview of the approach he will try to take at the site of the US attack on August 6, 1945, that killed 140,000 people.

The White House has ruled out an apology by the president for the atomic bombing, but the visit is being viewed by Japanese citizens as a conciliatory gesture.

"One of the things I hope to reflect on when I'm at Hiroshima and certainly something I reflected on when I was in Vietnam was just a reminder that war involves suffering," Obama said after arriving from Vietnam. "We should always do what we can to prevent it."



But he added: "It's important for us to act on occasion in order to make sure that the American people are protected." Abe said he "wholeheartedly" welcomed Obama's decision, adding that he was convinced that the joint visit would create strong momentum toward global denuclearization.

At the same time, Abe said he had "no specific plans" to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Some have called for such a trip as a sign of Japan's acknowledgement of its wartime actions.

The surprise attack by the Japanese military on December 7, 1941, killed more than 2,400 people, wounded scores and led the United States' entry into World War II.

Abe pointed to his previous stop at the World War II memorial in Washington at a speech to a joint session of US Congress as acts intended to pay tribute to victims of the war on both sides.
Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima this week "will honour all those who were lost in World War II" the US president today said, hours after arriving in Japan for a Group of Seven summit.

Obama and his fellow world leaders from the club of rich democracies are gathering for a meeting where much energy will be spent discussing the lacklustre state of the global economy.

But it will be Obama's trip to Hiroshima as the only sitting president to visit the site of the world's first nuclear attack that is likely to dominate the headlines this week.

"Our visit to Hiroshima will honour all those who were lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It will also "highlight the extraordinary alliance that we have been able to forge over these many decades," he said.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada were also making their way to Ise-Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for today morning -- and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics -- attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive on Thursday morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.
Scientists have developed 'perfect' thin film light absorbers, a breakthrough that may lead to low-cost infra-red technology for improved night vision devices.

The findings may help save millions of dollars in defence and other areas using sensing devices, and boost applications of technology to a host of new areas, such as agriculture.

Infra-red devices are used for improved vision through fog and for night vision and for observations not possible with visible light; high-quality detectors cost about USD 100,000 and some require cooling to minus 200 degrees Celsius.

Researchers at the University of Sydney demonstrated a dramatic increase in the absorption efficiency of light in a layer of semiconductor that is only a few hundred atoms thick - to almost 99 per cent light absorption from the current inefficient 7.7 per cent.

The team discovered perfect thin film light absorbers could be created simply by etching grooves into them, said Martijn de Sterke from the University of Sydney.

"Conventional absorbers add bulk and cost to the infrared detector as well as the need for continuous power to keep the temperature down. The ultrathin absorbers can reduce these drawbacks," de Sterke said.

"By etching thin grooves in the film, the light is directed sideways and almost all of it is absorbed, despite the small amount of material - the absorbing layer is less than 1/2000th the thickness of a human hair," he said.

Bjorn Sturmberg, who carried out the research as a PhD student at the University of Sydney, said the findings did not rely upon a particular material but could be applied to many naturally occurring weak absorbers.

"There are many applications that could greatly benefit from perfectly absorbing ultra-thin films, ranging from defence and autonomous farming robots to medical tools and consumer electronics," Sturmberg said.

The structures were much simpler to design and fabricate than using existing thin film light absorbers, which required either complex nanostructures, meta-materials and exotic materials or difficult-to-create combinations of metals and non-metals, said Lindsay Botten, Director of Australia's National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).

"There are major efficiency and sensitivity gains to be obtained from making photo-detectors with less material," Botten said.

The findings appear in the journal Optica.
A Milan court today sentenced a Pakistani and a Tunisian to six years in prison for threatening terror attacks in Italy via social media.

Tunisian Lassad Briki, 35, and Pakistan national Muhammad Baqas, 27, will be deported after serving their sentences, the judge said after agreeing to the maximum sanction requested by prosecutors.

The two men were arrested in July 2015 in Brescia in northern Italy on suspicion of setting up a Twitter account from which they posted messages threatening to attack iconic Italian monuments like Milan's Duomo and the Colosseum in Rome.

The threats were accompanied by photos of the monuments and written in Italian, French and Arabic.

"We are on your streets, we are everywhere," one post read. "We are identifying the targets and await the X hour."



The sentences were handed down despite the prosecutor in charge of the investigation saying at the time of the arrests that "there was no sign of even the beginning of a move (beyond words) to action."



The two men had however downloaded an online "manual" which covered the production of home-made explosives, carrying weapons and operating clandestinely on the Internet.
The Karnataka government today approved three projects, including that of PepsiCo India and Biocon, committing total investment of Rs 2,211 crore.

Biotechnology major Biocon has proposed an investment of Rs 1,060 crore for the manufacture of injectables, monoclonal and anti-bodies vaccine at Anekal taluk. It is expected to employ about 750 people, an official release said.

PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd proposes to set up beverages and snacks manufacturing unit with an investment of Rs 590 crore, employing 900 people, at Nanjangud taluk in Mysuru district.

The 44th state high level clearance committee meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also approved one expansion project proposal of Manyata Promoters Pvt Ltd, with an additional investment of Rs 561 crore, which generates additional employment to about 7,170 people.

With an investment of Rs 561 crore Manyata will develop Information Technology Park and allied infrastructure; hotel, convention centre, retail and commercial space at Nagavara, Rachenahalli and Thannisandra villages in Bengaluru.
PILs have been filed in the Madras High Court today seeking a direction to Union Ministries of Home and Law and Justice and the State Chief Secretary and Law Secretary to frame guidelines and appropriate rules for appointment of Law Officers for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Advocates G Krishnamoorthy and V Vasanthakumar in their PILs submitted that unless the appointment of Law Officers is made fairly based on the merit, ability and integrity the justice delivery system would be in peril.

A division bench comprising justices M Sathyanarayanan and M V Muralidharan directed to tag the PIL's with identical petitions already filed in the court and posted the matter for further hearing to July 14.

The petitioners submitted that the post of Law Officer is a public post with greater responsibility in the administration of justice.

Submitting that loyalty to the ruling party gets priority in the appointments of Law Officers, the petitioners said integrity, capability, honesty, efficiency and legal acumen of the lawyers becomes secondary.

Observing that the Law Officers are conducting cases on behalf of the state and not at the instance of the ruling party, the petitioners said, "In reality it is an unwritten rule that whichever party comes to power, the advocates who are sympathisers of that party are appointed as Law Officers."



The petitioners submitted that presently appointing non-political and efficient advocates as Law Officers has decreased. Whichever party comes to power wants to appoint party loyalists as Law Officers mostly and try to make them as judges in due course, they contended.

"It is not a surprise that the rate of conviction in criminal cases has become low, while crime rate has increased in geometrical proportion and most of the cases where the government is a party go unrepresented", they said.

The petitioners, while quoting an earlier observation of the High Court that if the party loyalists are appointed as Law Officers, they would think only on party lines and not as Law Officers, said they had already sent the representation in this regard to the state and central authorities for which they had not received any reply.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is likely to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President, Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 in New Delhi.

"This is only a courtsey call" and state Resident Commissioner in Delhi had been asked to get the necessary appointments, Vijayan told reporters after he chaired the first meeting of his cabinet.

Vijayan said he would also be meeting Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Days after a Congolese national was allegedly beaten to death in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area, police have so far not been able to track down and arrest the third accused involved in the murder.

While the prime accused, Mobin Saifi, was arrested a day after the incident and the other, Prakash, was arrested two days ago, the third accused, Mukesh, is still at large, giving a hard time to police team searching him across states.

Mukesh has so far been traced at Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, following which police teams were rushed there but they failed to track him down, an official privy to the investigation said.

Mukesh was earlier arrested in a case of cheating and became friends with Saifi in Tihar prison last year. Saifi himself was arrested earlier in cases of criminal assault and molestation.

India today assured African countries of safety of their nationals and tried to persuade their envoys to attend an ICCR-hosted Africa Day event here tomorrow.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister V K Singh went into damage-control mode after the African Heads of Missions (HoMs) sought deferment of the event, expressing outrage over the recent killing and demanded steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".

Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of murder of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals will be ensured.

The victim, M K Oliver (23), was a French teacher at a private institute in Delhi. While was returning from a friend's house in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on Friday night, he was allegedly beaten to death by three youths.

While Oliver's friend and other African nationals in the area who rushed to his rescue alleged that the attack on Oliver took place on racial lines, senior police officials denied the allegations and claimed that this was not an incident of hate crime.

The fight between Olivier and the group broke out over hiring an auto-rickshaw, police had said.
BJP today took a dig at Congress over reported "signing" of a declaration on a stamp paper by its newly-elected MLAs in West Bengal asserting that they would not leave the party, saying such practice of "bonded labour" can only happen in that party.

"All those who have been loyal (to the family)...This kind of practice of bonded labour can happen there (Congress). Only in Congress can a person be bound to power and family," BJP national general secretary Anil Jain told reporters.

According to reports, all the newly-elected Congress MLAs in West Bengal have signed a written declaration on a stamp paper asserting that they would not leave the party.

In the wake of defeat of Congress-Left Alliance in the Assembly elections in West Bengal, state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury suggested MLAs from his party sign an undertaking swearing unqualified allegiance to the party.

The undertaking, made on a Rs 100-stamp paper, also seeks to ensure that the MLAs will not get involved in "anti-party activity".

In a meeting with the 44 new Congress MLAs at the party office yesterday, Chowdhury had made the proposal, to which all agreed.

"In the meeting it was decided that all MLAs will have to sign a memorandum (written on stamp paper) stating that they will not leave the party.

"If they want to, they must resign from the post of MLA... And they will not talk against the party," senior leader Manas Bhuniya had said.
Economic policies, particularly those designed to attract foreign direct investment in India, were today the focus of discussions President Pranab Mukherjee had with a senior Chinese Communist party official here on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

Hu Chunhua, Party Secretary of Guangdong province, hosted a lunch in honour of the President and the two also discussed federal-provincial relations in China, centre-state relations in India and the historic cultural relationship between the two countries.

The Communist party official evinced keen interest in the economic policies of India, especially those relating to foreign investment.

Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the President explained to him the new initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' in the context of foreign investment.

Mukherjee recalled one of his earlier visits as External Affairs Minister to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong which has a USD one trillion economy, and his opening of the Indian Consulate here.

The President was told that after the Japanese and Koreans, Indians accounted for the largest foreign population in Guangdong and their role is very much appreciated.

Earlier in the day, the President visited the Hualin temple, which shares the closest link to Bodhidharma. Legend has it that the temple was built in 527 AD during the Liang dynasty soon after the arrival of Indian monk Bodhidharma who later founded Zen Buddhism in China.

The Chinese side appreciated the President's gesture of visiting the temple that provided the basis for a discussion on the cultural relationship between the two countries historically.
Prism Cement today reported a flat standalone net profit of Rs 61.88 for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 61.89 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a regulatory filing.

Total standalone income of the firm fell to Rs 1,455.47 crore in January-March quarter of last fiscal from Rs 1,529.53 crore during the same quarter in 2014-15.

For the entire 2015-16, the firm's standalone net profit was lower at Rs 8.36 crore as against Rs 14.70 crore in 2014-15.

Total standalone income was marginally lower at Rs 5,550.36 crore against Rs 5,593.88 crore during the same period.

During the year, Prism Cement sold 23 per cent stake in its subsidiary, Raheja QBE General Insurance Company, to its joint venture partner QBE Asia Pacific Holdings and recognised a profit of Rs 62.37 crore. At Present, Prism Cement holds 51 per cent stake in the JV firm.

Earlier this month, the firm said it has entered into a supply agreement with ECO Cements (ECL), Kolkata under which ECL will manufacture and supply cement to the company.

The arrangement with ECL is expected to help the Company optimise its logistic costs and improve local availability in its strategic markets of Bihar, it had said.

Shares of the company today rose by 1.41 per cent to settle at Rs 93.35 apiece at the BSE.
The one-member inquiry panel of the Union Home Ministry, probing the missing files related to the case of alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan, will submit its report within next few days.

B K Prasad, a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, has been given the task to complete the probe. Incidentally, he is due to retire from the service this month end.

The report will be submitted by this month end, official sources said today.

The panel, constituted on March 14 this year, following an uproar in Parliament, was asked to inquire into the circumstances in which the crucial files related to the case of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing.

The panel was asked to find out the person responsible for keeping the files and relevant issues.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.

The papers which went missing from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit on which changes were made, they said.

Two letters written by the then Home Secretary G K Pillai to the then Attorney General late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have so far been untraceable, the sources said.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, they said.

The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, the sources said.

Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.

Subsequently, Chidambaram had said Pillai is equally responsible for the change in affidavit.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The Gujarat Police had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali



Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in the encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

Gujarat Police had then said those killed were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources said in his statement to the Ishrat inquiry panel, retired IAS officer Deverakonda Diptivilasa had reportedly said the documents were part of the file which he sent to the seniors during the deliberations before the second affidavit related to the alleged fake encounter case was filed.

However, the five documents were not found in the file when it returned, Diptivilasa, who was the then Joint Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry, was learnt to have told the panel.

Sources said Home Ministry officials have detected about the five missing documents in 2013, when the UPA was in power but it was never flagged as the fair copies were intact then.

The one-member panel was constituted after Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides Intelligence Bureau where it was said the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was an activist of Lashkar-e-Taiba but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.

The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, the officials said.

Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.

Subsequently, Chidambaram had said Pillai is equally responsible for the change in the affidavit.
Expanding its ambit of probe in the Pathankot terror attack, NIA has decided to examine other terror cases involving Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to gather more evidence against the outfit.

NIA sources said the agency's probe was not event-specific and it would like to look at the role of the terror group in other cases as well.

There were striking similarities between the attacks undertaken by Jaish in Tandgdhar in North Kashmir, Kathua and Samba in Jammu region and Dina Nagar (in Punjab) that took place last year.

NIA teams have been sent to all these places to examine the evidence collected by the local police and quiz those arrested after securing permission from the court, the sources said.

They said the agency could spot glaring similarities in the modus operandi of the terrorists, who staged attacks in Kathua, Samba and those involved in the assault on Pathankot IAF base on the intervening night of January 1-2 this year in which seven people were killed.

The sources said the group which attacked the Samba army camp was also carrying enough eatables and supplies for a long haul fight with security forces and the arms and ammunition used by them were also the same.

The attack in Samba on the Jammu-Pathankot highway took place on March 21 and two terrorists were involved. The team also visited Kathua where Rajbagh police station was attacked by a group of terrorists on March 20 last year.

In the Samba attack both the terrorists were killed, while in Kathua two militants were gunned down in a fierce exchange of gunfire which also claimed the lives of three security personnel and a civilian.

In the Tangdhar area, three heavily-armed militants of JeM carried a terror strike at army camp near the Line of Control, triggering a fierce gunfight in which all the attackers and a civilian were killed and a soldier was injured.
The Centre today told the Delhi High Court that a proper mechanism, including quick response teams and additional signages, have been put in place to ensure safety of visitors in the zoo here.

The submissions were made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath which was hearing a petition seeking a direction to the authorities to take steps to ensure that incident like the one that had happened in the Delhi zoo when a youth was mauled by a white tiger in 2014 is repeated.

The Centre told the bench that quick response teams have been formed to deal with any such situation inside the zoo and additional signages giving details of dos and don'ts have been put in place near the cage of dangerous animals.

After hearing the Centre's submission, the bench disposed of the plea.

Meanwhile, the bench reserved its order on a separate plea filed by the deceased's wife who had claimed that government was liable to pay compensation for their "act of negligence and safety and security lapses which resulted in the tragic death of 22-year-old Maqsood" on September 23, 2014.

During the hearing on the plea, the counsel appearing for the petitioner claimed that there were "serious lapses" on the part of zoo authorities that had led to the incident.

"We will consider this," the bench said and reserved its order on the plea.

Delhi Police had earlier requested the bench to dismiss the woman's plea saying the probe in the matter was pending.

The woman had, in her petition, said the victim was the only earning member in his family.

She had sought compensation of Rs 50 lakh from the Centre, National Zoological Park, Delhi government, Central Zoo Authority, a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Delhi Police Commissioner.
The Reserve Bank has cancelled registration certificates of eight NBFCs after the companies surrendered their licences.

Eight NBFCs have surrendered the Certificate of Registration granted to them by the Reserve Bank, RBI said in a release.

Those who surrendered their licenses include Jhunjhunu Investments, Amulya Leasing and Finance, Ankur Securities Private Limited and Dhanwan Securities among others.

"As such, the above companies cannot transact the business of a Non-Banking Financial Institution," RBI said.

In a separate release, RBI said it has cancelled certificate of registration of seven NBFCs including Raw Gold Securities, Springfield Vinimay, and Sirmour Holdings Private Ltd.
Accusing the US of being an "active provoker" of Tibetan independence, China's state media today said the West was making "groundless" allegations about human rights violations to sabotage the integrity of China.

"The western countries are always hyping human rights conditions in Tibet. Their accusations are groundless," said an article in the state-run Global Times.

"The Western countries are colluding with some Tibetan radicals to instigate Tibet independence. In recent years, China has been developing rapidly. Concerned about China's rise, the Western countries are colluding with the 14th Dalai Lama, who went into exile in India in 1959, and other radicals to instigate Tibet independence," it said.

"However, the Tibetan separatists are merely chess pieces used by the West to counter China," it claimed.

China this month commemorated the 65th year of its takeover of Tibet and Chinese media has been taking an increasingly tough stance against the US of late. Yesterday, the Chinese media slammed the US for lifting the decades-old arms embargo against Vietnam.

Today, the paper said: "The US is also an active provoker of Tibet independence. Given its huge ideological disparity from China, the White House has been attempting to sabotage the integrity of China for a long time."



"In fact, the so-called Tibet independence movement is an outcome of the imperialist aggression against China. Specifically, the UK attempted to construct a buffer zone to protect its geopolitical interests in India, which was colonised by the UK at that time. To this end, the UK invaded Tibet in the 1860s and at the beginning of the 20th century," it said.

"India, after its independence, attempted to inherit the UK's strategic legacies in the region, and thus followed the UK to intervene in the interior affairs of Tibet," it said.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet to Dharmsala in India.

China officially established the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965. "Since then Tibet has achieved enormous development," the article said.

Tibet's GDP surged from USD 15 million in the 1950s to over USD 17 billion in 2015 and the article claimed that Tibet has seen "dramatic changes" in economy, politics, social welfare and culture.
After Vijay Mallya issue, the of Rajya Sabha has taken up the case of JD-U MP Anil Sahani, accused in LTC scam by CBI.

The panel chaired by Karan Singh was scheduled to meet again on Wednesday but it could not due to lack quorum.

Sahani has, however, written to the panel claiming that it was he who actually "exposed" the scandal.

The panel has taken up the matter following Sahani's suspension from the party's Parliamentary Board and after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari granted sanction to CBI to prosecute the MP in the case.

CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sahani alleging that he, in collusion with other persons, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking actual journey.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Ansari had on April 15 given his approval to CBI to prosecute the JD-U MP for his alleged role in the scam.

Citing expulsion of BJP MP Chhatrapal Singh Lodha in the 2005 cash-for-query scam on the recommendations of the then also headed by Karan Singh, JD-U general secretary K C Tyagi had written to the panel Chairman, saying Sahani's case is also a "fit case" to be taken up on same lines.

While announcing his suspension last month, Tyagi had talked about his party's "zero tolerance" to corruption.

Sources in JD-U say party President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier wanted the MP to resign on moral ground but Sahani dug in his heels.

The had sought an explanation from Sahani on May 5, acting on a missive by Tyagi.

In his reply to the Ethics Committee Chairman, Sahani, a second time MP from Bihar, alleged that the case against him was a "political conspiracy" by BJP to malign him and to affect the Assemby polls in Bihar in which he was campaigning for the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress as a "star campaigner".

He also advised party general secretary Tyagi, who had announced his suspension last month that he "should have waited" for the court verdict.

Announcing his suspension on April 24, Tyagi had said that

Sahani, who was charge-sheeted by CBI in LTC scam, could not give a "satisfactory" reply to the party's show cause.

The party had served the notice on him on April 16 after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari gave the sanction to prosecute him in the case.

Tyagi had said that Sahani's explanation could not satisfy either Ansari or the JD(U) leadership.

In his reply to the panel sent on May 10 Sahani contested the contention of Tyagi.

"Tyagiji said I could not give a satisfactory reply to the Rajya Sabha Chairman. This is far from truth," he said, adding the Rajya Sabha Chairman has given the sanction to prosecute him under a judicial process but he was not given a notice in this regard.

"I have got the letter of Tyagiji through you (Karan Singh) in which it has been said that I have been suspended from the membership of Parliamentary Party. I have not got any such written intimation from the Leader of the Parliamentary Party Sharad Yadav or the Rajya Sabha Chairman," he said.

Sahani also expressed disagreement with the example of Chhattrapal Singh Lodha cited by Tyagi to seek similar action against him by the Ethics Panel.

"I have not engaged in any undiginfied conduct relating to money because the sum of Rs 23.71 lakh of the LTC scam has not come into my account. This is an evidence of my innocence. It was me who exposed the fake air ticket racket and wanted to bring the truth before the Rajya Sabha," Sahani insisted.

Ruing the party's decision to suspend him, he said "since this matter is pending before the court and truth will come out after the court's decision, Tyagiji should have waited for the court's decision."

Alleging political conspiracy behind the case against him, Sahani said that the news about CBI charge sheeting him in LTC scam was flashed by the media on October 23, 2015 itself when he was touring the state as "star campaigner" of the grand alliance even as the Rajya Sabha Chairman gave the sanction to CBI to prosecute him on April 14, 2016.

"This makes it clear that a well-planned conspiracy was hatched just to affect the poll outcome in October 2015," he said in the letter.
Seeking to make its presence felt in Mulayam Singh Yadav's citadel ahead of the 2017 UP Assembly polls, RSS

(Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is holding a 'Siksha Varg' campaign in Etawah, the native place of the Samajwadi Party patriarch.

The three-week-long event that began on Monday is ostensibly aimed at imparting education to students and teachers on national integrity.

But the timing and venue of the annual event, being held for the first time in Etawah in the 90-year history of the Sangh, assumes significance ahead of the crucial Assembly polls barely some months away.

"The is holding a 22-day-long 'Siksha Varg' camp in Etawah," a senior party functionary told PTI here today.

Other than Etawah, the camp is being held simultaneously in state capital Lucknow and few other places in the state, he said.

" chief Mohan Bhagwat will address the camp in Lucknow on May 29," he said.

Political observers say the camp has been organised to marginalise the impact of the Samajwadi Party and to influence the masses in favour of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in the Assembly elections.
Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra today alleged that a group of RSS workers recently misbehaved and forced a French artist and an Indian commissioned by the AAP government to deface their own art work on a wall and replaced it with words 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'.

However, the RSS "vehemently" refuted the charges and said that right-wing outfit do not believe in any kind of violence or any such activity.

Mishra said he had written to Delhi Police Commissioner to register a case against the culprits who caused obstruction in discharge of duty by government-hired persons, misbehaved with foreign artist and tried to disturb communal atmosphere in the capital.

The minister demanded a proper security for such artists engaged in painting walls under the government's art initiatives - 'Delhi, I Love You'.

The work is part of 'MyDilliStory' project commissioned by the Delhi Government's art, culture and languages department. 40 selected couplets in Hindi, English, Urdu and Punjabi languages will be painted on walls across the national capital.

"The incident took place on May 20 when French artist Swen Simon and Akhlaq Ahmed was painting a couplet in Urdu on a wall of the Delhi Jal Board's building in Shahdara.

"Seeing them writing in Urdu, a group of persons who identified themselves as RSS workers asked both artists to stop writing in Urdu and raised slogans 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hind'," Mishra told a press conference here.

Subsequently, French artist Siman was allegedly surrounded by a group of RSS workers who asked him that they will not let off until they use saffron colour in his painting and write Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the walls, he said.

""As all artists feared seeing a huge crowd, they followed their instructions. During all episode, they raised slogans in favour of PM Narendra Modi.

"During the incident, police was called there and then they took artists to police station. As I got to know about it, I immediately called up police personnel and told them that they are government-appointed persons. Thereafter, they were let off by the police personnel who respectfully took care of them," Mishra added.

The Delhi Culture Minister asked RSS if the accused were



affiliated to it.

At its branches, is RSS giving training of losing patience seeing Urdu language on the city's walls?, he asked.

"PM Modi has been tweeting in Urdu for last two-three days. We will again paint couplets on the wall and paste a poster of PM Modi's Urdu tweets with them. I want to ask if RSS has guts to defame PM's tweets," he said.

Vehemently denying the Delhi government's accusations, RSS's media incharge in Delhi, Rajiv Tuli said that they don't believe in any kind of violence or such activity.

"AAP leaders are trying to make RSS a punching bag. They are indulging in such kind of things only to divert the public attention from the utter failure of administration in Delhi," Tuli said.

In his letter to Police Commissioner Alok Verma, the Delhi Culture Minister said that it is extremely sad that the police didn't immediately act according to the letter of the law.

"I am told that the police were rude and took away their(Akhlaq, one of artists) phones and questioned their motives once told that they lived in Batla House. Once I gave the local police a call, they were kind to the artists and offered them drink and food as well.

"I demand that the police take immediate action against the members of the RSS who indulged in such a heinous act against our artists and violated all the laws of the land. I further hope that the police will become more sensitive to the diverse social fabric of Delhi," Mishra added.
Russia has accused Turkey of supplying the Islamic State extremist group with components for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated yesterday that the devices "are being widely used to commit terrorist acts".

He said that an analysis of chemical components of explosives captured from Islamists in the region of the Iraqi city of Tikrit and the Syrian city of Kobani, and a review of conditions for selling the components, "indicates that they were either manufactured in Turkey or delivered to that country without the right of re-export".

Churkin accused five Turkish companies of delivering aluminium powder, ammonium nitrate, hydrogen peroxide and other material produced by various Turkish and foreign companies to the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry spokesman in Ankara called the letter "the most recent example of Russia's propaganda campaign against Turkey, and as such it cannot be taken seriously".

Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, a major backer of Syria's opposition, have been at odds during the five-year conflict. Tensions escalated following Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane near its border with Syria last November.

Russia retaliated by deploying long-range air defence missile systems to its base in Syria and imposed economic sanctions on Turkey. President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of "allowing terrorists to earn money by selling oil stolen from Syria", and Russia's top military brass accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from oil trade with militants.

Churkin said that one notable feature of the explosive devices assembled by militants from is the use of parts manufactured by US, Swiss and Swedish companies.

He said "detonation cords manufactured in third countries have been illegally resold through Turkey to ISIL (ISIS) fighters".

"These facts demonstrate that the Turkish authorities are deliberately involved in ISIL activity, as they are providing access to components for improvised explosive devices that are being widely used to commit terrorist acts," Churkin said.
South Korean tech giant Samsung today launched a new tablet device, equipped with iris-recognition technology, aimed at government and enterprises in India.

The Android-based tablet 'Galaxy Tab Iris' is priced at Rs 13,499.

The tablet features a 7-inch screen, 1.2 Ghz quadcore processor, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB memory (expandable up to 200GB), 5MP rear camera and 3,600 mAh battery.

"The tablet can be used by agencies using Aadhaar as an authentication mechanism. It can be used for a variety of applications in banking, eGovernance services, etc," Samsung India Vice President Sukesh Jain told reporters here.

The India R&D team has made significant investments in biometric technology research and this product leverages Samsung's knowledge in hardware design, biometrics and security for a high speed scan, greater accuracy and high reliability, he added.

The company is in discussions with various government departments and corporates to deploy the devices at workplace, he said.

Currently, Samsung is focussing on selling the tablet to enterprise customers as it believes that iris-based authentication still has more 'assisted' usage.

"We expect banking sector to be among the front runners in terms of adoption. Telecom service providers would also benefit from such a solution," Jain said.

TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said a lot of pilfering happen in government schemes as there is no way to authenticate the beneficiaries at a rural level and such a device that supports Aadhaar can be of help.
Actress Sarika and veteran filmmaker Jahnu Barua will head Indian Feature Film Jury and International Film Jury respectively at the 7th Jagran Film Festival.

The 55-year-old "Parzania" actress will lead the five member jury for the festival's 'Indian Showcase', which will decide on 16 awards in the feature film category.

While the 63-year-old National award-winning filmmaker will head a three member jury that will watch 50 short films to decide on three international awards in the category.

The three-month-long festival will have 57 nations participating in it, with Cuba as the focus country.

"It's indeed a matter of pride for us to partner with the largest travelling film festival in the world and take Cuban Cinema to so many cities in India.

"What we would be presenting to the people of India through this partnership is not just our films but a glimpse into our culture, history and contemporary life. I am glad we got this opportunity through Jagran Prakashan and thank them," said Oscar J Martinez Cordoves, the Ambassador of Republic of Cuba.

As part of this initiative, the festival will present a package of 5-7 films from the country. The movies showcased will travel to 16 cities of India with the festival.
Saudi Arabia said talks today with visiting Iranian delegates on arrangements for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic have been "positive".

Earlier this month, Tehran said "arrangements have not been put together" for Iranians to make this year's pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of the summer, accusing its regional rival of "sabotage".

But Saudi hajj ministry undersecretary Hussein Sharif said the kingdom and its leadership "welcome pilgrims from all around the world".

The two sides discussed "arrangements, as well as organisation and services" for pilgrims, he told reporters after a session of talks with the delegation from Tehran.

He said an agreement had been reached following the arrival of the delegation Tuesday to "use electronic visas which could be printed out" by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran.

A final agreement would be signed at the end of the ongoing talks, he said.

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January after demonstrators burned its embassy and a consulate in the Iranian capital following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Tehran had said that Riyadh insists that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and does not allow pilgrims to be flown in aboard Iranian aircraft, which Iran has rejected.

Sharif did not give a clear answer on the airlines that would be allowed to carry passengers from Iran to Saudi Arabia as air links remain severed.

"Directives concerning the air carrier will come from the Saudi civil aviation authority," said Sharif.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.

Another contentious issue has been security, after a stampede at last year's hajj killed about 2,300 foreign pilgrims including 464 Iranians.
The government is planning to launch next month a scheme to track the academic performance of school students across the country and also identify the dropouts.

The scheme, which is expected to be launched in the middle of next month, will be called 'Shaala ASMITA', an acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracking and Analysis.

Under this online system, data of students from all schools will be collected with the assistance of local and state administrations and their performance will be monitored, HRD ministry officials said.

The scheme will use the Aadhaar number or a specially generated number to track a student's progress, they said.

"The HRD ministry is getting support of the states for this initiative and it is expected that the scheme will be launched next month," the officials said.

The scheme will also help in providing accurate data about schools and better monitoring of different programmes, including the Midday Meal Scheme, they said.

Last month, HRD Minister Smriti Irani had announced that the government is bringing a system to monitor the progress of millions of students across the country and also identify the dropouts.
The president of Brazil's Senate was put on the defensive with the release of a secretly recorded conversation that reveals him proposing to weaken one of the key tools prosecutors have used to catch politicians and businessmen in a sweeping corruption scandal.

The released transcript and audio, published by the newspaper Folha de S Paulo, appears to feed widespread suspicions that top lawmakers are trying to stifle investigations into billions of dollars in alleged bribes involving the state oil company, Petrobras.

The conversation shows Senate leader Renan Calheiros suggesting legal changes to bar the use of plea bargains with people who have been arrested. Prosecutors have used such deals, offering lighter sentences to persuade suspects to implicate high-ranking businessmen and politicians, including Calheiros.

"You can't make a plea deal while arrested. That's the first thing," Calheiros allegedly said in a wide-ranging conversation about the Petrobras probe with Sergio Machado, an ex-senator and former head of another state oil company, Transpetro. Machado also is being investigated.

The Supreme Federal Tribunal, Brazil's highest court, is considering seven investigations against Calheiros in the Petrobras probe. Even so, in the recording, Calheiros said that he could "negotiate" with the justices a "transition" from President Dilma Rousseff to Vice-President Michel Temer. He didn't provide details in the taped conversation.

Rousseff was suspended by a Senate impeachment vote earlier this month and Temer has taken over as acting President while senators put her on trial within six months.

Calheiros' office issued a statement acknowledging the conversation but insisting that the talks "don't reveal, indicate or suggest any mention or attempt to interfere with" the Petrobras probe.

Later yesterday, in another tape obtained and published by Folha, former President Jose Sarney promised Machado that he would help him overcome the Petrobras probe. Sarney, a political heavyweight whose son is the environment minister, said that he would work to keep the investigation against Machado out of the hands of lower court judge Sergio Moro.

Moro, the lead judge on the Petrobras probe, has gone after many people who don't hold federal elected offices or Cabinet positions. Only the Supreme Federal Tribunal can decide to try the latter.
A 38-year-old Sikh woman has been found dead at her home in Canada's Saskatchewan province with police arresting and charging her husband for the murder.

Sandeep Kaur Tehara, was found deceased at her residence in Regina, when police was called to the home to check on the well-being of the people inside.

Police found the Sandeep's body inside the home on Sunday and subsequently determined that it was a homicide case.

Sandeep's husband, Jagdish Singh Tehara, 39, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, the Regina Leader-Post reported.

The couple has two young children, who are reportedly staying with Jagdish's brother, Pritpal Tehara.

Jagadish appeared in Regina provincial court yesterday, when the court heard he is seeking legal representation.

He has been remanded in custody until his next court appearance May 31.

The Sikh community is in shock after the murder.

"(It's a) shock for our community, the whole community," Nirmal Maur, president of the Sikh Society of Regina, was quoted as saying.

Jagdish and Sandeep Tehara lived in Regina for about 10 years, said Surender Grewal, a longtime member of Regina's Sikh community.

"We are all very shocked. Never, ever imagined that this could happen," Grewal was quoted as saying.

Jim Azcueta, who lives close to the house where the body was found, said he woke up Sunday morning just to see about a half dozen police cars and his neighbour's house taped off.

"The first thing that comes to mind, like, something really serious happened. Probably a crime. I came out the door and I saw all the police standing right here," he told CBC .

The police service's major crimes and forensic identification units are investigating the murder, as is the coroner's office.
Six members of an inter-state gang, with one of them allegedly involved in the murder of a former city MLA, were arrested from west Delhi, after a brief encounter with a police team, police said today.

The six were identified as Pradeep, Rathi, Ashok Gehlot, Manjeet Khandewala, Sumit and Satender.

The police also seized six pistols and 23 live rounds from their possession.

A team of Special Cell had arrested Pradeep Solanki, who is wanted in several cases of murder and extortion from west Delhi's Nangloi area on Monday night.

Based on sustained interrogation and information derived from Solanki, police raided a flat in the Bankarwala area and arrested five more gangsters, who had reached there in a White Fortuner.

A team of 15 police officers barricaded the road from Bakarwala to Najafgarh-Nangloi with the help of two vehicles. The white Fortuner, was spotted and a police team cornered the vehicle and asked the occupants of the vehicle to come out of it.

"On this, three accused ran towards empty fields. While police followed them and asked them to surrender, the accused starting firing upon the police party and fired several rounds, out of which one hit the bulletproof jacket of an assistant sub-inspector. Finally, the accused were arrested," a statement issued by Special Cell of Delhi Police said.

During interrogation, it was found that Manjeet was involved in the killing of former MLA of Najafgarh, Bharat Singh in Najafgarh area here last year and had a reward of Rs 50,000 on him declared by the Delhi Police.

Others were involved in cases of murder, extortion, robbery and under the Arms Act, the police said.
The last rites of Rifleman Pawan Kumar, killed in an ambush laid by militants in Manipur's Chandel district, were performed with full military honours at his native village of Khanak here.

A large number of people from nearby areas gathered at the funeral of the soldier and bid him a tearful farewell.

His father Baldev Singh and seven-year-old son performed the last rites at their ancestral village in Hiranagar tehsil of the district.

Military, police and civil officials paid their last respects to the slain soldier by laying wreaths. Wreaths were also laid on the behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, the Army Commander of Western Command and the General Officer Commanding of Rising Star Corps.

The Rifleman was among the five 29 Assam Rifles personnel and a JCO killed on Sunday in an attack on their convoy by heavily armed militants in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interiors of the tribal district.

Kumar is survived by his wife and two children aged five and seven.

His family members said he had joined the duty a before the militant attack after being on leave for one month following the death of his mother.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today visited the office of state coordinator of the National Register of Citizens and took stock of the progress made in updating it, a day after taking over the reigns of the government.

Sonowal had said after his swearing-in yesterday that the state government would extend all assistance for updating the NRC.

Prateek Hajela, the NRC state coordinator, apprised the chief minister of steps taken for its updation.

Later talking to reporters, Sonowal said he had told Hajela that his government was committed to a comprehensive and flawless NRC and would provide all assistance for it.

"Over 40,000 people are working across Assam on the NRC day and night. I have encouraged them to work with utmost sincerity. We support its updation," Sonowal added.

Chief Secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia, Additional Chief Secretary T Y Das, Home Commissioner and Secretary L S Changsan were present during the chief minister's visit.
The Ayush Ministry has set up a special social media unit to promote yoga and approached e-commerce giants Flipkart and Snapdeal to promote the International Yoga Day event scheduled next month.

"We have set up a special social media unit in the Ministry which will be working throughout the year to promote yoga and with only less than a month left for International Yoga Day, they will focus on the event," Anil Ganeriwala, Joint Secretary with Ayush, said.

International Yoga Day will be held on June 21 across the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the event in Chandigarh.

He said the Ministry is also organising Health Editors Conference where scientific aspects of yoga will be discussed.

"There will be presentations by scientists on the effects of yoga on various diseases, so people will know that there is also science behind yoga," Ganeriwala said.

On the direction from higher authorities, he said, the Ministry has involved corporates and youth in a big way to promote the event.

"We are also inviting private players. We have approached e-commerce companies like Snapdeal and Flipkart so that they can use the event logos on their products. We have also asked UGC to request universities to organise the yoga day event," Ganeriwala added.
A task force appointed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on reconciliation mechanisms with the Tamil minority community today said it has extended the deadline for public submissions until June 24.

Wickremesinghe appointed the Consultations Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms in January to consult members of the public on the processes and mechanisms for reconciliation to seek truth and justice, ensure accountability for human rights violations and provide measures for redress.

The task force invited submissions from the public on the design of structures, processes and measures to seek truth and justice. The earlier deadline was May 1.

Individuals, groups and organisations were allowed to make submissions in Sinhala, Tamil or English.

These submissions will be used in the compilation of a report, which will be submitted to the government and made public.

This is part of the action by the new government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena to try and achieve reconciliation with the Tamil minority.

The government has indicated that it is considering an Office of Missing Persons, a Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence Commission, a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel and an Office of Reparations as part of the reconciliation mechanism.

The move was also seen as Lanka's response to the UN Human Rights Council's co-sponsored resolution with the US last year. The resolution called for concrete action on human rights accountability and reconciliation.
Jammu and Kashmir governor N N Vohra today said the PDP-BJP government was committed to the return and settlement of displaced persons, including Kashmiri Pandits.

"The government is committed to the return and settlement of displaced persons, including the Kashmiri Pandits who are a part of the ethnic diversity and must be rehabilitated in a manner which fully addresses their sense of insecurity," Vohra said in his joint address to the legislatures which marked the beginning of five-week budget session.

On the issue of refugees from Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Vohra said assistance has been received from the Government of India for providing humanitarian relief to them.

"The issue has been hanging fire for the past six decades. The modalities for the distribution of this relief are being finalised in consultation with the Government of India," he said.

In the case of West Pakistan refugees, which is another serious humanitarian issue, a committee is presently deliberating on the possible measures which can be provided to them for sustenance and livelihood support, the Governor said.
A Stockholm district court today maintained a European arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape allegation, rejecting his lawyers' request to have it lifted.

"The court considers that Julian Assange is still suspected of rape... And that there is still a risk that he will abscond or evade justice," it said in a statement.

Swedish prosecutors issued the arrest warrant because they want to question Assange about the rape allegation, which he denies.

The 44-year-old Australian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 after exhausting all his legal options in Britain against extradition to Sweden.

Assange's lawyers requested the lifting of the warrant after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a non-binding legal opinion on February 5 saying his confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy amounted to arbitrary detention by Sweden and Britain.

Both Britain and Sweden have angrily disputed the group's findings.

"The court finds, contrary to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, that Julian Assange's stay at Ecuador's embassy in London should not be considered a detention," the court said.

The alleged crime dates back to 2010 and the statute of limitations expires in 2020.

Assange fears that if he were sent to Sweden to face trial, he could be extradited to the United States to be tried over WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.
Sundaram Finance today said it plans to raise Rs 6,000 crore on private placement basis by issuing debentures.

The proposal is slated to come up at the board meeting of the company on May 30.

"Sundaram Finance...Proposes to consider the subject of raising funds through issue of new non-convertible debt securities up to an amount of Rs 6,000 crore in one or more tranches, on private placement basis," it said in a regulatory filing.

Details about usage of the proceeds were not provided by the company.

Promoted by Madras Motor Insurance Company, a part of the TVS Group, Sundaram Finance is a leading financier in transport sector.

It offers commercial vehicle finance, car finance, tractor finance, construction equipment finance, tyre finance, and fleet cards.

Besides, through its subsidiaries Sundaram Finance has also presence in general insurance, mutual funds, housing finance, business process outsourcing, Information Technology services and retail distribution.

Sundaram Finance stock today closed 2.32 per cent higher at Rs 1,344.75 apiece on BSE.
Tata Steel Group today narrowed its consolidated net losses to Rs 3,214 crore for the March quarter, down from Rs 5,674 crore in the year-ago period, hurt by a Rs 2,800-crore writedowns and impairment costs towards its struggling global operations.

On the back of still lower alloy prices, total revenue from operations also came down 12 per cent to Rs 29,508 crore on lower steel prices from Rs 33,666 crore a year ago.

The company provided for a whopping Rs 2,800 crore under exceptional items for fixed assets mainly relating to operations in Europe, Canada and Asia as well as its exit cost from China and Australia during the quarter, group financial officer Koushik Chatterjee told reporters here late evening.

"We recognised Rs 2,800 crore under exceptional items during the quarter. Out of this we took a charge of Rs 1,185 crore at Tata Steel Europe largely related to the restructuring of the British operations and other impairment provsions elsewhere in Europe.

"We have also done about Rs 1,397 crore of write down of the assets that we have taken in our Canadian iron ore mines and about Rs 327 crore in Tata Steel India which was largely on account of provisions for the voluntary employee separation scheme," Chatterjee said.

On a standalone basis, the parent Tata Steel fared better had it not been for a Rs 326 crore VRS cost. Accordingly, net income slipped to Rs 676.60 crore in the March quarter from Rs 814 crore a year ago, while sales also slipped a bit to Rs 10,372 crore from Rs 10,523 crore due to fall in alloy prices.

Tata Steel India head T V Narendran attributed the slippages in the bottomline to the VRS scheme offered to its 1500 employees during the quarter involving a cash payout of Rs 326 crore.

Though overall the net losses came down, on a sequential basis, the same has been higher than Rs 2,127.23 crore loss it had reported in the December quarter. Steel deliveries for the March quarter were lower at 6.94 million tonne against 7.06 mt a year ago.

Kalinganagar steel plant has started commercial production and the stabilisation process is currently underway, he said.

Narendran said the Kalinganagar plant will reach initial 3 million capacity over the next 18 months.

"Exceptional items comprise redundancy provisions of Rs 441 crore in Tata Steel Europe and non-cash impairment in some of the downstream businesses in Tata Steel Europe and Tata Steel Minerals Canada," the firm said, adding it also includes the exit costs on Chinese and Australian operations.

During the year, Tata Steel undertook a restructuring exercise involving 2,950 employees and already company has given VRS to 1,500 staffers at its various domestic operations, Narendran said.

The company incurred a capex of Rs 11,486 crore in the year, of which around Rs 3,695 crore were spent on the Kalinganagar greenfield project and Chatterjee said in FY2017, the capex would be "much lower than Rs 10,000 crore".

The firm's liquidity position remains strong with Rs 20,514 crore of cash or cash equivalents, including drawn and undrawn bank lines.

Its consolidated debt rose by Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 84,000 crore, while the net debt addition has been only Rs 1,500 crore during the year, primarily because of around Rs 5,000 crore of cash payments to the European operations, Chatterjee added.

The company continued to divest its non-core assets and raised about Rs 4,478 crore through their monetisation.

For the full year, its consolidated net loss was lower at Rs 3,049.32 crore against Rs 3,925.52 crore earlier. Total income was lower at Rs 1.17 lakh crore from Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the previous year. For the entire 2015-16 fiscal, its deliveries were lower at 25.92 MT against 26.32 MT in 2014-15.

Narendran sounded optimistic about FY17, saying he expects demand growth to continue and it may clip at over 6.4 per cent in the year on the back of improved business environment and the safeguard duty imposed by the government. He also said the company expects to produce 1 million tonne more this fiscal over the past year.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today announced to hand over the teaching operations of all the government schools having 'poor' performance to NGOs which are willing to accept the responsibility of improving it.

Addressing a conclave of teachers and other officials of education department here, Patel gave several examples where such NGOs, working in the field of education, have drastically improved the results of some schools situated in rural areas.

"After the recent evaluation drive 'Gunotsav' across Gujarat, we learned that there are several schools which are very poor. The ratio of result was zero in some of these schools. To improve the results of such schools, we can take help of NGOs, as they are also willing to do the job," the Chief Minister said.

"An NGO based in Vadodara brought result of a school from zero to 77 per cent in just four months after it was handed over to them. Many other poor schools have also shown significant improvement. Thus, we must think about handing over such poor schools to NGOs for effective results," she added.

Patel also expressed dissatisfaction about the lackadaisical approach of District Education Officers (DEOs) in identifying such NGOs and handing over schools to them in time.

"Government need not pay anything to these NGOs, as they are ready to bring their own teachers. DEOs just needs to identify them. But, it seems that things are not moving at desired pace. I don't know what's stopping you. DEOs are taking months to give order to NGOs. This is not done," Patel said.

"We can utilise NGOs to improve education. I want all the DEOs to find out all the poor schools which can be handed over to NGOs. DEOs need to take a decision within one month about which schools can be handed over to which NGO," the CM,, who was accompanied by state Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, added.

Addressing over 5,000 teachers, DEOs and other officials, Chudasama called for an urgent action to improve Gujarati language result of class-10 students.

"In the recently announced board results, numerous students fared very poor in Gujarati language. This is not acceptable. Why our students are lagging behind in their own mother tongue? We all need to pay serious attention to this issue. I believe that primary teachers need to do more in this regard," he said.
Telangana government has advised farmers in the state to reduce cultivation of cotton as there are possibilities of growers not getting a remunerative price for their produce.

The government has asked the farmers to go for growing of pulses, soybean instead of cotton.

"The area generally under cultivation of cotton in the state is 16.72 lakh hectares. In 2015-16, acreage under cotton was 17.73 lakh hectares," Telangana Agriculture Department said in a statement.

Traders may not purchase cotton in the wake of the central government's decision to abolish subsidy on tax imposed on cotton exports as per the WTO pact agreed at Nairobi, it said.

This may lead to the farmers not getting a remunerative price for their produce, it added.

The statement noted that farmers are not getting expected yields due to the scanty rainfall at present and that the resistance of BG-I and BG-II seeds to pests is also coming down while the cost of cultivation is also rising.

In view of these factors, the government advised the farmers to reduce cultivation of cotton to 60 per cent and go for cultivation of pulses and soybean instead.

The state government has ordered state-run seed supply agencies to provide 8.50 lakh quintals of seeds of pulses and others on subsidy, it said.
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy took a dig at Congress's attempt to check crossover of its MLAs to TMC by asking them to sign court papers, saying this shows the party does not have faith in their own legislators.

"Congress doesn't have faith in their own elected MLAs and that is why they are taking such steps. It is laughable. We have never invited any Congress MLA to our party. Whoever joined TMC has done so on his or her own," he said.

Roy also said an anti-defection law already existed to deal with such situations.

West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury yesterday proposed that the party's 44 MLAs sign court papers declaring they would not leave the party.
The youth wing of Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) today threatened to organise a state-wide agitation, if the State Bank of India did not come out with proper details about the Rs.570 crore seized and handed over to it by the Election officials recently.

In a petition submitted to the authorities of the Bank here, TMC Youth Wing President Yuvaraj said doubts had been raised about the real ownership of the amount, about the behaviour of crew of container trucks and also the police officials accompanying them.

If the SBI management did not come out with proper explanation within two days, TMC youth wing will organise 'massive demonstrations' in front of all SBI branches and offices across the state, Yuvaraj said.

Election officials had seized three trucks with the cash near Tirupur, but later the bank claimed the money saying it was on a routine transfer. RBI had also stated that the cash belonged to SBI and it was part of regular money management.
Mumbai police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar today held an interaction with local residents at suburban Sakinaka police station and assured to deal with issues such as traffic congestion and drugs.

"I have learnt that the biggest problem of the area is traffic and drug addicts and I have taken a serious note of it. I will instruct the newly appointed DCP of the traffic to look into the issue and have spoken to the concerned senior official of the zone to tackle the menace of drug addicts," said Padsalgikar.

The area has a sizable Muslim population.

Police will deal strictly with both drug sellers and buyers, but also help those who want to kick the habit with rehabilitation, he said.

Padsalgikar has conducted similar meetings in Malad and Chirag Nagar areas where cases of radicalisation of Muslim youth have come to light.

The commissioner also noted that 250 police personnels had donated their bodies posthumously, which, he said, showed that police were committed to serve the community not only in their life but even after death.

He also assured that police would deal with the issues flagged by the local MLA Naseem Khan with priority.

Khan raised the issue of traffic snarls due to encroachments as well as the drug addiction among the youth.

"By giving permission to single parking on some roads judiciously this problem can be tackled to certain extent, but I think the civic body should also be proactive in solving this problem," Khan said.

Local resident and vice-president of Mumbai Congress Jakir Ahamad welcomed the initiative, saying it will also help the police to maintain the communal harmony.
Traders body CAIT has demanded rollback of a notification mandating online submission of details of goods being transfered to other states, while threatening to go on protest on May 31 against the Delhi government's decision.

To check tax evasion by traders, the Delhi government recently issued a notification which mandates online submission of information about goods and stocks being transported to other states from the city limits.

Every trader is liable to give information under 17 heads in a prescribed format for each invoice which will increase manifold workload on the traders, CAIT said.

Traders in Delhi will protest against the Form DS-1, Mandatory item code in bills and VAT refund by VAT Department of Delhi Government on May 31," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said.

Traders will also launch a massive citywide agitation against "autocratic attitude and working of VAT Department of Delhi," CAIT said in a statement.

For this purpose, trade leaders have formed a Traders Action Committee.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Trade Leaders of Delhi today. Leaders from over 100 trade associations from different parts of Delhi participated in the meeting, it said.

"In a unanimous resolution adopted at the meeting, the traders have firmly said that they will not accept form DS-1 at any cost and has demanded Delhi Government to withdraw the form immediately.

"They regretted that the VAT Department is treating the traders as slaves and taking unilateral decisions which will damage the trade and commerce of Delhi to a great extent," CAIT said.

"Traders are liable to provide G/R No, Vehicle number which is not possible at all since most of the loading of material by the Transporters are done in the night whereas the material is dispatched during working hours," CAIT said.
Broadcasting sector regulator TRAI is counting on the acumen of experts from institutions like IITs and IISc to overcome technological challenges that block the possibility of inter-operability of Set Top Boxes (STBs).

TRAI chairman R S Sharma today said that with the interest of the consumers in mind, inter-operability of STBs has been high on the regulator's agenda for long, but technological factors have impeded progress in this regard.

Inter-operability refers to a situation where STBs of different cable or DTH operator become inter-useable and a consumer is not forced to spend on buying a new one set-top box everytime he or she decides to changes the service provider.

Sharma said that many people feel that it is not possible to have a common STB because of security reasons and the need of broadcasters to keep their content encrypted and safe from piracy.

"Because it is essentially a technology issue, we have brought on board professors from IITs and other institutions to look at it from a technology perspective," Sharma said adding that C-DoT is the technology partner in this venture.

TRAI officials said that a panel of 12 experts from institutions like IIT Mumbai, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore is looking at this issue.

"We are on a speed on this issue and we are having regular updates," Sharma said.

TRAI officials said while a common STB for cable services may be a bit easier as shown by lab tests, but another challenge is bringing STBs which are inter-operable between cable as well DTH operators.

Another major initiative, for which TRAI has initiated a consultation process in the broadcasting sector is ensuring that the broadcasters share infrastructure.

Sharma, said that "learning from the Telecom sector" where competitors also share towers, it is being examined if such a practice can be instilled in the broadcasting sector.

Referring to sharing of infrastructure by broadcasters, TRAI officials said different broadcasters are using different satellite system to carry the same channels.

"The idea is whether there is a need to have a different head-end, or different optical fibre network or different satellite system and if we can combine, are we not able to reduce the cost of operations," a TRAI official said.

The official said that while broadcasters have been initially "closed" to this idea, but they were positive that the idea may yield results as seen from the example in the telecom sector.

TRAI official said that are some licensing conditions which don't allow sharing of infrastructure. After consultations, the regulator would work to see that a proper framework can be provided which allows sharing of infrastructure by broadcasters.

TRAI is also pushing for provision of broadband services through the cable sector, officials added. The regulator is also working to create guidelines for audience measurement for radio and guidelines, officials said.
A tribal man was beaten to death while trying to rescue his minor daughter from alleged abductors at Sanacheragaon village in Odisha's Kalahandi district, police said.

Apprehending abduction of his 14-year-old daughter, Dayanidhi Majhi (50) along with his nephew Tekar Majhi was searching for the girl who had been missing since May 22.

After tracing the girl on Monday, the man confronted the kidnappers and tried to rescue his daughter but he was allegedly assaulted by the abductors, police said.

The man was critically injured in the attack and was admitted to Bhawanipatna Government hospital and later shifted to another hospital at Bisam Cuttack in Rayagada district where he succumbed to injuries yesterday, they said.

Inspector In-Charge of Kegaon police station, Dilip Kumar Jena said FIR had been lodged about alleged kidnapping of the minor girl and assault on her father whose death was reported in the hospital later.

Ivestigation is in progress and efforts are on to trace the accused persons and rescue the kidnapped girl, the IIC said.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar would not join the meeting of North-East Council (NEC) scheduled for tomorrow in Shillong, top CPI(M) sources confirmed here today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governors and Chief Ministers of eight North-eastern states were supposed to be present in the meeting.

Tomorrow's NEC meeting assumed significance keeping in mind the Prime Minister's presence who is expected to brief the states of the region about the Act East Policy, one of the newly launched programme of the NDA government.

"The Chief Minister, who is also a Politburo member of CPI (M), will attend the party's state committee meeting beginning on the same day. That's why he decided to skip the NEC meeting", said a senior party leader.

After attending the party meeting, the Chief Minister will leave for Delhi to attend crucial CPI (M) Politburo meeting scheduled for May 28.

However, Governor Tathagata Roy, Industries and Commerce Minister Tapan Chakraborty and Chief Secretary Yaspal Singh would represent the state in the NEC meeting.
Donald Trump today easily won the Washington state primary and was tantalisingly close to clinching the Republican presidential nomination to set up a likely clash with Democratic party front-runner Hillary Clinton in the November polls.

Trump's victory, however, was overshadowed by the clashes between anti-Trump protesters and police outside his event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The win in Washington state where Trump received 76.2 per cent of the total votes polled brought him less than 10 delegates shy of clinching the nomination.

The victory -- winning at least 40 of Washington's delegates -- means 69-year-old Trump now has 1,229 of the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the Republican party nomination, according to CNN estimates.

Four more Washington delegates are still to be decided, potentially boosting the real estate tycoon's total even higher.

In the primary, Trump garnered over 76 per cent of the vote as Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich each earned 10 per cent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson earned 4 per cent of the vote.

Washington did not have enough delegates to put him over the line. However, its results do, however, leave him inches short of it with a slate of key contests on June 7 in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota sure to seal the deal.

"Thank You Washington," Trump tweeted after major channels projected his win in the state.

On the same day of his big win, Trump's rally in New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump demonstrators clashed with police, hurling rocks and burning clothes at officers.

The "unlawful assembly" went on rampage, lighted fires and threw rocks at the police officers and their horses outside Trump's rally.

The protesters disrupted the real estate tycoon's speech several times. Most of the protesters were escorted out.

Trump is the only Republican candidate left in the race to the White House from the Republican party, which was crowded with as many as 17 candidates at the start of the primary season early this year.

On the other hand, the race to the White House in the Democratic party which had just three candidates at the start of this year, is still open.

While 68-year-old Clinton is likely to clinch the nomination because of the lead she has in delegate count, her opponent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont has refused to call off the race till the last vote in the primary election is cast.

Campaigning in California, Sanders told his supporters that he would not let Trump become the US President.

Sanders' campaign yesterday released a new television spot that will run in California ahead of the state's June 7 primary election.
The dowry case that lead to the resignation and arrest of Raghunath Mohanty from the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet in 2013 took a new turn today when his son and estranged daughter-in-law announced their reunion.

"The misunderstanding between the two families have been sorted out. We both have decided to live together as husband-wife," said Mohanty's daughter-in-law Barsa Swony at a press conference here with her husband Rajashree by her side.

Barsa, who had ensured the arrest of her father-in-law Ragunath Mohanty, mother-in-law and husband, credited Rajashree for the reunion.

"I will return to my in-laws' house as their daughter, not as daughter-in-law. They have accepted me whole heartedly," Barsa said.

Rajashree said, "We must thank Barsa Swony Foundation headed by senior journalist Pradosh Patnaik. The Foundation united us. The decision to reunite us is completely personal and no one has pressurised us for this."



However, neither Mohanty nor his wife were present in the press conference.

Asked about her in-laws, Barsa said, "We have planned a get together in Balasore and all family members and relatives of both the families will be present there."



Rajashree hoped that the reunion will set an example for others. "If we can unite after such a long battle, why not others ?"



Odisha Police crime branch had arrested Raghunath Mohanty and his wife Pritilata in 2013 from an apartment in Kolkata where they were hiding to escape the police after their daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhury lodged a formal complaint.

Barsa had filed a case against husband Rajashree and his family, alleging that her in-laws had demanded Rs 25 lakh and a vehicle from her as dowry but when she declined to pay it, they started torturing her.

Barsa Swony Foundation was set up by Pradosh Patnaik with help of Barsa to support tortured and downtrodden women in the state.
India has said the success record of UN peacekeeping deployments in Africa may have been a "mixed one" due to complexities of geo-politics and political will but important lessons can be drawn for the international community by analysing them.

"While the largest UN peacekeeping deployments have been in Africa, their record of success has been a mixed one, partly reflecting the complexities of geo-politics, political will and the capacities and resources, backing the peacekeeping efforts. Important lessons can be drawn from analysing the various missions," India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Tanmaya Lal said yesterday.

The African Union (AU) peacekeeping efforts have formed the precursor and the basis for several UN peacekeeping efforts in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Central African Republic and Somalia.

Participating in a Security Council debate on UN-AU Peace and Security Cooperation, Lal said regional organisations can have several advantages in terms of dealing with crises in their regions.

The organisations may become quick responders and have a much better understanding of the complexities of their region, besides enjoying advantages of language and intelligence.

They can also act as buffers until the deployment of the UN Peacekeepers. Many regional organisations may face serious constraints of capacity, resources and conflicting geo- political interests.

"Priorities of the UN Security Council and those of the regional organisation could also differ significantly," he said, adding that maintaining peace and security across the world continues to be a massive challenge for the international community.

He said, "The nature of conflict itself has been changing with an increasing involvement of non state actors. While the UN continues to be heavily invested in the peace and security efforts, it is difficult for the UN to succeed on its own".

Lal pointed out that currently Indian peacekeepers serve in eight UN peacekeeping missions on the African continent.

He cited the example of the first ever Female Formed Police Unit provided by India and deployed in Liberia, saying the unit received recognition for providing a role model for encouraging female participation in Police and for pursuing gender balance more widely.

Underlining India's longstanding close links with Africa, he said the tradition of south-south solidarity continues to strengthen and was reinforced during the third India-Africa Forum Summit last October when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a significant enhancement of the scale of India's development partnership.

India would extend concessional credit worth USD 10 billion and provide additional grant worth USD 600 million over the next five years to Africa.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today remained non-committal on the issue of banning liquor in the state even as he advised people to "drink less".

"The decision on banning liquor cannot be taken in haste. Interest of cane farmers and employment of lakh of people in liquor shops are related with this. Presently, we can only advise people to drink less (liquor)," Yadav said.

Yadav's remarks have come against the backdrop of his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar recently advising him to ban liquor in his state.

Nitish had said, "Waqt ke saath doosre tareekon se iski poorti ki jaa sakti hai (The losses incurred due to revenue loss can be offset by other ways)".

He had also sought support from Uttar Pradesh to ensure prohibition in bordering areas.

Akhilesh was here to launch and lay foundation stones of several developmental projects worth over Rs 400 crore.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary had, however, criticised Kumar accusing him of making "negative comments" against Uttar Pradesh and thus emboldening communal forces against which the UP government is fighting.

Attacking BSP, Akhilesh said the previous BSP government did "nothing" and only concentrated on installing statues of Mayawati and making memorials.

"Now they have also started talking of development. Buaji (as Akhilesh calls Mayawati) is now realising that she suffered loss due to her work," he said.

Highlighting his government works, Akhilesh said that soon police force would be modernised and after receiving an emergency call it will reach within 15 minutes for help.

He also mentioned 108/102 free Samajwadi ambulance services being run in the state.

"When Congress was in power, we were asked to remove the name Samajwadi from the ambulance services to get the money for it. But we did not remove it and arranged money from our own resources," he said.
Grappling with the problem of polluted drinking water, villagers of Mubarikpur have threatened to boycott the UP assembly polls next year.

A panchayat was held in the house of the Gram Pradhan during which it was decided to boycott if the problem is not solved, according to villagers who attended the meeting.

Villagers have earlier raised the issue with different public representatives but to no avail.
The US is hopeful of concluding a key military logistics agreement with India and making progress on other foundational pacts in the defence sector ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here next month, a top American official has said.

"We are hopeful that progress would be made on some of the foundational agreements including the logistics agreement that might be concluded prior to the (US) visit (of Prime Minister) and we are looking to see if there are other things that we can take on board," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on India.

Biswal made the remarks while responding to questions on possibility of signing any security agreements between India and the US during the Prime Minister's visit.

Biswal said after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's recent visit to India, the two countries are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow the armed forces of the two countries to use each other's bases for resupply and repair.

"We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean," she said yesterday.

Modi is coming to the US on the invitation of US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the White House on June 7. He has also been invited by House Speaker Paul Ryan to address a joint session of the Congress.

"We have already strengthened our security cooperation in a number of key fronts and certainly (Defense) Secretary Carter's visit earlier this year was key in advancing many of those things," Biswal said in response to a question from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We are looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation. We just launched the maritime security dialogue. We have undertaken a great a deal of activities in terms of co-production and co-development of various next generation technologies. We are looking to see if there are additional things that we can conclude during the Prime Minister's visit," Biswal said.

In recent years, the United States has become one of India's largest defence suppliers, totalling nearly USD 14 billion and up from less than USD 300 million eight years ago.

(Reopens FGN 11)



These sales include C-130 and C-17 transport planes, Poseidon (P-8) maritime reconnaissance aircraft and Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

The deal for those helicopters was just finalised last September and will support thousands of American jobs, Biswal said.

"These deals not only increase interoperability between our armed forces, they also help buttress the growing economic ties through partnership and cooperation between our nations," Biswal said.

In her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the transformation in defence and strategic ties with India stands as one of the great changes of the past fifteen years.

"India went from seeing Russia as its primary defence partner to diversifying its suppliers, and from a limited defence relationship with the United States to one in which it exercises more with US forces than with any other country," Ayres said.

"India recently participated in this year's Red Flag held in Alaska, took part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) last year, and will do so again this year," she said.

Sadanand Dhume of American Enterprise Institute said despite occasional hiccups, US-India ties have witnessed a steady upward trajectory since the late 1990s.

India conducts more military exercises with the US than with any other country.

Over the past 10 years, total US defence sales to India have grown from USD 300 million to approximately USD 14 billion.

India now has 10 heavy lift C-17s, the largest fleet outside the US, he said.

"Military exercises are also growing in complexity. Last year, Japan joined the US-India Malabar naval exercises as a permanent member. Since 2012, India has also participated in PACOM's Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise," Dhume said.

"Thanks in large part to the efforts of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, the Defence Technology and Trade initiative also shows promise as the two countries move toward co-production and co-development on six projects spanning protective clothing for soldiers to aircraft carriers," Dhume said.

(Reopens FES 46)



India and the United States are on the cusp of an era where the militaries of the two countries could see joint or coordinated actions across the Indo-Pacific, Biswal said.

"We are, I believe, on the cusp of an era where we could well see the US and India doing joint or coordinated operation across the Indo Pacific," she said.

"We believe that India has an important role to play as a net security provider and as a guarantor of an open and rules based maritime order across the Indo-Pacific," she said in response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio, the former Republican presidential aspirant.

Biswal said of late there has been an "increase" and "dramatic scale up" of India-Japan ties.

On the economic side, Japan has announced a major USD 100 billion investment in the Mumbai Delhi corridor.

"We are also seeing increased co-operation on India Japan defense side," she said, adding that the three countries are looking to enhance their cooperation in other areas like disaster relief and other platforms where the US, India and Japan can really advance a joint effort.

Biswal said India US co-operation in the field of counter-terrorism is growing along the lines of strategic and defense partnership.

"We have a very robust cooperation with India on counter terrorism that includes information and intelligence sharing, includes the sharing of tools and best practices so that we can enhance the capabilities to combat terrorism and violent extremism," she said.

India, Biswal said, has been a strong partner in combating terrorism financing.

"We believe that the potential for greater cooperation is there," she said.
Two Pakistan-based Islamist groups with links to the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba and one of them blamed for the 2014 Peshawar school massacre were today designated as global terrorist outfits by the US.

The US State Department designated the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and Jama'at ul Dawa al-Qu'ran (JDQ) as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists".

As a result, all property subject to US jurisdiction in which the TGG or JDQ have any interest is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them, it said in a statement.

TGG, based in Pakistan's Darra Adam Khel, is linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban and blamed for multiple attacks, including the December 16, 2014, massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar, that left 132 schoolchildren and nine staffers dead - the deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistan's history.

The group's leader, Umar Mansoor, is also known as the mastermind of the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, that killed 20 and wounded between 50 and 60 others.

In addition to these attacks, the TGG is responsible for the 2010 kidnapping of a British journalist traveling to North Waziristan, Pakistan, and the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, Pakistan.

Peshawar-based JDQ pledged allegiance to now-deceased Taliban emir Mullah Omar in 2010, and has long-standing ties to al-Qaeda and LeT, the State Department said.

JDQ has been responsible for various attacks, including the infamous 2010 kidnapping and death of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.
The US is "watching very closely" India's growing ties with Iran after it recently pledged USD 500 million for developing the Chabahar port and will see if its legal parameters and requirements are being met, the Obama Administration has told lawmakers.

As of now, there is no military or counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries that could be a cause of concern for the US, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing.

She said the US is "watching very closely" India's relationship with Iran.

"We also track very closely what their economic engagement is and make sure they understand what we believe are legal parameters and requirements," Biswal said.

"With respect to the announcement in the Chabahar port, we have been very clear with the Indians on what we believe are the continuing restrictions on the activities with respect to Iran and what we have done," she said.

She was responding to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Iran visit from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.

Modi's visit, that saw the signing of a bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port for which India will invest USD 500 million, came months after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following Tehran's historic nuclear deal with the Western powers over its contentious atomic programme.

"Obviously nothing appears to be in violations of our agreements. But how do we see India as partner in fighting extremism and financing terrorism?" Cardin said as he expressed concerns that India's economic relationship with Iran would further boost Tehran's alleged activities to support various terrorist groups.

She said that India's burgeoning ties with Iran are driven by ever growing energy needs and using the Persian Gulf nation as a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Biswal in her answer said that "they (Indians) have been very responsive and receptive to our briefings, to what we believe the line are. And we have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place.

"But with respect to India's relationship with Iran, which I do believe is primarily focused on economics and energy issues, we do recognise that from the Indian perspective that Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia."



"For India to be able to contribute to the economic development of Afghanistan, it needs access that it does not readily have across its land boundary. And India is seeking to deepen its energy relationship with the Central Asian countries and looking for routes that would facilitate that.

"That said we have been very clear with the Indians what our security concerns have been and we would continue to engage them on those issues," said the US official.

(Reopens FGN12)



Cardin said: "I just hope that we are getting candid discussions. Economic issues, I understand. But if it is also be used as a way to increase their capacity to support terrorism, we need to know that we have a reliable partner in India in fighting terrorism. I assume those candid discussions are taking place."



"They are absolutely," Biswal responded, adding that India has been consistent partner of the US even when it has adversely impacted its economic interest.

"But some of these 12 agreements that (India) just signed with Iran have to do with increased trade between the two countries," Senator David Perdue from Georgia rued.

Referring to the Iranian agreement, Biswal said now some of the activities are permissible, which earlier were prohibited.

"We do not have the details yet of the agreements that have been signed and we will work to engage with our Indian counterparts to better understand the specific details," she said.
Eddie Redmayne may be known for his brilliant acting prowess across the globe but Hollywood star Ian McKellen has revealed that the actor had auditioned for a part in his 1995 movie "Richard III", but did not get through.

McKellen co-wrote, co-produced and starred in titular role in the British drama film directed by Richard Loncraine.

"Richard III" was adapted from William Shakespeare's play of the same name.

The 76-year-old actor, who was speaking at a special screening of the film here last evening, said choosing the perfect cast was a challenge and quipped that in the process he had missed casting "The Theory of Everything" star.

"We missed the chance, when we were auditioning little kids for the film... A little boy came along and I met him not long ago. He said we have met before. I said 'oh really we did?' He said yes sir I came and auditioned and you didn't give me the part. So I happen to turn down Eddie Redmayne's first job," McKellen said.

The actor, best known for playing Gandalf in "The Lord Of The Rings", is in the city to promote the British Film Institute's 'Shakespeare Lives on Film' - a global programme in honour to mark the playwright's 400th death anniversary.

McKellen has performed Shakespeare's plays like "Macbeth" and "Othello" at the Royal Shakespearean Company and the Royal National Theatre. The actor says he is "more proud" of "Richard III" and feels the work of the legendary writer can transform well on screen.

"I think I am more proud of this piece of work than anything else I've done. May be because it still exists, there are others too like Macbeth which still exist. But Shakespeare works well on screen. You can do it in many ways. Without words, in Hindi or Japanese," he said.

McKellen, who plays Magneto in the "X-Men" movies, also spoke about how he had famously returned his 50,000 pounds fee to complete the filming of the final battle sequence in "Richard III".

"My fee was fifty thousand pounds to play Richard III, to produce it and to write the screenplay. And in the last week of the shoot, Richard (Loncraine) said I am sorry but we can't film the battle scene, we don't have enough money. We need another day, we can't finish the film. He said we need fifty thousand pounds. So I did it for nothing," he said.

MAMI Film Club has partnered with the British Council and British Film Institute to bring the programme to India.

Mumbai is the first stop on McKellens' global tour as the BFI's ambassador for 'Shakespeare Lives on Film'.
In the early 80s, when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister, her son Rajiv was once so engrossed in explaining to his parents-in-law the features of a new navy ship that he gave some nervous moments to a bureaucrat in the defence ministry who feared he might be late for an official event that night.

Luckily for Ashok Pandey, the then special assistant to Minister of State for defence Shivraj Patil, Rajiv's briefing got over and he along with Indira and the minister was able to attend the dinner with naval officers.

Pandey, who served in Assam and Meghalaya as a young IAS officer at the outset of his career before going on to handle crucial responsibilities at the Centre and in Bihar, has written a book 'From Inside the Steel Frame', which is replete with insights into the changing face of India, and many vignettes of life in the districts, state capitals and around the seat of power in Delhi.

"I cherish the memory of a trip to Bombay with the prime minister (Indira Gandhi) on her plane to celebrate the launch of a new ship and the Navy Day. Rajiv Gandhi, her son and a future prime minister, was also with us," he writes in the book, published by Palimpsest.

"After reaching Bombay, my minister (Shivraj) and I were taken to the Mazagon dock where the newly acquired ship was gleaming in power and glory. Rajiv Gandhi, curious, keenly observant, was showing different parts of the ship to his parents-in-law.

"Technically sound, he was explaining to them in Italian, different features of the vessel. They, I could see, understood and appreciated the points he was making. Meanwhile, my minister left me there and went to attend some political meetings with the prime minister. I remained with Rajiv Gandhi all the time," the Bihar-born Pandey recalls.

"When it was taking a bit longer than I expected, I told him to hurry up as he could be late for the next programme. He replied that he had no other engagement. I was in a dilemma as the minister and the prime minister were to attend a dinner with the naval officers.

"I too was required to attend it. I did not tell Rajiv Gandhi all this, but luckily the briefing was over soon. I made it to the dinner on time and though highly formal, it was a very enjoyable evening," he writes.

The book focuses on the centrality of the steel frame, its crucial role in the life of India and at the same time, captures its pitfalls and entrenched biases as the author himself experienced them towards the end of his career.

According to the author, Indira's other son Sanjay was



"somewhat temperamental, biased and whimsical in his judgement of situations and people" and was instrumental in the sacking of many government officials.

"While working as special assistant to J B Patnaik in the ministry of tourism and civil aviation, I learnt about the minister being pressured by none other than the all-powerful Sanjay Gandhi who took a special interest in the affairs of civil aviation," he writes.

Pandey cites another example to drive home his point.

"Once J B Patnaik received a confidential letter from Air Marshal Zaheer, civil aviations director general, mildly complaining about Sanjay flying an aircraft without caring for security norms and even without informing the far-flung small airports where arranging even minimum emergency provisions like fire-fighting could be possible only after due notice was received well in advance.

"The contents of the letter were conveyed to Sanjay Gandhi to make him aware of the concern of the director general. All this must have irritated Sanjay Gandhi, who had gained tremendous power in 1980 after a landslide victory of the Congress in the mid-term elections," the book says.

As predicted, Air Marshal Zaheer was "unceremoniously removed from his job for no fault of his own", Pandey says.

Rajiv, on the other hand, was a simple and good-hearted man, he says, adding he was perhaps "unsuitable for the culture of crookedness in politics".
Fresh from BJP's impressive performance in Assam, party president Amit Shah today asserted it will capture power in Uttar Pradesh in the next round of assembly elections scheduled for early next year where its main challenger would be the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Shah also claimed BJP will win a two thirds majority in Gujarat, where polls are due next year end, as he rejected the contention that it was on a sticky wicket following the violent Patidar quota agitation.

He dismissed reports that the BJP brass was mulling over removing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and said the party had not discussed the issue.

In an interaction with journalists, he said it had not been decided yet whether to name a chief ministerial candidate for UP, a tactic it successfully deployed in Assam, saying all states are different.

"It is certain that BJP will get a majority in UP," he said, adding the party had a strong base in the state where it won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.

His strong expectation from UP was not linked to the party's win in Assam, Shah said, adding the key Hindi heartland state was "easy" even before the polls in the northeastern state.

Asked about the party's election agenda for Uttar Pradesh, Shah said development would be the top priority as the entire state was in a "mess" from "top to bottom" under Samajwadi Party's "misrule".

Shah said he considered SP as the BJP's main adversary because of its larger support base than Mayawati's BSP. The saffron outfit has been trying to wean away Dalit votes from Mayawati-led BSP.

To a query whether he was under pressure to deliver UP to the party, he said "There is always pressure for me".

Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's plan to contest the UP polls, he said if Nitish factor worked, it would only benefit BJP. He was apparently referring to the split of secular votes the presence of Kumar's JD(U) in the electoral fray could cause.

Shah, who led party to victory in several states but under whom BJP suffered massive losses in Delhi and Bihar, also rejected the contention that it was at a disadvantage in Uttarakhand following its failed bid to topple the Harish Rawat government.

"There is a massive anti-incumbency wave in the state. We will come to power whenever polls are held," he asserted.

The hill state will go to the polls with UP next year.

Asked about the likely reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers, he said it would happen whenever it has to.

Shah noted that Modi has assured the people that those



behind the incident will be punished. "However long is the battle, we will fight it and the victory will be ours."



He appealed to the people and other political parties to support the Centre and the Army in this battle.

The world is shocked at Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's reference to Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani as a "peace-loving youth"and it is an evidence of that country's involvement in terrorism, he said.

India has long been a victim of Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism and faced several small and big terror attacks in the last many years.

"Pakistan has become a centre of global terrorism," he said.
US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan today for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima.

Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global economy.

Heads of state and government from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan were also making their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

Cameron was set for a one-on-one meeting later in the day with summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe was also due today to meet Obama, whose visit to Hiroshima on Friday threatens to overshadow the summit itself.

Obama will become the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the world's first nuclear attack, on August 6, 1945.

Obama has spent the last few days in Vietnam, where on Tuesday he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism.

France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive tomorrow morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.
World leaders kick off two days of G7 talks in Japan today with the creaky global economy, terrorism, refugees, China's controversial maritime claims, and a possible Brexit headlining their packed agenda.

Heads of state and government from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan are meeting in Ise Shima, a mountainous, sparsely populated area about 300 kilometres southwest of Tokyo.

The group, including US president Barack Obama  whose historic visit to atomic-bombed Hiroshima threatens to overshadow the talks  will spend today morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan's native Shintoism.

In line with the animistic religion's traditions, the buildings are regularly replaced, but the shrine is believed to have occupied the same spot for more than 2,000 years.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to take his counterparts to the sprawling site has attracted some controversy, however, due to its nationalist overtones.

The group will also get a brief crash course on Japan's world-leading green car technology.

The sputtering global was expected to take centre stage when the formal talks get under way in the afternoon, although divisions were likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the current malaise, with Japan and Germany at odds on the issue.

China, the world's second largest economy, will not be present, but it looks set to loom large over discussions.

Japan and the US are keen to corral support for a growing pushback against Beijing's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The G7 will also discuss the refugee crisis and Islamist terrorism, with French President Francois Hollande keen to address the issue after a brutal year that saw France hit twice by jihadists.

Security was tight across Japan, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals. Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site. Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

Britain's referendum next month on whether or not to stay in the European Union is sure to figure prominently in discussions, as economists warn a so-called Brexit could dent the global .
The death toll of a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike that hit a family's house in southern Yemen has been raised to 11, including four children from one family, security officials and witnesses said today.

The officials said that warplanes, thought to be Emirati, fired two missiles at the family's house in the town of el-Mahala, in the southern province of Lahj. The house was flattened and only one child from the family survived the strike, they said.

The officials said the home is adjacent to a building that is suspected of housing Islamic militants.

A witness, Ahmed Hadash, said he heard explosions for 40 minutes while the warplanes were flying.

"The bodies were distorted and the human remains were everywhere," he said.

The governor of Lahij, Naser al-Khoubeigi, has called on the Yemeni government and the coalition to conduct an investigation. He denied any communications between the authorities in Lahij and the coalition.

"We know nothing about the attack. The coalition conducts attacks without informing us. The responsibility of this operation is on those who provide the coalition with the wrong coordinates," he said.

Security officials claim that the Saudi-led coalition regularly conducts unreported strikes and has detained many people, claiming that they are members of al-Qaida or the local Islamic State group affiliate.

"They have their own prisons," one official said.

Also today, a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a mineral water factory in Lahij, security officials said. No causalities were reported.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Yemen has been mired in a conflict pitting Shiite rebels against the internationally-recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Extremist factions like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have gained ground amid the chaos.

Since the war against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, began, more than 8100 people in Yemen have been killed. The United Nations says more than 80 percent of Yemenis are in dire need of food, water and other aid as a result of the conflict in the Arab world's poorest country.
A 22-year-old youth was today arrested for posting inflammatory content in a WhatsApp group here, police said.

Shivam Verma was arrested after he sent a religiously inflammatory content in WhatsApp yesterday, a police official said.

A case was registered under section 295 A of IPC (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and CrPC section 151 (breach of peace) on the complaint of Samajwadi Party worker Arif, he said.

Enraged over the incident, locals protested outside the police station and blocked traffic yesterday.
A 28-year-old youth was today shot dead by suspected militants in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, police said.

Bullet-riddled body of Liyaqat Joo was recovered from the forest area of Wadder Payeen in Handwara, 85 kms from here, a police officer said.

Joo who is a resident of Wadder Payeen, was suspected to have been killed by militants, the officer said.

Police has registered a case and started investigations, the officer said adding a hunt has been launched to nab the culprits behind his murder.

Meanwhile, the officer said a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the two militants who were shot dead in a brief gunbattle at Sarai Bala locality in the heart of Srinagar on late Monday evening.

The recoveries included two AK assault rifles, four magazines, 86 rounds, a pistol with a magazine and two rounds, three hand grenades, a grenade thrower and a pouch, he said.

The two militants including Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Saifullah were killed by police during a raid at Sarai Bala on Monday, sparking protests by locals who contested the police version and claimed that the duo were killed in a "fake encounter".

Shops and business establishments in the area and adjoining business centres including Maharaj Bazar, Hari Singh High Street and Gonikhan remained closed for the second day today to protest the killings.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd is evaluating bids for British assets it has put on sale, India's biggest steelmaker said on Wednesday, reporting a smaller fourth-quarter net loss of $478 million.

In March, Tata Steel said it wanted to sell its loss-making operation in Britain, putting 15,000 jobs at risk and highlighting the impact of cheap Chinese imports, high energy costs and a global supply glut.

Earlier on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who is under pressure to save local jobs, said Tata had received an "encouraging number" of offers but also warned that there were no guarantees of a successful conclusion.

Tata Steel Group Executive Director Koushik Chatterjee told a conference on Wednesday that the bid deadline was last Monday, but did not comment on the bidders or the timeline of a sale.

Tata Steel posted a consolidated net loss of 32.14 billion rupees ($478 million) for the three months to March, compared with 56.74 billion rupees a year earlier.

Net sales during the fourth fiscal quarter fell 12.5 percent from a year earlier to 291.6 billion rupees.

($1 = 67.2962 rupees)

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee, writing by Himank Sharma; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
BiharIndias third-most-populous state, with the countrys poorest people  has a crime rate lower than more prosperous states with fewer people, such as Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, an IndiaSpend analysis of national crime data reveals.
Microsoft has joined other tech giants working to deliver the Internet in remote parts of the world, although it's taking a smaller-scale approach than some of its rivals.

Google and Facebook are pursuing expensive, ambitious efforts to extend Internet access through networks of satellites, drones and high-altitude balloons. Microsoft is making grants to small businesses that provide online access, software or related services in places like Africa, India and rural Maine.

Microsoft says its grants, averaging about 75,000 in cash and free software, will help local startups provide services tailored to specific communities or regions, in ways that have more immediate impact.

"Local entrepreneurs stand a better chance of understanding local needs, and have the expertise to create new technologies and business models to meet those needs, taking into account local market conditions," said Paul Garnett, director of Microsoft's Affordable Access Initiative, in a blog post.

Microsoft announced 12 grants to small firms around the world, including one that delivers Internet services over unused television channels in Maine.

Other recipients distribute solar kiosks for charging mobile phones in Rwanda, provide Internet software for rural schools in India and operate Wi-Fi hotspots in the Philippines.

One company, based in Argentina, makes mobile apps that use artificial intelligence to help farmers manage their livestock.

Garnett said Microsoft has set a goal of supporting "at least 20 projects in at least 15 countries by 2017." The company is also pursuing other partnerships to promote education and technology in Africa, along with the use of TV "white space," or unused broadcast channels, for Internet access.

Tech companies say extending Internet access can improve life in rural or impoverished areas, though it may also be good for their business in the long run.
Even as Vodafone and Cairn India tax disputes rear their heads again, forcing many to question the government's commitment towards making India's tax laws non-adversarial, Business Today's Dipak Mondal caught up with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, and asked him about the many tax issues the country is facing. Excerpts:

Tax collection has been healthy last year (with a growth of 17.6 per cent), but that was partly because of 31 per cent growth in indirect tax collection. Do you think this year will see such high growth in indirect tax collection?

This year our (tax collection) projection itself is modest. We have a projection of 11 per cent growth in tax collection, which is very reasonable, unlike the projection last year which was 18 per cent.

The growth in direct tax collection is still in single digit (7.6 per cent). What are the steps being taken by the government to improve this?

Direct tax remains a challenge, but we hope that certain revenue mobilisation steps that we have taken, combined with the tightening of the reporting requirements, would result in a lot more people paying taxes. Therefore, we should be able to achieve the direct tax target, which is around 11 per cent more than the last year's target. We have introduced some new taxes - 10 per cent tax on dividend payments of more than Rs 10 lakh a year, a 6 per cent equalisation levy on digital advertising. Apart from this, there is this entire effort to widen the tax base.

For example, the number of returns filed in 2015/16 was more than 4.53 crore, which is a big jump (compared to 3.7 crore in the previous year). There are many people who pay taxes through TDS but do not file return. In 2014/15, there were 1.85 crore people who paid TDS but did not file return. We are trying to make them do it.

Any other steps being taken to widen the tax base?

We have something called non-filers monitoring system, and based on the information we receive from various sources, we check with the non-filers if the information we have gathered about them reflects in the return they have filed. Once we confront them with information, they automatically come back and admit their mistakes. These are some of the mild efforts of nudging people into filing returns and disclosing their income. The world is moving towards transparency. Nobody likes to be told that he is a defaulter and that he will face penalty or prosecution.

Another reason for (our) optimism (about being able to achieve this year's tax collection targets) is the dispute resolutions scheme. Assessees, whose cases are pending before the commissioner of appeal, can settle them by paying the principal and interest (up to the date of assessment). Any interest accumulated during the dispute period would be waived. A lot of people may come forward and pay their dues to settle the disputes, and we may get some additional money from this, though we have not accounted for this money in the current year's estimates.

Talking about equalisation levy, there is confusion about whether this is a direct tax or a service tax (indirect tax). Would you like to clarify?

Although people are viewing it as indirect tax, this is a direct tax. Our intention is that the person, who is giving advertisement to a foreign portal, is supposed to deduct 6 per cent out of the income that the other person is earning, and give it to the government. So, it is really income tax, but it's a different matter that the Internet company may gross the charges up by 6 per cent and the burden may come upon the Indian company. But to that extent, the Internet company's competitiveness may come down.

The government has been talking about simplification of tax laws. You constituted the Easwar Committee which gave its first set of recommendations, of which you accepted some. What next?

About 17 out of the 20 recommendations (made by the panel) have been implemented. We have not accepted the recommendation on reducing the TDS rate on bank deposit from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. We did not agree to this as it would have caused a huge loss to us. What is happening is that many people who have bank fixed deposits fall into the 20 per cent and 30 per cent tax slab, but they do not come forward and disclose the interest earnings in tax return. So, if we do not tax them even at 10 per cent (TDS), we would lose that money, too.

Our income tax laws are very complex and the committee would give us recommendations in installments to simplify the more complex clauses that are causing maximum litigations. The committee has a tenure of one year, and they are supposed to come up with recommendations every two to three months.

Are we really heading towards simpler tax laws, given that GAAR and POEM would come into existence next year, equalisation levy has already created a lot of confusion and there would be more (Base Erosion & Profit Shifting) BEPS-related changes?

GAAR (General Anti-avoidance Rule) doesn't mean there is lack of simplicity, it is an anti-abuse provision; it is not supposed to complicate matters for anybody. It would help the tax department to catch some people who are using tax haven route to avoid tax.

POEM (Place of effective management) is not going to be a problem because the guidelines are very clear and the way we are going to ascertain the residence status is in public domain - people have given their views on it and we have finalised them. POEM is going to be in force from next year, there is no going back on it, but it is not going to harass the authentic Indian multinationals. POEM will only impact those firms which are running shell companies outside.

Equalisation levy is one of the recommendations of the BEPS action plan. What about the others?

There are 15 recommendations of the BEPS (action plan) that we are following. Others include information exchange and multilateral agreement. India would be one of the early adopters of these recommendations. We are willing to be a partner in sharing information on a multilateral platform. India is at the forefront of BEPS initiative and we should be able to get the best out of it.

Some of the decisions of the previous governments such as retrospective taxation and tax demands on certain companies received severe criticism from all quarters. This government promised that it would not resort to such aggressive tax demands. However, the recent decisions of the government - raising tax demand on Vodafone and Cairn India - are reminiscent of the earlier days. Your comments...

I don't think it is fair to say that this government has resorted to any retrospective taxation. This government has been continuously saying that there will not be 'in future' any retrospective taxation. The key term is 'in future'. But whatever amendments were made before this government came to power...we would like those to stay and legal cases would be decided as per the law of the land. This is the clear position that the government has taken since 2014 and there is no change. Having taken that position, the world must understand the meaning of it.

The recent Panama paper leaks have brought back the issue of black money stashed abroad. The government had earlier received similar information, but has it been able to make the most of it?

We have been able to bring the guilty to book, and that is what we have mentioned in the statement issued the very next day of the Panama leaks. We have given a detailed account of how many companies we have information about and what is the level of prosecution in the earlier leaks. This time, too, we are confident that whatever information we get, we will bring more companies to book.

What is the next step in this case?

We have already set up a multi-agency investigating team, which is looking into the matter. We are not going to discuss the internal mechanism because that would impact the investigation.

How difficult is it to get information from countries with which we have the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA), given the clauses in the agreement that dissuade forcing any country to divulge details?

There are very few countries with which we do not have the information exchange agreement. We have such agreements with more than 130 countries, either through the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) or through a separate treaty for information exchange. There is no problem (in getting information) with those countries, but there are some countries with which we don't have such agreements. It is a bit difficult to get information from them. But indirect sources help us get the information from those countries as well.

What are those indirect sources?

I don't want to disclose the sources, but we would be able to go to the bottom of the companies which have set entities in such countries. We can also ask the companies (named in the leaks) to tell us directly if the reports (of their opening foreign entities) are true.

The government made an announcement to remove exemption in corporate taxes and subsequently brought the tax rates down. Is it possible for the government to remove all exemptions?

We have given a draft roadmap to remove the exemptions, and the Budget has given the final roadmap. What we have already announced is possible (to implement).

When are the corporate tax rates slated to come down?

It may take some time because the effect of the gains from removal of exemptions is very gradual. If we have to reduce 1 per cent tax rate across all companies, we would lose `15,000 crore annually, as against the Rs 3,000 crore gain by removing the exemptions, that too in 2017/18. This year, we are not getting anything from removal of exemptions and even then we have reduced the tax rate for companies with turnover of less than Rs 5 crore by one percentage point.

Though the Budget announcement to tax EPF withdrawal was reversed, in the Economic Survey report, the government has said that tax-free interest income from PPF is a kind of subsidy to well-offs. Will PPF returns be made taxable in future?

Right now there is nothing on the cards, but could be at the time of Budget. We can't predict anything now.

But, in general, should we be moving towards EET (Exempt-Exempt-Tax) regime?

Well, that should be the principle. It's a different matter that some educated, well-to-do, middle-class people who were affected by the proposal (to tax EPF withdrawal) did not like it. But that should be the direction.


The Cabinet on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval to a pact between India and Japan for promoting sustainable and low-carbon thermal power development here.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval to the MOU between India and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development in India," a press release said.

The Memorandum of Understanding will help India address issues and barriers in this area.

The proposal includes undertaking of activities such as update on the current and future policy trend in Indian power sector with wide coverage from R&M and Life Extension (LE) to new power development in India. It will also identify barriers that could be addressed through mutual collaboration by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Japan Coal Energy Centre (JCOAL).

Both nations will identify issues to be addressed regarding existing and upcoming facilities, and also operation and maintenance at either of them.

It provides for implementation of full-fledged diagnosis and/or other available and effective measures including Residual Life Assessment (RLA) and Conditional Assessment (CA) study with priorities on, but not limited to the target power stations under the Pre-Primary Study and the Cooperation.

The number of target power station(s)/unit(s) will be decided through mutual consultation by CEA and JCOAL.

It also provides for consideration of justifiability and feasibility of individual cases of power development based on thermal power generation technologies in terms of funding from the existing financial instruments and/or other available bilateral financial schemes.

Both nations will consider the possibilities for acquisition of carbon credits with bilateral/multilateral offset schemes that are anticipated to be materialised in the future upon consideration of financial side of individual cases of power development.

There will be an annual workshop in India and CCT Transfer Programme in Japan for bilateral knowledge and technology exchanges.

Both nations will hold an annual joint meeting attended by representatives of the Parties to discuss issues that have arisen or may arise in the course of implementation of the Project.
Nokia Networks is in talks with Indian telecom operators to start trials of next generation 5G networks even as the country is yet to see full-scale roll out of 4G technology based mobile voice and data services.

The Finnish telecom equipment maker is already testing the fifth-generation networks with global telecom giants like US-based Verizon, Korean SK Telecom and Japan's NTT Docomo.





The 5G technology will guarantee delivery of 100 megabit per second speed at homes and will be capable of handling 1000 times more data traffic when it will be commercialised by 2020, Nokia Networks Head of Mobile Broadband Milivoj Vela said on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.







Nokia Networks is part of Telecommunications Standards Development Society which is working on 5G, and is in discussion with telecom operators to start 5G trials.





However, Indian telcos are still investing in 4G technology to roll out the fourth generation networks and large parts of the country are yet to be covered under the high-speed data and voice services.





Talking about 5G networks, Vela said that 5G will focus on data services while voice calls will be facilitated through 4G technology.





"It will be used for purposes beyond voice and data communications carried by people today. It will has less than 1 millisecond latency that will be used by machines for quick action like for to stop in case it identifies any obstacle, surgery from remote location etc."





"Discussion about spectrum (at global level) in which 5G will operate will finish by 2019. Commercial 5G deployment will start in 2020. Then you will see 100 mbps guaranteed speed everywhere," Vela said.





He said that 5G will operate in spectrum band above 6000 Mhz and the technology will be launched in phases.





"One cell (mobile antenna) in 5G will be able to handle 1000 times more data traffic in 2020 compared to data traffic in 2010. We have already achieved 1 million devices connected to single cell site and 30 gbps speed on 73 Ghz band in lab," Vela said.





At present spectrum band between 700 Mhz and 2.6 Ghz are available for mobile services in India. Wifi services are generally used between 2.4 Ghz to 5.9 Ghz.





"Already 4G is taking voice calling to high definition voice calls and voice call cannot be better than this. 5G will about high quality data experience. It will enhance telepresence (web conferencing) to a level where one will not feel the difference if a person is in room or on telepresence," Vela said.
The amount Irish consumers spend on everyday grocery items, such as food, drinks and toiletries, increased year-on-year for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to Nielsen retail performance data released today.



Nielsens figures tally with CSO figures released last week that highlight food / live animals and beverages & tobacco imports were up 19m and 50m respectively from Jan March 2015 to Jan March 2016.

In the first quarter of 2016, the volume of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) purchased in Ireland rose 1.1% year-on-year, according to Nielsen, whilst the average prices paid for these goods rose 1.1%.

Consequently, grocery retailers saw a 2.2% rise in takings at the tills.



The Irish market outperformed Europe as a whole (1.5% rise) and the UK (0.5% rise)  the UK only moving into positive territory for the first time in nearly two years.

Managing Director for Nielsen Ireland Matt Clark commenting on the figures said: With the economy stabilising, Irish consumers are feeling more confident, and were seeing that manifest itself in their purchasing behaviour - both in terms of the increases in the amount of goods they're buying and the average price they're paying for them.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Minister of State Paul Kehoe visited the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, in Birmingham, today, to engage with business leaders and the Irish community ahead of the EU referendum vote on the 23rd June.

Minister Kehoe emphasised that the importance and scale of the two way trade between the UK and Ireland, which stands at around 1.2bn per week. The Minister also highlighted the fact that trade sustains approximately 200,000 jobs on each side of the Irish Sea.

Minister Kehoe highlighted Irish interests in the EU referendum: As the UKs closest neighbour, Ireland has a unique perspective and interest in the outcome of the referendum. The Irish Government fully respects that, first and foremost, this is a decision for UK voters to make on the 23rd June but the Irish Government want the UK, as its closest neighbour and partner, to remain a member of a reformed EU.

He added; We are convinced that no alternative arrangement will be better than the one we currently have: a single market and seamless flows of goods, services, capital and people.

Irish Ministers are reaching out to Irish citizens living and working in the UK who are eligible to vote and encouraging them to exercise that right.

Minister Kehoe is amongst several Irish politicians that have gone on record to support Remain voters ahead of the EU referendum vote on the 23rd June.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny speaking at the Bloomberg Conference on the Implications of Brexit for Ireland earlier this month made his position clear on the matter; First of all, I want to clearly acknowledge that the UKs decision on EU membership is, of course, solely a matter for UK voters. That said, I think it is fairly widely accepted that as the UKs closest neighbour, Ireland has a unique perspective and interest in the outcome of the referendum. It is our sincere hope that the UK will decide to stay and work with us for a better, more effective European Union.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Deloitte today announced Dublin as the base for the creation of an EMEA Financial Services Blockchain Lab as part of its FinTech initiative The Grid.

Deloitte Ireland has over 2,000 people in Ireland and provides audit, tax, consulting, and corporate finance services.

Blockchain is a protocol to perform financial transactions using encrypted virtual currency often referred to as Bitcoin.

According to Deloitte Blockchain is a distributed general ledger recording that a transaction happened, when it happened and that it happened correctly, without exposing any confidential details about the subject or the parties involved. When we talk about Blockchain we often mean the Bitcoin Blockchain, which is the general ledger of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin

The firm will build a team of 50 people over 18 months to be based in the Dublin centre. The labs team will comprise blockchain developers and designers.

Blockchain developers look after the back-end technology, while the designers will create and manage how the application looks.

In addition to existing blockchain specialists within the Deloitte network roles will be available locally for blockchain developers for back-end developments, in addition to digital specialists for the design of client and user interfaces.

Managing Partner, Deloitte Ireland, Brendan Jennings commented: We are proud that Ireland has been chosen as the location for this lab. Not only was the strength, expertise, and proven capability of the Deloitte Ireland blockchain team recognised, but the proximity to the headquarters of many global technology companies, our strong focus on innovation and R&D, and the support from governmental institutions, academia, and the local FinTech industry were all key factors in securing this investment. Were excited as an organisation to be positioning Ireland as being at the forefront of progressing this exciting technology.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell OConnor commenting on the announcement, said: I very much welcome this initiative by Deloitte as a further enhancement of Ireland's attractiveness for the financial services sector. This sector has been a powerhouse over recent years, providing significant numbers of high quality jobs.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
HSBC Holdings will issue $2 billion of bonds that would convert into shares if the bank's capital strength falls below a certain level, it said on Wednesday.

HSBC said the so-called contingent convertible bonds, or "CoCos", would pay an annual interest of 6.875 percent. The bonds will convert into shares if HSBC's core equity Tier 1 capital ratio falls below 7 percent.

Bonds that convert into shares or are cancelled when a bank's capital falls below a certain level are increasingly being sold by banks to improve their capital cushion in case they run into trouble.

Regulators want banks to sell the bonds to provide a bigger cushion to prevent the need for taxpayer bailouts that were seen in the 2007/09 financial crisis. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The scheduled Luas strikes tomorrow and Friday 27th have been cancelled as the SIPTU Union have agreed to meet at the labour court.

On May 9th SIPTU announced a series of strikes with a 4 hour stoppage (3-7pm) scheduled for tomorrow and Friday.

The situation regarding further proposed strikes on Thursday 2nd June - 4 hour stoppage (3pm-7pm), Friday 3rd June - 4 hour stoppage (9am-1pm), Tuesday 7th June - 4 hour stoppage (9am-1pm), Wednesday 8th June - 4 hour stoppage (6pm-10pm), Thursday 9th June - 4 hour stoppage (6pm-10pm), Friday 10th June - 4 hour stoppage (6pm-10pm) are as yet unclarified.

Commenting on today's announcement SIPTU Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Division Organiser, Owen Reidy, said: Given this welcome initiative from the Labour Court the work stoppages by SIPTU LUAS Drivers scheduled for Thursday, 26th May, and Friday, 27th May, have been cancelled. SIPTU representatives along with members of the LUAS Driver Committee and ICTU officials will attend the meeting at the Labour Court.

At the time of the announced strikes earlier this month Gerry Madden, Managing Director, Transdev Ireland said Clearly this is very serious and the continued industrial action is putting the company in a challenging financial position and is compromising the security of employment of all our employees. We remain however fully committed to a long term future in Ireland and to fulfilling our legal obligations under the terms of the operating agreement.



Source: www.businessworld.ie
Ireland's CityJet on Tuesday became the first western European airline to take delivery of the Russian-designed passenger jet that Vladimir Putin hopes will compete internationally with planes made by the likes of Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier.

The first of 15 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft leased by CityJet was delivered in Venice, the airline said, with the option for 16 more in a deal worth more than $1 billion including servicing.

The 89-seat Superjet 100 is the first Russian-designed passenger jet to be built since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union in a project championed by Russian President Putin.

The project is led by Sukhoi -- part of state-owned United Aircraft Corporation, which Putin created in 2006 to reorganize and revive the country's aircraft industry -- in partnership with Italy's Finmeccanica.

Sukhoi announced the deal with CityJet last year, describing it as a "significant milestone" for the project.

CityJet, which operates eight routes into the small London City Airport and a service linking to Air France's hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle, said it expects to take delivery of three Superjets this year, with the remainder arriving from 2017.

The Superjet program had to overcome a problematic 2012 after one of its planes crashed in Indonesia during a promotional flight, which investigators said was a result of pilot error and Jakarta air traffic control's lack of a minimum safe altitude system. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.

The U.S. company said it would shed up to 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.

A Finnish union representative told Reuters the cuts would essentially put an end to Microsoft's development of new phones.

"My understanding is that Windows 10 will go on as an operating system, but there will be no more phones made by Microsoft," said Kalle Kiili, a shop steward.

Microsoft said in a statement it would continue to develop the Windows 10 platform and support its Lumia smartphones, but gave no comment on whether it would develop new Windows phones.

Microsoft bought Nokia's once-dominant handset business for about $7.2 billion in 2014, but failed to turn the business around and last year announced $7.5 billion of writedowns and 7,800 job cuts.

Global market share of Windows smartphones fell below 1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to research firm Gartner.

Earlier this month, Microsoft sold its entry-level feature phones business for $350 million.

The company said on Wednesday it expected to cut all 1,350 jobs at its Finnish mobile phone unit and close down a research and development site in the country. A further 500 jobs will go in other countries, it said, without giving details.

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation," said chief executive Satya Nadella in a statement.

"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Deutsche Bank expects to see strong growth in Asia for its global payments and trade financing business in the coming years, despite recent signs of emerging market cooling, the head of its Global Transaction Banking unit said.

"Within the transaction bank, the share of revenue coming from Asia could rise to a quarter in the coming years from 18 percent now," Werner Steinmueller told Reuters in an interview.

Global Transaction Banking (GTB) already contributes about a third of Deutsche Bank's earnings in the Asia-Pacific region and Steinmueller said he expects the integration of GTB with corporate finance activities as part of a group revamp under Chief Executive John Cryan will create improved cross-selling opportunities.

"We can certainly achieve more in sales when the corporate finance side also positions transaction banking products," he said.

GTB has been a bright patch amid the gloom at Germany's biggest lender, which reported a record net loss of nearly 7 billion euros ($7.8 bln) last year.

The transaction bank, which provides corporate and financial customers with services such as cross-border payments, risk reduction for international trade, custody or clearing, saw pretax profit rise by a quarter to 1.4 billion euros last year, with revenue up 12 percent to 4.6 billion euros.

GTB is aiming for growth of 3-5 percent in the coming years, Steinmueller said, though weak economic growth in Asia and Latin America will weigh on development this year.

Cryan has described GTB as the "backbone" of Deutsche Bank and has pledged to invest 1 billion euros in improving its systems, in contrast to savings and cutbacks elsewhere.

"For the transaction bank, which is so dependent on processes and technology, that is enormously important," Steinmueller said.

The unit has also been working to improve its anti-money laundering systems, an area facing increased scrutiny by international regulators.

Steinmueller, 62, said GTB has been doing 'spring cleaning' of some clients where transaction volumes are low, asking them if they might prefer working with a different bank.

"On top of that, we are taking a much closer look at customers in risky regions, also because of regulators' stricter demands. We have become more cautious," Steinmueller said.

The note of caution also applies to doing business with Iran, despite the lifting of some international sanctions earlier this year. Deutsche Bank paid nearly $260 million last year to settle charges in the United States that it did business with entities in U.S.-sanctioned countries, including Iran.

"We remain extremely reserved when it comes to Iran," Steinmueller said.(Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
South Africa's central bank told lenders to be vigilant on Wednesday after criminals in Japan stole millions of dollars from automatic teller machines using fake credit cards from South Africa's Standard Bank.

The criminal gang made 14,000 withdrawals in just three hours from bank machines at 7-Eleven convenience stores across Japan on May 15, withdrawing 1.4 billion yen ($13 million), according to a source familiar with the matter.

Central bank deputy governor Kuben Naidoo confirmed that Standard Bank would shoulder the losses.

"We will work with the law enforcement agencies to try and prevent and tackle those crimes," Naidoo told reporters.

Rene van Wyk, the central bank's registrar of banks, said lenders who rely on outside vendors should be careful as the cyber attacks were taking place abroad rather than in South Africa.

"So that vulnerability will always remain because you're dependant on other parties, so that relationship between vendors and banks, that is one thing that we focus on," he said.

Standard Bank said on Monday it had suffered the losses, not its customers, and that it had alerted the authorities. It estimated its total loss at 300 million rand ($19 million).

The bank has declined to comment further.

The criminals are still at large. Japan's Mainichi newspaper, citing sources, said police suspect more than 100 people were involved in the theft which took place on the morning of May 15, a Sunday, in Tokyo and across 16 Japanese prefectures.

Most ATMs in 7-Eleven stores belong to Seven Bank, a Japanese lender part-owned by Seven & I Holdings which operates the convenience store chain in Japan. It is one of only two Japanese banks that allow withdrawals on foreign cards.

Experts said both banks should shoulder some blame for failing to monitor the flood of transactions, saying they should have had systems in place to detect unusual activity.

Deputy governor Naidoo said the central bank was pleased that Standard Bank had gone public over the theft.

"We don't know all the details yet but we're looking into it and we will take all the steps necessary to protect our payment systems and banking systems from similar attacks," he said.

"We are working with the banks to ensure that they are constantly upgrading their ability to detect and repel cyber attacks. But you will always be subjected to these attacks." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
What started out as an attempt to make a more than 100-year-old building more stable turned into a four-year, total renovation project for Cache Valley Bank. Today, the bank is not only more structurally sound, but has also improved its footprint and its aesthetics.

Bruce Rigby, a manager at Cache Valley Bank, says the remodel served as an opportunity to make the bank more structurally sound and to send a message to the community that the bank is stable and its not going anywhere. Rigby credits the Daines family for their vision on the project.

The Daines family is an icon in the valley for making things look beautiful. The courthouse remodel was father Newel Daines, a former mayor, and he has a knack of making something look really special, beautiful, says Rigby. They sincerely care about it. They have a real gift for making something look classy, beautiful. Theyve made a statement that says we value downtown, weve invested in it, were here to stay, we want to continue doing business here.

This isnt the first time the building on the corner of 100 North Main in Logan has undergone a remodel. The original building was constructed in the 1890s and once housed a hotel, a drug store and a barber shop over the years. Cache Valley Bank took possession of the building in 1985 and restored the outside and lower level of the bank.

We realized probably four years ago that it wasnt real earthquake stable, says Rigby. It couldnt sustain much of an earthquake if we had one. The foundation was on a bed of rocks down below.

We decided we better do something to make it more earthquake proof. We went down deep in the basement and poured new footings, brought in I-beams and made the building very secure.

While upgrading the structure, they decided to upgrade the buildings interior and exterior aesthetics as well. The bank employed as many local craftsmen and designers as they could, led by Peter Daines and Gary Olsen.

Gary Olsen was the contractor and he is a master carpenter. Hes got an eye for how to do things, Rigby exclaims. Most of the woodwork is hand, custom made, dark walnut wood that he built in the wood shop. The desks and the furniture in the lobby are all custom made. Thats another unique thing, the woodwork in here, and we get a ton of compliments.

The lobby also features a Tiffany chandelier, classic furniture that was imported from Spain, Italy and antique shops in New York. They also added a lounge area, one of Rigbys favorite aspects of the project.

Besides the fine craftsmanship that went into the project, Rigby says they also raised the ceiling inside the lobby three to four feet and pushed the teller line back about 10 feet to create more openness.

We wanted to have an old bank feel, Rigby explains. When you walked in it was open yet nice, that you would have a good, calm feeling that they could feel like it was a secure place yet successful. The bank is; its a very successful bank.

Cache Valley Bank also purchased two additional retail spaces that were located just to the north of their building and added them to the overall square footage of the bank. The branch in historic downtown Logan is home base to the banks overall operations, which includes four branches in Southern Utah, six branches in Central Utah, a branch in Layton and a branch in North Logan.

Updated brickwork, a more stately entrance, additional parking in back, new planters and an enlarged sidewalk highlight some of the notable changes to the exterior.

The bank worked quite a bit with Logan City to try and open this area up into more of a pedestrian-friendly area, so its not just a bunch of traffic driving by, so people would feel comfortable walking around downtown, Rigby explains.

We made the street more narrow, enlarged the sidewalks so you could have that pedestrian feel and open it more, he continues. Behind the bank, the same thing. Parking back here is such a big deal. Youve got to have parking.

Trying to conduct daily deposits while also renovating the lobby and teller area while the construction process was going on became impossible. The bank also purchased two buildings south of them to move more of the day-to-day operations and to conduct the carpentry that was done during the remodel.

Rigby says the renovation gives the bank a unique, stable look that affirms that the bank has plans to be a long-term fixture in the community. He hopes that other businesses in downtown Logan will take notice.

We hope that others would hop on the bandwagon and say if theyre going to do this we will as well. Sometimes it just takes that first step for someone to catch the vision of what they can do to make a place look right, says Rigby. Its easy to think the grass is greener on the other side, or its better on the outskirts of town.

But I think home is where you hang your hat, if you make it a nice place where people are comfortable and enjoy it, people will come by and visit, theyll take care of you.
Here's what we learned from Monday's special City Council meeting on the city's water system.

Running a municipal water system is a mighty complicated operation. It's not just a matter of pouring lots of chlorine into the water when things go awry.

It may feel really good to fire somebody when things go wrong in the system, but it doesn't solve the problem. Or even begin to identify the problem.

Just how the state's water quality experts arrive at the conclusion that a city's water system ought to get the yellow flag, or in this case, a water boil notice, can be debated. But arguing with the referee is rarely fruitful.

What is more likely to be profitable is to start talking to state regulators early, often and constantly about the water system. Involve them in a fix before they throw the yellow flag.

The city may need a contingency emergency plan for any future water boil notices to address the city's vulnerable population. The rest of us can pop down to the H-E-B to haul in pallets of water, but it's unlikely the elderly, shut-ins and handicapped will be hauling bottled water.

Those were some of the bullet points, from my view, that emerged from the meeting. Even as the city emerges from the latest water boil notice, the issue will remain as hot as a pot of water at a rolling boil for months to come.

And the meeting was therapeutic to irate members of the public, given that the water boil notice that started on May 13 was the third in 10 months. There was finger shaking at the City Council and at city staff, but maybe there had to be some steam released at this point.

Still, there will always be some who won't be satisfied with just blowing off steam. Accusing Mayor Nelda Martinez of a "failure of leadership," as one public comment speaker did, because she didn't hold an immediate news conference on May 13 might have swayed the mob during the French Revolution, but the days of the guillotine are over.

Council member Colleen McIntyre got a lot of attaboys from fellow council members after she expertly grilled state field regulators on supposed inconsistencies on how the rules are applied. Several council members seemed to share her idea that the citywide water boil notice was undeserved. Other cities have had lower chlorine readings in their water than Corpus Christi  this was the city's downfall  but no boil water alert went out for those places.

All this may be true and probably is true, but the argument that everybody does it didn't work with your mother and it's unlikely to work here.

The news that emerged that city water officials and state field regulators are committed to keeping open lines of communication, along with a pledge to enroll outside experts into the discussions seems much more promising.

Comments from a couple of members of the public about the effect of the water boil on the city's elderly, poor and disabled raised valuable points. If we have a hurricane emergency plan for these vulnerable populations, should we also have such a plan for them when the city's water system is compromised?

I can still haul a hefty 32-bottle package of water to the car and into my house, but many can't and even if they could, they can't afford to sustain the expense for long. We can't guarantee a water boil won't ever happen again, just as we can't guarantee a hurricane won't hit Corpus Christi, but we need to make contingency emergency plans for both.

Explanations from Assistant City Manager Mark Van Vleck of actions taken in advance of the water boil notice left the impression that a lot of people were working to solve a problem that kept creeping up in several points in the water system.

Can the city avoid citywide troubles by partitioning off the system into pieces? No, Van Vleck said, and this may worsen the problem. Why wasn't "free" chlorine, or undiluted chlorine, added immediately when the first signs of trouble appeared? Doing so, Van Vleck said, wouldn't allow city crews to solve the problem, just mask it.

So there was no lack of effort, but the question is, was the effort the best and smartest that could be applied? Answering that question may take many more meetings.

Nick Jimenez has worked as a reporter, city editor and editorial page editor for more than 40 years in Corpus Christi. He is currently the editorial page editor emeritus for the Caller-Times. His commentary column appears on Wednesdays and Sundays.
SHARE Farenthold

Corpus Christi ISD has decided to expand a program that pending federal legislation is intended to reduce  feeding free breakfast and lunch to all students in a school regardless of family income level. The value of the program should be plain to all who can look past the word "free"  students perform better academically when they're not hungry. That's why CCISD plans to expand it to 5,800 more students.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act became law in 2010 with bipartisan support. Feeding all children in a school, regardless of ability to pay, is a small price to pay for helping all students perform better in school while taking away the stigma of those who receive the assistance based on need. Hunger is widespread enough in America, despite food being cheap, to warrant the program. School systems trade the added food cost for the reduced administrative cost of determining and keeping up with who qualifies for assistance.

CCISD intends to expand the number of campuses under the program from 32 to 40. The pending legislation, meanwhile, would reduce the number of eligible schools in Texas by 802 and nationwide by 7,000. The number of children affected by the proposed bill would be 522,660 in Texas and 3.4 million nationwide.

One-fourth of Texas schoolchildren live in poverty and 2.1 million receive food assistance. Most are not the progeny of lazy parents. They are the children of the working poor who struggle to feed their families.

Cutting the program would be a short-term gain. The long-term expense might be having to pay the room and board of future license-plate makers. We prefer that they grow up to be productive taxpayers who will sustain our hard-earned Social Security benefits in our old age.

Don't begrudge the expense of feeding children from higher-income two-earner families along with the children of the poor. It's in everyone's best interest to make working life easier for the working well-to-do, too. Being able to afford food is one thing. Having time to make breakfast for the kids before a full day of work is quite another. Consider the meals their kids receive at school an earned perk for the higher taxes they pay.

The current law allows all the students in a school to receive free meals if 40 percent receive government assistance. The proposed bill that would reduce the program would raise the threshold to 60 percent.

One of the most galling aspects of the bill is its Orwellian name  the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016. What a horrible lesson to teach children  naming a proposed law the exact opposite of what it is. Its author, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Indiana, should be ashamed.

Where does our congressman stand? Good question. A spokeswoman for Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, told reporter Beatriz Alvarado via email that Farenthold "has not yet read the bill in its entirety and cannot provide a statement at this time." The American people have been led to believe that no human ever has read the Affordable Care Act  which Farenthold has voted repetitively to rescind  in its entirety. An abridged summary of Rokita's bill should suffice for Farenthold to render an informed verdict.

Opposition to the bill should be automatic for Farenthold. The number of participating schools in CCISD alone should settle the issue for any representative of U.S. House District 27. It's not a numbers game. It's not a game at all. Farenthold shouldn't just vote against the bill. He should speak out against it.
SHARE

What seemed impossible only a few months ago now seems at least feasible: Donald Trump could become the next president of the United States.

Who has the most to fear from a Trump presidency? Muslims? Mexicans? Women? The disabled? The poor? What Trump really thinks about these groups is elusive, but at one point or another during the campaign for the nomination, he has treated all of them with dismissive contempt, exclusionary condescension and ridicule.

But large groups of people are abstractions, easy to attack from a podium at a rally full of fired-up supporters. Do individuals have anything to fear from a Trump presidency?

How about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl? Last week his trial was rescheduled from Aug. to Feb. 6, when he will face charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, a crime that bears the potential penalty of life in prison.

By February, we'll have a new commander in chief, probably either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. What does that mean for Bowe Bergdahl?

By way of review: Bergdahl was on duty with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2009 when he wandered away from his post and was captured by the Taliban. He was held for five years in harsh conditions and was occasionally tortured. Time was running out for a sick and exhausted Bergdahl when he was repatriated in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

The prisoner swap was controversial, and President Obama took a lot of predictable heat from the right. But I argued in its defense at the time  and still do. The circumstances of Bergdahl's absence from his post in Afghanistan were unknown, and no commander in chief should leave an American soldier to his fate in enemy hands without the opportunity to defend himself against any allegations.

Further, I argued for leniency for Bergdahl  and still do. He volunteered to serve his country out of patriotism, but without enough self-awareness to realize that he wasn't suited for military life. After 26 days of basic training the Coast Guard rejected him for psychological reasons. Nevertheless the Army, in need of troops, inducted him under a special waiver that ignored evidence of his mental instability.

And then the Army sent him into a poorly managed war that, by 2009, America had mostly lost interest in. He was put into combat and subjected to mental stresses that he was ill-equipped to handle.

Should any soldier be permitted to leave his post with impunity? No. But life in prison? That's way too harsh.

So Bergdahl will go on trial in February. One potential commander in chief, Hillary Clinton, defended the prisoner swap. She said, "This young man, whatever the circumstances, was an American citizen  is an American citizen  was serving in our military  The idea that you really care for your own citizens and particularly those in uniform, I think is a very noble one."

On the other hand, if Trump wins, here's the attitude that he brings to the job of commander in chief: "We're tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who's a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed  Thirty years ago he would have been shot."

These are two very different attitudes. Of course, it's worth noting that Trump, a scion of the rich and powerful, never served in combat or even in the military, and that he managed to avoid the Vietnam War draft with four student deferments and questionable recourse to a medical disqualification for bone spurs in his foot.

Yet he doesn't hesitate to criticize Sen. John McCain, who spent more than five honorable years in the Hanoi Hilton: McCain is "a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren't captured."

I suspect that showing McCain a little respect or showing Bergdahl a little compassion will not destroy our nation's military discipline, and it might assure other patriotic volunteers that they won't be left behind or sent to prison for life if they are unable to stand up to the stresses of combat. This is something that Trump, commander in chief or not, will never be able to understand.

John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Readers may send him email at jcrisp@delmar.edu.
It is understood that the search is underway for Liaus replacement, with an announcement by Publicis Media expected soon. There are no other changes to the current Vivaki staff count while the Vivaki brand will be rebranded as the data, technology and innovation practice under the Publicis Media umbrella.

Publicis Media Asia Pacific declined to comment.

In a statement provided after queries from Campaign Asia-Pacific, Stephan Beringer, Publicis Media's global head of the data, technology and innovation practice (and former Vivaki head) called Liau a very remarkable talent and someone who has helped us significantly accelerate our programmatic footprint in APAC across all key markets.

He cited Liau as instrumental in helping launch Audience on Demand (AOD) as a part of the original Vivaki team, driving the adoption of programmatic by Publicis agencies across the APAC region and launching the regions central activation centre in Singapore.

We thank her for everything she has accomplished, in collaboration with our teams and agencies, and wish her the very best of luck in her future endeavours, he added.

After 17 years with the network, Liau will be pursuing other opportunities outside Publicis Groupe, and is slated to relocate back to the United States. She first moved to Singapore in late 2014, to lead operations for Vivaki's AOD Activation Centre in Asia-Pacific.

Prior to this, she led the Platforms Partnership team and the Ad Operations Centre of Excellence (Ad Ops COE) for Vivaki. She also previously headed up the Media Operations & Technology practice for Digitas.

The rebrand marks another phase of an organisation-wide restructure of Publicis Groupe, which was first announced in December 2015. Since then, more details have emerged in stages as the networks APAC operations begin reflecting changes made at the global level.

In March, Steve King, who was appointed head of Publicis Media, named regional chief executives to cover three key areas of the world and streamlined its media agencies into four global networksStarcom and Mediavest Spark (which were both part of SMG) and Zenith and Optimedia Blue 449 (which have been formed out of ZenithOptimedia).

In April, Publicis Medias Asia-Pacific CEO Gerry Boyle announced market leadership appointments in the Asia Pacific region, just over a week after Publicis One unveiled its own leadership roster.

At the time, Boyle told Campaign Asia-Pacific that it was first important to establish local market leadership, the country CEOs, as they are going to be the people integrating the brands and practices.

He added that the second stage will be focused on establishing how the new global practises will work in areas spanning content, performance, corporate development and communications, trading, technology and innovation, research, analytics and insights.

Greater China CEO Bertilla Teo was the first to name leads for the group's four agency brands under her purview, earlier this month. David Chen was named the managing director of the data, technology and innovation practise.

Until recently, it was unclear how Vivaki, the companys programmatic and technology arm would fare, given earlier restructuring moves.

At the start of 2015, Vivaki underwent a restructuring exercise in the United States, which comprised a move away from the trading desk model and saw its ad traders, about 120 employees, reassigned out to individual Publicis agencies.

It was a move meant to bring ad tech talent closer to clients, while those remaining at Vivaki focus on training, research and development, data management and analytics.

In a prior interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific, Liau had shared that the Asia operations following suit with the move away from trading desks was considered, but because the digital advertising scene was still emerging, a more phased approach was adopted.

The initial plan for 2016 was to expand the rollout of the transition to more Asian markets, but of course, this was all before the global restructuring exercise was announced.
The appointment of Versolato fills a senior talent gap created when former CCO Valerie Cheng left to take up the role as head of Facebook Creative Shop for Southeast Asia, in mid-February. That same month also saw Juhi Kalia, JWTs former global ECD for Lux, joining Cheng at Facebook, as the head of Creative Shop for India and Indonesia.

Peter Womersley, CEO of JWT Singapore, said Versolatos appointment is a key part of our continued drive to transform the office in response to the changing dynamics of the marketing and communications industry.

This is an incredibly exciting time for the agency and Im so pleased to be welcoming Marco to our team, he added.

Versolato joins from Brazils DM9DDB, where he most recently served as VP and executive creative director, a role he held for five years. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as creative executive VP at Y&R Brazil, TBWA Brazil and DPZ&T.

Matt Eastwood, JWTs worldwide CCO, said Versolato loves what he does and it shows.

Marco [Versolato]s creative reputation alone makes him a great fit for our global network and his emphasis on digital innovation is a welcomed add-on that will make him right at home at JWT, he added.

Versolato has worked with brands including Ita Bank, InBevs Guarana, Intel, Telefonica-Vivo, Whirlpool, McDonalds, L&G, and Johnson & Johnson.

His work has earned him more than 30 Cannes Lions and he has also been recognised and awarded at key industry festivals like D&AD, One Show, Clio, and El Sol.

Versolato expressed excitement over his new role, calling JWT Singapore an ideal place due to its diversity.

I have always believed that creativity is best fostered within a diverse environment, he said. I am excited not just for the incredible opportunity to work on the iconic Lux brand but also for the chance to join an office that has such a dynamic creative reputation and an impressive client roster that includes Friso, Nikon and Johnson & Johnson.
The company will scrap the awkward "[email protected]" convention that has evolved from users tweeting each other publicly. Usually, tweeting someone without putting a full stop before their username means that tweet is private.

Now tweets that begin with "@name" will be public to all followers, which may have implications for brands using Twitter for individual customer service.

A spokesman for Twitter clarified that users will only see the first @reply, and not the entire conversation thread.

Twitter will also stop counting @replies, photos, GIFs, videos, polls or quoted tweets as part of its 140-character count. Multimedia takes up 23 characters out of the limit, meaning users and brands are often squeezed to get their message across.

Other updates include the ability for users to retweet and quote their own tweets if they feel "a really good one went unnoticed". Previously, users were only able to retweet and quote others updates.

Announcing the changes in a blog post, Twitter was keen to stave off criticism that it was losing its original purpose as a short message sharing platform.

"Were exploring ways to make existing uses easier and enable new ones, all without compromising the unique brevity and speed that make Twitter the best place for live commentary, connections, and conversations," the company said.

The changes will roll out "in the coming months" for users and developers.

Impact for brands

Observers say the tweak is a minor one, but also indicative of how the internet has swiftly evolved from a primarily text-based medium to one where swiftly creating a Gif or video on mobile is completely normal.

As welcome as the greater leeway is, the company also faces greater questions over its future as Facebook and YouTube make in-roads with live content  something thats traditionally been Twitters wheelhouse. Or is changing the character count, as one agency CEO put it, "rearranging characters on the Titanic"?

There's more to the internet than words

"Its not a major update. Its the realisation that theres more to Twitter than just words," says Hannah Beesley, the social director at Iris. "They are constantly telling us as brands that richer content does better and that people communicate in Gifs now. 140 characters in words is quite limiting, based on how people use the internet now. Its almost a hygiene thing, and a smart move."

Beesley adds: "Its great for us as brands, it gives us more freedom. We know power of an image, but you need that copy to get message across, and this means you dont need to be splitting it out over two tweets.

"Its great to keep 140 characters and still good to be made to be concise, but theres now more leeway."

This means fewer 'ugly' tweets

"Including links within the character limit always felt pretty arbitrary and restrictive," says Tom Dunn, head of futures at Maxus. "And resulted in some pretty ugly and confusing tweets  copy in a couple of people, add a link and a hashtag and theres not much room for content."

Dunn adds: "This is a minor but welcome change  hardly going to kick up the same fuss as last years proposed 10,000 character limit. Technically, including images within this relaxation of the rules gives users 140 characters and 1,000 words to play with, so whats not to like?"

Twitter's making a tactical change

"The last news on the character limit on Twitter is a very tactical change that I highly doubt will change anything from a content strategy perspective," says Florence Lujani, the social team lead and head of influencer relations at JWT London.

"The company is in a very complicated situation at the moment, they are struggling with growing their user base, which has remained steady in 320 million active users for the past two quarters, and their shares have reached an all-time low earlier this month."

Lujani adds: "At the moment it seems that the company is introducing small changes like this one to create a more engaged user-base, but Im not sure how big the impact will be."

This means greater flexibility for marketers

"The news that Twitter has extended the 140 character limit by excluding images and links is, in principle, a good one," says Mark Varley, managing partner, Havas Media Manchester. "It will give marketers the flexibility to engage more fully with their audiences and give brands a richer canvas in which to exchange information with their customers."

But Varley warns there's a danger of "missing the point."

"The joy of Twitter is that you are restricted and limited in what you can say or show, and good marketers have made clever, punchy comms an art form," he says. "All social channels have a different purpose and should be approached and used differently  Twitter works best with concise content, not waffle."

Twitter has bigger problems to solve

"Anything that makes Twitter more flexible and useful for users is good news and more visual content is always a good thing," says Antony Mayfield, founding partner and CEO, Brilliant Noise. "Its not a fundamental change though - and a less charitable view would be that its rearranging the characters on the Titanic.

"Theres no evidence of a correlation between character count and share price."
[AudixSenatus] #R8TRACKEXPERIENCE And hereis how the drive with the #V10 #AudiR8! The superior handling of the #supercar at high speeds around the turns will take your breath away, and send your heart racing as well! #StayCalmandDriveFast . . . . . #ASDE16 #SENATUSxAudiSingapore #SENATUSxAudiSG #IGTakeover #Audi #DrivingExperience #AudiSG #AudiSingapore #emotiondashboard #SENATUS #Singapore #SGCars #sportscar #AudiRS3 #AudiTT #TT #AudiS3 #AudiQ7 #AudiQ5 #AudiQ3 #AudiQuattro #quattro #AudiA4 #PressDay

A video posted by Audi Singapore (@audisingapore) on May 18, 2016 at 12:30am PDT
| BY Ricki Green |

How will Australia perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

For 2015 David Jones shot its entire Spring/Summer collection imagery in a way that broke an age-old fashion trend. We created a photo shoot controlled by sound  42 stills cameras, 6 video cameras, all controlled by the music of Daniel Johns and his band. The band played live and every beat, note and vocal triggered a camera to fire while the models walked through the set wearing the S/S collection. We captured everything needed for the catalogue, print, social, in-store and OOH. The process itself created the music video for Daniel Johns new single We Are Golden.

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

Foxtel knows that people dont need to be told when, where or how they should watch their favourite shows anymore. They watch on their own terms, in their own special way. The Make It Yours campaign is a celebration of those people and their shows. People who ignore acute neck pain when they go 8 episodes deep. People who fail to make it past the titles night after night. People like you.

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

We put M.J.Bales 100% Merino wool travel suit through the ultimate product trial and torture test to prove that it meets the demands of Australian business travellers, who journey longer and farther than anyone else. Travelling more than 20,000km through nine countries over five days non-stop, an unsuspecting model was dressed in a suit in Sydney for a fashion shoot that took place in London. In between was a gruelling journey across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Rome, Naples, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Harwich on planes, trains, tuk-tuks, bikes and even an overnight ferry across the North Sea to the UK. All without sleep and without changing the one, 100% Merino wool travel suit he donned in Sydney. Model, Tom Bull, was a broken man but the suit was impeccable, proving that you can crush the man, but you cant crush the suit.

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

Australias big telcos steal back their post-paid customers unused data every month, even though theyve paid for it. Only Virgin Mobile is different, offering Data Rollover. To highlight this, we created the worlds first Data Auction  inviting other telcos customers to bid with their unused data. Our auction ran live on Facebook with 30 lots over 30 days and one simple way to bid  a snapshot of your stolen unused data. This allowed us to send every bidder a personalised, contextual message about the merits of Data Rollover. Phones, drones and a private island holiday all went for data, not dollars. This campaign turned the biggest data losers with other telcos into the biggest winners with Virgin Mobile.

Whybin\TBWA, Sydney

Krispy Kreme is renowned for making delicious doughnuts, but its current website was unappetising, suffering from poor engagement levels. We created an e-commerce site letting Australians get their hands on doughnuts for the first time ever across multiple devices. We created unique features: Tactile dough-slice  see inside your doughnut.

ShakenBake  create a random box on your mobile.
| BY Ricki Green |

Four teams from Australia have made the shortlist for the 2016 Future Lions competition.

Belle Chen and Gwendolyn Tan from RMIT University have been shortlisted for General Electric Sonant: The Power of Sound; Georgina Bird and Matt Ebeling from RMIT University have been shortlisted for Nike Hoops; Heath Schmidt and Alicia Mitchell from RMIT have made the cut for World Health Organisation Beacon and Samantha Cable from Miami Ad School Sydney and Rafael Martins from Miami Ad School Sao Paulo have been shortlisted for Samsung The Quake Network.

A global celebration of bold and progressive thinking, Future Lions has now launched the careers of over 60 of the most talented creatives. The brief: connect audiences to an idea from a global brand in a way not possible three years ago. There are no boundaries or restrictions on which industries or media are chosen.

The five winning ideas will be celebrated on stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on 22 June 2016 in the Debussy Theatre at Les Palais des Festivals. The winners will receive the prestigious Future Lions trophy, and full access to the Festival. An exclusive rooftop celebration will take place after the ceremony for all the winners with the judges, industry luminaries and previous Future Lions winners.

Alongside the individual awards, the school with the highest number of shortlisted entries will be recognised as the Future Lions School of the Year, an honour that has gone to Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden for the last two years.
| BY Ricki Green |

Core has rebranded as The Core Agency to better reflect its broader offering, scale and the brand-centric approach it offers clients. The change follows a period of significant growth for the independent Sydney creative agency which has seen it bolster its ranks with six new appointments.

Says Christian Finucane, co-founder and creative partner at The Core Agency: The last couple of years have seen our client partnerships flourish and we now provide a much broader range of services to some of Australias major brands. With more than 20 staff, The Core Agency name better communicates the breadth of that talent and our expertise in delivering creative work that delivers results for brands.

Coinciding with the rebrand, The Core Agency has made a series of hires, including the addition of three creatives. Dave Glen joins as senior copywriter with partner Simone Parravicini as senior art director. Senior copywriter Misa McConnell, production director Deepali Dabral, digital designer Eve Lau and account manager Amy Barnes round out the new hires.

The appointments follow the recent wins of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation and The Fred Hollows Foundation, as well as expanded remits from existing clients QBE Insurance, Sydney Airport Parking and RSVP.

Senior copywriter Dave Glen has 15 years experience at agencies such as The Campaign Palace, M&C Saatchi, Momentum Worldwide and DDB. His creative achievements include the digitally-led 30 Nights of Nookie campaign for Durex. His partner, senior art director Simone Parravicini, hails from Italy, where he studied design and visual communications, before spending four years working at Leo Burnett on its two largest clients, McDonalds and P&G. His Australian agency experience includes Droga5 and Momentum Worldwide.

The Core Agency has brought senior copywriter Misa McConnell over from New Zealand, where she worked at some of the countrys most regarded creative agencies including Colenso BBDO and DDB, writing award-winning campaigns for McDonalds, Visa and Vodafone.

Deepali Dabral has led production departments at agencies in both Australia and overseas. Throughout her career which spans Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, she has developed and implemented production solutions for major global brands across automotive, logistics, luxury goods and FMCG. Over the past decade, Deepali has worked in agencies including Clemenger BBDO, Ogilvy and Bite/Text100.

Eve Lau joins the agency as digital designer from Woolworths, where she worked in its in-house creative studio on brands including Dan Murphys, CellarMasters and the New Zealand Wine Society.

Account manager Amy Barnes will join the agencys team working with QBE Insurance. Before coming to Australia she was working in the UK on brands including Samsung, Speedo and Asda.

Says Jon Skinner, co-founder and creative partner: The Core Agency continues to attract ambitious brands, plus the results were achieving with our existing partners has led to them broadening our remit. So, were in the fortunate position to expand our team with a gang of super talented people who will help our clients and the agency continue to grow.

The string of recent new appointments follows the promotion of Jane Callister to managing director in February.
| BY Ricki Green |

The Internet gets a little angry when its hungry. So Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and Mars Chocolate Australia have teamed up to create the Snickers Hungerithm  a hunger algorithm that monitors the mood of the Internet, and then lowers Snickers prices accordingly.

The angrier people get, the cheaper Snickers get, with prices updating over 140 times a day and dropping to as low as 82% off the normal shelf price. For example, if Donald Trump receives Republican Party endorsement, the price of a Snickers could plummet to 50 cents.

Built on a 3,000-word lexicon, the Hungerithm determines online mood by analysing around 14,000 social posts a day. It even understands slang, sarcasm and variations in context.

To claim their Snickers, users simply visit Snickers.com.au and click Get a Snickers to generate a unique barcode and head to any one of 7-Elevens 630 stores around the country. No downloading apps or printing vouchers is required.

Snickers marketing manager Renee Lewington says the Hungerithm is perfect for contentious times  such as the upcoming Federal election.

Says Lewington: Were hoping this shows consumers that Snickers is on their side during trying times, and we plan to satisfy even more hungry consumers by rolling the Hungerithm out globally in 2017.

Says Ant Keogh, executive creative director, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne: Considering how quickly the Internet can swing from a place of sharing and enlightenment to one of incredible vitriol, we felt this was the perfect way to bring the, Youre Not You When Youre Hungry platform to life.

A data-led idea that changes the price of a global FMCG brand is an amazing opportunity. To launch it at scale through 7-Eleven is something else again.

The Hungerithm is designed to bring Snickers world-famous Youre Not You When Youre Hungry campaign into the digital age by tying it to real-time reactions to real world events. The campaign has previously featured high profile celebrities such as Betty White, Robin Williams, Joe Pesci and Willem Dafoe (as Marilyn Monroe).

The nationwide campaign runs until June 27 and includes video, digital, outdoor, PR and social elements that generate and respond to conversation around real world events

Client: Mars Chocolate Australia

Marketing Director: Matthew Graham

Brand Manager: Renee Lewington

Assistant Brand Manager: Heidi Keller

National Sales Manager  Retail: Shaun Thomas

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Executive Creative Director: Ant Keogh

Creative Directors: Evan Roberts and Stephen de Wolf

Digital Creative Director: Ben Keenan

Art Director: Jackson Harper

Copywriters: Shannon Crowe and Jim Robbins

Regional Director: Jennifer Chin

Group Account Director: Bryce Coombe

Senior Account Manager: Sam Ayre

PR Director: Nichola Patterson

Planning Director: Michael Derepas

Senior Planner: Matt Pearce

Executive Producer: Sonia von Bibra

Head of Interactive Production: Christian Russell

Community Manager: Will Barber

Senior Digital Producers: Nathan VanderByl and Ben Crowe

Digital Producer: Allan Ngo

Senior Digital Designer: Adam Hengstberger

Senior Developer: Andrew McLagan

Senior Full Stack Developer: Sylvain Simao

Frontend & Backend Development: Omar Mashaal (CHE Proximity)

Backend Development: Andrey Sidorov and Alex Best (CHE Proximity)

Technical Director: Bob Watts (CHE Proximity)

Project Delivery Lead: Adam Burnell (CHE Proximity)

Animation by Jacky Winter Group/Flutter

Director: Domenico Bartolo

Producers: Li Liang Johnson, Su Mei Chia

Artist: Mike Jacobsen
| BY Ricki Green |

Multiple Sclerosis Limited, the organisation behind This Bike has MS, has produced an Owners Manual as a way to share what was learnt while building a bike with the symptoms of multiple sclerosis hidden within its parts.

The Manual can be downloaded from thisbikehasms.com. This in-depth written resource is intended to accompany This Bike has MS online content, and gives anyone the ability to build their own bike to experience the symptoms for themselves.

It features a comprehensive exploration of the methods by which the bike was designed and constructed. Included is a detailed breakdown of the bikes components, and explanations as to how each element has been calibrated to replicate the physical effects of multiple sclerosis. The Manual also contains Patient Notes which touch on the emotional and physical impact of this debilitating disease, and sheds new light on the often-invisible symptoms.

Says Robyn Hunter, CEO, MS Limited: This Bike has MS is starting new conversations regarding the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Its promoting the benefits of early diagnosis, and helping people living with MS gain access to vital early intervention services. The Bike has raised the profile on the need for more funding to help people with multiple sclerosis retain or regain employment.

This Bike has MS has helped raise over $350,000 in Australia, and contributed to the MS Arizona Ride in the US. Its next outing will be on the 6th of November at the 35th anniversary of the Sydney to Wollongong Cycle, officially known as The MS Sydney to the Gong Ride
| BY Ricki Green |

The recently re-branded Track Melbourne, that replaced the DAS owned RAPP brand and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the DDB Group Worldwide, has announced the appointment of leading global CRM strategist, Preetesh Parmar.

Parmar is a senior CRM and e-commerce professional with over 13 years experience working across UK with international beauty brands, luxury fashion, grocery and telecom sectors for companies including Orange, Sainsburys, Liberty, Jack Wills and Liz Earle.

Says Tess Doughty, managing director, Track Melbourne: Im delighted to welcome Preetesh to the team. He lives and breathes CRM. He has previously worked client side and in the newly created TRACK role, Preetesh will be able to apply his skills across a broader group of clients  he is a very welcome addition to the team and I look forward to integrating his broad skill set, sector knowledge and strategic thinking into our client offering.

Says Parmar: CRM using consumer data can uncover valuable insight and create powerful communications. In the new digitally-connected world, customers have become more sophisticated in their buying activity and how they interact across media and purchasing channels. Customers now demand first-class engagement and expect to be at the center of a companys strategies. Customer-centricity is no longer a nice to have; it is a business and financial prerequisite to get ahead of the competition.
| BY Ricki Green |

Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) has today announced an exciting consumer-facing marketing campaign via Sydney-based creative agency Circul8, designed to generate awareness of the South Pacific destination, promote knowledge of the brand and inspire Australian travellers to book a holiday in Vanuatu.

The AUD$1.5 million campaign, which will target couples and families, will embrace the mantra discover what matters and will allude to the notion there is something very special in Vanuatu waiting to be discovered and it has been right in front of us all along.

The campaign, which will be spearheaded by a heart-felt television commercial (TVC), will draw on the importance of taking time out and slowing down. This will be reflected through eight life-affirming tenets that will form the content pillars of the campaign.

VTOs general manager, Linda Kalpoi, said the latest campaign has been established based on what the people of Vanuatu believe in and practice every day.

Says Kalpoi: We want to share these important life values and encourage others to take a holiday that not only introduces them to new cultures, food and experiences, but that also encourages them to explore Vanuatu in a way that will help them to reconnect and discover what truly matters.

Whether its to slow down to a tropical pace; reconnect with friends and nature on a pristine, white beach; or share laughter with the friendly locals, Vanuatus new campaign will inspire visitors to uncover whats important to them and in turn, reveal how they can experience these important life tenets in Vanuatu. We want to bring friends, family, health and happiness to the forefront as these are the things that really make a holiday special.

The two phase strategy will begin in June with an aspirational and tactical approach to drive awareness and bookings. This will then flow into the second phase of social media engagement and a competition element, scheduled to run in July.

This messaging will roll out across a number of the campaigns elements including the newly launched, consumer-facing campaign website, www.discovervanuatu.com.au featuring inspiring travel content together with important tourism information and booking deals. Travel packages featured on the website will click through to hotel operators, airlines and wholesalers, where holidays can be booked directly.

A consumer engagement competition, to be promoted on the website and through eDMs and social media, will give entrants the chance to win a trip to Vanuatu by simply sharing what matters most to them.
When I was 14, an older lady, a friend of my mother's, invited me over to her house. The reason for the invitation was unclear, but my mother, ever polite, felt it was important for me to go. I was a stereotypical teen girl, obsessed with boy bands and Lip Smackers, so I whined all week, trying to get out of it. I remember doing my best Molly Ringwald impression and shrieking, "This is so unfair!" while my mother looked on, unmoved.My mother's sense of decorum was stronger than my sense of injustice at missing Saturday at the mall , so I found myself in Auntie Grace's* living room that fateful afternoon.Auntie Grace was authoritative and eagle-eyed. She was an elegant dresser with neat, tidy hair. Once we were seated in her living room , she revealed the reason she had invited me over."Your mother tells me you are 14," she said, observing me from across the room."Yeah," I said."Fourteen makes you a woman," she said."Really?""Yes," said Auntie Grace.She seemed surprised I didn't know this."There are certain things a woman must know if she is to be successful ," she said.She reached down to pick up a basket by the side of her chair. Until that moment, I hadn't noticed it. It was a basket full of yarn. Auntie Grace handed me a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles."Have you any idea what it is?" she asked me.I shrugged.Auntie Grace looked at me then, squinting from behind her glasses as if she were trying to work out some private puzzle. After a moment, she smiled broadly and said with jolly finality, "You will know it. By the end of the day, you will know it well." As if it were inevitable, a done deal.Thirteen years later, it seems Auntie Grace's words were prophetic. I did know knitting by the end of the day, and I still know it today. Knitting is now my trade . I design hand-knit patterns and teach people how to knit them. It started that day in Auntie Grace's house. The magic of creating something beautiful and useful, with nothing but my own two hands and a pair of sticks, continues to amaze to me.One of my goals is to share knitting with others, so I try to make it easy to understand. I also like to design garments for a modern wardrobe. This Honey Stitch Cowl is easy to make and modern in design. With a panel of dense cables bracketed by a twisted rib, it's all textures and shapes, straight lines and curves, merged into a chunky cowl that manages to look kind of timeless. It's a cowl that both Auntie Grace and I could look good wearing.The cables may appear intimidating, but they're actually very simple, and in the tutorial video I'll demo a knitting hack that will make your cabling fly bywithout using a double-pointed needle!To knit the Honey Stitch Cowl you should be comfortable knitting, purling, casting on and casting off. The other techniques you can pick up by watching the tutorial video. Through the Honey Stitch Cowl I hope you'll discover the joy of knitting and, to quote a wise lady, that you will know knitting, and know it well.*Name has been changed.aaFind more on knitting at Davina Choy's website Sheep & Stitch Check out this free knitting pattern for Davina's Honey Stitch Cowl and make a modern classic to enjoy for years.
This shortcut version of tonkatsu, a crispy pork cutlet that's a favourite in Japan, doesn't require any deep-frying but tastes just as delicious as the traditionally prepared dish. Toasting the panko before breading the pork results in an even golden crust. Serve with a dab of spicy mustard.

Ingredients Crispy Pork: 3/4 cups panko bread crumbs

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 green onion minced

4 boneless pork loin chops (about 450 g total)

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg lightly beaten Rice: 1 cup long-grain rice rinsed Sesame Slaw: 1 teaspoon white miso paste

1 teaspoon warm water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger

1 teaspoon liquid honey

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage

1/4 cup thinly sliced onion

1 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds toasted Nutritional facts per serving: about Fibre 3 g

Sodium 423 mg

Sugars 6 g

Protein 32 g

Calories 593.0

Total fat 28 g

Potassium 474 mg

Cholesterol 96 mg

Saturated fat 6 g

Total carbohydrate 53 g %RDI Iron 12.0

Folate 20.0

Calcium 5.0

Vitamin A 12.0

Vitamin C 30.0

Method Rice: In saucepan, cook rice according to package instructions. Fluff with fork. Keep warm.



Crispy Pork: While rice is cooking, in small skillet, mix bread crumbs with oil; cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to shallow bowl; stir in green onion. Set aside.



Between plastic wrap or waxed paper, use meat mallet or bottom of heavy pan to flatten pork to 1/2-inch (1 cm) thickness. Sprinkle pork all over with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg, letting excess drip off. Dredge in bread crumb mixture, pressing to adhere.



Arrange pork on lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake in 425?F (220?C) oven, turning once, until just a hint of pink remains inside, about 10 minutes. Broil until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to rack set over rimmed baking sheet; let rest for 2 minutes. Cut crosswise into strips.



Sesame Slaw: While pork is baking, in large bowl, whisk together miso paste

and warm water until miso paste is dissolved; whisk in vegetable oil, vinegar, ginger, honey and sesame oil. Add coleslaw mix, onion and sesame seeds; toss to coat. Serve with pork and rice.



Tip from The Test Kitchen: Sesame seeds contain oil that can go rancid. To preserve their freshness, store them in the freezer until you're ready to use them.
Method

In bowl, stir together graham crumbs, coconut, walnuts, cocoa powder and sugar. Drizzle with butter and stir until combined. Press into bottom and up side of 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate.



Fold custard powder into ice cream; spread over crust, smoothing top. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap; freeze until firm, 2 to 3 hours.



In small saucepan, heat chocolate and cream over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spread over top of pie; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes. (Make-ahead: Once firm, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 24 hours.) Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Make 8 to 10 servings.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 9:40PM

Cryptography expert Jon Callas is making his way back to Apple with hopes of boosting security of Apples products and keep both hackers and even the authorities from breaking in. Its Callass third time back with Apple. He has since co-founded some well-known secure communications companies like Silent Circle, BlackPhone, and PGP Corp.

He rejoined the company this month. Callass first stint with Apple from 1995 to 1997 had him serving as Security Privateer and he helped create features such as FileVault 2 full-disk encryption. During 2009 to 2011, he designed the encryption system for data on Macs.

Source: Cult of Mac
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 8:26PM

The first and only Android Wear-based Samsung smartwatch, the Gear Live.

While Samsung hasnt released anything Android Wear-related in the past two years, that doesnt mean we can assume theyre done with it. Because according to the South Korean tech giant, they arent just yet. A recent Fast Company report cited an unnamed Samsung executive claiming that they arent working on any Android Wear smartwatches and they dont plan to release any new ones either. But Samsung refuted this claim saying they disagree with Fast Companys interpretation. Samsung has not made any announcement concerning Android Wear and we have not changed our commitment to any of our platforms. Samsung didnt exactly make a strong case for making one though. The company could change their minds eventually, especially since its own Tizen platform gives them more control and ground to work with.

Source: Engadget
But Mr and Mrs Pellatt, like the vast majority of pensioners hit by the changes, can only dream of those income levels and while the Canberra couple say they will be able to survive, they are worried about the fate of thousands of other retirees.
[Your Business Name]

<Your business address>

Contact Info

Phone: <Your business phone number>

Fax: <Your business fax number>

Email: <Your business e-mail address>

Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM

<Your Business Headline>

Business Overview

<Your business description>

Geographic Area

<Your service area>

Line of Business

<The type of business you are in>

Brands We Carry

<Your list of brands>

Products and Services

<Products and/or services you provide>

Discounts Offered

<Coupons and other discount information you offer>

Additional Information

<Any other information about your business>

Business Hours

<Your hours of operation>

Timezone

<Your timezone>

We Accept

<Methods of payment you accept>
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Applications are invited by North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong for admission to 2 years Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme in Agri-Business & Food Technology for the academic session 2016.

Eligibility Criteria:

Candidate who have secured 55% marks (relaxable up to 5% for SC/ST candidates) in the aggregate in B.Sc (Life Sciences, Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Micro-biology, Bio-chemistry, Food Preservation, Agriculture, Food Technology) or any graduate in Agriculture Science/Technology/ Animal Husbandry are eligible to apply

How to Apply?

Download application form from here

Application fee Rs. 600/- ( Rs. 300/- for SC/ST category) should be paid by the candidates belonging to general category. Payment should be made online

The filled-in application form along with relevant documents should be sent to Heads of respective Departments NEHU, Permanent Campus, Mawkynroh-Umshing, Shillong-793022 or NEHU, Tura Campus, Chandmari, Tura - 794002.

Selection Procedure:

Candidates seeking admission should have appeared for any of the MAT tests (May, September, December, 2015 and February 2016).

Important Dates:

Last date to submit application form: June 15, 2016.

Also Read:

Top 5 Destinations To Study MBA Abroad
The II PUC examinations for the academic session 2015-16 was held from March 11, 2016 to March 28, 2016. The results for the Karnataka II PUC Results 2016 was declared today by the Department of Pre-University Education.

The PUC results has brought good news to people of many districts. Dakshina Kannada district has secured the first place with a pass percentage of 90.48%, while Udupi stands second with 90.35% pass percentage and Kodagu is at the third postition with a pass percentage of 79.35%.

According to reports, girl students have outshined boys this year too, with a pass percentage of 64.78% while the pass percentage boys remains at 50.02%. About 6,36,368 students took appeared for the for II PUC March 2016 examination, the total pass percentage being 60.54%.

Read here the complete list of pass percentage of all the districts in Karnataka:

Karnataka II PUC Results - District-wise Pass Percentage March 2016 Sl no District Pass Percentage %

1 Dakshina Kannada

90.48 2 Udupi 90.35 3 Kodagu 79.35 4 Uttara Kannada

76.44 5 Bengaluru South

70.88 6 Bengaluru North

70.83 7 Shivmoga 69.28 8

Chikkmangaluru 67.34 9 Bengaluru Rural

66.38 10 Bagalkot 65.91 11 Mysore 65.53 12 Hassan 65.47 13 Chamrajnagar 64.86 14

Chikkabalpura 63.74 15 Dharwad

62.86 16 Belagavi 62.05 17 Kolar 61.76 18 Haveri 60.54 19 Vijayapura 60.39 20 Bellary 59.09 21 Davangere

58.01 22 Kalburgi 57.05 23 Tumakuru 56.63 24 Mandya 56.52 25

Ramanagar 56.36 26 Koppal 54.32 27 Bidar 52.07 28 Raichur 49.61 29 Gadag 49.28 30 Chitradurga 47.55 31 Yadgir 44.16

Also read:
Its another episode in the rotary saga; this time taking place at the sidelines of the Concorso dEleganza where Mazda showcased their stunning RX Vision concept.



Mazdas design director Kevin Rice spoke to Top Gear about the design philosophy that the company wants to follow. If you look at the Ferrari 275 GTB or the Ferrari 330, and all those Italian cars through the late 50s, 60s and 70s, they were very pure, very clean and very exciting, he says.

The modern world is busier and more exciting, but we respect those values of purity and beauty. They were valid then, and  if nobody else wants to do it  we want to resurrect those values, Rice added.

This is why the company brought the RX Vision to one of the most exclusive classic car events in the world, to showcase their will to bring back a cleaner and effortlessly beautiful design language and the positive feedback caught them off guard.

We were overwhelmed with the reaction to the RX Vision, says Kevin. Inside Mazda, we all love the car, but to see the reaction of the people here at Villa  car fanatics of the highest level  and for them to be impressed has kind of shocked us. In a good way.

When asked when Mazda will finally green-light the concept for production he simply smiles and says that they would love to build it, implying that its not that easy for them. What makes it difficult is of course the rotary powertrain. As is, the concept car doesnt feature any running gear as its just a design study.

Nobody else would have developed the rotary engine, says Kevin. We thought we could get something good out of it, which we did, but we never stopped developing it. We didnt just leave it with the RX-8. In the back rooms at Mazda, were still developing it, and when the worlds ready to buy another rotary, well be ready to provide it.

The Japanese company has officially admitted in the past that they have a small dedicated engineering team working on the rotary engine for the past eight years, looking for a breakthrough.

The increasingly stricter emissions standards combined with Mazdas limited budget might not be enough to bring back the rotary engine. Some people believe though that if enough fans demand their rotary power back, Mazda will do them the favor.

PHOTO GALLERY
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the possibility of a full collaboration starting with trials, including the creation of new leasing options for Uber drivers.



Under this agreement, Toyota and Uber will accelerate further talks in establishing new services for customers of the popular ridesharing service.

The first step is the creation of new leasing options in which Uber drivers will be able to lease their cars from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments directly via their generated earnings, with the leasing period being flexible and tailored to the drivers needs.

Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility, said Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation. Through this collaboration with Uber, we would like to explore new ways of delivering secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers.

Were excited that Toyota, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, is making a strategic investment in Uber as part of a broader global partnership, said Emil Michael, Chief Business Officer of Uber. Toyota vehicles are among the most popular cars on the Uber platform worldwide and we look forward to collaborating with Toyota in multiple ways going forward, starting with the expansion of our vehicle financing efforts.

One of the areas the two companies will also explore is the development of in-car apps that will support Uber drivers as well as establishing a special fleet program to sell Toyota and Lexus models to Uber.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Carmen Weld - File photo

Hikers are being warned after a bear was spotted at Knox Mountain Park over the weekend.

The City of Kelowna issued a warning to residents and Knox Mountain enthusiasts due to the recent bear sighting.

It is not unusual to see bears in the park at this time of year and signs are in place to caution residents that there are bears in the area, says Blair Stewart, urban forestry supervisor with the city.

People should respect bears by anticipating and avoiding encounters with them whenever possible.

The city is urging residents to stay alert while enjoying natural parks, travel in groups when possible, make noise and keep dogs leashed and on the trails.

Bears can be aggressive, especially when defending their food or their cubs. If encountering a bear, reduce potential conflicts by staying well away from the animal, says Stewart.

Residents are asked to notify either the Conservation Office at 1-877-356-2029 or the RCMP at 250-762-3300 if they feel threatened by a bear (911 should be used in the case of an emergency only).

For information on safety in the wilderness and around bears, click here.
The cycling gauntlet has been thrown down.

Vernon Secondary School students Holly Clancy and Ava Ready, who are part of the schools leadership program, have teamed up with the City of Vernon to organize a challenge to neighbouring high schools to bike to school every day from May 30 to June 5.

The girls issued the challenge via YouTube to see if they could get everyone from each of the city schools to ride to class during bike to work week.

We are going to see who can get the most participants to bike to school for that whole week. It will be a competition, said Ready in the video.

It will be a competition, that we, VSS, will win, added Clancy.

The students asked for other schools to respond to the call out by creating their own video accepting the challenge.

W.L. Seaton Secondary School announced on YouTube they will take on this competition and will be asking all of their peers to consider hoping on a bicycle rather than driving to class next week.

Kalamalka Secondary has also taken on the challenge and responded to VSS with their own video.

Clarence Fulton Secondary has been challenged, but they havent issued a video yet.

Click here to find out more and see the videos.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

The Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society is at risk of dissolving, unless it can get more board members.

We have several board members who are resigning at the May 27 annual general meeting and no one has stepped forward to take their positions," said president Birgit Arnstein.

"I will also be resigning my post as president unless we can replace these board positions with enthusiastic and committed volunteers to help us move forward with important initiatives, such as protecting Osoyoos Lake from invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels. There is simply too much work to be done by too few volunteers.

The meeting will be held Friday, May 27, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sonora Centre in Osoyoos.

Arnstein encourages anyone interested in running for the board of directors or becoming a volunteer to contact her directly at 250-495-0728 or via email at [email protected]

The society was founded in 1991 by community members to promote public awareness of the lake, covering issues such as invasive species, conservation, pollution and lake management.

It is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers.

This past weekend, the society presented Osoyoos Lake Appreciation Day at Gyro Park in Osoyoos.
Photo: Tim Stansfield

Saturdays manhunt on Westside Road came to an end Sunday evening, when an officer found the suspect passed out drunk in downtown Kelowna.

RCMP combed over Westside Road Saturday afternoon near Bear Creek Provincial Park, looking for a man and a woman.

The hunt began after police responded to a business on the 2600 block of Ross Road in Kelowna for reports of a disturbance.

The man and woman fled in a 1990s GMC Jimmy truck, which was later found at the Bear Creek campground.

The woman was found soon after, but the man was believed to have escaped on a stolen boat.

The next night, an RCMP officer responded to a report of a passed out man on the 1700 block of Abbott Street.

Upon arrival, the officer recognized the man as the suspect in the previous days manhunt and arrested him without incident.

The 33-year-old Kamloops man remains in custody, and faces potential charges of flight from a police officer, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, forcible confinement, driving while prohibited and several firearms related offences.

The woman involved has been released without charges.
Photo: Nicholas Johansen - File photo

Four people were arrested Friday in connection with several transit assaults, while two suspects are still wanted.

A 19-year-old man was arrested at the Queensway bus loop in downtown Kelowna at 11 p.m., after he allegedly punched a transit driver several times for not allowing him to bring his bike on board.

Police say the man faces a potential assault charge.

An hour later at Orchard Park Mall, RCMP responded to a distress signal sent by a transit driver.

The driver had been pepper sprayed by three individuals, and was transported to the hospital for treatment.

With the help of witnesses at the scene, police were able to locate the three suspects at Springfield Road and Barlee Road.

The 23-year-old man, 24-year-old woman and 22-year-old woman all face potential charges of assault with a weapon, but have since been released from custody.

Earlier in the day, police responded to a bus at Harvey Avenue and Richter Street, where a passenger had reportedly threatened violence against a driver. After the threat, the suspect threw a drink cup at the drivers face while leaving.

Police continue to look for the man, described as a 35-year-old Caucasian male wearing a tan shirt and a backpack.

The transit trouble continued into the late hours of the evening. Just after midnight, RCMP were back at the Queensway bus loop for a report of an unruly passenger who forced his way onto a bus and was reportedly harassing the driver and other passengers.

The suspect  described by police as a 25-year-old First Nations man with long braided hair, wearing a black shirt, jeans and a backpack  left the bus after another passenger confronted him.

Police continue to look for both suspects, and have asked anyone with information on their whereabouts to call 250-762-3300.
Photo: RCMP

Kamloops RCMP had warned drivers they would be watching for speeders and they've done just that.

Last Thursday and Friday, city traffic services and commercial vehicle safety enforcement officers conducted speed enforcement blitzes on Westsyde Road, Morven Place, McQueen Drive, Ord Road, the Halston Bridge, Hillside Drive and Batchelor Drive.

Over the two days, police issued 187 violation tickets.

These included 161 tickets for speeding and 26 other offences including using an electronic device, no drivers licence, driving contrary to restriction and no insurance.

RCMP said one vehicle was impounded for seven days for excessive speed after the driver was caught doing 124 km/hr in a 70 km/hr zone on Halston Bridge.

Because the Kamloops RCMP receives complaints daily about aggressive drivers and speeding, the Traffic Section will continue to make road safety a priority, said Cpl. Jodi Shelkie, police spokesperson.
Photo: BC Wine Institute

Summer is right around the corner and once again the forecast it is looking like merlot, pinot and chardonnay.

2016 is on track to be another notable wine year, just like 2015, which was recognized for not only producing a stunning vintage, but also producing a lot more wine.

This expected increased crop will help quench a growing thirst for British Columbia wines, both nationally and internationally.

"Over the past year, BC VQA Wine sales have increased by nearly 12 per cent in the province, which demonstrates the consumer's continued support of the category and thirst for locally grown and produced 100 per cent BC VQA Wines, says BC Wine Institute President/CEO Miles Prodan.

The 2015 British Columbia Wine Grape Crop Report was released this week, and it shows an increase of one per cent (from 31,383 to 31,640 tons) over 2013 in total estimated tonnage.

While this may not seem significant, the BC Wine Institute notes that current tonnage reflects a balanced industry with sufficient supply for our important local market, as well as growing international markets.

Prior to 2013, the industry experienced several short crops before the crop levels finally increased.

Despite not having a large change in overall estimated tonnage, there was a big difference between the total estimated tons of red and white varieties harvested.

The total white estimated tonnage went up 10.5 per cent, while the red estimated tonnage went down 8.5 per cent.

The major contributors to this change were significant swings in estimated tonnages of pinot gris (up 23 per cent), sauvignon blanc (up 18 per cent), riesling (up 27 per cent) and merlot (down 19 per cent).

Manfred Freese of the BC Grapegrowers' Association says that the substantial increases in pinot gris and riesling are in line with industry expectations based on the increased acreage in Kelowna and Lake Country.

He also explains that frost damage was likely the main culprit behind the decrease in red tonnage.

Merlot in particular was hit hard in parts of the valley and there was also a slight decrease in merlot acreage, dropping two per cent from 2011 to 2014.

Although there may be a little less red to go around this year, the quality of the entire 2015 vintage is exceptional.

With the whites currently hitting the shelves to rave reviews, we can be thankful that, with the early arrival of summer, there will be a few more vibrant BC VQA white wines to enjoy this season, adds the BCWI.
Photo: Getty Images

Safe injection services in Kelowna continue to be a controversial issue.

Interior Health has been exploring the possibility of offering safe consumption services for users to take drugs in a safer, controlled setting.

This comes on the heels of B.C.s health minister declaring a state of emergency over overdose deaths in B.C. in 2016.

Castanets weekend poll, which surveyed more than 6,300 people, found 50.1 per cent of respondents dont want a safe injection site in Kelowna, while 43 per cent think Kelowna should have a site.

Another 4.4 per cent said they werent sure, while 2.4 per cent simply did not care.

Both sides were represented in the comments on the issue.

The facts are clear, wrote Gordie G in the comments section. These sites work. It's about saving lives and helping people improve their circumstances  How many of you people disagreeing with this as a viable option have actually researched the topic before coming on here and complaining?

Insite, a safe injection service in Vancouver, has been operating since 2003, and has widely been considered a success in the medical community.

Insite has saved hundreds of lives, write Atomoa in the forums. In the 10 years it's been open, it's had two million visits and zero overdose deaths  We need injection sites in every Canadian city where there is an IV drug problem.

Other people had different ideas on how to solve the drug problem.

Why not regulate drugs, take profits away from criminals, use those profits as well as money saved from fighting failed war on drugs to help fund harm reduction approaches such as safe injection sites and helping addicts, wrote Liam Haddock.

Far better than throwing money away on failed war on drugs, doing little to reduce harms of drugs on the users or the community, don't you think?

A medical health officer with Interior Health says if IH does proceed with applying to offer these services, the application process is still months away.
I was saddened to read about the efforts to capture the wayward budgie in Vernon.

The poor bird has been lucky enough to escape a life of captivity in a two foot square cage and people want to capture it and incarcerate it again!

Why not feed it, celebrate its freedom and if it's still around come winter, then try to catch it? Even if the brave little fellow succumbs to predators or evades capture and doesn't make it through the winter, it will still have lived more than a hundred of its cage bound brethren put together.

Harry Foster
Photo: Okanagan College

A pair of Okanagan College students want people to think of sound a little differently.

When it comes to the places people live, work, learn and play, how they sound can be just as important as how they look in determining how people feel about them.

Two Okanagan College students have launched a new business to help the world sound a little better, one room at a time.

A common interest in recording technology led Alex Pfeifer and Josh Mulloy to the Audio Engineering & Music Production diploma program at Okanagan College from very different paths.

Kelowna-born Pfeifer has a fascination with all things technical, while Mulloy, a musician who hails from Calgary, enrolled to better understand the intricacies of studio recording in the hope of amping up a career in the music industry.

The two men quickly noticed their complementary skill sets came in handy in the studio and in the field. While conducting an exercise in acoustic analysis  studying how the design and arrangement of a space affects the overall sound experience  a bold idea began to take shape.

We instantly knew this was something we were passionate about, and brought two very different perspectives to, said Mulloy. We looked at each other and said: How can we make a career out of this?

They set about founding their own company, first reaching out to the Okanagans business owners for feedback.

We pounded the pavement, knocked on doors and had extensive conversations with local business leaders in audio and a ton of different other fields, said Pfeifer. During that time, and since then, there hasnt been a single person in the community who hasnt been supportive and offered advice or encouragement.

Buoyed by the positive response to their idea, Mulloy and Pfeifer launched Perception Audio Inc. in February. Their website, perceptionaudio.ca is currently under construction.

We specialize in acoustic treatments and analysis for commercial spaces, but thats just scratching the surface of what we do, explained Pfeifer, noting live sound and studio recording is also among their areas of expertise.

At the end of the day, we want to bring something new and truly unique to the audio scene in B.C., said Mulloy. We want to change the way people think about sound during all stages and aspects of putting a space together. We spend our lives in these spaces and the way they sound hugely impacts our experience of them.

One of those offering constant support and encouragement along the way has been instructor Corey Bell, a widely respected audio engineer and musician, who in addition to teaching at the college, remains active in the audio production and recording industry.

There are so many avenues you can pursue in audio, said Bell. Josh and Alex picked an avenue in starting their own business  doing what they love  and their drive to achieve that goal has been nothing short of phenomenal.

According to Pfeifer, the short-term goal is to continue to grow the business, while a long-term priority will be to support those following in their footsteps, whether it means mentoring students at the College or assisting other small business startup owners.

Pfeifer and Mulloy will join their fellow graduates at Okanagan Colleges convocation ceremonies in June. While running their business, both entrepreneurs plan to return to the College to pursue additional business training, Pfeifer in project management and Mulloy in business administration.

More information about the Audio Engineering and Music Production program at Okanagan College is available online.
Photo: Getty Images

Complex issues require complex solutions.

There is no easy answer of how to help the homeless, which has been an ongoing topic of discussion for some time in Kelowna and other Okanagan communities.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, homelessness is just as complex as people are unique so complex solutions are needed to address the issue.

Of those living without a home, affordability of housing was listed as the No. 1 area of concern. The other most commonly cited reasons for housing vulnerability include mental health issues, problematic substance use, physical health issues and disabilities, trauma and family conflict.

There are communities across North America that have implemented strategies that have effectively reduced, or even ended homelessness. One of these strategies is Housing First, which is focused on housing the most vulnerable and providing them with appropriate supports. Its intense and gritty work, but the evidence indicates that it succeeds.

The CMHA, Kelowna Branch, through funding from the federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy and the Interior Health Authority, have launched a Housing First pilot project.

There is a lot of conflicting information about the Housing First model and philosophy. CMHA Kelowna is hosting a free event open to the public, on June 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Centre. It will feature renowned guest speaker and Housing First pioneer Dr. Sam Tsemberis of Pathways to Housing in New York City.

This workshop will explain what Housing First is, how it will work locally and how this approach is part of the solution to end homelessness.

We want to build on recent momentum created from discussions co-hosted by the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and the Urban Development Institute for business leaders, developers and decision makers where we learned about the connection between the lack of affordable rental housing and homelessness and were introduced to the Housing First model, said Shelagh Turner, executive director of CMHA Kelowna.

The Housing First model is a proven, evidence-based strategy. Having the community on the same page of understanding is a key piece in addressing homelessness.

Anyone interested in learning more about this project is welcome to attend, including landlords and property managers. As space is limited, CMHA Kelowna is requesting that individuals register in advance online.
Photo: Contributed

A new place to live, work and play has opened its doors in Lake Country.

According to the developers, the one-of-a-kind "Lake Club," along with the popularity of the $650 million Lakestone development, signals a change in the Okanagan Valley.

The Lakestone waterfront community is located on a 550-acre parcel of land in Okanagan Centre.

Once complete, it will include more than 1,300 homes and 300 acres of preserved open space featuring walking trials from the lakefront to Summit Park. The reception has been promising.

The new waterside community is nearly sold out, and an estimated 3,500 people will call this part of the lake home.

Lakestone has experienced strong sales from Metro Vancouver homebuyers, with the Lower Mainland purchasing 50 per cent of the lots sold this year, a dramatic upswing from 2015.

Another 2016 trend is the dramatic return of the Alberta buyers, with Calgary buyer interest increasing by 16 per cent over the last quarter of 2015.

A well-attended open house was held on May 14 to welcome the community to the new "Lake Club."

Mayor James Baker along with Bob Glass, managing partner of Lakestone, cut the tape at the official opening of the club.

Built at a cost of $3.5 million on Lakestones most valuable waterfront lot, the Lake Club includes a pool, hot tubs, outdoor kitchen and grill, fireplace, kayak and paddleboard storage and a fitness centre.

The next phase to sell at Lakestone will be named "The Benchlands" at Lakestone and will be released in late May.
Photo: Contributed

Do you enjoy your daily commute to work or school?

A new Insights West poll says that really depends on your particular mode of transportation.

The online poll found those who bike or walk are most satisfied, while those who drive or take public transportation have the lowest satisfaction rating.

The poll states people who walk are most satisfied (96 per cent), followed by cyclists (95 per cent), those who drive (62 per cent) and those who take public transit (60 per cent).

Drivers point to bad behaviour and traffic as reasons their commute is annoying, while transit riders point to overcrowding and wait times.

We learned earlier this year that British Columbians are not particularly pleased with drivers, and bad behaviour is the main issue that irks those who drive to school or work on weekdays, says Mario Canseco, vice-president, public affairs, at Insights West.

The silver lining is that they get to listen to the programs or music they want when they are in their vehicles.

A quarter of British Columbians admit their commute is worse than it was five years ago. Thirty per cent of those are in the Metro Vancouver area.

And, three-quarters said they would work from home more often if they could to avoid commuting.

More than 40 per cent of respondents admit they would work for less if they could get a job closer to where they live, while slightly more than half said they would move if they got a new job which meant a longer commute.

The poll was conducted for BC Business.
Photo: Contributed

Human remains have been found near Salmon Arm.

The Salmon Arm RCMP were called to an area on 6th Street NE on May 20.

Between 6th Street NE and Lakeshore Drive investigators located what have been confirmed as partially decomposed human remains, said Staff Sgt. Scott West. The remains were located down an unused steep footpath that is overgrown and appear to be fairly recent.

At this time the Salmon Arm RCMP is working with the BC Coroners service to identify those remains. The investigation and identification of the remains may take some time as investigators may have to rely on DNA analysis to conclusively identify the remains.

Further updates will be provided when possible.

Police and the coroners service are continuing to investigate.
Photo: Kate Bouey

Vernon city council is hoping to quickly get some rules in place to deal with panhandling in the downtown and on medians at certain busy intersections.

If panhandlers didn't make any money, they wouldn't be there, said Mayor Akbal Mund.

The mayor said council was told by the city's bylaw manager that some panhandlers were raking in $40-$50 dollars in an hour.

That's a lot of money to be getting tax free, said Mund.

Staff have been asked to create a comprehensive plan that could rapidly be put in place and would include a range of options.

Mund said one possibility would be to put meters in the downtown which shoppers could plug rather than hand over money to transients. He said the money could go to a group or society that provides for the homeless.

Stressing it as a safety issue, the mayor said another suggestion is to put up signs at medians, where some people hold signs begging for money. He said it is illegal to panhandle on a median.

Mund said the city has to be careful on how it proceeds to ensure it complies with the Charter of Human Rights.

Recommendations will come before council on June 13.

Meanwhile, council has okayed the hiring of two part-time bylaw officers over the summer to help with foot patrols in the downtown and at Polson Park.

Bylaw spokesperson Darren Lees said the new hires will start as soon as applications are in and training is set.

The new officers will also allow the department to catch up on a host of complaints as well as help deal with the transient population, said staff.
Photo: Darren Handschuh

Teresa Hidasi was key in preventing a potentially disastrous situation from developing  not once, but twice.

Teresa is an LPN at Noric House, a Vernon senior's care facility, and is an unsung hero in two fires that could have turned tragic had it not been for her quick actions.

In December 2015, Teresa ran into a room of a resident of Noric House and put out a fire that had been set.

Then on May 15, she once again leapt into action when a resident set his mattress on fire. She ran into the room and pulled the senior off the bed and into the hallway.

That according to her husband, Stephen, who, ironically, has been a volunteer with the BX/Swan Lake Fire Department for 17 years.

In the December incident, Teresa spent five days in hospital due to smoke inhalation.

It is some pretty toxic smoke, said Stephen, adding his wife grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the flames out before Vernon Fire Rescue arrived.

In the May 15 incident, Teresa ran into the room and dragged the senior  who Stephen estimates weighs 70 pounds more than she does  into the hallway before going back into the room to close the window and close the door to starve the flames of oxygen.

That's what we tell people to do: close the door behind you, but we don't recommend re-entering a burning room to do it, said Stephen.

It was fast action by the nurse that prevented it from being more serious, said VFR Deputy Fire Chief Lawrie Skolrood a day after the May fire.

Unfortunately, Teresa was once again injured while rescuing a resident.

She hurt her shoulder pulling him off the bed that was on fire, said Stephen, who had high praise for all of the Noric House for their action in both incidents.

All the staff there were phenomenal, he said. They all pulled together to make sure everyone was safe.
Photo: Kate Bouey

Money will be spent to beautify the Vernon cemetery's patchy grass.

Council has okayed $70,000 in funds to restore the lawn.

The money will come from the 2015 unexpended and uncommitted year-end balance.

Last year's hot, dry summer left dead grass and weeds among the tombstones.

It's just not something that you would want to see, said Mayor Akbal Mund. The cemetery should look nice. There are no ifs, buts or ands about it.

City staff will issue a request for proposals for the development of a cemetery master plan that will be included for consideration in the 2017 budgeting process.
Photo: Kate Bouey

Vernon city councillor Scott Anderson fears a council decision to issue free one-year transit and swim passes to a Syrian refugee family could create hostility.

While it is a welcoming gesture to the refugees it also speaks to a whole bunch of other people who are out of jobs or on EI (employment insurance), Anderson told the council meeting. What do we say to them?

If somebody set out to create hostility  what a way to do it.

However Coun. Catherine Lord said such passes have been issued to others and it will allow family members to learn the bus system and their way around Greater Vernon.

It's a one-time, one-year pass, said Lord.

Up to seven bus passes are expected to be issued to the refugee family that is comprised of the parents, two teenagers and three younger children.

"This will enable them to attend ESL (English as a second language) classes, do their grocery shopping, attend appointments and go to their place of worship. Passes will facilitate the family while they are going through their re-settlement," stated a letter from the Vernon and District Immigrant Services Society.

I think its a good idea, said Mayor Akbal Mund, following council approval to issue the passes. Only Anderson opposed the move.

They're learning how to speak English. They don't have any transportation within the community to get around, said Mund. We give out passes to other groups, individuals, that require the passes to learn the system....I don't see anything wrong with it.

However Anderson remained unconvinced.

My concern is what it says to other people and how other audiences are going to perceive it, he said. People who are homeless from the fires up north, people who are on EI now because of that and are out of a job and/or out of a home may look at this not as a welcoming gesture but a real slap in the face.

I'm concerned about generating hostility because of that.
Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet File Photo

The Regional District of Central Okanagan has issued a precautionary water quality advisory for residents served by the Falcon Ridge Water System in the Central Okanagan East Electoral Area.

The advisory affects approximately 55 properties connected to the community water system off Highway 33.

Due to the weekend rain in the Mission Creek watershed, there is increased turbidity in the water system source which has resulted in water quality that might impact children, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems.

Roadside sign notices are in place to let residents know about the precautionary water quality advisory.

While the health risk is modest and no bacteria have been found in any of the water from the system tested, after consulting with Interior Health, Regional District staff recommends as a precaution that Falcon Ridge water customers follow Interior Health guidelines especially for those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, children and those wishing additional precautions," said communications officer Bruce Smith.

"All water intended for drinking, washing fruit and vegetables, making beverages, ice or brushing teeth should be boiled for at least one minute or customers should use a safe alternative to water from the tap such as bottled or distilled water.

This precautionary water quality advisory affecting the Falcon Ridge Water System will continue until further notice.
Photo: The Canadian Press Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, shares a laugh with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Oct. 29, 2015.

Canada might be forced to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement if the next U.S. president insists upon it, a Washington lawmaker said Tuesday.

The California congressman said the northern neighbour is so trade-reliant on the U.S. that it couldn't easily ignore an American ultimatum on revising the deal.

"We could walk away from NAFTA any time," said Darrell Issa, who sits on different congressional committees dedicated to intellectual property, foreign affairs and trade. "We've always been able to."

Every major candidate for president has expressed support for changing NAFTA. Republican Donald Trump is a virulent, decades-long critic of trade deals which he's repeatedly said he would change; Democrat Bernie Sanders has been equally critical; and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has occasionally expressed support for reopening NAFTA.

Trade analysts have called the idea of scrapping NAFTA mind-bogglingly complex, given how product supply chains have grown since the 1993 agreement and tariffs have shrunk.

Even overhauling the deal might be risky, Issa himself cautioned. But if it happens, he offered two examples of sectors the U.S. could demand to have opened up.

Both are important to his home state.

One involves the so-called sharing economy  whose applications like the Uber car-ride app and AirBnB home-rental program face uneven regulation in different jurisdictions.

The Republican lawmaker also alluded to broadcasting and Canadian-content quotas that survived the original NAFTA, during a forum co-hosted Tuesday by the Canadian American Business Council.

"If we want to renegotiate NAFTA and say, 'You've got to open up to the sharing economy. (And) you can't require, in French Canada if you will, that there be this content requirement to everything,' is that a big problem for Canada? Yeah.

"Canada lives based on its ability to trade with the United States."

Issa expressed skepticism that the likely Democratic nominee means what she says about unpopular trade deals during elections: "If you're going to vote for Hillary Clinton you can trust the fact she's lying."

He also defended NAFTA.

Issa said globalization would be happening without NAFTA and it would potentially be worse for the U.S. He said more factory jobs would have wound up in Asia instead of Mexico, Mexico would have been poorer and the U.S. would face a greater influx of impoverished illegal migrants.

Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains defended NAFTA while speaking to the same forum later Tuesday.

"For more than 20 years now our two countries have had the most successful trading relationship in the world  which of course was made possible by NAFTA," Bains said in a speech.

"Commentators will likely never stop debating the merits of NAFTA. It's come up a few times over the past few months and I suspect it may come up in the coming months as well.

"But there's absolutely no disputing the fact that trade and investment between Canada and the United States represents not only millions of jobs for Canadians  but nine million jobs here in America. I'm an accountant by background, so I just want to let you know that numbers do matter."

He referred to the nearly four-fold increase in trade on the continent since 1993.

In his speech, Bains promoted the new Canadian government's innovation agenda  which he said will include a heavy investment in clean-energy technology.

Bains is also planning a visit to California's Silicon Valley next month, as part of a wide-ranging review of innovation policy. He said policy-makers face the dual challenge of promoting high-tech activity, while dealing with the impact on workers in disrupted industries.

"We're in an innovation race. This race is pretty intense. And the stakes are high," he said.

The CABC business group released a paper Tuesday with recommendations for improving Canada's performance in innovative sectors. It highlighted Canada's persistent, long-term struggle to convert cutting-edge research into commercial products.

The paper offered ideas for bolstering ties between science and industry, reforming the patent system and simplifying access to funding that might help Canadian start-ups grow.
Photo: Castanet Staff

The Weather Network is forecasting a warm summer for the majority of Canadians but warns that rainfall will be "highly variable," bringing rapidly developing electrical storms to certain areas at times.

Chief meteorologist Chris Scott says Mother Nature will be spreading the warmth across the country over the next few months. But he says she'll also be spreading the precipitation at times.

Scott says it's not going to rain much more than average anywhere in the country, but when it rains, it'll likely pour.

The Weather Network's forecast for June, July and August predicts Western Canada will not experience as hot or dry a summer as the last few years, while Eastern and Central Canada will get slightly higher temperatures than in previous summers.

The potential for unpredictable individualized thunderstorms, however, is threatening to turn increasingly popular outdoor music festivals soggy, and poses potential risks for events held in remote, rural areas with very little in terms of permanent structures.

But event organizers say they are preparing for possibly stormy and wet weather.

The festival creative director at Republic Live, a company that organizes two camping festivals in southern Ontario, said extensive planning helps alleviate the risks of extreme weather.

Both of Republic Live's festivals  Wayhome, an alt-rock festival modelled after Tennessee's Bonnaroo, and Boots and Hearts, a country festival  are held at event grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ont., a town of about 20,000.

Creative director Ryan Howes said last year's edition of Wayhome drew 35,000 people per day, and they're expecting 40,000 per day this year.

"Basically, with a camping festival, you're building a small city," he said. "So you put emergency procedures in place that would be very similar to an actual small city."

Most people, he added, camp onsite. Those campsites  along with cars in the parking lot  are where festival-goers should head in a storm.

Howes said that because the cars parked at campsites and in the lots have rubber wheels separating people from the ground, they're safer than being out in the open or sheltered under a tree in an electrical storm.

Because there aren't many  if any  permanent structures at these festivals, it's safest to take shelter in a car during windstorms, too.

And it's not just Ontario's festivals that need to plan for inclement weather, Scott said.

Pemberton Music Festival  with acts like Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa  in Pemberton, B.C., has already sold out of campsites. And Evolve Festival, which this year will be held outside of Moncton, N.B., has drawn headliners from all over the world.

Evolve organizer Jonas Colter said they were surprised by a thunderstorm once before, about a decade ago.

"What ended up happening is we had to shut all the stages and light towers down," he said. "And people ended up thinking it was the best Evolve festival of all time!"
Photo: Ty Wensley

UPDATE: 9:15 a.m.

The Lake Country fire department says no one was hurt in a destructive early-morning house fire.

Fire chief Steve Windsor says crews got the call at 1:19 a.m. of a fully-involved house fire on Maddock Avenue in Okanagan Centre Wednesday morning.

Multiple calls came in, says Windsor. There was a resident home at the time, but he had managed to get out by himself.

When crews arrived on scene they found a two-storey older home fully engulfed.

We arrived with three engines and a couple command vehicles. It required a lot of water to put the fire out, says Windsor.

It is an older home, so there was a lot of fuel loaded into the house itself.

He says there were no injuries to firefighters or the resident.

Crews just cleared the scene and will start the investigation this morning, but it appears accidental at this point.

The structure is still standing, but Windsor says it was badly damaged and is likely a tear down.

He says a fifth-wheel on the property and two ATVs were also damaged in the fire.

ORIGINAL: 6:10 a.m.

A large fire consumed a home in Lake Country overnight.

The late-night fire razed a home on Maddock Avenue in Okanagan Centre.

Details are few at the moment, but the fire apparently started some time after midnight. Castanet received news tips from residents of the area about 2 a.m.

Adam Stoddard told Castanet in an email that the blaze had already consumed a large pine when his family fled their home, two doors down, out of caution.

Stoddard called 911, but firefighters were already on scene.

Castanet will provide more information as it becomes available.
Photo: Contributed

A lawyer for a man convicted of murdering three women and a teenage girl in central British Columbia goes before the Court of Appeal today asking to overturn the convictions.

Cody Legebokoff was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years by a Prince George judge in September 2014.

He was convicted of the first-degree murders of 15-year-old Loren Leslie, 23-year-old Natasha Montgomery and Jill Stuchenko and Cynthia Maas, who were both 35 at the time.

His lawyer Eric Gottardi has said the appeal would focus on two areas: his client's failed attempt to change the location of the trial to Vancouver and the question of fairness at trial.

Gottardi said the B.C. Supreme Court judge's written ruling contained disparaging comments about Legebokoff's defence lawyer at trial, prompting the fairness issue.

Court heard that a police officer pulled Legebokoff over for speeding and noticed blood on his face and clothing that turned out to be from his final victim, Loren Leslie, who was legally blind.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A trio of paintings by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris are slated for sale tonight at an auction in Vancouver.

The Heffel Fine Art Auction House says Harris's canvas "Laurentian Landscape" is expected to fetch between $1.2 million and $1.6 million.

Heffel says the painting is considered to be "a foundation work for the establishment of the Group of Seven."

Oil-on-board works "Coldwell, Lake Superior" and "Mount Sampson, Maligne Lake" round out the trio of Harris paintings for sale.

Three of the late landscape artist's creations broke the million-dollar mark at Heffel's fall auction in Toronto, led by the record-breaking $4.6-million sale of "Mountain and Glacier."

Works by all original members of the Group of Seven are also on the auction block at the spring Heffel sale, including A.Y. Jackson's snow scene "Farm at St. Tite des Caps," an oil-on-canvas work.

Five works by Emily Carr, including the oil-on-canvas "Shoreline" and rare watercolour "Gitwangak," will be available.

A "historically significant" 1949 post-war canvas by official Canada war artist E.J. Hughes is also bound for the auction block.

Hughes relied on supplies left over from his Second World War service to paint "The Post Office at Courtenay, BC"  a work he created over the course of three years.

A pair of works by the late Alex Colville are also slated for sale: "Racer" from the celebrated artist's prolific mid-'50s period, and "Swimming Dog and Canoe."

The spring auction also features Jean Paul Riopelle's 1955 "Composition," which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada.

The two-session live auction will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Heffel's post-war and contemporary art auction is slated for 4 p.m. PT, followed by the fine Canadian art auction at 7 p.m. PT.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A judge is to deliver his verdict today in the first-degree murder trial of Matthew de Grood.

The 24-year-old son of a police officer admits stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party two years ago but both the defence and the Crown agree he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.

The trial was told de Grood became withdrawn about a month before the attack and started posting about the end of the world, religion, vampires and Darth Vader on Facebook.

He reported hearing voices telling him to kill and believed the end of the world was coming before he grabbed a knife from a kitchen in the northwest Calgary home and stabbed the victims to death.

Defence lawyer Allan Fay said in his closing argument that his client believed he was defending himself from werewolves and vampires at the time.

Prosecutor Neil Wiberg said the experts concluded de Grood was not feigning his mental illness and was incapable of realizing his acts were morally wrong.

The trial heard evidence that de Grood became withdrawn about a month before the attack on April 15, 2014 and started posting about the end of the world, religion, vampires and Darth Vader on Facebook.

He reported hearing voices telling him to kill and believed the end of the world was coming before he grabbed a knife from a kitchen in the northwest Calgary home and stabbed the victims to death.

Killed in the attack were Kaitlin Perras, 23; Lawrence Hong, 27; Josh Hunter, 23; Zackariah Rathwell, 21; and Jordan Segura, 22.
Photo: CTV

A Canadian soldier has died while training in New Brunswick.

The Canadian Armed Forces issued a statement saying the soldier collapsed while taking part in physical training outside 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

The soldier was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The incident did not take place on Department of National Defence property, and the RCMP is investigating.

The soldier's name has not been released.

However, the military says he was a member of the 5th Canadian Division Support Group Signal Squadron.
Photo: Contributed

A 21-year-old Kamloops man has been arrested and charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

"Through ongoing investigation to identify, target and arrest those responsible for supplying and selling illicit drugs in our community, Kamloops RCMP conducted a search warrant at a residence in the 2800 block of Valleyview Drive on Feb. 25, said Cpl. Jodi Shelkie. After leaving his residence, Nathan Anthony Townsend was arrested in a vehicle on Westsyde Road. He was found to have a substantial amount of cash on him at the time.

Shelkie said about 225 grams of cocaine and 1,450 grams of marijuana was seized in the residence. A shotgun and crossbow were also seized.

Townsend has been charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. His next court appearance is May 30.

Townsend is known to police.

Kamloops RCMP believe this drug seizure is linked to organized crime, said Shelkie. The Target Enforcement Unit and Crime Reduction Unit remind the public that no street drug is safe. The RCMP will be continuing their investigations into violence and organized crime drug dealing in our community."

This information is being released at this time, as Kamloops RCMP were awaiting charge approval against Townsend and analysis of the illicit drugs from the laboratory.
Photo: CTV

Eight dogs and two cats have died in a blaze at a dog trainer's home in Burnaby.

Assistant Fire Chief Erik Vogel says it's unclear what sparked the fire about 8 p.m. Tuesday, when the animals were left alone while the trainer was out teaching a dog class.

He says the crews that arrived to find the home filled with smoke rushed to pull out pets and attempted resuscitation, including with animal oxygen masks.

Capt. Dean Thomas of the Burnaby Fire Department told CTV Vancouver it was an emotional situation and grief counselling will be offered to firefighters on scene.

The look in some of the guys eyes was pretty upsetting, he told CTV.

They tried their best. Because we only have two pet resuscitators, guys were using their own face pieces and doing CPR on the dogs as the dogs were brought out of the building."

Vogel says the trainer was badly shaken after trying herself to rescue the animals, as were the firefighters that attended what he described as a surreal scene.

He says some animals belonged to the trainer while others were people's pets.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the fire department and SPCA.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: The Canadian Press

A Calgary man has been found not criminally responsible for killing five people in a stabbing rampage.

A judge delivered the verdict today in the first-degree murder trial of Matthew de Grood.

The 24-year-old son of a police officer admits he killed five people at a Calgary house party on April 15, 2014.

But both the defence and the Crown agree he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.

The trial heard de Grood became withdrawn about a month before the attack and started posting about the end of the world, religion, vampires and Darth Vader on Facebook.

Killed in the attack were Kaitlin Perras, Lawrence Hong, Josh Hunter, Zackariah Rathwell and Jordan Segura.
Hats off to the the "group of 12 seniors" that worked so diligently to garner enough votes to veto the AAP on building the new city hall in West Kelowna and forcing a referendum. Also, to the people who took the time to sign it. Good on you.

I also hope some of "the group" would consider running in the next election! Seriously!

Why hasn't it been brought to the publics attention that this council had already signed a deal with a private developer to build the project on this site without having approval from the tax payers? The penalty for not going ahead is $18,000 a month paid to the developer! Check it out! It might never get approved! Who signed this agreement, and how much will it cost if it gets turned down?

Again, anybody who signed that petition will vote for "the group", over a council that is so conceded that it signed a deal that wasn't cleared by the tax payers. Please consider it. We need people like you.

Stan Macruger
A close call for two kayakers on Mission Creek Monday afternoon serves as a reminder to stay away from fast moving water this time of year.

Platoon Capt. Scott Cronquist says its best to stay out of the creek during spring run off, as the water is not as safe as it may look.

Despite warnings to the public, many do venture into the waters around Kelowna and are often caught up in a current they cant control. That's why firefighters train for swift water rescue once a year.

We have four teams, one each shift on duty has a team and we try and train in swift water once a year, Cronquist said. We do other disciplines like high-angle and confined space, and we do those once a year also.

Cronquist said members of the Kelowna Fire Department are most often called out in the spring, when creek water is at its highest.

We are called out about 10 times a year for reports of people in the creek. The water can really get gnarly going down the creek and can be quiet dangerous in numerous places.

Firefighters tested their skills on Mission Creek Tuesday, with attempts at live bait swims and scenario training such as tension diagonal rescue.
Photo: CTV

A lawyer for a British Columbia man convicted of killing three women and a teenage girl says his client deserves a new trial because the judge made disparaging comments about the defence counsel that were only made public after a sentence was imposed.

Cody Legebokoff was given life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years by a Prince George, B.C., judge for the first-degree murders of 15-year-old Loren Leslie, 23-year-old Natasha Montgomery and Jill Stuchenko and Cynthia Maas, who were both 35.

His lawyer Eric Gottardi told the B.C. Court of Appeal that despite the "overwhelming" evidence against Legebokoff, the appearance of unfairness at the trial means the case must be heard again.

His argument focused on the fact that the judge ruled against a defence application in 2012 to have the trial moved to Vancouver, but the written reasons were only released after Legebokoff was convicted and sentenced in 2014.

The judge said in those reasons that Legebokoff's counsel had exaggerated and distorted evidence in the application to have the trial moved, and Gottardi told the appeal court that the judge's comments imply that counsel behaved unethically.

Gottardi said his client should have been made aware before the trial that the judge thought his lawyer's behaviour was unethical, and the appearance of unfairness amounts to a miscarriage of justice.
Photo: Skylar noe-vack

A man is slated to appear in court, after stealing a car so he could meet up with a girl for a date in Penticton.

The police saw the man driving a grey Toyota Corolla with no lights on Eckhardt Road, said Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth.

The driver sped off through the construction zone on Main Street before crashing into a fence.

The vehicle was found to have been stolen out of Kamloops the previous day.

The driver admitted to stealing it to meet up with the girl.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Former prime minister Stephen Harper is preparing to step down as a member of Parliament.

Harper resigned as Conservative leader after losing the election last fall, but stayed on as MP for his Calgary riding.

Sources confirm those days are coming to an end as he prepares to take an active role in promoting foreign policy causes, including advocacy for Israel and maternal, child and newborn health.

He's also expected to join corporate boards.

Harper has kept a low profile in the House of Commons since Parliament resumed with a Liberal government.

He'll be making what's likely to be his final public speech to the Conservative party at their convention in Vancouver on Thursday.
Photo: Contributed

The hunt continues for two large rodents  dubbed by staff as Bonnie and Clyde  that escaped a Toronto zoo.

Megan Price, a spokeswoman with the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation division that runs High Park Zoo, says staff are focusing on the area's creeks as they search for two missing capybaras, which resemble tailless beavers with short legs.

She says the pair, just six months old, have been on the lam since Tuesday morning when they took off while they were being introduced to their enclosure for the first time as part of an exchange with another zoo.

Price says staff are armed with large nets in case they come across the pair, which weigh about 30 pounds each, but could grow to more than 100 pounds.

She is buoyed by a sighting at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night, where someone saw one of the capybaras  native to South America  sniffing around its intended enclosure.

She says the semi-aquatic rodents can be difficult to find because they can remain still, silent and submerged under water for hours with just their noses sticking out.
Photo: Contributed

British Columbia's Coquihalla Highway is getting a $17.6-million upgrade to boost safety for commercial truckers.

Transportation Minister Todd Stone said the project will include an expansion of the Box Canyon chain-up area, which is located about 30 kilometres north of Hope on Highway 5.

The expansion will accommodate up to 70 trucks.

The B.C. government says the expansion will ensure truck drivers have a safe place to put chains on their trucks, which is expected to help reduce accidents, save lives and keep the highway open.

The upgrades in the area will also include new deceleration and acceleration lanes, washroom facilities and more parking.

The federal government will contribute up to $7.3 million to the project, while the provincial government will spend $10.3 million.
Photo: CTV

Police say they have found nothing suspicious about the death of a Canadian soldier while training in New Brunswick.

The Canadian Armed Forces issued a statement saying the soldier collapsed while taking part in physical training outside 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

RCMP Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh says the incident occurred at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday in Hazen Park in Oromocto.

She says the 33-year-old soldier from Oromocto was taking part in a group run and collapsed.

The file in now in the hands of the coroner.

The soldier's name has not been released.

However, the military says he was a member of the 5th Canadian Division Support Group Signal Squadron.
Photo: Carmen Weld

If you haven't filled out your census yet, you're likely getting letters chastising you.

The 2016 census questionnaire was sent out in early May and while a surprisingly high amount of Canadians have enthusiastically and quickly filled it out, millions remain blank.

According to Statistics Canada, it has has received 10.5 million census questionnaires as of Wednesday, about 70 per cent of the 15 million sent out. That leaves 4.5 million, or 30 per cent of the questionnaires outstanding.

In recent "final notice" letters sent out to those not complying, Statistics Canada warns those sitting on their census that they may be referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for further action.

It also says Statistics Canada will start contacting household members via phone or in person if their census is not completed or returned by May 31, 2016.

After June 1, a census operator may follow up with a phone call or a census enumerator may visit your household, says Statistics Canada communications.

The Census of Population is a national program; every household in Canada must complete a questionnaire. Statistics Canada refers refusal cases to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada only after repeated efforts have been made to obtain a complete questionnaire.

While residents are encouraged to complete the census before May 31, Statistics Canada expects residents will still be completing them in the coming months.

If, after repeated attempts, a census has not been completed, Statistics Canada says refusals will be referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which determines if a case will be prosecuted and which handles all prosecutions."

"The penalties laid out in the Statistics Act for refusing to complete the census are a fine (up to $500), prison (up to three months), or both, explains Statistics Canada.

Section 31 of the Statistics Act:

31. Every person who, without lawful excuse,

 (a) refuses or neglects to answer, or wilfully answers falsely, any question requisite for obtaining any information sought in respect of the objects of this Act or pertinent thereto that has been asked of him by any person employed or deemed to be employed under this Act, or

 (b) refuses or neglects to furnish any information or to fill in to the best of his knowledge and belief any schedule or form that the person has been required to fill in, and to return the same when and as required of him pursuant to this Act, or knowingly gives false or misleading information or practises any other deception thereunder is, for every refusal or neglect, or false answer or deception, guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.
Photo: FAA

Police north of Toronto say a man pointed a laser at one of their helicopters just hours after the launch of a federal campaign meant to highlight the dangers of pointing lasers at planes.

York Regional Police say the Air2 helicopter was flying over Richmond Hill, Ont., just after midnight Wednesday when the pilot and tactical flight officer were struck by a bright light source.

Police say the crew was able to direct officers to the location of the suspect, who was then arrested and charged.

Valeri Korakhashvili, 22, of Toronto, is charged with endangering persons on an aircraft in flight and obstructing a peace officer. He is due in court on June 29.

Police say the pilot and tactical flight officer were taken to hospital as a precaution.

A government campaign meant to highlight the issue was unveiled Tuesday as the government tries to address what is fast becoming a serious danger for pilots and air travellers.

The number of laser incidents reported to Transport Canada has increased in the last few years.

The penalties for anyone caught are a fine of up to $100,000, five years in prison, or both.
Photo: School District 83.

A byelection to replace three trustees in the North Okanagan Shuswap School District is being delayed due a late report for the Minister of Education.

Special advisor Liz Watson, a Vancouver lawyer looking into governance practises within the district, has requested more time to finish her report for the minister.

The special advisor met with Minister (Mike) Bernier and presented several draft findings, said ministry spokesperson Jason Keenan. The special advisor requested an additional two weeks to finalize the report for (School District) 83. Minister Bernier has agreed to this request.

The report, which was due on May 20, is expected to be handed in on June 3.

School board trustees within the district were under fire for months over proposals - which were put on hold - to close a number of schools and over revelations they had transferred millions of dollars in surplus operating funds into capital funding projects over the past five years, including the new $9.3 million board offices.

Three trustees  Barry Chafe, Jennifer Wilchuk and Kelly Rowe - handed in their resignations.

A byelection to replace the three trustees is now also on hold, according to the district spokesperson.

The school district has been granted an exception to the School Act requirements to hold a byelection within 80 days of the appointment of a Chief Election Officer, said Alice Hucul, who did not explain further.

"After the special advisor report has been received and reviewed, the next steps will be determined in consultation with the ministry," added district superintendent Glenn Borthistle.
Photo: ABC

A former Penticton resident is hoping he gets kissed by a rose.

Pen-High graduate Daniel Maguire, 31, is a contestant on the current season of The Bachelorette, vying for the affections (and roses) of Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher.

The male model describes himself as honest, experienced and friendly.

He says his biggest date fear is "that she doesnt look like she does in pictures, or when on a date, she embarrasses me in a restaurant."

Maguire also boasts he has no tattoos for the "same reason you dont put stickers on a lambo."

On the first episode of the show, Maguire also got drunk and stripped down to his underwear. But he was still awarded a rose at the Rose Ceremony by Fletcher.

His Facebook page says he studied psychology at Thompson Rivers University.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A new study in the journal Nature finds that Alberta's oilsands are one of the largest sources of organic aerosol air pollution in North America.

Data from airborne measurements over the bitumen-producing region in August 2013 found that oilsands production generates at least 45 to 84 tonnes per day of the tiny particulate matter  comparable to mega-cities such as Paris and Mexico City.

The study, whose lead authors are Environment Canada scientists, says secondary organic aerosol production should be taken into consideration when assessing the environmental impact of current and planned oilsands development.

And it suggests heavy-oil extraction projects around the globe are likely large sources of this type of air pollution.

"The oilsands on its own as a global source is probably not very significant," research scientist John Liggio of Environment Canada said in an interview Wednesday.

"But you have to keep in mind that extraction of viscous, heavy oil is happening all over the world. That's the globalness of it. This type of process is expected to occur in multiple places, wherever you extract bitumen, heavy oil, and so on."

Secondary organic aerosols are produced when volatile organic compounds interact with sunlight and other airborne chemicals to create tiny particles, which have been found to cause lung and heart problems and other health effects.

The Nature study found that low-volatility organic vapours from mined oilsands material is "directly responsible" for the majority of the observed secondary organic aerosols downwind from oilsands mining projects.

Multiple flights over the course of a month aboard a National Research Council aircraft and using mass spectrometers found differing plumes up to 100 kilometres downwind of oilsands projects.

And while other pollutants such as black carbon and sulphate aerosols dissipated as the plumes spread in width from 39 kilometres to 79 kilometres, the secondary organic aerosols, or SOAs, remained relatively steady, "indicating a significant SOA formation rate within these plumes, overriding the effect of dilution," says the Nature article.

Shao-Meng Li, who co-authored the study with Liggio, said the study of SOAs has been done mostly in cities. This is the first time that the contribution from a specific industrial sector has been able to be measured, in significant part due to northern Alberta's lack of other heavy industry or emission sources.

"Because of the uniqueness in that area (of Alberta), because of the non-source, if you will, we are able to thoroughly study and specifically say this is from that industrial source sector," Li said in an interview. "In a big urban area, it's a lot more difficult to isolate different sources."

Air pollution rather than climate impact was the focus of the study, said the government research scientist, although particulate matter in the atmosphere is known to absorb solar radiation.

The researchers said they haven't pinpointed the exact emission sources within oilsands projects, whether it be tailings ponds, the mines themselves or processing. They also don't know what effect in situ oilsands extraction  which uses steam to melt bitumen deep underground and then pumps it to the surface  has on the formation of secondary organic aerosols.

And they'd like to test those oilsands plumes at a different time of year to see how seasonal changes impact the formation of SOAs.

"We're hoping in the next couple of years we'll have another study, in another season, looking at different sources, including in situ  and different parts of the facilities as well," said Liggio.
The Mediterranean and beyond

ICR Research By

Published 25 May 2016

The Mediterranean has always played a vital role in the world economy and international trade. In recent years its bordering countries have been affected by turmoil caused by various factors: the economic crisis, a fall in oil prices, increasing migration and Islamisation, political instability and wars. This uncertainty has affected construction investment and regional cement demand. For Mediterranean cement producers this has meant a need to find new markets and look beyond the usual horizon of the region to seek profit elsewhere. By Sylvie Doutres, DSG Consultants, France.

Despite the modest recovery observed on the Mediterraneans northern, European shores and the population growth in the eastern and southern part, the region still faces a cement supply surplus, estimated at around 48Mt in 2015. This surplus particularly affects countries in the north (including Turkey, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy) and is mainly explained by the economic slowdown in this area (see Table 1). However,when comparing 2015 with the previous year, a cautious optimism supports the view that the economic situation in most southern European countries (except Greece) has improved. In the EU28 average GDP growth in the next two years is forecast at two per cent, but this recovery remains fragile and partly-linked to the slump in the price of oil. Moreover, public investments remain insufficient to reverse the downward trend in cement consumption.

To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login
Ghana: Dangote appeals for ban on Chinese imports

ICR Newsroom By 25 May 2016

Dangote has called on the government of Ghana to ban imports of Chinese cement, warning that the measure is necessary to save local producers from collapse, Ghanaweb reports.

In addition to the economic impact of such imports, Dangote also claimed that Chinese cement was not subject to proper quality checks and as such could put consumers at risk. Joseph Abo, sales and marketing manager of Dangote Cement, said the use of this cement meant Ghana was building our death traps.

Tor Nygard, director of Dangotes Tema plant, said: Importation of Chinese cement is indirectly affecting all the local manufacturers  Diamond Cement, Dangote Cement, GHACEM among others. Those who import it are not paying the taxes they are supposed to pay. They pay very low tax and therefore make low contribution to the Ghanaian economy. No employment  they only ship straight to the customers.

Dangote currently sources the cement it sells in Ghana from Nigeria, but is unlikely to be affected by attempts to restrict imports as both countries are members of ECOWAS. The company is also building a 1.5Mta grinding plant in Takoradi.

Published under
As Memorial Day approaches, the Tennessee State Library & Archives is commemorating the 100-year anniversary of World War I by launching a new digital collection on TeVA (Tennessee Virtual Archive). The Tennessee World War I Gold Star Records, 1918-1924 is a memorial collection honoring Tennessee servicemen who died during the Great War. Soldiers' records offer insights into early 20th century life and the loss experienced by servicemen and their families.

The gold star tradition began after the United States entered World War I in 1917. While men boarded trains and ships bound for military camps or foreign shores, their families proudly hung small flags with blue stars in windows to announce that they had loved ones who were in the service. In less than two years, around 4,000 Tennesseans blue stars were exchanged for gold ones as families received notice of their loved ones' deaths.

After the war ended, Americans incorporated the gold stars in their commemorative efforts at home and abroad. As a part of these efforts, more than 1,000 records of gold star boys were collected by the Tennessee Historical Committee, the Library & Archives, and county mother-chairmen. The records collected include a broad range of materials, such as soldier portraits, family histories, and battlefield correspondence.

"Thanks to the work of the historical committee, the volunteers in each county and the staff of the Library & Archives, we have a strong record of Tennesseans who sacrificed their lives in World War I," Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. "We owe a debt of gratitude to those who had the foresight years ago to preserve those records. The material contained within Tennessee's gold star collection gives us so much insight into one of the bloodiest conflicts in our country's history."

People who access the new online collection can search for information in a number of ways - by soldier names, cities, counties or service information. One notable feature is the "browse by military branch option," which allows users to easily find records of servicemen in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy or Air Service (a precursor to the Air Force).

Genealogical researchers will find information such as the names of soldiers parents and next-of-kin useful in reconstructing information from the 1890 Census, the records of which were almost completely lost in a 1921 fire. Historians will discover valuable primary source material in correspondence from the homefront and the battlefront.

The digital collection currently provides access to 601 soldiers records with surnames 'A' through 'H,' which represents about half of the total collection. Files can be downloaded directly from the site for research purposes. The collection is projected to be completed by Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day in honor of the ceasefire that ended World War I.
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) announced that 49 teachers have been selected for the 2016-17 class of the Tennessee Educator Fellowship , a significant expansion of the program that helps elevate teacher voice in the state.

The Tennessee Educator Fellowship exists to empower teachers to share their student-focused perspective in the statewide conversation about preparing all students for postsecondary education and the workforce. Teachers have a proven, significant role in helping students achieve at higher levels, and Tennessee needs the insight of teachers on how best to sustain and accelerate student success, SCORE Executive Chairman and CEO Jamie Woodson said.The Tennessee Educator Fellowship exists to empower teachers to share their student-focused perspective in the statewide conversation about preparing all students for postsecondary education and the workforce.

The Tennessee Educator Fellowship is a yearlong program that equips teachers to advocate for their students and their profession as they continue their work in their classrooms. Entering its third year, the Fellowship has helped prepare 48 teachers to contribute to the discussion about education policy by appearing at public speaking engagements, inviting policymakers into their classrooms, writing about their education experience in state and national publications, creating regional professional networks, and serving on state-level policy committees.

We believe the diverse perspectives and experiences of our Fellows are fundamental to the success of this experience, said Tennessee Educator Fellowship Coordinator Peter Tang, who previously taught in Memphis and is an alumnus of the inaugural year of the Fellowship. By bringing together thoughtful and engaged teachers from across the state, grade levels, and subjects, the Fellowship helps them to learn, reflect, and grow into confident teacher leaders.

The Fellows chosen for 2016-17 have combined teaching experience that totals more than 580 years, ranging from three years in the classroom to more than 30. These Educator Fellows represent elementary, middle, and high schools in 28 districts across East, Middle, and West Tennessee. The members of the cohort teach English language arts, math, science, social studies, foreign language, music, career and technical education, gifted and special education, and English language learners in urban, suburban, and rural schools.

The 2016-17 Tennessee Educator Fellows are:

Erica Adkins teaches fifth-grade math and science at Bellevue Middle School in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Adkins has been teaching for four years.

Mary Jane Allen teaches seventh grade English language arts at Ridgeview School in Washington County Schools. Allen has been teaching for 18 years.

August Askins teaches eighth-grade science at Holston Middle School in Knox County Schools. Askins has been teaching for 12 years.

Misty Ayres-Miranda teaches grades 9-12, English, AP Literature, and Literary Arts at Nashvile School of the Arts in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Ayres-Miranda has been teaching for eight years.

Rita Black teaches grades K-4 music at Eakin Elementary School in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Black has been teaching for 11 years.

Robin Boutillette teaches grades 7-8 English language arts at Avery Trace Middle School in Putnam County Schools. Boutillette has been teaching for 10 years.

Laura Brady teaches fifth grade at Edmondson Elementary School in Williamson County Schools. Brady has been teaching for 8 years.

Kenneth Chadwell teaches grades 7-8 history at Huntsville Middle School in Scott County Schools. Chadwell has been teaching for 15 years.

Amy Crawford teaches seventh-grade English language arts at West Valley Middle School in Knox County Schools. Crawford has been teaching for 21 years.

Erin Doran teaches third grade at University School in Washington County Schools. Doran has been teaching for 14 years.

Charity Dowell teaches third-grade math and writing at Blountville Elementary School in Sullivan County Schools. Dowell has been teaching for 17 years.

Anne Duvall teaches grades 10-11 English II and III Inclusion at Overton High School in Shelby County Schools. Duvall has been teaching for 10 years.

Timothy Fariss teaches fourth-grade math and science at Dibrell Elementary School in Warren County Schools. Fariss has been teaching for 27 years.

Carly Fricano teaches tenth-grade English at The Soulsville Charter School, a public charter in Shelby County Schools, beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Fricano has been teaching for five years.

Dr. Diarese George teaches grades 10-12 accounting, business management, and dual enrollment personal finance with UT-Martin at Clarksville High School in Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools. George has been teaching for 3 years.

Erin Glenn teaches eighth-grade social studies at East Lake Academy of Fine Arts in Hamilton County Department of Education. Glenn has been teaching for 10 years.

Jane Griggs teaches sixth-grade math at Rucker Stewart Middle School in Sumner County Schools. Griggs has been teaching for 13 years.

Christy Grubb teaches kindergarten at Sevierville Primary School in Sevier County Schools. Grubb has been teaching for 21 years.

Jenny Hatch teaches seventh-grade science and social studies at Dyersburg Middle School in Dyersburg City Schools. Hatch has been teaching for nine years.

Heather Hobbs teaches fifth-grade literacy and social studies at Andrew Johnson Elementary School in Kingsport City Schools. Hobbs has been teaching for five years.

Katie Hoffmeier teaches first-grade special education, ELL, and inclusion at KIPP Kirkpatrick, a public charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Hoffmeier has been teaching for three years.

Mary-Owen Holmes teaches seventh-grade social studies at Spring Hill Middle School in Maury County Public Schools. Holmes has been teaching for four years.

Charla Hurt teaches grades 11-12 economics and U.S. government at Lincoln County High School in Lincoln County Schools. Hurt has been teaching for 16 years.

Kris Krautkremer teaches grades 11-12 biology and AP Biology at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport City Schools. Krautkremer has been teaching for 29 years.

Dr. Stein Lee teaches grades 10-12 algebra at Overton High School in Shelby County Schools. Lee has been teaching for 10 years.

Clare Lundy teaches 11th-grade English at McGavock High School in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Lundy has been teaching for three years.

Jennifer Moore teaches third grade at Gordon Achievement Academy in Shelby County Schools. Moore has been teaching for 20 years.

Vanessa Moore teaches ninth-grade geometry and German at Bartlett Ninth Grade Academy in Bartlett City Schools. Moore has been teaching for 24 years.

Chris Murray teaches seventh-grade writing and English language arts at Schilling Farms Middle School in Collierville Schools. Murray has been teaching for 11 years.

Kerri Newsom teaches second grade at Dyersburg Primary School in Dyersburg City Schools. Newsom has been teaching for 15 years.

Terry Nickels teaches grades 9-12 criminal justice with Greene Technology Center in Greeneville City Schools. Nickels has been teaching for 17 years.

Dr. Jolinea Pegues teaches ninth-grade English at Trezevant High School in Shelby County Schools. Pegues has been teaching for 10 years.

Emily Ragland teaches first grade at KIPP Memphis Collegiate, a public charter school in Shelby County Schools. Ragland has been teaching for seven years.

Erin Rains teaches 10th-grade English language arts at Walker Valley High School in Bradley County Schools. Rains has been teaching for 12 years.

Tina Romine teaches grades 11-12 English at Creek Wood High School in Dickson County Schools. Romine has been teaching for 11 years.

Carl Schneider teaches grades 3-5 gifted enrichment at Whitney Achievement Elementary School in the Achievement School District. Schneider has been teaching for three years.

Charlene Schwenk teaches fourth-grade math at Frazier Elementary School in Rhea County Schools. Schwenk has been teaching for 38 years.

Davida Smith-Keita teaches 12th-grade English at GRAD Academy Memphis, a public charter school in the Achievement School District. Smith-Keita has been teaching for 12 years.

Erica Stephens teaches fourth-grade math at John P. Freeman Optional School in Shelby County Schools. Stephens has been teaching for 12 years.

Terri Stephens teaches sixth-grade history at Hamilton Middle School in Shelby County Schools. Stephens has been teaching for 20 years.

Brandi Stroecker teaches grades 6-8 physical science and STEM Explorers at Maxine Smith STEAM Academy in Shelby County Schools. Stroecker has been teaching for 10 years.

Lauren Tate teaches first grade at Henry Elementary School in the Henry County School System. Tate has been teaching for six years.

Zaia Thombre teaches seventh-grade math at STEM Preparatory Academy, a public charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Thombre has been teaching for three years.

Lori Tucker teaches fourth-grade math and science at White Pine School in Jefferson County Schools. Tucker has been teaching for nine years.

Shannon Tufts teaches second grade at Lenoir City Elementary School in Lenoir City Schools. Tufts has been teaching for 15 years.

Rachel Turner teaches grades 11-12 economics, government, and history at Hamilton County High School in the Hamilton County Department of Education. Turner has been teaching for six years.

Joshua Vaden teaches grades 9-12 English II and journalism at Springfield High School in Robertson County Schools. Vaden has been teaching for four years.

Thomas Whisenant teaches grades 9-12 English language development at Maplewood High School in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Whisenant has been teaching for 3 years.

Cathy Whitehead teaches third grade at West Chester Elementary School in Chester County Schools. Whitehead has been teaching for six years.

The new Fellows will convene for the first time in July. Throughout the upcoming year, the Educators Fellows will learn through in-person and online seminars and will serve as liaisons between their colleagues, their communities, and policymakers as Tennessee continues the work of improving educational outcomes for all students.
The Next Door of Chattanooga accepted a $50,000 grant from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation in April. Funding from this grant will provide each woman served by the non-profit with ongoing, gender responsive treatment in an environment that is collaborative, nurturing, and empowering.



"The mission of The Next Door is to live out our faith by providing a continuum of evidence-based services for women and their families impacted by addiction, mental illness, trauma and/or incarceration," officials said.

The Chattanooga site is the only Correctional Release Center for women in Tennessee. Professional services offered at the center include case management, workforce development, therapy, lifetime recovery management, and family reunification.

The generosity of the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation will impact many lives, officials said.

As we celebrate 5 years of serving women through our correctional release center, this grant is wonderful affirmation of the work we are doing and the work we will continue to do, said Cindy Dawson, The Next Door regional development coordinator of East Tennessee. We are dedicated to helping women coming from crisis by giving them the tools they need to lead lives of wholeness and hope, free from addiction.



This grant further reflects The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundations dedication to improving lives in our local communities, officials said. We thank The Next Door for all they do for our Tennessee communities and we wish the organization every success in their efforts, said Dawn Abel, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee director of Community Relations and Foundations. Our mission is to support the communities we serve, emphasizing healthy living, health care access and quality of life. We are proud to partner with The Next Door.



The Next Door Chattanooga opened in 2011 as a branch location to its Nashville center, which opened in 2004.
Parade steps off Audio Article For the first time since 2019, marching bands, classic cars, dance troupes, scouts and politicians made their way along Midlothian Turnpike for the annual Midlothian Day Parade on Saturday, Oct....
Amazon plans to more than double its presence in Joliet, adding a second warehouse that it says will add more than 2,000 full-time jobs to the 1,500 it announced last summer at its first Illinois warehouse.

And the state is rolling out the welcome mat, offering the online retail giant additional tax breaks expected to be worth at least $2 million a year for a decade.

Advertisement

Amazon hopes to have the second, 700,000-square-foot warehouse  from where smaller items like books, toys and electronics will be picked, packed and shipped  open by the fall, in time for the holiday shopping season, said John Grueling, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development, who described the news as "a huge win for Will County."

Ikea and candy giant Mars also are building new distribution centers in the area, which has become a favorite for national retailers looking to serve the Chicago market, thanks to its transportation links and availability of affordable labor: Joliet in March had an 8.8 percent unemployment rate, well above the statewide average of 6.8 percent, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Advertisement

Jobs at the second Joliet warehouse, which will be next to the first, 500,000-square-foot warehouse at Illinois Route 53 and Laraway Road, have yet to be advertised. Jobs at the first warehouse pay $13 an hour and $14.95 an hour, with some better-paid positions for workers with technical skills.

The nonprofit Center for Tax and Budget Accountability estimated that tax credits originally offered to Amazon by former Gov. Pat Quinn's administration at its first Joliet facility were worth at least $975,000 a year, based on the 1,000 positions that Amazon initially announced. Rauner's amended agreement requires Amazon to create 3,500 jobs, including the 1,500 that already exist at the first warehouse, in return for the right not to pay corporate state income tax for 10 years.

Though Amazon has earned a reputation as a tough employer to work for after a series of news reports about conditions inside its warehouses, where workers have complained they felt like human robots, Grueling said the jobs are helping to "replace a lot of the middle-class jobs that were lost in manufacturing in this area."

Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk described the Amazon positions as "great jobs that pay a living wage and benefits." When national retailers first started setting up their warehouses in Joliet, there were some concerns that they were employing a lot of part-time, minimum wage workers, "but we've moved past that now, and this is great for Joliet," he said.

Amazon for years avoided having a physical presence in Illinois so it could sidestep sales taxes, relying instead on massive warehouses in Indiana and, more recently, Wisconsin, to serve the Chicago area. But it softened its approach in 2015, when it began collecting sales tax from Illinois consumers after a law change.

Increased demand for its same-day Amazon Prime delivery service and competition from other Internet retail operations, including Wal-Mart, are pushing it to expand the number of warehouses it operates. In addition to the Joliet warehouse, it also on Wednesday announced additional distribution centers in California.

"We have found an abundance of talent in Joliet and we are excited to bring a new fulfillment center to the city and create 2,000 great full-time jobs with benefits," Akash Chauhan, Amazon's vice president of North American operations, said in a news release. "This community and the elected officials throughout the city and state have been very supportive of Amazon and we thank them for helping make this possible."

Grueling said Amazon will not receive any local tax breaks in addition to any offered by the state, but said that the city and county would assist in ensuring Amazon gets the permits it needs to open quickly.

Advertisement

"Speed is everything for this company," he said.

kjanssen@tribpub.com

Twitter @kimjnews
I know Chicagoans are so particular about their sausages and hotdogs, said Lucky Peach Editor in Chief Chris Ying in understatement.

Ying, who traveled the world to rigorously research and write the new book "The Wurst of Lucky Peach: A Treasury of Encased Meat" (Clarkson Potter, $26), stopped in Chicago recently for a Ferris Bueller-themed sausage and karaoke book launch party at Publican Quality Meats.

You may remember the films sausage link, but if you dont (spoiler alert!), Ferris claims he is the Sausage King of Chicago, Abe Froman, to steal Fromans reservation at the fictional French restaurant Chez Quis. June 11 is the 30th anniversary of the film's premiere.

I spoke with Ying before the party, and caught up at PQM over party-size jalapeno cheddar brats and to karaoke "Danke Schoen."

Q What inspired the book?

A The direct inspiration for "The Wurst of Lucky Peach," if I'm being really honest, was just that we thought the name was really funny. I mean you come up with a funny name and you've written half the book.

Q But seriously.

Advertisement

A We liked the idea of riffing on best of compilations and the more we sat with it, we realized we do really like sausages and have a lot to say about them. What started as a joke became less of a joke and a serious thing.

Our book is not the end-all be-all last word on sausages. We try to cover just the most interesting ones, the ones that really caught our attention.

Q What was the best of the wurst in the world?

A In Austria and Germany, they have this Kasekrainer which are these cheese stuffed sausages. In my experience a cheese stuffed sausage in America is kind of useless, the cheese never makes an appearance. But I remember cutting into this sausage in Munich and thinking, "this is a bummer, nothing is happening," and then miraculously one second later out of seemingly nowhere this molten cheese started oozing out of invisible pores in the sausage and I was just so excited. It was shocking but really really tasty.

And then in Bangkok, the Sai Krok Isan (Thai sour sausage). You see these beautiful little tiny orbs, gemlike, hanging all over the streets, and so packed with flavor with just a little bit of tang from fermentation. And then theres the whole process of eating them where you kind of spike them with a little bird's-eye chili and them put them in your mouth with a knob of ginger and some herbs. It was really just eye-opening.

Q Speaking of Asian recipes, the magazine's first book was "Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes," released last fall. It's the first in a series. What inspired it?

A The inspiration for the series of these kind of single subject cookbooks are the Time-Life series of books that examined the individual cuisines and ingredients. Those hold a really special place for us. But these are books for how we live now.

I keep describing this as the kind of book that you would find entertaining to read in the bathroom but useful to you in the kitchen, So hopefully that's a new type of book that people appreciate.

lchu@tribpub.com

Twitter @louisachu






As a critic who has spent an enormous amount of the past six years covering "Game of Thrones," I spend a certain amount of time thinking about what my career will look like when HBO's epic fantasy series comes to its conclusion.

But if this is a question of pleasure for "Game of Thrones" fans, it's a huge business question for HBO, which has had a run of rough luck launching new shows, punctuated most recently by Michael Lombardo's departure as programming head of the network. So to avoid thinking about what my life will be like without "Game of Thrones" in it, here are five thoughts on how HBO should move forward into a bold, challenging new era of television.

Advertisement

RELATED: MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR

1. Stop trying so hard to be important all the time: There were a lot of things I disliked about "Vinyl," HBO's expensive, under-watched attempt to tell a story about the music scene in the '70s. But if there was one thing that really killed the show for me was the characters' tendencies to declare, at some length, that their efforts to keep a record label going were a way to avoid spiritual death and save the culture, man.

Advertisement

I mean, I get it. HBO's rise to dominance was fueled by shows that were praised for saying something significant, whether it was about the violence of nation-building, suburban malaise, urban decay, medieval violence or the choices women make when they have more options than at any previous point in history. But shows like "Deadwood," "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Game of Thrones" and "Sex and the City" worked because they didn't stop every five minutes to tell you that you're watching something really important. HBO, in its desperation for prestige, risks turning its products into vegetables.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 54 Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage in "Game of Thrones." (Helen Sloan/HBO)

By contrast, one of the more pleasurable big dramas to premiere this year, at least for me, has been Showtime's "Billions." The series, which stars Damian Lewis as a hedge-fund billionaire with working-class roots, Paul Giamatti as the old-money prosecutor desperate to bring him down and Maggie Siff as the in-house shrink at the hedge fund who is married to the prosecutor, obviously is about big issues. But it was also just a fun show to watch, full of gorgeous pools in the Hamptons, organic farms attached to Michelin-star restaurants and crazy plots involving hedge fund guys with secret families. HBO could stand to wear its big ideas more lightly.

2. Be less afraid of straightforward sitcoms: Earlier this year, I wrote about how prestige comedies have fallen into cliche just as surely as anti-hero dramas came to over-rely on difficult, middle-aged white men. The protagonists are arrested in their development, the tone is sour, and often, despite ostensibly being comedic, these sitcoms don't actually have jokes, or even moments of general levity. As "The Sopranos" is to the anti-hero show, HBO's "Girls" is to prestige anti-comedies; both shows absolutely work, but they spawned plenty that didn't.

Now, HBO does have some very strong and more straightforwardly funny comedies: I adore "Silicon Valley," and I've enjoyed "Veep" a ton over the years. But both of these shows are vicious satires. And while I wouldn't want them to be anything else, there's a difference between flaying an industry or a town and more conventional sitcoms, where we identify with the characters rather than cringing in sympathy with them or horror at them. Cable may find the latter sort of show insufficiently edgy. But while the premium networks have walked away from the format, series such as "The Carmichael Show," "black-ish" and "Fresh Off the Boat" have proved that there's plenty to say within the constraints of a family comedy. Sarah Jessica Parker's "Divorce" may prove to be a step in this direction. But I'd feel more attached to HBO if it took a few more of them.

3. Break with the white-dude brand: It's not entirely fair to HBO that the network has a reputation for difficult white men as both subjects and showrunners. Series like "Deadwood" and "Game of Thrones" have fantastic female characters, and "The Wire" remains one of the richest displays of the talents of African-American acting talent ever to appear on television. "The Night Of," which HBO has been advertising heavily before "Game of Thrones," also focuses on a non-white couple. But at a time when other networks have made more explicit plays for non-white viewers and have tried to build their brands by arguing that shaking up stereotypes is every bit as daring as getting us to sympathize with a depressive mobster, HBO has felt a bit behind the curve in this regard.

4. Develop a mini- or limited-series program: One of the smartest things FX has done during John Landgraf's tenure as head of that network (and its comedy channel, FXX) is to let Ryan Murphy develop "American Horror Story" and "American Crime Story" as big flagship brands that draw in fantastic casts and creative directors. Murphy's limited-run series, which reboot to tell a new story every season, aren't always my thing -- as I've written, I have a very hard time with horror -- but because they reset every year, there's always an opportunity for me to come back. John Ridley's fantastic "American Crime" series at ABC works the same way.

HBO would be smart to develop a similar magnet for actors and audiences. And it already has a potential template in its movies about political history, from more recent political stories like "Recount" and "Game Change" about the 2000 and 2008 elections, to "Confirmation," Rick Famuyiwa's account of Anita Hill's testimony about Clarence Thomas, and most recently, "All the Way," a film about Lyndon Baines Johnson in the run-up to the 1964 election. To date, HBO has tended to pick stories that can be told in two hours. But there's plenty of political history that would be great at a six-, eight- or 10-episode length. And it doesn't all have to be pegged to Washington or to presidential elections. Why not dig into the civil rights movement? Or '70s radicalism? Or Reconstruction?

5. Remember that not everything has to be crazy-expensive: All of the coverage of HBO's current challenges focuses on the fact that the network is spending huge amounts of money on series that either don't turn out to be hits or that never make it to the screen at all. Now, it's absolutely true that in the arms race that defines television right now, there's a lot of pressure on networks to woo showrunners by giving them huge budgets and latitude to explore their ambitions. But HBO's free-spending nature dovetails with the first problem on this list, the insistence that every single series has to be the biggest thing ever. Believe it or not, there are engaging, heart-rending, hilarious stories that don't require shooting in a gazillion countries or spending hours on special effects. HBO should tell some of them.

Advertisement

RELATED STORIES:

Fire, ice and Hodor: 5 thoughts on 'Game of Thrones' Episode 5

Where to find 'Game of Thrones' stars on British TV (and elsewhere)

'Game of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke pranks sleeping co-star







Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Framing this story of a little-known chapter of local military history is the recovery from the bottom of Lake Michigan of three vintage airplanes, mollusk-covered, rusty, sometimes in pieces and yet headed for restoration all the same. And those are just a few of the scores of naval aircraft that sunk to the lake bed during the time when Chicago's great lake was used to train pilots to take off from and land on aircraft carriers.
I love the city that I've called home for 18 years, but it's easy to feel demoralized about its present and future. More than 1,300 people have been shot this year  a 50 percent increase over last year's already horrifying statistics  and it's not even summer yet. Public school budgets are being slashed, which means the kids going without will have to go with even less.
Bonnie Liltz enters the courthouse in the Cook County Third Municipal District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows on May 10, 2016. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Bonnie Liltz, who was sentenced to four years in prison last week for killing her severely disabled daughter, has been hospitalized, delaying her transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections while her lawyer seeks to get her moved to a suburban hospital.

After her sentencing a week ago, Liltz was placed in Cook County Jail's Cermak hospital while she awaited transfer to prison to serve a four-year term.

Advertisement

But the Schaumburg woman was taken to Stroger Hospital over the weekend because of deteriorating health conditions, said Cara Smith, chief of policy and a spokeswoman for the Cook County sheriff's office.

Liltz was briefly returned to Cermak late Tuesday  for reasons that were unclear and apparently in violation of the court order  but was back at Stroger on Wednesday, said her lawyer, Thomas Glasgow.

Advertisement

Glasgow said Liltz is frail, suffering from "advanced medical problems" including severe dehydration, and could not eat the jail food. He asserts she received inadequate care at Cermak. He also said she's been threatened by other inmates.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Smith confirmed that a court order Glasgow obtained on Liltz's behalf required her to be treated at Stroger.

Glasgow, meanwhile, has obtained a temporary stay of the order to transfer Liltz to IDOC custody. At an emergency hearing Tuesday in Cook County's Rolling Meadows branch court, Glasgow sought to have Liltz's bond reinstated to allow her to be taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, where she can be treated by her own physicians.

But Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber argued bond can't be reinstated for someone already convicted and sentenced.

Liltz, 56, was initially charged with first-degree murder after she placed a fatal dose of medication into the feeding tube of her 28-year-old adopted daughter Courtney and then tried to take her own life. Liltz said in court that her own chronic health problems had made her despair over the prospect that, after her death, Courtney would end up in an institution. Courtney had cerebral palsy and could not walk or talk.

Liltz was initially scheduled to be moved to a prison facility Friday, two days after her sentencing.

She had ovarian cancer decades ago, and the radiation treatments damaged her digestive system and left her with chronic health problems, according to lawyers on the case.

George Houde is a freelance reporter.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel answers questions from the press after the meeting of the Chicago City Council on May 18, 2016. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

So far, Mayor Rahm Emanuel isn't having his security guards gas up the black SUV or preparing a private plane for takeoff for a quick trip to Springfield as lawmakers try to come up with a school funding plan in the final week of spring session.

There's a lot at stake. CPS is looking for hundreds of millions of dollars of state help to keep the district afloat as a huge teachers pension payment is due at the end of June. The mayor said Tuesday that there's more than one way to make the city's case.

Advertisement

"I've been personally in touch with them, in person, and there's a lot of ways, you can FaceTime people on cellphones, if you're worried about that personal touch, OK?" Emanuel said.

"I'm going to continue to be, not just on the phone but in person," he said. "This weekend I was meeting with legislators from the Chicago area."

Advertisement

As it stood Tuesday, an Emanuel trip to the Capitol this week seemed unlikely, said top administration officials who were not authorized to discuss the mayor's schedule publicly.

In recent weeks, Emanuel has fine-tuned his message on the issue, arguing that the state's school funding formula not only is detrimental to CPS but to downstate cities with a high number of poor students, such as Springfield and Quincy. A personal appearance by Emanuel to testify in Springfield could work counter to that message and put the spotlight on Chicago's needs instead of the mayor's argument that the formula itself is unfair to poor students. Republicans already are calling Emanuel's request for more state money a bailout.

For the mayor, deciding whether to insert himself into the delicate situation at a stalemated Capitol carries some risk. Though he could claim some measure of credit if a funding bill that helps CPS passes following an eleventh-hour visit, Emanuel could get stuck with an even bigger share of the political blame if he goes there and the legislature then doesn't act on education funding, or passes a bill that doesn't help Chicago the way he wants.

The mayor's record on in-person appeals to lawmakers is mixed. In May 2012 he made a much-ballyhooed speech to a House pension panel, calling for an overhaul of city government worker pensions and saying the "day of reckoning has arrived."

The General Assembly did not act on the plan Emanuel proposed at the time, and it would be another two years before they passed a different pension reform bill, which the Illinois Supreme Court ultimately threw out in March.

The mayor didn't rule out heading down there in the next few days, however.

"I didn't say  leaving that open," he said. "What I said to you is, don't assume it's just the last 24 hours or the last 48 hours. I've been at this for over a year."

Gov. Bruce Rauner, a longtime vocal critic of the Chicago Teachers Union, hasn't been publicly receptive to an education funding bill that would primarily help CPS.

Advertisement

The Republican governor has his own fight with Democrats as he seeks his so-called "turnaround agenda," which includes changing the workers' compensation system so that employees face tougher standards to prove an injury happened on the job.

On Tuesday, a key labor group allied with Democrats tried to put the brakes on talk about changes to the workers' compensation system.

"I want to be very clear that we're in no mood, we have no appetite, for worker comp reform, and we will use our collective resources to vigorously oppose worker comp changes," said Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. "The governor continues to talk about, in order to get a budget, it's got to be predicated on components of what he calls the turnaround agenda. We adamantly oppose, we do not think that's a way to conduct workers' comp discussions."

Carrigan said should changes be considered, they must go through what's known as an "agreed" bill process  a lengthy negotiations strategy aimed at striking a compromise between labor, business groups, trial attorneys and medical organizations that each has a stake in the program. That's how changes were put in place in 2011, ones Rauner has said don't go far enough.

Todd Maisch, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said Illinois must act quickly to change course, that there isn't enough time for drawn-out talks.

"The agreed bill process is a long, drawn-out one, and insisting on that process is the same thing as demanding no change at all," Maisch said in a statement.

Advertisement

The back-and-forth demonstrates the battle lines for the November House and Senate elections, which will pit the power and money of organized labor and House Speaker Michael Madigan's vast Democratic network against Rauner's personal wealth and influential businesses allies.

On a related front, Rauner's office spent much of Tuesday lobbying against a vote to override the governor's veto of a labor-backed bill centering on a new union contract that could be called for a vote in the House as early as Wednesday.

Bott and Chicago Tribune's Monique Garcia contributed from Springfield.

jebyrne@tribpub.com

cbott@tribpub.com
House Speaker Michael Madigan, shown in April 2016 at the Capitol, could try to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of a union contract bill. (Seth Perlman / AP)

Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.

Topspin

Gov. Bruce Rauner's office spent Tuesday bracing for a possible Democratic attempt to override the governor's veto of a labor-backed bill that could be called for a vote in the House as early as Wednesday.

Advertisement

The legislation would prevent a lockout or strike should contract talks with unions reach an impasse, instead sending negotiations to an independent arbitrator. The bill is being pushed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents roughly 38,000 state workers.

AFSCME and Rauner have been unable to agree on a new contract since the last one expired July 1. In his veto message last week, the governor argued that the bill would replace him in the negotiations, turning over talks to a labor-friendly arbitrator who would approve demands from the union that taxpayers can't afford.

Advertisement

Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, said he's hoping to build on momentum from a union rally last week that saw thousands of workers march in the streets around the Capitol in opposition to Rauner.

"I just think timing and circumstance have changed, I think people are hearing from folks back home in their districts, and the state employees have made their voices heard, both in their districts and down here," Welch said. "I think the rally in Springfield last week was very impressive, and people are hearing that. So we're going to put it on the board and see if the votes are there."

An earlier attempt to override an identical measure failed when Madigan was unable to keep unified all 71 of his members needed for an override. It's unclear if a few minds have changed since then to overturn Rauner's veto.

The politics, as they often do at the Capitol, cut in Madigan's favor either way: If the override succeeds, Madigan deals Rauner a severe political blow. But even if the override fails, the speaker can use the resulting roll call this fall to target Republican lawmakers who represent districts with lots of union workers. (Monique Garcia, Celeste Bott)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will appear at a ribbon-cutting of a new grocery store in Avondale.

*Gov. Rauner has no public events.

*The Illinois House and Senate are in.

What we're writing

*Weighing risks, Emanuel leaning against Capitol trip on CPS funding.

Advertisement

*Emanuel silent on potential "code of silence" testimony.

*Squeaky wheel gets the grease: TSA line wait times fall sharply at O'Hare.

*Illinois lawmakers send Rauner bill to double fine for driving around railroad gates.

*Arne Duncan named to Lucas Museum board.

*Chicago kids to be part of Michelle Obama event for arts program expansion.

What we're reading

*Sen. Dick Durbin, still not running for governor in 2018.

Advertisement

*Team in mostly empty, taxpayer-funded stadium is quite litigious.

*This sounds horrible, mostly because beets are gross.

From the notebook

*Redistricting reform question passes test: The Independent Maps effort to change the state constitution to take some of the politics out of redrawing legislative district boundaries has cleared a major hurdle.

The State Board of Elections reviewed a 5 percent sample of the more than 570,000 petition signatures the group turned in to put its proposal on the November ballot and determined 72.7 percent were valid. The group had a threshold validation rate of 52 percent.

A similar drive four years ago had problems with the validation of petition signatures even before a judge struck the proposal as unconstitutional.

Even with passing the signature test, individual signatures could still be challenged. Beyond that, a group whose lead attorney is a longtime ally of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Independent Maps proposal. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is backing the petition-driven effort, and the state GOP that he controls attacked Madigan for the lawsuit. (Rick Pearson)

Advertisement

*GOP Senate campaign director on Kirk's primary: Ward Baker, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has written an op-ed about GOP Senate chances in the fall, but also talked about some of the spring primary races, including Sen. Mark Kirk's.

In the post, Baker said, "across the board, Republican senators have outperformed the top of the ticket in raw votes, and senators like Mark Kirk scored decisive primary wins that were hardly guaranteed given the mood of Republican voters."

Kirk won nearly 71 percent of the GOP primary vote on March 15 against little-known challenger James Marter of Oswego. There has traditionally been discontent from social moderates in the Republican Party toward Kirk, but his renomination was never in serious jeopardy.

Still, nearly three-in-10 Republican primary voters selected Kirk's opponent indicating the re-election seeking senator has work to do in unifying his GOP base as he takes on two-term Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth. (Rick Pearson)

*President plans victory lap in Elkhart next week: President Barack Obama will return on June 1 to a high school in Elkhart, Ind., the site of his first trip as the country's chief executive, a White House official said.

While at Concord High School, Obama will tout economic progress made in Elkhart and across the U.S. and note the challenges that remain, the official said.

Advertisement

Obama will take part in a town-hall style event hosted by PBS to hear from residents, the official said.

Already the White House is broadcasting successes: In 2009, unemployment in Elkhart hit 19.6 percent; now it is 4.1 percent. Plus the percentage of troubled mortgages (late payments or home loans in foreclosure) has dropped, high school graduation rates have risen and more Hoosier State residents have health-care coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, the official said. (Katherine Skiba)

*Sanders helping Urbana Democrat's re-election: Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders unveiled a list of eight state legislative candidates he's asked his fundraisers to help this fall, including Urbana Rep. Carol Ammons.

Ammons won her seat in 2014, replacing retired state Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, becoming the first African-American woman to win the central Illinois district. But Ammons won a primary that year by fewer than 800 votes before winning the general election by nearly 5,000.

Ammons, who endorsed Sanders' presidential bid against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, scored "an upset election victory against a well-funded establishment opponent" in the 2014 primary, the Vermont senator's campaign said.

She currently does not face a Republican opponent in the fall. (Rick Pearson)

Advertisement

*Emanuel's tall order: Picture of Mayor Emanuel with an actor on stilts? Methinks thou won't protest too much. (It was promotion for the city's annual Night Out in the Parks events.)

Rule #2 of politics: don't pose next to Giants or people wearing rat heads. pic.twitter.com/23FdHDqCTU  John Byrne (@_johnbyrne) May 24, 2016

Follow the money

*Track campaign contribution reports in real time with this Tribune Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ILCampaignCash

Beyond Chicago

*Presidential race, Republican side: A look at the Trump, RNC bundlers as GOP ponders new primary schedule.

*Presidential race, Democratic side: Sanders tells AP Democratic convention could be "messy."

*Behind the barricades of Turkey's hidden war.

*Obama warns China: Don't start a fire in Asia.
WILMINGTON, N.C.  A North Carolina school system's proposal to ban skinny jeans and other tight pants has drawn a flood of opposition from students and parents.



The New Hanover County School System in the Wilmington area is considering a policy that prohibits all students from wearing leggings, skinny jeans and "any other excessively tight fitting pants" unless worn with a top or dress that "must cover the posterior in its entirety," local media outlets report.



School Board Vice Chairwoman Jeannette Nichols said the proposal was developed after some "bigger girls" were being bullied because of their tight jeans.



Chris Furner, a parent of a first-grade student at Parsley Elementary School, told the StarNews of Wilmington that although parents are concerned about the issue of bullying, changing the dress code might not be the best way to address the situation.



"From my perspective, telling people that they can't wear something because they are being bullied takes away the choice from them," he said. "They could have the choice to change their clothes if that is the case."



Furner said the focus could be placed on teaching students how to interact with one another.



On social media sites, one parent accused the school board of body shaming, while a student asked whether the board would buy her a new wardrobe.



Nichols said that, because of the number of comments coming in, she would likely recommend the proposal be brought back to the policy committee for more discussion.



Associated Press
The Transportation Security Administration will add 768 new screeners by mid-June to deal with increasingly long airport security lines that have caused passengers to miss flights even before the busy summer travel season, the agency's chief told Congress on Wednesday.

Most of the new screeners will be sent to the nation's busiest airports in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other hubs, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told a House committee.

The TSA also has increased the use of overtime in Chicago and other major airports, converted some part-time workers to full-time status and increased the use of bomb-sniffing dogs to help with security lines, Neffenger said.

And it is launching an incident command center that will track daily screening operations and shift officers, canine units and other resources to shorten lines at the busiest times, he said. The group includes officials from major airlines and industry associations.

"We have a challenge this summer, which we are aggressively meeting head-on," Neffenger told the House Homeland Security Committee.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the panel's chairman, was unconvinced. Congress has granted a request by the TSA to reallocate $34 million to hire more officers and pay overtime, yet wait times are growing, he said.

"The American people are angry and frustrated as we head into the busiest travel season of the year, starting this Memorial Day weekend," said McCaul, R-Texas. "They deserve answers."

The crisis "didn't just come out of nowhere," McCaul said. "Airports and airlines have been sounding the alarm for months. Wait times are not soaring simply because security is that much tighter. It's because the TSA bureaucracy has gotten weaker."

A combination of factors contribute to increased wait times to pass through security screening, Neffenger said: More people are flying this year and fewer people than anticipated have applied for the government's PreCheck program, which expedites screening for those who submit to a background check and pay an $85 fee.

In addition, airline fees for checked bags have boosted the volume of carry-on bags, putting extra pressure on screeners. About four times more bags are brought through TSA checkpoints than are checked at the ticket counter or curb, Neffenger said.

The TSA expects to screen 740 million passengers this year, a 15 percent increase over 2013. That increase comes amid a 12 percent drop in the TSA's workforce that has reduced the number of screeners to about 42,000 at 440 airports nationwide. The 768 screeners to be hired next month will boost the number of inspectors by less than 2 percent.

McCaul pressed Neffenger about the abrupt ouster of the agency's top security official. Kelly Hoggan was removed Monday and replaced by Darby LaJoye, a former federal security director in Los Angeles and New York.

Neffenger declined to explain why he removed Hoggan, saying only that "I needed a new direction going forward." Hoggan, who received more than $90,000 in bonuses in 2013-14, remains at the agency on paid administrative leave.

Long lines have been plaguing airports since early spring, but the issue came to a head in recent weeks when thousands of passengers in Chicago missed flights because of lengthy checkpoint waits.

Despite those problems, there are signs of improvement, Neffenger said. The agency has installed a new management team in charge of screening operations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following an incident in which 450 passengers were stranded overnight because of long security lines. TSA also has increased use of overtime and made other changes that appear to be working. The longest wait time at O'Hare on Tuesday was about 15 minutes, he said.

American and United airlines say they are spending $4 million each to bring in contract employees who can take over nonscreening chores such as handling bins and managing lines, freeing up TSA agents to focus on screening. Delta Air Lines will spend at least $3 million and is redesigning two checkpoint lanes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to speed things up before Memorial Day.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who oversees TSA, has asked airlines to temporarily reduce or eliminate fees for checked bags to speed up inspections at checkpoints. Airlines have balked at the suggestion, saying TSA is to blame for the long lines.

Besides reducing fees, airlines should enforce rules limiting carry-ons to one bag plus one small personal item, Neffenger said. "Every additional bag coming through the checkpoint is a potential slowdown," he said.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said the stakes for getting it right are high. Richmond, who represents New Orleans, said his region depends on tourism.

"The last thing we want is people to come down and have a good time and then have a bad taste in their mouth because they waited in an airport line or they missed their flight," he said.

Associated Press
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has a new partner in her battle against Donald Trump: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who gave a speech Tuesday mirroring Clinton's own talking points accusing Trump of profiting from the housing crash of 2008.

Warren, D-Massachusetts, has stayed out of the ongoing Democratic primary race between Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont - she is the only Democratic woman in the Senate who has not endorsed Clinton - but she recently has become more aggressive in taking on Trump on his favorite medium, Twitter.

Warren's speech, at the Center for Popular Democracy's annual gala in Washington, struck what are familiar themes for her.

"Donald Trump was drooling over the idea of a housing meltdown - because it meant he could buy up a bunch more property on the cheap," Warren said. "What kind of a man does that? Root for people to get thrown out on the street? Root for people to lose their jobs? Root for people to lose their pensions?"

The timing of her remarks Tuesday, and their convergence with Clinton's stump message in California the same day, was not entirely a coincidence. And it may serve a dual purpose for Clinton: helping her begin the general-election battle against Trump, but also beginning the difficult task of unifying the fractured Democratic Party.

Warren enjoys strong support with many of the Democratic constituencies passionate about Sanders. An aide said she takes seriously her potential role in helping to bring those constituencies together and focus the party's energy on defeating Trump.

Among other points, she criticized Trump for proposing a plan that would dismantle Dodd-Frank financial regulations.

"Donald Trump is worried about helping poor little Wall Street?" Warren asked. "Let me find the world's smallest violin to play a sad, sad song."

"Can Donald Trump even name three things that Dodd-Frank does? Seriously, someone ask him," she added.

While campaigning in California, Clinton used Trump's own words to make a similar case: that he cheered on the market crash eight years ago.

"Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs and more debt," Clinton told a crowd here Tuesday afternoon.

"You know what happened in the Great Recession. Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing-market crash before the Great Recession, he said, 'I sort of hope that happens,' " Clinton said. "He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes."

Clinton and more than a dozen surrogates and allies hammered the message across the country Tuesday, showing a level of coordination on message and strategy that amounts to a dry run for the general election.

Trump wasted no time to respond to the attacks.

"I am a businessman, and I have made a lot of money in down markets," he said in a statement distributed to reporters. "In some cases, as much as I've made when markets are good. Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation."

Speaking at a rally in in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday night, he called Clinton a "low life" for using a clip of his comments about the housing crisis in an ad.

"I'm a businessman, that's what I'm supposed to do," he said.

He also targeted Warren, calling her "Pocahontas" and accusing her of saying that she was Native American because "her cheekbones were high."

"She is probably the senator that's doing just about the least in the United States Senate," he said of Warren. "She's a total failure."

Outside the venue of the rally, protesters threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at officers, and police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the venue.

Elected leaders, including Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Virginia, and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, held calls with local and national reporters to push the message.

"This is Trump's view of the world: When Americans suffer, Trump looks to cash in," Ryan said on a conference call with reporters.

Pro-Clinton group Americans United for Change, the AFL-CIO and other progressive groups rallied outside of Trump's soon-to-be hotel in Washington, District of Columbia, toting anti-Trump signs that repeated - word for word - the message that Ryan delivered on the call.

Clinton has for weeks been bogged down in a two-front war against Trump and Sanders. But since Trump essentially secured his party's nomination in April, Democrats have grown increasingly anxious that they are running out of precious time to set the terms of the general election before Trump does.

"We can't normalize Donald Trump - nothing about him is normal," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday.

Democrats have tried out different strategies to take on the presumptive GOP nominee, but Tuesday, Clinton sent a clear signal to her allies that they should focus on a single message: that Trump pursues profit above all else.

The effort was also aimed specifically at voters in battleground states of Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

The Washington Post reported earlier this year that in 2005, Trump ignored growing warnings that the housing market was on shaky ground just before launching his failed mortgage company.

Clinton and her surrogates also called attention to Trump's statements in 2006 and 2007 - in the lead-up to the housing crash in 2008 - saying that if the housing bubble burst, he "would go in and buy like crazy" to make money.

"Now he says he wants to roll back the financial regulations that we have imposed on Wall Street to let them run wild again," Clinton said.

She noted that Trump has "experience with bankruptcy" and questioned how he lost money in the casino business.

"He's bankrupted companies," Clinton said. "I don't know if that's one of the qualifications of running for president, but I kind of doubt it."

Tumulty reported from Washington. Jose DelReal in Washington contributed to this report.
Robert Replogle, MD, a cardiothoraciic surgeon, also helped to develop the Replogle tube, a medical suction device still used on babies born with esophageal malformations. (University of Chicago / Handout)

Dr. Robert L. Replogle was a nationally recognized specialist in congenital and open-heart surgery and an exacting teacher and mentor at the University of Chicago.

"He was exceedingly intelligent and insightful and a very skilled surgeon and a very caring physician," said Dr. Mark Ferguson, who trained with Replogle and is now professor of surgery at the University of Chicago. "He enjoyed education, enjoyed mentoring."

Advertisement

Ferguson recalled asking Replogle what he thought was a simple question that concerned operating on a congenital heart problem. "He sat me down in a conference room for a two-hour lecture, filling the white board with equations and graphs," Ferguson said. "It was almost like reading out of a textbook."

Replogle, 84, died May 9 in the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the University of Chicago. He was a longtime resident of the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Advertisement

He was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and grew up in Clear Lake, Iowa. He entered Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1949, but interrupted his education to join the Navy during the Korean War.

He returned to Cornell College, but because he already had been accepted by Harvard Medical School for the fall of 1956, he never formally completed undergraduate school. Cornell granted him an honorary doctorate in 1972.

Replogle graduated from medical school in 1960, did an internship at the University of Minnesota Hospital, and began his residency in the Harvard hospital system, specializing in pediatric surgery at what is now Boston Children's Hospital.

He completed his residency in 1966, spent a year on staff at Boston Children's and, in 1967, moved to the University of Chicago to direct the congenital heart surgery program. He became section chief of pediatric surgery in 1970 and chief of cardiac surgery in 1973.

Replogle later completed additional training in adult cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Back in Chicago, he concentrated on adult and pediatric open-heart operations. In 1978, his team got national attention when they performed a triple cardiac bypass for the late entertainer Jackie Gleason, who was on tour in Chicago.

In addition to his work at the University of Chicago, he held leadership positions at the since-closed Michael Reese and Columbus hospitals and at what is now Ingalls Memorial Hospital before retiring in 1998.

Replogle's professional leadership included a number of posts with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He was president of the group from 1996 to 1997.

"He did that even though he was at the time a private practice cardiac surgeon," said Dr. Keith Horvath, adding that Replogle got the post because he gave such good advice and was a mentor to so many people. Horvath, who was a U. of C. undergraduate when he first met Replogle in the mid-1980s, is now director of cardiothoracic surgery research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md.

Advertisement

"He basically brought cardiac surgeons into the computer age by establishing the cardiovascular surgery network  CTSNet  and pushing for a national database."

The network aims to advance education and collaboration within the cardiothoracic community.

In addition to his practice, teaching, research and writing, Replogle helped develop the Replogle tube, a medical suction device still used on babies born with esophageal malformations.

Replogle's nonmedical interests included underwater photography and wine collecting. He was also very involved with Opportunity Village, back in Clear Lake, Iowa, a home for adults with disabilities, including Replogle's late brother Ralph, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Founded in the 1960s, it now cares for more than 600 residents.

Replogle is also survived by his wife, Carol; two daughters, Edith Sheffer and Dr. Jennifer Bremer; a son, Dr. Robert Replogle; and nine grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. June 19, in Hyde Park Union Church, 5600 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago.

Advertisement

Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
The North Shore Art League presents its annual Art in the Village juried show in Winnetka June 25 and 26.

North Shore Art League, the 92-year-old arts organization located in Winnetka will be bringing its national juried show, Art in the Village, to Winnetka's Hubbard Woods Park again this summer.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26, the park will be bustling with more than 60 booths from across the country with artists exhibiting their works. The park has recently undergone a total renovation, and this venue will provide a beautiful setting to enjoy seeing high-quality art and stroll the new landscape. Conveniently located along Green Bay Road, there is plenty of free parking and wonderful shops within the Hubbard Woods Design District of the village.

Advertisement

The League is a locally well-known organization with close ties to the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and many art galleries, schools and organizations throughout the area. This summer the popular summer art camp is running the weeks of June 13 through Aug. 8  with registration by the week to accommodate your summer plans.

Find more information about the art fair, classes and camps at northshoreartleague.org.
As a pungent odor wafted throughout a McHenry County courtroom from stacks of boxes containing more than 70 pounds of marijuana, jurors were told that a California trucking company owner knew full well what he was transporting when he drove cross country in 2012.

"He took the risk, he gambled and he lost," Assistant State's Attorney Randi Freese said in closing statements Wednesday morning in the trial of Michael Karavastev. "We are here to hold him accountable."

Advertisement

Later, after deliberating for about three hours, the jurors found Karavastev, 42, guilty of cannabis trafficking, unlawful possession with intent to deliver cannabis and unlawful possession of cannabis.

Prosecutors said Karavastev, of Sunnyvale, Calif., knowingly transported 33,000 grams  about 72 pounds  of cannabis valuing more than $600,000 from Reno, Nev., to McHenry County in 2012.

Advertisement

On Dec. 3, 2012 Karavastev was driving a white 2011 Mercedes Sprinter van when police stopped him near Illinois Highway 31 and U.S. Highway 14 in Crystal Lake. A McHenry County K-9 deputy detected the narcotics, according to authorities.

Prosecutors said the drugs were in the cardboard boxes stored in a crate that also had an odor diffusing device inside.

Karavastev, who had the assistance of a Bulgarian translator during his trial, owns a trucking company in California.

Prosecutors said a man in Reno hired Karavastev and paid him $8,000, double what he normally would charge, to make the delivery.

Freese said Karavastev must have been trusted by the supplier in Reno and described the two men as "major drug dealers" running "a sophisticated business."

She acknowledged the strong odor of cannabis inside the courtroom and told jurors if they could smell it now, four years later, Karavastev must have smelled it in the van. And if he smelled it or saw it and was "a normal, innocent person" he would have called police.

"He knew what was in there, he knew what he was doing," she said.

Instead he tried hiding it by placing an odor diffusing device inside the crate, creating a cover story, placing an empty crate inside the van to block the drug-filled crate and carrying a fake and incomplete bill of lading, she said.

Advertisement

During the trial detectives testified that they were tipped off by an informant that Karavastev was making the delivery. They also said that during a police interview Karavastev admitted to knowing he was transporting drugs and said it was his third time doing so.

Prosecutors said charges have also been brought against the supplier in Reno but could not comment further.

Defense attorney Stephen Richards insisted his client did not know what was in the van and that charges against him were the result of a mistake, a language barrier and dishonest, "bad police work." Prosecutors said in court that Karavastev understands English.

Richards said there is no video or audio of Karavastev's interview with police nor is there a written statement of any kind pointing to any sort of a confession. Karavastev was told he was transporting machinery, he added.

He accused police of leaving out "inconvenient information" from the police reports and said Karavastev's arrest was a "set up" prompted by the informant.

"Informants are necessary but it's a dangerous business," Richards said. "They lie and do anything to get out of their own problems."

Advertisement

After the verdict was read, Assistant State's Attorney Mary Ann Scholl told the judge that Karavastev is now a flight risk and asked he be immediately remanded.

Before bailiffs put on the handcuffs on, Karavastev turned to hug his wife.

He faces a minimum of 12 years in prison when sentenced July 14.

His attorney said he would appeal.

Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
A former Oak Forest Fire Department deputy chief who was acquitted of criminal charges related to his wife's embezzlement of funds from the Fire Department in nearby Palos Heights will receive more than $125,000 in back pay as part of a settlement to get him to leave the department voluntarily.

Charles Sopko had been on unpaid leave when criminal charges were pending against him. But he was found not guilty of theft and operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise following a three-day trial in July of 2015.

Advertisement

Under an agreement approved Tuesday by the Oak Forest City Council, Sopko will be paid the salary he should have received during his time on leave, and was officially reinstated as assistant chief effective April 23. Attorneys for the city say the money will total a little more than $125,000.

That move puts him back on the payroll, from which he officially will retire effective Jan. 1, 2017. He will receive the salary for the assistant chief position for the remainder of this year, with a gross payment of $67,673.

Advertisement

In exchange for the payments, the agreement calls for Sopko to withdraw a complaint filed against the city with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

The agreement was approved with little discussion. Mayor Henry Kuspa declined to elaborate on details of Sopko's conduct with the Fire Department.

One alderman, James Hortsman of the Sixth Ward, voted against the agreement because he and other aldermen did not receive a letter sent to some city officials explaining the need for the settlement.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Sopko was on trial because prosecutors argued he benefited financially from the actions of his wife, Michelle, who last year pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Michelle Sopko was a part-time administrative assistant with the Palos Heights Fire Protection District. Prosecutors said she used her authority to write checks on village accounts to make payments to herself.

During Charles Sopko's trial, prosecutors argued that as a firefighting professional, he should have realized his wife's income was far higher than her actual salary for her part-time job. They also said that when some money was diverted into his bank account, it became a crime on his part.

Attorneys for Charles Sopko argued during his trial in the Bridgeview District Circuit Court that he was not aware of any impropriety on his wife's part. Circuit Judge Kerry Kennedy would up siding with Charles Sopko, saying prosecutors did not prove the family's spending level was a clear reflection of stolen funds.

Prosecutors said Michelle Sopko stole some $352,000 from Palos Heights between May 2009-December 2012.

Prosecutors argued that Michelle Sopko paid herself unwarranted overtime, and also created two ghost employees  with their paychecks diverted to her bank account.

Advertisement

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the Sopkos spent money on luxury vacations, cars and a mobile home, and ran up expensive credit card bills for other personal expenses.

Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
An FM-2 Wildcat that had been used during World War II to train pilots for landing on aircraft carriers was pulled from Waukegan Harbor Dec. 7, 2012. (Jonathan Bullington/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

A 60-minute documentary that premieres on Chicago public television this week explores the critical, but little-known role that Lake Michigan played as a training ground for thousands of fighter pilots during World War II.

"Heroes on Deck: World War II on Lake Michigan," chronicles the ingenious naval operation launched just off Chicago's shoreline that, through the conversion of two passenger steamers into makeshift aircraft carriers, trained some 15,000 aviators to conduct missions in the Pacific following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Advertisement

In "Heroes," director John Davies and producers Harvey Moshman and Brian Kallies reprise Davies' 1988 short film "Top Guns of '43" with new declassified film and stills, digital recreations and underwater recovery footage of planes that crashed during wartime training exercises.

"Just when you think a subject like World War II has been pored over and made stories of so many different ways, there's always something that comes up," said Kallies, a former Mount Greenwood resident. "This is one of those stories."

Advertisement

A Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft is pulled from Lake Michigan. The plane, like dozens of others, crash landed off of Chicago's coast during World War II training exercises. (Heroes on Deck / Handout)

The Navy chose Lake Michigan as its unlikely training site during World War II because it was an inland space that provided safety from an Axis attack.

"The German U-boats were patrolling the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico, and you had Japanese submarines that were patrolling the Western Seaboard, so you can't really train in the oceans now," Kallies said. "A merchant mariner named John J. Manley said, 'Hey guys, we have an inland sea, it's called the Great Lakes. Why don't we train there?' And so they did."

Since none of the Navy's seven remaining aircraft carriers could be spared for training, two sidewheeled passenger ships, the SS Seaandbee and the SS Greater Buffalo, were converted into carriers and renamed the USS Wolverine and the USS Sable, respectively.

"They were able to chop off the top decks, and they literally just welded on makeshift landing strips," Kallies said.

The makeshift carriers had both less height and less deck space than actual carriers, which made landing on them, already a challenging task for any pilot, that much more difficult.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"Captain Ed Ellis from the (National Aviation Museum) said that in many ways it was harder to land on these training carriers than it would be when they got to the real ones," Kallies said. "So if they could land on these, they could land on anything."

Between 1942 and the end of the war, more than 100 fighter planes crashed and sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan, where today they form an aircraft graveyard off Chicago's shore.

Despite the dozens of accidents, Kallies said eight pilots and approximately 40 crewmen were killed during Lake Michigan training exercises, a very low number of fatalities, given the circumstances.

Advertisement

A Grumman F4F Wildcat that crashed during training exercises in World War II has been recovered from Lake Michigan. (Heroes on Deck / Handout)

He said for him the documentary demonstrates what amazing feats we as Americans can accomplish if we put our minds to something.

"There was a really big problem  how do we train these guys to go do this terrible and great thing? And they came up with a solution," Kallies said. "If we can do that for something like war, just imagine what we can do if we put it toward things other than war, peaceful efforts."

The film, which is narrated by veteran newsman and "Wait, Wait  Don't Tell Me!" announcer Bill Kurtis, airs at 9 p.m. Thursday and at 6 p.m. Sunday as part of WTTW's Memorial Day programming.

zkoeske@tribpub.com
In the strange world of Illinois governance, inertia wins.

The status quo prevails, despite urgent calls to pass a balanced budget to fund education and other services.

Advertisement

Residents of the south suburbs must wonder whether political leaders ever will tackle serious issues like addressing high property taxes, reducing crime or spurring economic development to create jobs.

You would think the current state budget crisis would compel the governor and legislature to negotiate and compromise on reforms. If not now, then when?

Advertisement

But in Illinois, politics trumps governance.

The simple truth is there is no way House Speaker Michael Madigan is going to push for a tax increase before November's election. Without additional revenue or significant spending cuts, there will be no balanced budget.

Democratic legislators will toe the line with Madigan, with the exception of a rogue or two, like departing state Reps. Ken Dunkin and Jack Franks.

That's a truth being lost on politically inexperienced Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who predicted during a radio interview Wednesday that Democrats would break ranks and support a "grand compromise" budget deal that would include reforms from his turnaround agenda.

I wish there was a way to help Rauner understand Democratic lawmakers will not revolt against Madigan, even if they say privately they're sick of the speaker's tactics and want to do the right thing for Illinois taxpayers.

I'm not sure who is more delusional: Madigan, for suggesting Illinois continue business as usual with more deficit spending; or Rauner, for saying Madigan is about to have a revolt on his hands.

Too many lawmakers are safe in their Democratic-majority districts drawn by a Democrat-controlled legislature. Madigan knows most voters don't have a real choice. Everything he does is calculated to preserve or grow his political power.

I mourn the weak Republican Party in Illinois. People elected Rauner because he told them he'd shake up Springfield. But Rauner is proving to be no match for Madigan's political experience.

Advertisement

How demoralizing it must be for legislative Republicans and rank-and-file Democrats who spent a lot of time and effort in bipartisan budget working groups of late. They talked about revising worker's compensation rules, giving local towns more control over collective bargaining negotiations and other cost-saving reforms.

I'm sure the topic of a tax increase was debated, since the only way Illinois can end its deficit is with more revenue.

Madigan ignored their efforts and Wednesday unveiled a budget outline with a $7 billion deficit. Madigan's plan ignores state Sen. Andy Manar's plan to address education funding inequality, which generally would have helped Southland schools starved for funding due to depressed property values.

With his budget plan, Madigan thumbs his nose at not only addressing the budget deficit but the very notions of compromise and good-faith negotiation.

"Irresponsible! Reckless!" Republican legislators cried about Madigan on Wednesday.

But Madigan knows what plays politically in Peoria and other cities. The speaker's plan would increase state education funding by $500 million. That would mean a big bailout of Chicago Public Schools, but also help poor districts in the Southland and elsewhere.

Advertisement

Never mind that Madigan's proposal is unrealistic and that Rauner certainly would veto a budget that spends $39 billion, with only $32 billion in revenue, if it ever passed the legislature.

Madigan gets to claim political victory for merely suggesting the state spend more to help struggling public schools.

He can spin another political victory out of an apparent defeat. Even though his latest attempt to override Rauner's veto of a labor bill came up two votes short Wednesday, Madigan can use that in campaign mailers this fall against Republicans in districts where a lot of union workers live.

Madigan stood before a crowd of union workers outside the State Capitol last week and pumped his fist in the air, basking in the love union workers have for him. He can sincerely say he did all he could for them.

But Rauner's veto will stand, and that's a win for the governor and the taxpayers of Illinois. The bill would have sent stalled contract talks to an independent arbitrator, which would almost certainly favor the union.

Now, if the Illinois Labor Relations Board rules talks are at an impasse, Rauner can impose his own terms on state workers.

Advertisement

Say what you want about how unions drive up costs to taxpayers for salaries, pensions and other benefits. Unions are a formidable political force in Illinois. Rauner may have won this battle, but political wars are decided by elections.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

With the May 31 legislative deadline looming, Madigan is loading up on ammo to use in campaign literature against his political foes in the fall.

Madigan brushes away calls to balance the budget, reduce the deficit, reform education funding and address other concerns. Like a grandmaster chess player he's already several moves ahead, plotting strategy not for governing the state in June or July but winning elections in November.

Why should the absurdity of an imbalanced fiscal year 2017 budget proposal concern Madigan? If he does nothing for long enough, people become deaf to the cries to help the poor, the sick and the elderly.

The all-powerful speaker rules with impunity. He mocks the people of Illinois with a budget proposal that ignores a serious fiscal crisis that is causing businesses and residents to leave the state.

Will the last person leaving Illinois please turn out the lights.

Advertisement

tslowik@tribpub.com

Twitter @tedslowik
Linder Avenue north of 147th Street in unincorporated Bremen Township is among the most poorly maintained residential streets you've ever encountered, with potholes so deep your vehicle bottoms out in the craters.

That's because no one maintains the 14500 and 14600 blocks of Linder Avenue. Well-kept single-family homes line the east side of the street, while a fence separates the other side of the street from multi-unit dwellings to the west.

Advertisement

There are no curbs or gutters, and the street is paved with blacktop. Or at least it was at one point, before it deteriorated into something that more closely resembles a gravel road.

A Bremen Township Highway Department official says he'd love to fix the road, but he can't until liability questions are sorted out.

Advertisement

"Residents think somebody should take care of the road," said Jim Grande, Bremen Township highway superintendent. "I've committed that the township would take it over, but we have to go through channels. As much as I would love to, I can't do anything for these people because of the liability."

Fixing the road would be easy. A crew could fill the potholes or repave the road in relatively short order. But before that can happen, some complicated and time-consuming questions about who will pay to maintain the road have to be resolved.

Sorting out the layers of red tape and resolving legal questions about ownership of the road have stretched on for years, even decades. The road is unclaimed, with no public jurisdiction accepting responsibility for its maintenance.

"I've been here six years, but this goes back 20 or 30 years," Grande said. "It went to court at one point and the court ruled (the road) was not the responsibility of the municipality."

North of 145th Street, Linden Avenue is fully improved with curbs, gutters and smooth pavement. That part of the road is in Midlothian and is maintained by the village. There are speed humps built into the pavement to keep traffic from going too fast.

Some of the people who live between 145th and 147th streets drive north to avoid the potholes, even though sometimes it might be more convenient for them to go straight to 147th Street.

Grande said Bremen Township representatives met with Linder Avenue residents in September to discuss possible solutions. Also present, he said, were representatives of Midlothian and Oak Forest and Joan Patricia Murphy, Cook County Board commissioner for the 6th District.

The consensus at the time, Grande said, was that Bremen Township could assume maintenance of the road, but residents would have to be annexed to either Midlothian or Oak Forest. The village that annexed their homes could then work out an intergovernmental agreement with the township for road maintenance.

Advertisement

Murphy was out on Tuesday, but a spokeswoman for her office verified the commissioner has participated in discussions with residents about the issue.

"We've been working at all levels for years to get this addressed, but it is not resolved," the spokeswoman said. She said 30th District state Rep. William Davis also has been involved in seeking a solution.

About seven homes along Linder Avenue are most affected by the deteriorated state of the road.

The Illinois Department of Transportation sought bids to repair the street in 2005, documents show. IDOT sought a contractor to build "453 feet of bituminous concrete surface on Linder Avenue from 145th Street to 147th Street in Midlothian, but "no bidding proposals (were) received" for the job, according to documents available on IDOT's website.

I reached out to IDOT on Tuesday and asked a representative to research the 2005 bids. Did IDOT claim jurisdiction of the road at the time, or did it seek bids for the work on behalf of Midlothian, Bremen Township or some other public entity? That could take a while to research, and I look forward to following up when I hear back.

On March 21, resident Troy Corsi posted a video to YouTube showing the bad state of Linder Avenue at the time. A Chicago TV station came out and did a report in April, and another publication also did a story. Corsi told a reporter he borrowed a truck, bought eight tons of gravel from a materials supplier for $50 and filled the worst of the potholes in front of his home.

Advertisement

I called Corsi and stopped by his house Tuesday, but we haven't connected yet. I hope to talk to him, because I'm curious about a number of things related to the unclaimed street in front of his house. What happens when it snows, for example?

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Do Midlothian, Bremen Township or Cook County trucks or contractors plow the street? Do the drivers turn around at 145th Street and avoid the street altogether, or do they lift their plow blades and pack the snow when they drive down the street?

While I was talking to a resident who did not want to give her name, a Village of Midlothian police officer slowly drove through the worst of the potholes on Linder Avenue. We smiled and greeted the officer, who drove as slowly as possible to avoid hitting his head on the roof of his cruiser as he drove through the craters.

That stretch of Linder Avenue is a road nobody wants to drive, yet some have no choice. In addition to the residents who live there, people have to use the road to deliver mail and packages and to pick up waste on trash days. There are questions about whether the street is safe for ambulances, fire trucks and school buses.

Residents say the road has become more dangerous in recent years. Somebody previously maintained the road; it wasn't always unclaimed. Even though the homes along it are unincorporated, you would think some public entity has to claim responsibility for the road. For years, it's functioned as a public right-of-way, not private property.

Grande is doing his best to keep the process moving forward, but he's just a guy who fixes roads. The handful of Linder Avenue residents could sure use some help from their county and state representatives to resolve the questions of ownership and liability.

Advertisement

tslowik@tribpub.com

Twitter @tedslowik
Imam Mohammed Abdullah Saleem walks into court in Rolling Meadows on May 25, 2016. Saleem, a prominent imam who founded the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Two women who say they, too, were groped by an Elgin Islamic leader when they were minors will be allowed to testify at his upcoming trial on charges that he sexually abused two other females, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Mohammed Abdullah Saleem, a prominent imam who founded the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, faces charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in two cases, one involving a minor who was a former student and the other involving an adult who worked for him.

Advertisement

Cook County Judge James Karahalios ruled Wednesday that two other women, whose claims date to the 1980s, can testify against Saleem if he goes to trial. That's uncertain, because plea deal talks could get underway between prosecutors the defense attorneys prior to the trial, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 12.

Saleem is not charged in connection with the two women, but the judge said their claims are similar to those of the other two alleged victims.

Advertisement

"I think the jury will benefit from the testimony of these four individuals as to whether it was abuse or a friendly gesture," Karahalios said.

It's not clear if the two new witnesses are among four women who filed a civil suit against the imam, also claiming sexual misconduct.

The imam, who is 77 and a resident of Gilberts, was initially charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, unlawful restraint and aggravated battery stemming from allegations that he groped a 23-year-old woman who was working at the Islamic school at the time.

He was later also charged with abuse of a former student. The new charges were based on allegations that Saleem abused a girl dozens of times between 2001 and 2003 when she was a student at the institute and Saleem was the school's president and principal.

Saleem was trained in a conservative Islamic movement based in India. His attorney said Saleem is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has been married for 55 years and has two daughters, four sons and 19 grandchildren.

George Houde is a freelance reporter.
The survey, which is open through June 15, will ask you for such information as the path of your most recent bike ride, and it zeros in on what type of path you feel most comfortable using, from dedicated trails to shared lanes on streets. It also asks for demographic information, so feel free to share it with your most paranoid relatives to get a rise out of them.
A kitchen fire Tuesday afternoon resulted in the early closure of Cuisine of India, 1163 E. Ogden Ave., Naperville. No injuries were reported. (Bill Bird / Naperville Sun)

A Naperville restaurateur said he expected to be open for business Wednesday, after his restaurant was shuttered Tuesday afternoon by a fire in the kitchen.

No one was injured in the blaze that erupted at 12:57 p.m. Tuesday inside Cuisine of India, a restaurant at 1163 E. Ogden Ave., just west of Ogden Mall on Naperville's northeast side.

Advertisement

Deputy Naperville Fire Department Chief Rick Sander said firefighters were sent to the restaurant following a 911 call "reporting smoke coming from the roof" of the single-story, brick and glass building. Firefighters brought a total of 10 vehicles and pieces of apparatus to battle the blaze, Sander wrote Tuesday in a release.

The first firefighters on the scene found "light smoke exiting the roof, through kitchen's ventilation system," Sander said. Firefighters "quickly evacuated all occupants from inside the building, and used a fire hose to extinguish a small kitchen fire," he said.

Advertisement

Sander said the blaze was quelled within 10 minutes of the department's arrival. Firefighters "checked the roof and ventilation system for hidden fires, and evacuated the smoke from the building," he said.

"The extent of the damage (was) minor in nature, however, the business will remain closed until inspected by the DuPage County Health Department," Sander said. "The cause of the fire is still under investigation."

Rahul Saigal, Cuisine of India's owner, concurred damage in the kitchen was minor. He said he expected to "clean up (and) buy fresh food" and reopen the restaurant Wednesday.

Firefighters were assisted by Nicor Gas workers, Naperville police and employees of the city's department of public utilities/electric and Transportation, Engineering and Development Business Group.

Sander added members of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District also assisted on the scene, while firefighters from the Bolingbrook, Downers Grove and Wheaton fire departments and Plainfield Fire Protection District provided emergency coverage at Naperville's fire stations.

wbird@tribpub.com
Hundreds of protesters converge at the McDonald's campus along Jorie Boulevard in Oak Brook on May 26, 2016, to rally for a $15-an-hour minimum wage during McDonald's annual stockholders meeting. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds of people gathered in Oak Brook Wednesday for the third consecutive year for a demonstration and march for a $15 an hour minimum wage and rights to form a union for employees of fast food restaurants.

Oak Brook has been chosen for the protest because it is home to McDonald's headquarters, said representatives of the Service Employees International Union, which has organized the demonstrations.

Advertisement

The 2016 protest was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday when McDonald's is hosting its annual shareholders meeting.

McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook was ground zero for the "Fight for $15" campaign for a higher minimum wage on Thursday, as hundreds of workers rallied during the annual shareholders meeting. May 26, 2016. (CBS Chicago)

Oak Brook police said they were expecting about 8,000 people Wednesday afternoon/evening and about 3,000 Thursday morning. A severe thunderstorm that came through shortly after the rally began at 5 p.m. appeared to keep those numbers down to fewer than 1,500.

Advertisement

But some protesters weren't driven away by the wet weather.

Antoinette Brown, 62, came from St. Louis for the protest. She is paid minimum wage and works 40 hours a week as a janitor.

"We really need to make more money," she said. "My husband is disabled, and it's hard to make it between his check and mine."

"It shouldn't be harder now when I'm 62," she said.

Greg Haddox works with the Service Employees International Union and came from Columbus, Ohio for the protest.

"I'm here because my 8-year-old daughter needs a future," Haddox said. "This isn't just about fast food workers; a lot of health care workers aren't making anywhere near $15 an hour, and any industry should be at $15 an hour.

He said he hears criticism that people should get better jobs if they want to make more, but questions where those jobs are and whether they exist.

For Sheila Turner, 28, of Chicago, this was her second consecutive year to participate in the Oak Brook protest march.

Advertisement

"It's still a big struggle for me," she said. "I have three young kids I'm trying to take care of, and that's so hard to do when I'm working fast food jobs for barely more than minimum wage, no matter how many hours I'm able to get."

She said she works hard and wants to make $15 an hour so she can provide for her family.

"Right now, my kids go without a lot, and I get some help from family and friends to get by," Turner said.

Angel Mitchell, 26, of Chicago, has worked the past four years at a McDonald's for minimum wage, while she attends college hopes of becoming a psychiatric nurse.

She didn't let heavy rain prevent her from setting up her tent to spend the night with others planning additional demonstrations.

"I'm drenched, but I'm staying because this important," she said. "We need to have a $15 an hour minimum wage, and I think it's realistic."

Advertisement

Mitchell said she knows some places say they will replace employees with kiosks, but that doesn't mean customer service.

"Kiosks can't say good morning or ask someone how their day is going," she said.

Oak Brook Police Chief James Kruger said there has been about five months of planning and preparation for the protest, involving Oak Brook's department and more than 300 law enforcement officers from nearly 100 agencies on site during the event.

"We're here to protect the rights of our residents and the protesters and to keep people off private property," Kruger said.

He said Oak Brook's bill for the department's is $15,000 to $20,000.

Nobody was arrested at the 2015 protest. In 2014, after police charged 138 people with trespassing.

Advertisement

Oak Brook will close westbound 22nd Street between York Road and Jorie Boulevard from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. The intersection of Jorie Boulevard and 22nd Street will remain open until about 5 p.m., the start of the demonstration march. Eastbound 22nd Street will remain open.

The march will begin on 22nd Street near York Road and travel west on 22nd to the McDonald's restaurant parking lot at 1120 W. 22nd St. The march will then travel through the parking lot onto McDonald's Drive.

On Thursday, northbound Jorie Boulevard will be closed between Kensington Road and 31st Street from 6-11 a.m. Police said about 3,000 people are expected on buses, which will stage on eastbound Kensington Road.

The Thursday march will move southbound in the northbound lanes of Jorie Boulevard to Forest Gate Road. Participants are expected to march back to their buses about 9 a.m.

Longtime Oak Brook resident Harry Peters questioned closing streets for the protest.

"So, why close streets and cause people who are not interested in protesting to be inconvenienced?" he asked. "Tell the protesters to stay off the street or face arrest and a $500 fine.

Advertisement

"Then follow through with 20 school buses at the ready to hold them and take them for processing. America will love our not letting these people disrespect or misbehave in our world-class village."

Sgt. Ben Kadolph of the Oak Brook Police Department said Illinois law allows protesters to be on the street.

Check back for updates on the protests.

cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @chuckwriting
You may have that prized letter of acceptance to your favorite college in your pocket, but you will find that the college of your choice as well as other schools are still trying to woo you. Sit back and enjoy.

Some colleges will fly you out to meet with select faculty members. Others will pull the celebrity routine to get you to attend. A famous Ivy League college once had a president's daughter (that is, the daughter of the president of the United States) meet and greet a student on campus and take him to lunch. This happened to a Crown Point academic superstar. He was admitted to Harvard and to Yale. He chose Yale saying that he was "Bushwhacked."

Advertisement

From the time a student applies until a final offer is made, the hours of staff time taken up reviewing applications is enormous. Coordinating materials for and evaluating and rating each applicant is a daunting and time-consuming task.

Harvard unofficially estimates it costs approximately $60 thousand to admit each student. That is an investment of almost $100 million for each member of a class of 1,650 freshman. To fill the freshman class with 1,650 students over 2,000 letters of acceptance have to be sent. Hence the importance of the follow-up phase which, in addition to campus visits, usually includes letters and phone calls from alumni and invitations to social functions.

Advertisement

The irony is that after months of waiting the power has shifted away from the admissions committee back to the student. Once you are admitted, colleges will bend over backward to make sure that you enroll.

The key word is the "yield" factor  the ratio of students admitted who will actually enroll. Colleges see this as an important measure of their status as elite institutions. The higher the yield, the more appealing the school  and everyone from alumni donors to competing colleges watch these numbers closely.

Since the number of students applying to college is hitting record levels  and more students are applying to elite colleges than ever before  students now have more options once admitted.

One of my best interviews as a Harvard alumni representative was a young woman from Merrillville High School. She was an outstanding candidate in every category. As expected she was admitted to Harvard in the first round. She turned us down for Washington University in St. Louis. Since I did the interview I was especially keen on recruiting her and asked Harvard to reach out to her. They did to no avail.

The Harvard Club of Chicago hosts a party for area admits and their parents. The University flies in undergraduates to meet and greet the newly admitted students and talk about life on campus. It's a great time to schmooze. The hope is that this personal touch will tilt the scales in Harvard's favor.

Unfortunately, this doesn't always work but it shows the length good schools will go to to attract candidates once they are admitted.

Once admitted, I always suggest my clients make a second campus visit. Usually colleges have special open house events where students and parents are given unprecedented access to top faculty, deans and administrators. Use this time to revisit your top choices.

I like to remind my clients that the freshmen class of every university is the life- blood of the university. Their legacies depend upon the recruitment and retention of the brightest stars.

Advertisement

Gerald Bradshaw is an international college admission consultant with Bradshaw College Consulting in Crown Point.

gerald_bradshaw@post.harvard.edu
A Valparaiso man will spend 30 years in prison for having sex with a 14-year-old girl and then persuading her to send pornographic pictures of herself to him.

U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano said during the sentencing hearing Wednesday that he seriously considered giving Zachary Berkshire, 32, a life sentence but was persuaded by his cooperation with the government and agreed to the 30-year sentence recommended by federal attorneys.

Advertisement

Berkshire pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of enticement of a minor child and two counts of producing child pornography.

According to court filings by the government, Berkshire targeted his victim, identified only as Jane Doe 1, on Facebook in August 2014, first posing as a boy named Joey and then as another boy named Brandon. He arranged to meet the girl in a park in Northwest Indiana, where he had her perform oral sex on him and touched her genitals.

Advertisement

He also took a secret video recording of another girl under the age of 16, identified as Jane Doe 2, while she was in the bathroom in his house.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Toi Houston read a leader written by Jane Doe 1's parents during Berkshire's sentencing, describing how their daughter started acting out around this time.

"She was saying things like she didn't deserve to live," Houston read from the letter.

When her parents eventually found out what was going on, their lives were disrupted further by Child Protective Services, they wrote, and her siblings blamed her for what had happened. She eventually attempted suicide, the letter said, and the family decided to move six hours away so that she would no longer be reminded of what had happened.

"Mostly we were devastated that we couldn't and didn't protect her from this," her parents wrote.

The girl is doing better, the letter said, and enjoys school and her new town although she continues to struggle.

"She still has a lot of trust issues with men," the letter said.

Berkshire gave a short statement, apologizing to his victim's families.

Advertisement

"I'm terribly sorry for everything and take full responsibility for my actions," he said.

His attorney, Bryan Truitt, argued that his client has suffered from decades of substance abuse and also believes he is a sex addict.

However, Houston argued that most substance abusers don't also molest children. She did credit Berkshire for pleading guilty and cooperating with the government so that his victims wouldn't have to testify against him. Houston said that part of the reason Jane Doe 1 is improving is because of that.

Although Lozano granted the government's sentencing request, he denied a request to fine Berkshire $25,000, saying that he would prefer any money Berkshire has to be paid to his victims. Lozano delayed ruling on restitution, though, because the government was still collecting evidence on how much restitution should be awarded. The court has 90 days following sentencing to order restitution.

tauch@post-trib.com
The River Forest Police Department charged a man with battery and restraint following an alleged incident with a woman he had met online.

According to a release from River Forest police, Jason G. Stivers, 28, of Forest Park, was charged with unlawful restraint, aggravated battery and possession of a controlled substance following the May 16 incident.

Advertisement

That day, at approximately 4:35 p.m., police met a 28-year-old woman after she had called 911 to report the incident. According to the woman, she met Stivers through the online dating app Tinder, and the two met in person in the 400 block of Lathrop Avenue. The two then went to Jewel-Osco after making plans to buy a bottle of wine and share it nearby, police said.

The woman, who is not a River Forest resident, told police that Stivers made her "feel uneasy as he tried to hold her hand," and she contacted one of her friends to create a ruse that she had to leave for a family emergency. After walking back to her car, the woman received the ruse call from her friend and attempted to leave, police said.

Advertisement

The woman said Stivers then asked for a hug, which she agreed to. Stivers then began trying to kiss the woman, but she pulled away and tried to walk past him, police said.

Stivers then blocked the woman and placed her in a "bear hug" from behind, police said. Stivers then pushed her up against her car and began to "assault the victim and engage in unwanted contact," police said. During the incident, the woman was able to call 911, and Stivers fled the area once he realized police had been called, police said.

Police said they later located Stivers near his home in Forest Park, and he was identified by the victim. According to police, Stivers was located with a backpack that contained an 11-inch-long butcher knife, a plastic jump rope and suspected narcotics.

River Forest Deputy Police Chief James O'Shea said Stivers had the backpack with him during the date, but he did not say whether police believe he intended to harm the victim.

"[The] rest is part of an ongoing investigation," O'Shea said in an email.

O'Shea reminded people to think about their safety when using such services to arrange dates.

"[We] would ask anyone using an online dating service to review the safety precautions recommended by the vendor, not let their guard down, use common sense, utilize public places for meets and use the buddy system to make your whereabouts known or to seek real-time advice," O'Shea said in a statement.

The Cook County State's Attorney Felony Review Unit was contacted to assist with the investigation, police said. Additional phone and computer evidence was recovered through the use of search warrants, police said.

Advertisement

Stivers was charged and given a June 9 court date.

sschering@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @steveschering
By Samuel Wrest

China is expected to increase its wind power installed capacity from the current 149 gigawatts (GW) to 495 GW by 2030, according to a recently released report from GlobalData. This substantial rise would represent a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of nine percent and is in line with plans laid out in Chinas 13th Five Year Plan, which targets an increase in domestic wind capacity to 250 GW by 2020.

China already dominates the global wind energy market. Last year, the country overtook the EU to become the industry world leader by adding 30.5 GW to its overall installations  fully half of what was installed worldwide in 2015. However, while wind power is undeniably a rising segment of the Chinese economy, the sector has experienced a sharp decrease in foreign participation over the past ten years. Despite having an attractive incentive framework for investment in place, 98 percent of the market is now controlled by domestic players compared to approximately 40 percent in 2006. With more growth predicted for the future, the question now posed to foreign alternative energy companies looking at China as a potential production base is how, and indeed if, to enter this dynamic yet seemingly unwelcoming market.

Market entry and incentives for investment

China classifies wind power as an encouraged area for investment, allowing foreign companies to establish wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) in the industry. It is also classified as encouraged in Western Chinas separate catalogue of industries, meaning investors who establish a wind power company in one of Chinas Western provinces will pay 15 percent corporate income tax (CIT) instead of the standard 25 percent.

While foreign firms are able to establish WFOEs in the sector, many choose to enter into joint ventures (JVs) with domestic companies due to their monopoly of the market. A good example of this is Siemens, which entered into a JV with Shanghai Electric to produce 4MW offshore turbines in Jiangsu province.

Incentives exist in a multitude of different areas for both domestic and foreign wind power investment, which is widely identified as the primary driver behind Chinas explosive growth in the industry. The most attractive policies concentrate on how wind power companies are taxed, which we look at in further detail below.

RELATED: Business Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

CIT exemption and deduction

For the first three years from establishment, wind power companies in China are exempt from paying any CIT. For the next three years, their payable CIT is reduced by 50 percent.

Companies that produce wind power in China are also classified as high-tech enterprises, which allows them to pay 15 percent CIT rather than 25 percent. However, this benefit cannot be stacked on top of the CIT exemption and deduction above  companies must choose between the two benefits.

VAT refunds

Wind power products produced in China are eligible for a 50 percent refund on their VAT. In practice, this means that when a wind power company sells the energy that it produces, it is subsequently able to refund 50 percent of the VAT that was added to the sale price.

Import VAT exemption

Reflecting Chinas current aim to create a greener economy, in 2009 the country began waiving import VAT on certain types of environmentally friendly manufacturing equipment. Equipment used for creating wind power is included in this list.

Challenges to the industry and foreign investors

The biggest challenge currently facing Chinas wind power industry is converting its massive installed capacity into actual energy. The industry lacks a national legal apparatus that oversees quality control, contributing in part to 20 percent of power generated in 2015 being wasted and to China producing less wind energy than the U.S., despite having more installations. Aggressive capacity expansion by domestic companies that focus on short-term volume and market gains rather than long-term, sustainable development is a commonly cited reason for this low output, with grid bottlenecks commonplace due to the drastic increase in wind turbines without a corresponding increase in electrical grid infrastructure.

This overcrowding of the market by local firms and the resultant limitations it has placed on the industry is also the main deterrent to foreign investors. Liu Qi, the deputy general manager of the Siemens-Shanghai Electric JV mentioned earlier, commented at the China Wind Power conference in 2014 that the biggest problem in the mainland market is the lack of a system [to ensure] quality development. After a round of expansion speed and volume chasing, some producers lacking in product quality have already disappeared.

Following the rise of Chinas domestic wind power producers in the mid-2000s, the majority of European and American wind power companies in the country have seen their market share slashed, with many forced to leave the market altogether. While the Siemens-Shanghai Electric JV is still in operation, and often held up as an example of a successful wind power joint venture, Liu Qi has noted that the partnership is not without its difficulties, citing high administrative costs and low efficiency as two of its biggest stumbling blocks.

RELATED: Trash or Treasure? Prospects for Chinas Recycling Industry

Prospects for the future

The need for wind power and alternative energy, both in China and internationally, has never been greater. April 2016 was the hottest April on record globally, and followed a string of recent temperature records worldwide. International scrutiny of pollution levels in China has also been high, with Chinas issuance of its highest air quality alert at the tail end of last year widely covered in Western media.

Chinas 13th Five Year Plan is the second to feature ambitious renewable energy targets for the country that, if fully delivered, will go some way to addressing climate issues in and beyond the countrys borders. Alongside the increase in domestic wind capacity to 250 GW by 2020, the plan also has a goal to boost overall clean energy to 20 percent of Chinas energy mix before 2030.

This backdrop does little to negate the very real problems that currently exist for foreign investors in Chinas wind power industry, but it does indicate that the investment landscape could change in the future. In order to meet its wind power and clean energy targets, China will need to expand and upgrade its electrical grid, following which companies will be able to see greater and faster returns on their investment. The development of this grid in itself is an area where foreign participation would likely be welcome.

Foreign investors can also look at other areas of the industry to channel their investment. Foreign makers of specialized components, for example, have been successful in the market in recent years, and after-sales services are becoming increasingly popular. It may therefore be that, for now, opportunities can best be found in niche sections of Chinas wind power industry, and that foreign direct investment will become more profitable in the longer-term.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2015

Doing Business in China 2015 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies that already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

Selling, Sourcing and E-Commerce in China 2016 (First Edition)

This guide, produced in collaboration with the experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, provides a comprehensive analysis of all these aspects of commerce in China. It discusses how foreign companies can best go about sourcing products from China; how foreign retailers can set up operations on the ground to sell directly to the countrys massive consumer class; and finally details how foreign enterprises can access Chinas lucrative yet ostensibly complex e-commerce market.

Importing and Exporting in China: a Guide for Trading Companies

In this issue of China Briefing, we discuss the latest import and export trends in China, and analyze the ways in which a foreign company in China can properly prepare for the import/export process. With import taxes and duties adding a significant cost burden, we explain how this system works in China, and highlight some of the tax incentives that the Chinese government has put in place to help stimulate trade.
Famous Chinese playwright, writer and translator Yang Jiang, the widow of Chinese literary giant Qian Zhongshu, died Wednesday morning in Beijing. She was 105.

People's Literature Publishing House has confirmed the news to media but said that Madame Yang requested that her obituary only be issued after her cremation.

Yang Jiang, famous Chinese playwright, writer and translator. [File photo]

Yang Jiang was born Yang Jikang on July 17, 1911 in Beijing. After graduating from Soochow University in 1932, Yang Jiang enrolled in the graduate school of Tsinghua University where she met her husband Qian Zhongshu.

From 1935 to 1938, they went to Oxford University and Pantheon-Sorbonne University for further study and had their daughter Qian Yuan. They returned to China in 1938. Both Yang and Qian went into academics and made important contributions to the development of Chinese culture.

Yang wrote several successful comedies, one of which, "As You Wish It" has been shown on the stage for more than 60 years. She was the first Chinese person to translate a complete Chinese version of "Don Quixote" from the Spanish original, which had sold more than 700,000 copies in China by 2014.

She wrote a memoir called "We Three," which was published in 2003, recalling her husband and her daughter Qian Yuan (19371997), who died of cancer one year before her father's death. The book sold more than 1 million copies.

Even as recently as 2014, at the age of 103, Yang published a new novel "After Baptism." All her works were included in a comprehensive collection of 9 volumes and 2.7 million words.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
Nuclear reactors under construction in Sanmen, Zhejiang Province.[Photo/Xinhua]

Two framework deals have been signed by China National Nuclear Corp with Sudan on nuclear power development, including building a 600-megawatt atomic reactor, the first such project in the African country.

The agreements may involve a blueprint for nuclear power development in the next decade for Sudan and building the first nuclear power station in the country, according to a statement issued by the State-owned nuclear giant on Tuesday.

The agreements were signed on Monday during a three-day visit to Sudan by a Chinese delegation. It was led by Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Sun Qin, chairman of CNNC, said the company will cooperate with Sudan's Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity through the agreements.

The company did not disclose the contract value or the type of nuclear technology to be used for the reactor.

But experts said there is a great opportunity for the homegrown reactor design Hualong One, a type of third-generation technology, to be used for the reactor.

"Hualong One is most likely to have been chosen for Sudan, said Chai Guohan, chief engineer at the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center.

"China is looking to popularize this nuclear technology at home and abroad," Chai said.

With the world's largest number of reactors under construction, China plans to develop this experience into nuclear exports.

Chinese nuclear companies are making huge inroads in global nuclear markets, including Britain and Argentina.

CNNC has clinched deals with Argentina to build two nuclear reactors, while CGN, another domestic energy giant, partnered with Electricite de France to build three reactors in Britain.

Sudan has faced power shortages in recent years and is seeking to build two 600-mW pressurized water reactors to meet the growing demand for electricity, with construction on the first one starting in 2021.

Sudanese Finance Minister Badr-Eddin Mahmoud said the agreements reviewed all energy issues facing the country and will provide solutions for these and for new projects.
You are here: Home

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has highlighted reform and innovation to upgrade growth during his visit to Shiyan and Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province on Monday and Tuesday.

Reforms of state-owned enterprises should be carried out consistently and the market should be invigorated so that enterprises can be real market entities, he said when visiting a heavy truck manufacturer in Shiyan.

Independent innovation should be highlighted to sharpen competitive edges, he added.

Digestion of excessive production capacity is a key task in supply-side structural reform and inefficient production capacity must be cut firmly, he said when visiting Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp.

He also urged governments at various levels to protect the interests of laid-off workers.

Li visited Wuhan Donghu New Technological Development Zone, a base for China's photoelectron industry and a National Independent Innovative Demonstration Zone.

About 60 percent of Wuhan's economy is underpinned by new dynamics such as high-technology and modern services.

Cultivating new development dynamics and transforming traditional ones can create more jobs and help digestion of steel and coal production overcapacity, he noted.
The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are likely to face many uncertainties if new Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen fails to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, a scholar warned on Tuesday.

The consensus that embodies the one China principle is a common understanding reached between two organizations authorized by the mainland and Taiwan in 1992. It has since been a common political foundation for the two sides to improve ties and advance cooperation. In her inauguration speech on Friday, Tsai made a few, ambiguous remarks on the 1992 Consensus.

It is a "minimum requirement" for any Taiwan leader, no matter which party he or she is from, to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus and its core implications that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, said Li Yihu, head of the institute of Taiwan studies at Peking University, in a signed article published by Xinhua.

The mainland has not raised any additional requests of the new Taiwan leader, Li said.

Tsai's predecessor Ma Ying-jeou accepted and overtly supported the consensus. It was only through this common political foundation that the two sides signed various cooperation agreements, established a regular communication mechanism and realized the historic meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou in 2015, according to Li.

All these achievements have had real benefits for the people of Taiwan, recognized by international society as well as people from both sides.

The new Taiwan leader should publicly acknowledge and accept the consensus if she is sincere in promoting the peaceful development process, said Li.

"If not, the development of mainland-Taiwan relations will be full of uncertainty and tranquility will be hard to maintain," Li wrote.

Taiwan's authorities must know that the mainland is unequivocal on the issue, and they should never underestimate the mainland's resolution in opposing "Taiwan independence" in any form, he said.
According to the Deputy Director of the State Oceanic Administration's ecological environmental protection department, Wang Xiaoqiang, the marine biodiversity and the living environment in the South China Sea have been damaged in various degrees, with some ecosystem degenerating to a sub-health status.

"The coral coverage has declined by an estimated 80 percent, and mangrove coverage 73 percent, compared to the figures in 1970s, which implies that the ecosystem in South China Sea is in a severe situation," said Wang in a marine biodiversity protecting event held by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) on May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity.

In addition to unavoidable natural causes of environment damages, the mass discharge of nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metal, and oils from the mainland, as well as the overfishing, farming, and other human activities by the sea, has caused the increasing red tides and declining marine biodiversity, according to a research co-conducted by CBCGDF earlier this year.

The report says that around several islands in Crescent Group, the coral coverage is now less than 10 percent, where broken limbs of corals can be seen all around and residents are still selling coral accessories and other souvenirs.

"The South China Sea is China's territory, so we are more concerned than any other country, institution, or individual around the world regarding the ecological environmental preservation of the atolls and sea areas," said Hong Lei, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a TV interview with China Central Television.

CBCGDF started building a database for marine species in the South China Sea, conducting more researches and taking more steps towards protecting the marine biodiversity in the sea area, including building a coral protective base in the next several years.

"It's also important that people get more knowledge about ocean protection, so that the problem can be solved from the root," said Xie Boyang, director of CBCGDF.
A court in Guangling District in the eastern Chinese city Yangzhou has convicted three suspects charged with running college student prostitution rings, local news portal yznews.com.cn reported.

More than 10 suspects received administrative punishment in the case, while three received criminal convictions after they were charged with introducing others into prostitution.

Students from secondary technical schools were found to have worked as prostitutes using online groups for communication.

One student, born in 1998, was persuaded by a friend to trade sex for money to buy a bicycle for about 4,000 yuan ($610), which her parents thought too expensive and refused to support. Her friend, another student from an ordinary family, also became a prostitute due to a lack of money.

A third student, born in 1994, sold sex at the behest of the head of an online chat group after she spent more than 20,000 yuan on computer games and became financially strained.

The pimp charged 20 to 50 yuan from clients for introducing them to student prostitutes, according to court documents.

Police also found another student, born in 1995, working as a prostitute herself and also facilitating sexual acts.

China's criminal law stipulates that those harboring prostitution or seducing or introducing others into prostitution are to be sentenced to five years or less in prison or put under criminal detention or surveillance, in addition to paying a fine. If the case is serious, they are to be sentenced to five years or more in prison in addition to a fine.
You are here: Home

The Chinese government has allocated 134.5 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) to subsidize compulsory education this year, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

The funds, taken from the central coffer, increased by 3 percent from spending in 2015, the ministry said in a statement.

China requires children to receive nine years of compulsory education,normally from the ages of 6 to 15.

The subsidy should be used to balance education resources between urban and rural areas, according to the statement.

More funds should go to boarding schools, small schools or those with inadequate resources, and those with a large number of students from rural migrant families, the ministry said.

Part of the subsidy will also be spent on improving rural students' nutrition and the livelihood of rural teachers in poverty-stricken areas.
You are here: Home

 Flash

Vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Qiliang met with Malaysian Navy chief Dato' Seri Panglima Ahmad Kamarulzaman bin Hj Ahmad Badaruddin on Tuesday, agreeing to enhance cooperation in defense and security.

Xu said China attaches great importance to military relations with Malaysia, especially ties between the two navies.

China is willing to work with Malaysia to deepen military exchanges to enrich the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between the two sides, he said.

Xu criticized attempts by certain countries to hype up tensions and produce trouble in the South China Sea, expressing China's firm opposition against such actions.

China is ready to enhance defense and security cooperation with Malaysia in the region to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, as well as the overall situation of China-ASEAN friendship and cooperation, said Xu.

Kamarulzaman said Malaysia is willing to work with China to strengthen mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation to push forward bilateral ties, including military ties.
 Flash

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday asked South Korea once again to hold working-level talks between militaries of the two sides after the latter rejected its previous offer over the weekend.

The DPRK said it hoped to discuss issues such as the possibility of military clashes along the Military Demarcation Line and in the West Sea (the Yellow Sea), the official KCNA news agency reported.

"Nothing can be a prerequisite or excuse for denying dialogue and shunning negotiations, the best way of settling all issues," the DPRK said in the notice it sent to South Korea.

The DPRK Ministry of People's Armed Forces on Saturday sent a notice to its South Korean counterpart proposing to hold working-level talks between the militaries of the two sides in late May or early June. Pyongyang stressed that the talks would be aimed at defusing military tensions and creating a confidence-building atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula.

But the offer was immediately rejected by Seoul. The South Korean Defense Ministry said in a brief statement that Pyongyang must first take steps to denuclearize before any talks could be held.
 Flash

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attends a press conference prior to the closing ceremony of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, May 24, 2016. [Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe]

Leaders of world's powers should gather together and strive for political solutions to humanitarian crises, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.

The UN chief addressed the closing press briefing of the World Humanitarian Summit, hailing the event and its achievement, but also expressing his disappointment about the absence of some leaders.

"So far, over 400 member states, organizations and groups have made altogether 1,500 commitments at the summit," he said. "But it's disappointing that some world leaders could not be here, especially those from G7 countries except Chancellor Angela Merkel."

The two-day World Humanitarian Summit opened Monday in Istanbul. About 5,200 participants, including 65 heads of state and government and representatives from crisis-affected communities, NGOs, the private sectors and UN agencies, attended the summit.
 Flash

The fight against global terrorism calls for in-depth cooperation at all levels as the nontraditional threat has shown the feature of localization, fragmentation and internetization, China's top security official Meng Jianzhu said on Tuesday.

Meng, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of CPC Central Committee, made remarks here at the 7th International Security Conference of High Representatives.

The international community should put aside minor differences, and strengthen dialogue and consultation within the framework of the United Nations, in a bid to seek a common ground in the fight against terrorism, said Meng.

All countries should make pragmatic effort to establish an effective mechanism for the sharing of information and intelligence, while improving their anti-terrorism laws and relevant regulations, said Meng.

He also noted the urgent need to strengthen network governance and crack down on online terrorism, saying that efforts should be made to prevent the spread of violence and terrorist activities in the cyberspace.
 Flash

Russia would take more responsive measures against NATO's eastward expansion, in addition to deploying three new divisions near its western border, Russia's ambassador to NATO said Tuesday.

"Our interests will be securely protected. The deployment of three divisions is just one of the measures to be taken in this context," Alexander Grushko said, without specifying other countermeasures Russia could take.

"Today, our armed forces, and the military-technical potential we have, allow us to choose between different military and technical methods to protect security in order not to get dragged in the spiral of an arms race," Grushko said as quoted by Tass news agency.

Grushko recalled the recent deployment of U.S. Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in Romania, the start of a similar launch area project in Poland, and the signing by NATO and Montenegro of an accession protocol.

Stressing that Russia is not interested in confrontation, Grushko said NATO's latest steps bring evident risks to regional and global security.

"(The policy of NATO's expansion) does not meet real security needs but only creates division lines," Grushko said.

He added that NATO's policy of confrontation with Russia was doomed to failure, and the alliance would have to revise its approach fundamentally sooner or later.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in May that deployment of three new mechanized infantry divisions near Russia's western border would be finished by the end of this year.

The divisions, 10,000-strong each, are expected to be deployed in the Rostov, Smolensk and Voronezh regions, all on the country's European side.

Russia-NATO relations have been at a low point since armed conflicts broke out in eastern Ukraine in early 2014. Russia has repeatedly expressed concerns over the military buildup by NATO in neighboring countries.
 Flash

China and Thailand have vowed to improve military relations and cooperation in areas such as training and defense industry.

The pledge was made on Tuesday night during a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan when they were preparing for the informal meeting between Chinese and ASEAN defense ministers held on Wednesday.

Chang hailed cooperation between the two armed forces in recent years, especially in defense and security consultation, joint training and national defense industry. He hopes to further implement the important consensus made by leaders of the two countries and deepen the strategic communication between the two armies so as to strengthen China-Thailand friendship.

Prawit, on his part, confirmed the frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries. He also expressed the hope to further personnel exchange and deepen anti-terrorism cooperation between the two armes.

The two defense ministers also exchanged views on global and regional issues, including the South China Sea dispute.
 Flash

Defense ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold talks on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program on the sidelines of a regional security meeting scheduled for early next month, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said that South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo will meet with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the 2016 Asia Security Summit, also called Shangri-La Dialogue, that will be held in Singapore between June 3 and 5.

The summit is an annually held security meeting, attended by defense ministers and other security experts from 35 countries, including China, the United States, Russia, Japan and other European nations.

During the trilateral meeting, the three countries would discuss various security issues, including the DPRK's nuclear and missile threats.

Tensions were running high on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK's fourth nuclear test in January and the launch in February of a long-range rocket, which was condemned by outside world as a disguised test of long-range ballistic missile technology.
 Flash

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday defended the country's stance on the South China Sea, rejecting criticism from the United States, Japan and Western media.

Hua Chunying said at a routine press briefing that China's construction activities on its islands and reefs starting at the end of 2013 are aimed entirely at safeguarding its sovereignty and rights.

"China's construction in the South China Sea came later than other countries' illegal activities in the region," Hua said.

The United States "rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific" strategy and Philippine initiation of the South China Sea arbitration also came before China's island reclaiming, she said.

Hua's comments came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said China's actions in the South and East China Seas threatened to create a "tinderbox."

In Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Kerry said that he would caution China to not unilaterally move to reclaim and militarize islands, according to AP.

Hua, however, said that it was the growing U.S. military deployment and activities in the region that were creating tensions.

She also slammed Japan for hyping up the South China Sea issue ahead of the G7 summit. "As the world economy is facing such a complicated situation, the G7 summit should focus on global economic governance and cooperation," she said.

The "little trick" of Japan as the host of the G7 summit will do no good to G7 and will not be helpful to peace and stability in the South China Sea, Hua said.

More and more nations and international organizations are expressing understanding and support for China's stance on the South China Sea, she said.

Hua applauded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) "just and fair" position on the matter.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries said they were against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, according to a press communique released on Tuesday.
Radio Free Asia

2016-04-25



A Chinese activist who helped the son of two detained human rights lawyers leave the country to attend college in the United States is being held under criminal detention, police have confirmed after holding him incommunicado for seven months.

Tang Zhishun and Xing Qingxian escorted Bao Zhuoxuan, 16, across the border from the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan into northern Myanmar posing as tourists after the boy was slapped with a travel ban in the wake of his parents arrest.

Bao, who is also known by his nickname Bao Mengmeng, is the son of rights lawyers Wang Yu and Bao Longjun, who were detained on the night of July 9, 2015 at the start of a nationwide police operation targeting the legal profession.

Tang Zhishun in an undated photo from lawyer Tan

Chenshous social media account.

But Bao and his minders were taken away from the Huadu Guesthouse in the border town of Mongla by local police on Oct. 6, and handed over to the Chinese authorities, sources told RFA at the time.

Seven months later, Xings family received official notification of his criminal detention on suspicion of organizing the smuggling of persons across a national boundary.

While Xing and Tang had entered Myanmar legally, Baos passport had been confiscated after his parents detention.

Xing is currently being held in the Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center. It now looks likely that Tang is also being held in the city, which is coordinating the prosecutions of Wang, Bao Longjun and more than a dozen other rights attorneys on subversion and other charges.

226 days

Two-hundred-and-twenty-six days after Tang Zhishun and Xing Qingxian were detained by Chinese police in Myanmar, I have finally received notification of Xings criminal detention, Xings wife He Juan said via Twitter on Thursday.

This notification arrived as a registered letter, He told RFA . He is living in the U.S. where she fled after her husbands detention.

It was originally addressed to the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party village committee [in my hometown], she said. My mother has just gotten home, so they just handed it to her.

He Juan hit out at the length of her husbands detention, and at the lack of information given to the family in the interim. The detention notice was signed and sealed by Tianjin police on May 7.

I think that we had to wait far too long, she said. The rule is that the family should be notified within 24 hours, and we didnt get this for 226 days.

In that time, I have experienced terror, fear and despair, but at least my husband is still alive, she said.

Xings birthday falls on June 4, the politically sensitive anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, and He Juan called on supporters and fellow activists to send cards to the detention center to support him.

Meanwhile, Tangs lawyer Tan Chenshou told RFA that his clients family has yet to receive a similar notification.

We havent received anything here yet, Tan said. But common sense says that they are probably being held in the same place.

Tough sentences

He said he expected both men to receive harsh jail terms for helping Bao Mengmeng.

I think theyll give them tough sentences, because they use the word arranging, Tan said, adding that the smuggling charge is usually used against human traffickers, not against those arranging for a single persons departure.

As his lawyer, I dont think that what they did amounts to organizing the smuggling of persons across a national boundary, he said.

In an interview with RFA last October, Tangs wife Gao Shen, who also fled to the U.S. with the couples daughter after his detention, said she feared the two men were at risk of torture.

Secret detention is a terrifying thing, Gao said. We are terribly afraid that the Chinese police may be torturing Tang Zhishun and Xing Qingxian, destroying them in order to get a forced confession.

China has detained, questioned or otherwise placed restrictions on at least 319 lawyers, law firm staff, human right activists and family members since the July 9 crackdown began, a Hong Kong-based rights group reported on its website.

Some have been criminally detained or formally arrested on subversion, state security or public order charges, while others have been banned from leaving the country or placed under house arrest or other forms of surveillance, the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said.

Rights lawyer Ran Tong said the practice of holding people incommunicado for long periods was wrong.

These enforced disappearances are all just plain wrong, Ran said.They are all illegal.

Both Chinese law and international law is very clear about this, and this practice amounts to a criminal offense, he explained. The families must be notified.

Reported by Yang Fan for RFAs Mandarin Service, and by Hai Nan for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

China Aid Contacts

Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.chinaaid.org
Nuclear reactors under construction in Sanmen, Zhejiang province.[Photo/Xinhua]

Two framework deals have been signed by China National Nuclear Corp with Sudan on nuclear power development, including building a 600-megawatt atomic reactor, the first such project in the African country.

The agreements may involve a blueprint for nuclear power development in the next decade for Sudan and building the first nuclear power station in the country, according to a statement issued by the State-owned nuclear giant on Tuesday.

The agreements were signed on Monday during a three-day visit to Sudan by a Chinese delegation. It was led by Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Sun Qin, chairman of CNNC, said the company will cooperate with Sudan's Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity through the agreements.

The company did not disclose the contract value or the type of nuclear technology to be used for the reactor.

But experts said there is a great opportunity for the homegrown reactor design Hualong One, a type of third-generation technology, to be used for the reactor.

"Hualong One is most likely to have been chosen for Sudan, said Chai Guohan, chief engineer at the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center.

"China is looking to popularize this nuclear technology at home and abroad," Chai said.

With the world's largest number of reactors under construction, China plans to develop this experience into nuclear exports.

Chinese nuclear companies are making huge inroads in global nuclear markets, including Britain and Argentina.

CNNC has clinched deals with Argentina to build two nuclear reactors, while CGN, another domestic energy giant, partnered with Electricite de France to build three reactors in Britain.

Sudan has faced power shortages in recent years and is seeking to build two 600-mW pressurized water reactors to meet the growing demand for electricity, with construction on the first one starting in 2021.

Sudanese Finance Minister Badr-Eddin Mahmoud said the agreements reviewed all energy issues facing the country and will provide solutions for these and for new projects.
An e-shop model poses for photographers at an online clothing firm's show.HAN YOU/CHINA DAILY

Spanish fashion giant Zara launches a whopping 12,000 or more new designs a year. But wait, what the world sees as a humongous output may be small change for Handu.com, a Chinese online clothing retailer founded in 2006.

Handu launched more than 30,000 designs in 2015.

The Shandong-based e-commerce company, which has seen its annual sales surge from 3 million yuan ($458,100) in 2008 to 1.26 billion yuan in 2015, is a living legend, so to speak, in China's online shopping world.

From fashion-conscious teenage girls to discerning women in their 50s, all love to shop on Handu.

But it is in no tearing hurry to emerge as Asia's Zara. It is not desperate to boost its online clothing sales to record highs. Instead, it wants to empower up-and-coming e-commerce startups so they could be as successful as itself.

"We have repositioned ourselves to be China's largest builder of internet brands. This strategy is a new chapter in our evolution as a business," said Jia Peng, deputy manager of Handu.

That's not all. It has recently applied for a listing on China's New Third Board or the National Equities Exchange and Quotations. It wants to use the proceeds to fund its ambitious plan.

"Small brands have entered a golden era of rapid development. People are looking for things that can differentiate themselves from others, be it in segments like clothes, accessories, perfumes or body lotions," said Jia.

"It used to be very difficult for bricks-and-mortar stores to sell products to a niche market. A store can usually cover a small area. Sales would get hurt if it came to rely only on a particular group of consumers," he said.

But e-commerce has made it possible to transcend geographical limitations.

Jia, who is in charge of building Ebrandpark, an internet startup incubator under Handu, said the goal is to nurture 50 internet brands that can notch up annual sales of tens of millions yuan each.

"After 10 years of cultivating internet brands ourselves, we have gathered a lot of experience. Our valuable experience can energize startups and help them achieve quick growth," he said.

According to Jia, Handu is very good at targeting niche markets and building brands. The company operates more than 30 clothing brands. Each of its brands has its own detailed formula to communicate with customers online in a particular tone of voice.

"We also have a very strong and sophisticated logistics and warehousing solution that can handle 500,000 parcels a day. We invested in that because we're aware spending an extra second each on packing, say, 500,000 orders, could mean you need about six extra days to finish the dispatch process," he said.

Handu has also built up a very strong supply chain, which can produce clothes within 10 days of receiving orders online.

"Rather than making more money by nurturing emerging brands in our own stable, we hope this new model could help us find the next big thing in internet and, in turn, make us stronger in the rapidly changing e-commerce world," he said.
WASHINGTON -- China's deeper integration into the global economy benefits the United States and the world at large, a senior US Treasury official said Tuesday.

This is because such integration will bring huge creative and innovative capacity that will support innovation years ahead, said Nathan Sheets, US Treasury's undersecretary for international affairs, at a Brookings event to preview the eighth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) slated for early June in Beijing.

"That's in the global (economy's) interests and in the US interests," he stressed.

Sheets said that the deepening and further integration create a lot of opportunities for US firms to export to China, and creates jobs and opportunities in the United States, so that American consumers and firms can get access to a whole new range of goods that Chinese produce.

The undersecretary reaffirmed the US government's commitment to reaching a bilateral investment treaty with China before President Barack Obama leaves office.

According to the official, the upcoming S&ED will focus on a number of key issues, such as China's excessive industrial capacity, investment liberalization and macroeconomic rebalancing.

China's economic rebalancing is of crucial importance not only to ensuring a balanced relationship with the United States, but also to ensuring that China's economy is able to grow in a sustainable way, said Sheets, adding that China has made progress in its rebalancing away from exports, manufacturing and investment to domestic demand, service sectors and consumption.

In the question and answer session, Sheets said the G20 summit, to be held in Hangzhou, China in September, will focus on a robust set of issues which will be complementary to those raised in the S&ED.

Issues such as boosting global demand, making global financial system more robust, facilitating cross-border investment, improving international financial architecture, and promoting climate financing, will top G20 summit's agenda, said Sheets.
BEIJING - The profit decline posted by China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) eased in the first four months this year, as the economy showed signs of stabilization, official data showed Wednesday.

Profits fell 8.4 percent year on year to 652.26 billion yuan ($98.8 billion) during the January-April period, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance.

The pace of decline narrowed from the 13.8-percent fall registered in the first three months.

Profits of SOEs under central government control dropped 6.6 percent while those of locally-administered SOEs slumped by 14.2 percent compared with one year earlier.

SOEs in the sectors of oil, chemicals and construction posted substantial profit declines, while the coal, steel and non-ferrous metal industries continued to suffer losses. However, transportation, petrochemicals and pharmaceutical companies posted big profit increases.

SOE revenues edged down 1.7 percent to 13.5 trillion yuan, decelerating from the 3-percent drop in the January-March period.

An economic downturn, which trimmed China's GDP growth to 6.7 percent in the first quarter, has put pressure on SEOs.

Although downward pressure persisted, data suggests signs of stabilization in the economy. The purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector, a gauge of factory activity, was 50.1 in April, above the crucial 50-mark separating expansion from contraction for two consecutive months.
Pedestrians walk past a store of Zhouheiya Food in Wuhan city, Central China's Hubei province, 24 August 2014.[Photo/IC]

Zhouheiya Food Co, a Chinese food company known for its spicy dried duck snacks, is planning to go public in Hong Kong and raise up to $500 million, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper citing people familiar with the matter, the company is expected to file an application for an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the next couple of weeks.

It could be the first food firm seeking to list on the bourse this year, the newspaper said.

The company, established in Central China's Hubei province in 2006, has been expanding quickly in the past decade with chain stores and factories covering more than 10 Chinese cities in China.

It recorded a net profit of 306 million yuan ($46.7 million) in 2015, according to the newspaper citing data from China's company-registration website. Its investors include Shenzhen private-equity firm Tiantu Capital.

Zhouheiya, or "Mr Zhou's black duck" in Chinese, made an appearance in the 2014 Hollywood hit "Transformers: Age of Extinction.", said the newspaper.

Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley are sponsors, or banks responsible for the IPO, the sources said.
Chinese tech giant Huawei is taking rival Samsung to court in China and the United States over alleged patent infringement.

It is the first case of a domestic manufacturer taking on the world's largest smartphone vendor.

Huawei said the dispute involves the fourth-generation wireless standard in the US, while in China it relates to 4G standards as well as other smartphone functions.

Media reports said the company claims its South Korean counterpart has infringed on as many as 11 patents related to such technologies.

Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, did not say how much it is seeking in compensation.

The company said: "Huawei has every right to seek reasonable compensation from any firm that uses our technology without a license. A lawsuit is a legal means in this respect, (but) we look forward to finding a better way out, together with Samsung. We are open to negotiations. ...

"Huawei believes all players in the industry should work together to push the sector forward through open, joint innovations,"the company said.

"We hope Samsung will respect Huawei's intellectual property rights and R&D (research and development) achievements, and stop infringing on our patents."

Samsung China said the corporation would take appropriate action to defend its business interests.

By the end of last year, Huawei had 50,377 authorized patents and had applied for 52,550 in China and 30,613 abroad, according the company's annual report.

The report shows that the company, which is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, spent 59.6 billion yuan ($9.08 billion), or 15.1 percent of its revenue, on research and development last year and more than 240 billion yuan over the past decade.

Huawei has patent cross-licensing agreements with dozens of companies, including Apple. Payments for such technology licenses are estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

According to US consulting firm Gartner, Huawei sold nearly 28.9 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 8.3 percent of the worldwide market. Samsung and Apple occupied 23.2 percent and 14.8 percent respectively.

Contact the writers at heyini@chinadaily.com.cn
Traders wait for Chinese online retail giant Alibaba's stock to go live on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Sept 19, 2014. In 2015, Gucci and other brands owned by Paris-based Kering SA filed a suit in New York against Alibaba.[Photo/Agencies]

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it was being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over whether the Chinese e-commerce company's accounting practices violated any federal laws.

The company has provided the SEC with information about its accounting for logistics unit Cainiao Network as well as operating data from its Singles' Day shopping festival, according to Alibaba's annual report filed on Tuesday.

The SEC advised the company that the investigation should not be seen as an indication that Alibaba had violated federal securities laws, Alibaba said in a regulatory filing. "This matter is ongoing, and, as with any regulatory proceeding, we cannot predict when it will be concluded," Alibaba said.

Asked for comment on Wednesday, an Alibaba spokesperson said the disclosure of those financial details are "exactly the kind of robust and transparent information that will address the underlying issues in SEC's inquiry."

Singles' Day is the biggest shopping festival in the world, and accounts for more than the combined sales of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events in the US.

The focus of the SEC probe was not immediately clear, but critics have in the past complained that Alibaba reports Singles' Day sales in terms of gross merchandise volume, or GMV.

GMV tallies the monetary value of buying activity over a certain period of time, but it doesn't take into account various hiccups -- for example, customer returns, or if the seller runs out of stock and can't deliver the product. Last year, the Hangzhou-based firm reported GMV sales of $14.3 billion on Singles' Day.

Cainiao Network handles the vast majority of Alibaba's deliveries. Alibaba owns a 47 percent stake in the firm, which recently raised 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) from investors.

How Alibaba accounts for the financial performance of Cainiao has drawn criticism.

In its annual report, Alibaba reported that Cainiao had a net loss of $94 million in 2015 on revenue of $472 million.
Free lunch -- by Luo Jie, Nov 26, 2010

European Union and the US say they would levy carbon tariff at the international climate change meeting in Cancun. In the name of protecting environment, they set up new trade barriers. Developed countries enjoyed the fruits that developing countries created through consuming resources and energy, and they criticized developing countries of causing heavy pollution, 2010.


Riding roughshod -- by Li Jianhua, 1999

The United States signs the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the former Soviet Union in 1972 to limit the number of missiles both countries have, and that paves the way to treaties with four former Soviet republics in 1997. However, the US withdraws from the treaty in 2002.
Police officers stop vehicles in front of a flooded road section in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on May 10, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Heavy rains, full reservoirs and saturated soil combine to create dangerous conditions

China's flood control authority said on Tuesday that there is "a large chance of flooding" along the Yangtze River, Songhua River and Huaihe River this year as a result of increased precipitation during flood season.

Zhang Jiatuan, a spokesman for the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said the authority would not exclude the possibility of other rivers flooding because water levels in South China are higher than previous years, with the storage of water in lakes and reservoirs also significantly higher than usual.

"The soil water content is also saturated in many areas, and the possibility of a regional flood, flash flooding and landslides has also increased," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

Zhang said the water levels in major rivers in South China are even higher than levels in 1998, when the country's major rivers last experienced massive flooding.

River basins of the Yangtze, Songhua and Nenjiang rivers experienced more than 70 days of torrential rainfall in the summer of 1998, and at least 1,800 people died in the resulting floods, with more than 100 million people affected.

As of Monday, 480 counties in 14 provincial areas in South, Southwest and East China have been hit with floods. The floods and secondary disasters were responsible for the deaths of 74 people this year. They also forced the relocation of 323,400 people and affected 7.48 million residents across China, according to the headquarters.

In one of the most recent cases of flooding, days of heavy rain have affected about 500,000 people in 25 counties in Hunan province, with about 18,000 evacuated and 4,000 in need of emergency supplies, the provincial flood and drought relief headquarters said on Monday.

In the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, two people died and 240,000 others have been affected as rainstorms battered the region's north and east, forcing more than 11,000 people to evacuate, according to the regional department of civil affairs.

Wang Jinxing, an official at the Hydrology Intelligence and Forecasting Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, said the authority predicted that East China could be battered with a prolonged rainy season in June and July.

He added that the amount of precipitation during the East Asian rainy season will also be higher than usual this year, which increases the chances of flooding.

Zhang, the spokesman, said a priority for the country's flood prevention efforts is to protect people from flash floods and secondary disasters such as landslides.

Every year, flooded streams and medium-sized rivers account for 70 to 80 percent of flood-related casualties nationwide, according to the flood control headquarters.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn
Well over half of the administrative rulings protested by prosecutors were overturned last year, as procuratorates played a role in supervision, an official of China's top prosecuting body said on Tuesday.

Since May last year, when a revised Chinese Administrative Procedure Law took effect, prosecuting authorities have been asked to increase their efforts to point out and protest problematic verdicts or miscarriages in administrative cases, according to Xiao Wei, spokeswoman for the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Of the administrative cases protested by prosecutors, verdicts in 57.8 percent were overturned, and nearly 90 percent of alternatives suggested by prosecutors were accepted, Xiao said.

The increased supervision shows that prosecutors have "performed their duty" to protest a verdict or issue suggestions about "flawed or mistaken verdicts", she said.

"We've also smoothed our reporting channel for residents and increased reviews of administrative cases," she said.

In 2015, prosecuting authorities accepted 34,599 cases after litigants applied for supervision or review - a 1.6 percent year-on-year increase, of which 3,463 cases were related to verdict implementation, the top prosecuting authority said.

In one example, a resident surnamed Xiong, from Taoyuan county, Hunan province, applied for a supervisory review.

Xiong, whose full name was not provided by prosecutors, had appealed a case involving the county's housing management bureau in 2013, asking judges to withdraw a house registration made by his wife, surnamed Zhang, in 2007. Xiong said he didn't know about the registration until much later. The couple divorced in 2011.

The county court refused Xiong's appeal, saying he had learned of the house registration in June 2010 and should have taken legal action within the two-year limit required by law. Xiong claims the 2010 date is incorrect.

He was rejected again after appealing for a retrial at Changde Intermediate People's Court, and he subsequently requested the review by prosecutors.

As a result, the provincial High People's Court canceled the original verdicts and directed the county court to rehear the case.

Jia Xiaogang, deputy director of the SPP's Civil and Administrative Supervision Department, said the enhanced supervision of the courts is aimed at avoiding judicial mistakes.

He added that the supervision is an effective way to maintain both justice and judicial authority.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
As more Chinese people go abroad to study, finding a satisfactory job after the return trip has become a top concern.

According to a survey by Vision Overseas, a company under New Oriental Education and Technology Group, four out of 10 graduates find jobs within a month after coming back.

About 37 percent could secure a job within a season - a worrying situation compared with 2013, when 65 percent of returnees found a job within three months.

"In my opinion, it takes too much time for Chinese students returning from overseas to find a job," said Yu Zhongqiu, vice-president of Vision Overseas. "Things must be done to change this situation."

The survey also found that many students returning from overseas had difficulty adjusting to work in China, which is reflected in the low job-satisfaction rate.

Only 36 percent of returnees were satisfied with their work, and almost half said they were not content with their current professional life.

Vision Overseas said the findings are not surprising, as only 58 percent of those who return are doing jobs related to their studies, and the low relationship between studies and work may be a source of discontent.

In addition, the survey found, almost 80 percent of the students had changed jobs after coming back.
Tibetan opera artists perform in celebration of a giant thangka. It took a thangka master and nine of his disciples nine years to complete the 10,000-square-meter artwork. [Photo by Phurbu Tashi/Xinhua]

Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, has rolled out a series of measures to protect the city's historic villages, local officials said on Tuesday.

In recent years, the regional government has vowed to turn Lhasa into one of China's special cultural heritage sites, and it's becoming a world tourism destination.

The city has two districts, six counties, 57 townships and 1,123 villages. More than half the villages are said to have historical value.

"Protection work of cultural sites in the region started in the 1980s, and it has leapt forward from a single site at the beginning to a wide range now," said Zhang Hui, deputy director of the city's people's congress standing committee.

Zhang said the renovation of 1,300-year-old Barkhor Street is a good example of success. More than 1.5 billion yuan ($229 million) was invested in the project in 2013.

"To reverse the current condition of insufficient protection, the city government is planning further studies, aiming to protect the old villages through legislation," Zhang said.

According to local officials, the protection of ancient villages is urgent, considering the fast speed of urbanization and the increasing conflicts between construction and protection interests.

"Some ancient villages need renovation, but because of some people's insufficient awareness about protection, there's variation in the level of damage to some historical architecture," said Yangjen Drolkar, another deputy director of the Lhasa people's congress standing committee.

"The protection procedures will help preserve the history and culture of the age-old villages, and it will prevent exploitation," said Yangjen Drolkar.

The city's cultural bureau will carry out the plan.

"We will increase spending on the protection of ancient villages and intangible cultural sites," said Gesang Dondrub, deputy head of the Lhasa Cultural Bureau. "Another measure is to establish a professional monitoring institute to make sure the work can be done professionally and in a scientific way."

He added that his bureau will block any construction that could damage cultural sites.

Karma Dzondru, a resident of Lhasa's Barkor Ancient Street, said he was pleased to see the government renovating the ancient street without losing its original appearance.

"I feel lucky to live on Barkor Street, and I'm pleased to see the buildings around our houses are all Tibetan styles," Karma Dzondru said.

Contact the writers at palden_nyima@chinadaily.com.cn
The authorities are working to eradicate duplication of official documents after two well-publicized cases highlighted a rising problem, report Cao Yin in Beijing and Qi Xin in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Thirty provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions are understood to be setting up a system to prevent identity theft in China. Although no details have yet been released, the system will ensure that the information given to authorities is accurate and that identity cards and hukou, or household registration certificates, match the named owners, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Keeping identity-related information secure has become a problem in China. In a report published in July, the Internet Society of China said 78.2 percent of netizens have had their personal details - names, addresses or identity numbers - disclosed without authorization.

The authorities are now acting to tighten up the system in the wake of two well-publicized cases that made national headlines after it was revealed that one woman's college place had been taken by an imposter, while another discovered that she had had no legal status, and therefore no access to benefits, for six years.

A traumatic year

Wang Nana said the past year has been the most traumatic of her life, leaving her panic-stricken and with little hope.

The problem began when the 33-year-old from Zhoukou, a city in the central province of Henan, applied for a bank loan. Her application was refused after the bank ran a credit check that suggested she had submitted inaccurate information on the loan form.

The mystery was solved when Wang discovered that someone else was using her identity, and had even taken her place at college in 2003.

According to the bank's credit check, Wang had graduated from the Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College in 2006, even though she had never attended the school.

"I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that another person had stolen my dream and made it come true for themself. I wanted an explanation," said Wang, who runs a photocopying outlet in her hometown.
Wang Yang, a lathe worker at Shenyang Aerospace Xinguang Group, never expected he would make a contribution to China's space program. [Photo rovided to China Daily]

Wang Yang could never have imagined the role he would play in China's manned space exploration program when he landed a job at a factory in Shenyang, Liaoning province, 31 years ago.

Even now, when the taciturn 50-year-old lathe worker sees pictures of Shenzhou spacecraft on the television he only tells his wife these simple words: "There are some parts on it that were made by me".

Born in 1966 as the youngest child of two space industry workers in Shenyang, Wang was employed in 1986 by the Shenyang Xinguang Factory, now called Shenyang Aerospace Xinguang Group, after serving three years with the People's Liberation Army.

"I knew nothing about the equipment in my workshop when I was assigned the job," he recalled. "The thing that inspired me the most at that time was my mentor's products, which were like artworks in my eyes."

Aspiring to becoming a lathe master, Wang was apprenticed to Qi Jianguo, who was a top lathe operator at the factory, for more than two years.

"Qi told me that a top worker needs to coordinate his eyes, hands and his mind when crafting a product, and I always keep these words in my mind," Wang said.

In 1997, five years after China commenced its manned space program, Shenyang Aerospace Xinguang was designated as the developer and manufacturer of one of 10 key components to be used on the nation's future Shenzhou spacecraft. But the research team, of which Wang was a member, knew nothing about the part.

So, for more than two months, he spent almost all of his time making prototypes, conducting experiments and carrying out tests in front of his lathe. Finally, the product was ready to be manufactured and used on the Shenzhou I spacecraft.

It proved so successful that all such components for the next nine Shenzhou spacecraft were made by Wang.

Wang Jun, head of the company's labor union, said managers had considered promoting Wang to a managerial position several times, but the lathe worker chose to remain in his workshop.

"If he had decided to take up the appointment, he would have got higher pay and a more comfortable workplace, but he took my advice that operating a lathe is more suitable for him because this job makes the best use of his know-how and expertise," the union head said.

Zhang Yinhua, who is also a lathe worker at Shenyang Aerospace Xinguang, said Wang Yang had mentored 12 apprentices, including himself.

"And three of us have become high-grade operators thanks to his instruction," he said.

Wang Yang's helpfulness not only benefits his apprentices, it is also a boon to other workers at the company.

"Anyone who had a problem concerning the lathe comes to Wang Yang to ask for help and he has never let them down," Zhang said.

In 2006, Wang Yang was named a model worker of Shenyang. Three years later, he was named a model worker of Liaoning province and in 2012, he was awarded a National May Day Laborer Medal. The next year, the lathe operator was named a national model worker, the top honorary title.

Wang Yang has also invented dozens of metal-processing techniques and holds three national patents.

The secret to his success? "I am serious about the making of every product," he said.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
A small farm house, a bamboo grove, a bicycle, a skipping rope and a flock of chicken and ducks  this is virtually the whole world for an 11-year-old girl living with AIDS.

Shasha, an alias, lives in a remote mountain village in Ningxiang County in China's southern province of Hunan. Her mother died in 2006, and she was later diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Word of her disease quickly spread through the village after her father also died of AIDS in April 2015. Throughout the next year, she was forced out of school twice by her fellow schoolmates' parents.

Shasha has to stay at home. Mr. Yin, principal of her former primary school, comes to teach her at home once a week; it is her only contact with the outside world.

"Everyone's afraid of me"

On an April morning last year, a parent/teacher meeting was held in the school to discuss whether Shasha should stay.

Standing timidly at her grandfather's side, Shasha understood nothing about their harangue of mosquito bites and blood transmission, but was nevertheless frightened to see a hysterical parent cry out, "You cannot study at the school!"

"Everyone's afraid of me," said the sensitive 11-year-old. "I'm all alone all the time."

Even her two best friends began drifting away from her. Whenever she went to her friends' house, their parents would send her back with several pieces of fruit.

Whenever she asked them to play "rubber band skipping," they would always find an excuse for not going.

This kind of isolation was also found at home, as her grandmother makes her use separate tableware, a washbasin and a bucket. And she can only cuddle with a plush toy bear while sleeping at night.

Shasha's sister, who goes to a boarding school, is her only friend. She buys her biscuits, candies, beautiful hairpins and toys when she comes back every weekend.

The 11-year-old girl always looks forward to spending time with her sister, playing games and watching cartoons on TV.

Perpetual solitude

For most of the time, Shasha needs to cope with solitude.

Chicks, ducks and the plush toys that her sister has given her, as well as the bamboo grove surrounding her home, have all become Shasha's friends. She thinks blankly while sitting at the farm house, remembering the days when she would play games with her friends at school.

But now, she is always by herself, either do a bit of math homework Mr. Yin leaves with her or with the chicks and ducks at the farm.

Every afternoon, the ducks that leave to seek food outside march back home and Shasha always recognizes immediately which ones belong to her family.

She has gained interest in riding a bicycle that her father gave her before he died. Shasha used to ride it to school but now she can only ride it in the yard.

Outside the yard, there's a slope that she loves to ride on. "I feel free as the wind when riding down the slope," Shasha said.

For Shasha, time is not easy to kill. After getting up at eight or nine in the morning, all she can do is idle blankly in the bamboo grove, feed her chicks three or four times, play "Fruit Ninja"  a mobile phone game  hundreds of times, and listen to the rustling bamboo leaves blowing in the wind.

On May 12, Shasha stayed at home alone. She took out a notebook with the lyrics of her school song written on it. "Greet the rising sun; say goodbye to the sunset; we learn knowledge and pursue our dreams," she sang.

But no one listens.
A student goes through a metal detector in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. [Photo/IC]

High-tech measures, such as face recognition and fingerprint verification systems, will be used for the first time in many places for this year's gaokao, or national college entrance exam, which will start within a fortnight, China News Service reported on Wednesday.

Many cheating cases have occurred across the country during the gaokao, an important exam that determines many students' fates. China has listed cheating in the exam as a criminal act in its newly amended Criminal Law effective from Nov 1 last year.

To ensure no cheating occurs this year, provincial authorities of Guangdong and Hubei plans to make use of high technology. Aside from face recognition and fingerprint verification systems, metal detectors and electronic monitoring systems will also be used.

Candidates in Hainan province are required to be checked twice by the hand-held metal monitors under the video surveillance system before they come back to the test room from the toilet during the exam.

Watches are forbidden in the exam rooms in provinces like Fujian, Anhui and Hubei. Instead, silent clocks will be available for students to check the time in every test room.

The education authorities will also make use of technology to secure the safety of the gaokao test papers. The places where the test papers are stored will have at least two cameras installed for surveillance.

Vehicles used for transporting the test papers will be equipped with video surveillance systems and GPS, GPRS and RFID devices for positioning and monitoring the vehicles during transportation, the Ministry of Education said in April.

Apart from the technology-aided measures, many places have also strengthened the teams of test supervisors. Many provincial education authorities reiterated that lessons should be drawn from last year's case of an arranged gang of fake candidates taking exams in Jiangxi. The police in many provinces have expressed they will have zero tolerance for such practices this year.
A man and woman, lying on the ground on a street in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, use their mobile phones to ask their relatives for help after their motorcycle was hit by a van. Beside them stands the van driver, calling for the police, Dec 18, 2000. [Photo by Huang Yiming/China Daily]
Farmer demands compensation after wrong AIDS diagnosis (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-05-25 16:50

ZHENGZHOU - A farmer in central China's Henan Province is seeking 2 million yuan (about 300,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation after he was wrongly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.



Yang Shoufa, 53, from Zhenping County, was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS during a provincial-wide check in 2004, during which more than 280,000 people were tested. It was not until 2012 that he found that this was false.



Zhenping disease control center still has samples from 2004, and a retest of Yang's sample came up positive, again.



"The test equipment did not fail, so someone must have mixed up Yang's blood with an HIV patient," said Wu Zhaofang, deputy director of the center.



Yang had taken HIV medication from his diagnosis until 2012. He had to attend annual health checks, which only tested the amount of CD4+T cells in his blood. In people with HIV, it is the strongest indicator of HIV progression and the most important indicator of how the immune system is working.



"Yang's CD4+T cells were higher than other AIDS patients, but it never raised any concerns, no one doubted his diagnosis," said Zhu Qian, director of the HIV/AIDS prevention institute in Henan provincial disease control.



Before Yang's wrong diagnosis in 2004, his health had been failing.



"I had donated blood once and then I suffered from repeated fever, so when they told me I had AIDS, I was convinced -- I thought it was my destiny," he said.



Zhenping health authority and the township government are discussing a compensation plan for Yang.



"I don't know how much the government should pay me. Negligence cost me my health, my family. It was utter devastation," Yang told Xinhua.



"I got 200 yuan every day when I was classed as a HIV/IDS patient. Now I have nothing," he said.



Li's sole income is from ferrying around passengers on his electric tricycle.



"This was an extremely rare incident but Yang's tragic experience should ring a big alarm. Extreme precaution should be taken to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again," said Zhu Qian.
A professional workshop for solving commercial disputes between China and the UK is being brewed up, an official from China's top court said on Wednesday.

Based on a good cooperation in criminal cases between judges from China and the Britain, which has been developing since 2013, the two countries can build up a study team consisting of legal specialists to have brainstorms on commercial disputes, said He Zhonglin, director of international cooperation department at the Supreme People's Court.

He provided the suggestion during the third UK-China Judicial Roundtable, held in Beijing.

"We can also communicate more on judicial reforms, how to establish or operate e-courts and judge education, asking judicial workers from the two countries to share work experience and learn each other," He said.

"More talks will contribute to our judicial work and improve understating of us."

The judicial roundtable was established between the two countries in 2014, and the annual conference is held by China and the UK in rotation.

This year, the topic is "the justice under the new century", and judges from the two countries held discussions on how to put e-courts into practice and how to increase cooperation in the judicial system.

E-court often refers to a new-style court that can help litigants make a lawsuit, following his or her case and provide related materials online.

China and the UK have cooperated in some other judicial industries before. From 1998 to 2012, a judge educational exchange was conducted in the two countries.

"The exchange gave six young Chinese judges every year to study one-year study in London, which helped many of them become mainstays in Chinese courts," He said.

As one of the judges who went to the Britain to study, He added that the project has been the longest overseas cooperative activity so far.

Increasing judicial cooperation has been a hot issue among Chinese courts. By now, the top court has established friendly relationships with judicial institutions of more than 130 countries and 20 international or regional organizations.

The top justice body organized nearly 1,000 judicial delegations to visit other countries to communicate amongst each other. China has also received hundreds of visiting groups over the past 30 years.
Beijing experience in battling air pollution worth sharing: UN report (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-05-25 18:54

BEIJING -- A UN report lauded Beijing's efforts to battle air pollution but said it needs to do more to meet particulate matter standards.



"A Review of Air Pollution Control in Beijing: 1998-2013" was published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), through cooperation with Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the bureau said Wednesday.



In the past 15 years, Beijing's resident population grew by 70 percent, the number of registered vehicles increased by 300 percent and energy consumption rose by 77 percent, UNEP executive director Achim Steiner remarked in the foreword to the report.



"Remarkably, concentrations of key pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and inhalable particulate matter, decreased by 78 percent, 24 percent and 43 percent, respectively. Notwithstanding significant challenges, the city improved air quality even as it maintained fast paced growth," he wrote.



"As the capital of the world's most populous country, Beijing's experience in controlling air pollution against a backdrop of rapid expansion is a story that should be shared with other emerging economies and burgeoning cities," he said.



Beijing's solution was a combination of energy structure optimization, coal-fired emission control, vehicle emission control and enhanced air quality monitoring, said He Kebin, director of the Environment College of Tsinghua University and one of the authors of the report.



"The report recognized Beijing's continual efforts to improve air quality. The monitoring data showed that the integrated approaches of legislative, administrative, economic and technical measures have taken effect. In the future, technical measures will be an important measure," He said.



The report also offered some suggestions, including improving city planning; optimizing the layout of city functions; promoting a development plan for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei; promoting clean energy; in-depth control of coal-fired emissions; and further development of the transit system.
BEIJING -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday defended the country's stance on the South China Sea, rejecting criticism from the United States, Japan and Western media.

Hua Chunying said at a routine press briefing that China's construction activities on its islands and reefs starting at the end of 2013 are aimed entirely at safeguarding its sovereignty and rights.

"China's construction in the South China Sea came later than other countries' illegal activities in the region," Hua said.

The United States "rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific" strategy and Philippine initiation of the South China Sea arbitration also came before China's island reclaiming, she said.

Hua's comments came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said China's actions in the South and East China Seas threatened to create a "tinderbox."

In Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Kerry said that he would caution China to not unilaterally move to reclaim and militarize islands, according to AP.

Hua, however, said that it was the growing U.S. military deployment and activities in the region that were creating tensions.

She also slammed Japan for hyping up the South China Sea issue ahead of the G7 summit. "As the world economy is facing such a complicated situation, the G7 summit should focus on global economic governance and cooperation," she said.

The "little trick" of Japan as the host of the G7 summit will do no good to G7 and will not be helpful to peace and stability in the South China Sea, Hus said.

More and more nations and international organizations are expressing understanding and support for China's stance on the South China Sea, she said.

Hua applauded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) "just and fair" position on the matter.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries said they were against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, according to a press communique released on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an Ecological Economic Development Zone in Yichun, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, May 23, 2016. Xi Jinping made an inspection tour in Heilongjiang from May 23 to 25. [Photo/Xinhua]

HARBIN -- President Xi Jinping pledged firm action on economic restructuring as he visited Northeast China's Heilongjiang province from Monday to Wednesday.

At a critical stage of economic restructuring, but a time of bright prospects, only supply-side reform will bring a significant upgrade of industrial structure and productivity, Xi told a meeting of senior Heilongjiang officials.

"If we hesitate in making decisions and do things halfway, we will lose this rare opportunity," he said, stressing that it is important to actually carry out the policies.

Heilongjiang, traditionally a center of heavy industry, cannot afford to be half-hearted in upgrading old industries and nurturing new ones, he said. While maintaining the dominant position of state-owned enterprises, non-public sectors should be encouraged and supported, he added.

With vast areas of dense forest, the provincial lumber industry is feeling the effects of a full ban of logging. Visiting Yichun, a city in the forest, the president restated the importance of environmental protection and demanded concerted efforts to establish new industries other than logging.

Impressed by blueberry plantations in Yichun, Xi told local government and businesses to be aware of changes in the market and diversify their business models.

At a state tree plantation, Xi visited plantation employee Liu Yangshun, his family and neighbors. He assured them that the government would help them through the difficulties brought by restructuring, but encouraged them to seek new ways to make a living through their own determination and resources.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an Ecological Economic Development Zone in Yichun, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, May 23, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping used a field inspection trip to Heilongjiang province this week to spread the message about the central leadership's decision to revive China's northeastern industrial belt.

He called for more action on economic reform and on environmentally friendly development in Heilongjiang and the northeast region.

The central leadership has issued a new plan to revitalize the economy in the northeast, which has long been hampered by a lack of reform and industrial upgrading.

The region, consisting of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces and the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was an industrial bastion in the 1950s and 1960s.

During his three-day tour, Xi traveled to Heilongjiang's forest areas, farming areas, the homes of ethnic minority groups, and technology companies in Harbin, the province's urban center.

In Yichun, a city with 4 million hectares of forest that used to be known for its lumber trade, residents have abandoned the industry since 2013.

Xi applauded the former forestry workers' efforts on forestry protection and the development of diverse new environmentally friendly industries.

"A good environment is also a resource. A good environment is also a form of productivity," Xi told the residents.

He encouraged them to seek sustainable business from the protection and conservation of local natural resources. "But you can always count on the central government's care," Xi said.

Wu Peishan, 33, who lives in Yichun, started her business in Beijing, selling the high quality honey collected from 30 households, 10 of which used to depend on the lumber industry.

"Annually, they can make 30,000 to 50,000 yuan ($4,570 to $7,600) on average, higher than their wages before," she said, adding that the best performing household could make as much as 80,000 yuan a year.

Jiang Yongbin, another former forestry worker, now earns a living from aquatic farming with his former colleagues. "I thank President Xi for bringing good policies to us," he said.

Contact the writers at zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn
Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) talks with an exhibitor before the opening ceremony of the China Big Data Industry Summit & China E-commerce Innovation and Development Summit in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 25, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

China will create a more transparent and equal market to attract foreign investment in big data and e-commerce with streamlined administration, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.

"Industries related to big data and e-commerce are booming in China with great growth potential, and enterprises from all countries are welcome to invest in these sectors," he said.

"We will create a more transparent and equal business environment for them."

Li made the remarks in a keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the China Big Data Industry Summit in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province.

The summit was attended by leading Chinese and multinational companies, including computer maker Dell Inc and SAP, a German-based multinational corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations.

Li said China is promoting another round of reform and opening-up while creating a nondiscriminatory business environment for all enterprises registered in the country, both domestic and foreign ones.

The government controls 80 percent of data and information generated in China and will publicize more information, apart from that concerning areas such as national security and business secrets, the premier said.

"By doing this, the government can create a market for fair competition while integrating with the internet and big data to streamline administration," he added.

Before the opening ceremony, Li inspected an exhibition staged by 56qq.com, a local online platform for logistics.

The platform enables 1.7 million drivers and 300,000 member logistics companies to locate their optimal partners to transport freight.

Li said the platform has increased efficiency and reduced energy consumption  a good example of Guizhou moving quickly in this area since February as a national comprehensive pilot zone for big data.

The premier told more than 1,000 participants at the ceremony that many people would be surprised to know that Guizhou is hosting a summit for high-tech industries, as the province is one of the least developed regions in western China.

While talking with business leaders on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday, Li said that he welcomed foreign investment in China, particularly in central and western regions.

He told them that there is a development disparity between eastern and inland regions, where there is great growth potential and plenty of investment opportunities.

He also pledged that China will focus on protection of intellectual property rights, the respect for and protection of trade secrets, and enhancing cybersecurity.

Huang Qunhui, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China's big data and e-commerce industries need more participation by multinational companies and foreign investment to boost infrastructure and train professionals.

Transparency and fair competition are keys to a market economy, in which all players can benefit, Huang added.
The museum has cultivated a variety of souvenirs, including clips and socks.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Following in the footsteps of Palace Museum's successful sale of souvenirs, other museums get into the business with the help of new guidelines.

Hopefully it will soon be easier for visitors to China to take the country's "national treasures" home with them. This is because the production of more cultural souvenirs by Chinese museums is to be encouraged, according to the country's Ministry of Culture.

The announcement, which was made at a press conference last week at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is in line with a State Council directive, which was issued earlier this month in a bid to promote more creativity among cultural heritage institutions.

It is hoped that the guideline will boost the use of new technical approaches and improve design and marketing to improve museums' interactions with the public.

"A major hurdle now is that public museums cannot autonomously allocate income earned from their sales of souvenirs because they are defined as public institutions," says Wu Jiangbo, director of the cultural industry department of the Ministry of Culture.

"However (with the latest announcement), they (the museums) will now be allowed to use income generated from the sales to enhance their public service, boost collections, create better souvenirs and even offer bonuses to designers," says Wu.

The development of such souvenirs could also become part of the museum evaluation system, he says.

The new move is undergoing trials at national and provincial museums before being expanded nationwide.
British author Murray Shanahan says his new book on AI "isn't science fiction but speculation about the future".[Photo provided to China Daily]

In his book The Singularity Is Near, American computer scientist Ray Kurzweil had predicted a decade ago that by 2045 non-biological intelligence will have exceeded biological intelligence on Earth due to exponential changes in infotech, biotech and nanotech. Basically, man and machine will become one.

But Murray Shanahan, a London-based cognitive robotics professor, disagrees with Kurzweil's theory in his more recent book, Technological Singularity.

"Kurzweil was very precise (about time)," Shanahan tells China Daily in an interview in Beijing. "Technological singularity has a very dramatic impact on humanity."

But for Shanahan, it is a thing of the future that may or may not come, and in which human-level artificial intelligence is quickly followed by super AI.

When human-level AI is realized, it has the ability of self-improvement. As a result, a machine's intelligence will surpass that of people.

It's a revolution that is expected to bring various benefits to society, but also possible threats that force us to think about moral problems in building super smart machines with or without a human heart.

A Chinese edition of Technological Singularity was recently published by China Citic Press. It comes at a time when such concepts are being hotly discussed in the domestic infotech industry.

"The book is easy to follow as the author, a veteran researcher, has used simple language to explain AI and technological singularity," says Bi Yiling, the editor at Citic who is responsible for introducing the book to Chinese readers.

Scientists and engineers are now trying to build human-level AI in three ways: One is to scan the brain and copy its biological behavior through a computer; next is to build human-level AI from scratch, like neural networks used in the machine learning system of AlphaGo; and the third is to combine the first two approaches.

Shanahan, 51, teaches AI and computational neuroscience at Imperial College London.

When British director Alex Garland was preparing for his later Oscar-nominated film Ex Machina, he came across Shanahan's previous book Embodiment and the Inner Life, which is about cognition and AI consciousness.

In the film, AI maker Nathan tries to find out if his work Ava has consciousness.

"The movie is not only about intelligence, but also consciousness. Certainly, Ava seems to have human-level AI," Shanahan says, adding that one needs to keep in mind that it is a film.
Hosted by the Beijing municipal government, this year's "World Photographers Focusing on Beijing" opens on May 23 in the Capital Museum. In the following week, 20 photographers from 16 countries will try and capture the beauty of the city using their lenses.[Photo by Feng Yongbin/Asianewsphoto] The event started in 1999, which was when the first batch of photographers came to Beijing to document the city's fantastic moments. Over the span of 17 years, there have been over a hundred photographers from all over the world who have taken tens of thousands of images in Beijing, all of which have become precious material to display and witness the transformation of the historical city. This year, 20 photographers who specialize in different fields of photography (landscape, people, architecture, etc) and come from different countries from around the world have gathered again. They will visit 16 districts of Beijing, shooting the cultural, technological and scenic landscapes of the city from their perspectives.
Tibet Short Documentaries consist of 30 documentaries ranging from 4 to 6 minutes. The series bring you to the daily lives of farmers, herdsmen and city dwellers and let you sip their moments of happiness. The documentaries showcase the enchanting sceneries in the snow land and the charm of local culture. Tibet today is stretching its arms to welcome visitors from all corners of the world.

Related:

Exhibition of Tibetan Thangka painting held in Lhasa

Show provides rare glimpse of Tibetan culture
Jackie Chan (left) and Yuan Biao. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Jackie Chan's latest action comedy, Skiptrace, aims to "showcase the diversity of Chinese culture and customs", as kung fu star revealed in Beijing on Sunday.

Skiptrace, also starring veteran actress Fan Bingbing and American actor Johnny Knoxville, will open to the Chinese theaters on July 22.

Centering on a retired detective (Chan), the tale follows his adventure to track a crime suspect from the snow mountains in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to the picturesque nature in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

With the idea staying in his mind for around 25 years, Chan says he has always dreamed of making such a film revolving on chasing and tracking.

Jackie Chan (left) and Yuan Biao. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chan, whose acting career spans for around half a century, explains his lifelong love of action films.

"I love action, but I dislike violence. So I'm always thinking about how to shoot action films without violent, bloody sequences," he says in a documentary about the making of the movie.

"For me, action comedy is the best way to showcase Chinese martial arts skills and let the audiences ignore the violence," Chan says in the documentary.

The movie, directed by Finnish director Renny Harlin, is jointly produced by the Beijing-based studio Talent International Media and American firm Dasym Media.

Related:

Jackie Chan: I almost died during new film production
Two of the premium wines Changyu's Ningxia winery is sending to Europe this week. [Photo provided to China Daily]

After two years of cosseting in French oak, and deft blending by in-house winemaker Fan Xi, thousands of freshly bottled wine have left Chateau Changyu Moser XV bound for Europe.

For most of its short life, the Chinese wine market has been growing faster than producers could keep up. Commercial giants like Yantai-based Changyu had little need to produce wines of superior quality when making it fast and cheap generated quick sales. Graced with European-style chateaux, Changyu vineyards now sprawl across millions of hectares in Xinjiang (its biggest operation), Laoning (where it makes an lauded ice wine) and Shaanxi (with what is said to be the largest wine cellar in Asia) as well as Shandong and Ningxia.

However, China's biggest companies took notice when boutique wineries sprang up in Ningxia and created what has become a Napa Valley wannabe, a wine zone that would feed a thirst for quality instead of quantity. When boutique labels like Jia Bei Lan (made by Helan Qingxue) and Pretty Pony (Kanaan) started scooping up international awards and accolades, the value of that effort became plain.

Convincing French people to drink Chinese wine might sound like the punchline of a joke.

Lenz Moser savors the chateau-level wine of the 2013 vintage, just bottled. [Photo provided to China Daily]

But in the 1960s, California wines were shrugged off as "mouthwash", until a pioneer named Robert Mondavi changed perceptions by developing Opus One and other vintages with some French collaboration.

"Ningxia is China's No 1 estate wine region," says Li Xueming, director of the Administration of Development of Grape Industry of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, "because we were the first to follow international wine standards."

"Changyu is China's oldest biggest and best winemaker, with state-of-the-art equipment," says Lenz Moser, the Austrian winemaker who is consulting on the company's Ningxia project. "They obviously had great market potential, but lacked international experience in both winemaking and marketing.

"Ninety percent of its business is in China, and that's not going to change fast," Moser observes. "But Changyu wants a global reach for its reputation and credibility at home as well as abroad.

Related:

Tasty figs get new attention on China's plates, farms
The so-called diploma mills are unaccredited institutions that enroll students in the name of higher education.

Sdaxue.com, a website that helps students choose universities and majors, recently included 73 fake colleges and universities in 16 provinces and regions in its listings. Of these, 66 were not on the list of higher education institutions released by the Ministry of Education, and the rest unlawfully used similar names to qualified colleges or the former names of these institutions, 23 were supposedly located in Beijing and seven in Shanghai.

Since 2013, more than 400 fake colleges have been exposed on Sdaxue.com.

Some students are deceived by the diploma mills and pay high tuition fees believing they are paying for a higher education. Other students, who know the colleges are fakes, still pay so they can get a diploma for the purpose of job-hunting, promotion or assessment.

The education and public security authorities are urged to pay attention to this phenomenon and take actions to crack down on fake colleges for the sake of the students as well as the society.
Zhang bing from Xichang, Sichuan province in southwestern China, who is frequently absent from home on business trips, set up scrutiny cameras in his home. His 17-year-old daughter, however, believed her father was violating her privacy, and felt so angry that she left home and hasn't been back for a week. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

While the law addresses the importance of the role of parents as protectors, the rights of children at home haven't been fully clarified. This leads to most of the conflicts in the relationships between parents and children.

As a matter of fact, living with their parents under one roof, adolescents may easily find they have little privacy. Not to mention that some parents' traditional Chinese mindset of parental dictatorship shows little respect for the privacy of children, and leads to parents peeking into their children's diaries or digging into their school bags.

In the absence of proper legal support and established family boundaries, children may seek ways to defend their rights and demonstrate their need for privacy, for example, by leaving home.

In fact, legislators should think of how to establish a rational and harmonious family relationship as an important legislative task. This means safeguarding children's privacy rights in the law, which should establish a private sphere for children's activities and protect it from unwanted intrusion.
A worker adjusts the logo at the stand of Huawei at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, March 15, 2015.[Photo/Agencies]

The telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has denied the rumor that it is planning to move its headquarters out of Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, due to the soaring price of land. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

Although Huawei has ruled out the possibility of relocating its headquarters, the local district government recently stressed the need to serve the communications giant and keep it in Shenzhen. Such affection has a lot to do with a recent government report which highlights Huawei's considerable contribution to local growth. The company contributed about 14 percent of the district's total industrial output value in the first two months of this year.

It is understandable that local governments fight over major enterprises such as Huawei, which are inclined to vote with their feet and locate their businesses in cities offering better services and infrastructure, as well as preferential policies.

Admittedly, Huawei has been transferring some of its business groups to other cities, such as neighboring Dongguan in recent years, but that should not come as a surprise in the face of Shenzhen's soaring property prices.

Of course, the departure of some labor-extensive enterprises can help boost local industrial transformation, but that does not mean a city can thrive without successful manufacturers.

Therefore, governments at all levels need to create a benign and fair environment to support such businesses. For leading enterprises whose success lies in market-oriented competition, they may not necessarily crave preferential policies, because less red tape, wider access to fair competition, and better public infrastructure matter more to them.
A senior executive of huolinhe Coal Corporation, based in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in North China, is reported to have bought 41 apartments for 12.80 million yuan ($1.95 million), which far exceeds his legal income. He has responded by saying his family has 11 companies and he paid for the properties with the profits from these companies. Since he is a senior executive of a State-owned enterprise, more details are needed to prove he is clean, says China Youth Daily:

Even if what he said is true, more evidence is needed to prove he is clean. Regulations prohibit senior executives of State-owned companies from running businesses related to their jobs or providing business for the companies of family members.

Like their colleagues in government departments, SOE officials belong to the bureaucratic system as well, and they are responsible for reporting the businesses of their family members to the authorities. That's necessary because these businesses are related to public interests and should be put under public supervision.

Since the anti-graft campaign was launched in 2012, the inspection teams have found a common problem with SOEs, namely family members of senior executives opening companies and profiting from "doing business" with the SOEs. That's corruption plus money laundering and the ongoing anti-corruption campaign is aimed at rooting out such kind of corruption.

We do not mean that the executive and his family are necessarily corrupt. The problem is, there are reports about his possible illicit deeds and local authorities need to investigate. His response is pale because he fails to mention the key problem, the relationship between the businesses of his family and the SOE, in which he is a senior manager.

In practice, the disciplinary departments of many provinces and cities disclose the property of the officials that are reported to be illicit. That's a good start and we hope Inner Mongolia does the same.
Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, DPP, Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Despite obvious dissatisfaction with Tsai Ing-wen's failure to endorse the 1992 Consensus that commits to the "one China" principle, Beijing has demonstrated impressive patience.

Such patience got a fresh footnote on Monday in Geneva at the 69th World Health Assembly, when, against speculation that discontented Beijing would regret extending goodwill to the island's then leadership-in-waiting and find fault with Taipei's observer status, Tsai's delegates participated without trouble.

It would not have been a surprise if the anticipated trouble did arise. Because, the presence of the island, which is not a sovereign entity in international law, at the WHA was contingent on Beijing's consent. Taipei's status as an observer was arranged under the 1992 Consensus. The mainland has made it clear that many mutually beneficial mechanisms in place would become castles in the air without Taipei committing to "one China".

But just four days into the Tsai era, what have we seen?

On Saturday, the first day after Tsai's inauguration, her "education minister" announced the syllabus modifications sanctioned by the previous Kuomintang administration in 2014 would soon be abolished. Those modifications, textbook expressions in conformity with "one China", were meant to correct revisions under a previous independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party leader and a Kuomintang leader who deemed the mainland and Taiwan to be "two states".

When Tsai and her "cabinet ministers" performed the ceremonial routine on Monday to pay homage to the founding father and martyrs of the "Republic of China", they skipped the symbolic ritual of paying homage to the burial site of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father, on the mainland. Though Tsai's office denied it indicated an intention to cut links with the mainland, it is impossible to not associate this with the earlier DPP attempt to remove Sun's portraits from public places, which was widely believed to be part of a broader DPP plot to "de-Sinicize" Taiwan.

On Monday evening, in an executive order confirming the appointment of the island's new representative to the United States, Tsai addressed the new envoy, whose official title has always been "representative", as "ambassador". In both diplomatic practice and international law, only sovereign entities, which Taiwan is not, send "ambassadors" to foreign countries.

Tsai is proving with her deeds that without declaring it she is inclined to de facto separation of the two sides of the Straits.

Unless she finds a way to stop the status quo of cross-Straits ties becoming the status quo ante, a new period of turbulence lies ahead.
Chinese students take part in the first examination of the national college entrance exam, also known as gaokao, at a school in Guiyang city, southwest China's Guizhou province, on June 7, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Are Chinese students seeking to escape from the national college entrance exam?

It's reported that about 9.5 million students took part in the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, in 2015, down from 10.5 million in 2008.

The shrinking number of students sitting the exam partly reflects the demographic change caused by the one-child policy in the past three decades.

But there is also a growing number of Chinese students studying overseas. According to official statistics, about 500,000 Chinese students studied abroad last year, with the number of Chinese students studying in the United States doubling to 300,000.

Unlike the Chinese higher education enrolment system, developed countries' testing of children offers a more comprehensive evaluation of their abilities.

In recent years, the Chinese education authorities have been promoting education reform, but reform is still needed in higher education enrolment. The most important point is to make sure who is the examiner of the nation-wide exam. The original diversity was intended as a filter to ensure a diverse talent pool. The current situation is, carried out by the government as solo examiner, with a single type of exam supposed to determine a wide variety of talents. With this in mind, children and their parents who believe the exam may not identify their talents and studying for it will not broaden their abilities, may choose to study elsewhere if that is a viable option for them. This is an important reason why parents send their children abroad.

The basic characteristics of foreign enrolment are determined by the final decision on the candidates' performance in self-expression.

While the implementation of this kind of system is expected to be applied in China at some point in the future, the authorities should in the meantime improve the college entrance examination procedure by allowing space for students to discover themselves.

At present, teachers or professors offer specific knowledge which is built around standard answers. This has resulted in the uniformity of students, and only allows them to find their own weaknesses rather than their strengths.

This is the opposite of education systems in developed countries, which stresses more on inspiring and encouraging students, so that in the course of teaching, students are strengthened by discovering their inherent abilities and advantages.

As for the role of employers, they should be introduced into the education system even before they look at any qualifications and resumes of students. The preference of employers for the students of top universities is a global preference, but the difference is Chinese employers pay more attention to graduation certificates, thus Chinese employers contribute to nurturing the culture of the current education system, which is focused on the national college entrance exam.

Professional third-party evaluators should make objective assessments of students that serve as the basis for applying to a college or workplace.

Chu Zhaohui is a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences. The article is an excerpt of his interview with China Daily's Zhang Yuchen.
An employee welds the exterior of a vehicle along a production line at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Agencies]

The overwhelming-majority vote in the European Parliament recently against granting China market economy status was not made on a reasonable basis and doing so will not bring benefits to the European Union.

Whether or not to give China the market economy status treatment is not an issue concerning whether China has met market economic standards unilaterally set by the EU, but an issue concerning whether the EU honors its commitment or not.

According to the accession articles China signed on entry to the World Trade Organization 15 years ago, China should be automatically granted market economy status in December this year. Such an article is unconditional and means that WTO members should abandon the surrogate country approach used in the past for anti-dumping investigations against China. Any investigation should instead be based on product prices or production costs in China itself.

Aside from the long-term negative effects produced by the protectionist effort to avoid industrial competition, the European Parliament's refusal to grant China market economy treatment will not have favorable short-term effects on the bloc's industrial development. In a passed resolution, the European Parliament pointed out that 56 of the anti-dumping measures the EU is taking are targeted at imports from China, covering both traditional labor-intensive manufacturing and such capital and technology-intensive manufacturing as steel products. It is exactly such an announcement that has made protectionists in the EU lobby for not granting China market economy status so that they can say "no" to "made in China" brands as a means of job protection.

Some in the EU should know that while exporting products to the rest of the world, China is also the world's leading market for imports and its growth in imports is among the fastest of world's major economies either in trade in goods or in trade in services. China's import volume denominated in the US dollar suffered a 14.1 percent decline year-on-year in 2015, bigger than the 13.4 percent decline in the import volume of the EU, but this was mainly a result of the drastic drop in prices of the primary commodities China heavily imports. China's imports of manufactured goods from the United States and European countries still enjoy huge potential for growth.

Following the European Parliament's recommendation will do no good to the struggling EU economy, given that encouraging trade protectionism will do nothing but worsen the EU's industrial environment. There were some countries in the past that did succeed in realizing the development of some infant industries through protectionist industrial policies. However, what the European Parliament's resolution tried to protect is not high-tech pioneering sectors, but such traditional sectors as steel that have already experienced their golden period and now enjoy no development potential. Interest groups dominating these out-of-date and weakly-founded industries do not focus their attention on how to raise their efficiency, but instead think how to maintain previous protectionist measures to lengthen their survival. Such attempts offer no hope for the future of EU industry and on the contrary add to its cost burden. What the EU should do is to inject new vitality into its economy.

The protectionism of interest groups has shackled the EU's economic vitality. It is exactly trade protectionism that has put the eurozone economy at a disadvantageous position in its competition with other developed economies, and caused the continuous decline of its economic proportion in the world's total GDP. Of the EU members, the countries advocating liberal trade such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium, support granting China market economy status and they have also achieved a better economic performance than the eurozone as a whole. France, Italy and Spain who are opposed to granting China market economy status, however, have performed worse than the eurozone's average performance

Europe should know that the development and buildup of interest groups, a byproduct of a country or region's economic prosperity, will suffocate the vigor of its innovation and continuous growth, and only by smashing the shackles imposed by these groups can it achieve sustainable development.

The author is a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute.
On May 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a survey visit to Yichun City, Heilongjiang province in Northeastern China. He emphasized how ecology is good for resources and productivity. The nation's ecological resources do not hold a dominant advantage, and protecting such resources have a strategic significance.

"A majority of forestry workers had been engaged in logging and supported nation-building and made important contributions to the country. Times have changed. We have to protect the limited forestry resources."

He added, "After full-stop logging, the forestry workers' working and living conditions have always been my concern. There exist many difficulties in the interim. The state will continue to offer support for them. The development of alternative industries would open up a brighter future."

Xi expounded on the significance to protect the ecological environment and implement concepts of green development. As the ancient saying goes, "Proper lumbering in the forest will provide consistent woods forever."

Respecting nature is a simple natural law of development, as well as a reference point for economic transformation. Protecting the environment improves the well-being of future generations. We could not take the development approach of draining the pond to get all the fish and we should not stop exploring a new path of industrial upgrades.

Xi said, "lumbering in the past is necessary. Protections now are also necessary." Only by standing on historical heights, pursuing a long-term perspective, and ensuring development of green concepts into actions can the synchronization upgrading of economic, social and ecological benefits be achieved.



By Song Xiongwei, associate Professor, department of politics, China National School of Administration; comics drawn by Chi Ying

The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com.


A view of the green farm at the Yarra Valley Dairy [Photo by Yang Feiyue/ China Daily]

Victoria's Yarra Valley offers visitors a bucolic getaway in the nation's agricultural heartland, and the urban delights of Melbourne are just an hour away, Yang Feiyue discovers.

Many Chinese affectionately call Australia a big farmyard, with the state of Victoria at the front and center. Accounting for just 3 percent of the country's total land area, it contributes roughly 30 percent of Australia's food exports.

A one-day tour of Yarra Valley offers a good view of the superb local natural environment and its food, as well as a sense of how locals live off the land.

The valley is roughly a one-hour drive from Melbourne, the second biggest city in Australia.

The blue sky feels close above our heads, meeting the sea at the end of the horizon thanks to the vast flat landscape and impeccable weather conditions.

Our first stop, at the Yarra Valley Dairy early in the morning, was very relaxing and intimate.

The dairy was built on a 100-year-old milking shed on the farm, right beside a cheese factory. There is a free sampling of the entire collection of its fresh handmade cheeses in Italian and French styles.

For a large group of visitors, a fee can be charged.

"Most people will come here for some cheese, or simply the experience, since it was an old building," says Jack Holman, the senior cheesemaker and factory manager with the dairy.

He gave us a tour of the factory, which featured modern equipment and delicate manual work.

The 10-kilogram rounds of hard cheese were an eye-opener. Each was dated and some have been there for two years.

Its rich taste is popular with chefs and many cheese lovers, Jack says.

The cozy shop offers distinctive local wines and a range of delicious regional and specialty produce, including jams, delicate houseware and gifts.

"We have many individual wineries nearby, and many of their products won't be found at public supermarkets since they can't supply enough," Holman says.

Visitors can purchase and eat the goodies while enjoying the nice views of the farm and herds through the window.

The two goats right at the entrance of the farm fear no humans. They come close to the fence and let you caress their faces and heads.

The dairy is a great stop for visitors to enjoy coffee, tea, biscuits and regionally produced ice cream.

Wine and chocolate

The tour of Domaine Chandon, our next stop, provides a good understanding of winemaking. The technical process was vividly demonstrated in a video, and food lovers can enjoy a meal at the spacious restaurant, with an unhindered view of the vast vineyards and pastures of the valley.

Visitors can taste a variety of wines and purchase their favorites.

Chocolate lovers should not miss the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery. It offers visitors free entry and plenty of free chocolate tasting. The facility is surrounded by picturesque vistas, including a vast orchard and sweeping lawns. Premium chocolates are on display and for sale and visitors can watch European chocolatiers handcrafting chocolates.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C, front) attends a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

TASHKENT - Countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Tuesday expressed support for maintaining peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.

In a statement of SCO Secretary-General Rashid Olimov on South China Sea issue, all SCO countries agreed and supported China's efforts made to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

They also voiced support for any country in the Asia-Pacific region to promote a peaceful, friendly and harmonious environment in the South China Sea.

The SCO member states stressed the UN Charter, UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other international laws should be the basic principles when addressing the South China Sea issue.

Directly concerned states should resolve disputes through negotiation and consultation in accordance with all bilateral treaties and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the statement said.

It urged to respect the right of every sovereign state to decide by itself the dispute resolution methods, and strongly opposed outsiders' intervention into the South China Sea issue, as well as the attempt to internationalize the dispute.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a press communique released after the foreign ministers' meeting of the SCO held Tuesday here at the Uzbek capital, particularly clarifying stance on the South China Sea issue.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries stressed all disputes should be resolved through peaceful and friendly negotiations and consultations, according to the communique.

It added that SCO countries are against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, while all related countries should abide by the DOC and the Guidelines for the implementation of the DOC.

Wang stressed that more and more countries support China's stance on the South China Sea issue, which goes in line with the international laws and also protects the international rule of law.

"Any country, that ignores the basic facts, draws lines for allies or intentionally sparks political exploitation over the South China Sea issue, could get no result or support, but only destroy the reputation of itself," Wang said.
PARIS - Leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have reiterated the importance of fully implementing the Minsk agreement to peacefully end the crisis in Ukraine.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held phone talks late on Monday, the French presidential office, the Elysee, said in a press release.

The four leaders reaffirmed their commitment "to do everything for the full implementation of the Minsk accord as quickly as possible."

Members of the Normandy Format -- senior diplomats from the four countries working to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine -- stressed in the phone talks the importance of putting in place all necessary measures to consolidate the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine, beginning with withdrawing heavy weapons and releasing prisoners.

The 13-point Minsk agreement, outlining the steps needed to end the conflict, was reached in February 2015 in talks involving leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.

The main provisions of the deal include a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline of fighting, release of captives, amnesty to detained insurgents and restoration of the Ukrainian government control over the state border.
US President Barack Obama shakes hands with a local resident as he leaves after having a dinner with Anthony Bourdain at the restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam May 23, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

HANOI - United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the US-Vietnam comprehensive partnership is still in early stage, urging further cooperation between the two sides.

"Today Vietnam and America are partnership -- The comprehensive partnership is still in its early stage. Let's work together to create real opportunity and prosperity for all of our people," said Obama.

The US president made the remarks while delivering a speech on bilateral ties in Vietnam's capital Hanoi during his ongoing visit to the country.

Obama said that with the announcement on fully lifting ban on defense sales, "the United States is demonstrating our commitment to fully normalize our relationship with Vietnam."

The US president is in Vietnam for a three-day visit starting Monday at the invitation of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

Vietnam and the United States normalized ties in 1995, two decades after the end of their 19-year war.
Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles (L) and Planning Minister Romero Juca attend a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil, May 20, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's interim government has suffered damage on Monday as one of the ministers was caught on tape discussing that impeaching President Dilma Rousseff was to halt a corruption investigation involving state-owned energy giant Petrobras.

Planning and Budget Minister Romero Juca later announced his decision to take a leave from office to reduce the repercussion.

The recorded conversations indicate that the senator-turned-minister was eager to impeach Rousseff not because of the alleged motive for her impeachment, namely fiscal irregularities, but because the corruption investigations were about to implicate a number of high-profile politicians.

In conversations with Sergio Machado, the former head of Petrobras' oil and gas transportation company Transpetro, Juca said he was worried that more executives of construction companies involved in fraudulent contracts with Petrobras will turn in evidence, implicating more politicians in the corruption scandal.

The records were made in March, before the first impeachment vote against Rousseff. In one of the conversations, Juca said that the government must halt the investigations, and that putting Vice President Temer in office would lead to a "big deal" which would result in the investigations being scrapped.

He also implied that the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) will fall if the investigations continue, and that he talked with Supreme Court judges who said that investigations could only be halted without Rousseff in office.

Rousseff has been impeached over alledged fiscal irregularities.

The three-year-long investigation into a major corruption scheme involving the country's most important state-controlled company has so far resulted in the arrest of several politicians, former Petrobras executives and executives of some of Brazil's leading construction companies.

Interim President Michel Temer's administration has been facing several protests against the interim government since taking office, including a gathering of 40,000 Rousseff supporters in Belo Horizonte on Friday.

Analysts said though Temer's administration retains the support of several political parties, it remains unclear whether it will be strong enough to face the challenges to come in the next few months.

There is still a possibility that Rousseff's Workers' Party will win enough Senate votes to put her back in power, they said.
TOKYO - With the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit to discuss a number of global issues, the rest of the G7 nations other than the United States and Japan, should be wary as the summit has been geared up to specifically manipulate the intentions of the host Japan and its supporter the US, rather than representing the common interests of the seven industrialized countries or the world.

Japan, as host of the Ise-Shima summit, to be held in Mie Prefecture for two days starting Thursday, has claimed that the G7 summit would focus on ways to boost coordinated action toward spurring world economic growth, fighting terrorism and "ensuring maritime security, especially in the South China Sea."

"With risks and vulnerability in the world economy rising, we would like to issue a clear and powerful message so the G7 can take the lead in achieving sustainable and robust growth of the global economy," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has claimed.

However, what Abe is actually aiming to achieve, as revealed by his tour in Europe recently and the G7 finance chiefs' meeting, which concluded here a few days back, is to sell his economic policies, or "Abenomics," which, however, have already been proven a failure by recent key Japanese economic data such as the price index and investment by big enterprises.

During the recent G7 financial ministers' meeting, Japan called again for boosting public spending to improve world economic growth, which was an important part of "Abenomics." But the policy was obviously not suited to other G7 nations, and given Abe's failure, lacked persuasive power.

"The most important are structural reforms ... there are more and more (in the G7) recognizing that structural reforms are crucial," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said at a briefing in Sendai.

Regarding economic problems that European countries are facing, including the aftermath of the debt crisis, the challenges brought by a potential exit of Britain from the European Union, more effective antidotes are needed.

Another goal for Japan at the G7 summit is to come out with a statement on the South China Sea issue. Japan has been sparing no efforts to foist the issue into the agenda of the G7 summit, apparently for its own purpose, including containing China and pursuing its own interests in the East China Sea.

The United States has sided with Japan on this issue. Meddling in the South China Sea issue has been considered by many as part of the "Pivot to Asia" strategy of the administration of US President Barack Obama, which, by increasing US involvement in the Pacific, also aims to contain China, among other purposes.

It's a global trend for the nations around the world to cooperate together and achieve win-win results. The G7 nations should recognize the hidden agenda of Japan and the Unite States behind the summit, and focus more on the issues that really matter to themselves and to the world, and boost development together with China and other countries in the world.
Belt and Road Initiative connects Chinese capabilities with UK expertise: Report (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-05-25 18:49

BEIJING - Chinese and British companies are closely and successfully engaging in projects linked to the Belt and Road initiative, demonstrating the complementarity of Chinese and UK expertise across the globe, a report showed.



A total of 21 examples of UK-China cooperation in 10 countries with projects worth more than $27 billion dollars feature in a report jointly released here by the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and Tsinghua University on Wednesday.



The report includes case studies from some of the UK's most renowned companies such as HSBC, BP, LME, Linklaters and KPMG, with the aim to encourage more British-Chinese partnerships on the enormous China-proposed Belt and Road initiative.



Around two-thirds of the world's population live in the countries linked by the Belt and Road, however, these same countries only account for one third of the world's GDP. Infrastructure is key to the economic development along these routes and many opportunities exist for UK companies.



Lord Sassoon, the chairman of CBBC, pointed out that Sino-UK companies' partnership falls into three major categories -- UK and Chinese firms jointly working on projects in third country markets; Chinese firms using the UK as a platform for servicing projects in third country markets; and UK firms providing professional advice or services to Chinese firms operating in unfamiliar, often risky, business environments.



"As this report shows, existing projects along the Belt and Road demonstrate synergy between Chinese and British firms," Sassoon said.



Chinese enterprises are experienced in building infrastructure, while entering unfamiliar, challenging and often risky business and geographical environments plays well to the expertise of UK firms, according to Giles Blackburne, report editor and CBBC executive director.



The case study report demonstrates powerful partnerships between British and Chinese companies that play to their unique strengths. HSBC, along with two Chinese banks, has provided debt facilities for a power plant in Bangladesh with the design, consultancy, engineering and construction expertise supplied by major Chinese enterprises; UKlaw firm Linklaters has provided legal services to Chinese banks involved in financing a coal mine and associated power station in Pakistan.



"We have witnessed the abundant business opportunities brought by the initiative, which increased investment, job creation and improved infrastructure conditions in the target regions," said Fang Jian, Linklaters' national managing partner for China.



It is vital that lessons are learned about regulatory, commercial and cultural differences while developing projects along the Belt and Road to make sure the demands of both parties are coordinated, Fang added.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner (second, left) poses for a photo while holding two reports published on Tuesday at a news conferrence with three other environmental experts. [Photo by Hou Liqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]

The world has seen progress in air pollution control with investment in renewable energy and cleaner indoor burning fuels, but more effort still should be made in reducing emissions to reduce the number of people air pollution kills, said a report.

Actions on Air Quality, released on Tuesday at the second United Nations Environment Assembly by the United Nations Environment Program found improvements in areas such as access to cleaner cooking fuels and stoves, renewables, fuel sulphur content and public transport.

According to the report, 97 countries have increased the percentage of households that have access to cleaner burning fuels to more than 85 percent. This a key move to tackle indoor air pollution, which claims 4.3 million of the total 7 million that are killed by air pollution each year, said the report.

It said more than 82 countries out of 194 analyzed have incentives to promote investment in renewable energy production, cleaner production, energy efficiency and pollution control equipment. Renewables accounted for a majority of the new electricity-generating capacity added around the world for the first time last year at an investment of $286 billion, according to research by UNEP, Bloomberg and the Frankfurt School.

Another report released on Tuesday, which looks at attempts to control Beijing's air pollution over a 15-year period, also finds steady improvements are being made. A Review of Air Pollution Control in Beijing: 1998-2013 analyzed measures implemented since Beijing began launching its air pollution control program, which saw a steady downward trend in the concentrations of many harmful pollutants.

The Beijing analysis, carried out by UNEP and the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, found that carbon monoxide and sulphur levels are now below limits set by China's National Ambient Air Quality Standards, while nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter ten levels are also creeping closer to the standards.

This trend has been driven by a decrease in coal consumption in the power sector and a drop in vehicle emissions resulting from vehicle emission control measures. Coal use fell from a peak of 9 million metric tons in 2005 to 6.44 million tons in 2013, while the 2013 levels of carbon monoxide dropped by 76 per cent compared to 1998.

When it comes to emissions control, however, it's not impressive with only 29 per cent of countries having adopted Euro 4 emissions standards or above and less than 20 per cent of countries regulating open waste burning. The report said policies and standards on clean fuels and vehicles could reduce emissions by 90 per cent.

According to the World Health Organization, global urban air pollution levels increased by 8 per cent between 2008 and 2013. More than 80 percent of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO limits, threatening lives, productivity and economies.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "A healthy environment is essential to healthy people and our aspirations for a better world under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"We are indeed making progress on air pollution, but the fact remains that many people are still breathing air outside of World Health Organization standards. The health, social and economic costs are massive and rising."

UNEA is the world's most powerful decision-making body on the environment, and responsible for tackling some of the most critical issues of our time.

Attracting hundreds of key decision makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organizations and civil society this year, UNEA-2 is one of the first major meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Contact the writer at Kenya houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn.
(Photo : Reuters / Thomas Hodel) Israeli authorities are cracking down on the use of Facebook to spread incitive messages urging people to violence.

Advertisement

Authorities have arrested several Palestinians and Israelis in the past few months for their incitive posts on Facebook regarding violence targeting other people, which began last October.



Up to 60 people have reportedly been charged since the attacks started. Haifa-based rights group Adallah Legal Center added that about 400 people were arrested. About 150 of them are Palestinians, and 250 are Arab citizens of Israel.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, said that the incitement to violence on social media platforms is an increasing problem. Many assailants reportedly admitted that they were inspired by the posts on Facebook and other social media sites urging to them carrying out the attacks.



In one incident, a teenager accused of stabbing an Israeli woman named Dafna Meir to death in front of her children was said to have watched an incitive post on social media. The teenager then set out to murder Jews. Lerner said that the incident took place in the West Bank settlement of Otniel in January.



Due to the growing problem, the Israeli parliament has passed a bill that will cut down "incitement to violence or terror." The pending bill aims to allow more indictments related to incitement to violence or terror.



The current law in Israel permits a charge of incitement to violence and terror only when there is proof that such posts, speeches, or any other medium directly leads to violent acts by whoever reads or hears it. The pending bill will now no longer require proof that a suspect intended to carry out violence after reading, watching, or hearing incitement posts. The pending bill will also apply to those merely calling for violence. Anyone found guilty could be placed behind bars for five years.



Among the people recently arrested and charged, a Palestinian beautician named Majd Atwan was sentenced to 45 days behind bars and fined $775 on May 9, for praising a bus bombing in Jerusalem. Last November, Israeli police arrested Hagai Amir over a Facebook post threatening Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.



Advertisement

Tagsincitement posts, violence, Palestine, Israel, Israeli authorities, Jerusalem, Facebook, social media sites
(Photo : Getty Images) China's proposed railroad project to Nepal will be close to India's Bihar.

Advertisement

In a move that is likely to stroke security concerns in New Delhi, China is set to construct a rail road project to Nepal that will almost touch the Indian state of Bihar.



According to state-owned newspaper Global Times, a rail road project linking Nepal's Rasuwagadhi area to China has already been discussed between officials from the two countries. This ambitious railroad project is expected to be completed by 2020.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

"The railroad connection to China not only is important for Nepal and Nepalese people's future development, but also has the capacity to build connectivity with the whole of South Asia. The government of Nepal has the chance to make history," the newspaper said.



However, Rasuwagadhi area in Nepal is barely 240 km away from the Indian state of Bihar. The distance is too close for New Delhi's comfort. India is already perturbed by China's expanding influence in Nepal with a road and rail network through Tibet.



The Chinese newspaper cited past examples to warn Nepal about external sources trying to sabotage the railroad project. However, the newspaper did not make any direct reference to India.



"Challenge is both internal and external stakeholders' sensitivity about mega infrastructure projects. Unfortunately due to oversensitivity, some major projects were aborted before even a brick was laid. So the Nepali government must play a key role in bringing all the stakeholders into a sufficient consensus," the article said.



The report about the rail road project comes just two months after Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's visit to China. Experts have described the visit as Nepal's final push to reduce dependency on its traditional ally India.



China has not wasted any time in exploiting Nepal's apparent cynicism towards India as has announced several infrastructural projects and extended financial aid to the latter. The bonhomie between Nepal and China during Oli's visit raised a lot of eyebrows in New Delhi.



New Delhi is highly critical of China's pursuit to increase influence in India's neighborhood through infrastructural projects. India sees this as China's strategy to surround it militarily and economically on all sides.



Advertisement

Tagschina, China and India, Nepal, China and Nepal
(Photo : Reuters) Pyongyang has rejected Donald Trump's offer to stage talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if he emerges victorious in the polls.

Advertisement

Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has revealed that he would like to engage with North Korea if he is triumphant in the polls. However, this idea is not being welcomed by Pyongyang.



The North Korean Ambassador to the United States So Se-pyong said in a statement while in Geneva that he believes Trump's offer is a just a form of "political posturing." So added that it is up to the decision of the North Korean leader whether or not he will accept Trump's initiative but he believes that the idea is "nonsense."



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

So claimed that Trump's statement is meant to attract him supporters ahead of the upcoming presidential election noting that it is a kind of "propaganda or advertisement." "This is useless, just a gesture for the presidential election," So said.



So's comment comes days after Trump said he is open to having dialogue with Kim about North Korea's nuclear activities. The country has been sanctioned by the United Nations again recently due to Pyongyang's ballistic missile tests and human rights violations.



North Korea organized a nuclear test in January about 100 kilometers from the China-North Korea border. This caused an earthquake in the Chinese city of Yanji. The following month, North Korea fired a long-range rocket allegedly to place a satellite into space. Experts, however, argued that such technology is used to deploy ballistic missiles.



After another set of sanctions were imposed on Pyongyang by the United Nations in March. In response, North Korea defiantly launched another missile that traveled 800 kilometers east and landed in the sea near Japan.



The United Nations and North Korea have not held a dialogue since 2012. The U.S. wanted to have private talks with North Korea but due to its recent tests and actions, the talks have been put on hold.



Meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton claims that Trump praised Kim in a January rally in Iowa. Trump said that Kim deserved credit for how he took over the country at a young age after his father's death. However, it has been found out in the same speech that Trump called Kim a 'maniac' and a 'madman' for using nuclear weapons.



Trump is yet to comment on the statements of So regarding his offer.



Advertisement

TagsU.S. Presidential elections 2016, donald trump, North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, dialogue, nuclear activities, Sanctions, United Nations
(Photo : Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images) A journalist inspects the construction site of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant on June 4, 2009 in Sanmen of Zhejiang Province, China. China is planning to create nuclear emergency response teams before the end of 2018.

Advertisement

China has announced that it will assemble a national nuclear emergency response team by the end of 2018 to cope with potential nuclear accidents.



The response team is expected to have around 320 members and will work both domestically and internationally. The team will include members of the armed forces and existing rescue professionals. They will be on duty 24-7 and will mainly deal with serious nuclear accidents.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Yao Bin, the head of the nuclear emergency and security division of the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), said in a statement that the team is being put together with the support of the military and the nuclear industry.



The team will comprise of six units; command, coordination and technical support, decontamination, emergency monitoring and radiation protection, emergency rescue, engineering rescue, and medical aid. The team will undergo drills, training, and theoretical studies, according to Li Ganjie, chief of China Nuclear Safety Bureau.



All provinces and cities in China where nuclear power plants are located will have their own emergency response teams. A nuclear safety law in China is also expected to be passed by the end of 2016.



By December 2015, China had 30 operational nuclear power reactors and 24 more were under constructions. These numbers show that China has more nuclear power reactors than any other country in the world. The Chinese government plans to double the country's current nuclear power capacity by the end of 2020.



In the next five years, China is expected to have a more improved and suitable national nuclear emergency system after the 320-member national nuclear emergency response team has been trained and deployed.



Wang Yiren, deputy director of China Automatic Energy Authority, said in a statement that the teams would meet the requirements of international level nuclear response teams.



Beijing's plan to create a nuclear emergency team comes after reports that China and Sudan have come to an agreement regarding the construction of a nuclear plant in the African country. The deal was said to be made after Chinese top official Nur Bekri visited Sudan for three days.



Advertisement

Tagschina, nuclear power plants, nuclear emergency team, 2018, 320 members, military members, rescue professionals, serious nuclear accidents
(Photo : Getty Images) Lights shine from the Bayer chemicals and pharmaceutical plant at night on March 4, 2007 in Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer is looking to takeover Mosanto.

Advertisement

Monsanto Co. on Tuesday declined a $62 billion takeover offer from Germany's Bayer. However, the biotech seed giant said that it is open to further negotiations, which Bayer sees as an encouraging response.



Monsanto believes Bayer's offer was "financially inadequate," with Hugh Grant, Monsanto's chief executive, saying Bayer undervalued the company. He also voiced concern about whether the deal will be approved by regulators.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Monsanto's decision to turn down the offer was reportedly unanimous, an insider told Bloomberg.



Following the news, both companies' market value climbed to 3.1 percent to $109.30 for Monsanto late trading in New York and 3.2 percent to $97.12 for Bayer in Frankfurt.



Bayer said that its bid marks an "extraordinary opportunity to create a global agriculture leader."



Bayer proposed to pay $122 per share in cash, making it supposedly the biggest all-cash offer, according to Reuters.



Monsanto, on the other hand, did not divulge how much it wanted. However, experts believe Bayer needs to shell out more to come with an agreement.



"We believe it is unlikely that the deal gets done at $122 and still believe $135 is a more likely price," analysts at JP Morgan wrote. An analyst from New York's Stanford C. Bernstein & Co. noted on Tuesday that an offer less than $135 per share would be "challenging for Monsanto agree to."



Acquiring Monsanto will make Bayer the biggest seed supplier and leader of crop biotechnology. Monsanto's genetically modified seed is responsible for a majority of the corn and soybeans plantation across the United States. The company is also selling to foreign clients from in Latin America and India.



Advertisement

TagsMonsanto, Bayer, biotech seed, genetically modified seed
(Photo : YouTube/GameofThrones) George R.R. Martin reportedly dished out some juicy details about the plot of "The Winds of Winter" book.

Advertisement

Several fans are now excited for the release of the upcoming "The Winds of Winter" book, which is the sixth installment of the "A Song of Ice & Fire" series. Now, new reports are claiming that author George RR Martin will be killing off a lot of characters in the upcoming tome.



George R.R. Martin confirms killing off several characters in 'The Winds of Winter'



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

While the official release date of the book is still unconfirmed until now, George R.R. Martin has already confirmed to fans that a lot of killings should be expected in "The Winds of Winter" book. The New Mexican author has also disclosed that he is not done with book yet.



Speculations about "The Winds of Winter" is done already had surfaces when George R.R. Martin published a new chapter of the "A Song of Ice & Fire" sixth book online. The said chapter focused on the story of Alayne.



However, despite the shocking release of this chapter, George R.R. Martin made it clear that "The Winds of Winter" is not yet finished. The author said that he released the said chapter to give fans a glimpse on what to expect in the upcoming book.



George R.R. Martin also said that the sample chapter revealed a part of what characters are up to in "The Winds of Winter" book. The veteran author pointed out that the monkey on his back in a photo he posted does mean that he is not done writing the much-awaited novel.



George R.R. Martin debunked rumors about 'The Winds of Winter' book release



Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin has debunked rumors that "The Winds of Winter' book is already ready for publishing. The 67-year-old author said that the book will be published anytime soon.



Other reports claim that George R.R. Martin will be releasing "The Winds of Winter" in 2017. With the help of Neil Gaiman, several fans are hopeful that the book will be finished before the 2016 ends.



Advertisement

TagsThe Winds of Winter, George RR Marin, A Song of Ice & Fire, Neil Gaiman
(Photo : Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) A victim of the conflict in Syria is helped at A French military hospital in the Zaatari refugee camp on January 30, 2013 in Za'atari, Jordan.

Advertisement

Syrian aid workers have appealed to the international community for protection from deadly attacks as hospitals have been moved underground due to the continuous raids by militants.



Zedoun Al Zoubi, head of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), which operates in Syria, said in a statement during the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul earlier this week that they are moving hospitals underground and into caves. This comes after attempts to end the attacks on healthcare did not prove fruitful.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Al Zoubi added that being a doctor in the war-torn Syria means waiting for death, instead of saving lives. He explained that medical professionals are concerned all the time about their own welfare. This is due to the fact that doctors are the main target of air strikes. Due to the threat, around 10,000 doctors have fled the country and only around 1,000 are left.



"Everybody knows that hospitals are the safest place in the world in a time of war, but in Syria they are the riskiest place," the head of UOSSM said. When one hospital expressed a desire to build an underground facility near the Free Syrian Army barracks, they were reportedly asked to leave as the presence of a hospital would mean the area will be bombed and attacked soon.



Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a medical aid charity, earlier claimed that the United Nations Security Council has ties to the attacks made on hospitals located in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. MSF also pulled out of the World Humanitarian Summit noting that the United Nations-sponsored meeting will not hold the states responsible for the bombings and the rise in conflicts.



Despite MSF's comments, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that, "Protecting humanitarian workers is a core tenet of international humanitarian law. My senior officials and I raise it at every opportunity with member states and the international community."



Rouba Mhaissen, the founder and director of Sawa for Development and Aid, said that the international community should provide a safe atmosphere for humanitarian workers. He suggested no-fly zones, the use of air drops to deliver aid to affected areas, and ensuring that none of the air strikes targets hospitals and schools.



Advertisement

TagsSyrian aid workers, Syria, militants, bombings, underground facilities, Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, World Humanitarian Summit, United Nations
(Photo : Getty Images) India apparently almost lost the Chabahar Port Project to its regional rival China.

Advertisement

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday signed a pact with Iran to construct an ambitious port in Iran's southernmost city of Chabahar. Indian foreign experts have noted that the historic agreement would give New Delhi much-needed trade access to Central Asia and Europe by by-passing Pakistan. The project would also allow India to establish a strong foothold in Pakistan's neighborhood.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

However, Indian media have reported that New Delhi could have lost the critical Chabahar Port Project to its regional rival China if the Indian government had delayed its negotiations with Iran.



According to Indian media reports, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Iran in January, officials from a Chinese consortium had visited Chabahar and expressed their desire to construct a trade port. China's interest gathered further momentum after Beijing and Tehran mentioned in a joint agreement signed during President Xi's visist that the development of ports would be one of their important areas of cooperation.



Officials in New Delhi were apparently uncomfortable about China's interest in constructing a port in Iran amid hanging negotiations for the Chabahar port project. However, it was reportedly Iran's unpredictable moves in the past few months (with Tehran playing the "China card") that pushed New Delhi to the negotiating table.



The Indian government, as per the local press, quickly arranged for the credit for the project through an agreement between India's EXIM Bank and Iran's Central Bank of Iran. According to the agreement, both banks would arrange credit up to Rs 3,000 crore for the project.



With China steadily increasing its influence with India's neighbors, sealing the Chabahar port project was considered highly important for India. India originally expressed interest in constructing the Chabahar port in 2014, mainly in response to China's Gwadar port project in Pakistan.



China's port projects in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have stroked security concerns in New Delhi. New Delhi considers China's port projects as a part of Beijing's 'String of Pearls' strategy to surround India's maritime border.



Advertisement

Tagschina, India and China, Iran, India and Iran, India Chabahar Port Project, China and Iran
(Photo : Getty Images) Beijing has warned Washington against sowing discord among South China Sea claimants following Obama's decision to lift the US' arms sale embargo on Vietnam.

Advertisement

Following US President Barack Obama's announcement of the removal of the decades-old embargo on arms sales to Vietnam, Beijing on Tuesday warned Washington not to encourage other South China Sea claimants to antagonize China.



Obama insists that the decision to lift the arms embargo has nothing to do with China. But the statement, however, contradicts his subsequent announcement that Hanoi and Washington will work together to contain China's actions in the South China Sea.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

An editorial published in the nationalist newspaper Global Times says that the US President's claim that the lifting of the arms sales embargo 'was not about China' was "a very poor lie." The paper said the latest move would only exacerbate the "strategic antagonism between Washington and Beijing."



Regional Tinderbox



On Tuesday, China Daily warned Hanoi and Washington not to spark a "regional tinderbox" in Asia saying Obama's announcement was meant to halt the rise of China.



The paper argued that Obama's latest move would only disturb regional peace and stability.



Obama, who is on a historic state visit to Vietnam, told his Vietnamese counterpart, President Tran Dai Quang, that he supports Hanoi's territorial claims against Beijing in the South China Sea.



In his speech, Obama promised Vietnam greater access to military support and weapons system to improve its security in the disputed waters.



Freedom of navigation



"In the South China Sea, the US is not a claimant in current disputes, but we will stand with our partners in upholding key principles like freedom of navigation," the US president said in a speech in Hanoi.



International relations experts said that while Beijing would not respond to Obama in a vindictive way, it will likely continue to build its territories in the South China Sea while exerting pressure on Vietnam not to be too close to Washington.



The United States has openly criticized China for militarizing the South China Sea by reclaiming lands, reefs, and rocks and turning them into artificial islands.



Beijing has built airstrips in contested territories and has deployed military assets on the islands such as fighter jets, radar systems, and civilian and military aircraft.



China maintains that it is simply exercising sovereignty on its territories and has accused the US of militarizing the South China Sea region by conducting 'freedom of navigation' operations and military drills in the area.



Advertisement

Tagsarms sales embargo, Vietnam, President Barack Obama, Beijing, South China Sea, china
(Photo : Getty Images) China continues to defend its actions in the South China Sea, accusing the US of sowing discord among claimant nations.

Advertisement

China on Tuesday said that 'sincerity' and not 'nation's size' should be used to judge its action in the disputed South China Sea region.



The comment from China's Foreign Ministry comes in response to President Barack Obama's remark that "big nations should not bully smaller ones." Obama's made the statement during a speech on the second day of his Vietnam tour. The US president also called for a 'peaceful resolution' of the South China Sea dispute.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China has signed demarcation agreements with 12 neighbors; among them five nations are smaller than Philippines in size and 10 are smaller in population.



"This shows that a country's size does not matter regarding the issue. The key point is whether countries involved have the determination and sincerity to resolve disputes via talks and consultations," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.



Hua added that outside countries must respect the efforts of those in the region to maintain peace and stability. Hua remark is seen as a reference to the US' continuous intervention in the South China Sea issue.



The Chinese Foreign Ministry also questioned the US' 'freedom of navigation' operation, asking whether freedom of navigation is a privileged right meant only for American aircrafts and navy vessels.



Few hours before Obama's speech on Monday, the US lifted its 42 years old arms ban on Vietnam. The move is aimed at shoring up Vietnam's military defense against China and is likely to lead further tension in the region.



Advertisement

Tagschina, South China Sea Dispute, Barack Obama, China and US, Vietnam, China and Vietnam
(Photo : US Navy) Raytheon pulse power modules. (Below) Electromagnetic railgun installed aboard the joint high-speed vessel USNS Millinocket.

Advertisement

The portable power systems that will fire the U.S. Navy's electromagnetic railguns have been delivered by two of three contractors competing for this project.



The Electromagnetic Systems Group of General Atomics (GA-EMS) has already delivered a prototype of its pulse power containers (PPC) for its weapon. Raytheon Company has announced its shipping its first PPC units to the U.S. Navy. L-3 Applied Technologies is also expected to complete working on another PPC version of within a year.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The U.S. Navy is evaluating two EM railgun models. One is a 32 megajoule prototype built by BAE Systems. The other is the 32 megajoule Blitzer developed by GA-EMS.



GA-EMS has developed, built and successfully tested two railguns: the internally funded the Blitzer 3 MJ system and a 32 MJ launcher for the Office of Naval Research.



PPCs are huge banks of capacitors or rechargeable batteries packed inside standard ISO containers. Each container has enough energy to discharge 18 kilowatts for each railgun round.



To enable the railgun to fire 10 shots per minute, the PPC must recharge from the host ship in seconds. It must also be able to store and discharge the energy in very short time while managing the thermal load generated by the process.



"The electromagnetic railgun is among several disruptive capabilities that the Naval Research Enterprise is championing to ensure a dominant, capable and relevant naval force for the future," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Mat Winter.



Raytheon's PPC consists of multiple pulsed power modules that, when combined, produce enough energy to enable the electromagnetic launch of a railgun's high-velocity projectile at speeds in excess of Mach 6.



"Directed energy has the potential to redefine military technology beyond missiles and our pulse power modules and containers will provide the tremendous amount of energy required to power applications like the Navy Railgun," said Colin Whelan, vice president of Advanced Technology for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business.



A railgun weapon system includes the launcher; projectile; high-density pulsed power and fire control system.



Advertisement

Tagspulse power containers, Electromagnetic Systems Group of General Atomics, Raytheon Company, U.S. Navy, Railgun, electromagnetic railgun
Bonobos

Advertisement

It's not that we can learn something more from "turn-taking conversations" among great apes. It's just that we should be more polite when we converse with our fellow humans.



A new study from the Humboldt Research Group of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany reveals that great apes such as the bonobo and chimpanzee do communicate cooperatively like we do. Apes also employ a back-and-forth style of cooperative communication somewhat similar to human conversation.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The bonobo (Pan paniscus) and the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) are the closest extant relatives to humans.



The study found the communications among the endangered bonobos and chimpanzees feature turn-taking sequences where a "speaker" isn't interrupted until he finishes "speaking."



Among humans, turn-taking refers to the process by which people in a conversation decide who is to speak next.



Turn-taking conversations among apes, however, use sounds and gestures that somewhat resembles the give and take of a human conversation.



"Communicative interactions of great apes thus show the hallmarks of human social action during conversation and suggest that cooperative communication arose as a way of coordinating collaborative activities more efficiently," said lead researcher Simone Pika.



The research team spent two years studying the bonobo groups in Salonga National Park and Luo Scientific Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They spent several months stydying the chimpanzee groups inside Uganda's Kibale National Park and the Ivory Coast's Tai National Park.



They found out that chimp conversations are longer and more regimented and have more structured patterns of signal, pause and response.



"For bonobos, gaze plays a more important role and they seem to anticipate signals before they have been fully articulated," said researcher Marlen Froehlich.



On the other hand, chimps have expressive faces that are important in close-up communications.



Bonobos are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and are threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth. The chimpanzee is also listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species.



Advertisement

Tagsbonobo, Chimpanzee, Humboldt Research Group, turn taking conversations
(Photo : Facebook/Shining 3D) One of Shining 3D's exhibition room in the new headquarters located in the Zhejiang 3D Industrial Zone.

Advertisement

Chinese 3D printer manufacturer Shining 3D has officially opened its brand new company headquarters in the Zhejiang 3D Industrial Zone located in the capital city of Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province.



The headquarters facility is said to cover 25,000 square meters of space and is expected to be the largest "3D printing innovation center" in China, according to reports.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The large area will focus on manufacturing, research and development, and customer service, among other things. In addition to the new facility, Shining 3D is also launching new services and features called the "Shining 3D printing ecosystem".



The new features include Internet +, 3D Scanning and 3D Printing Equipment, Materials and Services. According to the company, it plans to establish about 100 new offline printing centers over the next three to five years, offering services to a wide range of industries: From the automotive and aerospace industry, to the medical and smart technology industry.



One of Shining 3D's most popular products to date is the EinScan 3D scanner line-up. The latest in the series is the EinScan Pro which was unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in the U.S. The EinScan Pro is basically a multi-functional handheld 3D scanner that can capture 3D data of objects including the human body.



Earlier this year, Shining 3D became the first Chinese 3D printing company to enter the Japanese market, establishing a new office and partnering with local company KS Design Lab. The latest move will definitely help to establish itself further in China and beyond.



Advertisement

TagsChina 3D Printing, Shining 3D, Largest 3D Printing Innovation Center China, 3D Printing News, Additive Manufacturing
Caitlyn Jenner: Second thoughts on gender change? 25 May, 2016 by Erich Bridges , |

RICHMOND, Va. (Christian Examiner)  Amid the demands for transgender rights sweeping the nation from courtrooms to school bathrooms, a gossip news item renewed nagging questions about the transgender movement's claims to normalcy.

Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, one-time Olympic athlete and current reality TV personality, is struggling with "her" transition to womanhood and might return to being a man, reported celebrity biographer Ian Halperin, author of Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America's Royal Family.

"It hasn't been easy for Caitlyn. It's been very hard," Halperin said multiple sources close to Jenner told him recently. "She's thrilled she has raised awareness about how transgender people have long been discriminated against, but I think there's a chance she'll de-transition in the next couple years. I don't think it would surprise anybody in her inner circle. It has been much harder than she anticipated. My heart goes out to her and I know her true friends will be there to support her on whatever path she chooses."

Jenner's camp denied the report almost immediately, calling it "idiotic." But Halperin stood by his story, insisting millions of dollars are at stake as Jenner pushes his reality show and its gender-change storyline.

On one level, the spat involves two pop media mavens promoting their respective products. It also highlights the uncomfortable relationship the LGBT movement has with Jenner, who instantly became the most famous face of transgenderism after announcing his gender transition last year. Both supporters and critics of the movement have questioned Jenner's motives, commitment to the cause and whether he/she is more interested in publicity  the business and lifeblood of the Kardashian clan, of which Jenner is a member  than in real transgender issues.

At a deeper level, however, it raises a question transgender activists seem eager to quash: Even if transgender people are fully accepted by society, do they really accept themselves? If they don't, is it irresponsible to encourage children and young people struggling with gender and sexual confusion to transition, surgically or otherwise?

"Transgender surgery is an attempt to correct a psychological problem with a surgical solution," says Bob Stith, founder of Family and Gender Issues Ministries in Southlake, Texas, and former national strategist for gender issues for the Southern Baptist Convention.

"The tragedy is that in the mad dash to promote all things LGBT, the deep unhappiness of many transgenders  both pre- and post-surgery  is being ignored. This should concern all of us, Christian and non-Christian. Clearly many do regret having the surgery and the media should be interested in their stories simply from a standpoint of journalistic integrity. Those who are considering such a radical procedure should have all the facts."

IS REGRET REAL?

How widespread are second thoughts among those who pursue gender reassignment? Hard to say. Estimates of "transgender regret" and related problems range from as low as 2 percent of those who attempt transition to as high as 90 percent. One national study reported that 41 percent of transgender people surveyed were so unhappy they had attempted suicide.

Walt Heyer, an author who deeply regrets his own gender transition, points to a 2004 overview by The Guardian newspaper in England that reviewed 100 studies of transgender people. It found that 20 percent of them regret their gender reassignment. A 2011 Swedish study found that people who changed genders had a higher risk of suicide. Other studies found that 90 percent have a "significant form of psychopathology," 61 percent have other psychiatric disorders and illnesses and 50 percent experience depression.

"My life story and the stories of those who contact me speak of regret over transitioning," Heyer writes. "Often, the stories include attempted suicide or suicide ideation. I was a 4-year-old trans kid who grew up with gender confusion and underwent gender reassignment surgery at age 42. I lived for eight years as a so-called trans female named Laura Jensen. But no matter how feminine I appeared, like all transgenders, I was just a man in a dress. I was unhappy, regretful of having transitioned and I attempted suicide. Gender surgery is not effective treatment for depression, anxiety or mental disorders."

Yet the media remain silent about such cases, Heyer charges. "It's so much easier to deliver the LGBT talking point than to dig into the science," he says. "Who's the loser? The transgender who regrets transitioning."

But there's a price to be paid for questioning the status quo, which was codifed in 2012 when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) revised its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to replace the diagnostic term "Gender Identity Disorder" with the term "Gender Dysphoria"  after years of lobbying by gender activists. Their case: Transgenderism is not a disorder to be "cured" but a condition to be accepted and in many cases encouraged.

Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who served on the APA committee that recommended the change, calls transgender regret largely a "myth." He points to studies that find less than 4 percent of people who have transgender reassignment surgery regret it. "Researchers have also found that the surgery dramatically reduces suicide rates among trans people," he states. "This is why the international standard of care for adolescents and adults in many countries is to offer transition services."

Writing in The Washington Post, Drescher even asserted that it's a myth to say "a 5-year-old child doesn't know enough about gender to be transgender." Citing the APA, he claimed "cross-gender behaviors often start between 2 and 4 years old."

BRAVE NEW ORTHODOXY

At best, physicians and therapists who object to this brave new orthodoxy are dismissed as behind the times. At worst they are branded quacks and bigots. Various national and international bodies now seek to legally ban therapies aimed at treating transgenderism as a disorder.

"The transgender lobby actively polices and suppresses discussion of sex-change regret, and claims it's rare (no more than 5 percent)," writes Stella Morabito in The Federalist. "However, if you do decide to 'de-transition,' to once again identify with the sex in your DNA, talking about it will get you targeted by trans activists. So it's a challenge to understand the scope of regret for sex change surgery."

But that hasn't silenced a defiant group of physicians who refuse to go with the flow.

PEDIATRICIANS WEIGH IN

The American College of Pediatricians, a smaller, more conservative alternative to the larger American Academy of Pediatrics, issued a statement in March titled "Gender Ideology Harms Children."

The statement urged educators and legislators to "reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts  not ideology  determine reality. ... Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse."

The pediatricians asserted that "no one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept, not an objective biological one. No one is born with an awareness of themselves as male or female; this awareness develops over time and, like all developmental processes, may be derailed by a child's subjective perceptions, relationships, and adverse experiences from infancy forward. ...When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind, not the body, and it should be treated as such."

In addition, up to 98 percent of gender-confused boys and 88 percent of gender- confused girls eventually accept their biological sex, usually after experiencing puberty. To medically or surgically alter them earlier is "scientifically baseless" and deeply harmful to children and their families, according to the college.

The larger issue is a cultural one, says Paul McHugh, University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"The idea that one's sex is fluid and a matter open to choice runs unquestioned through our culture and is reflected everywhere in the media, the theater, the classroom, and in many medical clinics," McHugh observes. "It has taken on cult-like features: its own special lingo, internet chat rooms providing slick answers to new recruits, and clubs for easy access to dresses and styles supporting the sex change. It is doing much damage to families, adolescents and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges."

Even more important for Christians, however, is to demonstrate love for the people caught up in the confusion, urges gender expert Stith.

"We cannot overlook the truth that transgender strugglers, especially youth, are very much in need of compassion and understanding," he says. "That doesn't mean we must accede to their demands for what they assume will make them happy. Nor does it mean that the happiness and well-being of others must be sacrificed.

"[But we] need to examine our own hearts and decide whether our response is based on our revulsion at the nature of this struggle or whether we are genuinely concerned for all involved," Stith continued. "We should be slow to speak until we have as much concern and compassion for transgender strugglers as we do for others impacted by this controversy."
LGBT group calls for Dallas leaders to cut ties with Jeffress, First Baptist Dallas 25 May, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DALLAS (Christian Examiner)  A Dallas LGBT advocacy group is calling for city leaders to repudiate First Baptist Dallas and its pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress after he claimed that businesses boycotting states because of transgender "bathroom laws" are a threat to religious liberty  a greater threat, he said, than the Islamic State (ISIS).

Jeffress, a frequent FOX News contributor and staunch critic of radical Islam, said many business leaders are afraid of the LGBT movement and believe if transgender bathroom laws, such as HB2 in North Carolina, are passed, they will lose money. The same is true of religious liberty laws that protect business owners who do not wish to participate in same-sex weddings and other gay-themed events.

"It all comes down to money," Jeffress said on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins May 16. "I've said often the greatest threat to freedom of religion in America is not ISIS, it's the chamber of commerce. I mean, it's the businesses that say to our representatives, 'Oh, don't pass laws like that. Don't pass these religious freedom laws because people will interpret that as anti-gay and we'll lose business.'"

Gender identity confusion should not be exploited by social activists like those in the Obama administration that want to deny the God-given distinction between the sexes. This is a rebellion against God's plan.

Jeffress was on the show to discuss the Obama administration's recent "guidance" to school districts nationwide that they must, under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice, based on their gender identity at the time.

Several states, such as Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina, have rejected the guidelines, which came with the imprimatur of a mandate from the Department of Education and Department of Justice.

Jeffress' comments immediately came under fire from the leaders of Dallas's new LGBT Resource Center, which opened days before.

Rafael McDonnell, a spokesman for the center, told Dallas FOX affiliate KDFW that Jeffress was playing a "dangerous game" and the church had a history of making "inflammatory statements."

In particular, McDonnell and the members of the LGBT center want the city to severe ties with the church which announced only last month a special initiative to provide counseling services free of charge to Dallas police officers struggling with the pressures of their jobs.

McDonnell also said that the relationship between the church and city could be perceived as anti-gay on the part of police.

"When you're an officer, when you are an employee of the city, you have to serve everyone," McDonnell said.

The center also issued a statement on its Facebook page calling Jeffress' statement on pro-gay businesses "fanciful" and undeserving of a response. But they did respond.

"Resource Center is calling on the City of Dallas and the Dallas Police Department to reassess its relationship with First Baptist Church of Dallas in light of recent statements made by church leadership comparing business supporters of the transgender community with a terrorist organization," the statement said.

"Dallas Police, as does the city of Dallas, has a responsibility to be an open and inclusive organization that serves all people as reflected in the city's internal and external nondiscrimination statements. The Center believes the city of Dallas should make decisions and take actions that are consistent with those values. The partnership with First Baptist Church of Dallas fails that test."

Jeffress told KDFW he stands by the comparison, but said the comments were not anti-gay or homophobic.

"Well, it gets people's attention to realize that the greatest threat to religious liberty in our country comes internally, not externally," Jeffress said. "I believe these businesses are a greater threat to religious liberty in America than ISIS. That's all I said."

During his sermon May 15, Jeffress spoke on the current transgender debate in the U.S. He said the confusion over gender identity is easily cleared up by an examination of God's word, and specifically the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:4. There, Jesus said, God made human beings as male and female only.

"Gender identity confusion is an emotional disorder that should be treated professionally and compassionately," Jeffress said in the sermon. "Gender identity confusion should not be exploited by social activists like those in the Obama administration that want to deny the God-given distinction between the sexes. This is a rebellion against God's plan."

Jeffress also said the Christian approach should never include ridicule or hatred.

"We ought to treat them lovingly, and the most loving thing we can do for someone suffering from gender identity confusion is to assure them their gender is not a mistake," he said. "It's a part of a perfect, loving plan of God for their lives."
Former First Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia Jan Figel was appointed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as the first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union as of May 6, according to a press release.

The idea for the new position was proposed to the European Peoples Party congress in 2015, according to a World Watch Monitor report.

My aim will be to create a synergy in EU policies in order to help freedom of religion in  countries in which freedom of religion is on the decline or doesnt exist at all flourish more and more, Figel said according to TASR newswire.

The appointment was announced by Juncker at the Vatican on the same day of the presentation of the Charlemagne Prize to Pope Francis for an initial mandate of one year. Figel will serve as a special adviser to Neven Mimica, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.

Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental right which is part of the foundation of the European Union. The persistent persecution of religious and ethnic minorities makes protecting and promoting this freedom inside and outside the EU all the more essential, Juncker said.
Sim Jae-Sok, a South Korean missionary, was killed in his home in Taytay on Friday morning, according to local police.

According to officials, Sim woke up early that morning to exercise, but came into contact with a robber who was in his home, leading to a scuffle. The robber attacked Sim with a spade, and then repeatedly beat him with a cooking gas tank, Hector Cardinales told the press.

Though Sim was taken to a hospital immediately, he was found dead upon arrival.

Sim, who was a part of Global Mission Church and a member of the Methodist denomination, had ministered in Singapore and the Philippines. He and his wife, Ahn Jung-Yoon, had two daughters. Sim and his wife are known to have lived in the Philippines for some 13 years.

"Just last Monday (the 16th), I had visited the location where a young Filippino citizen had died of gunshot wounds. I'm still in shock at the news that one of my closest missionary colleagues has passed away," said Kwang-Tae Ko, the vice president of an association of Korean missionaries in the Philippines.

A funeral service for Sim took place at Heaven of Angels on May 23 at 10 AM.
I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
Theres more than enough time. At least thats what Laura Vanderkam seemed to discover in her 12-month time-tracking experiment. A full-time working mom of four young children under the age of eight, Vanderkam had every reason to complain of having too little time. But after keeping meticulous record of 8,784 hours, she found abundance rather than scarcity.

In her recent New York Times article, Vanderkam explains, "I didnt discover a way to add an extra hour to every day, but I did learn that the stories I told myself about where my time went werent always true. The hour-by-hour rhythm of my life was not quite as hectic as Id thought. Vanderkams log enabled her to see how shed spent her discretionary time (327 hours [of reading]) and delivered her from delusions of overwork. (She guessed at a 4550 hour workweek but it neared closer to 40.) Unwittingly, her time log exposed a comfortable lie: Theres not enough time.

Unlike Vanderkam, I have never tracked my time. But I have planned for its meticulous use. I am the mother of five children, who not only insist upon clean clothes and dinner but who are engaged in various extracurricular activities. My husband is a busy executive, so more often than not I run the domestic show alone. Additionally, after more than a decade of caring for my children at home full-time, I have re-entered the work force as a writer and speaker. How do you do it all? I am often asked.

It is easy enough to point to the time management advice upon which I have reliedbooks like David Allens, Getting Things Done, which blames mind-clutter as the root of our time anxieties, and Matt Permans, ...

1
home World Tensions escalate between Muslims and Christians over meat slaughter issue in Tanzania

In Tanzania, a country that is generally considered safe for Christians, friction between Muslims and Christians has persisted for years over the issue of meat slaughter.

Traditionally, Muslims are the only ones involved in slaughtering meat for public consumption to ensure that the meat sold in the market is halal, as Muslims would not eat meat that has not been ritually slaughtered.

"It has been our custom since the establishment of Tanzania a and even before a to see Muslims slaughter animals for public use, and we have not seen any problem. We have to care for our traditions and customs, which is to see Muslims doing this," Mponjoli Mwabulambo, regional police commander in Geita, said.

However, there has been no law that supports this tradition. Furthermore, Christians are saying that eating halal meat goes against their convictions.

Muslim-owned butcheries have also suffered loss of sales from Christian-owned butcheries as more people began to buy non-halal meat. Aside from halal meat being against Christian beliefs, the ritual for slaughtering meat incurs additional costs, making it more expensive and thus driving more people to buy the less expensive, non-halal meat.

In 2013, tension over the issue escalated when an Assemblies of God pastor in Buseresere was hacked to death by machete wielding Muslims.

Pastor Mathayo Kachila was on his way to a friend's house when a group of men attacked him. Mathayo had been outspoken about Christians' rights to sell non-halal meat, according to a report.

Before he died, Mathayo was able to identify his chief attacker. He was arrested along with other suspects, but was later on set free. Mathayo's wife Jane said seeing her husband's killer walking freely in the village gives her and her family so much pain.

"The children are emotionally affected when they see the person walking around freely. It is very painful to us all," Jane Roza said. "Even though the police have visited me a few times after the murder to interview me and promised to keep investigating, we do not know what happened to the case. I just don't know."

On the island of Zanzibar, the same tension can be felt as more Christians are expressing disappointment that they are not allowed to work as butchers. The Zanzibar police commander, Hamdani Makame, said Christians can sell meat, but they will not be allowed to slaughter animals for business.

"This is our custom. We will not allow Christians to engage in this business, as we feel that it will create violence in society," Makame said.
home US U.S. accepts record number of Syrian refugees in May; High speed of processing applications criticized

The Unites States government has granted asylum to more than 500 Syrian refugees so far in May, but some are questioning the speed in which the authorities are processing applications and why there seems to be no Christians among those approved.

"The Obama administration is on full throttle to admit as many people as possible before the time clock runs out on them," said Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, as quoted by The Washington Times. "This is the classic scenario when political expediency trumps prudence, and someone slips through who shouldn't have, and tragedy ensues."

Officials seem to expediting the admittance of refugees to meet President Barack Obama's target of 10,000 asylum seekers by Sept. 30. According to the report, the State Department set a new single-day record on Monday by approving 225 applications, a number that exceeds approvals for the whole month of January or February. The government approved 80 the previous day.

Critics are fearful because they deem that in order to meet a political goal, the government seems to be cutting corners. However, officials say that they are still screening applicants thoroughly -- it is because of improvements in their screening methods that are able to speed up the process.

As of May 24, 2,540 applications have reportedly been approved.

According to Front Page Mag, of the 2,235 Syrian refugees who were admitted to and have been resettled in the U.S since October -- prior to the 305 approved on Monday and Tuesday -- 2,170 people are Sunni Muslim, 27 are "other Muslims," 17 are Shi'a Muslims, 10 are Yazidis, and one is said to be of "other religion." Only 10 are Christians: three are Catholics, two are Orthodox, one is a Greek Orthodox, and the other four identified as being simply "Christian."

The publication also said that, as of May 23, the 499 refugees from Syria who were admitted this month were composed of 495 Sunni Muslims while the remainder declared themselves as "Moslem" in the State Departent Refugee Processing Center records.

The U.S. uses data gathered by U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, when processing applications. However, many Christians avoid registering with the agency for fear that this might become the target of retribution.

"Without doubt, Syrians of all confessions are being victimized by this savage war and are facing unimaginable suffering," Sen. Tom Cotton said in March, as quoted by CNS News. "But only Christians and other religious minorities are the deliberate targets of systematic persecution and genocide. It's well-established that many religious minorities in Syria are very reluctant to register as refugees with the United Nations because they fear facing even more persecution."
Archbishop of Canterbury to join historic debate with Church of Scotland

The Archbishop of Canterbury will be the first head of the Church of England to join a debate at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly on Wednesday.

Archbishop Justin Welby will address the Church's ruling body on a key report that proposes formal links between the two Churches.

The agreement, known as the Columba Declaration, was passed at the Church of England's synod in February but is yet to be ratified north of the border. If passed, the Columba Declaration would allow clergy to minister in the other's churches, and would formalise an agreement to move "towards fuller communion".

The former moderator of the Church of Scotland, Angus Morrison, said he was "confident" the Assembly would pass the Declaration.

"In itself the Declaration is largely of a symbolic nature but it does pave the way for our further growth in fellowship and for extending partnership in mission as sister and national churches who share many common roots, challenges and opportunities," he said.

"We wish this to happen in the closest possible fellowship with other sister churches in the United Kingdom as we seek together to address the challenges of mission in our country today."

However the move is not without controversy. Although the Church of Scotland is the national Church of Scotland, as the CofE is in England, the CofE has existing links with another Scottish Church, the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC).

The SEC is already linked to the CofE in the Anglican Communion and is unhappy with the new agreement. A rift emerged after the SEC withdrew from discussions between the three Churches over the Declaration.
Samoan church leader calls for ban on Muslims

A prominent Christian leader in Samoa has called for a ban on Muslims entering the republic.

Ma'auga Motu, secretary general of the Samoa Council of Churches, urged the government to ban Islam. He said he did not object in the least if people compared him to Donald Trump who last year suggested a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Of the Samoan islands' population of about 200,000, just 0.03 per cent are currently Muslim. The rest are nearly all Christian.

The prime minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, recently called for review of religious freedom. He wants Samoa's constitutional law changed to be more explicitly Christian.

Motu said he thought this would not be enough.

He said that Malielegaoi should impose a total ban because he claimed Islam represented a threat.

He told RadioNZ: "We are not going too far, no. We are still wanting our own people to be prevented from this kind of influence. There are so many people who are good people but still there are some dangerous people among them who might come and threaten our peace."

Mohammed Bin Yahya, chief Imam of Samoa, said Christians should learn not to discriminate. He also warned that such a ban could severely damage trading relationships.

Samoa, in the South Pacific, has been independent since 1962 and was ruled by New Zealand from 1914. The islands were governed by Germany for 14 years before that.
Church of Scotland passes landmark unity pact with Church of England

The Church of Scotland has unanimously agreed to formally unite with the Church of England in an historic vote in Edinburgh.

The Columba Declaration has been discussed for the past 15 years and officially ties the two churches, which have been seperate since the 16th century Reformation. It was passed at the Scottish Church's general assembly on Wednesday. The CoE's general synod passed the measure in February.

The Archbishop of Canterbury became the first CoE leader to join a debate at the general assembly and urged support for the report. Justin Welby acknowledged significant differences in the doctrines of the two churches but said the Columba Declaration provided a framework to affirm common ground.

Earlier in the assembly's five day meeting the CoS agreed to accept ministers who are in same-sex marriages, something the CoE has not done.

"We won't always necessarily find ourselves walking in step with one another, something I've been particularly conscious of, as, like you, we have been considering the issues around same-sex marriages, and following your earlier debate on ministers in same-sex marriages," Welby said in his address.

"But what we believe we are providing in this report is a sound framework for us to affirm and build on the agreement we have, for the sake of our common witness to Christ."

Afterwards Welby said the vote was a "huge step" and was "absolutely delighted" with the result. He added that now passed, "there is a massive impulse to develop it into a deeper and deeper relationship, not only in the UK but internationally with Presbyterian churches."

He added: "The key things are common witness and common testimony in the face of the challenges the country is facing.

"People come to God's church to meet the grace shown through God's people. That is the judgement on us if we do not work together."

The move was released prematurely after it was leaked to the Telegraph in December.

Welby acknowledged the announcement had caused "deep hurt" to the CoE Anglican partner in Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC).

"That hurt is exclusively my responsibility and I want to put on the record to you and to them my apology," he said in his address.

A representative from the SEC thanked Welby for the apology and said the SEC had had "a very human reaction" to the announcement.

"It was a bit difficult when our sister begins to take an interest in our best friend especially when our best friend showed interest back," said Mark Strange, the Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness in the SEC.

"Thank you to everyone who has expressed their sorrow," he told the assembly. "You must now make your decision.

"Now it is time to get on with the real task ahead of sharing all we have in Christ."

The tie between the Anglican CoE and the Presbyterian CoS is landmark step. It allows clergy to minister in the other's churches and crucially formalises an agreement to move "towards fuller communion".

It comes as political tension between the two nations grows with Scottish National Party, who favour independence, retaining full control of the Scottish parliament in recent elections. The first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned a second vote on independence would be triggered if Britain voted to leave the European Union on June 23.
Gospel For Asia faced staff exodus amid negative publicity

Around 50 staff  half of the total  left the embattled Gospel for Asia (GFA) mission organisation in 2015, according to an activist group.

The second largest mission group in the US, GFA and its founder KP Yohannan have faced a storm of negative publicity following revelations by blogger Warren Throckmorton of financial mismanagement. It was found to have kept vast reserves in Indian bank accounts while pleading for urgent funds from donors in the US and was expelled from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability after an investigation. It was also criticised for its practice of getting students to carry large amounts in cash from the US to India. GFA has been accused of treated staff poorly and is facing a lawsuit for fraud and misuse of charitable donations.

DonorBeWise.com, run by former GFA workers, says its purpose is to "help individuals understand the issues surrounding GFA". It says: "The 2015 staff exodus was not your normal attrition...If you look at how long so many of these staff had served and how much they personally invested in the work, in terms of time and commitment, these weren't the type of people to leave over a little misunderstanding."

DonorBeWise says: "What people do leave over is repeat offenses that are born out of abusive patterns, they leave over a lack of trust."

Senior staff who left included the communications leader, the church relations department leader, and the leaders of the IT, ministry parters and web departments. The leader of the IT department, whose wife also left her role as writer/editor, had served for 29 years.
India: Police arrest evangelical Christians on 'forced conversion' charges

Police in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have arrested three evangelical Christians, accusing them of forced conversion and insulting Hindu religious sentiment.

Rev V A Anthony, of the Brethren Assembly Church in Satna, his wife Prabha and another woman were arrested after leading prayers in the nearby town of Aber.

According to Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians the three are innocent of the charges. He told AsiaNews they were "detained based on false allegations of forced conversions".

Three men filed a complaint against Anthony and the two women, saying they had been induced to convert by the offer of a secure job. They also alleged that the Christians had torn up an image of Hindu deities.

According to AsiaNews, some villagers have reported that during the arrests the police were accompanied by Hindu nationalists including Laxmi Yadav, a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Backward Classes Commission.

Yadav had filed a complaint three weeks ago against another evangelical, Rev Sam Samuel, and along with members of the youth wing of a Hindu ultra-nationalist organisation had stopped a Christian wedding in the city of Kolgawan, claiming that the bride was underage and that the couple had converted four years previously without informing the authorities. Sajan George said on that occasion: "It is abuse of anti-conversion laws, forced intrusion into a Christian place of worship by the Madhya Pradesh police and the arrest of innocent Christians."

Of the latest arrests he said: "Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians live in an atmosphere of fear in Madhya Pradesh. Here, the anti-conversion law is used to harass and intimate. Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state is seriously jeopardising freedom of religion."
Iona Community 'at significant risk' if funds not urgently raised

The future of one of Britain's most iconic Christian communities is in "serious jeopardy".

The Iona Community, based at the historic site of St Columba's monastery off the west coast of Scotland, has been a place of refuge for pilgrims and tourists for decades. Now based across two Christian centres it runs a monastic retreat and regularly welcomes visitors to stay.

However in a report to the Church of Scotland's general assembly on Tuesday, the community's board said the poor conditions of accommodation facilities "if not addressed immediately, will place the long term sustainability of the Centre at significant risk".

The report read: "If action is not taken now to improve the fabric of the buildings and the associated utilities, there is the prospect of the accommodation being unfit for purpose in five to seven years' time which would in turn place the Iona Community's presence on Iona in serious jeopardy."

It continued: "Failure to carry out the urgent works required will undoubtedly place the Iona Community's presence on Iona in serious doubt.

"The impact of this on the island community of Iona would be catastrophic."

The leader of the Iona Community, Peter Macdonald, told Christian Today the aim of the report had not been to alarm people but be honest that something needed to be done. He said they hoped to raise about 1.5m from grant making bodies but needed another 1m in donations. He added: "I am very hopeful we can do this."

The renovation would mean the abbey's facilities would not need more work for another 25 years and would "improve guest experience," said Macdonald.

"As well as the general upgrade it is also about putting in lift access so for the first time people with disabilities are able to stay in the abbey," he told Christian Today.

The monastic community was first established in the depression of 1938 when a Presbyterian minister George MacLeod took unemployed labourers and trainee clergy to the island of Iona. Nearly 1,500 years ago the Irish monk Columba founded a monastic community on the island that went on to evangelise large parts of Scotland and become an important centre for Christianity in Europe.

MacLeod's community rebuilt the monastery and abbey and formed the Iona Community based around daily worship and prayer. The movement has now expanded and runs two centres on Iona and the nearby Isle of Mull.
Justin Welby and Vincent Nichols to co-host live Facebook chat

Archbishop Justin Welby will be joined with the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols for a live chat on Facebook.

The Archbishop of Westminster will join Justin Welby on Friday to discuss "prayer, unity and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ", according to the Facebook event.

The Church leaders have invited Facebook users to ask live questions on the video, which is set to air at 2.20pm.

Questions so far include "Will the church rejoin the Catholic communion?" and "What are churches doing to ensure that young people are properly discipled?".

Cardinal Nichols told the Tablet that the initiative "goes to demonstrate the level of our cooperation and partnership."

The ecumenical event shows "what it means to pray together as Anglicans and Catholics", a spokesperson from Lambeth Palace told the Tablet.

Welby hosted a live Bible study on his Facebook page last Thursday, which has been viewd more than 885,000 times.

Nichols and Welby have shared a platform before when they were interviewed by Nicky Gumbel at the HTB Leadership Conference.

Welby spoke of the "implicit trust" present in their friendship.

"It is not something that is heavy, that we work at because it's an uphill struggle, but it's much more like a breeze coming from behind us that catches our sails and helps us to go forward."

Nichols said that reconciliation was "not something we negotiate and construct, but something we receive in two places: on our knees and in the service of the poor."
Looted church icons returned to Cyprus

Cyprus officially received back the largest haul of looted church icons, frescoes and mosaics on Tuesday.

The Associated Press reports that the 173 items were stolen from Orthodox and Maronite Christian churches in the Turkish Cypriot northern part of Cyprus and have been returned after four decades.

Among the treasures are fragments of a 1,500-year-old mosaic depicting St Thomas and 1,100 year-old frescoes of unidentified saints.

The items were reportedly badly damaged when looters removed them and will undergo restoration at the Byzantine Museum in capital Nicosia, where they are being displayed.

Communications Minister Tasos Mitsopoulos said some items had been cut up by the looters to make them easier to transport.

They were discovered in 1997 by police during a raid on an apartment belonging to Turkish art dealer Aydin Dikmen in Munich, Germany, and are only now being returned to Cyprus after a long court battle to prove the Cyprus Church's ownership.

According to AP, the head of the island's Orthodox Christian Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, wants the icons to find permanent homes in places of worship in the north once a political solution has been found to the island's division.

"The Church of Cyprus is joyous that after 40 years, the largest number of stolen treasures is coming back home, to their homeland," said the Archbishop.
Nun dies after being shot in South Sudan

A Slovak nun and medical doctor has died from her injuries after being shot in Yei, South Sudan.

Sister Veronika Terezia Rackova, aged 58, was shot and wounded by three soldiers earlier this month. She died four days later on May 20, according Martin Kramara, spokesman of the Slovak Bishops' Conference, and Radio Vatican.

She was a much loved member of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, and was head of the Saint Bakhita Medical Centre in Yei.

Gunmen opened fire on her when she was driving a patient to hospital. She was shot in the stomach and pelvis, and was flown to Nairobi in Kenya for surgery.

Sister Veronika obtained her medical degree from Charles University in Prague and took her vows in the religious order in 1989. She worked all over the world including in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Ireland, England, Indonesia, Ghana and finally South Sudan.

"Precious indeed is the life given for mission," said a tribute on the order's Facebook page. "Thank you so much for all your precious prayers and support extended. Though we are in deep pain and sorrow for the death of Sister Veronika, we offer peace, healing and compassion to the people in South Sudan, for whom she gave her life, especially those who wounded her. May the love of the Triune God be sown in every heart."

Father Zachariah Angutuwa Sebit, vicar general of Yei, told a weeping congregation at a Mass in Sister Veronika's memory that she had known she was dying.

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting, which took place on the eve of celebrations marking 30 years of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

Sister Maria Jerly, the order's provincial superior, said the death was a tragedy. But she added: "It is our hope to continue to serve the needy people of this great nation of Africa, despite this unfortunate incident."
Prime Minister on collision course with experts over plans to fight extremism

David Cameron was on fighting form in the House of Commons last week. He was outlining to MPs the government's plans for the coming year, as summarised in the Queen's Speech. He was especially bullish and uncompromising when it came to the issue of tackling 'non-violent extremism'. Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, quoted the Prime Minister's own reviewer of terrorist legislation, David Anderson, who has warned that the government's plans risk "playing into the hands of those who, by peddling a grievance agenda, seek to drive people further towards extremism and terrorism"  a pretty serious accusation.

The Prime Minister's response was strongly worded: "our liberal values in this country"  freedom of speech, equality, democracy, etc  "are being stamped out all over by people saying, '[as a woman] you can't travel out of the city you live in', or, 'you can't mix Jews and Muslims'... we have got to stand up and fight for liberal values." And to those who say that it is dangerous for the government to move beyond criminalising violence hate speech, and start criminalising 'non-violent extremist' ideas, teaching and beliefs, he was equally firm: "It is no good saying, as the Liberal Democrats sometimes do, 'Let's just focus on the violent extremists; everyone else is just exercising their freedom of speech.' That is not good enough in a liberal democracy."

The problem facing David Cameron is that it is not just the Lib Dems who are saying this. Experts from across society are saying similar things.

Obviously, there is agreement that there are practices going on in the UK which are not violent but are extremist, which must be addressed. In his speech, Cameron mentioned "the so-called community leaders who say women cannot travel more than a few miles beyond the city in which they live; the activists who insist on segregation at political meetings; and the religious schools that teach children not to mix with those from different religions, and that sometimes teach that Jews are the enemy." Clearly, these are all troubling practices which repress people, and which will create wider social problems if allowed to go unchallenged.

The issue Cameron faces is not a lack of willingness to tackle these problems; it is the serious and often scathing criticism of his solutions from a wide range of experts  some of whom even say his plans will make the situation worse not better.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights, a senior committee within Parliament made up of senior MPs and peers, interviewed various experts earlier this month. Their findings would have made difficult viewing for the Prime Minister.

Karen McCartney, who helps implement the Government's current anti-extremism 'Prevent' strategy in schools, was asked how effective the government's plans to regulate out-of-school education settings for children (like Sunday schools and youth groups) would be. Her answer? They "will not prevent [extremist] things happening" and will "cause more harm than good".

When asked about the need for the new counter-extremism legislation proposed by the government, especially schools, McCartney said that in her extensive experience, "I have not come across a situation in which we have had to think of other options; the legislation that is available is more than adequate, as far as I am concerned." In other words: the current legislation works, and the government's attempts to add to it will create problems, not solve them.

Prof Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of Oxford University and a leading counter-terrorism academic, practically pleaded with the government to scrap its plans. "My best advice would be: do not legislate," she said. "Too often, counterterrorist legislation is cast in security terms, or sometimes military terms, and has unintended negative consequences."

The damage the government's plans would cause  especially because they would suppress free speech  quickly became something of a theme. Christine Abbott, from Birmingham City University, articulated at length the strategy's flaws: "The risk in all this is that we drive debate underground in one way or another, be that into quiet corners that are in no way regulated in the physical space or in the virtual space of social media... if we suppress open dialogue and debate in our institutions, the risk is that it will go elsewhere in ways that are out of sight, uncontrollable and potentially much more risky."

A particular issue arose around the government's definition of extremism. Violent extremism is relatively easy to identify  terrorism, attempts to join ISIS, and other ideologically motivated attacks. But the government is now attempting to define 'non-violent extremism', ever since David Cameron made the startling claim in May last year that "for too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone.''' (It's not really clear what he means by this, but it almost sounds like a criticism of the rule of law, which  ironically  would make Cameron an extremist, under the government's own definition.) And it is here that the government is getting itself tied in knots; it is attempting to bring in wide-ranging powers, based on a vague definition on 'non-violent extremism', rather than to make specific laws to target specific dangerous activity  surely the first rule of law-making.

Unsurprisingly, the experts are not impressed. Richardson criticised the government's current definitions of extremism (upon which the new proposals are based), calling them "deeply problematic." Strikingly, she went so far as to say that the government's definitions were so badly drafted that Oxford University didn't even try to enforce them, saying that if they did: "we would have to burn all our books by Plato and refer half our philosophy department." McCartney declared that she doubted "whether it is possible to define [extremism] clearly"  effectively damning the government's whole strategy.

So for all the Prime Minister's fighting talk last Wednesday, the government's plans seem to have tripped over the starting blocks. If the government is going to properly tackle extremism and terrorism in society, it will take more than strongly-worded speeches. It may even take a complete redrafting of their proposals.
Sudanese pastor may face death penalty after five month illegal detention

Fears were raised a Sudanese pastor could face the death penalty after the government reportedly planned to charge him with crimes against the state.

Pastor Taour was arrested on December 21 and has not been allowed to speak to his family or lawyers until this week. His attorney insisted there was no case against him but may face charges that carry the death penalty.

"We believe there is no case," Attorney Mohaned Mustafa told International Christian Concern (ICC). "I think the case will be sent to the court this month."

It was announced on May 10 that the Sudanese Attorney General would take over Taour's custody, a sign that he would soon be charged. Although Sudanese law dictates charges must be bought within 45 days of arrest, Taour had been held for more than five months before he was charged.

It is believed the pastor now suffers a stomach ulcer due to his treatment and was only recently allowed to see his family for the first time.

ICC's regional manager for Africa, Troy Augustine, said the Sudanese government's treatment of Taour followed an "unsurprising pattern that has continued for decades". He said the north African state had shown itself to be an "enemy of religious freedom and one of the prime persecutor's of the church in Africa".

Augustine said: "As Sudan continues to harass and unfairly detain church leaders, the state proves itselfto stand for human rights and religious freedom under the law, but hypocritical and contradictory in practice."

However Augustine said there was still hope for Taour as "Sudan often responds to international pressure.

"ICC calls on everyone concerned to voice your protest with the Sudanese Embassy."
Tallest cross in English-speaking world can go ahead after lawsuit is ended

Plans to build the tallest cross in the English-speaking world in Corpus Christi, Texas, can move on after lawsuits around its construction came to an end.

Pastor Rick Milby of the Abundant Life Fellowship Church plans to build the 210 by 90 foot cross on land owned by the church on a main highway, Interstate 37.

Patrick Greene, an atheist, sued the pastor along with the local mayor and two council members. He criticised the cross as "tacky as hell" and said its construction violated the Texas Constitution, which prohibits a person of authority from giving preference to any religion or worship method.

He has now agreed to dismiss the case in a settlement that describes his lawsuit as "baseless" and "without merit."

When he launched the action, lawyer Jeremy Dys of law firm First Liberty said: "It's shocking to me that we've gotten to a point in society where we have atheists suing pastors for crosses erected on church property."

Greene abandoned the suit because of his wife's health. First Liberty then counter-sued Greene, who represented himself over the phone in court this week.

As part of the settlement, he pledged not to file baseless lawsuits over the freedom of exercise of religion.

Dys said: "We hope that Mr. Greene along with atheists everywhere that seem to file baseless lawsuits will now think twice about doing such a thing."

Pastor Milby said: "I think people have kind of lost attention on the cross because of all the talk about this lawsuit itself, so I think this will get us back in the direction of building the cross again."

Construction has continued during the legal battles. The groundbreaking ceremony was in January.

Milby came up with the idea in 2013 when he traveled to Galveston in Texas and saw a massive white cross at Sagemount Church. "For the next several months God began speaking to my heart about erecting a mega cross in Corpus Christi," he said.

The largest cross in the world is in Madrid, Spain, at 495 feet tall.
Three Iranian Christians remain behind bars after 'excessive bail' set

Three imprisoned Christians in Iran are effectively being kept in jail as their bail is set unusually high, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Saheb Fadai and Mohammadreza Omidi (Youhan) were arrested on May 13 in Rasht, Iran as part of a series of raids targetting Christian homes. A Christian pastor and his wife were also arrested, but were released on the same day, according to CSW.

The three men from the Church of Iran are being held in prison pending payment of 100,000,000 Toman each (approximately US$33,000).

"Unfortunately the authorities appear to be resorting once again to a tried and tested policy of demanding excessive bail designed primarily to cripple members of the Christian community economically and to delay the release of detainees. By setting such exorbitant bail amounts without proffering substantiating charges the Iranian authorities merely seek to punish these men," said Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of CSW.

When the homes of Fadai and Omidi were raided their Bibles, computers and mobile phones were reportedly confiscated.

CSW say 10 Christian homes were raided on the same day.

Each of the men have been previously detained by Iranian authorities. Omidi was one of four Christians sentenced to 80 lashes in 2013 for drinking alcohol during a communion service and possessing a receiver and satellite antenna.

The three men are still in Lakan Prison near Rasht, pending payment of bail.

The reasons behind their arrest are yet unclear as charges have not been made.

"With Iran re-entering the international fold we were hoping for improvements in human rights situation, but it is now clear that no improvement has taken place," Firouz Khanjani, a member of the National Council fo the Church of Iran told CSW.

"CSW deplores the return of exorbitant bail demands for the temporary release of detainees who have committed no crime and urges the Iranian authorities to cease this practice. We also call for the immediate release of Mr Mossayebzadeh, Mr Fadaie and Mr Omidi, who continue to be held without charge, and for Iran to ensure that justice and equality before the law are guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of their religion or belief," said Thomas.
UMC LGBT row continues as thousands call on Church to allow same-sex marriages

Thousands of people have urged one of America's largest religious bodies to end all "legislative harm" against LGBTQ people.

More than 4,700 people have urged the United Methodist Church (UMC) to allow clergy to be actively LGBTQ, to permit same-sex marriages within UMC sanctuaries and to allow UMC clergy to officiate them.

The petition follows an announcement from the UMC's Council of Bishops on May 18 which said a special commission would be set up to examine and possibly revise the UMC's Book of Discipline regarding human sexuality.

The bishops also committed to exploring "options to help the church live in grace with one another  including ways to avoid further complaints, trials and harm while we uphold the Discipline."

"Punishment of LGBTQ persons and allies is at the heart of the growing divide in The United Methodist Church," the petition reads.

"Immediately stopping all such actions is the only way to ensure the work of the special commission has credibility and can work towards a solution or set of solutions that will finally mend The UMC."

The UMC currently does not allow "self-avowed practising" gay people to be ordained, or same-sex marriages, and activists sought to promote the advancement of LGBTQ rights at the Church's General Conference earlier this month.

They want what they consider "discriminatory language" in the Book of Discipline  the law and doctrine of the UMC  to be removed, for gay and lesbian ministers to be ordained, and for same-sex weddings to be performed in UMC churches.

A day before the conference began on May 10, more than 100 clergy came out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and inter-sex in an attempt to force light onto the issue.

The Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) then started the petition following the conference as it says concrete action needs to be taken.

"While the Council of Bishops has made significant strides by historically recommending a special commission to address all aspects of the Book of Discipline related to human sexuality, there are still immediate concerns we need to address," RMN said in a statement.

Executive director Matt Berryman perviously told Christian Today the UMC was "at a point of crisis" over the sexuality issue.

"The system is breaking down," he said. "The powers that be will need to come together to figure out a way to revise the present system to create new room for people to live and move and have their being in the Church."
Worried about your future? Here are three ways to fight those fears

The "unknown" is the root cause of many of our fears  from the small scares about the dark to the big ones about our future  they stem from an uncertainty of what's around the corner.

If we trust in God we should be confident about what lies ahead, knowing that more of His plan will be revealed to us. But simply being aware of this isn't always enough to stop us from being afraid, we need to believe it as well.

Even for Christians, who are told over a hundred times not to fear in the Bible, there's not always an immediate switch-off button for fear. It can take us years and many attempts to overcome fears in relation to what's in store for us.

If the thought of the future fills you with fear, these three steps can help you to fight it.

Actively trust in God

It's no good just saying that an unexpected event or revelation is God's will if internally you're drowning in fear. Real trust is about more than words, it requires actions on our part to validate it. God's already done more than enough which reveals Him as the one you should trust above all others, but do you?

Try going without something you currently view as a must-have for an extended period of time. Maybe it's answering your work emails in the company of your family which you usually do because you're afraid that if you don't respond immediately, then...well, you're not even sure what would happen but it can't be good, can it? Try letting go and letting God in. This isn't about testing God, it's about testing yourself, and exercising your trust in Him.

Work on discerning God's will for your life

The more certain you are that you're fulfilling your calling, the more fearless you'll tend to be about your future. When we're not on the right path, or if we don't think we are, doubts about what the future holds can creep in.

Spend some time discerning God's will for your life by:

Looking to see if your perceived calling has basis in Scripture. Does what you think God's asking you to do fit with his character?

Praying to God to make the right way clearer for you, or giving you peace about not knowing what's next. You can use a simple prayer of "Dear Lord, I'm grateful that you have a perfect plan for my life. Please give me the wisdom to do as you ask. If it's not time for me to know more right now, please comfort me as I wait," or say your own words.

Asking for the advice of other Christians you trust and respect. Even if you're convinced you're on the right path, do they agree?

Unfollow fear

Even if we have no previous experience of something going wrong in a particular context, we can still follow the path to fear. For example, there may have been occasions when you were out of work for brief periods but were always financially stable, yet the prospect of it happening again seems scary when you consider how you'll survive.

Instead of documenting the "what ifs", let the past wonders that God has shown you dominate your thoughts. If you do this you'll probably soon remember times when you didn't quite know what God wanted from you every step of the way, or what He had planned and things turned out better than you could have expected. Noting how He's blessed you in the past will motivate you to truly put your trust in Him again and turn away from fears.
We are proud and excited to be celebrating 250 years of auctioneering at Christies. To mark this momentous occasion, we are offering our unparalleled platform to launch this ambitious Direct from Great Estates Auction.



Finest & Rarest Wines from a select group of 84 of the worlds greatest and most prestigious producers -directly from their own reserve cellars - are being offered to clients in Asia and beyond to raise money for the French Red Cross. Several Estates have also opened their doors including opportunities for successful bidders to make a personal visit to the winery.



We hope you find the selection compelling and look forward to welcoming you personally to our sales room.



For more special features, videos and information on the sales, visit christies.com/asia30
AUSTIN  Despite initial misgivings and outright opposition, two legislative committees studying a new statewide policy on police body cameras were told Tuesday that officers are warming to the technology because it can protect them in disputed arrest episodes.

At a meeting of two House committees responsible for government transparency and emerging technology, officials from the Harris County Sheriff's Department and the Fort Worth Police Department said their agencies are finding the devices helpful despite initial misgivings.

When the new law was approved last year by the Legislature , several police organizations opposed Senate Bill 158 amid fears that it would impose multi-million-dollar costs on local agencies to purchase and cameras and store the video  and because it might violate the privacy rights of both officers and those arrested.

State Rep. Allen Fletcher, a Cypress Republican and former police officer who chairs the House Committee on Emerging Issues in Law Enforcement, said many of the concerns raised have been successfully addressed.

"I've heard all kinds of rumors around the state about implementation . . . and I hear people say it is a work in progress," said Fletcher.

Fletcher was a House sponsor of the bill that was authored in the Senate by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. They argued at the time that body cameras could protect officers from false allegations.

The law that imposed the first statewide policy on police body cameras was also opposed by a number of local law enforcement agencies that insisted that they should be allowed to develop their own policies that would better reflect local standards.

In addition to the body cameras  a technology that Texas police agencies began to adopt quickly after riots in Ferguson, Mo., and other cities that called officers' arrests into question  Fletcher's committee and the House Government Transparency and Operation Committee are also studying other devices such as license plate readers and stingrays, a device that tracks the location of a cell phone.

Critics of those devices contend police can use them to violate the privacy of Texans who are not suspected of crimes, an assertion that police officials deny.

Skylor Hearn, assistant director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said his agency is studying the purchase of body cameras for state troopers and should have a decision within a month. The purchase of license plate readers is also being considered, as a way to catch car thieves and locate missing seniors and children through the Amber Alert system.

Questioned about the cost of the cameras by state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, Hearn said the agency expects to spend between $500 and $1,500 per unit.

Walle said while he supports equipping officers with 21st century technology, he opposes using the cameras if their costs outweigh hiring more officers.

"The cameras, I don't think they are the silver bullet," he said.

Fort Worth Police officers Dean Gilliam and David Cook said about 575 of the city's 1,650 officers are wearing the cameras.

"There was a lot of hesitation in the beginning because they felt the city would use it as a 'gotcha cam' but that has not been the case," said Gilliam, who appeared at the hearing also representing the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, a large police trade group.

"More and more are using them because they are finding out that the charges are being unfounded."

Gilliam said the camera kits cost $1,200 each and there is an additional cost $1,200 each year to store the footage on the Cloud.

Barbara Armstrong, a deputy managing attorney for the Harris County Sheriff's office, said her agency just completed its procurement process to determine what should be used and how they should be used.

Harris County decided that body cams would automatically activated when an officer's emergency-light bar is turned on, Armstrong said. She also said the department plans to keep its body-cam video on a county server, rather than putting it on the Cloud.

"If you have an eight hour shift, it takes about two hours to download the video" from a work shift, she said. "That means you take the officer off at six hours. or you pay overtime."

Harris County is trying to work around the overtime costs by using its own WiFi system that allows a faster download time, she said, but other agencies across the state may not have that option available.

When Harris County receives open-records requests, Armstrong said it could take up to seven hours to edit 20 minutes of video footage, just to make sure anything that could be considered private is redacted.

Fletcher said that may be a cost that is unavoidable.

"It's going to cost money," said Fletcher. "It's an emerging issue in Texas law enforcement [and] one we have to address because the people of the state required if of us."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Disney cruise ships will start sailing a new route from Galveston in fall 2017, the company announced.

The Galveston route will take travelers on seven-night trips to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Trips will be available to book on Thursday.

The Port of Galveston also has cruises the Bahamas and the Caribbean through Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean.

Disney is also launching new cruises leaving from New York and San Diego. The cruises join their existing lines based in Port Canaveral and Miami, Fla.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Flying J Travel Plaza, the chain of combination fuel station-restaurant-truck stops locations, has opened a new Pasadena travel center.

The new center, 1305 E. Pasadena Freeway, Texas 225 near Scarborough Lane, is the company's 66th travel center in Texas. It will feature an Arby's, Cinnabon and the fast-casual restaurant, PJ Fresh.

Pilot Flying J, the company that owns the travel centers, reports the Pasadena store will contribute $2.8 million in state and local tax revenue.

Company and local officials hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning.

Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Flying J operates 650 retail locations nationally, with 70,000 parking spaces for trucks, 4,900 showers for truckers, according to company information.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

As if you didn't already have tons to do this Memorial Day weekend, there is also Space City Comic Con at NRG Center kicking off Friday afternoon.

The convention's big draw this year, besides aisles and aisles of vendors, cosplay and gaming events is a partial reunion of the cast of the hit FX drama "Sons of Anarchy" and appearances by key people from the world of "Star Trek" and "Doctor Who."

If you have ever wanted to shake hands with William Shatner, this weekend is your chance. The legendary actor will be on hand signing autographs and meeting fans.

RELATED: Judge refuses to stop Space City Comic Con

Shatner will be joined by fellow "Trek" alums Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn and Rene Auberjonois.

Or maybe actor Danny Trejo of "Machete" fame is more your speed....

Most of the key actors from "SOA" will be there, including Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman and fan favorite Ryan "Opie" Hurst.

Hunnam will be signing autographs all three days at the convention.

Even though the show ended in December 2014, it remains extremely popular with fans.

RELATED: 'Sons of Anarchy' cast reunion coming to Houston's Space City Con in May

The only ones that seem to be missing are Katey Sagal and show creator Kurt Sutter. Rumor has it that the husband-and-wife duo could be last-minute adds to the bill.

We still need her to sign our "Futurama" DVD box set.

From the "Doctor Who" world, expect Colin Baker, Alex Kingston and Billie Piper. Whovians are a hearty bunch so expect long lines to meet those three.

A complete list of celebs appearing at Space City Comic Con is on the event's official page. Prices for autographs range from $20 to $80 depending on the star. Not all guests will be available all three days of the convention, so check site listings.
When One Park Place opened downtown in spring 2009, the Finger Companies had always planned to have a restaurant concept on the La Branch side of the building facing Discovery Green. But for years developer Marvy Finger resisted offers for the space that passersby would never know existed.

Now he's found a tenant he admires and a grand new restaurant, set to open this fall, will be constructed in a two-level space. Chef Philippe Verpiand and his wife Monica, owners of Etoile Cuisine et Bar in the Galleria area, have signed a deal with Finger to open Brasserie du Parc, a French restaurant with about 5,500 square feet of space within what is perhaps downtown's toniest residential address.

The restaurant will be situated at La Branch and Lamar streets with giant folding glass doors overlooking Discovery Green. The space features about 3,000 square feet on the main level with a 1,000-square-foot mezzanine and an additional 1,500 square feet of terrace space fronting the building. It will be designed to look like an authentic French brasserie with plenty of brass, antique mirrors and tile floors.

Brasserie du Parc could open around the time the Verpiands will mark the fourth anniversary of Etoile in October. They plan to divide their time between the two restaurants, and will hire a chef de cuisine for the new restaurant soon.

Chef Verpiand describes the brasserie as a more casual version of Etoile, 1101 Uptown Park. He said the menu will feature classic French dishes such as duck confit, steak frites, mussels, charcuterie, coq au vin, blanquette de veau, choucroute garnie and crepes. Speaking of crepes, the restaurant also will have a concept within a concept: Creperie du Parc, a walk-up window where guests can order take-away crepes.

Verpiand said he and his wife/business partner had been considering opening a second restaurant, but had not initially considered going downtown. But when they toured the space they immediately saw the potential of a grand brasserie concept. "The location overlooking the part is great. It's green, it's active; there's a lot of energy there," he said. "The location felt right."

Finger, a fan of Etoile, called the Verpiands dedicated restaurateurs who serve "exquisite food."

"I'm excited about it as the developer of One Park Place which has been so successful," Finger said of his new restaurant tenants. "I've waited six years to make a lease. I've had a hundred different groups that have wanted to lease."

One Park Place, whose official address is 1400 McKinney, already is home to Phoenicia Specialty Foods and MKT Bar on the Austin side of the building. Now residents there will have another amenity: room service from the brasserie.

The Finger Companies will now have two downtown buildings with highly anticipated restaurants. Finger's 500 Crawford, a luxury apartment building facing Texas bounded by Crawford and La Branch, will be home to two restaurants  the high-end Italian steakhouse and seafood restaurant Panchina, and the more casual, breakfast/lunch/dinner restaurant, Brocca, that will segue into a wine bar at night. Finger said, however, he is not specifically designing residential projects with restaurants going forward.

The Verpiands moved from San Diego to Houston in 2012. In California they owned two restaurants including Cavaillon in La Jolla. Philippe Verpiand, who hails from the Vaucluse region of France, worked at several Michelin-star restaurants in France before moving to the United States. In 2015 he was named Master Chef of France, one of only three chefs in Texas to receive the honor.
A man was wounded in a shooting Tuesday night during an argument outside a home in northwest Houston.

The shooting happened about 9 p.m in the 2400 block of West Little York near Carver, said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department.
A Houston hamburger legend called it quits this month. The original Christians Tailgate shut down Tuesday (franchises sold off by the owner still exist; just the Washington location is no more).

Still, as old burger joints die, new ways to get beef in the Bayou City must arrive. On Memorial Day, two beef patty purveyors will open their doors to customers.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Toddlers are able to two-step to their hearts' desires in a miniature version of New Braunfels' Gruene Hall, recreated to include its historic aspects and, although tiny, is fit for fun.

A family from Bellville, near Houston, contracted Lilliput Play Homes to build a kiddie replica of the hall for their daughter, the Pennsylvania company told mySA.com.

Stephen Chernicky, owner of the play house business, said he worked with the Quinn family throughout a four-to-five month planning process to draw up "Grace Hall" to ensure the likeness between the 140-square-foot version and the original.

RELATED: Disabled Texas boy's Make-A-Wish ask for wheelchair-accessible tree house granted

Grace Hall was completed in 2015 and Chernicky said out of the hundreds of unique and elaborate playhouses he has built to date, the Bellville product is one of his favorites.

Walking away from that playhouse, I thought it was one of the cutest weve done, he said.

Chernicky explained that Lilliput Play Homes are caricatures.

We take the most interesting features and incorporate them into playhouses, he said.

Creating the replica version involved including rustic elements of the historical site, which has not changed physically since its establishment in 1878, according to GrueneHall.com.

RELATED: Take a look inside this tiny home built for San Antonio Spurs' Matt Bonner

The facade of Grace Hall includes a replica sign and elongated, rectangular windows for tot-eye views. The country scene is pulled together with a water tower, emblazoned with the name Grace."

The interior features furniture built from weathered, reclaimed wood, faux plank walls, a Texas flag on the ceiling, imitation hardwood floors and a stage with a mural backdrop for the Quinns to boot scoot and boogie.

Lilliput Play Homes operates out of McMurray, Pa. but is able to ship worldwide and the Lone Star State is a popular spot for business. The starting rate for these kinds of homes is $4,000 and up, Chernicky said.

RELATED: The tiny 'Tot Rod' trend is putting kids in miniature slammed, classic cars

LilliputPlayHomes.com offers a variety of pre-designed homes, which are packaged with instructions for assembly by the customers as well as custom builds like Grace Hall.

The owner said his company can build whatever customers dream of, click through the gallery above to see a portion of Lilliputs wide array of jaw-dropping play homes.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye








This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A 51-year-old Sharpstown High School math tutor is facing felony charges because a 17-year-old student texted him topless photos, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspect, Aldo Leiva, appeared Wednesday in court, where a Harris County judge signed a no-contact order prohibiting the man from contacting the teenage girl.

Court records indicate that the two had a consensual sexual relationship and that the girl was 17, the legal age of consent, when they began dating last summer. Still, different laws that govern explicit photographs mean Leiva is facing up to 20 years in prison for lewd photos that the two exchanged with their smartphones.

READ MORE: Sharpstown tutor charged with inappropriate relationship with student

Prosecutors said the case is important because it indicates a violation of trust in the relationship between educators and students.

"We entrust our educators with the care of all children, and that includes 17-year-olds," said Assistant District Attorney Patrick Stayton. "It's someone who was placed in a position to do a job and that job did not include developing inappropriate relationships with students that were in his care."

State District Judge Brad Hart signed the no-contact order Tuesday, but Leiva's attorney said he would try to get the restriction lifted because the two want to continue their relationship.

"She's indicated to me that she wants to continue to have contact with him," said Gary Tabakman. "I would say that the aspects of this case are consensual, across the board."

READ MORE: Sharpstown HS tutor wanted for improper relationship with student

The teenage girl, who declined to speak to reporters after the brief hearing, appeared to confer with the lawyer before leaving the courthouse.

Leiva was not a teacher at the west Houston high school but participated in a tutoring fellowship program where he met the young woman.

As their relationship progressed, according to court records, the two exchanged lewd photographs and text messages.

When the teen's mother learned of the messages, she notified school personnel and the messages were investigated by the Houston Independent School District Police Department.

The student identified Levia as her math tutor and said they were dating. She said they held hands, kissed and went on dates, according to court records.

"The student seemed protective of (Leiva) and attempted to minimize their relationship, however she did admit to sending and receiving nude photos through an app on their phones," said the arrest affidavit.

Levia provided his cell phone for a search by law enforcement, and messages with references to sexual encounters were found, including some that implied the student and tutor would meet to have sexual relations as soon as school let out.

In one exchange, she told him she was taking a bath and he asked for photos. She sent several, including at least two that showed her topless.



Because he allegedly "induced" her to send the photos, Levia is charged with sexual performance by child. Because the photos were on his phone, he was charged with possession of child pornography.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and would have to register as a sex offender for life.

brian.rogers@chron.com

twitter.com/brianjrogers
Houston Baptist University is the latest private school to declare it will remain gun-free, despite a state law allowing concealed license holders to carry guns on college campuses.

The state law, known as campus carry, allows private schools like Houston Baptist to "opt out" and ban guns from their campuses.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

What do you get when you add Jefferson Davis' grandnephew, an uneducated farm hand, an orphan and a Princeton graduate?

The answer is the Humble Oil & Refining Company - the Texas precursor to the ExxonMobil of today.

The roots of Humble Oil stem back to the 1901 Spindletop gusher that kicked off the Texas oil rush. By the 1940s, it became the largest domestic oil producer, a spot it held through the 1960s. The Humble name wasn't extinguished until the launch of the Exxon brand in 1972.

"It's a story of really able and driven people finding this region as a way to play out their ambitions," said Joe Pratt, an oil historian and professor at the University of Houston. "I don't think you can exaggerate how important Humble was throughout 50 years of the global oil industry."

More Information Early Humble Oil & Refining Company timeline: 1901 Spindletop oil gusher launches the Texas oil rush. 1902 William Stamps Farish and Robert Lee Blaffer meet in Beaumont. They form the Blaffer & Farish partnership in 1904. 1903 Ross Sterling opens a feed store near the Sour Lake oil field. 1904 First wells are completed at the Humble oil field. 1905 Walter Fondren, Blaffer, Farish and others turn their attentions from Beaumont to Humble. 1909 Sterling invests in his first two Humble wells. 1911 Sterling and others form the Humble Oil Company. Sterling and Harry's interests form the Ardmore Oil Company in Oklahoma. Also, federal courts break up Standard Oil, leaving the resulting Standard Oil Company of New Jersey with much less crude production. 1912 - Humble Oil establishes a Houston headquarters. 1915 - Blaffer and Farish co-found the Schulz Oil Company in East Texas in Wichita County. 1916 - Farish, Sterling, Wiess and others start the Gulf Coast Oil Producers Association of independent producers to find better deals to see their oil and to push back against Texas Company-backed legislation to let oil companies become integrated in the state. Blaffer, Farish and Wiess also start the Globe Refining Company in Humble. 1917 - The Sterling siblings, Blaffer, Farish, Wiess and other consolidate their interests to form the new Humble Oil & Refining Company after legislation is passed to allow more integration. 1921 - Humble's massive Baytown refinery formally opens after costing $10 million to build. Source: Exxon Mobil Corp, "History of Humble Oil & Refining Company" by Henrietta Larson and Kenneth Wiggins Porter See More Collapse

The Spindletop discovery attracted most of Humble's original nine founders and board members to the Houston area - many weren't from Texas - and several of them found their way to the newly discovered Humble oil field just northeast of the city beginning in 1905.

But Ross S. Sterling didn't invest in Texas oil wells until 1909 in Humble. He was busy opening a series of small feed stores and banks in oil towns, according to the 1959 "History of Humble Oil & Refining Company" by Henrietta Larson and Kenneth Wiggins Porter.

Sterling, a largely uneducated farm hand from Anahuac, founded the first Humble Oil Company in 1911, although the Humble Oil & Refining Co. that came to dominate US production wasn't chartered until six years later on June 21, 1917. The brash Sterling, who became president of the company, would be elected Texas governor in 1930.

Some of Sterling's early Humble partners included his brother, Frank, Ohio driller Charles Goddard and Tennessee orphan Walter Fondren, who came to be known as the best Gulf Coast driller after moving to Texas at age 17 "with nothing but a pair of overalls and 30 cents." The other founding Humble team was the famed Blaffer & Farish partnership of William Stamps Farish and Robert Lee Blaffer, a New Orleans railroad worker first sent to Spindletop by his employer.

Farish came from Mississippi with a law school education and the pedigree of being the grandnephew of the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Farish would go on to serve as president of Humble, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, another predecessor to Exxon Mobil, and the American Petroleum Institute.

Blaffer and Farish first met in 1902 near Beaumont and created their formal partnership in 1904. They moved to Houston a year later to focus on the burgeoning Humble oil field.

The bridge between the Sterling group and Blaffer & Farish was Harry C. Wiess, the youngest of the founders. A Beaumont native and one of the first second-generation oilmen in Texas, the Princeton-educated Wiess took over his father's interests in the Paraffine Oil Company, which merged into Humble in 1917. Wiess teamed with Sterling to explore Oklahoma, partnering with Blaffer & Farish in the Goose Creek oil field, now part of Baytown.

The other two original Humble directors - Lobel Carlton and Jesse H. Jones, a wealthy lumberman, developer and banker - were much less involved. Carlton was a lawyer for several of the founders, while Jones was brought in to help with financing. Jones, who sold his Humble interests in 1918, would become the owner and publisher of the Houston Chronicle.

Most of the Humble founders proved successful in the oil fields, but they were at first dwarfed by the biggest oil companies in the state like the Texas Company (Texaco), Sun Oil (Sunoco) and Gulf Oil.

Starting in 1915, the Texas Company pushed legislation to let oil companies become integrated so one corporation could produce, transport and refine the oil into fuel. Independent producers like Farish, Sterling and Wiess formed the Gulf Coast Oil Producers Association to fight the legislation and to find better deals to sell their oil.

They subsequently formed or bought separate refining and pipeline companies. Farish led the push for them to pool all of their resources into one company that could feed the nation's rapidly growing oil and gasoline demand.

Once a compromise version of the Texas Company's bill became law in 1917, the consolidated Humble Oil & Refining Company was created.

Humble then built the Baytown refinery - the expanded version of which is the nation's second-largest refinery today.

Despite early successes, Humble's growth was still restricted by a need for more capital to finance exploration.

John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil never made a major dent in Texas early on because of the state's strict antitrust laws - not to mention Standard was considered a monopolistic Yankee empire. But courts in 1911 broke Standard into several parts. The Standard name remained strongest within the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, or Jersey Standard.

Farish became friendly with the Standard CEO Walter Teagle while serving on the Petroleum Committee of the Council of National Defense during World War I. Over lunch one day, Farish and Teagle talked about a partnership, an idea Farish reluctantly broached to Sterling. "I don't give a continental damn if you get it from the czar of Russia or the emperor of Germany, just so we have the money," Sterling replied, according to the Humble Oil history book.

In 1919, they agreed to sell 50 percent of Humble to Standard for $17 million in a deal that left Humble leadership with a remarkable level of independence for decades to come. When challenged with the notion that Standard was taking Humble over, Sterling responded, "Take us over, hell! We're going to take over the Standard."

Humble opened its downtown Houston headquarters in 1921. Six years later, it discovered the Sugarland oil field, the first major U.S. find using seismography. The big Friendswood oil field discovery came in 1937.

The Humble brand became ubiquitous in Texas and much of the country, although Standard pushed its Esso or Enco brands in some regions. As Jersey Standard grew globally the company merged all of its U.S. operations into Humble in 1959.

For years, though, the company struggled with which of its brand names to use, deciding to create a single U.S. brand, Exxon, in 1972. The oil giant maintained its headquarters in New York until 1989, when Exxon moved to Irving to save money. Exxon merged with Mobil in 1999. The Humble brand was long gone by then.

"It's a company that became truly global," Pratt said, "and they needed a global name."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Walmart contributed $10,000 to the San Jacinto College Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success and $10,000 to Lee College's veteran student programs. The donations are part of Walmart's Veterans Welcome Home Commitment program.

District 128 Texas Rep. Wayne Smith, a U.S. Army veteran, coordinated the two donations. He said San Jacinto College has dedicated veteran centers that provide many resources for military veterans. The centers help veterans apply for financial aid and can help veterans obtain education and training.

"I am proud that this local Walmart is reaching out and partnering with San Jacinto College in this worthy effort," Smith said during a May 9 check presentation at the Walmart Supercenter, 9025 Spencer Highway. "It is a step in the right direction because it can help military veterans find successful careers after they have given so much back."

In a news release, San Jacinto College South Campus veteran success coordinator Eugene Bernard said the donation will help meet some of the resource needs of the college system's veteran centers and may help fulfill scholarships for its student veterans.

Bernard said the college hopes to use the funds to purchase 3-in-1 printers for each campus veteran center. "The centers provide complimentary printing to veteran students for printing required materials for their classes, as well as faxing and copying documents for the Department of Veteran Affairs, so industrial-size printers are ideal."

The college will use any remaining funds for veteran student scholarships to help cover tuition and fees, and the cost of books and supplies of veterans who may not qualify for federal or state benefits aside from Veterans Affairs education benefits.

According to the college, 1,106 veteran students and their dependents used veteran education benefits to enroll for the past fall semester at San Jacinto College.

Walmart's $10,000 donation to Lee College's Veterans Center provided "a welcome boost," according to a May 11 statement posted to the college's Facebook page. Located in Baytown, the college's veterans center supports area veterans seeking to further their education by awarding scholarships, providing access to peer tutoring, assisting with financial aid applications as well as linking veterans to social and career networks.

"The center currently serves about 400 student-veterans and their dependents. The center will use the $10,000 grant donation from Walmart to support its ongoing work to provide military veterans with the resources and assistance to be successful in their college careers and transition into the civilian workforce," said Marti Covington, a college spokesperson, in an email.

BBB honors pet food store with top award

Pet health food store Natural Pawz was recognized May 11 with the 2016 Pinnacle Award in the pet services category at the Houston Better Business Bureau's 24th Awards for Excellence Luncheon.

The Houston BBB supports and recognizes businesses and nonprofits in greater Houston that meet specified, high standards of excellence and quality in the workplace. Natural Pawz started in the Houston area in 2005 and operates 16 locations in greater Houston, including a store at 2803 Business Center Drive, Suite 129, in Pearland. The company operates three other locations in Central Texas.

The recognition is an honor, said Biff Picone, co-owner of Natural Pawz.

"Like the BBB, Natural Pawz has strict standards for ethical behavior, quality service and community involvement," he said. "We are thrilled to be honored with the Pinnacle Award."

The Pinnacle Award is the top recognition given by the Houston BBB each year, according to a news release. Natural Pawz joined the BBB in 2013 and received the Winner of Distinction Award in 2015. The pet food and supplies retailer maintains an A& rating with the BBB.

For more information about the company, visit www.naturalpawz.com.

Retailer debuts brand for full-figured women

JC Penney recently launched its first fashion brand designed for plus-size women.

The brand, Boutique& was created for shoppers looking for contemporary fashions, according to a company news release. Boutique& is available in 500 stores nationwide, including stores at Baybrook Mall in Friendswood, Victory Lakes Town Center in League City, Fairmont Center in Pasadena, and The Crossing at 288 in Pearland.

JC Penney also partnered with "Project Runway" season 14 winner Ashley Nell Tipton who will serve as brand ambassador and design two capsule collections called "Ashley Nell Tipton for Boutique&" later this year.
A group of Heights parents are petitioning the Houston Independent School District to gain magnet status for Love Elementary School. They say the school, a small campus of less than 500 pupils located near 13th Street and Shepherd, is caught in a rut, encouraging the flight of talented pupils and financial resources, disenfranchising pupils zoned to the school and widening a socioeconomic gap between the lower and higher income residents of the Heights.

"Love Elementary is lacking socioeconomic diversity, neighborhood support and necessary funding," said parent Ebru Erdini. "Magnet status will give a chance for this school to attract more students from the neighborhood."

Erdini, a parent of a Love elementary pupil, started the petition with her neighbor Barbara Carroll.

Carroll does not have children in the school, but is a concerned neighborhood resident.

The women said they have seen a widening gap between Love pupils and those attending neighboring schools like Harvard Elementary, a magnet school located five miles away.

Erdini points to a recent fundraiser at both schools as evidence of the socioeconomic disparage between the two schools.

According to the petition, Harvard, located five miles from Love, is comprised of 41 percent Hispanic pupils and 45 percent white pupils. Of those, 21 percent are considered economically disadvantaged. The Harvard PTA was able to raise $100,000 for school improvement projects.

Love, with 89 percent of the pupils considered economically disadvantaged, and 88 percent Hispanic pupils and seven percent white, was only able to raise $5,000.

Erdini said that the demographics of Love do not reflect the surrounding zoned homes, evidence that magnet programs at schools like Harvard are drawing away pupils and funds.

"Magnet status will give a chance for this school to attract more students from the neighborhood," Erdini said.

"Currently zoned neighborhood houses have developed way above city average and many upper mid-income families with small children moved in.

"These parents are currently either competing for other magnet schools which are in the close vicinity or paying for private schools because Love Elementary cannot offer neither magnet nor private school opportunities.

"I believe magnet status will answer an ever increasing demand of magnet schools and pull more students into HISD from private schools."

With three school-aged children herself, Erdini said she knows parents in the Heights overlook Love because it lacks magnet status.

She did with her oldest child, whom she sent to Harvard. When her youngest child with special needs was enrolled in Love's Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills program this year, her perception shifted.

She said he was like a different child in just two weeks, and now Erdini is considering sending her middle child to Love next year because of the positive experience.

"I believe this school needs the support of HISD and of course from the neighborhood," Erdini said.

The concept of magnet schools began in the 1960s as a way to encourage desegregation and improvement in educational opportunities in the public education arena, according to Magnet Schools of America.

The idea was that if extra resources were put toward targeted programs, such as an emphasis on arts, or an emphasis on science and technology, students and parents could then "choose" their school.

"If we take advantage of a student's interest and aptitude, that student will do better in subjects unrelated to his/her reasons for choosing the school. That choice itself will result in improved satisfaction that translates into better achievement," said MSA founder Donald Waldrip on magnet.edu.

The MSA holds that these hopes of Waldrip were spot on, and educators and parents seem to agree.

Christina Boardman, the PTO president at Love, said magnet schools draw in great students and opportunities to their campuses.

But since Love is in such close proximity to other magnet schools, the draw to schools like Harvard detract significantly from Love. Boardman said that Love's state testing scores are significantly lower than the surrounding schools. She said with such a large population of students coming from homes where English isn't their first language, and without the same access to computers, books and after school programs as those attending neighboring magnet schools it is no wonder they are falling behind.

"It's because of budget," she said. "We don't have the funding, and we need the opportunity."

The petition organizers are seeking 500 signatures which they plan to present to HISD board members before the 2017 school year begins.

HISD was unable to provide any financial insight regarding how much additional funding magnet status might bring to a school like Love by press time, but district spokesperson Ashley Anthony released this statement:

"New magnet programs require approval from the HISD Board of Education. Community input is an important component of this process established by the board.

"Any school that submits an application for magnet program consideration will be reviewed thoroughly and receive all due consideration."

For more information on the petition, visit www.change.org/p/houston-independent-school-distict-magnet-for-love-elementary
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A longtime Katy ISD board member conceded defeat Tuesday to a district critic in a closely watched race after a recount did not show him erasing a narrow victory margin.

Trustee Joe Adams' concession means that conservative blogger George Scott will be joining the board of the fast-growing suburban district west of Houston.

Adams has served on the board for 27 years.

Two four-member counting committees began recounting votes at 9 a.m. Tuesday. After mail-in ballots were recounted and votes did not swing Adams' way, the incumbent conceded the race, not waiting for electronic votes to be recounted.

Before the recount, the district said unofficial results showed Scott had defeated Adams by three votes out of nearly 3,000 votes cast. The recount showed Scott received 1479 votes to Adams' 1473.

Scott, who previously was a Katy Times publisher and senior researcher and president for a nonprofit public policy firm, has for years criticized the board's transparency, fiscal decisions and deference to Superintendent Alton Frailey, who is retiring.

Scott blamed Adams for a lack of leadership on the board, though he softened his tone on Tuesday.

"Joe conducted himself with class and dignity in every way he interacted with me. He had a right to a recount," Scott said Tuesday. "Obviously, I'm very excited. The issues that I campaigned on have not changed ... but today is not about the issues. Today is about this incredible process."

Last year, Scott attempted to form a "shadow board" to critique and analyze the Katy ISD board, but it never got off the ground due to a lack of funding.

During the campaign, Adams, a business owner in Katy, dismissed Scott as an inexperienced candidate who did not understand how a school board operates.

"It's just a 'that's the way it is,'" Adams said Tuesday. "I'm happy with the things I've done and the leadership I've provided. I think the board and the school district will continue to perform at a high level, and I will continue to be involved in the school district one way or another."

With the loss, Adams will have to give up his chairmanship of the board of directors for the Texas Association of School Boards.

The outspoken Scott will be joining a school board that is known for careful deliberation and that questions from the media and public through board president Charles Griffin or the district's communications team.

"There's a burden on me to also prove that I can work constructively with the board," Scott said. "That's my goal. When you're a critic and have been a critic for a long time and now have been given an opportunity to have some actual input, then I feel a burden very strongly to work with others without compromising my views."

It is unknown when Scott will be sworn into his position.
Witnesses said he was driving 95 mph in a school zone. He said he was going 115.

Michael Lecompte, of New Caney, was arrested May 18 after he led police on a short pursuit near the 22300 block of Grace Lane. According to the Montgomery County Constable's office, the 40-year-old man stopped his car, got out and began walking toward deputies holding a large e-cigarette, or "vape."
A University of Houston-Victoria professor and five co-defendants will remain in federal custody following a federal indictment in Houston last month on allegations they aided in one of the largest known operations manufacturing and distributing the plant products commonly called kush or synthetic marijuana.

After a packed seven-hour detention hearing with two rows of standing spectators and a dozen more waiting outside in the hallway, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy rejected bond for Omar Maher Alnasser, a well-liked finance professor at the Sugar Land campus, on the grounds that he posed a flight risk. Dozens in the crowd had come to support the professor.
If you have been missing the sight of fireflies on warm early evenings, Central Texas might be the place where you need to be this year.

Some of you likely know them as lightning bugs, moon bugs or glow flies. The flashes of glowing light from their abdomens have the ability to wow onlookers young and old. They are the only type of insect that can imitate light in such a way, and sadly their numbers are dwindling across the United States.
San Antonio megachurch pastor John Hagee plans to vote for presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump  but didn't explicitly name the real estate mogul when announcing his plans.

The Cornerstone Church pastor strongly implied that he would vote for Trump on the May 17 episode of his show "Hagee Hotline," telling his followers that "to see evil and not call it evil is evil" and they "have a responsibility to go vote."

"If you can read a newspaper, you know who I'm talking about," Hagee said.

RELATED: John Hagee: Ebola is God's punishment for Obama 'dividing Jerusalem'

"I'm going to vote for the candidate that's going to make the U.S. military great again because the party in power has reduced us to a World War II level where the Japanese attacked us for the very reason we felt we were too weak to defend ourselves," Hagee said.

The pastor continued, "I'm going to vote for the party that's going to solve the immigration problem, not the one that has created the immigration problem. I'm going to support the party that brings jobs back from China, not, through international trade agreements, send millions of jobs to foreign countries because it's cheaper labor and putting millions of Americans out of work."

"I'm not going to vote for the party that has betrayed Israel for the past seven years," Hagee said.

He concluded, "No candidate is perfect but I want you to go vote and may God give us a leader who has the courage to put America first and stand up for 'we the people.'"

RELATED: John Hagee: I meant to call Obama 'anti-Israel,' not 'anti-Semitic'

This isn't the first time Hagee's waded into presidential politics: in 2008, the pastor threw his weight behind Arizona Sen. John McCain, who rejected his endorsement after a sermon in which Hagee says Adolf Hitler had been working in accordance with God's will during the Holocaust to help Jews return to Israel surfaced.

"God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers...Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters...Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter," Hagee said in the sermon.

At the time, McCain told CNN, "Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Rev. Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well."

RELATED: San Antonio megachurch pastor John Hagee condemns Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling

Hagee, who argued that he based his sermon on teachings of Jewish theologian Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, later retracted his endorsement of McCain and apologized in a letter to the Anti-Defamation League regarding "any pain" he caused to the Jewish community regarding the sermon.

The organization accepted his apology in a letter the same day.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
An American gun company's take on the classic M1911 pistol might be one of the most original recreations in memory.

Cabot Guns, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of custom handguns and knives, has taken the wraps off its latest project: A pair of M1911 pistols hewn from a chunk of Gibeon meteorite. The set, appropriately titled "The Big Bang Pistol," is priced at $4.5 million.

The Gibeon meteorite collided with our planet some 4.5 billion years ago in what is now the country of Namibia. The ancient peoples who had occupied that southeastern portion of Africa used the ore from that meteorite to fashion weapons and tools. The Western world wouldn't learn about it until the 1800s.

RELATED: A photo history of the service pistols used by the U.S. military

The ore itself, at least the material used by Cabot Guns, is 85 percent iron with trace quantities of nickel, cobalt and other metals. Gibeon ore is prized by jewelers for its crystalline qualities, particularly its Widmanstatten pattern. In the pictures above, you can see the intersecting etches of that pattern on the pistol.

Of course, the aesthetic beauties of the ore did not offset the technical challenges of constructing the pistols. Cabot Guns founder and president Robert Bianchin said his team conceived the idea of a "meteor pistol" sometime in 2015 and approached it very much like a problem in need of a solution.

"It's not the ideal material to create a fully functional pistol," Bianchin said. "But our objective was to make a gun that worked. A lot of structural issues had to be overcome."

RELATED: Readers submit their ideas for an official state firearm

He didn't go into specifics, but he said the design and manufacturing processes that went into the Big Bang Set could likely comprise a book. Cutting the meteorite was an 11-hour process, and the team had to use some incredible technology to get everything in order, including embedding metals into parts of the receiver in order to make sure it could hold up when firing.

Even more harrowing, the team had only one shot with the meteor ore.

"The resources we put into the gun were far larger than we could imagine," he said. "We're a small producer, and it was an enormous amount of time. We could have failed. It could have split in two."

RELATED: The Army didn't want the Beretta M9A3, but you can

In the photos above, you should be able to make out that almost every part of the pistol has been constructed from that ore, save from the barrel, springs and grip screws. Each component included the exterior of the meteorite, and the team made sure to cut all of them in such a way that exhibited the unique patterns natural to the rock.

"There's something magical," Bianchi said about holding the metal. "The transference of the voyage, its history, what it's seen  it's an emotional experience. I just remember holding it. It was the coolest thing I've ever held."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Embattled state Rep. Ron Reynolds fended off his remaining Democratic primary challenger in Tuesday's runoff election, which increasingly focused on a string of legal woes that have engulfed the lawmaker.

Reynolds was opposed by Angelique Bartholomew, who said 27th House District constituents deserved a candidate who could pay full attention to their concerns.

Complete but unofficial results showed voters still wanted Reynolds as their incumbent representative, though final tallies indicated he won by a smaller margin than he had anticipated.

An attorney, Reynolds, the first African American since Reconstruction to represent Fort Bend County, is appealing a November conviction from a Montgomery County jury on five counts of misdemeanor barratry. He represented himself at trial and has described the charges as racially motivated.

Before the results were final Reynolds, 42, said that his constituents trusted him in spite of negative TV sound bites and mailers in what he called his opponent's "dirty campaign." He added that many of his constituents, whom he described as middle class and educated, found the allegations against him "preposterous."

"They know me," Reynolds said. "When people believe in you, when people know your work ethic, when people know your character, they give you the benefit of the doubt."

Heading into the race, Reynolds attracted support from an array of elected officials including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green and the Democratic party chair of Fort Bend. Reynolds noted that none of his legislative peers were calling for his resignation.

Bartholomew's campaign sought to capitalize on the criminal allegations involving Reynolds, as did Annie's List, a statewide group supporting progressive and pro-choice women that endorsed Bartholomew. "The pattern of wrongdoing is stunning!" one news release from Annie's List stated.

In a press release, Reynolds described that characterization of him as "negative smears."

Other events that trailed Reynolds included a ruling from a Harris County judge in April that ordered the representative to pay $504,000 in damages for failing to give a mother her share of a settlement in lawsuit related to her daughter's death in a car crash.

That same day, in Austin, the State Board of Disciplinary Appeals held a hearing to consider whether Reynolds could continue to practice law in Texas. According to an order subsequently filed, Reynolds was suspended pending the outcome of his criminal conviction.

Bartholomew expressed pride in her campaign volunteers, whom she said pushed hard to meet community members. Moving forward, Bartholomew said she believes more people will be paying heightened attention to Reynolds and the issues surrounding him.

"Things will never be the same in Fort Bend County or House District 27," she said. "People are far more alert and aware."

Reynolds first won the seat in 2010 to represent the district, which covers the eastern portion of Fort Bend County, including most of Missouri City and parts of Houston and Sugar Land. He hadn't faced a primary contender since he was first elected.

Three Democratic candidates ran against Reynolds in the March 1 Democratic primary. While Reynolds earned the most support, he fell about 250 votes short of the number needed to avoid a runoff.

Unofficial results Tuesday indicated a significantly smaller turnout and much smaller margin.

Reynolds, who handily defeated previous Republican contenders, will face Republican Ken Bryant, a criminal defense lawyer and former Fort Bend ISD trustee, in the Nov. 8 general election. Bryant won the GOP primary.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Lawyer Briscoe Cain defeated Republican state Rep. Wayne Smith by a razor-thin margin in Baytown's District 128 on Tuesday, according to complete but unofficial runoff results, having leveraged an anti-establishment mood to oust the 14-year incumbent.

Former City Councilman Ed Gonzalez eclipsed Constable Lt. Jerome Moore in the Democratic runoff for Harris County sheriff, while Harris County Republican Party Chair Paul Simpson fended off challenger Rick Ramos after finishing second in Super Tuesday's GOP primary.

Smith, a lieutenant of House Speaker Joe Straus first elected in 2002, was one of several Republican incumbents challenged from the right this year.

His battle with Cain turned increasingly ugly and personal following the March primary, when Cain earned 48 percent of the vote to Smith's 43 percent, surprising some political observers who saw Smith's seat as relatively safe.

Cain campaigned on boosting border security, improving the economy and focusing on faith and family issues, including a pro-life agenda.

"I don't think the reality of it has settled in yet," Cain said from his watch party at Waller County Line BBQ. "I was blessed by the outpouring of support and the courage of voters in our district, the ones who looked past the onslaught of negative attacks."

Cain spent $137,000 on the race from January through mid-May, compared with Smith's $789,000 outlay.

Smith, in conceding, thanked voters for the opportunity to serve.

"It has been my distinct honor and high privilege to have served the hard-working men and women of District 128. Mr. Cain will now enjoy that same honor," he said in a statement. "For the past 14 years, I have worked on the issues that really impact the voters most. I have no regrets."

Cain is set to face Libertarian Ken Lowder in the general.

In the sheriff's race, Gonzalez's victory set the stage for a potential replay of 2008, when former Sheriff Adrian Garcia, a mentor to Gonzalez, unseated longtime Republican Sheriff Tommy Thomas amid a Democratic resurgence led by Barack Obama.

Garcia resigned last May to run for Houston mayor, prompting members of the county's Commissioners Court to tap Ron Hickman as his replacement.

Gonzalez, who has called on the sheriff's office to help reduce recidivism through correctional education, boost transparency and increase jail inspections, distanced his leadership style from Hickman's.

"I think we can do much better," Gonzalez said. "He's had about a year to kind of make his mark on the agency, and I think there's been some questionable decisions that have been made, so I'm looking forward to a very contested general election battle."

Hickman, who sailed through the March 1 GOP primary, has touted improvements to agency morale and cost-savings initiatives. However, he has come under fire in recent months for understaffing and overcrowding at the jail, as well as the death of four inmates who were assaulted or suffered head trauma while incarcerated.

Gonzalez, for his part, is likely to face renewed scrutiny for taking home six homicide case files when he left the Houston Police Department in 2009. Police charged a suspect in one of those murder cases within two weeks of receiving the file years later.

Hickman starts with a sizable financial advantage over Gonzalez, with $227,000 in the bank in February, compared to Gonzalez's $43,000 as of mid-May.

Yet Rice University political scientist Bob Stein said an anticipated increase in split-ticket voting in November - when a voter backs candidates from different political parties for various offices - could hurt the incumbent.

"There are people who simply can't vote for (Republican presidential candidate Donald) Trump," Stein said.

Spending differences

In another contest, Harris County Republican Party Chair Simpson defeated political newcomer Ramos by a wide margin in early results, having spent roughly $364,000 to Ramos' $73,000.

"This is a victory of the conservative grass roots over the old, corrupt establishment trying to reassert control over the party, embodied in the pay-for-play slates," said Simpson, who was first elected in 2014.

Ramos, a family lawyer who had not played an active role in the county party, was backed by three socially conservative GOP kingmakers who produce widely distributed endorsement mailers.

Fight for Turner's seat

Meanwhile, former Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson bested former legislative aide Kimberly Willis in the Democratic runoff for Mayor Sylvester Turner's District 139 state House seat. Johnson will be unopposed in November.

Incumbent Democratic Constable Chris Diaz trounced former Galveston sheriff's deputy George Goffney Jr. in Precinct 2, which covers portions of southeast Harris County. He faces Republican Daniel Vela in the general election.

Constable's Sgt. Sherman Eagleton beat former Houston police officer Michel Pappillion in the Democratic primary for constable in neighboring Precinct 3, which runs from Baytown to Kingwood.

Eagleton is up against Republican retired Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Dan Webb in November.

Republican Lori Bartley defeated Reggie Gonzales in Houston's 18th Congressional District, to ultimately square off against Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in November.
AUSTIN -- Texas' former comptroller Susan Combs used money from her political war chest to build a tool parents and policy makers can use to compare schools.

The Texas Smart Schools initiative uses a five-star scale to judge schools and districts based on academic progress and spending levels. The calculator guards against sporadic changes at a school by employing a three-year average to stabilize the results.

"Public education is one of the largest items in the state budget, so Texans need to know where their dollars are getting the highest return in terms of student performance," said Combs, a self-styled transparency advocate.

The website builds on a past initiative known as "FAST Tracker," developed by Combs' office while she served state comptroller. The original tool sought to identify the state's most efficient schools and districts while the new project includes more nuanced measures of academic progress that focus on student growth rather than raw performance

Texas Smart Schools is administered at Texas A&M University and offers educators a window into the schools of their top performing peers and details of best practices teachers can use in their own schools, officials with the project say.

"TXSmartSchools.org uses recognized statistical methods to create better, more apples-to-apples, comparison measures for spending and academic growth. We see this an essential tool for educators who are seeking to learn from the best practices of similarly situated schools," said Lori Taylor, director of the university's Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy.

The rankings take into account student demographics, including schools and districts with high numbers of students who take more resources to teach, such as English language learners, students who are poor, move often or have special needs. The tool allows users to compare peer schools grouped by these measures along with overall student enrollment and funding.

"It's important if you're a parent and you're trying to bring about change to be able to say, 'No, actually it could be better. See over here, they are able to accomplish more than we are. We want to be more like them,'" Taylor said.

Combs, who founded Texans for Positive Economic Policy to support the program, spent $190,000 out of her leftover campaign funds to finance the project so far, she said. The balance in her Friends of Susan Coombs campaign account hovers around $4.5 million.

Despite the hefty stockpile of funds, Combs said she is not interested in laying the foundation for another bid for office.

"Been there, done it. Did what I wanted to do and now I am free to roam about and speak my mind unabashedly," she said.

The project is one of several the former comptroller has taken up since leaving state government in early 2015. She also is in the midst of creating a social network called Herdacity that seeks to create a community of women from 20 to 80 to explore and share experiences about their careers, motherhood and experiences. That venture, which she also is financing through her campaign account, will cost around $600,000, she said.

"I think it's going to be pretty doggone neat and I'm funding that puppy," she said.
-- PAXTON ANNOUNCEMENT, per WFAAs Jobin Panicker: Sources tell News 8 the state Attorney General Ken Paxton will file a legal challenge on Wednesday. It would ensure that Texas schools won't have to follow President Barack Obama's directive. Sources tell News 8 the attorney general will make that announcement in the afternoon in Austin. The directive involves a federal directive regarding bathroom access policies at schools for transgender students.

-- The winner of a Texas education board runoff says he thinks Republican voters in March simply weren't paying attention when they nearly nominated a retired schoolteacher who once claimed President Barack Obama was a gay prostitute, per the AP.

Keven Ellis said after his victory over Mary Lou Bruner on Tuesday night that primary voters likely tuned out their race partly because of the attention surrounding the presidential election. But Ellis, a local school board president, wouldn't criticize Bruner and instead thanked her for her career as a schoolteacher.

-- Two committee chairmen from the Texas House lost their seats in Tuesday's Republican primary runoffs, dealing a small victory to anti-establishment conservatives frustrated with the leadership of the lower chamber. State Rep. Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, chairman of the House Special Purpose Districts Committee, lost to Fredericksburg hardware store owner Kyle Biedermann 55 percent to 45 percent. Meanwhile, Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown, was defeated by Deer Park attorney Briscoe Cain by less than half a percentage point  23 votes. A recount is possible in that race, although Smith has conceded defeat, per The Texas Tribunes Matthew Watkins.

-- Judges seek way to protect Texas minorities under ID law, by WashPosts Robert Barnes. Among the 15 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit who heard oral arguments, there did not seem to be much support for striking down the law or blocking its use in November's elections.

But several questioned why Texas did not have more fallback provisions - as other states do - for voters who lack the kinds of identification that the state requires. Three other courts have said the Texas law discriminates against African-American, Hispanic and poor voters, who are less likely to have the specified ID documents.

-- From the Chrons Andrea Zelinski: The Turkish government is reaching into Texas to level complaints against a charter school network it says is funneling money to a group plotting to overthrow its government .

 A group hired by the Republic of Turkey to probe operations of Texas' largest charter school network filed a complaint Tuesday with the Texas Education Agency, asking it to investigate a series of allegations against Houston-based Harmony Public Schools. Among accusations against the 30,000-student school system in the 38-page complaint are claims the charter network employs an illegal visa scheme to place unqualified Turkish teachers into key school positions and that officials strike deals with preferred vendors instead of using competitive bidding. The actions of the charter system ultimately support an exiled Muslim cleric, the complaint alleges.

>> ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ( AP )  In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, protesters in New Mexico opposing Donald Trump's candidacy threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades. Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

-- From CPPP today: Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Kent Scribner, Mayor Betsy Price and others will join the Center for Public Policy Priorities this morning in Fort Worth to release the State of Fort Worth Children report. View the report here:http://forabettertexas.org/images/2016_KC_FortWorth.pdf 

SPEED READ

Texas Take: Do you like me? Check yes or no, Houston Chronicle

Post-Uber Austin has a chance to redo ride-hail, BuzzFeed

Ramsey: A lousy turnout for a lackluster Texas runoff, Texas Tribune

Christian defeats Gates in Railroad Commissions GOP runoff, Texas Tribune

Travis County moves to sell proposed courthouse site, find new options, Austin American-Statesman

Four months after fundraiser, Trump says he gave $1M to veterans group, The Washington Post

Trump-RNC partnership includes Dallas bundler Ray Washburne, The Dallas Morning News ($)

Gonzalez headed for November showdown with Sheriff Hickman, Houston Chronicle

Tomlinson: Congress diverting TSA money, causing long lines, Houston Chronicle

Ken Starr, who tried to bury Bill Clinton, now only praises him, The New York Times

Trump says hes holding fundraisers only because the GOP asked, Associated Press

CAPITOL DAYBOOK

HOUSE

9 a.m. Transportation (E2.012)

10 a.m. Government Transparency & Operation (E1.030)

Homeland Security and Public Safety (E1.030)

1 p.m. Government Transparency & Operation (E2.010)

Homeland Security & Public Safety (E2.014)

Transportation  s/c on long-term infrastructure planning ( E2.012)

NO SENATE MEETINGS

RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

-- Hillarys summer of scandal, by Politicos Josh Gerstein. A flurry of events set to unfold in the coming days and months could push back into the headlines the controversy over Hillary Clintons use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state, providing plenty of fodder for Donald Trump and his Crooked Hillary attack line. Republicans are hoping for  and in some cases plotting  a summer of scandal for Clinton that helps tarnish and distract her presidential campaign as she tries to build momentum for a fall showdown with the Manhattan billionaire.

-- Party like its 1999, by CNNs Stephen Collinson. The presumptive Republican nominee is reintroducing Americans to a panoply of dormant scandals, personal transgressions and partisan controversies that rocked Bill Clinton's White House and first lady Hillary Clinton in two turbulent presidential terms leading up to the end of the 20th Century.

The goal is to link them with a flurry of more recent dramas such as those over Clinton's private email server and Benghazi, to depict her potential presidency as a return to unsavory days of rumor, innuendo and alleged malfeasance that would exhaust and disgust voters -- in effect, making the 2016 election a referendum on the Clintons, and the baggage that has always haunted their successful and resilient political careers.

-- Trump campaign rift gets personal, by Politicos Ken Vogel. The battle, which was already toxic even by the standards of notoriously vicious internecine presidential campaign spats, escalated last week, even as Trump moved to clarify the official hierarchy atop his campaign by creating a new position  campaign chairman and chief strategist  for Manafort.
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.
Warriors end season with win over Rebels SIOUX RAPIDS - The Alta-Aurelia football team traveled to face Sioux Central for their final game of the season and...

Cherokee takes down Generals to finish season CHEROKEE - The Cherokee football team hosted Sibley-Ocheyedan on Friday and won 35-28 to finish out their season. The...

Warriors suffer heartbreaking end to season ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia volleyball team hosted Lawton-Bronson last Wednesday and suffered a nail-biting 3-2 loss to end their season....

Unity ends Cherokee volleyball season ORANGE CITY - Out of sync early, Cherokee's volleyball squad fell hard in the first set 25-8 to ranked Unity...
Municipal-level census estimates released last week show that Chicago, alone among the nations 20 largest cities, is losing population. The news provoked another round of local handwringingand denial. Pessimists point to the exodus of residents, rampant crime, and the citys disastrous finances; optimists cite a massive boom in population, jobs, and construction in Chicagos central business area. Both are correctbut in ways very different from superficially similar divides in coastal cities. Chicago is in some ways the duck-billed platypus of American citiesa wild amalgam of unique traits that make it impossible to categorize.

When it comes to population estimates, municipal-level data is largely irrelevant, especially when comparing cities with one another. That Houston may soon outpace Chicago in municipal population doesnt mean that muchthe city of Houston includes vast tracts of suburbia, making for an apples-to-oranges comparison. Chicagos metro area is much larger than Houstons and will remain the third-largest in the country for years to come. Similarly, while Chicago has the most murders in America, its murder rate is lower than other major cities like St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit. Comparisons with Detroit, with its hollowed-out economy, particularly infuriate Chicagoans, who reside in what remains a major economic center. And Detroits population loss far exceeds Chicagos.

But just because Chicago shouldnt be compared to Detroit doesnt mean that it should be compared with San Francisco. Simply put, Chicago is unique, in ways both good and bad. Outside New York, the Windy City has the only truly large-scale, transit-oriented, central business district in the country. It boasts the only globally important financial exchange (the CME Group) and the only complete slate of globally renowned cultural institutions. A small but telling example of Chicagos stature among major American cities: the Windy City will soon get its own resident production of Hamilton: An American Musical. Other citiesincluding San Francisco and Bostonwill only get limited runs of a touring production.

Chicago has unique negatives, too. The citys financial problems are in a league of their own. Like many Midwestern cities, Chicago is suffering from a severe post-industrial hangover. The citys economy might be robust, but its oriented mainly around average-value industries and serves mainly domestic and regional markets.

Most important, as an interior city, Chicago has a heartland state of mind. It draws even its upscale population base heavily from other Midwestern cities and towns. For the most part, Chicagoans hold degrees from Big Ten schools, not the Ivy League, and the citys civic mindset reflects that. Its culture is more conservative than that of the coastal cities, and less cosmopolitan and ambitious. Chicago follows more than it leads. Indignant Chicagoans will no doubt reject that characterization, pointing to all the world-class work done in the city. True enough, but ambitious people can be found everywhere. Since Chicago is a huge city, it has a lot of them. But they arent the norm. Chicagos social mindset is Midwestern at heart.

Thats not all bad. Television producer Dick Wolf (Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Chicago Justice) chose the city specifically for its Midwestern character. Chicago embodies unapologetic, old-fashioned values of right and wrong and how you should act, he has said. Chicago is also unapologetically rough-edged and masculine, a city that runs on testosterone, as one local lawyer told me. Its a city where current mayor Rahm Emanuels loss of half his middle finger practically rendered him mute, in the words of then-Senator Barack Obama. This gives Chicago a distinctive cultural feel.

How can Chicago make this tough-town image work for it instead of against it? The city ultimately must figure out how to build on its unique assets, its central location, and its cultural identity to overcome huge financial and public-safety challenges. Success will require acknowledging Chicagos structural and cultural limitations. So far, city leaders have preferred instead to see Chicago as a competitor to Americas coastal cities. Until they start taking honest stock of both where Chicago is stronger and weaker than those citiesand look to its unique civic positioningthe citys underlying problems will go unresolved.

Photo by YinYang/iStock
Conservatives have long decried the dependency that safety-net programs can encouragebut reform requires knowledge of how such programs work, and few conservatives have shown interest in the details. Housing policy is one of the leading exhibits of this non-benign neglect. Though the federal government now spends far more on public housingincluding vouchersthan it does on cash welfare, it has done little either to encourage the upward mobility of public-housing tenants or improve the physical condition of aging developments. Reform proposals have stalled for lack of high-profile sponsors.

This might be changing, however. As part of House speaker Paul Ryans conservative anti-poverty agenda, Republican House majority leader Kevin McCarthy of California is pushing legislation that could transform the culture of public housing. The Moving to Work Reform and Expansion Act takes its name from one of Bill Clintons unsung successes, whose lessons Democrats have overlooked. Moving to Work is a long-term federal pilot program permitting 34 of the nations more than 3,000 public-housing authorities to experiment with what amounts to local regulatory control. The program gives housing authorities broad discretion to use federal aid; for instance, if they save money on administration, they can use it to fund repairs. By providing federal assistance as a block grant, Moving to Work allows local authorities to avoid setting up separate bureaucracies for public housing and housing vouchers, both of which they must oversee.

Moving to Work lets local authorities mandate work requirements and time limits for new tenants (or those who agree to them as part of self-sufficiency programs). The program also permits changes to rent rules so that tenants can keep more of what they earn as they prepare for post-project life. Currently, public-housing voucher recipients and tenants must pay 30 percent of their income in renta requirement that operates like a punishingly high marginal-tax rate. A higher income translates into a higher rent, discouraging tenants from working and saving. In McCarthys home district of Tulare County, California, a fixed-rent program led to a 67 percent increase in incomes among those tenants participating.

Work requirements for public housing have yielded similarly positive results. In Atlanta, where virtually all public-housing buildings have been demolished and replaced by voucher support, the adoption of a work requirement sent the labor-force participation rate among public-housing residents skyrocketing, from less than 20 percent to more than 60 percent. (Tenants who dont have jobs must still participate in education or training programs.) In San Bernardino, California, another Moving to Work experimenttenant time limitsled residents incomes to rise by an average of 12 percent and employment among residents to jump 17 percent.

Expanding Moving to Work, as the House Republican leadership wants to do, should lead more local housing authorities to adopt such policies. Long waiting lists for public housing underscore the need for new approaches. In most places, once you get into a subsidized unit, its yours for lifeno matter how much your income goes up, how many empty bedrooms you have, or how many needy people are on the waiting list. As Moving to Work expands, it promises to change the culture of housing assistance and encourage the kinds of life choices that increase income, savings, and upward mobility.

Make no mistake: housing assistance is closely correlated with long-term dependency. Only 4 percent of public-housing households are two-parent families with children. The median tenure for residents of both public-housing developments and voucher units is more than nine years; in New York City, the nations largest public-housing system, its 17 years.

McCarthys bill doesnt mandate any particular reform; local housing authorities would have discretion. McCarthys bill also doesnt limit housing authorities to one reform approach (as was the case with Decembers omnibus spending bill, which expanded a diluted version of Moving to Work to 100 local housing authorities). If it becomes law, the new bill would expand the number of eligible housing authorities each year by as many as 25, at least ten of which would be located in small towns and rural areas. Decentralization and local control could be most useful in big-city housing authorities such as New Yorks, which faces a multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog. Allowing the New York City Housing Authority to divert funds from administration to repairs would be a modest but important step. NYCHA could reduce its legendary waiting list (via time limits for new tenants) and make sure the elevators work again. Such reforms are long overdue. That the Paul Ryan-led Congress is actually trying to undertake them provides reassurance that serious reform conservatismthough endangeredremains alive.

Photo by Andrew Dawson/iStock
Once upon a time, liberals pushed free speech at every opportunity. They lauded Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis for protecting unpopular views via the First Amendment early in the last century, for instance. During the 1960s, Berkeleys Free Speech Movement demanded the right to demonstrate politically on campusand liberals championed the cause. Similar progressive cheers rang out when the Supreme Court extended the First Amendment to protect inarticulate expression, like nude dancing and flag burning.

But now liberals want to empower the government to put people behind bars for advancing political ideas, come election time. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has declared one litmus test for a Supreme Court justice: a commitment to overrule Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, the 2010 Supreme Court opinion upholding Americans First Amendment right to use a corporate form to criticize or praise politicians running for office. (The politician criticized in that case was none other than Hillary Clinton.) Worse still, Democratic senators have introduced a constitutional amendment that goes beyond reversing Citizens United and gives Congress substantial discretion to regulate how electoral debates are conducted.

This dramatic shift suggests that liberals have lost faith in their argumentsabove all, at the ballot box. If you hold sway over the media and the academy and yet still fail to convince a majority of voters with your views, suppressing speech that counters those views can start to seem like a constitutional imperative.

And make no mistake: beyond the rough-and-tumble of political campaigns, left-liberals continue to dominate the institutions that set the nations political agenda. As incontrovertible and well-known data show, academics and journalists have, on average, quite liberal opinions; lawyers, too, lean left. The left-wing professors articulate the long-term intellectual goals, which are generally premised on the need for expansive government programs to achieve them. As John Maynard Keynes famously observed, politicians distill their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. Newspapers and television news broadcasters then shape the shorter-term political and policy agenda, andFox News, the Wall Street Journal, and a few other major outlets exceptedthey follow the academics lead. Liberal attorneys litigate on behalf of their favorite public causes, also helping to tilt policy to the left. Such agenda control, needless to say, is enormously valuable politically. Most citizens arent sufficiently interested or coordinated to get items onto the agenda themselves.

Elections, though, can disrupt this control, providing opportunities and motivation for citizens who arent academics, media representatives, or legal advocates to speak about public mattersand get others, perhaps, to listen. Among the citizens who tend to enter the fray at election time are those with the financial means to send out messages. These wealthy people dont all lean rightthe Koch brothers on the conservative side are countered by George Soros and Tom Steyer on the left, for examplebut as a group, theyre far more ideologically balanced than journalists, academics, and lawyers, and they often have opinions that arent well represented in those elite precincts. Is it a coincidence that campaign-finance restrictions fall most heavily on these individuals?

Curbing citizens opportunities to press their political ideas doesnt just skew politics to the left ideologically; it also makes politics more insular. Incumbent politicians and Americas two major parties already have powerful brands. Insurgents thus need to spend lots of money to get an opposing message out, particularly when incumbents have a common interest that may not coincide with the public interest. Restrictions on self-financing candidates would have prevented a political neophyte like Ross Perot, running for president as an independent in 1992, from making the issue of a balanced federal budget central to the electiona goal that would be realized during the administration of the winner of that race, Bill Clinton, but that politicians long resisted, since it constrained their ability to spend money on pet projects. More recently, Governor Bruce Rauner has challenged Illinois ingrained habit of borrowing to pay off public-sector unions, a practice sustained by Democrats and Republicans alike in that state. He could do so only because he could spend heavily to get elected as a businessman-outsider on a platform that bucked the Chicago way.

While some cite the candidacy of Donald Trump as evidence of the malignant influence of money in politics, his rise is better understood as a demonstration of the power of celebrity. Trump has spent little compared with other major candidates. Instead, he has exploited his commercial brand, built up from a career outside politics. Restricting money in political campaigns will make such celebrity more, rather than less, powerful.

Fortunately, even as liberals have abandoned their traditional support for free political speech, its protection has become central to Supreme Court jurisprudence under Chief Justice John Roberts. At almost every turn, the Roberts Court has made sure that campaign regulation is subject to ordinary First Amendment principles and doesnt become, as liberals desire, a law unto itself, justifying restrictions that would be quickly ruled unconstitutional when other forms of expression are involved.

The Roberts Courts key insight in the campaign-finance debate is that any laws restricting electoral speech must obey neutral principles. Neutral principles are a vital concept in modern constitutional law because it is the Courts neutralityits impartialitythat ultimately justifies judicial review of the decisions of the more partisan political branches. A Court decision should be generalizable beyond whatever dispute is at stake and whatever the characteristics of the parties involved.

Citizens United has paved the way for people to join forces and enjoy the same expressive rights as the media.

Consider how the Roberts Court has treated the mantra beloved of reformers who want paid political communications curbed at election time: Money is not speech. Outside campaign regulation, the Supreme Courts First Amendment jurisprudence has banned any restrictions of expenditures that pay for expression. A government-imposed limit, say, on the amount of money a newspaper could spend for investigative reporters would be obviously unconstitutional, as would regulation restricting how much a publishing house could pay for a manuscript. Why, if neutral principles are adhered to, should money spent on political campaigns be any different? As Jud Campbell notes in a forthcoming issue of Stanford Law Review, when the government regulates by reference to particular expressive activity (political ads, for instance), it is restricting speech that it doesnt likeand targeting certain kinds of speech for special regulatory burdens is what the First Amendment was intended to prevent.

In 2008s Davis v. FEC, the Roberts Court extended this neutrality reasoning to strike down a law that would have relaxed the campaign-contribution limits for any candidate running against a self-financing rival who was spending substantial sums on his campaign. Congress, the Court held, was unconstitutionally skewing the campaign-finance law to disadvantage a candidate because of spending related to a clear expressive activity: campaigning. The analysis would be no different outside the campaign context: the government could not change its usual tax or employment laws to disadvantage a newspaper because of its First Amendment activity.

Or take a central issue in Citizens United of whether the right to express views about candidates in a political campaign extends to corporations; the Court found, embracing neutrality once more, that it did. Here again, the Courts reasoning relies on earlier First Amendment cases, in which landmark decisions have upheld the rights of corporations to talk about politics. In New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), the Court ruled in favor of the Times (a corporation), strengthening First Amendment protections against libel suits by public officialsquite the irony, given that newspapers incessant complaints about Citizens United.

The First Amendments text, in fact, supports corporate speech: Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech. As set down by the Framers, the right isnt limited to particular kinds of speakers but bans the government regulation of speech, period. And if the First Amendment protects an individuals right to speak, why shouldnt a group of individuals, banded together in a partnership or other association, also enjoy that right? And if an association has that right, why would it lose it when it takes corporate form?

Citizens United has also paved the way for people to join forces and enjoy the same expressive rights as the media through so-called Super PACs. These independent political committees can indirectly back candidatesthat is, they cant give direct money contributions to candidates but can run, say, a supportive ad, and do so with unrestricted money. Super PACs can distribute the twenty-first-century equivalent of the partisan pamphlets of the early republic. Targeting their expression while leaving media expression alone would betray the principle of neutrality.

In a more recent campaign-finance case, McCutcheon v. FEC (2014), the Court ruled unconstitutional a congressionally imposed limit on the amount of money that any individual could contribute to federal candidates during an election cycle. The government had justified the restriction in part as a prophylactic measure to preserve limitations on contributions to individual candidates. Without a ceiling on total campaign contributions, the government argued, a crafty donor could skirt individual limits by giving to many different candidates or political committees, with the expectation that the money would then get passed on by the initial recipients to his preferred candidate. The Roberts Court found that the government could have protected the integrity of individual contribution limits without restricting political speech in such a broad, non-neutral fashion. For instance, Congress could have simply limited the transfer of campaign funds among candidates or political committees, which would prevent circumvention of individual contribution limits without interfering with a donors ability to express support for multiple candidates.

The McCutcheon decision also reflects neutral principles because it imposes the same kind of test used in other areas: it requires legislators to burden speech no more than necessary to meet objectives. Without this kind of constraint, Congress could meddle with speech far more expansively, under the guise of pursuing the public interest.

If the Roberts Court majority has been relentless in trying to make campaign-finance jurisprudence consistent with general First Amendment principles, the dissenters in these casesJustices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayorhave been no less persistent in trying to carve out exceptions to permit the comprehensive regulation of political campaigns.

Breyer, writing for all four dissenters in McCutcheon, argued that the Court should not apply the scrutiny typical of First Amendment cases but instead rely on legislators judgment about what best serves the public. His premise is that members of Congress are uniquely knowledgeable about how to design the rules for their campaigns. But he ignores the substantial interest that politicians have in protecting their incumbency.

Breyer is even willing to rethink the meaning of the First Amendment, arguing that its best understood as in part a collective right, with a goal of connecting the nations legislators to the true sentiments of the people. In this revised understanding, the First Amendments purposes are advanced when the government cracks down on speech (such as political donations from the wealthy) that may mislead lawmakers about where popular opinion stands on a given issue. Breyers argument actually turns the First Amendment on its head. The First Amendment wasnt designed to empower the majority, acting through the federal government, but, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, to limit the majoritys federal power. Through the long-settled doctrine of incorporation under the Fourteenth Amendment, moreover, this limitation on government power has been extended to state governments.

Yet Breyer has found ample support in the legal academy for a First Amendment that allows the subordination of the individual voice to the collective will. Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School, to take one prominent example, has devoted the last half-decade to the reform of political campaign regulationsespecially the rules on election spending, which he wants to tighten dramatically. According to the Framers, government should be dependent on the people alone, Lessig argues, so Congress must prevent the political distortion that occurs when legislators become overly dependent on the wealthy. Strong limits on campaign expenditures and contributions can thus be constitutionally justified. By its logic, though, Lessigs argument would permit Congress to regulate the press, too. Its power to distort opinion is surely as great as, or greater than, that of the wealthy. An editorial endorsement from an important newspaper like the New York Times can have a significant influence on how people vote. Needless to say, a congressional muzzle placed on journalists would be metrightlywith howls of indignation from Lessig and other progressives.

Beyond its startling implications, Lessigs theory fundamentally misapprehends the way the Framers viewed republican government. For the Constitutions architects, representatives dependence on the people comes not from being perfectly in sync with their constituents views on every issue at every moment but on getting enough votes in periodic elections. The Constitution, its worth noting in this context, includes no mechanism of direct democracy, like a referendum, to connect policy more closely to citizens opinions on particular issues. The Framers recognized that people often take positions on one issue that are in tension with, if not outright contradiction to, their positions on others and that their thinking might be subject to momentary passions that they would later regret. The Constitution empowers legislators to sift public opinions for help in determining the right course of action but doesnt tie them indissolubly to those opinions, or require that they be treated equally.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom, not equality. Rights are exercised to radically unequal degrees, and the right to speech is no exception. A few people are articulate, but most arent. Some people are wealthy and can push their views with their money. Others own or work for the media or academia and can advance their opinions disproportionately in those settings. Still others command extra attention through celebrity. Most citizens have none of these advantages, but sometimes they join together to amplify their influence. Further, the interest in getting ones speech heard varies tremendously. Some citizens are intensely focused on specific policies or particular political ideals. But many, if not most, people remain relatively uninterested in the projects of government.

Protecting citizens freedom to use their unequal endowments to pursue their disparate interests required the Framers to keep government out of the job of actively shaping public discourse. And in a free society, what law could succeed in purging elections of the unequal influences of the press, the articulate, the celebrated, the well-connected, or the wealthy? Restricting one group would just magnify the influence of others. The First Amendment, correctly interpreted, tells us not to make such a delusive effort. The danger that politicians will wield their power to preserve their prerogatives is greater than that posed by any of these forms of inequality.

Many complaints about campaigns seized on by progressives to justify restrictions on speech could be addressed without suppressing First Amendment rights. The most widespread complaint is that only the rich get to influence campaigns, whether by giving large sums to Super PACs or by bundling the contributions of wealthy friends and sending them to their favorite candidates; the poor and the middle class, the charge goes, wind up frozen out of politics.

Why not, then, provide an income-adjusted tax credit for political contributions? A tax credit of $25 or $50, phased out as income rose, would encourage millions of citizens of modest means to donate (collectively) large sums to their favorite candidates or political-action committees. Establishing a general campaign-contribution credit wouldnt target any groups or individuals speech in particular, and so would be constitutional under the reasoning of Davis v. FEC.

A further advantage of such a tax credit would be to provide extra money for political campaigns, which, in turn, will help produce a more informed electorate. Yes, contrary to the campaign-finance reformers, we should spend more on politics. Increased campaign spending, research evidence suggests, has made citizens better able to place candidates on an ideological scale and to know what their positions and votes are on issues. In the nineteenth century, Lincoln and Douglas could draw thousands to listen to them at little cost. But in our age of hundreds of cable television channels, the Internet, and other distractions, politicians need greater resources to get their views noticed.

Another concern about money in politics is that big political contributors can win economic favors for themselves. Here, too, rules could prevent such favoritism without harming speech. A good example: ensure competitive bidding for all public contracts, which would restrict the actions of government officials, not the rights of citizens. Congress recently took a step toward constraining the corrupting power of special interests by eliminating earmarksthe tool through which members of Congress would give the green light to projects for their own districts, often regardless of their merit or efficiency.

The better way to make politics more honest and ensure citizens equality before the law is to restrict the actions of government officials, not the speech of citizens.

A regime of heavy regulation of political campaigns means that government increasingly shapes social discourse, which inexorably leads to the centralization of power. By contrast, applying ordinary free-speech protections to electoral expression ensures that government will still depend on the back-and-forth of open debate, generated by free citizens in all their variety. Thus, whats ultimately at stake in the battle over campaign regulation is the First Amendments empowerment of civil society over the prerogatives of the state, a virtuecentral to our constitutional republicthat liberals once defended heroically.

Top Photo: FL-photography/iStock
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times/Redux

With the American economy in shambles, Europe imploding, and the Middle East in chaos, convincing Americans that they should pay attention to a Turkish preacher named Fethullah Gulen is an exceedingly hard sell. Many Americans have never heard of him, and if they have, he sounds like the least of their worries. According to his website, he is an authoritative mainstream Turkish Muslim scholar, thinker, author, poet, opinion leader and educational activist who supports interfaith and intercultural dialogue, science, democracy and spirituality and opposes violence and turning religion into a political ideology. The website adds that by some estimates, several hundred educational organizations such as K12 schools, universities, and language schools have been established around the world inspired by Fethullah Gulen. The site notes, too, that Gulen was the first Muslim scholar to publicly condemn the attacks of 9/11. It also celebrates his modesty.

Yet there is a bit more to the story. Gulen is a powerful business figure in Turkey andto put it mildlya controversial one. He is also an increasingly influential businessman globally. There are somewhere between 3 million and 6 million Gulen followersor, to use the term they prefer, people who are inspired by him. Sources vary widely in their estimates of the worth of the institutions inspired by Gulen, which exist in every populated continent, but those based on American court records have ranged from $20 billion to $50 billion. Most interesting, from the American point of view, is that Gulen lives in Pennsylvania, in the Poconos. He is, among other things, a major player in the world of American charter schoolsthough he claims to have no power over them; theyre just greatly inspired, he says.

Even if it were only for these reasons, you might want to know more about Gulen, especially because the few commentators who do write about him generally mischaracterize him, whether they call him a radical Islamist or a liberal Muslim. The truth is much more complicatedto the extent that anyone understands it.

To begin to understand Gulen, you must start with the history of the Nurcu movement. Said Nursi (18781960), a Sunni Muslim in the Sufi tradition, was one of the great charismatic religious personalities of the late Ottoman Caliphate and early Turkish Republic. His Risale-i Nur, disdained and sometimes banned by the Republic, nevertheless became the basis for the formation of reading circlesgeographically dispersed communities the size of small towns that gathered to read, discuss, and internalize the text and to duplicate it when it was banned. Nurcus tend to say, roughly, that the Risale-i Nur is distilled from the Koran; non-Nurcus often find the claim inappropriate or arrogant.

These reading circles gradually spread through Anatolia. Hakan Yavuz, a Turkish political scientist at the University of Utah, calls the Nurcu movement a resistance movement to the ongoing Kemalist modernization process. But it is also forward-looking, Yavuz says, a conceptual framework for a people undergoing the transformation from a confessional community (Gemeinschaft) to a secular national society (Gesellschaft). . . . Folk Islamic concepts and practices are redefined and revived to establish new solidarity networks and everyday-life strategies for coping with new conditions. To call this movement fundamentalist or radical is to empty both terms of meaning. It is equally silly to dismiss it as theologically primitive. I confess that I have not read all 6,000 pages of the Risale-i Nur, but I have read enough to be convinced that Nursi is a fairly sophisticated thinker.

Gulens movement, or cemaat, arose from roughly a dozen neo-Nur reading circles. Gulen was born in 1941 in a village near Erzurum, the eastern frontier of what is now the Turkish Republic. This territory was bitterly contested by the Russian, Persian, and Ottoman empires and gave rise to interpretations of Islam strongly infused with Turkish nationalism: when nothing but the Turkish state stands between you and the Russians, you become a Turkish nationalist, fast. Likewise, contrary to a common misconception among Americans who view the Islamic world as monolithic, Gulenists do not consider Persians their friends.

Two notable points about Gulens philosophy. First, he strongly dissuades his followers from teblig, or open proselytism. He urges them instead to practice temsilliving an Islamic way of life at all times, setting a good example, and embodying their ideals in their way of life. From what I have seen in Turkey, the embodiment of these ideals involves good manners, hard work, and the funding of many charities. It also involves a highly segregated role for women. I would not want to live in the segregated world that they find acceptable here; neither, I suspect, would the Western sociologists who have enthusiastically described the Gulen movement as analogous, say, to contemporary Southern Baptists or German Calvinists.

Second, Gulen holds (publicly, at any rate) that Muslims and non-Muslims once lived in peace because the Ottoman Turks established an environment of tolerance. To restore this peaceful coexistence worldwide, he says, Turks should become world leaders in promoting tolerance among religionsand Turks following his teachings should become world leaders.

Gulens detractors, however, inevitably point to a speech of his that surfaced in a video in 1999:

You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers. . . . Until the conditions are ripe, they [the followers] must continue like this. If they do something prematurely, the world will crush our heads, and Muslims will suffer everywhere, like in the tragedies in Algeria, like in 1982 [in] Syria, . . . like in the yearly disasters and tragedies in Egypt. . . . The time is not yet right. You must wait for the time when you are complete and conditions are ripe, until we can shoulder the entire world and carry it. . . . You must wait until such time as you have gotten all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey . . . . Now, I have expressed my feelings and thoughts to you allin confidence . . . trusting your loyalty and secrecy. I know that when you leave here, [just] as you discard your empty juice boxes, you must discard the thoughts and the feelings that I expressed here.

By this point, Gulen had decamped from Turkey to the United States for medical treatment. Nonetheless, in 2000, he was tried in absentia by a state security court for endeavoring to replace Turkeys secular government with an Islamic one; the indictment alleged that his movement had attempted to infiltrate Turkeys military schools. His followers say that the video was altered to incriminate him, but they have never produced the putatively innocuous original videotape. After years of legal wrangling, Gulen was acquitted in 2008.

Gulens cemaat is by far the strongest Nurcu group in Turkey, described by many as Turkeys third power, alongside Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans increasingly authoritarian Justice and Development Party (known as the AKP, its initials in Turkish) and the military. The structure and organization of the cemaat are a subject of controversy. Members tend to be evasive not only about their relationship to Gulen but about the very existence of the cemaat; of late, some have urged Turks to use the word camia in its place. Whats the difference? Not much. Camia conveys looser ties; cemaat can mean congregation, whereas a camia is more like a circle. But the word cemaat has become so fraught with sinister overtones that rebranding was in order. Gulen himself calls his movement Hizmet, or service.

The movements supporters say that its structure is informalthat being inspired by Gulen is akin to being inspired by Mother Teresa. Critics, including many people who have left the movement, observe that its organizational structure is strict, hierarchical, and undemocratic. Gulen (known to his followers as Hocaefendi, or master teacher) is the sole leader, they say, and each community is led by abis, or elder brothers, who are privy to only a limited amount of information. Sociologist Berna Turam has argued that the abis make strong suggestions about, and perhaps dictate, whom members should marry. Even if prospective spouses are not within the cemaat, the cemaat should benefit from them; a spouse from a rich or powerful family would be an asset, for example. This sounds plausible: we often see this approach to marriage in societies with weak institutions and low social trust, and Turkey is certainly such a society.

The movement, according to researchers such as Yavuz, has three coordinated tiers: businessmen, journalists, and teachers. The first tier, the so-called Anatolian bourgeoisie, provides financial support: it funds private high schools, universities, colleges, dormitories, summer camps, and foundations around the world. The journalists of the second tier own one of the leading Turkish dailies, Zaman; its English-language counterpart, Todays Zaman (which is often not a faithful translation); the Turkish television station STV; the Cihan news service; many magazines and academic journals; several lesser dailies and TV channels; and many Internet-only news outlets. Finally, teachers operate the schools.

An e-mail message released by WikiLeaks and written by Reva Bahalla, an employee of the private intelligence company Stratfor, details the first two tiers. The e-mail describes hanging out with hardcore Gulenists in Istanbul. It begins with a visit to the headquarters of Zaman:

The way they represent their agenda is that this is about democratization in Turkey, human rights, world peace, etc. The guy was actually quoting Western liberal philosophers trying to show how much in common they have with them in respect for these democratic values, and this is whats essential for Turkeys candidacy in the EU. The irony, they claim, is that people think because theyre Islamist, theyre fundamentalist and not modern, whereas the authoritarians (in their view) i.e. the military, are the ones who are seen in the West as modern. . . . (my notewhat Emre and I noticed is that in all our meetings with Gulenists, they recited almost the same lines verbatim. . . .) The next day, Emre and I visited a major Gulenist organization that puts together these massive conferences all over the world to promote their agenda, raise funds, recruits, etc. Their office is in a very expensive part of Istanbul. Theyve got the best facilities, this beautiful theater system. In short, theyve got money. Now you have to ask yourself, where is the money coming from? . . . Their funding comes mainly from co-opting the Anatolian business class. . . . After getting a very long tour of the entire building, top to bottom, they sat us down for a Gulen propaganda film in their theater. . . . The Gulen guy is so overcome by the speech shown in the video by Fethullah Gulen, that he starts crying. Meanwhile Im trying really hard not to laugh.

Well, its funny unless you have to live here.

Wherever the movement establishes itself, it seems to follow a particular pattern. Sociologist Jonathan Lacey has studied its activities in Ireland, where the Gulen-inspired Turkish-Irish Educational and Cultural Society (TIECS) organizes one-week trips to Turkey for non-Turkish people:

I established that these trips are subsidized by businessmen, who are members of the Gulen Community. Members of TIECS claim that these trips are subsidized in order to promote intercultural dialogue. However, given the fact that the Gulen Community is actively engaged in trade as well as education in Central Asia, I proposed that these businessmen subsidize these trips, at least partly, to increase trade between Ireland and Turkey. Another possibility for these subsidies may lie in the hope of promoting a positive impression of Turkey in Europe and thereby securing entry into the European Union.

French researcher Bayram Balc, who is of Turkish origin, describes something similar in the movements activities in Central Asia:

Businessmen from a particular city in Turkey, for example Bursa, will decide to concentrate their efforts on a particular Central Asian city, for example Tashkent. Nurcu investment will then become important in Tashkent, and a kind of twinning . . . between the two cities results. Nurcu group memberswhom we can consider as missionariesare sent by the movement with the aim of making contact with important companies, bureaucrats and personalities in order to appraise local needs. They then invite some of these important personalities to Turkey. . . . Nurcu organizations receive them and show them the private schools and foundations of the cemaat, without ever mentioning this word.

Whether one should admire the cemaat or be disturbed by it depends on the answer to this question: What is it after? And to arrive at that answer, we should explore two things about it that are known to be troubling. First, there is evidence that the cemaat is internally authoritarian, even cultlike. Ilhan Tanr, a Turkish journalist who was in the cemaat but who left it, has expressed particular concern about the blind obedience demanded of its members:

Confusing the real world with the cosmic one, the movement sees itself many times as self-righteous and blessed in every occasion, and surrounded with miracles. Consequently, when hearing any criticism against its wishes and work, it equates suspicious inquirers either with iniquity or having ulterior motives. Itaat, or obedience, therefore becomes the first and the most important characteristic of a good and trusted member. . . . Living in such an environment for so long, many of these people simply become afraid to face the outside or are too weak to live in a real world.

Moreover, Tanr holds, the cemaat believes that its cosmic mission justifies any conduct to achieve its ends at any cost.

In 2008, the Dutch government investigated the movements activities in the Netherlands. Ella Vogelaar, the countrys minister for housing, communities, and integration, warned that in general terms, when an organization calls for turning away from society, this is at odds with the objectives of integration. It was, she noted, incumbent upon the government to keep sharp watch over people and organizations that systematically incite anti-integrative behavior, for this can also be a breeding ground for radicalization. Testifying about one of the schools in the investigation, a former member of the movement called it a sect with a groupthink outside of which these students cannot [reason]:

After years living in the boarding school it is psychologically impossible to pull yourself away; you get guilt feelings. Furthermore, it forces the students to live, think and do as the Big Brothers [the abis] instruct them to. Furthermore, through psychological pressure, these students are told which choice of career is the best they can make for the sake of high ideals. . . . Another very bad aspect is that students no longer respect their parents and they do not listen if the parents do not live by the standards imposed by the group; they are psychologically distanced from their parents; here you have your little soldiers that march only to the orders of their abis. The abis are obliged to obey the provincial leaders, who in turn must obey the national leaders, who in turn obey Fethullah Gulen.

Following the investigation, the Dutch government, presumably concluding that the Gulen schools did indeed promote anti-integrative behavior, reduced their public funding.

The belief that the movement commands or inspires blind obedience is not confined to those who have left itits spokesmen are proud of it. In 2010, American journalist Suzy Hansen, writing for The New Republic, visited the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, where Gulen lives. The president of the facility, Bekir Aksoy, explained to her that our people do not complain. . . . They obey commands completely. . . . Let me put it this way. If a man with a Ph.D. and a career came to see Hocaefendi, and Hocaefendi told him it might be a good idea to build a village on the North Pole, that man with a Ph.D. would be back the next morning with a suitcase.

The second troubling fact about the cemaats activities is that the Turkish media organizations associated with it are clearly pursuing an agenda at odds with the movements publicly stated ideals. The English version of Zaman is often significantly different from the Turkish one. Remarks about enemies of Islam, perfidious Armenians, and Mossad plots are edited out of the English version, as are other comments that sound incompatible with the message of intercultural tolerance. For example, Todays Zaman last year published Gulens criticism of the government for failing to solve long-standing issues over the rights of Kurds, but omitted his ambiguous prayer: Knock their homes upside down, destroy their unity, reduce their homes to ashes, may their homes be filled with weeping and supplications, burn and cut off their roots, and bring their affairs to an end. Gulens supporters will insist that he was referring only to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which the United States quite properly considers a terrorist group. But many ethnically Kurdish citizens of Turkey heard this as a call for genocide and were terrified by it.

Or consider Gulens reasonable rebuttal, printed in Todays Zaman, to the common charge that his followers have infiltrated the organs of the state: To urge fellow citizens to seek employment at state institutions is not called infiltration. Both the people urged and these institutions belong to the same country. . . . It is a right for them to be employed in state posts. Those ellipses indicate something from the Turkish-language Zaman that has been omitted from the translation. What has been omitted is Kastedilen manadaki szmay belli bir donemde bu milletten olmayanlar yaptlar, meaning roughly that in the past, the state was infiltratedby those who werent part of this nation. Those who know Turkey will immediately recognize the statement as part of a common understanding of history in which infiltration explains the states actions as far back as the nineteenth century. The clear intimation is that the state was once infiltrated by non-Muslims or people only pretending to be Muslimamong them Ataturk, of course. (Though expatriates in Turkey read Todays Zaman for roughly the reasons that Kremlinologists once read Pravda, I should note that it seems to be influential among foreign observers and is apparently beloved of Anne-Marie Slaughter, recently the State Departments director of policy planning.)

But to understand the strongest case against the Gulen media empire, we must explore some recent Turkish history. In June 2007, police discovered a crate of grenades in an Istanbul slum. Investigators claimed that they belonged to a shadowy clique of conspirators called Ergenekon. The organization was supposedly an outgrowth of the so-called Deep Statea secret coalition of high-level figures in the military, the intelligence services, the judiciary, and organized crime, which surely existed at one point and doubtless still does. Ergenekon allegedly planned to stage a series of terrorist attacks throughout Turkey and use the ensuing chaos as the pretext for a military coup.

Since the day this news broke, thousands of Turks have been arrested by the AKP-led government, including military officers, academics, theologians, and journalists. In 2009, a new round of mass arrests began, targeting Kurds and leftists, as well as their attorneys. Journalists who witness these trials come away shocked, unable to believe the absurdity of the spectacle. Ive watched a presiding judge, for example, ask a defendant whyif the evidence against him had been forged, as the defendant claimedhe had not caught the forger. Beyond the irrelevance of the question (that isnt the job of the accused), there was the obvious fact that the defendant had been in a prison cell since his arrest and thus hardly in a position to do freelance police work.

Its impossible not to conclude that something is rotten in the way the judicial process works in these cases, which until recently were under the control of the so-called Special Authority Courts. These were sold to the public as an advance upon Turkeys loathed military courts, but as far as I can tell, they have represented no great improvement in the justice system. You dont have to be a forensic specialist to see this; you only have to spend 15 minutes looking at the quality of the evidence upon which they rely. The most famous example involves the admission as evidence of coup plans that refer to entities that did not yet exist in the year that they were allegedly drafted; but anyone who wants other examples is spoiled for choice.

Yet the Gulenist media have cheered on these arrests and mass trialsrepresenting them as the cleansing of the Deep State; describing them as a move against terrorist networks; calling those who question the cases legal standards darbeci, or coup-mongers; and failing to retract or correct misleading claims in their reporting. In other respects, by the way, journalists employed by the Gulen-inspired media are often better reporters than those employed by Turkeys older media, so its not convincing to suggest that theyre just dumb and sloppy. They are careful and professional when they want to be. For these trials, they apparently dont want to be.

Now to America. Gulen lives in the United States, and he has received praise and support from high-level figures in the American government. Bill Clinton and James Baker have delivered encomiums to his contributions to world peace, for instance, and President Obama has made an admiring visit to the Gulen-inspired Pinnacle School in Washington, D.C. Former CIA officer Graham Fulleralso former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council and the author of The Future of Political Islamvouched for Gulen personally in his green-card application process, as did former CIA officer George Fidas and former ambassador to Turkey Morton Abramowitz.

All this support fuels conspiracy theories in Turkey and feeds deep anti-American sentiment among those who fear Gulen. They dont understand why these former spooks and diplomats have been helping him. Frankly, neither do I. Nor can I dismiss their fears as absurd Oriental delusions; on the face of it, it might make sense for the United States to back Gulen. He is pragmatically pro-American; he has been quoted as saying that he would do nothing to undermine Americas interests in the region. He is suspicious of Russians and Iranians, as are we. He is influential enough in Turkey that its at least plausible to imagine that America wants to placate him or use him. I understand why many Turks believe that Gulen is reposing himself in the Poconos because, for some inscrutable imperial purpose, were protecting him.

Unfortunately, I know enough about American foreign policy to be confident that were not that smart. Our government is often astonishingly incompetent, with branches habitually failing to communicate important information with one another and even senior officials uninterested in following the details of complex events in Turkey. I also know that Americans are on the whole very kind and decent and want very much to be friends with Muslims who say that they denounce terrorism. But they dont understand that by befriending Gulen, they infuriate Muslims in Turkey who likewise denounce terrorism but who also loathe Gulen as a power-hungry opportunist.

Gulen has used his time in America to become the largest operatoror perhaps merely inspirerof charter schools in the United States. Sharon Higgins, who founded the organization Parents Across America, believes that there are now 135 Gulen-inspired charter schools in the country, enrolling some 45,000 students. That would make the Gulen network larger than KIPPthe runner-up, with 109 schools. The schools, in 25 states, have anodyne names: Horizon Science Academy, Pioneer Charter School of Science, Beehive Science and Technology Academy. Thousands of Turkish nationals, almost all of them male, have come to America on H-1B visas specifically to teach in them. The schools focus on math and science, and their students often do well enough on standardized tests. The administrators say that they have no official ties to Gulen, and Gulen denies any connection to the schools. But federal forms required of nonprofits show that virtually all the schools have opened or operate with the aid of Gulen-inspired groupslocal nonprofits that promote Turkish culture. The Ohio-based Horizon Science Academy of Springfield, for example, cosigned a five-year building lease with Chicagos Niagara Foundation, which explicitly promotes Gulens philosophy of tolerance, dialogue and peace.

The FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education have been investigating the hiring practices of some of these schools, as the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer have reportedparticularly the replacement of certified American teachers with uncertified Turkish ones who get higher salaries than the Americans did, using visas that are supposed to be reserved for highly skilled workers who fill needs unmet by the American workforce. The schools claim, according to an article written by Higgins in the Washington Post, that they are unable to find qualified teachers in Americawhich seems implausible, given that were in the depths of the worst economic downturn in postwar memory, and given that some of these new arrivals have come to teach English, which often they speak poorly, or English as a second language, which often they need themselves. They have also been hired as gym teachers, accountants, janitors, caterers, painters, construction workers, human-resources managers, public-relations specialists, andof all thingslawyers.

Two of the schools, located in Texas, have been accused of sending school fundswhich are supplied by the government, of course, since these are charter schoolsto other Gulen-inspired organizations. Last year, the New York Times reported that the charters were funneling some $50 million in public funds to a network of Turkish construction companies, among them the Gulen-related Atlas Texas Construction and Trading. The schools had hired Atlas to do construction, the paper said, though other bidders claimed in lawsuits that they had submitted more economical bids. Meanwhile, Atlas may have played a part in protecting Gulen charter schools; Folwell Dunbar, an official at the Louisiana Department of Education, has accused Atlass vice president, Inci Akpinar, of offering him a $25,000 bribe to keep mum about troubling conditions at the Abramson Science and Technology Charter School in New Orleans. Dunbar sent a memo to department colleagues, the Times-Picayune reported, noting that Akpinar flattered him with a number of compliments before getting to the point: I have twenty-five thousand dollars to fix this problem: twenty thousand for you and five for me.  Abramson is operated by the Pelican Foundation, which is linked to the Gulen-inspired Cosmos Foundation in Texaswhich runs the two Texas schools.

Utahs Beehive Science and Technology Academy, another Gulen-inspired charter, was $337,000 in debt, according to a financial probe by the Utah Schools Charter Board. The Deseret News tried to figure out where all this taxpayer money had gone. In a time of teacher layoffs, Beehive has recruited a high percentage of teachers from overseas, mainly Turkey, the newspaper reported. Many of these teachers had little or no teaching experience before they came to the United States. Some of them are still not certified to teach in Utah. The school spent more than $53,000 on immigration fees for foreigners in five years. During the same time, administrators spent less than $100,000 on textbooks, according to state records. Reports have also claimed that the school board was almost entirely Turkish.

A reporter for the leftist magazine In These Times noted in 2010 that the Chicago Math and Science Academy obscured its relationship to Gulen. And the school board was strikingly similar to Beehives: When I went to the schools board meeting on July 8, I was taken aback to see a board of directors comprised entirely of men. They all appeared of Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian descent. Although I have nothing against Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian men, it does seem that a school board serving students who are 58 percent Hispanic/Latino, 25 percent African American, 12 percent Asian and 5 percent white might be well served by some women board members and board members from ethnic backgrounds the school predominantly serves.

Federal authorities are also investigating several of the movements schools for forcing employees to send part of their paychecks to Turkey, the Inquirer reports. Also worrying is that some of these schools, after being granted the right to issue large, tax-free public bonds, are now defaulting on them. The New York Times recently reported that Gulen-inspired schools in Georgia had defaulted on $19 million in public bonds, having granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses associated with Gulen followers.

There is no evidence that Islamic proselytizing takes place at the American Gulen schools and much evidence that students and parents like them. Most seem to be decent educational establishments, by American standards; graduates perform reasonably well, and some perform outstandingly.

So what are the schools for? Among other things, they seem to be moneymakers for the cemaat. Theyre loaded with private, state, and federal funding, and they have proved amazingly effective at soliciting private donations. The schools are also H-1B visa factories and perhaps the main avenue for building the Gulen community in the United States. In 2011, 292 of the 1,500 employees at the Gulen-inspired Harmony School of Innovation, a Texas charter school, were on H-1B visas, the schools superintendent told the New York Times. The feds have investigated Concept Schools, which operate 16 Horizon Science Academies across Ohio, on the suspicion that they illegally used taxpayer money to pay immigration and legal fees for people they never even employed, an Ohio ABC affiliate discovered. The feds suspicion was confirmed by state auditors. Concept Schools repaid the fees for their Cleveland and Toledo schools shortly before the ABC story broke, but its unclear whether they have repaidor can repaythe fees for their other schools.

Perhaps to deflect scrutiny from the schools, people inspired by Gulen are constantly inviting high-ranking leaders to dinners to speak and lavishing them with awards. And remember those trips to Turkey that the Turkish-Irish Educational and Cultural Society organizes? The same thing happens in the United States. Dozens of Texans, ranging from state lawmakers to congressional staff members to university professors, have taken trips to Turkey financed by Gulens foundations. The Raindrop Foundation, for instance, paid for State Senator Leticia Van de Puttes travel to Istanbul, according to a recent campaign report. Last January, she cosponsored a state senate resolution commending Gulen for his ongoing and inspirational contributions to promoting global peace and understanding.

Steve Terrell, a reporter at the Santa Fe New Mexican, did a bit of digging and found that a remarkable number of local lawmakers had recently taken trips to Turkey courtesy of a private group, the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, that is tied to Gulen. In Idaho last year, a full tenth of state legislators went on the Turkey-trot tour, thanks to the Pacifica Institute, also inspired by Gulen. The Hawaii State Ethics Commission sent a memo to lawmakers reminding them to check with the commission before accepting the all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to which theyd been invited by Pacifica. The State Ethics Commission, said the memo, does not have sufficient understanding of Pacifica Institute, the purpose of the trip, or the state benefit associated with the trip.

It is no very cynical asperity to wonder if all these trips are connected to the staggering amount of public money going to Gulen-inspired charter schools. Indeed, America is the only country in the world where the Gulen movement has been able to establish schools funded to a great extent by the host countrys taxpayers.

But does the cemaat want something more than money? Its supporters call it a faith-based civil-society movement. Mehmet Kalyoncu, an advisor to the ambassador of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations, has observed correctly that the cemaats Turkish enemies call it a creature of the CIA or the Mossad, a secret servant of the pope, or a Trojan horse trying to Christianize Muslims or weaken them. To some Western critics, such as Michael Rubin, the cemaat is a shadowy Islamist cult, anti-Semitic, anti-Western, and trying to Islamize Americans. Gulen is a second Khomeini, Rubin has warned, who is trying to establish a new caliphate.

But none of that is quite right. According to researcher Aydin Ozipek, who attended a Gulen school, the primary objective of the Gulen Movement is to increase its share of power. That, it seems to me, is the most accurate description of all. The cemaat poses problems not because its members are pious Muslims (thats probably the most admirable thing about them) but because its a power-hungry business that often behaves repulsivelylike a mafia, in other words. Gulen does not run madrassas in America, as some have suggested; he runs charter schools. He does not practice taqiya; he just dissimulates, like any ordinary politician.

I doubt that Gulen is a significant threat to American interests in the Middle East. For pragmatic reasons, the movement is friendly to any country where it can establish a business presence; if we stay friendly to business, it will stay friendly to us, however we define our interests. The cemaat need not be a problem within America, either, so long as we deal with it with our eyes open and make sure that its members are obeying the law. But eyes open is the key. Heres another excerpt from that infamous sermon that surfaced in 1999: The philosophy of our service is that we open a house somewhere and, with the patience of a spider, we lay our web to wait for people to get caught in the web; and we teach those who do. We dont lay the web to eat or consume them but to show them the way to their resurrection, to blow life into their dead bodies and souls, to give them a life. Those are words that suggest that Gulens activities in the United States deserve careful scrutinyscrutiny because his business is organized and he thinks ahead.

Overall, Americas assimilative power has a track record far more impressive than Gulens. Our posture toward the Gulen movement in America has been, if inadvertently and late in coming, the right one: indict those who need indicting for specific, established crimesvisa fraud and, I suspect, racketeeringand wait for the next generation to become Americans. Treat people inspired by Gulen to the rule of lawto the same laws that everyone else in America follows. If they dont already see it, they will recognize in time that those laws are excellent and connected to the economic opportunities that they enjoy. In fact, they may even do America some good, insofar as theyre locked into battle with the teachers unions: if Gulens followers can break them, more power to them. Maybe one day, well even get a great American cemaat novel out of their experience.

Our posture toward the movement as a foreign policy actor, however, to the extent that I can understand it, has been foolish. It is wrong to imagine that Gulen can be some kind of asset to us internationally or to accept or promote him as one. He has not been elected in Turkeyour NATO allyor anywhere else. We have an interest in seeing Turkey become a full-fledged liberal democracy. That means supporting Gulens stated idealsnot him.
Women in Online Work  program pentru femeile care isi doresc sa munceasca in companii internationale, de la biroul de acasa
The Postal Service announced that 6,549 employees were attacked by dogs last year as it released its annual top dog attack city rankings. It also shared information on new safety initiatives it is putting in place to help protect its employees.

Dogs are protective in nature and may view our letter carriers handing mail to their owner as a threat, said USPS Safety Director Linda DeCarlo at a news conference in Houston, where postal employees suffered 77 attacks, more than any other city. Fifty-one cities make up the top 30 rankings (see chart below).

DeCarlo also announced two new safety measures to alert USPS Carriers of dogs on their delivery routes. The first goes into effect May 13 on usps.coms Package Pickup application. Customers will be asked to indicate if there is a dog at their address when they schedule a package pickup. The second goes into effect later this spring.

The Mobile Delivery Devices that letter carriers use to scan packages to confirm delivery will include a feature that allows carriers to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address. This is especially helpful to substitutes who fill-in for letter carriers on their days off.

DeCarlo was in Houston to kick-off National Dog Bite Prevention Week which runs this week. The Postal Service, joined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Humane Association, American Veterinary Medical Association, Insurance Information Institute and State Farm Insurance are driving home the message that dog bites are a nationwide issue and that education can help prevent dog attacks to people of all ages.

Of the 4.5 million Americans bitten by dogs annually, half of all victims are children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Many attacks to children are by the family pet or a dog familiar to the child, so its important to keep children and dogs separate, especially if a dog is known to act aggressively.

2015 Dog Attack Rankings by City

Note: A total of 6,549 postal employees were attacked by dogs in calendar 2015. Fifty-one cities comprise the top 30 rankings as some cities reported the same number of attacks.

Ranking City, State 2015 Dog Attacks 2014 Dog Attacks Change Percent Change 1 Houston, TX 77 63 14 22 2 San Diego, CA

Cleveland, OH 58 47

37 11

21 23

57 3 Chicago, IL

Dallas, TX 57 46

43 11

14 24

33 4 Los Angeles, CA 56 75 -19 -25 5 Louisville, KY 51 40 11 28 6 Kansas City, MO 46 32 14 44 7 Philadelphia, PA 44 33 11 33 8 Columbus, OH 43 22 21 95 9 Portland, OR 41 31 10 32 10 Fort Worth, TX

San Antonio, TX 39 26

24 13

15 50

63 11 Denver, CO 38 40 -2 -5 12 Phoenix, AZ 36 35 1 3 13 St. Louis, MO 35 39 -4 -10 14 Seattle, WA 34 29 5 17 15 Detroit, MI

Long Beach, CA 32 28

27 4

5 14

19 16 Indianapolis, IN

Sacramento, CA 31 35

29 -4

2 -11

7 17 Minneapolis, MN

Baltimore, MD 30 33

27 -3

3 -9

11 18 Miami, FL

Cincinnati, OH 28 26

24 2

4 8

17 19 Brooklyn, NY 26 15 11 73 20 San Francisco, CA 25 23 2 9 21 San Jose, CA

Albuquerque, NM

St. Paul, MN 24 20

16

6 4

8

18 20

50

300 22 Oakland, CA

Milwaukee, WI 23 22

11 1

12 5

109 23 Charlotte, NC

Dayton, OH 22 23

18 -1

4 -4

22 24 Las Vegas, NV 21 19 2 11 25 Pittsburgh, PA

Jacksonville, FL 20 22

10 -2

10 -9

100 26 Rochester, NY

Fresno, CA

Stockton, CA 19 18

17

9 1

2

10 6

12

111 27 Wichita, KS

Flushing, NY

Baton Rouge, LA 18 25

14

9 -7

4

9 -28

29

100 28 Memphis, TN 17 13 4 31 29 Richmond, VA

Salt Lake City, UT 16 17

9 -1

7 -6

78 30 New Orleans, LA

Omaha, NE

Des Moines, IA

Toledo, OH 15 19

14

11

10 -4

1

4

5 -21

7

36

50

Source: USPS
A pipeline company responsible for spilling more than 120,000 gallons of oil on the California coast failed to prevent corrosion in its pipes, detect the rupture or respond swiftly as crude streamed toward the ocean, federal regulators said Thursday.

Plains All American Pipeline operators working remotely in Texas had turned off an alarm that would have signaled a leak and, unaware of the ongoing spill, restarted the hemorrhaging line along the Santa Barbara County coast, compounding the problem and delaying the shutdown, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in its final investigation report.

A number of preventable errors led to this incident and the companys failures in judgment, including inadequate assessment of this line, and faulty planning made matters worse, said agency Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez said. What happened is completely unacceptable and we will hold the company accountable.

The report was issued on the one-year anniversary of the spill and just two days after Plains was indicted in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on 46 criminal counts, including four felonies of polluting state waters and three dozen misdemeanors of harming wildlife.

Beaches and campgrounds along the scenic coast nearby were closed two weeks shy of Memorial Day weekend as an oil plume spread nine miles into the Pacific Ocean. They remained closed for weeks in the aftermath as tar balls washed ashore more than 100 miles away in Los Angeles County and more than 220 birds, such as pelicans, and nearly 140 marine mammals, mostly sea lions, died.

The agency previously said severe corrosion led to a 6-inch gash in the pipe. The final report said the company failed to follow up after an inspection in 2012 indicated the pipe had deteriorated to less than half its thickness.

Robert Bea, an engineering professor at University of California, Berkeley, who has read the report, said regulators had allowed Plains to ignore federal guidelines for at least nine years as the company underestimated the risks of a breach from corrosion and exceeded the maximum allowable pressure given the weaknesses in the pipe.

The report said the spill occurred just before 11 a.m. on May 19, 2015, when operators in the Midland, Texas, control room restarted a pump and oil surged at high pressure through the 2-foot-wide pipe known as Line 901.

Pressure ultimately was the final nail in the coffin when the pipeline just said, I give up, Bea said. It was clearly run to failure.

Within three minutes of restarting, pressure plunged to 199 psi, triggering a low-pressure alarm that quickly reset when pressure climbed just above 200 psi, the report said. The alarm was set to be tripped at such a low pressure that it never sounded again as oil flowed out the pipe at just above 200 psi.

A leak detection system that also would have sounded alarms had been disabled by an operator who was dealing with another problem. Failing to detect the leak, the controller even restarted the line after the spill occurred.

Houston-based Plains has apologized for the spill, but said it wouldnt comment on the report because of ongoing investigations and pending lawsuits. It previously said the spill was an accident not a crime.

In addition to the state criminal charges, federal prosecutors are investigating the incident and the company could face fines for violating federal pipeline safety regulations.

Dominguez declined to discuss possible penalties Plains could face, but said her agency is focused on enforcement actions and would soon issue an industry advisory on lessons learned from the disaster.

The spill was the largest on the U.S. coast since the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion. While the Plains spill was just a fraction of the size of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons, it happened on hallowed ground for environmentalists.

A blowout on an offshore rig in the Santa Barbara channel in 1969 blackened the shores and gave rise to the environmental movement.

As we know, no community is immune, said Rep. Lois Capps, D-California, who is working with lawmakers to pass a bill to improve pipeline safety. And 46 years later, I found myself once again witnessing the devastation of an oil spill on the Central Coast.

The leak was discovered after firefighters responding to reports of a petroleum stench found oil spilling from a ravine onto Refugio State Beach, a pristine and popular park for swimming and camping.

Multiple class-action lawsuits from landowners, fishermen and business owners who say the spill crippled a thriving tourism industry are still pending. Some investors have filed suit alleging they were misled about the integrity of company pipelines.

The report said the costs from the spill through the end of last year were estimated at $143 million, though the company reported in its annual report that it expects that figure to rise to $269 million.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A panel of privacy experts and technology companies organized by the Obama administration has issued guidelines for using drones without being overly intrusive.

The suggestions are voluntary, but some business interests involved in the debate hope the guidelines head off tougher regulations that they fear could smother the drone industry in its infancy.

News organizations are exempt from the guidelines on free-press grounds.

Supporters say drones could provide huge benefits, from inspecting power lines to delivering medicine to remote areas. Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. want to use them for deliveries. Falling prices have made drones popular among hobbyists, too.

However, their small size and ability to go just about anywhere  while carrying cameras and sensors  have raised privacy concerns.

The Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Thursday released the best practices, which were supported by drone makers, Amazon and other technology companies and retailers, and privacy advocates. The suggestions are aimed at both commercial and private drone users.

Among the many recommendations:

Operators shouldnt fly their drones over private property without the owners consent.

They should alert people in the area ahead of time when it is practical and explain the purpose of the drone flight.

Unless there is a compelling need, operators shouldnt fly a drone where someone has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a drone should not be used to follow someone continuously.

Dont use information gathered by drones for decisions about employment, credit or eligibility for healthcare.

Dont use personal information for marketing purposes without the individuals consent.

Information from drones shouldnt be held longer than reasonably necessary, although exceptions can be made for legal disputes, safety reasons or with permission of the person being watched.

There are about 5,600 drones registered for commercial purposes and about 450,000 hobbyists have registered at least one drone, according to figures from the Federal Aviation Administration. Their popularity has soared over the past year or so, putting pressure on the industry and privacy advocates to agree on guidelines governing their use.

The Consumer Technology Association, a corporate group whose members include Google, Apple and Microsoft, said this weeks guidelines balance innovation and privacy. The groups director of regulatory affairs, Alex Reynolds, said that more prescriptive rules would threaten the benefits offered by drones, from delivering disaster relief to helping agriculture and infrastructure maintenance.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil liberties group, said it hoped big companies and hobbyists alike would follow the guidelines.

Were concerned about the widespread use of drones for surveillance without any rules, said Chris Calabrese, the groups vice president of policy. He said the group got all the important protections it wanted in the guidelines, including protection against persistent surveillance even in public places and use of drone-gathered data in employment and marketing.

News outlets including The Associated Press were represented in the discussions leading up to the guidelines and won an exemption. The standards say news organizations should be able to use drones the same way they use comparable technology  such as planes and helicopters  to record data in public spaces as long as they follow their own ethics policies and federal and state laws.

Joel Roberson, an attorney who represented the news groups, said the outcome will ensure that news-reporting organizations have a First Amendment right to gather the news through drones in the national airspace.

There were some holdouts to the final report.

Four companies including GoPro, whose cameras are mounted on many drones, and drone maker DJI refused to sign the guidelines. Kara Calvert, a spokeswoman for the companies, said there are no such guidelines for security cameras or camera-toting people on ladders or rooftops. Drone users shouldnt face tougher rules, she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union objected to qualifiers that suggest drone operators can sometimes ignore the guidelines if they have a compelling need or implied consent of individuals.

What does that mean? said Jay Stanley, a privacy analyst with ACLU. That kind of weasel language runs throughout the document.

The Federal Aviation Administration is close to issuing final rules regarding drones, but those regulations are expected to stick to safety issues, not privacy. Airline pilots have reported seeing drones flying dangerously close to their planes.

In February 2015, President Barack Obama ordered the Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration to help develop best practices for privacy and other issues surrounding drone use.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Drones may be a game changer for claims investigations and processing, said Kevin Quinley, founder and principal of Quinley Risk Associates. In a Claims Insights podcast interview with Claims Journal, he discussed the transition in the use of drones from strictly military operations to a variety of commercial applications.

Amazon is just one of many companies considering the use of drones to deliver packages. Law enforcement agencies already use drones for a variety of functions, like wildfire and traffic management and bridge inspections.

Dominos UK tested pizza delivery in London and there is a pizza maker in Russia that has been delivering pizzas by drone since 2014.

Quinley said hobbyists have expressed a huge interest in drones as evidenced by the huge sales of the unmanned aerial systems this past holiday season.

He described four main areas of impact that drone technology will have on the claims industry. These include:

On scene investigation and accident reconstruction. Surveillance and the monitoring disabilities. Claims settlements. New forms of insurance coverage for drones.

Currently, the cost of sending adjusters to investigate accident scenes is high but could be alleviated by the use of drones in the claims process. In addition, the ease of rapid deployment is another benefit. The information obtained by the drones could help determine liability and confirm injury, Quinley said.

Drones also have a role in fighting insurance fraud through possible surveillance of bodily injury/workers compensation claimants.

With drones, this could arm adjusters with discreet ways to gauge the physical activity of claimants who claim disability to either verify or impeach disability claims, Quinley said.

Their ease of use will aid in reducing an insurers reliance on investigative firms surveillance vans.

I could see drones refining the fraud fighting ability of insurance companies and claims people, said Quinley.

Drones can also be used to speed up claim settlements. Insurers could deliver settlement checks to policyholders and claimants resulting in quick turnover of files.

The insurance market has been cautious in response to the growth in commercial and personal use of drones, Quinley said.

There are liability risks, like the potential for drones to drop out of the sky and because they fly at low altitudes, there is the risk of a drone crash possibly causing property damage. In addition, Quinley expects lawsuits relating to drone use alleging invasion of privacy.

There is reason to be concerned about the safety of drones, Quinley said, citing examples here and in the UK. In Virginia, a videographer was fined $10,000 for operating a drone recklessly while recording a promotional video for the University of Virginia campus. In Germany, a drone crash landed at the feet of Angela Merkel, he said.

Quinley expects the plaintiffs bar to become interested in drone technology. Its only a matter of time before it becomes a new sub specialty for personal injury attorneys, he said.

He expects they will take advantage of both negligence and product liability claims against drone operators and manufacturers.

There is a silver lining, he said. While there is risk, it creates opportunity for insurers to create new policies for both first party and liability coverage.
Just six months after Oklahomas ban on texting and driving went into effect, advocacy groups are calling for even broader measures to curb distracted driving.

Oklahoma was among the last states to pass a texting and driving moratorium when the Legislature passed a measure last year. Only two states  Arizona and Montana  lack such bans.

The Oklahoma prohibition went into effect Nov. 1. But The Oklahoman reported Sunday that law enforcement officers, national highway safety advocacy groups and even cellphone providers believe bans like Oklahomas are hard to understand, harder to patrol and dont go far enough to keep the roads safe.

Our hands are tied so much with the way the law is, Edmond Police Department Lt. Acey Hopper said. Its difficult to enforce.

Under Oklahomas law, operating a motor vehicle on any street or highway while using a hand-held electronic communication device to manually compose, send or read an electronic text message while the vehicle is in motion is illegal. The law also prohibits using instant messaging, photo, video and email on a device while behind the wheel.

Hopper said hes noticed no change in driver behavior under the new law. A ban on the use of all hand-held devices would be more useful, he said.

National traffic safety organizations echo that sentiment.

People are posting to social media. People are emailing. People are doing a lot of things on their phone besides texting, said Kara Macek, a spokeswoman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. Any time youre interacting with your phone in your hand it takes your eyes away from the road.

Macek said her organization is pushing for states to pass laws that explicitly ban all use of hand-held devices. Fourteen states have such bans, she said.

Oklahomas legislative action was prompted by the death of Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Nicholas Dees and injuries sustained by Trooper Keith Burch last year as a result of being hit by a driver uploading to social media from a smartphone.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed:



Taser International : "I have liked Taser for ages, and I reiterate that I still like it. I know it flew and came back down, but I think it's a good stock."

Communications Sales & Leasing : "It's got too high of a yield. It makes me want to worry that it shouldn't be a red-flag situation. They shouldn't be that big. If the company wants to come on and talk about it, that's fine. But it's not my cup of tea."

Alexion Pharmaceuticals : "A lot of people like this stock. You know what, if we reach down 23 percent for the year, if the bear market in biotech is over it will roar because it's always been considered an attractive takeover target."

Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer

Cramer Remix: Why McDonald's stock is getting pummeled

Cramer: Cash is NOT kingTop 5 cash hoarding companies

Cramer: 5 hated stocks with charts on fire

Nvidia : "You're buying at an all-time high. I cannot count it as buying at an all-time high when we have Janet Yellen speaking on Friday. I think you've got to hope that you can get it a little bit lower than this."

: "It's a battleground stock. We don't know what's going to happen with this one. I have been thinking that they are going to get approval. That's how I feel, but I don't have enough background, but that's what I feel."

Costamare Inc : "It's container ship, I still think it's too dicey. You need that baltic freight [index] moving up and you don't have it. The only shipping company I am recommending is Nordic American Tanker because that is an oil tanker ship."

Smith & Wesson : "I have liked Smith & Wesson. When it spikes on a terrible unfortunate incident, I say sell it. But when it comes back down, I've told people to buy it."

Medivation : "I understand there are multiple suitors for this company. I have to believe that where there is smoke, there is fire."

Delta Airlines : "Remember, we don't care where it's come from we care where it is going to. At this level I would not sell Delta, I would be a buyer of Delta."
Donald Trump heads to North Dakota, one of the states most impacted by the slump in oil and gas drilling, on Thursday. That's where it is expected the GOP presidential candidate will lay out his vision of the energy industry in the U.S. and possibly the world, including the roles of Saudi Arabia and OPEC. Trump's views on many topics are murky, and energy has been one of those areas. But Trump is now expected to fine tune his message. "At one point, he was talking about taking away subsidies from oil companies. But he's evolved so where [Continental Resources CEO] Harold Hamm has now endorsed him," said Daniel Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas. Hamm, CEO of shale producer Continental Resources, was Mitt Romney's 2012 energy advisor. Clifton says there is one thing Trump is likely to say that could help him against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the expected nominee of her party. Trump has said he wants to help coal miners, and that he likes solar and ethanol. Clifton says he'll say he supports drilling of fossil fuels too. "I think he comes out and says, 'I'm for all of the above' and makes it about jobs," said Clifton. Clifton said Trump could talk about reducing regulations, which would help coal. Read More Hillary could be Trumped more easily than you think Clinton, on the other hand, has talked about upping regulations on the industry and said by the time she's done there will be few areas left in America where the industry could "frack," or drill through hydraulic fracturing. She opposes fracking on public land and anywhere that local communities are against it, or wherever it polluted air or water. She also would oppose it if companies refused to disclose what chemicals they use in the process. Clifton says Trump will capitalize on a problem that the Clinton camp faces. Energy is at the heart of a divide between two groups that are traditional Democratic supporters. Those are environmentalists, who oppose pipelines, and labor unions who want to build energy infrastructure. The divide, apparent in the Keystone Pipeline battle, came to the fore earlier this month when several unions representing teachers and local government workers announced a partnership with wealthy environmentalist Tom Steyer for a new fund dedicated to electing Democrats. Watch this: Labor leaders in revolt Cifton said the Obama Administration has become more aggressive against pipelines. He pointed to 20 infrastructure projects for pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities that have been rejected or delayed since November. "We've had this massive change in U.S. energy policy since the Keystone Pipeline was rejected," said Clifton, adding the U.S. has also gotten stricter on methane emissions from wells. Clifton expects Trump to support Keystone. "I just don't think investors have fully realized this. I think what Trump is going to do is say, 'I want to put the AFL-CIO members to work who aren't getting work because these pipelines are getting rejected,'" said Clifton. Read More In Trump's world view, America comes first, everyone else pays Trump may also comment on the relationship with Saudi Arabia. In March, Trump said the U.S. may buy its oil elsewhere unless Saudi Arabia and others engage ISIS in ground combat. North Dakota is also home to Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, who endorsed Trump and is an informal advisor on his campaign. Cramer co-sponsored a bill that would authorize a bipartisan commission to investigate OPEC for potential unfair trade practices. Cramer told USA Today that he and Trump have not talked about Trump's position on the bill. "But we've all listened to him enough to know his America-first policy angle and emphasis, and it seems like it would fit with this," Cramer said. "This is a way to make sure that now that we have access to global markets, that our competitors are playing by the same rules or at least fair rules," said Cramer in the article. "We can't change the fact that you can produce oil in the desert much cheaper than you can in the shale, but we shouldn't put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage."

Donald Trump Mike Carlson | Reuters

Donald Trump heads to North Dakota, one of the states most impacted by the slump in oil and gas drilling, on Thursday. That's where it is expected the GOP presidential candidate will lay out his vision of the energy industry in the U.S. and possibly the world, including the roles of Saudi Arabia and OPEC.

Trump's views on many topics are murky, and energy has been one of those areas. But Trump is now expected to fine tune his message. "At one point, he was talking about taking away subsidies from oil companies. But he's evolved so where [Continental Resources CEO] Harold Hamm has now endorsed him," said Daniel Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas. Hamm, CEO of shale producer Continental Resources, was Mitt Romney's 2012 energy advisor. Clifton says there is one thing Trump is likely to say that could help him against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the expected nominee of her party.
Despite the tough wording, the order is not an outright denial of the deal. To address the state's concerns, the insurers will likely have to divest some of their Medicare plans in the market to reduce their combined dominance.

The state's director of the department of insurance, John Huff, issued a preliminary order saying that if deal is approved by federal regulators the two firms will have to "cease and desist from doing business throughout the State of Missouri with respect to Medicare Advantage Markets."

Regulators in Missouri have raised a red flag on Aetna 's $34 billion acquisition of , calling the deal anti-competitive for the state's Medicare market. It's the first hurdle in the state merger approval process the insurers have encountered.

A spokesman for Aetna said the companies are prepared to discuss remedies with Missouri regulators, noting that the order will not impact the pending federal regulatory process at the Department of Justice.



"This order does not impede the DOJ approval process. We are disappointed with the Missouri order but expect to have a constructive dialogue with the state to address their concerns," said T.J. Crawford, Aetna's head of media relations.



Last month, Aetna and Humana said they had obtained 15 of 20 necessary state approvals, and the companies' executives say they still expect the deal to close in the second half of the year.



Elevation LLC analyst Ira Gorsky says while Missouri's order presents a hurdle for the insurers, it amounts to conditional approval of the deal. He doesn't see a problem for the companies to negotiate the required state concessions.



"It's the first state approval to require conditions," said Gorsky. "I think this is normal in the course of the process, and anyone that has been following this closely should have expected divestitures."



Gorsky notes Missouri is one of three states where Aetna and Humana would have a large presence in the Medicare Advantage market as a combined company, along with Texas and Florida. Florida insurance officials approved the merger last February without any concessions; Texas regulators are still reviewing the deal.



Anti-trust attorney David Balto hailed Missouri's decision. Balto represents hospital, union and consumer groups opposed to both Aetna's acquisition of Humana and Anthem's $54 billion dollar deal to buy Cigna, concerned that the mergers between four of the nation's largest insurers will result in less competition and higher prices.



"Missouri's decision provides a concrete roadmap about how consumers will lose if these mergers are approved," Balto said in a statement.
Shares of HP Inc. whipsawed after the company reported mixed quarterly earnings amid declining revenue. The computer hardware company, which was once tied to business-service company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, posted earnings of 41 cents per share on $11.59 billion in revenue. Wall Street expected earnings of 38 cents per share on $11.72 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.

Shares of Williams-Sonoma rose after the brand behind West Elm and Pottery Barn earned more than expected in the fiscal first quarter. The home furnishings company reported earnings of 53 cents per share, adjusted, on sales of $1.1 billion, compared to expectations of 50 cents per share on revenue of $1.08 billion expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. Sales of new homes have increased more than expected this spring.

PVH , the company behind Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands, saw shares pop after it capped analyst estimates. PVH posted earnings of $1.50, excluding items, on sales of $1.92 billion. Analysts expected $1.43 per share on revenues of $1.9 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.



Despite a difficult U.S. retail market, CEO Emanuel Chirico said PVH was able to grow thanks to outperformance in key markets Europe and China.



But denim brand Guess sank after its fiscal first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. The Los Angeles-based company posted an adjusted loss of 23 cents per share on revenue of $448.8 million. Wall Street expected a loss of 19 cents per share on sales of $463.2 million, according to the Associated Press.

"I had highlighted on our last earnings call that the first six months of the year would be a transition period," CEO Victor Herrero said, in a statement, adding that the month of April was especially tough for Guess. "The start to the year has been a bit more challenging than we anticipated especially in the Americas and to a lesser extent in Greater China."
A beer recipe roughly 5,000 years old has been uncovered in China  and researchers call the finding "surprising" because it means people there were importing a critical ingredient from thousands of miles away. A team of archaeologists from Stanford University, Brigham Young University and two Chinese institutions discovered a cache of ancient brewing equipment  including jugs, pots and funnels  containing remnants of mashed grains and other starches.

Taketan | Getty Images

The researchers, who were working at the Mijiaya dig site, say their analysis reveals "a surprising beer recipe" containing a grain called broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), another grain called Job's tears or Chinese pearl barley (Coix lacrymajobi), and some sort of tuber. The "recipe" they compiled came from the analysis of those grain residues on the interiors of the vessels. Scholars say the evidence points to a culture that understood advanced brewing techniques that are very similar to modern methods.

"All indications are that ancient peoples, including those at Mijiaya, applied the same principles and techniques as brewers do today," said Patrick McGovern, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved with the research.

watch now

The earliest references to beer in Chinese literature do not pop up until the Shang dynasty, which spanned roughly 1250-1046 B.C., the Mijiaya site researchers wrote in their study. Some scholars had believed that this Shang-era beermaking culture may have originated in the Yangshao culture  a Neolithic people who lived near the banks of China's Yellow River. The age of the brewing equipment coincides with the time when the Yangshao were beginning large-scale agriculture in the region.

"To our knowledge, our data provide the earliest direct evidence of in situ beer production in China, showing that an advanced beer brewing technique was established around 5,000 (years) ago," the researchers wrote in a study published Monday in the the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Surprise ingredient

One of the most surprising aspects of the find lies in one the ingredients involved: barley. Barley was not grown for food in China at the time  it was first cultivated in western Eurasia, and it would not become an important crop in China until the Han Dynasty era, 3,000 years later.

The researchers think barley was brought into the area specifically for beer-making. The farmers in the region probably either traded their own crops for the grain, or grew small patches of it in their fields.

McGovern told CNBC in an email that the beer would have been similar to a $70,000 bottle of Bordeaux that a modern member of the wealthy elite might pull out to "to impress our friends and stay in power."

watch now
Apparently the iPhone was invented nearly 350 years ago, according to Apple boss Tim Cook's interpretation of a painting.

During a chat at the Start-up Fest event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, Cook spoke to former European Commissioner Neelie Kroes about topics ranging from health to the future of TV.

But the pair shared an anecdote from the night before when Kroes took Cook to Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.

"Do you happen to know Tim, where and when the iPhone was invented?" Kroes asked Cook on stage.

The Apple chief executive explained that in one painting at the museum he thought he saw the subject holding an iPhone.

"You know, I thought I knew until last night. Last night Neelie took me over to look at some Rembrandt and in one of the paintings I was so shocked. There was an iPhone in one of the paintings," Cook jokingly explained.
Iron ore and gold have been the traditional staples underpinning Australia's commodities industry but lesser-known lithium could soon take over the mantle.

Atlas Iron , an iron ore explorer, is one miner gradually gravitating towards the commodity dubbed the "white petroleum" for its silver-white appearance.

Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the Resources' Rising Stars Conference on Wednesday, Atlas Iron's managing director David Flanagan hinted that a tie-up with a lithium producer may be in the cards.

"We're not going to become a lithium player but if there's an opportunity to get value from that for shareholders, we'll do the right sort of deal."

Fresh from a major restructuring operation that involved halving its debt, Atlas announced in its May investor presentation that it held "prospective tenure in zones of known world-class lithium-tantalum deposits" in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

"It turns out we've got a lot of tenements near companies with high-value lithium projects. It also turns out that some of that lithium also appears on our grounds," said Flanagan. "Lithium is going to be an important commodity for the world's future."

Australia is already the world's biggest producer of lithium, followed by Chile and Argentina.
Beijing threatened over the weekend to end regular communication with Taiwan unless its new president acknowledges the so-called One China principle. But that threat is unlikely to sway Taipei. Tsai Ing-wen, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was sworn in as president on May 20, ending eight years of pro-China Nationalist Party (KMT) rule. The mainland government, unhappy that the less Beijing-friendly DPP is taking over, has tried to apply pressure on the island, but things are stacked against Beijing.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen waves to supporters during a rally campaign ahead of the Taiwanese presidential election on January 15, 2016 in Taipei, Taiwan. Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party, leads in most polls ahead of Saturday's election in the island of 23 million people. Ulet Ifansasti | Getty Images

Traditionally, China has held leverage over Taiwan in three key ways: militarily, economically and geopolitically. By far the most effective method is the military threat, but it's a blunt tool of deterrence: In other words, it would be hard for Beijing to threaten Taiwan with missiles without seriously damaging its own global reputation. "The military has limited ability beyond deterring the nightmare scenario," according to Thomas Vien, an East Asia analyst at geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor. That "nightmare" for Beijing, he said, would be Taiwan declaring full independence from the mainland. "But if you over-deploy it, then you end up receiving a lot of costs that are not commensurate with the benefits you get," Vien said, warning of the "big costs internationally" that would follow direct military threats against Taipei. And beyond that cost calculus, the benefit of military action is unclear: Threats from Beijing are just as likely to strengthen public support for the DPP and other pro-independence voices as they are to quell those sentiments.

Another way that China likes to lean on Taipei is by isolating it from the global community. Only about 20 countries recognize Taiwan as the "Republic of China"  and that list includes Belize, Swaziland and Tuvalu, but does not include the United States, Japan or Australia. Beijing insists that it is the sole legitimate government of all of China, including Taiwan, and pressures other nations to officially acknowledge it as such. In March, Beijing announced that it "restored" relations with Gambia, proving to Taiwan (after Tsai's January election) that it was willing to whittle away at its international recognition. Such punitive measures tend not to play well with the Taiwanese electorate. Neither, however, did China's relatively mild attitude toward Taiwan during the recent KMT years. That's all to say that nothing has worked: the proverbial carrot has no apparent benefit, and the stick has limited use.

Economic power

Last is the economic leverage that Beijing holds over Taipei. About 25 percent of Taiwanese April exports went to China, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance. By comparison, about 7 percent went to Japan and 12 percent went to the United States.

Although Vien suggested that cutting off Taiwan economically could be the "most effective tool" for influencing Taipei, he added that "China tends to be ham-fisted about the whole thing  it tends to blow up in their face." Some in Taiwan complain that the economic ties between their island and China have benefited only a handful of major companies and rich individuals  an argument similar to one made by Americans about the U.S. relationship with China. So among Taiwanese, the economic rewards argument may not hold much weight.

watch now
With the furor over long airport security lines growing, Delta Air Lines debuted a new system Wednesday it hopes will help solve the problem.

The long waits at security checkpoints across the nation have frustrated travelers this spring, with airlines warning passengers to arrive at least two hours early. The situation is only expected to get worse this summer.

About 231 million passengers will fly on U.S. airlines from June through August, up 4 percent from the same period last year, according to the trade group Airlines for America.

"The biggest constraint of the system is the X-ray screening of the bags," Delta Air Lines Chief Operating Officer Gil West said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Wednesday.

In an effort to speed up the lines, Delta is doing a three-week test run at Atlanta's airport that changes the way passengers move through security.

"It's the first of its kind in the U.S., and day one it increased productivity 30 percent," West said. He's expecting productivity to double before the test run ends.
Donald Trump may better serve the U.S. economy than Hillary Clinton as president, as the presumptive Republican nominee is more likely to introduce fiscal stimulus, a well-known market strategist told CNBC on Wednesday.

Bob Janjuah, senior independent client adviser at Nomura, said Trump was more likely to cut taxes and take other measures to boost anemic job creation and economic growth in the U.S. Clinton, however, would be more likely to stick to the status quo and with a Republican-led Congress, would struggle to introduce reforms, he added.

"In the U.S. we have not had credible fiscal policy since (2008)," Janjuah told CNBC in London.

"Now don't laugh, but if Mr. Trump is elected president, as a Republican, and you have a Republican Congress, you might get a fiscal package going. But if Mrs. Clinton is elected president and you have a Republican Congress  which is what you are going to have for another two years give or take  I don't think they are going to get any fiscal policy in the U.S.," he later added.
European equities finished Wednesday sharply higher, after a new debt deal for Greece and a recovery in oil prices lifted market sentiment. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended trade up 1.3 percent provisionally, with banking, autos and energy sectors leading the gains.

German data released

European markets



Banks rise

M&S tanks over 10%; autos speed ahead

In individual stock news, the French government is considering selling part or all of its 14 percent stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen , according to Les Echos. Shares of the carmaker finished sharply higher, up 2.6 percent. Overall, autos closed 1.8 percent up. Anheuser-Busch InBev ended around 1.7 percent higher, following news that the brewer had received EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of SABMiller on Tuesday. SABMiller finished roughly flat.
Executives at ExxonMobil and Chevron will face a showdown over climate policies Wednesday, with calls for greater environmental responsibility from shareholders at the oil majors' annual general meetings. Both ExxonMobil and Chevron are urging voting shareholders to reject proposals that would force the companies to release climate impact reports, increase transparency of climate change lobbying efforts, adopt greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction targets, and in Exxon's case, appoint an independent environmental specialist to its executive board. While ExxonMobil admits that climate change risks are "serious" and warrant "thoughtful action," proxy statements released ahead of its AGM argue against appointing "single issue candidates" to its board, and states that it already has frameworks in place that provide "a foundation for sound environmental management."



Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson Eric Piermont | AFP | Getty Images

Both companies are also resisting stockholder proposals for climate impact reports, with Chevron saying GHG considerations were already integrated into business plans, warning that further disclosure posed competition risks - giving rivals insight into internal analysis, carbon pricing, and reserves base. Earlier this month, a letter signed by 1,000 professors from over 40 global universities, including Oxford and Ivy League colleges like Harvard, was sent by Positive+Investment  a campaign group launched by Cambridge students  to Exxon and Chevron's top 20 shareholders urging they pass the resolutions. But institutional shareholders including Norway's $872 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Church of England, and the U.S.'s largest state pension fund are already throwing their weight behind the climate cause. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) publicly disclosed that it plans to vote in favor of climate impact assessment reports for both Chevron and Exxon, telling reporters earlier this month that it would relentlessly push the companies to be more open about their climate change strategies, even if the proposals didn't pass at this year's AGM. According to its 2015 holdings report, NBIM holds a 0.85 percent stake in Chevron worth $1.45 billion, and a 0.78 percent stake in Exxon worth $2.54 billion.

watch now

In a shareholder letter, California's state pension fund, Calpers, said it also plans to vote for the adoption of climate change impact reports at Chevron, ignoring executive recommendations to vote down the proposal. Calpers said the move would "better enable investors to assess Exxon Mobil's long-term strategy and risk." Calpers' stake in Exxon is worth $1.06 billion, according to its 2014-2015 financial report. Exxon said it was confident the company was addressing climate change-related risks, and assured investors that oil and gas demand wasn't going away any time soon. "We believe all economic energy sources will be necessary to meet growing demand, and the transition of the energy system to lower carbon sources will take many decades due to its enormous scale, capital intensity and complexity," Exxon's proxy statement  released last month - explained. "We believe that none of our proven hydrocarbon reserves are, or will become, stranded."

Flames leap from a burner unit at the Exxon-Mobil refinery in Torrance, Calif. Bob Riha Jr. | Reuters
Congress needs to quit wrangling over funding to fight the Zika virus so the United States can start doing proper mosquito control and accelerate vaccine research, Ron Klain, the nation's former Ebola czar said Wednesday.

The White House has requested $1.9 billion to fund Zika-related health initiatives. The Senate has proposed $1.1 billion, while the House is seeking to allocate $622 million.

The two chambers would have to reach agreement on a spending level before they can send it to President Barack Obama. The Senate will enter negotiations with the House with a strong hand: a bipartisan 68-30 vote in favor of the emergency funds to battle Zika, a virus that has been spreading rapidly through the Americas, with more than 100 confirmed cases in the U.S. state of Florida.

However, the conservative group Heritage Action is lobbying against any Zika funding bill that is not paid for with an equal amount of spending cuts.

"The most important problem is nothing has yet passed," Klain told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "The House has passed a bill. The Senate's passed a bill. They're in a conference committee. The mosquitoes are not going to wait for the conference committee."

With summer just around the corner, mosquito populations will become active, raising the risk the Zika virus will be transmitted within the United States, he said. U.S. cases have thus far been limited to people who were infected with Zika while abroad.
Almost one-third of the cash machines in India have been found non-functional, according to a survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank.

"Incidentally our teams have recently undertaken a survey of almost 4000 automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country with sample size fairly representing geographies and bank categories. Almost one-third of the ATMs were found to be not working at that point," RBI's deputy governor S S Mundra said at a banking event in Mumbai.

The survey also found that a number of ATMs are failing to provide access services for the disabled and are not very customer friendly. Mundra said the RBI will be taking the necessary supervisory action in this regard.

India is home to nearly 200,000 cash machines, as per the RBI data. With a population nearing 1.3 billion, that amounts to one cash machine for 6,500 people. According to data from the World Bank, in 2015, there were nearly 18 cash machines per 100,000 adults. The data also suggests that nearly 21 percent of the world's unbanked adults are in India.

However, a number of efforts have been made in recent times to encourage individuals to open a bank account. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his grand plan for financial inclusion that extends banking facilities to the huge population residing in rural India. The program also outlined setting up of nearly 20,000 ATMs across the country for easier access to finances.
watch now

Global stock markets looked set to build on this week's rally on Wednesday, with Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong indexes posting strong gains overnight. Closely followed market-watcher Dennis Gartman, the founder and publisher of the Gartman Letter, told CNBC on Wednesday the early week's market gains could continue for the next couple of weeks. U.S. stock indexes posted their best day since March on Tuesday with gains of more than 1 percent, following a rise in crude oil prices and encouraging reports on the housing market. "Historically when that happens, we carry through. So I think you're likely to trade better  maybe not today, particularly  but I bet by Friday we're higher and I bet by next week we're higher again," Gartman told CNBC in London.

"Anybody who's short  and there are a lot of smart people who are in fact heavily short  they have to run for cover, and I think it could get ugly," he added.

Major U.S. Indexes



The Euro STOXX 50 index , which tracks the biggest euro zone companies, rallied by around 2.8 percent on Tuesday, despite declining at the start of the session.

Gartman told CNBC he reversed his short and turned long on the Euro STOXX 50 following Tuesday's rally. Shorting the market involves the sale of a security motivated by the belief that its price will decline. A long position is when a security is bought on the assumption the asset price will rise.

"When the Euro STOXX 50 reversed to the upside, after having opened lower and then gotten higher on the day, I said to myself, 'this is turning better, something's taking place,'" Gartman told CNBC.

"Perhaps it was the agreement that was reached between the EU (European Union) fiscal authorities and Greece that seemed to me to be the turning point and once you got higher on the day, it's as if the shorts, I being included, had to rush to get long and I actually ended the day long here, which is unusual for me to turn my position that quickly," he said.

Hopes rose on Tuesday for a new Greek aid package and early on Wednesday, euro zone finance ministers agreed a $11.42 billion deal early to help Athens.

Not everyone shares the same view as Gartman, however, with one analyst warning Wednesday of a possible leg down for U.S. markets. "We have finally broken out of the range and despite some technical signals to the contrary, the move has been to the upside," Brenda Kelly, the head analyst at London Capital Group, said in a note. "Yesterday's surprisingly good new home sales data out of the U.S. was something of a catalyst  but I would not rule out this being a temporary squeeze before the next leg down for U.S. indices."

watch now
The competition regulator in the United Kingdom is investigating Britain's top modeling agencies amid concerns that they colluded to fix prices.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement Wednesday that FM Models, Models 1, Premier, Storm and Viva agreed to exchange confidential and competitively sensitive information, including future pricing information, and in some instances agreed a common approach to pricing.

The CMA said it would now hear statements from the agencies and the AMA before deciding whether they had broken the law.

Premier told CNBC it was not making any comment. At the time of publication other agencies named by the CMA had not yet responded to requests for comment.

Storm discovered Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne while Premier was the agency that gave Naomi Campbell her first big break.
watch now

Where else could one turn up Goldman Sachs ' Gregg Lemkau talking Chinese M&A, right alongside David Benioff breaking down the logistical challenges of directing "Game of Thrones" in two different countries at the same time? Try the bank's Twitter handle. At a time when big banks are slashing expenses in traditional roles, one of the areas many Wall Street firms have staffed up in recent years is within social media divisions. Whether Wall Street firms focus on the consumer, or even if they only cater to elite clients, big banks have sought to fine-tune their real-time public image with a small army of social media staffers. They're multi-lingual and platform-agnostic, even targeting new consumers via SnapChat. Some banks have growing media teams that would make even a seasoned newspaper executive envious. And that's to say nothing of the following big banks have earned in the years they've participated in the great social experiment.

Man on corner of Wall Street train stop on phone Fuse | Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase has about two dozen staffers on its consumer social media team alone, although it doesn't break out full numbers for its entire social squad. Goldman Sachs, which has been particularly prolific on Twitter , employs a handful of full-time producers with network television experience.

Tweet 1 After years of putting communications in the hands of others  like Business Wire, which has seen a spate of client departures in the wake of its premature dissemination of earnings data  big banks have increasingly taken control of their own narrative. Goldman, for example, still relies on Business Wire for some tasks. For others, including its earnings, the bank sends a link to its own site out at a scheduled time via Twitter, instead of outsourcing internal data for press releases. Consumer banks, too, look to integrate social media into their strategies. "We've taken the approach of listen and learn," said Chris Smith, a Bank of America enterprise social media marketing executive. Read MoreThis is the biggest change to hit start-up investing in years There's a lot of listening to be done; at BofA and other Wall Street banks, hundreds of customer service requests are being handled, at least at the outset, via direct messaging over various social media networks. But banks aren't only using social media to cater to existing customers, they're using it to target new ones.

watch now
U.S. stock index futures indicated a higher open Wednesday, continuing a "risk-on" rally in global indexes after positive economic data, rising oil prices, and a new debt deal for Greece.

U.S. stocks posted their best day since March on Tuesday with gains of more than 1 percent, following encouraging reports on the housing market. But the positive news continued overnight with euro zone finance ministers agreeing with Greece and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on what they called a "breakthrough" deal that will address Athens' requests for debt relief.



European stocks were trading higher on Wednesday morning with Asian shares also posting gains overnight.



"Anyone tiring of the sideways moves in equity indices should be thrilled. We have finally broken out of the range and despite some technical signals to the contrary, the move has been to the upside," Brenda Kelly, the head analyst at London Capital Group, said in a note.



"Yesterday's surprisingly good new home sales data out of the U.S. was something of a catalyst  but I would not rule out this being a temporary squeeze before the next leg down for U.S. indices."
Following the S&P 500's biggest one-day gain since March 11, futures were pointing to an extension of Tuesday's rally, with investors apparently becoming more comfortable with the idea of a possible June interest rate by the Fed. (CNBC)

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told CNBC a rate hike in June or July is not set in stone, but labor data suggests it's time to pull the trigger. Meanwhile, regional Fed presidents Patrick Harker, Neel Kashkari, and Rob Kaplan speak today. (CNBC)

Oil was trading around $50 per barrel this morning, after industry data suggested a larger-than-expected drawdown in stockpiles last week. The government's weekly inventory report is out at 10:30 a.m. ET. U.S. crude settled Tuesday at its highest level since October. (Reuters)

Euro zone finance ministers agreed with Greece and the IMF today, on what they called a "breakthrough" deal to address requests from Athens for debt relief. Over the weekend, Greece agreed to more austerity and reform measures. (CNBC)

Protesters outside last night's Donald Trump rally in Albuquerque threw rocks at police horses and set fires, according to authorities and social media posts. Inside, the presumptive GOP nominee continued attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. (NY Times)
The reports final eight minutes record a visit to the printing house where the step-by-step process is shown of $20 counterfeits being made.

Screen capture from the Vice News report on widespread counterfeiting in Lima, Peru, shows a faked blue security thread to replicate that found on the current generation (Series 2009, 2009A) of $100 Federal Reserve notes.

Lima, Peru, is now the counterfeiting capital of the world, says the U.S. Secret Service, which seized 16 million bills of Peruvian manufacture in 2015. The revelation is in a video report by Fernando Lucena, a reporter who went undercover for Vice News and was so good at what he did that he was even able to film how the counterfeits were made.

The Peruvian connection is relatively recent. The first fake note made there was not found in the United States until 2003. Since then, counterfeiting has become an industry in some poor areas of Limas suburbs, where trucks have been seen so overloaded with their bogus cargo that their tires actually flatten. From 2009 to 2015 Peruvian police seized over $76 million of fake American currency in addition to an undisclosed amount of euros and soles. The current situation led the Secret Service to move its Latin American headquarters to Peru from Colombia, which used to be the leader.

Based on his report, one can question whether it would be prudent for Lucena to return to Peru any time soon. The journalist and documentarian began his career as a lawyer in Peru but then got a degree in international journalism and began a career in television. His firm, British-based FL Films, makes factual and current affairs TV documentaries.

Connect with Coin World:

Lucena first went undercover to see how easy it would be to buy counterfeit dollars and after some difficulties established trust with the middlemen selling the notes, which are offered at different levels of quality. He was able to negotiate for a better grade than he was initially offered, but it was not good enough, as a bartender was able to expose it with a detector pen. He was next offered what his dealer called the best $100 counterfeits on the market, and he bought $2,000 worth for $180 in real money.

One of the methods of getting the bad money to the United States was described in detail in a clandestine video. Using a hard-bound Peruvian book that would not be available in the United States, a bookbinder showed how he could hide $4,200 worth of fakes in the covers of the book. He said that 10 to 12 books per trip yielded an export of $60,000 worth of fakes.

The reports final eight minutes show a visit to the printing house where the $20 counterfeits were being made. The step-by-step process is shown:

First, a real bill is scanned. Color separations are then made that are next burned on to aluminum printing plates. Next the notes are printed, but because it is done on regular bond paper and currency paper is 70 to 75 percent cotton, several further steps are required.

The note is carefully split apart at its edge; it peels apart into its face and back sides. This allows for burning the paper using a mixture of 50 percent water and bleach and 50 percent vinegar. The forger says that the purpose of this is to give the notes a different tonality.

The sides are then glued back together, excess glue is removed, the piece is dried with a hairdryer, wrapped in fabric and stepped on, and ironed. A layer of lacquer is applied to make it slightly waterproof, and to replicate areas of intaglio printing, a mixture of potato starch and transparent glue is applied with a toothbrush.

The forger is paid 45 cents for each finished note.

The new $100 notes require insertion of a fake blue security strip by hand. This is done by using a piece of a credit card as a tool to insert the strip into the fake note.

Lucena says that for each forger caught, dozens remain undetected. Many who are jailed either pay their way out of police custody or serve short prison sentences. With more and more learning the trade, it is unlikely that the output of Peruvian fake dollars will stop any time soon.

See https://news.vice.com/video/the-world-leader-in-counterfeiting-limas-fake-dollars for the full video.
I am a summer term reporter at the University of Missouri. My area of study is Magazine Writing, and my hometown is Scottsboro, Alabama. You can reach me by email at acmwx7@mail.missouri.edu or on Twitter @annamapletree

Follow this search Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Synthetic hair problems lead MU grad to create banana-based product

Ciara Imani May wasn't expecting to develop a protective hairstyle product when she studied business at MU. But that's exactly what she's done.
SHARE

By Wayne Risher of The Commercial Appeal

FedEx closed today on a landmark deal to buy TNT Express and its European road delivery network for $4.9 billion.

The Memphis-based company's biggest acquisition in 43 years is expected to extend a surge in earnings as market share rises in Europe. The deal makes FedEx the No. 2 parcel carrier on the continent.

Analysts believe TNT won't immediately boost FedEx's bottom line, because of costs of integrating and upgrading the European operation. But they expect a long-term earnings addition of about $1.50 a share, or more than 10 percent by 2018.

FedEx stock traded at $164.87 per share at mid day, up 0.3 percent from Tuesday's close.

Acquiring TNT has been likened to FedEx's 1998 purchase of Caliber System/Roadway Package System, the basis for U.S. parcel delivery business FedEx Ground. FedEx Ground competes head to head against United Parcel Service and has consistently been one of FedEx's most profitable operating units in recent years, in large part due to burgeoning e-commerce.

This acquisition is a significant accomplishment and marks the beginning of a new era, filled with promise for our people, customers and shareowners, said Frederick W. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of FedEx. We are proud to celebrate the joining of two iconic companies and the approximately 400,000 team members who are committed to serving customers around the world.

The timing of this historic event is important, particularly in the current market environment where global e-commerce is growing at double-digit rates, Smith added. Adding TNTs capabilities to our existing world-class suite of services, including GENCO and the recently relaunched FedEx CrossBorder, will further expand the ability of FedEx to support business connections around the world.

Over our 43-year history, FedEx has repeatedly reinvented and revolutionized the industry, from the first overnight express service backed by a money-back guarantee to the invention of internet shipping. And just as we revolutionized the U.S. domestic parcel business through the acquisition and development of what is now FedEx Ground, the acquisition of TNT will change the way customers view FedEx around the world, Smith continued.

The TNT road network, which connects 40 countries across a continent with an estimated 741 million people, expands FedEx's reach in a market where DHL is a commanding No. 1 and UPS is No. 2.

"The whole idea for FedEx is the access to Europe and the internal European route network that TNT brings," said Helane Becker, analyst with Cowen and Co. "FedEx really didn't have an entry into this route network until this. It would have taken them years to build out, and it would have been very costly if they hadn't done it this way."

A Pittsburgh area consultant who was an RPS insider, Satish Jindel, compared the TNT purchase to FedEx's 1989 airline acquisition that jump-started the company's business in Asia.

"TNT is a good acquisition for them," Jindel said. "It is closer to them buying Flying Tiger. It gives them a presence in Europe in a way they were limited before."

FedEx's purchase of TNT, for which negotiations began 15 months ago, came after European anti-trust regulators in 2013 thwarted a UPS bid to buy TNT.

The combination means substantially more revenue and employees for FedEx, which launched operations at Memphis International Airport in 1973.

TNT has estimated 2016 revenues of about $7.8 billion, and analysts expect FedEx revenues to hit $50.1 billion. TNT has 56,000 employees, and FedEx's worldwide headcount is 340,000.

The purchase wrapped up with a ceremony about 3:30 a.m. CDT in The Netherlands. FedEx Express president and chief executive David Bronczek joined David Binks, president of FedEx Express Europe and Tex Gunning, CEO of TNT Express, in a press conference at The Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam.

Patrick Fitzgerald, FedEx senior vice president, integrated marketing and communications, said, Its a transformational day for FedEx because of the significant expansion of the portfolio. Really the acquisition reshapes the global transportation industry, what it does in terms of TNTs global footprint, but in particular in Europe in creating another significant competitor.

The settlement followed TNT's sale of two airlines to Ireland's ASL Aviation on Tuesday to meet a condition barring foreign companies from owning more than 49 percent of a European Union-registered airline. ASL said it will fly the planes for FedEx-TNT.

The TNT deal comes as FedEx' completes a 3.5-year push to sustain double-digit margins and increase profits by $1.6 billion a year in its FedEx Express unit.

Some analysts believe the expansion will help FedEx continue the momentum of the profit improvement program, which officially runs through May 31.

A report by CITI Research said, "while we are modeling little contribution from TNT in F17, the deal has ample opportunity to add value from revenue and cost synergies in F18. Its contribution in F18 adds a fifth year of double digit (earnings per share) growth..." CITI added. F17 and F18 refer to 2017 and 2018.

Analyst Thomas Wadewitz of UBS said in a research note that he sees "significant opportunity for cost takeout and productivity over a period of several years as facilities and pickup and delivery routes can be rationalized."

Within Europe, FedEx has about 16,000 employees and 321 stations, and TNT has 33,000 employees and 559 depots and hubs, UBS said. TNT also has significant operations outside Europe including Brazil and China.

The acquisition moves FedEx from Europe's fourth largest delivery company to third, far behind DHL, but closing in on UPS.

Previous biggest transactions for FedEx were $2.4 billion apiece for Caliber/RPS in January 1998 and Kinko's in February 2004.
Murch, a lab and golden retriever mix, is part of a larger effort to help victims going through the judicial process. (Photo courtesy of WATE-TV)

SHARE

By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

When a Tennessee child rape victim testified in court, a Labrador retriever mix named Murch was present for comfort.

The man convicted of raping the boy in 2014 later filed an appeal, arguing in part that the trial court was wrong for allowing the facility dog to be present. This week, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the rapist's claim.

"This is the first Tennessee case on dogs in the courtroom, and there appear to be only a few other cases in the United States on the procedure," said Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Alan E. Glenn, of Memphis, who delivered the opinion of the court in State of Tennessee v. Jose Reyes.

Murch was trained from birth for obedience and as a service animal. He is 5 years old this month, said Jennifer Wilkerson, executive director of the Upper Cumberland Child Advocacy Center in Cookeville, Tennessee.

"In a courtroom, (Murch) was to lie 'very quiet and calm,' be 'invisible,' and provide 'comfort,'" Glenn wrote.

According to the court record, Wilkerson said the victim, who was 10 at the time, was "very apprehensive and appeared very anxious, scared and frightened about the process."

"After bringing Murch in and allowing (the victim) to spend a little time with him, he seemed to immediately calm down," she said. "He was drawn to the animal, pet the dog and appeared to be a little bit more relaxed and able to focus and talk."

The appeals court found that the use of facility dogs is permitted, and cited cases from the state of Washington, California and New York.

In Washington, a golden retriever named Ellie accompanied a 56-year-old burglary victim who had a developmental disability, Glenn noted. The Washington Supreme Court approved the presence of the dog during the trial.

In a New York case, a golden retriever named Rose accompanied a girl to the witness stand to testify about being sexually assaulted and becoming pregnant by her father. The court "discounted any prejudice to the defendant from the presence of 'Rose,'" Glenn wrote.

In the Tennessee case, the victim testified Reyes raped him around the beginning of 2013 in Reyes' bedroom. Reyes had rented a room at the house of a "long-time family friend," where the victim sometimes stayed, according to the court record.

Reyes argued that the presence of the dog would be "overly prejudicial" to him.

The trial court, however, found that Murch's presence would ease the victim and that the dog would be handled in order to make his presence "as unobtrusive as possible." The court further instructed the jury that no inferences or sympathy should result from the dog's presence.

"Accordingly, we cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the use of the facility dog, Murch, during the trial," Glenn wrote.

Following the appellate court's ruling, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft said Wednesday that he will draft a jury instruction for use of comfort dogs in trials to present at a June judicial conference.
Police officers worked near the spot behind Frayser Elementary School where a 17-year-old was shot Friday night.

By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

Memphis police have arrested a 19-year-old in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old last month on the playground of Frayser Elementary School.

Antonio Marshall has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kerr-Dulea Neil. Neil was shot and killed a little after 7:10 p.m. at the school at 1602 Dellwood. According to witnesses, the suspect came from some trees behind the court and opened fire, possibly over something that was gang-related.
SHARE

By Wire and staff reports

AUSTIN, Texas  Tennessee and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. It asks a North Texas federal court to declare the directive unlawful in what ranks among the most coordinated and visible legal challenges by states over the socially divisive issue of bathroom rights for transgender persons.

The Obama administration has conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights, the lawsuit reads.

Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously said there is no room in our schools for discrimination.

The White House had no comment on the lawsuit. The Justice Department said it would review the complaint and did not comment further.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery released a statement after the lawsuit was filed, citing states rights and calling the directive a social experiment implemented by federal departments.

Sitting on the sidelines on this issue was not an option, Slaterys statement read.

Gov. Bill Haslam offered support for Slaterys action.

The governor fully supports Gen. Slaterys action on behalf of our state, said Jennifer Donnals, Haslams press secretary. He disagrees with the Obama administrations overreach and heavy-handed approach. Congress has the authority to write the law, not the executive branch.

State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said the Senate Republican Caucus is pleased that Tennessee will join with other states in challenging the Obama administrations actions regarding the redefinition of the term sex in connection with Title VII and Title IX and local education, and state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment.

State House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada of Franklin said the attorney generals action ends the need for a special legislative session in which lawmakers would consider a response to the federal guidance.

What we wanted to do in the House is just to make sure that we defended our schools and fight this unconstitutional directive from the Department of Justice, and thats been met. So I applaud the attorney general and the governor for their leadership, Casada said.

It will take a long time, but I feel very strongly that the 6th Circuit (U.S. Court of Appeals) will opine that the Department of Justices of the Department of Education are doing is unconstitutional.

But Supporters of the Obama administrations action were disappointed in the attorney generals action.

The downside is that Tennessee has joined the fight on the wrong side, Tennessee Equality Project Executive Director Chris Sanders said. But the silver linings are that the legislature probably wont call itself into special session and that we may get resolution on these important issues sooner than we thought.

Will Batts, executive director of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center said there is no evidence that the general population of students will be at risk from the Obama administrations directive, but there is plenty of evidence that transgender kids are at risk daily for ridicule and bullying.

(The directive) is an attempt to make school safer for those kids, he said.

Crying states rights has become kind of an easy and popular defense when people want to discriminate against a certain part of their population, Batts said.

The Associated Press and staff writers Richard Locker and Katie Fretland contributed to this report.
By Jennifer Pignolet of The Commercial Appeal

Shelby County Schools and the state-run Achievement School District are in talks to partner in the operation of Raleigh-Egypt Middle School, SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said Tuesday.

The plan would have SCS putting the school into its Innovation Zone turnaround program and eliminating a plan already in place to add grades six through eight to Raleigh-Egypt High School. The ASD would offer resources including teachers and school leaders who have already been hired for Raleigh-Egypt Middle, which is set for takeover by Scholar Academies in the fall.

The move would be unprecedented for the two districts, which have fought for the last four years over control of the most challenging schools in Shelby County. SCS has attributed much of its budget deficit this year to loss of enrollment due to the ASD.

But Hopson and school board members had concerns about the offer, including questions about autonomy and the further disruption to families' lives.

"I personally feel like this would jeopardize everything that we're working for," board member Stephanie Love said. Her district includes the Raleigh-Egypt feeder pattern, which is all on one campus.

Love has blasted the ASD for disrupting the feeder pattern by taking over the middle school. The board approved a work-around, adding the middle school-level grades to the high school to provide families another option if they wanted to avoid the ASD.

Realizing that one campus would then contain two middle schools, Hopson said he began seeking a solution with ASD Superintendent Malika Anderson.

ASD's new Chief of External Affairs, Robert White, said the conversations have been around the best option for students regardless of who runs the school.

"Honestly, that type of collaboration, that type of synergy, it would have quite frankly been something to behold," White said, adding that as an iZone school, SCS would have full control over staffing.

Hopson said the ASD may be able to give SCS the philanthropic dollars it had received to help run the middle school under Scholar Academies.
By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Congressional candidate David Kustoff recently posted a video on his Facebook page showing him greeting people as he walks in the World's Biggest Fish Fry Parade in Paris, Tennessee. Next to him, a boy sitting in the bed of a slow-moving truck holds a sign that says, "Vote for my dad."

Kustoff lives in Germantown, about two-and-a-half hours from Paris, but he wasn't the only candidate from the Memphis area appearing at the small town event. State Senator Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, posted his own Facebook photos from the World's Biggest Fish Fry and declared, "Can't wait to go back!"

Just over two months remain until the August 4 primary that will likely decide who represents the heavily-Republican 8th Congressional District. Candidates from the Memphis area are venturing far from home in their efforts to win.

The district covers a section of East Memphis and much of suburban Shelby County, including all or parts of Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown and Lakeland. It also covers all of Jackson and Union City and a large swath of rural west Tennessee, bordered by the Mississippi River to the west and the Kentucky line on the north. That combination of suburban and rural means candidates from the Memphis area show up at places like the Tennessee Iris Festival in Dresden, the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival in Humboldt, and Tim's BBQ Hut in Dyersburg.

The frenzy to land the seat began earlier this year when incumbent Stephen Fincher, R-Frog Jump, announced February 1 that he wasn't pursuing re-election.

Within hours, several candidates declared their interest in the seat, including some notable names in local Republican circles. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell is running. So is former County Commissioner George Flinn and County Register Tom Leatherwood. Other Shelby County candidates include Kustoff, Kelsey, and businessmen Raymond Honeycutt and David J. Maldonado.

Republicans outside Shelby County are running as well, bringing the number of Republicans in the primary to 13. They are Ken Atkins of Mason, Hunter Baker, Dave Bault, Brad Greer and George B. Howell of Jackson and David Wharton of Union City.

Democrats Rickey Hobson and Gregory Alan Frye are running, as are some independents not listed on the August 4 ballot.

The winners of the Aug. 4 Republican and Democratic primaries will face the independents in the Nov. 8 general election.

One of the people who knows the politics of the district is Jimmy Wallace who lives in rural Madison County near Jackson. He's a 74-year-old longtime Republican activist and a member of the state election commission.

He said Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature redrew the boundaries of the 8th District lines in 2010, cutting out Democratic-leaning rural counties at the eastern boundary of the district and adding more Republican-friendly territory and voters in suburban Shelby County. The result: the district leans even more Republican.

The other Congressional district in Shelby County, the 9th, is 66 percent African-American, according to U.S. Census data. The district is represented by Steve Cohen, a Democrat, and is considered a reliable Democratic seat. By contrast, the 8th district is 76 percent white, according to census data. Before Fincher, the district was represented by John Tanner, a Democrat and co-founder of the conservative Blue Dog coalition. Tanner retired in 2010, clearing the way for Fincher's eventual win over Democratic state Senator Roy Herron as well as Fincher's election to subsequent terms.

"There's very little likelihood that there will ever be another Democrat elected to this 8th congressional seat. ... That's how dramatically this has all changed," Wallace said.

Wallace says to emerge from the crowded Republican field, the winning candidate must raise enough money to get out the message through television, radio and direct mail. "You just can't shake every hand and knock on every door," said Wallace.

Wallace said positions count, too. Not surprisingly, many of the candidates are touting conservative credentials in their websites and advertisements.

"If you want to be the Republican nominee, you'd better be a conservative," Wallace said. "Because this rural district, now even with Shelby County significantly a part of it, is a conservative district. Very conservative district. Pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax, anti-income tax."
SHARE

Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter dropped the hammer on absentee property owner Brent McElwee last week when the judge sentenced him to jail for ignoring court orders to fix up his blighted properties.

This was the first time someone has been sentenced to jail in this kind of case, court officials said. Given the city's humongous problem with blighted properties, this kind of hammer should be used more often.

Potter, who helped create the Environmental Court in 1982, issued a contempt of court ruling against McElwee, who lives in California, sentencing him to 15 days in jail for ignoring nearly a year's worth of court orders involving his more than 40 Atlantic Apartments properties in Highland Heights.

Potter has put the apartments in a receivership under the city so the "nuisance" properties can be demolished.

McElwee, principal officer of Capital Communities Atlantic Properties, has never appeared in court to address the condition of his boarded-up properties, where trees have fallen on at least two houses. In addition to jail time, he has a $305,000 judgment against him.

University of Memphis law student Jordan Emily, who worked with lawyer Steve Barlow and found the court case that was the basis for Potter's ruling, said it is unlikely McElwee will come to Memphis. He said he spoke with McElwee, who told him he wasn't going to come to Tennessee and wasn't going to hire a lawyer. If McElwee does return, there will be a warrant for his arrest waiting for him.

Barlow is a leader in Neighborhood Preservation Inc., a local anti-blight advocacy group. Emily is part of a group of U of M law students who are using their legal training to help in the battle against blight.

We said before in this space that the fight to rid Memphis and Shelby County of blight is like trying to bail water out of the sinking Titanic with a thimble.

During a visit with The Commercial Appeal's editorial board in March, Barlow and other Neighborhood Preservation Inc. board members talked about how there is no easy answer for dealing with seemingly intractable problem properties, especially those whose owners  usually absentee  are shielded by limited liability companies.

It can take forever to get a court resolution on blighted properties owned by LLCs or out-of-town owners. One remedy, they said, would be to shorten the time it takes to get the owner to court to get a resolution on what to do with a blighted property.

Capital Communities Atlantic Properties is not listed as an LLC, but the blight that is taking place at the Atlantic Apartments is emblematic of the difficulty code enforcement officers have in getting out-of-town owners to clean up or demolish blighted properties.

We hope Potter's contempt order with jail time strikes a degree of fear in derelict property owners, regardless of where they live.

Blight is an extreme sore on this community and feeds a host of social maladies, including crime. It feeds the city's 30 percent poverty rate and discourages meaningful private investment that could help revive neighborhoods.

Potter, working with city code inspectors and those in the business community who have joined in a Memphis Blight Elimination Charter, should not hesitate to drop the contempt hammer when appropriate.
SHARE

By Andrew Malcolm

Bernie Sanders is raising $1 million a day without trying. He has easily won a string of primaries, including Oregon most recently. His crowds are large, enthusiastic, determined, sometimes in a chair-throwing kind of way.

Hillary Clinton's unfavorable numbers are large, growing larger. And the first national poll just came out putting a flip-flopping, suddenly Republican reality-TV celebrity ahead of her, though both tie at 57 percent in high unfavorables.

Other than that, the presumptive nominee's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is going really great. Now come the closing days before voting in California, the nation's most populous state, where Clinton should win going away, as she did in 2008.

The former attorney, former Arkansas first lady, former White House first lady, former senator, former secretary of state and former colossally paid giver of secret speeches to incredibly wealthy investors was supposed to be the easy winner. Just like 2008.

But now, a 74-year-old stubborn, socialist geezer who wants to hike taxes during an economic recovery is harassing her from the left. A convenient Democrat, a lifelong pol, he's weakening an already weak candidate.

Sanders is draining her money and time while distracting Clinton from her partisan rival, who is already campaigning and fundraising for the general election. Clinton is trying to attack both men simultaneously, tough for even a polished pol.

So we just witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Clinton, architect of the lethal Benghazi mess, now under FBI criminal investigation over national security and her emails, pronouncing the likely GOP nominee unqualified for office.

Sanders' prolonged campaign has divided Democrats into bitter camps, and by weakening Clinton, he threatens President Barack Obama's legacy, whatever controversial mess that turns out to be.

"We are in until the last ballot is cast!" shouted a defiant Sanders, who's having the wild-haired time of his long political life, ignoring increasingly anxious Democratic warnings that his hopeless effort threatens party unity for Nov. 8.

Sanders, of course, has no chance of winning the nomination at what's shaping up as a rancorous convention in the City of Brotherly Love. There, officials are loosening liquor laws to ease the pain during the last week of July.

Despite media blather about rigged primaries among the 17 Republican candidates, it's the charade of unelected establishment superdelegates that has predetermined the Clinton nomination. Sanders is trying to lure defectors from there by closing on Clinton's popular-vote total.

"The Democratic Party," Sanders told another raucous rally, "is going to have to make a very profound and important decision. It can do the right thing and open its doors and welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change. That is the Democratic Party I want to see."

He added, "The other option for the Democratic Party, which is a sad and tragic option, is to choose to maintain its status quo structure."

Fairness is always a volatile topic in America, politics included. Donald Trump used unproven allegations of unfair party treatment in his march to victory. Now it's Sanders' turn. His Nevada supporters broke up their state convention with shouting, shoving and chair-throwing upon perceiving unfair rules interpretations by Clinton backers.

Then came days of pointless internecine Democrat arguments over whether Sanders had sufficiently apologized and urged calm.

Can you say Chicago 1968? Then, Democrat Eugene McCarthy fought a divisive primary campaign against the party establishment. Angry protests against the Vietnam War and lack of party inclusiveness turned that convention into a week of shifting street melees and tear gas that spilled onto national TV with Democrat denouncing Democrat.

As someone in that embattled bastion of Democratic politics, I can report that the mass arrests and images of police horses pushing demonstrators through showroom windows virtually doomed establishment Vice President Hubert Humphrey's bid for a third straight Democratic administration. And it elected an unpopular Republican named Richard Nixon.

Oh, look. In 2016, the establishment's Hillary Clinton, a Chicago native, must defeat an intransigent insurgent within her divided party in order to seek a third straight Democratic administration. She faces an unpopular Republican named Donald Trump.

Andrew Malcolm is an author and veteran national and foreign correspondent covering politics since the 1960s. He wrote this for Tribune News Service.
SHARE

By Dan Thomasson

WASHINGTON  About the same time Donald Trump was brandishing his newly found credentials as a key defender of the right to bear arms by aiming a barrage of verbal bullets at Hillary Clinton at the National Rifle Association's annual celebration, a man was waving the real thing at a security point near the White House.

For his trouble, Trump hopes to win millions of votes.

For his trouble, the man who refused to drop his weapon won a bullet in the chest from the Secret Service and perhaps a chance to survive.

Somehow, the two separate events seem fittingly connected, or at least intertwined in the irresponsibility that rages in this country's love affair with deadly weapons.

Trump comes newly to his position on guns, having shortly after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting praised President Barack Obama's efforts to put new restrictions on the sale of guns. But politicians change their minds, particularly when there is an opportunity to lambaste an opponent over one of the touchiest issues in American culture and to stretch the truth more than a little and receive huzzahs for it.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee sighted in on Clinton's stated intention to expand background checks of prospective gun owners and to close loopholes that allow gun-show trading with no checks at all. What Clinton really is aiming at is the abolition of the Second Amendment, he charged, an act that would leave average, law-abiding Americans defenseless in an increasingly violent society. How's that for buying into your host's (the NRA's) line without reservation and receiving thunderous (or should we make that hysterical) applause for it?

First of all, Clinton is not so foolish as to tweak the snout of firearms lovers by suggesting anything as radical as destroying the Constitution's stated privilege of gun ownership, no matter how desirable that may seem, especially so after one of those sensational mass murders that comes so frequently now. One may not like Clinton, the expected Democratic candidate, for a variety of reasons. But she is not stupid about the power of the NRA and other shills for firearms manufacturers.

The one thing that Trump said that is certainly accurate is that the NRA is the most powerful lobby in the nation. That is so because those who oppose it have no comparable dedicated voice, and because of that, politicians are scared to death of it, even those who understand how wrong-headed and dangerous the group's policies are. Trump wasn't the only politician or prospective officeholder to humble himself at the lobby's yearly gathering, pledging fealty and genuflecting to those who would give up their weapons only after they were pried from their cold, dead hands, as Charlton Heston, the movie star who was one of the NRA's more colorful presidents, once famously said.

Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, who has a history of embarrassing his state but wants a second term and once thought about running for president, swore his allegiance to the lords of gunpowder as a "card-carrying member of the NRA."

He bragged to the Louisville, Ky., crowd that Indiana allows freedom-loving Hoosiers to carry concealed weapons in the 100-year-old state park system. Now that's something to be proud of. It's that kind of insensitivity that cost him his higher aspirations, but should provide for an easy re-entry into local talk radio if he needs it. Listeners abound who favor that sort of Genghis Khan palaver.

Much of Trump's contention that "Heartless Hillary" would disarm Americans in high-crime neighborhoods, "whether it's a young, single mom in Florida or a grandmother in Ohio" is, of course, just eyewash. When was the last time such a woman pulled out a 9 millimeter and blew away the bad guy? That certainly applies to grandmothers in Ohio, bless them.

The crowd that watched the drama at the security point near the White House was sizable. In an age where packing heat has become as common as reports of the latest shootings, it's probably a fact that someone was carrying. But as usual in these cases, no civilian acted. It's probably a good thing.

What is disturbing in this year of political turmoil is that single-minded, one-issue voters are likely to ignore what's really important in this election  experience and sanity, for instance.

Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com.
The tech industry has a dearth of female talent. As of 2013, only 26% of technology jobs were held by women, according to a review by the American Association of University Women. After peaking in the early 80s, the percentage of computer science bachelors degrees received by U.S. women has steadily declined.

With the growing skills shortage in certain key areas, enticing more women into technology can only help the field as a whole. Patricia Barber helps lead Girls in Technology, which offers a mentoring program for girls interested in pursuing careers in STEM. "Research suggests that for the tech jobs that are going to be available in the future, there isn't going to be enough talent to fill those positions unless women and girls became involved," she says.

In Massachusetts, a high-tech mecca, women held only around 26.5% of tech jobs in 2014, a slight drop from 2007, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Workforce diversity in Silicon Valley isn't much better.

Monica Eaton-Cardone, founder and CIO of Global Risk Technologies, agrees. "To change this, women need to be encouraged to follow their interests and need to be educated on the growing potential of STEM careers," she says.

One way to achieve this change is to get girls involved in STEM fields from an early age, and a growing number of programs across the country aim to do just that.

Summer is just around the corner, and while offerings such as MIT's Women's Technology Program and Girls Who Code's summer immersion program are filled, a few programs are still accepting applications. Read more about them, below.

We will update this list in the fall with other programs worth looking into, so be sure to check back.

About: Alexa Cafe offers girls instruction in coding, Web design and much more. Class sizes are small, never more than eight students to one teacher, and girls learn in a collaborative environment. With locations all over the country, Alexa Cafe offers both day camp and overnight camp options. Check out your preferred location to see if it fits your needs.

When: Various dates in June, July and August

Where: Various locations across the U.S., including California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington

Cost: Varies by location. Day camps range from $949 to $1,099 per week, plus an extra $60 per week if you want lunch provided. Overnight camps cost an additional $569 per week, and include all meals. Scholarships are typically offered, but this years have already been awarded.

Age range: 10 to 15

How to apply: Apply online -- click to expand the state you're interested in, and then click where you see the Alexa icon next to various locations. Or register by phone: (888) 709-8324.

About: These one-week day camp programs were designed for girls to learn about the intricacies of app building, including business aspects. What started as a single program in Portland, Ore., in 2013 has expanded to five locations in the western U.S. and Canada.

When: July and August, varies by location.

Where: Portland, Ore.; Vancouver, B.C.; Seattle; Phoenix; and Orange County, Calif.

Cost: $400 per session

Age range: Entering grades 8 or 9 in the fall.

How to apply: Apply online

About: Black Girls Code has two summer camps, one in Washington, D.C. and another in Chicago. The organization also has various programs throughout the year put on by individual chapters. Check their upcoming programs and events page to find workshops near you.

When: Washington camp: June 27 - July 12; Chicago camp: July 18 - 22

Where: Washington and Chicago

Cost: $300 and $150, respectively, but a limited number of scholarships are available

Age range: 10-14 for Washington, 12-plus for Chicago

How to apply: Washington, Chicago

Curious Jane and CJ Junior

About: Curious Jane caters to girls in grades 3-6; CJ Junior is for girls in grades 1 and 2. Girls get hands-on experience with science, design and engineering.

When: July and August

Where: Brooklyn and Manhattan

Cost: Brooklyn locations: $545 per week; Manhattan locations: $625 per week

Age range: Grades 1 through 6

How to apply: Apply online. Some programs are already full, so make sure your preferred location and program still has availability.

About: Put on by Microsoft, DigiGirlz camps are free. There are eight locations in the U.S., and camps take place throughout the year. They are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and some camps still have space for July and August. These are day camps only, so if you decide to apply for a camp outside of your local area, you'll have to make boarding arrangements yourself. DigiGirlz also has online courses for creating your own podcast and building websites. There are also DigiGirlz Days -- in cities where Microsoft has offices -- where high school girls talk with Microsoft employees to learn more about careers in technology.

When: Various times throughout the year.

Where: Various locations throughout the U.S.

Cost: Free

Age range: Must be at least 13 when you apply -- most camps are geared toward high school students.

How to apply: Apply online

About: Upcoming high school juniors and seniors (and others if space allows) learn engineering from Sweet Briar faculty and engineering majors. Young women complete hands-on projects that will teach them engineering skills and earn them college credit.

When: July 24 to 29

Where: Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Va.

Cost: $700; includes meals, lodging, tuition, supplies and field trips

Age range: Upcoming juniors and seniors in high school, although others will be considered if space allows.

How to apply: Apply online

About: Spectacles is a weeklong math and science camp for middle school girls. Campers are given the opportunity to learn in Wesleyan Colleges science labs and computer facilities, and learn from Wesleyan faculty. Campers stay on campus but have field trips to meet with and learn about the careers of women in a variety of STEM areas.

When: July 10 to 16

Where: Wesleyan College campus in Macon, Ga.

Cost: $640; includes housing on campus, meals, classes and field trips

Age range: Entering grades 7, 8 and 9 in the fall

How to apply: Apply online by June 1
In a surprise move Tuesday, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise said it would spin off its enterprise services business and merge it with CSC to create an IT services giant with $26 billion in annual revenue.

It's the latest step by CEO Meg Whitman in her effort to turn around one of Silicon Valley's oldest companies. Just last year, Hewlett-Packard split itself into two vendors, with HPE selling data center products and services, and HP Inc. selling PCs.

Now, HPE will slice itself up further, doubling down on its bet that a smaller company will be able to move faster and attract new business in a world increasingly dominated by the cloud.

HPE said it expects to complete the "spin-merger" by March 2017. The combined company will be led by Mike Lawrie, CSC's chairman, president and CEO. Whitman will have a seat on the board, and the remaining directors will be nominated half by HPE and half by CSC.

HPE called it the logical next step in the turnaround of its Enterprise Services business, which has been struggling for years to expand its sales and improve profitability. Tuesdays move essentially undoes HPs 2008 acquisition of services company EDS, for which it paid around $13.9 billion.

"With cloud services becoming more a part of life for enterprises, selling technology services is becoming a harder and harder business to compete in," said Charles King, industry analyst at Pund-IT.

He and other analysts wondered about the timing of the deal, noting that it may have been in the works as far back as October, when HP first split itself into two.

Since then, HPE has positioned itself as a "transformation" partner for large businesses, promising to help them adapt to emerging technologies like big data analytics, mobility and the cloud.

Selling customers on that message could become harder after it spin-off its services division, however.

"Without a strong services business, how do you be a partner in strategic transformation?" asked Gartner analyst Thomas Bittman.

He speculated that HPEs Technical Services division, which has been adding new types of services to its roster, will pick up some of the slack. He hoped to get more details when he speaks with HPEs leadership team Wednesday.

"HPE will also be more free to partner surgically with other services providers, which could be interesting" he said, pointing to areas such as managed security.

King had similar concerns. "It brings into question the kinds of competitive disadvantages HPE might face going up against companies like IBM, Dell and Lenovo that have sizeable services organizations," he said. He too expects HPE to lean on partnerships.

In a statement, Whitman said customers would benefit from a "stronger, more versatile services business, better able to innovate and adapt to an ever-changing technology landscape."

HPE shareholders will own approximately 50 percent of the merged company, and HPE said theyll gain about $8.5 billion in "expected after-tax value."

Merging the businesses will also yield cost savings of about $1 billion in the first year, HPE said, but there will also be costs to spinning out the division.

There was no mention of layoffs in Tuesdays announcement, but HPE already said last year it would cut 33,000 jobs by 2018, in addition to 55,000 job cuts it had already announced.

"Its got to be incredibly difficult for the HP services employees, whove already been whipsawed by layoff after layoff," King said.

HPE also announced its financial results Tuesday. Second quarter net revenue hit $12.7 billion, the company said, up 1 percent from a year earlier. It was the first time in five years the businesses that comprise HPE have grown year over year, the company said.

Net profit was $320 million, up from $305 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Investors reacted well to Tuesdays news, sending HPE shares 11 percent higher after the close of regular trading, to $18.10. Shares in CSC soared 28 percent after hours, to $45.50.
Many states aren't confident of their ability to respond to cyberattacks on physical infrastructure such as water and electric systems, U.S. emergency response officials say.

The U.S. government could do several things to help states improve their response to cyberattacks, including increased funding for technology training programs, cybersecurity experts told a House of Representatives committee Tuesday.

States have difficulty hiring top cybersecurity employees, said Steven Spano, president and COO of the Center for Internet Security. Cybersecurity workers are a "high-demand, low-density asset," the former Air Force general told two subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Meanwhile, states are uncertain about their ability to respond to cyberattacks, lawmakers noted. For four years in a row, states have ranked their ability to respond to cyberattacks at the bottom of a list of emergency response competencies when surveyed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, noted Representative Dan Donovan, a New York Republican.

"I am worried that it's only a matter of time before the hackers are successful" in compromising the electric grid, the water system, or some other essential service, added Representative Donald Payne, a New Jersey Democrat.

Part of the problem for states is a lack of funding, said Mark Raymond, CIO for the state of Connecticut and vice president National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

Most states spend just 1 percent to 2 percent of their IT budgets on cybersecurity, while the federal government spends about 15 percent, Raymond said.

Like Spano, Raymond noted the difficulty of hiring cybersecurity professionals, with states competing with private industry for the best people. Cybersecurity workers are the "most difficult to recruit and retain for states," he said. "State government salary rates and pay structures are the biggest challenges in bringing on IT talent."

Neither Spano nor Raymond gave lawmakers statistics about open cybersecurity positions in state governments.

Another area of concern is cyberthreat information sharing, witnesses said. While sharing between the federal government and states has improved in recent years, much of that information is classified, said Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Cooney, assistant deputy superintendent in the Office of Counter Terrorism for the New York State Police.

"We cannot share useful contents with many of customers unless the classification is downgraded," he said.
If you manage your whole LAN in the cloud, why not add in the desk phones, too?

That's what Cisco's Meraki division has done. Its first phone, the MC74, can be managed on the same dashboard Meraki provides for its switches, Wi-Fi access points, security devices, and other infrastructure.

Cisco bought Meraki in 2012 when it was a startup focused on cloud-managed Wi-Fi. The wireless gear remains, but Cisco took the cloud management concept and ran with it. Now Merakis approach is the model for Ciscos whole portfolio.

Merakis goal is to simplify IT, said Pablo Estrada, director of marketing for Ciscos cloud networking group. The idea appeals to smaller companies with small or non-existent IT staffs, but also to some large enterprises that need to set up and run networks at remote offices, he said. Since Cisco bought Meraki, the customer base has grown from 15,000 to 120,000.

The MC74 extends Merakis platform to phones, giving customers the chance to combine voice calling with their data networks and remove a separate system that can be complicated to manage. The MC74 is available now in the U.S. and will gradually roll out to other countries.

While Merakis cloud has a single pane of glass in its software to manage different kinds of infrastructure, its phone literally has a single pane of glass: an elegant, smartphone-like touchscreen. Other than volume and mute buttons and the corded handset, all the controls pop up on that screen.

Cisco is working on added features for Meraki phones that would tie them into the companys broader communications portfolio later this year. For example, if two employees were in a text chat on Ciscos Spark messaging app and decided to switch to voice, a user with a Meraki phone might be able to make that shift with one click, Estrada said.

The MC74 has a list price of US$599. Service to tie it into the public switched telephone network is list-priced at $8.95 per month. A Meraki cloud license for one phone costs $150.

Meraki is also upping its game in Wi-Fi. Two new access points, the MR52 and MR53, are equipped for so-called Wave 2 of the IEEE 802.11ac standard. That standard boosts Wi-Fis theoretical top speed to 2.3Gbps (bits per second) from 1.3Gbps in the first wave of 11ac. But the main point of the Wave 2 APs is to be able to serve more devices in the same area, Estrada said.

Along with the new access points, Meraki is introducing wired switches with ports equipped for 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps. Those are to handle the higher throughput from Wave 2 access points without upgrading to 10-Gigabit Ethernet, which requires better cabling. Theres no formal Ethernet standard for these speeds, but the Meraki switches use NBase-T, a specification that should make them upgradable to the standard via software, Estrada said.
Down, but not out: Microsoft is laying off another 1,850 staff from its smartphone hardware business, but says it isn't leaving the market completely.

What's left of the old Nokia business in Finland will be hardest hit by the latest round of lay-offs, with up to 1,350 jobs to go. Microsoft will cut up to 500 more globally, it said Wednesday.

Since it bought Nokia's mobile phone activities in 2013, Microsoft has been managing a business in decline. The majority of the staff it acquired from Nokia are gone, and the company's mobile phone market share has stagnated.

Last week, the company sold off its feature-phone business, and hinted that while it would continue to update software for its Lumia smartphones, it would develop no new Lumia hardware. But no new Lumia hardware doesn't necessarily mean no new smartphones.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company will "continue to innovate across devices," an ambiguous phrase that could mean more hardware is on the way. The company is rumored to be working on a Surface Phone, a companion to its series of Surface tablets that could arrive next year.

Nadella also promised innovation in "cloud services across all mobile platforms."

But the company's phone efforts will be focused where it can differentiate its offering from the competition, he said.

He highlighted security and manageability as two key areas where Microsoft has something to offer phone buyers, be they consumers or enterprises.

Development will also continue on Continuum, he said. This can turn compatible high-end phones such as the Lumia 950 or 950XL into presenting tools or even computers by connecting them to a keyboard, mouse and external screen. Some say Continuum is a threat to Apple and Android phone makers; others are less enthusiastic.

As a consequence of the latest lay-off plans, Microsoft will set aside $200 million for severance fees and write down the value of its More Personal Computing business, resulting in a total charge of around $950 million, it said. It expects to make most of the lay-offs by year-end, with the remainder going by mid-2017.
Enterprises' initial entrance into the cloud is over and they witnessing the arrival of the Cloud 2.0. That's the word from Diane Greene, senior vice president for Google's cloud businesses.

The first phase of the cloud involved testing the waters, figuring out how companies could save time and in-house effort by having apps and services run in the cloud and using the cloud to store data. The top concerns were security and reliability.

Fast forward several years, and enterprises that have moved to the cloud have resolved most of their worries, figured out if they want a private, public or hybrid cloud, and chosen their vendors.

Now CIOs want to do more than store their data and run their apps in the cloud.

They want to use that crush of data to figure out business issues, such as why sales are going crazy in Europe or why certain laptops are selling in North America but not in Asia. Companies want to know what patterns are appearing in the data, and what the anomalies mean.

With the cloud and machine learning-based analytics tools, enterprises now are in a better position to get those answers.

"It's just a given now that you have a more cost-effective and reliable way of computing," Greene told Computerworld during Google I/O last week. "The 2.0 of the cloud is the data and understanding the data. Now that you're in the cloud, how do you take advantage of it so your business can operate at a whole new level."

Greene called the cloud the biggest technology revolution in her lifetime, and said machine learning is changing the way companies use the cloud and think about its potential.

"The revolution of the cloud is about the economics of scale," she added. "It's really about data. All of a sudden everybody can share the data We've turned a corner in how we think. Machine learning generates incredible value to a company. It's the ability to get insights you weren't getting before. The cloud is enabling people to create a lot more value."

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said he agrees with Greene that IT has entered the second generation of the cloud.

"Machine learning is vital to sifting through huge amounts of data and determining, on the fly, what it means," Moorhead said. "Cloud 2.0 cannot happen without machine learning to analyze the data. There is just too much data and traditional data sorting methods don't cut it."

One issue is that companies have a continually growing data store in the cloud.

In its on-premise set up, a company might have once had a huge data storage system but it was too expensive, time consuming and unwieldy to analyze the data in it. Whatever was there generally stayed there, doing no good for the company storing it.

Now a combination of the cloud and machine learning is enabling businesses to wrestle that data into intelligible answers to big questions.

Machine learning, which came out of the study of pattern recognition and computational learning, is perfect for this. The technology uses algorithms that learn from the repeated use of data, enabling them to become better and better at finding insights and answers without being expressly programmed on where to look for them.

The more data machine learning has to work with, the better it learns.

With bigger stores of data, machine learning can do a better job of answering questions for businesses. The technology could help an oil company find information for finding the next great oil pocket, a grocery story chain on how to sell more butter, or for an automaker to build a safer, more energy-efficient automobile.

"Companies are digital pack rats because it doesn't pay to throw data away," said Greg DeMichillie, director of product management for Google's cloud platform. "Now it's how to make sense of this needle in a hay stack  What we see is people don't want to take their server from on-premise to a cloud and leave it as is. We've only begun to scratch the service on how machine learning can make it better. It helps you answer the questions you didn't even know before to ask."

Machine learning, according to DeMichillie, is bringing on the next transformative wave in IT and the cloud.

"It's the only way to make sense of the data that we have," he said. "At the scale we're talking about, it's just not possible without the cloud. Most companies would never have the ability to build out a machine-learning infrastructure. It's not economical for an on-premise environment."

Jorel Perez, a San Antonio-based mobile web developer who works for a Fortune 500 financial services company, said he sees companies increasingly focusing on what they can do with all the information they have in the cloud.

"We're starting to realize how much data we actually have, Perez said. "hey're like, 'Wow! We actually have a lot of data.' We're tracking a lot of things. Now they're like, 'What do we do with it?' What can we do beyond initial queries?"

Dinesh Ganesan, a consultant with Octo Consulting Group, which works with government agencies, said many enterprises are looking to Google for help with their cloud analytics.

"[Amazon Web Services] has data analytics tools, but there's a perception that Google has much more muscle there," Ganesan said. "This is Google's strength  analytics and deep learning. Everybody knows deep learning is very cool. Sure. But what is your use case with it? Google needs to step in there and show them that it's not just cool but can do things for them."

Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst, said it might be premature in declare the Cloud 1.0 as over.

"The cloud is growing faster than we imagined a few short years ago but that does not mean all the problems we worried about a few short years ago are now solved," Kagan said. "Most enterprises today are not able to sort their mountain of data and information yet. This mountain of information can either be a gold mine or just a big mountain depending whether you can sort and access what you have."

Perez said the cloud may be moving into the 2.0 era and he's looking forward to what this might mean for the enterprise.

"We've just started that timeline," he said. "Cloud 1.0 has just ended. I think we have started Cloud 2.0 but there's still more to come."
As if the jury deciding the Oracle v. Google trial didn't have enough on its plate already.

Deliberations were interrupted Tuesday when the 10-member panel ran into technical problems trying to review evidence from the case given to them on a PC.

The jurors apparently wanted to look at some of the source code for Googles Android OS and couldnt get the large files to open.

You lawyers should not have done this to the jury; you should have tested it out yourselves, an irritated Judge William Alsup told lawyers for the two sides, who huddled with the courts IT specialist to try to figure out the problem.

The IT person seemed momentarily flummoxed that the jury would want to look at source code until the judge told him it was central to the trial.

You all have sabotaged the system so bad I dont know what to do, Alsup told the lawyers at one point, threatening to make them print out the millions of lines of code on paper.

In the end, the lawyers wrote some instructions for the jury telling them how to open the files.

Deliberations in the case began Monday after lawyers for the two sides gave their closing arguments. The jury has to decide whether Googles use of Java in Android was protected under the "fair use" exemption in copyright law, or whether Google needed a license from Sun  now owned by Oracle.

If the jury decides Googles use of Java was fair, the case is over  pending a likely appeal by Oracle. If they decide it was not, the trial moves to a second phase to calculate damages.

The jurors meet at the San Francisco federal court from early morning until 1 p.m. each day, and they can review evidence from the trial to help them with their task. After the computer problems Tuesday, they broke for the day without a decision. It's not known how long they'll take, but it could be a few more days.

The jury can also submit questions to the judge, and they had a few for him on Thursday, leading to more tension between Alsup and the lawyers.

The jury wanted to know if they could take their hand-written notes from the trial home to review in the evening. Oracle was fine with that, but Googles lawyers said the jury ought to deliberate as a whole.

The judge didnt like that. Its not even evidence, its just their handwritten notes, he snapped. Im very suspicious -- you must think you're gonna lose this case.

"No, your honor," Googles lawyer said, but stuck to her position.

"This is one of the best juries in the history of our courthouse," Alsup said. "They're not going to deliberate with someone else; that's a fallacious argument."

The jury also wanted to know if individual members can review evidence alone if they arrive at the court early or stay late, and if they can take home with them instructions given to them by the court.

Neither side wanted to grant those requests, and Alsup again grew irritated.

"Its up the jury how they decide this case," he told the lawyers.

In the end, he asked both sides to put their objections in writing by midnight. For the time being, all three jury requests were denied.
Microsoft's interpretation of the "Close" button in a notification of an impending upgrade to Windows 10 is contrary to company design guidelines and other recommendations, according to documents on the firm's website.

As part of a final push to boost the number of PCs running Windows 10 before the July 29 expiration of its free upgrade offer, Microsoft has altered the behavior of a notification dialog so that clicking the "X" in the upper-right corner authorizes the pre-scheduled upgrade.

Not only is that contrary to decades of convention and user expectations, but it's a change from past behavior of the dialog. Previously, when users saw dialog frames posed by the Get Windows 10 (GWX) app -- which was responsible for producing the notification -- they could both exit the dialog and cancel the proposed action by clicking on the X to close the window.

Microsoft first downloaded and installed GWX on millions of Windows 7 and 8.1 machines last year, initially as a way for customers to "reserve" the free upgrade to 10, and has repeatedly tweaked and re-installed it on PCs since. As the months ticked by, Microsoft got progressively more aggressive with GWX and its Windows 10 upgrade strategy, including automatically downloading the necessary bits to most eligible PCs, later extending that to silently scheduling the upgrade process.

However, this spring -- by March 23 at the latest, but perhaps earlier -- Microsoft decided to redefine an X-click as approving the upgrade. "If you click on OK or on the red 'X,' you're all set for the upgrade and there is nothing further to do [emphasis added]," stated a Microsoft support document on the auto-scheduling of the Windows 10 upgrade.

Although some argued that click-on-X was to be treated as a "Close" button, not an "Exit" button -- the former makes the dialog vanish, while the latter cancels the under-consideration process -- and implied that Microsoft did not violate its own design guidelines, that's not correct.

At least not by Microsoft's own documentation.

"The Close button on the title bar should have the same effect as the Cancel or Close button within the dialog box," stated the firm's guidelines on crafting dialog boxes. "Never give it the same effect as OK [emphasis added]."

Those guidelines were written for Windows 7, remain on Microsoft's developer-aimed site and, as far as Computerworld has been able to determine, have not been superseded by different advice for later editions of the OS.

Elsewhere in the same document, Microsoft told third-party developers, "Use Cancel or Close for negative commit buttons instead of specific responses to the main instruction [emphasis added]."

That's exactly how users treated the X in the upgrade scheduling dialog box, as a "negative commit," or in plain English, as a "No thanks." Microsoft, on the other hand, interpreted it as the exact opposite.

Other examples from the same set of guidelines show that Microsoft broke its own rules. "Make sure the Close button on the title bar has the same effect as Cancel or Close," the document said.

User experience (UX) designers and developers debated the pros and cons of the Close button in an interesting discussion thread from 2014 on Stack Exchange, the Q&A community. Several pointed out the perceptions users have of the action tool, which were at odds with Microsoft's more recent switch in GWX.

"A close button is a very known and comfortable escape hatch," Matt Lavoie, a senior UX designer at policy-management vendor PowerDMS, contended on Stack Exchange in October 2014. "Depending on the scenario, either 'Yes' or 'No' could be the destructive action. If a user got to this place, and is now in panic mode because they really don't want to do the negative action, they might want to get out of there as quickly as possible. 'Close' is just going to get me out of here, no questions asked. I don't have to think about it."

Microsoft has also told users to use the Close button to bail out of questionable situations. As Brad Chacos, senior editor of PCworld recently noted -- like Computerworld, PCworld is owned by IDG -- Microsoft has offered this advice: "Never click 'Agree' or 'OK' to close a window that you suspect might be spyware. Instead, click the red 'x' in the corner of the window or press Alt + F4 on your keyboard to close a window."

Users intending to avoid the Windows 10 upgrade did what Microsoft suggested. But because there were no explanations about the close button's changed behavior in the notification -- only in the overlooked support document -- it's highly likely that the vast majority of those who clicked on the X to make the pop-up disappear had no idea that they were, in fact, authorizing an upgrade.
An unnamed homeland security agency has signed a contract with a company that claims it can reveal your personality with a high level of accuracy just by analyzing your face, be that facial image captured via photo, live-streamed video, or stored in a database. It then sorts people into categories; with some labels as potentially dangerous such as terrorist or pedophile, it is disturbing that some experts believe the science behind it is antiquated, has previously been discredited, and the results are inaccurate.

Israeli start-up Faception, a facial personality profiling company, told The Washington Post that a homeland security agency has signed a contract to use Faception to help spot terrorists. The computer vision and machine learning technology can even be integrated into other facial recognition tech to provide a full spectrum solution that covers known and anonymous individuals.

Faceception CEO Shai Gilboa added, Our personality is determined by our DNA and reflected in our face. Its a kind of signal. On the companys site, the science behind the technology that can supposedly predict a persons behavior and personality was described as:

According to Social and Life Science research personalities are affected by genes.

Our face is a reflection of our DNA.

People may judge other people by their faces, but the science of judging a book by its cover via face reading, or physiognomy, was basically discredited and rejected by the late 19th century. Its one thing for a person to make a snap judgement based on appearance and another thing entirely to use Faception to enrich your profile database with a variety of personality scores and turn unknown individuals into known ones.

As Pedro Domingos, a professor of computer science at the University of Washington, pointed out to the Post, Can I predict that youre an ax murderer by looking at your face and therefore should I arrest you? You can see how this would be controversial.

Princeton psychology professor Alexander Todorov told the Post, The evidence that there is accuracy in these judgments is extremely weak. Just when we thought that physiognomy ended 100 years ago.

Faception has built 15 different classifiers, the Post reported, and allegedly can evaluate certain traits with an 80% accuracy. Put another way, one in five people could incorrectly be classified as a terrorist or pedophile. Gilboa said the company will never make his classifiers that predict negative traits available to the general public.

Eight classifiers are listed on the Faception site: High Q, academic researcher, professional poker player, bingo player, brand promoter, white-collar offender, terrorist and pedophile. The classifiers represent a certain persona, with a unique personality type, a collection of personality traits or behaviors. Algorithms are used to sort people according to how they fit into those classifiers.

For example, the company classifies a bingo player as being endowed with a high mental ceiling, high concentration, adventurousness, and strong analytical abilities. Tends to be creative, with a high originality and imagination, high conservation and sharp senses.

Thrill seeking is mentioned in the terrorist classifier. Thrills come in all shapes and sizes, right? Pity the adrenaline-junkie soul incorrectly identified as a terrorist.

The company claims success stories such correctly identifying four poker players out of 50 competing in a tournament. In the end, two of the predicted four players were finalists. Faception claims that its technology classified nine of 11 Paris terrorists with no prior knowledge and only three of those terrorists had a previous record. That is allegedly why it is working with the leading Homeland Security Agency, according to its marketing video.

While Faception is not quite the same, it reminded me of Homeland Securitys pre-crime screening program dubbed FAST for Future Attribute Screening Technology (pdf); FAST has been likened to Minority Report as it was designed to sense and spot people who intend to commit a terrorist act.

Like FAST, Faception believes it is possible to know whether an individual is a potential terrorist, an aggressive person, or a criminal.

Unlike Faception, FAST analyzes much more than the face. It reportedly analyzes facial expressions and uses trackers to measure pupils, position and gaze of eyes, but it also measures heart and respiration rates, analyzes body movement, body heat changes and pitch changes in voices.

EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) has been trying to get more information from DHS about FAST since 2011. That same year at DefCon, researchers suggested FAST smelled like security snake oil and explained why it wouldnt work (pdf). Lets hope the unnamed homeland security agency which inked a $750,000 contract with Faception was not DHS.

China too has tinkered with pre-crime to identify terrorists; China being China, one has to wonder if dissident is synonymous with terrorist. Its Citizen Score is already an Orwellian nightmare.

Faception may not be meant for the general public, but analyzing anonymous individuals who may impose a threat to public safety could be wrapped into law enforcement as in homeland security, AI, personal robots as well as for public safety at buildings, shopping malls, stadiums and corporations, and used in retail, insurance, recruiting, finance, and even matchmaking.

Faception lists Sears and Manpower as a few of its clients, claiming it can also predict online behavior to find the best paying users.
Some U.S. government agencies are using IT systems running Windows 3.1, the decades-old COBOL and Fortran programming languages or computers from the 1970s.

A backup nuclear control messaging system at the U.S. Department of Defense runs on an IBM Series 1 computer, first introduced in 1976, and uses eight-inch floppy disks, while the Internal Revenue Service's master file of taxpayer data is written in assembly language code that's more than five decades old, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Some agencies are still running Windows 3.1, first released in 1992, as well as the newer but unsupported Windows XP, Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, noted during a Wednesday hearing on outdated government IT systems.

The government is spending more than $80 billion a year on IT, and "it largely doesn't work," Chaffetz said during a House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. "The federal government is years, and sometimes decades, behind the private sector."

U.S. agencies now spend about 75 percent of their IT budgets maintaining existing or legacy systems, with only about 25 percent going toward procuring new systems, said Dave Powner, director of IT management issues at the GAO.

The GAO told lawmakers that the Department of Veterans Affairs' payroll system and its benefits delivery network is written in COBOL, a programming language dating back to the 1950s, as is the Department of Justice's federal inmate tracking system and the Social Security Administration's retirement benefits system.

Committee members pushed tech officials from three agencies to update their IT systems. Agencies are working to modernize, but in some cases the old systems still work and are low on the priority lists, the agency representatives said.

For example, the DOD's Strategic Automated Command and Control System for nuclear forces, running on an IBM Series 1, is a "tertiary" system that maintains 99.99 percent uptime, said Terry Halvorsen, CIO for the agency. The system is slated for replacement, but not until year three of a five-year modernization plan, he said.

Budget cuts in recent years have also slowed agencies' ability to update their IT systems, added Terry Milholland, CTO at the IRS. The IRS has about 650 fewer IT workers now than it did in 2011, said Representative Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat.

Republican committee members questioned the impact of recent budget cuts. In the early to mid-2000s, the IRS received significant budget increases, said Representative Mick Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican.

"When you're still using technology and computer systems from the '70s and the '80s, this is not a problem that started in 2012," he added. "How can you really sit here and tell us this is money?"

Several committee Democrats called on Congress to pass the Information Technology Modernization Act, a bill that would establish a $3.1 billion rotating fund to help agencies update their IT systems. An independent panel would review agency fund requests, and agencies would be required to pay back the money after their projects are complete and they presumably achieve cost savings.

The GAO's Powner also noted agencies could see more cost savings by continuing to consolidate data centers, an effort ongoing in President Barack Obama's administration since 2010. While agencies have closed about 3,100 data centers, another 10,500 remain in operation, he said.

Closing an additional 2,000 data centers, in some cases moving to the cloud, could save $5.4 billion, he said. "We need to definitely get more modern," he said.
Sir Peter Marshall was Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General 1983-88 and UK Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva 1979-83. He is a former Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society.

The first Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office under whom I had the pleasure of working was Sir William (later Lord) Strang, a doughty Scots scholar-administrator. He was forbearing in his treatment of the juniors. On one occasion, when I had favoured him with some of my best ideas, he inquired: and how would you propose to translate that into administrative fact? I have treasured this conversation-stopper ever since. For me, it is the Strang Test. I find it indispensable in the present Brexit context.

Withdrawal from the EU would involve an administrative effort of epic proportions. We would need to address more or less simultaneously at least the following First Eleven of questions, or groups of questions. The batting order takes account of the administrative priority they might demand:

(1) Structure and process for effective management of the whole withdrawal exercise;

(2) Establishing a satisfactory trading arrangement with the EU/Single Market;

(3) Shaping of our general relationship with Europe, including the possibility that the EU entirely unravels;

(4) Promoting our general economic prospects;

(5) Ensuring our overall international financial viability;

(6) Preserving the integrity and unity of the United Kingdom;

(7) Maintaining our full participation in world wide political, economic and social co-operation, especially on development and global issues;

(8) Safeguarding our national security in all its different aspects;

(9) Preserving and enhancing our international standing/soft power;

(10) Regaining national sovereignty, especially in law-making and control of our borders;

(11) Managing immigration in all its ramifications at home as well as abroad.

Where can we find Vote Leave addressing the epic administrative effort that will be needed to pass the Strang Test?

There is total uncertainty about the structure and process of the withdrawal exercise. There is a multitude of answers to what the trading arrangements with the EU will be. There is an irresponsible indifference to the future of the EU which is not shared by any of our principal partners. And it is on successfully addressing these first three points that the whole exercise depends.

All of this does not disturb the serenity of Michael Gove. In a recent speech, he declared that, after leaving, any difficulties we encountered over reaching a trading agreement would be quickly settled by our highly skilled Foreign Office civil servants. Where would these paragons have been beforehand?

And it scarcely need be added that the testimony of those few of us who have experience of operating on the outside  while de Gaulle was keeping us out of the EEC  and thus have a personal idea of what we stand to lose by withdrawal, are held to be of no account.

The failure to address the first three points makes success even less likely on the subsequent points.

Promoting our general economic prospects. Vote Leave claims that Brexit would unleash in us untold creative energies currently shackled by Brussels regulation and red-tape. But the inadequacies of our present economic performance, such as poor productivity and a distorted housing market, are the product of long-standing defects which need urgent attention regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

Ensuring our international financial viability. We have run a current account deficit for each and every one of the last 30 years. To date this highly vulnerable situation seems to have been contemplated with perfect equanimity by all concerned. The total of financial inflows from overseas required to meet it may be small, compared with our borrowing overall. But surely this is a case of letting sleeping anomalies lie. If suddenly awoken, e.g, by Brexit, the anomalies could do us great mischief.

Preserving the integrity of the United Kingdom. Vote Leave told the Foreign Affairs Committee that they consider it highly unlikely that any part of the UK would decide to leave the UK in order to join the unreformed EU. Even if the Union survived, it could be seriously dysfunctional.

Safeguarding our national security. Vote Leave emphasises that NATO, not the EU, is the key to our security. This is far too simple an approach to an immensely complicated problem. To suggest, however, following the much publicised observations of Sir Richard Dearlove, that leaving would make Britain more secure is to apply a questionable sectoral judgment to the situation as a whole  an example the traditional and all too common Fallacy of Composition.

Regaining national sovereignty.The notion of sovereignty has been of much service as a Brexit rallying call. It reaches its emotive height in the claim made in general terms that European Law overrides British law: i.e: the rulings of the European Court of Justice take precedence over the law of member countries in matters in which it has been given competence by the member states. This is not a form of tyranny imposed on us alone. It is a logical but somewhat exotic derivative from a long established international principle in treaty-making, designed to ensure that all member states adhere to the obligations in which they agree to enter. If you involve yourself internationally, you cannot be wholly sovereign. Only hermits achieve that particular state of bliss.

Managing immigration. The idea that control of our borders, supposedly obtainable by withdrawal from the EU, will deal with the matter is fanciful. The problem is far deeper, wider and more long term than Vote Leave assumes. And there is no hope of a solution without extensive international consultation and co-operation  it is inherently not something we can tackle alone.

This is the first of five columns that this site will publish during the run-up to June 23rd.
From: Reggie@toptory.lidl.com

To: Desmond.Swayne@dfid.gov.uk

Subject: Stab-In-The-Back Myth

Dear Dessie,

I must say it was a very jolly day had by one and all at the Tweseldown Point-to-Point a week ago, though Lady Mary was not impressed by dining at The Bun in the Oven (the local restaurant). As Soames would say, a menu designed by florists for hairdressers! Soames and I were greatly taken by the photo you sent from Nepal. We thought you were wearing a Bombay bowler with feathers had gone out with the Raj, but all those old Gurkha veterans seemed to be impressed.

The Partys civil war over the EU continues at a manic pace, with insults all round and the whips despairing how they will ever put humpty dumpty together again. As part of a contingency plan for a Remain win, the Chief has booked a wing at the Priory to cope with the irreconcilable quitters. The conspiracy theories continue, with Bojo ranting on about the EU being a successor to N.Bonaparte Esq and Herr Hitler  what is it about Hitler and former mayors of London? As a sensible quitter, you are well out of it in foreign climes. The usual suspects are seeing plots everywhere and we await Boris blaming the Vatican and Freemasons.

All present, he is like a rabbit on crack  using the referendum as a dry run for the leadership hustings. But hes all over the place, enraging old quitter lags like Cash and Redwood by burbling on about bunches of bananas. His leadership campaign manager is in despair, with Bojo offering Cabinet posts  sometimes the very same one  to all and sundry. He tells me that he is having to run a slide show for Boris with photos of MPs who that letter must then name. Rather like the ack ack boys during the war distinguishing between a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt. Same results  with Boris identifying Tristram Hunt as a Tory and Philip Davies as Labour.

Brother Gove is being trailed as a post-referendum unity candidate and as a shoe-in for Deputy PM. Trouble is that for a clever schoolie he can only offer Albania as a model for the Motherland outside the EU. With the prisons about to go up in flames, Soames reckons that he should concentrate on the day job.

The lunatic fringe in the quitters are already preparing, like the Huns in 1918, for a stab in the back myth, and gathering names to challenge DC  who feels betrayed by his former guru and tree-hugger, one S Hilton, who now lives in Silicon Valley. Hilton is currently hero of the hour in the Daily Mail, who were busily denouncing him as a lunatic four years ago.

Mind you, the stayers arent much better, with the Chancellor producing Treasury briefs promising meltdown if we quit, reminding me of those dodgy accounts that the Mess Secretary used to produce at the Catterick garrison AGM. Whatever happened to him? Soames says hes now running an NHS Trust. No matter. Then there was the toe-curling endorsement of the Remain campaign by every freeloading theatrical luvvie ever employed by the BBC.

Meanwhile, the Comrades are still squabbling amongst themselves with Corbyn firmly in place  thank God. Did you see him with DC processing to the Lords? Looked like a vicar going into a knocking shop, and no small talk despite the PMs best efforts.

The Queens Speech was all about social mobility, something that Soames and I are very keen on. Seems to me that every Parliamentarian must now claim to have had a bus driver for a father. Do you think I qualify because my great Uncle Alby drove a London bus during the General Strike in 1926? Otherwise trivia dominates the media, as Soames points out in robust and colorful language on Twitter. By the by  who is James Cleverley?

Much chortling over two SNP members having had an affair with the same journalist. But as Soames said to me, the affair wasnt the point: the girl outed one of them for wearing white Y-front shreddies. As you know Reggie, gentlemen only wear silk, apart from Sir Simon Burns who wears Essex designer labels.

Lady Mary was much exercised about the two female senior police officers who were embroiled in a catfight over the size of their mammary glands. I tried to placate her by saying similar comparisons were not unknown amongst chaps. Consequence  restriction of privileges for a fortnight.

I suspect there will be a few ministerial vacancies after the EU vote  P Mordaunt and P Patel on the at risk list. Look forward to seeing you at the Cavalry/Guards Club a week Thursday for Basher Boltons book launch of his memoirs Soldiering Gay and Grave.

Yours till the next chota peg,

Reggie
SUBSCRIBE

Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox.
Close

For Ben and Alyssa Riedhead, a couple from Salt Lake City, Utah, it was not less than a miracle when they found that their new born baby has survived all the odds.

It was when Ben and his pregnant wife Alyssa Riedhead went to the doctor to find out the sex of their unborn baby, that they received the news that, at 23 weeks, their unborn son was suffering from encephalocele. It's a rare condition where the bones of the skull don't completely close and the brain starts developing outside the skull.

"We were going in for one of the happiest times of our lives and come out walking like we just heard the worst news we could've ever heard," Ben Reidhead told Fox 13 Now.

Doctors had told the couple that the survival chances of their unborn baby was very less.

"They just kept saying, 'Oh, he'll be born but he'll only live for a couple minutes. Or if you go through labor, he'll probably pass away during labor,'" Alyssa Reidhead said, reported CNN.

In fact, instead of buying clothes, Ben and Alyssa Riedhead bought a casket for their baby.

"We picked out a casket and we picked out what we were going to do," Alyssa said.

The couple said they were scared of their baby's arrival not because they didn't want him to come but because they were afraid of losing him.

Fortunately, everything changed last week when Alyssa delivered the baby by C-section at Primary Children's Hospital. To the Reidheads' surprise, the new born baby arrived alive and kicking and defying all the odds. The couple has named their miracle baby Will.

"He's not hooked up to anything," Alyssa said. "He's breathing fine. He's lifting his head. He's moving around. He's pretty much acting like a completely normal baby."

Will has been diagnosed with a rare disease called cutis aplasia- a condition marked by the absence of the back of his skull. The baby's brain is only covered by a thin layer of membrane.

Will's family members have started a GoFund me account to raise money for his medical costs. Anyone willing to help the Reidhead family can visit their Go Fund Me page here.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

The 69th session of the World Health Assembly is finally underway as top experts try to share their takes on diseases and illnesses plaguing the world today. The annual assembly will see the gathering of World Health Organization member states once more as they take on a heavy agenda that is expected to include a large attendance.

Among the key topics that will be on the table include the lack of antibiotics to address bacterial resistance, global shortages of vaccines and medicines, the fight against substandard drugs, and a framework to guard against undue influence of outside actors on the work of the WHO are part of a picture. Also expected to up for discussion is why there seems to be a gray area as far as delivering important medicines to countries, both developed and developing regions.

The assembly kicked off last May 23 and will run until May 28 over Geneva and can be followed by folks via live stream from May 24-26. A link to the stream can be found here.

Below are the topics up for discussion along with their respective dates.

Antimicrobial resistance on 24 May

Sustainable Development Goals on 25 May

WHOs work in emergencies on 26 May

There will be guest experts gracing the event as well and they will try to answer the questions submitted by the public via live stream chat boxes. Alternatively, questions will be answered by the select experts through social medium Twitter with hashtags #WHA69 and #SocialGood.

Festivities kicked off last May 23 with WHO Director General Margaret Chan making her annual address. She was followed by reps from other countries who spoke on the United Nations 2030 agenda covering Sustainable Development.

Among the invited speakers for WHA 69 include Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Chan mentioned in a press briefing that there will be 76 agenda items along with 74 documents with over 1,200 pages for delegates to read and discuss. 21 resolutions coming from member states and 30 side events are also to be expected.

It is good that global health is taking such a prominent position, said Chan. Especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Agenda for the next 15 years. So were very happy with this rather crowded meeting.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
A Bangladeshi MP Plays Judge-Jury-Prosecutor!

By Taj Hashmi

25 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

A Bangladeshi MP  who paradoxically represents the ruling coalition as well as its opposition in the parliament  recently played the proverbial role of the judge, jury and prosecutor. He and his associates publicly tortured and humiliated a headmaster of a local school at Narayanganj, for his blasphemous comments against Islam. I dont want to discuss the alleged blasphemy issue; other issues are more important and relevant today. The MP-turned-judge-jury-prosecutors highhandedness, and the way some vested interest groups, including Islamist fanatics and communal elements are trying to defend the MP, and fish in the troubled water are very ominous indeed.

What the lawmaker-turned-self-appointed judge and his henchmen did to the unfortunate school teacher  brutalized and humiliated him by forcing him to squat holding his ears with his two hands in public  most definitely amount to the violation of human rights, as specified in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (made in 1948). The Daily Star (Bangladesh) editor Mahfuz Anam has beautifully elucidated what squatting by holding ones two ears in public is all about (Story of an MP and a teacher, DS, May 18, 2016): Culturally, there cannot be a more humiliating act that one can be forced to perform in public. This is what is done when we want to rob a person of all his sense of dignity and self-respect. Most importantly, the lawmakers breaking the law of the land by promoting vigilantism is a much more grievous crime than any blasphemous comments attributed to the teacher.

Im not going to repeat the bizarre, and frivolously ridiculous allegations brought against Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, the headmaster of a high school in Narayanganj, by some people in the locality and MP Salim Osman, who had some vested interest in the removal of Mr. Bhakta from his position as the headmaster. The School Committee under the vested interest group had already prepared the Headmasters resignation letter on 13th May, ahead of the actual day of his forced resignation on the 17th. As appears on this so-called resignation letter, the teacher concerned confesses his lapses, including taking bribes from jobseekers at the school, and making blasphemous comments against Islam. Interestingly, only one student had testified against the teacher  which he later recanted  about the Headmasters making derogatory comments against Islam, which an Education Department probe committee later found out to be totally baseless.

I dont write this because only because some rogue elements humiliated and tortured a teacher. Had Mr. Bhakta been a cleaner, rickshaw-puller, doorman, or a chaprasi, I wouldve most definitely defended his rights, honour, and dignity as well. The persecution and humiliation of any human being anywhere, irrespective of the victims race, religion, age, gender, or profession is violation of human rights. However, from the mass protests of Bangladeshis  especially in social media  against the public humiliation of a teacher, everyone seems to be aggrieved and angry because a rowdy lawmaker victimized a teacher. A teacher is supposed to be respected most by everybody. Nevertheless, the protest is a positive sign.

One Bangladeshi-American professor has aptly argued:

The reason this incident is so offensive is not merely that a boorish and arrogant man humiliated an older school headmaster. He insulted not a person but a profession, a tradition, a time-honored social institution, he also insulted the nation itself, everything we had fought for, sacrificed for, and hoped to achieve when we won our independence. His argument that he had to humiliate the teacher in order to rescue him from public wrath sounds like the one General Westmoreland made about some of his decisions in Vietnam: we had to destroy the village in order to save it. What distressed me more than the thuggish behavior of the MP was the throng, which had gathered to support, and perhaps enjoy, this spectacle.

The rogue MPs playing the judge-jury-prosecutor role definitely violated the UN Charter on Human Rights. The Charter affirms every human being everywhere must enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want, and considers this as the highest aspiration of the common people. While Article 1 of the Charter affirms, All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; Article 5 is unambiguous about protecting every individual from torture and humiliation in any form; the punch line being No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN Charter also stipulates certain remedial and retaliatory measures against anybody (an individual, group, or state) who has violated any individuals freedom, honour, and dignity. As Article 7 affirms: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law; so do Articles 8, 12, and 19: Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law(Article 8); No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy  nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation (Article 12); and Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers (Article 19).

Its noteworthy that the Bangladesh Constitution also ensures each and every citizens and residents honour and dignity, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and torture in any form. Article 35 (Clause 5) of the Constitution is very unambiguous about these principles: No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.

In view of the unambiguous declarations by the UN Charter and Bangladesh Constitution as to what constitute human rights violations, there is no reason to assume that lawmakers, ministers and senior police officers who frequently violate human rights in Bangladesh are unaware of these declarations. I believe MP Selim Osman and his associates knew what they were doing. Hence the eyewash, blame game, and false flag operation! They gave the dog a bad name! And sections of the population believe the Headmaster said nasty things about Islam.

The MP and his men also exploited the cheap religious sentiment of the people, and mobilized an Islamist group called Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwat, which is an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a rabid anti-Ahmadiyya proto-fascist outfit in Bangladesh. Many Tahaffuz members and other Islamists organized protest rallies, defended Selim Osman, and demanded death sentence for the blasphemer Hindu Headmaster.

However, as mentioned above, tens of thousands of Bangladeshi men and women have been protesting the persecution and humiliation of the teacher, mostly in social media. As one media posting indicates, a Facebook group has already emerged with the name kandhorehokprotibad (let us protest holding our ears). Its members protest the incident uploading photos of them holding their ears. Social media users have started campaigns on Facebook and Twitter with hashtags #sorrysir, #IamSORRY, #weRSORRYsir, #shyamalkantibhakta, in solidarity with the teacher, a victim of public humiliation.

Meanwhile the High Court, various teachers and students organizations, human rights activists, a couple of ministers, including the Education Minister have come forward in defence of the victim. The Education Department published its probe report on the fifth day of incident on Wednesday the 18th, which has exonerated the victim from the false allegation of hurting the religious sentiment of Muslims. The Education Department reinstated the Headmaster, and dissolved the schools managing body (which was loyal to the MP). However, neither the probe report nor the Education Minister has implicated MP Salim Osman in hitting and humiliating the teacher. However, the Report indicates the teacher is a victim of injustice. And the teacher told reporters the MP had slapped him twice, in public. Interestingly, the Probe Committee believes a longstanding dispute between the headmaster and the school committee is at the root of the problem. Financial issue is the main reason behind the feud, it affirms.

So far so good! We have reasons to applaud the Education Ministers decision to form a probe committee, which was very quick in publishing its report. Now, its neither enough to reinstate the teacher to his previous position, nor is it sufficient to accept an unconditional apology from the MP and his henchmen, who collectively committed a grave crime against humanity. The criminals must be punished in accordance with the law of the land. There shouldnt be any ifs or buts in this regard.

Nothing could be more hackneyed than assuming that by now what happened at Narayanganj is all but forgotten. And that theres no fallout from MP Salim Osmans outrageous behaviour; his public slapping, and forcing a local headmaster to squat holding his ears with his own hands, in public. As indicated in my last posting to this daily (May 21, MP plays judge-jury-prosecutor!), the lawmaker took the law into his own hands to punish the headmaster on trumped up charges of committing blasphemy against Islam. I believe the fallout from this shockingly disgraceful act has just started showing up on the horizon. The episode not only highlights the prevalent state of Machiavellian opportunism, but its also going to be an important catalyst in the realm of politics in Bangladesh, in the coming years.



I think the fallout from the Narayanganj episode has short- and long-term, and positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, controversial Islamist outfits like the Hefazat-e-Islam, and Tahrik-e- Khatm-e-Nabuwat  besides groups of Muslim traders, youths, students and ordinary people  have been glorifying Salim Osman as a champion and defender of Islam, and asking for the execution of Headmaster Shyamal Kanti Bhakta for blasphemy against Islam; and on the other, various politicians and human rights activists have been condemning the unruly lawmaker for committing a crime against humanity, and for violating the law of the land by undermining the judiciary, and police administration. Some of them have demanded the unruly MPs resignation from the parliament, and his immediate arrest and trial for playing the detestable role of judge, jury, and prosecutor.



Meanwhile, for almost a week following the public humiliation of the teacher, there was countrywide protest against Salim Osman and his henchmen. The protest was mostly symbolic. Young men and women, holding their two ears with own hands, formed human chains in public places, expressing symbolic solidarity with the victim, and their contempt for Osman and his men. The protest went viral in the social media. Lets hope this protest against a lawmaker, who took the law into his own hands, will eventually restore the rule of law in Bangladesh.

The writer teaches security studies at Austin Peay State University. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan (Sage, 2014). Email: tajhashmi@gmail.com












Pain: Mans Greatest Enemy

By Dr. BM Hegde

25 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Pain has been mans greatest enemy from time immemorial and shall be so for all times to come. Pain is also the best method the body can convey that all is not well with the owner to urge him/her to take some remedial action.

The physiology of pain is still not fully understood although from time to time people discover something new to evolve a drug treatment method. Pain killers, as they are called, are the real killers. Aspirin, the first pain killer to the latest complicated pain killers that the greedy drug industry has researched are making a big business, but are the leading killers in the adverse drug reactions (ADR) list. Some of them had to be withdrawn from the market as they led to heart attacks and heart failure even up to five years after their administration!

The dark side of pain killer research is that the most powerful pain killer, morphia, has recently been shown to act through its placebo effect ONLY! (Sc. Transl. Med 2011; 3:70) After this elaborate study from four universities was published I had a new thought on pain management. Why not we use the bodys capacity to contain pain as a tool in treatment? I thought seriously about making use of exercise as a mode of pain treatment. Conventional thinking in medicine was (is) that any bodily injury or disease needs complete rest for good recovery. This myth was blown off by one of my former teachers, Professor Bernard Lown, who invented the first chair treatment for heart attack patients in 1952. Up until then heart attack patients were put to bed permanently, mostly to meet their maker in heaven sooner than later through deep vein thrombosis!

This did not attract as much curiosity as the then American President Eisenhowers heart attack three years into his first presidency. His two cardiologists, the fathers of modern American Cardiology-Sam Levine and Paul Dudley White, took courage in both of their able hands and asked him to be mobilised soon to not only run the remaining part of his presidency, but to contest for the second term as he was very popular. Eisenhower ran a hectic campaign and won the second term to complete it successfully. Early mobilisation became a reality since then. People started thinking that mobility soon after a major heart attack is one of the ways to keep people healthy and fit. I still remember the early days of heart valve replacement surgery. I was working for Malcolm Towers, a great cardiologist who was the left hand of one of the fathers of British cardiology, Paul Wood along with Evan Bedford. Our surgeon was Miss Mary Sheppard; a lion of a surgeon, tall and well-built she could out beat any man. This chain smoking thoracic surgeon was a dare devil. When she replaces one, two or, even, three valves patients remained in the ICU for eight to ten days and then only mobilised. A new young, dynamic, short built, Egyptian, Magdi Yacoub joined us as a second consultant surgeon by then from the National Heart Hospital where he was senior registrar to Mr. Donald Ross. Magdis valve replacement patients were mobilised on the second day even when they were in the ICU and they did much better . Miss. Sheppard stopped doing valve surgery conceding that Magdi did a better job, a magnanimity rarely seen among greedy doctors today. All these convinced me that work is good and rest is not that good for recovery.

I had a major car accident 40 years ago when I had 18 stitches on my scalp and a big bandage. I came home the same night and did not take even a single pain killer that were prescribed telling my mind that after all pain can be controlled by the mind. That did the trick. The role of the mind in controlling pain is now well understood. Mind being not in the brain helps much more in relieving pain.

I used to have a nagging pain in my left deltoid and triceps (shoulder) as I use them once a day to cut open a tender coconut for its water for breakfast. I had to pin the coconut down with my left hand to chop off its front portion with the right hand. Conventional methods, drugless of course, did not help. One day I gave my left shoulder a lot of work, like carrying large beds upstairs and also carrying my loaded suitcases in the left hand. My triceps and deltoid have been free from pain since then. Aches and pains are a sign of life in old age and doctors and patients together drug them so much that some elderly people are on two-three PAIN KILLERS on an average! I advise them to exercise to the best of their ability to get rid of the pain instead of resting and eating the killer pain medicines. Results have been very encouraging.

I travel a bit and each time after a long a hectic travel by plane, car etc. I get pains almost everywhere. When I get back I go for a long walk despite the fact I would have been fagged out completely. The real joy and josh that one gets after this mild exercise is something to be really enjoyed rather than learnt from others. Now I have made walking exercise a must after a hard days work and exhaustion to feel fit again. The exhilaration after bad days exhaustion is something one must enjoy to get convinced.

The other menace of pain is the misuse and abuse of pain killers. A Field researcher told me that in a village Gogi , in Yadgir District of North Karnataka where he had done a survey for Fluorosis he found 300 tablets of Declofanac were sold daily through Kirana shops in that village in addition to many prescription pain killers doctors there give. His health survey showed many kidney, liver, and heart diseases in that village. If this were the situation in a village, what would be the pain killer load and consequent ADR load on the people and our medical system?

Doctors were useful to treat pain in the past, present and will be useful to treat them in the future as well. We should innovate treatments for pain and suffering. Drugless treatments will not only be inexpensive; they will be healthy as they do not have the added menace of ADR.

Professor B M Hegde, MD, PhD, FRCP (Lond, Edin, Glasg, & Dublin), FACC, FAMS.Padma Bhushan Awardee 2010. Cardiologist & Former Vice Chancellor, Manipal University. Email: drbmhegde@gmail.com








Mahatma Gandhi on ! Palestine written in 1938

The Jews In Palestine



By Mahatma Gandhi



Published in the Harijan

26-11-1938.

Several letters have been received by me, asking me to declare my views

about the Arab-Jew question in Palestine and the persecution of the Jews in

Germany. It is not without hesitation that I venture to offer my views on

this very difficult question.

My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South

Africa. Some of them became lifelong companions. Through these friends I

came to learn much of their age long persecution. They have been the

untouchables of Christianity. The parallel between their treatment by

Christians and the treatment of untouchables by Hindus is very close.

Religious sanction has been invoked in both cases for the justification of

the inhuman treatment meted out to them. Apart from the friendships,

therefore, there is the more common universal reason for my sympathy for

the Jews. But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice.

The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me.

The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which the Jews

have hankered after return to Palestine.



Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country

their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood?

Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their

national home. The nobler course would be to insist on a just treatment of

the Jews wherever they are born and bred. The Jews born in France are French in precisely the same sense that Christians born in France are French.

If the Jews have no home but Palestine, will they relish the idea of being

forced to leave the other parts of the world in which they are settled?

Or do they want a double home where they can remain at will? This cry for the

national home affords a colorable justification for the German expulsion of

the Jews. But the German persecution of the Jews seems to have no parallel

in history. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler seems to have

gone. And he is doing it with religious zeal. For, he is propounding a new

religion of exclusive and militant nationalism in the name of which any

inhumanity becomes an act of humanity to be rewarded here and hereafter.

The crime of an obviously mad but intrepid youth is being visited upon his

wholerace with unbelievable ferocity. If there ever could be a justifiable

war in the name of and for humanity, a war against Germany to prevent the

wanton persecution of a whole race, would be completely justified. But I do

not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is,

therefore, outside my horizon or province.

But if there can be no war against Germany, even for such a crime as is

being committed against the Jews, surely there can be no alliance with

Germany. How can there be alliance between a nation, which claims to stand

for justice and democracy and one, which is the declared enemy of both? Or

is England drifting towards armed dictatorship and all it means?

Germany is showing to the world how efficiently violence can be worked when

it is not hampered by any hypocrisy or weakness masquerading as humanitarianism.It is also showing how hideous, terrible and terrifying it looks in its nakedness.Can the Jews resist this organized and shameless persecution? Is there a way to preserve their self-respect, and not to feel helpless, neglected and forlorn? I submit there is. No person who has faith in a living God need feel helpless or forlorn. Jehovah of the Jews is a God more personal than the God of the Christians, the Mussalmans or the Hindus, though as a matter of fact, in essence, He is common to all and one without a second and beyond description. But as the Jews attribute personality to God and believe that He rules every action of theirs, they ought not to feel helpless.

If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I

would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I

should not wait for! the fellow Jews to join me in civil resistance, but

would have confidence that in the end the rest were bound to follow my

example.... ...

And now a word to the Jews in Palestine. I have no doubt that they are going

about it in the wrong way. The Palestine of the Biblical conception is not a

geographical tract. It is in their hearts. But if they must look to the

Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under

the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the

aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the

goodwill of the Arabs. They should seek to convert the Arab heart.

The same God rules the Arab heart who rules the Jewish heart... They will

find the world opinion in their favor in their religious aspiration. There are

hundreds of ways of reasoning with the Arabs, if they will only discard the

help of the British bayonet. As it is, they are co-sharers with the

British in despoiling a people who have done no wrong to them. I am not

defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence

in resisting what they rightly regarded as an unwarrantable encroachment

upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong,

nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of

overwhelming odds.
Scientists Warn Of 10C Warming As We Dial Up Earths Thermostat

By Andy Rowell

25 May, 2016

Oil Change International

Nearly every week a new record is being broken on climate.

So far this year we have had warnings that the Great Barrier reef is dying on our watch due to coral bleaching caused by record temperatures; dramatic early seasonal melting of the Arctic Ocean sea ice and Greenlands massive ice sheet; devastating wild-fires in Canada which are being linked to climate change, and month after month of record temperatures.

And now a city in the north of India has registered the highest temperature ever recorded in the country at 51 C, during a chronic heatwave which has been going on for weeks. In nearby Pakistan, three cities recorded temperatures of 50 C or higher last Friday too.

The new Indian record, which breaks the previous one which was set sixty years ago in 1956, was set in the city of Phalodi, in the desert state of Rajasthan. It is the equivalent of 123.8F.

The heatwave is having a devastating effect and has caused the deaths of several hundred so far. Tens of thousands of farmers have also abandoned their land with crops devastated in 13 states. Rivers, lakes and even dams have dried up. Hundreds of farmers who have been left destitute have reportedly committed suicide.

Further south in Gujarat the sizzling temperatures are so bad that bats are falling lifeless from trees and pedestrians are getting their shoes stuck in the melting roads.

The Director General of the Indian Meteorological Association, Laxman Singh Rathore, has blamed climate change for the unprecedented temperatures: It has been observed that since 2001, places in northern India, especially in Rajasthan, are witnessing a rising temperature trend every year.

He added: The main reason is the excessive use of energy and emission of carbon dioxide. Factors like urbanization and industrialization too have added to the global warming phenomenon. I think similar trend would be maintained in Rajasthan in coming days.

The warnings have been getting stronger. Two months ago, Indian forecasters warned that heat waves are getting longer and more intense. Last year some 2,500 died from heat-related issues too.

And things are going to get worse.

As InsideClimate News reported last week about the annual greenhouse gas index released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not just rising, its accelerating.

Last year, the average global concentration of CO2 increased to 399 parts per million, a record jump of almost 3 ppm from the year before.

Jim Butler, director of NOAAs Global Monitoring Division, said: This isnt a model. These are precise and accurate measurements, and they tell us about how humans are changing the balance of heat in the Earth system. Were dialing up Earths thermostat in a way that will lock more heat into the ocean and atmosphere for thousands of years.

And now scientists, writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, are predicting that we could heat up the earth by a totally unsustainable 10C, if and its a big if, all fossil fuels are burnt. The Arctic could heat up by some 20C within a couple of centuries.

It goes without saying that temperatures like these would cause massive destruction on an unprecedented scale.

I think it is really important to know what would happen if we dont take any action to mitigate climate change, said Katarzyna Tokarska, at the University of Victoria in Canada, the lead author on the research. Even though we have the Paris climate change agreement, so far there hasnt been any action.

Tokarska called the research a warning message.

Andy Rowell is a staff blogger for Oil Change International in addition to working as a freelance writer and investigative journalist who specializes in environmental, health and lobbying issues. Follow him on Twitter: @andy_rowell

 2015 Oil Change International








Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Summer sun making you thirsty? There will be no shortage of Indiana wine and beer to sample at Schnuck's local vendor fair this Saturday at the Newburgh Schnuck's location.

SHARE Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Mary Weyer, mother of Jacob Carneal of Jake's Happy Hens, scrambles up some deep-golden pastured eggs for sampling at the Darmstadt Schnuck's vendor fair on Saturday Man 21. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press A shopper recieves a peony from Mary Ellen Damm of Timberview Flower Farm. Damm's cut flowers are featured in local Schnuck's floral section all season long.

By Aimee Blume

Want to support a local business at your Memorial Day gathering by serving foods made or grown right here in our own area?

You'll have a chance to sample many of these items Saturday at the Newburgh Schnuck's grocery as vendors gather to sample and discuss their own products.

Schnuck's is a St. Louis-based chain with nearly 100 locations spread across five states, but the business loves to feature locally-made products in each of its stores. Occasional vendor fairs give those local producers a chance to gather, offer samples and chat with customers about what makes their wares special.

Last Saturday there was an event at the new Schnuck's in Darmstadt where more than 25 vendors brought everything from barbecue sauce to wine to fresh flowers. Saturday you will be able to find (some of the same, some different) at the Newburgh Schnuck's from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Among the vendors at the Darmstadt location, John Bittner of Bittner Apiaries  makers of P.J.B. Honey  arranged his table with a pile of items on the raising of bees and the art of gathering honey. There was a piece of beeswax, an old fashioned "skep" or woven hive, and many pictures depicting how hives are built, how honey is extracted and the life-cycles of the bees themselves, all of which Bittner was happy to explain to the curious.

"People like to call us beekeepers, but we don't really keep the bees," he said. "We work with the bees, but they do what they want to do."

Jeff Shaner, owner of J.D. Mullen Co, Inc., was on hand at the Darmstadt Schnuck's with Mullen's original "imitation" French dressing. Mullen's dressings and sauces are made in New Palestine, Illinois, just north of Vincennes on the Illinois side of the Wabash. The story of how the name of this dressing came to be is interesting, because there is nothing "imitation" in the dressing. When John D. Mullen perfected the dressing in 1926 he called it "French Sauce." When he began bottling it, he wanted to call it French dressing, but a law stated that in order for a product to be called French dressing it had to contain 35 percent fat. As Mullen's original recipe was lighter, with only 19 percent fat, he was informed he was required to call it "imitation." The brand has grown and become popular under the flag of this ironically-named dressing, which is excellent in many uses.

Denise Caskey of Hoople's salads was present as well, sampling Hoople's delicious pimento cheese with buttery crackers. The Hoople's plant, where workers mix and hand-package all those yummy salads from potato salad to slaw and chickens salad, is located in Rockport, where it has operated since 1950.

"I like to find unique ways to use the pimento cheese," said Caskey. "I really like to use it as a schmear on a burger instead of sliced cheese. You can use it for grilled cheese, fill vegetables with it ... it's so versatile."

An equally versatile product being sampled was Taco Eez. Owner Kelly Ortiz assembled bite-sized tacos with lettuce and cheese for customers to try, but the flavorful mix is equally good in chili, casseroles and more.

In the adult beverages area, wine was available from a number if Indiana wineries including Satek, Turtle Run, Winzerwald, Huber, Easley and Oliver.

Oliver had on hand a couple exciting new offerings  bubbly versions of their popular soft red and soft white wines and their new Orchard Stand honey wines or mead, descendants of Oliver's original Camelot Mead honey wine. Beer from Tin Man was offered as well.

At the Newburgh store this coming weekend, you can expect to see at least 15 vendors and sample wares including Bittner P. J. B Honey; TJ's Roaster coffee; eggs from Jake's Happy Hens; barbecue sauces including Wolf's, Bonus and Wilson's; Mimi's pasta sauce and Taco Eez taco mix; a number of beer and wine selections including the new Schnitz Brewery in Jasper and also get in on some great raffles of summer and Memorial Day items. This event is outdoors. In case of rain, contact the store at 812-853-9505 for alternative dates.

"We don't do these events for ourselves," said Matt Wedding, division merchandiser for the Indiana stores. "We like to promote the local vendors. They give their time to come and set up and talk to the customers."

Kelly Lefler, owner of Mimi's Pasta Sauce, said the fairs are an important way to get to talk to their customers.

"Evansville is growing so fast, and it's good to meet the people who support you and who come out to the store," she said. "We really appreciate that support of the community, and Schnuck's is so great to local producers. These events mean word-of-mouth gets stronger and it's so exciting to get all the great feedback."

Try the following picnic-friendly recipes using local products for your Memorial Day gathering.

Mullen's Marinated Bean Salad

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cut green beans, drained and rinsed

 pound cubed cheese of your choice

1 cup thinly-sliced raw onion

2 tablespoons chopped pimento

1 cup Mullen's French or Imitation French dressing

DIRECTIONS

1 Combine all ingredients and toss lightly. Chill 1 hour and serve.

Source: Adapted from Mullen's Finest Dressings and Sauces

Curry Deviled Eggs

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

6 large hard-boiled eggs, shelled (Locally-raised eggs from Jake's Happy Hens or another local farm would be a great choice)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon minced green onion

3/4 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Sliced olives for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1 Cut hard-boiled eggs lengthwise in half. Scoop yolks into medium bowl. Mash yolks with fork. Add mayonnaise, minced green onion and curry powder; mix well.

2 Season yolk mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Divide filling among egg halves, mounding slightly. Arrange eggs on platter. Sprinkle with minced parsley. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Garnish eggs with olives and serve.

Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

Jug Iced Coffee

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

8 cups freshly brewed, strong coffee (TJ's Roaster Sumatra, Kenya or decaf coffee would be a nice choice)

 cinnamon stick

 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup half and half

Ice to serve

DIRECTIONS

1 In a large bowl, pour the hot coffee over the cinnamon and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and sit aside to cool. When cool, mix in the vanilla and half and half and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator. Pour into a cold air pot or into a sealed container and keep in a cooler with ice. Dispense over ice to serve.
SHARE Moss explores the struggles of dealing with his mother's stroke and inability to save her.

By Richard Moss, Special to the Courier & Press

In the aftermath of the recent Republican primary in Indiana it is clear that the conservative movement has suffered a setback.

This was the anti-incumbent, anti-establishment year, wasn't it? It was our opportunity to take back the Republican Party and make of it a credible, opposition conservative party that stood on principle.

To paraphrase what I had written before: "Yes, we the conservative base have had it with the quisling Republican Party in Washington, with the moribund Republican leadership and their water-carriers in Congress who cave on every issue. We can no longer tolerate big spending Republicans who come home during election time and campaign as conservatives and return to Washington and vote as liberals."

I took solace in the Republican Presidential Primary process early on. This is why, I surmised, the base had rejected the "Establishment." Jeb Bush, Chris Christy, Marco Rubio and John Kasich, establishment figures all, were either out of the presidential race or had no chance of winning. It was only the outsiders left, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, a sure sign of the frustration the base felt toward the Republican ruling class.

But it didn't quite work out that way in the Indiana primary. With the defeat of conservative standard-bearer Ted Cruz, and the many questions surrounding Donald Trump's commitment to conservative principles, conservatives are wondering what happened?

It would have been one thing if Trump had succeeded and Marlin Stutzman had defeated Todd Young in the race to replace retiring Republican Senator Dan Coats. But Young won handily, with significant support from Mitch McConnell and the Chamber of Commerce, thus giving the nod to someone who embodied the reason why people were supposedly voting for Trump in the first place.

Further, we failed to nominate a single new conservative to the Senate.

In 2016, a year when the GOP voters were supposedly more anti-establishment than ever, every single moderate/liberal Republican incumbent House member easily won re-election.

Trey Hollingsworth, a wealthy lifelong Democrat carpetbagger from Tennessee, spent millions of his own money to win the primary in the open seat to replace Todd Young in Indiana's 9th Congressional District.

Then there was the Republican Presidential primary process that resembled more a cage match rather than a substantive debate over critical, conservative issues. The Republican Party managed to squander its best opportunity in a generation to make their case for balanced budgets, limited government, and free markets against the debacle of the Obama years. But then what would you expect? The old bulls that run the Republican Party at the national level will be content to "cut deals" with Trump (or Hillary) as they did with Obama, and the reckless spending will continue unabated, the same deficits and debt, the printing of money, and the unsustainable growth of government and the welfare state.

These were the issues a responsible, fiscally prudent Republican Party was supposed to grapple with. But there was not a hint of this in the primary process, nor any discussion of other major concerns such as restoring separation of powers and Constitutional order, the assault by Obama and his pen, phone, and executive fiats that merged the legislative and executive functions in lawless, unconstitutional acts, from Amnesty to Obamacare to Sanctuary Cities to the destabilizing and dangerous Nuclear Deal with Iran.

Nor was there a debate regarding the overarching federal bureaucracy, the "fourth" branch of government that release thousands of pages of regulations each year with the impact of law and virtually no Congressional oversight, burdening and stifling economic activity, a completely nondemocratic process that usurps Congress's legislative function.

The Republican Congress that seemed unwilling to rouse itself from its stupor to defend the prerogatives and powers of Congress ignored all this and much more.

And so Constitutional conservatives wander in the wilderness, strangers in our own party.

We recognize the power of the media and incumbency, "name ID," the "Establishment" and money to decide outcomes despite our best efforts. These forces effectively undermine insurgent candidates that seek to challenge the status quo.

Furthermore, Establishment candidates run on our issues only to abandon them later.

In my recent campaign for Congress to represent Indiana's 8th district, I attempted to sound, however unsuccessfully, these themes.

Although ultimately defeated, I hope that this message will animate congressman Larry Bucshon, other Republicans, and perhaps moderate Democrats in the general election and beyond.

The Republican Party must decide if it is to become a principled conservative party that stands for liberty and limited government or remain the big government, big spending, liberal, progressive party it is today.

I would like to thank my many volunteers, supporters, and voters.

Regardless of individual defeats, the cause to restore our Constitutional system and save the Republic continues.

Richard Moss, of Jasper, lost his bid for the Republican nomination for Indiana's Eighth Congressional District.
$4 an hour

PaTH to slave labour

Jobs and growth is the parrot-like election campaign three word slogan of the Turnbull government. Bereft of meaning when seen in isolation (as it is meant to be) its real meaning when applied to the Coalition policies is $4-an-hour jobs and in turn a big growth boost for company profits.

Young recipients of the Newstart allowance will be handed over to businesses to work 25 hours for $100 a week on top of their benefit. Thats $4 an hour.

The Coalition says their latest plan is based on internships. It sounds like an opportunity to get a foot in the door of a legal firm or on a parliamentarians staff. But its not. Its a scheme to deliver extra cheap labour to big business without the protection of the Fair Work Act. Young recipients of the Newstart allowance will be handed over to businesses to work 25 hours for $100 a week on top of their benefit. Thats $4 an hour. Critics point to the obvious problem  employers will churn these interns, get lots of cheap labour and put downward pressure on wages.

The Liberals wouldnt have a problem with that. They have launched wave after wave of attack on the trade union movement to achieve the same end  cheap, disorganised and compliant workers. They have allowed the abuse of type 457 visas, destroyed Australian shipping and manufacturing and turned a blind eye to all manner of employer abuse. The young workers would be delivered to supermarkets, cafes, newsagents and all sorts of businesses small and large at well below the national minimum wage of $17.29 an hour.

The government admits the work-for-the-dole scheme has failed. It failed from the point of view of getting people work experience and entry into proper jobs but it succeeded in punishing those excluded from capitalisms anarchic labour market. It prepared them to submit to the next phase in delivering very cheap wage slaves to big business. Treasurer Scott Morrison describes the new Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare-Trial-Hire) program as true work for the dole.

History of free labour

The PaTH scheme joins a long list of plans to deliver cheap or free labour. In modern times the Liberals proposed the Work for the Dole concept while in opposition in 1987. They trialled it when re-elected in 1996 and imposed it in 1997. Like many of these violations of human and labour rights, it was first applied to Aboriginal communities. In recent times there has been the National Work Experience Program (NWEP), which involved purely voluntary work without pay. The PaTH scheme has fewer safeguards than NWEP, creates an employment contract and a whole new layer of second class workers in Australia.

The scheme is to cost $752 million dollars over the next four years. It is set to go into operation in April next year. Under 25s who have been unemployed for six months will be drafted into it. There is an upfront payment of $1,000 to the employer for providing the 12-week internship. If the business then takes the job-seeker onto the full-time staff, there is a wage subsidy of $10,000 a year. The temptation to churn gets bigger and bigger.

The government and the Department of Employment insist that an employer rorting the system will stop getting referrals but their credibility is lacking. The Coalition has gone to extraordinary lengths to strip away unfair dismissal protections. They are about corporations rights, not workers rights. Lower corporate taxes and pots of taxpayers money for big business are much more their style. An ongoing source of low-wage workers sits nicely with the governments overall economic approach.

Other sources of slaves

Of course, there are already sources of virtual slaves out there in the labour market. There are backpackers, overseas students, the Airtasker website and others. The Fairfax media and ABC TVs Four Corners program lifted the lid on the staffing practices of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores. Thousands of vulnerable workers were paid extremely low wages, some less than $5 an hour to work in the company in which Prime Minister Turnbull has a financial interest.

The exposure of the mistreatment of workers at 7-Eleven forced an independent inquiry to be established to work out compensation to the workers so shamelessly screwed over. The inquiry was headed up by former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Professor Allan Fels. Half of the claims for back pay have been processed and $12 million distributed to ripped-off employees.

7-Eleven has just announced that it will be bringing the inquiry in-house; a move Professor Fels has described as bogus and a triumph for dodgy franchisees. It is worth remembering that Fairfax and Four Corners looked at 7-Eleven as part of widespread super-exploitative practices in one of the only growing parts of the economy. It was a warning that this could be the future for increasing numbers of workers in Australia.

Though the Australian Bureau of Statistics doesnt keep statistics on the number of interns working in the economy, advocacy group Interns Australia claims their numbers have ballooned in recent years. The European experience, where workers serve as interns for years without pay, could be coming to Australia.

Resistance

The Greens and Labor say they will fight the scheme no matter the outcome of the July 2 federal election. Labor is emphasising that, if the total payment under PaTH was lifted to the level of the minimum wage (a possible compromise?), the cost of the scheme would blow out by $478 million. Australian Council of Social Services chief Cassandra Goldie initially welcomed PaTHs new approach but has since added that employers should be required to prove that they had a real vacancy before being allowed to access the scheme.

The Greens Adam Bandt is clearly opposed. The scheme doesnt just open up young people to exploitation, it may also drive down wages as employers use cheap labour, he said. Labour market and legal experts agree. Professor Andrew Stewart of the University of Adelaide warned that If you allowed businesses to use government-paid interns instead of paid workers you are reducing employment, not increasing it.

Internships can be added to a growing pile of threats to wages and conditions. The re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the ongoing persecution of trade unions arising out of the trade union royal commission witch hunt and the stripping away of penalty rates and other measures to slash workers living standards are all in play right now.

Workers are resisting and communities must get behind them to defeat growing corporate dictatorship.
Editorial

Duttons desperate race card

The Coalition is feeling the pressure. As the long election campaign drags on, the Turnbull government is looking more and more vulnerable. Police raids called on the office of Labor Senator Stephen Conroy and the home of staffer Andrew Byrne in connection with leaks about the troubled National Broadband Network have the whiff of political motivation. Another sign of desperation was the claim by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton that refugees would simultaneously be dependent on the dole and taking jobs off Australians.

Mr Dutton defended the claims in an interview with Sydney 2GB radio host Ray Hadley last week. These people would be taking Australian jobs. Theres no doubt about that. For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it, so there would be a huge cost and theres no sense in sugar-coating that, thats the scenario, the minister said. Hadley backed Dutton up by saying that Australia already has enough home-grown bludgers.

Turnbull was uncomfortable with the tone of the Immigration Ministers comments and sought to turn the commentary around. He stuck to the Coalitions self-proclaimed success in stopping boat arrivals and the ALPs supposed failure while in office. The PM went to great lengths to appear compassionate. He pointed out that many refugees were fleeing war-torn countries. He didnt touch upon Australias role alongside the US in creating or exacerbating the strife at issue. There was no mention of the appalling track record of abuse in offshore detention camps. In the end, Turnbull stood squarely with Dutton, who he described as outstanding as immigration minister.

The Liberals are trying to walk both sides of the street. Turnbull dresses up his governments record as caring and tolerant so as to appeal to the bulk of Australian voters. Dutton is pitching to the intolerant and xenophobic voters who might drift to Pauline Hansons One Nation or the Australian Liberty Alliance.

Condemnation of Duttons provocative remarks was quick in coming. Paul Power of the Refugee Council of Australia noted Treasury figures showing that migrants, including refugees, put much more into the economy than they drew out despite the initial support provided. Mr Duttons comments are not only incoherent, they contravene the evidence substantiated by the contributions of hundreds of thousands of refugees who have contributed to our country, Mr Power said. The fact that this political attack is coming from the minister responsible for Australias refugee program makes it even more offensive.

Labor and the Greens both called the minister on his xenophobic attitude. Labors track record on mandatory detention and offshore processing of asylum seekers is a disgrace in its own right, frequently tailing the Coalition and seeking to keep anti-refugee sentiment onside. Nonetheless they are promising to double Australias refugee intake, which currently stands at around 13,700. The Greens support lifting the figure to 50,000.

Dutton is a controversial figure. The ex-policeman from Queensland was the only Coalition front-bencher not to applaud then-PM Kevin Rudds apology to the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal people. He accidentally sent a text to Murdoch journalist Samantha Maiden calling her a Mad f*****ng witch. His insensitive comments about Pacific Island nations threatened by climate change and rising sea levels almost sparked a diplomatic incident.

The outbursts from Dutton and subsequent smoothing of ruffled feathers engaged in by Turnbull are more than a difference of personal style. They are seeking another term at managing affairs for the capitalist class. Privileges and power are at stake. They are using different tactics to the same end. Duttons crude effort at dividing workers and the exploited and vulnerable is a traditional pro-boss approach. So is Turnbulls attempt to make vicious anti-refugee, anti-worker policies sound reasonable and caring. The Coalition deserves its place at the bottom of the ballot paper. Australians are fed up with the main choices on offer. An anti-monopoly, anti-imperialist, pro-people alternative has to be built. Cynicism wont fix the many problems facing Australians or turn around the drift to corporate dictatorship. Unity in action will.
Adnyamathanha disgust at nuclear waste dump move

Adnyamathanha people are angry about a likely low level nuclear waste dump near South Australias Flinders Ranges, saying they dont want the outback poisoned again. Federal Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg has picked a cattle station near Barndioota, 40 kilometres north of Port Augusta, as the preferred site to store medical and laboratory waste currently held in Sydney.

The land, co-owned by former Liberal senator Grant Chapman, has been selected ahead of five other voluntarily nominated sites, including two others in SA and others in the Northern Territory.

Adnyamathanha Tribal Lands Association (ATLA) chief executive Vince Coulthard said he was totally disgusted by the decision. This is our land, we have been here forever and we will always be here, and we are totally opposed to this dump, he said.

ATLA is the main key stakeholder, yet they have shown us no respect. This is in our sacred country with a very important spring just nearby. This is another example of cultural genocide. This cannot happen.

Adnyamathanha woman Regina McKenzie, who lives next to the property, says the dump would desecrate Dreamtime stories. Storylines go through the area. Theres also a massive archaeological site. Its also an ancient trading route, she said.

This is a place where we took our children to learn to swim, where we went with my father. This is our place of learning, where we still hunt and gather bush tucker.

Australian Nuclear Free Alliance co-chair and Kokatha-Mula Elder Sue Coleman-Haseldine said its devastating that the gvernment would put nuclear waste on anyones country.

Weve already been poisoned through the Maralinga bomb tests, she said.

Do we really need any more nuclear, whether its low level or not? Theres always the chance of accidents.

I feel really sorry for the (Aboriginal) people who have to go through this and the other people who have to live under a nuclear cloud.

Frydenberg played down the impact of the low-level waste to nearby communities, saying it was gloves, goggles and test tubes that came in contact with nuclear medicine.

The whole purpose of building a single repository is to make it safer and make it a long-term solution, he said. SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has also raised concerns about the selection process.

A final decision wont be made until safety, environmental and Indigenous heritage assessments have been completed, and that could take a year.

But Koutsantonis said the selection of a former Liberal politicians land raised eyebrows.

Im not really a big fan of self-selection. I think it raises some serious questions, he said. Id much rather scientists and independent regulators choose a site rather than politicians.

Koori Mail
Warrior advocate for Indigenous rights

Rob Riley Memorial Lecture  Curtin University WA, May 13, 2016

Rob Riley died on May 1, 1996. He waged a life long battle on behalf of Aboriginal Australians to lift the profile of their struggle in white dominated Australia. In 2004, the inaugural Rob Riley Memorial Lecture was held at which the keynote speaker was indigenous leader Pat Dodson. He recently became a Senator for the Australian Labor Party.

A pamphlet from that first lecture said of Rob Riley that he was an Indigenous statesman and leader of his people whose untimely death was mourned throughout Australia. Inspired by his conviction that Australia had to confront its history of dispossession of Aboriginal people from their lands and all that has flowed from it, Riley worked tirelessly to advance social justice and reconciliation with non-Indigenous Australia.

Twelve years later these words still resonate about one of the true warriors for the cause of Aboriginal people.

The welcome to country and smoking ceremony inside the Tim Winton Lecture Theatre was undertaken by Professor Simon Forrest, lifting the scent of grass, tree and Sandlewood to all the 200 plus people who had attended to remember Rob Riley. The Vice Chancellor of Curtin University Deborah Terry introduced the keynote speaker Ben Wyatt, Labor member for Victoria Park and son of Cedric Wyatt who as leader of the Aboriginal Legal Service in WA in 1979 had hired Rob Riley as a field officer.

Ben commenced saying that Rob and his father Cedric had both been to the Mogumber Mission near Moora north of Perth as well as the orphanage of Sister Kates where both were raised as white boys.

The experience was to help shape Rileys life as he, wanted Aboriginal people to take their place at the table where decisions were made about the wealth and future of Australia.

Rob fought the struggles on behalf of Aboriginal people for land rights, Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody, Stolen Generations and against racism.

Ben Wyatt spoke of the intensity of the Aboriginal debates during the 1980s and 1990s which Riley thrived on for his strong sense of justice while at the same time it also ground him down.

Riley became the leader of the Aboriginal Legal Service and under his leadership was able to challenge the status quo of the mining companies, the corporate media and the political establishment of the Liberal and Labor parties. It is a struggle that white people need to know is real and ongoing.

It was Rob Riley in 1980 who helped make the Noonkanbah dispute over land rights and sacred sites versus miners greed to drill wherever they wanted, into a national and international issue.

Riley realised that racism needed to be broken if Australians were ever to heal.

It is a problem that persists within Australia to this day despite the Apology by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008.

The next speaker was someone who knew Rob Riley well and had also spoken at the inaugural Rob Riley Memorial Lecture, Professor Pat Dudgeon. Ms Dudgeon is now a commissioner at the Mental Health Commission and spoke of Rob Riley as a role model to his people  especially his Noongar people of the south west of Western Australia.

Dudgeon recalled a speech in psychology at WAIT (Western Australian Institute of Technology  later Curtin University) in 1996 for the Psychology Society in which he challenged the bio-medical model used to deal with patients at the time.

Riley said that we must help to direct where our world is going which for people who work with Aboriginal people in the mental health field, meant having an understanding of Aboriginal justice, society, culture and history.

Jim Morrison, Robs brother in law and long time friend, touched on his friends suicide by speaking about the rising rates of suicide amongst Aboriginal people as well as their high and increasing rates of incarceration  100 Aboriginal people take their lives each year.

Morrison spoke of the National Conference on Suicide Prevention which he had attended on May 6 in Alice Springs and how the stories he had heard had affected him  the stories from Aboriginal communities and the despair especially amongst young people.

The next speaker was Darryl Kickett who was also a former associate of Rob Riley. Kickett spoke of Rob Riley as being a, chief negotiator for all our people when he took on the struggles of the Aboriginal people such as land rights, sovereignty, the stolen generations and high levels of incarceration and deaths in incarceration.

Kickett spoke of white people only deciding to do things if it was in the national interest and posed the question: is it in the national interest to have our jails filling up with Aboriginal people, in particular in Western Australia which has the highest rates of Aboriginal incarceration in Australia.

Kickett remarked, Its time to fix our Aboriginal nation  It is not how we fall down but how we pick ourselves up.

The final speaker was Rob Rileys biographer Quentin Beresford. Beresford was approached by Jeannie Riley (Robs partner) one day in 2003, to write the book of Rob Rileys life.

As he started to write it brought out the rawness of Aboriginal intergenerational violence, trauma and racism.

Beresford described in detail how Rileys grandmother Anna Miller lost control of her children including his mother Violet to the government administrator of Auber Octavius Neville or Mister Neville (The Devil) as he was known to Aboriginal people, Chief Protector of Aborigines.

Violet Riley in turn lost her son Rob Riley to the institution of Sister Kates  a situation repeated many times in WA in the last 100 years plus since the Aborigines Act 1905.

Beresford described how Anna Miller wrote 40 letters to Neville pleading for the return of her children or even to spend some time with them  all of which were denied. Further details are described in the book published in 2006. It is still available for those wishing to explore further the life of Rob Riley.

Beresford said of Rob Riley that he had to confront outright racism in parts of the corporate media  and then the mining lobby and the infamous comments in 1984 from Lang Hancock the mining magnate who said, I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in the future.

Rob was also a good humoured and competitive character who loved his wife and children dearly.

The spirit of Rob Riley lives on in todays Aboriginal activists. It is about speaking out and telling the truth about racism and exploitation.
Fear and loathing in the empire

America is exceptional alright. It is the most frightened nation on Earth, subjected to hysterical propaganda over decades warning about foreign enemies and ideologies. No wonder its supposed democratic freedom is in so appallingly bad shape, when the preponderant population is imprisoned by their rulers in a virtual cage of fear.

Actors Jack OConnell, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Amal Clooney upon arrival for the screening of the film Money Monster at the 69th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 12, 2016. (Photo: Joel Ryan)

Paradoxically, though, the dissonance of supposed freedom could not be more abysmal. At a press conference at the recent Cannes film festival American screen actor George Clooney digressed from his latest movie to talk about Republican presidential contender Donald Trump. Clooney, who is well known for his liberal brand of US politics and a big supporter of Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, predicted that rightwing business tycoon Trump would not win the forthcoming November presidential contest.

Clooney dismissed Trump as a demagogue sowing fear and divisive tensions along racial and xenophobic lines. Which is fair enough. Of interest here is not so much the actors views on Trumps chances of political success. Rather, it is Clooneys premise that Americans would not succumb to reactionary fear peddling.

Seated at the press conference alongside his American co-star Julia Roberts and film director Jody Foster, Clooney told his Cannes audience: Fear is not going to drive our country  were not afraid of anything.

Well, sorry George, but you are dead wrong on that score. Fear is the paramount emotional driver in American politics since at least the Second World War, and probably decades before that too.

Contrary to Clooneys bravado, Americans are very, very afraid.

The biggest bogeyman for the US public was the Soviet Union, whose spectre dominated American politics for nearly 50 years. This spectre has been conjured up again through casting Russia and its President Vladimir Putin as intent on resurrecting the Soviet Union.

It was Hillary Clinton  Clooneys political champion  who made the ridiculous and historically illiterate charge that Putin is the new Hitler. Many other senior US political figures and Western news media have since stampeded like a herd in likewise demonising the Russian leader.

The unquestioned consensus in Washington, from President Barack Obama to his foreign secretary John Kerry, and from senior Congressional figures to the Pentagon chiefs, is that Russia is an existential threat to global security.

Americas new NATO military chief General Curtis Scaparrotti has warned that the US-led alliance must be prepared to go to war against Russia at any moment due to alleged Russian aggression towards Eastern Europe and the Baltic states.

The Cold War has thus been rehabilitated a quarter of a century since the Soviet Union dissolved. As in former times, fear is once again fuelling American politics. Consistently, there is negligible objective basis for this mass phenomenon. Russia today is not a threat to the US or its NATO allies, just as the Soviet Union was not a threat.

Bombastic claims about Russian annexation and invasion of Ukraine are factually tenuous, spurious or devoid. The claims dont stand up to scrutiny. But thats hardly the point. The point is that the false narrative  propaganda  of alleged Russian malevolence is amplified and repeated over and over again in Western independent media, not unlike the Big Lie technique of Nazi spinmeister Josef Goebbels.

US and Western allies, with the help of pliable news media, in effect are able to construct their own false reality. It is not objective reality. It is a subjective, delusional reality one in which Western nations are portrayed to be under threat from a stalking, salivating enemy in the form of Russia.

Fear is a powerful lever for control over populations, as English author George Orwell keenly perceived. Get the public to fear for their lives from an external enemy, and they will be easily manipulated into accepting authority, no matter how draconian and illegitimate that authority is. Fear is the key to surrendering democratic rights and submitting to a cage.

From the end of the Second World War in 1945, the West immediately needed the Cold War with the Soviet Union as a bulwark against more progressive, democratic development within their own countries. American writer David Talbot in his book, The Devils Chessboard, clearly depicts how Wall Street, the Pentagon and ideologically inclined politicians were able to construct the monstrous military-industrial complex and its gargantuan consumption of economic resources for the enrichment of an elite ruling class  based on Cold War angst and trepidation about the evil Soviet Union.

When a minority of sceptical, more independently intelligent politicians, authors or artists questioned the Cold War assertions they were peremptorily ostracized as Reds, traitors or indeed assassinated by the military-industrial complex, as David Talbot convincingly argues in the case of President John F Kennedy.

This perverse distortion and waste of US economic resources  a US$600 billion military budget year after year overshadowing all other social needs  is engineered precisely through fear. American military might must be supreme and sacrosanct in order to defend or protect US vital interests and those of its allies from existential threats. Russia, and to a lesser extent China, continues to be designated in the role of global threat.

To this end, Americans have been subjected to a relentless psychological program  euphemistically referred to as news  for the past seven decades. Europeans too. Perhaps in the whole of Europe the British media is the most toxic and reactionary when it comes to demonising Russia.

The manipulation of the Western public mind is flagrant. The claims against Russia are preposterous, but astoundingly the manipulation, to a degree, succeeds.

However, the domination through fear is not as omnipotent as it once was. During the former Cold War, the Western public were far more susceptible to the depiction of evil Soviet menace.

This is no longer the case. Western media have long been discredited over fabricating lies, such as the pretext for the Bush-Blair war on Iraq and other criminal US-led regime-change operations, including Libya, Syria and Ukraine.

Today, Western citizens have more access to alternative information sources, including Russian mass media and critical internet news outlets within their own countries. The Big Lie technique, while still potent, is not quite as effective as it was in former times.

This new historical development in public awareness is reflected in the growing, popular discontent across Europe towards governments that are seen to be slavishly toeing Washingtons policy of aggression against Russia.

Citizens are angrily questioning why they are made to accept economic austerity while US-led sanctions against Russia are hitting their jobs, businesses and export revenues.

Citizens are rightly furious that they are told there are no financial resources for public services and infrastructure, while billions of dollars are pumped into NATO forces to recklessly provoke tensions with Russia.

Of course, the anomalies in Western government priorities with regard to meeting public needs are ludicrous, unjustifiable and unsustainable. And the only way that Western rulers can get away with such absurd denial of democratic realities is to play the fear factor.

Nowhere has the fear factor been played more than in the US  ironically, the nation which proclaims from the rooftops to be exceptional, free and democratic.

George Clooney would do better to stick to the silver screen where his heroics and valour shine larger than life  in fiction. The American people are not afraid of anything, he claimed in real life.

George, with respect, your people are the most scared on the planet; and the brainwashing system is so good, that you and they dont even know that. Indeed, havent even an inkling of the gross manipulation.

Information Clearing House
In the land of Palestine

A talk given by Leila Yusaf Chung at the screening of 5 Broken Cameras at the CPA offices, organised by the Communist Womens Collective.

The idea of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine was proposed at the first Zionist Congress held in Basel in 1897. The rabbis of Vienna dispatched two representatives to investigate the suitability of the country for such an enterprise. The men reported the results of their explorations in this cable to Vienna: The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man.

To their disappointment they had found that Palestine was already inhabited and a claimed homeland for the native Palestinians Arab population.

Since the Zionist project aimed and continues to aim for Maximum land with minimum Palestinians they propagated a narrative that the majority of Jews continue to believe: A land without a people for a people without a land.

The Palestinians mark May 15, 1948 as the Nakba  the catastrophe.

The making of the Nakba started with the Balfour declaration of 1917. A letter from Balfour to [Edmond] Rothschild stating His Majestys government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object.

This was followed by waves of European Jewish migrations to Palestine.

Aliyah in Hebrew is to move up to Jerusalem to the Promised Land. Aliyah is opposite to migration.

In 1947, The UN General Assembly recommended the creation of a Jewish state in part of Palestine; that recommendation was non-binding and never implemented by the Security Council. The General Assembly passed that recommendation only after Israels proponents threatened and bribed numerous countries in order to gain a required two-thirds of votes.

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel.

It was with armed aggression, and the ethnic cleansing of at least three-quarters of a million indigenous Palestinians that created the Jewish state on land that had been 95 percent non-Jewish prior to Zionist immigration and that even after years of immigration remained 70 percent non-Jewish. And despite the shallow patina of legality its partisans extracted from the General Assembly, Israel was born over the opposition of American and of governments around the world, who opposed it on both pragmatic and moral grounds.

On the eve of battle in 1948, Jewish fighting forces were around 50,000 (increased by summer to 80,000). They included a small air force, navy and units of tanks, armoured cars and heavy artillery.

They faced a hopelessly outmanned and outgunned Palestinian irregular force of about 7,000.

The expulsion  or ethnic cleansing  took six months to complete. It expelled about 800,000 people, killed many others, and destroyed 531 villages and 11 urban neighbourhoods in cities like Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. They included cold-blooded mass-murder; destruction of homes, villages and crops; rapes; other atrocities; and massacres of defenceless people given no quarter including women and children.

The crimes were suppressed and censored from official accounts. Israeli historiography cooked up the myth that Palestinians left voluntarily fearing harm from invading Arab armies. It was a lie covering up Israeli crimes.

The victims became the victimisers.

One people were given refuge by uprooting another.

Lies, displacement oppression and killing continue.

Today nearly 90% of historical Palestine is colonised.

Today Israel is called the only democracy in the Middle East. Lets call it what really is:

When a land is controlled by military force its not a disputed land its occupied

When people fight an occupier its not terrorism its resistance

When an occupation bombs cities and people its not self defence its a crime

When a regime separates, segregates and discriminates its not democracy, its apartheid

Weve seen it happen before and we fought it.

Lets change the narrative.

Which brings me to the importance of words and art as acts of resistance that comes in many forms. The novel Chasing Shadows talks about what it means to be a refugee and landlessness. It tells the story of a family torn apart and fighting to survive as Palestinians in the refugee camps in Lebanon.

Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer resisted occupation through the lens of his cameras.

5 Broken Cameras was shown at film festivals in 2011 and was released in public in 2012. Its a first-hand account of protests in Blilin a West Bank village affected by Israel west bank barrier. The film won a 2012 Sundance Film festival award and Emmy award. It was nominated for a 2013 Academy Award.

Enjoy
Culture & Life

Not so rich after all

The USA is supposedly the richest country on Earth. That might depend however on how one defines rich. A country that cannot  or will not  provide affordable (let alone free) health care for its population is arguably not really rich. Neither is a country that cannot give its people universal, free education, or that cannot guarantee employment for all its citizens. Also fundamental to a definition of a rich country is whether it can provide its people with sufficient to eat and drink. The provision of fresh, clean drinking water is a basic requirement that many people  especially in poor countries  simply do not receive. And not just in poor countries.

The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice.

Take Flint, Michigan, in the US. Before General Motors closed production there a few years ago it was probably the biggest automobile manufacturing operation in the country, a huge complex of plants employing thousands of skilled workers. When GM transferred their operations to a state where the laws strongly favoured employers and prevented workers from organising effectively, the economy of Flint collapsed.

That didnt worry GM, of course. What happened to the 100,000 people of the city that had been the centre of GMs operations for decades was of no concern to the members of the GM board. The argument that it would boost profits was all that mattered to them. That their lowly employees actually had rights did not even occur to them (and if it had, would have been dismissed as irrelevant). That workers do have rights and that those rights are important is something those pesky Socialists are always banging on about. The GM board chose to ignore the matter of workers rights and to close their operations in Flint altogether.

One unlooked-for result of GM ceasing manufacturing in Flint was the conversion of Michael Moore, the editor of the local paper, into a political activist and filmmaker, radicalised as he confronted the reality of capitalism in all its ruthless inhumanity. At first he could not believe that a giant company like GM, an American institution, could simply walk away from its obligations to its employees and their families and to the community that depended on Flint for its livelihood. But he learned that they not only could but that they would. Like a shot. Without a backward glance. Chortling all the way to the bank.

Another unlooked-for consequence of the closure of GM in Flint, though not so immediate, was the mass poisoning of the citys population. When the economy of Flint went down the tube, the city administration soon became bankrupt. That such a thing could even happen is a telling condemnation of the chaos of capitalism. It would be unthinkable in a rational, planned society where investment and peoples needs would be co-ordinated.

Incapable of maintaining automobile production in Flint or of substituting some alternative industry under the conditions of capitalism, the best the state government could do was to appoint a state official to manage Flints fiscal crisis. This official decided, in a move intended to save the city a relatively paltry $5 million over two years, to switch Flints drinking water supply from the Detroit city system to the heavily polluted Flint River.

So polluted is the water of the Flint River, it is actually designated as highly corrosive. Although US law requires that such water be treated before it is fed into the domestic water supply, this was not done (presumably on grounds of cost). After all, Flint is not exactly a rich city. Forty two percent of the people of Flint live below the poverty line. Racism might also have been a factor: 57 percent of Flints population are African-American, another 8 percent are Latino or of mixed race.

At least 8,000 homes in Flint are connected to the large main water pipes by small, aging lead pipes. Lead leaching out of the aging water pipes was added to the polluted water from the Flint River. Rhea Suh, president of the US environmental activist organisation the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), noted that the result was that lead was piped into thousands of homes in Flint.

Some 9,000 children were exposed to drinking water contaminated with toxic lead, which is especially dangerous to infants and young children. It can reduce intelligence, impair learning ability, and make it difficult for kids to control their impulses.

The Flint water crisis erupted in 2014. Signs of trouble emerged within months, and by March 2015, the Flint City Council voted to return to buying water from Detroit. At the time, the emergency manager overruled the council, but since then the city has returned to the Detroit water system for its water supply. However, today, two years after the situation began, Ms Suh can observe that the water in Flint, Michigan, is still unsafe to drink ... tap water is still contaminated with lead.

The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice, the independent Flint Water Advisory Task Force reported. The state government, however, seems to have decided on scapegoating: two state workers and a Flint city employee have been charged with criminal wrongdoing in the case, and more prosecutions are threatened.

The problem with lead in the USs drinking water though, goes far beyond Flint. Elevated levels of lead have been found in thousands of water systems across the country, including in North Carolina, Rhode Island, Mississippi, South Carolina, and even our nations capital, says Reah Suh.

Legislation in the US Senate that would provide emergency assistance for the people of Flint, including money to replace lead pipes, has been held up for months by a few intransigent Republicans. That goes beyond obstructionism; its a national disgrace. Its time the people of Flint got the assistance they deserve.

One can only agree. Under capitalism, however, even the provision of essential services is made conditional on a corporation making a profit. That doesnt bode well for the unfortunate people of Flint.

Isnt capitalism grand?
Continue Reading Below Advertisement

The only way fog could be tied more to the city of London is if it were obscuring Sherlock Holmes's vision while he tried to find a Dickensian orphan stuck in a chimney. But it turns out that London never really suffered from fog so much as it had a really bad smog problem. Like, "modern-day industrial China" bad. Yet for centuries, Londoners would grit their teeth (which is what smog does to teeth) and welcome the change of pace from inhaling pipe tobacco and horse shit particles all day long. But in December 1952, everything got taken to a new level as the smog started choking people. To death.

Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

They kept their upper lips a little too stiff.

The Great Smog was a perfect storm, almost literally. During one of the country's harshest winters, more fires had been lit than ever before, producing an unmanageable amount of smoke and coal dust. At the same time, above the city, a weather phenomenon called an anticyclone (which is also how Jean Grey describes Wolverine's lovemaking) had formed, keeping fresh air out of the area.

Before long, visibility dropped to a few yards. Two days later, it was one foot. Since no one could see, cars had to be abandoned in the middle of the road and people fell into the Thames and drowned. Then the pollution starting mixing with water in the air, turning into sulfuric and hydrochloric acid and making the air toxic to breathe. Since ambulances couldn't get out, people had to walk to hospitals, with their lips turning blue from asphyxiation along the way. Within a week's time, 12,000 people had died. But the government, embarrassed that they had ignored those crazy pre-hippie environmentalists who had protested in the 1920s, insisted that most of the dead had merely caught a really bad flu.
What does a British Superbike title contender do on his weekend off?

If you're Michael Laverty, you fly halfway around the world to assist brother-in-law Chaz Davies at the Sepang World Superbike round.

The racing Laverty brothers (Michael, Eugene and John) are renowned for their ability to 'spot' trackside; studying the behaviour of each bike and rider to help - in this case - Chaz.

In MotoGP, Valentino Rossi now has Luca Cadalora to provide such information, while Jorge Lorenzo has long counted on the trackside advice of another former racer, Wilco Zeelenberg.

Just before the wet second race at Sepang, Crash.net asked Michael if he could explain the differences between the riding techniques in WSBK this season...

WSBK race one action at Sepang.

Michael, you've been watching trackside, what have been your main impressions?

Michael Laverty:

This is my third World Superbike round this year. I've done Aragon, Assen and now Sepang. There's definitely a common trend when you watch the Kawasakis in comparison with the Ducatis or Yamahas.

The Ducati is a twin-cylinder and the Yamaha effectively works like that with its firing order. So they are more corner-speed type of bikes. They don't have the 'point-and-squirt' style of the Kawasaki. The Honda has a little bit less power than the new Kawasaki off the turns, so is also a little more flowing.

In terms of individual riding styles, Tom Sykes is probably the furthest from the others. He brakes really deep, has the slowest mid-corner speed and then accelerates really hard. If you time him from 100 metres before the corner until 100 metres after, it's the same or faster than the others, but done in such a different way. As we saw in race one, it's really effective for him.

Tom's team-mate Johnny Rea rides more conventionally; late on the brakes, but carries a little bit more mid-corner speed and then tries to accelerate on the side of the tyre. More so than Tom.

Tom Sykes at Sepang.

Does Tom get the maximum lean angle, to get the turning done in a shorter space of time before he gets on the power?

Michael Laverty:

It's funny, that's one thing I've noticed a lot about the Kawasaki: It turns very well without a massive lean angle. So when you watch Chaz on the Ducati, for example, he carries a lot of speed on the front tyre and a lot of lean angle to get the bike to turn at that speed.

Whereas to do that same turning arc the Kawasaki doesn't need to be leant over as far. It's possibly as much as 15-20 degrees difference. It's huge!

You really notice it in the wet, like at Assen, or on a damp track. I don't know exactly if it's because they turn using the rear of the bike more, but from track side it looks like maybe they have more weight to the rear and it just kind of hooks them around the turn.

The Ducati and most other bikes have a normal turning arc, where they load the front and turn on the front tyre. The Kawasaki looks very neutral; in the middle of the corner both wheels are loaded, but it's still turning. It's funny when you watch it. It seems to be a strength for them at certain times, but could also be a weakness. It's a new bike for this year so they are still learning.

I'd definitely say that's probably the most noticeable difference compared with all the other bikes.

Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea on the brakes at Phillip Island

Looking just at braking, who would you say is the strongest?

Michael Laverty:

I'd say the strongest out there is Chaz and the next would be Tom Sykes. They are the only two that are visibly deeper, the rest all kind of hit the same braking marker.

Chaz brakes very late and carries a lot of corner speed, so he tips it in with a lot of entry speed. Whereas Tom brakes late and then really stops it, to a slower mid-corner speed. Two very different ways, but they both hit the anchors at the latest possible moment.

Johnny is a consistently strong braker, but he doesn't out-brake himself very often. He's a very smooth rider, looking from the side of the track.

A lot of the braking is to do with the electronics as well as chassis set-up. Everyone in World Superbike has got auto-blip backshifts and electronics, so you hear them going back though the gears and it keeps everything in-line.

Michael Laverty and Cal Crutchlow do the leg dangle during the 2014 MotoGP season.

The leg dangle - do you do it? Who does it in World Superbike and what is the benefit?

Michael Laverty:

It's not as common as in MotoGP, but there are still maybe 10-11 people doing it on a consistent basis in World Superbike. In MotoGP the tyres and chassis are slightly more rigid. That means they can brake a bit later because the bike stays more stable and then the leg dangle has more effect.

I personally do it, but only into left-handers and not into rights because I like to have my foot on the rear brake. I use the leg dangle to balance the bike and adjust the trajectory while the bike is still upright. Just moving the leg off adjusts the weight and moves you a few inches to one side.

Sometimes it's also a panic button. Whenever you are in a little bit deep you just dangle the leg, or maybe even touch your foot down on the track. Hanging your leg out also increases the wind resistance, helping you stop as a kind of air brake.

So there's various reasons for it and it is a tool that's available to the riders. I know some purists don't like it and someone like Jorge Lorenzo never does it. But Jorge's not a late braker. He brakes early, is super smooth and enters the corner with unreal speed. I guess it's more for late brakers, or guys that are getting loose in the braking area.

Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies in Thailand.

Moving on to the mid-corner, you mentioned Sykes' technique, is he the slowest of the top riders in that area?

Michael Laverty:

For sure. It's funny to say that about a world champion, but in the mid-part of the turn he is the slowest guy - but, as I say, his entry speed and exit is so fast. So there is a reason for it. He rides in that stop-and-go style and it really works for him.

In the faster corners it's less evident that Tom is slowing it down because he has to carry the speed, but he still accelerates very hard on the exit. Tom makes a 'V' shape through of the most corners. The rest of the guys have a smoother arc and flow through the turn a bit more.

When I've seen Chaz confident at Aragon and Assen I would say his mid-turn is just that few mph up on Johnny. Someone like Nicky is more conventional; he's not point-and-squirt, he's not relying on super corner speed, he's doing a bit of everything.

It's a bit like Valentino Rossi. Rossi does everything to a very high level. I've always watched Valentino; I was curious to see how the best in the world - or the best of all-time possibly - does it.

Seeing Valentino here in the pre-season last year, he's not got one particular area where you'd say he's doing something incredibly fast. You watch Jorge and can see he tips in with super corner speed and loads both wheels together. Marquez enters very fast, a lot of brakes and throws it in. It looks very rash, loose and fast.

Valentino just looks smooth: He brakes late, but not super-late. He turns in fast, but not super-fast. He's just doing everything at a very, very high level and pieces it all together. I think that's what makes Valentino so good, on so many different bikes, over such a long period of time.

It's always interesting to see how different riders get around a racetrack. The tyres and chassis mean a different riding style in WSBK than in MotoGP, but the riding level isn't actually massively different.

Jonathan Rea at Sepang.

How about getting on the throttle and corner exit?

Michael Laverty:

Electronics play a big part in that. The Kawasaki controls two cylinders independently of the other two. So it sounds almost like a two-cylinder on the first pick-up of the throttle. Very soft. In the wet, whenever you hear Jonathan and Tom on the side of the tyre, it sounds really docile. Like a sewing machine! For an inline four-cylinder, which is a real powerhouse when they open it up, it's surprising to hear that softness down low.

From the side of the track, I could hear BMW trying to emulate that a bit with their bike. It's not as smooth yet as the Kawasaki, but it's improving race-by-race. Reiterberger was noticeably really strong here in Friday practice and it sounds a lot more docile down low. A lot more useable.

The Ducati is a funny beast because it's twin-cylinder, so if they reduce the power by cutting one cylinder it's quite an aggressive cut. Because of that they don't use as much electronics and rely on their chassis and better power management out of the engine.

They have good acceleration and drive, but do it in a different way to the Kawasaki, which has more cylinders to play with and can bring it right down with the electronics.

The top priority is to get onto the fat part of the tyre and deliver 200-plus bhp down onto the track. It's all about getting off the tyre edge, because when you are at 50-60 degrees of lean angle you can't put any power through the tyre.

Those who can just hook it around on that last bit of lean and get it upright sooner are the faster guys. You can see that. And again it's the front three - Chaz, Tom and Johnny - who do it on a more consistent basis.

The rest of the guys are all trying to work towards that level, but are just that little bit off. It's very small. Sometimes it's hard to see because they all look pretty fast in the longer corners. It seems to be the exit of the tighter stuff where you really see the differences.

Crash.net:

That's really interesting Michael, thanks.

Michael Laverty:

You're welcome.

Michael Laverty's day job: Winning BSB races for Tyco BMW.
Sussex News

Story Saved

You can find this story in My Bookmarks.

Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.
Channel programs News

XChange SLED Speaker: States Embracing Public Cloud, Getting Out Of Owning IT Assets

Michael Novinson

Share this

State CIOs are looking to reduce their IT infrastructure burden by co-locating or virtualizing workloads and adopting public cloud tools.

CIOs have shifted over the past decade from seeing themselves as owners and operators of IT infrastructure to brokers for a multitude of IT services that dont necessarily have to be fulfilled using state resources, according to Doug Robinson, the executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).

States are now becoming more contemplative: Are they good at rowing or steering? Robinson told more than 100 solution providers Wednesday at XChange SLED in Atlanta, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company. States were always in the rowing part. Now I think theyre making the shift [to steering] because of the availability of services and cloud.

[RELATED: XChange SLED: 5 Hottest Public Sector Sales Opportunities In 2016]

In fact, some state CIOs have told Robinson that they want to get completely out of the infrastructure and systems business in the next five to seven years and devote their time and budgets exclusively to orchestration and business transformation and procure the technology on an as-a-service basis.

How they deliver the service is more important than whether or not they own the infrastructure, Robinson said.

As states shift money away from investing in infrastructure that supports cloud services, Robinson said the big public cloud players are more than happy to fill the void. In fact, some states have already moved their primary .gov portal outside state boundaries.

Their next generation of data centers may not be in their state, Robinson said. They could be in northern Virginia somewhere as a virtual data center.

More than 80 percent of CIOs told Robinson their state already has some applications in the cloud and is looking to migrate others over in the near future, up from just 32 percent in 2010.

Cloud is clearly the major force of change [for state CIOs], Robinson said. It is becoming relatively mature.

Going forward, more than half of state CIOs told Robinson that cloud will be the primary technology driving IT investment in the next five years, with the most aggressive CIOs providing cloud services not only to agencies within state government but also to municipalities within the state and other states entirely.

For instance, Robinson said the state of Oregon recently won industry recognition for relying on a data center in Montana for its disaster recovery and business continuity services.

The movement among political and nonprofit jurisdictions to share infrastructure isnt limited to the West Coast, Robinson said, with the city of Cleveland relocating its mainframe to the state of Ohios data center in Columbus and a large medical center in Mississippi opting to use the states data center.

We all need a new [data center] environment, Robinson said. Lets build [just] one and share it.

The most dramatic shifts have come around the outsourcing of IT applications and services, Robinson said, with 79 percent of state CIOs indicating they were doing so in 2015, compared with just 43 percent in 2010.

And the model of shared IT services for some or all operations has also gained more acceptance, Robinson said, with 83 percent of state CIOs indicating they were doing so in 2015, up from 66 percent in 2010.

David King, president and CEO of Novi, Mich.-based Red Level, said the embrace of cloud and off-premise infrastructure by state CIOs is more than overdue since it can help them hold the line on costs while scaling up capacity.

The shift to cloud is becoming more and more apparent, King said.

A risk-averse mentality has kept many states from migrating more workloads to the cloud sooner, King said, centered largely around concerns related to control of proprietary data. King said solution providers such as Red Level  which has been in the cloud hosting business for 10 years  can play a major role in educating state CIOs and agencies around the opportunities associated with transitioning to cloud.
Networking News

Verizon Braces For Potential Second-Quarter Earnings Impact As Strike Stalls New Customer Growth

Gina Narcisi

Share this

Echoing his sentiment during the telecom giant's first-quarter 2016 earnings call, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam on Tuesday said that the carrier's second-quarter financial results due out in July could take a hit because of the ongoing strike.

Some 40,000 unionized employees walked off the job April 13 and haven't returned after contract negotiation attempts have proved unsuccessful so far. As such, the carrier has had to delay new service installations, McAdam said during this week's J.P Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston.

Verizon CFO Fran Shammo also confirmed last week that there would be a "significant decline" in net new customers ordering Fios services in the second quarter because the carrier has been making repairs and ongoing maintenance a priority for existing customers during the strike.

[Related: Partners Say Verizon Strike Is Impacting Business ]

"The more turmoil that's out there for Verizon, the less likely they are to gain new customers," said one executive with a Verizon partner who asked not to be named.

The partner exec said that the partner's customers have not been directly impacted from an installation perspective over the past month and a half, but many of the company's Verizon customers have since been moved onto Frontier Communications. Verizon sold off its wireline assets in California, Florida and Texas, and the takeover began April 1.

Where the solution provider is seeing impact, however, is within its other telecommunications partners -- local exchange carriers (LECs) -- that rely on the Verizon network to deliver local services.

"We've had a relatively slow response on some customer sites that are using a LEC that is on the Verizon footprint when it comes to service restoration," the exec said. "Less feet on the street means less response time for outages."

When reached for comment regarding how the strike is impacting partners at this time, a Verizon spokesperson said that the carrier continues to be committed to serving both its customers and partners.

"[Customers and partners] have been our priority since the strike began and continue to be," Verizon told CRN.

Verizon and the two striking unions -- the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers -- are said to be negotiating once again this week. According to the Department of Labor, neither Verizon nor the unions will be publicly commenting during the talks.

Shammo said that Verizon's full-year earnings could also be impacted because of the strike, which is now in its sixth week.


Chambers On The New Cisco Era

John Chambers, Cisco's chairman of the board and former longtime CEO, weighed in Wednesday on his company's software and digital transition in 2016 as well as his assertion that the U.S. government is failing at digitizing America.

Software has been front and center in Cisco's transition from a hardware-focused vendor into a software-centric organization. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco has been mounting a software offensive as of late and recently beat Wall Street estimates for its third fiscal quarter even as its bread-and-butter hardware sales declined.

Speaking with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Chambers sounded off on Cisco's transition, the need for greater digitization in America, and who he believes the next U.S. president will be. Here are five highlights from Chambers' Bloomberg interview.
Citing demand, Royal Caribbean International today confirmed the Ovation of the Seas will extend her second Australian season by six extra cruises, spending a further five weeks home ported in Sydney during the summer of 2017/18.

New cruises in 2018 include an eight-night South Pacific sailing departing 18 February priced from $1,449 per person, a five-night Tasmanian cruise departing 8 March from $1,049 per person, two 10-night New Zealand cruises departing 13 and 26 March starting from $1,819 per person and a three-night sampler departing 23 March priced from $669 per person; all roundtrip from Sydney. As well, she will add a 14-night repositioning cruise from Sydney to Singapore, departing 26 March 2018, which stars from $2,069 per person.

Such is the excitement and anticipation of Ovation of the Seas arrival that were extending her second season before she has even commenced her first in Australia, said Adam Armstrong, managing director for Royal Caribbean in Australia and New Zealand.

The really special thing about Ovation of the Seas is that shes appealing to an incredibly wide range of travellers. Existing cruisers are excited about the new amenities she offers, but shes also fascinating Australians who have never cruised before. She is redefining the concept of cruising and we are delivering an entirely new way to holiday, Armstrong continued.
Five people have been arrested in Miami who are said to be responsible for scamming 1,500 people out of more than $2 million by impersonating IRS agents. Their scams centered on contacting individual taxpayers out of the blue and demanding payments under the threat of jail time.

News of the arrests circulated Tuesday after the Associated Press reported on them. Sources in the Treasury Department said that the five individuals - all Cuban nationals - demanded money from their victims, threatening arrest if the payments were not wired immediately.

In recent months, the scammers demanded payment via iTunes gift cards.

Scams such as this, Deputy Inspector General Tim Camus told the Washington Post, have become the "largest and most pervasive" the IRS has faced over the last three decades. Some 6,400 victims have reported more than $36 million in losses, some paying up to $5,700 on average.

Late last year, "Mike Wilson" called and threatened this reporter with arrest over tax irregularities. The entire call was recorded as it happened, and is embedded below. While this call was recorded last September, there is no way to confirm if the recorded callers are the same people who were arrested this week.

"If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS or in a new twist, the Treasury Department, and uses the threat of legal action if you do not pay immediately, that is a sign that it is not the IRS calling, and your cue to hang up," said J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, in a statement earlier this year.

If you receive a similar call, here are some important facts to remember: (1) The IRS generally first contacts people by mail  not by phone  about unpaid taxes; (2) The IRS will not ask for payment using a prepaid debit card, a money order or a wire transfer; (3) The IRS also will not ask for a credit card number or your bank information over the phone.




Globally cybersecurity is in crisis not solely from a lack of skilled personnel, but also from a lack of strategic direction and companies inability to hire staff in an expedient, effective and efficient manner.

ISSA, (ISC)2, ISACA, Cisco, and PwC have all released major studies showing the cybersecurity skills gap has reached a crisis point worldwide. The number of positions to be filled vary widely from each study, but the majority of them put the gap at over a million positions by the end of the decade. One might go so far as to call it a cybersecurity skills gulf. This is not a new challenge, but one that has been developing over time.

Figure 1: Cybersecurity Skills Shortage (Source: Business Wire)

Industry and educational institutions have moved to address the critical shortage of cybersecurity skills. Universities have launched bachelors, masters and PhD programs with cybersecurity concentrations. My alma mater, Royal Holloway, University of London launched one of the worlds first masters degree programs in 1992, graduating over 2,000 students to date.

Cybersecurity professionals have responded with the creation of cybersecurity skills certifications such as the now venerable (ISC)2 CISSP, started in 1994, with more than 100,000 holders worldwide. Law makers and governments have sought to address this issue with legislation and funding.

A significant aspect of cybersecurity that has not been addressed, to the point of neglect, is the recruitment process. Cybersecurity has been identified as one of the highest growth, high salary careers over the next decade. With the proliferation of high paying, secure jobs come a flood of job seekers into every aspect of the cybersecurity market including recruitment.

I have always been fortunate in hiring good quality candidates over the course of my career. Happily, there has never been a need to fire someone that I hired. That is not a testament to me, but to the quality of the people I have hired. On occasion, I use recruiters for hiring, but the number of recruiters that I use is very small and select. Fly by night recruiters are almost as dangerous to a company as cybercriminals. For the most part, I use my own professional network and that of a few trusted colleagues to look for qualified candidates. A CISO should have a personal stake in the recruitment of his or her own staff.

[ RELATED: Dont use general recruiters in salary negotiations ]

My company is in the process of shutting down and I am looking for my next CISO or cybersecurity thought leadership role. I am therefor intimately familiar with the current cybersecurity job market and its idiosyncrasies. I knew my journey would be an interesting one as I havent had to actually look for a job for over a decade, having been head hunted into my previous posts.

To set the stage, I have 20-plus years experience in cybersecurity management and law enforcement, along with a Masters degree in Information Security and a CISSP. I started off by updating my resume, submitting it to a few key recruiters and associates, some job boards and LinkedIn. My first lesson came very quickly in the form of numerous calls from off shore locations offering me a wonderful opportunity as a cybersecurity analyst for a three to 12 months, hourly rate contract, anywhere but close to where I live. Cybersecurity analyst being a position I qualified for well over a decade ago and which reports to several of my direct reports.

Initially, I didnt mind being approached about a cybersecurity analyst position, its an easy mistake for an inexperienced recruiter to make. Some of the traits of a good CISO are shared with a good cybersecurity analyst. After a number of approaches and conversations with cybersecurity recruiters, it became clear that inexperienced recruiters are the norm not the exception.

Many have little knowledge of the market, that goes beyond the ineffectual key word search programs that they use. Worse still many do not have the ability to read a resume and know it is does or does not make sense for a particular position. This being the case, how is a recruiter expected to effectively screen resumes, conduct interviews and provide a quality pool of candidates for consideration? The shotgun approach is the best description for the current recruitment methodology.

Hiring a CISO is no different than hiring any other c-level executive, a well thought out plan should be developed and executed. The mere fact of hiring a CISO will not make a company secure. Hiring the wrong CISO in many cases will have the opposite effect.

As a recent example, I participated in the process for a CISO EMEA position for a well-known cybersecurity vendor. The hiring manager was a first-time CISO, in the position for less than a year. At the end of the process, I was told the position was going to another candidate. The CISO stated that I had done well in the interviews, had good experience and the skills he was looking for; however, he felt I was too focused on governance, risk and compliance (GRC).

I was too stunned to respond, and thanked him for his time. GRC is the cornerstone of any well run information security management program. Without GRC, information security management program would be a hodgepodge of security technologies, disjointed policies and ineffectual processes.

The keys to an effective information security recruitment process are:

A well-defined position description developed through an understanding of how it will participate in implementing the information security management program

Aligning the amount of experience required with the level of the position

Aligning the education and certifications required with the level of the position

Conducting a salary and benefits survey relative to the position and its geographic location

Timely execution of the recruitment process

Effective communication with the candidate

Sharing with the candidate the recruitment process

Ensuring the recruiters act in a professional manner

Test the recruitment process

I have seen CISO descriptions requiring upwards of 10 years experience as a CISO. This makes little sense as the vast majority of CISO positions have been created within the last five years. Making sure that a CISO has the management experience makes sense; however, if one is stuck on a title, the search will be unnecessarily difficult.

The experience issue is true of many of the advanced cybersecurity certifications. It makes little sense to advertise for an entry-level position and require a CISSP, CISA or CISM. All three of these certifications require five years of experience.

As an example, the CISSP requires a minimum of five years cumulative paid full-time work experience in two or more of the eight domains of the (ISC) CISSP CBK. Requiring an entry-level position to be an Associate of (ISC), is within scope. The Associate of (ISC) program allows entry level information security personnel to demonstrate their competence by passing the CISSP (ISC) certification exam. They then maintain their continuing professional education (CPE) requirements while working toward attaining the experience required to become fully certified as a CISSP.

Timely execution of the recruitment process, effective communication with candidates and sharing the recruitment process with candidates are all facets of a professional recruitment process. Cybersecurity skills are a sellers market. If the recruitment process takes three months or longer, the company will lose a large number of candidates to companies with a faster, more efficient process. It is rare that a candidate will turn down an offer for the possibility of working at another company.

While they may want to work for you, desire doesnt pay the bills. The most unprofessional behavior I have witnessed in recruitment, centers around communication with the candidate. Regardless of the reason, if a recruiter takes weeks or months to return a candidates e-mail or call, candidates will move on. Keep candidates informed. Let candidates know the recruitment process, set reasonable expectations and execute.

Recruitment is a business process, treat it with the professionalism one would expect of any business process. On occasion, test the recruitment process. Write an ideal candidate resume and see if it makes it into the process. How long did it take to get the resume? Was the resume altered? Interview successful and unsuccessful candidates about the recruitment process.

Of the processes that I have been through, I have only been surveyed by one company about their recruitment process. They communicated with me regularly, were on time, well organized, open, honest and provided useable feedback in an expedient manner. Not unsurprisingly, Vodafone has had by far the most professional recruitment process I have ever experienced. Unfortunately, I didnt get the position but the professionalism that Vodafone displayed made me eager to work with them. Their recruitment and hiring process should be used as a model.

Good quality candidates in the cybersecurity profession are looking for a career in a process- and people-driven culture. How does a company wish to have their culture represented? The recruitment process will be the candidates first introduction to a company and color their perception. That is doubly true for candidates who are not hired. How will they remember your company when you are pitching your goods or services to them as a potential customer?

Having an available pool of cybersecurity talent will do a company little good without an effective and well executed recruitment strategy.
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York want federal regulators to suspend construction on a natural gas pipeline that will run through the Hudson Valley and Connecticut.

New Yorks two senators, both Democrats, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week to halt construction on the Algonquin Incremental Market project, a natural gas pipeline proposed by Spectra Energy Partners LP that received federal approval last year.

The $971.6 million pipeline project would expand and replace parts of an existing natural gas pipeline in four states  New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts  to carry additional natural gas north from Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale. The largest amount of work would happen on about 20 miles of the line through Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties in New York and Fairfield County in Connecticut.

Schumer and Gillibrand want independent health and safety reviews of the project before construction continues, though the joint statement from the senators does not specify what that would entail.

Schumer cited concerns with the pipelines proximity to the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y., a nuclear plant currently undergoing a federal relicensing process for its two reactors. The pipeline runs about a half-mile from Indian Point at its closest point.

Schumer said the project presents threats to the quality of life, environmental, health and safety of residents across the Hudson Valley and New York State without any long-term benefit to the communities it would impact.

It presents even more safety concerns given its proximity to Indian Point, Schumer continued. For these reasons I oppose it, and that is why I strongly urge FERC to cease all work until a thorough, independent review of all of the projects potential health and environmental impacts is completed and made available to the public.

Gillibrand said she was very concerned with the project.

We need to make sure that whenever a project like this goes forward, the benefits outweigh the risks to our health, our safety, and our environment, Gillibrand said. I am not convinced those benefits exist with this project, and I hope FERC listens to the concerns of all parties involved.

The project has been controversial since it was first proposed, receiving opposition from environmental and grassroots organizations. A coalition of 22 environmental and grassroots group filed an appeal in federal court in March asking the court to review the FERCs approval of the project.

In February, Cuomo asked the FERC to stay its approval on the project so that the state could complete an independent review to determine whether the pipeline or its construction could impact operations at Indian Point. A month later, the FERC denied the request, saying it found nothing in the New York DECs current pleading that calls our findings regarding the safety in the vicinity of the Indian Point facility into question.

The final environmental impact statement the FERC approved for the project relied in part on a site hazards analysis from Entergy Corp, the operators of Indian Point. The Entergy report found the pipeline posed no increased risks to Indian Point.

Following the statement from Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand, Entergy spokesperson Jerry Nappi reiterated the findings from the projects initial approval.

Marylee Hanley, director of stakeholder outreach for Spectra, said in an email that the FERC confirmed the certificate in gave the project in 2015 in hearings earlier this year.

Algonquin resumed construction in April and will continue with its construction, in accordance with the FERC certificate, Hanley said, to meet the projects critical construction time frames and safely transport additional supplies of clean, reliable, domestic natural gas to heat the regions homes and businesses beginning in November of this year.

Ryan Deffenbaugh writes for the Fairfield County Business Journal. For more, go to www.westfaironline.com.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A former Staples High student has proved, yet again, that Connecticut has "the voice."

Former child star Alisan Porter, who lived in Westport and attended Staples High School as a teenager, won season ten of NBC's music competition "The Voice" Tuesday night.

Porter immediately followed her win with a performance of her song "Down that Road."

Porter was born in Worcester, Mass., and moved to Westport with her family when she was 13 years old, where she became a member of the Staples Players, the high school's theater group, reads her IMDB profile.

Porter starred in various roles on classic shows such as The Golden Girls, Family Ties, and Pee-Wee's Playhouse, as well as the movie Parenthood, opposite Steve Martin. But Porter is best know for her role as Curly Sue in the 1991 movie by the same name.

But according to Porter that's all over.

"I have retired Curly Sue, she is dead! I am now the girl who won The Voice," Porter said to reporters after the show. "I would like you all to know. I've waited 30 something years for that! She's dead!"

Porter starred in few roles after Curly Sue and has documented her fight with alcohol on her blog.

"I didn't have a crazy bottom where I became a stripper and wore my Broadway costumes and called myself 'Curly Suzanna,' Porter wrote about her past struggles. "I didn't shoot heroin in an alley or drink till I blacked out (well, not everyday) but my story is my story, and it was enough for me to know that enough was enough."

"Blessings are abundant in this chapter and I'm sitting pretty one day at a time for as long as possible."

Porter's win was the first win for a female judge on the show, Christina Aguilera, and the third win by a Connecticut residentformer or nativeon the show. Newtown native Sawyer Fredericks won the eighth season of the show and Javier Colon, a Stratford native, won the competition in 2011.

Check out more of Connecticut's reality television celebrities in the slideshow above.
Mark your calendars for June 11. On that day, more than 170 local attractions from historical sites and museums to renowned theaters and unique foodie stops will offer free or discounted admission, special activities, giveaways and hands-on activities for the kids for the annual Connecticut Open House Day.

The statewide event is in its twelfth year.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  Connecticut Republicans have a short memory.

Party stalwarts embraced one of the last vestiges of the Stop Trump movement, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, as their headliner at the GOPs annual Prescott Bush Awards dinner Tuesday night in Stamford.

They mostly shrugged off the bad blood between Fiorina and partys presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who GOP voters in the state overwhelmingly backed in last months presidential primary.

But Fiorinas recall of a bitter primary race that she was once part of, first as a presidential candidate, then as a short-lived running mate of Trump rival Ted Cruz, was more vivid.

I wasnt always a great Twitter follower, but our nominee has raised Twitter to an art form and has used it to a devastating impact, Fiorina said.

Speaking to 600 Republicans at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, Fiorina steered away from her differences with Trump and directed her thunder at Democrat Hillary Clinton. One of Fiorinas biggest applause lines came when she vowed to join the opposition to Clinton, who she said isnt a trailblazer for women, but has traded on her husbands name and charisma."

It is the Clinton way, Fiorina said. She was far more qualified for the big house.

Democratic reaction

Democrats blasted the choice of Fiorina as the events headliner and challenged her business acumen.

She consistently attacked womens reproductive rights, promising to defund Planned Parenthood and overturn Roe v. Wade. And to top it all off, her business experience  the centerpiece of her candidacy  was a colossal failure, said Leigh Appleby, a spokesman for the Connecticut Democrats. She was ranked as one of the worst American CEOs of all time.

Republicans were eager to put a bitter primary season behind them at their biggest fundraiser of the year, including the controversial invite of Fiorina.

I think feelings may still be hurt, former Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele, of Stamford, said before the event.

Fiorina was introduced by Jayme Stevenson, Dariens first selectman and a Trump critic. Among those in attendance were some of the Trump faithful, who said Fiorina could be an asset to the real estate mogul in the general election.

I think everybody gets it, its politics, said Ben Proto, a Stratford Republican Town Committee member who will be a Trump delegate to the partys national convention this summer. Are things that Bernie Sanders said about Hillary going to hurt Hillary?

Republicans averted potential chaos when Cruz suspended his candidacy following a dismal showing in Indiana's primary earlier this month. Cruzs exit came a week after he drafted Fiorina to be his vice presidential running mate, an attempt to energize his second-fiddle campaign and broaden his appeal among women. It didn't work.

I think its in the past, said Leora Levy, a Republican National Committee member-elect from Greenwich, who did not support Trump in the primary. She wants our party to win just as much as the rest of us.

Fiorinas selection as the events keynote speaker preceded Connecticuts primary last month and her alliance with Cruz. But it nevertheless rankled some of Trump diehards, who threatened to boycott the fundraiser.

Named for the late Bush family patriarch and U.S. Sen. Prescott Bush, who was from Greenwich, the annual banquet has been a showcase for the partys presidential contenders. Last years headliner was Sen. Marco Rubio, who bowed out of the White House race after losing his home state of Florida to Trump. The year before, Jeb Bush was the speaker.

Each has been on the receiving end of a torrent of insults from Trump while in the race. Fiorina wasnt spared either, with Trump mocking her appearance in comments reported by Rolling Stone.

Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? the magazines website quoted Trump saying last September.

Throughout the campaign, Fiorina said Trumps diss was emblematic of his misogynist treatment of women.

Despite winning 58 percent of the vote in the April 26 primary in Connecticut and sweeping the states 28 GOP delegates, Trump remains very much an acquired taste for Republicans.

Im not really enamored with him, because I dont like the way he conducts himself, said Chris DePino, a former state party chairman and lobbyist.

Donald Trump gets it

But Trump has won over an unlikely faction of old guard Republicans in the heart of Bush country, including Charles Glazer, the former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador under President George W. Bush. The Greenwich resident confirmed that he will serve as Trumps Connecticut finance chairman and be part of Trumps national fundraising team.

He understands that the sole job of a candidate is to win, Glazer said. I like his instincts. I would be in favor of anybody who would never apologize for the United States of America and would do anything to keep America safe.

This years recipient of the Prescott Bush Award was Pat Longo, of Norwalk, a 40-year party stalwart and former Wilton resident who is retiring from the RNC.

So I think Donald Trump gets it. He gets it that we want change, Longo said. I think weve reached a turning point in the nation.

The fundraiser comes at a critical time for Republicans, who havent won a statewide or congressional election since 2006 and make up the smallest bloc of the electorate after unaffiliated voters and Democrats in the state. The party started the second quarter of 2016 with just $30,000 in the bank and is heavily reliant on the banquet to replenish its treasury as it tries to win back control of one or possibly both chambers of the Legislature.

I want to treat this dinner as an annual shareholders meeting, said J.R. Romano, the partys current chairman and Derby native.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday called for scrapping the secretary of the states recent agreement with the Department of Motor Vehicles to create an automatic voter registration system in DMV offices in two years.

The GOP lawmakers, led by state Sen. Michael A. McLachlan, R-Danbury, said their proposal would be less costly than Secretary of the State Denise Merrills plan for an automatic computer system, which recently failed to win approval in the General Assembly.

But on May 16, an agreement was reached between Merrill and the DMV to develop a new system by 2018.

The problem is not that we dont have a system, said McLachlan, ranking member of the Government Administration & Elections Committee. The problem is that the departments do not follow the system. The DMV is required to offer a voter-registration form to everyone and send these forms to town registrars. But this does not always happen. Voter registration applications are not always offered to every person, and often applications get filled out and sit in a bin at the DMV instead of getting mailed to the town registrar.

The Republican plan would require the DMV to mail completed voter registrations to the Secretary of the States Office, which would follow up with town voter registrars.

The DMV in Connecticut cannot even handle its own job currently, said state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, ranking member of the legislative Transportation Committee.

Merrill discounted the Republicans proposal.

A paper-based system is simply not the most efficient method available, she said in a statement in response to the Republicans.

By automating (a) motor-voter system, we could save taxpayers money on printing, postage and labor and DMV customers time, Merrill said. It is simply not efficient for DMV staff to offer and assist each customer in obtaining and completing a paper voter registration application and then transmitting the completed form via postal mail to the appropriate elections official on the customers behalf. A more efficient and cost-effective way is available, so we should use it.

Merrill said in Delaware, a similar registration system has resulted in $200,000 in savings.

kdixon@ctpost.com
BRIDGEPORT  A juror was dismissed from a criminal case Wednesday after a judge said he intentionally removed an exhibit from the jury deliberation room.

This was absolute juror misconduct, declared Superior Court Judge Maria Kahn, dismissing Timothy Owen, of Trumbull, from the case. He knew he was taking information out and was evasive with his answers.

But Owen, a financial analyst, later told Hearst Connecticut Media the whole thing had been a mistake.

I disagree with her assessment, he said of the judge. There was nothing intentional.

The exhibit in question was a single page of legal instruction the judge had given the jury during its deliberations. The exhibit was later found in a leather-bound binder belonging to Owen, who had been the jury foreman, that had been left on a table by the inside front door of the Main Street courthouse, according to court testimony. Also in the binder were five pages of written notes with the names of the jurors, descriptions of them and comments they had made during deliberations, according to testimony.

On Monday, after four days of deliberation, the six-member jury found 34-year-old Amelia Rhodes, of Bridgeport, guilty of possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and using a motor vehicle without the owners permission. The jury found her not guilty of first-degree assault, interfering with police and possessing a pistol without a permit. The same jury was to reconvene Wednesday to begin deliberations on whether Rhodes was also guilty of criminal possession of a firearm.

The court clerk had been clearing out the deliberation room after the first verdict when it was discovered that the exhibit was missing. The judge had repeatedly warned jurors not to take either the exhibits or their notes on the case out of the deliberation room.

Owen told the judge he might have left the sheet in his car, and he was escorted to it by two judicial marshals. However, the paper was not there.

The marshals later found the binder and brought it to the judge.

Questioned later by Hearst Connecticut Media, Owen appeared surprised that the binder had been found near the front door, He said he had assumed when he didnt find it at home that he had left it in the deliberation room.

I dont know how it got there; it was completely unintentional; I dont even remember writing anything in the binder, Owen said. He denied that he had any intention of using the material.

We were a very conscientious jury and I am not finding what I did was unreasonable, Owen said.

Earlier, under questioning by Judge Kahn on the witness stand, Owen admitted he had taken some notes on the other jurors on a pad in his personal binder and at some point laid the exhibit on top of it. He contended the notes he took on the other jurors were very brief and only used for his purpose as foreman of the jury.

However, asked to count out the pages in his pad filled with notes on the other jurors, he admitted there were five.

It does not appear the objects were put in the binder by accident, Assistant States Attorney Michael DeJoseph told the judge.

Rhodes lawyer, Robert Berke, objected to Owen being removed from the jury, contending there was no evidence the jurors actions had been willful.

But Kahn disagreed.

This is a juror I have had to admonish in the past for when he was supposed to be listening to the testimony (and) he would be looking at the back of the courtroom, she said.
STRATFORD  The man killed in a motorcycle crash Monday evening has been identified as William Bailey III, of Bridgeport.

Bailey, the son of retired Bridgeport police Lt. William R. Bailey Jr., was traveling at a high rate of speed on Surf Avenue about 6:30 p.m. Monday when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road and struck a tree and a parked car, police said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NEWTOWN  Hours after a massive blaze destroyed a century-old mansion Wednesday morning on Castle Hill Road, authorities launched a criminal investigation into what they believed was an intentionally set fire.

At this point, theres really no other reason, said Newtown Fire Marshal Bill Halstead. The house was abandoned and boarded up. Theres no electricity in the house, and no one lived there.

The home was formerly owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, but changed hands in 2013 as the church sold off some real estate holdings to fund the settlement of priest sexual abuse lawsuits.

The official cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Halstead said the only other possibility, though less likely, is a lightning strike.

Officials are investigating whether the apparent arson is connected to vandalism found in the same area Wednesday. Police said several mailboxes were damaged within a half-mile of the house, a bench at a land trust property across the street was knocked over, and two nearby street signs were pulled out of the ground.

Certainly, it could be a coincidence, but were not going to leave any stone unturned, Police Sgt. Aaron Bahamonde said. This does raise our eyebrows.

The house, which the Newtown Forest Association describes as the crown of Castle Hill, was the former estate of the Gretsch family. Richard Dick Gretsch Sr. was an active businessman who at age 100 still worked in the Danbury headquarters of the Housatonic Industrial Development Corporation, where he was chairman of the board of directors. He was 101 years old when he died in 2010, according to his death notice.

In 1995, Gretsch sold the property to the Bridgeport Diocese, which had planned to use it as a retreat center. It has sat unused since its purchase.

In 2013, the Diocese sold the parcel for $1.74 million to Castle Real Estate Holdings LLC, with Newtown resident Joseph Draper as its principal. Draper could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The 108-year-old house had 12,000 square feet, 17 main rooms and four full bathrooms. The property also features a large barn, which was not damaged by the fire.

When firefighters arrived on the property Wednesday, the house was fully engulfed, said Assistant Fire Chief Jason Rivera, of Newtown Hook and Ladder.

There was fire out of every window on both floors, he said. There was no way for us to make entry at all.

A resident down the road had reported what appeared to be a brush fire in the area shortly before 2 a.m. The fire was under control by 4:15 a.m.

Neighbors walking by the property Wednesday morning found very little left of the house. By 9 a.m., the building was mostly knocked down.

Rivera said the immediate demolition was the best option because the structure was unstable, and firefighters couldnt get to several hot spots inside. Part of the house collapsed during the fire, he said.

Charles Zukowski, a neighbor, said the house at 44 Castle Hill Road was well-known in town and had a distinctive roof. He said he walks by the property almost every day and had not seen any activity there in at least two years.

It has fallen into disrepair, Zukowski said.

He and his wife, Deborra, said they didn't hear a thing before or during the fire.

Bob Eckenrode, president of the Newtown Forest Association, said the vandalism and apparent arson should not go unpunished.

The fact that something like this would happen is disheartening and disappointing, said Eckenrode, who happened to drive by the property Wednesday.

Staff writer Frank Juliano and Digital News Editor Jim Shay contributed to this story.
Pa. is about to vote. Here's what to know about voting and ballot access in 2022
Takeaways from the DeSantis-Crist debate

Democrat Charlie Crist came out swinging against Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis in the only televised debate in the Florida gubernatorial race.
The power suit has moved out of the office and onto the street in a variety of colours with the celebrity support of Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett.

by Damien Woolnough
David Cameron is refusing to take part in any of the head-to-head TV debates during the EU referendum campaign

So then, with a thoroughly depressing disregard for both democracy and the British electorate, David Cameron refuses to take part in any of the head-to-head TV debates during the EU referendum campaign.

His decision is not just cowardly. It is an abrogation of his prime ministerial duty, which is to face his opponents in open debate, so the arguments can be probed and tested before the largest possible number of voters.

For evidence of this look to America where the presidential debates are an integral part of their democratic process. Often brutal, they can be electrifying  providing tantalising insights into the candidates character and policies.

For Mr Cameron the Mail has one question: if he is so convinced of the merits of his case for staying in the EU, why does he lack the confidence to argue that case against either Boris Johnson or Michael Gove?

After all, this week the PM suggested Brexit supporters are immoral. Isnt there a certain kind of immorality in making such a charge and then refusing to defend it in public debate?

No, the suspicion must be that the Prime Minister knows he has so recklessly exaggerated the arguments in favour of remaining in the EU, and has engaged in such blatant scaremongering, that he fears exposure at the hands of a debater as skilled as Mr Johnson or Mr Gove.

And there is a lengthening list of huge questions on which Mr Cameron needs to be subjected to the most searching examination. He must be measured against the standards which he himself set in his famous Bloomberg speech in January 2013.

On that occasion, he declared that more of the same will not secure a long-term future for the EU, which is why we need fundamental, far-reaching change.

Does Mr Cameron honestly think that in his renegotiation, he achieved any concession which can conceivably be described as fundamental, far-reaching change? No wonder he stopped talking about it as soon as possible. In the same speech, Mr Cameron said: Of course Britain could make her own way in the world, outside the EU, if we chose to do so.

Is this still his view? And if so, how in Heavens name does he square it with his recent apocalyptic warnings of the consequences of Brexit?

When Mr Cameron warned that leaving the EU would heighten the risk of genocide and European war, does he not accept that the continent today is more riven by hatred and division than at any time since 1945  precisely because of the EUs misguided policies on migration and the economy?

Again, on the economic front, Mr Cameron and George Osborne have been painting an apocalyptic picture for jobs and house prices if we vote to leave.

What they dont say is that many economies in EU countries are basket cases where massive unemployment and poverty is being imposed by a German-dominated Brussels machine. Why do we want to stay in such a broken club?

For Mr Cameron the Mail has one question: if he is so convinced of the merits of his case for staying in the EU, why does he lack the confidence to argue that case against either Boris Johnson (left) or Michael Gove (right)?

Might not Brexit instead prove comparable  as Alex Brummer argued in a magisterial analysis in yesterdays Mail  to Britains departure in 1992 from the Exchange Rate Mechanism, which the Europhiles assured us would be a catastrophe, but which actually ushered in many years of economic growth?

Mr Cameron has suborned (some would say prostituted) our supposedly neutral Civil Service and state institutions to paint this apocalyptic picture of Britain outside the EU.

Many of the claims of this governmental behemoth have been at best dubious, at worst mendacious. Surely, in the name of democracy, he should have the conviction to debate them with the leaders of the Out campaign.

This paper has often, in the past, admired the PMs fortitude and courage. Thats why, in this instance, we are mystified at his pusillanimity.
We're all guilty of looking down at our phones or tablets for too long.

Now chiropractors are seeing a rise in the number of people experiencing 'text neck' with people using their devices more frequently.

Looking down too often causes additional pressure on the spine and can lead to people developing curved spines and hunchbacks.

Scroll down for video

Look up! Children risk permanent damage from 'text neck' due to the increasing use of devices causing them to look down frequently

Try this: To order to try and prevent text neck, CQ Univeristy has provided five tips for everyday use

A recent Facbook study showed that 79 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 44 only spent two hours each day without their phone.

Associate Professor Sharyn Eaton, the Chiropractic ScienTalce Discipline Lead at CQ University, says that more and more chiropractors are seeing the results of text neck.

'Chiropractors are seeing an increasing number of patients with severe upper back pain which can be attributed to the extended use of mobile devices,' Associate Professor Eaton said.

On the rise: Associate Professor Sharyn Eaten (above) explained that chiropractors are seeing an increase in the number of patients with pain from text neck

Text neck: Looking down frequently at devices causes additional strain on the neck and can result in pain and permanent damage to the spine

The Associate Professor said that this was very worrying because of the prevalence in young people using devices.

'Text neck is particularly concerning for young, growing children who are at risk of permanent damage to their spines that could lead to lifelong neck and back pain,' she explained.

There are things that can be done to stop the pain and damage being caused however.

Posture is essential: Chiropractors suggest taking frequent breaks from devices and ensure your computer is set up correctly to prevent problems

Fix it now: Prevention is better than dealing with the issues later in life, so try to get up and take frequent breaks if you work in an office

Firstly, holding your phone up higher, so it is closer to eye level will prevent strain, as will ensuring you sit correctly in front of your computer.

'Office workers should ensure their screen is set up so that when they are looking at it, they are looking forward, with their heads positioned squarely in line with their shoulders and spine,' Associate Professor Eaton explained.

Taking frequently breaks from devices and getting up and walking around every 30 minutes will also help. Finally, try to avoid looking down for extended periods- either at a phone or something else.
Massages have long been known to help ease signs of stress and help us feel more relaxed - however, a new craze is promoting a slightly more intimate session.

The 'yoni' is available exclusively to women as the private rub down carried out by an expert practitioner - but still essentially a stranger - focuses entirely on the vagina.

Although some people achieve an orgasm during the massage, which can cost up to 300 a session, the main focus of the 'ritual' is learning what feels good, which could lead to better sex.

The 'yoni' is available exclusively to women as the private rub down focuses on the vagina

Although the session - which are available in the UK, US and Australia - does focus on discovering pleasure, the yoni massage is said to have been effective in helping women cope with trauma as well as getting over a break up.

It usually begins with clients experiencing a full body massage in order to relax them ahead of the main event with erogenous zones such as their breasts being touched.

A practitioner will then massage the clients labia while they practice breathing exercises. The masseur may also venture inside the vagina to seek out any 'tight' spots with the aim to release the tension.

The word 'yoni' comes from the sanskrit word for vulva which is the area that is mainly massaged during the session.

Yoni is sanskirt for vulva and the massage aims to help clients to discover new areas of pleasure, however the intention is not to orgasm

Isis Phoenix, a somatic sexologist who specialises in yoni massage in the US, says inviting a stranger to touch a woman's vagina can encourage a therapeutic response.

She told Women's Health: 'A yoni massage is a ceremony where a woman is invited to seize touch on her vulva.

'When we invite touch, there's opportunity to cleanse a sense of energy.'

The therapist added that the experience doesn't have to be an intrusive one. She continued: 'It can go as far as women want it to go. She may just want her yoni held.'

Although an orgasm is not the aim of the session Isis admits that she does want to encourage her clients to rediscover their erogenous zones.

She added: 'The biggest benefit is that they feel a sense of embodied wisdom of what gives them pleasure,'

Mangala Holland, from Mystic Sex, is a tantra teacher primarily in Australia and the US. She offers women classes on yoni massage.

'Women - you don't need to "wait to find the right man" to explore Tantra. Nothing helped me evolve my femininity and my sexuality faster than receiving Tantric yoni massages.

'I released blockages, accessed cervical and g-spot orgasms, healed old wounds and frustrations and found the source of my feminine power.'

TIME YOU WENT TANTRIC? TRACEY COX ON THE BENEFITS OF SPIRITUAL SEX KAMA SUTRA What is it? Its an ancient sex manual written between the third and fifth centuries. There are actually seven books in total, though only the second is devoted purely to sex. (Worth wading through the others, however, if youd like to know how to break into a harem!) The Kama Sutra is much, much more than just acrobatic positions for intercourse though most modern interpretations focus almost exclusively on this. Ironically, the suspected author of the sex book (Vatsyayana) was a lifelong celibate. Taking it slow: Tracey Cox says spiritual sex could help prevent a tech-induced crisis The basic principles Interestingly, all the complex seduction and sexual techniques actually arent aimed at couples in love. If you love each other, all you need to do is let yourself go and be led by instinct. (Oh really?) The techniques are designed to help you achieve this state. Some positions seem yoga-like because theyre designed to facilitate meditation as a couple. Theyre also intended to allow you to have sex for one or two hours with minimal movement needed. During this time, you will exchange vital energies - or fall asleep. (My moneys on the latter.) Lessons to learn The manual recognised female orgasm in a time when others thought there was no such thing. It recommends the man ensure she climaxes before he does. Sexual boredom and monotony are seen as the reason why couples split. Its common in India for men to be encouraged to read the Kama Sutra before marrying. (If the West had enforced sex research, perhaps our affairs and divorce rates would fall dramatically!) Not so sure... A man and woman live as one single body and soul. Independent types and commitment phobes would run screaming for the hills. Those one to two hour sessions . . . sorry to harp on, but whos got time? Some of the positions require rubber limbs and plasticine penises. Tracey says that intimacy - high on the spiritual agenda - is something lots of women and men crave TANTRA What is it? Its an eastern science that emerged out of a rebellion against current Hindu beliefs that suggested sex was a no-no if you wanted spiritual enlightenment. Its been around since the seventh century and honours the sacred union of the male and female energies that create life. Shiva, the male Hindu god, is the embodiment of pure consciousness and Shakti, the female, is the embodiment of pure energy. The basic principles Sex is slowed down. Theres gradual, controlled penetration, rather than the usual frenetic free-for-all. This enables women to use learnt techniques like tensing and flexing - a posh version of pelvic floor exercises. Its not a myth that tantric sex can go on for one or two hours, by the way, but the jurys still out on whether longer sex sessions lead to more enjoyable sex. Tantra also teaches you how to stay in the moment. If youre the type to drift off while your partners still gamely plugging away (Have I got time for the gym tomorrow?), the connecting exercises could be useful. Traditional sex therapy encourages people to lose themselves in the experience, Tantra is all about staying fully aware and present. Breathing exercises are designed to improve sexual tone, prolong intercourse and can help with premature ejaculation with men. Lessons to learn It encourages couples to stop being time or orgasm focused. It involves the heart as well as other parts. Theres no place in Tantra for lovers to be selfish - its all about giving

Not so sure...

Men are encouraged to prolong lovemaking (the old retain your semen thing again), which buys into the myth that women climax through penetration

Rituals are important. Some people love this aspect, others hate having to go through long, complicated processes just to get a bit

Tantra often refers to mixing of body fluids (nectar or love juices). If youre not having monogamous sex, mixing is about as sensible as lying in the middle of a highway during peak hour. Safe sex and condoms arent figured in.

TAOISM

What is it?

Its a book written in the sixth century that talks about the yin (female) and the yan (male) and the flow of energy between them. This is called chi and its the same life force that flows in the human body.

Harmony is achieved by teaching people how to live within the flux of changing energy.

Basic principles

Taoism recognised men can have multiple orgasms because orgasm and ejaculation are two separate processes.

(Ejaculation is simply the series of contractions that pump the semen out, the feeling of orgasm happens in the brain.)

It teaches men to orgasm without ejaculation through long, involved Sting-like processes which train the brain and the body to separate the two.

Theres a focus on lots of foreplay and nine types of thrusting to try - the aim being to achieve 81 thrusts (one set of nine of each type)!

Lessons to learn

It recognises that male desire is easier to ignite and quick to burn out, while females take longer but tend to last longer.

Theres an emphasis on slow, prolonged foreplay.

Not so sure...

Whos going to keep count until you get to 81?

Ejaculation is permitted only when necessary. Call my male friends old-fashioned, but none thought this was A Good Thing.

Separating orgasm from ejaculation is something Ive read lots about, but Ive never met a man whos actually mastered it. I also suspect most women would be highly suspicious, rather than in raptures, of an apparent orgasm without any evidence (men fake it too)
A Catholic College in West Auckland has sparked debate after changing their dress code for their upcoming senior school formal.

A petition was started on Tuesday evening by an anonymous user who claims St Dominic's College in Henderson 'implemented new rules for the 2016 ball' and labels them as 'shocking, sexist and extremely outdated.'

The creator says the rules, released just over a month before the ball, include 'a split on the dress can only be up to the knee' and the 'back of the dress cannot go below the armpit.'

Controversial: A petition was started on Tuesday evening by an anonymous user who claims St Dominic's College in Henderson 'implemented new rules for the 2016 ball' and labels them as 'shocking and sexist'

Too revealing: This dress from ASOS was used as an example of one of the dresses not approved by the school as it shows cleavage and goes lower than the armpits at the back

Too strict? 'The reasoning behind these restrictions are that they are a Catholic school who maintain high standards. These rules have never been enforced before,' the author wrote

They also dictate that 'there must be no cleavage AT ALL' and that senior girls can't take off their shoes 'no matter how sore' their feet get.

Bizarrely, another rule is outlined is that students must be in a 'serious relationship in order to bring a ball date.'

'We understand that some dresses can look appropriate but this is taking it too far,' the petition creator wrote.

Not impressed: 'We understand that some dresses can look appropriate but this is taking it too far,' the petition creator wrote

Deal with it: On of the rules is that senior girls can't take off their shoes 'no matter how sore' their feet get

'The reasoning behind these restrictions are that they are a Catholic school who maintain high standards. These rules have never been enforced before.

'They deserved a warning and to be told of the issue (which has never existed at the College until now) before these strict rules were made.'

They claim that girls who have already purchased dresses have been told they can 'show a picture to the associate principal in order to get it approved.'

According to the petition, many of the girls have been told their dresses are 'too exposed' for showing too much back or cleavage and have 'therefore wasted their money.'

Too late: According to the petition, many of the girls have been told their dresses are 'too exposed' for showing too much back or cleavage and have 'therefore wasted their money'

Strict: Bizarrely, another rule is outlined is that students must be in a 'serious relationship in order to bring a ball date'

'The rules stated above are extreme. Since when has a girl's back caused such outrage for being "too exposed". This is sexualising a girl's body and sending the message that they must be covered up and feel ashamed of showing skin,' the Change.org user wrote.

'Girls at this age (16-18) do have breasts and the fact that they must be completely covered is outdated and shameful on the College's behalf. Girls have backs, legs and breasts. All of which can be shown to an extent that is classy and elegant.'

The petition concludes with a call to action urging people to sign the petition to 'show you are against these rules and that sexist clothing boundaries it places on young women.'

'If the reasoning is that it is too sexual and showcases a low standard of women then I believe the school should be questioning why society and young men would be offended by an exposed back, some leg and a tiny bit of cleavage - all of which can be seen anywhere,' it concludes.

Outraged: The petition has since been supported by 4,318 people out their 5,000 goal

'We encourage parents to email the school about this too. Please note the photo of the mint dress is one of the many dresses that have been told are 'too exposed' and banned from the ball.'

The petition has since been supported by 4,318 people out their 5,000 goal.

'Young men's inability to "keep it to themselves" should not be blamed on young women,' one supporter wrote.

But, according to Stuff, the St Dominic's Catholic College principal Carol Coddington said no girls had been told they couldn't wear their dresses because they violate the ball's dress code.

'The age of most of our students is under 18 years old. The rules we put around the ball reflect that and the school's responsibility for its students,' she said, adding that the dress code was not 'severe' and that the photo being used was 'misrepresenting the actual case.'

She also said that students don't need to be in a 'serious relationship' but that students 'are personally responsible for their partner's behaviour.'

The petition author then hit back at the Principal's comments, especially her claims that the code wasn't 'severe'.

'Any girl should be comfortable': Comments flooded the petition slamming the school

'The rules are 'severe' and the nearly 5,000 supporters agree, along with countless St Dominics College students and parents. And no they have not been mislead to believe these rules as these rules have been confirmed from several students,' they wrote.

'These rules were stated word for word from a levels meeting and students have all confirmed this. The dress pictured was told it must be altered to be allowed, so yes in it's current state it is therefore banned.

'Girls have been told dresses are inappropriate. And the head principal has not taken part in approving dresses or communicating the rules until now.

'It was stated word for word by the associate principal and Year 13 dean that they must be in a "serious relationship" to take a ball date from another school.'

The petition creator believes that media attention has led to staff altering the rules slightly.
It has become fashionable for women of a certain age, such as Madonna, to step out with men young enough to be their sons.

So guests at a London party this week might have got the wrong idea when Lady Helen Taylor turned up with a dashing young companion towering over her.

Bond: Lady Helen Taylor with her youngest son Cassius this week

He was, however, Cassius, 19, her youngest son with art dealer Timothy Taylor.

Former Giorgio Armani muse Lady Helen, 52, the Duke of Kents daughter, wore an elegant satin dress, while Cassius  who attended 35,775-a-year Wellington College  looked worlds away from his younger days, with a less-than-regal unkempt beard and crew cut.

Lady Helen with Cassius when he was seven

Did PR spiv Rudd pull BBC strings?

BBC bosses have allowed David Cameron to duck any blue-on-blue TV clashes with Tory supporters of Brexit, after backing down over plans for EU referendum campaign debates.

Surely they didnt succumb to the legendary lobbying skills of public relations schmoozer Roland Rudd? Lord Mandelsons chum Rudd is a key figure in the Establishment campaign to remain in the EU, and has boasted about his contacts with BBC News chief James Harding.

While pitching for a 150,000-per-month contract to represent the new Kazakh owners of Prince Andrews former home, Sunninghill Park, Rudd said he would seek to place stories with Harding, who was then editor of The Times.

Rudd insists he has not been lobbying Harding over the referendum debates, telling me: I am personally in favour of as many as possible.

Model Agyness to wed moneybags

Plucked from obscurity while working in a Manchester fish and chip shop, Agyness Deyn went on to become a supermodel who led the fashion for the androgynous look.

After appearing on the cover of Vogue, Agyness, now 33, forged a career in film and, in 2012, eloped with Hollywood actor Giovanni Ribisi, a Scientologist eight years her senior. Sadly, they split up last year  but Agyness has now become engaged to American pianist-turned-hedge fund manager Joel McAndrew.

The model  who plans to tie the knot again in a low-key ceremony in August  says: Ive never been one for the fairytale, storybook wedding.

Agyness Deyn was plucked from obscurity and is now set to marry hedge fund manager Joel McAndrew (right)

Is affable comedian Hugh Laurie taking on the unpleasant attributes of Richard Roper, his amoral character in BBCs The Night Manager?
Online shopping promises to be a hassle free and time-saving experience. But clothing giant ASOS this week proved that modern creations don't always deliver in the way we'd like.

Just ask customer Nick Paterniti who, after complaining on the ASOS Facebook page, was left frustrated by the automated replies.

The disgruntled shopper from Perth, Western Australia, had been unsuccessful in finding out from ASOS's customer service team directly what had happened to $1,200 worth of clothes he'd returned.

Help? Nick Paterniti turned to ASOS's Facebook page for help with his query but was unable to get anywhere with their autobots handling his issue

Taking action on social media, Mr Paterniti asked the international clothing giant through their Facebook page why their customer service team had not dealt with his query, despite him providing the details requested.

Weirdly, he received a reply from someone named 'ASOS Ashley' instantly.

She advised Mr Paterniti to send through the exact same details he had already supplied to the customer service team.

When other Facebook users saw the post and ASOS Ashley's unhelpful reply, they began to ask questions.

Computer generated? Neither ASOS Danielle or ASOS Ashley were able to help Sophie with her non-existent query

'Are these responses computer generated or something?' Sophie Holding wrote.

Hilariously, the answer certainly appeared to be 'yes'.

Quick on the reply, ASOS Danielle seemed to think Ms Holding had an issue of her own, asking her to forward through her details to her query could be dealt with.

'Sorry you feel this way Sophie Sophie, I sure would love to take a look at your query... Speak soon, ASOS Danielle.'

Hilarious: Kate wasn't stressed out, nor did she have anything to return, but ASOS Ollie still wanted her to wait the seven working days

Too funny! Stuart Coleman tried speaking robot to the ASOS autobot but still couldn't get a genuine reply from ASOS Erica

Confused at why she needed help, it quickly began to dawn on those who had gathered that this was indeed a conversation between robots and humans.

'This is the worst customer service algorithm I have ever seen,' Adam Witt said.

And he might just be right considering the response he received from ASOS Michelle C.

'Hey Adam! I'd love to help you out with this - Could you please send me a private message with your order number, date of birth and email address. Once I have this I can then get on the case for you.'

What's in a name: Brad (aka: Bred according to ASOS Erica) was told that the company's email queues can often 'get a lil busy'. Maybe they should employ more autobots?

Fired! Maybe ASOS Ashley, ASOS Steve and ASOS Louis have been fired considering ASOS Danielle and ASOS Michelle were the only ones to reply to Facebook users Gareth and Adam

Unfortunately for Mr Paterniti, just like the customer service team, none of ASOS Erica, ASOS Ashley, ASOS Danielle, ASOS Ollie, ASOS Louis, ASOS Michelle C or ASOS Alice were able to help with his query.

The responses of the autobots left Facebook users wondering whether the company employed any humans at all.

Regardless, it seems we can breathe easy as a possible robot revolution is seemingly still some way off.
When the car Angela Brown and her baby girls were travelling in smashed head-on in to a tree, her 'happy normal world' was shattered.

Her toddler, who was strapped in to a forward facing child restrain, sustained horrific injuries.

Meanwhile her one-year-old, who was placed in a rearward facing seat, escaped the crash with one small bruise on her shoulder.

The mother-of-two from rural New South Wales has written a heart-wrenching Facebook post to urge other parents to use rearward facing seats for as long as possible, three months after the crash.

Heart-wrenching: Angela Brown from rural New South Wales has written a heart-wrenching post after a car crash left her toddler (pictured), who was sitting in a forward facing child seat, seriously injured

The incident happened on February 26.

Mrs Brown and her husband were travelling home from the dentist when the car they and their two young daughters were travelling in slammed in to a tree at 100km/h.

The impact caused the car to flip and the large tree they crashed in to snapped in two, landing on the roof of the car and trapping the family inside.

Siblings: The car the family was travelling in crashed in to a tree, leaving their toddler with a large laceration on her forehead and broken bones in her back, while their youngest daughter only had a bruise

Little fighter: After the incident their toddler, who had broken her broken her c2 and c3 vertabraes in her spine and tore all her ligaments in her c1, was fitted with a Halo Brace

'When I came to we were upside down in our car Miss 1 and Miss 2 were screaming,' Mrs Brown wrote.

'We turned to see miss 2 had quite a large laceration on her forehead. She was forward facing at the time of the crash.

'The aircon control vent above had flown off and hit her in the head. Miss 1 was rearward facing with no visible injuries.

Still in hospital: 'The doctor told us that most children with her injury don't normally make it,' Mrs Brown said

'Me and Miss 2 were picked up by Careflight from the crash sight and flown to Westmead. Where our nightmare just got worse.

The doctor told us that most children with her injury don't normally make it. Angela Brown

'They had discovered she had broken her c2 c3 and tore all her ligaments in her c1.

'She was one of the youngest to be fitted with a Halo Brace the doctor told us that most children with her injury don't normally make it.'

Mrs Brown said she had always been unsure about when to introduce her children to forward facing seats.

But after the incident, she said she would use rearward facing seats for her babies as long as she possibly could.

'Don't make the same mistake as I did. It could cost you your babies life,' she said.

Safety in mind: Mrs Brown has urged other parents to use rearward facing car seats for as long as they can

Australian guidelines, as explained by Kid Safe, recommend children are restrained in rearward facing seats until they are about six to nine months old, are 70cm tall or outgrow the seat.

Children aged between six months and four years old can be secured in either a rear or forward facing child restraint with a built in five or six point harness.

They can use the forward facing seat until they outgrow it: when their shoulders are above the maximum shoulder height marker or 2.5cm above the top shoulder harness strap slot.

A booster seat is recommended for children who have outgrown their forward facing restraint up to at least 8-10 years of age.
Good Housekeeping has been entertaining women of a certain age for more than 130 years, but it seems this stalwart of British magazines isn't afraid to keep up with the needs of the modern lady.

The July edition includes a feature that sees women testing out vibrators - in a bid, says its editors, to enable the readership to make 'an informed choice' about sex aids.

Editors at the magazine, known more for its features on interiors or wholesome family food recipes, asked 270 ladies to spend two weeks getting intimate with 27 bedroom toys.

Scroll down for video

I'll have what she's having! The Good Housekeeping Institute has revealed that despite its average reader age being 55, their annual feature on sex aids is no longer considered taboo

The Love Honey Desire Clitoral vibrator, priced at 44.99, was the biggest pleasure giver in the magazine's survey. Right, the Ruby Glow, a 'ride-on vibrator' scored highly in the Good Housekeeping Institute's Tried and Tested feature, with reviewers giving it 71/100

Those testing out the marital aids ranged in age from 31 to 76, ensuring the magazine's key demographic - women around the age of 55 - were covered.

So which vibrators impressed? According to the Good Housekeeping ladies, the Love Honey Desire Clitoral vibrator, priced at 44.99, was the biggest pleasure giver.

Some nine out of ten testers loved the compact shape of the silicon toy, which uses a USB to recharge and comes with 'eight patterns of waves and pulses'.

Following closely behind was the Ruby Glow, described as a 'non-penetrative ride-on vibrator', which retails at 39.99.

Those testing the toys were asked to judge them on six key areas including appearance, ease of operation, noise levels, speeds and vibration, comfort and pleasure and how quickly orgasm was achieved, if at all.

Vibrators were then given a score out of 100, with the winner achieving 74.

Those designated to the dildo doldrums included the Lelo INA Wave, which achieved one of the lowest scores at 59.

The Durex Ultimate Pleasure Multi-Functioning Vibrating Stimulator also fell short, scraping just 55 points.

In a survey which accompanied the Tried and Tested feature, the Institute found that more than half of the women they asked already owned a vibrator. Only 9 per cent agreed that vibrators were still a taboo topic, with some 81 per cent of women saying they felt comfortable discussing sex aids with their partners.

At it like rabbits? The 45 Perlesque Eris, left, and the Rocks-off 7-speed Ramsey Rabbit, 19.99, right, scored 67 and 53 respectively

Good Housekeeping's Deputy Editor Michelle Hather said yesterday that the magazine no longer viewed marital aids as taboo.

She said: 'Vibrators are less taboo and more accessible than ever. The internet is definitely driving an increase in sex toy use, as people are able to order everything from pleasure condoms to vibrators from the privacy of their own homes.
Advertisement

She remains one of the biggest icons of the 20th century and a new exhibition which opened today in London offers new insight into the troubled final years of Marilyn Monroe.

The Legacy of a Legend Exhibition opening at the Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour in the capital showcases the highs and lows of her career including the dresses she wore in some of her biggest screen performances and a series of hand-written letters that show a glimpse of the star's loneliness.

The sheer beaded dress from Some Like It Hot appears, as does a dazzling array of jewellery including the diamond pendant earrings she wore to 'The Seven Year Itch' premiere on Jun 1, 1955.

Scroll down for video

The Marilyn Monroe: Legacy of a Legend Exhibition, which is running at the Design Centre in London's Chelsea showcases some of the screen idols most famous dresses including the sheer beaded gown from Some Like It Hot, which could fetch hundreds of thousands when it's auctioned off later this year

The dress worn by Monroe in her portrayal of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in the 1959 film forms part of Lee Strasberg's archive. The private collector is selling off his pieces in an auction in November

The diamond pendant earrings Monroe wore to 'The Seven Year Itch' premiere on June 1st in 1955

A powder box, lipstick and bracelet are among the exhibits featuring in the free exhibition in London this week

Star stuff: A collection of things once belonging to Marilyn Monroe is being auctioned off

Many of the items are preserved exactly as they were whenMonroe died of a drug overdose in 1962, at the age of 36.

The collection will first go on tour in Europe, Asia, South America, and the U.S. before being sold off on November 19th and 20th.

For many, the most iconic item being sold is the figure-hugging sheer black and nude embellished cocktail dress that the star - born Norma Jean Mortenson - wore to sing 'I'm Through With Love' atop a grand piano in Some Like It Hot in 1959.

The risque dress, which is thought to be worth $400,000 (270,000) is composed of black souffle and nude silk jersey embellished with columns of jet-like beads and sequins, scattered beaded butterfly appliques, and beaded fringes. Although it has the illusion of deep plunging - and was very daring for its day - the dress includes a flesh-coloured built-in bra.

A Western Costume label inscribed 'Marilyn Monroe 1575-1' is attached to the interior of the bra. Legend tells that Marilynhad to be lifted to the piano for this scene as the dress was so form fitting.

Among the fascinating smaller items is a cheque book dated February 2, 1962 which has a note with 'MM Personal' stuck upon its cover, personal diaries and even some poetry written by the Fifties Hollywood star.

The cheque book reveals expenses accrued during Marilyn's final year of life - the star died in Los Angeles in August 1962 - and includes payments made to Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, a Madison Avenue florist and more pedestrian bills including to the tax bureau and a dry cleaners.

Suzie Kennedy, the world's leading Marilyn Monroe lookalike, launches Marilyn Monroe: Legacy of a Legend exhibition at Design Centre, wearing the actual dress worn by Marilyn in 'Some Like It Hot'

This fish-scale green bodice that Monroe wore in Bus Stop alongside actor Don Murray. The actress starred as a saloon singer in the hit movie from 1956

Some of the dresses appearing on the Lorraine Show yesterday; The outfits above are collectively worth 500,000. The fantail dress in the centre was worn by the star in There's No Business Like Show Business. The 1954 hit saw Monroe at the peak of her powers, wearing this frock in La Joyeuse Parade

Early on in Marilyn's career she played a showgirl in 1954's There's No Business Like Show Business wearing a figure-hugging embellished gown which is thought to be worth $200,000 (136,000).

The star wore the flesh tone crepe gown while singing 'After You Get What You Want, You Dont Want It', in a scene-stealing performance.

The dress includes a netting overlay, and is embroidered with silver and pearlized bugle beads in a starburst and foliate motif, scattered rhinestones, bouquets of bugle beads top with sequins and seed beads, with a cluster of monofilament fibre with silver and glittering flowers to the waist-high left leg slit.

A sheer pleated vanity panel is present to the slit and was added post production for alternate filming and publicity images for release in countries that forbade such a revealing costume.

A 20th Century Fox label with no inscription and a bias label inscribed '1-25-1-4692 M. Monroe A-729-28' are included in the dress created by legendary Hollywood costume designer William Travilla.

The look also comes complete with a matching headpiece of silver and glitter flowers.

A black dress with red rose detail, which featured in the film Niagara in 1953, centre. Far right, a purple bodice from a pictorial shoot with Life Magazine in 1953

A black bodice and jacket worn by Marilyn on a photoshoot with actor Jack Cardiss. This black polka-dotted bodice was featured in No Business Like Showbusiness

Managing director of the Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour, Claire German said of the free exhibition: 'Were delighted to present such a multi-dimensional exhibition to the public for the first time.'

The exhibition is the personal collection of Lee Strasberg, who passed away in 1992, and will be sold at Auction in November in what is being dubbed 'The Marilyn Monroe Auction of the Century'.

Strasberg revealed that his collection has become so big that he can no longer remember which part of the actress' life some of the pieces relate to, something he took as an indicator that he should sell the collection off.

One of the more harrowing pieces in the collection is a letter to Monroe's former psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson in which she recounts a stay in a confined cell in a psychiatric centre.

She writes: 'They asked me why I wasnt happy there (everything was under lock and key; things like electric lights, dresser drawers, bathrooms, closets, bars concealed on the windows  the doors have windows so patients can be visible all the time, also, the violence and markings still remain on the walls from former patients).'

Expensive: The whole collection is believed to be worth well in excess of 2 million and will go to auction in November

Sentimental: There are also newspaper clippings, recipes, notes, and poems in the collection

Money money money: Another item up for sale is a check Marilyn wrote and signed

Depression: A series of hand-written letters recounting her battles with mental health problems features in the Chelsea exhibition

Who's who: It's unknown if her address book contains now-defunct phone numbers for other stars

The notes, including one written to the star's personal psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson, reveal the troubled state of mind of the screen idol in the years before her death in August 1962

Marilyn musts: The items range from the glamorous to the personal, like a used red Revlon lipstick (right)

Diamond are a girl's best friend: There are also quite a few pieces of jewellery, which are expected to fetch thousands when they go into auction later this year

She continues, saying that in a bid to get attention, she breaks a chair and threatens self-harm: 'I picked up a light-weight chair and slammed it, and it was hard to do because I had never broken anything in my life - against the glass intentionally.

'I indicated if they didnt let me out I would harm myself  the furthest thing from my mind at that moment since you know Dr. Greenson Im an actress and would never intentionally mark or mar myself. Im just that vain.'

Also on display is poetry and a painting entitled 'making love sometime', the watercolor on paper is unsigned and show two naked people on a bed.

Julien's Auctions said the items have never been on theauction block before, and are being offered for sale by the estate ofStrasberg. The actor, director, and teacher also taught stars including James Dean, Al Pacino, JackNicholson, and Jane Fonda.

Insight: Outfits from The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) form part of Strasberg's collection

The sale also includes the figure-hugging ivory gown worn that Marilyn wore throughout the majority of the 1957 romantic comedy The Prince and The Showgirl, in which she played the dancer who falls in love with a European royal played by Laurence Olivier.

The satin gown, which is valued at $200,000 (136,000) has a draped souffle overlay and is adorned with simulated pearls, pearlized bead and faceted glass florets, beaded fringe and a weighted mermaid tail. Although Monroe was not nominated for an American Academy Award for this film, she won the French and Italian equivalents for her portrayal of Elsie Marina.

One of her personal evening gowns, a black clinging number with spaghetti straps and a decolletage neckline that she wore as she accompanied Marlon Brando to the New York City premiere of The Rose Tattoo in 1956 is also up for grabs.

The elegant, custom-made dress is thought to be worth $70,000 (47,000).

In-demand: In the past, pieces belonging to Marilyn have fetched much more than originally estimated

Wanted: Julien's Auction's executive director said this is 'one of the most important and historic auctions of Marilyn Monroe ever'

Available to the public: Strasberg died in 1982, and the pieces are being sold by his estate

Get it: This pony handbag from Mexico  still containing some pesos  is also up for grabs

Art: There are also several pieces of framed artwork among the 500 lots

'Marilyn was a complex and beguiling figure in her lifetime,leaving generations of adoring fans to speculate, infer, anddebate about her life,' Strasberg's wife, Anna Strasberg, saidin a statement. 'What has resulted is a prismatic kaleidoscope image built upon both fact and fantasy.'

'This is one of the most important and historic auctions of Marilyn Monroe ever,' said Martin Nolan, the Executive Director of Julien's Auctions. 'This diverse collection gives us a most intimate glimpse of the screen legend. Never before have there been so many important artifacts from the life and career of the much loved global icon Marilyn Monroe.'

One of those artifacts include a small gold minaudiere, which is being sold withtwo dimes, eight Philip Morris cigarettes, and a usedRevlon lipstick in the vibrant red shade Bachelor's Carnation. It is expected to fetch between $15,000 and $20,000.
Queen Maxima looked up-beat this morning as she enjoyed musical performances from local children in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

The Dutch royal wore a cheerful orange pencil dress with bright earrings to match and a black and white mac as she visited the NPO Radio 4 station to launch a new programme Classic Shows.

The Argentinian-born mother-of-three carried a patent black clutch and wore matching heeled pumps as she was greeted by fans.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands seemed to be in high spirits today as she visited the town of 's-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands.

Maxima, 45, beamed as she arrived at the studios clearly already excited for the day ahead as she was seen applauding before she even entered the building.

The royal was not accompanied by her husband King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, and arrived for the engagement on her own.

However, the absense of the king did not seem to deter the queen's enjoyment of the day, as she beamed as she was greeted by scores of children playing musical instruments.

The Dutch royal visited the NPO Radio 4 station to launch a new segment, Classic Shows, where she was treated to live performances from local school children

One girl who gave the queen a spirited cello performance, was lucky enough to meet her majesty who shook the young performers hand enthusiastically

The Argentinian born royal seemed in an exceptionally good mood as she arrived outside the studio today

The mother-of-three was clearly already excited for the day ahead as she was seen applauding before she even entered the building

The queen's outfit was a cheerful as her mood today, pictured in a colourful ensemble of a bright orange pencil dress and statement earrings in a matching shade

Maxima sported a natural beauty look today opting for earthy eye shadow and a slick of nude lipstick. She kept her hair relaxed wearing it down for today's event.

During her visit the monarch enjoyed a variety of live performances from school children in celebration of the new programme launch.

Showcasing a passion for the music Maxima could be seen leaning over the brass band performing to read their music sheets as they played.

One girl who gave the queen a spirited cello performance, was lucky enough to meet her majesty who shook the young performers hand enthusiastically.

Maxima carried a patent black clutch and wore matching heeled pumps which tied into her outfit with a black and white mac
A photograph of a couple embracing has got the internet's head in a spin as viewers try to figure out who is stood in front and who is behind.

In the image, it's almost impossible to tell where the man ends and the woman begins as her legs appear to be in front of him but her torso is behind him.

The image has resurfaced this week after Reddit user Blood_Reaper uploaded it to Imgur.

Scroll down for reveal

This photograph of a couple embracing has had the Internet scratching its head as viewers try to figure out whether the woman in the photo is stood in front or behind

Captioned with 'my brain hurts...' it wasn't long before other users were left equally puzzled by the picture.

Bigshaggybutts commented to say: 'Honestly it took me a good minute to realize what was happening as well. Stupid brains!'

WhatTheF***sALommy added :'It's crazy how I understand the picture now, but even still at quick glance my brain can't comprehend.'

The man's two tone shorts are what lead to the confusion as the cream pattern looked as though they were a separate article of clothing worn by the woman

The mind boggling photo has received over 1. 6 million views as users try to figure out the image

Before AussieNotNamedBruce exclaimed: 'OMG there's two people there.'

Luckily Bigshaggybutts then came up with the solution explaining: 'His shorts are two colors. White in the middle, black on the outside.'

Since being shared on Imgur two days ago the confusing picture has received more than 1. 6 million views as people try to work it out.

However, it is not the only optical illusion to have picked up attention on the internet.

At first glance it appears we are looking at a normal wall with a simple small rock embedded between two of the red bricks

The image has gone viral as people have spotted a hidden optical illusion of what appears to be a cigar poking out from the wall

Earlier this month a photograph of what appeared to be a rock trapped between two bricks made the rounds online.

At first glance it appears we are looking at a normal wall with a simple small rock embedded between two of the red bricks.

But the image has gone viral as people have spotted a hidden optical illusion of a cigar emerging from the wall.

A photograph of a ginger cat had the internet equally as confused as users struggle to tell whether the dark shape next to it is a shadow or another feline altogether

In the picture, which was shared on Imgur by Natural_Distortion on Saturday, the ginger cat sits in the sun while the black shape next to it adopts the exact same pose.

And while hundreds of people debated which animal was real and which wasn't, others pointed out another oddity in the image.

A photography of a ginger cat sat on a porch has sent the Internet into a frenzy as it tries to guess whether it is accompanied by another cat or just its shadow

But the intriguing image has captured the internet's imagination and received more than 800,000 views since its upload as viewers struggle to make sense of the photograph.

Commenting on the photo user Pentagalon wrote: 'I am so confused right now. Is that a black cat or the orange cat has a weird ass shadow with eyes? WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?'

Although the major giveaway to the second shape being a real, live cat rather than a shadow is its glowing eyes, other users were more sceptical.

BrewSwillis adding: 'I think this is photoshopped since the cat on the left is casting a shadow whereas the black one is not.'

Natural_Distortion reveals on Reddit that there are in fact two cats Pete (left) and Sully (right) who is given away by his glowing eyes

In an effort to prove there are in fact two cats, Natural_Distortion revealed in a Reddit thread that the black cat is called: 'Sully. And the ginger is a female, named Pete. (SO thought she was a male at first) Brother and sister.'

He didn't attempt to explain the lack of shadow on the black cat, however.

This optical illusion is the latest in a line of mindbending photographs that have captivated users on social media.

Last month Savannah Root from Lamar, Missouri, shared an outline drawn with black ink on Facebook and thousands of people shared it as they tried to work what on earth it represented.

In the post, she wrote: 'I stared at this picture for an hour trying to figure out what it was.'

Savannah Root from Lamar, Missouri, shared the black and white drawing on Facebook last week and since then the image has had 26,000 likes, 4,500 shares and nearly 8,500 comments

She then invited others to post below about what they thought the image represented.

While some managed to spot the hidden silhouette of a cowboy straight away, many were left entirely stumped and thought the painting looked like a bat.

More obscure suggestions included a rat hanging upside down with wings, a bird carrying a baby and a penguin doing a wee.

Samantha JH wrote: 'Omg, so creepy! I was staring and staring at it thinking it was a bat upside down then turned away and looked back and BAM I see the man's face in a cowboy hat, half white, half black.'

Meanwhile, Stephen Foley asked: 'Is it a penguin doing a pee (male, obviously and licking his lips?'

Samuel Rea also guessed wrong: 'Bird carrying a baby.'

Many were left stumped by the image after it was posted on Facebook and 9,000 people have commented

But Louis Jones simply wrote: 'It looks like a black mess.'

Others were left frustrated by the image having not been able to work out what it was.

Victoria MacRae wrote: 'I note that Savannah said not to say what it is once you got it but I'm so grateful for those who did. As interesting as this is, I don't have an hour to spend staring at one Facebook post, I really don't. So, thank you!'

The red lines in this picture showed people who couldn't work out the image the correct way of viewing it

Some people spotted the cowboy straight away including Nathan Preshous, who said he spent half-an-hour staring at it as he wasn't expecting it to be so easy

Jennifer Alexander said: 'I never would have seen it. I had to check the comments.'

And some people spotted it straight away, leaving them wondering what all the fuss was about.

Nathan Preshous said: 'Saw a cowboy straight away and spent half an hour looking for what it was supposed it be, turned out to be a cowboy.'

With the image causing such a stir online, a number of people started offering tips for those who were unable to see the figure in the drawing.

Barbara Topping wrote: 'Close your eyes and squint at it and it becomes clear.'

Some people were left really frustrated by the image and others sought to offer tips on spotting the cowboy

Holly Spanjer suggested another technique: 'Place your hand over the dark side, you should be able to see it.'

Another brain teaser had the web stumped as people were asked to describe the colours of two hearts. One appeared purple while the other seemed bright red.

But in fact both answers are wrong. The hearts are, in fact, exactly the same hue - a vivid pink.

These two hearts in the image appear to be totally different colours. One appears purple while the other is a bright orangey red

In fact it is the placement of the geometric stripes that fools our brains into seeing something which isn't really there.

The narrator on the video from Bite Size Psych explains: 'If you zoom in on the picture you find that the striped bars aren't actually the same colour.

'These surrounding blue bars make the heart seem purple while these surrounding green bars make the heart seem orange.'

This gives us a vital clue to how our vision works. It suggests that we perceive an object's colour based on its proximity and contrast with surrounding shades.

The narrator on the video from Bite Size Psych explains: 'If you zoom in on the picture you find that the striped bars aren't actually the same colour'

These surrounding blue bars make the heart seem purple while these surrounding green bars make the heart appear orange

Meanwhile Tim Urban and Andrew Finn of the website butwaitwhy.com have created a fiendishly difficult puzzle based around three jelly beans.

The premise of the brain teaser is that you have to choose to eat one of three jelly beans laid out on a stump, two of which are poisonous.

'Two of the jelly beans on the stump are poisonous - youll die within 30 seconds of eating either one of them,' the riddle explains.

'But one of the jelly beans isnt poisonous and wont harm you at all. All three of the jelly beans are delicious. The situation works like this: You pick one of the jelly beans and eat it, and if you happen to pick the non-poisonous one, youre free to go.'

This gives us a vital clue to how our vision works. It suggests that we perceive an objects colour not based on its actual colour but on how it compares to the surrounding colours

Three jelly beans are laid on a stump and you have to choose one to eat, but two of them are poisonous and will kill you

According to the riddle, you decide to pick up the green jelly bean.

But just before you eat it, a man takes away the blue jelly bean explaining that it's definitely poisonous.

That leaves the red one on the stump and the green one still in your hand. You get one last chance to change your mind about which one to take.

You take the green jelly bean, leaving the red and blue

Solving the riddle involves choosing between the red and green jelly beans - one of which is definitely poisonous.

You might think that now it's down to two jelly beans that there's a 50-50 chance you have the poisonous one and decide to stick with green.

In fact, it's twice as likely to be poisonous and the red jelly bean is two thirds more likely to be safe.

'When you initially picked the green jelly bean, there was a 1/3 chance that it was the safe one to eat, and a 2/3 chance that it was poisonous and the safe one was still on the stump,' Tim Urban of Wait But Why explained.

'When the man removed a poisonous blue jelly bean from the stump, it told you no new info about the green jelly bean in your handthat still had a 1/3 chance of being safe.

The blue jelly bean is taken away and you're told it's definitely poisonous. Should you swap with the red sweet or stick with the green?

'But removing the blue jelly bean told you a lot about the red jelly bean - it told you that if the safe jelly bean had been on the stump, the red one is safe.

'Put another way, if you picked a poisonous jelly bean - which you would do two-thirds of the time - then choosing to switch after he removes one will save you every time.

'If you picked the safe one to start off with - which happens one-third of the time - then switching will kill you. So switching is a good choice two-thirds of the time.'

Recently, puzzlers were also challenged to find a hidden picture inside a red circle,

The brain teaser was said to test the internet's vision with people able to see everything from a detailed image to just an outline, while others struggled to spot anything at all.

Is your eyesight good enough to see the hidden picture inside this red circle? The brain teaser has appeared online quizzing internet users about whether they can see another shape hidden inside the red blob, above

While some claimed they could see the whole image in perfect detail, others were left scratching their heads in confusion.

When the dot is flipped you can clearly see a detailed sketch of a horse complete with a mane and tail, saddle and bridle and grass around its feet.

Some people can only see the outline of the image before the red spot is flipped, while others say they can see much more. Try the test below to see how you get on.

While some claim they can see the whole image perfectly, others are completely baffled by the image. When the dot is flipped, right, you can clearly see a detailed sketch of a horse complete with a mane and tail

The online teaser shows how some people only see the outline of the horse rather than the other details in the picture such as the grass, mane, tail and saddle

An image of an iPhone screen became an internet sensation recently as thousands of people deliberated over the photo, which was widely shared along with the question: 'How many threes can you see in this picture?'

Social networkers came up with the most common answers of either 15, 19 or 21. But which answer is correct?

There are in fact 19 number threes pictured in the image, but there could be 21 depending on how you interpret the question.

Can you count how many threes are on the iPhone screen? If you see 15, 19 or 21 number threes, you have arrived at the same conclusion as the majority of social networkers... but what's the correct answer?

Apart from the eight threes in the phone number, there are two threes on the key pad as the number eight button has been replaced.

At 3.33pm, the time also contains three number threes and the battery power at 33 per cent contains another two.

That totals 15, the answer many social networkers have come to. On closer inspection, however, there are a further four hidden digits, totaling 19.

Three of the letters in the contact's name have been replaced with threes and the letter 'I' on the number four key has also been replaced.

But many online posts give the answer to be 21, with people seeming convinced that there are a further two threes in the image. The differing opinions come down to the interpretation of the question. Many users have included the bar signal and the wifi signal, both of which show three bars. But whether 19 or 21 is the correct answer is a matter of opinion

But many online posts give the answer to be 21, with people seeming convinced that there are a further two threes in the image.

The differing opinions come down to the interpretation of the question. The images has been widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with the message. 'How many threes do you see in this picture?'

Many users have included the network bar and WiFi signal, both of which show three bars. But whether 19 or 21 is the correct answer is a matter of opinion.

The puzzle, which has been widely shared on Facebook and Twitter after resurfacing again online, has instigated heated debate - with many left flummoxed at how others arrive at a different answer.

Twitter user Dani posted: 'This thing annoyed the hell out of me when someone said 21. I was like no there's 18 until I looked again properly haha.'

How many threes can you see? Apart from the eight threes in the phone number, there are two threes on the key pad as the number eight button has been replaced. At 3.33pm, the time also contains three number threes and the battery power at 33 per cent contains another two. Three of the letters in the contact's name have been replaced with threes and the letter 'I' on the number four key has also been replaced

Facebook Ravi Vidyadhar Pathak came to a grander total and said: '28 if it's saying to count everything that resembles to 3 including the network signal which is 3 dots the page info on left which is 3 the buttons having 3 letters ABC.'

Another philosophical Facebook user Marc Joseph posted: 'I see only 2....and technically am correct cause you never asked how many 3's are there in the pic.'

Athene Whitfield finally concluded the answer was 19 but had made so many previous guesses she posted: 'I got to that in the end but thought - I can't send an answer through again!!? Was getting embarrassed!'

One user by the name of Sarah was so involved in the problem she posted a mock-up of the screen with the potential answers highlighted in purple.

When a friend posted 'Not sure where you get 20 from' she posted: 'Now I'm not sure.'

It followed an optical illusion poster featuring tigers and asking viewers to guess how many animals it featured.

On close inspection the picture has the big cats hiding in the bushes, bark and even the sky.

The image, which appears to have been produced as a poster, has two adults tigers and their two cubs in the foreground.

After that it becomes trickier to track down the felines in the picture but there are 12 other tiger faces hidden.

The image appears to have been used as a poster but has resurfaced on the internet

The puzzle has the big cats hidden in foliage, trees and even the ground with all 16 very difficult to find

In the foliage to the right of the tigers, there's a fern in the shape of a tiger's face, with two hiding in the dirt beneath the tigers' feet.

In the top of the picture, there are five feline faces hidden within the branches of the trees.

While another two are seen in the wide trunk of the tree on the left of the picture and another tiger is face is seen on the left behind it and the last one is hidden in the soil below.

The poster, which features 16 in total, appears to be aimed at children, like many of the logic puzzles which have stormed the internet recently.

Another recent brain teaser appeared to be a simple children's picture with tourists at a holiday campsite and challenged them to answer a list of nine questions.

The image is thought to be from an old children's magazine, according to The Independent, but the tough questions are likely to also leave adults baffled.

A recent challenge which baffled the internet is a logic puzzle from an old children's magazine that involves studying a picture of tourists at a holiday camp site and answering a list of nine questions

A series of clues is provided by the apparently calm scene involving boys at a campsite

The black and white drawing showed three people at the campsite. One is standing by the cooking pot with a ladle, another is rifling through his backpack, and a third is taking photos.

A sign nailed to a tree states said: 'On duty. Colin, 7. Peter, 8. James, 9'. The final name is obscured, but the number 10 is visible.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE PUZZLE BY ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS? 1. How many tourists are staying at this camp? 2. When did they arrive: today or a few days ago? 3. How did they get here? 4. Is there a town nearby? 5. Where does the wind blow from: north or south? 6. What time of day is it? 7. Where did Alex go? 8. Who was on duty yesterday? 9. What date is it today? *Scroll down for answers

A picnic blanket with four plates, four spoons and a watermelon is laid out on the ground and a hen is scratching in the grass nearby.

Nearby, a tent is pitched and a spider has built a cobweb between the edge of the tent and a nearby tree.

The first question asks how many people are staying at the camp.

They must also figure out whether they arrived that day or a few days earlier, how they got there and how far away the closest town is.

In addition, they are asked whether the wind is blowing from north or south and what time of day it is.

The next question is to state where someone called Alex went.

Finally, they must figure out who was on duty yesterday and what day of the week it is.

Unlike the many cartoons that have swept the web in recent months challenging users to spot figures hidden in a sea animals or Star Wars characters, this puzzle relies on deduction.

The answer to how many tourists there are is relatively easy to figure out.

As there are four spoons and plates on the blanket and four names on the duty list, the answer is quite obvious.

Hungarian cartoonist Gergely Dudas, also known as Dudolf, posted his latest puzzle a few days ago to celebrate Easter, challenging fans to find an egg cleverly disguised alongside a group of bunnies

The egg is cunningly disguised between a pair of white rabbit ears in the second row on the left hand side

The cobweb gives a clue to when the group arrived as it must have been a few days earlier to give the spider time to build it.

An oar leaning up against the tree is the key to figuring out how they got there - by boat.

The hen indicates that the nearest town is not far away as it's managed to wander into the campsite.

A flag on the tent, known as a windsock, shows that the wind is blowing from the south, but to figure this out you need to be aware that branches on the southern side of trees in the UK get more sun and grow more densely.

ANSWERS TO THE CAMP RIDDLE 1. There are four tourists four spoons on the picnic blanket and four names on the duty list. 2. They arrived a few days ago A spider's web has appeared between their tent and a tree in that time. 3. They got there by boat Note the oars by the tree. 4. No, a village is not far ..because there's a chicken wandering around. 5. The wind is blowing from the south A flag that shows the wind direction is on top of the tent. (To tell which direction is which, look at the branches - they're normally bigger on the southern side of trees - if you're in the Northern Hemisphere.) 6. Its morning Take the answer from question five to figure out east and west then work out the time based on the shadows. 7. Alex is catching butterflies His net is behind the tent. 8. Colin was on duty yesterday Colin is rummaging through his backpack (marked with a 'c'); Alex is catching butterflies; James is taking photos as his tripod can be seen sticking out of his bag. This leaves Peter - then, according to the list, that means Colin was on duty yesterday. 9. Today is August 8th... According to the list, Peter is on duty, and there is a watermelon - which ripen in August - on the ground.

To figure out the time, you need to use the previous answer which tells you south from north to figure out where is east and west and deduce the time based on shadows.

The answer is that it's morning because the boy by the cook pot's shadow extends to the west.

Because we're asked where Alex went, we can assume he's not visible in the picture. However a butterfly net can be seen behind the tent. So the answer is that he's gone to catch butterflies.

To figure out who was on duty yesterday first consider that Colin, Peter, James and Alex are staying at the camp.

Gergley's original spot the panda puzzle left the internet baffled at Christmas 2015

The original Where's Wally-style snowmen picture was liked by 42,000 people and shared 100,000 times within days, with many struggling to find the panda at all

Dudolf followed up the panda puzzle days later with another picture posted online, this time of a cat hidden among dozens of brightly coloured owls

He planted a few red herrings in the owl picture like a colourful bow tie and festive hats, but the owl's facial features make it particularly difficult to spot the cat

We know that Alex is catching butterflies and the person taking photos must be James, as there's a tripod sticking out of the bag marked J.

The person looking through the backpack is Colin as it's marked with a C.

That means Peter must be the one standing by the cooking pot. If Peter is on duty today, then according to the list on the tree Colin was on duty yesterday.

Figuring out the day of the month isn't too tricky as according to the duty list it's the 8th of the month.

But establishing what month it is may prove rather more difficult. The solution lies in the watermelon on the picnic blanket.

The answer is August 8, but you would have to be aware that it's the month in which watermelons ripen to find the correct answer.

Its long list of questions makes the puzzle even more baffling than a challenge by Gergely Dudas who first drove the internet mad trying to find a panda among a group of snowmen, and a cat blended into rows of owls.

The Hungarian cartoonist posted his latest puzzle a few days ago to celebrate Easter, challenging fans to find an egg cleverly disguised alongside a group of bunnies.

The panda craze was followed up by Reddit contributor, with the username Oneste, who created a mind-boggling puzzle in which he hid a panda amongst rows and rows of Stormtroopers - and TIE fighter pilots
A cookbook written in 1683 advises single women that the key to finding a man is 'the advice of sober friends', 'two ounces of the feare of God' and 'two ounces of consideration'.

The book, written by bride-to-be Margaret Savile who was around 15 years old when she penned it, has been loaned to the University of Leeds and will soon be made available online.

As well as culinary recipes and advice on landing a husband, the book contains information about washing clothes and creating perfume.

A cookbook written in 1683 advises single women that the key to finding a man is 'the advice of sober friends', 'two ounces of the feare of God' and 'two ounces of consideration'

Yet despite her tender years the teenager appeared to be confident about how a happy marriage could come about.

Researchers believe the book acted as sort of a guide for Miss Savile as she prepared for married life.

She advises singletons that when choosing a partner they should not just look for a husband, but also a friend.

The recipe for romance reads: 'Take 2 ounces of the feare of god. 2 ounce of Consideration; halfe an ounce of the advice of Sober friends, and mingle all these together then adde fancie of the person a good quantity.

The book, written by bride-to-be Margaret Savile who was around around 15 years old at the time, has been loaned to the University of Leeds and will soon be made available online

'Suitableness of disposition in like quantity. And of Estate as much as you can get.

'This with contentment will make a happie union.

'And unto the Receipt give me leave to add this advice:

'Thinke not your selfe wiser then all your predecessours for marriage is an ordinance of god, and intended for all good natures; never thinke to have a man without faults.

'Seeing that you are soe ingenious and humble as to confess your selfe not to be without Infirmityes: choose a man of those many that are your servants, one whom you can truly confide in, as a Husband and a friend.

The book is part of The Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society Collection (YAHS), described as probably the largest single resource for research on Yorkshire's past outside the British Library

'Then resolve for this: know that a single life is attended with Mallonchollyes, and a hopeless repentance: as we are sensitive creatures mutuall solaice and Posterity are things not a little desireable. Stay not until thy last prayers, Lest you Espouse an Inconveniency.'

Unfortunately, Miss Savile is thought to have died before she finished the book - which is believed to have been completed by her future husband.

The book is part of The Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society Collection (YAHS), described as probably the largest single resource for research on Yorkshire's past outside the British Library.

This collection has been entrusted to the University of Leeds' Special Collections on long-term loan. Pictured: Letters patent of Queen Elizabeth I from the collection of the Slingsby family of Scriven, near Knaresborough

This collection has been entrusted to the University's Special Collections on long-term loan and contains items dating from the 12th century among its 45,000-plus works.

The archive, which is being made available online, fills more than a third of a mile of University of Leeds' library shelves.

Other significant items include a document that signalled the end of the Battle of Waterloo, in the Duke of Leeds Collection, and letters patent of Queen Elizabeth I, adorned with a coloured portrait of the monarch and with the Queen's seal still attached by silver cords.

A register of deaths of prisoners in York Castle, which records the execution of notorious Dick Turpin at Tyburn in 1739. He is listed by his alias John Palmer as well as his given name, 'Richard Turpin, the Notorious Highwayman and Horse Stealer'

An illustration that forms part of the collection that is being gradually released to the public in stages, with the first items now available to view. Pictured: Detail from a 17th century volume of arms belonging to the Horsley family of York

University Librarian Dr Stella Butler said: 'This is an important moment for both organisations, representing a strong partnership which will safeguard historical material of international importance.

'It is an impressive collection of manuscript and printed material built up by the Society over more than 150 years and it has a broad appeal to researchers in many areas of history, providing a rich and varied resource for local, family, architectural, economic, social, religious and landscape history.

'We are honoured to be custodians of it on behalf of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society.'

The collection is being gradually released to the public in stages, with the first items now available to view.

University Librarian Dr Stella Butler said: 'This is an important moment for both organisations, representing a strong partnership which will safeguard historical material of international importance'. Pictured: A drawing from the collection
YMCA claimed it was a 'miscommunication' and said 'women are welcome to breastfeed anywhere in our facility'

A mother has told of her shock and anger after she claims she was asked to leave a YMCA class to breastfeed her son.

Kate Haslam, 35, said she was at a toddler gym class with her one-year-old son Weston at the Spring Valley branch of the nonprofit in Limerick, Pennsylvania, when she went and sat on a balance beam on the wall to breastfeed him.

She was shocked when she claims she was interrupted by two employees who asked her to go outside on a bench to breastfeed because she was making men in the class feel 'uncomfortable'.

Scroll down for video

Shocked: Kate Haslam, 35, has hit back at YMCA's Spring Valley center in Limerick, Pennsylvania, after she claims she was told she was making men in the class feel 'uncomfortable' nursing her son Weston, one

Public: Kate, who wrote about her experience alongside this image on Facebook, said the alleged incident happened at the nonprofit's Spring Valley center in Limerick, Pennsylvania on Monday

Outraged: Kate, pictured with her family, said she 'can't believe' she was discriminated against at a 'family friendly facility' but YMCA claimed the incident involving Kate was a 'miscommunication'

Kate, who was at her son's second class at the center on Monday, said a friend asked if they had an area for nursing but was told there was not but that she could nurse in the locker room.

She wrote on Facebook: 'I explained that and that I wouldn't be nursing my son in the bathroom and she said I wasn't to nurse in the class.

'I mentioned this was illegal and she argued with me that it wasn't illegal. The associate director was called to talk with me.'

The Pennsylvania Freedom to Breastfeed Act, signed into law in 2007, states that a mother is 'permitted to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where the mother and child are otherwise authorized to be present, irrespective of whether or not the mother's breast is covered'.

She said the associate director was not there but after leaving the building she claims she got a text from the teacher asking her to come back.

When she returned she said she had a conversation with the teacher and the associate director who she said 'looked up the law and found out that it is illegal to tell a nursing mother she must leave a room'.

She wrote: 'He proceeded to tell me the YMCA would prefer we nurse with a cover or go into the locker room. When I mentioned the locker room was co-ed.'

They told her there were 'stalls with curtains' that she could nurse behind to ensure 'all his members are comfortable'.

She said she was told they do not usually encounter the problem because 'moms don't nurse there' - which she claims is not true.

Reaction: Kate told of her shock in a post on Facebook, pictured, and said it was 'not acceptable' for nursing mothers to be treated in that way

'I said yes they absolutely do nurse at the YMCA...I honestly can't believe in 2016 at a family friendly facility of all places we are discriminating against women on how they choose to feed their child,' she wrote.

Since she shared her experiences online her post has attracted 1,000 likes and shares and more than 100 comments.

Kate said she has since received two phone messages from YMCA apologizing for the incident.

She said she felt 'very unwelcome' and 'shamed' for breastfeeding.

'I felt very unwelcome, and very shamed for doing something that's natural. I'm still in shock by the whole situation,' Kate told nbcphiladelphia.com.

YMCA have yet to respond to Daily Mail Online's request for comment.

Shaun Elliott, Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA's president and CEO, claimed it was a misunderstanding over the balance beam which he claims children needed to use.

'For me the message is women are welcome to breastfeed anywhere in our facility.
There is a keepsake box at the bottom of Katie Searle-Jones' wardrobe that she opens when she wants to feel close to her late mother.

Inside is a locket containing a portrait of Pamela, a midwife, who died 11 years ago of ovarian cancer, age 50.

Also inside that box is a small container of baby powder. After Pamela died, all it took was a sniff of its wholesome, reassuring scent to vividly bring back her memory.

Katie Searle-Jones, 29, a mother of two from Pontypridd, holds a keepsake box that contains a locket with a portrait of her mother Pamela, a midwife, who died 11 years ago of ovarian cancer, as well as a small container of baby powder

Katie, 29, a mother of two from Pontypridd, said: 'She used baby powder all over every time she had a bath or shower to dry herself. If I went into the bathroom afterwards, there would be a cloud of it in the air.'

Today, that distinctive fragrance no longer gives Katie comfort - she now wonders whether it contributed to her mother's early death.

Katie has been closely following a case involving that best-known of talc manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson. This month, it was ordered to pay 38 million to a woman in the U.S. who - like Katie's mother - used talc on her intimate areas for years, and who developed ovarian cancer.

Jurors heard that talc particles were found in the ovarian tissue of Gloria Ristesund, 62, who used talc-based feminine hygiene products for almost 40 years and is still fighting the disease.

Katie has been closely following a case involving that best-known of talc manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson

It is the second lawsuit this year concerning the safety of talc. Two months earlier, another U.S. jury awarded 50 million to the family of Jacqueline Fox, who used Johnson & Johnson talc products for 35 years. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013 and died, age 62, last year.

In both cases, it was ruled that the pharmaceutical giant had failed to warn women that talc has long been linked to ovarian cancer when used as a feminine hygiene product.

Even so, Johnson & Johnson is fighting the decision, and continues to insist talc is no danger to health.

As Pamela died more than a decade ago, Katie never will get a conclusive answer as to why her mother developed ovarian cancer - which kills 4,000 women a year in Britain

Spokesman Caroline Almeida told the Mail this week: 'Thirty years of studies by medical experts around the world, science, research and clinical evidence continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc.'

Yet as the debate rages, the question remains: Can women ever feel safe using talc?

Once the mainstay of women's daily toilette, talc is the softest mineral on Earth. It is prized for its silky texture and its ability to absorb odour and moisture.

Raw talc is made by finely grinding magnesium and silicon, extracted from rocks. Until purified, this can also contain the cancer-causing mineral asbestos.

Even though genes are believed to play a role, there was no family history of the disease. And Pamela (pictured with Katie, left, and sister Emily) was neither overweight nor a smoker, two other risk factors

Far from dying out with our grandmother's generation, young girls are using talcum powder on their genital region to ease the discomfort of shaving rashes and to halt chafing and sweat patches in tight-fitting yoga pants and skinny jeans.

As Pamela died more than a decade ago, Katie never will get a conclusive answer as to why her mother developed ovarian cancer - which kills 4,000 women a year in Britain.

Even though genes are believed to play a role, there was no family history of the disease. And Pamela was neither overweight nor a smoker, two other risk factors.

However, like many women her age, she was exposed to decades of ads telling her that talc-based products were necessary for a woman's 'personal freshness'.

Pamela could also have been at risk because when she began using talc as a teen, it still may have been contaminated with asbestos.

Pamela (pictured with babies Katie and Emily) could also have been at risk because when she began using talc as a teen, it still may have been contaminated with asbestos.

Yet even when Johnson & Johnson started purifying talc in the Seventies, there were studies about the link between talc and ovarian cancer.

The first concerns were raised in 1971 when British researchers at the Welsh National School of Medicine analysed 13 ovarian tumours. They found talc particles 'deeply embedded' in ten of the samples.

Over the following 40 years, 20 more studies from all over the world showed links between talc and ovarian cancer.

However, it was not until last year that the first legal claims were brought and a court in South Dakota found Johnson & Johnson negligent for failing to put a warning about the risks on packaging.

It meant women like Pamela, who applied talcum powder daily, had been left in the dark.

It was not until two years after Pamela's death that Katie first heard about the concerns over talc. Her father Stephen, 60, a former nurse, saw reports in the media and told Katie to stop using baby powder

Katie says: 'For my mum, sprinkling on baby powder was like a ritual. She loved the soft smell and silky feel.

'She started getting bloating in her mid-40s and kept being told by doctors it was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or wind.

'After a few years, Mum finally had a scan, which showed stage three ovarian cancer that had spread to her bowel and liver.'

It was not until two years after Pamela's death that Katie first heard about the concerns over talc. Her father Stephen, 60, a former nurse, saw reports in the media and told Katie to stop using baby powder.

For my mum, sprinkling on baby powder was like a ritual. She loved the soft smell and silky feel

Katie, then using talc daily just like her mother, was shocked by the news.

'I was so worried I went to my doctor and got an ovarian scan, which was clear,' she says. 'But I feel I will have to keep monitoring myself as ovarian cancer mainly develops in older women.

'It is too late for my mother, but I know my father needs answers.'

The family's pain has been prolonged by the arguments raging on both sides of the debate.

In 2006, evidence was considered strong enough for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a World Health Organisation agency, to classify genital use of talc as 'possibly carcinogenic'.

Gynaecologist Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard Medical School has studied talc for 30 years. He believes it to be a 'likely contributing factor' in 10,000 ovarian cancer deaths in America every year.

Katie has now thrown all the baby powder away - except the one in the keepsake box

Other studies have put the increased risk, with long-term use, as high as 30 to 40 per cent. Yet the counter argument - backed by some cancer charities - says studies are unreliable because they rely too heavily on women remembering how much talc they used years earlier.

UK trade body, the Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery Association describes a 30 to 40 per cent increased risk as 'not necessarily significant' when smoking and drinking has been proved to raise the risk of cancer of the oesophagus by up to 30 times.

Also, it argues no one can say with absolute authority that talc particles found in ovaries are due to intimate use because they can be found anywhere, in carpets or even floating in the air.

However, campaigners such as Pat Thomas are asking: 'Why take the risk at all?'

Pat, author of Skin Deep: The Essential Guide To What's In The Toiletries And Cosmetics You Use, says: 'Not all studies show a link between talc and ovarian cancer. But many do.

'There is also data to suggest it can trigger a particularly aggressive form of the disease.'

No one has said conclusively talc causes cancer. But what has swung it for me is the finding of talc particles in the ovaries in women with cancer

Even more worryingly, a study in the American Journal Of Obstetric Gynaecology suggested talc could start to accumulate when mothers use it on their baby daughters' bottoms.

Given the row, one mystery is why more companies are not using alternatives, such as corn starch.

Dr Elham Eghbali, chemist at cosmetic science school Formula Botanica, says cost could be a reason. 'Talc is cheap, available, easy to supply and easy to apply. When you are producing hundreds of thousands of units, price is a big driver.'

Gynaecologist Nick Raine-Fenning, of Nurture Fertility in Nottingham, says: 'No one has said conclusively talc causes cancer. But what has swung it for me is the finding of talc particles in the ovaries in women with cancer.'

Still, Johnson & Johnson says it has no plans to warn women about genital use. So it's up to us to make up our own minds.

It's a decision Katie had no problem making: 'I have thrown all the baby powder away except the one in the keepsake box.
Pregnant women who are exposed to smog are more likely to suffer a stillbirth, a major review concludes today.

Researchers say the risks are particularly high during the third trimester, the last three months.

Worldwide, for every 1000 total births, 18.4 babies were stillborn in 2015 - and although in the West this has been linked to infections and lifestyle, their exact cause remains a mystery.

But Danish researchers who examined 13 studies have identified a very strong link to car exhaust fumes and other pollution.

In light of the study, scientists called for tighter curbs on vehicle fumes and industrial waste - and said pregnant women should consider moving to less polluted areas.

Pregnant women who are exposed to smog are more likely to suffer a stillbirth, a study has found. Researchers said they should consider moving away from cities to a greener area

The team from the University of Copenhagen found that even if the concentration of pollutants in the air increased by a small amount  4 micrograms per cubic metre  the risk of stillbirth rose by 4 per cent.

Dr Marie Pedersen, lead author said: Stillbirth is one of the most neglected tragedies in global health today, and the existing evidence summarised deserves additional investigation.

If the evidence of an association between ambient air population and stillbirth is confirmed in future studies, it would be of major public health importance.

Professor Jouni Jaakkola, of the University of Oulu, told the Telegraph: 'The existing evidence is suggestive of causality for air pollution and stillbirth.'

Telling a pregnant woman to move to a greener area would be wise advice, he added.

Only last week a report warned of a postcode lottery in stillbirths across the UK with rates in some areas being 40 per cent higher than others.

Experts said the variation was woefully inadequate and criticised hospitals and doctors for failing to investigate the cause.

Stillbirths are often triggered by complications in the placenta, the tube which supplies nutrients to the baby in the womb.

This may be caused by an infection or a genetic fault but often the causes are unexplained.

Researchers have called for tighter curbs on car exhausts and industrial waste emissions to reduce the risk of air pollutants

Previous research has found that certain lifestyle factors also increase the risk such as smoking, alcohol, obesity and the mothers age.

Todays research published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded that the body of evidence shows air pollution is a risk factor for stillbirth.

Nazeeba Siddika, a doctoral student at the University of Oulu, Finland, who was involved in the research said: Foetuses are more affected by a variety of environmental toxicants because of differential exposure and physiological immaturity.

Telling a pregnant woman to move to a greener area would be wise advice Professor Jouni Jaakkola, of the University of Oulu

The biological mechanisms by which exposure to ambient air pollutants leads to foetal death is not very clear.

Jean Golding, Emeritus Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, University of Bristol, said: 'This is an important gathering together of the studies that have been done on this topic.

'It should be noted that the air pollution measurements are related to the area in which the pregnant mother lives, but no actual measurements were made on the mothers exposures.

'This would be an important next step, but not easy to do. I agree with the authors, that this is a topic that warrants detailed further research.'

But Professor Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at the Open University urged expectant mothers not to be alarmed by the findings.
Living close to landfill sites can increase your risk of dying from lung cancer, scientists claim.

Rotting rubbish produces harmful gases that, when inhaled, increase the chance of suffering from severe breathing problems.

A study of nearly 250,000 people found that those living within three miles of landfill were more likely to be admitted to hospital or die with lung disease.

And researchers found that children were at particular risk. The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, tracked 242,000 people living close to one of nine landfill sites in central Italy.

Rotting rubbish produces harmful gases that, when inhaled, increase the chance of suffering from severe breathing problems

The participants were monitored for at least five years  and researchers found that those who were exposed to more airborne pollutants were at higher risk of lung cancer and other breathing problems.

British landfill sites are regulated according to the same rules as those in Italy, set down by the 1999 EU Landfill Directive.

The Environment Agency said last night that English sites are subject to tighter local regulations governing emissions. But campaigners said budget cuts are likely to undermine the agency's ability to police these standards.

The researchers, from the Lazio Environmental Protection Agency in Rome, tracked levels of hydrogen sulphide  a poisonous gas produced by decomposing vegetation which typically smells of rotten eggs. They predicted that hydrogen sulphide levels were representative of the levels of all pollutants produced by the rubbish dumps.

The team divided all those living within three miles of the sites into four groups, depending on how high their exposure to hydrogen sulphide was.

A study of nearly 250,000 people found that those living within three miles of landfill were more likely to be admitted to hospital or die with lung disease

STILLBORN BIRTHS 'ARE MORE LIKELY IN AREAS WITH HIGHER POLLUTION' Pregnant women who are exposed to smog are more likely to suffer a stillbirth, a major review concludes today. There are around 3,600 stillbirths in the UK every year and although they have been linked to infections and lifestyle, their exact cause remains a mystery. But Danish researchers who examined 13 studies have identified a strong link to car exhaust fumes and other pollution. They are now calling for tighter curbs on exhausts and industrial waste emissions to reduce the risk to unborn babies, which is most heightened during the third trimester. The team from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark found that even if the concentration of air pollutants increased by a small amount  4 micrograms per cubic metre  the chances of stillbirth rose by 4 per cent. Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the scientists wrote: Pregnant women should be aware of the potential adverse effects of ambient air pollution, although the prevention against exposure to air pollutants generally requires more action by the Government than by the individual. Lead author Dr Marie Pedersen said: Stillbirth is one of the most neglected tragedies in global health today, and the existing evidence summarised deserves additional investigation. Advertisement

Those in the group with the highest exposure levels were 34 per cent more likely to die with lung cancer than people who lived more than three miles away from the sites, the researchers found. And people in that group were 30 per cent more likely to die from other respiratory diseases. They were also 5 per cent more likely to receive hospital treatment for all respiratory diseases, including 9 per cent for asthma.

Children were even more at risk, with an 11 per cent increased chance of being admitted to hospital for respiratory disease, and a 13 per cent higher risk of asthma. The Italian team tracked pollution levels to make sure they could match disease levels to exposure to toxins.

They said that more research is needed to confirm the link, particularly to lung cancer. But they added that it was unlikely that the increased death rates were 'entirely due to unmeasured smoking habits and other factors'.

The number of active landfill sites in Britain fell from 1,500 in the 1990s to 338 in 2014. But there are more than 22,000 'historic' landfill sites which have been covered with earth and left alone. British experts last night insisted the risk in the UK was minimal.

Dr Jill Meara of Public Health England said: 'Well-managed modern landfill sites do not pose a significant risk to public health.

'We have reviewed studies looking at emissions from sites and research on health effects posed by modern landfill sites and concluded there is little cause for concern for those living nearby.'

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said that while Italy and the UK each have to abide by EU regulations, in England extra regulations have been put in place to limit pollution.

She said: 'It is not possible to compare the results from the Italian research to the UK due to differences in regulatory standards.

'In England we set strict conditions on emissions which operators must adhere to protect people and the environment.'

But Dr Michael Warhurst, executive director of the CHEM Trust, a charity that monitors environmental pollution, warned that budget cutbacks at the Environment Agency could leave people living near the sites exposed.
A man with a rare condition that caused one of his arms to grow to an incredible size was forced to migrate after being 'disowned by his family'.

Bablu suffers from local gigantism and was cruelly dubbed a 'devil's child' by his neighbours.

According to a local journalist, they didn't understand why his arm had developed in such a way.

As a result, Bablu was forced to flee his hometown to start a new life for in Mumbai.

It is not known exactly where the 25-year-old was previously living in India.

Prejudice: Bablu suffers from local gigantism and was cruelly dubbed a 'devil's child' by his neighbours

Heartbreaking: The rare condition caused one of Bablu's arms to grow to an incredible size and he was 'disowned by his family'

The journalist recently followed Bablu around the streets of the city and filmed him as he went about his daily routine.

The video shows Bablu eating at a restaurant. He demonstrates the difficulty he has in doing something as simple as holding a cup of water.

Speaking about the experience, the journalist said: 'Bablu has been disowned by his family as his neighbours think he is 'a devil's child'.

'The stigma that comes with the rare condition has forced him to migrate to Mumbai.

'He thought he would disappear in the crowd of millions and start making a living, but he met the same fate in the city as people were scared of his hand.'

Sad: Bablu was forced to flee his hometown to start a new life for himself in Mumbai but is still experiencing prejudice in the city

Struggle: A journalist recently followed Bablu around the streets of Mumbai and filmed him as he went about his daily routine

The journalist explained Bablu has also found it extremely difficult to get a job of any kind since moving to Mumbai.

'If he is treated properly, his bulky hand that weighs 20kg can be reduced to normal size,' the journalist continued.

'However, [doctors] underlined that it will never be like a normal hand as the condition has reached an advanced stage.'

Gigantism, also known as acromegaly, is the result of an over-productive growth hormone.

Local gigantism causes a certain part of the body to grow excessively - most commonly fingers and toes - but as is the case with Bablu, it can also result in an entire limb being enlarged.

Hard: The journalist explained that the 25-year-old has also found it hard trying to get a job of any kind

A video shows Bablu demonstrating the difficulty he has in doing something as simple as holding a cup
Just half of prescriptions for antidepressants in North America are actually for patients suffering depression, a new study has warned.

The drugs are increasingly being prescribed to people suffering migraine, insomnia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as women going through the menopause.

This, experts say, is behind the surge in antidepressant use over the last two decades.

And they warn, the drugs are not approved for use to treat many of the conditions doctors are prescribing them for.

Just half of prescriptions for antidepressants in North America are actually for patients suffering depression, a new study has warned. The drugs are increasingly being prescribed to people suffering migraine, insomnia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as women going through the menopause

In the new study, Dr Jenna Wony, from McGill University and her team analyzed treatment indications for antidepressants and assessed trends in prescribing the drugs for depression.

The authors wrote: 'The findings indicate that the mere presence of an antidepressant prescription is a poor proxy for depression treatment, and they highlight the need to evaluate the evidence supporting off-label antidepressant use.'

Researchers used data from an electronic medical record and prescribing system that has been used by doctors in two major urban centers of Quebec, Canada.

The drugs are increasingly being prescribed to people suffering migraine, insomnia, ADHD, as well as women going through the menopause

They focused on prescriptions written for adults between January 2006 and September 2015, for all antidepressants except monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

Doctors taking part had to document at least one treatment indication per prescription, using a drop-down menu containing a list of conditions.

During the time of the study, 101,759 prescriptions for antidepressants were written by 158 doctors for 19,734 patients.

Of those, the researchers discovered, just 55 per cent were indicated for depression.

Doctors also prescribed the drugs for anxiety disorders (18.5 per cent), insomnia (10 per cent), pain (six per cent) and panic disorders (four per cent).

For 29 per cent of all antidepressant prescriptions, doctors prescribed a drug for an off-label indication, especially for insomnia and pain.

Doctors also prescribed antidepressant for conditions including migraine, vasomotor symptoms of menopause, ADHD and digestive system disorders.

Dr Wong told CBS News: 'I can't make a statement to say that for sure they don't work or that they are exposing patients to health risks but there's a possibility that they could be causing adverse health effects or that they may not be effective for the conditions.

'Without any scientific evidence, it's hard to be able to say.'
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has been nominated for a Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra in the election to be held on June 11.

The BJP is in power in the state.

Other Union ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Suresh Prabhu and M Venkaiah Naidu, are also expected to be re-elected.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha

The RS polls are held through open ballot, where members of the Legislative Assembly have to display their voting preference to the party whip.

Tharoor has his Phantom moment

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had words of praise for Bollywood filmmaker Kabir Khan, who was recently heckled in Pakistan over his Hindi movie Phantom.

Tharoor said the movie was a thriller besides being brilliantly scripted and directed.

I would put it on par with the best action movies made worldwide, Tharoor tweeted.

The movie is about a secret agent, played by actor Saif Ali Khan, entering Pakistan and neutralising those allegedly exporting terror to India.

Modi wishes the new Kerala CM

PM Narendra Modi, who had earlier congratulated CPI-M leader VS Achutanandan after the LDF won in Kerala, sent his best wishes to newly sworn-in Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, saying he looked forward to working closely with his government in the southern state.

Congrats to Pinarayi Vijayan & his team. Centre looks forward to working closely with the newly sworn-in LDF Govt. for Keralas progress, the PM tweeted.

Celebs want piece of Greater Noida

Greater Noida has become a hot investment destination for celebrities.

After Sachin Tendulkars wife Anjali registered a 3,150 sq ft flat in Crescent Court tower at a Jaypee Greens project in Greater Noida, Baba Ramdev is looking for 150 acres in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area.

He will be in Greater Noida on Thursday to explore the possibility of setting up a university and putting up an industry to manufacture its array of Patanjali products in Greater Noida.

Persian tweet by PM is AAP target

The AAP has made PM Narendra Modis tweet during his visit to Iran an issue.

Delhis water and tourism minister Kapil Mishra is planning to paint PM Modis recent tweets, written in Persian, on the walls of Delhi.

The move is retaliation to an attack by alleged BJP supporters on a French wall painter and an Indian artist.
The government has confirmed that 13 more cities will be developed under the Centre's 'Smart City Mission'.

Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh tops the list, followed by Warangal in Telangana, and Dharmashala in Himachal Pradesh.

Twenty-three cities which failed to make the grade back in January participated in the 'Fast Track Competition', the results of which were announced by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday.

Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu announces the fast track smart city results

Of these 23 cities, only 13 qualified for the smart city projects through the fresh competition.

Other cities which won this round were Chandigarh (UT), Faridabad (Haryana), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura),

The 13 cities selected in the Fast Track Competition have proposed a total investment of Rs 30,229 crore.

With this, the investment proposed by 33 cities, including the 20 cities announced in January, under the smart city plans has touched the Rs 80,789 crore mark, Naidu said at a press conference.

Guaranteed water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the smart city project.

Seven capital cities - Patna (Bihar), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) - which were not included in the 100 cities shortlisted for the competition will be able to participate in the next round with other cities, the minister said.

Also, one out of Meerut and Rai Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, and either Jammu or Srinagar in J&K would also be selected for evaluation under the mission, he added.

Of the 13 cities that just qualified for the smart city project, four are from BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand and Haryana, while two are from Congress-governed states of Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.

Lucknow is in Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh, while Bhagalpur is in Bihar, where the JD(U), RJD and Congress are ruling coalition partners, and Warangal is in Telangana ruled by Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

Kolkata in West Bengal, where the TMC came back to power in a recently-held assembly election, and Agartala in CPI(M)-ruled Tripura, were also selected for the smart city project.

Apart from these, the Union territories of Chandigarh and Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands were among the winners of this round.

Among the ten cities that failed to make the cut are Dehradun, Shillong, Diu, Namchi (Sikkim) Kohima (Nagaland), Aizawl (Mizoram).

These cities would be able to participate in the next round of the competition with other cities.

Under the Smart City Mission, 100 cities across the country will be developed as smart cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years.

While 20 smart cities were selected during 2015-16 as per the mission guidelines, another 40 (including 13 today) will be selected during 2016-17 and the remaining 40 during the next financial year.
When Shelagh Wisemans washing machine stopped working in April 2015, she thought she was being sensible by taking out insurance after it was fixed.

It was a hassle to mend and the retired secretary, 86, was told by the repairman from Domestic & General that the five-year-old machine wasnt as robust as it once was.

The cover was expensive at 14.99 a month, but it was reassuring to know an engineer could be called out at a moments notice.

While disasters like this can happen, white goods are more affordable than ever and rather than shelling out on insurance premiums, you can usually do better by ploughing the money into a rainy day fund

Sure enough, at the beginning of March this year, it conked out again.

Domestic & General sent two engineers to Shelaghs home in Hampstead, North London, but neither fixed the problem. They reassured her that another repairman would visit soon  but no one did.

Shelagh, who has lived alone since the death of her husband in 2011, spent hours calling Domestic & General trying to get help.

But as she was passed from one call centre worker to another, their promises seemed to get more and more muddled.

Nearly three weeks after the machine broke, Shelagh was so sick of doing without clean clothes that she visited her local John Lewis and forked out 313 for a new washer.

It felt as if the 160 shed paid in insurance premiums was money down the drain.

They talked me into it  they made me worried it would break again and that if I took out this policy I would be fully covered, says Shelagh.

But when it did break and I needed them, Domestic & General couldnt have cared less.

Its wickedly bad service. I am nearly 87 and disabled. Ive had as much worry from this company as any human being can stand. No one ever phoned to apologise or tell me what was going on. They didnt care.

Shelagh isnt the only one whos had problems with Domestic & Generals household appliance cover.

Frustrated customers are filling internet forums with posts about poor service. Many also complain of long waits for repairs and problems with the call centre.

One customer, Cat Finnie, wrote on Googles review page on April 17: Its near impossible to get through to the repairs team and then they are completely disorganised.

Another, Kieran Gallagher, wrote on March 25: I simply cannot get through  ten days I have tried and when it connects after 40-odd minutes, they hang up.

Its a disgrace  three weeks Ive been trying to log a call. I dread to think when I do get through what the engineer wait time will be.

The criticism has been so stinging that the company is rated at just 1.3 stars out of five on Google reviews.

Experts say these types of insurance policies can be more hassle than theyre worth. White goods are more affordable than ever and rather than shelling out on insurance premiums, you can usually do better by ploughing the money into a rainy day fund.

James Daley, managing director of the consumer website Fairer Finance, says: So-called self-insurance is often the most sensible option for white goods.

We would all do well to put away a couple of pounds a month into a savings account instead. Then you have a pot to dip into if an appliance breaks down.

Self-insurance: Putting money aside each month into a savings account may be a better option than forking out for insurance to cover your white goods

Washing machines and dishwashers normally last between five and ten years, and TVs can last as long as 20.

So its not always good value for money to take out a protection policy, and definitely not for 15 a month.

If you put 15 a month into a savings account paying 1.4 per cent for two years, youd have 365.

Its unlikely a modern washing machine would break down more frequently than that. Protection plans and extended warranties became popular during the Sixties when white goods were much pricier.

Domestic & Generals policy says that if your household goods break, you simply call them and they will arrange a engineer to fix it.

But the terms and conditions are littered with exclusions, including refusing to repair your goods if theyre damaged by humidity or plumbing problems.

If you do want protection, it pays to shop around and be wary of anything a retailer tries to flog you at the point of purchase.

Mr Daley says: If you are the kind of person who wants to insure a product with an extended warranty, there are a number of smaller players in the market who are cheaper than the Domestic & Generals of this world.

Never buy the insurance that the retailer offers you  it is almost always the worst deal.

After Money Mail contacted Domestic & General, it apologised to Shelagh and agreed to refund her the full price of her new washing machine.

The company says communication broke down when Shelagh was not at home for a repair appointment. She insists she stayed in all day.

A spokeswoman for Domestic & General says: After that repair visit, we agree Mrs Wiseman has not received the high standard of service we aim to provide for our customers.
Shares in Card Factory slipped despite signs the firm was boosting sales of personalised gifts.

The greetings card retailer said sales were up 6.5 per cent in the first quarter and online revenues grew by 10 per cent. Average customer spend was also up.

The groups net debt has fallen almost 18million to 110.4million since the end of January.

The High Street chain rolled out 20 stores in the first three months of its financial year and said it has a strong pipeline of store opening opportunities for the rest of the year.

Analysts at Liberum rate the stock a buy. In a note the broker said Card Factorys update was solid and it was encouraged by growth across the group in store and online, including at its personalised gift website Getting Personal, which Liberum said could account for around two-thirds of the groups revenue over the medium-term.

Growth: Card Factory rolled out 20 new stores in the first three months of its financial year and said it has a strong pipeline of store opening opportunities for the rest of the year

All this seemed like a very positive news but investors seemed to run scared from Card Factorys news that footfall in shops was down and shares slid 2.6 per cent, or 10p, to 371p. The FTSE 100 climbed 1.3 per cent, or 82.83 points to reach its highest point in May so far at 6219.26.

Among the biggest fallers was Coca-Cola HBC. Its shares slipped 3 per cent, or 41p, to 1324p after reports that New Argen, which has a 1.5 per cent stake in the firm, is to sell up to 5.4million shares in the business.

Homeserve was the biggest riser on the mid-market after it reported it had beaten estimates, with full year profits up 9 per cent.

The home emergency, repair and heating services firm said profits before tax had grown to 93million in the year to March 31, while revenue had increased 8 per cent to 633.2million.

It also grew its total number of customers from 6.3million to 7million  some of these came from the acquisition of a heating services business.

Another acquisition is set to come in the first half of this financial year after the firm reached an agreement to acquire US-based Utility Service Partners for 51million.

The purchase should fetch another 0.4million customers. The firms net debt rose from 64.1million to 169.5million in that time.

Homeserve also increased its final dividend 10 per cent to 12.7p a share. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: The acquisition of Utility Service Partners will provide a significant boost to future profits.

It finished the day 7.3 per cent, or 31.7p higher at 463p.

Brightly-coloured storage company Big Yellow Group revealed that like-for-like revenue was up 10 per cent when it unpacked its final results yesterday.

Some 76.7 per cent of its space is occupied, with an average net rent of 25.73 per square foot. The group has seven stores in its development pipeline. A Guildford site is set to open in autumn 2017, and the rest are subject to planning.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said the stock was a good way to play the real estate sector at the moment as it was unaffected by Brexit concerns. But the broker prefers rival Safestore (down 0.3 per cent, or 1p, to 359p) which trades at a discount. Jefferies was more positive, increased its target price for Big Yellow by 1 to 825p.

Shares packed up 2.3 per cent, or 20p higher at 886.5p.

Dekeloil shares ramped up 3.8 per cent, or 0.05p, to 1.35p after it revealed plans to raise 10.8million from shareholders. The firm wants to use its money to increase its stake in a venture producing palm oil at Ayenouan, on the Ivory Coast.

If the fund-raising is successful Dekeloil could increase its interest in the project by 30.5 per cent taking its stake to 81.5 per cent.

Executive director Lincoln Moore said the opportunity was one the firm could not let pass.

He added: Ayenouan has the potential to be both highly cash generative and profitable for many years to come.

The project has the capacity to produce 70,000 tonnes of palm oil a year. Dekeloil said its strategy is to build a leading West African palm oil producer  the oil is used for cooking and in margarine and non-dairy ice cream.

Aim-listed IGas Energy saw its shares rise 24.6 per cent or 3.75p to 19p yesterday. The firm develops and produces oil and gas reserves onshore in the North West, East Midlands and South of England.

Investors backed the business when another independent company called Third Energy was given approval this week by North Yorkshire County Council to frack its well in Kirby Misperton.
HINKLEY DELAY EDFs boss refused to give a date for the completion of Hinkley Point nuclear power station or for its final decision on funding when he was grilled by MPs for the second time in two months.

Vincent De Rivaz faced the Energy and Climate Change Committee after EDF failed to reach a decision on the finances of Hinkley by May 15, as had been promised. He said the decision had been delayed so EDF could consult trade unions on the project.

EASY PEACE A peace deal is being struck between Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and executives at EasyHotel after the firm posted a disappointing half-year update.

The founder of EasyGroup floated the budget hotel chain in 2014, but has been picking fights with directors over what he sees as spiralling costs that eat in to dividend payments.

His fears will not have been allayed yesterday when six months sales grew 10 per cent to 9.7million while profits crashed to 100,000 from 400,000 due to the cost of opening new hotels.

But yesterday sources said Sir Stelios was in discussions with the firm over a plan to revitalise the business.

MAIL PAIN UK Mail Group saw its profits halve after its performance was blighted by technical failures.

The delivery firm reported profits of 10.7million in the year to March, down from 21million in 2015. It opened a state-of-the-art sorting office in Ryton that was unable to sort odd-shaped parcels.

It announced a dividend of 10.9p per share, down from 14.5p in 2015.

DEMAND SLUMPS Hogg Robinson blamed lower demand in Europe and Asia Pacific for a 2 per cent fall in sales for the 12 months to March 31.

But the travel firm managed to post a 15 per cent rise in profit to 26.7million from 23.3million crediting strong performance in the UK and America.

It has recommended a final dividend of 1.83p a share taking its total payout for the year to 2.51p a share.

DOUBLE UP Severn Trent has more than doubled its profits, beating market expectations. The water firm saw profits soar 117 per cent to 332.3million in the year to the end of March, up from 148.2million a year earlier.

It said its combined annual bills were the lowest in the country at 329. Shares rose 2.5 per cent, or 56p, to 2269p.

IRISH SALE The AA is in talks to sell its Irish breakdown and insurance arm to private equity firm Carlyle Cardinal. AA Ireland employs 480 and made a profit of 13million in 2015.

The roadside assistance firm said it is exploring options in regards to its Irish business.
Concerns: Shell is facing allegations that the firm which signs off its accounts is not impartial

Royal Dutch Shell is facing allegations that the firm which signs off its accounts is not impartial.

A leading investor yesterday raised concerns that EY, which has been appointed as auditor of the oil supermajor, had a conflict of interest because it had checked the books of BG Group ahead of its 36billion merger with Shell.

Standard Life, which raised the objection, said it had it had already voiced concerns about conflicts of interest at the Shell annual general meeting last year and said that it voted against the appointment this year and was disappointed with Shells decision to select EY.

Shell also faced anger over pay at its AGM yesterday with Royal London Asset Management criticising the size of boss Ben van Beurdens pay package.

The chief executive received 4.3million total package for the year despite profits having fallen 80 per cent to 2.6billion and more than 10,000 job cuts at the group.

Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, said: The senior executive pay awards last year are not sufficiently justified by the companys financial performance.

We remain disappointed that the chief executive received very close to the maximum possible bonus in a year when overall financial performance was weak.

However, more than 85 per cent voted in favour of the payout, which was an 8 per cent salary cut compared with the previous year.

And despite the Standard Life protest Shell said more than 92 per cent of shareholders supported the appointment of the auditor.

A Shell spokesman said: EY was appointed as Shells auditor for the financial year 2016 following an extensive competitive tender, in line with industry best practice. We have full confidence in EYs suitability for the role.

Shareholders at its annual meeting in The Hague in Holland also raised environmental concerns about its operations.
'Lower for longer': Paul Goodfellow, Shell's vice president said cheap oil made current market conditions remained 'challenging'.

Nearly 500 jobs will go from Shell's UK and Ireland workforce as the oil giant revealed a persistently low crude price is forcing it to shed another 2,200 positions worldwide.

Saying that it now expects the oil price to remain 'lower for longer', the firm revealed that these extra losses means 12,500 roles - across staff and direct contractors - will have been cut from the start of last year to the end of this.

The company, which sealed a mega-merger with BG Group in February, said the cost-cutting drive will include the loss of about 475 jobs at its UK and Ireland 'upstream business'.

Paul Goodfellow, Shell's vice president for the UK and Ireland, said it had taken the steps because the current market conditions remained 'challenging'.

He said: 'Our integration with BG provides an opportunity to accelerate our performance in this "lower for longer" environment.

'We need to reduce our cost base, improve production efficiency and have an organisation that best fits our combined portfolio and business plans.

'As a result, we will reduce the size of the organisation supporting our UK and Ireland upstream business by around 475 people. We will look to implement the majority of this change during 2016.

'Following these changes, Shell will still remain a key employer in the North East of Scotland with around 1,700 employees.'

But Shell said the net number of job losses in 2016 would be fewer than 5,000, as it expects to continue recruiting this year.

Updating on the progress of its efficiency drive announced in 2015, Shell said it had finished cutting an initial 7,500 jobs and was 'well under way' with plans to axe a further 2,800 roles following its tie-up with BG.

The move comes after it revealed earlier this month that it may close three offices, including the former BG Group headquarters at Thames Valley Park, Reading; BG's offices at Albyn Place, Aberdeen; and Shell's Brabazon House office in Manchester.

It also gave workers at the Thames Valley site the option of applying for voluntary redundancy, while a separate voluntary severance programme has been rolled out to 'some UK employees' because the oil price remains persistently low.

Mr Goodfellow added: 'These are tough times for our industry and we have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current, prolonged downturn.
Councils are ramping up the amount they charge for funerals and cremations by as much as 50 per cent in a shameless raid on grieving families.

Experts say there has never been a more expensive time to die.

The cost of burials has increased by as much as half over the past year to around 2,000 as local authorities try to offset the impact of swingeing budget cuts.

Basic charges at council-run crematoriums have also soared by as much as 30 per cent in that time.

MPs have referred private funeral operators Dignity and the Co-op to the competition watchdog over fears their stranglehold on the market enables them to ratchet up prices.

Shameless: Councils are ramping up the amount they charge for funerals and cremations by as much as 50 per cent in a shameless raid on grieving families

But the revelation that local authorities are driving up their charges so aggressively has infuriated MPs, who have accused them of imposing a hidden tax on the bereaved.

The average cost for a funeral in the UK is 3,700. This pays for everything from burial or cremation costs to renting limousines for the family and hiring a minister for the service.

Most people employ a funeral director to arrange the day for them, who typically pays these fees and passes them on to the customer.

Half of the average funeral bill goes on basic burial costs  paying a gravedigger and buying the lease of a grave plot with the right to erect a headstone.

Cremation is typically cheaper, but the basic costs of using the crematorium still account for a third of a funeral bill.

When a council hikes its charges for burial and cremation, the impact on grieving families is devastating.

Milton Keynes council has increased its basic charges from 1,460 to 2,100 at eight cemeteries  an increase of just under 44 per cent.

Meanwhile, Watford Council has ratcheted up charges by 49.1 per cent from 1,325 to 1,975, according to figures compiled for Money Mail by Funeralbooker, a price comparison website.

When there is a death in the family, all sorts of people put their hands in your pockets and try to take advantage, says Mark Garnier, a Conservative member of the Treasury Committee.

When you have suffered a bereavement, your ability to fight your corner is massively reduced, giving the provider a big advantage.

Councils have been forced to slash their budgets as the Government tries to fix the nations finances.

Milton Keynes council told Money Mail it has increased prices from a low-cost base in line with other councils and private funeral homes.

It said it had not increased burial fees for children, despite facing increasing financial pressures due to reduced funding.

Basic charges at council-run crematoriums have also soared by as much as 30% over the past year

But the councils justification for the huge price hikes is not borne out by the figures, as it charges far more than neighbouring local authorities.

Northampton Borough council charges 884 for burials at Towcester Road cemetery, while Luton Borough council charges 1,345 at The Vale cemetery.

Cuts in funding may mean councils are turning to the crematoriums and cemeteries to balance the books, says James Dunn of Funeralbooker.

These prices could be a hidden cost of austerity.

The price of funerals varies hugely across the country. For burials, London is by far the most expensive, with four cemeteries in Wandsworth, South-West London, charging 4,561.

This is almost 18 times the 255 fee charged by Cross Cemetery, run by Fermanagh & Omagh district council in Northern Ireland.

Prices are set by councils for public facilities or by private firms such as Dignity, which owns 767 funeral homes and 39 crematoriums.

John Mann, a Labour member of the Treasury Committee, says funeral costs should be capped. This is a hidden tax on grieving families and the dead. These increases are completely out of order and should not be allowed, he says.

People have the right to be buried or cremated in the area where they have lived and not penalised in this way by greedy councils.

It is not just local authorities that are cashing in. The majority of the most expensive crematoriums are privately run by Dignity, whose 2.4 million-a-year boss is Mike McCollum.

Dignity crematoriums in Beckenham in Kent, Crawley and Chichester in West Sussex, and Nuneaton in Warwickshire all charge 956.

This is almost three times the 364 charged at the City of Belfast Crematorium, which is the cheapest place to be cremated.

A spokesman for Milton Keynes council says: We understand this is a very sensitive subject, often at a difficult time for families and loved ones, so we need to ensure our service meets their expectations.

So, while we are facing increasing financial pressures due to reduced funding, where we have had discretion we have used it.
Common gripes: Clashes with pension providers over delays to accessing savings, exit fees and bungled admin

Frustrated savers have lodged nearly 500 official complaints over new pension freedoms since the reforms were launched in Spring 2015.

Common gripes are clashes with pension providers over delays to accessing savings, exit fees, bungled admin, misinformation from firms, and the requirement to pay for financial advice on some types of pot worth 30,000-plus, new data from the Financial Ombudsman Service reveals.

Around one in 10 complaints the Ombudsman gets about pensions nowadays involves a dispute about the new freedoms, which are aimed at allowing over-55s access to retirement pots to spend, save or invest their money as they wish.

Out of 475 complaints about pension freedoms since their introduction in April 2015, some 365 have been resolved and 25 per cent upheld, says the Ombudsman. Total complaints about pension issues rose 5 per cent to 4,500 in the 2015/2016 financial year, and overall about a third were upheld.

What complaints are people making about pension freedoms?

* Administration: Wrong forms being sent out by businesses or paperwork getting lost when it's returned are the types of issues coming up, explains the Ombudsman.

* Exit fees: Charges can be levied on pension funds when a saver takes their money or transfers to a new provider. Chancellor George Osborne is set to impose a cap so people who cash in their pension pots will no longer face rip-off charges.

* Delays: Top concerns involve hold-ups in issuing forms and paying out lump sums, according to the Ombudsman. This is Money readers have expressed anger over the length of time it can take to access their retirement savings.

* Misinformation: Complaints involve correct information being provided by a business, such as indicating it would offer a flexible invest-and-drawdown product but then not doing so, explains the Ombudsman.

* Financial advice: To prevent people unwittingly giving up valuable pension benefits, the Government legislated to ensure all savers take financial advice if they want to access a pot with valuable guarantees - like death benefits or an annuity rate better than you can get on the open market - worth 30,000-plus.

But this has become a major source of grievance for some savers, who are angry at being forced to shell out for what they believe is costly and unnecessary advice. Many people are loath to take financial advice, with half of over-55s stating they were unwilling to pay for such help in a survey last year.

WHAT IS PENSION FREEDOM? Pension freedom reforms have given over-55s greater power over how they spend, save or invest their retirement pots. Key changes from April 2015 included removing the need to buy an annuity to provide income until you die, giving access to invest-and-drawdown schemes previously restricted to wealthier savers, and the axing of a 55 per cent 'death tax' on pension pots left invested. They don't apply to those with more generous gold-plated final salary or 'defined benefit' pensions which provide a guaranteed income after retirement.

This is Money recently highlighted the case of John Small, a 75-year-old upholstery entrepreneur from Southampton, who is struggling to gain control over retirement savings worth around 356,000 due to his defiant refusal to pay for financial advice.

As well as dealing with the issue above, the Ombudsman has also received complaints about advice received from regulated firms about pension freedoms. These include higher income tax payable than clients were told, or even a refusal to provide advice.

Some savers claim they are left in limbo when they are forced to pay for advice but can't find a professional prepared to accept their business due to fear of the legal comeback if they ran out of money later on.

Many pension firms and financial advisers are cautious about the consequences of customers making the wrong decisions and blaming them in future, so are keen to show they have followed the regulatory rules to the letter.

* Annuities: People who had already bought an annuity before pension freedom reforms have complained that they can't convert them to a lump sum.

Annuities provide a guaranteed income for life, but are widely considered poor value and restrictive. Some people have also unknowingly bought unsuitable annuities which don't take into account their ill health or provide benefits to spouses.

To tackle this issue, the Government plans to launch a second-hand annuity market allowing people to offload their unwanted products for cash from next year.

HOW DID FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN RULE IN PENSION CASES? Mr F complained misinformation from his provider led to a reduction in his pension plans value and a delay in its payment. The ombudsman ordered the business to make up any reduction in the fund value plus interest and told it to pay 400 to Mr F for the trouble and upset caused. Complaint upheld Mr H was unhappy his pension provider would not offer him the option of transferring his pot to a flexi-drawdown scheme because it wasn't large enough. The business involved said it had taken a business decision not offer to offer this option to those with less than 10,000 as those pots have less capacity to bear the risks associated with drawdown. However, if the value of his pension policy went above 10,000 in future, the customer could go into drawdown. The ombudsman ruled that it is at the discretion of product providers to decide what conditions they put on the products they offer. Complaint not upheld Mrs A complained about the way a provider dealt with her request to take her pension. She said that the amount she received was reduced by a significant amount because of the providers 'inappropriate handling' of the transaction. The provider paid 150 to the consumer to settle the matter and the ombudsman agreed that this was fair. Businesss offer endorsed

The Ombudsman says that if someone has taken out an annuity before the March 2014 Budget, when the pension freedoms were first announced, it will explain that it cant direct a provider to change it into a lump sum, but that it might be possible to sell the product on the new market in future.

If the annuity was taken out after the 2014 Budget, the Ombudsman looks into whether the provider clearly explained to the customer that they could wait until April 2015 to take their pension as a lump sum.

* Final salary pensions: Pension freedoms don't apply to these schemes but savers can move their money to take advantage of them.

Out of all the pension freedom complaints received, 3 per cent relate to problems with the transfer of final salary pensions, explains the Ombudsman.

The Government has made it compulsory to get financial advice if you want to give up a final salary pension worth 30,000. Experts say that exiting one is rarely a good idea because they tend to be both safer and more generous than other schemes.

The Ombudsman notes that not all financial advisers can help people with these pensions as a transfer specialist qualification is needed, and it is likely advice on this topic will be pricier.

Ombudsman to publish round-up of all complaints shortly

The Financial Ombudsman Service will publish a full round-up of complaints, trends and figures from the last financial year tomorrow.

This will reveal the latest complaint figures across all financial products, show which products are attracting rising levels of criticism, explore who complaints were about and who complained, and provide a breakdown of the problems faced by consumers.

On the pensions front, the Ombudsman says that while overall complaints increased a little in the last financial year, complaints about personal pensions were up by almost a quarter and this trend was being driven by pensions freedom.

It defines a 'personal pension' as a policy taken out by an individual which produces income and a lump sum on retirement. Other types of pension products which the Ombudsman investigates include SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions), SERPs (the second state pension top-up) and annuities. A separate body, the Pensions Ombudsman, deals with complaints about workplace pension schemes.

A spokesperson for the Financial Ombudsman said: 'Many of the people we speak to tell us they find pensions confusing. Yet with the new pension freedoms, more of us are taking an interest in our pensions. As a consequence, it is of little surprise that complaints about pension freedoms are the main driver for the rise in personal pension complaints.
Three months after an $81million (55million) cyber heist much of the money has not been recovered and a source has told the Mail Online the 'masterminds' will never be found because they are 'untraceable'.

Between February 5 and 10 someone tried to pull off 35 bank transfers, totalling $951million (651million) from the Bangladesh National Bank's account at the US Federal Reserve.

They only succeeded in transferring the $81million, all of which ended up in accounts with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the Philippines.

Casino junket operator Kim Wong (pictured) takes an oath during a senate hearing in Manila. He has testified that two Chinese men approached him with money. He has not been charged and has agreed to return the $15million which was paid into his account

Within days much of the money was withdrawn and laundered in casinos in and around the Filipino capital Manila.

We have very strong certainty that our system has never been compromised Alain Raes, SWIFT

One of those involved was Kim Wong, a gambling junket operator in Manila, who has admitted receiving around $15million from two Chinese nationals.

Kim Wong told a Philippine Senate hearing last week he was merely acting as an interpreter when one of the two men asked the manager of a RCBC branch to open the accounts where the money eventually ended up.

Wong told the hearing: 'I had nothing to do with the actual opening of accounts.I had nothing to do with the falsification of bank documents so the money could get in, and I dont know where the $81million came from.'

Last month the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) denied its systems were at fault for the heist.

SWIFT's chief executive Alain Raes said: 'We have very strong certainty that our system has never been compromised. We are very sure that there is no breach at all in the network.'

A source told Mail Online the cyber trail led back to India but he said those behind it were 'untraceable' and could 'go dark' within minutes

The Bangladesh job was the first of three cyber heists using SWIFT this year and on Friday SWIFT contacted their customers, saying: 'We are currently working to further reinforce our support to customers in securing their access to the SWIFT network.'

SWIFT is a cooperative of 3,000 members which operates a messaging system which oversees millions of global cash transfers every day and many financial institutions rely on the system to do business.

Despite the three heists this year SWIFT insists the messaging service itself has not been breached.

If it sounds complicated it is because it is.

And that works to the advantage of the criminals.

A source told the Mail Online the Bangladesh cyber heist had taken over a year to plan and was not just the work of one 'mastermind'.

'Freddie' said: 'These guys are in India, maybe they're using proxies. That's why they haven't found them. They are located directly in the centre of India and some are off the coast. They are technically untraceable though.'

He said: 'These guys can go easily dark and leave the media within about 2-3 minutes.'

'Freddie' said the authorities might have recovered most of the money but not all of it and he added: 'These guys only needed about $15million to be set for life.'

Although several key individuals in Manila have been identified nobody has been arrested.

Kim Wong is the only person to hold his hand up to his role in the heist, although he says he was duped by two Chinese nationals and has not been charged by the Filipino authorities

Bangladesh's Ambassador to the Philippines, John Gomes, said: 'I'm very confident the Philippines will recover all $81million stolen funds. I don't want this to drag on forever.'

Julia Bacay-Abad, executive director of the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), said $15million had been turned over to them by Kim Wong.

'It's more a case of somebody stealing the money employing a hacker, and someone who knows banks, the anti-money laundering system, the casinos...It's the modern day Ocean's 11. I call it Manila 12 Augustus 'Ace' Esmeralda

She said another $28million was still with the Solaire casino resort in Manila, while $17million was with PhilRem (Philippines Remittances Ltd), a company that deals with billions of dollars sent home to the Philippines by Filipino workers abroad.

Ms Bacay-Abad said another $21million was believed to be somewhere in the casino system

Wong told a Philippine Senate hearing last week he was merely acting as an interpreter when one of the two men asked the manager of a RCBC branch to open the accounts where the money eventually ended up.

Augustus 'Ace' Esmeralda, a Manila private investigator, told Reuters it should not be seen as hacking a bank: 'It's more a case of somebody stealing the money employing a hacker, and someone who knows banks, the anti-money laundering system, the casinos...It's the modern day Ocean's 11. I call it Manila 12.'
Actor Michael Jace, who played officer Julien Lowe on The Shield, taunted his wife before shooting her to death while their two young sons watched, prosecutors said Tuesday.

They made the accusations against Jace during opening statements at his murder trial, before playing a 911 call in which the actor calmly told a dispatcher: 'I shot my wife.'

Jace's attorney acknowledged in front of the court in Los Angeles that his client had killed his wife and said the defense would try to explain why he had done it.

April Jace was 40 years old when she died in May 2014 at the home she shared with Jace, her husband of 11 years, and their two sons.

Scroll down for video

Actor Michael Jace (pictured previously in court), who played officer Julien Lowe on The Shield, taunted his wife before shooting her to death while their two young sons watched, prosecutors said Tuesday

'This case is not about who did it. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility,' Defense attorney Jamon Hicks said in his opening statement Tuesday.

'This case is not about how it was done. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility. This case is about why it was done.'

Jace pleaded not guilty in his wife's murder case back in June 2014.

His defense team doesn't dispute that he killed her but says data from her iPhone 5S could explain his state of mind as he gunned her down, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This model of smartphone does not have the robust security that prompted the FBI to demand Apple's help to crack a newer type of iPhone during the investigation into the San Bernardino mass shooting.

Jace had been drinking and told his wife in a text message that he had left their home but was actually waiting for her with a loaded revolver, Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef said in her opening statement.

When she arrived, the prosecutor said, Jace shot her in the back before firing two more rounds into her legs within sight of their sons, who were eight and five years old at the time.

April Jace (pictured in 2004 with Jace) was 40 years old when she died in May 2014 at the home she shared with Jace, her husband of 11 years, and their two sons

In addition to his role on the FX series The Shield (pictured), Jace worked steadily in small roles in films such as Planet of the Apes, Boogie Nights, Forrest Gump and the television series Southland

April Jace was an avid runner and the actor shot her in the legs because he wanted her to feel pain, Mokayef added.

The prosecutor said one of the boys will testify that he heard his father tell his mother: 'You like to run so much. Why don't you try running to heaven?'

Mokayef also provided new details about the 2014 killing, including a 911 call in which the actor calmly told a dispatcher: 'I shot my wife.'

The recording was later played in court and Jace could be heard saying: 'My intent was not to kill her.'

Jace also gave instructions on how officers should enter the home so they could find the gun and not think he was still armed, according to Mokayef.

He told detectives that he shot his wife in the back after she lunged at him, she added.

The evidence will prove Jace planned the killing because he believed his wife was having an affair and wanted a divorce, Mokayef told the court.

He spent much of April Jace's last day texting her, trying to guess who she was sleeping with.

'You will hear that on May 19, 2014, the defendant took a loaded gun, a revolver, and waited for his wife to come home and then shot her in the back and then shot her two more times in front of their kids,' Mokayef told the jury of six men and six women.

The prosecutor called it a 'really sad story of obsession and control.'

In addition to his role on the FX series The Shield, Jace worked steadily in small roles in films such as Planet of the Apes, Boogie Nights, Forrest Gump and the television series Southland.

Jace and his previous wife, Jennifer Bitterman, were divorced in 2002.

The actor filed for bankruptcy in 2011, citing debts of more than $500,000. He could be convicted to spend 50 years to life in prison.
On Tuesday Victoria became the first Australian state to formally apologise for 'shameful' historic laws that saw people jailed for being gay as recently as the 1980s.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews admitted in his address to parliament the 'state sanctioned homophobia' ruined lives.

Until 1981, thousands of gay men were convicted and even imprisoned for up to 15 years for offences ranging from buggery and loitering for homosexual purposes to indecency.

Activists said that in some cases, individuals who would today be treated as victims of sexual abuse, were instead charged.

Scroll down for video

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday apologised for laws that made being homosexual a crime until the 1980s

He is pictured here shaking hands with Noel Tovey before the apology to the Victorian gay community

Victoria is the first Australian state to formally apologise for the 'shameful' historic laws

'To our knowledge, no jurisdiction in the world has ever offered a full and formal apology for laws like these,' Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told state parliament in Melbourne, as the rainbow flag flew over the building.

'So please, let these words rest forever in our records.

'On behalf of the parliament, the government and the people of Victoria, for the laws we passed and the lives we ruined, and the standards we set, we are so sorry.

'Humbly, deeply sorry.'

Being gay is no longer illegal anywhere in Australia. South Australia was the first to decriminalise male homosexuality in 1975, with Tasmania the last in 1997.

Victoria is the first to apologise, with survivors able to apply to have their convictions quashed.

Tom Anderson breaks down retelling his story outside Parliament on Tuesday

Sydney has a huge Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade which thousands of people participate in (pictured)

'This won't erase the injustice, but it is an accurate statement of what I believe today -- that these convictions should never have happened,' added Andrews, who described the laws as 'nothing less than official state-sanctioned homophobia'.

Rights groups applauded the formal apology.

'This apology is a powerful symbolic act that helps to repair the harm caused by these unjust laws and affirms the value of gay, lesbian and bisexual people's sexuality,' said the Human Rights Law Centre's director of advocacy, Anna Brown.

'It's extremely pleasing to see the Victorian government showing leadership on this issue.'

Prominent indigenous Australian Noel Tovey, who was convicted of buggery nearly 60 years ago at the age of 17 years, said he felt relieved.

'It's good to know at the age of 83 that I am no longer a criminal in the eyes of the law and society,' he said. 'The apology ... is really about the young gay men and women of today.'

Sean Mulcahy, co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, called Andrews' statement 'a symbol of how far we have come'.
Advertisement

It is the biggest decision that has faced Britain for more than a generation - but what does the public think about the looming referendum on the European Union?

A special interactive map of opinion, built by think-tank NatCen and hosted by MailOnline, allows you to explore what people like you believe about our ties with Brussels and the consequences of cutting them.

The information suggests the young are markedly more nervous about the UK's prospects out of the bloc than those who are older.

Just 19 per cent of 18-34 year-olds feel certain about what will happen if Britain votes to Leave on June 23. By contrast 37 per cent of those aged 45-54 think they know how the situation would unfold.

The main attack lines of the opposing camps are underlined by findings that feelings are strongest about immigration and the economy.

Over half of those questioned - 57 per cent - believed that immigration would be lower if we abandon links to Brussels.

Some two in five argue that Britain's economy will be worse off if it leaves the EU, although 31 per cent said they did not think things would change very much and 24 per cent suggested it would be better.

Young people are more likely to think UK plc will suffer outside the bloc than older people, according to interviews conducted for the huge British Social Attitudes survey of more than 4,000 adults last year.

The findings come as the battle over Brexit heats up with less than a month to go until the crunch referendum.

Polls have suggested that people are edging towards the remain camp after a slew of blood-curdling warnings about the economic consequences from David Cameron and bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank said today that Brexit could force the government to extend its austerity programme by two years.

But the Prime Minister and George Osborne are facing a furious backlash from Tories over their 'Project Fear' tactics.

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has been touring the country in a Brexit battlebus, has condemned Treasury analysis of what would happen if we cut ties with Brussels as a 'hoax'.

The data in the interactive comes from interviews carried out for NatCen's British Social Attitudes study

Other backbenchers were even more blunt, describing it as 'b******s' and 'crackpot'. Some ministers have reportedly resigned over the use of the government machine to swing the crucial ballot.

The PM has also come under fire for refusing to go head-to-head with Mr Johnson or other senior Conservatives in televised debates ahead of the referendum.

Mr Cameron will subject himself to Question Time-style grillings from live audiences, but the only 'blue on blue' clash is likely to be a BBC special programme at Wembley Arena next month.

Mr Johnson is set to line up against Defence Secretary Michael Fallon at that event.

Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said: The refusal to engage in a fair contest is the definition of cowardice, said the Leave campaigner and former cabinet minister.

The main attack lines of the opposing camps are underlined by findings that feelings are strongest about immigration and the economy

It must not be up to politicians to decide what the public sees and hears. Its clear as day that this government is doing its level best to gerrymander the referendum and stifle debate.

Not only have they published reports that they brazenly admit are biased, and colluded with big business to bully staff into voting their way, they are now dictating the terms of public debate  selecting their own opponents and refusing to engage with those they deem too tough.

NatCen research director Elizabeth Clery said: 'The findings published today show that there is a real sense of uncertainty surrounding the potential implications of Britain leaving the EU  particularly among young people, women and those with little interest in politics.

'This could prove critical, as our data suggests that people who are unsure of the outcome of Brexit are more likely to vote to keep the status quo.

'With a month to go, it seems both sides have a lot of work to do to convince the public, and those with fewer educational qualifications and little interest in politics in particular, that the outcome of the Referendum would make a difference to the lives of British people.

'It remains to be seen how the publics expectations for Brexit will inform their voting behaviour in one months time.'

The interactive graphic lets you explore data about people's opinions on the EU and what would happen if we leave
Luxury ocean liner Cap Arcona, also known as 'the Floating Palace', was Germany's answer to the RMS Titanic. It too came to a tragic end when it was bombed while carrying 2,800 concentration camp prisoners on its way to Sweden.

The luxurious ship ferried moneyed families from Germany and Europe to South America beginning in 1927.

But this gem of the German ship industry was transformed into a floating Nazi barracks with the start of World War II and was cast as the Titanic in a Nazi propaganda film based on the sinking of the famous ship.

And by the end of the war, rusted and in great disrepair, the Cap Arcona served as a floating concentration camp.

The ship was ferrying some 2,800 concentration camp prisoners to Sweden in a deal with the Swedish Red Cross when RAF pilots flying their single engine warplanes, the Typhoons, struck it with some forty rockets believing the ship was carrying concentration camp commandants attempting to flee to Norway.

Scroll down for video

The Cap Arcona was Germany's answer to the RMS Titanic, and it ferried moneyed families from Germany and Europe to South America beginning in 1927

Less than 20 years after the ship was constructed (pictured in 1927) it was transformed into a floating Nazi barracks with the start of World War II and was cast as the Titanic in a Nazi propaganda film based on the sinking of the famous ship

In the 1920s, Germany's most successful shipping companies, Hamburg-Sud, constructed the Cap Arcona in hopes of building a ship equally as elegant as the most legendary ship in history, the RMS Titanic

Adolf Hitler, who was passionate about large ships, poses with a group of sailors aboard a warship during World War II

'There were no lifeboats, no pumping system to deal with the water pouring through gaping holes in the ship and no operable firefighting system,' writes author Robert P Watson in The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of A Doomed Ship in World War II, published by Da Capto Press.

'Some of the prisoners trapped below decks managed to scramble up ladders, but many fell. Those who made it out of the holds and into hallways were engulfed in flames.

'From the bow to the stern, the once grand ship was now a fireball.

'The Cap Arcona disaster at the end of the Holocaust claimed more than three times as many people as did the loss of the Titanic and remains one of the world's worst maritime disasters, the worst instance of friendly fire, and one of history's bloodiest and most tragic episodes.'

Prior to World War II, one of Germany's most successful shipping companies, Hamburg-Sud, decided to build a ship equally as elegant as the most legendary ship in history, the RMS Titanic that sank in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage to New York on April 15, 1912.

Hamburg-Sud wanted a ship that would be even more luxurious that the famous British passenger liner.

It was a daring plan but the ship builder was successful in making this ship a star of his German fleet and Hitler used the cruises to South America in his own propaganda efforts.

Post cards and magazine articles depicted the grand ship as one of the world's premier ocean liners.

As the 'Queen of the South Atlantic', the Cap Arcona, offered the finest accommodations afloat to the most moneyed clientele in first class suites, lesser accommodations in second-class cabins and the lowest service in dormitories that were separated from first class.

Personal butlers attended first-class travelers in the large staterooms and sitting rooms that had silk upholstered furniture as well as a full bath.

Movie star Clark Gable sailed in one of the first-class suites. One wealthy Argentinian transported her fourteen dogs in two first-class suites and a Brazilian family chose to pay for steerage of cows and chickens to provide their traveling children with fresh eggs and milk every morning.

Those glorious sea trips ended when Hitler's army marched into Poland on September 1, 1939, and the pride of Hamburg-Sud was conscripted by the Nazis, sent to the northern coast of Poland and docked at the Baltic port of Gotenhafen, now Gdynia

Hamburg-Sud hoped that the Cap Arcona that would be even more luxurious that the famous British passenger liner, the Titanic

The boat offered the finest accommodations afloat to the wealthiest clientele in first class suites, lesser accommodations in second-class cabins and the lowest service in dormitories

The ship was supposed to mirror the Titanic (pictured), which sank at 2.20am on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic

Ports of call in the ship's South American itinerary included Lisbon and Madeira in Portugal, Montevideo in Uruguay, Buenos Aires and Hamburg. There were routes that included Spain and France.

It was not only the largest passenger ship traveling to South America, it was also the fastest ocean liner racing from Hamburg to Buenos Aires in fifteen days.

It required a crew of 475 service professionals including sailors, chefs, concierges and featured its own seaplane that delivered regular mail service to the ship.

From recreational amenities on three decks to gambling, the ship boasted of an art collection that adorned the walls, a popular drinking establishment, British high tea service, jazz and classical music performed by the ship's orchestra, tango music and dancing.

Epicurean dinners were served offering the finest meals afloat. Champagne and Beluga caviar was served at every meal.

The 'Floating Palace' made a total of ninety-one transatlantic trips from 1927 to 1939 enticing Germans seeking the balmy weather of South American.

Those glorious sea trips ended when Hitler's army marched into Poland on September 1, 1939, and the pride of Hamburg-Sud was conscripted by the Nazis, sent to the northern coast of Poland and docked at the Baltic port of Gotenhafen, now Gdynia.

The Kriegsmarine, Nazi Germany navy, ordered all officers and crew off the ship, and the Hamburg-Sud closed their file on their flagship ocean liner that went on to serve as floating barracks for Nazi naval personnel.

The ship was painted a military gray signaling an end to its glory days and the Queen of the South Atlantic began rusting in obscurity - until Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, decided to make an epic Nazi propaganda film with the Cap Arcona in the starring role as the RMS Titanic.

Hitler and Goebbels were both film fanatics as well as monsters consumed by cruelty.

Goebbels had polio as a child that had impacted his gait and kept him out of military service. He was neither a veteran nor a hero.

'He was physically weak and had no medals to prove his worth in the zealously patriotic and rabidly militaristic hierarchy of Nazi Germany,' writes Watson.

He made up for his lack of being the blond Nordic ideal with his consumptive evil personality that was exacerbated by his failure at becoming a writer.

The Kriegsmarine, Nazi Germany navy, ordered all officers and crew off the ship, and the Hamburg-Sud closed their file on their flagship ocean liner that went on to serve as floating barracks for Nazi naval personnel. Pictured above, Goebbels gives a speech during a book burning in Berlin

Posters for the propaganda film feature the name of the famed British ship as well as a depiction of it sinking in the ocean

The ship was painted a military gray signaling an end to its glory days and the Queen of the South Atlantic began rusting in obscurity

Hitler's failure at becoming an artist inflamed his own personal insecurities and the two men blamed their defeats on Jews stoking the deep hatred they both shared.

'As head of propaganda in Nazi Germany, Goebbels intoxicated the masses using an alarming but effective elixir of hate, fear, blame-mongering, and scapegoating. He fabricated an array of alleged Jewish abuses and attacks on Germans in order to incite the public,' writes Watson.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, decided to make an epic Nazi propaganda film with the Cap Arcona in the starring role as the RMS Titanic

Goebbels hoped to re-write history claiming the 'Aryan superman' was the rightful master of Europe and that there was an international Jewish plot against Germany.

What better way to reach a large audience than through film  a medium he and Hitler both loved.

Films from Europe were confiscated in Germany but Goebbels was able to acquire copies of popular movies the two men viewed in private screenings.

Favorites of the nefarious film buffs included Hollywood blockbusters - 1933 film King Kong, Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the 1939 production Gone with the Wind.

It horrified Goebbels that almost all of Hollywood's most successful directors, producers, scriptwriters and actors were Jewish and many were from Germany having fled the country with the rising of the Nazi regime.

At the time, Hollywood movies had the underlying anti-Nazi theme as opposed to an anti-German message while Goebbels films were far more simplistic and heavily laden with anti-Semitic propaganda.

In one of Goebbels' films, any time a Jew appeared, swarms of rats ran across the screen. Another showed a Jew raping a young girl.

Goebbels' big idea for a movie was based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

He wanted to depict the British and the ship's captain as being stupid, cowardly and greedy with the captain demanding that the Titanic continue its course through the iceberg-littered waters.

Goebbels dreamed of a film industry to rival Hollywood - Hollywood on the Rhine flashed through his mind.

The German ship, carrying thousands of concentration camp prisoners, was bombed near the coast of Lubeck Bay, a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea

With few talented directors left in Nazi Germany, Herbert Selpin, a short man with a prickly demeanor, was hired as the film's director. Pictured above the film's set

The epic propaganda film (pictured above is Hitler on set) about 'boundless British greed' and 'decadent British lords'

With few talented directors left in Nazi Germany, Herbert Selpin, a short man with a prickly demeanor, was hired as the film's director despite suspicions about his true political leanings.

Stepping into the lead role of the Titanic was the Cap Arcona.

The epic propaganda film about 'boundless British greed' and 'decadent British lords' was soon over budget with Selpin's unending big-moneyed demands and it quickly lagged behind schedule.

Cast and crew believed the film was cursed.

Herbert Selpin, the director of the propaganda film Titanic

Selpin succumbed to excessive drinking - along with the cast and crew - and launched into bitter tirades against the ever-present Gestapos on the sets. He was soon arrested and charged with treason.

In a cell in the basement of the Berlin police prison, prison guards used his suspenders to hang him, then put on the record that he had committed suicide.

'A film about helpless people on a sinking ship commanded by a foolish leader mirrored the situation in Germany'.

'In the ultimate twist of irony, the propaganda film designed to be the perfect screen metaphor for all that was wrong with Britain ended up reflecting Nazi Germany,' writes Watson.

Goebbels banned the film in Germany and the Cap Arcona once again fell into disrepair.

But the war raged on and in August 1944, 2million Soviet troops counterattacked Germany.

It was finally payback time for invading Russia in 1941 and taking more than 3million Soviet soldiers prisoners in that one year alone. Most of those prisoners died in combat or from starvation.

Soviet soldiers were vicious to the Germans. They hacked one victim's legs and arms off and threw him to the pigs while still alive. They raped women and left them naked in the street.

More German victims were thrown into icy ponds to drown, others were held down while Soviet tanks drove over them.

Entire communities were fleeing to the Baltic Sea in panic. They preferred to surrender to the Americans and the British rather than be caught by the Russians.

Scenes of the Titanic propaganda film showed the ship's elegant rooms flooding with water as it sunk in the ocean

A scene from the propaganda film shoes several people in a rescue boat as the Titanic sinks into the ocean

By 1945, with the Allies advancing, the order was given by Hitler to Himmler and Goebbels that they had to 'destroy the concentration camps and their inmates rather than allow them to fall into enemy hands'.

The were told to liquidate all evidence of the Holocaust and destroy any indication that revealed the camps ever existed.

'No prisoner may fall into the hands of the enemy alive', was included in that order.

The Nazis did not want the world to know the barbaric, inhumane and inconceivably cruel conditions that existed at the many camps - and the millions of people exterminated or the barbaric medical experiments they conducted.

The Nazis even tried to blame their deaths on Allied bombing.

Those who weren't slaughtered were sent on a march to the port in the Baltic where the Nazis hoped to send them to Nazi-occupied Copenhagen. Many prisoners were too weak or ill and could not march. They were shot in the road.

So many were being starved to death and died weeks before being liberated.

Executions were carried out day and night, mass cremations were ordered, and bodies were thrown into mass graves. It was the greatest crime against humanity.

The Soviets moved in quickly and liberated Majdanek, a concentration and extermination camp in Poland, where they uncovered an incredibly gruesome scene - 2,800 Jews died in a mass killing. Others were killed with machine guns.

The Soviets liberated the notorious camp at Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. So much of the camp had already been destroyed when they arrived and they only found 1,200 prisoners barely alive.

'More than 1.5million Jews had died at Auschwitz,' Watson writes. 'The sheer number of camps and the inhuman conditions of them shocked even the most battle-tested soldiers'.

The Allies kept up a constant bombing campaign - the Americans by day, the British bombers by night.

The Cap Arcona's last order was to receive prisoners being moved from Neuengamme, pictured above after liberation in 1945

Troops with the American 82nd Airborne Division examine corpses found in the latrine of one of Neuengamme's sub-camps

Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat, vice chair of the Swedish Red Cross and a deeply humanitarian man, had made a deal with Himmler to release Norwegian civilians from the camps and let them be evacuated to Sweden

It was all over for Germany. The Kriegsmarine had been able to evacuate 254,887 prisoners but there just weren't enough ships to get all of them to ports in the Baltic.

Germany had controlled the Baltic Sea through the war using it to supply and reinforce their troops on the eastern front but now the Soviets were taking it back.

They were torpedoing Russian submarines and concentration camp prisoners were going down with the ships.

Out of mothballs one more time, the Cap Arcona was reactivated in January 1945 to transport the starving, homeless, sick and dying prisoners.

The ship was in bad shape and after the first run by Captain Johannes Gerdts, when told that he had to navigate 'death alley' - the Baltic - one more time to pick up refugees, he shot himself in the head.

It wasn't just the condition of the ship or traversing in dangerous waters, it was the tragic condition of the prisoners stuffed down in the holds of the once glorious ship.

The Cap Arcona's last order was to receive prisoners being moved from Neuengamme, considered to be one of the worst concentration camps where medical experiments took place and torture was rampant by the staff and guards who served human jaw bones in sour and flesh from dead inmates as meat in soups.

Most were Soviet prisoners of war who hoped to be rescued by two Swedish hospital ships at the destination port in the Baltic.

Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat, vice chair of the Swedish Red Cross and a deeply humanitarian man, had made a deal with Himmler to release Norwegian civilians from the camps and let them be evacuated to Sweden.

he ship was ferrying some 2,800 concentration camp prisoners to safety in Sweden when RAF pilots flying their single engine warplanes, the Typhoons, struck it with some forty rockets

His next planned move was to ask for the release of additional prisoners including the Jews.

He argued to Himmler that Sweden was profoundly anti-German because of cruelty suffered in Norway and Denmark at the hands of the Nazis.

Himmler was in agreement if Bernadotte agreed to pass on a top-secret message to General Eisenhower that he was now willing to negotiate a separate surrender on the western front.

Crammed into the Cap Arcona's holds were 2,500 prisoners.

Toilets no longer functioned. Dead bodies were everywhere. Anything that could float had been removed so prisoners had no chance to escape.

Feces and urine filled the holds. Typhoid and lice spread quickly with the bodies piling up.

Guards couldn't stand the smell and demanded to be removed. SS guards abandoned ship.

But luck had run out for the Cap Arcona and most of the concentration camp prisoners on board.

Knowing the importance of the Baltic to Germany, the British fitted their 'terrifying fighters', single-engine warplanes, the Typhoons, with a deadly payload.

When they flew over the coast of Lubeck Bay, a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, the RAF pilots saw all the German boats - merchant ships, fishing boats, military ships, U-boats, ocean liners.

German mines had blocked the entrance to the Baltic so no Allied ship couldn't stop any Nazi escape to Norway.

It was now up to the Typhoons to cut off any escape and end the war.

The RAF pilots believed the ship was carrying concentration camp commandants attempting to flee to Norway

Of the 2800 concentration camp prisoners on board the Cap Arcona when it was bombed, only 50 people survived

Engines roared and the ace pilots swooped down on the Cap Arcona and found their mark with forty rockets on May 3, 1945.

They had no idea that any of the ships were loaded with prisoners.

The SS guards had prevented the crew from painting a red cross on one of the ship's funnels.

The Cap Arcona shuddered violently, windows exploded and the one-time Floating Palace was now a fireball.

Of the 2800 prisoners on board, only 50 survived.

The following day, the British arrived to liberate the notorious Neuengame concentration camp but they were too late. The prisoners were either dead or evacuated.

Max Pauly, commandant of Neuengamme, was captured and detained by the British army. He and 16 of his camp officials, guard and staff were tried for war crimes. Pauly was hanged.

The RAF never informed the fighter pilots that the ships were carrying prisoners.

It was a tragedy of human error and miscommunication.

'Mindful of the grave mistakes made, the British government ordered the records from the RAF's flight operations and postwar investigations to be sealed for one hundred years'.

The documents were de-classified in 1975 but most of the survivors and their children were no longer living.
The former soldier who stripped naked and fed himself to the lions at a Chile zoo never got over his mother dying from breast cancer when he was 11, MailOnline can reveal.

Franco Ferrada, 20, launched himself into the lion pit at Santiago Zoo in front of horrified onlookers on Saturday while claiming to be a prophet sent from God.

He left a note in the pocket of his abandoned clothes to be a prophet and declaring the end of the world was nigh.

Delusions: Franco Ferrada - identified in these pictures by the Chilean media - threw himself into the lion pit in front of horrified onlookers at Santiago zoo, taking all his clothes off before he was mauled

Problems: Locals say he had never gotten over being abandoned in a orphanage at the age of 11, when his mother died unexpectedly of breast cancer and his alcoholic father refused to care for him or his siblings

Injured: The only way to save his life was to put down the two lions which were attacking Mr Ferrada, who is now recovering in hospital with serious wounds to his face, skull, neck, shoulders and groin

The apocalypse has arrived, and I will know when it shall come,' he wrote. I am the prophet and I have returned for my people.'

It is unclear whether he was trying to end his life, although witnesses at the zoo spoke of how he recounted to them the biblical hero, Daniel, who was thrown to the lions but saved by an angel sent by God.

Surprised: Mr Ferrada had been described as 'happy' by those who know him. Pictured: Mr Ferrada, as claimed by the Chilean media

Along with his scribbled prayer, two strange drawings of lions were found in Mr Ferradas wallet by paramedics as he was rescued from the cage and transferred to his Santiago emergency room.

It is thought the episode may be in some way related to the death of his mother from breast cancer almost 10 years ago.

Mr Ferrada was put into care - and never forgave his alcoholic father for abandoning him, according to friends. It is said his father was driven to drink by the loss of his wife.

Franco appeared to be a very happy young man on the outside,' said a shopkeeper in the Puente Alto district of Santiago, where the Ferrada Roman family live. His actions at the zoo surprised us all, but his family is very troublesome.'

They are notorious in Puente Alto for being very raucous and often drunk,' said Mr Castellano, who comes into contact often with the Ferrada family.

Today, Mr Ferrada, who is listed on Facebook as having worked at Burger Kind in Santiago, Chile, has no relationship with his father, and joined the army following his discharge from the state orphanage system in order to escape his mental demons, according to many who knew him in his home town of Puente Alto.

Currently recovering in the Santiago hospital Clinica Indisa, with wounds to his face, skull, neck, shoulders and groin, Mr Ferrada is one of nine children.

In 2006, following the death of their mother, Ruth Aurora del Carmen Roman Villegas, all nine children were taken into Chiles SENAME state care system when their father refused to care for them.

Belief: It is unclear whether he was trying to hurt himself. He told witnesses about the story of Biblical hero Daniel who was thrown to the lions - shortly before he threw himself into the pit. Pictured: Mr Ferrada, as claimed by the Chilean media

Unable to help: The attack occurred in full view of visitors, who could only watch in horror

Safety: The entrances to the lion enclosures were closed off after the attack. Zoo director Alejandra Montalva said she was 'deeply affected' by the deaths of the two animals

Mr Ferradas older brother Jose Luis Ferrada is serving a jail sentence for alcohol-related crimes, while his other siblings live in the impoverished Puente Alto district, an area known for its high crime rates.

He left the state care system at 18 to join the army, where he served in the base at Coyhaique for 18 months, in the Chilean state of Aysen.

He was a very happy boy,' said his military colleague Gonzalo Molina, Its so strange for me to find out he had psychological problems.'

Following his discharge from the army in 2014, Mr Ferrada was living in the centre of Santiago with other young friends, and working in a warehouse for a Chinese business.

His grandmother Nolbertina Munoz told the Chilean media. The death of his mother was very difficult for Franco. After that he was always very concerned with taking care of his brothers and sisters.'

But she added: He visited me last weekend. He seemed happy and told me he was very content.'

Despite his friends and family being unaware of his mental suffering, the cracks in Francos psyche began to show. On Mothers Day he wrote an emotive message on Facebook lamenting his loss.

Mummy, its been nine years since you left for the arms of the Lord,' he wrote.

I always remember the sacrifice you made for my siblings and me. How I would love to have you here, to hug you and kiss you and feel your protecting warmth, just as when I was born.'

Anger: Neighbours speak of Ferrada being put into care after his mother's sudden death from breast cancer when he was 11 - saying he never forgave his alcoholic father for abandoning him. Pictured: Mr Ferrada, as claimed by the Chilean media

Change: He joined the army once he left care, with colleagues remembering him as a 'very happy boy'. Pictured: Mr Ferrada, as claimed by the Chilean media

In the following days he wrote a shorter, cryptic message - saying: Only I can write my life.'

And three days before throwing himself naked to the lions in which two of the beasts mauling him were shot dead, he wrote: 'I'm here to give you love.'

Santiago Zoo is now considering legal action again against Mr Ferrada, accusing him of trespass for climbing into the lions' enclosure.

Zoo director Alejandra Montalva said: 'He trespassed into an area where the public are not normally allowed and we understand that he forced the roof of the lion's enclosure.

'It was from there that he jumped, took off his clothes and started to attract the lions.'

She said she was 'deeply affected' by the deaths of the two lions, a male and a female.

'The zoo has an established protocol because people's lives are very important to us,' said Montalba.

She added that there were no fast-acting tranquilizers available to stop the lions from mauling the man.

One witness, Cynthia Vasquez, said zoo security guards were slow to react and that the animals did not attack the man as soon as he entered the enclosure.

'He entered the enclosure from above and the lions started to play with him, and then after they attacked him,' she said.

She added security 'first they threw water, evacuated the people and only later fired shots'.

She also said the man was 'shouting things about Jesus'.

A father who was at the park with his young son, told news channel Chilevision: 'Everyone started screaming when they saw him.'

Another witness added: 'There were a lot of children there, and parents covered their eyes while it was going on. He was screaming religious things.'

The news channel said a suicide note that was found inside his clothes made allusions to the apocalypse as being a reason for his attempt to take his life.

By Saturday evening, Mr Ferrada was said to no longer be in a life-threatening condition.

Dr Sebastian Ugarde of Indisa Clinic said his heart almost stopped.

He added: 'He suffered several injuries and trauma to the head and the pelvic area. We have high hopes that will recover and that will be fine.'
It diverted to the remote island of Porto Santo after taking off from Tenerife

Plane carrying British passengers was same model as the lost EgyptAir jet

Comes a day after EasyJet A320 jet had to divert after pilots smelt burning

Details emerged in an Aircraft Technical Log, signed by the pilot of MS804

The EgyptAir jet that crashed killing all 66 on board last week showed no sign of technical fault ahead of take-off, it has been claimed.

Details of the aircraft technical log, signed by the pilot of MS804 before the plane left Paris for Cairo, have been released by Egyptian state media.

The revelation comes a day after an EasyJet A320 jet - the same model as the lost EgyptAir plane - had to divert after its pilots smelt burning during a flight to Gatwick.

The EgyptAir jet that crashed killing all 66 on board last week showed no sign of technical fault ahead of take-off, it has been claimed (file picture)

Flight EZY8704, which had British passengers on board, took off from Tenerife on Tuesday afternoon but was diverted to land on a remote island just an hour into its journey.

There were 167 passengers and six crew onboard the flight as it began a 'steep' descent to the island of Porto Santo, according to the Daily Mirror.

An easyJet spokesman said the diversion was due to a 'technical issue', that the plane 'landed safely' and passengers 'disembarked normally'.

Passengers were due to have boarded a replacement aircraft last night.

The drama came just days after EgyptAir flight 804 vanished from radar screens last Thursday, with 66 passengers and crew on board.

Sources within the Egyptian investigationcommittee said late on Tuesday that the plane did not make contact withEgyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air trafficcontrollers were able to see it on radar on a border areabetween Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nauticalmiles from Cairo.

The revelation comes a day after an EasyJet A320 jet - the same model as the lost EgyptAir plane - had to divert after its pilots smelt burning on a flight to Gatwick

Flight EZY8704, which had British passengers on board, took off from Tenerife (file picture) on Tuesday afternoon but was diverted to land on a remote island just an hour into its journey

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said theplane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after lessthan a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace.

Air trafficcontrollers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accountsof the plane's final moments.

Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesdaythat the plane had shown no technical problems before takingoff, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot beforetakeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on itswebsite. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11'electronic messages' starting at 2109 GMT on May 18, about 31/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66passengers and crew on board.

The first two messages indicated the engines werefunctional. The third message came at 0026 GMT on May 19 andshowed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot's window. Theplane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutesbefore vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypt's forensics authoritydismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of thebody parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashedindicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains anddebris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explainwhat brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it enteredEgyptian air space, have not been located.

Relatives of the Christian victims of EgyptAir flight MS804 weep during an absentee funeral mass at the main Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday. Remains of the first victims were described as 'unrecognisable' as they were taken to Cairo to start the long and painful process of identifying the bodies

An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body partshad been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of ahand. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official saidtheir size pointed to an explosion, although no trace ofexplosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypt's forensics authority,said this assessment was 'mere assumptions' and that it was tooearly to draw conclusions.

At least two other sources with direct knowledge of theinvestigation also said it would be premature to say what causedthe plane to plunge into the sea.

'All we know is it disappeared suddenly without making adistress call,' one of them said, adding that only by analysingthe black boxes or a large amount of debris could authoritiesbegin to form a clearer picture.

Investigators do have a few scraps of data in the form offault messages sent by the jet in the last minutes of flight,logging smoke alarms in the forward lavatory and an electronicsbay just underneath, but they are incomplete.

'The difficulty is to connect these bits of information,'said John Cox, executive of Washington-based Safety OperatingSystems who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks byBritain's Royal Aeronautical Society.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, whichwould normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiplesystems failed, he said, and too many of them to tie in neatlywith a single significant explosion.

Captain Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair was among the 66 passengers and crew who died on MS804

Tragic loss: Joumana, four months, and her two-and-a-half-year-old brother Mohamed (right) were two of the youngest casualities of the EgyptAir disaster

Pictured: Faycal Bettiche (left) and his wife Nouha were taking their young children on holiday when travelling on the doomed flight. Right, air stewardess Samar Ezz Eldin who also lost her life in the disaster

Family man: British geologist Richard Osman was among the 66 victims on board the jet. His brother has described his 'delirious happiness' after the birth of his second daughter just three weeks ago. Mr Osman is pictured here with his French-born wife Aureilie and his first daughter Victios

Investigators also need to understand why, for example,there was no message indicating the autopilot had cut off,progressively handing control back to the pilots as systemsfailed and computers became unsure what to do.

The Frenchman who headed a three-year probe into the 2009loss of an Air France jet in the Atlantic said the datapublished so far appeared insufficient for any conclusion.

Egypt has deployed a robot submarine and France has sent asearch ship to help hunt for the black boxes, but it is notclear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by theflight recorders, lying in waters possibly 3,000 metres (10,000feet) deep. The signal emitters have a battery life of 30 days.

Although government officials have acknowledged the need forinternational assistance, the U.S. Navy said Egypt had notformally requested American support beyond a P-3 Orionsurveillance aircraft, which was deployed on Thursday.

Eighteen loads of debris have been recovered, the Egyptianinvestigation committee said, in a search operation assisted byFrench and Greek aircraft.

US Navy personnel ready equipment on board a Lockheed P-3C Orion patrol aircraft during a operation on Sunday for debris and human remains of MS804 which crashed in the Mediterranean, killing 66 people

Five days after the plane vanished from radar screens, airtraffic controllers from Greece and Egypt were still giving differing accounts of its last moments.

In Greece, two officials stood by earlier statements thatGreek radar had picked up sharp swings in the jet's trajectory -90 degrees left, then 360 degrees right - as it plunged from acruising altitude to 15,000 feet before vanishing.

Ehab Mohieldin Azmi, head of Egypt's air navigationservices, said Egyptian officials had seen no sign of the planemaking sharp turns, and that it had been visible at 37,000 feetuntil it disappeared.

'Of course, we tried to call it more than once and it didnot respond,' he told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims were giving DNA samples at a hotelnear Cairo airport on Tuesday to help identify the body parts,their grief mixed with frustration.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla was flying backfrom medical treatment in France, said the families were beingkept in the dark and had not been formally told that any bodyparts had been recovered.
A legal stoush is underway over similar slogans used by the Australian Labor Party and a Queensland bank.

Lawyers representing Heritage Bank have sent the Labor Party a cease and desist letter over its federal election slogan 'Putting People First', which the bank complains is too similar to its 'People First' motto.

The Labor Party is standing firm, pointing out the bank has ties to the Coalition and arguing the majority of the bank's customers would not think the similarity meant the bank endorsed Labor.

Heritage Bank sent the Australian Labor Party a cease and desist letter over their slogan 'Putting People First', which the bank complains is too similar to its 'People First' motto. Above is Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

The bank's lawyers claim the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, is violating consumer law and are preparing to take court action as early as Wednesday afternoon if the issue is not resolved, The Courier Mail reported.

They say the use of the slogan could lead customers to believe the bank was 'affiliated with or has approved or endorsed your party'.

As an example, the bank said one of its managers had been pulled up by a customer who had 'threatened to withdraw his substantial term deposits' after he thought it had ties to the ALP.

'The customer was 'ashamed' that Heritage Bank has the same motto as the ALP,' the lawyers' letter said.

But Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Heritage Bank's accusation was unusual.

'This is a very curious claim, which may have more to do with the LNP [Liberal National Party] connections of a senior officer of the Heritage Bank,' he told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.

Heritage Bank's lawyers say the use of the slogan could lead customers to believe the bank was 'affiliated with or has approved or endorsed your party'

'I can't imagine many Australians would confuse the Heritage Bank with the Australian Labor Party.'

Heritage Bank has previously donated upwards of $10,000 to the LNP and the party's candidate for the Queensland seat of Toowoomba, David Janetzki, is the institution's head of banking operations.

The bank's chief executive Peter Lock said they had 'absolutely no political motivations' when it came to the threat of legal action.

Mr Lock said Heritage had written to the ALP, and separately to the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, asking them not to use the 'People First' phrase, and particularly in connection with the financial services sector.

'As an organisation, we are absolutely apolitical and we don't seek or have any interest in being involved in the election campaign,' Mr Lock said.

'That's why we feel it is important for our customers that we make the distinction between the political slogan and what Heritage Bank stands for.

'We have genuine concerns about potential damage to our brand that we have championed and built up over many years.'

Mr Lock denied that Heritage Bank has made any donations to the LNP as has been alleged.

In particular, the 2014 donation of more than $10,000 referred to by the ALP and reported in the media, was not made by Heritage Bank.

'Heritage has no political affiliations and we do not support one side of politics over the other. It is not our policy to make donations to any political parties. Any suggestion otherwise is simply untrue,' Mr Lock said.

He added did not Heritage endorse the political inclinations of individual staff members.

'Our people first culture means we have many staff members who are passionate about issues and with a real commitment to their communities,' Mr Lock said.

'It's not unusual that we have staff members who seek to serve their community, whether in the political sphere or in other ways. We're proud and supportive of staff members who do that.

'We have leave policies in place that allow them to pursue those goals in their private lives, but we categorically do not endorse any individual political convictions.

'To infer otherwise is untrue and an insult to Heritage, our staff and our customers.'
Crockett's mother Casetta pleaded him to give himself up Tuesday night

Police believe he drove away with the couple's two and three-year-old sons, who were found safe Tuesday evening after an AMBER alert

Crockett tried to run them off the road as they drove there, she said

Authorities are still looking for Diata Crockett (pictured), 34, whom they suspect of shooting dead his eight-month-old son on Tuesday

A Missouri father of six shot dead his eight-month-old son before driving away with his two other young children, police said Tuesday.

Officers are still looking for Diata Crockett, 34, the suspected gunman in the shooting that happened in the afternoon in north St Louis, Missouri.

Investigators believe Crockett tried to shoot his wife during an argument and instead hit their eight-month-old child, whom she was holding in her arms.

He then drove away with two of their other children, two sons aged two and three years old, while the mother flagged down a car to take the wounded baby to the hospital, authorities said.

Officers believe Crockett's wife felt coerced to get into a rental car with him in Bellefontaine Neighbors on Tuesday afternoon, Fox 2 Now reported.

They said Crockett got into an argument with his wife, who stepped out of the car holding their eight-month-old son, Reign.

The shooting happened around 2pm, when, according to authorities, Crockett tried to strike his wife but hit his child instead.

The mother flagged down another car and asked the driver to take her and the wounded baby to the hospital, according to authorities.

She told 911 dispatchers Crockett kept trying to run them off the road and that he followed their car, the New York Daily News wrote.

Crockett's mother Casetta (left) begged him to surrender on Tuesday night. Officers believe Crockett tried to shoot his wife during an argument and instead hit their eight-month-old son

Officers found Crockett's car, a 2014 black Hyundai Sonata (pictured) later on Tuesday. They said he kept driving following the shooting, taking with him the couple's two and three-year-old sons, who were found safe after an AMBER alert

Doctors pronounced dead the eight-month-old at the Christian Hospital in St Louis.

Meanwhile, authorities said, Crockett drove away with two of the couple's children, their sons aged two and three.

They issued an AMBER alert before locating the two children late Tuesday afternoon.

The two boys were found safe, authorities said, declining to provide further details about how or where they were found.

Investigators are still looking for Crockett, who might be wearing green pants and a lime green shirt.

They found his car, a 2014 black Hyundai Sonata, in Ferguson later on Tuesday.

Crockett will face charges of first-degree murder, first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action, according to Fox 2 Now.

His mother Casetta begged him to turn himself in Tuesday night.

'You need to turn yourself in,' she said in a plea on KMOV. 'Talk to your attorney and come in ASAP. You have to set the record straight.

'We know you love your kids and you would never hurt them, so we know this was a horrible accident. You have to come in, if nothing else, you have to come in for your other kids.'
Police in Minnesota say a high school senior who died after attending her prom had been drinking before her death.

Anna Jaskulka, 18, was found unresponsive in her room after her parents brought her home from the North St. Paul High School's prom Saturday night.

Her parents called 911 and when police arrived at the Maplewood home around 11.08pm, she was in full cardiac arrest, Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

Anna Jaskulka, 18, died after attending her senior prom on Saturday night in Minnesota

The teen's shocking death remains under investigation, but police say she had been drinking that night and are unclear if she ingested other substances, Maplewood Police chief Paul Schnell stated.

'We are hopeful that (through) our investigation we will be able to ascertain if there were other substances in her system and (if so), what those were and where she got them,' Schnell told the newspaper. 'We have been able to confirm that she had been drinking.'

Jaskulka's autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.

Schnell said that her parents are 'devastated' by the tragedy. He is advising students to be cautious as the school year comes to a close.

'We always talk about these potential tragedies and this was certainly one of the tragedies we would hope any community and certainly any parent would avoid,' Schnell told the Pioneer Press.

'Our heart goes out to them and we only hope that (Anna's) death serves as a reminder, as we exit prom season and enter graduation season, of the importance of making really good decisions.'

Tragedy: Anna was passed away after her prom following the heroic efforts of the paramedics to save her

She was found unresponsive in her room after her parents brought her home from the North St. Paul High School's (pictured) prom Saturday night. Police are still investigating, but say she had been drinking that night

The principal at the high school, Greg Nelson, said that extra staff was available on Monday to help students cope with her death.

'Obviously, there are students who are really, really hurting,' Nelson said.

'I would say there has been a modest, steady flow who are expressing themselves and talking things through.'

He shared that she was a 'vibrant student' who was very well liked, as she was scheduled to graduate June 8.

'She wasn't a real high-profile athlete or a lead actor.  I just remember a happy-go-lucky, really neat kid,' Nelson said.
Struggling dairy farmers have been thrown a lifeline with access to a $578 million support package announced by the federal government, which will also include fortnightly allowances of $1000.

Farmers doing it tough since milk processors slashed farm-gate prices will immediately be offered $55 million in low-interest concessional loans, up to June 30.

$500 million will be set aside for 'cheap' loans to be made available over the next two years, according to Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.

It comes three weeks after industry giants Fonterra and Murray Goulburn cut the raw milk price paid to farmers by up to 10 per cent.

Scroll down for videos

Federal Government said it will help struggling dairy farmers with a loan package worth $578 million

Fonterra and Murray Goulburn announced they would slash the gate-price of raw milk by up to 10 per cent earlier this month

Struggling Australian dairy farmers have now been granted access to a $578million support package

Deputy PM and Agriculture Minister, Barnaby Joyce, said concessional loans to eligible dairy farmers would be provided at the cheapest rates possible

The cuts mean that in many cases farmers will have to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars because their milk did not sell at the same high price it was bought by processors.

The government package announced on Wednesday will also include $2 million to establish a commodity milk price index to allow for greater transparency and a dairy industry liaison officer in the Department of Human Services.

Mr Joyce told the ABC radio that dairy farmers also wanted money on the table through the Farm Household Allowance.

'That will allow a couple about $1000 a fortnight, this will keep the wolves from the door and the dignity in their house,' he said.

With concerns over the stress and mental health of farming communities, $900,000 has been set aside to establish nine new counsellors across Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Tasmania.

Consumers have been showing support for dairy farmers across the country by buying more expensive brand milk and leaving the cheap house brands on the shelf.

WHAT DOES SUPPORT PACKAGE MEAN FOR DAIRY FARMERS? $555 million in dairy recovery concessional loans Immediate access to $55 million in low-interest concessional loans $1000 a fortnight in Farm Household Allowance for couples $20 million to fast track the upgrade of the Macalister Irrigation District. $2 million to establish a commodity milk price index, for greater transparency. Australian dairy farmers have been doing it tough since an industry announcement of a cut in raw milk prices $900,000 for an extra nine rural financial counsellors in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales $900,000 for Dairy Australia's `Tactics for Tight Times' program Appointment of Department of Human Services Dairy Industry Liaison Officer Fast tracking of Farm Household Allowance applications Re-direction of two mobile service centres to dairy regions, so farmers can access government assistance

Retail expert, Dr Gary Mortimer, from Queensland University of Technology said supermarket wars aren't helping the dairy farmers.

'Shoppers have consistently and routinely been grabbing the cheap milk since January 2011 when the supermarket 'milk wars' first began,' Dr Mortimer said.

But since consumers have been made aware of the plight of Australian dairy farmers, many have made a conscious effort to do the right thing and fork out an extra dollar for a more ethical company.

Dr Mortimer says social media is helping.

'We feel good about using social media to let other know we "didn't buy the cheap milk and therefore supported dairy farmers"'.

There has been a social media campaign to support dairy farmers with many urging customers to avoid cheap priced milk at the supermarket and to purchase only branded milk

Karen Ellul is among those to have shared a photo supporting dairy farmers on 'Love My Milk' Facebook page

Another major supermarket's fridge showing branded milk shelves cleared out

LoveMyMilk Facebook page-shared this photo with the caption 'Confused which products you should buy? Look out for these brands. Support dairy farmers when you buy your cheese, butter, cream, yogurt, milk Etc'

'This, in turn, encouraged our friends and family to emulate our behaviour and to tell everyone and so the movement grows,' he said.

Coles was quick to react to the new phenomenon.

The supermarket announced last week it would introduce a new, more expensive, product to stores in August, with an extra 20 cents per litre sold to go towards a 'fighting fund' for the struggling dairy industry.

It will continue to sell its two litre cartons for $2, leaving the choice up to customers whether or not to buy from the more expensive range.

Many dairy farmers have come forward to share their stories of hardship brought about by low milk prices.

Chloe Scott, 16, told Daily Mail Australia that she and her mother Melissa had been forced to move out of the family's Boorcan home, leaving her father Brendan to work the property alone and deal with mounting costs.

After 21 years the Scott dairy farm business in rural Victoria is struggling under the weight of increasing debts from its milk payment contract with co-operative Fonterra.

Facebook users have been taking photos of themselves with branded milk and boycotting cheap house brands

Suzanne Chivers showed her support for local dairy farmers by posting this photo on Facbeook

Moama, in the Riverina of New South Wales, also saw customers turning their backs on house brand milk
The devastated family of an 11-year-old boy stabbed to death as he walked home from school last week led hundreds of mourners at his funeral today.

More than 500 people packed into the Holy Name Catholic Church in Texas on Tuesday afternoon to say a final goodbye to Josue Flores.

The sixth-grader was walking home from Marshall Middle School on May 17 when he was attacked and stabbed multiple times. Josue, who collapsed at the side of the road, was transported to hospital where he later died.

His haunting last moments before the stabbing were captured on a household CCTV camera just two blocks away. The footage was released earlier today.

Scroll down for video

Juan Flores Sr., leans over to his son goodbye after 11-year-old Josue Flores was stabbed as he walked home from school

Juan Flores Jr., is comforted during a funeral service for his brother Josue Flores at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, May 24

Maria Flores (second from left) and her husband Juan Flores Sr., along with other family members, wait for the casket of their son to be blessed before a Mass at Holy Name Catholic Church

Flores was stabbed multiple times and collapsed at the side of the road in Houston before dying later in hospital last week

Josue Flores, 11, was captured on CCTV walking home from school last Tuesday afternoon just moments before he was stabbed to death in a random attack

Texas police are still hunting for his killer.

Today, family and friends of Josue gathered at La Paz Memorial Funeral Home where the boy's distraught father Juan Flores Sr. tenderly kissed his son goodbye.

A funeral procession, led by police on motorcycles with a dozen black SUVs and limos, continued to Holy Name Catholic Church where hundreds of mourners were waiting, many dressed in blue and white wearing t-shirts bearing Josue's name.

Father Anil Thomas blessed the casket of the murdered child on church steps as he called for mourners to be 'united in prayer and god can help us to overcome all of our sorrows.'

'It's like a wound that's still left open and we pray that will close quickly for the family,' Stella Mireles, who attended funeral, added.

Josue's older brother said the family, particularly his mother Maria, were struggling to come to terms with the loss of the vibrant youngster.

Josue's mother Maria Flores tosses flowers into the grave of her son at the end of his funeral service on Tuesday, May 24

A priest blesses the coffin of Josue Flores in front of family and friends before the Mass at his funeral

Tributes, flowers and a photo of the young boy were carried to his grave site at Historic Hollywood Cemetery

Flowers are tossed into the grave of Josue Flores who was stabbed to death in Houston last week as he walked home from school

'I think today is when it's finally going to feel real,' he told ABC News. 'I wake up believing it's just a horrible dream, that I'll wake up and be able to see my brother again, talk to him about this. But when the burial is over it's something I have to accept. That it's reality.'

A mariachi band played inside the church during the emotional Catholic Mass before Josue's casket was transported to the Historic Hollywood Cemetery on North Main to be laid to rest.

Earlier in the day, before the schoolboy's emotional funeral, new surveillance video had been released showing Josue's final moments before he was brutally attacked.

The footage, captured on a neighbor's household CCTV camera, showed him walking home from middle school exactly a week ago wearing a distinctive green backpack,KHOU reports.

Just two blocks away from where this was filmed the sixth-grader was fatally stabbed.

On Monday night a wake was held for Flores with 325 people turning out and vowing to do everything possible to help catch the person responsible.

Mayor Sylvester Turner had appealed for the public's help in catching the killer earlier in the day, with Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson adding his voice too.

Police arrested Che Calhoun, 31, the day after the killing after multiple witnesses said they saw him fleeing the scene but dramatically dropped the charges against him a day later after his alibi checked out

Anderson said: 'There is a monster who is out among us. You may know who he is. Your conscience needs to be your guide.'

Police have said they have some leads but are withholding specifics. Authorities also say DNA testing of evidence from the scene is being expedited.

Meanwhile private funeral services for Flores are due to take place later today.

Officers believed they had captured Flores' killer when they arrested Che Calhoun, 31, on Wednesday last week after multiple people said they had seen him fleeing the scene.

However, charges against Calhoun were dramatically dropped the following day after cops found witnesses and physical evidence showing he was miles away in a south Houston suburb at the time of the murder.

'We wound up locating several witnesses from his alibi, interviewing them, and late last night wound up recovering physical evidence and showed he was down in Pearland and could not have been at the location where the murder occurred,' Houston Homicide Lieutenant Robert Blain said.

Pearland is located about 16 miles from Houston.

Residents in the neighborhood where Josue was stabbed held rallies demanding justice for the slain schoolboy.

Hundreds of people took to the streets on Sunday demanding justice for Flores as his sister told reporters that 'he would want everybody to come together as one to find whoever did this'

Grown men wept in the street as they chanted slogans demanding justice before laying tributes at a makeshift memorial on the spot where Flores was attacked

Those who live in the neighborhood have said they are scared that the killer is still on the loose

His sister, Guadalupe Flores, told ABC 13: 'It's about love. My brother wanted everybody to be together, to come together. I know he would want everybody to come together as one to find whoever did this.

'It's not about race. It's not about color. It's not about anything. We're all brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter the color. No matter what you've done in your life, it's all about love.'

Grown men openly wept as hundreds of demonstrators walked down the street chanting, before laying tributes at a makeshift shrine at the spot where Flores was attacked.

On Friday neighbors revealed they're scared that the killer is at large and want him caught as soon as possible.

Several witnesses told officers on Tuesday they heard loud screaming and saw Josue struggling with a man.

The sixth-grader was walking home from a science club meeting at Marshall Middle School just north of downtown Houston.

He collapsed on the grass and the man ran off. A bystander alerted police and the boy was taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds.

Christopher Martinez, 14, was one of the many people to lay flowers at the spot where Flores was killed while walking home from middle school on Tuesday last week

Lesa Mendes, Flores' grandmother, is comforted by Maria Cristina Sepulveda as she views a makeshift memorial set up for the schoolboy at the spot where he died

Josue was pronounced dead a short time later.

Court documents showed three people described Calhoun as the man seen fleeing from the scene.

Police obtained an arrest warrant and federal marshals arrested him on Wednesday.

Blain said his detectives 'don't rely solely on eyewitness identification', noting that Calhoun was identified by a witness presented with a photo lineup.

Omar Garza, 18, said on Friday that he was the person who identified Calhoun in the photo lineup and that he still believes he identified the right person.

His mother, Patricia Garza, 39, said crime, including robberies and drug dealing, has steadily increased in the neighborhood where she's lived her entire life - and that Josue's killing has left her 'really scared'.

She is also concerned for her son's safety and fears possible retaliation against him.

The suspect police are now looking for is a black man who is about 180 to 220 pounds and six feet tall, who wore a black shirt and black pants and had a green jacket draped over his shoulder.

'This was a horrendous crime,' Acting Police Chief Martha Montalvo said. 'We're going to do our due diligence. We're not going to stop. We're going to do what we need to do to resolve this.'

More than a dozen residents gathered Friday afternoon at the site where Josue collapsed and where a growing memorial of balloons, candles and stuffed animals sits under a tent.

Residents of the Houston neighborhood where Flores was killed said they didn't feel safe knowing that his attacker was still at large

Police and the mayor of Houston have appealed to the public to help catch Flores' killer (pictured, his green backpack at the scene of the murder)

People dropped cash in containers to help his family with expenses for his funeral, set for Tuesday.

Michael Harrison, the principal at Marshall Middle School, told KTRK earlier this week Josue was a 'very quiet, very respectful' child.

'Just a joy and a pleasure to have around. And so I just really feel saddened by the situation,' Harrison added.

Many of those who came to the vigil on Friday said they were upset and scared to learn his killer remained at large.

'I don't feel safe right now,' said Maria Tenorio, 48, who has three sons. 'As a mother, this hurt me that this happened.'

Tenorio said she believed someone saw the killer and implored them to call the police.

Patricia Cerna, 52, who lives next door to where the boy was attacked, said she heard his cries and saw the assailant run from the scene but wasn't able to see his face.

A neighbor chased the attacker in his car but lost him after the man crossed some railroad tracks, she said.

Meanwhile, Cerna rushed outside to the wounded boy.
Tourists are facing a shortage of sunshine holiday spots this year as British families turn their backs on previously popular destinations.

Travel agents say that thousands have switched to safe haven resorts such as Spain, Portugal and Italy  apparently in response to terror attacks elsewhere.

However, there are simply too few hotels, apartments and villas to cope with the surge in demand. Even if people can find a holiday in Spain, analysts suggest they are paying a safety premium of up to 20 per cent compared to destinations including Tunisia and Turkey.

Travel agents say that thousands have switched to safe haven resorts such as Spain, Portugal and Italy  apparently in response to terror attacks elsewhere. The Costa del Sol in southern Spain is pictured

The body of a tourist shot dead by a gunman lies near a beachside hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, in June 2015

Package holiday firms have put on extra flights to Mediterranean hot spots such as the Balearic Islands  but some families are still likely to miss out.

The Association of British Travel Agents said 35 per cent of families who plan to take a holiday have not yet booked.

Its chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said: We are seeing a significant increase in summer holiday bookings to western Mediterranean destinations, so I would urge holidaymakers who are looking to travel not to delay making a booking.

HOW BOOKINGS TO 'SAFE HAVEN' DESTINATIONS HAVE SOARED Thailand Spain US Bulgaria Dubai Malta Portugal Italy +51% + 37% + 24% + 22% +20% + 20% +18% + 17%

People have abandoned the idea of visiting countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey following a series of outrages.

The loss of the EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo last week  which killed 66 people  has intensified concerns about travelling to areas where tourists could be seen as a target.

Bookings to Turkey have collapsed by more than 40 per cent this year in the wake of a series of terror attacks  including a suicide bombing in Istanbul in January which killed at least ten people.

Tunisia is also a no-go country following terror attacks on resort beaches last summer which left 30 Britons dead.

Holiday company Barrhead Travel, which sells more than 300,000 trips a year, said there had been a drastic change in booking patterns.

Bookings for Spain are up by 37 per cent against this time last year and there could be a shortage of holidays left, it said. Holidaymakers hoping to travel to the Mediterranean this summer need to book now or risk losing out.

However, there are simply too few hotels, apartments and villas to cope with the surge in demand. Even if people can find a holiday in Spain, analysts suggest they are paying a safety premium of up to 20 per cent

Its figures show many other European destinations have seen big increases in bookings. Malta has risen by 20 per cent, Portugal by 18 per cent and Italy by 17 per cent.

Chief executive Sharon Munro said: The increase in seats taken for flights emphasises how popular western Europe has become.

We believe the growth in popularity of these destinations is being driven partly by a drop in demand to traditionally popular holiday spots such as Tunisia and Turkey.

British resorts could also see a growth in business as families struggle to find holidays abroad.
An 18-year-old has been sentenced to 38 years in prison for fatally shooting an Iraqi immigrant taking photos of his first snowfall in Texas.

Ahmed Al-Jumaili was killed while photographing the snow on his front step with his wife - just three weeks after arriving in the U.S. having fled Islamic State and the violence in Iraq.

Nykerion Nealon, of Dallas-Fort Worth, was sentenced on Monday for Mr Al-Jumaili's March 4 murder after a jury spent two hours deliberating.

Nykerion Nealon, 18, has been convicted of killing Ahmed Al-Jumaili while the Iraqi man was taking photos of his first snowfall in Texas

Mr Al-Jumaili and his wife Zahara (pictured together) had only been together for three weeks when he was killed. The couple spent a year apart while he saved enough money to be reunited with her in the U.S.

Zahara is pictured with a sign she made when the pair were reunited in the U.S. after having successfully fled ISIS and violence in Iraq

Mr Al-Jumaili, his wife Zahara (pictured), and Al-Jumaili's brother went outside of their Dallas apartment to take pictures of the snow when the group of men including Nealon opened fire on them

Mr Al-Jumaili had relocated to Texas to be with his wife Zahara, who had fled Iraq around February 2014 to live with family.

After she left the country, he stayed behind in Baghdad to save enough money to follow her and after a year the pair were reunited.

However, less than three weeks later, he was gunned down after a group of men that included Nealon opened fire on him, his wife and his brother.

Despite the group taking shelter behind a parked car, a bullet passed through the vehicle and struck Mr Al-Jumaili in the chest, it was reported at the time.

Mr Al-Jumaili's family said they believe justice has been done following Nealon's conviction and 38-year prison sentence

Dallas prosecutors described Nealon as a 'gun fanatic' who fired 14 shots at the apartment complex where Mr Al-Jumaili and his family lived because he thought he had shot at his girlfriend's apartment nearby.

Defense attorney Russell Wilson argued that although his client was at the apartments when the shooting took place, someone else pulled the trigger, KDFW-TV reported.

A friend of Nealon's, however, testified that Nealon pulled the trigger, and prosecutors said Nealon had searched online for how to beat a murder charge and how to survive prison shortly after the shooting.

Wilson, criticized the sentence meted out to his client as inconsistent with the almost two years behind bars for Ethan Couch, a man sentenced to 180 days for each of the four deaths he caused at age 16 in a 2013 drunken-driving crash.

During sentencing, Nealon addressed the court, saying: 'It hurts me to know that I can cause someone that much pain and, first, may God be with you and your family and God be with Mr Al-Jumaili.

'I want to say I'm sorry, but I'm not the one that pulled the trigger,' KDFW reported.

However, Mr Al-Jumaili's family believes justice was done.
A man has been arrested in relation to the vandalism of a police memorial that was desecrated twice in a matter of days.

The Police Wall of Remembrance at the Domain in Sydney was scratched, leaving marks over the New South Wales Police Crest and five panels containing the names of deceased officers on Friday afternoon.

The panels and the ground in front of the memorial were found covered in black graffiti again on Tuesday night.

Scroll down for video

The Police Wall of Remembrance (pictured) at the Domain in Sydney was scratched on Friday, leaving marks over the New South Wales Police Crest and five panels containing the names of deceased officers

A 30-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday night in relation to Friday's vandalism.

He was apprehended near the pedestrian overpass at the Domain about 6.40pm after members of the public called triple zero.

The man allegedly resisted arrest and shattered the rear window in the police caged truck while being taken to Day Street Police Station.

He was taken to St Vincents Hospital about 11pm last night due to possible medical conditions.

NSW police said they expect to charge the man once he is released from hospital and believe the two acts of vandalism are linked.

Police released CCTV footage of a man seen carrying a skateboard (pictured) who was in the area after a police memorial was vandalised in the Domain in Sydney on Friday afternoon

The man was described as being of Caucasian appearance, in his late teens or early 20s, 175-180cm tall with a medium build and brown hair

Police on Saturday released CCTV footage of a man they wanted to speak to regarding the vandalism of the memorial.

The footage showed a man wearing black clothes and black sneakers carrying a skateboard in the area.

The video showed the man falling off his skateboard into oncoming traffic the same afternoon the memorial was damaged.

A man carrying a skateboard was seen running from the area just after 4pm on Friday.

He was described as being of Caucasian appearance, 175-180cm tall with a medium build and brown hair.

He was captured falling off his skateboard into oncoming traffic nearby, the same afternoon the memorial was damaged

The memorial pays tribute to police officers who have been killed on duty.

Sydney City local area commander David Donohue described Friday's vandalism as 'a senseless act that is an insult to all serving police officers in the state of NSW'.

Police said the new graffiti will be removed on Wednesday morning.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has information that may assist, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The vandalised memorial pays tribute to police officers who have been killed on duty
Horrific mobile phone footage has emerged of a savage fight between two teenage schoolgirls.

The video, taken outside of a Mount Druitt high school in Sydney's west on Tuesday afternoon, begins with two girls eyeing each other down - boxed in by a huge crowd of cheering classmates.

Fists clenched, the pair taunt each other as they circle the improvised battleground, before trading blows and tumbling heavily onto the concrete ground of the carpark.

Scroll down for video

A savage fight between two Mount Druitt schoolgirls in front of a huge crowd of classmates has been filmed

The girls taunt each other with clenched fists before trading punches to the head. The girl in black is quickly overpowered and falls heavily to the concrete ground

One of the girls quickly ends up pinned to the ground as the other pelts her with a number of fists to the face.

The brawl continues while the crowd shouts out phrases like 'get her the p****' and 'hit her.'

Moments later, the screaming students realise the ferocity of the attack and desperately try to break up the fight, shouting 'get off her, get off her!'

It takes a number of spectators to separate the girls, who continue to yank at each other's hair and throw punches.

A spokesman for NSW Police said he was not aware of the footage but confirmed it had been sent to local police for reviewing.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the student who filmed the footage for comment.

The crowd continues to cheer on as one girl becomes pinned to the ground, taking an unrelenting flurry of fists to the face (left) while her hair is yanked (right)
The remains of what is believed to be a 27-year-old explorer have been found in the Costa Rican jungle, two years after he went missing.

Cody Roman Dial, from Alaska, mysteriously disappeared in 2014 and was last seen in Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park.

His distraught father Roman Dial led his own daring search for his son, who he believes has been murdered, calling in help from an Anchorage wilderness survival school, a former DEA agent and a retired Air Force pararescue jumper, after authorities had suspended their investigations.

Dial told National Geographic: 'We know that Cody was murdered, and we know that there is a suspect.'

An explorer himself, he returned to Costa Rica many times to continue his search but last Thursday he confirmed that authorities had found human remains and believed them to be his sons.

Cody Roman Dial, from Alaska, (pictured_ mysteriously disappeared in 2014 and was last seen in Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park

His distraught father Roman Dial (left) has led the search for his son (right) but last Thursday he confirmed that authorities had found human remains and believed them to be Cody's.

Dial told People Magazine: 'It is with profound sadness and incredibly mixed emotions that I can say my son's remains have likely been found.

'I am on my way to Costa Rica, where Peggy will join me shortly to identify what appears to be Cody's body.

'The FBI and the OIJ are continuing their investigation, though no arrest has been made at this point.'

Dial said in a press release that the location is 'very remote,' about 20 minutes from a 'very little used' poacher and miner trail and about three hours from the nearest tourist trail.

The 27-year-old began his journey in early 2014 travelling through Guatemala, Nicaragua and then finally hacking his way through the notorious National Park.

His father last heard from him in July 2014, when he emailed from an Internet cafe in the small town of Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica, according to National Geographic.

In a blog post written four days prior, Dial wrote about how he had spent seven weeks in Costa Rica last year with a retired DEA agent named Carson desperately searching for Cody.

He that he spent the time 'getting close to violent men. Sitting down with suspects. Drinking beer with them. Offering them reward money. It was surreal and sickening.'

In January he found the first bit of physical evidence, deep within the jungle.

A sleeping pad that he had once given him in Mexico was found under a miner's plastic tarpaulin.

His father last heard from him in July 2014, when he emailed from an Internet cafe in the small town of Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica, according to National Geographic. Remains have been found in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica

The 27-year-old began his journey in early 2014 travelling through Guatemala, Nicaragua and then finally hacking his way through the notorious National Park (pictured)

Dial said in a press release that the location is 'very remote,' about 20 minutes from a 'very little used' poacher and miner trail and about three hours from the nearest tourist trail. Pictured: Dos Brazos De Rio Tigre, Costa Rica Gateway to Corcovado National Park

Dial wrote: 'The miner had lived with the mother of the primary suspect. The Costa Rican authorities said it'd be months before forensics confirms the pad as evidence.'

He added: 'It took a year to get our son's case elevated from missing person to homicide. It'll be another year, if ever, before an arrest. In Costa Rica there's no crime without a body.'

The distressing post concluded: 'I'm tired, exhausted. I don't want to go down there again, but I will. Because without our presence, nothing seems to happen.

'I went there first to find him alive, maybe lost and injured. Later to find out what happened. Now I want justice.'

The piece of foam mattress was the only piece of hard evidence - until now

According to National Geographic, the FBI briefed Dial and his wife Peggy on Thursday morning and the pair were able to identify from pictures the shoes found near the remains as likely belonging to their son.

Along with the remains, 'his passport, money, map and compass, backpack, stove, machete, tarp, sleeping pad, mosquito net and more', according to email from Dial to Alaska Dispatch News.

The area had already been searched according to the site and it is unclear whether the remains have been there the whole time or if they were moved recently.

His frequent trips back to Costa Rica had been documented in a National Geographic series called Searching Dial, which aired for the first time on Sunday.

Now, the FBI and the Oganismo de Investigacion Judicial, Costa Rica's federal investigation agency, are continuing their investigations.

No arrests have been made.
The disgusting moment a woman spat in the face of a local administrator during a council meeting has been captured on camera.

Administrator Richard Pearson was being escorted out of the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night when a protester in a yellow top approached him.

Seconds later, the woman spat in the shocked administrator's face, before another council member stepped in to block her from getting any closer.

Scroll down for video

The disgusting moment a woman spat in the face of a local administrator during a council meeting has been captured on camera

The video shows the woman crossed the room to get near Mr Pearson, and was shouting in his face before she spat at him.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Richards said he has 'moved on' and won't be pressing charges against the young woman, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Riot police were also called during the meeting, which was disrupted by the hundreds of protesters and ultimately descended into chaos.

The newly formed Inner West Council is an amalgamation of Sydney suburbs Leichhardt, Ashfield, and Marrickville.

Another video the crowd of angry residents shouting over the top Mr Pearson.

Administrator Richard Pearson (right, behind the man in the blue jacket) was being escorted out of the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night when a protester in a yellow top (left) approached him

Seconds later, the woman spat in the shocked administrator's face, before another council member stepped in to block her from getting any closer

Police (pictured) were called during the first meeting of a new local council, after protesters disrupted the event and a woman spat at an administrator

Eventually, Mr Pearson conceded defeat and was escorted out of the building, however some protesters spat on him as he left, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

An iPad and council papers were also reportedly thrown at the administrator.

A NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia riot police were called to the meeting as a precaution, however there were no reports they were needed.

Images posted to social media show the crowd of furious locals gathered outside the Petersham Service Centre, with many seen holding signs.

A number of black riot squad vehicles were seen outside the council meeting on Tuesday night

Protesters (pictured) packed the meeting in Sydney's inner-west on Tuesday night and forced it to be abandoned

A local resident is seen protesting with a sign outside the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday

Crowds of protesters gathered outside the building (pictured) as well as inside it, due to it being full beyond capacity

The angry residents were picketing NSW Premier Mike Baird's recent decision to merge the three local councils into one, and the WestConnex transport infrastructure development.

The second stage of the WestConnex project was approved by Premier Baird last month, with the $16.8 billion scheduled to be completed in 2023.

WestConnex Action Group spokeswoman Pauline Lockie said protesters were so upset at the meeting because they would not accept the new council, claiming it has been handpicked by the NSW Government.

Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson (pictured) was reportedly spat on by protesters as he was escorted from the meeting

More than 200 protesters picketed the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night

The meeting was the first since NSW Premier Mike Baird (pictured) merged three councils in the area into one

'Tonight proved that inner west residents will not let Mike Baird get away with trampling over our democratic rights by replacing our elected councils with an unelected stooge,' Ms Lockie said.

'While we have nothing against Pearson personally, there's no way residents of the inner west can accept the way Baird has swept aside the people we voted for and replaced them with an unelected official.

'There's no doubt Baird's done this to try and keep bulldozing WestConnex through the inner west, so he can sell families in western Sydney out to the toll road industry.'

Protesters were also upset with the ongoing WestConnex roads development underway in western Sydney

A police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia riot police were called to the meeting as a precaution, however there were no reports they were needed (stock image)

WestConnex protesters accused Premier Baird (pictured) of handpicking the new council to help 'force' through the billion-dollar development

However, the protesters' behaviour has been slammed as disgusting by the NSW Government.

'The Administrator and the staff were there to make decisions about services for the local community,' Minister for Local Government Paul Toole told the ABC.

'They were greeted by a mob mentality of people who were there clearly out to disrupt the meeting.
A mother who went on the run for two years with her young son has finally handed herself in.

Chelsea Cullen - dubbed the 'fugitive mom' - disappeared in the middle of the night from the Georgia home she shared with then-boyfriend Michael Hambrick in 2014, taking their young son with her.

Now the 29-year-old has finally handed herself in, telling authorities she had gone on the run with her son to escape alleged abuse at the hands of Hambrick.

Cullen's (pictured with her son while on the run last year) defense attorney, Bruce Harvey, said that his client had finally decided to surrender on Monday because she didn't want to put her family through any more pain

Chelsea Cullen (pictured on her arrest mug shot) - dubbed the 'fugitive mom' - has finally handed herself in

She warned that she was 'gambling with my life, with my son's life,' by turning herself in. 'Who would protect him if I'm gone?'

Cullen and her son vanished in the middle of the night on June 29, 2014, after making what appeared to be a desperate 911 call.

'I need help. Please don't hang up the phone. I'm begging you. I'm begging you,' Cullen told the 911 dispatcher in a recording of the call.

While still on the run, Cullen gave an interview last year saying the reason that she had fled was because she'd been a victim of domestic abuse and was terrified what her ex would do if he found her.

'My biggest fear is, it's not even really the police. My biggest fear is that Michael finds me, because I really don't know what he would do,' she told CBS46 in October last year.

Cullen disappeared in the middle of the night from the Georgia home she shared with then-boyfriend Michael Hambrick in 2014, taking their young son with her (pictured with her son)

The 29-year-old cullen (right) has finally handed herself in, telling authorities she had gone on the run to escape alleged abuse at the hands of her ex Michael Hambrick (left)

Hambrick has previously been indicted for domestic violence against another woman, the mother of his oldest son Logan, the network stated.

The victim in that case told police he had punched her in the face, grabbed her by the neck, spit on her. Hambrick, who has also been arrested for disorderly conduct, plead guilty to battery for the incident and was handed a year's probation.

Despite his record, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, who indicted Cullen for custodial interference in June 2015, dismissed her allegations of domestic abuse.

'I'm not claiming he's [Hambrick] a Boy Scout. I'm claiming that she [Cullen] unlawfully took the child out of the state,' he said.

'This is not a case of domestic violence,' he insisted. 'She is not telling the truth. There is no evidence of a threat under any circumstances.'

Hambrick claims he spent up to $200,000 trying to track down his son and Cullen, a preschool teacher, and had even hired his own private detectives.

The plumbing contractor told Fox 5 last August that not knowing where his son was had been the 'toughest time of my life.'

Hambrick, pictured with his two sons, claims he spent up to $200,000 trying to track down his son and Cullen, and had even hired his own private detectives

'Getting my son back, that's all that matters to me. My two boys that's it,' said Hambrick, a father-of-two.

An arrest warrant was issued for Cullen last year and detectives have been searching for the fugitive mom ever since.

Her defense attorney, Bruce Harvey, said that his client had finally decided to surrender on Monday because she didn't want to put her family through any more pain.

He added that Cullen's fear of Hambrick offered a powerful defense for when the case comes to court.

Hambrick's legal team declined to comment.
Advertisement

Thousands of Roma gipsies from across Europe have descended on a small French town as part of their annual pilgrimage to pay homage to their patron saint.

Every May Roma gipsies travel to the sleepy French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, near Arles, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in their caravans for the annual pilgrimage in honour of their enigmatic saint Sara la Kali, or Black Sarah.

On May 24 they carry a statue of 'Sarah the Black' to the sea after a church service and a procession to re-enact her arrival in France.

According to legend, she was a servant of one of the Three Marys, with whom she is supposed to have arrived in the Camargue region of France from Palestine following the death of Jesus.

In some accounts Sarah is from Upper Egypt and was the black Egyptian maid of Mary Jacobe, who was present at the crucifixion.

She is explicitly mentioned for the first time in Vincent Philippon's 1521 book The Legend of the Saintes-Maries, where she is portrayed as 'a charitable woman that helped people by collecting alms, which led to the popular belief that she was a gipsy.'

As a result Sarah was adopted by Roma gypsies as their patron saint.

The Roma Gypsies stay in the small town to celebrate Black Sarah for one week - but because she is not an official saint of the Catholic Church, apart from this annual outing to the ocean her statue is usually situated in the crypt of the local church.

Despite this the Roma queue for hours in order to touch the statue, to kiss it and say prayers in front of it and on May 24 every year a procession takes the statue down to the sea, carried by men on horseback.

The pilgrimage is a unique religious and social event for Europe's Gypsies  who are mainly from French- and Catalan-speaking communities  as it allows them to come together, affirm their faith, meet, party and even marry.

A young woman carries her small sculpture of Black Sara during the procession of the gypsies to the sea after a church service yesterday in Staintes Maries de la Mere near Arles, France. Gypsies from all over Europe worship 'Sara the Black', their Saint and patroness

A young Roma named Marie Lou looks out of the window of gipsy folklore wagon during the colourful procession through the town

Dozens of male Roma gypsies on horseback wait for the beginning of the procession with statue of Sara the Black to the sea

Every May Roma gypsies travel to the sleepy French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, near Arles, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in their caravans for the annual pilgrimage in honour of their enigmatic saint Sara la Kali, or Black Sara

Gypsies sing and play guitar between their folklore wagons shortly before the procession to the sea with the statue of the saint

Roma gypsies on horseback lead the procession with the sculpture of 'Sara the Black' down to the sea following a church service

Ever May 24 the Roma carry a statue of 'Sarah the Black' to the sea after a church service and a procession to re-enact her arrival in France

According to legend Black Sarah was a servant of one of the Three Marys, with whom she is supposed to have arrived in the Camargue region of France from Palestine following the death of Jesus (pictured: Three young Roma girls stand in front of a wagon)

Black Sara is explicitly mentioned for the first time in Vincent Philippon's 1521 book The Legend of the Saintes-Maries, where she is portrayed as 'a charitable woman that helped people by collecting alms, which led to the popular belief that she was a gipsy

Gypsies play guitar and dance in front of their folklore wagon on May 24, 2016 during the procession down to the French shoreline

The Roma Gypsies stay in the small town to celebrate Black Sarah for one week - but because she is not an official saint of the Catholic Church, apart from this annual outing to the ocean her statue is usually situated in the crypt of the local church

A young Roma gipsy woman shows off her Black Sarah tattoo following the procession with the sculpture to the sea on May 24

The Roma reach out to touch the statue of their patron saint, Saint Sarah, as it is carried down to the sea to re-enact her arrival in France

The pilgrimage is a unique religious and social event for Europe's Gypsies  who are mainly from French- and Catalan-speaking communities  as it allows them to come together, affirm their faith, meet, party and even marry
Just when the EU referendum campaign needed an injection of truth, sanity and moral disinfectant, in waded our very own St Anselm  Tony Blair!

The former Prime Minister carved time out of his grasping corporate commitments, property speculation and religious huckstering to vouchsafe an hour of sage advice to an approved audience of Middle Wayers.

Topics ranged from Brexit (he thought leaving the EU a rather risky proposition) to Syria (let's go bayonet the f******, dudes!)

Shrivelled by scandals: Tony Blair in 1997 as Labour's fresh-faced leader (left) and (right) yesterday

It is always interesting to contemplate Mr Blair, even when one is banned. What a caution he is, shrivelled by scandals and pointlessness, to his successor Cameron

The event was held at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. I would bring you a more detailed description of the room but am chuffed to say that Mr Blair and his people would not grant me admission.

Sketchwriters from other newspapers were likewise told there was 'no space'. Nyet. Impertinent scribes not preferred.

It was neither the first time I have been banned from a Blair event, nor possibly the last.

For the record, somebody who did attend said there were plenty of spare seats.

For 45 minutes Mr Blair was questioned by the editor of Prospect magazine, one of those political monthlies (it's like The Economist without the jokes) which go unread in the waiting rooms of think-tanks and the swankier charities.

Reconstructing events from eye-witness accounts, I can disclose that she managed to ask exactly one question about the coming Iraq war report. Mr Blair rebuffed her without difficulty. He thought the Remain camp's Project Fear was doing a grand job. Scaring the pants off people: it was often a Blair tactic, from '48 Hours To Save the NHS' to bombing the bejaysus out of Belgrade and Baghdad.

This answer on David Cameron's pro-Brussels campaign went down well with the audience who included New Labour relicts such as Ivor Caplin, Sally Keeble and Douglas Alexander along with a few who are still MPs. Also there was spin doctor Matt Doyle, who has stayed with Mr Blair for years, the last to remain loyal to the fallen ruler. Lear's Fool.

Mr Blair, pictured in 1997, as the fresh-faced hope of the Labour Party - he is now looking every one his 63 years

Mr Blair sat in a low armchair, his thighs thrust apart and his long, skinny, pink tie dangling between them. He was as tanned as the top of an egg flan, or maybe some streaky bacon left too long under the throbbing bulbs of a sunbed.

On Syria, Mr Blair said there should be a 'proper ground war'. Jeronimoooo! We should accustom ourselves to the notion of Army casualties out there.

And yet when he was asked about Donald Trump, he said it was important for an American president to be able to 'reach out' to Muslim countries. By the way, yesterday's event was co-organised by Mr Blair's 'Faith Foundation' which seeks to promote 'stable societies'.

And if they won't make themselves stable we'll jolly well have to drop bombs and parachutists on them and invade them with tanks and battalions of Western troops and basically kill them. All. That'll calm them down, just you see.

Mr Blair hinted that he may collaborate with Sir John Major and Gordon Brown on a joint pro-Brussels platform. There was a place for former prime ministers, he insisted. Did he mean The Hague?

It is always interesting to contemplate Mr Blair, even when one is banned. What a caution he is, shrivelled by scandals and pointlessness, to his successor Cameron.

Apart from the usual vanity and self-promotion, why did Mr Blair perform yesterday? Can it be that, with the Chilcot report looming, he is trying to earn some political favours from Mr Cameron?

Later I toddled off to a Labour event at which the party's 'prominent female figureheads' complained that men were hogging all the attention in the EU referendum.

Shadow First Secretary Angela Eagle, in black trouser suit, complained about the 'masculinisation of politics'. She was v. disappointed about how butch the campaign had been so far.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has delivered the latest blow in an ongoing feud with Johhny Depp, after the actor tried to smuggle his dogs into Australia last year.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night the Pirates of the Caribbean star said Mr Joyce looked as though he had been 'inbred with a tomato'.

Not one to back down, the Agriculture Minister retorted during a press conference on Wednesday that he appeared to be Depp's Hannibal Lecter.

Scroll down for video

John Depp took aim at Australia's Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce on Jimmy Kimmel live on Monday night saying he looked as though he had been 'inbred with a tomato'

However Mr Joyce hit back on Wednesday morning saying he was Depp's Hannibal Lecter

'I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers' Mr Joyce said - referencing the famous character. Pictured here is Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs

'I think I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter, aren't I?' he said, according to the ABC.

'I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he's remembering me.

'Keep on advertising me Johnny. The Australian people know we did the right thing,' he added.

It came after Depp reignited the ongoing saga between the two on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday evening in the U.S.

He was clearly still fuming that he was forced to publicly apologise his pet Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo into Australia.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star still seemed upset that Mr Joyce led the fight to have him prosecuted over the incident, as well as threatening to have his beloved pooches euthanised if he failed to take them out of the country.

Depp was clearly still fuming that he was forced to publicly apologise his pet Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo into Australia

In May 2015, Joyce ordered Pistol and Boo be sent back to the home or they would be destroyed. They were sent back to the US soon after.

When asked about him on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he said: 'He looks somehow inbred with a tomato.

'Its not a criticism. I was a little worried. He just might explode.'

The 52-year-old movie hunk, who was looking good for his age in a black shirt, baggy trousers and leather shoes, also branded his foe 'Barnaby Jones,' after the 70s TV detective.

It was the latest verbal volley between the unlikely foes, with Joyce previously mocking the apology the actor filmed with his much younger wife Amber Heard after she was let off with a good behaviour bond last month after she pleaded guilty to falsifying travel documents.

He said: 'I don't think he'll get an Academy Award for his performance.'

See Johnny Depp news as he says the Australian deputy PM looks like an inbred tomato

Johnny's deadpan delivery during his apology with wife Amber Heard caused much mirth

'I didn't want to kill myself': Johnny said he could not bear to watch the film before releasing it

Depp's 30-year-old wife pleaded admitted she falsified the documents to sneak their two Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country when Depp was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film.

As part of the plea deal, the couple made an apology to Australia in a short video that was meant to highlight the importance of quarantine to protecting Australia's natural flora and fauna, but became more famous for Johnny's preposterously sober delivery.

When told by Kimmel it was thought by many to be one of his finest performances, he said: 'These are things you have to prepare a long time for to tap into the emotion that you need.

Depp chuckled with joy when he learned some thought it was the best performance of his career

The actor is pictured here with one of the pooch's whose life was threatened by Deputy PM Joyce

'You know i haven't seen many of (my performances) but I wouldn't disagree. I played that sort of anti-government.'

But he said he could not bear to watch back the video, which he said was recorded on an iPhone, as he, 'didn't want to kill myself.'

However despite the fact he was relishing the chance to mock the Australians and laugh about his video, he also made clear he thought the case was preposterous.

The Donnie Brasco star was particularly incensed they threated to have his animals put down saying they are, minuscule tiny tea cup things, clearly dangerous in Australia because there's so many poisonous creatures in Australia you could die at any minute.'

Later her ironically added: 'You know i think that the choice they made to utilise the taxpayers' dollars to globally chase down a couple of teacup Yorkies and give them 50 hrs to live. I realised the badness of my ways.'
As the long-suffering wife of loudmouth former Top Gear host Jeremy, Frances Clarkson is no doubt used to hearing accusations of sexism made against her estranged husband.

But now it is Frances and her 21-year-old daughter Emily who are accusing other men of prejudice against women.

Aspiring author Emily says she was enraged when one of her male neighbours in West Londons swanky Notting Hill made rude comments about her parking skills and those of her mother, whom he had never met.

As the long-suffering wife of loudmouth former Top Gear host Jeremy, Frances Clarkson is no doubt used to hearing accusations of sexism made against her estranged husband

Scroll down for video

I was outside my flat, chatting with my neighbour, when he made not one, but two jibes at both mine and my mums parking, says Emily. He told me that he had a right laugh watching my mum trying to park her car, and that he had felt so bad he had wanted to go and help her.

This infuriated Emily, who informed the neighbour that her mother Frances (pictured with Jeremy) has competed as a rally driver and is excellent at parking.

Emily calmly walked away, but, two nights later, the conflict exploded once again when the same neighbour made similar jibes.

She confronted him, demanding: What is your problem? You do realise if it had been my brother or Alex [Andrew, her musician boyfriend] or my dad struggling to park their Aston Martin, you wouldnt have dared say a word, but my mum, a woman? Well, thats fair game, right?

Emilys mood had been worsened by an example of what she claims was similarly male chauvinist behaviour only days earlier.

Visiting a garage to have a flat tyre repaired, she was told by the mechanic that he would park the vehicle for her.

Yet a male customer in a Porsche, which also had a flat tyre, was allowed to park his car himself. She writes on her blog: Enraged, I pointed at my new nemesis in the Porsche and said that if he could do it then so could I.

To which he replied with the infuriating: I know, love, Im just trying to make your life easier. I wanted to reply by telling him where to stick it . . . but I stopped myself.

Clearly, Emilys father, who was fired from the BBC for punching a producer after he failed to provide him with a hot dinner, could learn a thing or two from his daughter about self-restraint . . .

Kate's private talks on female prisoners

The Duchess of Cambridge is taking an interest in the women's penal system. (Pictured at a different event)

Reforming Justice Secretary Michael Gove might have found a glamorous new ally in his crusade to improve Britains crumbling prisons.

I hear the Duchess of Cambridge is taking an increasing interest in the penal system.

She held talks at Kensington Palace on Monday with a group of people who support women in jails around the country.

This was a private meeting with representatives from non-governmental organisations to learn more about addiction and mental health programmes in prisons for women, her spokesman tells me.

The talks follow Kates visit in September to HMP Send, in Surrey, whose former inmates include road-rage killer Tracie Andrews and the Duchess of Yorks ex-dresser Jane Andrews, who murdered her boyfriend in a rage after he refused to marry her.

Palumbo heiress works on being wife

Property magnate Lord Palumbos model daughter Petra is on her honeymoon

Property magnate Lord Palumbos model daughter Petra, who married Scottish clan chief Lord Lovat in London earlier this month, is using her Italian honeymoon to hone her skills as a spouse.

Wearing a blue-and-white sombrero and a floral dress, 26-year-old Petra is pictured intently reading How It Works: The Wife (above).

Wives like to be right, reads one of the lines in the satirical book, from the Ladybird For Grown-ups series.

Sara has been waiting for her husband Tom to arrive. He is half-an-hour late.
The child protection division of Birmingham City Council was previously labelled a national disgrace by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw

Britain's worst childrens services department is to be removed from council control and moved to a voluntary trust in an unprecedented move.

The child protection division of Birmingham City Council was previously labelled a national disgrace by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw.

Serial failings - including the high-profile deaths of Keanu Williams, two, in 2011 and Khyra Ishaq, seven, in 2008 - have seen the department and other agencies come under fire for many years.

Only this month a mother-of-four was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of 18-month-old Keegan Downer, who was placed in her care following an assessment by the council.

Now the local authority has announced that a voluntary trust will run Birminghams childrens services under a new model which will put social workers at its centre.

The Government appointed Lord Norman Warner to lead a three-year plan to improve the troubled department, and the council said expected progress has been made.

In a statement, Birmingham City Council acknowledged the historic and well-publicised failings of its childrens services department.

It added: This is something we have been discussing for some time with the Department for Education and this is the next logical step on our improvement journey.

A final decision on the plans will be taken by the local authoritys cabinet at a future date.

The announcement coincides with a Channel 4 Dispatches programme, to be aired on Thursday, in which an undercover social worker uncovered shocking failings and malpractice inside Birmingham City Councils childrens services.

The documentary found serious concerns that children could be at risk of sexual or physical abuse because their cases were not handled properly.

In one instance, social workers discover a three-year-old being sexually abused by a family member at home.

The undercover social worker argues that she should be placed in the highest-category, at risk of significant harm, which requires urgent action.

But because the girl is being abused by a family member who does not live at home, she is placed in the second category down - where it can take up to 45 days for social services to make an assessment.

The Government appointed Lord Norman Warner to lead a three-year plan to improve the troubled department, and the council said expected progress has been made

The programme also found evidence of social workers failing to cope with high caseloads and others threatening to quit, junior caseworkers begging managers for help, and police being called simply to give security clearance while important decisions were made.

An NSPCC spokesman said: Young people have ultimately been the ones to suffer most from the pitiful failures in childrens services at Birmingham City Council.

A lack of consistency in the support offered to children has meant a breakdown of trust in the very system which was supposed to be their lifeline.
Headteachers are demanding the government withholds SATs results from the public amid fears of a slump in achievement.

The National Association of Head Teachers has written to Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, calling for her to hold off on publication of 11-year-olds national curriculum test data.

The union warned that serious problems have emerged in the planning and implementation of tests this year, with a negative effect on schools which did not have enough time to prepare for the new primary curriculum.

Marks could also vary in unpredictable ways and make comparisons between schools very risky.

The National Association of Head Teachers has written to Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, calling for her to hold off on publication of 11-year-olds national curriculum test data. File image

Around 600,000 children took tougher Key Stage Two tests earlier this month, which were designed to measure ability in reading, writing and maths.

Ministers made the tests more difficult in a bid to raise standards, but results are expected to drop.

Hundreds of primary schools could be branded as failures when the government publishes the data later this year.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, told Ms Morgan that the experience of SATs in a large majority of schools has not been a positive one.

Given concerns about both the design and administration of the new assessments, the lack of preparation for schools, the inadequate time to implement the new curriculum for the current cohort, and the variations in approaches between schools resulting from delayed and obscure guidance, it is hard to have confidence in the data produced by this round of assessments, the letter says.

It is not just that the marks may be lower overall, which could be addressed, but that they will vary in unpredictable ways.

We know of widely different approaches to writing assessment across the country, for example.

And the content and sequencing of the reading test meant that lower attaining pupils had little opportunity to show their progress. This may result in a skewed distribution of marks that simply setting a lower threshold may not solve. Comparisons between schools become very risky.

It adds: School level data should not be externally published under these circumstances.

The union warned that serious problems have emerged in the planning and implementation of tests this year, with a negative effect on schools

Assessment data should still be available on RAISE Online, which summarises a schools performance at the end of each Key Stage, and could be shared with parents, but the aggregated school-level scores should not be published externally.

We understand that Ofqual is already mandated to conduct a review of this year s data. In our view a hold on external publication, until we can be sure what the data is telling us, would be a sensible step. In this interim year, we should be cautious about the data thats been collected.

The NAHT has also demanded a change to the way writing papers are assessed, which would allow children with dyslexia to pass despite not having perfect spelling.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said this years SATs results are very likely to drop due to the tougher tests.

He said: I think the head teachers are very nervous. The assessment process has been changed so they are not familiar with it and they dont know how to maximise pupil performance.

The heads fear the government will seize on the poorer looking results to compel more schools to become academies.

This years SATs have been hit with controversy, with 11-year-olds left in tears after taking one of the hardest reading tests teachers said they had ever seen.

Staff reported even bright pupils could not finish the test and warned it was a demoralising experience.

Meanwhile a spelling test was leaked online by a rogue marker in an act of sabotage. Answers to the Key Stage Two grammar, punctuation and spelling test appeared on a password-protected website for an exam board for several hours.

The tougher Key Stage One tests for seven-year-olds have also caused a furore.

A spelling test due to be taken by hundreds of thousands of youngsters across the country was scrapped after it was accidentally released online.
Vast swathes of countryside face a renewed threat from fracking after a landmark planning decision, campaigners warned yesterday.

They say that the go-ahead for a scheme in Yorkshire could be the tip of the iceberg, with hundreds of drilling projects across Britain, including beauty spots, to follow.

Sites have been earmarked around protected areas of England including the Peak District, Exmoor and the South Downs. Some 22 licences for extraction were issued last year and almost 200 exploratory licences have been granted. With a typical licence covering an area of 62 square miles, that represents an area of more than 12,000 square miles.

The go-ahead for a scheme in Yorkshire could be the tip of the iceberg, with hundreds of drilling projects across Britain, including beauty spots in the Peak District and Exmoor (pictured) to follow

Some 22 licences for extraction were issued last year and almost 200 exploratory licences have been granted

Decisions are expected on several controversial fracking projects this summer and campaigners fear that Mondays ruling in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, will set a precedent.

Councillors voted to approve the extraction of shale gas at Kirby Misperton, near the North Yorks Moors national park, despite angry protests from residents, who accused the council of ignoring democracy.

Campaigners are considering a legal challenge to the decision amid fears it will cause irreversible damage to the environment and jeopardise tourism and agriculture.

Fracking involves using high pressure to force water and chemicals deep underground to open up fractures in the rock to release trapped reserves of oil and gas.

Critics say it risks polluting water courses and fracking was suspended in Britain in 2011 after a drilling operation by Cuadrilla on the Fylde coast in Lancashire was blamed for causing two small earthquakes.

But supporters claim it will secure Britains energy supply and create jobs and investment, with its widespread use in the US cited as an example. David Cameron has said he wanted to go all out for fracking and the Government has offered tax breaks and community payments to help the industry as it seeks to secure energy supplies and phase out coal.

The Kirby Misperton scheme is the first to be approved since fracking was suspended in 2011. An existing well was drilled three years ago and Third Energy, the firm behind the scheme, has been granted consent to carry out test fracking nearly two miles below ground.

If the tests are successful it has permission for nine years of shale gas production, although the firm has said work will not begin at the site for several months.

Decisions are expected on several controversial fracking projects this summer, including one in the Peak District, and campaigners fear that Mondays ruling in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, will set a precedent.

Campaigners accused councillors of ignoring the views of the community, after it emerged that the authority had received 4,375 objections and only 36 letters of support.

Jules Marley, regional chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: Its heartbreaking. There is bewilderment here about how this decision was reached in a democracy.

People are angry and hurt and their belief in the system has been damaged because they made their representations with dignity and balance and yet theyve been ignored. We are walking towards the industrialisation of the National Park. Weve only got one countryside and once its gone, its gone forever.

Although wells cannot be drilled within the parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty or World Heritage sites, fracking will be allowed underneath  with wells drilled just outside their borders.

In the South West, campaigners said they feared the North Yorkshire decision meant that fracking had moved a step closer for the rest of Britain. Green Party MEP Molly Scott Cato said 22 licences for oil and gas extraction were issued last year for areas in Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset.

She said: This is the tip of the iceberg and we could now see the frackers begin their march across our beautiful region.
An Australian man has been arrested in a Los Angeles hotel after allegedly organising to meet up with a 'dad who shares his young ones' on a social networking site for child predators.

Melbourne man Michael Quinn, 33, allegedly told US law enforcement officers posing as predators online that he was hoping to meet with 'other pervs' that would want to 'molest a child together.'

He was taken into custody after allegedly paying a fake child trafficker $250 for a six-year-old boy to have sex with.

Quinn now faces charges of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and travelling to the US for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Melbourne man Michael Quinn, 33, was arrested in a Los Angeles hotel after allegedly trying to organise a sex party with other child predators and young boys (file image)

According to the criminal complaint filed by Homeland Security, Quinn arrived at the Los Angeles hotel expecting to meet up with three fellow child predators.

Following on from staged conversations earlier in the month, it is alleged the men had then planned to go to a party where a sex trafficker would provide them with young boys to have sex with.

Quinn allegedly met up with the men in a hotel room on Saturday afternoon, unaware that they were actually undercover Homeland Security Investigation special agents.

It is alleged another undercover agent posing as a sex trafficker arrived at the room moments later and collected the money payment from Quinn for the young boy.

As soon as Quinn handed the money over, agents flooded the room and took him into custody.

Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles, offered a stern warning to other child sex predators.

'Millions of tourists flock to Los Angeles every year for all this city has to offer, but if you're coming here to sexually exploit children, expect to be met by law enforcement, not a welcome mat,' he said.

'Predators who travel overseas to sexually exploit children do not just victimize children in faraway lands,' said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker.

'As this case shows, children everywhere are vulnerable to such predators, including children right here in Los Angeles,' she added.

If Quinn is convicted of the child sex trafficking charge, he will spend a minimum of 15 years in jail and a maximum term of life without parole.

The other charge, travelling with the intent of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
A commencement speaker at a university in California was told to 'get off the stage' and booed at after she started talking about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Maria Elena Salinas, a popular news anchor for Spanish language broadcast network Univision, gave the keynote address on Sunday morning for the commencement ceremony at the California State University, Fullerton.

She was presented with an honorary doctorate and spoke in Spanish to the graduates and parents, as the student body of the university is 40 percent Hispanic.

According to The Washington Post, Salinas felt the speech was well-received and said people thanked her afterwards for addressing their parents in their native language.

However, when the 62-year-old spoke to the College of Communications later in the morning at a separate ceremony, the crowd booed her.

Scroll down for video

Maria Elena Salinas (pictured), a news anchor for Spanish language broadcast network Univision, gave the keynote address on Sunday morning for the California State University, Fullerton commencement ceremony

Salinas (left) was told to 'get off the stage' and booed at after she started talking about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (right)

In her second speech, Salinas said: ' they blame us so much for so many things, that now they're even blaming us, the media, for creating Donald Trump. Imagine that.'

At this point, yells and boos from the audience can be heard in the video as soon as she named Trump.

'Isn't that terrible? But we didn't, right? Who did it?' Salinas asked rhetorically. 'I don't know. Who did it? But they're to blame.

'If you allow me to say a few words in Spanish...'

Someone in the audience then can be heard yelling back at her 'no,' as others would not quiet down.

A few moments later, Salinas asked the crowd if they would allow her to do something important and another person yelled out 'no,' as someone else could be heard yelling 'get off the stage.'

The Peabody Award-winning journalist then proceeded to turn around to take a selfie to show the crowd of graduates and parents behind her.

The poised anchor didn't let the crowd's yells rattle her nerves while speaking, as she appeared to remain calm throughout the awkward moment.

A few moments later, Salinas asked the crowd if they would allow her to do something important and another person yelled out 'no,' as someone else could be heard yelling 'get off the stage'

The popular anchor who is a California native shared the above snap to her Instagram account showing the selfie she took when she turned around to capture the crowd in it

Denise De La Cruz, a graduating senior at the university, described the situation in the OC Weekly as being very 'tense throughout the speech.'

'I looked around and a lot of graduates were visibly upset  some were muttering criticisms,' De La Cruz said.

On Tuesday Salinas said that she could hear some yelling but was unsure of what they were saying

'There were probably hundreds of graduates there, so I can't speak for everyone there... but definitely  the row where I was seated there were upset people and you could hear heckling from the crowd.'

On Tuesday Salinas said that she could hear some yelling but was unsure of what they were saying.

'It's really sad,' she told the Post. 'And it's a testament to what has happened in our country. Our country is really divided.'

Since giving the commencement speech, Salinas said that she has received rude comments on social media, including some that tell her to go back to Mexico, despite the fact she was born and raised in California.

'It's really sad that people can turn such a special moment into a racial war,' she said.

'Because it seems like that is what has happened. I don't think I insulted anyone by saying a few words in Spanish to the parents. The whole speech was directed to everyone.

' I think the message is, we have to cool down the intolerance right now, we really do. This is ugly what's happening in the country.'
But in 2015 Department of Homeland Security said the checks are flawed

US airport workers can get access-all-areas cards after background check

The scenes have alarmed security chiefs same day as top-brass shake-up

Their identities are not checked as they breeze into the area at JFK

Undercover video footage has captured staff sneaking into the restricted area of JFK Airport in New York City.

The cell phone clips, obtained by CBS News, show workers breezing through the gates without a bag-check or identity scrutiny, simply by scanning a card and entering a pin code.

It has sent shock waves through the security industry amid heightened fears of terrorism.

New York remains the city with the highest estimated risk of a terrorist attack in the United States, 15 years on from 9/11.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

No checks: This man is seen entering a restricted area in JFK with a pass but no scrutiny of his identity

Shock waves: The undercover footage has alarmed security chiefs amid heightened fears over terrorism

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning 73 airport workers passed background checks despite having ties to terrorism.

However, national protocol states that employees who pass a background check can be awarded access-all-areas cards.

The identities of the staff seen entering the restricted area in the video have not been confirmed.

The footage has been released on the same day the TSA announced a major shake-up of its top-level security staff and as wait times to go through security increase.

Kelly Hoggan was removed from his post as the agency's top security official Monday and replaced by a former federal security director in Los Angeles and New York, Darby LaJoye.

There is also a new management team in charge of screening operations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

It was announced on Monday after a series of Capitol Hill hearings focused on allegations of agency mismanagement.

The focus of the shake-up, however, will be to reorganize how passengers are screened.

One Senator reacting to the CBS footage warned airports are not acknowledging the risks of flaws in their own internal operations.

Worker are seen breezing through the gates without a bag-check, simply by scanning a card and entering a pin

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning 73 airport workers passed background checks despite having ties to terrorism. In light of the report, this footage has serious implications

The footage emerged on the same day the TSA announced a major shake-up of its top-level security staff

Here a man looks around before disappearing from view in one of many cell phone videos captured

'I think one of the main threats is employees of the airport getting on carrying contraband, possibly weapons. There you have the potential for disaster,' Florida Senator Bill Nelson told CBS.

It also comes John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports along with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey wrote a letter this month complaining to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger about the lengthy wait times.

There were reportedly 253 wait times of over 20 minutes between March 15 to April 15, the Port Authority told ABC. That's 82 percent longer than the times were last year.

The TSA responded by saying it realizes that travelers are getting fed up but its main concern is safety.

'We're working very hard to dramatically improve our ability to move people through... training more people than we've ever trained before on a weekly basis... but the travel volumes that we're seeing are still going to make airports crowded at peak periods this summer,' Neffenger said.

The TSA claims they are using canines to help with customer screenings and are also asking Congress to approve overtime pay for staff. They also say passengers have the option of

Despite the TSA's security concerns, travelers are missing flights because of the wait times and they aren't happy about it.

'Because the lines are so long, I missed my flight, so they put me on the next flight,' flyer Sarai Chicas said.

And it is not just security fears.

JFK was the scene of one of the most notorious heists in US history - which has since been immortalized in the book and movie Goodfellas.
A woman has described her torment after a jury acquitted her alleged rapist - despite hearing a taped phone call in which he acknowledges that she said 'no'.

Amelia Dennie, 20, claimed she was sexually assaulted on a first date with a US Navy officer that she met on Tinder in Utah in October 2014.

Two days later she recorded a phone call, with the help of law enforcement, in which the man admitted to ignoring her when she refused his advances.

And a doctor testified that she had injuries consistent with her account.

However, despite hearing the recording in court, the jury in Provo sided with the man.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

'Torment': Amelia Dennie, 20, (pictured) claimed she was raped after a Tinder date with a US Navy officer in October 2014. Her alleged attacker confessed in a recorded phone call before he was acquitted by a jury

Dennie, who is now married, slammed the verdict - and even the prosecutors were stumped.

'It broke my heart,' Dennie told Daily Mail Online as she described the moment the jury delivered their verdict.

'It was incredibly re-victimizing in the sense that the man who did it had already ignored my "no"... He had already done the absolute worst to me.

'It felt like the jury did exactly the same thing. It felt like they felt my "no"s meant nothing compared to what he wanted.'

One in eight women in Utah will be raped in their lifetime, according to federal crime reports.

The state's rape rate is far higher than the national average, with 68 per 100,000 females compared to 51.

But just 10 per cent of assaults are reported. And very few of those cases reach a court room.

I'm just learning to live with it and move past it. Right now, it's one of the first things I think about in the morning Amelia Dennie told Daily Mail Online

Dennie's case went further than most. And her lawyers felt confident that with the phone call recording and the doctor's report they would secure a rare conviction.

She reported the alleged incident the night of her date, and went straight for a medical examination.

Two days later the police detective met her at work, recommending that she try to call her alleged attacker to get a confession. She agreed, and sat in the detective's car to make the call, with a recording device plugged into her phone.

In the phone call, which Dennie has published on YouTube, she says: 'I said "stop" multiple times, did I not?'

The man, who cannot be named as he has a legal right to anonymity since the not-guilty verdict, responds: 'I know you did.'

He also says: 'I don't want to make you look like - make it seem like it's your fault also. It's not. But they were like very subtle no's.'

He later concludes: 'It shouldn't have ever happened... No is no, so that's 100 per cent on me.'

Speaking out about the case in the first report about it, prosecutor Ryan McBride told KTVX reporter Kim Fischer he was astonished by the outcome.

'I dont know why [he was let off],' he said. 'I've thought about that a lot. I dont know.

'She reported it to police that night. She had a medical exam that corroborated her story and then we had a recorded interview with the suspect.

'When I see that evidence I say weve got everything here.'

Defense lawyers for the man listed the items in the rape kit Dennie's doctors compiled after her examination, including her attire.

The attorney described her shorts as provocative.

Moving on: Amelia has since married her college boyfriend Najee LaSayviawn Dennie (right), who she met months later. She said her focus is now on moving past the ordeal so it is not a part of her daily life

'It had in the rape kit that I was wearing shorts,' Dennie explained.

'The defense attorney made several comments saying that my shorts were too short and basically that I was asking for it because I was wearing shorts.

'It's incredibly victim-blaming. I luckily have gone through so much therapy and so much support to know that it's not true, that it wasn't my fault. It was just incredibly difficult to hear him blame me.'

McBride said Dennie's case is an example of a widespread culture of victim-blaming.

He said: 'When we first hear of someone thats sexually assaulted our first reaction is, "why didnt you do this?"

'We have these stereotypes - "What were you wearing?" - and we start to criticize the victim. I think the initial response we should have is, "are you ok?"'

Dennie said she is now focused on moving on.

In March 2015 she met and started dating Najee' LaSayviawn Dennie at college. They got married in March this year.

He sat with her throughout the trial, and was there with her parents for the verdict.

'He's wonderful, he's my rock,' Dennie said.

The couple live with their two dogs in Provo, where Najee' works in quality control for an internet firm.

'I'm trying to move on with my life,' Dennie told the Mail. 'I'm just learning to live with it, I just want to get to a point where it's not part of my everyday.

'Right now it's one of the first things I think about in the morning. But I have hours - usually three to four hours - of therapy a week so I'm trying to get past it.'

She defiantly looks ahead at her future: 'I plan on having kids and having a family one day, this won't be part of my daily life forever.'
Donald Trump took shot after shot at Hillary Clinton during the first campaign rally of a four day Western swing on Tuesday, but he saved his best barbs for a senator who has been touted as a potential Clinton running mate.

'You know, Hillary Clinton has somebody. Did you ever hear of Pocahontas? It's Pocahontas, Elizabeth Warren!' he shouted to thousands gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Warren famously described herself as a native American, based on a tiny branch of her family tree, in order to gain preferential treatment in law school hiring.

'She said she was an Indian!' Trump laughed. 'She said because her cheekbones were so high, she was an Indian! That she's Native American! ... We're getting wise to what's happening. It's a big scam.'

BACK ON THE TRAIL: Donald Trump resumed campaigning in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Tuesday, taking shots at Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is rumored to be under consideration for Clinton's VP slot

SITTING BULLS***? Warren infamously claimed to be a Native American because it gave her preferential treatment in law school hiring

FIGHT NIGHT: A string of protesters were removed from the Albuquerque rally

He called Clinton 'Obama lite' during a speech that lasted more than an hour saying that 'it's hard to believe you could get lighter than Obama.'

'Hillary can't even put away Bernie!' he said, referring to the scrappy Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is giving her the fight of her life in the Democratic primary.

'Crooked Hillary, she can't put him away.'

'I gotta give him credit,' he said later. 'Crazy Bernie's out there trying hard.'

But he went out of his way to clobber Clinton on her personal speaking habits as much as for her policy ideas.

'I will never say this,' he said  and then said it. 'She screams. it drives me crazy. I can't listen!'

He complained that Clinton had passed judgment on his pattern of turning a profit by buying distressed and foreclosed housing and reselling it at a profit when the market turned upward.

'She goes, "And Donald Trump is a terrible person! And he wanted to buy housing when it was at a low point!"'

'Who the hell doesn't?' he yelled, drawing a mixture of laughing and cheers.

HE'S ARRIVED: Trump was met by thunderous applause in New Mexico

'GOD LOVES TRUMP': Supporters arrived in droves, snaking around two city blocks, for Tuesday's rally

MINORITY VOICES: Trump supporters outnumbered protesters by 500-to-1, but the dissenters drew a significant amount of attention

Trump also returned to a theme from last week's National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where he received the gun-rights lobby group's endorsement.

Clinton 'wants to take your guns away and she wants to abolish the Second Amendment,' he claimed.

And he insisted that Clinton's economic plan would disadvantage black teens whose unemployment rate is far above the national average.

'Hillary Clinton is so bad for African-American youth,' he said. 'She is not going to create jobs. She is going to be such a disaster.'

The customary gaggle of protesters tried to disrupt Trump's speech, but he shrugged it off.

'We have all night,' he said.

'Is it fun to be at a Trump rally?' he asked after the third interruption.

'Go home to mommy!' he mocked as security walked him out. 'He can't get a date, so he's doing this instead.'

Another, a baby-faced teenager, drew a laugh from the podium.

'How old is this kid? Get out of here!' Trump blared. 'He's still wearing diapers! I'm telling you, the kid looks like he's ten years old.'

'Did you see? I said "Get out of here," and he ran out!'

NEW MEXICO'S FINEST: Police removed activists, including some who shouted pro-illegal-immigration slogans

LITTLE PAWNS: One activist brought a little girl to the protest zone across the street from the Albuquerque Convention Center, and gave her an explicit sign to hold

NO MAS: Most protesters who were ejected Tuesday night left quietly, including one young man who bolted as soon sa Trump told him to get out

Police removed two protesters before the rally began; they had been lurking in the section directly behind the podium.

Others in the same section were ejected during the speech.

Another, a young woman, piped up but was too quiet for Trump to hear.

'Let her stay. What the hell,' he shrugged.

Trump's Albuquerque rally followed his first high-dollar fundraiser since inking a cooperative fundraising event with the Republican National Committee  a $10,000 per person event.

His visit to the American southwest marked the beginning of a four-day campaign swing that also includes stops in California, North Dakota and Montana.

Trump's first warm-up act, Albuquerque attorney David Chavez, leveled broadside after broadside at Hillary Clinton.

'Even Bill Clinton chose other women  so you should, too,' he declared to cheers from thousands in the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Voting for Clinton because she's a woman, Chavez added, is like 'drinking breach because it looks like water.'

Another pre-show speaker, Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller, read aloud from Peter Schweitzer's 'Clinton Cash' book.

HISPANICS FOR TRUMP: Andrea Chavez said she drove two hours from the New Mexico town of Las Vegas to see the presumptive Republican presidential nominee

VULGAR: Protesters chanted 'F*** Donald Trump' outside the rally venue, and held F-bomb signs

GRANNY DRUM CIRCLE: Even elderly New Mexicans brought swear-word signs to the protest

'"Clinton Cash" is to Hillary Clinton what the black book is to the mafia,' he said, before his story-time exercise made Schweitzer's case that Clinton's tenure as secretary of state was rife with corruption and conflicts of interest.

'She is as crooked as you get, believe me. read the book,' Trump told his crowd later.

Outside the convention center, a few hundred protesters chanted 'F*** Donald Trump' and waved signs protesting Trump's policy proposals regarding illegal immigrants.

At one point a pro-Trump rally-goer yelled 'Build the wall!' Protesters threw water bottles at him in a tense moment that police quickly diffused.

One activist brought a young daughter and gave her a sign to hold.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised broadcaster Alan Jones as 'very eloquent' in a radio interview that had little resemblance to the last time the pair locked horns in a fiery on-air stoush two years ago.

The interview was a far cry from the heated exchange in June 2014, in which Mr Turnbull - who was communications minister in the Tony Abbott government at the time - told the radio personality he was a 'bomb thrower' who could dish it out but couldn't take it.

Wednesday morning's interview on Sydney station 2GB went by for without any major fireworks and both men were firm, but polite.

Scroll down for video

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held his first on-air interview with shock jock Alan Jones since the pair clashed in a heated exchange in June 2014

Mr Jones told listeners at the started of the interview that the discussion would not be 'some kind of brawl'

Mr Jones dashed any expectations that there would be another heated exchange before the interview started.

'For those of you expecting some kind of brawl, forget it - it won't happen,' he said.

He said Australia was in the midst of an election campaign and the interview would focus on policy.

The Prime Minister was quizzed on Australia's housing market, negative gearing, the Safe Schools LGTBI programme and superannuation over the course of the 20-minute interview.

The largest part of the interview was concerned with changes to superannuation.

Mr Jones described the government's $1.6 million cap on tax-free pension assets as 'really toxic'.

He asked the Mr Turnbull if he would 'consider listening to the electorate' and raise the cap.

The Prime Minister responded: 'Well Alan, no. We believe changes to superannuation are fair and well targeted.'

He said the 15 percent tax on income from super balances above $1.6 million was still very low and affected a relatively small number of people on very high incomes.

Malcolm Turnbull has praised broadcaster Alan Jones as 'very eloquent' during the exchange

At one point Mr Turnbull praised Mr Jones.

'You said it yourself last year, very eloquently as always,' the Prime Minister said.

'Thank you!' Mr Jones interjected, before Mr Turnbull continued.

Mr Jones questioned the prime minister on the appropriateness of the Safe Schools programme, in which 15 year-old girls role play bisexual characters.

'You're a grandfather. You've got kids coming into schools,' he said.

'Do you want a 15-year-old daughter embracing this stuff as education?'

Mr Turnbull said he was not familiar with the particular program, but added the government had made changes to the anti-bullying initiative following independent advice.

Jones asked if the program should be wiped out completely.

'There is no substitute for active and engaged parents,' Mr Turnbull replied.

Turnbull returned to his 'jobs and growth' mantra, which has been a familiar refrain during the Federal election campaign, throughout the interview.

He also attacked Labor for its stance on negative gearing and promised to control spending.

Mr Turnbull boycotted Mr Jones radio show following the 2014 interview, in which he was probed on his leadership aspirations and his support for the budget.
Australians will soon be able to make the 17,000 km flight from Sydney to London in two hours after scientists came one step closer to making high speed travel possible.

A joint US-Australian military research team sent a scramjet attached to a rocket booster to an altitude of 278km (172 miles) at Mach 7.5 - or seven times the speed of sound, which is 1,235km/h.

The test done last week was one of 10 trials of the technology being run at the world's largest land testing range, Woomera in South Australia, and at Norway's Andoya Rocket Range.

Australians will soon be able to make the 17,000 km flight to London in two hours after scientists came one step closer to making high speed travel possible. Pictured is the scramjet

Mach 7.5 classes as 'hypersonic travel', which is defined as travel at more than five times the speed of sound.

'It is a game-changing technology... and could revolutionise global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space,' Australia's chief scientist Alex Zelinsky said in a statement.

Scientists have said hypersonic technology could cut travelling times drastically.

Not only will this mean faster travel times for Australians, but Londoners could fly to New York, which is 5,571km (3,460 miles) away, in just 35 minutes.

A flight from Australia to England can take up to 24 hours.

WHAT IS SCRAMJET PROPULSION? Scramjets are 'airbreathing' aircraft because rather than carrying both fuel and the oxygen needed to provide acceleration, they carry only hydrogen fuel and 'pull' the oxygen needed to burn it from the atmosphere. Air is forced into the front of the engine and as hydrogen is injected into the airstream, the gases are compressed causing the temperature to rise and ignition to occur. This generates huge amounts of thrust and enables the jet to travel at speeds far in excess of the 1,350mph top speed of Concorde.

Engineers involved in the programme - called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) - eventually want the engine to run at Mach 7 or 8,642 km/h (5,370mph).

Michael Smart, a hypersonics expert from the University of Queensland, said the scramjet was a supersonic combustion engine that uses oxygen from the atmosphere for fuel, making it lighter and faster than fuel-carrying rockets.

'The practical application of that is you could fly long distances over the Earth very, very quickly but also that it's very useful as an alternative to a rocket for putting satellites into space,' he said.

Mach 2.5 is about the speed limit for gas-turbine engines.

Any faster and the temperature and pressure of air entering the engine is too high for the turbo machinery inside.

To fly at hypersonic speed - Mach 5 and above - requires a different type of engine such as a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or scramjet.

A joint US-Australian military research team sent a scramjet attached to a rocket booster to an altitude of 278km (172 miles) at Mach 7.5 - or seven times the speed of sound - last week

The test done last week was one of 10 trials of the technology being run at the world's largest land testing range, Woomera in South Australia, and at Norway's Andoya Rocket Range

Mach 7.5 classes as 'hypersonic travel', which is defined as travel at more than five times the speed of sound. Pictured again is the scramjet before take-off

These engines have no moving parts.

Instead of the rotating compressor and turbine in a jet engine, air is compressed and expanded by complex systems of shockwaves under the front of the aircraft, inside the inlet and under the fuselage at the rear.

RACE FOR HYPERSONIC TRAVEL Scramjets have been under development for decades, but a breakthrough came in May 2013 when the US Air Force Research Laboratory's Boeing X-51A WaveRider flew for 240 seconds over the Pacific. It flew on scramjet power, reaching Mach 5.1 and ran until its fuel was exhausted. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works - builder of the Mach 3.5 SR-71 Blackbird spyplane - then unveiled plans to develop a successor, dubbed the SR-72, pictured. Designed for reconnaissance and strike missions, the SR-72 would combine turbojet and scramjet engines to enable the aircraft to take off from a runway, accelerate to a Mach 6 cruise, and then return to a conventional runway landing. Lockheed Martin believes a prototype could be flying as soon as 2023 and the SR-72 could enter service by 2030.

Travel becomes hypersonic when temperatures get so hot that air molecules become unstable and begin losing electrons.

At these speeds the air becomes an electrically charged field.

At supersonic speeds, air moves through a series of channels until is slowed down to a point where fuel can be more easily injected and ignited. This releases energy and thrust.

At hypersonic speed, this air moves even faster, which makes it difficult to slow down to the speed of sound and therefore requires specialist fuel and technologies, as seen in engines including the pulse detonation engine (PDE).

But scramjets have been under development for decades.

A breakthrough came in May 2013 when the US Air Force Research Laboratory's Boeing X-51A WaveRider flew for 240 seconds over the Pacific,

It flew on scramjet power, reaching Mach 5.1 and ran until its fuel was exhausted.

Last week's test was used to measure heat on the outside of a vehicle in hypersonic flight, Prof Smart said.

The next test, scheduled for 2017, would involve the scramjet engine separating from the rocket booster and flying on its own, he added.

There are a number of new supersonic technologies in development. NASA recently announced it was attempting to build new quiet supersonic technology as part of its X-plane division

The X-planes were a celebrated part of post-war aviation. NASA is planning to revive its X-plane division to make commercial flights dramatically cleaner, quieter, and even faster. Above are concept aircrafts

The first test was conducted in 2009 with the project expected to be completed in 2018.

The latest project, which also involves aerospace giant Boeing, Nasa and German space agency DLR, is one of a number attempting to introduce new supersonic passenger aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works - builder of the Mach 3.5 SR-71 Blackbird spyplane - has unveiled plans to develop a successor to the WaveRider, dubbed the SR-72.

Designed for reconnaissance and strike missions, the SR-72 would combine turbojet and scramjet engines to enable the aircraft to take off from a runway, accelerate to a Mach 6 cruise, and then return to a conventional runway landing.

Lockheed Martin believes a prototype could be flying as soon as 2023 and the SR-72 could enter service by 2030.

Lockheed Martin has also recently said it's close to making a breakthrough to developing a military plane that can fly at Mach 6 - six times the speed of sound. In November 2013, the firm announced it was developing an SR-72 spy plane (illustrated) said to be able to accelerate up to Mach 6

The engineer behind the Skreemr jet has unveiled another radical, much faster design for future air travel. Charles Bombardier's latest concept jet is capable of reaching Mach 24 - more than twice the speed of the Skreemr and 12 times faster than Concorde

Nasa also recently revived its 'X-plane' project with a new supersonic jet design it hopes could one day replace passenger jets.

The project is the first in a series of 'X-planes' in NASA's New Aviation Horizons initiative.

A concept aircraft named Skreemr is also being developed and could reach speeds exceeding Mach 10.

The engineer behind the Skreemr jet has also unveiled another radical, much faster design for future air travel.

The latest concept jet invented by Imaginactive's Charles Bombardier is capable of reaching Mach 24 - more than twice the speed of the Skreemr and 12 times faster than Concorde.

Dubbed the 'Antipode', it can carry 10 people up to 20,000km (12,430 miles) in under an hour, allowing it to travel from London to New York in just 11 minutes.
Coles has dropped the price of bananas to just $1 a kilo for one week to shift more of the fruit off its shelves.

The supermarket has slashed bananas prices by 50 cents per kilogram across New South Wales stores for one week to try and counter oversupply following perfect growing conditions.

Coles hopes the move to prices last seen in 2011 will encourage shoppers to purchase more bananas, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Coles hopes the move will encourage shoppers to purchase more bananas, which have not been this cheap since 2011

Bananas prices have been slashed by 50 cents per kilogram across NSW stores for a week

Coles Supermarket said on Twitter that humid conditions have led to the oversupply of bananas.

Coles and Mackays Bananas, the largest banana growers in Australia, released a joint statement.

'Never before have we had such an oversupply of bananas for such a long period of time. It's really important for people to eat more bananas to help banana growers through this time of oversupply,' Mackays Bananas managing director Gavin Mackay said, according to Daily Telegraph.

Coles Supermarket confirmed humid conditions led to the oversupply of bananas on Twitter on Wednesday

Coles brand Banana Bread is also on sale, with the 550 gram product selling for $4.50 instead of $6, representing a saving of 25 per cent (top)

Coles Fresh Produce general manager Brad Gorman said the discount was to support farmers.

'Our banana growers have massive crops this year so we're supporting them by taking as many as we can. This not only helps our growers but also our customers who are getting fantastic quality Aussie-grown fruit at a great price,' Mr Gorman said.

The banana sale will last until Tuesday, May 31.

Coles brand Banana Bread is also on sale, with the 550 gram product selling for $4.50 instead of $6, representing a saving of 25 per cent.

One slice of Pinnacle Bakery Banana Bread is $1 at Coles.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Coles and Mackays Bananas for further comment.

Bananas have dropped in price 50 cents per kilogram across NSW stores for a week due to oversupply following perfect growing conditions

'Our banana growers have massive crops this year so we're supporting them by taking as many as we can. This not only helps our growers but also our customers who are getting fantastic quality Aussie-grown fruit at a great price,' Coles Fresh Produce general manager Brad Gorman said

On Tuesday, a Coles social media staffer seemingly told a customer on the company Facebook page that some of its milk was whipped up from powder.

'We can confirm that Coles Brand Fresh milk is made from reconstituted powder,' the Coles employee wrote.

The post sparked an instant uproar with company representatives eventually claiming the post was a 'typo' and was meant to say the milk is 'not' made from powder.

'We can 100% confirm Coles brand milk is fresh and not made with reconstituted milk,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Coles has also been criticised this week over the struggles of dairy farmers.

Customers have rallied around farmers by opting to buy only branded milk, posting pictures of empty shelves online.

On Tuesday, a Coles social media staffer seemingly told a customer on the company Facebook page the milk was whipped up from powder. A Coles spokesperson later said it was a typo and that their milk is not made from powder
The heartbreaking text messages sent from Sydney siege victim Tori Johnson to loved ones just moments before he was executed, have been revealed at an inquest.

The Lindt cafe manager was one of 18 people held hostage by gunman Man Haron Monis during the 17-hour stand-off in Martin Place in December 2014.

On Wednesday, the inquest heard Mr Johnson had sent the final texts to family members before he was fatally shot by Monis, who was killed when police stormed the building.

'I love you all, I'm still alive, very scared,' the text, sent at 10pm, read.

Scroll down for video

The heartbreaking text messages sent from Sydney siege victim Tori Johnson (pictured) to loved ones just moments before he was executed, have been revealed at an inquest

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins (pictured) who was in commander during the final hours of the deadly siege, said he was unaware of the text messages

Just 30 minutes before he was shot dead, Mr Johnson sent an ominous text to a family member at 1.43am on December 16.

'He's (Monis) increasingly agitated, walks around when he hears a noise outside with a hostage in front of him. Wants to release one person in good faith, tell police,' the message read.

The text message was conveyed to police at 1.53am.

However, Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins who was in command during the final hours of the deadly siege, claimed he was unaware of the text messages.

Mr Jenkins said he would not have expected to receive news of the text from his position at Police Operations Command, but agreed it was important information for those at the front line.

'It's certainly important from a forward command position, yes,' he told an inquest on Wednesday.

Barrister and mother Katrina Dawson (pictured) was killed when she was hit by shrapnel from police bullets

Police stormed the cafe at 2.13am after Monis shot Mr Johnson dead from point-blank range.

Barrister Katrina Dawson died after being hit by a police bullet as they stormed inside, while Monis was also killed.

Mr Jenkins was repeatedly pressed to reveal if he would have supported police storming the cafe when Monis first discharged his gun at 2.03am, if they'd known he was aiming at a group of fleeing hostages, and not above their heads as police first believed.

'If I was convinced the shot was made directly at hostages then yes, I would have thought an EA (emergency action) should have been activated ... but I was not told that at the time and I don't know that to be the case today,' he told the inquest.

Lindt employee Elly Chen (pictured) managed to escape the cafe by scrambling out a side door about seven hours into the ordeal

Gunman Man Haron Monis was killed when police stormed the building after the 17-hour stand-off in 2014

Mr Jenkins was again pushed to state what his attitude would have been if he'd known Monis shot at the hostages.

'If there was unequivocal evidence that the shot was at hostages then that would have raised the level to an imminent threat of serious injury or death, and that would have warranted an EA,' he said.

But later, Mr Jenkins insisted storming the cafe was never his decision to make.

'It's the forward commander's responsibly to call an EA,' he said.
Investigators believe they have found the bodies of a married couple who disappeared from their Washington state home last month.

Patrick Shunn, 45, and his wife, Monique Patenuade, 46, were reported as missing on April 11 after neighbors found their puppy running loose, according to CBC News.

Now authorities have discovered the couple's bodies in a remote spot north of Seattle near their home after a tip off by suspect Tony Clyde Reed.

Scroll down for video

Investigators believe they have found the bodies of married couple Patrick Shunn, 45, and his wife, Monique Patenuade, 46, who disappeared from their Washington state home last month

Washington state couple, Patrick Shunn, 45 (pictured with his wife, left), and his wife, Monique Patenuade (left and right), 46, were reported missing on Tuesday by neighbors who found their puppy running loose

Reed, 49, and his brother John, 53, both ex-cons, had fled to Mexico after the 'suspicious' disappearance.

Tony, who finally surrendered to police last week after a month-long manhunt, appeared in Snohomish County Superior Court on Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and unlawful firearm possession.

Police are still searching for his brother who had lived near the couple near Oso, about 50 miles northeast of Seattle.

John Reed had been in an 'ongoing and constant' dispute with the neighboring couple which had recently escalated after Shunn and Patenuade reported him for illegally squatting on a piece of land.

Snohomish County medical examiner's office will confirm the identity of the bodies and cause of death.

Tony Reed, 49, (left) and his brother John, 53, (right) both ex-cons, had fled to Mexico after the 'suspicious' disappearance. Tony has since surrendered to police and given them a tip where the bodies can be found

Court records say the couple had been involved in a legal dispute with neighbor John Reed who repeatedly trespassed on their property (pictured) near the Stillaguamish River with recreational vehicles and unleashed dogs

The search for the couple began in earnest after their vehicles - a tan 2000 Land Rover Discovery and a black 1995 Jeep - were found in a wooded area of Oso, about four miles west of their Arlington home.

Authorities also found a vehicle that belonged to John Reed in Ellensburg three days later.

Both Reed brothers have previous criminal records. John was convicted in 1994 of attempting to elude a police vehicle, while Tony Reeds criminal history includes a 1989 drug conviction and a 1996 assault, as well as an attempt to elude a police vehicle in 1996.

Court records also show Tony Reed was involved in burglary and theft.

Shunn and Patenuade filed a civil lawsuit against their neighbors for repeatedly trespassing on their property with recreational vehicles and unleashed dogs., according to court records cited by the Seattle Times.

The trial had been scheduled for later this year.

In the weeks building up to the disappearance, tensions between Reed and the couple had reached a peak after they reported him to authorities for squatting on a piece of land he used to own, but sold to the county.

On another occasion Reed 'reportedly stated he would shoot or assault them if they didnt leave' when he found them trimming brush between along their shared driveway.

Police found their Jeep and Land Rover off an embankment in the remote woods near Oso, about four miles west of their Arlington home

Shunn and Patenaude, who shared a common driveway with Reed, had long been wary about raising the temper of their neighbor, the Seattle Times reports.

Two years ago Shunn and Patenaude filed a complaint over alleged harassment and threats made by neighbors.

Reed was not named in that lawsuit, according to a former lawyer for the couple, because they did not want to risk angering him.

'They weren't looking forward to any kind of conflict with Mr. Reed,' lawyer Thomas Adams said Monday. 'They didn't want to provoke any kind of an issue with him.'

The neighbors had also got involved in a dispute over a condemned property that Reed had been forced to sell to the county following a deadly landslide in the area in 2014.

Reed said he had no intention of moving off the land he had occupied for 18 years following the slip, but had worried it would be condemned if local authorities didn't repair his driveway.

Deputies were told that Reed threatened Federal Emergency Management Agency workers over the issue, and spoke about 'driving his truck through the building and taking everyone out with him.'

The property was eventually condemned, and on March 31 Reed was forced to sell it to the county, shortly before Patenaude reported him for continuing to squat there.

Shunn's brother Erik noted on Facebook on April 13 that a neighbor had 'harassed Monique and is not a good guy.'

Shunn (pictured) failed to appear at work on April 12. His brother Erik noted on Facebook that a neighbor had 'harassed Monique and is not a good guy,' although no suspects have been named

'He is squatting on a property adjacent to Pat and Monique's,' Erik Shunn's since-deleted post said. 'He is missing too and I think if they can find him, we will get some answers.'

Erik said he became concerned when Shunn, who worked at an aircraft-interior refurbishing firm in Kirkland, didn't turn up for work and failed to call in sick, which was 'very uncharacteristic of him'.

In a Facebook post the previous day, on April 12, he said: 'Pat and Monique have pets and livestock and they havent been taken care of the last day and a half.'

Snohomish County Sheriff's spokesperson Shari Ireton said 'nothing seemed amiss' inside their home.

Shunn and Patenaude met at Burning Man, a friend told CBC.
The leader of a missionary baptist megachurch in Georgia has spoken for the first time about the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him by four young men.

Bishop Eddie Long, who remains the leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, faced the accusations in 2010.

Four men said Long had coerced them into having sexual relations with him, taking them on trips, buying them gifts and using Biblical quotes to justify his behavior when they were teenage members of his church.

Long, who settled the case in 2011, cannot discuss it into much detail due to the legal agreement - but he told Steve Harvey about how he once contemplated suicide in an interview set to air Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

Bishop Eddie Long (left), who remains the leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, told Steve Harvey (right) about the accusations of sexual misconduct he faced in 2010

'Can you answer this question with a yes or a no: did you ever have sexual relationships with any of your accusers?' Harvey asked.

'I'm bound by court. I can't make any statement about that,' Long replied as a woman could be seen in the audience shaking her head.

Anthony Flagg, Spencer LeGrande, Jamal Parris and Maurice Robinson filed lawsuits against Long in September 2010.

They said the pastor took them on long trips to New York, New Zealand and South Africa and bribed them with gifts such as cars.

Harvey (right) asked Long (left) whether he'd had sexual relations with any of his accusers, but the pastor said he couldn't answer the question due to a settlement agreement reached in 2011

They claimed Long used Biblical quotes to justify their sexual activities.

The four men said the sexual misconduct happened when they were 17 and 18 years old, beyond the age of consent in Georgia, which is 16 years old.

Police did not press criminal charges as a result.

Long, who had established a strong anti-gay persona by that time, denied the accusations at the time and settled the case in May 2011. The terms remained undisclosed.

The pastor told his congregation in February that he had considered ending his own life.

'When I was being condemned from the four corners of the Earth... I had a moment. I had a moment when I wanted to kill myself. And was ready,' he told the crowd.

Harvey asked Long in Wednesday's interview whether this had been his darkest hour.

'You hear so much from so many. And I guess the shouts, when you're going through... The shouts of your haters seem to be louder and more multiplied than people who are with you,' Long said.

'And somehow, because we have a bend towards the negative anyway, they get to your ear.'

Long's wife Vanessa (pictured left with him) filed for divorce after the accusations but eventually withdrew the petition. Long (pictured left and right in an earlier shot) told Harvey the two still had challenges nowadays

When Harvey asked why Long settled the cases, Long said he asked himself: 'Am I going to win the battle or do I need to win the war?'

'I had to make the decision to save me, save my family and save the church,' he added according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Long's wife Vanessa filed for divorce in late 2011 before withdrawing her petition. The couple are still married today.

'How did you get your marriage back on track?' Harvey asked.

'It's a lot of focus. We still have some challenges, to be very honest with you. But we're together and we're working through that and we're growing,' Long replied.

'If it wasn't for her I would have been gone.'

The interview will air at 3pm on WAGA Fox 5 in Atlanta.

Long took over the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, in 1987, and rose to fame afterwards.
Advertisement

Donald Trump has hit out at 'thugs' and 'criminals' who protested a rally in Albuquerque last night which turned violent when demonstrators trying to disrupt his speech clashed with riot police, set fire to flags and sent people running in fear over the sound of a 'gunshot'.

Around 100 protesters broke through a barricade outside the building shortly after Trump took to the stage, trying to throw rocks through a window and at police, and setting fires on the street outside.

One officer said that a shot was fired from a pellet gun, and a second officer said it was a bullet - though subsequent reports have cast doubts over the 'gunfire'.

Smoke canisters erupted through the streets as police tried to surround the protesters, while multiple officers are being treated for injuries and one protester has been arrested, police told Daily Mail Online. Protesters were also reportedly chanting 'Viva Mexico' while setting fire to pro-Trump flags.

Trump took to his Twitter account on Wednesday morning to say: 'The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS

Thugs and criminals waving Mexican flags? Donald Trump took to Twitter to hit out at protesters, much like the ones pictured, outside his rally in Albuquerque; several clashed with police after throwing rocks and setting fires in the street

Make America Burn Again? Some protesters could be seen lighting fire to a Trump flag which resembled The Stars and Stripes of America

A young man runs throw the smoke and crowds as the anti-Trump demonstration in Albuquerque last night descended into chaos

About 100 protesters broke through a barricade outside the building shortly after Trump took to the stage, and tried to throw rocks through a window. Others set fires on the street and threw rocks at police (pictured)

Riot police pepper spray demonstrators outside the Albuquerque Convention Center after the rally, which turned violent amid the protests

Defiant: A protester faces the riot police who were armed with batons and wearing gas masks as the scene unraveled into chaos late last night

Retreat: Protesters help a fellow demonstrator who was affected by the smoke and pepper spray used by police to disburse the crowd outside Trump's Albuquerque rally

Riot police run across the street during the confrontation as anti-Trump protests erupt in front of the Albuquerque Convention Center

Mounted riot police approach the crowds as protesters were cornered and rounded up during the highly-charged confrontation

Not mincing his words: This sign in Spanish reads, 'Trump, ch***a tu madre' - which translates to 'Trump, f*** your mom'

Riot control officers, armed with breathing masks, helmets, padding and batons stand ready to engage with protesters

A man and two women flash peace signs at police who stand blocking reporters from entering the convention center in Albuquerque

A woman wearing a Bernie Sanders 'Feel the Bern' t-shirt stands before a police blockade outside the building where the rally was held

A protester against Donald Trump holds a burning t-shirt (left) and another (right) brandishes a sign calling the mogul a 'facist' [sic]

A mounted policeman's horse falls over amid the chaos which erupted last night. The event was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a city with a large immigrant population

Outraged: Trump was furious last night at being interrupted during his speech and then took to Twitter to hit out at the ugly scenes that took place outside his rally, accusing them of being 'thugs who were flying the Mexican flag'

Albuquerque Police locked down the convention center's main hall, which was empty except for staff, security and reporters filing stories.

Activists outside had tried to force their way in as Trump was finishing an hour-long speech, but a line of police forced them back. One table holding a vendor's Trump merchandise was set on fire, and protesters threw flaming t-shirts at police.

They responded with smoke canisters and pepper spray in an effort to disperse the crowd.

Some could be seen waving the Mexican flag chanting 'Viva Mexico', while others were seen setting fire to a Trump flag that resembled the Stars and Stripes, according to Fox News.

Inside the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages 'Trump is Fascist' and 'We've heard enough.'

He responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to 'Go home to mommy'.

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, 'How old is this kid?' He then provided his own answer: 'Still wearing diapers.'

Trump's supporters responded with chants of 'Build that wall!'

Protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, 'Make America Great Again.' The scenes were reminiscent of a rally which was postponed in Chicago back in March when supporters of Trump and demonstrators clashed.

Inside the convention center, the billionaire boasted that there was 'no safer place on earth' than at one of his rallies.

Much of his speech was dedicated to blasting Hillary Clinton, his likely rival in the general election later this year.

He called Clinton 'Obama-lite' during his speech, which lasted more than an hour saying that 'it's hard to believe you could get lighter than Obama.'

'Hillary can't even put away Bernie!' he said, referring to the scrappy Senator Bernie Sanders, who is giving her the fight of her life in the Democratic primary.

A Trump supporter poses for a photograph while a protester is removed from the crowd behind him by police during Trump's speech

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers

The banners included the messages 'Trump is Fascist' and 'We've heard enough'. Pictured is a protester wearing an 'I love NM [New Mexico] t-shirt being removed from the building

As good as they get: Supporters of Trump shout encouragement as law enforcement removes to men from the crowd before the Republican presumptive candidate took to the stage

'Crooked Hillary, she can't put him away.'

'I gotta give him credit,' he said later. 'Crazy Bernie's out there trying hard.'

But he went out of his way to clobber Clinton on her personal speaking habits as much as for her policy ideas.

'I will never say this,' he said - and then said it. 'She screams. it drives me crazy. I can't listen!'

He complained that Clinton had passed judgment on his pattern of turning a profit by buying distressed and foreclosed housing and reselling it at a profit when the market turned upward.

'She goes, "And Donald Trump is a terrible person! And he wanted to buy housing when it was at a low point!"'

'Who the hell doesn't?' he yelled, drawing a mixture of laughing and cheers.

He also reserved plenty of insults for Elizabeth Warren, the woman he claims will be Clinton's running mate, and with whom he has an ongoing Twitter fight.

'How old is this kid?' Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to 'Go home to mommy'

Much of his speech was dedicated to blasting Hillary Clinton, his likely rival in the general election later this year, calling her 'Obama-lite'

Popularity contest: He may have been disrupted, but Trump had lots of fans in attendance, including one person who wanted the presumptive nominee to sign his US Border Patrol baseball cap; he also appeared to sign a woman's T-shirt

'You know, Hillary Clinton has somebody. Did you ever hear of Pocahontas? It's Pocahontas, Elizabeth Warren!' he shouted to thousands gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Warren famously described herself as a native American, based on a tiny branch of her family tree, in order to gain preferential treatment in law school hiring.

'She said she was an Indian!' Trump laughed. 'She said because her cheekbones were so high, she was an Indian! That she's Native American! ... We're getting wise to what's happening. It's a big scam.'

Trump also returned to a theme from last week's National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where he received the gun-rights lobby group's endorsement.

Clinton 'wants to take your guns away and she wants to abolish the Second Amendment,' he claimed.

And he insisted that Clinton's economic plan would disadvantage black teens whose unemployment rate is far above the national average.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump each won primaries in Washington state Tuesday.

Trump's win helps him inch closer to clinching the GOP nomination for president. He is within 41 delegates of the number needed to become the Republican nominee.

Clinton's win might give her some momentum, but it won't get her any delegates. There were no delegates at stake in the Democratic primary.

Washington Democrats already awarded their delegates based on party caucuses.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (pictured) speaks at a campaign event in Albuquerque, on Tuesday. He won the Republican primary in Washington state Tuesday night

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (pictured) reacts as she arrives at a rally at the University of California, Riverside on Tuesday. She won the Democratic primary for in Washington state on Tuesday

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won Washington's caucuses in March, getting 74 delegates. Clinton got 27.

Republicans in Washington will allocate all 44 delegates to their national convention based on the primary results.

Trump won at least 27 delegates on Tuesday, with 17 still left to be allocated. The billionaire businessman has 1,196 delegates. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination.

There are no more Republican contests until June 7, when the last five states vote.

With a total of 303 delegates at stake in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, Trump should easily clinch the nomination that day.

Trump is the only remaining candidate in the GOP contest. But his former opponents, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, were still on the ballot because they suspended their campaigns after the ballots were printed.

Trump won a total of 76.2 percent in the race which helps him inch closer to clinching the GOP nomination for president

Trump (left) won at least 27 delegates on Tuesday, with 17 still left to be allocated. Clinton (right) is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president

Ben Carson was also on the ballot because he never submitted the paperwork to have his name removed.

Sanders trails Hillary Clinton in the delegate count and he is running out of contests in his longshot bid to catch up.

Clinton is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president. She is on track to do so in early June, even if she loses all the remaining contests.

Clinton has 1,768 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. Sanders has 1,497.

Clinton's lead is even bigger when superdelegate endorsements are included. These are the party leaders and elected officials who can support the candidate of their choice.

Overall, Clinton has 2,305 delegates and Sanders has 1,539. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

The billionaire businessman has 1,196 delegates. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination. There are no more Republican contests until June 7, when the last five states vote

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday night, protests (pictured) erupted outside of Trump rally in Albuquerque as demonstrators clashed with riot police

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday night, protests erupted outside of Trump rally in Albuquerque as demonstrators clashed with riot police.

Roughly 100 protesters broke through a barricade outside of the building shortly after the GOP presidential front-runner took to the stage.

They attempted to throw rocks through the window and set fires on the street outside.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages 'Trump is Fascist' and 'We've heard enough.'

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to 'Go home to mommy.'
Hillary Clinton was yelled at again in California on Tuesday evening, this time by a University of California students and Bernie Sanders supporters who were upset she was allowed to campaign on their campus.

Students stood outside chanting for hours before Clinton arrived and continued making noise as she spoke indoors.

Screaming over her speech, which aired on a loudspeaker at the entrance of the event so the overflow crowd could listen in, as well, several dozen UC Riverside students hollered 'S-T-O-P, H is for hypocrisy.'

Five protesters who were part of the larger group planted themselves in the front row of her rally and heckled her during her remarks.

Scroll down for video

Hillary Clinton was yelled at again in California on Tuesday evening, this time by a University of California students and Bernie Sanders supporters who were upset she was allowed to campaign on their campus

Five protesters who were part of the larger group planted themselves in the front row of her rally and heckled her during her remarks

Students stood outside chanting for hours before Clinton arrived and continued making noise as she spoke indoors

Angry about everything from her deportation policies to her ties to Wall Street to her support for intervention in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries, students gathered round the campus building where her event was being held to show their displeasure with her candidacy

After they were escorted out, one of the hecklers, Yesenia Padilla, told DailyMail.com that 'as a person of color, it's insulting for UC to let Hillary Clinton come to our campus.'

Clinton claims to be a champion of minority rights, she said, but takes contradictory positions.

Padillia said Clinton supporters 'aggressively' pushed and shoved them until finally they were led out by Secret Service.

Outside the event, protesters blared a siren and shouted at Clinton supporters that their candidate is a 'war criminal.'

'Hey, hey, ho, ho, Hillary has got to go,' they yelled. 'Who's university? My university!' they at another point said.

In an email to DailyMail.com on Wednesday UC Riverside's Assistant Vice Chancellor of Strategic Communications said the Clinton campaign rented the facility.

In response to a question about whether a dance performance had been cancelled to make way for the Clinton event as a protester claimed, the university said it was one of two identical performances and the other was rescheduled for tonight.

Angry about everything from her deportation policies, to her ties to Wall Street, to her support for intervention in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries, students gathered round the campus building where the event was held to show their displeasure with Clinton's candidacy.

Freshman David Udell lambasted Clinton for taking positions that are not favored by the far left.

To be curt, he said, 'she a liar.'

Screaming over her speech, which aired on a loudspeaker at the entrance of the event so the overflow crowd could listen in as well several dozen UC Riverside students hollered 'S-T-O-P, H is for hypocrisy'

Many of the protesters outside the event wore or carried Sanders SWAG though none mentioned him directly as they took on Clinton. Sanders had held a rally earlier in the afternoon in Riverside

Freshman David Udell, pictured, lambasted Clinton for taking positions that are not favored by the far left. To be curt, he said, 'she a liar'

'What is this, this white, liberal feminism,' said Udell. 'This is supposed to be the party of progressives.'

Udell said Clinton 'is not a progressive - she's a blue dog Democrat.'

'Hillary is a candidate of the rich,' he said. 'She's like the cat's paw of corporate interests, of Wall Street.'

Taking aim at her record as secretary of state, he said, 'Hillary is a known supporter of American imperialism.'

Udell said Clinton is 'not popular' with the student body at UC Riverside, which boasts a community of 22,000.

'The more I hear from her, the more I am disappointed and kind of a little disgusted with her policy changes,' said third-year student Sandra Monroy.

Clinton said things 10 years ago that were very 'backwards,' she said, referencing Clinton's stance on marriage.

The former Obama administration official continues to believe that children who come to the country illegally from Latin America should be sent home, Monroy said, criticizing the federal government's policy of putting 'them in detention centers that are coldhearted' after they arrive.

'I am very disillusioned with her,' Monroy confessed.

She said one of her 'main concerns' with Clinton is that she declared herself the winner of the Democratic race even though it hasn't concluded.

'I don't think it was OK for her to come' to campus and act as though the 'self-evident truth' is that she will be the nominee and tell Sanders supporters they ought to 'settle and get over it,' Monroy said.

Many of the protesters outside the event wore or carried Sanders SWAG, though none mentioned him directly as they took on Clinton.

Sanders had held a rally earlier in the afternoon in Riverside and was on his way to San Bernardino when Clinton's event was interrupted.

His supporters camped outside a Clinton event last time she was in the state, as well, and held up signs deeming her 'Killary'.
Storm Prediction Center says storms are forecast all week in Great Plains

Police reported critical injuries in Kansas from eight to nine tornadoes

National Weather Service in Tulsa said multiple homes suffered extensive damage near Shamrock

structures were damaged by 'probable' tornado in Oklahoma

Four to six

Tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas cause damage to homes and buildings and police confirm several injuries as storms continue to batter the Great Plains region.

Several structures were damaged as a 'probable' tornado touched down in northeast Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologist Pete Snyder said the storm struck Tuesday afternoon northwest of Bristow, damaging homes.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Tuesday evening that Highway 16 reopened after being blocked by debris.

Tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas cause damage to homes and buildings and police confirm several injuries as storms continue to batter the Great Plains region

Several structures were damaged as a 'probable' tornado touched down in northeast Oklahoma

No fatalities were reported as of 8.30pm Tuesday, but there are some critical injuries, but no word on how many

The patrol said about four to six structures had been damaged.

An Oklahoma resident tweeted a photo of a police vehicle as the tornado lurked in the background.

Just after 6pm Tuesday evening, a large tornado was spotted by storm chasers near Dodge City, Kansas.

The National Weather Service confirmed a home was destroyed in Ensign as the tornado moved north toward Dodge City.

After the tornado passed, damage was reported on the west side of the city, as well as a propane leak.

A large tornado was also reported near Scott City in western Kansas.

Gusts of 55-60 mph damaged roofs and knocked down power lines in Hoisington, Kansas, while torrential downpours caused major flash flooding in and around Great Bend, Kansas, with 6-12 inches of water reported on several roads, according to the NWS.

Ford County PIO JD Gilbert told KWCH that crews were searching homes to make sure everyone is accounted for.

He said there are no fatalities to report as of 8.30pm Tuesday, but he said there are some critical injuries, just no word on how many.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray said there were reports of eight to nine tornadoes in the storm that rumbled through Kansas. In counties across west Kansas, there were reports of power outages and roofs being blown off homes and other buildings

The National Weather Service in Tulsa said multiple homes suffered extensive damage near Shamrock. A tornado moves through the area near Woodward, Oklahoma as the sun sets

Gilbert told the station that Ford County's landfill building was also destroyed by what was believed to be straight-line winds.

In neighboring counties, there were reports of power outages and roofs being blown off homes and other buildings.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray said there were reports of eight to nine tornadoes in the storm that blew through Kansas.

One of the tornadoes overturned a tractor-trailer, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Tulsa said multiple homes suffered extensive damage near Shamrock, KOTV reported.

In Bristow, the NWS said trees blocked a turnpike entrance ramp, and one home was damaged.

Earlier KOTV reported that just under 2,000 people in Bristow were without power.

Tornado warnings were also issued in parts of eastern Colorado and the Texas Panhandle.

A 13-year-old was swept away in flood water Tuesday due to severe storms in Arkansas.

Authorities confirmed that the boy was found alive, according to KAIT 8.
It is claimed Thiel was angry over attempts to 'out' him as gay in 2007

A well-known Silicon Valley billionaire businessman is allegedly the investor who backed Hulk Hogan through his legal battle against Gawker Media.

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, is footing the legal bill for the former wrestler who won his suit against Gawker in March, according to Forbes.

It is claimed Thiel backed the legal case against Gawker after the site published an article in 2007 claiming 'Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.'

At the time, Thiel had not disclosed his sexuality publicly, but has since confirmed that he is gay.

Scroll down for video

Peter Thiel (pictured), the co-founder of PayPal, is footing the legal bill for the former wrestler who won his suit against Gawker in March, according to Forbes

Hogan (pictured) won more than $115million after a jury sided with him in his suit against the online news organization. He claimed his privacy was violated in 2012 when it published a sex tape involving him and the wife of an ex-friend

Hogan won more than $115million after a jury sided with him in his suit against the online news organization.

He claimed his privacy was violated in 2012 when it published a sex tape involving him and the wife of an ex-friend.

Thiel, who is a co-founder and partner at Founders Fund, played 'a lead role in bankrolling the cases Terry Bollea, a.k. Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker,' Forbes reported.

Gawker said in a statement to Huffington Post on Wednesday: 'According to these reports, a board member of Facebook and the Committee to Protect Journalists has been secretly funding a legal campaign against our journalists.

'We trust the appeals court will correct the outsized Florida jury verdict and reaffirm the law that protects a free and critical press, which is more embattled and important than ever.'

Gawker then correct statement to say the person they are referring to is a 'major funder' of the Committee to Protect Journalists, not a board member.

Gawker founder Nick Denton told the New York Times on Monday that he suspected someone in the Silicon Valley might be financially assisting Hogan.

'If you're a billionaire and you don't like the coverage of you, and you don't particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, it's a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases,' he told the Times.

'It's unclear how Thiel, who is worth an estimated $2.7billlion, became connected to Hogan or if he is the only financial backer of the legal case against Gawker.

In addition, it's unknown if Thiel, who is a Donald Trump supporter, will benefit from any of the proceeds that Hogan won, as Gawker is currently appealing the March ruling.

Thiel and Denton have a complicated history, as Gawker attempted to expose his sexuality in late 2007, before the businessman came out as gay.

In 2009, Thiel said in an interview with PEHub that Valleywag, a now-defunct Silicon Valley-focused publication owned by Gawker is the 'Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.'

He said: 'I think they should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters

'I dont understand the psychology of people who would kill themselves and blow up buildings, and I dont understand people who would spend their lives being angry; it just seems unhealthy.'

Thiel (left) is said to have played 'a lead role in bankrolling the cases... Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker,' which was founded by Nick Denton (right)

Denton (above) told the New York Times on Monday that he suspected someone in the Silicon Valley might be financially assisting Hogan. Thiel and Denton have a complicated history

Denton told Forbes on Tuesday that he believed financial support for Hogan was coming from Silicon Valley, as ValleyWag spent two years starting in 2006 'exposing the personal and sometimes darker sides' to some of the power players living in the area.

'We write stories about powerful people in New York, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in New York,' he said.

'We write stories about powerful people in LA, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in LA.

'What's unique about Gawker is that we're an internet publication and the tech industry is of particular interest to us.

'There are powerful people in Silicon Valley and the power of Silicon Valley is a relatively new phenomenon.'

Hogan's attorney would not comment about the allegation that Thiel financially supported his client.

The practice of an outside entity helping fund another party's lawsuit is not illegal in the US.

Secretive third-party financings of lawsuits can put media companies at a disadvantage during litigation, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, in an interview Tuesday.

'There might be circumstances in which knowing who your real adversary is or the real party of interest who is making a suit against you may alter one's perception of the case and strategies for defense.'
A mother and her three-year-old daughter died Tuesday after an Amtrak train crashed into their SUV in the San Francisco Bay Area, authorities said.

The front of the SUV was crushed beneath the train in San Leandro, where the crash occurred Tuesday afternoon.

Vanessa Henriquez, 30, and her three-year-old daughter, Saidy, both of Oakland, were attended by Alameda County Fire and Paramedics Plus but they were pronounced dead at the scene, according to KRON4.

Vanessa Henriquez, 30, (right) and her three-year-old daughter, Saidy, (left) both of Oakland, were attended by Alameda County Fire and Paramedics Plus but they were pronounced dead at the scene

The front of the SUV was crushed beneath the train in San Leandro, where the crash occurred Tuesday afternoon

The train pushed the SUV to what appears to be an eight and a quarter of a mile down the train tracks, according to police

The crash occurred at a railroad crossing, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. She did not know whether the arms were down.

Henriquez also had a young son and was married to a man named Lorenzo.

There were 39 passengers on the train bound for Sacramento from San Jose. None of them was injured, Graham said.

The train is allowed to go up to 79 mph through the area. Graham said she didn't know how fast it was going.

The train pushed the SUV to what appears to be an eight and a quarter of a miles down the train tracks, according to police.

The scene might have been confusing for the driver of the SUV, San Leandro Police Lt. Robert McManus said. 'There is a construction zone which could have created some confusion,' McManus told KNTV-TV.

But another TV station, KTVU-TV, reported the SUV was stopped on the tracks because of traffic.

Henriquez also had a young son (left) and was married to a man named Lorenzo. Right: Daughter Saidy

There were 39 passengers on the train bound for Sacramento from San Jose. None of them was injured

Mother and 3-year-old child die in horrific Amtrak crash in San Leandro. https://t.co/0SI8pGzPVZhttps://t.co/ETdiA1yXtV  NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) 24 May 2016

'I suddenly turned around and heard this impact ... Wham!'

A man who was eating lunch at a nearby restaurant told NBC Bay Area: 'The train basically dragged the car all the way down - it stopped pretty fast, but it was too late.

Paul Wilke, a passenger on the train, told the news station that the train was moving at normal speed when he heard a long whistle and felt the train slow down and crash before stopping quickly.

Passenger Western Pokorny, who spoke with the conductor moments after the crash told NBC Bay Area: 'I heard the screeching and then bang. [The conductor] said: 'Please tell me they got out of the vehicle.' I said, 'No one got out the of the vehicle they are gone.''

Alameda County Fire tweeted out a photo of the scene shortly before 2 pm and confirmed that there were two fatalities in the collision.
Teachers at Aurukun in remote Queensland were evacuated on Wednesday following a spate of violent incidents. It comes days after principal Scott Fatnowna (pictured) was attacked with an axe

Teachers at a troubled remote Queensland school will be evacuated for the second time in a fortnight following a spate of violent incidents after the principal was attacked with an axe.

The Queensland government will be removing teachers from Aurukun in the next 24 hours after a series of incidents - believed to be attempted break-ins - on Tuesday night.

Staff will not be returning to the troubled Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy for six weeks.

Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said the latest incidents were enough to 'tip people over the edge in terms of their stress levels'.

'We're certainly aware people were showing signs of severe anxiety,' he said.

'Every noise caused people to be alert and unable to sleep.

'The key concern here is people's emotional wellbeing. People can't sustain the pressure they're under at the moment.'

The latest evacuation comes just days after Aurukun school principal Scott Fatnowna was attacked and carjacked for a second time in two weeks.

The first incident earlier this month caused the evacuation of the school's 25 staff and the arrest of six people after Mr Fatnowna was attacked with an axe as he tried to stop people breaking into the homes of two teachers.

Violence has been prevalent in the small remote town of late with shocking footage emerging earlier this month of a group of women brawling in front of police.

Staff will not be returning to the troubled Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy in Aurkuan (pictured) for six weeks after a series of incidents - believed to be attempted break-ins - on Tuesday night

The Aurukun PCYC will offer alternative programs to students at Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy while the school is closed

The latest evacuation comes just days after Aurukun school principal Scott Fatnowna was attacked for a second time in two weeks, which resulted in the arrest of six people

The video shows a number of young women throwing bare-knuckled punches as onlookers stood by filming.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will visit Aurukun on Friday to attend a public meeting called by Mayor Derek Walpo.

She called an urgent meeting with her ministers and directors-general on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

'Number one has always been the safety of staff in Aurukun and the safety of the community,' she said.

Violence has been prevalent in the small remote town of late with shocking footage emerging earlier this month of a group of women brawling in front of police

The video shows a number of young women throwing bare-knuckled punches as onlookers stood by filming

Mayor Derek Walpo (pictured) has called for teachers to be protected by security guards following increased violence in the small remote town. He will meet with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday

'I've been advised that the teachers are feeling unsafe so we are going to get the teachers out.'

The Aurukun PCYC will offer alternative programs to students while the school is closed.

Mr Bates said it was now time for 'some very hard conversations' to be had about the bigger issues facing the troubled community.
A plane's emergency slide has been mistakenly opened by a flight attendant who actually meant to disarm the door after landing.

The Jetstar plane from Hobart landed in Melbourne on Wednesday morning when the emergency slide was deployed about 10 metres from its final stop, a Jetstar spokesperson has confirmed.

A passenger captured the blunder at Tullamarine Airport after landing at 9.15am, while officials approached the inflated slide from the Airbus A321.

A Jetstar plane from Hobart to Melbourne landed on Wednesday morning

'Arrived #Melbourne from #Hobart #Tasmania very safely (!) thanks to #Jetstar,' the passenger wrote on Twitter with photos.

A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the crew had been stood down from further duties 'as we look into what occurred'.

It appeared the error had been made by a cabin crew member when flight JQ 700 landed, Herald Sun reported.

A passenger named Michael visiting from Hobart reportedly said there was a 'big bang' when the slide was deployed.

'Arrived #Melbourne from #Hobart #Tasmania very safely (!) thanks to #Jetstar,' a passenger wrote on Twitter with photos of the mistakenly deployed emergency slide

A passenger named Michael visiting from Hobart reportedly said there was a 'big bang' when the slide was deployed

'The aircraft was slowly taxiing into the bay when the slide was deployed about 10 metres from its final stop,' a Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'Passengers disembarked through the usual exit and front stairs within 10 minutes of the slide deployment.'

The airline's spokesperson said safety systems stops emergency slides from deploying in the air.

Jetstar has notified the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority of the incident as part of normal procedures, the spokesperson said.

'The aircraft was slowly taxiing into the bay when the slide was deployed about 10 metres from its final stop,' a Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia
The producer says second-cycle hens lay eggs that are too big to sell

A farmer featured in a video believed to show how some chickens are killed has revealed some details about the short life of Australia's laying birds.

Joe Sacca, the owner of Forrestdale Farm Fresh Eggs, said chickens are obtained at one day old and it takes 17 weeks for them to start laying. They reach the end of their first laying cycle by 80 weeks.

'That is when we euthanise them because they have a few months where they can't lay, before they start their next (laying) cycle.

'And when they do lay in their next cycle the eggs are bigger and the supermarkets don't want them,' he said.

Scroll down for video

Joe Sacca, the owner of Forrestdale Farm Fresh Eggs, which recently came under fire for the alleged mistreatment of hens is standing by his on-site 'euthanasia' procedure

'We used to send them to the abattoirs but they don't want them any more because there is too much competition.'

Abattoirs can no-longer make money from disposing of the birds, according to the farmer.

'So the standards were changed to reflect that and they say that carbon dioxide gassing is an acceptable method of humane destruction,' he said.

Footage shot by a would-be customer of Mr Sacca's that emerged recently was believed to show hens put into a bin and gassed with carbon dioxide at his property.

Mr Sacca told Daily Mail Australia: 'My chickens are treated as humanely as possible.'

He has around 80,000 hens on his property and provides eggs to IGA, Chinese grocers and direct to the public.

The hens are then placed into this gas chamber where they are exposed to CO2 until their death

Mr Sacca said RSPCA inspectors came to the property following Mr Mace's complaints.

'The inspector didn't believe me when I told them carbon dioxide was part of the guidelines. But when I showed them, they agreed and left the property.

RSPCA guidelines found on their website state acceptable euthanasia methods. These include carbon dioxide, a captive bolt to the head and cervical dislocation.

Daily Mail Australia has approached the RSPCA for comment.

The Australian Egg Corporation Limited told Daily Mail Australia that it's industry practice that hens lay until they are 78 weeks old.

They also said the size of the egg preferred by the consumer varies between areas depending on the price customers are willing to pay.

The farmer says his staff abide by outlines which state gassing as an accepted form of euthanasia
A single winner of a massive $40 million lottery draw may have no idea they have become one of Australia's newest millionaires.

The winning ticket in Oz Lotto's draw on Tuesday night was sold in South Gippsland, Victoria, however the lucky winner is yet to come forward.

Tattersalls has urged anyone who purchased a ticket to check the results to see if they have pocketed an incredible $40 million.

A single winner of a massive $40 million lottery draw may have no idea they have become one of Australia's newest millionaires

The winning ticket in Oz Lotto's draw on Tuesday night was sold in South Gippsland, Victoria, however the lucky winner is yet to come forward (stock image)

'We're urging anyone who purchased an entry in last night's Oz Lotto draw 1162 in Victoria's South Gippsland region to check your ticket as soon as possible at any Tatts outlet or online at Tatts.com, because you could be the multi-millionaire we're waiting for,' Oz Lotto spokewoman Claire Taylor told the Herald Sun.

'We recommend that anyone who believes they are holding the winning ticket to keep it in a safe place and contact Tatts immediately to start the prize claim process.

Ms Taylor also urged all Oz Lotto players to register with Tattersalls, so the company 'can contact them directly with news of a big win'.

The lucky numbers needed to become $40 million richer were, 22, 32, 25, 11, 38, 4 and 5, with the supplementaries 20 and 40.
Officials approved a clarification in the law to only allow police to turn suspects over to immigration

San Francisco is keeping its controversial rules protecting illegal immigrants - despite pressure to scrap the sanctuary law after a Mexican national killed an American woman in a random shooting.

The city's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday for a clarification in the law that would only allow police to turn suspects over to federal immigration authorities, if they have been convicted of a violent crime within the last seven years.

However, it did allow San Francisco's sheriff leeway to contact immigration officials for repeat offenders.

San Francisco's City of Refuge act of 1989, in which authorities are not obligated to provide tell immigration authorities when they encounter an illegal immigrant, came under fire last year after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot dead by a Mexican national while walking along a pier.

Scroll down for video

San Francisco is keeping its controversial rules protecting illegal immigrants - despite pressure to scrap the sanctuary law after Mexican national Francisco Sanchez (right) killed American woman Kate Steinle (left) in a random shooting

Francisco Sanchez, who was facing drugs charges and was in the country illegally after being deported five times, was charged with her murder.

He had been released from San Francisco's jail despite a federal request to keep him in custody for deportation.

Video Courtesy KRON4

The shooting sparked fierce backlash against city leaders over San Francisco's 'soft' stance on illegal immigrants.

Critics and politicians, including presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, had called for tougher immigration laws and scrapping of the sanctuary law.

The sheriff at the time, Ross Mirkarimi had blamed the law on the decision to release Sanchez back onto the city streets.

The 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot dead by a Mexican national while walking along a pier (pictured)

Steinle was shot to death on a San Francisco pier. Authorities are seen in this file image taken from video

His replacement Vicki Hennessy, who took office in January, has called for more discretion for law enforcement to be able to inform immigration authorities about criminal suspects.

She had fought the Board's proposal although she admitted that even if she had been the sheriff at the time of the tragic shooting, she wouldn't have contacted the ICE about Sanchez because he was not wanted on a felony.

'Would Sanchez-Lopez have been detained under the sheriff's new criteria? 'I'm not going to say with certainty, but what I can say with certainty is that he would have been looked at,' Hennessy said before the vote Tuesday.

FRANCISCO SANCHEZ: 7-TIME FELON RELEASED ONTO U.S. STREETS Deported five times to Mexico 7-time felon across multiple states, including: Texas, Oregon and Arizona Now accused of murder in California Reportedly has multiple aliases with several birth dates Had an ICE 'detainer,' meaning local authorities were flagged to hold him for immigration Was most recently released following a marijuana arrest four months ag

Hennessy eventually agreed to a 'compromise' which allows her to share information on suspects with the ICE if the person is charged with a felony and has been convicted of one serious felony or convicted of three other qualifying felonies within the previous five years.

'We reached agreement that will serve public safety, family unity and bring our community together,' she said.

Supervisor John Avalos, the legislation's chief sponsor and longtime immigration advocate, said the ordinance reaffirms the message to immigrants that they won't be deported for reporting a crime or cooperating with police. 'We want to keep that clear separation,' he said.

The shooting of Steinle, described as a 'loving and caring person' by her distraught family, in July 2015 had sparked national outrage and calls for greater immigration laws from across the country.

Immigration officials revealed that Sanchez should have been sent to them when he was arrested four months prior to the killing, but was let go in accordance with San Francisco's 'sanctuary city' policy.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement had marked him as an 'enforcement priority' who should have been handed over immediately.

She'll be missed: Kate, pictured here with a male friend, was taken to hospital after the shooting where she sadly died

Beautiful bridesmaid: Here Kate is pictured celebrating as a bridesmaid at a friends wedding.

Brad Steinle, Liz Sullivan and Jim Steinle, the brother, mother and father of Steinle listen to their attorneys speak during a news conference on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco (September 2015 file photo)

But San Francisco officials admitted that due to a soft policy on undocumented immigrants, they do not always comply with the requests - which in Sanchez's case left him out on the streets on the night of the murder.

Republicans in Congress sought to punish cities like San Francisco, which is among hundreds of jurisdictions that decline to honor federal immigration requests, or 'detainers.'

Even prominent Democrats, such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, criticized Mirkarimi, saying repeat drug offender Juan Francisco Sanchez-Lopez should have been detained.

Sanctuary-city critics continue to chastise San Francisco officials. But immigration advocates say a bright-line rule is needed to protect people such as Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno.

The El Salvador native is in deportation proceedings after going to San Francisco police last year to report his car missing. He was in custody for two months.
Jimmy Carter believes Donald Trump violated 'basic human rights' in his comments on Muslims and Mexican immigrants.

The former president blasted Trump in an interview published by the New York Times on Monday, saying his campaign had 'tapped a waiting reservoir there of inherent racism'.

Carter, 91, said he had witnessed an increase in open racism in the United States lately.

'When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, that's a violation of basic human rights,' Carter said.

He was referring to Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the country in December last year and to statements in which Trump called Mexican immigrants criminals.

Scroll down for video

Jimmy Carter (pictured in August 2015) blasted Trump in an interview published by the New York Times on Monday, saying his campaign had 'tapped a waiting reservoir there of inherent racism'

Carter spoke to the New York Times to bring attention to a Baptist conference he will hold in Atlanta this fall, to address issues regarding race and social inequality.

He plans to bring together white, black, Asian and Hispanic Baptists, the New York Times wrote.

But the former president, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote democracy, human rights, as well as economic and social development, said he had noticed a return of open racism.

'I don't feel good, except for one thing: I think the country has been reawakened the last two or three years to the fact that we haven't resolved the race issue adequately.'

Carter told the New York Times Barack Obama's election was a hopeful sign, but he believes the Republican hostility against the president has 'a heavy racial overtone'.

'I think theres a heavy reaction among some of the racially conscious Republicans against an African-American being president,' he said.

He also disputed polls that show a strong support for Trump within evangelical Christians.

'The use of the word evangelical is a misnomer. I consider myself an evangelical as well. And obviously, what most of the news reporters thought were evangelicals are conservative Republicans,' he told the newspaper.

Carter announced in December last year that doctors had told him he was free of cancer, six months after announcing he had melanoma on his brain and liver.

He told the New York Times Monday he was feeling well.


Struggling dairy farmers and their families have paraded through the streets of major Australian cities to protest against the low milk prices driving them out of business.

Hundreds of angry farmers travelled from the depths of rural Australia to gather on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.

Tractors, buses, cows and stock horses filled the streets as protesters waved signs urging Australians to support local farmers by snubbing home brand dairy items.

It comes three weeks after industry giants Fonterra and Murray Goulburn cut the raw milk price paid to farmers by up to 10 per cent.

The cuts mean that in many cases farmers will have to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars because their milk did not sell at the same high price it was bought by processors.

Scroll down for video

Struggling dairy farmers and their families marched the streets of Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide to protest against the low milk prices driving them out of business

Pictured: Rhiannan Brennan, from the Goulburn Valley dairying region, holding her sixth son Ben as dairy farmers rally outside Parliament House in Melbourne

Hundreds of angry farmers travelled from the depths of rural Australia to gather on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide, Melbourne (pictured) and Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon

'4th Gen dairy farmer??? Ask Coles': Farming families made the journey from rural Australia to capital cities

This protester wore a provocative shirt to show his opposition to the slashing of raw milk price paid to farmers by up to 10 per cent

Dairy Farmer Ben Govett walks 'Sary' the dairy cow along Swanston Street on Wednesday

Several hundred protesters welcomed the federal government's $578 million support package but say more needs to be done to boost prices

In Melbourne, a family of farmers stood by a life-size black coffin which read: 'RIP Milk Industry. Supermarkets killing dairy industry (the final nail).'

Other placards read emotive messages like: 'No Farmers = No Future,' 'You need a farmer 3 times a day,' '4th Gen Dairy Farmer ??? Ask Coles' and 'Milk cows not farmers.'

Rhiannan Brennan, from the Goulburn Valley dairying region, was photographed carrying her sixth son Ben with an oversized worker's shirt.

'My husband makes sacrifices for thi$??!!,' the shirt read.

Several hundred protesters welcomed the federal government's $578 million support package but say more needs to be done to boost prices.

Susie Jacobs says her small operation near Echuca cannot reopen unless the unit price for milk rises by about 15 per cent.

Dairy farmers march from Federation Square to Parliament House during a rally in Melbourne

One woman dressed as a cow held up a sign drawing attention to the farmers suffering in the milk industry

Others held up large white balloons begging for the community to rally around struggling dairy farmers

'I'd love to get back into it but I just don't know,' she told AAP on Wednesday.

'It's just not viable.'

16-year-old Chloe Scott, who started a petition calling on Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to help deliver a better pricing system for farmers, gave an impassioned speech to the protesters.

Ms Scott, who started the petition after learning her father's milk prices would drop from 55 cents a litre to 14 cents a litre, has brought together 159,354 supporters to leave their signatures.

Senator Nick Xenophon and MP Bob Katter were among many political figures showing their support.

This dairy farmer braved the elements in his wheelchair to hold a sign saying: '3 time a day you need a farmer'

The young son of a fourth generation farmer stood alongside his family

For some farmers making the long commute, tractors were the preferred mode of transport down the strip

A farmer on a horse drawn cart marches alongside protesters as they made their way to Parliament House

Senator Nick Xenophon shows his support as he speaks on the steps of Parliament House

'Do you like your coffee black' and 'Boycott cheap milk': Two signs that were displayed during the protest

In South Australia, about 100 farmers rallied in support of the industry outside Parliament House in Adelaide, flanked by cows and dogs.

'If consumers can add one or two dairy items to their shopping trolley every week, collectively that will help the dairy industry and it will help profits to flow back to local farming communities,' dairy farmer Gino Pacitti told AAP.

'The first preference is to support local producers and if they can't find the local product, buy a branded product.'

Mr Pacitti said the federal government's $578 million support package would help some dairy farmers being hit by falling prices for their produce.

But it would not provide a quick fix and there was a need to continue increasing demand.

'Government assistance is most welcome and it's just the start of more assistance that we hope to receive,' he said.

'But there are other underlying issues which need to be addressed.'

SA Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell took aim at the 'big corporates' who were doing the wrong thing by dairy farmers.

'It's just unfair any way you look at it and it's terrific to see the support that people are having for our dairy farmers in our shops,' he told reporters.

16-year-old Chloe Scott, who started a petition calling on Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to help deliver a better pricing system for farmers, gave an impassioned speech to the protesters

This family held a small rally outside of Parliament House in Brisbane on Wednesday

Bob Katter MP speaks to Dairy Farmers, on the same day the federal government announced a $578 million support package

It comes three weeks after industry giants Fonterra and Murray Goulburn cut the raw milk price paid to farmers by up to 10 per cent - at huge personal cost to rural farmers

On Wednesday, dairy farmers were thrown a lifeline with access to a $578 million support package announced by the federal government, which will also include fortnightly allowances of $1000.

Farmers doing it tough since milk processors slashed farm-gate prices will immediately be offered $55 million in low-interest concessional loans, up to June 30.

The government package announced on Wednesday will also include $2 million to establish a commodity milk price index to allow for greater transparency and a dairy industry liaison officer in the Department of Human Services.

Mr Joyce told the ABC radio that dairy farmers also wanted money on the table through the Farm Household Allowance.

'That will allow a couple about $1000 a fortnight, this will keep the wolves from the door and the dignity in their house,' he said.

With concerns over the stress and mental health of farming communities, $900,000 has been set aside to establish nine new counsellors across Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Tasmania.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Adam Jenkins says farmers need to know now what the 2016/17 milk price will be.

'This is absolutely paramount to where we go,' Mr Jenkins told reporters.

'We do need to start getting a heads up on what that number looks like so our farmers can start moving forward into next season.'

'Sary' the dairy cow was one of the main stars in a protest held along Melbourne's Swanston Street
George Osborne again defended his 130 million 'sweetheart' tax deal with Google - and even boasted today about the amount HMRC had collected in corporate tax under his watch.

He is under renewed pressure after French police carried out a dawn raid on Google's Paris headquarters yesterday.

Angela Eagle, the shadow business secretary, accused the Chancellor of being 'far too satisfied' with 'his cosy little tax deal,' which he hailed as a 'major success' for the UK taxpayer earlier this year - despite the firm only paying HMRC 130 million for 10 years of back taxes.

And Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said MPs are demanding to know whether HMRC has requested evidence from the French police that led to yesterday's raid.

Scroll down for video

George Osborne (pictured standing in for David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions today) is under renewed pressure after French police carried out a dawn raid on Google's Paris headquarters yesterday

It opens up the possibility of UK authorities revisiting HMRC's deal with Google, which saw the firm pay just 130 million in tax over 10 years in the UK, despite estimated annual sales of 5.3 billion.

It would be humiliating for Mr Osborne and deal a blow to his hopes of succeeding David Cameron as Prime Minister.

Police officers, five magistrates, 25 computer experts and around 100 tax officials entered Google's premises in Paris at 5am yesterday morning.

The raid was part of an investigation into 'aggravated tax fraud' and money laundering at Google, which is accused of owing the French government 1.2billion in unpaid taxes - ten times more than the firm paid the UK taxpayer.

Investigation: Police officers were seen leaving the Paris offices of US internet giant Google last night

The shadow business secretary Angela Eagle (pictured standing in for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions today) accused the Chancellor of being 'far too satisfied' with 'his cosy little tax deal,' which he hailed as a 'major success' for the UK taxpayer earlier this year - despite the firm only paying HMRC 130 million for 10 years of back taxes

Mr Osborne, the Chancellor, was heavily criticised after he announced that the agreement in earlier this year as a 'major success' for the UK taxpayer.

It followed a six-year investigation by HMRC but tax officials have said they would be willing to review the deal if fresh information came to light.

France's socialist government has pointedly ruled out striking a similar deal with the company over back taxes.

And the aggressive approach adopted by French authorities towards the tech firm has been contrasted with Mr Osborne's deal.

Mr Osborne, standing in for Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions today, faced questions from Ms Eagle on whether he 'regretted' calling his tax agreement with Google in January 'good news for the British taxpayer'.

He dodged the question by defending the Government's overall record on corporate tax collection and hit back at Ms Eagle's own record as a Treasury minister under Gordon Brown.

'It is good news that we are collecting money in tax from companies that paid no tax when the Labour party was in office and she seems to forget that she was the Exchequer Secretary in the last government, so perhaps when she stands up she can tell us whether she ever raised with the Inland Revenue the tax affairs of Google,' Mr Osborne said.

The dramatic events in Paris yesterday, where police raided Google's offices as part of its 1.2billion fraud investigation, renewed the pressure on Chancellor George Osborne (pictured standing in at Prime Minister's Questions today)

A police car outside the Google offices in Paris yesterday during a tax fraud raid at the company's premises. The prosecutor's office said it was to determine if Google Ireland had failed its financial obligations in France

A police car leaves the Paris office following officials' search of the premises yesterday morning

The Chancellor also came under attack for his cuts to HMRC staff but he insisted he had increased the resources for the tax collector's taskforce on tackling tax evasion and avoidance.

He added: 'We've introduced a Diverted Profits Tax so companies like Google can't shift their profits offshore, we've made sure banks pay a higher tax than under the Labour party.'

Ms Hillier told The Times that MPs would ask HMRC representatives on June 13 whether they had asked for further information from the French officials.

She said: 'HMRC has previously said it could revisit the deal if they receive more information from the French and Italians.

'We'll see if they have asked for it.'

But other MPs responded to news of the raid in Paris by mocking the British Government's approach to Google's tax affairs.

Former Labour minister Caroline Flint tweeted: 'Google's Paris office raided by 100 tax officials. We'd probably send one bloke with his lunchbox!'

The raid in France is one area of EU officials attempting to crack down on big businesses avoiding tax, with companies such as Apple, Amazon, Fiat and Starbucks in the firing line.

Responding to the raid, a Google spokeswoman said: 'We respect French legislation and are fully cooperating with the authorities to answer their questions.'

A source close to the matter said in February that French authorities believe the Californian group owed 1.6 billion in back taxes.

Its European operations are headquartered in Ireland, which has some of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe.

The PNF said the probe, launched in June 2015, aimed to 'check' whether Google Ireland Limited, 'by not declaring part of its activity carried out on French territory... has failed in its tax obligations, notably in terms of company tax and value-added tax'.

Google France received a 'notification' of the investigation back in March 2014, which did not give any precise figures.

Some MPs responded to news of the raid in Paris by mocking the British Government's approach to Google's tax affairs. Former Labour minister Caroline Flint tweeted: 'Google's Paris office raided by 100 tax officials. We'd probably send one bloke with his lunchbox!'

Members of the press and photographers wait outside the building during the raid involving 100 officers

A police car leaves the Paris offices of US internet giant Google after officers carried out a search yesterday

Italy has demanded more than 200million from Google, which is accused of perpetrating tax fraud there for years.

It has been raided by French authorities before, in June 2011, during an investigation into transfers to its Irish headquarters.

In January, Google agreed to pay 130million in back taxes to Britain, prompting criticism from opposition lawmakers and campaigners.

At the time the U.S. online search firm, which has faced severe criticism of its UK financial arrangements, said the payment would cover back taxes from 2005 to 2015.

OTHER GIANTS IN THE DOCK: MAJOR FIRMS AND CORPORATION TAX Facebook: The social media titan paid just 4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, despite reporting UK revenues of 105million. Apple: The US-based technology firm behind the iPad and the iPhone made 34billion in profit during the year to September 2014. Experts estimate that the UK accounted for 1.9billion of that profit, but the firm only paid 11.8million in British corporation tax. Amazon: The online shopping giant took 5.3billion in sales from British shoppers in 2014 but paid just 11.9million in tax after announcing profits of 34.4million. Starbucks: The coffee chain paid just 8.6million of tax over 14 years between 1998 and 2012 when sales totalled 3billion. But latest company filings show it paid 8.1million in corporation tax for last year on profits of 34.2million.

It also agreed to make changes so that future payments to HM Revenue and Customs will 'reflect the size and scope of our UK business'.

'We have agreed with HMRC a new approach for our UK taxes and will pay 130million, covering taxes since 2005,' said a spokeswoman for Google.

'We will now pay tax based on revenue from UK-based advertisers, which reflects the size and scope of our UK business.

'The way multinational companies are taxed has been debated for many years and the international tax system is changing as a result. This settlement reflects that shift and is in line with recent OECD guidance.'

The EU has also been investigating 'tax rulings' by some member states that benefit multinationals.

Brussels is probing online retailer Amazon's tax arrangements in Luxembourg, one of a series of such probes targeting major global firms, including Apple, Starbucks and Fiat.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai defended the Internet giant's tax practices during a visit to Paris in February.

'We're a global company. We have to abide by tax laws everywhere, we do abide by local tax laws in every single country,' he said.

'We're advocating strongly for a simpler global tax system,' he added.

France has previously refused to negotiate the amount of back taxes it would request, with

However, a source inside France's tax authority said in February that bargaining may still be possible.

'This does not mean that Google will ultimately pay 1.6 billion,' the source told AFP. 'There will be appeals, and perhaps a negotiation in the end, in particular on penalties.'
A man who drugged a German backpacker, cable-tied her and raped her in a Queensland shearing shed has been sentenced to nine years in jail.

Peter Van de Wetering, 48, pleaded guilty to a range of offences, including rape and kidnapping, stemming from the August 2013 attack, which has drawn comparisons to the Australian horror film Wolf Creek.

He was sentenced to a maximum nine years jail with time already served at the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday.

A German backpacker was fed sedative-laced chocolate, cable-tied and raped in a Queensland shearing shed in an attack likened to events that happened in horror film, Wolf Creek. Above is the movie's poster

'This offending involves an entirely ruthless pursuit of a young and innocent woman for your sexual gratification,' Judge Terry Martin said.

Judge Martin found he had not shown any genuine remorse for the terrifying and degrading assault on the 19-year-old German.

He declared Van de Wetering a serious violent offender, which means he will have to serve at least 80 percent of his prison term.

Van de Wetering picked up the woman from a bus stop near Cottonvale, 200 kilometres south-west of Brisbane, in August 2013 after she answered an advertisement for a nanny and farmhand position.

The court heard the defendant turned up in a hired car wearing a disguise involving a beard, wig and moustache.

He had offered her chocolate when she got into the car but the young woman stashed it in her bag after finding it had an odd taste.

'You therefore took aggressive action,' Judge Martin observed, describing how the young woman was then directed to look out the window and had her hands bound.

Van de Wetering took her to a shearing shed where he also bound and raped her.

The backpacker was fed chocolate laced with sedative Zolpidem (pictured is stock image) and lost consciousness, only to wake up in the early hours of the next morning on a road near Stanthorpe

The court heard Van de Wetering force-fed her more of the chocolates, which were laced with the sedative Zolpidem, sold as Stilnox in Australia, after answering her pleas for mercy with: 'No, we have to do this'.

She woke up the next day, before sunrise, alone and without her underwear on the side of a road near Stanthorpe.

The young woman carried scars from the cable-ties as a constant reminder of her traumatic experience for more than a year and was still afraid of the dark, Judge Martin said.

The smallest noise causes her pulse to race, he added.

The court heard the traveller had arrived in Australia only two weeks before enduring the attack, having had long-held aspirations to travel the country.

The court had previously heard the case had attracted attention for its similarity to 'a well-known film'.

Previous media reports have drawn comparisons to the horror film Wolf Creek.

Van de Wetering has spent more than 590 days in pre-sentence custody and Judge Martin declared the time as time already served.
Two men injured in a massive fire were seen running from the scene, ablaze, with their clothing burning and falling off them as they fled.

They were caught in the huge fire in a car dismantling yard in Revesby, south-west Sydney, on Wednesday afternoon, after a gas bottle exploded, 9 News reported.

The pair were taken to hospital and both were placed in an induced coma, with serious but non life-threatening injuries including burns to their faces and arms.

At the scene of the blaze,almost 100 firefighters and 17 appliances were engaged in a 'desperate battle' with the inferno after it spread to a neighbouring factory.

Scroll down for video

Two men have been injured in a massive blaze as thick plumes of smoke rise from a car wrecking yard and adjoining factory.

Firefighters are at the scene of the factory fire which began on Fitzpatrick Street in Revesby, south-west Sydney, on Wednesday afternoon

About 4.30pm Fire and Rescue wrote on Twitter that one factory had been totally consumed by the blaze while a neighbouring factory was also alight

A NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman told 9 News: 'It's been a bit of a desperate battle. They [firefighters] have been able to contain the fire to the cars, however, two other buildings caught fire'.

Explosions, thought to be caused by gas canisters, were also heard during the blaze.

Plumes of thick, dark smoke could be seen from afar as the fire burned.

People from the area were evacuated as fire crews fought the blaze.

The cause of the fire isn't known yet, but it was reported that a large explosion was heard when it broke out.

By about 6pm, the fire had been contained, but was expected to continue burn for several hours.

Roads in Revesby and south-west Sydney have been heavily affected by the fire, causing large delays.

Multiple 000 calls were made just before 4pm, when the fire was reported to have begun. Close to 100 firefighters attended the blaze

Thick plumes of black smoke can be seen billowing from the massive factory fire, which is ongoing on Wednesday afternoon

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson could not confirm if others had been affected by smoke inhalation

Two men have suffered severe burns to the face, one of which has also suffered burns to the arm

Firefighters remain on the scene in Revesby, south-west Sydney, as the fire continues blazing
Police attempted to board off the Isle of Wight but were halted by weather

His boat was tracked as it sailed from France, sparking a major operation

A yachtsman has been charged with trying to smuggle 17 Albanians into Britain on his boat.

Stephen Jackson, 50, was arrested along with the suspected migrants at an exclusive UK marina on Monday.

The discovery comes a month after the National Crime Agency revealed migrants were paying gangs up to 13,500 to reach Britain.

The 50-year-old was detained with a group of Albanian men at Chichester Marina (pictured) in West Sussex

Security clampdowns around the Channel Tunnel and at nearby ports are forcing people smugglers to switch to less busy havens.

And because the marina in Chichester, West Sussex  where the arrest took place  is not used as an entry point for foreign travel, it does not have UK Border Control. A marina spokesman said Jackson, the man taken in by police, was a local boater.

Hampshire Police attempted to board his catamaran as it passed the Isle of Wight, but were thwarted by poor weather.

They called in Sussex Police and the yacht was followed by helicopter before being boarded in the marina on Monday night.

At about 10pm, officers boarded the vessel and found not only the man but also the 17 Albanian nationals. Jackson, of no fixed address, appeared at Crawley Magistrates Court yesterday charged with facilitating illegal entry into the UK.

He did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on June 24. Nine of the Albanian men also appeared at Crawley Magistrates Court yesterday charged with attempted illegal entry into the UK. All of them pleaded guilty.

Eight were sentenced to eight weeks in prison and one was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison. They will all be removed from the UK at the end of their sentences.

A Home Office spokesman said the other eight Albanian men detained yesterday remain in custody pending their removal from the UK.

The catamaran has been seized and a court application has been made for its forfeiture. The application will be heard at the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.

The arrests came a month after the NCA revealed the scale of people smuggling in the UK.

Some of those intent on coming to Britain are quoted five-figure sums to make the trip by air, while others are believed to have spent as much as 12,000 to travel from France in inflatable boats.

Nine of the men on the yacht pleaded guilty at Crawley Magistrates' Court yesterday with one jailed for 16 weeks and eight sentenced to eight weeks. They will also be removed from the UK on their release (file photo)

Investigators suspect that, as well as the main Channel crossing between Calais and Dover, criminals may be using less busy ports in the UK, including Tilbury, Purfleet, Hull, Immingham and Newhaven.

Maritime patrols are now being stepped up in the Channel as increasing numbers of moneyed illegal migrants attempt to get into Britain by boat. Phil Nicholas, chief inspector of the Sussex Police Roads Policing Unit, said his team is dealing with a steady number of migrants on an almost daily basis.

The UK is a particularly popular destination for Albanian migrants, some of whom come here to escape justice in their home country.

On Saturday the Daily Mail revealed the shocking case of a one-legged Albanian double killer who has been granted legal aid to fight extradition from Britain  even though he has allegedly confessed to the murders.
An anti-corruption watchdog began an inquiry into the force on Monday

Ballarat Police have 'three times more complaints' than Melbourne forces

Along with another officer the sergeant drags the mother across the floor

The CCTV footage shows the officer wrestling the woman to the ground

The incident occurred at the police station in Melbourne, December 2015

A mother who tried to complain to an officer about their treatment of her son was violently arrested by a 'forceful' officer because she 'didn't want to listen'.

CCTV footage shows the mother entering Ballarat police station, north-west of Melbourne, on December 8, 2010, accusing officers of harassing her son after he was stopped for driving without a current licence.

After what appeared to be a tense argument the officer turned 'abusive and aggressive' wrestling the woman to the ground before dragging her across the floor, reported The Age.

A mother was violently arrested at Ballarat police station after she refused to leave on December 8, 2010

The graphic footage is the second to be played to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) during an inquiry that came after Victoria's Ballarat Police Force was reportedly three times more likely to assault people compared with officers in neighbouring Melbourne.

Sergeant Christopher Taylor told the inquiry he asked the woman to leave numerous times and is seen to be directing her out of the station in the CCTV footage.

Assisting Counsel Jack Rush QC questioned the sergeant as to whether he was 'abusive and aggressive.'

Sergeant Taylor explained that the woman had thrown her son's licence at him and refused to listen as he explained that a physical licence doesn't mean it is current.

'I became more forceful for her to leave  I was trying to explain the situation to her, but she didn't want to listen,' Sergeant Taylor said.

'That's when I decided it was time for her to leave.

'When I first walked out I let her have her say [but from] the minute I walked out she was abusive.'

The inquiry heard that an internal investigation occurred and as a result was given workplace guidance for not taking the complaint.

The CCTV footage was presented to Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) during the third day of Inquiries

The officer accused of being 'abusive and aggressive' failed to take the woman's complaint

The first video presented to IBAC showed an off-duty police officer was dragged through the station, stripped, kicked and stomped on by her colleagues, CCTV footage shows.

The 51-year-old was on leave and living in Ballarat to deal with an alcohol problem when she was arrested and locked up for being drunk and disorderly on January 14, 2015.

It was confirmed the woman was part of the force and was on leave for 12 month dealing with mental health issues.

The hearing which began on Monday continues.
A fruit shop owner has been slapped with a $100,000 fine after he was busted for turning his Sydney banana supermarket into a secret, grubby hostel for young people.

Amr Hassan was convicted in court on Tuesday after investigators found he had turned the storeroom of the 'Banana Supermarket' in Regent Street, Chippendale, into housing.

Four bunk beds were erected in the storeroom and the shop's disabled toilet was converted into a bathroom with a shower and plastic covering the walls.

The owner of the 'Banana Supermarket' in Sydney has been fined $100,000 after turning the disabled toilet of his shop into a makeshift shower with plastic on the walls for illegal tenants

Hassan received a $100,000 fine at the Downing Centre Court this week and was left liable for over $60,000 in legal costs after converting the supermarket into housing for 'vulnerable young residents'.

He was busted by The City of Sydney's dedicated investigation team that was set up to crack down on illegal and unsafe short-term accommodation.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore gave credit to the council's Illegal Accommodation Strike Force who carried out the investigation and said the court outcome demonstrates how seriously they take this illegal behaviour.

'This case sends a message that illegal, dangerous accommodation networks will not be tolerated in the city, and the people who profit from them will be prosecuted,' the Lord Mayor said.

'For the past year, the City has ramped up efforts to shut down illegal accommodation providers, with more investigations and close cooperation with NSW Police, as well as education campaigns targeting universities and tertiary institutions to advise students about safe rental choices.'

Amr Hassan was convicted in court on Tuesday after investigators found he had turned the storeroom of the 'Banana Supermarket' in Regent Street, Chippendale, into housing

Four bunk beds were erected in the storeroom and the shop's disabled toilet was converted into a bathroom with a shower and plastic covering the walls

A view inside the illegal accommodation which has now been shut down revealed austere interiors

The City is the first council in NSW to establish a dedicated investigation team to crack down on illegal and unsafe short-term accommodation networks.

The team includes former Scotland Yard detective, Roy Cottam, former NSWPF officer Liam Saville and former Australian Military Police officer Greg Stevens to help target illegal accommodation providers such as Mr Hassan.

It works in liason with NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Fair Trading, the Australian Tax Office and other relevant agencies

Since it was established in May 2015, the team has successfully disrupted a number of large-scale illegal accommodation networks, and led 30 search warrants.

'It is hoped that this conviction and penalty imposed by the court sends out a strong message to the community, that this type of criminal and dangerous activity will not be tolerated,' investigative specialist Cottam said.

'Amr Hassan had established the largest syndicate of unsafe and illegal accommodation that we have identified in our area to date.'
Parramatta Eels star Corey Norman will appear in court in July after he was allegedly caught with MDMA capsules and muscle relaxants.

The 25-year-old will appear the Downing Centre Local Court on the charges of possessing a prohibited drug and possessing a prescribed restricted substance, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

His legal team was handed a court attendance notice by police on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

Parramatta Eels star Corey Norman will appear at Downing Centre Local Court in July after he was allegedly caught with MDMA capsules and muscle relaxants at Sydney's Star casino (file image)

It is believed that Norman was trying to enter the Star on Friday night with a group of men when they were stopped during a metal detector search and security discovered the pills, according to the SMH.

Norman was pictured dining with a group of men, including alleged bikies and accused criminals, supposedly just hours before heading to the casino.

Norman was with fellow Parramatta player Junior Paulo and Penrith's James Segeyaro as they dined with former senior bikie Paulie Younan and accused fraudster Rafat Alameddine at a Chinese restaurant on Friday, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Norman uploaded a picture of himself dining with a group of men - some reported to be bikies and accused criminals - just hours before being stopped by Star security

Norman has yet to be interviewed over the incident on Friday night.

The Paramatta club released a statement on Wednesday night saying that the club was aware of the court attendance order, according to the SMH.

'Clearly this is a serious development that will now be factored into the club's ongoing investigation,' Eels director Geoff Gerard said.

'The club will continue to work closely with the NRL and relevant authorities throughout this process. In accordance to the values of this football club, we will offer Corey the presumption of innocence and the opportunity to respond to the charges contained in today's notice.'

The 25-year-old did not speak as he arrived for training on Sunday at the club's Parramatta training ground
The Afghan Taliban has announced its new leader following the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike last Saturday.

Haibatullah Akhundzada, a low-profile religious figure who was head of the Taliban's Islamic courts, has been been named as Mansour's successor.

The surprise announcement coincided with a suicide bombing near the capital Kabul which killed at least 10 court employees in an attack that was not immediately claimed by any group.

It remains unclear which direction Akhundzada, who was one of two deputies under Mansour, will take the terror group which has experienced infighting since its founder, Mullah Omar, was confirmed dead last summer.

Scroll down for video

Haibatullah Akhundzada, a low-profile religious figure who was head of the Taliban's Islamic courts, has been been named as Mansour's successor.

Local media in Kabul have received confirmation from the Taliban that Mansour was killed on Saturday and Akhundzada will be his successor

'Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him,' the insurgents said in a statement.

It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies.

'The leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and commander of faithful, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was martyred, in a US drone strike in... Pakistan's Balochistan province,' the statement said, in the insurgents' first confirmation of his death.

US President Barack Obama, who authorised the drone strikes, had confirmed the death on Monday. He said Mansour had rejected efforts 'to seriously engage in peace talks', adding that direct negotiations with the Afghan government were the only way to end the conflict.

'The status quo remains unchanged' after Akhundzada's appointment, Taliban expert Rahimullah Yousafzai told AFP.

'I don't foresee any shift from Mansour's policies. He (Akhundzada) is unlikely to negotiate with the Afghan government.'

Other observers say that Akhundzada, who hails from the southern province of Kandahar, is seen as more of a religious figure than a military commander.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour (pictured) was killed in a US drone strike last Saturday. Questions remain as to which direction the Taliban's insurgency strategy will turn after Mansour's death

US President Barack Obama, who authorised the drone strikes, had confirmed the death on Monday

The drone attack was the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil

Mansour's killing is a major blow to the militant movement just nine months after he was formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon the confirmation of founder Mullah Omar's death

'Even if he favours peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus within the supreme council' where many vehemently oppose negotiations, said analyst Amir Rana.

The Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began on Sunday in southwest Pakistan to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP the council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid new potential air strikes.

Mansour's killing is a major blow to the militant movement just nine months after he was formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon the confirmation of founder Mullah Omar's death.

Saturday's drone attack, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement which had seen a resurgence under Mansour.

10 people were believed to have been killed in suicide bomb attack in the west of Kabul, Afghanistan
Swedish police have blamed the rise of migrant sex attacks on 'Nordic alcohol culture' and the 'non-traditional gender roles' of European women.

A new report says refugees struggle to 'handle the alcohol' and ignore the consequences for girls when they simply feel 'horny'.

It warns that girls are called 'whores' and are left in fear of walking the streets because migrants see it as a way of 'demonstrating their power over girls'.

Swedish police have blamed the rise of migrant sex attacks on 'Nordic alcohol culture' and the 'non-traditional gender roles' of European women. Pictured: Romany migrants gather in Sergels Torg square in Stockholm

The report, entitled The Current Situation of Sexual Molestation and Proposals for Action, says: 'Control is exercised over women through violence, thus shaping her according to the mans idealised vision of femininity.

'During the exercise of violence, men can feel they embody a typical "male".

'In other words, the violence makes possible what is considered masculine and can provide "benefits" for the perpetrator.'

It notes that Sweden has the worst rates of physical and sexual violence against women in the European Union, it was reported by Breitbart.

The report said: 'Sweden tops the new EU Statistics on physical and sexual violence against women, sexual harassment and stalking.

'The conclusion is that the results are a consequence of Nordic alcohol culture, but also of non-traditional gender roles.'

Swedish police check ID and question migrants in Stockholm Central Station. Sweden said it expected around 60,000 asylum seekers in 2016

Sweden said it expected around 60,000 asylum seekers in 2016.

However, this is fewer than the 100,000 forecast in February as border controls across Europe make it harder for migrants to reach the Scandinavian country.

Last year, Sweden received 163,000 asylum applications, making it one of the EU states with the highest proportion of asylum seekers per capita.

The influx to Sweden has plummeted since January 4, when Stockholm introduced systematic photo identification checks on train, bus and ferry passengers entering via Denmark.

At a peak in October, Sweden received around 10,000 asylum requests a week, compared to around 500 now.
PayPal said it does everything possible to avoid such problems

said to pick up references to ISIS and block them

Residents living on streets with Isis in their names risk missing out on online shopping after Paypal's web payment system blacklisted such addresses.

The word is automatically picked up by the company's online algorithms to stop transactions being processed in case they are supporting terrorism.

But it is causing problems for web surfers trying to buy things in Oxfordshire, where many streets are named after the Isis, the name given to part of the River Thames that flows through Oxford.

PayPal has been accused of blacklisting addresses containing Isis, such as Isis Close in Oxfordshire, pictured

Open University academic Ray Corrigan claimed PayPal has shunned all addresses with the offending word in, preventing a haberdasher friend from dealing with customers.

The senior lecturer in technology told The Times: 'Who knows if the 'avoid Isis' logarithm was added by a low-level techie, a policy division within PayPal driven by risk-averse lawyers, or some other process'.

It comes as a number of businesses and organisations formerly called Isis, the name of an Egyptian goddess, have rebranded themselves to avoid links to the terrorist cell operating in Iraq and Syria.

They include an Oxford-based language school which changed its name to the Oxford International Education Group in April 2015, Belgian chocolatier Libeert, which changed its name in 2014, and French rock band Isis Child, which became Angel's Whisper.

US animated comedy Archer, in which a group of secret agents work for a spy organisation called Isis, withdrew all merchandise carrying that name in 2014 and changed the characters' workplace to the CIA.

In a statement, PayPal said it scanned all payments for links to terrorism and had no policy 'banning addresses that contain Isis'.

The firm said it scanned all payments for links to terrorism but had 'no policy banning transactions to UK addresses containing Isis'

A spokesman said: 'Government regulations require that payments companies including PayPal scan all payments for terrorist and other references.

'We do everything we can to eliminate references that have nothing to do with terrorism, such as the common Oxford name Isis, without compromising our compliance obligations.

'We have no policy of banning PayPal payments to UK addresses containing the name Isis unless we have additional reasons to suspect that the payment may be related to terrorist funding.'
Panicked child protection officers are referring one in every five children to social services anxious that they could be the next Ayeeshia Smith (pictured)

Panicked child protection officers are referring one in every five children to social services for fear that they could be the next Baby P or Ayeeshia Smith.

Recent high-profile cases of toddler abuse have caused a 'climate of fear' to fester among those working with young children, leaving care agencies terrified another death will be reported on their watch.

To that accord, more children than ever before are being flagged up to local councils by midwives, nursery workers, health visitors and even members of the public worried that they are at risk.

An investigation by researchers at the University of Central Lancashire found 115,000 of the more than 500,000 children born in 2009-10 had been referred to social services by 2015.

That equates to one in every five and illustrates the nervousness amongst child protection agencies that is forcing social workers to investigate almost every complaint made.

Professor Andy Bilson, lead researcher and Associate Director of UCLan's Centre for Children and Young People's Participation, described the situation as being 'toxic'.

He said: 'The tragic deaths of children like Ayeeshia Smith, and desperation not to be the one who misses the early signs next time, have led to a climate of suspicion with increasing numbers of children in care and adopted, and child protection investigations spiralling.

'Children's services are under considerable pressure to investigate more mainly because of government, media and public responses to child deaths and an Ofsted inspection regime that is covering its back.

'The introduction of Early Help [a Government scheme to help at risk children] against the current background of fear of blame for another tragic death creates a toxic mix in which schools, NHS staff, and police are all trying to defend themselves by passing on even the smallest concern to children's services leading to an 80 per cent increase in investigations in the last five years.

'Social workers are swamped by this growing tide of investigative work leaving little time to support victims and help families overcome the problems leading to referral.'

Professor Bilson stressed that the increase in investigations did not lead to a rise in the number of children being significantly harmed.

The report links the surge in referrals to the public exposure given to the shocking deaths of toddlers Baby P, Keegan Downer and Ayeeshia Jane Smith.

In the latter's case, social services were accused of failing the 21-month-old who was murdered by her mother stamping on her chest.

The report links the surge in reports to the public exposure given to the shocking deaths of toddlers Baby P (left), Keegan Downer (right) and Ayeeshia Jane Smith. More children than ever before are being flagged up to local councils by people worried that they are at risk

Ayeeshia was handed back to her violent drug-addicted mother Kathryn Smith despite grave concerns about her care. Her biological father twice reported injuries she had suffered to social workers but claimed they 'weren't interested'.

The toddler, who weighed just 20lbs when she died, was attacked with such force she suffered a fatal heart injury, three broken ribs and bit through her own tongue.

Experts said her injuries were so severe she resembled a high-speed car crash victim.

Social services had been supervising Ayeeshia and she was taken away from Smith for five months and placed with foster carers, during which time she gained weight and her health improved. But she was given back to her mother seven months before her death following a 'positive risk assessment'.

The tragic deaths of children like Ayeeshia Smith, and desperation not to be the one who misses the early signs next time Professor Andy Bilson, lead researcher

Campaigners say it was one of a series of missed opportunities by social services to save the little girl. Social workers discussed taking Ayeeshia into care again three weeks before she died, then held another meeting just 24 hours before she was killed  but did not remove the child.

That case bears striking resemblances to that of Baby P, who died in London in 2007 after suffering more than fifty injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by the London Borough of Haringey Children's services and National Health Service (NHS).

Andy Pithouse, Professor of Social Research from the School of Social Sciences at the University of Cardiff, commented: 'This exceptional landmark study puts into sharp relief the extraordinary scale of child protection referrals and investigations in England and the worrying absence of family support services for the very many children and parents whose circumstances do not warrant intervention but who nonetheless have significant needs.
A new exhibit featuring George Washington's handwritten list of his slaves is to form the centerpiece of a controversial display exploring the Founding Father's slave-owning history.

It is the unavoidable Achilles' heel in the reputation of Washington and many others of his time: That men who risked their lives to protect their nation's liberty were also slaveholders.

This dichotomy will be explored in the exhibit at Mount Vernon estate, in a museum space previously dedicated to exhibitions featuring Washington's furniture, fineries and his penchant for fine dining.

The list of slaves at Mount Vernon, written by George Washington around 1799, details marriages, children, and notes on individuals - such as their health impediments and abilities in the fields

The documents are the centerpiece of a new exhibit exploring the slave-owning history of the Founding Father

Mount Vernon has not shied away from explorations of slavery. In 2007, the estate reconstructed a slave cabin on the grounds about a mile from the iconic mansion

Among the items included in the $750,000 'Lives Bound Together' display is a handwritten list of the slaves he owned, along with notes detailing their characteristics and attributes.

It will also acknowledge that Washington's adopted son likely fathered a child with one of the family's slaves.

Mount Vernon has not shied away from explorations of slavery: In 2007, the estate reconstructed a slave cabin on the grounds about a mile from the iconic mansion.

And it has worked to maintain good relations with the descendants of Mount Vernon slaves, many of whom still live in the area.

Curtis Viebranz, its director, said he occasionally hears criticism - both from people who believe there is too much discussion of slavery, to those who say they won't visit Mount Vernon because they are offended at supporting what was, at bottom, a plantation fueled by slave labor.

He expects the new exhibit will inevitably draw criticism in one form or another.

'There might be some people of my generation who would prefer to leave him on his pedestal.

'Our challenge as an institution is to make the story of this man topical to the next generation of Americans. If we try to control the story, or direct it to an outcome, it will hurt us.'

Washington freed his slaves in his will, upon the death of his wife, Martha. She ended up freeing the slaves before she died.

Other slaves belonged to Martha Washington's family, and neither George nor Martha had any legal right to emancipate them.

The list, in Washington's bold, instantly recognizable handwriting, is a powerful connection to the man himself and the men and women who were registered as his property.

George Washington (left) was one of many Founding Fathers who owned slaves. The exhibition will also acknowledge that his son George Washington Parke Custis (right) likely fathered a child with one of them

It also includes commentary on the slaves.

He describes 28-year-old Tom as 'a good mower and an excellent ploughman but unfortunately from some tumour in his head, it is feared that blindness, partial if not entire, will ensue'.

Throughout the exhibit, Mount Vernon endeavors to tell the story of 19 slaves who lived on the estate.

Washington's meticulous record-keeping helped in some of the reconstruction, though the slaves were illiterate and so written records on them come from the whites who oversaw them.

'We try to explore their stories,' Curator Susan Schoelwer said. 'I would not presume to tell them.'

However, Mount Vernon is not totally reliant on whites' perspective to tell the story. Oral histories passed down by slaves' descendants fill some of the gaps.

For ZSun-nee Matema of Hagerstown, Maryland, the family history was whispered and talked around, but always present.

'My father's people told me that if everything were known about our family's history, it would topple the first family of Virginia,' she said, adding she never knew what to make of the cryptic comments.

But she has always known she is a descendant of Caroline Branham, a slave who served as a house servant and was the person who found Washington ill in his bed the morning of his death in December 1799.

The exhibition is to be held at Mount Vernon (pictured) the former plantation owned by Washington in Virginia

Susan Schoelwer, curator of the exhibit, studies the handwritten Washington documents that list his slaves

As she became more interested in her family's genealogy, she did her own research, which seemed to mesh with her family's oral history.

The scholarship is at the point where Mount Vernon, in the materials it is preparing for the exhibit, concludes that Caroline Branham's daughter Lucy was 'likely fathered by George Washington Parke Custis'.

That means Matema, in addition to being a descendant of Branham, is also a direct descendant of Martha Washington, since Parke Custis was also the grandson of Martha in addition to being the adopted son of George Washington.

Matema, for her part, said she credits Mount Vernon for its effort to tell the story of Mount Vernon's slaves as fully as it can, in the face of the limitations of researching an era when people were considered property.
Scott Vale, pictured, was cleared of indecent exposure after being accused of 'flashing' a female Jehovah's Witness at his flat in Essex

A father-of-two accused of exposing himself while opening a door to a female Jehovah's Witness wearing an 'open Superman dressing gown' has been cleared.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Scott Vale was accused of 'revealing a manly shape' to the woman on his doorstep in Waltham Abbey, Essex.

The woman, aged in her 40s, claimed Mr Vale called her to his door to 'talk about Bible meetings' but instead opened his robe.

The 24-year-old denied the charges and a jury of eight women and four men decided in his favour after deliberating for an hour.

The court was told that two Jehovah Witnesses were door-knocking that morning at about 11am and one returned when Mr Vale called back down that he wanted more information. One of them stayed on the landing below.

The woman told the jury that as she was writing down directions for a map on how to get to the Bible study group for Waltham Cross Kingdom Hall she could hear Mr Vale 'shuffling with his robe.'

She continued: 'I didn't make too much of it until I looked into his eyes and I understood his robe had opened up.

'He was absolutely bare, his whole flesh was showing. I just wanted to look into his eyes but he was standing quite strong in front of me, inviting me to look somewhere else but I wasn't going to look anywhere else but his eyes. He probably didn't think I was as old as I am.'

She said that even though she was looking at his face she could make out 'a manly shape'.

The woman added that she felt Mr Vale had called her back to talk further as 'just a play.'

'He wanted to trap me into something more sinister. Afterwards I felt disgusted,' she said.

She said that afterwards she and her fellow Jehovah Witness carried on with their work, knocking on doors but she said: 'I wasn't feeling comfortable with myself. I was numbed out.'

She reported the incident to police later that afternoon complaining that Mr Vale had held his erect penis in his hand.

That description was not put to the witness by the prosecutor during her evidence before the jury.

The second, younger, Jehovah Witness believer told the court that after the alleged incident her friend said to her: 'He's a pervert. He was showing himself.'

In his evidence, Mr Vale, a family man and father of two, said the knock woke him up. The two women didn't say they were Jehovah Witnesses and talked about prayer.

He said he assumed they were Christian and he was always open to discussion.

After they left he called them back to ask about Bible meetings.

Mr Vale denied the female Jehovah's Witness' accusation and the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court, pictured, deliberated for an hour before clearing him of indecent exposure

The woman, aged in her 40s, claimed Mr Vale 'revealed a manly shape' from his dressing gown after calling her back to his flat in Harveyfields, Waltham Abbey, pictured

He said: 'The Asian woman came back up and was standing on the step down from the top. She stepped up a stair and we were face to face.'

He said she then got flustered looking in her bag for a leaflet with the address. He said he might have been adjusting his dressing gown but it had not come undone.

He denied he exposed his penis or that he was aware it might have 'fallen out'.

He said it could have opened 'accidentally' but denied deciding to give them 'a nasty surprise' because they had woken him up and wasted his time.
The Romanian hacker known as Guccifer will serve at least two years in prison after pleading guilty to breaking into computer accounts of the Bush family in 2013 and releasing private family photos.

Marcel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in US District Court to unauthorized computer access and aggravated identity theft. Seven other counts, including cyberstalking and wire fraud, were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Lazar is best known for hacking the email account of a Bush family member and revealing private family photos and paintings connected to former presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush.

He made news earlier this month with unsubstantiated claims he hacked into Hillary Clinton's private email server. The plea deal does not address that allegation.

Scroll down for video

Marcel Lazar (pictured in a 2014 arrest), 44, of Arad, Romania, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in US District Court to unauthorized computer access and aggravated identity theft

Lazar is best known for hacking an email account of a Bush family member, and in doing so he revealed private family photos and paintings connected to former presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush

Prosecutor Ryan Dickey said at Wednesday's hearing that about 100 Americans were victimized by Guccifer's hacking.

'Lazar sought fame by hacking the private online accounts of Americans and releasing their personal information to the public; instead he has been convicted in United States federal court,' said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell in a written statement.

The indictment does not identify the victims by name but describes 'Victim 1' as 'a family member of two former US presidents'.

The Bush family member's hacked AOL account resulted in leaked emails, medical information, photographs, home addresses and telephone numbers, according to the indictment.

The website The Smoking Gun published some of the hacked photos, including pictures of paintings by George W Bush, and a photo of George HW Bush in the hospital.

The Smoking Gun said the hacked account belonged to Dorothy Bush Koch, the daughter of the elder Bush and sister of the younger.

The indictment also identifies 'Victim 3', believed to be former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and says his Facebook account was hacked, and posts went out under Powell's name stating 'You will burn in hell, Bush!' and 'Kill the illuminati!'

Lazar also made news earlier this month with unsubstantiated claims he hacked into Hillary Clinton's private email server

The indictment does not identify the victims by name but describes 'Victim 1' as 'a family member of two former US presidents'. The Smoking Gun said the hacked account belonged to Dorothy Bush Koch (pictured), the daughter of the elder Bush and sister of the younger

The indictment also identifies 'Victim 3', believed to be Secretary of State Colin Powell, and says his Facebook account was hacked

Guccifer also hacked an email account of Sidney Blumenthal, a confidant of Hillary Clinton, in March 2013.

That subsequent leak of Blumenthal's emails was the first time that outsiders became aware of Clinton's private 'clintonemail.com' address, which she used to communicate with Blumenthal. It has now become part of the investigation of whether Clinton mishandled sensitive emails.

Court documents indicate Guccifer - whose name was a combination of Gucci and Lucifer - would guess passwords and security questions of account holders to gain access to email and social media accounts of his targets held with companies like AOL, Facebook and Yahoo.

Efforts to hack Clinton's email server would have required a different method.

The plea deal allows for the possibility that Lazar could serve some of his sentence in Romania.

The convictions carry a mandatory minimum of two years and a possible maximum of seven years when he is sentenced September 1.
An injured worker has been freed after becoming trapped in a pipe and then a deep trench at a Victorian power station.

The RTL Mining and Earthworks employee sustained an injury and became stuck at about 1.20pm on Wednesday while working in a trench at the Yallourn power station, a spokeswoman for EnergyAustralia, the facility's operator, said.

'At this point we are unclear on how the incident occurred,' she said.

An injured worker has been freed after becoming trapped in a pipe and then a deep trench at the Yallourn power station (pictured)

Emergency services managed to free the man from the pipe in just 16 minutes, but struggled to pull him from the hole, The Herald Sun reported.

The CFA, SES and Ambulance Victoria were called and the man was freed about 4.30pm.

Ambulance Victoria paramedics are still assessing the man and an air ambulance is on scene.

Details of the injury and depth of the trench are not immediately available.

Emergency services managed to free the man from the pipe in just 16 minutes, but struggled to pull him from the hole
Advertisement

Across the United States, there are just eight prisons which allow infants to remain with their mothers who are serving jail sentences.

Among them is New York's maximum security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility which is home to Jennifer Dumas and her six-month-old daughter Codylynn.

The 24-year-old prisoner pleaded guilty to trying to steal a safe containing $32,000 in cash and jewels with her boyfriend. She was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year.

Scroll down for video

Jennifer Dumas is serving a two-year sentence for attempted burglary along with her six-month-old daughter Codylynn in Bedford Hills

Dumas, pictured with her daughter Codylynn gave birth just days after accepting a plea agreement for the attempted burglary

Dumas is one of 15 mothers of 16 babies including a set of twins who can spend up to 18 months in the nursery facility

She gave birth just days after accepting a plea agreement with prosecutors for the attempted burglary.

Her daughter was born inside the maximum-security facility in Westchester County, north of New York City.

The bars on the window are a clear indication the facility is not a normal nursery, although, instead of industrial greens and greys of the prison system, there are brightly-colored pictures on the wall.

Yet, outside the window, there are high walls topped with barbed wire, similar to any other high-security facility.

In most cases, women have to hand over their babies to a relative or send them into the foster care system within hours of their birth.

The 24-year-old criminal told Associated Press: 'Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you. But it's actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I'm blessed to be able to go through this.'

Campaigners claim that women who can keep their babies while serving a jail term are less likely to reoffend upon their release

Campaigners claim allowing a mother to remain with their baby behind bars may reduce the chance of reoffending when they are released. But others argue prison is not an appropriate place to rear a child.

About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates.

Of the more than 100 women's prisons in the U.S., there are only eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, the U.S. is not among them.

Dumas is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nursery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rainbows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery currently has 16 babies, including a set of twins.

During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the mothers go to school or vocational programs.

But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the mothers know their babies can be taken away for such infractions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps.

Dumas said: 'It's still scary. At any given point if you do what you're not supposed to your baby could get sent home.'

Some women have been dropped from the program from time to time for breaking the rules, but corrections officials and advocates said they could not recall any instances in recent years in which a baby was harmed.

Still, some argue that prison should be reserved for punishment and that women should instead consider putting their children up for adoption.

'The focus should be on what's best for the baby,' said James Dwyer, a law professor at the College of William & Mary who has written a paper on the topic. 'There is skepticism about these women being adequate parents.'

Columbia University researcher Mary Byrne, who spent years studying mothers and children who started life in Bedford Hills, said that the youngsters formed critical attachments to their mothers and that a second study after they were released found they were no different from children raised entirely on the outside.

'Many people would assume any exposure to prison would cause problems ... they'll be exposed to violence and horrible people, it will scar them,' she said. 'But that's not what we found.'

Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic nun who runs Hour Children, the nonprofit organization that operates Bedford Hills' nursery, put it more bluntly: 'Babies belong with their mother. In a palace or a prison, they don't know and don't care as long as they feel loved and supported.'

The nursery is operated under an annual contract with the state of about $170,000, the correction department said. It would cost $480,000 a year to put 16 babies in foster care, according to state figures.

Bedford Hills' recidivism rate for women in the nursery program is fairly typical of such programs, at 13 per cent versus 26 per cent for all female inmates at the prison, according to a report by the Women's Prison Association, an advocacy group.

Bedford Hills, situated on a wooded hill an hour north of New York City, houses the oldest continuously operating prison nursery in the country, opened in 1901.

The Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, New York has had a nursery section for new mothers since it opened in 1901

Many mothers who leave the facility are sent to a half-way house to help them reintegrate with society and reduce recidivism numbers

Running the nursery costs in the region of $170,000 compared with the $480,000 it would take to fund foster places for the 16 babies

There were many nurseries years ago, according to Elaine Lord, the former superintendent. But they fell out of favor amid a huge influx of prisoners in the 1980s and a shift in thinking that said the privilege of living with your baby was inconsistent with the concept of punishment.

Most of the nation's prison nurseries have cropped up in the past 20 years.

The nursery at the Indiana Women's Prison houses up to 10 mother-infant pairs for up to 18 months. In South Dakota, a child can stay only 30 days. In Washington state, it's three years. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 mothers and 69 babies have participated.

Babies can spend up to 18 months with their mothers while inside the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility which is north of New York

There are currently 16 babies living with their mothers in Bedford Hills, but any rule breaking by the inmate could see them taken away

Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois, plays with her baby, Marissa, in the prison nursery

The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 mothers and 69 babies have participated

In Decatur, Kalee Ford, who is about 26 weeks' pregnant and in prison on a drug-related conviction, already has been accepted into the program and is taking prenatal courses. She said she wasn't the mother she could have been to her two other children because of methamphetamine. The program is giving her hope that she can clean up for good.

'I believe that everybody deserves at least one chance to fix mistakes that they've made,' she said. 'My children didn't do this, and they deserve to have me back.'

At Decatur, Bedford Hills and other programs, mothers-to-be are selected based on their crimes and whether there is any history of child abuse.

Many advocates question why such women need to be incarcerated at all. Typically, women accepted into these programs are nonviolent offenders serving fairly short sentences - ideal candidates for less-expensive, halfway house-like programs that allow mother and child to stay together.

After their sentences are up, almost all of the mothers at Bedford go to a live-in halfway house in New York City run by Fitzgerald's organization that also helps with day care and jobs. Mothers say it's a golden ticket.

Dumas, who has a son on the outside, hopes to go there, too.

'It's a way to get on my feet, try being a parent again on the outside but with a safety net,' she said. 'I don't know anyone who gets that.'
With her hands pressed against the glass of his enclosure and staring into his eyes, this the touching moment a toddler and a baby gorilla meet in a Texas zoo.

The image captures two-year-old Braylee Davis trying to interact with lowland gorilla Gus at Fort Worth Zoo.

The youngster, clearly delighted to see the baby primate in its enclosure, wanted to get as close as possible to the animal.

Scroll down for video

Two-year-old Braylee Davis shares a touching moment with lowland gorilla Gus at Fort Worth Zoo in Texas

Braylee then pressed her hands up against the glass and watched as Gus came closer towards her.

The gorilla then copied the girl by pressing his hands on top of hers with only the glass separating them.

The pair then stood locked in an adorable moment where they kept their hands against the glass and gazed into each other's eyes.

Gus, who was born in December last year, is Fort Worth Zoo's first western lowland gorilla, and his birth was celebrated as a huge conservation success

The heartwarming picture came to light when it was shared on Fort Worth Zoo's Facebook page.

The zoo had been asking for visitors to submit their pictures of their interactions with the animals in the facility.

And since posting the picture, the image has gone viral with Facebook users commenting on how adorable the snap is.

The caption read: 'As he gets older, Gus is exploring more and more of the world around him, which includes encounters with new friends like Braylee of Fort Worth.'

Gus pictured with his mother. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the western lowland gorilla as critically endangered due to hunting and disease

Gus, who was born in December last year, is Fort Worth Zoo's first western lowland gorilla, and his birth was celebrated as a huge conservation success.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the western lowland gorilla as critically endangered due to hunting and disease.
A surgeon who appeared on the TV show Embarrassing Bodies threatened to kill his daughter after she called his young lover a wild whore, a medical tribunal was told.

Professor Basil Ammori, 53, flew into a rage and punched economics student Huda, now 22, in the face, it was claimed.

They clashed in 2014 over his decision to leave his GP wife for a single mother more than 20 years his junior who worked as a nurse at his practice.

Hayley Pritchard, 30, and Basil Ammori are pictured on their wedding day last year

Embarrassing Bodies obesity surgeon Professor Basil Ammori, 53 (pictured right leaving his medical council tribunal in Manchester), grabbed his 22-year-old daughter Huda (left) by the neck as they argued on the doorstep of his home over him leaving his wife and setting up home with his younger lover, the tribunal heard

The obesity surgeon accused Miss Ammori and her two brothers of putting details of girlfriend Hayley Pritchard  whom he has since married  on an internet site carrying personal adverts, prompting men to contact her for sex.

Ammori, who specialises in weight loss surgery, allegedly began sending abusive texts to his ex-wife, Dr Amira Al-Abadi, 53, claiming their children were evil creatures and he wanted nothing more to do with them.

When Miss Ammori went to ask her father to stop sending the upsetting messages, he shouted that her mother was a wild bitch, she said.

Miss Ammori retaliated, saying his lover was a wild whore.

During the bust-up Ammori (right), who appeared on hit Channel 4 show Embarrassing Bodies, screamed 'wild b****' as he ranted about his former wife Dr Almira Al-Abadi, also 53 (pictured left). He lashed out after his daughter, a 22-year-old university economics student, labelled his 21-year old lover a 'wild whore'

Ammori punched her very hard, causing mild concussion. She later suffered headaches and eye problems. The surgeon, who appeared on the Channel 4 show Embarrassing Bodies performing a stomach operation, was arrested but police took no action.

Details of the bitter family feud emerged at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester after Ammori was reported to the General Medical Council.

Miss Ammori, who is studying International Business and Finance at the University of Manchester, told the misconduct hearing that she wanted nothing to do with her father or his 30-year-old second wife.

She said: He was my father for 18 years. He still is technically my father but I dont think a normal father does this to his children. He was punching me very, very hard.

Leading obesity surgeon Basil Ammori has appeared on hit Channel 4 show Embarrassing Bodies (pictured)

Ammori met Dr Al-Abadi at university in their home country, Iraq, in 1980. They moved to Bolton after their marriage in 1987 but separated acrimoniously in February 2013, more than a year after he began his affair with mother-of-two Miss Pritchard, following allegations of domestic violence.

In September 2014, Ammori, who works at Salford Royal Hospital, discovered his lovers name had been posted on classified ads website Craigslist, prompting men to contact her for sex, the tribunal heard. In a series of text messages to his ex-wife, Ammori accused his daughter and her brothers Mohannad, 26, and Ahmed, 23, of being behind the post.

He wrote: They are not my children, these are evil creatures and I regret having them as my children. I never want anything to do with any of you again. In another text he accused Dr Al-Abadi of being an evil, destructive person, adding: You are a selfish woman. Dont ever try to communicate with me again.

He warned that their children would carry this burden with them until the day of their judgment.

Following the attack, Miss Ammori suffered mild concussion and underwent x-rays complaining of headaches and neck pain. She later developed problems with her eyesight amid fears she had a detached retina

Miss Ammori travelled straight to Manchester Royal Infirmary where she was treated for mild concussion and had x-rays. She then returned back to the hospital the following day with memory loss but discharged herself

Miss Ammori denied she or her siblings were responsible for the Craigslist post but decided to confront her father at his new home.

He asked me what I was doing there and I told him I didnt like the way he spoke to my mother, she said. He said, Your mother is a wild bitch and started to scream. Then I responded to say, Youre the one who left for a wild whore.

Huda Ammori, the daughter of Basil Ammori

I didnt shout or raise my voice. Thats when my dad went on to beat me. I screamed when he was beating me, screaming for him to stop. He was pulling me back by my neck and carried on punching me in the face and before I left he said, I will kill you.

Miss Ammori alleged she had witnessed similar violence by her father towards her mother and brothers during her childhood. Dr Al-Abadi told the tribunal: This is the way he used to hit me.

Last night, outside the hearing, Dr Al-Abadi claimed her ex-husband had beaten her in front of the children but the accusation had been retracted each time police were called as it would bring shame on the family.

He had already had two affairs during their 27-year marriage, she said  with a young doctor and a secretary, both in their twenties, she added. He had initially denied his affair with Miss Pritchard despite sharing a hotel room with her on expenses-paid conference trips to Bristol and London.

In May 2012 he admitted the affair after it emerged he had married Miss Pritchard in an Islamic wedding, she said.

He left the 700,000 marital home but was allowed back after he claimed to have divorced his mistress. However, in early 2013, Dr Al-Abadi found out he had been renting a four-bedroom house for her in Worsley, Salford.

Ammori married Miss Pritchard last year. She now works as his personal assistant and they live in a 1million house in Cheshire.

Dr Al-Abadi said: There were always two sides of my ex-husbands personality  he could be very charming and sweet, but he also had a short temper and a violent side.

Hes shown no remorse because he thinks hes protected by his religion. He tried to convince me I should let him have another wife. He said God had given him the right to marry Hayley.

Ammori denies any wrongdoing. The tribunal hearing continues.
This is the excruciating moment a newly-qualified driver stalls a staggering thirteen times while trying to get around a roundabout.

The unbelievable footage was captured on a dashcam by James Johnston, who spotted the woman on his journey back from work in Bathgate, Scotland.

The video shows the young female driver getting ready to set off when the traffic lights turn green, but immediately stalling.

False start! The young driver gets ready to set off when the traffic lights turn green, but immediately stalls

Hazard: Road users wait behind the Citroen C1, which has a green 'P' plate displayed in the rear windscreen

Council worker James waits patiently behind the Citroen C1, which has a green 'P' plate displayed in the rear windscreen.

But the young woman puts her hazard lights on and stalls another 12 times in less than two minutes - forcing other vehicles to drive past her while the traffic lights change three times.

James eventually resorts to abandoning his own car to offer a word of advice, and she finally gets the confidence to drive off.

The 27-year-old father-of-two said: 'I felt really sorry for her. I approached the Deer Park roundabout and came up behind her.

'Because she had the P plate displayed I could see she was a new driver.

'I waited behind her but I could see she couldn't find the balance between the clutch and the gas. Every time she tried to set off she stalled. It seemed as though she was stressed.

Stranded: The woman puts her hazard lights on and stalled another 12 times in less than two minutes

Help is on its way: James Johnston abandons his own car to offer a word of advice to the new driver

'Eventually I decided to just get out and speak to her. She was really embarrassed. I just told her to take her time, take a deep breath and try and feel her biting point before giving it plenty of gas.

'She seemed to get her confidence back after that.

'I'd say she was only around 18 or 19 and she had clearly only recently passed her test. She had a pal in the car with her.

'I could have driven round her and left her there but she would have been there all day.'

After using a dashcam for two years, James believes new drivers should be forced to display the 'P' plates for a minimum of six months after passing their driving test.

He said: 'I think the P plates should be mandatory for six months after passing.

'In this case people were able to see that she was a new driver. If the car is new to her she is probably still getting used to it. I'm sure she will be fine in future.'

Helping hand: James told the driver, who was really embarrassed, to take a deep breath and relax
This is the moment teenage oligarch's son Egor Sosin showed police how he strangled and repeatedly struck his mother with a phone charger cable in a five star Russian hotel room.

Sosin, 19, confessed to killing Anastasia Novikova Sosina, 44, claiming he wanted to 'expel the devil' from inside her, according to reports.

He is pictured outside room 914 handcuffed to an armed policeman at the Korston Hotel in Kazan, and then in an 'investigative experiment' shows how he sat astride her as she down on the bed.

Vicious: Russian Oligarch's son Egor Sosin admits he strangled his mother for 30 minutes, until he was certain she was dead, and then beat her with all his force in order, he claimed, to 'expel the devil' from her body

Chilling: Sosin, 19, is pictured back inside the room at the Korston Hotel in Kazan, to show for detectives how he had strangled his mother, Anastasia Novikova Sosina

Horrific: Ms Novikova Sosina's blood stained body was discovered in December, after her son, 19, was found wandering the corridors half-dressed

Judgement: But Sosin (pictured with his mother - whose former husband is construction mogul Igor Sosin) will not stand trial for his mother's murder after he was declared 'mentally unstable'

Russian investigators used a 'mannequin' to enable the teenager to demonstrate how he killed her by strangling and suffocation, before repeatedly striking her.

The images have surfaced as a Russian court has ruled that Sosin will not face murder trial or go to jail after being diagnosed with an unspecified 'acute mental disorder'.

Instead he will be committed to a specialist psychiatric hospital and will be released when he is 'cured', said an official of the Investigative Committee, Russian equivalent of the FBI.

He only agreed to describe how he killed his mother to one female investigator, called Galina Korolyova, from the Investigative Committee.

'I do not know why, do not know what was in his head, but he looked at me like a child,' she said.

'He went to the the investigative analysis only with me. He told us: 'I will show everything, tell it all, but only if she will be here.'

Ms Novikova-Sosina, whose lifeless body was found lying across the blood soaked bed, had taken her son to Kazan for treatment for his drugs habit, according to Russian media.

The teenager told police his mother had given him medication, which resulted in hallucinations.

In earlier testimony reported by the Russian media, he said: 'I had been choking her about half an hour. Satisfied that she had died, I sat on her and began to punch her with all my force.

'I hit her in the face. There were not less than 20 hits, they were strong.

Protection: Instead, the judge decided to lock Sosin - pictured covering his face in court - in a psychiatric unit, where he will stay until he is 'cured'

Deluded: Sosin, pictured outside room 914, has also demanded to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin, so they can discuss how to better run the country

Contradiction: Prosecutors have said he was unaware of the fact he was killing his mother during the attack. However, his own statement says he was 'crying' as he did it because he knew she would die

Grisly: Sosin told detectives he strangled his mother for 30 minutes and hit her in the face 20 times - adding: 'I cried when I hit her, and I was well aware that with my actions I was killing my mother'

Weapon: The authorities believe Ms Novikova-Sosina was attacked with a mobile phone charger cable, like the one above in the room

'I cried when I hit her, and I was well aware that with my actions I was killing my mother.

'I bit her into the neck on the right side and felt the blood in my mouth. I saw blood running from my mother's face from my hits.'

He was quoted as saying: 'I killed my mother. What have I done? Now my little sister is left without a mother. I shall not live.'

LifeNews - which has close links to law enforcement in Russia - reported that the teenager gave his first explanation of why he killed his mother to hotel staff when they entered the room where the mother and son were sharing in December.

Hotel manager A. Mananov told investigators: 'He said that the woman was his mother.

'According to him, she tried to persuade him to be intimate, and gave him some pills. Sosin said that he refused to have sex, and then expelled the devil from her.'

Despite his confession, and the painstaking way he showed investigators how he killed his mother, the Kazan court ruled he was unfit to face trial.

'At the time the crime was committed, he was not aware of the actual nature of his actions and their danger,' read a court decision in Kazan.

A judge ordered Sosin should be 'released from criminal liability and sent for medical treatment'.

Brutal: Soisin claimed Ms Novikova-Sosina (pictured) had wanted to have sex with him, and that he refused before he attacked her in the five-star suite in the city of Kazan, in central Russia

Terrifying: Sosin, centre, whose father is a construction magnate, has told detectives 'I bit her into the neck on the right side and felt the blood in my mouth'

Help: Ms Novikova-Sosina, whose lifeless body was found lying across the blood soaked bed, had taken her son to Kazan for treatment for his drugs habit, according to Russian media

Sosin was in a glass cage in the courtroom to hear the decision, and told journalists that he agreed with the enforced psychiatric treatment.

In one image he is seen hiding his face from the media.

Investigative committee official Andrey Sheptytsky said: 'He did not realise his actions when he was killing his mother.

'The fact that he took serious drugs, we learned only from his testimony. This point has not been proved. He will be treated. He will be cured, and then released.'

The court did not disclose Sosin's diagnosis, but revealed he has asked doctors how soon he will be released.

He also drew up a 'business plan' for nurses on his ward, and announced he wants to see Vladimir Putin on making changes in Russia.

His father, who was not present in court, said he planned to see his son in psychiatric hospital.

'Of course, I will visit my son,' he said.

Mr Sosin senior is famous as a co-founder of Starik Khottabych, a renovation and construction giant.

He is often seen on the Cote d'Azur resorts, playground of the rich and famous.

Gruesome: She had been worried about his drug taking and had discussed treatment with him. The teenager told police his mother had given him medication, which resulted in hallucinations

Family: Of his mother, Sosin told police: 'I had been choking her about half an hour. Satisfied that she had died, I sat on her and began to punch her with all my force'

'Insane': Investigative committee official Andrey Sheptytsky said: 'He did not realise his actions when he was killing his mother. The fact that he took serious drugs, we learned only from his testimony'

Freed: Sosin was told he will be treated for his mental illness and released over his mother's killing. The investigator told the court: 'This point has not been proved. He will be treated. He will be cured, and released.'

Last year he bought a collection of dresses worth a few million pounds from Sharon Stone for his new wife.

In America, he several times rented a luxury house on Ox Pasture Lane in elite Southampton for almost 650,000, a property that boasts 10 acres, two pools and a 50ft water fountain.

He held a 'swanky' Fourth of July party at the property several years ago.

Sosin has a sister called Taisiya, and he had been designing websites in the US.
Britain's tallest residential skyscraper is mostly owned by wealthy foreign investors who do not actually live in the property, it has been claimed.

St George Wharf Tower, which dominates the River Thames in the Vauxhall area of South London, contains more than 200 luxury flats most of which are worth more than 1million.

According to official data, nearly two thirds of the apartments are owed by overseas buyers, who include controversial oligarchs and foreign politicians.

Tower: St George Wharf in Vauxhall is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the UK and was finished in 2013

Statistics: This graphic shows how the majority of flats in the building are foreign-owned

The crowning glory of the building, a five-storey penthouse which sold for 51million, is owned by Russian businessman Andrei Guriev, the Guardian has reported.

And residents say that the tower is largely empty, with many flat owners using their properties as investments rather than somewhere to live full-time.

Sadiq Khan's administration today vowed to crack down on buyers who snap up property as an investment, and to give Londoners 'first dibs' on new homes.

St George Wharf's tower - London's tallest purely residential building and the eighth-biggest skyscraper overall - was approved in 2005 by John Prescott, then the Deputy Prime Minister, who has now spoken out against the absentee owners.

The decision was considered controversial at the time because it was one of the first large towers to be built outside the City and Canary Wharf, prompting fears that outsized buildings could spread across all areas of the capital.

The tower opened to residents in late 2013, a few months after it was the scene of a fatal helicopter crash when a pilot struck the building in foggy weather, killing himself and a pedestrian.

Luxury: This image shows how the flats in the tower have views across the Thames to the Houses of Parliament and London Eye

Glamour: But residents of the building, whose atrium is pictured here, say that it does not have any community spirit

The Guardian reported that 62 per cent of the flats - 131 out of 214 - are owned by foreign investors, while 30 of the properties are occupied by someone who is registered to vote in the local constituency.

One resident, Singaporean businessman Peter Young, told the newspaper: 'Theres not much of a community, people come and go. It is quite impersonal I think. The staff are wonderful, but I never really see any of my neighbours.'

Chong Meng Lai, another flat owner from Singapore who is selling his property, added tothe Guardian: 'It was used for not more than 60 days a year. It is basically a holiday home for myself and my family.'

Owner: Russian businessman Andrei Gurgiev has bought the building's five-storey penthouse

The flats in the building differ vastly in their specifications, with the higher floors being kitted out with more sophisticated gadgets and better views in an echo of the recent dystopian film High Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston.

Residents are reportedly able to access only their own floor because the lifts need special key fobs to operate, in another sign that the building is not designed for communal life.

The penthouse flat is owned by an offshore company controlled by the family of Andrei Guriev, a former Russian senator who co-owns a fertiliser company with Vladimir Putin's campaign manager, according to the Guardian.

He is reportedly installing a Russian Orthodox chapel inside the five-storey property, carrying it in pieces up to the top of the tower by using the lifts.

The skyscraper's 214 flats were sold for prices ranging from 580,000 up to the penthouse's 51million.

Some of the properties are currently available for let, with a one-bedroom flat starting at 3,000 a month.

James Murray, Mr Khan's Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, said today: 'This is another example of where the previous Mayor failed to get to grips with London's housing crisis.

'Sadiq Khan was elected on a mandate that Londoners should have "first dibs" on more of the homes built in the capital. We will work closely with our partners to build more new homes for Londoners.'

Lord Prescott, who signed off on the building in the first place, said that he had intended to provide more housing for Londoners who have been squeezed by the city's rising house prices.

'We didn't envisage that it would be given over to people investing in London,' he said.

Former Tory minister Kenneth Baker said that approving the tower had been 'an appalling mistake', adding: 'It is a scandal when you consider the housing problems of London.'

And Ken Livingstone, who was Mayor when construction started, suggested that empty homes should be forcibly bought in order to make housing more affordable.
The Senate's unanimous passing of legislation that allows families of September 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia may not be as groundbreaking as it was first believed.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) was initially reported as being a chance for the families to pursue damages from the Saudi government but now it has emerged a clause was inserted to water down the bill's power.

The wording of the loophole states the Secretary of State just has to engage 'in good-faith discussions with the foreign-state defendant concerning the resolution of claims against the foreign state,' according to the NY Post.

It had been feared the legislation would trigger potential diplomatic issues with Riyadh, which was threatening to pull billions of dollars from the U.S. economy, if the bill is enacted.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate passed legislation Tuesday, May 17, 2016, that would allow families of September 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia

Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister (pictured May 9), told Washington that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750bn in treasury securities and other assets in the U.S. before they could be frozen by American courts

The legislation, sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., gives victims' families the right to sue in U.S. court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands in New York, the Washington, D.C. area and Pennsylvania.

The House still must act on the legislation. However the loophole means that the legal action only requires discussion with Saudi Arabia.

Relatives of September 11 victims have urged the Obama administration to declassify and release U.S. intelligence that allegedly discusses possible Saudi involvement in the attacks.

Passage of the bill on Tuesday sends the message that the United States 'will combat terrorism with every tool we have available, and that the victims of terrorist attacks in our country should have every means at their disposal to seek justice,' Cornyn said.

Schumer said that any foreign government that aids terrorists who strike the U.S. 'will pay a price if it is proven they have done so'.

Senate Democrats had firmly supported the legislation, putting them at odds with the Obama administration.

The 2001 attacks killed thousands in New York (pictured), the Washington, D.C. area and Pennsylvania

Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. The senate passed the bill despite a White House veto threat and fierce objections from the U.S. ally

Schumer was confident the Senate had the necessary two-thirds vote of the chamber to override a presidential veto.

'We don't think their arguments stand up,' the New York lawmaker said at a news conference after the Senate action.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that controls foreign aid, had blocked the bill from moving to the Senate floor until changes were made to ensure the legislation didn't backfire on the United States.

Graham's apprehension was rooted in the possibility a foreign country could sue the United States if the door is opened for U.S. citizens to take the Saudis to court. Graham released his hold earlier this month, clearing the way for Senate action.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also had warned that the legislation, if passed, would alienate Saudi Arabia and undermine a longstanding yet strained relationship with a critical U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Schumer said it is false to claim that the bill encourages retaliation or litigation against the United States.
DFAT are providing consular assistance to the family of the man who died

His friend also required hospital treatment after

An Australian tourist has died after his drink was reportedly spiked in the tourist destination of Laos.

The 24-year-old man died over the weekend and his friend was admitted to hospital after a suspected poisoning, reported the Herald Sun.

A spokesperson from the The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Daily Mail Australia they were providing assistance to the family of the man who died.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died in Laos. Due to our privacy obligations, we will not provide further comment,' they said.

The 24-year-old is not the first Australian tourist to die in Laos - with three dying in 2012 alone.

Melbourne man Daniel Eimutis, 19, died tubing in January, Lee Hudswell, 26, from Sydney also died from tubing injuries the same month, while Yarravile man Alexander Lee, 22, was found dead in his hotel in February.

In 2013, best friends Kane Scriven, 40, and Nicholas Parkin, 39, died in Laos on New Year's Day after a night of partying.

Australian tourists Daniel Eimutis (left), Lee Hudswell (centre), and Alexander Lee (right) all died in Laos in early 2012
Muna Guled, above, hurled a coffee cup at a hotel manager's face as he tried to break up a fight

A Dutch student hurled a cappuccino cup into a hotel managers face as he tried to break up a catfight in a luxury four-star suite, a court heard.

Muna Guled, 22, launched the missile amid a scene of flying plates and cutlery at the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel in Bryanston Street, Marylebone, west London.

Guled was left bleeding after being struck in the head with a coffee cup and hurled one back during the melee on 14 November.

Hotel manager Herkus Milasevicius was hit in the face by the object when he hurried into the room to intervene, Westminster Magistrates Court heard.

Prosecutor Denise Johnson said: There were two people having a fight, they were throwing items at each other.

This defendant threw a cup and it missed the person she was aiming for and hit the manager, who is the victim in this case.

Mr Milasevicius suffered a cut to his head but managed to break up the squabble at the hotel, which has now been renovated and reopened as the Amba Hotel.

Miss Johnson said: He says that he was trying to intervene. He saw this defendant throw a cup at the larger defendant.

This cup hit Mr Milasevicius in the head just above his eye and he had a cut, a small cut just above his eye.

She added: The victim says in his statement that he realised he was bleeding, he got a towel to stop the bleeding, it doesnt appear he went to the hospital.

Guled was taken to St Marys Hospital in Paddington where she received stitches to her cut.

She was said to be extremely remorseful when she was later interviewed by officers at Charing Cross Police Station.

Miss Johnson said: She said she had had an argument with another girl, they were throwing items at each other.

Hotel staff had let the other woman leave the hotel to calm the situation and she was not charged with any offence.

Guled pleaded guilty to one count of assault.

Chairman of the bench Paul Brooks said: What happened that night was totally unacceptable, you threw a cup which injured somebody who was coming to you aid.

He was a member of hotel staff so he was serving the public and that aggravates this matter.

The chaos unfolded at the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel in Marylebone (pictured), which is now called Amba Hotel

Hotel manager Herkus Milasevicius was hit in the face by the object when he hurried into a room in the hotel (pictured) and he suffered a small cut above his eye

The student, who is studying health and social care at London Metropolitan University, has one previous conviction for a similar offence on 8 April, the court heard.
This was the dramatic scene after dozens of cars were swallowed up in a massive 600ft road collapse along a river in Italy.

Emergency crews were called to the banks of the Arno river in the Italian city of Florence amid reports a huge section had given way by the water's edge.

The collapse, which was 600ft long and 21ft wide, is thought to have been caused by a ruptured water pipe.

This was the dramatic scene after dozens of cars were swallowed up in a massive 600ft road collapse along a river in Italy

Emergency crews were called to the banks of the Arno river in the Italian city of Florence amid reports a huge section had given way by the water's edge

The collapse, which was 600ft long and 21ft wide, is thought to have been caused by a ruptured water pipe

Firefighters block off the area where a chasm opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, in Florence, Italy

Pictures show how the river wall buckled after the collapse and huge cracks opened up in the surface of the road.

The incident happened earlier today on Lungarno Torrigiani in central Florence between Ponte Vecchio and Ponte alle Grazie.

The city's fire department said water leaking from an underground pipe washed away soil and caused erosion beneath the surface.

Pictures show how the river wall buckled after the collapse and huge cracks in the surface of the road

The incident happened earlier today on Lungarno Torrigiani in central Florence between Ponte Vecchio and Ponte alle Grazie

The city's fire department said water leaking from an underground pipe washed away soil and caused erosion beneath the surface

Fire fighters descended on the scene and are using pumps in a bid to drain the water. Nobody was hurt in the collapse

Fire fighters descended on the scene and are using pumps in a bid to drain the water. Nobody was hurt in the collapse.

According to the Huffington Post, the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella said: 'No injuries, but damage - heavy damage. It is a very serious chasm.'

Residents from two nearby houses have been evacuated as a precaution while the operation gets underway this morning.

The Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella said: 'No injuries, but damage - heavy damage. It is a very serious chasm'

Residents from two nearby houses have been evacuated as a precaution while the operation gets underway this morning

Firecrews were called to the scene amid reports dozens of cars had been swallowed up in the collapse this morning
A married former 'police officer of the year' has been jailed for life for sexually abusing a minor and making child pornography.

Florida cop Michael Harding, 28, pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child porn involving children as young as five.

He created child sex videos on his cell phone - including one of him abusing a girl under the age of 12 - before uploading them to a sick pedophile forum.

Married former 'police officer of the year' Michael Harding has been jailed for life for sexually abusing a minor and making child pornography

Hundreds of child porn videos and images were also found on thumb drives and a computer owned by the father-of-three.

Harding, who was a cop in St Lucie and won the 'officer of the year' award in 2011, even posted graphic content online from his patrol car, prosecutors said.

Harding made child sex videos on his cell phone before uploading them to a sick pedophile forum

He also spoke to another pedophile online about the possibility of swapping children they abused.

According to a criminal complaint, Harding communicated and shared sickening images and videos with other sex offenders in a Kik chatroom.

He pleaded guilty to several child exploitation and child pornography charges in February and was sentenced on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said the police officer knew he could be caught and even spoke online with other pedophiles about the chances of it happening - but still continued the abuse, CBS 12 reported.

Harding's wife took to the stand on Monday and said that, after his arrest, her husband admitted he had had a problem for years,

His mother also spoke in court, saying her son had a troubled upbringing.

She said Harding's father was murdered while she was pregnant and that she used to be addicted to drugs, often leaving him with carers for days at a time.

The cop's attorney claimed Harding had been mentally ill since at least 2010.

Harding asked the judge for mercy and said he was sexually abused by two carers when he was a child.
Native American tribes have expressed outrage over a French auction house's plan to sell 500 sacred artifacts.

The Acoma Pueblo Nation in New Mexico and the Hoopa Valley Tribal Nation in California want to block plans by the EVE auction house in Paris to sell the pieces.

Instead, both tribes want the items returned to their lands.

Members of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council, Leilani Pole, left, and Bradley Marshall, right, have expressed outrage over the plans to sell the Native American artifacts in a Paris auction early next week

Members of the tribes involved, including Governor Kurt Reilly, center, have appealed for the items' return

Among the items for sale is this warrior jacket with scalps attached which is guided at up to $13,500

'This is not a work of art,' Governor Kurt Riley of the Acoma Pueblo Nation told AFP, explaining how the Acoma view the objects up for sale. 'This is a religious item that is dear to us. And when it's gone, it's like a piece of ourselves goes missing.'

The tribes have the support of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian and the US departments of Interior and State. The EVE auction house did not respond to a request for an interview.

'In the absence of clear documentation and clear consent of the tribes themselves, these objects should not be sold,' Mark Taplin of the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs told a Tuesday press conference in Washington.

Taplin said US authorities have been talking with their French counterparts since the auctions began in 2013, 'But I must say we are still awaiting a response from the French side.'

The battle is both cultural and legal.

Protesters have demonstrated outside the auction house in Paris during previous sales

Selling Native American artifacts in the United States is either highly restricted or illegal, depending on the objects and where they were recovered. And tribes have said that such sales are offensive insofar as they expose treasured and sacred objects to public commerce.

'These items are part of our daily lives and on certain occasions these are used in ceremony,' Riley said. Tracking artifacts has become easier thanks to the Internet, he said, and the Acoma have stepped up efforts to recover them.

'We've been successful in the United States to recoup some of those items,' he said. 'It's in France that they've not been receptive to our position.'

There have been numerous Paris auctions of Native American artifacts.

In June 2014, nine masks from the Hopi tribe sold for a total $187,000 with one 19th century mask alone fetching $42,000.

French judges have supported the auctioneers' view that selling the artifacts is legal -- since no French law expressly prohibits them -- and have refused to stop auctions when tribes have sued.

New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce, pictured, wants the Federal Government to do more to prevent the continued theft of Native American artifacts as well as its trafficking nationally and internationally

Some Native American artifacts are on display in the Smithsonian National Museum in Washington

But American tribes see the sales as an affront to their religion and culture, rooted in wrongs that date back hundreds of years when settlers pillaged artifacts.

Many of the sacred items are believed to contain spirits, such as the masks sold in 2014, considered living beings by the Hopi people and worn by dancers during religious ceremonies.

'It's amazing what's left our communities,' D. Bambi Kraus of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers told the Washington news conference.

Kraus said members of her organization have been reviewing auction listings, and have been astonished.

'They're seeing things they didn't even know existed that were being now sold overseas,' she said.

Kraus specifically objected to one item in next week's auction, lot #206 described as a warrior jacket of scalps.

'In our world, if that's human remains, you cannot sell human remains. It's just not the thing to do,' Kraus said.

Conroy Chino, a Native American political and strategic consultant who is Acoma, said they have tried to explain their position to the French auction regulator, the Conseil des Ventes, but the agency has ruled that Native American groups do not have legal standing on French soil.

'We've been quite dismayed,' Chino told AFP. 'It creates a black market when French authorities don't take it upon themselves' to stop the sales, he said.

In a letter to US authorities this month, Riley said many of the 443 items scheduled for sale in Paris are 'from the Hopi Tribe, Zuni Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, or other Ancestral Pueblos that are within our respective cultural provinces and with which we maintain a strong, deep connection.'

IN 2013, 24 Hopi masks went under the hammer in Paris for $714,180, despite the intervention of the US Embassy, who wanted to give the tribes time to see if the artifacts had been trafficked illicitly

The US embassy in Paris has tried to intervene. In 2014, it held an informational session on the cultural and religious significance of artifacts, and why Native American groups find their sale objectionable.

In 2013, the embassy called for a halt to another EVE auction, saying tribes should have time to examine artifacts to see if they can be recovered under a UNESCO convention against the illicit trafficking of cultural property.

But EVE defended the auction, saying that 'no American law has been violated.' The sale went ahead, fetching $714,180 for 24 Hopi masks.

The US has two federal laws, passed in 1990 and 1979, that offer protection for Native American artifacts. But the laws do not explicitly ban their export.
Shocking footage has been released of the moment police guards stormed a prison cell after a teenage Islamic State supporter allegedly carved a message in his cellmate's head.

Bourhan Hraichie, 18, allegedly used a sharp object to carve 'E4E' - short for 'eye for an eye' - into former Australian solider Michael O'Keefe's forehead at Kempsey jail in NSW last month.

The video shows guards entering the cell to find a prayer mat on the floor and a very calm Hraichie sitting next to the bloodstained bed, 9News reported.

Just outside of the cell, O'Keefe, 40, tells officers he hurts 'everywhere' as he lies on the floor with blood pouring from his head.

Scroll down for video

Shocking footage has been released of the moment police guards stormed a prison cell after a teenage Islamic State supporter (pictured) allegedly carved a message in his cellmate's head

Footage shows Michael O'Keefe, 40, telling officers he hurts 'everywhere' as he lies on the floor with blood pouring from his head

As Hraichie is arrested, officers tell the 18-year-old to 'turn around and put his hands on his head'.

'Yeah, sweet,' he calmly responds.

It is alleged Hraichie also poured boiling water onto a towel he placed onto his cellmate's face. He was consequently charged with grievous bodily harm with intent and suffocation.

Following the attack, the general manager of the prison was stood down.

'I have decided to suspend the general manager of the correctional centre pending the outcome of this investigation,' NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said.

'If you are radicalised and at risk of engaging in violent extremism, you need to be locked up.

'You need to be very highly controlled.'

Bourhan Hraichie (pictured) allegedly attacked a former Australian soldier in the prison cell they shared

The video shows guards entering the cell to find a prayer mat on the floor

Prison guards try to keep O'Keefe conscious after he has the mantra 'E4E' carved into his head

Just outside of the cell, O'Keefe, 40, tells officers he hurts 'everywhere' as he lies on the floor with blood pouring from his head

As Hraichie is arrested, officers tell the 18-year-old to 'turn around and put his hands on his head'

Hraichie appeared in Port Macquarie local court on Wednesday via video link and the case was adjourned until June.

Hraichie was a known supporter of IS and had been caught sending graphic images of beheadings to other IS extremists housed in Goulburn a senior prison source has said.

NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin confirmed the attack and said he was appalled the two inmates were placed in the same cell.

'This was a serious mistake and is under investigation,' Mr Severin said.

Corrective services confirmed the teen had a hand-drawn ISIS flag in his cell but denied he sent graphic images to other inmates.

It is alleged Hraichie also poured boiling water onto a towel he placed onto his cellmate's face

Hraichie appeared in Port Macquarie local court on Wednesday via video link and the case was adjourned until June

He allegedly used a sharp object to carve an Islamic state message into the 40-year-old man's head during the attack at Kempsey prison (pictured) in New South Wales

Corrective services confirmed the teen had a hand-drawn ISIS flag in his cell but denied he sent graphic images to other inmates

The teen has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm




Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has received some unexpected praise from an unlikely ally - the Liberal Party's Mathias Cormann.

Senator Cormann, also the government's official campaign spokesman, was delivering his daily press conference at parliament house in Canberra on Wednesday when he appeared to mistake Mr Shorten for the Prime Minister, calling him 'very caring and very much in touch'.

He called Mr Shorten by name not once, but twice, and to make it worse the gaffe was captured on camera.

Scroll down for video

Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann (pictured) has accidentally praised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for being 'very caring and very much in touch'

Senator Cormann attempted a hasty cover up when asked by a journalist if he in fact meant Malcolm Turnbull

'Bill Shorten is very caring and very much in touch and Bill Shorten every single day is promoting our national economic plan for jobs and growth, which of course is exactly what Australia needs given the continued global economic headwinds,' he said.

When asked if he actually meant Malcolm Turnbull, he attempted a hasty cover-up.

People could be heard laughing in the background as the question was put to him.

'Malcolm, Malcolm Turnbull is obviously very focused on... promoting our national economic plan,' he said.

The comments sent social media into a frenzy as people enjoyed a laugh at Senator Cormann's expense.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Shorten said it was the second time in the last two days Labor had been complimented by the coalition.

'[Health Minister] Susan Ley famously said earlier this week that she would have liked to have convinced Treasury and Finance about adopting our health policies. I guess Senator Cormann has officially terminated Mr Turnbull's scare campaign.'

Bill Shorten (pictured) said it was the second time in the last two days Labor had been complimented by the coalition
Social media users have called for her to be arrested for her

Illustrator Nicky Minus was caught on film during the shocking attack

A woman who was filmed spitting in an administrator's face during a heated council meeting has been identified as an illustrator whose controversial work earned her the title 'queen of seed'.

Nicky Minus removed her social media accounts and shut down her illustration website after she was filmed spitting at administrator Richard Pearson at an Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday, Seven News reported.

Footage of the disgusting attack emerged on Wednesday and while Mr Pearson said he wants to 'move on', others argued there is no defence for her 'reprehensible' actions and have called for the former UTS student to be charged with assault.

Scroll down for video

Social media users argued there is no defence for her 'reprehensible' actions and have called for the former UTS student to be charged with assault

Nicky Minus removed her social media accounts and shut down her illustration website after she was filmed spitting at administrator Richard Pearson at an Inner West Council meeting on Tuesday

Ms Minus' said her work focuses on female empowerment and often features explicit drawings of the female anatomy which has drawn some criticism from 'prudish' publishers, some even calling her 'the queen of seed, according to an interview in The Lifted Brow.

Daily Mail Australia have contacted Ms Minus for comment.

Mr Pearson was escorted out of the Inner West Council meeting on Tuesday night after the protester who was wearing a yellow top approached him.

The video shows the woman crossed the room to get near Mr Pearson, and was shouting in his face before she spat at him and another council member intervened.

The angry residents were picketing NSW Premier Mike Baird's recent decision to merge the three local councils into one, and the WestConnex transport infrastructure development.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Richards said he has 'moved on' and won't be pressing charges against the young woman, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Ms Minus' said her work focuses on female empowerment and often features explicit drawings of the female anatomy which has drawn some criticism from 'prudish' publishers, some even calling her 'the queen of seed

Administrator Richard Pearson (right, behind the man in the blue jacket) was being escorted out of the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night when a protester in a yellow top (left) approached him

Seconds later, the woman spat in the shocked administrator's face, before another council member stepped in to block her from getting any closer

Police (pictured) were called during the first meeting of a new local council, after protesters disrupted the event and a woman spat at an administrator

Riot police were also called during the meeting, which was disrupted by the hundreds of protesters and ultimately descended into chaos.

The newly formed Inner West Council is an amalgamation of Sydney suburbs Leichhardt, Ashfield, and Marrickville.

A NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia riot police were called to the meeting as a precaution, however there were no reports they were needed.

Images posted to social media show the crowd of furious locals gathered outside the Petersham Service Centre, with many seen holding signs.

A number of black riot squad vehicles were seen outside the council meeting on Tuesday night

Protesters (pictured) packed the meeting in Sydney's inner-west on Tuesday night and forced it to be abandoned

A local resident is seen protesting with a sign outside the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday

Crowds of protesters gathered outside the building (pictured) as well as inside it, due to it being full beyond capacity

Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson (pictured) was reportedly spat on by protesters as he was escorted from the meeting

More than 200 protesters picketed the Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night
A pair of majestic white lions have been poisoned by poachers in South Africa who then beheaded them and chopped off their paws.

The big cats, who were kept in captivity at a farm in Limpopo, were found dead on Friday.

It is believed the lions were targeted by poachers as part of a muti-killing, where animal body parts are used for healing in black magic rituals.

One of the big cats who was poisoned before being decapitated and having its paws chopped off in South Africa

Before they were killed, it is believed the lions were fed a pesticide called Temik, which is used to get rid of spider mites and other pests.

Local police said they had picked up a number of suspects relating to the killing near the Stockpoort border crossing with Botswana.

A police spokesman said that an investigation was under way.

It has been estimated that 8,000 lions are bred in captivity in South Africa.

It is believed the lions were targeted by poachers as part of a muti-killing, where animal body parts are used for healing in black magic rituals

Local police confirmed they had picked up a number of suspects relating to the killing near the Stockpoort border crossing with Botswana

A spokeswoman from LionAid told the Daily Express: 'The lions are often sold to facilities which offer walking experiences with lions.

'The final journey for most of these hand-reared lions is as a trophy to be mounted on a hunter's wall.'

Animal rights activists say canned - or 'captive' - hunting in South Africa, where lions have been reduced to little more than 'farmyard chickens', is popular to meet the market of high-paying tourists who hunt them down using guns or bows for the ultimate 'trophy' kill.

A white lion in the wild in Africa. South Africa is a prime destination for rich tourists looking to add another trophy to their collection and, as a result, 1,000 lions are killed there every year

An undercover investigation for a new film into the trade reveals that safari companies will even send out prospective hunters a catalogue so they can choose the exact animal they want to kill - ranging in price from $5,400 (3,500) to $48,000 (31,000), depending on size and condition.

South Africa is a prime destination for rich tourists looking to add another trophy to their collection and, as a result, 1,000 lions are killed there every year.
Antonio Pedro De Alves (pictured) skipped bail after being charged with rape and fled to Brazil. As a Portuguese speaker, he was able to blend in seamlessly

A rapist who attacked a 12-year-old girl in Britain and went on the run after being given bail has finally turned up 5,000 miles away in Brazil.

Antonio Pedro De Alves, 44, a Portuguese national, was convicted in absentia at Stafford Crown Court in May 2013 and jailed for 11 years.

But a three-year manhunt ended earlier this month when he was discovered in the beach resort of Jaboatao dos Guararapes, where he had married a Brazilian woman.

Alves, who was arrested by the Brazilian Federal Police, has been remanded in custody and now faces extradition to the UK, where he will serve his sentence.

Ronnie Biggs, the Great Train Robber, famously fled from Britain to Brazil and managed to avoid extradition for years.

But an extradition treaty between the two countries was signed in 1997 and the country is no longer a safe haven for fugitives.

Alves was living in the English town of Rugeley in Staffordshire when he first made contact with his victim on the social media website Bebo,

He pretended to be a sports-loving 15-year-old and eventually persuaded to meet up at a supermarket car park in Cannock in December 2011.

When she arrived he claimed to be a relative of the 15-year-old boy but she immediately became suspicious and tried to flee.

But Alves dragged her into his car and raped her.

He was arrested and charged in January 2013 but was inexplicably given bail.

Alves was arrested in Jaboatao dos Guararapes (pictured) where he had married a Brazilian woman and was obviously hoping to carve out a new life away from his secret past in Britain

Alves skipped bail and an international arrest warrant was issued by Interpol.

A local newspaper in Jaboatao dos Guararapes, which is near Recife, reported Alves had married in 2014.

The victim's mother had previously said: 'The police investigation from the very beginning seemed slow and it has all been such a long, drawn out process.

'We couldn't believe he was allowed bail after being charged, as he was a foreign national who could easily slip abroad.

'My daughter has been so brave. We are all so proud of her but she deserves justice.'
A man in Thailand suffered huge blood loss after a python sank its fangs into his penis while he was sitting on the toilet.

Atthaporn Boonmakchuay tried desperately to break free after the huge snake attacked in the bathroom of his home in Chachoengsao, east of the capital Bangkok.

The 38-year-old reportedly reached down with his hand after feeling a sharp bite - only to discover the serpent's jaws clamped around the tip of his penis.

Aftermath: A man in Thailand suffered huge blood loss after a python sank its fangs into his penis while he was sitting on the toilet

Gruesome: Atthaporn Boonmakchuay tried desperately to break free after the huge snake attacked in the bathroom of his home in Chachoengsao, east of the capital Bangkok

Atthaporn screamed out for his wife as he thrashed around trying to dislodge the 11ft python.

Moments before collapsing, he managed to tie rope around the snake's head and tie it to the bathroom door.

But he was rushed to hospital after suffering horrific blood loss in the ordeal.

Footage shows emergency crews trying to ease the python out of pipes under the toilet and using hammers to smash it free.

Recovery: Atthaporn Boonmakchuay (pictured) screamed out for his wife as he thrashed around trying to dislodge the python

Terrifying: There are reports that the snake had swam up pipes to the house before emerging in the bathroom

Discovery: The 11ft python was found by emergency crews jammed up in the pipes leading to the victim's toilet

Rescue: The reptile was then made safe and placed in a bag ahead of being released back in wild, local media reported

The reptile was then made safe and placed in a bag ahead of being released back in wild, according to Bangpakong News.

There are reports that the snake had swam up pipes to the house before emerging in the bathroom.
Senior support worker Jessica Armstrong, 39, grabbed the glass from the bar at Shisha Oui in Purley High Street, Coulsdon, south London, and hurled it at Tammy Hunter during a 'slanging match'

A carer who bottled another woman in the face when she pushed past her at a busy wine bar has been spared jail despite leaving her victim needing eight stitches after the 'slanging match'.

Senior support worker Jessica Armstrong, 39, grabbed the glass from the bar at Shisha Oui in Purley High Street, Coulsdon, south London, and hurled it at Tammy Hunter during a row.

Ms Hunter suffered a cut above her left eye and had to have eight stitches in hospital following the attack which was caught on CCTV camera in the early hours of October 11 last year.

Armstrong has now been spared jail after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm at the Old Bailey. She was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years.

However, she could face losing her job as a senior carer looking after clients aged between 74 and 101 in their own homes.

Outlining the incident to the court this week, prosecutor Fiona Ryan said: 'The wine bar was closing and patrons were leaving and everyone involved had some alcohol to drink that night.

'As there was a move towards the door Tammy Hunter jostled or pushed past Jessica Armstrong and an argument started between them.

'There was shouting for some minutes between them. It stopped for a time but began again when Tammy Hunter enters the bar and is reaching towards her and flailing her hands at her face.

'At this point Jessica Armstrong lifts a nearby glass bottle and throws it at Tammy Hunter where it hits her above the eye.'

Ms Hunter was taken outside and her friends flagged down a passing police car for help.

Armstrong told officers that she had thrown the bottle into the middle of the room without meaning to hurt the victim.

She has two cautions for assault, including ABH in 2002 and common assault on her partner in 2008.

The court heard she had been signed off sick from work for two weeks at the time of the attack due to her problems with anxiety and depression.

Judge Gerald Gordon told her: 'You were apparently strangers and looking at the CCTV of the wine bar where you both were it is clear that by the early hours you were both intoxicated.

The incident occurred at Shisha Oui in Purley High Street, Coulsdon, south London, on October 11 last year

'As people were leaving at closing time, what started as a slanging match between you over something entirely trivial became something significantly more serious as a result of your actions in picking up a bottle and throwing it.

'You say you didn't intend to hit Ms Hunter but the only person who was hit was the person who you had been shouting at who had come back in to further confront you.

'Your actions resulted in her receiving a nasty cut across the right eye that required stitches.

'You are now nearing 40 and it really is time you behaved more responsibly.'
Parents have taken to social media to blast a netball association after their young girls were forced to play in torrential rains and winds of over 100km/h or be issued a $250 fine.

Wanneroo Districts Netball Association Facebook page was deluged with complaints on Saturday after posting a message saying the remainder of the days games were cancelled due to a wild storm.

The outraged parents claimed they desperately tried to flag the dangerous conditions to the Perth association but were threatened with a fine if they pulled their children off the court.

Scroll down for video

Parents at courtside duck for cover and shield themselves with foldout chairs as the wild storm lashes Wanneroo Districts Netball Association

Images from social media show parents at the courtside ducking for cover and shielding themselves with foldout chairs as the wild storm lashed the venue.

One mother told of her daughter's emotional distress at the weather when she was threatened with a fine.

'Our girls on both teams were crying, sore and shattered and yet when we advised officials of this we were forced to continue playing or pay a $250 fine and were advised that it was a winter sport and our girls needed to toughen up,' the mother wrote.

Other parents cast doubt on the club's claims they were subject to abuse, saying they were only trying to notify them of the danger at hand.

'With all due respect, l saw no evidence of abuse. What l did see were parents voicing their concerns about their very emotional and soaked nine-year-olds being told that they had to complete their respective games or else risk receiving a $250 fine.'

Wanneroo Netball association plans to discuss its wet weather policy with club delegates at its next meeting but confirmed in a statement there would be no fines issued for Saturday, reports WA Today.

The club was inundated with complaints from parents on Saturday after the club posted a message saying the remainder of Saturday's games were cancelled due to a wild storm

Perth was battered by winds in excess of 100km/h, torrential rains and massive ocean swells on Saturday.

About 60,000 homes in Perth and the south-west region are without power and the SES had received 70 calls for assistance this morning as fallen trees and wind caused damage across the city.

Here a station is flooded in Perth as a commuter contemplates whether to 'wade' through the station

'We would like to acknowledge and thank those teams/clubs that did make the effort and followed the policies and procedures,' the statement reads.

'WDNA would also like to sincerely thank those that took the time to show/send their support to us as an association.'

Perth was battered by winds in excess of 100km/h, torrential rains and massive ocean swells on Saturday.
This is the heart-stopping moment a father looks to the sky and prays his family survive before they leaping from a burning building in Russia.

A fire had broke out in their apartment in the five-storey block in the town of Strunino near Moscow, and the family were forced to flee.

A crowd of around 20 men gathered below the apartment building and urged the family to jump and they would catch them.

Scroll down for video

A father appears on the balcony of his burning apartment after being forced to flee the engulfing flames

Before jumping down to the bystanders on the ground, the father crosses his chest and looks to the sky and prays

First to jump was the family's youngest child, a toddler named Zhenyu, who gripped her blanket before falling though the smoke.

After she landed safely a second older child followed, before footage captured the children's mother Elena launching herself from the balcony to the bystanders waiting below.

Then it was the turn of the father Vitaly to jump and he is seen steadying himself on the window's edge.

After saying a prayer, the father then launches himself off the side of the building to escape the flames

As he reaches the ground, a group of bystanders are on hand to catch him and break his fall

He then crosses his heart twice and looks to the sky and prays that he and his family will survive.

The father then bends down and jumps from the balcony and he is succesfully caught by the bystanders.

The clip then ends with the father being helped to his feet and smoke continues to pour from the flat.

It is still unknown what caused the fire and the father is still recovering in hospital from his injuries.

Earlier the family's mother Elena was also forced to jump from her burning apartment after her children

The mother is caught by the bystanders. It is still unknown what caused the fire and the family are recovering in hospital

The mother, Elena, told Russian news website Newinform: 'My husband realised that we were not locked out.

'Everything in the apartment was in the black smoke, and we strongly choked. And I have a child with heart disease who is 11 months old.
An expecting mother spent months planning a funeral instead of decorating her baby's nursery, after doctors gave her son a small chance of survival due to a rare condition.

But a week after giving birth, Alyssa Reidhead and her husband Ben are on cloud nine, after their son Will survived a C-section and is thriving in the hospital.

The young Idaho couple, who are both college students, went in for a routine ultrasound 23 weeks into Alyssa's pregnancy and doctors told them that their son had a condition called encephalocele.

Scroll down for video

Ben and Alyssa Reidhead were told that their baby boy Will would die in the womb or right after birth. But the infant is thriving a week after Alyssa underwent a C-section at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah

Baby Will was born with a condition that left him without most of his skull and only a thin membrane of skin covering his brain

Encephalocele causes the brain to grow outside of the skull, and doctors said it was likely that the baby boy would die in the womb or just minutes after birth.

'We were going in for one of the happiest times of our lives and come out walking like we just heard the worst news we could've ever heard,' Ben Reidhead told Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

So instead of buying onesies and diapers, the couple picked out caskets and planned funeral arrangements.

The couple then spent the remaining half of their pregnancy bracing for the worst news possible.

The couple spent the later half of Alyssa's pregnancy planning for their son's funeral, even picking out a casket

The baby is breathing on his own, but doctors are keeping him at the hospital as they decide how to protect his head

Alyssa went in for a C-section last week at Primary Children Hospital in Utah, and in a turn of events, her baby boy survived the delivery.

'We heard a cry and that made me cry and him cry because we were like, "oh he's crying",' Alyssa said.

'He's not hooked up to anything. He's breathing fine. He's lifting his head. He's moving around. He's pretty much acting like a completely normal baby,' the new mom added.

After birth, doctors rediagnosed their baby with another rare disease called cutis aplasia, which means that the boy is missing the back of his of his skull, and his brain is covered by only a small membrane.

Doctors still aren't sure what to do to protect the baby's head so they are keeping him in the hospital for now, and making him stay on his stomach.

Meanwhile, Ben's brother has started a Go Fund Me page to help the couple with clothes and supplies for the new baby - since they didn't hold any baby showers.

The couple, who are both college students, sat down for an interview with a local news station after the joyous birth of their son
St Albans Crown Court heard children's summer camp co-owner Ben Lewis, pictured, had indecent images of children on his phone

A member of staff at a US-style summer camp said she felt like her brain had been 'polluted' after finding pictures of naked three-year-old girls on her boss's phone.

Sandra Vicente told St Albans Crown Court she discovered the images on the iPhone of Ben Lewis, one of the co-owners of LL Camps in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

The court heard Ms Vicente had been given the phone and entry PIN by Lewis, 26, in order to play music at a children's party.

But she told a jury she 'got nosey' and looked at his deleted images, and 'felt sick' when she saw the pictures, allegedly taken in the changing rooms of the camp.

She said: 'I was just nosey. I looked at the deleted items. First I saw children on a beach. They were not wearing anything. They were aged 3 to 4.

'Then I saw pictures that had been taken in a changing room. I would say they were aged three to four. I felt my brain was polluted. I felt sick.'

She said the images were also seen by Mohammed Ramli and another worker Shelby Silver, on August 1, 2015.

That night she said she told Tal Landsman, 26, another co-owner of LL Camps, what she had seen.

The prosecution allege Landsman did nothing in response and allowed his friend to continue to work.

Ms Vicente told the court the next day Lewis told her he had found 'something disgusting' on his phone but denied any knowledge of how it got there.

Three days later she reported him to the police after he came to her with a three-year-old girl from her group whom he said he had found in the toilets after she wet herself.

Ms Vicente said: 'At that point, I put my foot down. I thought I had to do something. I went home from work and called the police.'

Prosecutor Ann Evans told the jury that when Ms Vicente spoke to Landsman he said he would 'sort it' and also asked her not to tell anyone else.

She claimed Landsman, one of the camp's safeguarding officers, later sent her a WhatsApp message saying: 'You need to promise me that this will not be spoken about at camp or to anyone.'

Ms Vicente added he asked her if 'one million per cent categorically' the picture she saw had been taken in the changing rooms at the camp. She replied: 'Yeah'.

Mrs Evans told the jury: 'You may conclude that Tal was extremely reluctant to do anything about the information she had provided, saying: 'Is there anything you would want me to do with this information?'

'You may think this is the height of irresponsibility and, as co-owner, his first duty in this situation should have been to the children, not the co-owner Ben Lewis.

'He said he would write a report about what happened and she trusted him to do so. He even suggested to Sandra that it might just be a phase Ben was going through.'

Shelby Silver, the girlfriend of the defendant's brother Adam, was said to have spoken to Landsman on August 3, when he allegedly told her he was receiving conflicting stories.

Dan Risner, another director of LL Camps, was allegedly told by Landsman that if what Lewis had on his phone 'got out' he could 'lose everything'.

Tal Landsman, pictured, co-owner of LL Camps in Hertfordshire, allegedly failed to act over the images and is charged with child cruelty

At a staff meeting, Landsman declared a conflict of interest and agreed that his brother Adam should now deal with the matter.

Mrs Evans said staff had immediately told Landsman what had been found on Lewis's phone.

'In an effort to protect his friend, he did nothing about what he had heard, and allowed the parties and activities to keep running the camp until eventually Ofsted moved in and closed the place down on August 6 last year,' she said.

On August 27 Landsman was arrested at his home in Stevenage and made no comment during his police interview.

Landsman is on trial at St Albans Crown Court, pictured, which heard he told Sandra Vicente 'not to tell anyone' about the pictures she allegedly found on Lewis' phone

Mrs Evans told the jury of seven men and five woman: 'This trial is not concerned with the guilt or innocence of Mr Lewis, the focus of your deliberations is Landsman.

'What is not in dispute is that what was found on Mr Lewis's phone were indecent images of very young children.

'As far as Landsman is concerned, friend or no friend, it was his obligation for the safety of the children in his care to report Mr Lewis, to remove him from the premises, or shut the operations.

'By not doing so, he exposed these children to the unnecessary risk that they would suffer harm at the hands of his co-director.'

Landsman, of Stevenage, pleaded not guilty to one charge of cruelty to a person under 16 between July 31 and August 7, 2015.
These satellite images appear to show extensive damage to an air base in Syria used by Russian forces after an apparent bombardment by ISIS fighters.

Four Russian combat helicopters and around 20 supply trucks were destroyed at the base which is strategically located in central Syria between war-ravaged Palmyra and Homs.

The pictures were released by U.S. intelligence company Stratfor which claimed the damage was caused by an ISIS artillery attack earlier this month.

But U.S. officials said it was more likely the result of an accidental fuel tank explosion.

Scroll down for video

Scorched earth: This satellite image released by U.S. intelligence company Stratfor shows extensive damage to an air base in Syria used by Russian forces which it claimed was caused by an ISIS artillery attack

Before: This image shows where four Russian attack helicopters and around 20 supply trucks had been positioned in the two areas where the fire damage was seen in the later satellite picture

Russia's defence ministry also denied the claims, saying the damage had been there for months and was due to fighting between Syrian government forces and 'militants from terror groups'.

Stratfor released satellite images dated from May 14 and May 17, implying that the damage to the T-4 base, also known as Tiyas, was caused in that time.

'The T4 air base was severely damaged by an Islamic State artillery attack,' Stratfor said on their website.

In particular, four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters appear to have been destroyed,' Stratfor said on their website.

The cause of the apparent damage could not be determined from the images obtained by Stratfor.

But the BBC quoted Stratfor analyst Sim Tack as saying that 'this was not an accidental explosion'.

It 'would really be a marginal, almost non-existent chance for this to be accidental,' he added.

Stratfor said four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters appear to have been destroyed at the air base

'Non-existent chance': Stratfor analyst Sim Tack as saying that 'this was not an accidental explosion'

Tack said there was evidence of 'several different sources of explosions across the airport and it shows that the Russians took a quite a bad hit'.

The Stratfor report said that 'ordnance impact points are visible' in the images and that a Syrian MiG-25 fighter jet also appeared to have been damaged.

But Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: 'The burnt air and auto equipment along with many craters from shell detonations have been there for several months.

'This is a result of heavy combat for this aerodrome between Syrian government forces and militants of terrorist groups.'

U.S. officials also told Fox News that the intelligence community believes it was an accident and not an ISIS terror attack.

They said it more likely caused by a fuel tank explosion, which set off secondary explosions on the runway.

'The Stratfor analysis is wrong,' one U.S. official told Fox News. Another official said, 'There is no indication that an ISIS attack took place.'

Russia's defence ministry denied the damage was caused by an ISIS attack, saying the damage had been there for months and was due to fighting between Syrian government forces and 'militants from terror groups'

On May 15, the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said that four Russian combat helicopters and 20 trucks carrying rockets (above) had been destroyed at the T-4 base by a fire but did not provide further details

When asked about the cause, another official said refueling 'can be dangerous'.

However, it was unclear what could have triggered the blast.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti also quoted an unnamed Syrian source confirming a 'fire' at the base, though he did not specify when it had occurred.

'The reasons of the fire are unknown. It started near the space where four helicopters were located. Fire engines could not access the fire due to shelling by terrorists.

'The fire spread to the helicopters,' the source said, adding that there were no casualties or injuries sustained in the shelling.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported shelling of the T-4 base on May 11 after ISIS jihadists briefly took control of part of a route between Palmyra and Homs.

The Stratfor report said that 'ordnance impact points are visible' in the images and that a Syrian MiG-25 fighter jet (pictured above) also appeared to have been damaged

'Though the Islamic State failed to cut off the road for any extended amount of time, it did move artillery within range of the base, which it subsequently shelled,' Stratfor said in its analysis.

The British-based Observatory also said two days later that continued shelling had caused an explosion at a fuel depot and a fire that destroyed three helicopters.

On May 15, the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said that four Russian combat helicopters and 20 trucks carrying rockets had been destroyed at the T-4 base by a fire but did not provide further details.

ISIS seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in mid-2014, and the group has claimed deadly attacks in the West and throughout the Middle East.
Advertisement

At least five migrants have drowned off the Libyan coast today after the heavily overcrowded boat they were on overturned, the Italian navy has revealed.

The navy said at least 550 people had been pulled to safety but added that the rescue operation was still underway and that the death toll could rise.

Shocking pictures show the vessel starting to lean to one side before refugees start diving into the water as it capsizes. Frantic passengers swam for their lives as the boat started to overturn and sink beneath the surface.

More than 6,000 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean in just over 48 hours as Italian officials revealed people smugglers now account for half of GDP along Libya's coast.

Scroll down for video

At least five migrants have drowned off the Libyan coast today after the heavily overcrowded boat they were sailing on overturned, the Italian navy has revealed

The navy said at least 550 people had been pulled to safety but added that the rescue operation was still underway and that the death toll could rise

Shocking pictures show the the vessel, crammed with refugees, starting to lean on to its side before refugees start diving into the water as it capsizes

Frantic passengers could be seen swimming for their lives as the boat started to overturn and sink beneath the surface. Some held on to the hull as it started to sink

The Italian patrol boat Bettica saw that the vessel was in difficulty and approached it to hand out life jackets, but before it could begin a rescue the boat flipped over due to the sudden movement of the passengers, a statement said

'Shortly afterwards the boat overturned due to overcrowding. The Bettica, which had arrived nearby, threw life-rafts and jackets' to the migrants in the water, while another navy ship in the area sent a helicopter and rescue boats.

It comes after more than 2,600 refugees were picked up on Monday off the Libyan coast and a further 3,000 were helped to shore by Italian ships yesterday while 550 more were also turned back by Libya's coastguard.

Italian officials estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of gross domestic product in Tripolitania in northwest Libya comes from people smuggling.

Rescue bid: Pictures show the refugees waiting in the water after being thrown in to the sea by the vessel as it was capsizing off Libya

A helicopter was soon called in as the scale of the emergency became clear. Hundreds of migrants were plucked from the water during the rescue mission

At least five migrants have drowned after the heavily overcrowded boat they were sailing on overturned, the Italian navy said

The Bettica patrol boat had spotted 'a boat in precarious conditions off the coast of Libya with numerous migrants aboard,' it said in a statement

Meanwhile the European Union's Mediterranean naval force is offering to train Libyans to run a small coastguard fleet to be able to fight people smuggling in under three months, the admiral in charge of the mission said on Wednesday.

'In 14 weeks we can train the first 100 men in international waters by turning one of our ships into a school,' Admiral Enrico Credendino said in an interview with Italy's la Repubblica newspaper.

'There are eight patrol boats ready for delivery that had been equipped by Italy for the Libyan government before civil war broke out,' he said.

More personnel and boats will be needed, he said, but further resources will have to be set aside in Brussels first and then 'in three or four months the Libyans will be able to act autonomously'.

Navy swimmers are also shown pulling migrants in lifebelts toward the Bettica, according to the navy pictures. Women wearing head scarves and children were among those rescued, but no details of the migrants' nationalities have been given

The Italian navy patrol boat Bettica saw that the vessel was in difficulty and approached it to hand out life jackets, but before it could begin a rescue the boat flipped over due to the sudden movement of the passengers, a statement said

Several rubber motor boats are being used in the rescue operations, and the navy frigate Bergamini has deployed a helicopter

Bettica has launched lifeboats and life jackets, while the frigate Bergamini, which is also in the area, has sent helicopters and boats to assist in the rescue

The EU force, known as operation Sophia, was set up to fight people smuggling in the south-central Mediterranean, but it cannot enter Libyan waters without an invitation from the government, of which there are two vying for power in Tripoli and Benghazi.

On Monday and Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said 5,600 migrants had been rescued, including by ships participating in the Sophia mission. More than 30,000 have come so far this year, down slightly from last year, the Italian government has said.

The Libyan coastguard has also intercepted migrant boats, with 550 turned back to Libya on Tuesday and 850 on Sunday.

Officials fear the numbers will increase as weather conditions continue to improve. Credendino said that some 150,000 migrants were in Libya and ready to make the crossing, much less than some have estimated.

More than 6,000 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean in just over 48 hours. Refugees are pictured after being rescued by the Italian ship Aquarius

Migrants smile on board the rescue ship 'Aquarius', on May 25 - a day after a rescue operation off the Libyan coast

Italian officials estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of gross domestic product in Tripolitania in northwest Libya comes from people smuggling

The Libyan coastguard has also intercepted migrant boats, with 550 turned back to Libya on Tuesday and 850 on Sunday

'Today the estimate is that between 30 and 50 percent of gross domestic product in Tripolitania (northwest Libya) comes from people smuggling, with entire tribal clans earning money from it,' Credendino said.

ISIS militants in Libya are not directly involved in people smuggling, he said, but do extort the traffickers who operate in their territory, he said.
Democrats fear if she's still in charge at the summer convention, Sanders supporters will go 'nuts'

Bernie Sanders complains that she's tipped the scales for Hillary  and recently came out for her primary opponent

The Florida lawmaker backed Clinton in 2008 but says she's staying formally neutral this time

In just the latest sign of the lingering split in the Democratic Party as the presidential primary continues, congressional Democrats are talking about dumping Democratic National Committee chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

And in a new twist, some of those who want the Florida lawmaker gone are supporters of Hillary Clinton, not Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

'There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz's head on,' a pro-Clinton Democratic senator told The Hill newspaper.

A spokesman for Clinton indicated to DailyMail.com today that the Democratic front-runner was not looking to depose her partys leader, however.

'I don't think we have anything we need to say,' said Nick Merrill, responding to question about the report and whether Wasserman Schultz has Clinton's full support.

Head-on challenge: Democratic senator talks about putting Wasserman Schultz's head on a 'platter'

The lawmaker who spoke to the Hill said about a dozen lawmaker participated in the discussions about the topic.

The main concern is that Wasserman Schultz is so closely identified with Hillary Clinton, at a time when Sanders is seeking concessions and validation of his ongoing success in winning states and popular support, even as he is on track to lose to Clinton both in delegates and the overall popular vote.

'I don't see how she can continue to the election. How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts,' the lawmaker said.

Wasserman Schultz is set to run the convention, although her influence was already curtailed in an effort to provide Sanders more sway on a platform committee, after the candidate publicly complained about the rules.

Bernie Sanders has complained for months that Wasserman Schultz has favored Clinton

Wasserman Schultz co-chaired Clinton's 2008 campaign

Under the deal announced Monday, Clinton got to pick six members of the committee, Sanders picked five, and Wasserman Schultz picked four.

A senior Senate Democratic told the paper, 'There's a strong sentiment that the current situation is untenable and can only be fixed by her leaving. There's too much water under the bridge for her to be a neutral arbiter.'

The Hill's editor Bob Cusack Tweeted Wednesday that as the paper was putting together it's report, Wasserman-Schultz supporters began calling to register their support for her.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson told the paper a change is 'not going to happen.'

Wasserman Schultz blasted how Sanders responded to outburst at the state Democratic convention in Nevada by his supporters, calling them 'anything but acceptable.'
Advertisement

Britain is set to enjoy a sizzling Bank Holiday weekend with 20C temperatures as we continue to bask in what could be the warmest May on record.

Dry weather is expected for most areas from Saturday to Monday - and although there could be the odd shower in some parts, it should soon pass.

On Saturday there is also a small risk of thundery showers in the South of England - but warm sunny spells are forecast in between if they do arrive.

There are odds of 6/4 that temperatures will beat those in Madrid, where 20C is also expected, and 2/1 that May 2016 will be the warmest on record.

Pretty: A moody start to the day at St Aidan's country park between Leeds and Castleford in West Yorkshire, on the lake at sunrise today

Just keep swimming: Swans gather on the lake at St Aidan's in West Yorkshire as Britain prepares for a warm Bank Holiday weekend

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said: For the Bank Holiday weekend theres a good deal of dry and warm weather to look forward to in many parts.

With highs of 20C thats a little bit above average for the time of year, so it will feel pleasantly warm on the sunshine.

The main emphasis is for a good deal of dry and also sunny weather through the weekend - just people should be aware of the chance of showers.

Forecasters say the best of the weather on Saturday is expected in the North of England while the West is the place to be on Monday.

Saturday should be mostly dry, and the few scattered showers that do appear in the South should be interspersed with warm, sunny spells.

Sunday will again see plenty of dry weather with the odd shower dotted around the country, while Monday could see some light rain in the East.

Forecast: This graphic shows temperatures expected across Europe on Saturday, with Britain compatible to much of Spain and Portugal

Still warm: Sunday's temperatures are also looking good for Britain, with the South of England expected to enjoy the warmest weather

Sunrise in West Yorkshire: The best of the weather on Saturday is expected in the North while the West is the place to be on Monday

But Mr Burkill was keen to point out: The main story is for a good deal of dry and sunny weather. I think about 20C a good bet for maximum.

Ladbrokes is offering 6/4 that anywhere in Britain will be warmer than Madrid  where it is also expected to be 20C - this Bank Holiday weekend.

A company spokesman said: The bank holiday weekend's going to be a sizzler as far as the odds are concerned.

It wouldn't surprise us if workers pull a sickie on Tuesday to extend time spent basking in the sunshine.

Britains warmest day of the year so far was May 8 when temperatures hit 27.1C in London, and this is very unlikely to be beaten this weekend.
He joked: 'I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented'

Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted his firm may not have invented the iPhone after spotting a similar looking device in a 346-year-old Dutch painting.

The tech boss was on a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with EU Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes when they spotted the device.

Speaking at a tech event today in Amsterdam, Commissioner Kroes revealed: 'At one point Tim rushes over and tells me "Come take a look, I found a painting with an iPhone on it!" So he takes my arm and shows me a Rembrandt with a person seemingly holding an iPhone'

Apple CEO Tim Cook joked that the Dutch had invented the iPhone after spotting the man on the right of this 1670 painting by Pieter de Hooch with a handset in his right hand while approaching the woman

The Apple boss, right, speaking today in Amsterdam was discussing a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with EU Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes, left, when he spotted the device in the painting by Pieter de Hooch

Cook, right, was in Amsterdam today to speak at the Start Up Fest Europe which is being held in Holland

Cook then told the audience at Startup Fest Europe: 'I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented, but now Im not so sure anymore.'

However, journalist Boris Veldhuijzen Van Zanten of The Next Web discovered the painting in question was not from Rembrandt.

He searched for the exact picture and instead found it was painted by Pieter de Hooch in 1670.

He said the picture was named 'Man Handing a Letter to a Woman in the Entrance Hall of a House'.

However, the tech giant suffered a setback in India after the country's finance minister decided it must adhere to local sourcing rules if the company wishes to open stores in the country.

Cook recently visited India in an effort to open Apple sores in the country.

India will not exempt Apple from regulations stating that foreign single-brand retailers must buy at least 30 per cent of their parts locally if they want to open outlets, the Bloomberg report said.

Apple has no stores in the world's second-most populous nation, instead selling iPhones through third-party retailers such as Vodafone and Airtel. It makes most of its handsets in China.

The Silicon Valley giant had reportedly applied for an exemption that allows firms bringing cutting-edge technology that cannot be easily replicated by Indian manufacturers to sidestep the rules.

Last week Cook, left, visited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a gold-coloured iPhone during a charm offensive to the country as the company wishes to open several Apple stores

The potential blow to Apple comes only days after its boss Cook toured India in what was widely seen as an extended charm offensive.

During the visit he was pictured in New Delhi using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gold-coloured iPhone as he launched a new version of the premier's eponymous app.

Cook also announced an app design centre in the southern technology hub of Bangalore and a maps centre in Hyderabad, showering praise on India's talented software developers.

India sets stringent rules for foreign retailers, seeking to encourage investment that brings in manufacturing jobs rather than simply allowing them to sell products to its potentially vast market.

India is a compelling proposition for the technology giant, with nearly a billion Indians - among a population of 1.2 billion - still not online, especially as sales of the iPhone slow in more saturated markets.
A Victorian coroner said on Wednesday Hunter had 'played the system'

He killed Ms Cafferkey just 11 days after parole ended for other offences

Double murderer Steven James Hunter was high on ice when he killed her

Double murderer Steven James Hunter 'played the system' and was under the influence of ice when he killed a 22-year-old and stuffed her body in a wheelie bin, according to a Victorian coroner.

Law student Sarah Cafferkey and Hunter would often meet up to use drugs and drink alcohol, but after an argument in 2012, the convicted killer stabbed and bashed the young woman to death at his Bacchus Marsh unit in Melbourne.

Hunter, who previously served 13 years for killing another woman in 1986, killed Ms Cafferkey just 11 days after his parole ended for assault and kidnapping offences.

Double murderer Steven James Hunter 'played the system' and was under the influence of ice when he killed Sarah Cafferkey (pictured)

'Because of his unchanged attitude towards violence, in particular violence against women, Hunter posed a real risk to the community, both when he commenced his parole and at the end of his parole period,' Victorian coroner Judge Ian Gray said on Wednesday.

'In the interests of community safety, this fact should have been drawn to the attention of the [Adult Parole Board].'

The APB was not made aware of a report, written while Hunter was on parole, that made it clear he needed substantial further intervention.

There was little time between the May 2012 report, after Hunter failed to complete a group program, and the end of his parole on October 30. But no attempt was made to intervene.

'It was only a brief window of opportunity but should have been taken,' Judge Gray said.

'Hunter was able to play the system'.

Law student Sarah Cafferkey and Hunter (pictured) would often meet up to use drugs and drink alcohol, but after an argument in 2012, the convicted killer stabbed and bashed the young woman to death

Hunter had a long history of drug use but was not assessed as requiring further intervention in the community. He had used ice when he killed Ms Cafferkey.

Ms Cafferkey's mum Noelle Dickson, who campaigned for the inquest and reform to the parole system, said there were obvious faults in the system.

'For me and all these victims that have suffered terribly through these flaws and faults ... We're never going to get our loved ones back but all we can do is hope and pray that the government sorts out this justice system,' she told reporters.

Ms Dickson wants the government to adopt the coroner's recommendation that serious violent offenders be subjected to the supervision orders, like serious sex offenders.

Corrections Minister Steve Herbert said changes have been made to the parole system and the government will consider if more are needed.

Hunter, who previously served 13 years for killing a woman in 1986, was jailed for life without parole for Ms Cafferkey's murder.

Judge Gray said no one was to blame for Ms Cafferkey's death except Hunter.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is finally ready to endorse Donald Trump for president, a senior-level Trump source said.

ABC News reported that a top Trump official said Ryan will be making the endorsement.

The story gave no time frame, but Ryan meets with House Republicans Wednesday during the regular meeting of the GOP conference.

Ryan's office isn't confirming the report. 'There's no update and we've not told the Trump campaign to expect an endorsement,' a Ryan spokesman told the network.

Ready or not? A Trump officials says Speaker Paul Ryan will endorse the presumptive nominee

'He's also not told anyone he regrets anything,' the spokesman continued.

Trump's senior advisor Paul Manafort met with Republican lawmakers this week and told them he expects Ryan to endorse as early as this week.

An endorsement by Ryan would end a highly public standoff between the two power brokers. Ryan is the to elected Republican in office, and his refusal to get on board the Trump train was an illustration of the deep divisions that linger after an angry primary where Trump attacked his rivals along with the establishment and a political system he called 'rigged.'

Both stories were sourced to the Trump camp, an indication the candidate might be seeking to nudge Ryan into making a public statement.

In early May, CNN asked Ryan whether he was prepared to endorse Trump.

Ryan's reply: 'I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now.'

The two men then met at a Republican Party club near the Capitol along with staff members to try to get to know each other and work out their differences.

Trump and Ryan met in D.C. earlier this month to get to know each other after Trump locked up the GOP nomination

In a telling sign, the two did not release an official photo of the meeting.

Ryan has blasted Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, along with other controversial policies and statements.

But he has also telegraphed where he wants to be at the end of the process.

He said he wants to be 'a part of this unifying process.'

Ryan said he wants Trump to unify 'all wings of the Republican Party and the conservative movement' and run a positive campaign that lets Americans 'have something that they're proud to support and proud to be a part of.'

After Ryan made those comments, Trump punched back with his own statement.

"I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan's agenda. Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first!" Trump said.

Walk on: Since Trump and Ryan met, Trump's standing with Republicans has improved in opinion surveys, though many lawmakers still harbor concerns about him

After the meeting, the two men assigned their policy staff to try to work through some positions.

Ryan said afterward he found Trump to be a 'warm and generous person.'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he'll support the Republican nominee.

Since Trump and Ryan met, Trump has taken the lead in a series of consecutive national polls, as he consolidated support among Republicans around the country.

Meanwhile, while an angry split on the Democratic side has been on display, as Vermont senator Bernie Sanders takes swipes at Hillary Clinton.

Ryan is thought to have his own presidential ambitions, having run as Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012.
Boris Johnson signed the letter warning ministers and civil servants would be breaking the law if the pro-EU websites were not closed

Boris Johnson and more than 25 Brexit supporters have written to Britain's chief civil servant to demand pro-EU material is stripped from Government websites by Friday.

As the EU referendum reaches its final stages, the 'purdah' rules intended to stop taxpayer-funded officials and websites influencing websites kick in.

Several pages on the main Government website Gov.UK currently feature a link to the pro-EU leaflet controversially sent to every home at a cost of 9million.

The letter - coordinated by former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith - warns not removing the links will ministers and civil servants 'in breach of the law'.

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin raised the issue at Prime Minister's Questions but was told by Chancellor George Osborne, who was standing in for David Cameron, to focus on issues and not process.

The letter to Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, said: 'We are in no doubt the intention of the government to maintain all webpages on the Gov.uk website intended to persuade voters to support ''Remain'' in the referendum is both a gross violation of the spirit of the PPERA rules for providing for fair referendums and also a breach of the law.'

It added: 'We therefore demand any government web pages carrying material published with the intention of persuading people to vote remain should be taken down (before Friday).

'Failure to carry this out will put both ministers and civil servants in breach of the law, of the Ministerial Code and of the Civil Service Code.'

The letter, which is CC'd to Mr Cameron, is signed by former cabinet minister Owen Paterson, leading Labour leave campaigner Gisela Stuart, and Ukip peer Lord Pearson of Rannoch.

Tory MPs including Andrea Jenkyns, Craig Mackinlay, Steve Baker, Andrew Bridgen and Marcus Fysh are also among the around 30 signatures.

The letter, coordinated by Iain Duncan Smith and signed by Mr Johnson and dozens of others, said the websites were clearly intended to boost the Remain cause and should be closed for purdah

The Chancellor was challenged as he stood in at Prime Minister's questions by Mr Jenkin.

The Harwich and North Essex MP told him the committee had published three legal opinions from the Speaker's Counsel that 'make it perfectly clear it is illegal'.

But Mr Osborne told him: 'Of course the Government will comply with the law and Government websites will comply with the purdah rules, and we are confident that they do.

'But can I make a general observation. You and I have fought for this referendum, the referendum is taking place, there are some huge issues at stake about Britain's economy, Britain's security, Britain's place in the world.

'We have perfectly honourable disagreements on those big issues.

'Let's debate the substance rather than the process and then the British people will feel they've had a range of opinions and they can make their mind up.'
Advertisement

Following carefully in their mother's footsteps, these are Cecil the Lion's adorable newborn 'grandcubs' - born not far from where the majestic big cat was shot dead with a bow and arrow by an American dentist.

The cubs, the offspring of Cecil's five-year-old son Xanda, were pictured heading out on a walk with their protective mother inside the 14,000 square mile Hwange National Park.

The arrival of the cubs has delighted park staff, who were devastated after Cecil was killed by trophy hunter Walter Palmer.

Scroll down for video

Out with mother: Both mothers care for the cubs, of which there seem to have been 10 at one point, although only eight were pictured

Future: The were pictured almost 11 months after the big cat was shot dead with a bow and arrow by U.S. dentist Walter Palmer

Following in his pawprints: Xanda was recently seen chasing two nomadic male lions from the area, rather like his father Cecil (pictured) did - even when he was outnumbered

Palmer, from Minnesota, paid 46,450 to kill the big cat, who was was collared and monitored as part of an Oxford University research project.

The dentist, who said he never would have shot Cecil 'if I'd known he had a name', found himself a target of international hatred after his part in the July 1 hunt was revealed.

Black-maned Cecil, who was 12 at the time of his death, a mighty age for a cat in the wild, had wandered out of the boundaries of Hwange National Park onto territory where hunts were allowed.

His descendants, however, are staying put within the grounds - which is where they were spotted by safari operator Graham Simmonds and his guide, Buli.

The guide had noticed lion tracks and Simmonds had joined him on the search for the pride, but they remained hidden from view.

In fact, it was only luck that meant they got to see the 10 cubs

Family day out: These sweet-looking cubs are the offspring of Cecil the lion's five-year-old son Xanda and two different lionesses

Safe: These cubs were pictured inside the confines of Hwange National Park, where hunting is not allowed

Sibling rivalry: The discovery of the robust-looking cubs has delighted animal conservationists, as it means Cecil's line will continue

Lucky: These pictures were taken after Graham Simmonds and his guide Buli tracked the small pride down

Proud father: Dad Xanda looks on from a distance. He does not have his father Cecil's distinctive black mane

'After tracking and circling for some time, we decided to head back to camp and have a look again later for the elusive felines,' Simmonds said.

'Whilst driving in the Back Pans area, we entered a long stretch of thick bush; it was impossible to see anything. Suddenly, as we took a bend, there were two large lionesses walking towards us.

'We were still reaching for our cameras when Buli, with his expertly trained eyes, whispered, 'Look beneath the first female'. We then saw not one, but 10, tiny cubs trailing their mother.

'It was an incredibly special sighting to watch the lioness moving her cubs to a new den; especially as the cubs were part of the Ngamo Pride which were fathered by Xanda, one of Cecil's surviving sons.'

Simmonds, who works with the Wilderness Safari operation in the Linkwasha Camp within the park, told Mailonline that Xanda was recently seen chasing two nomadic male lions from the area, rather like his father Cecil did, even when he was outnumbered three to one.

He said the cubs in the photos are from two mothers, as both were seen mating with Xanda last year, and each lioness helps with the task of bringing up the cubs which suckle from more then one lioness.

Outrage: The killing of Cecil (pictured) sparked anger across the world, putting the spotlight on the trophy hunting trade

Fear: Palmer (pictured centre arriving at work) shut his dental practice in July amid a firestorm of protests after he was identified publicly as the big game hunter who killed Cecil so he could add the magnificent creature to his 'trophy' collection

Big on game: Palmer, who has several big-game kills to his name, reportedly paid thousands of dollars for the guided hunt that ended in Cecil's death

Enraged: Protesters were so angry theny set themselves up outside his practice, in Bloomington, Minnestoa

David Macdonald, from Oxford University's lion research project in Hwange National Park, believes he may have seen Xanda mating the lioness which gave birth to some of the cubs.

'He was the coalition male in a pride called Backpan's pride,' he writes in his blog.

The unique whisker patterns on lions' faces are like fingerprints - each one unique to an individual.
Netflix is producing more and more original content such as Bloodline, starring Sissy Spacek and Kyle Chandler, but the European Commission wants them to ensure at least 20 per cent is from Europe

Netflix and Amazon will have to ensure at least 20 per cent of their video content is from Europe if they want to broadcast in the EU, under rules unveiled by the European Commission.

Many of Netflix's biggest hits - Breaking Bad, Orange Is The New Black, Making Of A Murderer - were produced in the United States and much of their film content is from Hollywood.

Guenther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for digital economy, said: 'We have a European film culture and we think European content should be in those programmes.'

Mr Oettinger said the Commission believed 'there should be a guaranteed share of those programmes,' and '20 per cent is a reasonable figure'.

He said they were introducing the new rules to make digital on-demand and streaming services stick to the same rules as traditional broadcasters.

The proposal still has to be approved by each EU nation's parliaments.

If it goes through, each nation would then decide what punishment they would each mete out if Netflix, Amazon and other providers flouted the rules.

Currently 21 per cent of the content on Netflix's European platform comes from EU countries and the company recently started streaming Marseille, its first European-produced original TV series.

It produces several shows in Europe, including Ripper Street, The Grand Tour and the German-language thriller Wanted, and in November it will premiere The Crown, a series about Queen Elizabeth II, which was filmed in the UK.

Fighting the dominance of Hollywood is a major priority for France in particular, which has for years subsidised its own national film industry through a special tax on privately-owned broadcasters that rely heavily on US-made content.

Who would have thought that a series about a mechanic who lived in a scrapyard in Wisconsin would be a hit across Europe? Making A Murderer was an original Netflix series but the company are under pressure to match it with European-made series

A European Commission spokesman told Mail Online: 'It now goes to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. If and when they reach an agreement the proposal will become legislation and then member states will have a period of time to transpose in national legislation.'

Our members around the world love European programming, that's why our investment in European programming, including Netflix original titles created in Europe, is growing Netflix spokesman

Various EU member states already have quotas - varying between 10 and 60 per cent - and the proposal is designed to regulate it across the 28 EU nations.

A Netflix spokesman said: 'Our members around the world love European programming, that's why our investment in European programming, including Netflix original titles created in Europe, is growing.

'We appreciate the Commission's objective to have European production flourish, however the proposed measures won't actually achieve that.'

According to a study provided by the European Commission, Netflix and Apple's iTunes already devote 21% of their film catalogue to content from the European Union.

Brussels also proposed changes to the digital single market which would allow the 500 million people in the European Union to buy goods and services more cheaply online abroad.

Director Rhys Ernst (left), star Jeffrey Tambor (centre) and actress Zackary Drucker attend a Golden Globes viewing party of Transparent, which aired on Amazon's online platform

The Commission also proposed that online firms lift barriers starting next year to internet shoppers who seek cheaper prices for goods and services on sites in different European countries.

'Geoblocking', whereby customers are limited to websites in their home countries for services such as car hire or travel, and are blocked from seeking better prices on foreign sites, will be forbidden under the new proposals.
A father has been charged with battery after allegedly going to his daughters school and fighting her teenage bullies.

Michael Zellars is accused of attacking two 16-year-old girls at Lithonia High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, after his daughter pointed them out and claimed they were planning to jump her, WSB-TV reports.

Zellars, 51, was caught on cell phone video in a brawl with the teenage girls on May 13 and then later being restrained by school resource officers.

Scroll down for video

A father has been charged with battery after allegedly going to his daughters school and fighting her teenage bullies. The brawl was captured on cell phone video (above)

Michael Zellars (pictured) claimed he was breaking up a fight between the girls when security stopped him

But he insists that he was simply breaking up a fight between the girls.

I go to pull them off and security attacks me, he said.

However, a police report says the officers saw an unprovoked Zellars punch one girl in the face.

Zellars also reportedly threatened to return to the school and fight the girls again.

Zellars (left) was caught on camera being restrained by school resource officers. A police report said one officer witnessed him punch a girl in the face unprovoked

Both he and the girls are facing charges of misdemeanor battery, obstructing law enforcement and disrupting a public school, according to AJC.com.

The students were also suspended until the end of the school year and taken to DeKalb County Juvenile Detention Center.

Daily Mail Online has contacted DeKalb County Schools District for comment.
Advertisement

From sassy pink nail varnish bottles to old fashioned telephones, these delightful cookie designs by an artist in Japan stand out for their creativity and attention to detail.

The creative culinary connoisseur behind the elaborate designs is Chihiro Ogura, who runs the independent custom-cooking baking company ANTOLPO.

Ms Ogura has been unveiling her daily new creations via her own Instagram, revealing a stunning array of toppings, including a Japanese inspired Samurai suit of armour and sword.

As well as drawing inspiration from her homeland, Ms Ogura's scrumptious puddings include a French style set of croissants, baguettes and other perfectly crafted pastries.

The cookie toppings also feature a set of frying pans, filled with fried eggs and eggs as well as ornate floral wreaths, red hot chillis and stunningly intricate blue and white bird feathers.

Perhaps the most creative cookie treat is a set of beauty style items including a striking set of red lipsticks, eyeliners and powders.

An honour to serve: The Samurai inspired design including a sensational sword, possibly a Katana, is one of the most striking designs by creative culinary connoisseur Chihiro Ogura

Sugary and sassy: From electric pink to baby blue, these adorable nail varnish bottle designs adds some colourful shine to the cookies

Bag of delights:As well as drawing inspiration from her homeland, Ms Ogura's scrumptious puddings include a French style set of croissants, baguettes and other perfectly crafted pastries

Cooking up a storm: The cookie toppings also feature a set of frying pans, filled with fried eggs and eggs as well as ornate floral wreaths, red hot chillis and stunningly intricate blue and white bird feathers

Birds of a feather: This cockerel and chicken stand out with their outstandingly iced plumage and decorative dark tail feathers

Delicate and delicious: This stunning floral design with intricate individual leaves and berries is one of the standout pieces

Beautiful biscuits: Perhaps the most creative cookie treat is a set of beauty style items including a striking set of red lipsticks, eyeliners and powders

Some like it hot: Sensitive souls who don't like their chilli will have no problems feasting on these colourful and cracking chilli designs

Dedicated designer: The creative culinary connoisseur behind the elaborate designs is Chihiro Ogura, who runs the independent custom-cooking baking company ANTOLPO

Biscuit beauties: Ms Ogura has been unveiling her daily new creations via her own Instagram, revealing a stunning array of toppings, including a collection of bird feathers
A judge has ordered her to be held at hospital due to cancer complications

She was terrified about her daughter's future if she died from the cancer

Liltz was suffering from cancer when she attempted the murder-suicide

Courtney, 28, was severely disabled and could not care for herself or speak

A mother jailed for killing her daughter because she was worried about the disabled 28-year-old's future after she died has been admitted to hospital due to cancer complications.

Two weeks ago Bonnie Liltz pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and was sent to prison for four years.

But she has now been transferred from prison to hospital due to complications from her cancer, where she will remain while her defence team organizes an appeal.

Bonnie Liltz (pictured, center), 56, is seen at court after pleading guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of her 28-year-old severely disabled daughter

Liltz adopted her daughter Courtney (pictured) when she was four years old, despite the child's handicap

Her attorney Thomas Glasgow told the court: 'Bonnie Liltzs weight has dropped from 95 to 89 pounds,' NBC Chicago reported.

'Shes been unable to properly digest any food that she was given in the Cook County Department of Corrections.'

He argued that putting Liltz in prison could kill her.

The 56-year-old had adopted her daughter Courtney when she was four years old, but ended her life in a failed murder-suicide a year ago.

During hearings last week, the court heard how Liltz had loved her adopted daughter 'boundlessly' after the radiation therapy she first underwent at 19 left her unable to conceive.

According to CNN, Liltz's lawyer said she was 'absolutely crushed' during the sentencing hearing and she held his hand sobbing for 15 minutes while she was handcuffed in the dock.

When Liltz thought she was dying from cancer in 2015, she mixed a fatal concoction of medication for herself and her daughter, fearing if she died Courtney would be institutionalized.

In 2012, while Liltz was hospitalized for her own illnesses - recurring cancer and serious intestinal problems - Courtney had to stay in a private facility - an experience which haunted her, according to her sister Susan.

'She was filthy, her clothes were filthy, she had diaper rash. It broke Bonnie's heart to see Courtney like that,' Susan told the Chicago Tribune.

Determined not to let her daughter fall into the hands of another assisted living or private facility again should she succumb to her cancer, Liltz decided to take her own life and her daughter's.

She gave Courtney, who had cerebral palsy, the overdose through her feeding tube before taking it herself with a glass of wine.

Liltz feared she was dying after battling reoccurring cancer and serious intestinal problems and worried who would care for Courtney

She gave Courtney, who had cerebral palsy, the overdose through a feeding tube before taking it herself with a glass of wine

She left a suicide note, according to authorities, which read in part: 'I am so sorry to put you all through this but I can't leave my daughter behind. ... I go first, what will happen to her?

'I don't want her to live in an institution for the rest of her life. She is my life.'

Susan found her sister and niece unconscious and called for help.

At the hospital, Courtney died but Liltz was revived and later arrested for the murder of her daughter.

She was initially charged with first-degree murder, but upon hearing her story, the charge was lessened to the second-degree involuntary manslaughter charge.

Prosecutors leaned toward leniency in the case after friends and family painted Liltz as a loving and devoted mother

Prosecutors leaned toward leniency in the case after friends and family painted Liltz as a loving and devoted mother who had her daughter's best interests at heart.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office had even said a term of probation, rather than imprisonment, was its position, given the 'tragic circumstances' of the case.

Courtney, who could not talk or care for herself, attended Kirk School in Palatine until she turned 22.

Then she attended a day program, and officials from her school and day program told the Chicago Tribune Liltz was an involved and devoted mother.

They also told the Tribune that Courtney seemed happy and well cared for.

Another longtime friend said Bonnie placed Courtney in a residential program years ago but ultimately decided she didn't want her to leave home, the Tribune reported.

Her attorney said there was no evil or malice in Liltz's actions and said her act was out of desperation, not knowing what to do to protect Courtney if she died.

Her lawyer has vowed to continue fighting for her, saying he planned to file a motion for the court to reconsider the sentence.
Religious belief is no excuse for refusing to shake a teacher's hand, regional authorities in Switzerland have ruled, overturning a school's controversial decision to grant exemptions for Muslim pupils wary of touching the opposite sex.

Parents of students who refuse to shake a teacher's hand in the canton of Basel-Country could now face fines of up to 5,000 Swiss francs (4,000).

'A teacher has the right to demand a handshake,' they said in a statement.

The original decision by the school was met with outrage in Switzerland and the Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said: 'Shaking hands is part of our culture'

The decision comes after a national uproar last month when it was reported that a middle school had accepted the refusal of two Syrian brothers, aged 14 and 15, to shake hands with a female teacher on religious grounds.

They argued that Islam does not permit physical contact with a person of the opposite sex, except for immediate family members.

The school in Therwil agreed to exempt the boys from shaking hands with any of their teachers, regardless of sex, for fear of falling foul of sex discrimination laws.

The school in Therwil (pictured) said it was relieved by the ruling and it had relayed the decision and its consequences to the family concerned

That decision triggered an outcry across Switzerland, where the tradition of students shaking their teachers' hands as a sign of respect is deeply entrenched.

Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga, said on Swiss television last month: 'Shaking hands is part of our culture.'

The Basel-Country authorities issued a statement saying 'the public interest concerning gender equality as well as integration of foreigners far outweighs that concerning the freedom of belief of students.'

The school in Therwil said it was 'relieved' at today's ruling.

It issued a statement saying: 'Now there is clarity on how to proceed' and said the boys' family had been informed of the ruling.

The cantonal authorities said if the two students at the heart of the controversy continue to refuse to shake hands 'the sanctions called for by law will be applied'.

Cantonal authorities last month announced that the family's naturalisation proceedings had been put on hold since the controversy came to light.

The father of the two boys, a Syrian imam based in Basel, moved to Switzerland in 2001 and was granted asylum.

Basel's migration office was seeking more information about the circumstances under which the father's asylum request was approved.

Today the authorities said one member of the family had also received a warning over 'incitement to violence', which could have consequences for the naturalisation process.

There are around 350,000 Muslims in Switzerland, which has a population of eight million people, and the majority leave in peace and harmony.

Some Muslim parents have been fined after demanding their daughters be exempted from swimming lessons but some schools have also been forbidden from enforcing the full face veil.
A group of six passengers on a small twin engine plane watched in horror as the door of the plane opened suddenly mid-flight.

Passenger Jimmy Snowden said he, the pilot and five other passengers were heading from Kaitaia to Auckland in New Zealand - about a 40 minute flight - around 4.30pm on Tuesday in a Barrier Air Piper Chieftain light plane, according to The NZ Herald.

As the passengers boarded the plane in Kaitaia to start their journey, the crew had a difficult time closing the door, Mr Snowden said.

A group of six passengers on a small twin engine plane headed to Auckland on Tuesday afternoon were 'scared' when the door of the plane opened suddenly mid-flight (pictured)

As the passengers boarded the plane (pictured) in Kaitaia to start their journey, the crew had a difficult time closing the door, Mr Snowden said

'When we jumped on the ground, crew in Kaitaia had trouble closing the door. I could see a slightly concerned look on his face, but [he] shut it anyway and had no problems even though it was a bit bumpy to Whangarei.'

The passengers made it safely to a scheduled stop in Whangarei, which is almost exactly halfway between Kaitaia to Auckland.

But as they continued their remaining 20 minute journey to Auckland, Mr Snowden said he was concerned that the door  which was next to him  wasn't shut properly.

The passengers made it safely to a scheduled stop in Whangarei, but as they continued their trek to Auckland Mr Snowden said he was concerned that the door wasn't shut properly

'We must have been over Whangaparaoa when a whole lot of air started coming from the door and it got very loud, I said "oi" to the pilot as it got louder, he said "it was to release pressure", but it was an unpressurised plane.'

The pilot circled over the Auckland airport about three times before landing safely and quickly exiting the plane while breathing heavily, Mr Snowden said.

'There was nothing more mentioned, no explanation or apology. After having time to think, if that door had opened fully it would have torn the tail off with me in it!'
The wife of a conservative Michigan lawmaker who wanted to defund Planned Parenthood has revealed that she had an abortion while at high school after an unknown party threatened to expose her past.

Stephanie Chatfield, 28, wife of Michigan State Representative Lee Chatfield (R-Levering), also 28, wrote in a Facebook post Friday about an incident in which she was apparently sexually assaulted as a teen, and the abortion that followed.

And she claimed it came after an unknown party had threatened to expose her story, The Washington Post reported.

Outed: Stephanie Chatfield (left), 28, made a post on the Facebook wall of her husband Lee Chatfield, 28, that claimed she had been sexually assaulted in high school and she later had a secret abortion she now regrets

Pro-life: Chatfield (pictured with his daughter), a Republican State Representative for Michigan, is anti-abortion and campaigned to defund Planned Parenthood

Threats: Mrs Chatfield's post encouraged pro-life advocates to 'offer help' to 'confused' women and girls considering abortion. She also claimed that she was making the post after threats to expose her story

Titled 'Be Pro-Life  But offer help to women in need,' the post, made on Lee Chatfield's official Facebook account and signed by Stephanie at the bottom, talks of what she calls her 'poor decision' to attend a party while in high school - identified as Petoskey High School on Chatfield's official site.

'I have no memory of the majority of that night, but judging by my appearance and physical condition the next morning, I knew I had been taken advantage of,' she wrote.

Three weeks later she found out she was pregnant, she claimed - and was so 'ashamed and scared' that it was only after the abortion that she told her parents and Lee Chatfield, then her ex-boyfriend.

It was then, she said, that she 'realized the full forgiveness and grace that God freely offers'.

She also described her decision to have an abortion as 'the worst of my life,' saying: 'I should not have done it. It was my easy way out.'

Instead, she urged other pregnant girls to visit pregnancy crisis centers, to talk to their families and not to have abortions themselves - and for pro-life advocates to look for 'young girls and women who are hurting, suffering and confused so we can offer them assistance'.

Mrs Chatfield, who now has three sons and a daughter with her husband, claimed in the post that she had only stepped forward at this time because of threats to expose her story by an unknown third party.

'I would sincerely like to thank the person who recently contacted my husband,' she said. '...You promised that you would ensure that this story went public.

'In fact, your desire to see this story go public emboldened me to do something that I should have done years ago.'

Both of the candidates gunning for Chatfield's seats in November's election - Republican Kathy Twardy and Democrat Phil Bellfy - denied any knowledge of the threats to The Associated Press.

Re-election: Lee Chatfield is up for re-election in November, but both his rivals - one Republican, one Democrat - have denied any knoweldge of the alleged threats

High school: The Chatfields started dating in Petosky High School (pictured) but Mrs Chatfield said they were on a break at the time of her assault

Mrs Chatfield's anti-abortion stance keeps her in line with her husband, who runs for re-election this year.

He campaigned to defund Planned Parenthood in 2015, and is the co-sponsor of a bill that seeks to ban and criminalize so-called 'dismemberment abortion' - used in 95 percent of second trimester pregnancies - in Michigan.

'This legislation will not only serve to protect our precious unborn citizens, but help pave the way for other states to do the same,' he said.

'Michigan does not stand for and will not tolerate these ghastly and depraved practices.'

A similar bill was blocked in Kansas in 2015 after a judge ruled that it would present too big an obstacle to women seeking an abortion - and critics say that not enough research has been done into the safety of other methods.

The Detroit News spoke to House Republican Spokesman Gideon DAssandro about the claims that someone had threatened the Chatfields. 'Obviously if somebody is using personal histories or information as leverage, thats very troubling,' he said.

'Well have to talk with Rep. Chatfield and see if theres anything we should be doing to help.'

Michigan State Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner told ABC News she wasn't aware of any investigations into Mrs Chatfield's assault by state police.

Emmet County Sheriff Peter Wallin told ABC he would not confirm whether anyone had filed a report about the threats made to expose Mrs Chatfield without a records request being filed.
A woman who wants to use her dead daughter's frozen eggs to give birth to her own grandchild has appealed to judges to allow her fulfil the dying wishes of her 'much-loved and only child'.

The 60-year-old, whose daughter died of cancer in 2011, lost an action at the High Court last year - but is now asking three Court of Appeal judges to rule in her favour.

In the latest round of the case, the mother's QC, Jenni Richards, told the judges today that the woman wants to carry out her late daughter's wishes and 'raise that child'.

The woman and her 59-year-old husband are challenging the High Court (pictured) decision made by Mr Justice Ouseley to dismiss their case

Ms Richards said that if the court did not overturn the High Court's ruling, the 'inevitable' consequence would be that the eggs 'will simply be allowed to perish'.

The woman and her 59-year-old husband are challenging the decision of Mr Justice Ouseley last June to dismiss their case.

The parents, who are referred to as 'Mr and Mrs M', launched legal action after an independent regulator refused to give them permission to take their daughter's eggs to a fertility treatment clinic in America to be used with donor sperm.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) refused to release the eggs from storage in London because A did not give her full written consent before she died, aged just 28.

Catherine Callaghan, counsel for the HFEA, said in written argument against the appeal before the court today: 'It is natural to feel sympathy for the appellants' loss and for their wish to keep their daughter's memory alive by trying to conceive a child using their daughter's eggs.

'However, the court's role is not to decide whether it would have permitted the mother to undergo fertility treatment using her deceased daughter's eggs and donated sperm.

'Rather, its role is to determine whether Mr Justice Ouseley erred in concluding that the HFEA's statutory approvals committee acted lawfully and rationally in exercising its broad discretion to refuse to authorise export of the frozen eggs to a treatment centre in New York for use in the way proposed.'

She added that the High Court judge was right to uphold the HFEA's decision that there was no 'sufficiently clear evidence' that the daughter wished her mother to be her surrogate after her death or that these wishes were 'properly informed'.

During the High Court proceedings last year, the judge was told that the daughter, who can only be referred to as 'A' for legal reasons, was desperate to have children and asked her mother to 'carry my babies'.

Mr Justice Ouseley heard that A would have been 'devastated' if she had known her eggs could not be used.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) refused to release the eggs from storage in London because A did not give her full written consent before she died, aged just 28

But he ruled that the HFEA had been entitled to find the daughter had not given 'the required consent' and said there had been no breach of the family's human rights.

He said: 'I must dismiss this claim, though I do so conscious of the additional distress which this will bring to the claimants, whose aim has been to honour their daughter's dying wish for something of her to live on after her untimely death.'

Ms Richards argues that there is 'clear evidence' of what A wanted to happen to her eggs after she died.

She told Sir James Munby, president of the High Court's family division, that the regulator's refusal decision was not based on 'any matter relating to the age of Mrs M, or family connection, or any child welfare issues'.

She said the case was not about 'scientific or ethical principles' but should be based on an 'evaluation' of the dying woman's wishes.
A woman has been burned alive after a self-proclaimed witch set her ablaze during an exorcism to stop her from having nightmares.

The 36-year-old mother-of-two, from Buenavista in the Caribbean province of Sucre in Colombia got in contact with the supposed witch, who claimed to have supernatural powers.

It came after she told her family she was suffering from persistent nightmares and continually had the feeling she was being followed.

A woman died at the Barranquilla hospital in Colombia, pictured, after being burned alive during an exorcism

The woman then told the victim she would perform an exorcism ritual which included candles, sulphur and alcohol.

However, when the 'witch' sprayed the woman with alcohol and sulphur she was then set alight by the candles.

A member of the victim's family told El Heraldo: 'She was going to carry out some prayers to remove the so-called negative energy.

'She sprinkled her with sulfur and alcohol. But on contact with the flames her entire body ignited.'

The exorcism came after the victim told her family she was suffering from persistent nightmares and continually had the feeling she was being followed (file pic)

As the woman panicked at being burned alive, she also set the self-proclaimed witch on fire and both were rushed to hospital in the nearby city of Barranquilla suffering severe burns.

However, nine days later, the woman died from her injuries.
Advertisement

They are the latest environmentally-friendly craze to sweep the world - provided you have the cash to build them.

'Natural' swimming pools are popping up everywhere from South America to Mongolia, providing 'healthy' water that doesn't need to be chemically cleaned.

Instead they use plants to rid the water of harmful bacteria while gravel and shingle filters purify the water by ridding it of sediment and other foreign bodies.

Although the cost of these natural pools or ponds can be prohibitive, generally ranging from between 6,000 to 200,000 depending on size, it has not stopped a wave of them emerging across the globe.

Natural pools, aka 'swimming ponds' such as this one in Brazil, pictured, are becoming a common sight across the world

The pools use natural gravel or shingle filters, pictured here in Hampshire, which keep water pure by stripping away sediment

Pools are usually divided into two sections - like this one in Devon - with one section for swimming and another for water plants

David Pagan Butler built the first DIY natural pool in Britain at his home in Norfolk and is now helping others do the same

The pools are divided into two parts - one for swimming and one for plants, which are used to keep the water free of bacteria and the phosphates they feed on.

Submerged water pumps are also required to stop the water becoming stagnant and attracting flies and other pests. Once up and running they can cost less to maintain and are less labour intensive.

Supporters say one of the major benefits is not having to use chemicals such as chlorine, which has been linked to skin and eye irritation and conditions including eczema.

Mr Butler built this pool, pictured, at his home in Norfolk eight years ago after noticing how clear the water was around plants

Since then his family and friends, pictured, have enjoyed taking a dip in the pool, which is insulated to regulate the water temperature

Some pools are less complex than others, such as this one in Kent which is formed by a gravel 'valley' with a small section of plants

Plants are used as an alternative to chlorine and other chemicals that can cause skin and eye irritation and eczema. Pictured: A pool in Ireland that Mr Butler helped create

Natural pools, such as this one in Canada, can use similar traits to traditional outdoor pools and the physical pool shape itself is usually built out of concrete or clay

Mr Butler said he receives messages almost once a week about pools, including about this one in Holland, after he put up a how-to-build video on YouTube in 2010

Filmmaker David Pagan Butler, who created the UK's DIY first natural pool at his home in Norfolk, said he was delighted to see 'hygienic' pools becoming popular across the world.

Mr Butler, 54, uploaded a four-minute DIY pool video to YouTube in 2010 and said he was now getting messages every week with inquiries on how to build them.

He said: 'It is taking off around the world, I put the video up years ago but in the last six months there has been a rise in interest, now I'm getting messages each week.

'It has really gripped the consciousness in some places, you could say there is wave happening, people are learning that there is a different way to conventional pools, you can have hygienically cleaned water which is cleaned by nature.'

Pictured: A swimming pond in Chile. Critics claim the pools can attract bacteria while a University of Barcelona study found they can contain e.coli and other harmful germs through animal droppings

So far pools have sprung up in America, Brazil, Mongolia, Australia, France, Russia, Thailand and Argentina, pictured

Underwater pumps circulate the water around the pool preventing it becoming stagnant and attracting pests. Pictured: a pool in Norfolk

Mr Butler said making a pond, such as this one in France, is the 'most effective way you can increase local biodiversity'

Critics of 'swimming ponds' have described them 'bacterial breeding grounds' and have also voiced concerns about the safety of the underwater electrical pumping system.

Scientists have also conducted research, with a University of Barcelona study in 2013 finding higher than normal levels of e-coli in three out of four natural pools tested, with the bacteria believed to have come from animal and bird droppings in the water.

But supporters claim the plants will remove any harmful bacteria and the only human intervention regularly needed is to sweep the surface regularly.

So far pools have sprung up in America, Brazil, Mongolia, Australia, France, Russia, Thailand among others.

Pictured: A pool in Australia that Mr Butler helped with thanks to his DIY YouTube video seen more than 5million times

It comes after scientists in the US warned chemicals in pools can react with sweat and sun-tan lotion to create harmful by-products. Pictured: a swimming pond in Kent

Swimming ponds, such as this one in Devon, are being built in a variety of shapes and designs but all share benefits, says Mr Butler

A circulation system driven by a standard aquarium air pump moves the water through plant beds, sand and gravel down to drainage pipes and the microorganisms in that zone filter the water.

The pump only uses 30 watts, a tenth used by a regular swimming pool pumping system.

Mr Butler added: 'Making a pond is the most effective way you can increase local biodiversity.

'Our landscape used to have thousands upon thousands of ponds, but through agricultural practice and land development most have been lost.
A surrogate mother who gave birth to triplets for a man she has never met despite his demands to abort one of the healthy babies is now suing for custody of the children.

Melissa Cook, 48, from California, believes the father, reported to be a 50-year-old deaf postal worker from Georgia who lives with his elderly parents, is unable to care properly for the babies.

Cook says the man's legal threats during her pregnancy, including admissions that he is financially unable to raise triplets, means that they would be better cared for living with her.

Her lawyers, Harold Cassidy and Michael Caspino, say a recent change in California law has effectively stripped surrogates and the children they carry of all rights and argue such a position is unconstitutional.

Scroll down for video

Melissa Cook, 48, from California, is suing a 50-year-old deaf postal worker from Georgia for custody of triplets she carried for him as a surrogate, claiming he cannot care for them (left, during surrogate pregnancy)

Their case, heard in federal court on Monday, is the first in the country to try and establish constitutional rights for surrogate mothers and children and could alter how surrogacy operates.

Cook's case dates back to summer 2015 when she agreed to carry babies for the man, named in court documents only as CM, using his sperm and three eggs from a 20-year-old donor.

The pair agreed to terms and signed a contract, and shortly afterwards three fertilized embryos were implanted into Cook's womb.

She fell pregnant soon after, much to the delight of both parties, but things took a dark turn when Cook discovered that all three embryos had taken and she would be having triplets.

According to Cook, CM became 'scared' and admitted through his lawyer that he did not have the financial means to raise triplets, before demanding that she abort all three babies despite them being healthy.

After arguments back and forth, Cook says CM's lawyer eventually demanded that she use selective abortion to get rid of just one of the babies, despite the substantial risk of killing the other two.

She said: 'Being asked to abort a healthy baby, it devastated me. I could not do that.

'CM's lawyer made persistent demands on me to terminate the life of one of the children and I refused. I could not see aborting a healthy child.

'The babies were moving around in me. I heard their heartbeat. Being asked to do that at such a late term... I was 17 or 18 weeks pregnant. They wanted me to abort up until 20 weeks.

Cook says that the father, named only as CM, tried to force her into aborting one of the children because he claimed he couldn't afford to care for it, and says she now doubts the level of care all the babies are receiving

Michael Caspino and Harold Cassidy, Cook's attorney, said that a recent change in California law has left surrogates and their children with 'zero rights' and argues that is unconstitutional

Cook, who is also a mother to four of her own children, added: 'I went into this to give life, not to terminate.'

Cook says CM threatened her financially in an attempt to pressure her into the termination, saying he would hold her liable for any medical complications the children suffered at birth.

He also threatened to withdraw money for her hospital care, she says, and said he would not pay for the children's hospital care because triplets are born significantly earlier than twins or single children.

Cook claims CM also said he would put one of the babies up for adoption because he could not afford it, and that when she offered to take the child, he said he would rather a stranger had it.

When the babies were eventually born on February 22, after 30 weeks of pregnancy, Cook says they were taken away from her in the delivery room because CM did not want her to see them.

Cook says when she asked medical staff if the children were OK, or had even survived the birth, she was simply told: 'We can't give you that information.'

Cook says she began pumping breast milk with the intention of giving it to the children, but was barred from doing so because CM had expressly forbidden it.

She did eventually learn that the triplets were all healthy, and says they spent three months in the hospital, during which time she claims CM visited for just three or four days.

The children are now thought to be living in Georgia, where CM's lawyers say they are being cared for adequately, but Cook believes this is not the case.

She is now suing for custody of at least one of the babies, the one CM claims he cannot afford to care for, but says she will take all three if it is proven that he is not providing appropriate care.

Cook, who is mother to four children of her own (pictured with her daughter), says she was a surrogate once before under the old laws for a same sex couple and had a completely different experience

Her case was dismissed from both civil and family court before being appealed and reaching federal district court yesterday, where the outcome is still pending.

Caspino added: 'This is the first case in the history of this country where the court said: "We are not going to take the rights of the children into consideration". This is a landmark case.

'Surrogacy need to be fixed because right now the women who carry the babies and the children have zero rights. No right whatsoever. And there needs to be balance here.

'The only people with rights under the California statute are the people who write the checks to get the babies. Nobody else matters. That is wrong. That needs to be fixed.'

Cook revealed she has been a surrogate mother once before, on that occasion to a same-sex couple, and says the experience was radically different to her time with CM.

She says during that pregnancy both parents were very involved with the process, met her several times, and one of them was even in the delivery room when the birth happened.

She was allowed to see and hold the baby boy she gave birth to before handing it over to the parents, who she was confident would take good care of him.

Caspino added that the previous experience was under the old California laws governing surrogacy, and said the change in those rules allowed the current situation to get out of hand.

Cassidy said that the new law allows surrogates to be treated like 'breeding animals', and put in medically unsafe situations for the sole benefit of the biological parent.
A month before he died, Lionel Markey Cox, 92, signed a final will leaving his almost million-dollar estate to a nurse at his aged care facility.

It shocked those who knew him as the Labor voter had always planned to leave it to the state.

Now, Abha Anuradha Kumar, manager of Cambridge House nursing home in Collingwood, Melbourne, is being investigated by the nurse's board for becoming his sole beneficiary, The Age reported.

Abha Anuradha Kumar, who is under investigation after becoming the sole beneficiary to an elderly man's $939,000 estate when he died last year while staying at the nursing home in Melbourne she managed

Lionel Markey Cox, 92, had been expected to leave his estate to the state or its institutions, but changed his will the month before he died. He was a bachelor with no close family

An image of Mr Cox's final will shows where it has had words crossed out and re-written, and the post code looks to have been first written by someone else

Mr Cox died in the aged care home in August 2015 after leaving his home in Melbourne's trendy Fitzroy because of his age.

In July, less than a month before he died, he made out his final will to Ms Kumar - leaving her his $900,000 estate, about $36,000 cash and other items he still owned.

An image of the will shows it took him several attempts to complete, with words crossed out numerous times and started again.

The postcode looks like it was initially written by another hand before it is scrawled out and written in Mr Cox's hand.

The will was witnessed by two of Ms Kumar's co-workers.

In October following his death, Ms Kumar applied to the Supreme Court of Victoria for a probate - proving and registering a last will - which was granted a month later.

Mr Cox's house on Greeves Street in Fitzroy, where he'd lived most of his life, was among the estate he left to Ms Kumar

After Ms Kumar filed for a probate in the Supreme Court of Victoria (pictured), Mr Cox's former neighbours laid a complaint about her becoming his sole beneficiary

But in December, Mr Cox's former neighbours lodged a complaint to St Vincent's Health, which manages Cambridge House.

An investigation was launched as Ms Kumar went on an extended holiday.

A St Vincent's Health spokewoman said no evidence was found Mr Cox had acted against his will, The Age reported.

But the events of Mr Cox's will had still raised concerns and the hospital was revising its policy.

But one former neighbour, who would only give his first name, John, told The Age: 'I knew Lionel for more than a decade and find it impossible to believe that he would knowingly have left his estate to an individual he hardly knew.'

St Vincent's Hospital, which runs Cambridge House nursing home where Mr Cox died, launched an investigation into his final will after they received a complaint

He said he did not think the investigation as 'vigorous'.

An anonymous St Vincent's employee was also not convinced, saying: 'It just seems like a big cover up. I can't believe it'.

Ms Kumar did not respond to contact by The Age and her lawyer declined to comment, saying she wouldn't talk about the matter until and investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia was completed.

Neither would the staff members who witnessed the will.

A Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia spokesperson would not comment either, but said nurses were advised by their code of conduct to only accept token or inexpensive gifts.
With a huge smile plastered across his face, the HBO executive at the center of the cocaine-fueled death of a Long Island mom-of-three walked out of court today.

Marc Henry Johnson, 51, who was arrested alongside his drug dealer James Holder last week, was released from Manhattan Federal court today.

They were both charged with giving cocaine to Dr Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny, 38, just hours before she was found dead in the doorway of an apartment.

The pair are accused of going on a drug binge with Cerveny - who died of an overdose that night - and then trying to cover up her death by carrying her lifeless body down the stairs.

Cerveny, 38, was found dying in the doorway of a building in New York's Chelsea neighborhood in October.

Scroll down for video

TV executive Marc Henry Johnson (pictured), who stands accused of giving cocaine to a mother-of-three who died of an overdose, grinned as he left court today

Johnson (pictured), 51, was arrested alongside his drug dealer and ex-convict James Holder last week

Johnson (left) has been arrested on drug charges for allegedly giving cocaine to a top doctor and mother-of-three Dr Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny (right), 38, just hours before she died of an overdose

When paramedics arrived, they found her panties stuffed in her purse.

According to the New York Post, the two men were arrested late Tuesday by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and the NYPD for distribution.

They appeared at Manhattan Federal court today.

A spokesman for the DEA told Daily Mail Online they processed the pair before they were taken into custody.

The criminal complaint seen by the Post says Johnson regularly bought cocaine from Holder.

The alleged dealer moved out of the apartment after his death, but continued to sell drugs in New York until January 2015, the document states.

Cerveny, according to the complaint, had already been doing cocaine before they met.

An autopsy found Cerveny died from an acute mix of cocaine and alcohol intoxication.

In the hours before she died, she met up with Johnson during a girls night before going back to Holder's apartment.

In the hours before she died, Cerveny met up with Johnson during a girls night before going back to Holder's apartment. She had told her husband and the father of her three children, Andrew (pictured), that she was going to meet girlfriends in the city

The dermatologist was found dying in a doorway of a building (pictured) in New York's Chelsea neighborhood with her panties in her purse after a night of partying on October 4, 2015

Ex-con James Holder was also taken into custody after being arrested in New York's Lower East Side. He was detained following a DEA investigation that has lasted for months

Johnson (left) and ex-con James Holder (right, on Tuesday night) are accused of trying to cover up a crime and of possession of narcotics. Holder is also accused of distribution of narcotics

She had told her husband and the father of her three children, Andrew, that she was going to meet girlfriends in the city.

Surveillance video from the building showed Johnson and James 'Pepsi' Holder, 60, taking the doctor's limp body downstairs around 8.30 that morning.

Police had searched for Johnson in the immediate aftermath of Cerveny's death, after the friend called 911 but left when emergency workers arrived and tried to revive her.

Holder, who previously served time for drug and weapons charges, also fled down 26th street.

Authorities later found baggies and what is suspected to be cocaine in the apartment he lived in, according to the New York Daily News.

Cerveny was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.

Johnson was the producer of HBO's The Deuce, a pilot about New York's porn industry in the 1970s and 80s starring James Franco, but left the project after Cerveny's death, according to Deadline.

Johnson (left) was seen carrying the doctor's lifeless body down to the entrance of his drug dealer's apartment building after the night of partying

A NYPD detective carries an evidence bag away from the building where Cerveny was found dead last year. She died on October 4, 2015, from an acute mix of cocaine and alcohol intoxication

Cerveny was found lifeless in this doorway after Johnson and Holder called 911 and fled the scene. Investigators found panties stuffed in her bag. Cops are pictured at the scene last year

The pair had their wedding featured in a prestigious New York Times announcement and later moved to a $1.2million home on Long Island

Cerveny met her husband while the pair were in medical school. Friends said they looked happy together in the days leading up to her death

Pictured is the lavish home the married couple shared in Long Island, New York

Police sources told The Post that Johnson had been having marital problems.

His wife, Yale-educated lawyer Marlisa Vinciguerra allegedly accused him of kicking her inside their apartment on April 5, 2015

Reports immediately after news of the doctor's death said that she may have been strangled after marks were discovered on her neck. The marks were later said to be from a previous surgery.

The doctor, who attended Duke University on scholarship after winning an America's Junior Miss pageant and graduated magna cum laude, left behind a life in which friends say she had 'everything'.

'They looked healthy and happy. It seemed like they were on top of the world,' Thomas Nicotri, her former professor at the Medical Center of Louisiana, told NBC New York.

The New Jersey native, who was formerly a professor at Cornell Weill Medical School and chief dermatologist at The Brooklyn Hospital, met her husband when they were in their medical residency.

She and husband Andrew, also a dermatologist, had their wedding featured in a prestigious New York Times announcement and later moved to a $1.2million home on Long Island.

Johnson was the producer of HBO's The Deuce, a pilot about New York's porn industry in the 1970s and 80s starring James Franco, but left the project after Cerveny's death

He is pictured with his Wall Street attorney wife Marlisa Vinciguerra in a Facebook snap. He reportedly kicked her in the home they and wee suffering marriage problems when Cerveny died
Advertisement

Housing prices in regional areas across Australia have seen a surprising jump as buyers are flocking to more affordable areas within driving distances to major cities.

According to CoreLogic data, the Illawarra region, 85 kilometres south of Sydney, has seen a 16 per cent property price rise in the past year, with the average house costing almost $600,000.

Newcastle, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Geelong have also documented property price growth and research analysts believe the region's proximity to the city is driving the market.

Housing prices in regional areas across Australia have seen a surprising jump as buyers are flocking to more affordable areas and the Illawarra region (pictured, a four-bedroom property in Farmborough Heights) topped the list

A stunning four-bedroom home with unrivalled views on Iola Ave in Farmborough Heights hit the market recently for $670,000

The Illawarra region, 5 kilometres south of Sydney, has seen a 16 per cent property price rise in the past year, with the average house costing almost $600,000. This property is on the market for $670,000

'As you would expect, this market been driven largely by a surge in Sydney property prices as people find themselves priced out of the capital city housing market,' CoreLogic analyst Cameron Kusher said, according to The ABC.

By the end of March this year, the standard cost for a unit was $442,000.

'The Illawarra region offers not just an affordable alternative for owner occupiers; it's also attracting buyers keen to secure holiday homes.'

Newcastle, 160 kilometres north of Sydney, reported an 8.1 per cent surge in housing prices.

The Gold Coast, an hour drive from Brisbane, documented a 7.2 per cent jump in the market and this property, in Wongawallan, is on sale for $630,000

The three-bedroom home sits on 10 acres of lands and boasts three undercover car spaces and two visitor parking bays

The house has a wrap-around veranda and is surrounded by bushland and stunning views

The $630,000 property has a private Billabong, solar panels, a workshop and two water tanks totaling 41,000 litres

Newcastle, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Geelong (pictured, a three-bedroom home on Morrison Street) have also documented property price growth and research analysts believe the region's proximity to the city is driving the market

The townhouse is on the market for $595,000 and offers a huge family room, polished floorboards and is a short stroll to Geelong CBD

The master suite has a private balcony, walk-in robe and a decent-sized ensuite with a double vanity

Queensland's Sunshine Coast documented a 4.4 per cent rise in house prices and this five-bedroom property has hit the market at $795,000

The property has an orchard of the flowering plant feijoa and a 70,000 litre water tank

Newcastle, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast (pictured) and Geelong have documented property price growth and research analysts believe the region's proximity to the city is driving the market

It boasts five bedrooms, four bathrooms, seven car spaces and is considered an ideal home for entertaining guests

REGIONAL PROPERTY PRICE RISES Illawarra region: 16 per cent Newcastle: 6.3 per cent Geelong: 5.4 per cent The Gold Coast: 7.2 per cent The Sunshine Coast: 4.4 per cent Cairns: 2.7 per cent

The Gold Coast, an hour drive south from Brisbane, had a 7.2 per cent jump in the market, while the Sunshine Coast, an hour north of Brisbane, documented a 4.4 per cent rise in house prices.

It appeared some locked out of the housing market in Melbourne looked 75 kilometres northeast to Geelong. House prices were up 5.4 per cent and unit prices had risen 2.8 per cent.

Cairns, in Far North Queensland, also documented a small house price surge of 2.7 per cent. In May 2015, data from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland revealed the median house value in Cairns had surged by 7 per cent.

It was the second biggest increase in state and the average house value was $383,134, The Cairns Post reported.

It appeared not as many buyers flocked to Townsville as the city documented a 2.2 per cent decline in housing prices and 3.2 per cent in unit prices.

Newcastle, 160 kilometres north of Sydney, reported an 8.1 per cent surge in housing prices and this property in Waratah is on the market for $620,000

The four-bedroom, two bathroom home was built circa 1915 and is fit with a study and private rear paved courtyard
A Florida judge has denied Gawker's motion for a new trial in the Hulk Hogan sex-video case and won't reduce a $140 million jury verdict.

Judge Pamela Campbell issued the ruling Wednesday.

It's the latest chapter in a yearslong legal fight that culminated with Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, winning a $140 million verdict against Gawker in March.

Scroll down for video

A Florida judge has denied Gawker's motion for a new trial in the Hulk Hogan sex-video case and won't reduce a $140 million jury verdict awarded in March

Gawker founder, left, Nick Denton bad been confident that the massive verdict would be overturned. Hogan's battle was reportedly funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, right, who was outed by the site

Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with his then-best friend's wife.

The three-week trial was a lurid inside look at the business of celebrity gossip and a debate over newsworthiness versus celebrity privacy.

Earlier this month, Hogan sued Gawker again, saying the gossip website leaked sealed court documents with a transcript that quoted him making racist remarks.

It came out earlier this week that a well-known Silicon Valley billionaire businessman is the investor who backed Hogan through his legal battle.

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, is footing the legal bill for the former wrestler who won his suit against Gawker in March, according to Forbes.

It is claimed Thiel backed the legal case against Gawker after the site published an article in 2007 claiming 'Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.'

At the time, Thiel had not disclosed his sexuality publicly, but has since confirmed that he is gay.

Hogan was awarded $115million in economic injuries and emotional distress by a Florida jury followed by an additional $25million in punitive damages.

The punitive damages to Hogan must be covered by both the site and Denton - who was ordered to personally pay $10million.

The jury's decision came just hours after Judge Pamela Campbell informed the four women and two men deciding the case that Denton is worth $121million while the site is valued at $83million.

Judge Campbell also informed the jury that the former editor of the site who posted the video, 41-Daulerio, has no assets and owes $27,000 in student loans.

He was hit even harder than Denton by the jury's verdict on punitive damages, as he was ordered to pay $100,000 of his own money despite the jury being told about his financial status earlier in the trial.

Gawker general counsel Heather Dietrick released a statement shortly after the jury returned with their $25million decision stating how confident she was that the site would win the case on appeal.

She said an appeals court could overturn the case because the jury was prohibited from knowing about 'prior court rulings in favor of Gawker, prohibited from seeing critical evidence gathered by the FBI and prohibited from hearing from the most important witness, Bubba Clem.'
A 17-year-old girl was on board a crowded train on Tuesday morning when she felt a man standing next to her put his hand up her skirt.

The teenager was traveling between Strathfield and Ashfield Railway Stations in Sydney around 8.30am when the man indecently assaulted her, police said.

She described the man as of Indian appearance and about 30 years old with an average build, short black hair and clean shaven, police said.

A 17-year-old girl was on board a crowded train on Tuesday morning in Sydney when she felt the man standing next to her put his hand up her skirt (stock image)

He was possibly wearing a turtle neck and dark sunglasses.

Officers are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

It is unknown what railway stations the man boarded or disembarked the train at.
An extraordinary typewritten letter from then-publisher T.S Eliot to a relatively unknown George Orwell rejecting the now classic Animal Farm has been revealed for the first time.

The two-page note, written by Eliot while a director at Faber & Faber Ltd and dated July 13, 1944, criticises the famed novelist's narrative as 'not convincing'.

Despite lavishing praise on the quality of the work, Eliot chooses to refuse the author's publishing plea after expressing doubts that Orwell's allegory 'is the right point of view from which to criticise the political situation at the present time'.

He then goes on to say the story's pigs were right to take control of the farm as they were 'far more intelligent' than all the other animals - and without them there would never have been an Animal Farm in the first place.

A fascinating typewritten letter from then-publisher T.S. Eliot (right) to a relatively unknown George Orwell (left) rejecting the now classic Animal Farm has been revealed for the first time

The letter reads: 'The other director is in agreement with me on the main points.

'We agree that it is a distinguished piece of writing; the the fable is very skilfully handled, and that the narrative keeps one's interest on its own plane - and that is something very few authors have achieved since Gulliver.

'On the other hand, we have no conviction that this is the right point of view from which to criticise the political situation at the present time.'

It continues: 'Now I think my own dissatisfaction with this apologue is that the effect is simply one of negation. It ought to excite some sympathy with what the author wants, as well as sympathy with his objections to something; and the positive point of view, which I take to be generally Trostkyite, is not convincing.

A TS Eliot letter to George OrwellType written and annotated on a draft of Wise Children by Angela Carter

'...And after all, your pigs are far more intelligent than the other animals, and therefore the best qualified to run the farm - in fact, there couldn't have been an Animal Famr, at all without them; so that what was needed, (some might argue), was not more communism but more public-spirited pigs.'

Publishing Animal Farm was not a straightforward task for George Orwell

Publishing Animal Farm was not a straightforward task for George Orwell.

Before its eventual publication by Secker & Warburg in August 1945, the novella was rejected by at least four different publishers, leaving the writer to even consider the idea of printing it as a pamphlet.

While it was written in the form of an animal fable, readers immediately recognised it for what it was: a satire of Stalinism which condemned totalitarian practices and presented Stalin as a traitor of the Russian Revolution.

Many publishers thought the work too controversial to be published at a time in which the Soviet Union was a powerful ally of Britain against Germany - as was the case with Eliot and Faber & Faber Ltd.

However, once released it went onto become an undisputed classic, commended for its exploration of the themes of power, democracy and class.

Eliot's rejection letter has only now found its way into the public domain after being uploaded online as part of a new British Library project celebrating the country's cultural heritage.

The free learning resource provides unprecedented access to the Librarys unique literary and historical collections and features more than 300 20th-century treasures from the British Librarys collection, including literary drafts, rare first editions, notebooks, letters, newspapers and photographs.

Amongst them are hand-written notes by some of the greatest writers of time, including Eliot and Orwell, Virginia Woolf and Ted Hughes.
A strong set of traps is needed when trying to rid the home of cockroaches.

And one company has demonstrated just how strong their adhesive insect strips are by testing them on a sumo wrestler - who then becomes stuck.

Japanese pest control company Earth Chemical have designed the Gokiburi Hoi Hoi roach traps, which they believe will protect any home from invasions of creepy crawlies.

Scroll down for video

The massive sumo wrestler prepares to take on the bug trap by running across the adhesive strip

As soon as the wrestler sets foot on the trap, he immediately becomes stuck and falls to the floor

The wrestler struggles to peel himself away from the floor after falling chest first on to the sticky strip

In order to test out the strength of their adhesive, the company challenged a normal-sized scientist, a fast sprinter and a sumo wrestler to walk across the a much larger version of the trap.

The scientist is first to step up to the challenge and is billed as the most intelligent to try running across the large trap.

However, as soon as he runs on to the adhesive, he becomes stuck and falls to the ground as he tries to break free.

Not only does his chest and stomach stick to the floor, so does his leg which he fights to free

A close up shot shows how strong the adhesive is that is used on the bug traps produced by Earth Chemical

Next up to test the trap is the sprinter who puts on his running kit and trainers.

But as he attempts a run across the trap he first loses his trainers, and then his socks and has to give up.

The final challenger to face the test is the sumo wrestler wearing the traditional Japanese costume.

Also being challenged to run across the adhesive trap is a scientist, billed as having the brains to cross it

As his feet become stuck on the bug trap, he falls to the ground and has to use all of his strength to stand back up

He runs on to the adhesive and after just a couple of steps, he falls to the ground.

But when attempting to get up, he falls again causing his chest, stomach, feet and legs to stick to the floor.

The clip then ends with the sumo wrestler stranded as he grapples to stand up.

A fast sprinter was also challenged to take on the bug trap but only managed a few steps before his trainers became stuck
A 40-year-old man has been charged with murder after his girlfriend's autistic three-year-old son was allegedly beaten to death.

Jose Castillo-Cisneros, who was known to his family as 'Pepe', was rushed to hospital after being found by police in a critical condition.

He was found covered in bruises with what appeared to be a knife wound on his head, while a hole in a wall the size of a child's head was discovered.

Ricardo Gutierrez (pictured), 40, has appeared in court after being arrested at the scene of the boy's death in Battleground, Washington

Police were responding to a callout at the Battleground, Washington, home shared by Ricardo Gutierrez, his girlfriend and her family, KOIN6 reported.

Court documents said the youngster's sister, 9, called police when she realized her brother was being beaten.

Her mother tried to prevent the attack, but failed to do so - and was overheard saying 'he is killing me' during the phone call, they stated.

Jose Castillo-Cisneros (pictured), 3, died after he was rushed to hospital in a critical conditio

She told dispatchers her brother was surrounded by a pool of blood.

She said she and Jose had been watching a film when he started crying and entered Gutierrez's room.

It was then Gutierrez got mad, according to the girl's version of events, published by KOIN6.

Gutierrez, 40, appeared in court yesterday where a judge set his bail at $1.5million.

Jose's aunt Brenda Cisneros told the broadcaster the family was devastated.

She said: 'He was a good boy.

'He was autistic so he was very special to us, my sister and my family.'

She claimed that when her sister heard her son crying, she went upstairs to find Gutierrez hitting him.
Five ISIS militants had their tongues cut off by their own fighters after they tried to flee Fallujah amid a military operation to recapture the Iraqi city.

The terror group has led a brutal and desperate crackdown on deserters after government forces launched a massive offensive on its Iraqi stronghold.

Sources inside the city said five of its members had their tongues hacked out after being sentenced by a sharia court.

Iraqi security forces, allied Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces and Sunni tribal fighters take combat positions outside Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, in a major offensive to take back control of the city from ISIS

Shi'ite fighters prepare their weapons near the city of Fallujahas part of a major assault to retake the city

One insider told IraqiNews.com: 'ISIS committed this crime in public in front of its members and citizens.'

Thousands of civilians are estimated to remain inside Fallujah, located about 40 miles west of Baghdad, which ISIS has held for over two years.

On Sunday, government forces launched a large-scale offensive, teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition.

Nearly 20 families have fled from Fallujah's outskirts, where sporadic clashes have been taking place, since the offensive started.

But Shakir al-Issawi, the head of the council in the nearby town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah, said no families managed to flee today as ISIS militants tightly controlled the city outlets.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid group working with refugees and the displaced in Iraq, reported that only 17 families had fled Fallujah since Sunday night.

'There is no information for civilians about safe exits,' said Becky Bakr Abdullah, an NRC spokeswoman.

'There is also the fear of being killed for attempting to flee,' Abdullah said, explaining that multiple families said IS is threatening residents with death if they attempt to flee.

Iraqi Federal police covered in dust arrive to join the forces surrounding Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad

The International Organisation for Migration put the number of newly displaced families at 125, about 750 individuals, in the past two days.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group made up mostly of Shiite militias, said the forces continued to dislodge ISIS militants from key areas in the town of Garma, east of Fallujah, which is considered the main supply line for the militants.

Karim Al-Nouri added that forces had secured three safe corridors for families to flee, but the militants blocked those outlets to prevent them from leaving.

Fallujah was the site of two bloody battles against U.S. forces in 2004.

It is part of the so-called 'Islamic Caliphate' the militants declared in territories under their control in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
One of ISIS's most renowned British jihadi brides has issued a chilling threat against civilians in the UK, warning of terror attacks in London.

'To be honest I wouldn't go into Central London through June... or even July well to be honest I wouldn't go there at all especially by Tube,' Sally Jones - known as Mrs Terror - wrote on social media.

The former benefits scrounger, who abandoned her disastrous career as a punk rocker to convert to Islam, revealed she is now hiding in the ISIS-held city of Mosul in Iraq.

She also tweeted: 'England... Boom' moments before she was suspended from Twitter by administrators.

The deluded terrorist, who is wanted by the FBI, posted this photograph of herself allegedly posing next to the River Tigris in Iraq

One of ISIS's most renowned British jihadi brides Sally Jones has issued a chilling threat against the civilians in the UK, warning of terror attacks in London

She also posted a new photograph of herself dressed in a black burqa, posing next to the sea, supposedly in Iraq.

'A picnic and a paddle in the Tigress (sic) - just beautiful,' she wrote. Jones also stated her location on her Twitter biography as Mosul.

Her decision to leave Raqqa and head to Mosul comes as the ISIS-held Syrian city comes under increasing pressure from advancing Kurdish and government forces.

Jones's extremist husband Junaid Hussain, a computer hacker from Birmingham, was wiped out by an American drone strike in Raqqa last year.

The jihadi bride tweeted that she had moved back to Iraq for her summer and had taken her young son with her.

'Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) im back in Iraq for a beautiful summer with my son inshaAllah (God willing)!' she claimed.

She also mentions how she is looking forward to dying and mocks drone pilots for killing her husband.

It is thought the jihadi group believe that women are less likely to arouse suspicion - although it is said they don't want western women to join, and have been approaching Arabs with offer of money and paradise

Ex-punk rocker Jones already takes an active role in ISIS, and is thought to be one of the leading members of the al-Khansaa brigade - a group of women who patrol the streets in Raqqa

'U can't sit there with ur tea & scones ordering RAF drone strikes on UK brothers with no comeback from the Islamic State,' she posted.

She also urged British women to carry out attacks on civilians in the UK during Ramadan.

The 47-year-old convert has previously hinted that she might fancy becoming a suicide bomber, writing: 'I know what I'm doing. Paradise has a price and I hope this will be the price for Paradise'

Jones, who now uses the name Umm Hussain, posted the last words of Hawa Barayev, who killed herself and 27 Russian special forces soldiers in Chechnya in 2000, according to the Sunday Times.

She was the first of the Chechen 'Black Widows'.

The British mother said Barayev was a 'martyr', and finished the post with a heart.
The family of a young mother left severely brain damaged and needing a lifetime of care after undergoing breast surgery have called on the public to help with her medical costs.

Linda Perez was 18 when she went to the Coral Gables Cosmetic Center in Miami, Florida, in August 2013, where she paid $2,800 for breast implants.

But minutes after the surgery, she experienced breathing difficulties and her heart rate and blood pressure dropped drastically. She left the center unconscious and was taken to hospital, where she remained in a coma for months.

She had suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, state records indicate.

Scroll down for video

Linda Perez (pictured in the arms of her mother) was left with severe brain damage after undergoing breast augmentation surgery in 2013

Perez (left and right, before the surgery) was 18 when she underwent breast augmentation in August 2013

It later emerged that the doctor who administered her anesthesia is a convicted felon who had previously had his medical license suspended.

But despite the familys attorney filing a lawsuit against the clinic, they were able to only recover a limited amount of damages because it has no insurance, WSVN reports.

The anesthesiologist, Dr Mario Albert Diaz, only had minimal coverage, according to attorney Mark Eiglarsh.

The amount that we recovered for her was so low, we gave her our fee, he said.

So he set up a GoFundMe page to help Perez, who is now unable to care for herself or her six-year-old son, to help the family with their 'astronomical' medical expenses.

Linda Perez was 18 when she went in for a routine procedure at the Coral Gables Cosmetic Center in August 2013, he wrote on the page.

She left the center in a coma and remained in a vegetative state for approximately three months.

It later emerged that the doctor who administered her anesthesia is a convicted felon who had previously had his medical license suspended. Above, Perez is fed in hospital

He added that she is now unable to walk, eat, bathe or go to the bathroom without help  and needs round-the-clock care.

She can also no longer care for her son on her own, he added. All of the medical expenses are astronomical and not feasible for the family to take care of on their own. We need your help.

Perezs therapy and medical treatment is estimated to cost millions of dollars, according to Eiglarsh.

Unless the public helps, shes going to have nothing, he told WSVN.

This was a tragedy that should not have occurred.

Perez (above) had previously undergone surgery on her buttocks

He added that Perez had researched the facility before undergoing treatment there that that Dr Diaz had not been listed on the clinics website.

He has previously served 30 months in federal prison for drug trafficking, Eiglarsh said.

Dr Diazs medical license is currently listed as active on the Florida Department of Healths website.

The department filed an administrative complaint against him and state records say that he failed to meet the prevailing standard of care in Perezs case.

The department reached a settlement agreement with Dr Diaz, who paid a $10,000 fine in January this year, the Miami Herald reports.

But a health department spokesman told the newspaper that he has not completed a mandatory 15 hours of Continuing Medical Education and therefore cannot practice medicine in Florida.

He served time in federal prison after pleading guilty for illegally selling pills online.

But the department permitted him to keep his medical license after a one-year suspension after he was released from prison, according to the Herald.

He was required to remain under the direct supervision of a licensed doctor.

The doctor who performed Perezs surgery, Dr Jacob Freiman, has a clean record and is a board certified plastic surgeon.

In 2014, Dr Freiman said that the information about Perezs medical history, such as issues with anesthesia during the birth of her son, was purposefully kept from him in order to keep him from calling off the plastic surgery.

She paid $2,800 for the breast augmentation procedure at Coral Gables Cosmetic Center in Miami

'They put a spinal aesthetic, and she needed to be intubated,' Dr Freiman said in a report filed by the medical center to gain access to her earlier records.

Meanwhile, Perezs mother Mariela Diaz, hopes to get justice for her daughter one day.

She also hopes her daughters story will serve as a cautionary tale to other young women to think carefully before undergoing cosmetic surgery.

Perez had already undergone an augmentation procedure on her buttocks ahead of the breast implant surgery.

I tell the daughters and mothers to think it over before going to those clinics, because they never know how they are going to come out, she told the Herald. They should just accept what they have naturally.
Harrowing police bodycam footage has been released of an officer killing a 45-year-old mentally ill man in Minnesota.

Michael Kirvelay was shot dead on November 24, 2015, in Columbia Heights as he hid in a room of his sister's cleaning business holding an unloaded BB gun.

Kirvelay, who had a history of mental illness and drug problems, was going through an episode at the time and believed his sister was Satan, police said.

The footage was released by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as part of the debate over expanding the use of police bodycams, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

'I need you to put it down': In bodycam footage from the incident, police can be heard asking Kirvelay to drop his weapon, but he refuses

Police were called by Kirvelay's sister, who said he had taken a woman hostage inside the office of her cleaning business in Columbia Heights

'Throw it on the ground': The footage shows the moment Kirvelay was shot by officers following a standoff

Kirvelay was holding an unloaded air soft gun at the time of the shooting. It was a replica of a Smith and Wesson 45 caliber pistol

Kirvelay, of Montrose, was one of 12 people shot and killed by law enforcement last year in Minnesota.

He was armed with a Smith & Wesson M&P 45 airgun. Kirvelay says three times it is a BB gun, and refused to put it down.

His sister had reported him to police, saying he had taken someone hostage inside her office at 710 40th Av. NE.

Police repeatedly asked Kirvelay to drop the weapon during the standoff.

'I'm asking you nicely. That thing looks like a gun. I need you to put it down,' one officer can be heard saying.

Kirvelay then starts approaching the officer.

The officer then adds: 'Do not come near me. I'm telling you that right now. Throw it down on the ground.

Michael Kirvelay, 45 (left), was shot dead on November 24, 2015, in Columbia Heights as he hid in a room of his sister(right)'s cleaning business holding a woman hostage with an unloaded BB gun, police say

'I need a favor Michael. Put down the gun. Put it down,' the officer said.

'I'm scared, sir,' Kirvelay responded.

'Listen this is the police department. I need you to put that down,' the officer added.

At some point during the standoff, Columbia Heights Sgt. Erik Johnston and Fridley Officer Shawn Murphy entered the building.

The officers said that Kirvelay had his gun to the neck of a woman that was not his sister.

Sgt. Johnston took the first shot, and then Officer Murphy fired three times.

Kirvelay died at the scene.

In May, both Johnston and Murphy were cleared of any wrongdoing in the death.
Another company had to be called to the scene

But when he got to the crash site, he recognized his girlfriend's car

As a tow truck driver, Jerome Tarver is used to the gore and tragedy of car crashes.

But nothing could have prepared him for Monday morning, when he showed up to clean up the wreckage of a drunk driving accident and found his girlfriend was one of the victims.

Tarver's girlfriend of three years, 26-year-old Jerrica Hicks, was driving back from a birthday party in Detroit around 2:30am Monday morning when a drink driver slammed his pickup truck into her Dodge Neon while going more than 100 miles an hour. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tarver, 37, says he noticed the smashed-up burgundy car was his girlfriend's almost immediately.

Jerrica Hicks, 26, was killed in a drunk driving crash on Monday in Detroit

'I really didnt believe it,' Tarver said, according to the Detroit Free-Press. 'It was like a dream. Nightmarish.'

When police realized that Tarver knew one of the victims, they barred him from the crash scene and called in another tow company.

Tarver is also plagued with guilt over the crash, since he took his girlfriend's car to get fixed that very day and wonders if she would have been driving if he had put the errand off.

Meanwhile, the man who caused the crash was arrested at the scene and arraigned in court on Tuesday.

Her boyfriend of three years Jerome Tarver, 37, was called to the scene to tow the wreckage but realized his girlfriend was a victim and was barred from the scene

Hicks was returning from a birthday party when another driver in a pick-up slammed into her Dodge Neon at more than 100 miles per hour

Johnathon Horton, 31, faces charges of manslaughter using a motor vehicle and operating while under the influence, causing death. A passenger in his car was taken to the hospital. It's unclear what condition that victim is in.

Hicks was from Detroit but moved to Nashville with her parents when she was a child. She returned to Michigan six months ago to be closer to her extended family.

At the time of her death, she had been working at a day care and was planning to move her nine-year-old son Bryan to the city in the next few weeks.

Hicks is survived by her son, her parents, three brothers, two sisters and cousins.

Loved ones have started a GoFundMe account to help support her family in the aftermath of her death.
The EU referendum has revealed deep splits within political parties, breaking even the closest friendships in Westminster.

Chancellor George Osborne today insisted the June 23 poll was an opportunity to settle an issue that 'divides families and friends'.

But few have made such a public display of their disagreement as neighbours Tony and Frank in North London.

Neighbours Tony, left, and Frank, right, have posted rival banners on their balconies in Gospel Oak, North London, as the EU referendum debate heads into its final month

Tony nailed his colours to the mast by placing a massive Vote Leave hoarding on his balcony in Gospel Oak.

But in response his neighbour Frank Chalmers created a home made sign of his own to create a complete 'sentence' for passers by.

It read: 'Vote Leave..... if you want to cut workers' rights.'

The pair of banners have been shared thousands of times on social media and the two neighbours posed for press photographer's today.

Frank's son Malcom told the Evening Standard: 'He gave the neighbours a bottle of wine as a peace offering.

'Everyone's entitled to their opinion and my dad's just the type of person who likes to make a point in a humorous manner.'

Despite their deep disagreements over Europe the two men are said to still be good neighbours and they posed for press photographers today

Today's referendum campaigning has been dominated again by disputes over the economy after the IFS warned of an economic downturn after a Brexit vote.

It said Britain could face two more years of austerity if there is a Leave victory in the June 23 referendum.

Researchers warned that the UK Government may extend its austerity drive after a Brexit vote as it grapples with a fall in national income and a sharp rise in public sector borrowing.

Prime Minister David Cameron - whose policies have often been savaged by the IFS - said it was 'always held out as the independent gold standard'.
Two detectives called Trayvon Martin a 'n****r' and a 'thug' in a vile rant about the slain teenager, a secret recording has revealed.

Deputies Edwin Downs and Pat Allison, from Hocking County Sheriff's Office in Ohio, were heard saying Martin, 17, was shot because he was black and wearing a hoodie.

The recording was made in 2013 - a year after Martin was killed by George Zimmerman - and came to light in 2015, but the pair were let off the hook and told to take a cultural sensitivity class.

Their sheriff said the pair were entitled to use racist language, insisting they had a right to 'freedom of speech'.

Detectives Pat Allison (left) and Edwin Downs (right) called Trayvon Martin a 'n****r' and a 'thug' in a vile rant about the slain teenager, a secret recording has revealed

The secret recording was made in 2013 - a year after Martin (pictured) was killed by George Zimmerman

Downs, 41, and Allison, 55, were unaware they were being recorded when they made the racially charged comments about Martin while they were on duty, the Logan Daily News reported.

Allison said: 'That n****r is a good n****r, Lord.

'Wasnt that n****r wearing a hoodie in Florida? It was like 90 degrees,' he also said.

He added: 'We could make a little money if they all pay us to burn crosses in n****r yards. We could sell portable crosses like a wood cross with a base so you could just stand it in the yard instead of like having to dig a hole for it. it could have the fire starter chunks built in it.'

The Ku Klux Klan has previously burned crosses to intimidate black people.

When asked if Zimmerman was right to shoot Martin and if gun control played a part in the shooting, Downs said: 'It did, but a lot of it was because he was a n****r  a n****r thug.'

During the conversation, he was also heard to say 'maybe you shouldnt be black' and 'Id say, a dead one, you know it'.

Describing a black person, he said: 'All you can see are two white things - eyeballs and teeth.'

The cops were ordered to take a cultural sensitivity class and their sheriff Lanny North said the pair were entitled to use racist language, insisting they had a right to 'freedom of speech'

Zimmerman shot Martin in 2012 after calling police because he thought the hooded teenager looked suspicious

The recording emerged last year during a separate civil suit brought against Downs and other officials, which was thrown out.

Allison and Downs were ordered to take a cultural sensitivity class but otherwise they were not punished, with Hocking County Sheriff Lanny North saying they had a right to voice their opinions.

'They're human and they have the right to express their freedom of speech, but there's a time and place to do that but the time and place is not in the office in uniform,' North told the Columbus Dispatch.

Hocking County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Dave Valkinburg said racism was not condoned.

'It was bad, especially on Pats part. We just recently learned of the tape, and Eds comments were nothing like Pats was but it was still pretty shocking,' Valkinburg said.

Downs remains with the sheriff's office and has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years.

Allison left the force in 2014 after 26 years working there. He returned last year but resigned again after the recording was revealed.

Sybil Edwards-McNabb, president of the Ohio Conference NAACP, said: 'I am past being offended. I'm outraged that it's still going on. The last place they should be is where they are and where they earn a living.

She said the cops' punishment was 'a slap on the wrist'.

Zimmerman was controversially acquitted of murder charges in 2013.

He shot Martin on February 26, 2012, after calling police because he thought the hooded teenager looked suspicious.
An eight-year-old girl is recovering in hospital after receiving a life-saving kidney from her elementary school teacher.

Natasha Fuller from Oakfield in Wisconsin was born with a chronic kidney disease that required dialysis.

Fortunately for the youngster, her teacher Jodi Schmidt proved to be a perfect match and decided to give her the life-changing gift.

Scroll down for video

Natasha Fuller from Oakfield, Wisconsin, pictured, is recovering in hospital after receiving her new kidney

Natasha received the lifesaving gift from her elementary school teacher Jodi Schmidt, right

Transplant surgeon Mike Zimmerman said: 'The transplant went great. Both Jodi and Natasha are recovering and doing well.

The girl's smile and attitude, in spite of her chronic kidney disease, had inspired Schmidt to get tested months ago for a possible donation. Schmidt said Natasha has been an inspiration at school because her illness and frequent travel for dialysis haven't dampened her upbeat spirit and talkative nature.

'She's pretty sociable, so she catches everyone she can. It takes a long time for her to get from Point A to Point B,' Schmidt said. 'Many people after this started didn't know she was sick at all. She's happy and looks healthy.'

Natasha was born with prune belly syndrome, which has required kidney dialysis in recent years.

She lives with her grandparents in Oakfield so she can get the specialized treatment she needs at Children's Hospital in metro Milwaukee, about 70 miles away. Her parents and siblings, including her twin Brookelynn, live in Oklahoma.

Natasha's grandmother, Chris Burleton of Oakfield, said that because of the tubes attached to her granddaughter's body, Natasha has been unable to do many things most children might take for granted, such as swimming or riding a roller coaster, for fear they would disrupt her attachments.

This is the moment Natasha Fuller, center discovered that her teacher Jodi Schmidt, right was a match to become a kidney donor. Now the operation has been completed, both teacher and student are recovering

Natasha, left, was diagnosed with prune belly syndrome and needed regular kidney dialysis

Schmidt decided to get tested as a possible match after talking over the risks with her family. A national registry site directed her to Froedtert Hospital, which is near Children's Hospital.

After a long day of testing and meeting with at least a dozen health care professionals, Schmidt was told by a transplant coordinator that she was a match for Natasha.

'It was the best day ever. I was on the phone and I think I screamed in her ear,' Schmidt said.

Schmidt and Oakfield Elementary's principal, Becky Doyle, came up with a plan to surprise Natasha's grandmother with the news about her test results. Schmidt gave Burleton a gift box when she stopped by the school. Burleton opened it and broke down in tears. Inside the box she found a note that read, 'It's a match.'

Schmidt, right, invited Natasha's grandmother Chris Burelton, left, into the school to tell her the good news

Schmidt said in an earlier interview that her choice to donate a kidney was a decision she's never been more confident of in her life.

In a statement released by the hospital from Natasha's family, they praised Schmidt's gift and the dedication of the medical team in treating the youngster.

'Thanks to Jodis amazing gift and support of her family, we are with Tasha as she recovers and gets stronger after the transplant. Her doctors at Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin say that everything went well and that we could not have asked for a better organ.

'We are so grateful for the outpouring of support our family has received, particularly from Oakfield Elementary staff and students, along with her friends and family in Grandfield, Oklahoma.
Aishia Marie Pacheco is being held on $1 million bail and charged with second-degree murder in the death of her four-day-old son

A North Carolina woman has been arrested in the death of her four-day-old son.

Aishia Marie Pacheco, 22, of Taylorsville, has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bail, the Alexander County Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff Chris Bowman said the baby was suffocated because he was crying.

Bowman told reporters on Wednesday morning that the mother had admitted to him that she suffocated the baby because the child would not stop crying, WBTV reports.

'That she held the baby up to her chest because the baby had been crying and actually smothered the child,' Bowman said.

The sheriff's office said someone called 911 shortly after 6am on Tuesday to report an unresponsive infant in the home.

However, authorities suspect the baby died on Monday evening.

CPR instructions had been given to the mother over the phone, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Sheriff's investigators and first responders found the infant unresponsive at the home southwest of Taylorsville. Emergency Medical Service paramedics declared the baby dead.

Pacheco posted this picture on Facebook on Monday to announce that she had come home from hospital with her newborn son

The sheriff's office said someone called 911 shortly after 6am on Tuesday to report an unresponsive infant in the home, but authorities suspect the child died on Monday evening

The infant was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for an autopsy.

It was not clear if Pacheco has an attorney.

On Monday, Pacheco wrote on Facebook: 'My little boy Tyler Isaiah and I finally got to come home today. He is doing great and I love him so much.'

She added: 'I'm learning a lot with him and I'm so proud to be his mom. Labor was tough and recovery is even tougher but I'm doing it for my son. Thank you mom and dad for helping me with everything including how to be a great mother to my son. Love you guys!!'

She earlier took to Facebook to announce the baby's birth, revealing that the infant weighed 7lbs 5oz and was born via C-section after she had already been in labor for more than ten hours.

She is scheduled to appear at Alexander County District Court on June 6.

Courtesy WSOC TV

Sheriff Chris Bowman said Pacheco admitted to him that the baby was suffocated because he was crying
The wreck of a Second World War submarine containing the bodies of 71 British sailors has been discovered by divers in the Mediterranean.

A team of experts from Italy tracked the British T-class submarine, called HMS P311, to a location off Sardinia's north east coast near the island of Tavolara.

The 84-metre sunken tomb still contained the corpses of the servicemen who died when it sank without trace in 1943.

The wreck of a Second World War T-Class submarine containing the bodies of 71 British sailors has been discovered by divers in the Mediterranean. A file picture of the T-Class HMS Trespasser is shown above

Genoa-based wreck-hunter Massimo Domenico Bordone said he found the sub lying on the sea bed 100m down. It was reportedly in 'excellent condition' with only the front part of its bow showing damage.

He is quoted by La Nuova Sardegna as saying: 'It looks like she probably went down with air sealed inside, meaning then crew eventually died of oxygen deprivation. It's important to have the utmost respect for wrecks in cases like this.'

She is thought to have been lost in either late December 1942 or early 1943 before she could be officially given the name Tutankhamen.

At the time, she had left Malta and was on her way to La Maddalena, Sardinia on a mission to destroy the Italian battleships Trieste and Gorizia.

The Local reports that the sub disappeared following a final signal in late December and was reported 'overdue' on January 8 1943.

A team of experts from Italy tracked the British T-class submarine, called HMS P311, to a location off Sardinia's northeast coast (file picture)

It is thought she hit a mine but experts believe its inner chamber would not have been flooded as a result of the explosion.

Describing the moment he found the wreck, Bordone said: 'Immediately I thought of the destiny of the men who met their deaths down there

'It was a fate shared by so many men, submariners in particular, fighting on all both sides of the conflict.'

The Royal Navy told The Local it was unlikely the vessel would be moved.
Bernie Sanders campaign doubled down on his position on capital punishment, saying the Democratic hopeful opposed the Justice Department's decision to pursue the death penalty in the case of Charleston shooter Dylann Roof.

'Sen. Sanders opposes the death penalty,' spokesman Michael Briggs told the Huffington Post. 'He believes those who are convicted of the most horrible crimes should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole.'

Roof gunned down nine parishioners worshiping at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June of last year.

Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign reiterated his opposition for the death penalty in light of Attorney General Loretta Lynch's decision that the government plans to seek the death penalty in Dylann Roof's case

Sen. Bernie Sanders has argued that the death penalty doesn't square with the morals of American society and it also doesn't deter crime

Yesterday Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty for the 22-year-old Roof, after state authorities drew the same conclusion, suggesting that Roof was motivated by racism to carefully plot the massacre.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department will pursue the death penalty in the case of Charleston shooter Dylann Roof (pictured)

Republicans in the state cheered the decision by both state and federal authorities, but Democrats, who tend not to support capital punishment, or tepidly support it in extreme cases, are in a more precarious position.

The Charleston church murders caused a national outcry and even led to the decision to remove the confederate flag from state capitol grounds.

While Sanders is ideologically pure on the issue, his rival Hillary Clinton supports the death penalty in 'certain egregious cases.'

Her campaign did not articulate whether Roof's case would pass this test.

Sanders has argued that capital punishment doesn't square with the country's moral values.

He's also said that it doesn't deter crime.

And while he often talks about reforming the criminal justice system during his rallies, he doesn't often segue into the two other political issues Roof's case touches on  guns and domestic terrorism.

Last night, Sanders spoke in the California city of San Bernardino, where a December mass-shooting took place at the hands of a radicalized pro-ISIS couple.

While Sanders called out his rivals, both Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, he didn't address the shooting, not did he insert any comments about terrorism or guns into his standard stump speech.

At a campaign event earlier in the day in Riverside, California, Sanders eluded to the attack during a part of his remarks about citizens who are 'suicidal' or even 'homicidal,' linking those urges to mental health and arguing that the country needed a 'revolution in mental health treatment.'

'And I don't have to talk about what that means here in this part of America,' Sanders stated, seemingly pointing to the citizens of nearby San Bernardino who were gunned down.
The husband of a murdered Texas fitness instructor believes the suspect caught on surveillance footage in police gear was a woman who had a motive to kill his wife.

Terri Missy Bevers, 45, was found dead with multiple puncture wounds to her head and chest at Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, where she had been setting up an exercise class, at around 5am on April 18.

Authorities later released CCTV footage of a suspect, dressed in a helmet, gloves and a vest with police written on it, walking through the church and carrying tools consistent with the injuries she suffered.

Weeks after her murder, no arrests have been made in the case and authorities have not even confirmed whether the suspect is a man or a woman.

But the mother-of-threes husband Brandon Bevers, 42, is convinced that his wifes killer was no stranger and also revealed he spends his days trying to figure out how to make their young daughters feel safe again, People reports.

Scroll down for video

The husband of murdered Texas fitness instructor Missy Bevers (right) has revealed his theory of who he thinks killed his wife. Brandon Bevers (left) believes the killer was a woman who knew her

Authorities later released CCTV footage of a suspect (above) walking through the church and carrying tools consistent with the injuries she suffered

I think it was a woman, he told the magazine. I still think whoever this person was knew my wife and had a motive.

Bevers also believes that the suspect went to great lengths to stage the scene to look like a robbery gone wrong.

He added: Theres no reason why an individual would break into a church, dressed in that type of clothing and stage a robbery, or what would appear to be a robbery  going through the building, breaking glass and opening doors.

If that person was really there to commit a robbery, why did they kill my wife and leave her wedding ring on her finger?

Last week, authorities said they wanted to speak to the owner of a Nissan Altima that was seen in the area before Bevers was killed.

Surveillance footage captured the silver or light-colored car pulling into a parking lot less than a mile from the crime scene.

No arrests have been made in the case, and authorities have not even confirmed whether the suspect is a man or a woman

'The last remaining lead involves a car that pulls into the SWFA Sporting Goods parking lot at approximately 2am,' Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson said a press conference on Friday, CBS reported.

'They're seen pulling into the parking lot and leaving just a few minutes later.'

Police said the car was a 2010-2012 Nissan Altima with an oval sticker on its bumper, but added that the driver is not necessarily a suspect.

Authorities earlier obtained warrants for cell phone information related to several members of the Bevers' family.

However on Friday, Johnson said none of the victim's family friends or co-workers are considered suspects.

But they did provide more information on the suspect captured on CCTV, describing the individual as between 5'2'' and 5'7'' and appearing to have lighter skin.

Authorities earlier obtained warrants for cell phone information related to several members of the Bevers' family but confirmed on Friday that none of her friends or co-workers are considered suspects

Surveillance footage reportedly captured a suspect carrying tools consistent with Bevers' injuries walking through the the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian (pictured)

But investigators have still not determined if the person was a man or a woman.

Meanwhile, Brandon Bevers mother Marsha Essary Tucker recently took to Facebook to urge the killer to turn themselves in.

'Are you getting a bit nervous, shaking in your "boots that look too big?" You should be! It's just a matter of time now,' the victim's mother-in-law wrote.

'Things would be a lot easier on you to just go ahead and turn yourself in. I'm sure the officials will take that into account.

'Go ahead and clear your conscience, you will feel better.

'No sense in having your family witness you being picked up by the police and leaving that lasting vision on their minds forever! We are all waiting! It's one way or the other!!'

Her message came after search warrants released earlier this month revealed that just days before her murder, Bevers had received a 'creepy and strange' message from an unknown man on LinkedIn.

Bevers' mother-in-law Marsha Essary Tucker penned a letter to the killer, urging them to turn themselves in before police find them

Messages recovered on phones owned by Bevers and her husband Brandon Bevers revealed that they were having problems in their marriage and had been enduring ongoing financial problems, NBCDFW reported.

Meanwhile, Brandon Bevers previously spoke out about his wife's death and said he has found strength in this difficult time by turning to God.

'If it wasn't for me leaning on God as heavily as I am right now, OK, there is no way  I would be melted just into this asphalt,' he told NBC.

'There is no way the Brandon Bevers before this would be standing here today without me leaning on God, and His word and His direction, like, I find peace in it. It's very comforting. I obtain wisdom from it.'

He also added he had refused to read any reports detailing the injuries his wife sustained before she died.

Authorities want to speak to the owner of a Nissan Altima (pictured) that was seen in the area before Bevers was killed

Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson said at a press conference on Friday that the last remaining lead involves a car that pulled into the SWFA Sporting Goods (pictured) parking lot at approximately 2am

Authorities have said they found evidence of forced entry at the church and Bevers may have walked in on a robbery while preparing for her Camp Gladiator fitness class.

They also claimed someone tried to clean up the crime scene.

Rewards of $20,000 are currently being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in the case.

On Friday, Johnson admitted that the investigation has been both difficult and frustrating, but remains optimistic that the case will be solved.

'We want an arrest as bad as anybody in this case,' he said.

'We want to bring that sense of safety back to the community and resolve this for the family as well as our community and the public in general.'

He added: 'Its hard to get away with murder nowadays and we think that somebody eventually will know something and theyll come forward.

'As long as theres any possible work to be done well remain in an active mode. We dont expect that to end anytime soon, until we catch the killer.'
Gordon Brown has called for an EU fund to help areas of Britain overwhelmed by European migrants he let in.

Hundreds of thousands of eastern Europeans were allowed to flood into the country a decade ago under Labours open-borders policy.

The former prime minister insisted migration is something we should welcome and not something we should attack.

But he conceded schools and hospitals in certain parts of the country need help to cope with the extra burden placed on their services.

Former PM Gordon Brown said migration had helped boost economic growth in the UK

In a speech in Brussels, Mr Brown argued Labours approach to migration in government had brought foreign doctors and nurses to the country as well as extra patients.

He told MEPs: Migration has increased growth rates in countries like ours, it has given us skilled workers we would not otherwise had.

It is welcomed by people who use our public services because we have hundreds of thousands of people who are dependent on nurses and doctors and others who trained in other countries.

I wish that Ukip and others would not always suggest that migration is a bad thing, it is part of the mobility of people in a modern society and it is something we should welcome and not something we should attack.

However, he asked the EU to stump up extra money to help areas that have been deluged with arrivals to help address grievances about migration.

We should champion the creation of a migration challenges and support fund  a European solidarity fund  that helps communities in which health care, schools and public services are under pressure because of sharp population changes, he said.

We know that one of the greatest grievances of the public is that inadequate provision is being made where the NHS is under severe strain and where school enrolments are not met by enhanced teacher provision. A dedicated EU fund would help address this issue.

Mr Brown, who was speaking in favour of Britain remaining in the EU, appeared to take a swipe at the Leave campaign, whose motto is take back control.

Bringing control back home is the theme of just about every isolationist, protectionist, xenophobic, and populist movement in Europe and America today, he said.

Mr Brown also accused leading Leave campaigners Boris Johnson and Michael Gove of just looking for something to blame when everything goes wrong.

He said: If you were really concerned about sovereignty, if that was the only thing that mattered in this, then you would be saying that the first priority is to remove American bases from Britain. But have you heard Michael Gove or Boris Johnson mention this issue, as they key issue concerning sovereignty? No, because the reason that they are raising the issue of sovereignty is not because they are interested in sovereignty per se. They are against the European Union. That is the fact of the matter and they look for something to blame when everything goes wrong.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz, who spoke alongside Mr Brown at the event in the European Parliament, claimed the EU would not huff and puff if Britain left.

The decision to stay in or leave the EU is a decision for the British people to take - and for the British people alone, he said.

And let me say this very clearly: we will respect the vote of the British people: a decision to leave is a decision to leave. A decision to stay, is a decision to stay. There will be no huffing and puffing from our side.

The German federalist argued that the referendum debate should not be concentrated on how much Britain has to pay to be a member.

I think it's time to get over the book keeping approach, get over who pays what, who gets what out of the common market and the EU budget and look to the much wider implications of EU membership, he said.

Mr Brown said that he believes Scotland will choose to remain part of the UK regardless of whether Britain decides to leave the European Union in next months vote.

I believe that even if there was a second referendum in Scotland, which I think is unlikely but is what the Nationalists would demand if we left the European Union, the people of Scotland will be persuaded it is better to be part of the UK, he said.
Killed: Saima Khan, 34, is said by neighbours to have suffered a stab wound to the neck and was seen on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood

A mother-of-four who was killed in her home as she looked after her children may have been killed in an honour attack, it has been claimed.

Saima Khan, 34, was found slumped in a pool of blood in the hallway of her semi-detached home while her children slept upstairs.

Her distraught younger sister Sabah was said to have tried in vain to save her life by removing a shard of glass lodged in her throat before paramedics could reach the scene.

The care worker is believed to have been attacked as she returned home from a late shift while her sister was upstairs babysitting her children aged between one and seven.

The rest of the family were attending a late night funeral of an elderly aunt at the local mosque.

Neighbours and relatives said the three-bedroom home in Luton may have been targeted by raiders, who expected it to be empty, on the hunt for valuable gold jewellery.

However, detectives are said to be keeping an open mind as to the motive of the murder and have not ruled out the possibility that it was a so-called honour killing.

Frightened witnesses heard family members of the carer in the road screaming for help at about 11.30pm before paramedics arrived  and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

One of Mrs Khans cousins said: It looks like a burglary as someone smashed the kitchen window at the back and got in that way, but we dont know what happened.

Most of the family was at another family members funeral so maybe the intruder was expecting an empty house.

We are just in complete shock, weve already recently lost someone and now this.

Neighbour and former councillor Khtija Malik added: Her mother is devastated. She told a friend, They could have taken the whole house but they should have left my daughter alone.

Apparently Saima came home from work while her sister was in the bathroom upstairs and the children were sleeping. She walked in on burglars and they panicked and attacked her.

Weve had a number of break-ins in the street, thieves do target Asian families because of the value of Asian gold. No-one feels safe now.

Paying tribute to Mrs Khan  who worked for Allied Healthcare, which provides care for elderly people in their homes  her cousin added: She was a very caring, nice person.

She was a good mother to four young children and we dont know what to tell them.

Neighbours were alerted to the brutal attack after hearing screams at 11.30pm on Monday night as the family returned from the funeral at the local mosque to be confronted by the tragedy.

Forensics at the scene: Her family returned from the funeral to a scene of horror in Luton with Mrs Khan having suffered stab wounds, and it is believed she may have disturbed a burglar who broke into the house

One local said: Apparently she was hit with a mirror which cut her throat, her sister was upstairs when it happened and came down to find her.

Someone said she pulled the glass from her throat before calling her parents for help.

Paramedics who rushed to the house were unable to help the mother despite her sisters frantic pleas and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mrs Khan  who moved to England from Holland lived with parents, sister and taxi-driver husband Hafeez - was described by neighbours yesterday as a quiet but friendly lady.

Friends and colleagues attended the scene to lay flowers in tribute to the mother of Pakistani origin while relatives gathered in mourning at another property.

A police cordon remained in place at the address last night as forensics teams searched the property, the street and the vehicles belonging to the family for clues.

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Gallop, senior investigating officer, said: We are treating the womans death as murder and its therefore of upmost importance that anyone with information that could help our investigation gets in touch immediately.

We are following a number of lines of inquiry and are keeping an open mind as to what led to this tragic incident.

Police forces regularly issue warnings to Asian families, who are often targeted during the summer months while people attend weddings or celebrate religious festivals by burglars looking for jewellery.

Neighbour Nousheen Dar, 34, who is also a mother of four, said: I heard all this noise, I think it was her mum and sister screaming and crying in the street.

I woke my husband to see what was going on and if we could help. There were a number of neighbours in the street and as soon as we got outside the ambulance turned up.

The paramedics asked us to move away, but I did see that she was on the floor in the doorway and there was a lot of blood around her. It was horrible and I dont know why it has happened.

It seems so random. At the time everyone was just in shock. Her sister was going mad asking for the paramedics to help her.

But they said they couldnt do anything and they had to leave her how she was as it was a crime scene. Her neck was cut so it was a big shock.

Mrs Khan and her younger sister Sabah were at the family's three-bedroom semi-detached home while looking after the formers four young children, whose ages range from one to seven.

The rest of the family, which included the sisters' parents, Mrs Khans taxi driver husband Hafiz and a younger brother of the sisters, were at a relative's funeral at Luton Central Mosque.

Mrs Dar said the family are lovely and caring and she has known them for around seven years, adding: I am close with the family because we have been neighbours for a while.

Probe: Mrs Khan and her younger sister Sabah were at the family's three-bedroom semi-detached home while looking after the formers four young children, with ages ranging from one to seven

They are a very caring family and are just lovely people, her husband is lovely too. It is very scary when something like this happens so close to home. I am very scared.

Her husband Iram, 48, added: The family are very caring people and they are always playing with their children. My wife is very scared and I am very scared now. I do not understand why this has happened.

Neighbours said the family had come to Britain seven years ago from the Netherlands. Former councillor Khtija Malik, who lives on the same road, described Mrs Khan as a very quiet lady.

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be identified, said: The first I knew that something was wrong was when I heard Saima's mother and her aunties screaming in the street.

They had been to a funeral at Luton's Central Mosque and came back before the men to see her laying in the hallway just inside the front door in a pool of blood.

I heard the younger sister had been upstairs in the bathroom at the time when a burglar got into the house. She came out of the bathroom and came downstairs to see her sister on the floor.

Dawood Massod, 21, who describes himself as a community leader, said the woman died following a burglary gone wrong as men burst into a sister's house where she had her neck slit and died.

He said: People living nearby and friends of mine have said that they were at the house and there was a robbery. It just went wrong and the burglar had a knife and they slit the sister's neck.

At the scene: Police and an ambulance arrived at the scene overnight and Mrs Khans four children were taken out of the house, placed in police vehicles and taken away by the police

Police response: Today, neighbours claimed several other homes had been burgled on the same street over the past few months - and the community fears the murder happened during a raid for valuables

A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: Bedfordshire Police was called by the ambulance service shortly after 11.30pm [on Monday] to Luton, where a woman had suffered serious injuries.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit are treating the incident as suspicious.

The area remains cordoned off to allow further enquiries to take place. Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the Major Crime Unit on 101.




Authorities rounded up an alligator outside a Dallas, Texas, middle school this week.

The reptile found around Steam Middle School reportedly measured six to seven feet in length.

It was discovered around 2am by a sheriff's deputy patrolling, according to WFAA.

The massive creature rolled around and thrashed about while authorities tried to collect it.

Scroll down for video

Authorities rounded up an alligator outside a Dallas, Texas, middle school this week

It was discovered around 2am by a sheriff's deputy patrolling

The reptile found around Steam Middle School reportedly measured six to seven feet in length

Authorities were filmed using a catch pole and wrapping the gator's mouth.

Dallas Air One is a Dallas police helicopter.

Its Twitter account said Wednesday: 'Just your average everyday call in SC Division, report of a 7ft alligator at a school....hmmm yep its there.'

Around 4.30am, the gator was captured, according to WFAA.

The massive creature rolled around and thrashed about while authorities tried to collect it

Authorities were filmed using a catch pole and wrapping the gator's mouth

Dallas Air One tweeted this image of the alligator on Wednesday

Texas Game Warden Jamie Sanchez told Fox 4: 'It's a defense mechanism, especially when we put the noose on it.

'I think it would be pretty scary. Big alligator like that would scare anybody.'

Sanchez said: 'We were able to put it in the back of my truck without hurting it, so now I'm going to go release it.'

It was going to be taken to a preserve.
Cops also looking for links to 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, 25

Investigators say gun links him to the 2014 killing of Rebekah Bletsch, 36

Police later arrested Willis and a search of his van and house uncovered a pistol, ammunition, a mouth gag, chains, and syringes filled with liquid

The teen escaped Willis by jumping out of his moving silver minivan

Jeffrey Willis, 46, was arrested after allegedly attempting to kidnap a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint in Muskegon County, Michigan

A married factory worker arrested over claims he tried to abduct a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint has now been charged with a cold case murder.

Jeffrey Willis, 46, was today accused of shooting mother-of-one Rebekah Bletsch, 36, multiple times in the head while she was out jogging in Muskegon County, Michigan, back in June 2014.

Officers say ballistics from a handgun recovered from Willis's minivan match those used to kill Bletsch, as do shell casings found at the scene of her murder.

Jeffrey Willis, 46, who was arrested earlier this month over claims he tried to kidnap a 16-year-old girl, has now been charged with the cold case murder of mother Rebekah Bletsch, 36

Police say ballistics taken from Bletsch's murder scene match a pistol found inside Willis's minivan (center), where officers also discovered a mouth gag, chains, and syringes full of liquid

Willis had long been a suspect in Bletsch's slaying, but officers had never acquired enough evidence to arrest or charge him before now.

Prosecutor D.J. Hilson said: 'Today is still a sad day for many people, but is a happy day for law enforcement.'

Nick Winberg, Bletsch's father, added: 'It's been a rough couple of years, but we've had our faith and trust in law enforcement and they haven't' let us down.'

Detectives are also probing whether Willis is linked to the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, 25, who vanished from the Exxon Mobil gas station where she worked in 2013.

A silver minivan similar to Willis's was spotted on surveillance cameras near the gas station, and police believe it may have been used to kidnap Heeringa, who was never seen again.

Detectives are also probing whether Willis is responsible for the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, 25, who vanished from her workplace at a Exxon Mobil gas station

Officers would not comment further over their investigation into Heeringa's disappearance, and when asked if they were investigating Willis in connection with further crimes, said they were 'keeping lines open'

Prosecutor DJ Hilson (left) praised the work of detectives, saying many people are still grieving over Bletsch's death but added today 'is a happy day for law enforcement'

The new evidence against Willis only came to light after he was arrested earlier this month for allegedly trying to kidnap a 16-year-old.

The girl told officers she was lost along a rural road on April 16 when Willis pulled over and offered her the use of his cell phone.

After climbing inside his minivan, a 2006 Dodge Caravan, the girl says he pointed a gun at her and locked the doors before driving away.

However, she says she managed to unlock the door and jumped from the moving vehicle before alerting authorities.

Eventually investigators landed on Willis, who was arrested earlier this month as detectives carried out a search on his home and vehicle.

Relatives of Bletsch, including sister Nicole Winberg (center) broke down as they were told of the new charges against Willis, who is currently being held in custody

Bletsch was shot multiple times in the head while out jogging in 2014 in an apparently random attack

Inside his van police say they found a semiautomatic pistol, ammunition, syringes with liquid, a ball gag, chains, a mask and a bar with wrist restraints.

A search of his home unearthed child pornography and videos of women being restrained, investigators added.

Asked whether Willis was being looked at in other cases, Hilson said investigators were 'keeping lines open.'
Theresa May has accused fire chiefs of allowing a culture of bullying and harassment to flourish in some parts of England and Wales.

In a stinging rebuke, the Home Secretary warned there was no excuse for the toxic and corrosive attitudes identified in some of the countrys fire and rescue services.

She also criticised the lack of diversity among fire fighters, who were 96 per cent white and 95 per cent male, and vowed to transform the make-up of the workforce.

Mrs May also demanded an end to the unjustifiable practice of chief fire officers who claimed generous taxpayer-funded lump sum retirement payouts then were re-hired a few days later on bumper deals.

Fire Service chiefs have allowed 'bullying and harassment' to fester, Home Secretary Theresa May has warned despite praising fire fighters' professionalism (file picture)

Earlier this year it was revealed how one fire service paid out almost 1million to staff who were taken back on as little as a month later.

She said: It looks wrong; it erodes public confidence; it undermines the respect of firefighters and staff in their leadership. It must stop.

Her broadside came in her first major speech on plans to shake up the fire service since it fell under Home Office control earlier this year.

Promising a programme of reform as radical and ambitious as she had implemented in the police, she said fire services would have to publish more information about pay and be subject to independent inspections.

She said it was almost impossible for people to scrutinise their local service on performance, value for money and diversity because they were currently inspected by other fire chiefs.

Announcing she would press ahead with her plans yesterday, Mrs May said: It is not so much marking your own homework as setting your own exam paper and resolving that you've passed  and it has to change.

In a speech to the Reform think-tank in London she stressed the need for action on the lack of diversity among fire fighters.

She said: It is not just professionalism and integrity that underpin the relationship with the public, it is also how representative fire and rescue services are of the communities they serve.

She acknowledged the fine tradition and proud record of fire fighters. In the 15 years since the Home Office last oversaw fire and rescue services, the risk of fire and the number of deaths had fallen considerably, said Mrs May.

Buildings are safer, families and communities are more secure, and fire fighters' time is being wasted far less, she said.

Mrs May has been handed control of the fire service for the first time in 15 years following Government changes. She has vowed to press ahead with reforms

But she argued the service has succeeded in spite of the framework it operates in, not because of it.

She said it was a fire and rescue landscape still beset by poor governance and structures. A workforce lacking diversity and still bound by many of the old ways of working.

'A service that requires further reform to improve accountability, bring independent scrutiny and drive transparency.

Procurement data from every fire and rescue authority in England will also be published to shed light on how much each is paying for items such as uniform, operational kit and vehicles.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: We have been calling for an independent inspectorate for some time, as the current system had led to huge imbalances on the standards imposed on services across the county.

But he added: We are all however surprised about the claims that the Home Secretary has made about the size of the fire and rescue workforce not having changed in the past decade.

The record cuts that this Government have imposed on the fire and rescue services have resulted in far fewer frontline fire fighters and is contributing to a poorer and less reliable public service.
It was first printed in 1623 seven years after the death of the playwright

First Folio and 3 following editions bought by unknown American bidder

An incredibly rare copy of Shakespeare's First Folio and three following editions have all been bought by an unknown American collector for 2.4million.

Christie's auction house in London auctioned off the rare folios to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

The first collection of the Bard's work contains 36 of his plays, half of which had never been previously printed and would have otherwise been lost forever, sold for more than 1.8million after surfacing for the first time in 200 years.

Christie's auction house in London auctioned off the rare folios to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death today and the collection was snapped up by an anonymous US bidder

The incredibly rare copy of Shakespeare's First Folio and three following editions have all been bought by an unknown American collector for 2.4million

It includes Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night with the book divided into Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.

It was printed in 1623, seven years after the death of one of history's most influential writers and is considered by many to be the most important literary publication in the English language

The previously unrecorded copy, one of just 40 complete editions in existence, was bought in 1800 by renowned book collector Sir George Augustus Shuckburgh-Evelyn and has been hidden from public view for more 200 years.

It was offered at a special four-lot auction with a guide price of 800,000 to 1.2 million and worldwide interest created a tense auction.

Bidding quickly passed the 1m mark as collectors in the room and over the phone battled it out

The first collection of the Bard's work contains 36 of his plays, half of which had never been previously printed and would have otherwise been lost forever, sold for more than 1.8million after surfacing for the first time

Bidding started at 500,000 and quickly passed the 1 million mark as collectors in the room and over the phone battled it out.

The hammer eventually went down at 1.6 million to an unknown phone bidder - with the final price including premiums hitting a staggering 1,874,500.

The first folio was auctioned off with a copy of Shakespeare's second 194,000, third 362,500 and fourth folio 47,500 in what is regarded as the Holy Grail of book collections.

The First Folio was collated by John Heminge and Henry Condell, who were friends of Shakespeare. They edited the book and supervised the printing.

The First Folio was printed in 1623, seven years after the death of one of history's most influential writers and is considered by many to be the most important literary publication in the English language

Margaret Ford, International Head of Books & Manuscripts at Christie's, said: 'We are pleased with the results achieved in the sale especially since all four books were acquired by the same private American collector.

'The universality and timelessness of Shakespeare's insight into human nature continues to engage and enthrall audiences the world over.

'Even four centuries after his death, his plays touch and transform lives and continue to be read and performed from Albania to Zambia.

'Especially exhilarating is bringing a newly recorded copy of the First Folio to public attention, and to be able to offer a set of the Four Folios in this important anniversary year.'

Only a very small number of collectors are believed to own all four Folios.
A high school fight quickly got out of control after one of the students passed out from an aggressive chokehold.

The two male combatants, one 15 the other 16, can be seen grappling furiously as the gathered crowd cheer and comment.

But when they see the brawl escalating several run forwards to pull the rivals off one another.

Fight! Fight! Fight! The two male combatants, one 15 the other 16, can be seen grappling furiously with each other as the gathered crowd cheer and comment

Uh-oh: As the duo turn towards the camera, the face of the older boy looks to be a worrying shade of red and his limbs suddenly relax. He collapses, falling on top of the other teen as they hit the floor

As the duo turn towards the camera, the face of the older boy looks to be a worrying shade of red and his limbs suddenly relax.

He collapses, falling on top of the other teen as they hit the floor.

'Oh my God!' one onlooker cries as the group rush forward in panic.

'Let go!' a girl yells at the top of her voice - an order the 15-year-old doesn't immediately obey.

Eventually the youth releases his foe, leaving him lying prone on his front as the the video ends.

The ruckus broke out at East Rowan High School in North Carolina allegedly as a result of cyber bullying.

Panic: 'Let go!' a girl yells at the top of her voice - an order the 15-year-old doesn't immediately obey. Eventually the youth releases his foe, leaving him lying prone on his front as the the video ends

It's said the feud began after threats were made on Facebook between the two students, according to Rowan County Sheriffs Office.

The 16-year-old has been charged with cyber bullying but the younger teen is believed to be facing more severe charges - both of which are pending.
A pet owner is devastated after the 'feral' cat she took in nine years ago was returned to its original owner - more than 450 miles away.

Rosalin Montgomery, 52, adopted the kitten during a holiday to Torquay, Devon, in 2007 after believing she was a stray.

She named the pet Ember and took it back home to Glasgow where they have lived for nearly a decade.

Rosalin Montgomery, 52, adopted the kitten during a holiday to Torquay, Devon, in 2007 after believing she was a stray, and has now had her for nearly ten years

Ember recently went missing and was found in East Kirkbride, and Rosalind later learnt she had popped up again 450 miles away in Torquay after an animal rescue charity found a chip and returned her there

The charity Cats Protection scanned her chip and realised she was actually called Norma Jean and was from Torquay, returning her to her original owners

But when the grey cat recently went missing she was handed to an animal charity in East Kilbride.

The charity Cats Protection scanned her chip and realised she was actually called Norma Jean and was from Torquay.

Norma Jean was then whisked 450 miles south and reunited with her original owners - leaving Rosalin devastated.

She only discovered what had happened when she read about the reunion in the newspaper - and realised it was her beloved Ember.

Rosalin is now begging her owner to consider returning the pet.

She said: 'We are devastated. We haven't stopped crying.

Rosalind only discovered what had happened when she read about the reunion in the newspaper - and realised it was her beloved Ember

'I would love more than anything if the original owner would consider giving her back to us.

'She is our baby and I would love more than anything in the world to have Ember back.

'This lady - her original owner - has done nothing wrong. I know she must be an animal lover like me, because she has still got Ember's mum and sister and brother.

'All she has done is have her cat returned to her. I respect her. I know she hasn't done anything wrong. We just miss her so much.'

Rosalin found Ember when visiting her boyfriend Gary James, 51, who lived in Torquay, in 2007.

She claims the cat - then a tiny kitten - would turn up on his doorstep reguarly, and she believed he was abandoned or feral, so soon took her in.

'We knocked on doors and asked around, and nobody knew she belonged to anyone,' said the full-time mum.

'She looked underfed and she had loads of bones in her stools, so we thought she was feral.

'She was with a big tom cat and another feral cat and we followed them one night and they were sleeping in an old lock up.

'When my partner moved up to Scotland we couldn't leave her. Simple as that.'

When Gary moved to join the family and he brought Ember with him.

Rosalin said she loves nothing more than sunbathing on their balcony and snuggling up with her Labrador River, and other cats Salem and Smirnoff.

When Ember was hit by a car a year after arriving in Scotland vets checked for a microchip and couldn't find one, according to the mother.

Rosalin is now begging her owner to consider returning the pet (pictured), although she stressed that the original owner had done nothing wrong

Rosalin found Ember (pictured) when visiting her boyfriend Gary James, 51, who lived in Torquay, in 2007

But last week she went missing for a few days before briefly returning home and vanishing again.

'We searched everywhere,' said Rosalin.

She had no idea where the cat was until she read a story from Cats Protection in the newspaper on Tuesday.

The story about 'Norma Jean' said she had been found in East Kilbride and returned to her owner in Torquay.

The original owner of Norma Jean - or Elmer - was NHS worker Samantha Roberts, 47, who said she went missing from her home nine years ago.

Rosalin called the charity who said the pet was handed into a rescue centre after being found on a doorstep, and vets found a very old microchip.

They traced her original owners in Devon via Facebook - who happened to be on holiday in Scotland at the time - and handed her back.

'We didn't stop crying all day,' said Rosalin

She claims the cat - then a tiny kitten - would turn up on his doorstep reguarly, and she believed he was abandoned or feral, so soon took her in

When Ember was hit by a car a year after arriving in Scotland vets checked for a microchip and couldn't find one, according to the mother

'He wasn't a lost cat - he was our baby. He was our much-loved, fat, lazy cat.'

Lisa McRae, a volunteer for Cats Protection's Lanarkshire Branch who tracked Samantha down, said: 'We were a bit surprised when he heard Rosalind thought the cat was hers but it just goes to show what a popular cat Norma Jean is!

'It's a shame for Rosalind but it's nice to know that Norma was being so well cared for all for that time.

'Fortunately she was microchipped otherwise it's unlikely Samantha would ever have seen her again.

'However, it did take a bit of detective work to track her down as her phone number had changed so I'd like to stress how important it is to keep your microchip details up to date.
As mystery continues to surround the disappearance of EgyptAir MS804 a bizarre new theory has emerged claiming that the plane was brought down by a meteor fragment.

According to the claim, a 10,000-tonne meteor travelling at speeds of up to 67,000mph broke up in the Earth's atmosphere on May 17.

Reports claim Russian space officials warned fragments of the meteor could still have been falling to Earth on May 19, when MS804 lost contact with air traffic controllers at 00.30GMT.

All 66 people on board the Airbus A320 were killed when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, after disappearing from radars just 10 minutes into Egyptian airspace.

Scroll down for video

Mystery: The latest theory to have emerged about the downing of EgyptAir Flight MS804 claims it was struck by a meteor fragment. Pictured, the EgyptAir Airbus A320 taking off from an airport in Austria last year

The meteor theory appears to have surfaced on website Whatdoesitmean.com, which cites a Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation report 'circulating in the Kremlin'.

With tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of this meteorites fragments (estimated to be between five and 60cm) still expected to fall into our Earths atmosphere between May 18 and 20, this MoD report says the areas/regions most likely to be affected by this space debris lay between Greenland and Australia due to the original North-South orbit of this meteorite  with the centre point being the Levant,' the website reports.

Less than 48 hours after this warning was issued, however, this report notes, EgyptAir Flight 804 apparently flew into the range of this meteorites falling debris where it was struck by a fragment causing an explosive decompression of its structure that killed all 66 passengers and crew aboard.

This report further notes that the first report of this planes crashing was received from a Greek merchant vessel that reported that their crew had witnessed a flash in the sky sometime around the moment of EgyptAirs Flight 804 disappearance.

The meteor event was captured by police in New York on a dashcam, while the American Meteor Society has so far received more than 700 reports of the event from across North America and Canada.

Critics of the theory have pointed out that fragments of the meteorite would have had to continue falling for some 48 hours after the meteorite is reported to have broken up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Theory: Dashcam footage captured by police in New York shows a fragment of the meteor (pictured). New theories suggest another fragment could have brought down the EgyptAir Flight MS804

Probe: A report citing an MoD report circulating in the Kremlin references a meteor that broke up after entering the Earth's atmosphere over North America. Pictured, some of the debris that has been recovered from the Mediterranean from flight MS804

Investigation: The meteor event was captured by police in New York on a dashcam, while the American Meteor Society has so far received more than 700 reports of the event from across North America and Canada. Pictured, a life jacket from the plane discovered by search and rescue teams

It comes the day after Egyptian state media reported that the plane showed no sign of technical fault ahead of take-off, as it left Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris en route to Cairo International.

Investigators are probing the crash site for clues as to what could have happened to the plane in its final moments. However the black box recorders, which could provide vital information, have yet to be retrieved.

It was initially claimed Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea.

But aviation sources in Paris have now said he contacted Egyptian air traffic controllers to say he was going to make an emergency landing because there smoke filling the plane.

There was 'conversation several minutes long' between Captain Shoukair and the controllers, which amounted to 'a distress call', according to French TV station M6.

However, the claims were last night denied by EgyptAir. A spokesman said: 'Claims made by the French TV station are not true. The pilot did not contact Egypt air control before the incident.'

Claims: It comes the day after Egyptian state media reported that the plane showed no sign of technical fault ahead of take-off, as it left Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris en route to Cairo International. Pictured, pilot Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair

According to Greece's defence minister, Pano Kammenos, the plane dropped sharply from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet, and then made 'sudden swerves'.

As it entered Egyptian airspace, over the Greek island of Karpathos, the first turn was a sharp, 90-degree one to the east, and then there was a full circular loop.

A leaked data report also suggests that a fire blazed across the flight deck minutes before disaster -suggesting a catastrophic electronics malfunction.

The new information made terrorism seem 'less likely', although it has still not been ruled out.

No terror group has yet claimed the downing of the passenger jet, and as the mystery deepens further claims continue to arise about its final moments.

Loss: Relatives of those who died on board the flight grieve at a funeral service at an orthodox church in Cairo

One of Turkey's biggest news outlets reported this week that two Turkish airline pilots claimed to have seen a mysterious object pass by their passenger jet as they approached Istanbuls Ataturk Airport from Bodrum at around 11.30pm on Thursday.

It allegedly happened as the aircraft passed close to the Turkish capitals Silivri district when the plane was at an altitude of 17,000 feet.

According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the pilots told air traffic controllers: An unidentified object with green lights passed 2,000ft to 3,000ft above us.

Then it disappeared all of a sudden. We are guessing that it was a UFO.

The EgyptAir plane crashed around 500 miles away in the Mediterranean about an hour later.
The head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) warned Congress Wednesday that without more money and more staff, the already massive lines at U.S. airports will only grow once summer hits.

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger was summoned to face the House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) after appalling lines at Chicago O'Hare airport on May 15 led to almost 500 people missing their flights.

And while he fielded questions from Congress, major airlines announced they will spend up to $4million each to hire temporary staff to take the weight off the TSA's shoulders through summer.

Scroll down for video

Summoned: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) head Peter Neffenger (pictured) told the House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) Wednesday that without more money airport lines will only get longer

Outrage: Lines at Chicago O'Hare airport (pictured) on May 15 were so bad that almost 500 people missed flights. Waiting times as long as three hours have been logged in some airports

The Airlines for America trade group predicts that summer air travel will climb four percent this year to a record 231.1 million passengers, and auto club AAA predicts 38million will travel by air and road this weekend. That's bad news for the TSA.

'We are at a lower staffing level than we need to be,' Neffenger said Wednesday, citing a lack of money and resources for the long waits that have frustrated thousands, according to Fox News.

He also admitted to making a change that he knew would extend the already enormous lines in American airports.

After a federal report in which 95 percent of federal agents passed through security with fake weapons and explosives, he chose to stop a practice in which pre-screened, 'low-risk' people could use a special line.

'I knew that that would dramatically increase the number of people back in the standard lines,' Neffenger said, according to The Washington Post, 'and we werent staffed at the level we needed to be to man all the lines.'

Neffenger faced strong criticism from the very beginning, with HHSC Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) opening with a litany of TSA failures including three-hour waits for security, missed flights across America and 3,000 pieces of lost luggage.

'The American people are fed up with this,' he said, adding that the struggles the TSA has experienced didn't 'come out of nowhere' and that both airports and airlines have been 'sounding the alarm for months'.

'This is unacceptable and its time for Congress to act,' McCaul said. 'Change is not happening fast enough.'

Neffenger said that as well as staffing issues, increased security measures had caused delays - something that McCall refuted, saying 'TSAs broken bureaucracy has gotten weaker'.

Changes: Neffenger admitted cancelling express security lines knowing that it would increase times, citing security concerns. Congress agreed not to lay off 1,600 workers whose jobs were on the line

The remarks came on the same day that a number of U.S. airlines announced they would be spending millions to compensate for the struggling TSA's shortcomings and keep lines moving this summer.

American, Delta and United Airlines will all be spending $4million each through the busy summer period to hire staff that can take the weight off the shoulders of TSA scanners, Bloomberg reported.

'We are concerned for this weekend, where well see higher than normal flight loads,' Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines Group Inc., told the site. 'That will just continue into June and pretty much all the way to September.'

JetBlue is also hiring security workers, while other carriers are offering their own staff to help out.

Those new hires will manage lines and keep bins moving at security checkpoints, allowing TSA employees to focus on scanning passengers.

Airports are also getting in on the act, with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spending $3.3million to hire 90 staff through to September, and Charlotte Douglas International Airport paying $1million to hire more non-security staff.

'Its voluntary and its temporary,' Kevin Burke, president of the Airports Council International-North America trade group said. 'Its really not the role of airport workers to do the TSAs job. We need to get through this.'

Increases in the numbers of people taking to the skies have been pushed by low-cost tickets and cheap gasoline making drives to and from airports relatively painless, Bloomberg reported.

More staff: Airlines and airports are both putting in their own money - with figures of up to $4million - to hire temporary staff that can assist TSA employees and keep the lines to a minimum

As well as a lack of staff and his own changes, Neffenger said there were other factors at play in the recent delays: increasing numbers of people taking early morning or late evening flights and the loss of more than 5,800 staff - 12 percent of its employees - before he took over in July.

He also said the TSA believes it will screeen 740million passengers this year - up from 643million three years ago - and that it is due to lose 1,600 more from its 45,000-strong pool this year.

Congress agreed not to lay off the 1,600 workers whose jobs were currently on the line, and Neffenger promised that another 768 new workers would start by June 15.

He also offered up his plans to reduce lines, including more sniffer dog teams and plans to move the TSA's part-time screeners - who make up 20 percent of its workforce - to full-time positions if money could be found.

The hold-up at O'Hare on May 15 created headlines across America as almost 500 people missed their flights and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised to hire more screeners.

The TSA was also in the news this week after it was announced its head of security, Kelly Hoggan, had been ousted.

He will be replaced by Darby LaJoye, currently a deputy assistant TSA administrator, and previously a top security official at Los Angeles International Airport and JFK in New York.

No reason for his dismissal was given, although the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had complained that he had received $90,000 in bonuses during a troubled period for the administration.
A teenager injured in an IRA massacre cried for his mother before a gunman stood over him, shot him in the face and blew his head off, the sole survivor has told an inquest.

Alan Black also claimed that the British Army was told to stay away from the Kingsmill area on the night 10 Protestant workmen were shot dead at a Co Armagh roadside 40 years ago.

He said the rural part of South Armagh should have been swamped with police and soldiers after loyalists murdered members of the Catholic Reavey family the day before in the nearby village of Whitecross.

A new inquest into the January 1976 murder - allegedly carried out in reprisal for the earlier loyalist killings - was ordered by Northern Ireland Attorney General John Larkin QC.

Harrowing account: The sole survivor of a sectarian IRA massacre, Alan Black (pictured right at the Kingsmill inquest), has told how teenager Robert Chambers (left) cried for his mother as he lay waiting to die

Father-of-three Mr Black was shot several times. He is pictured recovering in hospital in January 1976

Mr Larkin called for the new hearing after the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) of independent detectives found in 2011 that the IRA had been responsible and had targeted the workmen because of their religion.

Speaking at the inquest today, Mr Black said: 'Robert Chambers - my last memory was him lying on the ground calling for his mother.

'He was only wounded at that time. The gunman came over and shot him in the face... His head was blown off.'

The textile factory workers were ambushed as they travelled along the Whitecross to Bessbrook road in rural south Armagh on January 5 1976 - one of the darkest years of the Troubles.

Father-of-three Mr Black was shot several times.

The men's minibus was stopped and those on board were asked their religion by the gunmen. The only Catholic was told to go.

The gunmen, who were hidden in the hedges, ordered the rest to line up outside the van and then opened fire.

The 10 who died were John Bryans, Robert Chambers, Reginald Chapman, Walter Chapman, Robert Freeburn, Joseph Lemmon, John McConville, James McWhirter, Robert Samuel Walker and Kenneth Worton.

Brutal: The minibus carrying the textile factory workers is left peppered with bullet holes and blood stains the ground after the massacre, as detectives patrol the scene of the murders

Devastation: A window on the workers' minibus is left smashed by a bullet after the terrorists lined up their victims and executed them outside their vehicle

Mr Black told the hearing at Belfast Coroner's Court that the water from the rain running down the road splashed in his face as he lay badly injured.

'I felt the most unbelievable level of pain, as if someone was sticking hot needles into my whole body.'

He said people were 'screaming in pain'.

'They shot John McConville through the head.

'I knew my mates were dead because there was no more moaning.'

I knew my mates were dead because there was no more moaning Sole survivor Alan Black

Mr Black said he saw the gunmen's Doc Marten shoes and the tips of their rifles as they stood over him.

Then the shooting became more 'measured' and heads exploded.

Mr Chambers' brother, Cecil, said in January this year that his desire for justice has never dimmed.

'We're just looking, 40 years on, for justice we should have had long ago,' he added.

'They killed three of my family, not one, because my mother and father never left his graveside. My mother would forget and put dinner out for him.'

Mr Black also told the inquest someone in the Army had told another Kingsmill victim's mother the military had been told to stay away.

'These gunmen walked away, they did not seem to be in any rush whatsoever, considering the crime they had just committed.

'They must have known that there was no police or army in the area.

Giving evidence: Mr Black (pictured with family and friends attending the inquest) told the hearing at Belfast Coroner's Court that the water from the rain running down the road splashed in his face as he lay badly injured

WHY A FRESH INQUEST IS BEING HELD 40 YEARS ON FROM THE MASSACRE The Kingsmill attack was claimed by a little-known republican paramilitary group considered to be a front for the supposedly-on-ceasefire IRA. However, in 2011, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) of independent detectives found the IRA had been responsible and had targeted the workmen because of their religion. The inquest was ordered by Northern Ireland's attorney general John Larkin QC. The first inquest was held shortly after the killing and was a very 'limited exercise', Mr Doran told the inquest. Victims: L-R top - Robert Chambers, John Bryans, Joseph Lemon and Joseph McWhirter. L-R bottom - Walter Chapman, John McConville, Kenneth Wharton and Reggie Chapman, who all died in the massacre Mr Larkin ordered the new hearing after the HET found members of the IRA were involved. He said the coroner could establish whether the Provisional IRA was involved and pursue information recently given by sole survivor Alan Black about the English accent of the armed unit's commander. The inquest is also expected to examine whether controversial British Army soldier Robert Nairac was involved, although he has already been ruled out by the HET. Fresh evidence has also emerged since the original inquest after a minibus driver said he saw a masked gunman along a road two miles from the scene. Mr Doran said 63 people were suspected of some involvement, although the quality of the intelligence varied. A total of 11 weapons were used at Kingsmill. Nine of them have been linked to 37 murders, 22 attempted murders and 19 non-fatal shootings, the lawyer told the coroner. Advertisement

'Considering what had happened the night before, my opinion is that the area would have been swamped with police and Army.'

The driver bringing the doomed workmen to Bessbrook had stopped in response to a red light and a command from a man with an English accent, assuming it was an angry soldier, Mr Black told the inquest.

'But there were no police or Army in the immediate area.'

Mr Black said he believed he was dying after the shooting and was determined to tell the truth of what happened to a priest he met at Daisy Hill Hospital on the outskirts of Newry.

'I had a decision to make - do I tell a lie and leave this world or tell the truth.

'I told the priest I was a Protestant but don't leave me.'

With the passing of years he had thought the trauma would become easier.

'However it has some way closed in on me. I want the truth into these shootings, there can never be allowed any airbrushing by society of these terrible murders.'

He told the coroner he was giving evidence for the families of those who died but said the experience had been like riding a rollercoaster and he had been apprehensive and nervous.
A 16-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a woman to death Tuesday inside her Los Angeles home after she let him stay with her and her family while the teen was going through a tough time, police said.

The teenager was arrested hours after he allegedly stabbed Connie Cajulis, 53, to death in her home that she shared with her husband and two sons on the 7100 block of Shadow Ridge Court in the West Hills, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

After the stabbing, the boy allegedly stole the woman's car and wrecked it two miles from her home, near the 6000 block of Valley Circle Boulevard where he was detained, police said.

Scroll down for video

Connie Cajulis, 53, was found stabbed inside her Los Angeles home Tuesday. Paramedics declared her dead on scene

Officials are seen wheeling Cajulis' body out of her home in the West Hills. Police arrested a 16-year-old suspect in connection with her killing

Police found Cajulis shortly after 4.30pm Tuesday. She was declared dead on scene and a 16-year-old suspect was arrested later the same day

The 16-year-old suspect allegedly stole the woman's car after stabbing her and later crashed it about two miles from her home

The suspect was identified as Steven Paul Main, ABC7 reported. He is being charged as an adult with one count of murder, as well as one count for using a knife to commit the crime, the station reported.

Main pleaded not guilty.

Police were called to Cajulis' home around 4.30pm, where they found her in the living room with multiple stab wounds. Paramedics declared her dead on the scene, officials said.

The boy was not related to Cajulis, but she let him stay with her for free because he was going through a tough time, LAPD detective Dave Peteque told KTLA.

Cajulis' two sons are in college and high school, respectively, ABC7 reported.
Four suspected Islamic State recruiters have been detained in Belgium, with authorities saying they may have been planning new attacks.

Belgian police searched houses in the city of Antwerp on Wednesday and detained four people on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group and trying to drum up recruits to fight with Islamist militants in Syria or Libya, state prosecutors said.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement that all four were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Four suspected Islamic State recruiters have been detained in Belgium, with authorities saying they may have been planning new attacks. Belgian police (pictured, file photo) searched houses in the city of Antwerp

Two were ordered arrested by an investigating judge, one was released under strict conditions and one was released with an electronic bracelet.

The statement said the four don't appear to have links to the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels Airport and subway on March 22, killing 32 people.

'They are suspected of trying to recruit individuals to travel to conflict zones in Syria or Libya,' a prosecutors' statement said.

It said no weapons or explosives were found in the house searches.

Prosecutors said initial findings of the investigation indicated there may also have been plans for attacks in Belgium, but provided no details.

Searches were carried out in the city Antwerp and in two other locations.
The 284 kids competing in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee got their first opportunity to approach the microphone on Wednesday - and to hear the dreaded bell that signals an incorrect spelling.

At the end of Wednesday's onstage rounds, the field will be cut to no more than 50 spellers for Thursday's finals.

So far, the fan favorite is the youngest competitor in the bee - 6-year-old Akash Vukoti from San Angelo, Texas.

Six-year-old Akash Vukoti, of San Angelo, Texas, the youngest contestant in the 2016 National Spelling Bee, adjusts a microphone that towers above him to compete in the preliminaries of the Bee on Wednesday

Vukoti was asked to spell the word 'inviscate,' which means to encase in a sticky substance. Some 284 children took the stage on Wednesday for the bee's preliminaries

After spelling the word correctly, the 6-year-old walked off stage in amazement to high-five another competitor

Vukoti charmed the audience on Wednesday, when he stepped up to the microphone and had to ask for help lowering it to his height.

The first word he was given was 'inviscate,' which means to encase in a sticky substance.

After asking the judges to use the word in a sentence, to supply the part of speech and to repeat the word, he finally got it right and the crowd erupted in applause.

Vukoti then ran off stage to high-five a fellow competitor.

Last year, only four spellers got words wrong during the first onstage round. The words used during that round came from a list that spellers were able to study for months while preparing for their regional bees.

This year's opening-round words still came from a list, but spellers only got it about 50 days in advance. As a result, the bell rang for 33 spellers. Among the words that were misspelled: chanoyu, scarlatina, tilleul, preterition, quadrumanous and octateuch.

'This year, we upped the challenge,' said Paige Kimble, the bee's executive director.

The organizers are upping the ante on the spellers because the past two years have ended in ties.

Haley Jeffers, 13, of Camarillo, California spells her word during the preliminary round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland on Wednesday

Hailey Hogenson, 14, of Scottville, Michigan, spells her word during the preliminary round two of the spelling bee on Wednesday

If a contestant incorrectly spells a word, they are directed to exit stage right where they wait on a couch until their parents pick them up.

At least one of the proud parents in the audience knows exactly what it feels like to step on that stage.

Lakshmi Nair competed in the bee three times between 1988 and 1990 and now her daughter Mira Dedhia is competing.

In years past, Nair says she used to have to leave the room when her daughter and husband were watching the ESPN broadcast of the event from their Western Springs, Illinois home - the pressure reminded her too much of her adolescence.

'I'm so nervous. I feel like I'm 13 years old all over again,' Nair said. 'I can barely stomach it. It's nerve-wracking.'

Dhyana Mishra, 11, of West Melbourne, Florida taps out her word at the bee on Wednesady

Vanya Viryami, 8, of New Brunswick, Canada, left, and Amanda Sia, 9, of Nova Scotia, Canada, dangle their legs from their chairs as they wait their turn to compete in the spelling bee on Wednesday

While some families have created semi-dynasties with siblings competing in the bee  last year, Vanya Shivashankar became the first sibling of a past champion to win  kids following their parents into the bee have been less common. Nair said she took a hands-off approach.

'I know firsthand how much pressure it was. Once she started winning bees, I was happy to help her,' Nair said. 'It's so much work that you can't push your kid to do it.'

Perhaps the biggest pressure was put on 11-year-old Erin Howard, the first child to take the stage on Wednesday.

Scripps showed it meant business by launching the bee with "abecedarius," which she got right. She also spelled "tulipomania" correctly to open the second onstage round.

Erin, 11, knew there was a chance she'd be batting leadoff because she's from Huntsville, Alabama, and the spellers are organized in alphabetical order by state.

Naysa Modi, 10, of Monrose, Louisiana, spins from the mic in disbelief after correctly spelling her word during the afternoon preliminaries on Wednesday

Cameron Keith (center) of Longmont, Colorado, celebrates with another speller after he correctly spelled his word in round three of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Ethan Gomulka, 11, of San Bernardino, California, center, puts his lanyard over his ears as competition continues in the preliminaries of the 2016 National Spelling Bee, in National Harbor, Maryland, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. At left is Syaal Sharifzad, 12, of Monterey, California and Ella Peters, 13, of San Diego, California, is at right

'I was hoping they would mess up and put Alaska first,' Erin said. 'But no! Had to do it right!'

She didn't have time to settle her nerves before she was asked to approach the microphone.

'It's kind of abrupt,' Erin said. 'Oh, it's my turn! OK!'

Repeat competitor Arushi Kalpande has developed a technique that helps her relax on stage and focus on the word.

After she is given a word, the 14-year-old repeats it three times, almost like a mantra. The technique has both practical and emotional benefits.

Will McCollom of Tulsa, Oklahoma, celebrates after he correctly spelled his word in round two of the spelling bee on Wednesday

Ramon Padua from Guam gives a thumbs up as he competes in a preliminary round at the 89th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday

Katie Collins, 13, of Terre Haute, Indiana, spells her word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday

Melinda Buhlman, 12, of Heber City, Utah, spells her word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday

'When you repeat the word, the judges know if you're pronouncing the word right, said Kalpande, during her third Bee appearance. 'It helps you to focus on the word.'

Even if she knows a word, the more she says it, the more her confidence grows.

'It calms you down,' Kalpande said. 'It's always been my habit.'

Other cleared the air by cracking jokes once they got on stage, like 10-year-old Jiming 'JJ' Chen Jr, who made an adorable Adele reference.

For years, spellers have come up with clever greetings for pronouncer Jacques Bailly. This year, the goal for many was to stump him by saying hello in a foreign language he didn't know.

But Chen, of Bethesda, Maryland, took Adele as his inspiration for the drollest greeting of the day.

'Hello,' Jiming said.

'Hello,' Bailly said.
A transgender activist who was shot eight times in Pakistan has died after hospital staff couldn't decide whether to put her in a male or female ward.

The 23-year-old activist, known only as Alisha, was left in a critical condition and needing emergency surgery following the attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday night.

But medical staff at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar have been accused of failing to give her the medical attention necessary to save her life.

The transgender advocacy group Trans Action Alliance (TAA) - of which Alisha was a district coordinator - wrote a series of Facebook posts documenting the alleged mistreatment.

Left to die: Transgender activist Alisha (right) died after she was shot eight times in an attack on Sunday night. Activists claim she died after 'transphobic' doctors failed to give her the necessary treatment to save her life

Tragedy: Doctors spent hours trying to decide whether to place 23-year-old Alisha in a male or a female ward at the hospital in Peshawar. Pictured, a photograph posted on Facebook by the TAA of Alisha after surgery

'After we protested, Alisha was shifted to a female ward but then female patients had a problem with her being transgender,' they wrote, around four hours after the attack.

'We really don't know what to do and where to go.'

Some 20 minutes later, the group added: 'Alisha has been operated on. She was shot eight times and her situation is critical.

'The doctors say if she survives she will have to go through several surgeries but right now they are just trying to stabilise her. She is supposed to be in surgical ICU but there are no empty beds and so she's in an ordinary hospital ward which seems like a ward from World War One.'

Shockingly, medics at the hospital are also accused of sexually harassing the members of the group who accompanied Alisha, asking how much they would charge to dance or have sex with them as their friend lay dying.

We are the most vulnerable segment of society but the government gives us none of the rights due to us. Transgender activist Alisha, speaking out before her death

'The operation theatre male staff kept giving me their numbers and everyone wanted my contact information,' a later post read.

'A doctor wants to know how much I charge to dance for a night and another health technician wants to know if I only dance or also perform sex... I mean WTF... I am with a patient who we don't know whether or not she will survive.'

Before her death, Alisha spoke out about the conditions in which transgender people in Pakistan are forced to live, at a rally held on December 10 in Peshawar.

Society doesnt accept us, she said. At least we should be recognised as disabled or special persons by society.

I left home to avoid being ridiculed but even then people used to come to our houses and make fun of us for some reason or other.

We are the most vulnerable segment of society but the government gives us none of the rights due to us.

Alisha is the fifth transgender activist from the TAA to be attacked in recent months in the conservative Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which is near to the country's northern tribal areas.

Protest: The Trans Action Alliance, of which Alisha was a district coordinator, documented the discrimination suffered by themselves and Alisha at the hands of medical staff at the hospital

Uproar: Transgender people face deep discrimination in Pakistan's more traditional societies, despite a Supreme Court ruling supposedly granting them equal rights in the country. Pictured, Alisha's funeral

Cast out: Local governments have been accused of denying transgender people access to education and healthcare, forcing them to live on the fringes of society and turn to sex work and begging to earn money

Meanwhile, the TAA, which has been increasingly vocal in demanding equal rights for transgender people, estimates there are at least 45,000 transgender people in the province and at least half a million nationwide.

But they face deep discrimination in Pakistan's more traditional societies, despite a Supreme Court ruling supposedly granting them equal rights in the country.

Local governments have been accused of denying them access to education and healthcare, forcing them to live on the fringes of society.

Some earn money by dancing at weddings and parties, where they are believed to bring good luck.
Japan's prime minister publicly shamed President Barack Obama over a 'despicable' murder, allegedly at the hands of a former US Marine on Okinawa.

Obama sought to ease Japanese anger over the death of the woman by expressing his 'deepest regrets' and vowing the US would cooperate with them to prosecute Kenneth Shinzato, the American man arrested for the crime.

At a press conference with Obama, Prime minister Shinzo Abe publicly expressed his indignation over the case of Rina Shimabukuro, 20, who has been missing since late April and was reportedly raped and murdered.

'As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa,' Abe told reporters on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) slammed President Barack Obama (left) over a 'despicable' murder allegedly at the hands of a former US Marine on Okinawa during a press conference in Shima, Japan, on Wednesday

Kenneth Shinzato (left, being taken from the police station in Uruma, Okinawa, and right) was arrested in connection with the missing woman's death

'I feel profound resentment against this self-centred and absolutely despicable crime,' Abe said on Wednesday.

Obama arrived earlier Wednesday for a two-day summit of Group of Seven countries, which formally begins Thursday.

'I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets,' Obama added.

'The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system.'

A series of crimes, including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run vehicle accidents by US military personnel, dependents and civilians have for years sparked local protests on the crowded island that hosts numerous US military bases.

Rina Shimabukuro (pictured) disappeared on the island of Okinawa, Japan, on April 28. Her body was found when Kenneth Shinzato, 32, a civilian worker at Kadena Air Base, gave police a location

But public anger boiled over last week after police arrested Shinzato, 32, in connection with the missing woman's death.

Shinzato, a US citizen who was working at the sprawling Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, was arrested for allegedly disposing of the woman's body, Okinawan police have said.

He has reportedly admitted to raping and killing Rina Shimabukuro, who had been missing since late April.

Obama sought to ease Japanese anger over the death of the woman by expressing his 'deep regrets' and saying the United States would co-operate in the prosecution of the American man arrested for the crime.

Obama is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and her husband Edwin Arthur Schlossberg after he arrives at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname, Japan on Wednesday

Police suspect Shinzato was responsible for the woman's death but he hasn't formally been charged with the crime.

Shimabukuro was last heard of at 8pm on April 28, when she messaged her boyfriend to say she was going for a walk.

Shinzato was arrested after investigators found her body at a location he provided.

The case has threatened to overshadow a planned visit to Hiroshima immediately after the summit ends on Friday, though remarks by the two leaders likely helped clear the air.

Obama will become the only sitting US president to visit Hiroshima.

The visit to the world's first atomic-bombed city by Obama, who has a record of calling for global denuclearisation, has been well received in Japan.

Protesters hold a banner before US Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa, on Friday after Shinzato's arrest

Former US Marine Kenneth Shinzato is escorted by police officers from Uruma police station on May 20

But the heavy US military presence on Okinawa has long been a thorn in the side of the two countries' relations.

Abe on Monday told Okinawa's governor Takeshi Onaga that he would ask Obama to take action over crimes by US personnel on the southern island.

Okinawa was the site of a fierce World War II battle between the US and Japan but is now a key strategic outpost supporting their security alliance.

It hosts the lion's share of US bases in Japan and more than half the 47,000 American military personnel in the country under a decades-long security alliance.
The ex-husband of a missing mother who was last seen in a grocery store in Florida a month ago has confessed to her murder, police said.

Steven Williams was charged with murdering his former wife Tricia Todd, 30, on Wednesday but her body has still not been found.

Air Force veteran Ms Todd was last seen 'smiling and in good spirits' as she picked up groceries from a Publix supermarket in Hobe Sound on April 26, just a few hours before she vanished.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said Ms Todd's two-year-old daughter was present when her mother was killed.

'Good spirits': Steven Williams has been charged with murdering his ex-wife Tricia Todd, who last seen smiling inside a Publix grocery store a month ago

Charges: Williams (left) confessed to murdering Ms Todd, police said, but her body has not been found

Ms Todd was murdered just hours after she was seen on surveillance footage at the store, investigators said at a press conference on Wednesday.

After leaving the shop, the mother was told by Williams, 30, that her two-year-old daughter was not feeling well.

Williams - who had traveled from North Carolina to visit the girl - went with Ms Todd to Martin Memorial South Hospital that night.

She went to the bed and breakfast where her ex-husband was staying and was said to have left at around 2am the next day.

Ms Todd was reported missing later that morning when she failed to pick her daughter up from the hospital.

Her car was later found near her home with the keys still in the ignition. Her credit cards and phone - which was missing - had not been used.

Miss Todd (left and right) was reported missing after failing to pick up her daughter from hospital on April 27

Ms Todd's (left and right) family said they would strive to make sure her daughter knew how much her mother loved her before she was killed.

Police and hundreds of volunteers have spent the last month searching for Ms Todd, but investigators said earlier this month that there was 'not one scintilla of evidence of a crime'.

Authorities now say that Williams has confessed to murdering his ex-wife.

He has been charged with second-degree murder and child neglect and is being held without bond at Martin County Jail.

Williams was interviewed earlier this month and passed a lie detector test, NBC News reported.

Police are still searching for the mother's body and are searching a 15-mile radius around the vast Jonathan Dickinson State Park, CBS 12 reported.

Sheriff Snyder added that the lack of a body would not halt a prosecution.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Williams and Ms Todd were involved in a domestic violence incident in 2014 in North Carolina but he was not arrested.

He said when she was last seen she appeared to be in 'good spirits' but her social media presence suggested she was 'having some kind of emotional angst within herself'.

Ms Todd's younger brother, Nathan, 19, insisted she was a 'perfectly happy individual'.

He said: 'Tricia's a tough girl. Tricia loves God and God loves her.

'I have something that I know for a fact, and that's that God's in control and that God will take care of it.'

He added: 'You could put a hurricane through her, she would (still) go pick up her daughter.'

Fruitless: Police and hundreds of volunteers have spent the last month searching for Ms Todd, to no avail

Video courtesy: WTVJ

Ms Todd's family said they would strive to make sure her daughter knew how much her mother loved her before she was killed.

'The confirmation of Tricias death is beyond heart-breaking and indescribably painful. We will miss her vibrant love of life, her servants heart, and her beautiful smile,' a statement from the family said.

'Tricias life was a testimony of Gods grace and mercy. While we mourn our loss, we know that Tricia is not truly lost, but in the arms of her loving Heavenly Father. This assurance gives us hope in knowing we will one day be together again.

'Tricias little girl was blessed with a loving mother and we will make sure that she knows just how much her Mommy loved her every day. She is in a safe, healthy home environment and being surrounded with the love of her family.
Discriminated against: Condor Ferries has become the first firm to change the gender specific signs on the doors after Erin Bisson proved she was 'humiliated' at being told to use the disabled toilets

A transgender woman has won a landmark discrimination case forcing a ferry company to remove the words 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' from its toilets.

Condor Ferries has become the first firm to change the gender specific signs on the doors after Erin Bisson proved she was 'humiliated' at being told to use the disabled toilets.

Ms Bisson, formerly known as Robert until she identified herself as a woman, complained to the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal that she had been discriminated against after the operator banned her from using the 'ladies'.

She argued the use of words rather than symbols on toilets amounted to indirect discrimination.

It was the first decision of its kind taken since Jersey introduced gender discrimination laws in 2015 and Ms Bisson has now urged other companies to follow Condor's lead.

Condor later admitted to the tribunal that there had been a 'non-intentional and non-malicious act of discrimination'.

The company is now replacing the 'offending' words on its toilet doors and will use gender symbols instead.

The actions were approved by Ms Bisson and the tribunal panel as a satisfactory resolution to her complaint.

Condor, which sails between Poole, Portsmouth, France and the Channel Islands, now has until June 30 to implement the changes.

Ms Bisson, 40, a taxi driver from Jersey, said she was humiliated after being told by a staff member over the phone last September that she must use disabled facilities.

She said: 'I am transgender. Rather than just going to use the ladies toilets I phoned up Condor before I sailed to St Malo to advise them as such.

'They are the ones that own the toilets and decide who uses their facilities. I did not want to be humiliated. Condor said the only facility I should be using are the disabled facilities.'

Ms Bisson said she was 'totally embarrassed' by the incident and claimed it amounted to direct discrimination.

A panel chaired by Nicola Santos-Costa found her complaints to be 'well-grounded' and agreed that the recommendations drawn up by Condor would remedy the complaint.

Ms Bisson added: 'Gender is down to identity and symbols is one way of dealing with this.

'Companies should be aware that they should welcome everyone. If they are providing services they should not discriminate on religion, gender, disability, or anything.

Scroll down for video

Condor later admitted to the tribunal that there had been a 'non-intentional and non-malicious act of discrimination'. The company is now replacing the 'offending' words on its toilet doors with gender symbols

'It is about equality.

'What is important is a lesson has been learned by Condor. As much as I dislike the fact that I had to take the action that I did, I have to respect Condor because they put their hands up, and they were wrong and made changes.

'I only hope other companies take Condor's lead.'

Condor Ferries said it had worked with Ms Bisson to draw up a list of measures 'to remove the possibility of inadvertent discrimination.'

A spokesman said: 'Following lodging of a complaint about transgender discrimination, we worked with the person concerned to draw up a list of measures that Condor ferries could take to remove the possibility of inadvertent discrimination.

'These measures were then approved by both the complainant and the tribunal and we have been happy to implement all actions to their satisfaction.'

Vic Tanner Davy, chair of Trans* Jersey, formed to provide support to transgender residents, said that while the group was 'pleased' the tribunal had found in favour of a transgender person, the community preferred 'the approach of education' rather than 'litigation' against employers.

How toilets have become one of the key battlegrounds for transgender rights around the world

The issues around transgender rights, and in particular the use of toilets, has divided opinion around the world, particularly in the US.

In March, North Carolina became the first state to pass a law requiring a transgender person to use whichever toilet matches their biological identity, rather than the one they identify with.

It means if they were born a man but have transitioned to become a woman, they would still have to use a male toilet.

The ruling caused huge controversy and has been challenged by the US Justice Department, which called it 'discriminatory'.

It also prompted music legend Bruce Springsteen to cancel a gig in the state in protest.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, pictured, said a US Government directive allowing students in all schools to use the gender bathroom they identify with was 'trampling the Constitution'

The US government responded by issuing a directive that schools in all states must allow transgender students to use whichever gender bathroom they identify with, and has threatened to withhold funding for education unless state governments comply.

But 11 states are now suing the government, branding the move a 'massive social experiment'.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, whose state could lose out on $10billion, said the Obama administration was 'trampling over the US constitution'.

There has also been a backlash from parents, with public meetings hearing concerns over children's safety and a lack of consultation from the Government.

One of the arguments put forward is that women and children may be attacked by men entering female bathrooms posing as transgender people, although the Justice Department said this threat was almost 'non-existent'.

Other states involved in the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The lawsuit accuses the Obama administration of 'running roughshod over commonsense policies' that protect children. It asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful.

US colleges have recently begun introducing all-gender bathrooms which have become another battleground in the debate, with LGBT organisations holding protests about transgender access by encouraging students to only use these 'inclusive' toilets.

Students at the University of California, Berkeley, went one step further, lining the streets of the campus with cups of fake urine and flyers demanding all-gender bathrooms.
Hillary Clinton got more than she bargained for today at a rally in Buena Park when two superfans went shirtless as she took the stage.

Clinton and actress Jamie Lee Curtis were in hysterics over the young men's antics.

A surprised Clinton shielded her eyes and burst into laughter after Curtis directed her attention to her admirers.

She told security the young men could stay 'as long as they dont take anything else off.'

'It is a little distracting,' she added and said she would have to spend the rally looking anywhere else but where they were standing.

Hillary Clinton got more than she bargained for today at a rally in Buena Park when two superfans went shirtless as she took the stage. Clinton and actress Jamie Lee Curtis were in hysterics over the young men's antics

John Nelson (left) and Dan Stifler (right) were a hit with Hillary Clinton at today's Southern California rally with the Democratic frontrunner calling their naked torsos 'distracting'

The two Hillary Clinton superfans had placed themselves in the front row of the event, held at the UFCW Union Local 324 in Buena Park, California

With an 'H' on one chest and 'Hill is perfect' on the other, supporters John Nelson and Dan Stifler easily got the attention of the Democratic frontrunner

They were identified by photographers as John Nelson and Dan Stifler.

Nelson sported an H on his chest to represent support for Hillary. Stifler had written in black on his torso, 'HILL IS PERFECT.'

After the rally Clinton took a photograph with them while working the rope line. Curtis greeted them, too.

The Democratic presidential candidate was about to begin her remarks when the ruckus began.

She told security they could they could remain at the rally,'You know as long as they don't take anything else off.'

Snapping her fingers she said, 'You know you've got to make split decisions, that's what leadership is all about.'

'And we are a big diverse country,' Clinton continued. 'OK, where was I?'

Before returning to her prepared remarks, she said, 'I gotta admit it is a little distracting standing up here looking at them.'

'So I'm gonna look over this way, and I'm gonna look over that way,' Clinton said.

Laughing, she turned to the supporters standing behind her on a riser and said she would also look in their direction.

BLUSHING HILLARY? Clinton said she'd have to look anywhere else during her speech but in their direction

Clinton posed with the two shirtless supporters after the rally who as she worked the rope line

Clinton and Curtis were campaigning in Southern California when the men stripped for Hillary. A surprised Clinton shielded her eyes and burst into laughter after Curtis directed her attention to her admirers

ENOUGH TO GO AROUND: Clinton's superfans shared the love with Curtis after the rally, as well

Clinton spent the morning in Buena Park, then flew to Salinas for a second rally. She's making a quick stop in Las Vegas on Thursday for the Workers International Union conference before returning to California for rallies in San Francisco and San Jose.

Introducing her this morning, Curtis said voters need to consider who they want making decisions 'on our behalf when life hinges for this country.'

'And it's gonna hinge,' she told them.

Curtis said she's looking for someone with experience, strength, attention to detail and 'open generous heart that has dedicated their lives to public service...who has a woman's heart, a warm, deep loving woman's heart.

'And its about time in this country that we had a woman running this country,' the Scream Queens actress and movie star said. 'So I am going to play my woman's card, I am going to play all of our women's card, we are playing with a full deck.'

Donald Trump has accused Clinton of playing the 'woman card' to win the election and said if she were a man and had this much baggage she wouldn't have made it this far in the race.

Clinton told her supporters today they have a big decision to make in November when she presumably faces Trump after defeating Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. They can put a Democrat back in the White House again or goes with Republicans who she said are 'consistent - consistently wrong.'

Bashing Republicans' over their belief in so-called trickle-down 'took a machete to the tax system' last time they ran the country and gave tax breaks to the rich, she said.' And we could have had a Great Depression, not just Great Recession.'

Trump's plan is 'trickle down on steroids,' she said. 'He' doesn't seem to actually care about making America great so much as he seems to care about making himself look great,' she charged.

Talking about Trump later and his controversial comments about America's enemies and allies, she said, 'And that's just the beginning. Picking fights with everybody, pointing fingers and scapegoating.

'That may be good for reality TV, but when you are President of the United States, you don't say to heads of government, in fact you don't even say to senators and Members of Congress, "you're fired." They'd look at you like you were crazy.
A 66-year-old hiker who was found dead two years after she went missing on the Appalachian Trail kept a journal of her ordeal after getting lost in the wilderness.

Geraldine Largay, from Brentwood, Tennessee, left a heartbreaking note to whoever found her remains begging them to call her husband and daughter to let them know she had died.

The last entry, dated on August 28 2013, reveals she survived for at least 26 days after she got lost while going off the trail to relieve herself.

Geraldine Largay, 68, from Brentwood, Tennessee, vanished in Maine on July 23, 2013, but a journal found alongside her body reveals she survived until at least August 18

Her skeletal remains were discovered by the Maine Warden Service on October 16 on property owned by the U.S. Navy in Redington, three miles away from where she was last seen

On one torn-out page, dated August 6, Largay wrote: 'When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry.

'It will be the greatest kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me - no matter how many years from now.

'Please find it in your heart to mail the contents of this bag to one of them.'

Inside the bag was her cellphone and the journal.

In a 1,500-page report into her death, seen by the Boston Globe, the Maine Warden Service reveal Largay attempted to text her husband after getting lost, but the messages never went through because of poor reception.

Wardens believe Largay went to higher ground in an attempt to get better signal before making camp on a raised knoll.

In the journal Largay left messages for her family, including a note instructing those who find her body to call her husband and daughter

Her kit, which included a tent, Mylar blanket and rain gear were all used during her almost month-long ordeal before she died from lack of food and exposure.

Her skeletal remains were discovered last year by the Maine Warden Service on October 16 on property owned by the U.S. Navy in Redington, three miles away from where she was last seen.

Following her disappearance, the Warden Service launched one of the largest and most extensive search operations in its history in order to try and track her down.

The search area covered 23 square miles and involved teams of wardens and volunteers scouring the terrain.

At one point a dog crew led by wardens came within 100 yards of her campsite, according to the Portland Press Herald, but her remains were not discovered.

Wardens say the fact that the remains were inside a sealed tent likely meant the dogs were unable to pick up on her scent.

Her remains were eventually found after two surveyors doing environmental work stumbled upon her campsite by accident.

The area where she was discovered was described as being so densely forested that only trained wardens had been allowed to search there.

The property where Largay's body was recovered is part of a U.S. Navy's survival skills training facility.

The Navy uses the area for its Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape program and as such it is remote and not easily accessible.

The warden service said in a statement that the search for Largay was 'one of Maine's most unique and challenging search and rescue efforts'.

Authorities believe Largay wandered off the Appalachain trail in order to relieve herself, but got lost and was unable to find her way back. Phone records show she tried to text her husband, but had no signal

Largays family issued a statement after her remains were found saying: 'After all of the communication and information from everyone involved including the Medical Examiners Office, Navy, and the Maine Attorney Generals Office, these findings are conclusive in that no foul play was involved and that Gerry simply made a wrong turn shortly after crossing Orbeton Stream.

'We wish to thank all of those who gave their time and prayers while searching for our wife, sister, mother, and grandmother.

'We especially would like to thank the entire Maine Warden Service for their dedication to this case.

'It became apparent from day one that this was personal to them and they would not rest until Gerry was found.
Wilson Creek Camp on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River is one of 16 campsites at which the U.S. Forest Service has expressed concerned that archaeolgocial sites are in need of more protection.

Concern over cultural and archaeological resources at campsites along the Middle Fork of the Salmon River won't lead to rapid changes there, such as the feared sudden closure of camps or reduction in rafting permits.

Instead, officials with the Salmon Challis National Forest say they will take a methodical approach to the problem while working with the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, rafting outfitters and private boaters to better protect artifacts and other resources associated with the camps in the heart of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.

Last fall outfitters and private boaters came away from a progress meeting on the agency's Historic Preservation Plan for the wilderness area with the impression that the U.S. Forest Service and tribe were pushing to close several campsites and perhaps dramatically reduce rafting levels.

Elizabeth Townley, ranger of the Middle Fork District, said poor communication led to the mistaken impression. There are no plans to close campsites or limit use.

There are 94 regularly used campsites along the Middle Fork, 67 of which have cultural resources associated with them. The high percentage is because the Middle Fork canyon is steep and there are few flat places that make good campsites. People, then and now, are attracted to those flat areas.

Archaeologists have identified 16 campsites as having cultural resources at risk either from past recreation use, present use or from natural processes like erosion and wildfires.

Instead of closing or curtailing campsite use, Townley said the latest draft of the Historic Preservation Plan created the Heritage Action Team that is made up of agency employees, outfitters, private boaters and tribal members. The team will visit three of the 16 sites per year and make recommendations to Townley on how best to solve any problems.

"It is really built on this idea of collaboration and management activities coming from the ground up from the people who know the resource the most," she said.

Those recommendations will begin with the least restrictive actions that can still accomplish the goal of protecting resources, she said. Plans would likely include things like public education to make visitors aware of any problems. Larger steps, such as closing camps or even creating new camps, would be subject to further environmental review and public comment.

"The HPP is not the driver or the document or by any means the appropriate place to limit use levels, close camps, or to change any site-specific way we manage the river corridor," she said. "If that were to happen because of whatever  impacts to wilderness character or impacts to historic resources  the appropriate place for that to happen would be some site-specific NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis where there would be a lot of public information and environmental and economic analysis that would occur."

The Middle Fork Outfitters Association recently launched a campaign to highlight the importance of Middle Fork rafting to the economies of small towns like Stanley, Challis and Salmon, which sit outside the 2.3 million-acre wilderness area in central Idaho. Grant Simonds, executive director of the association, said an economic analysis commissioned by the group showed rafting leads to $8 million to $15 million in spending in nearby counties.

"For Lemhi and Custer counties, Middle Fork recreation results in significant seasonal employment," he said. "This analysis shows that visitor impacts far exceed the obvious spending at local hotels, restaurants and stores. For the neighboring rural communities, the most significant benefit is jobs."

Simonds, who also serves as the Government Affairs Liaison for the larger Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, said he is pleased with the direction Townley is taking. He noted that 90 percent of the campsites along the river are in better shape today than when the wilderness area was designated by Congress.

"Middle Fork outfitters believe that we can find a way to preserve these archaeological amenities without impacting campsite capacity, which is really at a premium along the Middle Fork," he said.

About 10,000 people raft the river every year. In recent decades, the camping has become more regulated. The Forest Service requires fire pans and portable toilets, and rafters and other visitors must pack out their trash. Prior to launching on raft trips, parties are assigned campsites, and visitors are educated by Forest Service personnel on a number of topics, including the protection of the river's history and pre-history.

Howard Miller, of the Idaho Whitewater Association and a member of the Heritage Action Team, said the agency guidebook should take a page from a private publication and identify archaeological sites of concern.

"I've only seen one guidebook put out by a private party, and in it, it talks about what camps have cultural sites to be aware of and warning boaters to stay away from them or not damage them," he said. "It would be good if the Forest Service would include that information in the information they hand out, but they don't do that. Their guidebook doesn't include that information."

Dustin Aherin, a Heritage Action Team member from Lewiston and owner of Idaho River Adventures, praised Townley's collaborative approach.

"I'm feeling really positive about it. We are in a position to work together with the Forest Service, with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and if the Nez Perce Tribe would like to be involved we would work with them, as well; and our goal is to protect the cultural resources of the Middle Fork while maintaining current levels of use."

Members of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes did not respond to requests for comment.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at 208-848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
A 12-year-old boy from Queens was sent to hospital in serious condition Tuesday after he set himself alight as part of a 'fire challenge,' officials said.

A law enforcement source told Daily Mail Online the child was apparently inspired by an online trend known as the 'fire challenge' - a stunt that involves voluntarily lighting oneself on fire for a short time.

The source said the child 'possibly' doused himself in rubbing alcohol before setting himself ablaze.

Paramedics were called to the boy's home on Watjean Court in the Far Rockaway neighborhood at around 7:47pm, fire officials said.

He was transported to a Long Island hospital in serious condition.

Scroll down for video

A 12-year-old Queens boy was in serious condition after lighting himself on fire as part of an online trend known as the 'fire challenge' (file photo)

The New York Post reported the boy had planned to extinguish himself in the shower, but that he was unable to do so and ultimately suffered third-degree burns covering more than 40 percent of his body.

Police said they received a report of the fire at 9:30pm, but that no crime was suspected. Fire marshals, however, are investigating the incident, according to the FDNY.

Videos of people attempting the 'fire challenge' have been circulating online for years.

According to the Internet history site Know Your Meme, one of the earliest 'fire challenge' videos was uploaded in 2012.
She died of cancer in 1997, but James Sr is still alive in Pyongyang at 75

But some say she was kidnapped by the North Korean government

Their father, James Dresnok, Sr, defected to the country in 1962

And they slammed the U.S. for its opposition to their leader's 'vision'

They said they 'dream of defending their 'homeland' of North Korea

James is a captain in the North Korean army; Ted wants to be a diplomat

Pair defended the country they grew up in during a video released Saturday

Ted and James Dresnok are white North Koreans - the sons of a U.S. G.I.

Two brothers who grew up in North Korea after their American soldier father defected there in the 1960s have become the hermit state's latest propaganda stars.

Ted Dresnok and his brother James, both white men in their thirties, are the sons of James Dresnok Sr, an American GI who defected to North Korea and raised them in the communist state.

And now they made their debut appearance as North Korean propagandists - with James dressed in the country's military uniform - in a video released Saturday,The Washington Post reported.

Speaking Korean, they espouse 'the superiority of Kim's Korea' in the video and hit out at the US for its opposition to their leader's 'vision'.

Scroll down for video

Patriots: North Koreans James (left) and Ted Dresnok (center) were born in Pyongyang after their father, James Dresnok Sr, defected to North Korea in 1962. They are now defending the country in propaganda

Captain: James Dresnok is the equivalent of a Captain in the North Korean army. Speaking Korean, he said he wants to 'serve my mother country (North Korea) with my life' in a video released Saturday

The hour-long Korean-language video, released by US-based, pro-North-Korea channel Minjok Tongshin, has the pair reflecting on their lives, their dreams - and, of course, the glory of the North Korean communist state.

Younger brother James Dresnok, who said he was 36 and goes by the name Hong Chol, was dressed in a North Korean military uniform and claimed he was the equivalent of a captain in the army there.

Ted, who majored in English and Japanese at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and is now employed by the Workers' Party at a defense education facility, wore a simple suit.

But both had pins with the faces of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on them.

'I want to advise the U.S. to drop its hostile policy against North Korea,' warned Ted, whose Korean name is Hong Sun Chol, according to a translation by The Washington Post.

'Theyve done enough wrong and now its time for them to wake up from their delusions.'

He explained that he had joined the army in 2014, 'due to a worsening situation on the Korean peninsula,' where both North and South Korea are based.

'My precious dream is to become a Workers Party member and pay back my gratitude to my General (Kim Jong Un) - I want to stand in a unified country by my General,' he added.

'Thanks to the General's hospitality, we receive gifts on every national holiday,' he boasted.

'Superiority': Ted said he wants to 'pay back his gratitude' to Kim Jong Un and warned America to drop its 'hostile policy' toward North Korea in a video released on pro-Pyongyang channel Minjok Tongshin Saturday

James made similar remarks. 'My lifelong dream is similar to my brothers,' he said.

'I want to serve my mother country with my life and bring about the unification of the Koreas so the world will see the superiority of Kims Korea.'

He went on to say that 'American Imperialists caused the division of the Korean peninsula', leading the host - a Korean-born naturalized American named Roh Kil-nam - to ask if that included him.

'No, I mean the very top leaders of the US,' explained James, who previously said in a '60 Minutes' documentary, An American in Korea, that he wanted to be a North Korean diplomat.

Whether the men's answers were scripted by Pyongyang is unknown, as is whether they actually meant what they said - but their wording sounded uncannily like the propaganda that usually comes out of the country.

And as the video was filmed in North Korea, it's reasonable to assume that authorities were involved to some degree.

The brothers' father is James Dresnok, Sr, a former American soldier who - stationed in South Korea and facing court-martial for forging signatures on leave paperwork - ran across a minefield in broad daylight on August 15, 1962 and defected.

Dresnok eventually married Romanian Doina Bumbea, a sculptor who supposedly worked at the Romanian embassy in North Korea.

However, another defector, Charles Jenkins, who returned to the US in 2004, claimed that she was kidnapped.

Her parents believed she was lured to the country by a man who told her he would take her to Japan, Radio Free Asia reported in 2007

The couple raised James Jr. and Ted Dresnok in Pyongyang - which where they grew up, married and both now have children.

Bumbea died of cancer in 1997, and James Dresnok Sr, now 75, still lives in North Korea.

Parents: James Dresnok, Sr (pictured) ran across a minefield to defect to North Korea in 1962. There he married Doina Bumbea, a Romanian woman, and they had James Jr and Ted in Pyongyang in the 1980s

'Kidnapped': Bumbea (pictured in photo held by brother Gabriel at UN Human Rights Council, 2014) is believed by some to have been kidnapped by North Korea. She died of cancer in 1997. James Sr is still alive at 75

'I heard a lot about his life,' Ted told the interviewer, when asked about his father.

'The more I hear, the more I think he chose the right path. Had he not come to North Korea, it wouldnt have been possible for him to live as he does.

'He was much loved by the country and his small achievements were appreciated greatly. I think about the different life I would be living had my father been living in the US.'

'He was an orphan, but his misery wasnt due to his or his familys fault,' added James. 'Rather it was due to American society. Its due to policies made by the privileged in the US.'

When confronted with US claims about North Korea's gross violations of human rights - which include work camps that contain the families of anyone deemed subversive by the government - Ted was blase.

'The US wants to make a big deal out of North Korean human rights issues. We are enjoying very equal and free lives here,' he said.

'But look at the US. A white police officer shoots a black citizen in clear daylight, treating black people's lives as if they were as worthless as flies.

'I want to tell Americans to break away from their leaders mindsets and begin peace negotiations with us. Thats the only way to save yourselves.'
Television viewers may have to sit through even more adverts after Brussels said it would scrap rules limiting the length of breaks in shows.

The European Commission yesterday revealed it wants to dump restrictions preventing channels showing more than 12 minutes of commercials each hour.

Officials also want to loosen rules restricting product placement to allow more in-your-face American-style brand promotion.

Britain's Got Talent's first semi-final on Sunday was criticised after producers showed more adverts than performances

Brussels said it would scrap rules limiting the length of breaks in shows. Audiences complain that programmes, such as BGT, are already being ruined by the constant disruption of ad breaks

Broadcasters will be allowed to fill shows with as many adverts as they want during primetime, meaning viewers face being bombarded with endless commercials as they attempt to watch their favourite shows.

Audiences already complain that programmes are being ruined by the constant disruption of ad breaks.

Britain's Got Talent's first semi-final on Sunday was criticised after producers showed more adverts than performances.

Nearly a quarter of the 90 minute show consisted of commercial breaks totalling 21 minutes and 28 seconds. By comparison, the acts lasted just 17 minutes and 39 seconds.

Under the Brussels proposal, from 7am to 11pm a total of no more than three hours and 12 minutes of adverts will allowed to be shown, which works out as 20 per cent of the time.

Audiences already complain that programmes are being ruined by the constant disruption of ad breaks

However, channels will be able to choose freely how they spread out the adverts through the day, meaning they could concentrate them during the evening when more people are watching.

Slots sold during primetime shows are much more valuable, meaning there will be an incentive to put fewer adverts during the daytime and more at night.

The UK government is likely to argue in negotiations with the EU that its own media regulator Ofcom should be allowed to impose stricter rules on British channels.

However, this is likely to be fought by Brussels, which will want universal control as some UK commercial channels are broadcast elsewhere in Europe via satellite.

The European Commission said it also wants to get rid of rules around product placement that mean appearances of brands on screen cannot be 'unduly prominent'.

It risks British television becoming more like the U.S., where the tactic is so blatant that products can be as prominent as the stars themselves.

American Idol, which was the most watched show on U.S. TV, was notorious for its placements, including Coca-Cola logos on judges' cups.

The UK's most popular commercial channel ITV yesterday praised the proposed changes but said it did not want to spoil people's enjoyment of its programmes.

A spokesman said: 'We welcome moves by the Commission to de-regulate rules around commercial communications - in particular on product placement and sponsorship, which to date have been unnecessarily prescriptive. This will help to ensure the continued investment in original content.

'What is important to us, when it comes to television advertising minutage, is striking the right balance, ensuring that our viewers are not exposed to excessive amounts of advertising and that the quality of their viewing experience is maintained.'

European Commission vice president Gunther Oettinger, (pictured) who announced the plans

Pauline Webborn, of pressure group Mediawatch, warned that channels risked losing viewers if they put on more adverts during shows.

She said: 'People will not want to watch programmes if they contain even longer ad breaks. They may as well sit and watch an advert channel instead.

'Broadcasters risk alienating and losing their viewers if they take advantage of this. There will definitely be less enjoyment watching television if people are bombarded with adverts.

'Clearly there is also a risk that children will be affected if they are shown too many adverts for certain types of products.'

European Commission vice president Gunther Oettinger, who announced the plans, said: 'We have seen considerable change in market behaviour.

'You can change between TV channels now, you can switch to a TV on demand channel if you don't want to watch adverts, so we think it is time to liberalise the advertising rules we have had until now.

'The current legal situation says that a maximum of 20 per cent of advertising can be shown per hour of broadcasting. This is a very clear rule but it is a constraining factor.

'We want to retain the 20 per cent limit, but we want to make it more flexible by spreading it from 7am to 11pm. 'We will leave it up to the discretion of the broadcasters to place advertising slots where they want.

'Viewers have new freedom. They are always free to change to another channel or to video on demand.'

An EU source admitted: 'In theory, you could have more broadcasting at peak times. Broadcasters have more flexibility of when to put their advertising. However it is not in the interest of broadcasters to abuse it.'

The Commission confirmed a proposal reported last week that it also wanted to force Netflix and Amazon to devote 20 per cent of their content to European movies and television shows.
Issam Abuanza, 37, who worked in Britain for seven years before going to Syria, complained that foreign medics had to abandon their dignity to get a job

A doctor who deserted his family to join Islamic State ranted about the NHS, saying medics were treated like beggars.

Issam Abuanza, 37, who worked in Britain for seven years before going to Syria, complained that foreign medics had to abandon their dignity to find a hospital posting.

The Palestinian-born doctor, who is married with two young children, made the rant shortly before he arrived here in 2006.

He told overseas graduates sitting tests on their English language and clinical skills that they needed anti-psychotic drugs to work in the NHS.

In his comments in April 2006 on a bulletin board he added that getting a job was difficult because very now and then you are begging the human resources or the consultant to give you a locum position.

He warned colleagues to leave the following back home: Your dignity because you are a beggar here; your career, no progress as either locum or clinical observer, you wont write more than that in your CV; your future, there isnt any; and your family, no doubt.

Despite his outburst, Abuanza was able to secure a position at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl, North Wales, where he worked between May 2007 and July 2009.

He also worked at Scarborough Hospital, where he posted an online video of himself praying in the on-call room.

Later he moved with his family to Sheffield, where he is reported to have been combining shifts as a registrar with running an online company selling kaftan dresses.

He wrote that 100 per cent of the profits of his business were going to Syria  raising fears the cash may have funded jihadis.

Abuanza, who comes from a family of doctors and dentists, is thought to be the first NHS clinician to join IS.

He trained as a doctor in Iraq in 2002 before gaining British citizenship. The medics postings on social media reveal how he became increasingly radicalised.

Just five years ago, his YouTube account was full of pop music and childrens shows, with Bruno Mars, Peppa Pig and Play-Doh toys among the videos he liked.

But, by 2015, the doctor was posting sickening comments praising the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris and encouraging the slaughter of women and children.

In one chilling post he said he wished that a Jordanian pilot burnt alive in a cage by IS had taken longer to die. In a rant in March 2014 he expressed his disgust at doctors having to treat drunken yobs brought to casualty by police

Abuanza, who comes from a family of doctors and dentists, is thought to be the first NHS clinician to join IS

That July, Abuanza fled Sheffield, leaving his 30-year-old wife penniless and with no means to support their two daughters aged six and four.

Since then he has revelled in his job treating injured jihadis in Syria where IS registration documents show that he is a specialist in endocrinology, the treatment of hormonal imbalances.

A photo on his Facebook page shows him wearing scrubs and carrying a gun in a holster. In another he is wearing combat fatigues, cradling an assault rifle and reading the Koran.

Relishing his work dealing with gunshot wounds and amputations, he wrote: We get a lot of spinal injuries which cause the paralysis of mujahideens because we dont have spinal surgeons.

Abuanza, who crossed into Syria in July 2014  soon after IS declared itself as an Islamic caliphate  has appealed for other Western medics to join him.

His sister Najla Abuanza has said his parents will never forgive him, adding: My dads wish was to see him before he dies. He has spent all his money on him and his education and this is what he does.
He also claims that Jose Baez was paid for his services with sexual favors

He claims that Anthony's attorney told him that she killed her daughter

On Tuesday court documents were released that contained testimony given by a former private investigator who worked on her case

She drove off the lot in a shiny blue SUV that appears to be a Ford Escape

Casey Anthony made a rare public appearance on Wednesday morning, stopping by a car dealership to pick up a new car.

A smiling Anthony, 30, browsed the selection of vehicles at a Ford dealership in West Palm Beach, Florida before driving off in a shiny blue SUV.

She was dressed comfortably in jeans, flats, a loose button-down shirt and glasses for her morning of shopping, which ended with her leaving the lot with her big-ticket purchase.

The car appears to be a Ford Escape, which starts at approximately $25,000 and then goes up in price with added features.

Scroll down for video

Out and about: Casey Anthony was photographed at a Ford dealership in West Palm Beach, Florida Wednesday morning (above)

Casual morning: The 30-year-old was smiling and dressed in jeans, flats, a loose button-down shirt and glasses

New wheels: She drove off the lot in a shiny blue SUV that appears to be a Ford Escape

It has been eight years since Antony's daughter Caylee went missing and was later found dead, and on Tuesday new documents emerged that made shocking claims about Anthony and her lawyer Jose Baez.

Private investigator Dominic Casey stated in an affidavit filed with United States Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida Tampa Division: '[On] Saturday, July 26, 2008, Baez had told me that Casey (Anthony) had murdered Caylee and dumped the body somewhere and, he needed all the help he could get to find the body before anyone else did.'

Casey also claimed in the affidavit that Anthony traded sexual favors with Baez to cover her legal fees.

Anthony was found not guilty of killing her daughter Caylee in 2011 after a two-month trial that enraged the nation.

The two-year-old girl went missing in June 2008 and her skeletal remains were later found in a bag near her home in December of that year.

Mr Casey claimed in his affidavit that on September 5, 2008, Anthony was scheduled to sit down for a television interview but told Baez she did not want to do it, leading him to cancel with the network.

That is when Mr Casey claimed Mr Baez, who is married, told him: 'You now owe me three blow jobs.'

Later that month there was another incident Mr Casey claims when he arrived at Mr Baez's office and saw Ms Anthony naked.'This time she ran from his private office, through the conference room to the hallway,' Mr Casey claimed in the affidavit.

'That night, I told her that she cannot allow [Baez] to continue engaging in this behavior. Casey told me she had not money for her defense. I reminded her that Baez had more than enough money from the network he sold the photographs to pay for her defense,' said Mr Casey.

'Casey apologized and assured me it would not happen again.'

Claims: On Tuesday court documents were released that contained testimony given by a former private investigator who worked on her case. Dominic Casey claims that Anthony's attorney told him that she killed her daughter Caylee (above)

Allegation: Mr. Casey also claims that Jose Baez was paid for his legal services with sexual favors (Baez and Anthony above in 2011)

Mr Casey also spoke about the recovery of Caylee's body later in the affidavit, claiming that Baez had suggested the baby would likely be found in the swamp where investigators did eventually discover her body.

'Baez had already told me on Saturday, July 26, 2008, that Casey had murdered Caylee and dumped the body somewhere,' claimed Casey.

'He also suggested to me that if I could gain access to the swamp on Suburban Drive without being seen, to do so because it could be the place that Casey had dumped Caylee's body.'
A creationist who claims Obama was drug-taking gay prostitute and that teaching evolution causes school shootings has lost her bid to join the Texas Board of Education.

Mary Lou Bruner, 68, a retired educator, lost out on the Republican nomination to Keven Ellis, a local school board president who ran a more 'mainstream' campaign.

That is despite that fact that she scooped 48 per cent of the vote in the primaries back in March, just short of the 50 per cent needed to win the nomination outright.

Mary Lou Bruner, 68 (right, alongside husband Anthony) was defeated in her attempt to become the newest member of the Texas Board for Education, losing out to Kevin Ellis

Bruner (pictured alongside Ted Cruz's father Rafael) almost scooped the GOP nomination back in March after taking 48 per cent of the vote, just shy of the 50 per cent required to avoid a runoff

Video Courtesy KLTV

Had Bruner gotten the GOP nod she would almost certainly have gone on to win the deeply conservative East Texas district and join one of the most powerful education boards in the country.

Among her many roles, Bruner would have been responsible for setting the curriculum and textbook content for more than 5million children.

Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, said: 'Texas escaped an education train wreck tonight.

'If Bruner had ultimately won election to the board, she would have instantly become the most embarrassingly uninformed and divisive member on a board that already too often puts politics ahead of making sure our kids get a sound education.'

Ellis refused to criticize Bruner following his own nomination, saying instead that people 'just picked a name' during the primaries, rather than researching who they were voting for.

Bruner's campaign, which started strongly, seemed to unravel when old Facebook posts of hers were uncovered showing off her somewhat unorthodox beliefs.

In one of her most outspoken posts, uploaded to her Facebook page on October 26 last year but since deleted, Bruner says: 'Obama has a soft spot for homosexuals because of the years he spent as a male prostitute in his twenties. That is how he paid for his drugs.

However, a series of old Facebook posts in which she expresses some oddball views ultimately saw her campaign unravel after she refused to distance herself from them

The posts included the belief that teaching evolution causes school shootings (pictured), that climate change is a conspiracy dreamed up by Karl Marx, and that Noah attempted to save the dinosaurs on his ark

'He has admitted he was addicted to drugs when he was young, and he is sympathetic with homosexuals; but he hasn't come out of the closet about his own homosexual/bisexual background.

'He hasn't quite evolved that much! Since he supports gay marriage, he should be proud of his background as a homosexual/bisexual.

'He is against everything else Christians stand for, he might as well be for infidelity.'

She has also espoused the view, mirrored by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, that all Muslims should be banned from coming to America.

But she also went further, claiming that 'the USA should ban Islam' altogether, stating that Muslims' 'goal is to conquer the USA and kill the infidels'.

She has passionately spoken out against the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, and appears to believe that the New World Order is trying to wipe out two-thirds of the world population.

Bruner has discussed at length how baby dinosaurs were kept on board Noah's ark but died out shortly after the flood subsided because there were not enough trees left for them to eat.

Had Bruner won the nomination, should would have had a say in the content of both the curriculum and textbooks for more than 5million children in Texas

She added: 'Most of the dinosaur fossils which scientists have found are permanently preserved in positions of great distress as if they were trying to keep their heads above water or above the mud.'

Addressing the issue of school shootings, Bruner seems to believe that the removal of Biblical teaching from schools and the introduction of lessons based on scientific theories is the cause.

On January 30, she wrote: 'The school shootings started after government removed the Ten Commandments and the Bible from public school buildings, and disallowed prayer at school and school events.

'The school shootings started after the schools started teaching evolution is an absolute fact and the classes cannot talk about weaknesses in the Theory of Evolution.'

Given the opportunity to denounce the posts on WFAA in the weekend before the runoff, Bruner declined to do so.

Instead she said: 'When I wrote those things, I wasn't even intending to run for the State Board of Education. I had no idea that I would.
Fierce protests erupted in Anaheim on Wednesday as Donald Trump arrived for a rally in the Californian city.

Police in riot gear swarmed the streets on Wednesday afternoon trying to curtail the crowds who were throwing objects, setting trash cans on fire, and brandishing anti-Trump signs.

The uproar was centered on the Anaheim Convention Center, which was blocked by a wall of mounted police and barricades.

At least five people were arrested for staging an unlawful protest, the LA Times reported.

Scroll down for video

Police in riot gear swarmed the streets on Wednesday afternoon trying to curtail the crowds who were throwing objects, setting trash cans on fire, and brandishing anti-Trump signs

Police arrest a protester during an anti-Trump demonstration outside the Anaheim Convention Center

The uproar was centered on the Anaheim Convention Center, which was blocked by a wall of mounted police and barricades. It comes a day after violent protests outside Trump's speech in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Daron Wyatt, an Anaheim police spokesman, said the force was on high alert after the scenes in Albuquerque

Signs depict Trump as the Joker and a Nazi and make reference to his plans to build a wall by Mexico

Los Angeles County Sheriffs in riot gear speed down a road as they chase demonstrators

It comes a day after violent protests outside Trump's speech in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Riot police used pepper spray and smoke canisters to control the fire-starting demonstrators.

As in Albuquerque, a number of demonstrators in Anaheim were brandishing Mexican flags.

By 3pm local time most of the protesters had been rounded up, leaving around 12.

Sgt. Daron Wyatt, an Anaheim police spokesman, said the violence could have escalated but the force was on high alert after the scenes in Albuquerque.

'I think a lot of it was the planning and preparation.

'We had a very strong uniformed presence from the beginning, which I think set the tone.

An Orange County Sheriff's deputy takes a demonstrator with a clown mask into custody during the protest

Officers are seen detaining a demonstrator at 3pm in Anaheim on Wednesday

An anti-Trump protester (left) and a Trump support clash outside a campaign rally by presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday

As in Albuquerque, a number of demonstrators in Anaheim were brandishing Mexican flags

One protester was kicked out of the convention center during the event

Protestors unfurl the Mexian flag before police outside the Anaheim Convention Center prior to Trump's rally

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump inside the campaign rally

'It helped by keeping the protestors away from the attendees as well,' Wyatt told the Times.

One protester was kicked out of the convention center during the event.

Trump ended his speech, as he has in other rallies, saying 'The safest place to be in our country is a Trump rally.'

During the rally he hammered Hillary Clinton.

'Crooked Hillary!' he boomed. 'She's as crooked as they come. She had a little bad news today ... not so good. The inspector general's report. Not good.'

'But I want to run against Hillary,' he insisted, even if her legal problems make her candidacy untenable.

'I just want to run against her. Look, I don't know if you're going to be able to. It could be we run against Crazy Bernie. That could be.'

'He's a crazy man, but that's okay. We like crazy people,' Trump said of Sanders.

Riot police used pepper spray and smoke canisters to control the fire-starting demonstrators in New Mexico
A man in China has filmed himself throwing away the shoes of a traveller who decided to take off his shoes and lie across three seats in an airport waiting area.

The unidentified man recently posted the video on social media showing how angry he was at the man who he claimed was giving Chinese travellers a bad name, reports the People's Daily Online.

He claimed in the video that the incident took place at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.

Intolerable: A man in China (right) has thrown away the shoes of a traveller (left) who decided to take off his shoes and lie across three seats at an airport

That will teach him! He took the man's shoes as he remained sleeping and threw them in a nearby bin

The video starts off with the man talking about how frustrated he is.

He said: 'I am in the departures lounge at Xiamen International Airport. I saw a man without shoes lying on three seats. I'm so angry.

'Just now two airport workers saw him but they didn't do anything. I think this is why foreigners criticise Chinese travellers. I just posted these photos to my We Chat circle'.

The man starts to become emotional, almost tearing up with anger at the inconsiderate man.

'Nobody does nothing. I think the quality of Chinese people is getting lower and lower.'

He then strides over to the man who is sleeping with his shoes on the floor. He picks up his shoes and walks over to the bin, throwing them in without hesitation.

Airport staff at Xiamen International Airport told reporters that staff do not ignore uncivilised behaviour.

They say that in the airport promotional videos are shown to help remind people of civilised travel.

A spokesperson told reporters: 'For this type of uncivilised behaviour we can only use verbal persuasion with no related penalties and no law enforcement.'

They recommended people not to take such drastic action against this behaviour.

The man claimed in the video that he was at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. Other travellers can be seen waiting in the lounge in his footage

The story has been widely discussed on China's social media sites.

On Weibo, people seem to have mixed opinions as to whether the man should have taken drastic action.

One user wrote: 'I hate inconsiderate people in public places but you threw away his shoes fighting violence with violence.'

While another commented: 'You should have woken him up. There was no need to throw away his shoes. That's theft!'

And one user said: 'I agree with his approach, at least the starting point is correct. I might not have the courage to do so but I absolutely support his actions!'

China has had a spate of incidents featuring badly behaved passengers.
Shocking footage has captured the moment a four-storey building toppled over in raging floodwaters in China.

Yulin City in south west China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was hit by storms and heavy flooding on May 20, reports Huanqiu, affiliated with the People's Daily Online.

The footage shows the newly built apartment block completely falling over as onlookers are taken by surprise.

The location's nice but the weather isn't! In the footage, the raging river can be seen behind the building

All in just a few seconds: Footage shows the building toppling over and rooted from its foundations

According to China Central Television Station (CCTV), who released the footage, many rivers in the region burst their banks causing damage to houses located along the riverside.

The apartment block was empty at the time of the collapse and no casualties were reported.

In the footage, the ground is visibly wet from a recent rainstorm and the river behind the building can be seen running fiercely.

Passersby can be seen going about their usual business when suddenly the building starts to topple over.

It falls straight to the ground and the foundation is completely uprooted.

On CCTV News' Facebook page, people have been commenting on the story.

Sam Vergara said: 'Hmm its poor building designs is one of the problems. It collapsed because the materials used are not so strong....maybe they used a cheaper one'.

While Stoner Mjoni commented: 'Thank god they cleared the place before nature did'.

And So Kam Tam wrote: 'The power of nature! Horrible!'

Today, China's Ministry of Water Resources warned that the country is likely to see more rainfalls during this year's flood season.

Severe rainstorms in southern China have caused high levels of water in many rivers, lakes and reservoirs in the region.

The Flood Control Administration has already sent 19 inspection teams to high risk areas to minimise potential damage of flooding.

Terrifying footage: No one was injured in the incident as the building had just recently been completed

Horrifying: The block appears to topple over quickly taking onlookers by surprise
The young woman claimed she was fundraising to save her ill elder sister

were invited to use a bow and arrow to shoot her for 1

A woman in China went to desperate measures to raise money for her sister's cancer treatment, allowing people to shoot a bow and arrow at her for 10 yuan (1).

Her elder sister allegedly suffers from leukaemia and needs a bone marrow transplant costing 350,00 yuan (36,000) which she claimed her parents can't afford, reports the People's Daily Online.

The woman, reportedly aged 21, was spotted encouraging people to aim at her using the weapon on Monday morning in the centre of Hangzhou, eastern China.

Tragic: The desperate woman tried to sell herself as a human target to raise money for her sister's treatment

Gentle advice: She was questioned by police who advised her to think of alternative ways to raise money

Her sister, Ji Jiayan (pictured), requires a bone marrow transplant however her family cannot afford the fee

A sanitation worker first spotted the woman named Ji Jiali standing in front of the wooden board.

The worker said: 'I saw the board said "human target 10 yuan a shoot" and I saw another girl holding a bow and arrow, the arrow was sharp and could have killed the girl.'

Ji Jiali, who originally comes from south-eastern China's Guizhou province, had apparently been crying and told passersby that her sister had leukaemia and there was no money for treatment.

She said that she wanted to try and get money together for her.

The 21-year-old even had details of her bank account along with other online methods of payment such as WeChat and Alipay.

According to sanitation workers, she was standing around in Wulin Square, central Hangzhou.

Many people passed by, however two stopped and told the woman to take good care of herself and then handed the woman 10 yuan.

Around 10 minutes later, the woman was taken to the nearby Tianshui police station.

She told the officers that her sister had leukaemia and was in Kunming receiving treatment but her family could not afford the high cost of medical treatment.

She said her father died in 2014 in a car accident.

She told officers that she was trying to gather as much money as possible for her sister.

Desperate situation: The woman was seen crying by passersby and told them she needed to help her sister

A family in need of help: Ji Jianli has tried other ways of fundraising in the past (pictured above)

Police told her that she had good intentions but the way she went about raising money was not appropriate.

Ji Jiali's sister, Ji Jiayan, told reporters that she was unaware that her sister had been resorting to such measures.

Ji Jiayan said: 'My sister gave me a phone call from the police station, I did not know about it. I'm really worried about her.'

She said she needs treatment: 'I can only be cured by a bone marrow transplant but I heard that the cost of treatment is 300,000 yuan (31,115), not including follow-up.

'Thanks to donations from people, I already have 10,000 yuan but am far from the target.'

According to doctors, Ji Jiayan's condition is stable but she is still at a high risk.

Liu Lin, a doctor from Kunming General Hospital of Chengdu Military Area, told a local reporter: 'Ji Jiayan is a high risk patient. Chemotherapy has not worked, so we can only treat her in other ways before a bone marrow transplant is possible.'

Doctors are currently compare the bone marrow between Ji Jiayan and his younger brother Ji Jiajun, hoping for a match.

An official from the village of Yantou in Guizhou province, where the sisters come from, confirmed the familly's ordeal to local reporters.

The village secretary, surnamed Liu, said: 'Ji Jiayan's elder sister is indeed sick and has leukaemia. The family is poor. The sisters' father died a few years ago and they only have their mum.'
The Billings attorney arrested for driving drunk with her children in the car appeared for arraignment Tuesday via video from a treatment center in Minnesota.

Michele Lynn Braukmann, 39, plead not guilty before Yellowstone County District Court Judge Gregory Todd to three felony charges of criminal child endangerment as well as two misdemeanor charges for possession of an open alcohol container and operating a vehicle without proper registration.

Assistant attorney general Chad Parker, also appearing by video, said Braukmann had tried to hide a missed drug test from prosecutors. She contacted her court-ordered monitors, asking them not to report the missed test.

"I've never seen someone being allowed to control the process such as Ms. Braukmann is appearing to do," Parker said.

Braukmann's behavior indicates a long history of alcohol problems and she is charged with very serious crimes, Parker said.

Braukmann said she only requested the missed test not be reported because she missed it while being admitted to her treatment facility. She said she would release all medical records from her time there. She expects to complete her treatment in another three weeks, at the earliest. When she returns to Billings, Todd ordered she continue with court ordered alcohol monitoring.

At about 10 p.m. on April 16 near 60th Street West and Grand Avenue, investigators say Braukmann was driving with three children in the car when a Montana Highway Patrol trooper pulled her over. Braukmann had an open bottle of vodka in the car and a breathalyzer test registered her blood alcohol content at 0.247 percent, more than three times the legal limit, according to documents.

The charges, which were detailed in an affidavit prepared by Parker, included Braukmann's alleged conversation with the Montana Highway Patrol after being pulled over.

Braukmann told the trooper she was "an attorney for the city of Billings" and "she defended police officers," according to the affidavit.

She added that she had Billings Police Chief Rich St. John's telephone number on "speed dial." The trooper sent the three children, two 11-year-olds and one 7-year-old, home and took Braukmann to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

At the jail, Braukmann continued to tell law enforcement she "worked for the city of Billings and with city leaders." She said she was a "moral person" and that the trooper who arrested her should be out "arresting other people and not her," documents state.

According to her profile page on the Moulton Bellingham website, where she works, Braukmann is a shareholder and board member of the firm. She represented cities through the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority. Braukmann handled civil rights, excessive force and related claims against police departments and general negligence claims involving city departments.
A pensioner had a narrow escape with an escalator at a supermarket in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on May 24 when he became trapped inside the machine.

One of the escalator steps gave way, dragging the man along with the machine, reports the People's Daily Online.

The 66-year-old man, surnamed Liu, fractured his left thigh and had to wait 40 minutes until he was finally freed by firefighters.

Horrific incident: The man was shopping with his wife when he fell through one of the escalator's steps

Shocking images: The machine dragged him a further two metres before its emergency mode kicked in

Horrible experience: According to firefighters, they had to keep talking to the man to keep his mind off the pain

Once he had fallen through the step, his leg became twisted in the machine.

The escalator continued to run and the man had to shout for help to stop it.

However the machine's emergency mode detected a fault and eventually stopped.

Firefighters were called to the scene to attend to the man and try and free him.

Liu Wei was one of the first to arrive: 'I saw the old man had his leg stuck in the escalator. He was emotionally unstable and all he could think of was the pain.'

Doctors were also at the scene to observe the man during the rescue attempt.

Some firemen were responsible for comforting the man to help take his mind off the pain while other firefighters were attempting to free him.

Emergency services used tools to try and widen the gap between the step which took around 40 minutes.

Once free he was taken to Bao'an District People's Hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured left thigh.

Footage of the incident has emerged online.

In the video, rescue teams can be seen using their hydraulics system to widen the gap while another worker holds the man up.

The man appears to look very feint and firefighters try and keep him awake.

After some time and with help from the workers, he pulls his leg free from the machine.

Rescue effort: Emergency teams used tools to widen the gap between the step and pull the man out

Ouch: Doctors were on hand to talk to the man and ensure that he was receiving treatment straight away

According to Chinese media, the escalator passed an inspection in December last year.

China has had a spate of accidents involving escalators in recent years.

The most high profile case was in July 2015 where a woman was killed after maintenance workers failed to fix a problem with a floor plate.

Xiang Liujuan, 30, was killed when the footplate at the top of the escalator collapsed beneath her, as she shopped with her two-year-old son in Hubei province.

Before being dragged into the machinery, however, the heroic mother was able to throw her toddler to safety.

It later emerged that staff at the Jingzhou mall knew that screws on the footplate had become loose five minutes before the incident.

Broken machine: According to Chinese media, the escalator was serviced just six months ago
The length of a second is something most people might take for granted as a set amount of time.

But measuring the relentless passing of time has been giving scientists a headache for generations.

Now researchers in Germany have come up with a new way to measure precisely how long a second is in a far more accurate way than is currently possible.

It could mean the definition for what a second actually is will change by an incomprehensibly tiny amount - just a fraction of a quadrilltionth of a second.

The length of a second is something you probably take for granted as a set amount of time. But measuring the passing of time to increasing accuracy is a precise and fascinating science, and improvements in this science might soon change the definition of a second

The most accurate clocks used to keep time globally still accumulate an error of about 100 seconds over the age of the universe, 13.8 billion years.

There are more accurate ways to count the seconds, but because of the complex physics involved these ways were never considered practical before.

HOW LONG IS A SECOND? Clocks work by counting a recurrent event with a known frequency, such as the swinging of a pendulum. For traditional atomic clocks, the recurrent event is the natural oscillation of the cesium atom, which has a frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since 1967, the International System of Units (SI) has defined the second as the time that elapses during 9,192,631,770 cycles of the microwave signal produced by these oscillations.

Now German scientists have come up with a way of using a device known as an optical atomic clock to measure the second more accurately.

They say that by reducing the amount of uncertainty in how long a second is, it means they will be able to make much more accurate estimates of how long events take.

The change will see the amount of error in estimating the length of a second reducing from 0.25 quadrilliionths of a second - that is 0.25 with 15 zeros in front of it - by a factor of ten.

To put this into context, when currently estimating the age of the universe - which is around 13.8 billion years old - researchers estimate they 'lose' around 100 seconds or so due to the uncertainty of exactly how long a second is.

Using the new technique, the researchers say it may be possible to cut this to just a handful of 'lost seconds'.

A more accurate global time keeping system would allow financial networks to use more precise time stamps, so handle even more transactions in shorter amounts of time. It would also allow GPS and other satellite-based navigation systems to provide even more precise location information

While this may not be of huge importance to the man in the street, many scientific processes and calculations require hugely accurate estimates of time for precision.

Devices like satellite navigation systems (GPS) also rely upon accurate measure of time to help them pinpoint locations.

'You may think of this as a ruler where the scale marks have the same distance but are much narrower,' lead author Dr Christian Grebing, a physicist at the National Metrology Institute of Germany who has been leading the work, told MailOnline.

To make the clocks more reliable, the researchers used a 'maser' - a laser producing microwaves rather than visible light - alongside the optical clock. During the times the optical clock was not working, the maser continued to tick to 'bridge the gap' left by the atomic clock

A more accurate global time keeping system could also allow financial networks to use more precise time stamps, so handle even more transactions in shorter amounts of time.

HOW AN OPTICAL CLOCK WORKS Optical clocks work in a similar way to microwave clocks. They use atoms or ions that oscillate about 100,000 times higher than microwave frequencies, in the optical, or visible, part of the electromagnetic spectrum. These higher frequencies mean optical clocks 'tick' faster than microwave atomic clocks, and this contributes to their higher accuracy and stability over time. However, optical clocks do experience significant downtimes because of their higher technical complexity.

The researchers at the National Metrology Institute of Germany have now published a way to use these more accurate optical atomic clocks in practical ways.

'At the moment, optical clocks are rather complex laboratory devices under permanent development,' Dr Grebing told MailOnline.

'We want them to be flexible such that we can try out exciting new techniques or implement the most recent developments, which typically prevents them from being overly reliable.

'Usually, this is not the kind of instrument that you want to implement in a fairly rigid timekeeping infrastructure.

Clocks work by counting a recurrent event with a known frequency, like the swinging of a pendulum.

Atomic clocks use the universal vibration of atoms, which have different frequencies, the number of vibrations every second, depending on the atom used.

The atom cesium, which has a frequency in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, is traditionally used for atomic clocks.

The most accurate clocks used to keep time globally still accumulate an error of about 100 seconds since the universe came into existence with the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago

Even the best atomic microwave clocks can still accumulate an error of about 1 nanosecond over a month. More accurate clocks could help to measure gravity induced time dilation as predicted by Albert Einstein (above)

But even the best atomic microwave clocks can still accumulate an error of about 1 nanosecond over a month.

Optical clocks work in the same way, but use atoms or ions that vibrate about 100,000 times the number of oscillations every second compared to cesium atoms. This frequency lies in the visible, or 'optical', part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

THE PROBLEM OF TIME ZONES Today, the global timescale UTC is derived from comparison results of more than 70 local timescales operated by time labs all over the world involving more than 500 traditional atomic clocks. 'We show that these local timescales can strongly benefit from the use of optical atomic clocks even if they are in the development stage' lead author Dr Christian Grebing told MailOnline. But if all the time labs would switch to optical clocks the performance of UTC would be limited by the conventional satellite means of comparing these local timescales. To fully exploit the potential of optical clocks for global timekeeping the methods of time distribution must also be pushed forward.

Because the frequencies are higher, the number of ticks counted over time is much greater, corresponding to a more accurate and stable clock.

But optical clocks are much more technically complex, and so they experience more 'downtimes' - periods of not functioning.

To make the clocks more reliable, the researchers used a 'maser' - a laser producing microwaves rather than visible light - alongside the optical clock.

During the times the optical clock was not working, the maser continued to tick to 'bridge the gap' left by the atomic clock.

'We compared the continuously running maser with our optical clock and corrected the maser frequency as long as we had data available from the optical clock,' said Dr Grebing.

'During the optical clock's downtimes, the maser runs on its own stably.'

The researchers operated the maser and optical clock for 25 days, during which the optical clock ran about 50 percent of the time.

Even with optical clock downtimes ranging from minutes to two days, the researchers calculated a time error of less than 0.20 nanoseconds over the 25 days.

Dr Grebing told MailOnline optical atomic clocks could be used, but that to fully exploit the potential of optical clocks for global timekeeping the methods of time distribution must also be pushed forward.
As the executive chairman of Alphabet, the parent company for Google, he would be expected to be an avid user of his firm's Android mobile phones.

But Eric Schmidt has an embarrassing secret - he uses an iPhone 6s, a device made by his company's rival Apple.

The technology chief made the admission during an interview at a seminar in Amsterdam, admitting he carries both the iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy S7, which runs on his company's Android software.

Scroll down for video

Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt has admitted to using an iPhone 6s alongside the Samsung S7 that runs his own company's Android software. After making the revelation (pictured) he insisted the Samsung device was superior

He made the admission after interviewer Julia Chatterley said she had seen him before taking to the stage with two phones in his pocket.

Mr Schmidt said: 'So we are clear, I have a Samsung S7 and I have an iPhone 6s.

'The Samsung S7 is better. It has a better battery. Are we clear? And to those of you who are iPhone users, I'm right.'

APPLE TRIES TO TAKE ON GOOGLE HOME AND AMAZON ECHO Apple is developing a 'Siri speaker' for the home and is set to allow app makers to access its smart assistant, it has been revealed. The move would put Apple in a three way battle with Amazon and Google, which earlier this month revealed its new Google Home AI assistant. The speaker would double as a music player, and could be revealed next month at the firm's annual developer conference, it is believed. Last week Google announced its own plans for a smart assistant, which would include everything from a wireless speaker to messaging apps. Called Google Home, the small speaker will be able to play music and access Google Assistant, a new AI system unveiled by the search giant.

His admission triggered laughter in the audience during the wide-ranging interview, which was being held on the opening day of the week-long Startup Europe Fest in Amsterdam.

Mr Schmidt spent 10 years as the chief executive of Google, where he oversaw the launch of Android, before becoming executive chairman of the company's holding company Alphabet.

Mr Schmidt appeared at the seminar along with Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who went on stage later in the day.

During the interview, the Alphabet boss referred to his company against accusations by the European Commission that its Android software had unfairly given its own products prominence.

When an audience show of hands revealed more people had an iPhone than an Android, Schmidt said ironically: 'So much for the Android monopoly in Europe.'

Apple and Google currently have a virtual duopoly on the smartphone market with Apple making both hardware and software, but Google providing its Android software for handsets.

Mr Schmidt urged European entrepreneurs to take a risk and get behind start-ups.

Mr Schmidt insisted that his Samsung Galaxy S7 was better than the iPhone and had a better battery life (pictured)

He said Google was hiring thousands of Europeans every year because they had nowhere to go to on their home continent.

'Part of our job is to seed the market with ideas,' Schmidt said, as the two men lobbed a series of jabs at each other's companies in their separate appearances.

Apple was meanwhile on a mission 'to bring the app economy to places where it's missed'.

Mr Cook told the forum in Amsterdam that the growth of apps in many western economies had still to spread to other parts of the world.

Mr Schmidt spent 10 years as the chief executive of Google, overseeing the introduction of the Android operating system. He was speaking at the Startup Europe Fest in Amsterdam (pictured)

He said: 'We recognise it hasn't gone everywhere yet and we want it to very much.

'There is nothing like... unlocking the creativity and innovation of millions of people.

Mr Cook also defended Apple from accusations that it was operating a kind of 'closed' policy on its app store.

There were now two million apps on the Apple store, 'that doesn't sound too closed. We do curate ... there's certain things we don't want to sell like pornography,' he added.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook (pictured on the stage at the forum) defended his company from criticism that it was operating a 'closed policy' on its app store.

'As Apple we have always felt that our role is to stand at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts, because that's where the real magic comes.'

The Netherlands is hosting the week-long event as part of meetings organised during its six months at the helm of the European Union presidency.

'The thing that has fundamentally changed from being the shop-owner on the corner is that now you are selling your product to the world,' Mr Cook added.
Dark matter is a mysterious substance composing most of the material universe.

Scientists believe it is some form of massive exotic particle - but no one has direct evidence of this.

An alternative view is that dark matter is made of black holes formed during the first second of our universe's existence, known as primordial black holes.

Now, a Nasa study claims this interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes.

Scroll down for videos

Nasa suggests that this new interpretation aligns with our knowledge of cosmic infrared and X-ray background glows and may explain the unexpectedly high masses of merging black holes. This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows an infrared view of a sky area in the constellation Ursa Major

WHAT LED TO THIS DISCOVERY? A study looked at how the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) detected by Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory compared to the cosmic infrared background (CIB) in the same area of the sky as observed in a previous study. An irregular glow of low-energy X-rays in the CXB matched the patchiness of the CIB and the only other object that is known to sufficiently laminate across this wide an energy range is a black hole. The team concluded that primordial black holes must have been abundant among the earliest stars, making up at least one out of every five of the sources contributing to the CIB.

'This study is an effort to bring together a broad set of ideas and observations to test how well they fit, and the fit is surprisingly good,' said Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

'If this is correct, then all galaxies, including our own, are embedded within a vast sphere of black holes each about 30 times the sun's mass.'

In 2005, Kashlinsky led a team of astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to explore the background glow of infrared light in one part of the sky.

The researchers reported excessive patchiness in the glow and concluded it was likely caused by the aggregate light of the first sources to illuminate the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

Follow-up studies confirmed that this cosmic infrared background (CIB) showed similar unexpected structure in other parts of the sky.

About eight years later, another study looked at how the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) detected by Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory compared to the CIB in the same area of the sky.

The team found that the first stars emitted mainly optical and ultraviolet light, which today is stretched into the infrared by the expansion of space, so they should not contribute significantly to the CXB.

However, the irregular glow of low-energy X-rays in the CXB matched the patchiness of the CIB and the only other object that is known to sufficiently laminate across this wide an energy range is a black hole.

After masking out all known stars, galaxies and artifacts and enhancing what's left, an irregular background glow appears. This is the cosmic infrared background (CIB); lighter colors indicate brighter areas. The CIB glow is more irregular than can be explained by distant unresolved galaxies

The team concluded that primordial black holes must have been abundant among the earliest stars, making up at least one out of every five of the sources contributing to the CIB.

Nasa is currently investigating this issue as part of its Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope missions.

'These studies are providing increasingly sensitive results, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where dark matter particles can hide,' Kashlinsky said.

'The failure to find them has led to renewed interest in studying how well primordial black holes -- black holes formed in the universe's first fraction of a second -- could work as dark matter.'

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF DARK MATTER WAS MADE OF THE BLACK HOLES FOUND BY LIGO? The black holes distort the distribution of mass in the early universe, adding a small fluctuation that has consequences hundreds of millions of years later, when the first stars begin to form. For much of the universe's first 500 million years, normal matter remained too hot to coalesce into the first stars. Dark matter was unaffected by the high temperature because, it primarily interacts through gravity. Aggregating by mutual attraction, dark matter first collapsed into clumps called minihaloes, which provided a gravitational seed enabling normal matter to accumulate. Hot gas collapsed toward the minihaloes, resulting in pockets of gas dense enough to further collapse on their own into the first stars. Kashlinsky shows that if black holes play the part of dark matter, this process occurs more rapidly and easily produces the lumpiness of the CIB detected in Spitzer data even if only a small fraction of minihaloes manage to produce stars. As cosmic gas fell into the minihaloes, their constituent black holes would naturally capture some of it too. Matter falling toward a black hole heats up and ultimately produces X-rays. Together, infrared light from the first stars and X-rays from gas falling into dark matter black holes can account for the observed agreement between the patchiness of the CIB and the CXB. Occasionally, some primordial black holes will pass close enough to be gravitationally captured into binary systems. The black holes in each of these binaries will, over eons, emit gravitational radiation, lose orbital energy and spiral inward, ultimately merging into a larger black hole like the event LIGO observed.

Physicists have outlined several ways in which the hot, rapidly expanding universe could produce primordial black holes in the first thousandths of a second after the Big Bang.

The older the universe is when these mechanisms take hold, the larger the black holes can be.

And because the window for creating them lasts only a tiny fraction of the first second, scientists expect primordial black holes would exhibit a narrow range of masses.

On September 14 gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years away were captured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.

New study suggest that information and everything else isn't vaporized, it slowly leaks out during the later stages of the black hole's evaporation. Researchers combined Hawking radiation with mathematical tools and high-performance computers to create a simulation showing when information enters and leaves a black hole

This event marked the first-ever detection of gravitational waves as well as the first direct detection of black holes.

The signal provided LIGO scientists with information about the masses of the individual black holes, which were 29 and 36 times the sun's mass, plus or minus about four solar masses.

WHAT ARE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES Scientists view the the universe as being made up of a 'fabric of space-time'. This corresponds to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1916. Objects in the universe bend this fabric, and more massive objects bend it more. Gravitational waves are considered ripples in this fabric. They can be produced, for instance, when black holes orbit each other or by the merging of galaxies. Gravitational waves are also thought to have been produced during the Big Bang. If found, they would not only confirm the Big Bang theory but also offer insights into fundamental physics. For instance, they could shed light on the idea that, at one point, most or all of the forces of nature were combined into a single force. In March 2014, a team operating the Bicep2 telescope, based near the South Pole, believed they had found gravitational waves, but their results were proven to be inaccurate.

These values were both unexpectedly large and surprisingly similar, explained the researchers.

'Depending on the mechanism at work, primordial black holes could have properties very similar to what LIGO detected,' Kashlinsky explained.

'If we assume this is the case, that LIGO caught a merger of black holes formed in the early universe, we can look at the consequences this has on our understanding of how the cosmos ultimately evolved.'

In the most recent paper, published May 24, 2016, Kashlinsky analyses what might have happened if dark matter consisted of a population of black holes similar to those detected by LIGO.

The black holes distort the distribution of mass in the early universe, adding a small fluctuation that has consequences hundreds of millions of years later, when the first stars begin to form.

For much of the universe's first 500 million years, normal matter remained too hot to coalesce into the first stars.

Dark matter was unaffected by the high temperature because, it primarily interacts through gravity.

Aggregating by mutual attraction, dark matter first collapsed into clumps called minihaloes, which provided a gravitational seed enabling normal matter to accumulate.

Hot gas collapsed toward the minihaloes, resulting in pockets of gas dense enough to further collapse on their own into the first stars.

Kashlinsky shows that if black holes play the part of dark matter, this process occurs more rapidly and easily produces the lumpiness of the CIB detected in Spitzer data even if only a small fraction of minihaloes manage to produce stars.

As cosmic gas fell into the minihaloes, their constituent black holes would naturally capture some of it too.

Matter falling toward a black hole heats up and ultimately produces X-rays.

Together, infrared light from the first stars and X-rays from gas falling into dark matter black holes can account for the observed agreement between the patchiness of the CIB and the CXB.

Occasionally, some primordial black holes will pass close enough to be gravitationally captured into binary systems.

The black holes in each of these binaries will, over eons, emit gravitational radiation, lose orbital energy and spiral inward, ultimately merging into a larger black hole like the event LIGO observed.
All who felt wealthy had an easier time approaching an attractive person

Men who felt relatively rich were less satisfied with partner's appearance

Then, they conducted two experiments to see how this

Emotional connection might help to spur a new relationship, but according to a recent study, money plays a significant role as well.

Researchers in China examined the influence of perceived wealth status on romantic behaviour, using two experiments to prime participants feelings of having relatively more or less money.

The study suggests humans engage in 'conditional mating strategies,' basing their romantic choices on environmental factors.

Researchers in China examined the influence of perceived wealth status on romantic behaviour, using two experiments to prime participants feelings of having relatively more or less money. The study suggests humans engage in 'conditional mating strategies,' basing their romantic choices on environmental factors

WHAT THE STUDY FOUND Researchers in China conducted two experiments to understand the influence of relative wealth on romantic choices. Participants were randomly assigned to a relatively wealthy, or relatively poor group, and given various exercises to emphasize these feelings. In the first experiment, they found that men who had been primed to feel that they were comparably rich were less satisfied with their partners appearance than those who had been made to feel poor. For women, however, those who felt wealthy did not report a significant difference in satisfaction regarding their partners appearance in comparison to the other group. In the second experiment, they found that wealthy participants, both men and women, exhibited a greater behavioural approach tendency, finding it easier to approach an attractive member of the opposite sex. Researchers say these findings suggest individuals adopt conditional mating strategies, adjusting their approach based on environmental situations, including possession of wealth. Advertisement

In the study, published recently to the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers recruited Chinese college students who were involved in heterosexual long term relationships.

Participants were then randomly assigned to a relatively wealthy, or relatively poor group.

We wanted a better understanding of the psychological importance of money in the development of romantic relationships because very little is known about this subject, explained Professor Darius Chan from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong.

That way people would have a better perspective of the relationships they are in.

For the first experiment, the researchers asked the students to respond to questions regarding their financial status, using a different scale depending on the assigned condition.

This was done under the expectation that those in the wealthy group would likely choose the highest amount of money listed, while those in the poor group would make selections at the bottom of the scale.

Then, they were asked to indicate their satisfaction with their personal finances, followed by a measure of satisfaction on their romantic partner, including questions on physical attractiveness and resources.

The researchers found that men who had been primed to feel that they were comparably rich were less satisfied with their partners appearance than those who had been made to feel poor, and were more interested in short term relationships.

This suggests that mens mating preferences are influenced by their perception of how wealthy they are, the researchers explain.

In women, however, those who felt wealthy did not report a significant difference in satisfaction regarding their partners appearance in comparison to the other group.

The second experiment examined the effect of perceived wealth on the participants interactions with members of the opposite sex.

Using a separate mental stimulation exercise, the researchers again primed the participants to feel as though they had relatively less or more money.

Then, they arranged a fictitious encounter with an attractive member of the opposite sex, and analysed the distance at which the participants chose to sit in relation to a chair in which the other person was expected to soon be seated.

The researchers found that men who had been primed to feel that they were comparably rich were less satisfied with their partners appearance than those who had been made to feel poor. This suggests that mens mating preferences are influenced by their perception of how wealthy they are

The researchers found that the wealthy participants, both men and women, exhibited a greater behavioural approach tendency, finding it easier to approach an attractive member of the opposite sex.

Those who had been made to feel they had less money were less likely to behave this way.

But, both men and women of all wealth levels chose a closer seat to the people theyd rated more attractive.

Researchers say these findings suggest individuals adopt conditional mating strategies, adjusting their approach based on environmental situations, including possession of wealth.

We remarked that wealthy men attach more importance to a mates physical attractiveness setting higher standards and preferring to engage in short-term mating than those who have less money, Chan said.

However, for committed women, money may lead to less variation in their mating strategies because losing a long-term relationship generally has a higher reproductive cost.

The study was so far limited to a particular culture, but the researchers say this plays a role for human mating overall.
Supermassive black holes are some of the heaviest objects in our universe, with the largest weighing in at 40 billion times the mass of our sun.

But everything has to start somewhere and the origin of these colossal cosmological objects - found at the centre of almost every galaxy - has baffled scientists for decades.

Now astronomers have captured a glimpse at what they think were the 'seeds' for supermassive black holes, by peering back into the early universe.

Scroll down for video

Astronomers have glimpsed a look at what they think were the 'seeds' for super-massive black holes, by peering back into the early universe. This artist's impression shows one of the possible seeds for the formation of a supermassive black hole, after two were observed by an Italian team of astronomers

The newly observed 'seed candidates' are black holes around 100,000 times the mass of our sun.

The fact they were observed so early in the universe indicates they probably formed when a massive cloud of gas collapses, kick-starting the supermassive black holes into life.

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES: THE TWO THEORIES OF THEIR BIRTH There are two main theories to explain the formation of supermassive black holes in the early universe. One assumes the seeds grow out of black holes with a mass about ten to a hundred times greater than our sun, after the collapse of a massive star. The black hole seeds then grew through mergers with other small black holes and by pulling in gas from their surroundings. But, they would have to grow at an unusually high rate to reach the mass of supermassive black holes already discovered in the billion years young universe. The new findings support a second scenario . This theory suggests at least some very massive black hole seeds with 100,000 times the mass of the sun formed directly when a massive cloud of gas collapses. In this case the growth of the black holes would be jump started, and would proceed more quickly.

Supermassive black holes contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun.

In the modern universe they can be found in the centre of nearly all large galaxies, including the Milky Way, and are thought to be the glue that holds these galaxies together, through their immense gravity.

Understanding how they are formed and their evolution could give important clues as to how galaxies themselves form.

The group applied new computer models to data from three of Nasa's space telescopes to identify two of these 'seed candidates'.

Nasa's space telescopes looks far into the distance, allowing astronomers to see what the universe was like near its beginning.

As light takes a long time to reach us from so far away, light from the objects that are billions of light years away was given off billions of years ago.

Both of the black hole seeds were seen over 12 billion years ago, less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

They had an initial mass of about 100,000 times the sun.

'Our discovery, if confirmed, would explain how these monster black holes were born,' said Fabio Pacucci, lead author of the study, from Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy.

'There is a lot of controversy over which path these black holes take,' said co-author Andrea Ferrara.

This image shows one of two detected supermassive black hole seeds, OBJ29323, taken by the Nasa/Esa Hubble Space Telescope. Supermassive black holes contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun. In the modern universe they can be found in the centre of nearly all large galaxies, including the Milky Way

There are two contending theories to explain how supermassive black holes formed in the early universe.

These objects would point to one of the two, suggesting at least some very massive black hole seeds with 100,000 times the mass of the sun formed directly when a massive cloud of gas collapsed.

This would 'kick-start' the formation of the supermassive black holes, and explain how they formed so quickly.

'Our work suggests we are converging on one answer, where black holes start big and grow at the normal rate, rather than starting small and growing at a very fast rate.'

This image shows one of two detected supermassive black hole seeds, OBJ29323, taken by the Nasa Chandra Space Telescope. The properties of the X-ray data match those predicted by models produced by the Italian research team

In this theory, the growth of the black holes would be jump started, and would proceed more quickly.

Andrea Grazian, a co-author from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy said: 'Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult.

'However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates so far.'

Even though both black hole seed candidates match the theoretical predictions, further observations are needed to confirm their true nature.

To fully distinguish between the two theories, it will also be necessary to find more candidates, the researchers said.
The Black Death was one of the most destructive epidemics in history, estimated to have claimed the lives of up to 200 million people across Europe between 1346 and 1353.

But exactly how the plague decimated individual towns and villages has been relatively poorly understood.

A new study, however, has used the shards of medieval pottery to reveal the terrible toll the disease took in rural locations in England.

Archaeologists used pottery dug up from 55 rural settlements to estimate the impact of the Black Death on villages in the east of England. Some communities almost completely disappeared. Overall pottery declined by 45 per cent in pottery between the early medieval (pictured left) and the late medieval (right) period

The research by archaeologists at the University of Lincoln, used broken pottery as a proxy for the presence of human populations.

They discovered 'eye-watering' declines in population within rural communities, with pottery in some areas disappearing altogether.

It suggests that entire rural communities were devastated by the plague and shows that the disease had an impact that extended far beyond the densely populated cities like London.

EXCAVATING POTTERY ACROSS THE EAST OF ENGLAND Data was gathered from more than 2,000 one-metre square test-pits excavated by members of the public under professional archaeological supervision. This was done between 2005 and 2014 across the six counties of eastern England. These spanned 55 different rural settlements which are inhabited today. Of those 55 locations, 90 per cent recorded a decline in the number of test pits yielding two or more sherds. Overall there was a decline of 45 per cent in pottery finds between the early medieval and the late medieval periods across the area studied. Advertisement

Professor Carenza Lewis, an archaeologist at the University of Lincoln, said: 'The true scale of devastation wrought by the Black Death in England during the 'calamitous' fourteenth century has been a topic of much debate among historians and archaeologists.

'Pottery use fell by almost a half in eastern England in the centuries immediately after the Black Death.

'This supports the emerging consensus that the population of England remained somewhere between 35 and 55 per cent below its pre-Black Death level well into the sixteenth century.'

The researchers drew together data from thousands of excavation pits excavated in rural locations across the East of England over the past decade.

These results indicate which places were most severely hit by plague, from the level of individual plots and parishes up to whole towns and counties.

In some locations, such as Binham in Norfolk and Great Amwell in Hertfordshire, declines exceeded 70 per cent.

Fragments of pottery found in medieval communities (pictured above) were used as a proxy for the presence of human populations. They showed a dramatic decline after the Black Death

In other locations it appears entire villages were devastated.

In some communities, such as Great Shelford in Cambridgeshire and the village of Daws Heath in Essex, evidence for pottery completely disappears.

Professor Lewis added: 'Realistically, it is probably safest to infer the population was almost wiped out, as we havent dug every square inch of the village.'

Recent studies have led to an increase in the estimates of mortality from the Black Death.

But the discussion remains hindered by a lack of consistent, reliable and scalable population data for the period.

Data was gathered from more than 2,000 one-metre square test-pits excavated by members of the public under professional archaeological supervision. Pictured here are members of the public excavating in Ashwell

Professor Carenza Lewis, who led the study, said 'This new research offers a novel solution to that evidential challenge, using finds of pottery - a highly durable indicator of human presence - as a proxy for population change in a manner that is both scalable and replicable.'

'This new research suggests there is an almost unlimited reservoir of new evidence capable of revealing change in settlement and demography still surviving beneath today's rural parishes, towns and villages.
You can smile all you like, but children know if you're faking it or not.

New research has shown toddlers' ability to pick out who is smiling for real shows a crucial social skill appearing early on in development.

The team behind the study say that being able to differentiate a genuine smile from a fake is important as it helps people to choose social partners who will cooperate and are less likely to cheat them.

A child psychology has found that being able to differentiate a genuine smile from a fake emerges early on in childhood. The key skill is important as it helps people to choose social partners who will cooperate and are less likely to cheat them. Stock image

Over the course of five studies, a team of developmental psychologists in the UK and Germany looked at close to 170 children aged two to five years old.

They showed that as children develop they become better at differentiating between types of smile and associating them with social skills.

At just three years old, children were able to discriminate smiles through their gaze. But by four- and five-year-olds were expect people with genuine smiles to be more social.

According to researchers, children's ability to pick out who is smiling for real shows a crucial social skill appears early on in development.

In the first trial, three- and four-year-olds were asked to look at two pictures of a model and pick in which of the photos the model was really smiling and why.

The results showed that on average the older children could pick out the genuine smile 75 per cent of the time.

Researchers found the ability to pick the real smilers emerged early on in development and by age five, children were able to associate meaning to real smiles and pick out which person was more likely to be 'nice' and share with them. Stock image

They tended to focus on the mouth area, telling researches they picked the photo because the mouth was open, or mentioned laughing.

PICKING OUT WHO TO TRUST Researchers in Germany and the UK have shown that picking out real from fake smiles develops early on in a child's development. They showed that as they develop they become better at differentiating between types of smile and associating them with social skills. Over a series of studies, groups of children aged two to five years old had to choose between images of genuine and fake smiles. Eye tracking revealed that the ability may start to emerge at just two years of age. By age five, children were able to associate meaning to real smiles and pick out which person was more likely to be 'nice' and share with them. Advertisement

Younger children were unable to identify the 'real' smile little more than chance, and most weren't able to say why they picked it.

A follow up trial focused on how the three-year-olds interpreted the genuine smile, showing them the same images and asking which of the two people in the pictures they liked better.

But the results showed again, they were not really choosing the genuine smile any more than by chance.

Using eye tracking software on the younger children showed their gaze lingered longer over the images of the genuine smilers, indicating that although they may not be able to consciously choose or reason why, they are starting to discriminate between genuine and fake smiles at just three years old.

A simplified version of the same test on two-year-olds showed that the children same test on two-year-olds showed that the youngest toddlers more or less looked at both pictures equally, but gave hints that they may just be starting to develop the ability to pick out genuine smiles.

The final study looked at the eldest children, four- and five-year-olds, showing them the images and asking to pick the 'nicer' person from the two, and who they thought would share more with them.

Photos were presented as twins, with the children told that while they look the same, they may not always act the same, and that while one of two would share stickers they had the other twin would keep them to themselves.

Four- and five-year-olds showed that not only could they pick out the genuine smiles, but they were able to associate social meaning to it. Stock image

Children showed that not only could they pick out the genuine smiles, but they were able to associate social meaning to it.

'They expect people who display genuine smiles to be nicer and more likely to share stickers with them,' reports Ruiting Song, a psychologist at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, and first author of the study.

'They thus show some understanding of the link between genuine smiles and prosociality, and they can use these subtle social signals to make appropriate inferences about potential interaction partners.'

Writing in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, the authors explain: 'Humans have evolved signals for displaying cooperative intentone such signal is smiling.'

They add: 'Here we demonstrate that, when tested with simple methods, even very young children can discriminate between genuine and fake smiles and use them as social cues to evaluate others' cooperative potential.
Advertisement

After being delayed due to safety reasons, the Solar Impulse 2 has taken flight for the 13th leg of its projected 16-leg east-west circumnavigation.

The Swiss-made, solar-powered plane left Dayton, Ohio en route for Pennsylvania early this morning after being grounded when a hangar collapsed on the aircraft late Monday.

This 466 mile journey is part of Solar Impulse 2's attempt to make a record breaking trip around the world using only the energy supplied by the sun.

Scroll down for video

After a delay over safety reasons, the Solar Impulse 2 has taken flight for the 13th leg of its projected 16-leg east-west circumnavigation. The Swiss-made solar-powered plane left Dayton, Ohio en route for Pennsylvania early this morning after being grounded after a hangar collapsed on the aircraft late Monday. The aircraft flew over San Francisco in April (pictured) where it landed at Moffett Field

HOW DOES SOLAR IMPULSE WORK? Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. Its wingspan is longer than a jumbo jet but its light construction keeps its weight to about as much as a car. Solar Impulse 2 relies on getting enough solar power during the day to survive the night. It is also extremely light - about the weight of a car - and as wide as a passenger jet. Both of these combined means it is extremely susceptible to the weather. In high winds it can struggle to stay aloft at the altitudes necessary to gather sunlight. Advertisement

The Solar Impulse 2 flight had been originally scheduled for early Tuesday, as it was ready to make the 17 hour journey from Dayton International Airport in Ohio to Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

But problems arose with the fan needed to keep the plane's giant mobile hangar inflated.

While rebooting the system the deflating hangar fabric touched parts of the airplane, which is encased in 17,000 solar panels.

A statement released by the Solar Impulse 2 team on Monday night said the decision to postpone the flight to Lehigh Valley had been made for safety reasons.

It said: 'Let's remember that airplane safety and risk mitigation is of paramount importance and hence we want to ensure that the structures that were touched are in perfect working order.'

'After the fans that keep the mobile hangar inflated experienced a brief power failure, the plane underwent checks to verify that no damages resulted from the event.'

Flight engineers gave a go-ahead after closely inspecting the plane for damage.

The gangly plane, which travels at an average speeds of only 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour, flew out of the Dayton International Airport on time this morning at 4 am.

'I'm a bit sad to leave Dayton, the city of the Wright Brothers, but also excited to continue our adventure,' Betrand Piccard, a psychiatrist and balloonist who became the first person to complete a non-stop hot air venture around the world, wrote in a brief message posted on the organizer's blog.

The Solar Impulse 2 flight proved successful this morning, after a one-day delay due to safety issues. The Swiss-made aircraft left Dayton International Airport in Ohio to Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania at 4 am this morning. The trip is 466 miles and should be completed in 17 hours

Solar Impulse 2 moves through the sky after taking off from Dayton International Airport in Ohio to Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown Pennsylvania. It had been scheduled for early Tuesday, but was grounded late Monday night due to safety concerns. While rebooting the system the deflating hangar fabric touched parts of the airplane, which is encased in 17,000 solar panels

Piccard said he dedicated this flight to the engineers 'who worked all night to make sure #Si2 could fly to Lehigh Valley today. A fantastic team!'

The Solar Impulse 2 has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi.

The solar-powered aircraft is over half way through a round-the-world journey that is attempting to prove how solar energy could be used to power the future of air transport.

'If an airplane can fly day and night without fuel, everybody could use these same technologies on the ground to halve our world's energy consumption, save natural resources and improve our quality of life,' Piccard said in a news release.

'Our hope is to motivate everyone to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels in their daily lives and encourage concrete actions for sustainability.'

With a wingspan exceeding that of a Boeing 747 but an ultra-light carbon-fiber skin and overall weight of a car, it cruises at speeds ranging from only 34 to 62 miles per hour (55 to 100 km/h).

The Solar Impulse 2 has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi Solar Impulse 2 (pictured as it landed in Moffett Field in Mountain View, California) is more than half way through a round the world journey using just the power of the sun

Mr Piccard and Mr Borschberg have been taking turns flying the plane on an around-the-world trip since taking off from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in March 2015 (route pictured). The plane's maximum altitude is 27,900ft (8,500m) but drops to 3,280ft (1,000m) when the pilot takes 20-minute catnaps

The four engines of the propeller-driven aircraft are powered exclusively by energy collected from more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings.

And excess energy is stored in four batteries during daylight hours to keep the plane flying after dark.

The globe-circling voyage began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan.

The plane can climb to 28,000 feet (8,500 meters), but generally flies at lower altitudes at night to conserve energy.

Piccard and his colleague Andre Borschberg have been taking turns piloting the plane on each leg of the journey.

With a wingspan exceeding that of a Boeing 747 but an ultra-light carbon-fiber skin and overall weight of a car, it cruises at speeds ranging from only 34 to 62 miles per hour (55 to 100 km/h). The four engines of the propeller-driven aircraft are powered exclusively by energy collected from more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings. It was spotted over the Golden Gate Bridge this past April

Solar Impulse 2 has finished the latest leg in its record-breaking quest to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard (left) and pilot Andre Borschberg landed in Dayton, Ohio, late on Saturday as he finished the twelfth leg of the round-the-world trip in the experimental solar-powered aircraft

Borschberg set a new endurance record for the longest non-stop solo flight last July during a 118-hour trans-Pacific crossing, over five days and five nights, from Japan to Hawaii.

He also set new duration and distance records for solar-powered flight.

Battery damage sustained during the crossing kept the aircraft grounded for nine months.

The Swiss team's ultimate goal is to achieve the first round-the-world solar-powered flight, part of its campaign to bolster support for clean-energy technologies.

The solar project began in 2002 to bring awareness to the importance of renewable energy and spark an interest in innovation, which has costed the team more than $100 million.

The plane can climb to 28,000 feet (8,500 meters), but generally flies at lower altitudes at night to conserve energy. The Swiss team's ultimate goal is to achieve the first round-the-world solar-powered flight, part of its campaign to bolster support for clean-energy technologies. Before leaving Ohio, Solar Impulse landed in Tulsa, Oklahoma (pictured) from Phoenix, Arizona
The complex structure means they must have worked together in groups

At this time Neanderthals were the only living humans in Europe

Researchers have dated two of the structures to 176,000 years ago

Around 400 structures were found 1,100 feet from the entrance of a cave

For years Neanderthals were depicted as thuggish cavemen that scraped an existence on the cold barren plains of ice age Europe.

But a series of discoveries are now revealing Neanderthals in new light, suggesting they were skilled tool makers with adept hand eye coordination.

Now a 'remarkable' discovery of a ring-like stone structures in a cave in France suggests Neanderthals worked in teams to build complex structures.

In 1992, a cave in south west France was discovered with around 400 structures made from broken stalagmites, about 1100 feet (336 metres) from the cave's entrance (pictured). A team of researchers at the University of Bordeaux have dated the structures to 176,000 years ago

Stone buildings are thought to have only emerged in modern humans with the development of farming around 10,000 years ago.

But the new study, which is published in the journal Nature, suggest that 176,000 years ago, Neanderthals were already constructing stone structures in a cave in south west France.

THE BRUNIQUEL CAVE In 1992, a cave in south west France was discovered with around 400 structures made from broken stalagmites, about 1100 feet (336 metres) from the cave's entrance. Until recently, the structures in the Bruniquel cave had remained unstudied. Now a team of researchers at the University of Bordeaux have dated the structures to 176,000 years ago. The presence of the mysterious structures so deep in the cave, along with marks caused by fire, shows the Neanderthals must have mastered how to work underground and use their own artificial light. Advertisement

Archaeologists first discovered the ring of 400 broken pieces of stalagmites about 1,100 feet (336 metres) from the entrance of the Bruniquel cave in 1992.

They formed several rings - one of which was nearly 22 feet wide.

However, they remained unstudied until a team of researchers at the University of Bordeaux decided to look at them.

They have now dated the structures to 176,000 years ago.

They say the structures could have formed part of a refuge or had a symbolic meaning to the Neanderthals who built them.

'We did not expect a Neanderthal attendance in the deep underground cave, so far from the entrance,' Professor Jacques Jaubert, lead author of the study, told MailOnline.

He said the structures suggest the Neanderthals must have moved up to 2.5 tons (2.3 tonnes) of material to build them.

Neanderthals were once depicted as thuggish cavemen that scraped an existence on the cold lands of ice age Europe. But a series of discoveries are now putting Neanderthals into a new light, suggesting they were skilled tool makers with adept hand eye coordination

The structures in the Bruniquel cave (3D reconstruction of structures after deleting more recent stalagmite growth pictured) were dated to be 176,500-years-old. There were 400 of these broken staligmites that had been arranged into rings that totalled 367 feet (112 metres) in length

The presence of the mysterious structures so deep in the cave (pictured) along with marks caused by fire, shows the Neanderthals must have mastered how to work underground and use their own artificial light

This, he said, would have required a remarkable amount of cooperation as the group worked together with a preconceived plan with leaders, advisers and manufacturers.

HOW WERE THE STRUCTURES BUILT The Neanderthals must have moved 400 pieces, weighing up to 2.5 tons (2.3 tonnes). It would have required the group to work together with a preconceived plan with leaders, advisers and manufacturers. 'All this indicates a structured society,' lead author Professor Jacques Jaubert told MailOnline. Previous examples of human habitation reach 98 or 130 feet (30 or 40 metres) into the dark zones of caves from sites of this or even greater age in Africa. 'But the Bruniquel occupation is around ten times deeper into the cave, and shows constructions as complex as some made by modern humans only 20 or 30,000 years ago,' Professor Stringer said. This means they must have had some form of artificial light. Advertisement

He said: 'All this indicates a structured society - having a project, then to find the raw material, then tear [the] stalagmites. Then fragmenting, knapping [them] into regular elements.'

The researchers also found the remains of marks left by fire, which suggests the Neanderthals used artificial light to help them work so far underground.

The findings 'would be significant for any period of time, but at around 175,000 years, these must have been made by early Neanderthals, the only known human inhabitants of Europe at this time,' Professor Chris Stringer, anthropologist at the Natural History Museum, who was not involved in the research, told MailOnline.

Neanderthals lived in Eurasia from around 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, at which point anatomically modern humans settled in.

Previous examples of human habitation reach 98 or 130 feet (30 or 40 metres) into the dark zones of caves from sites of this or even greater age in Africa.

'But the Bruniquel occupation is around ten times deeper into the cave, and shows constructions as complex as some made by modern humans only 20 or 30,000 years ago,' Professor Stringer said.

'This discovery provides clear evidence that Neanderthals had fully human capabilities in the planning and the construction of 'stone' structures, and that some of them penetrated deep into caves where artificial lighting would have been essential.'.

The Neanderthals must have moved 400 pieces, weighing up to 2.5 tons (2.3 tonnes). It would have required the group to work together with a preconceived plan with leaders, advisers and manufacturers. 'All this indicates a structured society'

In 1992, a cave in south west France was discovered with around 400 structures made from broken stalagmites, about 1,100 feet (336 metres) from the cave's entrance. Location of the cave in France pictured

The Bruniquel occupation (pictured) is around ten times deeper into the cave than any other construction found from this time, and shows constructions as complex as some made by modern humans only 20 or 30,000 years ago

SMART, SOPHISTICATED AND ARTISTIC: THE NEW VIEW OF NEANDERTHALS Neanderthals first emerged around 280,000 years ago, spreading to inhabit much of Europe and parts of Asia, but they eventually died out 40,000 years ago. The reason for their demise was often put down to being a more primative species of human that was unable to compete against the more sophisticated Homo sapiens. They were depicted as thuggish cavemen that scraped an existence on the cold lands of ice age Europe. However, a series of discoveries are now putting Neanderthals into a new light. Stone tools discovered at sites they inhabited suggest they were skilled tool makers with adept hand eye coordination. A 60,000-year-old multi-purpose bone tool unearthed in France also suggests Neanderthals understood how to use bones to make useful devices A recent discovery by researchers at the Museum National d'Histories Naturelle in Paris suggests that Neanderthals may have built homes using the materials they found around them. They discovered a 26 feet wide building created 44,000 years ago from mammoth bones. Many of the bones had also been decorated carvings and ochre pigments. Cross-hatched engravings found inside Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar are also thought to be the first known examples of Neanderthal rock art. DNA analysis has also shown that Neanderthals carried the same genes that are thought to have enabled modern humans to speak. Eight talons found at a 130,000 year old Neanderthal site in Krapina in Croatia are also thought to be the world's first jewellery, and may have been worn as a necklace. Now the latest evidence mounting in favour of a more sophisticated view of the ancient humans is the structures found 1100 feet (330 metres) deep into a cave in France. Neanderthals may have used the powdered rocks to lower the temperatures needed to light wood shavings. If they controlled fire in this way, then it has wide ranging implications for their cognitive abilities, society and culture. A stock image illustrating Neanderthals around a fire is pictured Advertisement

The complex Bruniquel structures have been dated to within a long cold glacial stage, and at that time the cave might have provided a temporary refuge from the cold. The location of the cave in south west France pictured

ARE NEANDERTHALS TO BLAME FOR OUR MODERN DISEASES? Neanderthals and modern humans are thought to have co-existed for thousands of years and interbred, meaning Europeans now have roughly two per cent Neanderthal DNA. These 'legacy' genes have been linked to an increased risk from cancer and diabetes by new studies looking at our evolutionary history. However, some genes we inherited could have also improved our immunity to other diseases. Scientists have found that part of our HLA system, which helps white blood cells to identify and destroy foreign material in the body, could have come from Neanderthals. Other researchers have suggested that humans outside Africa are more vulnerable to Type 2 Diabetes because they interbred with Neanderthals. Researchers from Oxford and Plymouth universities have also found that genes thought to be risk factors in cancer were present in the Neanderthal genome. A gene that can cause diabetes in Latin Americans is also thought to have come from Neanderthals, long before their ancestors colonised the New World. Another recent genetic study by scientists at the University at Buffalo has suggested that Neanderthals may have suffered from psoriasis and Crohn's disease, a condition that affects the digestive system. Advertisement

'If the dates are correct then this is a hugely exciting development in our understanding of the lives of the Neanderthals,' Dr Simon Underdown, senior lecturer in Biological Anthropology from Oxford Brookes University told MailOnline.

'The considerable time and effort needed to build such a structure clearly indicates a shared plan and extensive cooperation.'

The complex Bruniquel structures have been dated to within a long cold glacial stage, and at that time the cave might have provided a temporary refuge from the cold.

'It's finally time to put away the old image of the Neanderthals as stupid and embrace them as a fully human species,' added Dr Underdown.

But why the Neanderthals built the structures remains a mystery.

'The purpose of the structures and concentrated combustion zones which are mostly on the broken stalagmites rather than on the ground remain enigmatic, but they demonstrate that some Neanderthals, at least, were as much 'at home' deep within the cave as at its entrance' Professor Stringer said.

The researchers hope to excavate the site to find remains of the humans that may have constructed the structures.

'The project this year [is] to make a test-pit inside the great structure, to survey the archaeological soil and, if it's possible, to find some remains' Professor Jaubert said.

If there is still-buried debris from occupation, it would help to determine whether this was a functional refuge or shelter, perhaps roofed using wood and skins, or something which had more symbolic or ritual significance.

The fossilised remains of Neanderthals, like the skull above, are revealing more details about the human cousins' lifestyles. DNA analysis has also shown that Neanderthals carried the same genes that are thought to have enabled modern humans to speak

'It's finally time to put away the old image of the Neanderthals as stupid and embrace them as a fully human species,' Dr Simon Underdown senior lecturer in Biological Anthropology from Oxford Brookes University told MailOnline
The former office manager of Briggs Distributing admitted on Tuesday that she stole money from the company and then lied about her income on tax returns.

Kimberlee Dunn, 64, of Billings, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and to tax evasion. A plea agreement calls for other wire fraud and tax evasion counts to be dismissed at sentencing.

Prosecutor Colin Rubich said that Dunn, office manager, stole about $179,224 from Briggs Distributing during a four-year period from 2010 until April 2014. The company distributes craft and imported beers, flavored malt beverages, fine wines and several non-alcoholic beverages to several Montana counties.

Dunns attorney, Assistant Federal Defender David Merchant, said Dunn thought she started stealing in 2012 and didnt know the exact amount stolen but admitted it was more than $25,000.

I took money from Briggs that I shouldnt have taken. Im so ashamed I did what I did, Dunn told U.S. District Judge Susan Watters.

To hide the thefts, Dunn fraudulently applied checks and credits she received for other customer accounts to customer accounts from which she had stolen cash, Rubich said.

Dunn created false entries and reports in the companys accounting software system. The system showed that every fraudulent account entry was made by Dunns user account, which was password protected. Dunn also was the sole authorized user, Rubich said.

A fellow employee uncovered Dunns scheme after seeing her apply a check to the wrong account. The employee reported Dunns actions to Briggs managers, who became aware of Dunns activities. The company fired her and contacted law enforcement.

Dunn also failed to report the stolen money as earned income for four years, Rubich said.

In 2014, Dunn falsely claimed a taxable income of $46,620 with a tax due of $1,573 for calendar year 2013. In reality, her actual income for calendar year 2013 was $92,685 and she owed $13,233 in taxes, Rubich said.

Dunn faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the wire fraud count.

Watters set sentencing for Sept. 22 and continued Dunns release.
Any sisters who have played a game of Monopoly with the family will know the feeling of wanting to beat their sibling, but this is usually harmless fun.

However it appears that in female meerkats, this sibling rivalry is rather more extreme.

New research has shown that female meerkats actively gain weight in order to out compete their younger sisters to ensure they can move up the social hierarchy.

Scroll down for video

Meerkats are intensely social and all group members engage in bouts of wrestling, chasing and play fighting

Researchers from the University of Cambridge studied wild Kalahari meerkats for a study that is published in the journal Nature.

Their findings suggest that if younger females gained weight, it sparked their older sisters to increase their daily food intake in a bid to outgrow their sibling.

Professor Tim Clutton-Brock, who led the study, said: 'Meerkats are intensely social and all group members engage in bouts of wrestling, chasing and play fighting, though juveniles and adolescents play more than adults.

'Since they live together in such close proximity and interact many times each day, it is unsurprising that individual meerkats are able to monitor each other's strength, weight and growth.'

The study identified pairs of sisters and artificially increased the growth of the younger member of each pair by feeding them three times a day with hard-boiled egg. The scientists weighed them and their older sisters daily for three months (pictured)

The study showed that if younger females gained weight, it sparked their older sisters to increase their daily food intake in a bid to outgrow their sibling

The study identified pairs of sisters and artificially increased the growth of the younger member of each pair by feeding them three times a day with hard-boiled eggs.

MEERKAT HIERARCHY Meerkats live in groups of up to 50 individuals, yet a single dominant pair will almost completely monopolise reproduction. Lower-ranking meerkats help to raise offspring through feeding and babysitting. Since only a small minority of individuals ever get to be dominants, competition for the breeding role is intense in both sexes and females are unusually aggressive to each other. Within groups, lower females are ranked in a hierarchy based on age and weight, forming a 'reproductive queue'. When dominant females die, they are usually replaced by their oldest and heaviest daughter, though younger sisters sometimes outgrow their older sisters and can replace them in breeding queues. Advertisement

The scientists weighed them and their older sisters daily for three months.

The results showed that the increased growth of younger females stimulated their older sisters to gain weight in an attempt to outgrow their rivals.

This suggests that lower-ranking meerkats keep tabs on those nearest them in the breeding queue, and make concerted efforts to ensure they are not overtaken in size and social status by younger and heavier meerkats.

But competitive growth does not stop there.

If a female meerkat gets to be a dominant breeder, her time in the role is longer if she is substantially heavier than the rest of her group.

In the first three months after acquiring the status as 'dominant breeder', females gain further weight to reduce the risk of being usurped.

This is the first evidence for competitive growth in mammals, but the authors suggest that this could also happen in other animals, and even humans.

Professor Clutton-Brock added 'Size really does matter and it is important to stay on top.'

The researchers found a similar strategy of competitive weight-gain in lower-ranking males.

However, unlike the females, male meerkats leave the group of their birth around the age of sexual maturity and attempt to displace males in other groups, rather than their siblings.

Lower-ranking meerkats keep tabs on those nearest them in the breeding queue, and make concerted efforts to ensure they are not overtaken in size and social status by younger and heavier meerkats

Meerkats live in groups of up to 50 individuals, yet a single dominant pair will almost completely monopolise reproduction




In Denver and Washington, D.C. soon and other locations over the summer

It is billed as the ultimate burger - but one containing absolutely no beef.

A California startup backed by Bill Gates and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has this week begun selling its 'beyond meat' burger in Whole Foods.

It's plant-based burger that stays moist and pink on the inside, while turning dark brown on the outside  and it 'bleeds' just like ground beef.

Scroll down for video

a California-based firm claims it has created a plant-based burger that stays moist and pink on the inside, while turning dark brown on the outside  and 'bleeds' just like ground beef. Beyond Burger is being sold at Whole Foods in Boulder, Colorado that uses pulverized beets to 'bleed'

HOW WAS BEYOND BURGER MADE? It took Beyond Meat seven years to create the plant-based burger, in which the team spent time 'understanding meat' and 'rebuilding' it in a plant-based form. Beyond Burger is made with 20 grams of vegetable protein (pea protein) and includes pulverized beets for the bleeding effect -- the team used thousands of beats during development. In order to develop the illusion of a juicy ground beef patty, the firm looked to researchers like Stanford University structural biologist Joseph Puglisi to devise a plan for layering plant fat. The result was a burger that stays moist, pink and juicy on the inside while cooking dark brown on the outside all while smelling like cooked ground beef and without soy or gluten. Beyond Meat isn't sharing their secret for layering plant fat in the patties.

Beyond Meat is selling its new Beyond Burger at a Whole Foods location in Boulder, Colorado that is made with 20 grams of vegetable protein and includes pulverized beets for the bleeding effect.

The firm unveiled its innovation at the Whole Foods location on Monday, which has been placed in the same case as beef, poultry, lamb and pork are sold, reports The New York Times.

Whole Foods distribution executive, who is a vegetarian himself, said he was sold on Beyond Meat's new product because it 'tasted, felt and chewed like any other burger.'

Unlike most veggie burgers, which are commonly blends of black beans and soy, Beyond Burger is made of pea protein.

It took the firm seven years to create the plant-based burger, in which the team spent time 'understanding meat' and 'rebuilding' it in a plant-based form.

'A lot of people love to eat meat,' said Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown.

'What I'm doing is allowing them to eat more of what they love, more meat.

'It's just meat from plants. That's the only difference.'

In order to develop the illusion of a juicy ground beef patty, the firm looked to researchers like Stanford University structural biologist Joseph Puglisi to devise a plan for layering plant fat.

The result was a burger that stays moist, pink and juicy on the inside while cooking dark brown on the outside all while smelling like cooked ground beef and without soy or gluten.

'It's hard to reduce flavor and aroma to an equation, particularly when you need a solution that is simple and flexible,' said Puglisi.

It's just meat from plants. That's the only difference

He told The Times the distribution of 'fat' is especially tricky to deal with and the firm has classified the method as top secret.

'We were able to get fat distributed throughout a patty  but in meat, fat is distributed in sheets,' he said. 'Plants don't have ligaments.'

Consumers in the Boulder area can pickup a package of two four-ounce Beyond Burgers for $5.99.

The product will be available in Denver and Washington, D.C., soon, as well other locations this summer.

Beyond Meat also produces other plant-based products such as chicken, meatballs and crumbled beef.

Brown believes that this is the era for plant-based burgers and says the market could reach $30 billion in the next year.

HOW DIETS AFFECT THE CLIMATE Oxford University researchers modeled the effects of four different diets by mid-century. This included a 'business as usual' scenario, one that follows global guidelines including minimum amounts of fruits and vegetables and limits on red meat, sugar and total calories, a vegetarian diet, and a vegan diet. Adopting a diet in line with the global guidelines could avoid 5.1 million deaths per year by 2050, while 8.1 million fewer people would die in a world of vegans. When it comes to climate change, following dietary recommendations would cut food-related emissions by 29 per cent, adopting vegetarian diets would cut them by 63 per cent and vegan diets by 70 per cent. Dietary shifts could produce savings of $700 billion to $1,000 billion per year on healthcare, unpaid care and lost working days, while the economic benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions could be as much as $570 billion.

The distribution of 'fat' is especially tricky to deal with and the firm has classified the method as top secret. Consumers in the Boulder area can pickup a package of two four-ounce Beyond Burgers for $5.99, which will soon be available in the east coast, according to Beyond Meat

Unlike most veggie burgers, which are commonly blends of black beans and soy, Beyond Burger is made of pea protein. It took the firm seven years to create the plant-based burger, in which the team spent time 'understanding meat' and 'rebuilding' it in a plant-based form

'If you look today, there's soy milk, almond milk,' said Brown.

'Three or four years from now, when you go into the meat section of any major supermarket, you'll be able to buy a plant-based version of meat right next to an animal version.'

In 2013, Bill Gates, who is one of Beyond Meat's backers, named the firm as one of three companies he believes will shape the future of future food industry.

Gates shared his experience in a blog post after trying a chicken taco made with plant-based meat from Beyond Meat.

'Like most people, I don't think I can be easily fooled. But that's just what happened when I was asked to taste a chicken taco and tell whether the meat inside was real or fake.

'The meat certainly had the look and the smell of chicken.

'I took a bite and it had the taste and texture of real chicken, too.

'But I was surprised to learn that there wasn't an ounce of real chicken it.

'The 'meat' was made entirely of plants. And yet, I couldn't tell the difference.'

Ethan Brown(pictured), founder of Beyond Meat, prepares a new version of the company's vegan burger at Haven's Kitchen in New York. Beyond Burger will be available in Denver and Washington, D.C., soon, as well other locations this summer

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, who is also a Beyond Meat backer, shared his opinion of the company's faux chicken to Fast Company as having a meaty mouth feel.

'It feels fatty and muscly and like it's not good for you when you're chewing it,' Stone said in 2012.

'For a long-time vegan, it's a little bit freaky.'

Beyond Meats isn't the only firm aiming to make the best tasting meatless meat products, as another is growing theirs in a lab.

Earlier this year, Memphis meats announced it will have animal-free products on the market in three to four years when it unveiled the first lab-grown meatball.

CAN A VEGETARIN DIET INCREASK RISK OF HEART DISEASE AND CANCER? Researchers found a long-term vegetarian diet means populations are more likely to carry DNA that makes them vulnerable to inflammation. The mutation is believed to make it easier for vegetarians to absorb necessary fatty acids from plants, but also boosts their production of arachidonic acid, which increases inflammatory disease and cancer. This, coupled with a diet rich in vegetable oils, means the mutated gene turns fatty acids into arachidonic acid. In order to develop the illusion of a juicy ground beef patty, the firm looked to researchers like Stanford University structural biologist Joseph Puglisi to devise a plan for layering plant fat. The result was a burger that stays moist, pink and juicy on the inside while cooking dark brown on the outside The problem is also worsened because the mutation obstructs the production of Omega 3, which protects against heart disease. This is an increasing issue given the shift in people's diets away from fish and nuts, which contain valuable Omega 3, to vegetable oils, which contain the unhealthier Omega 6. The new findings provide an explanation for previous studies which found that vegetarians were up to 40 per cent more likely to develop bowel cancer than those who eat meat. The research by Cornell University, compared hundreds of genomes from a mostly vegetarian population in Pune, India to meat eaters in Kansas, and found a notable genetic difference. Vegetarians are often found to be deficient in protein, iron, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and calcium, with one study showing that vegetarians had a five per cent lower bone-mineral density than those who eat meat.

It is one of several firms developed 'test tube meats' that could one day be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to produce than traditional farming.

While generating one calorie from beef requires 23 calories in feed, Memphis Meats plans to produce a calorie of meat from just three calories in inputs.

In order to grow meat in a lab, the firm begins by isolating cow and pig cells that have the ability to regenerate, and 'provides the cells with oxygen and nutrients such as sugars and minerals'.

Beyond Meat unveiled its innovation at the Whole Foods location on Monday, which has been placed in the same case as beef, poultry, lamb and pork are sold. Whole Foods distribution executive, said he was sold on Beyond Meat's new product because it 'tasted, felt and chewed like any other burger

These cells develop inside bioreactor tanks into skeletal muscle that can be harvested in between nine and 21 days, Mr. Valeti said.

Although Valeti mentions no animals are slaughtered in making the meats, the firm does use fetal bovine serum from unborn calves' blood to initiate the process.

When a pregnant cow is slaughtered, blood is drown from the fetus through its heart.

In order to separate the blood cells from the serum, the blood is sent through a centrifuge and then filtered further and the final product is low in antibodies and high in growth factors.

In order to grow meat in a lab, Memphis Meats begins by isolating cow and pig cells that have the ability to regenerate, and 'provides the cells with oxygen and nutrients such as sugars and minerals'. These cells develop inside bioreactor tanks into skeletal muscle that can be harvested in between nine and 21 days

As of right now, it costs about $18,000 to produce one pound of Memphis Meats' ground beef, compared to the $4 a pound in most US grocery stores, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
They returned next day after she'd been buried, and male looked for her

A male snub-nosed monkey looked back at the spot where his partner lay dead; hed spent more than an hour by her side, gently grooming and tugging on her hand in the final moments.

It was a rare occurrence witnessed by researchers studying snub-nosed monkey populations in China, and they say this may be one of the first examples of grief in the wild.

While the researchers caution against anthropomorphizing, they say this unusual observation may be an example of empathy and compassion in the face of death.

A male snub-nosed monkey looked back at the spot where his partner lay dead; hed spent more than an hour by her side, gently grooming and tugging on her hand in the final moments. The heartbreaking events occurred during research on roughly 150 snub-nosed monkeys at Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi province

GOLDEN SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys, also known as golden snub-nosed monkeys, are an endangered species found only in China. These monkeys are highly social, and live in groups made up of one male and many females. Troops of this kind can contain roughly 30 individuals during the winter and up to 200 in the summer. Golden snub-nosed monkeys live in mountainous areas and mostly eat pine needles and young firs, but also feed on bamboo shoots, leaves, buds, and fruits.

Its long been speculated that humans might not be the only species to have a conceptual understanding of death, and in a new paper published to Current Biology, researchers argue that some animals may even be capable of grieving.

The heartbreaking sequence of events occurred during research on a group of roughly 150 snub-nosed monkeys at the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi province, China.

While observing a particular subgroup, the researchers noticed one female who appeared to be weak and isolated from the rest, and had begun to bleed from the nose, New Scientist reports.

The group was made up of just three other adult females, two juveniles, and two infants, along with the single male who theyve called ZBD.

At around 1 p.m., ZBD approached the female, referred to as DM.

He touched her hand, and made warning calls to the others to stay away.

The pair climbed a tree together thirty minutes later, and sat high on a branch 25 meters above the ground, where ZBD groomed and gazed at his partner.

But half an hour later, she suddenly fell, cracking her head on a rock, according to New Scientist.

In a timeline detailing the events after the fall, the researchers reveal how the monkeys cared for their dying companion.

ZBD and the other females groomed the monkey as she lay mostly motionless for nearly an hour, and when the others retreated, the alpha male stayed at her side.

ZBD and the other females groomed the monkey as she lay mostly motionless for nearly an hour, and when the others retreated, the alpha male stayed at her side. At 3:35 p.m. DM stood up to follow the group, but collapsed and died

When juveniles or infants made attempts to approach the fallen monkey, ZBD made warning calls causing them to leave.

The team witnessed the alpha male embrace the injured female, while uttering alarm calls.

At 3:35 p.m. DM stood up to follow the group, but collapsed and died.

The male remained with his partner for another five minutes after she had succumbed, then left to join the rest of the group by the river 50 meters away.

For five minutes, ZBD sat near the river and looked back toward the area where her body lay, the researchers wrote.

The pair climbed a tree together thirty minutes later, and sat high on a branch 25 meters above the ground, where ZBD groomed and gazed at his partner. But an hour later, she suddenly fell, cracking her head on a rock

The researchers later buried the monkeys body, and one day later, the group returned to the spot where she had died, according to New Scientist.

For at least two minutes, ZBD was observed sitting and looking for his partner before moving on.

The female monkey had joined the group three years earlier, and researchers suggest that her death had an emotional impact on the alpha male.

The case weve reported is particularly important because of the exclusively gentle nature of the interactions, and the special treatment of the dying female shown by the adult male, James Anderson of Kyoto University, Japan, told New Scientist.

The events suggest that in the case of strongly bonded individuals at least, monkeys may show compassionate behaviour to ailing or dying individuals.
Advertisement

Italy's most famous photo reporter, Gianni Berengo Gardin, has spent more than half a century documenting a disappearing world and now recognises that even his own profession is fading fast.

In a major retrospective of his work at Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Berengo Gardin's black-and-white photographs capture Italy's shift from a largely rural economy to its rapid industrialisation following World War Two.

The most recent reportage, dating from 2013-15, shows huge cruise liners docking in Venice, dwarfing the city's delicate architecture, unleashing hordes of tourists on the lagoon city.

Italy's most famous photo reporter, Gianni Berengo Gardin, has spent more than half a century documenting a disappearing world. He took this image in Venice in 1958

Berengo Gardin's black-and-white photographs are currently on display in Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni. This image was taken in 1965

Berengo Gardin has now published more than 250 books and, despite his age, he still wanders around with a Leica camera hanging from his shoulder, enabling him to capture sights like this water scene in the Italian city of La Spezia in 2005

The pictures stand in stark contrast to Berengo Gardin's early images of Venice, from the 1950s and 60s, where a lone girl runs through St. Mark's Square and lovers kiss in an otherwise empty, colonnaded street.

'You can no longer do photographs like that,' 85-year-old Berengo Gardin said. 'Venice is totally different to what it once was. It is full of tourists. It has all changed.'

Born near the city of Genoa in 1930, Berengo Gardin moved to Venice after the war. Photography was just a hobby until an uncle sent him books by the U.S. greats Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, and he realised the camera's potential.

He himself has now published more than 250 books and, despite his age, he still wanders around with a Leica camera hanging from his shoulder, ready to capture a fleeting moment.

Born near the city of Genoa in 1930, Berengo Gardin moved to Venice after the war, and would later capture images like this brooding shot from 1960 entitled 'In Vaporetto'

Although he has travelled widely, his most famous pictures were taken in Italy, such as this image on Lido di Venezia in 1958 (left) and in Venice's Piazza San Marco, 1959 (right)

Black-robed women pose with geese in Yugoslavia in 1979 - one of the images that was taken outside Italy

Although he has travelled widely, his most famous images were taken in Italy - psychiatric patients imprisoned in dilapidated hospitals, youngsters dancing on a beach to music from a wind-up gramophone, workers in an Olivetti factory.

'People go round the world to photograph places like Hawaii. Then they realise there is so much more beauty here,' he said.

The exhibition, which runs until August 28, is called 'True Photography', with Berengo Gardin arguing that unlike much of today's digital photography, his work is free of artefact.

'There are a mountain of false photographs out there that pretend to be genuine, but that have in fact been manipulated in Photoshop. It is a type of fraud,' he says.

'I am an old photographer, born into an age of real photography, and I still want to defend it,' he says.

However, in a time when everyone uses their smartphones to capture every aspect of life, and with newspapers struggling to survive, Berengo Gardin fears he is defending a dying art.

'You still have fashion photographers, but photo reportage as a career is over. I have friends who used to make a living out of this, people who were famous and successful but are now dying of hunger,' he said.

In one of Berengo Gardin's earlier shots of Venice, a lone girl runs through St. Mark's Square in 1960, scattering birds as she goes

Powerful scenery: This dramatic image shows a couple on a stormy coastline in Normandy in 1933, with dark clouds overhead

One of his 21st century captures was this water scene in 2001, which was taken in Catania, an ancient port city on Sicily's east coast

Berengo Gardin described himself as an old photographer who was born into an age of 'real photography'. This image of people fishing was taken in Genoa, 2002

Men complete restoration work in the ancient port of Genoa in 1988. Berengo Gardin was born near the city in 1930

This striking picture shows the port of Genoa in 1988. Berengo Gardin said that unlike much of today's digital photography, his work is free of artefact
Rome is actively seeking sponsors to fund the monumental job of restoring and maintaining its fountains, statues, archaeological sites and historic palazzos.

City officials launched the '100 proposals for patrons' campaign on Tuesday, listing projects they hope sponsors - including rank-and-file citizens - will step forward to 'adopt'.

One proposed 'adoptee' is right on the City Hall's front steps: the piazza atop a stepped ramp designed by Michelangelo.

Tourists admire the Ludus Magnus ancient Roman archaeological site, in Rome. Ludus Magnus, a site of what was the main training school for gladiators, is just up the road from the Colosseum

A view of the area of the ancient Campus Martius, where Julius Caesar is believed to have been assassinated in 44 BC, in downtown Rome. The area containing four temples and a part of the Pompey's Theatre is among the monuments that Rome is offering in the form of 'adoption' with a project called '100 proposals for patrons'

Several fountains near the Pantheon, in Piazza Navona and in Villa Borghese park are included, alongside Trajan's Bath, Trajan's Forum and archaeological study of an area near Caesar's Forum.

Another proposal is Ludus Magnus, a site of what was the main training school for gladiators, just up the road from the Colosseum.

Also on the 'adoptable' list is the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina, which includes ruins of several Republican-era temples smack in the middle of a traffic-clogged square.

A colony of cats currently rules the ruins, while tourists can only look down on the closed monument from the sidewalk. The city is hoping someone will fork out over 1.5 million euros (1.14 million) to restore the site.

Even the area of the ancient Campus Martius, where Julius Caesar is believed to have been assassinated in 44 BC, is available for adoption.

Right now, 'tourists see a hole' and 'not an area near where Julius Caesar was killed' according to Vanna Mannucci, Italia Nostra vice president in Rome.

She noted that visitors could easily fall while exploring the terrain, so work is needed to make it safe.

The total for the 100 different projects comes to more than 248 million (188 million), including more than 10 million (7.6 million) just to restore the fountains.

Trajan's baths (pictured above) is also on the list of monuments that's seeking funds for its restoration

While launching the campaign, city officials also thanked the corporate sponsors of ambitious restoration projects already under way.

Among them are luxury goods companies Fendi, which has been sponsoring work to restore splendour to several famed fountains, including a tourist favourite, Trevi, from the ravages of pollution and pigeons.

Another is Bulgari, which is sponsoring restoration of the Spanish Steps in the heart of Rome's most chic shopping district.

Cleaning and reinforcement work at the Colosseum costing some $34million (23milion) is being paid for by the founder of Tod's luxury leather goods and shoes.

Officials also mentioned the nation of Azerbaijan has helped to restore a room of the Capitoline Museums, while lighting that has made the boulevard flanking the Imperial Forums a popular romantic evening stroll was paid for by Unilever and Acea, a local utility company.

But while the city officials are hungry for more such generosity, the Rome office of Italia Nostra, an Italian association advocating care of the country's historic, artistic and natural treasures, said it stepped forward in 2014 with an offer to restore those ruins and still awaits a response from the city authorities.

Pietro Beccari, the CEO of Fendi , attends the re-opening ceremony of the Trevi Fountain after its restoration. The company funded the restoration of the popular tourist site, which was completed November last year

Other Italian cities have also received sponsorship for the restoration of its monument. Above, the Rialto Bridge in Venice, which bears advertising from Diesel as the fashion brand has paid for its restoration

Modern-day versions of Renaissance merchant princes like the Medici family who built much of Florence, could also mean long-closed monuments, like the Mausoleum of Augustus, might open to tourists.

Restoration experts have long bemoaned that prestigious monuments such as the Colosseum readily find sponsors while less famous monuments in dire need of repair go begging for patrons.

For proud Romans, such closures are 'like having a room closed in our house,' according Claudio Parisi Presicce, the city superintendent of artistic and archaeological heritage.

Italy is no stranger to getting corporate sponsors for the restoration of its monuments.

Prada Foundation has helped to restore Venetian palazzo Ca' Corner Della Regina.

Similarly, Diesel is funding the restoration of the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

While Rome's Babuino Fountain was recently restored by menswear maker Brioni.

MailOnline Travel has contacted Rome city government for comment.
Moscows beaches will open this summer with special zones for people who cant swim, say local officials.

Boundaries will stop beachgoers, including those who dont know how to swim or are physically unable to, or families with small children, from entering deeper water at lakes or rivers.

For those who do venture in from the beach, the water will be no more than 4ft deep and they will be no more than 50ft from shore.

Moscow is introducing zones for beachgoers who can't swim, with the water being no more than 4ft deep

Moscow decided to introduce special zones to make sure people who can't swim have a safe area away from swimmers who venture into deeper water and vessels.

According to the Kremlin-owned Sputnik news agency, Vasiliy Maryan, head of Moscow's aquatic search and rescue team, told state broadcaster RIA Novosti: We are definitely planning an area for children, and for adults who can't swim.

The depth will be no more than 1.2 metres (4ft) and it won't extend more than 15 metres (50ft) from the coastline.

However, 4ft is deep enough for someone to drown.

Maryan added: Beyond that the water will get gradually deeper, to a depth of two metres (6.5ft), and the area will be protected by buoys.

With long, cold winters, Moscow residents have to make the most of the sunshine when the weather improves

Maryan said watercraft, including motorboats, will have to stay at least 164ft from the special zone.

Known for its long, cold winters, Moscows beaches become crowded with visitors who make the most of the Russian capitals limited sunshine and humidity.
A plane full of British holidaymakers was forced to divert to a remote island when the captain smelt burning in the cockpit.

The EasyJet A320 jet - the same model as the lost EgyptAir plane - had to divert to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo around an hour into a flight from Tenerife.

Flight EZY8704 was scheduled to land at London Gatwick on Tuesday afternoon.

An easyJet plane from Tenerife to London Gatwick had to divert to Porto Santo after the captain smelt burning in the cockpit

It is believed at least one passenger began hyperventilating as the plane made its descent.

'At the time we didn't know what was going on,' passenger Mike Rowse, who was travelling with his wife Claire and four-year-old daughter Lydia, told the Daily Mirror.

'We were a bit apprehensive - one lady a couple of rows in front was hyperventilating  panicking.

'My daughter actually said 'oh daddy are we going to crash?'  but she was fine.'

There were 167 passengers and six crew on board the flight as it began a 'steep' descent to the island of Porto Santo.

An easyJet spokesman told MailOnline Travel: 'easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8704 from Tenerife South to London Gatwick on May 24, diverted to Porto Santo due to a technical issue.

'The aircraft landed safely and once at its stand all passengers disembarked normally.

'The safety of its passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers' guidelines.

'As Porto Santo Airport doesn't have restaurant facilities open today, easyJet arranged coaches to take passengers to a nearby hotel and provide them with refreshments.

'easyJet would like to thank passengers for their patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused by this delay.'

Passengers were put onto another plane that is believed to have landed at Gatwick around midnight.

Many passengers on the flight took to social media to praise the way easyJet handled the unexpected diversion.

The easyJet plane was forced to land at the remote Portuguese island of Porto Santo

Many passengers took to social media to praise the actions of easyJet staff after the unscheduled diversion

Elie Barnes wrote on Twitter: 'Massive thank you to @easyjet for huge professionalism and efficiency yesterday on emergency landing into Porto Santo. Pilot and crew brilliant.'

Mark Smith added that airline staff gave a 'great response' to the emergency landing, while Robert Staras also thanked the pilot and staff, describing them as 'amazing'.

Porto Santo is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, and has a surface area of only 16.2 square miles.

Officials are still investigating what caused the EgyptAir Airbus A320 to crash into the Mediterranean last week, killing all 66 people on board.

Details of the aircraft technical log, signed by the pilot of MS804 before the plane left Paris for Cairo, have been released by Egyptian state media.

Sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said late on Tuesday that the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said theplane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after lessthan a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace.

Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the plane's final moments.

The EgyptAir jet that crashed killing all 66 on board last week showed no sign of technical fault ahead of take-off, it has been claimed (file picture)

Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesdaythat the plane had shown no technical problems before takingoff, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot beforetakeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on itswebsite. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11'electronic messages' starting at 2109 GMT on May 18, about 31/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66passengers and crew on board.

The first two messages indicated the engines werefunctional. The third message came at 0026 GMT on May 19 andshowed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot's window. Theplane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutesbefore vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypt's forensics authoritydismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of thebody parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashedindicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains anddebris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.
A Frontier Airlines plane was forced to turn around moments before take-off so police could remove a distressed passenger who threw herself onto the floor and removed her clothes.

Footage captured by a passenger on the flight from Denver to Portland shows the woman telling travellers, including young children, they would die in a plane crash

At one point in the video, the woman, who is on her back on the floor, pounds on the cockpit door with her hands and then lifts her legs over her head to kick it.

Footage shows the woman throwing herself onto the plane's floor before banging on the cockpit door (right)

The incident occurred as the Airbus A319, carrying 148 passengers and five crew members, taxied to a runway and then returned to its gate at Denver International Airport on Monday morning.

A Frontier Airlines spokesman said the woman has been banned from flying with the company again.

Part of the incident was recorded by passenger Devin Harman, who posted three-and-a-half minutes of footage on YouTube.

The clip shows the woman standing in front of the cockpit door and complaining that she has no air as a female flight attendant encourages her to calm down.

Small children are heard talking in the background when the woman says We are going down and then grabs at her T-shirt and begins to cry.

The woman was prevented from standing up (left) moments before she began thrashing around (right)

The incident occurred while the Frontier Airlines plane taxied to a runway at Denver International Airport

At one point the woman told passengers, including young children, the plane would crash and they would die

She curls up on the floor and apologizes before saying: You dont even realize were about to die. This thing is going down.

In an announcement, a pilot tells passengers to be patient, and moments later the woman begins to scream and bang on the cockpit door.

She tries to stand up but the cabin crew member blocks her and keeps her at the front of the plane away from other passengers.

The woman asks 'Are we about to die?' and responds with 'OK' after the flight attendant tells her 'No'.

The woman then rolls onto her back, kicks off her sandals and starts hitting the cockpit door once again.

Harman told FOX31 the womans behavior was erratic inside the airport, and when she got on board she tried to pry open an overhead panel and pull out an oxygen mask as the plane taxied to the runway.

He said: At that point she had enough and she jumped out of her seat, jumped over the person closest to the aisle there.

He said he stopped recording the incident because the woman began to strip naked.

The plane flew to Portland after the woman was removed by police.
She is best known as the flighty Lady Rose from Downton Abbey.

But Lily James is swapping the screen for the stage in order to play lovestruck heroine Juliet in Shakespeare's famous tale of doomed love, Romeo And Juliet.

The 27-year-old actress will star opposite Richard Madden as fellow star-crossed lover Romeo in the play, which opens at the Garrick Theatre in London on Wednesday night.

Scroll down for video

Star-crossed lover: Lily James is swapping the screen for the stage to star in Sir Kenneth Branagh's new London production of Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet

It will be the second time Lily has worked with Richard after she played the title role in last year's acclaimed film Cinderella, in which he starred as Prince Charming.

The film was directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, who is also co-directing the stage production of Romeo and Juliet with Rob Ashford.

In the first photograph released from the production of one of the Bard's most popular plays, Lily is seen on her knees on a cold stone floor.

She is wearing a simple white cotton dress with her wavy brunette locks tumbling over her shoulders.

Perfect pairing: It will be the second time Lily has worked with Richard after she played the title role in last year's acclaimed film Cinderella, in which he starred as Prince Charming

The all star cast will include Shakespeare veteran Sir Derek Jacobi as Mercutio and Meera Syal as the Nurse.

Lily is making quite a name for herself and has been regularly appearing on both the small and big screen - and now the stage.

Earlier this year she impressed critics as the heroine Natasha Rostova in the BBC's well-received adaptation of Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace.

Romeo and Juliet runs at the Garrick until August 13.
She became the reigning glamour queen of morning TV last year after revealing her sensational bikini body on a magazine cover.

Now Lorraine Kelly, 56, is back in a two piece and ready to inspire her viewers into getting trim for the summer.

The beloved TV host - a staple of breakfast TV for over two decades - has shown off her amazing physique in a new shoot for her show, Lorraine.

Scroll down for video

Fab at 56! Lorraine Kelly is back in a two piece and ready to inspire her viewers into getting trim for the summer

The star has stripped down into daring pink swimwear which made the most of her long legs and generous cleavage.

On the Club Tropicana-themed shoot for her new Bikini Promise + One campaign, she lies on a lilo as she's pushed around a pool by her hunky TV chefs James Tanner and Dean Edwards.

Talking about how she appeared on the small screen in just her swimsuit last year, the TV favourite says: 'For the finale of the Bikini Promise last year, I danced on the banks of the River Thames in my bikini with a fantastic group of women also in their bikinis. Who knows what will be in store for this years finale!

'I never thought I would feel confident enough to wear a bikini on national TV but if I can do it then you can too.

Inspiration: The beloved TV host - a staple of breakfast TV for over two decades - has shown off her amazing physique in a new shoot for her show, Lorraine

Better than ever! The star has stripped down into daring pink swimwear which made the most of her long legs and generous cleavage and insists she feels fitter and more in shape than 20 years ago (right)

Things are heating up! On the Club Tropicana-themed shoot for her new Bikini Promise + One campaign, she lies on a lilo as she's pushed around a pool by her hunky TV chefs James Tanner and Dean Edwards

Making a splash: Lorraine happily posed on a lilo for the shoot - before falling into the pool

This plan is all about feeling healthy, fit and happy. This year we want you to get your plus one involved as well. It could be your partner, relative or best friend.'

The drive encourages people to involve their loves ones in a motivational drive to get fit and healthy for the summer.

At the beginning of the year, the star launched her fitness DVD after a huge interest from fans into how she kept in shape.

She admits that it's taken years to feel confident in her body - and reveals she's feels better than she ever did in her 20s and 30s.

She explained: 'Ive just turned 56 but I dont feel it. I was looking recently at pictures of me taken 20, 30 years ago and I honestly think I look better now than I did back then.

Im in much better shape. But its more than that: I feel better, I feel more healthy. Its taken me a long time but I finally feel Ive arrived at my ideal body.
A public defense lawyer in Billings has sued her office alleging she was discriminated against because she is epileptic.

Moira D'Alton filed a Human Rights complaint against the Office of the State Public Defender with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Human Rights Bureau.

In her complaint, D'Alton states she was granted reasonable accommodations for her disability from Montana Chief Public Defender William Hooks in 2015. Interim Regional 9 Deputy Chief Public Defender Douglas Day was aware of the accommodations, but during a dispute between D'Alton and Day regarding her time card, Day accused D'Alton of using her reasonable accommodations as a "blank check to do what she pleased." Day also accused D'Alton of poor performance.

D'Alton's cases are being reassigned.

She joined the Public Defender's Office in October 2004, about 10 months after being fired by the city of Billings where she had worked as deputy city attorney.

Then-City Administrator Kristoff Bauer said D'Alton was terminated for "poor job performance." She sued the city and won a $125,000 settlement.

In 2006, D'Alton's law license was temporarily suspended by the Montana Supreme Court for falsifying evidence or encouraging or inducing a witness to provide false testimony; making a false statement of material fact; engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; and engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.

On Tuesday, Chief Public Defender William Hooks said his office cannot comment on the complaint.

Day is the deputy chief public defender of Region 7 and interim deputy chief public defender for Region 9, which includes Yellowstone, Big Horn, Carbon and Stillwater counties.

Day's office is located in Fergus County. He took over for former Region 9 Deputy Chief Public Defender David Duke after Duke left the office last March.
Alexander Skarsgard showed his chiseled physique in a new poster released on Tuesday for The Legend Of Tarzan.

The poster showed Alexander, 39, standing shirtless in the jungle surrounded by large apes with co-star Margot Robbie, 25, right behind him.

'Human. Nature,' read the tagline of the poster.

Jungle story: A shirtless Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie were featured in a new poster released on Tuesday for The Legend Of Tarzan

Alexander recently admitted he was injured while filming a raunchy sex scene with Margot after she hit him.

He told Closer magazine: 'Even though I'm fighting apes, the only injury I got was from a sex scene with Margot - she hit me!

'Our director David Yates wanted our sex scene to be really animalistic, so he was behind the camera saying things like, ''Hit him harder! Come on!''

'He kind of egged us on and wanted to feel very primal, so she beat me up!'

King of the jungle: Alexander, shown earlier this month in New York City, admitted that he was injured filming a love scene with co-star Margot

Despite the incident, Alexander admitted it wasn't difficult to act out love scenes alongside beautiful Margot who plays his romantic interest Jane Porter.

He said: 'Tarzan and Jane have to be drawn to each other, and the audience need to feel it - obviously it wasn't hard acting that with Margot, she's so charming!'

Director David previously spoke about Alexander getting injured during filming, revealing that Margot punched the actor and left a mark.

Leading lady: Margot, shown earlier this month at the Met Gala, was urged to slap Alexander by their director David Yates

He said: 'They're doing this love scene together, and I said [to Margot], ''Just slap Alex while you're making love, just kind of give him a punch''.

'It was sort of an earthy, sensual moment of her enjoying sex with Alex, and the only bruise he picked up during the entire shoot was probably that punch from Margot. Which says a lot about her feistiness.'

Meanwhile, it was recently claimed that Alexander and his girlfriend Alexa Chung were buying a house in Los Angeles together.

Cute couple: Alexander is shown with girlfriend Alexa Chung last month in Los Angeles

The couple have been dating for over a year, and though Alexander has been living with the British beauty in New York, they are now planning to move to the West Coast for the sake of his career and have already started looking at properties together.

A source said: 'They are completely made for each other and are having a great time together.

'Alex sold his Los Feliz mansion last year and has been living in NYC with Alexa, but work opportunities are pulling him back to LA.

'Alexa loves the lifestyle there too, so they are considering buying together. They are thought to have already browsed a $4.5 million home nestled in the hills in Silver Lake,' the source said of the hipster haven in central Los Angeles.

Going strong: Margot is shown with her boyfriend Tom Ackerley in February in New York City

The Legend Of Tarzan is set in London years after Tarzan left the jungle and settled down with his wife Jane. He is forced to return to the Congo as a trade representative and clashes with a Belgian captain played by Christoph Waltz who has dastardly designs on his former home.

Tarzan first appeared in 1912 in the novel Tarzan Of The Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs and was portrayed in 12 films in the 1930s and 1940s by former Olympics-winning swimmer Johnny Weissmuller.

The Legend Of Tarzan also starring Samuel L. Jackson and Djimon Hounsou opens in the US on July 1.

It is out in UK cinemas July 8.
He's one of the most versatile comedic actors with the ability to transform into an array of colourful characters and maintain a straight face.

And there was little doubt Sacha Baron Cohen was poking a little fun, albeit completely deadpan, at his Alice Through The Looking Glass co-star Johnny Depp after his legal woes Down Under.

The 44-year-old, who's married to Australian actress Isla Fisher, joked on Wednesday the entire film was a 'cover' for a larger 'dog smuggling operation'.

'He was cramming them in like sardines': Sacha Baron Cohen joked Alice Through The Looking Glass was a 'cover' for Johnny Depp's 'big dog smuggling operation'

'Johnny had been doing using his private jet to just ferry, literally cramming [dogs] in there like sardines,' he quipped on Sunrise.

'He was ramming these very high end dogs in and transporting them around the world to oligarchs.'

He then asked whether Australians would even consider going to see the new Alice film because it featured 'the great dog smuggler'.

'The great dog smuggler': The 44-year-old, who's married to Australian actress Isla Fisher, wondered whether audiences Down Under would even consider going to see the new Alice film because of Johnny's recent woes

All in time: Sacha stars opposite Johnny in Alice Through The Looking Glass, where he plays the character of Time itself

Johnny's wife Amber Heard was let off with a good behaviour bond last month after she pleaded guilty to falsifying travel documents.

She had attempted to sneak the couple's two Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country when Depp was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film.

As part of the plea deal, the couple made an apology to Australia in a short video that was meant to highlight the importance of quarantine to protecting the fragile ecosystem.

New film: Johnny stars as the Mad Hatter in the second installment of the Alice In Wonderland franchise

Cringe-worthy: Johnny's wife Amber Heard (right) was let off with a good behaviour bond last month after she pleaded guilty to falsifying travel documents

It was widely mocked for its dead-pan tone and the actors' odd manner, with many likening it to a North Korean or ISIS hostage video.

Amber was cleared of charges of illegally importing animals for not putting the dogs through proper quarantine procedures.

Sacha and Johnny appear in the latest James Bobin-directed film, the second installment in the Alice in Wonderland franchise which is set for release in Australia May 26.
Penelope Cruz's latest film is called The Queen Of Spain.

So it was apt that Spanish royal Queen Letizia should pay a visit to the Hollywood beauty on set, offering her official seal of approval to the upcoming comedy-drama, La Reina De Espana.

The 43-year-old monarch appeared on great terms with Penelope as the actress showed her around the Madrid set earlier this month, appearing deep in conversation as they discussed the shoot.

Scroll down for video

A royally good time! Queen Letizia of Spain (right) paid a visit to Penelope Cruz (left) on the Madrid set of her new film earlier this month, the aptly titled comedy-drama, La Reina De Espana

Queen Letizia looked impossibly chic in a belted mackintosh worn over a breton top and smart trousers, set off with black stilettos during her two hour visit to set.

Meanwhile, Penelope was clad in '50s costume, cutting a retro figure in a plaid dress and boots, while wrapping up warm in between takes with a padded jacket.

The 42-year-old actress wore her dark locks pulled back into a high ponytail, set off with a red ribbon

Retro beauty: Penelope was clad in 50s costume and wore her dark locks pulled back into a high ponytail, set off with a red ribbon

Getting on famously: The 43-year-old monarch appeared on great terms with Penelope as the actress showed her arounD, appearing deep in conversation as they discussed the shoot

The royal visit was a fantastic way to boost morale on set and was thoroughly enjoyed by all, according to HOLA! magazine.

Penelope's co-star Jorge Sanz is believed to have arranged the visit as he is on friendly terms with the Queen.

He told told the publication: 'She loves Spanish cinema. There was much laughter and joy on set.

'She has a good sense of humour.'

Royal stamp: The royal visit was a fantastic way to boost morale on set and was thoroughly enjoyed by all, according to HOLA! magazine

Big fan: 'She loves Spanish cinema. There was much laughter and joy on set', Penelope's co-star Jorge Sanz told the publication

Fun-filled spirit: 'She has a good sense of humour', the star added of the royal

The Queen Of Spain marks the third collaboration between writer-director Fernando Trueba and Cruz, following Belle Epoque and 1998 film The Girl Of Your Dreams.

The upcoming project serves as a sequel to The Girl Of Your Dreams, which saw Cruz play Macarena Granada, a Spanish actress who travels to Nazi Germany for work.

She ultimately flees to America with her lover, a Russian prisoner working as an extra who she helps escape the concentration camps.

Three time's the charm: The Queen Of Spain marks the third collaboration between writer-director Fernando Trueba and Cruz, following Belle Epoque and 1998 film The Girl Of Your Dreams

Sequel: The upcoming project serves as a sequel to The Girl Of Your Dreams, which saw Cruz play Macarena Granada, a Spanish actress who travels to Nazi Germany for work

In the 18 years since the first film's release, Cruz's character has become a huge movie star.

She leaves the bright lights of Hollywood to travel back to mid-1950s Spain in order to play Isabella I of Castille, and once again crosses paths with the main characters from The Girl Of Your Dreams.

Director Trueba recently told Screen Daily that while he'd never envisaged making a sequel, ideas for another film came popping into his head.

He said: 'The characters stayed with me as if they were real.

'I thought of so many gags, situations and dialogues over the years that I decided to start putting them on paper.'

Lights, camera, action! In the 18 years since the first film, Cruz's character has become a huge movie star

Blast from the past: She travels back to mid-1950s Spain in order to play Isabella I of Castille, and once again crosses paths with the main characters from The Girl Of Your Dreams

Sophisticated style: Queen Letizia looked impossibly chic in a belted mackintosh worn over a breton top and smart trousers, set off with black stilettos

Long-awaited: Filming will take place this summer for a 2017 release date

She's back: The new film is a sequel to Penelope's 1998 movie The Girl Of Your Dreams




She's been loved-up with the Australian actor since failing to win over Sam Wood's on The Bachelor Australia last year.

And Heather Maltman is seemingly still smitten with Andrew Steel as she shares a video taken from their bed in Los Angeles.

Appearing completely makeup-free and bed-headed, the 29-year-old reality star told her Instagram followers: 'I woke up to a thousand kisses and cuddles, and now this guy is making me breakfast in bed,' as she then directs the camera to Andrew.

Scroll down for video

Woke up like this: Heather Maltman, 29, shared a goofy Instagram video of herself in bed in Los Angeles

Despite looking a little dishevelled, the reality star added the hashtags: 'Proud to be real,' and 'Those models lie when they look hot in the morning.'

Heather could be seen wearing a pink tank top as she laid in bed, with blanket covering the rest of her body.

The goofy video also shows Andrew accidentally hitting his hand on the ceiling fan, causing Heather to crack up with laughter.

Bare-faced: The former Bachelor star sported messy bed-hair and no makeup in the video

Goofy: Heather shared the funny moment her boyfriend Andrew Steel accidentally hit his hand on a ceiling fan while she laughed in bed

Heather captioned the video: 'Last week in LA. I think @steelio_ is starting to realise we won't see each other for 5 months.'

When a fan asked why the pair won't see each other for five months, Heather revealed 'he'll live in LA and I'll be home in Sydney.'

An aspiring actress herself, Heather has been in Los Angeles over the past several weeks promoting her new web series, The Film Lab.

Loved up: Heather and Andrew began dating late last year, and it quickly shut down speculation that she would be the next Bachelorette

She told The Daily Telegraph: 'The most amazing part of being over here is how easy it is to meet people over here in the industry that are doing good stuff.'

According to the publication, she also appeared on two panels at the festival, talking about actors working on web series and women in the industry.

Heather and Andrew began dating late last year, and it quickly shut down speculation that she would be the next Bachelorette after she was dumped by Sam towards the end of The Bachelor.
He hit international headlines in 2010 for his controversial gags surrounding members of the Hollywood elite when hosting the Golden Globes, and again when he hosted in 2016.

But comedian Ricky Gervais has defended his stand-up routine, saying he only 'judges people for comic effect'.

Speaking with KIISFM's Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson on Wednesday, the 54-year-old said it's all in good fun.

Scroll down for video

'People think I go out to try to ruin people's nights': Ricky Gervais defended his Golden Globes stand-up routine

'I don't really judge people, I pretend to judge people for comic effect,' he said.

'I think people think I go out to try to ruin people's nights, or undermine the moral fabric of America. I've worked with these people and I'm friends with some of them, but that would be nauseating!'

Specifically in relation to his Golden Globes monologue which took a swipe at everyone from his 'running gag' Mel Gibson to Jennifer Lawrence, he quipped they should be able to take a little joke.

'I like a drink as much as the next man unless the next man is Mel Gibson': The 44-year-old took a famous swipe at Mel Gibson in 2010

'Let's get it in context, it wasn't a room full of wounded soldiers, these are some of the richest most privileged people in the world and they're winning awards, I just tease them a little bit,' he explained.

He also added that he doesn't make fun of the things people can't help, but rather he draws humorous attention their behaviour and they're 'not nasty jokes'.

The British comedian took back hosting duties from the popular duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and has hosted it three-times previously in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

That's awkward! Earlier this year, the pair had a seemingly awkward run-in on stage while Ricky was hosting once more

Sipping on a beer at the podium, Ricky said in 2010: 'I like a drink as much as the next man unless the next man is Mel Gibson,' making reference to Mel's drink driving conviction in 2006.

After being pulled over by the female police officer, the Braveheart actor reportedly said: 'What do you think you're looking at, sugart**ts?'

Earlier this year, the pair had a seemingly awkward run-in on stage while Ricky was hosting once more.

As Mel took to the stage to present an award, Ricky took a jab at him by saying: 'What the f*** does sugart**s even mean?'
She's the international catwalk queen who rose to fame after being crowned Australia's Next Top Model in 2011.

And Montana Cox proved why she's still a top model as she puts on a very leggy display while shopping in New York on Tuesday.

Clad in all black, the 22-year-old opted to go bra-free under her black T-shirt, which she had fashionably tucked into her skin-tight jeans to accentuate her tiny waist.

Scroll down for video

Model-off-duty: Montana Cox, 22, showed off her incredible figure in an all-black ensemble as she went shopping in New York on Tuesday

The statuesque model, who stands at 179cm tall, added even more height with a tall pair of perforated boots.

She added a pop of colour to her look with a cream, burgundy and blue Celine bag, which had a chic gold chain strap.

She completed the look with a fine gold necklace with a round pendant.

Strike a pose: The Australian beauty put on a leggy display in a pair of skin-tight black jeans for the outing

Stunning: The Melbourne-born model flaunted her natural beauty and forewent makeup as well as a bra

Designer darling: The Australia's Next Top Model winner added a pop of colour to her ensemble with a chic Celine bag

Montana's two-toned hair was worn in loose waves with a flattering middle part, while her flawless complexion was on full display as she forewent makeup for the outing.

The Melbourne-born stunner seemed to have just enjoyed a spot of retail therapy, holding a Zara bag as she strolled through the streets.

She was seen grazing on some snacks at one stage, reaching her hand into a black paper bag of food.

Legs eleven! The international model flaunted her long pins and tiny waist in the fashionable outfit

Now based in New York, Montana has well and truly been Australia's Next Top Model's most successful winner, having walked for some of the world's most coveted fashion houses.

In an interview with site All My Friends Are Models, she said she's 'never had a bad experience' while working in Australia.

'Its more overseas; you can battle with stylists saying rude things in other languages, little sly comments about weight, hungry models,' she said.

Eating on the go: Montana was seen enjoying a snack as she strolled through the streets of New York

Retail therapy: The David Jones model appeared to have been enjoying a spot of shopping as she was carrying a bag from the clothing chain Zara

She will now offer her years of expertise to this year's batch of modeling hopefuls as a guest mentor.

The leggy brunette will join twin models Zac and Jordan Stenmark as mentors on the show's tenth cycle.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph in an interview published in early May, the model said she felt 'nervous' about being on the other side of the table.

Flawless: Montana has well and truly been Australia's Next Top Model's most successful winner, having walked for some of the world's most coveted fashion houses

'It's kind of scary now I'm on the other side, judging them,' she said.

'But at least I know what they are going through, so I can help them out in that way.'

Jennifer Hawkins will return as host, alongside judges Alex Perry and Megan Gale, who is now a permanent fixture on the panel.
The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira looked pretty as a petal at the Tony Awards Creative Arts Nominee bash in Manhattan's Time Square on Tuesday.

Stylist Thomas Carter Phillips put the 38-year-old playwright in a sleeveless white-and-red floral mini-dress and red stilettos.

The Iowa-born, Zimbabwe-raised star kept her hair natural, kept her jewelry minimal, and sported a dewy glowing complexion and red lips.

Scroll down for video

Will she win? The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira looked pretty as a petal at the Tony Awards Creative Arts Nominee bash in Manhattan's Time Square on Tuesday

Frilly floral frock: Stylist Thomas Carter Phillips put the 38-year-old playwright in a sleeveless white-and-red floral mini-dress and red stilettos

In bloom: The Iowa-born, Zimbabwe-raised star kept her hair natural, kept her jewelry minimal, and sported a dewy glowing complexion and red lips

Danai - who scored a nod for best play - was joined at The Lambs Club by her Eclipsed actress Saycon Sengbloh, who is up for featured role in the Liberian-set drama.

Eclipsed - which scored four other nods - made history as the first play on Broadway to be written, directed, and performed entirely by women.

The sold out, 17-week run concludes June 19 at the Golden Theatre, and the actual Tony Awards ceremony airs June 12 on CBS.

Gurira began her Tuesday early discussing the Broadway smash on the Fox 5 talk show Good Day New York.

Nominated duo: Danai - who scored a nod for best play - was joined at The Lambs Club by her Eclipsed actress Saycon Sengbloh, who is up for featured role in the Liberian-set drama

Groundbreaking: Eclipsed - which scored four other nods - made history as the first play on Broadway to be written, directed, and performed entirely by women (pictured March 6)

Starring Lupita Nyong'o: The sold out, 17-week run concludes June 19 at the Golden Theatre, and the actual Tony Awards ceremony airs June 12 on CBS

'I'm just celebrating!' the Familiar writer gushed.

'You know, it's actually really amazing. This play has been such an amazing, tremendous journey for me. And for it to get to this place, it's just amazing to me. I'm just enjoying everything!'

For the local morning programme, Danai donned a red short-sleeved tea-length dress and silver stilettos.

The quadrilingual NYU grad also discussed The Walking Dead's maddening sixth season finale cliffhanger involving the nefarious Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

'I'm just celebrating!' Gurira began her Tuesday early discussing the Broadway smash on the Fox 5 talk show Good Day New York

The Familiar writer gushed: 'You know, it's actually really amazing. This play has been such an amazing, tremendous journey for me. And for it to get to this place, it's just amazing to me. I'm just enjoying everything!'

Quick change: For the local morning programme, Danai donned a red short-sleeved tea-length dress and silver stilettos

Obsessed fans have narrowed the possible victim of Negan's barb wire-strapped bat Lucille down to Glenn (Steven Yeun), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Gurira's own katana-wielding warrior Michonne.

'No I can't say anything!' Danai teased.

'It's shooting. Well, listen, that could mean anything. This is The Walking Dead. We do anything and everything and we consistently surprise you. So don't even try to figure it out!'

Frustratingly, fans won't find out who actually died until the seventh season of the AMC hit series premieres October 9.

'Last Day on Earth': Obsessed fans have narrowed the possible victim of Negan's barb wire-strapped bat Lucille down to Glenn, Abraham, and Gurira's own katana-wielding warrior Michonne

Danai teased: 'No I can't say anything! It's shooting. Well, listen, that could mean anything. This is The Walking Dead. We do anything and everything and we consistently surprise you. So don't even try to figure it out!'

It was her POV in the van! Frustratingly, fans won't find out who actually died until the seventh season of the AMC hit series premieres October 9

Also enjoying the Tony nominee cocktail hour was the amply-charmed Megan Hilty looking uncharacteristically demure in a black lacy dress.

The 35-year-old thespian ended her two-month run March 13 at American Airlines Theatre as scantily-clad British starlet Brooke Ashton in the play-within-a-play farce Noises Off.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt funnywoman Jane Krakowski showcased her toned arms in an olive green halter column dress and nude heels.

The 47-year-old triple-threat will compete for featured actress in a musical as the seductive and flexible Ilona Ritter in the 1963 musical comedy She Loves Me at Studio 54.

Nominated for featured actress! Also enjoying the Tony nominee cocktail hour was the amply-charmed Megan Hilty looking uncharacteristically demure in a black lacy dress

Will she win? The 35-year-old thespian ended her two-month run March 13 at American Airlines Theatre as scantily-clad British starlet Brooke Ashton in the play-within-a-play farce Noises Off

Blonde ambition: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt funnywoman Jane Krakowski showcased her toned arms in an olive green halter column dress and nude heels

Running through July 10: The 47-year-old triple-threat will compete for featured actress in a musical as the seductive and flexible Ilona Ritter in the 1963 musical comedy She Loves Me at Studio 54

One of Krakowski's rivals for the trophy is Adrienne Warren, who flaunted her taut waistline in a navy cut-out jumpsuit and silver stilettos.

The 29-year-old thespian was singled out for her role as Gertrude Saunders/Florence Mills in the Music Box Theatre musical Shuffle Along.

And Steve Martin's Broadway show Bright Star managed to snag nominations for best book and best original score.

The 70-year-old comedy icon and Edie Brickell both wrote and composed the North Carolina-set musical starring newcomer Carmen Cusack.

Competitor: One of Krakowski's rivals for the trophy is Adrienne Warren, who flaunted her taut waistline in a navy cut-out jumpsuit and silver stilettos

Flapper role: The 29-year-old thespian was singled out for her role as Gertrude Saunders/Florence Mills in the Music Box Theatre musical Shuffle Along

Suited and spectacled: And Steve Martin's Broadway show Bright Star managed to snag nominations for best book and best original score
Shanina Shaik broke her silence on Tuesday night after reports that he ex-boyfriend Tyson Beckford and her fiance DJ Ruckus - real name Greg Andrews - brawled over her in a nightclub.

The 25-year-old Australian model posted to Twitter, 'I only know of one man and he fights for me'.

The short message also included a range of cartoon emojis, ranging from love hearts, a punching fist and a crying of laughter face.

Scroll down for video

Breaking her silence: Shanina Shaik broke her silence on Tuesday night after reports love rivals Tyson Beckford and DJ Ruckus - real name Greg Andrews - (pictured) brawled in a nightclub over her

Alongside the statement she included a screenshot of the latest front page of The New York Post, which features an image of her down the left side of the page.

The headline for the story read: 'The woman everyone is fighting over'.

Hours earlier Shanina took to Instagram to share a colourful patterned image, which had 'Good Vibes' written in white across the front.

Message: The 25-year-old Australian model posted to Twitter 'I only know of one man and he fights for me lol'

Setting it straight: Hours earlier, Shanina took to Instagram to share a colourful patterned image which had 'Good Vibes' written in white across the front

Meanwhile, Ruckus also took to social media to address the reports by sharing a short 30-second video.

In the clip, he was seen smiling while dancing around in a circle, before commenting: 'Don't believe the hype, everything's fine. Peace all.'

Alongside the video he wrote in the caption: 'Peace & love to everyone we Chillin!'

Hours earlier he shared a cryptic quote which stated multiple reasons as to 'why to date someone'.

Ruckus added 'I disagree! Don't date this person! Marry this person! #soulmate #theone.'

Having his say: DJ Ruckus also took to social media to address the reports, sharing a short 30-second video, where he commented: 'Don't believe the hype, everything's fine. Peace all'

Shanina's mother Kim was quick to comment on the post, writing: '@djruckusofficial @shaninamshaik It takes a real man to keep his woman happy, feeling loved and secure and you've proven that.

'Much respect to the man you are and all the good values instilled in you,' she concluded.

Tyson has still remained silent on the situation, but has shared multiple images of himself partying with attractive women.

Fighting mad: Tyson (pictured) reportedly got into a brawl with DJ Ruckus outside the Up & Down nightclub in Manhattan, New York last Thursday night

On Tuesday it was reported that Tyson got into a late night fight with Ruckus over the Victoria's Secret model last Thursday.

The brawl between the former friends happened outside the Up & Down nightclub in Manhattan, New York, according to TMZ.

Tyson, a former Ralph Lauren model, had dated the Australian beauty on and off since 2008. But the couple finally called time on their relationship last year.

And it seems Tyson wasn't best pleased when Ruckus, who has a residency at Hakkasan Las Vegas, got with his ex just a couple of months later.

A matter of the heart: The two men were apparently fighting over the Australian beauty (pictured with now-fiance DJ Ruckus)

Apparently bad feelings had been growing between the two, and it surfaced when they bumped into one another at the nightclub.

A slanging match erupted, with the 32-year-old DJ flipping off the 45-year-old model turned actor, sources told TMZ, and they then took it out to the street.

The website reported that the fight was violent and bloody, with Tyson on top of Ruckus beating him up as one of the DJ's friends began punching Tyson in the head.

Old love: Tyson and Shanina ended their eight-year on-off relationship last summer. The 45-year-old was apparently furious when she took up with Ruckus a few months later

A doorman called the cops, but by the time they got there the men were gone and no arrests were made.

Shanina and Tyson met on the set of Australia's Make Me A Supermodel in which she was a contestant and he was the host as well as a judge and mentor.

Meanwhile, Tyson really doesn't have a hope of winning back his former flame.

Shanina and Ruckus, whose real name is Gregory Andrew, are now planning their wedding after getting engaged during a romantic holiday in the Maldives last December.
Getting engaged is every girl's dream.

But for one dedicated 5SOS fan, the romantic gesture just doesn't compare to getting tickets to her favourite band's concert.

In a post shared via Instagram on Tuesday, drummer Ashton Irwin gave a shout out to a beaming fan that could be seen proudly clutching a bold sign amongst a large crowd.

Scroll down for video

Who needs a ring? One loyal 5SOS fan boasted after turning down an engagement ring for tickets to her favourite band's concert in Zurich, Switzerland

In the bright yellow poster, the female fan boasted that she had supposedly chosen tickets to the band's Zurich concert over an engagement ring.

'HE SAID ENGAGEMENT RING OR 5SOS TICKETS. WELL ... HERE I AM,' the sign read.

Ashton captioned the photo with 'I love you' before sharing it with his four million followers, and it almost immediately went viral.

Impressed: 5SOS drummer Ashton Irwin declared 'I love you' on Instagram while sharing a photo of a mystery fan clutching a bold sign

Within just a few hours, the post had received over a quarter of a million likes and thousands of comments.

It garnered mixed reactions ranging from sympathy for the fan's unidentified boyfriend to overwhelming messages of approval.

'That's messed up tho. SHE BROKE HIS DAMN HEART. S**T THAT WAS JUST COLD,' one seemingly unimpressed fan wrote.

Pop rockers: 5SOS band members include Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin and the group boasts legions of fans across the world

'She made the right decision,' another concluded.

'If you were smart you'd take the concert tickets bc clearly u gonna get a cheap a** ring otherwise,' one fan reasoned.

As social media users try to identify who the mystery fan is, her relationship status remains unknown.

Stars are born: The pop rock group rose to stardom in 2013 after touring with One Direction

It is also unclear whether the fan was ever actually engaged to her partner.

5SOS rose to stardom in 2013 after going on tour with One Direction.

Since then, Irwin and his band mates Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood have taken the world by storm with sold out shows and two platinum albums.

The group, which hails from Sydney, is currently on tour throughout Europe.
They've done little to dispel rumours of a romantic liaison.

And on Tuesday night Rihanna, 28, and Leonardo DiCaprio, 41, were back together on the New York party scene, hitting the same Big Apple club.

Rihanna was seen strutting into Up and Down in the West Village, while the Oscar winning actor arrived just ten minutes later with a group of pals, including another rumoured flame, model Nina Agdal, 24.

Scroll down for video

Party pals: On Tuesday night Rihanna, 28, and Leonardo DiCaprio, 41, were back together on the New York party scene, hitting the same Big Apple club

While Nina was seen leaving the nightspot just 15 minutes after arriving, Rihanna and Leo both stayed until 3am.

Leo seemed keen to make a low key arrival at the club, hiding his face under one of his trademark flat caps as he hurried inside with his friends and Nina.

Nina and Leo were linked back in 2014 when they were spotted partying together at a New York club until 5am, around the time Nina split from The Wanted star Max George.

See Rihanna updates as she holds face in hands after being spotted in chinchilla fur wrap

Another model friend: Rihanna was seen strutting into Up and Down Nightclub the West Village while Leo arrived just ten minutes later with a group of pals, including another rumoured flame, model Nina Agdal

Undercover: Leo seemed keen to make a low key arrival at the club, hiding his face under one of his trademark flat caps as he hurried inside with his friends

Stunning: Nina looked gorgeous in a tiny bright yellow mini dress layered under a bold floral print jacket for the group night out

Keeping things casual: Rihanna meanwhile opted for a more understated look, rocking ripped jeans and a tie-dye t-shirt

At the time though Leonardo was said to be dating another model, Toni Garrn, so it was thought the two are just friends.

Meanwhile Leo and Rihanna added fuel to speculation they are more than just pals when they were spotted together at the Neon Carnival party in April, while in January the stars were seen partying in Paris together where eyewitnesses allegedly saw them kissing.

They were first linked last year, but the Work hit-maker shot down rumours that they were romantically involved in March 2015.

Just friends? Nina and Leo were linked back in 2014 when they were spotted partying together at a New York club until 5am, while he's enjoyed numerous nights out with Rihanna

Party time: The Singer looked keen to check out the NYC night scene, staying in the club with Leo until 3am

A-lister hangout: Rihanna covered up in her Nine Inch Nails tee and jeans combo

'Im so busy right now that I just dont have a lot of time to offer to a man so it wouldnt even be fair to be thinking of pulling somebody else into this life,' she told Hello! magazine.

'But if I did, he would have to be man enough to live with my schedule and not get scared.'

Rihanna was most recently linked to her ex Drake again after they delivered a very raunchy performance at the BRIT Awards in February.

Oh no: The star looked embarassed after being spotted in her fashion forward ensemble

All about the accessories: She added a a chinchilla fur wrap by and lace up boots

Meanwhile Leonardo is rumoured to be dating Polish beauty Elsa Kawalec following the end of his relationship with Kelly Rohrbach.

Rihanna chose a colourful look for her latest party night with Leo, teaming a tie-dye Nine Inch Nails shirt with ripped jeans and a Dennis Basso chinchilla fur stole.

She rounded off her ensemble with a pair of blue cowboy boots and futuristic sunglasses.

Bling: The star added plenty of jewellery and showed off her tattoo collection

Dolly mixture: She added an extra touch of extravagance to her eclectic look by wearing cowboy boots

Party time: Rihanna was spotted arriving at the Up & Down club in the West Village

Thankfully the Umbrella star opted for a more glam look when she attended the Billboard Chard Awards on Sunday.

She looked in fine form in a green gown as she picked up the fan-voted Billboard Chart Achievement Award.

She told the exuberant audience: 'Thank you guys for being so supportive. Billboard thank you so much, we've had an incredible relationship so far all these years. I'm blessed and feel very lucky to be up here receiving this award right now so thank you guys.'

How many chinchillas did it take to make that wrap? Rihanna stepped out in a controversial animal fur

Shady lady: Rihanna was wearing a trendy pair of sunglasses despite it being dark outside

Trying rearly hard: But even the Barbadian beauty's bounteous behind was not enough to rescue her look

As if that was not enough of a treat, she also performed new single Love On The Brain, just the latest in a long line of musical odysseys.

On Monday, it was announced that Big Sean will serve as her opening act on the European leg of her Anti Tour, which kicks off on June 17.

The series of concerts will include appearances at several summer music festivals in the UK, Belgium and Finland.

On the road again: Next month, Rihanna will kick off the European leg of her Anti Tour

Model style: Naomi Campbell kept her 46th birthday celebrations going as she also headed to Up & Down Nightclub in New York City

Comfort and style: The ageless beauty wore a black jacket over a low cut white top, baggy black tuxedo pants and a pair of Adidas
U.S Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., became just the 12th congressman to endorse presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump early Wednesday.

Zinke made the announcement on the morning cable news program Fox and Friends. The endorsement comes one day before Trumps scheduled 4 p.m. Thursday appearance in Billings, where Zinke is expected to introduce Trump.

Its time, because this election, I think, its a decision point in our history, Zinke told The Gazette. The way I see it, America is upset on both sides. And I think the mistrust on the Democratic side is manifested by the Bernie Sanders movement. They face the same challenges, the same frustrations as the folks on the right side.

As a Montanan, I want a person who creates jobs instead of killing coal and manufacturing jobs, who wont be held hostage by foreign energy interests.

Zinke said support for Trump has been slow to coalesce in the House but that lawmakers are now gathering. America is upset at Washington, he said. A businessman who wont accept business as usual is necessary to change things up.

The endorsement is sure to draw fire from supporters of Zinkes Democratic challenger, Denise Juneau, currently Montana superintendent of public instruction.

Democrats held a noon press conference Wednesday in Billings to talk about why they think Trump doesnt share Montanas values.
She's just been revealed as the new face of Swarovski.

And Karlie Kloss got to celebrate her new role with pal Hailee Steinfeld on Tuesday as the duo put on a glamorous display at a party in New York.

The 23-year-old Vogue cover model stunned in a black halterneck dress with large cut out at the waist.

Party time: Karlie Kloss and Hailee Steinfeld posed together as they celebrated Karlie becoming the new face of Swarovski at Top of the Rock in New York

She elevated her 6ft 2in frame with black strappy high heels.

Completing the look was a bold red lipstick and accessorised with silver Swarovski earrings.

Hailee, 19, chose a grey striped dress with tie details on her skirt.

The Pitch Perfect star wore her brunette locks in a loose ponytail and donned metallic heels to complement the look.

Karlie is following in the footsteps of Miranda Kerr who was also an ambassador for the brand and will start appearing in print ads in the fall.

Red hot! The 23-year-old model looked picture perfect as she smiled for snaps wearing a slick of striking scarlet lipstick

Classic beauty: Karlie looked gorgeous in a black dress cut-out at the back

Red carpet looks: Hailee opted for a striped dress with tie detail on the skirt hem

The blonde beauty said in a statement: 'It's an honor to join the Swarovski family and to be part of the brand's long history of bringing elegance to women through brilliant, unique designs,'

In an interview with New York magazine she revealed: 'It's a brand that I've worn on the runway or on red carpets for years and also before I was a model,

'Some of my first early pieces, from my mother or my grandparents, really special kind of milestone pieces for birthdays or holidays, were Swarovski.'

Perfect pouts: The model posed on the red carpet with the 19-year-old actress

So chic: The 6ft 2in beauty smiled for a selfie with fashion blogger Bryanboy

Best foot forward: Karlie elevated her 6ft 2in frame with black strappy high heels

Beaming: The Victoria's Secret beauty was in typically sprightly spirits as she dazzled on the black carpet

Karlie revealed the big news on Tuesday in a couple of Instagram posts.

The first selfie showed her writing 'Be Brilliant' in red lipstick on her bathroom mirror as she got ready for her day. That quickly gleaned 80.6K likes.

She captioned it: 'Got some news today... #bebrilliant.'

Karlie then revealed her news in a hilarious 10-second Instagram clip in which she tried to say the word Swarovski several times before finally getting it right.

Captivated: Karlie looked in awe of the city skyline as she gazed through a telescope inside the soiree

Shine bright like a diamond: Karlie recently told New York magazine 'It's a brand that I've worn on the runway or on red carpets for years and also before I was a model,'

No holding back: The gorgeous twosome both worked their angles as they posed for the cameras

(From left) Gogoboi, Alessandro Vergano, Vashtie Kola, Yelena Aschberger, Hailee, Robert Buchbauer, Margaret Zhang, Nathalie Colin, Karlie, Vanessa Hong, Zanita, Whitney Port, Giovanna Ewbank,and Bryanboy

Stunning: Hailee sported a dramatic make-up look comprised of a shimmering silver and ice blue eyeshadow and dewy pink lipstick

She captioned that one, of course: 'Excited to be the face of @swarovski  #bebrilliant.'

The beauty has been dating financier Joshua Kushner, the son of wealthy real estate mogul Charles Kushner, since 2012.

The 30-year-old is the managing partner of Thrive Capital, a media investment firm which he founded in 2009.

What a beauty! Karlie showed off her modelling prowess as she posed up a storm while sharing a snap with Swarovski CEO Robert Buchbauer

Vision in white: Chanel Iman looked bridal in a white floor-length gown that boasted a billowing hem that was made up of a flowing fabric

Barely-there: Winniwe Harlow dared to bare in a velvet bardot gown which boasted a daringly high thigh split

All in the details: She upped the glamour of the look with corkscrew curls and gold hooped earrings
She's not opposed to showing a bit of skin on social media.

And Tully Smyth was up to her usual tricks as she flaunted her assets in a racy lingerie set during her trip to Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Posing on a bed at the famed Mondrian Hotel, the 28-year-old sported a very sheer lace bra under her hotel bathrobe, with the string of her skimpy bottoms also showing in the photo.

Scroll down for video

Feeling flashy: Tully Smyth, 28, flashed her assets in a white lace lingerie set and a bathrobe while in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The travel blogger captioned the image: '#RobeLyf @mondrianhotels #YoungBloodTravel'

Puckering her lips as she pouted for the camera, the social media enthusiast was seen resting her hand on her head, with her fingers running through her loosely-waved locks.

Appearing almost makeup-free with just her eyebrows groomed with product, the former Big Brother star was wearing her signature nose ring.

Lounging: The former Big Brother star shared a different angle of her racy outfit on Snapchat

Tully also shared the cheeky look on Snapchat, showing the outfit from a different angle.

The photo showed the Melbourne-based star flaunting her tanned legs, with her robe strategically placed to cover her private parts.

Tully's travel blog Young Blood Travel has seen the blonde living it up in Los Angeles this week.

Birthday bash: The social media enthusiast donned a Harley Davidson tank shirt and a black bandanna around her neck for a party at nightclub Ep & Lp's on Tuesday

She joined Orange Is The New Black star and fellow Australian, Ruby Rose, at nightclub Ep & Lp's first birthday bash on Tuesday.

Taking to Snapchat, Tully documented her activities as she got ready for the event, with Ruby featuring in her social media updates once arriving at the party.

After posing for a group shot, which included Australian television host Renee Bargh, Tully filmed a short clip of her as they talked with friends on the club's rooftop.

Group shot! Ruby and Tully pose for a group shot, which included Australian television host Renee Bargh (far left)

'Showing Rubes all about the "subtle beauty" filter...' Tully captioned the 10 second video.

Tully and Ruby have been friends since they were 15-years-old after meeting through the modelling competition.

They both feature regularly on each other's social media accounts and are seen catching up when in the same city.
She may be Australia's 'Golden Girl' but there's one achievement Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett values above all her sporting medals - motherhood.

The four-time gold medallist recently enjoyed a luxury 'Baby's First Holiday' with her little girl Poppy and husband Luke Trickett at Hamilton Island in Queensland.

Libby, 31, looked happier than ever as she celebrated Poppy's family getaway in the Sunshine State - after previously revealing it took her nearly seven months to adjust to being a mother.

Scroll down for video

Family getaway: Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett (R) recently enjoyed a luxury 'Baby's First Holiday' with her little girl Poppy (C) and husband Luke Trickett (L) at Hamilton Island in Queensland

It was a delightful and stress-free break for Libby and Luke as their holiday was perfectly tailored to suit the needs of new mums and dads.

Travelling light with all the necessary baby amenities provided at the Reef View Hotel, it was simply a case of kicking back and relaxing as the happy memories unfolded.

Libby told New Idea earlier this month about the 'many arguments with (her) husband' during the first few months of Poppy's life and admitted it took almost seven months to adjust to motherhood.

Golden girl: Libby, 31, looked happier than ever as she celebrated Poppy's first holiday in the Sunshine State - after previously revealing in New Idea it took her nearly seven months to adjust to being a mother

But it appeared to be domestic bliss for the family of three as they posed for photographs while exploring Catseye Beach and splashing in the pool with Poppy.

Elsewhere, the proud parents were able to enjoy some much-deserved couple time by enjoying relaxing massages at Hamilton Island's Spa Wumurdaylin.

They also shared a romantic dinner at the location's signature restaurant Bommie, while Poppy was looked after by one of the Island's in-room sitters.

Doting dad: It was a delightful and stress-free break for Libby and Luke as their holiday was perfectly tailored to suit the needs of new mums and dads

Libby also spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her struggles with first-time motherhood and exhaustion, as well as the lessons she's learned in the last eight months.

'There is expectation that we need to know everything all at once, immediately,' she said. 'But you may not do everything the same as other (mothers) and that's OK. It doesn't matter.'

Libby also explained that she saw a doctor and psychologist, and spoke to 'a bunch' of friends who also have children about her emotions and tiredness in the early months.

Baby steps! In-between showing Poppy around the luxury destination, the proud parents were able to enjoy some much-deserved couple time by enjoying relaxing massages at Hamilton Island's Spa Wumurdaylin

She claims the experts told her to 'take care of (herself)' as so much of her day is dedicated to looking after the baby.

Confirming that she also has 'a mother's group' for support, Libby added: 'I feel really lucky that I've tapped into those social circles and they are people who "get" it.

'They don't sugar coat things. You can actually go, "Isn't it boring? Isn't it repetitive? Don't you wish you were back in your old life?" You can have those moments without feeling like a bad person.

Catered for: Travelling light with all the necessary baby amenities provided at the Reef View Hotel, it was simply a case of kicking back and relaxing as the happy memories unfolded

'And you're not wishing your child away at all, it's just you can talk about how it's really bloody hard. You feel like you're not the only one.'

She ruled out suffering from postpartum depression, however, saying: 'I think I had postnatal exhaustion which probably has similar symptoms to depression.

'But it's symptomatic of the fact that you have no sleep more than anything!' she concluded.

Libby also spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her struggles with first-time motherhood and postnatal exhaustion, as well as the lessons she's learned in the last eight months

Learning curve: 'There is expectation that we need to know everything all at once, immediately,' said Libby of parenthood, 'But you may not do everything the same as other (mothers) and that's OK. It doesn't matter'

Libby also revealed that motherhood is '100 per cent' more challenging than being an Olympian, adding: 'It's really bloody hard training 35 hours a week for years and years.'

'But when you're a mother you've got a lack of sleep, you're really emotional, you feel like you're not getting the results.

'When I swam, the harder I worked the more results I got. But when you have a baby sometimes you work really hard but you don't always get back what you put in.

Up and away! Libby spoke earlier this month about the 'many arguments with (her) husband' during the first few months of Poppy's life

'She may still cry, she may not sleep that night, whatever it might be. It's more challenging in those ways, being a mother'.

Fortunately, it seems Poppy is starting to sleep a little better these days, as Libby confirmed: 'We've gotten a bit of help with it. We getting to a point where we're starting to sleep a bit more.'

She also claimed the family holiday on Hamilton Island 'was a big turning point' for her and Luke as they now feel more rested.

Relaxed: It appeared to be domestic bliss for the family of three as they posed for photographs while exploring Catseye Beach and splashing in the pool with Poppy

Libby, who hails from Townsville, Queensland, previously said in New Idea that for the first four months after welcoming her daughter, she questioned whether little Poppy even liked her.

'I basically spent four months asking my husband whether he thought Poppy even liked us,' she confessed.

She married fellow swimmer Luke Trickett at Taronga Zoo on Sydney Harbour in April 2007, and the couple welcomed their daughter Poppy Frances on August 31, 2015.

Bliss: Libby, who hails from Townsville, Queensland, previously said in New Idea that for the first four months after welcoming her daughter, she questioned whether little Poppy even liked her

And while her Instagram feed has been filled with adorable photos together with her bundle of joy, her first-person piece with the magazine told a different story.

'Six months and 24 days into parenthood I eventually understand why people love babies,' she wrote.

The turning point, she said, was when Poppy uttered her first 'words', an adorable 'ba ba ba' that made Libby's heart 'explode'.

Support base: Libby also explained that she saw a doctor and psychologist, and spoke to 'a bunch' of friends who also have children about her emotions and tiredness in the early months

But that's not to say it took the former Olympian nearly seven months to love her child.

Like all parents, it was love at first sight, but the love was one that was burdened with responsibility and was more 'slow burning' than fireworks.

The hard part, Libby claimed, was she and Luke got no feedback from Poppy for the first six weeks on whether all their love, nurturing and care was well-received.

It was not until Poppy gave her parents her first smile that they realised the constant attention was noticed.
Las Vegas is famous for its nightlife...and little white chapels.

And it seems while Australian radio personalities Ash London and Angus O'Loughlin are in Las Vegas, they've decided to make the most of their adventure - getting hitched by Elvis.

The former Shazam Top 20 co-hosts shared a photo after their nuptials at the Graceland Wedding Chapel, with Ash proudly holding the marriage certificate as she posed in a white tulle dress.

'Happiest day of my life': Australian radio personalities Ash London (centre) and Angus O'Loughlin (right) posted a picture to Instagram on Wednesday as 'newlyweds' after being married by Elvis in Las Vegas

'Happiest day of my life,' Ash captioned the shot posted to Instagram on Wednesday.

Angus is seen standing next to his bride in a tuxedo, with one arm around Ash's neck as he kisses her cheek tenderly.

The pair even counted down to the 'Ashgus Wedding' with their own hash-tag on Twitter, sharing some funny snaps along the way.

Despite comments from friends congratulating the pair and noting 'about time', it seems the duo tied the knot in Sin City as part of some sort of radio stunt.

But first...let me take a selfie! The blushing bride stopped her preparation to snap a selfie, which they shared on Twitter under the hash-tag 'Ashgus Wedding'

'We had to make the most of Vegas': The pair posted funny photos as they documented their lead up to the altar

Especially given a birthday post from Ash to Angus on Instagram just five weeks ago, calling him her brother.

'Happy birthday @angus_ol - you are in every sense my brother. Apart from the bit about actually being related,' the iHeartRadio personality wrote.

'@ash_london can't wait to join the family for realz,' he responded, adding the hash-tag 'Vegas', suggesting the trip is somewhat of a reunion.

'You are in every sense my brother': It's believed the former Shazam Top 20 co-hosts, who say they're like brother and sister, got hitched as part of a radio stunt

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to their joint management for comment.

Also in the US at the moment is Angus's current radio co-host Emma Freedman, who has been in LA for the past few days.

The Australian Dancing With The Stars champion even visited the set of the US series for their Grand Final.
They've had a rocky last couple of years.

And former couple Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick looked to be having a serious talk as they headed to dinner in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday.

The exes, who have worked hard to remain amicable, appeared to be in heavy conversation during the outing.

Working things out? Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick looked to be having a serious talk as they headed to dinner in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday

Scott, 32, gesticulated while chatting with his ex during the late evening stroll.

Wearing his trademark ripped denim, boots, and a hoodie, he appeared to be making a point as he waved his arm while talking.

Kourtney, however, looked to be a bit somber as she bowed her head listening to her former partner talk.

See Kourtney Kardashian updates as she looks somber while going to dinner with Scott

Why so serious? The duo appeared to be heavy in conversation

Active listening: Kourtney looked to be a bit somber as she bowed her head listening to her former partner talk

That's better: The reality star was later seen keeping her chin up

The lithe 37-year-old showcased her toned upper legs and tastefully proportioned posterior in a pair of skintight leggings and thigh-high suede boots, and completed her look with a trendy tartan shirt.

Klever Kourtney, who is the only Kardashian sister with a university degree, has certainly been showing her ex-lover Scott what he is missing since she split from the self-proclaimed Lord last summer after photos emerged of him canoodling with stylist Chloe Bartoli in Monaco.

More recently, Scott was seen partying with a bevy of women in Cannes last week.

Meanwhile she hit the headlines yet again earlier this week after she revealed her three-year-old daughter Penelope thinks of Caitlyn Jenner as her grandmother.

Catching heat? Scott was seen partying with a bevy of women in Cannes last week

Earlier that day Kourtney was seen dropping their son Mason off at an art class

Free Mason: The youngster looked excited to be out of the car and stretching his legs

In a preview of Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the three-year-old's mother Kourtney reveals her daughter refers to Caitlyn as 'Grandma'.

During a typiucally thought-provoking debate with sister Khloe, she said: 'We were reading a bible book, and the angel in the book was this person with long hair and a white long dress. Penelope was like, "That looks like my grandma."

'I was like, "Which Grandma? Bonnie?" She was like, "No." I was like, "Lovie? GG?" And she was like, "No."

'She goes, "My grandma that came with us to see Zootopia." Caitlyn.'

Little devil: She was hamming it up yet again on her Snapchat page

Naughty bird: And her vulgar sister Khloe could not resist flashing her middle finger as she sat on the couch
She's one of the world's most glamorous women.

And on Tuesday Miranda Kerr proved she can even make double denim look chic and beguiling as she stepped out in New York wearing skinny jeans and a 7 For All Mankind matching top.

The stunner would eventually spend her day shooting a Christmas campaign for clothing company Joe Fresh.

Scroll down for video

Another day in her life: On Tuesday, it was back to work for Miranda Kerr, 33, who rocked a double denim ensemble as she made her way through the streets of New York

The mother of son Flynn Bloom, five, paired a jean button-up, cuffed at the sleeves, with a set of cut-off denim skinnies.

The stunning 33-year-old threw on a long, navy trench coat over her shoulders, most likely for current trend appeal.

The supermodel added additional height to her 5ft 9in stature with a pair of tan, suede heels with a wooden bottom.

Working it: The mother of son Flynn Bloom, five, paired a jean button-up, cuffed at the sleeves, with a set of cut-off denim skinnies

Fashionable look: The stunning 33-year-old threw on a long, navy trench coat over her shoulders, most likely for current trend appeal

The model accessorized with a black purse, a pair of dark shades and delicate jewellery.

Miranda wore her bob hairstyle tousled and with added volume.

Her lips made a statement in a bold, red shade.

Extra lean: The supermodel added additional height to her 5ft 9in stature with a pair of tan, suede heels with a wooden bottom

It's all in the additions: The model accessorized with a black purse, a pair of dark shades and delicate jewellery

Following her European adventure in Paris, Miranda returned to another day of work in New York.

The stunner shared a snap from the set of her latest shoot, which was set during Christmastime.

'#selfie on set @joefresh,' she wrote.
She's got a bikini body men want and one women envy.

And Elyse Knowles made sure to flaunt it during a recent photo shoot.

The 24-year-old Billabong model sizzled in a smouldering lingerie shoot while flaunting her ample assets.

Scroll down for video

Ample assets: Billabong Elyse Knowles model looked confident during the sultry shoot which saw her styled by celebrity stylist Molly King

In one shot shared via Instagram on Tuesday, the buxom blonde could be seen flashing a black lace bra that revealed a healthy hint of cleavage.

The lingerie was paired with a fitted pink pencil skirt that showcased her toned torso while highlighting her shapely figure.

The 2015 Formula One Australian Grand Prix ambassador teased a glimpse of her derriere while modelling the stunning pieces after being dressed by celebrity stylist Molly King.

Stunning: The Melbourne model oozed confidence during a high-end fashion shoot and made sure to share a shot via Instagram on Tuesday

Dressed in a chic black leather jacket paired with what resembled a high-cut body suit, Elyse showcased her deeply tanned complexion and impossibly smooth skin.

Fans wasted no time double tapping her stunning lingerie shot, with many expressing their approval in the comments section.

The Melbourne beauty began modeling at age 10 and she has since had notable success.

Poser: The buxom blonde looked self-assured while revealing her slender physique

Her feats include being named this year's Face of AW Chadstone, the 2015 Rolex GP Ambassador and launching her own Evrryday fashion label last year.

She currently boasts over half a million followers, with legions of fans across the world fascinated by the stunning blonde.

Despite her achievements, Elyse says she's more than just a model.

High fashion: Elyse has been modeling since age 10 and has represented the likes of Rolex GP and the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival

'I am definitely not just a model. I wake-board, I ski, ride a motorbike, snowboard, skate & surf. I promise you that I give anything a good crack! My motto is 'if a boy can do it, I can,'' she wrote via her blog.
She is a woman in need of a kidney and her only hope is her boyfriend with a criminal past.

But if things were not already bleak Anthony Hopkins comes along and begins a reign of terror and torture upon young lovers Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones (aka Casey and Juliette) in the new trailer for Collide.

The teaser opens with Hoult and Jones playing a sexy game of dare in the snow while wearing only their knickers when things go wrong.

Scroll down for video...

She is a woman in need of a kidney and her only hope is her boyfriend with a criminal past: I f things were not already bleak Anthony Hopkins comes along and begins a reign of terror and torture upon young lovers Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones (aka Casey and Juliette) in the new trailer for Collide

Jones, who plays Juliette, suddenly becomes catatonic in the snow with her boyfriend, Hoult, trying desperately to rouse her.

The next scene shows the two in the hospital as it is revealed the young woman is in need of a kidney transplant.

The two then discuss how they will come up with the $200K need for her organ transplant.

Oh no! Jones, who plays Juliette, suddenly becomes catatonic in the snow with her boyfriend, Hoult, trying desperately to rouse her

Dire need: The next scene shows the two in the hospital as it is revealed the young woman is in need of a kidney transplant

Need that cash: The two then discuss how they will come up with the $200K need for her organ transplant

The only solution they decide is for Hoult, Casey, to go back to his criminal ways.

In need of black market work, the young man returns to his former boss Geran (Ben Kingsley), who gives him a dangerous but lucrative assignment.

It is then that Casey attempts to steal property belonging to another crime lord, Anthony Hopkins.

Strings attached: The only solution they decide is for Hoult, Casey, to go back to his criminal ways; In need of black market work, the young man returns to his former boss Geran (Ben Kingsley), who gives him a dangerous but lucrative assignment

Not good: Things go from bad to worse as Casey's failed attempt at the heist leads to Hopkins kidnapping his girlfriend

The trailer ends with Hopkins declaring, after appearing to torture the couple: 'All this trouble all this pain for love.'

Hitting us soon: Collide hits US theatres on August 19

Things go from bad to worse as Casey's failed attempt at the heist leads to Hopkins kidnapping his girlfriend.

The trailer ends with Hopkins declaring, after appearing to torture the couple: 'All this trouble all this pain for love.'

Collide hits US theatres on August 19.

Meanwhile: The same day the trailer for Collide dropped, Hoult was seen on set of Rebel In The Rye with co-star Zoey Deutch in New York
They play mother and daughter in the successful Netflix series, Bloodline.

And Linda Cardellini was seen sharing friendly embrace with her co-star Sissy Spacek as they celebrated the second season of the hit show in Westwood on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old was happy to draw attention to her cleavage on the day as she sported a plunging purple and black dress for the occasion.

Scroll down for video

Pretty in purple: Linda Cardellini was happy to draw attention to her cleavage at the series premiere of Bloodline

Linda - who plays attorney/family peacekeeper Meg  accessorised with a matching clutch and dangling earrings.

While she added height to her toned legs with black heels, completing her look with sleek and straight locks.

Oscar winner Sissy suited up to celebrate the second season of the Netflix series.

Dream team: The former Mad Men star was seen sharing friendly embrace with her co-star Sissy Spacek as they celebrated the second season of the hit show in Westwood on Tuesday

Well-heeled: The 40-year-old sported a plunging purple and black dress for the occasion

Natural beauty: Linda - who plays attorney/family peacekeeper Meg  accessorised with a matching clutch and dangling earrings

The 5ft2in Texan - best known for Carrie and Coal Miner's Daughter - easily defied her 66 years in a black pantsuit and matching stilettos.

Sissy - born Mary - pinned her famously long locks back and let her natural beauty shine through, but kept her dark circular shades on.

In Bloodline, Spacek plays Florida Keys hotelier and Rayburn matriarch Sally, who's mourning the loss of her eldest son Danny (Ben Mendelsohn).

Like a boss: Oscar winner Sissy suited up to celebrate the second season of the Netflix series

HBIC: The 5ft2in Texan - best known for Carrie and Coal Miner's Daughter - easily defied her 66 years in a black pantsuit and matching stilettos

Deal with it: Sissy - born Mary - pinned her famously long locks back and let her natural beauty shine through, but kept her dark circular shades on

The 10-episode second season of the Netflix thriller begins streaming this Friday, and the Deadfall actress has already binged the entire thing.

'The only thing that's frustrating about it is it takes us so long to shoot a season,' Sissy lamented on Dr. Nancy Berk's Whine At 9 podcast last week.

'And then, I watched this [season] in one day. I couldn't stop! It was like candy. And so I go, "Oh no! I have to wait another year to see the third season." If there is one. Hopefully there will be.'

'I don't think my children are giving me the whole story': In Bloodline, Spacek plays Florida Keys hotelier and Rayburn matriarch Sally, who's mourning the loss of her eldest son Danny (Ben Mendelsohn)

'I watched [it] in one day. I couldn't stop! It was like candy!' The 10-episode second season of the Netflix thriller begins streaming this Friday, and the Deadfall actress has already binged the entire thing

Joining the longtime married mother-of-two at the Landmark Regent Theatre was 19-year-old Taylor Rouviere - who plays Jane Rayburn - who donned a black cut-out jumpsuit and matched her manicure with her blue clutch.

Bloodline's boys Kyle Chandler and John Leguizamo - who play John Rayburn and Ozzy Delvecchio, respectively - also suited up for the occasion.

Two-time Golden Globe winner Beau Bridges - alongside his wife of three decades, Wendy - plays a secret character 'full of surprises.'

Sally's granddaughter: 19-year-old Taylor Rouviere - who plays Jane Rayburn - donned a black cut-out jumpsuit and matched her manicure with her blue clutch

Gentlemen: Bloodline's boys Kyle Chandler and John Leguizamo - who play John Rayburn and Ozzy Delvecchio, respectively - also suited up for the occasion

'Had so much fun with the cast this year!' Two-time Golden Globe winner Beau Bridges - alongside his wife of three decades, Wendy - plays a secret character 'full of surprises'

Excited to be at the 2nd season premiere of @Bloodline had much fun with the cast this year. My character is full of surprises. @netflix  Beau Bridges (@MrBeauBridges) May 25, 2016

Aside from the cast, Sharknado's Tara Reid turned up to check out the event in an all-white ensemble.

Stylist Devon Nuszer put the 40-year-old actress in a cape blazer, matching skinny jeans, and brown leather high-heeled boots.

The Tie the Knot star will next join boyfriend Dean May in the fifth season of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, premiering June 3 on WE tv.

Loves her eyeliner: Aside from the cast, Sharknado's Tara Reid turned up to check out the event in an all-white ensemble

Bloodline fan: Stylist Devon Nuszer put the 40-year-old actress in a cape blazer, matching skinny jeans, and brown leather high-heeled boots
They have been living the Hollywood lifestyle since relocating in 2013 to follow their acting dreams.

But on Tuesday, Australian couple Rebecca Breeds and Luke Mitchell enjoyed some down time together as they returned to their hometown of Sydney.

While enjoying the autumn sunshine Rebecca showed off her skateboarding skills as she tore up and down the quiet street.

Scroll down for video

Down time: Rebecca Breeds showed off her skateboarding skills on Tuesday as she rode up and down the quiet street Sydney street with husband Luke Mitchell

Her hunky beau stayed close-by and filmed her secret talent as he was riding a bike.

As Rebecca, 28, cruised around the streets for the camera, she listened to audio as she plugged her earphones in tightly.

The former Home And Away actress showed off her slender frame as she dressed in a pair of tight exercise leggings which finished below the knees.

Hidden talent: Her hunky beau stayed close-by and filmed her well-hidden talent while riding a bike

Who would've known: As Rebecca, 28, cruised around the streets for the camera, she listened to audio as she plugged her earphones in tightly

Keeping it casual: The former Home And Away actress showed off her slender frame as she dressed in a pair of tight exercise leggings which finished below the knees

She teamed the casual piece of attire with a faded red T-shirt and a pair of grey and green sneakers.

Rebecca tied her long dyed hair back into a ponytail but allowed random strands to fall freely in front of her makeup free face.

Her husband also kept his look simple as he opted for a pair of blue chequered board-shorts and a white printed T-shirt.

Luke, 31, had his short ash blonde hair spiked roughly while rocking an unshaven face.

On the low: She teamed the casual piece of attire with a red T-shirt and a pair of grey and green sneakers

Riding about: Rebecca tied her long dyed hair back into a ponytail but allowed random strands to fall freely in front of her makeup free face

Since leaving Home And Away in 2012, Luke and wife Rebecca, who played Romeo Smith and Ruby Buckton respectively, have made efforts to forge successful careers abroad.

Starring in The Tomorrow People, Luke's high-concept science fiction series was his first major role in the U.S. and he played futuristic freedom fighter John Young alongside rising stars Robbie Amell and Peyton List.

Following its cancellation in 2014, Luke was cast in American TV series, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Last year it was announced he'd be playing Lincoln, who works closely with one of the sexy lead stars on the show Chloe Bennet's character, Skye.

Roughed up: Her husband also kept his look simple as he opted for a pair of blue chequered board-shorts and a white printed T-shirt

Mixing it up: Luke, 31, had his short ash blonde hair spiked roughly while rocking an unshaven face.

Meanwhile Rebecca briefly starred in CBS television series TV series We Are Men before its cancellation, but went on to land a role on popular dramas Pretty Little Liars and The Originals.

In February it was revealed she had landed the lead role in the pilot episode of the upcoming legal drama Miranda's Rights after a competitive audition process

Rebecca and Luke, who met on the set of Home And Away, dated for four years before getting married in a country ceremony Down Under in January, 2013.
The appeal for a Billings man serving life sentences for multiple home invasions and rapes is set for consideration by the Montana Supreme Court.

On May 2, the appeal briefs for 44-year-old Toby Eugene Griego was sent to the court for review by the justices. The court will then decide how the case will proceed.

Griego was sentenced in 2014 on 27 counts related to the rape of three women and attempted rape of another. The attacks involved home invasions, and the subsequent trial became a high-profile case in Billings.

He received 22 consecutive life sentences for the crimes with no possibility of parole.

Attorneys have been filing briefs in the appeal since October. Gregio's public defender has argued that during the trial, District Judge Russell Fagg was wrong to deny requests to move the trial. The appeal cited examples of media coverage and online comments that created a "presumed prejudice" that threatened a fair trial, the attorney wrote.

In denying the motion, Fagg wrote that the media accounts were "factual in nature" and weren't inflammatory. In response to the appeal, attorneys for the Montana Attorney General's Office agreed with this view.

Griego's attorney is also challenging Fagg's decision not to suppress a victim's identification of Geiego because it was based on voice samples.

With the briefing finished, the justices will meet to discuss how the case will be heard and how many will sit on the panel. That conference has not yet been scheduled.

Griego is being held at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby.
Penelope Cruz attended a screening of Oscilloscope's Ma Ma hosted by The Cinema Society and Chopard at Landmark Sunshine Cinema on Tuesday in New York.

The 42-year-old Spanish beauty looked stunning in a black feathered skirt and patterned long sleeved top.

The Oscar-winning actress looked gorgeous in her Michael Kors Collection ensemble as she swept her long brunette locks to one side.

Scroll down for video

Drop dead gorgeous: Penelope Cruz attended a screening of Oscilloscope's Ma Ma hosted by The Cinema Society and Chopard at Landmark Sunshine Cinema on Tuesday in New York

She showcased her slender legs in the knee length dress as she teamed her outfit with a pair of black stilettos.

Her make-up was on point as she sported dark smokey eyes and accessorized with a pair of dazzling drop earrings.

The Zoolander 2 actress looked happy as she posed for cameras outside the venue.

Showing off her sartorial style: The 42-year-old Spanish beauty looked stunning in a black feathered skirt and patterned long sleeved top

Natural beauty: The Oscar-winning actress looked gorgeous in her ensemble as she swept her long brunette locks to one side

World wide release: Her film - Ma Ma - was released in Spain last year but is now set for worldwide release

The Vanilla Sky actress kept her makeup to a minimum for the event with a hint of brown smokey eye, light coral blush and nude gloss.

Cruz stars in the film as Magda and sported a shaved head for her powerful performance.

Highlighting an important cause, the actress foregoes her usual glamorous appearance and looks unrecognisable as she bares her body for the heartbreaking role.

Connected: 'This is one of the most wonderful characters that I will ever be offered to play,' she said. 'I fell in love with the story of this woman, who is like a goddess, a sage.'

'It's so emotional for me,' Penelope said to the mediator, New York Times contributor Logan Hill.

She continued: 'The strength and the light of this character, she's such an amazing fighter and she has the most interesting and peculiar reactions, you know?'

'Even the moment when she gets the news that she has cancer,' she said. 'She asks the doctor if she can still go to the hair appointment because it's a little bit conflicting with the time of the checkup at the end of the day.'

Thigh's the limit! Kelly Bensimon wore a split dress to the event

Pretty and understated: Maya Thurman-Hawke arrived in a classy frock

After the screening, guests were invited to New York City's new hotspot Cafe Medi for an after party where they enjoyed Qui tequila cocktails.

The day before, the Spanish beauty attended the TimesTalks in New York City on Monday to discuss her dramatic role.

The film was released in Spain last year but is now set for worldwide release.

Hotspot: Twilight star Peter Facinelli attended the Ma Ma screening after party at New York City's Cafe Medi

Pretty in pink! Model Pat Cleveland showed off her enviable figure in a fucshia dress as she also attended the Ma Ma after party

Talking to radio show Cadena Ser last year, the star said that taking on the role was incredibly important to her.

'This is one of the most wonderful characters that I will ever be offered to play,' she said. 'I fell in love with the story of this woman, who is like a goddess, a sage.'

Adding: 'It was very important to me to take risks and at no time did I worry if I looked beautiful, was ugly or very ugly. It is a tribute to all women who face this disease.'

Flawless: Penelope looked stunning when she arrived to discuss her new film Ma Ma at the TimesTalks in New York City on Monday
Without the car, karaoke gets replaced with something far more hard hitting on this show.

James Corden and Anne Hathaway went head-to-head in a rap battle on Tuesday night with the host shredding her acting skills and the Oscar-winner taking aim at his waistline.

The critique came during a game of Drop The Mic on The Late Late Show in which they ripped into each other with a street style rap off.

Scroll down for video...

Late night 8 Mile: James Corden and Anne Hathaway went head-to-head in an rap battle on Tuesday night with the host shredding her acting skills and the Oscar-winner taking aim at his waistline

James 'the rhyme destroyer' Corden went first quickly declaring himself the Drake of the battle and Anne the Meek Mill saying Anne was going to flop just her movie The Avengers.

His first sting was: 'Now its Anne's turn to act a little scary because the only cat woman I acknowledge is Halle Berry.'

Throwing her heels at him, the actress was not worried as she said his 'rhymes are like your ratings, they are incredibly weak'.

The host quickly came back saying he was going to in win as his rap was for the whole of the UK who are mad at her for 'awful British accent in the movie One Day'.

'I won't lose this to an imposter, it's more likely they'll ask you to again host the Oscars,' he steamrolled, taking a dig at her disastrous Academy Awards hosting gig in 2011 with James Franco.

Hathaway's next gibe was about Corden's clothes and weight, asking if he was 'allergic to wearing suits that fit'.

'You look like a KFC bucket with a lot of extra breast,' rapped the 33-year-old actress.

Rap game: The pair took some swipes at each other during a Drop The Mic segment

It's on: James 'the rhyme destroyer' Corden went first quickly declaring himself the Drake of the battle and Anne the Meek Mill saying Anne was going to flop just her movie The Avengers

Got ya: His first sting was, 'Now its Anne's turn to act a little scary because the only cat woman I acknowledge is Halle Berry'

'You're more full of s*** than a kitty litter box,' she continued.

'That was actually mean!' joked Corden, 37, before bending over and asking her to kiss his 'f***ing a**'.

But it was the Les Mis star who took the battle home with an epic rap that ended with her literally dropping the mic and declaring, 'Now you know how it feels to get Hatha-slayed.'

Quick come back: Throwing her heels at him, the actress was not worried as she said his 'rhymes are like your ratings, they are incredibly weak'

For the UK! The host then attacked the star for her 'awful British accent' in her 2011 film One Day

'You look like a KFC bucket with a lot of extra breast': The 33-year-old actress asked if Corden was 'allergic to suits that fit'

Corden's other guest was Cloud Atlas actor Jim Sturgess, 38.

The English star played Hathaway's lover in the 2011 movie One Day, in which she did her much-slated Leeds accent of northern England.

Corden pulled her up on her inadequacies again after first noting it wasn't a 'traditional' accent that she took on.

Low blow: 'That was actually mean!' joked the 37-year-old host, before bending over and asking her to kiss his 'f***ing a**'

Final say: But it was the Les Mis star who took the battle home with an epic rap that ended with her literally dropping the mic and declaring, 'Now you know how it feels to get Hatha-slayed'

'How did that work out?' he giggled.

'I've heard not wellit was so painful man,' smiled the Batman actress.

'I was like ''I'll get there'' and I guess I never got there,' she said, recounting one read through which left the whole cast and crew in 'complete silence'.

Friends again: Despite being Hatha-slayed, Corden sat down with the star later for a proper interview

Accent again: James brought up the British accent thing again during the interview segment

Film stars: Ann starred in One Day with fellow guest Jim Sturgess

Recalling their first meeting Sturgess described how they were summoned for a 'chemistry read' to gauge their romantic rapport for the film.

'She was late,' he remembered.

'It was so awkward, because any time you get into any kind of flow everyone is like ''uh huh, uh huh'',' she laughed, making an eager face.

Great sport: The Oscar-winning actress told a funny story about how her accent for One Day 'never got there' after a bad read through

Romantic drama: Anne and Jim are shown in a still from the 2011 movie One Day

Together again: Jim and Anne were reunited on the chat show

Hathaway gave birth to her son Jonathan Rosebanks Shulman two months ago and kept the due date and gender secret to avoid publicity.

'I realised during my pregnancy that I'm a really good liar,' boasted the Havoc actress.

Talking of her own childhood she recalled pulling off her baby brother's umbilical cord by accident and hiding it from her mother.

Good liar: Anne joked about telling people misinformation about her pregnancy to maintain her privacy

'I was like 'Ooh my god I broke the baby'',' said the Bride Wars star, who is five years older than her younger sibling, Thomas.

In another attempt to sound rebellious she outlined a time when she deceived her parents.

'I lied,' she said, describing an incident 'after the junior prom' when she went to her boyfriend's empty house instead of to local nightclub.

Lying theme: The Devil Wears Prada star told about deceiving her father in high school

'It was really fun,' she said, before revealing how her father had caught her out, because the club in question had actually been closed 'for the last four months'.

'I started tea kettling, I was like ''Oh my god I'm so sorry, I've been lying to you this whole time'',' she squealed in a high pitched kettle-like tone.

She also admitted to struggling with math lately since giving birth.

She's funny: Anne showed her funny side as she joked around during her introduction

Sturgess said he plays a 'coke addicted chef' in the upcoming TV drama Feed The Beast, alongside David Schwimmer as an 'alcoholic sommelier'.

'We start a restaurant which is doomed for disaster,' he said of the new series that will debut on June 5 on AMC.

Hathaway was promoting Alice Through The Looking Glass Hathaway that opens in the US on Friday.
After receiving a standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, Joel Edgertons civil rights film Loving is getting serious Oscar buzz.

The film doesnt hit cinemas until November but the critics who attended the festival screening are almost unanimous in their praise and have been bowled over by Edgertons acting.

The Australian star plays lead character Richard Loving sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for entering into an interracial marriage with partner Mildred, played by Ruth Negga.

Scroll down for video

Stellar performance: Critics who attended the festival screening are almost unanimous in their praise and have been bowled over by Joel Edgertons acting

Highly praised: The Australian plays lead character Richard Loving sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for entering into an interracial marriage with partner Mildred, played by Ruth Negga

Variety reports: 'Though it will inevitably factor heavily in year-end Oscar conversations, Nichols film is seemingly less interested in its own glory than in representing whats right.

'And though it features two of the best American performances of the past several years, from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (neither of whom are American, hailing from Australia and Ethiopia, respectively), its emotional impact derives precisely from how understated they are.'

Other movie critics also heaped praise on the film with Vanity Fair penning: 'Edgerton is one of the more dynamic movie actors of his generation.'

Cannes: Director Jeff Nichols poses with actress Ruth and Joel at the annual 69th Film Festival this month

The civil rights drama comes not long after Joel's success with Midnight Special  with both movies directed by Jeff Nichols.

Joel made headlines earlier this week when he compared the old American state laws against mixed-race marriages featured in Loving to the continued block of gay marriage in Australia.

One of the things that struck me while working on this film is what happens between two individuals is nobody else's business, he said after Mondays screening.

There was a definite resonance with my own country, particularly with the rights of gay marriage and the latency of under-the surface racism, which is something I think we really need to talk about.
She recently insisted that they are just friends after he hosted her trip to Cannes earlier in the month.

But Chloe Sims set tongues wagging once again as she enjoyed another night out with millionaire tycoon Robert Tchenguiz on Tuesday night.

While the pair had been seen together multiple times during the 69th Cannes Film Festival festivities in France earlier this month, their friendship has made its way to London as they were pictured heading to celebrity hotspot, Sexy Fish.

Scroll down for video

Busty blonde: Chloe Sims set tongues wagging once again as she enjoyed another night out with millionaire tycoon Robert Tchenguiz on Tuesday night

The 33-year-old TOWIE star seemed to be dressed to impress her companion as she put on a very busty display on a racy black mini dress.

The sheer dress featured a black cut-out underlay which appeared to have ridden up as the reality left the venue, causing her to flash her derriere at passers-by.

She emphasised her small waist with a gold belt while she accessorised with a glittering clutch and caged heels.

The blonde beauty styled her locks into a voluminous 'do and was all smiles as she got into a taxi with her good friend at the end of their evening.

Turning heads: The 33-year-old TOWIE star seemed to be dressed to impress her companion as she put on a very busty display on a racy black mini dress

Oh derriere: The sheer dress featured a black cut-out underlay which appeared to have ridden up as the reality left the venue, causing her to flash her derriere at passers-by

Chloe hit out at gossips who questioned her relationship as she explained to Closer magazine: 'My friend Robert invited me out because he goes every year. I'd love to back , but I'm still struggling with a hangover... I was out till the early hours each morning.

'I had the time of my life. It was so glamorous and I partied loads! I met Leonardo DiCaprio and I was so star-struck... He was really friendly and polite.'

Her comments came after she was frequently spied cosying up to the British entrepreneur, 55, in a host of cosy trips to various bashes.

Heading home: While the pair had been seen together multiple times during Cannes Film Festival festivities in France earlier this month, their friendship has made its way to London as they were pictured at Sexy Fish

Fun times: The blonde beauty styled her locks into a voluminous 'do and was all smiles as she got into a taxi with her good friend at the end of their evening

She was able to step out to a host of wildly glamorous parties and rubbed shoulders with the height of the A-list.

The duo were most notably together at the De Grisogono party held at Eden Roc, Hotel du Cap, on Tuesday, where she mingled with a host of A-list stars including Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.

While she appeared on Robert's arm for much of the jaunt, she insisted the trip was totally platonic.

Big grin: Chloe hit out at gossips who questioned her relationship as she explained, 'My friend Robert invited me out because he goes every year'

According to The Mirror, a representative for the star shut down rumours of a relationship, and insisted that the two are just friends who enjoy spending time together.

'They arent dating. Chloe is very close to Roberts sister, Lisa, and they are all hanging out and having fun together in Cannes,' her spokesperson told the publication.

Chloe was previously linked to TOWIE co-stars Elliott Wright and Mario Falcone while Robert hosted other stunners such as Caprice and Tara Reid.
Her perfectly toned pins have helped her land countless high-profile modelling jobs.

And Jennifer Hawkins showed off the legs that made her famous in a pair of black thigh-high boots as she fulfilled her duties for the upcoming series of Australia's Next Top Model.

The blonde beauty was seen sitting on a low chair in a black long-sleeved ALX sweater which barely skimmed the top of her long legs.

Scroll down for video

Sexy boots: Jennifer Hawkins showed off the legs that made her famous in a pair of black thigh-high boots as she fulfilled her duties for the upcoming series of Australia's Next Top Model

With her long blonde locks styled into loose waves, Jennifer was seen looking away in the candid snap which she posted on Instagram.

'#AusNTM @ausnexttopmodel,' she captioned the image, which looked as though it was taken in a photographic studio.

This suggests she could have been filming a promo or even one of the first episodes of the 10th series, which is set to be aired later this year.

Fashion pack: Jennifer (right) was joined by fellow judges Alex Perry (far left) and Megan Gale (left) at Australian Fashion Week

These boots are made for walking! Jennifer also donned a pair of black boots during Australian Fashion Week

She will be returning to the judging panel along with Alex Perry as 12 aspiring models battle it out to become Australias Next Top Model.

The Fox8 network recently announced that Megan Gale, a Perth-born supermodel, would be joining as a judge.

Cheyenne Tozzi will be returning as a mentor along with the Stenmark Twins, Zac and Jordan.

Jennifer met her handsome beau Jake Wall just prior to winning the 2004 Miss Universe crown.

In the years since, they have managed to grow an impressive, multi-million-dollar company, J Group, which they operate jointly.

Their $10 million portfolio ranges from beauty products such as J Bronze, swimwear in the form of COZI by Jennifer Hawkins, and property development, most recently adding tequila to their ever-growing brand.
She gave birth to her bundle of joy with boyfriend Daniel just three months ago.

Yet Cara Kilbey exhibited a body far defying her recent birth, as she slipped into a bikini during a sun-drenched trip to Dubai with her daughter Penelope Blu this week.

The 28-year-old former TOWIE star looked phenomenal in an Aztec bikini, showing off her taut abs and perky bust, as she cradled her tot on an idyllic beach setting.

Scroll down for video

Adorable: Cara Kilbey exhibited a body far defying her recent birth, as she slipped into a bikini during a sun-drenched trip to Dubai with her daughter Penelope Blu this week

Cara's figure was simply remarkable following the birth of her first child as she flaunted an incredibly flat stomach beneath her perky bust.

Her long legs were accentuated by the tie-side bikini bottoms, which added even further inches to her pins, while standing with her hip popped out to help support Penelope.

She showed off a hint of cleavage in the triangle top bikini which was adorned with delicate gold details while the halter strap highlighted her slender shoulders.

Rather than pack on boho beach accessories, she simply sported a bangle with a heavy gold watch - injecting a classic touch of Essex bling to the ensemble.

Bundle of joy: The 28-year-old former TOWIE star looked phenomenal in an Aztec bikini, showing off her taut abs and perky bust, as she cradled her tot on an idyllic beach setting

Her raven tresses were worn in billowing waves, perfectly flowing in the beach breeze while her make-up appeared to be permanently applied.

Cara's deeply bronzed tan was a focal point of the snap, with her white teeth and Penelope's alabaster complexion making her colouring stand out more.

Penelope looked simply adorable in a little pink smock dress as she put on an expressive display for the camera, smiling and waving.

The sweet baby is not only a beach baby but also an Internet baby, as Penelope has her own Instagram account boasting a whopping 25,000 followers.

Baby joy: She gave birth to her bundle of joy with boyfriend Daniel just three months ago

Cara has been documenting her holiday with her 328,000 Instagram followers - showing off cute pictures of Penelope at every turn.

Back in February, Cara announced the happy news as she took to Instagram to write: 'Welcome to the World... Penelope Blu Harris 12.02.2016 9lb2oz.'

Her representative told MailOnline: 'Cara and Daniel are thrilled to welcome Penelope Blu Harris to the world, she weighed 9lb 2oz and both mother and baby are doing well.'

News of the birth came 11 months after Cara suffered a devastating miscarriage when she was five months pregnant.

Expectant parents: News of the birth came 11 months after Cara suffered a devastating miscarriage when she was five months pregnant

Cara revealed her latest pregnancy last September when she was 22 weeks gone after months of nervousness due to her tragic loss earlier that year.

She told Closer magazine: 'Daniel and I knew we wanted to get pregnant again straight away so I was overjoyed when I found out I was expecting two months later.

'We went through an awful time together, and I can see how something that traumatic can break a couple. But we saw a different, more caring side to each other and it brought us so much closer.
He was best known for playing baddies such as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

But it has been revealed that the Alan Rickman left 4million in his will including legacies of 100,000 to charity.

The actor, who died of cancer aged 69 in January, left the bulk of his UK assets to his wife Rima Horton, 68, who lived with him in west London.

Scroll down for video

Generous: It has been revealed that the Alan Rickman left 4million in his will including legacies of 100,000 to charity

But he also left 25,000 each to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sponsored Arts for Education, the Facial Surgery Research Foundation known as Saving Faces and the International Performers Aid Trust.

Rickman, a lifelong Labour supporter, was widely involved in the latter two charities in his lifetime. He also left 25,000 each to his three nieces.

The actor shot to fame as Bruce Williss adversary German terrorist Hans Gruber in 1988 film Die Hard and for his BAFTA winning role as a villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991.

See more news on Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman as he left 4 million in his will

His last gift: The actor, who died of cancer aged 69 in January, left the bulk of his UK assets to his wife Rima Horton, 68, who lived with him in west London

What a man: But he also left 25,000 each to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sponsored Arts for Education, the Facial Surgery Research Foundation known as Saving Faces and the International Performers Aid Trust

Probate records reveal that his net estate of 4,060,033 only covered his assets in the UK.

His will which was written just three months before he died in hospital from pancreatic cancer, stated that his assets in the US and Italy were being dealt with separately.

Rickman and his wife, a former Labour councillor and economics lecturer, married privately in New York in 2012, although they had been together since 1965 when he was aged 19 and she was 18.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company after leaving Rada and became an acclaimed stage actor before his Hollywood roles.

Family man: Rickman, a lifelong Labour supporter, was widely involved in the latter two charities in his lifetime. He also left 25,000 each to his three nieces

Rickman became known to a fresh legion of fans as the villainous Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.

He also won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his terrifying title role in the 1995 film Rasputin and was BAFTA-nominated for his parts in Michael Collins, Sense and Sensibility and Truly Madly Deeply.

One of his last roles was as a British general in the drone warfare thriller Eye in the Sky, also starring Helen Mirren, which was released last month.

He also did voice work for the newly released film Alice Through the Looking Glass.
She once confessed to making her employees cry in the workplace.

But Jessica Alba's hunky assistant didn't appear too put-out as he left a meeting with the actress in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The strapping young man carried the star's handbag and water bottles as he led the way out of the building, while she texted on her mobile phone.

Scroll down for video

A helping hand: Jessica Alba was spotted with her hunky assistant on Tuesday, who carried her handbag as she left a meeting in Beverly Hills

Jessica was looking smart for the outing in an oversized black pinstripe blazer by DKNY, which she wore on top of a white T-shirt and DL1961 skinny jeans.

The 35-year-old also wore sky high white pumps with spindly stiletto heels and lashings of gold jewellery.

Jessica left her caramel locks down and appeared to be sporting just a touch of natural make-up.

The Honest Company founder is back in Los Angeles following a trip to Las Vegas to attend the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

Dressed to impress: The actress sported an oversized DKNY blazer on top of a T-shirt, skinny jeans and heels

Later that evening, she went to see Jennifer Lopez perform during her All I Have residency alongside Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, Meghan Trainor and Laverne Cox.

Last week marked Jessica's eighth wedding anniversary with Cash Warren, and while the pair spent the day apart, Cash made sure to send his wife some flowers.

The happy couple are parents to two daughters: Honor, who turns eight next month, and Haven four.

Jessica revealed last year that she is a tough boss, telling More magazine: 'Im a little more iron fist than velvet glove. Im straight to the point.

Party time: Jessica turned up the heat on the pink carpet at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday

'Ive made people cry. I have to say, "This isnt personal. This is what needs to get done, and its just as simple as that. And  were not crying anymore." Im learning to tone myself down.'

And while her billion-dollar company continues to go from strength to strength, Jessica also has a couple of movie projects in the works.

The actress can next be seen in Dear Eleanor, which follows two teenage girls as they travel across the US in 1962 in search of Eleanor Roosevelt during the Cuban missile crisis. The film is out July 5.

Jessica also stars alongside Jason Statham in Mechanic: Resurrection, due to hit cinemas on August 26.
Australian-born actress Jacinda Barrett certainly cut a stylish figure as she attended the series premiere of Netflix's Bloodline in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

But all eyes were on the star's new lighter locks, with the 43-year-old showing off her blonder hair.

The Bloodline actress - who is typically seen with darker hair - glowed as she celebrated the TV series, wearing high-waisted trousers and a sheer and silk bustier top.

Suits you! Australian-born actress Jacinda Barrett showed off her lighter locks at the series premiere of Netflix's Bloodline in Los Angeles on Tuesday (L). She is seen at a New York event in March last year (R)

Dressed up: The Bloodline actress - who is typically seen with darker hair - glowed as she celebrated the TV series, wearing high-waisted trousers and a sheer and silk bustier top

At the event, the mother-of-three wore her long hair out to one side, with loose tousled curls.

Her make-up included dewy foundation, a dusting of blusher and eyeliner.

She looked chic in her outfit, with her top featuring a see-though neckline and completed her look with simple black heels.

A gradual progression: The star is seen here with dark tresses at an event in California in 2013

Pretty: At the event, the mother of three had her long hair out to one side, with loose tousled curls

Her lighter locks come after she last year paraded a dark blonde hair colour.

Before that, she flaunted dark brunette tresses most fans recognise her by.

She has indeed been blonde before, including in 2008, and in 2003.

Playing with her looks! She has indeed been blonde before, including in 2008, (pictured with husband Gabriel Macht and daughter Satine Anais) and in 2003

Taking a walk on the lighter side! The stunner is seen here in 2003 with bleached hair

She attended the Bloodline premiere this week with her husband, Suits actor Gabriel Macht, who she has been married to since 2004.

Gabriel looked smart in a blue tailored suit and a white shirt, wrapping his arm around his wife as he supported her at the event.

Jacinda appeared in high spirits on the evening, smiling and laughing in front of the camera.

Date night! She attended the event with her husband, Suits actor Gabriel Macht, who she has been married to since 2004

Sweet: Gabriel looked smart in a blue tailored suit and a white shirt, wrapping his arm around his wife as he supported her at the event

She is well known for appearing in Suits, as well as playing the character Rebecca in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

In the early 1990s, Jacinda appeared in the MTV reality show Real World London, perusing modelling work in the UK.

She and Gabriel have two children, daughter Satine, eight, and son Luca, two.

Familiar face: She is well known for appearing in Suits, as well as playing the character Rebecca in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Abby Champion showed off her long legs while out in Los Angeles on Monday.

The girlfriend of 22-year-old actor Patrick Schwarzenegger wore tiny black shorts under a loose top as she left an audition for a modelling gig.

The 19-year-old model looked lost in thought as she headed back to her car.

Scroll down for video

Stepping out: Model Abby Champion showed off her long legs while out in Los Angeles on Tuesday

Abby wore beige heels that accentuated her slender legs.

She added a flowing button-up top over her black shorts, and clutched a laptop which likely helped to showcase her modelling portfolio.

The teenager added a dark beaded necklace and slim silver cross necklace, and left her long blonde hair down.

Multi-tasking: The 19-year-old added beige heels to accentuate her slender legs

Abby was also seen loading her luggage into the trunk of her car as she arrived at her meeting.

She balanced her phone on her shoulder as she hefted her suitcase into the trunk.

The teenager had just returned to Los Angeles, after she and Patrick visited her native Alabama for a wedding.

Jetsetter: The blonde beauty chatted on the phone a she lifted her suitcase into the trunk

Patrick - who is the son of action star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver - shared a snap of from Birmingham on Instagram last week.

'The deep fried south,' he captioned a photo of the couple, who went public with their relationship in February, a year after he split from Miley Cyrus.

Patrick has also recently signed on to star in a new fantasy romance Undying, about a ghost who must help his girlfriend recover from the pain of his loss, reportedDeadline Hollywood.

All smiles:Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger shared a happy snap of the couple in Abby's native Alabama last week as the couple attended a wedding

The busy actor also recently graduated from The University of Southern California, and his parents reunited five years after their split to help celebrate his achievement.

Patrick posted an Instagram picture with Arnold and Maria by his side, writing: 'Wouldn't be anywhere without these two. Thank you for everything and love yah both.'

And Abby, who was already back in Alabama, revealed her sadness at missing her boyfriend's milestone occasion.

'Wish I could be there,' she wrote.
The Alberta Bair Theater plans to raise up to $10 million to enhance the experience it offers up to 1,400 guests during any given performance.

But first it has to convince the Billings City Council of the importance of the planned 3,200-square-foot expansion.

The ABT seeks permission to vacate portions of Third Avenue North and North Broadway, which the Billings City Council will consider on June 13.

The city-owned theater wants to increase the number of restrooms, beef up concessions, expand and update the lobby and install an elevator to improve seating options for patrons with disabilities.

A number of other improvements are also in the plan being developed by CTA Architects, including installing sound and lighting systems, reupholstering the seats, expanding and improving the green room, resurfacing the stage, installing a new band shell, creating new office space  and enhancing the Art Deco buildings exterior, including hanging a metallic scrim on the building so that interesting shadows and lights will make it apparent that fun is going on inside the halls of a building constructed by 20th Century Fox in 1931 and designed by Robert Reamer, whod earlier designed the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park.

During a Monday presentation to five City Council members, ABT board members and staff said the need for more bathrooms is critical.

CTA Architects' Mike Tuss said the building currently has facilities for 22 patrons at a time, but just two on the ground floor. After the upgrade, 25 additional restroom facilities are planned for the balcony, and the two restrooms on the ground floor will be expanded.

Theres been little done here in almost 30 years since the theater was remodeled in 1987 after being purchased by the city in 1982, said Michael Sanderson of Sanderson Stewart, and an Alberta Bair Theater board member. Its starting to show its age.

We are poised to move forward with a significant capital campaign, Sanderson said. But we need to get the owner  the city  on board first.

During the 2015-16 season, the Alberta Bair Theater drew nearly 100,000 people to events there, including more than 23,000 youngsters who attended student matinees.

The theaters $1.7 million operating budget supports more than 60 jobs in Billings, including restaurants, hotels and other businesses that benefit from people going out for the evening or visitors spending the weekend in town.

The most recent season resulted in the most sellouts in history, said William Woody Wood, the theaters executive director. The Alberta Bair plans to announce its 2016-17 season Thursday morning.

Under the current plan, the concession area on the ground floor will double in size, and the queue to the ticket office will be moved indoors.

The balcony will be enhanced and will be available for outside events, from wedding receptions to business functions. A new concession area is planned for the balcony as well.

A new heating and air-conditioning system will keep big crowds cool. The air conditioning just cant keep up when the buildings packed, Tuss said.

While improvements to the green room  a new kitchen, restrooms and showers  wont be readily visible to most theater-goers, itll be more respectful of performers, Tuss said.

Sidewalks would be extended along Third Avenue North and Broadway, eliminating a small number of curbside parking spots, but presenting no problem for walk-up traffic as well as pedestrians passing by.

A big part of the experience is walking up to the theater, Sanderson said. Preserving sidewalks and circulation is an important part of that experience.

Vacating a portion of Third Avenue will also alter the exiting experience, so that the current exit onto the busy street wont be as abrupt.

A more transparent exterior is part of what Tuss calls a sense of pageantry being brought to the design portion of the project. People will see theres something going on inside. Its an effort to grab people and pull them into the theater.

An electronic sign will be erected outside the theater, and video monitors throughout the interior will alert patrons to whats occurring on stage while theyre away  and when its time to return to their seats following intermission.

As theyve been revealing their plans to potential donors, board members described the feedback as positive and strong.

Billings deserves  yes, needs  to update its crown jewel of our downtown and performing arts community, the board said in a news release. The time is now.
Her ex boyfriend spoke out on their break up this week.

And Lucy Mecklenburgh had the perfect comeback on Wednesday, sharing a sizzling bikini snap on her Instagram page to show Louis Smith what he's missing.

The former TOWIE star looks sensational in a skimpy two piece in the throwback shot, as she told fans she was pining for the beach.

Scroll down for video

Wow factor! Lucy Mecklenburgh shared a sizzling bikini snap on her Instagram page on Wednesday shortly after her ex boyfriend Louis Smith spoke out on their break up

The pic shows Lucy, 24, flaunting her toned and tanned figure in a lemon and pink halter neck bikini as she poses in the surf.

'Happy hump day Wishing I was back on the beach bikini - lucysboutique.co.uk #lbstyle,' the clothing shop owner captioned her steamy social media snap.

Lucy has so far remained quiet after her former boyfriend Louis Smith's interview this week which saw the Olympic gymnast speak out on the couple's break up earlier this year.

What could have been: Lucy has so far remained quiet after her former boyfriend Louis Smith's interview this week which saw the Olympic gymnast speak out on the couple's break up earlier this year

Louis, 27, explained: 'I wanted to make the decision to end it sooner rather than later.'

In an interview with this week's edition of OK! magazine, he went on to say: 'I could have stayed with Lucy but the longer I left it, the more attached she would feel and the more damage it would have done in the future.

It was hard, but if its not right, its not right and I wanted to make the decision to end it sooner rather than later.'

While the relationship didn't turn out the way Lucy wanted to, Louis has made an effort to still be on good terms with the former reality star.

Look at what you're missing! The fitness entrepreneur posted another sexy snap on her Instagram page on Sunday night, no doubt reminding her sportsman ex of what he left behind

He explained: We still talk. Time definitely heals all wounds so we chat now and again. Id say were borderline friends, which is nice and what I always wanted.'

Lucy and Louis are said to have called time on their long-distance romance just weeks after a romantic break in Thailand over the athlete's reluctance to get married and start a family.

While the couple spoke openly about their future plans, Lucy reportedly felt as though the sportsman had 'really led her on' in leading her to believe he was ready to settle down.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'Lucy wanted things that Louis just wasnt ready to commit to. In the end Lucy wasnt prepared to wait.

'Louis really had led Lucy on in that theyd discussed marriage and kids at length  it came like a bolt out of the blue and doesnt really make any sense to her.'

The pair first met in August 2014 on gymnastics-based BBC reality show Tumble, which Louis judged and Lucy competed in.
It seems that Peta Murgatroyd had two things to celebrate when she stopped by Good Morning America in New York City on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old had won the mirrorball trophy with Nyle DiMarco during the Dancing With The Stars finale the previous evening, and it's also rumoured that she is expecting her first child.

However according to a new report, her alleged pregnancy news was accidentally revealed by Erin Andrews.

Scroll down for video

Oh baby: Peta Murgatroyd appeared on Good Morning America with Nyle DiMarco on Wednesday amid pregnancy rumours

TMZ claims that the host of the show congratulated Peta and her fiance Maksim Chmerkovskiy during a rehearsal for the finale.

But she apparently didn't realise that her microphone was on, meaning that everyone in the room heard the news.

Shortly after the finale aired, several reports surfaced claiming that Peta and Maksim, both pro dancers, are expecting their first child together.

The happy couple have yet to confirm the pregnancy rumours.

Starting a family?: The 29-year-old and her fiance Maksim Chmerkovskiy have not confirmed the pregnancy claims. The couple, who got engaged in December, are pictured on Tuesday following the finale

Whoops: It has been reported that Dancing With The Stars host Erin Andrews let the alleged pregnancy news slip by congratulating the couple during a rehearsal, and not realising her microphone was turned on

Close friends: The professional dancer and the model cuddled up after winning Dancing With The Stars the previous evening

Nothing to see here: Peta wasn't showing any signs of a budding bump in her embroidered skirt and top

The blonde beauty wasn't showing any signs of a budding bump on Wednesday while appearing on Good Morning America with Nyle.

Peta was sporting an embroidered orange crop top and a white skirt featuring a colourful floral design.

The dancer left her toned limbs on show and also wore T-strap white heels, with her hair down in soft waves.

Changing it up: Peta and Nyle had arrived at the studio in more casual outfits before changing

Ta-da!: The partners showed off their glittering mirrorball trophy outside the New York City studio

Keeping cosy: Peta wore a baggy green knitted jumper over skinny jeans and thigh-high black boots

Meanwhile 27-year-old Nyle was clad in a grey suit and white T-shirt, having changed from an orange tank top and tracksuit bottoms.

Peta had arrived at the studio in a cosy green knitted jumper with skinny jeans and thigh-high black leather boots.

Nyle, who previously won America's Top Model and was the first fully deaf contestant on Dancing With The Stars, beat out Ginger Zee and Paige VanZant to take home the coveted trophy.

Ginger also stopped by Good Morning America, where she was presented with a onesie for her five-month-old baby boy Adrian.

Busting a move: Peta and Nyle, who was the first fully deaf contestant on the show, did a spot of dancing

A busy 24 hours: Following their win, the partners caught a red eye from Los Angeles to New York

Big win: Nyle and Peta are pictured here with Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews (just seen far right) after they were announced as the winners

Peta and Maksim got engaged in December after three years of dating on and off, when the handsome dancer proposed onstage during a performance in Miami.

'I'm not a man of words. But I'll take this moment to be speechless, and I'll just say that I'm in love with you,' he said in front of the excited crowd.

'And I want to be in love with you for the rest of my life. And if you'll have me, then I want you to be apart of mine.'

The couple have shared their desire to have children together in the past, with Peta telling People: 'I would like to start [having kids] pretty soon. A little boy, and then a little girl.' Maksim added: 'I can't wait.'

'My mama can move': Ginger Zee, who came in third, was presented with a onesie for her baby Adrian

Strong bond: The meteorologist has grown close to her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy (Maks's brother)

Happy to have you: Robin Roberts and Laura Spencer looked like they were having a great time with the Dancing With The Stars cast




Shepherding her brood around a theme park, Heidi Klum certainly had her hands full.

The model mother took her four children to the newly opened The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Los Angeles at the weekend, where they dressed up as Hogwarts students for the day.

The group looked to be having a magical day out, as Leni, 12, Henry, 10, nine-year-old Johan and six-year-old Lou rode repeatedly on the rides.

Scroll down for video

'It's a handful!' Heidi Klum is on mom duty with her four kids at Harry Potter theme park at the weekend... as she opens up about life as a single mother

Family outing: Heidi'sGerman mother Erna joined the group, left, sitting beside Lou as Heidi joined Leni

Dressed in robes from the Gryffindor house to which Harry Potter himself belonged, the four waved wands as they explored with their mother.

While Heidi skipped playing dress-up, she didn't hold back when it came to going on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight Of the Hippogriff - joining her brood on them multiple times.

Heidi's German mother Erna joined the group, and seemed as excited as her grandchildren as she sat beside youngest child Lou.

The whole gang: Dressed in robes from the Gryffindor house to which Harry Potter himself belonged, the four waved wands as they explored with their mother

Mom's the word: While Heidi skipped playing dress-up, she didn't hold back when it came to going on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight Of the Hippogriff - joining her brood on them multiple times

The outing came as straight-talking Heidi told InTouch magazine that being a working single mother was not always easy.

'I'm happy with my family,' she said, saying she did not see herself ever having any more.

'Having four children, it's a handful I just love the way things are right now.'

Got her hands full: The outing came as straight-talking Heidi told InTouch magazine that being a working single mother was not always easy

All done: 'I'm happy with my family,' she said, saying she did not see herself ever having any more

While the 42-year-old has been happily dating art dealer Vito Schnabel, 29, for two years, she told the magazine that marriage was not on the horizon - nor would it ever be.

'No, I've been there twice,' insisted Heidi, who split from musician Seal in 2012 and first husband Ric Pipino in 2002.

Heidi also opened up about the contents of her wardrobe - revealing she could rival Imelda Marcos for her love of shoes.

'I probably own 2,000 pairs of shoes,' she admitted. 'Does that sound horrible? I'm a hoarder!'

Closet hoarder: Heidi also opened up about the contents of her wardrobe - revealing she could rival Imelda Marcos for her love of shoes

Momma's boy: Heidi's son Henry, 10, wore the robes of Ravenclaw, while his siblings chose Gryffindor
After two-and-a-half years of construction, Heather Dubrow and her family are finally preparing to move into their dream home.

But their big move comes as the 47-year-old and her husband, Botched star and plastic surgeon Terry Dubrow, have been under strain and he admitted he's a 'terrible father' in the dramatic new trailer for RHOC's eleventh season.

'SO CLOSE. Getting so excited!!!' Heather wrote as she shared an image of their 'chateau' on Instagram Monday, adding the hashtag: '#homesweethome.'

Almost there: Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow shared a photo of her family's new mansion, which is almost done after two-and-half-years of construction

The reality stars and their four children will soon move into the 20,000-square foot mansion.

The expansive home has 14 bathrooms, an underground garage, lap pool and a movie theater that seats 21 people.

The mansion was expected to take two years to build, but ran over schedule by six months, despite Heather lovingly managing every aspect of construction.

However, the Dubrows' long-awaited move comes as Terry and Heather have been under strain over his demanding work schedule, which includes filming multiple reality shows while continuing to treat patients.

Welcome home: 'So close' she wrote after sharing a photo of the new front door this month

Taking care of business: The 47-year-old has been overseeing every detail of the 20,000-square-foot home

And things appeared to reach a boiling point in the new trailer for Real Housewives of Orange County's eleventh season this week.

The dramatic clips show Heather, 47, breaking down in tears and Terry, 57, admitting he's a bad father.

'Terry's leaving on Mother's Day,' Heather tells their children in the trailer.

'Don't blame me, I didn't schedule it,' he replies.

Later she confronts her husband, saying: 'You say yes to everyone but us.'

Hurt: Heather confronts Terry as he heads out on Mother's Day in the new trailer for Real Housewives of Orange County

Tensions: The couple are seen fighting over Botched star Terry's demanding schedule

Family struggle: 'I'm a terrible father,' Terry admits in the trailer

Overcome: Heather sobs in the car after fighting with Terry in the dramatic trailer. 'You say yes to everyone but us,' she tells him

And Terry admits he puts his children last, telling friends he's 'honestly a terrible father.'

A distraught Heather is then seen sobbing in the car.

However, the couple have already begun moving furniture in and are focused on finally moving into their dream home after a two-and-half-year wait.

Heather has been excitedly sharing updates on the chateau's progress as their move-in day finally approaches. She posted a photo of their new front door on Instagram earlier this month.

'OMG!!! So close,' she wrote, adding hashtags '#newbeginnings' and '#movingdaysoon.'

The couple will stay in a hotel for a few weeks to make sure all the last-minute details are perfect before moving in, Terry told Bravo'sThe Daily Dish earlier this month.

Family home: 'Marking our territory in the basement courtyard before the stone goes in!, Heather wrote on Instagram earlier this year

Details: Heather took measurements in the loggia, writing 'All I do is measure... wrapping up the last few pieces of outdoor furniture to order!'

Heather has been designing the house and has been on site six days a week overseeing every last detail, Terry said.

'She's there five or six days a week...It's going to be spectacular. It is,' he said.

And the plastic surgeon revealed he's most looking forward to the luxurious home cinema, which has a 'star ceiling.'

'It's a 21-seat movie theater, with state-of-the-art audio and new programming speaker systems that are only available in commercial movie theaters. It's going to be incredible.'

Fancy a drink? The home's onyx bar, which lights up, and a wooden slab that she planned on polishing and using as the bar top

Fancy: The home has 14 bathrooms, and Heather shared a photo of a bidet on Instagram, joking that it was 'Terry's Throne'

The gorgeous home also has a private office, as well as a 90-foot family room and kitchen.

There is also a bar made of an onyx slab that lights up.

Heather also shared a photo of a high-tech bidet in one of the 14 bathrooms, joking that it was 'Terry's throne.'

'This thing is crazy! Washes, dries, heats, massages... What else does it do?' she wrote, adding hashtag '#happyendings.'

Real Housewives of Orange County returns for season 11 on June 20.
She recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary with Formula One boss Christian Horner.

And on Wednesday the joys of domestic life continued for Geri Horner - as she treated her adorable pet pooches to an afternoon at the Hair of the Dog groomers in Highgate, north London.

The artist formerly known as Ginger Spice looked effortlessly chic, pairing white trousers with a pink jumper and a stunning grey coat.

Scroll down for video

Adorable: On Wednesday Geri Horner - nee Halliwell - treated her two pet pooches to an afternoon at the Hair of the Dog groomers in Highgate, north London

The 5ft 1in stunner balanced comfort and style with a pair of off-white cap-toe ballet flats and fought off the London rays with a pair of on-trend, aviator sunglasses.

As she walked her two pomeranians to the groomers she had to simultaneously carry her large handbag under her arm - perhaps owing to a broken strap.

But she handled that mishap like a pro, looking calm and elegant as she glided down the streets wearing an oversized white scarf.

Stylish: The artist formerly known as Ginger Spice looked effortlessly chic, pairing white trousers with a pink jumper and a stunning grey coat

No problem: As she walked her two pomeranians to the groomers she had to simultaneously carry her large handbag under her arm - perhaps owing to a broken strap

On the move: The 5ft 1in stunner balanced comfort and style with a pair of off-white cap-toe ballet flats and fought off the London rays with a pair of on-trend, aviator sunglasses

High-class: According to its web site, Hair Of The Dog stocks 'a range of grooming products which provide natural and organic solutions that are gentle for the skin and help to maintain a soft healthy and natural coat'

The happy outing with her two dogs was a far cry from the pain Geri endured in February, when she said goodbye to Harry, the beloved Shih Tzu who lived with her for more than 16 years.



Shortly after his death the 'It's Raining Men' hitmaker posted a heartbreaking tribute to her long-time companion.

She wrote: 'Rip my darling dog Harry died today. amazing companion to me .He was from @batterseadogsandcatshome . Thank you [sic]'.

Long-time companion: The happy outing with her two dogs was a far cry from the pain Geri endured in February, when she said goodbye to Harry, the beloved Shih Tzu who lived with her for more than 16 years

In his younger years, Harry was Geri's constant companion, accompanying her to red carpet events and on stage.

The cheeky pooch even got the Spice Girl in trouble at former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's countryside residence Chequers when he defecated on the politician's floor.

She famously said: 'We were in Mr Blair's study and Harry went in the corner of the room. I was so embarrassed I had to ask for tissues to clear it up.'

Easy-does-it: Geri pulled her auburn locks back, helping to showcase her wrinkle-free complexion

Perfection: Geri's coat included strap detailing on the back, which only added to its appeal
She was forced to pull out of performing at the Bocelli & Zanetti Night after doctors advised her to go on vocal rest.

But whilst she may have been unable to sing, Kylie Minogue ensured she'd still be the centre of attention as she headed into the fundraiser in Milan.

However, clad in a very elaborate floral floor-length gown, the petite 47-year-old songstress suffered a rare fashion fail as she walked the red carpet, seemingly trying to make up for the lack of audio in visual form.

Scroll down for video

Making an entrance: Whilst she may have been unable to sing, Kylie Minogue ensured she'd still be the the life and soul of the party as she headed into the Bocelli & Zanetti Night in Milan

Looking somewhat unrecognisable from her usual pop seductress style, with her pale make-up and vivid red lipstick clashing with her straw blonde locks.

Styling the locks in loose waves, she wore her locks in a side parting that appeared more coiffed than usual.

And Kylie ensured her presence would be noted at the benefit as she arrived in an eye-catching gown.

Adored with brightly coloured flowers, the black sheer dress trailed along floor as she walked, featuring a layer of tulle along the hem that swamped her petite frame.

Flower power: Clad in a floral floor length gown, the 47-year-old songstress suffered a rare fashion fail as she walked the red carpet, seemingly trying to make up for her lack of audio in visual form

Disappointed: Kylie was forced to pull out of performing at the Bocelli & Zanetti Night after doctors advised her to go on vocal rest and broke the news on Twitter

Adding to the clashing colours, the pintsized popstar also carried an embellished clutch that nearly blended into her busy patterned gown.

Featuring panels of mesh, the garment bore so many elements that it dwarfed the star.

The Slow hitmaker broke the bad news to her fans earlier in the day as she took to Twitter to post: 'Ciao Milan! I was to perform this evening at the 'Bocelli & Zanetti Night' but have been advised to be on voice rest after fighting a bad cold.

'I was hoping to be much better by now and am so disappointed I cant take to the stage, but I'll still be attending to lend my full support to the wonderful charities that will benefit from this concert.'

Hello petal: Adored with brightly coloured flowers, the black sheer gown trailed the floor as she walked, featuring a layer of tulle along the hem that swamped her petite frame

Blonde beauty: Kylie appeared to have tended to her locks ahead of the night out, with her glossy tresses boasting more of a golden sheen than usual

Back in business: The star didn't let her illness stop her from having fun on the night

Cheerful: Styling the locks in loose waves, she finished off the look with a slick of cherry red lipstick on her plump pout whilst her defined cheekbones were lined with a sweep of bronzer

Unflattering: Featuring panels of mesh, the garment bore so many elements that it dwarfed the star's already petite frame, overpowering the talented songstress

Making an entrance: Despite being too ill to perform, Kylie made a grand entrance in her floral dress

Head turner: The star commanded attention in her eye-catching mesh and tulle gown

The blonde beauty looked surprisingly fresh faced on the evening considering she had jetted into London just the day before.

Having only had a few hours rest before setting off to the Milan, the Grammy award winning artist showed no signs of fatigue on the red carpet.

But despite seeming in good spirits, the star was no doubt missing her fiance Joshua Sasse on the evening, as the pair have been inseparable since announcing their engagement in February.

Speeding through: Kylie made a graceful entrance as she slid out of her chauffeured car
With her flowing blonde hair, prominent cheekbones and charming smile, it is easy to see the family resemblance.

But it seems Lily Travers, 25, is cutting a very different path from that of her grandmother Virginia McKenna, swapping lion cubs for red carpets as a fledgling movie star.

The English graduate who studied at Durham University is starring in new romance film Me Before You and looked stunning at its London premiere on Wednesday night.

Scroll down for video

Runs in the family: Lily Travers, 25, (left) is following in her grandmother Virginia McKenna's footsteps by carving out an acting career with a role in new romance Me Before You. Virginia (right) is best known for appearing in classic 1966 film, Born Free

She was inspired to be an actress by her grandmother, 84, a Bafta winner who starred in the 1966 lion drama Born Free and went on to set up the Born Free Foundation, a wildlife conservation charity. She starred in the film with her husband Bill Travers, Lily's grandfather.

Lily said of her resemblance with her grandmother: People tell me I look like my granny - and Im proud of that. She is the person who more than any other has inspired me. If I can achieve some of her success, I will be more than satisfied.

Her father Will now runs the foundation and she spent time in Africa during her youth as part of the familys work, with her younger brother Widge, 22, for company.

Ruling the red carpet: Lily looked lovely in a bold red frock as she attended the film's London premiere on Wednesday night

English rose: The Durham University graduate looked radiant in her embroidered frock with a plunging neckline and capped sleeves

Family ties: She was inspired to be an actress by her grandmother, 84, a Bafta winner who starred in the 1966 lion drama Born Free

Now successfully making her way as an actress, the Fulham-based stars career is beginning to take off.

Lily, who is also a model, had a small role in Colin Firth starring spy spoof Kingsman: The Secret Service.

She said: It was a bit of a confidence boost, and an amazing thing to have on my CV, because the other people in it are so talented.

Close resemblance: Lily said of her resemblance with her grandmother: People tell me I look like my granny - and Im proud of that.'

Making an impact: Virginia went on to set up the Born Free Foundation, a wildlife conservation charity. She starred in the film with her husband Bill Travers, Lily's grandfather

She has also just finished filming the much anticipated Viceroys House, a film about Earl Mountbatten.

It stars Gillian Anderson and Hugh Bonneville, with Miss Travers playing Mountbattens daughter Pamela, lady-in-waiting to the Queen and wife of the interior designer David Hicks.

Lady Pamela and Miss Travers met for tea to help with research for the role. She said: It was such a privilege to meet her, says Lily. She represents the best two months of my life so far.

Rising star: Lily, who is also a model, had a small role in Colin Firth starring spy spoof Kingsman: The Secret Service
Tim Robards was the original Bachelor Australia, picking Anna Heinrich as his Number One.

And nearly three years on, the couple are still very much together but the 33-year-old hunk says he's not getting down on bended knee any time soon.

Despite an upcoming European holiday on the horizon for the pair, the fitness guru told OK! Australia magazine in an interview published Thursday, the romantic setting 'would be too cliched'.

Scroll down for video

'That would be too cliched': Tim Robards has said in an interview, published on Thursday, that he won't be proposing to girlfriend Anna Heinrich while they holiday in Eurpope later this year

The couple are set for a relaxing vacation, with the pair deciding not to film this trip for their YouTube travel series.

Last October, Tim spoke about not wanting to propose on holiday when it's most expected and explained he wanted to be able to surprise his girlfriend.

Chatting on The Daily Edition, the reality TV star appeared nervous as he told Sally Obermeder and Tom Williams on the topic of marriage: 'we're definitely getting closer'.

'I've gotta make something that's very left of centre, where she's not expecting it,' he said.

Fairytale: The original Bachelor Australia have been together for almost three years and live together in Bondi

Still going strong: The couple of almost three years have been dogged by break up rumours over the past 12 months but say they are still solid

However, possibly highlighting his nerves, Tim did say 'if I ever, if I get engaged' before correcting himself to say 'when I get engaged'.

'Looks like you've got your work cut out for you,' Sally told him with a giggle.

Meanwhile, when Anna appeared on the show weeks earlier, the 29-year-old said: 'I know that he's genuine and when he asks me and the day comes, it's gonna be so real that I won't be able to say "no"'.

Ready to get down on one knee? The original Bachelor Australia says he is looking forward to surprising his girlfriend when he does finally propose

There was also plenty of speculation early in 2015 that the pair may get engaged after appearing together on the first series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.

While joking on social media that if Anna won the series after getting down to the final week, he would propose on-air, the couple later revealed they had never plan to get engaged on the show.

'Anna said do not propose in the jungle,'Tim told OK! Australia last March.

Don't you dare! Anna Heinrich warned Tim Robards not to drop to one knee while appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here Australia

'I think that would have been the most horrible proposal ever,' Heinrich added.

Over the past twelve months, the pair's relationship has been dogged by break-up rumours but the pair have continued on, insisting things are fine between the couple.

At last month's Autumn Racing Carnival in Sydney, Tim told Fairfax Media: 'Anna and I, what we have is really strong.'

'I am so lucky that we can rise above all of that stuff,' he added.

Holiday time! The couple are looking forward to a romantic European getaway without cameras following them about

Recently, after tearing his bicep muscle and being tended to by his girlfriend-turned-nurse, Tim hinted at an upcoming proposal in a social media post.

The chiropractor has had plenty of pressure put on him since series two Bachelor Sam Wood popped the question to his chosen one, Snezana Markoski, just six months after the show finished.
She's famed for her curvaceous model figure and pin-up look.

So it seemed fitting that Daisy Lowe stole the show at the Marilyn Monroe 'Legacy of a Legend' Exhibition private view on Wednesday night, capturing the limelight in a figure-hugging black dress.

Posing up a storm with Marilyn Monroe lookalike Suzie Kennedy, Daisy looked every inch the sexy siren in her fitted LBD as she partied at the Design Centre in London.

Scroll down for video

Perfect pin-ups: Daisy Lowe stole the show at the Marilyn Monroe 'Legacy of a Legend' Exhibition private view on Wednesday night, where she posed up a storm with professional lookalike Suzie Kennedy

The 26-year-old brunette's dress clung to her enviable curves and accentuated her shapely posterior.

The below the knee number was given a touch of glamour thanks to a gorgeous beaded neckline, featuring pearl embellishment.

Daisy stuck to what she knows best in terms of her hair and make-up look, wearing her dark tresses down loose and sporting a smoky eye and a nude lip.

Dressed to impress: The 26-year-old brunette's dress clung to her enviable curves and accentuated her shapely posterior

Beaded beauty: The below the knee number was given a touch of glamour thanks to a gorgeous beaded neckline, featuring pearl embellishment

Old school Hollywood glamour: Daisy looked every inch the sexy siren in her fitted LBD at the bash

Sealed with a kiss: Daisy and Suzie worked their magic in front of the cameras

Striking: Daisy stuck to what she knows best in terms of her hair and make-up look, wearing her dark tresses down loose and sporting a smoky eye and a nude lip

Marilyn Monroe 'Legacy of a Legend' offers the public a rare chance to see original film costumes, jewellery and personal items from the screen siren's life.

Highlights include the sheer beaded dress the pin-up wore in Some Like it Hot, as well as personal papers including journals and handwritten letters.

The free exhibition, in collaboration with Juliens Auctions, runs from 25 May to 20 June at the Design Centre.

Must-see exhibition: Marilyn Monroe 'Legacy of a Legend' offers the public a rare chance to see original film costumes, jewellery and personal items from the screen siren's life

Uncanny: Marilyn lookalike Suzie was a dead ringer for the late Hollywood icon

It's all in the details: Daisy toned down her dress with simple black stilettos and a matching clutch bag

Striking: Daisy - who is the daughter of Pearl Lowe and rocker Gavin Rossdale - looked elegant as ever

Playing the part of the pin-up: Daisy appeared to be channeling Marilyn as she posed for pictures

Windswept: The raven-haired beauty braved the evening chill without a jacket

Daisy recently slammed the term 'curvy model' in reference to her Size 8 figure as well as the catwalk term 'plus size', explaining that she doesn't want women's average Size 14 to 16s to feel 'bad'.

She continued: 'Theres a lot more room for variation as far as models go - we should be promoting that all shapes, sizes and ethnicities are beautiful.

'It would be lovely for plus size models not to be called plus size - theyre being used for the same jobs.

'Were all just models - wearing beautiful clothes that make people feel good about themselves and helping designers to sell their creations.'

Gal pals: Daisy later headed to the launch of Fanpages - an annual magazine in the form of a high-end scrapbook - at London's Dover Street Market, where she caught up with stylist Bay Garnett

Taking to the decks: Daisy was on DJ duties for the evening and busied herself with the turntables

Putting in an appearance: Sinitta was also in attendance, enjoying a sneak peak at the exhibition

Strike a pose: The X Factor regular was accompanied by her dapper boyfriend Jason Gale

Looking good: The So Macho hitmaker was dressed in a flowing grey top and patterned trousers
Monsanto: object of Bayer desire despite GMO fears

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer sees in agroindustry giant Monsanto a gem worth at least $62 million for its dominant global position selling seeds sought by farmers of corn, soybeans, cotton and other commodity crops.

But for the Green movement, especially in Europe, Monsanto turns stomachs for unstinting promotion of genetically modified crops and its widely used herbicide Roundup, often feared as a possible carcinogen.

The merger is still under discussion -- Monsanto rejected the price as too low on Tuesday, but said it is willing to keep talking.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto was established by pharmacist John Queeny in 1901 to produce saccharine John Thys (AFP/File)

But it raises questions across an industry that is pushing the frontiers of biochemistry amid great nervousness, and consolidating into just a handful of very powerful firms.

- What is Monsanto? -

St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto was established by pharmacist John Queeny in 1901 to produce saccharine. Queeny named the company after his wife Olga Monsanto Queeny.

By the 1940s, the company was producing farm-oriented chemicals, particularly the widely used herbicide 2,4-D, and slowly became a US household name.

Combined with another dangerous chemical, 2,4-D was used to make the notorious Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange.

In 1976, it launched probably its most famous product, Roundup, the world's most widely used herbicide. Its active chemical is glyphosate.

The company began in the 1970s looking at the crops that the herbicides were protected, building cell and molecular biology units. In 1982, its scientists were the first to genetically modify a plant cell.

Monsanto then started buying other seed companies and withing five years began field trials of genetically modified seeds.

It eventually developed soybean, corn, cotton, canola and other crops that were genetically engineered to be tolerant of Roundup.

In 1994, Monsanto also became the first to begin selling the biotechnology-based hormone for dairy cows, rBST and rBGH, which was used across the United States to boost milk production. The two have been banned by many other major dairy producers.

- Why is Monsanto so valuable to Bayer? -

Monsanto is by far the world's leading producer of genetically modified crop seeds, and in many of its seed lines it has a dominant market position.

According to Farm Journal, it had 35.5 percent of the market for corn in the United States in 2014. It had a 28 percent share for soybeans, behind DuPont.

The company owns around 1,700 patents. In 1991, it lost its patent on glyphosate herbicide, but retains a huge market share in part by having marketed its "Roundup-Ready" genetically modified seeds.

Monsanto also owns one of the leading data analytics firms for farmers, Climate Corp.

- What makes Monsanto so controversial? -

Many people and countries, especially in Europe, have not accepted the use of genetically modified organisms -- which they label "frankenfoods."

They say GMO seeds are dangerous to introduce to the farm and food system generally, and foods produced from GMO crops could turn out unsafe to eat.

In addition, Monsanto's strong market position, critics say, can leave farmers dependent on it because they cannot reproduce Monsanto crops with their own seeds due to the company's patents.

In addition, critics say the herbicides the company sells are dangerous to human health, and some have been banned in certain countries.

A merger with Bayer thus could give the combined company even more power in the market, with farmers already facing consolidation among suppliers.
Building a rocket isnt her dream and she doesnt consider science a personal strength, but 15-year-old Mikah Connelly couldnt deny her belief that rockets are interesting.

Just learning how to build a rocket in general is pretty cool, Connelly said.

Connelly is one of around seven local teens who have been working in the Billings Public Librarys Teen Tech Lab for the last month building sport rockets under the guidance of local rocketry enthusiast Henry LaFever.

LaFever founded Big Sky Science Education Enhancement Inc., a nonprofit, in 2012 in hopes of recapturing some of the excitement and fun he remembered from his days teaching a science demonstration class to local youth while studying chemistry and physics at Montana State University Billings in the 90s.

For the past month, LaFever has walked his small group through the steps of building a rocket capable of reaching 1,000 to 1,500 feet at speeds of up to 500 mph with little more than cardboard tubing for a base and balsa wood for fins.

LaFever teaches rocketry courses for the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Clubs and is also slotted to teach a course this summer for Billings Parks and Recreation. Breaking down the various educational components involved in rocketry, LaFever almost sounds like hes rattling off ingredients in a lengthy recipe.

A little bit of physics, some engineering, a little bit of chemistry, some material science  we use different glues for different things, LaFever said. If were getting real carried away, we can get into math, history.

Tuesday, after the class had settled on launch date, LaFever went through launch day procedures and the National Association of Rocketrys 11 safety rules.

LaFever said that though there are safety risks, the lighter materials used for the groups Pratt Tomahawk model rockets dont carry the same risks as the powerful, industrial materials used in more famous rocketry disasters.

Still, avoiding a CATO or "Catastrophe At Takeoff" is always a good thing in rocketry.

To illustrate the point, LaFever started off his safety slide with a black and white image from the 1960 Russian missile explosion known to some as the Nedelin disaster, which was responsible for more than 100 deaths and is considered one of the deadliest rocketry incidents in history.

For LaFevers group, the concern is less of accidental ignition of volatile fuel before takeoff, as occurred with Nedelin, and more of students' safe distance from the launch and awareness of their surroundings.

The class will launch rockets 1 p.m. on Saturday at Castle Rock Park for about an hour, though the launch date could change if the weather doesnt hold.

If the weathers good, LaFever expects he and the students will have a good time.

I think its fun to watch something you build take off the launch pad and know its going faster than any car on the highway.
Prince would-be heirs object to genetic testing

Two people who say they are heirs to pop icon Prince have objected to a proposal by his estate to ask for genetic tests.

Prince died on April 21 without a will and with no recognized children, leaving a giant question mark on an estate that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars and includes a vast vault of unreleased material.

Bremer Trust, a special administrator assigned to manage Prince's estate, said last week that it may wish to ask people claiming to be the "Purple Rain" star's descendants to undergo and pay for genetic tests.

Prince died on April 21 without a will and with no recognized children Scott Olson (Getty/AFP/File)

In a legal filing made public Tuesday, two people who recently came forward as heirs said that they had already offered sufficient proof under law of their relationship to Prince in his home state of Minnesota.

The proposal by Bremer Trust would "grant it complete unfettered discretion to determine when to require parties claiming genetic relationship" to Prince to undergo tests, the filing said.

The objection was filed by Brianna Nelson, who says she is the sole living child of Prince's late half-brother Duane Nelson, and the guardian of an 11-year-old said to be the daughter of Duane Nelson's son, who has also died.

Duane Nelson had headed security for Prince but later became estranged. He died in 2011.

Another person who claims to be Prince's heir is Carlin Williams, a 39-year-old inmate from Kansas City whose mother says she had sex with the rocker in a hotel in 1976.
Beat classic 'Naked Lunch' to be reborn in punk album

"Naked Lunch," one of the seminal and controversial novels of the Beat Generation, will be reborn as a punk album based on recordings by late author William S. Burroughs.

The album takes recitations by Burroughs from his profanity-ridden novel and sets them to music in the form of 13 songs.

Entitled "Let Me Hang You," after one of the novel's episodes, the album will come out on July 15, its label announced Tuesday.

Shortly before his death in 1997,William S. Burroughs had recited parts of "Naked Lunch" to create an album Derrick Ceyrac (AFP)

Published in 1959, "Naked Lunch" shocked the era's sensibilities with its graphic and non-linear narrative of the journey of William Lee, who delights in drugs and gay sex.

The novel, initially printed in Paris by Olympia Press to evade US obscenity laws, went on to become considered a classic by some scholars and a major statement of the free-flowing Beat Generation.

Shortly before his death in 1997, Burroughs had recited parts of "Naked Lunch" to create an album with producers including Hal Willner, known for his work with rock legend Lou Reed and for arranging music on television show "Saturday Night Live."

The project was abandoned but Willner last year reopened it in collaboration with King Khan, a Canadian psychedelic punk artist championed by Reed.

Khan composed music to accompany the recordings made by Burroughs. He also tapped other artists including The Frowning Clouds, a punk band from Australia.

Khan's label, describing his setting of music to "Naked Lunch," said in a statement: "History was made and the scum began to rise."

Even though "Naked Lunch" did not become an album in his lifetime, Burroughs frequently collaborated with musicians.
EU arms exports to Egypt fuel killings, torture: Amnesty

Amnesty International has accused nearly half of the European Union's members of fuelling killings and torture among other abuses in Egypt through arms exports, in a report issued on Wednesday.

International organisations have accused Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of running an ultra-authoritarian and repressive regime since he deposed his democratically elected Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

In its report, Amnesty said "12 out of 28 EU member states have remained among Egypt's main suppliers of arms and policing equipment".

Amnesty said 12 out of 28 EU countries had remained among the main suppliers of arms and policing equipment to Egypt Mohamed el-Shahed (AFP/File)

Amnesty said this flouted an EU-wide suspension on arms transfers to Egypt imposed after hundreds of protesters were killed in what it called a "show of grossly excessive force" in August 2013.

The London-based human rights watchdog said it feared the suspension could be scrapped, even though it was insufficient.

"In 2014 alone, EU states authorised 290 licences for military equipment to Egypt, totalling more than 6 billion ($6.77 billion)," Amnesty said.

Items the EU member states shipped to Egypt included small arms, light weapons and ammunition, armoured vehicles, military helicopters, heavier weapons and surveillance technology.

"The EU should immediately impose an embargo on all transfers of the types of arms and equipment being used by Egypt to commit serious human rights violations," said Brian Wood, head of arms control and human rights at Amnesty.

Amnesty said the human rights situation had deteriorated, with repression remaining "rife" and virtually no accountability".

"Excessive use of force, mass arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances having become a part of the security forces' modus operandi," said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty's interim deputy Middle East and North Africa programme director.

- 'Bonanza of arms supplies' -

"EU states transferring arms and policing equipment to Egyptian forces carrying out enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrests on a mass scale are acting recklessly and are risking complicity in these serious violations," she said.

Companies from several EU countries -- including Britain, Germany and Italy -- had also supplied Egypt with "sophisticated equipment or technologies destined for use in state surveillance", it said, citing Privacy International.

Amnesty said it feared they "may be used to suppress peaceful dissent and violate the right to privacy".

It named the nine other countries as Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.

Amnesty also expressed concerns about a further loosening or discontinuation of the EU suspension, following the US decision last year to resume military aid to Egypt to the tune of $1.3 billion annually.

"The EU should immediately impose an embargo on all transfers of the types of arms and equipment being used by Egypt to commit serious human rights violations," it said.

"The EU and its members must stop rewarding bad behaviour by Egypt's police and military with a bonanza of arms supplies."

Since the army ousted Islamist president Morsi in 2013, authorities have launched a brutal crackdown on his supporters that has seen hundreds killed and tens of thousands jailed.

Secular activists who took part in the 2011 revolt have also been imprisoned.

Journalists hold a banner reading in Arabic: "I am a journalist not a terrorist" during a demonstration in Cairo after a police raid to arrest two reporters Khaled Desouki (AFP/File)
Depp and Australia minister renew war of words

A war of words between Johnny Depp and an Australian minister reignited Wednesday with Barnaby Joyce claiming he was the Hollywood star's Hannibal Lecter after being told he looked as if he was "inbred with a tomato".

The pair have been at loggerheads since Depp's wife Amber Heard failed to declare the couple's two dogs when they arrived in Queensland state a year ago.

Joyce, who is deputy prime minister and agriculture minister, threatened to have Pistol and Boo put down unless they "buggered off back to the United States" for breaking Australia's strict quarantine laws.

US actor Johnny Depp and Australian politican Barnaby Joyce have been at loggerheads over Depp and his wife's two dogs Patrick Hamilton (AFP/File)

Actress-model Heard last month pleaded guilty to falsifying her immigration arrivals card and was placed on a Aus$1,000 (US$720) one-month good behaviour bond.

The couple also released an awkward video apologising for their actions, with Joyce mocking Depp as looking like "he was auditioning for the Godfather". The apology was posted on YouTube by the department of agriculture and has been viewed almost five million times.

Depp hit back on Tuesday evening, telling US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that Joyce "looks somehow like (he's) inbred with a tomato".

"I'm just saying. I mean, it's not a criticism. I was a little worried... he might explode," he added.

Joyce struck back with some choice words of his own.

"I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter, I'm inside his head, I'm pulling strings and levers. Long after I've forgotten Mr Depp, he is remembering me," he told reporters on the campaign trail near Tamworth in New South Wales state.

"Keep on advertising me Johnny. The Australian people know we did the right thing.

"When I walk around the streets of Tamworth or the streets of Bundaberg or Martin Place in Sydney, whether they like me or not, they say, well, don't completely like you but you were right on that one.
Beijing lines up diplomatic battle groups over South China Sea

The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger.

But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters.

Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include Togo, Afghanistan and Burundi.

Boureima Hama (AFP/File)

They are among the latest foot soldiers in "a public relations war" by China aimed at questioning international maritime rules, said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

The tribunal case, brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague by the Philippines, is highly technical and hinges on such issues as how international law defines "islands".

Niger joined the ranks of "over 40 countries that have officially endorsed China's position" that the issues should be settled through direct negotiations, not international courts, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

That, she added, was just the start: "There will be more and more countries and organisations supporting China."

Similar announcements have become an almost daily ritual at China's foreign ministry media briefings, as it steels itself for what is widely expected to be an unfavourable ruling by the tribunal that could come within weeks.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, on the basis of a segmented line that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s, pitting it against several neighbours.

But it is also a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Manila accuses Beijing of flouting the convention and has called for the tribunal, set up in 1899, to rule on the row.

Beijing insists that the court does not have jurisdiction, arguing that any claims to the contrary are politically motivated, and has boycotted the proceedings.

"By cobbling together a group of nations that share its views, Beijing's aim is to show that there is a genuine debate over the legality of the Philippines' legal challenge," Townshend said.

"It is trying to build a counter-narrative to push back against the mainstream international consensus on maritime law."

- Not very successful -

Despite requests by AFP the foreign ministry in Beijing did not provide a full list of China's backers on the issue.

But other than its main diplomatic partner Russia, few heavy hitters have come out in support, with Beijing's neighbours -- many of them unnerved by its increasingly assertive behaviour -- notably absent.

Many of those disclosed so far are poor African countries, and Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the names as "mostly composed of smaller, inconsequential nations".

In some cases the claimed support has been short-lived. The South Pacific island nation of Fiji and EU member Slovenia both quickly denied Chinese foreign ministry statements that they were backing Beijing, with Ljubljana saying: "We do not take sides on the issue."

Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Peking University, told AFP: "I don't really feel that China's recent public diplomacy activities have been very successful."

Beijing, he said, "needs to develop its diplomatic activities and fight for more supporting voices".

But China's options are limited.

"While China has built odd coalition partners stretching from Russia to Mauritania and Venezuela to Gambia, the Philippines counts on support from the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and others, including respected global bodies like the EU and G7," Townshend said.

The ruling will be determined by the judges, he pointed out: "Neither side's supporters have any bearing on the outcome."

Even so Beijing is still turning to countries like uranium-rich Niger, for whom the benefits of taking China's side probably outweigh the costs.

China's state-owned oil giant CNPC has poured billions of dollars into Niger's oil industry, which is almost entirely dependent on Chinese enterprises.

It is one of many relationships Beijing has cultivated for such situations, said Deborah Brautigam, of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

"The Chinese provide official development assistance mainly for diplomatic reasons," she said, adding "when they need diplomatic support for something... the foreign ministry requests it".

"Something like this has little cost to an African country."

Disputed claims in the South China Sea Adrian LEUNG, Gal ROMA (AFP/File)
A-bomb survivors to attend Obama's Hiroshima memorial

Survivors of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima will be present when US President Barack Obama lays a wreath at ground zero this week, reports said Wednesday.

Former United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese will also attend the event, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, with US officials hoping their presence will remove any impression it is an apology.

Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front of a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims on Friday, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the city.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Genbaku Dome Johannes Eisele (AFP)

Earlier this week, he told Japanese television he will not say sorry for the bombing.

American airmen launched the world's first atomic strike when they bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, causing the deaths of about 140,000 people.

Tens of thousands were killed by the fireball that the powerful nuclear blast generated, with many more succumbing to injuries or illnesses caused by radiation in the weeks, months and years afterwards.

The southern city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb three days later, killing 74,000 people, in one of the final acts of World War II.

The speed, circumstances and repercussions of then US president Harry Truman's decision remain contentious. In Japan, perhaps a majority believe the mass bombing of civilians was unnecessary and may even have been a crime.

Many Americans believe that it avoided an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan toward the end of World War II.

On Tuesday, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui met with Abe and demanded that Obama meet with atomic bomb victims, newspaper reports said.

"If victims and the president meet face to face, he may be able to understand the feelings of the victims," Matsui told reporters after his meeting with Abe, the Yomiuri reported.

Obama is due to arrive in Japan later Wednesday for a meeting of the Group of Seven industrial powers, which begins Thursday.
NGOs slam Japan for investing abroad in carbon-polluting coal

Days before Japan will host a G7 summit, NGOs slammed the Asian nation for financing coal-powered energy in developing countries, even as other countries and investors shun the climate-damaging fossil fuel.

Within the G7 bloc, Japan stands out for funnelling more than $22 billion (20 billion euros) into overseas coal plants since 2007, more than the other six countries combined.

Moreover, the club of rich nation's only Asian member has another $10 billion worth of coal projects in the pipeline, according to a report by six environmental groups, including the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and WWF.

Within the G7 bloc, Japan stands out for funnelling more than $22 billion into overseas coal plants since 2007 Kazuhiro Nogi (AFP/File)

Japan will host a two-day meeting of the G7 -- which also includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy -- starting Thursday in the Ise-shima region.

Germany is second on the list in overseas coal financing, having poured some $9 billion into coal-based power over the same period.

"Financing new coal plants and coal development in the era of dangerous climate change is blatantly reckless," Jake Schmidt, the head of the NRDC's international programme said Tuesday on the margins of UN climate talks in Bonn.

Such investments "tie developing countries to the fossil fuels of our past, not the clear energy of our future."

Diplomats from 196 nations have gathered in Bonn five months after hammering through a landmark climate pact that seeks to wean the world economy from fossil fuels, by far the main driver of global warming.

Coal is the biggest climate change culprit, generating more carbon pollution per unit of energy generated than oil or gas.

Some 40 percent of the world's electricity is powered by coal, roughly the same as 40 years ago, according to the International Energy Agency.

China fuelled three decades of double-digit growth mainly with coal, and today accounts for nearly half of world consumption, followed by India.

- Turning away from coal -

But both countries have made a massive push to develop renewables and increase energy efficiency, with China's use of coal tapering off in the last two years.

Within the G7, Japan is alone in investing heavily in coal-fired energy on its own soil, with more than 40 new power plants on the drawing board.

The energy-starved country suspended nuclear power generation after an earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011, contaminating a large area.

"Japan continues to be the only G7 country undertaking a coal rush in spite of the Paris Agreement," said Kimiko Hirata, international director for the Japanese NGO Kiko Network.

This fact is likely to stand out at the G7 meeting, which will address climate change among other issues.

Money mainly from Japan and Germany for building coal plants in the developing world since 2007 has gone to South Africa ($5 billion), India ($5 billion), the Philippines and Indonesia ($3 billion each), Vietnam $2.5 billion), and a dozen other countries.

The funds have flowed through multilateral banks and export credit agencies, notably the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, and Euler Hermes in Germany.

Other nations have pulled back from investing in coal, with Britain committing to a complete phase-out of coal power by 2025.

In the United States -- where the country's largest coal mine company, Peabody Energy, filed for bankruptcy last month -- officials have announced the retirement of over 230 coal-fired plants, according to a tally by the Sierra Club.

In Canada, the Province of Alberta has vowed to end coal use in power generation by 2030.

Last month Norway's sovereign wealth fund -- at $864 billion, the world's biggest -- pulled out of 52 coal-related companies to comply with new ethical guidelines.

Coal is the biggest climate change culprit, generating more carbon pollution per unit of energy generated than oil or gas Johannes Eisele (AFP/File)
Anti-Trump protesters hurl rocks as Trump wins Washington primary

Protesters opposed to Donald Trump hurled rocks and bottles outside a rally he spoke at in New Mexico on Tuesday, the same day the bombastic billionaire won the Republican presidential primary in Washington state.

The victory brings Trump, the last Republican standing in the 2016 US presidential race, one major step closer toward clinching his party's nomination.

But the success was overshadowed by violent anti-Trump demonstrations in Albuquerque, in the southwestern state of New Mexico.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is the party's presumptive nominee, and while he is not officially the flagbearer yet he is on the cusp Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

Chaos erupted outside a Trump rally when protesters burst through metal barriers and tried to storm the city convention center, where the provocative Republican was speaking.

The crowd threw burning T-shirts, bottles and rocks at police, while police on horseback and officers wielding clubs used pepper spray and smoke grenades to try to disperse the crowd.

"Several #APB officers are being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one subject arrested from the riot," Albuquerque police said via Twitter early Wednesday.

The protesters, several of whom waved Mexican flags, chanted expletives about Trump. Some also waved signs with expletive-laden anti-Trump slogans in Spanish.

Most of the protesters left before midnight, police said.

Trump has proposed building a wall on the Mexican border, suggested that Mexican immigrants were rapists and drug dealers, and urged the deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents -- nearly 50 percent -- of any US state, and polls show that Hispanics overwhelmingly oppose Trump's immigration proposals.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, the nation's only Hispanic governor and head of the Republican Governors Association, has criticized Trump's remarks on immigration and was absent from Tuesday's event.

Trump addressed a rally of about 4,000 people but was frequently interrupted by protesters, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Police managed to stop a group of about 100 protesters who had tried to storm the convention center when Trump was speaking, the newspaper said. Riot police were deployed soon after.

Several Trump rallies have drawn protests, including one in Chicago in March when his supporters clashed with protesters.

Trump has been criticized as inciting violence at his rallies.

- Trump's Washington victory -

US networks called the race in Washington state for Trump shortly after polls closed at 8:00 p.m. (0300 GMT Wednesday).

With more than two-thirds of ballots counted, Trump earned 76 percent of the vote.

"Thank you Washington! #Trump2016 #MakeAmericaGreatAgain," the candidate wrote on Twitter.

Trump is the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, and while he is not officially the flag bearer yet he is on the cusp.

He headed into the race in the northwestern state with 1,189 delegates, according to a CNN tally, just 48 delegates short of the 1,237 needed for the nomination.

Washington state had 44 delegates up for grabs. Trump will therefore cross the threshold and clinch the nomination on June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary contest.

The real estate mogul's former rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, as well as Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, were still on the Washington ballot even though they already dropped out of the race.

Trump, a political neophyte whose provocative campaign has turned American politics on its head, will be officially installed as the Republican presidential nominee at the party's national nominating convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July.

He pivoted to the general election weeks ago, relentlessly criticizing his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

The former secretary of state has returned fire, although she is still engaged in the final stages of her Democratic battle against challenger Bernie Sanders.

The senator from Vermont has an extremely narrow path to the nomination, and the math clearly favors Clinton.

Washington held its Democratic primary in March, and Sanders won it easily. But Clinton, like Trump, is close to becoming her party's flag bearer.

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a fundraising event in Lawrenceville, New Jersey Eduardo Munoz Alvarez (AFP/File)
Afghan Taliban appoint new leader after deadly drone strike

The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike.

The surprise announcement coincided with a Taliban suicide bombing that targeted court employees near Kabul, killing 11 people in an assault that illustrated the potency of the insurgency despite the change of leadership.

Akhundzada, formerly one of Mansour's deputies, faces the enormous challenge of unifying an increasingly fragmented militant movement while it remains unclear whether he will emulate Mansour in shunning peace talks with the Afghan government.

The Afghan Taliban have appointed Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new chief, after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike

"Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the Shura (supreme council), and all the members of Shura pledged allegiance to him," the insurgents said in a statement.

It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies. Analysts had previously seen them as the most likely candidates for the leadership.

"The leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and commander of faithful, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was martyred in a US drone strike in... Pakistan's Balochistan province," the statement said, in the insurgents' first confirmation of his death.

Before his killing, Mansour had written a will handpicking Akhundzada to be his successor, Taliban sources told AFP, in an apparent bid to lend legitimacy to his appointment.

US President Barack Obama, who authorised the drone strikes, had confirmed the death Monday.

He said Mansour had rejected efforts "to seriously engage in peace talks", asserting that direct negotiations with the Afghan government were the only way to end the attritional conflict.

"The new leader's appointment is a good opportunity for the Taliban to return to peace talks and rebuild their country," Afghan presidential spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal told AFP.

"If they reject peace talks they will face the same fate as Mansour."

But "the status quo remains unchanged" after Akhundzada's appointment, Taliban expert Rahimullah Yousafzai told AFP.

"I don't foresee any shift from Mansour's policies. He is unlikely to negotiate peace with the Afghan government."

- 'Moral supremacy' -

Other observers say Akhundzada, who is from Kandahar, is seen as more of a spiritual figurehead than a military commander.

"Even if he favours peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus within the supreme council" where many vehemently oppose negotiations, said analyst Amir Rana.

"Akhundzada enjoys some moral supremacy within Taliban ranks but he will be more of a symbolic leader than a functional leader," he added.

Rana stressed that his deputies will likely play a more active role, with Haqqani overseeing the military side and Yakoub the political side.

The US killing of Mansour showed that Washington has at least for now abandoned hopes of reviving the direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, which broke down last summer.

It marked a significant shift for Washington, highlighting a new willingness to target the group's leaders in Pakistan and risk retaliatory attacks against struggling Afghan security forces.

Saturday's drone attack, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement which had seen a resurgence under Mansour.

He was killed just nine months after being formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon confirmation of founder Mullah Omar's death.

Omar died in 2013, but his death was kept secret for two years, with Mansour issuing statements in his name -- a revelation that helped fuel internal opposition and splintered the group into rival factions.

Akhundzada faces a similar challenge in unifying Taliban ranks.

A breakaway faction led by Mullah Rassoul rejected Akhundzada's appointment, saying he was selected inside Pakistan without any broad consultation with field commanders in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to try to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid any fresh air strikes.

The Taliban said Wednesday's suicide attack in Paghman district near Kabul, which the UN condemned as "cowardly", was in revenge for the execution of six Taliban-linked inmates.

The executions earlier this month were approved as part of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's new hardline policy against the insurgents after a brazen Taliban attack in April killed at least 64 people.

Afghan Taliban Adrian Leung (AFP)

A photo released by the Afghan Taliban in 2015 is said to show Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who died in a US drone strike this month Handout (Afghan Taliban/AFP/File)

Afghan security personnel stand near damaged vehicles at the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Paghman district in Kabul on May 25, 2016 Shah Marai (AFP)

Pakistani demonstrators burn a US flag during a protest in Multan on May 24, 2016 against the US drone strike in Pakistan's southwestern province Balochistan SS Mirza (AFP)
Children risk health farming tobacco in Indonesia: HRW

Children are being put to work on tobacco plantations in Indonesia that supply some of the world's biggest cigarette companies, putting their health at serious risk, Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday.

Despite Indonesian law prohibiting child labour in hazardous industries, the rights group documented dozens of cases of minors -- some as young as eight -- falling ill from handling raw tobacco and mixing pesticides with their bare hands.

Much of the tobacco harvested from the roughly 500,000 plantations across Indonesia is for the domestic market, where smoking rates are among the world's highest.

Many young labourers described feeling dizzy, nauseous and vomiting after long days working in the fields

But one quarter of all Indonesian tobacco is exported and sold overseas by multinational cigarette giants, Human Rights Watch child advocacy director Jo Becker told AFP.

"A smoker who is lighting up a Dunhill or a Lucky Strike or some other cigarette in Europe or the United States could well be smoking a cigarette that was made by child labour in Indonesia," Becker said.

Many young labourers described feeling dizzy, nauseous and vomiting after long days working in the fields, symptoms associated with "green tobacco sickness", a type of nicotine poisoning, according to HRW's new report.

Nicotine contained in tobacco plants is readily absorbed through the skin when handled, and is particularly harmful for children, Becker said.

"I vomited in the fields and my dad told me to go home and rest. I was sick for two days," a 12-year-old girl from East Java, on the main island of Java, told the rights watchdog, who withheld her identity.

- Enforcement difficult -

The government is being urged to prohibit children under 18 from working with tobacco. The standard minimum working age is 15, but Indonesia's Child Protection Commission concedes enforcing the law is difficult.

"Unfortunately these rules are not properly implemented in the fields," Erlinda, a senior official at the commission, told AFP. Many Indonesians go by just one name.

None of the major companies purchasing tobacco in Indonesia had policies "sufficient to ensure that children are protected", Human Rights Watch wrote in its report.

Tobacco is purchased either directly from suppliers or via the open market, which is far more opaque and makes tracing origin difficult.

Philip Morris International -- which owns Indonesian cigarette giant Sampoerna -- has shifted towards sourcing the majority of its tobacco directly in recent years, allowing it to tackle child labour at the farm level but not rule it out entirely.

"If we don't know exactly who is producing that tobacco, what are the conditions, then we cannot provide that assurance," the company's international sustainability officer Miguel Coleta told AFP.

British American Tobacco, which owns Indonesian subsidiary Bentoel as well as the Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarette brands, said it did not employ children in any operations worldwide and warned its suppliers against doing so.

Three of Indonesia's largest tobacco companies -- Djarum, Gudang Garam and Wismilak -- did not reply to repeated requests for comment.
When Gov. Steve Bullock invited two dozen Billings educators and health care leaders to a workforce development discussion Monday, he heard about a crisis in Montanas biggest medical community.

Executives told Bullock that there are 500 current job openings between Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare, St. Johns Lutheran Ministries and RiverStone Health.

The supply of people is actually shrinking, said John Felton, RiverStone CEO.

Health care already is Montanas biggest employment sector. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry projects that health care will create 1,300 new jobs in Montana every year for the next decade, Commissioner of Labor Pam Bucy said.

Where will those workers come from?

Some will have to be recruited from out of state, but most will need to be home grown.

Billings health care organizations have long supported workforce development and education. St. Johns trains more certified nursing assistants than any other organization in Montana. RiverStone is home to the states oldest and largest medical residency. Billings Clinic has established a residency for internal medicine doctors. St. Vincent trains pharmacy technicians. All of these local, nonprofit health care organizations have students training in their facilities to become nurses, therapists, technicians, doctors, physician assistants and other health care professionals.

But its a struggle to recruit and retain highly trained professionals. Its hard to recruit entry-level workers for clerical, housekeeping and food services, Billings health care leaders told Bullock.

John Cech, deputy commissioner for two-year higher education, pointed out that the Montana University System increased student completions of health care programs dramatically between 2002 and 2015: Students earning bachelors degrees in nursing and other health fields grew 48 percent while associate degrees earned rose by 117 percent. Additionally, the number of health care training certificates increased 166 percent during those same years.

The increase in health care grads is no accident. A statewide consortium of 200 employers, 15 nursing programs and the Montana Department of Labor and Industry formed to create better educational pathways for associate-degree RNs. One result is an update of university nursing curricula, so that the time it takes to complete the LPN or associate degree RN programs will be decreased by one semester while upgrading the quality of learning. Cech said the new curricula will be introduced to the classes starting with LPN and associate RN programs this fall semester.

Recently, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry has partnered with health care employers to set up apprenticeship programs for training some aides and techs. The health care worker shortage will require additional solutions.

It's a community problem, not a health care problem. Darren Walker, St. Vincent Healthcare vice president for human resources, hears from job candidates that Billings lacks the infrastructure they expect. They have concerns about their children not being able to attend a school in their neighborhood and they worry about the crime rate in a city that voted against hiring more police officers.

Were going to have to be a very attractive state and community for people to want to come here, said Melanie Schwarz, who leads the BillingsWorks project of Big Sky Economic Development. The entire nation is facing a health worker shortage.

Now that the crisis is upon us, state and local leaders must work together. This isnt a partisan issue. Its not a Billings issue, or a rural issue.

Education funding must be adequate to accommodate student demand and state needs. These programs must be affordable for average- and low-income Montanans. University units must be able to provide competitive salaries to attract and retain enough well-qualified instructors.

All of us must take a hard look at the place we call home and ask ourselves if its a place our children and out-of-state professionals will want to live. People come to Montana seeking an active lifestyle, good schools for their kids and opportunities for career advancement.

Montanans must invest in their state and communities now to ensure a healthy future workforce.
No work, no trade on empty Silk Road in northern Afghanistan

Some days there is no train at all crossing the bridge to Uzbekistan, yawns a customs officer in Hairatan, formerly a teeming Silk Road border town whose decline is a barometer of economic depression in Afghanistan's north.

"The camel driver is at work; the caravan is being readied," proclaimed the mystic poet Rumi, born in Balkh province, where Hairatan is located and through which passes one of the routes of the ancient trade network. "He asks why we travellers are asleep."

Eight centuries later, sleep has won in Balkh, and Hairatan sees few travellers -- a situation attributed by local entrepreneurs and politicians to insecurity and the departure of foreign troops.

Hairatan sees few travellers nowadays -- a situation attributed by local entrepreneurs and politicians to insecurity and the departure of foreign troops Farshad Usyan (AFP)

"Three years ago, you had to wait five or six days for a boat to become free and bring our goods across the river Amu Darya from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan. There was a real bottleneck," recalls importer Mohammed Afzal Joya.

"Today there is no longer any boat," he laments in Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city near Hairatan.

"If two freight trains cross the bridge in a day, this is Peru!" adds the chief of the Hairatan rail yard, who does not wish to give his name.

Behind him, trucks marked with Cyrillic characters wait for a hypothetical load.

Hairatan, the only crossing between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, is an ominous bellwether of economic activity in northern Afghanistan.

It is here, and at four other entry points on the borders with Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, that construction materials, flour and household products are exported from Central Asia to Afghanistan.

The Afghan economy is in bad shape, its labour market struggling to absorb a young and often unskilled workforce. According to the Labour Ministry, 22 percent of the workforce is unemployed, while 16 percent are in odd jobs.

This is in part because, apart from saffron, some cotton and grapes, war-torn Afghanistan does not produce much else.

And the little it does export is hit with "prohibitive taxes" levied by Central Asian countries, according to the vice president of the Balkh Chamber of Commerce, Mir Abdul Wahab Delsouz.

He accuses Afghanistan's neighbours of "keeping our goods in stations or ports" for fear of competition.

In the end, the overall picture is alarming. "Trade between Central Asia and Afghanistan fell by 60 percent (in 2015) compared to 2010," says Delsouz.

- 'They left' -

The bleak economic prospects have driven thousands of Afghans to make the perilous journey to Europe.

The depression is felt in a Mazar-i-Sharif market, where Hasibullah sells imported flour from Kazakhstan, via Uzbekistan and Hairatan.

"Customers no longer come as they did three or four years ago. People are out of work. They used to buy 50 kilogrammes at once, now it's more like four," he complains.

Entrepreneurs and political leaders agree that the end of the NATO combat mission in Afghanistan in late 2014 sounded the death knell for the local economy, which had experienced a rebirth with the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

According to Hajji Walid Akbarzada, a building materials importer, development aid has dried up with the departure of the military.

"Before, foreigners had many assistance programs and were building their facilities. But they left and there are no more projects," says the entrepreneur, who brought iron bars and metal products from Uzbekistan.

Turnover fell 70 percent in the last three years and he had to lay off 20 of his 26 employees.

"After 2014 and the NATO withdrawal, the economic situation of the Afghans went down, especially in Balkh," says Delsouz.

"Their incomes went down by 50 percent. The situation is especially dire for students. The government cannot absorb all of those who enter the job market and offer them jobs."

Added to this is insecurity. The 80 kilometre (50 mile) asphalt road leading from Hairatan to Mazar is safe, but the Taliban, who began their annual spring offensive last month, are clashing with Afghan forces throughout the country and especially in the east, where the Islamic State group is also trying to gain a foothold.

To believe Mohammed Eisa Amiri, a former warlord turned importer-exporter, the insecurity has shaken Uzbek merchants, even if it does not touch Hairatan.

"They no longer have confidence in us because of the Taliban and Daesh (Islamic State). They do not want to get involved in Afghanistan," he said.

"If the world continues to ignore Afghanistan, we will return to civil war, as in 1992," he warns, adding with an air of defiance: "I am ready to take up arms again if our region is threatened by the Taliban."

Hairatan, the only crossing between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, is an ominous bellwether of economic activity in northern Afghanistan. Farshad Usyan (AFP)

Entrepreneurs and political leaders agree that the end of the NATO combat mission in late 2014 sounded the death knell for the Afghan economy Farshad Usyan (AFP)

The Afghan economy is in bad shape, its labour market struggling to absorb a young and often unskilled workforce Farshad Usyan (AFP/File)
Suicide bomber kills 10 near Afghan capital: interior ministry

Ten people were killed in Afghanistan Wednesday when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives, striking a vehicle carrying court employees near the capital Kabul, the interior ministry said.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up... in Paghman district, killing 10 people and wounding four others," ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but security forces and Afghan government employees are frequently targeted by Taliban insurgents.

Afghan security personnel gather near the scene of a suicide bombing in February Wakil Kohsar (AFP/File)
Daughter of missing Hong Kong bookseller calls for US help

The daughter of one of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing late last year has called on US authorities to help end her father's "unofficial and illegal" detention in China.

Four booksellers working for a Hong Kong publishing house which specialised in gossipy works about Chinese leaders went missing from various locations in October, with another disappearing at the end of December.

They all reappeared eventually in mainland China.

Four booksellers working for a Hong Kong publishing house which specialised in gossipy works about Chinese leaders went missing from various locations in October, with another disappearing at the end of December Philippe Lopez (AFP/File)

The disappearances fuelled growing unease in Hong Kong over the erosion of freedoms in the semi-autonomous city, which was handed back to China from Britain in 1997.

"It has now been eight months since my father and his colleagues were taken into custody. I still haven't been told where he is, how he's been treated, or what his legal status is," Angela Gui said at a US congressional hearing Tuesday in Washington DC.

Her father Gui Minhai, a Swedish national and co-owner of the Mighty Current publishing company, failed to return from a holiday in Thailand in October.

His "unofficial and illegal" detention "is especially shocking in light of the fact that my father held Swedish and only Swedish citizenship", she told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Three other booksellers disappeared on the mainland and one went missing from Hong Kong itself.

Gui mysteriously re-emerged on state broadcaster CCTV in January, and said he had returned to China to "take legal responsibilities" for killing a college student in a car accident 11 years earlier.

In another televised confession in February, he said he tried to smuggle illegal books into China.

Angela Gui said she wanted "the US to take every opportunity to ask China for information on my father's status as well as urge that he be freed immediately".

Swedish authorities have said they were "quite concerned" about the incident and have called for more openness from Chinese authorities.

Three other booksellers -- Cheung Chi-ping, Lui Por and Lam Wing-kee -- have blamed the company's illegal book trade on Gui.

All four are under criminal investigation on the mainland.

The fifth bookseller, Lee Bo, has said he travelled to China to assist with the investigation and returned to Hong Kong in March.

The disappearance of Lee Bo, who went missing from Hong Kong, raised fears that Chinese security authorities were operating in Hong Kong in violation of the city's laws.

Britain and other nations have spoken out about Lee's case. Britain said it believed he was "involuntarily removed to the mainland" in what it called a "serious breach" of the handover agreement.

The handover deal allows Hong Kong to keep its special rights and freedoms for 50 years, but there are fears that such freedoms are being eroded.
Young Vietnamese quiz Obama on rap, weed and good looks

Barack Obama fielded questions Wednesday on everything from rap and weed smoking to his good looks at a lively meeting with young Vietnamese, who see the US leader as a far cry from their staid Communist rulers.

The US President, on the final leg of a three-day trip to Vietnam before flying to Japan, held one of his trademark town hall gatherings with hundreds of youngsters in the country's buzzing commercial and creative capital Ho Chi Minh City.

The president received a huge cheer as he took to the stage in a one-party authoritarian state where politics is opaque and young people's voices are rarely heard.

US President Barack Obama listens as a young female rapper sings a song at a town hall event in Ho Chi Minh City Jim Watson (AFP)

Suboi, one of the country's best known female rap artists, serenaded Obama with Vietnamese lyrics about whether people are really happy if they have lots of money.

Seemingly delighted with the exchange, Obama praised the journey of hip-hop "which started out as an expression of poor African Americans" and became a "global phenomenon".

He then appeared to take a thinly veiled swipe at Vietnam's authoritarian leaders, who regularly suppress critical artists.

"Imagine if at the time when rap was starting off our government had said 'No' because some of the things you say are offensive, or some of the lyrics are rude, or you're cursing too much?" he said.

"If you try to suppress the arts then you are suppressing the deepest dreams and aspirations of a people," he added.

Earlier another young man began his question with: "Mr President, you're so handsome."

To which Obama quickly quipped "Oh. You can just stop there if you want."

- Dreaming of a father -

Another asked whether Internet posts about Obama's alleged marijuana smoking as a youth were true.

"I don't know if that's true," Obama quickly remarked, further dousing the issue with a warning: "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet."

But that particular exchange also prompted some soul-searching from Obama about leadership and growing out of a rebellious teenage phase prompted by the absence of a father.

"As I got older I realised that instead of worrying about the father who wasn't there, I should start worrying more about what can I do to take more responsibility for my own life," he added.

The environment was a subject that repeatedly came up. Vietnam is acutely vulnerable to climate change and environmental causes have been the focus of numerous protests against the authorities, especially among young people.

Obama said he recognised the freedom western industrialised countries have had to pollute the earth for far longer than developing ones, but urged all countries to work together to prevent disaster.

"The problem is, if a country like China or Vietnam or India took the same development path the West did, we're all going to be under water."

Obama has been met with throngs of enthusiastic well-wishers in a country where politicians are notorious for their remoteness and lack of charisma.

"I like his behaviour, being the most powerful man in the world, but very close to people, not like leaders here," said 22-year-old Tran Huu Duy. "They only wear suits and talk cliches... (they) cannot inspire young people."

Young Vietnamese see US leader Barack Obama as a far cry from their staid Communist rulers Jim Watson (AFP)
Indonesian birds face extinction due to pet trade: study

Thirteen species of Indonesian birds, including the country's symbolic Javan Hawk-eagle, are at serious risk of extinction mainly due to the pet trade, a wildlife watchdog warned Wednesday.

The vast Indonesian archipelago is home to a dizzying array of birds and keeping them as pets has long been part of the national culture, with birdcages a common sight outside homes and shops across the country.

However increasing demand for some species as pets has led to dramatic population declines, wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC warned in a new study.

Indonesias national bird, the Javan Hawk-eagle, is among 13 bird species at serious risk of extinction mainly due to the pet trade Traffic, The Wildlife Trade Moni (Traffic/AFP)

"This is a multi-million-dollar industry, there's a huge criminal element and many people are profiting illegally from this business," Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC's director for Southeast Asia and a co-author of the study, told AFP.

Huge demand for songbirds in Indonesia has also put bird species in other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand in danger, Shepherd said.

The Javan Hawk-eagle is Indonesia's national bird and the inspiration for the Garuda, the mythical winged creature that adorns the country's coat of arms.

Other species at risk of extinction include the Silvery Woodpigeon, Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Scarlet-breasted Lorikeet, Javan Green Magpie, Black-winged Myna, Bali Myna, Straw-headed Bulbul, Javan White-eye, Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush, Sumatran Laughingthrush and Java Sparrow.

The Helmeted Hornbill is also at risk but unlike the others, is not kept as a pet. Thousands are being illegally killed and traded for their unique "casques" -- a solid lump of fibrous protein that runs along the top of the bill and onto the skull.

It is used as a substitute for elephant ivory, to meet demand in China, according to TRAFFIC.

It is illegal to hunt birds in the wild in Indonesia and sell them as pets but critics say the law is often flouted, and major bird markets in cities still operate freely.

Shepherd said that government efforts to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade too often focused on endangered species such as orangutans, tigers and elephants, and did not do enough to protect birds.
S. Korea court rejects same-sex marriage

A lawsuit filed by a prominent gay film director and his partner seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage was rejected by a South Korean district court on Wednesday in the first case of its kind.

Movie director Kim Jho Gwang-Soo and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan, held a wedding ceremony in Seoul in September 2013 and submitted their marriage registration form to their local authority -- only for it to be rejected.

While homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, same-sex marriage is not recognised and the country remains deeply conservative about matters of sexual identity.

A South Korean court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Kim Jho Gwang-Soo (L), a gay South Korean movie director, and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan (R) seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage Jung Yeon-Je (AFP/File)

The couple challenged the decision with a lawsuit filed in July last year, but the ruling on Wednesday sided with the local authority.

"Circumstances have changed concerning marriage ... but unless there is separate legislation, a same sex union cannot be recognised as marriage under the existing legal system", the Seoul western district court said in a statement.

"Related laws, including the constitution and civil law, are premised on the notion of a conjugal bond meaning a union involving different sexes," it said.

The two Kims are the most high-profile gay couple in South Korea and the lawsuit they filed over their marriage licence was the first of its kind.

"We regret the court decision ... but we did see it coming," Kim Seung-Hwan told AFP, adding that the couple intended to appeal the ruling.

The couple's lawyer Ryu Min-Hee said the lawsuit had argued that civil law should be viewed through a "gender-neutral" prism that upheld equal rights provisions in the constitution.

"When in doubt, all laws should be interpreted in a constitutional way," she said.

"We're disappointed but we're not done yet," she added.

Ryu's legal team had always acknowledged that the likelihood of a district court judge declaring same-sex marriage legal was extremely slim.

Gay and transgender South Koreans live largely under the radar in a country where many still regard homosexuality as a foreign phenomenon.
Yemen peace talks 'closer' to agreement: UN envoy

The UN envoy said Wednesday that Yemen's warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he prepared to brief the Security Council on progress in negotiations.

"We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

"The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement," he said.

Yemeni emergency personnel carry an injured man following a bomb attack that targeted Yemeni forces in Aden's Khormaksar district Saleh al-Obeidi (AFP/File)

Ould Cheikh Ahmed is to brief the UN Security Council in a closed session later on Wednesday on the progress made in the peace talks which began on April 21 but have been clouded by repeated walkouts by the government delegation.

He clarified on Twitter that he will make the briefing by video conference from Kuwait.

Face-to-face meetings resumed on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after the latest government boycott.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said discussions on Tuesday centred on "various military and security issues including withdrawals and troop movements".

"We are now working on overcoming various obstacles and addressing specific details of an implementation mechanism," he said.

The apparent progress comes after Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said on Monday that the government stood ready to make concessions for the sake of peace.

A Western diplomat familiar with the talks said they had made important progress.

"We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises," the diplomat told AFP, adding that he was "very optimistic" that a deal could be reached.

"We have not seen this momentum towards peace in the past one and a half years... a roadmap plan has been laid down... and it has to work," he said.

- 'National Salvation Government' -

The main sticking point in the talks has been the form of government to oversee a transition.

Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies have demanded a unity government.

The government delegation insists that the legitimacy of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi must be respected.

The government has also demanded that rebels implement an April 2015 Security Council resolution demanding their withdrawal from the capital and other territory they have seized since 2014.

To overcome this problem, the UN envoy has proposed a "National Salvation Government," the Western diplomat said.

The proposed government "would be formed on a consensual and inclusive basis and in accordance with the legal references, and would only replace the current government once Sanaa and key government institutions are not under the control of non-state actors," he said.

Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam warned that if no fair solution was reached, the rebels would form the government in Sanaa.

"Yemenis are awaiting a fair solution and if it fails, anti-aggression national forces must fill the vacuum by forming a government to serve the people and confront challenges," Abdulsalam said on Twitter.

The rebel delegation met late Tuesday with the ambassadors to Yemen of the United States, Britain and the European Union and called for the formation of a "consensus executive authority" in Yemen.

They also accused Saudi Arabia of violating the ceasefire, sources close to the delegation said.

Reporters Without Borders urged the rebels to release 10 journalists who began a hunger strike on May 9 to protest against their detention.

Despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen's most populous regions, including the central and northern highlands and the Red Sea coast.

Yemenis shout slogans and wave national flags as they take part in celebrations marking the 26th anniversary of Yemen's 1990 reunification in the capital Sanaa Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File)
Obama says G7 Hiroshima trip to honour 'all' war dead

Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima this week "will honour all those who were lost in World War II" the US president said Wednesday, hours after arriving in Japan for a Group of Seven summit.

Obama and his fellow world leaders from the club of rich democracies are gathering for a meeting where much energy will be spent discussing the lacklustre state of the global economy.

But it will be Obama's trip to Hiroshima as the only sitting president to visit the site of the world's first nuclear attack that is likely to dominate the headlines this week.

US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Shima on May 25, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP)

"Our visit to Hiroshima will honour all those who were lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It will also "highlight the extraordinary alliance that we have been able to forge over these many decades," he said.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada were also making their way to Ise-Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls.

- Tight security -

Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting.

Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months.

Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coin-operated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site.

Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on so-called "soft targets" such as theatres and stadiums.

However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache.

One left-wing demonstration organised for Wednesday morning -- and focused mostly on Japan's domestic politics -- attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters.

Britain's David Cameron, whose country's referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda, arrived late afternoon at the main international airport near Nagoya.

France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel were expected to arrive on Thursday morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy's Matteo Renzi and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

A small crowd of well-wishers gathered within sight of the helicopter landing pad to which leaders were being ferried, hoping for a glimpse of one of the stars of the geopolitical stage.

- Spend or save -

The leaders will spend Thursday morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan's native Shintoism.

In line with the animistic religion's traditions, the buildings are regularly replaced, but the shrine is believed to have occupied the same spot for more than 2,000 years.

The sputtering global economy was expected to take centre stage in the formal talks when they begin on Thursday afternoon, although divisions were likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the current malaise.

"The global economy is going to be the biggest theme for the G7 Ise-Shima summit," host Abe told reporters.

"President Obama and I share the recognition that the G7 should seek sustainable and powerful growth globally."

Although China, the world's second largest economy, will not be present, it looks set to loom large over discussions. Japan and the US are keen to corral support for a growing pushback against Beijing's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The G7 will also discuss the spectre of Islamist terrorism, with France's Hollande keen to address the issue after a brutal year that saw France hit twice by jihadists.

The leaders' arrivals brought a measure of relief to members of the global press, who had spent much of Wednesday cooling their heels and interviewing each other.

Japanese television networks swarmed on foreign reporters in the cavernous press centre, demanding to know their impressions of this picturesque corner of the country, and desperate to hear what they thought of the lunch spread.

Journalists were treated to lavish displays of local specialities, from exquisite calligraphy performed with a special ink, to photobooths that transformed users into ninjas -- the deadly black-clad assassins of Japan's feudal era.

G7 summit

A policeman stands beside a Buddhist monk in front of the International Media Centre in Ise, Mie prefecture, on May 25, 2016 Toru Yamanaka (AFP)

Anti-G7 summit protesters stage a demonstration march in Shima city, Mie prefecture on May 25, 2016 Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
Solar Impulse 2 leaves Ohio on fuel-free flight

The Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered airplane piloted by Swiss national Bertrand Piccard, successfully flew out of Dayton, Ohio in the dark early Wednesday en route to Pennsylvania, according to a live online feed of the departure.

The single-seat plane with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 is covered in solar cells that power its propellers and charge its batteries. The panels provide the plane's sole source of energy for the flight.

The flight to the Lehigh Valley International Airport is expected to take 17 hours, organizers said.

Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on April 23, 2016 Jean Revillard (Solar Impulse 2/AFP/File)

The gangly plane, which travels at an average speeds of only 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour, flew out of the Dayton International Airport on time at 4 am (0800 GMT).

"I'm a bit sad to leave Dayton, the city of the Wright Brothers, but also excited to continue our adventure," Piccard wrote in a brief message posted on the organizer's blog.

Piccard said he dedicated this flight to the engineers "who worked all night to make sure #Si2 could fly to Lehigh Valley today. A fantastic team!"

The Solar Impulse 2 flight had been originally scheduled for early Tuesday, but problems arose with the fan needed to keep the plane's giant mobile hanger inflated. While rebooting the system the deflating hangar fabric touched parts of the airplane, which has 17,000 solar panels.

"After the fans that keep the mobile hangar inflated experienced a brief power failure, the plane underwent checks to verify that no damages resulted from the event," the organizer said in a statement.

Flight engineers gave a go-ahead on Tuesday after closely inspecting the plane for damage.

The Solar Impulse 2 has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi.

The project aims to promote renewable energy.

The flight to Pennsylvania is the 13th leg of Solar Impulse's projected 16-leg east-west circumnavigation, with Piccard and Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg alternating as pilots.

Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist, initiated the project.
Who the hell cares about a trade war?

You, dear reader. Or at least you should, despite the bloviations of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Usually, when making reckless threats about the economic furor he'll unleash upon China, Mexico and other major U.S. trading partners, Donald Trump claims they'll all cower helplessly in terror in response. Such a skilled negotiator is he that no country would dare retaliate. Hence, in the battle to Make America Great Again, no trade war will ever materialize.

But at his first campaign rally in almost two weeks, Trump also offered another, slightly different justification for his hot-headed comments. A hedge, if you will.

As usual, he savaged our current trade deals, calling them "disgusting, the absolute worst ever negotiated by any country in the world." As usual, he said that China and other countries are "killing us," that we are "viewed as the stupid country." And, as usual, he pledged to slap gigantic tariffs on products manufactured abroad. Such measures, he promised, would deter further offshoring, bring jobs back and make the rest of the world "behave" and "respect" us.

But he added one additional argument. Rather than just assuming away the possibility of a trade war, he suggested it would be no big deal if one erupted.

"These dummies say, 'Oh, that's a trade war.' Trade war? We're losing $500 billion in trade with China. Who the hell cares if there's a trade war?"

Let's take his question at face value. What's so terrible about a trade war?

Plenty, for both us and our trading partners.

As my Washington Post colleague Jim Tankersley reported in March, Moody's Analytics has modeled the consequences of the specific trade policies Trump advocates. These include a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports and a 35 percent tariff on Mexican imports.

Trump is right that China and Mexico should fear tariffs of this magnitude: They would indeed throw both countries into recession, according to the Moody's model. Unfortunately, the resulting damage would drag us down with them, and within a year the United States would probably tumble into recession.

Here's why.

If other countries choose to retaliate -- or "punch back," in the Trumpian vernacular -- by introducing tariffs of their own, our own exports will get more expensive to buyers abroad. If our exports get more expensive, the employment of millions of workers in export-supporting industries becomes endangered, too. As export dependent businesses shed workers, those businesses and their newly laid-off workers will have less money to spend, causing knock-on effects throughout the economy.

A downward spiral would result, leading to about 7 million fewer American jobs than there would be in the absence of Trump's machismo-driven trade policy.

Even if Mexico and China for some reason chose not to levy retaliatory tariffs, mind you, Trump's policies would still batter the U.S. economy. That's because tariffs here -- just like any other taxes -- are not costless.

If we levy new tariffs on Mexican and Chinese imports, those imported products become more expensive to U.S. consumers. Which means Americans have less spending power. Which means they buy less in general, and fewer dollars land in the pockets of U.S. retailers and other producers. Which means those U.S. businesses in turn can employ fewer workers.

According to the Moody's model, if we raise tariffs as Trump desires and there is (astonishingly) no retaliation from abroad, we may not fall into recession, but we'll still lose out on several million jobs.

What about Trump's claim that raising tariffs would encourage more companies to move their manufacturing activities to the United States? The likely magnitude of this effect looks small, according to Moody's calculations, especially if firms believe the tariffs will be temporary. And even if some jobs were reshored, it's not clear those jobs would be terribly desirable.

Americans romanticize the manufacturing industry because it used to provide stable, middle-class jobs to large numbers of U.S. workers. The kinds of manufacturing jobs available today look pretty different, though. A recent report from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that about a third of families of front-line manufacturing workers receive some form of public assistance because they earn so little.

Finally, there's another, scarier reason to fear Trump's dangerous trade policies. The "capitalist peace" theory posits that commerce and economic interdependence help prevent violent conflict. Or as Frederic Bastiat is credited with observing (perhaps apocryphally), when goods don't cross borders, soldiers will.

In other words: It's not called a trade "war" for nothing.
Japan hatches penguin chicks using artificial insemination

A Japanese aquarium said Wednesday it had hatched two Humboldt penguin chicks after using artificial insemination, the first time the technique has been successfully deployed for the vulnerable species.

The two chicks were born early April after frozen then thawed sperm from a male penguin was used to inseminate a female penguin at the Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum in Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan.

"I was speechless when the babies were born safely thanks to the success of the artificial insemination," Teppei Kushimoto, who is in charge of the penguins at the aquarium, told AFP.

The Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum said it took scientists four years to understand how to artificially inseminate and breed the Humboldt penguin chicks

The aquarium said it had taken four years of experiments for scientists to figure out how to collect, freeze, and correctly time the artificial insemination for the penguins.

"We have tried again and again, after numerous failures," Kushimoto added.

The aquarium said it hoped the development could help safeguard the rare flightless birds, which are designated as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"We believe this will be an effective technique that can contribute to the conservation of the penguins," it said in a statement.

A 'vulnerable' listing on IUCN's Red List means the species faces a heightened risk of extinction in the wild.

The Humboldt penguin, a South American bird which breeds in coastal Peru and Chile, is at risk due to pollution, especially oil spills, over-fishing of the species they eat, and problems with the medium-sized birds becoming entangled in fishing nets.

The Japanese breakthrough comes nearly two years after SeaWorld in San Diego said it had hatched a Magellanic penguin -- which is not an IUCN threatened species -- using artificial insemination with frozen then thawed semen.
A day in the life of the Med's migrant lifesavers

The sun beats down on a flat sea as a gentle breeze blows up from the Libyan coast but the Mediterranean idyll is soon to be shattered for the crew of migrant rescue ship the MS Aquarius.

Just after dawn the first call sounds around the bridge: an overcrowded dinghy is in difficulty 90 minutes away and the one-time German coastguard patrol boat is being sent to its aid.

"We are going to take on a full load today," predicts Alexander Moroz, the Belarusian captain of the vessel chartered by the charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help the international search and rescue operation in the waters between Italy and Libya.

Rescuers take care of a child during a migrant rescue operationon MS Aquarius on May 24, 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea Gabriel Bouys (AFP)

The skipper's instinct proved right: Tuesday was a busy day. The Aquarius was one of 23 vessels deployed to help stricken migrant boats and by nightfall the Italian coastguard had counted 3,000 people rescued, bringing the total to 5,600 over the course of 48 hours.

On the bridge, SOS Mediterranee's rescue team get ready for action. Deployed since the end of February, the ship has already saved more than 1,000 lives but the crews rotate for missions of three to six weeks and many of those on board are here for the first time.

"You can never have enough experience to be ready for everything, and everyone has to start somewhere," says Christian Bahlke, the mission chief.

An experienced 59-year-old seaman, Bahlke has found a way of combining that experience with his desire to do something in response to the migrant drama.

Just after 10:00am the crew gets a first glimpse of the boat they have been sent to help, a tiny sliver of white on a horizon of a vast expanse of blue.

- 'Here there is life' -

Another boat has already distributed life jackets and provided first aid to a seriously sick infant, a two-year-old boy from Cameroon who has had no adequate nutrition for three weeks and is suffering from dehydration and a lung infection that is causing the MSF doctors concern.

Soon the Aquarius's lifeboat returns from its first sortie with 15 other children, some of them very young.

They are taken to a room reserved for minors where staff attempt to comfort and calm them as they wait for their mothers, who will be the priority for the lifeboat's next shuttle.

The barefoot women arrive looking exhausted, a little dazed as they are taken onboard. One greets everyone with a relaxed, happy air, another cries in silence.

The men are the last to be brought to safety, some of them very weak. They have to be found places on the bridge.

Franck Kameni, a 29-year-old from Cameroon, cuddles his 11-month-old son Josue. In a few words he recounts the ordeal they have endured -- being forced from place to place at the hands of people traffickers over the course of several months in Libya.

"Here there is life. Finally we are men again," he says before being interrupted by the roar of an Italian navy helicopter sent to evacuate the sickest boy.

His condition is now critical. Strapped to a stretcher and hooked up to a portable drip, the child is bound for the medical unit on board the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour.

- Crushed by exhaustion -

A little later the helicopter returns to pick up the infant's mother and a weary calm descends on the Aquarius. Crushed by exhaustion, the migrants crash out wherever they can find a space.

Italian midwife Angelina Perri checks on the children. Mary Jo Frawley, a Californian nurse, dishes out tablets for sea sickness.

Like many of the MSF team, both women have already spent time in crisis zones from Sudan to Nepal via the Ebola clinics of West Africa.

On the bridge, the captain is firing up the engine. The Aquarius has got new instructions from the coastguard control centre in Rome: pick up migrants saved in the morning by a tug boat from an offshore oil rig.

As the day has progressed, the sea has picked up and now the little tug is being buffeted around and getting the lifeboat near it is a complex job, fraught with danger. The transfer will take hours.

Once again there are many women and children among the rescued. All of them from West Africa or the Horn of Africa. All of them physically and mentally close to collapse.

The Aquarius crew are sweating like never before: by 7:30 pm there are 385 passengers on board, the biggest human cargo the boat has ever collected.

"We're full up," the captain tells the Coastguard and soon a new map is up on one of his screens showing the route to the Sardinian port of Cagliari.

The destination allocated from Rome is two days away: for the men, women and children on board, two days to a new life.

MS Aquarius, chartered by the charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has already saved more than 1,000 lives Gabriel Bouys (AFP)

Migrants react after being rescued by the crew of MS Aquarius off the Libyan coast Gabriel Bouys (AFP)

Wrapped in blankets, a father holds tight his three daughters as they are shipped to safety by MS Aquarius Gabriel Bouys (AFP)
Tight security as Jewish pilgrimage starts in Tunisia

An annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue got under way in Tunisia where security forces were deployed heavily to ward off potential jihadist attacks.

Small groups of pilgrims including families with children began arriving in the searing heat at the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia for the Lag BaOmer festival.

Organisers expect up to 2,000 people to visit over two days, despite heightened worries about security following a string of jihadist attacks in the North African country.

The Ghriba synagogue in the Tunisian resort island of Djerba, is the oldest in Africa Fethi Belaid (AFP)

Police and soldiers were out in force while a helicopter flew overhead. The island's Jewish district Hara Kbira was cordoned off and visitors were required to undergo searches.

The number of pilgrims visiting the synagogue has fallen sharply since a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Qaeda struck Ghriba just before the 2002 pilgrimage, killing 21 people.

Before then the event attracted as many as 8,000 people.

Believed to have been founded in 586 BC by Jews fleeing the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the Ghriba synagogue has long been a destination for pilgrims, especially for Jews of Tunisian descent.

Around 1,500 Jews live in Tunisia, down sharply from an estimated 100,000 before the country won independence from France in 1956.

Pilgrims visit the tombs of famous rabbis, pray, light candles and write wishes on eggs.

As usual, many pilgrims prayed for the health or careers of their relatives.

"My wife was seriously ill and, with the grace of God, the year after visiting Ghriba there was a great improvement," said French pilgrim David Slama.

"Since then we have come to offer thanks."

Faced with extremism, it is "our duty to tell everyone that we have to pass on a message of love, peace and respect for others," said religious affairs minister Mohamed Khalil in Djerba.

His tourism counterpart Selma Elloumi Rekik said it was important for Tunisia to hold the pilgrimage.

"You came here for this festive occasion and you confirm that Tunisia will remain a land of friendship and joy despite the challenges of violence and hatred," she said.

Traditionally participants have come from Europe, the United States and Israel, but the number of foreigners attending has diminished considerably since the 2002 bombing.

Tunisia's tourism industry is also reeling from attacks last year claimed by the Islamic State group on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and a beach resort that killed a total of 60 people, all but one of them foreigners.

Israel this month advised its citizens to avoid visiting the country because of a "high threat level against Jewish targets".

Last year's Lag BaOmer passed without incident, despite a similar warning from Israel.

Tunisian special forces on patrol around the Ghriba synagogue in the Tunisian resort island of Djerba, during the annual Jewish pilgrimage, on May 25, 2016 Fethi Belaid (AFP)
Kenya opposition suspends protests after violence

Kenya's opposition said Wednesday it is suspending weeks of protests to allow for talks with the government after a heavy police crackdown, but warned they would return if no action was taken.

Protests organised by the CORD party began last month aimed at forcing a change of leadership at the country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ahead of polls due next year.

Police said three people died in western Kenya in the protest on Monday, two from gunshot wounds and one falling over while running from tear gas. Several officers were wounded, hit by rocks. Riot police equipped with shields and batons used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters

A schoolgirl runs past a burning barricade in Nairobi on May 23, 2016 Carl de Souza (AFP/File)

A dozen of Kenya's biggest donors including Britain, the European Union and United States, as well as the UN, warned on Tuesday they were deeply concerned by the escalation of violence and called for talks.

CORD said that if there are "no concrete steps towards dialogue" they will resume weekly protests on Monday June 6, warning the demonstration "will only get more intense."

CORD leader Raila Odinga believes the commission is biased, blaming it for his defeat by President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2013 vote. CORD accused the government to trying to turn Kenya into a "police state."

"We remain ready for and committed to dialogue as the best path out of the crisis facing our nation," CORD added, repeating its condolences for those killed and condemning "the brutality meted out."

The 2013 election nonetheless passed off peacefully, in contrast to the country's disputed 2007 elections which degenerated into fierce inter-ethnic violence that killed more than 1,100 people after Odinga's supporters challenged his defeat by Mwai Kibaki.
Key points of Israel's new coalition deal

Israeli rightwinger Avigdor Lieberman is set to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Here are some details of the enlarged government:

Who are the new ministers?

There are two new ministers, both from Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beitenu party. He will take over as defence minister -- considered by many in Israel the second-highest role in the government. Lieberman, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, was previously foreign minister until 2015.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with Avigdor Lieberman after they signed a coalition agreement at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 25, 2016 Menahem Kahana (AFP)

Another member of Lieberman's coalition, Sofa Landver, is expected to become the minister for absorption, a position which helps new predominantly Jewish migrants from around the world adjust to life in the state. She also previously held the position until 2015.

How does it affect Netanyahu's coalition?

Even before Wednesday's changes, many in Israel dubbed Netanyahu's government the most rightwing in the country's history, with religious nationalists from the Jewish Home party holding key cabinet positions. With the addition of Yisrael Beitenu, that title seems in little doubt.

Lieberman, who will be responsible for administering policy in the occupied Palestinian territories, has said he supports the death penalty for perpetrators of anti-Israeli attacks.

Netanyahu had previously tried to bring the leftwing opposition into a unity government, but in the end negotiations broke down.

What is in the agreement?

The agreement guarantees that the chairman of Yisrael Beitenu will be defence minister, while another party member will be absorption minister.

While most of the media attention was on the political implications, parts of the agreement were also economic.

Lieberman secured 1.4 billion Israeli shekels ($3.6 billion/3.2 billion euros) over four years in pensions for elderly Israelis, as well as 150 million shekels ($39 million/35 million euros) to rehabilitate neighbourhoods and expand public housing.

Lieberman, born in the ex-Soviet republic of Moldova, sought the pensions arrangement to benefit immigrants from the former Soviet Union, his main electoral support base.

Other clauses include support for more extensive voting rights for Israelis living abroad and backing for bi-annual budgets.

He had also pushed for the government to institute the death penalty for Palestinian "terrorists," but backed away from the demand in the talks.

A watered-down version was agreed upon that analysts say is unlikely to significantly change current policy. There have been no executions in Israel since 1962.

How does it affect parliament?

Netanyahu has been seeking to expand his coalition since last year's general election, when he formed a government with just 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

His party, the Likud, brought 30 seats, with four smaller parties making up the rest.

Such a small majority left him at the mercy of his MPs, with even the smallest rebellion threatening the passage of a bill.
India to make panic buttons a must on all public buses

Panic buttons will have to be fitted on all India's public buses to curb sex attacks on women, the transport minister said Wednesday, more than three years after the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi.

The transport ministry said it would issue a formal order after June 2 making the emergency measures on public buses a must.

"To ensure the safety of women after the unfortunate incident, we have decided to make it mandatory for public transport buses to install emergency panic buttons, CCTV cameras and GPS-enabled vehicle tracking devices," Nitin Gadkari told reporters in New Delhi.

India's buses will be fitted with panic buttons, sending an emergency message to a police control room Prakash Singh (AFP/File)

He was referring to the brutal attack on a woman in December 2012 as she returned home from the cinema.

The assault triggered outrage and mass protests across India, leading to an overhaul of its rape laws but high numbers of assaults persist.

Rajasthan is the first state in India to have such buses, with 20 vehicles fitted with the new safety measures.

Panic buttons are placed above the front doors which, once pressed, send an emergency message to a police control room that can then view live footage of the bus interior.

Gadkari said all public buses would have to be modelled the same way, while manufacturers must ensure new buses come equipped with the facilities.

The government's latest anti-sex attack move follows its announcement last month that all mobile phones sold in India would have to have a panic button from the start of 2017.
US adds two Pakistan-based groups to terror blacklist

The United States on Wednesday designated two Pakistan-based Islamist groups with links to the Taliban as global terrorist threats.

As "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", US citizens are forbidden from associating with the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and the Jamaat ul Dawa al-Quran (JDQ).

Any assets owned by the groups in places under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and US law enforcement will be authorized to investigate their activity.

According to the US State Department, the Tariq Gidar Group is linked to the Tehreek-i-Taliban -- the Pakistani Taliban -- and is based in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan, pictured in 2012 A. Majeed (AFP/File)

According to the US State Department, the TGG is linked to the Tehreek-i-Taliban -- the Pakistani Taliban -- and is based in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan.

The faction, US officials believe, was responsible for the December 2014 massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar that left more than 130 children dead.

The TGG is led by Umar Mansoor, who is said to also have ordered the January 2016 attack on a university in Charsadda that left more than 20 dead.

The designation also says that the TGG was behind the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, in northern Pakistan.

The second group, the JDQ, is said to be based in Peshawar but to have sworn allegiance to the late leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.

In addition to this link to the Afghan movement, the State Department says JDQ has alliances with Al-Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Washington blames the group for the 2010 kidnapping of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan.
Huge pro-Mugabe march in Zimbabwe capital

Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans marched through Harare on Wednesday in support of veteran President Robert Mugabe after the main opposition party staged a rally last month calling for him to resign.

"It's glory that you are giving to the president, but the president says in a reciprocal way that it's our glory together," Mugabe told cheering crowds, many of whom were transported to the capital by bus.

Organisers had dubbed the event a "million-man" march, but AFP reporters on the ground estimated the turnout at between 30,000 to 60,000.

Supporters of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe march through Harare during a pro-regime rally on May 25, 2016 Jekesai Njikizana (AFP)

The marchers sang songs praising Mugabe and wore t-shirts displaying his image as they gathered at a central park to hear his 90-minute speech.

Mugabe, 92, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, has vowed to stand again as president in elections due in 2018.

His decades in office have been widely criticised for economic decline, repression of dissent, vote-rigging and mass unemployment and emigration.

"We are happy that we are marching for our president to prevent the opposition from distracting the country's leader," Taremedzwa Chikara, 56, a housewife and loyal supporter of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, told AFP.

"Our president has the people at heart, and we support that a lot."

- Loyal supporters -

Learnmore Muzarabani, 28, a farmer, said he was marching to show his allegiance to Mugabe over controversial land reforms to resettle landless blacks and government policies that force foreign firms to cede majority stakes to locals.

"We are here because we love our president. He has done a lot for us. He gave us land and now we are supporting his indigenisation programme," Muzarabani said.

ZANU-PF supporters, many of them young and waving small national flags, arrived in Harare from across the country by bus, train and truck.

"Comrade Mugabe is not sick, people lie," supporters sang in one song defending the elderly president, who has been the subject of regular stories about his alleged ill health or even death.

"Forward with President Mugabe," others chanted, as they carried placards carrying messages such as "Youths march in solidarity with the visionary and iconic leadership of President Robert Mugabe."

Police in anti-riot gear surrounded the park, searching people while heavy security patrols were on the streets of Harare in vehicles and on horseback.

Last month, a few thousand supporters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party attended the biggest public protest in nearly a decade calling on Mugabe to step down.

Similar anti-Mugabe demonstrations have been ruthlessly crushed in the past.

Despite signs of ageing, Mugabe appears regularly in public walking unaided and on Wednesday he delivered a trademark fiery speech.

He called for unity in the ZANU-PF party that has been divided by rival factions jostling to succeed him, and he renewed his attacks on the western powers that he blames for Zimbabwe's troubles.

"There should never be little groups to promote so and so. Those little groups are treasonous groups, they poison the party," he said.

"I belong to my people. I don't like to be American, I am not a Yankee. I am not a Briton... I belong to Zimbabwe," he said.

"I am at the service of the people. If the people feel I should go, I go," he said.

"But at the moment where do you want me to go? I am not going anywhere."
Email scandal returns to dog Clinton presidential bid

The scandal over Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state returned on Wednesday to dog her presidential campaign.

A starkly critical report by the State Department's inspector general found she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.

Had she asked, she would not have been allowed to carry out government work on her homemade set-up, for fear that state secrets could be hacked, it said.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at an event at the UFCW Union Local 324 on May 25, 2016 in Buena Park, California Tommaso Boddi (AFP)

Clinton is the frontrunner to secure the Democratic nomination in November's election to succeed Barack Obama in the White House.

But the email scandal continues to tarnish her main selling points as she prepares to take on Republican firebrand Donald Trump: experience and competence.

And there may yet be more revelations to come, as the FBI is conducting a separate investigation into whether state secrets were stolen or put at risk.

As the report was made public, Clinton's camp pushed back hard, insisting it had found she had acted as previous secretaries of state had done before her.

"Hillary Clinton's use of personal email was not unique," campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said.

"And she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records."

The inspector general report does indeed note that Clinton's Republican predecessor Colin Powell also used a private email account.

But it makes it clear that when Clinton joined the State Department in 2009, the rules had been updated and that she should have known about them.

"Secretary Clinton's cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives," the report said.

- Systemic weakness -

All in all, under Clinton and three of her predecessors, the audit found "systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the department did not dispute the findings and was working to improve procedures.

He said the current secretary of state, John Kerry, "primarily" uses a government account and "the emails on his state.gov account are automatically archived."

When Clinton took office, the department's Foreign Affairs Manual said normal day-to-day operations should be conducted on an authorized system.

Yet the report "found no evidence that the secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account."

The State Department's current heads of information security told the inspector general that Clinton had a duty to ask permission to use her personal email.

And they said that, had they been asked, they would not have granted Clinton permission to do so, because of the rules in place and the "security risks."

State staff must seek guidance from the Bureau of Information Resource Management before sending sensitive information outside the department.

But the investigation found no evidence Clinton "ever contacted IRM to request such a solution."

And this happened "despite the fact that emails exchanged on her personal account regularly contained information marked as SBU" -- or sensitive but unclassified.

Some senior State Department employees interviewed for the report admitted there was "some awareness" that Clinton was using a private server.

- Security risks -

Because Clinton wanted to use her BlackBerry portable phone in secure areas -- a cybersecurity no-no -- there was talk of getting her a networked terminal.

In November 2010, officials discussed setting up an official State Department account for Clinton to use in parallel to her private mailing address.

In response, Clinton wrote: "Let's get a separate address or device but I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."

She never obtained a State Department email account and, later in 2011, discussions about getting her a secure official BlackBerry came to nothing.

The communications of senior US officials are matters of public record and can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

When Clinton submitted to this after leaving her post her family lawyers first sifted through the server and removed thousands of emails deemed personal.

The remaining 30,000 emails were examined by the State Department, and hundreds were found to contain information that ought to have been classified.

The rest were released, but some Clinton critics continue to allege that she used the private server to conceal embarrassing facts from voters.

Trump has taken to calling Clinton "crooked" in tweets to his supporters, and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus issued a strongly worded statement.

"The stakes are too high in this election to entrust the White House to someone with as much poor judgment and reckless disregard for the law," he said.

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gather on May 25, 2016 in Buena Park, California Tommaso Boddi (AFP)
Obama moves to soothe Japanese anger over death on Okinawa

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday sought to ease Japanese anger over the death of a woman on Okinawa, expressing his "deepest regrets" and saying his country would cooperate in the prosecution of an American arrested over the crime.

A series of crimes, including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run vehicle accidents by US military personnel, dependants and civilians have for years sparked local protests on the crowded island that hosts numerous US military bases.

Public anger boiled over last week after police arrested a former US Marine in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman who had been missing since late April and was reportedly raped and murdered.

US President Barack Obama, in speaking about a crime on a US base in Okinawa said, "The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system" Jim Watson (AFP)

"I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets," Obama said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after they held talks.

"The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system."

Obama arrived earlier Wednesday for a two-day summit of Group of Seven countries, which formally begins Thursday.

A US citizen, who works at the sprawling Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, was arrested for allegedly disposing of the woman's body, Okinawan police have said.

Obama's comments came after Abe expressed indignation over the case.

"I feel profound resentment against this self-centred and absolutely despicable crime," he said.

Okinawa was the site of a fierce World War II battle between the US and Japan but is now a key strategic outpost supporting their security alliance.

It hosts the lion's share of US bases in Japan and more than half the 47,000 American military personnel in the country under a decades-long security alliance.

Abe on Monday told Okinawa's governor Takeshi Onaga that he would ask Obama to take action over crimes by US personnel on the southern island.

The case has threatened to overshadow a planned visit to Hiroshima immediately after the summit ends on Friday, though remarks by the two leaders likely helped clear the air.

Obama will become the only sitting US president to visit the world's first atomic-bombed city.

The Hiroshima visit by Obama, who has a record of calling for global denuclearisation, has been well received in Japan.
The high-profile campaign finance trial against Rep. Art Wittich confirmed my worst fears about the use of state power in the hands of the current commissioner of political practices, Jon Motl. His aggressive conduct during this case confirmed for me that he is transforming his office and abusing his power. The current enforcement emphasis is a fearful factor in any Montanans decision to see public office.

The commissioner is asking Judge Dayton to fine Wittich more than $144,000 and remove him from office as a penalty for the jurys finding that Wittich received and did not report corporate contributions during his 2010 state senate primary race. Motl has also asked the court to award his office more than $30,000 in court costs to cover the prosecution of Wittich. To my mind, this is extreme. I fear a chilling effect on Montana free speech in our elections. This $30,000 in court costs, if awarded to a litigation fund under the control of the commissioner, further enhances his ability to pursue these seemingly selective, aggressive prosecutions without regard to legislative control of the purse strings.

Public statements against Wittich by Motl created media reports portraying him as being involved in some kind of pay-to-play corruption scheme. Wittich is not corrupt. Thats why Motl never charged him with corruption, and his attorneys refused to let the jury consider a corruption charge. He was afraid of what a Montana jury would say about his evidence of corruption. Just recently, Motl took the issue of corruption away from Judge Dayton as well, explicitly abandoning the claim altogether and saying that corruption has no bearing on the case against Wittich.

The real reason for this corruption smear is simple: Motls office was defending the state in a federal lawsuit to strike down Montana campaign contribution limits, and he stated publicly a finding of corruption would help his defense. Notably, Motls best evidence of corruption by conservative legislators was just roundly rejected this week by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell. Nonetheless, Wittichs reputation is now collateral damage.

When I served as commissioner of political practices, it was clear to me that many candidates were confused by the language of statutes and rules governing their campaign activities. My staff and I made it our mission to work to ensure they understood the rules. Sure, there were instances where a few bad apples intentionally tried to game the system. In these cases, our investigations, decisions and subsequent fines were issued with an even, non-partisan hand.

I hope state District Judge Ray Dayton keeps all of this in mind when, on June 17, he decides not only Wittichs fate, but ultimately whether or not the office of the commissioner should be able to continue to be used as a political weapon against hard-working legislators that try to do right for the people of Montana.
New York judge orders second trial in Etan Patz case

A retrial of the man charged in the death of Etan Patz -- a six-year-old New York boy whose disappearance in 1979 deeply shook the nation -- will take place in September, the judge in the case ruled.

Judge Maxwell Wiley ordered a second trial Tuesday against 55-year-old Pedro Hernandez, who admitted the murder but later retracted his confession.

Wiley also presided over the first trial, which was declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a decision following 18 days of deliberation.

A street shrine to six-year-old Etan Patz is set in front of the building where suspect Pedro Hernandez confessed to have strangled the boy in New York on May 29, 2012 Emmanuel Dunand (AFP/File)

Etan Patz vanished after leaving his downtown Manhattan home on May 25, 1979, while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time.

His parents discovered he was missing after he did not return home after school. His body was never found.

Police arrested Hernandez in 2012 after he confessed to the murder. In detailed videotaped confessions, Hernandez told interrogators that he strangled the boy to death and threw the body in a dumpster.

Hernandez's lawyers say the suspect suffers from mental illness. He later recanted his story, pleading not guilty.
Indonesia's president has approved tough new punishments for child sex offenders, including a maximum penalty of death after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a schoolgirl.

Convicted paedophiles could also be chemically castrated and forced to wear electronic monitoring devices following their release from jail under new rules introduced in an emergency decree.

President Joko Widodo said: 'This regulation is intended to overcome the crisis caused by sexual violence against children.

'Sexual crimes against children are extraordinary crimes because they threaten the lives of children.'

The presidential decree brings the new punishments immediately into effect, although parliament could overturn it.

Widodo was spurred into action after the murder and gang-rape in April of a 14-year-old girl, Yuyun, who was set upon by a gang of drunken men and boys as she walked home from school in southern Sumatra.

Her battered body was found three days later in woods, tied up and naked. Seven teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were jailed earlier this month for their part in the incident.

Yuyun was on her way home from school in the village of Kasie Kasubun in Bengkulu Province (pictured) in southern Sumatra when she was attacked

The attack sparked a national debate on sexual violence, led to calls for harsher punishments for child sex offenders and prompted protests in the capital Jakarta.

The case has drawn comparisons with the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which sparked mass protests and led to an overhaul of India's rape laws.

Indonesia is likely to draw fire for expanding its use of the death penalty.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo (pictured) has approved tough new punishments for child sex offenders, including a maximum penalty of chemical castration or even death

Jakarta has faced criticism for use its use of capital punishment against drug traffickers, and sparked international outrage last year when it put seven foreign drug convicts to death by firing squad.

Under previous laws, the maximum sentence for rape - including of a minor - was 14 years in jail.

By introducing chemical castration, Indonesia joins a small group who use the punishment worldwide, including Poland and some states in the US.

In 2011 South Korea became the first Asian country to legalise the punishment.
Trump denounces illegal immigrants as tensions flare

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump stumped in California, the US state with the largest Hispanic population, doubling down on his anti-immigration position but assuring that "Mexican people" will vote for him in November.

The presumptive Republican nominee took the stage in Anaheim, outside Los Angeles, with police on high alert one day after violence marred a Trump rally in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where anti-Trump protesters hurled rocks and police fired smoke grenades in efforts to rein in the chaos.

Dozens of security personnel including police on horseback maintained control in Anaheim, although some skirmishes broke out between Trump opponents and his backers as protesters chanted expletives about the brash billionaire. At least eight people were arrested.

Anti-Trump protesters (L) clash with Donald Trump supporters (C) outside the Anaheim Convention Center during a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Mark Ralston (AFP)

Inside, Trump attacked his likely Democratic general election rival Hillary Clinton and railed against undocumented immigrants stealing US jobs.

But he insisted legal immigrants would vote for him in large numbers, despite polls showing they would overwhelmingly favor Clinton.

"The Mexican people are great, they're going to vote for me like crazy, the ones that are legally in this country," Trump said, as a woman waived a "Latinas for Trump" sign behind him.

- 'Too many immigrants' -

Immigration is a flashpoint political topic in California. The state now has more Hispanic residents -- 39 percent -- than whites, according to the census.

"We have too many immigrants here, Mexican immigrants," Trump supporter Sharon Lombardi told AFP. "It's an invasion."

"Our cities are not the same," said Lupe Morfin, 58, adding that an "illegal alien" killed her 13-year-old nephew in 1990.

"Mr. Trump is the only one that would listen to us, and we love him."

Trump warned there would be "nothing but turmoil" and "four more years of Obama" if Clinton wins the White House.

"Our system and our country can't take it," he said.

Trump also insisted his "biggest strength" would be a robust national security, as he lambasted countries like Germany for allowing refugees to flood into Europe unchecked, increasing the terror threat.

"All over Europe they're taking these people and all over the United States they're sending these people," Trump said. "How stupid are we? This will come back to haunt us."

Several Trump rallies have drawn protests, including one in Chicago in March when his supporters clashed with protesters.

Trump described his Tuesday rally in Albuquerque as a "love fest," even though the chaos outside left several officers injured.

In his speech in New Mexico, which has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any US state, Trump startled observers by criticizing Governor Susana Martinez, the nation's only Hispanic governor and head of the Republican Governors Association.

"She's got to do a better job, OK?" Trump told the crowd about Martinez, who has criticized Trump's remarks on immigration and was absent from Tuesday's event.

- 'Will not be bullied' -

It was the latest example of behavior that may compound Trump's efforts to win over skeptical voters. Martinez is seen as someone who could help a Republican nominee win support from Hispanics and women -- on her home turf, saying she was not cutting it as governor.

Martinez's office responded swiftly, saying the governor "will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans."

The blunt response highlights the tensions within the party even as it prepares to crown Trump as its nominee.

House Speaker Paul Ryan -- the nation's top elected Republican -- said he was not yet prepared to endorse Trump for president.

"I haven't made a decision," Ryan told reporters, two weeks after he met with Trump to discuss ways to unify the party behind his remarkable White House run.

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay had choice words for the presumptive nominee, calling Trump's criticism of a popular conservative Latina "stupid politics."

"It blows my mind," DeLay told MSNBC. "Where is he going to get his coalition to win?"

Following his Washington state victory, Trump has now amassed 1,229 delegates, according to a CNN tally -- just eight shy of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination.

He is expected to cross the threshold June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary contest.

Trump pivoted to the general election weeks ago, relentlessly criticizing his likely Democratic rival.

The former secretary of state has returned fire, although she is still engaged in the final stages of her Democratic battle against Sanders.

On Wednesday, the scandal over her use of a private email server while secretary of state resurfaced, with a starkly critical report by the State Department's inspector general finding she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.

Anti-Trump protesters gesture at police outside the Anaheim Convention Center after a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Anaheim, California Mark Ralston (AFP)

Police arrest a protestor during an anti-Trump demonstration outside the Anaheim Convention Center Mark Ralston (AFP)
Fresh Mau Mau damages claim against UK government in court

A lawyer for Britain's government argued Wednesday it was too late to claim damages for 40,000 Kenyans who say they were tortured and abused by colonial officials during a state of emergency in the 1950s.

The case being heard at London's High Court pitches Britain's Foreign Office against Kenyans who allege abuse during the 1952-60 Mau Mau rebellion against British rule.

Britain announced in 2013 that it would compensate over 5,000 now elderly Kenyans in a deal worth nearly 20 million (26 million euros, $29 million) following a legal battle which lasted four years.

Britain funded a memorial in Nairobi (pictured) to people killed in the state of emergency during the 1952-60 Mau Mau rebellion, but it did not accept legal liability for what happened Tony Karumba (AFP/File)

It also funded a memorial in Nairobi to the at least 10,000 people killed during the state of emergency.

But it did not accept legal liability for what happened and the current action, consisting of 27 test cases, is a separate process of civil litigation involving more claimants.

Outlining the Foreign Office's case, lawyer Guy Mansfield said all the alleged perpetrators were untraceable or dead, along with the relevant British politicians, civil servants and army generals.

"None of them can explain what happened during the emergency," he added.

"They too cannot now answer the grave allegations made against them."

On Monday, Simon Myerson, acting for the claimants, told the court that they had been subjected to "unlawful and unjustifiable conduct".

"It is bizarre, in 2016, to conceive of servants of the British government castrating men, either cold-bloodedly or in a frenzy of kicking and beating," he said.

Myerson added there had been "a cover-up on an industrial scale" of what happened.
Russian jailed in US 'Cold War-style conspiracy'

A Russian banker was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to conspiracy in what US prosecutors called a Cold War-style spy ring in New York.

Evgeny Buryakov, 41, stood motionless in navy jail scrubs and a brown T-shirt in a Manhattan federal court as Judge Richard Berman sentenced him to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The married father of two, with short brown hair and dark-rimmed spectacles who used to earn $204,000 a year, waived his right to address the court.

Evgeny Buryakov, 41, stood motionless in navy jail scrubs and a brown T-shirt in a Manhattan federal court as Judge Richard Berman sentenced him to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 fine Don Emmert (AFP/File)

Arrested in January 2015, he has already served around half his sentence and is to be deported following his release.

His was the first such espionage case since 10 deep-cover agents, including Anna Chapman, were arrested in the New York area in 2010. They pleaded guilty and were part of a prisoner swap with Moscow.

The murky case, which included the FBI planting covert recording devices hidden in binders, was akin to "a plotline for a Cold War-era movie," chief US prosecutor for Manhattan, Preet Bharara, has said.

The US government says Buryakov worked for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency while posing as an employee for Russian bank Vnesheconombank in Manhattan, and previously in South Africa.

He pled guilty in March to one count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent working on behalf of the Russian Federation.

Prosecutors insist he was an SVR agent but that more serious charge was dropped in his plea deal. He has expressed no remorse, they said.

The defense told the court Wednesday that there were "no factual disputes that need to be resolved."

- Not James Bond -

Prosecutors said the FBI eavesdropped on SVR agents for months with the help of tiny recorders planted in binders of alleged trade secrets handed over by an undercover agent posing as an energy analyst.

The bugs allowed the FBI to listen as Russian spies received tasks from Moscow and fed information back to the SVR from January to May 2013, US prosecutors say.

They also allegedly heard the Russians complain about the humdrum nature of their work, far removed from the adventures of James Bond.

Buryakov was accused of working with a trade mission official and another Russian attached to the UN mission in New York who are no longer in the United States.

Fluent in English, Buryakov waived the right to an interpreter and Berman noted a letter from his parents who praised their "wonderful son" and remarked on his gift for foreign languages.

The defendant at one point smiled gently as the judge declined to pronounce the name of his bank, but instead spelled it out.

His two children had also wrote a letter in English requesting their father "to come home soon," the judge said.

His mother, who had been living in Tunisia with her husband who works for the Russian embassy, has moved home to care for them because their mother, an attorney, is working full-time, he added.

The sentence of two-and-a-half years had been agreed upon by both US government prosecutors and the defense ahead of Wednesday's sentencing.
Saudi says talks with Iran on hajj 'positive'

Saudi Arabia said talks on Wednesday with visiting Iranian delegates on arrangements for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic have been "positive".

Earlier this month, Tehran said "arrangements have not been put together" for Iranians to make this year's pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of the summer, accusing its regional rival of "sabotage".

But Saudi hajj ministry undersecretary Hussein Sharif said the kingdom and its leadership "welcome pilgrims from all around the world".

Muslim pilgrims circle Islam's holiest shrine, the Kaaba, at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, on September 20, 2015 Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP/File)

The two sides discussed "arrangements, as well as organisation and services" for pilgrims, he told reporters after a session of talks with the delegation from Tehran.

He said an agreement had been reached following the arrival of the delegation Tuesday to "use electronic visas which could be printed out" by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran.

A final agreement would be signed at the end of the ongoing talks, he said.

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January after demonstrators burned its embassy and a consulate in the Iranian capital following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Tehran had said that Riyadh insists that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and does not allow pilgrims to be flown in aboard Iranian aircraft, which Iran has rejected.

Sharif did not give a clear answer on the airlines that would be allowed to carry passengers from Iran to Saudi Arabia as air links remain severed.

"Directives concerning the air carrier will come from the Saudi civil aviation authority," said Sharif.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.
UN ends sanctions on Liberia

The last remaining United Nations sanctions on Liberia were lifted on Wednesday in a decision the United States called a tangible sign of progress in the West African country.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to lift an arms embargo on non-state groups that was imposed 13 years ago to support a peace deal that ended a devastating war.

It was the last punitive measure in force from a sweeping series of sanctions that had included travel bans, assets freezes and a ban on lumber and diamond exports.

Soldiers of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) patrol polling stations in Monrovia during parliamentary elections on December 20, 2014 Zoom Dosso (AFP/File)

US Deputy Ambassador David Pressman said the decision showed "how far Liberia has come" in its transition to peace and marked the first time since 1992 that the country was not under UN sanctions.

Liberia's charge d'affaires George Patten told the council that sanctions had helped stabilize the country and that the government was now ready to take steps to beef up security.

"Targeted sanctions in the context of Liberia have been very constructive," said Patten.

With the international measures now all lifted, Liberia has adopted gun-control legislation and is taking steps to strengthen control of its borders, he said.

- UN peacekeepers stay for now -

The United Nations is also drawing down its peacekeeping mission in Liberia, UNMIL, which now has some 3,700 troops and police on the ground from its high point of 15,000.

On June 30, a security transition will be completed, handing over much of the mission's tasks back to Liberian police and army. By then, there will be fewer than 2,000 UNMIL personnel left.

The council is discussing when to end the mission that helped Liberia during the deadly Ebola outbreak and may still be need as the country heads toward elections next year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the council's decision showed the "significant progress made by Liberia and the sub-region in maintaining stability."

The end of sanctions on Liberia came a few weeks after the council lifted the last remaining measures against Ivory Coast.

There is a sharp debate within the council on whether sanctions are a useful tool, with China, Russia and Venezuela arguing that they often fail to encourage better behavior.

Pressman argued that the council "must be creative and courageous in its sanction design," and pointed to the timber and diamond export bans in Liberia as a pressure tactic that could be applied to other conflicts.

Liberia has spent a decade recovering from two ruinous back-to-back civil wars that ran from 1989 to 2003, leaving a quarter of a million people dead and the economy in tatters.
Syria's Raqa: IS bastion along the Euphrates

Here are key points regarding Raqa, the northern city that serves as the Islamic State group's de facto capital in Syria.

IS now faces a major assault by Kurdish-Arab forces in the surrounding province of Raqa, part of a two-pronged offensive that includes an operation by Iraqi forces to retake the jihadist-held city of Fallujah.

- Raqa as IS's 'capital' -

Syrian army soldiers take positions on the outskirts of Syria's Raqa region on February 19, 2016

This city on the banks of the Euphrates River was under IS control for just five months before the group declared its self-styled Islamic "caliphate" in June 2014.

Raqa became the de facto capital for territory under IS control in Syria, where it implemented its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law.

The group terrorised the city's estimated 300,000 residents with beheadings, crucifixions, and other brutal forms of violence.

Particularly gruesome deaths were filmed and distributed in what became a notorious IS propaganda tool.

Figures provided by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group indicate that more than 3,500 people were killed by the end of 2015, more than half of them civilians.

- A model city, a living hell -

IS has tried to depict Raqa as an ideal, functioning metropolis where jihadist-run institutions provide for residents.

But the activist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently has taken to social media to show that the city is in fact devastated.

"People are suffering... They (IS jihadists) don't do anything for the civilians," said RBSS co-founder Abdalaziz al-Hamza.

Instead, many residents are jobless and terrified.

"Because civilians don't have any work, anything to earn money, IS has tried to get them to join them (by promising) salaries, money," he told AFP.

"Ninety percent of things are banned. There is no coffee shop, no school apart from IS schools. Men can't wear jeans."

- Using civilians for cover -

Raqa city and the surrounding province have already come under fire from the US-led air coalition bombing IS and from Russian warplanes backing the forces of Bashar al-Assad.

And now, the Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces is fighting to clear IS from territory north of the city.

Although SDF commanders have insisted they are not targeting Raqa city just yet, IS fighters appear to already be taking precautions.

"They (IS militants) are using the civilians as a cover," Al-Hamza said.

RBSS this week reported IS had closed bus stations in Raqa in an attempt to prevent residents from fleeing the city.

Jihadists are also considering setting up bases in schools and other civilian infrastructure in an attempt to shield themselves from air strikes.

- Strategic city on the Euphrates -

Raqa and its eponymous province occupy a strategic location where several major roads intersect on the banks of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.

It is east of Syria's second city Aleppo, just 90 kilometres south of the Turkish border, and less than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from neighbouring Iraq.

Raqa has prospered owing to agriculture in the fertile river valley, and it also benefits from nearby hydro-electric dams that generate power for much of the country.

It was the first provincial capital to fall out of Syrian government control in March 2013.

If IS is eventually expelled from the city, it would be one of the most significant victories against the group since it rose to prominence in 2013.
New York joins global movement to scrap 'tampon tax'

Women in New York will soon save cents when purchasing sanitary products, as the state joins the global movement denouncing the so-called tampon tax as sexist and unfair.

The state senate on Wednesday unanimously passed legislation to exempt tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners from the state's four percent sales tax.

The bill will go to Governor Andrew Cuomo to be signed into law, following the states of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania where similar legislation has already passed.

New York state senate unanimously passed legislation to exempt tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners from the state's four percent sales tax Loic Venance (AFP/File)

"Repealing this out-of-touch tax has been decades in the making," said New York state senator Susan Serino, who sponsored the bill. "It's a win for women who have largely shouldered the burden of the tax for generations."

Cuomo welcomed the senate's repeal of what he called a "regressive and unfair tax" on women and said he would sign the legislation.

As international outcry spreads about why sanitary products should be taxed, online petitions have collected hundreds of thousands of signatures in multiple countries. Canada and Ireland are among nations who have scrapped such a tax.

In Britain, the government was subjected to a furious backlash when it upheld a five percent tampon tax last year. It subsequently announced it would give millions of pounds raised from the levy to women's charities.
China hits back as G7 talk about economy

World leaders focused Thursday on pumping up the global economy and worries over the growing clout of China -- which promptly told the G7 club of rich nations to mind its own business.

Presidents and prime ministers from the Group of Seven huddled in Japan for two days of meetings, with the refugee crisis, terrorism, the threat of North Korea and sanctions against Russia also filling up their packed agenda.

But China's growing assertiveness, particularly in bitter territorial disputes in the South China Sea, was providing ever-louder background music, with European Council President Donald Tusk calling on the G7 to take a "tough stance" on the hot-button issue.

US President Barack Obama (L) with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) as they arrive at Ise-Jingu Shrine on May 26, 2016, on the first day of the G7 leaders summit Stephane De Saukutin (AFP)

Beijing swiftly launched a stinging broadside against the group -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US -- which it said should not pursue "selfish interests".

"G7 should focus on its own duties, that is economic cooperation, it should not point fingers at something outside its portfolio," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing in Beijing.

The Xinhua news agency, Beijing's official mouthpiece, reinforced the point with a blunt commentary that said the group "should mind its own business" and accused Japan of exploiting its host status to try to isolate China. The neighbours have a long history of tempestuous relations.

Both Washington and Tokyo -- which is locked in a separate dispute with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea -- have warned against China stoking tensions in the contested waters.

- 'Heated exchanges' -

The sputtering global economy took centre stage in formal talks, although divisions seem likely to remain over whether the world should spend or save its way out of the malaise, with Japan and Germany at odds on the issue.

There were some "heated exchanges" among G7 leaders on the issue of refugees, a senior Japanese government official said on condition of anonymity.

That came after European Council's Tusk said the world needs to act together and not leave everything at Europe's door.

"We are aware that it is because of geography that the most responsibility is, and will continue to be, placed on Europe," Tusk told reporters.

"However we would also like the global community to show solidarity and recognise that this is a global crisis."

Merkel said fresh funds to tackle the problem were unlikely, but added that "we all agree that we have to do everything to fight the causes that make people flee".

Last year, some 1.3 million refugees, mostly from conflict-ridden Syria and Iraq, asked for asylum in the European Union -- more than a third of them in Germany.

- Donald Trump -

There were several bilateral meetings, including Canada's Justin Trudeau chatting with Germany's Angela Merkel, who said G7 sanctions imposed on Russia over its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine would not be lifted anytime soon.

Britain's referendum next month on whether or not to stay in the European Union was also discussed.

"The atmosphere of our talks would be better if Britain is staying in the European Union," Juncker said.

Also looming over the talks -- though not present -- was US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Northeast Asia's perennial badboy, Kim Jong-Un.

Obama later told reporters that he and his G7 counterparts agreed "North Korea is a big worry for all of us", following Pyongyang's series of nuclear tests and missile launches.

He also said the G7 leaders were "rattled" by some of the policies espoused by former reality TV star Trump, and blasted his "ignorance" of how the world works.

The leaders had begun their day with a visit to Ise Jingu, a shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan's native Shintoism.

Abe's decision to take his counterparts to the site -- also a hotspot for domestic tourists -- has raised eyebrows among some critics, however, who say it retains some nationalist overtones from when Shinto was the state religion.

Several of the leaders -- including summit heartthrobs Matteo Renzi of Italy and Canada's Trudeau -- also got a slow speed demonstration riding in fuel-cell cars, as Japan sought to show off its tech know-how.

G7 summit

The G7 leaders presented as superheroes at the NGO exhibition building on May 26, 2016 in Ise, where the two-day summit is taking place Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
A Billings-based water pipe supply company on Wednesday admitted criminal charges that it defrauded the Chippewa Cree Tribe on the Rocky Boys Reservation by falsely claiming an Indian preference to get contracts, including work on a large federally funded water project in north central Montana.

Federal prosecutors said MT Waterworks LLC, formed by convicted tribal official and former state legislator Tony Belcourt as well as Billings contractors Kevin McGovern and Kent Boos, falsely certified it was a minority-owned disadvantaged company and claimed an Indian preference.

The company then used that certification to block legitimate competition and leverage its Indian preference to secure a majority, if not virtual monopoly, of the business in pipe and pipe supplies at Rocky Boys, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad in court records.

MT Waterworks, Rostad said, received more than $3.3 million from the tribes Chippewa Cree Construction Corp., whose CEO and contracting agent was Belcourt, for work on the Rocky Boys North Central Montana Regional Water System Project. The project, known as the Tiber project, is a large federally funded project to bring drinking water to the reservation from the Tiber Reservoir.

MT Waterworks also made false statements about its minority-owned status to get special treatment on contracts with the federal General Services Administration, Rostad said.

The case was unsealed Wednesday with MT Waterworks arraignment and guilty pleas in Great Falls before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris.

Boos, the company president, pleaded guilty on behalf of MT Waterworks to two counts in an indictment. The company admitted a scheme to defraud the Chippewa Cree Tribe and to false and fraudulent statements made to the United States.

MT Waterworks attorney, Mark Parker of Billings, called the case "painful" for the company but said it was looking forward to moving on.

"As bad as it looks, it was the best day we've had in a long time. It brought an end to the dark Belcourt cloud," Parker said.

The actions, Parker said, were done "a long time ago by someone who is an admitted fraudster. This was closure for MT Waterworks. It got rid of the last vestiges of the Tony Belcourt era."

MT Waterworks disputed some of the government's proof, Parker said. But, the company hopes the judge will "see the wisdom of the deal we made with the government," he added.

A plea agreement calls for a third count of false statements and for three crimes charged against the company in a separate indictment to be dismissed.

The deal also calls for MT Waterworks to pay a $350,000 fine in lieu of restitution, with $250,000 due at sentencing and the $100,000 to be paid within one year of sentencing.

In exchange for the payment plan, MT Waterworks agreed to put up all of the companys personal property as security for the government to ensure the remainder of the fine will be paid, the plea deal said.

The parties agreed to no restitution because determining the amount would be extremely complicated and prolong sentencing to the point where the process would outweigh the need to provide restitution, court records said.

If the judge rejects the plea agreement, MT Waterworks can withdraw its guilty pleas and go to trial.

Morris set sentencing for Sept. 15. MT Waterworks faces a maximum penalty of a $500,000 fine on each crime.

Latest development

The indictment is the latest in a broad, ongoing corruption investigation of the Chippewa Cree Tribe by the Department of Interiors Office of Inspector General.

Federal prosecutors have convicted numerous tribal officials and non-tribal people accused of stealing or misappropriating federal money intended to fund various programs, like the Tiber water project.

Belcourt, one of the central figures convicted in the corruption, is serving a seven-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $667,000 restitution for taking bribes and kickbacks from consultants who were awarded federally funded contracts.

The latest round of indictments have snared Billings companies and business owners.

An indictment in March charged McGovern, MT Waterworks and another of McGoverns companies, MC Equipment Holdings LLC, a heavy construction equipment rental company, with conspiracy to defraud the tribe. McGovern and the companies have pleaded not guilty to charges.

In the contract preference case against MT Waterworks, prosecutors said Belcourt and the company used a federal provision that allows federal, state, tribal and local governments to register small businesses as disadvantaged business enterprises. The registration is intended to help those firms, which are primarily owned by veterans, disabled persons, women or racial or ethnic minorities, to compete against other well-established businesses that may have a competitive advantage through historic discrimination.

The preference provides that contracting officers may include in contracts an incentive payment equal to 5 percent of the contract amount. To claim preference, a disadvantaged business must be 51 percent owned, controlled and managed by those claiming the entitlement.

The Chippewa Crees Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO), the prosecutors said, mirrors federal requirements in giving preference to Indian-owned businesses. The tribes construction company also required that contract preference be given to Indian-owned companies, Rostad said.

Belcourt, McGovern and Boos created MT Waterworks in 2010 and claimed an Indian preference by saying Belcourt had 51 percent ownership. The purpose was for the company and its owners to enrich themselves by claiming that MT Waterworks qualified as a Native American-owned business entitled to preferential treatment in doing business with the tribe and its construction corporation, Rostad said.

Belcourt bought into the company using $101,000 in federal stimulus money that he and his business partner, Dr. James Eastlick Jr., embezzled from the Tiber Project.

Belcourt sent the money to MT Waterworks through a company called T Leischner Consulting, a Laurel firm created by Eastlicks sister, Tammy Leischner. Belcourt also gave Eastlick 50 percent ownership in MT Waterworks, he said.

Belcourt served as president of MT Waterworks, and the company claimed the $101,000 bought Belcourt a majority interest in the firm, Rostad said.

This representation was critical to claims by the company that they were a minority-owned disadvantaged business enterprise entitled to favored treatment in federal and tribal contracting, the prosecutor said.

McGovern also had an ownership interest in MT Waterworks. In addition, he is one of the principals in CMG Construction LLC, Johnson Lane Materials and MC Holdings LLC.

McGovern was the silent partner in MT Waterworks and took steps to keep his involvement a secret, Rostad said. Belcourt and McGovern had numerous dealing beyond the pipe supply company, he said.

Boos came to MT Waterworks with experience in the pipe business, having worked for Ferguson Enterprises Inc., a large, Virginia-based plumbing wholesaler. While employed by Ferguson, Boos sold materials to the Chippewa Cree Construction Corp., headed by Belcourt. Boos served as vice president of MT Waterworks and managed the daily responsibilities of the business, Rostad said.

MT Waterworks claimed Belcourt was a 51 percent owner when in reality the three men were equal partners, Rostad said.

The company also could not meet the other two preference requirements of being 51 percent controlled and managed by a minority.

Boos told investigators in 2012 that he was solely responsible for MT Waterworks daily operations, the prosecutor said. When advised that such an arrangement would disqualify the company from a minority preference, Boos responded that Belcourt managed the company remotely from the reservation and made phone calls to the company.

Witnesses, however, told prosecutors that Belcourt had no role in the companys daily management and didnt have time because of his full-time duties managing the tribes construction company.

McGovern, Rostad said, acknowledged that Boos, not Belcourt, was responsible for daily management of MT Waterworks.

From March 2010, which was one month after MT Waterworks formed, until February 2013, the tribe and its construction company paid MT Waterworks $3.349 million for pipe, supplies and related services, Rostad said.

In February 2013, the tribe barred the company from getting further contacts because of Belcourts conflict of interest.

In April 2013, Belcourt was bought out of MT Waterworks and a related company created by the three partners for $500,000 with $100,000 of that being paid to Eastlick. McGovern and Boos then became equal partners in MT Waterworks and the related company.

From March 2010 through December 2012, MT Waterworks had gross profits of $4.75 million and net profits of $1.65 million, Rostad said.

After investing the $101,000, Belcourt got $156,000 in payments from the company in 2010. And in the three years from 2010 to 2012, Belcourt received $551,949.

Together with his $500,000 buy-out in April of 2013, Belcourt had a return of $1,051,949  or 941.53 percent  on his initial $101,000 investment using stolen federal funds, Rostad said.

Boos and McGovern told investigators that they saw nothing wrong with MT Waterworks minority preference with the tribe because Belcourt was just a contracted consultant with the tribe and not really an agent of the tribe, Rostad said.

Boos also claimed that because the engineering firm that oversaw the Tiber project for the tribe, AE2S, and not Belcourt, approved their invoices, that everything was above-board, Rostad said.

However, an AE2S official told investigators that he was frustrated at not being able to get other companies to bid on materials for the water project, Rostad said. Ferguson Pipe and Northwestern Pipe Fittings representatives told AE2S that the reason there were no competitive bids was MT Waterworks enjoyed Indian preference, he said.

MT Waterworks also used its Indian preference for other projects.

The company got a subcontract for $1.74 million with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in South Dakota by demanding that they be given minority business preference, Rostad said.

MT Waterworks also certified to the GSA its disadvantaged business status from 2011 through 2016.

GSA records showed that MT Waterworks got a Bureau of Indian Affairs contact in 2011 in which the company claimed a preference, Rostad said.

MT Waterworks still is falsely certified with GSA as being a disadvantaged business, although if the company has reorganized, it has not updated its profile, he said.
Illinois pushes legal aid for juveniles in murder cases

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  A lawyer would have to be present when police question juveniles younger than 15 in murder or sex offense investigations under a measure Illinois lawmakers are considering that seeks to eliminate false confessions.

Illinois currently mandates legal representation for children younger than 13 in those cases, even if they're not the targets of the criminal probe. However, the two Democratic legislators sponsoring the new bill say 14- and 15-year-olds should receive legal protection too.

Tim Curry, director of training and technical assistance at the National Juvenile Defender Center, said most children don't know to invoke their rights to an attorney

"It's common place for Miranda rights to be handed over to a child without assessing if the child understands them," Curry said, adding that it's also common for officers to violate procedures and use ultimatums causing children to plead guilty without a case going to trial.

Juvenile interrogations were a focus of the Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer," which showed Brendan Dassey, without a lawyer present, confessing to police about his involvement in the 2005 slaying of a woman whose remains were found near his uncle Steven Avery's trailer. Both Dassey, who was 16 at the time of the crime, and Avery, who had previously spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit, were convicted separately of murder and sentenced to life terms. Dassey's first shot at parole will come in 2048.

"Children are vulnerable in the interrogation room and the result can be false confessions," said Laura Nirider, Dassey's defense lawyer and co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago.

The Senate sponsor of the Illinois proposal initially tried to impose the attorney requirement for juveniles younger than 17 but lowered it to 15 amid concerns from local prosecutors that making it higher could hamper the investigation of gang members, said Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno.

The bill would require that when police question anyone younger than 18 about a murder or sex crime, they must read a simplified Miranda warning explaining the person's right to stay silent and have legal counsel. It also would guarantee that interrogations of all juveniles be videotaped in misdemeanor and felony cases.

At least 33 states give juveniles access to a parent or an attorney at some point during an investigation and at least 17 have Miranda wording intended for children, according to data by The Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth. In Wisconsin, where Dassey was interrogated, children are not required to have a lawyer or parent present. In New Mexico, the confession of a juvenile under 13 cannot be introduced in proceedings against him or her.

The California Legislature is considering a measure that would go beyond the Illinois proposal, requiring lawyers for juveniles under 18 during interrogations  and not just for murder and sex offenses.
About 500 attend funeral for slain 11-year-old Houston boy

HOUSTON (AP)  About 500 mourners filled a Houston church to capacity Tuesday for the funeral for an 11-year-old boy who was stabbed to death as he walked home from school.

Josue Flores' slaying a week ago remains unsolved.

"It's like a wound that's still left open and we pray that will close quickly for the family," the Rev. Anil Thomas of Holy Name Catholic Church said.

Juan Flores Sr., along with family and friends, leans over to pay his last respects to his son Josue Flores at La Paz Memorial Funeral Home,Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston as he walked home from school last week. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Some of Josue's classmates from Marshall Middle School were among those attending services. A high school mariachi band provided music.

"He was such a loving, smart boy," one classmate, Benisa Garcia, said.

Some classmates were crying as his casket was taken from a funeral home for a procession to the church. Following the funeral mass, Josue was buried in Houston's 120-year-old Historic Hollywood Cemetery.

The sixth-grader was walking home from a science club meeting after school May 17 when he was attacked on a sidewalk a couple of blocks from his home in a neighborhood just north of downtown Houston. Witnesses said they heard loud screaming and saw Josue struggling with a man. The boy collapsed on the grass near the sidewalk and the man ran off. A bystander flagged down police and alerted them to the wounded boy, who was taken to a hospital with multiple stab wounds and pronounced dead a short time later.

A 31-year-old man with a long criminal history was arrested last week for the slaying, but a murder charge against him was dropped Friday when detectives found evidence to support his alibi that he wasn't involved in the killing.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has urged anyone with information about the slaying to come forward. A $15,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

On Tuesday, police declined to say whether Turner's plea had provided any new clues toward solving the case.

"This is still an active investigation," police spokesman Victor Senties said. "Obviously, we're not going to discuss specific tips."

Juan Flores Jr., is comforted during a funeral service for his brother Josue Flores at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston last week as he walked home from school. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Flowers are tossed into the grave of Josue Flores at the conclusion of a funeral service at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston last week as he walked home from school. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Maria Flores, second from left, and husband Juan Flores Sr., along with family members, wait for the casket of son Josue Flores to be blessed before a Mass at Holy Name Catholic Church, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston as he walked home from school last week. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Flowers and a photo of Josue Flores to be placed at his grave site are held by an unidentified man during a funeral service at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston last week as he walked home from school. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Maria Flores tosses flowers into the grave of her son Josue Flores at the conclusion of a funeral service at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Houston. Josue was stabbed to death in Houston last week as he walked home from school. (Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Elephant rescued from Swaziland delivers calf at Dallas Zoo

DALLAS (AP)  An elephant rescued from the southern African nation of Swaziland has given birth to a baby at the Dallas Zoo.

The zoo issued a statement Tuesday announcing the May 14 birth of the male calf. The calf doesn't yet have a name. He weighs 175 pounds, stands about 3 feet tall and has a trunk just over a foot long.

The zoo says the infant's weight at birth was at the low end of the 150-to-300-pound range expected for healthy newborn African elephant. That was blamed on food scarcity in the mother's homeland, where a severe drought made food scarce.

This May 2016 image provided by the Dallas Zoo shows a baby elephant at the zoo in Dallas. The male calf was delivered of a mother that was one of five African elephants brought to the Dallas Zoo after their rescue from the southern African nation of Swaziland. (Dallas Zoo via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

The mother, Mlilo (muh-LEE'-loh), was pregnant when the group of five elephants arrived earlier this year. Friends of Animals had sued to stop the proposed importation. That suit is pending.
Protests turn violent outside Trump rally in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades.

Authorities responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in what police later called a "riot."

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

Pepper spray is deployed at protestors of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump at the Albuquerque Convention Center after the Trump rally in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."

Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."

The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.

___

Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan contributed to this report from Albuquerque.

A protestor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a burning T-shirt as hundreds of people protest outside a rally for Trump in Albuquerque, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

A protester is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A protester is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A protester is taunted by Trump supporters as he is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Riot police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Anti-Trump protesters block the streets following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Albuquerque Convention Center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Depp's dog fight with Australian deputy leader continues

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's deputy prime minister boasted on Wednesday that he had got into Johnny Depp's head like fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter after the Hollywood actor quipped that the ruddy-faced lawmaker appeared to be "inbred with a tomato."

The exchange spanning half the globe is the latest in a war of words that started a year ago when Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to have Depp's pet dogs, Boo and Pistol, put down. Joyce bluntly said it was time the Yorkshire terriers that had been illegally smuggled into Australia "buggered off back to the United States."

The 52-year-old actor's wife Amber Heard pleaded guilty in a court last month to falsifying documents to conceal the pets when she arrived by private jet to join her husband on the set of the fifth movie in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series.

FILE - In this file image made from video released by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources on April 18, 2016, actor Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber Heard speak in a videotaped apology played during a hearing at the Southport Magistrates Court on Queensland state's Gold Coast. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce boasted on Wednesday, May 25 that he had got into Johnny Depp's head like fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter after the Hollywood actor quipped that the ruddy-faced lawmaker appeared to be "inbred with a tomato." (Australian Government via AP Video) AUSTRALIA OUT

The couple videoed an apology as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed Heard to avoid a conviction.

Depp referred to Joyce as Barnaby Jones, the television detective played by Buddy Ebsen, while discussing the case this week on the U.S. talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

"He looks somehow inbred with a tomato," Depp told Kimmel. "It's not a criticism. No, I was a little worried. He might explode."

Joyce replied by thanking Depp for the publicity he gave Australia's tough biosecurity laws through the case that was widely lampooned as a "war on terrier."

Joyce, who is campaigning ahead of July 2 elections, said he had moved on from his dispute with Depp.

"I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr. Depp, he's remembering me," Joyce told reporters in his home town of Tamworth.

"I'm turning into his Hannibal Lecter," Joyce added, referring to the brilliant but dangerously manipulative character best known from the Academy Award-winning movie "Silence of the Lambs."

Depp said he didn't watch the widely-derided apology video  that has been likened to a hostage video with wooden deliveries from the couple  before it was released.
The Latest: Winner in Texas education runoff thanks rival

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The Latest on a Texas education board race (all times local):

10:15 p.m.

The winner of a Texas education board runoff says he thinks Republican voters in March simply weren't paying attention when they nearly nominated a retired schoolteacher who once claimed President Barack Obama was a gay prostitute.

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2010 file photo, Anthony Bruner and Mary Lou Bruner, right, pray at the start of a meeting of the Texas State Board of Education to discuss Islam and Christianity in textbooks in Austin, Texas. Mary Lou Bruner, a retired Texas schoolteacher who claims President Barack Obama is a gay prostitute is the Republican front-runner in a primary runoff for a seat on the influential state education board. Bruner is back on the ballot Tuesday, May 24, 2016, after nearly clinching the Republican nomination outright in March. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File) AUSTIN CHRONICLE OUT, COMMUNITY IMPACT OUT, INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM, MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Keven Ellis said after his victory over Mary Lou Bruner on Tuesday night that primary voters likely tuned out their race partly because of the attention surrounding the presidential election. But Ellis, a local school board president, wouldn't criticize Bruner and instead thanked her for her career as a schoolteacher.

The 69-year-old Bruner came within a couple percentage points of winning the race outright in March.

Bruner has claimed in old Facebook posts that President Barack Obama was a gay prostitute and suggested that Democrats assassinated John F. Kennedy.

___

9:30 p.m.

A watchdog of the Texas State Board of Education says the state "escaped an education train wreck" after a retired schoolteacher who believes dinosaurs walked the Earth with humans lost her runoff election.

Mary Lou Bruner's defeat Tuesday night delighted the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network. The organization said in a statement that the 69-year-old Bruner would have been "the most embarrassingly uninformed" member on the state's powerful education board.

Bruner has claimed in old Facebook posts that President Barack Obama was a gay prostitute and suggested that Democrats assassinated John F. Kennedy.

She came within two points of winning the primary outright in March. But her lead evaporated in the runoff against Keven Ellis, a local school board president who is now the Republican nominee instead.

___

9 p.m.

A Texas education board candidate who believes dinosaurs walked the Earth with humans has lost in a runoff election.

Mary Lou Bruner's defeat Tuesday followed heightened attention over old Facebook posts in which she claimed President Barack Obama was gay prostitute and suggested that Democrats assassinated John F. Kennedy.

The 69-year-old Bruner had fallen only two points shy in March of becoming the Republican nominee for one of 15 seats on the powerful Texas State Board of Education.

Bruner had recently lost the backing of an influential tea-party group, though not because of her beliefs or conspiracies theories on Facebook. Grassroots America instead withdrew an endorsement after Bruner cited inaccurate school data during a meeting with local superintendents.

___

1:45 a.m.

A retired Texas schoolteacher who claims President Barack Obama is a gay prostitute is the front-runner in a Republican primary runoff for a seat on the influential state education board.

Mary Lou Bruner is back on the ballot Tuesday after nearly clinching the Republican nomination outright in March. That was despite her lengthy social media history of posting about conspiracy theories, including that Democrats orchestrated John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Her election would be stunning, even given that the 15-member Texas State Board of Education was chaired until 2011 by a creationist who tried weakening evolution lessons in science classes. The board more recently fought over whether textbooks contain anti-American biases.
Obama, Abe heed politics of contrition on Hiroshima visit

SHIMA, Japan (AP)  Laying bare the complex politics of reconciliation and contrition, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday rejected the idea of visiting Pearl Harbor to reciprocate for President Barack Obama's historic trip to Hiroshima later this week. Obama, for his part, said he would use his time in Hiroshima to honor all those killed in World War II and to push for a world without nuclear weapons.

The White House made clear well in advance of Obama's arrival in Japan that the president would not apologize for the U.S. bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, that killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima and launched the nuclear age.

Abe, who met with Obama before the opening of a two-day summit of wealthy nations, was asked to reflect on the significance of the president's trip to Hiroshima and whether he would in turn visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where a surprise attack by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killed more than 2,400 people, wounded scores and led the United States into the war.

President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after speaking to media in Shima, Japan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Abe spoke first of the suffering of the Japanese people: "Numerous citizens sacrificed their lives. And even now, there are those of us suffering because of the atomic bombing," he said. Their desire, he added, is for the world "never to repeat" such a tragedy, and he expressed hope that Obama's visit would lend momentum to the goal of a nuclear-free world.

As for a visit to Pearl Harbor, Abe said: "At this moment I don't have any specific plan to visit Hawaii." He did not foreclose the idea of a visit entirely, but clearly sidestepped any suggestion that reciprocity was called for, as some have suggested.

The two leaders' remarks made clear the sensitivities still attached to both countries' wartime actions, and previewed the strong emotions that will be attached to Obama's trip to Hiroshima on Friday, when he will be the first sitting president to pay his respects.

In Japan, Pearl Harbor is not seen as a parallel for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki three days later, but as an attack on a military installation that did not target civilians. Obama's visit to Hiroshima would be seen in Japan as less of a coup for Abe if it appeared to be linked to a visit to Pearl Harbor.

In the U.S., many believe the atomic bombs hastened the end of the war, saving countless other lives, though some historians say the U.S. was eager to use the weapons and Japan would have surrendered soon anyway.

Both Obama and Abe made a point to stress the strength of the current U.S.-Japanese alliance.

But Abe was unflinching in his harsh criticism of the U.S. over a new irritant that has inflamed the Japanese public: the recent arrest of a former Marine in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa, where anti-U.S. military sentiment is high because of a heavy American troop presence. The crime could fuel further opposition to the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps air station on the southern Japanese island, a long-delayed project that Abe has been trying to push forward in the face of large protests.

Abe declared himself "just speechless" at the crime, and called for swift investigation of the offender "who committed this self-centered and absolutely despicable crime."

Obama, for his part, offered his condolences and "deepest regrets." He said any violent crime by U.S. personnel or contractors was appalling and pledged to do "everything that we can to prevent any crimes from taking place of this sort and that involves reviewing procedures and making sure that everything that can be done to prevent such occurrences from happening again are put into place."

As for his visit to Hiroshima, Obama said the trip would be "a reminder that war involves suffering," just as was the previous three days he spent in Vietnam, where he was the third president to visit since the end of the Vietnam War.

"We should always do what we can to prevent it," he said. But he added: "It's important for us to act on occasion in order to make sure that the American people are protected."

Obama will meet with world leaders at the Group of Seven summit for the next two days, before stopping in Hiroshima on his way home.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Ise, Japan and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

President Barack Obama pauses during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Shima, Japan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pause during translation as they speak to media in Shima, Japan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leave speaking to media in Shima, Japan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
VOICES: A-bomb survivors leader says Japan shares blame, too

TOKYO (AP)  The debate over whether President Barack Obama should apologize to Japanese survivors of America's atomic bombings in World War II made Terumi Tanaka think: What about his own government?

Tanaka, secretary-general of Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, was 13 when the U.S. dropped its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki city on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the first on Hiroshima.

___

In this May 11, 2016 photo, Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo. The debate over whether U.S. President Barack Obama should apologize to Japanese survivors of Americas atomic bombings in World War II made Tanaka think: What about his own government? Tanaka was 13 when the U.S. dropped its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki city on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the first on Hiroshima.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Editors: Part of a series of perspectives on the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, released this week as President Barack Obama prepares to visit Hiroshima.

___

He was at home on a mountainside and survived, but lost five relatives in the blast. His family lived in an anti-firebombing shelter until Japan surrendered six days later.

"To be honest, I think Mr. Obama should apologize to the survivors," said Tanaka, 84, a retired engineering professor. "I've seen my relatives die in front of my eyes, which I never forget."

He added, though, that Japan also should take some of the blame.

"Japan started the war and kept dragging it on," he said. "The government should fully take responsibility for our suffering."

The Japanese government offered little help for survivors until the confederation he now leads was established in 1956 to demand support. A year later, a national medical compensation law was enacted, but because of stringent standards, dozens of survivors are still fighting in court to get recognized as victims.

Referring to the White House stressing that Obama's visit Friday is not to revisit history, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push for future-oriented relations with the rest of Asia, Tanaka said: "You can see the future and move on only when you squarely face the past and come to terms with it."

___

Excerpts of video interviews with Tanaka, another Japanese atomic bomb survivor and U.S. veterans are available at http://apne.ws/243ZLSD
EVANSTON, Wyo.  Authorities say an Evanston teen has died in a southwestern Wyoming crash after trying to pass a vehicle on the highway.

Christine Finney, 18, died after the Sunday crash near Evanston.

Authorities say Finney had been headed north on Wyoming State Highway 89 when she attempted to pass a vehicle in front of her. The teen had overcorrected after finding the southbound lane already occupied by another car, causing her truck to spin.

Finney's vehicle crossed into the southbound lane and collided with a vehicle driven by 18-year-old Adam Mueske, also of Evanston.

Finney was taken to a hospital and later died.

Mueske and his two passengers remained hospitalized Monday.

The Sunday crash marked the 20th highway fatality in Wyoming this year.
Cosby lawyers outline defense as case heads to trial

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP)  Bill Cosby's lawyers gave a blistering preview of the questions the actor's accuser will face at trial, as a judge refused to dismiss the sex-assault case at a preliminary hearing.

The defense Tuesday attacked the consistency of Andrea Constand's police statements; offered context to her friendship with Cosby; and insisted she gave consent to the sex acts that occurred at his home near Philadelphia in early 2004.

Constand did not testify, a decision meant to spare her from being cross-examined before trial. Under a recent state law, prosecutors can instead have witness statements read into the record.

Bill Cosby departs the Montgomery County Courthouse after a preliminary hearing, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool)

The defense objected to Constand's absence during the half-day hearing, which marked the first time that police statements from either Constand or Cosby, 78, have been aired in public. Defense lawyer Brian McMonagle complained that he could not challenge her account.

"They chose not to present a witness to make an accusation against Mr. Cosby. So you're left with what's on that paper," McMonagle argued referring to the statement.

No trial date has been set, and lawyers are expected to spend months arguing over what evidence can be used  most notably, whether other accusers can testify and whether Cosby's deposition from Constand's civil lawsuit can be used.

McMonagle on Tuesday suggested that Constand was having a relationship with a married man and that the pair had engaged in "petting" during a few earlier visits to his home. Constand, in her statement, said she had brushed off his advances.

On the night in question, she said that Cosby urged her to take three blue pills "to take the edge off" her stress and to wash them down with wine he had poured. Twenty minutes later, her legs turned to "jelly."

"Everything was blurry and dizzy," Constand told police. "I told him, 'I can't even talk, Mr. Cosby.' I started to panic."

McMonagle argued that Constand "voluntarily" took the pills and perhaps had a bad reaction. He said she was "incapacitated by her own hand, by her own drinking." And he questioned her continued contact with Cosby in the year between their encounter and her first call to police.

"After this incident, Ms. Constand stayed in touch with the defendant, met with the defendant, ... accepted a dinner invitation, spoke to him on the phone, ... and visited him in Canada at a concert," McMonagle said in asking the judge to dismiss the case. "I know this is a preliminary hearing, but you have to look at it all."

His arguments largely mirror those raised by former District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. when he declined to press charges when Constand came forward in 2005. Castor has since become a defense witness of sorts, testifying that he had a binding agreement with Cosby's lawyers that the case would never be prosecuted.

"It should have been stopped. It was stopped," McMonagle argued Tuesday.

The defense also seized on discrepancies in the three police statements that Constand gave, including her shifting memory of precisely when the encounter occurred. As for the alleged crime, she said the comedian penetrated her with his fingers and fondled her after giving her what he said was herbal medication. She said she later awoke with her bra askew and did not remember undoing it.

District Attorney Kevin Steele described Constand as "paralyzed, incapable of consent." He believes that makes one part of Cosby's police statement especially odd.

Asked if he had sexual intercourse with Constand, Cosby said he had not  "neither asleep nor awake."

Dozens of other women have come forward since 2005 to accuse Cosby of molesting them over the past 50 years. Some said they passed out after drinking something he gave them.

In his police statement, Cosby said that Constand never said "no" as he put his hand down her pants. He told police the pills were over-the-counter Benadryl that he takes to help him sleep.

Cosby settled with Constand for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying behind closed doors about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

But prosecutors reopened the criminal case last year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosby's sealed testimony in Constand's lawsuit was made public.

Cosby is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and is trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.

The Associated Press does not normally identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes unless they agree to be named publicly, which Constand has done.

Bill Cosby smiles as he leaves the Montgomery County Courthouse after a preliminary hearing, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Bill Cosby leaves the Montgomery County Courthouse after a preliminary hearing, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (James Robinson/PennLive.com via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT

Bill Cosby leaves the Montgomery County Courthouse after a preliminary hearing, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (James Robinson/PennLive.com via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT

Bill Cosby waves as he leaves the Montgomery County Courthouse after a preliminary hearing, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Attorney Gloria Allred speaks to the media during a recess at the Montgomery County Courthouse for a preliminary hearing for Bill Cosby, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report. (Dominick Reuter/Pool Photo via AP)
Syria's refugee crisis focus of interactive exhibit

BOSTON (AP)  What's it like to flee Syria as a refugee?

Global relief and development organization Oxfam America and Microsoft are hoping to demonstrate the harrowing ordeal many migrants endure through a free exhibit Wednesday evening at the tech giant's research and development center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Participants in "The Refugee Road" will be assigned the real-life story of a Syrian refugee that the Boston-based Oxfam America has worked with.

In this Feb. 16, 2016 photo provided by Oxfam, a boat filled with refugees reaches the shore of the small Greek island of Lesbos. The photo will be among those included in "The Refugee Road," an interactive exhibit presented by Oxfam America and Microsoft on Wednesday evening, May 25, 2016, at Microsoft's office in Cambridge, Mass. Oxfam is using the free event to call on the U.S. to redouble its efforts to resettle Syrians. (Pablo Tosco/Oxfam via AP)

As they move through the exhibit, some will be randomly called on to share their refugee's experience as photos taken by Oxfam staffers at border crossings and refugee camps help illustrate the plight.

Others will be asked to act out parts of the journey, like carrying bags of clothes and other personal possessions or being subjected to interrogations as if they were at a border crossing.

"Experiential events like this bring emotions alive and stir a deep sense of identification," said Nancy Delaney, Oxfam America's director of community engagement. "Ultimately, we want people to come away with a primary understanding: everyone on earth has the same basic needs. It is only our circumstances  where we live and the culture into which we are born  that differ."

Syria's civil war has displaced an estimated 11 million people since erupting in March 2011 as part of the Arab Spring revolutions that saw old regimes fall across North Africa and the Middle East.

Oxfam, which was founded in Oxford, England in 1942 and now has more than a dozen affiliates working in nearly 100 countries, says it has helped provide more than 1.5 million displaced Syrians with food, water and shelter.

The life stories highlighted Wednesday represent some of the most common experiences of Syrians, said Oxfam America spokeswoman Emily Bhatti.

They include those who have flooded Lebanon, Jordan and other neighboring countries, those who have settled in North America, Europe and elsewhere, and those who remain in Syria, either by choice or because financial or other reasons prevent them from fleeing.

The event is meant, in part, to call on the U.S. to redouble its efforts to resettle Syrians.

Just over 1,700 refugees have been admitted into the U.S. since last fall, when President Barack Obama set the relatively modest goal of resettling 10,000 Syrians by October 2016.

"At this rate, we won't even meet half of that goal by then," said Ali Aljundi, Oxfam America's project officer for Syria. "And even if the U.S. were to reach its goal, it would still be a drop in the bucket."

Germany, in contrast, has already taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrians; Canada has admitted nearly 27,000 since November.

Top Congressional Democrats, including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, urged the administration last week to speed up the process, but Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders have called for a pause.

They sought tighter regulations following November's deadly attacks in Paris, where at least one of the perpetrators allegedly gained entry to the country posing as a Syrian refugee.

But Oxfam and other advocates say the U.S. refugee resettlement program is already one of the world's most stringent, with multiple levels of background checks and investigations.

"Anti-refugee rhetoric and cynical efforts by politicians to create more hurdles won't make the U.S. any safer," says Aljundi, who came to Massachusetts from Syria in 2012 to attend graduate school. "Thousands of Syrian refugee families are waiting in limbo. Their lives hang in the balance."

___

Online: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/events/event/the-refugee-road-an-interactive-event-exploring-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/philip-marcelo

In this Feb. 3, 2016 photo provided by Oxfam, men peer from a train window at the railway station in Tabanovce, Macedonia, near the border of Serbia. The photo will be among those included in "The Refugee Road," an interactive exhibit presented by Oxfam America and Microsoft on Wednesday evening, May 25, 2016, at Microsoft's office in Cambridge, Mass. Oxfam is using the free event to call on the U.S. to redouble its efforts to resettle Syrians. (Pablo Tosco/Oxfam via AP)
Babies behind bars: Should moms do time with their newborns?

BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. (AP)  Jennifer Dumas sits on a sofa, her smiling 6-month-old girl on her lap. The room is full of bright toys and children's books. A rainbow-colored activity mat is on the floor, and Winnie the Pooh is painted on the walls.

It looks like any other nursery, except that there are bars on the windows and barbed-wire fences outside the austere brick building.

New York's maximum-security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility is one of the very few prisons in the U.S. that allow inmates and their babies to live together, a century-old approach that not all corrections experts agree is the best way to deal with women locked up while pregnant.

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas answers questions during an interview while holding her daughter, Codylynn, in a playroom at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Mothers who get such a chance say it's better than the alternative: In most prisons, babies born behind bars must be given up within a day to a relative or foster care.

"Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you," the 24-year-old Dumas said as her daughter, Codylynn, gleefully rocked in a bouncy seat. "But it's actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I'm blessed to be able to go through this."

Nobody thinks raising babies behind bars is ideal, and some worry that the children could be scarred by the experience. But some advocates say that the practice allows mother and child to develop a vital psychological attachment, and that the parenting classes and other practical instruction help the moms stay out of trouble when they get out.

About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates.

Of the more than 100 women's prisons in the U.S., there are eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, the U.S. is not among them.

Dumas was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year, along with her boyfriend, on charges they tried to steal a safe packed with $32,000 in cash and jewelry. Her baby was born just days after she took a plea bargain on attempted burglary charges that sent her to Bedford Hills, about an hour north of New York City, for up to two years.

She is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nursery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rainbows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery currently has 16 babies, including a set of twins.

During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the moms go to school or vocational programs.

But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the moms know their babies can be taken away for such infractions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps.

"It's still scary," Dumas said. "At any given point if you do what you're not supposed to your baby could get sent home."

Some women have been dropped from the program from time to time for breaking the rules, but corrections officials and advocates said they could not recall any instances in recent years in which a baby was harmed.

Still, some argue that prison should be reserved for punishment and that women should instead consider putting their children up for adoption.

"The focus should be on what's best for the baby," said James Dwyer, a law professor at the College of William & Mary who has written a paper on the topic. "There is skepticism about these women being adequate parents."

Columbia University researcher Mary Byrne, who spent years studying mothers and children who started life in Bedford Hills, said that the youngsters formed critical attachments to their mothers and that a second study after they were released found they were no different from children raised entirely on the outside.

"Many people would assume any exposure to prison would cause problems ... they'll be exposed to violence and horrible people, it will scar them," she said. "But that's not what we found."

Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic nun who runs Hour Children, the nonprofit organization that operates Bedford Hills' nursery, put it more bluntly: "Babies belong with their mother. In a palace or a prison, they don't know and don't care as long as they feel loved and supported."

The nursery is operated under an annual contract with the state of about $170,000, the correction department said. It would cost $480,000 a year to put 16 babies in foster care, according to state figures.

Bedford Hills' recidivism rate for women in the nursery program is fairly typical of such programs, at 13 percent versus 26 percent for all female inmates at the prison, according to a report by the Women's Prison Association, an advocacy group.

Bedford Hills has the oldest continuously operating prison nursery in the country, opened in 1901. There were many nurseries years ago, according to Elaine Lord, the former superintendent. But they fell out of favor amid a huge influx of prisoners in the 1980s and a shift in thinking that said the privilege of living with your baby was inconsistent with the concept of punishment.

Most of the nation's prison nurseries have cropped up in the past 20 years.

The nursery at the Indiana Women's Prison houses up to 10 mother-infant pairs for up to 18 months. In South Dakota, a child can stay only 30 days. In Washington state, it's three years. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms have participated.

In Decatur, Kalee Ford, who is about 26 weeks pregnant and in prison on a drug-related conviction, already has been accepted into the program and is taking prenatal courses. She said she wasn't the mother she could have been to her two other children because of methamphetamine. The program is giving her hope that she can clean up for good.

"I believe that everybody deserves at least one chance to fix mistakes that they've made," she said. "My children didn't do this, and they deserve to have me back."

At Decatur, Bedford Hills and other programs, mothers-to-be are selected based on their crimes and whether there is any history of child abuse.

Many advocates question why such women need to be incarcerated at all. Typically, women accepted into these programs are nonviolent offenders serving fairly short sentences  ideal candidates for less-expensive, halfway house-like programs for mother and child.

After their sentences are up, almost all of the mothers at Bedford go to a live-in halfway house in New York City run by Fitzgerald's organization that also helps with day care and jobs. Mothers say it's a golden ticket.

Dumas, who has a son on the outside, hopes to go there, too.

"It's a way to get on my feet, try being a parent again on the outside but with a safety net," she said. "I don't know anyone who gets that."

___

Associated Press video journalist Teresa Crawford contributed to this report from Decatur, Ill.

In this May 18, 2016 photo, baby Marissa looks at her mother, Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center in Decatur, Ill. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas holds her daughter, Codylynn, up to a mirror in her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn, inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas looks out the window with her daughter, Codylynn, inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, holding her daughter, Codylynn, Jennifer Dumas opens the door to her room inside the nursery at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills is one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas unfolds a quilt for her baby daughter who lives with her at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas watches her daughter, Codylynn, play in her crib inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, a row of high chairs sit along a wall in the dining hall at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this May 18, 2016 photo, Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center, plays with her baby, Marissa, in the prison nursery where they live, in Decatur, Ill. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
A look at prison nurseries nationwide

Out of more than 100 women's prisons in the U.S., only eight have nursery programs that allow mothers to help raise their babies behind bars. There are none in the federal prison system, and there is only one in a jail, at Rikers Island in New York City. Here is a look at the nurseries:

ILLINOIS:

Facility: Decatur Correctional Center

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas holds her daughter, Codylynn, up to a mirror in her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Capacity: Eight moms and baby pairs

Length of stay: 18 months

Requirements for acceptance: To qualify, the woman must be within two years of release after giving birth and have committed a nonviolent offense.

Opened: 2007

INDIANA:

Facility: Indiana Women's Prison

Capacity: 10 mother-and-infant pairs

Length of stay: 18 months

Requirements: Women must be pregnant when taken into custody. No violent crime conviction or child abuse history. Must be within 18 months of release after birth to qualify.

Opened: 2008

OHIO:

Facility: Ohio Reformatory for Women

Capacity: 20 mothers and 21 infants

Length of stay: 3 years

Requirements: The mother must not be convicted of a violent felony and must be within three years of release.

Opened: 2001

Recidivism rate: 3 percent compared with 33 percent overall.

NEBRASKA:

Facility: Nebraska Correctional Center for Women

Capacity: 15 mother-infant pairs

Length of stay: 18 months but can be extended

Requirements: The mother must not be convicted of a violent felony and must be within three years of release.

Opened: 1994

Recidivism rate: 9 percent compared with 33.3 percent for the general population.

NEW YORK :

Facility: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

Capacity: 29 mother-and-infant pairs

Length of stay: 18 months if the mother will be paroled or on work release by then.

Requirements for acceptance: Must give birth in custody to qualify. Many aspects are examined, including the nature of the crime. A history of child abuse would prevent a woman from being accepted.

Opened: 1901

Recidivism: 13 percent versus 26 percent in the general population.

ec

SOUTH DAKOTA:

Facility: South Dakota Women's Prison

Capacity: No limit.

Length of stay: 30 days, women are housed in a cell.

Requirements for acceptance: Nonviolent offenders preferably close to parole. All expenses are the responsibility of the mother, including health care. The women are kept separate from the general population, but there is no specific nursery.

Opened: 1998

WASHINGTON:

Facility: Washington Corrections Center for Women

Capacity: 20 mother-and-infant pairs

Length of stay: 3 years

Requirements for acceptance: Must be pregnant when incarcerated. Must be a minimum-security offender. Careful screening of past criminal history. Must be eligible for work release.

Opened: 1999

WEST VIRGINIA:

Facility: Lakin Correctional Center for Women

Capacity: 5 mother-and-infant pairs

Length of stay: 18 months

Requirements for acceptance: Must be eligible for parole within 18 months. The mother must not have been convicted of child abuse.

Opened: 2009

___=

Sources: Department of correction for each state, Women's Prison Association.

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas answers questions during an interview while holding her daughter, Codylynn, in a playroom at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, holding her daughter, Codylynn, Jennifer Dumas opens the door to her room inside the nursery at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn, inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas looks out the window with her daughter, Codylynn, inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills is one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas unfolds a quilt for her baby daughter who lives with her at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, Jennifer Dumas watches her daughter, Codylynn, play in her crib inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, a row of high chairs sit along a wall in the dining hall at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Bedford Hills has one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this May 18, 2016 photo, Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center, plays with her baby, Marissa, in the prison nursery where they live, in Decatur, Ill. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

In this May 18, 2016 photo, baby Marissa looks at her mother, Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center in Decatur, Ill. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
JOC sets up 3-man team to investigate Tokyo 2020 payments

TOKYO (AP)  The Japanese Olympic Committee has set up an investigative team to see if there were any illegal payments made to a Singapore firm which have entangled Tokyo's winning 2020 Olympic bid in a bribery investigation.

The three-man investigative team established Wednesday consists of two Japanese lawyers and a certified accountant.

JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed Tokyo's bid team, approved the payment of 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) to Black Tidings headed by Ian Tan Tong Han.

Han is a close associate of Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges in France.

In testimony at Japan's parliament, Takeda said the "contract was for consultancy work and not made with the anticipation that the money would lead to Mr. Diack."

Takeda did not reveal who in the bid committee met with Tan to broker the deal in the months leading up to Tokyo's victory in September 2013.

Tokyo defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round of the IOC voting. Madrid was eliminated on the first ballot.

Possible wrongdoing involving Lamine Diack and the 2020 Olympic bid race was cited in a WADA-commissioned investigation of the IAAF. A footnote to a report by the WADA commission in January indicated that Diack was prepared to sell his vote in exchange for $5 million in sponsorship for the IAAF.
Israel's Netanyahu adds hard-liner to coalition

JERUSALEM (AP)  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named one of Israel's most polarizing politicians as defense minister on Wednesday, solidifying his parliamentary majority at the risk of antagonizing the international community and his own military  and clouding already slim hopes for a resumption of peace efforts.

The addition of Avigdor Lieberman to the Cabinet comes at a sensitive time. After a two-year breakdown in talks, France is preparing to host a conference next month aimed at restarting negotiations. At the same time, the U.S.-led quartet of international peace mediators is set to release a report expected to be critical of Israel.

While both Netanyahu and Lieberman pledged to pursue peace with Israel's Arab neighbors, their tough positions on key issues, strained relationship with much of the international community and the makeup of the rest of the Cabinet would seem to make significant progress a long shot.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 file photo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman speak during a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu campaign rally in the port city of Ashdod. Israeli officials say a deal has been reached to expand the coalition government by bringing in the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of Avigdor Lieberman. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed concerns with Israel's right-wing tilt.

"This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be heading in and what kind of policies it may adopt," Toner told reporters.

One of Israel's most divisive leaders, Lieberman, 57, is known for a sharp tongue that has offended allies and opponents at home and abroad.

He entered politics in the 1990s as an aide to Netanyahu before breaking away and founding Yisrael Beitenu, an ultranationalist party that relies on immigrants from the former Soviet Union as its base of support. Lieberman himself was born in the former Soviet republic of Moldova and speaks Hebrew with a strong Russian accent.

Over the years, he has been both a key ally and strong rival of Netanyahu's, holding a series of high-level Cabinet posts, including serving twice as Netanyahu's foreign minister. With the addition of Yisrael Beitenu's five seats, Netanyahu now holds a comfortable 66 to 54 majority in parliament, bringing some much needed stability to what had been a shaky coalition.

But Netanyahu's Cabinet is now dominated by religious and nationalist hard-liners who oppose Palestinian independence  a key goal of the international community and the U.S.-led peace process. Lieberman himself is a West Bank settler.

An outspoken skeptic of peace efforts with the Palestinians, Lieberman delivered a speech at the United Nations in 2010 that cast doubt on the goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead, he talked of a decades-long intermediate period and proposed shifting regional borders to rid Israel of its Arab citizens and incorporate West Bank settlements into Israel.

Netanyahu distanced himself from the speech, saying it did not reflect Israeli policy.

When the Palestinians sought upgraded membership at the U.N. in 2012, Lieberman called for toppling President Mahmoud Abbas.

Just a few weeks ago, he suggested that a top Hamas leader in Gaza be killed if the Islamic militant group doesn't return the remains of two Israeli soldiers it is holding. And during a 2014 war against Gaza militants, Lieberman favored much harsher military action.

Wednesday's coalition agreement proposes changes in Israeli military law that could pave the way for executions of convicted terrorists. Israel has a death penalty for certain cases, but it has never been enforced. The new changes, which would require a parliamentary vote, could make it easier to apply the law.

Addressing concerns about their alliance, both Netanyahu and Lieberman voiced messages of moderation Wednesday.

Netanyahu vowed to "pursue every avenue for peace," while Lieberman promised a "reasonable policy."

"All of us have commitments to peace, to the final status agreement, to understanding between us and our neighbors," Lieberman said, speaking in English in a message aimed at the international community.

The last round of peace talks broke down two years ago due to wide gaps between the sides.

Although Netanyahu has called for a return to negotiations, his refusal to endorse the internationally backed contours of a peace agreement  and continued construction of settlements on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians  have fueled widespread doubts about his intentions, and the Palestinians say there is no point in talking.

The make-up of his expanded coalition appears to make it even more unlikely that Netanyahu will make significant concessions to the Palestinians.

"Adding Lieberman to the government ... threatens to destroy the two-state solution," warned Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official. "The result will be religious and political extremism, and violence and terrorism and bloodshed."

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, a moderate who last week had been in talks to join the government, said Netanyahu has become a "hostage" to the hard-line Israeli right wing. He called Wednesday's appointment "a day of sorrow."

In addition to the Palestinians, Lieberman has also managed to alienate Israel's own Arab minority, many of whom identify with their Palestinian brethren.

He led a failed attempt to require Arabs to take a loyalty oath, and once said that Arab lawmakers who meet with members of the anti-Israel Hamas group should be executed.

"Lieberman is a fascist similar to the fascists from the '30s of the last century," said Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Arab bloc in parliament. "He is inciting against the Arab citizens."

While Lieberman has been a member of the sensitive inner Security Cabinet, he has limited military experience. The parliament's website says he only reached the low rank of corporal, and he reportedly had only a brief career working in an army warehouse.

Set to be sworn in next week, he will help oversee military policy and handle delicate security matters with international allies.

He has angered neighboring Egypt with comments in the past, including a suggestion that Israel bomb Egypt's Aswan Dam. In another moment of anger, he said Egypt's then-president Hosni Mubarak could "go to hell."

Egyptian leaders have not forgotten those comments, and it remains unclear whether the appointment will affect relations. Israel and Egypt work closely together in a joint battle against Islamic militants.

But Lieberman's biggest troubles could come at home with the army. The Israeli military tends to be more pragmatic and moderate than hard-line politicians like Lieberman, and it's unclear how they will respond if he issues an order that the generals disagree with.

Lieberman replaces Moshe Yaalon, a decorated former military chief of staff who had warm relations with the army command.

Yaalon was forced out after siding with his commanders in a series of disagreements with political hard-liners.

In March, for example, he backed military leaders who had criticized a soldier who was caught on video fatally shooting an already-wounded Palestinian attacker in the head. The soldier is now on trial for manslaughter,

Lieberman went to the court to offer his support for the soldier.

Avraham Diskin, a political scientist at Hebrew University, said Lieberman is more pragmatic than commonly thought but also is unpredictable and problematic for Netanyahu.

"There is a matter of style. There is a matter of image in the world, which is, I think, not very positive to say the least," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.
Trump says he's holding fundraisers only because GOP asked

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Donald Trump says he is only asking wealthy donors for their money because the Republican National Committee wants him to.

In an interview with The Associated Press, that's how the presumptive GOP presidential nominee explained his about-face from self-funded candidate to one who relies on campaign contributions. Trump is holding his first fundraisers this week, including a $25,000-per-ticket dinner Wednesday in Los Angeles.

"The RNC really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit," Trump said in a phone interview with the AP. "'Cause I was very happy to continue to go along the way I was."

The Republican nominee has boasted throughout his campaign that he is the only candidate with the economic independence to do what he wants. But a report claims his campaign will struggle for funds this summer

Trump's personal investment in his quest for the White House has been a point of pride, a boast making its way into nearly every rally and interview. Through the end of April, the billionaire businessman had lent his campaign at least $43 million, enough to pay for most of his primary bid.

"By self-funding my campaign, I am not controlled by my donors, special interests or lobbyists. I am working only for the people of the U.S.!" he wrote on Twitter in September.

With this week's fundraisers, which also included a small gathering Tuesday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Trump gains hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars but loses his ability to accurately claim independence from donors.

Trump's voters repeatedly have cited that as a top reason they back him. It's not clear how they will react now.

Perhaps to assuage those voter concerns, Trump is trying to promote his fundraising agreement as beneficial to other Republicans, not his own campaign.

The deal itself shows Trump comes first.

For every check he solicits  and donors can give almost $450,000 apiece  the first $5,400 goes to Trump's primary and general election campaign accounts. The rest is spread among the RNC and 11 state parties.

The RNC can use its money to help Republican candidates for Senate and House. However, Trump's team and Republican officials also have said the RNC plans to take the lead on major presidential campaign activities such as voter identification and turnout.

Asked by the AP if he sees a contradiction in asking for money after repeatedly saying he stood above the other candidates because he didn't, Trump said, "No, because I'm raising money for the party. And if I didn't do it this way, I wouldn't be able to raise money for the party."

There is no requirement that a presidential candidate's fundraising agreement with the party include his or her own campaign. That is, Trump could have continued to self-fund his campaign and simultaneously helped raise money for the RNC.

Trump also first denied to the AP that he is raising any money for the primary. Reminded of the terms of the fundraising agreement, he then said primary donations don't really count because he already has defeated his GOP rivals.

He promised not to use any donor money to pay down his loans. That means he has until the Republican convention in late July to spend any primary contributions he collects.

Despite Trump's comments to the AP that he would have carried on self-funding if not for the RNC, in other media interviews he has expressed a reluctance to sell buildings or other assets to pay for a costly general election.

"It would be foolish for him to unilaterally disarm against Hillary Clinton," said Roger Stone, Trump's friend and informal political adviser, when asked about why Trump decided to take donations.

Trump's likely opponent, the former secretary of state, aims to have $1 billion for her bid, through her campaign, the Democratic Party and outside groups.

The presumptive GOP nominee's still-forming fundraising team, led by Steven Mnuchin, Trump's national finance chairman, and Lew Eisenberg, the RNC's national finance chairman, is rushing to schedule events.

Trump and the RNC on Tuesday announced new additions to the financial operation, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, roofing company owner Diane Hendricks and former Ambassador Mel Sembler, who each helped raise major money for previous presidential candidates.

Earlier this year Trump singled out Johnson, predicting that his fundraising for Jeb Bush would influence Bush's positions on prescription drug policies. Johnson's family founded the Johnson & Johnson medical and pharmaceutical company.

At the Wednesday fundraiser, donors will hobnob with Trump at a reception and dinner at the Los Angeles home of his friend and fellow real estate investor Tom Barrack, whose publicist said he is passionate about surfing and horses and is the "son of hard-working Lebanese parents."

The price of admission includes a photo with Trump.

Eisenberg said the Trump fundraising agreement enables the party to "recover the interest and enthusiasm of major donors and raise the money needed to win a Republican presidency, Senate and House, as well as secure the Supreme Court."

Two past presidential fundraisers who are hoping to join Trump's finance team are convinced he'll raise the money needed to win.

For Trump, who has never sought out donors, "the low-hanging fruit is more abundant than it's ever been for anyone at this point in a presidential cycle," said Rick Hohlt, a Washington lobbyist. Donors, he said, are excited to meet Trump  many for the first time.

In Florida, Palm Beach real estate agent Teresa Dailey said, "People are anxiously waiting to help him, and they haven't had the opportunity because of his self-funding."

___

Bykowicz reported from Washington.
Refugees keep moving out of Greece's Idomeni border camp

IDOMENI, Greece (AP)  Refugees and other migrants boarded buses Wednesday on the second day of an operation to evacuate the sprawling, makeshift Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border.

More than 700 police were deployed but no violence was reported in the push that began at dawn Tuesday in the camp of more than 8,000 people. Journalists have been banned from the site.

Authorities said about 2,000 people moved out on the first day, leaving just over 6,000 in Idomeni early Wednesday, and by early afternoon at least 430 more had left. The camp's evacuation is expected to last several days, with residents being transported to newly built shelters set up in northern Greece by local authorities and the army.

Migrants enter a bus during a police operation at a makeshift refugee camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Refugees and other migrants were boarding buses Wednesday on the second day of an operation as more than 700 police were deployed to evacuate the sprawling, makeshift Idomeni refugee camp where over 8,000 people were staying the last three months. (Yannis Kolesidis/ANA-MPA via AP)

"It was a calm night," said Vicky Markolefa, spokeswoman for the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders. "What we are seeing is that people are leaving voluntarily. There has been no problem."

But many former Idomeni residents chose to leave on foot for another, smaller informal camp, expressing dismay at conditions in the shelters, and their prospects for eventual relocation elsewhere in the European Union. U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Stella Nanou said there is room for improvement in some of the new official camps.

"We, as the UNHCR, are willing to help improve the facilities and conditions there," she said. "But at some of the facilities things are not improving."

The evacuation of Idomeni has dashed the dreams of thousands who had been camping there for months in the hopes of eventually being able to cross over the border and continue toward Europe's more prosperous heartland.

But Balkan and European borders have been closed to refugees since March, in an attempt to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands who left Turkey, crossed the sea to Greek islands, then headed north for wealthy European countries.

The border closures have stranded more than 54,000 people in Greece.

Since the evacuation started on Tuesday, some staying at Idomeni left on foot to avoid being transported to official camps and joined another informal camp about six kilometers (3  miles) away, close to the Evzoni border crossing into Macedonia. Up to 400 people are already there, and more were heading in that direction Wednesday.

Ahmad Khayata, 26, a student from Aleppo, Syria, spent Tuesday night in a tent at Evzoni. He plans to pay a smuggler 800 euros ($890) to get him to the Serbian capital of Belgrade, another step in his goal of eventually reaching Germany.

"If I go to a camp, nobody knows how long I will be there," he told The Associated Press. "Some people say it will be for a year, others for six months. At Idomeni, I spent three months just eating and sleeping, but I want to work."

Syrian Jahina Al-Ali, 26, who was walking towards Evzoni, was frustrated with the stumbling process of registering for relocation in other European countries  in which applicants only have an hour a day to make an appointment through Skype.

"Relocation is a big lie," she said. "For the past three months in Idomeni, we've been trying to connect through Skype and haven't managed to. I think we'll stay in Greece forever."

Tents lay abandoned at a makeshift refugee camp during a police operation at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Refugees and other migrants were boarding buses Wednesday on the second day of an operation as more than 700 police were deployed to evacuate the sprawling, makeshift Idomeni refugee camp where over 8,000 people were staying the last three months. (Yannis Kolesidis/ANA-MPA via AP)

A policeman checks the abandoned tents and other debris between the railway tracks during a police operation at a makeshift refugee camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Refugees and other migrants were boarding buses Wednesday on the second day of an operation as more than 700 police were deployed to evacuate the sprawling, makeshift Idomeni refugee camp where over 8,000 people were staying the last three months. (Yannis Kolesidis/ANA-MPA via AP)

Migrants ride on a bus to be transferred elsewhere, near an informal camp in Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Refugees and other migrants were boarding buses heading to organized camps Monday on the second day of an operation to evacuate the sprawling Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Activists who used to entertain children at a migrants camp, greet migrants who are transferred elsewhere, near Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Refugees and other migrants were boarding buses heading to organized camps Monday on the second day of an operation to evacuate the sprawling Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Suspect in Charleston church shooting faces highest penalty

WASHINGTON (AP)  Nearly a year after the brutal shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday its intent to seek the death penalty against the man facing federal hate crime charges in the killings.

The decision means that both state and federal prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty against Dylann Roof, 22, in the June 17 Emanuel AME Church shooting, which contributed to a national conversation about race relations and ultimately led to the removal of a Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse.

Roof faces nine counts of murder in state court, and Solicitor Scarlett Wilson has said she wants to try her case first. That trial, originally slated to begin this summer, has now been pushed to early next year.

FILE - This June 18, 2015, file photo, provided by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office shows Dylann Roof. The Justice Department intends to seek the death penalty against Roof, the man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (Charleston County Sheriff's Office via AP, file)

Wilson announced her decision to pursue the death penalty in September. But the possibility of a federal death penalty case has loomed over the case even longer, ever since the government announced a month after Roof's arrest that he would face hate crime charges. Prosecutors said he was motivated by racial hatred and a desire to commit a "notorious attack" when he opened fire inside the church, "to carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge."

Roof was arrested a day after the shootings in North Carolina when a motorist spotted his Confederate license plate. Roof, who is white, appeared in photos waving Confederate flags and burning or desecrating U.S. flags, and purportedly wrote of fomenting racial violence. Survivors of the shooting told police that he hurled racial insults during the attack. One said Roof told her that he was "letting her live so she could tell what happened."

There's no timeframe for Roof's federal trial, and an attorney meeting is scheduled for next month.

Though the Justice Department says it's committed to seeking the death penalty, federal executions are exceedingly rare. The last time a federal defendant was put to death was in 2003. And President Barack Obama has said he's "deeply concerned" about the death penalty's implementation.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Lynch said in a brief statement that said the department had considered "all relevant factual and legal issues," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday.

Roof's attorneys in the federal case have said their client would be willing to plead guilty if the death penalty were not on the table. Defense lawyer David Bruck said he had no comment on the federal decision to seek the death penalty.

The only other person charged in connection with the case has already pleaded guilty. Joey Meek, a friend with whom Roof spent time in the days before the shootings, last month admitted to lying to federal authorities. He has agreed to help with the prosecution against Roof.

Both state and federal prosecutors have spent time consulting with relatives of the shooting victims over the pursuit of the death penalty. At his initial appearance before a judge after his arrest, some family members said they forgave the alleged shooter and that they would pray for him.

On Tuesday, Malcolm Graham, brother of shooting victim Cynthia Hurd, said federal prosecutors had talked to family members before announcing the decision and that he felt it was "an appropriate punishment."

"What he did that night was kill innocent individuals at a Bible study," Graham said. "Not only was it an attack on those who were there, it was an attack on a race of people."

___

Bruce Smith in Charleston contributed to this report.

___
TSA chief: Help is on the way to address long airport lines

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Transportation Security Administration will add 768 new screeners by mid-June to deal with increasingly long airport security lines that have caused passengers to miss flights even before the busy summer travel season, the agency's chief told Congress on Wednesday.

Most of the new screeners will be sent to the nation's busiest airports in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other hubs, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told a House committee.

The TSA also has increased the use of overtime in Chicago and other major airports, converted some part-time workers to full-time status and increased the use of bomb-sniffing dogs to help with security lines, Neffenger said.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief Peter Neffenger testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, before the House Homeland Security Committee which is looking for answers on how to balance security with long lines at airport checkpoints. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

And it is launching an incident command center that will track daily screening operations and shift officers, canine units and other resources to shorten lines at the busiest times, he said. The group includes officials from major airlines and industry associations.

"We have a challenge this summer, which we are aggressively meeting head-on," Neffenger told the House Homeland Security Committee.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the panel's chairman, was unconvinced. Congress has granted a request by the TSA to reallocate $34 million to hire more officers and pay overtime, yet wait times are growing, he said.

"The American people are angry and frustrated as we head into the busiest travel season of the year, starting this Memorial Day weekend," said McCaul, R-Texas. "They deserve answers."

The crisis "didn't just come out of nowhere," McCaul said. "Airports and airlines have been sounding the alarm for months. Wait times are not soaring simply because security is that much tighter. It's because the TSA bureaucracy has gotten weaker."

A combination of factors contribute to increased wait times to pass through security screening, Neffenger said: More people are flying this year and fewer people than anticipated have applied for the government's PreCheck program, which expedites screening for those who submit to a background check and pay an $85 fee.

In addition, airline fees for checked bags have boosted the volume of carry-on bags, putting extra pressure on screeners. About four times more bags are brought through TSA checkpoints than are checked at the ticket counter or curb, Neffenger said.

The TSA expects to screen 740 million passengers this year, a 15 percent increase over 2013. That increase comes amid a 12 percent drop in the TSA's workforce that has reduced the number of screeners to about 42,000 at 440 airports nationwide. The 768 screeners to be hired next month will boost the number of inspectors by less than 2 percent.

McCaul pressed Neffenger about the abrupt ouster of the agency's top security official. Kelly Hoggan was removed Monday and replaced by Darby LaJoye, a former federal security director in Los Angeles and New York.

Neffenger declined to explain why he removed Hoggan, saying only that "I needed a new direction going forward." Hoggan, who received more than $90,000 in bonuses in 2013-14, remains at the agency on paid administrative leave.

Long lines have been plaguing airports since early spring, but the issue came to a head in recent weeks when thousands of passengers in Chicago missed flights because of lengthy checkpoint waits.

Despite those problems, there are signs of improvement, Neffenger said. The agency has installed a new management team in charge of screening operations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following an incident in which 450 passengers were stranded overnight because of long security lines. TSA also has increased use of overtime and made other changes that appear to be working. The longest wait time at O'Hare on Tuesday was about 15 minutes, he said.

American and United airlines say they are spending $4 million each to bring in contract employees who can take over nonscreening chores such as handling bins and managing lines, freeing up TSA agents to focus on screening. Delta Air Lines will spend at least $3 million and is redesigning two checkpoint lanes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to speed things up before Memorial Day.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who oversees TSA, has asked airlines to temporarily reduce or eliminate fees for checked bags to speed up inspections at checkpoints. Airlines have balked at the suggestion, saying TSA is to blame for the long lines.

Besides reducing fees, airlines should enforce rules limiting carry-ons to one bag plus one small personal item, Neffenger said. "Every additional bag coming through the checkpoint is a potential slowdown," he said.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said the stakes for getting it right are high. Richmond, who represents New Orleans, said his region depends on tourism.

"The last thing we want is people to come down and have a good time and then have a bad taste in their mouth because they waited in an airport line or they missed their flight," he said.

___

Follow Matthew Daly: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief Peter Neffenger, left, confers with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, prior to testifying before the committee's hearing on long lines at airport checkpoints. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief Peter Neffenger arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee which is looking for answers on how to balance security with long lines at airport checkpoints. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  A federal judge has rejected a Wyoming law that sought to limit how much air ambulance companies can charge the state for transporting workers injured on the job  the second such ruling in recent months.

U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne last week sided with four air ambulance companies that sued the state. Johnson ordered Wyoming officials not to try to enforce a state law that sought to cap air ambulance fees.

Under Wyoming law, health care providers, including ambulance services, are required to submit bills for treating workers injured on the job to the state's workers' compensation program.

Four air-ambulance companies sued the state last year. The companies are: EagleMed, based in Kansas; Air-Methods Corp., and Rocky Mountain Holdings, both based in Colorado; and Med-Trans Corp., based in Texas. Attempts to reach lawyers for the companies for comment were not immediately successful.

In their lawsuit, the companies noted that Wyoming had capped what it would pay for air ambulance services for injured workers at just over $3,900 per flight. The companies said the state had denied their claims for higher payment, sometimes exceeding $40,000 per flight.

Wyoming officials said this week they were still reviewing Johnson's decision and couldn't comment on what it will mean for the state's worker's compensation program.

"We don't have anything to say at this point, because mainly we haven't had any time to digest this and get together," said Mick Finn, lawyer with the Wyoming Attorney General's Office.

In a similar case, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland of North Dakota ruled this March in favor of Valley Med Flight, another air ambulance company. The judge ruled that a law in that state that sought to regulate air ambulance companies violated a federal airline deregulation law that prohibits states from regulating prices, routes and services.

An airline deregulation law that Congress passed in 1978 specifies that states may not enact or enforce laws or regulations regarding price, routes or service of air carriers.

Nonetheless, states are inspired to try to regulate air ambulance companies by citizen complaints that they're commonly hit with bills of as much as $100,000 per flight. Even people who have health insurance coverage often find it covers only a small fraction, officials say.

Prompted by reports of citizens facing huge bills from unregulated air ambulance companies, U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Montana, and Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, this year introduced a measure that would give states authority to regulate air ambulance rates and services.

Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause said this week his office has received private citizen complaints about huge air ambulance fees. He said he's heard of some bills reaching six-figures.

"It's a huge issue, and it's not only a Wyoming issue, this is a huge national issue," Glause said, adding that the federal law pre-empts state regulation of the companies.

"There is no regulation," Glause said, adding that the states can't regulate the companies while the federal government doesn't regulate them, either.

Glause said he expects his office will receive more complaints about air ambulance fees. He said most health insurance policies have caps on what they will pay for such services that cover only a small fraction of the actual bills.

Glause said it's clear to him that Congress needs to exempt the air ambulances from the Aviation Deregulation Act. "Once that happens, then the states can take a look at it and address legislation to deal with the issue," he said.
German Cabinet finalizing details on migrant integration

BERLIN (AP)  Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a raft of new measures combining "opportunities and obligations" designed to help Germany deal with the influx of about 1.1 million asylum-seekers registered as entering the country last year, and help those who stay become "good neighbors and citizens."

The package seeks to provide migrants with better access to the German job market and also foresees the creation of some 100,000 government-funded "job opportunities" for migrants. At the same time, migrants will be expected to participate in expanded orientation and language courses, which will also be made available more quickly and to more people than before.

"Learning the German language quickly, rapid integration in training, studies and the labor market, and an understanding of and compliance with the principles of living together in our society and compliance with our laws are essential for successful integration," the Cabinet said in a statement after the meeting. "The newcomers are to become good neighbors and citizens, which will enable us to strengthen social cohesion and prevent parallel structures in our country."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, talks to her office manager Beate Baumann, left, prior to a cabinet meeting as part of a two-day retreat of the German government in Meseberg north of Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

In a provision designed to prevent the development of migrant ghettos in big cities, the measures, which still need Parliamentary approval, would mandate newcomers to stay where they have been officially placed for a minimum of three years unless a job is found that takes them elsewhere.

Merkel told reporters that Germany has "learned from the past," when immigrants were frequently thought of as guest workers or otherwise temporary residents and integration measures were not offered. Now that they are, "we expect people to take up these offers so that integration can work better."

"I think it's a milestone that the federal government is passing an integration law that's based upon the principle of opportunities and obligations, obligations and opportunities," she said.

Initial enthusiasm toward migrants  illustrated by Germans clapping new arrivals at railway stations last summer  has given way to wariness and fear among many in the country. Far-right groups have seized on reports of crimes committed by foreigners and a nationalist party has seen a surge in support at the expense of established parties.

"We want to and have to keep hold our society together," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin after the Cabinet meeting.

The residency requirement had been one of the most controversial issues in the bill. Many migrants who have been sent to rural parts of the country or to eastern Germany  where anti-foreigner violence has been a particular problem  have moved to larger cities against authorities' wishes.

De Maiziere said past experience had shown that migrants need to mix with the rest of society if they want to integrate quickly.

"We don't want parallel societies or ghettos," he said.

Obligatory orientation classes for migrants will be extended from 60 hours to 100 hours, and will include a greater focus on gender equality, a hot topic after attacks on women during New Year's celebrations in Cologne that authorities have said were committed largely by foreigners.

"The role of women, compatibility of work and family life, equality of men and women will get a new emphasis," de Maiziere said.

A group that campaigns for the rights of migrants slammed the bill. Pro Asyl accused the government of including measures designed to prevent people who have passed through countries deemed safe  such as Turkey  from getting asylum in Germany.

It also criticized the decision to backdate the residency requirement to all migrants whose protection status was approved after Jan. 1, saying the measure would lead to "chaos."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel closes a door as she arrives for a cabinet meeting as part of a two-day retreat of the German government in Meseberg north of Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Freed Ukrainian pilot gets hero's welcome on return to Kiev

KIEV, Ukraine (AP)  During the nearly two years that she was imprisoned in Russia, Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko became a national hero in absentia, lauded for her flinty defiance. On Wednesday she made a celebrated return to the country still embroiled in a fight against Moscow-backed separatists.

Savchenko, who was captured by rebels in June 2014 and then resurfaced in Russian custody, was convicted in March and sentenced to 22 years in prison for complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists. Prosecutors alleged she was acting as a spotter for mortar fire that killed them.

Savchenko was released after a pardon from President Vladimir Putin, which he said he made on humanitarian grounds at the urging of the journalists' relatives. In turn, Ukraine on Wednesday released two Russians who had been convicted of waging war in eastern Ukraine, where separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since April 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 9,300 people.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, looks at Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko during their meting in the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Savchenko's case became a celebrated cause at home. Ukrainians admired her unwavering antagonism toward Russian authorities, whom she denounced in court and insulted by raising her middle finger, and they worried about her health as she called several hunger strikes.

Her case also attracted wide international attention, with Western leaders including President Barack Obama calling for her release.

But if the release of Savchenko warmed Ukrainians' hearts, it could also serve as a reminder of how intractable the eastern conflict may seem. Cease-fire violations have been reported almost daily in recent months and negotiations on implementing other elements of the Minsk cease-fire agreement show only fitful progress.

Savchenko was elected to Ukraine's Parliament while locked up in Russia and a poster with her picture has adorned the rostrum there for months.

That could give her substantial symbolic power if she enters politics full-time. Dissatisfaction with President Petro Poroshenko and the government is strong as the eastern fighting persists and the country wallows in endemic corruption.

If she would stand up and challenge Poroshenko and the government, that could serve Russia's interests by making Ukraine's political stresses even more fraught.

Keeping Savchenko in custody clearly had become a liability for the Kremlin, drawing continued international attention to the conflict which has corroded Russia's image. Although Russia persistently denies military involvement, Western sanctions over the conflict have dealt a blow to Russia's economy.

Putin, however, would have looked weak if he had backtracked on her case and could only release her in a swap once she had been convicted. Once her trial and that of the captured Russians had run their course, Putin and Poroshenko made a deal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the release of Savchenko and Ukraine's decision to release the two Russians.

Savchenko's release "after a long ordeal that included solitary confinement, is an important part of fulfilling Russia's commitments under the Minsk agreements" on calling a cease-fire in the conflict, he said in a statement.

Putin, at a meeting with the journalists' relatives, expressed "hope that such decisions, driven by humanity, will help to alleviate the stand-off in the conflict zone and help to avoid such terrible and pointless losses."

The two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were also freed on Wednesday, and Russian state television showed them being greeted at a Moscow airport by their wives.

The two were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian Defense Ministry, which has denied sending troops to Ukraine, claimed they had resigned from active duty. They were tried in a Kiev court, which sentenced them to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko sent his plane to pick up Savchenko in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and bring her home to Kiev, where she received a hero's welcome.

"Thank you everyone for fighting for me!" she told a scrum of journalists at Kiev's Boryspil Airport. "You fought for everyone behind bars. Politicians would have kept silent if people had been silent. I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me well: I have survived because of you."

Savchenko, a professional air force officer, was fighting with a Ukrainian volunteer battalion against Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine when she was captured in the summer of 2014. After she surfaced on the other side of the border, Moscow claimed she had escaped from the separatists and was caught in Russia, while she claimed she was abducted and smuggled into Russia.

In giving her a state award on Wednesday, Poroshenko said she had become "a symbol of pride and steadfastness."

Savchenko has skirted questions about her political ambitions and didn't mention it upon arrival on Wednesday, but Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who leads Savchenko's party told reporters Savchenko wants to start working right now.

"She asked me: 'Where do I need to be, where do I go to start working,'" Tymoshenko said. "A strong leader has come back home, that's for sure."

But Savchenko hinted Wednesday that physical fighting may be more important to her than political battles.

"I would like to apologize that I am still alive. But I'm ready to go and fight for Ukraine today," she said, standing next to Poroshenko.

___

Nataliya Vasilyeva, Lynn Berry and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, foreground left, smiles, as Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, center is congratulated by servicemen of the Aidar battalion, in the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, shakes hands with Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as he awards her with the Hero of Ukraine medal in the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, speaks, as Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, smiles in the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, gestures, Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, third left, her sister Vera, left, and her mother, Maria, center, stand with servicemen of the Aidar battalion, in the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Former Prime Minister and leader of the Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko, right, greets Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, left, upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko speaks to the media upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016 file photo, Russian soldiers, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev, left, and Sgt. Alexander Alexandrov, captured while fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine, sit in a cage during a trial hearing at the Holosiivskyi District Court in Kiev, Ukraine. A lawyer for one of the two Russian servicemen jailed in Ukraine says the groundwork is being laid for a possible exchange with Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is imprisoned in Russia. Lawyer Valentin Rybin told the state news agency Tass on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, that both Russians have submitted a petition for a pardon to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.(AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File)

Former Prime Minister and leader of the Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko, right, greets Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, left, upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda, left, and her sister Vera, second right, walk together upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko gestures while speaking to the media upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Obama uses light moment with rapper to espouse free speech

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP)  President Barack Obama's parting shot before leaving communist Vietnam: let people express themselves.

He may have been referring to rap but the subtle message was aimed at his hosts who have been criticized for muzzling dissent.

During his three-day visit, Obama had spoken out strongly for human rights and free speech. On Wednesday, he brought it up again during a light moment after providing a supporting beat to a female rapper who asked him a question at a town hall meeting with hundreds of young Vietnamese.

In this combination of images made from pool video, U.S. President Barack Obama, left, listens as Vietnamese rapper Suboi raps during a town-hall style event for the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) at the GEM Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Suboi rapped and asked Obama about the importance of governments promoting the arts and culture. (Photo via Pool Video)

"Before I answer your question, why don't you give me a little rap, let's see what you got," Obama  his sky-blue shirt sleeves rolled up  told the rapper known as Suboi. "Come on. Do you need like a little beat?" And he went on to show off his oral beat-producing skills on the microphone.

"Vietnamese or English?" asked Suboi, Vietnam's queen of hip-hop. "In Vietnamese, of course," the president responded. "I won't know what it means, but ... just a short version, because I've got to get going. Go ahead."

After a few seconds of Suboi's catchy hip-hop, in which the rest of the crowd joined by providing an applause beat, Obama told her: "That was good. See there? That was pretty good" He requested the meaning of the verse and got a lesson in materialism from the 26-year-old woman.

"I was just talking about some people having a lot of money, having big houses. But actually, are they really happy?" she said. Then she went on to talk about stereotypes: how people make assumptions when they see women rappers (cute girls).

That was Obama's cue.

"Well that's true in the United States too ... there's always been, sort of, sexism and gender stereotypes in the music industry, like every other part of life," he said.

He pointed out that rap, which started as an expression of poor African-Americans, is now a global phenomenon, the art form of young people around the world.

"And imagine if at the time that rap was starting off that the government had said 'no because some of the things you say are offensive or some of the lyrics are rude or you're cursing too much.'"

"That connection that we've seen now in hip-hop culture around the world wouldn't exist. So you've got to let people express themselves. That's part of what a modern 21st-century culture is all about," he said.

With those parting words, he said goodbye to everyone and drove to the airport for the next leg of his Asia trip, to Japan.

"I've got to go but this has been wonderful."

In this image made from pool video, Vietnamese rapper Suboi raps during a town-hall style event hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama for the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) at the GEM Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Obama is wrapping up his visit to Vietnam before traveling to Japan for the G-7 summit and a visit to Hiroshima. (Photo via Pool Video)

In this image made from pool video, Vietnamese rapper Suboi raps during a town-hall style event hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama for the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) at the GEM Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Obama is wrapping up his visit to Vietnam before traveling to Japan for the G-7 summit and a visit to Hiroshima. (Photo via Pool Video)
As lines form for water, Myanmar pins hopes on Suu Kyi

DALA, Myanmar (AP)  Every year at this time, the ponds and wells go dry. People walk for hours to fill their plastic buckets at a lotus-filled pond that is the only clean source of drinking water in this community outside Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon.

The dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township.

But this year's dry season has also ushered in a new sense of hope.

In this May 12, 2016 photo, a man walks on dry and cracked earth with empty plastic containers to collect drinking water from a fenced-off pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

The arrival of Aung San Suu Kyi's government on April 1 opened a new chapter in Myanmar. The Nobel Peace laureate heads the first civilian government after a half-century of military control, meaning the people have great expectations and the democracy crusader has an enormous list of challenges.

"I hope we can get away from this trouble under the new government," said 35-year old villager Aye Aye Tin, a mother of seven who lined up with dozens of others at the pond, which is fenced off and padlocked. It opens to the public between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., because there's only so much water to go around.

Suu Kyi's government has been digging wells for villagers facing water shortages across the country, as part of the government's plan for its first 100 days in office. But the needs are still enormous, and many communities, including Dala, have yet to receive much help.

"I am very tired at the end of the day from carrying heavy buckets of water back and forth. I cannot even move at night, but this is how we have to survive," Aye Aye Tin said.

Myanmar is one of the poorest nations in the world. Decades of military rule have devastated the country's infrastructure. Unemployment and economic stagnation have become the norm. Droughts, floods, pest infestations and limited agricultural supplies have contributed to the country's desperate need for food and water.

A quasi-civilian government in power from 2011-2015 implemented nascent democratic reforms that have resulted in a development boom, with the World Bank and others pouring billions of dollars into the country of 60 million as it starts to open up to the world. But so far, it is mostly the big cities that are seeing the benefits.

The current drought has hit Myanmar hard, along with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.

"Myanmar has faced water shortages for more than a decade, but it was never this bad before," said Tun Lwin, an independent meteorologist and former director of the Department of Meteorology. "This year about 2,000 villages are facing water shortage problems, about triple the number usually affected."

Most ponds in Dala township dried up in February. And communities in the area fear their access to water will become even more limited before the rains come. The rainy season usually starts in mid-May but is late this year.

"If there is no rain and if the water level of the pond goes down a lot, we will have to ask people to collect water only a few days in a week instead of allowing them an hour every day," said Hla Myit, secretary general the village's reservoir conversation committee.

In this May 12, 2016 photo, locals use empty plastic containers to collect drinking water from a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, a man and a woman fill their plastic containers hung on their shoulders with drinking water from a lotus-filled pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, children carry drinking water in plastic containers as they balance on a narrow beam of timber across a lotus-filled pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. This year's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 17, 2016 photo, a man runs with plastic containers filled with drinking water from a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, residents carry drinking water in plastic containers hanging from a lotus-filled pond as others wait in a line for their turn in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's dry season, which typically runs from April through May, has been compounded this year by an El Nino-induced drought that added several months to the water shortage affecting Dala township. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, Moe La Htike, 8, center, carries drinking water collected from a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Htike, an orphan living with her grandmother said "I am very tired. Grandma cannot walk and I live only with my grandma. I am the one who usually carry water for home and I am really tired." The current drought has hit Myanmar hard, along with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, Moe La Htike, 8, carries drinking water collected from a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Htike, an orphan living with her grandmother about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) away from the pond, said "I am very tired. Grandma cannot walk and I live only with my grandma. I am the one who usually carry water for home and I am really tired." The current drought has hit Myanmar hard, along with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, Moe La Htike, 8, carries drinking water collected from a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Htike, an orphan living with her grandmother, about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) away from the pond, said "I am very tired. Grandma cannot walk and I live only with my grandma. I am the one who usually carries water for home and I am really tired." The current drought has hit Myanmar hard, along with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, Moe La Htike, 8, pours drinking water collected from a pond at her home in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Htike, an orphan living with her grandmother, about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) away from the pond, said "I am very tired. Grandma cannot walk and I live only with my grandma. I am the one who usually carry water for home and I am really tired." The current drought has hit Myanmar hard, along with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, a pregnant woman takes a break from collecting drinking water from a public water source as temperature reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) close to a pond in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Droughts, floods, pest infestations and limited agricultural supplies have contributed to most of the Myanmar's desperate need for food and water. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, a man walks with muddy water collected from an almost dried-up pond, considered unsuitable for drinking in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Residents in Dala heavily rely on rainwater collected from ponds. But during the dry season, which typically runs from April through May ponds go dry, people walk for hours to get water till the monsoon rains arrive sometime in May in this community outside Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, a boy washes rice next to muddy water containers in Dala township, south of Yangon, Myanmar. Residents in Dala heavily rely on rainwater collected in ponds. But during the dry season, which typically runs from April through May, ponds go dry, locals walk for hours to get water till the monsoon rain arrive sometime May in this community outside Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
The biggest CEO pay raises and pay cuts of 2015

Here are the three CEOs who got the biggest pay raises last year, and the deepest pay cuts, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm.

Top raises:

1. Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia, $94.6 million, up 881 percent. Stock return last fiscal year: 47 percent.

FILE - In this July 9, 2013, file photo, David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications Inc., arrives at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Zaslav was one of the CEOs who took one of the deepest pay cuts in 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive pay research firm. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

2. Sandeep Mathrani, General Growth Properties, $39.2 million, up 702 percent. Stock return: -1 percent.

3. Richard Handler, Leucadia, $7.4 million, up 404 percent. Stock return: -21 percent. Handler voluntarily gave up a $2.4 million bonus for 2014.

Deepest cuts:

1. Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters, $44,310, down 92 percent. Stock return: -34 percent.

2. David Zaslav, Discovery Communications, $32.4 million, down 79 percent. Stock return: -23 percent.
Greece to avoid default this summer, eyes debt relief

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece will avoid a default this summer after international creditors reached a milestone decision early Wednesday to unfreeze a batch of bailout loans and to find a way to ease the country's debt load.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond dropped to just above 7 percent, a sign of greater investor confidence in the country's finances. After rising initially, the main stock index in Athens was down 1.2 percent in late afternoon trading.

In an 11-hour overnight meeting in Brussels, finance ministers from the 19 eurozone countries approved Greece's latest tax hikes and reform measures, a process that was first meant to have been concluded last October.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsirpas waits for the arrival of the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Greece has won an essential batch of bailout funds from international creditors following agreement among the 19 eurozone finance ministers and can start looking forward to debt relief in the future. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

That paved the way for the ministers to approve the payout to Greece of loans worth 10.3 billion euros ($11.5 billion), in two installments by October. Without that cash, Greece would have been unable to make a debt repayment in July. The ministers also further discussed how to make Greece's existing mountain of loans more manageable.

"It's an important moment for Greece, after so much time," Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said after the end of the talks early Wednesday. "We have now an agreement not only on the review and the structural measures, but on debt."

"And I think there is some ground for optimism that this can be the beginning of turning Greece's vicious cycle of recession, (austerity) measures, recession, into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece and turn the corner in favor of the virtuous cycle," Tsakalotos added.

Finance ministry officials said the promise to lighten Greece's debt load should make it easier for the country to start tapping international bond markets, from which it has been blocked for the past six years.

Greece has depended on international bailouts since it lost access to bond markets in 2010. To secure the rescue loans, it implemented a series of harsh spending cuts, tax hikes and reforms that reduced budget overspending but contributed to a punishing recession and cost about a million jobs in a country of some 11 million people.

Tsakalotos said the first payout of loans, worth 7.5 billion euros, is expected next month after final agreement on some outstanding details of Greece's latest austerity package. That will allow the government to reduce its domestic arrears of nearly 7 billion euros.

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of his eurozone colleagues, said the deal "really gives a perspective for Greece" and keeps the International Monetary Fund on board in the Greek bailout program. The IMF has insisted on lightening Greece's debt terms as a condition of remaining involved in the bailout. It is expected to rule later this year on whether it will continue to participate.

"I think it was a really important step," Dijsselbloem said. "We all realized that we had to get the deal. We also realized that it was difficult, because the IMF was asking a lot  and we were asking a lot of Greece."

Europeans and the IMF are at loggerheads over Greece's debt sustainability. The IMF is calling for significant lightening of the country's debt burden, and regards the country's deficit-reducing targets in coming years as too optimistic.

Teneo Intelligence analyst Wolfgango Piccoli was cautious, saying the eurogroup agreement leaves Athens stuck with harsh fiscal targets and only vague promises of debt relief.

"The deal does not provide much more than a loose roadmap to some sort of debt relief," he said in a note. "But the goal remains distant, very vague in substance and marred by uncertainties."

Greece's Finance Minister Eucleidis Tsakalotos, center, speaks with Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Eurozone finance ministers struck a deal early Wednesday clearing the way for Greece to access a fresh round of bailout funds, while also laying out debt relief measures aimed at securing the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greece's Finance Minister Eucleidis Tsakalotos, left, waits to speak with Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Eurozone finance ministers struck a deal early Wednesday clearing the way for Greece to access a fresh round of bailout funds, while also laying out debt relief measures aimed at securing the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greece's Finance Minister Eucleidis Tsakalotos, right, and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, left, attend a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Eurozone finance ministers struck a deal early Wednesday clearing the way for Greece to access a fresh round of bailout funds, while also laying out debt relief measures aimed at securing the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsirpas waits for the arrival of the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Greece has won an essential batch of bailout funds from international creditors following agreement among the 19 eurozone finance ministers and can start looking forward to debt relief in the future. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Water main break creates sinkhole along Florence's Arno

FLORENCE, Italy (AP)  An underground water main break along Florence's picturesque Arno River has created a 200-meter (yard) -long sinkhole that buried dozens of parked cars.

Firefighters asked residents of nearby palazzi to evacuate voluntarily, as there was no water or lighting in the area. Hours after the pre-dawn break, authorities were trying to determine Wednesday whether the weakened asphalt could withstand the weight of a crane to extract the waterlogged cars that fell into the hole.

Mayor Dario Nardella stressed that the underground flooding was the result of a gash in a 60-centimeter (two-foot) diameter pipe, one of the major water conduits in the neighborhood, and not a leak in the banks of the Arno.

Cars are engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. No one was injured. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

The scene is near the famed Ponte Vecchio bridge, a favorite spot for tourists shopping for jewelry.

In this photograph provided by the Italian Firefighters Vigili del Fuoco, cars are engulfed by a chasm which opened along the Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background right, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an aqueduct. (Vigili del Fuoco via AP)

Firefighters standby by cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

Firefighters block off the area where a chasm opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

Firefighters inspect the damage by cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

Firefighters inspect the damage after a chasm opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

Firefighters inspect the damage by cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

Firefighters standby by cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

A fire fighter looks at cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along Arno river in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an acqueduct. (Maurizio degl'Innocenti/ANSA via AP)

In this photograph provided by the Italian Firefighters Vigili del Fuoco, fire fighters looks at cars engulfed by a chasm which opened along the Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background, in Florence, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. According to reports, the collapse occurred early in the morning and is caused by the rupture of an aqueduct. (Vigili del Fuoco via AP)
Israel's new defense minister could clash with his soldiers

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel's incoming defense minister once called for bombing Egypt, suggested just weeks ago that Israel kill Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip and opposed the prosecution of a soldier accused of killing a wounded Palestinian. These are just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with the military he now commands.

While people close to Lieberman insist he is a pragmatist, his long history of incendiary statements bode poorly for him as he takes over one of the region's most sensitive posts. As Israel's defense minister, he will be responsible for overseeing military policy and handling delicate security matters with international allies whom he has antagonized in the past.

Lieberman has held a number of senior Cabinet posts, including stints in the inner Security Cabinet, but he has little military experience, reaching the low rank of corporal during a brief military career decades ago. In contrast, his predecessor, Moshe Yaalon, was a former military chief of staff.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, file photo, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman walks under a screen showing him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the inauguration of their election campaign in Jerusalem. Israels incoming defense minister once called for bombing Egypt, just weeks ago suggested that Israel kill Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and has opposed prosecution of a soldier accused of manslaughter _ just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with a military he now commands. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

"We cannot take risks with defense," former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, an elder statesman of the ruling Likud party, told the Ynet website after Lieberman's upcoming appointment was disclosed last week. "It is a great mistake."

Former minister Benny Begin, son of Israel's first right-wing prime minister, called the appointment "bizarre."

Lieberman, a 57-year-old immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Moldova, is one of the country's most polarizing politicians. He entered politics as a top aide to Netanyahu in the 1990s before forming Yisrael Beitenu, a secular, ultranationalist party whose base of support is the large immigrant community from the former Soviet Union. His Hebrew remains laced with a strong Russian accent. He also is a West Bank settler.

Over three decades, he has at times been Netanyahu's closest ally and other times been a fierce rival. He has twice served as Netanyahu's foreign minister, in one instance embarrassing Netanyahu by arguing against the establishment of a Palestinian state in a speech at the United Nations. Netanyahu later distanced himself from the speech.

On Wednesday, they renewed their partnership by announcing a new deal to bring Yisrael Beitenu into Netanyahu's narrow governing coalition. Lieberman is to be formally sworn into office next week as defense minister.

The addition of the five seats of Yisrael Beitenu will give Netanyahu a 66-54 majority in the 120-seat parliament, providing new room to maneuver on domestic affairs. But it risks alienating Israel's allies abroad and the military, the country's strongest and most important institution.

Lieberman has angered Egypt, which has close security ties with Israel, with comments years ago calling for Israel to bomb the Aswan Dam. In another flap, he said Egypt's president at the time, Hosni Mubarak, could "go to hell."

It remains unclear how Egypt will react to the appointment, particularly after its president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, said this month that ties could become "warmer" if Israel reaches peace with the Palestinians. Lieberman has been a noted skeptic of U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts.

Lieberman has antagonized Washington at times by throwing cold water on American peace initiatives. He also has angered the Americans with legislative proposals viewed as racist, such as a failed proposal to force Arab citizens of Israel to take an oath of loyalty in order to vote. During the latest coalition negotiations, he tried but failed to force the government to approve the death penalty against Arabs convicted of terrorism.

As Washington negotiates a new military aid package with Israel, Lieberman's past could come back to haunt him.

Peace talks with the Palestinians also seem to be a longshot. Lieberman is an outspoken critic of the Palestinian leadership.

In a statement last week, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Lieberman's appointment "sends a strong message to the world that Israel prefers extremism, boosting occupation and settlements over peace."

At a ceremony marking their alliance Wednesday, both Netanyahu and Lieberman attempted to send messages of moderation.

"I am committed to promoting the peace process. I am committed to make every effort to reach an agreement," Netanyahu said.

Lieberman said he was committed to "responsible, reasonable policy." He spoke in English in an apparent attempt to reassure an international audience. "All of us have commitments to peace, to the final status agreement, to understanding between us and our neighbors," he said.

But Lieberman's biggest troubles could come at home with the army. As Netanyahu's foreign minister, Lieberman criticized the handling of Israel's 2014 war against Gaza militants, saying the army should have taken a more forceful action.

Just last month, Lieberman was quoted as saying that if he were defense minister, he would give Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh 48 hours to return the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers the militant group is holding, and to send home a pair of captive Israeli civilians it also claims to have. "Either you return the bodies and the civilians, or you die," Lieberman said.

The Israeli military tends to be more pragmatic and moderate than hard-line politicians like Lieberman who dominate the government. It is unclear how they will respond if he issues an order that the generals disagree with.

"Why is Netanyahu choosing to (appoint) a man who ... cannot be trusted to support him in public, will alienate a not-insignificant proportion of international supporters of Israel, will exacerbate tensions in parts of the Arab world, and who will render at least some Israeli parents considerably more wary when the day comes for their children to be enlisted," wrote David Horovitz on the Times of Israel website.

In many ways, Lieberman's appointment is the direct result of these clashing world views. His predecessor, Moshe Yaalon, was forced out after backing the military in a series of disagreements with political hard-liners.

Earlier this month, a top general compared recent trends in Israeli society to the atmosphere in Nazi-era Germany. The comments, made on Israel's Holocaust memorial day, enraged Netanyahu, while Yaalon supported the general's right to speak.

The army's chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, came under fire earlier this year from parliamentary hard-liners by encouraging soldiers to use only "necessary force" to subdue Palestinian attackers. The hard-liners say attackers should be killed on the spot.

In March, military leaders criticized a soldier who was caught on video fatally shooting an already-wounded Palestinian attacker in the head  and he is now on trial for manslaughter. Lieberman went to the court to offer his support to the soldier.

But people close to Lieberman say that he is more pragmatic and level-headed than his public persona. Lieberman himself has even offered an unorthodox plan to establish a Palestinian state, saying that Israel's borders should be redrawn to place as many Arab citizens of Israel as possible in a future Palestine  while incorporating most West Bank settlements into Israel.

Eliezer Marom, a former head of the Israeli navy, told Army Radio that Lieberman should be given a chance.

"The man is with great political experience," Marom said.

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 file photo, Israel's hard-line former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman arrives at a Jerusalem court for the opening hearing of his trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust. Israels incoming defense minister once called for bombing Egypt, just weeks ago suggested that Israel kill Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and has opposed prosecution of a soldier accused of manslaughter _ just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with a military he now commands. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, file photo, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman greet their supporters in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israels incoming defense minister once called for bombing Egypt, just weeks ago suggested that Israel kill Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and has opposed prosecution of a soldier accused of manslaughter _ just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with a military he now commands. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Chief: Slain Massachusetts officer shot in the back

AUBURN, Mass. (AP)  Officials say the Massachusetts police officer killed during a traffic stop last weekend was shot in the back.

Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. was killed early Sunday after stopping an SUV with a license plate not registered to the vehicle.

Chief Andrew Sluckis Jr. said Tuesday the man who shot Tarentino, Jorge Zambrano, got off five shots and Tarentino did not return fire.

Mourners, including Jennifer Bohn, kneeling, her husband Randy Bohn, center, and Scott Veau, left, pause before a memorial set up for slain police Officer Ronald Tarentino outside the police station, Monday, May 23, 2016, in Auburn, Mass. Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn on Sunday morning, authorities said. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Sluckis says one bullet struck Tarentino's body armor, while one .45 caliber bullet entered the space between his gun belt and his bulletproof vest on the lower left of his back.

Zambrano, who had a lengthy criminal record, was shot and killed later Sunday.

Zambrano had several pending criminal cases against him at the time of the shooting, including two for violent encounters with police.

Flowers, rosary beads and other articles are placed as a memorial for slain Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino outside the police station, Monday, May 23, 2016, in Auburn, Mass. Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn, authorities said. He leaves behind a wife and three children. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Last year, Darren Rogers' attempt to summit Mount Everest was abruptly halted at Camp 1, when avalanches poured down around his tent and his base camp was decimated by rock slides.

But on the Sheridan, Wyo., climber's return trip, amid "phenomenal" conditions, he reached the top of the tallest mountain in the world Monday morning.

The guide company Rogers worked with, International Mountain Guides, offered him a discounted rate to return this year, again as a visiting climber. Rogers left Wyoming, where he works as a chemical engineer, on April 16, arriving at base camp on about April 20.

Everest avalanche spares Sheridan climber Darren Rogers was almost literally on top of the world. He had raced through the Khumba Icef

After taking a series of trips up to higher camps to prepare his body to cope with dangerously thin air, Rogers' summit rotation began May 15. Summit attempts are often tightly scheduled to avoid congestion on the mountain's final stages.

Initial weather delays and then logistical holdups meant that his group spent several days in limbo.

At one point, Rogers' group had to descend from Camp 3 to Camp 2.

"The climb down was brutal both physically and emotionally," he wrote in an email.

Rogers also witnessed the death of Phurba Sherpa, a 25-year-old who fell thousands of feet while working to fix ropes to offer a more secure route. He was a Sherpa, a local ethnic group that long has worked as guides and porters for visiting climbers. In recent years, pay and working conditions for the Sherpa have come under scrutiny, especially after a team of 16 died in a 2014 avalanche.

Similarly, the 2015 disaster on Everest sparked criticism, though the event was dwarfed in scope by devastation in populated areas of Nepal where 8,000 people died in the April 2015 earthquake.

Rogers and other climbers were rescued by helicopter after the avalanche, as the route down to base camp was destroyed. Some argued that the rescue, and commercial climbing in general on Everest, siphoned off valuable resources from the rest of the country. The climbing season was canceled.

But Everest is also a significant boon to the Nepali economy, and this year's climbing season has seen hundreds of climbers summit in improved weather.

Rogers' group got the green light for their summit attempt and ascended to Camp 3, where they rested before leaving at about 10 p.m. for a summit push.

The process wasn't smooth. He fell into a crevasse up to his waist. Rogers' Sherpa, Mingma Sona, was battling an illness and moving slowly. Heaters in Rogers' boots didn't work correctly. A crampon (metal spikes secured to boots for traction on ice and snow) popped off and had to be reattached.

Rogers persisted and reached the summit at about 5:20 a.m. Monday, Nepal time (5:35 p.m. Sunday in Mountain Time).

"The sun was just up without a cloud in the sky with the waning moon setting in Nepal, temperatures were warm and not a whisper of a breeze," he wrote.

Rogers and his group descended, arriving back in base camp Tuesday morning. Most deaths on Everest occur during descents, when the lack of oxygen leaves climbers mentally and physically weakened. Three deaths this season have been linked to altitude sickness, and two other people have gone missing on the mountain.

Rogers plans to return by helicopter to Kathmandu and arrive back in Sheridan in a few days  the end of what he called a "surreal experience."
Anti-Trump protests turn violent outside New Mexico rally

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, protesters in New Mexico opposing Donald Trump's candidacy threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades.

Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

Pepper spray is deployed at protestors of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump at the Albuquerque Convention Center after the Trump rally in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Trump lashed back at protesters, tweeting Wednesday: "The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!"

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."

Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"

Trump later tweeted "Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd!"

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."

The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.

___

Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan contributed to this report from Albuquerque.

A protestor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a burning T-shirt as hundreds of people protest outside a rally for Trump in Albuquerque, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

A protester is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A protester is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A protester is taunted by Trump supporters as he is removed during a speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Riot police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Anti-Trump protesters block the streets following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Albuquerque Convention Center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Egypt hires 2 foreign firms in search for plane recorders

CAIRO (AP)  The chief of EgyptAir says Egypt has contracted two foreign companies to help locate the flight data recorders of the carrier's plane that crashed last week in the Mediterranean, killing all 66 passengers and crew on board.

Safwat Masalam said on Wednesday that a French and an Italian company will be working with Egyptian search teams to try and find the black boxes, which could give clues as to what happened in the final minutes of the flight. He didn't identify the companies.

Earlier, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said a submarine would join the search.

An Egyptian journalist lights candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 in front of the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. The cause of Thursdays crash of the EgyptAir jet flying from Paris to Cairo that killed all 66 people aboard still has not been determined. Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations are searching the Mediterranean Sea north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the jets voice and flight data recorders. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the U.S. are also participating in the search for the debris from the aircraft, including the black boxes. Some wreckage, including human remains, has already been recovered.

An Egyptian journalist holds a candle and a poster supporting EgyptAir during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 in front of the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. The cause of Thursday's crash of the EgyptAir jet flying from Paris to Cairo that killed all 66 people aboard still has not been determined. Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations are searching the Mediterranean Sea north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the jet's voice and flight data recorders. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Romania play reminds people of the good, bad of communism

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Romanians have relived the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles.

But as spectators watched the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, it was also a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism, which ended in a bloody revolt in 1989.

"Lenin's Arc" is a visual feast of non-speaking actors dressed in uniforms, waving hammers, sickles and red flags  their faces and clothes daubed with copper, green and brown paint. The play opened on May 2 and its first three performances have been staged in Bucharest parks. It will continue to be performed in parks across Romania during the summer.

In this May 22, 2016, picture actors perform in Lenin's Arc play, staged by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The play's director said the show highlighted the harshness of communism, but Romanians would also remember some positive aspects of communism.

"In those days everyone had a job. In those days we had industry. Now we have none. In those days we had agriculture. Now we have none," Mihai Malaimare told The Associated Press. "We had dignity. Now we are the slaves of Europe."

He said Romania had sacrificed its "dignity" because "we wanted to be part of Europe, NATO." Romania joined NATO in 2004 and became a member of the European Union in 2007.

His comments were partly echoed by police officer Constantin Cojocariu, 53.

"Some things are good now, but getting a job can be a big problem," Cojocariu said. "My son is out of work and all the work contracts are short now."

Cosmin Cretu, 48, who played the main role of Lenin, however, was critical of the communist era, recalling the cold, hunger and fear which predominated as Romania struggled under Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu's policy to pay off the foreign debt.

Cojocariu, who watched the play with his wife, noted Romanians were freer than under communism, when the Securitate secret police kept tabs on ordinary people to repress political dissent.

"Before, all the phones were listened to," Cojocariu said. "Now only the trees hear you."

In this May 22, 2016, picture Cosmin Cretu, left, who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre walks next to Sorin Dinculescu, playing Stalin, during the show in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture actors perform in Lenin's Arc play, staged by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Dora Iftode, playing the Intellectual character points to Cosmin Cretu, center, who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture actors Florentina Panait, right, and Madalin Mladinovici, left, mimicking the hammer and sickle emblem perform in Lenin's Arc play, staged by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture actors Cosmin Cretu, left, who plays Lenin, Ioana Rufu, center left, Alex Floroiu, center right, playing communist pioneers and Sorin Dinculescu, playing Stalin stand on a podium during the Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture a theatre employee carries the poster advertising the Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, children take pictures of the Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Cosmin Cretu, center, who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre bows at the end of the show in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture a child from the audience reaches to Cosmin Cretu who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture actors perform in Lenin's Arc play by the Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Cosmin Cretu who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre checks a mobile phone before the show in Bucharest, Romania. Romanians relive the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, set to patriotic songs of that era, played by actors who mime their roles, the hour-long performance in a Bucharest park, also being a reminder for some that not everything was bad under communism.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Anamaria Pislaru, who plays the Cominternist character in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre works on her make up before the show in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Cosmin Cretu who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre checks his make up before the show in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, picture Cosmin Cretu who plays Lenin in Lenin's Arc performance by the Masca Theatre strikes a pose in the make up tent the show in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this May 22, 2016, people watch a performance by the Masca Theatre about the horrors of communism in a play featuring Lenin and Stalin, in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Turkish minister: EU membership not Turkey's 'only option'

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  A top Turkish official says Turkey's EU membership is important but is not the country's "only option."

Omer Celik, the new minister in charge of relations with the EU, also said Wednesday that the bloc was applying "double standards" concerning its fight against terrorism.

His comments come amid tensions between Turkey and the EU over a deal to lift visa requirements for Turkish citizens traveling to Europe. The EU says Turkey must narrow its definition of terrorism before it can grant a visa waiver. Turkey rejects that condition saying it would hamper its fight against Islamic State militants and Kurdish rebels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, talks as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens during a roundtable meeting on "Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts" at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Monday, May 23, 2016. World leaders and representatives of humanitarian organisations from across the globe converge in Istanbul on May 23-24, 2016 for the first World Humanitarian Summit, focused on how to reform a system many judge broken. (Salih Zeki Fazlioglu/Anadolu, Pool Photo via AP)
Linked to emperor, Ise Shrine is no ordinary shrine

ISE, Japan (AP)  A Shinto shrine that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking his Group of Seven counterparts to visit on Thursday is no ordinary shrine.

The emperor of Japan was the head priest of Ise Shrine until 1945 while Shinto was the state religion and the emperor was said to be a living god. The shrine is still headed by a member of the imperial family.

Here are five things to know about the shrine, a center of Japan's wartime emperor worship that still attracts political and business leaders today:

In this March 26, 2014 photo, Japan's Empress Michiko walks toward the main hall of Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, in Ise city, central Japan. The Shinto shrine that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking his Group of Seven counterparts to on Thursday, May 26, 2016, is no ordinary shrine. The Japanese imperial family was once believed to be direct descendants of the goddess Amaterasu. Rituals at Ise shrine are intended for the imperial family. (Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

___

HOLIEST PLACE IN JAPAN

Ise Jingu, or shrine, is actually a cluster of 125 shrines around the two most important sanctuaries, the Inner and Outer Shrines. A climb over an arched bridge and a walk through a forest of towering cypress trees leads to the Inner Shrine, or Naiku, considered the holiest spot in Japan. It enshrines the sun goddess Amaterasu, who sits at the top of "yaoyorozu," or 8 million gods of all things in Shinto.

___

IMPERIAL CONNECTIONS

The Japanese imperial family was once believed to be the direct descendants of the sun goddess. Rituals at Ise Shrine are intended for the imperial family, and its current head priest is Emperor Akihito's elder sister, Atsuko Ikeda, 88. One of the most important festivals is the Kanname festival marking the year's first rice harvest in the autumn.

___

NATIONALIST PAST

Shinto, a religion perhaps as old as the nation itself, is a rich blend of folklore, reverence for all things natural and the Japanese nation. During the first half of the 20th century, a militarist government turned the indigenous belief into a state-sanctioned religion, rallying the population behind modernization and militarization.

State Shinto glorified the emperor, under whose name Japan invaded wide swaths of Asia before and during World War II. After Japan's defeat, then-Emperor Hirohito publicly renounced the idea that he was a living god, and state Shinto was banned.

The G-7 leaders will be the first sitting heads of their industrialized countries to visit the shrine. It will be symbolically important for Abe, who has sought to restore traditional Japanese values by "breaking free from the postwar regime" created under the U.S. occupation after the war. Abe's ruling party wants to revise the U.S.-drafted constitution to give the emperor a more prominent position.

___

PILGRIMAGE AND OFFERINGS

Affectionately called "O-Ise-san," the shrine has for centuries been a popular pilgrimage and tourist destination. The 1,500-year-old Outer Shrine, where visitors are supposed to pay respects first, is where sacred offerings of local produce are made: rice, fruits and vegetables, as well as prized abalone and sea bream. The acceptance of these offerings is an honor for the region's producers.

___

MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR REBUILDING EVERY 20 YEARS

Ise Shrine is rebuilt every 20 years, a process of moving a deity to a new shrine. It was most recently rebuilt in 2013, the 62nd time since the first rebuilding in 690. The 55 billion yen ($500 million) cost, which included the wood of 10,000 cypress trees for new buildings, was covered by the shrine and private donations, including from business leaders and members of the royal family. The rebuilding involves 30 rituals spanning at least eight years.

___

Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Her work can be seen at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mari-yamaguchi

In this May 11, 2016 photo, a couple climbs the steps of Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, in Ise city, central Japan. The Shinto shrine that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking his Group of Seven counterparts to on Thursday, May 26, 2016, is no ordinary shrine. Ise JIngu is actually a cluster of 125 shrines around the two most important sanctuaries, the Inner and Outer Shrines and is considered the holiest spot in Japan. (Yoshiaki Sakamoto/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2013, file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, is led by a Shinto priest during his visit to Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, in Ise city, central Japan. The Shinto shrine that Abe is taking his Group of Seven counterparts to on Thursday, May 26, 2016, is no ordinary shrine. (Kyodo News via AP, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

This 2013 aerial photo shows a new shrine, left, and an old one, right, of Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, in Ise city, central Japan. The Shinto shrine is rebuilt every 20 years, a process of moving a deity to a new shrine. It was most recently rebuilt in 2013, the 62nd time since the first rebuilding in 690. (Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Nov. 27, 1990 photo, Japna's Emperor Akihito clad in ancient court robes is headed by a carriage for for his enthronement at Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, in Ise city, central Japan. The emperor of Japan was the head priest until 1945 when Shinto was the state religion and the emperor was said to be a living god. The shrine is still headed by a member of the imperial family. (Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
Russian banker in spy case gets 2 years in US prison

NEW YORK (AP)  A Russian banker who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in what the government portrayed as a Cold War-style spy ring was sentenced Wednesday to 2 years in a U.S. prison.

Evgeny Buryakov, 41, also was fined $10,000 by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who said the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime and protects the public.

Prosecutors said he teamed up with diplomats to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and on U.S. efforts to develop alternative energy resources. The activities occurred from 2012 through January 2015.

CORRECTS DAY TO WEDNESDAY INSTEAD OF TUESDAY- In this courtroom drawing, defendant Evgeny Buryakov, left, stands with his attorney Scott Hershman during sentencing on espionage charges, Wednesday, May 25, 2016 in New York. Prosecutors said he teamed up with diplomats to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and on U.S. efforts to develop alternative energy resources. Seated at the defense table is attorney Daniel Levin. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)

The case was announced less than five years after the arrest of 10 covert agents. The sleeper cell was referred to as "The Illegals" by the foreign intelligence agency based in Moscow. Its members led ordinary lives for several years in the U.S. using aliases.

Buryakov pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent in the U.S., and both sides had agreed that the 2-year prison term would be appropriate.

Buryakov, who is fluent in English, declined to speak before the sentence was announced, and his attorney, Scott Hershman, declined to comment afterward.

As Berman said he was imposing the 2-year prison term, Buryakov nodded his head. Buryakov, who seemed relaxed and relieved as the sentencing ended, remains in custody. He has agreed to be deported when he completes his sentence, likely in March 2017, after he is credited for good behavior.

In a presentence submission to the judge, defense lawyers said it was significant that there were no allegations that Buryakov possessed or passed along any secrets that were not publicly available.

They added that there were no allegations that he tried to recruit agents or others to act against the U.S.

Prosecutors, however, said they would have shown at trial that Buryakov was an agent of Russia's foreign intelligence agency over an extended period of time in the U.S.

Buryakov had worked for VEB, a Russian government-owned bank since 2002. He came to the U.S. in 2010 and continued to work for VEB, where he earned $204,000 annually. Married for 17 years, he has two children, ages 7 and 10, and his parents live in Russia.

CORRECTS DAY TO WEDNESDAY INSTEAD OF TUESDAY- In this courtroom drawing, defendant Evgeny Buryakov, center, listens to the judge's statements during sentencing on espionage charges, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in New York. Prosecutors said he teamed up with diplomats to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and on U.S. efforts to develop alternative energy resources. Seated at the defense table from left are defense attorney Daniel Levin, Buryakov, and defense attorney Scott Hershman. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)
PICTURED: Highlights of the 2016 race for the White House

The candidates in the race for the White House are making the case to voters across the country in a fight to win the Republican and Democratic nominations. Here's a look, as seen in images made by Associated Press photographers on the campaign trail.

___

See the latest AP photo galleries: http://apne.ws/TXeCBN

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Archive: Top photo highlights from previous weeks: http://apne.ws/13QUFKJ

___

Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers

Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images

Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts while taking the stage at a rally at Hartnell College, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Salinas, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally in Cathedral City, Calif., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A supporter is illuminated by lights as she holds signs for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a United Food and Commercial Workers International Union hall, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Buena Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A supporter waits for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to speak at a rally at Hartnell College, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Salinas, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump applauds after singing the National Anthem during a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Authorities: 20 homes damaged, no injuries in Kansas storms

CHAPMAN, Kan. (AP)  About 20 homes were damaged Wednesday night in a rural area of northern Kansas after a large tornado passed through but there were no immediate reports of injuries, the state Highway Patrol said.

Trooper Ben Gardner, a spokesman for the patrol, said troopers were checking a rural area in Dickinson County where it was believed 20 homes were damaged, some significantly.

Troopers were going from home to home to make sure everyone was OK and so far hadn't found or heard of anyone who was hurt, Gardner said.

This image made from a Tuesday, May 24, 2016 video by KWTV-KOTV, shows a funnel cloud moving across the field near Dodge City in Ford County, Kan. Crews are evaluating the damage Wednesday after tornadoes destroyed several homes in western Kansas as a series of severe storms swept across the Plains. (KWTV-KOTV via AP)

The tornado formed just after 7 p.m. near the Ottawa County community of Niles and stayed on the ground continuously for about an hour and a half, National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Omitt said. Estimates are that it was a quarter- to a half-mile wide at times, he said.

The weather service warned people to take cover as the tornado it called "catastrophic" approached Chapman, about 75 miles west of Topeka.

Omitt said "the heart" of the tornado at one point was just about a mile south of Chapman, a town of about 1,400 that was devastated by a deadly tornado in 2008.

The twister that hit June 11, 2008, tore a path of destruction six blocks wide through the town. Officials said one woman died, 100 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, and 80 percent of the town had at least minor damage.

Most of Wednesday's damage was in a rural area between Chapman and the town of Abilene, Gardner said.

The storms followed severe weather that swept through the Great Plains a day earlier.

Weather service meteorologist Andrew White in Dodge City, Kansas, said multiple tornadoes struck Ford and Hodgeman counties during a two-hour span Tuesday night, including an EF-2 twister that caused damage in western Ford County. Preliminary reports indicate that at least one of the tornadoes was a half-mile wide.

The tornadoes, which injured at least two people, were part of a series of storms that also pounded several states with rain and hail. One person drowned in central Oklahoma, and a 13-year-old boy was found safe in northeastern Arkansas three hours after falling into a flooded drainage pipe.

The drowning in Oklahoma happened early Wednesday when a vehicle was swept into a drainage culvert near the small town of Davenport, about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, the Highway Patrol said. The National Weather Service said 3 to 6 inches of rain fell in parts of Oklahoma.

In Arkansas, the boy who fell into a storm drain wasn't seriously hurt. Police Cpl. Jason Chester told television station KAIT that the boy said he clung to a pole. He was rescued after two officers heard his cries for help.

This image made from a Tuesday, May 24, 2016 video by KWTV-KOTV, shows a funnel cloud moving across the field near Dodge City in Ford County, Kan. Crews are evaluating the damage Wednesday after tornadoes destroyed several homes in western Kansas as a series of severe storms swept across the Plains. (KWTV-KOTV via AP)

This image made from a Tuesday, May 24, 2016 video by KWTV-KOTV, shows a funnel cloud moving across the field near Dodge City in Ford County, Kan. Crews are evaluating the damage Wednesday after tornadoes destroyed several homes in western Kansas as a series of severe storms swept across the Plains. (KWTV-KOTV via AP)

Officials and residents search for a boy who went missing Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Jonesboro, Ark. The teenager was found safe hours later near the intersection of Culberhouse Street and Sims Avenue, not far from where he was reported missing. More than 5 inches of rain fell in about four hours Tuesday afternoon in Jonesboro. (Staci Vandagriff/The Jonesboro Sun via AP)
US probes e-commerce giant Alibaba's accounting practices

WASHINGTON (AP)  Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba wowed investors when it went public in the U.S. in September 2014, and its profits have bucked Wall Street expectations amid the Chinese economy's slowdown. Yet its unorthodox business structure has raised eyebrows, it's been suspended from an anti-counterfeiting group, and now U.S. regulators are investigating its accounting practices.

Alibaba disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents and information related to the way it adds together earnings from its various divisions, and how it reports transactions with other companies it has a stake in, among other things.

"I think it's a moment of truth for the company," said Anant Sundaram, a finance professor at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. "If I'm buying into that stock, what am I buying into?"

FILE - In this March 17, 2014, file photo, people walk past a company logo at the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is under investigation by U.S. regulators in connection with its accounting practices. Alibaba said in a regulatory filing Tuesday, May 24, 2016, that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents and information related to its policies and practices for consolidating earnings and for related party transactions, among other things. (Chinatopix via AP, File) CHINA OUT

U.S.-traded shares in Alibaba tumbled almost 7 percent in heavy trading Wednesday after news surfaced of the SEC probe. They are down 20 percent in the past year.

The company said it is cooperating with the investigation. SEC spokesman Kevin Callahan declined to comment Wednesday.

Alibaba is the world's biggest e-commerce platform, with more than 420 million people buying $485 billion worth of goods last year on its sites. Its digital platforms, including Taobao and Tmall, make up 80 percent of Chinese e-commerce.

Disclosure of the SEC probe comes less than two weeks after the company's membership in the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition was suspended.

Some U.S. retailers that are members of the group, which lobbies U.S. officials and testifies before Congress, view Alibaba as a huge marketplace for fakes. Michael Kors, Gucci America and Tiffany quit the group in protest after Alibaba was made a member in April.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. went public in the U.S. in September 2014. Investors, seeking to tap into the rapidly growing Chinese middle class, scrambled to buy shares. The offering raised $25 billion, making it the largest in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.

The SEC probe raises the possibility that the stellar results the company has reported may have been too good to be true, experts say.

A question is whether Alibaba or its suppliers may have falsified orders to pad sales volumes, suggests Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida. Cancelled orders may not have been recorded until Alibaba's next quarter, to inflate the immediate sales figures, for example.

That could ultimately mislead investors about the level of Alibaba's sales and how fast they're growing, Ritter said.

"It's mainly a question about the magnitude of this," he said. "There's a whole spectrum of possibilities."

S&P Global Market Intelligence quickly downgraded its rating on Alibaba's stock to "Buy" from "Strong Buy."

"We have related concerns about what could arise and be determined by the SEC," equity analyst Scott Kessler wrote in a research note. However, he added, S&P believes the company's stock price already reflects those concerns.

Led by self-made billionaire and founder Jack Ma, Alibaba has put a huge footprint on the Chinese economy and made unorthodox moves, such as spinning off its payment service into a company Ma controlled without telling Yahoo, a major investor in Alibaba.

To get around Chinese government restrictions on foreign investment in Internet companies, Alibaba deploys an unusual structure that gives foreign investors a stake in profits but keeps management control in China. That arrangement magnifies risks for investors. Chinese executives can confiscate corporate assets without compensating shareholders, and investors might have no grounds to sue. And Ma exercises veto authority over any decision.

Alibaba's e-commerce platforms cater to both Chinese and global consumers. At its heart is Taobao, a Chinese consumer-to-consumer website similar to eBay. Tmall offers merchants official storefronts to consumers in China.

As growth has slowed in China with a weakening economy, Alibaba has reached abroad to spur sales, both from U.S. companies selling goods on its platforms in China and Chinese sellers catering to international customers.
Female CEOs see pay rise, but numbers remain small

For the second year in a row, female CEOs earned more than their male counterparts and received bigger raises. But only a small sliver of the largest companies are run by women, and experts say gender parity at the top remains way off.

The median pay for a female CEO was nearly $18 million last year, up about 13 percent from 2014. By comparison, male CEOs' median pay was $10.5 million, up just 3 percent from a year earlier, according to an analysis by executive compensation data firm Equilar and The Associated Press.

A pay hike doesn't tell the full story though.

This undated photo provided by General Dynamics shows company CEO Phebe N. Novakovic. Novakovic was one of the highest-paid women CEOs for 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. (Courtesy of General Dynamics via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

The jump is largely due to the small sample size: only 17 of the 341 CEOs analyzed by Equilar and the AP were women. That means any one CEO's compensation  Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's nearly $36 million package, for example, or Mary Dillon's 200 percent raise at Ulta  can skew the results.

Of the 10 highest paid CEOs on the list, only one was a woman: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer, whose own position is in jeopardy amid questions about the company's future.

The next highest-paid woman was Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Inc., who earned $22.2 million. General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic came in third at $20.4 million. The lowest-paid female CEO on the list was Lauralee Martin of HCP, a health care real estate investment trust, whose pay package was valued at $800,000.

The only black woman to make the list  Ursula Burns of Xerox  is giving up her CEO role soon to serve as chairman of the document technology company after the business splits in two.

Women led companies in a variety of industries including technology, defense and aerospace and retail. While there are few women at the helm, they tended to be in higher paying industries or positions  making up 10 of the top 100 highest paid overall.

A recent report by S&P Global Market Intelligence highlights the gulf between words and actions in hiring women as CEOs.

"Despite all of the attention placed on increasing the number of female executives at American companies, the needle on the gender gap has hardly moved," the report's author, Pavle Sabic, wrote.

Sabic looked at the entire Standard & Poor's 500 index from 2006 to 2015 and found the number of female CEOs rose from 16 to 21  an increase of one new female CEO every two years.

"The gender gap at the CEO level ... is not closing," he wrote.

It's an issue of both corporate and community culture, says Serena Fong, vice president of governmental affairs at Catalyst, a nonprofit that aims to expand opportunities for women in business. She said there are unconscious biases against women in the workplace that work their way into hiring and development practices.

Proponents of equality say female CEOs can help the reputation, recruitment and bottom line of businesses.

The data is there to support the hires but change is happening slowly, said Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, which studied the reputation factor of female CEOs.

"We are going to see ... more progress because companies care about their reputations and boards care about their reputations," Gaines-Ross said. "It's going to happen, it's just not going to happen fast enough."

Equilar only looked at companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index that filed proxy statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2016. To avoid the distortions caused by sign-on bonuses, the sample includes only CEOs in place for at least two years.

That methodology means some CEOs, such as Mary Barra of General Motors, were not included.

To calculate pay, Equilar adds salary, bonus, perks, stock awards, stock option awards and other compensation. To determine what stock and option awards are worth, Equilar uses the value of an award on the day it is granted. For options, this includes an estimate of what the award could be worth in the future. Their actual value in the future can vary widely from what the company estimates.

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, file photo, Marillyn A. Hewson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin, poses at the Permanent Chalet commissioning event during the second day of the Dubai Airshow in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hewson was one of the highest-paid women CEOs for 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2014, file photo, Meg Whitman, the chairman, president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Whitman was one of the highest-paid women CEOs for 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, file photo, Virginia M. Rometty, chairwoman and CEO of IBM, speaks during a conference at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, in Barcelona, Spain. Rometty was one of the highest-paid women CEOs for 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

This photo provided by Mondelez International shows Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld was one of the highest-paid women CEOs for 2015, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. (Mondelez International via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Reflections on 'Roots' by stars of History's new version

NEW YORK (AP)  Will history repeat itself with the remake of "Roots" ?

The original miniseries, based on Alex Haley's best-seller, became a national phenomenon in 1977 as it told the multigenerational saga of his forebears, beginning with Kunta Kinte, a West African teen captured in the mid-1700s by slave traders and shipped to America.

Now, four decades later, "Roots" is being retold in a lush new production that, while running about 6.5 hours versus the original's about 9.5 hours, boasts a brisker pace with a heightened focus on the suffering and triumphs of Kunta Kinte and his descendants, and less attention to Americans along the way.

Malachi Kirby attends History Channel's "Roots" mini-series premiere at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, May 23, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Airing Monday through Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT on History, it is already raising questions like: Why do it again? How to account for its enduring relevance? And, what was the impact of being part of it for its stars?

At Monday's premiere in New York, four cast members took time to explain to The Associated Press:

 THE CHALLENGE

"I felt very inadequate," said Malachi Kirby, who plays the central role of Kunta Kinte. "I had no idea how to take this on. He goes through things that I will never experience. He feels things that I don't think I've ever felt. I play him from 18 to 50; I'm 26. There was something bigger than myself, something bigger that I needed to access to reach the depths of who this man was. That led me to pray. A lot!"

Rege-Jean Page, who plays Chicken George, said that following Ben Vereen's indelible performance in the original miniseries meant "a huge amount of pressure. A MASS of pressure! It was a bit of a millstone around my neck. But when something's important, when it calls on everything you've trained for, the trick is to flip the millstone around, onto your back. Then it gives you momentum."

 WHY AGAIN?

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Tom Lea, a cruel and violent slaveholder, acknowledged "many people have said, 'Oh, God, do we have to make it again?' Well, yes. When they made it in the 1970s it was almost a 'Masterpiece Theatre' version, whereas today, with our current ability and technology, we can produce 'home cinema,' which is something completely different from 'television.'"

Said Page, "I have always found it curious that Americans consider 'Roots' an American story. I first watched it growing up in Zimbabwe, and I naturally saw it as an African story. It is about Africans brought to America and having a new identity forced upon them. Kunta Kinte is NOT an American, and he utterly rejects that idea at every turn. But this is a story of the MAKING of America, and I think there is no wrong time to retell and improve upon our knowledge of that story.

"This is a period piece, and we have a million, billion Jane Austen remakes," he added. "When you turn the camera on a period drama about people of color, you tend to find a slightly more difficult situation. But still, it's a story about people in a period of history."

 BEING A BAD GUY

"Tom Lea is what I detest in all men. He's a ne'er-do-well, ignorant, greedy, with uncontrollable anger," said Meyers. "When I walked on the set, it was, 'Here comes the bad man!'

"There were these two African-American guys I was friendly with who were playing older slaves on Tom Lea's plantation. On one of the last few days of the shoot, they looked at me and said, 'Tom Lea! You a DOG of a man! Jus' tellin' you, you a DOG of a man.' I said, 'Thanks very much, guys. I love you, too.' Mission accomplished."

 BEING A GOOD GUY

Anna Paquin plays the small but key role of Nancy Holt, a Confederate officer's fiancee, in a performance she feels drives home an important message.

"You can't stand by and do nothing," she said. "You're not off the hook just because you weren't the one wielding the whip. Inaction, just like action, can represent complicity. That's what she means to me."

 A FIRST BRUSH WITH "ROOTS"

"I was taught about slavery," said the British-born Kirby. "But it was the ancient Egyptians. That's the closest I got to African history."

Meanwhile, his first contact with the hero he would later portray was a negative one.

"Schoolkids  black and white  would call me Kunta Kinte as a cuss," he said. "If ever my hair was particularly messy, if ever I looked scruffy at school, I would be called Kunta Kinte. My first impression was that it was bad to be African and bad to be associated with him."

Then, just three years ago, he viewed the full miniseries, a boxed set he got as a gift from his mother.

"It had a profound effect on me. It still affects the way I think and the way I navigate my way through life."

 IS "ROOTS" TOO DOWNBEAT?

"I think art that confronts dark passages and turns it in a way that develops our consciousness, our sense of identity, our future, is honorable," said Page. "So I don't think it's something to be avoided. I think it's something to be taken with a great sense of responsibility  and that drives the work to a more ambitious place than it would be otherwise."

Kirby cited the horrific scene where Kunta Kinte is whipped, and whipped some more, until he identifies himself as Toby, the name the plantation owners have imposed on him.

"He does not give that name up as submission, but for survival," said Kirby. "He gives that name, the name they want to hear, so he can fight another day. And he will.

"He took control! He was not a slave. None of the people depicted in this story are slaves. They are African people enslaved  an important difference. 'Roots' focuses on a particular group of people who defy the odds, and win, eventually, even if it isn't in their lifetimes.

"This is, for me, a very positive story, and a very empowering one, if only we have that perspective on it."

_____

EDITOR'S NOTE  Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier. Past stories are available at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore

_____

Online:

http://www.history.com
Trump says he gave himself aliases often in business

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Wednesday that he often used aliases to purchase real estate  but continued to deny he'd been caught on tape pretending to be an imaginary spokesman in a recently-released recording.

"You know, over the years I've used aliases," Trump said in an interview on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that capped a day of campaigning across the Los Angeles area.

Trump has repeatedly denied that he posed as a spokesman for himself decades ago using the names "John Miller" and "John Barron." But when asked by Kimmel what aliases he'd used, Trump volunteered Barron, which is also the name of Trump's youngest son.

In this photo provided by ABC, Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, left, talks with host Jimmy Kimmel on the ABC television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Los Angeles. Trump made an appearance as a guest, along with musical guest Greg Porter on the late night show, which airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)

"I actually used the name Barron," said Trump, who said he'd made "a very good deal using that name."

"I used an alias in terms of setting up a meeting with Mr. Donald Trump. And many people in the real estate business do that, you use alias. And you have to, frankly, otherwise they find out it's you and they charge you more money - and nobody wants to pay more money," he said.

Trump said he'd used the tactic "especially when I was out in Brooklyn with my father and I'd want to buy something."

"And honestly nobody knew who Trump was at that time, nobody knew me, so it wasn't so much so important. But I would never want to use my name because you had to pay money for the land. If you're trying to buy land, you use different names," he said.

The appearance on the late-night show marked the end of a busy day that included a rally and Trump's first major campaign fundraiser.

A day after violent protesters outside a Trump rally threw burning items at police and toppled barricades, Trump's afternoon rally in Anaheim was boisterous but less heated. He railed against "Crooked Hillary" Clinton and leaders in his own party who haven't yet endorsed him.

Outside, demonstrators quietly held up signs reading "Love and Peace" and "Migration is beautiful" during the rally, but the modest crowd grew rowdier when Trump supporters came outside. The two sides shouted at each other as dozens of police, some on horseback, moved in to prevent a renewal of the violence Tuesday night in New Mexico.

Five people were arrested as a line of police slowly moved scattered protesters along a nearby street.

Inside, Trump's rally was interrupted several times by protesters who were escorted out of the Anaheim Convention Center.

"Get 'em out!" he shouted at one point. "Out! Out! Out!" But Trump urged his supporters and security to handle his interrupters gently, saying, "Do not hurt him even though he's a bad person."

Trump also used his event Wednesday to hammer Clinton over a State Department inspector general report that faulted her for her use of private email for official business when she was secretary of state.

"She had a little bad news today, as you know. Some reports came down, weren't so good," Trump said. "The inspector general's report  not good."

Trump's campaign apparatus was also roiled Wednesday by the abrupt departure of political director Rick Wiley. In a statement, Trump's campaign said Wiley had been hired only on a short-term basis until the candidate's organization "was running full steam."

Wiley had been overseeing hiring of staff in battleground states and working closely with the Republican National Committee. His hiring about six weeks ago was seen as a sign that party veterans were embracing Trump's campaign.

While Wiley and the RNC have touted the importance of a robust general election infrastructure, Trump has said he plans to continue making his raucous rallies the centerpiece of his campaign.

A person familiar with Wiley's ouster said the operative clashed with others in Trump's operation and didn't want to put longtime Trump allies in key jobs as he hired in battleground states. The person insisted on anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss the internal campaign dynamics.

Wiley is said to have clashed in particular with Karen Giorno, who ran Trump's campaign in Florida during the Republican primary, the person said.

On "Kimmel," Trump, who was jokingly introduced as "a tangerine-tinted Godzilla," said he enjoyed watching Clinton's increasingly heated sparring with Democratic rival Bernie Sanders.

"I had no idea it was going to be so nasty," said Trump, who said he would be happy to take Sanders up on an offer to a one-on-one debate  as long as significant money goes to charity.

"How much is he going to pay me?" Trump asked, predicting the pair "would have such high ratings."

Sanders said on Twitter late Wednesday that he would welcome a debate: "Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary."

Trump's western swing comes as he works to unify a Republican Party that often remains skeptical of his candidacy. During the rally, Trump offered jabs at 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and former rival Jeb Bush, who have yet to endorse his candidacy.

House Speaker Paul Ryan is still holding out on endorsing Trump even as his staff and other House Republicans and aides communicate more closely with the Trump campaign on policy.

Meeting with reporters Wednesday, Ryan shot down rumors that an endorsement was imminent. "I don't have a timeline in my mind and I have not made a decision and nothing's changed from that perspective," he said.

The violence earlier this week at a rally in New Mexico prompted security concerns beyond California. Police in Bismarck, North Dakota, said Wednesday they would dedicate about a quarter of their force for security when Trump heads to the state Thursday.

Trump will be back in California Friday with visits to Fresno and San Diego.

___

AP writers James MacPherson in Bismarck, North Dakota, and Julie Pace and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this story.

Georgina Lopez, 38, center, from east os Angeles, holds a flag upside down among a small group of protesters gathered outside the theater where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was to tape an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Orange County Sheriff's deputies take a protester into custody outside the Anaheim Convention Center where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sings the National Anthem during a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

People listen to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A protester holds up a sign ripped apart during a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Austrian officials ask for ballot probe in presidential vote

VIENNA (AP)  Austria's interior ministry has asked the state prosecutor's office to follow up on apparent regional irregularities in the absentee vote count for the country's presidential election.

The move is a result of action by the Freedom Party, whose nominee Norbert Hofer was in the lead after polls closed Sunday but lost narrowly to a left-leaning candidate after absentee ballots were counted.

Ministry official Robert Stein on Wednesday cited party officials, who said that the count began too early in and around the southern Austrian city of Villach.

A man walks between election posters of Alexander Van der Bellen, candidate for presidential elections and former head of the Austrian Greens, right, and Norbert Hofer, candidate for presidential elections of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, FPOE, left, in Vienna, Austria, Monday, May 23, 2016. The Eurosceptic, anti-immigration right-winger Norbert Hofer, and his left-leaning rival are neck and neck in Austria's presidential election a day after polls closed, and officials are now counting absentee ballots to determine who will win. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
The Latest: McAuliffe attorney: Probe should be closed

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  The Latest on a federal investigation into Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's campaign contributions (all times local):

1:20 p.m.

An attorney for Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the federal investigation into the governor has focused on his business dealings before he took office.

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe gestures as he delivers his State of the Commonwealth Address before a joint session of the 2016 Virginia Assembly at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. A U.S. law enforcement official says Gov. McAuliffe is a subject of a federal investigation looking at donations to his gubernatorial campaign. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. CNN first reported the story Monday, May 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Attorney James W. Cooper said Department of Justice officials told him have been looking into McAuliffe's foreign sources of income before he became governor and whether he violated the law by lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of foreign governments.

Cooper told The Associated Press that federal officials said they have found no evidence McAuliffe engaged in such lobbying.

Cooper said federal officials did not mention concerns about campaign contributions.

Cooper said he said he believes the investigation should be closed "promptly" because there's no evidence McAuliffe violated the law.

___

10:30 a.m.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said federal authorities have told his attorney there's no indication the governor did anything wrong related to an ongoing campaign finance investigation.

The governor said on WTOP on Wednesday that his attorney reached out to federal prosecutors following report that McAuliffe is a subject of a federal investigation looking at donations to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign.

McAuliffe has said he believes the investigation centers around a donation connected to Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang. Federal law forbids foreigners from contributing to U.S. political campaigns, but McAuliffe said Wang has held a green card for nearly a decade and is a legitimate donor.

Neither a spokesman for the Justice Department or McAuliffe's attorney immediately returned calls seeking comment.

____

1:45 a.m.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he's confident he followed the law in accepting donations that now appear to be part of a federal criminal investigation.

McAuliffe defended his actions Tuesday to reporters at an event in Alexandria. A law-enforcement official told The Associated Press on Monday that McAuliffe is the subject of a federal investigation looking at donations to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign.

McAuliffe said he believes the investigation centers around a donation connected to Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang. Federal law forbids foreigners from contributing to U.S. political campaigns, but McAuliffe said Wang has held a green card for nearly a decade and is a legitimate donor.
Suspect leads police to bodies of Washington state couple

EVERETT, Wash. (AP)  For six weeks, authorities said a missing Washington state couple had been killed. Two brothers who fled to Mexico were charged with their slayings.

But until Tuesday, no bodies had been found.

That changed after one of the suspects turned himself in and provided information that led detectives to a remote area near the couple's home. There, they found buried remains near where the couple's vehicles were dumped weeks ago.

Tony Clyde Reed, center, appears on a television monitor during his arraignment on two counts of premeditated murder and unlawful gun possession, Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at Snohomish County Courthouse in Everett, WA. Reed plead not guilty in relation to charges in connection with the alleged murder of Arlington's Patrick Shunn and his wife, Monique Patenaud. (Ian Terry / The Herald via AP)

"We are waiting for medical examiner confirmation, but we have reason to believe that they are Patrick Shunn and Monique Patenaude," Snohomish County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said at a news conference.

Authorities had been searching for the couple since they were reported missing April 12. Deputies had looked in the area where the bodies were found, about 50 miles northeast of Seattle near the town of Oso, but the details from Tony Clyde Reed led to the discovery, Ireton said.

He has been cooperating with detectives since turning himself in last week at the U.S.-Mexico border after a monthlong manhunt, Ireton said. Authorities are still searching for his 53-year-old brother, John Blaine Reed, who lived near the couple and was in a property dispute with them.

Tony Reed's attorney, James Kirkham, helped arrange the surrender, telling The Daily Herald in Everett on Monday that his client wanted to answer the allegations against him.

"My client is innocent of the first-degree murder charges," Kirkham said. "He's here to defend himself."

Tony Reed pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of first-degree murder and unlawful firearm possession.

His brother lived up an old logging road from the couple's 21-acre spread in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. When Patenaude and Shunn sued other neighbors over a property dispute more than two years ago, they avoided naming him as a defendant because they didn't want to irk him, their former lawyer, Thomas Adams, has said.

John Reed had threatened to shoot the couple for cutting brush between their two properties in 2013, according to court documents.

The land abutted the nation's worst landslide disaster, which wiped out a rural neighborhood in Oso and killed 43 people two years ago. In an interview shortly afterward, John Reed told The Seattle Times that he watched as the slide roared past his front yard.

The county recently bought out Reed's house to ease risks from future flooding, but investigators believe Reed had been returning to the home since then.

He was upset that his property had been condemned, and he recently had been angry because the couple had complained that he was squatting at his old house, leading authorities to warn him to leave, according to charging documents.
The Latest: Alabama House Speaker's former staff chief talks

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP)  The Latest on the ethics trial of Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard (all times local):

___

3:30 p.m.

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard stands in Judge Jacob Walkers courtroom before the start of his ethics trial on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 in Opelika, Ala. Hubbard is on trial on 23 felony ethics violations that could result in his removal from office. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)

The former chief of staff for the Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard has testified in the ethics trial of his former boss.

Josh Blades testified Wednesday that he was upset and concerned about "legal implications" after learning that language added to a 2013 budget bill could have benefited one of Hubbard's clients.

Blades said he learned later that a group that would get the work was paying Hubbard through a consulting contract. The language was stripped in conference committee.

Blades also said he was uncomfortable because he thought the speaker meant money when Hubbard told him he had "one hundred thousand reasons" to help a company with a patent application. That company was a client of Hubbard's.

___

12:15 p.m.

The ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is turning to language in a state budget bill that prosecutors say could have benefited his clients.

It was an amendment that set requirements for any pharmacy benefit manager that might be hired by the state Medicaid Agency. Alabama's Medicaid commissioner has said the state agency did not request that language.

At the time, the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. had Hubbard on a $5,000-a-month consulting contract, but he did not recuse himself from voting.

The clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives testified Wednesday that Hubbard voted for the amendment as part of a 2013 budget bill that passed 83-15. A conference committee later stripped the language.

Prosecutors have accused Hubbard of using his political positions to make money and obtain financial favors from people with business before the Alabama Legislature. Defense lawyers say the transactions were proper.

___

11:00 a.m.

A former business associate says Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard had consulting contracts worth tens of thousands of dollars each month with several companies, but he was unsure what Hubbard did for the money.

Testimony is continuing Wednesday in Hubbard's ethics trial. Chris Hines, a former vice-president at Hubbard's broadcast and publishing company, the Auburn Network, testified he didn't know what Hubbard did for the companies. Hines testified that one check had a notation for "lobbying."

Prosecutors are accusing Hubbard of using his political positions to make money and solicit financial favors from people with business before the Alabama Legislature. His defense argues that the transactions were proper.

Under cross-examination, Hines noted the contracts specified that Hubbard would not do in-state work so to not run afoul of ethics laws.

___

10:00 a.m.

Testimony has resumed in the ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard. Hubbard's business partner testified Wednesday that their printing company was deeply in debt. Barry Whatley says they came up with a plan to seek new investments of $150,000 each from wealthy individuals to pay off debt.

Whatley said the nine owners of Craftmaster would be responsible for the debt if it couldn't be paid.

Hubbard is accused of using his position as GOP chairman and house speaker to generate $2.3 million in work and investments for his companies. His defense has argued that all the transactions were within bounds of the state ethics law.

On cross-examination, Whatley said Craftmaster had a good reputation and that Hubbard did not seek to be paid a commission on the Alabama Republican Party campaign work that came to the company.

Hubbard draws a salary of about $54,000 as a legislator speaker of the house.

___

4:32 a.m.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers are offering jurors opposing views of Alabama House speaker Mike Hubbard as he stands trial on felony ethics charges.

Prosecutors told jurors in opening statements Tuesday that Hubbard made some $2.3 million illegally off his elected office and past chairmanship of the Alabama GOP.

But the defense argues that Hubbard was scrupulously honest, even asking for an ethics opinion before accepting money as a consultant.

Two lobbyists who once served as executive directors of the state party took the witness stand first for the state, and prosecutors say they'll continue calling more witnesses Wednesday.

Hubbard would be removed from office automatically if convicted on even one of 23 charges accusing him of using the speakership and GOP chairmanship for personal financial gain.

Attorney Bill Baxley begins his opening defense for Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in court in Opelika, Ala. Hubbard is on trial on felony charges that could result in his removal from office. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)

Deputy Attorney Gen. Matt Hart opens the case against Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard in court on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Opelika, Ala. Mike Hubbard is at front right and attorney Lance Bell at front left. Hubbard is on trial on felony charges that could result in his removal from office. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)

John Ross testifies during Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard's trial on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 in Opelika, Ala. Hubbard went on trial Tuesday on felony ethics charges that could result in his removal from office, with a prosecutor telling jurors the powerful Republican legislator illegally made $2.3 million off his state position and GOP chairmanship despite promising to clean up corruption in the Statehouse. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)

Attorney Lance Bell and Mike Hubbard talk before the start of the second day of the Alabama House Speaker's trial on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Opelika, Ala. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)

Political consultant Tim Howe testifies during the first day of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard's trial on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Opelika, Ala. Hubbard went on trial Tuesday on felony ethics charges that could result in his removal from office, with a prosecutor telling jurors the powerful Republican legislator illegally made $2.3 million off his state position and GOP chairmanship despite promising to clean up corruption in the Statehouse. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)
The Latest: No plans for Japan PM to visit Pearl Harbor

SHIMA, Japan (AP)  The Latest on President Barack Obama's trip to Vietnam and Japan (all times local):

11:30 p.m.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) says he doesn't have specific plans to visit Hawaii's Pearl Harbor to reciprocate for President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Hiroshima.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) slammed President Barack Obama (left) over a 'despicable' murder allegedly at the hands of a former US Marine on Okinawa during a press conference in Shima, Japan, on Wednesday

Abe says he marked last year's 70th anniversary of the end of World War II by visiting the United States.

Abe says that trip included a speech to a joint meeting of Congress and a visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, where he laid a wreath.

Obama plans a historic visit on Friday to Hiroshima. He'll become the first sitting American president to visit the place where the U.S. ushered in the nuclear age by dropping an atomic bomb in the closing days of World War II.

Some 140,000 people were killed.

The White House says Obama won't apologize for the decision to drop the bomb, but will reflect on the cost of war and his vision for a nuclear weapon-free world.

___

11:15 p.m.

President Barack Obama is rebuffing China's claim that closer ties between the United States and Vietnam are creating a "tinderbox" that could lead to conflict.

Obama says the expanding U.S.-Vietnam partnership is entirely independent of China. He says the fact China sees it as a provocation says more about Chinese attitudes than about American ones.

Obama lifted a decades-old arms sales ban on Vietnam during his stop in the country earlier this week. The move comes as Vietnam tries to deal with rising Chinese aggression over its claims in the disputed South China Sea.

Obama spoke at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) before a summit of industrialized nations that opens Thursday in Japan.

___

11 p.m.

President Barack Obama is assuring Japan's prime minister that the U.S. will fully cooperate with the investigation into a former U.S. Marine who's been arrested in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa.

Obama says the U.S. is appalled by any violent crime that may have occurred or been committed by any U.S. personnel or contractor.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) Abe has expressed "strong indignation" over the arrest of 32-year-old Kenneth Shinzato.

Shinzato was arrested after investigators found the body of a missing 20-year-old woman at a location he provided.

Police suspect Shinzato was responsible for the woman's death. He hasn't been charged with the crime.
Official: Greek efforts to handle refugee crisis significant

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece has faced major problems in dealing with the refugee crisis but has made a significant effort to handle the issues, a leading European human rights official said Wednesday.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press, however, that concerns remain about the detention of some asylum-seekers while their applications are being processed in Greece.

Greece has been the main gateway into Europe for hundreds of thousands of people, the vast majority from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, fleeing war and poverty. In March, the European Union and Turkey reached an agreement to stem the flow, under which anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands from the Turkish coast after March 20 faces deportation back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, left, and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland shake hands during their meeting at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Jagland told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday, that Greece has faced major problems in dealing with the refugee crisis but that the country has made significant efforts to handle the issues, although concerns remain about the detention of some asylum-seekers while their applications are being processed. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The deal has led to severe criticism from aid groups and rights organizations who said it was hastily put together and didn't provide guarantees for the safety of those returned to Turkey. Financially struggling Greece has also come under criticism for detaining asylum-seekers on the islands while their applications are processed, and for the length of time such applications take.

Jagland, in Athens for discussions with government officials about the refugee crisis, said the criticism for long waits for asylum applications should be balanced with the need for individual attention.

"We cannot at the same time demand an individual treatment on all the refugees and then say that all their applications should be processed during a few hours or a few days," he said in an interview.

But he added that his organization is "also worried by reports concerning detention, in particular in regard to minors, children and people who should not be in so-called detention centers."

"In principle, we believe we should not have detention of people," Jagland said.

Jagland said the Council of Europe had supported the EU-Turkey deal "provided there is an individual right to apply for asylum," something particularly important in judging who could safely be returned to Turkey.

Greece, he said, has made arrangements to ensure the procedure was followed.

"They had major problems, that is true, and that's why we are here in order to assist them," Jagland said. "We also have to look at the challenges that the authorities are having."

Balkan and European border closures since March have led to more than 54,000 refugees and migrants being stranded in Greece.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, left, and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland laugh during their meeting at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Jagland told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday, that Greece has faced major problems in dealing with the refugee crisis but that the country has made significant efforts to handle the issues, although concerns remain about the detention of some asylum-seekers while their applications are being processed. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Athens, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Jagland said that Greece has faced major problems in dealing with the refugee crisis but that the country has made significant efforts to handle the issues, although concerns remain about the detention of some asylum-seekers while their applications are being processed. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Capitol Hill Buzz: Democrats aim at Trump's tax returns

WASHINGTON (AP)  Hmmm, wonder who he has in mind?

A leading Senate Democrat is introducing legislation that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns.

Its chances of becoming law are nil. The Republican-controlled Congress has little incentive to embarrass Donald Trump, their presumptive presidential candidate. Trump has said he won't unveil his returns until the IRS finishes auditing them.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

But with Democrats looking for every opportunity to focus negative attention on the billionaire candidate, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden introduced the measure Wednesday.

The bill would require the major parties' presidential nominees to release their tax returns for the past three years. If they don't, the Treasury Department  which oversees the IRS  would give the returns to the Federal Election Commission, which would release them publicly.

Since the 1970s, presidential candidates have typically released their returns. Trump has been criticized by both parties for not unveiling his.

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a vocal Trump foe, has said his failure to release his is "disqualifying." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Trump would have to make up his own mind.

The Federal Election Commission released personal financial disclosure documents last week that Trump had filed. They showed that the businessman reported $557 million in earned income over the past 17 months.

Those documents provide far less detail than is required for tax returns  information that Trump's Democratic political foes would love to see.
Rating:

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, $59.99

Americans are worried about a lot of things: jobs, health care, climate change, terrorism, too many guns, not enough guns. But hey, at least we haven't been invaded by North Korea.

If that scenario has been weighing on you, though, you might find some solace in 'Homefront: The Revolution'.In this alternate universe, Kim Jong Un's army is powerful enough to occupy parts of the United States  but make the mistake of setting up headquarters in Philadelphia (You know the locals won't stand for that for very long).

This image released by Deep Silver shows a scene from the video game, 'Homefront: The Revolution.' (Deep Silver via AP)

You're Ethan Brady, a new recruit in the fearless resistance led by Benjamin Walker (not the guy from 'American Psycho,' Broadway lovers).

When Walker is apprehended, it's up to you and your ragtag rebel band to find him and bust him out.

You have plenty of ammo, but the North Koreans have more.

The occupiers have divided Philly into color-coded neighborhoods. The Red Zones are wastelands, populated mostly by Korean People's Army troops.

For the most part, your missions here consist of killing as many enemies as you can and setting up safe houses and supply depots.

The Yellow Zones are more interesting.

They're where the civilians live, and while most are sympathetic to your cause, some are collaborating with the KPA. In a Yellow Zone, you need to keep a low profile while committing more subtle acts of infiltration, sabotage and propaganda.

Win over enough hearts and minds and your neighbors will eventually rise up against the oppressors.

Exploring the Yellow Zone is a nice change of pace from what is, at its core, a standard first-person shooter.

You can accomplish some goals without firing a bullet, and there are a few clever environmental puzzles, like figuring out how to get to the roof of a boarded-up building to hack a transmitter.

Still, while 'Homefront' brings some worthwhile ideas to the genre, the execution is sloppy.

The artificial intelligence controlling the KPA soldiers is all over the place: Some will zero in on you ruthlessly, while others will walk right past you without a shrug.

The graphics frequently slow to a dead stop, which is particularly troublesome when you're engaged in a tense firefight.

I would be more forgiving of the glitches if the plot was more ambitious than a collection of 'Red Dawn' America-under-siege cliches.

There are thousands of people in this dystopian Philly; surely some of them have interesting stories.

The Korean forces are so thoroughly faceless that they could just as easily be Russian or Cuban or Martian.

Most disappointing, I didn't hear a single Philly accent during the 20-plus hours I spent in 'Homefront.'

Other than a few familiar landmarks, the setting could be any generic bombed-out city; it doesn't capture the flavor of Philadelphia at all.
The ability to remediate contaminated soil following a saltwater spill is improving, but further research and development can make efforts and best practices even better.

That was the message of Dustin Anderson, an environmental scientist for Oasis Petroleum, on Tuesday at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference before a crowd of about 200.

Anderson outlined a presentation on best practices and options for soil remediation, highlighting the method of electrokinetic remediation to remove salt from contaminated soil.

Electrokinetics is the introduction of currents into the soil, Anderson said. Its not very common in the oil and gas industry.

Using an external source to provide a current, a positively and negatively charged electrode are placed into the soil. The current separates the contaminated material from the soil so it can be pumped out and removed.

Its very important you properly characterize the spill, said Anderson, explaining the size and location of the spill are factors in how successful remediation can be.

He provided several visual comparisons of sites dating back to the late 1990s in which spills had occurred from pipeline leaks, lightning strikes of saltwater disposal wells and illegal dumping. Some smaller spills had taken around a year to remediate, while others took several years.

Soil contamination is an issue industry must continue to take seriously, Anderson said.

From 2001 to 2014, about 10,400 spills were reported in North Dakota involving more than 582,000 barrels of liquid.

In 2014, about 71,000 barrels of saltwater were spilled out of approximately 432 million barrels of saltwater produced. That same year, about 20,000 barrels of oil were reported spilled out of 396 million barrels of oil produced. The data comes from the North Dakota Department of Health and the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

A barrel is equal to approximately 42 gallons.

Saltwater brine is a byproduct of oil and natural gas production and is many times saltier than seawater. Numerous spills have occurred over the years including a few large ones in the past decade of more than 1 million gallons.

Anderson said other methods of disposal include scooping up and hauling contaminated soil away for disposal as well as utilizing soil amendments such as calcium.

Were making great progress, and more progress is necessary, Anderson said.

An earlier version of Andersons presentation can be found at www.ndoil.org/image/cache/AndersonDustin.pdf.
Judge: US man charged in Uganda counterfeit plot could flee

PITTSBURGH (AP)  An American deported from Uganda and charged in a massive counterfeiting scheme is a major flight risk and will remain jailed until he stands trial, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled.

Ryan Gustafson, 28, has been charged with printing at least $1.4 million in fake U.S. currency in Uganda through Community-X, an encrypted site that allows users to remain anonymous. Gustafson was indicted in western Pennsylvania because roughly $400,000 in bogus bills were sold and shipped to the U.S., where they were passed. Some were exchanged in the Pittsburgh area.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak said, "He is a flight risk of major proportions."

Gustafson's wife is the granddaughter of the late Idi Amin, the ruthless Ugandan dictator who's alleged to have had 300,000 people killed when he ruled in the 1970s. Gustafson's father-in-law, the dictator's son, remains a powerful general in the country, according to testimony last month from a Secret Service agent.

At a detention hearing, defense attorney Stephen Misko asked the judge to release Gustafson to the custody of a non-denominational Christian missionary group, Youth With A Mission, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, saying it wouldn't let him use drugs or alcohol and requires church attendance. The facility has a curfew but isn't locked down, its director testified then.

Gustafson's parents are Christian missionaries to Rwanda, and his father, LeRoy Gustafson, testified last month that he and his wife are friends with the man who runs Youth With A Mission. LeRoy Gustafson also testified that his son has significant ties to U.S. relatives, even though he couldn't spell several of their names while testifying.

But Hornak agreed with Assistant U. S. Attorney Shardul Desai that Gustafson is a threat to flee to Uganda because his child and wife live there.

Hornak specifically noted that Gustafson manned the "top rung" of the counterfeiting conspiracy and, at various times, has told authorities he'd rather die than abandon his wife and toddler daughter. Federal agents contend Gustafson also pretended to have tuberculosis and tried to bribe a Ugandan official to avoid being deported to face the federal charges filed in Pittsburgh.

The judge also noted that Youth With A Mission has no experience housing a former international fugitive and isn't secure enough to do so.

"While its goals and work are worthy, they do not include keeping an eye on a person charged with serious cross-border federal crimes involving fraud and deceit who has every incentive to flee," Hornak wrote.
EU ministers fail to get tax avoidance deal, hope for June

BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union finance ministers have failed to agree on a deal to better combat tax avoidance but hope to get a full agreement in June.

The recent leak of data from a Panamanian law firm showing how rich individuals and multinationals use offshore companies to avoid taxes has added urgency to the debate. Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired Wednesday's EU meeting, said he was "confident" a deal would be reached at their next gathering next month.

The EU estimates it loses up to 70 billion euros ($80 billion) in revenue every year because of tax avoidance.

European Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici, center, and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem speak with the media prior to a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Eurozone finance ministers struck a deal early Wednesday clearing the way for Greece to access a fresh round of bailout funds, while also laying out debt relief measures aimed at securing the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Dijsselbloem said that "we cannot postpone this. Public support for fighting tax avoidance and aggressive planning is very strong."
Exxon, Chevron shareholders reject climate resolutions

DALLAS (AP)  Shareholders at Exxon Mobil and Chevron rejected resolutions backed by environmentalists that would have pushed the companies to take stronger stands in favor of limiting climate change.

Environmentalists took solace, however, that some of their ideas gained considerable support.

At Chevron Corp., a resolution asking for an annual report each year on how climate-change policies will affect the company received 41 percent of the vote. A similar resolution at Exxon got 38 percent.

FILE - This Jan. 30, 2012, file photo shows the sign for the Exxon Mobil Torrance Refinery in Torrance, Calif. Exxon Mobil is holding its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, May 25, 2016, as it faces volatile crude prices and investigations into what it knew and allegedly didnt disclose about oils role in climate change. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

Also, Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders voted to ask directors to adopt a proxy-access rule, which would make it easier for shareholders to propose their own board candidates. Backers including the New York City comptroller said it could result in the election of independent directors who could help the company address risks like climate change.

The meetings Wednesday  Exxon's in Dallas, Chevron's in San Ramon, California  came as the companies are trying to dig out from the collapse in crude prices that began in mid-2014. Exxon earned $16.15 billion last year, its smallest profit since 2002. Chevron's annual profit plunged 76 percent to $4.59 billion and included the company's first money-losing quarter since 2002.

Crude prices have rebounded since February, boosting the shares of the top two U.S. oil companies, but they remain about half of what they were at their last peak.

Exxon is also dealing with investigations by officials in several states into what the company knew and allegedly didn't disclose about oil's role in climate change.

The company's shareholders rejected resolutions to put a climate expert on the board and support the goal of a UN meeting in Paris last year to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Patricia Daley, a Dominican sister from New Jersey and sponsor of one of the resolutions, said Exxon lacked "moral leadership."

"Our company has chosen to disregard the consensus of the scientific community, the will of the 195 nations that signed the Paris agreement," religious leaders and even other oil companies, Daley said.

Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said his company has long recognized that climate change is a serious risk and might require action. But, he said, any policies should be implemented evenly across the world, allow market prices to pick solutions, and be flexible enough to respond to economic ups and downs and "breakthroughs in climate science."

Exxon forecasts that oil and gas will make up 60 percent of the world's energy supply in 2040  about the same share it holds today. Its CEO said the company was balancing the need to produce more energy for growing world demand with environmental considerations.

Tillerson said there is no alternative source that can replace the ubiquity of fossil fuels. He expressed confidence that technology will provide the key to limiting carbon emissions.

"We've got to have some technological breakthroughs," he said, "but until we achieve those, to just say turn the taps off is not acceptable to humanity," he said.

The shareholders responded with robust applause.

Across the street from the meeting hall, about 60 protesters gathered and urged large shareholders such as pension funds to divest their shares. Many held signs with slogans such as "Exxon Liar Liar Earth on Fire." The mood was sedate, however, perhaps owing to the warm, muggy weather.

Exxon shares rose 59 cents to $90.26, and Chevron shares gained $1.60 to $101.79.

___

This story has been corrected to note that the climate-change resolution won 38 percent support, instead of a maximum of 25 percent support.

Activist Zac Trahan takes a group photo of people protesting across Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center where the Exxon Mobil annual shareholder meeting is taking place, in Dallas, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Shareholders are scheduled to vote Wednesday on resolutions including a policy to limit global warming, put a climate expert on the board, and report on the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

People protest across Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center where the Exxon Mobil annual shareholder meeting is taking place, in Dallas, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Shareholders are scheduled to vote Wednesday on resolutions including a policy to limit global warming, put a climate expert on the board, and report on the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

James Strickland protests across from H. Meyerson Symphony Center where the Exxon Mobil annual shareholder meeting is taking place, in Dallas, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Shareholders are scheduled to vote Wednesday on resolutions including a policy to limit global warming, put a climate expert on the board, and report on the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Activist Danna Miller Pyke protests across from Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center where the Exxon Mobil annual shareholder meeting is taking place, in Dallas, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Shareholders are scheduled to vote Wednesday on resolutions including a policy to limit global warming, put a climate expert on the board, and report on the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Activist Penelope Bisbee walks by an ice sculpture and sign at a protest across from Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center where the Exxon Mobil annual shareholder meeting is taking place, in Dallas, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Shareholders are scheduled to vote Wednesday on resolutions including a policy to limit global warming, put a climate expert on the board, and report on the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Kentucky State Police: Man dies after falling from tower

WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (AP)  A man has died after falling from a cellular tower in Kentucky.

Master Trooper Joe Veeneman of the Kentucky State Police said in a news release that 19-year-old Tyler Comer of Charleston, West Virginia, died Tuesday night after falling from the 105-foot cellular tower in the city of West Liberty.

Comer was working on the tower when he attempted to retrieve his work tools. Veeneman says Comer lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Troopers responded and pronounced Comer dead at the scene.
Ukrainian pilot returns home as unrivalled national hero

MOSCOW (AP)  When war broke out in eastern Ukraine, pilot Nadezhda Savchenko left her hometown to join the fight against Russia-backed separatists. Nearly two years after she was captured, then tried and convicted in Russia, she returned home to a rapturous welcome in Kiev.

Over the past two years, Savchenko became both Ukraine's national hero and Russia's best-known prisoner. Western leaders and diplomats including President Barack Obama called for her release, graffiti supporting her sprouted up and children made drawings romanticizing her image.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke about her case on nearly every trip abroad. When she arrived at a Kiev airport on Wednesday after being swapped for two Russian servicemen who had been imprisoned in Ukraine, a throng of journalists and well-wishers converged on her.

Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, center, speaks to the media as she and her sister Vera, left of her, walk together upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

"Step back if you want me to say anything. I have spent two years in a small cell," snapped Savchenko, barefoot and wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with Ukraine's national trident.

Savchenko, 35, had an illustrious career in the armed forces including a stint as Ukraine's only female soldier in the peacekeeping forces in Iraq. She graduated from a prestigious air force school in 2009, which until then had been open only to men. But when the war started in April 2014 Savchenko, retired and went to the east to join the Aidar volunteer battalion.

She was captured by rebels in June 2014 amid intense fighting in the Luhansk region. After her capture, which the rebels documented and filmed, she disappeared and then resurfaced in Russian custody. Russian authorities said Savchenko crossed into Russia voluntarily and illegally, disguised as a refugee. But Savchenko says the rebels who captured her spirited her across the border and handed her over.

Russian state media used Savchenko as a poster child for alleged Ukrainian atrocities in the east. Even though there didn't seem to be any solid evidence to prove her involvement in any civilian deaths in the east, prosecutors launched a case charging that she had been a spotter who called in coordinates for a mortar attack that killed two Russian journalists.

At her first public appearance in Russia, Savchenko defiantly said she didn't recognize the authority of the Russian court and prosecutors. She went on several hunger strikes before and during her trial.

Savchenko often appeared in court in a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt or in blouses with the Ukrainian coat of arms or other national symbols. Despite the long incarceration, Savchenko has never complained about bad health or prison conditions, unlike her lawyers, but instead focused on using her public appearances as a chance to condemn Russian interference in Ukraine.

The defiance with which the pilot carried herself throughout the detention and the nine-month trial, calling prosecutors names and singing the Ukrainian anthem, turned her in an unrivalled national hero. A poster with her picture and a call for her release has adorned the rostrum at the Ukrainian parliament for months.

In the autumn after her capture, Savchenko was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament and appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Ukrainian government insisted from the start that Savchenko was a prisoner of war and should be immediately released. That didn't happen because Moscow argued that Savchenko was a dangerous criminal.

While approval ratings plummeted for many Ukrainian politicians who rose to prominence in the 2013-2014 protest movement which ultimately forced President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country, Savchenko's imprisonment became a universal cause for Ukrainians to rally around. The party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko enlisted Savchenko to top their ballot at the 2014 parliamentary election with analysts saying Savchenko's name was a big draw for voters.

"For the whole world and Ukraine, Nadiya embodies the might of Ukraine, strength, a resistance to occupying forces and the immorality which has unfortunately flooded politics," Tymoshenko said Wednesday.

Savchenko has skirted questions about her political ambitions and didn't mention it upon arrival on Wednesday, but Tymoshenko told reporters Savchenko wants to start working right now.

"She asked me: 'Where do I need to be, where do I go to start working,'" Tymoshenko told reporters. "A strong leader has come back home, that's for sure."

Ukrainian jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko speaks to the media upon her arrival at Boryspil airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Russia has released jailed pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Religion news in brief

Justice Department seeking death penalty in Charleston, SC, church shooting

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department says it intends to seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the white man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The victims included the pastor of Emmanuel African-Methodist Episcopal Church. Authorities say Roof opened fire during a June 17 Bible study.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the decision in a brief statement. It read: "The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision." Roof is awaiting trial on federal hate crime charges. He also faces state murder charges

FILE - This June 18, 2015, file photo, provided by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office shows Dylann Roof. The Justice Department intends to seek the death penalty against Roof, the man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (Charleston County Sheriff's Office via AP, file)

Though the Justice Department says it's committed to seeking the death penalty, federal executions are exceedingly rare. The last time a federal defendant was put to death was in 2003. And President Barack Obama has said he's "deeply concerned" about the death penalty's implementation. At the time of the massacre, some relatives of the victims expressed forgiveness.

Because Roof had posed in photographs with the Confederate flag, a growing debate was sparked on the display of the banner in public buildings.

___

Creditors: Minnesota archdiocese sitting on $1.7 billion

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Attorneys have accused a Minnesota archdiocese of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors.

They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets  far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of undervaluing assets and tucking money away in corporations to shield it from creditors.

Jeff Anderson, an attorney for hundreds of people claiming sexual abuse by priests, said the church had schemed to defraud creditors and deny fair resolution of claims.

The archdiocese filed bankruptcy in January 2015 as it faced an onslaught of new abuse claims after Minnesota lawmakers opened a three-year window for claims that had previously been barred by a statute of limitations.

___

Priest abuse victim sentenced for child pornography

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky newspaper reports a man who was abused by a Catholic priest in Louisville as a child has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using two boys to produce child pornography.

The Courier-Journal reports 47-year-old Michael Mudd, of Bullitt County near Louisville, was sentenced to the 30 years sought by prosecutors.

Mudd pleaded guilty in June to two counts of producing child pornography. His attorney had requested a 15-year sentence, saying Mudd's case "justifies a degree of mercy not otherwise warranted."

Mudd says he was molested at age 11 by the Rev. Daniel C. Clark. Clark pleaded guilty in 1988 to abusing Mudd and another boy.

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell said that while Mudd's own abuse was unfortunate, the public still must be protected.

___

French president in anti-extremism talks with Al-Azhar imam

PARIS (AP)  The French president has met with the grand imam of the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning Al-Azhar to share views on the fight against extremism.

The presidency said Francois Hollande (frahn-SWAH' oh-LAWND') detailed France's priorities on the issue and that French authorities welcomed Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib efforts to combat radicalism.

Earlier Tuesday, the Cairo-based grand imam went to the Bataclan (bah-tah-KLAHN') concert hall to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks carried out by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead on Nov. 13.

A French government plan presented this month includes the creation of de-radicalization facilities in every region by 2017.

El-Tayyib came to Paris to open a Muslim-Catholic conference on East-West relations, after a meeting with Pope Francis on Monday that reopened an important channel for inter-religious dialogue.

___

Hundreds attend funeral for slain boy

HOUSTON (AP)  About 500 mourners filled a Houston church to capacity Tuesday for the funeral for an 11-year-old boy who was stabbed to death as he walked home from school.

Josue Flores' slaying a week ago remains unsolved.

The Rev. Anil Thomas of Holy Name Catholic Church called the death "a wound that's still left open."

Some of Josue's classmates from Marshall Middle School were among those attending services. A high school mariachi band provided music.

The sixth-grader was walking home from a science club meeting after school May 17 when he was attacked on a sidewalk a couple of blocks from his home in a neighborhood just north of downtown Houston.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has urged anyone with information about the slaying to come forward. A $15,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

___

Dover church to host ceremony ahead of its demolition

DOVER, N.H. (AP)  An 83-year-old New Hampshire church will hold a closing ceremony this weekend ahead of its upcoming demolition to make room for a housing development.

Foster's Daily Democrat reports the ceremony on Sunday will celebrate the history of St. Charles Church and allow the Dover community to say goodbye.

The church and its rectory will be torn down this summer to make room for a housing development dubbed Bradley Commons. The church was built in 1933 following a fire that destroyed the previous house of worship a year earlier.

___

Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, talks with an advisor as he leaves the Elysee Palace, after a meeting with France's President Francois Hollande, in Paris, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
UK looks into Italian claims that WWII sub has been found

ROME (AP)  Britain's Royal Navy says it's looking into claims by an Italian diver that he located the long-lost wreck of the HMS P311 submarine, which was downed off Sardinia during World War II.

Diver Massimo Bondone told the La Nuova Sardegna daily he found the P311 at a depth of 80 meters (262 feet) off the isle of Tavolara during a dive last weekend.

Paola Pegoraro of the Orso diving club, which provided logistics for the dive, told The Associated Press the sub was positively identified by the two Chariot "human torpedoes" affixed to the outside.

In this image taken from a video, a partial view of a British submarine downed off Sardinia during World War II. An Italian diver claims to have located the long-lost wreck of the British submarine HMS P311 that was downed off Sardinia during World War II. Diver Massimo Bondone told the La Nuova Sardegna daily that he found the P311 at a depth of 80 meters (262 feet) off the isle of Tavolara during a dive last weekend. (Massimo Bondone via AP)

"We are examining our records to determine whether or not this is a Royal Navy submarine," a British Navy spokesman said Wednesday on condition of anonymity, in line with navy regulations.

The spokesman stressed that if it is indeed the P311, the wreck belongs to Britain and any possible remains on board must be respected.
Microsoft's Windows 10 push comes to shove for some users

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Microsoft really, REALLY wants you to upgrade to Windows 10.

Since last summer, the tech giant has pushed and prodded PC owners to upgrade their machines to its latest Windows version. While the upgrade is currently free for most consumers with Windows PCs, critics say the company's heavy-handed nudging amounts to an "offer you can't refuse."

Microsoft initially offered Windows 10 as an optional upgrade  that is, one that users had to choose themselves. Then, earlier this year, the company reclassified it as a "recommended" update. Some Windows 10 holdouts cried foul, since many PCs are set up to automatically install recommended updates, which are usually important security fixes. Suddenly those machines would automatically install Windows 10 as well.

FILE - In this April 29, 2015, file photo, a Dell laptop computer running Windows 10 is on display at the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco. In a statement issued to the BBC on May 24, 2016, Microsoft denied claims that it was forcing users of older Windows versions to upgrade to Windows 10. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

At one point, some PC owners complained, Microsoft began sending on-screen messages prompting them to download and install Windows 10. The catch: Where most such pop-up windows have buttons marked "OK" and "Cancel," this message displayed two buttons that both led to an upgrade ("Upgrade Now" and "Upgrade Tonight"). To avoid the upgrade, diehard resisters had to click a red "X'' in the upper-right corner that closed the window.

Microsoft then revised the notifications, citing customer feedback. A new version tells PC owners they are scheduled for a "recommended" upgrade to Windows 10 at a specific time in the near future, and bears a prominent "OK" button. To reject or reschedule the change, users have to find and click a less conspicuous link in small type. But clicking the "X'' no longer blocks the upgrade.

Some PC users reacted as though Microsoft had left a horse's head in their bed.

"Deceptive" and "a nasty trick" is how Brad Chacos, an editor at PCWorld, put it in a column after his wife unwittingly clicked the "X'' and later found her machine was no longer running Windows 7, which she had wanted to keep.

"Deploying these dirty tricks only frustrates long-time Windows users who have very valid reasons to stick with operating systems they already know and love," wrote Chacos, who added that he uses and likes Windows 10 personally. His wife, though, is now shopping for a Mac.

Microsoft says it isn't trying to be sneaky. In blog posts and official statements, the company says it shows users at least two notifications before it activates Windows 10. It also allows any PC owner to reverse the installation and go back to their old software if they do so within 31 days.

"We understand you care deeply about what happens with your device. This is why - regardless of your upgrade path - you can choose to upgrade or decline the offer," Microsoft executive vice president Terry Myerson wrote in a blog post .

Even so, Microsoft clearly wants to get as many PCs and other devices running Windows 10 as it possibly can. The company says it wants users to have the latest security features and other improvements. Microsoft also makes more money from Windows 10 features that increase usage of Bing, the company's ad-supported search engine. And it wants to convince programmers there's a big audience for software apps that are compatible with Windows 10 on PCs, tablets, smartphones and other gadgets.

Microsoft announced earlier this month that 300 million devices are running Windows 10  a faster adoption rate than either of the two previous Windows versions.

Most buyers of new PCs will find Windows 10 already installed. But Microsoft says its offer of a free upgrade for old machines is ending July 29  and that means more notices and prompts are likely.

___
Meet David Korins, the man behind the look of 'Hamilton'

NEW YORK (AP)  When you see the Broadway smash "Hamilton"  if you're lucky enough to see it, that is  you should know that something important quietly happens at intermission.

The walls get bigger: Stagehands add 8 feet to the brick walls at the back of the stage. It's a subtle change, reflecting the musical's transition from showing the nation's birth in Act 1 to building a nation in Act 2.

It's a touch supplied by David Korins, who earned his first Tony Award nomination for his deceptively simple-looking set. The scenic designer, who has created worlds for "Grease Live!" and Kanye West, isn't bothered if the audience doesn't pick up on the change.

FILE - In this May 4, 2016 file photo, David Korins attends the 2016 Tony Awards "Meet the Nominees" press junket in New York. Korins earned his first Tony Award nomination for set design for "Hamilton." The Tony Awards will be held on Sunday, June 12. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

"No one sees it. They're busy reading their programs and buying merchandise or whatever they are doing. But when they come back in, subtlety, the massing of the walls and the set is different," he said.

"I think if one person understands, either consciously or subconsciously, those walls have grown, that's a profound difference  to know that we've taken the time and the energy to create that for them."

Korins' work in opera, film, concerts, theater and TV ranges from sleek, hyper-minimalist to homey and crafty. People tend to call him when the job is going to be hard, as in lots of locations and items that will defy physics.

That's why he was the perfect guy for the job when the musical about Alexander Hamilton came calling. Here was a sweeping, epic story that took place over 30 years and multiple places.

"When I read the piece and I listened to the music for the very first time, I felt a swirling, circular motion to the thing," he said. "I didn't really know what that meant. I just sort of filed it away in my mental Rolodex."

Korins started by investigating every real location and detail from actual history, from the spot where Hamilton died to the size of George Washington's desk.

He then devised a theatrical metaphor for the show: scaffolding, to both reflect the process of nation-building and to allow the actors to witness history being made from two levels.

Perhaps Korins' masterstroke was the advocacy of two massive turntables, which lent fluidity and energy to a story that involves a swirling hurricane and the circular relationship between Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

"His design is one of these unconscious and yet deeply felt parts of our show," said director Thomas Kail, who had previously worked with Korins on the sports-themed plays "Magic/Bird" and "Lombardi."

"With a turntable, we could have stillness and movement relative to each other," said Kail. "It allowed us to express the inevitability of time. That we could be standing still and yet we move."

Korins is quick to note that not all his ideas were home runs. At the end of a very early version, cast members pulled out sections of the stage to reveal a reflective pool where Hamilton and his wife were reunited after his death. In the end, it was too distracting.

"I'm looking to do what is best for the narrative," he said. "To me, there were a lot of way cooler things I could have done for 'Hamilton.' I felt I did exactly what I had to to make the story as best told as it could be. And that's my goal always."

The Tony nomination caps a busy few years for Korins, who runs a 15-member design firm in midtown. He has done the designs on Broadway for "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," ''Misery" with Bruce Willis and "Motown the Musical," which is returning to the Great White Way.

He studied theater design at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and cut his teeth building some 100 sets at the Williamstown Theatre Festival before coming to New York and funding a theater company with every cent he could spare.

He's built sets for tours by Kanye West, Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli  who all wanted a "slightly more heightened theatrical experience"  and immersive shows like David Byrne's "Here Lies Love " about Imelda Marcos.

"I remember people early on saying, 'It's so different designing movies from TV or theater from rock concerts.' I don't see that at all. I see things much more holistically. The design of a piece of theater and a restaurant, in my mind, are the exact same."

His subtle touch means that when he designs for the opera, the stairs are a little smaller so a diva can move gracefully down them. But when he designed the set for "The Pee-wee Herman Show," he made the steps taller so Pee-wee would look like a little kid clumping up the stairs.

If he has a mantra, it's probably whatever works best. "I like to think that my hallmark is literally that I don't have a hallmark," he said. "You don't look at the thing and say, 'Oh, that's a David Korins' set.'"

___

Online:

http://www.hamiltonbroadway.com

___

Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
Swiss region: Muslim boys must shake female teachers' hands

GENEVA (AP)  A school board in northern Switzerland said Wednesday that two Muslim boys who have refused to shake hands with their female teachers for religious reasons can be required to do so, ruling that their parents could face fines of up to 5,000 Swiss francs (about $5,000) if they don't.

A public school in the northeastern Therwil municipality had sought the regional school board's advice after accepting the boys' belief that they should only willingly touch the women whom they will eventually marry. The school had temporarily exempted the teens from shaking hands with teachers.

The boys' refusal set off a debate in Switzerland, which has a tradition of handshake greetings. Like elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland has at times struggled to strike the right cultural balance amid a recent influx of Muslims and other newcomers.

"The public interest concerning the equality of men and women as well as the integration of foreigners significantly outweighs the pupils' freedom of religion and belief," the school board said in a statement. "The social gesture of shaking hands is important if pupils are to be prepared for working life."

Under the decision, teachers at the school can require their students to shake hands. Refusal to comply could land the parents with a warning, a call to a meeting with school leaders, other disciplinary measures, and in the extreme, fines of up to 5,000 francs as part of standard school policies, the board said.

Sanctions would need to have "an educational purpose and be proportionate," it said.

The Central Islamic Council of Switzerland accused the authorities of "grossly overstepping their competency," saying such measures won't help integration but rather contribute to a feeling of alienation among Muslims. The council said it would take legal action against any effort to apply the sanctions, and ignore any fines.

School board spokeswoman Deborah Murith said the handshake requirement isn't uniform policy at all regional schools, but that the Therwil school had enacted it years ago.

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Switzerland has noted that politeness is a key aspect of Islamic tradition, and that refraining from handshakes is "inappropriate" in Switzerland.

___
A prairie church tucked away in the rolling hills of western North Dakota will open its doors Saturday to people throughout the region.

St. Clement's Catholic Church north of Glen Ullin holds Mass only a couple of times each year. One of those special occasions is the Feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It's been a Catholic feast day since the 13th century.

In Haymarsh, the rural farming community that's home to St. Clement's, the annual holiday has marked a cause for celebration since the church stopped offering weekly services in 1992.

Each year, 100 or so people drive up the gravel road from Interstate 94 until they see the white church steeple next to an old brick schoolhouse standing tall on the prairie.

This year, organizer Renae Duppong encourages Catholics, Protestants and people of all faiths to attend in an effort to build bridges.

"Many people have never been to a Mass before," Duppong said. "Come to us and see what it's like."

The Rev. John Paul Gardner, of the Fort Yates mission, will celebrate Saturday's Mass at St. Clement's beginning at 4 p.m. Duppong describes it as "a step back in time" with traditional hymns and Latin music.

The service also will include a include a Eucharistic procession outdoors. "Four men carry a canopy; a priest walks underneath it and leads a procession to an altar outside," Duppong said.

The congregation follows and prays before returning indoors for a final blessing. Next comes a potluck and a dance, weather permitting.

A free-will offering will be collected for the preservation of the St. Clement's building.

The church was established in 1887, but it burned to the ground twice  an all too frequent occurrence among structures built by the early settlers of the Great Plains. The current building was finished in 1937.

The facility is in need of a new coat of white paint as the current one is graying, Duppong said.

It stands in a peaceful setting ideal for fellowship, she said.

"We pray it may become a retreat center, if God wills it in the future," Duppong said.
South Korea's president arrives in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)  South Korea's President Park Geun-hye has arrived in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Wednesday night to start her three-nation visit to Africa.

Park is also slated to visit Kenya and Uganda to hold bilateral talks.

In Ethiopia, Park is expected to meet Ethiopian leaders on Thursday and on Friday to deliver a speech at the African Union, the first for a South Korean leader.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, left, walks with South Korea's President Park Geun-hye, right, as she arrives at the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Geun-hye arrived in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday evening at the start her three-nation visit to Africa, and is also slated to visit Kenya and Uganda to hold bilateral talks. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

Agreements in air service, elimination of double taxation, health, security, environment and transport are expected to be signed during Park's stay in Ethiopia, said an Ethiopian official.

"Korean health and supplementary food projects will also be inaugurated in her presence. In addition, a business-to-business forum is expected to take place in the capital city to connect Ethiopian investors with their South Korean counterparts," said Tewolde Mulugeta, spokesman for the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry.

Ethiopia and South Korea have a longstanding friendship. The African nation sent soldiers to fight in the Korean War in the early 1950s as part of an American-led United Nations force. More than 1,000 Ethiopian troops fought the North Korean army and more than 100 were killed in action.
pa

Antonio Conte refuses to comment on transfer plans as he focuses on task at hand

Cristian Romero and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have an outside chance of being fit for Wednesdays match.
Italy recovers 7 bodies, saves 500 after migrant ship flips

ROME (AP)  A large ship overturned Wednesday off Libya's coast with more than 500 migrants aboard, right as the Italian navy was approaching for rescue. Crews recovered seven bodies but saved more than 500 people who were thrown into the sea.

The Italian navy said its Bettica patrol ship was responding to a migrant ship in distress when it flipped. A photo of the capsized boat taken by the navy showed migrants scrambling up the side of the overturned ship, perching precariously on the exposed side as they awaited rescue, with hundreds more floating in the sea.

Crews tossed life jackets to those in the water and brought 500 to safety, the navy said in a statement.

People jump out of a boat right before it overturns off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

Rescue operations off Libya's coast have increased in recent weeks amid calm seas and warm weather  conditions that encourage Libyan-based smugglers to crowd hundreds of would-be refugees onto unseaworthy boats for the trip to Europe.

People jump out of a boat right before it overturns off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

People jump out of a boat right before it overturns off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

An Italian Navy ship approaches an overturned boat off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

People jump out of a boat right after overturning off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

People are helped to board an Italian Navy ship after a boat overturned off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. A statement from the Italian navy Wednesday says the Bettica patrol ship was responding to a migrant ship in distress when it flipped, sending migrants into the sea. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

An Italian Navy helicopter flies over an overturned boat off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from the overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)

People swim after jumping out of a overturning boat off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Italian navy says it has recovered 7 bodies from an overturned migrant ship off the coast of Libya. Another 500 migrants who on board were rescued safely. (Marina Militare via AP Photo)
Scientists: Underground stone rings made by Neanderthals

BERLIN (AP)  Two mysterious stone rings found deep inside a French cave were probably built by Neanderthals about 176,500 years ago, proving that the ancient cousins of humans were capable of more complex behavior than previously thought, scientists say.

The structures were made from hundreds of pillar-shaped mineral deposits, called stalagmites, which were chopped to a similar length and laid out in two oval patterns up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) inches high. They were discovered by chance in 1990, after remaining untouched for tens of thousands of years because a rockslide had closed the mouth of the cave at Bruniquel in southwest France.

While previous research had suggested the structures pre-dated the arrival of modern humans in Europe around 45,000 years ago, the notion that Neanderthals could have made them didn't fit long-held assumptions that these early humans were incapable of the kind of complex behavior necessary to work underground.

Using sophisticated dating techniques, a team led by archaeologist Jacques Jaubert of the University of Bordeaux, France, found that the stalagmites must have been broken off the ground around 176,500 years ago "making these edifices among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans."

"Their presence at 336 meters (368 yards) from the entrance of the cave indicates that humans from this period had already mastered the underground environment, which can be considered a major step in human modernity," the researchers concluded in a study published online Wednesday by the journal Nature.

Jaubert ruled out that the carefully constructed rings, which show traces of fire, could have come about by chance or been assembled by animals such as the bears and wolves whose bones were found near the entrance of the cave.

"The origin of the structures is undeniably human. It really cannot be otherwise," he told The Associated Press.

The Neanderthals who built them must have had a "project" to go so deep into a cave where there was no natural light, said Jaubert. They probably explored underground as a group and cooperated to build the rings, using fire to illuminate the cave, he said. "These are exceptional tours, certainly for extraordinary reasons we do not yet know."

Paola Villa, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder who wasn't involved in the study, said the site "provides strong evidence of the great antiquity of those elaborate structures and is an important contribution to a new understanding of the greater level of social complexities of Neanderthal societies."

The authors said the purpose of the oval structures  measuring 16 square meters (172 sq. feet) and 2.3 square meters (25 sq. feet)  is still a matter of speculation, though they may have served some symbolic or ritual purpose.

"A plausible explanation is that this was a common meeting place for some type of ritual social behavior," Villa suggested.

Wil Roebroeks, a Neanderthal expert at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, noted that the structures in Bruniquel may represent only the tip of the iceberg of Neanderthal culture, but most relics would have been made of organic material and decayed long ago.

"Bruniquel cave (shows) that circular structures were a part of Neanderthals' material culture," said Roebroeks, who called the rings "an intriguing find, which underlines that a lot of Neanderthal material culture, including their 'architecture,' simply did not survive in the open."

Roebroeks, who also wasn't involved in the study, said the fact that similar rings haven't been found anywhere else makes it hard to test any theory about how they came to be.

"One could even envisage that groups of Neanderthal teenagers explored this underground environment deep in the cave, as teenagers tend to do, building fires, breaking off stalagmites and gradually turning them into the structures that 175,000 years later made it into (the journal) Nature," he said.

___
For a long time, the debate has gone on - Does size matter to females?

Biologists now say, definitively, that it does, at least among fruit flies.

At issue is the fruit fly sperm, which is gargantuan in the tiny world of that speck-sized insect.

Scroll down for video

Fruit flies are observed at the Agrarian Health Service: Over time, female fruit flies have encouraged the production of bigger sperm by themselves developing larger organs or receptacles to store the sperm to later fertilize eggs, researchers say.

FACTS ABOUT FRUIT FLY SPERM Flies develop huge testes that make up almost 11 percent of its body weight in order to produce the giant sperm. Producing such sexual organs consumes so much energy that it delays the male insects' sexual maturity. The insects have about 800 sperm in their reproductive tracts at one time. Each sperm looks like a rolled-up ball of twine and is transferred to a female as a large mass that slowly loosens. The fly sperm is sluggish and relying more on some transport mechanism within the female to move toward its goal.

How big? A fruit fly's sperm is 2.3 inches long, or about 23 times longer than its body. It's more than 1,100 times longer than human sperm.

If a man had sperm the same proportion to its body as a fruit fly, it would be nearly 140 feet long.

This has been long known to scientists; they've also known that the sperm fits into the bug because it's coiled tightly, like a ball of yarn.

But they wondered was why such a little bug has such big sperm.

In other animals, it's like a lottery.

The more sperm males produce, the better chance of winning, or in this case reproducing.

Males do better with lots of tickets.

And the theory had been that longer sperm aren't as healthy, so bigger isn't better for males.

But in the case of fruit flies, it isn't about the males.

It's about what the females want.

It's about how the females genetically evolve their bodies to get the biggest and best sperm possible out of males, according to a new study released Wednesday by the journal Nature.

'Males are all suckers evolutionarily,' said study author Scot Pitnick, a biology professor at Syracuse University.

'We're just trying to hold our own. Females are driving all of it.'

The Drosophila bifurca (left) fruit fly's sperm, although tightly coiled, was discovered to be 5.8 centimetres in length (right), over 20 times the length of its body.

Over time, female fruit flies have encouraged the production of bigger sperm by themselves developing larger organs or receptacles to store the sperm to later fertilize eggs.

Smaller sperm get pushed out as the female mates voraciously with lots of males.

For the males, longer sperm means fewer sperm, but then 'only the highest quality males can manufacture enough sperm to capitalize,' said Pitnick, who has a 50-inch sperm tattoo wrapped around his right arm.

Pitnick's work found a genetic correlation between females evolving larger storage receptacles and males making larger sperm.

Geoff Parker, a biologist at the University of Liverpool who wasn't part of the research, said Pitnick makes 'the most plausible explanation to date.'

In the world of animals, there's a lot of weird features that evolve in sexually selected traits  elaborate peacock feather tails, lizard horns, deer antlers  but the fruit fly giant sperm 'are possibly the most extreme ornaments in all of nature,' the study said.

Pitnick ranked those ornaments in relation to body size. Fruit fly sperm are off the chart, much higher than any of its nearest competitors.

'It's the females that are driving the evolution of these absolutely absurd, ridiculous traits in males,' Pitnick said.
Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge, which asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful, follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

Scroll down for video

Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity (stock image)

The Obama administration has 'conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights,' the lawsuit reads.

Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously said 'there is no room in our schools for discrimination.'

The White House had no comment on the multi-state lawsuit.

Texas' lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply. The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (seen in July 2015) confirmed the lawsuit at a book signing hours before the state's Republican attorney general was scheduled to formally announce the challenge at a Wednesday news conference

Pressed about whether he knew of any instances in which a child's safety had been threatened because of transgender bathroom rights, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said 'there's not a lot of research' during a news conference about the lawsuit. He said he his office has heard from concerned parents, but didn't say how many, and said he did not meet with any parents of transgender students before drafting the lawsuit filed in a North Texas federal court.

The states claim that the directive demands 'seismic changes' in schools across the U.S. and forces them to let students choose a bathroom 'that match their chosen 'gender identity' on any given day.'

Two school districts joined the states in the lawsuit: one is the tiny Harrold school district in North Texas, which has roughly 100 students and passed a policy this week requiring students to use the bathroom based on the gender on their birth certificate. Superintendent David Thweatt said his schools have no transgender students to his knowledge but defended the district taking on the federal government.

'It's not moot because it was thrusted upon us by the federal government,' Thweatt said, 'or we were going to risk losing our federal funding.'

The question of whether federal civil rights law protects transgender people has not been definitively answered by the courts and may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. But schools that refuse to comply could be hit with civil rights lawsuits from the government and could face a cutoff of federal aid to education.

The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other overs a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

Education officials in Arizona said campuses already had policies to protect students from bullying and discrimination 'regardless of their gender identity.' A small Arizona school district also joined in the lawsuit.

'The fact that the federal government has yet again decided that it knows what is best for every one of our local communities is insulting and, quite frankly, intolerable,' Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas said
Pelosi defends Democratic Party chief criticized by Sanders

WASHINGTON (AP)  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday defended the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, who's been under attack from Bernie Sanders for undermining his longshot bid to become the party's presidential nominee.

Pelosi, D-Calif., seemed to choose her words carefully when reporters questioned her about Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is also a Florida congresswoman.

"Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz has the respect of her colleagues for her efforts and her leadership to unify the party and to win the election in November," she said. Pressed on whether she agreed with those sentiments, Pelosi said, "That was my statement."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., defends Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server in the wake of a State Department oversight report today that stated she broke federal rules, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington. As Congress prepares to get out of town for a week-long Memorial Day recess, Pelosi also said Republicans in Congress are dysfunctional and are responsible for the lack of funding to combat the Zika virus. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pelosi said she was unaware of reports that some Democrats felt retaining Wasserman Schultz was making it difficult for the party to coalesce. Several congressional Democrats were reluctant Wednesday to discuss whether Wasserman Schultz was viewed as a hindrance to unity.

"I'm not going to get involved in conversations about personality," Pelosi said. "I told you that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has the respect of her colleagues in the House for her hard work to unify and to win the elections."

Sanders' campaign against front-runner Hillary Clinton has created rifts within the party, with many of his more liberal, younger supporters following his lead and expressing resentment against the party establishment.

He has accused Wasserman Schultz of favoring Clinton by scheduling debates on weekend nights, for having many closed primaries not open to independent voters and for the superdelegate system that helped Clinton pad her lead. Clinton backers have been upset that Sanders hasn't abandoned his campaign so she can focus on likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Those ill feelings bubbled over this month at a chaotic Nevada Democratic Party convention in Las Vegas. Sanders' supporters shouted down speakers and later made death threats against the state party chair. Party leaders, including Wasserman Schultz, urged Sanders to vigorously condemn the outbursts.

"There is no excuse for what happened in Nevada, and it is incumbent upon all of us in positions of leadership to speak out," she said.

While Sanders said he condemns violence, he repeated his supporters' accusations that they were treated unfairly in the Nevada delegate selection process, which the party denied.

Sanders has said on CNN that he's supporting a challenger to Wasserman Schultz in the contest for the Democratic nomination for her House seat. He said if he was elected president, he would not reappoint her to lead the party.

Wasserman Schultz has led the DNC since 2011, and her current term expires in early 2017. The party chairman is traditionally selected by the party's presidential nominee and the DNC.

Sanders supporter Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said Wednesday that for the party to unify in the long term, "You're going to need leadership that's welcoming, respectful" of progressives' views.

"If Debbie is not capable of doing that, then somebody should be found to do it," Grijalva said. Asked if Wasserman Schultz could do those things, he said, "I'm not going to answer that one."

Asked if the party would be helped if Wasserman Schultz stepped aside, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, considered his party's likely Senate leader next year, said, "I'm not commenting."

Pelosi said she believes disquiet among Democrats largely stems from unhappiness with the party's delegate selection process.

___
Bio on billionaire Thiel, reportedly funding Hulk Hogan suit

Here's some biographical information on billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who has been secretly funding Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media, according to published reports:

___

NAME: Peter Andreas Thiel

FILE - In this Thursday, March 8, 2012, file photo, Clarium Capital President Peter Thiel speaks during his keynote speech at the StartOut LGBT Entrepreneurship Awards in San Francisco. Billionaire tech investor Thiel has been secretly funding Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker Media for publishing a sex tape, according to reports in Forbes and The New York Times. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

BORN: Oct. 11, 1967, in Frankfurt, Germany.

COMPANY CONNECTIONS: Thiel co-founded PayPal in 1998 and was its chairman and CEO. PayPal was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Thiel then founded the hedge fund Clarium Capital Management and helped launch the software firm Palantir Technologies. He also started the venture capital firm Founders Fund, co-founded the investment firm Mithril Capital Management and was Facebook's first outside investor and board member.

NET WORTH: $2.7 billion, according to Forbes' most recent list of the world's billionaires. This makes him No. 638 on the list.

POLITICS: A self-described libertarian, Thiel is a California delegate for Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. He has also donated to the campaigns of former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political fundraising and spending.

NOTABLE INTERESTS: Thiel raised eyebrows when he endowed the Thiel Fellowship, which provides $100,000 to young entrepreneurs who want to leave school to pursue a business or scientific idea. (Critics said he shouldn't encourage people to halt their education.) He's backed other unusual projects, including an effort to try new forms of government on man-made islands that would float outside the territory of current nations. He's also supported the Human Rights Foundation, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

QUOTE: "In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an escape from politics in all its forms  from the totalitarian and fundamentalist catastrophes to the unthinking demos that guides so-called 'social democracy,'" he wrote in 2009 on Cato Unbound, a blog of the libertarian Cato Institute.

EDUCATION: B.A. in philosophy from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.
Rivals Hamilton and Rosberg at peace despite crash in Spain

MONACO (AP)  In a rare show of unity so absent during their previous bouts of feuding, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg brushed aside any talk of tension in the wake of their crash at the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago.

They collided on the first lap in Barcelona, both spinning out of the race. The lost points were far more costly for Hamilton, who trails Rosberg by 43 points after five races, but the defending Formula One champion seems to be well over it.

"We spoke to each other today, and no problem," Hamilton said in the Mercedes motorhome on Wednesday ahead of this weekend's Monaco GP. "In the past there would have been some kind of tension, but it was just pure respect."

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany, left, talks with Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, during a press conference prior to the Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Formula One race will be held on Sunday. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Hamilton and Rosberg grew up racing karts against each other and became firm friends in their teenage years  only for that friendship to be severely tested two years ago.

First of all, Hamilton was irate when Rosberg appeared to deliberately go off track late in qualifying to deny him pole position at the Monaco GP. The tension reached breaking point three months later at the Belgian GP in Spa, when Hamilton accused Rosberg of deliberately barging into him with a risky overtaking move.

This time, efforts from both drivers has prevented any recurrence of that heated bickering.

"It's a showing of growth within Nico and I," Hamilton said. "I said 'I still have all the respect for you', and he said the same. So let's just keep racing."

Mercedes' head of motorsport Toto Wolff was angry with both drivers for the spectacular crash, and perhaps this has served to actually bring them together.

"It's always good to discuss things," Hamilton said. "It's always good to (talk), but I don't feel we had to because there is no issue."

The crash in Spain ended Rosberg's seven-race winning run  the first four races this season and the last three of 2015  but he skirted around the incident.

Rosberg, who was speaking at the pre-race news conference on Wednesday shortly before Hamilton spoke, said this should be handled "internally" because "we're trying to keep a good spirit" in the Mercedes camp.

However, like Hamilton, he insisted that there is no animosity.

"What I can say is that between the two of us it's a thing of the past," the German driver said. "We move on."
Colombia: Missing journalist may not be hostage of rebels

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  Colombia's president said Wednesday that a Spanish journalist missing in a lawless region might not be a hostage of leftist rebels as has been widely thought in this war-weary country, but instead is reporting from inside a rebel camp.

President Juan Manuel Santos' comments provided a glimmer of hope after four days of so far unsuccessful searching for Salud Hernandez-Mora, a longtime correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and a prominent columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo.

Santos said he has received information that Hernandez-Mora made contact with the National Liberation Army by choice and that the rebel group was trying to figure out how to return her safely amid the extensive search by security forces. He said he was still trying to verify the report but that it came from a trustworthy source whom he didn't identify.

Demonstrators hold banners asking for the release of three journalists who are believe to have been taken hostage, during a sit-in in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salud Hernandez-Mora, correspondent in Colombia for Spain's El Mundo and columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo, as well as Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo, journalists at the local TV network RCN, are reported missing on the northeastern Colombia's border with Venezuela, a mountainous area dominated by leftist rebels and drug-traffickers. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

"It's not completely verified but it has logic," Santos said, adding that the information coincided with information from the journalist's editors

Santos, however, said he had no information about two other journalists from local network RCN who went missing Monday while covering the search for Hernandez-Mora in the volatile Catatumbo region

Dozens of people gathered in Colombia's capital Wednesday to demand the safe return of Hernandez-Mora and the RCN journalists.

Authorities have declined to classify the disappearances as kidnappings. But speculation has been rife among Colombians that all three could be in the hands of the National Liberation Army, one of several rebel groups operating in that region.

Gen. Alberto Mejia, the head of the army, said troops on the ground engaged in combat with an unidentified group Tuesday.

As part of the search, authorities have dropped more than 30,000 pamphlets from the air over Catatumbo seeking information about Hernandez-Mora's whereabouts. They also offered a $30,000 reward.

Hernandez-Mora, who has lived in Bogota since the 1990s and also has Colombian citizenship, is one of the South American nation's most influential journalists. Admired and reviled in equal measure for her opinion columns frequently critical of the Santos government's peace efforts, even her detractors in the government acknowledge her courageous reporting in violent areas where the state has almost no presence.

Demonstrators hold signs to demand the release of three journalists who are believe to have been taken hostage, during a sit-in in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salud Hernandez-Mora, correspondent in Colombia for Spain's El Mundo and columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo, as well as Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo, journalists at the local TV network RCN, are reported missing on the northeastern Colombia's border with Venezuela, a mountainous area dominated by leftist rebels and drug-traffickers. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Demonstrators hold signs demanding the release of three journalists who are believed to have been taken hostage, during a sit-in in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salud Hernandez-Mora, correspondent in Colombia for Spain's El Mundo and columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo, as well as Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo, journalists at the local TV network RCN, are reported missing on the northeastern Colombia's border with Venezuela, a mountainous area dominated by leftist rebels and drug-traffickers. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Visitors to the state parks this summer will see some changes, the results of a record appropriation for North Dakota Parks and Recreation.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple in September 2014 proposed more than $30 million in capital projects in the state parks. While the 2015 Legislature instead approved $14.75 million, it still represented a record investment in the state parks system, said Mark Zimmerman, director of North Dakota Parks and Recreation.

Wed have loved to have all the money, but its still more than weve ever received, he said.

The money included $3 million to purchase the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn and $11.75 million to be spent at the departments discretion. Zimmerman said previous biennium appropriations have been $4 million to $5 million and earmarked for specific projects.

Some of the new projects for the biennium have been completed, some are underway and others will be completed next year.

The biggest projects include a new visitor center at Fort Ransom State Park and a new bait shop at Grahams Island State Park, both of which have broken ground. Zimmerman said the new buildings will provide new amenities for visitors and staff.

Other projects will provide a few more places to stay in the parks. The parks had a record number of people stay overnight in 2015. In about a 180-day period, the camps record 72,000 camper nights, that is nights in which someone occupied a single camp site. There also were 3,000 cabin nights.

Thats busier than any motel chain in North Dakota, Zimmerman said.

Dalrymples 2014 proposal had included 180 new campsites, including more than 100 spots at Lake Sakakawea State Park alone, along with a lodge at Lake Sakakawea. While the lodge and most of the new campsites did not make the cut, there are some additional campsites and structures for overnight stays.

Cross Ranch State Park previously was considered a primitive park, with no electricity. However, people were bringing in generators to run their campers, and the sound was disturbing those who went to the park for its primitive state, Zimmerman said. The park should have a new electric campground by the Missouri River Bluegrass Festival in mid-June, which will allow for separating modern and primitive campers.

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is getting 10 new sites, as well as electricity added to 18 existing sites. Fort Ransom has two new yurts, and Cross Ranch is getting one new yurt as well as a full-service cabin.

Another change, unrelated to the appropriations, is that the campgrounds in the state parks have gone to a 100 percent reservation system. That means there are no more first-come, first-serve camp sites. Anyone who wants to camp in the parks must make prior reservations, either online or by phone.

More than half of campers make reservations online, where they can see the sites they are reserving. While not everyone has liked the change, Zimmerman said other states have had success in moving to a reservation-only system.

Most of them tell us it takes folks a little getting used to, he said.

North Dakota Parks and Recreation have plenty of new amenities for overnight visitors, as well as visitors who just come for the day, Zimmerman said. The parks had more than 1.2 million visitors last year, many of whom came in for events or short periods of time.

Repairs on roads through Fort Abraham Lincoln should be completed by Memorial Day. Zimmerman explained the major road project was not a big fancy project but a necessary one. The roads have flooded many times, including in 2011 when they spent the entire summer under water.

New comfort stations are being built at Fort Stevenson State Park and Icelandic State Park. Lake Metigoshe State Park and Turtle River State Park also will get new comfort stations in the fall. Zimmerman explained that the buildings, half a million dollars each, will replace rest areas built in the 1980s that are not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The new comfort stations also will have family bathrooms, which have been popular with visitors.

Trails at Little Missouri State Park and Turtle River State Park will get some maintenance work, as well as some new trails. The Garrison Bay Marina in Fort Stevenson State Park will have erosion damage repaired. Buildings constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Lake Metigoshe State Park and Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park will get some needed upgrades and repairs so they can get more use.

The appropriation also will go toward establishing the master plan for the Missouri River Day Park. The park, which will be on land owned by the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation south of the Missouri River Correctional Center. Zimmerman said he hopes that an entrance road and a primitive trail to the river will be built by late this fall.

Thats going to be fun, he said. Thatll be our first new state park since Cross Ranch in 1989.
Zimbabwe: Thousands march for Mugabe

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  Thousands gathered in Zimbabwe on Wednesday to support President Robert Mugabe, with speakers calling for him to rule for life.

On buses, trains, trucks and by foot, Mugabe's supporters traveled to the capital, Harare, for the rally.

Speakers said 92-year-old Mugabe should rule until he dies. His wife, Grace, went a step further and described how she would like to see him rule from the grave, prompting wild cheers from the crowd.

"He is irreplaceable," Grace Mugabe said before the president took to the podium, where he accused some party officials of leaking information that slandered his wife and criticized people who say he should quit.

"They say I must go. Why do they want me to retire?" Mugabe said in a speech lasting more than one hour. "They are afraid of me."

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has been hit by factional infighting, some of which has involved his wife, who is becoming more politically active. Mugabe described party leaders angling to succeed him as "treasonous."

Mugabe, who has previously said he hopes to live until he is 100 years old, has led Zimbabwe since the end of white minority rule in 1980. The country is suffering from rising unemployment and a debilitating economic downturn.

Organizers from the youth league of the ruling party said the event was meant to celebrate Mugabe's leadership and to strengthen calls for him to stay in office until he dies.
Nasa's yearlong spaceman still is nursing sore feet, stiff legs and fatigue, even after nearly three months back on Earth.

Retired astronaut Scott Kelly gave his first major address to Nasa employees, confiding that while he may have looked good upon landing in Kazakhstan at the beginning of March, he didn't feel that well after returning from the International Space Station.

His 340-day mission was the longest single U.S. spaceflight ever.

Scroll down for video

Retired astronaut Scott Kelly, center, and his twin brother Mark Kelly, back, are greeted by children in the hallway of the Kelly Elementary School after the school was named in their honor in West Orange, N.J.: Kelly said he also had burning skin, rashes and flu-like symptoms, and if he hadn't just returned from space, he would have gone straight to the emergency room.

SCOTT KELLY IN SPACE Scott Kelly flew in space four times, beginning with space shuttle Discovery's trip to Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope on the STS-103 servicing mission in 1999. On his second mission, STS-118, he crossed the threshold of the International Space Station for the first time as commander of space shuttle Endeavour. He returned to the station for a six-month stay in 2010, commanding Expedition 26. Nine days after his mission ended last month, Kelly announced he was retiring.

'When I got out of the Soyuz ... I didn't really look too bad,' Kelly told a packed auditorium at NASA headquarters in Washington.

'But that was only because I'm a very good actor. I think I should be nominated for an Academy Award.

'My goal here was not to look great.

'I just had to make sure I didn't look worse than the two guys I was with. My colleagues would never let me hear the end of it,' he added with a smile.

Kelly was accompanied back to Earth by two Russians, one of whom shared his entire nearly yearlong flight.

Back home in Houston, Kelly said he had burning skin, rashes and flu-like symptoms.

He said he felt so bad that if he hadn't just returned from space, he would have gone straight to the emergency room.

'But that's why we do this,' he said. 'We need to learn these things if we're going to go to Mars.'

NASA wants to understand how the body copes with a year of weightlessness, as it gears up to send humans on much longer journeys to Mars beginning in the 2030s.

Nasa will be conducting a series of tests on Scott Kelly now that he has landed back on Earth to see how his body coped with spending almost a year in space

Kelly, 52, who retired from NASA shortly after his mission, is now on the speaker circuit and working on a book.

He and identical twin brother Mark, a retired astronaut who took part in his brother's medical experiments as a ground subject, sometimes share center stage these days.

Last week, they were honored at their elementary school in New Jersey, now named for them both.

During Wednesday's presentation, which was broadcast to NASA centers nationwide, Kelly joked that on the space station, 'I changed positions so many times, you would have thought I was running for president.'

No longer a civil servant, 'I can say that now.'

WHY YOU GET TALLER IN SPACE Astronauts can grow up to 3 inches taller in space because of how microgravity affects the human body. Imagine that the vertebrae in your back form a giant spring. Pushing down on the spring keeps it coiled tightly. When the force is released, the spring stretches out. In the same way, the spine elongates by up to three percent while humans travel in space. There is less gravity pushing down on the vertebrae, so they can stretch out - up to 7.6 centimeters (3 inches). To some degree, stretching of the spine happens to every night. When you lie down, gravity isn't pushing down on your vertebrae

Someone in the audience wanted to know if Kelly ever felt as though he had to get off the space station, at any point during his mission.

'I never felt quite like I was climbing the walls,' he replied, although not even halfway through, 'I'm thinking this is a really, really long time.'

In fact, as his Russian Soyuz capsule approached the orbiting outpost in March 2015, Kelly said to himself, 'Man, this is probably a really dumb idea to be spending a year on the space station.'

His previous station stay, five years earlier, had lasted barely five months.

'This flight was twice as long and I felt twice as bad,' he said.

It took Kelly about six months to recover completely from his five-month station flight.

This time, he said, 'I suspect it's probably going to be much longer, especially considering how sore my feet still are after 2  months.
Arizona sheriff warns of cartel gunfire in wilderness

FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP)  An Arizona sheriff has warned holiday hikers and campers to beware of cartel assassins who have been ambushing rivals and stealing drugs and money.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu recommends that anyone using backroads, campsites or trails in an area south of the county be extra cautious and consider carrying a firearm.

Babeu, who is running as a Republican for an open seat in Arizona's 1st Congressional District, says no civilians have been hurt.

The federal Bureau of Land Management oversees two national monuments with portions in southwestern Pinal County, north of the Mexico border.

BLM spokesman Adam Milnor says criminal activity in the area ebbs and flows and activity is now in the higher range.

Milnor wouldn't discuss Babeu's comment that people consider carrying guns.
They are already promising to make the journey to work more bearable for commuters, but self-driving vehicles could also soon transform the way the US armed forces operate in dangerous areas.

A convoy of US Army autonomous trucks is due to cruise along a stretch of public highway in Michigan in June as part of a trial of driverless military vehicles.

Although the vehicles to be used in the trial will be flatbed military trucks, the technology could also be rolled out for tanks and armoured vehicles.

Scroll down for video

The technology within each car being tested will include adaptive cruise control and lane keep assistance (pictured above during testing in Texas in 2014)

Due to current road laws, each vehicle in the test will have someone sitting behind the wheel, but the autonomous technology will use sensors to help it stay on the road.

Each truck will use adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance to stay within the convoy.

The US Army is thought to be keen to make use of autonomous trucks to help free up its personnel for other roles while also allowing it to send unmanned vehicles into dangerous areas.

HOW DO VEHICLES 'SEE' THE ROAD? Called the Unmanned Mission Module, the technology used in the Fort Hood tests included a high performance LIDAR sensor - or laser radar. This remote sensing technology is capable of scanning the road ahead and measuring distances by illuminating a target with a laser, and analysing the light that is reflected. The module is also fitted with a GPS receiver to plan, and track the convoys route. Google's self-driving cars use similar sensors and technologies to navigate through towns and cities. Advertisement

Attacks on vehicles and convoys are a common cause of casualties in war zones while accidents also contribute to military fatalities.

According to the Times Herald of Port Huron, the test on the Interstate 69 highway in Michigan will be the first time the army has taken its self-driving vehicles onto public roads.

The highway will remain open to traffic during the testing period.

Previously it has demonstrated the technology on private roads on its test facilities, including in a mockup of a real town to show how they would cope in urban settings.

Alex Kade, from the US Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Centre, said: 'Six radio transmitters will be set up along Interstate 69 to allow for groups of five vehicles to broadcast speed, distance, and traffic issues as directed over the frequency.'

If the testing is successful, the technology could save the lives of soldiers serving overseas, according to officials.

The US army tested a convoy of autonomous vehicles on private roads in Fort Hood, Texas, (pictured) in 2014. However this will be the first time they are tested on a public highway

The vehicles are fitted with a GPS receiver so members of the US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) can plan, and track the convoy's route on handheld computers (pictured)

Remote sensing technology is capable of scanning the road ahead and measuring distances by illuminating a target with a laser, and analysing the light that is reflected (pictured above during testing in Texas in 2014)

Mr Kade added: 'The advancement of driverless vehicles could help cut down on accidents and dangerous combat situations for soldiers, especially in places where bombs and improvised explosive devices could be hidden.'

There is also the possibility that the technology could also lead to new types of robotic combat vehicles.

Five years ago the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Centre unveiled a self-driving tank-like vehicle driving off-road and crossing ditches.




A wrestler, a website and maybe a billionaire go to the mat

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)  Is Hulk Hogan's courtroom cage match with Gawker being bankrolled by a high-tech billionaire with a grudge against the news-and-gossip site?

Two months after Hogan won a $140 million invasion-of-privacy verdict against Gawker for posting a sex tape of him, news reports say the pro wrestler is secretly backed by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and was an early investor in Facebook, was outed as gay by a Gawker-owned website in 2007, and the Gawker empire has run a number of stories skewering Facebook.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 8, 2012, file photo, Clarium Capital President Peter Thiel speaks during his keynote speech at the StartOut LGBT Entrepreneurship Awards in San Francisco. Billionaire tech investor Thiel has been secretly funding Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker Media for publishing a sex tape, according to reports in Forbes and The New York Times. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

Legal experts say there is nothing illegal  or even unethical  about someone financing a lawsuit. There are entire companies that invest in contingency claims, usually in product liability, personal injury, patent infringement and copyright cases. It is called "litigation financing."

But a billionaire doing it out of what may be spite? That's a little different, experts say.

"As much as this is not at all illegal or unethical, it just smells and feels wrong," said Scott Greenfield, a New York lawyer who is managing editor of Fault Lines, an online legal magazine. "When a rich guy can basically afford to bring down a media outlet, that has horrible social ramifications, even if the particular outfit is one that everybody hates, like Gawker."

On Wednesday, Hogan and Gawker were back in a Florida court, where Judge Pamela Campbell denied Gawker's request for a new trial and refused to reduce the damages. Gawker vows to take the case to an appeals court.

Swirling in the background of the court proceedings were reports in The New York Times and Forbes that Thiel is footing Hogan's legal bills against their common enemy, Gawker. The news stories cited unidentified sources.

Thiel, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $2.7 billion, didn't immediately respond to interview requests made through email or on the voicemail of a mobile phone number he previously provided to an Associated Press reporter.

Hogan's lawyers wouldn't comment on the Thiel story but praised the judge for denying a new trial and accused Gawker of refusing to accept responsibility for "their reprehensible behavior and method of doing what they call journalism."

Gawker reacted to the reports by saying: "There are very serious questions about whether Hulk Hogan financially benefited, and this case is far from over."

Thiel has never hidden his contempt for Valleywag, a gossip site that Gawker periodically ran during the past decade to expose the secrets of Silicon Valley moguls, sometimes in salacious fashion.

In a 2009 interview, Thiel called Valleywag "the Silicon Valley equivalent of al-Qaida" and said it relies on people who "should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters."

The attack spurred speculation that Thiel was still angry about a Valleywag report two years earlier about his sexuality. Others believe Thiel may have been far more upset about Valleywag's stories mocking Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and questioning the social network's value before it went public in 2012.

Those derogatory stories could have eroded the fortune Thiel was building in Facebook, where he remains a board member.

During Wednesday's court proceedings, Gawker's attorneys asked the judge to allow them to seek evidence from the other side regarding Thiel's supposed involvement. But the judge said no.

Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a 2007 video of him having sex with the wife of his best friend, Tampa radio personality Bubba The Love Sponge Clem. Hogan said Clem betrayed him by secretly videotaping him.

Gawker is counting on the verdict to be overturned on appeal and has not said whether it can afford the full $140 million. During the trial, Gawker's parent company, a collection of websites called Gawker Media, was estimated to be worth $83 million.

Earlier this month, Hogan sued Gawker again, saying the website leaked sealed court documents containing a transcript that quoted him making racist remarks. After the National Enquirer published the story, the WWE pro wrestling company severed its ties with Hogan. Gawker denies it leaked the transcript.

In legal circles, attorney James Sammataro of Miami said people speculated how Hogan could afford such a large "dream team" of lawyers.

Said Miami attorney Richard Wolfe: "It sounds to me that Hulk Hogan made a smart deal by getting the right guy to finance his lawsuit."

___

This story has been corrected to show that it was Gawker, not Hogan, who requested a new trial.

___

Liedtke reported from San Francisco.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, appears in court, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. A Florida judge on Wednesday denied Gawker's motion for a new trial in Hogan's sex-video case and won't reduce a $140 million jury verdict. (Scott Keeler/The Tampa Bay Times via AP, Pool)

Hulk Hogan, left, whose real name is Terry Bollea, talks with attorney Shane Vogt as he appears in court Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. A Florida judge on Wednesday denied Gawker's motion for a new trial in Hogan's sex-video case and won't reduce a $140 million jury verdict. (Scott Keeler/The Tampa Bay Times via AP, Pool)
Czech ruling coalition quarrels over smoking ban

PRAGUE (AP)  The Czech Parliament has rejected a bill to ban smoking in bars after it failed to get the support of a government coalition partner.

Most lawmakers from the ANO party, led by Finance Minister Andrej Babis, rejected the plan Wednesday, leading to accusations from the Social Democrats that it is damaging the governing coalition.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka accused ANO of favoring the tobacco lobby, while Babis replied it was Sobotka's Social Democrats who destroyed the bill by agreeing with an opposition proposal to allow smoking in separate rooms.

A majority of Czechs support a ban.

Currently, it is up to Czech bar owners to decide if they allow unrestricted smoking in their establishments.
UN chief calls for restraint amid Congo political tension

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on politicians in the Congo to place the interests of their country ahead of their own, amid reports of rising political tension in the African nation.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Ban said he was profoundly concerned by the reports and called on "all parties to exercise restraint and express their views peacefully, including in the context of demonstrations scheduled to take place on 26 May."

Tension is building in Congo as President Joseph Kabila maneuvers to remain in office beyond his constitutionally permitted term, U.S. officials and opposition members say.
The Latest: Michigan man faces murder charge in 2014 death

MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP)  The Latest on charges filed against a Michigan man in the 2014 fatal shooting of a 36-year-old woman (all times local):

___

4:20 p.m.

A man charged with killing a jogger in western Michigan in 2014 has appeared in court to hear the accusations against him.

Jeffrey Willis appeared in court Wednesday without an attorney, which is typical at arraignments. The Muskegon County judge entered not guilty pleas on Willis' behalf. He will get a court-appointed attorney.

The 46-year-old Willis was arrested last week and charged with kidnapping after a 16-year-old girl says he abducted her and she escaped from his van. Now he's charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Rebekah Bletsch, who was killed while jogging about two years ago.

Police say they've connected a gun seized from Willis' van to Bletsch's death. Willis is also a suspect in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk, Jessica Heeringa.

___

11:35 a.m.

A western Michigan man accused of abducting a 16-year-old girl last month has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 36-year-old woman in 2014.

The Muskegon County prosecutor's office announced the charge Wednesday against 46-year-old Jeffrey Willis, of Muskegon Township, in the death of Rebekah Bletsch.

Willis had been under investigation in her death since he was charged last week with kidnapping and other crimes in an incident involving a girl in Muskegon County's Fruitland Township. She told investigators that she jumped out of Willis' van to escape.

Authorities also have said Willis is being investigated in the 2013 disappearance of then-25-year-old Jessica Heeringa.

He's being held on $1 million bond. The public defender's office, which is representing Willis, says it doesn't comment on pending cases.

___
Memorable moments from the National Spelling Bee

OXON HILL, Md. (AP)  The 284 kids competing in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee got their first opportunity to approach the microphone on Wednesday  and to hear the dreaded bell that signals an incorrect spelling. At the end of Wednesday's onstage rounds, the field was cut to 45 spellers for Thursday's finals.

Here are some highlights from the preliminary rounds, which featured more difficult words than in past years  a trend that will continue into the finals. Scripps changed the rules to make the bee more difficult after the competition ended in a tie for two straight years.

___

Akash Vukoti, 6, of San Angelo, Texas, tries to shorten the microphone before spelling his word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Vukoti is the youngest speller in this year competition. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

BATTING LEADOFF

Speller No. 1 this year was Erin Howard, which meant all eyes  and extra pressure  were on her when the bee began. Scripps showed it meant business by launching the bee with "abecedarius," which she got right. She also spelled "tulipomania" correctly to open the second onstage round.

Erin, 11, knew there was a chance she'd be batting leadoff because she's from Huntsville, Alabama, and the spellers are organized in alphabetical order by state.

"I was hoping they would mess up and put Alaska first," Erin said. "But no! Had to do it right!"

She didn't have time to settle her nerves before she was asked to approach the microphone.

"It's kind of abrupt," said Erin, who was among the finalists. "Oh, it's my turn! OK!"

___

YOUNGEST SPELLER

Six-year-old Akash Vukoti of San Angelo, Texas, was 1  when his uncle asked him to spell the word "spoon" during a trip to his parents' native India. He got it right.

A year later, his parents drove six hours from Cleveland to northern Virginia so he could compete in his first spelling bee  while still in diapers.

On Wednesday, Akash bounded up to the National Spelling Bee stage and reached well above his head to try to bend down the microphone. At one point, he tried to unscrew it.

His word was "inviscate," and when it became clear the kid would get it right, a wry smile broke across the face of veteran speller Jairam Hathwar, sitting nearby. Akash briefly put his hands over his ears when the crowd broke out into applause.

In the afternoon, Akash got a standing ovation after he was eliminated on "bacteriolytic," which he missed by a single letter.

Akash, who has also appeared on "Little Big Shots" with Steve Harvey and dreams of becoming an actor, said he knew every word during the first onstage round.

"All of those words came from the list that everybody studied," he said.

His other passion: corporate logos.

"You can show me any logo and I can tell you what company it is," Akash said.

Akash's mother, Kala Vukoti, a former engineer, home-schools him. His father, Krishna, is a pharmacist.

"He needs to be home-schooled," Krishna said. "He's very advanced. He's like five, six, seven grades higher" than his peers.

___

AFRICA'S HOPE

Spellers from Ghana, Jamaica, and South Korea were among the 45 finalists. The last international winner of the bee was Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998.

While Jamaica has produced dozens of strong spellers, the performance of Afua Ansah of Ghana caught observers by surprise. She had the second-highest score on the written test, missing a perfect score by just one point.

"It was easier than I thought," said Afua, 14.

While many spellers say the pressure is off once they make it to the final day of the bee, Afua said she's under more stress now. Her goal is to make the top 10.

"A heavy weight on my shoulders," she said. "I want to prove that I can actually make it."

Afua isn't sure what career she wants to pursue  neurosurgeon, lawyer and accountant are all possibilities. The only African speller in the bee, she wore a jacket with a kente pattern as a symbol of national pride.

The best part of the bee, she said, has been bonding with her spellers, "and to be able to share our anxieties."

___

I MUST HAVE SPELLED A THOUSAND TIMES

For years, spellers have come up with clever greetings for pronouncer Jacques Bailly. This year, the goal for many was to stump him by saying hello in a foreign language he didn't know.

But 10-year-old J.J. Chen of Bethesda, Maryland, took Adele as his inspiration for the drollest greeting of the day.

"Hello," J.J. said.

"Hello," Bailly said.

"It's me," J.J. deadpanned.

Later, J.J. said he came up with the idea when he was bored onstage waiting for his turn to spell. The first round was dull, he said, because he'd memorized all the words on the list.

"In the morning, I counted the number of times I clapped," he said. "This afternoon, since they were surprise words, it was more interesting."

J.J.'s parents, James and Yuesha Chen, said their son showed a gift for language at an early age and could spell "transportation" at age 3.

"At daycare, (when) his friends had trouble reading things, they went to J.J.," James said.

J.J. made the finals, the youngest speller to do so.

___

DING! DING! DING!

Last year, only four spellers got words wrong during the first onstage round. The words used during that round came from a list that spellers were able to study for months while preparing for their regional bees.

This year, spellers only got the opening-round list about 50 days in advance, and the bell rang for 33 spellers. Among the words that were misspelled: chanoyu, scarlatina, tilleul, preterition, quadrumanous and octateuch.

"This year, we upped the challenge," said Paige Kimble, the bee's executive director.

In the afternoon, it got even tougher. The bell rang for 80 spellers. But as Kimble predicted, many of the words sounded easier to the adults in the audience. The afternoon round illustrated the difference between spellers who memorize words and those who have a deeper understanding of roots and language patterns.

The list for the morning round had 400 words. For the afternoon, the only list was Webster's Third New International Dictionary, which has 476,000 words. Misspelled words included: fraudulent, illegitimate, crotchety and curmudgeon.

___

PLEASE REPEAT THE WORD

Arushi Kalpande is in her third straight National Spelling Bee, and she's perfected a technique that many successful spellers have used in the past. Every time she asks pronouncer Jacques Bailly about the word, she repeats it, almost like a mantra. The technique has both practical and emotional benefits.

"When you repeat the word, the judges know if you're pronouncing the word right," said Arushi, 14, of Billerica, Massachusetts, who made it to the finals. "It helps you to focus on the word."

Even if she knows a word, the more she says it, the more her confidence grows.

"It calms you down," Arushi said. "It's always been my habit."

___

PROUD MOM

Before Mira Dedhia of Western Springs, Illinois, made it to the national bee, she would watch the ESPN broadcast with her father. But her mother, Lakshmi Nair, had a hard time even staying in the room when the bee was on.

The reason: Nair made it to the bee three times, from 1988-1990, and watching it brings back uncomfortable emotions.

"I'm so nervous. I feel like I'm 13 years old all over again," Nair said. "I can barely stomach it. It's nerve-wracking."

While some families have created semi-dynasties with siblings competing in the bee  last year, Vanya Shivashankar became the first sibling of a past champion to win  kids following their parents into the bee have been less common. Nair said she took a hands-off approach.

"I know firsthand how much pressure it was. Once she started winning bees, I was happy to help her," Nair said. "It's so much work that you can't push your kid to do it."

___

Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols . His work can be found at http://twitter.com/APBenNuckols.

Dhyana Mishra, 11, of West Melbourne, Fla. taps out her word while competing in the preliminaries of the 2016 National Spelling Bee, in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

As the audience applauds, Akash Vukoti, 6, of San Angelo, Texas, center, covers his ears as he returns to his seat after he correctly spelled his word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Vukoti is the youngest speller in this year competition. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Haley Jeffers, 13, of Camarillo, Calif. spells her word during the preliminary round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Hailey Hogenson, 14, of Scottville, Mich., spells her word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Ella Scheuermann, 11, from Grafenwoehr, Germany, celebrates correctly spelling her word during the preliminary round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Asritha Sure, 13, of Morgantown, W. Va. celebrates correctly spelling her word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

As the audience applauds, Akash Vukoti, 6, of San Angelo, Texas, center, covers his ears as he returns to his seat after he correctly spelled his word during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Vukoti is the youngest speller in this year competition. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

William Cooper, 13, of Redding, Calif. waits to spell during the preliminary round two of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
AARP volunteers on Tuesday called for Republican Party presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump to outline his plan for making Social Security financially stable.

Members of AARP joined with the groups state president Mike Tomasko outside of the Bismarck Event Center to call on Trump to provide specific details of his plan. Trump will be delivering a Thursday afternoon keynote address to conference attendees as well as more than 4,000 people who purchased tickets to see him.

Every year, our leaders wait and do nothing as finding a solution grows more difficult, Tomasko said. Having a plan to ensure Social Security is strong for future generations is a true test of presidential leadership.

Trumps campaign website makes no reference to Social Security.

The AARP last year started the website 2016takeastand.org, which provides candidate information on their take on Social Security. Trump was on the campaign trail and in interviews referred to not cutting payments or changing the retirement age, but has advocated for cutting waste and fraud within the system.

Its very important for voters to know. Candidates cant just pay lip service to it, said Tomasko, who cited Social Security Administration information that more than 122,000 North Dakotans in 2012 were receiving benefits.

About one in three people older than 65 in the state rely upon the program as their sole source of income, according to Tomasko, adding that the average benefit in 2012 for a North Dakota resident was about $1,152 a month, or about $13,821 annually.

By comparison, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party frontrunner, opposes raising the retirement age as well as lowering annual cost-of-living adjustments. She also proposes taxing wealthier Americans income above the current Social Security cap of $118,500.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, locked in a tight delegate fight with Clinton, has introduced legislation to tax those who make more than $250,000 per year at the same rate as everyone else. He argues this would make the program solvent and allow for benefits to be expanded.

Its a matter of we want them to spell it out in some detail, Tomasko said. Its going to affect us, young and old.

The SSA projects that, after 2034, only about three-quarters of benefits will be able to be paid out to recipients if nothing is done to close a funding gap.

Dennis Gad, a Bismarck retiree who worked in communications for Basin Electric Power Cooperative for more than 30 years, agreed.

Its pretty important because Ive paid in all my life. Its our money, said Gad, adding that Social Security can be a major part of a retirees income so its important to ensure people arent being hamstrung financially.

Tomasko said that Tuesdays call on Trump to outline his policy isnt meant as an attack on him. He said AARP volunteers across the country have been pushing for all presidential candidates to do so over the past several months.

He acknowledged the odds are long that Trump would do so prior to or during an energy conference speech.

It would be good if he did, Tomasko said.
Man gets life without parole in Virginia rail yard killing

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A man who police say claimed he killed at least a dozen people around the country during three decades of hopping trains has been convicted of capital murder in Virginia.

Michael Elijah Adams entered an Alford plea Wednesday in Henrico County Circuit Court. The plea means he does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Media outlets report that the 49-year-old Adams, who went by the nickname "Dirty Mike," was sentenced to life without parole as part of a plea agreement. The conviction was for the 2006 slaying of Robert Allen Chasserau in the Acca railroad yard just north of Richmond.
Oklahoma, Kansas-Missouri Planned Parenthood groups to merge

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri announced plans Wednesday to merge with the abortion provider's central Oklahoma affiliate in July and open a new Oklahoma City clinic, even as political leaders in the three states seek to cut off Medicaid funding.

Laura McQuade, the Kansas and Mid-Missouri affiliate's president and CEO, said the merger is designed to create a regional health care "powerhouse" and isn't a response to attempts by legislators and governors in the three states to prevent public funds from going to Planned Parenthood.

She also said the merger is part of a larger, 20-year trend of smaller, local Planned Parenthood affiliates consolidating into regional organizations. The central Oklahoma affiliate's CEO retired last year, and McQuade has been the organization's interim CEO since January under a contract in which the Kansas and Mid-Missouri group has managed operations in central Oklahoma.

"Really, this was about a sustainable business model," she told reporters during a telephone conference call.

The new organization, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, plans to keep operating eight existing clinics in the three states, including five in the greater Kansas City area and two in the Oklahoma City area. It also announced plans to open a ninth, in northwest Oklahoma City.

"We will not be doing any downsizing as a result of the merger," McQuade said.

None of the merging affiliates' clinics in Missouri or Oklahoma provide abortions. A clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, performs surgical abortions and provides the abortion pill, and a clinic in Wichita, Kansas, began offering medication abortions in March.

Asked whether abortions would be offered in Oklahoma after the merger, Kansas and Mid-Missouri spokeswoman Bonyen Lee-Gilmore said, "We're always keeping our options open."

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, called the opening of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Oklahoma "sad" and "unfortunate."

"It's anti-woman. It's anti-baby," she said. "They care more about business than they do about caring for women and children."

Planned Parenthood affiliates in Connecticut and Rhode Island merged in 2009, and affiliates in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi formed Planned Parenthood Southeast in 2010. Planned Parenthood groups in Iowa and Nebraska merged before absorbing the affiliate for Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma in 2011.

But Oklahoma plans to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood on June 29. And in Missouri, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon recently signed a budget approved by the GOP-led Legislature that blocks federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood.

In Kansas, the health department announced in May that it would cut off Medicaid funding, and Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit to block the action. The state has since delayed the cutoff date three times, until July 7, and a hearing in the lawsuit is set for June 7.

___
Russia accuses Turkey of supplying Islamic State extremists

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Russia has accused Turkey of supplying the Islamic State extremist group with components for improvised explosive devices.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated Wednesday that the devices "are being widely used to commit terrorist acts."

He said an analysis of chemical components of explosives captured from Islamists in the region of the Iraqi city of Tikrit and the Syrian city of Kobani, and a review of conditions for selling the components, "indicates that they were either manufactured in Turkey or delivered to that country without the right of re-export."

Churkin accused five Turkish companies of delivering aluminum powder, ammonium nitrate, hydrogen peroxide and other material produced by various Turkish and foreign companies to the Islamic State group.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry spokesman in Ankara called the letter "the most recent example of Russia's propaganda campaign against Turkey, and as such it cannot be taken seriously."

Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, a major backer of Syria's opposition, have been at odds during the five-year conflict. Tensions escalated following Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane near its border with Syria last November.

Russia retaliated by deploying long-range air defense missile systems to its base in Syria and imposed economic sanctions on Turkey. President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of "allowing terrorists to earn money by selling oil stolen from Syria," and Russia's top military brass accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from oil trade with Islamic State militants.

Churkin said one notable feature of the explosive devices assembled by militants from the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, is the use of parts manufactured by U.S., Swiss and Swedish companies.

He said "detonation cords manufactured in third countries have been illegally resold through Turkey to ISIL fighters."
Louisville judge clears way for Confederate monument removal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A judge cleared the way Wednesday for the removal of a 120-year-old monument to Confederate soldiers that sits near the University of Louisville.

A group of residents and the Sons of Confederate Veterans opposed removing the 1895 stone obelisk and won a temporary restraining order a few days after Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced last month that it would be removed.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman listened on Wednesday to several hours of testimony from the monument's supporters, who argued that the city does not own it and that it could be damaged or crumble if it is removed.

In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 photo, a stone monument to Confederate soldiers killed in the Civil War sits near the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky. A judge has ended a restraining order that barred the city of Louisville from removing the 120-year-old monument to Confederate soldiers. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)

Burkman lifted the temporary restraining order that barred the city from removing the monument. She concluded at the end of the hearing that the only piece of evidence that pointed to the ownership of the statue was a 1954 document in which the city granted a right of way to the state for maintenance of the adjacent roadways.

"The only proof the court has today of ownership of this monument is that it belongs to the city," Burkman said at the hearing's end. She also denied a motion for a temporary injunction that would have blocked the removal.

Burkman asked that the city not take any action until she issues a written ruling at a later date.

The hearing included testimony from former congressional candidate Everett Corley and monument experts who said they feared the monument would be damaged when it is taken down.

Corley testified that he is a descendant of a Kentucky soldier who fought in the Civil war and as a former University of Louisville student, the monument was part of his college experience.

"This monument could have been here for the next 200 years and no harm would have been done to anyone," said Corley, who finished second in the recent Republican primary for Louisville's 3rd District congressional seat.

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell said the complaint filed by the monument's supporters was "false and misleading" because it failed to back up its claims that it had historical protections.

"They failed you, they misled you and it was all lies," O'Connell told Burkman during a closing statement to the more-than-four-hour hearing.

Mayor Fischer and University of Louisville President James Ramsey have pledged to relocate the monument to "an appropriate historical venue in the near future." Until then, it would be put in storage.
Venezuela breaks up drug ring, seized 3.4 tons of cocaine

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  Authorities in Venezuela say they dismantled a drug-trafficking ring with links to a Mexican cartel after seizing more than 3.4 metric tons of cocaine.

National guard chief Gen. Nestor Reverol said Wednesday that the drugs were smuggled over the border from Colombia in bags containing rubber tires. At least five people, two of them Colombian, were arrested in raids in three states over the past two weeks.

The U.S. has been steadily stepping up pressure on high-ranking members of Venezuela's military and government officials for allegedly making the country an important transit zone for narcotics heading to the U.S. and Europe.
Authorities: Unruly group instigated violence at Trump rally

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A day after a riot erupted outside a Donald Trump rally, Albuquerque officials blamed the downtown melee not on impassioned politics but on an unruly group intent on creating chaos in a city that has seen more than its share of violence.

Some participants openly admitted that they set out to cause disruption. Many in the crowd were seen with gang tattoos and at one point chanted to Trump supporters that they controlled the streets.

"I woke up all hung over and stuff," said Chelsea Rae Gray, a 24-year-old musician. "And then I said, 'Let's see what kind of chaos we can get into.'" She said she came to the protest in her pajamas and stole some Trump T-shirts from vendors during the confusion.

Anti-Trump protesters block the streets following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Albuquerque Convention Center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

"Then I burned them," she said.

Cleanup crews spent Wednesday clearing away broken glass and charred debris in the largest city in the nation's largest Hispanic state. The mayor and police were tallying up the damage that spread to several blocks near historic Route 66.

The violence unfolded close to the site of tumultuous anti-police protests two years ago that were sparked by claims of excessive force and the fatal shooting of a homeless man by officers. A 2014 demonstration in downtown Albuquerque saw police in riot gear clash with angry demonstrators who threw rocks and gas canisters, and shut down City Hall.

Like that protest, Tuesday's gathering quickly turned from peaceful political opposition to chaos. Demonstrators stomped on patrol cars and shattered windows with rocks, authorities said.

Six officers were hurt after being hit with fist-sized rocks. They were treated at the scene, a police spokeswoman said.

"It was a riot that was the result of a mob trying to cause damage and injury to public property and innocent citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceably assemble," City Council member Dan Lewis said.

The protest originally organized by advocacy groups known for nonviolent tactics began with demonstrators gathering across the street from the rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center. They had a voter-registration booth, and some activists brought children who waved anti-Trump signs at pro-Trump people making their way to listen to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Others waved Mexican and American flags. One held a Trump pinata.

Just as Trump's evening speech was to begin, some protesters tossed water bottles at Trump supporters, even hitting Dereck Scott, a 37-year-old man in a wheelchair. "I have the right to support who I want," said Scott, whose head was red where he got hit. He did not require medical treatment.

By nightfall, the family atmosphere gave way to protesters with tattoos of the Surenos 13 gang, a loosely organized collection of Latino gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican mafia.

The protesters eventually charged the convention center doors just as people from the Trump rally were being directed to leave through a detour. Some of them warned rally attendees to be careful since the gang "ran these streets."

As police tried to move the crowd away, officers ducked rocks and burning shirts and then used smoke canisters and pepper spray to move the demonstrators.

From block to block, shirtless men with sticks and other weapons roamed nearby streets until police pushed the crowd out of downtown.

Javier Benavidez, executive director of the advocacy group Southwest Organizing Project, was carried out of the convention center for disrupting Trump's speech. He said organizers tried to keep the demonstration peaceful.

"We don't condone violence," Benavidez said. "But these are people who have been hurt by (Trump's) rhetoric and his hate. This is a result of months and months of hateful rhetoric."

The riot came as Albuquerque is trying to make law-enforcement reforms ordered by the Justice Department, and is struggling with violent-crime and property-crime rates that are nearly twice the national average. Residents also are watching as the two former officers involved in the 2014 shooting of James Boyd  a homeless man who authorities say suffered from mental illness  prepare to stand trial.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said the city was thankful for first responders who protected residents.

"We will work diligently to hold accountable those few individuals who came to perpetrate violence, endanger others and damage property," Berry said.

___

Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/russell-contreras .

Riot police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump yells at a protester during a rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Albuquerque, N.M. During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. (Jett Loe/The Las Cruces Sun-News via AP) MANDATORY

Anti-Trump protesters block the streets following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Albuquerque Convention Center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Riot police block off the Albuquerque Convention Center to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the convention center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Riot police respond to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in front of the Albuquerque Convention Center where the event was held, in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A protestor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a burning T-shirt as hundreds of people protest outside a rally for Trump in Albuquerque, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
UN envoy says radically more must be done for Mideast peace

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Palestinians in Gaza are growing ever more desperate and unless "radically more" is done to address the situation, it is only a matter of time before there is another escalation of violence, the U.N.'s top Mideast envoy told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Nickolay Mladenov said that early May saw the biggest escalation of violence in Gaza since 2014 and that those incidents serve to highlight the fragility of the security situation and threaten the current ceasefire.

"Recent events clearly demonstrate that the specter of violence looms ominously over the territory. Unless radically more is done to address the chronic realities in Gaza, it is not a question of 'if,' but 'when' another escalation will take place," Mladenov said, calling on donors to "support Gaza's reconstruction, recovery and development."

He said the Quartet of Mideast mediators  the U.N., U.S., European Union and Russia  are finalizing a report on the impediments to a two state solution and how to move forward and that a number of countries will meet in Paris within "a matter of days" in hopes of reviving the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Citing a recent study by Tel Aviv University, Mladenov said that close to 60 percent of the Jewish population and 70 percent of Palestinians continue to support peace negotiations.

"The will to advance toward peace clearly exists. What remains glaringly absent is the political will and bold leadership to make genuine progress a reality," he said.

That political will seemed ever more distant Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named one of Israel's most polarizing politicians Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister.

The move solidifies Netanyahu's parliamentary majority but risks antagonizing the international community and his own military, clouding already slim hopes for a resumption of peace efforts.
World Trade Organisation adds new warning on economic cost of Brexit

A fresh warning about the potential economic cost of Brexit has been issued by the head of the World Trade Organisation, who warned import tariffs would cost the country billions.

WTO director general Roberto Azevedo said the UK would have to negotiate membership of the organisation - as it is currently represented by the EU - and trade deals with countries around the world.

The intervention came as the rival camps in the referendum debate clashed over a stark warning about the potential impact of Brexit from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), with David Cameron hailing it as the "independent gold standard" but Leave campaigners claiming it was influenced by funding from Brussels.

The respected think-tank said a vote to Leave could see public finances take a 20 billion to 40 billion pound hit in 2019/20

The WTO estimated the cost of additional tariffs on goods imports to British consumers after Brexit would amount to 9 billion, while British merchandise exports would be subject to a further 5.5 billion in tariffs.

Mr Azevedo told the Financial Times: " The consumer in the UK will have to pay those duties. The UK is not in a position to decide 'I'm not charging duties here'. That is impossible. That is illegal."

Setting out the scale of the challenge facing the UK if it voted to Leave on June 23, Mr Azevedo said: "Pretty much all of the UK's trade would somehow have to be negotiated."

Brexit campaigners have suggested that the UK would pull out of the single market in the event of a Leave win, and Britain could face being cut out of existing trade deals negotiated between the EU and other countries.

Mr Azevedo said: "It is a very important decision for the British people. It is a sovereign decision and they will decide what they want to decide. But it is very important, particularly with regard to trade, which is something very important for the British economy, that people have the facts and that they don't underestimate the challenges."

The intervention by the WTO chief follows warnings from other major international economic bodies and the respected IFS think-tank, which forecast that Brexit could lead to two more years of austerity.

The report said a vote to Leave could see public finances take a 20 billion to 40 billion hit in 2019/20, if gross domestic product is 2.1% to 3.5% lower over the period, as predicted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

It also rejected a key claim from the Leave camp that EU membership involves sending 350 million a week to Brussels which could be used in the UK.

Mr Cameron - whose policies have often been savaged by the IFS - said it was "always held out as the independent gold standard".

"What they are saying about the 350 million claim and what they are saying about the effect upon our economy of Brexit, that is very, very powerful and it backs up what the Treasury and others have been saying," he said as he arrived in Japan for the G7 summit.

Vote Leave dismissed the IFS as a "paid-up propaganda arm of the European Commission" which could suffer a financial hit from Brexit because it benefits from EU funds.

"The IFS is not a neutral organisation. It would face an 800,000 deficit if we vote Leave," the campaign said.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage told the Press Association: "They've taken loads of EU money over the last 10 years to produce a report in an attempt to frighten us. They're using our money to tell us what we should think. I think the whole thing is an absolute disgrace."

IFS director Paul Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the think-tank received European funding for some of its "academic work" - as did other institutions outside the EU.

He said: "For the last 30 years, the IFS has built its reputation on the independence and integrity of our work and actually there is no sum of money from anywhere in the world which would influence what we said because, if it did, then the point of the IFS and the reasons ... that we are listened to after budgets and so on would simply be lost."

Andrew Lilico, chairman of Vote Leave-affiliated Economists for Britain, criticised the approach adopted by the Brexit campaign, saying on Twitter: "The IFS - for whom I used to work - is not a paid up propaganda arm of the EU. I hope that clears that up.

"Over-simplified messaging, fear-mongering & controversialism are hard-minded campaigning. Accusing folk of corruption & ill intent isn't."

Chancellor George Osborne was repeatedly challenged by Brexit-backing Tory backbenchers as he stood in for Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Osborne told the Commons: "I don't think it's any great revelation that different Conservative MPs have different views on the European Union.

"That's why we're having a referendum, because this issue does divide parties and families and friends and we made a commitment in our manifesto that the British people would decide this question."

Andrew Lilico, chairman of pro-Brexit group Economists for Britain, attacked the Leave campaign's response to the IFS report as he insisted the body was independent.

Accusing the Leave side of "campaigning failures", Mr Lilico told BBC Radio Four's The World At One: "The statement they have made is inaccurate.

"I also don't think that a strategy of responding to serious, thoughtful economic analysis by simply playing the man and not the ball, calling people corrupt, or in other cases with the OECD, going on about expenses claims, or the IMF and attacks on them, it just seems silly to me.

"Just attacking individuals as corrupt and so on isn't sensible campaigning. I don't believe it's the kind of thing that appeals to the British public. Personal attacks just don't get us anywhere."

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable said: " The economic case for remaining in Europe has been comprehensively made. Day after day the Leave campaign's central arguments fall apart.

"Vote Leave want to move to the WTO, but the head of the WTO has warned leaving the EU could cost the UK billions in trade and lead to years of damaging uncertainty.
G7 believes Brexit would be threat to economic growth, says David Cameron

David Cameron says his case for a Remain vote in the June 23 referendum on Britain's EU membership has been significantly bolstered by an independent think-tank's warning of two more years of austerity if voters opt for Brexit.

The Prime Minister said the Institute for Fiscal Studies assessment was "very, very powerful" and backed analysis by the Treasury on the risks of leaving the 28-nation bloc.

Arriving in Japan for a G7 summit of the world's leading economies, Mr Cameron said there is a consensus among Britain's key allies that continued EU membership would be better for the UK and the world.

David Cameron will be hoping for support from world leaders

But he played down the prospect of a fresh G7 statement on Brexit, pointing out that the organisation - and the larger G20 - had already made its view clear, as had the leaders of member states the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Canada.

Brexit will feature on the margins of a "pretty packed" agenda for the Ise-Shima summit, which will be dominated by issues like extremism, economic growth, corruption and global health risks, he said.

"I'm sure that Brexit will be on the agenda, but the G7 and G20 have already made clear that they think it is a threat to economic growth and a risk to the world economy, and the leaders have already very much made their views clear," said Mr Cameron.

Welcoming the IFS report - which also dismissed the Leave camp's central claim that the UK would have an extra 350 million a week to spend after Brexit - Mr Cameron said the think-tank's judgments were "always held out as the independent gold standard".

"What they are saying about the 350 million claim and what they are saying about the effect upon our economy of Brexit, that is very, very powerful and it backs up what the Treasury and others have been saying," he said.

Mr Cameron said he was hoping to use the summit in Japan to hold further talks on the crisis in Europe's steel industry with French President Francois Hollande, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian PM Matteo Renzi, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.

He said tariffs imposed by the EU had already been "effective" in reining in China's dumping of surplus steel at low prices in the European economy.

"Wherever we have taken action, there has been very steep - 90%-plus - reductions in Chinese steel imports," he said.

The dangers posed by over-capacity in sectors like steel would be "quite a feature" of discussions at the summit, said Mr Cameron.

"This is a good opportunity to talk again with the European Commission and the president of the Council and France, Germany and Italy about the actions we are taking in Europe to put tariffs up against dumping of Chinese steel, which is effective."

Mr Cameron pledged that the UK Government would "continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome" for the Tata steel plant in South Wales, but admitted he could not guarantee a buyer would be found to take it off the hands of its Indian owners.

"The sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious companies and offers coming through," said the PM.

"We have got to stick to it and do everything we can to work to bring this to a successful conclusion. There is no guarantee. We can't guarantee this is going to work, but we will do everything we can."

Mr Cameron said the G7 summit had become a more useful forum to make progress on major global issues since the expulsion of Russia in 2014 over its interference in neighbouring Ukraine.

He will press fellow leaders to maintain pressure on Moscow by extending sanctions when they come up for renewal in the summer.

Mr Cameron will also seek to use Ise-Shima to take forward measures on tax transparency proposed at the anti-corruption summit he hosted in London, as well as the fight against drug-resistant superbugs which he has made a personal crusade.

"The good thing about this is that since Russia's departure, the G7 is the place where the truly liberal democracies, like-minded countries, can come together and talk about the really big threats not just to the world economy and the world but to our own countries," said Mr Cameron.

"The things we're going to be discussing, whether it's fighting extremism and terrorism, keeping economies growing, whether it's fighting health risks like anti-microbial resistance, whether it's tackling things like the corruption that do so much to damage our economies, this is the place where you can have good discussions, frank discussions, private discussions, and if countries agree to do things, we really do get things done."

Mr Cameron was flown by Japanese military helicopter to the summit venue, the luxury Shima Kanko Hotel, where he held talks with his host, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

Flanked by aides and facing each other across a table decorated with traditional Japanese bonsai trees, the two premiers said they were pleased to meet again so soon after Mr Abe's trip to London earlier this month.

Mr Cameron said: "I thought it was a very good visit and a real strengthening of our bilateral relations on trade and investment, political co-operation and security issues.

"I think it was a very successful visit and I look forward to building on it here."

Mr Abe said he had received "wonderful hospitality" in the UK and in particular "the time my wife and I spent at Chequers was superb".
Peers warn Union 'under threat' after 'piecemeal' devolution

The future of the Union is "under threat" as a result of "piecemeal" devolution to the nations that make up the United Kingdom, a Lords committee has warned.

Successive UK governments have taken the Union between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland "for granted", a report from the House of Lords Constitution Committee said.

It has now called on ministers to "focus more on the Union" and the overall impact different pieces of devolution legislation have had.

The Lords report said successive UK governments have taken the Union between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 'for granted'

Committee chair and former Tory Scottish secretary Lord Lang of Monkton said: "We must stop taking the Union for granted. Since 1999, devolution has been largely demand-led and piecemeal. The committee saw no evidence of strategic thinking about its cumulative impact on the Union as a whole.

"The Government does not seem to recognise the pressures being placed on the United Kingdom by the ad hoc, reactive manner in which devolution has taken place, and continues to take place. It's now time to focus more on the Union."

The committee report said: " We believe that the four nations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are stronger united than apart. The Union has brought stability, peace and prosperity to the United Kingdom. Yet today, the Union is under threat."

It said power had been transferred to assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in " an ad hoc, piecemeal fashion", without "p roper consideration of the cumulative impact of devolution on the integrity of the Union".

The report warned this "inattentive approach to the integrity of the Union cannot continue", with the Lords calling for any further plans to transfer power out of Westminster to be "considered within an appropriate framework of constitutional principles that safeguard the integrity of the Union".

In future, a "Devolution Impact Assessment" could be published, examining the potential impact of proposals on the "cohesiveness and stability of the Union as a whole, and on each of its constituent nations".

Ministers have also been urged to adopt a new approach to devolution, with the report saying: "A new mindset is required at all levels of government - one that recognises the devolved institutions as now being established components of the UK's constitution.

"This new mindset will require abandoning a 'devolve and forget' attitude. Instead, the UK Government should engage with the devolved institutions across the whole breadth of government policy, co-operating and collaborating where possible. In particular, the Joint Ministerial Committee should be reformed to promote co-operation and collaboration, rather than grandstanding and gesture politics."

Lord Lang, who served as Scottish secretary under John Major, said: "UK governments have failed to adapt to devolution. We urgently need 'a new mindset' within government. Devolved competencies now cover so many areas of public responsibility that the delivery of government policies often requires collaboration between the UK and devolved governments. This is not yet being done effectively.

"Shared and overlapping policy areas need to be handled sensibly, with each administration conscious of the interests of the others."

The Lords also called for the Barnett Formula, used to distribute funding between different parts of the UK, to be scrapped in favour of a new needs-based system.

"In our view, to perpetuate the use of the Barnett Formula, which takes no account of relative need, makes a mockery of the Government's duty to ensure a fair distribution of resources across the UK," the report said.

"We recommend that the UK Government reconsider its use of the inadequate Barnett Formula and establish a mechanism that takes into account the relative needs of different nations and regions in allocating funds."

With constitutional politics reserved to Westminster, the Lords said any future votes on independence "should be set out in primary legislation by the UK Parliament", arguing this will allow for "proper scrutiny by representatives of all four nations".

Meanwhile they said it is "too soon to know" if English Votes for English Laws (Evel) and "devolution deals" - where local authorities are given greater power - will provide an answer to the "English question", which has left the largest part of the UK as the only part without its own assembly.

" What is clear is that the English question remains one of the unresolved issues facing decision-makers grappling with the UK's territorial constitution," the report said.

SNP MP Pete Wishart said: "This report indicates a spectacular failure of the committee to grasp devolution, and its recommendations would break the vow and promises made to the people of Scotland during the referendum campaign.

"This House of Lords report is irrelevant and adds nothing to the debate. The decisions about the future of the government of Scotland should rightly be made by the people who live and work here.

"Decisions about Scotland's future should not be left to a group of cronies and politicians who have been rejected by the electorate and have no democratic accountability whatsoever.

"The House of Lords are trundling out the same old arguments and seem to be confused that in the Fiscal Framework - agreed between the Scottish and UK Governments - it is crystal clear that the Barnett formula will remain."
A bomb threat was made Wednesday morning against Sunrise Elementary, following a pattern of other automated bomb threats this week across the country, according to Bismarck Public Schools.

The school in northeast Bismarck received an automated voice call matching other pre-recorded messages that have gone out recently across the nation, according to the school district's website.

Bismarck Police Deputy Chief Dave Draovitch said there is no danger to the public.

Schools in 17 other states, including Minnesota and Montana, received similar threats Monday, according to USA Today. In recent months, online hoaxers have made anonymous threats to schools online or in automated phone messages to trigger police responses, according to the Associated Press.

A similar incident occurred Wednesday at a high school in Grand Forks, according to the Forum News Service. On Monday, schools were evacuated in Grand Forks and West Fargo.

Patrol and school resource officers from the Bismarck Police Department responded at 10:11 a.m., police said. They did a sweep of the building and found nothing unusual. The school briefly evacuated, though students returned to the building about an hour later after police deemed it safe to enter.

The Bismarck superintendent's office earlier this week alerted all school principals and secretaries to the fake bomb threats made across the nation. Superintendent Tamara Uselman said the Sunrise staff followed the proper security protocols and the situation went smoothly, according to the Bismarck Public Schools website.

"We were on the lookout for this to happen," Draovitch said, adding that he hopes it won't happen again.

"It wastes everybody's time," he said.
Sister's dismay at NHS doctor who left family to join Islamic State in Syria

The sister of an NHS doctor who fled from his family in the UK to join Islamic State in Syria has said their parents "will never forgive him".

Najla Abuanza spoke out following reports her brother Issam deserted his wife and two children from Sheffield in 2014 to join the militant group.

The revelation was unearthed in Islamic State recruitment documents leaked to the BBC.

An NHS doctor is thought to have joined Islamic State

Ms Abuanza told the broadcaster: "He used to be quite the dashing young man, very modern. I've no idea how he became like this or who showed him the path to terror.

"My dad's wish was to see him before he dies. He has spent all his money on him and his education and this is what he does."

Dr Abuanza, 37, gained his medical licence in 2009 and is believed to be the first NHS doctor known to have joined the Islamic State, according to the BBC.

He posted "God bless this act of terrorism" on his Facebook page on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris on January 7 last year.

The attacks at the headquarters of the satirical magazine saw 12 staff members gunned down by two Islamists shouting "Allahu akbar".

Dr Abuanza described the US as "godless" in another post made on the social media site.

One photo posted appears to show him reading the Koran while cradling an automatic rifle.

Another apparently shows him posing in doctors' scrubs with a pistol holster slung over one arm.

The Palestinian worked at Scarborough hospital between October 2012 and August 2013, according to the BBC.

Scarborough and Whitby MP Robert Goodwill told the Press Association: "It's shocking that someone who has worked to save lives in the NHS is now promoting one of the most murderous and horrific regimes.

"We read about how young Muslim men are being indoctrinated by the Islamic State but this man was a qualified doctor, proving that even those who are very intelligent can be hoodwinked."

The Transport Minister stopped short from speculating that Dr Abuanza could be among many other professionals to have joined IS.

"I hope not, the majority of Muslim people I have met are very sensible," he added. "This is a perversion of their religion."
Jamie Bell 'joins race to be next James Bond'

Billy Elliott star Jamie Bell is the latest actor to reportedly enter the race to become the next James Bond.

He joins Tom Hiddleston, Aidan Turner, Idris Elba and Damian Lewis among the names in the frame to play 007.

Bell, 30, has held informal chats with producers about replacing Daniel Craig when he steps down from the role, The Sun reported.

Jamie Bell has reportedly held informal chats with producers about replacing Daniel Craig when he steps down as James Bond

He shot to fame as the ballet dancing schoolboy in Billy Elliott and is in pre-production on Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, the latest project of Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.

In the film he plays British actor Peter Turner, opposite Annette Bening and Julie Walters.

A source told the newspaper: "Barbara has been a fan of Jamie for a long time and has even thought about him playing another role in the franchise before.

"Everyone remembers Jamie as the little boy in Billy Elliott, but he's now bulked up and got some serious roles under his belt.

"Tom Hiddleston and Aidan Turner are still in the frame, but Jamie has really shown that he is definitely up there competing with them."

Bell recently starred as The Thing in the latest big-screen adaptation of Fantastic Four and will soon be seen as an SAS soldier in 6 Days, about the hostage situation at London's Iranian embassy in 1980.

The Night Manager star Hiddleston has emerged as the favourite to take over from Craig, with speculation increasing after reports circulated that the Skyfall star was "done" with the franchise.

Coral bookmakers suspended betting on his successor after a particularly large bet was placed on Hiddleston.
Spain and Portugal holiday demand surges amid terror attack fears

Holidaymakers are flocking to destinations in the western Mediterranean this summer as terror attacks are putting tourists off other traditionally popular locations, travel agents have said.

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) warned that people leaving it late to book their break may find it more difficult than normal amid " notable increases" in bookings to Spain (26%), Portugal (29%) and Cyprus (18%) this year.

Demand for destinations such as Tunisia and Egypt has fallen following terrorism incidents, the organisation added.

Tributes on the beach in Sousse, Tunisia, following the terror attack in June 2015

A survey of more than 1,600 people found that almost two-thirds (65%) of those planning to take a summer holiday have already booked.

Holidaymakers are being advised to consider alternative destinations such as the northern coasts of Spain and Portugal, or travelling outside the peak months of July and August.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "We are seeing a significant increase in summer holiday bookings to western Mediterranean destinations, so I would urge holidaymakers who are looking to travel not to delay in making their booking.

"My advice to those who have left it late is to be flexible when making their booking and seek the advice of a travel professional who will be able to advise them on the best options and destinations still available, as well as recommending less well-known and less crowded areas."

Thirty Britons were killed by a gunman on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia, in June last year. The country's ambassador to the UK has urged the Foreign Office to relax its travel advice, which warns against all but essential travel.

Flights between the UK and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have been suspended since November after a plane operated by Russian airline Metrojet blew up over the Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people.

The Tunisian ambassador to the UK, Nabil Ammar, called on the Government to take into account security improvements that have been made over the last 12 months.

He told the BBC there was now a gap between the "perception of the level of security, and the real security on the ground".

The Foreign Office said the safety of Britons is its main concern.

Last week an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people crashed into the Mediterranean.

The cause of the crash has not been confirmed but reports suggest that smoke was detected in parts of the Airbus A320 before it disappeared from radar.

Meanwhile, a Sunday newspaper report last week claimed that Britons already pay more than their European counterparts for almost identical holidays.

A seven-night bed and breakfast stay on Spain's Costa Blanca was found to be a third more expensive on a travel agent's UK website compared to its German site, while a camping holiday company was selling Britons a week-long break in the Dordogne in south-west France for 19% more than the price on its Dutch website.

Frank Brehany, of Holiday Travel Watch, told the Sunday Mirror: "British consumers could be forgiven for thinking they're being ripped off.
A Swedish court has decided not to drop an arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The organisation asked the Swedish legal authorities to revoke the arrest warrant following a decision by a United Nations working group that he was being unlawfully detained.

Mr Assange has been living inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than three years, believing that if he travels to Sweden he will be taken to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than three years

A statement from Mr Assange's legal team said: 'In defiance of the UN, Sweden's lowest court is keeping Assange detained.

"We are appealing and are confident Sweden's higher courts will enforce its international obligations and put an end to this terrible injustice, which has seen Mr Assange detained, without charge, for the last five and half years."

Mr Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over a sex allegation, which he denies.

WikiLeaks said it was a fact that there was an espionage case against him in the United States, pointing to the FBI telling a US court last week that it continued to actively pursue Mr Assange.

The organisation said the US Department of Justice filed a 113-page document to a court in March saying there is a pending national security prosecution against Mr Assange and WikiLeaks.

Assange addresses media from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after a UN group declared he was being unlawfully detained as a result of Sweden's arrest warrant

The UN panel called on the Swedish and British authorities to end Mr Assange's "deprivation of liberty", respect his physical integrity and freedom of movement, and afford him the right to compensation.

"The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that the various forms of deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange has been subjected constitute a form of arbitrary detention," the panel's head, Seong-Phil Hong, said when the findings were published earlier this year.

"The Working Group maintains that the arbitrary detention of Mr Assange should be brought to an end, that his physical integrity and freedom of movement be respected, and that he should be entitled to an enforceable right to compensation."

The Working Group said it considered that Mr Assange had been subjected to different forms of deprivation of liberty, including his initial detention in Wandsworth Prison in London, followed by house arrest and then confinement at the Ecuadorean Embassy.
Heather Watson loses in French Open second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova

Heather Watson's French Open ended in the second round for the fifth time as she came off second best against former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

It was a tough draw for Watson against a player who won the title in 2009 and has reached at least the quarter-finals on six other occasions.

Watson competed well in the second set but her serve was vulnerable throughout and she went down 6-1 6-3 in and hour and 12 minutes.

Heather Watson, pictured, lost in the second round of the French Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova (AP)

The British number two did not hold her serve for the first 48 minutes of the match, losing her first five service games.

Kuznetsova was much the stronger in the opening set and Watson bounced her racket angrily on the ground in the third game as she struggled to gain a foothold.

The second set was much more competitive, with Watson finally holding serve to lead 2-1, but she then lost four games in a row.

She had her chances, particularly in a lengthy seventh game, but the power of Kuznetsova ultimately told.

Watson has made the second round at Roland Garros in five of the last six years but has not been able to take the next step.

The 24-year-old's exit marked the end of British interest in the women's singles, with Johanna Konta and Laura Robson both having lost in the first round.
Leadership comes naturally to Arsenal new-boy Granit Xhaka

Arsenal's new signing Granit Xhaka believes he can bring a mean streak to Arsene Wenger's side next season.

The Gunners announced on Wednesday they had agreed a deal to sign the Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder on a "long-term contract".

Xhaka, who has 41 caps for Switzerland, captained the German side to fourth place in the Bundesliga last season and says leadership comes naturally to him.

Arsenal have agreed to sign Granit Xhaka

"I'm an aggressive player and also a leader. I'm only 23 but I captained a good team in Germany," Xhaka said.

"When I was younger, even though I had a big brother, my parents would give me the house key every day.

"It's in my head that I am a leader and captaining Monchengladbach was very good for me."

Xhaka has experience playing in the Champions League for Gladbach and is renowned for his fitness and tough tackles.

"I like the style of football in the Premier League," Xhaka said.

"It's a fight. I like that but Arsenal can also play football and that's very good.

"In Germany you can play aggressively but the referee will always blow his whistle, but in England that's not the case. That's better for me."

The transfer is still to be officially completed but Arsenal have confirmed Xhaka's contract will begin on July 1.

The former Basle man will become the Gunners' first major signing of the summer as Arsene Wenger looks to build a squad capable of challenging for the title next season.

"Granit Xhaka is an exciting young player, already with good Champions League and Bundesliga experience," Wenger said.

"We have been watching him for a long time now and he is a player who will add quality to our squad.

"We wish Granit a good Euro 2016 with Switzerland and look forward to welcoming him to Arsenal ahead of next season."

Arsenal were eager to agree the deal before Xhaka joined up with the Switzerland squad for Euro 2016, where he will be up against France, Albania and Romania in Group A.

He also has experience of winning trophies, having collected two Swiss league titles and the Swiss Cup in 2012 when Basle completed the double.

Xhaka was named the league's young player of the year that season and was rewarded with a move to Gladbach in 2012.

After sealing his move, Xhaka said he was looking forward to joining "one of the biggest clubs in the world".

"Now it's official," Xhaka wrote on Instagram. "From next season on I will play for @Arsenal. I want to thank everyone at @borussia.
Kyle Edmund has no answer to power of John Isner

Kyle Edmund's French Open ended in the second round with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 defeat by John Isner.

The British number three battled hard against the big-serving 15th seed, but ultimately came up short.

Edmund had done very well to come through a physical contest with Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round, but this was a big step up in class.

Kyle Edmund, pictured, lost to John Isner in the second round of the French Open

The 21-year-old showed that he could trouble the world's best with a blistering performance in the first two sets against David Goffin in the Davis Cup final last November before fading.

But facing the power of Isner was a different matter and one break in each set proved enough for the American.
Tunisia terror attack victims' families raise concerns over warnings

Families of the Tunisia terror attack victims have raised concerns about warnings for travellers amid appeals for the Government to reduce the threat level.

Relatives of some of the 30 Britons gunned down on the resort of Sousse in June last year fear not enough was done to alert holidaymakers of the terror risk.

The Tunisian ambassador to the UK has urged the Foreign Office to relax its current advice, which warns against all but essential travel to the North African country.

An armed policeman on the beach in Sousse following the terrorist attack, as the Foreign Office has been urged to relax its advice, warning against all but essential travel to the North African country

Andrew Ritchie QC, who represents 17 families, said the Foreign Office had potentially failed to require holiday companies to warn Britons of the dangers.

Travel agents allegedly lowered their prices to try and "entice" more Britons to Tunisia, after 24 people were killed in a terror attack at Bardo National Museum in the capital Tunis in March 2015.

Foreign Office advice for travellers in June 2015 stated: "There is a high risk from terrorism, including kidnapping. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners.

"This had only been produced online but we are going to consider, in light of future evidence, whether Her Majesty's Government should have imposed a duty of candour on the travel companies," Mr Ritchie said at a pre-inquest hearing into the deaths.

He said travel agents, including Thompson's parent company TUI, had informed the Foreign Office that they intended to use "reduced pricing strategies for further tourists to be enticed to Tunisia following the Bardo attack".

He added: "Her Majesty's Government and the Foreign Office cannot be unaware that TUI did not mention, refer to or summarise the terrorism threat in Tunisia either online or in hard copy."

Howard Stevens QC, representing TUI, said the company "will not accept the assertion made in relation to the pricing strategies".

"It will not accept either the suggestion that TUI was under obligation to refer to the Foreign Office advice on its website or literature," he added.

Andrew O'Connor QC, representing the Government, said: "We do not accept what might be thought to be any implied criticism of the Foreign Office or any other Government bodies."

A pre-inquest hearing was held today at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London to deal with the scope of the inquests and timetabling of the next steps in the procedure.

The bloody attack by Seifeddine Rezguion on June 26 2015, claimed a total of 38 lives, with terror group Islamic State (IS) claiming responsibility.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg clear the air after Spanish Grand Prix crash

World champion Lewis Hamilton has cleared the air with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg following their spectacular collision at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton and Rosberg, who leads his rival by 43 points heading into Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, both crashed out on the opening lap of the Barcelona race.

And while Rosberg, speaking before Hamilton, refused to reveal whether he had been in contact with his team-mate in the days after the crash, the Briton was rather more succinct.

Lewis Hamilton, pictured, has spoken to Nico Rosberg following their spectacular crash in Spain

"It is good to discuss things, and as a team we did, first in Barcelona and then at the factory individually, and Nico and I spoke just now," said Hamilton, who last won in Monaco eight years ago.

"It is always good to, but I didn't feel like we had to because we're in that frame of mind where there is no tension. You move on, there is nothing you can do about the past.

"Communication is really key in a large organisation and clearing the air, or just having a discussion has been positive for us."

Hamilton and Rosberg failed to make it beyond turn four of the Spanish Grand Prix following a crash which the race stewards, and their Mercedes team for that matter, deemed to be a racing incident. It was the first time in 43 grands prix in which the Mercedes pair have been battling for the title have taken each other out.

"We didn't talk through the incident," Hamilton added. "We know what happened, we were there and we experienced it. There are more emotional beings on the planet that talk about these kind of things but we don't need to do that.

"We arrived very cool and chilled. The respect is still there and we are going to keep racing, and that's all we had to say."

The fallout from their crash has been surprisingly amicable, which is in stark contrast to their collision at the Belgian Grand Prix nearly two years ago.

Rosberg crossed the line in second on that occasion, but Hamilton failed to make it to the end of the race. The German was latterly punished by the team for causing the accident.

"In the past there would have been some kind of tension, but it was just pure respect," added Hamilton. "'I still have all the respect for you' and he said the same, so let's keep racing.

"It is really just a showing of growth within Nico and I. It doesn't change anything or how we are going to approach our racing. I think it is just us getting older. We are good at our jobs and we know it."

Rosberg heads into the Monaco weekend having won at the Principality for the last three years. Only Ayrton Senna, the triple world champion, has won the blue-riband race on more consecutive occasions.

Rosberg, who lives in a nearby apartment to this most historic of sporting venues, added: "Between the two of us, it is a thing of the past now. We're moving on with everything and the relationship is the same as before.
Industry and government officials at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference expressed optimism Wednesday that strong activity will return to western North Dakota, but what the oil play looks like and how efficient it is are open to debate.

Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, told a crowd at the Bismarck Event Center the play has bottomed out and a full recovery will begin after oil prices rebound to $60 per barrel for at least one quarter. Oil prices were flirting with the $49 per barrel mark when he delivered his morning remarks.

Total registration on Wednesday morning was approximately 2,650.

People have come up with more and more ways to become efficient, said Helms, who later told reporters how efficiencies are factored into the recovery remains to be seen.

Since oil prices began their decline in later 2014, thousands of jobs have been shed in the oil patch. Drilling rig costs are down 30 percent, as are operations costs.

Companies have also shifted their operations to the most productive region of the oil patch, retracting to an active rig count of 28 on Wednesday. This is down from 83 rigs a year ago and 191 two years ago.

I think theres going to be an erosion of those efficiencies, Helms said. I really think its going to be very difficult to hold on to those efficiencies.

Helms said companies will need to attract high-quality employees back to the region. He said numerous factors will determine to what extent the workforce returns. Among these are what industry offers employees, the level of housing and transportation infrastructure as well as what the national economy looks like when a recovery occurs.

Jim Volker, president and CEO of Whiting Petroleum, said the company has been successful in weathering the lower oil price environment.

He said Whiting is able to drill a well in western North Dakota at a cost of about $7 million; the cost has been reduced by a couple million or more per well due to efficiencies in drilling and oil recovery. He said the company is getting $27 million in net revenue on a $7 million well.

We think were strongly positioned, Volker said. Were a big believer in the Bakken.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple said the state has seen a revenue shortfall stemming from declining sales tax revenues, much of which is tied to energy production. Despite this, he said the states economy remains strong thanks to the work and investment by the energy industry.

We think this industry in North Dakota  is as solid as solid can be. Overall, we couldnt be more optimistic of whats ahead of us, Dalrymple said.

In March, the most recent numbers available, more than 900 wells in the state had been drilled but waiting on completion from hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Helms said about two-thirds of the estimated $300,000 in sales tax generated by each well comes from the completion of wells.

The state looks at it as money in the bank, Helms said.

Dalrymple took a moment to urge companies to bring more money in to the states coffers, delivering a message on behalf of Office of Management and Budget Director Pam Sharp.

She would like you to complete a few more wells, Dalrymple said.
European border closures "inhumane" - U.N. refugee agency

By Dasha Afanasieva

ISTANBUL, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday border closures in Europe to stop migrants were inhumane and government efforts to stem the flow had averted the crisis only temporarily.

Border closures across the Balkans and a deal between Turkey and the European Union have sharply reduced the number of people crossing into Europe this year, after a million made the often perilous journey in 2015, most fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.

"There are a lot of people patting themselves on the shoulder and saying the deal worked, the people have stopped coming: but there's more to it than that," Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said on the sidelines of the world's first humanitarian summit.

"It has pushed the problem backwards and the problem is not yet solved."

She added: "The sudden (border) closure and the action by unilateral states was inhumane vis-a-vis many vulnerable people."

Under the deal between Europe and Turkey, Ankara has agreed to take back illegal migrants from Europe in return for aid, accelerated EU accession talks and visa-free travel to the bloc.

EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides acknowledged there was "room to improve" the bloc's policy on migration. "We have time in order to find this common policy," he said.

Turkey has taken in nearly 3 million refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war and spent nearly $10 billion. Some aid groups say it is not a safe country for refugees.

Last week, a Syrian on the Greek island of Lesbos won an appeal against a decision to forcibly return him to Turkey, successfully arguing that Turkey does not afford refugees the full protection required under the Refugee Convention, rights group Amnesty International said.

An official at Greece's asylum service said the ruling was made in an individual case and was not a decision on Turkey's overall status as a safe third country.

Finalisation of the EU-Turkey deal has been held up by disagreements over Turkey's anti-terrorism law, which Brussels wants brought in line with European standards.
Shaken Austrian government pledges action on asylum after far-right surge

VIENNA, May 24 (Reuters) - Austria's centrist government, shaken by a far-right near-victory in an election for president, pledged on Tuesday to take measures on asylum for migrants and to boost security in an effort to win back voters.

Europe's political establishment, challenged in many countries by resurgent populist and anti-immigration parties, breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when postal ballots swung the election in favour of an environmentalist in a dramatic photo-finish.

The far-right Freedom Party candidate, Norbert Hofer, lost to Alexander Van der Bellen by less than one percentage point - a record performance for the party and a watershed for its allies across Europe. A win would have made him the first far-right head of state in the European Union.

Looking at lessons to be learned, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said on Tuesday: "One thing is absolutely clear - the protest that was expressed here is to be taken seriously."

Though he said isolationism and euroscepticism were not options for export-dependent Austria, Kern, who was thrust into the top job after a party rebellion forced Werner Faymann to resign as head of the government, pledged action on five points, including asylum and security.

"Isolationism and the belief that one can magically make the asylum issue disappear ... is an illusion," Kern said.

The economy, jobs and cutting through state red tape would be other priorities, though he said it was too soon to give details.

"You will hear from us in the coming weeks," he said, adding that another aim was to hold a closed-door meeting with opposition parties on possible cooperation.

Frustration with traditional parties of government has fuelled Europe's rising tide of populism, not least in Austria, where the Social Democrats and their coalition partner, the conservative People's Party, have dominated for decades.

Kern, previously head of the national rail company that handled the mass transit of hundreds of thousands of migrants to Germany during a wave of arrivals last autumn, has wider public support than Faymann but remains relatively unknown.

The coalition government must work together until the next parliamentary election in 2018 or face the prospect of a snap vote that polls suggest the Freedom Party would win if it were held now.
Auctioneer Christie's fined for putting undocumented ivory on sale

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - Auctioneer Christie's has been fined 3,250 pounds ($4,750) for selling elephant ivory without the correct documentation, London police said on Tuesday.

Last month, Christie's offered for sale an ivory tusk mounted on silver with a guide price of 1,200 to 1,800 pounds, a police statement said.

At Hammersmith magistrates' court this week it admitted selling elephant ivory in contravention of Article 8 of Council Regulation, under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The 63-year-old owner of the piece of unworked ivory has been charged with offering it for sale, the police statement added.

"The tusk in this case was mounted on silver but was basically a raw, unmodified elephant tusk and therefore should not have been offered for sale without the correct documentation," said Constable Rowena Roberts, wildlife officer for Kensington and Chelsea borough in London.

"These laws were established to protect the world's remaining elephants," she added.

Christie's said in a statement that this was an isolated incident. "We believe that the honourable response was to accept the charge as made.

"Christie's unequivocally condemns the slaughter of elephants for illegal ivory and will not sell modern ivory, or unworked tusks of any age."
U.N., Turkey disappointed G7 leaders skipped humanitarian conference

By Dasha Afanasieva and Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL, May 24 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday they were disappointed Chancellor Angela Merkel was the only G7 leader to attend a summit on how the world deals with humanitarian crises.

The meeting, which drew 55 heads of state and government, sounded a "wake-up call" about the scale of the problems. But many participants saw the event as a modest step that fell short of stirring political will for real change.

"It is a bit disappointing that some world leaders could not be here, especially those from the G7 countries," Ban told a news conference at the end of the summit.

Disasters, both man-made and natural, mean that 130 million people need humanitarian aid, costing an annual $240 billion, a 12-fold increase since 2000 but still just 1 percent of global military spending, he said.

Summit host Turkey is at the forefront of efforts to control the flow of migrants from Syria and elsewhere to Europe, which has confronted the continent with its biggest refugee crisis since World War Two. Erdogan said he was "saddened" that the leaders of Canada, Japan, Britain, Italy, the United States and France failed to show up for the two-day event in Istanbul.

In what was seen as a diplomatic snub, Russia - one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council which can veto resolutions - also failed to send a high-level delegation.

Moscow was concerned about a plan to limit the veto powers of Security Council members in certain situations.

Ban said divisions among the permanent members of the Security Council have stymied efforts to end war and promote peace, as well addresses humanitarian issues.

In a paper ahead of the summit, Ban urged the permanent members to withhold their veto power on measures addressing mass atrocities, a step welcomed by Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme and a candidate to succeed Ban when his term expires at the end of this year.

The U.N. "is not seen as able to cope with today's conflicts," she told Reuters. "By the time an issue has gotten to the Security Council, the world has already failed."

'OVERWHELMING' CHALLENGES

"This one summit is not going to be able to galvanise a level of political will to deal with what we're all facing, which is really overwhelming," said Justin Forsyth, deputy executive director of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, saying the summit meant a "modest step forward."

Participants pushed for more efforts at crisis prevention.

Nancy Lindborg, head of the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the U.N. lacks the tools to prevent and end conflict, describing "paralysis" on the Security Council.

"The summit is a giant wakeup call to the political leadership that, hey, the world is on fire. We can fix how we provide humanitarian assistance, but you need to muster the political will to end these terrible conflicts."

The summit launched an education fund aimed at raising $4 billion for emergency schooling, and a "grand bargain" which commits major donors to more funding in return for aid groups being more transparent about how they spend the money.

Sixteen aid organisations, the European Commission and 17 countries endorsed the agreement, but Turkey, which Erdogan said was the world's second-biggest donor, did not.

Salil Shetty, secretary general of rights group Amnesty International, said without any binding documents and only voluntary commitments, the summit in Istanbul was a staging post for a follow-up conference in September in New York when there need to be clear specific outcomes.
Myanmar poet's jail term 'like from the old days'

By Antoni Slodkowski

YANGON, May 24 (Reuters) - A court in Myanmar on Tuesday sentenced a young poet to six months in jail for defaming former President Thein Sein, making him one of the first political activists sentenced since Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power in April.

Maung Saung Kha, 23, used his Facebook account to publish a poem featuring a tattoo of a president on his penis. He was charged for defaming Thein Sein under telecommunications laws used to curb free speech in several other recent cases.

Because Maung Saung Kha has spent more than six months in jail since being arrested, he will be freed on Tuesday. But the case highlights the limits of control that Suu Kyi's government, elected in November on pledges of democratization, has under Myanmar's former military rulers, who still play an outsized political role.

It also draws attention to a continued use of the telecommunications law to stifle dissent. The act, enacted as part of an opening up of the telecoms sector in 2013, bans use of the telecommunications network to "extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate".

"I'm glad I can go home freely, but I'm disappointed about the verdict," said Maung Saung Kha after leaving the court.

"Even though we have a democratically elected government, the verdict was like from the old days."

The U.S. State Department said Myanmar's new government is committed to improving freedom of expression, while adding that democratic reforms will take time.

"We remain committed to supporting it to make further progress on this as well as other human rights issues," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

The judiciary in Myanmar has for decades been used by the junta against democratic opposition activists, many from Suu Kyi's party, jailing them for long terms after show trials.

Despite Suu Kyi's victory in November, the military-drafted constitution guarantees it control over the Home Ministry, which oversees the courts. It also controls two other security ministries and 25 percent of seats in the parliament.

Last year, NGO worker Patrick Kum Jaa Lee was sentenced to six months in jail for commenting on a picture showing a foot standing on a photo of army chief Min Aung Hlaing. Several more people were charged under the same law this year.

Suu Kyi's government released scores of political prisoners shortly after taking power, but 64 people remain behind bars and 138 are awaiting trial for political actions, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog.
Cambodia revives Australia refugee deal with planned Nauru visit

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH, May 24 (Reuters) - Cambodia said on Tuesday it will send a team to a South Pacific detention centre next month to interview two refugees who have volunteered to be resettled, reviving an agreement with Australia that seemed on the verge of collapse.

Australia has vowed to stop asylum seekers sailing from Indonesia and Sri Lanka and landing on its shores, instead intercepting boats at sea and holding those on board in camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Cambodia agreed with Australia in 2014 to take in refugees from Nauru in exchange for A$40 million ($28.56 million) in aid, but it later threatened to withdraw from the agreement.

Only five people have gone to Cambodia under the pact and three of them later chose to go back home. But now two more might be on their way.

"Our team is ready to go and interview two more refugees who volunteered to be resettled," Tan Sovichea, head of the Interior Ministry's refugee unit, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sovichea said his three-man team would fly to Nauru in the first week of June to vet the refugees, an Iranian man and woman.

Rights groups have condemned Australia for trying to resettle refugees in poorer countries such as Cambodia, which is frequently accused of human rights abuses and has an economy less than one percent the size of Australia's.

A Rohingya Muslim man from Myanmar and an Iranian couple, who all left Nauru for Cambodia last year, have since gone home. The two remaining refugees in Cambodia are a Rohingya and an Iranian.

Sovichea said Australia had originally delayed the trip, which was supposed to be on May 2, for unspecified reasons, and Australian officials had not yet set an exact date for the trip in June.
U.S. to seek death penalty against accused South Carolina church shooter

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C., May 24 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a racially motivated attack at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during Bible study at Charleston's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in a massacre that shook the country and intensified debate over U.S. race relations.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses.

In a court filing, federal prosecutors cited a number of factors for seeking the death penalty, saying Roof singled out victims who were black and elderly, and showed no remorse. They also cited "substantial planning and premeditation."

A friend of Roof, 21-year-old Joseph Meek, pleaded guilty last month to concealing his knowledge of Roof's intention to carry out the attack, saying then that Roof planned the shooting for six months and wanted to start a race war.

Roof's lawyers have said he would agree to plead guilty, rather than face trial if prosecutors ruled out capital punishment. But defense attorney Michael O'Connell, declined comment on Tuesday's decision when reached by phone.

Roof also faces the death penalty if convicted on separate, state murder charges in a trial set to begin in January.

The state prosecutor trying the case said last September that some of the victims' families were opposed to a death sentence due to their religious beliefs, while others felt it was appropriate.

Steve Schmutz, an attorney representing families of three victims, said his clients "support whatever decision the U.S. government is making in this case, and I'm sure they support this decision."

Some relatives of the slain worshippers tearfully offered words of forgiveness during Roof's initial court appearance.. Nearly a year later, views diverged on the federal death penalty decision.

"It's a great message being sent by the government that this won't be tolerated," Kevin Singleton, whose mother was among those killed, told the local Post and Courier newspaper.

The relative of another victim cited the Bible in calling for Roof to spend his life in prison rather than die.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Only three federal prisoners have been executed in the past half century and none since 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The best-known of those was Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.
Euro zone agrees debt deal with Greece, IMF -France's Sapin

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers agreed with Greece and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday on a deal that will address Athens' requests for debt relief, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

"This agreement is act of confidence in today's Greece," he told reporters as he left a meeting in Brussels in the early hours. He gave no details but said the agreement was comprehensive and covered short-, medium- and long-term measures on the debt.
Japan PM protests Okinawa crime to Obama, who promises cooperation

By Minami Funakoshi and Kiyoshi Takenaka

ISE-SHIMA, Japan, May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the killing of a young woman in Okinawa which has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island.

Obama, joining Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit, expressed regrets over the killing for which a U.S. base worker has been charged.

"As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday.

"I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said.

Obama, arriving from a visit to Vietnam, told a joint news conference after his meeting with Abe: "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets...The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system."

Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden.

Many also associate the bases with crime, pollution and noise. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations.

Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely.

Obama is also set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit.

Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by.

"I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy," Abe told reporters earlier.

The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters.

With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country's own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.

Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations.
Euro zone hails "breakthrough" with Greece, IMF debt deal

By Jan Strupczewski, Francesco Guarascio and Alastair Macdonald

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - The euro zone gave Greece its firmest offer yet of debt relief in what finance ministers called a breakthrough deal that won a commitment from the IMF finally to return to taking part in the bailout for Athens.

After talks that lasted into the small hours of Wednesday, the Eurogroup ministers gave a nod to releasing 10.3 billion euros in new funds for Greece in recognition of painful fiscal reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist-led coalition, subject to some final technical tweaks.

But a bigger step forward was a deal by which the euro zone agreed to offer Athens debt relief in 2018 if that is necessary to meet agreed criteria on its payments burden. That was enough to secure an agreement from the International Monetary Fund to again join the euro zone in funding the bailout of Greece.

"We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, told a news conference. "This is stretching what I thought would have been possible not so long ago."

Acknowledging the "political capital" European ministers invested to reach the deal -- a nod to strong German objections to debt relief -- Dijsselbloem called it a "new phase" in a six-year drama to stabilise Greece's finances that has taken the 16-year-old euro zone to the brink of break-up.

Mutual trust was returning to the talks, he said, nearly a year after Tsipras's rejection of austerity measures pushed Athens close to be pushed out of the euro.

GREEK OPTIMISM

"I think there is some ground for optimism that this can be the beginning of turning Greece's vicious circle of recession-measures-recession into one where investors have a clear runway to invest in Greece," Tsipras's finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, told reporters as he left the Brussels meeting.

The IMF has long insisted on the European governments taking a hit to relieve Athens of some of its debt in order to make its public finances more sustainable. The refusal of Germany and others to do that had led to months of wrangling with the IMF in which Athens had been something of a spectator in negotiations.

While the Europeans did not offer immediate debt relief, or make an unconditional promise of reducing the payments Greece must make to them, they did spell out criteria for it. Athens' gross financing needs show be kept below 15 percent of GDP in the medium term and below 20 percent beyond that.

"The Eurogroup agreed today on a package of debt measures which will be phased in progressively, as necessary to meet the agreed benchmark on gross financing needs," a statement said.

IMF ON BOARD

The IMF's European director Poul Thomsen said he believed the measures would "deliver the necessary debt relief", though he cautioned that it was still up to the IMF board in Washington to determine whether to agree with his assessment. The extent of debt relief that would take place was still not clear, he said.

"It will deliver debt sustainability according to our standard criteria," Thomsen said, insisting that the IMF had not eased its insistence that it would lend more to Athens unless its European creditors ease its debt burden. "I do not see this as a weakening of the debt relief proposals," he said.

But he acknowledged that the Fund made a big concession by agreeing that the debt relief would only be finally decided in 2018, rather than up-front, as was the IMF's initial position.

The easing of Greece's debts could be achieved by various methods, including extending some maturities, the euro zone agreed -- not through a 'haircut' on the nominal debt.

Germany has been insistent that the IMF should take part in the bailout because the Fund's reputation for fiscal rigour, but it has also resisted demands from Washington for debt relief -- a move that Berlin fears would create a "moral hazard", giving euro zone debtors an incentive to break with austerity reforms.

Hardline Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir, who has long been sceptical of help for Greece, said: "It was a complicated birth tonight. It's probably about as good as it gets."

Socialist French Finance Minister Michel Sapin heaped praise on Tsipras for pushing painful reforms through parliament in order to unlock a first tranche of new money worth 7.5 billion euros next month, with another 2.8 billion to come.

"Even if the discussions were long, the atmosphere was always extremely relaxed," he said. "This deal is first and foremost a declaration of confidence in today's Greece."

Before the meeting, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters he was not willing to commit to any action after next year, when Germany holds parliamentary elections in the autumn.
Bismarck Police is searching for a man who allegedly fired a gun into the air behind Dan's Supermarket on 1190 West Turnpike Ave. early Wednesday.

An employee told police the suspect exited the store around 2:45 a.m. and walked to the driver's side of a red Chevrolet Cavalier. He fired two shots in the air, got in the passenger side and drove eastbound on West Turnpike Avenue, police allege.

Police found two .45 caliber shell casing in the area.

Police said the suspect is 5 feet 10 inches and 160 pounds. He wore blue jeans and a dark blue Air Jordan sweatshirt. Anyone with information should call 701-224-TIPS.
Fitch downgrades Credit Suisse on challenging capital markets

HONG KONG, May 25 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings downgraded Credit Suisse Group's long-term default rating by a notch to A-minus and its viability rating to a-minus from a, citing the Swiss bank's reliance on difficult capital markets.

The agency also blamed the economic slowdown in the Asia-Pacific region which it said would put pressure on the lender's new business model.

"We expect execution of strategic restructuring to remain more challenged by prevailing unfavourable fixed income and equities capital markets than was the case when it was announced in October last year, particularly in Europe and Asia," it said.

Earlier this month Switzerland's second-biggest bank posted a second straight quarterly loss, in its worst start to a year since the financial crisis.

The bank's mark-to-market losses in these two quarters were related mainly to securitised products, distressed credit and certain underwriting positions, Fitch said.

But the planned exit from distressed credit and European securitised trading, and sharp reduction in these exposures, would help earnings, it added.

Credit Suisse said the ratings agency acknowledged the positives in some of the bank's strategies.

"They recognize that our strategy of growing the wealth management business in Asia Pacific is showing signs of success, and that efforts to reduce fixed costs and capital consumption should improve earnings stability in the medium term," the bank said in a statement.

While noting the positives in the wealth management business, Fitch said the current year's performance would be weighed down by subdued client activity in debt and equity capital markets, larger-than-expected restructuring costs and an initially significant drag from activities earmarked for wind-down and booked in the strategic resolution unit.

Last year, Credit Suisse unveiled plans to raise 6 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) from investors, slim down its investment bank and cut jobs in the biggest overhaul in almost a decade.

While the expected settlement of U.S. mortgage matters during 2016 should remove much of the uncertainty, Fitch said it expects conduct and litigation risk would remain material contingent liabilities for the foreseeable future.
Versatile Arda is Turkey's driving force

ISTANBUL, May 25 (Reuters) - Turkey's ambitions of reaching the Euro 2016 knockout stages will largely depend on the form of their inspirational captain Arda Turan, who has had a patchy season with his new club Barcelona.

The 29-year-old midfielder joined Barca from Atletico Madrid in July 2015 but was sidelined for six months by the club's transfer ban which meant he made his debut only in January.

He has, though, failed to establish himself as a regular starter in the wake of stiff competition and been used mainly as a substitute.

For Turkey he remains the main man and his array of skills, which made him one of Atletico's key players during his four-year spell with the club, will be their best hope of avoiding an early exit in France.

Pace and dazzling footwork combined with an eye for goal ensure he is a driving force, bossing a midfield that includes the talented Hakan Caljanoglu, Selcuk Inan and Nuri Sahin.

For inspiration, Arda will have his memories of Euro 2008 when he scored in comeback wins over Switzerland and the Czech Republic as Turkey reached the semi-finals.
Childhood goes up in smoke for Indonesian tobacco farm workers

By Prasto Wardoyo and Eveline Danubrata

PROBOLINGGO, Indonesia, May 25 (Reuters) - Thirteen-year-old Siti Maryam says she suffers headaches and nausea after harvesting tobacco leaves with her bare hands during four years of working on her family's farm in Indonesia.

Maryam, who is among the thousands of children a rights group says work in hazardous conditions on farms in the world's fifth-biggest producer of tobacco, spoke to Reuters in a field near the east Java city of Probolinggo.

"I feel dizzy, get headaches and feel like vomiting," said Maryam, listing symptoms that match a condition experts call acute nicotine poisoning, or "green tobacco sickness".

Indonesia is one of the world's fastest-growing markets for tobacco products, with about $16 billion of cigarettes sold last year in the country of 250 million, an increase of 13 percent from 2014, says market research firm Euromonitor International.

But a lack of information leaves families oblivious to the risks their children face while working on tobacco farms, said Margaret Wurth, a researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Several big companies lack procedures to screen out tobacco that involves the effort of children working in hazardous conditions, the group said in a report on Wednesday.

"As a result, these companies risk contributing to the use of, and benefiting from, hazardous child labour," it added.

The group interviewed 227 people, among them 132 children aged between 8 and 17, who said they worked on tobacco farms in four Indonesian provinces.

But the report risks generalising the whole of Indonesia and some children do work in non-hazardous conditions on tobacco farms, the chairman of the Indonesian tobacco farmers' association, Soeseno, told Reuters.

"The root of the problem is poverty in certain small villages," he said.

Parents getting children to help is in line with cultural norms in some areas, Soeseno, who goes by one name, like many Indonesians, said by telephone.

Customers do not normally ask whether child labour is involved, said Suradi, a trader who buys tobacco from farmers in Probolinggo for resale.

"When I send the tobacco to the storehouse it only depends on the quality," he told Reuters.

Human Rights Watch said it contacted some of the biggest companies operating in Indonesia, such as Philip Morris International Inc, Djarum Group and PT Gudang Garam Tbk .

Philip Morris welcomed the report, sustainability officer Miguel Coleta told Reuters, adding that the company sourced almost 70 percent of its tobacco through direct contracts with Indonesian farmers, versus about 10 percent four years ago.

But change requires many stakeholders to cooperate, including the Indonesian government, he added. "We are talking about a massive market, millions of people," Coleta said in an interview. "It's not something easy to reform overnight."

Indonesian tobacco firms Djarum and Gudang Garam did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

In the tobacco field in Probolinggo, a dozen children helped to sow seeds, earning about 10,000 to 15,000 rupiah ($0.73 to $1.10) for working seven hours a day.
Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 25

BRATISLAVA, May 25 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview =========================NEWS=============================== CURRENT ACCOUNT: Slovakia's current account showed a deficit of 164 million euros ($183.11 million) in March after a revised deficit of 34 million euros in February, the central bank said on Tuesday. Story: Related stories: BANKS: Slovakia's central bank has agreed to maintain extra capital buffers on systemically important banks at overall rates of 2-3 percent from next year. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet on +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 0.8759 euros)
As Vietnam's rains begin, coffee farmers eye drought damage

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, May 25 (Reuters) - As rain returns to Vietnam's parched coffee growing region after the worst drought in 30 years, it will be too late for some farmers with nearly a fifth of coffee trees either dead or damaged.

The dry weather that has gripped the country's Central Highlands coffee belt is set to cut this year's harvest in the world's biggest producer of robusta - used mainly for instant coffee - by up to 30 percent.

But the effects will also be felt in future seasons as farmers wait for replanted stock to bear fruit, while the drought is turning more growers to plant pepper, which offers higher returns and uses less water, traders and analysts said.

"The drought impact is not only on this crop year. The trees which have died or been sick means the next crop will also be affected," said Luong Van Tu, chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa).

Analysts have already scaled back projections of a global coffee surplus in 2016/17 to a more balanced market, pushing depressed robusta prices up around 20 percent since late February.

Vietnam accounts for about 20 percent of global coffee output. Small farmers, with plots as little as a hectare or less, make up around 80 percent of its plantations which cover some 650,000 hectares (1.6 million acres).

The El Nino inspired drought will leave about 18 percent of coffee trees dead or severely damaged, according to government figures, while the area planted to coffee could fall to around 600,000 hectares next year due to drought and crop switching, traders said.

Vicofa has forecast the coming 2016/17 harvest due to start in October could fall by up to 30 percent from 1.63 million tonnes in 2015/16, while Fitch Group's BMI Research put the decline at 8 percent and independent analyst Nguyen Quang Binh at 10 percent.

PEPPER CROP GROWS

Vietnam has already been pushing farmers to replant low-yielding coffee trees older than 20 years - about a third of its total stock - fearing a steep decline in output in coming years.

Many have resisted due to the loss of income as replanting can mean up to three years without a crop, but drought damage is forcing farmers to act.

In the main coffee province of Daklak, farmer Le Huu Tan said fewer growers were willing to stick to coffee, particularly after an extended decline in the price of robusta.

"The soil has poor quality now, water supply is bad and prices are not profitable so farmers here have changed, turning to growing pepper and avocado," Tan told Reuters.

Vietnam is already the world's top producer and exporter of black pepper. Despite the recent rise in robusta prices, farmers can earn up to 178,000 dong ($8) for a kilogram of pepper, compared with around 36,000 dong for a kilogram of robusta, which more than makes up for pepper's slightly lower yields per hectare.

Vietnam Pepper Association chairman Do Ha Nam said coffee farmers have already started replacing trees killed by the drought with pepper.

The area planted to the spice could jump 20 percent this year to 120,000 hectares, he said, with the pace of the crop shift picking up after a 17 percent expansion in 2015, according to government data.

"This crop switching is an inevitable trend and also a protection for farmers," said Bach Thanh Tuan, head of the Daklak-based Community Development Center, which helps farmers with sustainable production.

In Daklak, plant nurseries which had been selling young coffee trees and pepper vines, now only stocked pepper, said a trader at a foreign firm after a recent visit to the area.

"Pepper prices have been very attractive, so farmers decided to make a switch," Nam said. ($1=22,331 dong)
New boss warns on profit as turns to "Mrs M&S" to revive clothing

By James Davey and Paul Sandle

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - A warning from Marks & Spencer's new boss of a short-term profit hit from efforts to turn around its clothing business by cutting prices and improving ranges knocked its shares on Wednesday.

Steve Rowe, a 26-year M&S veteran, replaced Marc Bolland as chief executive of the 132-year-old British retailer last month with a remit to revive clothing, which contributes about 60 percent of profit but has seen five years of falling sales.

Rowe said he would focus on M&S's most loyal customer, a 50-year-old woman he described as "Mrs M&S", who had been neglected in the chase for younger, more fashion-conscious shoppers.

The warning that it would take time for customers to notice the improvements and return to M&S stores to buy products other than its successful food ranges, combined with the impact on its margin forecast shocked some investors, who experienced several such "turnaround" plans during Bolland's six years in charge.

M&S, which has long been Britain's biggest clothing retailer, has seen its sales eroded by rivals like Next and a push from supermarkets into family clothing while younger shoppers favour Primark and H&M's cheap prices and more fashionable clothes or online stores like ASOS.

Rowe's plan is to focus on improvements to the quality, fit and availability of M&S's ranges, while lowering prices and reducing the proportion of sales on promotion.

Together with difficult trading conditions this "will have an adverse effect on profit in the short term" he said.

M&S shares, which are down a quarter over the last year, were trading 8.9 percent lower at 405 pence at 1157 GMT.

Some analysts were sceptical. "There is no easy fix for the general merchandise business," said Freddie George at broker Cantor Fitzgerald, who has a "sell" rating on the company.

However, one large institutional investor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were supportive of Rowe's strategy and were willing to give him time.

Rowe forecast that the sales trends this year would be similar to last, when like-for-like sales in clothing and homewares fell 2.9 percent.

Lower prices, and currency pressure, would also limit an improvement in the gross margin to 50-100 points. This was below expectations and further unnerved the market after M&S had made big strides in boosting margins under its previous CEO.

Analysts at UBS said the new guidance implied about a 10 percent downgrade to consensus profit forecasts, which prior to Wednesday's financial update were 710 pounds and 744 million pounds for 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively.

M&S reported a 2.4 percent rise in revenue to 10.6 billion pounds ($15.5 billion) for the year to April 2.
Kyrgyzstan protests over Kazakh minister's toilet cleaning comment

BISHKEK, May 25 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry has summoned a Kazakh diplomat after Kazakhstan's culture and sports minister said he felt sorry for Kyrgyz migrant labourers having to clean public toilets in Russia.

The Kyrgyz foreign ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday that Arystanbek Mukhamediuly's comments were insulting, "had provoked negative reaction from the Kyrgyz public and were not in line with the allied spirit of Kyrgyz-Kazakh relations".

Kazakhstan is far richer than its neighbour, thanks to its vast natural resources, but Kyrgyz rivers are the source of much of its water - a major cause of long-running tensions between the two former Soviet states.

Speaking about Kyrgyzstan in a public meeting this week, Mukhamediuly said he felt "very sorry" that "young girls, our neighbours, are cleaning public toilets" in Moscow and other Russian cities due to a lack of jobs at home.

The foreign ministry also said "biased statements" with regards to Kyrgyzstan have become more frequent in Kazakhstan and appeared in state-run media there.

The two countries, whose populations are predominantly closely related Turkic-speaking peoples, have markedly different political systems.
Official retracts statement that Mecca's metro project delayed

DUBAI, May 25 (Reuters) - A $16.5 billion metro railway project planned for Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca has been delayed so that its financing can be restructured, an official said on Wednesday, but he later retracted the statement.

Ali Abdelfattah, chief executive-designate of the Saudi government's Mecca Mass Rail Transit (MMRT), initially told a construction industry conference in Dubai: "The reason for the delay is some restructuring financially".

He said that while work on privately funded schemes was largely unaffected in Saudi Arabia, all government-funded projects were going through some sort of restructuring or replanning.

New budgeting constraints have caused changes to the Mecca plan such as modifications to the design of the metro stations, Abdelfattah said.

However, Abdelfattah later told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television that the project was progressing well and that there was no delay.

"Of course I deny completely what was said and all that was written and the hashtags and the WhatsApp, none of which is correct," he said. "My remarks were recorded at the conference and this was a technical conference, not a political conference."

Abdelfattah declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters.

The Mecca plan includes building 182 kilometres (114 miles) of track and 88 stations, according to an October 2015 document from MMRT, as well as a bus network. It was due to be completed in six phases over about 20 years. Major contracts for the project have not yet been awarded.
Kenya says its troops kill 21 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia

MOGADISHU, May 25 (Reuters) - Kenya's military said on Wednesday it had killed 21 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia where its troops are trying to defeat the militant Islamist group that has often struck civilian targets inside Kenya.

Kenyan troops, which are in Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) deployment, struck a group of al Shabaab fighters in the west of the country, near the Kenyan border, David Obonyo, spokesman for Kenya Defence Forces, said in a statement.

Al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis abu Musab said its fighters had killed five soldiers, wounded eight and burnt one military vehicle in the fighting. The reports could not be independently verified.

Obonyo said the Kenyan troops suffered no casualties.

Al Shabaab, a hardline Islamist group, ruled large parts of Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of Mogadishu by AU and Somali troops. It still control some rural areas and carries out frequent attacks in the capital and other areas in its attempt to dislodge the Western-backed government.

In January, Kenyan troops took heavy losses when al Shabaab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde near the Kenyan border. Al Shabaab said it killed more than 100 soldiers. Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.

The group killed 148 students at Garissa University in northeast Kenya in April 2015, the worst militant attack in the country in almost two decades. An al Shabaab attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi in September 2013 killed 67 people.
Theobalt Ted Fleck, 86, died May 22, 2016, in Missoula, Mont. Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Friday, May 27, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, with the Rev. Chris Kadrmas officiating. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck.

Ted was born April 4, 1930, on a farm located between Flasher and Solen, to parents Michael L. and Mathilda Gerhardt Fleck.

When his father died in 1937, the family, seven children with their mother, moved to Breien; then back to the farm and eventually permanently to Solen. There they lived in various homes, before eventually residing at their grandmother Philomena Gerhardts home (Mathilda's mother). Ted attended a country school, then at Breien, and then to Solen.

As a very young boy/man he worked for various local farmers/ranchers, helping with livestock, harvesting and various other chores. At the age of 11, he already had the responsibility of herding 360 head of sheep! In 1944, he also worked on the railroad, stating his age as being 16, rather than the actual 14 in order to get the job. Later, he also worked in Bismarck and Denver, Colo., and in Kansas City, Mo.

Due to an eye injury when he was a teenager, he often had difficulty obtaining employment, as was the case when at the age of 17, Ted joined the U.S. Air Force. This was just as the Air Force became a separate entity from the U.S. Army. Ted found that by memorizing the last line of the eye chart he was quite capable of performing the requirements of his various military duties. He finished his education in the Air Force. He did his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Ted had a lifelong career in the Air Force. His assignments consisted of tours in Germany, Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, Labrador, California and Nebraska. He was on the air refueling squadron and also did fireman/rescue at the airport during the Korean War.

Ted married Irma Hausamann in August 1953. They later divorced. Ted married Joan Nokleby in Missoula, Mont., on Oct. 4, 1977.

Upon completing his Air Force career as a tech sergeant, he and his family moved to Bismarck and he joined his brother, Mike, as a semi-truck driver. He later moved to Missoula, Mont., where he continued as a trucker.

He is survived by his loving wife of 38 years, Joan, who stood by his side until the very end; his children, Doreen Burdick, Bismarck, Roy (Micki) Fleck, San Antonio, Texas, Richard (Patty) Fleck, Bismarck, Teddy (Bonnie) Fleck, Springfield, Mo., David (Cathy) Fleck, Edmond, Okla., and Shawn (Missy) Fleck, Republic, Mo., and their mother, Irma Turgut; and four stepchildren, Conrad/June (Michele) Nokleby, Brent (Darla) Nokleby, Teresa (John) Kafentiz and Susan Nokleby (John) Adams. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren, Brandon and Dustin Fleck, Chelsie (Tim) Boeshans, Richard Fleck Jr., Corey, Garrett and Gavin Fleck, Kyla and Kallie Fleck and Kristina Kainz; four great-grandchildren; and numerous step-grandchildren. Ted is also survived by his brother, Steve, North Platte, Neb.; his sisters, Mary S. Hoff, Sacramento, Calif., and Phyllis Eckroth, Mandan; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Matt, Michael and Roger; infant siblings, Anne, John and George; and one son-in-law, Wayne Burdick.

Go to www.parkwayfuneral.com to share memories of Ted and sign the online guest book.
Kenya says its forces kill 21 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia

MOGADISHU, May 25 (Reuters) - Kenya's military said on Wednesday it had killed 21 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia where its troops are trying to defeat the militant Islamist group that has often struck civilian targets inside Kenya.

Kenyan troops, which are in Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) deployment, struck a group of al Shabaab fighters in the west of the country, near the Kenyan border, David Obonyo, spokesman for Kenya Defence Forces, said in a statement.

Al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis abu Musab said its fighters had killed five soldiers, wounded eight and burnt one military vehicle in the fighting. The reports could not be independently verified.

Al Shabaab, a hardline Islamist group, ruled large parts of Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of Mogadishu by AU and Somali troops. It still control some rural areas and carries out frequent attacks in the capital and other areas in its attempt to dislodge the Western-backed government.

In January, Kenyan troops took heavy losses when al Shabaab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde near the Kenyan border. Al Shabaab said it killed more than 100 soldiers. Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.

The group killed 148 students at Garissa University in northeast Kenya in April 2015, the worst militant attack in the country in almost two decades. An al Shabaab attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi in September 2013 killed 67 people.
Russia's Putin pardons Ukrainian pilot, sends her home in prisoner swap

By Maria Tsvetkova and Pavel Polityuk

MOSCOW/KIEV, May 25 (Reuters) - Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home to scenes of jubilation on Wednesday after her release by Russia in a prisoner swap and she promptly offered to fight again for Kiev in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists.

Savchenko's handover, in return for two Russian prisoners - had been demanded by the West and was cast as a humanitarian gesture by Russian President Vladimir Putin a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia imposed over its support of the rebels.

Savchenko, 35, barefoot - it was unclear why - and wearing a T-shirt depicting the Ukrainian coat of arms, emerged from the terminal at Kiev's Boryspil airport to cries of "hero" from a crowd of supporters, among them her sister and mother.

"Huge thanks for fighting for me. I thank everyone who wished me well. Thanks to you I survived. To those who wished me ill, I survived despite you!" she shouted.

"I can't revive the dead, but I am always ready to lay down my life on the battlefield for Ukraine. And I will do everything possible for every person in captivity to be freed."

She was captured in 2014 while fighting with Ukrainian forces against pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. She was handed over to Russia and found guilty of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists who were killed by artillery fire while reporting on the conflict.

As Savchenko touched down in Kiev, Russian television showed footage of Putin meeting relatives of the two Russian journalists to explain his decision to pardon her.

"I want to... express the hope that such decisions, which are dictated first of all by humanitarian considerations, will lead to a reduction in the confrontation in the conflict zone and will help avoid such losses, which are terrible and which nobody needs," Putin said.

State television also showed the two Russians handed over by Kiev, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, descending the steps of an aircraft after it touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The pair - who told Reuters in an interview last year that they were Russian special forces soldiers captured while on a secret mission in eastern Ukraine - were embraced on the tarmac by their wives.

As part of the exchange deal, which could help ease tensions between Russia and the West, they received official pardons from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE

Savchenko, a military pilot, had volunteered to fight with a ground unit against the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

At her trial in southern Russia, Savchenko was accused of acting as an artillery spotter, calling down the fire that killed the journalists. She denied this.

A Russian court sentenced her in March to 22 years in jail. She is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia, a perception bolstered by her defiant behaviour in court during her trial.

At one point, she interrupted the judge reading out his verdict by standing on a bench and singing the Ukrainian anthem at the top of her voice.

Russia has never explicitly acknowledged that it sent active duty Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine, so it was not clear how Alexandrov and Yerofeyev would be treated on their return home. While in Kiev, they had accused Moscow of disowning them.

Alexandrov's mother, Zinaida, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday: "I'm glad, I'm very happy. I hope that everything will be okay for him, I really want to see him."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement that he hoped Savchenko's release "will help build trust between Ukraine and Russia".

Russia's relations with its neighbour and fellow ex-Soviet republic Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev. Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large Russian-speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people.
Germany's Merkel says not worried about EU-Turkey migrant deal

BERLIN, May 25 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she was not worried about the migrant pact between the European Union and Turkey, but more time was needed to address sticking points on visa liberalisation for Ankara.

"I am not concerned, we just need more time," Merkel told reporters after a cabinet meeting just outside Berlin.
Slovakia says Mochovce nuclear plant to cost more than expected

BRATISLAVA, May 25 (Reuters) - Construction costs for Slovakia's Mochovce nuclear plant, due to be completed by 2018, will be higher than the 4.6 billion euros ($5 bln) approved by the government, its economy minister said on Wednesday.

The plant, being built by Slovak electricity producer Slovenske Elektrarne, which is majority owned by Italy's Enel , has been beset by delays and cost overruns.

The budget has already risen to 4.6 billion euros, from an original 2.8 billion euros, partly because of new safety improvements after the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011.

"Slovenske Elektrarne has hinted there will be additional costs at yesterday's meeting," Economy Minister Peter Ziga told Reuters before a weekly cabinet meeting in Bratislava. He held a meeting with Slovenske executives on Tuesday, his first since becoming economy minister in March.

The government has a 34 percent stake in Slovenske Elektrarne and has to approve any budget changes.

A spokeswoman for Enel, which owns 66 percent of Slovenske Elektrarne, said a team was working on a new cost analysis of the project.

Slovenske Elektrarne said in November it expects unit 3 to be operational by the end of this year or early 2017 and unit 4 a year later.

Enel signed a deal with Czech energy company EPH in December to sell its stake in Slovenske Elektrarne in two stages, 33 percent initially and the rest after the Mochovce expansion is completed.

Slovakia's centre-left government has long said it would seek a larger role in Slovenske Elektrarne but has pressured Enel not to sell its stake completely before the Mochovce project is finished.

Under an agreement with Enel and the Slovakian government, EPH has agreed to sell 17 percent of its holding in Slovenske Elektrarne to the government.

The Slovak state will have six months after the completion of the Mochovce project to decide whether to raise its holding to 51 percent.
Iran-Saudi row threatens any OPEC deal, puts role in question

By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal

LONDON/DUBAI, May 25 (Reuters) - OPEC's thorniest dilemma of the past year - at least from a purely oil standpoint - is about to disappear.

Less than six months after the lifting of Western sanctions, Iran is close to regaining normal oil export volumes, adding extra barrels to the market in an unexpectedly smooth way and helped by supply disruptions from Canada to Nigeria.

But the development will do little to repair dialogue, let alone help clinch a production deal, when OPEC meets next week amid rising political tensions between arch-rivals Iran and oil superpower Saudi Arabia, OPEC sources and delegates say.

Earlier this year, Tehran refused to join an initiative to boost prices by freezing output but signalled it would be part of a future effort once its production had recovered sufficiently. OPEC has no supply limit, having at its last meeting in December scrapped its production target.

According to International Energy Agency (IEA) figures, Iran's output has reached levels seen before the imposition of sanctions over its nuclear programme. Tehran says it is not yet there.

But while Iran may be more willing now to talk, an increase in oil prices has reduced the urgency of propping up the market, OPEC delegates say. Oil has risen towards a more producer-friendly $50 from a 12-year low near $27 in January.

"I don't think OPEC will decide anything," a delegate from a major Middle East producer said. "The market is recovering because of supply disruptions and demand recovery."

A senior OPEC delegate, asked whether the group would make any changes to output policy at its June 2 meeting, said: "Nothing. The freeze is finished."

Within OPEC, Iran has long pushed for measures to support oil prices. That position puts it at odds with Saudi Arabia, the driving force behind OPEC's landmark November 2014 refusal to cut supply in order to boost the market.

Sources familiar with Iranian oil policy see no sign of any change of approach by Riyadh under new Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih - who is seen as a believer in reform and low oil prices.

"It really depends on those countries within OPEC with a high level of production," one such source said. "It does not seem that Saudi Arabia will be ready to cooperate with other members."

HIGHER EXPORTS

Iran has managed to increase oil exports significantly in 2016 after the lifting of sanctions in January.

It notched up output of 3.56 million barrels of oil per day in April, the IEA said, a level last reached in November 2011 before sanctions were tightened.

Saudi Arabia produced a near-record-high 10.26 million barrels per day in April and has kept output relatively steady over the past year, its submissions to OPEC show.

Iran, according to delegates from other OPEC members, is unlikely to restrain supplies, given that it believes Saudi Arabia should cut back itself to make room for Iranian oil.

"Iran won't support any freeze or cut," said a non-Iranian OPEC delegate. "But Iran may put pressure on Saudi Arabia that they hold the responsibility."

Saudi thinking, however, has moved on from the days when Riyadh cut or increased output unilaterally. Talks in Doha on the proposed output freeze by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell through after Saudi insisted that Iran participate.

Indeed, differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which helped found the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries 56 years ago, over OPEC policy have made cooperation harder - to say nothing of more fundamental disagreements.

For more than a decade after oil crashed to $10 in 1997, the two set aside rivalries to manage the market and support prices, although they fell into opposing OPEC camps with Iran wanting high prices and Saudi more moderate.

Now, the Sunni-Shia conflicts setting Saudi Arabia and Iran at each other's throats, particularly in Syria and Yemen, make the relationship between the two even more fraught.

The two disagree over OPEC's future direction. Earlier in May, OPEC failed to decide on a long-term strategy as Saudi Arabia objected to Iran's proposal that the exporter group aim for "effective production management".

With that backdrop, ministers may be advised to keep expectations low, an OPEC watcher said.

"The only aspiration OPEC should have for its 2 June meeting is simply not to repeat the chaos of the Doha process," said Paul Horsnell, analyst at Standard Chartered.
Germany, France hold back NATO, EU ambitions in Libya

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - Europe's bold intentions to support Libya's new U.N.-backed government are faltering as France and Germany resist a bigger role to rebuild the failed state, scarred by the West's 2011 air campaign to help topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The European Union and NATO have said they stand ready to help the unity government in Tripoli, if requested, to combat smugglers sending migrants into the Mediterranean towards Europe. Tripoli, for its part, faces a threat from Islamic State fighters who exploited past conflict between rival governments to extend their power.

In a letter, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj sent a broad request for security training, but now Germany and France want the United Nations to move first, something Russia is unlikely to support because it feels the West went too far in 2011.

Germany has suggested that the NATO alliance may need an invitation from the European Union to help in Libya.

"Europeans now have what they asked for, namely a unity government ruling from the capital," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "They should take care not to burden it with unrealistic demands, from ending the migrant crisis to defeating Islamic State."

Germany is wary of a long-term commitment, scaling back the language in a statement by European Union foreign ministers this week by insisting the bloc seeks U.N. Security Council approval to stop arms trafficking even on the high seas, diplomats said.

France sent special forces and intelligence commandos to conduct covert operations against Islamic State in Libya, Le Monde reported in February. But French diplomats in Brussels are more cautious about a big NATO role, despite a warning last month from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that some 450,000 refugees in Libya could flee to Europe.

Deployment of NATO combat troops appears out of the question.

"We are looking at a support role, one that is low profile," said a senior French official involved in Libya policy. "The risks are very real and our resources modest."

The remarks contrast with gathering momentum a month ago at EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels and a special dinner of EU foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg in which Libyan maritime and security missions were on the table.

"The situation is apparently not grave enough for us to act," said a senior NATO diplomat. "We need a real crisis."

Just 480 kilometres (300 miles) from Europe's coast, Libya's slide into anarchy over the past five years has made it an outpost for Islamic State militants and a staging post for sub-Saharan African migrants aided by traffickers.

But the failure of the West's 2011 intervention still weighs on Western officials, even as the United States urges the Europeans to take a bigger role in securing its neighbourhood.

"Washington tells us Europe's southern border ends in the Sahara, not in the Mediterranean," said an EU defence official.

"SECURITY VACUUM"

Britain and the United States want a much bigger role for both NATO and the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged NATO to link up with the EU's naval mission "Sophia" in the Mediterranean to tackle smugglers.

Lawmakers in Britain say the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean is too limited to have an impact on smugglers, as it is too far out to destroy boats, catch traffickers or head off migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya.

"A mission acting only on the high seas is not able to disrupt smuggling networks, which thrive on the political and security vacuum in Libya, and extend through Africa," a British parliamentary report said this month.

Alain Le Roy, the secretary general of the EU's foreign service, defended the Sophia mission, saying that more than 80 traffickers had been arrested and up to 200 boats destroyed.

EU foreign ministers have approved training of Libya's navy and coast guard in international waters. Sophia's chief, Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, told La Repubblica on Wednesday the coast guard could be trained in 14 weeks.

On the ground, the United States and Italy, Libya's former colonial power, are leading calls for action and Rome is willing to send around 5,000 personnel to help the country. Washington is developing military options including deploying U.S. special forces against Islamic State militants.
Citi tops Euromoney global FX poll again, but big banks lose grip

By Jamie McGeever

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - The world's biggest currency dealing banks are losing their grip on the world's biggest financial market as newer, smaller players take a larger chunk of the $5 trillion-a-day-business, an annual industry survey showed on Wednesday.

Citi retained top spot in the annual Euromoney poll of FX market participants with a share of 12.9 percent, down from 16.1 percent a year ago.

But XTX Markets was ranked number nine, the first time one of the new brand of non-bank liquidity providers has made it into the top 10.

The top five banks also saw their share plunge to an all-time low of 44.7 percent as tighter regulation, tough trading conditions and increased automation took their toll. Deutsche Bank's share almost halved to 7.9 percent.

"There have been unprecedented shifts in the overall rankings. The biggest change this year is the decline of the combined market share of the top five global banks," Euromoney said.

Euromoney's annual poll, watched closely by the foreign exchange industry, has traditionally been dominated by the big banks. In 2009 the top five banks commanded a 61.5 percent share of the market, and the top 10 close to 80 percent.

The FX industry has also been hit by a market-rigging scandal that erupted in 2013. This culminated in dozens of traders being suspended or fired, banks being fined billions of dollars, and accelerating their withdrawal from FX trading operations that was already underway.

According to data analytics firm Coalition, revenue at the top 12 investment banks from FX, bond and commodity trading in the first quarter was down 49 percent from five years earlier, and headcount was down 32 percent.

"The market faces industry-transforming changes that, in turn, are yielding a mixed bag of growth prospects," Boston-based financial research and consultancy Aite Group said earlier this week.

U.S. banks gained ground on their European peers. Five of them were in the top 10, with Citi at the top of the tree and four others rising in the rankings.

European banks accounted for six of last year's top 10, but this year two dropped out all together and three fell in the rankings.

Below is a list of the top 10 FX players, their market share, and the previous year's ranking.

2016 2015

1. Citi 12.9 pct Citi 16.1 pct

2. JP Morgan 8.8 pct Deutsche 14.5 pct

3. UBS 8.8 pct Barclays 8.1 pct

4. Deutsche 7.9 pct JP Morgan 7.7 pct

5. BAML 6.4 pct UBS 7.3 pct

6. Barclays 5.7 pct BAML 6.2 pct

7. Goldman Sachs 4.7 pct HSBC 5.4 pct

8. HSBC 4.6 pct BNP Paribas 3.7

9. XTX Markets 3.9 pct Goldman Sachs 3.4 pct

10. Morgan Stanley 3.2 pct RBS 3.4 pct
BSI Singapore shutdown a wake-up call for private banks in Asia

By Lisa Jucca and Saeed Azhar

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters) - Singapore's drastic move to shut Swiss bank BSI's operations in the city-state over its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian fund 1MDB is a wake-up call for wealth managers in Asia, which had been spared the large fines and sanctions seen in the West.

The private bank is the first casualty of money-laundering probes in at least six jurisdictions into state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd, whose advisory board was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) did not name 1MDB in a statement on Tuesday announcing it was shutting down of BSI's business for "serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements" and "gross misconduct" by some staff.

But details from a Swiss probe into 1MDB accuse BSI of routinely failing to carry out required background checks on large sums deposited.

In one case, according to the Swiss banking watchdog, BSI was happy to take $20 million after being told by a client the sum was "a gift". In another, it accepted $98 million without any effort to clarify the origin of the funds.

While Western countries, in particular the United States, have censured banks including UBS, Credit Suisse , BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered for lapses on tax evasion or international sanctions, Asian regulators had been slow to bare their teeth.

The MAS move against BSI, however, signals a willingness to act to protect the reputation of key financial centres in the region, lawyers and bankers said.

"Asian regulators cannot sit on the sidelines and deal with the issues quietly because of the increasing global nature of these probes," said James Comber, a partner with law firm Ashurst in Hong Kong. "No one regulator wants to be seen as failing to take action on its turf."

COST PRESSURE

Besides ordering the closure of the bank, Singapore authorities said they were evaluating whether five former BSI executives committed criminal offences.

Bankers and lawyers expect more regulatory action and believe smaller banks will come under massive cost pressure to ensure they implement adequate compliance.

"This will send a chilling effect to banks and financial institutions," said Nizam Ismail, partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP in Singapore. "Their licence could be at risk. Worse, there is also the real threat of personal criminal liability."

While the United States, and other jurisdictions, started to look closely at money flows in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Asia has at times lagged behind.

In its last annual report, MAS said it issued nine warnings and reprimands to financial institutions in 2014 and imposed financial penalties on six ranging from S$1,000 to S$700,000 ($507,320), a far cry from the billions of dollars in fines the United States has imposed on global banks for misbehaving.

Hong Kong strengthened its anti-money laundering law in 2012. Before that date, the regulator did not have the power to impose fines, lawyers said. In Singapore, rules were toughened further in 2013 and then again last year.

But the 1MDB investigation has shown some banks such as BSI were completely disregarding the rules.

MAS inspected BSI three times since 2011 and said it found multiple breaches of anti-money laundering regulations that reflected a "a pervasive pattern of non-compliance".

The Swiss probe showed BSI failed to adequately monitor relationships with a client group with around 100 accounts at the bank.

MORE TO FOLLOW?

MAS, Singapore's central bank and financial regulator, said it was checking compliance standards at other institutions, without naming them.

A Malaysian parliamentary inquiry has shown that banks including the private banking units of JPMorgan and RBS had been handling money transfers linked to 1MDB. Both banks have declined to comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and others for details of transactions with 1MDB, Reuters reported. The U.S. government is also reviewing Goldman Sachs' relationship with the Malaysian fund. All the banks have declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that investigators had traced nearly $700 million from an account at Falcon Private Bank in Singapore to accounts in Malaysia they believed belonged to Prime Minister Najib. Falcon has said it is in contact with Singapore's central bank and cooperating with authorities.

Private banks across the world have targeted growth in Asia, a region expected to soon boast more billionaires than the United States.

But the expansion is coming at a cost and, as the regulatory pressure mounts, smaller banks may have to decide whether they can afford to compete. European banks such as Barclays wealth unit are already exiting the region.

"The big players can afford cutting edge technology, hire the best people to have a real robust go at anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules," said Keith Pogson, Asia senior partner for financial services at EY.

"But for the small players the question will be: does it make economic sense to put in place the level of compliance and scrutiny requested or is it not worth it?" ($1 = 1.3798 Singapore dollars)
Slovakia nominates foreign minister Lajcak for U.N. secretary-general

BRATISLAVA, May 25 (Reuters) - The Slovak government on Wednesday nominated Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak as a candidate for secretary-general of the United Nations.

Lajcak, 53, is a third-time foreign minister in the leftist government led by Prime Minister Robert Fico and served as both the High Representative and the EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The current U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon steps down at the end of the year after two five-year terms. Some predict there could up to 15 candidates by the time the Security Council holds its first informal straw poll in July.

Under an informal tradition of rotating the top post between regions, it is Eastern Europe's turn.

When the United Nations kicked off the race for the job in December, the world body's 193 members were encouraged to put forward a woman candidate. A man has held the position since its inception 70 years ago.

Moscow-educated Lajcak, who oversaw the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, has on occasion tempered Fico's anti-immigrant stance in Europe's migration crisis, but also objected to a quota system for distributing asylum seekers among EU member states.

Speaking privately in April, some diplomats said former Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Guterres and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark were favourites after each nominee was quizzed for two hours by the General Assembly.
Kazakhstan says disputes with oil majors could lead to arbitration

By Mariya Gordeyeva

ASTANA, May 25 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's $1.6 billion dispute with oil majors developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field may escalate to arbitration if negotiations on the matter fall through, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told Reuters on Wednesday.

Bozumbayev said his ministry was also preparing for "heated negotiations" on the giant Kashagan project, expected to begin commercial output between October and December and produce up to 1 million tonnes of oil this year.

"It is a routine dispute, (but) if we fail to reach a final agreement, there will be arbitration," Bozumbayev said in an interview, referring to Karachaganak.

"We want everything to be fair up until 2037 from our point of view," he said. A production-sharing agreement (PSA) on the project will expire in 2037.

Russia's Lukoil said last month Kazakhstan had filed a $1.6 billion claim against the PSA consortium led by BG Group and Eni. The energy ministry, in turn, has said the dispute was about calculations of the parties' shares in the field's output.

Eni and BG, recently acquired by Royal Dutch Shell Plc , each own 29.25 percent of the Karachaganak project in northwest Kazakhstan, which they jointly operate. Kazakh state-owned KazMunayGaz owns 10 percent, Chevron Corp 18 percent and Lukoil 13.5 percent.

Bozumbayev said Kazakhstan had no plans to revise the Karachaganak PSA because it would hurt the investment climate.

"This is a perfect project, we do not need to change anything there, only to defend our position under the PSA," he said.

Separately, Kazakhstan and its partners are also discussing additional investments aimed at maintaining the field's production levels for a longer period.

"We are interested in the most efficient solution: lower investment, longer period when output is maintained at the current level," Bozumbayev said.

KASHAGAN

Another Kazakh project that has been the subject of several disputes, the giant offshore Kashagan oilfield, is set to begin commercial output this year after numerous delays and cost overruns.

Kashagan may produce between 50,000 and 1 million tonnes of oil this year, 3-5 million tonnes next year and 7 million tonnes in 2018, Bozumbayev said.

However, foreign partners in the project - Eni, ExxonMobil , Total, Shell, CNPC and Inpex - may want to delay ramping up output beyond those levels until oil prices rise.

"This year we are focused ... on completing the first phase (launching production) at Kashagan in line with PSA terms, and then we will immediately need to begin negotiations on what to do next," Bozumbayev said.

"Those are going to be heated negotiations ... The country will insist on (investors) fulfilling their commitments, the shareholders will be looking at market prices. (But) so far, this year we are being friendly."

Kazakhstan's official output forecast of 74 million tonnes this year is based on an oil price of $30 a barrel and does not include Kashagan, Bozumbayev said, adding that the government may revise its forecast in July.

TENGIZ

Tengiz, Kazakhstan's first big oil project, is preparing for its own expansion that will cost $36-37 billion and lift output to 36 million tonnes a year by 2021 from 27 million tonnes.

Bozumbayev said the government and Tengiz partners led by Chevron expected to finalise the spending plan in June.

He also said the government was likely to grant tax relief to OzenMunaiGas, one of the main subsidiaries of London-listed upstream company KazMunaiGas Exploration and Production . OzenMunaiGas has applied for tax relief, saying it would incur losses otherwise due to low oil prices and may need to lay off workers.
During the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama made clear his intentions to bankrupt the coal industry. During the past eight years in office, the president has systematically implemented a regulatory playbook that seeks to force utilities to stop burning coal, keep coal producers from mining, and restrict access to global coal markets. All to achieve his promise to make electricity rates necessarily skyrocket.

Coal has its challenges. The shale revolution brought about more economical production and an abundance of cheap natural gas, currently an overabundance the market will eventually correct. However, thats about where the free market stops competing against coal. Federally-supported wind production has turned the power markets upside-down. When the wind blows, that power must be let onto the grid  take it or leave it  increasingly at the expense of stable power generators like coal. Cap that off with regulations like the Clean Power Plan; the New Source Performance Standard that represents a de facto ban on new coal plants; the so-called Stream Protection Rule that will take half of our mining reserves off the table and the moratorium on federal coal leasing. The list goes on, but its clear the heavy hand of government rests squarely on the scale against coal.

And lets not fool ourselves, the administration and its allies have their sights set on the oil and gas industry as well. If that end were achieved, well get our energy only when the wind blows and the sun shines. Cold and dark would be the actual legacy of this policy agenda.

Donald Trump says he wants to save coal miners jobs. He did not say government needs to save them. Rather, he understands their jobs need saving from the federal government. This distinction is in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton, who has vowed to put coal miners out of work, but offers up a $30 billion taxpayer-funded mea culpa to help retrain them for jobs they just want to keep in the first place.

Trump gets it and millions of American voters get it. Renewable energy has its place but fossil fuels are a way of life, and we are thankful for the good-paying jobs the industry provides, and the affordable and reliable energy that powers our society. Trump simply wants to allow the industry to do its job, with government acting as a responsible regulator rather than social reformist.
EU naval force can train Libyan coastguard in 14 weeks - admiral

ROME, May 25 (Reuters) - The European Union's Mediterranean naval force is offering to train Libyans to run a small coastguard fleet to be able to fight people smuggling in under three months, the admiral in charge of the mission said on Wednesday.

"In 14 weeks we can train the first 100 men in international waters by turning one of our ships into a school," Admiral Enrico Credendino said in an interview with Italy's la Repubblica newspaper.

"There are eight patrol boats ready for delivery that had been equipped by Italy for the Libyan government before civil war broke out," he said.

More personnel and boats will be needed, he said, but further resources will have to be set aside in Brussels first and then "in three or four months the Libyans will be able to act autonomously".

The EU force, known as operation Sophia, was set up to fight people smuggling in the south-central Mediterranean, but it cannot enter Libyan waters without an invitation from the government, of which there are two vying for power in Tripoli and Benghazi.

On Monday and Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said 5,600 migrants had been rescued, including by ships participating in the Sophia mission. More than 30,000 have come so far this year, down slightly from last year, the Italian government has said.

The Libyan coastguard has also intercepted migrant boats, with 550 turned back to Libya on Tuesday and 850 on Sunday.

Officials fear the numbers will increase as weather conditions continue to improve. Credendino said that some 150,000 migrants were in Libya and ready to make the crossing, much less than some have estimated.

"Today the estimate is that between 30 and 50 percent of gross domestic product in Tripolitania (northwest Libya) comes from people smuggling, with entire tribal clans earning money from it," Credendino said.

Islamic State militants in Libya are not directly involved in people smuggling, he said, but do extort the traffickers who operate in their territory, he said.
Cambodia PM sets 2018 election date, opposition leaders face legal charges

PHNOM PENH, May 25 (Reuters) - Cambodia's next election will be in July 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Wednesday, as leaders of the opposition face legal charges they say are politically motivated to stop them challenging the veteran premier in the vote.

Long before the Southeast Asian nation goes to the ballot box, political tension has risen. The last election in 2013 marked self-styled strongman Hun Sen's toughest challenge in three decades of rule.

The opposition, led by Hun Sen's longtime foe Sam Rainsy, accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of cheating its way to victory and boycotted parliament for a year.

Hun Sen said in a televised speech on Wednesday the next election would be held on July 22, 2018.

"I hope there won't be any reason to reject the election results then and make allegations that 1.2 million or 1.5 million votes are missing," said Hun Sen, referring to accusations by Sam Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2013 that millions were missing from voter lists.

The CPP won the election with a greatly reduced majority and Hun Sen has since reshuffled his ageing cabinet.

Critics say Hun Sen is following a two-track strategy: trying to woo back CPP voters while using the judiciary to weaken the opposition.

Sam Rainsy has been in exile since November to avoid jail on charges for which he had previously received a royal pardon.

Kem Sokha, Rainsy's deputy, faces charges for defamation and procurement of prostitution after recordings of a telephone conversation purportedly between him and a woman were leaked.

Legal cases have also been filed against prominent CNRP members and rights workers related to the Kem Sokha case.

Last year, two CNRP lawmakers were beaten outside parliament during a pro-CPP demonstration. Hun Sen's bodyguards were tried for the attacks.

After the shock of the 2013 vote, Hun Sen had reverted to the legal and physical intimidation tactics used in the 2008 and 2003 elections, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Authorities have also cracked down on civil society groups.

Rights group LICAHDO says there are 29 political prisoners in Cambodian jails, up from none a year ago.

"This is all a variation on how Hun Sen has run Cambodia since the early 1990s," said Sebastian Strangio, author of the book, "Hun Sen's Cambodia".
U.S.-backed Syrian militias not preparing assault on Islamic State capital -spokesman

BEIRUT, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian militias are not preparing an assault on Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa at present, a militia spokesman said, indicating the limited scope of a new offensive in nearby areas where fighting raged on Wednesday.

Movements by the fighters in the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and leaflets dropped on Raqqa urging its citizens to leave had given rise to speculation that they were about to attack the city.

Driving Islamic State from Raqqa city would be a major achievement in the U.S.-led campaign against the group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. But a spokesman for the SDF indicated it was not imminent.

"The current battle is only to liberate the area north of Raqqa. Currently there is no preparation ... to liberate Raqqa, unless as part of a campaign which will come after this campaign has finished," spokesman Talal Silo said.

Leaflets dropped on Raqqa city had urged residents to flee. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that reports on the war using an activist network on the ground, says hundreds of families have left.

Syria experts however doubt that the SDF is ready for an attack on Raqqa city. Its most powerful component is the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, and Syrian Kurdish officials have previously said Arab groups must be the ones to lead any assault on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa.

The Observatory said there were clashes in the countryside south of Tel Abyad and around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa on Tuesday and Wednesday. It also said the SDF campaign has been supported by heavy air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.

The SDF launched an operation at 2pm (1100 GMT) on Tuesday to recapture land between the SDF stronghold in Tel Abyad near the Turkish border and the Islamic State's defacto capital in Syria in Raqqa - but there are no plans to advance on the city itself yet.

Aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria over the last year or more, though its advances have recently slowed.

Syrian Kurdish groups have previously said an attack on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa should be led by Arab militias. Syria experts say the SDF's Arab groups are not yet ready for such an attack, however.
Rwanda's capital wants to clear its tidy streets of hawkers

By Clement Uwiringiyimana

KIGALI, May 25 (Reuters) - Already boasting one of the cleanest urban centres in Africa, authorities in Rwanda's capital want thousands of street hawkers to form registered co-operatives or find formal work as they try to raise taxes and make the city even tidier, the mayor said.

Kigali has a reputation for order that is rare on a continent of sprawling and often chaotic conurbations, and lately officials have stepped up measures against hawkers on the street, which activists say can be draconian.

"Kigali's target is to be a clean city so these street vendors are an impediment to cleanliness," Mayor Monique Mukaruliza told a new conference on Tuesday to explain the plan.

She said it included encouraging hawkers to set up co-operatives and register businesses, both of which would pay tax.

Plastic bags may litter many African cities, but they are banned in Rwanda, so the capital and its lush green surrounds are free from ragged bits of plastic fluttering on fences or clogging drains. Workers trim grass verges along the well-swept roads of Kigali, a city of about 1.1 million people.

Nevertheless, thousands of hawkers - undeterred by what they say is police harassment - still offer juices and fruit or sell cheap sunglasses and trinkets, trying to make living in a nation where per capita income is just $730 a year.

Human Rights Watch said in September the authorities beat and arbitrarily detained "undesirables", such as street vendors, prostitutes and beggars. Officials deny the charges.

"They take our products and sometimes arrest us," said one woman carrying an infant and selling apples in a car park, who declined to give her name. Each time she is released, she said she returned to the only work she could find.

It can carry risks. Theodosie Uwamahoro, 27, a juice vendor at one of Kigali's main bus stations was killed on May 7 after she tried to run away from a member of a district security force, police said. The case is under investigation.

"The person who killed this street vendor was taken to the police," the mayor said, without identifying the person accused.

The authorities said they were still counting the number of street vendors. The mayor of Nyarugenge, one of three districts in Kigali, said there were almost 5,000 in his area.
Microsoft to cut 1,850 jobs at struggling smartphone unit

By Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell

HELSINKI/SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

In a move that clearly puts the stamp of two-year chief executive Satya Nadella on the U.S. company, Microsoft said it would shed up to 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.

Shares of Microsoft were trading around $52 late Wednesday, roughly flat with their $51.59 close Tuesday, but significantly up from $34.20 when Nadella became CEO in February 2014.

Remaking Microsoft, known primarily for its software, into a more device-focused company was a hallmark of previous chief executive Steve Ballmer.

In one of his last major acts, Ballmer closed a deal to buy Nokia's struggling but once-dominant handset business for about $7.2 billion in late 2013. The deal closed in April 2014, two months after Nadella became CEO.

Since then, Nadella has shaved away at the phone business, starting with a 2015 restructuring that put the devices group, previously a stand-alone unit under former Nokia chief Stephen Elop, under the Windows group. Run by Terry Myerson, the Windows division is the company's biggest.

A Finnish union representative told Reuters the cuts would essentially put an end to Microsoft's development of new phones.

"My understanding is that Windows 10 will go on as an operating system, but there will be no more phones made by Microsoft," said Kalle Kiili, a shop steward.

Microsoft said in a statement it would continue to develop the Windows 10 platform and support its Lumia smartphones, but gave no comment on whether it would develop new Windows phones.

Global market share of Windows smartphones fell below 1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to research firm Gartner.

Last year, Microsoft announced $7.5 billion of writedowns and 7,800 job cuts in its phone business.

Earlier this month, Microsoft sold its entry-level feature phones business for $350 million.

The company said on Wednesday it expected to cut all 1,350 jobs at its Finnish mobile phone unit and close down a research and development site in the country. A further 500 jobs will go in other countries, it said, without giving details.

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation," Nadella said in a statement.

"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms."

Nokia dominated around 40 percent of the world's mobile phone industry in 2008 before it was eclipsed by the rise of touch-screen smartphones.

As a result, Nokia and Microsoft have slashed thousands of Finnish jobs over the past decade, and the lack of substitute jobs is the main reason for the country's current economic stagnation.

Nokia, now focused on telecom network equipment, just last week said it was cutting around 1,000 jobs in Finland following its acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent .

The Microsoft phone business still has a dedicated fan in Ballmer, who bragged about his device at a San Francisco dinner hosted by Fortune in March.
Activists hope Mauritania court rulings signal "beginning of the end" for slavery

By Kieran Guilbert

DAKAR, May 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A week in which two slave-owners were jailed and two leading anti-slavery activists were released from prison in Mauritania could mark a turning point in the West African nation's fight to eliminate the practice, campaigners said on Wednesday.

Two men were last week handed five-year prison sentences - one year to be served, four years suspended - and ordered to pay compensation to two victims in only the country's second ever prosecution for slavery since it was criminalised in 2007.

Prominent activists Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal, who had been in prison for 18 months after taking part in an anti-slavery march, were freed two days later by the Supreme Court.

The court reversed an appeals court judgement made in August which had upheld a two-year sentence for the two Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) leaders.

The two court judgements could signal the beginning of the end of slavery in Mauritania, according to Sarah Mathewson, Africa programme co-ordinator at Anti-Slavery International.

"This should empower people to come forward, access justice and seek compensation," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"It will also send a message to slave masters - that they cannot continue to treat people like objects, trade them and abuse them with impunity," she said by phone from London.

Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery in 1981, and has the highest prevalence of slavery - four percent of the population - with some 150,000 people living as slaves, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index.

The Haratin, who make up the main "slave caste", are descended from black African ethnic groups along the Senegal river. They often work as cattle herders and domestic servants.

SENTENCES

The two jailed slave-owners were the first people in Mauritania to be prosecuted by a dedicated slavery court which was established by a new anti-slavery law passed last year.

The law made the offence a crime against humanity and doubled the prison term for perpetrators to 20 years.

"It's been a hugely significant week, but we still have reservations about these special courts," Mathewson said.

"Justice should be delivered at a local level, in all courts across the country, so communities can see slave-owners, that they know, being held to account and victims being vindicated."

The presiding judge and head of the anti-slavery court in Nema, Aliou Ba, said the sentences were intended to show Mauritanians that slavery will be taken seriously, and added that he has eight other slavery cases on his books.

Yet the leniency of the sentences - five years compared to the maximum of 20 years set down in the law - could send a conflicting message to slave owners, said Carla Clarke, senior legal Officer at Minority Rights Group International.

"They should have been convicted for longer, but it's better than nothing," said Abidine Merzough, IRA Europe coordinator.

"The most important thing is that the law was applied - in a country where the regime has tried to deny that slavery exists."

Biram Dah Abeid, head of the IRA and runner-up in the last presidential elections, said after being released last week that he would again run for president, as he felt popular opinion increasingly backed him and his organisation.
BP, Azerbaijan's SOCAR outline Caspian Sea exploration deal

BAKU, May 25 (Reuters) - BP and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR announced on Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly explore prospects in a new block, D230, in the North Absheron basin of the Caspian Sea.

The move reflects efforts by SOCAR and foreign companies to make new discoveries in the oil-rich country.

BP said that as a part of the government's plan to ensure all of Azerbaijan's offshore waters are fully explored, the MoU gives BP the exclusive right to negotiate an agreement with SOCAR to explore and develop block D230.

Block D230 covers areas in a water depth of up to 300 metres, with a reservoir depth of 3,000-5,000 metres.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters the final agreement was expected to be signed this autumn.

BP is a main investor and operator of two major projects in Azerbaijan - the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields, which account for most of Azerbaijan's output, and the Shah Deniz offshore gas field, which is estimated to contain 1.2-1.5 trillion cubic metres of gas.

Shah Deniz I has been pumping gas since 2006, while gas from its second stage is expected to reach Europe by 2019-2020.

BP's regional head told Reuters in March it expected flat oil production in 2016 at its ACG oilfields, where output totalled 31.3 million tonnes last year, down slightly from 31.5 million tonnes in 2014.

No other major contracts have been signed in Azerbaijan since these major projects were sealed in Baku, although many other foreign companies are involved in exploration in the ex-Soviet country.

Among the most prized prospects are two gas deposits in the Caspian Sea - Umid and Babek - with total preliminary reserves of about 600 bcm of gas.
Brazil Congress approves big budget gap in win for interim president

By Alonso Soto

BRASILIA, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's government won congressional approval on Wednesday for the biggest fiscal deficit goal on record, in a victory for the new administration rattled by the resignation of a key minister initially charged with drawing up the goal.

In a raucous session that ran past midnight, the legislature accepted interim President Michel Temer's 2016 primary deficit goal of 170.5 billion reais ($47.4 billion), or 2.75 percent of gross domestic product.

It was the biggest-ever deficit goal of its kind, reflecting the anticipated difference between revenues and expenditures before interest payments. The primary deficit is a measure of creditworthiness closely watched by ratings agencies that recently stripped Brazil of its investment-grade rating.

The approval of the deficit goal averted budgetary deadlock which threatened a government shutdown in June, clearing a hurdle faced by Temer who took office in mid-May after President Dilma Rousseff was suspended to face trial on charges of breaking fiscal rules.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said in a statement that the approval of the target signals the commitment of lawmakers to restoring the equilibrium of public finances.

The new deficit target, nearly double what Rousseff had projected, could open the way for more spending ahead of the October mayoral elections, a move that some analysts see bolstering Temer's support in Congress.

"The administration is taking a very pragmatic approach ahead of the October elections ... there will be a lot of political horse trading to approve other measures," said Sacha Tihanyi, senior emerging market strategist with TD Securities.

The measure passed despite the sudden resignation on Monday of Planning Minister Romero Juca, a leading member of Temer's economic team, over leaked recordings of him allegedly discussing plans to obstruct a huge graft probe.

The loss of Juca, the main political negotiator of the administration, was the first major blow to Temer after less than two weeks in power. He had been due to present the primary deficit target hours before he stepped down on Monday.

Investors fear Juca's exit could hamper efforts to pass key economic reforms in Congress and keep up political instability in a country mired in its worst recession in decades.

"The big picture is that it shows that this government is exposed to this corruption investigation that could hamper its governability and ability to pass measures in Congress," said Joao Pedro Ribeiro, analyst with Nomura in New York.

Temer, who was Rousseff's vice president, on Tuesday announced a raft of measures, including a constitutional amendment imposing a ceiling for public expenditures. Analysts believe more needs to be done to close a budget gap that could top more than 10 percent of GDP, including interest payments, for the second year in a row.
New Afghan Taliban leader was compromise candidate - sources

By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 25 (Reuters) - Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Islamic legal scholar appointed leader of the Afghan Taliban on Wednesday, was not the obvious choice when senior members of the militant movement gathered to appoint a new "emir".

The "shura", or leadership council, was convened in haste after leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday, presenting the Taliban with their second succession in less than a year.

Some Taliban decision makers chose to call into the shura by mobile phone or Internet-based voice apps, according to one attendee, possibly wary of attending a large gathering after Mansour's killing.

Unlike a similar meeting held last July, when an important faction walked out in protest, delegates agreed on the choice of Akhundzada, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

But there was hesitation, as senior Taliban figures chose Akhundzada only after two other candidates were ruled out, said two members of the council who attended the meeting.

"Sirajuddin Haqqani was the first choice of the majority of the shura," said one of the members. Reuters could not independently confirm his, or other accounts of what happened at the meeting.

"But (they) feared it could increase their hardships if Haqqani is made emir as he is the most wanted Taliban figure in the United States."

Haqqani, who heads a feared network behind a series of deadly bombings in the Afghan capital Kabul in recent years, has a $10 million bounty on his head.

Eventually Haqqani, who was not present but had representatives at the gathering, withdrew his candidacy.

Some analysts predict that, should Haqqani accept the new leadership structure, he could continue his military leadership role.

SON BUT NOT HEIR

After Haqqani was sidelined, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, a son of late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar who attended the meeting, was put forward as leader, but turned the offer down because he feared he lacked battle experience and was too young, said a Taliban commander at the "shura".

Yaqoob, believed to be in his mid-20s, stormed out of the council last year when Mansour was appointed Omar's successor, deepening divisions that plague the movement to this day.

This time Yaqoob proposed Akhundzada, who was chosen after the opinions of senior clerics from the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand were consulted, said the commander.

"He (Akhundzada) initially made some excuses but had to keep quiet after the majority of the shura members insisted," he added. Both Yaqoob and Haqqani were named as deputies to the new leader.

What Akhundzada's elevation means for the insurgency in Afghanistan is not immediately clear.

He has been identified by the United Nations as the former chief of the hardline justice system imposed by the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

Within an hour of the appointment being announced, a bus carrying court employees west of Kabul was blown up in a suicide attack, killing up to 11 people and wounding more. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Experts said the leadership announcement came sooner than most had expected, and made sense from a point of view of stability.

"He (Akhundzada) is of the older generation, he is one of the founders. So he has more respect as a religious scholar, while Sirajuddin Haqqani and Yaqoob ... are pretty young," said Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
U.N. Security Council lifts sanctions, arms embargo on Liberia

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday voted to end sanctions and an arms embargo on Liberia, citing the West African country's successful stabilization more than a decade after a 14-year civil war that killed nearly 250,000 people.

The unanimously adopted resolution by the 15-nation council welcomed "the sustained progress made by the government of Liberia in rebuilding Liberia for the benefit of all Liberians."

The decision formally dissolves the U.N. Liberia sanctions committee and panel of experts that monitored implementation of the arms embargo and other measures, most of which had been in place since 2003.

The U.N. first implemented a type of arms embargo for Liberia in 1992.

Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, began the 1989-2003 civil war in the nation, which was founded by descendants of freed American slaves. He was sentenced in 2012 to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed in neighboring Sierra Leone during its 1991-2002 civil war.

The Security Council last year lifted a travel ban and asset freezes on individuals deemed a danger to Liberia's stability.
In April, North Dakota Alzheimers Advocates traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with our congressional delegation. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Rep. Kevin Cramers staff and Sen. John Hoeven and staff welcomed us into their offices to talk about three priority issues to address the Alzheimers public health crisis.

The HOPE for Alzheimers Act (S>857/HR1559 is estimated to decrease federal spending by $692 million over 10 years. (Source: Healthsperian Budgetary Model for HOPE Act). The HOPE Act would provide Medicare coverage for care planning services, ensure a dementia diagnosis and care planning documented in the medical record, and educate providers about this benefit.

The Palliative Care & Hospice Education & Training Act (S2748/HR3119) would establish palliative care and hospice workforce training programs, create a national awareness campaign about the benefits of palliative care, and enhance research of the delivery of palliative care.

We also discussed the need for increased Alzheimers research funding to the National Institutes of Health, where scientists have determined that $2 billion per year is needed in order to slow, stop or prevent this disease by 2050.

There has been an active Alzheimers Association North Dakota Chapter since the 1980s. While progress has been made there is still much to be done. As with other diseases, research is the answer.

14,000 people in North Dakota have Alzheimers and it takes another 30,000 to care for them. We are thankful of the support our members of Congress have provided thus far. It is critical for Congress to address these issues today.
BP, Shell among bidders to run Qatar oil field - sources

By Tom Finn

DOHA, May 25 (Reuters) - Six international oil firms including BP and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have bid to operate Qatar's largest offshore oil field, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The other bidders are the field's current operator Maersk , as well as Total SA, Chevron Corp and ConocoPhillips, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information was private.

The people said state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) would award the contract for the oil field, which is 80 kilometres (50 miles) off Qatar's coast and currently produces around 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), in the second half of the year.

Officials at Maersk, Chevron, Conoco and Qatar Petroleum did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shell and BP declined to comment.

A Total spokesman said CEO Patrick Pouyanne had confirmed its bid earlier this month.

Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk, which owns Maersk Oil Qatar, said on May 4 it was involved in a tender process and there was a risk it could lose the Qatari field, its largest oil producer.

For years it was expected Maersk would renew its 25-year production agreement on Al Shaheen field when its licence runs out in 2017.

But the Gulf state surprised the company last year by putting out a tender for the field which Maersk Oil has been operating since 1992.

A Qatari oil source told Reuters the Gulf state had invited international majors to the tender because it wanted to raise production at the field to 500,000 bpd.

Maersk Oil had originally planned for Al Shaheen's production to reach 525,000 bpd by 2010, after a 2005 field development plan was approved, but output remained at about 300,000 bpd, roughly half of Qatar's daily crude output.

The oil reservoirs are notoriously thin and spread out across a vast area, making production difficult.

BP withdrew from a $4.3 billion project to build Qatar's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in 1992, stating it saw no financial benefits to staying in the project.

Since then, Qatar, a country of 2.6 million, has gone on to become the world's richest by per capita income and the largest producer of LNG, which is gas chilled to liquid for export on specially designed ships.
Germany, France hold back NATO, EU ambitions in Libya

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - Europe's bold intentions to support Libya's new U.N.-backed government are faltering as France and Germany resist a bigger role to rebuild the failed state, scarred by the West's 2011 air campaign to help topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The European Union and NATO have said they stand ready to help the unity government in Tripoli, if requested, to combat smugglers sending migrants into the Mediterranean towards Europe. Tripoli, for its part, faces a threat from Islamic State fighters who exploited past conflict between rival governments to extend their power.

In a letter, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj sent a broad request for security training, but Germany and France want the United Nations to move first. Western diplomats in New York say they will have to work hard to secure Russia's support as it accuses the West of going too far in Libya in 2011 and tensions are at their highest since the end of the Cold War.

While there is "no sense that Russia would veto," a U.N. Security Council resolution, according to a senior Western diplomat, Germany has also suggested that the NATO alliance may need an invitation from the European Union to help in Libya.

"Europeans now have what they asked for, namely a unity government ruling from the capital," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "They should take care not to burden it with unrealistic demands, from ending the migrant crisis to defeating Islamic State."

Germany is wary of a long-term commitment, scaling back the language in a statement by European Union foreign ministers this week by insisting the bloc seeks U.N. Security Council approval to stop arms trafficking even on the high seas, diplomats said.

That reflects Germany's long-standing need for a U.N. mandate for military deployments abroad.

France has sent special forces and military advisers to Libya, and France's defence minister has repeatedly called for the EU naval mission to move into Libyan territorial waters.

But French diplomats in Brussels are more cautious about a big NATO role, despite a warning last month from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that some 450,000 refugees in Libya could flee to Europe.

Deployment of NATO combat troops are out of the question.

"We are looking at a support role, one that is low profile," said a senior French official involved in Libya policy. "The risks are very real and our resources modest."

The remarks contrast with gathering momentum a month ago at EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels and a special dinner of EU foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg in which Libyan maritime and security missions were on the table.

"The situation is apparently not grave enough for us to act," said a senior NATO diplomat. "We need a real crisis."

Just 480 kilometres (300 miles) from Europe's coast, Libya's slide into anarchy over the past five years has made it an outpost for Islamic State militants and a staging post for sub-Saharan African migrants aided by traffickers.

But the failure of the West's 2011 intervention still weighs on Western officials, even as the United States urges the Europeans to take a bigger role in securing its neighbourhood.

"Washington tells us Europe's southern border ends in the Sahara, not in the Mediterranean," said an EU defence official.

"SECURITY VACUUM"

Britain and the United States want a much bigger role for both NATO and the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged NATO to link up with the EU's naval mission "Sophia" in the Mediterranean to tackle smugglers.

Lawmakers in Britain say the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean is too limited to have an impact on smugglers, as it is too far out to destroy boats, catch traffickers or head off migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya.

"A mission acting only on the high seas is not able to disrupt smuggling networks, which thrive on the political and security vacuum in Libya, and extend through Africa," a British parliamentary report said this month.

Alain Le Roy, the secretary general of the EU's foreign service, defended the Sophia mission, saying that more than 80 traffickers had been arrested and up to 200 boats destroyed.

EU foreign ministers have approved training of Libya's navy and coast guard in international waters. Sophia's chief, Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, told La Repubblica on Wednesday the coast guard could be trained in 14 weeks.

On the ground, the United States and Italy, Libya's former colonial power, are leading calls for action, but Kerry said at a meeting of major powers in Vienna last week with Seraj: "we're not talking about troops and boots."
Azerbaijan frees journalist whose case raised outcry in West

By Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze

BAKU, May 25 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday released investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova from jail, where she was serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence, in an apparent move to deflect Western criticism of the ex-Soviet republic's human rights record.

Ismayilova, who worked for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe and was known for exposing corruption among Azerbaijan's ruling elite, was sentenced last September on charges which included embezzlement, illegal business activities and tax evasion.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday amended her imprisonment to 3 1/2 years of suspended sentence and released her from prison.

She vowed to continue to fight to clear her name. "I will continue to fight until complete acquittal," Ismayilova told reporters after her release. "I will also continue to work as a journalist."

Ismayilova's investigative journalism had probed the business dealings of President Ilham Aliyev and his family as well as human rights abuses.

European bodies and rights activists welcomed her release.

"Today's decision, which follows the recent release of many prominent journalists and human rights defenders, confirms my belief that Azerbaijan is at a turning point and I encourage the country to continue on this positive path," Pedro Agramunt, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly president, said in a statement.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe called on the Azeri authorities to drop all charges against Ismayilova and release the remaining imprisoned journalists.

The U.S. government also hailed Ismayilova's release.

"We view this as a positive step, and we encourage the Azerbaijani government to drop the remaining charges against her," the State Department said in a statement.

Azerbaijan pardoned 148 prisoners including journalists, rights activists and political opponents in March, although several other remain behind bars.

Analysts say Aliyev has included some political prisoners in amnesties in recent years to deflect complaints over crackdowns on free speech in Azerbaijan, a major oil and natural gas exporter.
Norway to regulate $850 billion fund's tax haven exposure-lawmakers

By Joachim Dagenborg

OSLO, May 25 (Reuters) - Norway will take a first step this week towards using its $850 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, as a tool to combat the use of tax havens, two key members of parliament's finance committee told Reuters on Wednesday.

The country's right-wing minority government will be asked to take a two-pronged approach to regulation, examining both the fund's own use of ownership structures designed to cut its liability for tax on its foreign investments as well as that of companies it invests in, the politicians said.

The move follows the Panama Papers leaks in April, which revealed details of corporate and individual tax evasion and triggered a global backlash against tax havens.

"We need to clarify the extent of the fund's exposure to tax havens," said finance committee chairman Hans Olav Syversen of the centrist opposition Christian Democrats, on which the government frequently relies for support.

"The most probable scenario is that parliament will tell the government to provide a set of tools to help ensure that tax havens, in the real sense of the word, don't find the room for manoeuvre that they've had until now," he added.

The Government Pension Fund Global, commonly known as the oil fund, invests cash from Norway's crude and natural gas production in foreign stocks, bonds and real estate to share the windfall revenues with future generations.

The finance committee is currently processing the government's annual whitepaper on the fund and is expected to publish recommendations to the full parliament on Friday.

"There will definitely be an amendment about tax havens," said Torstein Tvedt Solberg of Labour, the largest opposition party. "As shareholders we don't want companies to conduct negative tax planning. We don't want them to be in tax havens."

FUND'S SUBSIDIARIES

Most of the fund's assets are held in stocks and bonds, but it also owns stakes in more than 800 properties in Europe and the United States, with much of the ownership organised through subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the state of Delaware.

Among the arguments for this is to limit the fund's own tax costs, which has now come under scrutiny.

"We believe we will get a majority for a thorough probe into the fund's subsidiaries in Luxembourg and in Delaware to see if there is a better way to structure them. There needs to be a debate about this," Tvedt Solberg of Labour said.

The fund already has several areas where it aims to hold companies accountable, including child labour, climate change and water management. It is also forbidden from investing in some industries, including tobacco makers and producers of nuclear arms.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which operates the fund, said it welcomed the raised awareness around tax havens.

"This subject is, and will continue to be, part of our risk surveillance. As an investor in more than 9,000 companies worldwide, closed jurisdictions and tax evasion are a risk to the fund," NBIM spokesman Thomas Sevang said.
Islamic State claims fatal stabbing of Bangladeshi Hindu -monitor SITE

DHAKA, May 26 (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for stabbing an elderly Hindu businessman to death in Bangladesh, monitoring service SITE said on Wednesday, in what would be the second killing by the militant group in the country in less than a week.

The Muslim-majority South Asian nation has witnessed a surge in Islamist violence in the past year in which members of religious minorities, liberal activists, academics and foreign aid workers have been killed.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe trader, was found hacked to death in his shop on Wednesday in the northwestern rural district of Gaibandha, police said.

Police found his body lying in pool of blood, police official Mozammel Haque said.

"The attackers slashed his throat with sharp weapons leaving him dead on the spot," he said, adding that one person had been picked up for questioning.

Islamic State claimed the killing of a village doctor on Friday.

The government has denied that Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in the country of 160 million and says home-grown Islamists are responsible for the wave of attacks.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told Reuters in an interview published earlier on Wednesday that Islamic State was trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming killings, adding there was enough evidence implicating domestic militant groups.

Since February last year, at least 27 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher and two gay right campaigners, have died in attacks linked to militant groups.

Islamic State has claimed 18 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and Al Qaeda most of the rest, according to SITE.
Ontario boosts aboriginal health funding after suicide crisis

By Rod Nickel

May 25 (Reuters) - Ontario plans to spend more than C$220 million ($168.48 million) to improve aboriginal healthcare, the Canadian province said on Wednesday, a month after a rash of suicide attempts in a poor indigenous community drew global attention.

The province's Liberal government said the funding, to be spent over three years, would boost doctor service, make fruits and vegetables more available for children and increase the number of mental health workers.

After the initial funding commitment, Canada's most populous province will spend C$104.5 million annually, Health Minister Eric Hoskins said.

The remote Attawapiskat First Nation, 600 miles (965 km) north of Ottawa, declared a state of emergency in April after 11 people attempted suicide over a few days.

"There's an underlying First Nations health crisis, and that's the root we need to get at," said Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day, using a term for aboriginal peoples. "These investments are going to start dealing with the emergencies, but it's like triaging a situation - you have to get to the bottom of it."

Canada's 1.4 million aboriginals have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, linked to substandard housing, drug and alcohol addiction, unemployment, and abuses suffered in Canada's former residential school system for indigenous students.

Attawapiskat may qualify for some of the benefits of Ontario's plan, including mental health workers in schools, recreation programs and suicide prevention training, said Shae Greenfield, a spokesman for Hoskins.

The federal government now needs to take action, Day said, naming specific needs for housing, infrastructure and education.

A spokeswoman for federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett could not be immediately reached.

Canada's Liberal government said in March it would spend an extra C$8.37 billion over five years to help the aboriginal population deal with dire living conditions.
Brazil to lift limits on foreign ownership of land

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's government plans to lift current limits on foreign ownership of agricultural land, Secretary of Investment Moreira Franco, the person behind privatization for the new administration, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Franco called the restriction on sales of agricultural land to foreign individuals and companies "nonsense" and said interim President Michel Temer will reconsider the issue.

The restriction was adopted in 2010 by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"The government will discuss the issue, see how it can solve this. It is something completely unreasonable," said Franco.

Lula's administration was concerned at that time that countries such as China could take control of large segments of arable land in Brazil.

Rules overseeing deals were changed to limit the amount of land foreign investors could buy. Formalities with documentation were increased, making deals much more complex.

But without foreign lenders able to receive land as collateral if local borrowers defaulted, the restrictions began to limit international credit, especially in the agricultural sector.

Companies in Brazil's commodities sector have long defended a review of the rules, to allow for more investment to flow into the country, especially in the timber industry.

Pulp and sugar industries are among those defending the end of restrictions.

Moreira Franco also spoke to Reuters about the financially distressed, federal power holding company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, or Eletrobras.

He said the government is still evaluating what actions to take regarding the company's financial woes, but confirmed Eletrobras plans to sell some assets such as its power distribution subsidiaries.

"We will have to find a solution for Eletrobras," he said.

The company has not posted an annual profit since 2012 and is asking for at least 32 billion reais from the government as compensation for the early renewal of operating licenses in 2013 that sharply reduced its revenues.

Moreira Franco did not want to define possible rates of return over investment in projects Brazil intends to auction off to private investors.

But he said the government has no intention of continuing to subsidize credit lines provided by development bank BNDES, thus reversing policies of the previous administration of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.
Bangladesh probes 2013 hack for links to central bank heist

By Krishna N. Das and Ruma Paul

DHAKA, May 26 (Reuters) - Bangladesh police are reviewing a nearly forgotten 2013 cyber heist at the nation's largest commercial bank for connections to February's $81 million heist at the country's central bank, a senior law enforcement official said on Wednesday.

The unsolved theft of $250,000 at Sonali Bank involved fraudulent transfer requests sent over the SWIFT international payments network. It is not widely known outside of Bangladesh, and in fact was treated as a cold case until Bangladesh police revived the investigation after thieves in February also used the SWIFT network to steal $81 million from Bangladesh Bank.

Sonali Bank said it had informed SWIFT about the 2013 heist at the time and also unsuccessfully tried to recover the money from the recipients in Turkey, said one bank source.

Thieves in the 2013 robbery used tactics similar to those used by the yet-to-be-identified criminals in the Bangladesh Bank heist--using the SWIFT money-transfer system to divert bank funds, said a senior bank official. Authorities are now reviewing the case to see if there are any links that can help them track down the criminals behind the Bangladesh Bank heist.

At Sonali Bank, hackers installed key-logger software on a computer to gain passwords to other systems, then sent fraudulent transfer requests over SWIFT, said the senior bank official who is part of its IT operations.

Police arrested two employees who had responsibility for initiating and approving money transfer instructions, but they were later freed without being charged.

Sonali Bank Managing Director Pradip Kumar Dutta told Reuters that the attackers remain at large and no money has been recovered.

"We could not find out what happened," the official said.

The Sonali Bank cyber heist is the fourth documented case involving fraudulent SWIFT messages and the earliest known case to surface. It is not known whether any of the robberies, including the two attacks on Bangladesh banks, are related.

The two other cases that have come to light are a $12 million theft from Banco del Austro in Ecuador in January and an attack on Vietnam's Tien Phong Bank in December that was not successful.

The Sonali Bank theft was reported by Bangladesh media at the time, but has faded from public memory. Police said they only recently became aware of similarities with the central bank heist.

"This is an interesting issue that we've come to know," said the senior police official, who declined to be identified further. "We'll have to look into it."

News of these attacks has tested faith in the security of SWIFT, a key conduit for global financial transactions that is used by more than 11,000 banks and other institutions. Regulators and banks have already implemented reviews of SWIFT security measures to determine whether other banks could be vulnerable to similar attacks.

SWIFT spokeswoman Natasha de Teran declined to comment on the Sonali case.

"We are actively looking into other possible instances of such fraud, but we will not comment on individual entities," she said.

Bangladesh's Anti Corruption Commission, which investigated the Sonali case, did not have an immediate comment.
In Ecuador cyber heist, thieves moved $9 million to 23 Hong Kong firms

By Clare Baldwin and Nathan Layne

HONG KONG/CHICAGO May 26 (Reuters) - Cyber thieves who stole $12 million from an Ecuadorian bank in 2015 routed the funds through 23 companies registered in Hong Kong, some of them with no clear business activity, according to previously unreported court filings and judicial rulings.

The court papers offer a first glimpse into where some of the money was moved after it reached accounts in Hong Kong.

The filings stem from a lawsuit filed in early 2015 by Ecuador's Banco del Austro (BDA) in Hong Kong against the web of companies that received or handled more than $9 million in stolen funds, bank records submitted to the territory's Court of First Instance show. The BDA lawsuit alleged the companies had been "unjustly enriched" and sought recovery of the money.

The remaining $3 million was routed to entities in Dubai and elsewhere, according to separate court filings in the U.S. Those transfers are not the subject of litigation in Hong Kong.

The cyber thieves allegedly used the SWIFT global messaging system to move the funds. SWIFT, a conduit for bank money transfers worldwide, also was the network used to move $81 million out of Bangladesh Bank in February.

According to the Hong Kong court filings, BDA submitted criminal reports to police in both Hong Kong and Ecuador about the transfers. The content of those reports was not part of the court record reviewed by Reuters.

The attacks have caught the attention of global investigative agencies. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bangladesh authorities are leading a search for criminals behind the February heist, which ranks among the largest ever.

In the Ecuadorian heist, the money was transferred by Wells Fargo based on authenticated SWIFT messages, and both BDA and the U.S. bank now believe those funds were stolen by unidentified hackers, according to documents in a BDA lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo in New York this year.

It was not clear whether the Hong Kong Police have launched an official probe. A spokesman for the agency declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.

The Ecuador attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI and BDA also declined comment.

Initially, cyber thieves moved $9.139 million of the more than $12 million they stole from BDA into the Hong Kong accounts of four companies at HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

At least $3.1 million of the funds were then routed from those four companies to 19 "second layer" bank accounts, meaning the funds made a second hop to another set of Hong-Kong registered companies, the papers show.

NOT TIED TO REAL BUSINESSES

Hang Seng did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HSBC declined to comment on the details of the case but a spokesman said in an e-mail that the bank actively co-operates with law enforcment and has controls in place to know its customers and deter crime.

SWIFT, an acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has said its core messaging system has never been breached.

A BDA lawyer said in the filings that the Ecuador bank knew none of the firms or people behind the four companies that initially received the funds. Most of the "second layer" accounts appeared not to be tied to real businesses, the lawyer added.

Hong Kong Deputy High Court Judge Conrad Seagroatt said in a December ruling in the case that the four initial recipients showed no prior history of business activity. "They all appear to be otherwise inactive corporate vehicles controlled by citizens of the People's Republic of China," Seagroatt wrote.

In March last year, BDA secured an order from the court to freeze the accounts of the four companies that intially received the funds, although it later settled with the recipient of the smallest transfer of $95,731.18 and withdrew its claim against that firm, the court record shows.

As of last month, complaints against five of the 23 defendants had been withdrawn or dismissed, and settlements with some defendants have taken place, court papers reviewed by Reuters indicate.
Chile, SQM head to court after failing to reach agreement

SANTIAGO, May 25 (Reuters) - Chile said on Wednesday that it would bring a recent dispute with fertilizer supplier SQM to court after a meeting with the company's executives failed to produce an agreement.

The government's statement follows an announcement on Monday in which it said it was beginning a new arbitration procedure against SQM due to alleged "serious contract breaches."

SQM, which was privatized in the 1980s under dictator Augusto Pinochet and is still controlled by businessmen with family links to the ex-strongman, is one of the world's largest suppliers of nitrates and lithium, with access to vast brine deposits in northern Chile.

But it has had a rocky relationship in recent years with Chile's center-left government. In addition to the procedure announced Monday, the company is already in arbitration with state economic development agency Corfo over leasing payments.

In the most recent dispute, Corfo has alleged "serious, varied breaches of obligations in the project contract, in particular regarding the protection of Corfo's mining property" by SQM.

In an email Corfo said that it was contractually obligated to meet with SQM before taking the most recent arbitration to court. However, the meeting ended without an agreement.

"After a brief meeting, the parties did not overcome their differences, leaving this stage of the proceedings exhausted," Corfo said.

SQM has previously defended its record and said it would collaborate with Corfo and the arbitrator.

However, it has also flagged interest in developing ventures outside Chile in recent months, and in March signed a lithium exploration deal in neighboring Argentina.
I have been extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to work for both Great Plains and Microsoft under Doug Burgums leadership. I, like many others, found it difficult finding good jobs in North Dakota coming out of college. I had job offers out of state but thankfully was offered to go work for Great Plains. Because of this opportunity I have been able to spend the last 20 years in North Dakota, working in technology, raising a family, contributing to this economy. Burgums courage to make a bet on starting a software company in North Dakota paved a similar path for many. Without Burgum, Microsoft would not be in North Dakota nor would all the ancillary benefits to our economic ecosystem.

Burgums Leadership: It took all of a couple hours for Burgum to greet the new hire class and start leading/inspiring us. Little did I know how rare it was to have a leader like Burgum. I mistakenly thought this type of leadership was status quo. Ive worked at a world class company in Great Plains\Microsoft for over 20 years and no leader has inspired me to do great things like Burgum. That is until Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO). Guess who Satya gave credit to his first day on the job. Yep, Doug Burgum.

Burgum is an inspiring, visionary, accountable and probably most of all, gracious person. His passion for North Dakota is second to none. If you havent had a chance to hear Doug speak, I encourage you to take a listen. Ill bet youll walk away inspired, knowing something you didnt know before, and ready to make a positive impact.

Leaders like Burgum dont come along often. Lets not waste this rare opportunity. Vote for Burgum to take North Dakota to the next level.
The death of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike carried out 81km inside Pakistan in North Waziristan, on May 21, without prior intimation to Pakistanm could become a game changer in the AfPak region.

Even before Mansour's death was confirmed, Pakistan summoned the US ambassador and lodged a protest against the drone attack violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But Pakistan cannot miss the cold reality of the event when president Obama hailed the death of Mansour as "an important milestone" indicating the changing contours of US policy towards Pakistan.

US-Pak ties have been turbulent over Islamabad's two-faced policy of providing sanctuary to jihadi terrorists against Afghanistan.

It was an embarrassing moment for Pakistan as Mansour was found to have travelled under a false Pakistan passport. And the passport indicated he had been travelling with impunity to gulf countries many times. These only substantiated that the old links of Pakistan's ISI with Mansour established when Taliban-ruled Pakistan had been in tact all along.

The charred body of the pseudonymous Pakistani that Mansour was, was handed over to an unverified relative according to the colourful follow up of a Pakistani columnist. But Pakistan's problems now are much more than embarrassment.

The US president, who is on a visit to Hanoi, in a statement on the Mullah's death stressed American forces would continue to go after threats on Pakistan soil. However, if we go by his full statement, the US still considers Pakistan an indispensible ally in its war against al Qaeda.

Obama's words: "We will work on shared objectives with Pakistan, where terrorists that threaten all our nations must be denied safe haven" provides Pakistan a face saving but bitter option. Pakistan has been grudgingly accepting a "friendly relationship" with the US all along for reasons of real politick. But the US president's statement laying down the conditions that go with probably makes only makes it mor bitter to Pakistan rulers and establishment including the army.

For over a decade and a half, Pakistan had been denying the presence important Taliban leaders in Pakistan and the American establishment had gone along with the fiction due to strategic compulsions of its war in Afghanistan.

Pakistan had swept under the carpet, the US raid on Osama bin Laden's safe house inside Pakistan in Abbottabad to kill the archpriest of al Qaeda without informing Pakistan perhaps as an exception. But Mullah Mansour's killing has shown the exception may become the routine if we go by Obama's statement.

It added, "We have removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like al Qaeda."

The US president's statement has triggered alarm bells in Pakistan. Its relations with the US have been facing turbulence over its double faced policy of providing sanctuaries to jihadi terrorists operating against Afghanistan.

The turbulence increased further after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's summit meeting with president Obama in September 2014. On the occasion the two countries agreed to make joint and concerted efforts to dismantle safe havens for terror and criminal networks like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, al Qaeda and the Haqqani network.

Pakistan's issues with the US were further aggravated when president Obama in an interview on the eve of his visit to India in January 2015 told India Today that he had "made it clear that even as the United States works with Pakistan to meet the threat of terrorism, safe havens within Pakistan are not acceptable and those behind the Mumbai terrorist attack must face justice."

Since then Indo-US cooperation on counter terrorism, particularly on information sharing has made much progress. And it is taking place as a part of the strategic convergence between the two countries much to the discomfort of Pakistan and its strategic ally China.

The killing of Mansour only widens the existing cracks in US-Pak relations. It comes on top of US senators branding Pakistan as "frenemy" to bar the government from financing Pakistan's $700 million deal to buy eight F-16 fighters from the US. This was in sharp contrast to the US attitude five years back when it had gifted Pakistan 14 used F-16 fighters shed by US troops getting out of Afghanistan.

To add to Pakistan's agony, two weeks back the US House of Representatives, while passing the defense budget, tied $450 million aid to Pakistan to a crackdown on the Haqqani network! Now the Senate has demanded "demonstrable action" against the Haqqani network from Pakistan before releasing the fund.

In the power vacuum created by the death of Mansour retaliatory Taliban attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan are likely to be stepped up. Even as the Taliban Shura was meeting to select a new leader, ten persons of judicial staff travelling in a bus were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul.

According to Taliban spokesman it was carried out in response to the government's decision to execute six Taliban prisoners on death row.

Usually, favourite targets of jihadi attacks are Indian, American and NATO diplomatic and military establishments and Afghan military and internal security entities. They will have to be more vulnerable now than ever before. It would be prudent for American establishments in Pakistan also to be ready to ward off such Taliban inspired attacks from the "friendlies".

Mansour had unique skills. He managed to hide the death of Mullah Omar in 2013 from the rank and file and manage the organization till July 2015. When Omar's death was exposed, he came out successful in the power struggle to lead Taliban's resurgence. This was manifested when Taliban captured Kudruz, Afghan provincial capital in September 2015.

Although the government forces recaptured the city after about a month of fighting, it sent a strong message that Taliban was back in business after a decade and a half. The strong resistance put up by the Taliban showed a new spirit of confidence among the cadres. Since then the Taliban has stepped up its attacks in many parts the country after the NATO forces were withdrawn, heightening the fears of president Ghani government. Only last month, Taliban carried out a suicide attack on the headquarters of an elite military unit in Central Kabul killing over thirty people.

Mullah Mansour's death has sent shockwaves among the members of the Taliban leadership council (Shura) holed up in Pakistan. They are now scrambling to protect themselves from possible American attacks while trying to find a successor to the slain Taliban leader. The job of finding a replacement for Mansour was not easy.

According to Kabul media, the two known contenders for the leadership mantle - Mullah Yakoub son of Mullah Omar and Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani group and deputy to the slain leader -were not willing to accept the leadership for their own reasons. Reuters have reported that the Taliban's Shura has chosen Haibatullah Akhunzada, an aide of Mansour as the Emir to lead the organisation.

Sirajudding Haqqani and Mullah Yakoub will serve as deputies. Akhunzada, former chief justice of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, will be having a tough job in hand to forge a unified organisation.

In the context of finding a successor to Mansour, comments by the Pakistan daily Nation are interesting.

It said: "...the best bet for Taliban (and Pakistan too in case it wants to carry on with past policy of keeping assets) would be to get Mullah Yakoub as Emir, while keeping Sirajuddin Haqqani and Habibatullah Akhundzada as deputies."

Now that Akhunzada has been chosen as the leader, will Pakistan "keep the assets" in the face of loud American objections and strong action?

This would probably be one more foil in the power game in Islamabad where prime minister Nawaz Sharif is facing increased pressure from a belligerent Pakistan army.
The Armed Services Committee of the United States Senate has recommended the allotment of $800 million to Pakistan by way of coalition support funds for 2016-17, but made a portion of the military aid  $300 million  contingent upon Pakistan demonstrating that it has taken action against the Haqqani network. The US accuses the Haqqanis of conducting operations against its forces in Afghanistan.

According to a statement released by the Armed Services Committee, the US-Pakistan relationship is "critically" important and there is need for "enhanced security and stability" in Pakistans north-west region, and along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Pakistan is a major, non-NATO ally (MNNA) of the US.

There is a broad consensus in Washington, DC that cuts across the policy community, think-tanks and academia, that it is necessary to continue to support and strengthen the Pakistan army. The ostensible logic for this policy option that is steeped in realpolitik is summarised below:

"Pakistan is going down the tube for reasons that are well known. If it implodes, nuclear weapons will fall into Jihadi hands. Such an outcome is absolutely unacceptable to the United States. Hence, in order to ensure that nuclear warheads do not come into the possession of radical extremist elements, it is necessary to support and strengthen the Pakistan army as it is the only force for stability."

Pakistan army chief, General Raheel Sharif with US secretary of state, John Kerry.

Pakistan has received over $12 billion by way of coalition support funds since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the consequent NATO-ISAF operations in Afghanistan. The sale of weapons platforms like F-16 fighter aircraft is being considered by the US Congress, though now on part-payment basis and not as a free gift.

On completion of the draw down, many items of surplus military equipment have been handed over to the Pakistan army.

However, Pakistan continues to harbour terrorist leaders like the Haqqanis. Mullah Mansour, the Taliban chief, was killed this week in a drone strike deep inside Balochistan. Despite this double crossing behaviour, General Raheel Sharif, the army chief, was wined and dined while on a private visit to Washington. He was received by John Kerry, the secretary of state and Ashton Carter, the secretary of defence.

Pakistans internal turbulence is a major cause of regional instability. The Pakistan armys prolonged operations against home grown Taliban like the TTP and the TNSM; fissiparous tendencies in Balochistan; continuing radical extremism and creeping Talibanisation that has reached the Punjabi heartland; ethnic tensions, including protracted violence against the Shias and the Ahmadiyyas; and, the floundering economy, together signal the nations gradual slide towards becoming a "failed state".

As for the safety and security of Pakistans nuclear warheads, the real threat is that of the theft of radioactive material from nuclear facilities to assemble RDDs (radiological dispersal devices)  unless there is a jihadi-led coup from within the army.

Despite facing seemingly insurmountable internal security challenges, the Pakistan army and the ISI  together constituting the "deep state"  continue to sponsor terrorist attacks in India through extremist organisations like the LeT and the JeM. Their proxy war against India is now in its third decade.

Though it is being prosecuted at low ebb due to the need to concentrate efforts to fight the demons within Pakistan, the machinery is being kept well-oiled so that levels of violence can be ratcheted up whenever necessary.

Incidents like the terrorist strike at the Pathankot air base in January 2016 and Pakistans proclivity to remain in denial even though hard evidence of the involvement of organs of the state is given to it, are exhausting Indian patience. A single miscalculation could lead to conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The Pakistani deep states efforts to destabilise Afghanistan with a view to establishing a pliant regime are continuing. The ISI employs "strategic assets" like the Haqqani network to fight not only the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), but also to kill American soldiers, advisors and contractors.

For several years, the army and the ISI harboured Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar  both fugitives from justice.

General Sher Mohammad Karimi, chief of staff of the Afghan army said during an interview with the BBC on July 3, 2013, that the war with Taliban would be over in weeks if Pakistan so wished. Even as it projects itself as a facilitator for reconciliation talks with the Taliban, Pakistan has been instrumental in wrecking the talks.

The Pakistan army plays a disproportionally large role in the nations polity. The army determines Pakistans national security threats and challenges and decides how to deal with them. Pakistans policy on Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir is guided by the army and the rapprochement process with India cannot proceed without its concurrence. The army directs and controls Pakistans nuclear weapons programme.

The civilian government has no role to play in deciding the doctrine, force structures, targeting policies and command and control. The army decides the annual defence expenditure and senior armed forces appointments  the civilian government of the day merely rubber stamps these decisions.

Under these circumstances, the logic for the continuing US support for the Pakistan army is fundamentally flawed. It emboldens the army to interfere in decision making well outside its domain, undermines civilian control over the military and, consequently, weakens Pakistans fledgling democracy.

US support for the Pakistan army defies credulity and finds no resonance in New Delhi. It is also a stumbling block for the further consolidation of the India-US strategic partnership.

It should be a national security and foreign policy objective for India to work towards reducing the salience of the Pakistan army and the ISI in the countrys polity. A carefully calibrated strategy should be evolved to realise this objective. Also, like North Korea, Pakistan is a de facto terrorist state, and, hence, an international pariah.
The University of North Dakota will move forward with campus renovation projects regardless of whether the North Dakota Legislature funds them.

Interim UND President Ed Schafer requested $20 million for boiler and steam plant upgrades and $17 million for classroom renovations in O'Kelly and Merrifield Halls. During a four-hour State Board of Higher Education meeting Tuesday, Schafer said the university has budgeted enough to start paying for part of the projects internally.

After state-mandated budget cuts, UND trimmed $21.5 million from its budget and is investing some of those dollars in facilities, including $2 million annually into the aging boilers at the steam plant, which provides heat to buildings on campus, the school for the blind and Altru Health System.

"This isn't deferred maintenance, this is neglected maintenance," Schafer said.

The university is also putting $7 million into the classroom renovations in O'Kelly and Merrifield halls.

The board will decide which capital projects to support at all 11 campuses it oversees at the upcoming June meeting and forward those requests to Gov. Jack Dalrymple's office for consideration before they go to the Legislature during the 2017 session.

Schafer said should the board choose to support funding the UND renovations so the money set aside internally for those would go toward other maintenance or renovations.

All other university presidents presented their case for capital project funding except for President Doug Darling at Lake Region State College.

"We did not submit a project because we didn't have one that was urgent or required life safety and we didn't have that because of generosity of the Legislature in past sessions we were able to take care of those needs," he said.

Mayville State University President Gary Hagen said on top of his $4.9 million capital project request to renovate Old Main, a study in the last two months found the sprinkler system in the 126-year-old building wouldn't put out a fire. It needs a $100,000 upgrade.

The university has decreased deferred maintenance needs from 40 percent in 2008 to between 6 and 8 percent now, but Hagen said a 4 percent state-mandated budget cut on top of another 6 percent cut for the coming biennium has created a situation where the university can't afford to fix the problem.

SBHE Chairwoman Kathleen Neset said the sprinkler system should be looked at immediately in the "four-story potential inferno" and go to Chancellor Mark Hagerott for consideration before the June board meeting.

"This is a safety concern," she said.

Other business

The board considered changing policy requiring universities to notify the SBHE Academic Affairs Committee earlier in the process when programs are being considered for suspension.

Universities currently notify the committee when placing programs on inactive status and then have three years to either alter the program or ultimately suspend it.

SBHE member Kari Reichert said the committee ends up being a "rubber stamp" that way.

"The decision has basically been made for us because enrollments are down or they've discontinued accepting students," she said.

This comes after the UND music therapy program stopped accepting students and many in the industry and community protested the decision, which was made in light of budget cuts.

"I think it's really important when this kind of action occurs it's important for the board to have authority to act as we see fit with any kind of activity occurring at any of the campuses," SBHE faculty advisor Eric Murphy said.

The board also discussed having a committee delve into creating a policy to give special appointment faculty members who renew their contracts annually an avenue to contest non-renewals.

The board approved first readings of policies regarding internal audits at universities, which would allow the board to charge institutions for audits should they fall out of compliance or not complete audits. The changes would also allow for unplanned audits and give universities the option to share internal audit services regionally.

Universities have until the beginning of fiscal year 2018 to implement the changes.

"The sooner we get moving with this, especially with the amount of effort we put into it, the better," board member Kevin Melicher said.

The changes are the result of a bill passed during the 2015 Legislative Session which made the State Auditor's Office responsible for external audits and left the university system with $300,000 to fund internal audits.

Board member Greg Stemen said he didn't want the board to act like it's members were caught off guard because they've known since 2015 responsibility would fall to individual institutions.

"It's a little frustrating there isn't an internal audit set up at the campus level other than the University of North Dakota," he said.

The board also approved a policy changing the minimum hours worked to obtain a lunch break from four to five, which is in line with state law.

Several NDUS universities are looking at ways to share an online learning platform. An IT vulnerability report showed universities made progress from 2014 to 2015 with external systems, but internal improvements are still necessary. Another vulnerability audit is scheduled for this year.

Incoming UND President Mark Kennedy was in attendance at the meeting.
GRAND FORKS -- An East Grand Forks, Minn., man who admitted to setting fire last December to a Somali restaurant in Grand Forks wants to be released from jail until his sentencing in August.

Matthew William Gust pleaded guilty to two charges Thursday in federal court -- malicious use of explosive materials and interfering with a federally protected activity -- for a fire set Dec. 8 at Juba Coffee House and Restaurant on South Washington Street with a Molotov cocktail. The blaze caused at least $90,000 damage.

In a motion filed Monday, Gust's attorney, Theodore Sandberg, asked that Gust either be released into a residential treatment facility in Grand Forks or Fargo or into his parents' custody at their home in East Grand Forks until his sentencing August 29.

"(Gust) is seeking a chance to prove himself to the court," Sandberg wrote in the motion. "He also wants to get away from the jail. (Gust) is not seeking a free ride."

Gust is willing to accept special conditions -- drug testing, travel restrictions and a curfew -- so he can be employed, Sandberg said.

In January, Judge Alice Senechal ordered that Gust must remain in custody through the duration of his court case.

With this latest motion, pretrial services must evaluate whether either of these options would be suitable for Gust's release. Judge Ralph Erickson would make a decision on the matter.

Gust is facing 15 years in prison on his charges through a plea deal he signed.
The president of North Dakota State University pleaded with the State Board of Higher Education on Tuesday, May 24, to request state funding for two capital projects that could have safety and accreditation implications at NDSU.

One of those projects is demolishing and rebuilding Dunbar Hall, the 52-year-old chemistry building that was overlooked for funding last legislative session.

"It is literally dangerous," Dean Bresciani said to the board. "We've been informed by the Fire Department that in the event of a fire, they would most likely back away from the building."

Fargo Fire Chief Steve Dirksen confirmed that is a possibility, "just knowing the building, the age of the building, the construction type, what's in the building," he said.

"There could be a situation where, if it became a large fire, we would take a position that we're not going to injure anybody to save property," he said.

The 2015 higher education budget bill included $46 million in contingency funding for Dunbar, but that was dependent on the state's general fund revenue and "obviously, we went in the wrong direction on that," Bresciani said. A revised revenue forecast in February projected a $1.07 billion shortfall this biennium, due in part to the falling price of oil.

On Tuesday, the board heard the campus presidents speak on their proposed capital projects for the 2017-19 budget request.

Bresciani also asked the board to prioritize a $35 million addition to Sudro Hall, which houses the College of Health Professions. Without the expansion, NDSU's nursing program is at risk of losing its accreditation or being forced to reel back enrollments, he said.

"Either one of those would be cataclysmic," Bresciani said.

NDSU's School of Nursing is turning away "hundreds" of students due to lack of space, Bresciani said, at a time when the state has a severe nursing shortage.

When a new Sanford Health hospital opens in Fargo next year, "that will worsen an already bad situation," Bresciani said.

NDSU has secured $10 million in a private donation for the project, according to the university's meeting materials.

Vice Chairman Don Morton, board member Greg Stemen and faculty adviser Eric Murphy all voiced support for expanding Sudro Hall.

The system office will analyze the projects and give recommendations to the Budget and Finance Committee in June. Projects will go to the full board for final approval later that month.

The budget request is due in August. The Legislature will set a new two-year budget for higher education and other state agencies when it meets next year starting in January.
Al Fischer has never gotten out of uniform.

Fischer, 69, wore a uniform in the U.S. Army, at the hospital and as a law enforcement officer. And he still wears a uniform as a member of the combined Mandan American Legion Gilbert S. Furness Post No. 40 and Mandan VFW Post No. 707 Honor Guard, conducting military burials at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan.

On average, he does about two burials a day. At most, he and the other volunteers do as many as five burials a day.

"Too many," Fischer said.

Last week, he laid to rest a U.S. Air Force veteran and former Mandan city auditor, whom he worked with across the hall from the Mandan Police Department.

"Somebody's gotta do it," Fischer said of the reason why he decided to volunteer with the honor guard.

Fischer joined the U.S. Army when he was 18 years old and a senior at Bismarck High School. He dropped out and went to Fort Leonard Wood, Miss., for basic training, but didn't start any training because he and other army recruits were quarantined for about a week due to a spinal meningitis outbreak.

One night they came in and told us to dress in our greens and they loaded us up in the airport  and they flew us out," he said.

He and other army recruits ended up at Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he completed basic training.

Fischer was first stationed in a village in Verdun, France, for a few months in 1966.

Fischer was an engineer at the time, part of the 197th engineer group, which comprised about 50 other men. They traveled on temporary duty assignments all over Europe, in France and Germany, building roads and putting in sewer lines.

We didnt stay in one place very long; we lived out of our duffel bags, Fischer said.

He was in France for three months and Germany for over a year. In Germany, he was stationed at Pirmasens, where he and the other men in his group stayed in German SS troop billets.

The locals weren't too friendly, he said, and some older folks would sing the old SS marching song anytime he and the other men would stop at a guest house to grab a beer.

"You didn't feel too welcome," he said.

From Germany, he offered to go to Vietnam, where he was assigned to a medical detachment for about two weeks. After that he volunteered to be a machine gunner on a helicopter.

He volunteered to be a machine gunner because "it was just something different," he said. "Not too bright. Young and dumb."

Fischer was assigned to the 173rd assaults helicopter company in Lai Khe, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "Rocket City."

"They'd send rockets in on us at least three times a day," he said.

The 173rd helicopter assault company was also nicknamed the Robin Hoods.

"On the nose of our (gun) ship we had a Robin Hood hat with a red feather," he said.

The doors on each gun ship were emblazoned with a Maid Marion or King Arthur insignia.

"We were a different kind of crew," he said with a laugh.

Fischer and his crew flew 16 hours a day.

"It was dark when we took off, dark when wed come home," said Fischer. Once a month, they'd be assigned an "ash and trash" mission for half a day, completing different assignments, ranging from supply delivery to picking up body bags.

Fischer recalls one experience that stuck with him. A radar and spotter location on top of a mountain peak was overrun during the night and Fischer and his helicopter crew got an emergency call to go there. Only one helicopter could land on top of the mountain, he said, because there were a lot of large rocks. The pilot had to land between two rocks while the other crew members hung out of the right and left sides of the helicopter guiding the pilot so he wouldnt get too close to the rocks.

Boy, there wasnt too many people alive up there, Fischer said. He still recalls a black man and a white man up there, their dead bodies splayed out. They were holding hands.

It just struck me, it stayed with me all my life. I can still see it, Fischer said, adding during the time he served there was a lot of racial strife. But in Vietnam the color of your skin didnt matter and everyone took care of one another, he said.

The choppers Fischer flew in were called "slicks," he said. They would haul other soldiers into battle, finding different ways of landing in dense jungle foliage. Sometimes, another helicopter would come in and lay a smoke screen so the other helicopters could fly in.

And wed try to get underneath it so they wouldnt see where we were at," Fischer said. Then the helicopter would lift off by the time the smoke cleared.

Fischer left the service in 1969 and resumed high school as a slightly older student, but said his peers didn't notice a difference because he was still kind of young looking.

After school he became a medical orderly at a Bismarck hospital. He was also a medical attendant, riding in the back of ambulances in Bismarck and Mandan.

He later joined the Morton County Sheriff's Department as a sheriff's deputy in New Salem for two years. Then, he transferred to the Mandan Police Department. He retired early as a lieutenant 20 years later.

Fischer retired when he was 48 years old. When he was 42, he had a heart attack at work and went on medical leave. He went back to work for six years, but had a stroke and retired.

Fischer has an enlarged heart and experiences weakness, which he and his wife later found is related to his exposure to Agent Orange.

"You learn that life, you can lose it at anytime," Fischer said, reflecting on his military experience. "You learn to appreciate life a lot better."
LONDON - England - The heavily EU funded Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released a skewed, biased report supporting the Government's pro-EU sentiment in the run up to the EU referendum.

Responding to the IFSs study, Brexit and the UKs public finances, Andrea Leadsom MP said:

Its no wonder people are being turned off this debate given the continuous campaign to do down the British economy from EU-funded organisations. So many of these studies are based on entirely negative assumptions about our economy and the future decisions a UK Government outside the EU would make, but ignore the pressing need of EU countries to continue trading with the UK. They also ignore the very real risk of what will happen if we vote In; more money and power to a Brussels interested only in propping up an ailing eurozone.

If we Vote Leave we can secure our economic security for future generations based on expanding our trade across the globe, turbocharging our economy and taking control of our borders. On 23 June the safer option is to Vote Leave.

The IFS is wrong about the level of the UKs contributions to the EU budget.

The IFS uses the NIESRs study as the basis for its forecasts. The NIESR has been wrong time and time again on the EU.

Even the IFS has to admit that any hypothetical hit will be small and less than the OBRs past errors in fiscal forecasting.

The IFS is wrong to claim trade will not become more expensive in the long-term.

The UK will not become a less attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The IFS is not a neutral organisation in this campaign. It would face an 800,000 deficit if we Vote Leave.

The IFS is wrong about the level of the UKs contributions to the EU budget.

Contrary to the IFSs claim, the UK does pay 350 million per week to the EU. In 2014, the UKs gross contributions to the EU budget were 19,107 million, or 367 million per week. The Head of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Andrew Dilnot, has said Yes, the 19.1 billion figure is a legitimate figure for gross contributions the official statistics are the 19.1 billion.

The IFS wrongly deducts the rebate from the gross figure. The rebate is a discretionary grant which the European Commission can pay to the UK if it so chooses. There is no obligation on the Commission to pay it. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has said: It is not a unilateral decision of the British Treasury or the British Government to just say, This is our rebate. We are entitled to it. Pay up. The way this works and has always worked is there is a negotiation with the European Commission.

The IFS underestimates the net contribution. In 2014, the UKs net contribution was 9.872 billion. This rose to 10.649 billion in 2015. This is much higher than the 8 billion suggested by the IFS, which takes into account payments to the private sector to the UK without taking into account money paid by British companies to the EU. The overall balance between the UK and the EU institutions (the current account deficit added to the capital account surplus) was 10.9 billion in 2014.

The IFS uses the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)s study as the basis for its forecasts. The NIESR has been wrong time and time again on the EU.

The NIESR backed scrapping the pound, which would have been a disaster. The heavyweight and independent National Institute of Economic and Social Research agreed, saying joining Europes single currency would benefit Britain and that there was evidence of economic convergence with the European Union . The NIESR said: Part of the foreign investment in Britain appears to take place because Britain offers a gateway to the European Union. If the United Kingdom remains outside the monetary union, then other countries are likely to offer a more attractive gateway (Birmingham Post, 29 July 2000, p. 19). A report by the NIESR in 2002 stated that: We would argue the Chancellors five tests can be seen to be answered in the affirmative, and that the case for joining is clear. In April 2003, the NIESR concluded that: There is no longer a case for waiting.

The NIESR recommended rejoining the ERM after Black Wednesday, which would have been a disaster. Among the most optimistic is Andrew Britton of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research who believes that Britain will have to return to the ERM, though not for another six months at least (Evening Standard, 30 September 1992, p. 29).

Even the IFS has to admit that any hypothetical hit will be small and less than the OBRs past errors in forecasting.

The report states that the effects of leaving the EU would certainly be much smaller than the effect of the 2008 recession, which hit the public finances to the tune of around 175 billion. Indeed, it would be below the downgrades to the forecasts made by the OBR between the Budgets of March 2011 and March 2013 (estimated at 43 billion). We have coped with those.

The IFS is wrong to claim trade will not become more expensive in the long-term.

It is in other EU countries interests to strike a free trade agreement. The EU sells the UK far more than the UK sells the EU. In 2015, the UK bought 67.8 billion more in goods and services than the UK sold to the EU. In 2014, 20 EU member states sold the UK more than the UK bought from them in 2014. The UK is the EUs largest single export market for goods, larger even than the United States, with whom the EU is presently trying to negotiate a free trade agreement.

Even pro-EU campaigners have conceded the UK will strike a free trade agreement. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has admitted: If we were outside the EU altogether, wed still be trading with all these European countries, of course we would  Of course the trading would go on  Theres a lot of scaremongering on all sides of this debate. Of course the trading would go on. The CBI, The UKs former Ambassador to the EU and leading supporter of the BSE campaign, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, the pro-EU Centre for European Reform all agree with him.

The UK will not become a less attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).

There is very little evidence that being in the EU has had much of an impact on investment flows into the UK. Historically EU countries have not been major investors. Official figures show that the total net foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK from the EU has been in decline over the last ten years, with the EU actually disinvesting in the UK in 2010 and 2013.

Despite the referendum and the prospect of a British exit from the EU, the Chinese investment group SinoFortone announced 5.2 billion of investment into the UK in October 2015. In November 2015, the UK and India struck 9 billion worth of commercial deals, with the Government noting that: India invests more in the UK than the rest of the European Union combined.

Major international investors have made clear that they will continue to invest in the UK regardless of the result of the referendum:

Toyota has been clear that it has located in the UK because of the tradition of UK vehicle manufacturing and the large domestic market, as well as good transport, workforce, working practices, the English language and a supportive government. The EU is not even mentioned on its list of factors. Its chief executive, Akio Toyoda, has pledged to keep building cars in the UK in the event of a Leave vote.

Nissan announced a 100m investment programme in their Sunderland plant last September, after it became certain that an EU referendum would take place. Its Chief Performance Office, Trevor Mann, has said that, with a future UK-EU trade agreement, [Brexit] wouldnt make a lot of difference. Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive of Renault-Nissan, has similarly commented that I dont think theres a reason to worry.

Hitachis Chief Executive, Takahiro Hachigo, has also confirmed that the company will continue to do business here after a British exit from the EU. In March last year, Honda also announced a 200m investment programme in the UK car industry.

Major international investors have made clear that they want the UK to have a looser relationship with the European Union. In an EY survey it was found that 72% of US investors and 66% of Asian investors wanted the UK to reduce its links to the EU.

The IFS is not a neutral organisation. It would face an 800,000 deficit if we Vote Leave.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has received 7.4m from the EU since 2007. It is not an independent organisation, but a paid-up propaganda arm of the European Commission, as the table below shows.

Payments to the IFS 2011 2,446,857 2010 817,791 2010 1,626,262 2010 817,791 2010 1,626,262 2010 61,404 2010 3,092 2009 1,515 Total  7,400,974

Source: European Commission, April 2016

In addition, the IFS states that in 2014, 11% of its research funding came from the EU. It states that it has received 4,118,651 from the European Research Council in total and received 792,931 in 2014 alone.

This means that if we Vote Leave, the IFS will face a financial deficit of 792,931, or 11% of its income. It is therefore in the IFSs interests to adjust its skewed biased report figures to favour membership of the EU.
LONDON - England - In response to a Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE) referendum campaign broadcast today containing blatant falsehoods and misleading disinformation we reveal the facts behind the lies.

Responding to the publication of Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE)s first referendum campaign broadcast, Vote Leave Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said:

Pro-EU campaigners are repeating the same myths they told us when they declared it would be a disaster if we didnt join the euro. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

Its amazing to see the BSE campaign claiming to have a positive message having spent the last 8 months doing down the British economy and our position in the world. On 23 June the safe option is to Vote Leave and take back control of the 350 million we hand Brussels every week.

BSE False Claims Debunked

Over 3 million UK jobs are linked to our trade with the EU.

The figure was invented by pro-euro campaigners. In 2000, Britain in Europe, the campaign to scrap the pound, claimed that 3 million jobs were facing the axe if the UK left the EU.

The academic whose work they traduced, Dr Martin Weale, dismissed the claim as pure Goebbels. In many years of academic research, I cannot recall such a wilful distortion of the facts.

Even the Treasury (whose forecasts are extremely pessimistic) refuses to endorse the claim, saying the true figure is a sixth of this total. The Executive Director of the Prime Ministers campaign, Will Straw, has admitted: We have not and have never claimed that 3 million jobs would be lost if we left the EU.

It has been estimated that, if we Vote Leave, and strike free trade deals with all the countries that the EU has failed to secure FTAs with, it could create 300,000 British jobs.

Over 200,000 UK businesses trade with the EU.

This amounts to just 3.7% of the UKs 5.39 million businesses.

Despite the fact that only a small proportion of UK businesses trade with the EU, every business has to comply with EU law, which costs UK businesses 600 million per week.

This BSE figure is deceptive since it includes not just businesses which export, but also those which import. Since no rational Government would make it more difficult for British businesses to import goods after we Vote Leave, the figure is a significant overestimate.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has accepted trade would continue, meaning jobs would not be put at risk: If we were outside the EU altogether, wed still be trading with all these European countries, of course we would  Theres a lot of scaremongering on all sides of this debate. Of course the trading would go on.

When asked whether he agreed with the Prime Minister, the Executive Director of the IN campaign, Will Straw, said he did so absolutely.

Companies from around the world set up factories and offices here so they can do business throughout Europe, meaning more opportunities.

Not even the Head of the IN campaign, Lord Rose, has said he doesnt believe this claim for a moment and that it is all a red herring and it is just scaremongering. He said just last year that: The reason that people want to come to this country is because we have a flexible workforce, because we have stability, because weve got a growing economy, because weve got strong IPR, because this is a place to do business. I think its ridiculous to suggest that everybody is going to suddenly go offshore, I dont believe that for one moment  so I think this is all a red herring and it is just scaremongering.

The UK gets 66 million of investment a day from EU countries.

These figures are wrong. In 2014, net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into the UK from the EU were 5,268 million or 14.4 million per day.

BSE wrongly suggests companies only invest because of EU membership, implying it would fall if we left the EU. Similar claims of a fall in FDI were made if the UK did not join the euro or even held a referendum on the EU. In fact, FDI liabilities grew from 481.1 billion to 588.9 billion from the EU between 2011 and 2014, during a period in which overall FDI into the UK rose. This shows that FDI continued to grow in the two years following David Camerons January 2013 Bloomberg Speech, suggesting the prospect of leaving the EU has had no effect on investment.

And when youre at work, your rights are secured by EU legislation: paid holiday and sick leave, equal rights, maternity and paternity leave, all protected by EU law.

The UK had legislation on paid holidays before it joined. Its current legislation is more generous than EU law. The UK had legislation on paid holidays before we joined the EU. The Holidays with Pay Act was passed in July 1938, creating a right to paid holidays. The UK has also been more generous than EU law, with 5.6 weeks entitlement each year, rather than the four contained in EU law.

Maternity pay is more generous under UK law. Statutory maternity pay lasts for 39 weeks under UK law Statutory Maternity Pay. This is much more generous than EU law, which provides for a period of 14 weeks. UK legislation also gives women the right to receive 90% of their salary during the first six weeks of leave. EU law only requires that the rate of pay be equivalent to statutory sick pay in this period. This is 88.45 per week.

UK law on parental leave is more generous than EU law. The same is true of parental leave. UK maternity leave may be taken for up to 52 weeks. EU law only requires a period of four months. There is no need to accept the supremacy of EU law to protect workers rights.

The UK had legislation against discrimination long before the EU did. The UK passed the legislation against race discrimination, the Race Relations Act 1965 and the Race Relations Act 1968, before we joined the EU. As High Court Judge Sir Rabinder Singh has said: The Race Relations Act 1976 [which consolidated the 1960s legislation] was perhaps one of the strongest pieces of legislation of its kind in the world and certainly in Europe. It long predated legislation against racial discrimination in EU law.

Being in Europe also means families enjoy lower prices in our shops and supermarkets. This saves an average household 350 a year  so as Sam grows older, hell have more money to put aside.

The independent House of Commons Library has concluded that EU membership actually increases the costs of consumer goods, stating that the EUs Common Agricultural Policy artificially inflates food prices and that consumer prices across a range of other goods imported from outside the EU are raised as a result of the common external tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade imposed by the EU. These include footwear (a 17% tariff), bicycles (15% tariff) and a range of clothing (12% tariff).

The EU also requires us to charge household energy bills to value added tax of 5%, increasing the cost of living for low income families.

The European Court has increased the cost of insurance. In March 2011, the European Court ruled that the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights meant that women could not be charged lower premiums than men, increasing the cost of car and life insurance.

Remaining in Europe will keep our economy stronger  so we can invest more in vital services like schools and the NHS

Being in the EU means that we have to pay an annual gross contribution of 19.107bn to the EU. Thats over 350m every week. That means that there are less funds available for our NHS and schools.

In 2014, the NHS Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, said the NHS would need an additional 8 billion real terms increase in spending by 2020 to keep even. This is less than the net contributions that the UK is forecast to make to the EU over the same period.

Its a leap in the dark.

Not even the Head of the IN campaign, Lord Rose, can bring himself to agree with this. He has said its not going to be a step change or somebodys going to turn the lights out.

[it] would leave UK families 4,300 worse off.

The Government calculated the 4,300 figure by dividing a putative lesser increase in GDP of 6.2% by the current number of households. This is extremely disingenuous, as official statistics show that the number of households in 2030 is projected to grow to 31.213 million. This is up from 26.994 in 2015, an increase of 4.219 million.

The report does not quantify any potential savings of not having to apply EU regulation in the UK, but instead claims regulation would increase if we Vote Leave.

The report asserts that: under any of the alternatives, the potential gains from additional flexibility on leaving the EU are likely to be significantly constrained, including because of domestic priorities and international obligations. These would be future government decisions. In any case, any potential gains from reduced EU regulatory burdens in specific areas would be significantly outweighed by the losses from the increased regulatory barriers and divergence from no longer being a member of the Single Market. Consistent with this assessment and the approach throughout this analysis, the modelling does not prejudge these decisions and no further assumptions on regulation are made over and above the increase in regulatory barriers that would emerge over time, as captured in the modelling of the effects of the alternative arrangements on trade and FDI.

In 2005, HM Treasury admitted that: although Europes founders aimed to remove barriers and reap the benefits of expanded markets internally, they also sought protection and special treatment for particular aspects of their economies such as agriculture. This has brought costs: expensive subsidies still remain in some sectors and it is estimated that barriers to external trade and investment  such as tariffs, quotas and unjustifiably restrictive standards  could cost Europes consumers up to 7 per cent of EU GDP.

This is the equivalent of 125.2 billion per year in todays prices, or 4,638 per household.

This is likely an underestimate, as the burden of EU regulation has increased. Open Europes regular analysis of the cost of just the 100 most burdensome EU laws found in 2013 that the cost to the UK economy was 27.5 billion, but just a few months later had to uprate this to 33.3 billion.
The government has offered hundreds of millions of pounds in support to the potential buyers as it seeks to avoid the political damage of around 10,000 job losses.

At least four parties have submitted bids for the British assets of Tata Steel ahead of the Indian company's board meeting this week that could determine their fate, according to sources close to the bidders.

Tata said in March it wanted to offload its UK steel operation, throwing the sustainability of British steelmaking into question after a series of other plant closures, blamed on cheap Chinese imports, rising costs and weak demand.

Management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and Greybull Capital have submitted separate bids for Tata's UK operations, the sources said.

Tata said earlier this month it had received seven notifications of interest. It declined to comment on Tuesday.

The government has offered hundreds of millions of pounds in support to the potential buyers as it seeks to avoid the political damage of around 10,000 job losses weeks away from the country's referendum on membership of the European Union.

After being accused of a flat-footed response to the initial announcement of the sale, British business minister Sajid Javid said he had met Tata in Mumbai to discuss the sale process ahead of its board meeting.

"Several credible bidders in play. Determined to keep momentum and find right buyer," he tweeted on Tuesday.

The board is expected to pick apart the bids and decide which warrant closer consideration.

Excalibur, led by Tata's UK strip products director Stuart Wilkie, and Liberty have put in separate bids, separate sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, responding to reports that the two were prepared to work together to secure a deal.

India's JSW Steel Ltd has also bid for the British operations of Tata Steel Ltd, sources confirmed earlier this month, which prompted concerns about its debt levels and putting pressure on its shares.

As of this week, JSW had no intention of withdrawing its bid, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

Greybull Capital, which in April signed a deal to acquire Tata Steel's Long Products Europe division in Scunthorpe, northern England, has also bid for the rest of the British operations, another source told Reuters. However, it is not widely regarded as a frontrunner.
HP Enterprise will now concentrate on selling data center hardware and software to big organizations.

San Francisco: Hewlett Packard Enterprise is slimming down its business further by selling off its technology-services division to competitor Computer Sciences Corp.

The deal is worth about $8.5 billion to shareholders in HP Enterprise, one of two companies formed last year by the break-up of struggling tech giant Hewlett-Packard Inc.

HP Enterprise will now concentrate on selling data center hardware and software to big organizations. It's selling a consulting and outsourcing business that includes many operations the old HP acquired when it bought Electronic Data Systems for nearly $14 billion in 2008.

CEO Meg Whitman said the services division helped bring customers to other segments of HP Enterprise, but it has lagged the company's other businesses in growth and profit.

Analysts say some of the operations acquired from EDS were outdated.

Whitman announced the deal Tuesday as HP Enterprise reported better-than-expected revenue for its fiscal quarter ended April 30.

Investors liked the news: HP Enterprise stock rose more than 10 percent in after-hours trading after the deal was announced. Shares in CSC surged more than 27 percent.

Whitman has been trying to overhaul a once-mighty tech conglomerate since she became chief executive of the old HP in 2011. Nearly a decade ago, the old HP led the tech industry with annual sales above $100 billion, boosted by several large acquisitions including EDS and the personal-computer maker Compaq.

But the company struggled to keep up with industry trends, as consumers bought fewer PCs and businesses shifted to new models of commercial computing. Whitman oversaw a split last year that led to the creation of HP Enterprise and a second company, HP Inc., that's focused on selling PCs and printers.

Spinning off the services division will leave HPE with businesses producing about $33 billion in annual revenue, the company said Tuesday.

It said the deal should boost annual revenue for Tysons, Virginia-based CSC to about $26 billion. HPE shareholders will get a cash dividend of $1.5 billion and a 50 percent stake in CSC, which will assume about $2.5 billion in debt and other liabilities.

Including the services division, HPE reported $320 million in profit on $12.7 billion in sales for its most recent quarter. Profit rose 5 percent and sales were up 1 percent from a year earlier. Most of the sales growth came from its computer hardware division.
The bilateral trade between India and China has grown steadily since the turn of this century from USD 2.91 billion in 2000 to USD 71 billion last year. (Photo: PTI)

Guangzhou: India on May 25 promised a conducive environment for Chinese investors and urged them to participate in 'Make in India' and other flagship programmes of the government to boost bilateral trade.

"We will facilitate your efforts to make your investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies," said President Pranab Mukherjee addressing a meeting of the India-China Business Forum here on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

The forum, attended by industrialists and businessmen of both sides, was told by the President that India would like to see greater market for Indian products in China in a bid to balance bilateral trade which is now in China's favour.

This, he said, would particularly be needed in sectors where the two countries have natural complementarities as in drugs and pharmaceuticals and IT and IT-related services and agro products.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that there is emerging focus on two-way investment flows," he said.

The President noted that the bilateral trade between India and China has grown steadily since the turn of this century from USD 2.91 billion in 2000 to USD 71 billion last year. Guangdon province boasts of a USD one trillion economy with high manufacturing and other industries along with being a powerful export house of China.

It has sister province relationship with Gujarat and Maharashtra. A pilot smart city cooperation project has been announced between Shenzhen and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat last year.

Referring to the links of 2nd century before the Christian era between Guangdong and Kanchipuram through a direct sea route, Mukherjee said this is an exciting time for India and China to reinforce the old linkages and join hands for new.

Noting that India has recorded a growth rate of 7.6 per cent each year for over a decade now, he said India believes that it cannot grow in isolation. "In an increasingly interconnected world, India would like to benefit from technology advances and best practices of different countries.

"The comprehensive reforms introduced in key areas of our economy have enhanced the ease of doing business in India. Our foreign investment regime has been liberalised through simplified procedures. And removal of restrictions on foreign investments," he said.

The President said these reforms have renewed the interest of global investors in India. In 2014, there was a 32 per cent growth in investments and in 2015, India emerged as one of the biggest global investment destinations, he said.

Mukherjee said India would like more of China's overseas direct investment which has now crossed USD 100 billion mark. He said the Indian government was setting up industrial corridors, national investment and manufacturing zones and dedicated freight corridors to stimulate investment in this sector. Its '100 Smart Cities" initiative will transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, he said.

"India welcomes your participation in these programmes. Chinese companies with inherent strengths in infrastructure and manufacturing can look towards India as an important destination in their 'Going Global' strategy. "On their part, Indian companies can partner with Chinese enterprises in the new domain of 'Internet of Things' which underlines the 'Made in China 2025' strategy," he said.

The President said he was happy to note that a good start has been made by Chinese businesses who are investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India. Bilateral cooperation in India's railway sector is also progressing well, he said.

A good number of premier Indian IT firms and other manufacturers are present in China, he said and noted that Indian entrepreneurs were also considering the prospects of jointly exploring opportunities in third countries.

Summing up, the President said India believed there was great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among the two countries, which faced similar opportunities on coming together.

"To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. "We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story," he said.
The note said top 10 corporates alone owe Rs 5 trillion to banks, which may force them to sell assets of up to Rs 2 trillion.

Mumbai: With bankers forcing companies to sell non-core assets to tide over bad debts, the economic research wing of SBI on May 25 said it expects asset sales of up to Rs 2 trillion by Indian Industry as part of the clean-up process.

"We estimate that nearly Rs 2 lakh crore of asset sales are in the pipeline/already completed by debt-ridden companies having a debt exposure of around Rs 10 lakh crore," it said in a note.

At least a tenth of the total debt sales should go through the listing route, it said, adding that cash-rich conservative corporates are finding value in such companies.

It also cited recent happenings where companies like Sanghi Industries, Indo Count Industries, Ginni Filaments and Haldia Petrochemicals have exited the corporate debt restructuring process, with players like Ultratech, Piramal and promoters of Sun Pharma being the saviors.

About 270 companies reported decline in debt by Rs 47,813 crore in 2015, it said. SBI research note also cited the case of debt-laden Lanco Group's efforts to lessen debt through asset sales, including the Udupi plant sale in 2015-16 for Rs 6,300 crore, and also efforts to exit power assets of Rs 25,000 crore, which can help retire debt of about Rs 18,000 crore.

More companies from high-debt sectors like power, infra, steel and realty will be forced to go for accelerated asset sale in the hope of staying afloat until better times return, it said. Additionally, foreign companies are also bringing in investments to use this opportunity either to establish or consolidate their presence in Indian markets, it said.

The note said top 10 corporates alone owe Rs 5 trillion to banks, which may force them to sell assets of up to Rs 2 trillion, it said, adding that this will have a positive impact on banks' balance sheets.

"We, however, believe credit growth is unlikely to revive materially in near term as demand is still significantly a laggard in the system," it said.
New York: Toyota said Tuesday it is investing in Uber, making it the latest car company to put money in a ride-hailing app. The Japanese company did not say how much the investment is worth. As part of the deal, Uber drivers can lease Toyota vehicles with money earned from their driving. Investing in ride-hailing services can be a way for automakers to sell more cars.

Earlier this year, General Motors Co. invested $500 million in Uber rival Lyft. Uber relies on drivers who use their own cars to give customers rides. Riders request and pay for their rides through the Uber phone app. The company has entered more than four hundred cities around the world, despite pushback from regulators and the taxi industry about how it vets drivers.

Toyota is investing in San Francisco-based Uber alongside Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, an investment fund backed by Toyota and Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Mumbai: With increasing pressure from banks to repay some of its debt, Indian corporates are expected to sell assets worth up to Rs 2 lakh crore to shed a part of their outstanding debt of Rs 10 lakh crore.

We estimate that nearly Rs 2 lakh crore of asset sales are in the pipeline or already completed by debt-ridden companies having a debt exposure of around Rs 10 lakh crore, the economic research wing of SBI said in a note. In 2015, the SBI arm said around 270 companies have reported a decline in debt by Rs 47,813 crore.

The note said top 10 corporates alone owe Rs 5 lakh crore to banks, which may force them to sell assets of up to Rs 2 lakh crore, adding that this will have a positive impact on banks balance sheets. According to Credit Suisse, this list of top 10 debt-laden groups include Anil Ambanis Reliance Group, Lanco Group, Jaypee Group, GMR Group, Videocon Group, GVK Group, Essar Group, Adani Group, JSW Group and Vedanta Group.

Among the factors forcing companies to sell their assets are pressure from banks, inability to raise capital or further debt and falling profits. Anil Ambanis Reliance Group, which owes nearly Rs 1.15 lakh crore in debt as on September 2015, plans to raise Rs 50,000 crore by selling its telecom towers, cement, road assets, etc. It had already sold some of its assets to pare its debt by Rs 16,630 crore. It plans to sell its tower business and optic fibre network to raise Rs 39,828 crore and Rs 9,000 crore from selling all its road projects.

Lanco Group has already sold its Udupi plant for Rs 6,300 crore and it plans to sell its stake in Rs 25,000 crore worth of its power assets, which can help retire a debt of about Rs 18,000 crore.

According to Mr Kunj Bansal, CIO, Centrum Wealth, the Jaypee Gro-up has sold two hydro power plants for Rs 9,200 crore, while Jaiprakash Associates has agreed to sell some of its cement business for Rs 15,900 crore.

The GMR Group, which owes Rs 43,000 crore, has either raised or is in the process of raising over Rs 6,000 crore to cut its debt. Suzlon sold its German subsidiary Senvion to private equity company Centerbridge Partners for Rs 7,200 crore.

Even Bharti Airtel sold 2.91 per cent of its equity in Airtel Infratel in a deal worth Rs 1,925 crore sold 8,300 mobile towers in Africa for Rs 11,000 crore. Jindal Steel and Power sold its 1,000 MW thermal power plant to JSW to raise Rs 4,000 crore. GVK sold its stake in Bengaluru airport to raise Rs 2,149 crore to pare its debt. Tata Steel sold its long-product Scunthorpe steel plant and is in the process of selling other factories in Britain to cut its huge losses.
Vishal has been in the limelight not only for emerging successfully during the recent Nadigar Sangam elections, but also for endorsing various causes like education, womens welfare, transgender empowerment, and others, through his Devi Social and Educational Foundation. The work done by his Chennai rescue teams during the recent deluge has not only helped lakhs of humans, but also thousands of animals in Chennai and Cuddalore.

He emerged as a true hero of animal welfare when he endorsed a series of serious animal activism campaigns (Voice against Cattle Trafficking for a Coimbatore-based NGO) and took part in a hunger strike protesting the culling of stray dogs by the Kerala Government.

So, it does not come as a surprise that Vishal was chosen for the title Face of Animal Activism-2015 by People for Cattle in India (PFCI).
In an interview to accompany the raunchy photoshoot, the designer took a moment to praise her children.

London: Victoria Beckham will be seen in her smouldering avatar in some very racy lingerie for the cover of Elle.

(Photo: Victoria Beckham/ Facebook)

The former Spice Girl showed off her incredible figure as she posed on a bed for the Hong Kong edition of the magazine, reports the Mirror.

(Photo: Victoria Beckham/ Facebook)

The mother-of-four wore high-waisted briefs and a matching top from her own collection.

(Photo: Victoria Beckham/ Facebook)

In an interview to accompany the raunchy photoshoot, the designer took a moment to praise her children.

(Photo: Victoria Beckham/ Facebook)

"You don't have a rule book when you have a child. You just do the best that you can and I think the kids are doing a pretty good job," she said.
Beauty vlogger Sharifa Easmin-Kabir has put together Bollywood makeup looks through the decades in just under three minutes. (Credit: YouTube)

Bollywood has decidedly been the trendsetter when it comes to the fashion choices of most Indian women. Beauty vlogger Sharifa Easmin-Kabir has put together Bollywood makeup looks through the decades in just under three minutes for her latest video.

The talented Bengali-American gives us a glimpse of how makeup was applied right from the 50s to the current decade. Since the theme is Bollywood makeup, Sharifa gets her inspiration from a popular actress from each decade who perfectly embodied the style aesthetic of that particular era.

The video took days of research, and tens of hours of filming and editing, she told BuzzFeed. Makeup addict or not, you definitely have to check this out.

Click on the link below to view the video:
Mumbai: Whether you are hosting a summer party or just need to chill and relax, a great cocktail recipe is always good to have. Though classic cocktails will always be your favourite, experimenting is always fun when mixing a drink. And summer is just the right time to think beyond your standard mojito, cosmopolitan and martini.

People always wonder that what makes an ideal summer cocktail. Cocktail connoisseurs told us that, a perfect cocktail should be crisp, cool and refreshing. We often use vodka as our base for various cocktail but this summer try something new.

We are using Jim Beam, bourbon whiskey to make some innovative cocktail recipes, which will surely cheer your mood this season.

Derived straight from the Kentucky, the birth place of Bourbon, these refreshing cocktails promise a blend of exciting ingredients & flavours.

Try these amazing whiskey based cocktails:

Kentucky Splash

Ingredients:

 1 Part Jim Beam

 1 Part Lime Cordial (sweetened lime juice)

 6 Parts Lemonade

Method:

 Pour ingredients in a one litre pitcher and enjoy with your friends.

Jimmys Chocolate with Jim Beam

Ingredients:

 2.5 Parts Jim Beam

 1 Part Fresh Lemon Juicy

 1 Part Dark Chocolate Syrup

 0.5 Parts Fresh White of Eggs

 Praline or Orange for Garnish

Method:

 Shake whiskey and ice with lemon juicy, chocolate syrup and white of egg.

 Use a sieve to pour the liquid into a chilled glass.

 Garnish with praline and orange.

Honey Ginger

Ingredients

 1  Parts Jim Beam

 Ginger Ale

 Dash of Bitters

 Lemon Wedge for Garnish

Method:

 Build over ice in a highball glass.

 Garnish with a lemon wedge.
The stash of 133 bottles was found in Becov castle in 1985, 40 years after being hidden by its then owners the Beaufort-Spontin family. (Credit: YouTube)

Proving the adage 'well worth the wait', experts enjoyed a rare taste of fine wines from the 19th century, discovered under the floorboards of a Czech castle in a treasure hunt that pitted Communist-era police against aristocrats.

The stash of 133 bottles was found in Becov castle in 1985, 40 years after being hidden by its then owners the Beaufort-Spontin family. The wines include Chateau d'Yquem vintages from 1892 - valued at up to 750,000 crowns ($31,000) per bottle - and 1896, and the whole collection is worth at least 30 million crowns, according to early estimates.

Sommeliers tasted several bottles on Sunday using technology that extracts a sample through a needle, piercing the cork without damaging it. Andreas Wickhoff, a Master of Wine holder who joined master sommelier Jakub Pribyl in the tasting, said the age and size of the Becov stock was unique, especially given wines half as old often turned up spoiled.

"If you smell these wines they still have this purity of fruits. There is acidity there, there are refreshing elements in these wines (that) will absolutely be an enjoyment," he said.

The wines, most from 1892 to 1899, are the oldest to be worked on by the Coravin device launched in 2013. Its developer Greg Lambrecht said he used an extra-thin needle and lower pressure for the Becov tasting.

"It takes longer to pour the wines as a result, but they took a hundred years to get here so we can wait," he said. Anyone hoping to get a hand on their own rare bottle is likely to be disappointed, however, as they remain the property of Czech authorities, which first dusted them off last year to get expert opinion on their value.

CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME

The Beaufort-Spontins, owners since the early 1800s of the castle in the lush hills 60 km (35 miles) from the German border, fled to Austria at the end of World War Two, having hidden the wines and the Shrine of St Maurus - said to hold John the Baptist's bones - under the chapel floor to keep them from plundering soldiers.

After the family were labeled Nazi sympathizers, the castle was taken over by then-Czechoslovakia and remains in state hands under decrees from 1946 that expelled ethnic Germans and others and confiscated property.

After unsuccessful attempts to recover furniture and art works, the family in 1984 approached an American businessman, Danny Douglas, who then applied secretly on their behalf to retrieve an unknown object from an unknown location.

He offered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a permit, attracting the attention of the then communist state's secret police.

Police eventually learned Becov was Douglas' treasure site, but after coming up empty handed in a search there, were ready to give him the permit.

Then a final question led his adversaries to the long-lost treasure. "They asked me what tools they should bring, and when I said we wouldn't need any tools, they knew... it was inside as it was winter," Douglas told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper in 2015.

Douglas has since been a visitor to Becov, where the shrine is on display. As for the wine, its keepers will still care for the bottles and may re-cork some, said Becov castellan Tomas Wizovsky.

"Overall, the tests show the wines are still in top condition," he said.
Taking aspirin reduced the risk of a recurrent stroke in the following six weeks by about 60 percent. (Representational Photo)

Starting treatment with aspirin right after a mini-stroke greatly reduces the risk of a major stroke in the following days, according to a new analysis.

Stroke causes one out of every 20 deaths in the U.S., killing nearly 130,000 people each year. In a mini-stroke, known technically as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), blood flow to the brain is only blocked for a short time, usually less than five minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Signs of a TIA can include face drooping, arm weakness, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, lack of balance or coordination, or sudden severe headache with no known cause.

More than a third of people who have a mini-stroke end up having a major stroke within the year if they dont receive treatment. The American Stroke Association warns on its website that a mini-stroke is more accurately characterized as a warning stroke, a warning you should take very seriously.

A great many people who have (mini-strokes or TIAs) dont seek medical attention, and dont feel that its an emergency, said lead author Peter Rothwell of the Stroke Prevention Research Unit in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in the U.K.

But seeking medical attention is incredibly useful, he said. Previous studies found that the risk of major stroke in the days after mini-stroke is greatly reduced with an intensive drug cocktail, but it was not clear if the benefit came from aspirin or other drugs, Rothwell told Reuters Health by phone.

The researchers analyzed data pooled from more than 15,000 participants in 12 trials comparing aspirin to no aspirin treatment after mini-stroke. Taking aspirin reduced the risk of a recurrent stroke in the following six weeks by about 60 percent and the risk of disabling or fatal stroke was reduced even further, regardless of dose or patient age, they reported in The Lancet.

Without treatment, mini-stroke may be followed by major stroke in 5 percent of cases within two days, 10 percent within a week, and 15 percent within a month, said professor Graeme Hankey of The University of Western Australia, who wrote an accompanying commentary in the journal.

Aspirin reduces the aggregation of platelets, and hence helps prevent the formation of blood clots that may arise on ruptured/eroded atherosclerotic plaques in arteries supplying blood to the brain, and prevent the clots blocking the artery, or breaking away and (traveling) down stream to block a smaller artery in the brain, and cause a stroke, Hankey told Reuters Health by email.

As with a heart attack, if you feel any symptoms of stroke or mini-stroke, like weakness on one side of the body, vision problems or slurred speech, you should call 911 and take an aspirin, Rothwell said.

Even though the recommendation is there for heart attack, the benefit for TIA and stroke is much larger, he said.

If a TIA patient does seek treatment, often they see someone relatively junior in the emergency department or a family doctor, get referred on for a specialist opinion and quite often are not given aspirin, he said.
June hasnt quite arrived, but hospitals across the city are already witnessing a significant number of dengue fever cases. It isnt time to hit the panic button just yet, but with numbers rising across the city, doctors advise caution and prevention. The State health department reports 44 positive of 123 suspected dengue cases in the IT city and has begun fogging operations in full swing all over Bengaluru.

Come rain and the city wakes up to dengue fever. While the recent downpour brought some much needed respite to a sweltering Bengaluru, it also appears to have given wings to the dengue mosquito, which is attacking among others, the most vulnerable of the city's population: children. The government-run Vanivilas hospital is currently treating some five children suspected to have dengue fever. We are seeing many cases of suspected dengue now and the numbers could surge if precautions are not taken on time, warns Dr Premalatha of Vanivilas hospital.

We have admitted some 15 children with suspected dengue at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences. We have started their treatment and sent their blood samples to be tested for dengue, reveals Dr Shrinivasa, HoD of the paediatric unit at KIMS. The hospital has been seeing around 10 cases of suspected dengue every day in recent weeks and has admitted only the more serious of the patients. Once the rain starts in June we could see a lot more cases, he added.

Read: Guest column - Control the breeding of Aedes Aegypti mosquito

At St. Philomena's we have admitted a couple of suspect cases, says Dr Shankar Prasad, the hospital 's Medical Director. But the figures for the city are conflicting. While the state health department says of the 123 suspected cases, 44 have been confirmed in the city since January, the BBMP says only 22 cases of dengue and 12 cases of chikungunya have been reported within its limits so far. "There is no concentration area as the cases are scattered across the city. We are doing the usual fogging and surveillance all over Bengaluru," says Dr Naveen, BBMP project coordinator for the National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme.

Dengue Virus

Dr Kala Yadhav ML, professor. Microbiology, at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) explains there are four sero types of the dengue virus, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Disturbingly, of them sero type 2 and 4 are the most common. They are quite similar to the strains found in Delhi right now because ecologically, the city is in the same zone," she said, adding, "Sero type two has high virulence, manifesting in haemorrhagic fever and patients could even go into shock. We must ensure there is zero water stagnation in their surroundings.

Dengue: How aware are you?

In 2015, Nielsen conducted a month long survey for Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. across 16 Indian cities, with a sample size of 1,500 to assess perceptions of dengue, its causes and how people cope with the disease.

Key findings

Awareness that dengue can be life-threatening : Bangalore saw an agree rate of 63%

Awareness that children are most vulnerable to dengue : Bangalore saw an agree rate of 88% only

Awareness that the schools their children attended used repellents : 52% parents in Bangalore said the schools did not use them

81% parents in Bangalore are worried that their children are more prone to dengue in school

76% of Bangalore parents agreed that the childs school should take the responsibility of educating children about the risks of dengue

Overall 18% of the respondents were unaware that dengue is not curable

56 percent in the south Zone felt that they were most vulnerable to mosquito bite while sleeping

83 percent in the soth Zone felt that dengue mosquitoes entered their homes at night

Overall 67% of the respondents said liquid vaporisers were the favourite repellent choice against aerosols, coils, creams and mats.

Overall 86% of the respondents said they used repellents at night

Symptoms to watch out for

A very high temperature (usually more than 101 degrees) without any other infection like throat or urinary tract infection

Severe body pain

Lower back pain

Pain in calf muscles and thighs

General weakness

Red rashes on the body and redness around the eyes

Signs of bleeding while spitting, coughing, urinating or passing stools

Preventive measures

Use mosquito repellents indoors and outdoors

Avoid standing close to a logged water body and ensure that such water bodies dont remain logged for too long

Take note!

Dengue mosquitoes are different from the malaria mosquitoes! There is neither specific medication neither vaccine for dengue. The only way to control the disease is to control the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which spreads the disease. Dengue mosquitoes are very active during the day and therefore it becomes imperative to safeguard oneself at this time. Children are the most vulnerable at this time, as they are at school or in the playground and away from home.

No need to panic, just be cautious

Dengue is most commonly reported from June to October when the viral load is high and gradually the rate of transmission falls, but in Bengaluru there is no season as such for the disease, which is reported all through the year here owing to environmental reasons, rising construction activity and other factors. Advising caution against the disease at all times therefore, Dr Veeranna Gowda , HoD of the Medicine Department at Victoria Hospital says people cannot always look to the government for solutions and must take care themselves. Universal precautions for prevention should be taken like preventing fresh water collection, use of mosquito nets and keeping your surroundings clean," he underlines.

Both the public and the BBMP need to take measures to make mosquito control effective. While people should not allow water to stagnate in their immediate surroundings, the BBMP must ensure that the drains are clear to allow free flow of water and there is no garbage mess in the city," stresses Dr Shankar Prasad, Medical Director of St Philomena's.

However, advising against panic, Dr Shankar V, MD (Internal Medicine) of Manipal Hospital, Malleswaram, notes that as long as a patients platelet count is maintained, there cannot be major complications from the disease. Dengue is a problem mainly for high-risk groups and people who have other health conditions, he explains.
Recently Facebook has had to apologise for rejecting an advertisement featuring a plus-sized model.

The social media website recently refused to feature ad of an Australian community called Cherchez la Femme. The community ad talked about 'feminism and fat'. The event itself was approved but not the promotion of the same.

The ad showed a plus-sized model Tess Holliday in a bikini which was rejected by Facebook on the grounds that it contravened their "health and fitness policy." However, the ad has now been approved.

One of the Cherchez la Femme member Jess posted a note highlighting the incident. She wrote:
The other day I was witness to a turf war between two people  over who had usurped whose territory. And I thought this fight was getting no where. After all, shouldnt the real battles be within us to be the best we can be and fulfill our purpose in life and not with each other over turf and territory?

We come into the world with nothing and we go out ditto and coming to think of it, it really belongs to everybody. As an old Native American proverb says We dont inherit the earth from our ancestors but only borrow it from our children. That said it is certainly against dharma to lust for anothers land. For some land and fiefdom equals power. Clouded by greed, people (why even nations) go to extreme lengths (murder on occasions) in the hope that the territory can be appropriated and annexed but little do they realise that practically speaking acts like that only put paid to all such hopes.

Speaking of notional territories, when first movers create a market it is only natural that there will be others jumping on to the bandwagon. You can either welcome this in a more the merrier spirit or be warned that there will soon be a new dynamic depending on how you look at it. In any case having prepared the ground one should be ready for the influx, the division of the spoils, etc. If that is too difficult to handle one has to get creative and come up with the next big idea. The point is nothing is permanent. Even a monopoly. The status quo will be challenged. Change will happen, the place will get crowded, territories will be drawn and redrawn and turf wars may begin. The this is mine argument may not always work for the counter will be where is it written?. So while fighting for ones fair share, it also helps to remain unattached so as to retain perspective and if the time comes to leave when one is ready, failing which you opt for Plan B and go all out and re- establish supremacy.

If the going gets too difficult as it will eventually, one is shaken out of ones comfort zone and in one moment of epiphany the ground is pulled out from under ones feet. This is definitely a good thing, every now and then, because it will force you to look beyond and explore newer pastures. If you are resourceful you could even take the most barren piece of land and turn it into fertile ground. So it is not about what you are handed but what you do with it.

Remember Jadhav Payeng, a visionary environmental activist, in your thoughts while battling out this issue. He had single-handedly created a forest in the sandbar of the Brahmaputra and so can you, if you share his drive, determination and vision. The going may not always be easy but as John Bytheway says, Sometimes you have to go through the wilderness to reach the Promised Land. Believe me the journey will be well-worth all the lessons en route.

The writer is a Reiki channel, yoga practitioner and a spiritual seeker
Mumbai: In a shocking incident, a woman was raped and murdered by her brother-in-law after she refused to give in to his demands of having an illicit relationship. The perpetrator along with his relative and friend, who were also party to the crime, had dumped the body in a creek. On Wednesday, the three accused were booked and remanded to police custody, according to a news report.

The accused, Raees Qureshi, didnt get along well with the deceased, Ruby, as she often turned down his request of getting intimate. Besides, he was also irked at the way she humiliated him in public. Ruby was married to Raeess brother Azad. Though both the families were not happy with their relationship, the duo tied the knot. The couple shifted to Ambhujwadi in 2015 after putting up in Delhi for a couple of years. Raees, who was a vegetable vendor, also shifted to the same neighbourhood soon. Unsatisfied with Rubys disposition and dominant behaviour, Raees decided to get back at her.

He plotted a plan to kill her, for which he also roped in his relative Isaq and friend Shabeer. Adhering to the plan, he sent his wife and brother for some work and called Ruby to his place. The perpetrators bludgeoned Ruby with a brick and strangled her to death on January 4. After killing her, Raees raped the corpse. The dead was undressed, packed in a sack and disposed off.

The police suspected Raees involvement in the case as his statements during interrogation were flimsy and misleading. He was arrested on May 21. After a tip off by him, the other two accomplices were nabbed on Wednesday, said the police.
Gen Singh expressed his condolences to the families of martyrs and directed the officials to ensure all support was extended to families. (Photo: ANI)

In the wake of the insurgent attack on the Assam Rifles (AR) convoy in Chandel District in Manipur on May 22 when a Junior Commissioned Officer and five soldiers were killed, Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh along with Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi visited the 29 Assam Rifles battalion on Wednesday.

Read: Manipur ambush: Bodies of six Assam Rifles personnel flown to native places

Gen Singh interacted with Major General VS Sreenivas, Inspector General of the AR (South) and Commanding Officer of the battalion.

Kolkata Wing Commander SS Birdi, the chief public relations officer of the Eastern Command, said, "The Chief was briefed on the incident including the combing operations in progress and the measures undertaken to neutralise the insurgent group involved in the attack. He stressed on the need to further carry out relentless operations against the insurgents active in the region."

Read: Rajnath orders action against militants who killed Assam Rifles personnel

Gen Singh expressed his condolences to the families of the martyrs and directed the officials to ensure all required support extended to the families. Meanwhile the Eastern Army Commader reiterated that, "Such acts of violence by insurgents strengthen our resolve to continue operations against insurgent groups with an aim to ensure lasting peace and prosperity in the region."
Patna: In a major breakthrough, the Bihar police on Wednesday arrested five contract killers in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdev Ranjan.

The police said that three motorcycles and a country made pistol of 7.65 mm bore along with two cartridges were recovered from the shooters which is being examined by forensic team in Siwan.

Interrogation will continue to find out how many more persons were involved in the murder of journalist Rajdev Ranjan, ADG of Police Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday in Patna claiming that the shooters had no criminal history.

The five shooters were allegedly hired by former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Shahabuddins aide Laddan Mian. The police said Laddan Mian was in Siwan Jail and was released on bail a fortnight before the murder incident. Initially the police had suspected him to be one of the shooters.

The police however refused to comment on the motive behind the murder saying that the shooters involved didn't even know who they were killing. They were asked to finish the work and flee from the scene, said a source.

The suspicion over Shahabuddins involvement deepened further after Laddans name figured in the case. According to police sources, Laddan Mian is close to Shahbuddin. A police source said, Laddan Mians arrest will throw more light on the motive behind the murder.

Journalist Rajdev Ranjan was murdered point blank on May 13 in Siwan by motorcycle borne shooters. During the probe, Shahabuddins name surfaced several times as the mastermind. Later, after police raided his cell in Siwan jail last week, he was shifted to Bhagalpur Jail.

"Criminals involved in the murder will not be spared no matter how powerful they are", ADG Sunil Kumar said.
Congress spokesperson Rajdeep Surjewala raked up the Panama Papers scandal, in which the Bollywood megastars name figures in the list of Indians who have allegedly stashed money abroad. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, saying it was legally, ethically, morally wrong to have Amitabh Bachchan as the host for a mega event at India Gate on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the government.

Congress spokesperson Rajdeep Surjewala raked up the Panama Papers scandal, in which the Bollywood megastars name figures in the list of Indians who have allegedly stashed money abroad. By having Bachchan as host, what message is the government trying to send? asked Surjewala.

Read: 2 years of Modi govt: BJP to launch series of programmes to highlight achievements

Raising several questions over the issue, he wondered whether the mega star hosting the event which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not dilute the fight against black money.

He recalled that Prime Minister has time and again vowed to bring back black money stashed abroad and punish those guilty. During the poll campaign, BJP leaders had promised to deposit Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in the bank account of every individual once the black money is uncovered.

Read: NDA to highlight achievements in 200 'nerve centres' for 2nd anniversary

But Bachchan responded that he was not hosting the show contrary to popular impression. "This is misinformation. not hosting ..only doing a small segment on 'beti bachao, beti padhao", the megastar said on his Twitter handle.

Amitabh's son Abhishek Bachchan also backed his father's clarification. "He (Amitabh Bachchan) is part of a function where he's talking about educating the girl child. That's not a political event," said Abhishek.

Bachchans name appears as a director of numerous offshore companies in Panama Islands and British Virgin Islands. Records of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca showed that Bachchan served as director of four offshore shipping companies between 1993 and 1997. However, Bachchan has issued a statement that he did not know any of the companies, had not been a director of any of them and said that his name might have been misused.

Read: Amitabh Bachchan to host Modi govt's 2-year anniversary event at India Gate

The Narendra Modi government has identified 200 "nerve centres" across the country to highlight their achievements beginning its second anniversary on May 26. BJP will observe a 21-day-long 'vikas parv' from May 26 to June 15, during which 33 teams, each comprising of one Cabinet Minister, one Minister of State (MoS) along with a national and state-level party functionary will visit 6-7 identified "nerve centres" to highlight the achievements of the government.

Read: I'm a law-abiding citizen, says Amitabh Bachchan on name in Panama Papers

As part of the celebrations, the government is organising the event-- 'Zara Muskura Do' (Smile Please) - which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its "achievements". Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show. The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan. It was reported that this show is being hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
Kolkata: West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury has kicked up a controversy by making winning MPs from his party sign an undertaking swearing unqualified allegiance to party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

According to a report in Indian Express, the undertaking, made on a Rs 100-stamp paper, also seeks to ensure that the MLAs will not get involved in any anti-party activity.

The decision to make MLAs sign such a pledge was taken at meeting between legislators, district presidents, state party leaders and Chowdhury. There was unanimous agreement on the issue, it is learnt.

The first of four points in the two-page stamp paper states: I do swear my unqualified allegiance to Indian National Congress led by Honble Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi Ji and Honble Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi Ji.

The second states: I, as a member of the legislative assembly, will not get involved in any anti-party activity. Even if I do not agree with any party policy and/or party decision, I will not make any negative comment thereon and/or I shall not take any negative action to the detriment of the party. In such a scenario, I shall resign from my post of MLA before making such comment and/or taking such action.

The third point refers to MLAs abiding by party guidelines and obeying the chief whip. The last point affirms that the first three statements are true to my knowledge.

But Bengal Congress president Chowdhury defended the decision to make MLAs sign the undertaking, claiming it was voluntary. It is not a bond which we have forced people (to sign) to take action against them if they fail to live up to the conditions. It is more of a voluntary pledge by partymen as a gesture of their allegiance, he said. He further claimed that there is ample scope within the party to express disagreements and concerns.

Another Congress MLA, Abdul Mannan who won from the Champdani constituency in Hooghly district, was more forthcoming. He admitted that Congress MLAs defecting to other parties was a concern, implying that this was a major reason why the victorious MLA had been made to sign the document.
Adnan, who hails from Karnataka, Farhan who is from Maharashtra and Sheikh Azhar from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested on January 29 by the NIA after being deported from the UAE. (Photo: PTI/ Representational Image)

New Delhi: A special court has extended the period of investigation till June 10 against three accused persons, recently deported from UAE for their alleged ISIS links, in a case of alleged conspiracy to carry out terror strikes in India and other countries.

According to the sources, special judge Rakesh Pandit extended period after National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the court that the probe was still underway in the case.

The court also extended the judicial custody of accused persons -- Sheikh Azhar Al Islam, Mohammad Farhan Shaikh and Adnan Hussain -- till June 10.

"After going through the entire material brought before me, the period of investigation and judicial custody of accused persons is extended till June 10. Let they be produced before the concerned court on June 10," the judge said in an in-chamber proceeding.

The source said that the NIA, in its application, had submitted that a lot of work was remaining in the investigation in the case. Earlier, the agency had told the court that the accused persons were required to be interrogated to unearth the larger conspiracy of ISIS in India and abroad.

It had also told told the court that they were active supporters of Islamic State and remained in close contact with several active members of IS using internet, telephone and other means of communication in furtherance of its activities.

It had told that there was a larger criminal conspiracy of IS activities in India and abroad including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians by the IS and the accused persons were involved in it.

Adnan, who hails from Karnataka, Farhan who is from Maharashtra and Sheikh Azhar from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested on January 29 by the NIA after being deported from the UAE.
The NIA had arrested 23 alleged IS sympathisers in a joint operation with six state counter-terrorism agencies earlier this year. (Photo: Representational Image)

Delhi: With the aim to spread its terror network deep in India, Janood-al-Khilafa-e-Hind (JKH)  the India wing of the Islamic State  had planned to target Bollywood stars for extortion.

According to a report in Indian Express, faced with the question of funding terror activities, ISIS discussed a plan to target Bollywood stars in a September 2015 meeting of members of the Lucknow module.

Read: Islamic State promotes Mumbai youth as governor of Indian territories

Two alleged top commanders of the module busted by security agencies earlier this year, Rizwan Nawazuddin alias Khalid and Muddabir Sheikh, have revealed this in an interrogation. Rizwan, who is just 19, is the head of the operational wing of ISIS in India.

However, the plan to target Bollywood never came to fruition because security agencies which had been monitoring JKHs online activities carried out mass arrests.

Read: NIA approaches ATS of states to identify youth in ISIS video

Rizwan and his associates had also planned to carry out lone-wolf attacks against top Sangh Parivar leaders like RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and VHP leaders Pravin Togadia and Ashok Singhal (since deceased).

The NIA had arrested 23 alleged IS sympathisers in a joint operation with six state counter-terrorism agencies earlier this year.

Rizwans two uncles are in the Indian army, but the 19-year-old revealed to intelligence agencies that he had been drawn to extremism after surfing the internet to kill time. He then planned to blow up some army bases in Meerut, but the plan never saw light of day.

The JKH modules current handler, Shafi Armar alias Yusuf, routed Rs 6 lakhs through hawala channels in Mumbai to one Muddabir Sheikh, a techie who had been jobless since September last year. Muddabir reportedly got in touch with Yusuf through encrypted chatting apps Trillian and Sureshot. Yusuf allegedly made him the Amir (chief) of the Indian module, in October last year.

In the Lucknow meeting of JKH, training locations were also discussed. The module had considered the jungles of Panvel on the Mumbai outskirts, and the forests of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The Pathankot air base was attacked by heavily armed terrorists reportedly having allegiance to the Jaish-e-Mohammed. (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh: The militant group Jaish-e-Mahammed (JeM) which was behind the Pathankot airbase attack, is allegedly planning to replicate the January 2 terror strike and has activated sleeper cells to carry out recces in cities across north India to set ground for the same.

According to a report, the JeM is being aided by Pakistans spy agency ISI and is also receiving help from Indian Mujahideen to plan fresh attacks. This information has been submitted in a report to the Punjab government by intelligence officials.

Read: Pathankot attack: Interpol issues RCN against JeM handler Shahid Latif

The intelligence report states that JeM Commander Awais Mohammed, who hails from Okara, Pakistan, has been tasked to execute the terror groups nefarious plans. The report says he would be using a fake Malaysian passport and enter India through the south-east Asian country to carry out the attacks.

The report also states that the JeM is revamping its recruitment drive and has opened new offices in Pakistan in a bid to expand its terror network.

"JeM is reviving its offices and network in Kohat and Hazara region. JeM is also reinvigorating its recruitment drive. A new training facility has also been constructed by JeM at Balakot," the report stated.

The report added that "real-time reconnaissance of the cities is being carried out by the sleeper cells of ISI and Indian Mujahideen" for the fresh strikes.

This alarming report was submitted to the Punjab government in less than two months after Pakistans joint investigation team visited Pathankot to probe the attack on the strategically-located air base.
The snow has finally melted in West Michigan, which means its time for the years second issue of Religion & Liberty.

Recent news cycles have been plagued with images of angry Americans, students protesting and populist discontent. The 2016 presidential election has really brought to light that the American people are angryspecifically with American leadership. Here at the Acton Institute, were interested in looking more deeply at these issues, particularly if there is a cure for this great discontent. To understand the issues, weve rounded up experts on employment, trade, millennials and other issues surrounding the 2016 race to the White House. The roundup features Justin Beene, Ismael Hernandez, Ann Marie Jakubowski, Jared Meyer and Vernon L. Smith discussing these themes.

Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court suffered a great loss with the passing of Antonin Scalia. He was known primarily for his sharp wit and devotion to the U.S. Constitution, but he was a great father and a friend to those ideologically opposed to him as well. He was also an Acton supporter and gave an excellent speech for the seventh Acton Institute Annual Dinner. Because his words on the Constitution are still so significant today, a portion of the speech has been excerpted as the essay, What is our Constitution? He is also featured in this issues In the Liberal Tradition.

Actons director of research, Samuel Gregg, has written a new book titled For God and Profit: How Banking and Finance Can Serve the Common Good. Stephen Schmalhofer breaks down Greggs latest book in a review. If thats not enough to whet your appetite, this issue also includes a short excerpt of the book titled Getting justice right.

The Double-Edged Sword looks at Psalm 139 and reflects on our relationship with God. Its through our everyday, ordinary relationships with other people that He is revealed.

June is mere weeks away, which means that Acton University is right around the corner! For the FAQ, Kris Mauren, Actons executive director, explains what can be expected at our biggest conference and details the lineup of keynote speakers.

To close this issue, Rev. Robert Sirico ponders religious liberty, discussing the theme throughout history and what it means for us today, especially given the current cultural and political climate. Many brave individuals have fought for our religious freedom; we should never take it for granted.

You can view the entire issue online as a PDF here.
BENGALURU: In a first of its kind in the state, police personnel are planning to go on mass leave on June 4, in protest against the harassment by senior officers in the name of discipline, meagre salary, no proper leaves and other issues faced on the professional front.

It has been learned that more than 50,000 policemen across the state have already applied for Harassment Leave on June 4. However, police heads of all districts have issued orders to all police station heads directing them not to grant leave to any staff on that day.

Akhila Karnataka Police Maha Sangha is leading the movement, which will be a major embarrassment to the state government if it is successful. V. Shashidhar, the Founder President of the Organisation, told Deccan Chronicle that the movement gained momentum after a few policemen approached him with the plan of protesting against the system.

They told me that all the policemen should go on leave on the same day to pass a strong message to the government and they requested me to lead the movement, as there is no proper forum to fight for the rights of policemen. Then I started working towards it and it gained support from thousands of policemen and also various other organisations, Shashidhar said.

There are around 85,000 policemen in the state. In this, 65,000 staff is constabulary, which is the most harassed section. Forget decent salary, they are not even able to spend time with their families. They dont get leaves even during emergency situations. Even for small issues, they have to face suspensions in the name of disciplinary action. Their working condition is pathetic as they have to work more than 15 hours at a stretch without basic amenities. This is nothing but gross violation of human rights. Despite repeated requests for the last 25-30 years the governments have not done anything to sort out the issues and even courts did not rule in favour of policemen. Thus, they have reached threshold and are ready to give a clear message to the government this time, he said.

As it is obvious that the higher ups wont grant leave on June 4, the policemen have reportedly decided to not turn up for work on that day. However, they wont come on streets to protest as they belong to disciplinary force. Instead, we are requesting their family members to protest on behalf of them. Also, various organisations like Karnataka Rakshana Vedike have supported our cause and will join hands with us, Shashidhar added.

When DC tried to contact DG & IGP Om Prakash to get his reaction, he was not available for comment. Meanwhile, ADGP of the Intelligence wing has directed police heads of all cities and districts to take appropriate action to avert any untoward incident in the wake of this development.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) declares the HSC results on Wednesday, May 25 on its website at 1 pm. While the results were officially announced at the respective division offices at 11 am, students were able to access the same from the comfort of their homes from 1 pm through the official website of the board and other websites too.Check your results by clicking on the following links:

1. mahresult.nic.in

2. result.mkcl.org

3. mahahsscboard.maharashtra.gov.in

In all, 13.88 lakh students had appeared for the HSC board exams that started on February 19 and continued upto the end of March. The exam was conducted across 8,188 junior colleges and 2,581 designated centres. The students included 7.82 lakh boys and 6.06 lakh girls of which around 5.02 lakh appeared for the science stream, while 4.7 lakh were from the arts stream and 3.55 lakh from the commerce stream. Around 60,255 students appeared for the minimum competency vocational course.

In a first, the board said that students could start applying for verification of marks and apply for copies of the answer sheet from the next day i.e. May 26. The applications for verification will be accepted till June 4 and applications for copies of answer sheets will be accepted till June 14. Students wanting to reappear for the HSC exams under the class improvement scheme will be able to do so during the re-exam period that will be held in July 2016 or February/March 2017.

Students who were unsuccessful will be able to reappear for re-examination in July 2016, which was previously held in September/October.

Sources said that the SSC results could also be declared by the end of the month but it would be decided after a review meeting which is to be held later in the week.

(THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN The ASIAN AGE AS MAY THE CASE BE)
Srinagar: Opposition National Conference and Congress on Wednesday disrupted the Governor's address to the Jammu and Kashmir legislature protesting against AFSPA, "shortage of ration", among others, and staged a walkout.

As soon as Governor N N Vohra rose to address the members of the Assembly and Legislative Council, National Conference and Congress MLAs took to their feet.

The National Conference members started shouting slogans demanding revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed in the state.

They also demanded "adequate" supply of foodgrains to the people of the state and dismissal of Forest Minister Lal Singh for allegedly making threatening remarks against Gujjars in Jammu region last week.

The NC members shouted slogans like 'AFSPA ko wapas karo' (revoke AFSPA), 'Bhashan nahi ration chahiyay' (we do not need speeches, give ration) and 'Lal Singh ko barkhast karo' (dismiss Lal Singh).

The Congress members alleged that the PDP-BJP coalition government has failed on issues like implementation of National Food Security Act and regularisation of daily wage workers in various government departments.

Members of both the opposition parties later walked out from the hall even as the Governor refused to pay heed to the protest and continued his address.

However, Independent MLA from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who had joined the opposition protest, remained in the House and continued to shout slogans during Vohra's speech.

Rashid, carrying a banner, was seeking to know the fate of the time-bound magisterial inquiry into the killing of youths in Handwara allegedly by the army on April 12 following alleged molestation of a girl by a jawan.

"We want to know what happened to the inquiry into Handwara killings," Rashid said.

As Vohra was reading out various schemes and welfare measures to be implemented by the state government, Rashid said, "You (Governor) do not represent us. You are a non-state subject. We are supposed to have an elected Sadr-e-Riyasat (president of the state) you represent Delhi."

The controversial MLA also told the Governor that he was "made to lie" by the government. "Not even one per cent of what you have been made to say (in the joint address) is true," he added.

The Legislative Assembly will now meet tomorrow for taking up obituary references while discussion on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Chennai: Displaying magnanimity, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said she regretted that the Governments Public Department had, as a matter of routine protocol, allotted a seat to DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin among all other legislators during her swearing-in ceremony on Monday.

Had the officers brought to my notice that Thiru M.K. Stalin would be attending the event, I would have instructed the officers in charge of the arrangements to provide him a seat in the first row, relaxing the norms in the Protocol Manual, she said in a statement here.

The Chief Minister also said there was no intent to show disrespect to Mr Stalin or to his party, the DMK. If this seating plan caused him (Mr Stalin) any discomfiture, I would like to assure him that there was no intent to show disrespect to him or his party, she said in the statement.

Complimenting Mr Stalin for attending the swearing-in ceremony, Ms Jayalalithaa said she looked forward to working with his party for the betterment of the state. The statement came a day after a controversy erupted over Mr Stalin being seated among legislators at the swearing-in ceremony. Mr Stalins father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi had criticised the state government and the Chief Minister on the issue.

The DMK treasurer also broke with tradition and attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ms Jayalalithaa along with a few DMK legislators and even wished the Chief Minister luck on the micro-blogging site Twitter. He had also expressed hope that Ms Jayalalithaa would fulfil all promises that she made to people during election campaign.
Tamil Nadu was one of the states that contested the Supreme Court order that made Neet mandatory for medical admission.

Chennai: With President Pranab Mukherjee signing the ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet to postpone Neet on Tuesday, decks have been cleared for the Tamil Nadu government to start admitting students to medical courses in government colleges without any entrance examination.

Simply put, students who have completed higher secondary can get admission into medical colleges based on their marks. Tamil Nadu was one of the states that contested the Supreme Court order that made Neet mandatory for medical admission.

Despite awaiting the gazette notification, the health department confirmed that as far as the current year is concerned, the state would ensure that steps are taken to admit students based on their plus-2 marks alone. Application forms will be made available soon and counselling will begin before June end, said a health official.

We can decide on the next year only after a response is received to the letters the Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister, he added. According to the ordinance, students of state boards will not have to sit for Neet on July 24. However, they will have to be part of the uniform entrance exam from the next academic session.

It is necessary for a uniform syllabus. However, it should start at the school level instead of in college, said a member of the MBBS admission selection committee.
The Pathankot air base was attacked by heavily armed terrorists reportedly having allegiance to the Jaish-e-Mohammed. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Expanding its ambit of probe in the Pathankot terror attack, NIA has decided to examine other terror cases involving Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to gather more evidence against the outfit.

NIA sources said the agency's probe was not event-specific and it would like to look at the role of the terror group in other cases as well.

There were striking similarities between the attacks undertaken by Jaish in Tandgdhar in North Kashmir, Kathua and Samba in Jammu region and Dina Nagar (in Punjab) that took place last year.

NIA teams have been sent to all these places to examine the evidence collected by the local police and quiz those arrested after securing permission from the court, the sources said.

Read: Jaish planning another Pathankot style attack with ISI aid: report

They said the agency could spot glaring similarities in the modus operandi of the terrorists, who staged attacks in Kathua, Samba and those involved in the assault on Pathankot IAF base on the intervening night of January 1-2 this year in which seven people were killed.

The sources said the group which attacked the Samba army camp was also carrying enough eatables and supplies for a long haul fight with security forces and the arms and ammunition used by them were also the same.

The attack in Samba on the Jammu-Pathankot highway took place on March 21 and two terrorists were involved. The team also visited Kathua where Rajbagh police station was attacked by a group of terrorists on March 20 last year.

Read: Pathankot probe: NIA asks Pakistan for voice samples of JeM chief

In the Samba attack both the terrorists were killed, while in Kathua two militants were gunned down in a fierce exchange of gunfire which also claimed the lives of three security personnel and a civilian.

In the Tangdhar area, three heavily-armed militants of JeM carried a terror strike at army camp near the Line of Control, triggering a fierce gunfight in which all the attackers and a civilian were killed and a soldier was injured.
Lucknow: An FIR has been lodged against Bajrang Dal activists after a video clip that showed them being trained for self-defence in Ayodhya went viral on the social media even as the Shiv Sena came out to support the Bajrang Dal. According to sources, two Bajrang Dal activists have been arrested in Ayodhya. The police spokesman in Lucknow, however, refused to confirm or deny the development.

The Sena, which has lately been targeting the BJP on various issues, came out in support of Bajrang Dal on Wednesday and said that it was important to fight against terrorism in the country and training to use arms was perfectly justified. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also questioned the police action to lodge an FIR against the Bajrang Dal office-bearers.
Visakhapatnam: Apart from funding Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), which is expected to spur growth in the state, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also assured transforming Vizag into a Smart City as part of union governments 100 Smart Cities programme. Vizag has been chosen by the Union urban development ministry to be transformed into a Smart City after which a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)- Greater Visakha Smart City Corporation (GVSCC), has been launched by the state government to implement it.

The ADB has also prepared a basic concept plan of Vizag Smart City and is expected to prepare a full-fledged project plan in 2017, which was revealed in ADBs Regional Cooperation Operations Business Plan for South Asia 2016-2018. This comes at a time when the ADB had agreed to double the funding to support Indias urban development from $2.6 billion per annum to $5 billion per annum. In one of the basic report of "ADBs Support for Industrial Corridor and Smart Cities in Andhra Pradesh" prepared by ADBs south Asia department energy specialist Satoshi Kurimoto, gaps in various sectors in Vizag were discussed. The ADB has proposed to fund Vizag Smart City plans under its Capacity Development Technical Assistance (CDTA), in energy, industry and trade, transport, water and other urban infrastructure.

ADB had already assessed the physical infrastructure gaps in Vizag in water supply, sanitation coverage, sewerage connection, solid waste management, electricity, telephony and Information-Commu-nications Technology (ICT) sectors. The bank authorities felt that 24x7 supply of water is absent due to high-level of non-revenue water, sewerage connections was existing only in 60 per cent households while the benchmark is 100 per cent. ADB also felt that there is a need to construct the waste water treatment plants with energy efficient and mechanised treatment processes.

Along with AP, ADB will prepare smart city projects for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka in India. As per the basic concept plan, in phase one, services related to social infrastructure like citizen service delivery system & e-Governance, Geospatial System (GIS), participatory & connected government, healthcare & education will be developed. Under services related to urban infrastructure, energy, water management will be developed. In phase-II, social inclusion, community mapping, environment sustainability and under services related to urban infrastructure, solid waste management, sewage management, smart buildings, city-wide Wi-Fi will be developed.
Khammam: The massive 72ft by 108ft National Flag, by far the biggest in the country, is being made by a couple from Khammam. Kambampati Sanjeeva Rao and Padmavathi are working almost round the clock to get the Tricolour ready for it to be hoisted on June 2, Telangana Formation Day in Hyderabad.

They have to hand it over to the government by May 29 so that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao can unfurl it on June 2 at Sanjeevaiah Park. At present, Ranchi in Jharkhand has the honour of having the biggest National Flag, a mammoth 66x99 ft.

The couple was given the responsibility of making the record-breaking flag in recognition of Mr Sanjeeva Raos passion of collecting flags. He is a member of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, the only member from India.

Mr Sanjeeva Rao collects flags of different countries, besides currency notes, coins and stamps. Interestingly, Mr Sanjeeva Rao, an accounts officer in DRDA, Nalgonda, has made flags of over 200 countries on his own and preserved them.

He has visited 11 countries  Belgium, USA, UK, Germany, France, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Thailand to participate in vexillological exhibitions.

It is indeed an honour for me. I am on cloud nine, to be a part of the official Telangana Formation Day celebrations. I feel that making the flag is not an order from the government, but an honour from it, Mr Sanjeeva Rao said.

He said that SERF CEO Anita Ramachandran helped in getting the order.

Earlier, the state government had given the responsibility of making the flag to a company in Kolkata.

However, after hearing of Mr Sanjeeva Raos passion for making flags, Principal Chief Secretary Adhar Sinha handed over the task to the Philvex Hobby Society, headed by D. Vijay Kumar and Ms Padmavathi.

Mr Sanjeeva Rao was asked to supervise the process. Ms Padmavathi said that they got the material from Hyderabad and started making the flag. We will prove our love for Telangana as well as our country by completing the responsibility entrusted on us on time, she said.
Hyderabad: The TS government has delegated the power of issuing income certificates, currently held by tahsildars, to deputy tahsildars. Tahsildars have told the government that they could not attend important duties as they receive around eight lakh applications every year seeking income certificates.

Since the validity of certificates is only for one year, the officials are forced to issue new ones every year. The demand will be more from students during the commencement of every new academic year in June for various purposes like school/ college admissions, fee reimbursement, scholarships schemes besides loans from SC, ST, BC, Minority Corporations.

With income certificate being the sole criterion to determine the eligibility of applicants for various government schemes, lakhs of applications are being received every month, which are being forwarded to tahsildars for approvals.

With this, tahsildars are spending most of their time in office clearing income certificates through the year due to which several other important duties remain unattended to. CCLA Raymond Peter took up the issue following which a GO was issued on Wednesday.
What is Brexit?

British, Irish, and Commonwealth citizens will vote next month on the question Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? Brexit is merely the shorthand abbreviation for British exit, which refers to the UK leaving the European Union.

What is the European Union?

After two World Wars devastated the continent, Europe realized that increasing ties between nations through trade might increase stability and lead to peace.

In 1958, this led to the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), an arrangement that increased economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Over the next few decades, more countries joined (there are now 28 member state) and it morphed into a federalist-style economic-political union. The UK joined in 1973, and in 1993, the name was changed to the European Union.

The EU institutions are: the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors.

Why is there a push for the UK to leave?



One of the main principles of EU membership is free movement, which means any citizens living in an EU country can live and work in another member nation without needing a visa (its similar to how in the United States you dont need a work visa to move from California to Texas or live in Missouri and work in Kansas). This prevents a country from having much say into who can enter, and some people in the UK prefer to have more control over their borders.

The EU also imposes numerous restrictions on businesses, requires full regulatory compliance, and acceptance of the supremacy of EU law. Critics of the EU also say that the UK could get many of the same benefits of trade without having to pay billions of pounds (the UK currency) to be a member state. (Denmark and the UK are two member states that have opted out of using the euro, the official currency of the eurozone, which consists of 19 of the 28 member states.)

What is the argument for the UK staying in the EU?

Those who support the UK remaining in the EU (sometimes referred to as Bremain), say that leaving will hurt trade.

The EU is likely to impose stiff tariffs and other restrictions on the new non-member country, making it more expensive to buy products and services from EU states. They also say that Britain has benefited from migration into the country and that leaving will harm citizens who are currently living and working in EU nations. Additionally, unemployment could increase as global manufacturers moved to lower-cost EU countries.

How does the decision affect the U.S.?

As in the UK, there is support and opposition of Brexit in the U.S.

President Obama warned that the U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue on trade deals with the U.S. But critics of the president say there is no reason the U.S. couldnt make separate trade deals with the UK and the EU.

Another concern is that the UK leaving the EU weakens geopolitical stability in the region. Without the UK, the EU could appear to have lessened influence, which could embolden Russia. But skeptics of this claim say that it is NATO, not the EU that plays the major security role in that region.
Hyderabad: Citizens of surrounding municipal areas like Quthbullapur, Yapral, Chandanagar, Narsingi, Peddamangalaram, Rajendranagar and Hydershakote are suffering from frequent power breakdowns.

Some residents said officials have been giving new connections without adding supporting distribution infrastructure, resulting in overloading and tripping of the feeders. They complained that there were no prior intimation about the power shutdowns, which were for three to four hours or more.

From the last 15 days, the interruptions in power supply have increased. The officials are saying that electric lines have been brought down by falling trees. The work of clearing trees was completed within two days, but even then power interruptions have been occurring regularly, said Mr A. Ashwinikanth of Rajendranagar.

Residents of surrounding municipal areas too are complaining of unscheduled power shutdowns. Electricity officials can at least announce the power shutdown timings so that we can plan our works accordingly. Sometimes the overhead tanks become empty and at other times mobile phones run out of charge, said Ms K. Swapna, a government employee and resident of Hydershakote.

Residents said that the power situation was good till a month back. Though there were power shutdowns earlier too, they were not so frequent as is the case now.

If repair work is the reason, then officials should explain why the power tripped at night on more than three occasions in Narsingi in the last one-week, said Mr V. Prabhakar Rao, a local resident.

Chief general manager of TS Southern Power Distribution Company (Discom) Mr P. Naik said there were too many trees in the citys outskirts, many of which had been uprooted during storms. Though we had restored the supply on the distribution network within 24 hours after the gale, we had to take power shutdowns many times to erect poles and lay new conductors on several stretches. Citizens should realize that they faced this problem only in the last 15 days. There is no over-loading problem here as the distribution infrastructure is adequate for the existing connections, he said and added that the power supply had stabilized after erecting poles and conductors.
Telangana told minister that out of nine persons recommended for the post of High Court judges, only three were from Telangana.

Hyderabad: The TS has sought intervention of the Union Law Minister in allocation of subordinate judicial officers between AP and TS and also in appointment of judges to the High Court.

Special Representatives of the TS government in Delhi, S. Venugopala Chary and Ramachandra Tejawat, met Law Minister Sadananda Gowda and submitted a representation.

During the meeting, both the representatives complained to the minister that neither the Governor nor the Acting Chief Justice consulted the TS Chief Minister while recommending nine names for the appointment of High Court judges. However they consulted the AP Chief Minister.

Through the representation, they brought to the notice of Mr Gowda that, knowing fully well that Acting Chief Justice is on transfer by elevating him to the post of Chief Justice and another judge, Justice G. Chandraiah is retiring soon, the collegium met on April 30, 2016 and recommended nine names of judicial officers and advocates for posts of judges of High Court.

They told the minister that out of nine persons recommended for the post of High Court judges, only three were from Telangana. Referring to recent provisional allocation of subordinate judicial officers between both states, they said that 95 officers of district judge cadre were allotted to Telangana state, of whom 46 are natives of AP.

The special representatives said that as against 140 district judge cadre posts in AP only 110 officers were allocated, leaving 30 vacancies. Similarly, allocations were made leaving vacancies in the cadre of senior civil judges and junior civil judges.

They urged Mr Gowda not to accord sanction or process the judges recommendations unless the TS Chief Minister is also consulted on the issue. They requested that steps be taken to rectify the situation. After the meeting, Mr Chary and Mr Tejawat said that Mr Gowda responded positively and promised that he will examine the matter.

Meanwhile T-Advocates JAC on Wednesday announced that it would launch a massive state-wide agitation from June 1 for creation of a separate High Court for AP and also in protest against provisional allocation of judicial officers among both states.

T. Sriranga Rao, Goverdhan Reddy and other leaders of TAJAC on Wednesday said that the Centre has been showing discrimination against TS in all aspects, including power, irrigation projects and bifurcation of the Common High Court.

Claiming that BJP and Congress leaders of TS were responsible for the affairs prevailing in the state, they demanded that the Centre take immediate steps to constitute separate High Court for AP.

While recalling the assurance given by Mr Gowda during his visit to Hyderabad that the Centre would take immediate steps for separation of Common High Court, the TAJAC leaders alleged that the Centre betrayed the Telangana people.

Mr Sriranga Rao demanded that the Centre bring out an ordinance if necessary for establishment of separate High Court for AP similar to what was done earlier in merger of seven mandals of TS with AP.

The TAJAC leaders warned the Centre that a massive agitation will be launched from June 1 along with employees of judiciary and judicial officers if the Centre fails to take steps to constitute the separate High Court and rectify the provisional allocation of subordinate judicial officers.
Under the proposed notification, transport vehicles with a seating capacity of over 23 passengers will mandatorily have CCTV cameras. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: It will be mandatory for public transport buses to install emergency buttons, CCTV cameras and vehicle tracking devices to ensure safety of women commuters and the government will issue notification on these norms on June 2, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

"To ensure safety of women after the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident, we have decided to make it mandatory for public transport buses to install emergency panic buttons, CCTV cameras and GPS-enabled vehicle tracking devices," the Road Transport and Highways Minister said.

After launching a pilot project under which Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation will run 10 luxury and 10 ordinary roadways buses fitted with emergency buttons and CCTV cameras, Gadkari said that a notification to have such devices in all public transport buses across the country will be issued on June 2.

"We are looking at installation of panic buttons, CCTV cameras and other devices at the manufacturing stage itself," he said on the sidelines of the event.

Bulk purchase of such items will bring down the cost of the devices, he added.

The ministry had issued these draft rules earlier this month under the Motor Vehicles Act and had sought comments from stakeholders including vehicle manufacturers.

Under the proposed notification, transport vehicles with a seating capacity of over 23 passengers will mandatorily have CCTV cameras that will be connected to the global positioning system and will be monitored by the local police control room.

Gadkari said that in case of any untoward event a woman passenger would be able to press the emergency button which in turn will transfer the information to the nearest local police station via the GPS.

Once the emergency signal is triggered, the CCTV cameras will start displaying live footage of the bus at the central control room. Besides, if a vehicle deviates from its prescribed route (monitored through the GPS devices), the system will start sending signals tracking its movement to the control room.

Once these initiatives are implemented, they will make women safer on roads, Gadkari said, adding that the need for the move was felt in the wake of the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident in December 2012.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said these moves will ensure safety of women.

Minister of Transport for Rajasthan Yoonus Khan said the Centre has contributed 50 per cent of the funds for the pilot project under which 10 luxury and 10 ordinary buses were launched today.

He said all buses in Rajasthan will soon be equipped with devices to ensure women's safety as 33 per cent of state transport bus passengers are females and about 10 per cent of those travelling in premium buses are alone.

Under Rajasthan government initiative known as 'Mahila Gaurav', the emergency button functionality can be used by passengers to alert the officials and as soon as the panic button is pressed, information of the buses and its location is sent to the designated phone number (presently, depot chief manager's mobile number) while video history of the bus can be used in case of any untoward incident.

Among those present at the pilot launch event was Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Lalitha Kumar Mangalam.
The Union Cabinet which met on Wednesday gave its ex post facto approval to amend The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Six new IITs will come up at Tirupati, Palakkad, Dharwar, Bhilai, Goa and Jammu while ISM Dhanbad will also be upgraded to an IIT.

The Union Cabinet which met on Wednesday gave its ex post facto approval to amend The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 for incorporation of new IITs at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) and conversion of Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad to an IIT under the law.

"The approval will bring six new Indian Institutes of Technology within the ambit of The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 and declaring them as the institutions of national importance," an official statement said in New Delhi.

The amendment will also help convert ISM, Dhanbad into an IIT by bringing it into the ambit of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961.

The Cabinet also gave ex post facto approval to set up NIT, Andhra Pradesh which has been registered as a Society under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001.

The Cabinet also approved introduction of a bill - the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for inclusion of the NIT, Andhra Pradesh in its first schedule, another statement said.

"The proposed amendments to the NITSER Act, 2007 will ensure a high level of public accountability and increased participation of the stakeholders in the administration and academic activities of the Institute," the statement said.
Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee led her Trinamul Congress to a landslide victory, scoring a double century in the Bengal Assembly election, trouncing Left-Congress combine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate her over phone. Ms Banerjee will be sworn in as chief minister of Bengal for the second term on May 27. The new government must be formed by May 29.

Although virtually all exit polls had predicted a Trinamul Congress victory, there was uncertainty and confusion over the outcome of the longest Assembly polls held in the state in six phases which stretched to more than a month. It is an unprecedented victory. The people have showered their blessings on us rejecting baseless canards that the Opposition spread against us. I thank the Maa Maati Maanush of Bengal from bottom of my heart for reaffirming their faith in Trinamul Congress, Ms Banerjee said, adding the people have voted for development.

In 2011, chanting the clarion cry of paribartan, Ms Banerjee had dislodged the CPI(M)-led Left Front from power after 34 year long rule.

TMC-Congress alliance had won 226 and Trinamul Congress alone had secured 184 seats. This time, TMC contested alone and bagged a huge tally of 212 of 294 Assembly seats.

By 10 am, when it became clear that Trinamul Congress was heading for huge victory, celebrations began in the city and districts. By 3 pm the Trinamul tsunami swept away the Opposition: CPI(M) was reduced to an all-time low of 26 seats while Congress won 44. One must keep in mind that the CPI(M) had contested 147 seats while Congress had contested 94 seats. The BJP opened its account in state Assembly election and won three seats. In 2001 BJPs Badal Bhattacharya and in 2014 Samik Bhattacharya had won Assembly bypolls but the saffron party had never won a single seat in any Assembly election in the past.

Read: Bengal polls: 5 ministers and Madan Mitra among heavyweight losers

The Trinamul Congress vote share jumped to 45 per cent from 39 per cent in 2011. The CPI(M)s vote share plummeted to 19.7 per cent from 30 per cent. The Congress vote share rose from 9.09 per cent to 12.3 per cent. The BJPs vote share in 2011 was merely 4 per cent which rose to 17 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha election. This time BJP not only won three seats but also bagged an impressive 10.2 per cent vote share.

Ms Banerjee retained her Bhowanipore seat by defeating Left-supported Congress candidate Deepa Das Munshi by over 25,000 votes. In the triangular contest, the BJP candidate and a scion of Netaji family Chandra Bose came third bagging a little over 26,000 votes.

Ironically, while the ruling party won a stunning majority, some of its ministers including Chandrima Bhattacharya, Manish Gupta, Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, Savitri Mitra lost their seats. Six leaders who were caught on camera accepting bribe in Narada sting footage. Five of them-Sovan Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Subhendu Adhikari and Iqbal Ahmed won their seats. Former minister Madan Mitra was the only Narada-stung TMC leader who was defeated.

(THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE ASIAN AGE AS MAY THE CASE BE)
BJP workers shower milk on a cut-out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate the completion of two years of NDA government, in Patna. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: With its focus on Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls early next year, BJP will launch a series of programmes to highlight the achievement of its government that completes two years with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a major public rally in Saharanpur tomorrow.

BJP national general secretary Anil Jain said that top cabinet ministers and party leaders will also hold various programmes to highlight the achievement of the government across the country from May 27 to June 15.

"With Prime Minister's event, programmes to highlight the achievement of government which completes two years tomorrow will begin. Prime Minister will address a programme on May 26 at Saharanpur," Jain said.

Asked whether Saharanpur has been selected by the party as Uttar Pradesh is going to polls early next year, Jain said UP is a boll bound state and one cannot deny that the decision to hold PM's programme there is because of that.

"Prime Minister's programme had to be started from some place or the other. Party leadership decided on Saharanpur. It is well known that elections are there and its a poll bound state. Last year, PM's programme was in Mathura.

"Then there was no election. But one cannot rule out the reason of elections for picking Saharanpur," he said adding that PM will be in Shillong on May 27 while Party chief Amit Shah will interact with media on the same day.

The BJP leader said that from May 27, the programme will be launched all over the country covering almost all the states. "The programme will cover 198 cities while 33 teams have been formed in which Cabinet ministers, Minister of States and party leaders are there. These three member team will visit six states," he said.

On May 27, Ministers and prominent party leaders will hold programmes all over the country. This include programmes of Rajnath Singh in Delhi, Sushma Swaraj and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Jaipur, Arun Jaitley in Lucknow, Venkaiah Naidu in Bangalore and Manohar Parrikar in Chennai.

The others include Suresh Prabhu in Kolkata, Sadananda Gowda in Nagpur, Uma Bharti in Haldwani, Ram Vilas Paswan in Amritsar, Ravi Shankar Prasad in Mumbai, J P Nadda in Varanasi, Chhattissgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh in Telangana, Ananth Geete in Goa, Narendra Singh Tomar in Ranchi and others.

He said that at most of the places, there will be public rally, while workers will meet beneficiaries of various government schemes, farmers, youth and women and meeting with intellectuals of that particular area will also take place.

He said that maximum number of cities have been included in UP and 200 nerve centres across the country have been picked where leaders will go and tell about the achievements and schemes of the government. "Every MP has been urged to stay one night in their areas and take these programme (to tell about two years achievement) to the grassroot level," he said.

Asked how will the party organise such programmes where its presence is almost nil, Jain said, In which state BJP is there and in which ones it does not have any presence, these programmes has not been decided based on that," he said.

He said that the party's National Executive will be held in Allahabad from June 12-13.

Asked about newly sworn in Kerala chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's full page advertisements coming on prominent newspapers today, Jain said, Whatever ideology left used to follow, they are not able to prove that. They are changing and this question should be asked to Sitaram Yechury."
Bengaluru: Congress MLA from Malavalli reserved constituency, Narendra Swamy and Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya were involved in an unseemly spat over allocation of funds for Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe sub-plan schemes on Tuesday.

The two leaders reportedly used abusive language at a meeting called with SC/ST MLAs, MLCs and MPs to discuss budgetary allocation for SC/ST sub-plan grants for 2016-17. Mr Narendra Swamy took the Social Welfare Minister to task for not approving tenders, which have been waiting for his approval for a year.

The MLA also criticized the minister for not doing enough to improve the pathetic condition of SC/ST hostels across the state and for not utilising funds meant for SC/ST development under the scheme.

You (Anjaneya) are not releasing sufficient grants for the development of SCs and STs. Crores of rupees remained unspent in 2014-15 and 2015-16. You are also unfair to some SC/ST reserved constituencies while releasing funds, Mr Narendra Swamy reportedly told the minister. The SC/ST MLAs from the Congress party intervened and requested the two leaders to be calm. Later, they apologized for their unruly behavior.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister designate Pinarayi Vijayan has cautioned people against those who claim to be close to him. At a press conference here, he said that those who claimed to be close to him were actually not aware of his style of functioning. Everyone should be cautious about such avatars. Such elements will be kept at an arms length, he said.

He said people have already started taking his name. Recently one of his friends came across a person who said that he was going to Hyderabad on the directions of the new chief minister. You see I have not even been sworn in yet, he said and added that since the person who boasted of his connection with him to one of his acquaintances, he could come to know about it.

Pinarayi cautioned people against such elements. He said that his government would ensure transparency and a corruption free administration. He said even the personal staff of the ministers would be above board. Many believe that the designated chief minister sounded the caution against such elements in light of the UDF government's experience when the personal staff of the chief minister was involved in solar issue.
New Delhi: BJP on Wednesday came out in strong defence of megastar Amitabh Bachchan for his association with an event to mark the second anniversary of Modi government despite a probe against him after his name appeared in Panama papers expose.

A host of BJP leaders, including Union Ministers said the probe against Bachchan has nothing to do with the event linked with a social issue of protecting the girl child which the megastar will attend on May 28 and attacked Congress for its "mental disability" in raising a row over it.

Read: Legally, ethically, morally wrong for Amitabh to host BJP event: Congress

BJP leader and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchan's name cropping up in Panama Papers will have no affect if he attends the event to mark two years of Narendra Modi government on Saturday.

"See, practically, participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things.

Read: 2 years of Modi govt: BJP to launch series of programmes to highlight achievements

"Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm," he said when asked about Congress' charge that the actor's presence will not 'go down well' with probe agencies. Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

"You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action. If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action," he said.

Read: NDA to highlight achievements in 200 'nerve centres' for 2nd anniversary

BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for Congress to be "jealous about".

BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said the row created by Congress "only reflects its mental disability" as its own leaders are embroiled in corruption and are out on bail.

Read: Amitabh Bachchan to host Modi govt's 2-year anniversary event at India Gate

Party MP Paresh Rawal said the Congress is "issue-less" and is thus creating an issue and dubbed it a "bogus issue" like the row created over the return of awards by writers and litterateurs in the wake of Dadri lynching incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues are expected to attend the event 'Zara Muskura Do' (Smile Please) at India Gate to be hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the NDA government.

Read: I'm a law-abiding citizen, says Amitabh Bachchan on name in Panama Papers

However, Amitabh Bachchan responded that he was not hosting the show contrary to popular impression. "This is misinformation. not hosting ..only doing a small segment on 'beti bachao, beti padhao", the megastar said on his Twitter handle.

Amitabh's son Abhishek Bachchan also backed his father's clarification. "He (Amitabh Bachchan) is part of a function where he's talking about educating the girl child. That's not a political event," said Abhishek.
Former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi shakes hand with BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal at his official residence at Khanapara in Guwahati. (Photo: PTI)

Guwahati: Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday accepted his responsibility for the Congress' debacle in Assam Assembly polls and apologised to the people for not being able to fulfil their expectations.

"Yes, I am responsible for the poll debacle. I am the leader. If I am not responsible, then who will be?" Gogoi told a press conference when asked if he would take the responsibility for the poor performance of Congress.

Probably his government failed to fulfil the expectations of people and so they were defeated in the poll, he said.

"We will analyse why we faced such a debacle. We must have committed some mistakes. We apologise to the people for that. We will now strengthen the party. We are working on how to reorganise the party. The challenge is to find out the mistakes and go to people," Gogoi said.

Stating that the situation this time was similar to 1985 when AGP came to power, foreigners issue had played the main role then, "also like this election".

"AGP had benefited that time and now it is BJP. They (BJP) succeeded in dividing the people by doing publicity that existence of Assamese and Hindus are at stake... We took steps on infiltration issue. But the way RSS presented it, we could not guess it. Already reports have come out that over 25,000 RSS members worked during the polls," Gogoi said.

He said the Congress workers are not disheartened as 31 per cent of people of Assam voted for Congress, while BJP alone got 29 per cent votes and BJP-led alliance got 41 per cent.

"In 2011, we got 39 per cent votes. This time it decreased from that, but increased from what we got in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We are thankful to the people for giving us chance to serve them for 15 years. We succeeded in many fronts and also failed at some," Tarun Gogoi said.

Stating that he does not have any plans to retire from active politics as of now, Gogoi said Congress will now prepare itself for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The three-time Chief Minister said Assam has many problems like unemployment, flood, corruption and immigration. "I hope that the new government will focus on them and we will also co-operate with them as a constructive opposition. In the sealing of border, 95 per cent work has already been completed. For sealing the river border, we had written to Centre earlier. We are blamed for foreigners issue. We will be now happy if the new government detects foreigners as soon as possible," he added.

Gogoi also disapproved new Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement during the poll campaigning that the base year to identify the foreigners should be advanced by 20 years.

"We do not support shifting the base of identifying foreigners to 1951 from 1971 at present. This is a settled issue between AASU, AGP and government. What is the point to unsettle it again?" he questioned.

Talking about Centre's responsibility towards the state, Gogoi hoped they will help Assam in every aspect. "Without Centre's help, it is difficult for a poor state like Assam to progress. Sarbananda is lucky to have the support of the Prime Minister," he added.
It doesnt help NPRs reputation that the annual report for Ploughshares lends credence to the notion that its donations did have an impact on NPRs coverage. The organizations annual report highlights three NPR stories that apparently advance Ploughshares agenda under the headline Amplifying Our Collective Voice.? In its annual report, Ploughshares seems to be taking credit for the sympathetic coverage that NPR denies giving. Heres a screenshot of the section in question:

Other Organizations Feeding at the Ploughshares Trough

NPR was not the only organization to get money from Ploughshares. J Street, which bills itself as a pro-Israel lobby, but is regarded with deep suspicion by many Jews in America, received $576,000 from Ploughshares to promote the negotiations with Iran.

Ploughshares also gave the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops $50,000 to promote relations between religious leaders in Iran and America, according to the organizations annual report for 2015.

The fact that the organization representing American Catholic bishops took Ploughshares money to promote better relations between the U.S. and Iran is interesting, because the USCCB took part of a coalition of religious leaders in the U.S. that supported the Iran Deal in letters to Congress.

Other religious organizations that belonged to this coalition included the National Council of Churches, the Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ, the United Church of Christ itself, and the Presbyterian Church USA.

All of these institutions have to varying degrees, condemned antisemitism, and yet here they were promoting the notion of Iran, one of the leading promoters of genocidal antisemitism in the world today, as a trustworthy negotiating partner.

National Iranian American Council

Also associated with this coalition was the National Iranian American Council, an organization that is viewed by some observers as an unofficial lobbying group of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or in other words, the mullahs who control Iran with an iron fist and promote Jew-hatred throughout the world and have bragged of being able to destroy Israel in minutes.?

As CAMERA analyst Sean Durns revealed in a recent report on NIAC, the organization is regarded with suspicion by Iranian human rights activists and dissidents:

You cannot find any difference between [NIACs] statements and the Iranian regimes statements. Either official or unofficially they are following the path of the regime,? explained Amir Fakhravar, a once-jailed Iranian dissident who heads the Iranian Freedom Institute from the United States.

Friends Committee on National Legislation

The coalition to which NIAC, the UCC, the NCC, the USCCB and the PCUSA belonged to was created by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobby organization that, predictably enough, received money from Ploughshares to promote negotiations with Iran.

In 2014, Ploughshares gave $100,000 to FCNL and in 2015, it gave $175,000 to the organization.

Kate Gould, lobbyist for FCNLs Middle East program, says her group was not part of Ben Rhodes echo chamber in this CAMERA-authored piece in The Algemeiner about the echo chamber.

Her denial notwithstanding, Gould features prominently in Ploughshares 2015 annual report. Heres a screenshot of a profile of Gould that appeared in the report:

Email List

In recent days, The Washington Free Beacon has published another story about the role Ploughshares had in setting the terms of the debate regarding negotiations with Iran. According to journalist Alana Goodman, Ploughshares supported an email forum, known as Gulf/2000? that was originally created by Columbia University professor and former Jimmy Carter aide Gary Sick in 1993.? Goodman reports the following:

Gulf/2000 members said the forum posts, which are supposed to focus on Gulf State policy issues, often veer into defenses of the Iranian regime or conspiracy theories about Israel. Another member, speaking on background to the Washington Free Beacon, compared the group to a pro-Iran info-op?military jargon for a campaign to influence policy decisions. The most significant forum for scholars of Iranian studies to exchange ideas and views was dominated by apologists for the Iranian regime and was dominated by people who would reflexively push back on any argument that the Iranian regime was involved in what we would call malign activities or illicit activities,? said the member, who added that the majority of his colleagues who work on Gulf issues belong to the forum.

This isnt the first time Gary Sicks email list has been described as having a potentially negative impact on the debate surrounding Irans nuclear program. The Institute on Science and International Security (which goes by the moniker @ThegoodISIS? on Twitter) raised serious questions about the impact of the Gulf/2000 listserve and its impact on Iran-related analysis.

In a document published in late 2014, institute researchers stated that three organizations, Al Monitor, Arms Control Association (ACA), and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) mischaracterized how Iran will deal with its stockpile of low enrichment uranium under the deal it signed with Western powers. It was a technically arcane, but important aspect of Irans nuclear program. The article continues:

There appears to be groupthink going on among some of these and other groups leading to a willingness to uncritically and unwaveringly support the interim deal and defensively react to any compliance questions. In the past, at least, individuals from these three groups in particular participated in a Ploughshares Fund sponsored Iran listserv that shared and shaped positions on addressing the Iranian nuclear issue in the media and in analysis. Based on ISIS staffs experience as participants on this listserv a few years ago, this shaping too often devolved into poor analysis. ISIS first attempted to improve and correct analysis, and then ISIS staff decided to remove themselves from the listserv. It is unclear if the groupthink element and one-sided shaping are happening here, or if the listserv still exists, but it is worth asking.

When perusing the above paragraph, readers should remember that it is referring to National Iranian American Council that has been criticized by Iranian human rights activists as a potential shill for the Iranian government.

And they should also know that, another outlet mentioned above, Al Monitor, is a Washington, D.C.-based website whose correspondent in Washington, D.C., Laura Rozen, was described in the David Samuels May 5, 2016 article as part of Ben Rhodes echo chamber, an implication she denies. (Al Monitor, by the way, is also described by journalist Lee Smith in The Tablet as having published articles by pro-Hezbollah journalists from Lebanon.)

Conclusion

When thinking about the role Ploughshares had on media coverage of the Iran Deal, it is useful to ask some questions. Such questions include:

Would the Iranian government allow an organization like Ploughshares to operate in its country?

Would it allow such an organization to portray the United States (and Israel) as reliable negotiation partners, whose motives can be trusted or would it shut it down and imprison its members, the same way it has imprisoned dissidents, members of the Bahai faith and Christian missionaries?

Would the Iranian government allow an organization analogous to the National Iranian American Council operate in its country?

These questions are not meant to suggest that non-profits like Ploughshares and NIAC should not operate in the United States, which thankfully, is an open and free society.

These questions, however, do help focus attention on a crucial issue that American journalists cannot forget: The manner in which public opinion and discourse can be manipulated  not just by the countrys leaders  but by its totalitarian adversaries.

Its an age-old issue facing democracies that responsible journalists must consider in times such as these.


It should deal with a heavy hand the moral police brigade, promote dialogue with youth and check atrocities against women and children.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the new ministry is all set to take over, DC spoke to a cross section of youth about their expectations from the LDF ministry led by Pinarayi Vijayan. Dhanesh Ravindran, MCJ student at Karivattom campus believes that the the LDF Government would do extremely well under Pinarayis able leadership and his vast experience as a politician and administrator.

Only a strict and disciplined leader can be a good captain and Pinarayi has all these qualities, he said and hoped he would continue the previous UDF governments programs like Start Up Villages to encourage young entrepreneurs.

Jeeva Maria Joy, who topped the recent civil service rank list from the city, hoped that the LDF would fulfil the promises made in its manifesto.

The government should ensure there are no scandals and scams. Also it is a good opportunity for Pinarayi to reach out to people outside the party fold. Besides it should also deal sternly with fascist and communal forces, she said. The government should give top priority for safety of women and children.

Pinarayi is a forward looking administrator. I am sure he will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people, Navaneeth Jacob Jose, a freelance writer. He expected the new government to ensure corruption free governance, fast public delivery system and accountability of officials. Compared to his predecessors, Pinarayi is a tough administrator and can deliver, he added.

Only time will tell whether Pinarayi Vijayan will be a good administrator or not. But I am sure it will be a better government than the UDF, said Annie Zerin Jacob, a techie. She wanted the government to check atrocities against women and children and practical solution for flooding and frequent sea erosion.

Anand R Nair, final year biotechnology student at SCT College of Engineering said Pinarayi Vijayan would be a Modi-like administrator. He will be able to take decisions swiftly. I want this government to create job opportunities to lakhs of engineers who graduate each year, he said.

He said the new ministry should not be averse to foreign investments. Besides, it should deal with a heavy hand the moral police brigade, promote dialogue with youth and check atrocities against women and children.
BENGALURU: In a tactical move aimed at silencing rebel MLA Zameer Ahamed Khan, Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H .D. Deve Gowda has decided to field a Muslim candidate for next months Rajya Sabha elections.

Entrepreneur and Bengaluru Beary Welfare Association President, B.M. Farooq, is likely to be the Janata Dal (S) candidate for Rajya Sabha elections. To elect a candidate successfully, JD(S) requires 45 first preferential votes from MLAs. The party has 40 MLAs in the Assembly, but with the help of independents, the party would be able to ensure the nominees victory.

Mr Gowdas move could well tantamount to killing two birds with one stone. By picking a Muslim candidate, he would not only succeed in checkmating rebel MLA Zameer Ahamed Khan, but also an attempt to send a strong message to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who has been projecting himself as messiah of the poor and the downtrodden. Interestingly, Mr. Farooq, former trustee of New Mangalore Port (NMPT), is the brother of Mohiuddin Bava, Congress MLA of Mangalore City North constituency.

On coming to know that JD (S) seems set to finalize the candidature of Farooq, Mr Siddaramaiah reportedly summoned his elder brother Bava and instructed him to prevent his brother from accepting the JD(S) offer. Mr Bavas efforts, however, went in vain though he requested his brother not to accept the offer of D(S), according to sources close to state JD (S) chief H D Kumara Swamy.

Now with JD (S) taking a decision to field a Muslim candidate to contest polls to Rajya Sabha, such a move would help the party in the long run. Mr. Farooq not only has organizing skills but has the ability to provide resources to the party.

With the partys image sagging for various reasons, and Muslims maintaining a distance after the decision of Mr Kumara Swamy to go with BJP in 2006, the leaders decided on an image make over and therefore picked a Muslim candidate and a Kannadiga.
Lucknow: In a move that could spell trouble for the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehedual Musalmeen (AIMIM) has announced that it will put up candidates on all 403 assembly seats in the 2017 elections.

According to Mr Shaukat Ali, state president of AIMIM, the party has started the process of identifying the candidates and is focussing on constituencies that have a sizeable Muslim and Dalit population.

The AIMIM will be contesting the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on the slogan Jai Bhim, Jai MIM and is working on forging a Dalit-Muslim combination.

The AIMIM may not win many seats for itself but it will definitely damage the vote base of SP and BSP. The Muslim-Dalit combination has yielded encouraging results for the AIMIM in the by-elections in the Bikapur assembly seat in in Faizabad in February this year. The AIMIM had put up a Dalit candidate Pradeep Kori who ended up at the fourth positionjust 100 votes behind the BJP.

If the AIMIM attempts to consolidate its formula in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is bound to suffer a depletion in its Muslim vote base while the BSP will also lose some of its Dalit votes.

According to AIMIM state president, a large number of youths from Muslim, Dalit and OBC communities are keen to contest on the party ticket in UP. We are meeting the candidates who are seeking party tickets and soon we will submit our report to the party president Asaduddin Owaisi and the national leadership will take the final decision on the candidates, said Mr Shaukat Ali.

Mr Ali said the party was planning to hold a massive rally in UP after Ramzan in which Mr Owaisi is expected to announce AIMIMs road map for 2017 elections.

The party has now got an active membership of over 10 lakhs. The AIMIM has already opened its account in the state last year by winning four zilla panchayat seats  one each in Azamgarh and Muzaffarnagar and two in Balrampur where two of its four candidates were Hindus.
American legislators have begun moving on Pakistan-grown terror organisations by seeking to pass a defence policy bill that links military aid to Islamabad to certification by the US secretary of defence to Congress that Pakistan is taking action against the Haqqani network. This is, of course, welcome news in India, which has suffered terrorist violence aided by Pakistan.

The US House of Representatives has passed the National Defence Authorisation Act which seeks to block $450 million assistance to Pakistan. Though a Senate panel has approved the blocking of aid, the bill laid in the Senate differs in some respects and reduces the amount to $300 million. The move forward is small: the earlier Senate bill already required certification; the renewed Senate bill requires the defence secretary to appear before Congress and certify that Pakistan is really acting against the Haqqani network. Such efforts have been made in the past when the US has been compelled by its own laws to place such actions above the requirements of diplomacy and strategy. But these have often been stymied by executive action. In this case, the White House has already very clearly stated its objections.

The US has apparently drawn a new line in the sand, declaring it would carry out strikes against terrorists who operate against American interests while acting as proxies for Pakistan and the ISI. This is an opportunity for India to keep reminding the US of what the Haqqani network has done to US troops in Afghanistan and to stress the dangers the world face.
The celebratory mood in the BJP is understandable. The BJP-led NDA governments two years in office under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office on May 26, 2014, are to be celebrated in the Vikas Parv shows beginning Saturday at India Gate. The last 24 months have been eventful, to say the least. And just before the cake-cutting was to begin came the partys victory in Assam. There are reasons why the party is particularly proud of its breakthrough in Assam in the Northeast. While the feeling that the national party is getting way ahead of itself in imagining total conquest after getting only a toehold in the region  apart from the Congress rebellion in Arunachal Pradesh making way for a new government  it can still savour the triumph in a gateway state with a totally different religious demographic.

Assams 34 per cent Muslims may have been seen as anathema to what the BJP is perceived to stand for. There is, however, a greater lesson for all in the Assam verdict in favour of change and for the BJP combine. The youth of the Northeast may be willing to vote for anyone who promises development rather than the tired shibboleths of Congress regimes about inclusiveness, etc. The changing demographics also showed youth forming a substantial proportion of the electorate and their question was why is it that the youth of the Northeast have to go to Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru for jobs. Facilitating the aspirations of the youth will be the real challenge for Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal as well as anyone looking at the whole of the long-neglected Northeast as a vehicle for political ambitions.

The flush of triumph, enhanced by the BJP show of solidarity in the presence of an array of Union ministers and chief ministers in Guwahati, besides Mr Modi making a dash so soon after his return from Tehran, may not last long before demands for real administrative change rise. The BJP, reaching out now to sections other than its Hindi heartland core constituency in its politically ambitious Congress-mukt Bharat designs, would also well know that development and job creation cannot remain mere poll promises if it is serious about expanding its presence in the region. As for the pan-India political scenario, much as the BJP lays great store by its idea of ousting the Congress everywhere, the Opposition too would be aiming to keep the BJP out in the states going to elections soon. While the battle of basic ideologies has not changed, the public may just have begun to attach more importance to development over politics. That much is made evident in the two years of Mr Modis government.
On the first anniversary of the NDA government, I had written a piece underscoring the budding scepticism of the people with the BJP-led government. At the end of 24 months, cynicism and disillusionment are the two overriding emotions that summarise mass opinion about the functioning of this government notwithstanding the odd electoral success in Assam.

It would perhaps be appropriate to measure the performance of this government on the same five benchmarks that were used last year  social cohesion, political stability, economic development, internal security and foreign relations.

Social cohesion has further deteriorated in the past one year. There are abysses and crevices in the hearts and minds of people. Yet invisible but solid walls have come up between communities as a result of polarising and noxious rhetoric orated by the government functionaries.

Never before has it ever happened that writers, poets, artistes and filmmakers have risen as one against the spectre of intolerance created by this government. The silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the lynching of an innocent Muslim on the false charge of storing beef has been deafening. The crude attempts by Union ministers and chief ministers to demonise culinary choices by proclaiming that those who eat beef can go to Pakistan and criminalising mere possession of beef are but overt manifestations of the revivalist and medieval mindsets in the ruling dispensation.

The spurious debate on nationalism of the Bharat Mata ki Jai variety that found protuberant mention even in the resolutions of the BJP and attempts to brand Jawaharlal Nehru University as anti-national on the strength of allegedly fake and spurious videos amply demonstrated that this was no loony fringe at work but very much a mainstream ideological enterprise of the BJP-RSS to try and change the fundamental narrative of India and anchor it on the extreme Right. All this has upset the intricate social balance of India, with the worst yet to come in the years ahead.

Political stability is yet another area where the country has taken a huge hit. The relentless attack on institutions beginning with the judiciary demonstrates the inability of Mr Modi to reconcile to the changed power dynamic of India where the political executive is just one of the stakeholders in a multi-stakeholder rubric. The demolition of the Planning Commission and its replacement with a one-and-a-half man-act called the Niti Aayog has removed a fair financial arbiter between the Centre and the states.

The unprecedented assault on the Reserve Bank of India and its governor Raghuram Rajan for its refusal to toe the government line and persevere with the protection of the interests of millions of small depositors is, perhaps, the worst form of fascist intimidation through vilification and calumny. The message this government is sending out to upright professionals is if you do not play ball with us we will hound you, harass you and finally run you into the ground. However what is even more ominous is the sledgehammer blow dealt by this government to Indian federalism.

The toppling of elected Congress governments by misusing the instrumentalities of the state, including the office of governor, shows the scant regard the Centre has for democratic traditions and conventions. It took the combined heft of the high court of Uttarakhand and the Supreme Court to prevent the blatant subversion of democratic principles. The verdict of the Supreme Court in the Arunachal Pradesh matter is still awaited.

Even the role of the President in not preventing the misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India by the BJP-NDA does not really warm the cockles of the heart. On the economic front this government has been able to achieve the impossible. They have actually sunk and shrunk the Indian economy. The Indian economy is growing at a derisory 4.5-5 per cent annually.

The governments own economic numbers put out by the department of economic affairs tell a sordid story. Amid unparalleled agricultural distress across a third of the country agriculture grew by a measly 1.1 per cent in 2015-16. From April 2015 to February 2016, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by a measly 2.6 per cent only.

During the same period eight core infrastructure sectors namely coal, crude oil, natural gas production, refining, steel, cement and fertilisers grew by only 2.3 per cent. Out of the 24 months that this government has been in office exports and imports have been in a free fall for 18 months in a row.

The internal security situation in the past one year has taken a turn for the worse. Punjab, a frontline border state that had been peaceful since 1995 saw two back-to-back terrorists attacks in Gurdaspur and Pathankot respectively. In Jammu and Kashmir, the situation is on a razors edge with stone pelting crowds back on the streets to welcome the second stint of the BJP-PDP alliance. In the Northeast, and the Naxalite menaced areas of Central India security forces are being repeatedly ambushed and killed by terrorists.

However, the worst cock-up has been in the area of international relations. After two years of chest thumping spectacles, especially curated for pliant people of Indian origin (PIOs), the Modi government has nothing substantive to account for in terms of a foreign policy. South Block has allowed the Pakistani deep state to run circles around it putting the countries national security in grave peril. Despite Pakistan rubbishing the Ufa joint statement even before the ink had dried on it, in spite of repeated terror attacks emanating from that country, Mr Modi chose to drop by at Lahore to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for no ostensible reason.

The bilateral relationship with China is also in the chiller with China openly blocking Indias candidature for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the designation of Masood Azhar and the Jaish-e-Mohammad as a terrorist entities respectively.

There has been no big idea or initiative qua the United States. The Free Trade Agreement with the European Union remains frozen. Indias foreign policy is adrift and rudderless at a point in time when events in the South China Sea the throat of the Indo-Pacific region are reaching a flashpoint. Even Indias most trusted ally Russia of yesteryears has now started striking a linear equation between India and Pakistan.

The best one-liner on the performance of this government came from a little boy working at a ramshackle teashop on the GT Road. When queried about the Prime Ministers performance, he replied: Gaccha de gaya Modi. Loosely translated in English, it means the honourable Prime Minister has made a chump of us.
New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai will come out with a consultation paper on internet-based telephone service in a month.

"We are brining out consultation paper soon on internet telephony. It is a matter of weeks...a month," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma told PTI when asked about the regulator's views on calls made through mobile applications.

There has been a huge debate in the industry over the framework for calls being made using the internet through various mobile applications.

Recently, telecom industry body COAI has objected to application-based calling service of state-run BSNL saying it is violates present norms. The BSNL service allowing customers to make landline calls using mobile phone and vice-versa was launched by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in presence of telecom secretary J S Deepak on March 17.

Through the app, BSNL customers travelling abroad will be able to connect their landlines through mobile and make calls without attracting heavy ISD charges.

Sharma further said the paper will explore framework for internet telephony in present context. Internet-based calls have also led to start of net neutrality debate in India when telecom major Bharti Airtel decided to charge these calls separately in December 2014 but withdrew the plan after public protest.

Sharma said the regulator will separately work on net neutrality issue and start with a pre-consultation paper. "The pre-consultation paper on net neutrality will be issued within a couple of days. We are ensuring that the consultation paper is comprehensive and addresses all the issues. Hence, we are having limited or pre-consultation on net neutrality," Sharma said.

He said net neutrality is an extremely important issue and has many dimensions and the government has also asked it for comprehensive advise. Trai recently came up with a consultation paper on providing free internet service.

Sharma said the paper on free data is to explore way for starting "toll free" kind of service in data world. "There already exist toll free number for making calls on which caller from any network can make calls. Similarly, we are trying toll free kind of system for data services. We are not against free data. We are against the architecture which gives pipe (internet connection) providers to do gate keeping function," Sharma said.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
New Delhi: Samsung on Wednesday launched its Galaxy Tab Iris, the companys first Make in India device priced at Rs 13,499. The Tab is primarily been made to target the government and corporate employees.

The most important feature it features is a biometric authentication feature; it consists of a double-eye iris scanner for faster authentication that is Adhar, STQC, UIDAI and UITI certified.

Moreover, the company claims that the amount of stability offered by the integrated double-eye scanner provides reliable, faster information along accurate authentication.

The device, which is a part of Samsungs contribution toward the Digital India drive, features a 7-inch (1024-600 pixels) WSVGA display, accompanying a 3,600 mAH battery.

Operating on Android Lollipop, Samsungs Galaxy Iris Tab is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor, coupled with 1.5 GB RAM. It bears a 5 MP of rear auto-focus camera and comes with 8GB Internal storage capacity which is expandable up to 200GB via microSD card.

Moving on, the device also has USB OTG host support, connecting peripheral devices like barcode scanner or a printer, and its Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) feature supports low power wireless communication with connected devices.

In an attempt to reach out to a larger Indian audience the smartphone makers has designed it to support 14 Indian languages in the Tab. Besides, all this it will help to provide e-governance service and e-citizen services such as taxation, education, banking etc.

Concerning specific functionalities, the company said that the tab will help significantly boost the governments Digital India programmes, E-Citizen, and Banking services.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Washington: Paul Salo, a 51-year-old American expatriate living in Bangkok, has launched his "9/11 Redux" project, to recreate the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York.

According to a report in the Washington Post, Salo has decided to undertake this costly new venture to reconstruct the 9/11 terrorist attacks in order to put to rest the doubts of the people.

Read: US Senate passes bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia

Accordingly, Salo plans to fly a plane into a building very similar to the World Trade Center at 500 miles per hour. He hopes to demonstrate what happens on impact and thus examine the conspiracy theory that the Towers did not collapse because of collision of aircraft.

Salo is now trying to raise $1.5 million to purchase a fully loaded aeroplane similar to a Boeing 757 or Boeing 767 and a building as comparable to the World Trade Center as possible.

Salo first announced his idea in a YouTube video early this month, saying that he planned to purchase an airplane going out of commission - but still with a working black box - and fill it with jet fuel. He has also assured that the building he plans to destroy would be located in the countryside in a safe place. The plane would either be flown on autopilot or by a pilot who would parachute out before impact.

Salo set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $1.5 million and got good response before it was shut down by the website. But Salo is not disheartened.

Engineers and scientists have concluded that when the hijackers flew the aircraft into the World Trade Center, it cut through the buildings' support systems, fire made the structural steel soft, and the towers could not support themselves. The North Tower collapsed at 9:59 am under the force of gravity, and then the South Tower followed 29 minutes later.

Experts are confounded and dismissive of Salos campaign. A computer science expert from the US has said that the simulation of 9/11 clearly showed that the Towers collapsed under gravity after their steel support systems had been smashed and then destroyed by fire. He questions the purpose of the campaign, implying that there does not seem to be any definite objective. Another expert said, "It doesn't make any sense to get a plane and hit a building. You can't just hit a building and say, 'See, it doesn't collapse.'

According to the expert, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a structural engineer, Salos biggest challenge will be to find a building very similar to World Trade Center One.

"It's very unlikely another building would collapse unless it was similar to the World Trade Center," he said, reasoning that the Towers collapsed because their skeletons were made of steel bearing walls unlike other buildings.

But Salo might face legal hurdles, especially aviation laws which may prevent him from carrying out such an act. Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl also feels that the project cost would not be $1.5 million, but closer to $500 or $600 million.

But Salo shared an email on Facebook over the weekend from a supporter who called him a "real patriot."

I have never believed the official 911 story, the author wrote. Like many people, when it first happened, I was shocked and didn't know what to think. But shortly after it happened, I wondered about many things. If done correctly, Salo wrote, it will either put doubts to rest for good or open a Pandora's Box.

Over the years, various conspiracy theories have floated around the events of 9/11. Some claim that the attack was done by the US government as a pretext to launch wars in the Middle East. Some feel the attack was the handiwork of Israeli spy agencies, and yet others claimed that a secret group called the Illuminati carried out the attacks. Perhaps the most bizarre theory is that no planes were used at all, but through digital compositing, missiles were made to appear like planes.

Perhaps Paul Salo might get to the bottom of the matter?
US are specifically alarmed over the supply of Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) systems, which would provide instant mobility to Pakistans medium range nuclear ballistic missiles like the Shaheen III. (Photo: Twitter)

Washington DC: Senior U.S. Congress members, led by Congressman Mike Rogers, Chairman of the Sub-committee on Strategic Forces, and Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Trade, have warned the Obama Administration that China is supplying super sensitive nuclear weapons systems to Pakistan which could pose a threat to the national security of the United States and other nations like India.

The U.S. Congressmen reportedly said that they are specifically alarmed over the supply of Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) systems, which would provide instant mobility to Pakistans medium range nuclear ballistic missiles like the Shaheen III. The Pakistan Army successfully conducted a training launch of the Ghauri medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) fired from the transporter erector launcher from Tilla Test Range in Jhelum District in 2015. Ever since it has been in the market for several TEL systems. Pakistan Army already uses Chinese origin 88 transporter erector launchers similar to the Russian MAZ-543/MAZ-7310.

US Congressmen have cautioned that availability of more such mobility vehicles would provide Pakistans nuclear command with far reaching powers to strike anywhere in South Asia, including in Afghanistan and India and on targets that affect U.S. national security interests in the region.

The two leading Congressmen have reportedly asked the Obama Administration to spell out what steps Washington will take to ensure that China halts the supply of such lethal systems to Pakistan.

This matter is being viewed seriously by the U.S. Congress, as it proves, that China continues to secretly assist in Pakistans ballistic missile program by providing mobility to the nuclear missiles that would target nations who are close friends of the United States, including India.

Congressional sources said that while China and Pakistan have cooperated on military technology for decades and Beijing had announced in 2013 that it would be assisting with the construction of nuclear power plants in Karachi, the extent of Chinese cooperation in Pakistans nuclear weapons program has always been a subject of speculation.

According to news agency reports, the U.S. Government has had its suspicions that China has assisted Pakistans nuclear weapons program, and this move to transfer more Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL), confirms Chinas ongoing hand in Pakistans nuclear weapons program. Pakistan is the largest recipient of Chinese weapons and Pakistan in turn provides Beijing with assistance in containing militants in Chinas western province.

The supply of mobile launchers for the Shaheen III Missile is a direct threat to India, added well placed sources. Beijing has also shown its hand in nuclear proliferation, which could trigger American sanctions against China, said Congressional sources.

Senior U.S. Congressmen have called upon the Obama Administration to investigate this matter and if it is proven that China did supply the mobile launchers to Pakistan for the Shaheen nuclear missiles, then it ought to be sanctioned by Washington.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is picking up this call by the two leading Republican Congressmen Mike Rogers and Ted Poe .

In his speeches, Trump has drawn attention to Chinas devious track record in nuclear material matters and the fact that Beijing has actively assisted Islamabad in its nuclear program in violation of global and United Nations norms.

Trump has been calling for firm action against China and, if this illicit nuclear relationship is confirmed by the U.S. Government, then by law, it will have to impose economic and other sanctions on Beijing.

U.S. sources said that in the days to come this issue would become a political battle between Republican and the Democratic candidates, with each side seeking answers from the Obama administration.
According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: Donald Trump's rally in New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump demonstrators clashed with police, hurling rocks and burning clothes at officers, the latest scuffle to hit the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's campaign.

Read: North Korea's UK ambassador rejects Trump's offer of talks

The "unlawful assembly" went on rampage, lighted fires and threw rocks at the police officers and their horses outside Trump's rally at a convention centre in New Mexico's Albuquerque as police resorted to launch smoke to disperse the violent crowd which overturned barricades and hurled rocks.

Read: Donald Trump wins Washington primary, rolls toward nomination

The protesters disrupted the 69-year-old New York-based real estate tycoon's speech several times on Tuesday. Most of the protesters were escorted out one by one.

"Go ahead, get them out of here," Trump told one of them. However, the police had a tough time in controlling the demonstrators who were protesting against the policies and rhetorics of Trump.

"This is an unlawful assembly," Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik told protesters over a loudspeaker. According to Albuquerque Journal, a group of about 100 protesters forced their way through a police barricade and tried to storm the convention centre minutes after Trump took the stage for his rally. The police were in anti-riot gears.

In a series of tweets, Albuquerque said the protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police horses.

"There is no confirmation that any gunshots were fired, contrary to reports. Possible damage to Convention Centre Windows by pellet gun. The smoke that has been seen is not tear gas, it is just smoke. We have not deployed tear gas at this time," he tweeted.

While protests have not been a new phenomenon to Trump rallies, this is the first after he earned the Republican party's presidential nomination early this month.

Last month in California, pro- and anti-Trump protesters clashed with each other outside a city council meeting while in New York, a protester at a rally was shoved in the face twice by a Trump supporter.
Modi is coming to the US on the invitation of US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the White House on June 7. (Photo: PTI)

Washington: The US is hopeful of concluding a key military logistics agreement with India and making progress on other foundational pacts in the defence sector ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here next month, a top American official has said.

"We are hopeful that progress would be made on some of the foundational agreements including the logistics agreement that might be concluded prior to the (US) visit (of Prime Minister) and we are looking to see if there are other things that we can take on board," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on India.

Biswal made the remarks while responding to questions on possibility of signing any security agreements between India and the US during the Prime Minister's visit.

Biswal said after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's recent visit to India, the two countries are moving toward concluding a logistics exchange memorandum of understanding, which would allow the armed forces of the two countries to use each other's bases for re-supply and repair.

"We are hopeful that the successful conclusion of this agreement will lead to progress on the remaining foundational agreements and allow greater interoperability in our militaries, so that we can go from joint exercises to coordinated operations in the Indian Ocean," she said on Tuesday.

Modi is coming to the US on the invitation of US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the White House on June 7. He has also been invited by House Speaker Paul Ryan to address a joint session of the Congress.

"We have already strengthened our security cooperation in a number of key fronts and certainly (Defense) Secretary Carter's visit earlier this year was key in advancing many of those things," Biswal said in response to a question from Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We are looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation. We just launched the maritime security dialogue. We have undertaken a great a deal of activities in terms of co-production and co-development of various next generation technologies. We are looking to see if there are additional things that we can conclude during the Prime Minister's visit," Biswal said.

In recent years, the United States has become one of India's largest defence suppliers, totalling nearly USD 14 billion and up from less than USD 300 million eight years ago.
Kabul: The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced influential religious figure Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader after confirming supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike.

"Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him," the insurgents said in a statement. It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies.

Read: Mullah Mansour was carrying fake Pakistani passport: US

Haibatullah was one of two deputies under Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil.

Mansour's killing is a major blow to the militant movement just nine months after he was formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle, and sent shockwaves through the leadership.

Haibatullah's appointment comes after the Taliban's supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP the supreme council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid new potential air strikes.
Beijing: Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's talks with the Chinese leaders, the state media on Wednesday criticised the western media for attempting to drive a "wedge" between the two Asian giants by "hyping up" competition between them over Iran's Chabahar port.

The visit of the Indian President, which follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's India trip two years ago, is set to open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations and yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability, according to China's state-run news agency.

Mukherjee arrived here on Wednesday from Guangzhou after addressing a India-China Business Forum in which top Chinese and Indian businessmen took part.

He is due to have talks with Xi and other Chinese leaders here on Thursday.

"But some Western media have attempted to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants," it said, specially highlighting Chabahar port which will be developed by India to open transit routes from Iran to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.

"One of the latest targets of their (western media) smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Iran's southern port of Chabahar. The seaport is about 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable," the commentary said.

"Such hype is both untrue and harmful. China and India do have differences, but those differences are outnumbered and dwarfed by their consensuses and aspiration for win-win cooperation," it said.

"The common interests and interdependence between China and India are deep and close, and robust enough to withstand the onslaught of those ill-intentioned Western media," it said.

"Yet the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among Western media. Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions," the commentary said.

"For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda," it said.

Recalling Mukherjee's interview with Chinese journalists ahead of his visit in which he said India and China have witnessed "unprecedented expansion and diversification of bilateral relationship," the commentary said there was 23 fold increase in trade between the two countries in the last 14 years.

"In fact, the first 14 years of the 21st century witnessed a 23-fold-increase in the trade volume between the two partners. With frequent exchanges among their top leaders, the two neighbours have successfully developed deep mutual trust and profound common interest," it said.

"The two sides have reached consensus even on their thorniest issue -- the border dispute. India seeks a 'fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable' settlement of the question," and China is committed to working with India to accelerate the negotiation and solve the issue at an early date, it said.

The two countries have established a number of boundary- related mechanisms, including the Special Representatives'

Meeting on China-India Boundary Question, whose 19th round was held in Beijing last month, it said.
Vietnam: US President Barack Obama sought on Wednesday to ease growing Asian worries about the raucous election campaign to succeed him which has been dominated by the incendiary rhetoric of mogul Donald Trump, now the Republican Party's nominee.

"I think other people sometimes look at our election system and say 'what a mess'," Obama told a townhall meeting with young leaders in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.

"But usually we end up doing okay because the American people are good people. Sometimes our politics doesn't express all the goodness of the people," he said, without referring specifically to any of the presidential candidates.

Obama made the comments just before ending a three-day trip to Vietnam, whose high point was an announcement that Washington's ban on sales of lethal weapons to the country - a vestige of the Vietnam War - would be completely lifted.

Obama repeatedly insisted that lifting the embargo was not a response to Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea. Critics accused Washington of throwing away a powerful lever it had to press communist-ruled Vietnam for improvements in human rights.

White House officials say the arms move was a natural step to take with a country that, once an enemy, is now a key part of Obama's strategic 're-balance' towards Asia and an important trade partner as its economy grows apace.

Obama also announced the Peace Corps would begin operating in Vietnam for the first time.

"EVENTUALLY VOTERS MAKE GOOD DECISIONS"

Across Asia, policymakers have been startled by Trump's "isolationist" foreign policy pronouncements, which have challenged much of the status quo in Washington's relations with the region.

Many fear Trump will feed insecurity in nations worried about China's growing power, embolden nationalists and authoritarians, and unravel Obama's 'pivot' to the Asia-Pacific.

At the townhall in Ho Chi Minh City, a young woman who had been an exchange student in Montana asked Obama what he thought of the prospects that Trump or Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders following him to the White House.

"Usually, eventually the voters make good decisions and democracy works," replied Obama, whose criticism of Trump has sharpened since he all but clinched the Republican nomination. "Things are going to be ok. I promise."

Thousands of people lined the streets of Ho Chi Minh City for a second day to cheer enthusiastically and wave mini-flags of Vietnam and the United States as Obama drove by on his way to the airport for a flight to Japan.

At his freewheeling townhall, where he was greeted with a standing ovation, Obama noted that two-thirds of the country's population were born after 1975, when the war ended with North Vietnamese tanks rolling into Saigon to bring US-backed South Vietnam under communist rule.

Obama prodded Vietnam's leaders on political freedoms during his visit after critics of the government were prevented from meeting him. When a woman rapper at the townhall asked him about supporting arts and culture, he segued into an appeal for people to be allowed to express themselves.

TRADE, CLIMATE CHANGE

However, his unusually long one-country visit was warm and mostly about strengthening diplomatic and economic relations.

Annual US-Vietnam trade has swelled from $450 million when ties were normalised in 1995 to $45 billion last year. Washington is a big buyer of Vietnam's televisions, smartphones, clothing and seafood.

Obama repeatedly touted the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, of which export-led Vietnam will be one of the biggest beneficiaries, if it survives opponents in Washington concerned about competition and a loss of US jobs.

He also talked about the challenges of climate change when asked about the drying-up of the Mekong River in the rice-bowl delta of southern Vietnam, urging Southeast Asian countries to work together.

The Mekong River, which sustains 60 million livelihoods as it flows through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is under threat from at least 39 hydro-electric dams being built or under development upstream of Vietnam, most of them in China.

Low river levels have allowed seawater to penetrate inland, ruining vast swathes of cropland in the fertile delta.

Obama did not name any of the upstream countries but said the United States would provide smaller member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with technical assistance and evaluations of what needs to be done.

"Hopefully that information can be used to negotiate on an international level to try to prevent some projects that might have very bad effects," he said. "One of the things that we've seen in ASEAN is that when small countries band together as a unit, then the power magnifies."

Japan is the final stop on Obama's swing through Asia, where he is attending a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations starting Thursday.
Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front of a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims on Friday, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the city. (Photo: AP)

Tokyo: Survivors of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima will be present when US President Barack Obama lays a wreath at ground zero this week, reports said Wednesday.

Former United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese will also attend the event, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, with US officials hoping their presence will remove any impression it is an apology.

Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front of a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims on Friday, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the city. Earlier this week, he told Japanese television he will not say sorry for the bombing.

American airmen launched the world's first atomic strike when they bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, causing the deaths of about 140,000 people. Tens of thousands were killed by the fireball that the powerful nuclear blast generated, with many more succumbing to injuries or illnesses caused by radiation in the weeks, months and years afterwards. The southern city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb three days later, killing 74,000 people, in one of the final acts of World War II.

The speed, circumstances and repercussions of then US president Harry Truman's decision remain contentious. In Japan, perhaps a majority believe the mass bombing of civilians was unnecessary and may even have been a crime.

Many Americans believe that it avoided an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan toward the end of World War II.

On Tuesday, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui met with Abe and demanded that Obama meet with atomic bomb victims, newspaper reports said.

"If victims and the president meet face to face, he may be able to understand the feelings of the victims," Matsui told reporters after his meeting with Abe, the Yomiuri reported.

Obama is due to arrive in Japan later Wednesday for a meeting of the Group of Seven industrial powers, which begins Thursday.

Obama will likely have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe late Wednesday, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.
Guangzhou: Economic policies, particularly those designed to attract foreign direct investment in India, were on Wednesday the focus of discussions President Pranab Mukherjee had with a senior Chinese Communist party official here on the second day of his four-day visit to China.

Hu Chunhua, Party Secretary of Guangdong province, hosted a lunch in honour of the President and the two also discussed federal-provincial relations in China, centre-state relations in India and the historic cultural relationship between the two countries.

The Communist party official evinced keen interest in the economic policies of India, especially those related to foreign investment.

Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the President explained to him the new initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' in the context of foreign investment.

Mukherjee recalled one of his earlier visits as External Affairs Minister to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong which has a USD one trillion economy, and his opening of the Indian Consulate here.

The President was told that after the Japanese and Koreans, Indians accounted for the largest foreign population in Guangdong and their role is very much appreciated.

Earlier in the day, the President visited the Hualin temple, which shares the closest link to Bodhidharma. Legend has it that the temple was built in 527 AD during the Liang dynasty soon after the arrival of Indian monk Bodhidharma who later founded Zen Buddhism in China.

The Chinese side appreciated the President's gesture of visiting the temple that provided the basis for a discussion on the cultural relationship between the two countries historically.
Singh maintained he did nothing wrong by posting, We All Support ISIS on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism. (Photo: Representational Image)

Melbourne: An Indian-origin aviation worker in Australia who was sacked last year for posting pro-Islamic State messages on Facebook has told a court that his comments were "sarcastic".

Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work Commission' to argue that his dismissal was 'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking USD 7,000 in lost wages.

The Commission heard Singh had written "We All Support ISIS" above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney.

There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a "secret group".

However, two Aerocare employees who were Facebook friends with Singh, independently raise concerns about the posts with a manager.

Australian Federal Police, Perth Airport and the "client airline" of Aerocare were also made aware of the posts, and the airline requested Singh no longer be allowed to work around its planes.

After three meetings held over four days last October, Singh was told that Aerocare was terminating his employment for breach of their social media policy, and demanded he return his airside security pass to Perth Airport for cancellation.

At the Fair Work Commission hearing, Singh argued the posts were "sarcastic" in nature and he did not support Islamic State. He said he deleted the posts and his Facebook "alias" profile after meeting with his manager.

"There were concerns I understood and I addressed those concerns by offering to delete the posts and the profile but how they breached the social media policy, I don't understand," Singh told the Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.

Hughes asked if Singh was aware Australia was on high alert for a terrorist attack which was currently rated probable. "Absolutely and I support that," Singh replied.

Commissioner Jennifer Hunt wanted to review transcripts and receive some further written submissions before making her decision in writing.

Singh maintained he did nothing wrong by posting "We All Support ISIS" on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism.
Toronto: A 38-year-old Sikh woman has been found dead at her home in Canada's Saskatchewan province with police arresting and charging her husband for the murder.

Sandeep Kaur Tehara, was found dead at her residence in Regina, when police was called to the home to check on the well-being of the people inside.

Police found the Sandeep's body inside the home on Sunday and subsequently determined that it was a homicide case.

Sandeep's husband, Jagdish Singh Tehara, 39, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, the Regina Leader-Post reported.

The couple has two young children, who are reportedly staying with Jagdish's brother, Pritpal Tehara.

Jagadish appeared in Regina provincial court on Tuesday, when the court heard he is seeking legal representation.

He has been remanded in custody until his next court appearance on May 31.

The Sikh community is in shock after the murder.

"(It's a) shock for our community, the whole community," Nirmal Maur, president of the Sikh Society of Regina, was quoted as saying.

Jagdish and Sandeep Tehara lived in Regina for about 10 years, said Surender Grewal, a longtime member of Regina's Sikh community.

"We are all very shocked. Never, ever imagined that this could happen," Grewal was quoted as saying.

Jim Azcueta, who lives close to the house where the body was found, said he woke up Sunday morning just to see about a half dozen police cars and his neighbour's house taped off.

"The first thing that comes to mind, like, something really serious happened. Probably a crime. I came out the door and I saw all the police standing right here," he said.

The police service's major crimes and forensic identification units are investigating the murder, as is the coroner's office.
Stockholm: A Stockholm district court on Wednesday maintained a European arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape allegation, rejecting his lawyers' request to have it lifted.

"The court considers that Julian Assange is still suspected of rape and that there is still a risk that he will abscond or evade justice," it said in a statement. Swedish prosecutors issued the arrest warrant because they want to question Assange about the rape allegation, which he denies.

The 44-year-old Australian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 after exhausting all his legal options in Britain against extradition to Sweden.

Assange's lawyers requested the lifting of the warrant after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a non-binding legal opinion on February 5 saying his confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy amounted to arbitrary detention by Sweden and Britain.

Both Britain and Sweden have angrily disputed the group's findings. "The court finds, contrary to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, that Julian Assange's stay at Ecuador's embassy in London should not be considered a detention," the court said.

The alleged crime dates back to 2010 and the statute of limitations expires in 2020. Assange fears that if he were sent to Sweden to face trial, he could be extradited to the United States to be tried over WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.
New Delhi: The pact between India and Iran to develop the strategically located Chabahar port, along with the one with Afghanistan on road and rail network, will counter China and Pakistan's alliance in South West Asia, BMI Research said on Wednesday.

"The agreement between India and Iran to develop the latter's port of Chabahar is a major boost for both countries, as well as Afghanistan. In particular, growing co-operation between the three countries will counterbalance China-Pakistan alliance in the geopolitics of South West Asia," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran earlier this week, the first by a Indian Prime Minister in 15 year.

A "milestone" pact on the strategic Chabahar Port in southern Iran, which will give India access to Afghanistan and Europe bypassing Pakistan, was among the agreements signed by India and Iran, which also agreed to cooperate on combating radicalism and terror.

Besides the bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port, for which India will invest USD 500 million, a trilateral Agreement on Transport and Transit Corridor was also signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran, which Modi said could "alter the course of the history of the region".

The bilateral agreements signed by India and Iran after detailed discussions between Modi and President Hassan Rouhani included one on setting up of an aluminium plant and another on laying a railway line to give India access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

BMI Research, a Fitch Group company, said the governments of India, Iran and Afghanistan have taken a significant step towards closer co-operation by signing an agreement on May 23 to develop Iran's southern port of Chabahar.

"Once the port is developed, it will provide a major boost for Indo-Iranian trade, and also provide a new route for Afghanistan's exports, bypassing Pakistan.

"In particular, the new port at Chabahar is designed to compete with Pakistan's port of Gwadar, which is being developed with Chinese assistance as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," it added.

CPEC in turn is part of a much bigger Chinese initiative known as 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR), which envisages new land and sea routes connecting China to Western Eurasia and East Africa.

Iran stands to benefit from Chabahar as it will get an enhanced port from which to export more goods to India and the Asia-Pacific region at a time when it is seeking to reintegrate itself into the global economy, BMI Research said.

Iran will also benefit from increased Indian investment.

For their part, it seems that Indian firms are seeking to gain first-mover advantage in one of the world's biggest new emerging markets, at a time when Western companies are still hesitant about entering Iran, it said.

India will strengthen its ties with Iran and thus its economic presence in the Gulf region.

In addition, trade to and from Chabahar will allow India to increase commercial influence in Afghanistan, physically bypassing Pakistan, whose generally hostile stance towards India impedes New Delhi's ability to develop ties with Kabul, it added.

India's interests in Afghanistan are mainly focused on challenging Pakistan's position, but India is also interested in tapping Afghanistan's natural resources and those of Central Asia, the agency said.

Afghanistan will get a new trade outlet to the Gulf, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean bypassing the port of Karachi in Pakistan.

Afghan-Pakistan relations are complex and frequently strained due to Islamabad's past support for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The Taliban suffered a blow on May 20, when its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike, BMI Research said.
Yemen warring parties are closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait. (Photo: AFP)

Kuwait: The UN envoy said on Wednesday that Yemen's warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he prepared to brief the Security Council on progress in negotiations.

"We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

"The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement," he said.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed is to brief the UN Security Council in a closed session later on Wednesday on the progress made in the peace talks which began on April 21 but have been clouded by repeated walkouts by the government delegation.

He clarified on Twitter that he will make the briefing by video conference from Kuwait.

Face-to-face meetings resumed on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after the latest government boycott.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said discussions on Tuesday centred on "various military and security issues including withdrawals and troop movements".

"We are now working on overcoming various obstacles and addressing specific details of an implementation mechanism," he said.

The apparent progress comes after Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said on Monday that the government stood ready to make concessions for the sake of peace.

A Western diplomat familiar with the talks said they had made important progress.

"We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises," the diplomat said, adding that he was "very optimistic" that a deal could be reached. "We have not seen this momentum towards peace in the past one and a half years,a roadmap plan has been laid down and it has to work," he said.

- 'National Salvation Government' -

The main sticking point in the talks has been the form of government to oversee a transition.

Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies have demanded a unity government.

The government delegation insists that the legitimacy of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi must be respected.

The government has also demanded that rebels implement an April 2015 Security Council resolution demanding their withdrawal from the capital and other territory they have seized since 2014.

To overcome this problem, the UN envoy has proposed a "National Salvation Government," the Western diplomat said.

The proposed government "would be formed on a consensual and inclusive basis and in accordance with the legal references, and would only replace the current government once Sanaa and key government institutions are not under the control of non-state actors," he said.

Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam warned that if no fair solution was reached, the rebels would form the government in Sanaa.

"Yemenis are awaiting a fair solution and if it fails, anti-aggression national forces must fill the vacuum by forming a government to serve the people and confront challenges," Abdulsalam said on Twitter.

The rebel delegation met late Tuesday with the ambassadors to Yemen of the United States, Britain and the European Union and called for the formation of a "consensus executive authority" in Yemen.

They also accused Saudi Arabia of violating the ceasefire, sources close to the delegation said.

Reporters Without Borders urged the rebels to release 10 journalists who began a hunger strike on May 9 to protest against their detention.

Despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen's most populous regions, including the central and northern highlands and the Red Sea coast.
Beijing: Sticking to its guns, China on Saturday again justified its decision to block India's bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN and described its stance as "fair and based on facts".

"China always deals with the listing of 1267 committee based on facts and pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions and relevant rules in a fair manner," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin's criticism of "hidden veto" in dealing with the listing of terrorist outfits and their leaders.

"We have noticed the remarks by India's Permanent Representative to the UN," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to a question from PTI.

Read: India slams 'hidden veto' at UN after China blocks bid to ban Masood Azhar

"Both China and India fall victim to terrorism and share similar positions when it comes to combating terrorism," it said.

China is one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC which plays a leading role in banning terrorist outfits.

"China supports the UN in playing a leading role in international anti-terrorism cooperation and takes an active part in international anti-terrorism cooperation," the Ministry said.

Read: India, China talks on April 20, Masood Azhar issue may figure

"In order to reach international consensus on counter terrorism, China encourage all parties to fully leverage the leading and coordinating role played by the UN and the Security Council and forge international synergy on counter-terrorism," it said.

This is the second time that China has defended the decision to put a technical hold on India's bid to ban Azhar, the mastermind of the January 2 Pathankot terrorist attack.

On April 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China dealt with the issues under the UNSC anti-terrorism committee based on "facts and relevant rules of procedures in objective and just manner".

The latest response comes in the backdrop of India taking up the issue directly with China.

China too acknowledged that it is in touch with New Delhi on this issue indicating that its position remained unchanged. The deadlock over the issue continued as both the countries are set for high-level engagements to discuss the state of bilateral ties.

While External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj is set to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on April 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar began his first visit to China on Saturday.

Soon after Parrikar's visit, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be in China during which he is expected to hold 19th round of boundary talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Doval and Yang, who are designated Special Representatives for boundary talks, also have the mandate to discuss entire gamut of bilateral issues.

The Azhar issue is expected to figure prominently in talks.

India had the same problem in getting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Toyaba listed by the UN anti-terrorism committee when he was released from prison by Pakistan.

While it continued to assert that it is taking a fair stand, China is also reportedly asking New Delhi to resolve the issues with Pakistan directly, which has caused further alarm among Indian officials prompting India to take up the issue openly at UN.

While the two countries have improved relations in the last few years with high-level diplomacy, they hit a new roadblock, which officials say is similar to the one China began issuing stapled visas to the residents of Kashmir in 2010 to highlight its disputed status.
Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif told this to US Ambassador David Hale who visited the military's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. (Photo: AFP)

Islamabad: The US drone attack on Pakistan's soil to kill Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour is detrimental to bilateral ties, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday.

Sharif told this to US Ambassador David Hale who visited the military's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the army said, adding that the situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on May 22 came under discussion.

Read: Mullah Mansour was carrying fake Pakistani passport: US

"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the Chief of the Army Staff said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for ongoing peace process for regional stability," army said.

It is for the first time that army has spoken on the issue.

Read: Taliban confirms Mansours death, appoints Haibatullah as successor

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a US drone strike last week.

He had condemned the drone attack as violation of Pakistan's territory and said it may lead to serious implication for relations between Pakistan and US.
Bangladesh in recent period witnessed a wave of murders of liberal and secular activists, writers and minorities by suspected Islamist militants, a Muslim homoeopath doctor being their last victim last week in western Kushtia. (Representational image)

Dhaka: A Hindu businessman was on Wednesday hacked to death in Bangladesh after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money to drug addicts, the latest murder in the Muslim-majority nation which has witnessed a series of brutal killings of secular activists and minorities by Islamists.

Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe store owner, was murdered inside his shop in Gaibandha of north-western Gobindaganj Upazila. "The assailants slit throat using sharp weapons leaving him dead instantly," the officer in-charge of the police station in the neighbourhood Mozammel Haque told reporters.

He said police immediately launched an investigation into the murder and arrested one Nepen Chandra in connection with the murder. The victim's family claimed that some local drug addicts tried to extort money from Pramanik a few days ago and when he refused to pay, an argument broke out at the shop.

Pramanik's son Debashish Chandra told reporters that his father could be a victim of the drug addicts. "There was heated exchange of words after my father refused to pay them the money they demanded," he said. Police, however, said they were yet unclear about the motive and identity of the assailants.

Bangladesh in recent period witnessed a wave of murders of liberal and secular activists, writers and minorities by suspected Islamist militants, a Muslim homoeopath doctor being their last victim last week in western Kushtia.

The Islamic State reportedly claimed responsibilities of most of the murders but Bangladeshi authorities rejected the claims. "The home grown militants are repeatedly trying to prove their links with international outfits like IS or al Qaeda," a senior home ministry official had said after last week's murder.

"Our investigations found no link of any international group to the incidents (clandestine attacks) in Bangladesh." A Buddhist monk, an atheist student, two gay rights activists, a liberal professor, a Hindu tailor and a sufi Muslim leader were the other victims of the deadly attacks since last month.
Kabul: Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, named on Wednesday as the Afghan Taliban's new leader, was a senior judge during the insurgent group's five-year rule over Afghanistan and a close confidant of its founder Mullah Omar.

Believed to be in his fifties, he hails from Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar like both his former boss -- Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday -- and Omar, who died in 2013.

Akhundzada went on to become the group's "chief justice" after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

He was one of Mansour's deputies alongside Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the feared Haqqani network based out of eastern Afghanistan.

Several senior Taliban sources have said Mansour bequeathed Akhunzada the leadership in his will, though some observers have argued in the past that hereditary succession is against the Taliban's ideology.

Akhundzada is not known for his prowess on the battlefield, having preferred a life of religious and legal study.

He is said to have issued many of the rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Taliban's extreme interpretation of Islam, and adjudicated internal disputes.

"He is a religious scholar who was close to Mullah Omar, a close confidant and an adviser on religious issues who wrote fatwas, and was on the council of Ulema (Muslim scholars)," said Thomas Ruttig, a former diplomat and co-director of the Kabul-based Afghan Analysts Network.

A senior Taliban source familiar with proceedings at the Shura (council) which appointed Akhundzada said he was a unanimous choice, adding the group's rank and file looked to him as a "spiritual leader" who had taught thousands of students in both Pakistan and Afghanistan over 25 years.

According to Rahimullah Yousafzai, considered the region's foremost expert on the Taliban, Akhundzada was in Pakistan during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan  unlike Omar and Mansour, who earned reputations as fighters as part of the US-backed mujahideen.

But he returned to his homeland in time to attend the meeting in the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar in 1994 at which Omar declared the birth of the Taliban movement, according to the senior militant source.
Seeking to internationalise the issue of India's proposed maps bill, Pakistan has said depiction of the "disputed territory" of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India in the bill is in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and is "factually incorrect and morally unacceptable."





Pakistan had last week sought UN intervention on the draft bill in the Indian Parliament over the map of Kashmir, with its ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi writing to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President for the month, Abdellatif Aboulatta of Egypt.



In the letter, released to the media by the UN today, Lodhi referred to India's draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016 and said Pakistan has "serious concerns" over the bill.



"However, in violation of UNSC resolutions and international law, the official map of India has been depicting the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir as a part of India which is factually incorrect, legally untenable and morally unacceptable. Sadly, the international community and the United Nations have failed to take notice of this Indian action," Lodhi said in the letter.



Lodhi said in the letter that the international community should "honour" its responsibility to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.



"More than 65 years later, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are still waiting for the international community and the United Nations to fulfil their commitments by holding an independent and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices.



"Failure on the part of the UN to ensure the sanctity of UN resolutions has resulted in blatant violations of international law as well as human rights abuses of the Kashmiri people. The Indian government has been using force as state policy, which has been exacerbating the situation. In view of this, the UN should intervene to uphold UNSC resolutions and urge India to stop such acts which are in violation of international law," she said.



India had reacted strongly to Pakistan seeking UN intervention on the Indian draft bill on map, saying it was an "entirely internal legislative matter" and Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi on it.



External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said that India "firmly rejects" repeated and increasing attempts by Pakistan to impose on the international community matters that it has always been open to address bilaterally with it.



"The Government firmly rejects Pakistan's repeated and increasing attempts to impose on the international community matters that India has always been open to address bilaterally with Pakistan," Swarup had said in response to a question on Pakistan Foreign Office press release on India's Geospatial Bill.



Lodhi cited UNSC resolutions, saying the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the "will of the people, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations."



She said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a "UN declared and internationally accepted disputed territory".
The Department of PU education on Wednesday announced the results of the II PU exams held in March-April 2016. The pass percentage saw a marginal dip to 57.20 down from 60.53% last year.





As usual girls(64.78) outperformed the boys(50.02). Dakshin Kannada district topped the charts with a pass percentage of 90.48 followed by Udupi and Kodagu. Yadgir saw the least number of students passing with only 44.16 percent of them making the cut. The district also saw the highest number of malpractices at 22.



The official list will be put up in colleges by 4 PM today.
Bihar police today claimed to have cracked journalist Rajdeo Ranjan's murder case by arresting five persons in Siwan district.





"The police arrested five persons in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan and recovered a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles," Additional Director General of Police (ADG Headquarters) Sunil Kumar told reporters here.





The arrested were identified as Rohit Kumar, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Ishu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta, the ADG said.





He said Rohit Kumar has admitted that he fired on the scribe resulting in his death.

Search is on for some more persons involved in the crime, he added.





The police have also seized a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles used in the crime, he added.





Rajdeo Ranjan, district bureau head of a leading vernacular newspaper, was shot dead by unidentified men when he was going on his motorcycle near fruit market on station road under town police station area of Siwan on May 13 evening.




A suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul during morning rush hour today, killing 10 people, an Afghan official said.





The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.



The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives' vest as he walked by the vehicle in the western part of the city, said Najib Danish, the Interior Ministry's deputy spokesman.



The attack came as the Taliban named a new leader following the death of their former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a US drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.



The casualties in today's bombing included both court workers and civilians and the explosion also wounded four people, Danish said.



The minibus belonged to the judiciary department in neighbouring Maidan Wardak province and was taking the workers there when it came under attack, he added.



Within an hour of the assault, the Taliban, who often target government employees in their war against the state, claimed responsibility for the bombing.The claim came from Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, in an email sent to the media.



"This attack was carried out as revenge for the killing of six innocent prisoners in Kabul," the statement said. It was a reference to the hanging early this month at a Kabul prison of six Taliban members convicted of terrorism.



President Ashraf Ghani's office at the time said he had "approved executions of six terrorists who perpetrated grave crimes against civilians and security personnel."The executions were the first approved by Ghani since he took office in 2014, promising to end the war.



After the hanging, a Taliban statement accusing Kabul and the United States of torture, inhumane treatment and "killings under suspicious circumstances."



The suicide attack in Kabul was the second of its kind on the judiciary this month a judge was gunned down by unknown attackers in Kabul earlier in May.



The last major attack in Kabul was on April 19, when a massive bomb killed 64 people and wounded hundreds. The Taliban also claimed that bombing.




The 60-year-old owner of an eatery in southeast Delhis Lajpat Nagar area, who was shot at following a heated argument with a group of customers over payment of a bill, succumbed to injuries in the wee hours of Tuesday.





Vasudeo alias Pappu, owner of an eatery in Lajpat Nagar 3, sustained two bullets in his chest last night. He was rushed to a hospital for surgery and died around 3 am today, a senior official said.



A case of murder has been registered in connection with the incident but the accused are yet to be identified.



The incident took place between 10 and 10:30 pm on Monday when three men had come to the eatery in a car with a UP registration number. They had their dinner there and tried to leave without paying the bill.



When they were stopped an argument broke out between the group and the eatery staff. When Vasudeo tried to intervene, one of them pulled out a gun and shot four rounds there, of which two bullets hits Vasudeo. The accused fled the scene by the time police reached the spot.



A part of the cars registration number has been noted with the help of CCTV grabs obtained from the spot. The police have acquired a list from the transport department in Uttar Pradesh with details on the same.
A Delhi Jal Board (DJB) delegation, led by Water Minister Kapil Mishra, presented the comprehensive plan on river Yamuna to Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday.





The plan is being touted as the first such plan with concrete costing and timeline for cleaning of the river and its drains and at the same time restoring the ecological value of the river and bring the people back to the riverfront.



According to the plan, besides cleaning the river and drains flowing into it and stopping the sludge coming from Haryana, the ecological value of the river will also be restored by creating biodiversity parks and ecological landscapes like wetlands, catchment areas, mosaic of grasslands, floodplain forests, terrestrial forest communities, and new habitats.



The DJB will also be creating value for city via public spaces, recreational spaces, navigation and water oriented development (WOD).



I am impressed by the work done by the Delhi Jal Board in creating such a comprehensive plan to turnaround the condition of River Yamuna. They have incorporated almost all the points suggested by the Union Water Ministry as well.

The Central Government assures its support to this initiative to clean River Yamuna and will implement this Yamuna turnaround plan on a war-footing, Union Water Minister Uma Bharti said.



DJB Chairman and Minister Mishra said that the Delhi government will work closely with the Union Water Ministry on DJBs plan and commit to the treatment of polluted water, ensure proper seepage management and develop public spaces along the River Yamuna.



I am grateful for the time and inputs that have been provided to us by Uma Bharti ji and various officials and bureaucrats of the Union Water Ministry. This comprehensive plan will restore the status of River Yamuna to one that it deserves, he added.
Delhi government on Tuesday threatened to consider cancelling licences of private power distribution companies if they do not check power cuts caused by local faults.





The warning was issued after a review meeting by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who set a one-week deadline for the discoms to put an end to public inconvenience due to local electricity faults.



Sources said the Chief Minister hit out at the discoms and questioned why people should suffer due to their inefficiency while the companies get a 16 percent return on investment.



Review meeting



The review meeting was held in the backdrop of rival parties criticism of Kejriwals election rallies in Goa and Punjab at a time when power situation in the city was apparently worsening because rising peak demand and long power cuts.



After the meeting, attended by the discoms BSES and Tata Power, and Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission chairman, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain said: The CM has given them (discoms) a week's time to take corrective measures.



Jain claimed the cuts being faced in some parts of the city were not due to shortage of power. He also assured consumers of monetary relief in case of long power cuts.



No shortage



Theres no shortage of power. The compensation formula will be implemented within a week. The DERC will notify this within a week. Discoms will decide how to implement it, the Minister said.



The peak demand in the city touched a record high of 6,188 megawatts on May 20. The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised Kejriwal for going soft against discoms and giving them repeated opportunities despite poor performance.



Connivance



Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the connivance of Kejriwal with discoms had again come out in open with the Chief Minister giving them seven more days to improve their performance.



On Monday Jain had said if the power situation did not improve in 24 hours, the discoms will be penalised, but now Kejriwal has given them seven days, Kapoor said.



Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken blamed poor preparation by Delhi government to meet the peak power demand for the present power crisis.
For a second time in five years, the ruling AIADMK has lost one of its legislators on the day of swearing-in of newly elected MLAs to the Tamil Nadu Assembly.





S M Seenivel, who was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from Tirupparankundram constituency, died of stroke today, bringing back memories of an AIADMK Minister who passed away in 2011 when he was rushing to Chennai for the swearing-in of MLAs.



AIADMK leader from Tiruchirappally N Mariam Pitchai was killed in a road accident hours before the swearing-in of the members of the 14th Assembly in 2011.



He died in the accident on Chennai-Tiruchirappally highway near Perambalur.



Pitchai had been allotted the Environment portfolio by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.



Today, Seenivel breathed his last at a private hospital in Madurai where he had been admitted on May 18 after complaining of illness. He died of stroke.



Seenivel could not attend the AIADMK MLAs' meeting here on May 20 where Jayalalithaa was elected as the Legislature party leader.
Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's talks with the Chinese leaders, the state media today criticised the western media for attempting to drive a "wedge" between the two Asian giants by "hyping up" competition between them over Iran's Chabahar port.





The visit of the Indian President, which follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's India trip two years ago, is set to open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations and yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability, state-run Xinhua news agency said.



Mukherjee arrived here today from Guangzhou after addressing a India-China Business Forum in which top Chinese and Indian businessmen took part. He is due to have talks with Xi and other Chinese leaders here tomorrow.



"But some Western media have attempted to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants," it said, specially highlighting Chabahar port which will be developed by India to open transit routes from Iran to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.



"One of the latest targets of their (western media) smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Iran's southern port of Chabahar. The seaport is about 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable," the commentary said.



"Such hype is both untrue and harmful. China and India do have differences, but those differences are outnumbered and dwarfed by their consensuses and aspiration for win-win cooperation," it said.



"The common interests and interdependence between China and India are deep and close, and robust enough to withstand the onslaught of those ill-intentioned Western media," it said.



"Yet the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among Western media. Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation-addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions," the commentary said.



"For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda," it said.
Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif today told the US envoy that the American drone attack on Pakistani soil to kill Taliban chief Mullah Mansour is detrimental to bilateral ties and counter-productive for the Afghan peace process.





US Ambassador David Hale visited the military's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the army said.



The situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on May 22 came under discussion during talks between Sharif and the US envoy, it said.



"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the Chief of the Army Staff said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for the ongoing peace process for regional stability," army said.



It is for the first time that army has spoken on the issue.



Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yesterday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a US drone strike last week.



He had condemned the drone attack as violation of Pakistan's territory and said it may lead to serious implication for relations between Pakistan and the US.
Making light of reports that a public toilet in Allahabad has been named after him, actor Rishi Kapoor said he is thrilled to read about it as at least he will of some use to someone.





The 63-year-old actor has courted controversy and faced wrath of Congress party after he attacked the practice of naming all the major assets of the country after the Gandhi family members during the Congress rule.



The "Kapoor & Sons" star had also said people from the film industry should also have buildings named after them.



Following the controversy, Congress workers in Allahabad recently named a public toilet in the city after the Bollywood actor.



Asked about it, Rishi joked, "I am thrilled. At least, I will be of some use to someone. These people (Congress loyalists) are of no use to anyone. I take pride in the fact that the Sulabh Shauchalaya is named after me because it is the Prime Minister's pet project right now."



However, he said he is not against the Nehru-Gandhi family but has a problem with people exploiting their family name.



"On a serious note, it really doesn't matter to me what they do. They seem to have not understood what I implied by my tweets. I have nothing against the Nehru or Gandhi family. I am against the people exploiting their family name," he was quoted as saying.



"What I am saying is of national importance; people should realise the folly of naming everything after two families. This is just an observation by a citizen of the country and I have every right to voice my opinion. I know I have ruffled a few Congress feathers but they have misunderstood my intentions."




In a fire-fighting exercise after killing of a Congolese youth, India today assured African countries of safety of their nationals and tried to persuade their envoys to attend an ICCR-hosted Africa Day event here tomorrow.





External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister V K Singh went into damage-control mode after the African Heads of Missions (HoMs) sought deferment of the event, expressing outrage over the recent killing and demanded steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".



While Swaraj assured that India was committed towards the safety and security of African nationals, Singh met the representatives of African heads of missions to assuage their concerns while strongly condemning the killing of the youth here last week.



According to Indian officials, Singh "impressed on the African HoMs the need to continue the tradition (Africa Day celebrations) but also said that India would be guided by them in the matter" after which the African side said they will revert on the issue after deliberating on it internally.



They said the African side seemed to be satisfied with Indian efforts to bring to book the culprits of recent attack and were likely to attend the celeberations tomorrow.



When asked if they will attend the celebrations tomorrow, Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said, "Let's see. There is still a day left," in an apparent indication that they may participate in the event.



Earlier, the envoys of the 42 African nations, taking strong exception to killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver last week, said they will not attend the "Africa Day" celebrations as the African Community in India, including students, are in a "state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver."



"The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said in a statement.



However, the MEA in a separate statement said all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated.



Oliver was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.





Responding to the concerns of the African envoys, Swaraj said government has directed the authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of the Congolese national.





"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits. I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons," she tweeted.





Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of killing of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

"We will request State Governments to depute Commissioner of Police in all such meetings," said the MEA.





Official sources said both Lt Governor and the Delhi Police Chief have been spoken to and they are pursuing the case of killing of the Congolese youth.





They said minister Singh will also do an outreach event with African students along with concerned Embassies to reassure them of safety.





Meanwhile, to underscore India's continued support, Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha attended an event to celebrate the Africa Day by the missions here.





Sinha had met a group of African heads of missions yesterday, including the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and assured them that stringent punishment will be given to those found guilty.





"Secretary (ER) also pointed out that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated. Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues.





"Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship. We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur," the MEA said.





The MEA said two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run and that stringent punishment will be given to those involved in the attack on Oliver.





Woldermariam said the envoys have expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India "have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators."





"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," he said.




European aviation giant Airbus has reposed new faith in Indias blooming airline space, on average delivering one aircraft every week to carriers in the market, through the next 10 years.





Today, over 220 Airbus aircraft are operational in India, flown by Air India (66 A320 Family), IndiGo (108 A320), Jet Airways (four A330-200 + four A330-300), GoAir (19 A320), Air Asia India (six A320), Vistara (10 A320), and SpiceJet (three A320 Family). In totality, there are 400 aircraft in service with Indian carriers, of which Airbus holds a 56% in-service India fleet share, and a worldwide share of 60% in the single-aisle A320neo aircraft spread alone. Airbus share of in-service aircraft and aircraft on order in India is 70%.



Talking to Deccan Herald, President of Airbus Division in India Srinivasan Dwarakanath, said, While we hold a leading market share in India, we have a backlog of over 520 aircraft, of which 519 are the new A320neo (New Engine Option) planes. In order to successfully deliver the aircraft to our clients in the country, we will be delivering on average, one aircraft a week, until the next 10 years. The said aircraft in backlog involve orders from IndiGo (430 A320neo), Jet Airways (five A330-200), GoAir (72 A320neo), and Vistara (four A320 + seven A320neo), among others.



High-flying market

India is amongst the fastest growing aviation markets in the world with an annual traffic growth well above the world average of 4.6%, and Airbus forecasts a need for over 1,600 passenger aircraft in the next 20 years. While growth prospects are immense, the country is primarily a single-aisle, narrow-body airliner market, thanks to the success and growth of low-fare carriers, which carry 60% of the domestic traffic. It all depends on the business strategy of an airline, whether it wants to induct large, long-haul aircraft for operations. With regard to India, a large percentage (60%) of Indians who fly abroad use international carriers, while the domestic aircraft market is booming, Dwarakanth said.



But he did not deny that the Indian market has the potential to include more and more long-haul routes, operated by large aircraft. Airbus has already received enquiries from Indian carriers about its state-of-the-art twin-aisle aircraft, mainly the A330neo and the A380.



Following the approval of A380 operations in India by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the A380 has about 30 flights operated per week by foreign carriers into India from Singapore, Dubai, Frankfurt, and from Abu Dhabi. The double-decker airliner is considered a revenue generator.



Moving forward, we can expect interest even for the A330neo from India. A lot of people flying to and from India have begun flying on the A380, which has emerged a popular plane. We are discussing with all airlines, and hope that an Indian A380 will fly one day, Dwarakanath hinted.


Mumbai police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar today said the information that the alleged Indian wing of ISIS had planned to target Bollywood stars for extortion was "primary" and assured providing security to any film personality who feels "threatened" and approaches police.



According to media reports, the Janood-ul-Khalifa-Hind, the alleged Indian wing of terror outfit Islamic State, had considered extorting money from Bollywood stars.



The reports claimed that two alleged top commanders of the module busted by security agencies earlier this year had revealed about the Islamic State's "Bollywood plans" in interrogation.



However, Padsalgikar clarified that the reports on the terror outfit generating funds through extortion are "primary" in nature.



"First and foremost, the information we have about this is primary. When we will get all the details then only something concrete can be said," the top cop said.



He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a police-public meeting organised at suburban Sakinaka police station.



"We have already provided security to these people in that area (Bollywood) (in general). However, if anyone feels intimidated or threatened then let them come to us, we will provide all sorts of security to them," he said.



Asked if Mumbai police was contemplating to grant security to any Bollywood personalities specifically, the commissioner said, "If anyone approaches us or files a complaint, we will act accordingly."



Asked if Mumbai Police was unaware about the alleged radicalisation of Muslim youths, Padsalgikar said, "We have got immense support from the community people, parents, teachers and professors, and all this has yielded extremely good response in de-radicalising youths."



The top cop had organised such meetings in areas like suburban Malad and Chirag Nagar where cases of radicalisation of Muslim youths had reportedly come to light.



Speaking on the occasion, senior inspector of Sakinaka police station Avinash Dharmadhikari denied any such instances under his jurisdiction, saying police were getting very good support from local leaders and community representatives.



"I have got every sort of support from each quarters of society in which locals know each other well. I can say that there is no such development taking place within my territory," said Dharmadhikari.


Early Saturday, a middle-aged Pashtun man used forged documents to cross from Iran into Pakistan. A few hours later, on a lonely stretch of highway, he was incinerated by a US drone.





It is not exactly clear how the Americans tracked Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, leader of the Afghan Taliban, to a white sedan rattling across the arid expanse of Baluchistan province. The US picked up a mix of phone intercepts and tips from sources, US and European officials said, and there were reports that Pakistan also provided intelligence. President Barack Obama described Mansours death on Monday as an important milestone  but the strike was also an illustration of the tangled relationship between Washington and Islamabad.



Not since Obama ordered Navy SEALs to hunt down Osama bin Laden in May 2011 has he authorised a military incursion in Pakistan as audacious as this one. The White House did not inform the Pakistanis in advance of the operation, which occurred outside the frontier region near Afghanistan, the one place where Pakistan has tolerated US drone strikes in the past.



By using the militarys Joint Special Operations Command rather than the CIA to carry out the attack, the US denied Pakistan the fig leaf of a covert operation, which in the past has given the Pakistanis the ability to claim they had been consulted beforehand.



The fact that the top official of Afghanistans Taliban was able to travel freely through Pakistan, and even into Iran, contradicted years of denials by Pakistani officials that they were harbouring Taliban leaders. Obama offered no apology for the decision to strike Mansour in Pakistani territory, saying it was a simple case of self-defence.



He is an individual who as head of the Taliban was specifically targeting US personnel and tro-ops inside of Afghanistan who are there as part of the mission I have set to maintain a counterterrorism platform and provide assistance, Obama said at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. Killing Mansour, Obama said, sent a message that were going to protect our people.



To many outside experts, it sent an equally powerful message to Pakistan. On Monday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador, David Hale, to lodge a protest for what it said was a violation of Pakistans sovereignty. The killing would obstruct multiparty efforts to negotiate a settlement between the Taliban and the Afghan government, it said.



Pakistans military and intelligence establishment was said to favour Mansour as the groups new leader. But the White House concluded he was a stubborn obstacle to reconciliation talks, which have been paralysed for months.



While his intransigence on the peace process had made him less valuable to the Pakistanis as well, experts said, Obamas decision to target him suggested he had little patience for Pakistani sensitivities.



The administration is no longer worried about blowing up anything, said Vali Nasr, a former State Department official who worked on Pakistan. This is literally carrying out an operation, not against an Arab terrorist leader, but against a Pashtun ally of Pakistan, inside Pakistani territory.



Obama approved the targeting of Mansour in the past few weeks, according to officials. With this authorisation in hand, the Joint Special Operations Command was able to act quickly when intelligence indicated that he was traveling through Baluchistan, these people said.



The US told Pakistani authorities several weeks ago that Mansour was a target, officials said. While the Pakistanis provided general information on his location and activities, they did not provide specific details on his movements. That was supplemented by US intelligence, including satellite imagery, signals intelligence and human assets.



For Pakistan, providing even the most slender of details about the possible whereabouts of Mansour would represent an unexpected turn. Pakistan had cultivated him for years, and he was widely seen as their choice to lead the Taliban after the death of Mullah Mohammed Omar in 2013, the founder of the insurgency movement, was revealed last year.



But once installed, he resisted Pakistani efforts to put up even the appearance of being willing to take part in a peace process. The result was growing US pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Taliban leaders who take shelter there  and a growing sense within Pakistans security establishment that Mansour was proving too independent, and thus expendable.



A senior US defence official said that another factor in Pakistans decision to provide some limited help in tracking down Mansour may have been that one of his deputies, Sirajuddin Haqqani, has deep and longstanding ties to Pakistans main spy service, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).



Haqqani, who leads a Taliban faction that is widely seen as one of the most violently effective parts of the insurgency, may prove more willing to take cues from Pakistans military leadership and the ISI. For the United States and its allies in the Afghan government, though, the possibility of an even harder-line Taliban leader could undo any temporary advantage provided by the killing of Mansour.



Make or break kill

The White House, a senior US official said, had not given up on the peace process. Removing Mansour from the scene, he said, might actually increase the incentives for the Taliban to go to the bargaining table since he was the major impediment to talks. But this official acknowledged that it could also splinter the groups leadership.



Mansour had gone to Iran for undisclosed medical treatment, said a European official who had been briefed on the US operation. He travelled across the border to avoid Pakistani hospitals where the ISI tends to keep track of who is coming and going.

Obama emphasised that the strike did not reflect a shift in US strategy toward Afghan-istan, which is focused on training and assisting Afghan troops rather than engaging in combat. But it may have implications for how the United States deals with Pakistan.



Does this amount to starting a two-track approach  working through Pakistan while using force to eliminate Taliban leaders who obstruct peace talks? said Husain Haqqani, Pakistans former ambassador to the US. Either way, it shows a diminishing of the Obama administrations already-diminished trust in Pakistan.



Barnett Rubin, a former senior State Department official, said Mansours death is unlikely to have a significant impact on the Taliban, which can easily replace him. The effect could be far greater on Pakistans government, he said, which now must deal with the embarrassing circumstance.



We killed the leader of the Taliban driving across Baluchistan in a taxi, Rubin said. I think we have some questions to ask of Pakistan.






As President Obama visited Vietnam, we were struck by the fact that most citizens of both countries have no living memory of a conflict that claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and upward of a million Vietnamese.





As Americans who fought in that war, we are frequently asked about its lessons. There are few easy answers, in part because every conflict is unique and because we have learned that attempts to apply past lessons to new crises sometimes do more harm than good. But a few things are clear.



The first is not personal to us, but a principle that applies to all who wear the uniform: We must never again confuse a war with the warriors. American veterans deserve our deepest respect, gratitude and support whenever and wherever they serve. The second lesson is that our leaders need to be honest with Congress and the American people about our plans, goals and strategy when the lives of our fighting men and women are put at risk.



The third is to exercise humility in assuming knowledge about foreign cultures. During the war in Southeast Asia, neither Americas allies nor our adversaries acted in accordance with our expectations. A fourth and final lesson of the Vietnam conflict is playing out before our eyes: that with sufficient effort and will, seemingly unbridgeable differences can be reconciled. The fact that Obama was the third consecutive American president to visit Vietnam is proof that old enemies can become new partners.



As veterans who were fortunate to serve in public office, we are proud of the contributions we made to the resumption of normal diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam. The process of restoring relations was arduous and required full cooperation by Hanoi in developing information about Americans missing or unaccounted for from the conflict  an effort that continues today.



But we have reached the point, more than 20 years after normalisation, when our agenda with Vietnam is forward-looking and wide-ranging. Obamas discussions with the Vietnamese covered issues from security cooperation to trade and investment to education, and from the environment to freedom of religion and human rights.



This wider agenda reflects changes to the relationship that are well underway.

Twenty years ago, there were fewer than 60,000 US visitors annually to Vietnam. Today, the-re are nearly half a million. Twe-nty years ago, our bilateral trade in goods with Vietnam was only $450 million. Today, it is 100 times that. Twenty years ago, there were fewer than 1,000 Vietnamese students in the US. Today, there are nearly 19,000.



More remarkably, the Vietnamese Politburo includes two people who earned graduate degrees in the US while on Fulbright scholarships. Its appropriate, therefore, that a new institution of higher learning opened in Ho Chi Minh City: Fulbright University Vietnam.



Trans-Pacific Partnership

Nearly half a century ago, when we were serving in Vietnam, we would never have imagined that our country would one day work with the government in Hanoi to help save the Mekong River Delta by helping create an initiative to manage its ecosystem and cope with the effects of climate change.



We could never have imagin-ed that our two countries would be partners in a landmark trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is intended to raise labour and environmental standards while expanding prosperity in our country and all along the Pacific Rim.



It would have been even harder to imagine that the US and Vietnam would be cooperating on security issues. And yet, the US has helped establish a new training centre for Peoples Army of Vietnam on the outskirts of Hanoi where young Vietnamese soldiers will prepare for service in UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions.



The US and Vietnamese militaries are in frequent contact, and our diplomats consult regularly about the controversy surrounding competing maritime claims in the South China Sea. Our government does not take sides on the legal merits of these claims, but we believe strongly that they should be settled peacefully and in accordance with international law and not unilaterally by any country seeking to assert hegemony over its neighbours.



Of course, the US and Vietnam have different political systems and different approaches to some issues. But human righ-ts are universal, and we have ma-de it clear to the leaders in Hanoi our strong belief that Vietnam will reach its full potential only if and when its people have the right to express themselves freely in the arenas of politics, labour, the media and religion.



In our visits to Vietnam, we have been impressed by the eagerness of its citizens to take advantage of technology and to compete in the global labour market. We are convinced that the government in Vietnam has nothing to lose, and much to gain, by trusting its citizens.



Looking to the future, we kn-ow that mutual interests, above all else, will drive our partnership with Vietnam. But it is stre-ngthened, as well, by the natural affinities between our societies.



(John Kerry is the secretary of state, McCain is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Boh Kerrey is chairman of the board of Fulbright University Vietnam)
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC President G Parameshwara will be in Delhi on Thursday to consult the party high command to finalise candidates for two upcoming elections.





The two leaders have prepared a probable list of candidates for the polls to be held for the Rajya Sabha and Karnataka legislative council.



They are scheduled to first meet AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Digvijaya Singh, and brief him on the probable candidates. Elections to four seats of Rajya Sabha are scheduled for June 11, while the council polls are scheduled for June 10.



Sources in the Congress said the party could easily win two Rajya Sabha seats. The chief minister might seek the high commands permission to field the third candidate as the party will be left with a chunk of excess votes.



Of the elections to seven seats to the Council from the Assembly, the party can win four. Besides, the party government has to fill in three Council seats through nomination. Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara have shortlisted probable names after sifting through about 130 applications received by the KPCC.



Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said Parameshwara and himself would be going to Delhi on Thursday to discuss about the elections as the high command should take a final call, he added.



Asked whether the party will field a candidate from outside the state in the Rajya Sabha polls in the wake of public outcry, the chief minister only said he would apprise the high command of the sentiments of Kannada-speaking people.



A section of people have strongly opposed on the social media the BJPs move to re-elect Venkaiah Naidu to Rajya Sabha. The names of former Union ministers P Chidambaram and Narayanaswamy are doing rounds as the probables from Karnataka.




If the state government heeds the Public Works Departments (PWD)recommendation, then the demand for an additional 754 acres by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (Nice) to complete the missing road links would have to be set aside.





Nice, the promoter of the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, had in March this year sought lands under section one of the project. The requirement projected was 678 acres for peripheral road, 19 acres for link road and 56 acres for expressway  to complete the missing links. The company has already completed a major portion of these roads. Of the 111 km of expressway, it has so far completed 4.5 km. It is supposed to construct 13.5 km of expressway under Section A. The company has already deposited the compensation for the land it has sought.



The BMIC project envisages construction of 41 km of peripheral road, 9.1 km of link road, 111 km of expressway and five townships. Conceived in 1995, the project has still remained incomplete because of legal issues pertaining to land.



The PWD has recently written to the government to reject the proposal as the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has already handed over 554 acres of excess lands, over and above the actual requirement. ...The KIADB has already handed over total 2,747 acres i.e., 554 acres in excess against required extent of 2,193 acres. There is no need to hand over further lands in the peripheral road area, the department has stated.



According to the PWD, the Nice has completed construction of 41 km of peripheral road as asphalt road pavement, except a ramp at the Bannergatta junction and a portion of ramp at the Kengeri junction. The actual requirement of land for the missing links of peripheral road component is 5.28 acres and they will be handed over as and when the existing litigations over them are cleared. These lands are located near Hosahalli, Gollarapalya, Hemmigepura and Gottigere.



The department said that except 400 metres of the missing portion, the company has completed the construction of 9.1 km of link road. The missing portions are near Byatarayanapura, Pantarapalya and Hosakerehalli. As far as completing 13.5 km of expressway, the department has informed the government that 4.5 km of it has been completed. Private land required for the expressway and Township-1 (under section A) is pending for price fixation acceptance by Nice. After the issue of price fixation is settled, the land will be handed over, the PWD added.


A trigger-happy farmer in Punjab shot dead a teenager whom he found plucking a few corn cobs from his fields on Tuesday.



The incident took place in Punjabs Ferozpur. The victim was a student in a local school in the village and had entered the fields of the cash-rich farmer to grab a few corn cobs. The deceased, identified as Sukhdev Singh, was accompanied by his friend Jitender when the incident took place. Singh died on the spot in the fields. Jitender said he pleaded for mercy from the farmer who was outraged seeing them in his fields plucking corn cobs.



Jitender said the accused started to slap him while his friend Sukhdev tried to run away from the fields. The farmer then pulled out his pistol and shot Sukhdev from close range leaving him dead on the spot. Sukhdev Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was declared dead by doctors who attended to him. The accused has been identified as Kulbir Singh, who is said to be a village headman. The police have registered a case of murder against the accused who is on the run after killing the boy.



The police said raids are being conducted to arrest the accused. Border state Punjab is among the lead states in the country to have highest number of licensed weapons. Many of the natives have more than two weapons.



Punjab DGP Suresh Arora had recently expressed his view to review the policy to grant licences for weapons.



With a gun in holster, there has often been a tendency to pull the trigger at the slightest of provocation. Gun shots fired during celebrations is also not uncommon in this region.




The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has returned the KAS officers list sent by the state government recommending their names for promotion to IAS, citing technical grounds.





The UPSC asked the state to submit a fresh list, along with reasons for dropping the name of one particular officer in the 2004 KAS batch. Though the officer was compulsorily retired, the state Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) had not submitted the proceedings related to his case before sending the list.



The state had sent a list of 56 KAS officers for promotion as IAS officers to fill vacancies.



The Karnataka State Backward Classes Awareness Forum, on Wednesday, submitted a memorandum to the UPSC, urging to withhold the promotions of KAS officers to IAS, till the final verdict in court cases related to many candidates is pronounced.



If the UPSC considers the list sent by the state for promotion, without waiting for the final verdict of the court, it amounts to great injustice to several genuine candidates, he said.
The high-level clearance committee headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday cleared industry projects proposed by Biocon and Pepsico India holdings with a total investment of Rs 1,650 crore.





The Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company, Biocon Ltd, has proposed to set up an injectable monoclonal antibodies production unit at Jigani in Anekal taluk, Bengaluru Urban district. The company will invest Rs 1,060 crore in the project, employing 750 people.



Pepsico has proposed to invest Rs 590 crore for setting up a beverage and snack manufacturing unit at Adakanahalli industrial area of Nanjungud taluk in Mysuru district. The project is expected to create 900 employment opportunities.



Expansion project

Besides, the committee has cleared a proposal by Manyata Promoters to take up an expansion project at a cost of 561 crore.



The expansion comprises development of infrastructure related to information technology park, including hotel, convention centre, retail and commercial space. The proposal is expected to provide employment to 7,170 people, according to an official release.


The army is ready to launch a massive crackdown on northeast militants groups in Manipur and Nagaland along the Indo-Myanmar border .



Chief of Army Staff Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on Wednesday visited Imphal and conducted an aerial survey of the Indo-Myanmar border in Chandel district, where six Assam Rifles troopers were killed by the militants. The army chief was accompanied by Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi, chief of the eastern commander.



The Assam Rifles has already intensified operations in the state. However, an army patrol team came under heavy fire in the early hours on Wednesday along the Myanmar border, but there was no casualty, army sources told DH.



Joupi, the site of the ambush where six Assam Rifles troopers died last week, is around 30 km from Paraolon, where militants killed 18 soldiers of 6 Dogra Regiment in an ambush on June 4 last year.



In retaliation, the armys special forces carried out surgical strikes on the militant groups hideouts.



Sources said the army will launch a well planned crackdown to flush out militants from Chandel district, the transit point for militants between India and Myanmar.
New Delhi will tell Beijing to assess Indias plea for a berth in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the basis of its own credentials, not in conjunction with that of Pakistan.



President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to convey to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Beijing should not put Indias desire to enter the NSG in the same bracket with that of Pakistan. Mukherjee is set to meet Xi in Beijing on Thursday. The meeting comes at a time when China has stepped up its campaign against Indias bid to get a berth in the 48-nation cartel that controls the global nuclear commerce. Beijing is of the view that if the NSG admits India, it should also open its doors for Pakistan.



Sources told DH that India had sought admission to the NSG on the basis of its own impeccable non-proliferation record. India has been modifying its export control mechanism over the past few years to make it in sync with the NSG guidelines. During US President Barack Obamas visit to India in January 2015, the US noted that India was ready to join the NSG.



The NSG guidelines prohibit its members to enter into nuke ties with the countries that did not sign the NPT. Neither India, nor Pakistan has signed the NPT. China has been arguing that it would support its all-weather friend in getting the NSG membership, if the NPT signatory criterion was diluted to admit India. Beijing, in fact, reiterated its position on New Delhis bid to enter the NSG just a day before Mukherjee commenced his four-day tour to China from Guangzhou. He arrived in Beijing on Wednesday.



India applied for a berth in the NSG about a year ago. Later, Pakistan also applied for the same. India is understood to be reluctant to overtly oppose Pakistans bid to enter the NSG, ostensibly because it is yet to get a berth in the cartel and has no locus standi at present, said sources. New Delhi, however, is of the view that NSG would surely take into account Pakistans history of clandestine nuclear proliferation to countries like North Korea and Iran. Besides, unlike India, Pakistans export-control regime is not yet fully aligned with the NSG guidelines.
China on Wednesday nudged India to stop opposing its One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) initiative, even as President Pranab Mukherjee stressed on narrowing the imbalance in bilateral commerce.



Speaking at an India-China business forum in Guangzhou, Mukherjee noted that while the bilateral commerce had grown from $2.91 billion in 2000 to $71 billion in 2015, the trade balance continued to be in favour of the communist country. We look forward to expanding our commerce to make it more equitable, said President, who is currently on a tour to China.



Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of Guangdong province in south China, also addressed the meet and used the opportunity to prod New Delhi once again to support Chinese President Xi Jinpings One-Belt-One-Road initiative.



Xi has since 2013 been articulating the idea of a 21st century Maritime Silk Road reviving economic connectivity between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and linking Chinas coastline with Southeast Asia, the Gulf and the eastern coast of Africa. He has also been proposing a Silk Road Economic Belt reviving the ancient link between China and Mediterranean through Central Asia. The two projects are now together called OBOR initiative.



Beijings new plan to spread its tentacles further in Indian Ocean region and Central Asia, however, caused unease in New Delhi, which has already been wary of Chinas strategic assets encircling India.



India also opposes the OBOR, because it includes proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which would pass through areas New Delhi claims as its own and accuses Islamabad of illegally occupying in Kashmir.



New Delhi maintains that India could join multilateral connectivity initiatives in Asia, only if they were pursued through a consultative process.



But both Zhu as well as Jiang Zengwei, chairman of China Council for Promotion of International Trade, on Wednesday emphasized on New Delhis cooperation with Beijing on OBOR to boost bilateral commerce and narrow trade deficit.



Indias trade deficit with China stood at $52.67 billion in 2015. Mukherjee avoided any reference to OBOR in his speech on Wednesday. India would like to see a greater market for our products in China  particularly in sectors where we have natural complementarities  as in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT (Information Technology) and IT-enabled services and agro products, said the President.



He called upon Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to take part in Make in India and other flagship initiatives by the government in New Delhi. He noted that Chinese companies made a good start by investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India  a move that could help narrow the trade imbalance. During Xis visit to New Delhi in September 2014; China pledged to make $20 billion investment in India by 2019.



Chinese companies invested around $870 million in India in 2015  six times more than that in 2014, Chinas state-run newspaper Global Times reported.



Speaking at the business forum in Guangzhou, Naushad D Forbes, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, however, supported the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative of China.


A senior Navy doctor has been accused of molesting a junior lady doctor on two occasions this month.



One of the incidents happened inside the bungalow of an Admiral who was not present in his house. The Admiral was away in Visakhapatnam on official duty when the duo from the Navys medical unit went to his house in central Delhi to attend to his mother.



Within days, the second incident happened inside INS India, a naval administrative establishment in the capital.



The Navy received a complaint from the victim on May 6 and a board of inquiry, headed by a Captain rank officer, was ordered on May 9. A lady officer of adequate seniority is also a member of the board, which is likely to submit its report to the naval headquarters shortly. As per the procedure of the Armed Forces, the accused has been asked to go on leave during the investigation. The Indian Navy has zero tolerance on such matters. Once the enquiry process is completed, justice would be done, said a Navy spokesperson.



The maritime force has earlier witnessed several allegations of molestation, adultery and wife-swapping cases. While several guilty officers and sailors were punished, the Supreme Court recently asked the Kerala Police to form a special team headed by a DIG-rank officer to complete the probe into a wife-swapping case within three months.



The allegations were made by the estranged wife of a Navy officer. The Navy currently has more than 500 women officers, almost half of them are doctors.



Besides medical and nursing, women are now allowed in the Navy in the fighting units, education, law, air traffic controllers, meteorology, naval construction, observers and logistics branches.



The incident has come to light at a time when the armed forces are opening their doors to more women.


Angered by the recent death of a Congolese national in the capital, African nations on Wednesday asked India to act against racism and Afro-phobia.



They also threatened to boycott the Africa Day celebrations on Thursday unless concrete steps are taken to ensure the safety and security of Africans living in India.



Within days of the killing of Masonda Ketada Oliver in south Delhi, the envoys met here to deliberate extensively on a series of recent attacks against Africans in Indian cities.



The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps, including public awareness progrmmes, to guarantee the safety of Africans in India. This will help address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India, said Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, dean, African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea, in a statement.



He also said that the African envoys have asked for the postponement of the ICCR-organised event to mark Africa Day because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver.



African envoys expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators.



Oliver was beaten to death last week in near Kishengarh village in Vasant Kunj following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw. This comes four months after a Tanzanian girl student was reportedly stripped and assaulted in Bengaluru.



MEA assurance

On her part, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured the African diplomats she was monitoring the probe personally and would ensure those who killed Oliver are punished. Swaraj also asked Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to look into the matter. Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V K Singh is expected to hold meetings with African students in metro cities.



Amar Sinha, secretary, Economic Relations, met a group of African heads of missions, including Woldemariam, and assured them that stringent punishment will be handed to those found guilty in Olivers case.



Tanzanian girl incident

After the attack on the African girl in Bengaluru, Tanzanian High Commissioner John W H Kijazi termed the incident a case of racial discrimination. Tanzania had issued a note verbale (letter of protest) to the MEA, asking the government to take legal action against the culprits and ensure safety and security of all African students in India. But after meeting officials in Karnataka, the high commissioner asserted that he was satisfied with the action taken by the authorities.



"We went into the facts of the situation and are very impressed with the action of the government," he said after meeting Home Minister G Parameshwara, police officials and African students. Kijazi also stressed on the harmonious coexistence with locals for Tanzanians and students from other African nations in Bengaluru, as as well as other cities in India.


After three days of frantic search, a rescue team recovered the body of mountaineer Rajiv Bhattacharya on Saturday. The climber collapsed while returning from the summit of Mount Dhaulagiri that he scaled last week.



While two climbers are missing, two Darjeeling girls managed to touch Mount Everests summit on Sunday in what has been the most challenging and tragic few days for mountaineers. Bhattacharyas body was recovered from Dhaulagiri, the worlds seventh highest peak, and brought down to the Nepali capital Kathmandu on Wednesday. Sherpas had to make an arduous descent as they began early Wednesday from Camp 3, where his body was found.



Rajiv, who started for Dhaulagiri on May 11 from Kathmandu, reached the summit on May 19 but suffered snow blindness on his way back and ran out of oxygen. He died after collapsing from fatigue.



State administration sources said Bhattacharyas remains will be cremated with state honours in Kolkata once it arrives back.



Meanwhile Gautam Ghosh and Paresh Nath, who successfully completed an Everest expedition, remained untraceable from Saturday amid fears by experts that they could run out of oxygen.



The body of Subhash Pal, the third member of their team declared dead on Monday, could not be recovered as rescue team hampered rescue operations on the peak.



A special rescue team from Bengal comprising seasoned mountaineers reached Kathmandu on Tuesday and engaged the services of six Sherpas to trace the two and bring back Pals body.



Rescue operations could not be started till the sky cleared, Nepalese daily The Himalayan Times said quoting local authorities. Bengal government sources said that the rescue team started its journey on Wednesday morning and is expected to bring back Pals body on Friday.



Pal is believed to have collapsed while descending the Hillary Step ice wall, few hundred meters from the peak.


In order to keep newly-elected party MLAs from defecting to the Trinamool Congress, the state unit of Congress has made its 44 legislators sign a loyalty affidavit.



All of them have been asked to sign the legal document, stating that they will stay loyal to party president, Sonia Gandhi, and vice-president, Rahul Gandhi.



Typed on stamp papers with face value of Rs 100, the affidavit to the Congress president stated that the signatory is pledging unqualified allegiance to the two Gandhi family members.



The affidavit further stated that party MLAs will have to follow the instructions of Congress Legislative Party leader and the partys chief whip without any signs of dissent.



The MLAs were asked to sign the affidavit following a meeting at state party on Tuesday evening.



Even though the move has been met with ridicule from both the Trinamool and the BJP, senior state Congress leaders, however, find nothing in making their MLAs sign the affidavit on stamp paper with face value of Rs 100.



Senior leader and MLA Abdul Mannan, said, Theres nothing wrong in signing the declaration and we were not asked to sign under pressure. There were some questions over whether elected MLAs will leave the party so we signed the bond to show our solidarity.



While Mannan clarified that the move was not directed by the party high command, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, All our elected MLAs have signed the affidavit to pledge their allegiance to the party and that they will not defect.



Insiders said that the decision to make MLAs sign the bond came from Chowdhury, who wanted to prevent an exodus. In 2011, after joining the state government as a Trinamool ally, number of Congress MLAs switched sides.



Although Trinamool leaders refused to comment, BJP MP Babul Supriyo said, Its ridiculous, and undemocratic. This would never happen in BJP. Leaders should have the freedom to go their own way if they disagree with the party.


In yet another case of road rage, a doctor was shot at and his car was snatched by miscreants on Paliganj-Patna road late on Tuesday.





The compounder and the driver suffered bullet injuries, while the doctor escaped unhurt. According to the police, Dr P K Jha was returning home after attending to patients and was accompanied by his compounder and driver.



Miscreants on two motorcycles tried to overtake the car. When the driver could not give them way, they sped past the car and forced the driver to stop.



The doctor and the compounder, too, got down from the vehicle to intervene and stop the brawl between the driver and the miscreants.



Enraged, the miscreants fired at them, and the driver and the compounder sustained injuries. The miscreants then forcibly took away the car.




Protests have erupted in Parawada in Visakhapatnam district as the family of a married woman, who was killed in a road accident on Sunday, charged that it was not a case of hit-and-run, but murder.



The police had initially registered a case of hit-and-run, but are now on the lookout for the men who killed Moturu Lavanya, a mother of two.



According to the police, Lavanya (29), a resident of Vadlapudi area, had gone to Nookalamma temple at Anakapalle with her husband Appalaraju and her sister-in-law on a motorbike on Sunday. A group of men spotted the women at the temple and started teasing them. As the men were drunk, they started physically and verbally abusing the women. Appalaraju reprimanded the men, reminding them that they were in a place of worship.



When Lavanya and her family were returning home, the men followed them in a car and hit the bike. While my sister and I fell off the bike, Lavanya who was sitting at the end of the seat fell on the bonnet of the car.



They continued driving till she fell down and came under the front wheels, said Appalaraju, who was injured in incident. He has named one Dadi Hemanth Kumar, a financier, and his other three friends, all residents of Anakapalle, in the police complaint.
After sitting on complaints of building plan violations for four years, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday decided to demolish three apartment complexes and a compound wall at Arehalli near Uttarahalli on Thursday.



The decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday by Muniraju, Joint Commissioner Muniraju (Bommanahalli Zone) under which Uttarahalli ward falls. Fake khatha, building plan, commencement and occupancy certificates were used for constructing these buildings.



We (BBMP officials) have decided to raze four structures with the help of Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) on Thursday, said Muniraju.



He said he has served show-cause notices on assistant executive engineer Narasimha Babu, assistant engineers Deve Gowda and Lingaraje Gowda for their laxity in initiating action on the complaints, compelling the residents of Arehalli to approach the Mayor, BBMP Commissioner, BMTF and other agencies.



K Nageswar Rao, president, Hanumagiri Hills Residents' Welfare Association had lodged nine complaints with the BBMP in this regard. The central of all the complaints was that buildings were constructed right under the nose of the ward engineers, on the strength of bogus documents. In one case, an apartment came up right in the middle of the road blocking the link to two localities.



When the construction of these buildings began in 2012, we applied for khatha, building plan and other documents at the ward offices. The engineers could not provide any of them. We have instances where in the BBMP officials themselves gave us fake documents on behalf of the builders. When we verified them at the BBMP head office, we were told that such documents do not exist. It is apparently a case of collusion between engineers and builders. We doubt the genuineness of land sale deeds too, Rao said.



Despite many RTI applications and complaints to the higher officials, Palike officials did not act. This forced Rao and the other RWA members to approach Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy and the BBMP Commissioner. On Mayors directions, a panel headed by Bommanahalli joint commissioner was formed in which zonal chief engineer, complainants, local corporator and some residents were included.



Rao doubted the BBMP's intention although the joint commissioner ordered demolition of four structures. The BBMP did not serve notices to the owners of the buildings and abruptly decided to demolish the buildings. This is against natural justice. The order by Muniraju seems to be an eyewash, said Rao.




Integrated Solution Provides Sequences Reusable From IP-Level Simulation to Post-Silicon Validation

LOWELL, MA and SAN JOSE, CA-- May 24, 2016 - Agnisys and Breker Verification Systems, Inc., today announced availability of an integrated solution for portable test sequences where sequences from the same description are generated for use across all verification platforms, from early-stage simulation to full-chip validation of silicon in the bring-up lab.

ISequenceSpec from Agnisys, provider of a common specification-driven development flow to describe registers and sequences for system-on-chip (SoC) and intellectual property (IP) design, verification, firmware and validation, enables users to describe programming and test sequences of a device once and generate sequences automatically. It provides a straightforward specification format to describe the sequences and generates the code that ensures synchronization between verification to validation. Users describe initialization, configuration and test sequences and ISequenceSpec automatically generates Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) models and firmware sequences usable throughout the design and verification process.

The Trek family of products and apps from Breker, the SoC Verification Company, automatically generates multi-threaded test cases that verify SoC designs design more quickly and more thoroughly. These test cases are reusable from IP to full-chip level, and from simulation to silicon, meeting all requirements for the upcoming Accellera standard on Portable Stimulus. Trek products expand the scope of sequences supported by ISequenceSpec from register and memory read and writes to include sequences involving chip I/O ports and sequences that require parallel execution of multiple threads, scheduling, resource management, and randomization of system-level behavior.

"Traditionally, sequences were hand-written and not portable," says Anupam Bakshi, Agnisys' chief executive officer (CEO). "Automatic generation is a major savings in time and effort since sequences do not have to be manually rewritten for each stage in the development process. With this new combined solution, our mutual customers benefit from truly portable sequences."

"Our tools are efficient at generating portable, self-checking, multi-threaded test cases from IP blocks to multi-SoC configurations and from simulation to silicon," remarks Adnan Hamid, CEO of Breker. "The abstract specification enabled by ISequenceSpec provides a library of sequences that we can leverage to provide an industry-leading integrated solution."

Agnisys and Breker will exhibit at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) from Monday, June 6, through Wednesday, June 8, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To schedule a private demonstration in the Agnisys Booth (#420), go to: http://bit.ly/202Dgwg. A private meeting in the Breker Booth (#1626) can be scheduled by going to: www.brekersystems.com.

Availability and Pricing

The new, integrated solution is available today from Agnisys or Breker. Local sales representatives should be contacted for details.

Pricing is available upon request.

About Agnisys

Agnisys Inc.has established itself as a leading Electronic Design Automation (EDA) supplier of innovative software to solve complex design and verification problems for system development with certainty. Its products provide a common specification-driven development flow to describe registers and sequences for system-on-chip (SoC) and intellectual property (IP) design, verification, firmware and validation. Based on patented technology and intuitive user interfaces, they increase productivity and efficiency while eliminating system design and verification errors. Founded in 2007, Agnisys is based in Lowell, Mass., with R&D centers in the United States and India. Phone: (855) 837-4399. Email: sales@agnisys.com More information about Agnisys can be found at: www.agnisys.com

About Breker Verification Systems

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software company Breker Verification Systems provides innovative solutions to solve the challenge of complex system-on-chip (SoC) functional verification. Its Trek family of software and applications and its unique SoC scenario-modeling approach are used in production at leading semiconductor companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Founded in 2003, Breker is privately held and funded. Daily updates on company activities are available at twitter.com/BrekerSystems. "The Breker Trekker" blog is hosted on EDACafe, available at www10.edacafe.com/blogs/thebrekertrekker. Corporate headquarters: 1879 Lundy Ave., Suite 126, San Jose, Calif. 95131. Telephone: (650) 336-8872. Email: info@brekersystems.com. Website: www.brekersystems.com.






Hindi Cinema Is Truly My Oxygen: Karan Johar
GRENADA, Miss. -- According to attorney Carlos Moore, Grenada City Prosecutor Jennifer Adams has decided to not pursue a second-degree murder charge against his client, Joshua Lewis Blunt.

Blunt was arrested on Thursday for leaving his 8-month-old daughter in his hot car while he was working. After he and his coworker walked outside, they noticed Blunt's baby girl, Shania was still in his car. She was transported to University of Mississippi hospital in Grenada where she was pronounced dead after numerous attempts to resuscitate her.

On Tuesday, Blount had his initial appearance in Grenada Municipal Court, where he was released under his own recognizance by Judge Rusty Harlow. Moore had hoped to have the charge reduced from second-degree murder to culpable negligence manslaughter at that hearing, but the amendment was not granted. According to Harlow, District Attorney Doug Evans would need to join in the opinion to reduce the charges because the charges are felonies and therefore not within the purview of the municipal court.

As of Wednesday, calls to Evans' and Adams' offices had not received a response. Moore said he was confident the murder charge was being dropped.

"As the chief law enforcement officer of the City of Grenada, she (Adams) has that prerogative and authority," Moore said. "Thus there will NOT be a preliminary hearing on July 26th on a charge of Second Degree Murder. If there is no preliminary hearing on the charge, he cannot be bound over to a Grenada County Grand Jury by the Grenada Municipal Court for a possible indictment on the charge. Mr. Blunt appreciates the city prosecutor for putting an effective end to the murder charge. Mr. Blunt's life has been irretrievably changed with the tragic loss of his beloved daughter. A racially biased judicial system was only compounding his problems as he prepares to lay his daughter to rest all why grieving the regrettable and accidental role he played in causing her untimely death."

"This has been a tragedy of unfathomable proportion and the family continues to request your prayers in the days and months ahead," Moore said.

While it was not made clear as to if Blunt will face culpable negligence charges, the possibility exists.

The Mississippi Press will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- After a nearly three hour standoff with police and U.S. Marshals at an Ocean Springs home Wednesday afternoon, a wanted fugitive identified by police as George Kelley has been taken into custody.

Ocean Springs Police Chief Mark Dunston told The Mississippi Press the Jackson County Sheriff's Office SWAT team entered the home on Gibson Road around 3 p.m. and were able to take Kelly into custody without further incident.

Kelley was alone inside the home, which reportedly belongs to a relative of Kelley's.

The standoff began around 12:15 p.m. when U.S. Marshals, accompanied by officers from the Ocean Springs Police Department, attempted to serve a warrant for Kelly's arrest at the home. Kelley refused to acknowledge the officer's directions to surrender and exit the home, leading to the standoff before the SWAT team forcibly entered the home and took Kelley into custody.

Kelley became a wanted fugitive when he failed to appear for a court date on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and burglary.

OSPD Capt. Chuck Jackson said the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force was the lead agency, with assistance from the OSPD and JCSO.

"The U.S. Marshals requested our assistance to help ensure they were able to take him into custody without more problems than necessary," Jackson said.

Kelley was taken to the Jackson County Adult Detention Center to be held without bond for the U.S. Marshals, Jackson said.

This story was updated May 26, 2016.
The Nextbit Robin wants to solve a very real problem, but the execution is quite poor. Combined with the fact that the Robin has a sub-par camera, an average display and mediocre performance, there's really no reason to buy this device. It's basically a very unique-looking phone, which has nothing else really going for it.

Nextbit Robin detailed review

I think we can all unanimously agree that storage is an issue with smartphones. Planned obsolescence, that we often speak of, has a lot to do with 16GB storage on your devices, and there are few companies really trying to solve that issue. Nextbit is one of them. The company boasts of the worlds first "cloud first" device, called the Nextbit Robin. The goal is to solve all your storage issues by using the cloud. But, you know what? My mother always told me not to trust strangers. Heres what I mean.





The Nextbit Smart Cloud: Smart, not functional

Having cloud storage is good, especially if you can upload all your apps on to it. It really could become a one-stop solution to all the storage issues that you may have. Theres a big problem, though: Why should I trust Nextbit with all my data? Its a new company, and there are big names from the tech world running it, but that gives me no reason to trust them, does it?

Nevertheless, the answer to that question really differs from person to person. What bothers me is how the cloud has been executed on the Robin. Why do I have no control over what is supposed to be my personal cloud space? The Nextbit Robin has something the company calls Smart Storage. Its basically an algorithm that decides how you will use the space on your phone.

Theres something inherently wrong about that idea. After all, its my phone, and since I paid for it, I should be able to decide how my storage is assigned. Instead, on the Robin, the phone will decide how much free space youre going to have. The smart algorithm monitors your usage and backs up apps that you dont use, on to the Nextbit Cloud. Seems good, right?

Where things fall apart is when you realise that you have no control over the storage. All you can do is tell the phone to not backup an app by pinning it. To do this, you simply swipe down on the app icon, and a small tick mark appears to confirm that the app has been pinned. However, you cant choose to move an app to cloud when you want, neither can you choose to move particular files from your phone to cloud, when you need or want. Youre entirely at Robins mercy.

So, imagine you have just a little space left. You cant choose to free up a few gigs of space by manually moving stuff to the Nextbit Cloud. If at that point, the Smart Algorithm decides that it can move only 1GB of apps and data to the cloud, thats all youll have, and you cant transfer the stray HD movie rip that you were planning to carry around on your phone for the three-hour flight.

Also, you cant access the cloud from anywhere but your phone, giving me another reason why I would prefer storing photos, videos and files on Google Drive, instead of the Nextbit Cloud. It gives me continuity across various devices.

Further, Nextbit allows you to pull anything down from the cloud, whenever you want. When an app has been backed up to the cloud, itll appear as a greyish icon on your screen. You can simply tap this to pull it back down from the cloud. Good luck doing this, when a heavy game has been backed up. You can set the Robin to 'never backup', unless its connected to WiFi. But, if you need an app or some data when youre out and about, your mobile data will take a beating. For heavy apps, say a game, youll almost always be dependent on WiFi.

In India, data over WiFi is also expensive, and unlimited connections are far and few. This means that both your FUP limit on WiFi and mobile data face oblivion if you buy the Robin. Its meant for the few niche users who have the fastest WiFi connections and unlimited data to burn through.

Lastly, the only way to check whats on the cloud is through the Settings menu. You get 100GB of cloud space when you buy the device, which shows up under Smart Storage in Settings. Here, you can tap on Smart Storage and check whats on the cloud. Over the past weeks, the Robin has apparently backed up 1.8GB of media content and 13MB of photos and videos on to the cloud. Thats all I know, and I have no idea whether there are photos that are yet to be backed up, whether the phone will start pulling data the minute it gets on WiFi, or for that matter, anything at all.

To be clear, there are four LEDs on the back, with the cloud icon above them. These will light up when the Robin is backing up data. In the week or so that Ive spent with the Robin, never have I once seen them light up, when I checked. Yet, the phone has backed up data, which means that putting the lights on the front would have been a better idea, since my phone is almost always face-up.

Build and Design: Worthy of the awards

Whats really worth appreciating about the Robin is its design. This is plastic done right. My review unit has blue and white colours, with blue on the front, and white on a major portion of the back. Its a smooth, seamless design thats pleasant to look at, and is unique, even. Scott Croyle, ex-SVP of Design at HTC, heads the design department at Nextbit, and the speaker grilles on the front show the Taiwanese companys influence. The USB-C port at the bottom and headphone jack on the top fit seamlessly into the design. The Robin is a looker, and the Red Dot award that it won for design is well deserved.

Having said that, this is not an ergonomic device. The Robin has a 5.2-inch display, and its too big in comparison to a Nexus 5X or Samsung Galaxy S7. The sharp edges dig into your hand, and the phone is even slippery at times. When pressing the fingerprint sensor, which is built into the power on/off button on the side, you have to press hard. To maintain the smooth body of the phone, the button is indented on the side, making it difficult to press. The Sony Xperia Z5, which also had a fingerprint sensor on the side, didnt feel this way.

Overall, though, Im sold on the Robins unique looks. OEMs rarely try innovating on the design front today, and Nextbit has got a lot of it right.

Display: Nothing exceptional

Theres little to talk about here. The 1080p display on the Nextbit Robin has good blacks, and is pleasant enough to look at. Its a tad washed out, but nothing worth complaining about. At Rs. 19,999, it works.

UI: Needs more thought

The UI on the Robin is designed around its USP, the cloud. Im not very fond of the way folders are created, with three apps from each folder stacked on top of each other as representation. It makes the screen look more cluttered, and if youre not fine with it, theres a round, purple button that gives you access to Pinned Apps, Archived Apps and All Apps. In doing so, youll see a vertical list of apps, which is cumbersome to scroll through. Theres also no Search within these menus.

Apps like Contacts, Calculator, Gallery etc. cant be pushed to the cloud, and other changes to the UI are more or less cosmetic. The phone runs on Android Marshmallow.

Performance: Just about fine

The Nextbit Robin runs on the Snapdragon 808, which is the SoC running on the Nexus 5X. You shouldnt expect the same performance, though. The Nextbit Robin is fast enough and works well, but there are slight lags, and app load times are high for heavy games. Its not the smoothest performer out there, and the Lenovo Vibe x3 was much more fluid.

The Robin also tends to heat up quite easily, but not abnormally, considering the weather nowadays.

Camera: Uninspiring

The Robin comes with a 13MP rear camera, which takes sub-standard shots. Irrespective of light, photos look desaturated, and it doesn't do very well with details, either. All of this gets even more exaggerated under low light. The camera is also slow to focus, and often fails to focus when shooting with close-up subjects. This makes it even more uninspiring.



These images are representational. Please click here for the full sized camera samples.

The quality of images should have been better, but there's a good chance that the cloud has something to do with the lack of quality. High quality photos are larger in size, which would mean more cloud space would be required to store them.

Battery: Not enough

The Nextbit Robin has a 2680mAh battery, which lasts for about seven hours on heavy usage. With 100% charge at 9am, I played games on the phone for 45 minutes, followed by five phone calls, 30 minutes of browsing and constant text messaging. With this usage, the device lasted me till 4pm, when the battery dropped to 15%. The display was on auto adjustment mode throughout this exercise.

The Robin supports Qualcomms Quick Charge 2.0 technology, but a compatible adapter isnt included in the box. Youll only get the USB-C cable, which is a bummer. Also, my unit refused to charge often, which should be an issue specific to my review device.

Botttomline: Just an idea

Nextbit has a noble idea of solving your storage issues, but the Robin isnt the phone to do that. Its functional as a phone, but theres no real reason to buy it, especially in the Indian market, which is hard pressed for data availability all the time. Perhaps, some software implementation to allow backing up of apps on to an SD card would have been a better idea, or even a 64GB/128GB phone may have worked. It has a sub-par camera, it's not very powerful and the display is nothing worth exclaiming. In essence, it's a very well-designed phone that fails to live up to its main USP. The Nexus 5X, Lenovo Vibe x3 and Xiaomi Mi 5 are all better phones to buy.
Nokia Networks is preparing for the future with telcos, even before pan-India 4G rollout completes.

Nokia Networks, the wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia and part of the Telecommunications Standards Development Society in India, is reportedly in talks with telecom operators to begin trial of next generation 5G networks in the country. A report by the Press Trust of India states that Nokia Networks has already started testing 5G connectivity in association with operators in countries like United States of America, South Korea and Japan, and trials are set to begin in India, soon.

While 5G trials are seemingly close to inception, India remains in the middle of pan-India 4G network rollout. Bharti Airtel became the first operator to roll out 4G network connectivity in India back in 2012, and since then, Vodafone and Reliance have notably followed suit. Vodafone now offers SuperNet 4G across multiple service circles alongside Airtel, and Reliance is close to a public rollout of its 4G network connectivity. Much of the nations devices still operate on 3G connectivity, and still many on 2G. The fifth generation of connectivity, or 5G, seems to be a distant dream in Indias present network scape, and would not become mainstream before 2020, as projected by Milivoj Vela, Head of Mobile Broadband at Nokia Networks, to PTI.

5G network connectivity has the potential to deliver data at speeds of 100Mbps (megabits per second), and data delivery capacity that is 1,000 times higher than existing networks. Nokia Networks clarified that while primary data services will be pushed to 5G bandwidth upon commercialisation of the technology, voice-over-Internet services will still be operated on 4G networks. 5G connectivity will have latency that is lesser than 1ms, and hence, will find widespread application in more developed usage scenarios.

5G networks will operate in spectrum bands above the 6GHz frequency. Mobile data spectrum operates between 700MHz and 2.6GHz, while WiFi networks operate between 2.4GHz and 5GHz. With 5G, the entire quality of network services is expected to improve, alongside speeds. However, while the first commercial services may be unveiled by 2020, in remains an interesting observation if our networks improve fast enough for adapting to 5G standards within the next four years.

Source
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
How are Black residents here doing compared to rest of U.S.?
Reserve body found.jpg

The body of 29-year-old Alexander Martinez was found in this pond at The Reserve at Gulf Hills apartment complex Monday. His death has been ruled a drowning.

(Warren Kulo/The Mississippi Press)

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A man whose body was found floating in a pond at a St. Martin apartment complex Monday has been identified as George Martinez, a worker for the contracting company performing renovations at the complex.

Jackson County Deputy Coroner Jason Moody said the 29-year-old Martinez' last known address was Jackson, Miss.

Martinez' body was found floating in the pond at the center of The Reserve at Gulf Hills apartment complex around 11 a.m. Monday by members of the apartments' maintenance staff.

Moody said he and his staff had a difficult time identifying Martinez because he had no identification on him when found.

"We had to identify him by taking fingerprints and running them through the system," Moody said. "Ultimately we were able to find and notify his family."

The cause of death has been ruled as drowning, but Moody said the manner of death won't be officially determined until results of a toxicology test are returned in 6-8 weeks. Accidental drowning or suicide are the most likely.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A 42-year-old Pascagoula man was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car early Wednesday morning.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a report of a crash around 4 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Franklin Creek Road and the median crossover of the Interstate 10 offramp.

A Yamaha motorcycle driven southbound on Franklin Creek by Howard Brent Martin of Pascagoula collided with a Pontiac sedan driven by 40-year-old Dionel Davis of Mobile, Ala. Forts Lake Fire Department and ambulance personnel joined the JCSO at the scene.

Martin was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Jackson County Deputy Coroner Jason Moody. Davis was uninjured.

The accident remains under investigation.
Montlake Triangle/Rainier Vista wins top award

Photo courtesy of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol [enlarge] Montlake Triangle and Rainier Vista connect the University of Washington campus with Sound Transits new light rail station.

Montlake Triangle and Rainier Vista, which connect the University of Washington campus with Sound Transit's new light rail station, won top honors as an outstanding local civil engineering achievement from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

This is the 16th year that the Seattle Section of ASCE has recognized projects that improve the quality of life and contribute to economic development in the region.

Here are the projects that won honor awards: Windermere combined sewer overflow reduction in Seattle in the water resources category; Ivar's Pier 54 seismic upgrades and renovation in Seattle, structures category; and Tiger Mountain Lower High Point Bridge in Issaquah, small project category.

ASCE Seattle will present the awards June 8 at Mirabella in Seattle.

Montlake Triangle/Rainier Vista won in the transportation and development category. ASCE said in a press release that the structure creates a seamless, grade-separated, multimodal transportation hub while improving the main gateway to the UW and completing the Olmstead Brothers' historic vision for the campus.

The hub brings together Link light rail, the Burke Gilman Trail, Metro buses, UW Medical Center and Husky Stadium.

The project team is KPPF Consulting Engineers, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Sellen/Merlino JV and Shannon & Wilson. UW is the owner.

Here are some of the challenges the team faced:

 19,000 cubic yards of fill were added above a 30-year old parking garage to restore the historic view corridor to Mount Rainier. ASCE said it could be the largest earthwork project over a building. Fill depths ranged from 18-inches to 10-feet.

 An innovative 3D post-tensioning system was used to give the land bridge its signature hourglass shape.

 One side of an underground parking garage was exposed when a street was lowered by 19 feet for the land bridge. This required doing seismic retrofits on the garage while it was open.

 Complex geometric constraints were resolved to create safe, accessible and efficient pathways, including for the Burke-Gilman Trail.

For the Windermere CSO project, Seattle Public Utilities constructed a 2.05-million-gallon storage facility and two system retrofits. The storage tank was designed to minimize impacts to nearby Magnuson Park and future development.

Work also included 2,250 linear feet of conveyance piping, controls, and mechanical and odor control equipment. Retrofits consisted of a new modulating combined sewer control gate, improvements to existing weirs, addition of instrumentation for level and flow measurement, and real-time monitoring and controls.

The project team is HDR, CH2M, CDM Smith and HBB Landscape Architects.

On Ivar's Pier 54, Reid Middleton did structural engineering for the renovation. Work included replacing timber aprons on the north and west sides of the building and replacing part of the south apron with new steel piling, precast concrete caps and deck panels.

Aprons were designed to seismically strengthen the rest of the timber pier that supports the building.

The nearly 100-year-old heavy timber restaurant on the pier was also seismically renovated, with steel moment frames and truss upgrades.

The project team also included Hikari Consulting, Mithun, CB Anderson Architects, RS Consulting, GeoEngineers, W.G. Clark Construction Co. and Pacific Pile & Marine.

The Tiger Mountain project involved building a 200-foot-long, self-weathering, steel truss, pedestrian bridge 30 feet above Lower High Point Creek to replace a wooden bridge that was damaged by flooding in 2009.

The new bridge is only 4 feet, 6 inches wide, and the height of intermediate piers is 30 feet. The superstructure is a 4-foot-10-inch pony truss, with the top chord of the truss also working as the top of the railing to save the cost in installing separate railings. The bridge deck is treated timber. Two intermediate columns are made of curved 12-inch square steel tubes.

The spread footings, column pedestals and abutments are cast-in-place concrete. Foundations were laid outside of potential geological hazard areas.

Washington State Department of Natural Resources owns the project. The team includes RHC Engineering and Shannon & Wilson.




The sun shone and the county never looked better as Prince Charles and Lady Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall came to Donegal for a whirlwind six hour visit that was welcomed by most people and is sure to the county a power of good.

Prince Charles personified calmness and charm as he emerged from Donegal Castle to walk the short distance to the Diamond.

His security detail must have been having ten heart attacks as he zig zagged his way through the people - starting out near Timoney's and then swiftly cross the road to greet a lady who had been sitting patiently, hoping to say hello.

He had a word for everyone, he delayed more than a few moments with Francie Kennedy and then had a friendly exchange with two ladies from Ballyshannon who had dropped down to see him.

He worked the crowds at his ease, stopped off at a local butcher shop and from there to Magee and Company - a Donegal company celebrating 150 years in business.

From Donegal to LYIT in Letterkenny where his cupla focal in Irish went down well.

The Duchess of Cornwall went off to visit a local school and the couple reunited to travel to Glenveagh National Park for the final leg of a whistle stop six hour tour of Donegal - all in glorious sunshine.

To see all the photos and read all the stories from the visit don't miss our special pull out on the visit, only in Thursday's Donegal Democrat.
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.
Jacqueline Mary Meister, Jackie to all who knew and loved her, 91, of Sturgeon Bay, was called Home to be with the Lord, Monday evening, October 10, 2022 at Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay.

She was born January 20, 1931 in Algoma, the daughter of Melvin Jacob Blahnik, Sr. and Emeline Caroline (Schmitz) Blahnik. Jackie grew up attending St. Mary Catholic Church and Grade School in Algoma. She graduated from Algoma High School, the class of 1948. Jackie first met her husband, James Howard Meister while working at the bowling alley (for $0.10/game) in Algoma. They were united in marriage on May 25, 1948 at Jims parents home (off State Highway 42 between Maplewood and Forestville). They eventually moved to Sturgeon Bay and lived on Juniper Street on the west side of Sturgeon Bay where they raised their family of nine. Jackie attended Corpus Christi Catholic Church with her family and eventually St. Joseph Catholic Church, both in Sturgeon Bay.

She was employed at various establishments in Sturgeon Bay throughout her life - initially at Ray's Grocery Store (where Bridgeport is currently located); then with Krueger canning (where Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Co. is now located). She also worked for Chico's Cherry factory, then Jolins Drug Store (downtown), before going to work for Isaaksens Laundromat (on the west side)

Jackies primary and final employment was with the Door County Senior resource Center in Sturgeon Bay where she was the first bus driver, initially providing transportation with her own van. She drove residents and area community members around the county until her eventual retirement in 1992.

Jackie and Jim moved to Bay Shore Drive just outside the city limits of Sturgeon Bay, in the Town of Sevastopol in 1990. They were blessed with over 43 years of marriage. Jackie resided there until late spring of 2021 when she moved into the Pine Crest Village in Sturgeon Bay.

She was a member of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Institute as well as the A Doorable Red Hatters (of Door County). In the 1950s and 1960s, Jackie and Jim were members of the Door Devils Motorcycle Club. Earlier in life, she enjoyed bowling in various leagues at Cherry Lanes in Sturgeon Bay. Jackie looked forward to playing cards with her friends in their card club that got together regularly. She also liked traveling with friends as part of the Retired Persons Traveling Club.

Jackie will be missed by her four children, Kathy Meister of the Town of Sevastopol, Michael (Dale) Meister of Clifton, VA, Robert (Jerrilynn) Meister of California City, CA, and Patricia (Brent) LaVigne of Valmy; ten grandchildren, Jordan (Missy) Whipple and Zachary Meister, Lindsay and Michael Dylan Meister, Jennifer (Joe) Gomez and Kimberly (Chad) Adkinson, Tom (Jackie) LaVigne and Michael (Lisa) LaVigne, Tim Meister, and Christie Meister; and a large number of great-grandchildren. In addition, shell be missed by her brother, Melvin (Janet) Blahnik, Jr. of Florida; other relatives; and friends.

Jackie was preceded in death by her husband James Meister; three sons, Richard, Thomas, and Jerome Meister; two grandsons, Peter Meister and Timothy Meister; sister, Barbara (Ervin) Stahl; sister-in-law, Jean Meister; and other relatives.

Her life will be honored with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 4, 2022 at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Institute, 4767 E. Dunn Rd., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 with Fr. Robert Stegmann as celebrant. The Rosary will be prayed at the church at 9:10 a.m. on Friday, November 4, 2022 with visitation for family and friends following from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Mass.

Jackie will be laid to rest next to her late husband in the Forestville Town Cemetery.

Memorials may be given in Jackies name for the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Door County.

Our family would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Richard Hogan and staff at Door County Medical Center, the Pine Crest Village staff, and the Unity Hospice staff for the wonderful care given to our mother.

Huehns Funeral Home, Inc & Door County Crematory LLC in Sturgeon Bay are assisting the Meister family. Expressions of sympathy, memories, and photos of Jackie may be shared with her family through her tribute page at www.huehnsfuneralhome.com.
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.
Testimony from indicted Speaker of the House Mike Hubbards former chief of staff Josh Blades cut like a knife for the defense Wednesday afternoon.

Blades, once Hubbards right-hand man, took the stand for the prosecution at 1:15 p.m. and, by 2:30, he had told the court he and others advised Hubbard not to vote on language in a 2013 budget bill that would have essentially made the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc.  a client of Hubbards through his consulting firm the Auburn Network  the only agency with the ability to bid on a pharmacy benefit manager being considered for Medicaid at the time.

We told him it was a problem, and we didnt think he should move forward with the language in the budget because it looked bad, said Blades. I told Mr. Hubbard he should not vote on the budget.

Blades, who served as Hubbards chief of staff from 2011 to 2014, said the General Fund budget was in trouble at the time, and the pharmacy benefit manager was an attempt by legislators to save the state money.

Medicaid is the largest portion of the General Fund budget. One of the ideas Dr. Williamson had  was to have a personal PBM instituted at the department of Medicaid, he said, adding that the benefit manager would cut costs for pharmaceutical providers and Medicaid was in favor of it.

In an attempt to protect small pharmacies, Blades said, the ACPI went to the speaker claiming that it could basically do the exact same thing as a commercial pharmacy benefit manager, but it could also protect small businesses in the state.

It sounded like a great idea to us, Blades said. Lobbyist Farrell Patrick then asked for a meeting with Hubbard and others to discuss the proposal, he explained.

After a positive meeting among Blades, Hubbard, Patrick, John Ross, Rep. Steve Clouse and former Rep. Greg Wren, Everyone wanted to do it.

Language reflecting what the men had discussed was developed and inserted into the budget.

But shortly thereafter, Blades was approached by Ross, who had learned through Patrick that Hubbard held a consulting contract with ACPI.

Blades said he and Ross asked Hubbard if it were true, and he confirmed that it was. But Hubbard said the contract was for out-of-state matters only and that the Ethics Commission had given him approval for the contract.

Appearance of impropriety

Generally speaking, we tried to not even have an appearance of impropriety.  This, in my opinion, was an appearance of impropriety, Blades said.

With the budget already on the floor, Blades said he and others advised Hubbard to either abstain from the vote or not to vote at all.

He said it would raise too many red flags if the speaker did not vote on his own budget, Blades said, and so he voted in favor of it, allegedly with the intent to fix it later by removing the language.

I was upset that I had played a role in what transpired that day, and that I had played a role unknowingly, a sometimes-emotional Blades said on the stand, adding that he was afraid that there might be legal implications after all this transpired.

The language was later removed from the legislation.

Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of inserting language into the legislation to benefit a personal client of his and then voting on that legislation, both of which they claim violates the Alabama Ethics Law.

Hubbards attorneys have asserted that his consulting contract with ACPI was strictly for out-of-state business and in no way pertained to his role as speaker.

Theres a lot more in that bill than those few lines, said defense lawyer Bill Baxley, adding that the budget allocated billions of dollars.

Without a vote, the state would shut down, he said.

Baxley said Hubbard knew the language was going to be removed in committee when he voted on it.

The speaker had changed his mind and wanted the language out that the ACPI wanted in. So it was determined by all of them that it would be fixed in the Senate, and so the Senate did take it out, Baxley said.

Blades also provided insight into other consulting contracts held by Hubbard, in which prosecutors claim he used his mantle as House speaker to personally benefit.

He testified that Hubbard directed him in 2013 to help Capitol Cups, a cup-manufacturing company in Auburn owned by CV Holdings LLC, to secure a patent.

Using his contacts in Mississippi and Washington, D.C., Blades said, he did what he could to move the process along, not knowing at the time that Hubbard held a $10,000-per-month contract with the business.

Mr. Hubbard told me he had 100,000 reasons to get this done, Blades said. It made me uncomfortable because when I heard it, I immediately thought the speaker meant money in some form.

After that comment, Blades said, he ended his involvement in the situation.

Blades testified that he knew of Hubbards $12,000-per-month contract with the Southeast Alabama Gas District, which was reduced to $7,500 per month and later canceled.

Baxley said the out-of-state requirement wouldnt have made much sense for that contract when Hubbards goal was economic development.

Isbell: I didnt know about ACPI contract

Jason Isbell, current vice president of legal and governmental affairs, in-house attorney and lobbyist for the Alabama Bankers Association and former attorney with the Legislative Fiscal Office from 2002 to 2011, was the states fifth and final witness of the day.

Isbell said he had a close working relationship with Hubbard, but that despite drafting the ACPI language for the 2014 budget, he didnt find out about Hubbards outside contract until speaking to Blades long after the vote.

I was an attorney in the speakers office; I wasnt the speakers attorney, he said.

Hines: Auburn Network transactions not typical

Chris Hines, former vice president of Hubbards Auburn Network, took the stand Wednesday morning and testified that the company received tens of thousands of dollars from consulting contracts with various entities, including the Southeast Alabama Gas District, Edgenuity Inc. and CV Holdings LLC.

Questioned by Deputy Attorney General Mike Duffy, Hines said he was formerly tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the business, including finances. Hubbard, as president, CEO and owner of the Auburn Network, received a $132,000 salary from the company, Hines said, and also received dividends from time to time.

Hines said he did not know specifically what services Hubbard was providing under the contracts, and said the transactions were not typical.

He confirmed that at least one check written to the company included a memo for lobbying.

Only Hubbard worked on the contracts mentioned, he said, and Hubbard merely provided consulting services to his knowledge.

On cross examination, Baxley asked if it was fair to say that Hubbard put much more money into the company than he made. Hines said yes.

Whatley: Hubbard never profited off Craftmaster-ALGOP transactions

The president of Craftmaster Printers, an Auburn company in which Hubbard holds partial interest and is accused of using the ALGOP to funnel money into, testified Wednesday that Craftmaster is a financially struggling business and that Hubbard never profited off any transactions involving the state Republican party.

Barry Whatley, who has been a partial owner of Craftmaster since October 2000, said the company was basically bankrupt when he became involved with it.

When we bought the company, there was $8.8 million worth of debt, he said. Its almost like raising the Titanic. Its been very difficult from Day One.

Whatley said three people, including himself, own 55 percent of the business in holding-company stock, while 10 others own 45 percent of the company in preferred stock. Original owners were Hubbard, Philip Cole, Doug Taylor, Pat Dye and himself, he said, adding that he and Hubbard are the only original owners left in the business.

Whatley said he didnt know Hubbard before going into business with him. He said Hubbard was recommended to him as a business partner by an employee of AuburnBank.

But even with Hubbards help, the company continued to struggle.

Craftmaster filed for bankruptcy in 2005 but later withdrew its filing. The company would later run into issues when it got behind in federal taxes.

At that point, Whatley said, Hubbard came up with a plan to help the business.

The plan was to go out and find some investors that would invest that amount of money so we could pay off our bank notes, he said.

So Hubbard, Whatley and others sifted through their contacts searching for 10 investors at $150,000 each. Whatley obtained two investors, and Hubbard got eight.

If the business went under, Whatley said, the owners would be responsible for the debt.

Special prosecutor Matt Hart questioned Whatley about Majority Strategies, a political marketing firm out of Florida that the ALGOP paid money to, which in turn spent the funds with Craftmaster.

Asked why the business used Craftmaster, Whatley said he really didnt know, but that Majority Strategies had been using Craftmaster since 2004.

In a string of emails between Whatley and Majority Strategies Brett Buerck dated in 2013, Whatley wrote that Hubbard had sent over $500,000 in work to the company, and accused Buerck of starting rumors that Hubbard was profiting from the transactions.

Whatley said Hubbard never received so much as a dollar, and that all transactions were proper, despite two commissions recorded some 14 years ago that he believes were incorrectly labeled.

Asked where the money went, Whatley said it went to the bank to pay bills, including employee salaries, rent and supplies.

Craftmasters building is leased from Swann LLC, Whatley said, of which Hubbard is a partial owner.

Under cross examination by defense attorney David McKnight, Whatley testified that Hubbard received no salary from Craftmaster and that he was not involved in the business daily activities.

Whatley said the company, which serves hundreds of clients including Microsoft, Federal Express, Ralph Lauren and the University of Alabama at Birmingam, has won numerous awards for its quality and service.

Up next

The state will continue to call witnesses today, beginning at 9 a.m. Among those expected to take the stand are Majority Strategies co-owner Randy Kammerdiener, Legislative Fiscal Analyst Mary Lawrence, former Alabama Medicaid Agency Director Don Williamson, LFO Fiscal officer Rachel Riddle, former LFO Director Norris Green, and Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark.

Hubbard was indicted in October 2014 on 23 felony ethics charges of using his political office for personal gain. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $30,000 for each count. He has long maintained his innocence and continued to serve as speaker of the house during the 2016 legislative session.

Meagan Hurley can be reached at mhurley@oanow.com.
dpa ElectionsData

With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc.

The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties.
Little Ricky, a dog rescued from Yulin, and his mom, Chauntell Hawkins, visit with Rep. Alcee Hastings who introduced a resolution today condemning the dog meat festival. Photo by Kevin Wolf/AP Images for HSI

31 shares







Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., introduced a congressional resolution today condemning Chinas dog meat trade and the festival in Yulin, China, where thousands of dogs and cats are slaughtered each year. The resolution, which has 27 original cosponsors, doesnt have the force of law, but its an opportunity for the United States to urge the government of China and Yulin authorities to protect against pet dogs being stolen and sold into the meat trade. It calls for a ban on the killing and eating of dogs and urges China to enact an anti-animal cruelty law banning the dog meat trade. It also calls for tougher enforcement of a 2011 agriculture ministry resolution that requires one certificate for one dog on board trucks transporting dogs that cross provincial boundaries, and of Chinas food safety laws that would preclude this trade if properly enforced.

Humane Society International has documented the abuses of dogs at Yulin for the past several years, drawing global attention to this inferno for animals. Today, a dog HSI rescued from Yulin, Little Ricky, paid Congressman Hastings a visit during the release of the resolution. Little Ricky was named in honor of actor and comedian Ricky Gervais for his support of HSIs #EndYulin campaign, and this canine ambassador now lives with his adoptive forever family in the Washington, D.C. region.

As many as 10,000 dogs could be captured, slaughtered, and eaten during the Yulin dog meat festival, which is scheduled to take place on June 21st this year. In recent years, as international pressure on China to end the festival has intensified and images of the festivals brutality have made their way around the world, Yulin authorities have withdrawn their official support for it. Despite this, the festival continues and dog meat traders continue to slaughter dogs, usually right in front of other dogs who watch in horror as they wait for doom to visit them next.

Yulin is a terrifying and intense reminder of the horrors of the Chinese dog meat trade. We estimate that people kill more than 10 million dogs in China each year for human consumption. Besides the cruelty to the animals, the trade poses human health risks, with the World Health Organization linking the dog meat trade to cholera and rabies. As the resolution states, the dog slaughter in Yulin also happens in residential areas and public marketplaces, imposing scenes of extreme animal cruelty on local residents, including young children who may, as a result, suffer psychological trauma and desensitization.

Following last years Yulin dog meat festival, HSI helped set up China Animal Protection Power (CAPP), a task force of volunteers with local groups VShine, EShine, and Xian Small Animal Protection Association. These volunteers have intercepted trucks carrying dogs under extremely harsh conditions and with no access to food, water, or veterinary care. We have helped in the rescue of hundreds of dogs over the years, many still with collars on them. Just last week, with the assistance of law enforcement, activists with CAPP stopped a truck carrying 200 dogs on the Tianjin Highway outside Beijing. The dogs were liberated after three days of negotiations, during which activists with CAPP reported the truck to police, while activists in Beijing lobbied the agriculture ministry and other officials to intervene. All the while activists on the ground provided food and water to the dogs. One of the dogs had a microchip and we hope to engineer a reunion with the family.

The vast majority of people in China dont eat dogs, and Chinese opposition to the dog meat trade is mounting. The Yulin dog meat festival is not about culture or tradition  it was launched in 2010 by dog meat traders hoping to boost flagging interest in the product, and was endorsed by local authorities who hoped to stir tourism. But as China has found out since the launch of the festival, it has earned the nation nothing but global censure. For people around the world  and for many dog-loving Chinese  an end to this festival of horrors could not come soon enough.
We just got word that human rights activist Peter Tatchell, director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation has been detained in Qatar where he wa...
Germany's government is threatening a blanket ban on all Fiat Chrysler products over allegations the company used a defeat device to cheat emissions testing.

Reports out of Europe allege Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority found evidence of the device when carrying out tests on a Fiat 500X SUV recently. It was discovered the software shuts down certain emissions controls after the vehicle has been running for 22 minutes. The standardised diesel emissions test in the European Union reportedly takes 20 minutes to complete.

Fiat Chrysler vehemently denied the allegations.

"We believe all our vehicles respect EU emissions standards and we believe Italian regulators are the competent authority to evaluate this," the company said in a statement.

The allegations prompted a fiery response from the German government's transport authorities, with Fiat officially reported to the European Commission as well as Italian authorities.

Graziano Delrio, the Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, has reportedly offered to work with German authorities on FCA's behalf. The carmaker itself has been criticised by Germany's transport minister for having an "uncooperative attitude". Minister Alexander Dobrindt also described the car maker's reasoning for differing test results as "totally incomprehensible".

According to EU law, FCA is required to homologate its vehicles in Italy because that's where its regional operations are based. The German government may resort to a complete ban of all Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles should no resolution come to the surface.
Audi's fast-car fans will be dismayed to learn that the upgraded compact S3 turbo quattro  due to arrive in Australia during the final quarter of this year  will still not quite match the power and torque of European-spec versions.

Audi's engineering brains trust continues to believe that Australia's hot climate demands a slightly detuned approach.

While the output of the 2.0-litre TFSI has been hiked to 213kW/380Nm for Australia (up from the 210kW/380kW of the S3 on sale here now), we have a right to still feel a little cheated.

The European S3 pumps out 228kW and 400Nm (380Nm for the manual) thanks to more generous electronic engine management tuning. We understand our cars retain the same 9.3:1 compression ratio.

Australian journalists who shirt-fronted the Audi boffins in Germany at the launch of the updated A3 range last week heard the same old line that the Wide Brown Land is considered a hot-weather climate country demanding a more conservative engineering approach.

The Aussies argued that our modest speed limits hardly stressed any engines, let alone a performance Audi. We suggested that the German go-for-it autobahns would potentially stretch engines further than our measly 110km/h limits. And it's not as if European countries like Spain, Portugal and (southern) Italy and France are in the grip of an ice age

But the Germans were smilingly insistent that caution was the right approach.

Hey folks, we tried

Aussie buyers don't seem too fussed by this nannying approach, though, as S3 sales have been accounting for healthy 27 per cent of the total A3 catalogue.

Improvements are on the way too, with the updated sporty S3 sedan and hatch getting a seven-speed S tronic with free-wheel function (supplanting the old six-speed DSG) as an alternative to a six-speed manual.

It will also have a tauter, retuned suspension with specially matched 18-inch performance rubber, and S3-specific controls for the stability system and dual-clutch transmission calibration.

The cabin certainly looks smarter with the addition of the newly offered Audi virtual cockpit display highlighting the elegant black interior. The exterior has taken on a touch more aggressive look too.

The upgraded Euro-spec S3 with S tronic (we tried the Cabrio which has all the same equipment as the Sportback and Sedan variants) has a little more urge and still with all the delightful exhaust sounds of the current range - the crackles and burbles - and a perky acceleration.

The new dual-clutch seven speeder is an absolute whiz; so smooth and fast.

The new tyre choices cooperate pleasantly with the steering, offering great feedback and turn-in feel.

The Euro-spec S3 S tronic flies from standstill to 100km/h in 4.5secs. The Australian version, with its absent kiloWatts and Newton-metres, will probably take one-tenth more

The current S3 sedan is priced at $63,400, the Sportback at $61,100, and the Cabrio at $70,110.

Expect to pay not too much more for the 2017 model S3.

Read all the latest Audi news and reviews here

2017 Audi S3 price and specifications

Price: from $62,000 (estimated)

Engine: 2.0-litre four cylinder turbo petrol

Power: 213kW at 5800rpm

Torque: 380Nm at 1850-5700rpm

Transmission: 6-spd manual / 7-spd dual-clutch automatic

Fuel use: 7.0L/100km
W. Lawless Barbershop & Candy Store, which first opened its doors in 1916, was packed to the gills last Friday, for the first day of their centenary celebrations.

Visitors were greeted by Billy Lawlesss, Ramona Grabowska, Maria Carvalho, Shandell Kelly and Megan Lee, donned white barber-coat that date back to 1916.

The barbershop is known for walls donned with old photographs, newspaper cut-outs and memories from Dundalk throughout the past century, this feature was expanded with the addition of a photographic exhibition, detailing the history of the shop and the town, as well as Ireland in 1916 and Dundalk's connection to the events of The Easter Rising.

Beneath the three golden balloons, which formed the number '100', stood a beautiful, old-fashioned candy-cart, kindly crafted for the event by the talented craftsmen from Dundalk Men's Shed. Jack Lee kicked off musical celebrations, followed by The Men's Shed Choir, who sang some traditional Irish songs, accompanied by acoustic guitar and bodhran, including 'Raglan Road', which had everyone singing along.

Next up were Cuchulainn Celtic Strings, who performed a lively, clap-along set of jigs and reels including 'The Foggy Dew'. They were later joined by some Irish Dancers.

The atmosphere throughout the building was electric, everybody was in great form.

There were even some Gaelgeoirs there, keeping with Nan and the late Pat Lawless' tradition of welcoming all Irish speakers into the shop to speak about any subject.

Joe Duffy and his technical team were broadcasting live for 'The Afternoon Show' on Dundalk FM.

Joe interviewed Billy Lawless, who informed listeners about the buildings history, while the interview was going on, the large crowd that had gathered in the building listened intently to Billy's fascinating stories and information.

Ramona Grabowska spoke to The Democrat about the celebrations.

We would like to thank all the Lawless family and friends, staff and team for making this event a memorable one for Billy and Nan. We would also like to thank our neighbours on Park Street for their help and support with the event, to everyone who called with messages of support, well wishes and cards, your support was greatly appreciated, thank you so much.

Thank you to Dundalk FM, Noreen Morgan Mc Manus, Cuchulainn Celtic Strings, Dundalk Mens Shed, Conor Quinn, Seamus Mc Guinness, Stew and Jack Lee you made the event so enjoyable as it is impossible to thank everyone we trust that this will be accepted as our thank you to you all from the bottom of our hearts
John Quigley confirmation hearing for Secretary of Department of Environmental Protection.

John Quigley answers questions before the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee during his confirmation hearing for secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. June 02, 2015. James Robinson, PennLive.com

Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

A state senator from Lancaster County has called for an investigation into the ouster of ex-Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley.

Click to enlarge this email from John Quigley.

But who would run the probe, what it would be charged with investigating and what, if anything, it would do about it once it found something (or not) are still open questions.

Which rather makes one wonder what the point of such an investigation would be -- but one good political turn tends to deserve another:

"Quigley's quick departure from leading one of our Commonwealth's most important executive departments raises serious questions about his conduct while serving as the chief operating officer of the DEP," freshman Republican Sen. Ryan Aument said in a statement released late Tuesday.

"Given the recent discovery of incendiary emails, I believe we need a thorough review to determine if anything inappropriate has occurred relative to the application of regulations in a fair and transparent manner or in the issuance of environmental permits during Secretary Quigley's tenure," Aument said.

For those of you tuning in late, Quigley, a former Hazleton mayor, turned in his resignation late last week when it was revealed he'd fired off an incendiary email to environmental activists in the wake of House and Senate votes on controversial oil and gas regulations.

Two Democratic lawmakers who'd voted for the regs, Sens. John Blake and John Yudichak, were later the targets of attack advertisements.

But the groups involved denied there was any coordination, despite Quigley's exhortations of retribution in his email. That coordination would have been illegal - and could clearly be the topic of any potential probe.

The ouster was described as the final straw in an occasionally rocky tenure that some said was marked by Quigley's inability to build key relationships with the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Environmentalists have rushed to defend him as an aggressive advocate.

In a follow-up conversation Tuesday, Aument's chief of staff, Jake Smeltz, said his boss had remained purposely vague on which agency might be charged with heading up the investigation into Quigley's departure.

Such a probe could be handled by the Office of Inspector General in the Governor's Office, the Attorney General's Office or by appropriate oversight committees in the state House and Senate, Smeltz said.

In this case, that could either be the Senate State Government or the Energy and Environmental Resources committees.

Asked if his boss had reached out to those panels' respective chairman, Sens. Lloyd Smucker, R-Lancaster or Scott Hutchinson, R-Venango, Smeltz said there had been "staff discussions" but no formal outreach.

So what does Aument hope to find?

"We don't believe anything has risen to a criminal level. It's more of an issue of appropriateness," Smeltz said. "If there were any grant awards that went to organizations the former secretary was closely aligned with and there were any potential trades given for support, that would be something that would be investigated by our auditor general [Eugene DePasquale]."

Smeltz left open the prospect of calling Quigley to testify in such a probe. But given the former secretary's facility with the more colorful parts of Anglo-Saxon idiom, it's pretty easy to imagine what his response might be to such a request.

"The General Assembly has the ability to give itself the power to command appearance," Smeltz said. "The Appropriations Committee has standing subpoena power and other [committees] have been given that power when appropriate."

According to Smeltz, Aument, who voted against Quigley's confirmation in 2015, may also be looking for an "I Told You So" moment:

"He wanted to raise awareness and call attention to the fact hat, a year ago, he was one of the members who stood up and said he should not be in his job," Smeltz said.

"Regulators are different than advocates," he continued. "They're the umpires - if you have an umpire that favors a team, that matters in the environmental realm ... This is a management issue and the General Assembly is a partner in managing state government. And nothing has happened in that instance."

The rest of the day's news starts now.

Beset by controversy, residents in the Plum Twp. school district in W.Pa are calling for the superintendent's removal, The Tribune-Review reports.

The General Assembly has tightened rules for child carseats, The Post-Gazette reports.

A criminal conviction and a $100,000 salary - yeah, that's happening in AG Kathleen Kane's Office, PennLive's Wallace McKelvey reports.

Tens of thousands of calls to Pa's child abuse hotline went unanswered in 2015, PennLive's Julianne Mattera reports.

A tourist has been struck and killed by a SEPTA train, PhillyMag reports.

Ten people were hurt when a van carrying Amish and a car crashed in Lancaster County, the AP reports (via WITF-FM).

Former comedian Bill Cosby has been bound over for trial on sex assault charges, NewsWorks/WHYY-FM reports.

The state House has rejected an effort to expand gambling, The Morning Call reports.

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).

State Rep. Steven Mentzer holds an 8:30 a.m. breakfast at Stock's on Second. Admission will run you $250 or $500.

Heavy Rotation.

Happy Birthday to The Modfather. The legendary Paul Weller celebrates another year today. Here he is doing "The Changingman" live at BBC2 last year.

Wednesday's Gratuitous Baseball Link.

Explaining why our eyelids are at half-mast this morning, Baltimore lost a toughie, 3-2 in 13 innings to Houston on Tuesday night.

And now you're up to date. See you all back here in a bit.
Lutas has already provided a remarkable job explaining the vulnerable code in his paper , if you need explanations about those, definitely read his paper.

The vulnerability is located in the emulation of hlt , lgdt , lidt and lmsw instructions :

Exploitation

Among the vulnerable instructions, only two of them could lead to a potential privilege escalation: lgdt and lidt . They respectively allow to change the value of the Global Descriptor Table Register and Interrupt Descriptor Table Register. Both GDTR and IDTR have the same format: the upper bits contain the base address and the lower bits define the limit . These values define the Global Descriptor Table (GDT) and the Interrupt Descriptor Table (IDT) addresses.

According to Intel manuals, a non privileged code is not allowed to execute these instructions. If a user is able to load his own GDT or IDT, this can lead to an arbitrary code execution and a privilege escalation. Let's see how.

Interrupt Descriptor Table (IDT) The IDT is the x86 interrupt vector table . It is a basic table that associates an interrupt number with an interrupt handler. The entry number determines the interrupt number and each entry contains some fields such as: a type, a segment selector, an offset, a privilege level, etc. The interrupt handler address is determined by adding the segment base (determined with the segment selector) and the offset. If a user is able to load his own IDT, he can specify a malicious entry which links an interrupt to his own handler using kernel code segment selector. In order to avoid stability issues, the interrupt must be fowarded to the original handler. This can be done because the handler runs in kernel space, and it can read entries from the previous IDT. This IDT must have been previously saved using the sidt instruction because it must be restored before returning to user space. However, we have not tested it. We chose to use the GDT approach, despite the IDT solution adopted by Andrei Lutas .

Global Descriptor Table (GDT) The GDT is used to define memory segments. Each entry contains: a base, a limit, a type, a Descriptor Privilege Level (DPL), read/write bit, and so on: struct desc_struct { union { struct { unsigned int a ; unsigned int b ; }; struct { unsigned short limit0 ; unsigned short base0 ; unsigned int base1 : 8 , type : 4 , s : 1 , dpl : 2 , p : 1 ; unsigned int limit : 4 , avl : 1 , l : 1 , d : 1 , g : 1 , base2 : 8 ; }; }; } __attribute__ (( packed )); Nowadays, the most used memory segmentation pattern is a flat model. Each descriptor maps the whole memory but with differents privileges and flags (all security checks are performed with paging). Most of the time there are at least six GDT entries: 32-bit kernel code segment (dpl = 0)

64-bit kernel code segment (dpl = 0)

kernel data segment (dpl = 0)

32-bit user code segment (dpl = 3)

64-bit user code segment (dpl = 3)

user data segment (dpl = 3) The current memory segments are specified in the segment registers. There are several segment registers: code selector, stack selector, data selector, etc. Each segment selector is 16-bit long. Bits 3 through 15 are an index in the GDT, bit 2 is the LDT/GDT selector, bit 0 and 1 are the Requested Segment Privilege (RPL). There is another kind of entry which is very interesting in our case: call gate entry. The aim of a call gate is to facilitate the transfer between different privilege levels. Such entries are twice larger than memory descriptors (in 64-bit mode) and have others fields: a segment selector

an offset in the selected segment

a DPL To access a call gate, the user has to perform a far call. The far call must specify the call selector. This selector has exactly the same format as any selector (index in the GDT, LDT/GDT selector, requested privilege). Then the CPU takes the segment selector specified in the call gate entry, takes the base of this segment, add the call gate offset and reaches procedure entry point. Of course, there are some privilege checks and four levels of privileges are involved: the current privilege level (CPL)

the requested privilege level in the far call selector (RPL)

the call gate descriptor privilege level (CDPL)

the segment descriptor privilege level (SDPL) Three conditions must be satisfied: CPL <= CDPL

RPL <= CDPL

SDPL <= CPL If these conditions are satisfied the call gate procedure is executed. The idea is to create a call gate with a DPL set to 3, a segment selector pointing to the kernel code segment, and procedure giving us supervisor privileges. Then: CPL = 3

RPL = 0

CDPL = 3

SDPL = 0

CPL <= CDPL == True

RPL <= CDPL == True

SDPL <= CPL == True
Speaking in D.C. May 24, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), slammed GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying the "central question" of the 2016 election is "whether this country works for billionaires like Trump and their big bank friends or whether this country works for everyone else. " (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Speaking in D.C. May 24, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), slammed GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying the "central question" of the 2016 election is "whether this country works for billionaires like Trump and their big bank friends or whether this country works for everyone else. " (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has a new partner in her battle against Donald Trump: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who gave a speech Tuesday mirroring Clintons own talking points accusing Trump of profiting from the housing crash of 2008.

Warren (D-Mass.) has stayed out of the ongoing Democratic primary race between Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont  she is the only Democratic woman in the Senate who has not endorsed Clinton  but she recently has become more aggressive in taking on Trump on his favorite medium, Twitter.

Warrens speech, at the Center for Popular Democracys annual gala in Washington, struck what are familiar themes for her.

Donald Trump was drooling over the idea of a housing meltdown  because it meant he could buy up a bunch more property on the cheap, Warren said. What kind of a man does that? Root for people to get thrown out on the street? Root for people to lose their jobs? Root for people to lose their pensions?

Trump calls Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas' Embed Copy Share Play Video 1:04 At a rally in Albuquerque, N.M., Republican presidential candidate referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a "total failure" May 24. (Reuters)

The timing of her remarks Tuesday, and their convergence with Clintons stump message in California the same day, was not entirely a coincidence. And it may serve a dual purpose for Clinton: helping her begin the general-election battle against Trump, but also beginning the difficult task of unifying the fractured Democratic Party.

Warren enjoys strong support with many of the Democratic constituencies passionate about Sanders. An aide said she takes seriously her potential role in helping to bring those constituencies together and focus the partys energy on defeating Trump.

Among other points, she criticized Trump for proposing a plan that would dismantle Dodd-Frank financial regulations.

Donald Trump is worried about helping poor little Wall Street? Warren asked. Let me find the worlds smallest violin to play a sad, sad song.

Can Donald Trump even name three things that Dodd-Frank does? Seriously, someone ask him, she added.

While campaigning in California, Clinton used Trumps own words to make a similar case: that he cheered on the market crash eight years ago.

Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs and more debt, Clinton told a crowd here Tuesday afternoon.

1 of 40 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Flash plugin failed to load 00:00 00:00 Embed Copy Share Clinton on the campaign trail View Photos The former secretary of state visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. Caption The former secretary of state visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. May 24, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to voters at IBEW Local 11 in Commerce, Calif. Melina Mara/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

You know what happened in the Great Recession. Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing-market crash before the Great Recession, he said, I sort of hope that happens,  Clinton said. He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes.

In his own defense, Trump called Clinton a low life for using a clip of his comments about the housing crisis in an ad.

Im a businessman, thats what Im supposed to do, Trump said at a rally in Albuquerque on Tuesday night.

He also targeted Warren, calling her Pocahontas and accusing her of saying that she was Native American because her cheekbones were high.

She is probably the senator thats doing just about the least in the United States Senate, he said of Warren. Shes a total failure.

Clinton and more than a dozen surrogates and allies hammered the message across the country on Tuesday, showing a level of coordination on message and strategy that amounts to a dry run for the general election.

Elected leaders, including Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), held calls with local and national reporters to push the message.

This is Trumps view of the world: When Americans suffer, Trump looks to cash in, Ryan said on a conference call with reporters.

Pro-Clinton group Americans United for Change, the AFL-CIO and other progressive groups rallied outside of Trumps soon-to-be hotel in Washington, D.C., toting anti-Trump signs that repeated  word for word  the message that Ryan delivered on the call.

Trump wasted no time to respond to the attacks.

I am a businessman, and I have made a lot of money in down markets, he said in a statement distributed to reporters. In some cases, as much as Ive made when markets are good. Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation.

Clinton has for weeks been bogged down in a two-front war against Trump and Sanders. But since Trump essentially secured his partys nomination in April, Democrats have grown increasingly anxious that they are running out of precious time to set the terms of the general election before Trump does.

[ Its all about Calif,: Clinton hopes to avoid ending primary season with epic loss. ]

We cant normalize Donald Trump  nothing about him is normal, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday.

Democrats have tried out different strategies to take on the presumptive Republican nominee, but on Tuesday, Clinton sent a clear signal to her allies that they should focus on a single message: that Trump pursues profit above all else.

The effort was also aimed specifically at voters in battleground states of Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

The Washington Post reported earlier this year that in 2005, Trump ignored growing warnings that the housing market was on shaky ground just before launching his failed mortgage company.

politics Local Politics Alerts Breaking news about local government in D.C., Md., Va. Please provide a valid email address. Sign up Youre all set! See all newsletters

Clinton and her surrogates also called attention to Trumps statements in 2006 and 2007  in the lead-up to the housing crash in 2008  saying that if the housing bubble burst, he would go in and buy like crazy to make money.

Now he says he wants to roll back the financial regulations that we have imposed on Wall Street to let them run wild again, Clinton said.

She noted that Trump has experience with bankruptcy and questioned how he lost money in the casino business.

Hes bankrupted companies, Clinton said. I dont know if thats one of the qualifications of running for president, but I kind of doubt it.

Tumulty reported from Washington. Jose DelReal in Washington contributed to this report.
"Reagan," Vice President Dick Cheney famously declared in 2002, "proved deficits don't matter." Unless, that is, a Democrat is in the White House. After all, while Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt and George W. Bush doubled it again , each Republican was rewarded with a second term in office. But as the Gallup polling data show, concern over the federal deficit hasn't been this high since Democratic budget balancer Bill Clinton was in office. All of which suggest the Republicans' born-again disdain for deficits ranks among the greatest - and most successful - political double-standards in recent memory.

The triumph of the GOP messaging machine is reflected in a new Washington Post/Pew Research poll. In just the four months since the Republican majority took control of the House, the percentage of Americans believing the budget deficit is a major problem which must be addressed now catapulted from 70% to 81%. But even more revealing is an April Gallup surve y which showed the deficit (17%) rivaling the unemployment (19%) and the overall state of the economy (26%). And as it turns out, those cyclical swings in budget angst reflect the complete victory of the conservative deficit narrative.

As predicted at the time, Reagan's massive $749 billion supply-side tax cuts in 1981 quickly produced even more massive annual budget deficit s. Combined with his rapid increase in defense spending, Reagan delivered not the balanced budgets he promised, but record-settings deficits. Ultimately, Reagan was forced to repeatedly raised taxes to avert financial catastrophe, including the last major bipartisan tax code overhaul in 1986. By the time he left office in 1989, Ronald Reagan nonetheless more than equaled the entire debt burden produced by the previous 200 years of American history. It's no wonder the Gipper cited the skyrocketing deficits he bequeathed to America as perhaps his greatest regret .

Of course, President George H.W. Bush would come to lament them even more. Despite his legendary 1988 campaign pledge of "read my lips - no new taxes," Bush the Elder just two years later was forced to break his promise. As PBS recounted:

This "could mean a one term Presidency," he confided to his diary, "but it's that important for the country."

Bush 41 was right on both counts.

For his part, Bill Clinton faced a double-whammy on the deficit issue. He was, after all, a Democrat. And in 1992 and again in 1996, Clinton was confronted with the third party candidacy -and the pie charts - of Ross Perot. But when President Clinton proposed boosting the top tax rate to 39.6% to help close the yawning Reagan/Bush budget gaps, every single Republican in the House and Senate voted no . While then Rep. John Kasich (R-OH) told Clinton and the Democrats, "your economic program is a job killer," Dick Armey looked into his crystal ball to claim:

"Clearly this is a job killer in the short run. The revenues forecast for this budget will not materialize; the costs of this budget will be greater than what is forecast. The deficit will be worse, and it is not a good omen for the American economy."

Most dramatic of all was Texas Senator Phil Gramm . The same man who led the 1990's crusade to gut regulation of Wall Street and the IRS and later called America a "nation of whiners," boldly - and wrongly - predicted:

"I believe hundreds of thousands of people are going to lose their jobs...I believe Bill Clinton will be one of those people."

As it turned out, not so much. In 1996, Bill Clinton buried Bob Dole. Then in his second term, he buried the budget deficit as well.

Then came George W. Bush , who promised in his 2001 message to Congress:

At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history.

Instead, President Bush produced red ink as far as the eye can see. After inheriting a federal budget in the black and CBO forecast of a $5.6 trillion surplus over 10 years, President George W. Bush quickly set about dismantling the progress made under Bill Clinton. Even with two unfunded wars and the similarly unpaid Medicare prescription drug benefit, Bush's $1.4 trillion tax cut in 2001, followed by a $550 billion second round in 2003, accounted for half of the yawning budget deficits he produced. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained, if made permanent those Bush tax cuts if made permanent, would add more to the national debt over the next decade than the impact of Iraq, Afghanistan, the recession, the stimulus and TARP - combined.

During his presidency, Republicans in Congress voted seven times to raise the debt ceiling, the last to $11.3 trillion . By the time George W. Bush ambled out of the White House, he left his successor a $1.2 trillion budget deficit for 2009 .

Barack Obama inherited two wars, a doubled national debt, and that $1.2 trillion deficit from George W. Bush. (As Orrin Hatch described the Bush years, "it was standard practice not to pay for things.") But one thing was new: Republican concern about the budget deficit.

"President Obama's agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying," the New York Times' David Leonhardt explained in 2009, adding, "The economic growth under George W. Bush did not generate nearly enough tax revenue to pay for his agenda, which included tax cuts, the Iraq war, and Medicare prescription drug coverage." That fall, former Reagan Treasury official Bruce Bartlett offered just that kind of honesty to the born again deficit virgins of his Republican Party. Noting that the FY2009 deficit of $1.4 trillion was solely due to lower tax revenues and not increased spending, Bartlett concluded:

"I think there are grounds on which to criticize the Obama administration's anti-recession actions. But spending too much is not one of them. Indeed, based on this analysis, it is pretty obvious that spending - real spending on things like public works - has been grossly inadequate. The idea that Reagan-style tax cuts would have done anything is just nuts."

Which is exactly right. Thanks to the steep recession, as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and others have documented time and again, the overall federal tax burden as a percentage of GDP is now below 15%, "levels that low have not been seen since 1950." And as Jonathan Cohn and Paul Krugman each explained, it is not a mythical Obama "spending binge" but the drastic loss of revenue combined with automatic increases in mandated safety net outlays that is producing the current budget gaps.

Nevertheless, only now - with Democrat Barack Obama in the Oval Office - Republicans like John Boehner warn Americans that "unsustainable debt and deficits threaten the prosperity of our children." But despite their fear-mongering, the GOP would make the situation much, much worse. December's two year tax cut compromise will add $800 billion to the deficits this year and next. And by making the Bush tax cuts permanent and lowering the top rate to 25%, the Ryan budget just passed by the House would drain over $4 trillion from the U.S. Treasury.

Back in June, Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse lamented the double-standard at work in the Republicans' posturing on the national debt:

"I understand the point about the debt and the deficit and the spending," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). "But to me, that doesn't have an enormous amount of credibility, because when President Clinton left office, he left an annual surplus... At the end of [George W. Bush's] term, we had $9 trillion in debt."

"We would have none of this if it hadn't been for the Republican debt orgy that they went through," Whitehouse said.

Apparently, Sheldon Whitehouse and his Democratic allies don't understand how this game works. As Cheney said, "Reagan proved deficits don't matter."

Unless, of course, a Democrat is in the White House.
Sir Suma Chakrabarti met President Aliyev, government ministers, banks, civil society

EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti visited Azerbaijan on 24-25 May 2016, as part of a trip to three Caspian states  Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

The EBRD President met the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and discussed EBRD-Azerbaijan cooperation, the governments recent and planned reforms, the Banks support for the strategic cross-border energy project, the Southern Gas Corridor, and potential cooperation in the countrys banking sector, including what could be the first local currency bond to be issued by an international financial institution.

To date, the EBRD has invested a total of 2.5 billion in Azerbaijan. Over the last four years it has increased its investment in Azerbaijans private sector. Recent government reforms to improve the investment climate have given further momentum to the EBRD's expanding and diversifying portfolio.

The EBRD President and his delegation also had discussions with the Minister of Economy, Shahin Mustafayev, and the Chairman of the recently created Financial Markets Supervision Authority (FMSA), Rufat Aslanli. Sir Suma also met with the Minister of Finance, Samir Sharifov.

The EBRD delegation included the EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Francis Malige, and the Head of the EBRD Office in Azerbaijan, Neil McKain.

The EBRD team also met representatives from the banking sector and from civil society.

At a roundtable discussion with the chief executives of seven banks and financial institutions, the EBRD discussed challenges faced by the banking sector such as the low liquidity levels in the Azerbaijani manat, rising levels of non-performing loans and continued low levels of loan repayments.

Officials from the FMSA confirmed that regulatory steps had been taken that should allow the EBRD to issue a local currency bond, market conditions permitting.

During their meeting with Sir Suma, civil society representatives described good progress on a number of issues and also areas where in their view more needed to be done. Of particular note was the perceived progress in tackling petty corruption, thanks to the gradual implementation of the Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network (ASAN) of citizen service centres.

Civil society representatives also referred positively to reforms in the customs system and simplification of the licensing and permits system and a reduction in the frequency of company inspections. President Chakrabarti and civil society representatives agreed that accelerating the work required to restore the countrys full membership of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was a priority, an objective shared by the Government of Azerbaijan.

During the visit, Sir Suma spoke at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy and gave a press briefing to Azerbaijani and international media.

Summing up his meetings, Sir Suma said: It was a very successful visit. I was able to discuss a variety of important subjects with the President, the government and the civil society representatives. In the meetings, I noted that the recent drop in oil prices presented an opportunity for the diversification of the Azerbaijani economy by growing the non-oil and gas private sector. This is a development that the EBRD strongly supports. I also stressed that for long-term private sector growth, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is crucial to have a vibrant and viable financial sector. The financial sector is currently facing a combination of short-term issues such as low liquidity in the local currency and rising levels of non-performing loans combined with structural issues of fragmentation, asset quality and governance. The EBRD is prepared to work with all stakeholders to find solutions. With regard to oil and gas, we will aim to make strategic investments which will guarantee the countrys long-term economic health. In that context we will support the Southern Gas Corridor, a project which diversifies export routes for Azerbaijan and is also important for energy security in Europe.

The EBRD President added that the Bank is considering supporting the two pipelines that form part of the Southern Gas Corridor, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) where the EBRD is considering providing a syndicated loan of up to 1.5 billion, and is also in the early stages of considering co-financing the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).
All hands on deck

The only thing I hate more than arguing with people online is arguing with people I generally agree with anywhere.

This isnt just because Im a terrible debater who tends to break out into fits and mascara-laden tears when anyone does anything but pat my head or offer me a hand massage. The point of most arguments on social media, Ive found, is humiliation at best and complete negation of another persons being at worst. And the idea of spending time doing either to someone who is smart enough to support either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton is upsetting to me, especially when its very unlikely to do anything but make people more set in their opinions.

Besides, who gives an actual fuck what I think? he asked before composing several hundred more words on the subject.

This primary probably isnt any worse 2008, which was closer than this primary with possibly even more stray voltage. But I do think there is the clear possibility that it could end badly as we face an unprecedented risk  a thin-skinned megalomaniac who isnt just pushing all of the GOPs pro-rich garbage barge of failure but also promises to abridge the freedom of press and religion while scapegoating the most convenient minority he can find should his ego be threatened in any way.

To be clear: Democrats are actually more united now than they were at this point in 2008.

May 2008, NYT/CBS poll: 60% of Clinton backers say theyd vote Obama May 2016, NYT/CBS poll: 72% of Sanders backers say theyd vote Clinton  Taniel (@Taniel) May 19, 2016

But it isnt Democrats Im worried about as polls show Republicans willing to unite around Trump as if he is just another fortunate son who happened to win their nomination.

FiveThirtyEights Harry Enten explains that Clinton is doing poorly with Democratic leaning independents who back Sanders. Meanwhile, Clinton backers would support either candidate and possibly even a plague of locust over Trump.

If Clinton can win over these Sanders voters, many of whom are normally reliable Democratic leaning independents, shell probably lead Trump by somewhere around 5 percent, Enten wrote in a must-read extendo-tweet.

The solution to this is simple for Sanders supporters  nominate Bernie who polls far better than Hillary against Trump.

I dont believe anyone knows for sure what Trump would actually do to Sanders in a head-to-head match up and dont buy the speculation that someone with Bernies background cant win. I wish he were in his early sixties and able to make another go of it in the future. But I cannot imagine an outcome of this primary that sees the person with millions more votes  no matter how you count them  losing the nomination. Especially when Sanders entire career is a argument against rigged systems.

As someone who voted for Clinton in 2008 and 2016, I would gladly have backed Sanders had his revolutionary fundraising efforts been backed by a revolution at the polls. Certainly hes the most successful insurgent Democratic candidate of my lifetime, unless you compare him to Obama in 2008, when millions of voters came into the process and turnout skyrocketed.

Sanders clearly deserves to battle on until the last vote has counted and do what he can to turn the extraordinary movement hes built into something permanent and transformative. Were already seeing signs that hes serious about getting his populist economic ideas in the Democratic platform, which should largely be uncontroversial since Clinton supporters tend to back them even more than Sanders-ites. Still demanding recanvasses of votes that probably wouldnt give him any more delegates and sending Obamas spiritual Javert Cornel West to the Democratic Convention platform committee suggests more division is inevitable.

Some Clinton supporters will say, Screw them. For every Sanders supporter who cant get on board, well register a person of color who absofuckinglutely wont let Trump happen.

I get it but the risks are too high. This could be too close and the opportunity to turn Arizona and Georgia into swing states is too great.

The people who dont win a primary likely feel humiliated at best and completely negated at worst. So I do hope that both Clinton and Sanders supporters recognize that the arguments we nurture now could distort the unity we should all feel when it comes to fighting climate change, seating a liberal Supreme Court for the first time in 40 years, and making sure that people with pre-existing conditions are never denied insurance again.

More than 80 percent of Sanders supporters approve of President Obama and probably dont want to see the presidents legacy trampled by a birther.

Republicans have made the incredibly reckless decision to nominate a once-in-the-Republic threat to our democracy. This is the first presidential election in 50 years without the protections of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. We may face a serious third-party candidate who could be a spoiler for either side. Our candidate is likely to be the first woman ever nominated by a major party and she just happens to be the living through-line, good and bad, of the last 20 years of Democratic politics.

Sanders supporters have to make their own decisions. But I hope my fellow Clinton supporters recognize that the time for fighting with people we agree with is done, regardless of how wronged you feel and how unwilling some Sanders supporters are to accept Clinton as the nominee. We all feel a little humiliated and negated, deservedly so  were all to some degree hairy mammals who falter and crap and learn.

This is no longer a debate about the merits of incrementalism. Its about whether were going to let Donald Trump throw the emergency brake as were speeding down the highway and turn us straight into oncoming traffic of the twin crises of inequality and climate change.

Youre going to hear a lot about Reagan Democrats, especially in Michigan.

Its bullshit. Theyve been voting Republican since the 80s. But Bernie Democrats are real. So, if you can, lets focus on the many, many things that unite us and not the Snausage-fingered demagogue who would love to tear us apart.

[CC image credit: Gage Skidmore | Flickr]
Earlier this month, Donald Trump reached an agreement with the Republican National Committee to form a joint fundraising committee called Trump Victory. The fund will allow donors to funnel as much as $450,000 each into Republican coffers. The agreement is between Trump, the RNC, and the state Republican Parties in Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Yesterday, the committee announced its leadership team and one of the Vice Chairs is Michigans own Ron Weiser, a wealthy fundraiser for Republicans and someone who is the perfect choice to be raising enormous amounts of money for a wealthy racist:

We all know how Donald Trump feels about Detroit and Michiganders in general. In 2006, he expressed his hope that the housing market would crash:

I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy, Trump said in a 2006 audiobook from Trump University, answering a question about gloomy predictions that the real estate market is heading for a spectacular crash. The U.S. housing bubble burst two years later, triggering the stock market crash of 2008 that plunged the U.S. economy into a deep recession, leaving millions of Americans unemployed. Trump was speaking with Jon Ward, a marketing consultant who masterminded all the initial education programs for Trump University, according to his website. The audiobook is available on iTunes. If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know you can make a lot of money, Trump said in the 2006 audio book, How to Build a Fortune. If youre in a good cash position  which Im in a good cash position today  then people like me would go in and buy like crazy.

Becoming wealthy at the expense of others is a hallmark of the Republican Party that Trump now leads and few states took a body blow as crushing as Michigan did when the economy collapsed in 2008. Trumps comments led Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow to remark, Many Michigan families were devastated by the housing crisis. Losing a home or a job is a worst case scenario for most families but for Donald Trump its an opportunity to cash in peoples misery. Rooting for economic collapse is outrageous! And it demonstrates once again that the last thing Michigan families need is Donald Trump. Anyone who is excited about families losing their homes isnt looking out for the middle class, theyre only looking out for themselves.

Trump is also on record saying the Detroit workers make too much money. Heres what he told the Detroit News:

[Trump] said U.S. automakers could shift production away from Michigan to communities where autoworkers would make less. You can go to different parts of the United States and then ultimately youd do full-circle  youll come back to Michigan because those guys are going to want their jobs back even if it is less, Trump said. We can do the rotation in the United States  it doesnt have to be in Mexico. He said that after Michigan loses a couple of plants  all of sudden youll make good deals in your own area.

Ron Weiser has similar disdain for people in Detroit. In 2012, he was caught on tape talking about how Republican prospects in the Motor City were vastly improved because of a lack of Democratic political machines in the city. In that speech, he had this to say about the people of Detroit:

Theres no machine to go to the pool halls and the barbershops and put those people on buses and then bus them from precinct to precinct where they vote multiple times, Weiser says in the video. And theres no machine to get em to stop playing pool and drinking beer in the pool hall. And it does make a difference. He added: Obama has hired a lot of people to help him get that vote out. But if youre not from Detroit, the places where those pool halls and barbershops are, youre not going to be going at 6:30 in November. Not without a side arm.

According to Ron Weiser, Republicans can make big inroads in Detroit because voters there are too busy playing pool and getting drunk in pool halls to be bothered to vote and its too dangerous to mount an effective get out the vote operation there. Its equally offensive but the exact opposite of what Mitt Let Detroit Go Bankrupt Romney said when he claimed the GOP will never get the votes of at least 47% of Americans because they are being given an ongoing gift by the Obama administration in the form of paying no taxes.

Republicans have failed to make progress in Detroit, of course. This is despite the fact that they convince a white Libertarian from Kentucky  Rand Paul  to help them open an African American Engagement Office there in 2013. And Democrats have actually had a very robust get out the vote operation in Detroit in every election cycle, as it turns out.

These sorts of comments and actions are precisely why Republicans have made NO inroads in Detroit and other urban cities. When a top funder as well as the presidential candidate of your Party disparage you and your fellow citizens in these demeaning sorts of ways, youll never earn their vote, no matter how much wishful thinking you engage in. It takes an incredible amount of chutzpah and bravado to think you can make offensive, insulting racist comments and then expect racial minorities to vote for you.

But cognitive dissonance is something Republicans are well acquainted with and Ron Weiser was a perfect fit for a leadership position in the campaign of a racist Republican candidate for president
Google on Wednesday announced that it would ban advertising for payday loans in its ad systems.

Starting July 13, the company will prohibit ads for payday loans and related products where funds are due within 60 days of the date of issue, as well as ads for loans with an APR of 36 percent, said David Graff, Googles director of global product policy.

When reviewing our policies, research has shown that these loans can result in unaffordable payment and high default rates for users, so we will be updating our policies globally to reflect that, he said.

The company has an extensive set of policies to keep bad advertising out of its system, Graff said, adding that it disabled more than 780 million ads in 2015 to keep them off its search engine and other systems.

The change will not impact other financial services, such as mortgages, car loans, student loans, commercial loans and credit cards, he noted.

Questionable Impact

Google is addressing many of the longstanding concerns of the civil rights community regarding predatory lending policies, said Wade Henderson, CEO ofThe Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

These companies have long used slick advertising and aggressive marketing to trap consumers into outrageously high interest loans, which many consumers could not afford, he said.

It does cut off one of the ways that online payday borrowers have targeted borrowers, said Alan Horowitz, senior officer with the small-dollar loan project atThe Pew Charitable Trusts.

However, the overall impact will be modest at best, he told the E-Commerce Times.

About a third of overall payday lending is online, while the remaining two-thirds involve 16,000 payday lenders operating in 36 states, according to Pews research.

The top five payday advertisers spent US$277 million in ads from June 2012 to May 2013. MoneyMutual, the biggest, spent $212 million during that period, according to data Pew purchased from Nielsen.

In 2015, MoneyMutual agreed to end its payday loan lead-generation activities in New York and pay a $2.1 million penalty, according to the states Department of Financial Services. Former talk show host Montel Williams agreed to withdraw from TV ads shown in New York.

The company loaned money at rates of up to 1,300 percent, the department said.

Blanket Assessment

The policies are discriminatory and a form of censorship, theCommunity Financial Services Association said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Amy Cantu.

Google is making a blanket assessment about the payday lending industry rather than discerning the good actors from the bad actors, the association said. The policy is unfair to those payday lenders that are legal, licensed and uphold best business practices.

TheConsumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed rule changes and enforcement activities. The bureau shares oversight authority with the Federal Trade Commission.

The proposed sending rules, expected to be completed this spring, would allow banks and credit unions to make short-term loans with a minimum of 45 days and maximum of six months for repayment, the bureau said. The rules would cap interest at 28 percent and fees at $20.

Many-Headed Beast

Online payday lenders use lead generators to bring in about 75 percent of their business, according to a 2015 report byUpturn.

For example, the CFPB in 2014 sued the Hydra Group, accusing it of making more than $97 million in loans through an illegal cash grab scheme in which it used online lead generators to make loans to people without their consent, depositing money into their bank accounts, and falsifying loan documents to make it seem as though the consumer had consented.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Manhattan announced an indictment against company owner Richard Moseley Sr.

Affiliates often pay $10 per click to have an ad next to a payday search term, according to Upturn, and the information is later sold for up to $200 at auction to other lead generators or payday lenders.
I spent last week at EMC World  the last EMC World, by the way  talking to customers and both Dell and EMC employees, on the lookout for interesting stories that others hadnt picked up. I got a bunch that I think are fascinating  stories about women in technology, billions of dollars of currently untapped revenue, and why every EMC and Dell sales rep effectively will have a dartboard with Meg Whitmans picture on it.

Ill share these gems and then close with my product of the week: a laptop bag that has turned out to be the best Ive ever owned.

Women in Tech Done Right

One difference between Dell and EMC is that EMC is a typical male-driven, male-dominated firm where engineers are king. At Dell, on the other hand, Michael Dell personally has made it his mission to get more women into technology. His startup investments largely target women entrepreneurs, and some of his most powerful employees are women.

Arguably the most important tool at EMC is its Total Customer Experience organization, because it is tasked with connecting EMC customers to the companys products and services. You see, like most tech firms dominated by engineers, decisions are driven by numbers  and the numbers that represent the voice of the customer rule over nearly every other metric. The Total Customer Experience organization owns those numbers.

Now, men think very differently from women. Men are more focused and technical; women are more social and able to handle more complexity. Women are better than men at communication, while men are better than women at ignoring distractions. In short, a woman should be far better at running an organization like this than a man, but likely would be subordinated to a man in a male-run industry. So, while Carolyn Muise has been running this organization, she has been limited by the nature of the company  that is, until this merger.

With this change, Muise will report to Karen Quintos  arguably the most powerful woman at Dell. Quintos reports directly to Michael Dell  the guy who is personally behind giving women a greater voice in his firm.

Add to this the fact that the EMC customer experience program is vastly more advanced than Dells, and you get a multiplying factor that means the most powerful tool now is unencumbered and able to reach its full potential. In short, the most powerful tool now reports to the most powerful woman. Suddenly, the opportunity for positive change is unprecedented  not only in terms of aligning products and services with customers, but also in showcasing the real economic advantage of diversity done right at executive levels.

This is the way change should be driven  by positive example, not by forced march.

HP Is Screwed

The new post-merger company will pivot to focus most of its competitive efforts on HP. Due to its split, HP will be the most vulnerable, both from a resource perspective and a cost perspective. Recall that IBM had to exit its x86 server business because when it sold its PC division to Lenovo it lost the economic cost advantage it got by making both PCs and servers. (PC volumes drive lower costs for both PC and server components; they are symbiotic in the supply chain.)

The part I struggled to understand was the customer dynamic. I learned from my conversations with customers that they had a lot of EMC/HP combinations. Thats because Dell has been light in enterprise sales. However, HPs storage technology is inferior to EMCs. The servers are equivalent, but HPs enterprise sales and service capabilities currently are viewed as superior.

Interestingly, HP 3PAR helped HP for a bit on the storage side, but it apparently has fallen way behind EMCs efforts  likely because HPs merger process tends to destroy the firms it acquires. (3PAR was an HP acquisition.) Dells process, which currently leads the industry, actually increases the value of its acquisitions. Since it was copied and improved from IBM, I constantly wonder why HP doesnt emulate it.

Post-merger, EMC storage and Dell servers will become far more tightly aligned in sales, service and design, and EMCs enterprise sales and service will wrap the solutions. That should allow Dell EMC to be aggressive in displacing HP in shops that are now EMC and HP.

$300B in New Business

Heres one of the most fascinating things I heard. In Dell and EMC, there are groups that have looked at other markets that are incredibly profitable, but for EMC they generate below-average margins, and for Dell they exceed available resources.

The reason public companies have to avoid lower-margin businesses is that margin degradation has an adverse impact on stock price and puts the CEOs job at risk. However, part of the merger process is to take EMC private. That means any profitable business suddenly becomes viable.

Further, the two companies combined have resources they didnt have separately. That means some of those businesses will become viable. In a best-case scenario, that represents a whopping US$300B in potential additional revenue for the combined firm that separately, they couldnt address  and no one has talked about it.

This suggests that in a few years, Dell Technology Group will be a lot bigger than it is today, and only because it is both private and can use the combined resources of both Dell and EMC. I think we can file that under holy crap.

Michael Dell vs. Joe Tucci

This was one of the most fascinating handoffs Ive ever seen. It was in sharp contrast to virtually every acquisition handoff Ive ever viewed. Most create the impression that the buyer just wants the seller to say its piece and leave, and the selling CEO is trying to think of an eloquent way to secretly give the buying CEO the finger.

In this case, Tucci actually has been trying to retire, and hes been friends with Dell for some time. The handoff was more like a father passing down a company to son, or an executive saying goodbye to a trusted mentore. It was incredibly cordial and deeply friendly.

Often, youll sense a lot of trepidation in the rank and file. Certainly it is there in this case, but I saw it overshadowed by excitement. I think that is partially due to the alternatives, and the fact that EMC mostly drove this. The alternatives were to get broken up or bought by HP  a firm known for killing the companies it acquires. It was kind of like giving a person a choice between being eaten, being shot, or getting married to an attractive friend. Not, apparently, a hard decision.

Wrapping Up

There is a lot of interesting stuff going on behind the scenes not only in this merger, but also in partner companies. For instance, I learned that Microsofts IT shop has become rabidly open source, and that everything is being pushed into the Azure cloud under the order that Microsofts IT shop must mirror customer shops.

Microsoft IT, rather than being kind of a bad joke at the company, is now a strategic asset. Go figure. There is a whole column on that one tidbit alone.

In effect, however, this represents just a part of the massive change going on in the tech market, which mostly gets that it needs to evolve rapidly or become extinct. Apparently these firms have decided that evolution is the better path. Go figure.

Ill check back on the Dell Technology Group (its new name) in a few months. Im expecting some additional interesting surprises.

I went in search of the perfect short-trip laptop backpack a few weeks ago. I wanted something that was TSA-friendly so I could get through security quickly, as well as small so I didnt have to deal with a lot of bulk, but big enough to carry not only all my electronic gear but two days of underwear and socks.

Most of what I had was either too big, which means I was fighting it more than I wanted to, or too small  meaning I had to carry a second bag.

I went on a long search and finally found the Timbuk2 Command Laptop Backpack, and it is my new favorite. It comes in a wide variety of colors for $130, or you can get it in black for $100  all on Amazon.

Timbuk2 Command LaptopBackpack

I got the black one because I like black and it saved me $30. The laptop loads from the side, making it easy to get in and out. It has a pocket for toiletries, and two large pockets for gear and clothing. It even has small pockets for keys and coins, a bottle pocket and a bottle opener.

I travel a lot, and since its the backpack Ive fallen in love with, I thought Id share the Timbuk2 Command Laptop Backpack as my product of the week.
Apple last week opened a flagship store in San Franciscos tony Union Square shopping district.

The store has a 42-foot-tall sliding glass door and a 50-foot tall green wall and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy, the company said.

Features include the following:

The Avenue, whose walls are interactive themed windows displaying Apples products and services;

Genius Grove, where customers can work with Apple Geniuses in a grove of local trees right in the heart of the store;

Today at Apple, which will offer, among other things, year-round programs for kids, new monthly events for teachers, sessions for developers, creative sessions featuring local creative artists, and game nights with editors from Apples App Store;

The Forum, a gathering place that is centered on a 6K video wall and is home to Today at Apple;

The Plaza, which offers public WiFi and seating and will feature local acoustic performers on weekends;

The Boardroom, where a business team will offer hands-on advice and training to entrepreneurs, developers and SMB customers.

We have a deep commitment to the cities we work in and are aware of the importance that architecture plays in the community, said Jonathan Ive, Apples chief design officer. It all starts with the storefront  where the building blends the inside and the outside, breaking down barriers and making it more egalitarian and accessible.

More Than Money

The Union Square flagship store seems to echo MicrosoftsManhattan flagship, which opened last year, while the design of Microsofts Manhattan flagship was strongly influenced by Apple stores.

Apple is moving from a maximized retail layout similar to a jewelry store, with high revenue per square foot, to more of a place to hang out, with low revenue per square foot, like a Barnes & Noble, remarked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

This is somewhat similar to what Sony did a few years back with their stores, he told the E-Commerce Times. The goal is to build deeper relationships.

Apple Stores were created by Ron Johnson, but no one at Apple seems to understand what Johnson did and they have been slowly degrading what he created, Enderle said. Now they are going to blow it up.

On the other hand, consumer goods are increasingly experiential, and Apple led the concept with its products and, later, its services and retail locations, observed Mike Jude, program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

This ups the ante by providing a complete cultural experience as well as points of engagement with businesses and entrepreneurs, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Grasping at Straws?

Apple is getting a bit desperate, and that means the most influential person in the room wins, regardless of whether or not they have a clue, Enderle maintained.

The company is under fire for it lack of innovative new products, there are questions about CEO Tim Cooks ability to spur innovation, and its share prices fell after it disclosed its first revenue decline in 13 years during itsQ2 earnings report.

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway disclosed last week that it had bought nearly 10 million Apple shares for about US$1.1 billion at $109 a share, but that hasnt given Apple much of a boost  its shares were around the $96 mark Monday.

Apples leadership potentially will cost shareholders more than $680 billion, Trip Chowdhry, managing director atGlobal Equities Research, fumed in a note to investors last month.

The rate of product innovation is slowing at Apple, but upping the consumer engagement model allows them to potentially increase sales without having to invent a completely new product category, Jude observed.

People who want the Apple experience would probably like the new store, he said, but the new design might not impact non-Apple retailers much.
Eset on Wednesday announced that it has fashioned a free tool that victims of all variants of the TeslaCrypt ransomware can use to unlock affected files.

After the criminal gang behind TeslaCrypt recently abandoned support of the malicious software, an Eset analyst contacted the group anonymously, using the channel TeslaCrypts operators offered to ransomware victims, and asked for the universal master decryption key, the company said.

To Esets surprise, the operators made it public.

Why So Generous?

Why the TeslaCrypt posse decided to share the master decryption key to software thats made millions of dollars is unknown.

While it is possible that they felt bad for the damage done, another possible reason is that they wanted to start fresh with a new codebase, said Lysa Myers, a security researcher with Eset.

After being in the ransomware racket for a while, the crew may have discovered that maintaining good software of any kind can be challenging. Sometimes updates to an existing product can make things more error-prone, which makes it harder to make money, she told TechNewsWorld.

Ending an old project can allow for a clean slate from which to start again, Myers added.

While the TeslaCrypt operators move is surprising, its unlikely theyre getting out of the ransomware business, said Rahul Kashyap, chief security architect withBromium.

They may want to change their payment scheme or try out a different business model, he told TechNewsWorld. Its unlikely that theyre deserting the ransomware business.

Good Business Practice

If the TeslaCrypt crew does indeed want to remain in the ransomware business, then releasing the master decryption key to the software could be a strategic move, noted Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research at Trend Micro.

While it may seem like the right thing to do, theres a profit motivation even in this, he told TechNewsWorld.

Ransomware criminals rely on their reputation of actually releasing the data in order to entice victims to pay, Nunnikhoven said. If the gang behind TeslaCrypt left victims high and dry, any new campaigns they are associated with would be less likely to be profitable due to their previous reputation.

Fear of law enforcement is another possible reason for releasing the master key, surmised Brad Cyprus, chief of security and compliance atNetsurion.

The group may be concerned that if they continue to develop the code, it is only a matter of time before law enforcement catches them, he told TechNewsWorld.

By turning in the decryption key, Cyprus continued, theyre hoping to fall lower on law enforcements radar while other malware and ransomware projects will garner more attention, leaving the makers of TeslaCrypt to spend their ill-gotten gains.

Ransomware on Decline

How much might those ill-gotten gains be?

Since ransomware gangs dont file reports with the SEC, any numbers associated with ransomware are slippery at best, but TeslaCrypt had about 10 percent of a market that reaps US$700 million to $800 million annually, Vishal Gupta, CEO ofSeclore, estimated.

Eighty million dollars is the size of a large startup company, he told TechNewsWorld.

TeslaCrypt was a laggard among ransomware programs, Trend Micros Nunnikhoven said. TeslaCrypt has never been among the top earners for ransomware since it first appearance about a year ago.

While still devastating to its victims, it never showed signs of the wild profitability weve seen with Cryptolocker or Locky, he said.

Use of TeslaCrypt has been on the decline in recent weeks, said Daniel Korsunsky, director of product strategy atComodo.

Currently, its unclear if the former TeslaCrypt engineers have abandoned the extortion business altogether or simply moved on to another strain of malicious software, he told TechNewsWorld.

The latter is extremely likely, Korsunsky added, especially given that TeslaCrypt was starting to crumble under the weight of a multitude of decryptors that were making it less effective when used.
Victorias Secret Model Lindsay Ellingson Is Strutting Away From West Chelsea

When Victorias Secret model Lindsay Ellingson put her West Chelsea condo on the market last year, the broker told the Observer that she, like so many others, was making the move to Brooklynits becoming very trendy these days, he told us in what may well have been the understatement of the year.

A few months, a price cut, and a broker swap later, Ms. Ellingson has sold her one-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex at 456 West 19th Street, which was last listed with Town Residential brokers Steven Gold and Emma Maitland for $2.28 million.

Ms. Ellingson, who has walked in eight Victorias Secret runway shows (shes also the face of one of their perfume lines), resided in the 1,139-square-foot loft with her husband, Sean Clayton, and they embarked on quite the renovation before deciding that they wanted more space.

Photo: red bridesmaid dresses

The condo was scooped by for $2.18 million by Andisheh and Hossain Awinisure, its a bit under the $2.38 million she was first asking for the place, but as Ms. Ellingson paid $1.68 million for the duplex in 2012, thats not too bad!

The California native made a number of updates, of course. She upgraded the kitchen, she changed the floors, she added many built-ins, and she updated both bathroom vanities, Mr. Gold told the Observer. She also extended the kitchens Caesar stone countertops for additional seating. A model who actually eats?! Well, she did post Instagram photos of herself in the kitchen of the condo (we spy the backsplash), casually cutting up some fruit and vegetables as she gazes lovingly at her dog.

It really read as a bespoke home, rather than a sponsor unit, Mr. Gold opined. Per the listing, the condo also has ceilings over 18 feet, double-height windows, custom molding, and a steam shower in the master bath. The master suite is up a flight of stairs and opens to the living room below, and, of course, theres custom shelving in the closets. After all, this is a models apartment were talking about.

The building is extremely specialthose casement windows, and in particular this buildings double-height ceilings are becoming increasingly rare, especially in this price point, Mr. Gold added.

Also Read: queenie pink bridesmaid dresses
Gatling receives Education Testing Service scholarship

By Kesha Williams

Travis Gatling, a junior from Winton, N.C., is the recipient of an Education Testing Service (ETS) Presidential Scholarship for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The scholarship covers one year of tuition for Gatling at ECSU.

Gatling said he was touring with the University Choir in 2015 when he learned about the scholarship opportunity from an ETS representative attending their concert in New Jersey (NJ). The scholarship is reserved for rising college juniors and seniors, who have a minimum 3.5 grade point average and an established record of outstanding student performance. Gatling submitted the full application packet and was notified in late December 2015 that he was selected for the scholarship.

Recipients were required to meet at the ETS site in Princeton, NJ to make a presentation before their peers, faculty advisors and ETS personnel.

Gatling said his was a music education presentation. Eight individuals received the ETS scholarship and their college majors included biology, education, business, chemistry and psychology. Gatlings PowerPoint presentation, The Magic Behind the Music, allowed him to discuss music fundamentals (voice types, voice range, instrumental range, music notations, the affects music has on individuals for his audience).

In my presentation I explained the specific affect music has on individualsthe psychological, emotional and spiritual effects. I demonstrated for that audience and included some audience participation--standing, clapping, singing along, Gatling explained.

I also presented some music Ive written that our marching band at ECSU has played. Thanks to Ms. Green, the ETS representative who told me about the scholarship application, I was also invited to perform for a banquet that followed the ETS student conference. I sang inspirational gospel songs for an audience of approximately 40 people.

Gatling said the many opportunities to perform in front of live audiences at ECSU really prepared him for performance challenges such as that one in New Jersey. Those past performances ranged from performing with the Jazz Ensemble to performing with the university marching band. He has also completed public performances in many of his college courses. Those challenges and the expectations of his ECSU professors are reasons Gatling said he remained reasonably calm in New Jersey.

There was one glitch during his ETS performancea segment of video that Gatling was planning to use failed to work. Gatling said Bobby McFerrins recorded audio would have been a wonderful addition to the rest of the material he prepared but that video would not work. He compromised by performing the segment when the video wouldnt play.

Ive learned from past performances at ECSU, be ready for the unexpected. This ETS conference presentation was a test of my knowledge. I was surprised at how much I really knew, Gatling said.

After graduating from ECSU, he hopes to work in a public school system and possibly teach at the college level later in life. Gatling has already enjoyed an active life as a student musician who sings, plays the trombone and piano. He played the trombone the past three years at ECSU with the Jazz Ensemble and he played the last three years with ECSUs marching band. Next year, he anticipates playing with those university ensembles as a senior at the university.

Gatling says he can now assure prospective students that ECSU will prepare them for challenges such as the presentation he completed at ETS in New Jersey. Hes developed confidence, developed musical skills, expanded his knowledge base and learned from the normal performance anxiety that any student musician experiences. He said prospective students should look forward to the challenges they will face as a college student.

They can expect growth because of the opportunities here. You can travel; perform with professional musicians who visit ECSU. Those experiences teach you how to stay on your feet, handle spontaneity because that is part of this department, Gatling said.

Prospective students should expect some difficulties according to Gatling. He said a methods course in education requires students to develop an understanding of the different family of musical instruments-- brass, woodwind, percussion and strings.

The strings class was difficult because strings is not my specialty. If you want to become a music teacher, you must understand each family of instruments, develop some knowledge of each family of instruments because you dont know what you will be expected to teach in the public schools. Here, they (professors) are preparing us for real world experiences.
Collegechoice.net ranks ECSU as a top HBCU

Collegechoice.net has released its list of the top 50 HBCUs in the country and, Elizabeth City State University is ranked 18.

Consistently listed in the top tier of national rankings for universities in general, and HBCUs specifically, ECSU is, according to Collegechoice.net, a school that provides a solid liberal arts program as well as innovative teaching techniques for up and coming educators.

The school enjoys favorable rankings from various institutions and has been named one of the top HCBU colleges in the nation as well as one of the top 50 best universities for African-American students, states Collegechoice.net.

Collegechoice.net is an independent website with a focus on assisting students and their families find the right college for them. The site provides reviews, rankings and student resources to make finding a school easier and more efficient.

Elizabeth City State University has also been named by Washington Monthly as one of the Best Bang for the Buck institutions. Washington Monthly also ranked ECSU number one for the fourth consecutive year on its list of Best Baccalaureate Colleges. ECSU has 28 undergraduate degree offerings and four graduate degree programs, flexible study options, and research opportunities.

# # #
(Facebook/PrisonBreak)Official trailer shows Lincoln Burrows reunited with Michael Scofield in Morocco.

Wentworth Miller is establishing himself as the actor whose characters never die.

The actor is known for portraying two memorable characters. The first is "Prison Break's" Michael Scofield and the other is Captain Cold, the villain-turned-hero of The CW's DC Universe. The former was initially thought to be dead when the popular series wrapped up way back in 2009, while the latter died in the penultimate episode of "Legends of Tomorrow."

However, Miller is set to reprise his role as Michael Scofield in "Prison Break" season 5, while fans will still see their favorite cool as ice hero, Captain Cold, in "The Flash" and the network's other superhero shows.

There has always been interest in a revival or reboot of the show, but as Dominic Purcell explained to Digital Spy, Miller went into some kind of semi-retirement to focus on his writing.

"He's jumped back into the fray now  and as soon as Wentworth was on board, that's when the dominos started to fall," Purcell added.

And fall they did. With the two brothers back on board  Miller as Scofield and Purcell as Lincoln Burrows  it wasn't long before Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Rockmond Dunbar, and Paul Adelstein were soon confirming that they're also returning to reprise their iconic roles.

Fox has already released a trailer for "Prison Break" season 5, giving fans a glimpse of what to expect when the show finally returns. The clip begins with a shot of Scofield's son asking his mother about his real father. Sara describes him to "a storm appearing suddenly out of a clear blue sky, and then disappeared just as quickly." But her son wisely points out that storms can come back.

Burrows is then shown returning home to find T-Bag with information about Michael being alive. Michael's older brother shares the information with his sister-in-law, who doesn't seem willing to believe it at first. Lincoln decides to check and flies off to Morocco, where his brother is reportedly being held and soon finds Michael. He tells the former architect that they'll be breaking him out. The "they" turn out to be their old crew, with Michael also helping from the inside.

The trailer also gives viewers glimpses of the brothers' plan for a prison break, which appears to involve shutting down the power in the city. The clip ends with the two brothers being reunited. While the scene is such a happy moment, they're not out of the woods yet.

Fox hasn't set a release date for "Prison Break" season 5 yet, but the series is expected to return to the small screen in 2017.
The top two congressional Democrats on public school issues in Congress are telling the U.S. Department of Education to create robust and clear accountability regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act that ensure states and districts are looking out for the interests of students from low-income backgrounds and other historically disadvantaged students.

In their May 24 letter to Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., Sen. Patty Murray of Washington State and Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking Democrats on the Senate and House education committees respectively, stressed that maintaining strong federal guardrails in accountability regulations would be crucial to upholding the Elementary and Secondary Education Acts legacy of looking out for disadvanted students, students of color, and others.

Regulation of statewide accountability system [sic] and school support and improvement provisions will empower states and school districts to utilize new flexibility while maintaining focus on improving outcomes for underserved students, including through adequately resourcing low-performing schools, Murray and Scott wrote to King.

Among their requests, the two lawmakers say that the department should craft ESSA regulations ensuring that:

 States set long-term academic goals and interim progress measures that expect more from traditionally low-achieving groups of students, in order to focus on narrowing achievement gaps.

 The indicators for state accountability ratings generate annual, summative scores reflecting student learning for all students within each school.

 The participation of all students and all student subgroups on the annual statewide exams is meaningfully factored into schools state accountability ratings.

 States share clear and actionable school-level performance information with educators, parents, and others that leads to meaningful stakeholder engagement and involvement in school improvement work.

The Education Department is supposed to release the much-anticipated accountability regulations some time this summer. While civil rights advocates and other groups will side with Murray and Scott on the issue of clear and detailed ESSA rules, congressional Republicans and some state and district advocates will dislike the prospect of regulations for ESSA (which shifts several K-12 policy decisions away from Washington) that could limit some of their discretion.

Read the full letter below:

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o...
EIB financing in 2015 catalysed private investment totalling around EUR 230 billion, with projects under Investment Plan for Europe mobilising EUR 100 billion so far

President Hoyer: Strong pipeline for EFSI supported projects for the next two years

European finance ministers today highlighted the importance of the Investment Plan for Europe in supporting economic growth, job creation and competitiveness across Europe. The ministers, meeting as the Governors of the European Investment Bank, welcomed the commitment of the EIB Group in delivering on the Investment Plan for Europe. So far the EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), has approved 249 transactions which are supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). EFSI is a guarantee facility from EU budget, which is managed by the EIB as one of three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the EU Bank, EIB President Werner Hoyer said: We expect that our financing supported by the EU budget guarantee so far will mobilise 100 billion euros of total investment. This is a remarkable success in less than 12 months. The President also said he is confident that EIB Group will reach the Investment Plan for Europes overall objective of 315 billion Euros investments within the foreseen period of three years: We have a strong pipeline of projects for the next two years, which will be supported by the EIB under EFSI. The guarantee facility is a great opportunity for the EIB Group to support the European economy and strengthen the EUs competitiveness through smart infrastructure projects, innovative private sector ventures, and the reduction of risk involved in viable projects, ensuring the cash available in Europe is put to work.

The EU budget guarantee established under the Investment Plan for Europe allows EIB and EIF to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU by catalysing private financing through transactions with a higher risk profile than regular activities.

President Hoyer also underlined that the Investment Plan for Europe goes beyond EFSI. The European Investment Advisory Hub, the second pillar of the Plan, is now delivering valuable advice to make projects attractive for investors throughout Europe. The Plans third pillar is addressing barriers to investment in Europa. President Hoyer recalled that the EIB is not in the lead on this, but can help as a strategic partner: The EIB Group has considerable market-based expertise in identifying barriers to investment at EU, national and local level. We are ready to step up our contribution and provide further input to the work of Member States and the European Commission.

Speaking to the EIB Governors, the President also discussed the EIBs activities in 2015. EIB financing totalled EUR 77.4 billion, with the European Investment Fund accounting for an additional EUR 7 billion. The EIB supported 462 projects inside and outside the EU. This new lending in 2015 allowed the EU Bank to mobilise almost 230 billion euro of additional private investment in 12 months.

Regarding the Banks activities outside the European Union President Hoyer said that the EIB is prepared to step up its engagement: We are now facing global challenges where the EU response is more needed than ever. This is about achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing the global migration challenge and the current refugee crisis with particular attention to its root causes. and it is about the COP 21 climate targets, where the EIB, the worlds biggest provider of climate finance, recognises it has a special responsibility. To meet these global challenges and promote European interests we need to mobilise significant funds, especially private investment. The EIB is well placed and prepared to contribute, given our track record and global experience.

He stressed that any additional activity of the EIB outside the Union would not be at the expense of the Banks activities within the EU. Additional investment should be generated following the approach of EFSI, which builds on a paradigm shift in using public resources not as subsidies and grants, but as collateral for loans and financial instruments. Global developments clearly put investment at the forefront of the development agenda, and finance as a key factor for development and growth. The use of financial instruments, backed by guarantees, will maximise impact, catalyse private sector investors and improve the speed and efficiency of scarce public resources. The right mix of financial instruments and grants will result in greater EU impact beyond its borders, the President emphasised.

Pawe Szaamacha, Finance Minister of Poland, took over as new Chairman of the European Investment Banks Board of Governors. He replaces Austrian Finance Minister Hans-Jorg Schelling, following completion of his 12 month mandate. The President said: I am looking forward to working with Pawel in these challenging times. He also thanked Hans-Jorg Schelling for a very close and constructive cooperation during the last year.
Republicans are 90 percent more likely than Democrats to oppose the Common Core State Standards, according to an analysis of California poll data. And most of that opposition is explained by disapproval of President Obamas performance.

The study, led by Morgan Polikoff, an associate professor at the University of Southern Californias Rossier School of Education, looked at poll data from 2,350 California voters about a range of education issues.

Overall, 29 percent of the respondents expressed opposition to the common core, and another 30 percent were neutral or unsure.

Neither age nor parental status affected how likely a respondent was to oppose the common core, the study showed. Race did, thoughblack voters were significantly less likely to oppose the common standards than white voters. (Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander voters were also less likely to express opposition, though that result was not statistically significant.)

Voters who disapprove of President Obama are 92 percent more likely to oppose the common core, the study finds. That explains why Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to be against the standards. Given that disapproval of President Obama appears to be a stronger factor than party affiliation in predicting opposition, the results of the upcoming presidential election may decrease opposition somewhat, the report says.

Several other factors are strongly associated with objection to the standards. And when these factors are controlled for, some of the demographic differences are no longer significant.

Those who oppose testing and those who think there is too much testing are more likely to oppose common core than those who do not. The belief that current school-funding levels are adequate is also positively associated with common-core opposition.

Knowing About the Common Core

Further, those who report knowing more about the standards are more likely to be against them. People who say they have a lot of knowledge about the common core are 150 percent more likely to oppose it.

But the report says that some of what people claim to know is based on misconceptions or negative construal.

In particular, the misconception that states were not allowed to add content to the [common core] is associated with a 64 percent increase in the odds of opposition, and the negative conception that the [common-core standards] limit teachers ability to be creative in the classroom is associated with a 150 percent increase in the odds of opposition, the report states.

In fact, to allow for customization, states were given latitude to increase the standards by 15 percentand many did make additions. Polikoff points to studies showing that most teachers are making and selecting their own common-core materials to show that creativity has not been lost.

My main takeaway about this is it really illustrates starkly that peoples attitudes about the common core are really driven to a large extent by their attitudes about other education policies and other things like their beliefs about President Obamas performance, said Polikoff in an interview.

Its worth noting that these results could very well differ in another statefor instance, in New York, many teachers and parents have cited problems with implementation, developmental inappropriateness, and links to teacher evaluations as reasons for opposing the standards.

Image: President Barack Obama pats student Blake Diego on the head during his visit to a 1st grade class at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., in 2014. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP-File
Eleven states joined a lawsuit against federal officials and agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, Wednesday, seeking to overturn recent Obama administration guidance that instructed schools to give transgender students access to the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, even if it differs from their sex at birth.

The federal agencies assertion that Title IXs prohibition on sex discrimination also applies to gender identity is incorrect, says the complaint filed by Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennesee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah, along with a few local school districts.

Plaintiffs include a diverse coalition of States, top State officials, and local school districts, spanning from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes, and from the Grand Canyon to the Grand Isle, that stand behind the singular principle that the solemn duty of the Federal Executive is to enforce the law of the land, and not rewrite it by administrative fiat, the suit says. Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights. Defendants rewriting of Title VII and Title IX is wholly incompatible with Congressional text. Absent action in Congress, the States, or local communities, Defendants cannot foist these radical changes on the nation.

While the guidance won praise from a variety of educational and student advocacy groups, it has faced opposition from governors around the country, who have encouraged their schools to defy the directive. The charge to file the multi-state suit was led by officials in Texas, who have said the state is willing to lose billions of dollars in federal education funding as a result of its defiance.

The federal interpretations of Title IX and Title VII, which relates to employment protections, are already the subject of dueling lawsuits in North Carolina , which passed the first state-level restrictions on transgender restroom use in public buildings, including schools earlier this year. A panel of judges on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the federal interpretation of Title IX as valid, though the Virginia school district at the heart of that ruling has filed an appeal, asking the whole court to consider the issue.

In other areas of federal law, such as the Violence Against Women Act, sex and gender identity are mentioned as two discrete categories, so its unreasonable to assume lawmakers for the mention of sex in Title IX to encompass both, the states suit contends.

Related reading on transgender students:

Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox.
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

13:33, 25 OCT 2022
Every school needs at least one full-time nurse , the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement. But, in many cases, reality falls far short of that recommendation.

School nursing is one of the most effective ways to keep children healthy and in school and to prevent chronic absenteeism, Breena Welch Holmes, a lead author of the position paper, said in a statement. Pediatricians who work closely with school nurses will serve all of their patients better.

The new position is an update from a 2008 statement, when the organization supported ratios of 1 school nurse to 750 students in the healthy student population, and a 1 to 225 ratio for student populations with greater health care needs.

According to the National Association of School Nurses, just 45 percent of public schools have a school nurse all day, every day. Another 30 percent of schools have a school nurse who works part-time in one or more schools. Wide ratio disparities exist from state to state, within states and school districts, and between urban and rural schools, the organization says.

As Denisa Superville and I wrote in 2014, nurses are often among the first to go when districts face budget constraints because not every state requires a nurse to be in every school building.

From that story:

The value of full-time, registered school nurses is not limited to the medical assistance they provide; there is also an economic benefit to society, according to a study published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers studied 78 Massachusetts districts that participated in the state's Essential School Health Services Program during the 2009-10 school year to demonstrate the benefits of having a full-time registered nurse on staff. The program cost $79 million, but researchers estimated that it saved $20 million in medical-care costs; $28.1 million in parents' productivity loss; and $129.1 million in teachers' productivity loss, generating a net benefit of $98 million."

More on school health:

Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox.
Manx Cancer Help's expansion to provide better therapy space

Manx Cancer Help has relocated its fundraising offices to create more space at the Lisa Lowe Centre.

The 'Douglas Hub' will become the administrative base for the fundraising and events team and will be located in the Hamblin office on Upper Church Street.

The charity provides emotional and psychological support for those affected by cancer - staff specialise in 'psycho-oncology' which promotes positive mental health and emotional well-being.

Gareth Nicholson is the fundraising events co-ordinator - he tells us what difference it will make:

Media

Gareth Nicholson
Students who have been bullied in school have long had difficulty holding school districts responsible for the acts of students. A decision this week by a federal appeals court extends that streak, and in stark terms.

A Massachusetts student identified in court papers as R.M. was a 12-year-old middle school student who faced alleged bullying by students at his school in 2011. Court papers say that one day in October of that year, R.M. was repeatedly kicked and punched by students who belonged to a gang called the Kool-Aid Club.

There is some evidence that R.M. had agreed to the beating as a form of initiation to the club. But after R.M. discussed the situation with the principal, that led to more bullying from the Kool-Aid Club, because he had gotten them into trouble. (And R.M. himself was disciplined for delaying the investigation.)

R.M.'s suit alleges acts by fellow students of table-topping"in which one bully pushes the victim backward over another student who is on all fours behind the victimas well as pantsing, in which the victims pants are quickly pulled down from behind.

The court papers suggest that administrators at Lexington Middle School in Lexington, Mass., at times seemed to take seriously the complaints of R.M. and his mother, but that their responses to the bullying were ineffective. But the suit also alleges school officials asked Lexington police officers to go to R.M.'s house to enforce the compulsory-attendance law when R.M. was refusing to go to school because of panic attacks over being bullied, the court papers say.

R.M. briefly attended a private school, but later re-enrolled at Lexington Middle School. His mother sued the Lexington school district and school administrators, arguing, among other claims, that the actions of the school system and its officials fell with the state-created danger theory of liability. That theory has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts for situations in which acts of the government create or worsen danger to an individual.

The suit contends the district allegedly turned a blind eye to the bullying of R.M. and took affirmative steps to disregard his complaints.

A federal district court dismissed the familys lawsuit, and in a May 23 decision in Morgan v. Town of Lexington , a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, in Boston, unanimously ruled for the defendants as well.

The appeals court held that the suits claims that district actions (or inactions) violated R.M.'s 14th Amendment due-process rights did not have much of a chance given 1st Circuit precedent.

In a 2005 case, the panel said, the 1st Circuit court rejected any government liability in the case of a 15-year-old girl who had witnessed a murder and was told she would be provided police protection if she testified in the case.

She agreed; she was not protected; and she was murdered, the appeals court said. We explained that it is not enough to allege something shocked the conscience. The plaintiff had to show that governmental conduct caused the deprivation of the right. We said: The purpose of the Due Process Clause is to protect the people from the state, not to ensure that the state protects them from each other.

R.M.'s mother has not alleged the pungent facts that would be required to show that any behavior by school officials was so extreme as to shock the conscience, the appeals court said.

The court also rejected the familys state-created-danger claim.

An alleged failure of the school to be effective in stopping bullying by other students is not action by the state to create or increase the danger, the court said. These routine acts of school discipline, truancy enforcement, and administrator-parent conferences are not the vehicle for a substantive-due-process constitutional claim.
Judge Finds Enough Evidence for Bill Cosby Criminal Trial in PA

A criminal case against Bill Cosby is going forward in Pennsylvania. The comedian is charged with three counts of felony indecent assault and faces 10 years in prison if convicted, reports CNN. Cosby's accuser, who was not in court today, was the first woman to publicly come forward and complain to police about the comedian's conduct in 2004. Police declined to prosecute the comedian then, claiming the evidence was insufficient.

But in the dozen years since Constand gave her statement to the cops, about 50 women have spoken out and new evidence has come to light. There is no trial date set yet. Cosby is expected back in court on July 20.

What Happened

Bill Cosby is accused of indecently assaulting Temple University employee Barbara Constand in 2004. She told police that she went to see Cosby when he was visiting his alma mater, and that he drugged her drink and touched her. Constand filed a police report at the time but local police declined to charge Cosby, citing insufficient evidence.

Today a judge found that there was enough evidence to go forward with a criminal prosecution. It seems that some of that new evidence comes from a deposition of Camille Cosby, the comedian's wife and longtime manager, taken in a Massachusetts case against her husband. That deposition was just unsealed by a federal judge last week.

Still, Constand's case may well be the only criminal matter Cosby faces, despite all the accusations. CNN says Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by more than 50 women all over the country, but he has not faced criminal prosecution because the statute of limitations has run out.

An Aging Cosby

Cosby, who is now 78 and reportedly came into court leaning on his lawyer's arm, has a lot to deal with besides this criminal case. He is involved in defamation lawsuits with women who accuse him of sexual assault, counterclaims, and more.

Cosby's lawyers insist that this latest decision to proceed with the criminal case in Pennsylvania is misguided and unfair. "There was no evidence of a crime here," attorney Brian McMonagle said. "And the inconsistencies that plagued this investigation from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately."

Barbara Constand, who dared to accuse Cosby when no one else would, did not appear in court today. But it seems likely that she feels at least a little relieved to finally be believed after so long.

Related Resources:
There was a time when Huawei phones were associated with cheap, substandard handsets that are nigh-disposable. Just a few years ago, the firm's products were just that - cheap, low quality, and otherwise forgettable. Today, however, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has become a serious contender in the mobile device market, its prominence proven by its 8.3 percent market share in worldwide sales.

In fact, if the smartphone maker continues on its pace, it might very well end up toppling the world's top two brands, Samsung and Apple. While it is true that the South Korean tech behemoth and the Cupertino-based giant have been at the top of the smartphone pyramid for a very long time, the steady progress of Huawei, now the world's no. 3 smartphone brand, is slowly becoming a cloud over the dominance of Samsung and Apple.

Analysts believe that the secret to Huawei's recent successes lies in a bold plan that saw the smartphone maker reinvent itself into a firm that must be taken seriously. Creating premium handsets that rival and even exceed the most popular products of its competitors, Huawei started being perceived by the market as a formidable brand. In time, Huawei became the ideal third option for consumers who would like to explore beyond what Apple and Samsung could offer.

The firm's growth has been very visible so far, with the company selling a total of 108 million smartphones last year. Though the number is still far behind Samsung's 324 million and Apple's 231 million, current trends in smartphone sales have shown Huawei's numbers steadily increasing. On the other hand, Samsung's sales have been stagnating for a while now, and Apple's sales are actually on the decline, thanks to the relatively lackluster performance of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

Huawei has gotten far more aggressive lately, too. Recently, the Chinese firm filed a case against Samsung, alleging that the South Korean tech giant infringed on its patents by using its 4G technology without proper license. Notably, Huawei's lawsuit echoes a previous infringement claim from Apple, which also alleged that Samsung copied some of its smartphone designs.

The next few years might indeed see the emergence of a new smartphone king.
Angel Investor David Rose Advises All Startups to Hire a Lawyer

When you start a business, there is a lot to handle and it makes sense to hire a lawyer. But many business people don't do that, thinking they will leave the little details for later, once the big stuff is set up.

That is not a good idea, according to David Rose, who is a successful serial investor and the author of The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business. In a review of Rose's book in Fortune, it is noted that this entrepreneur considers hiring a lawyer an important initial step in starting a business. Let's look at what he says.

Why Hire a Lawyer

It is very common for business people, especially those with limited experience, to underestimate the value of legal counsel. Preoccupied with ideas about launching, the startup founder who fails to consult with an attorney will miss important steps that should not be skipped, says Rose. Little things can become big problems if you don't have a lawyer to review what you are doing and ensure you are headed in the right direction

Noting that many company founders think they don't need a lawyer at all, David Rose writes, "More often than not, I've seen startups skimp on legal expenses in the early days only to learn a hard lesson ... The peace of mind that comes from knowing that a good lawyer has your back is extraordinarily liberating. Believe me."

Breaking Up

According to Rose, you need a lawyer for your new business, and not just for one or two things -- he reportedly lists 33 specific reasons. You should probably listen to him because he has founded or funded over 100 companies and his advice is not abstract. It's practical.

Rose even lets his readers know how to go about leaving a law firm when the relationship is no longer working and what belongs to the client who goes. "Remember, your files and any work product are yours," he writes. "A law firm can charge you for copying, but cannot refuse to give them back even if you are behind on the bill."

Consult With Counsel

If you are starting a business or are already in deep, talk to a lawyer. Get guidance. Take care of the details and get peace of mind, just as David Rose advises.

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Google+.

Related Resources:
BEER-SHEVA, Israel ... May 25, 2016 - Feelings of shame and humiliation bother obese air passengers more than tight seat belts and tiny seats, according to a study published by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers.

Participants interviewed for the study "An Exploratory Study About Obese People's Flight Experience," published in the Journal of Travel Research, recounted the typical challenges they encounter while boarding, in-flight and deplaning.

"Most participants agreed that the way people stare at them during boarding and deplaning is humiliating, and at times even shameful," says Prof. Yaniv Poria, chairman of the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at BGU's Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management.

Prof. Poria collaborated with Jeremy Beal, a graduate of Virginia Tech's Hospitality and Tourism Management Program. They suggest allowing obese people to board first and deplane last, and making design changes to rest rooms and seat trays which would make everyone more comfortable. Additionally, they argue for the need to offer different-sized seats.

Squeezing down aisles and into seats is particularly troublesome, the participants said, because they are unable to avoid touching other passengers. Many attempted to be first in line to board so they could easily find their seats "and disappear."

The researchers note that crew members can respectfully and discreetly make everyone's flight experience more comfortable by moving a passenger sitting next to an obese person to another seat. Survey participants indicated that African American female crew members seemed to be generally less judgmental and more helpful.

"We assumed that the greatest difficulties obese people faced on planes were caused by tight, confined spaces," Prof. Poria says. "We were surprised to find that the way other people reacted to them was so 'unpleasant' and 'embarrassing,' causing them to feel universally 'uncomfortable' and 'uneasy.'

"Obese people think that others regard them as individuals who intentionally decided to be disabled," Prof. Poria explains. "Moreover, obese people feel that they are perceived as thieves, since their 'chosen' disability increases costs for other people. Obesity is a social disability as it prevents obese people from feeling safe in public."

Researchers in Virginia interviewed passengers deplaning off both direct and connecting flights. The 2013 survey included 11 men and 13 women, ages 22 to 64, who had been on short (less than two hours) and long (more than two hours) flights. Sixteen of the 24 passengers self-identified as obese, with a body mass index of 30 or above. Eight considered themselves morbidly obese.

###

Y. Poria, J. Beal, 2016. An Exploratory Study about Obese People's Flight Experience (2016-05) DOI:10.1177/0047287516643416

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement committed to sustainable development of the Negev. AABGU, which is headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org
Amyloid- is a sticky peptide notorious for forming destructive plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, but a new study suggests that it may also serve a protective function as an antimicrobial peptide. Researchers show that fibrous nets of amyloid- can ensnare invading microbes, halting infection in mouse and worm models of Alzheimer's disease. The findings raise intriguing questions about whether an overactive immune response by amyloid-, either to a real or perceived microbial threat, can trigger disease. A better understanding of the peptide's role in the brain's immune system may open new therapeutic avenues for Alzheimer's disease, the researchers say. Amyloid- is widely viewed as an abnormal byproduct of cells, but whether the peptide, which is conserved across many species throughout evolution, has a normal function remains unclear. Recent research revealed that it exhibits strong antimicrobial activity to clinically relevant pathogens in vitro. Here, Deepak Kumar Vijaya Kumar and colleagues show that amyloid- can protect against bacterial and fungal infection in nematodes and mice in vivo. Mice that overexpressed the peptide showed greater resistance to bacterial infection, with improved survival compared to normal mice or mice unable to produce amyloid-. In mice with Alzheimer's disease, injecting Salmonella typhimurium into the brain stimulated and accelerated amyloid- to cluster around the bacteria. Amyloid- fibrils seemed to form nets that captured and entrapped bacterial cells to prevent infection, a mechanism similar to that used by known antimicrobial peptides. Altogether, the findings cast amyloid- in new light as a peptide with dual protective and damaging functions, prompting re-examination of the role of infection in Alzheimer's disease.

###
The rhetorical content varies greatly, but Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina modulate their voices in the same way when faced with different audiences

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2016 -- Researchers at UCLA's Voice Center for Medicine and the Arts have recently examined the speech patterns of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina in a variety of settings to determine whether the presidential candidates followed the same voice modulation strategies. They researchers found that despite the politicians' varied messages, their vocal delivery remains the same.

"Our hypothesis is that persuasive goals change when you address a different audience, and this change is reflected in voice acoustics," said Rosario Signorello, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. Signorello has been investigating the biological components of charismatic speech at UCLA for more than two years, and his previous research has involved examining the frequency characteristics responsible for voters perceiving politicians as benevolent or authoritarian.

He and his colleagues will present their current research on the charismatic speaking strategies of presidential candidate at the 171st meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Salt Lake City.

The researchers examined the fundamental frequency, also known as pitch, or F0, of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Carly Fiorina in three different settings - political rallies, meetings with other political figures, and nonpolitical talk show interviews. They found that in large venues filled with voters, all four figures employed a very wide fundamental frequency range, a method Signorello and his colleagues previously demonstrated as key to being perceived as charismatic.

When the four politicians were formally addressing other leaders -- Clinton addressing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Sanders speaking to the U.S. Senate, and Trump and Fiorina appearing at a New Hampshire Leadership Summit -- the researchers found that the speakers varied their pitch from very low to medium, eschewing high frequencies altogether. This pattern of use is also found among other mammals, where lower frequency voices often reflect physical size, power, or dominance.

"This vocal profile seems to reflect leaders' use of vocalizations to display dominance while addressing speakers of the same social status," Signorello said. "They use voice to convey their authoritarian charisma."

Signorello and his colleagues also examined the vocal profiles of Clinton, Sanders, Trump and Fiorina in more casual, nonpolitical settings, such as late night talk shows, finding that they use a "healthy" voice, or the normal, non-varying voice they use to speak with their families.

"We found that the leaders - both Democratic and Republican, both genders - have a similar voice profile which is completely different than the other voice profiles in the other [rally and peer] communication contexts," Signorello said.

Signorello and his colleagues currently plan to further investigate the biological basis of charismatic speech in social structures by examining vocal patterns in nonhuman primates. "The goal of this research is to find a link between species, to demonstrate that the similarities in vocalizations between male and female charismatic speakers, in different languages and cultures, are the result of an evolved way of using vocalization by a group's leaders."

###

Poster #2aMU3, "Why fry? An exploration of the lowest vocal register in amplified and unamplified singing," by Rosario Signorello will be on display with the authors on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, from 1:00 - 3:00 PM MDT in Salon G. The abstract can be found by searching for the presentation number here: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-meeting-itinerary-planner

ABOUT THE MEETING

The 171st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) will be held May 23 - 27, 2016, at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek Hotel. It will feature more than 900 presentations on sound and its applications in physics, engineering, music, architecture and medicine. Reporters are invited to cover the meeting remotely or attend in person for free.

USEFUL LINKS

Main meeting website: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-2016-meeting

Itinerary planner and technical program: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-meeting-itinerary-planner

WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA's World Wide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay-language papers, which are 400-900 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video. You can visit the site, beginning in early May, at (http://acoustics.org/current-meeting). PRESS REGISTRATION

We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact John Arnst (jarnst@aip.org, 301-209-3096) who can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information. LIVE MEDIA WEBCAST

A press briefing featuring a selection of newsworthy research will be webcast live from the conference on Tuesday, May 24. Topics and time of webcast to be announced. ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2016 - Radiation oncologists from across the United States convened on Capitol Hill yesterday to encourage members of Congress to invest in cancer research with sustainable and predictable funding and to protect patients' access to high quality cancer care through value-based physician payment models. The 95 doctors were in Washington for approximately 150 meetings with Congressional leaders from their home districts and states as part of the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 13th annual Advocacy Day.

ASTRO members emphasized four priorities as they met with legislators and Congressional staffers: (1) to invest in cancer research with sustainable and predictable funding; to protect patients' access to quality health care by (2) stabilizing Medicare payments while pursuing innovative models of physician reimbursement and by (3) ending physician self-referral abuse; and (4) to preserve funding and residency slots for graduate medical education.

Driven largely by Vice President Joe Biden's push to accelerate cancer research progress and the launch of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, research on treatments and cures for cancer has become a national conversation, and ASTRO members encouraged Congress to ensure radiation oncology is part of that discussion. Radiation therapy has been a safe, effective and powerful method of fighting cancer for more than 100 years, yet federal funding for research in radiation oncology remains well below the level of funding for other therapeutic modalities.

The research community is on the cusp of finding better treatment options for cancer patients, such as combination approaches using radiation therapy to jump-start a patient's immune system and enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Understanding how and why these combination therapies eliminate cancer cells is critical to matching the right treatments to the right patients, and that understanding necessitates sustained, predictable growth in funding that supports collaboration between the best scientists in far-reaching fields, including radiation therapy.

In addition, ASTRO members advocated for support of ASTRO-developed alternative physician payment policies that improve the value of health care and protect patient's access to high quality cancer care. ASTRO is soliciting public input on an alternative payment model for palliative treatment for bone metastases and will release additional models for public comment.

In the fall of 2015, ASTRO organized a comprehensive response to Medicare payment threats that included obtaining support for radiation oncology against Medicare payment cuts from 207 members of Congress representing both chambers and both major parties. Led by Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), the support letters called particular attention to the burden that community-based clinics would face by losing the payment stability that is essential to ensure accessible, affordable care for their patients.

Thanks in part to radiation oncology's Congressional champions, reimbursement reductions in the final 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) were less severe than originally proposed. Moreover, the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act (S. 2425) passed in December, freezing payment rates for freestanding radiation oncology centers through 2018 at the levels set under the 2016 MPFS and bringing these centers one step closer to payment stability.

Medicare payment stability allows radiation oncology to transition away from the antiquated "fee-for-service" model toward the promise of alternative payment models (APMs) authorized under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). APMs incentivize physician participation in performance-based payment models and move the reimbursement structure from a system of volume to one of value. ASTRO members emphasized the potential for specialty medical societies to help lawmakers incorporate robust quality improvement programs into APMs and the Merit-based Incentive Program (MIPS) under MACRA.

"ASTRO's advocacy efforts since 2009 have prevented more than $500 million in proposed Medicare payment cuts to radiation oncology, and we've helped pass legislation that brings some much-needed payment stability to doctors across the discipline through 2018" said ASTRO Chair Bruce D. Minsky, MD, FASTRO. "In addition to fighting for fair and stable reimbursement, ASTRO is leading the way to develop alternative payment models for radiation oncology that will support the delivery of high value, high quality care for our patients."

ASTRO also encouraged Congress to protect patients by helping ensure treatment decisions are based on clinical judgment rather than financial gain, through narrowing exceptions in the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act that allow for physician self-referral abuse. Multiple studies, such as 2013 reports published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and in the New England Journal of Medicine, have shown that physician self-referral leads to increased utilization of services that may not be medically necessary and poses a potential risk of harm to patients. The Promoting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2016 (HR 5088) introduced by Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) would close the loophole in current policy that allows for self-referral abuse, help drive payment and delivery system reform and save an estimated $3.3 billion dollars in unnecessary Medicare spending over the next decade.

A final legislative priority for ASTRO is to preserve funding for graduate medical education by supporting the Training Tomorrow's Doctors Today Act (HR 4774). The American Cancer Society estimates that more than a million and half people in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with cancer this year alone. Coupled with the disproportionate growth projected among the American elderly population, the growing numbers of cancer patients and survivors are creating a steadily increasing demand for medical care - and the physicians to provide that care. An April 2016 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage 61,700 to 94,700 physicians in the U.S. by 2025. The Training Tomorrow's Doctors Today Act would train an additional 3,000 doctors each year for five years, allowing teaching hospitals to expand their residency programs, while concurrently establishing new accountability criteria for these programs.

###

ABOUT ASTRO

ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics, Practical Radiation Oncology and Advances in Radiation Oncology; developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute, a nonprofit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit http://www.astro.org.
Scientists have found evidence of a relationship between pulmonary function and vocal fatigue complaints among teachers, indicating that respiratory health may affect voice health in females more often than males

Washington, D. C. May 25, 2016 -- Teaching is an occupation with a high risk of developing vocal problems -- teachers have more than twice the voice problems than people in other professions, as the voice is the major tool in classroom instruction and is often used for long periods of time and in noisy environments. Additionally, females face a significantly higher risk than men of developing long-term vocal problems. Therefore female teachers, the predominate population of teaching workforce, face a dual risk for developing prolonged voice problem. In a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and the Gould Voice Research Center, researchers displayed that the cost of teachers' voice injuries to the U.S. economy is estimated at US$2.5 billion per year. As a result, many scientists have worked on finding the physiological causes to help teachers prevent and treat voice problems.

Vocal fatigue is a common complaint among teachers and one of the most debilitating conditions that can lead to vocal damage. The typical symptoms include hoarseness, vocal tiredness, muscle pains and lost or cracked notes. However, the actual physiological mechanism of vocal fatigue is still being explored, and it is often difficult to accurately diagnose the cause as the patients' vocal folds may look normal during an exam.

Now, a group of researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Utah have found a potential link between pulmonary function and the symptoms of voice fatigue unique to women. The study proposed a common, simple, low-cost tool that could aid medical experts in detecting potential voice fatigue at an early stage, which would help teachers to better prevent and treat voice problems. The researchers will present this work at the 171th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), being held May. 23-27, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"The higher incidence of prolonged problems among women has been associated with a number of gender differences including physiological differences in the laryngeal system, differences in the endocrine system, and differences in pulmonary usage," said Eric Hunter, the lead investigator and Associate Chair of Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at the Michigan State University. "Our study is the first to connect voice fatigue problems with gender-based physiological differences in lung functions, pointing to respiratory function as a source of the gender inequality in voice problems."

Hunter said the study is part of a larger research project funded by the National Institutes of Health, aiming to investigate underlying risk factors for voice problems and gender differences in speech.

"Females teachers are particularly at risk of developing voice problems, affecting teaching quality and leading to increased teacher absenteeism, increased health care costs and sometimes even early retirement. Teachers' voice disorders also hamper students' learning, especially for those students with learning or hearing difficulties," Hunter said.

Inspired by earlier studies, Hunter noticed seven years ago that there might be a link between vocal health problems and pulmonary functions. After preliminary studies, the researchers are now exploring this link through a study of 122 elementary and middle school faculty members (96 females, 26 males), relating the teachers' Vocal Fatigue Index scores with the results of spirometry measures.

The Vocal Fatigue Index is a standardized survey tool that can help identify individuals with vocal fatigue and characterize their complaints. A spirometer is a medical tool often used in vocal health clinics to assess asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing problems. Spirometry calculates pulmonary function from measuring how much air one inhales, and how much and how quickly one exhales.

By comparing the Vocal Fatigue Index and spirometry measures from the teachers, that increased vocal fatigue symptoms would result in reduced pulmonary function measures. "This correlation can only be applied for female teachers. No such relationship was observed for males," Hunter noted.

The evidence from this study supports the use of spirometers as a simple and low-cost tool that could aid caregivers in vocal health clinics in tailoring therapies for patients with low spirometer measures. Previously, these patients may have received less individualized treatment, Hunter said.

In addition, the spirometer could also be used as a vocal fatigue screening device for teachers. Reduced pulmonary function measures would warn the teachers of their increased risk for potential voice problems, which would remind them to do preventative exercises as well as pay attention to voice rest while teaching.

The team's next step, Hunter said, is to continue studying other underlying risk factors for vocal problems, such as how stress, hormonal changes and age-related changes affect teachers' voice health.

###

Presentation #3aSC2, "The effect of compromised pulmonary function on speech production among female school teachers," by Lynn M. Maxfield will take place on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at 8:25 a.m. MDT in Salon F. The abstract can be found by searching for the presentation number here: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-meeting-itinerary-planner.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2016 - Scientists are studying how climate change will affect the speed of sound under water to help prepare the U.S. Navy for operating in progressively warmer oceans.

Light doesn't travel very far underwater so the navy uses sound to transmit messages. The speed of underwater sound depends on a combination of temperature, salinity and pressure. It's a complicated equation, but temperature is the biggest factor, says Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

Understanding sound speed is crucial for transmitting messages, detecting enemy submarines and avoiding marine animals. As climate change elevates temperatures, understanding underwater sound speed will become increasingly important.

"[We] haven't had to deal with this issue of climate change until the last 15 years, but the temperature changes are significant enough that it really is having an impact on how sound travels in the ocean," Gawarkiewicz said. He and his colleagues will present their research on the effect of climate change on sonar this week at the 171st meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, held May 23 - 27 in Salt Lake City.

Gawarkiewicz and his team, with funding from the Office of Naval Research, use a torpedo-like autonomous underwater vehicle to study temperature's influence on sound speed. The vehicle emits sounds that are picked up by a receiver. Sound travels faster through warmer water and slower through colder water. By measuring the exact speed of different temperatures, scientists can help create better communication and detection tools.

This is important because submarines have become more challenging to detect. As technology has improved even more over the past few decades, it's become even more difficult to discover underwater craft. Climate change will only make detection more challenging.

"It's getting harder and harder to detect these subs, and the ocean is getting noisier and noisier with commercial shipping," Gawarkiewicz said.

"You have snappy shrimp making noise and fish making noise, and you might be hearing oil platforms," he added. "It's a huge challenge to try and detect underwater sources."

Experts use underwater sound research to locate missing planes. The black boxes on airplanes have signals on them that send out bursts of sound. If the water is significantly warmer or cooler than normal, this could throw off any hope of finding the plane wreckage and figuring out what happened.

Sound speed is also important for the health of wildlife. Major shipping routes and oil platform construction often take wildlife into consideration. By mapping the speed of sound, scientists can prevent harmful noises from traveling far enough to mess up an animal's migratory patterns or mating grounds.

"If you know that whales hang out in a certain area and you're thinking of putting in an oil platform you'd want to know how close you can be without affecting the whales," Gawarkiewicz said.

Presentation #3AUW3 "Recent oceanographic variability and warming of the continental shelf south of New England and implications for acoustic propagation and sub-bottom characterization," by Glen Gawarkiewicz will take place on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at 8:45 AM MDT in Salon A. The abstract can be found by searching for the presentation number here: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-meeting-itinerary-planner

###

ABOUT THE MEETING

The 171st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) will be held May 23-27, 2016, at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek Hotel. It will feature more than 900 presentations on sound and its applications in physics, engineering, music, architecture and medicine. Reporters are invited to cover the meeting remotely or attend in person for free.

USEFUL LINKS

Main meeting website: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-2016-meeting

Itinerary planner and technical program: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/spring-meeting-itinerary-planner

WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA's World Wide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay-language papers, which are 400-900 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video. You can visit the site, beginning in early May, at (http://acoustics.org/current-meeting).

PRESS REGISTRATION

We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact John Arnst (jarnst@aip.org, 301-209-3096) who can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

LIVE MEDIA WEBCAST

A press briefing featuring a selection of newsworthy research will be webcast live from the conference on Tuesday, May 24. Topics and time of webcast to be announced.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
If you have three or more siblings, odds are that you have at least one year less of education than someone who has no siblings.

More kids in your family. Less education. This pattern isn't new, but a team of researchers led by BYU sociology professor Ben Gibbs studied why that educational dip occurs and found that there are exceptions to the trend. One group that is a major outlier is Mormons.

Despite large family sizes, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) don't feel the same educational attainment effects. For Mormons, the negative relationship between years of schooling and number of siblings is 66 percent smaller than those raised in other religious groups.

"I think Mormons are an interesting case because it's one example of a faith community that has really high fertility patterns, in fact the highest fertility patterns in the U.S., who don't seem to suffer as much by having these large families when we look at educational attainment," Gibbs said.

The root of this educational issue in families goes back to a simple concept: resource dilution. In 1989, researcher Judith Blake presented the theory, which stated that children from large families don't receive as much education because the family resources are spread out over more people.

Follow up research by social scientists across the United States supported the theory, which developed into something of an iron law: the more siblings you have, the less education you will obtain.

But it turns out this iron law isn't so ironclad after all. The research by Gibbs, Ohio State professor Doug Downey and Oxford research fellow Joseph Workman was published in Demography last week and shows that the resource dilution theory has an exception. When the government or community helps make raising children less burdensome, the effect of Blake's theory decreases significantly.

"Our argument would be that resource dilution is probably a law," Gibbs said, "but those resources don't have to come from the parents."

Gibbs and his colleagues came to this conclusion by extending Blake's original data to include newer cohorts of data: people born in the 1950s,1960s and 1970s. They found that the negative effect of sibship size (the amount of siblings in an immediate family) on educational attainment was cut in half between the beginning and middle of the 20th century.

"The 50s and 60s was the time of the Great Society, when we invested a lot in making higher education more expansive, accessible and affordable," Gibbs said. "From the 40s on, we had a lot of social programs (GI Bill, Medicare/Medicaid) that influenced how a family experiences childrearing and its cost in ways that may have even shaped something as important as how much education a person has."

Regardless of where support comes from, community or government, its effect is substantial in helping ease families' struggle to provide educational resources for their children. Also, support isn't just money given to families; it can include anything from childcare to education initiatives. Two decades of work by Downey has uncovered some of these more essential resources.

Gibbs explained that Mormons alleviate the responsibilities of raising kids in three main ways that could be causing this effect and helping them get more education regardless of how many children are in their family. First, about 90 percent of Mormon kids have adult mentors in their congregations that they feel give them significant encouragement, when the national average among religious teens is about 50 percent. Second, Mormons donate income to the church, which can be used to help families in times of need and offset some financial hardship. Third, Mormon religious ideology encourages education and recommends that individuals make it a priority.

"The presence of BYU is a great example of this--marrying the secular pursuit of education with this religious theological belief so that it's part of the same quest," Gibbs said. "As Mormons believe that the glory of God is intelligence, this often translates to get as much education as possible."

The study isn't necessarily good news for people currently from large families. The researchers are concerned that the trend might be reversing due to growing income inequality and lack of government and community investment.

"Right now, I think we're at the end of a golden era where families are under less burden and constraint," Gibbs said. "We find good evidence that growing inequality is reversing this trend."

If Gibbs is right about the turning trend, reality could contradict the American Dream and the size of the family you're born into could explain more about how far kids go in education. But knowing this could help avoid that path.

"Maybe we can borrow some of what we've learned about those time periods [when the effect was less] in today's debate about the role of the family in shaping kids' educational futures," Gibbs said. "In the name of equality, family resources could be far less of a factor for determining how much education kids obtain."

###
Why would billionaire Peter Thiel want to bankrupt Gawker? That's the question circulating today, after Forbes reported that Thiel secretly backed Hulk Hogan's high-profile lawsuit against Nick Denton's publishing empire.

In the report, Forbes didn't provide an explanation for exactly how or why the PayPal co-founder, early Facebook backer, and Donald Trump supporter became connected to the wrestling star. There is no word on whether other financiers were involved in the high-stakes litigation financing arrangement.

"A spokesperson for Thiel declined to comment."

Why would Peter Thiel get involved in a wrestler's legal battle with a blog over a sex tape? Forbes suggests that Thiel was bitter at Nick Denton's publishing empire after the Gawker publication Valleywag outed Peter Thiel as gay in a 2007 item written by then-Valleywag editor Owen Thomas.

So, here's one circulating theory on the internet: Thiel had a common bond of violated sexual privacy with Hogan. Gawker published a Hulk Hogan sex tape none of us wanted to see online, least of all Hulk Hogan.

Earlier this week, before the Forbes report broke, Gawker founder Nick Denton said in an interview with the New York Times that he believed Hogan's lawyer Charles Harder was probably being paid by someone other than Hogan.

From Forbes:

When reached by phone on Tuesday, Denton said that he did not know of Thiel's involvement but had "heard that name" along with others in the speculation that surrounded Hogan's first lawsuit. (Hogan and Harder sued Gawker again in a Florida state court earlier this month alleging that Gawker attempted to extort Hogan over the release of a sex tape that was the subject of the first lawsuit.) When asked why he thought financial backing was coming from Silicon Valley, Denton said that exposing the money and power in the tech industry was a relatively recent practice. "We write stories about powerful people in New York, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in New York," he said. "We write stories about powerful people in LA, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in LA. What's unique about Gawker is that we're an internet publication and the tech industry is of particular interest to us. There are powerful people in Silicon Valley and the power of Silicon Valley is a relatively new phenomenon."

If Gawker loses its appeal in the Hogan case, the company may not survive. Was silencing the publication Peter Thiel's intent?

Again, from Forbes:
Researchers from Concordia University explain how fancy glassware and the sight of a liquor store can facilitate alcohol addiction

Montreal, May 25, 2016 -- Humans aren't much different from other animals. Just like Pavlov's dogs, we can become conditioned to associate environmental cues with rewards. Innocent enough when the sight of your sneakers makes you want to go for a run, but not necessarily so when the sight of the liquor store prompts you to want a drink.

Indeed, Pavlovian cues that predict alcohol can lead us toward addiction. And sometimes those cues can become desirable in and of themselves, as shown in a new study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience by researchers from Concordia University in Montreal.

"Alcohol addiction is compounded by our ability to learn about predictive cues," says Nadia Chaudhri, the study's lead author and professor in the Department of Psychology.

"Conditioned reactions to those cues can trigger behaviours that result in drinking, like turning into the SAQ or reaching for a beer."

The results of the study suggest that cues that predict alcohol can become highly desirable; therefore, people may keep drinking because of the pleasure derived from our interactions with them.

According to this research, drinkers wishing to make a change in their habits shouldn't just focus on the booze itself, but on all the factors that surround alcohol consumption.

"Many people have specialized glassware for different kinds of drinks, and strong preferences for what they drink," Chaudhri explains.

"These preferences could be driven by the sensory properties of alcohol, like its taste, smell and how it looks. It is important for people to realize that drinking alcohol is a complex behaviour, and in addition to what alcohol does to our brains, it also plays a role in regulating our behaviours."

For the study, Chaudhri and her co-authors, former Concordia student Chandra Srey and postdoctoral researcher Jean-Marie Maddux, worked with 25 lab rats who were conditioned to associated a specific cue with the presence of ethanol -- the main kind of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks.

The researchers paired a visual cue with the ethanol so that rats would come to expect alcohol every time they saw that cue. Eventually, when the cue was presented, rats approached the location where alcohol was about to be delivered. But after a time they stopped performing this behaviour and instead began approaching and interacting with the cue.

This happened even though the rats gained nothing by playing with the cue, and would actually have been better served by approaching the location where alcohol was about to be delivered.

The researchers also noted that the rats would work to earn presentations of a cue that was previously paired with alcohol, even when alcohol was not dispensed along with that cue. These results suggest that a cue that predicts alcohol can become highly desireable.

So how can rat behaviour help explain human addiction?

"Lots of our behaviours are governed by fundamental learning mechanisms that are also present in other animal species," says Chaudhri. "By modelling these behaviours in rats we can better understand the factors that control how these behaviours are acquired and maintained in humans."

She explains that we can use animal models to figure out ways to minimize unwanted behaviours like responding to cues that predict alcohol.

"This knowledge can then be brought back to the clinic, where we can test similar strategies in humans," says Chaudhri.

"Rat models can also be used to inform us of the brain mechanisms that are important for behaviour. These basic science studies provide a critical foundation for the development of treatments for disorders like alcohol abuse and addiction."

Chaudhri will soon present the results of this and other related studies at the upcoming Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior annual symposium taking place May 27 to 28 in Chicago.

###

Partners in research: This research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Fonds de recherche du Quebec - Sante and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Related links:

Cited study http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00054/full

Department of Psychology https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/psychology.html

Media contact:

Clea Desjardins

Senior advisor, media relations

University Communications Services

Concordia University

Phone: 514-848-2424, ext. 5068

Email: clea.desjardins@concordia.ca

Web: http://www.concordia.ca/now/media-relations

Twitter: @CleaDesjardins
Researchers at Emory University, the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, along with national and international collaborators, will investigate the mechanisms behind "resilience" following malaria infection. The investigators believe learning why malaria causes acute, potentially lethal disease in some humans and animals, while others are much more resilient or tolerant, could lead them to better intervention strategies for malaria and other diseases, including new and better drugs.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) are supporting the research through a $6.4 million contract. The research partnership is part of DARPA's THoR (Technologies for Host Resilience) program and is termed the HAMMER (Host Acute Models of Malaria to study Experimental Resilience) project. HAMMER is one of a few projects in the THoR program, established for a three-year period, covering a variety of diverse host-pathogen model systems. The HAMMER project uniquely focuses on malaria and its effects on human and non-human primate hosts.

Malaria, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, is the most widespread human parasitic disease and is endemic in approximately 100 countries. It causes fever, pain and other acute responses, and in severe cases it can become deadly within days of the onset of symptoms.

"Malaria is a potentially lethal disease, but resilience in some people and non-human primates allows them to control the disease and avoid adverse outcomes, so that the infection is not incapacitating," says Mary R. Galinski, Ph.D., professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

"Our goals are to identify host features associated with resilience, thinking beyond the host's immune response into the realms of physiology, biochemistry and pathogenesis, and develop interventions that could enhance that resilience."

In addition to Galinski, key leaders of the THoR HAMMER project include Juan B. Gutierrez, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics and bioinformatics at the University of Georgia, and Rabindra Tirouvanziam, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. The project includes more than 40 established investigators in infectious diseases, systems biology, physiology, pathology, immunology, genomics, bioinformatics, pediatrics, cardiology, pulmonology, biomedical engineering, and mathematics at the three institutions, and through other collaborations.

THoR's HAMMER project focuses on the malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi, which can infect both humans and non-human primates. Plasmodium knowlesi causes mild chronic infections in some monkeys, such as long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, which are its natural hosts. However, it causes severe, virulent infections in other monkeys, such as rhesus macaques.

Using systems biology approaches, the THoR's HAMMER team will generate large datasets on characteristics of P. knowlesi infection in the two types of non-human primates and in humans. They will then develop and apply mathematical models to compare and contrast the different scenarios of infection to identify particular host features associated with resilience. This may yield insights that could lead to novel interventions for malaria, including new drugs.

The researchers will use surgically implanted telemetry devices to gather continuous real-time physiological data from the two types of monkeys, before and during infection, including temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and mobility. The HAMMER project will investigate correlates of physiological signals captured via telemetry with clinical and molecular variables, to detect signatures of the onset of severe disease.

The team also is collaborating with Balbir Singh, professor and director of the Malaria Research Centre at the University of Malaysia, Sarawak, to examine a large cohort of samples from human P. knowlesi infections. Malaysian Borneo is the epicenter of a significant animal-to-human public health threat in Southeast Asian countries and P. knowlesi accounts for the majority of Borneo's malaria cases. Such zoonotic infections have been reported in other parts of Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

"By combining the new technology of telemetry devices in non-human primates with data from human infections, our project will both deepen understanding of malaria caused by P. knowlesi, and generate valuable information to address other types of malaria, including disease caused by P. falciparum and P. vivax, the most common malaria parasites worldwide," says Gutierrez.

The researchers' ultimate goal is to test candidate therapeutic interventions in highly susceptible hosts with the aim of reducing disease severity and death in the absence of effective antimalarial chemotherapy, or in conjunction with antimalarial chemotherapy. If successful, such host-directed therapeutic strategies could be available for use by people in need, whether they are infected with P. knowlesi, other species of Plasmodium, and possibly other pathogens. These challenging goals are fitting with DARPA's track record taking on some of the world's most difficult and creative research projects, venturing into unchartered scientific territory.

The THoR's HAMMER project builds upon the scientific infrastructure of the Malaria Host-Pathogen Interaction Center (MaHPIC), a malaria systems biology partnership between Emory, UGA, Georgia Tech, and the CDC Foundation, established in 2012 with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201200031C. Through its robust, multi-institutional research partnership and global collaborations, MaHPIC has used technological advances to conduct innovative systems biology research in non-human primates and applied mathematical modeling tools to integrate large, diverse datasets, including from human samples. The MaHPIC and HAMMER team members will work collaboratively to further the distinct goals of both projects.

"Our systems biology team, which has become well-established through our MaHPIC consortium, plans to positively impact the work of all THoR projects by continuing to promote cross-fertilization of ideas both within our team and among all THoR project participants nationally," says Tirouvanziam.

###
The number of people in the UK who have tried e-cigarettes has almost doubled in just 2 years, according to a new study

The number of people in the UK who have tried e-cigarettes has almost doubled in just two years, according to a new study.

The research, from scientists at Imperial College London, examined e-cigarette use - and attitudes to the devices - across Europe between 2012 and 2014.

The paper, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that the proportion of people in the UK who had tried an e-cigarette had increased from 8.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent - higher than the European average.

The research also showed the proportion of people across Europe who considered the devices dangerous had also nearly doubled, from 27 per cent to 51 per cent.

E-cigarettes work by delivering nicotine into the lungs in the form of a vapour. The devices contain nicotine in a solution of either propylene glycol or glycerine and water, and sometimes flavourings. When a person sucks on the device, a sensor detects the air flow and heats the liquid inside the cartridge, causing it to evaporate.

Experts fiercely debate whether the devices help people give up smoking, and if they are safe - with some studies raising concerns about the toxicity of some of the ingredients.

Dr Filippos Filippidis, lead author of the research from the School of Public Health at Imperial said: "This research shows e-cigarettes are becoming very popular across Europe - with more than one in ten people in Europe now having tried one of the devices. However there is debate about the risks and benefits associated with e-cigarettes. For instance we don't know whether we may start to see diseases emerge in 10-20 years' time associated with some of the ingredients. We urgently need more research into the devices so that we can answer these questions."

The research, which used data from over 53,000 people across Europe (at least 1000 people from each country), also revealed France had the highest use of e-cigarettes - with one in five people saying they had tried the devices.

The nation also saw the largest rise in the proportion of people who had tried an e-cigarette - nearly tripling from 7.3 per cent in 2012 to 21.3 per cent in 2014.

The average number of people across Europe who had tried an e-cigarette increased by 60 per cent between 2012 and 2014, from 7.2 to 11.6 per cent.

The nation with lowest number of people who had tried an e-cigarette was found to be Portugal, with 5.7 per cent. The reason for the variation between nations is unknown, says Dr Filippidis, though possible reasons include the differences in the number of cigarette smokers, the types of smoking bans that exist in different countries, and also the levels of advertising for the devices.

Most of the people who had tried e-cigarettes were former or current smokers, though the number of people who had never smoked cigarettes, yet had tried e-cigarettes, had also increased from 2012 to 2014.

Dr Filippidis added: "Although this data shows most of the people who use e-cigarettes are current or former smokers - which suggests the devices may be helping some of them quit smoking - it is worrying that some people who have never smoked are using them. This raises the question of whether they could be a 'gateway' to smoking conventional cigarettes."

The research also found that being in the age range 18-24, living in a town or city, and being more highly educated were linked to increased odds of ever having tried an e-cigarette.

The team analysed responses to two Special Eurobarometer for Tobacco surveys carried out in early 2012 and late 2014, on the perceptions and use of e-cigarettes, among a representative sample of adults (15+ years) from 27 EU member states, excluding Croatia.

###
BAR HARBOR, MAINE -- Sea urchins are remarkable organisms. They can quickly regrow damaged spines and feet. Some species also live to extraordinary old ages and -- even more remarkably -- do so with no signs of poor health, such as a decline in regenerative capacity or an increase in age-related mortality. These ocean Methuselahs even reproduce as if they were still youngsters.

MDI Biological Laboratory Associate Professor James A. Coffman, Ph.D., is studying the regenerative capacity of sea urchins in hopes that a deeper understanding of the process of regeneration, which governs the regeneration of aging tissues as well as lost or damaged body parts, will lead to a deeper understanding of the aging process in humans, with whom sea urchins share a close genetic relationship.

In a paper recently published in Aging Cell, a leading journal in the field of aging biology, with Andrea G. Bodnar, Ph.D., of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Studies, the scientists shed new light on the aging process in sea urchins, raising the prospect that the physical decline that typically accompanies aging is not inevitable.

They studied regenerative capacity in three species of sea urchins with long, intermediate and short life expectancies: the red sea urchin, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, one of the world's longest-lived organisms with a life expectancy of more than 100 years; the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, with a life expectancy of more than 50 years; and the variegated sea urchin, Lytechinus variegatus, with a life expectancy of only four years.

The scientists hypothesized that the regenerative capacity of the species with shorter life expectancies would decline as they aged. Much to their surprise, however, they found that regenerative capacity was not affected by age: as with the very long-lived sea urchin, the regenerative capacity of the species with a shorter life expectancy did not decline with age.

"We wanted to find out why the species with short and intermediate life expectancies aged and the long-lived species didn't," said Coffman. "But what we found is that aging is not inevitable: sea urchins don't appear to age, even when they are short-lived. Because these findings were unexpected in light of the prevailing theories about the evolution of aging, we may have to rethink theories on why aging occurs."

The MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution focused on increasing healthy lifespan and harnessing the natural ability to repair and regenerate tissues damaged by injury or disease. The institution develops solutions to complex human and environmental health problems through research, education and ventures that transform discoveries into cures.

Coffman and other scientists working in the institution's Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Medicine study tissue repair, regeneration and aging in a diverse range of organisms that have robust mechanisms to repair and regenerate tissue.

The prevailing theory of the evolution of aging holds that aging is a side effect of genes that promote growth and development of organisms that have a low likelihood of continued survival in the wild once they have reproduced. Many organisms with a low expectation of survival in the wild experience rapid decline once they have reached reproductive maturity.

But Bodnar and Coffman's findings contradict that theory. They found that although the variegated sea urchin, L. variegatus, has a much lower life expectancy in the wild than the other two species they studied, it displayed no evidence of a decline in regenerative capacity with age, which suggests that senescence may not be tied to a short life expectancy in the wild.

The scientists are planning future studies to identify why short-lived sea urchins experience negligible senescence, and, in particular, the role of the immune system in maintaining youthful function into old age.

###

The MDI Biological Laboratory, located in Bar Harbor, Maine, is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution focused on increasing healthy lifespan and increasing our natural ability to repair and regenerate tissues damaged by injury or disease. The institution develops solutions to complex human health problems through research, education and ventures that transform discoveries into cures. For more information, please visit https://mdibl.org/.
Every day, scientists at NASA work on creating better hurricanes - on a computer screen. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a team of scientists spends its days incorporating millions of atmospheric observations, sophisticated graphic tools and lines of computer code to create computer models simulating the weather and climate conditions responsible for hurricanes. Scientists use these models to study the complex environment and structure of tropical storms and hurricanes.

Getting the simulations right has huge societal implications, which is why one Goddard scientist chose this line of work.

"Freshwater floods, often caused by hurricanes, are the number one cause of death by natural disasters in the world, even above earthquakes and volcanoes," tropical meteorologist Oreste Reale with Goddard's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) said. "Seeing how the research we do could have an impact on these things is very rewarding."

Improved models can lead to better prediction and warning for these natural disasters, mitigating loss of life and property.

Getting to the point of being able to accurately study hurricanes using computer models, however, is not easy. Because hurricanes are such complex storm systems, capturing their full nature in detail using a computer simulation is far from simple.

"We need to add complexity all the time and nobody here is afraid of doing that," Reale said. "You don't want a simple solution. If it's simple, chances are it's not true."

Adding complexity can include updating the models, incorporating data from new satellites, replacing old satellites and more.

Reale and his colleague, Goddard tropical meteorologist Marangelly Fuentes, have more than 25 years' combined experience looking at modeled storms. In fact, Fuentes was Reale's student intern while she was earning her doctorate degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C. They belong to a team in the GMAO whose goal is to assess whether new data types are used efficiently in computer models, and to ensure that changes and updates improve the performance of models and their data assimilation systems compared to previous versions. Data assimilation refers to the process through which data or observations are incorporated into an existing model.

"Mostly I look at tropical forecasting and the analysis of tropical cyclones in the models, so we monitor how the different models are performing with tropical storms," Fuentes said.

This includes comparing the performance of GMAO's weather and climate models with others in the U.S. and around the world. Fuentes looks at current versions of the GMAO model and compares them with newer, updated versions in development. By comparing the results of newer simulations on past, well-known storms, she can verify if the updated model version will be more effective at predicting the track and intensity of future storms.

"We are able to use cases like Hurricane Katrina to run tests and show us how we can improve, or how this new change affected the forecast or the analysis of the storm system," Fuentes said.

The closer the results are to the actual behavior of the storm, the more accurate the model.

Fuentes has worked extensively on the intensity prediction of Hurricane Katrina. Weather models in 2005 - the year Katrina struck the Gulf Coast with devastating results - predicted that the storm's pressure would reach as low as 955 millibars, significantly underestimating how low Katrina's atmospheric pressure would get, and therefore the storm's intensity. Observed data show that pressure in Hurricane Katrina's eye reached a minimum of 902 millibars, one of the 10 lowest pressure readings on record for an Atlantic hurricane. The most modern model produced by the GMAO, which Fuentes has been analyzing, can produce a model of Katrina's pressure much closer to the actual observed levels from 2005.

Changes to these predictions are caused by improvements in data assimilation and model resolution, made possible by increased computer processing power. Improving the resolution of the model works similarly to increasing the resolution of a photo. The more pixels, or dots of color, in a square inch of a photo, the higher the resolution. High-resolution photos appear sharper and capture more detail than their low-resolution counterparts. Likewise, higher-resolution models produce more detailed simulations of hurricanes, giving researchers a better understanding of their behavior.

"In the model we basically transform Earth's atmosphere into little 'cubes' and in each cube the fundamental equations controlling motion, energy and continuity of the atmosphere are solved," Reale said. "The smaller the size of the cube, the more realistic the representation of the atmosphere."

Reale said that high model resolution is a critical factor in capturing hurricanes accurately. Luckily, there has been much improvement to model resolution in the past 10 years.

In 2005, the record year of 27 named tropical storms or hurricanes in the Atlantic, the size of the "cubes" in GMAO's model was about 31 miles (50 km). Today, the resolution is three to four times higher at about 8 miles (12.5 km), giving scientists a much clearer and more detailed look at the state of the atmosphere.

Of course, Reale said, there's still work to be done. "There's no such thing as perfect in research and science, but there is certainly a big improvement for the intensity that contemporary models could predict if they had to face a situation like that again," he said.

Reale believes this is the team to do it. "I feel that I'm part of an organization that is extremely successful in facing many different aspects of science," he said. "There are people from all over the world, and I'm sure that whatever question or issue I may have, there's someone who knows the answer in this building. I can tap into the knowledge and experience of so many people."

Fuentes and Reale are part of the GMAO, which consists of more than 150 people, all working on different aspects of the Earth-atmosphere-ocean-ice system. NASA collaborates closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that releases official forecasts to the public, to improve our understanding of hurricanes. Reale is also the principal investigator on a funded NASA project to improve hurricane intensity prediction through a better use of data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the NASA Aqua satellite.

###

Related video: Hurricane Forecasts Rely on Modeling the Past
Inflammatory bowel diseases, or IBD, such as ulcerative colitis, are intractable diseases with unknown etiology. The number of patients with IBD in Japan has tremendously increased in recent years. However, there are no definitive treatments at present. Recently, the dysfunction of the intestinal mucosal barrier has been thought to be one of the causes for IBD. Indeed, in genetically-modified mice in which the mucosal barrier is defective, intestinal bacteria invade the colonic mucosa, and this causes high susceptibility to intestinal inflammation. Thus, it is important to understand how the mucosal barrier is formed for the elucidation of pathogenesis of IBD and development of effective therapy for IBD. In the colon, where a tremendous number of bacteria exist, colonic epithelial cells are surrounded by the thick mucus and are thereby protected from intestinal bacteria. However, the mechanism by which the mucus layer in the colon inhibits bacterial invasion had been unclear.

A research group led by Ryu Okumura, Specially Appointed Researcher, and Kiyoshi Takeda, Professor, at Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine; Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University focused on a gene named Ly6/Plaur domain containing 8 (Lypd8), which is highly and selectively expressed in colonic epithelial cells. This group found that Lypd8 is a highly glycosylated GPI-anchored protein, and is shed into the intestinal lumen. Human Lypd8 is also expressed in the colonic epithelia. This group found that Lypd 8 expression decreases in the colon of ulcerative colitis patients. In Lypd8-deficient mice, many intestinal bacteria invaded the inner mucus layer. Flagellated bacteria such as Proteus and Escherichia especially invaded the colonic mucosa in Lypd8-deficient mice. Many flagellated bacteria are known to be pathobionts implicated in intestinal inflammation. Therefore, this group analyzed the sensitivity to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced intestinal inflammation in Lypd8-deficient mice. Lypd8-deficient mice showed severe DSS-induced colitis compared to wild-type mice. Lypd8 bound to flagella of bacteria. In addition, Lypd8 inhibited the motility of bacteria in semisolid agar plate.

This group's study demonstrates that Lypd8 highly expressed in the colonic epithelia is constitutively shed into the intestinal lumen and inhibits bacterial invasion of colonic epithelia by binding flagella and suppressing the motility of flagellated bacteria. Thorough this mechanism, Lypd8 regulates intestinal homeostasis.

###

This research was featured in the electronic version of Nature on Wednesday, March 30, 2016.
A group of leading academics from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London says the UK must remain in the EU in order to protect the health of UK residents. Also at risk following a vote to leave the EU, says the group, would be the recruitment of doctors and healthcare workers to the NHS, medical research and teaching and the continued world-leading status of the top UK universities. In an editorial published today by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the 17-strong group led by Professor Azeem Majeed, head of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College, bring together the health and scientific case for EU membership.

The most important impact of a 'leave' vote on health would arise from its economic effects say the authors. Pointing to a Treasury analysis that concluded a vote to leave the EU could lead to a 36 billion a year drop in tax receipts, the authors warn that if the economic shockwaves lead to substantial cuts to health and social care, there would be an immediate negative impact on the health of UK residents. "Lower levels of spending on social care would further increase pressures on both community and hospital services", they say. "For example, it would become more difficult to discharge frail, elderly patients from hospitals."

In their editorial, the authors also express concern about the impact on the NHS workforce of an EU exit. Currently around 50,000 people from the European Economic Area, including 9,000 doctors, provide a vital contribution to the NHS by plugging the gap left by key shortages in its workforce. The EU has established standards across member states for the training of doctors and health professionals. The authors say: "A vote to leave the EU would make future recruitment more difficult as the UK would have to negotiate with each EU country separately to ensure that doctors and other health professionals recruited to work in the UK are trained to the same standards expected from UK-trained staff."

Residents of the UK who visit other EU countries either as tourists or on business would lose their right to free or low-cost health care, which is currently obtained via the European Health Insurance Card. The right to publicly-funded healthcare of the two million citizens of the UK who live permanently in other European countries would also come under threat.

The authors also warn that the UK government would be under no obligation to implement European-wide public health initiatives if the UK was no longer a member, and write of the major positive impact the European Union has had in public health from interventions such as food regulations, road safety, air pollution, tobacco control and chemical hazards.

The key role the UK plays in cross-national research projects, including many in health-related fields, would also be at risk. A recent study on whole-genome sequences of 560 breast cancers is one such example of world-leading research funded by the EU and led from the UK.

Professor Majeed says: "The UK currently engages very heavily with other member states of the European Union and with European institutions over many health-related and scientific issues. A vote to leave the EU would start an extremely complex programme of negotiations, lasting many years and with uncertain outcomes, that would threaten these positive collaborations."

He concludes: "Given the very large potential negative effects of an exit from the European Union, doctors, health professionals, academics and their professional organisations should all be concerned about its consequences."

###

Notes to editors

How would a decision to leave the European Union affect medical research and health in the United Kingdom? (DOI: 10.1177/0141076816652027) by Azeem Majeed, Anna Hansell, Sonia Saxena, Christopher Millett, Helen Ward, Matthew Harris, Benedict Hayhoe, Josip Car, Graham Easton, Christl A Donnelly, Robert Perneczky, Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, Majid Ezzati, Salman Rawaf, Paolo Vineis, Neil Ferguson and Elio Riboli will be published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine at 00:05 hrs (UK time) on Wednesday 25 May 2016.

For further information or a copy of the paper please contact:

Rosalind Dewar

Media Office, Royal Society of Medicine

DL: +44 (0) 1580 764713

M: +44 (0) 7785 182732

E: media@rsm.ac.uk

The JRSM is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and is published by SAGE. It has full editorial independence from the RSM. It has been published continuously since 1809. Its Editor is Dr Kamran Abbasi.

Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE is a leading international provider of innovative, high-quality content publishing more than 900 journals and over 800 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. A growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies and video. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company's continued independence. Principal offices are located in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne. http://www.sagepublishing.com
Childhood obesity has almost quadrupled among 6- to 11-year-olds since 1980. Today, approximately one in 20 children in the United States is severely obese and this public health threat costs the U.S. government billions of dollars annually. A new study has found that as early as first grade, severely obese children are more likely to be withdrawn and show signs of depression. They are also less liked by their peers, and more often picked on, teased, and made fun of than their classmates of healthy weights.

The study was conducted by researchers at Oklahoma State University, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and West Virginia University. It appears in the journal Child Development. While most prior research has used stories about hypothetical obese peers to determine how obese children are treated, this study collected information from multiple sources about real children in different weight groups.

In this study, children were considered overweight if they had a body-mass index (BMI) for their age at or above the 85th percentile, obese if they had a BMI for their age at or above the 95th percentile, and severely obese if they had a BMI for age at or above the 99th percentile. Children were considered to be of healthy weight if their BMI for age was between the 5th and 85th percentile.

"Severe obesity is a clear psychosocial risk for children, even as early as 6 years old," notes Amanda W. Harrist, professor of child development at Oklahoma State University, who led the study. "Children who are ostracized, as occurred with the severely overweight children in our study, suffer great harm, with feelings of loneliness, depression, and aggression, and these children are more likely to skip school and drop out later."

Researchers looked at 1,164 first graders from 29 rural schools in Oklahoma to examine the social and emotional lives of obese children. Children lived in 20 towns in eight counties with adult obesity rates of 28% to 41% and came from mostly low-income, White families; about a fifth of the students were from American Indian families.

The more overweight the children were, the worse the consequences, the study found. Severely obese children were teased more than overweight children. The study found that obese children weren't mentioned by peers when children were asked whom they liked to play with most and least. Severely obese children were actively rejected by their peers; they were frequently mentioned as their least favorite playmates and rarely mentioned as the most favorite. In terms of emotional health, severely obese children had more symptoms of depression than children who were overweight and of healthy weights. Furthermore, compared with overweight children, both severely obese and obese children had more physical symptoms (e.g., complaints of pain and visits to the school nurse) that may have been the result of stress or psychological concerns.

The study's authors say that being teased and rejected by peers and being depressed as a result may exacerbate children's struggles with weight over time. For example, obese children engage in emotional eating to deal with the pain of rejection, or they may avoid physical play with peers to avoid teasing, both behaviors that would lead to additional weight gain.

"Intervention or prevention efforts should begin early and target peer relationships," suggests Glade L. Topham, associate professor of marriage and family therapy at Oklahoma State University, a coauthor of the study. "Interventions addressing the behavior of peer groups can limit exclusion and teasing, and help students form friendships."

###

The study was funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture; the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology; the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station; Oklahoma State University's College of Human Sciences and College of Arts and Sciences; the Bryan Close Professorship; and the UAMS Translational Research Institute through the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Summarized from Child Development, The Social and Emotional Lives of Overweight, Obese, and Severely Obese Children by Harrist, AW (Oklahoma State University), Swindle, TM (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Hubbs-Tait, L, and Topham, GL (Oklahoma State University), Shriver, LH (University of North Carolina-Greensboro), and Page, MC (West Virginia University). Copyright 2016 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mexican-Americans are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the United States, and Mexican-American adolescents who experience ethnic discrimination are more likely to report lower self-esteem and more emotional problems. A new study has found that the teens' psychological adjustment also suffers when their parents face ethnic discrimination. Parents' discussions with their teens about culture, race and ethnicity, and discrimination can play a role in their teens' psychological adjustment, but the content matters.

These findings come from researchers at the California State University, Fullerton, Arizona State University, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). They are published in the journal Child Development.

The researchers asked 344 high school students in Los Angeles (ages 14 to 16 and mostly low-income) from primarily second-generation Mexican or Mexican-American families and their parents or primary caregivers (mostly mothers) to complete two surveys across a one-year span.

The youth reported on their psychological adjustment, including internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalizing problems (e.g., aggression), self-esteem, and use of substances. They also reported on their experiences with discrimination, and how often their parents talked to them about culture, race and ethnicity, discrimination, being prepared for bias, and mistrusting members of other ethnic groups. The parents and caregivers answered questions about how often they experienced discrimination (e.g., being ignored or excluded because of ethnicity, and being yelled at with a racial slur or racial insult).

Experiences of discrimination among parents and caregivers were related to lower feelings of self-esteem and greater internalizing problems among teens a year later, the researchers found. Parents' experiences with discrimination were not related to externalizing problems and substance use among the adolescents.

Parents' discussions with their teens about their culture and ethnic background, especially efforts to teach about ethnic heritage and history, were related to more positive adjustment in the teens, specifically higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems. But when parents had both experiences of discrimination and talked to their children about culture, race and ethnicity, discrimination, being prepared for bias, and mistrusting members of other ethnic groups, the teens reported lower self-esteem. Self-esteem was lowest when parents had been discriminated against and talked to their youth about mistrusting other ethnic groups (e.g., when parents had done or said things to "keep [teens] from trusting kids from other ethnic groups" or to encourage them to "keep their distance from kids of other ethnicities").

"Incidents of discrimination have implications for the family as a whole, not just the individual who experienced them," according to Guadalupe Espinoza, assistant professor of child and adolescent studies at California State University, Fullerton, who led the study. "Such incidents continue to reverberate even a year later. Parents should be aware that the messages they convey about their own cultural group, but also about other cultural groups, will play a role in shaping their children's reactions to those experiences."

Nancy A. Gonzales Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, the study's coauthor, explains further: "It may be difficult for parents to shield their adolescents from threats to their self-esteem when they themselves have been recent victims of discrimination. Parents' efforts to instill a positive sense of cultural identity are very important, but can be undermined or even sensitize adolescents to feel more threatened when they are aware that their parents are experiencing discrimination."

###

The study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the UCLA California Center for Population Research.

Summarized from Child Development, Parent Discrimination Predicts Mexican-American Adolescent Psychological Adjustment One Year Later by Espinoza, G (California State University, Fullerton), Gonzales, NA (Arizona State University), and Fuligni, AJ (University of California, Los Angeles). Copyright 2016 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.
25 May 2016 - Geneva, Switzerland - The Government of Canada today announced a renewed investment of CA$ 85 million for the Stop TB Partnership's TB REACH initiative over the next five years. This new injection of funding will help the Partnership to reach, treat and cure many of the 3.6 million people affected by TB who every year go without proper care. TB REACH will continue to test innovative, daring and fresh strategies for improving TB detection, service delivery, roll-out of new tools and policies. The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's Minister of International Development and La Francophonie made the announcement at the UN Palais des Nations, on the margins of the World Health Assembly which is happening this week in Geneva.

"Our fight against tuberculosis must become more ambitious and innovative if we are going to end this epidemic for good by 2030. Canada believes supporting the work of TB REACH will bring us closer to that goal," said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's Minister of International Development and La Francophonie.

Along with the Government of Canada, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged US$ 7 million to fund TB REACH. This funding from the Gates Foundation will complement Canada's investment. The Indonesia Health Fund, comprised of eight Indonesian business leaders convened by Dato Sri Dr. Tahir, has also pledged US $1.5 million to support TB REACH's Indonesian efforts.

"I am thrilled and deeply grateful to the Government of Canada for their reinvestment into one of the Partnership's most successful initiatives. By promoting innovations, TB REACH improved case detection in some settings by more than 100% - especially reaching those who are most vulnerable. The value of this financing is immeasurable, and is coming at the right moment. If we want to end TB, it will involve a paradigm shift in the way TB programs are constructed and scaled up. We can no longer tolerate limited approaches which merely aim to 'control' TB. Instead we must be bold and invest in innovative approaches to achieve the ambitious 90-(90)-90 targets set out in the Global Plan to End TB 2016-2020," said Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership, expressing her appreciation for the country's commitment to end TB.

The Stop TB Partnership's TB REACH initiative was launched in 2010 with an initial 5-year award from the Government of Canada. The initiative provides grants to partners for testing innovative strategies and technologies aimed at increasing the number of people diagnosed and treated for TB, decreasing the time to appropriate treatment and improving treatment success rates. It combines fast-track, results-based financing and rigorous, monitoring and evaluation to produce results, so other donor agencies and/or national governments can scale up successful approaches and maximize their own investments. The evidence TB REACH grantees generate around innovative strategies and technologies helps to inform national and global policy and ultimately serves to accelerate reductions in TB incidence.

Between 2010 and 2016, TB REACH provided 142 grants in 46 countries worth over US$ 95 million. Working in close collaboration with National TB Programmes, TB REACH grantees have diagnosed and treated over 2 million TB patients in project areas and saved nearly 600,000 lives.

Over the next 5 years, the programme is expected to launch four calls for proposals through 2020. The areas of focus for these calls will be decided through consultations with partners, including representatives of those most affected by the disease.

###
Faception uses 15 secret classifiers of facial features to accuse subjects of terrorism and pedophilia, as well as predicting their poker abilities.



Faception claims they can do this because, in the words of CEO and Chief Scientist Shai Gilboa, "Our personality is determined by our DNA and reflected in our face. It's a kind of signal."

Gilboa says his company will "never" reveal its classifiers, but since they're only 80% accurate, they should be used as a starting point for security agencies wishing to determine whom to subject to kafkaesque investigation on the basis of the alleged link between DNA and personality.

He also says that an unidentified homeland security agency has bought his technology to help it hunt for terrorists.

No word on whether Gilboa can distinguish warts that reveal secret witches from regular ones.

Faception recently showed off its technology at a poker tournament organized by a start-up that shares investors with Faception. Gilboa said that Faception predicted before the tournament that four players out of the 50 amateurs would be the best. When the dust settled two of those four were among the event's three finalists. To make its prediction Faception analyzed photos of the 50 players against a Faception database of professional poker players.

Terrorist or pedophile? This start-up says it can out secrets by analyzing faces

[Matt McFarland/Washington Post]

(Image: Anonymous at Scientology in Los Angeles, Vincent Diamante, CC-BY-SA)



(via Naked Capitalism)
When it comes to mating, male animals show off the flashiest of ornaments to convince females of their suitability. A peacock's ornate tail may be the best-known example of a mate-attracting ornament, but a new study finds that peacock tails have nothing on a tail of another kind. Sperm tails in fruit flies are the most extreme ornament ever described.

Sperm having ornaments may come as a surprise, considering humans' relatively simple tadpole-like cells. However, the animal kingdom is host to an incredible diversity of sperm forms, explains Scott Pitnick, the lead author of a new study in Nature and Weeden Professor of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Think sperm with multiple tails, no tails at all or in the case of one fruit fly, sperm that are nearly 6 cm long--roughly a thousand times longer than a human sperm cell.

"A question I've been fascinated with since grad school is why do some species have males that produce few, giant sperm" Pitnick says. To answer this, he and coauthors looked at a group of fruit flies that produce unusually long sperm. Similar to the majority of animals, female flies mate with more than one male, meaning that a flashy courtship display isn't enough to guarantee a male will fertilize eggs. Sperm from different males continue to compete inside females.

The basic reason that animals produce extreme sperm is similar to the reason males evolve any type of flashy ornaments: because females prefer them. "Crazy sperm forms are evolving because female reproductive tracts are evolving that bias fertilization in favor of these weird, specific traits," Pitnick says, pointing to a female's active role in selecting preferred sperm after mating. In fruit flies, long female sperm storage organs give a boost to males producing longer sperm. He continues, "The problem is, for any kind of male ornament, it's been a challenge to figure out why those female preferences arise and evolve. That's the big, difficult question in sexual selection theory."

Pitnick's study, coauthored by researchers from University of Zurich, The George Washington University and National University of Singapore, suggests a two-part explanation for why female flies prefer such extreme sperm. "First, we have this perfect storm of genetic correlations that are driving all of these female preference, male ornament and mating system traits forward," Pitnick says. The team found a genetic relationship between the length of a female's sperm storage organ and male's sperm length, meaning when one trait evolves to be longer, the other follows in kind. Additionally, genes for long organs were associated with genes for faster remating by females, which further increases competition among sperm and hence the advantage to males producing longer sperm.

The second part of the explanation involves an association between male quality and the number of sperm produced. There is a trade-off between sperm length and sperm number. "When sperm are short and cheap to make, any male can produce lots of them. However, as sperm evolve to be longer, only those males in the best health--those with good genes--can make large numbers of them and so capitalize on all the female remating. This too strengthens the female preference for longer sperm, as they get good genes to pass on to their offspring."

In light of these extreme sperm traits and their importance to reproductive success, Pitnick hopes traits that influence fertilization success will get their time in the spotlight. "When you think about sex differences, people typically are thinking about gaudy males with dramatic courtship dances and females that are drab and demure. What they should be thinking of is sperm and eggs, because that represents the more fundamental difference between the sexes." He continues, "When you're thinking about outrageous ornaments that differentiate males and females, you should also be thinking about sperm first."

###

Their paper, titled "How sexual selection can drive the evolution of costly sperm ornamentation," is published in Nature: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature18005.
Jefferson Sciences Associates announced today the award of eight JSA/Jefferson Lab graduate fellowships. The doctoral students will use the fellowships to support their advanced studies at their universities and conduct research at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) - a U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics laboratory managed and operated by JSA, a joint venture between SURA and PAE Applied Technologies.

The 2016-2017 fellowship winners include:

Abha Rajan, University of Virginia; Simonetta Liuti, Advisor Kurtis Bartlett, College of William & Mary; Wouter Deconinck, Advisor Oleksandr Koshchii, The George Washington University; Andrei Avanasev, Advisor Caryn Palatchi, University of Virginia; Kent Paschke, Advisor Sebouh Paul, College of William & Mary, Keith Griffioen, Advisor Holly Szumila-Vance, Old Dominion University; Larry Weinstein, Advisor Nguyen Ton, University of Virginia; Xiaochao Zheng, Advisor Xuefei Yan, Duke University; Haiyan Gao, Advisor

The students' research proposals cover a broad scientific spectrum, including experimental and theoretical physics.

Recipients are chosen based on the quality of their research proposals, their academic standing, and the references of their professors and senior scientists at Jefferson Lab. Students will continue their coursework while enhancing their academic experience with direct interactions and participation with mentors and scientists at the Lab.

JSA/JLab fellowship recipients attend universities that are members of SURA, a consortium of more than 60 leading research universities. SURA built and operated Jefferson Lab, before becoming a partner of Jefferson Science Associates.

The SURA Board of Trustees first established the fellowship program in 1989. Since the program's inception, 200 fellowships have been awarded to students from 21 different SURA member universities. The program is now supported by the JSA Initiatives Fund. Each $12,000 fellowship award contributes to the student's research assistant stipend and is supplemented by support from the home institution. Additional funds are available for research-related travel for the student during the fellowship period.

Hugh Montgomery, JSA President and Jefferson Lab Director, commented about the importance of these awards: "In today's world with broadening opportunities in science and technology, there is fierce competition to attract the brightest and best students. While the Jefferson Lab community has enjoyed success in attracting young people, this is not a time to rest on our laurels. During the year, these young researchers will become fully immersed in their research and will tap into the capabilities of the Lab. JSA's continued support for the Graduate Fellowship Program contributes to the Lab's achievement of providing data to about one-third of the U.S. Ph.D.'s in nuclear physics each year. This is a key component of the education and training of the next generation of science leaders and the increase of science literacy in society."

The committee that reviewed and selected this year's fellowship winners was chaired by Christopher Newport University physics department chair Edward Brash. Other committee members included: Jefferson Lab scientists Hari Areti, David Richards, and Cynthia Keppel; George Lolos, University of Regina; Kent Paschke, University of Virginia; and, Julie Roche, Ohio University. The committee was supported by Elizabeth Lawson, JSA Initiatives Fund program manager.

###

About the JSA Initiatives Fund. JSA partners (SURA and PAE Applied Technologies) established the JSA Initiatives Fund to support programs, initiatives, and activities that further the scientific outreach, and promote the science, education and technology missions of Jefferson Lab in ways that complement its basic and applied research focus. Initiatives Fund awards are for those projects that benefit the Lab user community and that leverage commitments of others. The annual commitment is administered by SURA for the JSA Programs Committee. For more information, visit http://www.jsallc.org/index.html.

The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is a consortium of over 60 leading research institutions in the southern United States and the District of Columbia established in 1980 as a non-stock, nonprofit corporation. SURA's mission is to advance collaborative research and education and to strengthen the scientific capabilities of its members and our nation. For more information, visit http://www.sura.org.
Scientists from The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) in partnership with Agricultural Genetics Institute (AGI) begin their bioinformatics training programme in Vietnam to identify 600 rice varieties to accelerate crop breeding.

The team, led by Dr Jose De Vega, aim to sequence and analyse the genetic diversity in Vietnamese native rice lines to help Vietnam's crop research and precision breeding programmes.

The advanced training will equip Vietnamese scientists with the skills in bioinformatics and genomics for crop analysis, and ensures future knowledge for their peers.

Previously, TGAC, UK and AGI, Vietnam, initiated a collaboration to sequence the genome of a representative number of Vietnamese rice varieties to characterise the genetic variations in native rice crops and develop genetic markers that could be used to accelerate rice breeding.

The TGAC team will now visit Vietnam several times during the next 12 months funded by the Newton Fund through the British Council to carry out training workshops in advanced bioinformatics tools to help achieve precision breeding techniques for much larger rice yields, and at the same time learn the techniques and diversity involved in rice breeding in Vietnam.

Alongside the Vietnamese team of scientists, TGAC, with the collaboration of AGI and NIAB, Cambridge, will develop an advanced genomics platform for rice breeding focused on traits of agronomic interest. The rapid identification of rice varieties that are tolerant and resilient to adverse conditions will work towards alleviating the current challenges the Vietnamese agriculture industry face and contribute to food security.

Rice is a staple food for a population of 90 million in Vietnam and one of the main exporter commodities of the country. Vietnam is experiencing an exceptional growth, in its economic output and population rising, as a global leading agricultural country.

There is, however, an increasing threat from climate change such as emerging pathogens, drought and rising sea levels. The areas under greatest risk are the deltas of the Red and Mekong rivers, which represent the major rice growing regions of Vietnam.

Dr De Vega, Acting Head of the Crop Genomics Group at TGAC, said: "We will complement the generation of this data with the development of databases and the application of bioinformatics pipelines to identify associations of alleles with specific phenotypes.

"We expect to characterise markers that will enable more efficient rice breeding. The use of genomic approaches to rice breeding in Vietnam builds on the experience and knowledge that we have developed while working in wheat and barley genomics.

"Rice has a simple genome for which many genomics resources have been already generated and it offers an excellent model for the evaluation and assessment of new strategies for breeding that could later be applied to more complex crops.

"This collaboration with Vietnam will also open opportunities to work with world leading scientists with experience in rice breeding and agronomy."

The programme will extend to the exchange of scientists from Vietnam coming over to the UK to gain further expertise in bioinformatics and genomics analysis through training workshops, and TGAC scientists also learning from their field phenotyping activities in Vietnam.

TGAC has set up a public database to host the variant data of the latest rice genome assemblies and annotation, accessible to all.

The application of new genomics technologies to improve crop breeding is a priority at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) at UK. The proposed project continues the partnership initiated between TGAC and AGI in partnership with NIAB.

TGAC is strategically funded by BBSRC and operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.

To find out more about the project and Dr De Vega's whereabouts, read our blog Rice, rice baby! Training Vietnamese rice breeders.

###

Notes to Editors

For more information, please contact:

Hayley London

Marketing & Communications Officer, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC)

T: +44 (0)1603 450107

E: Hayley.London@tgac.ac.uk

About TGAC

The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) is a world-class research institute focusing on the development of genomics and computational biology. TGAC is based within the Norwich Research Park and receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) - 7.4M in 2013/14 - as well as support from other research funders. TGAC is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from BBSRC. TGAC operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.

TGAC offers state of the art DNA sequencing facility, unique by its operation of multiple complementary technologies for data generation. The Institute is a UK hub for innovative Bioinformatics through research, analysis and interpretation of multiple, complex data sets. It hosts one of the largest computing hardware facilities dedicated to life science research in Europe. It is also actively involved in developing novel platforms to provide access to computational tools and processing capacity for multiple academic and industrial users and promoting applications of computational Bioscience. Additionally, the Institute offers a Training programme through courses and workshops, and an Outreach programme targeting schools, teachers and the general public through dialogue and science communication activities. http://www.tgac.ac.uk

About BBSRC

BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.

Funded by Government, and with an annual budget of around 467M (2012-2013), we support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk

For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes

About the Newton Fund

The Newton Fund is now a 735 million fund which, through science and innovation partnerships, promotes the economic development and welfare of poor people in developing countries. The Fund is overseen by the Department for Businesses Innovation and Skills (BIS) and delivered through 15 delivery partners in collaboration with 15 partnering countries. For more information visit: http://www.newtonfund.ac.uk
CINCINNATI--A person is admitted to the hospital with a stroke, but not much is known about whether or not that patient will undergo neuroimaging.

A team led by Achala Vagal, MD, associate professor at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine and a UC Health radiologist, wanted to see whether differences in race, sex and/or age mattered when it came to neuroimaging use, and these findings, which showed a difference for young patients, men and African-Americans, will be presented at the American Society of Neuroradiology's annual meeting May 25 in Washington, DC.

"Rates of diagnostic workup in stroke have increased over time; however, less is known about differences in utilization of neuroimaging for stroke from a population perspective," she says. "In this study, we found that age, sex and race do matter as far as neuroimaging use is concerned."

This study used data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Study for which UC Department of Neurology's Brett Kissela, MD, and Dawn Kleindorfer, MD, are co-principal investigators. The dataset includes cases from hospitals, clinics, coroners' offices, nursing homes and physician offices from a five-county region that is representative of the United States for age, percentage of African-American residents, median income and educational level. Patient charts and imaging records from stroke patients in calendar years 2005 and 2010 were pulled by research nurses and reviewed by study physicians. The proportion of imaging use within two days of stroke occurrence or hospital admission date, including head CT without contrast, head MRI, CT angiogram, MR angiogram and carotid ultrasound, was calculated.

Researchers also calculated odds of using advanced imaging, adjusting for insurance, the baseline using the NIH stroke scale, patients who came to the emergency room first and the hospital type--academic versus community hospital.

"In 2005, there were 3,471 stroke or mini-stroke (transient ischemic attack) events with imaging data available in 3,226 patients, and in 2010, there were 3,431 events with imaging data in 3,213 patients," Vagal says. "We found that a higher proportion of males received MRI, 55 percent versus 51 percent, and MR angiogram, 36 percent versus 31 percent, as compared to females in both 2005 and 2010 with no gender differences in use of the other imaging techniques.

"A higher proportion of African-Americans received head CT imaging without contrast, 96 percent versus 92 percent, MRI, 59 percent versus 51 percent, and MR angiogram, 41 percent versus 31 percent, as compared to Caucasians with no racial difference in the other imaging modalities. All imaging use except CT without contrast and carotid ultrasound was higher in younger patients, aged less than 55 years, as compared to older patients."

The odds of receiving advanced imaging was higher in younger patients (less than 55-years-old), African-American patients and patients who came to an academic center or were seen by a stroke team/neurologist. She says results also showed that odds of receiving a head CT scan without contrast did not differ significantly by age, sex and race.

"The differences discovered in this study may be partly driven by age, with younger patients getting more extensive workups and partly by access to stroke expertise," she says. "However, further understanding of the contributors can provide an important basis for newer lines of inquiry into environmental, socioeconomic and access to health care issues."

###
With the emerald ash borer beetle devastating ash tree populations throughout the United States -- from locations as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Louisiana -- solutions to help fight the insect are critical.

Thanks in part to research from the University of Delaware and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), a host-specific parasitic wasp so new and obscure that it doesn't even have a common name -- known only by its scientific name Spathius galinae -- has been approved for release to help control the invasive beetle.

Some of those research findings were recently released in the May edition of the journal Biological Control and looked at the environmental parameters, specifically the temperatures, under which this parasitoid worked best.

Timothy Watt, who received his master's degree from UD in 2014 and who also worked at the USDA Beneficial Insects Lab on campus starting in 2011, was the lead author on the paper and worked with Jian Duan, a research entomologist and lead scientist with the USDA ARS Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit, and Doug Tallamy, professor of entomology in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, both of whom co-advised Watt during his time as a graduate student at UD from 2012-14.

Watt said that this latest paper was the third chapter of his thesis, with one paper outlining research they conducted looking at the factors of emerald ash borer host size to determine the best quality larval size and age for rearing Spathius galinae and the other looking at factors encountered when rearing any insect natural enemy -- predator or parasitoid -- such as host density and parasitoid density.

This latest paper looked at the effects of temperature on the parasitoid's development in reproductive biology.

"You've got to know the biology but then you also have to know the environmental factors and for this one, we just focused on temperature because you can start to get into all sorts of other studies and data analysis when you add other variables," said Watt.

Optimal temperature

Watt said that temperature is an integral piece of the puzzle for understanding insects in general.

"Insects in general are ectothermic -- they're basically controlled by temperature. Their physiology and metabolism are strongly influenced by ambient temperature, almost like they're programmed in a way," said Watt.

Duan said that knowing which temperature works best for Spathius galinae is critical to developing a rearing program as well as a strategy with regard to where to release the parasitoids.

The researchers tested five different temperatures - 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees Celsius - and from those temperatures, they found that 25 degrees was the most optimal temperature as it would minimize the wasp's immature development time and maximize female reproductive output.

Host specific parasitoid

The researchers also spent a great deal of time making sure that the parasitic wasp was host specific to emerald ash borer and wouldn't impact any other similar species.

"There's a lot of behavior and ecological mechanisms to prevent this wasp from attacking other insects," said Duan. "Prior to the regulatory approval, we conducted extensive host specificity testing against 14 different non-target beetle species in the quarantine laboratory. Only one of the 14 non-target beetles was impacted, and that was the gold spotted oak borer, which itself is a serious invasive pest of oak trees in California. But that's under laboratory conditions. In general, this is one of the most host specific wasp species of emerald ash borer natural enemies."

They are also aware that the name "wasp" might conjure images of stinging insects being released upon an unsuspecting population and made it clear that these wasps are different than a typical wasp.

"These wasps do not sting human beings. They don't even sting 'naked' emerald ash borer larvae dissected out of the bark," said Duan. "They simply lay eggs on it."

Tallamy added, "People worry because it's a wasp; they wonder 'will it sting my kids?' They're picturing bigger wasps. These are tiny. Nobody would look at them and recognize them as a wasp. They'd think it's a little gnat or something. They will never sting you. They couldn't sting you."

Watt said that it can take up to four or five years of research conducting non-target testing before a biological control measure is even considered for release.

"A lot of our work focuses on non-target testing, looking to see if the parasitoid might seek out other insects that live in the same habitats or are taxonomically related to the target pest. There is a very rigorous testing model in place to make sure that these organisms aren't all of a sudden going to go attack another insect that's out there once we release them into the wild," said Watt.

Bark vibrations

As for how the parasitic wasps find and prey upon the emerald ash borer, Duan explained that the wasp is a larval parasitoid, attacking primarily medium to large emerald ash borer larvae.

When emerald ash borer feeds under the bark of an ash tree, the parasitoid locates the larvae first by smelling the ash tree -- which gives off a different scent when infested-- and then by walking on the tree's trunk and using sensors in their legs to detect the vibrations of the emerald ash borer larvae feeding.

Once a wasp feels larval vibrations it uses its ovipositor which is normally 3-5 millimeters long to drill through the bark and lay eggs -- normally a clutch with 9-15 eggs -- on the surface of the emerald ash borer larvae. Once the parasitic wasp larvae hatch, they begin to feed on and suck the juices out of the emerald ash borer larvae.

Now that the studies have been complete, the Spathius galinae has been approved for release and is currently being reared in the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) lab in Michigan.

"Because we have done all these studies, we have developed an effective rearing program and USDA APHIS approved it for release in the United States as of May 2015. The parasitoid colony has been transferred to USDA-APHIS lab in Brighton, Michigan, where APHIS has a mass rearing facility for all emerald ash borer parasitoids including this one. The plan is, they're going to produce tens of thousands of these parasitoids and send them to northeastern states to release," said Duan.

As for the collaboration between the USDA and UD, Duan said that it is a really beneficial partnership for everyone involved.

"I currently have four UD students working on my projects and they get hands-on experiences that they won't get in the classroom," said Duan.

###
The UK Lung cancer screening trial (UKLS) has been successfully completed and demonstrated that patients with a high risk of developing lung cancer can be identified with early stage disease and have up to a 73% chance of surviving for five years or more. The UKLS trial was conducted by experts in the University of Liverpool.

The UKLS was undertaken in partnership with Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Papworth Hospital and the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospital with the aim of highlighting the need for a screening programme to help benefit people who are at risk of developing lung cancer.

The Chief Investigator of the UKLS trial is Professor John Field, who is based in the University's Institute of Translational Medicine.

Identifying those at risk

Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer. The number of deaths in 2012 in the UK was 35,370, making lung cancer the commonest cause of cancer death in the UK for both men and women.

The main reasons why lung cancer outcomes are so poor, are that approximately 70% of patients first present to specialist care with incurable advanced disease and current treatment at this late stage has very little effect on mortality.

However, if a patient's lung cancer is identified at an early stage, then the clinical outcome is greatly improved. Individuals with very early stage disease* have up to a 73% chance of surviving for five years or more and over 80% have had surgical interventions. As a result there is a major national and international focus on CT screening trials.

National screening programme

The results of the UKLS trial provide further evidence for the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) to consider when making a decision whether to implement a national screening programme in the UK in the future.

Funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme the trial was the first and only lung cancer screening trial to take place in the UK and has provided in depth information on how to set up a national lung cancer CT screening programme, including using a risk prediction model** to identify high risk individuals in the population.

State-of-the-art approach

UKLS is a randomised controlled trial of lung cancer screening versus usual care in 4055 individuals that used a population-based questionnaire to identify high-risk individuals. The screening, used a low dose of an imaging procedure that uses special x-ray equipment to create detailed pictures, or scans, of areas inside the body called Low Dose Computed tomography (LDCT).

In the USA's National Lung Cancer Screening Trial, LDCT was shown to reduce lung cancer mortality by 20%. The UKLS screening trial also used a 'state of the art approach' to identify very early lung cancer nodules.

The UKLS trial has received full ethical approval and has been funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and the results have been published in full in the HTA Publications today.

Health economic analysis also suggests that the screening intervention could be cost effective--this needs to be confirmed using data on observed lung cancer mortality reduction

Improving survival rates

Professor John Field, Clinical Professor of Molecular Oncology and the Chief Investigator of the UKLS trial, said: "The UKLS trial has successfully demonstrated that we have a way to screen for lung cancer in high risk individuals in the UK. However, as UKLS was a pilot trial, researchers are currently awaiting the outcome of the Dutch CT screening trial, which will potentially provide mortality data to argue for implementation of a national lung cancer screening programme in the UK.

"If we could detect lung cancer via screening of high risk individuals, it would make a major impact on the diagnosis of lung cancer at an earlier stage of the disease and would greatly improve the survival rates of those affected by this terrible disease"

Professor Stephen Duffy, the Lead Statistician of the UKLS, based at Queen Mary University of London said, "The results of this trial are very promising, and further follow-up of the trial population will inform decisions about whether there should be a screening programme, and about improvements to the screening process"

Dr Edward Gaynor, Clinical lead on cancer for Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "The UKLS study is a further piece of evidence that low dose CT in high risk individuals can save lives. This is particularly relevant in Liverpool where we have one of the highest incidences and mortality rates of lung cancer and the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group is actively exploring how it can apply the findings in this study to the benefit of Liverpool through the Healthy Lung Project".

###

A copy of the full report can be found attached and also at http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hta/volume-20/issue-40

EDITORS NOTES

*1A non-small cell lung cancer

** LLPv2

1. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Programme funds research about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest NIHR programme and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with over 700 issues published to date. The journal's 2014 Impact Factor (5.027) ranked it two out of 85 publications in the Health Care Sciences and Services category. All issues are available for download, free of charge, from the website. The HTA Programme is funded by the NIHR, with contributions from the CSO in Scotland, NISCHR in Wales, and the HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland. http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta

2. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government's strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (http://www.nihr.ac.uk).

This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

USA NLST trial: In the USA NLST (1) (National Lung Cancer Screening Trial), it was demonstrated that lung cancer mortality was reduced by 20%. The US Preventive Forces Task Force on Lung cancer Screening (2) have recommend that lung cancer screening is implemented in the USA and Medicare have agreed to fund a screening programme (3).

Risk Prediction Model used in the UKLS: The LLP (Liverpool Lung Project) risk model (4, 5) used to identify high risk individuals in the UKLS trial was developed by Professor Field's research team and funded by The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Publication in Thorax January 2016 (6)

1. Aberle DR, Berg CD, Black WC, Church TR, Fagerstrom RM, Galen B, Gareen IF, Gatsonis C, Goldin J, Gohagan JK, Hillman B, Jaffe C, Kramer BS, Lynch D, Marcus PM, Schnall M, Sullivan DC, Sullivan D, Zylak CJ. The National Lung Screening Trial: overview and study design. Radiology 2011; 258: 243-253.

2. Humphrey LL, Deffebach M, Pappas M, Baumann C, Artis K, Mitchell JP, Zakher B, Fu R, Slatore CG. Screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography: a systematic review to update the US Preventive services task force recommendation. Ann Intern Med 2013; 159: 411-420.

3. Centers_for_Medicare_&_Medicaid_Services. Decision Memo for Screening for Lung Cancer with Low Dose Computed Tomography (LDCT) (CAG-00439N). https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=274.

4. .Cassidy A, Myles JP, van Tongeren M, Page RD, Liloglou T, Duffy SW, Field JK. The LLP risk model: an individual risk prediction model for lung cancer. Br J Cancer 2008; 98: 270-276.

5. Raji OY, Duffy SW, Agbaje OF, Baker SG, Christiani DC, Cassidy A, Field JK. Predictive accuracy of the Liverpool Lung Project risk model for stratifying patients for computed tomography screening for lung cancer: a case-control and cohort validation study. Ann Intern Med 2012; 157: 242-250.

6. J. K. Field et al., UK Lung Cancer RCT Pilot Screening Trial: baseline findings from the screening arm provide evidence for the potential implementation of lung cancer screening. Thorax 71, 161-170 (2016).
COLUMBIA, Mo. (May 25, 2016) - Approximately half of patients hospitalized with traumatic brain injuries are anemic, according to recent studies, but anemia's effects on the recovery of these patients is not clear. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found evidence that anemia can negatively influence the outcomes of patients with traumatic brain injuries.

"More research is needed to develop treatment protocols for anemic patients with traumatic brain injuries," said N. Scott Litofsky, M.D., chief of the MU School of Medicine's Division of Neurological Surgery and lead author of the study. "Anemia occurs when there is a shortage of red blood cells, which causes reduced oxygen flow to vital organs throughout the body. There has been a lack of consensus among physicians regarding the relationship of anemia and traumatic brain injuries on a patient's health. Because of this uncertainty, treatment protocols are unclear and inconsistent. Our observational study found that a patient's outcome is worse when he or she is anemic."

Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein crucial to the delivery of oxygenated blood. The researchers studied the outcomes of 939 traumatic brain injury patients with anemia admitted to the Frank L. Mitchell Jr., M.D., Trauma Center, a Level I trauma center that is part of MU Health Care. The researchers compared hemoglobin levels of these patients and their outcomes within one year of surgery.

Despite also having more severe head and systemic injuries, patients with lower levels of hemoglobin had a poor outcome. For each increase in hemoglobin of 1 gram above 7 grams per deciliter of blood, the likelihood of a good outcome increased by 33 percent.

To restore a patient's hemoglobin level, a patient can receive a blood transfusion. However, stored blood may not perform as well as a patient's own blood, and patients may experience allergic reactions or viral infections as a result of the transfusion. Additionally, the cost of one unit of blood ranges from $200 to $300.

"The purpose of this study is not to propose transfusion guidelines, but rather to show that anemia can be harmful to patients with traumatic brain injuries," Litofsky said. "Now that we have shown that anemia affects a patient's recovery, further studies are needed to determine the best way to correct it. The ultimate goal of this research is to help patients recover more quickly from traumatic brain injuries."

The study, "The Negative Impact of Anemia in Outcome from Traumatic Brain Injury," was presented at the recent 84th American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting. The research also was recently published by the peer-reviewed journal World Neurosurgery. Research reported in this publication was supported by the MU School of Medicine and the MU Department of Surgery. The researchers have no conflicts of interest to declare related to this study.

###

In addition to Litofsky, the research team included Simon Martin and Jenna Diaz, medical students at the MU School of Medicine; Bin Ge and Greg Petroski; statisticians with the MU Medical Research Office; Douglas Miller, M.D., professor in the MU Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences; and Stephen Barnes, M.D., professor and chief of the MU Division of Acute Care Surgery.

Note to reporters and editors: Although observational studies cannot provide definitive evidence of safety, efficacy, or effectiveness, they can: 1) provide information on "real world" use and practice; 2) detect signals about the benefits and risks of complementary therapies use in the general population; 3) help formulate hypotheses to be tested in subsequent experiments; 4) provide part of the community-level data needed to design more informative pragmatic clinical trials; and 5) inform clinical practice. ("Observational Studies and Secondary Data Analyses To Assess Outcomes in Complementary and Integrative Health Care. (Richard Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Senior Advisor for Scientific Coordination and Outreach, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, June 25, 2012)

About the MU School of Medicine

The MU School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri and beyond for more than 165 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and more Missouri physicians received their medical degrees from MU than from any other university. For more information, visit http://medicine.missouri.edu/.
May 24, 2016 (Oklahoma City) - With the mosquito season virtually upon us, there is growing concern about the potential for the Zika virus to spread in the United States. In fact, many public health officials believe it is not a question of if but rather when an outbreak will occur here.

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has become an international player in the race to find a vaccine for the Zika virus.

William Hildebrand, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology with the OU College of Medicine, and his team have unique experience that may prove valuable against Zika virus. It is their experience with another mosquito-borne illness, West Nile virus, that captured the notice of the National Institutes of Health. With new NIH funding, the OU team hopes to develop a vaccine to stop the Zika virus too.

"We successfully characterized West Nile virus, and we've successfully tested a vaccine for it," Hildebrand said. "West Nile virus is a fairly close relative to the Zika virus."

OU researchers hope the same technology they used against West Nile virus will prove equally effective against the Zika virus, which is currently spreading in 58 countries and territories according to the World Health Organization. The United States has seen several hundred cases involving people infected abroad, and the consensus among public health officials is that it's not a matter of if, but when, the first mosquito-to-human transmission of the Zika virus is documented in the United States.

"We have the mosquitos that transmit Zika virus in the United States, so it could certainly become a problem here. However the same mosquitos also transmit Dengue virus, which is closely related to Zika and is all over Brazil and Central America. Yet somehow, we don't have Dengue virus here," said Robert Welliver, M.D., an infectious disease specialist with OU Children's Physicians. "We have not had any Zika virus transmission confirmed inside the United States yet. It may happen. It may not. As the summer progresses, the CDC will be watching the situation very closely."

Cases of microcephaly and other fetal malformations potentially associated with Zika virus infection are of particular concern. One such case, linked to a stay in Brazil, was detected here in the United States.

As concern mounts about the growing Zika virus outbreak globally, OU researchers are hard at work in their laboratory to stop it. They begin by identifying parts of the Zika virus that are optimum targets for a vaccine. Around the globe, immune cells are being collected from people infected with Zika who have successfully resisted the virus.

"We'll find out how they did that. Which portions of the virus were key and how they're rejecting the virus," Hildebrand explained.

The goal is to use that information to develop a vaccine that will give very specific instructions to the human immune system so that it can seek out and destroy the virus without harming healthy tissues.

"The beauty of your immune system is that it has tremendous specificity," Hildebrand said. "It can specify, 'I'd like to eliminate x without touching y and z' -- any healthy parts of the body."

The Zika virus is primarily transmitted by a specific type of mosquito, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is present in about 30 states.

Thus far, there is no evidence that mosquitoes in the United States are infected with the Zika virus. Experts, though, say it's virtually inevitable that it will show up here. In fact, recent flooding in south Texas and other southern states has left behind an abundance of stagnant water, a perfect mosquito breeding ground.

Given the OU research team's past success with West Nile virus, they are confident they will be able to succeed against the Zika virus, too.

While there is nothing specific that any of us need do right now here in the United States to protect ourselves from the Zika virus, Welliver said keeping your yard free of standing water, which can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, is always a good idea.

For those traveling to Rio de Janero for the Summer Olympics, the advice is a little different, though. For instance, WHO warns pregnant women not to travel to Rio or other areas with the Zika Virus and all travelers need to those areas should take precautions.

"The best defense, though not always practical, is to wear long sleeves and pants that are impregnated with anti-mosquito agents. Spray exposed skin with DEET. Keep rooms cool by running the air conditioner. And use condoms during sex, since there can be sexual transmission of the virus," Welliver said.

The Zika virus vaccine research at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is funded through a new $230,000 NIH grant (NIH 3U19AI062629-12S1) to Hildebrand and co-investigator Mark Coggeshall, Ph.D., of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

View a video about this research at: http://www.uhatok.com/news/video-news-releases/748-zika-grant

###

Please note: The content of this news release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Toronto - Necessity can be the mother of invention, but without financial and business development support, many impoverished entrepreneurs can't get past the start-up phase of establishing a unique new business.

Using a national survey on entrepreneurship, researcher Laura Doering showed in a recent study that low-income entrepreneurs in Panama were just as likely as wealthier people to start early-stage businesses selling new products. But they had lower rates of sustaining those businesses into long-term profitability.

When Prof. Doering interviewed low-income entrepreneurs in the Central American country, she found that their frequent urgency to quickly turn a profit so they could support themselves, as well as the longer time required for their often equally poor customers to adopt the new product, contributed to the low long-term success rate.

"Poorer entrepreneurs often don't get the chance to profit from the creativity that they're bringing to market," says Prof. Doering, who is an assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

"It helps us understand why entrepreneurship generally doesn't serve as an avenue for economic mobility for the poor."

That doesn't mean it can't. Prof. Doering met many entrepreneurs with promising novel business ideas, such as a woman who opened an internet cafe in a rural community without one and another who bought used "American" clothing in bulk in the city to sell in her rural community where it had previously been unavailable.

In another example, a former government agriculturalist who had been laid off returned to his home village and started a business educating rural coffee growers about organic farming practices he had learned about in his job in the city. The farmers valued the training -- the method would eliminate the purchase of costly pesticides and fertilizers -- but could not afford to pay for it initially.

The paper suggests that these entrepreneurs can be helped over the start-up hurdle through the creation of business incubation centres in which entrepreneurs can develop and refine their novel business ideas. Cash grants for the most promising ideas, rather than loans, could also ease the pressure to quickly turn a profit while also allowing the ability to give consumers discounts while they get acquainted with a new service or product.

The paper's focus on the dynamics behind self-employment among the poor highlights an area that has received scant attention by sociologists studying why poor people have difficulty breaking out of poverty.

"Most of the existing literature assumes that poor entrepreneurs aren't engaged in this kind of novel entrepreneurial process," said Prof. Doering. "I was surprised to see the extent to which they were."

The paper is forthcoming in Sociology of Development.

###

For the latest thinking on business, management and economics from the Rotman School of Management, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/NewThinking.aspx.

The Rotman School of Management is located in the heart of Canada's commercial and cultural capital and is part of the University of Toronto, one of the world's top 20 research universities. The Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables our graduates to tackle today's global business challenges. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

For more information:

Ken McGuffin

Manager, Media Relations

Rotman School of Management

University of Toronto

Voice 416.946.3818

E-mail mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca

Follow Rotman on Twitter @rotmanschool

Watch Rotman on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/rotmanschool
Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, but the biological process has not been understood. A major, decade-long study of thousands of Americans found that people living in areas with more outdoor pollution -- even at lower levels common in the United States -- accumulate deposits in the arteries that supply the heart faster than do people living in less polluted areas.

The study is published May 24 online in The Lancet.

Previous epidemiological studies have shown associations between particle pollution, referred to as particulate matter, and heart disease. It has been unclear, however, how exposure to particulate matter leads to diseases of the cardiovascular system. Earlier studies had been shorter and had depended for their analysis on existing datasets collected for other purposes.

Now, direct evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air), a 10-year epidemiological study of more than 6,000 people from six U.S. states, shows that air pollution -- even at levels below regulatory standards -- accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis. The condition, also called hardening of the arteries, can cause heart attacks. Researchers repeatedly measured calcium deposits in the heart's arteries by using CT scans. They also assessed each person's exposure to pollution based on home address.

"The study provides important new information on how pollution affects the main biological process that leads to heart disease," said Dr. Joel Kaufman, who directs MESA Air and is the lead author of the published paper. He is a University of Washington professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, and also a UW professor of epidemiology, and of medicine.

"The evidence supports worldwide efforts to reduce exposures to ambient air pollutants," Kaufman said.

He added, "This was the most in-depth study of air pollution exposures ever applied to a large study group specifically designed to examine influences on cardiovascular health."

The researchers calculated each participant's exposure to ambient fine particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and too small to be seen by the naked eye. In addition to PM2.5, they also measured exposure to nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide, and black carbon or soot.

The research team collected thousands of air pollution measurements in the study participants' communities and at their homes. The research team developed and applied computational models that included local information on land use, roadway and traffic volumes, weather conditions, and local sources of air pollution. These models could generate accurate pollution concentrations at each person's home. Meanwhile, between the years 2000 and 2012, participants visited study clinics several times to undergo CT scanning to determine the amount of calcium deposits in their heart arteries.

Results were strongest for fine particulate matter and the traffic-related pollutant gases called oxides of nitrogen. The study found that for every 5 g/m3 higher concentration of PM2.5, or 35 parts per billion higher concentration of oxides of nitrogen -- about the difference between more and less polluted areas of a U.S. metropolitan area -- individuals had a 4 Agatston units/year faster rate of progression of coronary artery calcium scores. This is about a 20 percent acceleration in the rate of these calcium deposits.

"The effects were seen even in the United States where efforts to reduce exposure have been notably successful compared with many other parts of the world," Kaufman said. Exposures were low when compared to U.S. ambient air quality standards, which permit an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 12 g/m3. The participants in this MESA-Air study experienced concentrations between 9.2 and 22.6 g/m3.

In an accompanying editorial in The Lancet, Dr. Bert Brunekreef, a professor at Utrecht University in The Netherlands, and Dr. Barbara Hoffmann, a professor of the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, described the study as "exemplary." Noting that the results are sobering, they called for decisive action in controlling pollution levels worldwide.

###

The MESA Air study was funded in 2004 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project involved researchers at a number of institutions, and characterized air pollutant exposures experienced by people in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The participants lived in six major cities across the United States. The clinics were in Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, St. Paul and Winston-Salem. Of the people in the study, 39 percent were white, 27 percent black, 22 percent Hispanic, and 12 percent Chinese.

Authors, in addition to Kaufman, were Sara Adar, R. Graham Barr, Matthew Budoff, Gregory Burke, Cynthia Curl, Martha Daviglus, Ana Diez Roux, Amanda Gassett, David Jacobs, Jr.; Richard Kronmal, Timothy Larson, Ana Navas-Acien, Casey Olives, Paul Sampson, Lianne Sheppard, David Siscovick, James Stein, Adam Szpiro, and Karol Watson. The authors come from institutions that include the University of Washington, Columbia University, University of California, Los Angeles; Wake Forest University, Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, University of Vermont, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin, among others.
A Chinese government official told the South China Morning Post that a Foxconn factory has "reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs. More companies are likely to follow suit."

As many as 600 major companies in Kunshan have similar plans, according to a government survey.

The job cuts do not augur well for Kunshan, which had a population of more than 2.5 million at the end of 2014, two-thirds of whom were migrant workers.
How sensitive an ecosystem is to unforeseen environmental stress can be determined, according to Daniel Bruno, previous visiting researcher at Umea University. The approach is to study how many species there are in an ecosystem and what proportion of these can replace species that are hard hit by environmental disturbances. Thanks to this new knowledge, we can predict how various ecosystems react to environmental disturbances, which is necessary to maintain these systems in a sustainable way.

Environmental disturbances can be caused by human impact through agriculture, forestry and mining or by unforeseen events such as floods and extreme drought. Being able to understand how ecosystems react to disturbances is very important to researchers and conservationists. Increased stress caused by serious disturbances can jeopardise stability, resistance and resilience of ecosystems.

A European research group has tested several aspects of biodiversity by studying woody riparian plants in a Spanish river basin and compared various river reaches. The study covered river reaches that flow freely throughout the year, those that are regulated or to some degree affected by seasonal drought, as well as reaches in agricultural areas in comparison to those in relatively untouched nature.

"We examined riparian forests based upon the existing species, how they grew, how similar and different their traits were and how they behave in relation to environmental impacts," says Daniel Bruno, previous visiting researcher at Umea University. He continues:

"As it turned out, the variable that in the strongest way related to the degree and type of environmental impact was the number of species with similar properties. We recommend for that variable to be used as a measurement of the ecosystem resilience to endure disturbances. At the same time, it can be used to determine what species could take over if others would disappear."

The free-flowing river reaches in relatively untouched areas seemed to have more stable riparian ecosystems thanks to a wide range of species and having many species with similar functions that can step in if a species would disappear. Generally speaking, agriculture represents the largest impact and thereby causes the largest amount of stress in the riparian areas that were studied.

Due to the exchangeability of plants being predictable, it can, for instance, be used on a large scale if you want to analyse the entire river system.

"It can be trying to identify where river reaches can be restored or if there are reaches that are worth preserving as they are. The method can help conservationists to improve surveillance and maintenance of ecosystems," says Daniel Bruno.

The project has been carried out with researchers from Spain, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

###
The NATO Summit in Warsaw has to chart NATOs future course in the face of significant instability. The Alliance faces simultaneous dangers from its east, south and south-east. It is also confronted with several broader security challenges, most of them global in scope and unbound by geography.

Furthermore, the three pillars of the Alliance which helped to preserve peace and stability in the past are currently under stress.

First, NATOs undisputed leading nation, the United States, has erroneously seen Europe as more or less at peace and has turned to its Pacific borders and towards Asia. The indispensable Atlantic pillar of NATO has thus been weakened.

Second, Russias manipulation of Europes frozen conflicts adds to the growing number of unresolved crises in Europe, which include the ongoing and pervasive European-debt problems and the massive influx of refugees into the continent. These crises have cracked and damaged NATOs European pillar. Should these cracks widen, as would happen should the UK vote for a Brexit in the upcoming referendum, this could well destroy the EU.

Third, Russia has acted to end its partnership with the West, which it had maintained in one form or another since 1990. Russia sees NATO as a threat and therefore aims at weakening it through a well-orchestrated several-pronged approach which includes a disinformation campaign, military intimidation (including using nuclear threats) and economically self-damaging re-armament. All these efforts are being driven by Russias desire to be perceived as a world power on an equal footing with the United States.

Should these trends continue, NATOs future could well be at risk. Yet NATO is and will remain the Wests best response to tackling the future dangers; the best chance for the West to return to some form of cooperation with Russia; and the Wests only option of defeating challenges such as the Islamic State.

The Warsaw Summit will have to take all necessary steps to improve NATOs collective defence capabilities in addition to and beyond the decisions of the 2014 Wales Summit. It also has to enhance NATOs military as well as non-military capabilities in coping with dangers, risks and instabilities beyond the NATO Treaty Area (NTA).

Three key decisions could help restore transatlantic cohesion and reassure the European allies:

NATO should renew its commitment to a successful strategy of deterrence (through credible defence) and detente (through dialogue). For Putins Russia, it is not NATO strength and cohesion that is provocative, but rather the Alliances weakness and lack of determination. NATO should therefore exploit the flexibility offered by the NATO-Russia Founding Act to the fullest extent possible and strengthen its capabilities to defend the NTA collectively. It should also repeat its commitment to nuclear deterrence aiming at the prevention of any use of nuclear weapons. NATO should consider establishing additional NATO-owned and operated multinational component forces such as the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme, whilst further improving the deployability of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) throughout the NTA and in its periphery. Simultaneously NATO should offer Russia a renewed dialogue on mutual stability aiming at the restoration of the 1990 Charter of Paris principles. NATO should develop a comprehensive strategy for the security and defence of its southern and south-eastern regions and their peripheries. Such a strategy has to enhance existing Article 4 provisions, and include swift and well-tailored responses (also in the form of military deployments) to military and non-military threats before they reach the level of Article 5. The instruments of choice would be multinational NATO forces capable of cooperating with regional partners from the south and southeast through enhanced partnership arrangements. There is also a need for improved NATO-EU cooperation and enhanced partnerships with the African Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. NATO should signal its commitment to contributing to the management of crises beyond the NTA under the provisions of Article 4. Crises outside the Treaty area will in todays interconnected world impact on the security and stability of all NATO nations, including the two North American allies. Therefore NATO has to state with utmost clarity that the security of all its members is indivisible and that this commitment requires resolute answers and full solidarity by all members if and wherever necessary.

In a nutshell, these three decisions could strengthen NATOs cohesion and at the same time open the door for fine-tuning NATOs Strategic Concept to the realities of todays dramatically changed world and to future challenges, especially once the newly elected U.S. administration is in place. Moreover, such steps might help in restoring a sense of purpose for the European foreign and security policy, which could improve EU cohesion and possibly help in developing a new vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time.


TRAI has once again raised the issue of net neutrality and differential pricing with a new consultation paper calling for industry suggestions. In the paper, released last week, the regulatory body seems to be looking for alternate solutions to the contentious issue of zero rating; one that does not involve a discriminatory pricing model by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). TRAI has asked respondents to send in their suggestions by June 16, 2016, with counter comments byJune 30, 2016.



As it is known, earlier this year, TRAI, in a ruling prohibited TSPs from offering differentiated pricing models on the basis of content. Basically, TRAI did not want TSPs to start controlling prices charged to consumers.



However, a number of operators have approached TRAI claiming that this policy is restrictive and counterproductive as it would not provide opportunities to app makers to promote their products. Just last month, Airtel approached TRAI to clarify whether it is allowed to tie up with a foreign content creator to provide exclusive content to its subscribers.



This has probably prompted the TRAI to try and find out a compromise that will be acceptable by TSPs, while at the same time, not jeopardize the concept of free internet.



What are the options?



TRAI, in the new consultation paper has asked four questions. One of which is whether there is a need to have a TSP agnostic platform to provide free data or suitable reimbursement to users, without violating the principles of differential pricing for data laid down in TRAI regulation? And, if yes, then should this platform be monitored by TRAI or should market forces be allowed to regulate it.



It is quite clear that TRAI is exploring options for a zero-rating platform without the possibility of differential behavior by telecom service providers. In effect, the content provider still remains the paying party (thereby zero cost to consumer) but not tied to a particular telecom service provider. Besides the views presented in the response to the consultation paper on differential pricing, there is a trend towards offering/demanding free data across many markets in the world. In a recent survey commissioned by CTIA, Americans voted for provision of free data or access to content without affecting their data plan. I guess, such trends have motivated the regulator to explore free data options for consumers, without a telecom service provider controlling the access, said Amresh Nandan, Research Director at Gartner.

When asked whether, as TRAI asks, there are alternate modes of offering free data to customers without letting the whole system be controlled by the TSP, he agreed that there are a few platforms which do something similar to what TRAI wants available in the market.

A platform launched in MWC (Mobile World Congress), Barcelona this year allows telecom service providers and other businesses to create advertisements that offer consumers free mobile data for interacting with advertisers. Similarly, another platform provider enables consumers to access and earn mobile data through mobile marketing business of telecom service providers. However, to the best of my knowledge, none of these have been implemented in quite the same way as TRAI has proposed, he said.



TRAI, itself, has admitted that rewards-based models based on a TSP-agnostic platform, could be a possible solution. There are some examples of reward based models in India, most notably: (1) Discovery Apps dedicated to providing rewards in return for engagement; such as mCent, Gigato, Taskbucks, Ladoo, EarnTalktime, Pokkt and many more and (2) Rewards platforms that can enable any app/site to offer rewards for desired action or even mobile data rewards for everyday activities like paying electricity bill on time or checking out of the hotel on time etc., said the regulator in its paper.



TRAI also noted that other models like direct money transfer model and toll-free model could also be considered. However, the important thing here will be whether these models can be applied on scale.



Without getting into the aspect of net-neutrality (i.e. whether these models support or violate the principles of net neutrality); I would say that, there are platforms that can be augmented to achieve this. However deploying such a platform and interconnecting with TSPs is not straight forward, owing to API based partner communication, settlement of billing / data usage and therefore changes required in service delivery as well as other components of a telecom service providers BSS platform, points out Nandan.



Also, there is the issue of who will monitor and regulate these platforms. Should TRAI be solely responsible or should it be left to the market to decide? According to Nandan, the ownership, maintenance and monitoring of such platforms is tricky business and hence it would require TRAI to work closely with the party that hosts enables, manages, monitors the platforms and provides report to various telecom service providers, content providers and regulator.



However, whether TRAI will be ready to take up this additional responsibility remains to be seen. On the other hand, the fact that TRAI has decided to look for a solution is interesting as it shows that the regulator is not blind to the wants of operators; something a few have been murmuring about after the landmark decision on differential pricing.



The onus is also on operators though, to find out new, innovative ways of monetizing their service in order to remain competitive, without spoiling the experience of their consumers.



The TRAI ruling (on differential pricing) has re-emphasized the fact that marketing reach and consumer insights of telecom operators has influential power in the industry and thus they faced the injunction. In the wake of this development, I hope telecom operators themselves truly realize the potential of their marketing reach and consumer insights too. If they do that, they will see that there are a number of alternative options available to them to monetise their marketing reach and consumer insights even post ruling, opined Abhay Doshi, SVP (Marketing and Product) at Flytxt.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Long before Sergio Aragones filled the margins of MAD Magazine with tiny, weird cartoons, the margins of medieval manuscripts were a playground for bored monks with crude senses of humor.

While some monks expressed themselves with flat-out crudity, a more common motif was the ubiquitous, triumphant armed rabbit, often shown killing dogs, humans, and other enemies of bunnykind.

Writer Jon Kaneko-James explains the symbolism of these murdering coneys, illustrated with fine examples of the form.

Since rabbits and hares were signs of cowardice, innocence, helplessness, and passive but willing sexuality (lots of medieval sexual imagery involves wolves jumping on rabbits), the idea of them getting their revenge amused medieval artists as much as it amuses me. All told, they are pretty helpless animals whose only hope of survival is to breed fast and run away, a trait that wasn't particularly successful in the Medieval era  a significant proportion of the French economy was based on eating and skinning rabbits. The image of the rabbit's revenge transcends just the illuminated manuscript  the misericord seats in Manchester Cathedral are supported by a 15th century carving of a hunter being spitroasted by rabbits while his dogs are boiled in the pot. In medieval manuscripts the image of the rabbit's revenge is often used to show the cowardice or stupidity of the person illustrated. We see this in the Middle English nickname Stickhare, a name for cowards, and if the we take a look at the Poke list, we'll see a lot of tough hunters cowering in the face of rabbits with big sticks. In the 13th century epic Roman de Renart we even have the character Coward, who is a hare, capturing an armed man who drops his sword at the sight of him and ends up being dangled from a stick.

Why Are There Violent Rabbits In The Margins Of Medieval Manuscripts? [Jon Kaneko-James]






Demand for the euro exchange rates has been volatile in response to the latest developments regarding the Greek bailout, allowing the British pound to euro conversion rate to make strong gains on the back of improved market confidence.

The bullish run seen in the pound to euro exchange rate recently came to an end today, when the second revision of the UKs first quarter GDP report prompted investors to move away from the currency.

Consequently, in spite of continued worries over the involvement of the IMF in the ongoing Greek bailout, the EUR/GBP spot rate began to regain ground.

The Pound may remain weak against the Euro tomorrow, on account of data shortages

The only UK data due out tomorrow will consist of the Gfk consumer confidence survey, which has been predicted to fall from -3 to -4. The Eurozone, meanwhile, will be releasing French and Finnish consumer confidence stats, as well as an Italian variant later on and Irish retail sales in the late-morning.

While the initial response to the approval of the Greek bailout was positive this optimism did not benefit the euro-sterling cross for long.

Forex investors are unimpressed that the issue of debt relief was not particularly resolved at this juncture, maintaining downside pressure on the euro,

While earlier indications ahead of the Eurogroup meeting had been positive markets returned to a more cautious outlook after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a fresh demand for upfront and unconditional debt relief for the beleaguered Greek economy.

As a number of European creditors are unlikely to agree to such terms the future of the Greek bailout came back into question, with worries growing that the Eurogroup might not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of funds at this juncture.

Consequently the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate weakened markedly, despite solid German growth data.

Other Pound Sterling / Currency Exchange News

Latest Pound/Euro Exchange Rates

On Tuesday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1

At time of writing the pound to pound exchange rate is quoted at 1.

Today finds the pound to us dollar spot exchange rate priced at 1.147.

FX markets see the pound vs australian dollar exchange rate converting at 1.796.

Today finds the pound to new zealand dollar spot exchange rate priced at 1.992.

Please note: the FX rates above, updated 25th Oct 2022, will have a commission applied by your typical high street bank. Currency brokers specialise in these type of foreign currency transactions and can save you up to 5% on international payments compared to the banks.

Pound to Euro Rate rallies Today

Mounting concerns over the outlook of the Greek situation largely overshadowed the confirmation that Germanys economy had grown by a robust 0.7% on the quarter at the start of the year.

Confidence in the German economy was somewhat marred on Tuesday by a disappointing ZEW Economic Sentiment Survey, which unexpectedly dipped from 11.2 to 6.4 in May, with the relative strength of the US Dollar (USD) also weighing on the single currency.

This bearish mood could persist as the underlying fundamentals of the Eurozones powerhouse economy remain mixed, as Carsten Brzeski, research analyst at ING, noted:

Consumption and investments were the main growth drivers in the first quarter, while net-exports turned out to be a drag on growth. Before anyone gets overly enthusiastic, the increase in investments was not the start of a big investment boom which will make German growth more sustainable but just the result of a continuing construction boom. Over the last three years, investments in the construction sector have increased by a quarterly average of 0.8% QoQ, almost the same pace as during the last German real estate boom after reunification.

Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates Surged Higher on Referendum Optimism

It was a bullish day for the Pound (GBP), on the other hand, after the latest opinion poll suggested that the Remain campaign had extended its lead.

Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney noted that all members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Financial Policy Committee (FPC) were agreed that a Brexit could have a negative impact on the UK economy, adding further fuel to the Pound rally.

As Governor Carney was revealed to be more influential amongst undecided voters than the Chancellor of the Exchequer this saw the Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate climbing to a four-month high of 1.3099.

Stronger German Confidence May Shore up Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates

If finance ministers do agree to release the next tranche of Greek bailout funds imminently, however, the Euro could soon see renewed demand, particularly if the rift between creditors is shown to be narrowing.

Both the GfK Consumer Confidence and IFO Business Sentiment Surveys will offer a further gauge of the German economy on Wednesday, with stronger figures likely to raise hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) could loosen monetary policy further.

Confidence in the US Dollar will also be an influence on the direction of the EUR/GBP exchange rate, with any increasing bets on an imminent Fed rate hike expected to put downward pressure on the single currency.
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.
AUSTIN  The Turkish government is reaching into Texas to level complaints against a charter school network it says is funneling money to a group plotting to overthrow its government.

A group hired by the Republic of Turkey to probe operations of the largest charter school network in Texas filed a complaint Tuesday with the Texas Education Agency, asking it to investigate a series of allegations against Houston-based Harmony Public Schools. Among accusations against the 30,000-student school system in the 38-page complaint are claims the charter network is wrongly using H-1B visas to place Turkish teachers into key school positions and that officials strike deals with preferred vendors instead of using competitive bidding. The actions of the charter system ultimately support an exiled Muslim cleric, the complaint alleges.

Defenders of the charter school network say the complaint is a politically charged rehashing of old issues Harmony has debunked or addressed.

A spokesperson for the Texas Education Agency said officials have yet to decide whether to investigate the claims, but said that determination relies on whether the state has jurisdiction to probe Harmony.

The complaint was penned by Amsterdam & Partners LLP, a law firm with offices in London and Washington, D.C., which was hired by the Republic of Turkey at a cost of $50,000 a month to investigate Harmony Public Schools. After filing an all-encompassing 90-part open records request to the school system last November, which Harmony said would cost $690,000 to fulfill, Amsterdam urged the state to investigate Harmonys practices in light of previous investigations into the network and a coming expansion of 15 new campuses over the next two years.

Harmony operates 46 charter schools across Texas, including three in San Antonio, two in Laredo and 13 in the Houston area, using public funds to manage a school system without the strings attached to traditional public schools. The tuition-free schools are considered high performing with several receiving national accolades.

Critics allege the school network founded by Turkish immigrants who wanted to focus on science, technology, engineering and math has ties to a controversial Turkish scholar, Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.

Harmony staff see the barrage of complaints as a politically motivated witch hunt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following his 2014 election in which 90 percent of Turkish citizens in the United States voted against him. Erdogans vocal critics include Gulen, a Muslim cleric who exiled himself to Pennsylvania in 1999.

Lawyers hired by the Turkish government link Harmony to dozens of other U.S.-based charter schools run by Turkish immigrants, claiming those schools are connected to Gulen. They contend the schools are part of a large visa-fraud and money-laundering scheme that aims to undermine and overthrow the Turkish government.

Gulen uses the schools in the United States to get his followers out of Turkey, attorney Bob Amsterdam said Monday. Its a massive scheme to, basically, launder money back to the Gulen organization. Its very sophisticated. Its completely non-transparent.

Amsterdam pointed to discrimination lawsuits filed by Harmony employees over the last decade that claimed that Turkish men were paid more and given preference over American teachers. He also noted that Turkish contractors have profited from Harmony and suggested the charter school system makes political donations to stave off scrutiny.

Amsterdam called for the Texas Education Agency to scrutinize what he characterized as a mass level of deception.

The money that theyre skimming off American taxpayers finds its way back to Turkey, Amsterdam said. Theyve been trying to overthrow the government of Turkey.

Soner Tarim, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Harmony Public Schools, called the claims bogus, mind-boggling and ridiculous.

Id rather be spending my time with principals and teachers. Instead I have to deal with these nonsense allegations, he said while driving to Austin to meet with Texas Education Agency officials.

Parents of San Antonios Harmony students received an email last week alerting them to the coming complaint, rejecting the allegations and asking for the parents continued support. In Laredo, a message to parents went out on Twitter.

Past investigations into his school system resulted in corrections. The system has reduced the number of employees on visas from 20 percent to less than 7 percent and outsourced procurement operations to the Harris County Department of Education, said Mustafa Tameez, a spokesman for Harmony.

A 2012 state audit found Harmony had misspent more than $186,000 in federal grant money meant to improve education for students with disabilities or from low-income families, an issue Tameez said has been addressed.

State Board of Education member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, called the attacks against Harmony blatantly personal and political.

We have audited Harmony like every other charter school, he said. The only thing they are guilty of is having been part of a great American immigration story.

Houston Chronicle Staff Writer Jennifer Radcliffe contributed to this report.

andrea.zelinski@chron.com
NORRISTOWN, Pa.  A judge ruled Tuesday that Bill Cosbys trial on sexual assault charges can go forward, setting the stage for a potential legal battle over the prosecutions evidence.

The ruling, by Judge Elizabeth McHugh, ended five months of efforts by Cosbys lawyers to have the charges dismissed.

The decision, after a 3-hour hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, means a man who was once one of Americas most beloved entertainers but has been pursued by allegations of sexual misconduct by dozens of women must face at least one of his accusers at trial, probably this year. Cosby, 78, has denied the allegations.

The next stage will be for a judge to set a trial date.

Cosbys three lawyers would not comment beyond offering a thumbs up when asked how he was feeling.

The entertainer was charged in December with drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University staff member for whom Cosby became a mentor and friend. Prosecutors said he took advantage of his counseling role, gave her pills and assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in early 2004.

Cosbys lawyers attacked the prosecution for not calling Constand as a witness, relying instead on a statement she gave to police in 2005. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said later at a news conference that case law allowed for hearsay evidence in such a preliminary hearing.

Cosbys lawyers have battled to have the charges thrown out. They argue that a former district attorney promised never to prosecute Cosby as a way to induce him to testify in a civil suit brought by Constand in 2005. That suit, in which Cosby spoke freely in deposition testimony, was settled confidentially in 2006.

But at a hearing in February, a trial court judge dismissed the defenses challenges.

Tuesdays ruling is likely to be followed by another battle by Cosbys legal team to challenge much of the evidence that could be used at trial. Legal experts said that his lawyers would probably seek to bar Cosbys deposition from the 2005 civil case because confidentiality was part of the settlement. Cosby is also expected to fight any attempt to introduce evidence from other accusers.
A 525m European backing for Beatrice windfarm off Scottish coast in the UK has been announced by the European Commission.

This project is the single largest investment in an offshore wind farm by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The investment is supported by new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe.

The 86 turbine Beatrice windfarm will generate up to 588MW of renewable electricity equivalent to the energy needs of more than 475 thousand homes and is expected to be fully operational in 2019.

The new wind farm will cost more than 2.7bn and be built by Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited, a partnership formed between SSE, SDIC Power and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Construction and operation of the Beatrice windfarm will support job creation, skills training opportunities and opportunities for local businesses in both the Moray and Highland regions of Scotland.

Investing in critical energy

"We are delighted that Beatrice has achieved Financial Close and we are extremely grateful for all of the support received throughout the development of the project from stakeholders such as the Scottish Government, DECC, HIE, the Highland Council, Moray Council and local communities.

"Contracts have already been placed with many UK based suppliers, and Siemens intend to undertake turbine blade construction from Siemens new manufacturing facility in Hull.

"Todays decision reaffirms SSEs commitment to offshore wind and we are proud to progress such a flagship project for the Scottish offshore wind industry and the UKs skilled supply chain.

"It shows SSE will continue to play its part in investing in the critical energy infrastructure the country needs to power homes across the UK both today and in the future," said Paul Cooley, Director of Renewables at SSE.

"Around 10m of investment is planned at Wick Harbour to house the wind farms operations and maintenance facilities and improving the existing RNLI facilities.

"We expect a peak of around 65 jobs during construction of the Operations and Maintenance base with around 90 long-term jobs anticipated during the operational phase," added Cooley.

COP21 goals

"Thanks to the Investment Plan and the European Investment Bank, we are getting closer to reaching our COP21 goals," said Maros Sefcovic, European Commission Vice-President responsible for Energy Union.

"Already the European Fund for Strategic Investments has helped to finance sustainable, green investments across the EU worth billions of euros.

"Indeed more than half of the EFSI projects approved so far are in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green investment."

"Investment in offshore wind is crucial to harnessing the full potential of Scotlands renewable energy resources," said Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President.

"The European Investment Bank is one of the worlds largest lenders for renewable energy and our backing for Beatrice represents the EIBs largest ever support for offshore wind investment.

"We are pleased to provide 525 million to support construction of the Beatrice windfarm that will strengthen renewable energy generation in Scotland.

"This also represents the first Scottish scheme to be backed by the new European Fund for Strategic Investments.

"EIB backing for energy investment across the UK demonstrates our firm commitment to supporting ambitious energy projects that create jobs and benefit local companies,"

"The UK is the world leader in offshore wind; and this industry, backed by the UK Government and benefiting from our access to the EU single market, is a success story going from strength to strength.

"This project will provide home-grown clean energy boosting skills and creating jobs and financial security for working people and their families in Scotland, and across the UK.

"This is great news for the industry and I congratulate the owners SSE, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and SDIC Power on achieving this significant milestone in the development of this multi-billion pound infrastructure project," said Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd.

Scottish renewable sector stronger than ever

"The Beatrice Offshore Windfarm has the opportunity to deliver so much to Caithness and Scotland as a whole, in terms of employment and community benefit," said Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Business, Innovation & Energy in the Scottish Government.

"Scotlands renewables sector is stronger than ever and our early adoption of clean, green energy technology and infrastructure was the right thing to do.

"Renewables are now Scotlands biggest electricity generator, and nearly half of gross electricity consumption comes from renewables.

"Scotland is well on course to meet its interim renewables target and is delivering a strong contribution to global climate efforts.

"I look forward to this project contributing to our green energy mix," said Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Business, Innovation & Energy in the Scottish Government.

The Beatrice windfarm will use a new generation of Siemens 7MW Wind Turbines with 154-meter diameter rotor blades.

The wind turbines, the largest generally available, will each be more than 190m high, taller than the Gherkin building in the City of London.

The wind farm will be controlled and operated from a base at Wick, with access to the wind farm primarily by Crew Transfer Vessel as well as by helicopters.

The 525 million 19 year long-term European Investment Bank loan will support more than 2.7 billion of overall investment. Part of the European Investment Bank loan will be guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
KWS is to unveil four new varieties spanning three crop types with each offering class-leading grain quality attributes at Cereals 2016.

The new varieties, include milling and feed wheat, malting barley and oats, and combine higher yields with strong all-round disease packages meaning they offer something for every grower.

All four candidates are in Recommended List trials and will potentially be added to the 2017-18 AHDB Recommended List later this year.

KWS Zyatt is a potential Group 1 milling wheat with a yield of 105% of controls, 8% ahead of the current Group 1 control, Crusoe, and on a par with high-yielding feed wheat KWS Santiago.

Unusually for a Group 1, KWS Zyatt manages to maintain its yield without sacrificing protein which, at 12.1%, is on a par with established milling variety Gallant.

"KWS Zyatt shows great promise. Over three years of private testing KWS Zyatt has shown itself to be a typical Group 1 with grain and flour characteristics similar to that of other varieties in this group and consistent bread-making performance," says KWS wheat breeder Mark Dodds.

"In has performed similarly well in official testing with comments noting its good baking quality similar to that of Gallant," he adds.

A yield on-par with feed wheats will further underline its appeal to growers as it means they can grow for the heap without suffering a yield penalty while retaining the opportunity to pursue price premiums for quality.

"KWS Zyatt is the ultimate in flexible wheats. It combines excellent yields and grain quality and strong disease resistance to the principal foliar diseases and pch 1 eyespot resistance, meaning it will find a place on every farm," says Mark Dodds.

KWS Kerrin is a feed wheat with outstanding yield. "It has been remarkably consistent across contrasting seasons proving to be the highest yielding winter wheat in National List trials over the past two years where it out-performed KWS Santiago in 24 of sites," says Mark Dodds.

"KWS Kerrin is a KWS Santiago cross, but with better yield performance and disease resistance. It has a good yellow rust score, OWBM resistance and is a medium height variety with strong straw and maturity similar to other Group 4s.

"It has a similar HFN to its parent and will appeal to those in the East where it is a natural successor to KWS Santiago," adds Mark Dodds.
European dairy farmers have organised a trip to Burkina Faso to discuss the problem of dairy overproduction in the EU and its effects.

The situation in the European dairy market continues to go from bad to worse for affected farmers.

Overproduction of butter and milk powder keeps increasing, which consequently floods into European and international markets, causing prices for milk products to collapse, and has thus pushed farmers into a situation where their very existence is in danger.

"European producers are not the only ones who are affected," the European Milk Board said.

"This overproduction is also dangerous for many producers in West Africa because it is impossible for them to compete with cheap imports from the EU - especially those of milk powder, and this pushes them to the brink of ruin as well.

In order to work together with African milk producers towards solutions to this problematic situation, dairy farmers from the European Milk Board will be in Burkina Faso from today (May 25) to June 2.

The organisation PASMEP, an initiative to support dairy cattle herders in Burkina Faso, will visit dairies and farms as well as ministries together with their guests and will also organise a workshop.

Overproduction in Europe and lack of uncontrolled exports to BF

This event will focus on European policy and its effect on Burkina Faso as well as technical cooperation.

European and Burkinabe farmers shall intensively discuss possible solutions that could help overcome the current situation.

All participating organisations agree that overproduction in Europe and the practically uncontrolled exports to West Africa must be reined in.

However, this will not be possible without an appropriate political framework - a responsibility that falls on the shoulders of both European and West-African policy-makers.

The Milk Board said: "Individual farmers or even farmer's organisations cannot solve such international problems alone.

"The aim is a solution that is fair for both European and African farmers. Governments and organisations must promote reductions in milk production volumes with financial incentives.

"At the same time, export regulations that do not align with the interests of farmers in West Africa should not be adopted.

"It is also necessary to further develop short-term measures that help prevent crises in Europe and to implement a change in strategy  focusing on increased quality rather than export promotion.

Such encounters increase knowledge and understanding

A visit by African farmers to Germany in 2014 already showed that such encounters with colleagues from other continents lead to a substantial increase in knowledge and understanding for both parties.

During the visit, producers from Burkina Faso visited farms in the Eifel and Allgau regions and were able to understand the local situation and production.

"The conclusion was clear: Be it African or European producers - dairy farmers on both continents face similar problems with respect to a number of aspects.

"All the participating organisations therefore agree that it is useful to continue to work together, rather than against each other, in the future as well," concluded the European Milk Board.
The largest export of wheat to the USA for more than two decades departed from Bristol this week.

The Sbi Lambada, carrying 63,000 tonnes of grain, was loaded by Openfield at the Portbury Grain Terminal and brings the total volume of grain exported by the co-op through the port this marketing year to more than 750,000 tonnes.

The sale of wheat to the USA is a rare occurrence given that the US is itself one of the largest exporters, but over the past few years it has imported a several cargoes of feed wheat when the market conditions allow and to support the need to manage internal logistics.

When the market circumstances are suitable for the USA to import feed wheat then the UK is a suitable market for the USA to consider.

"It values the traceability and reliability within the UK supply chain, and the ability to source grain for specific cargoes from members farms and stores across the south west is a supporting factor in US importers purchasing decisions, says David Doyle, Openfield head of trading.

So far this marketing year Openfield has exported more than 1.5 million tonnes of grain from ports around the UK with the main destinations being in Europe, but also to customers in North Africa & the Middle East.
Seed company Monsanto has rejected a $62 billion acquisition bid by German agriculture supplier Bayer as 'incomplete and financially inadequate', but said it was open for further negotiations.

Monsanto's decision puts pressure on Bayer to decide whether to raise its bid.

Monsanto shares ended trading up 3.1 percent at $109.3 in New York, substantially below Bayer's bid price.

"We believe in the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society, and we have long respected Bayers business," Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said in a statement.

"However, the current proposal significantly undervalues our company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition," he added.

Combining Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, with Bayer's crop protection products would create the world's largest agricultural supplier.

"Monsanto is a perfect match to our agricultural business," Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a video message posted on his company's website.

"We would combine complementary skills with minimal geographic overlap."

"The acquisition of Monsanto checks all the boxes in terms of strategic fit and value creation potential," he added.

"At the same time, ongoing consolidation activities in the industry make this combination by far the most attractive one."

Low commodity priceswhich have caused farmers to cut orders for supplieshave piled the pressure on agricultural suppliers like Monsanto, which is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.

The industry has seen two big merger deals recently, which are still undergoing regulatory reviews in the United States.
Farming is regularly highlighted as one of the most dangerous professions in the UK  with worker fatality rates among the highest of any industry.

Poor health and safety procedures can also lead to staff needing more time off work through injury, which can have an adverse effect on productivity.

Oxfordshire-based health and safety specialist Safety Revolution has now adapted a series of courses run by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) specifically for the agricultural sector.

The sessions have been designed for all levels of seniority  from trustees and directors, through to farm and estate managers and grassroots workers.

Oliver Dale, managing director of Safety Revolution, said: "Generally, farmers are addressing health and safety in a positive, proactive way.

"The majority of employers treat the issue as they would other disciplines  such as finances, agronomy and nutrition.

They recognise that its an important area that they need to get right for the overall success of their business.

"However, the facts are incontrovertible  statistically farming is still the most dangerous industry to work in.

"We hope that these courses will go some way to address that, combining first hand, working examples with practical advice.

"Often when people sit in a classroom it can be difficult to relate whats being said to their own experiences  but our aim is to dispel some of the mystery around health and safety and make a connection to show people just how easy it can be."

The courses are:

Leading Safely: a one day course for trustees, directors and partners at the head of organisations.

Managing Safely: a four day course for those responsible for implementing health and safety procedures such as farm and estate managers and supervisors.

Working Safely: a one day course for farm workers.

Mr Dale said the course material was set out by IOSH and adapted to suit the specific needs of landowners and farmers.

Content could include anything from common hazards and handling livestock, through to machinery operation, working at height and lone working, he added.
The second year of the highly-rated AHDB Potatoes Next Generation initiative launched last Friday 20 May at AHDB Headquarters in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Successful applicants completed a highly competitive video application process to become one of the final 13 delegates, competing with the most talented and passionate individuals from across the Great British potato supply chain.

Norfolk-based Alistair Neill, leaving a background in the printing business three years ago and now Trainee Agronomist for Produce Solutions (part of the Greenvale AP group), said: "I applied for two years running and am delighted to be one of seven ambitious repeat applicants to finally land a place on the programme this year.

"I was attracted to the potato industry because its fast-paced and ever-changing.

"Im looking forward to widening my general understanding of this industry, appreciating its challenges and gaining valuable contacts I can call upon in the future.

"The exposure to the industry that the Next Generation Programme will provide me will be invaluable. Its an experience that would be tricky to replicate in my normal working environment."

Benefiting from the feedback provided by the first group, this years delegates invested considerable time networking and getting to know each other over the course of the highly discursive and interactive day.

A short networking session revealed their businesses, roles and personalities alongside outdoor ice-breaker activities to stimulate communication and promote team-working.

Simon Leaver, Commercial Manager at fresh peeled potato and chip suppliers, Fylde Fresh and Fabulous, and delegate of the first years group, also returned, keen to continue his engagement.

Mr Leaver introduced the company business model, and the story behind their investment in an on-site potato peeling factory and 2m biogas plant using the latest Anaerobic Digestion technology fed by their primary bi-product, dried potato trimmings.

Opportunity to network

He gave a flavour of their current challenges before preparing the group to take full advantage of the opportunities they had ahead of them.

"This programme puts you out there. It gives you the opportunity to network but also to build your own skills up. And the more you put into this process, the more value youll get in return too."

In the afternoon, the group engaged in intimate workshops providing snapshots of levy-funded activities arranged around AHDBs new aligned structure.

AHDB experts in market intelligence, consumer marketing and education, research and innovation, and communications engaged in open and transparent conversations with the group on a range of topics, including how the right science is selected for funding and the generally unseen process of issues and media management.

"Its been a really positive, engaging start and Im proud to be part of this likeminded group who are enthusiastic about their future in potatoes," reflected Edward Backhouse, partner within his family farm located in East Yorkshire predominantly supplying the chip shop sector.

"I went away from AHDB with a much greater understanding of where my levy goes and the huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to secure the reputation of our sector."

In total the group will complete nine comprehensive industry visits over the year, covering a range of industry sectors across multiple regions and with varying focuses to the days.
Landowners who let land on a grazing agreement must play an active role if they are to secure valuable tax reliefs, following the ruling of a Tax Tribunal in Northern Ireland.

Although case law has long indicated that landowners must physically manage the land to qualify for business tax relief, there is now a clear First Tier Tribunal decision on Capital Gains Tax.

"This new decision adds further weight and clarification to the previous case law," says Jeremy Moody, Secretary and Adviser at the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV).

"Although the case revolves around a conacre (seasonal grazing) agreement in Northern Ireland, the ruling is extremely pertinent to landowners with grazing or cropping agreements across the UK."

Central to the Tribunals decision in Allen v HMRC were the actions of the landowner and the grazier, not just the terms of the agreement.

In this case, the landowner, John Allen, let 10 acres of pasture to a neighbour for seasonal grazing and silage from March to November.

However, he also used the land as lairage for animals sold in the market year-round and grazed it over the winter. Importantly, Mr Allen also supplied fertiliser for the tenant to apply when needed, and engaged a contractor to cut the weeds and hedges.

Meeting legal tests

"HMRC asserted that the grazier had sole occupation of the land, saying that if the grazier was in occupation the owner could not be," says Mr Moody.

"However, the Tribunal rejected that on the evidence before it. This case turned on its own facts: Had Mr Allen not shown that he both occupied and undertook responsibility for husbandry of the land he would not have won this relief."

Although the case related to Business Asset Taper Relief from Capital Gains Tax (CGT)  which was abolished in 2008  the decision is relevant to current business reliefs from CGT such as Entrepreneurs Relief and Rollover Relief.

It is therefore relevant to any landowner with land let on a grazing or cropping agreement.

"Those who wish to be treated as farmers for tax purposes must meet the legal tests for that status," says Mr Moody.

"It is not the label on the agreement that matters but the actual terms agreed and what is done."

In addition, the Tribunal rejected the claim that the activity was an investment.

"Even though the land had some development potential it was being occupied for the purposes of husbandry and managed on a commercial - if modest - basis," says Mr Moody.

"This latest decision shows what an owner of a grass let has to do to qualify for tax relief."
NFU Scotland has met with Fergus Ewing MSP, the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity at Holyrood this morning.

Speaking after the meeting, NFU Scotlands President Allan Bowie said: "This was a positive opening meeting and there is a clear understanding that farms exist primarily to produce food.

"We look forward to working with him on behalf of farmers and crofters and today was an opportunity to reset the agenda in a way that will take forward farming and crofting in Scotland.

"His appointment comes at a hugely challenging time for the industry.

"Volatile markets across every sector mean that we have seen farm incomes fall three years in a row and the huge problems encountered by Scottish Government in delivering new CAP support created massive problems for Scotlands rural economy.

L: NFU Scotlands President Allan Bowie, R: Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy Fergus Ewing

"Given last weeks damning report from Audit Scotland into the CAP IT delivery programme, sorting out the mess was always going to be top of the agenda today.

'We want outstanding payments delivered to farmers'

"There is much unfinished business to be done. We want outstanding support payments delivered to farmers and crofters before the payment window closes in June.

"And we are looking to the Cabinet Secretary and his team to ensure we learn from the mistakes that have been made so that they are not repeated.

"It is important that a clear timetable for future support payment delivery is set and adhered to.

"We want Scottish farmers and crofters to be competitive in a very volatile market environment.

"The income pressures on Scottish farming businesses are intense, regardless of what sector they are operating in.

'Actions should be judged by impact on farmers'

"Actions and decisions taken by Scottish Government from now on should be judged on how they will impact on the competitiveness of farmers.

"Past gold plating introduced by Scottish Government needs to be addressed and we believe that the Cabinet Secretary will keenly consider the business impact of decisions.

"With the Scottish food and drink strategy a success story for our economy, and a Good Food Nation Bill part of the SNP manifesto, the Union will work with the Cabinet Secretary on continuing to build on this success.

"Also, to connect farmers and crofters with the food and drink industry but with a greater emphasis on securing fairer supply chains and a fair share for all of the risk and rewards.

"Farmers currently carry the bulk of the risk involved in producing food and drink yet, as falling farm incomes show, they are struggling to receive a fair share of the current rewards being generated by this prospering sector.

"It is important that, at this time of uncertainty and volatility in the agricultural industry, we have strong voices within Scottish Government that look to ensure that food and drink sector success connects back to the farm gate."
AHDB agrees to transfer surplus levy funds to new horticultural body
Thirteen farm trial sites were used with six in WA spread across four farms at Cunderdin, Yealering, Meckering and Wickepin; along with four in northern Victoria at Banyena, Ultima, Hopetoun and Quantong; and three in southern Victoria in Inverleigh, Lake Bolac and Werneth.
Pulse Australia board member David Matthews said the company was looking at how it would adapt to the downsizing, but said the organisation would continue its role as the voice of the Australian pulse industry.
More than half of employees who work for CCS make $43K or more a year
Singapore shut down the local operations of Swiss-based BSI Bank Tuesday and named six bankers suspected of possible criminal conduct in connection with the handling of a Malaysian government fund.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it withdrew BSI Banks status as a merchant bank in Singapore.

It was the first time MAS closed a bank since 1984.

The Singapore regulator didnt name 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in its statement.

But in February, Singapore police and MAS seized a large number of bank accounts linked to a money laundering investigation involving the Malaysia state investment fund.

1MDB is chaired by Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak.

MAS Tuesday also fined BSI Bank $9.7 million for 41 breaches of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism law.

The breaches include failure to perform enhanced customer due diligence on high risk accounts, and to monitor for suspicious customer transactions on an ongoing basis, MAS said.

Switzerlands Office of the Attorney General Tuesday opened criminal proceedings against Lugano-based BSI.

Swiss prosecutors said earlier a criminal investigation produced serious indications that about $4 billion may have been misappropriated from 1MBD.

The AGs office said a small portion of the $4 billion was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by various former Malaysian public officials and both former and current public officials from the United [Arab] Emirates.

In Singapore, MAS said Tuesday it served BSI Bank a notice of intention to withdraw its status as a merchant bank in Singapore for serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the banks operations, and gross misconduct by some of the banks staff.

MAS gave the Public Prosecutor the names of six members of BSI Banks senior management and staff to evaluate whether they have committed criminal offenses.

They six are:

Hans Peter Brunner, former CEO

Raj Sriram, former Deputy CEO

Kevin Michael Swampillai, Head of Wealth Management Services

Yak Yew Chee, former Senior Private Banker

Yeo Jiawei, former Wealth Planner, and

Seah Yew Foong Yvonne, former Senior Private Banker

Swampillai is currently suspended by the bank, MAS said. Yeo is in custody and facing criminal charges for various offenses.

BSI Bank had operated as a merchant bank in Singapore since November 2005.

Its a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSI SA, founded in Switzerland in 1873.

MAS said it is working closely with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the home regulator of BSI SA, to oversee an orderly closure of BSI Bank in Singapore.

In 2014, MAS inspected BSI and uncovered serious shortcomings in its due diligence checks on assets underlying the investment funds structured for the banks customers.

Another inspection in 2015 revealed multiple breaches of anti-money laundering regulations and a pervasive pattern of non-compliance, MAS said.

Swiss authorities have already approved the acquisition of the entire BSI Group by EFG International, a bank headquartered in Switzerland.

MAS said it will allow the transfer of BSIs assets and liabilities to the Singapore branch of EFG Bank AG.

The Monetary Authority of Singapores full statement of May 24, 2016 is here.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Hell be the keynote speaker at the FCPA Blog NYC Conference 2016.
Every year since since 2002, Reporters Without Borders has published the World Press Freedom Index.

The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists.

It doesnt rank the public policies or quality of journalism in the countries.

The degree of freedom available to journalists is determined by pooling the responses of experts to an 87-question survey.

The questions are about pluralism, media independence, media environment, self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

The questions are translated into 20 languages including English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian, and Korean.

Reporters Without Borders is based in Paris. Its also known as Reporters sans frontieres or RSF.

RSF is an independent NGO with consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organization of the Francophonie.

It has bureaus in ten cities, including Brussels, Washington, Berlin, Tunis, Rio de Janeiro, and Stockholm.

A team of in-house specialists, each assigned to a different geographical region, keeps a detailed tally of abuses and violence against journalists and media outlets, RSF said.

The researchers also rely on a network of correspondents in 130 countries.

Here are the top ten and bottom ten countries on the 2016 World Freedom Press Freedom Index, and some of the countries in between. Their rank on the Corruption Perceptions Index is in parentheses.

1 Finland (2)

2 Netherlands (5)

3 Norway (5)

4 Denmark (1)

5 New Zealand (4)

6 Costa Rica (40)

7 Switzerland (7)

8 Sweden (3)

9 Ireland (18)

10 Jamaica (69)

18 Canada (9)

38 United Kingdom (10)

41 United States (16)

70 South Korea (37)

95 Kenya (139)

104 Brazil (76)

130 Indonesia (88)

139 Venezuela (158)

146 Malaysia (54)

148 Russia (119)

149 Mexico (95)

154 Singapore (8)

171 Cuba (56)

172 Djibouti (99)

173 Laos (139)

174 Sudan (165)

175 Vietnam (112)

176 China (83)

177 Syria (154)

178 Turkmenistan (154)

179 North Korea (167)

180 Eritrea (154)

The full 2016 World Freedom Press Freedom Index is here.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Hell be the keynote speaker at the FCPA Blog NYC Conference 2016.
Brooklyn Beckham wants to move to America to be with Chloe Grace Moretz.

Brooklyn Beckham and Chloe Grace Moretz

The aspiring photographer is smitten with the 19-year-old actress and is keen to enrol in college in Los Angeles - where he lived with his famous family for six years from 2007 - in order to be closer to his girlfriend.

A source said: "Brooklyn says he's dead set on moving back to California. He wants to study acting and photography out there and, of course, be closer to Chloe."

But Brooklyn's mother, fashion designer Victoria Beckham - who also has sons Romeo, 13, and Cruz, 10, and daughter Harper, four, with husband David Beckham - is not so keen on his plan and would prefer him to study closer to the family in the UK.

The source added to heat magazine: "Victoria is worried. This is the first time Victoria is being replaced in her son's affections, but she understands it's part of growing up and knows it's not Chloe's fault.

"She's also been trying to persuade Brooklyn to go to university in the UK, but Brooklyn's not hearing her. He says he's already decided."

Chloe and Brooklyn first met at a SoulCycle class in 2014 but went public with their romance recently because all of the speculation surrounding them was having a damaging effect.

Chloe said previously: "Well, we've been off and on together for a couple of years now, and we just kind of made it official. We were always running from people taking pictures of us. And we were like, 'You know what? It's affecting our relationship.'

"We weren't able to go to the restaurants we wanted to go to or just go to a movie. And so we thought, 'You know what? If we're more upfront about it and we break down the iron curtain and we just let them take our photo, they're not going to care.'"
A judge has upheld Hulk Hogan's $140 million trial win over Gawker.

Hulk Hogan

The 62-year-old wrestler won $140 million from the media website in March - $115 million in compensatory damages and $25 million more in punitive damages - after they published a 2006 sex tape of him and his friend Bubba The Love Sponge's then-wife Heather Clem in 2012.

Gawker's attorney Seth Berlin ordered the judge to reduce the jury verdict, saying that the jury's damages determination would be "one of the largest in Florida's history and grossly excessive compared to the conduct at issue".

But Hulk's lawyer Shane Vogt claimed the $25 million part of the damages was "low", but also showed "proof" that the judge was not bankrupting Gawker.

He added: "[This] is a first-impression case. You can throw all those other cases out the window.

"For the first time, the jury has put a value on privacy. This is not like the tobacco cases. We live in a world where privacy is much more important. Everyone has a cellphone camera. There are drones out there."

There was further drama surrounding the case following claims billionaire Peter Thiel has been providing Hulk with financial backing.

Last month, Gawker - who had been ordered to pay the hefty sum after a court found they invaded the professional wrestler's privacy by publishing the video online - appealed the jury's decision to award Hulk the $140 million.

The website asked for a judge to reconsider the decision and requests they pay no more than $1.875 million to Hulk, whose real name is Terry Bollea.

In court papers filed this week, Gregg Thomas, the company's lawyer said: "There is substantial evidence that, in reaching its verdict as to both liability and damages, the jury was guided by passion and prejudice, rather than the pertinent facts and the law.

"The jury's award is 12 times the largest compensatory damages award in American history arising from a media publication that has survived post-trial motions and appeals."

Hulk's lawyer David Houston said: "Gawker has made no secret of the fact that they were planning to file a motion for a new trial and an appeal based on arguments that are meaningless to the case at hand. We emerged victorious once and we plan to do so again.

"Of note, it is apparent Gawker is unable to accept responsibility for their actions or demonstrate any intention of correcting their behaviour."

Gawker are appealing the verdict.
Kelly Osbourne has warned her father's alleged mistress not to "f**k" with her family.

Kelly Osbourne

The former 'Fashion Police' star tweeted the mobile number of Michelle Pugh, who she believes was sleeping with her father Ozzy Osbourne behind her mother Sharon's back and Kelly insisted it was her way of sending a message to the hairdresser.

She added to the New York Post's Page Six: "Don't f**k with my family, don't f**k with my momma, and don't f**k with me."

Michelle's number has been disconnected after Kelly tweeted: "Anyone looking for cheap chunky LOW-lights a blow out and a blowjob call *********** (sic)"

Meanwhile, Ozzy, 67, had allegedly been sleeping with his hairdresser for some time and Sharon even discovered he had been "supporting" the woman.

A source previously revealed: "Sharon found out about the affair by searching through Ozzy's emails. She was upset that he was supporting this woman!"

After she found out about her spouse's alleged infidelity, Kelly and Sharon bombarded Michelle's place of work, believed to be the posh Meche Salon in Beverly Hills, with phone calls and subsequently had her fired.

The insider explained: "She and [daughter] Kelly both called the salon repeatedly for about two weeks before the news broke, trying to get in touch with Michelle. They were really angry. Sharon is the reason Michelle was let go."

Sharon confirmed she'd split from the 'Paranoid' hitmaker, whom she married in 1982, on her chat show 'The Talk' earlier this month as she thanked fans for their support.
Corinna McFarlane has returned to the director's chair with her new film The Silent Storm, which is her second movie but her first live-action feature.

Corinna McFarlane

The movie sees the filmmaker team up with Andrea Riseborough, Damian Lewis, and Ross Anderson to deliver a strong feminist story that explores themes of judgement and how women have been held back by religion.

We caught up with the filmmaker to chat the new film, the strong themes that she was keen to explore, and the challenges that she faced to get this film off the ground and made.

- The Silent Storm has been released in UK cinemas today, so can you tell me a bit about the film?

The Silent Storm is dark tempestuous romance that is set on the Western isles of Scotland during the fifties. The film explores the clash of nature and the feminine with patriarchal religion; which is all played out in this marriage between a protestant minister and a woman who washes up on the shore from nowhere. This young woman is seen by the fishwives as an omen from God to be the minister's wife. They are them married. However, it is a very strange marriage as they represent different things.

An orphan boy is delivered to the minister's house as part of a rehabilitation scheme. And then there were three. He really represents the more modern man, the enlightened man and he sees her for who she is. The drama unfolds around this triangle.

- The movie sees you in the director's chair and you've penned the screenplay, so where did this project start for you? And what inspired the idea for the story?

My dad was orphaned as a boy in the Highlands during the war. About five years ago he had a stroke - luckily he recovered - but I was faced with his mortality. I didn't know my ancestry. At that time, I had made a film called Three Miles North of Molkom, which had been in the cinema and was really well received critically, but it was difficult in the climate of commercial male-orientated film. As a result, people were not knocking down my door. After my dad survived, I decided that I was going to set out on a mission; I converted an old Land Rover so I could sleep in it, sold everything that I had and moved to Scotland for year.

I basically drove around the Highlands and discovered the poetry of the people, the landscape and I talked to a lot of people who could remember the oppressive power of the church and how women were prevented from going to the funerals of their husbands by the minister. It was really full on stuff and is still things that are going on in... two thirds of women around the world are still under the thumb of brutality in the name of some god somewhere. The film came about through this journey. It is inspired by my ancestry and my journey but it is a fiction.

I came back to London and I showed it to Nicky Bentham. She had just had her first child and she was worried that she would not be able to get back into the industry. She had applied for a mentorship scheme - called Guiding Lights - to try and get back into the business and was fortunate enough to be selected. She wanted to be mentored by Barbara Broccoli but she was not part of the scheme. She wrote to her personally and, some months later, Barbara replied. So Nicky and Barbara had this relationship and mentor and mentee, which had been going on while I was away.

When I got back, Nicky loved the script and we did a bit of work on it. We started to piece it together ourselves and started knocking on people's doors; it took two years to finance it. After a year of that journey, Nicky felt that her relationship with was such that she felt it was ok to put it to her. As a mentee, you can't really say 'give me your money,' that wasn't the deal. She waited until she felt that the project was in good shape and we had had a lot of good feedback. Then Barbara, who is this powerhouse woman, agreed to read it. She is so busy - she was ramping up for the last Bond film - months passed and we thought that there was no chance because she was too busy. The night before shooting on the last Bond film started, she rang Nicky and told her that she loved and wanted us to put her name to it. As a consequence, we went back to all of the people - all of the silver-haired and middle-aged financiers - we had been talking to and, when Barbra gave us the stamp of approval, they all started coming back to the table.

We pieced the film together without any support from the BFI, which is horrific because they should be supporting... both Nicky and I have made feature films that have been made in the cinema and this was a very worth project. But they didn't want to touch it; as usual, they tend to support very commercial, mainstream, male-orientated stuff. We did it all on our own and it has been a really long journey that has been riddled with obstacles. But we are here and the film is out today.

- Can you talk a bit about your writing process? Do you start with character and them plot? Or plot than character?

For me, it came complete. I was reading a lot of Celtic myths. I was interesting in a strong and simple storyline and so I was looking archetypes in our society. I was reading a lot and I was beginning to have a sense that I wanted to make a modern fable. One night, it just came to me, the beginning, the middle and the end and the three characters.

I got around the basic premise and then went on lots of walks in nature and had lots of talks with real people who had lived through similar periods that I was exploring. Then I wrote. That was really how it worked for me; it is an academic process and I start with study really.

- And much did the story and characters change from the initial idea that you had to the film that we see on screen? Or did it remain the same all the way through?

It remained pretty similar all the way through. Working with the actors brought it to life really. The core, the theme, the protagonist is this woman. There is a very big theme of judgement in this film. This woman comes from nowhere and no one knew who she is and they put on her - as often happens to women - their idea of who she was. When she wasn't what they said she was, she was punished for it; which often happens with women. You are judged before you have even had a chance to say 'this isn't who I am' and then when you are not that, you are criticised. In a way, it was very solid from the beginning and it remained that way. They are very carved out, very polar characters. They are architypes and it is meant to be a fairy tale, of sorts.

- Andrea Riseborough takes on the central role Aislin, who is a very strong female character. So what were you looking for when you were casting this role?

I was looking for a woman who had a mystery about her and everywoman, in fact. When I was trying to finance the movie with Nicky; we had the budget three times in two years. But every time we got to closing the deal, they would say that they wanted a young actress who was an eighteen or nineteen year old girl. And I was like 'what are you talking about? She has got to be a woman. She is supposed to have lived and seen the world. She need to have this wisdom. This movie is not about a teenage girl.'

I love Andrea as an actress I think that she is phenomenal, she is incredibly enigmatic, she is very powerful and very subtle. I knew that I wanted her, but it was a fight to persuade people... once Barbra got involved, it was a no-brainer and she was like 'of course it is Andrea Riseborough, she is one of the best young actresses.' She was like 'fuck them, stick with your vision and don't compromise.' So we did. I think that she is phenomenal. The movie does rest on her shoulders and he is the gem and the heart of it. Her performance carries it and she is the best think in it, I think.

- Can you talk a bit about getting Damian Lewis and Ross Anderson on board?

Damian Lewis was very big in Homeland when we were putting this together and I wanted him. However, we were told immediately that he was in Homeland and that he categorically was unavailable for the next two or three years. We were devastated and started looking around; we did still submit the script to him and his agents. After some months, by then we had attached Andrea, we got this random phone call saying that Damian had read the script and that there was a four-week break in the Homeland schedule. However, they were not our shooting dates. So we moved heaven and earth for him to be able to be in the film - we changed all the dates basically. He flew in from shooting Homeland and flew out.

For Ross Anderson's role, we scoured Scotland because we were looking for a Scottish unknown actor. Again, when we were piecing together the finances, they wanted us to cast someone from Hollywood. Ross is a phenomenal Scottish actor and I cried in his audition. It was the first of the two or three hundred people that we saw and I was in tears within moments of him delivering some of the lines. He read with Damian and I knew that he was able to stand up to one of the best actors. There we had the three.

- How did you find working with them? Damian and Andrea are hugely experienced but Ross less so.

It was fantastic because they were hugely professional. I come from the theatre and this is quite a theatrical piece - intentionally so. They really responded to the material. It is an actor's piece and it is a three-hander. We were on the same page and they were really up for doing an independent small film, and they really loved the feminist themes; Damian is a feminist too. We were all on the same page and we really enjoyed working together.

Because it was shot on the Isle of Mull, which is one of the most fantastic places in the UK, they really responded to living on location and in such a remote place; the nearest pub was an hour away. We were really immersed in it. It was a very rich process, similar to my theatre experience with actors.

- The setting of the film is beautiful and you shot on the Isle of Mull. What drew you to that location? What were the challenges of shooting up there?

When it was writing the film, I knew that because girls are not trusted with these sorts of sums of money in the film business, I thought I would find all of the locations; I wanted to deliver a full package of a script and all of the locations. This was quite an ambitious thing because I needed very specific things very close together. Some months were passing and I was driving around and getting exasperated. I was going around various islands and someone recommended Mull.

It was meant to be good weather but the wind was blowing at ninety miles per hour and it was pouring with rain. The tourist office recommended that I didn't drive at all but I was determined. So I started driving and I was heading towards this bay, which is on the Gulf Stream and had these Jurassic cliffs. I was driving towards it, the weather was so bad, there was no visibility and I thought 'I am going to die down here. No one knows that I am here.' I did a three point turn to leave and this giant oak tree crashed down in front of me. I was screaming, got out the car and ran down the hill to this door of this nearby house and banged on the door. This woman opened the door and, as I stepped inside, it was my film.

I was inspired by an artist called Hammershi and it was exactly like the paintings that I had been researching as part of my mood board. I ended up staying there for four days. The woman of the house, her mother had just died, it has been her mother's house and she had run it as an artist's retreat. After she had died, they didn't know what to do with the house. I said that I was looking for a dilapidated jetty, a cave that looked like the inside of the belly of a whale and a fallen tree with the roots still showing. She was like 'funny you should say that, but we have the jetty just in the bay at the foot of the house and we have got the nun's cave where the Iona nuns hid from the Vikings in the 12th century. We also have the fallen tree where mama use to take us to listen to the fairies. It felt incredibly fated.

I came back with all of the locations and the script and then I had to persuade that it was the best idea. Nicky came with me to check it out, and was like 'you are right, this is a no-brainer.' We took seventy crew. The place was just phenomenal. I was inspired by The Piano by Jane Campion, which is set in New Zealand, and Scotland really does compare cinematically. Once they had seen the quality of the landscape and the proximity of all the things we needed to each other - which is unusual - it became obvious this this was the only place to make this film. It was fantastic, the Scottish are great, Mull was fantastic and we had the time of our lives making it.

- How fundamental to the story do you feel the locations were?

It was fundamental. The film is about the feminine in nature and so we needed something really stunning to cinematically represent the beauty of mother nature. Aislin, the central character, is a magical, slightly witchy herbalist who, when she is isolated by the community and vilified, finds solace in nature and nature is a healer. That theme is really important and the place had to be magical and it is a healing place. Hopefully, that is something that translates onto the screen.

- The movie tackles some interesting and controversial themes of feminism, religion, and judgement, so how have you found audiences responses to those themes?

First of all, what has really been a shock is that no one in the press - except a piece that came out today in the Daily Mirror - has talked about the themes. Even in the criticisms that I have received, which have been many, no one has discussed the strong feminist undercurrent and no one has discussed the fundamentalist theme, which is all over the world. And nobody has gone near the fact that the church and religion crushes women and has so for two thousand years; nobody is talking about the fact that this film is all about that.

In the film, they eat nature to find their own nature - they eat these hallucinogenic mushrooms. In the press there has been this whole thing about how Psilocybin is a healer and they are discovering that it can help with mental health issues - no one has touched on the fact that this film explores that and the power of nature. I have found it very difficult and upsetting that no one has been brave enough to start this conversation. That is why I made the film.

I made the film because there are not enough film being made that shine a light on our problems and on the fact that women are still being crushed by institutionalised religion all over the world. Everyone always bangs on about Islam but it is no just Islam, it is everywhere. No one wants to talk about it. You make a beautiful film - it is still fiction and it is still a story, but still no one wants to talk about it. We have had some great responses and some four-star reviews in The Times, Empire, and the Daily Mirror and then a wave of negativity. I wonder if the themes are just so uncomfortable that people don't want to talk about them.

I am the filmmaker so I am going to be passionate about how I feel about it. People are entitled to not like the work. Whether the film is good or bad or well received or not, if the film is about apartheid, people tend to talk about it in the press and it tends to be a conversation starter. That is what I wanted and there hasn't been enough of it - there hasn't been any. It is the first time that I am talking about it to you, to be completely honest.

- The Silent Storm is your second feature but your first live-action film. So how have you found the whole experience? And how did you find the leap from documentary to fiction?

Because I always wanted to be a film director, my whole career has been geared up towards directing drama. My documentary was very... I set out to make a documentary that was as close as possible to a drama. It is episodic, it is not fly-on-the-wall, and structurally, many people thought that it was a mockumentary and that they were actors pretending. I was interested in the line between drama and documentary anyway.

Because I wrote it as well, this felt very natural, which was helped by my background in theatre. The surprise - as ever - in this industry as a woman, it doesn't matter what you have done, you will always have to go back to the bottom and start again. I did have to go all the way back being completely broke, on my own, in the middle of nowhere to... it has taken six years to get it to the cinema. The transition was totally natural for me and was part of my whole career plan since I was seven (laughs).

- You have talked about how tricky it was to get this film made and we are always hearing about how hard it is to get films make in the UK. Similarly, there's a lot of talk about the lack of opportunities for female directors within the film industry. How much do you think that is true? And how much is that something that you have personally experienced?

It is horrific. It is definitely 100% true. The industry is intrinsically misogynistic, there's no two ways about it. At every level, there is a patronising tone and we have had to really fight to find champions who took us seriously. On our film, Nicky Bentham the producer was pregnant - she has had two children in the process of this film being made - and we would walk into meetings where there would be comments about her being pregnant and comments about me being little; I am only 5ft 2inches. Predominately, men don't seem to trust women with money; this is the key. They might like your ideas but, when push comes to shove, there is this institutionalised invisible hand behind everything that is like a boy's club that implies girls can't be trusted with money. This was a big amount of money - small still in film terms - but still a chunk.

There was no support from the institutions and we would get comments like 'it is all a bit heavy and these films don't garner audiences.' I was saying that it is a women's film and the responses were 'yes, but people don't want to see that stuff.' It was quite blatant and it was brutal. There were moments where it was infuriating. Then getting amazing champions, not just women like Barbra, but her brother Michael and a few other key players who didn't give a toss about this ludicrous sexism. They realised how far we had come and they wanted to support us because it is very unusual to have a female director and producer team in a female-led film. It is true that in this country... UK directors have put out this fantastic paper recently that lays out this institutionalised sexism, which is very alive.

- What do you think now needs to be done to help eradicate this?

In the first instance, the BFI need to commit to supporting 50% female directed projects and I think that production companies should also make these pledges because it is just a joke. I also think that the government needs to get involved and there needs to be a bigger conversation. And it is not just women but anybody that isn't... it is rammed down our throat this superhero ideology this violence, exploitation, and murder. We are constantly presented this paradigm of what cinema should be to be successful. It is rammed down our throat from Hollywood.

We really need to stand up for our own stories like France does for its artists and filmmakers; they have much more pride in their work. Then we need to diversify across the board because it is nuts. It is not just women, anyone with a story that is not Bridget Jones of Superman, is screwed because no one wants to finance them. It is the financiers that need to be taken to account and they are all silver-haired middle-aged blokes. It is a boy's club and this is what we are up against. It has to happen from a really high level and from the government really.

- Finally, what's next for you?

I am working on a screwball comedy. Another thing about being a female director is that you tend to get pigeonholed into doing children's stuff of period dramas. A director such as Danny Boyle - to name a perfect example - he always gets to do what he wants. I want to carve out a career that is diverse and I shouldn't just be doing teen rom-coms (laughs).

The Silent Storm is out now.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

find me on and follow me on
Paul McCartney has today (May 25) announced a six-part documentary series in virtual reality, filmed in his home studios where he'll be discussing some of his most iconic songs to-date.

Credit: MPL Communications Ltd.

The PURE McCartney episodes will chronicle 'Dance Tonight', 'Coming Up', 'My Valentine', 'Mull of Kintyre' and 'Early Days', released episodically beginning today and continuing through to the PURE McCartney album release on June 10.

Director for PURE McCartney VR, Tony Kaye comments: "It is an honour to be part of such a tremendously talented team of artists, tasked with documenting the thinking of this great man, in order to bring his fans a new means of expericing some of his greatest songs.

"His musical genius is now on display for the world in an entirely new light."

Credit: MPL Communications Ltd.

Cliff Plumer, president of Jaunt Studios added: "We used to see artists connect with their fans through album covers and liner notes but that personal expression, and deeper understanding of the music, has diminished over the years.

"With virtual reality, Paul McCartney is taking the most innovative step yet; he's connecting directly with his fans, to share his innermost thoughts and experiences, in an entirely new, personal and immersive way."

Building the series, the team behind it sought out the creative expertise of some incredible minds including award-winning Director, Tony Kaye; Producer and Soundscape Architect Geoff Emerick; and Executive Producers Cliff Plumer, Lucas Wilson and Doug Allenstein.

Credit: MPL Communications Ltd.

High quality cinematic VR combines with digitally remastered and spatially oriented ambisonic audio mixed in Dolby Atmos, to deliver the unique series.

The project also marks the first time an original Paul McCartney track has been remixed in Dolby Atmos.

Presented by VisitBritain and the GREAT Britain 'Home of Amazing Moments' #OMGB campaign, the PURE McCartney VR series has kicked off with the release of two episodes available now through the Jaunt VR App, available on iOS, Android, Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Desktop 360.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

find me on and follow me on
Britain's Duchess of Cornwall sampled pints of cider on day two of her visit to Northern Ireland.

Britain's Duchess of Cornwall

Camilla, 68, and her 67-year-old husband Prince Charles - who is the heir apparent to the throne - visited the Orchard County and enjoyed the tipple stored at the family-run Armagh Cider Company in Portadown, Armagh.

Proud owner Helen Troughton was thrilled to walk the royal couple around and added: "It is such a privilege to be recognised in that manner. We have always led the way in cider. We were the first people to make cider in Armagh. We now try to run tours and I suppose you could say this has probably been the most influential tour we have had."

And Camilla even showed she knew a thing or two about making cider.

Helen recalled to the Daily Mail newspaper: "Camilla said that Northern Ireland has the right climate and we have everything going for us, so therefore there is no reason why we should not be able to produce the goods."

Today (25.05.16) the pair are set to cross the border and pay an official visit to County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

They will make their way to the famous tweed makers Magees in the town of Letterkenny before Prince Charles goes to the Letterkenny Institute of Technology and Camilla visits a local school.

The royal couple - who wed in 2005 - will move on to the picturesque Glenveagh Castle and National Park later.

The couple's three day visit to Ireland follows their tour of Mullaghmore in Co Sligo where Prince Charles' great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA in 1979.

Speaking of the second official visit for the couple, a Clarence House spokesman said: "The visit will recognise the warm friendship that exists between both countries, promoting understanding of their respective heritage and celebrating the best that each has to offer."
We have to admit, we still havent gotten over Cara Delevingne's brows. And when we recently saw a host of beauty bloggers trying a surprising DIY remedyonion juiceto get thick, full, fabulous brows like her, the sceptic in us had to find out if this beauty hack actually works.

It sounds too easy to be true. Apparently, all you need to do is to apply a bit of onion juice and rub it into your brows every night to get them to grow thick. Except, if cutting onions can cause us to tear up so much, imagine what the juice directly over your eyes could do? Is it worth the pain? We asked Dr Apratim Goel, dermatologist and laser surgeon, Cutis Skin Studio, to tell us what she thinks of the idea.

I wouldnt personally recommend it to anyone but I wouldnt stop them either. In fact, I do have patients who have said they find good results after using this remedy but I would say there are better products or ingredients to use that wont cause inflammation or burning. Onionsespecially red onionscontain sulfur and other compounds as well as anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties that can increase hair growth. It was first used as a home remedy to treat bald patches on the scalp, and once people saw that it did show some results, they decided to use it for their brows too. You have to remember that the hair grows much faster on the scalp than it does on your brows, which is a very slow growth, she explains.

Well, if you can stand the potent smell and the burning, this just may be the way to get your brow game on. But, as with any home remedy, always check with your doctor before applying anything on your skin. Dont skip that step!
Designers Shantanu & Nikhil Mehra

Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra have had a busy few months. Theyve just opened two new stores, a menswear agship store in Kolkata and another in Mumbai. Meanwhile, their fall/winter 2016 showcase included a series of draped and tiered chiffon gowns that would make even Khaleesi from Game of Thrones feel powerful. The duo spoke with us about dressing Shilpa Shetty and expanding into menswear.

ON DRESSING SHILPA SHETTY

Nikhil Mehra: We designed Shilpa Shettys gown for an awards ceremony in 2007. This was right after she had won Big Brother Season 5 in the UK. All eyes were on her and she looked amazing in our emerald green gown. That was also the start of the shift in our brand from designing traditional lehengas and saris to focussing on modern occasionwear.



ON THE INDIAN WOMAN

Nikhil: The Indian bride changes every three years. Today, the girls decide what they want to wear and our clients are very forthcoming, very clear. Even styles are changing; for example, many of our lehengas have draped blouses because brides dont want dupattas.

Shantanu & Nikhil Fall/Winter 2016

ON THEIR HISTORIC INSPIRATION

Nikhil: I love old-school texturesanything vintage that makes me feel nostalgic. Being from Delhi, Ive grown up around old forts and they inspire me a lot.



ON EXPANDING THE BRAND

Shantanu Mehra: We are now looking at menswear a lot more. Its been a part of our DNA since we got the chance to dress Amitabh Bachchan for KBC2. Men are our biggest spenders, but somewhere down the line women have hogged the limelight.

Sketches from the Fall/Winter 2016 collection
Can the dengue virus be transmitted from a donor to the recipient through an organ transplant? A case report published by Delhi's Fortis Escorts hospital in the 'Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology' suggests it can happen.

According to the case report, the 29-year-old liver donor had developed high fever post-surgery last year and tests confirmed he had dengue. A few days later, the recipient developed similar symptoms and he too was tested positive for the dengue virus. Doctors conjecture the virus could have been transmitted only through the liver transplant.



The 40-year-old donor had been in the intensive care unit for over two weeks prior to surgery, ruling out the possibility that he could be bitten by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and infected someone else. Symptoms of infection begin to show four to seven days after a mosquito bite and typically last three to 10 days. "What surprised us more, however, was that dengue fever evolved in the recipient even though he was on multiple drugs for immune suppression," Dr Ajay Kumar, director, Fortis Escort Liver and Digestive Institute, told TOI.



Kumar added both the recipient and the donor were treated with supportive measures and discharged after their full recovery on the 9th and 18th day after the operation, respectively. The doctors did not feel the need to recommend a change in the policy that currently does not require potential donors to be tested for dengue, attributing this stand to the lack of data on transmission of dengue virus from donor to recipient. They said only three reports of transplantation-related transmission of dengue have been mentioned in medical literature, one each for the transplantation of bone marrow, kidney and liver. The Escorts case was only the second reported case of transmission of dengue infection from a donor to a recipient after a living-donor liver transplantation.



The doctors said that the transplant recipient presented dengue symptoms similar to those in the disease transmitted by a mosquito bite.



Dengue, considered by many experts to be the world's most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease, is caused by four serotypes.While type I and III are milder in nature and cause the classic dengue fever and fever without shock, respectively , type II and IV are deadlier and cause fever, bleeding and a drop in platelet count.



Researchers say severe dengue cases, dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome started showing up in India after 1988. " A reason for the increased incidence could be the presence of many strains of the virus," explained a virologist of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. "This means even people already infected become susceptible to re-infection as they are not immune to all the subtypes."

Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts
The country's food regulator has recommended to the health ministry that potassium bromate be removed from the list of permissible additives.

The move to drop the additive from the list comes after a study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) suggested presence of potassium bromate, which has been identified as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 84% of 38 com monly available pre-packaged breads and ready-to-eat pizzas.



"Potassium bromate is one of 11,000 food additives that are allowed in the food business.After careful consideration, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to remove potassium bromate from the list of permissible additives," FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said, adding that it would be banned after it is removed from the permissible additives list.



He said the notification removing the additive from the list would be issued by the health ministry which may take a week or two.



The food regulator is also poring over evidence to take a decision on the use of potassium iodate. CSE had also claimed that products tested by them had potassium iodate, which can affect thyroid function. CSE said potassium bromate typically increased dough strength, leading to higher rising and uniform finish to baked products, while potassium iodate is a flour treatment agent.



The environment and health NGO welcomed FSSAI's action. "CSE appreciates the authority's proactive move in deciding to examine the use of potassium iodate in bread-making," it said in a statement.



Health minister J P Nadda said he has asked FSSAI to examine the issue and fast-track its report and promised to take immediate action. "I have told FSSAI to take matter seriously and submit a report," he said.

Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts
Virat and Anushka with a delighted fan at the Bangalore International Airport on the weekend

On a night when Royal Challengers Bangalore were putting up a fight with Gujarat Lions to secure a place in the IPL finalsand Virat Kolhi got out for a rare duck at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, saying a quiet prayer was Anushka Sharma from the trailer launch of her new film, Sultan, in Mumbais Film City. The actor was keeping track of the match on her hand phone and was overjoyed when AB de Villiers stepped in and led RCB to victory. The couple who were on a break for three months started hanging out only in April this year.



Post their break-up, they first met in early-April at Hakkasan, Mumbai, for dinner, where they were accompanied by common friends, just days after Virat made a short note on Instagram about Anushka motivating him and bringing positivity to his life. Slowly they started hanging out after IPL matches. More recently, Anushka put in double shifts to wrap her work for Sultan and Phillauri and headed to Bangalore to catch up with Virat. They met at The Lantern in Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore on the weekend too. Close friends say theyre meant to be together.

Virat and Anushka leave from Hakkasan Mumbai after dining with friends in April

In an interview to NDTV, even Sunil Gavaskar praised Anushka. I have no idea about the current status of their relationship but she is a lovely girl and they looked absolutely terrific together, he said. She brought a lot of stability to his career at a time when he was just emerging as [the] linchpin of Indias batting.

Virat and Anushka stepped out as a couple at an awards gala in Mumbai in July 2015

The actor took a flight to Patiala this morning to tape for Phillauri but is expected to take the weekend off and head to Bangalore to watch the IPL final match on Sunday.

Photographs: Yogen Shah
Were social animals and we now have technology helping us be what were biologically designed to besocial. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc have become an intrinsic, indelible part of our lives. Our social circles have grown wider than ever before, and, because of social media, they tend to include complete strangers as well.



Young parents today eagerly post (or should I say boast?) about their childrens latest feats. Doing this with a select few isnt a problem. The issue arises when youre posting on social media, a platform that denies you full control of your information. Even what you delete could still have been saved somewhere in the world in the time that it was online. What if you post specific details about your child and it gets viewed by a paedophile who then uses the information to harm your child? Of course, there are risks to broadcasting personal details, Sadia Saeed Raval, founder and chief psychologist, Inner Space Counseling, warns, You need to choose what you post online wisely.



The thumb rule is never to share specifics. And when it comes to your children, share carefully and monitor the platforms on which you share information about them. An email may be a better idea than posting ona blog or on Facebook. If your children are older, ask for their permission before you post their pictures or information online. After all, youre creating their digital identity by posting about them.



Sure, there are some who genuinely use social media to keep in touch with friends and family. How do you know if youre one of them or one of the others?! Posting on social media has graduated to a different level altogether, Sadia says. I personally think its becoming more about exhibitionism, she says. Theres an element of reassurance and approval that each like brings you when you post something, and its leading to a kind of dependency thats unhealthy.



Sadia believes we should take a pause and question our motives before posting. Ask yourself if you are trying to project an image of your life thats not entirely true, she advises.



And dont forget to live in the real world instead of the virtual one!

Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts
During his trip to Switzerland last year, Shouvik Ghosh, a dog breeder, bought an eight-month-old male German shepherd for Rs 6 lakhs. Soon after, the dog's future puppies were booked for the next two years. Seeing the huge demand, he decided to add another male GSD to his collection, but last month's central government decision to ban import of foreign dogs came as a big blow for the likes of him. "The dog breeding industry will suffer heavily because of this decision. But, yes, it will force dog lovers and breeders to shift focus to Indian pure breeds, which have been neglected over the years," Shouvik told us.



What's it all about?

In April, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade  an organisation under the Union commerce and industry ministry  banned import of foreign dogs for breeding and commercial purposes. It, however, allowed imports for defence and police forces and for R&D organisations permitted by the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals. According to the directive, only pet dogs with a valid pet book and documents in the name of the importer can be imported.



While dog lovers and breeders are extremely critical about the Centre's decision, the move has been welcomed by animal rights activists and pet lovers.



52432155

Activists speak

Animal rights activists believe that most dog owners and breeders do not even follow the basic ethics when it comes to raising pets. They say while keeping expensive foreign dog breeds is more of a status symbol for many, instances of unscientific breeding are rampant too.



Nikunja Sharma, spokesperson for an animal rights organisation, says that the recent ban will help prevent animal cruelty in a big way. "Several dog breeds like Siberian huskies, Tibetan mastiffs, Alaskan malamutes and St Bernards are regularly imported into the country. Out of these, many belong to extremely cold climates and develop severe health issues while coping with Indian weather," she says.



Shatanu Banerjee, a dog lover who runs an NGO that takes care of the street dogs, feels the physical and psychological ordeal a foreign dog has to undergo in India is cruel. "Just like swimming pools are not an apt place to keep blue whales, India is not suitable for a Siberian husky or a St Bernard. Dogs are beautiful animals. It's our responsibility to look after them," he says.



What breeders say

Dog breeders, however, have a different take on the issue altogether. According to them, the gene pool available in India is not just limited but also of poor quality. Bringing high-quality foreign breeds from outside the country enriches the gene pool here.



"Foreign dogs born in India suffer from a number of diseases because of poor gene quality. For instance, Great Danes are quite prone to hip dysplasia in our country, whereas in the US, the disease has almost disappeared from the breed. Similarly, Indian pugs do not have a natural delivery, which also is a genetic disease," said Vinay Jaiswal, who owns 14 dogs, including four imported Labradors. He says the only way to counter these problems is to introduce new genes and the directive will prevent that. "Future generations of these dogs will suffer," he adds.



"Most dogs are imported by hobbyists and this ban will affect that," says S Raman, who's part of a club that maintains a registry of pure-bred dogs in India; he adds that importing exotic dog breeds is harmful only for a handful of dogs.



A view seconded by another dog breeder. "Just a handful of these dogs are Huskies or St Bernards. Most of other breeds, like Dobermans or Labradors, can live in the Indian climate. We need to import dogs to improve breed quality, just like it's done for cattle. On the flip side, people will now look for illegal ways to do it," says Karim Rahaman, a dog trainer and a breeder.



Rounak Saha, who has owned a Doberman for the last 13 years along with three other breeds, including another foreign one, has a similar view. "My experience says that most foreign breeds like Dobermans and Boxers do not have problems in the Indian climate. So, rather than banning import of all breeds, the government should categorise breeds and places where they need to be banned," he suggests.



Vet's take

Veterinarian Gautam Mukherjee supports both sides of the argument. He says that while many foreign breeds, which belong to extremely cold climates, do suffer a lot in our country, there are some pedigreed breeds that can easily survive here. Citing the example of an Alaskan malamute, he says, "Though owners keep them in air-conditioned rooms most of the time, the dogs are exposed to extreme heat when they go out for walks, causing them to develop various health issues. But a Labrador or a Great Dane may not face such problems," he says.



Foreign dogs that can survive in India

52432240 Labrador Pug Dachshund Pomeranian German shepherd Doberman Dalmatian Beagle Great Dane Rottweiler Boxer Some mastiffs Airedale Terrier Golden retriever Chesapeake Bay retriever American foxhound German shorthaired pointer Cairn terrier Chihuahua Whippet Jack Russell terrier Border collie Vizsla Dogo Argentino

Indian breeds

52432241

The ban is likely to increase the sale of pure Indian breeds like Rajapalayam, Chippiparai, Kanni and Combai, though many such breeds are already extinct due to years of negligence. Recently, the Indian Army deployed six Mudhol hounds  a native breed from north Karnataka  as sniffer dogs.







Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts
Over the past couple of years, more and more brands have begun to align themselves with social media influencers as a result of customers expressing increasing preference for 'authentic' opinion over and above the voice of the brand itself, according to Fashion and Beauty Monitor's recent report - The Rise of Influencers, in association with Econsultancy. The report assesses how brands are approaching influencer marketing and with what success.The alignment of brands with social media influencers represents a completely new way of working, and this report considers the key trends in working with influencers, the challenges marketers face, and the definition of an 'influencer'. The report also explores the role influencers play in the fashion and beauty industry.Fashion and Beauty Monitor claims it is the only digital resource which provides influencer, media, PR and brand contacts, news, events and industry intelligence - all in one convenient place.According to the report, a healthy majority of brands already have an influencer marketing programme underway.The report found that identifying the right influencer is a time-consuming and difficult process, with many currently managing this in-house.The report says that engagement with influencers is becoming more challenging as influencers have become savvier about who they can work with and what they can demand.It also says that relevance in terms of subject area is seen by a majority as the most important factor in choosing the right influencer, more so than reach.The report found that almost 60 per cent of fashion and beauty brands have an influencer marketing strategy in place, while a further 21 per cent plan to invest in it over the next 12 months.According to the report, 84 per cent of influencer research is carried out manually.The vast majority of marketers simply search social media platforms and forums when looking for influencers within their industry.But with 73 per cent saying that identifying the right influencer is the greatest challenge, and 59 per cent saying they find it to be a difficult and time-consuming task, processes clearly need to be ironed out.

With an increasing number of fashion and beauty brands realising the importance of influencers, naturally the competition is becoming tougher. And with so many brands vying for their services, influencers can afford to be picky.



This is reflected in the fact that 59 per cent of respondents say getting an influencer's attention and being able to engage them is an ongoing challenge.


The Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Rural & Maritime Development, and National Disaster Management, Hon. Joeli Cawaki is leading a delegation at the 52nd Asia and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) Session and Ministerial meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.



The meeting is being hosted by the Ministry of Trade of the Indonesian Government and will run from 23-26 May, 2016.



The Session was opened by the Hon. Minister of Trade for Indonesia, H.E. Thomas T. Lembong, who provided the inaugural address to more than 50 delegates from 18 countries represented at the Session.



In his opening address, H.E. Lembong stated that the strategic direction of the APCC should be to ensure that the coconut industry continues to portray the premium nature of the product. In this spirit, it must be marketed as a niche product for the high-end of the market and effort must be taken not to commoditize it as a bulk product.



The Ministers from the member countries deliberated on 4 key agenda items during the Ministerial Session:



(i) Expanding APCC from a Regional Organization to an International Inter Government Body;

(ii) International Market Facilitation for Coconut Products;

(iii) Establishment of International Centre of Excellence for Coconut; and

(iv) International Collaboration on Clinical Studies into the Nutrition and Health Benefits of Coconut Products.



All agenda items were debated thoroughly and endorsed by the Ministers. The APCC will work on these agenda items as part of the forthcoming calendar of activities.



Hon. Cawaki thanked the Indonesian government for hosting the Session and took the opportunity to relay the Fijian governments appreciation of Indonesias assistance in the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts following Tropical Cyclone Winston.



The Fijian delegation also presented an overview of Fijis coconut industry and highlighted the impact of TC Winston on the sector.



The monetary value of the loss in the coconut industry is estimated at $8 million. While efforts are underway to rehabilitate the industry, bringing the industry to full production may take 4-6 years, Hon Cawaki said.



Other challenges in Fijis coconut industry included the countrys distance from overseas markets, the distance between smaller islands within the country as well as lack of appropriate infrastructure especially on smaller islands.



Hon. Cawaki reiterated that Fiji needs to align more closely with big coconut producers in the Asia/Pacific Region because of their advanced technology and in-depth technical knowledge of the crop.



The Assistant Minister added that Fiji was actively considering fast-tracking some key issues such as; the formation of manageable units (Associations/Clusters), clearing of senile palms, planting and replanting of high-yielding varieties, crop and product diversification, developing local demand, improving preparedness to Climate Change and strengthening market access through Fijis bilateral relations.



At the Session, the Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Jitendra Singh was also appointed to the APCC Technical and Policy Advisory Group, which will provide technical and policy advice, coordinate the development of relevant projects and program proposals and facilitate identification of fund sources and generate funds to support APCC approved projects. There are six other members in the Group.



In addition, Dr. Paula Vivili of the Public Health Division of South Pacific Community was appointed as the Pacific Islands representative to the Scientific Advisory Group, which will be responsible for an international collaboration with multi-country and multi-ethnic approach on clinical studies into the nutrition and health benefits of coconut products.


Farmers of Nasolo were reminded of their roles in the development of the Bua Province in terms of dalo production.



This follows a 2-day training on Farm Management by the Ministry of Agriculture in Nasolo, Bua recently.



The Director of Land Resource Planning and Development of the Ministry, Nacanieli Waka during the training encouraged farmers to work together with the Ministry in achieving a standard result in the production of dalo.



The Ministry of Agriculture has programs that focus on the development of rural and maritime farmers in areas such as food security and increasing exports, Mr. Waka said.



Part of the Divisions role is enlightening farmers on Farm Management practices and the training we are conducting targets farmers and all areas of Governments production development.



The Ministry of Agriculture with the decrease in dalo production from Taveuni is selectively focusing on Bua to meet the demand.



Agricultural Development will be implemented in Bua and it is the hope of the Ministry that Bua will increase its production of dalo and yaqona.



Nasolo Villager Ilaitia Verenavanua said that he has been farming for the future of his family and his son.



The Farm Management training has taught me new things and has really motivated me to start farming as a business, he said.



Farmers of Nasolo Village have also formed a cluster group for dalo, a program by the Ministry of Agriculture in a bid to boost productivity.



Youth farmer Lepani Rabuli said the formation of the cluster group empowered him to plant more.



The training has enhanced my knowledge in dalo production and how we farmers play an important role in the economy, Rabuli said.


HON MINISTER SERUIRATU'S STATEMENT AT WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT ROUNDTABLE ON NATURAL DISASTERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - TURKEY





Fiji is giving enthusiastic support to the Vulnerable 20s Global Preparedness Partnership, given our recent experience dealing with a severe natural disaster in the form of Tropical Cyclone Winston.We had been satisfied with our own preparedness and response to the previous event - Cyclone Evan at the end of 2012  in which no Fijian lives were lost despite the widespread destruction it caused to homes and infrastructure. But we are the first to acknowledge that Cyclone Winston three months ago stretched our resources to breaking point. And while the effectiveness of Fijis overall response has been praised by our development partners, we realise that we need to do a lot better next time. And we need the support of the global community through this initiative to do so.Winstons crushing strength  a Category 5 event with winds of more than 300 kilometres an hour - made it the most powerful cyclone ever to make landfall in the southern hemisphere. Despite our best efforts, 44 Fijians were killed, 40,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, along with public buildings and infrastructure. And it has left us with a damage bill of 1.4 billion US dollars that will take many years to repair.We were extremely fortunate to have our own relief effort reinforced so quickly and effectively by our friends in the region and the rest of the world. And especially the hundreds of military personnel from Australia, New Zealand, France and Tonga  backed up by warships and aircraft  who were able to assist Fijian relief workers cope with the vast challenge Winston presented.We are extremely grateful to these nations and others  notably India, China, Korea and the UAE  that undertook airlifts of relief supplies or gave donations in cash or in kind. But the scale of this disaster has been a sobering lesson to us all of the inadequacy of our current preparedness and the acute need to upgrade our response to future events.Fiji is now going to the world appealing for access to the finance we need to rebuild our homes and infrastructure to a much higher standard to withstand such events. And we are revaluating our disaster preparedness for a new era in which the scientists tell us that we can expect stronger and more frequent cyclones because of climate change.Fiji urges the community of nations to embrace theV20s Global Preparedness Partnership to provide the funding we need to prepare for future disasters. The world must set aside enough resources to deal with the new frightening new era that is dawning on small and vulnerable nations because of extreme weather events and rising sea levels. And I am here to testify that if any example is required of the urgent need to implement this initiative, Fijis experience with Winston is it.
Priyanka Chopra, would soon return to India for a period of 40 days, and is all set to to shoot for advertising commercials in a stretch. It is reported that the actress has signed a mingblowing 100 Crores deal with close to 24 brands.

Yes, the amount is whopping and so are the ad campaigns. These 40 days in India would be very hectic for PeeCee as she has to cover quite a lot of commercials and photoshoots.

Mumbai Mirror, had reported that Priyanka Chopra has signed for 24 advertising campaigns and all of these would be shot in the span of her 40 days visit to India. The leading daily estimated that she would be raking in 100 Crores through these campaigns and big brands are shelling out huge amounts of money on the actress.

Hot Hotter Hottest! Richa Chadda's Maxim Pictures Can Make You Sweat

A leading fruit juice brand has offered a staggering 6 Crores as paycheck to advertise their drink, and several other brands are following suit. Priyanka Chopra, is cashing in on her success in Hollywood and brands are making good use of her stardom, which can be reached & recognized all across the country.

Red Hot Pictures! Shruti Haasan Braces The Cover Page Of GQ Magazine

The Baywatch star, had plans to come to India as a holiday for 40 days, and things suddenly turned into work as she started receiving offeres from several big brands. As the amount started going off the roof, PeeCee decided the holiday in India will be for some other time, and of course who would like to reject a 100 Crores deal in the span of 40 days? Nobody right!

Too Hot! Sunny Leone's Photoshoot For FHM Magazine Is Too Much To Handle!
Mammootty

Mammootty has been a prominent face in Tamil film industry as well. The actor debuted in Kollywood through the film Thalapathi and has had a dream run since then. He did the lead role in many hit films like Makkal Aatchi, Marumalarchi, Kandukondein Kandukondein, Anandam etc. His upcoming Tamil film directed by Ram has been titled us Peranbu.

Mohanlal

Mohanlal's first notable role in Tamil was in Iruvar directed by Mani Rathnam which fetched him huge laurels and appreciation. He has been a part of successful films like Unnaipol Oruvan, Jilla etc.

Jayaram

Jayaram did have a dream run in Kollywood in the 90's with him featuring in number of hit movies. Movies of Jayaram like Murai Maman, Purusha Lakshanam etc emerged as big hits. Of late, he has moved to supporting roles in Tamil films.

Rahman

Back in the 80's and early 90's, actor Rahman was a sensation in Kollywood. His debut feature film in Tamil was Nilave Malare which released in 1986. Sangamam, Anbulla Appa, Vasantha Ragam etc are his notable films in Tamil.

Prithviraj

Prithviraj debuted in Kollywood through the film Kanaa Kandein in which he features as the main antagonist. Mozhi which also had Jyothika in the lead role established him as a lead actor in Kollywood.

Narain

It has to be noted that Narain tasted a better success in Kollywood than in Mollywood. The actor had a dream start in Kollywood with the film Chithiram Pesuthedi. He later did the lead role in hit films like Anjaathey, which catapulted his fame

Dulquer Salmaan

Dulquer Salmaan made a successful entry to Tamil cinema through the film Vaayai moodi Pesavum which also had Nazriya Nazim in the lead role. The film emerged as a hit and established the actor in Kollywood. But, it was Mani Ratnam's OK Kanmani that boosted his fame and popularity in Tamil cinema.

Nivin Pauly

Nivin pauly debuted in Kollywood through the film Neram which was simultaneously made in Tamil and Malayalam. The film emerged as a hit in Kollywood. With Premam creating waves in Tamil Nadu, the actor went on to be hugely popular in Kollywood. The actor would be seen in a Tamil movie soon.
Recently, the Housefull 3 actors - Akshay Kumar, Lisa Haydon Riteish Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez were on Comedy Nights Bachao, to promote their movie. Since the movie is also a comedy film, the show was the perfect platform for the cast to promote. But looks like something went seriously wrong, when one of the comedians roasted the actor of the film!

According to Mid-Day reports, comedian Siddharth Jadhav called Lisa, a kangaroo since she comes from Australia. He had also allegedly passed a racist comment, calling her a 'black African'. This is when Akshay came forward to stop the comedian.

Check Out Housefull 3 Cast On Comedy Nights Bachao



Though Akshay intended to push turned into a shove and the comedian landed on the stage in full view of the audience. It was even said that 'Lisa and Jacqueline had already welled up by then and if Akshay had not intervened, at least one of them would have broken down.'

It was also said that Akshay was unfair fun of a person (Lisa) who didn't even know the language well. When the situation went out of control, Akshay apparently went through the script and suggested a few changes.

Now, Adaa Khan and Siddharth Jadhav have denied the rumours. Jadhav was quoted by Bollywoodlife as saying, "The news report is totally wrong. No one made hurtful comments at Lisa. We were having a lot of fun. I taught her words in Marathi. It is fake news."

Adaa Khan too denied the reports and said, "No racist comments were made on Lisa or anyone. I don't remember anyone uttering the word, African. It was a prank. All is well."

Well, getting roasted is not everyone's cup of tea. We just hope the writers of CNB understands this....
Chinese brokerages preparing to list this year are finding it hard to gain traction with investors, in contrast to some of their rivals in the first half of last year when Chinese stock markets were caught up in a frenzy of buying.

As a result, equity capital bankers contacted by FinanceAsia believe they will not see light this quarter.

Bankers are expecting an uphill struggle for some of the equity offerings planned, including those by Everbright Securities, Orient Securities, and China Merchants Securities, as most of these companies are expected to report lower earnings this year due to reduced brokerage fees and commissions after a sizzling 2015 performance.

The profit of Everbright Securities, for example, more than tripled to Rmb7.6 billion ($1.2 billion) last year to more than the combined profit of the previous five years, thanks mainly to a substantial increase in brokerage fees.

At 282% year-on-year, equity sales and trading reported the fastest earnings growth among all its business divisions, according to Everbright Securitiess annual report.

Such earnings growth was largely the result of a rapid boom in margin lending during Chinas big stock market rally at the beginning of last year, when the Shanghai Composite Index more than doubled in just seven months.

At that time Chinas outstanding margin financing reached a record high of Rmb2.2 trillion as investors borrowed money to invest in the country's red-hot stock markets, according to data from the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

But that boom has fizzled out since July as investors cut back on the debt used to invest in equities, leading to a plunge in margin financing. Chinas total margin financing balance stood at Rmb834 billion on Tuesday, down more than 60% from the peak level last year.

In turn, that has weighed on Chinese brokerage earnings. For instance, China Merchants Securities said its net profit fell by 62% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, while Orient Securities's slumped by 78%.

Falling profitability means these companies will have to resort to lower valuation for their H-share offerings, resulting in reduced offering size and proceeds.

China Merchants Securities is expected to cut the size of its H-share offering by as much as 50% to $2.5 billion, according to bankers familiar with the situation, while the other two brokerages are also expected to reduce the offering size of their upcoming H-share offerings.

Fading demand

Apart from declining profitability, one factor deal advisors will have to evaluate is how much demand is left for Chinese brokerages after last year's series of billion-dollar equity fundraisings from the sector.

In the three-month period between April and June last year, six mainland brokerages raised a whopping $19.4 billion from either initial public offerings or private share placements, capitalising on the domestic stock market rally to raise capital at a decent pricing level.

At that time, all three Hong Kong-listed brokerages were able to execute billion-dollar private placements and raised funds that were more than double the size of their respective IPOs.

Haitong Securities was the largest fundraiser with a $4.2 billion private placement, while Citic Securities and Galaxy Securities raised another $3.5 billion and $3.1 billion, respectively. In the same period, the IPOs of HTSC, GF Securities, and Guolian Securities soaked up another $9.5 billion.

All six securities houses have seen their share price fall below the level set in their equity raises, implying that a large portion of liquidity might be locked up with existing shareholders unless they are willing to sell at a loss.

The willingness to invest in new mainland brokerage IPOs is limited because of the weak performance of their listed peers, one Hong Kong-based ECM banker told FinanceAsia. As a result many of them are considering selling at a big discount to their A-shares as well as their Hong Kong-listed peers.

ECM bankers said Everbright Securities, Orient Securities, and China Merchant Securities had aimed to complete their deals in the first half of 2016 but it now appears unlikely given the current market backdrop.
Private banks, already on high alert following the Panama Paper leaks, are tipped to review their client bases even more closely on news Tuesday that BSI Bank will close in Singapore. These events have reinforced the realisation that wealth managers must be far more aware of the source of customer funds, note industry observers.

Private banks are frantically going through their client lists in the region and looking for hidden risks, said a Singapore-based risk consultant. They are also being incredibly careful about who they onboard now as clients, given that potential revenues often do not outweigh rising compliance risks these days.

However, private banks are struggling to conduct the necessary due diligence because they have never made great efforts to do it before, he noted.

They used to view Hong Kong and Singapore as having a light regulatory touch, but not any longer, said consultants and bankers contacted by FinanceAsia. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, for example, has been pushing banks to verify their source of funds. The citys anti-money laundering (AML) law provides clear guidelines on conducting due diligence on customers with political exposure.

Indeed, what happened to BSI could happen to any firm, argues Velisarios Kattoulas, chief executive of Singapore-based risk assessment firm Poseidon Research. Any private bank in the region of any scale that's been in the region for more than 10 years has the potential to breach AML requirements, he said.

Many bankers have clients where they are not certain of their source of funds, Kattoulas added. They are trying hard to find out, but it is not an easy thing to do. Unless you get the necessary reps and warranties, bankers run the risk of being caught up in a money-laundering probe which is potentially career-ending.

The BSI closure came on the heels of the Panama Papers scandal, which saw a massive leak of data files revealing prominent businessmen and politicians who kept money  both legally and illegally obtained  offshore.

The leaks may prompt a re-assessment of AML and anti-terror financing, including customer due-diligence measures, said Steve Vickers, CEO of Steve Vickers and Associates, a specialist political & corporate risk consultancy.

"Financial institutions are liable to institute investigations and update procedures ... A raft of new regulatory measures is likely to follow," he said.

BSI's woes

BSI was ordered to withdraw its status as a merchant bank by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday because of serious breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules, poor management oversight of operations and gross misconduct by some of its staff. It was also fined S$13.3 million, and six of its current and former employees have been referred to the public prosecutor to evaluate whether they have committed criminal offences.

These sanctions have added to BSIs woes, even as the Swiss regulator Finma yesterday approved the firm's takeover by rival Swiss private bank EFG. Switzerlands Office of the Attorney General had already started criminal proceedings against BSI in connection with the money-laundering case against state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), to which it is believed to have client links.

Soon after MAS announced the BSI closure, the bank said Stefano Coduri had stepped down as group CEO and been replaced by Roberto Isolani, currently a member of the board. BSI also said it had been improving its risk and compliance culture, including by introducing a new chief risk officer and a new group legal counsel.

The bank added that it had taken note of comments by MAS and Finma in relation to past compliance gaps related to the 1MDB case and had co-operated fully with both Finma and MAS with regard to the investigations into 1MDB, arising from activities occurring between 2011 and April 2015.

The MASs sanctions for BSI come after the private bank changed hands twice in the past year, first being sold to Brazilian group BTG Pactual in a deal completed in September. BTG was then forced to sell it on  to EFG  amid allegations related to a corruption scandal in Brazil.
Phase 1 results demonstrate rapid and sustained suppression of hemolysis with single and multiple doses of RA101495

Ra Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of next-generation therapeutics for diseases of complement dysregulation, today announced the presentation of scientific data at the 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), June 9-12, 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"The data presented at EHA show that RA101495, our proprietary lead product candidate for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, is a potent inhibitor of C5-mediated hemolysis in this first-in-human study," said Jeffrey M. Johnston, MD, FACP, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Ra Pharma. "These data demonstrate a favorable safety and tolerability profile, and the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties support our strategy for developing RA101495 as a self-administered, subcutaneous option for patients suffering from PNH."

RA101495 is a synthetic macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of complement C5-mediated hemolysis. The molecule is currently in development for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), an acquired hematopoietic stem cell disease resulting in pathologic red blood cell lysis caused by unregulated activity of the membrane attack complex (MAC). RA101495 binds a unique site on the C5 protein to inhibit cleavage into C5a and C5b, thereby preventing red blood cell lysis by inhibiting the production and assembly of the MAC.

"We are highly encouraged by these Phase 1 data, which demonstrate a rapid and sustained effect on hemolysis, a favorable safety profile, predictable drug pharmacokinetics and low inter-subject variability," said Doug Treco, PhD, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Ra Pharma. "We remain committed to the development of this novel therapeutic as an alternative to the intravenously-administered monoclonal antibody therapy for PNH. The convenience and consistent pharmacokinetics among subjects should result in better control of disease compared to existing antibody therapies. We look forward to providing future updates as we move RA101495 into Phase 2 studies."

Summaries of the data presented by Ra Pharma at the conference are as follows:

Poster Presentation

Poster Title: A Phase 1 Single-ascending-dose Clinical Study of RA101495, A Subcutaneously Administered Synthetic Macrocyclic Peptide Inhibitor of Complement C5 for Treatment of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria

Date and Time: Saturday, June 11, 2016, 17:30-19:00 Central European Time

Location: Poster area (Hall H)

Abstract Number: P632

Session: Bone marrow failure syndromes incl. PNH Clinical

Summary: RA101495 is being developed for the treatment of PNH as a daily, self-administered subcutaneous (SC) treatment. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, four cohorts of healthy volunteers (N=22; 8 placebo and 14 RA101495-treated) were evaluated with ascending doses of RA101495 (0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, 0.2 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg) via SC injection to assess its safety, pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profile, and to identify doses that achieve =90% inhibition of hemolysis for greater than 24 hours. Subjects were monitored for 48 hours post-dosing in an in-clinic setting and for four weeks overall. After a single dose, RA101495 exhibited rapid and sustained dose-dependent inhibition of hemolysis, with a maximum PD effect approximately three hours after dosing and up to >90% suppression of hemolysis maintained for at least 4 days. These results, combined with in silico modeling studies, suggest that daily dosing with RA101495 at 0.2 mg/kg should result in full suppression of complement activity and complete inhibition of hemolysis. RA101495 was well-tolerated, with no clinically significant changes observed in vital signs, clinical laboratory parameters, physical exams or EKGs. Mild and reversible injection site erythema (ISE) was only observed at the highest dose level (0.4mg/kg). These findings support continued development of RA101495 in PNH.

E-Poster Presentation

E-Poster Title: A Phase 1 Multiple-dose Clinical Study of RA101495, A Subcutaneously Administered Synthetic Macrocyclic Peptide Inhibitor of Complement C5 for Treatment of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria

Date and Time: Friday, June 10, 2016, 9:30 Central European Time - Sunday, June 12, 2016, 11:00 Central European Time

Abstract Number: LB2249

Summary: This Phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-dose study in healthy volunteers was designed to evaluate the safety, PK and PD of multiple 0.2 mg/kg doses of RA101495 and to confirm the prediction that daily dosing can suppress =90% hemolysis as measured by an ex vivo RBC lysis assay. Four subjects received 0.2mg/kg of RA101495 by SC injection once daily for seven days and two subjects received placebo on the same schedule. Subjects were then monitored for eight days in-clinic and five weeks overall. Repeat dosing of RA101495 was found to be safe and well-tolerated. Inhibition of hemolysis was rapid and sustained at =95% across the dosing period in all subjects, and returned to pre-dose levels within two weeks following the final dose. The findings from this Phase 1 study confirm that daily dosing with RA101495 (0.2mg/kg) results in full suppression of complement activity and nearly complete inhibition of hemolysis, and warrant further development of RA101495 in a Phase 2 study.

About RA101495

Ra Pharma is developing RA101495 for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), and other debilitating conditions. The product is designed for convenient, subcutaneous self-administration. RA101495 is a synthetic, macrocyclic peptide discovered by Ra's Proprietary Extreme Diversity platform. The peptide binds complement C5 with subnanomolar affinity and allosterically inhibits its cleavage into C5a and C5b upon activation of the classical, alternative or lectin pathways. In vitro studies demonstrate that RA101495 also directly binds to C5b, disrupting the interaction between C5b and C6 and preventing assembly of the membrane attack complex (MAC). This activity defines a novel mechanism for the inhibition of C5 function. Repeat dosing in vivo demonstrated sustained and predictable inhibition of complement activity with an excellent safety profile.

About Ra Pharmaceuticals

Ra Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of next-generation therapeutics for diseases of complement dysregulation and for a variety of orphan indications. The Company utilizes small molecules and peptide approaches to address pathological targets in the complement cascade. Derived from its proprietary Extreme Diversity peptide chemistry platform, RA101495 is a macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of complement C5, and is currently in Phase 1 development for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). For more information, please visit: www.rapharma.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160610005077/en/

Contacts:

For Ra Pharmaceuticals:

Investors:

Argot Partners

Susan Kim, 212-600-1902

susan@argotpartners.com

or

Media:

Argot Partners

Eliza Schleifstein, 917-763-8106

eliza@argotpartners.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2016) - Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: FEX) has staked an additional 40,000 hectares of claims for a total of 84,809 hectares surrounding the recently announced DeBeers Canada Inc. ("DeBeers") / CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. ("CanAlaska") project in the northwestern part of the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan.

CanAlaska announced on May 18, 2016 that it had entered into an agreement with DeBeers Canada Inc. whereby DeBeers was granted a multi-stage option agreement which allows DeBeers to carry out a series of work programs to earn into the CanAlaska project by expending up to $20.4 million. To view CanAlaska's news release of that date, please visit the following link: http://www.CanAlaska.com/s/News.asp?ReportID=749539

For a current map depicting CanAlaska's and Fjordland's holdings visit the following link: http://www.fjordlandex.com/galleries/westa1.html Richard C. Atkinson, President and Chief Executive Officer comments that "If the circular magnetic anomalies observed in the area are kimberlite, Fjordland will be well positioned in a new Canadian kimberlite field"

Fjordland is currently planning phase 1 exploration program for its claims.

CanAlaska announced on February 18, 2016 that they had staked approximately 75 kimberlite targets in this region based on government airborne magnetic data. Fjordland announced on March 16, 2016 the initial acquisition, by staking, of eight claim groups.

Victor Tanaka, P.Geo., a Director of Fjordland is a non-independent qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the content of this news release.

About Fjordland Exploration Inc.

Fjordland Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company currently focused on diamond exploration. For further information visit Fjordland's website at www.fjordlandex.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Richard C. Atkinson"

Richard C. Atkinson, P.Eng.

President & CEO

For further information, please call:

FJORDLAND EXPLORATION INC.

Richard C. Atkinson, President and CEO

1-604-805-3232

info@fjordlandex.com

www.fjordlandex.com

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After being voted down by an FDA panel last month, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.'s (SRPT) Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy drug candidate Eteplirsen awaits the regulatory agency's final decision, which is set for May 26, 2016.



Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, or DMD in short, is a rare genetic muscle-wasting disease caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein necessary for muscle function. DMD usually affects boys, and its prevalence is roughly 1 in every 3,500 - 5,000 boys worldwide. Children affected by DMD lose their ability to walk and they will be confined to wheelchairs by late childhood.



Sarepta is seeking approval of Eteplirsen for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy amenable to exon 51 skipping.



Eteplirsen is designed to work by skipping exon 51 in the dystrophin gene to correct for specific genetic mutations and restore the gene's ability to make a functional, though shorter, form of the dystrophin protein. Approximately 13% of people with DMD are estimated to have a mutation targeted by Eteplirsen.



There is currently no approved therapy in the United States for DMD. However, there is one marketed drug in the European Union - PTC Therapeutics Inc.'s (PTCT) Translarna - which was given conditional approval by the European Medicines Agency in 2014 for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The annual cost of Translarna treatment per patient is about 400,000, according to reports.



PTC Therapeutics is also seeking approval of Translarna in the U.S. In February of this year, the FDA refused to accept the NDA for Translarna for review, stating that the application was not sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review.



Although the phase III trial results showed clinically meaningful benefits for Translarna-treated patients, the primary endpoint of change from baseline in the 6-minute walk test was not statistically significant.



Ever since the phase III results of Translarna were released in February of this year, experts have been wondering about the future of the drug in the EU. It remains to be seen when the conditional approval granted to Translarna by the EMA will be converted to a full approval.



BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) and Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG, which trades on the SIX Swiss Exchange, are the other companies that are involved in developing therapies for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.



BioMarin's DMD drug candidate Kyndrisa also works by the same mechanism as that of Sarepta's Eteplirsen by inducing the skipping of dystrophin exon 51. Kyndrisa was snubbed by the FDA early this year, and in its Complete Response Letter, issued on January 14, 2016, the regulatory agency had concluded that the standard of substantial evidence of effectiveness was not met by Kyndrisa.



Kyndrisa is under review in the European Union, and a regulatory decision is expected in the second half of 2016.



Santhera Pharmaceuticals' DMD drug candidate is known as Raxone (Idebenone). The company reported positive results from a phase III trial of Raxone in patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in May 2014. Preparations are underway to make regulatory filings for Raxone in DMD in the U.S. and EU.



For now, all eyes are on Sarepta and its DMD drug candidate Eteplirsen. Will Eteplirsen get the much need FDA approval or will it be sent back to the drawing board? Stay tuned for our next update...



SRPT closed Tuesday's trading at $18.44, up 5.49%. The stock has traded in a range of $8.00 to $41.97 in the last 1 year.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 24, 2016) - Property investor Jacob Frydman, whose career spans 30 years in value-added real estate investments, has joined the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) in their efforts to offer hundreds of underprivileged families in the New York metro area to take part in Passover Seder. Frydman believes that the centuries-old practice of giving to "the wheat fund," or Ma'ot Chitim, which exists to provide low-income families with matzah and other gifts during Passover, is an important responsibility for those who are able to help the less fortunate and feels honored to be able to participate in this special Mitzvah.

NCFJE is dedicated to providing fast, discreet, and dignified services to all sectors of the Jewish community. Since 1940, its many programs have been offering protection, food, and education to thousands around the nation. Chabad-Lubavitch, the Hasidic movement known for outreach to the community in the spirit of brotherly love, is the principal on which NCFJE was founded. Among the variety of educational and social services offered by the NCFJE, there are programs built around the holidays, including Passover, aimed at ensuring that the financially struggling Jewish families in the community are able to properly enjoy the essential holiday traditions and festivities.

The major Jewish spring festival of Passover is a time for spiritual reflection among families. The ritual meal is a centerpiece of the holiday, while a new garment for each year's holiday is the long-lived tradition. During this year's festival, through the generous giving of other donors like Jacob Frydman, the NCFJE is pleased to be able to deliver over 3000 pounds of shmurah matzah, 100 cases of wine, and 100 Macy's gift cards to the underserved families of the NYC community. While by partnering with local children's clothing stores, they were able to obtain clothing vouchers to include in the holiday packages. The organization has already helped over 600, mostly Russian, families around the New York City area by providing them with the special Passover packages of shmurah matzah, wine, grape juice, and clothing vouchers. Over the next few days, another 600 families will be gifted, while 30 families have already received their Macy's cards.

Frydman's philanthropy reflects his commitment to the Jewish community and the faith's ancient traditions. In addition to contributing to the NCFJE's Ma'ot Chitim Fund, he has also donated to the Toys for Hospitalized Children program and worked alongside the Released Time program, which allows Jewish children to leave school early one day a week to study Jewish traditions. These programs work together to strengthen the Jewish community now and for future generations.

Over his 30-year career in the property investment industry, Jacob Frydman made a positive and lasting impression along the East Coast. Through his various acquisitions and housing development projects, he has renovated over 5 million square feet of American property by building urban retail outlets, medical office buildings, financial center offices, and assisted living facilities. He often speaks at Columbia University and in the Master's Lecturer series at New York Law School, discussing the business and ethical elements of real estate managers to aspiring students. Frydman is an avid philanthropist, often donating much time and capital to organizations that require financial and emotional assistance. He cares greatly for his Jewish community within New York, and is a supporter of many other charitable committees, including The Chabad of Dutchess County and The Brem Foundation.

Jacob Frydman - Property Expert and Consultant: http://jacobfrydmannews.com

Jacob Frydman (@jacobfrydman) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacobfrydman

Jacob Frydman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobfrydman

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHS77IcaFwc

Contact Information:

JacobFrydmanNews.com

contact@jacobfrydmannews.com

www.JacobFrydmanNews.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Business mogul Donald J. Trump has been called the winner of Washington State's Republican primary on Tuesday evening. Trump, who now runs unopposed, landed 76 percent of the vote, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich - both of whom dropped out of the race weeks ago - netted roughly 10 percent apiece. Trump figures to acquire a majority of the delegates as he gets closer to the 1,237 needed to clinch his party's nomination. He entered the evening unofficially with 1,169 delegates. Next up for the Republicans are contests on June 7 in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Toyota Motor Corporation Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Tel: +81-3-3817-9926

Toyota City, Japan, May 25, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation, an automotive company aiming for safer, more efficient and convenient mobility, and Uber, a technology platform that is evolving the way the world moves, are announcing a partnership. The companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration, starting with trials, in the world of ridesharing in countries where ridesharing is expanding, taking various factors into account such as regulations, business conditions, and customer needs. As part of the partnership, Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership are making a strategic investment in Uber.Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving car usage trends in recent years, the development of mobility services in new areas, including ridesharing and car-sharing, has gathered pace on a global scale. Through this agreement on the trials, Toyota and Uber will accelerate further talks in aiming to establish new services and to offer new value to customers.As part of today's partnership, the companies will create new leasing options in which car purchasers can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers. The leasing period will be flexible and based on driver needs. This initiative builds on Uber's current Vehicle Solutions program."Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility. Through this collaboration with Uber, we would like to explore new ways of delivering secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers," said Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation and president of the Connected Company, one of Toyota Motor Corporation's recently created in-house companies."We're excited that Toyota, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, is making a strategic investment in Uber as part of a broader global partnership. Toyota vehicles are among the most popular cars on the Uber platform worldwide and we look forward to collaborating with Toyota in multiple ways going forward, starting with the expansion of our vehicle financing efforts," said Emil Michael, Chief Business Officer of Uber.Toyota and Uber will also explore collaboration in a variety of other areas, such as developing in-car apps that support Uber drivers, sharing knowledge and accelerating their respective research efforts, and establishing a special fleet program to sell Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber drivers.About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and Nuorkivi Consulting analysed the suitability of Finnish heat distribution centres for Chinese conditions. China, which is already the world's biggest user of district heating, currently uses traditional joint district heating centres. China could benefit from energy-efficient and better functioning district heating. Introduction of building-specific heat distribution centres would result in 10-20% savings in energy costs and reduction in CO2 emissions.

Building-specific heat distribution centres are not very well known in China. The World Bank implemented a pilot project on district heating in the Liaoning Province in China, where almost a hundred building-specific district heating centres were installed in ten sites.

The Chinese Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Development (MoHURD) requested Finland to analyse the results and draw up a handbook on building-specific district heating centres to support the heating reform currently being promoted by MoHURD. VTT and Nuorkivi Consulting took advantage of the results from the EUR 360-million project that the World Bank funded in 2014-2016.

China would benefit from energy-efficient and better functioning district heating

The use of building-specific heat distribution centres allows direct distribution of heat to buildings and building-specific adjustment of heating. The benefit is that the long delay between the joint distribution centre and separate houses is eliminated. Water flow is also reduced by 60-80%, which significantly reduces pumping expenses. In addition, the traditional method is prone to corrosion, because water rich in oxygen can enter the secondary pipeline after the joint distribution centre. These problems are eliminated and the service life of the system can be extended, because a primary network ending at a building-specific heat distribution centre is a closed system.

The buildings must be equipped with radiator-specific thermostatic valves in order to enable functioning of building-specific heat distribution and adjustable flow rate pumps in old buildings. The radiator can thus be adjusted according to heating requirements and the pump according to the need for water circulation.

Savings in investments and operating costs

In the pilot projects, it was observed that building-specific heat distribution centres produced major savings in energy consumption compared to the traditional Chinese district heating system based on joint distribution centres with 2 to 6 pipes and 30 to 40 houses connected to the network. The use of building-specific heat distribution centres saves investment costs on district heating networks, because only two pipes are needed instead of several. "We estimated that, depending on the method of implementation, 10-20% of energy can be saved," says Kari Sipila, Principal Scientist at VTT.

The change would also save coal and electricity, and reduce CO2 emissions.

When the heat distribution system is changed to a building-specific one, the investment costs increase 2.5-fold compared to those of joint distribution centres. Savings can however be achieved by optimising the network in such a way that the overall costs of the building-specific system can be even lower than when using a traditional construction model. As the operating costs of a building-specific system can be lower or at most the same as those of a traditional joint distribution centre, the life cycle costs of a building-specific system can be significantly lower. The investments made divided by the savings achieved annually, when calculated without interest, place the payback period at approx. 6.5 years, which may well vary from case to case.

On the basis of the results obtained, the World Bank is in the process of launching a continuation project in Hebei Province. "Our goal is that Finnish companies would be involved in the implementation of these projects. This is a great opportunity. We must have good technical competence and a competitive price level," Kari Sipila emphasizes.

The project was funded by Finnish Energy, Finpro Beautiful Beijing, the City of Turku, Alfa Laval Nordic Oy, Hogfors Valves Oy, Kolmeks Ltd, Enoro Oy, Oilon Oy, Vexve Oy, VTT, and Nuorkivi Consulting.

The results have been compiled into a publication that has also been published in Chinese. Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen handed over the report in China in March 2016. The Chinese ministry MoHURD distributes information on the project to such organisations as engineering offices and district heating companies in the area of Northern China.

Electronic publication: http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/technology/2016/T250.pdf

Further information: VTT Ltd Kari Sipila, Principal Scientist, project manager of the project Kari.sipila@vtt.fi, +358 40 044 8713

Media material: photo

A traditional Chinese joint heat distribution centre (above) and a Finnish building-specific heat distribution centre (below). Photo: VTT

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is the leading research and technology company in the Nordic countries. We use our research and knowledge to provide expert services for our domestic and international customers and partners, and for both private and public sectors. We use 4,000,000 hours of brainpower a year to develop new technological solutions. VTT in social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter @VTTFinland.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006777/en/

Contacts:

VTT:

Olli Ernvall, +358 20 722 6747

Senior Vice President, Communications

olli.ernvall@vtt.fi

www.vtt.fi




Investment in Irish market expands the company's global footprint

DUBLIN, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Sedgwick has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire OSG Group, the leading independent specialist outsource services provider in Ireland. OSG provides property and liability loss adjusting services, as well as third-party administration (TPA), motor and specialist claims, customer support and staffing services to a diverse range of clients in the Irish and overseas markets.

Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120813/CL56657LOGO

The purchase marks Sedgwick's first investment in Ireland and a milestone in the expansion of its global footprint. As part of the purchase agreement, OSG's team of more than 400 colleagues in eight locations across Ireland will join the international operations of Sedgwick and its subsidiary Vericlaim.

"Becoming part of the growing Sedgwick and Vericlaim family is a terrific opportunity for OSG's colleagues and customers alike," said Malcolm Hughes, CEO of OSG. "We will all benefit from their unparalleled depth of resources and knowledge. Sedgwick's investment in OSG demonstrates the confidence of an industry leader in our talented team and the strength of the financial services market in Ireland. Together, Sedgwick, Vericlaim and OSG will offer a broad array of best-in-class outsourced services to the global insurance market and to customers the world over."

"As a sophisticated insurance and financial services center for much of Europe, Ireland was a natural fit for the next stage of Sedgwick's growth beyond North America," said Sedgwick President and CEO Dave North. "OSG has been an esteemed member of our vrs Adjusters networkfor more than a decade, earning a stellar global reputation in both loss adjusting and claims administration. The leading-edge services they provide nicely complement the strategic solutions offered through our Sedgwick and Vericlaim brands.

"Joining forces with OSG enables us to meet the ever-changing needs of our international customers and to bring our caring countsSMphilosophy to new markets. With expanded capabilities and more resources around the world, we are better positioned than ever to be where customers need us when they need us most," North said.

The transaction is expected to close next month, subject to regulatory approvals.

About Sedgwick

Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., is a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk and benefits solutions. At Sedgwick, caring countsSM; the company takes care of people and organizations by delivering cost-effective claims, productivity, managed care, risk consulting and other services through the dedication and experAtise of more than 13,000 colleagues in some 275 offices located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Sedgwick facilitates financial and personal health and helps customers and consumers navigate complexity by designing and implementing customized programs based on proven practicAes and advanced technology that exceed expectations. For more, see www.sedgwick.com.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sedgwick-acquires-osg-group-300274198.html
ASKER, NORWAY (25 May 2016) - TGS announces the expansion of its multi-client library offshore Eastern Canada, with plans to acquire approximately 2,000 km of 3D seismic data, in partnership with PGS. The survey will be acquired utilizing the PGS GeoStreamer technology. Data acquisition will commence during the summer season 2016. Pre-processing of the initial GeoStreamer signal will be performed by PGS following which TGS will perform data processing with final data available to client in Q3 2017.



This new data will strengthen the existing portfolio of 3D datasets. Currently the library consist of over 112,000 km of modern 2D data and 9,172 km of 3D data, owned jointly with PGS, in addition to 83,700 km of TGS vintage data. A map of the survey can be found here (http://www.tgs.com/uploadedImages/CorporateWebsite/Content/Landing_Pages/North_America/ECC_2016.png).



"We are building upon our extensive knowledge derived from previous 3Ds and the multi-year 2D programs acquired in partnership with PGS. This project will provide valuable data to exploration companies to further de-risk their prospects," commented Kristian Johansen, CEO, TGS.



This project is supported by industry funding.



Company summary



TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) provides multi-client geoscience data to oil and gas Exploration and Production companies worldwide. In addition to extensive global geophysical and geological data libraries that include multi-client seismic data, magnetic and gravity data, digital well logs, production data and directional surveys, TGS also offers advanced processing and imaging services, interpretation products, and data integration solutions.



For more information visit TGS online at www.tgs.com.



Forward-looking statements and contact information



All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include TGS' reliance on a cyclical industry and principle customers, TGS' ability to continue to expand markets for licensing of data, and TGS' ability to acquire and process data products at costs commensurate with profitability. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.



TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSLO:TGS).



TGS sponsored American Depositary Shares trade on the U.S. over-the-counter market under the symbol "TGSGY".





For additional information about this press release please contact:



Sven Borre Larsen

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +47 90 94 36 73

Email: sven.larsen@tgs.com (mailto:sven.larsen@tgs.com)

Will Ashby

VP of HR & Communications

Tel: +1 713 860 2184

Email: will.ashby@tgs.com (mailto:will.ashby@tgs.com)

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to 5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act)

This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: TGS via Globenewswire



HUG#2015218


GenSight Biologics, a biotechnology company discovering and developing novel gene therapies for neurodegenerative retinal diseases and diseases in the central nervous system, announces the registration of its document de base with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) under number I.16-049 on May 24, 2016 in relation to its planned IPO on Euronext's regulated market in Paris.

The registration of the document de base is the first step in GenSight Biologics' planned IPO on Euronext's regulated market in Paris, which is contingent on market conditions and regulatory requirements including the AMF's visa on a prospectus to be prepared as part of the transaction.

GenSight Biologics is developing two core technology platforms: Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence (MTS), and optogenetics. Out of a large number of applications, GenSight Biologics has chosen to initially focus on neurodegenerative retinal diseases. GenSight Biologics' product candidates GS010 and GS030 are designed to be administered in a single treatment to each eye by intravitreal injection, in order to offer patients a long-lasting functional cure.

GenSight Biologics' most advanced lead product candidate GS010 targets Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) and is currently in Phase III. GS010 has received Orphan Drug designation in Europe and the United States. GenSight Biologics' MTS technology platform was originally developed by the teams of Pr. Jose Sahel at the Institut de la Vision in Paris and is protected by patents over which the company has acquired exclusive licenses in ophthalmology and non-exclusive licenses in other mitochondrial diseases. GenSight Biologics believes that its MTS technology platform can be used to address indications outside of ophthalmology involving defects of the mitochondrion.

GenSight Biologics' second product candidate, GS030, based on the optogenetics technology, is currently at the preclinical stage. The optogenetics technology confers light sensitivity to neurons, which allows to specifically stimulate targeted cells without affecting neighboring cells.GS030 is initially intended to treat all forms of genetic retinitis pigmentosa, and will subsequently target geographic atrophies, resulting from the late-stage form of age-related macular degeneration. GenSight Biologics is expected to initiate a Phase I/II clinical trial with GS030 during the second half of 2017, subject to the requirements of regulatory agencies.

"The IPO project is a significant new step in GenSight Biologics' development. Our lead product candidate GS010, currently in Phase III clinical trials, could be two years away from filing a regulatory approval for a marketing authorization from 2018 onwards. If the results from the ongoing clinical trials meet expectations, we could offer patients a treatment that should allow them to gain autonomy and benefit from an improved quality of life." commented Bernard Gilly, CEO of GenSight Biologics.

6 million patients suffer from blindness in Europe and North America. Based on data from regional studies, GenSight Biologics estimates the incidence of LHON to be approximately 1,400 to 1,500 new patients who lose their sight every year in the United States and Europe. RP is the most widespread hereditary cause of blindness in developed nations, with a prevalence of about 1.5 million people throughout the world.

Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disease resulting in sudden irreversible vision loss for adolescents and young adults

LHON, targeted by GS010, is a rare mitochondrial genetic disease characterized by the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells that results in rapid, severe and irreversible vision loss, that can lead to complete blindness, and mainly affects adolescents and young adults. LHON alters the patients' ability to perform daily life activities, such as reading, driving, or facial recognition. Patients' autonomy is generally very limited, with a significant impact on their families, and substantial direct and indirect costs related to the management of this disability.

GS010: Promising clinical results

In April 2015, GenSight Biologics completed the recruitment of 15 patients for its Phase I/II study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of GS010. The preliminary results on humans have demonstrated a good safety and tolerability profile.

Patients will be closely followed for a minimum of 3 years. Preliminary pharmacodynamics results at 48 weeks have demonstrated improvements in visual acuity and color perception for treated eyes, in patients with an onset of disease of less than 2 years. Improvements in visual field and color perception have also been observed in patients with the best preserved function before treatment.

Although the study was not designed to demonstrate efficacy of the treatment, due to the diversity of doses and the heterogeneity of patients, these preliminary results are encouraging. After talks with experts, GenSight Biologics has designed its ongoing Phase III trials to target a more homogeneous patient population, very recently diagnosed (less than 12 months), which could maximize the benefits and efficacy of treatment.

... that have enabled the launch of the Phase III trials in Europe and the US at the end of 2015

GenSight Biologics initiated two Phase III trials in late 2015 simultaneously in Europe and the US, to demonstrate the efficacy of GS010 in LHON patients who have suffered a loss of visual acuity with an onset of less than a year.

The main objective of these studies, named "RESCUE" and "REVERSE", is to assess the efficacy of GS010 in the treated eye versus the untreated eye, by measuring the change in visual acuity at 48 weeks compared to the visual acuity at baseline.

The 36 patients in each study will be randomized in 7 specialized investigation centers (one in France, one in Germany, one in Italy, one in the UK and 3 in the United States).

GS030: optogenetics for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa and advanced forms of age related macular degeneration

Photoreceptor degeneration can be of genetic origin in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) or be linked to aging in late forms of macular degeneration but inevitably leads to blindness. Optogenetics uses gene therapy to transform other cells of the retina into photoreceptor cells aiming to restore vision in all patients, regardless of the origin of the disease. Gensight Biologics believes that its GS030 product candidate would benefit patients in the early stages of RP.

A Phase I II clinical trial for GS030 for the treatment of all forms of retinitis pigmentosa is expected to be initiated during the second half of 2017, subject to the requirements of regulatory agencies. In addition to confirming GS030's tolerability profile, the trial will yield its first pharmacodynamic results in the first half of 2018. In parallel, GenSight Biologics is also developing GS030 for the treatment of geographic atrophies resulting from the late-stage form of age-related macular degeneration, and is expected to initiate a Phase I / II clinical trial, within 8 to 12 months following the results obtained from retinitis pigmentosa patients.

How to obtain the registration document - GenSight Biologics' registration document is available upon request and free of charge from GenSight Biologics (74 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 75012 Paris, France), or on the company's website (www.gensight-corp.com) and the AMF's website (www.amf-france.org).

Risk factors GenSight Biologics draws the public's attention to chapter 4 "Risk factors" of the registration document and particularly to the risk factors set out in section 4.1 "Risks relating to the Group's products, market and business".

About GenSight Biologics

GenSight Biologics S.A. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative retinal diseases and diseases of the central nervous system. GenSight Biologics' pipeline leverages two core technology platforms, Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence (MTS) and optogenetics, to help preserve or restore vision in patients suffering from severe degenerative retinal diseases. GenSight Biologics' lead product candidate, GS010, is in Phase III trials in Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disease that leads to irreversible vision loss in teens and young adults. Using its gene therapy-based approach, GenSight Biologics' product candidates are designed to be administered in a single treatment to each eye by intravitreal injection in order to offer patients a sustainable functional visual recovery.

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute either an offer to sell or purchase, or the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, securities of GenSight Biologics S.A. (the "Company").

No communication and no information in respect of the offering by the Company of its shares may be distributed to the public in any jurisdiction where registration or approval is required. No steps have been taken or will be taken in any jurisdiction outside France where such steps would be required. The offering or subscription of shares may be subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. The Company takes no responsibility for any violation of any such restrictions by any person.

This announcement does not, and shall not, in any circumstances, constitute a public offering nor an invitation to the public in connection with any offer. The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this press release comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (as defined below), as implemented in each member State of the European Economic Area.

With respect to the Member States of the European Economic Area other than France ("Member States"), no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of the securities referred to herein requiring a publication of a prospectus in any Member State. As a result, the securities of the Company may not and will not be offered in any Member State except in accordance with the exemptions set forth in Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

For the purposes of the provision above, the expression "offer to the public" in relation to any shares of the Company in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase any securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State. The expression "Prospectus Directive" means Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, including by Directive 2010/73/EU), and includes any relevant implementing measure in the Member State.

This press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale nor the solicitation of an offer to purchase securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction where such offer may be restricted. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements thereof. The securities of the Company have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, and the Company does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States. Copies of this press release are not being, and should not be distributed in or sent into the United States.

The distribution of this press release (which term shall include any form of communication) is restricted pursuant to Article 21 (restrictions on financial promotion) of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FMSA"). This press release is directed only at persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments and fall within Article 19(5) ("investment professionals") of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotions) Order 2005, or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 or (iii) are persons to whom this communication may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons in (i), (ii) and (iii) above together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). This press release must not be acted on or relied on in the United Kingdom by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this press release relates is available only in the United Kingdom to Relevant Persons, and will be engaged in only with such persons. Any person other than a Relevant Person may not act or rely on this press release or any provision thereof. Persons distributing this press release must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

A Prospectus is been prepared (consisting of (i) a document de base and (ii) a note d'operation including the summary of the Prospectus) and will receive visa from the AMF. This Prospectus includes a section describing certain risk factors relating to the company and the offering. This Prospectus will be available on the AMF web site (www.amf-france.org) and on the company's web site (www.gensight-biologics.com). Potential investors should review the risk factors described in the Prospectus.

This press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006788/en/

Contacts:

GenSight Biologics

Thomas Gidoin, +33 (0) 6 01 36 35 43

Chief Financial Officer

tgidoin@gensight-biologics.com

or

NewCap

Investor Relations

Florent Alba, +33 (0)1 44 71 98 55

gensight@newcap.eu

or

NewCap

Media Relations

Annie-Florence Loyer, +33 (0)1 44 71 94 93

afloyer@newcap.fr
PORTLAND, OR and ST. JULIAN'S, MALTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- iovation, the provider of device intelligence for authentication and fraud prevention, today announced it will host a European Gambling User Group for the 2nd year in a row in Malta. The user group will once again take place at the Radisson Blu Resort in St. Julian's, Malta. This year the event will be expanded to two days, June 14 and 15. The European Gambling User Group provides a way for online casinos, poker sites, sportsbooks, gaming operators and platform providers in the region to collaborate in-person about fraud prevention challenges and ways to improve the online player experience.

"It's no longer just enough to stop fraud. You have to strike a fine line between putting up a wall and making transacting for good customers as seamless as possible," said Jessica Hard af Segerstad at Paf, an online gaming operator based in Finland. "iovation's European User Groups provide a perfect forum to network and at the same time trade best practices for how to authenticate online users."

iovation has protected more than 335 million transactions in the gambling industry in the past year. Those clients have contributed hundreds of thousands of fraud and abuse reports into iovation's global consortium in that same timeframe, making it easier for other companies to tap intelligence from their peers about the latest fraud schemes.

"Thanks to contributions from our clients, we know that the same amount of online gambling transactions come from mobile and non-mobile devices, and that 46 percent of those transactions originate from Windows devices and 28 percent from iOS," said Molly O'Hearn, vice president of operations and co-founder at iovation. "It's this type of intelligence that helps our clients know how they should be targeting their good customers, and we're looking forward to providing an in-person way for them to discover much more in Malta."

Bernard Casey -- who has spent three decades in gaming fraud prevention for companies like Ladbrokes and Sky Betting and Gaming -- will take the stage at the user group alongside iovation to discuss ways to balance fraud prevention and VIP offers. In addition, iovation will detail the latest transaction and fraud trends in the gambling industry and beyond, and provide attendees with its product roadmap including enhancements to its Customer Authentication solution. The company will also detail ways to maximize its virtual threat sharing network called the Fraud Force Community, how device intelligence was integral helping an iovation client stop a fraud ring and more.

The European Gambling User Group is available free of charge. For more details, go to iovation.com/news/events/malta-user-group.

About iovation

iovation protects online businesses and their end users against fraud and abuse, and identifies trustworthy customers through a combination of advanced device identification, shared device reputation, device-based authentication and real-time risk evaluation. More than 3,500 fraud managers representing global retail, financial services, insurance, social network, gaming and other companies leverage iovation's database of billions of Internet devices and the relationships between them to determine the level of risk associated with online transactions. The company's device reputation database is the world's largest, used to protect 15 million transactions and stop an average of 300,000 fraudulent activities every day. The world's foremost fraud experts share intelligence, cybercrime tips and online fraud prevention techniques in iovation's Fraud Force Community, an exclusive virtual crime-fighting network. For more information, visit iovation.com.

CONTACTS:

iovation Inc.

Connie Gougler

503-943-6748

Email Contact




GENEVA, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Deer Jet, the largest business jet company in Asia, is to become the operator of world's first VVIP BBJ 787. Deer Jet and Boeing announced jointly at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE), the largest business aviation event in Europe.

The Boeing 787 seriesis also knownas the "Dreamliner." This VVIP BBJ 787 is truly a "Dream Jet." It has a range of 16,000 kilometers and can fly nonstop for 17.5 hours at Mach 0.85. Its lower cabin pressure, fresher air and the 220m2 large cabin area would ensurean extremely comfortable flying experience.

At a media event evening held by Boeing on May 22, Denzil White, President of Deer Jet's subsidiary Hong Kong Jet, said: "This VVIP BBJ 787 is the most high-end business jet in the world. Becoming its operator shows the strength of Deer Jet's global operations capabilities."

Zhang Peng, Chairman and President of Deer Jet, said: "Over the past few years, our strategy of 'Customer Experience Focus' has not only brought us more clients, but also allowed us to raise the standards of service to a new level. Although the 787 BBJ is a brand new model for us, we are fully capable of operating it and granting the best experience to our clients. At the same time, we will work with HNA-CAISSA Touristic Group to develop atailor-made journey, using the 787 BBJ, so that more people can experience the beauty of high-end customized travel."

"This 787 BBJ will push us to grow faster," said Zhang Peng.

Deer Jet currently operates nearly 90 business jets, including 4 BBJ, which means it already has significant experience operating Boeing Business Jets. The famous tourism brand under HNA group, CAISSA Touristic, has also entered the high-end custom-tailored tourism market over the last two years and has achieved marked success.

Deer Jet has developed very rapidly over the past few years. It established Deer Jet (Beijing), Deer Jet (Shanghai) and Hong Kong Jet to optimize itsnetwork, it has collaborated with Gulfstream and Dassault Aviation to improve maintenance services. It also has established Honor Aviation Support, and has opened 8 FBOs across China. In 2015, Deer Jet's domestic market share rose to 70%, and its international flight hours exceeded 50%. Deer Jet also received the 'World Leading Private Jet Charter' award at the World Travel Awards (WTA), further raising the company's market reputation.

Deer Jet is on its 21st year ofoperation. It is a full subsidiary of HNA Group, a Fortune Global 500 company. It started the business aviation industry in China, and is still a pioneerin the market. With the vision of building a world-class business aviation brand, Deer Jet is taking solid steps in the expansion of its international service network, and becoming a global award-winning business jet operator.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- WSP Global Inc. (TSX: WSP) ("WSP" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with the Board of Directors of Sweett Group plc (AIM: CSG.L) ("Sweett"), based in London, U.K., on the terms of a recommended cash offer pursuant to which WSP (or a direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of WSP) will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sweett (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the U.K. Companies Act (the "Scheme"). Under the terms of the Acquisition, Sweett Shareholders will be entitled to receive 35 pence (C$ 0.67) in cash for each Sweett Share held, valuing the entire issued share capital of Sweett at approximately GBP 24 million (C$ 46.1 million).

The offer price represents a premium of approximately:

-- 52.17 percent to the closing price per Sweett Share of 23 pence on 24 May 2016 (being the last business day prior to the date of this announcement); and -- 73.58 percent to the six-month average price per Sweett Share of 20 pence (being the average closing price for the six month period ended on 24 May 2016 being the last business day prior to the date of this announcement).

Sweett is an international business provider of professional services for the construction and management of building and infrastructure projects. Its services include quantity surveying/cost management, project management, building surveying and specialist and advisory services. Sweett employs approximately 600 people, mainly based in the United Kingdom. On April 26, 2016, Sweett released a trading update for the year ended March 31, 2016, which included the following information in relation to Sweett's current trading and prospects: "Trading in the year to March 31, 2016 in the Group's ongoing business (excluding MENA) which now predominantly comprises the UK has been strong with anticipated revenue of GBP 54.9 million representing growth of approximately 6.6 per cent (2015: GBP 51.5 million)."

WSP believes that Sweett is an attractive acquisition opportunity for the following key reasons:

-- it provides an opportunity to grow the range of advisory skills of WSP; -- it adds further scale and management strength in the United Kingdom and Europe; -- it has a complementary client base to which to cross sell services; -- it gives the opportunity to provide a broader offering to WSP's existing and new clients; and -- it provides a very solid foundation from which WSP can achieve growth of a strong programme, project and cost management capability.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Alexandre L'Heureux, CFO and incoming President and Chief Executive Officer of WSP, said: "This transaction fulfills our strategic ambitions of enhancing our project and cost management services and positions our combined group as a leading global consultancy. WSP and Sweett operate a similar business model of global knowhow, local delivery and are highly compatible in terms of strategic objectives, being both pure play consulting firms."

Commenting on the Acquisition, Paul Dollin, Chief Operating Officer of WSP, said: "This transaction is a key step on WSP's journey as a world class professional services organisation. The combination of skills and compatible cultures will provide a great foundation for the two organisations to work together constructively and enjoyably on selected projects, creating attractive and competitive solutions for our clients. This is a transaction that will truly benefit the business, our people and our clients."

Commenting on the Acquisition, John Dodds, Chairman of Sweett, said: "This transaction supports the realisation of both companies' strategic aims and provides a strong global platform for growth. It provides Sweett Shareholders with cash at an offer price that recognises Sweett's underlying value, whilst enabling the Sweett business to accelerate its growth potential with the support of WSP's financial strength."

Commenting on the Acquisition, Douglas McCormick, Chief Executive Officer of Sweett, said: "I believe this transaction will provide Sweett, our staff and our clients with enhanced opportunities and the combined entity will achieve increased prominence in the global markets in which we work. By joining WSP, this will provide the Company with a stronger platform, both operationally and financially, for growth in the years ahead."

The Sweett Directors, who have been so advised by Stockdale, consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable. In providing its advice to the Sweett Directors, Stockdale has taken into account the commercial assessments of the Sweett Directors.

Accordingly, the Sweett Directors intend unanimously to recommend that Sweett shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court meeting to approve the Scheme and in favour of the resolution to be proposed at the general meeting of the Sweett shareholders, as they have irrevocably undertaken to do (or procure is done) in respect of their own aggregate beneficial holdings of 391,550 Sweett shares, which represent approximately 0.57 percent of the share capital of Sweett in issue on May 24, 2016 (being the business day prior to the date of this announcement).

In aggregate, therefore, irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court meeting and in favour of the resolution to be proposed at the General meeting have been received in respect of 19,231,445 Sweett shares, representing approximately 28.00 percent of the share capital of Sweett in issue on May 24, 2016 (being the last business day prior to the date of this announcement).

Opus Corporate Finance LLP is acting as financial adviser to WSP in respect of the offer. Nabarro LLP is acting as legal adviser to WSP in respect of the offer.

Stockdale Securities Limited is acting as financial adviser to Sweett in respect of the offer and for the purposes of Rule 3 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. Pinsent Masons LLP is acting as legal adviser to Sweett in respect of the offer.

ABOUT SWEETT GROUP PLC

Sweett which was established in 1928 is an international business provider of professional services for the construction and management of building and infrastructure projects. Its services include quantity surveying/cost management, project management, building surveying and specialist and advisory services. Sweett's ongoing operations are predominantly in the UK save for a small presence in mainland Europe and North America. Sweett's network of offices services clients across a diverse range of industry sectors in both the public and private sectors, including education, health, retail and mixed use, government/local authority, housing and transport and infrastructure.

ABOUT WSP

As one of the world's leading professional services firms, WSP provides technical expertise and strategic advice to clients in the Property & Buildings, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Power & Energy sectors. WSP also offers highly specialised services in project delivery and strategic consulting. Its experts include engineers, advisors, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals. With approximately 34,000 people in 500 offices across 40 countries, WSP is well positioned to deliver successful and sustainable projects under its WSP and WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff brands. www.wsp-pb.com.

Forward-looking statements

Certain information regarding WSP contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although WSP believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. WSP's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The complete version of the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements as well as a description of the relevant assumptions and risk factors likely to affect WSP's actual or projected results are included in the Management Discussion and Analysis for the first quarter of 2016 ended March 26, 2016, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and WSP does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless expressly required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Alexandre L'Heureux

Chief Financial Officer

WSP Global Inc.

514-340-0046, ext. 5310

alexandre.lheureux@wspgroup.com



Isabelle Adjahi

Vice President, Investor Relations

and Corporate Communications

WSP Global Inc.

514-340-0046, ext. 5648

isabelle.adjahi@wspgroup.com




MUNICH and SINGAPORE, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Pave the way for government agencies to accept NETS FlashPay, EZ-Link and concession card for payments

Wirecard Singapore Pte Ltd, a Wirecard Group company, and Network For Electronic Transfers (Singapore) Pte Ltd (NETS) today said they will collaborate to provide a single terminal payment solution for Singapore government agencies. The move will enable users of the services of Singapore government agencies to use their CEPAS cards such as NETS FlashPay, EZ-Link and concession cards on one single device.

Paying by a wave of a card over a reader is fast becoming common in Singapore, with a higher card circulation and more merchants on board. CEPAS, or Contactless e-Purse Application, is a Singaporean standard for a contactless smart card. NETS, EZ-Link and TransitLink issue the FlashPay card, EZ-Link card and concession card respectively.

The CEPAS cards are used to make payments across major retailers, food courts, convenience stores, supermarkets, etc. in Singapore. It is also used on all MRT/LRT, public buses, selected taxis as well as to pay for road toll and CEPAS-compliant car park charges.

NETS is designated as the national payment system by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. One in three Singaporeans uses NETS every day to make payments across a network of 91,000 acceptance points nation-wide. In 2015, NETS processed S$23 billion in transactions from debit and credit transactions, CashCard and FlashPay.

Jeffrey Goh, CEO of NETS, said: "This collaboration to deliver a single terminal solution for the government agencies in Singapore will bring greater benefits in improving the operational efficiency and productivity for the merchants and customers. NETS values the partnership with Wirecard Singapore as we build a new payment ecosystem and platform going forward in Singapore."

Jeffry Ho, Managing Director at Wirecard Singapore, said: "We are very pleased to collaborate with NETS to bring the convenience of the unified POS solution to the Singapore government agencies. This is definitely a step in the right direction to make cashless payment even more pervasive in Singapore."

As part of the new cooperation, Wirecard will acquire the merchants for CEPAS payments, while NETS will provide the terminals and acquire the merchants for NETS payments.

About Wirecard:

Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard.

About NETS:

NETS is a leading payments network in Singapore and operates Singapore's national PIN Debit scheme. ATM cards issued by participating banks DBS Bank, Maybank, HSBC Bank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB, can be used to make NETS debit payments everywhere in Singapore. NETS issues the CashCard, which is used extensively in the motoring market in Singapore, and the FlashPay Card, which can be used for public transport payments as well as payments at 91,000 NETS acceptance points island-wide. NETS' latest innovation, Virtual CashCard, allows motorists to pay for their ERP charges using their credit/debit cards or via their bank account without the need for a physical stored-value card. eNETS online payments can be made across many online and mobile merchants including government websites, airlines bookings and on AXS m-station, Taobao.com and Tmall Marketplace. NETS is a member of the Asian Payment Network and a council member of UnionPay International. BCA and UnionPay cards are accepted on the NETS network. For more information on NETS and its payment services, please visit http://www.nets.com.sg.

Wirecard media contact:



Wirecard AG

Jana Tilz

Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363

E-Mail: jana.tilz@wirecard.com



NETS media contacts:



Joseph Rajendran

Tel.: +65-6886-4839

Mobile: +65-9228-7801

E-Mail: joseph@tranzcomm.com



Casuarina Peck

Tel.: +65-6886-4839

Mobile: +65-9363-5609

E-Mail: casuarina@tranzcomm.com


The combination of SAT>IP with digital media players enables new TV experience

SES S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) will demonstrate how live television can be brought to all the major media player platforms in the best possible quality at its ninth annual Industry Days, to be held in Luxembourg on 26 and 27 May.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005199/en/

SES

During the event, SES's industry partners will showcase live satellite-delivered television brought to the latest 4th generation Apple TV, Amazon FireTV 4K and various devices running the Google Android TV operating system, using SAT>IP technology. SAT>IP is an architecture for receiving and distributing satellite signals via IP. These demonstrations will leverage the work that SES and partners have already done to develop SAT>IP technology, which has now become a real enabler for these devices.

To date most media players do not provide the breadth of live television choice that satellite delivers. By combining SAT>IP with digital media players, these devices now get access to high quality live TV. Additionally, satellite TV benefits from the attractive interface and viewing experience enabled by the powerful software platforms that run on these players.

Overall this combination redefines what hybrid service delivery means and showcases the importance that powerful software environments will play in future TV experiences.

SES Industry Days have become an important appointment for the broadcasting industry, gathering stakeholders of the entire video ecosystem broadcasters, TV manufacturers, decoder manufacturers, hardware manufacturers and software developers. As the event gives the opportunity to discuss and showcase innovative technologies, it underlines SES's commitment to shape the future of broadcasting, develop next generation video capabilities and drive video to a higher level of viewing experience.

Thomas Wrede, VP Reception Systems at SES, commented, "SAT>IP was conceived right from the start as an enabling technology for next generation satellite TV experiences. With these demos, we will concretely show how this vision can change the experience of satellite-delivered television again."

Follow us on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SES.YourSatelliteCompany

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SESVideoChannel

Blog: http://www.ses.com/blog

SES Pictures are available under http://www.ses.com/21472913/Our_Pictures

SES White papers are available under http://www.ses.com/18681915/white-papers

About SES

SES (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.

SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the satellite industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.

SES holds a participation in O3b Networks, a next generation satellite network combining the reach of satellite with the speed of fibre.

Further information available at: www.ses.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005199/en/

Contacts:

SES

Markus Payer, +352 710 725 500

Corporate Communications

Markus.Payer@ses.com
Company continues to lead the industry in ingredient transparency by making product and fragrance ingredient information easily accessible for consumers at whatsinsidescjohnson.com .

RACINE, Wisconsin, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, SC Johnson expanded its global ingredient transparency program and industry-leading website whatsinsidescjohnson.com across Europe, offering consumers a comprehensive list of product ingredients for such iconic brands as Glade, Mr Muscle, Raid, Pledge, Duck and Autan. This makes SC Johnson the first major consumer packaged goods company to list specific fragrance ingredients for products sold in Europe, and marks an important step in the company's long-term efforts to transform ingredient transparency.

"We believe consumers should know a product's ingredients so they can make educated choices about what they bring into their homes," said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. "Providing ingredient transparency allows for straightforward dialogue about specific ingredients."

Johnson added that in a recent survey(1) the company conducted with European consumers, they found that a full two-thirds said it was important for consumer packaged goods companies to be transparent about ingredients. "Clearly this is an important issue in Europe. We are finding it is equally important globally as well."

The company'swhatsinsidescjohnson.co.uk ingredient website is mobile friendly and helps consumers in Europe easily access and understand ingredient information. The site now includes the majority of more than 3,000 products sold by SC Johnson in 25 countries across Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom; with more to come. The website also provides a listing of specific fragrance ingredients for many of the products sold, versus simply listing "fragrance" or "parfum."

Making Information Easy to Access and Understand

For many years, companies selling products such as air fresheners, household cleaners and pest repellents in Europe have listed their ingredients on websites to comply with the law. The challenge for consumers has been ease of access and ease of use with these types of sites. Consumers visiting these sites can often end up more confused than they were before. In fact, the SC Johnson survey in Europe found that less than one-third of consumers believe they have sufficient information about ingredients in cleaning products and air fresheners.

SC Johnson goes far beyond the EU regulatory requirements of providing basic product information with the whatsinsidescjohnson.com website, which provides an easy-to-understand list of ingredients for each product and background information on why certain ingredients are used. The products are organized by language and brand with images of the actual products by country, making them easily recognizable and accessible with just a few clicks.

Disclosing Product-Specific Fragrance Ingredients and SC Johnson's History of Leadership

The whatsinsidescjohnson.com website lists product-specific fragrance ingredients for many of the products sold, going beyond the industry standard of disclosing a small number of specific allergens and then simply listing "fragrance" or "parfum." In fact, in disclosing product-specific fragrance ingredients, SC Johnson shares more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas.

"Fragrances play an important role in many of our products, and disclosing the ingredients of which they are composed helps build consumer trust, and is ultimately good for our business," said Johnson. He illustrated this point by noting that in the same survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents said that disclosure of ingredient information would positively impact their perception of a company and their purchase decision.

Historically, fragrance ingredient lists have been considered trade secrets, closely guarded by fragrance suppliers and consumer product companies. In its efforts to increase transparency, SC Johnson has been working with suppliers since 2008 to increase transparency of fragrance and non-fragrance ingredients alike. Key transparency milestones include:

2009: Launched U.S. ingredient disclosure program, followed soon after by Canada.

2012: Published SC Johnson Fragrance Palette, the complete list of approved ingredients for SC Johnson products.

2014: Published list of ingredient restrictions for transparency about how SC Johnson makes ingredient choices.

2015: Introduced product-specific fragrance disclosure, sharing more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas.

2016: Launched Glade Fresh Citrus Blossoms Collection with 100 percent fragrance transparency.

2016: Launched European ingredient transparency program at whatsinsidescjohnson.com.

Legacy Milestones

For more information about SC Johnson ingredients, visit whatsinsidescjohnson.com. To learn more about the SC Johnson Greenlist' program and other examples of the company's responsibility and leadership, download the SC Johnson 2015 Sustainability Report.

SC JOHNSON INGREDIENT TRANSPARENCY Q&A

1. Why did SC Johnson launch this program in Europe?

A. SC Johnson has expanded its global ingredient transparency program to Europe as its latest step in ongoing ingredient transparency leadership. Product ingredient information is available online and via mobile access in a way that is user friendly for consumers.The company goes beyond current regulation and industry standards and includes product-specific information on fragrance ingredients.

2. How is SC Johnson going beyond the rest of the industry in terms of fragrance disclosure?

A. SC Johnson is the first major consumer packaged goods company to list specific fragrance ingredients for products sold in Europe, sharing more than 99.9 percent of ingredients in most product formulas. This goes beyond the industry standard of disclosing just a small number of specific allergens and then simply listing fragrance or "parfum."

3. Why does SC Johnson use fragrances in its products?

A. Consumers enjoy fragrances for many reasons. Fragrances freshen the air, eliminate unwanted orders, and offer that just cleaned ambiance that many families desire. SC Johnson also makes some fragrance-free products for those who prefer them.

4. What countries are included in this European launch?

A. Today's launch includes the following European countries in their respective languages: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. In the coming months SC Johnson will complete the European rollout with Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, TANA, BAMA, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 130-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

[1]SC Johnson commissioned Ipsos Operations GmbH to conduct an online survey of European adults in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. This survey was fielded between March 25-27, 2016. The margin of error for this study (n=1,000 per country) is at most +/- 3.7% at a significance level of 90%.




LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb today announced the appointment of Ruth Polyblank, currently Head of Marketing and Customer Strategy, UK and Ireland, to the new role of Head of SME, UK and Ireland.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371375

Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160121/324916LOGO

In 2015, over 99% of the UK's 5.4 million companies were small or medium-sized businesses, each employing fewer than 250 people[1]. However this month's BIBA conference programme highlighted once again the significant issue of underinsurance within the segment.

The appointment reflects Chubb's strategy of meeting the different needs of brokers and clients within its core customer segments and its commitment to giving additional focus to the SME segment in the UK and Ireland.

In her new role, Ruth will have overall management responsibility for Chubb's SME portfolio in the region. She will also focus on digital engagement and new technologies, working with key brokers and other business partners to target new business opportunities. Ruth's current focus on customer innovation will also be a key driver in designing new products for the sector.

Ruth's career spans 16 years in insurance and financial services, including five at Chubb. She joined legacy ACE as UK and Ireland Marketing and Communications Manager in 2010 before assuming her current customer strategy role in January 2013. Ruth previously held marketing roles at Equity, Fusion, CLS and EY.

The appointment is effective 1 June 2016 and Ruth will continue to be based in London reporting to David Robinson, Executive Vice President, Europe and President, UK and Ireland.

David Robinson, Executive Vice President, Europe and President, UK and Ireland, said:

"Innovation and new technologies are driving change in the way small businesses obtain insurance protection. This new role reflects Chubb's commitment to anticipating what our brokers and clients need from us - both in terms of the products and how we deliver them.

"Ruth's strong marketing expertise, innovative mindset and propensity to challenge the status quo will be instrumental in creating new ways to support our brokers with SME portfolios. I greatly look forward to working with her in this important new role."

About Chubb

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. The company is distinguished by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength, underwriting excellence, superior claims handling expertise and local operations globally.

Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: new.chubb.com

[1] House of Commons Briefing Paper - Business Statistics/December 2015.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chubb-appoints-ruth-polyblank-as-head-of-sme-for-uk-and-ireland-300274122.html
LONDON, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance launches Corporate Learning Pulse to uncover European business attitudes toward investment in people

Companies believe that investing in the development of their executives is more important than hiring new talent when it comes to driving change, stimulating innovation and improving corporate financial prospects, a survey of 600 business leaders from across Europe has found.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160520/370364LOGO )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160520/370367-INFO )

But, despite this, just under half those leaders surveyed find it a challenge to see how their investment in corporate learning adds value to their businesses in ways that are measurable against the bottom line.

The findings are unveiled in an independent survey, Corporate Learning Pulse, commissioned by Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance (http://www.ftiecla.com).

Respondents in the inaugural survey, which is to be an annual event, were drawn from France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Spain and the United Kingdom. They included C-suite executives, HR and learning and development leaders, and senior managers in small, medium and large organisations who had led or participated in executive development programmes in the past five years.

Corporate learning seen as top investment

According to the research, corporate learning is seen by respondents as the top investment their organisation can make to improve business outcomes (57 percent). A larger majority - 59 percent - say investing in employees "drives change and innovation" in their businesses, rising to 65 percent among C-suite respondents taken as a specific group.

The corporate learning needs deemed most valuable are:

customer engagement (highlighted by 58 percent of respondents)

strategy and planning (58 percent)

successful innovation (55 percent)

leadership (55 percent)

strategy execution (54 percent)

Impact of corporate learning

Organisations are most likely to gauge the impact of their investment as it relates to two areas: employee satisfaction and engagement.

Most of the organisations have sought to measure the impact of corporate learning on:

employee satisfaction and retention (74 percent)

employee engagement (73 percent)

customer satisfaction (69 percent)

revenue and profit (64 percent)

Yet fewer than half (47 percent) are satisfied with the corporate learning their organisations are currently investing in, and just 43 percent believe that such programmes give them skills to do their jobs more effectively.

VanDyck Silveira, CEO of FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance, says: "We are surprised to see the gap this major study reveals between the perceived value of corporate learning and the difficulties of measuring the business impact that such an investment can deliver.

"More than half of the business people we surveyed understand the value that executive development delivers for their business, but less than half of respondents are fully satisfied with their learning programmes."

When it comes to corporate learning, expectations and action are misaligned

The survey found that when it comes to corporate learning, expectations and reality are often misaligned. And yet the ability to measure the eventual results tends not to be the highest priority when companies select a corporate learning partner to deliver executive development programmes.

Only one in four senior professionals say their organisation selects corporate learning partners based on their ability to measure impact. The main criterion is whether the organisation has worked with the learning provider in the past.

Among the most senior professionals (the C-suite and presidents or managing directors), marketplace reputation and rankings drive their choice of learning partners.

"These findings signal a clear call to action for learning and development professionals," says VanDyck Silveira. "They need to close the gap between expectations and reality by improving how learning impact is measured in their organisations against business performance and the bottom line."

Attitudes vary by size of organisation, seniority and geography

German and Spanish professionals lead the way in seeing corporate learning as a business priority with the potential for positive outcomes. Large organisations in particular have high expectations, but many of the learning and development professionals think their senior leaders do not recognise the potential of corporate learning.

Organisations of all sizes agree that employees are the catalysts for change and innovation (59 percent) but learning and development professionals in large organisations (those with more than 500 employees) are least likely to say their senior leaders understand the value of corporate learning for the business.

Large organisations have the highest expectations for the impact of corporate learning on employee engagement and organisational change.

Chief learning officers and other learning and development professionals expect employee engagement scores to improve after the completion of corporate learning programmes, while those in the C-suite expect an impact on customer engagement and satisfaction.

German business professionals are most likely to rate corporate learning as a priority (34 percent versus 24 percent overall) and a challenge they need to address in the next three years (31 percent versus 23 percent overall).

Spanish professionals feel most strongly that corporate learning can achieve results for their organisations (70 percent), while those in France and the UK lag behind the 57 percent average, with 49 percent and 50 percent respectively.

FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance, in partnership with Research Now, conducted an online survey for the Corporate Learning Pulse among 603 senior leaders in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Spain and the United Kingdom. Interviewing for the survey was conducted between 19 February and 7 March 2016. The margin of error for this study is +/- 5.00%.

Read more about Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance at http://www.ftiecla.com . Visit http://www.ftiecla.com/pulse to download a summary of the Corporate Learning Pulse.

Notes to editors

A copy of the full survey findings is available to journalists and other reviewers for review purposes only - not for publication in full. Please contact one of the press contacts below.

A one-page infographic summary of the findings accompanies this press release and is downloadable here.

About Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance

FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance has been created to provide executives and their teams with world-class business expertise which is locally applicable, globally scalable, academically rigorous and relevant in practice. Executive learning programmes from the Corporate Learning Alliance are unlike any other.

Follow us:

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

Press contacts:

David Wells

Head of Communications

FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance

david.wells@ftiecla.com

Ben Saft

Ketchum

ben.saft@ketchum.com
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 4:00 am ET Wednesday, Germany's Ifo business sentiment data for May is due to be released. Economists forecast the business confidence index to rise to 106.8 in May from 106.6 in April. Ahead of the data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro fell against the Swiss franc, the pound and the yen, it held steady against the U.S. dollar. As of 3:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.7614 against the pound, 1.1055 against the Swiss franc, 1.1144 against the U.S. dollar and 122.54 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Combination Builds Upon Competitive Positioning in Global Transportation and Logistics Industry

FedEx has settled the TNT Express Shares tendered in the Acceptance Period

Remaining Shares can still be tendered in the Post-Closing Acceptance Period

This is a joint press release by FedEx Corporation, FedEx Acquisition B.V. and TNT Express N.V. in connection with the recommended public offer by FedEx Acquisition B.V. for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the share capital of TNT Express N.V., including all American depositary shares representing ordinary shares (the Offer). This announcement does not constitute an offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in TNT Express N.V. The Offer is made solely pursuant to the offer document, dated August 21, 2015 (the Offer Document), approved by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiele Markten). Terms not defined in this press release will have the meaning as set forth in the Offer Document.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005522/en/

FedEx Corporation (FedEx) (NYSE:FDX), FedEx Acquisition B.V. (the Offeror) and TNT Express N.V. (TNT Express) jointly announce that FedEx has acquired TNT Express. The 4.4 billion acquisition combines the strengths of the companies the world's largest air express network and an unparalleled European road network, which will expand the existing FedEx portfolio and reshape the global transportation and logistics industry.

"This acquisition is a significant accomplishment and marks the beginning of a new era, filled with promise for our people, customers and shareowners," said Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO of FedEx. "We are proud to celebrate the joining of two iconic companies and the approximately 400,000 team members who are committed to serving customers around the world.

"The timing of this historic event is important, particularly in the current market environment where global e-commerce is growing at double-digit rates," Smith added. "Adding TNT's capabilities to our existing world-class suite of services, including GENCO and the recently relaunched FedEx CrossBorder, will further expand the ability of FedEx to support business connections around the world.

"Over our 43 year history, FedEx has repeatedly reinvented and revolutionized the industry, from the first overnight express service backed by a money-back guarantee to the invention of internet shipping. And just as we revolutionized the U.S. domestic parcel business through the acquisition and development of what is now FedEx Ground, the acquisition of TNT will change the way customers view FedEx around the world," Smith continued.

"We believe that this strategic acquisition will add significant value for FedEx shareowners, team members and customers around the globe, particularly in Europe where we will establish a strong new competitor," said Alan B. Graf, Jr., FedEx Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "The TNT team members bring 70 years of diverse experience, which, combined with that of FedEx team members, will make this integration a success."

Now that FedEx has acquired TNT Express, the integration process will begin immediately. The FedEx track record of successful acquisition integrations in the U.S. and globally will serve the combined companies well to leverage investments in technology, infrastructure, facilities and operational capabilities to position the combined companies for long-term growth and success.

In the near term, customers can expect to interact with each company as they always have and receive the world-class service they have come to expect. Once the integration is complete, FedEx expects customers to enjoy an expanded global offering that draws upon the breadth of expertise from both companies.

Together, FedEx and TNT Express will continue to make a difference in the lives of people around the world, further supporting the communities in which team members live and work, connecting even more people and possibilities.

Live Webcast

David Bronczek, President and CEO, FedEx Express, David Binks, President of FedEx Express Europe and Tex Gunning, CEO of TNT Express will host a press conference today at 11:00 hours CET at The Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam, which will be also available via live webcast at the following web address: http://player.companywebcast.com/fedex/20160525_1/en/Player

Additional media resources are available through the FedEx Newsroom and TNT Media Center.

Post-Closing Acceptance Period

Shareholders may tender their shares under the Offer during a post-closing acceptance period (na-aanmeldingstermijn) which commenced at 09:00 hours, Amsterdam time, on 19 May 2016 and will expire at 17:40 hours, Amsterdam time, on 1 June 2016 (the Post-Closing Acceptance Period).The Offeror has agreed that it will accept valid tenders of book-entry ADSs until 17:00 hours New York time on 1 June 2016.

Shareholders who have not yet tendered their Shares under the Offer still have the opportunity to do so during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period.

Remaining Shareholders who do not wish to tender their Shares during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period should carefully review the sections of the Offer Document that further explain the intentions of the Offeror and/or FedEx, such as (but not limited to) Sections 6.13 (Intentions following the Offer being declared unconditional) up to and including 6.16.6 (Other measures), which describe certain implications to which such Shareholders may become subject with their continued shareholding in TNT Express.

About FedEx Corp.

FedEx provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $49 billion (not including TNT Express), the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its nearly 400,000 team members to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities to connect people and possibilities around the world.

About TNT Express

TNT Express is one of the world's largest express delivery companies. On a daily basis, TNT Express delivers close to one million consignments ranging from documents and parcels to palletised freight. The company offers road and air delivery services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. TNT Express made 6.9 billion in revenue in 2015.

Notice to U.S. holders of TNT Express Shares

The Offer is being made for the securities of TNT Express, a public limited liability company incorporated under Dutch Law, and is subject to Dutch disclosure and procedural requirements, which are different from those of the United States. The Offer is being made in the United States in compliance with Section 14(e) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the U.S. Exchange Act), and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, including Regulation 14E, and is subject to the exemptions provided by Rule 14d-1(d) under the U.S. Exchange Act and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Dutch law. Accordingly, the Offer is subject to certain disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to the Offer timetable and settlement procedures that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and laws.

The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a U.S. holder of TNT Express shares may be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes and under applicable state and local, as well as foreign and other, tax laws. Each holder of TNT Express shares is urged to consult his independent professional advisor immediately regarding the tax consequences of acceptance of the Offer.

It may be difficult for U.S. holders of TNT Express shares to enforce their rights and claims arising out of the U.S. federal securities laws, since TNT Express is located in a country other the United States, and some or all of its officers and directors may be residents of a country other than the United States. U.S. holders of TNT Express shares may not be able to sue a non-U.S. company or its officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of U.S. securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel a non-U.S. company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a U.S. court's judgment.

To the extent permissible under applicable law or regulation, including Rule 14e-5 of the U.S. Exchange Act, in accordance with normal Dutch practice, FedEx and its affiliates or broker (acting as agent for FedEx or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time after the date hereof, and other than pursuant to the Offer, directly or indirectly purchase, or arrange to purchase, ordinary shares of TNT Express that are the subject of the Offer or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such shares. These purchases may occur either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. In no event will any such purchases be made for a price per share that is greater than the Offer Price. To the extent information about such purchases or arrangements to purchase is made public in The Netherlands, such information will be disclosed by means of a press release or other means reasonably calculated to inform U.S. shareholders of TNT Express of such information. No purchases will be made outside the Offer in the United States by or on behalf of FedEx. In addition, the financial advisors to FedEx may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of TNT Express, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities.

Restrictions

The distribution of this press release may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, FedEx and TNT Express disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of any such restrictions by any person. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of that jurisdiction. Neither FedEx, nor TNT Express, nor any of their advisors assumes any responsibility for any violation by any of these restrictions. Any TNT Express shareholder who is in any doubt as to his or her position should consult an appropriate professional advisor without delay.

The information in the press release is not intended to be complete, for further information reference is made to the Offer Document. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or an invitation to acquire or dispose of any securities or investment advice or an inducement to enter into investment activity. In addition, the Offer made pursuant to the Offer Document is not being made in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or other laws or regulations of such jurisdiction or would require any registration, approval or filing with any regulatory authority not expressly contemplated by the terms of the Offer Document.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking statements," such as statements relating to the impact of this transaction on FedEx and TNT Express. Forward-looking statements include those preceded by, followed by or that include the words "anticipated," "will," "expected" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although FedEx and TNT Express believe that the assumptions upon which their respective financial information and their respective forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, they can give no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, FedEx's ability to successfully operate TNT Express without disruption to its other business activities, FedEx's ability to achieve the anticipated results from the acquisition of TNT Express, the effects of competition (in particular the response to the transaction in the marketplace), economic conditions in the global markets in which FedEx and TNT Express operate, and other factors that can be found in FedEx's and its subsidiaries' and TNT Express' press releases and public filings.

Neither FedEx, nor any of its advisors, accepts any responsibility for any financial information contained in this press release relating to the business, results of operations or financial condition of FedEx or any of its groups. FedEx expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005522/en/

Contacts:

FedEx Corp.

Media Relations:

Patrick Fitzgerald, +1 901-818-7300

patrick.fitzgerald@fedex.com

or

Europe:

Burson-Marsteller

Michelle Fresco, +31 (0)70 3021191

michelle.fresco@bm.com

or

Investor Relations:

Mickey Foster, +1 901-818-7468

mickey.foster@fedex.com

www.fedex.com

or

TNT Express N.V.

Media Relations:

Cyrille Gibot, +31 88 393 9390

Mobile: +31 65 113 3104

cyrille.gibot@tnt.com

or

Investor Relations:

Gerard Wichers, +31 88 393 9500

gerard.wichers@tnt.com

www.tnt.com/corporate
GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND-AND-LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- The Ministerial Advisory Panel is holding a public consultation meeting in Gander to gather public opinion on the Last In, First Out (LIFO) policy for the Northern shrimp fishery.

Date: May 26, 2016 Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Location: Gander Hotel, Salon D, 100 Trans-Canada Highway

Paul Sprout, Chair of the Panel, will be available to media onsite at the conclusion of the meeting.

Visit: External Review of the Last In, First Out Policy on Northern Shrimp

Contacts:

Paul Sprout

Chair, Ministerial Advisory Panel

250-618-9035




SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 --Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Innovus Pharma") (OTCQB: INNV), an emerging commercial stage pharmaceutical company that delivers safe, innovative and effective over-the-counter medicine and consumer care products to improve men and women's health and respiratory diseases today announced today that it has entered into an exclusive license and distribution agreement with BroadMedSAL, a Lebanese company ("BroadMed") under which Innovus Pharma granted to BroadMed an exclusive license to market and sell Innovus product EjectDelay indicated for treatment of premature ejaculation in Lebanon. Under the agreement, Innovus Pharma is eligible to receive up to $6.2 million in upfront and sales milestone payments plus transfer price.

EjectDelay is currently commercialized in the US by Innovus and in Canada under the name Uxor by Orimed Pharm. In addition, the Company has signed multiple commercial agreements for the product the following countries by Innovus Pharma's where the product will be registered and market by the following licensees and distributors: Elis Pharma in Turkey, Ovation Pharma in Morocco, Tabuk Pharmaceuticals for the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, OZ Biogenics in Myanmar and Vietnam.

Bassam Damaj, President and Chief Executive Officer of Innovus Pharma, commented, "We are very happy about this latest commercial partnership collaboration with BroadMed with as this his agreement represents the sixth international commercial partnership for this product. This international partnership also represents the 11th such agreement for the Company and its products and its signing represents another milestone in the Company's execution of its international growth strategy to make our products commercially available in as many countries as possible."

EjectDelay will be the first product to enter this market containing benzocaine. The company is expecting to sell 20,000 to 40,000 units a year in this market once approval is received from the local Ministry of Health. Approval is expected later this year.

About EjectDelay and Premature Ejaculation

EjectDelay is an over-the-counter ("OTC") U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada compliant proprietary topical treatment containing the drug benzocaine and indicated for treatment of premature ejaculation. The drug typically works within minutes of application to the glans of the penis. In clinical trials, the application of benzocaine has been shown to delay premature ejaculation by several minutes.

For more information visit www.ejectdelay.com and www.uxor.ca

Premature ejaculation ("PE") is the most common sexual dysfunction reported by men but is still under-diagnosed and under-treated. PE can happen at any age and its prevalence is consistent across all ages. In an article in The Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2007 Sex Med 2007, D.L. Patrick, D. Rowland and M. Rothman state, "Global studies consistently report that 20-30% of men experience PE worldwide. This means that PE is experienced at similar rates across the globe."

About BroadMed Pharma

Based in Lebanon, BroadMed is a privately held Lebanese company that markets and distributes branded generic pharmaceuticals and under-licensed products. The Company operates in 20 countries in the MENA region and has over 200 products on the market.

For more information on BroadMed, go to www.broad-med.com

About Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Headquartered in San Diego, Innovus Pharma is an emerging leader in OTC and consumer products for men's and women's health and vitality. The Company generates revenues from its lead products (a) BTH Testosterone Booster, (b) BTH Human Growth Agent, (c) Zestra for female arousal and (d) EjectDelay for premature ejaculation and has an additional five marketed products in this space, including (e) Sensum+ for the indication of reduced penile sensitivity, (for sales outside the U.S. only), (f) Zestra Glide, (g)Vesele for promoting sexual and cognitive health, (i) Androferti (in the US and Canada) to support overall male reproductive health and sperm quality, (j) BTH Vision Formula, (k) BTH Blood Sugar, among others and eventually FlutiCare OTC for Allergic Rhinitis, if its ANDA is approved by the U.S. FDA.

For more information, go to www.innovuspharma.com, www.zestra.com; www.ejectdelay.com; www.myvesele.com; www.sensumplus.com; www.myandroferti.com; www.beyondhumantestosterone.com; www.getbeyondhuman.com; www.trybeyondhuman.com.

Innovus Pharma's Forward-Looking Safe Harbor

Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, receiving patent protection for any of its products, to receive approval or meet the requirements of any relevant regulatory authority, to successfully commercialize such products and to achieve its other development, commercialization and financial goals, whether we and our distributors will continue to successfully market and sell our products.. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q and other filings made with the SEC. Copies of these reports are available from the SEC's website or without charge from the Company

Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Brokers and Analysts

Kevin Holmes

Chesapeake Group

410-825-3930

info@chesapeakegp.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSX: PTU) today announced that the Hook Lake JV partners have reallocated funds for continued drilling at the Spitfire Zone this year. The Hook Lake JV project is owned jointly by Cameco Corp. (39.5%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (39.5%) and Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (21%). Current uranium exploration is targeting the Patterson Lake Corridor, the same conductive trend that hosts Fission's Triple R Deposit, NexGen Energy's Arrow Deposit by and the Company's own Spitfire Discovery.

Exploration success continued at the Spitfire Zone during 2016 with additional significant drill intercepts containing high-grade uranium mineralization. A highlight of the winter drill program was hole HK16-53 that intersected 10.0 metres of 10.3% U3O8, including 1.3 metres of 53.5% U3O8 (Purepoint PR of April 21, 2016). Based on the promising drill results, the Hook Lake JV partners have reallocated funds towards conducting additional diamond drilling. A proposed drill program is currently being prepared for approval and will be based on the 2016 drill results that include recently received geochemical assays and a structural interpretation based on the downhole acoustic televiewer results.

Highlights:

-- Funding for a drill program at the Spitfire Zone has been approved by the Hook Lake JV Partners (AREVA Resources Canada Inc. and Cameco Corp.) to commence later this year, pending acceptance of the program plan; -- The Upper Spitfire zone (230 metres below surface) remains open around the high-grade uranium intercepts including north of Hole HK16-47 (0.88% U3O8 over 20.1 metres), south of Hole HK16-43 (4.07% U3O8 over 3.1 metres, 1.19% U3O8 over 4.7 metres and 0.71% U3O8 over 7.2 metres) and up-dip of Hole HK16-53 (10.3% U3O8 over 10.0 metres); -- High priority exploration targets include step-outs from the Spitfire South mineralization (HK14-09 with 0.32% U3O8 over 6.2m) and the Lower Spitfire mineralization (HK15-27 with 12.9% U3O8 over 0.4 metres within 2.23% U3O8 over 2.8 metres); -- The Patterson high-grade mineralized trend remains relatively untested for an additional eight kilometers to the northeast; and -- The Hornet Zone is now considered to be related to the mineralized Spitfire graphitic structure based on drill results produced while testing other conductors within the southern portion of the Patterson Corridor. -- Updated figures are available on the Company's web site (http://www.purepoint.ca/uraniumprojects/hooklake.php)

The 2016 Hook Lake JV winter exploration program completed 21 drill holes for a total of 8,508 metres being drilled (including 119 metres in a lost hole). Within the Spitfire area, 12 holes were completed totaling 5,045 metres while 9 holes tested other conductors within the Patterson Structural Corridor totaling 3,343 metres. The Upper Spitfire zone remains open north of Hole HK16-47 (0.88% U3O8 over 20.1 metres), south of Hole HK16-43 (4.07% U3O8 over 3.1 metres, 1.19% U3O8 over 4.7 metres and 0.71% U3O8 over 7.2 metres) and up-dip of Hole HK16-53 (10.3% U3O8 over 10.0 metres).

Drilling of other conductors within the southern portion of the Patterson Corridor has provided evidence that the Hornet Zone, an area that encompasses the graphitic structure and weak uranium mineralization intersected by Holes HK13-06 and HK13-07, is related to the Spitfire graphitic structure.

Spitfire Zone

Drilling of the Spitfire zone has currently defined three distinct mineralized targets, the Upper Spitfire, Lower Spitfire and Spitfire South.

The Upper Spitfire mineralization was discovered early in 2016, only 255 metres below surface, with Hole HK16-37 returning 0.69% U3O8 over 9.9 metres including 9.9% U3O8 over 0.6 metres. Three styles of mineralization have now been identified within the Upper Spitfire Zone. Most common is semi-massive uranium, locally high grade, occurring along foliation and ductile shear planes within and immediately above the primary graphitic shear zone. Fracture related mineralization, associated with hematite alteration, is typically intersected above the graphitic shear zone and occurs as veins and/or breccia fault zones. The third style of mineralization, so far only seen beneath the primary graphitic shear, occurs as a hydraulic/hydrothermal breccia with uranium present as disseminations within the grey clay-rich breccia cement. The dominant orientation of the mineralization is striking 015 degrees and dipping 70 degrees SE.

The Lower Spitfire mineralization was discovered in 2015, approximately 390 metres below surface, with hole HK15-27 that returned 2.8 metres of 2.23% U3O8 including 12.90% U3O8 over 0.4 metres. The high-grade uranium mineralization is controlled by a semi-brittle structure that is coincident with the upper contact of a graphitic shear zone. Follow-up drilling has continued to intersect mineralized intervals proximal to the upper contact of the Graphitic shear zone, typically as scattered pitchblende grains along pitted foliation planes, with HK15-33 intersecting 6.8 metres of 0.18% U3O8 and HK16-54 returning 1.0 metre of 1.16% U3O8.

Spitfire South was the initial discovery of uranium mineralization in 2014 with Hole HK14-09 returning 6.2 metres of 0.32% U3O8 from the upper contact of a graphitic shear at a depth of 200 metres below surface. The follow-up hole, HK14-11, targeted the graphitic shear up-dip of HK14-09 and returned 0.57% U3O8 over 0.9 metres and an additional interval of 0.11% U3O8 over 2.0 metres. Further drilling is required in the Spitfire South area to determine the extent of the mineralization and to follow the host structure towards the Upper and Lower Spitfire mineralization located approximately 200 metres and 300 metres to the northeast, respectively.

Hornet Zone

The Hornet Zone is now considered to be related to the mineralized Spitfire graphitic structure based on drill results produced while testing other conductors within the southern portion of the Patterson Corridor. The Hornet mineralization was discovered in 2013 by hole HK13-06 that intersected strong shearing, numerous fault zones and 138 ppm U over 2.3 metres from the upper contact of a graphitic shear zone.

Hole HK13-07 was collared 400 metres south of HK13-06 and intersected shearing throughout most of its length and encountered strong hydrothermal hematite alteration at depth but no significant radioactivity. Follow-up hole HK16-36 was collared 200 metres northeast of HK13-06 and intersected patchy hydrothermal hematite and weak clay alteration and three graphitic intervals, 2, 5 and 10 metres wide, with the latter graphitic zone showing brittle deformation and weak radioactivity at the upper contact.

Hook Lake JV Project

The Hook Lake JV project is owned jointly by Cameco Corp. (39.5%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (39.5%) and Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (21%) and consists of nine claims totaling 28,683 hectares situated in the southwestern Athabasca Basin. The Hook Lake JV is considered one of the highest quality uranium exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin due to its location along the prospective Patterson Lake trend and the relatively shallow depth to the unconformity.

Current exploration is targeting the Patterson Lake Corridor that hosts Fission's Triple R Deposit (indicated mineral resource 79,610,000 lbs U3O8 at an average grade of 1.58% U3O8), NexGen Energy's Arrow Deposit (inferred mineral resource 201,900,000 lbs U3O8 at an average grade of 2.63% U3O8) and the Spitfire Discovery by the Hook Lake JV.

About Purepoint

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is focused on the precision exploration of its seven projects in the Canadian Athabasca Basin. Purepoint proudly maintains project ventures in the Basin with two of the largest uranium producers in the world, Cameco Corporation and AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Established in the Athabasca Basin well before the initial resurgence in uranium earlier last decade. Purepoint is actively advancing a large portfolio of multiple drill targets in the world's richest uranium region.

Scott Frostad BSc, MASc, PGeo, Purepoint's Vice President, Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical content of this release. Mr. Frostad has supervised the preparation of, and approved the scientific and technical disclosures in, this news release.

THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Contacts:

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc.

Chris Frostad

President and CEO

(416) 603-8368

www.purepoint.ca




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Uragold (TSX VENTURE: UBR)(FRANKFURT: UGE)(OTC PINK: URAGD) would like to inform its shareholders that PyroGenesis Canada Inc. ("PyroGenesis") has advised Uragold that the PUREVAP Quartz Vaporization Reactor (QVR) validation program, now in its beneficiation stage, has restarted and that a first batch of three (3) samples have been produced since the restart.

Bernard Tourillon, Chairman and CEO of Uragold stated, "The quick restart of the testing program demonstrates PyroGenesis ability and commitment to the advancement of our project. We are very satisfied with the milestones reached to date and we wait with anticipation for the next key milestone results."

ANTICIPATED TIMELINE FOR TESTING AND RESULTS

Having already validated that the PUREVAP QVR process can transform Uragold Quartz into Silicon Metal (Si), (See Uragold Press Release of April 19, 2016), the new material produced by the reactor was delivered to the INRS Laboratory in Quebec City for LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) analysis.

Generally speaking, Uragold anticipates receiving results within two weeks but reminds investors the exact timeline is beyond its control. The goal of these tests is the establishment of a baseline purity of the material produced by the reactor under three (3) different operational conditions and quantifying beneficiation improvements attained to date.

Theoretical modeling of the process indicates that transforming Uragold Raw Quartz into Solar Grade Purity Silicon metals is feasible. Determining the baseline purity of the Si produced by the PUREVAP QVR and quantifying beneficiation success are crucial steps in the validation and the advancement of the program.

Tourillon added, "Reaching our goal of transforming Uragold Quartz into Solar Grade Purity Silicon seems within reach but it will probably require identifying and implementing process improvements and completing additional tests. Having said that, we are very close to reaching the point where the following recent statement made by PyroGenesis CEO, P. Peter Pascali, takes on its importance as we are about to have the information necessary to decide about advancing the project to the pilot stage - 'We look forward to the final results of our testing program and advancing to the pilot stage with Uragold'."

UPCOMING AGM - JUNE 22, 2016

Uragold would like to remind shareholders that our AGM will be on June 22, 2016 at 10:00 AM. Shareholders of record as of May 16, 2016 should soon receive their Information circular and proxy documentation. The meeting will be held at the offices of McCarthy Tetrault, 25th floor, 1000 Rue de la Gauchetiere W, Montreal, Quebec, in the MTL/QC conference room. We invite all of our shareholders to attend, meet management, vote on agenda items and discuss the company's milestones, as well as, future plans...

ADDITIONAL FUND RAISING

The Corporation is embarking on an accelerated development strategy where, in combination with it presents and anticipated PUREVAP QVR development programs; Uragold will soon be starting a field exploration campaign program on our Roncevaux Quartz Property in order to delineate a resource. This is the first step required for the preparation of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of Roncevaux as the feed material for the PyroGenesis' PUREVAP QVR process. In order to meet these goals and cover the legal and regulatory cost associated with the gold spin out, the Corporation has chosen to complete the following financing:

Private Placement

Uragold announces that it's proceeding with a two new non-brokered private placements. The first being for a maximum of 2,700,000 hard cash units ("HC Unit") at $0.14 per Unit for a gross proceeds of $378,000 and the second being for a maximum of 2,700,000 Flow Through Shares ("FT Shares") at $0.14 per FT Shares for a gross proceeds of $378,000. Both placements combined represent a total gross amount of $756,000. Insider participation in this placement could accounts up to 5% of the total amount subscribed. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for general corporate expenditures, PUREVAP QVR related expenses and exploration activities.

In case of over-subscription of the placement and other certain conditions, Uragold reserve the right to increase the size of the Hard Cash private placement by up to an additional 3,500,000 HC Unit at $0.14 per Unit for an additional gross proceeds of $490,000 and up to an additional 1,500,000 FT Shares at $0.14 per FT Shares for an additional gross proceeds of $210,000.

Each Hard cash Unit will be comprised of one (1) common share and one (1) common share purchase warrant ("Warrant") of the Company. Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the capital stock of the Company at an exercise price of $ 0.25 during a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the placement. Each share issued pursuant to the placement will have a mandatory four (4) month holding period from the date of closing of the placement. The placement is subject to standard regulatory approvals. No purchase warrants will be available for the Flow Through Shares placement.

In Connection with the above placement, the Company may end up paying a cash finder's fee of $42,000 and issued of 240,000 common shares and 60,000 options to EMD Financial Inc. of Montreal Quebec. Each option will give the right to purchase one (1) common share at 14 cents for 24 months. In case of over-subscription, these amounts may increase.

SHARES FOR SERVICES PROGRAM

Further to our press release of April 15 2016, a debt of $ 28,250 was extinguished through the issuance of 370,780 common shares of the Corporation.

About Uragold

Uragold Bay Resources is a TSX-V listed junior exploration company planning to become a vertically integrated and diversified High Value Specialty Materials Company. Uragold has announced plans to spin out its Beauce Gold Project - the largest placer gold deposit in eastern North America. Our Business model is focused on developing unique projects that can generate high yield returns and significant free cash flow within a short time line.

High Value Specialty Materials

In September 2015, PyroGenesis announced that it had filed for a provisional patent for the PUREVAP Quartz Vaporization Reactor (QVR) process, which it noted was able to produce silicon, at a lower cost, while generating less CO2 emissions than current processes.

On April 19, 2016, PyroGenesis announced that early test results of the PUREVAP QVR process have demonstrated that it can transform high purity quartz into silicon metal. The PUREVAP QVR validation program his now in its second stage whereby the operational parameters of the reactor are adjusted in order to achieve the transformation of Uragold Quartz into Solar Grade Purity Si.

Uragold, with its worldwide exclusive usage of PyroGenesis' PUREVAP QVR, is endeavouring to become a vertically integrated Silicon Metal (98.5% Si), High Purity Silicon Metal (99.99% Si), Solar Grade Silicon Metal (6N Purity / 99.9999% Si) and/or Higher (9N Purity / 99.9999999% Si) producer.

The PUREVAP QVR process's big advantage is its one step direct transformation of Quartz into High Purity Silicon Metal Solar Grade Silicon Metal and/or Higher Purity product, thereby potentially allowing Uragold to manufacture high value material for the same operating cost presently being paid by traditional producers to make Metallurgical Grade Si (98.5% Si) using the traditional arc furnace approach.

The Science Behind PyroGenesis PUREVAP QVR Process Is Solid:

-- Plasma arc based process can and has transformed High Purity Quartz into Mg Si. -- Plasma arc based process can and is being used to purify Mg Si into higher value materials such as Sg Si. -- Finally, refining Mg Si using an electron-beam furnace in a high vacuum- processing environment has proven the concept of the elimination of elements whose vapor pressures are higher than that of silicon.

What is unique and ground breaking is the combination of these three proven processes into one step.

A Green And Clean Company

Uragold, with its worldwide exclusive usage of PyroGenesis' PUREVAP QVR will also be implementing a process to make Sg Si, which is estimated to generate 14.1 kg CO2 eq/Kg SG Si, versus the 54.0 kg CO2 eq/Kg SG Si of emissions generated by the Siemens process (90% of the present production process). This represents 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, which is justified by elimination of the emissions emanating from the use of chemicals, as well as, energy consumption from the additional purification step.

High Purity Quartz Properties

Uragold is also the largest holder of High Purity Quartz properties in Quebec, with over 3,500 Ha under claims. Despite the abundance of quartz, very few deposits are suitable for high purity applications. High Purity Quartz supplies are tightening, prices are rising, and exponential growth is forecast. Quartz from the Roncevaux property successfully passed rigorous testing protocols of a major silicon metal producer confirming that our material is highly suited for their silicon metal production.

About Our Beauce Gold Project - Preparing To Be Spun Out To Unlock Value

The Beauce Gold Project is a unique, historically prolific gold field located in the municipality of Saint-Simon-les-Mines in the Beauce region of Southern Quebec. Comprising of a block of 37 claims 100% owned by Uragold Bay Resources, the project area hosts a six (6) km long unconsolidated gold bearing sedimentary units (a lower saprolite and an upper brown diamictite) holding the largest placer gold deposit in eastern North America. The gold in saprolite indicates a close proximity to a bedrock source of gold providing significant potential for further exploration discoveries.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's on-going filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Shares outstanding: 124,424,454

Contacts:

Uragold

Bernard J. Tourillon

Chairman and CEO

(514) 907-1011



Uragold

Patrick Levasseur

President and COO

(514) 262-9239

www.uragold.com



Paradox Public Relations Inc.

Carl Desjardins

(514) 341-0408




OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Electric transmission company ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC), which is in deal to be bought by Fortis Inc. in $11.3 billion deal, Wednesday announced that Rejji Hayes has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer. Hayes continues to be responsible for the company's accounting, internal audit, investor relations, treasury, financial planning and analysis, management reporting, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and tax functions of the company. Before joining ITC as vice president, Finance and Treasurer in 2012, Hayes was assistant treasurer and director, Corporate Finance and Financial Strategy at Exelon Corp. in Chicago. He also served as vice president, Mergers and Acquisitions at Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. Separately, ITC said it has implemented organizational changes, appointing chief business unit officer, and chief administrative officer. According to the firm, the recent leadership changes are the latest step in an ongoing organizational development process to enhance its focus on its business units. Effective immediately, and reporting to president, chairman and CEO Joseph Welch, the company named Linda Blair, executive vice president and chief business unit officer. Daniel Oginsky has been appointed executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Jon Jipping remains executive vice president and chief operating officer and will retain all of his current functional responsibilities. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tiffany & Co. (TIF) reported first-quarter net earnings of $87 million, or $0.69 per share compared to $105 million, or $0.81 per share, in the prior year. The company noted that its first-quarter results included a tax benefit of $0.05 per share related to the settlement of a tax examination. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.68 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.



Tiffany said its net earnings were lower than the prior year resulting from a decline in the operating margin, as improved gross margin was more than offset by a lack of sales leverage on operating expenses.



Worldwide net sales declined 7% to $891 million and comparable store sales declined 9%. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, worldwide net sales declined 7%, and comparable store sales declined 9%. Analysts expected revenue of $915.10 million for the quarter. The company said its Worldwide net sales were lower than the prior year and reflected declines in all regions except Japan, which management attributes to a continuation of softness in spending by both local customers and foreign tourists.



In the Americas, total sales of $403 million were 9% below the prior year and comparable store sales declined 10%. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, total sales and comparable store sales declined 8% and 9%, respectively, with management attributing the declines to varying degrees of softness in spending by U.S. customers and foreign tourists.



Gross margin increased to 61.2% in the quarter, from 59.1%, a year ago. The company said the increase was due to favorable product input costs and the effect of a shift in sales mix towards higher-margin products, as well as price increases.



Frederic Cumenal, chief executive officer, said, 'As expected, this was a difficult quarter in terms of both sales and earnings growth. We faced numerous challenges, including continued pressure from foreign tourist spending in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, particularly in Hong Kong. However, we are continuing to take actions that are intended to strengthen sales growth with local customers in the U.S. and around the world.'



Tiffany & Co. said its management is now forecasting full year earnings per share in 2016 to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage from 2015's adjusted earnings per share. In March, the company projected its full year earnings per share will range from unchanged to a mid-single-digit decline compared with 2015's $3.83 per share, excluding the loan impairment and staffing and occupancy charges.



Management of Tiffany & Co. expects EPS in the second quarter to decline by a similar rate as occurred in the first quarter.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Effex Management Solutions, a leading on-site staffing agency that specializes in large volume contingent workforce management solutions, was featured in an In View special edition half-hour show on Saturday, May 21st, 2016 at 4:30 PM EDT on the Fox Business Network.

In View, a nationwide educational television programming series hosted by legendary journalist and former CNN host, Larry King, produced an educational segment on the contingent workforce issues faced by companies in manufacturing and distribution.

Louis Flory, President and CEO of Effex, was profiled as he shared the flaws he discovered within the traditional staffing model and how he re-invented the trade.

"Prior to starting Effex, I noticed that companies in need of a contingent labor force were too often dealing with costly overtime, high-turnover rates, product defects and an inability to hit production goals," said Louis Flory.

"Effex eliminates all of that with our client partnerships and our unique recruiting and training programs," he continued. "By strictly working with one client per given market, our partnerships have yielded to 100% client retention since starting the company in 2007."

Other Effex executives including Tara Jones, VP of Operations and Ed Shaw, Senior VP of Partner Development at Effex, also appeared on the show to further explain the Effex partnership approach. The company resolves client-needs through tailored support plans, dedicated on-site management teams per facility, and quarterly performance reviews and daily production meetings.

Click here to view Effex's segment on In View.

About Effex Management Solutions

Effex Management Solutions is a national large volume contingent workforce management solutions firm headquartered in Kingwood, Texas. They specialize in human capital solutions for clients in manufacturing, warehouse and distribution markets. By implementing customized programs, including their Strategic Alliance and Flex Force programs, Effex dramatically improves productivity, lowers overhead cost and guarantees 100% staffing for every shift, every day.

To learn more about Effex, please visit them on the web at effexms.com.

Contact:

Karen Franco

832.350.4161

Email Contact




SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- ThousandEyes, the network intelligence company that delivers visibility into every network, today announced Agent-To-Agent tests making it easier for network operations teams to quickly troubleshoot and pinpoint issues caused by performance degradation in the reverse path. As organizations increasingly rely on the Internet for business connectivity, they lose critical visibility of their network, which is now outside of their control. ThousandEyes provides visibility into every network segment, including the Internet, and with this new capability enables organizations to quickly see both forward and reverse paths. This more granular understanding enables networking teams to pinpoint precisely where issues are located and in which direction, leading to faster and more accurate issue resolution and higher service levels -- critical as networks become more cloud-centric and less reliable.

"It is often forgotten that most network traffic is transactional and information can come back on a completely different path than the way it was sent when traversing the Internet," said Scott Cressman, head of product management at ThousandEyes. "Traffic asymmetry is nothing new, but it's actually becoming more frequent. The adoption of direct Internet access, SD-WAN and software defined networking are driving more frequent path changes. By providing forward- and reverse-path insights, we're offering more complete path information and richer, intuitive unified visualization of the traffic flows between points. This helps organizations analyze Internet peering and troubleshoot provider issues or unexpected routing configurations."

ThousandEyes Agent-to-Agent Tests enables organizations to gain superior visibility into their cloud, SaaS and application and services deployments with the addition of bi-directional path visibility. Enterprise and Cloud Agents automatically map both forward and reverse paths between endpoints, providing richer context and practical visualizations. This provides network teams with the knowledge of exactly where a problem exists, enabling them to take immediate action and involve the responsible parties.

Routing between two end-points requires finding the best path across potentially multiple intermediary points, with each network applying its own policies, and this leads to a high likelihood of asymmetric paths. The level of asymmetry can be dependent on a number of factors including:

Load-balancing algorithms, such as ECMP

Routers with adaptive routing algorithms, like SD-WAN

Business relationships and peering policies between networks

Agent-to-Agent Tests also includes network address translation (NAT) traversal, eliminating the need for manual configuration of NAT firewall rules. NAT traversal can automatically detect ThousandEyes agents behind the firewall so that if the internal IP address of the agent changes, the NAT rules don't need to be updated.

ThousandEyes Agent-to-Agent Tests is now generally available to all users.

Learn more:

ThousandEyes Blog on Agent-to-Agent Tests

ThousandEyes Product Overview

Network Intelligence

ThousandEyes Trial Account

Follow ThousandEyes on Twitter

About ThousandEyes:

ThousandEyes is a network intelligence platform that delivers visibility into every network an organization relies on, enabling them to optimize and improve application delivery, end-user experience and ongoing infrastructure investments. Leading companies such as Equinix, ServiceNow and Twitter, as well as eBay and other members of the Fortune 500, use ThousandEyes to improve performance and availability of their business-critical applications. ThousandEyes is backed by Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Tenaya Capital and GV (formerly Google Ventures), and has headquarters in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit https://www.thousandeyes.com or follow us on Twitter at @ThousandEyes.

Media Contact:

Bill Rundle

Highwire PR

415-963-4174

ThousandEyes@highwirepr.com




ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Oversight Systems, a leading operational expense analysis company, today announced it has been selected as a Cool Vendor in the Procurement and Sourcing Technology report, 2016 by leading analyst firm, Gartner, Inc. The report provides key findings and recommendations for procurement and IT leaders to keep their business compliant and operating at peak performance. A complimentary copy of the report is available here.

According to the report, "By 2020, over 26 percent of global companies will use advanced analytics and proprietary algorithms in one or more areas of their procurement, sourcing and supply chain operations." -- Gartner, Cool Vendors in Procurement and Sourcing Technology, 2016 was authored on May 9, 2016 by Desere Edwards, Deborah R Wilson, Nigel Montgomery and Ray Barger Jr.

"We believe Oversight's inclusion in Gartner's Procurement and Sourcing Technology, 2016 report is recognition of the breakthrough value proposition of our Insights On Demand (IOD) solution. The deep domain expertise embedded in our packaged analytics deliver the insights customers should be looking for across spending and travel expenses," said Patrick Taylor, CEO of Oversight. "The 'turnkey' IOD solution delivers business and regulatory insights that improving efficiencies, increase policy compliance and savings/cost avoidance for our industry leading customers."

Oversight Insights On Demand is designed to assist travel & expense, purchase card, and accounts payable programs in automating policy compliance. The technology applies sophisticated artificial intelligence based forensic analytics, to comprehensively examine expense transactions. Oversight displays non-compliant spending via plain-language alerts, integrated case management, and powerful dashboards that segment user data with ease. By identifying trends and patterns of behavior, Oversight allows organizations to focus on the employees and vendors driving the majority of inappropriate activity.

Oversight is used by commercial and government organizations to monitor over $2 trillion in spend annually. Oversight has a proven record of innovation in analytics and real-world results, the world's largest corporations and government organizations rely on Oversight to discover hidden opportunities for improving compliance within their financial operations.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Resources:

Gartner Report: Cool Vendor in the Procurement and Sourcing Technology report, 2016

About Oversight

Oversight Insights On Demand is a web-based software solution that automates spending program compliance by comprehensively analyzing expense report, purchase card, and accounts payable transactions to identify fraud, non-compliant purchases, and inefficient and wasteful spending. Oversight allows you to proactively monitor business transactions for risk, identify employees and vendors exhibiting patterns of potentially improper behavior or collusion, and act on those issues.

Oversight makes a difference within the companies it serves, and has the experience to prove it; analyzing $2 trillion in expenditures annually at Fortune Global 5000 companies and government agencies. Oversight's solution is strengthened by partnerships with Concur, Oracle, SAP, and TSYS. www.oversightsystems.com.

Connect With Oversight

Twitter: @OversightSystms

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/oversight-systems

Blog: Oversight Blog
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) -

Who

Real Intent, known for its blazingly fast, precise functional verification solutions proven to accelerate RTL verification and sign-off of giga-gate SoC and FPGA designs

What

Is bringing its advanced Ascent and Meridian technology, EDA expertise and espresso energy to the 53 rd Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Austin, Texas, June 5-9, 2016. In the spirit of faster verification and design success, Real Intent invites attendees to Booth #527 to:

Learn the latest information about Real Intent's Ascent family of tools for the fastest static RTL verification prior to synthesis and simulation, and its Meridian tools that enable CDC and SDC sign-off at the RTL and gate-level.

View technical presentations to get up to speed on Real Intent's latest advancements, proven on giga-gate SoC and FPGA designs. Click here to make an appointment for our private suite presentations.

Complete a quick verification survey to be entered into drawings for a cool Roku 4 streaming player and an Amazon Echo wireless speaker and voice commander.

Espresso Yourselfand enjoy a high-speed coffee from our DeLonghi Magnificasuper-automatic coffee machine, to celebrate faster verification and design.

Visit Real Intent and OpenText (Booth #638), Real Intent's "Espresso Yourself" partner at DAC; get a ticket stamped by both companies to enter drawings to win $100 Amazon Gift Cards.

Receive a rose as a sweet thank-you gift.

Real Intent also invites attendees to view What is the Real Cost of Verification -- a stimulating panel on Thursday, June 9, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in room 18AB. Moderated by Kelly Larson of Paradigm Works, panelists Harry Foster of Mentor Graphics Corp., Pranav Ashar of Real Intent, Inc., Raviv Gal of IBM Research, and Subhasish Mitra of Stanford University will discuss what design cost really includes. They also will explore how to measure and improve verification coverage, reduce rework, and improve the chances of first-time silicon success.

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is the premier conference devoted to the design and automation of electronic systems (EDA), embedded systems and software (ESS), and intellectual property (IP). DAC offers outstanding training, education, exhibits and superb networking opportunities for designers, researchers, tool developers and vendors. 7,000 attendees come from all over the world to learn about products and solutions that bring additional value to the industry. This audience represents decision-makers at all levels of the buying process from the leading semiconductor, computer, telecommunication and consumer electronics companies.

When/Where

Exhibit in Booth #527:

Mon., Tue., Wed. June 6, 7, 8

10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

At the Austin Convention Center

500 E Cesar Chavez St.

Austin, TX 78701, United States

About Real Intent

Companies worldwide rely on Real Intent's EDA software to accelerate early functional verification and advanced sign-off of electronic designs. Real Intent's comprehensive CDC verification, advanced RTL analysis and sign-off solutions eliminate complex failure modes of SoCs, and lead the market in performance, capacity, accuracy and completeness. Please visit www.realintent.com for more information.

Acronyms

CDC: Clock Domain Crossing

EDA: Electronic Design Automation

FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array

RTL: Register Transfer Level

SoC: Systems-on-Chip

Real Intent and the Real Intent logo are registered trademarks, and Ascent, iDebug and Meridian are trademarks of Real Intent, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

Press contact:

Sarah Miller for Real Intent

ThinkBold Corporate Communications

231.264.8636

sarah@thinkbold.com
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Globalstar Canada Satellite Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. (NYSE MKT: GSAT) and the leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, announced today that the SPOT Gen3 Satellite Messenger has been chosen by the Government of Nunavut to help increase safety of its personnel and those it helps to protect. SPOT was chosen based on its affordability, connectivity features and ability to assist during Search and Rescue operations. To date, SPOT has helped to initiate over 4,000 rescues around the globe, 1,100 of those occurring in Canada.

According to Kris Mullaly, Policy Analyst/Communications Officer with the Department of Community and Government Services, Government of Nunavut: "The Government of Nunavut promotes the use of communication devices when travelling on the land. Such devices save lives, are cost effective and reduce risks for volunteer search and rescue personnel who play such an important role in helping our citizens. We are planning to replace our older devices with the Gen3 because when used, these devices increase safety for our hunters, boaters, visitors and recreational travelers, at least they would have an option to get help should they ever need it."

SPOT Gen3 is a rugged, pocket-sized and affordable GPS messenger that helps users stay connected via satellite even where there is poor or no cellular signal. It provides off-the-grid messaging, emergency alerts, and extreme GPS tracking, with track check points capable of taking place as frequently as every 2 1/2 minutes. SPOT Gen3 is part of a family of products that work virtually everywhere in the world, offering peace of mind through reliable satellite-based connectivity. SPOT users have the ability to track assets, use location-based messaging and signal for help beyond the boundaries of cellular.

60,000 SPOT activations in Canada

"Canada has now reached a record number of activations, with more than 60,000 customers choosing the technology for emergency notification, messaging and GPS tracking," says Jim Mandala, Vice President and General Manager of Globalstar Canada Satellite Co. "With its affordability and reliability, SPOT is the satellite communications device of choice for public sector organizations like the Government of Nunavut, recreational and business customers who live and work in areas not served by cellular networks. For businesses that need to address mandated lone worker safety legislation, SPOT provides a simple and affordable way to minimize the risks and address check-in requirements for employees working alone."

Averaging almost two rescues a day, SPOT provides affordable location-based messaging and life-saving emergency notification technology to hundreds of thousands of users around the world, completely independent of cellular coverage. Since the technology was introduced in 2007, approximately 25% (1,100) of SPOT's 4,000+ rescues have been initiated in Canada. To date, British Columbia has reported the greatest number of SPOT rescues (42%), followed by Northern Territories including Nunavut (18%), which together accounts for well over half of all rescues in Canada. With an estimated 80% of Canada's geographic land mass not covered by wireless networks(i), SPOT provides an affordable and reliable line of satellite communications for those who live and work in areas not served by cellular.

SPOT Rescue Infographic

To view rescue information in more detail, download this infographic which breaks down incidents by region and activity. For information on SPOT rescues, including a March 2016 incident involving a hunter from Baker Lake, Nunavut who was rescued after his snowmobile broke down in -40 degrees Celsius conditions, click here.

New low pricing on SPOT

Globalstar Canada has just released a limited time 50% off offer (via mail in rebate) on SPOT Gen3, the SPOT Global Phone and SPOT Trace. For complete details and to learn more about SPOT products and availability, click here.

About Globalstar, Inc.

Globalstar is a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services, leveraging the world's newest mobile satellite communications network. Customers around the world in industries like government, emergency management, marine, logging, oil & gas and outdoor recreation rely on Globalstar to conduct business smarter and faster, maintain peace of mind and access emergency personnel. Globalstar data solutions are ideal for various asset and personal tracking, data monitoring, SCADA and IoT applications. The Company's products include mobile and fixed satellite telephones, the innovative Sat-Fi satellite hotspot, Simplex and Duplex satellite data modems, tracking devices and flexible service packages. For more information, visit www.globalstar.com.

About SPOT LLC

SPOT LLC, a subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc., provides affordable satellite communication and tracking devices for recreational use. SPOT Global Phone uses the Globalstar network to transmit two-way voice and data communications. SPOT messaging devices use both the GPS satellite network and the Globalstar network to transmit text messages and GPS coordinates. Since 2007, SPOT has provided peace of mind by allowing customers to remain in contact completely independent of cellular coverage, having initiated over 4,000 rescues worldwide. For more information, visit FindMeSPOT.com.

Note that all SPOT products described in this press release are the products of SPOT LLC, which is not affiliated in any manner with Spot Image of Toulouse, France or Spot Image Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia. SPOT Connect is a trademark of Spot LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

(i) CRTC report, section 5.5: "Wireless networks cover approximately 20% of Canada's geographic land mass"

Contacts:

CMM Communications (for Globalstar Canada Satellite Co.)

Caroline McGrath

cmcgrath@globalstar.ca

416-972-1642




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Great Lakes Graphite Inc. ("GLK" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: GLK)(OTC PINK: GLKIF)(FRANKFURT: 8GL) today announces that the Company has recently completed end-to-end commercial transactions from order to delivery with two local customers, marking completion of a key initial step in the transition of the company towards becoming a commercial enterprise. Each of the customers has ordered and received material that will be used for product qualification and performance testing. Material used to fulfill these orders was produced at a pilot plant facility and is representative of products that will be produced at Matheson.

Great Lakes Graphite CEO Paul Gorman said, "Advancing the Company to the point where we are now prepared and able to accept and fulfill purchase orders from customers has required a sustained and focused effort from a highly-motivated team. A manageable number of modest purchase orders are enabling us to build out the internal systems and capabilities we require to rapidly scale our business. This approach enables us to ensure that the internal procedures and controls are implemented and working as designed in advance of the next steps for the Company."

Product Qualification Opens Marketing Channel

Following several months of product quality and performance testing, Great Lakes Graphite is finalizing details of a joint marketing agreement with one of the world's premier advanced materials solutions providers. GLK's new marketing partner is a Fortune 500 company that develops, manufactures and markets highly engineered advanced materials for global customers across a wide range of markets, including consumer electronics, defense and science, industrial and aerospace, automotive electronics, telecommunications infrastructure, appliances, medical and energy.

Preparations for Commissioning Advance at Matheson

Activities to continue preparing the plant for commissioning have been greatly facilitated by energizing of the facility. Availability of power has enabled the Company to move forward with testing all of the components that are involved in the micronization circuits at the plant. In addition to activities directed at the flowsheet components, other recent activities include a workplace safety audit and a number of initiatives targeted at improving security and providing necessary workplace amenities. Paul Adams, President of Northfil Resources Limited, said, "Following a recent site visit, we are extremely pleased with the significant milestones achieved by Great Lakes and are very excited about the future."

About Great Lakes Graphite: Great Lakes Graphite Inc. is an industrial minerals company focussed on bringing value-added carbon products to a well-defined market.

The Company has entered into an agreement for shared use of a portion of an industrial facility located in Matheson, Ontario owned by Northfil Resources Limited, as well as for supply of high quality natural graphite concentrate (see news release dated 03/23/15), which have positioned Great Lakes Graphite to become an emerging domestic manufacturer and supplier of micronized products to a growing regional customer base where pricing and demand continue to rise.

Further information regarding Great Lakes can be found on the Company's website at: www.GreatLakesGraphite.com.

Great Lakes Graphite trades with symbol GLK on the TSX Venture Exchange and currently has 101,227,645 shares outstanding.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward looking information" which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking information. When used in this press release, such forward looking information may use such words as "may', "will', "expect', "believe', "plan' and other similar terminology. Forward looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations relating to the future events and the operating performance of the Company, and readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to fulfill the orders and future orders, regulatory requirements, general economic, market or business conditions and future developments in the sectors of the economy in which the business of Great Lakes operates. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Please see the Company's financial statements, MD&A and other documents available on www.sedar.com, for a more detailed description of the risk factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking information, whether a result of new information, future results or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Great Lakes Graphite Inc.

Paul Ferguson

Chief Marketing Officer

PFerguson@GreatLakesGraphite.com

1-800-754-4510 x106



Great Lakes Graphite Inc.

Paul Gorman

Chief Executive Officer

PGorman@GreatLakesGraphite.com

1-800-754-4510 x109




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSX VENTURE: ID), is pleased to announce that it will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ID" on the opening of the market, May 25, 2016.

Additionally, the Company announces the launch of its new Smart Scan Technology to further complement its award winning Delivery Trust email encryption solution.

Smart Scan is a propriety scanning technology that prevents the possibility of sensitive information being sent out inadvertently. The technology prohibits emails from being delivered which contain certain keywords within the subject, body or an attachment of an email that may be deemed sensitive or at risk of a security breach.

Todd Sexton, CEO of Identillect commented, "We believe this is an added feature will see very strong uptake with our existing and growing user base. The technology significantly reduces the risk of security breach and release of sensitive information due to unintentional human error, providing a more secure email delivery solution than anything else on the market we have seen."

In today's digital business age, cybersecurity is a major concern across a wide array of professional industries. Data breaches can cause significant losses not just in legal and regulatory fines, but also in a tarnished brand and loss of trust with one's clients.

Identillect sets itself apart from its competition with unique and intuitive customizable security and control capabilities. The new Smart Scan Technology allows businesses to enforce compliant employee emailing behavior by requiring the use of encryption when sensitive content is identified.

About Identillect

Identillect's Delivery Trust proprietary e-mail encryption delivery technology is targeted at organizations of all sizes, as well as individuals, and is sold to consumers on a monthly subscription basis. The product can be accessed by customers on both desktop and mobile devices, and messages are secured with patented, state-of-the-art encryption technology with the click of a button, ensuring their safety while in transit.

Since commercializing the product, Identillect has quickly grown its subscriber base and is becoming recognized in the security industry as a top e-mail security provider.

For more information on Identillect and its award winning Delivery Trust email encryption solution, please visit www.identillect.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of:

IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

Contacts:

Identillect Technologies Corp.

Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

(949) 468-7878

todd.sexton@identillect.com

visit www.identillect.com



Investor Relations Contact:

KIN Communications Inc.

Arlen Hansen

President

1-866-684-6730

id@kincommunications.com




COSTA MESA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Sipp Industries, Inc. (OTC: SIPC), a diversified conglomerate corporation specializing in technology, manufacturing and distribution of commercial and consumer products announces it has been awarded a new contract with Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. (OTC: KGKG) for hemp extract powder. Kono Gold will use the hemp extract powder supplied by Sipp Industries in a new line of premium hemp beverages slated for launch in the third quarter.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: AAO) is pleased to announce that it has released its financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2016. For the three months ending March 31, 2016, the Corporation had record revenues of $1,011,000, an increase of $479,000 or 90% as compared to the three months ending March 31, 2015.

Total comprehensive income for the three months ending March 31, 2016 was $178,000 or a net gain of $0.001 per share, an increase of $374,000 or $0.002 per share, as compared to a loss of $196,000 or $0.003 per share for the three months ending March 31, 2015. Gross margins for the three months ending March 31, 2016 was 45.6% compared to 35.5% for the three months ending March 31, 2015. The Corporation also reduced its operating expenses in the three months ending March 31, 2016 to $279,000 from $299,000 for the same period in 2015.

"The record results for the first quarter of 2016 is an indication of the success that the Corporation has experienced in its sales efforts in 2015 and 2016," states Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. "The record revenue was a result of the increased spending of the Corporation's current clients and the addition of new clients through the quarter."

Consolidated Financial Highlights March 31, 2016 December 31, 2015 --------------- ------------------ Total current assets $ 1,164,000 $ 911,000 Total non-current assets $ 52,000 $ 56,000 --------------- ------------------ Total Assets $ 1,216,000 $ 967,000 Current liabilities $ 942,000 $ 866,000 Long-term debt $ 45,000 $ 50,000 --------------- ------------------ Total Liabilities $ 987,000 $ 916,000 Total Shareholders' Equity $ 229,000 $ 51,000 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity $ 1,216,000 $ 967,000 March 31, 2016 March 31, 2015 --------------- ------------------ Revenue $ 1,011,000 $ 532,000 Expenses Direct costs $ 550,00 $ 343,000 Selling, general and administrative $ 243,000 $ 247,000 Research and development $ 36,000 $ 42,000 --------------- ------------------ Total Expenses $ 829,000 $ 632,000 Other Expenses Finance costs $ (4,000) $ (19,000) Loss on sale of investments - $ (43,000) Foreign exchange gain / (loss) $ 13,000 $ (28,000) --------------- ------------------ $ 820,000 $ (732,000) --------------- ------------------ Income before taxes $ 191,000 $ (200,000) Income taxes $ 6,000 - Net and comprehensive income $ 185,000 $ (200,000)

The financial statements, notes to the financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ending March 31, 2016 are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About the Corporation:

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon") and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients.

Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co.

Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and as neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

Augusta Industries Inc.

Allen Lone

President, CEO

(905) 275 -8111 Ext 226

atlone@fox-tek.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Genius Properties Ltd. (the "Corporation") (CSE: GNI) has entered into an option agreement with Majescor Resources Inc. to sale 100% of the Montagne B lithium properties (approximately 708 hectares), located 8 and 12 km southwest of Nemaska Lithium's World Class Whabouchi lithium deposit in central Quebec.

The Montagne B properties were originally staked by Osisko Exploration (Virginia Gold Mines Inc.) in 2003, at the same time when Osisko acquired the Montagne A property from Inco. Since that time, the Montagne A property has been developed into Nemaska Lithium's World Class Whabouchi lithium deposit (28 million tonnes Measured and Indicated Resources at 1.57 wt.% Li2O: (see www.nemaskalithium.com). The Whabouchi deposit comprises a granitic pegmatite dike that extends for 1.2 km and is up to 40 m wide at surface. In comparison, the Montagne B properties have at least two untested granitic pegmatite dikes that extend for over 3 km and 1.6 km in length each. The Montagne B pegmatites are part of a large and highly prospective dike swarm of differentiated pegmatites with lithium, tantalum, niobium, and beryllium that extends over a strike length of 110 km. To management's knowledge, the Montagne B properties have never been explored for these commodities.

Nemaska is fast-tracking the Whabouchi lithium deposit through feasibility studies, and has recently announced that it has acquired a modular mill to produce lithium concentrate to feed its Phase 1 lithium hydroxide plant (Nemaska Lithium Press Release April 29, 2016).

Terms of the sale agreement

Under the agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Property, Majescor must make cash payments and issue shares as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Period Payment ($) Shares ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- At signature 6 250$ 625 000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Months following signing of agreement 6 250$ 625 000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 12 500$ 1 250 000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Majescor grants to the Company a royalty of 0.5% (NSR). Majescor has the option to purchase 50% of the NSR for a cash consideration of $ 250,000 payable to Genius.

About Genius Properties

Genius is one Canadian mineral exploration company focused on developing projects with some of the world's most critical metals and minerals, Genius have team and potential to discover new world-class deposits. Also, Genius is the ideal partner for exploration companies and capital pool companies looking for a qualifying transaction and projects of merit. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Stephane Leblanc

President and CEO

(418) 717-2553

slconcept@hotmail.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Affinor Growers Inc. (CSE: AFI)(FRANKFURT: 1AF)(OTCQB: RSSFF) ("Affinor" or the "Corporation) is pleased to announce it has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with a private Tennessee farming company (The "Licensee"). The agreement allows the Licensee to purchase and install Affinor's growing towers in order to grow and produce fruits and vegetables. The facility will be the first commercial facility located in the US.

The company plans to purchase and install 24 towers, and may install further towers at a later date. Affinor expects to receive payment for the towers during the fall. When the towers are installed and producing, under the agreement, Affinor will receive 10% of sales as a royalty up to $100,000 in royalty payments, and then a 3% of sales royalty thereafter.

Jarrett Malnarick of Affinor Comments: "Affinor is pleased to have signed another license agreement with a large scale farm in Tennessee. Its' central location and distribution potential makes it an ideal location to build a vertical farm to supply the local and national fresh produce market"

About Affinor Growers Inc.

Affinor Growers is a publicly traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI"). Affinor is focused on growing high quality crops such as romaine lettuce, spinach, strawberries using its vertical farming techniques. Affinor is committed to becoming a pre-eminent supplier and grower, using exclusive vertical farming techniques.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

AFFINOR GROWERS INC.

Jarrett Malnarick, President & CEO

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. This News Release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Contacts:

Affinor Growers Inc.

Jarrett Malnarick

President and CEO

604-837-8688

jarrett@affinorgrowers.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (TSX: SBB), ("Sabina" or the "Company") is pleased to announce positive preliminary metallurgical optimization test results on its 100%-owned Back River gold project ("Back River" or the "Project") in Nunavut, Canada.

After release of the Back River Initial Project Feasibility Study in September of last year, Sabina has identified several metallurgical optimization opportunities that could have a positive economic impact on the Back River project. The two opportunities with the greatest potential impact are coarser grinding as part of the CIP circuit contemplated in the feasibility study, and revisiting flotation with the addition of regrinding concentrates to 50 micron before leaching.

Sabina has completed the initial scoping test work for the flotation and grinding of concentrates followed by leaching with very encouraging preliminary results.

"These results are the first of many optimization studies underway on the Project," said Bruce McLeod, President & CEO "These test results continue to demonstrate the optionality of Back River. This work could not only positively impact the economics of the initial production scenario, but could also generate compelling alternatives for future satellite production, at George for example. We are very encouraged and look forward to continuing work on the flow sheet."

Four representative composites were created, one for each of the Llama, Goose, Umwelt open pit and Umwelt underground deposits. The results from this first round of test work showed promising results. Recoveries for three of four composites (Umwelt open pit, Umwelt underground and Llama, representing approximately 71% of the reserves in the feasibility study) showed a potential increase in gold recoveries of approximately 2-3%. The Goose composite showed a potential reduction of approximately 3-4% in gold recovery. If further studies support the preliminary test work, this could result in an overall increase of 25,000 ounces of gold produced over the current life of mine.

Initial desktop studies have also indicated that changing to a flotation circuit could have positive impacts on both CAPEX and OPEX. Operating costs would largely be impacted by a potential reduction in installed power, and a reduction in reagent consumption. Additional benefits could include a reduction in GHG emissions due to reduced power and transportation requirements.

A flotation optimization test work program to further define the impacts to the project has been initiated.

Permitting

During the week of April 25 - 30th, 2016, the Company attended its final public hearings on the environmental assessment of the Project in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The Nunavut Impact Review Board is reviewing all submissions from those hearings and advised that they will make a final project recommendation to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada on or about June 15, 2016. A positive recommendation would be a significant milestone in the permitting/environmental assessment process and enable the transition into the licensing phase.

Qualified Persons

The Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 as pertains to the Back River Project, is Wes Carson, Vice-President, Project Development, for the Company.

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is a well-financed, emerging precious metals company with district scale, world class undeveloped assets in one of the world's newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada.

Sabina recently released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce approx. 200,000 ounces a year for approx. 11 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years. At a US$1,150 gold price and a 0.80 exchange rate, the Study delivers a potential after tax internal rate of return of approximately 24.2% with an initial CAPEX of $415 million.

In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencore's Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett River's silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter.

The Company has approximately $45 million in its treasury and is currently amending the budget and plans for 2016.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (the "forward-looking statements"), including our belief as to the extent, results and timing of test programs and various studies, permitting and environmental assessment outcomes, and access to project funding. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. While we have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and assumptions include, among others, the effects of general economic conditions, commodity prices, changing foreign exchange rates and actions by government and regulatory authorities and misjudgments in the course of preparing forward-looking statements. In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Known risk factors include risks associated with exploration and project development; the need for additional financing; the calculation of mineral resources and reserves; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in metal prices; title matters; government regulation; obtaining and renewing necessary licences and permits; environmental liability and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain of our officers or directors; the absence of dividends; currency fluctuations; labour disputes; competition; dilution; the volatility of the our common share price and volume; future sales of shares by existing shareholders; and other risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Back River Project and general risks associated with the mineral exploration and development industry described in our Annual Information Form, financial statements and MD&A for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2015 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. This news release has been authorized by the undersigned on behalf of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.

Bruce McLeod, President & CEO

555 Burrard Street, Suite 375

Vancouver, BC V7X 1M7

Tel 604 998-4175 Fax 604 998-1051

http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com/

Contacts:

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp

Nicole Hoeller

Vice-President, Communications

1 888 648-4218

nhoeller@sabinagoldsilver.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Vision Capital Corporation ("Vision") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Ira Gluskin to its Advisory Board.

Mr. Gluskin brings to Vision a unique breadth and depth of executive investment management experience, relationships, and strategic understanding of the global financial services arena.

Mr. Gluskin co-founded Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. ("Gluskin Sheff") in 1984, which is now one of Canada's pre-eminent wealth management firms, servicing high net worth private clients, estates, trusts and institutional investors. Gluskin Sheff's Common Shares are listed on the TSX under the symbol "GS." Mr. Gluskin served as the firm's President & Chief Investment Officer through December 31, 2009, and as a Director and the firm's Vice-Chairman through December 18, 2013. He has been appointed as a lifetime honourary director of Gluskin Sheff, and he continues to manage a portfolio of assets for clients of the firm. Prior to co-founding Gluskin Sheff, Mr. Gluskin worked in the investment industry for 20 years. Mr. Gluskin received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.

Mr. Gluskin is a well-known industry commentator.

He is the former Chair of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation and is a member of the University of Toronto's Boundless Campaign Executive Committee. He is a member of the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation Investment Committee and Bridgepoint Foundation Investment Committee, the Sinai Health System's Board of Directors, and the Sinai Health System's Resource Committee.

Mr. Gluskin is the former Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto and is currently a member of its Investment Committee. Mr. Gluskin is also a member of the Toronto Symphony Foundation.

Jeffrey Olin, President & CEO and Portfolio Manager of Vision noted, "My partners Frank Mayer, Andrew Moffs, and I are extremely enthusiastic regarding Ira's appointment. It is noteworthy that before co-founding Gluskin Sheff, Ira was a highly ranked real estate securities analyst at a leading Canadian investment dealer. As such, Ira brings a unique and extremely relevant combination of skills and experience to contribute in a truly value-added capacity to Vision."

About Vision Capital Corporation:

Vision Capital Corporation ("Vision"), a registrant with the Ontario Securities Commission, manages the Vision Opportunity Funds (the "Funds"), which are private equity funds focused on publicly-traded real estate securities. The Vision Funds focus on unique market inefficiencies that allow Vision to buy real estate more cheaply through the stock market than one can in the property market. The Funds target superior risk-adjusted returns through long and short investments.

The Vision Funds have received considerable industry recognition for their leading risk-adjusted total return performance. Since its inception on July 2nd, 2008, the Vision Opportunity Fund LP has delivered a total compound annual return of approximately 15%.

Contacts:

Vision Capital Corporation

Jeffrey Olin

President and CEO, Portfolio Manager

416-362-6546

olin@visioncap.ca



Vision Capital Corporation

Frank Mayer

Chairman, Portfolio Manager

416-362-6547

mayer@visioncap.ca



Vision Capital Corporation

Andrew Moffs

Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager

416-722-6357

moffs@visioncap.ca




GATINEAU, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Department of Canadian Heritage

Canadian Heritage is looking for motivated volunteers who would like to help with the celebrations on July 1 at the three official locations in Canada's Capital Region: Parliament Hill and Major's Hill Park in Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

Volunteers will be asked to welcome people with special needs, distribute flags, control the crowd, help visitors participate in different activities and provide information, among other things.

If you would like to volunteer, contact the Canadian Heritage Volunteer Centre at 819-956-2626 or PCH.centredesbenevoles-volunteercentre.PCH@canada.ca.

Quick Facts

-- More than 500 volunteers contribute to the success of the July 1 celebrations in Canada's Capital Region each year. -- Canada Day attracts about 350,000 people in the capital, a third of whom are tourists. -- Manulife has been the official sponsor of the Canada Day volunteer program for the last five years.

Quotes

"Volunteers play a major role in making the Canada Day festivities run smoothly. It is in large part thanks to the dedication, commitment and good cheer of the volunteers that so many people can join the celebration. Join the team for Canada Day: it's a one-of-a-kind opportunity to give back to the community and create new bonds in a festive atmosphere."

- The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Associated Links

Volunteer for Canada Day

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr.

Contacts:

Pierre-Olivier Herbert

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage

819-997-7788



Media Relations

Canadian Heritage

819-994-9101

1-866-569-6155

pch.media-media.pch@canada.ca




BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Housing Finance Agency releases house price index for March at 9:00 am ET Wednesday. Economists expect the index to rise to 0.5 percent on month, from 0.4 percent in February. Ahead of the data, the greenback traded mixed against its major rivals. While the greenback declined against the pound, it held steady against the yen, franc and the euro. The greenback was worth 1.1151 against the euro, 110.18 against the yen, 0.9911 against the franc and 1.4702 against the pound as of 8:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
System Delivers Public Safety Service Plus Future-Proof Support Without Hardware Upgrades

Zinwave, a global provider of wideband distributed network solutions for in-building wireless, today announced that it will showcase its UNItivity distributed wireless access solution (DAS) at the Critical Communications World show being held on May 31-June 2 in Amsterdam. In booth A24, Zinwave will demonstrate the industry's only DAS that supports all current public safety frequencies and can accommodate the addition of future frequencies without the need for hardware upgrades.

UNItivity's wideband architecture supports frequencies from 150 to 2700 MHz, providing access for any public safety frequency. In addition, UNItivity uses a streamlined design that includes just two components: a primary/secondary hub, and a thin, ceiling-mounted remote unit, so installation and maintenance is less expensive than with other, more complex DAS systems.

As an all-fiber system, Zinwave's UNItivity DAS is an ideal solution for large facilities like airports, hospitals, and hotels because cabling can extend for more than a dozen kilometers while delivering uniformly high performance at each antenna location. UNItivity also delivers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) because it natively handles a wide range of current and future public safety frequency bands, so expensive equipment upgrades aren't needed when new bands go into service.

"First responders demand uniform, high-performance wireless services inside any building," said John Spindler, vice president of marketing at Zinwave. "Our wideband, simplified DAS architecture delivers outstanding performance with the industry's lowest TCO, making it the best choice for public safety deployments."

About Zinwave

Zinwave's UNItivity platform is the only truly future-proof, universal wireless access solution on the market. UNItivity's unique wideband architecture breaks the cycle of endless DAS upgrades because it supports any frequency from 150 MHz to 2700 MHz, accommodating current and future wireless services without hardware upgrades. In addition, UNItivity's streamlined, all-fiber architecture makes it more reliable and much easier to install than traditional DAS solutions. Zinwave has a global customer base and is a subsidiary of McWane Inc. (www.mcwane.com), a privately held US manufacturing company and owners of a global group of wireless technology companies. For more information about Zinwave, please visit www.zinwave.com.

About McWane Inc.

McWane, Inc. is a family business based in Birmingham, Alabama, with companies across the United States and the world. At the McWane Family of Companies, we cast ductile iron products--including pipe, valves, hydrants, fittings, and plumbing products--manufacture fire extinguishers, fire suppression systems, steel pressure vessels, build network switches and monitoring equipment. We continue to be the leader in delivering clean, safe drinking water around the world while focusing on the safe, environmentally-friendly manufacturing of our products. The company employs more than 6,200 workers and has a longstanding commitment of support to those communities where our employees live and work. For more information, please visit www.mcwane.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005077/en/

Contacts:

Story Public Relations

Michael Schoolnik, 415-647-3816

Michael@storypr.com
Terumo BCT funds a $10,000 grant to the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

LAKEWOOD, Colorado, May 25,2016 /PRNewswire/ --Terumo BCT, a global medical device manufacturing company, is pleased to announce Rajendra Chaudhary, MD, Head of the Transfusion Medicine Department at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, India, as the 2015 winner of the Advancing Apheresis Award. The award includes a $10,000 USD grant for clinicians, physicians and operators who are leaders in the practice of therapeutic apheresis and cell collections.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371619LOGO

Applications for the 2016 Advancing Apheresis Award: Solving Venous Access Challenges are now being accepted from apheresis innovators globally. Applications are due by 30 September 2016. Click here to learn more and submit your application.

"Many thanks to Terumo BCT and the grant committee for the 2015 Advancing Apheresis Award," said Dr. Chaudhary. "The grant provides essential resources to promote apheresis medicine and blood donations and is an example of how contributions to the health care community can accelerate important initiatives."

Dr. Chaudhary's project was chosen by an independent committee of top apheresis physicians from around the world and will focus on the creation of a platelet donor registry and the promotion of apheresis through telemedicine. SGPGIMS is a top-tier medical center and the first in India to perform therapeutic plasma exchange.

The 2015 Grant Committee included the following physicians:



 KIemens Budde, MD

Head of Clinical Transplant, Department of Nephrology, Charite University, Germany



 Zbigniew Szczepiorkowski, MD, PhD

Director, Transfusion Medicine Service & Cellular Therapy Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Past President, American Society for Apheresis (ASFA); Lead Contributor to 2010 ASFA Guidelines (U.S.)



 ZiYi Lim, MBChB, MRCP, FRCPath

Senior Consultant, Haematology, Parkway Cancer Center, Singapore



 Giorgio Baldanzi, MD

Medical Director, HEMOBANCO, Brazil

For more information, please visit www.terumobct.com/advancingapheresis/ or email advancingapheresis@terumobct.com.

About Terumo BCT

Terumo BCT, a global leader in blood component, therapeutic apheresis and cellular technologies, is the only company with the unique combination of apheresis collections, manual and automated whole blood processing, and pathogen reduction technologies. We believe in the potential of blood to do even more for patients than it does today. This belief inspires our innovation and strengthens our collaboration with customers.

Media Contact

Sherri Hughes-Smith

Phone: +1.303.542.5113

press@terumobct.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 25, 2016) - Trenchant Capital Corp. (TSXV: TCC.H) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Thomas English has joined its board of directors.

Mr. English has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry and has held numerous senior roles at investment banks, including CIBC and Salman Partners, where he was head of trading and sales.

Mr. English has provided financial solutions for both small and large cap companies across differentiated business sectors, including oil and gas, technology and life sciences companies. During his 20 year career he has been involved in transactions across the entire capital structure, including debt, equity and IPO financings. Mr. English has also provided mergers and acquisition advisory services to companies operating in Canada, South America and the United States.

About Trenchant

Trenchant Capital Corp. aims to become a diversified venture capital firm with a focus on providing special situation debt financing to established companies with a proven track record. Trenchant benefits from a strategic alliance with the Hillcore Group, a leading independent Canadian investment and advisory firm, that grants Trenchant rights of first negotiation to provide financing and management services to Hillcore's pipeline of current and future private equity investments. Trenchant intends to apply in due course to the TSXV for a change of business to an Investment Issuer.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

TRENCHANT CAPITAL CORP.

Per: "Eric Boehnke"

Eric Boehnke, CEO

For further information, please contact:

Trenchant Capital Corp.

Eric Boehnke, CEO

(604) 307-4274

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements". When used in this news release, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "propose", "anticipate", "believe", "forecast", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments except as required by law. While the Company plans to apply for a change of business (as defined in TSXV policies) there is not guarantee that this will occur.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Dealnet Capital Corp. ("Dealnet" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: DLS), will release its First Quarter results on Monday May 30th before market open. A conference call to discuss Dealnet's financial results will be held thereafter at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time.

Q1 2016 CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS: DATE: Monday May 30, 2016 TIME: 10:00 A.M. EST DIAL IN NUMBER: Local / International: 416-340-2216 North American Toll Free: 866-223-7781 REPLAY NUMBER: Local / International: 905-694-9451 North American Toll Free: 800-408-3053 Passcode: 2594238 WEBSITE: To view the press release or any additional financial information, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Dealnet website at: http://www.dealnetcapital.com/investors/

About Dealnet Capital Corp.

Dealnet is an engagement enabled consumer finance company that is initially focused on home improvement finance solutions including heating ventilation and air conditioning financing and leasing. Dealnet leverages its large scale customer service and engagement technology platform to attract home improvement dealers by providing front and back office services to support dealer operations leading to origination growth.

For additional information please visit www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Dealnet Capital Corp.

Michael Hilmer

CEO

+1-416-420-5529

mhilmer@dealnetcapital.com



Dealnet Capital Corp.

Nicole Marchand

Investor Relations

+1-416-428-3533

nmarchand@dealnetcapital.com




MANCHESTER, NH--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - SalesEdge will unveil the latest release of its solutions for RFP response and sales proposal automation at the APMP Bid & Proposal Conference 2016 in Boston, MA this week. APMP's annual conference is the world's largest event for proposal, bid, tender, capture, business development and graphics professionals.

"To win more business, sales and marketing organizations need to invest in technologies that enable proposal professionals," shares SalesEdge CEO Kym Harrington. "The annual APMP conference provides proposal professionals with an excellent opportunity to learn about the technologies that improve the sales effectiveness of RFP responses and sales proposals."

At APMP, SalesEdge will showcase the latest release of Qvidian Proposal Automation software; a release with a revolutionary new approach to RFP management! With emphasis on simplicity, visibility and collaboration, customers achieve greater efficiencies and productivity. Key functionality includes drag and drop loading of RFPs, auto-searching with drag and drop answering, management of response teams, advanced collaboration capabilities, real-time response tracking and real-time project status.

"Across all industries, proposal professionals are challenged to prepare proposals that consistently provide each customer with well-written and compelling information." Kym Harrington adds, "Timely, well-managed proposals that are persuasively-written close more deals. Using Qvidian technology, SalesEdge helps proposal professionals accelerate RFP response time by up to 40 percent and improve win rates by as high as 28 percent."

Visit SalesEdge at the APMP Exhibition area this week and online at www.SalesEdgeLLC.com. SalesEdge is honored to serve as a Silver-level sponsor of APMP for the ninth consecutive year.

About SalesEdge LLC

SalesEdge helps organizations increase sales performance by automating critical selling documents that enable sales and marketing teams to win more business. Using RFP response and proposal automation software, sales and marketing teams quickly create professional looking proposals in significantly less time. SalesEdge has averaged over 40 percent growth during the past three years, placing it within the top twenty women-led fastest-growing companies on Business NH Magazine's 2015 list of Top Women-Led Businesses. Connect with SalesEdge at www.SalesEdgeLLC.com or 888.577.7382 ext. 701.

Contact:



Jeanne Schulze

Director, Marketing

SalesEdge LLC

jschulze@salesedgellc.com

888.577.7382 ext. 708
KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - High school senior Angela Lin thought a lot this year about the university she would attend. With two older brothers already in college, a mother who teaches, and a father working abroad to help cover costs for the family, she also worried about how she would pay her tuition. That all changed this week when H&R Block Budget Challenge would help her learn more about money management and be beneficial for her future. But she had no idea just how beneficial.

"It's unbelievable," said Lin, who plans to enter the University of Houston this fall, studying management information systems. "This scholarship will pay for my entire college career and then some. This is such a tremendous help for my family, and my parents can retire now knowing my education is covered."

The H&R Block Budget Challenge offers high school educators free online curriculum that replicates an adult's financial life by requiring students to pay bills, save for retirement and repay student loans from the safety of a classroom. Lin's home state of Texas is one of only seven states that requires high school students to be tested on personal finance concepts before graduation 1 .

"Too many teens graduate each year without personal finance skills or the confidence to succeed on their own," said Kathy Collins, H&R Block chief marketing officer. "The H&R Block Budget Challenge helps address a critical need in thousands of high schools each year. Hearing what this program means to teachers and students is so rewarding and reinforces how important this program is."

In addition to providing free curriculum, H&R Block has awarded more than $6 million in scholarships and grants nationwide through its Budget Challenge. Lin's classmates, Jonathan Chang, Ashvin Nihalani and Christopher Winters were among the 132 students who earned $20,000 scholarships this year, and their business education teacher, Gregory Eppes, was among the 60 teachers awarded a classroom grant.

A new season of the H&R Block Budget Challenge will launch in September. More details will be available at www.hrbds.org.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world's largest consumer tax services provider. More than 680 million tax returns have been prepared worldwide by and through H&R Block since 1955. H&R Block Dollars & Sense helps increase financial literacy among teenagers through curriculum and resources, grants to supplement the cost of personal finance education and scholarships to help young Americans pay for higher education. Since 2009, H&R Block Dollars & Sense has donated more than $8.4 million in grants and scholarships. For more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom, www.HRBDS.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram, @TeenMoneyTips and our Facebook page, HRBDS.

1- http://www.councilforeconed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-Survey-of-the-States.pdf

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/25/11G099937/Images/hrbbs_grandPrize_0002-6df02f946e35b4f6ac6afc15df73eecb.jpg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/25/11G099937/Images/hrbbs_grandPrize_0001-d614af512bc4bbbaaf11d5a721b43781.jpg

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uIYRP3OusE

mediadesk@hrblock.com816-854-4287
Yesterday, May 24 2016, the national forestry authority in Peru (SERFOR) issued a public statement confirming the illegal operations of United Cacao's subsidiary in the country, clarifying, once again that the company does not have the required environmental approval. Citing large scale illegal deforestation that has taken place without this approval, which has been verified by the relevant authority inside Peru's Ministry of Agriculture, DGAAA, the statement outlines the actions taken by various Peruvian government entities to halt the operations of the company and the large scale illegal deforestation that has already taken place. SERFOR further called upon the London Stock Exchange to support the Peruvian government's enforcement actions by requiring listed companies to fully comply with the laws and policies of countries of operation.

Julia Urrunaga of the Environmental Investigation Agency responded to the statement.

"We commend SERFOR's and DGAAA's ongoing efforts to stop illegal and destructive deforestation for agricultural commodities. The Peruvian government has repeatedly documented that Cacao del Peru Norte's operations are illegal and have caused significant damage to Peruvian forests," said Ms. Urrunaga. "The Peruvian government has made it clear that the London Stock Exchange and other sources of international capital have a role to play in ending abuses and deforestation in Peru."

"We share the government's concern for the anonymous threats received by indigenous and local communities in the areas around these agro-industrial plantations," said Ms. Urrunaga. "We also strongly emphasize our support for the public employees who have been threatened and intimidated during field visits to investigate plantation operations."

The government statement reinforces the clear need for protection of environmental defenders who are being threatened for speaking out against the illegal expansion of agro-commodity crops in the Peruvian Amazon. Whether for oil palm, cacao, or timber, companies seeking to supply goods to the global marketplace must respect local laws that protect communities and the environment.

On May 4 2016, over 60 Peruvian and international organizations sent a letter to the London Stock Exchange requesting the removal of United Cacao from trading on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market for violating AIM regulations by making false statements about the legality of their operations' deforestation of Peruvian rainforest.

On May 5, the company responded with a communication to their shareholders reiterating these same false statements. The SERFOR statement is the Peruvian Government response to the May 5 communication.

SERFOR's statement emphasizes that ownership of the land in no way conveys de facto legal right to deforest it. As explained in the statement, before pursuing deforestation activities, one must first obtain a land classification study (Clasificacion de Tierras por su Capacidad de Uso Mayor) that has been approved by the relevant Peruvian national authority (DGAAA), as well as an Environmental Certification that has also been approved by the DGAAA. Finally, a land use change authorization is required and must be approved by the forest and wildlife Regional authority (ARFFS). United Cacao had none of these documents or authorizations for its operation in Tamshiyacu, nor did United Cacao's related companies, Plantaciones de Ucayali and Plantaciones de Pucallpa, for their operations in Ucayali. United Cacao and its related companies must immediately cease all operations that have been found to be carried out in violation of Peruvian law and respect Peruvian government entities, enforcement actions, and the laws and policies of its country of operation.

Read the full statement from SERFOR here.

Read EIA's sign on letter here.

Read EIA's briefing, London Stock Exchange Financing for Illegal Deforestation in Peru via AIM-listed United Cacao Ltd. SEZC, here.

Read the Annexes containing primary evidence here.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005937/en/

Contacts:

Environmental Investigation Agency

Maggie Dewane, +1 202-486-6621, mdewane@eia-global.org (Washington, DC)

Julia Urrunaga, +51 980731328, julia@eia-global.org (Lima)
SAN MATEO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Nlyte Software today announced the Virtual Power Distribution Unit (V-PDU) availability as part of the company's leading Data Center Service Management (DCSM) Solution. The V-PDU offers equivalent capabilities and functionality of hardware-based PDU's but at a 90 percent cost savings.

Tweet This: .@Nlyte creates 1st virtual PDU. Datacenters poised to save millions in hardware costs. DCSM DCIM

"The need for speed of deployment and agility in data center resources is challenging the traditional ways of adding intelligence to manage power resources," said Jennifer Cooke, Research Director, Datacenter Trends & Strategies, IDC. "Providing a software-driven, power management model is very compelling as organizations strive to provide customer-driven IT service delivery."

Offered as part of Nlyte's Platinum Edition, the new V-PDU continues the IT Industry's trend of virtualizing data center hardware into more agile, scalable and less expensive infrastructure software. The foundation of the V-PDU is the Branch Circuit Analytics Engine, which is a core component of the newly released Nlyte Energy Optimizer (NEO). The software enables data center management functions that mission-critical facilities normally spend thousands of dollars to derive from intelligent PDU using hardware.

Additionally, virtual PDU features offer IT and Facility managers:

Automatic calculations of historical power and energy usage

Ability to charge back within departments

Automatic aggregation of power draw on Virtual PDUs

2 network ports and provisioned addresses per panel, versus 2 per cabinet

Support for more than 10 cabinets per panel (assuming 42 breaker panel)

Insight into risk at the rack level

Access to Nlyte Energy Optimizer (NEO) - Branch Circuit Analytics (BCA)

Automatic support for data center monitoring & alarming requirements

"For far too long IT and Data Center Managers have been held hostage by PDU hardware vendors. I am pleased to say that those days are over. With our new V-PDU capabilities we are enabling enterprises to access vital data about energy consumption at a fraction of the price," said Doug Sabella, President and CEO of Nlyte Software.

The virtual PDU is available today. To empower your mission-critical facility with a best of breed, secure DCSM solution from Nlyte, contact info@nlyte.com or call 650-642-2700.

Engage/Follow

Twitter

LinkedIn

Facebook

Resources

http://www.nlyte.com/company/nlyte-overview/

http://www.nlyte.com/dcsm/

http://www.nlyte.com/resources/videos/

About Nlyte Software

Nlyte is the leading software company that automates the management of services provided by the data center (DCSM). Many of the world's largest and most sophisticated data centers use Nlyte to become more agile, reduce costs and operate more efficiently. Founded in 2004, Nlyte provides a comprehensive and proven DCSM solution with a modern, web-services architecture. With Nlyte, customers can easily manage all their existing data center processes, resources, policies, assets and interrelationships. For more information, visit www.nlyte.com or follow @nlyte on Twitter.

All trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.

Media Contact:

Jackie Abramian

(BridgeView Marketing for Nlyte Software)

jackie@bridgeviewmarketing.com

603-570-7533




DUBLIN, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Simulation Learning In Higher Education Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the global simulation learning in higher education market to grow at a CAGR of 18.5% during the period 2016-2020.

A noteworthy trend which could have a big impact on the market is the increasing demand for virtual lab simulations. As STEM-related careers have started attracting more students, higher education institutions are unable to provide all the students adequate laboratory access due to the limited nature of laboratory infrastructure and equipment. Lack of government funding is also a major constraint for educational institutions when it comes to equipping laboratories with the latest instruments. Therefore, the demand for virtual laboratories from institutions and individual learners is witnessing substantial growth due to the cost-saving potential of online learning.

According to the report, a key growth driver for this market is the inclusion of simulations in new learning methodologies. Its use in online and blended learning will help students learn better by mimicking real life situations very closely.

Further, the report states that one challenge that could hamper market growth is the constraints related to schedules and batch sizes.

Key vendors:

Forio

InfoPro Learning

McGraw-Hill Education

Pearson Education

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by product

PART 07: Geographical segmentation

PART 08: Market drivers

PART 09: Impact of drivers

PART 10: Market challenges

PART 11: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 12: Market trends

PART 13: Vendor landscape

PART 14: Other prominent vendors

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rd85vg/global_simulation

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - While the race for the White House seems likely to culminate in a bitter fight between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, President Barack Obama has expressed optimism the nation will endure a tough election season. Obama's remarks came in response to a question at a town hall event with approximately 800 young Vietnamese leaders in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday. 'I think sometimes other countries look at our election system and people think, 'Wow, what a mess,' but usually we end up doing OK because the American people are good people,' Obama said. He added, 'Sometimes our politics doesn't express all the goodness of the people, but usually the voters make good decisions and democracy works, so I'm optimistic we'll get through this period.' The president's comments come as recent polls have shown a tight race between Clinton and Trump in what could be a highly vitriolic campaign. 'One of the great things about the United States is that even when it makes mistakes it's able to adjust and recognize our mistakes and we correct course and take different steps,' Obama said. 'Things are going to be OK. I promise!' Obama's participation in the event came as he wrapped up his historic three-day trip to Vietnam before heading to Japan. While in Japan, Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the city where America dropped the first atomic bomb during World War II. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
STEUBENVILLE, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Osceola Gold Inc. (OTC PINK: PYHH) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a subsurface scanning agreement with Geo Scan Inc., a Florida-based underground scanning and mapping company, to provide accurate data for quick mineral discovery, reducing the need for unnecessary drilling. GeoScan Inc. has been compensated and is expected to initiate imminently.

Geo Scan Inc. will initiate the proprietary Quantum Geo Protocols to pinpoint the areas enriched with the highest values of Gold minerals within a predefined claim location on the Osceola Mines Claim site. GeoScan will reveal the locations of interest based on data derived through satellite deep scanning of the areas tested. The location, depth, headings and size of deposits will be delineated, for the efficient and equitable discovery of the most profitable territories to excavate.

The results will be confirmed in the field by Osceola Inc. and projections based on the samples obtained can be included in Osceola's delineation for reserve value and if accessible, an inclusion to this season's mining operations.

Seeking to maximize the gold recovery, and allow for a very profitable mining venture in these mineral rich gravels, the Company will complete testing through the use of cutting edge proprietary Quantum Geo Analysis. This is a precursor to ground penetrating radar studies and satellite deep scanning and imaging, as well as targeted, on site, analytical work to determine the positioning and depths of the gold and silver concentrations in the gravels. The algorithms used will be able to provide quantitative value estimates, location and depth parameters.

This will allow for a very efficient and profitable short, medium, and long term planning of the mining operation, and assist in providing a strategic mining excavation plan for the entirety of the economic mineable gravels as well as the more concentrated target zones of high target metal concentrations.

"We are very happy to be moving forward, and excited to discover the value that is right under the surface, through the latest in Quantum technology," stated Christopher Tarquinio, Chief Executive Officer, Osceola Gold, Inc. He concluded: "We anticipate that we have turned the corner in our ventures, and will be keeping shareholders fully updated as developments evolve."

Safe Harbor Act: Forward-Looking Statements are included within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For Investor Relations Contact:

Osceola Gold Inc.

740- 275-4227

Osceolagoldinc.com

Please follow us on Twitter- osceolagoldinc




SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- MapR Technologies, Inc., provider of the industry's only Converged Data Platform, announced today that Network Products Guide, the industry's leading technology research and advisory guide, has named MapR Technologies a Gold winner in the 11th Annual 2016 IT World Awards in the Best IT Software category. The industry and peer recognitions from Network Products Guide are the world's premier information technology awards honoring achievements and recognitions in every facet of the IT industry.

MapR won for its MapR Converged Data Platform, which integrates Hadoop and Spark with real-time database capabilities, global event streaming, and scalable enterprise storage to power a new generation of real-time data applications. The patented MapR Platform delivers enterprise-grade security, reliability, and real-time performance while dramatically lowering both hardware and operational costs of company's most important applications and data.

"An industry analyst survey validates that MapR customers achieve a three-year return on investment (ROI) of 382% and over $20 million in business benefits," said David Cross, chief marketing officer, MapR Technologies. "From day one we've uniquely architected our platform to successfully help companies generate maximum value from their real-time operational applications. It's an honor for the MapR Converged Data Platform to receive industry recognition as the Best IT Software."

An annual achievements and recognition awards program with active participation from a broad spectrum of industry voices, the annual IT World Awards encompasses the world's best in organizational performance, products and services, hot technologies, executives and management teams, successful deployments, product management and engineering, customer satisfaction, and public relations in every area of information technology.

Winners from all over the world will be honored in San Francisco on Monday, June 27, 2016, during the 2016 SVUS Red Carpet Awards Ceremony Dinner.

About NPG's IT World Awards

As industry's leading technology research and advisory publication, Network Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping decision makers and end-users informed of the choices they can make in all areas of information technology. The Annual IT World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards recognition program from Silicon Valley in the United States of America which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards, Pillar World Awards, PR World Awards, and Women World Awards. To learn more, visit www.networkproductsguide.com.

About MapR Technologies

MapR enables organizations to create disruptive advantage and long-term value from their data with the industry's only Converged Data Platform, which delivers distributed processing, real-time analytics, and enterprise-grade requirements across cloud and on-premise environments-while leveraging the significant ongoing development in open source technologies including Spark and Hadoop. Organizations with the most demanding production needs, including sub-second response for fraud prevention, secure and highly available data-driven insights for better healthcare, petabyte analysis for threat detection, and integrated operational and analytic processing for improved customer experiences, run on MapR. A majority of customers achieves payback in fewer than 12 months and realizes greater than 5X ROI. MapR ensures customer success through world-class professional services and with free on-demand training that over 50,000 developers, data analysts and administrators have used to close the big data skills gap. Amazon, Cisco, Google, HPE, Microsoft, SAP, and Teradata are part of the worldwide MapR partner ecosystem. Investors include Google Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, NEA, Qualcomm Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. Connect with MapR on LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Media Contacts:

Beth Winkowski

MapR Technologies, Inc.

(978) 649-7189

bwinkowski@maprtech.com



Kim Pegnato

MapR Technologies, Inc.

(781) 620-0016

kpegnato@maprtech.com




BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) disclosed in a regulatory filing that it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over whether the company's accounting practices violated any federal laws. Alibaba said that the SEC had requested information relating to consolidation policies and practices, including its accounting for Cainiao Network as an equity method investee, and policies and practices applicable to related party transactions in general, and reporting of operating data from 'Singles Day', a popular online shopping holiday in China. 'We are voluntarily disclosing this SEC request for information and cooperating with the SEC and, through our legal counsel, have been providing the SEC with requested documents and information. The SEC advised us that the initiation of a request for information should not be construed as an indication by the SEC or its staff that any violation of the federal securities laws has occurred. This matter is ongoing, and, as with any regulatory proceeding, we cannot predict when it will be concluded,' Alibaba said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Argentex Mining Corporation ("Argentex" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: ATX)(OTC PINK: AGXMF) and Austral Gold Limited ("Austral Gold") (ASX: AGD) are pleased to announce that the Supreme Court of British Columbia has issued a final order approving the Plan of Arrangement pursuant to which Austral Gold proposes to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Argentex that are not already owned by Austral Gold and its subsidiaries, in exchange for ordinary shares of Austral Gold ("Austral Gold Shares"). As announced on May 17th, 2016, the Argentex shareholders and option holders approved the Plan of Arrangement at a special meeting held on May 17th, 2016.

The companies will now focus on satisfying the remaining conditions to closing including, among other things, approval by the TSX-Venture Exchange of Austral Gold's application to list the Austral Gold Shares. The companies expect to complete the Arrangement within the next few weeks.

For additional information concerning the Arrangement and Austral Gold, please refer to the Company's management information circular dated April 13, 2016, which was filed on April 18, 2016 under the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Austral Gold

Austral Gold Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: AGD) and is a growing precious metals mining and exploration company building a portfolio of assets in South America. The Company's flagship Guanaco project in Chile is a low-cost producing mine with further exploration upside. With an experienced and highly regarded major shareholder, Austral Gold is strengthening its asset base by investing in new precious metals projects in Chile and Argentina that have near-term development potential. For more information, please consult the company's website www.australgold.com.au.

About Argentex

Argentex Mining Corporation is an exploration company focused on advancing its Pinguino silver-gold project in Santa Cruz, Argentina. In total, Argentex owns 100% of the mineral rights to more than 27 properties located within approximately 107,000 hectares of highly prospective land located in the Santa Cruz and Rio Negro provinces.

Shares of Argentex common stock trade under the symbol ATX on the TSX Venture Exchange and under the symbol AGXMF on the OTC PINK.

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.

On behalf of Argentex Mining Corporation:

Michael Brown, President and CEO

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "may," "could," "should," "anticipates," "likely," "believes" and words of similar import also identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include those concerning Austral Gold's application to list the Austral Gold Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Company's anticipation that it will complete the Plan of Arrangement within the next few weeks. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors beyond the Company's control. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk that one or the other parties to the transaction fails to satisfy one or more of the conditions precedent to completing the transaction, including the condition that the Austral Gold Shares be listed on TSX Venture at or prior to Closing, or that compliance delays closing. Other risks are described in the Company's public disclosure documents filed on the SEDAR website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Contacts:

Michael Brown

President and CEO

604-568-2496

info@argentexmining.com

www.argentexmining.com




REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- The Government of Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan, along with other community partners, officially announced funding for the construction of a housing project for families with complex needs. The 14-unit project, which will include support services and programs provided by Foxvalley Counselling Inc. (Foxvalley), will be owned by Silver Sage Holdings Ltd. (Silver Sage).

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on behalf of Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Muhammad Fiaz, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Regina Pasqua, on behalf of the Honourable Donna Harpauer, Minister of Social Services and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), and Edmund Bellegarde, Silver Sage Holdings Ltd. Board Chair, made the announcement today.

Quick facts:

-- Located at 5525 Dewdney Avenue in Regina, the project consists of eight two-bedroom and six three-bedroom units. Each two-bedroom unit is 668 square feet (62.1 square meters) and the three-bedroom units average 864 square feet (78.8 square meters). -- The Federal and Provincial Governments, through CMHC and SHC, are jointly contributing $1.3 million towards the 14 units under the Canada- Saskatchewan Investment in Affordable Housing (2014-2019) Agreement. -- The Provincial Government through Ministry of Social Services' Child and Family Programs is contributing $500,000 to support the Foxvalley Supportive Apartment Family Living Program (SAFLP). Together with Silver Sage, Foxvalley designed the building to meet client and programming needs.

Quotes:

"Our Government is dedicated to helping those in need, which is why we are proud to have invested in this project in Regina. These new 14 units are more than just safe and affordable places to live, they are key to a better life for the families who will soon call them home." - Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

"I want to congratulate everyone involved with making this project a reality for Saskatchewan families in greatest housing need. As a result of these funding partnerships, 14 families will soon live in safety and comfort in quality homes with the supports they require." - Muhammad Fiaz, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Regina Pasqua, on behalf of the Honourable Donna Harpauer, Minister of Social Services and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation

"The Foxvalley Partnership project addresses a real need in our community to provide a safe place for families in transition. We have families in our community who are in the process of re-establishing relationships with their children and simply need a safe, affordable place to live. We see this partnership as one of many paths to healing, and a way to honour that relationship with our future generations." - Edmund Bellegarde, Board Chair, Silver Sage Holdings Ltd.

Associated links:

-- CMHC has been helping Canadians meet their housing needs for more than 70 years. As Canada's authority on housing, we contribute to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provide support for Canadians in housing need, and offer unbiased housing research and advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry. Prudent risk management, strong corporate governance and transparency are cornerstones of our operations. For more information, please call 1- 800-668-2642 or visit www.cmhc.ca. -- In October 2012, the Government of Saskatchewan released the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth: Vision 2020 and Beyond, which sets out the Government's vision for a province of 1.2 million people by 2020. The Plan identifies principles, goals and actions to ensure Saskatchewan is capturing the opportunities and meeting the challenges of a growing province. Since 2007, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested almost $700 million to develop and repair more than 14,600 homes around the province.

Stay connected:

- Follow CMHC on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contacts:

Young Ong

Communications, CMHC

403-515-2962

yong@cmhc-schl.gc.ca



Leya Moore

Government of Saskatchewan

p. (306) 787-3610

c. (306) 519-7835

leya.moore@gov.sk.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Scientific Metals Corp. ("STM" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SUG) is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units (each, a "Unit"). STM initially announced that it proposed to issue up to 3,000,000 Units at a price of $0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $300,000. The private placement was oversubscribed and, as a result, with the prior approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, STM increased the size of the offering. In completing the private placement, STM issued a total of 3,850,000 Units at a price of $0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of $385,000.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.15 per share at any time within 12 months of the date of issuance. All of the securities issued under this private placement are subject to a four month resale restriction. STM intends to use the net proceeds of this private placement for general working capital purposes and identifying new projects.

The Company also announces that it has discontinued its action in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta against XS Energy Ltd. in relation to STM's previously announced proposed acquisition of a working interest in, and to, a disposal well, surface lease and related assets located in Drayton Valley, Alberta.

Reader Advisory

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the proposed use of net proceeds from the private placement of Units. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation and environmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; liabilities inherent in water disposal facility operations; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Scientific Metals Corp.

Brian Kirwin

President

(775) 772-0165

bongold@intercomm.com




OYSTER BAY, New York, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, forecasts that the market for home care robotics systems will more than quadruple beginning in 2015, reaching $5.9B in 2025. Consumer robotics shipments are expected to increase fivefold in the same timeframe. In addition, Wi-Fi attach rates for home care robots are expected skyrocket over the next five years reaching nearly 100% by 2020.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276887LOGO

The home care robotics market consists of a wide variety of products focused on single tasks, such as floor care, lawn care, and pool care. The vast majority of these are floor care robots, which include vacuum cleaners, floor washers, and hybrid products. Robotic vacuum cleaners still dominate the floor care robotics segment. Due to its dominance in robotic vacuum cleaners, iRobot remains the overall home care robotics market leader.

"The days of unconnected consumer robotics products are numbered," says Philip Solis, Research Director at ABI Research. "Wi-Fi is rapidly becoming standard technology in home care robots, beginning with floor cleaners. Today, wireless connectivity merely allows robot systems to be controlled and monitored remotely, but looking forward, their connectivity, mobility, sensors, and functionality, such as machine vision, will expand their capabilities as part of the smart home."

This connectivity will allow home care robots to interface with smart home systems, including security systems, environmental controls, and remote services. This will in turn expand the functionality of both the smart home systems and the robots themselves, driving adoption rates for both in the process.

"The overall consumer robotics industry is on the verge of a major transformation that leverages the evolution of the smartphone market, cloud-based services, and the smart home," concludes Solis. "The industry is in the midst of a long-anticipated leap from standalone robots to robots that are part of an expanded and more integrated smart home ecosystem."

These findings are part of ABI Research's Consumer Robotics Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/consumer-robotics/) and Industrial and Service Robotics Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/Industrial-Service-Robotics/), which include research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Twilio, the cloud communications platform for developers, today announced that Crisis Text Line, the nation's first and only national, 24/7 crisis-intervention service, is using Twilio SMS to power its service. Crisis Text Line conducts its conversations exclusively by text messages, enabling people in crisis situations to text a phone number and immediately connect with a counselor who is trained to help. The nonprofit, which exchanges over 1.5 million messages per month, now leverages Twilio Programmable SMS to power these conversations. The partnership was announced on stage today at SIGNAL, the developer conference for communications in San Francisco. To learn more, visit www.twilio.org and www.crisistextline.org.

Since its launch in 2013, Crisis Text Line has exchanged more than 17.5 million text messages with people in crisis. The privacy of text messaging has helped the service address those struggling with addiction, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, sexual abuse and other crises. Their data website, Crisistrends.org, is the nation's largest catalog of crisis data. This anonymized dataset has been made available for journalists, researchers, and citizens so that they can understand the crises Americans face and can work together to prevent future crises from happening.

"There is a sense of urgency that comes with every crisis," said Nancy Lublin, CEO and Founder of Crisis Text Line. "When time is limited and emotions are high, text messaging provides those in crisis a safe and private medium to reach out for help. With Twilio, we can easily extend our services, grow our platform and continue to provide hope to even more people."

Twilio.org offers qualified nonprofits $500 in kickstart credits and a 25% lifetime discount on Twilio's communication platform. Twilio.org was started in 2013 to equip nonprofits with communications to advance their missions, and currently partners with over 700 nonprofits including the American Red Cross, the Polaris Project and Doctors without Borders. In 2015, Twilio committed 1% of the company's equity to fund Twilio.org over the next decade.

"At Twilio.org, we believe communication empowers people," said Erin Reilly, Executive Director of Twilio.org. "Crisis Text Line is creating conversations that give people hope, and I'm pleased that Twilio can help extend its reach and provide reliability when it matters most."

About Twilio

Twilio's mission is to fuel the future of communications. Developers and businesses use Twilio to make communications relevant and contextual by embedding messaging, voice and video capabilities directly into their software applications. Founded in 2008, Twilio is privately held and has over 500 employees, with headquarters in San Francisco and other offices in Bogota, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Mountain View, Munich, New York City, Singapore, and Tallinn.

About Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support for people in crisis via text. For more, visit www.crisistextline.org

Media Inquiries:

Twilio

Press@twilio.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- BioSyent Inc. ("BioSyent") (TSX VENTURE: RX) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary BioSyent Pharma International Inc. has signed an exclusive Distribution Agreement with a European partner for two new products in the cardiovascular therapeutic area for the Canadian market. The products have been approved in Europe and in certain other markets around the world and will be launched in Canada if approval is granted by Health Canada. BioSyent intends to submit the dossier seeking marketing approval of the products to Health Canada in 2016.

According to IMS Health data, the cardiovascular market in Canada is valued at CAD $1.6 billion and grew at an annualized rate of +1.9% in 2015. Based on current and forecast market data, and assumptions regarding estimated volume, penetration and pricing, BioSyent forecasts that the two new products will add approximately CAD $20 million to the overall revenue of the company when they reach peak sales.

BioSyent Inc. continues to concentrate on its pharmaceutical strategy to source products that have been successfully developed and proven to be safe and effective; manage these products through the regulatory process and product registration and once approved, market these products in Canada and in certain international markets. The Company is focused on medications that occupy a niche in the market, that are unique either due to complexity of manufacture or provide novel technological or therapeutic advantages, or that are backed by strong partners holding intellectual property rights that are defendable. This strategy allows the Company to market these medications as brands owned by or licensed to it.

About BioSyent Inc.

Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "RX", BioSyent is a profitable growth-oriented specialty pharmaceutical company focused on in-licensing or acquiring innovative pharmaceutical products that have been successfully developed, are safe and effective, and have a proven track record of improving the lives of patients. BioSyent supports the healthcare professionals that treat these patients by marketing its products through its community, hospital and international business units.

As of the date of this press release, the Company has 14,026,087 shares issued and outstanding.

For a direct market quote (15 minutes delay) for the TSX Venture Exchange and other Company financial information please visit www.tmxmoney.com.

Contacts:

BioSyent Inc.

Mr. Rene C. Goehrum

President and CEO

(905) 206-0013

investors@biosyent.com

www.biosyent.com




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 25, 2016) - Raise Conference Company is proud to announce the initial speaking roster for RAISE at the STAMPEDE, a two-day Investor Conference to be held July 6-7 in Calgary, Alberta.

Initial Speaking Roster with topics:

"Energy Opportunities in 2016" by Keith Schaefer, Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin

"Canadian Growth Stocks" by Bruce Campbell, StoneCastle Investment Management

"MicroCaps - Emotional Detachment Is Your Friend" by Grant Howard, The Howard Group

"An Investor Guide to Real Estate Crowdfunding" by Bret Conkin, Crowdfund Suite

"Where to Invest in the Top Trends in Technology" by Sean Peasgood, Sophic Capital

"Equity Crowdfunding - The Investor Revolution" by Peter-Paul van Hoeken, FrontFundr

"Profit strategies: Fundamentals or Follow the Leader" by Chris Parry, Equity.Guru

"Cleantech & Energy Tech Investment Trends and Opportunities" by Adrian Banica, Tropheus Ventures

"Top Picks - Oil, Technology & Mining" by Sid Rajeev, Fundamental Research

"Public Capital - Challenges and Opportunities" by Richard Carleton, CSE | Canadian Securities Exchange

About RAISE at the STAMPEDE: A two day investor conference, Wednesday & Thursday before Friday's Stampede Opening day, will host a variety of investing-focused presentations covering sectors such as Technology, Mining & Metals, Biotech, Healthcare, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Life Sciences, Products & Services, and Cleantech & Energy from leading industry experts and companies seeking capital. Company presentations will be from private and small cap public companies that are currently raising capital, are planning to raise capital, or have recently raised capital and looking for market support. Investors will also have the unique opportunity to pre-book meetings with companies leading up to the event on the conferences online meeting tool.

A two-day investor pass is $25. This will include access to all general sessions & socials apart from the daily lunch keynote, which is $40/per. Registration is open now and limited to 600 Investors. Visit www.raiseconference.com for additional investor registration.

Support for Fort McMurray: In support of Fort McMurray residents affected by the devastating fire, a portion of investor registration proceeds collected will be donated. In addition, we are offering one complimentary presentation slot for a company looking to raise capital connected to the rebuild of Fort McMurray and supporting area. Please send applications to info@raiseconference.com

RAISE at the STAMPEDE

www.raiseconference.com

info@raiseconference.com

Media contact:

Knox Henderson, VP Sales and Marketing

knox@raiseconference.com

604-551-2360
WATERLOO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- On Saturday, June 11th, Waterloo Region will be coming together to say "I Can" make a difference in the effort to fight against muscular dystrophy. The community will be supporting thousands of people who are living with a neuromuscular disorder in Canada at the annual Waterloo Region Walk for Muscular Dystrophy.

Serving as the 2016 Waterloo Region Walk Ambassador, Joshua Kortleve truly believes in the power of this event. "I met last year's Waterloo Region Walk Ambassador Jason recently and he inspired me to get involved with the Walk for Muscular Dystrophy. I feel that the Walk empowers our local community and helps to fund essential equipment."

Muscular dystrophy is a group of progressive muscle disorders that weaken the muscles that control body movement. These effects can be devastating and over time, many people with neuromuscular disorders are unable to walk, speak or ultimately breathe. For some, the disorder is fatal.

The Walk for Muscular Dystrophy is "an opportunity for the community to come together and support those affected by neuromuscular disorders at the local level," describes Stacey Lintern, Muscular Dystrophy Canada Ontario Executive Director. This family-friendly, fully accessible event will include refreshments, prizes and activities for children.

Muscular Dystrophy Canada receives almost no government funding and relies on community events and the generosity of its donors. Proceeds from the event support various programs including funding equipment, assistive living devices, support services and fund research to one day find a cure.

The fun will be taking place on Saturday, June 11th at Waterloo Park in Waterloo. Participant registration begins at 10:00 am and the walk, wheel and roll will begin at 11:00 am.

To take part in the Waterloo Region Walk for Muscular Dystrophy or for more information, please visit www.walk4MD.com.

Contacts:

Kerri Stocks

Revenue Development Manager, Ontario / National

Muscular Dystrophy Canada

1.877.850.8720 ext.1301

kerri.stocks@muscle.ca




According to the latest research study released by Technavio, the global pickles market is expected to reach USD 12.74 billion in revenue by 2020.

This research report titled 'Global Pickle Market 2016-2020', provides an in-depth analysis of market growth in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. The market size and forecast provided in this report are calculated on the basis of revenues generated from the retail sales of pickles and pickled food products such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, chicken, and relish.

Request sample report: http://bit.ly/1VdvEbf

"The global pickles market was dominated by supermarkets and hypermarkets in terms of distribution in 2015 and held a market share of over 54% in terms of revenue. Some of the popular supermarkets selling pickles are Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Walmart, Big Bazar, Auchan, Sainsbury, and ASDA," said Vijay Sarathi, one of Technavio's lead analysts for food and beveragesresearch.

"In the future, retailers will increasingly resort to online retailing to connect with customers and gain from their experiences and feedback. It will help vendors gather new product ideas, understand trends, track brands and product reviews, and launch new marketing campaigns," added Vijay.

Global pickles market segmentation by distribution 2015

Supermarkets and hypermarkets 54.15%

Convenience stores 23.56%

Independent retailers 17.85%

Others 4.44%

Source: Technavio research

Pickles market in Americas

The pickles market in the Americas was valued at USD 5.36 billion in 2015. In 2015, the US emerged as the largest market in the Americas and accounted for 47.76% of its share in the region. More than 67% of American households consume pickles, with a per capita consumption of close to nine pounds annually. Adults above the age of 55 are the main consumers. However, new flavors and the purported health benefits of pickles have attracted younger consumers in the market. Cucumber and olive pickles are two popular varieties in this region. Companies also offer value additions, such as Kosher, gluten-free, and organic varieties. They also offer novel and convenient packaging such as stand-up pouches and single serve packs to facilitate ease of use and on-the-go consumption. Some companies also claim to use environmental friendly packaging material. Van Holten's and Oh Snap are some companies that provide pickles in flexible packaging.

Pickles market in APAC

The pickles market in APAC was valued at USD 3.65 billion in 2015. APAC is the most promising market for pickles because it is a traditional product and is consumed with all meals of the day. In India, pickles constitute an important part of the traditional cuisine. The majority of India's pickle market remains unorganized because of lack of proper infrastructure and logistics. Total organized retail penetration in India was estimated to be around 8% in 2015. However, revenue generated by the Indian processed food industry amounted to USD 257.86 billion in 2015 and accounted for 32% of the country's food market. The pickle market in India is likely to boom during the forecast period because of government's initiatives aimed at promoting investments in the market.

Pickles market in EMEA

The pickles market in EMEA was valued at USD 2.01 billion in 2015. Germany is the largest pickle market in EMEA and accounted for a market share of 39.86% in 2015. Germany imported approximately 43,350 tons of pickled cucumbers and gherkins in 2014, and 82% of the total imports were from Turkey, Netherlands, and India.

Countries like the Ukraine, France, the UK, Russia, Italy, Spain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa are some of the key contributing countries to the pickles market in EMEA.

Browse related reports:

Global Functional Food and Nutraceuticals Market 2016-2020

Organic Food and Beverages Market in Europe 2016-2020

Global Health and Wellness Food Market 2015-2019

Global Naturally Healthy Foods Market 2016-2020

Purchase any three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform.

About Technavio

Technaviois a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005047/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com

media@technavio.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With Donald Trump still refusing to release his tax returns, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has introduced legislation requiring the presidential nominee of a major political party to release the information.



The Presidential Tax Transparency Act would require the candidate to release the most recent 3 years of tax returns to the Federal Election Commission within 15 days of becoming the nominee.



If the candidate refuses to comply, the FEC may obtain the tax returns from the Treasury Secretary for public release.



'Since the days of Watergate, the American people have had an expectation that nominees to be the leader of the free world not hide their finances and personal tax returns,' Wyden said.



'Tax returns deliver honest answers to key questions from the American public,' he added. 'Do you even pay taxes? Do you give to charity? Are you abusing tax loopholes at the expense of middle class families? Are you keeping your money offshore? People have a right to know.'



Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is not likely to have much success in getting the bill approved, but its introduction highlights Trump's continued refusal to release his returns.



Trump has repeatedly cited an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service as the reason for his refusal to release his returns.



The real estate tycoon has said he hopes to release the returns before the election in November but claims that there is nothing to learn from them.



Earlier this month, Mitt Romney suggested that Trump's refusal to release his tax returns disqualifies him from being president.



Romney, the GOP's presidential nominee in 2012, warned that Trump is reluctant to release his tax returns because they contain a 'bombshell.'



The former Massachusetts Governor came under similar scrutiny when he released only two years of tax returns while running for president.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Patented Medicine Prices Review Board

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), through the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) research initiative, today published the second edition of CompassRx, its flagship annual report that monitors major developments in drug pricing and reimbursement in Canada, analyzes trends, and measures their impact on expenditure levels. Building on the findings of the first edition, CompassRx, 2nd edition focuses on the 2013/14 fiscal year and provides a retrospective review of trends since 2009/10.

The report shows that spending by Canadian public drug plans increased by an average of 2.0% in 2013/14, reversing a multi-year trend of low or negative growth. This was due to a surge in the use of higher-cost drugs, such as biologics, and a substantial reduction in savings from the use of lower-priced generic versions of brand-name drugs. As anticipated in last year's report, these findings suggest that the "patent cliff" era of recent years, which saw public drug plans benefit from many top-selling "blockbuster" brand-name drugs of the past decade reaching the end of their patent terms and facing generic competition for the first time, has run its course. Of the few remaining blockbuster drugs on the Canadian market, none lost patent protection in 2013/14.

In addition to increased spending on high-cost drugs, in recent years most public drug plans have been spending more on dispensing costs, which grew by 5.9% or $122.2 million in 2013/14 and accounted over time for a greater share (22.3%) of overall public drug plan spending on prescription drugs.

CompassRx, 2nd edition - 2013/14 is available on the PMPRB website in PDF and accessible HTML formats.

Quick Facts

-- The Canadian public drug plans included in the report reimbursed their active beneficiaries for 78.7% of overall drug expenditures in 2013/14, totaling $9.8 billion. This included $7.3 billion in drug costs, $2.2 billion in pharmacy dispensing costs, and $0.3 billion in markups. -- Recent low rates of growth in prescription drug expenditures are the net result of opposing "push" and "pull" effects. Increases in beneficiary populations, the use of drugs, or the use of higher-cost drugs "push" costs upward, while generic drug substitutions and price reductions "pull" costs downward. -- Although the proportion of active beneficiaries with annual prescription drug costs over $10,000 is relatively small - ranging from 0.6% to 2.3% depending on the public drug plan - it has been gradually increasing since 2009, and accounted for a disproportionate share of expenditures in 2013/14, ranging from 16.4% to 29.2%. -- Without the impact of savings generated by generic drug policies, "push" effects such as increases in the size and age of the active beneficiary populations in Canadian public drug plans, the volume of drugs, and the use of higher-cost drugs would have increased drug costs in 2013/14 by 9.7%, or $688.4 million. -- In the absence of other cost pressures, lower generic drug prices and the shift from brand-name to generic drugs would have "pulled" drug cost levels down in 2013/14 by 7.5%, or $537 million. -- CompassRx, 2nd edition results are presented for public drug plans in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Health Canada's Non-insured Health Benefits drug plan.

Related Products

-- CompassRx,2nd edition - 2013/14

Associated Links

-- Related NPDUIS Analytical Studies (Patented Medicine Prices Review Board)

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board is a respected public agency that makes a unique and valued contribution to sustainable spending on pharmaceuticals in Canada by:

-- providing stakeholders with price, cost, and utilization information to help them make timely and knowledgeable drug pricing, purchasing, and reimbursement decisions; and -- acting as an effective check on the patent rights of pharmaceutical manufacturers through the responsible and efficient use of its consumer protection powers.

About the NPDUIS initiative

The National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) is a research initiative established by federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Health in September 2001. It is a partnership between the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

The NPDUIS initiative provides policy makers and public drug plan managers with critical analyses of price, utilization and cost trends so that Canada's health care system has more comprehensive and accurate information on how prescription drugs are being used and on sources of cost pressures.

The main data source for this report is the NPDUIS Database, developed by the CIHI.

Contacts:

Sofie McCoy-Astell

Manager, Communications

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board

613-960-9728

Sofie.McCoy-Astell@pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Beaufield Resources Inc. ("Beaufield" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: BFD) (FRANKFURT: OU8) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an investor relations agreement (the "Agreement") with Soar Financial Partners ("Soar Financial").

Soar Financial will assist Beaufield in working and communicating efficiently with members of the European financial community, including potential investors, journalists and newsletter writers as well as current shareholders to keep them informed and up-to-date on Beaufield's activities.

The Agreement is for a term of one year, which may be earlier terminated at any time upon 30 days' written notice by either party. In consideration for the services of Soar Financial, Beaufield has agreed to pay a fee of 2,000 Euros per month. Beaufield shall also grant Soar Financial 400,000 stock options of Beaufield at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of 2 years with 1/4 of the options vesting in every three-month period.

CEO and President, Mr. Hansen comments: "Soar Financial will be presenting the Corporation not only to important European investors but also to leading and opinion forming financial media outlets. Beaufield is active with key ground in three areas of Quebec that will be of particular interest:

-- Urban which is a rapidly developing new Quebec gold camp; -- Eleonore which hosts Quebec's largest new gold mine (Goldcorp Inc.) and is expanding with recent exploration success; and -- Troilus where gold exploration is just beginning.

Beaufield is well financed and in a position to advance its projects, generate continuous news flow and expand its investor base with the assistance of Soar Financial"

Kai Hoffmann, Managing Director of Soar Financial states: "Given the world-class quality of Beaufield's assets not just in the Urban camp in Quebec where the project is strategically located, we at Soar Financial look forward to expanding the awareness of the Corporation in the European capital markets and supporting broadening the international shareholder base."

Soar Financial is not related to Beaufield, does not have any direct or indirect material interest in Beaufield or its securities, other than the stock options as described above. All matters reported herein are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

About Beaufield:

Beaufield is a mineral exploration company with its exploration activity focused in Quebec. Beaufield is well positioned to advance its portfolio of exploration properties and identify other potential opportunities in the mineral exploration or development stage. The Corporation is actively exploring, well financed with approximately $3 million in cash, has no debt and has excess work credits on its properties.

About Soar Financial Partners:

Soar Financial Partners led by Mr. Kai Hoffmann, supports its clients primarily, but not exclusively in the German speaking parts of Europe with comprehensive public relations and investor relation services. Soar maintains its offices in Frankfurt, Germany and works closely with financial analysts, advisors, investors and the financial media.

The information set forth in this press release includes certain forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on assumptions exposed to major risks and uncertainties. Although Beaufield deems the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, the Corporation cannot provide any guarantee as to the materialization of the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements. The Corporation expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Contacts:

Jens E. Hansen

President and CEO

514.842.3443



Mathieu Stephens

VP Exploration and Corporate Development

613.721.2919

info@beaufield.com

www.beaufield.com




CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CR Magazine) has named JLL (NYSE: JLL) to its list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2016. This is the fourth time JLL has been included in the magazine's ranking of top corporate responsibility performance of major companies in the United States. CR Magazine recognized JLL for its commitment to employees and the communities in which they work and live.

"We are committed to being a good corporate citizen, which is a fundamental value for JLL," said Colin Dyer, President and CEO of JLL. "This award reaffirms that commitment for our employees, our clients and the communities in which we live and work," Dyer added.

JLL's highest scores were in philanthropy, climate change and human rights, three major focus areas of the firm's corporate sustainability (CSR) platform.

"Companies that make our list strive to be transparent while disclosing how their business impacts employees, communities and the environment," said Belinda Sharr, editor of CR Magazine. "These companies engage in a wide range of responsible business practices, and do so while succeeding financially as well. They exemplify good corporate citizenship. Congratulations to all the winners."

Clients and third-party organizations continue to recognize JLL for its ethics, corporate citizenship and commitment to being an employer of choice. JLL has collected the following U.S. and global awards in the last year:

A "World's Most Ethical Company" by Ethisphere (ninth consecutive year)

Forbes - America's Best Employers list

Edmer Institute's Ethics Award - JLL Turkey (third consecutive year)

dfv Mediengruppe Compliance Award - JLL Germany

India Institute of Directors' Excellence in Global Corporate Governance

The Legal 500 - Best Law Department in the U.S. real estate industry

Corporate Counsel - Finalist for Best Legal Department of the Year

Asian Legal Business - Finalist for SE Asia Real Estate In-House Team of the Year

For more information, see JLL's ongoing list of awards and recognition.

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List documents 303 data points of disclosure and performance measures -- collected from publicly available information in several key categories. The list ranks the Russell 1000 Index. Visit www.thecro.com to access the full 100 Best Corporate Citizens List.

For more news, research and information from JLL, please visit: www.jll.com.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6.0 billion, JLL has more than 280 corporate offices, operates in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 4.0 billion square feet, or 372 million square meters, and completed $138 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $58.3 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

About Corporate Responsibility Magazine

SharedXpertise Media LLC is the publisher of CR Magazine (www.thecro.com), the leading voice of the corporate responsibility profession and the publisher of the 100 Best Corporate Citizen's List, which has been ranked one of America's three most-important business rankings according to PR Week.

SharedXpertise alongside the Corporate Responsibility Association (www.corporateresponsibilityassociation.org) are also co-founders of the COMMIT!Forum, recognized worldwide as the leading event for corporate responsibility practitioners.

About the 100 Best Corporate Citizen's List

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List was first published in 1999 in Business Ethics Magazine, and has been managed by CR Magazine since 2007. To compile the list, every company in the Russell 1000, the highest ranked stocks in the Russell 3000 Index of publicly held U.S. companies, is ranked according to 303 data points. The methodology for generating the list is governed by a Ratings and Rankings Committee of the Corporate Responsibility Association (CRA).

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3013059



Contact:

Gayle Kantro

Phone: +1 312 228 2975

Email: Gayle.Kantro@am.jll.com



William Polk

Phone: +1 312 228 3943

Email: William.Polk@am.jll.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, today unveiled two new initiatives to assist British Columbia's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) identify and develop opportunities in growing markets in Asia. Boosting British Columbia's Exports to Asia is a comprehensive survey of 146 companies that identifies the challenges faced by B.C. businesses active in Asia; the Guidebook to Doing Business in Asia is an extensive resource guide to assist B.C. companies interested in exporting to Asian markets.

The survey and guidebook are important tools to help B.C. SMEs build their market share in the dynamic Asia Pacific region. Key survey findings indicate only half of businesses report using some type of service to help them expand to Asia. With that in mind, the guidebook provides B.C. businesses with local and overseas resources to help successfully create lasting business connections in Asian markets. This includes contact information for B.C. trade and investment and other government offices in Asia and culture guides to support business know-how for different Asian countries.

"As Canada's most active participant in the Asia Pacific, British Columbia has the proximity and connectivity to truly benefit from the dramatic political and economic transformation underway in Asia, which by 2030 will be home to 66 per cent of the world's middle class," said APF Canada President and CEO, Stewart Beck. "Many B.C. businesses have already tapped into the growing opportunities in the region, but many more of our entrepreneurs and SMEs lack the simple resources and tools to crack the barriers to entry and success in Asia."

Added Beck: "Our new survey and guidebook will assist B.C. businesses in raising their game in Asia and aligns strongly with the Foundation's own commitment to build Canada's Asia competence-that is, the knowledge, skills, and experiences Canadians need to be effective when engaging with partners in Asia."

"The survey and guidebook are part of government's comprehensive Asia trade strategy, Raising Our Game in Asia: the BC Jobs Plan Trade Strategy, which is targeted at growing trade and investment with Asia. Increasing the number of B.C. companies that export to Asia is a key goal of the strategy," said Minister of International Trade and Responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism Teresa Wat.

"British Columbia intends to meet that goal by further strengthening our ties with Asia; continuing to attract investment through our network of trade and investment offices; and working with organizations such as APF Canada to ensure B.C.'s small and medium businesses have the Asian business literacy skills that will enable them to be export-ready for a variety of Asian markets," Wat said.

To view the results of APF Canada's Boosting British Columbia's Exports to Asia click here; to download the Guidebook to Doing Business in Asia click here or visit www.asiapacific.ca

To view Raising Our Game in Asia: the BC Jobs Plan Trade Strategy click here

About the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada:

Established by an act of Parliament in 1984, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) is a not-for-profit organization focused on Canada's relations with Asia. Our mission is to be Canada's catalyst for engagement with Asia and Asia's bridge to Canada.

APF Canada supports the building of Asia-competency and promotes knowledge and understanding of developments in Asia. Its research and policy work focuses on trade, investment, innovation, energy, and the environment.

A leader in research and analysis on Canada-Asia relations for over 30 years, APF Canada partners with government, business leaders, academics, and opinion makers in Canada and across the Asia Pacific region to offer clear, specific, and actionable policy advice.

Visit APF Canada at www.asiapacific.ca

Contacts:

Michael Roberts

Communications Manager

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

michael.roberts@asiapacific.ca

Office: 604-630-1527




WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - Jeff Joyce, Michigan Retailers Association board member and co-owner of Mieras Family Shoes in Grand Rapids, has been named one of America's Retail Champions by the National Retail Federation.

The champions program recognizes small retailers from across the country for their advocacy on behalf of the retail industry. The recognition took place at NRF's annual Retail Advocates Summit, which brings local retailers to Washington to thank them for their efforts and to meet today with members of Congress on a variety of public policy issues.

More than 100 retailers, ranging from small and mid-size store owners to online sellers, were invited to participate, based on their engagement in public policy discussions on issues ranging from patent reform and online sales tax to data security and workforce issues.

Joyce also was named one of five finalists for the top award of America's Retail Champion of the Year, which went to a ranch supply retailer in South Dakota.

"Jeff's award is well deserved," said MRA's James P. Hallan, president and CEO. "He is a leader in letting our public officials know how their actions directly affect retailers' ability to keep people employed and to create new jobs in their communities."

"The fact that scores of small retailers have taken crucial time away from running their businesses to come to Washington this week speaks volumes about how important public policy issues are to Main Street merchants," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

Barb Stein, also a Michigan Retailers Association board member and owner of Great Northern Trading Co., in Rockford, was part of the 2015 class of retail champions.

Note: A photo of Jeff Joyce with his wife, Doreen, is attached.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/25/11G100073/Images/joycechampion2-d29f2bc8bcb5b334bf0b78b68a57e0b0.JPG

Contact:

Tom Scott

517.372.5656

Email contact


COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE MKT: GORO) (the "Company") declares its monthly instituted dividend of 1/6 of a cent per common share for May 2016 payable on June 23, 2016 to shareholders of record as of June 13, 2016. Gold Resource Corporation is a gold and silver producer with operations in Oaxaca, Mexico and exploration in Nevada, USA.

The Company has returned $108 million to shareholders in monthly dividends since commercial production commenced July 1, 2010, and offers shareholders the option to convert their cash dividends and take delivery in physical gold and silver. For more information on Gold Resource Corporation's physical dividend program, visit the Company website at http://goldresourcecorp.com/gold-silver-dividends.php.

Dividends may vary in amount and consistency or be discontinued at the Board of Directors' discretion depending on variables including but not limited to operational cash flows, Company development requirements and strategies, construction, spot gold and silver prices, taxation, general market conditions and other factors described in the Cautionary Statements below and the Company's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About GRC:

Gold Resource Corporation is a mining company focused on production and pursuing development of gold and silver projects that feature low operating costs and produce high returns on capital. The Company has 100% interest in six potential high-grade gold and silver properties at its producing Oaxaca, Mexico Mining Unit and exploration properties at its Nevada, USA, Mining Unit. The Company has 54,266,706 shares outstanding, no warrants, no long term debt and has returned $108 million back to shareholders since commercial production commenced July 1, 2010. Gold Resource Corporation offers shareholders the option to convert their cash dividends into physical gold and silver and take delivery. For more information, please visit GRC's website, located at www.Goldresourcecorp.com and read the Company's 10-K for an understanding of the risk factors involved.

Cautionary Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "target", "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding Gold Resource Corporation's strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to Gold Resource Corporation on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. In particular, there can be no assurance that production will continue at any specific rate. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the Company's 10-K filed with the SEC.

Gold Resource Corporation

Corporate Development

Greg Patterson

303-320-7708

www.Goldresourcecorp.com




RIVERDALE, UT -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- America First Credit Union, a leading member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative financial institution, will launch its newest venture, the America First Credit Union Innovation Center, located in the center of City Creek Center in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah next month. The America First Innovation Center will not serve as a traditional branch, but a collaborative hub to showcase the latest innovative solutions and give members and consumers a greater voice in shaping how they want to be served in the future. America First will test multiple channel experiences to gain real-time feedback and use this insight to implement experience enhancements across its member base and within its 116 branch locations.

Opening the Innovation Center in the City Creek Center is a strategic effort, as City Creek welcomes visitors from all over the state and surrounding areas. This will allow America First to gain a wide range of collaboration and further enhance ongoing experiences.

"This is a very exciting time for America First with the launch of our first ever Innovation Center," said America First Credit Union President and CEO, John B. Lund. "We have maintained our position to bring relevant innovation to our members and provide the best experience possible. This continues to propel us forward as a leader in this space."

Solution partners for the project include Adrenaline, Antuar, BNA Consulting, Buffalo Pacific, Cisco, City Creek Center, Diebold, Downstream, Financial Town, Glory Global Solutions, HKS Architects, MX, MultiTaction, Oakland Construction, and Taubman, among others. At various times, representatives from these companies will be on site to present on the technologies included as part of the Innovation Center.

"We solicited the very best in technology from the most advanced and well-known companies to bring this unique space to life," said Randy Halley, executive vice president at America First Credit Union. "The Innovation Center will provide access to the advanced solutions that will allow us to continuously improve upon our commitment to provide the best service for our members."

A true community partner dedicated to the communities it serves, the America First Innovation Center will also function as an extension of the credit union's education, community and philanthropic efforts.

The Innovation Center is located at 50 south Main Street, Suite 176A, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. For more information, job inquiries, please visit americafirst.com/ic.

For more information on America First Credit Union, visit www.americafirst.com, America First Credit Union on Facebook, Twitter and @AmericaFirst on Instagram.

About America First Credit Union:

With a long-standing history and more than 77 years servicing members, America First has become one of the largest, most stable and most progressive credit unions in the country, and has remained a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Today, America First has 116 branches, and is the 12th largest credit union in assets in the United States with over $7.4 billion, and the seventh largest credit union in membership in America with more than 754,000 members.

Contact:



America First Credit Union

Nicole Cypers

C: 801-726-9480

ncypers@americafirst.com



Quillin Advertising, Public Relations & Social Media

Melanie Devries

D: 702-506-0828

C: 702-303-7160

mdevries@quillinlv.com




LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Payment processing and transactional risk management specialist Vogogo Inc. ("Vogogo" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: VGO) announces that it has formed a special committee of independent members of the board of directors ("Board") of the company (the "Special Committee") to consider various strategic alternatives potentially available to the Company.

Vogogo also announces that it has filed its first quarter financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2016. These financial statements and the corresponding management's discussion and analysis may be obtained on Vogogo's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Q1 2016 Highlights

-- Revenue focus and increase -- Cost reduction -- Strategic Alternatives

Following authorization as an Electronic Money Institution in the UK in November 2015, which extends across the European Union, Vogogo is focused on generating near-term revenue by selling payment services as a Payment Facilitator ("PayFac") with European banking partners. The PayFac structure provides a more efficient payment framework and lowers the cost of related banking services. The Company increased revenue to $164,452 compared with $11,753 in the same period a year earlier. General and administration, sales and marketing and development and operations costs ("Expenses") were lower at $1.84 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 compared to $2.23 million in the same period a year earlier.

With direction from the Board, Management commenced an expanded cost reduction program in March 2016 while simultaneously focusing on near-term revenue opportunities. Adjustments include staffing reductions and intense cost stewardship that prioritize cash preservation while maintaining critical business functions. The adjustments are expected to be substantially complete in Q2 2016.

Due to the deterioration in Vogogo's original market opportunity involving services for the cryptocurrency industry and the longer-than-expected timing for generating material revenues in more conventional payment processing and transaction risk services, the Board determined in April 2016 that a process would be immediately initiated to identify and examine strategic alternatives focused on increasing shareholder value. The alternatives may include, but are not limited to, a modified plan for continuing the business; the sale or combination of Vogogo's payment and risk management assets to or with another firm; a strategic vend-in, amalgamation, reverse amalgamation or similar transaction; a sale of one or more corporate assets; a strategic business combination or strategic partnership. Opportunities, if any, will be assessed based on synergies with Vogogo's business and the potential to increase shareholder value. There can be no assurance that this exploration process will result in any transaction. There is no set timetable with respect to the Special Committee's review, and the Company does not expect to make further public comment regarding these matters unless and until the Special Committee approves a specific action or otherwise concludes its review.

While exploring strategic options, Vogogo will energetically continue its operational plan to expand its client base while making cash conservation a top priority.

About Vogogo Inc.

Vogogo Inc. provides payment processing and related transaction risk services. The Company develops software that administers multiple electronic payment types including card payments, pre-authorized debit, direct deposit, peer-to-peer and online banking payments for the US, UK and Canadian markets. The head office is located at 400, 320 - 23 rd Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2S 0J2. The registered office is located at Torys LLP, 4600, 525 - 8th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 1G1.For further company information please view the Vogogo Media Kit.

READER ADVISORY

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. None of the information contained on, or connected to, Vogogo's website is incorporated by reference herein.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. All information, other than information regarding historic fact that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to the Company's continued focus on cash conservation, the timing for completion of cost cutting adjustments, the ability to continue to effect and implement cost cutting measures, the ability to identify any strategic alternative that could increase shareholder value and the ability to maintain revenue and lower costs of related banking services as a PayFac. The words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by Vogogo. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Vogogo. Vogogo does not have any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable securities laws. See Vogogo's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2015 and its Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three month period ended March 31, 2016 for a detailed discussion of risk factors.

Contacts:

Vogogo Inc.

Investor:

investor@vogogo.com



Vogogo Inc.

Media:

pr@vogogo.com



Vogogo Inc.

General:

info@vogogo.com



Vogogo Inc.

Geoff Gordon

Chief Executive Officer

403-648-9292



Vogogo Inc.

Rodney Thompson

Chief Relationship Officer

403-648-9292

www.vogogo.com




Weekly net asset value ("NAV") is calculated as of the close of business on each Tuesday and posted on the following business day. In the event that Tuesday is not a business day, the Company will calculate the close-of-business NAV as of the business day immediately preceding that Tuesday. The end-of-month NAV is calculated as of the close of business on the last day of the month and posted on the following business day. For weeks that include a month-end NAV report, PSH will provide only the month-end NAV and not report the Tuesday NAV. Monthly NAVs are published in accordance with the Decree on Conduct of Business Supervision of Financial Undertakings under the Wft (Besluit Gedragstoezicht financiele ondernemingen Wft).

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Government of Canada is committed to restoring fair and balanced labour laws that recognize the important roles of unions in Canada.

Today, the Government of Canada announced its intention to repeal portions of Bill C-4 (Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2, Division 17), dealing with essential services, collective bargaining and processes for grievances and dispute resolution. Legislation will be tabled in the fall to repeal these provisions.

The Government remains committed to negotiating in good faith with bargaining agents to reach agreements that are fair and reasonable for federal employees and for all Canadian taxpayers

Quotes

"By restoring fair and balanced labour laws, the Government is recognizing that labour unions play an important role protecting workers' rights and strengthening the middle class. As another important step in rebuilding the relationship with Canada's public service, we are moving to repeal changes to the public service labour relations regime brought into law by the previous government."

-The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board

Quick Facts

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Saskatchewan's essential services legislation, which included similar provisions to the federal legislation adopted in 2013.

In January 2016, the Government of Canada wrote to all federal public service unions and committed to consult with public sector partners to revisit Bill C-4.

The Government has engaged in ongoing discussions with bargaining agents in the context of collective bargaining and ongoing litigation around the 2013 legislation.

The Government is acting in response to concerns from public sector partners about the lack of consultation prior to the introduction of the 2013 legislation and its impact on collective bargaining.

Follow us on Twitter: @TBS_Canada.

Contacts:

Jean-Luc Ferland

Press Secretary

Office of the President of the Treasury Board

613-369-3163



Media Relations

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

613-369-9400

media@tbs-sct.gc.ca



TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired)

613-369 9371




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/16 -- Chinook Energy Inc. (TSX: CKE) ("Chinook" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to sell, effective May 1, 2016, certain of its assets located in the Gold Creek area of Alberta (the "Divested Assets") for aggregate consideration of approximately $7.5 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The disposition is anticipated to close on or before June 30, 2016. The Divested Assets include a 75% working interest in 20 sections of land (15 net sections) and related pipelines and production facilities. As at December 31, 2015, Chinook had total proved and total proved plus probable reserves associated with these properties of 98.6 mboe and 137.8 mboe, respectively, with associated estimated net present values of approximately $0.7 million and $0.9 million using forecast pricing at a 10% discount. Chinook's first quarter 2016 average production from the Divested Assets was 23 boe/d (38% natural gas and 62% oil and natural gas liquids). The Company expects the disposition to have a minimal impact on its funds flow. Upon completing the sale of the Divested Assets, Chinook will have 24.5 sections (16.5 net) and 35 sections (20.5 net) of Montney lands at Gold Creek and Knopcik, respectively, and will retain ownership of the two (1.13 net) horizontal Montney wells it drilled at Gold Creek in 2014.

"We are pleased to have executed this agreement as it further strengthens our strong financial position and provides us with improved financial flexibility and additional stability to manage near term risks associated with the current uncertain and volatile commodity price environment" stated Walter Vrataric, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chinook. "The disposition is consistent with our strategy of rationalization of non-core assets to further focus on our Montney liquids rich natural gas positions at Birley/Umbach, British Columbia", added Mr. Vrataric.

About Chinook Energy Inc.

Chinook is a Calgary-based public oil and gas exploration and development company that combines multi-zone conventional production and resource plays in western Canada.

Reader Advisory

Forward-Looking Statements

In the interest of providing our shareholders and readers with information regarding our company, including management's assessment of our future plans and operations, certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "could", "plan", "intend", "should", "believe", "outlook", "potential", "target" and similar words suggesting future events or future performance. In particular, this news release contains, without limitation, forward-looking statements pertaining to: various matters relating to the pending disposition of the Divested Assets, including the anticipated closing date of the disposition, the effect of the disposition on our production volumes and reserves and the benefits anticipated to be derived therefrom and that we will continue to focus on the development of our Birley/Umbach properties.

With respect to the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, we have made assumptions regarding, among other things: that the disposition of the Divested Assets will be completed on substantially the terms and the time frame set forth herein. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this news release, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause our actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, that the disposition of the Divested Assets may not be completed on the terms disclosed herein or at all. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the forgoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect our operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) and at our website (www.chinookenergyinc.com). Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Barrels of Oil Equivalent

Barrels of oil equivalent (boe) is calculated using the conversion factor of 6 mcf (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas being equivalent to one barrel of oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 mcf:1 bbl (barrel) is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6:1, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value.

Contacts:

Chinook Energy Inc.

Walter Vrataric

President and Chief Executive Officer

(403) 261-6883

www.chinookenergyinc.com



Chinook Energy Inc.

Jason Dranchuk

Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

(403) 261-6883




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 25, 2016) - Seahawk Ventures Inc. (CSE: SHV) ("Seahawk") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Metallis Resources Inc. ("Metallis") to acquire a 100% undivided interest in nine mineral claims known as the Mackenzie Mountains Iron-Copper Property (the "Mackenzie Property") located in the Mackenzie Mining District, Northwest Territories, Canada (the "Property Purchase Agreement").

The Property Purchase Agreement

The Property Purchase Agreement provides that Seahawk will acquire a 100% interest in the Mackenzie Property in consideration for payment to Metallis of an aggregate of $31,651.57 (of which $5,000 is non-refundable), and issuing total of 75,000 common shares of Seahawk to Metallis.

Metallis retains a 2% net smelter returns royalty on the Mackenzie Property (the "Royalty Interest"). Under the terms of the Property Purchase Agreement, Seahawk may elect to purchase all or a part of the Royalty Interest for a purchase price of $500,000 for each one-half of one percent of the Royalty Interest up to an aggregate purchase price of $2,000,000.

The Property Purchase Agreement is subject to receipt of applicable stock exchange approvals by the parties.

The Mackenzie Property

The Mackenzie Property is an early stage iron-copper property situated 190 kilometers west of the town of Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River. The property comprises nine mineral claims that collectively cover 5,076.49 hectares of Crown land in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

A updated technical report is being prepared with respect to the Mackenzie Property (the "Technical Report"), which will include among other things an updated work program with respect to the property. Information from the Technical Report will be included in the Listing Statement which Seahawk will file in respect of this transaction, and a copy of the Technical Report will be filed concurrently with the filing of the Listing Statement. A further news release will be issued when this occurs.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

Giovanni Gasbarro

President and CEO

Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Giovanni Gasbarro

(604) 939-1848

giogas2@gmail.com
Dominion Diamond Corporation (TSX: DDC, NYSE: DDC) (the "Company") will release its fiscal 2017 first quarter results for the period ended April 30, 2016, after market hours on Wednesday, June 8, 2016.

Beginning at 8:30AM (ET) on Thursday, June 9, the Company will host a conference call for analysts, investors and other interested parties. Listeners may access a live broadcast of the conference call on the Company's web site at www.ddcorp.ca or by dialing 844-249-9383 within North America or 270-823-1531 from international locations and entering passcode 6576367.

An online archive of the broadcast will be available by accessing the Company's web site at www.ddcorp.ca. A telephone replay of the call will be available two hours after the call through 11:00PM (ET), Thursday, June 23, 2016, by dialing 855-859-2056 within North America or 404-537-3406 from international locations and entering passcode 6576367.

About Dominion Diamond Corporation

Dominion Diamond Corporation is the world's third largest producer of rough diamonds by value. Both of its production assets are located in the low political risk environment of the Northwest Territories in Canada where the Company also has its head office. The Company is well capitalized and has a strong balance sheet.

The Company operates the Ekati Diamond Mine and also owns 40% of the Diavik Diamond Mine. Between the two mining operations, diamonds are currently produced from a number of separate kimberlite pipes providing a diversity of diamond supply as well as reduced operational risk. It supplies premium rough diamond assortments to the global market through its sorting and selling operations in Canada, Belgium and India.

For more information, please visit www.ddcorp.ca

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525006514/en/

Contacts:

Dominion Diamond Corporation

Ms. Kelley Stamm, 416-205-4380

Manager, Investor Relations

kstamm@ddcorp.ca
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Thursday release April figures for producer prices, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Producer prices are expected to add 0.2 percent on year, unchanged from the previous month. Australia will provide Q1 numbers for private capital expenditure, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 3.5 percent following the 0.8 percent gain in the previous three months. Singapore will see April numbers for industrial production, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.2 percent on month and a decline of 0.4 percent on year. That follows the 1.0 percent increase and the 0.5 percent yearly decline in March. Hong Kong will release April numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In March, imports were worth 322.39 billion HKD and exports were at 275.36 billion HKD for a trade deficit of 47.03 billion HKD. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
-- The FDA had requested updated information on the pen delivery device for iGlarLixi as part of its New Drug Application, which has been submitted by Sanofi -- Consequently, the FDA has extended their review time by three months -- A regulatory decision on iGlarLixi in the U.S. is now expected at the end of November 2016 -- Zealand's financial guidance for 2016 remains unchangedCopenhagen, 20 August 2016 - Zealand Pharma (Zealand) announced today that Sanofi has submitted updated information on the pen delivery device for iGlarLixi to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of the New Drug Application (NDA) for the product. IGlarLixi is a once-daily, fixed-ratio combination of lixisenatide (Adlyxin) and insulin glargine 100 Units/mL (Lantus) for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. The submission of the additional information, requested by the FDA, constitutes a Major Amendment to the NDA, resulting in an extension of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date by three months. A U.S. regulatory decision on iGlarLixi is now expected before the end of November 2016.Zealand invented lixisenatide, a once-daily prandial GLP-1 receptor agonist, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and granted global development and commercial rights to the product, including for use in combinations, to Sanofi. On 27 July 2016, lixisenatide was approved by the U.S. FDA under the brand name Adlyxin for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. Lixisenatide is approved and marketed globally by Sanofi outside the U.S. under the brand name Lyxumia.Sanofi submitted the NDA for iGlarLixi to the FDA in December 2015, and on 25 May 2016, the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) of the FDA recommended, by a vote of 12 to 2, its approval.Britt Meelby Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zealand commented: "The extension of FDA's review time for iGlarLixi by three months to November 2016 is related to a request for additional information on the pen device. IGlarLixi is a combination of two already FDA approved diabetes medicines and has in clinical trials demonstrated significant benefits for adults with type 2 diabetes. The combination received a convincing positive recommendation for approval by an FDA advisory committee in May, and Sanofi believes that the additional information submitted will result in an offering that will serve the patient needs."Sanofi submitted the fixed-ratio combination of lixisenatide (Adlyxin/Lyxumia) and basal insulin glargine 100 Units/mL (Lantus) for regulatory review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in March 2016. A regulatory decision is expected in Q1 2017.Financial guidance for 2016 remains unchangedThe extension of the FDA review time for Sanofi's NDA for iGlarLixi in the U.S. by three months does not change Zealand's financial guidance for 2016.?????For further information, please contact:Britt Meelby Jensen, President and Chief Executive OfficerTel: +45 51 67 61 28, email: bmj@zealandpharma.comHanne Leth Hillman, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications Tel: +45 50 60 36 89, email: hlh@zealandpharma.comAttachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=582523
Medical Developments International Limitedhas signed deals in the US and Portugal for the distribution, sales and marketing of its respiratory devices.AmerisourceBergen will distribute Medical Developments range of Anti-static Compact Space Chamber respiratory devices in the US.Medical Developments CEO, John Sharman, says that there is significant interest in his companys range of respiratory products and that the first shipment will arrive in the US this week.In Portgual, OverPharama will have exclusive sales and marketing rights over Medical Developments respiratory devices.Medical Developments International reported a net profit of $236,000 at 31 December 2015.
Affectiva, a Waltham, MA-based provider of emotion recognition software, raised $14m in venture capital funding.

The round was led by Fenox Venture Capital with participation from CAC Holdings, Bandai Namco, and Sega Sammy Holdings.

The company intends to use the funds to hire new people to continue to innovate in Emotion AI and to accelerate growth into global markets.

Led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, Affectiva has developed emotion recognition technology that allows developers to create hyper-personalized experiences across multiple industries such as gaming, advertising, healthcare and automotive. E.g., game developers can create adaptive games that change based on a players mood, clinical researchers can develop applications that respond to a patients emotional state, and video communication platforms can optimize webinars so speakers can modify their presentations in real-time, based on an audiences engagement.

The company also announced that Nick Langeveld has been named Chairman of the Board while Dr. Rana el Kaliouby will be moving into the role of Chief Executive Officer.

An MIT Media Lab spin-off, Affectiva provides its solutions to more than 1,400 brands to gather insight and analytics in consumer emotional engagement.

FinSMEs

25/05/2016
Scoop, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise carpooling service, raised $5.1m in venture capital funding.

The round was led by Signia Venture Partners with participation from BMW i Ventures, Index Ventures, and Workday Corporate Ventures.

The company will use the funds to continue to expand the service nationwide.

Co-founded by Jonathan Sadow and Robert Sadow, Scoop provides an automated carpooling solution for daily commute. Launched in August 2015 in Pleasanton, CA, and then expanded into the Bay Area, the service allows users to schedule ahead of time, get matched in a carpool based on route, employer, traffic, etc., and take the trip.

Scoop is available on the website and through Android and iOS apps.

FinSMEs

25/05/2016
Menu Next Door, a Brussels, Belgium-based food community platform, raised 1.75m in seed funding.

Backers included Index Ventures, LocalGlobe, Kima Ventures and TheFamily.

The company intends to use the funds to expand in Europe.

Led by founder and CEO Nicolas Van Rymenant, Menu Next Door allows members to explore whats cooking in their neighbourhood.

On Menu Next Door, people can find homemade and prepared locally meals originating from all over the world with no delivery charges. They can also meet one of the 900 chefs and talk to them about the dish theyve prepared.

Already available in Brussels and Paris with 110 users, the community is now launching in London.

FinSMEs

25/05/2016
Nucleix Ltd., a Rehovot, Israel-based company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative non-invasive molecular cancer diagnostic tests, raised $3m in funding.

Backers included OrbiMed Israel Partners, Aurum Ventures MKI, and Zohar Zisapel.

The company is using the funds to continue to advance its tests and hire new people.

Nucleix develops cancer detection tests based on identification of subtle changes in methylation patterns, which leverage proprietary technology based on a combination of a new biochemical platform in conjunction with algorithms.

The first product  Bladder EpiCheck is a urine test for monitoring of bladder cancer, which is expected to reach the market in Q3 2016.

The companys pipeline includes diagnostic tests for lung and colorectal cancer detection from blood samples.

FinSMEs

25/05/2016
A day long conversation, some chai and paint splashes later, we looked up to an almost finished mural of the versatile, much celebrated actor Dev Anand. Ranjit Dahiya, the creator of the Bollywood Art Project, sat 10 feet away, twirling his mustache with a lot of thought, wondering what shadows and textures were to be added.

A brainchild of Dahiya, Bollywood Art Project or BAP, is an initiative to have murals of film stars painted on the walls of Bandra and around. Clearly now BAP has expanded its boundaries, even overseas, with its reach now seen in multiple cities like Delhi, Chennai and also France.

For an international street artist, Dahiya had a modest beginning to his career. He began his journey in the farms of a small Haryana town called Sonipat, milking buffaloes.

"I'd help my uncle in the white wash business and earn some extra money, until one day, a school teacher asked me if I could paint a mural of Saraswati mata (Goddess of Learning) on the main wall of the school. I asked for a reference image and that was it. Within stipulated time, the mural was ready," said Dahiya, smiling as he reminisced the beginning of his journey towards art.

From a certain someone who did not even know of the esteemedNational Institute Of Designhe now boasts of a degree in fine arts from there. "When I was told about the institute, I got excited, until someone told me Chhad oi, tree bass ki abate nai hai (Let it go, its not your cup of tea), which only motivated me to work harder and I got through it in my second attempt. Today, I am here transforming the canvas of the city, known for cinema."

Mumbai, with much fervor celebrated 100 years of Cinema, while BAP dedicated one of the world's largest mural, of Dada Sahab Phalke, on the MTNL building in Bandra. "I came to the city expecting stars everywhere, or at least some representation of the sets and cinema on streets, but there was none. That's the day I decided, I'll paint the city with murals of the stars I looked unto," he said.

BAP is making the dab, moss ridden walls of some households of Mumbai, into street art galleries, while it tries to make art accessible and understandable for the common public.

The question whether, that translation and community feeling is being generated via this initiative, still remains.

Until, then, here's the story of the latest mural rendition of BAP, quirk and emotion midst storytelling by the man himself -- Ranjit Dahiya.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The insider-trading trial of former Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta, who is accused of spilling secrets about the investment bank, began on Monday with the government saying it would call a former top Goldman banker and a current board member as two of its first witnesses.

Gupta is accused of leaking stock secrets to Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, his erstwhile friend and business associate. Rajaratnam was convicted of insider trading last year and is now in prison.

Jury selection started Monday morning in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who expects the trial to last about three weeks. Gupta, wearing a dark suit, paid close attention from his seat at the defense table as questioning of about 100 potential jurors got underway.

Goldman could play a key role at the trial. One of the government's core allegations is that Gupta tipped Rajaratnam to a $5 billion investment by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) during the 2008 financial crisis and Goldman's surprise fourth-quarter loss that year.

The bank has not been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky, the chief prosecutor in the case, told the judge on Monday that the government plans to call former Goldman banker Byron Trott, a long-time Buffett confidant, as a witness this week.

He said William George, a director at the investment bank since 2002, would also testify this week.

Other witnesses who could take the stand during the trial include Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, who testified for the government at the Rajaratnam trial and said Gupta breached his fiduciary duty to the investment bank.

TIES TO RAJARATNAM

Gupta, 63, is charged with five counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though such a long sentence would be unlikely. Rajaratnam was handed an 11-year term in October, the longest for insider trading in the United States, after being convicted on 14 criminal counts.

Barely a day went by at Rajaratnam's trial a year ago without mention of Gupta, a prominent name in business and charity circles. In addition to serving on Goldman's board, he also formerly led management consultant McKinsey & Co and was a director Procter & Gamble (PG.N) and American Airlines Corp.

But while prosecutors have called Gupta the "illegal eyes and ears" for Rajaratnam, this is a very different case.

At Rajaratnam's trial, jurors spent weeks listening to the Galleon Group founder discussing stock trades on calls secretly recorded by the FBI. With Gupta, prosecutors have no direct conversations on tape related to the trades central to their case.

Gupta has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have argued that others may have leaked information about Goldman to Galleon and that Gupta had no reason to illegally spill corporate secrets.

"This is a classic reasonable doubt case," said Tom Dewey, a partner at law firm Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky in New York, who is not involved in the case. "The core defense message will be: 'There is just not enough evidence.'"

DECADES AT MCKINSEY

Gupta, the most prominent person indicted in the government's insider-trading crackdown, has had a remarkable fall from grace. Born in India, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and spent 34 years at McKinsey, serving as its global head for nine years. He retired in 2007.

He joined Goldman's board in 2006 and left in May 2010, seven months after Rajaratnam's arrest.

Gupta's lawyer, Gary Naftalis, has touted Gupta's charity, particularly his work to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, to rebut any possible government argument that he was motivated by money.

"He has had a wonderful, blameless life and out of the clear blue sky in the seventh decade of his life he decides to become a criminal?" Naftalis said at a pre-trial hearing.

Naftalis fought unsuccessfully to exclude three wiretaps between Rajaratnam and two traders that could implicate Gupta. But the judge said his ruling was not final.

The case is USA v. Gupta, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-907.

(Reporting By Grant McCool; Editing by Martha Graybow and Tim Dobbyn)
HELSINKI/SAN FRANCISCO Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS).

In a move that clearly puts the stamp of two-year chief executive Satya Nadella on the U.S. company, Microsoft said it would shed up to 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.

Shares of Microsoft were trading around $52 late Wednesday, roughly flat with their $51.59 close Tuesday, but significantly up from $34.20 when Nadella became CEO in February 2014.

Remaking Microsoft, known primarily for its software, into a more device-focused company was a hallmark of previous chief executive Steve Ballmer.

In one of his last major acts, Ballmer closed a deal to buy Nokia's (NOKIA.HE) struggling but once-dominant handset business for about $7.2 billion in late 2013. The deal closed in April 2014, two months after Nadella became CEO.

Since then, Nadella has shaved away at the phone business, starting with a 2015 restructuring that put the devices group, previously a stand-alone unit under former Nokia chief Stephen Elop, under the Windows group. Run by Terry Myerson, the Windows division is the company's biggest.

A Finnish union representative told Reuters the cuts would essentially put an end to Microsoft's development of new phones.

"My understanding is that Windows 10 will go on as an operating system, but there will be no more phones made by Microsoft," said Kalle Kiili, a shop steward.

Microsoft said in a statement it would continue to develop the Windows 10 platform and support its Lumia smartphones, but gave no comment on whether it would develop new Windows phones.

Global market share of Windows smartphones fell below 1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to research firm Gartner.

Last year, Microsoft announced $7.5 billion of writedowns and 7,800 job cuts in its phone business.

Earlier this month, Microsoft sold its entry-level feature phones business for $350 million.

The company said on Wednesday it expected to cut all 1,350 jobs at its Finnish mobile phone unit and close down a research and development site in the country. A further 500 jobs will go in other countries, it said, without giving details.

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation," Nadella said in a statement.

"We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms."

Nokia dominated around 40 percent of the world's mobile phone industry in 2008 before it was eclipsed by the rise of touch-screen smartphones.

As a result, Nokia and Microsoft have slashed thousands of Finnish jobs over the past decade, and the lack of substitute jobs is the main reason for the country's current economic stagnation.

Nokia, now focused on telecom network equipment, just last week said it was cutting around 1,000 jobs in Finland following its acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA).

The Microsoft phone business still has a dedicated fan in Ballmer, who bragged about his device at a San Francisco dinner hosted by Fortune in March.

"It's a Windows phone," he said as the audience laughed. "Why wouldn't it be?"

(Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl, Tuomas Forsell and Sarah McBride; Editing by Adrian Croft and Andrew Hay)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The security grid in Kashmir was caught on the back-foot after a series of daredevil attacks by militants in less than 12 hours on Monday in the heart of the summer capital, Srinagar. The attacks, largely seen as a failure of intelligence agencies, have brought this city back on the radars of militant groups, having witnessed a temporary calm for the past few years.

The attacks came days after inspector-general of police, Kashmir division, Syed Javid Mujtaba Gilliani, said the poster boy of Kashmirs militancy, Burhan Wani, was on his own as most of his accomplices have been eliminated in the anti-militancy operations in recent months. Gilliani said different security agencies have maintained pressure on militants and have been cornering them, while also minimising the civilian causalities and damage to public property.

Its because of this pressure that militants have resorted to such cowardly acts, he said, after Monday's twin attacks.

Intelligence agencies say the attacks were carried out to show the reach and striking capability of militant groups, whose total strength has reached an all-time low due to large scale anti-militancy operations carried out by different security agencies. These attacks were carried out to dare security agencies and it is a worrying development considering the importance of capital Srinagar, an intelligence officer in the Kashmir Police told Firstpost.

A senior police official also confirmed to Firstpost that intelligence agencies had no whiff about the movement of militants in Srinagar, where a huge presence of human intelligence and a technology-driven surveillance grid had been laid to monitor people.

There was no specific intel about the presence of militants in Srinagar and their plan of hit-and-run attacks, the official, who wished anonymity, said.

Otherwise full security measures would have been taken to prevent such fatal attacks which claimed the lives of three cops, he added.

In Mondays twin hit-and-run attacks by two motorcycle-borne militants in Srinagar, three cops were killed at point-blank range  much to the discomfort and surprise of the security establishment in the capital.

The first attack took place in old citys Zadibal area which resulted in the death of two cops  Assistant Sub-Inspector Ghulam Muhammad Bhat and Head Constable Nazir Ahmad. Within hours of the first fatal attack, the second strike took place in the Tengpora area of Srinagar city, resulting in the death of Constable Sadiq Sheikh of the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police.

Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen claimed the twin attacks on the cops in Srinagar and has warned of intensifying such attacks.

The operation field commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen has directed the squad to continue and intensify the attacks, Hizb spokesperson Burhan-ud-din was quoted by a local news agency as saying.

In the third attack, Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed to have killed two militants believed to be non-locals in a brief shootout in the Saraibala area in the vicinity of Srinagars commercial hub, Lal Chowk.

Late on Monday evening, the Kashmir Police launched house-to-house searches in the Saraibala locality when two militants hiding in a residential building fired on the cops resulting in a gunfight. One of the militants killed was identified as Saifullah of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, while the identity of the other has yet to be ascertained.

The police said the group had come all the way from north Kashmirs Sopore town. No additional details were provided by the police about the motorcycle-borne militants  who carried out the twin lethal attacks earlier in the day  or whether it was the same duo that carried out attacks through the day.

Last year, social media was abuzz when two young militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit posted photos on Facebook wearing branded clothes and aviators carrying out recon missions in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Polices director-general K Rajendra Kumar said the attacks were desperate acts by militants and that the cops are investigating the facts.

This is their (militants) desperation to show their presence. We have managed to eliminate their leadership and other infiltrating groups, Kumar told reporters after the wreath-laying ceremony for the slain cops yesterday.

While the northern part of Kashmir like Sopore, frontier district of Kupwara and southern militant hotbeds of Pulwama and Tral witnessed increased militant activities over the past three years, Srinagar city remained largely calm with small gunfights in the outskirts of Zakura and Ahmad Nagar.

Three years ago on 24 June, 2013, eight armymen were killed in one of the deadliest attacks on an army convoy on the National Highway in the Hyderpora area of Srinagar. Two days prior to this attack, two cops were killed in one of the busiest markets of Srinagar, Hari Singh High Street.

Security experts have raised apprehensions about the lack of coordination among security agencies to contain such attacks in the future. They said only time will tell if these attacks can be seen as the return of militancy in Srinagar, where a temporary lull was broken yesterday.
New Delhi: The death of a Congolese national in New Delhi earlier this month is snowballing into a major controversy with the African diplomatic community on Tuesday deciding to stay away from this year's Africa Day celebrations and seeking strong action on the part of the Indian government.

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," said Eritrean Ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, in a statement.

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," it said.

Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was mercilessly beaten by three youth around 11.30 p.m. on Friday after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

Oliver was hit on the head with a brick, leading to his death.

According to Woldemariam's statement, Oliver and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend, and while on their way back, he flagged down an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away. However, as he tried to board it, three Indian men standing nearby boarded it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed.

"They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly. One of the Indians picked up a large stone from the roadside and hit Oliver on the head," it said, while a passer-by who stopped to help was also beaten up while the attackers fled the scene when they saw that Oliver was unconscious.

Oliver was rushed to a private hospital where he was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre but he died on the way.

Woldemariam stated that the African heads of mission here have noted with deep concern that "several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators".

He said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, "the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted".

"Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said, and called on the media, civil society, think tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans in India.

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26, Woldemariam said that they have requested that the event be postponed, and the African nations have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except for a cultural troupe from Lesotho.

"This is because the African community in India, including students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver," it added.
New Delhi: Marking the second anniversary of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released a song highlighting the measures taken by his government to improve the condition of the people in the last two years.

The song - 'Mera desh badal raha hai, aage badh raha hai' (My country is changing, moving forward), which is part of the government's plan of a string of events to mark the completion of two years of Modi government on 26 May, was released on Twitter.

Officials said the song, in which adman Piyush Pandey also contributed, is one of the several activities the government is undertaking in this regard.

The lyrics of the song lists the measures taken by the government like 'Jan Dhan Yojana' to 'Beti Bacho, Beti Padhao' to show how they have brought an improvement in the condition of the people.

Apart from this, Union ministers are giving interviews to Doordarshan and other news organisations and also holding interactions with general public on social media websites.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is coming out with the achievements of various departments and ministries, they said, adding that ministers and MPs will also travel to various parts of the country to disseminate information about the development activities undertaken by the government.
ISLAMABAD Pakistan's interior minister said on Tuesday he could not confirm that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in a U.S. drone strike, and described Washington's justification for the attack as "against international law".

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Mansour had been killed in the drone strike, and the Pentagon said separately that Mansour was plotting attacks that posed "specific, imminent threats" to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters that the body recovered on Pakistani soil, near the Afghan border, was charred beyond recognition, adding that DNA samples would be tested against a relative who had come forward to claim the body.

"The government of Pakistan cannot announce this without a scientific and legal basis," Khan told a news briefing.

He did not identify the relative or say whether he or she claimed to be related to the Taliban leader or someone else.

Khan rejected the U.S. argument that it could launch attacks across borders in order to protect its interests.

"For the U.S. government to say that whoever is a threat to them will be targeted wherever they are, that is against international law," he said. "And if every country in the world adopts this rule, it will be the law of the jungle."

Pakistan and the United States have been uneasy allies in the war against the Taliban and other Islamist militants in the region.

Critics in Afghanistan and the United States accuse Pakistan of allowing the Afghan Taliban's leadership to take shelter on its territory, something that Islamabad has denied.

The militant movement has made territorial gains and carried out a series of deadly attacks across Afghanistan since NATO forces officially wound down their combat mission at the end of 2014, undermining the Western-backed government in Kabul.

Recent events echo those in 2011, when U.S. special forces raided a building in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad that killed longtime al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, infuriating and severely embarrassing Islamabad.

CROSS-BORDER STRIKE?

Khan said the car was destroyed on Pakistani territory but was fired "from another country", presumably Afghanistan, where more than 10,000 U.S. and coalition troops remain.

Khan added that Pakistani authorities were also investigating a passport bearing the name of Wali Muhammad, which was found near the burned out shell of the car believed to have been the target of the drone attack.

He confirmed the passport in question had been used to travel from Pakistani airports multiple times, and that it held valid visas for Iran, Dubai and Bahrain.

If the travel document proves to have been used by Mansour himself, it would raise fresh questions about how the Taliban leader was able to move freely in and out of Pakistan and whether he had help from the country's security apparatus.

Khan on Tuesday disputed that elements of Pakistan's security apparatus supported the Taliban leadership.

"If (Mansour) was availing Pakistani intelligence agency support and help, would he be travelling like this?," he asked, referring to reports that the target was alone with a single driver.

The circumstances surrounding the killing remain murky, including how the U.S. verified it was Mansour who was killed in the attack and how any documents could be recovered from the fiery scene.

"You could not see a spot of paint ... that's how bad it was hit," Khan said. "How was a passport lying just a few yards away? So first we have to establish that, whether he was actually using it."

The Taliban have not issued any official statements on Mansour since Saturday's drone strike.

However, Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Mansour is dead and a council is meeting to choose a successor, the second such leadership shura in a year after the death of the movements founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed in 2015.

MYSTERIOUS PASSPORT

Authorities in Quetta, the Baluchistan capital, showed a copy of the recovered passport, which has a photo bearing a strong likeness to the officially released Taliban picture of Mansour, to a Reuters reporter.

They also noted that it bore an exit stamp from Iran's land border with Pakistan dated May 21, the day of the drone strike.

Pakistani immigration records show that the Wali Muhammad passport was used at least 18 times since 2006 to travel internationally, two senior officials in the Federal Investigation Agency, which manages borders, told Reuters.

One of the officials in the southwestern province of Baluchistan said the passport was used mostly over the land border with Iran and from the airport in the southern city of Karachi, with the last exit from Karachi en route to Dubai on March 31, 2015.

The second official reviewed computerised records of the passport and said there were "18 travel events" from Karachi airport starting in 2007, with the last arrival at Karachi on April 2, 2015.

A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry was quoted on state media denying that such an individual had crossed the border from Iran to Pakistan at the time in question.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates did not respond to questions on whether Mansour might have entered Dubai using an assumed name or whether there was any record of a Wali Muhammad visiting.

(Additional reporting by Gul Yousufzai in QUETTA; Writing by Kay Johnson; editing by Mike Collett-White)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Patna: Bihar police on Wednesday claimed to have cracked journalist Rajdeo Ranjan's murder case by arresting five persons in Siwan district.

"The police arrested five persons in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan and recovered a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles," Additional Director General of Police (ADG Headquarters) Sunil Kumar told reporters.

The arrested were identified as Rohit Kumar, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Ishu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta, the ADG said.

He said Rohit Kumar has admitted that he fired on the scribe resulting in his death.

Search is on for some more persons involved in the crime, he added.

The police have also seized a 7.65 bore country-made pistol and three motorcycles used in the crime, he added. Rajdeo Ranjan, district bureau head of a leading vernacular newspaper, was shot dead by unidentified men when he was going on his motorcycle near fruit market on station road under town police station area of Siwan on 13 May evening.

The killing had drawn country-wide criticism for Nitish Kumar government as a reflection of the slide in law and order situation in the state.

However, ADG (Headquarters) Sunil Kumar said that investigation is on the right track and is not over yet.

During the interrogation, Rohit Kumar, the main accused in the journalist murder case, said that he opened fire in the direction of the persons who are still at large but did not tell anything about his motive and conspiracy behind the crime, the ADG said.

The motive and conspiracy behind the murder would become clear once the other absconding persons are arrested, he said. Kumar said all the five arrested persons are new faces as they do not have any criminal record.

Citing the Gaya road rage incident, he said no one would be spared however powerful or well connected he/she may be. "We will take appropriate action against any person if any link or evidence surfaces during the investigation," he said.

Police are also taking every step to nab Laddan Mian, who is said to be one of the close henchmen of jailed ex RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, in connection with the journalist's murder, Kumar said. He said that Mian had a criminal antecedent.

On CBI inquiry, the ADG said "CBI has sought an FIR from Bihar police for preliminary enquiry. But we (Bihar police) will not wait for CBI to take over the journalist murder case."

"Bihar police will take the investigation and the case to the extent possible....We have not abdicated our responsibility and we are continuing with our investigation," he said.

Bihar government had on May 16 formally recommended for a CBI investigation into the killing of journalist Rajdeo

Ranjan.
All hell broke loose after a study found cancer-causing chemicals in bread samples of virtually all top brands on Monday.

Nearly 84 percent of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate, banned in many countries as they are listed as "hazardous" for public health, the report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said.

But what are these chemicals which are the cause of this sudden panic in the country?

According to CSE, potassium bromate (KBrO3) is a chemical which is classified as a category 2B carcinogen (something possibly carcinogenic to human beings). Potassium iodate (KIO3) is a chemical which can contribute to thyroid-related diseases.

According to a report in The Hindu, potassium bromate takes the form of white crystals or powder.

The CSE report further said that potassium bromate is used as a flour treatment agent in bread and other bakery products because it is a powerful oxidising agent which makes the bread fluffy, soft and gives it a good finish. Under the perfect baking conditions, potassium bromate converts into bromide, a harmless chemical. But this does not happen in practice, the report added.

An NDTV report also said that potassium bromate makes the bread look white and enhances its elasticity. A 1982 research from Japan stated that it could also cause cancer in rats and mice. Another report by Zee News said that studies revealed that potassium bromate was a "genotoxic carcinogen", which is a chemical agent that damages genetic information and hence causes mutations.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said that a person may require medical attention if he or she is exposed to potassium bromate through the skin or eyes or if the person ingests it.

However, the report in The Hindu also said that potassium bromate was "in the same league" as coffee, aloe vera, mobile phone radiation and carbon black (which is an ingredient in eye-liner). It further said that the chemical is actually less toxic than processed and red meat.

The CSE report further said that the use of potassium iodate as a flour treatment agent in bread could lead to higher consumption of iodine. The European Food Safety Agency, in its scientific opinion of 2014, said that the chronic excessive iodine consumption "may accelerate the development of sub-clinical thyroid disorders to overt hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, increase the incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis and increase the risk of thyroid cancer."

Union Health Minister JP Nadda had said on Tuesday that he has asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to take the issue of carcinogenic chemicals in bread seriously and submit a report at the earliest.

"I have told FSSAI to take the matter seriously and submit the report. They are coming out with a report. The Ministry will take appropriate action accordingly. We will take action as soon as the report comes," Nadda had said.

The bread samples which were tested included brands such as Britannia, Harvest Gold and the fast food chains - KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Subway, McDonalds and Slice of Italy.

Britannia, KFC, Domino's, McDonald's and Subway had denied that these chemicals were used in their products. Other brands did not comment on the issue.

With inputs from PTI
Mumbai: AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon on Tuesday met Mumbai Police Commissioner in connection with her allegation that calls were made to Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi house.

Khadse has rubbished the allegation saying that the said mobile number was not in operation any longer.

"After my meeting with the CP Datta Padsalgikar, they (police) called the ethical hacker (Manish Bhangale) and interrogated him. He showed them how he accessed the data and gave them all the data. Now there will progress in the investigation," she said after the meeting.

Bhangale, Ahmedabad-based 'ethical hacker', has claimed to have hacked the website of a Pakistani telecom company to obtain the call data record, which AAP has cited while seeking probe against Khadse.
That there has been a kind of a turf war between the current Executive and the Judiciary is no secret but the Executive seems to have been feeling rather strongly singed by the recent developments, particularly in Uttarakhand. The Legislature also seemed to have been drawn into this ruckus which appears to be one-sided, at least in the public domain since the Judiciary usually speaks only through its judgments.

The Uttarakhand episode raised many questions. One such was asked in an editorial: Was the handholding (of the Uttarakhand Assembly by the Supreme Court) necessary? The editorial itself provided a kind of a prudent and even-handed answer. It cautioned both parties in saying But even as the Central government reflects on the damage it has done to its own reputation, the court must also ask itself whether it could have been more mindful of its own boundaries in Uttarakhand.

Possibly coincidentally, the very next day almost the entire media was splashed by a headline which can justifiably be called sensational. It said Judiciary is destroying legislature brick by brick: Arun Jaitley. Elaborating his stand, the Finance Minister is reported to have said, inter alia, With the manner in which encroachment of legislative and executive authority by Indias judiciary is taking place

Just five days later, on 16 May, came another news item quoting the Finance Minister as saying that Judiciary must draw its own Lakshman rekha. This is what the news report said, Judicial review is legitimate domain of judiciary but then the Lakshman rekha has to be drawn by all the institutions themselves. Lakshman rekha is very vital, the finance minister said, asserting that the executive decisions are to be taken by the executive and not the judiciary.

Statement such as these, made by arguably the second most important minister in the cabinet after the Prime Minister, who is also considered to be a legal and constitutional luminary, and on the floor of the Parliament, have to be taken very seriously.

The issue whether the judiciary is encroaching on the authority of the legislature and the executive, is inseparable from the doctrines of separation of powers and checks and balances, enunciated by the French political philosopher, Montesquieu. Separation of powers obviously means that the three pillars of the State, the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary, operate in separate domains and usually do not, and should not, interfere in one anothers domain. This exercise of powers, however, is not totally unfettered. It is accompanied by the system of checks and balances under which each pillar acts as a check on the exercise of powers by the other two pillars, and is expected, and required, to provide a balance if any of the other two do not, or are not able to, exercise their powers in accordance with the supreme law of the land, the Constitution.

The number of times judiciary has refrained from pronouncing on legislative issues is far more than the number that they have done so. And whenever they have done so, has been by following the principle of filling in the gap in legislation, till such time as the legislature acts on it. As the Supreme Court said in the Vineet Narain case, In a catena of decisions of this Court, this power has been recognised and exercised, if need be, by issuing necessary directions to fill the vacuum till such time the legislature steps in to cover the gap or the executive discharges its role. More specifically, the judiciary does so under three conditions: (a) there is a gap in legislation, (b) the legislature has not had the time or inclination to fill it, and (c) most importantly, public interest is suffering. When these three conditions are satisfied, it is said that the judiciary has the right, nay, a duty, to fill the gap in legislation till the legislature decides to act on it.

Based on personal experience of the last 15 years, some such instances are worth mentioning. When a High Court ruled that candidates contesting elections to Parliament and State Assemblies must disclose criminal cases pending against them, their financial assets and liabilities, and their educational qualifications, the government of the day appealed to the Supreme Court(SC) against that decision. When the SC upheld that decision, the government issued an Ordinance to amend the Representation of the People Act to prevent the disclosure. The Ordinance was converted in an Act by the Parliament unanimously. It was then left to the SC to declare that amendment unconstitutional and null and void. That is how the affidavits which are filed along with nomination papers came into being in 2003.

Innovatively, one of the responses of politicians was to leave uncomfortable columns in the affidavits blank. It took another decision by the SC to make candidates fill all columns of the affidavit. Interestingly, it is these same affidavits that are giving anxious moments to some politicians about their educational qualifications.

A recent example is the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA). When two of the leading political parties are found guilty of violating the FCRA by a High Court, attempts are made to amend the FCRA to let them off the hook. When those attempts do not succeed, the amendment is done by including it in the Finance Bill.

It seems the political establishment, in the form of political parties, are not comfortable following the laws that they themselves have passed in the Parliament, often unanimously. And when they are required to follow the law, by the judiciary, at the request of concerned citisens, their standard response seems to be to amend the law that they find inconvenient.

The Right to Information Act (RTI) is yet another example. When the highest statutory authority in the country to implement the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission (CIC), says that six national political parties satisfy the requirements given in the Act under the definition of a public authority, and therefore these six parties are public authorities under the RTI Act, what do these six main political parties do? They openly defy the CICs decision! When the matter goes to the SC, the Union of India is the first to respond to say that RTI should not apply to political parties.

With the RTI Act having been passed by the Parliament unanimously, one has to wonder who is destroying the authority of the legislature!

And in the case of Uttarakhand, did the judiciary take suo motu cognisance of the matter or did someone approach the judiciary?

The lesson that seems to have been taken from the Uttarakhand episode it to rein in the judiciary by creating public opinion to the effect that the judiciary is over-stepping its limits and is preventing the executive from doing its work. That this lesson is perverse should be clear from the above examples which amply illustrate that the judiciary steps in to fill the gap in legislation when the executive and the legislature either ignore or attempt to harm public interest while trying to serve the narrow and partisan interests of the political class.

Therefore, what is failing the country is not the judiciary but the partisan politics of the entire political establishment. It is the political parties who have rendered the legislatures irrelevant by constantly disrupting it. This denigration of Parliament has been become more obvious since 2013.

The lesson that needs to be learnt from Uttarakhand is for political parties to mend their ways of working. Unless that happens, not only the legislature but the entire architecture of democracy will be destroyed. And in that case, who is to blame will become irrelevant.

Instead of lecturing the judiciary to draw a Lakshman Rekha, it is for the political class to get out of the rekha of political partisanship and start working in the national interest. That is the only way the edifice of an effectively functioning democracy can be built brick by brick.

The author is former professor, Dean, and Director In-charge of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Views are personal.
As Pinarayi Vijayan swears in as the new Chief Minister of Kerala on Wednesday, there is a lot of optimism in the air. All his initial signals have been progressive, promising and visibly resolute. Suddenly he also seemed to have undergone a makeover  from a tough party satrap to a peoples man who brooks no nonsense.

Pinarayis LDF government will be certainly a lot different from the previous UDF government led by Oomen Chandy for a number of reasons. The most conspicuous of them is the absolute stability that the LDF enjoys because of the massive margin the front has won over its rival. The LDF has 38 more seats than the UDF, which is 19 times more than the margin the latter had over them in the last election. This will ensure that the government will never be at the mercy of small parties haggling for their share of power and other entitlements.

The biggest handicap of the UDF government had been that Oomen Chandy had to capitulate to the constant demands, tantrums and blackmail-threats of his coalition partners. In the UDF, it was impossible to pursue any policy without the concurrence of its multiple partners with competing interests that are communal, commercial and political. In comparison, the LDF government has a single major partner - the CPI, which is ideologically on the same side - and a couple minor partners - JD(S) and NCP - that are far from demanding. In fact, in the face of the brute majority of the CPM and the CPI together, the minor partners have to be content with whatever they get.

Pinarayi has never been a topper in popularity charts and hence all his initial moves have been to assume a brand new image. None of the opinion polls, which incidentally predicted an easy victory for the LDF, gave him any chance. In fact, he not only fared worse compared to VS Achuthanandan, but also came behind Oomen Chandy. While about 36 percent of the people apparently wanted VS to head the government, only 16 precent supported Pinarayi. In comparison, Oomen Chandy was chosen by about 34 percent.

Probably, this reality nags him and he wants to address it upfront. In his first press conference after being chosen as the Chief Minister, he tried to be extra-pally with the journalists, which some critics said didnt suit a Communist. However, more than these gestures, what was more appealing was the promise of a government that he said would stand for justice, prosperity, unity, and for everyone. He declared zero tolerance to corruption and said that his ministry would be frills-free: no unwanted expenditure, no unnecessary renovation of ministers residences, no fancy cars, no big personal entourage etc.

The cabinet too is refreshingly new. Except three seniors, all the others in the CPMs list of 11 ministers are newcomers, with impressive backgrounds. The seniors  Dr Thomas Issac, G Sudhakaran and AK Balan  are real veterans. The others have been chosen for their political constituencies and acumen. Unlike in the UDF camp, where each post had to be decided based on caste and religion, there was no apparent appeasement angle in CPMs choices. Of course, the newcomers will have to prove their mettle because their party has promised quite a lot.

The CPI went even a step further by choosing all newcomers for their quota of four ministers. Reportedly, there was some resentment within the CPI camp, but the party leadership chose to ignore them. The NCP and the JD(S) will have one minister each.

An uneventful selection of ministers, without any noise or internal squabbles, is a good sign of discipline and order within the ruling front compared to the UDF, where, this process would have been fraught with factional feuds, internal and external threats and a lot of sulking leaders. Moreover, the UDF also cannot keep religious and community leaders away from their decision making process. The latter in fact influence every major decision of the UDF. In the case of LDF, except the party leadership, nobody spoke a word and the religious as well as community leaders were kept at bay.

The LDF came to power on the wings of a vituperative anti-corruption campaign against Oomen Chandy and his ministers. Now that they are in power, they have to prove every charge that they had hurled at the UDF, particularly the solar scam, bar-bribery and illegal grant of land to private companies. Two of the CPI ministers have said they would investigate the corruption charges in their respective ministries, but the CPM is yet to say anything concrete. If the government fails to investigate these scams and send the people responsible to jail, it would expose LDFs credibility. The BJP, which is trying to wriggle in to the limited space for a third player, has already charged the LDF with possible compromise politics with the UDF. Pinarayi certainly has to prove the BJP wrong and demonstrate to the people of the state that his war against corruption was genuine, and not just political opportunism.

However, the publicity blitzkrieg surrounding the new government has taken some sheen away from Pinarayis promises.

Two days ago, he promised austerity as a stated policy, but what followed was extravagance. Reportedly, the swearing in ceremony on Wednesday will cost a lot of money in terms of the organisation of the event (Mathrubhumi Television channel pegged it at Rs 50 lakhs while some others said it would cost about Rs One crore) and advertisements. All national dailies from Delhi have carried front (full) page advertisements announcing the arrival of the LDF government.

This may be considered a one time blip because the LDF manifesto is a promising mix of growth and welfare. Delivering even half of what the front has promised will make a lot of difference to the state. It will also require a lot of hard work and resources.

Let Pinarayi take his time and prove his supporters right, and detractors wrong. If he delivers on what he has promised, it will certainly move the state out of its stasis.
In a party where sycophancy has to be worn on the sleeve. Loyalty, apart from usefulness and ability to win an election, is a criterion for getting a ticket to contest in the Congress. Loyalties, even if the party is in decline, has been a strong feature, at least so far.

It never needed to be put down on paper, unless there was a split and leaders wanted to go in different directions, which, at least now despite its decline does not appear to be the case as of now. But West Bengal has come up with a new trick  getting the newly elected MLAs to sign their loyalties on stamped papers.

The Indian Express today reported that they have signed their "unqualified allegiance" to the party, and the mother-son duo, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, with an assurance they would not "get involved in any anti-party activity". If they had an opinion, it would not be voiced within the party fora, and if push came to shove, resign their seats.

These expression of loyalty is on Rs 100-stamped paper, but we dont know if they are notarised. Or if they are witnessed, but for sheer novelty, they take the cake. Normally, loyalties are expressed in the Congress in groups by resolutions in their meetings. They are done for official consumption if some have their daggers ready.

However, Adhir Chowdhury, West Bengal Congress has described them as voluntary. When documents are cyclostyled  that is, to a format because cyclostyling is now a thing of the past  they cannot be voluntary. It means, sign, or else But why? In the past, Congressmen in West Bengal had signed such loyalty affirmations on Rs 10-stamp papers, but to get party tickets.

That it should happen in West Bengal, where it surprisingly scored better than the ally, Communist Party of India (Marxist), is interesting. In the Assembly elections that returned Mamata to power, the Congress won 44 seats against the partners 26. Those elected in trying political circumstances, should be gloating and grateful, not having to spell out their fidelity in writing.

If Adhir Chowdhury is aspiring for something big, what could it be? Or is it it that having won 44 seats, he was asserting his supremacy so that there are no others edging him out from a place of primacy? Or is it that new satraps are emerging, what with Kamalnath recently saying that the party now needed to identify a state-level leader.

Congress has been better served only when it has had such satraps  Kamraj, YB Chawan, Sharad Pawar, Biju Patnaik, et al in the past. Now, with a weak leadership, especially with Rahul Gandhi only doing the foxtrot, here now, then gone the next moment, there have been calls from Digvijay Singh, Rahuls mentor, no less, for deep surgery.

One does not yet know if this is an one-off development, or done after a quiet nudge by the High Command which feared that the 44-strong legislature party could be assertive, and Choudhury does not claim all the credit. That the mother-son duo matter, nothing else?
The Modi-led government is all set to bring in reforms in the education sector, even as his end of two years of governance comes to an end. The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani had announced on 16 May that the Narendra Modi government would bring about such a policy change by 26 May, which hopes to bring a much-needed impetus to India's education system.

Smriti Irani has, on various occasions, shared details of this new policy. Here is what we know.

"Under the new education policy, the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) will address all those challenges facing the education system, as even students tell me, we know more about Renaissance but not about Maharana Pratap," Irani had said while speaking at the 'Samvaad' Conclave, organised by India TV to assess the performance of two years of Modi government.

She then further added, in an interview to All India Radio, that We have received suggestions from people living in 1.10 lakh villages and over 1,500 municipal bodies... we have prepared a document with the help of experts, including advice by education councils, to improve our education system. It will be unveiled in 15-20 days."

Irani was proud to state that the National Education Policy was being prepared after consulting people living in villages and far-flung areas.

The Modi government plans on taking the Right to Education Act (RTE), passed by the earlier UPA government, towards its real objective.

"The previous government passed the RTE but failed to make any provision for fees of 25 percent students whom they have provided seat reservation in private schools. We made the required arrangements and have paid for the education of 18 lakh students after checking their records through state governments," she said.

Crediting Prime Minister Modi for the endeavour, Irani had spoken about the human resource development ministry digitising NCERT books from Class IX to XII, saying, "All these books are available free of cost in English, Hindi and Urdu through a mobile app."

As part of the new education policy, Irani has also spoken about the launch of a web portal, Bharatvani, which would teach various subjects in 22 Indian languages.

The ministry has promised 16 research parks through the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), which would be five times those built from 2004 to 2014.

"Work has already started on six parks. These institutions will impart vocational and technological skills to students through diploma and certificate courses. We will involve IIT faculty to teach the students," Irani had said.

The government has invited industry leaders to partner with these institutes and private players have already invested over Rs 140 crore in setting them up.

The HRD ministry has also indicated that various Indian institutions would be collaborating with foreign universities under the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms so that Indian students can get the best education.

With inputs from IANS
In Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has revived the Chabahar initiative, begun by the first NDA government of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The project was abandoned mainly because the sanctions regime made it difficult to do much with Iran. But now with the sanctions lifted, Delhi is giving it a fresh lease of life. The commercial agreement for the Chabahar port signed on Monday is seen as a strategic move by India to bypass Pakistan and open a direct line to Afghanistan through Iran. The development of Chabahar is at the heart of the transport corridor connecting Iran-Afghanistan and India to the Central Asian countries and beyond.

Chabahar is seen as a game-changer for regional connectivity and Modi termed it 'historic'.

A historic Era of Port-led Developmenthttps://t.co/8smEezyFds via NMApp pic.twitter.com/bkw0LtcKNm  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2016

But this is the first tentative step and too early to celebrate. The port is located in the Gulf of Oman in Irans southeastern region, not far from Pakistans port of Gwadar. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the ocean. The work on the port was started by India in the 1990s, but did not go far. In May this year, an MOU was signed between India and Iran to build two terminals and five berths in Chabahar. India will invest $200 million initially for the port and an additional $500 million will be available for the development of related infrastructure.

The commercial agreement was signed on Monday after talks between the Modi and Iran's president Hassan Rouhani. Apart from Rouhani and Modi, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani was also present, signalling the importance of Chabahar for land-locked Afghanistan, heavily dependent on neighbouring Pakistan to maintain supply lines.

The Chabahar project is expecected to bloster regional trade and give fillip to the economy of the neighbouring countries.

"We want to link to the world, but connectivity among ourselves is also a priority. The corridor will spur unhindered flow of commerce throughout the region. Inflow of capital and technology could lead to new industrial infrastructure in Chabahar, Modi said after the agreement was signed.

Rouhani was equally enthusiastic saying that the trilateral connectivity agreement was not merely an economic document but a political and regional one with a message of regional opportunities for development. He added that accord would help peace and stability in the region.

Bypassing Pakistan

The Chabahar port project has been in the works since as far back as 2003, when the first MoU was signed. India and Afghanistan were keen to find an alternative route to Afghanistan, since Pakistan does not allow the transit of Indian goods through its territory. The project has been long-delayed thanks to many factors, including the crippling sanctions which US and its European allies had slapped on Iran. Today, with the lifting of sanctions, the project has a better chance of success.

While it is a win-win situation for all concerned, for Afghanistan it will be another lifeline, as it will make it somewhat less dependent on Pakistan, a troublesome neighbour. Not only will it be easy for Afghanistan to get Indian products directly from the Chabahar port and into Afghanistan by road and rail, but India has already spent around $100 million to construct a 218-kilometre-long (140-mile) road from Delaram in western Afghanistan to Zaranj in the Iran-Afghan border to link up with Chabahar port. Afghanistan can also tap the huge Indian market through exports from Chabahar.

India will also be investing in petrochemeicals, fertilisers, metallurgy in Chabahars Free Trade Zone. Indian Railways will help build a 500-kilometre line between Chabahar and Zahedan as part of the project. Information Communication Technology, Indias strong

points is also on the cards to be set up in the Free Trade Zone adjoining Chabahar. The FTZ is already filled with Chinese projects,

with a makeshift town also coming up for its huge workforce.

Indias hope is that the corridor will spur the unhindered flow of commerce throughout the region. Inflow of capital and technology could lead to new industrial infrastructure in Chabahar.

But in certain quarters, too much is being made of Chabahars competition to Gwadar in the Makran coast of Pakistan. China had built

Gwadar and is now involved in running it. Compared to that, Indias presence in Chabahar is minuscule and as of now, it is involved in a very small way. India's efforts overall pale in comparison to Chinas footprints in the region.

Indias record in projects is not good

In the past, Indias record in projects has been dismal. There have always been inordinate delays. Modi, however, is a man in a hurry and will possibly prod the Indian side to deliver on time. Possibly in an attempt to smooth these problems, a ministerial team will monitor the connectivity project.

Having firmed up a good deal, it is now for India to deliver.

Sending goods by sea to Chabahar will and then on by rail or road will bring down nearly 50 percent of the cost. All eyes will now be on how and when India delivers on Chabahar. Other factors that may act as spoilers are the situation in Afghanistan as well as Irans own problems with the US. The Republicans are unhappy with the nuclear deal and have been critical of President Barack Obamas efforts. Much will depend on who wins the presidential race in November and how relations with Iran pan out.

But if the situation remains as it stands at present and India delivers on time, Chabahar could open a new chapter in the region's history.
Washington: The daughter of a Hong Kong-based publisher believed abducted by Chinese authorities eight months ago appeared Tuesday before a US congressional commission urging Washington's help to win his release.

Author Gui Minhai, a Swedish national, is one of five men associated with a publishing house whose disappearance late last year raised international concern that Beijing is clamping down on the semiautonomous Chinese city's freedom of speech.

College student Angela Gui told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that she last spoke to her father by phone about one month ago but she does not know where in China he is.

He went missing in Thailand in October. He appeared on Chinese state TV in January, tearfully confessing that he'd turned himself in to mainland authorities over a hit-and-run accident that he was involved in more than a decade ago. The daughter said she'd never heard of that incident and believed the statement was coerced.

Swedish authorities have been allowed to visit him just once, in late February, she said.

"It has not been clear what my dad is officially in Chinese custody for," said the younger Gui, who is a student at University of Warwick in England. "I don't know what the official reason is, however it seems to me that it's quite clear that he's there because of his work, and I suppose that's why all of his co-workers are there as well, or have been there."

Minhai was the founder of Mighty Current Media, which specialized in churning out exposes on elite Chinese politics that were snapped up by visitors from mainland China, where they are prohibited.

The daughter said that the others who went missing have "nominally been released," but the publisher's British chief editor Lee Bo has been made to return more than once to the mainland. She appealed for the US and other governments "to keep asking questions" of China about her father's detention.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Under an agreement reached with Britain, which handed Hong Kong to communist Chinese control in 1997, Beijing was meant to leave the city's freedoms intact for a half-century.

Tuesday's hearing examined how Chinese authorities increasingly seek to silence critics overseas. It came ahead of the 4 June anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on prodemocracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

"Twenty-seven years later the Chinese government is increasingly brazen in its repression," said Sen Marco Rubio, R-Fla, "no longer limiting its reach to China's territorial boundaries, but instead seeking to stifle discussion of its deplorable human rights record both at home and abroad."
New Delhi: The External Affairs Ministry is trying to bring back an Indian boy from Jessore in Bangladesh, after he was said to have gone missing from Delhi in 2010.

A senior official in the Indian High Commission in Dhaka is travelling to Jessore in southwestern Bangladesh to meet 12-year-old Sonu on the directive of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

"Our Joint Secretary Bangladesh Sripriya Ranganathan has met Mehboob and Mumtaz who claim that #Sonu presently in Bangladesh is their son. Our High Commission officials in Dhaka will visit Jessore where Sonu is lodged in a Children's Shelter Home in Pulerhat (Jessore)," Swaraj tweeted.

Our Joint Secretary Bangladesh Sripriya Ranganathan has met Mehboob and Mumtaz who claim that #Sonu presently in Bangladesh is their son./1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 24, 2016

Our High Commission officials in Dhaka will visit Jessore where Sonu is lodged in a Children's Shelter Home in Pulerhat (Jessore)./2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 24, 2016

We will match Sonu's DNA with couple claiming to be his parents. In case DNA test is positive, we will bring Sonu to India without delay./3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 24, 2016

"We will match Sonu's DNA with couple claiming to be his parents. In case DNA test is positive, we will bring Sonu to India without delay," she said in a series of tweets.

Earlier, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup had tweeted: "A First Secretary from @ihcdhaka is going to Jessore today to meet with Sonu."

.@JournoPranay

A First Secretary from @ihcdhaka is going to Jessore today to meet with Sonu.  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 24, 2016

On Monday, Swaraj had said the MEA will resolve the issue soon.

"Thanks for bringing this to my notice. We have initiated action already. We will resolve this soon," she had tweeted after her attention was drawn to Sonu's plight.

Thanks for bringing this to my notice. We have initiated action already. We will resolve this soon.@awasthis @Mrityunjoykjha @ihcdhaka  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 24, 2016

Sonu had reportedly gone missing from Delhi in 2010 and a man from Jessore recently contacted his family here and gave details about the whereabouts of the boy, who is reportedly in a child care home in Jessore.

The details of how the boy had gone missing are not yet known.
Stockholm: A Stockholm district court on Wednesday maintained a European arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape allegation, rejecting his lawyers' request to have it lifted.

"The court considers that Julian Assange is still suspected of rape... and that there is still a risk that he will abscond or evade justice," it said in a statement.

Swedish prosecutors issued the arrest warrant because they want to question Assange about the rape allegation, which he denies.

The 44-year-old Australian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 after exhausting all his legal options in Britain against extradition to Sweden.

Assange's lawyers requested the lifting of the warrant after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a non-binding legal opinion on 5 February saying his confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy amounted to arbitrary detention by Sweden and Britain.

Both Britain and Sweden have angrily disputed the group's findings. "The court finds, contrary to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, that Julian Assange's stay at Ecuador's embassy in London should not be considered a detention," the court said.

The alleged crime dates back to 2010 and the statute of limitations expires in 2020. Assange fears that if he were sent to Sweden to face trial, he could be extradited to the United States to be tried over WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.
Tsai Ing-wen, who made history by becoming the first female president of the self-governing island nation, Taiwan, last Saturday, was reduced to the cliche of 'crazy old cat lady' by the Chinese media.

Tsai ing-wen accorded with the title of most powerful woman by the TIME magazine, came under the scrutiny of the Chinese media, on Tuesday, by virtue of her singledom.

In an extremely personal attack, Wang Weixing, an analyst with China's People's Liberation Army and board member of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, wrote in an opinion piece, how Tsai Wen was "extreme" in her political approach, owing to her status as an unmarried woman, thus "lacking the emotional encumbrance of love, the constraints of family or the worries of children." as reported by The Daily Mail.

"Her style and strategy in pursuing politics constantly skew toward the emotional, personal and extreme," Wang wrote, adding that Tsai was prone to focussing excessively on details and short-term goals rather than overall strategic considerations.

The piece appeared on Tuesday on the website of the International Herald Leader, which is published by China's official Xinhua News Agency. The piece was soon taken down from the official website as well as other Chinese news portals, reported by CNN. The piece invariably generated widespread criticism. The media was accused of being extremely sexist and falling prey to 'Straight man cancer' a popular Chinese term that refers to chauvinist, judgmental behavior that belittles women.

While the opinion piece failed to prove anything about Tsai, it did stand testimony to the practice of chauvinism rampant in the governments all over the world.

This instance, in the larger picture exemplifies just another misguided trope that female politicians are subjected to the trope of women not being successful leaders owing to their perceived lack of reason. Time and time again, across borders, women politicians have had to trudge through gender discrimination, not just from the general public, but also their colleagues.

Much closer to home, the newly elected BJP MLA Angoorlata Deka, from the Batadroba constituency in Assam, has also had her fair share of skewed media coverage. Rather than focusing on her campaign, the media's entire focus has been on her looks.

Former Australian President Julia Gilard had to speak out about sexism in politics. She also praised Hillary Clinton, who has been subjected to sexist jibes by the Republican front-runner Donald Trump. This practice of subjugating women to mere stereotypes runs deep and strong. While the world indulges, one can only hope that the number of women like Angoortala and Tsai ing-wen debunking these cliches continue to rise.
digital and print publisher.

digital and print publisher.

We are Americas largest

We are Americas largest

The brands you love.

The experiences you want.
Panasonic is striving hard to making a comeback in the business globally, with India as the key sales driver. The company recently launched Eluga arc smartphone in its Eluga series. We got a chance to speak to Pankaj Rana, Business Head of the Mobility Division of Panasonic India. He shared some interesting insights about upcoming smartphone launches, focus on Make in India and more.

Panasonic India doubled its mobile business revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31 to Rs 1,200 crore, from Rs 600 crore in 2014-15. The company aims to double its market share by launching new smartphones, 90% of which will be 4G. Panasonic had around 3% market share with smartphone sales hitting 1.5 lakhs units per month. Rana expects that the company will sell over 2.5 lakh smartphones this fiscal year out of which 2.3 lakh handsets are made in India. Panasonic smartphones are locally assembled by its manufacturing partner Dixon at the Noida facility.

Panasonic India plans to launch seven to eight new smartphones in next few weeks that will support 4G LTE, added Rana. The company expects to more than double its revenue from mobile phones to Rs 2,500 crore by the end of this fiscal year.

Talking about Panasonics performance Rana said that the threat from online sales has reduced in recent times and retail channel sales are increasing. He further stated that the company has been experiencing a good period since last 3-4 months. In India, the company has more than 50 exclusive service centers for mobile and over 250 Panasonic brand shops. Rana said the company has a strong distribution channel compared to other smartphone makers. It will keep focusing on the offline model this year as well. Panasonic plans to expand its reach in Indian smartphone market.

Speaking about future plans, Rana stated that Panasonic will keep launching new phones in India and take customer feedback about missing features in their handsets. Furthermore, the company will invest in product planning and has a team of 10-15 people for the same.

Panasonic has an event scheduled tomorrow, May 26, where it will launch a new smartphone which according to Rana is targeted at tier II and tier III cities. The device runs on Android Marshmallow. We will know more about the specifications of the phone tomorrow.

Sneha Bokil contributed to this post
Huawei is suing Samsung over cellphone patents. The Chinese telecom giant is suing Samsung in both the US and China claiming infringement of smartphone patents.

Huawei is seeking compensation for what it said was unlicensed use of 4G cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones. The lawsuits in both the countries against Samsung cover four patents for mobile devices and eight for networks, according to a Huawei spokesman, Joe Kelly. He said Huawei was not asking the court to restrict sales of Samsung handsets.

Ding Jianxing, the president of Huaweis Intellectual Property Rights Department, made the following statement about the lawsuit:

Thus far, we have signed cross-licensing agreements with dozens of our competitors. We hope Samsung will respect Huaweis R&D investment and patents, stop infringing our patents and get the necessary licence from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward.

source
Indulging with a conscience is a robust trend here to stay. In the confectionery space, chocolate suppliers, flavor houses and food artisans are well aware of their... Read More
On May 13, militants attacked a Chevron (CVX 0.83%) oil pipeline in Nigeria, causing serious disruption to supply. The explosion wasn't a lone event. In the week before, militants knocked out Chevron's Okan offshore facility in the Nigerian Delta, affecting around 35,000 barrels per day of crude production. Given that Chevron has substantial operations and interests in the country, let's analyze how Nigeria's militant trouble affects Chevron's financials.

The Nigerian militants and why they're attacking

Because of the low oil prices, Nigeria's oil revenue has declined by more than 50% from 2014, and the government has had to make some serious budget cuts. Because the government cut a program that paid militants to protect facilities that they once attacked, many militants have seen their incomes fall. One group, the Delta Avengers, has attacked energy infrastructure in the oil-rich Nigerian Delta as a way of protesting the cuts. The Delta Avengers would like the government to compensate the natives of their oil-producing region more for the resources they produce. They have vowed to continue their attacks until their demands are met. Because of the severity of their crimes, Nigeria's government has branded the Delta Avengers as terrorists and has refused to meet their demands.

The escalating militant situation in Nigeria has seriously disrupted production. As a result of the attacks and other factors, Nigeria's production has declined from its normal rate of 2.2 million to 2.4 million barrels per day to less than 1.6 million. Many investors think production could fall further to 1.2 million barrels per day if the current dynamic isn't reversed. Unless the military defeats the militants or the government makes a deal with the groups, the supply disruptions are likely to continue.

Chevron isn't the only company that has seen its operations disrupted. In February, one of Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS.A) (RDS.B) pipelines to an export terminal was bombed. The bombing caused a bottleneck that has reduced production by 300,000 barrels per day. As of mid-May, the bombed pipeline hasn't come online yet.

Chevron operations in Nigeria

The attacking militants represent a vexing problem for Chevron. Nigeria is an important country for the company. Nine percent of Chevron's net unrisked resource base of 68 billion barrels of oil equivalent resides there. The Niger Delta, which has been the main location of the supply disruptions, accounts for a substantial amount of Chevron's production. In 2015, the company's net daily production in the Delta averaged 65,000 barrels of crude oil, 6,000 barrels of LPG, and 229 million cubic feet of natural gas. That's around 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 4.2% of Chevron's current production rate of 2.62 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. If the situation gets worse, Chevron's substantial deepwater operations near Nigeria, which produces another 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, could be affected if militants attack export terminals.

If the supply disruptions become serious, they could trim Chevron's total production by a few percentage points. That would shave off around a billion dollars in revenue if the disruptions last one year. The disruptions would also make it harder for Chevron to realize fair market value for any operations that it's thinking about divesting in the nation.

OPEC has hidden costs

The recent events in Nigeria illustrate how difficult it is to sustain production at low oil prices. Although many OPEC countries are blessed with abundant reserves with full cycle costs that can easily beat that of any shale driller, those same countries also have hidden costs that they will eventually have to pay. Some of the revenue garnered from production is owed to citizens of the country. When those revenues decline sharply, the citizens won't be happy and might disrupt production.

Because crude inventories around the world have set record highs and production has been greater than demand, the market has largely ignored geopolitical risks. As supply and demand come more in balance in the second half of the year, however, the market may pay more attention to potential distruptions. If that occurs, the dynamic is bullish for oil prices and ultimately for Chevron shares.

Although Chevron has substantial Nigerian operations and the company's production could drop by a few hundred thousand barrels per day because of the militant activity, the increase in crude prices from the decline in Nigerian production will probably offset most of the revenue losses.
Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy
As the crises in Venezuela continue to spin out of control, a former U.S. ambassador to the country has a less-than-rosy picture to paint about its future.

Its unraveling before our eyes, as we speak, Patrick Duddy, former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, told the FOX Business Networks Liz Claman. There have been a couple of indications within the last week which would suggest, at least economically, things are going to get worse before they get better.

Duddy said major companies like Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), which are vital to the countrys oil industry, are reducing their activities within Venezuela due to the crumbling economy. He puts part of the blame on the countrys former President Hugo Chavez.

The economic model that President Chavez sought to impose, in which to a very large degree President Maduro has supported since his election in 2013, essentially is a flawed one, Duddy said. It has devastated the private sector. For a long time, record-high oil prices essentially masked the weaknesses in the system. But, the precipitous decline in oil prices over the last year has revealed its flaws. But some of these flaws were evident a long time ago.

He added: The current crisis is more severe than anything weve ever seen in Venezuela, at least in the last 30 years.
A former McDonald's CEO thinks the robots could transform the fast food industry, a moment he believes will arrive faster if the minimum wage is increased.

"It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries," Ed Rensi said during an interview with Fox on Tuesday.

The economics make sense if you believe Rensi's numbers. His robot would recoup its purchase cost after working for 2,333 hours, or a little more than six months, assuming it's operating for 12 hours a day. You do have to add in maintenance and repair costs, but you don't have to give the robot sick or vacation time.

Rensi's example was intended to support his view that the federal minimum wage should be abolished. Even with the minimum wage, automation has already meant fewer fast food employees are required. Last year, Rensi told the Washington Post that when he started working at McDonald's in 1966, there were twice the number of people working in its restaurants as there are today.

He is not the first fast food CEO to forecast a robotic future. Andy Puzder, CEO of Carls Jr. and Hardee's parent company, said he wants to try a restaurant run completely by robots.

"You order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person," Puzder told Business Insider. He explained that with reduced labor costs, the restaurant could offer healthier, cheaper options, like a "substantial" bowl of quinoa for $6.95.

Then there is the Pepper robot, a white humanoid figure equipped with cameras, touch sensors, and an accelerometer, which is coming to Pizza Hut stores in Asia later this year. Pepper can interact with you as you place your order, even detecting your emotions and recommending which pies to buy.

Also in Asia, Apple supplier Foxconn has dropped 60,000 people from its workforce thanks to robots, the South Morning China Post reports. Headcount at one factory has dropped from 110,000 to 50,000, with robots called in to "replace repetitive tasks."

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
Sending business overseas might seem like a very tempting offer, especially when it comes to the bottom line, but one business owner said he rather stand by his employees.

During an interview on the FOX Business Networks The Intelligence Report, Vaughn-Bassett Furniture chairman John Basset III has kept his business operations in Virginia where his family has made furniture for nearly a century.

Bassett III said his company attempted to import about 8% percent of its business in the late 80s and early 90s, but ended the practice because he felt the quality wasnt up to par to its customers expectations.

My family has been in this business 100 years and our employees have stood by us for 100 years. And I said before I am going to turn my back on them, I am going to stand with them, Bassett III said to host Trish Regan.

Despite the temptations of lower labor costs in China to off-set price points, the author of the new book Making It In America says price is not the only reason Americans buy. The company guarantees its dealers won't have to incur any inventory cost due to the amount of time it takes for its product to cross the Pacific Ocean.

We started a program called VBX, Vaughn-Bassett Express and [from] Denver, Colorado to Maine, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, we guarantee you our products will be on your floor, on your floor as a dealer in seven days.

For American businesses who are contemplating on moving their facilities off shore, Bassett III suggests to study it and talk to your people. The employees wont be part of this problem; they want to be part of the solution.
When you combine an ex-monk, with a former McKinsey consultant and a recent graduate from Harvard, you get FROTH, First Round on the House. FROTH is a subscription service where members pay $10 a month to get free first round drinks at various bars in New York City.

The three founders, Catie Cole, Harry Lee and Dae Lim, came up with the idea when they were out at night looking for a bar to go out to. They found themselves back at the same bar they always went to. Out of frustration, they wanted to simplify NYC's nightlife and find more options of places to go out.

And thus FROTH was born. Currently the group is expanding within New York City, hosting events for its members and enhancing the nightlife experience. FROTH has over 500 members and over 1,000 people on the waitlist.

The goal is for FROTH to become a nationwide community. For example, if a New York based FROTH member travels to San Francisco, they'll be able to tap into the local FROTH network.

What's really unique about the FROTH team though is the combination of the founders' backgrounds.

Lee, a graduate of Columbia University, spent some time away from school in a monastery learning the Zen tradition. He says that learning how to live in the present has helped him focus on developing FROTH's business.

Lim recently left consulting giant McKinsey & Company, which has produced the likes of Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) Sheryl Sandberg and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Sundar Pichai. He says that learning how to break big problems into smaller pieces is crucial in launching a start up.

And Cole, being the only female on the team, recently graduated from Harvard University She says it can be daunting to work in a male dominated industry, but that it gets easier and being a female makes her stand out in a crowded room of men.
Microsoft is cutting another 1,850 jobs as the company continues to scale down its smartphone hardware business.

Some 1,350 of those layoffs will affect those working at the old Nokia business in Finland with another 500 happening globally, Microsoft said. The tech giant plans to hand out most of the pink slips by the end of the calendar year and complete this round of layoffs by July 2017.

The news isn't a huge surprise; Microsoft just last week sold off its feature phone business. But it intends to continue developing Windows 10 Mobile and support Lumia phones and devices from partners like Acer, Alcatel, HP, Trinity, and Vaio. In its announcement today, Redmond reiterated that it's not exiting the mobile market altogether.

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation  with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same," CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. "We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms."

As a result of this change, Redmond will take an accounting charge of $950 million, of which $200 million will relate to severance payments, the company said.

This latest round of layoffs comes after Microsoft last year cut 7,800 jobs, most from its phone business.

Meanwhile, new Gartner figures confirm the obvious: Windows Phone is floundering. The platform, already struggling a year ago with a modest 2.5 percent share of the smartphone OS market  fell below 1 percent during the first quarter of 2016.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
Improving crop yields and enhancing farm information remain key growth opportunities for Monsanto. Image source: Monsanto.

In rejecting Bayer's $62 billion merger offer, Monsanto said it didn't think its German rival was crazy for trying to buy the agrichemical giant, but that Bayer would have to be out of its mind if it thought it could buy the business so cheaply.

Monsanto agrees that a tie-up between the two offers "substantial benefits" to both farmers and society, and it said it's long admired Bayer's business from afar, but the $122-per-share offer that was put on the table Monday was "incomplete and financially inadequate."

The German healthcare and pesticides company said the all-cash offer to acquire Monsanto was based on a belief that a broad product portfolio across seeds and traits, crop protection, and biologicals would help establish Bayer as a leader in the industry. Insofar as that goes, Monsanto doesn't disagree, as it is the world's largest seed supplier and holds the leading position in genetically modified crops, which it helped pioneer, but you have to pay up when you buy a preeminent player, and despite the troubles it's run into over the past year, it doesn't have to run a fire sale to get along.

It wasn't Monsanto's rejection that was a surprise, as few thought it would be eager to accept a price that was essentially the same as where its stock traded a year ago. Rather, it's Bayer's motivation in making a lowball bid for its rival that's something of a head-scratcher.

Has the best offer already been made?

Bayer isn't seen as having the financial wherewithal to go much beyond the terms it offered Monsanto, as the debt and equity financing necessary to complete the deal would significantly leverage its balance sheet. The Financial Times says its net debt load would balloon to four times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, and thatdoesn'teven include its pension liabilities.

Moreover, just the rumor of a merger between the two companies angered Bayer's investors who have been looking for the company to continue on the path it started on of narrowing its focus to core competencies. Acquiring Monsanto would change the company from healthcare-centric business to one that's predominantly agricultural, an industry that's been feeling commodity pricing pressures, the most recent rally notwithstanding.

Falling crop prices have taken their toll, with corn prices softening substantially over the past few years along with soybeans. Even though they have made significant gains in 2016 alongside most other commodities, Monsanto reported a nearly 8% decline in corn seed and trait revenues in the second quarter while experiencing an 11% drop in soybean sales. Dow Chemical was also hurt by soft corn and soybean demand, which caused caused it to realize lower volumes for its crop protection products.

That sort of market upheaval is leading to a wave of industry consolidation. Monsanto, of course, tried and failed to buy Swiss rival Syngenta , which ultimately agreed to be acquired by ChinaChem, and Dow and DuPont have also agreed to merge.

What Monsanto's rejection seems to signal is that it's open to a tie-up if someone is willing to step forward with a more serious offer. Certainly Bayer can still come back with a sweetened bid -- it hardly makes sense to think the original was its one and only -- but it risks creating a further rift with its shareholders by doing so.

Foolish takeaway

Many analysts seem to agree BASF is the most logical candidate to acquire Monsanto, as it's also a major player in crop protection, but just like Bayer, a merger with Monsanto would mark a serious departure from its primary focus, and that might not sit well with its shareholders, either. Italsomight not be willing to proffer the sort of premium Monsanto would demand.

Certainly, Monsanto was smart to reject Bayer's offer, but it's not clear anyone else will be so feverish as to step forward and up the ante further.

The article Monsanto Was Smart to Reject Bayer's Bid originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rich Duprey 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.
JetBlue Airways has engineered a remarkable turnaround in the past few years. As recently as 2014, JetBlue lagged most of its peers in profitability. However, it more than doubled its operating income in 2015. As a result, by last quarter, JetBlue had the best operating margin of any U.S. airline.

JetBlue reported the highest operating margin of any U.S. airline in Q1. Image source: JetBlue Airways.

That said, JetBlue uses fairly aggressive accounting estimates to report its aircraft depreciation expense, compared to rivals using similar airplanes like Spirit Airlines and Virgin America . This means JetBlue may be overestimating its profitability to some extent. Let's take a look at whether this is something that investors should be worried about.

Aircraft costs are a major expense

While labor and fuel costs are usually an airline's biggest expense categories, aircraft costs are another major expense. Airlines have two main options in procuring aircraft: buying or leasing.

When an airline leases an airplane, it's fairly straightforward to calculate the quarterly or annual cost from the monthly rent and any other reimbursement provisions included in the lease.

By contrast, calculating the cost associated with owning aircraft is trickier. First, airlines don't separate the interest expense from debt-financed aircraft purchases from other interest costs. Second -- and more important -- the cost of the airplane is depreciated over its estimated useful life to an estimated residual value.

These two estimates introduce a lot of uncertainty into calculating the cost of owning aircraft. An airline may buy a plane intending to operate it for 25 years, but unforeseen circumstances can make it uneconomical to keep a plane for that long. Estimating what the plane (or its parts) will be worth when it is taken out of service is even more difficult.

JetBlue's aggressive estimates

JetBlue's fleet consists of 60 E190s and more than 150 Airbus A320-family aircraft. It owns the majority of its aircraft, and depreciates them over 25 years, with the residual value estimated at 20% of the initial purchase price.

Spirit Airlines and Virgin America -- which both operate 100% Airbus A320-family fleets -- agree with JetBlue's useful life estimate. Both carriers depreciate their A320-series aircraft over 25 years.

However, Spirit and Virgin America both use more conservative residual value estimates than JetBlue. Virgin America estimates the residual value of its aircraft at 15% of the purchase price. Spirit Airlines puts the residual value at just 10%. Since they are attributing less of the aircraft value to the residual" Spirit and Virgin America report more depreciation expense now than they would using JetBlue's assumptions.

Spirit Airlines uses very conservative aircraft residual value estimates. Image source: Spirit Airlines.

JetBlue's depreciation assumptions for its Airbus planes are aggressive but not implausible. By contrast, its E190 fleet should almost certainly be depreciated at a faster rate.

The E190 is going out of favor as new, more fuel-efficient jets hit the market, reducing E190 resale and residual values. For example, Republic Airways had to record multiple impairment charges on its E190 fleet in the last few years before removing that aircraft type from its fleet, despite estimating the E190's useful life at only 20 years.

What it means for JetBlue

The upshot of all this is that JetBlue's reported depreciation expense may underestimate the rate at which its fleet is depreciating. If JetBlue ultimately takes its E190s out of service before the 25-year mark or its fleet's residual value is lower than expected, the company could be forced to report an impairment charge or accelerated depreciation costs in the future.

Fortunately for investors, JetBlue is quite profitable with or without its aggressive depreciation accounting estimates. Last year, JetBlue reported $345 million of depreciation and amortization expense.

Conservative accounting policies might have increased this cost by 10%-20%, reducing JetBlue's operating income by $35 million to $69 million last year. Given that JetBlue posted operating income of more than $1.2 billion, its profitability is clearly not just a function of aggressive accounting. Still, shareholders should recognize that JetBlue's reported profits could be inflated by as much as 6%.

The article 1 Way That JetBlue May Be Inflating Its Earnings originally appeared on Fool.com.

Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines and is long January 2017 $17 calls on JetBlue Airways and 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.
Investors do best when they look beyond the stock market's short-term gyrations and focus instead on investing for the long haul. That's because long-term investing has been shown to generate bigger returns than short-term prognosticating. With that in mind, we asked some of our top Motley Fool contributors to weigh in with some beat-up stocks they think investors ought to pick up in the portfolios for the years ahead. Read on to see what three companies they think are bargain-bin buys.

Evan Niu, CFA: Some companies simply don't get a lot of love. However, the thing with Apple is that sometimes the market loves the Mac maker, while other times investors utterly hate the company. Right now, the market sentiment embodies the latter.

Apple is currently trading near two-year lows after posting its first-ever decline in iPhone unit sales. Apple has always been an emotionally charged stock, with strong correlations to how the iPhone business is faring at any given moment. While the iPhone does represent the majority of the business and is incredibly important, investors often overlook how incredibly resilient and profitable the overall business is in absolute terms. You'd be hard-pressed to find any company that can put up net income of over $10 billion in a single quarter, much less consistently.

Yet, with fears of slowing growth, it seems the market hates Apple right now. Apple shares are not priced for growth and haven't been for many years; Apple's earnings multiple hasn't broken 20 in the past five years. So, we're talking about the most profitable business on the face of the planet that enjoys industry-leading margins while still paying a solid dividend yield -- and also trades at a substantial discount to the market. What's there to hate?

Image source: Flickr user stockmonkeys.com.

Todd Campbell: Worries that its best days are behind it have led to shares in Gilead Sciences falling 18.7% this year. While Gilead Sciences faces challenges to growth, I think they'll be temporary. If I'm right, then buying shares in this biotech giant when they're trading at less than 8 times forward earnings estimates is wise.

The company has enjoyed a tripling of sales since the launch of its hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni. However, with hepatitis's C market share of 90% and new competitors entering the market, sales in the indication are flattening out. As a result, management targets total sales of between $30 billion and $31 billion this year, down from $32.2 billion in 2015.

Although new competition is pushing net prices on its hep C drugs lower, the FDA could approve Gilead Sciences' next-generation HCV drug in June. If it does, then that drug could insulate market share and firm up prices. The once-daily pill would be the first pan-genotype HCV therapy approved by the FDA, and in trials, cure rates were nearly 100%.

Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences is refurbishing its top-selling HIV drug portfolio with new combination therapies that include TAF, a reformulation of Viread that is less risky to a patient's kidneys. Those new therapies should provide additional pop for the company over time. In Q1, Gilead Sciences HIV drug sales were $2.8 billion, up 18.5% year over year.

Studies evaluating multiple therapies for NASH, a liver disease that's increasingly the cause of transplant, are under way, as are trials evaluating cancer and autoimmune therapies. Those studies could also move the needle someday.

Overall, since Gilead Sciences boasts an envy-inspiring balance sheet, and its shares yield a respectable 2.3%, this is one of my favorite bargain-bin buys.

John Rosevear: It's not just the market that hates General Motors . America's biggest carmaker is disdained by many who remember the General's decades-long legacy of substandard products and oblivious-to-reality business strategies.

But here's the thing many investors have missed: That General Motors doesn't exist anymore. It has been replaced by a new, post-bankruptcy GM -- and this GM is very different.

Quality? J.D. Power ranks GM right up with Toyota now -- and ahead of Honda. GM's global profits aren't yet in the same league as those of rivals Toyota and Volkswagen, but margins are growing quickly, and CEO Mary Barra has a solid, credible plan to close that profit gap by early next decade. Sales? GM leads China and the U.S. in profitable retail sales, and its (also profitable) commercial-fleet business is growing nicely.

CEO Mary Barra has GM on a very strong course. Image source: General Motors.

As traditional automakers go, GM is doing great. But lots of investors worry the traditional automakers will soon be "disrupted" by tech-savvy newcomers like Uber, Tesla Motors, and Alphabet's Google Self-Driving Car crew.

Some will be. But while most of its rivals are still talking up "mobility" without much to show for it, GM has backed its talk with impressive action: It's surging ahead in the race to a self-driving car, building its own ride-sharing business, and taking big stakes in mobility innovators like ride-hailing service Lyft.

But GM is still old-school enough to pay a strong dividend, yielding almost 5% at current prices. And that's where we get to the investment story: Right now, GM is trading at less than 5 times its trailing-12-month earnings, in part because investors are worried that the U.S. new-car market might be near a peak. (To be clear, that's very cheap: Big automakers like GM traditionally trade at more like 10 to 12 times earnings.)

If that turns out to be true, GM's profits might thin out for a few quarters. But that discount already seems to be built into GM's stock price. Given the General's new lease on life, and the trajectory Barra has laid out to boost profit growth over the next several years, it's hard not to think of this one as a compelling buy at current prices.

The article 3 Stocks the Market Loves to Hate, but You Should Love originally appeared on Fool.com.

Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple. John Rosevear owns shares of Apple and General Motors. Todd Campbell owns shares of Apple and Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. 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.
At one point, the Chinese online travel industry (OTA) was fairly fragmented. But last year, Ctrip.com put an end to that. A strategic investment in smaller player eLongand the essential acquisition (in reality, a "partnership") of its main competitor, Qunar , gave Ctrip a 75% market share of China's OTAs.

But even though management said the company was expected to grow revenue by 75% in the about-to-be-reported first quarter, analysts were concerned. That's because the growth was coming primarily from the Qunar acquisition, not from organic growth of Ctrip's core businesses. It didn't help when management refused to break out what the expected organic growth was -- citing the fact that Ctrip and Qunar share much of the same inventory.

With that as the backdrop, here are three things that I -- as a shareholder -- will be watching when the company reports. Note that although an exact date has yet to be given for the release, last year's first quarter report came out mid-May.

Did the company meet revenue expectations?

Normally, as a long-term investor, I wouldn't worry too much about companies meeting such short-term figures. But because of the acquisition of Qunar, I think it'll be important for investors to gauge how the pieces of this now-larger company are fitting together.

Officially, the company expects to bring in between $610 million to $630 million in revenue. Usually, I focus on the growth in total bookings volume for both accommodations (mostly hotels) and transportation (airline, train, and bus), but those numbers are likely to be skewed higher in this larger enterprise.

Improvement in gross margins

One of the key benefits of consolidation among Chinese OTAs is that price wars are coming to an end. Ctrip had to endure a difficult three years prior to 2015 that saw gross margins plunge as competitors attempted to steal business away -- at a loss -- by offering up cheaper hotel and airline tickets.

Here's a look at how gross margins have fared since they topped out in 2010.

Data by YCharts

After falling for four consecutive years, gross margins showed signs of expansion in 2015. With CEO and founder James Liang indicating that some "rationality" was once again being practiced in terms of pricing in the Chinese OTA market, I hope to see continued improvement in gross margins during the quarter.

Relations with airlines

One of the not-so-great things about acquisitions is that you acquire all of a company's baggage along with its business. Qunar's biggest piece of baggage is a terrible relationship with some of the biggest airlines in Asia, including Air China, Hawaiian Airlines'Hong Kong Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines. Because of various disputes, all three of these companies refuse to list on Qunar's portal.

At the time of the acquisition, all three had good relationships with Ctrip and continued to list on Ctrip's site. But there's always concern that with Ctrip and Qunar being so closely tied together, the airlines could revolt.

In late April, China Eastern and Ctrip went publicwith a "strategic collaboration" that should ease some fears. However, it will be important for investors to monitor relations with Air China and Hong Kong Airlines to make sure they remain healthy.

Surely, this should make for an interesting report and conference call as investors try to understand what this newer, larger, and more dominant Chinese OTA is really capable of.

The article 3 Things This Shareholder Will Look for in Ctrip.com International's First Quarter Earnings originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brian Stoffel owns shares of Ctrip.com International. The Motley Fool recommends Ctrip.com International. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Investing in the stock market can sometimes be a test of investors' patience. Over the past 15 years, the broad-based S&P 500 has plunged by more than 50%, only to completely erase these losses within a matter of years twice (the dot-com bubble and the Great Recession). Long-term investors are well aware that the stock market tends to go up over the long-term, and has returned about 7% annually -- but that doesn't make it any easier holding onto stocks when the broad market indexes nosedive. This is where dividend stocks come in.

Dividend stocks can "yield" big gains

Dividend stocks offer a bounty of advantages over non-dividend stocks, which makes them attractive long-term holds. The obvious difference is that dividends provide a hedge during a downturn. The average yield of the S&P 500 is just over 2%, and while that won't negate a stock market correction lower, it's better than nothing.

The two more important advantages of dividend stocks are that they usually imply a healthy business model and they can be reinvested to supercharge your long-term gains. Companies typically won't pay a regular dividend to investors if they don't believe their business model is on solid footing. By a similar token, being able to reinvest your dividends over the long run can allow you to buy more shares of dividend paying stocks, which yields bigger payouts, and even more shares. This compounding pattern is what lends to rapid wealth creation.

The thing about dividends is that investors can be lured solely based on yield, which isn't necessarily a good thing. As investors, we want the highest yield imaginable so we can boost our reinvestment potential. But yields can rise because stock prices are falling. If investors aren't able to decipher whether a high yield is the result of a healthy shareholder return policy or a struggling business model, there could be problems.

With this in mind, I figured we'd take a brief look at four safe stocks with healthy dividend yields north of 5%. By "safe," I mean companies with below-average volatility and proven business models that won't leave you sleepless at night.

Image source: GlaxoSmithKline.

GlaxoSmithKline

There had been concerns as recently as last year that U.K. drug giant GlaxoSmithKline may need to lower its superior dividend due to the loss of exclusivity on inhaled asthma and COPD medicine Advair. But GlaxoSmithKline's management team stuck to its guns and called for double-digit earnings accretion in 2016 on the heels of new drug growth, and that's exactly what it delivered in the first quarter.

A big component of GlaxoSmithKline's future growth prospects lies in its newly found revenue diversity. After completing a three-part asset swap with Novartisin 2015, GSK now derives substantially more revenue from vaccines and a joint-venture in consumer healthcare with Novartis than before the transaction. Though these segments may be lower margin, they're also considerably more cash flow consistent -- and the market loves predictability.

Within its pharmaceutical segment, GSK can rely on growth from next-generation HIV therapies vis--vis its majority ownership in ViiV Healthcare, as well as the steady growth in its next-generation, long-lasting COPD and asthma therapies (Breo, Anoro, Incruse, and Arnuity).

GlaxoSmithKline is currently yielding 5.3%, and could be a smart pick-up for income-seeking investors.

Image source: AT&T.

AT&T

Telecom giant AT&T sits right on the cusp of inclusion with a 5% dividend yield, but its superior market position and extremely low volatility should allow income investors to get a good night's sleep.

One of the biggest advantages for AT&T, and why it's such a great investment in the first place, is the relatively high barrier to entry in the telecom space. It takes billions upon billions of dollars to build a wireless network, and the infrastructure needed to run that wireless network, from the ground up. You don't even need to use all of your fingers on one hand to count up how many telecom companies in the U.S. can support such hefty reinvestment, and AT&T is one. Because there's little in the way of wireless choices, this grants AT&T strong pricing power, which it then uses to boost costs for its highest-margin product: data plans.

AT&T also has a unique long-tail growth opportunity with its acquisition of DIRECTV. The purchase immediately catapulted AT&T into the No. 1 spot for TV subscriptions, and it also boosted its broadband subscriptions. Most importantly, DIRECTV gives AT&T a platform to promote new video services through satellite boxes and via mobile devices.

AT&T has done a good job of moving beyond wireless, and income investors would be wise to give it a closer look.

Image source: Pixabay.

Corrections Corporation of America

It may not be the most pleasant thought, but for-profit correctional facility operator Corrections Corporation of America provides a way for income investors to consistently receive a superior yield relative to the S&P 500.

The clear catalyst here is that the U.S. locks up more people per capita than any other country. Based on statistics provided by The Sentence Project, some 1.51 million people were locked up in 2014, which is more than double where things were in 1990. This currently works out to nearly 700 people incarcerated per 100,000. Comparatively, China, France, Germany, and Sweden incarcerate 119, 100, 78, and 60 respectively per 100,000. As long as incarceration rates remain high in the U.S., the need for correctional facilities, and the pricing power derived from that demand, should remain strong.

The real secret weapon here (for investors) is that CCA, as it's also known, is a real estate investment trust, or REIT. REITs aren't taxed like normal corporations, allowing them to keep more of their profits. In return, they're required to return 90% or more of their profits to shareholders in the form of a dividend. As such, current investors are reaping a juicy 6.7% yield! Also, while most REIT dividends are taxable, it's also possible that some aspects of a REIT payout could be nontaxable depending on how depreciation is recognized by the REIT in question.

Image source: MyFuture.com via Flickr.

HCP

Last but not least, we have the highest yielding safe stock of the bunch, HCP . Like CCA above, HCP is a REIT; but it has a very specific focus on healthcare properties.

Why healthcare properties? Simple. America's population is growing older and life expectancies are lengthening. Based on estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the elderly population is expected to practically double from 39.4 million in 2010 to 78.9 million by 2050. This includes a more than tripling in the oldest old (defined as 85 years old or older) to 18.2 million in 2050 from 5.7 million in 2010. It's no secret that older Americans are going to need more care, thus a growing focus on every aspect of healthcare, from senior housing to hospitals and life science companies. HCP expects to earn its living by purchasing healthcare properties and then living off of progressively higher lease rates built into long-term lease contracts. The company can also reap profits from the sale of existing properties.

A more immediate growth driver for HCP is its upcoming spin-off of HCR ManorCare, its skilled-nursing facilities operations. Spinning off this business could wind up unlocking shareholder value, and it'll certainly place HCP on more solid footing since its remaining revenue streams from senior housing, medical office buildings, hospitals, and life science buildings provide steadier growth prospects than skilled nursing.

HCP and its 7.1% yield are certainly worth a look.

The article 4 Safe Stocks With Dividend Yields Above 5% originally appeared on Fool.com.

Sean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Streaming to a tablet may ultimately cost AT&T customers more. Image source: AT&T.

AT&T now has the least consumer-friendly data policy in broadband.

The company has decided to start enforcing data caps on customers who do not have an unlimited plan. This decision hits people stuck on its older DSL systems hardest, as they now face overage charges of $10 per 50 GB of up to $200 a month, while U-verse users pay the same $10 per 50 GB charge but have a $100 monthly penalty cap. In addition, the people on the lowest DSL tier, 150 GB, did not receive an increase in their data, whereas most other levels did.

AT&T joinsComcast in enforcing data caps, but with an important exception. While AT&T inched the cap higher for its lower-tier customers, Comcast upped data limits to 1 TB across the board. That's enough to stream 700 hours of video, play 12,000 hours of online games, and download 60,000 high-res photos in a month, according to the company.

Higher-tier AT&T customers -- the ones with the newer U-verse service who already had a 500 GB cap -- are getting 1TB, but the lowest, slowest DSL tiers won't be so lucky. While the people with 150 GB caps get nothing, the slower 250 GB tier will be bumped to 300 GB, while the faster one moves from 250 GB to 600 GB.

In other words, AT&T customers with the lowest caps and the worst service now face the highest overage charges. Of course, those customers can take solace in the fact that their service is so slow that it will take some creative effort to exceed the cap.

Image source: AT&T.

Why is AT&T doing this?

On one hand, Comcast and AT&T are not implementing data caps for now. They're allowing customers used to get used to the idea so the charges are not shocking when they hit people's bills. Essentially, both companies know that most people won't exceed their caps, but as technology changes, they will consume more data, pushing them over the limit.

That might mean watching more movies, connecting more devices to the Internet of Things, or using not-yet-invented virtual or augmented reality technology. As that happens, people will consume more data, and AT&T and Comcast can slap them with heavy overage fees.

In addition, data caps are being put into place to hedge against cord-cutting. If people drop AT&T or Comcast's pay-television service, they will likely still need to stick with the company for Internet access. Of course, if a customer cuts the cord to use streaming services, his or her data use will increase, allowing the companies to make back some of the money lost from reduced cable revenue.

The potential of those fees is simply too tempting for AT&T and Comcast to ignore because of how much money wireless overages have meant for AT&T in its wireless business.

In wireless, overages are not a simple number to calculate, because the figure includes not just the actual money people pay for exceeding data caps, but also what they spend buying too-big data plans they don't actually need. T-Mobile CEO John Legere, whose company does not charge overages, peggedtotal overage charges at $2.5 billion -- 95% of which is paid to AT&T and Verizon.

That's not even the big problem, Legere noted at a November 2015Uncarrier X event. The big issue, he said, is over-buying, which he estimates is a $45 billion annual tax on consumers. Legere certainly has his biases, but a comment he made at Uncarrier X explains exactly why AT&T and Comcast want to implement Internet overage charges.

"They've got you right where they want you," he said. "What do you think the margin is on overages? It's pure. It's total."

What happens next?

Comcast has only been testing its data cap plan in select markets. AT&T is now rolling out its new caps nationwide. The company is, however, giving people time to get used to the program: For now, customers will simply be notified the first two times their usage exceeds their plan. On the third violation, the $10 per 50 GB charges start to kick in.

Of course, there is an option for consumers who would rather not worry about data caps (even if they have no chance of approaching them): The company offers unlimited service to people who bundle one of its pay-television services along with Internet. For Internet-only customers, AT&T offers uncapped data for $30 a month.

In both cases -- either a capped plan or a more expensive unlimited plan -- the data cap fees will not only pad AT&T's bottom line, but also change the math for cord-cutters. It's not evident now for most users, because few run the risk of immediately hitting the caps, but AT&T is laying the groundwork for a trap that either forces customers not to cut the cord or leads them to spend more for Internet if they do.

It's a clever ploy that could ultimately be good for investors in the same way overage charges and over-buying are good for investors in the wireless space.

The article AT&T Begins Enforcing Internet Data Caps originally appeared on Fool.com.

Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned. He does not remember that he has lots of streaming choices as often as he should. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends 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: SolarCity.

Investors understand that the opportunity for strong returns often comes with substantial risk. Some stocks are riskier than others, but shareholders hope that their willingness to take on added risk will allow them to reap bigger rewards down the line. We asked three Motley Fool contributors to come up with some higher-risk investment ideas that have strong potential. Take a look at what they had to say and see which one you think fits best with your investing strategy.

: It's been a rocky (and ugly) ride for investors inSolarCity Corp. over the past year or so. The undisputed leader in both residential and commercial solar system installations, SolarCity has grown at an enormous rate over the past several years. But a changing regulatory landscape and slowing growth have scared plenty of investors into selling during the past year:

SCTY data by YCharts.

Furthermore SolarCity is burning through cash, relying heavily on the debt market to fund its growth, and doesn't expect to reach cash flow positive until the end of the year. That alone makes SolarCity a risky investment.

But at the same time, a number of big regulatory uncertainties have been addressed in recent months, and in a big way, SolarCity may be lower risk now than it's ever been. Federal tax credits were recently extended for several more years, while major solar states including California and Massachusetts have revised and extended their net metering policies, a favorable event for residential solar consumers in those states.

Yes, a money-losing company in an industry that's heavily dependent on government policies is inherently risky. But a strong (and growing) base of long-term contracted customers and massive growth prospects for the solar industry, along with the company's move into panel manufacturing soon, also mean tremendous possibilities. A lower stock price doesn't mean lower risk, but the sell-off does present a solid opportunity with enormous upside for long-term investors.

Dan Caplinger: When companies come under attack, shareholders generally suffer, and that has definitely been the case at BofI Holding , the company behind the online Bank of the Internet. Allegations have surrounded the bank for months, with the company's former auditor having filed a whistleblower suit that included claims of allegedly falsifying financial reports, misleading regulators about collecting tax identification information for customers, and even money-laundering allegations aimed at top executives. BofI Holding has answered those charges, but doubts still remain among investors, and that has kept the share price from rising.

Since then, BofI Holding has continued producing impressive financial results, with its latest quarterly report including a 65% rise in earnings per share and strong numbers throughout the business. Still, the company remains under attack by short-sellers, who are convinced that bad news will eventually stick.

Despite share buybacks, BofI Holding's stock price remains quite low. The stock is arguably high risk because there's the potential that allegations could turn out to have some basis in fact behind them. If you think that the attacks are unfounded, however, BofI Holding's stock could have a lot of upside if allegations against the company are proven false once and for all.

Sean Williams: Those with tolerance for volatility and the patience to wait for big gains to come over the long term are perfect candidates to invest in the biotechnology industry. Specifically, I would suggest checking out a predominantly clinical-stage drug developer like Ionis Pharmaceuticals .

With the exception of Kynamro, a Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia that hasn't quite taken off as expected, Ionis is an entirely clinical-stage and pre-clinical company. This means it's liable to continue to lose money for some years to come, which makes an investment there, especially in a sideways or downward trending market, a bit risky.

However, Ionis has three tricks up its sleeve that could make it a perfect investment for long-term, risk-tolerant investors. First, it has incredible pipeline depth -- and when I say "incredible," I mean it. Currently, Ionis has 32 ongoing clinical-stage trials, many of which comprise novel therapeutics and not just one drug being tested in multiple indications. With that sort of diversity, one failed study doesn't mean all hope is lost.

Second, Ionis' drug development platform, which is based on its proprietary antisense technology, is unique. The antisense platform allows it to gauge how a therapy would be likely to react based on previous trials, which often means a quicker timetable from the lab to clinical trials. It also means that only the best molecules are moving into clinical studies.

Last, Ionis has a bounty of credible collaborations. To make up for the exorbitant cost of running 32 clinical studies, Ionis has partnered with nearly a dozen different drug developers. By forging licensing agreements, it gains access to up-front cash and milestone payments based on the development of its pipeline that sustains its working capital, while also leaving it with substantial royalty opportunities if some of its pipeline products are approved.

Ionis could well be profitable by the end of the decade, or perhaps even gobbled up by a bigger pharmaceutical company by then, making it an intriguing but high-risk investment worth considering.

The article The Best Stocks for Risk-Tolerant Investors originally appeared on Fool.com.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. Jason Hall owns shares of BofI Holding and SolarCity. Sean Williams has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends BofI Holding, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and SolarCity. 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.
While oil and gas prices have been very volatile over the past couple of years, prices have started to show some signs of life in recent weeks. That's drawing investors back into the energy patch, which is clearly evident by the rally we've seen in energy stocks this year. That being said, despite the fact that oil and gas prices are rising, not every energy stock is a good buy right now. That's abundantly clear when comparing Cabot Oil & Gas with Vanguard Natural Resources .

Drilling down into the balance sheets

One of the most valuable lessons investors learned during the downturn is the importance of having a strong balance sheet. When comparing Cabot Oil & Gas with Vanguard Natural Resources, there's really no contest:

Company Credit Rating Total Debt Debt/Enterprise Value Cash on Hand Total Liquidity Cabot Oil & Gas N/A $1.6 billion 14% $580 million $2.2 billion Vanguard Natural Resources B+/Caa3 $2.2 billion 80% $19 million $113 million

Data sources: Vanguard Natural Resources, Cabot Oil & Gas, Moody's, and S&P Global.

As that chart notes, Vanguard Natural Resources is weighed down by an enormous amount of debt, which is reflected in the fact that its credit rating implies the company could default on its debt at any moment. Most concerning is the fact that Vanguard Natural Resources has pretty much maxed out its credit facility, with the company borrowing $1.69 billion of its $1.78 billion in available credit as of the end of last quarter. Worse yet, its banks are in the process of redetermining that credit facility and will very likely cut its borrowing base below what it owes, triggering a repayment clause.

Meanwhile, Cabot Oil and Gas has very little debt for a company of its size. Further, it recently sold stock and used the funds to pay down its credit facility and bolster its cash position, leaving it with ample liquidity.

That better balance sheet makes Cabot the clear winner in this category.

Comparing the portfolios

Not only do Cabot Oil & Gas and Vanguard Natural Resources offer investors two entirely different credit profiles, but their portfolios couldn't be more dissimilar. Cabot, as the slide below shows, is entirely focused on just two shale plays:

Image source: Cabot Oil & Gas Investor Presentation.

Vanguard Natural Resources, on the other hand, is much more diversified across a number of different production basins, as we can see from the map on the slide below:

Image source: Vanguard Natural Resources Investor Presentation.

Vanguard Natural Resources scores points for having a diversified portfolio that's filled with primarily low-decline natural gas assets. That said, its assets don't provide anywhere near the upside of Cabot's assets, with it boasting thousands of future drilling locations that can be developed once oil and gas prices reach a certain point. That upside is lacking at Vanguard, which actually just sold itsassets with the most compelling upside in order to pay down some of its debt.

This one could really go either way because some investors prefer stability, while others prefer upside.

Considering the upside

Speaking of upside, there are two ways to look at the upside of these two companies. Because Vanguard Natural Resources has an enormous debt load, its unit price has been crushed over the past year, with it vastly underperforming Cabot's stock price:

VNR data by YCharts.

As such, Vanguard certainly has a lot of upside to recover that lost ground. However, given its debt concerns and limited liquidity, it's really a lottery ticket right now, with units having the potential to more than double, or go all the way to zero depending on commodity prices and credit availability.

Cabot Oil & Gas, on the other hand, has very strong upside as both commodity prices and its production increase, without the downside of the possibility of going all the way to zero.

Because I believe it's better to avoid binary situations like the one Vanguard is facing, I'd give Cabot the clear edge, here.

Investor takeaway

There's a real risk that Vanguard Natural Resources could go all the way to zero, especially considering a number of its upstream MLP peers have recently filed for bankruptcy. That's why the clear choice between the two is Cabot Oil & Gas, which boasts a strong balance sheet and lots of upside as oil and gas prices improve.

The article Better Buy: Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC vs. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation originally appeared on Fool.com.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Moody's. 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.
Citibank N.A., a unit of Citigroup Inc. , and its Japanese affiliates has been ordered Wednesday by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission to pay a $175 million penalty for attempting to manipulate yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and euroyen Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate (TIBOR) benchmark rates. In a separate statement Wednesday, the CFTC ordered Citibank to pay $250 million for attempting to manipulate, and for falsely reporting, U.S. dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix rates. That brings the total penalties Citibank has been ordered to pay for abuses of benchmark rates to $735 million. Citibank was charged for the false reporting of euroyen TIBOR to benefit derivatives trading positions that were priced based on yen LIBOR or euroyen TIBOR, and with the false reporting of U.S. dollar LIBOR to avoid generating negative media attention during the financial crisis. "The CFTC remains steadfast in its commitment to ensure the integrity of global benchmarks that are critical to the U.S. and international financial markets," said CFTC Director of Enforcement Aitan Goelman. "As evident by today's actions, the CFTC's vigilance includes holding a financial institution, like Citi, responsible each time it acts to undermine a benchmark for its personal profit or benefit." Citigroup's stock, which tacked on 0.8% in premarket trade, has tumbled 11% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.6%. (This replaces a previous item that incorrectly reported that the total amount of penalties Citibank has been ordered to pay was ordered on Wednesday).

Copyright  2016 MarketWatch, Inc.
Image Source: NVIDIA.

Graphics chip company NVIDIA has had great success selling its products to enterprise customers. During NVIDIA's latest quarter, the company's data center segment generated $143 million of revenue, up 63% year over year. GPUs are far more efficient than CPUs for certain tasks, leading all of the major cloud computing companies to adopt NVIDIA's products.

Deep learning, where software is trained with data to perform a certain task, like image recognition or natural language analysis, is one application where graphics cards perform well. Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM are all actively employing deep learning, and NVIDIA's Tesla graphics cards are being used to accelerate the process.

While NVIDIA has been successful so far, a recent announcement from Google could create a major problem for NVIDIA's data center business going forward.

Google is designing its own chips

Tensor Processing Unit board. Image source: Google.

At Google's recent I/O conference, the company announced it had developed a custom processor designed specifically for deep learning tasks. The Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU, is an application-specific-integrated-circuit designed to accelerate Google's TensorFlow machine learning software. Google has been running TPUs in its data centers for more than a year, and the company has found that these processors provide an order-of-magnitude improvement in performance per watt. The company boasted that its TPUs effectively push chip technology seven years into the future.

Few concrete details were disclosed about Google's TPUs. Norman Jouppi, a distinguished hardware engineer at Google, told The Wall Street Journal that Google currently uses more than 1,000 of the chips in its data centers. According to Google, over 100 of its products currently use deep learning, with TPUs already powering components of the company's search algorithm and the StreetView feature of Google Maps. AlphaGo, Google's computer program that beat a professional Go player earlier this year, was also powered by TPUs.

While GPUs are more efficient than CPUs for deep learning tasks, a processor designed specifically for deep learning will be even more efficient. Ultimately, GPUs are designed for the kinds of calculations required for processing and displaying 3D graphics. Deep learning works well with NVIDIA's graphics architecture, but a chip designed at the hardware level specifically for deep learning should be far superior. If Google has truly managed a tenfold improvement in performance per watt compared to all other alternatives, NVIDIA has a serious problem.

One good example that illustrates this issue is cryptocurrency mining. In the early days of bitcoin, standard PCs could effectively mine the virtual currency in a profitable way. But bitcoin mining becomes more computationally intensive over time by design, so GPUs eventually began to be used, as they were more efficient than CPUs. But GPUs were inefficient compared to ASICs designed specifically for bitcoin mining, and they eventually became infeasible as well.

Deep learning may be following a similar path. Google is large enough and employs deep learning broadly enough that designing its own chip made sense. TPUs aren't going to replace Intel's server chips since they are accelerators, not general-purpose processors, but it may be a different story for NVIDIA.

Google plans to make TPUs accessible through its cloud computing platform, which could give the company an advantage over Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure. Microsoft has also been experimenting with alternatives to GPUs, with the company using field-programmable-gate-arrays to accelerate its Bing search product.

One thing that we don't know is whether Google is using its TPUs for both training and executing its deep learning algorithms. The training process is far more computationally intensive, and it's unclear whether the TPUs are designed for training as well as execution. Jouppi, in an interview with EE Times, would not comment on whether TPUs handle training. If they don't, that means NVIDIA's GPUs are likely still being used for that purpose.

There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding Google's TPUs, and it's too early to say how much of an effect they will have on NVIDIA's data center business. In any case, the trend toward specialized processors for deep learning is not a positive development for the graphics chip company.

The article Google's AI Chip Could Be a Threat to NVIDIA originally appeared on Fool.com.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Timothy Green owns shares of International Business Machines. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A and C shares), Amazon.com, and NVIDIA. 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.
Oil pipeline. Source: Pixabay.

On May 13, militants attacked aChevron oil pipeline in Nigeria, causing serious disruption to supply. The explosion wasn't a lone event. In the week before, militants knocked out Chevron's Okan offshore facility in the Nigerian Delta, affecting around 35,000 barrels per day of crude production.Given that Chevron has substantial operations and interests in the country, let's analyze how Nigeria's militant trouble affects Chevron's financials.

The Nigerian militants and why they're attacking

Because of the low oil prices, Nigeria's oil revenue has declined by more than 50% from 2014, and the government has had to make some serious budget cuts. Because the government cut a program that paid militants to protect facilities that they once attacked, many militants have seen their incomes fall. One group, theDelta Avengers, has attacked energy infrastructure in the oil-rich Nigerian Delta as a way of protesting the cuts. The Delta Avengers would like the government to compensate the natives of their oil-producing region more for the resources they produce. They have vowed to continue their attacks until their demands are met. Because of the severity of their crimes, Nigeria's government has branded the Delta Avengers as terrorists and has refused to meet their demands.

The escalating militant situation in Nigeria has seriously disrupted production. As a result of the attacks and other factors, Nigeria's production has declined from its normal rate of 2.2 million to 2.4 million barrels per day to less than 1.6 million. Many investors think production could fall further to 1.2 million barrels per day if the current dynamic isn't reversed.Unless the military defeats the militants or the government makes a deal with the groups, the supply disruptions are likely to continue.

Chevron isn't the only company that has seen its operations disrupted.In February, one of Royal Dutch Shell's pipelines to an export terminal was bombed. The bombing caused a bottleneck that has reduced production by 300,000 barrels per day. As of mid-May, the bombed pipeline hasn't come online yet.

Chevron operations in Nigeria

The attacking militants represent a vexing problem for Chevron. Nigeria is an important country for the company. Nine percent of Chevron'snet unrisked resource base of 68 billion barrels of oil equivalent resides there. The Niger Delta, which has been the main location of the supply disruptions, accounts for a substantial amount of Chevron's production. In 2015, the company's net daily production in the Delta averaged 65,000 barrels of crude oil, 6,000 barrels of LPG, and 229 million cubic feet of natural gas. That's around 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 4.2% of Chevron's current production rate of 2.62 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. If the situation gets worse, Chevron's substantial deepwater operations near Nigeria, which produces another 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, could be affected if militants attack export terminals.

If the supply disruptions become serious, they could trim Chevron's total production by a few percentage points. That would shave off around a billion dollars in revenue if the disruptions last one year. The disruptions would also make it harder for Chevron to realize fair market value for any operations that it's thinking about divesting in the nation.

OPEC has hidden costs

The recent events in Nigeria illustrate how difficult it is to sustain production at low oil prices. Although many OPEC countries are blessed with abundant reserves with full cycle costs that can easily beat that of any shale driller, those same countries also have hidden costs that they will eventually have to pay. Some of the revenue garnered from production is owed to citizens of the country. When those revenues decline sharply, the citizens won't be happy and might disrupt production.

Because crude inventories around the world have set record highs and production has been greater than demand, the market has largely ignored geopolitical risks. As supply and demand come more in balance in the second half of the year, however, the market may pay more attention to potential distruptions. If that occurs, the dynamic is bullish for oil prices and ultimately for Chevron shares.

Although Chevron has substantial Nigerian operations and the company's production could drop by a few hundred thousand barrels per day because of the militant activity, the increase in crude prices from the decline in Nigerian production will probably offset most of the revenue losses.

The article Here's How Nigeria's Militant Trouble Affects Chevron originally appeared on Fool.com.

TMFJay22 has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chevron. 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.
You've probably noticed Applehas increased its focus on India lately. The iPhone maker has been wooing the country for the past few years and Apple CEO Tim Cook recently ramped that up with a business trip to India.

Apple is doing everything it can to make India its next big growth market. And there are plenty of good reasons for this.

The first being that India is expected to overtake the U.S. as the second-largest smartphone market next year, and is currently growing 5 times faster than China's smartphone market.

But selling phones in India isn't easy. Government regulations and low average selling prices (ASPs) are stifling Apple's progress.

Apple sees massive smartphone potential in one of the world's most populous countries, but is the company wrong to think it can succeed there?

The problem with Apple in India

Apple's problems in India can be summed up with just two simple facts: iPhones are too expensive and the company is struggling to bring down their price in the country.

The average selling price for an iPhone in India is $612. The high price tag comes partly from Apple's famously high margins, but also because India charges more in taxes for devices that don't have 30% of their components sourced in its country. Apple asked for an exception from this, but the country recently denied that request.

Meanwhile,Samsung's smartphone ASP in India is just $173. That means Apple's phones are 253% more expensive, on average, than Samsung's. Not many Americans would pay for that price difference and in India, where wages are substantially lower, it's even harder to convince consumers.

Perhaps that price difference is why Samsung is sitting at the top of the smartphone vendor list in India with 26.6% market share, while Apple holds just 1.9%.

India's middle class is growing, which could eventually help Apple's iPhone sales in the country, but it's not helping much right now.

Apple knows its phones are expensive for Indian consumers, and that's why it recently requested to sell refurbished devices in the country. But India has so far rejected that request, which only adds to Apple's problems.

Apple doesn't have a choice

There are few reasons why Apple continues trudging along with its India strategy despite its current position.

As I mentioned earlier, India will become the second-largest smartphone market, behind China, very soon. On top of that, Apple is facing slowing iPhones sales in the U.S.

The iPhone accounts for about 65% of Apple's total revenue. So if the company wants to continue using the devices as its main revenue stream, it'll have to look to new markets that are growing quickly -- like India.

Investors may not want to hear this

Even if Apple does eventually see an uptick in smartphone sales in India, it's not likely that it will experience the same type of success we've seen for the company in the U.S. or China.

India is a country with a growing population and economic position, but the average yearly income in India is just under $1,600, according to the World Bank.No matter what Apple does strategically to sell iPhones, it can't change that fact.Apple will have to settle for whatever market share it can scrape together until India becomes more wealthy.

The problem for Apple is it needs to sell more iPhones now, but Indian consumers just aren't ready.

It's not that Apple is wrong in looking to India for more smartphone growth, it's just that the iPhone's price tag is essentially aninsurmountablehurdle right now, and nearly everything the company's done to change that hasn't worked.

The article Is Apple Inc. Wrong About India? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Simandou mountains in Guinea could alter the landscape of the entire iron ore industry. Image source: Rio Tinto.

Despite the iron ore supply glut, the biggest miners in the industry continue to boost their output leading to allegations thatBHP Billiton , Rio Tinto , and Vale are trying to drive smaller producers out of the market.

Vale, for example, reported it produced 77.5 million tonnes of iron ore in the first quarter, a record output for the period, with its Carajas project alone producing a record 32.4 million tonnes, up 18% year over year.

Similarly, Rio Tinto said it was on schedule to produce a record 350 million tonnes this year, and though BHP Billiton cut its production forecast for the year, it blamed it on poor weather it suffered in the first quarter as well as railroad maintenance work. Other miners like Roy Hill and Fortescue Metals have also been increasing their volumes this year, while countries like Russia are expected to increase production as well.

Although Rio Tinto dismisses the notion that it's working in concert with BHP Billiton to force out less efficient producers -- Chairman Jan du Plessis saying it was nonsensical to suggest it was "trying to be Saudi Arabia," a reference to the oil-rich country's oil minister in February calling on high-cost producers to "get out" of the market -- it certainly looks like the miner is trying to corner the iron ore market.

Simon says, "Do this"

The world's No. 2 producer just announced it was moving ahead with its Simandou project in Guinea and had submitted feasibility studies to the government. When Simandou comes online, it could dramatically tilt the playing field in Rio Tinto's favor.

Guinea is currently best known for having one of the world's largest reserves of bauxite, and its economy is also dependent on the significant quantities of diamonds, gold, and uranium that are mined there, as well as the oil off its coast. But the iron ore deposits in the Simandou mountains could dwarf all that with an estimated potential worth of $50 billion. And Rio Tinto is essentially sitting on top of it.

It was granted exploration rights to the massive deposit in 1997 and was subsequently granted a concession to develop the project. But in 2008, Guinea's then-dictator, Lansana Conte, charged Rio with taking too long to develop the mine and stripped it of half its rights to the claim. Just before his death that year, Conte granted the northern portion of Simandou to BSG Resources, which invested $165 million in developing the project, only to sell to Vale a 51% stake.

When a new, democratically elected government took power after Conte's demise, it simultaneously launched a probe into the deals the previous administration had made and ruled the entire process was riddled with corruption. It stripped both BSG and Vale of their rights to the northern half of Simandou, which it then put up for auction. Rio Tinto then sued both BSG and Vale for their part in it losing half its claim, but a U.S. district court ruled in November the miner had waited too long to bring the case.

High cost, high reward

Rio Tinto has spent some $3 billion over the years on Simandou, and earlier this year reported a $1.7 billion loss primarily because of $1.8 billion it was forced to take in impairment charges related to the project.

But the lucrative asset could eventually change all that. At full production, Rio Tinto says it would be producing 100 million tonnes annually, or would add $7 billion in revenues each year at a price of $75 per metric tonne. While iron ore prices have been rallying this year, they've struggled to remain above $50 and most miners and analysts are expecting it to fall as the year progresses.

Still, it represents a huge opportunity for Rio Tinto, and the decision to move forward on the project despite seemingly disadvantageous conditions suggests the iron ore miner wants to catapult itself over the competition and gain a stranglehold on the market.

The article Is Rio Tinto Trying to Corner the Iron Ore Market? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Companhia Vale Ads. 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.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON) is holding out for a higher bid from Germanys Bayer AG (NYSE:BAYG) which could boost the current $122 per share $62 billion offer to an even loftier level. A revised bid between $140 to $150 per share could be in the cards. Or we may see another suitor, perhaps BASF (NYSE:BASFY).

No matter who wins Monsanto, the deal is a game changer. The company would compete against Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT) which is in the process of being acquired by Chem-China and a merged Dow (NYSE:DOW) and DuPont (NYSE:DD). This $130 billion merger will result in three separately traded companies with the agriculture unit a fraction of its global competitors.

Theres a reason these deals are happening at an accelerated pace; the need to feed the world. The World Bank is predicting a potential food shortage by 2050.

Think of population growth outside the western world and there will be enormous demand for food. Even in Europe the public relations aspect thats virtually barred these seeds and foods from the continent will eventual come down over the need to feed people.

And Monsanto has had lofty goals that will benefit mankind.

Monsanto's Money Makers

Investors should look to history for some perspective on these deals. The world has always veered toward disaster warnings rather solutions (just ask the news media which grabs the most eyeballs) and sometimes in the process created avoidable disasters. How intriguing there is so much opposition to this scientific miracle when feeding the world was once the biggest cloud over humanity. There was significant fear of mass starvation; even in the west there was a scrabble to head off this inevitable plague. This fear was spread throughout Europe upon the publication of An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus in 1798. Over the years such concerns about food and commodity shortages have shaped policy mostly toward disastrous ends.

Malthusian Catastrophe

Instead of such nonsense we should celebrate a growing population thats living longer.

Longevity

This report first appeared in Wall Street Strategies.
Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday after the U.S. government reported a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories, but profit-taking after the data kept prices below the $50 a barrel level that oil bulls had been hoping for.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude inventories fell 4.2 million barrels in the week to May 20. While the decline was steeper than the 2.5 million barrels forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll, it was not as much as the 5.1 million expected by trade group American Petroleum Institute.

Crude futures fell briefly after the EIA data showed the steepest weekly drop in seven weeks, then consolidated and traded at the lower end of the day's gains.

Brent was up 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $49.36 a barrel by 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT) after a session high at$49.69.

U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $49.18, after peaking at $49.62, a new seven-month high.

Profit taking heading into the U.S. Memorial Day weekend also pressured prices, traders said.

Oil bulls have been hoping in recent weeks that crude would rise to $50 a barrel or more, after global crude flows declined nearly 4 million barrels per day due to wildfires in Canada's oil sands region, a near economic meltdown in OPEC member Venezuela and a spate of violent attacks against the Libyan and Nigerian energy industries.

"While we do feel the rally could go slightly further and test the psychological $50 level, we also think the rally has been priced in, especially with the impact expected from Canadian wildfires," said Tariq Zahir, crude trader and portfolio manager at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York.

"So, we wouldn't be surprised to see more profit taking from the longs, especially since there was no immediate follow-through in buying after the data."

U.S. gasoline futures fell nearly 1.5 percent to around $1.63 a gallon after the EIA reported that stockpiles of the motor fuel rose over 2 million barrels last week, confounding analysts' expectations for a 1.1 million-barrel drop.

"Gasoline looks to be the weakest horse right now and the momentum of the recent rally that started on May 10th now looks to be breaking down," said David Thompson, executive vice-president at commodities broker Powerhouse in Washington.

He said the picture could worsen for gasoline if futures for the motor fuel break below the $1.60 support. "The bears will be encouraged to increase their selling pressure." (By Barani Krishnan; Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Amanda Cooper in LONDON, Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO and Keith Wallis in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)
Seadrill is quickly running out of backlog. Image source: Seadrill.

What:Shares of offshore drillerSeadrill Ltd. are up big on May 25, climbing 11.2% by 1:15 p.m. EDT. This is a nice bounce for the company's stock on a light news day but with earnings coming up.

So what:Oil prices are also up slightly, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate above $49, but the big driver is almost certainly speculation ahead of the company's earnings report, which will be released before market open on May 26.

Now what:Tomorrow's earnings release isn't irrelevant, but investors in Seadrill -- along with any other offshore drilling company -- need to recognize that tomorrow's financial results will be the product of drilling contracts signed years ago, not anything that's happened in recent months.

In other words, even if Seadrill's revenue and earnings results come in better than analyst estimates, it won't change the big problem that the company faces, namely incredibly weak demand for new exploration work offshore.

A perfect example of this? The recent news thatStatoil ASAhad terminated a drilling contract with Seadrill for work in the North Atlantic, and would pay the company $61 million not to drill for the next six months. When offshore producers are willing to pay a company tonotdrill, that's a pretty clear sign that the offshore market is far from a recovery.

Bottom line: Tomorrow's results matter inasmuch as they demonstrate that the company is continuing to drive down its expenses and maintain cash, but the biggest concern investors should have is whether the company has a large percentage of its fleet with contracts expired or expiring and producers aren't exactly lining up to put them back to work.

In other words, what matters most with Seadrill isn't how much business it tells us it did last quarter, but what management is doing to position the company to ride out an offshore market that continues to deteriorate. Offshore will eventually recover, but Seadrill must survive the downturn, and that's what matters most right now.

The article Seadrill Ltd. Stock Is Up 11% Before Earnings: Here's What Investors Need to Understand originally appeared on Fool.com.

Jason Hall owns shares of Seadrill. The Motley Fool recommends Seadrill. 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.
Apple has become a cultural touchstone around the world, as familiar as any other global brand. The iPhone-maker now has over 1 billion installed devices globally, and more than half of American households own at least one Apple product.

The company has long had a reputation for being popular among hipsters, a notion that Apple and rivalSamsunghave each reinforced through marketing. Apple has successfully presented itself as a species distinct from other device makers with ad campaigns such as "Think Different." Conversely Samsung's commercials have depicted Apple devices as followers, mocking the fanboy cult around the company.

Apple is also known for being popular among techies as research by Crittercism said that San Francisco and New York, had a high proportion of Apple users with 80% of San Franciscans choosing an iOS device, while "lower-tech" cities like Phoenix and Detroit found Android more popular.

Yet, another study seemed to contradict both of the above stereotypes. Slice Intelligence found that the highest-spending Apple customer in the US was in fact, a man over the age of 65. That demographic shelled out an average of $976 between October 2014 to September 2015, compared to the national average spend of $788.

The study found that spending tends to increase with age -- perhaps as earnings and disposable income also increase -- and it also showed that men outspent women by a considerable margin. Men on average spent $897, compared to just $633 for women, and women 18-24 spent the least. Slice theorized that the spending by older Americans may be because they tend to be on the late side of the adoption curve.They could be new buyers, or alternatively, are shopping for Apple products as gifts. The survey also found seniors were among the greatest purchasers of iPads, while the 25-34 demographic led purchases of iPhones and Macs.

Another study from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that nearly half of iPhone buyers are repeat customers, upgrading from an old iPhone. The study also showed that Apple attracted three times as many Samsung customers to switch to iOS, as Samsung did to Apple.

Globally, Apple now sells more iPhones in China than in any other country, making the world's second-biggest economy its most important market.Regionally, Apple draws about a third of its sales from the Americas, with Europe, Middle East, and Africa contributing another 22%. Asia delivers the balance, and by market share, the iPhone is most dominant in Japan.

A company like Apple can't really have a single favorite customer as you don't grow to $200 billion in annual revenue without mass appeal. However, if there was a composite figure of its most important customer, it would probably be young, affluent, upwardly mobile, Chinese males. As Apple attempts to swing back to growth in the world's most populous country, targeting that consumer is likely to yield the greatest benefit.

The article Who Is Apple's Favorite Customer? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. 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.
Google's new metro Detroit office will lead its effort todevelop a self-driving version of Chrysler's Pacifica minivan. But it's likely to havemuch more on its agenda. Image source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Alphabet's Google Self-Driving Car Project announced on Wednesday that it's setting up shop near Detroit. The company said that it has secured a 53,000-square-foot facility in Novi, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Detroit.

Google moves to "lay down roots" in the auto industry's hometown

"For the past few years, members of our team have been working from the Greater Detroit area. Now it's time to lay down roots: we're establishing a self-driving technology development center in Novi, MI," the company said In an unsigned post to the Project's Google Plus account.

If you want to build cars, you go to where the car-building experts are

It's no surprise that Google's self-driving crew would move to set up shop near Detroit. Just as the major automakers have set up offices in Silicon Valley to tap tech expertise, Google is clearly looking to tap the vast automaking expertise available in and around Detroit. Having an office in the area will make it easier for Google to hire and retain auto-industry veterans as it ramps up its efforts to turn its years of self-driving research into commercial products and services.

As the Project noted in its statement, one of the initial priorities of the staff at the new office will be to work with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to create a fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Earlier this month, the two companies announced a deal to create "around 100" self-driving hybrid Pacifica minivans for Google to use in the next phase of testing its self-driving systems.

The Google self-driving team's new facility in Novi, Michigan. The team expects to move in over the next several months. Imagesource: Google.

But it's possible that the Google team will use the new Michigan office as a base for expanded partnerships with other automakers or auto-industry suppliers over time. Project chief John Krafcik has said that Google has no intention of going into the (high-fixed-cost, low-profit-margin, high-headache) business of building cars, hinting that it would eventually seek one or more partners to build vehicles that incorporate its self-driving systems.

While Google's deal with FCA would suggest that the Italian-American automaker is in a good position to get that business, both sides have made it clear that the current deal between the two isn't exclusive.

What's next for Google's Self-Driving Car Project?

The Project's statement said that it would "begin moving in" to the Michigan facility "throughout 2016." It's likely that we'll hear a lot more about the Project, its collaboration with Fiat Chrysler, and any other potential partnerships, after the office is up and running later this year. In the meantime, Google will be hiring; Detroit's automakers had best keep a close eye on their top talent.

The article Why Google's Self-Driving Project Is Setting Up Shop Near Detroit originally appeared on Fool.com.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Rosevear has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
A prototype self-driving Lexus underwent testing on a Tokyo highway last fall. Might Toyota agree to build a fleet of self-drivingLexuses for Uber? That's one question following the two companies' announcement of a new partnership. Image source: Toyota

More details are emerging about the surprising deal between Toyota and Uber. The two companies announced a partnership on Tuesday that included a Toyota leasing program for Uber drivers and an investment by Toyota in the Silicon Valley ride-hailing giant.

The announcement was short on specifics, including the size of Toyota's investment. But new reports on Wednesday have shed more light on that question, as well as on Uber's motivations for seeking a partnership with a global automaker.

How much did Toyota invest in Uber?

Citing "a person knowledgable about the matter," The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Toyota's investment in Uber is less than $100 million. That's well below the $300 million that Volkswagen invested in European ride-hailing firm Gett, or the $500 million that General Motors invested in Uber's main U.S. rival, Lyft, not to mention the $1 billion thatAppleinvested in Uber's global arch-rival, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing.

What does Toyota get out of the deal?

In the near term, Toyota gets to lease vehicles to Uber drivers under a new program that will be operated by the automaker's financial arm. The program will be offered in the U.S. and some overseas markets -- but not in Japan, according to the Journal report. It will launch sometime in the second half of 2016.

The leasing program will give Toyota added business in urban markets. Toyota is fairly strong in urban markets in the U.S. -- but GM isn't, and part of Toyota's motivation for making the deal may have been to block GM from taking on the business of leasing to Uber drivers. GM is setting up a similar program with Lyft, but Uber has many more drivers in U.S. cities.

Toyota also gets a foot in the door of the fast-growing ride-hailing industry. While it isn't expected to get a representative on Uber's board, nor any say in its management, the company is expected to use the partnership to learn more about the market for ride-hailing and the operational aspects of the service.

What does Uber get out of the deal?

Probably not as much as it wanted, at least right now.

A Recode report on Wednesday added some perspective on Uber's view of the deal. Over the last year, according to the article, Uber approached a number of automakers and self-driving technology companies about potential partnerships, including both GM and self-driving start-up Cruise Automation, which was recently acquired by GM.

It's well known that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has long sought to develop self-driving cars in hopes of eventually automating much of Uber's service. The company has been developing its own self-driving system, and recently showed off its first self-driving test car.

Uber's first self-driving test car is a Ford Fusion. Will the next one be a Toyota? Don't bet against it. Image source: Uber

Uber has also been looking for a partner to help it advance its self-driving efforts for at least a year, holding talks with Ford , GM, and possibly other automakers. But according to the report, most potential partners weren't interested: Apparently, Kalanick was seeking a partner that would be willing to manufacture self-driving cars for Uber that carried its branding instead of the automaker's.

Kalanick's talks may have extended well outside of Detroit. In March, Germany's Manager Magazin reported that Uber had approached Daimler's Mercedes-Benz unit in hopes of ordering a huge fleet (a "six-digit number") of Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans equipped with self-driving technology for delivery around 2020. Reuters subsequently reported that Uber had approached several automakers, not just Mercedes-Benz, about a potential order for a huge fleet of self-driving cars.

So will Toyota build Uber a fleet of self-driving taxis?

The press release announcing Uber's new partnership with Toyota made no mention of joining forces on self-driving research beyond a general statement about "sharing knowledge and accelerating their respective research efforts." It certainly didn't hint at any potential arrangements to produce an Uber-branded self-driving vehicle. Indeed, from what we know about it now, it's a very Toyota-style deal: a small investment in return for a learning opportunity.

It's possible that the partnership will expand later. It's also possible that Toyota, like its Detroit competitors, isn't interested in folding its latest self-driving technology into Uber-branded cars. If that's the case, Uber's quest for an automaking partner might not be over.

The article Why Uber Wanted to Make a Deal With Toyota originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Rosevear owns shares of Apple, Ford, and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Ford. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. 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.
An HBO producer and an ex-con were busted on drug charges for allegedly plying with cocaine a married Long Island doctor who died of an overdose while partying with the TV exec, authorities said.

Dr. Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny, 38, was found dying in a Chelsea doorway  with her panties in her purse  early on Oct. 4 after the wild drug binge with the married producer, Marc Henry Johnson, 51.

She and Johnson, whom she had met in 2009, met up during Cervenys girls night out on the Lower East Side before they went to his drug dealers apartment on West 16th Street, sources have said.

Johnson and the dealer, ex-con James Holder, were arrested late Tuesday by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and the NYPD.

Photos: Hollywood's Most Memorable Mugshots

They were expected to be arraigned in Manhattan federal court Wednesday on charges of narcotics distribution, narcotics conspiracy and accessory after the fact.

According to the complaint, Johnson texted someone at a bar on Oct. 3 and referred to Holder as Pepsi.

I am a little too tipsy to leave right now. I may go to Pepsi for a pickup, he texted, according to the complaint. Where? the friend texted back.

Me friend Pepsi. Pepsi is in Chelsea, Johnson replied. A half-hour later he added: if youre still there, I ready to roll.

Johnson went to the bar later that night to meet with Cerveny and her friends, the complaint said.

She had been using cocaine before Johnson arrived, according to the complaint.

Johnson said he had a significant amount of cocaine, which he offered to share.

He and Cerveny then left in a cab and arrived at Holders Chelsea building at 4:25 a.m., based on video surveillance.

Hours later, Johnson and Holder dragged her unconscious body along a hallway to the first-floor vestibule at 223 W. 16th St., the feds said.

Holder then left the Chelsea building, carrying an object as he walked away, the complaint said.

After Holder bolted, Johnson called 911 at 8:30 a.m. and asked for an ambulance  but declined to provide his name or say why Cerveny needed medical help, the complaint said.

Johnson intentionally and knowingly did receive, relieve, comfort, and assist the offender in order to hinder and prevent his apprehension, trial, and punishment, according to the federal complaint.

Law enforcement agents conducted witness interviews with more than 10 people who pinned cocaine distribution on Holder from the Chelsea apartment, according to the complaint.

An autopsy found that Cerveny, a dermatologist from Manhasset, died of an accidental acute cocaine and alcohol intoxication. The blond mother of three was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Cerveny, a former pageant queen from New Jersey, married fellow skin doc Andrew Cerveny about 10 months after she reconnected with Johnson, who she had known for a few years.

She and her husband had been living in a rented $1.2 million home for about a year.

After Cervenys death, Johnson took time off from his job as a producer of The Deuce, an HBO pilot about the porn industry starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The producer was previously nominated for an Emmy for his work on Michael Moores The Awful Truth.

Police sources have said Johnson had been having marital problems. His wife, Yale-educated lawyer Marlisa Vinciguerra, accused him of kicking her inside their Laight Street apartment April 5, 2015, sources said.

Authorities found numerous plastic zipper bags used to package narcotics in the 60-year-old Holders apartment, sources have said.

Holder moved out of the Chelsea apartment after Oct. 4 but continued to sell cocaine until January, authorities said Wednesday.

He had allegedly distributed more than 5 kilos of the drug between 2003 and Oct. 4, 2015, according to authorities.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six.
A 12-year-old New York boy who was critically injured when he lit himself on fire Tuesday night did it as part of a dangerous YouTube stunt called the fire challenge, police sources said.

The boy was at his home in Queens, a borough of New York City, around 8:30 p.m. when he splashed himself with rubbing alcohol and set himself ablaze while standing in the bathtub, sources said.

He was supposed to extinguish himself with water in the shower but was unable to do so, according to sources.

The boy suffered third-degree burns covering more than 40 percent of his body, officials said.

Click for more from the New York Post.
Eli Lilly and Co on Tuesday said it and partner Pfizer Inc aim to seek approval by 2018 for a new type of pain drug that could be an alternative to opioids for osteoarthritis, chronic back pain and cancer pain.

The Indianapolis drugmaker said tanezumab, given by injection every eight weeks, could be a far more effective and appropriate alternative for chronic pain than opioids, without their abuse potential.

"Opioids cause addiction and (overdoses) that are killing more people than traffic accidents," Jan Lundberg, Lilly's research chief, said in an interview. "If our medicine proves effective and safe, that would be a huge opportunity."

Pfizer and Lilly, in a $1.8 billion deal, agreed in 2013 to jointly develop and sell tanezumab for several pain-related conditions, with the companies equally sharing development expenses and future sales.

Tanezumab has proven in large trials conducted by Pfizer more effective than oxycodone, a widely used opioid, and naproxen, the active ingredient of over-the-counter painkiller Aleve.

It blocks Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), a protein involved in growth of nerve cells. U.S. regulators in 2012 put a hold on trials of medicines targeting the protein due to concerns they could worsen osteoarthritis in a small percentage of patients.

But the agency lifted the hold last year after new data suggested such risk could be greatly reduced by using lower drug doses and taking other precautions.

Opioids caused 18,893 overdose deaths in the United States in 2014, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Another 10,574 overdose deaths were due to heroin, it said, an illegal opioid to which abusers of prescription opioids often turn because of its far-cheaper price.

Andrew Ahn, chief scientific officer of pain research at Lilly, said opioids are effective against acute pain. But he said they have limited and decreasing effectiveness against chronic pain. Even so, he noted many doctors prescribe opioids for patients with long-term back pain, osteoarthritis and cancer.

"So they chase relief with higher and higher doses until they stop breathing," he said on the sidelines of a company meeting in New York with industry analysts and fund managers.

Although well tolerated so far, some patients taking tanezumab have developed swelling of the extremities and other side effects.

Morningstar analyst Damien Conover said tanezumab, if approved, could generate annual sales of $1 billion. But he said the earlier FDA safety concerns have dampened enthusiasm for the emerging new class of drugs.
Editors note: Dana Perino, co-anchor of The Five recently read the new book, We the People, written by Juan Williams, her fellow co-host on The Five. She highly recommends the book and says it is an insightful and thought-provoking read. She recently sat down with Williams to talk with him about the book.

DANA PERINO: Where would you rank womens movement in terms of disruption and impact on U.S. society?

JUAN WILLIAMS: To me, the womans movement is the most startling change of the last 230 years. Obviously the end of slavery and the demographic shifts in the American family have rocked the country.

But stop and think about the women you know, the women I know and compare them to the women who were known to the Founding Fathers. My wife and mother-in-law both have Masters Degrees; my daughter and sister are both lawyers; one niece is a Yale Law school graduate who now prosecutes crimes in Washington, D.C.; another niece is a medical doctor; and my sister-in-law helped to run a winning state campaign to help elect President Obama.

The positions that these women now occupy would have been impossible without Elizabeth Cady Stanton, early pioneer for womens rights who helped compose the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments.

They wouldnt have been able to get so far if it werent for Carrie Chapman Catt, who headed the fight for the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. And, in particular, it would be impossible without Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique got women to fight against their limited roles as housewives and mothers.

It is the result of these and countless other pioneering women, who inspired women to go to work and marry later so that they could build careers first.

It is the reason they fought for the right to control their own healt

That has had a tremendous impact on family life, with fewer marriages taking place, more children born to single women and more poverty for those children.

Women also now make up the majority of college and graduate school students, three members of the Supreme Court, 20 percent of the Senate and a record 87 members of the House. And it is the reason why women now make up almost half of the work force.

It is the reason why it is so outdated to judge women by their appearance as opposed to their intellect and character.

DP: On a whole, would you say that the Constitution has held up since the nations founding?

JW: I do  it is an incredible achievement for anything to last close to 230 years. When a framework for government can withstand civil war and world wars it stands as an incredible achievement.

When you look past all the noise of politics, past the current presidential race and its 24-hour news coverage, youll find a government that still operates by the guidelines set forth in the Constitution.

Youll see a legislature that makes laws, a judiciary that interprets them, and a president that enforces them.

Youll see separation of powers, checks and balances: a president that can veto a bill, but a Congress that can override the veto; a president that can lead the nation, but a Congress that can still impeach him; a president that can appoint a Supreme Court Justice, but a Congress that can turn down his appointment.

So, even as we decry all the excesses and distraction of modern political culture, we need to remember that the building blocks of contemporary government  things we still do  are all written, right there, in the Constitution.

Yet in some ways the Constitution has not stood the test of time. And thats a good thing. The men who wrote the Constitution would never have understood something like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Voting Rights Act of the following year. In their day blacks were three-fifths of a person. They did not fight to end slavery. And they allowed the slave trade to continue for 20 more years.

It was Thurgood Marshall who once called the Constitution defective from the start. So, in part, it is a good thing that the Constitution included the ability to be amended.

When the 55 delegates were gathered in 1787 to write the Constitution, they didnt make their debates open to the public. They wanted to be able to disagree candidly, without the fear that their words would be used against them. They wanted to disagree, which they dida whole lot  before reaching compromise. That was the spirit in which the Constitution was written. So, the fact that were still fighting may prove just how constitutional America still is.

DP: What is the next big change and who might lead it?

JW: Option 1: As a black man, one of the most emotional parts of the book to write was the chapter on race. The rapid increase in racial minorities in the USA and immigrants is changing the national character. It is no longer solely focused on black disadvantage and white responsibility for slavery. The conversation is far more nuanced with the problems of racial inequity often focused on the black poor and their mistreatment by the police.

But there is a bigger story about race emerging.

In the book I focused on two figures  Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson  who defined the race question of their era. For King in the mid-20th century, it was a question of black citizenship: earning the right to vote and enter white-owned establishments. For Jackson, in the late 20th century, it was a question of black capitalism: better jobs, better pay, and more political power to demand equity.

But what issue defines the race question today? I think it comes down to education and ending the achievement gap between black and white students.

Incidentally, it was while I was editing We The People that Donald Trump called for a wall between the United States and Mexico and claimed Mexico was sending thugs, rapists, and drug dealers to the United States: inflammatory remarks that has made immigration reform a key talking point in the 2016 election season.

I thought about my chapter on the Kennedy Brothers  John F. Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy  whose Irish heritage inspired them to lobby for immigration reform, leading to the passage of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act. They did this by assuring Congress that immigration reform was in keeping with Americas best principles: that wed always been a Nation of Immigrants.

Based on the amount of time politicians have spent on immigration during the election season, I think one major change -- fast approaching -- will involve immigration reform. It will come from someone who can find a way to provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently on our shore, while ensuring Republicans that the border will become secure. And it will come from someone who can convince America that immigration reform is in keeping with Americas best principles of inclusivity.

Perhaps it will be someone like Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force and longtime advocate for immigration reform who authored the Immigrant Childrens Educational Advantage and Dropout Prevention Act in 2001 (never went to a vote), a precursor to the DREAM Act.

Or maybe the current meltdown of the Right (caused by Cruz and Trump) will allow the moderate Republican voices on immigration to take control of the immigration question. Maybe it will be someone like Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a Republican of Cuban heritage and an important advocate for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Or maybe someone like Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a former member of the Gang of Eight who has also argued for a pathway to citizenship.

DP: As a journalist, if you could go back, what would you have liked to ask the Founding Fathers?

JW: Question for the Founders in General: How long do you think this republic will last? According to Yale historian Joanne Freeman, Americans well into the 1790s made offhand comments in their letters to one another like: If this government lasts more than five years, heres what I think we should do. So I would ask them how much faith they had in the government that they were making. How long would it last? What would have to happen in order for it to last? Were they ever suspicious that it would fail as soon as it began? Whod be responsible for the failure?

Some Questions for George Washington: Many believed that George would remain president until he died. But he did not. By stepping down from the presidency in 1796, Washington set the two-term precedent. He said he was tired and worn down by the job. His decision to turn down a third term has also been read in symbolic terms; the US is a democracy with presidents, not a monarchy with Kings. Mr. President, off the record, why didnt you take a third term? What were the competing interests? According to historian Ron Chernow you had always planned to remain as president only until the new Constitution had taken root. (Ron Chernows words) But did you ever hesitate? Did the prospect of a third term ever seem appealing?

Some questions for the loyalists: We tend to forget that not every colonist wanted to rebel against the mother country. But not every American Colonist was so set on starting a revolution. Some were loyalists. In fact, 15 to 20 percent of white male colonists during the Revolution remained loyal to the crown. Another large percent just didnt want anything to do with the war. Loyalists were not all stuffy aristocrats. Some were regular old farmers. Id want to talk to them. Id ask them what they thought about the patriots? What did they think about the Crown? What was their reasoning for not joining the cause?

DP: All the changes that the US has been through can lead us to new beginnings. On the other hand, Trump is talking about returning to something that weve lost. Is there some leader that can unite the people who want to go back and the people who want a new start?

JW: Thats a difficult question. But here are some ideas:

Someone in the Tech Industry: So I didnt cover this in the book, but when I think about the companies you hear most about today, and when I think about millennials, I realize that its all about tech. People like Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, Sergey Brin, cofounder of Google, Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, and Kevin Systrom, founder of Instagram. Everyone respects the work that these tech hotshots have done: no matter your political persuasion. Theyve been able to tap into Americas long history of capitalist innovation, as well move America into the future technologically, radically changing the way we communicate, hold campaigns, and run government. Some of them are huge philanthropists. Some, like Zuckerberg, have been active in, among other areas, education reform and disease research. I wonder whether any of these or other tech figures will enter politics in earnest.
I am the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical denomination in the U.S., and I have agreed to meet with Donald Trump.

While I have no intention of endorsing Donald Trump -- or any other candidate for that matter -- I believe it is incumbent upon me to learn all I can about each candidate and their platform. Therefore, it is a privilege to be given the opportunity to meet with Mr. Trump.

Of course, as with many conservative evangelicals I have struggled with where we see matters today. Some of Mr. Trumps comments about women, minorities and immigrants are concerning.

At the same time, what do we do? Stay at home?

Absolutely not! We cannot change what exists, alter it or adjust it by sitting on the sidelines and complaining about what we dont like.

Christians have a biblical responsibility to govern our personal, moral lives, but we also have a responsibility as citizens of the United States to express the civic privilege afforded to usthat men and women have died on the battlefield to give usand Im not walking away from that privilege of voting.

There is too much at stake before us.

This election is about who will appoint as many as four Supreme Court justices. This election is about the dignity of human life from the womb to the tomb. This election is about the most significant religious freedom concerns in American history.

Im not about to sit at home on Election Day because Im accountable to God and, I believe, I am accountable to my fellow Americans to vote.

This is why I am meeting with Donald Trump, and why I would be willing to also meet with Hillary Clinton.

While we are founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, America was never meant to be a theocracy in the first place and we are not electing a Pastor-in-Chief.

The meeting in New York City on June 21 is a conversation with Donald Trump.

We will not be there to listen to a speech. We will be there to get to know one another  to talk.

The meeting will not be hostile or confrontational.

We will share with him the things that matter most to us as conservative evangelicals, and we will ask him questions and he will ask us questions. While friendly and conciliatory, it will also be honest and forthright.

We have not been asked to endorse him nor have any of us overtly condemned him. Weve just quietly prayed and observed and now were choosing to meet.

Most of all we want to get to know the presumptive Republican nominee better and we want to know him personally. Most of us are pastors, and so this will help us pray for him and  hopefully  make us available to advise him.

The truth is we cannot judge or know whether Mr. Trump is a true believer or not -- thats Gods business. What we do know is what he has said and he says he will support those issues that conservative evangelicals are most concerned about. We also know that the Republican Party platform remains supportive of conservative judges, the dignity of human life, and preserving religious freedom.

I take that seriously.

Since Mr. Trump is not a career politician  the thing I do genuinely like about him -- he does not have a record to rely upon, especially relating to his biggest decision of all: Who will serve beside him as the vice president of the United States?

This decision will tell us much about who he is and how he will choose to govern this nation if indeed he is elected. Im sure this will also be an important topic of our conversation.

This fall, there will  in all likelihood  only be two real choices: Hillary Clinton or Donald J. Trump.

As I responded in a recent interview, Could you vote for him? Thats the question at hand.
The crossfire between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton reached new levels of intensity Tuesday in a prelude to their expected November presidential election battle, as the candidates traded blows over everything from past Clinton scandals to claims Trump was rooting for a housing market crash before the recession.

Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, hit the presumptive GOP nominee on his years-old housing comments at a campaign stop earlier Tuesday.

"When he was talking about the possibility of a housing market crash before the Great Recession, he said, I sort of hope that happens,' " Clinton said. "He actually said that, he actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard working families in California and across America to lose their homes, all because he thought he could take advantage of it to make some money for himself."

Trump's campaign issued a statement defending his comments, made in the mid-2000s, as the mortgage, then housing bubble began to burst.

"I am a businessman and I have made a lot of money in down markets, in some cases as much as I've made when markets are good. Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs -- understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation," Trump said in the statement.

"Politicians have no idea how to do this -- they don't have a clue. I will create jobs, bring back companies and not make it easy for companies to leave.

The New York real estate mogul has reached the general electorate with a pro-jobs message that in part includes vows to end the kind of international trade deals that have sent U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas.

The exchange between Clinton and Trump came a day after Trump released an incendiary web video that including allegations from two women who accused Clintons husband, former President Bill Clinton, of sexual assault years ago.

Two polls released this past weekend show Clinton and Trump essentially tied in the White House race.

The Trump campaign on Tuesday also denied claims by Democrats and those of a former adviser that Trump helped pay the mortgage of a woman who years ago accused the former president of sexual assault and was just featured in a scathing Trump campaign video.

"There's no truth to that, campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Fox News, responding to the mortgage claims.

The pushback comes after a Democrat-tied group posted the video and transcript of a February interview in which Trump ally Roger Stone described efforts to financially help Kathleen Willey, who claims former President Clinton groped her in 1993.

The Washington Post also said Monday that Trump, in a recent interview, said the 1993 death of Clinton administration attorney Vince Foster was very fishy.

Investigators ruled his death a suicide. But Clinton detractors have suggested the first couple was involved in Fosters death to hide secrets. Trump, nevertheless, called the allegations of possible foul play very serious.
Texas and 10 other states filed suit Wednesday against the Obama administration over its directive on transgender student access to public school facilities, firing the first shot in what is likely to be a protracted and messy legal battle over that guidance.

The suit was filed in a Texas federal court in response to the directive handed down to schools earlier this month that said transgender students should be able to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit at a Wednesday news conference, saying the directives represent an attempt by the administration to rewrite the law.

This represents just the latest example of the current administrations attempts to accomplish by executive fiat what they couldnt accomplish through the democratic process in Congress," Paxton said.

Joining Texas in the suit were: Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona's Department of Education, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia.

Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights, the lawsuit says.

Conservative states had vowed to defy the federal directive, calling it a threat to the safety of students. Texas' lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply.

"President Obama has excluded the voice of the people. We stand today to ensure those voices are heard," Paxton said.

The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.

While the letter does not have the force of law, it does warn that schools that do not abide by the administrations interpretation of civil rights under the Title IX law may face lawsuits or loss of federal aid.

"There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement when the guidlines were announced earlier this month.



The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A real-estate firm that has been a favored investment of Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. is under investigation by federal law-enforcement officials for alleged accounting fraud, according to people familiar with the matter.

The FBI and the SEC are focusing their examination of CBL & Associates Properties on whether officials at the Chattanooga, Tenn., company falsified information on financial statements to banks when applying for financing arrangements, the people said. Law-enforcement officials have talked to former CBL employees who allege the company inflated its rental income and its properties occupancy rates when reporting those figures to banks, the people said.

The FBI and SEC officials have also separately asked questions about the relationship between the company and Corker, who is close with senior executives at the firm and has made millions of dollars in profits trading the companys stock in recent years. Authorities dont believe that Mr. Corker was involved in the companys potential accounting issues, but they are interested in learning more about the senators trading in CBLs stock, the people said.

They have found no evidence to suggest that Corker has committed wrongdoing.

Micah Johnson, a spokeswoman for Corker, decried the baseless charges against Senator Corker.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
The Romanian hacker who claimed he easily breached Hillary Clinton's email server pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to two counts of computer hacking charges, as part of a deal with the Justice Department.

In exchange for a reduced sentence, Marcel Lehel Lazar  also known as Guccifer -- has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the future.

Lazar pleaded guilty to the unauthorized access of a protected computer and aggravated identity theft, counts tied to his illegal intrusion into systems belonging to former U.S. government officials, including former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Under the deal, Lazar faces seven years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines.

The alleged hacking crimes are separate from Lazars claims of having breached Clintons personal server. The plea agreement does not mention the FBI investigation of Clinton's email practices or his claims that he accessed her private server in March 2013. Such agreements typically do not stipulate how a defendant will aid the government.

But the plea deal comes as the FBI is moving to conclude its investigation into Clintons exclusive use of a private server for government business while secretary of state. Lazar, who was facing more than 20 years in prison and cut what amounted to a very favorable deal, is currently being held in a Virginia jail  which means he will be available to the FBI and U.S. attorney.

As outlined in the plea agreement which Fox News has reviewed, Lazar has agreed to extensive cooperation with the U.S. government. According to the court filing, Lazar has agreed to be "reasonably available for debriefing and pre-trial conferences as the U.S. may require."

The document states: The defendant agrees to testify truthfully and completely at any grand juries, trials or other proceedings.

Additionally, Lazar has agreed to provide all documents, writings, and recordings within his custody to the U.S. government that may be relevant to investigations or inquiries.

He appeared in court wearing a green jumpsuit, and was soft-spoken during the 35-minute proceeding.

He was asked repeatedly if he understood the terms, and he affirmed, Yes I do.

While government officials who would not speak on the record admit hes an accomplished hacker, they also cast doubt on claims he breached the server. Still, Guccifer told Fox News specific details of the server's configuration and its apparent lack of security. He said he copied some files and posted them to his "Guccifer Archive" online. This is the kind of information the FBI could verify by examining the server or questioning Clinton IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, who has struck an immunity deal with the Justice Department.

An intelligence source told Fox News at the time of his extradition from Romania in late March -- which was unusual because his prison term there was not complete and no major financial fraud was alleged against U.S. victims -- that it was not a "coincidence" and was connected to the FBI email probe.

The same source said Guccifers breach of Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthals account  which was connected to his indictment in the U.S., and which first exposed the .Clintonemail account -- put national defense information at risk.

[Hillary Clintons] gross negligence allowed this material to get out to an adversary, the source said. Through her communications with Blumenthal, [Clinton] contributed exposure and risk.

Fox News was first to report on Lazars claims that he breached former secretary of state Clintons server.

While his claims could not be independently verified, and he offered no hard evidence, he made the same claims during another interview in Romania with NBC News which aired after Fox News reporting.

Fox News' Matthew Dean contributed to this report.
Several protesters were arrested outside Donald Trumps campaign rally Wednesday in Southern California, but a heavy police presence helped deter violent demonstrations like those that occurred the night before at a rally in New Mexico.

Police in Anaheim, Calif., where Wednesday's event was held, had warned anti-Trump protesters about clashing with law enforcement.

Anaheim Police said 14 people were arrested Wednesday.

About 100 officers, including some in riot gear, lined up in preparation outside the Anaheim Convention Center, including dozens on horses -- a day after New Mexico protesters burned flags and pelted officers in riot gear with bottles and other debris.

After the Anaheim rally, officers stopped clashes among anti-Trump protesters and Trump supporters while mounted police formed a line and pushed protesters, including some wearing masks and throwing rocks, away from the center.

During the rally, there were several shouting matches between the supporters and protesters and event-goers thrashed a Trump-like pinata. A few protesters also were escorted from the building.

Get them out of here, said Trump, his usual response to being disrupted by protesters. Out, out, out.

Earlier in the day, Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada warned that violence would not be tolerated.

"While we recognize and respect the First Amendment rights of all individuals  we will not tolerate violence or disobedience of the law during the upcoming rally," he said. "We are prepared to take swift and decisive enforcement action should it become necessary."

About 150 protesters attended the midday event, roughly equal to the number of journalists who attended.

Even before the clashes overnight in New Mexico, several previous Trump events have been marred by angry protests.

In March, the Trump campaign was forced to cancel a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago, citing growing safety concerns.

Hundreds of protesters responded to requests by social activists and other Trump detractors' request to disrupt the event. The cancellation sparked several small scuffles between pro- and anti-Trump groups inside and outside the event.

But the New Mexico incident ended a stretch of relative calm, which appeared to start near the time Trump became the partys presumptive presidential nominee in early May.

Protesters in the unruly spectacle threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades.

Police, including at least some in riot gear, responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center. At least one person was arrested, police said.

Inside the rally, protesters shouted at Trump, resisted being removed by security officers and wave banners including ones that read "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Trump told the officers to remove the protesters and mocking their actions, telling them to "Go home to mommy."

On Wednesday, he tweeted that the protesters were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!"

The protesters burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

The violence in New Mexico prompted security concerns elsewhere.

Police in Bismarck, N.D., said Wednesday they would dedicate about a quarter of their force for security when Trump heads to the state Thursday.

Trump will be the keynote speaker at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and Expo, with about 7,000 people expected to attend.

Fox News' Lee Ross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ex-Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and his staff mismanaged the creation of the states doomed health insurance website, including by making decisions based on his re-election campaign, according to a congressional report released Wednesday which seeks a criminal probe.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report calls for the Department of Justice and state attorney general to conduct criminal investigations into the events surrounding the creation and eventual failure of Cover Oregon, which ultimately led to the waste of $305 million in federal money.

"More than $305 million in federal taxpayer dollars were sent to Oregon state for purposes of implementing a state exchange to benefit the people," the Republican-led committee said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. "The state exchange never came to fruition, and the money is gone."

The report also found there has been no effort from the Department for Health and Human Services to retrieve the lost funds.

The report said that state officials improperly commingled official and political resources to enrich Kitzhabers re-election bid.

Democrats on the committee released their own report, which laid the blame at the feet of Oracle Corporation, the states contractor, saying it misled officials and failed to deliver a functioning website. The Democrats' report also found that Oracles work was so flawed the state should stop payments to them.

Oregon had the country's worst rollout of the national health insurance program. While the crippled federal website eventually worked, Oregon failed to enroll a single person online. The state-supported platform eventually was abandoned for the federal HealthCare.gov.

Cover Oregon was dissolved in March 2015.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' "failed oversight of the development and implementation of Cover Oregon resulted in millions of wasted taxpayer dollars," the committees report said, calling for the reform of its grant and oversight process.

The report also found that state officials and Kitzhabers campaign staff collaborated to such an extent that the "lines between official and political activities became blurry.

Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015 amid allegations his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, did private consulting work for organizations seeking to influence state policies. The report found that at least one email discussing Cover Oregon included Hayes, "who did not have any Cover Oregon role or responsibilities."

Fox News Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Obama administration is preparing to transfer up to 24 additional detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp this summer, Fox News has learned.

The move comes as President Obama continues to try to close the camp in the face of congressional resistance. The administration so far has reduced the population from 242 detainees to 80.

But one official said the detainees remaining at the camp represent the worst of the worst.

The official was not confident the countries ultimately receiving these terrorists would be up to the task of keeping them locked up or even tracking them. While an Obama administration task force found many detainees should remain in U.S. custody, a new review board in 2011 looked at the cases and reached a different conclusion, though much of the evidence was the same.

The White House still maintains that closing the camp makes the most sense.

It's a recruiting tool for those who wish to do us harm, spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Still, the most recent issue of Al Qaedas propaganda magazine said its the Arab-Israeli conflict that drives Al Qaeda recruitment  not the detention center. The issue says: Many have joined jihad because of the Palestinian rhetoric compared to Guantanamo.

Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and senior editor of The Long War Journal who testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the prison, said the push to shutter Guantanamo is all about ideologically driven policy. It's not about the actual assessment of the risks of these individuals.

For those countries that take transfers, Republican Sens. Mark Kirk, of Illinois, and James Lankford, of Oklahoma, have introduced an amendment to hold them accountable.

If you take a detainee, it comes with a responsibility. That responsibility is to make sure the detainee doesn't return to the fight, or you will lose American federal aid. It's pretty straightforward, Lankford explained.

Fox News Catherine Herridge and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
The parents of a Kansas teenager whose shocking murder nearly a decade ago inspired legislative calls for cellphone carriers to give police phone records in life-or-death situations told FoxNews.com they remain resolved to getting the Kelsey Smith Act passed in Congress -- after the House voted it down Monday.

Smith was 18 when she was abducted in broad daylight outside a Kansas shopping mall in 2007 and strangled. The teen's parents spent four harrowing days looking for their daughter, but the search would have ended much sooner had Verizon Wireless promptly handed over cellphone records to authorities.

Current federal law allows cellphone companies to release information to police in certain situations, but it does not require them to do so. The Kelsey Smith Act mandates it -- and has become law in 22 states since the young woman's death.

But a national version of the bill failed Monday in the U.S. House on a 229-158 vote amid privacy concerns; it required 290 to pass.

"We're not giving up," Kelsey's mother Missey Smith said Wednesday. "Kelsey is the force behind this and it will happen. It may not be this year, but it will happen."

Opponents of the measure, like the American Civil Liberties Union, argue the law takes away a phone company's discretion in providing cell phone information to law enforcement. It also prevents cell phone customers from suing companies for releasing the information without good reason, according to critics.

ACLU Legislative Counsel Neema Singh Guliani said in a statement that the House vote demonstrates that lawmakers realize the current version of the bill "opens the door to law enforcement abuse," adding: "It would require companies to turn over information  even in cases where they have evidence that no real emergency exists."

But Smith countered that the law in many places leaves it up to a customer service representative to determine what constitutes an emergency.

"They're not trained law enforcement. And we don't even know if they're in this country," she said.

Responding to critics who cite the Fourth Amendment in opposing the bill, she said: "The Fourth Amendment is about unreasonable search and seizure. There is nothing unreasonable when someone is missing."

Kansas was the first state to implement the law in April 2009, followed by New Jersey, Nebraska, Minnesota and New Hampshire in 2010.

The law proved critical on a February evening in 2015 when a Kansas mother's car was stolen with her five-month-old baby and cell phone inside. Because of Kelsey's Law, officers were able to obtain the woman's phone information immediately, and the baby was found, unharmed, in less than 40 minutes.

Smith, who just 10 days prior had graduated from high school, was forced into her car by 26-year-old Edwin Roy "Jack" Hall as she walked through the parking lot of a Target store behind the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas, on June 2, 2007. Hall drove Smith 20 miles across state lines to Missouri, where he raped and strangled the young woman with her own belt, leaving her body covered in brush in the woods near a lake.

Smith's parents acknowledge their daughter was likely dead by the time authorities were notified of her disappearance  and that any information obtained by Verizon would not have changed that outcome.

It would not have saved Kelseys life, Missey Smith said of the federal law she is advocating. But it would have saved us four days of agony not knowing where our child was.

Verizon eventually released the information four days after she disappeared, and her body was found within an hour.

The federal bill, H.R. 4889, allows for police to obtain phone information without a search warrant in situations involving risk of death or serious physical injury.

The driving force for the legislation in Congress is Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder, the bill's sponsor who represents Overland Park, where Smith was from. Three other House members -- Republican U.S. Reps. Lynn Jenkins and Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri -- are co-sponsors.

Yoder said Wednesday the benefits of the legislation far outweigh privacy concerns.

"I think, understandably, members of Congress are cautious about giving law enforcement tools that could be abused," Yoder told FoxNews.com. "But in this case, thats really not a possibility. Were talking about narrow circumstances -- life or death situations."

Yoder said he remains confident the bill will eventually be passed into law nationally.

"The support for this legislation is growing," he said.

"Most of us in Congress are parents," Yoder said. "When you put yourself in the shoes of the Smith family, how could you not have compassion? How could you not want this tool available if your child were missing?"

Cristina Corbin is a New York-based reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @Cristina Corbin.
Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed what he described as "thugs" and "criminals" who clashed with police outside an Albuquerque campaign event, just hours after police in riot gear and mounted patrol units faced off against the violent crowd.

The clashes erupted overnight, after Trump and some 4,000 of his supporters left the Albuquerque Convention Center. Approximately 100 demonstrators remained in downtown.

Smoke grenades were used in an effort to disperse the crowd, while protesters threw rocks, plastic bottles, burning T-shirts and other items at officers.



Albuquerque police said on Twitter late Tuesday that "several" officers were being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one person was arrested.

Inside the Trump rally, demonstrators shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."

Trump responded with his usual bluster, mocking the protesters by telling them to "Go home to mommy."



He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."



Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!" At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center.



The altercations left a glass door at the entrance of the convention center smashed. During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.



Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.



"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.



Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.



Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.



Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."



The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.



"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."



The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Suddenly, were wallowing in the fever swamps of Vince Foster and Ken Starr.

It was hard enough to live through the days of the blue dress, the cigar and a congressman trying to reenact a crime by shooting at a watermelon. Now history is repeating itself somewhere between tragedy and farce, but with potentially lethal consequences for the current presidential campaign.

Whats sometimes forgotten about the Clinton scandals of the 90s, now that theyre starting to be relitigated in 2016, is that there was a huge legal and media war between the Clinton machine and those investigating the president. The Clinton team tried to discredit Starr, the onetime federal judge who was named special prosecutor for the Whitewater land deal and expanded his probe to include Monica Lewinsky.

The same went for those investigating what happened to Foster, a White House aide and confidante of Hillary Clinton whose death was found in multiple probes to be a suicideand yet spawned lots of conspiracy theories that persist to this day.

I understand why Donald Trump has been bringing up Bill Clintons affairs and allegations of sexual misconductmost recently in an Instagram video and using the word rape in a Sean Hannity interviewbecause he thinks he can tie Hillary to the tawdriness.

But Vince Foster?

This came up in a Washington Post story yesterday. Trump was quoted as saying: Its the one thing with her, whether its Whitewater or whether its Vince or whether its Benghazi. Its always a mess with Hillary.

The paper followed up:

When asked in an interview last week about the Foster case, Trump dealt with it as he has with many edgy topics  raising doubts about the official version of events even as he says he does not plan to talk about it on the campaign trail.

He called theories of possible foul play very serious and the circumstances of Fosters death very fishy. He had intimate knowledge of what was going on, Trump said, speaking of Fosters relationship with the Clintons at the time. He knew everything that was going on, and then all of a sudden he committed suicide.

He added, I dont bring [Fosters death] up because I dont know enough to really discuss it.

Although he did kind of discuss it right there. I dont see what Trump gains by reviving those conspiracy theories. Starr, backed by the FBI, concluded in a report that there was no foul play and no cover-up in the death of the deputy White House counsel.

And by the way, Foster left a suicide note. This was the final line: I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport.

There's a burgeoning debate over how much the media should cover this sort of thing. But when a de facto presidential nominee says such things on the record, it is obviously news.

Starr, meanwhile, is sounding a bit regretful about his role in the investigations that led to Clintons impeachment, saying in a panel discussion that the ex-president has been part of a redemptive process since leaving the White House: President Carter set a very high standard, which President Clinton clearly continues to follow.

Calling Clinton the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation, Starr said: His genuine empathy for human beings is absolutely clear, Mr. Starr said. It is powerful, it is palpable and the folks of Arkansas really understood that about him  that he genuinely cared. The I feel your pain is absolutely genuine.

Ironically, there were unconfirmed reports yesterday that Baylor University had fired Starr as its president--for not being more aggressive in investigating reports that male athletes had raped female students.

So will any of these golden oldies, so exhaustively covered at the time, have resonance two decades later? Hillary critics are starting to say that many voters have forgotten the details of these scandals, or are too young to have lived through them.

One complicating factor, raised by CNNs Chris Cuomo, is that that Trump occasionally defended Bill Clinton at the time. He was a private citizen who was friendly with the Clintons and he was trying to protect a friend, Trump lawyer and confidante Michael Cohen told Cuomo. Now, its a different game. Its 2016, he is the Republican presidential nominee.

In the end, I suspect most voters want to hear more about their future than to wallow in tales of Bills women and Donalds women in the last century. But there could be some collateral damage in a town where ruining peopleespecially presidential candidatesis considered sport.
The State Department watchdog, in an extensive and detailed report, accused Hillary Clinton of flouting federal records rules and cybersecurity guidelines with her exclusive use of personal email for government business while secretary of state.

The forthcoming inspector general audit, a copy of which was obtained Wednesday by FoxNews.com, faults Clinton and her predecessors for poorly managing email and other computer information.

The report says the department was "slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications." It cites "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" related to communications that started before Clinton's tenure.

But the report singles out Clintons failures as more serious. The report includes numerous revelations, including that her server was at one point attacked, that Clinton declined to be interviewed for the audit and that Clinton never sought approval to use her personal account for government work.

The audit comes as Clinton, now the Democratic presidential front-runner, tries to wrap up a grueling primary battle and pivot to a general election fight -- the audit could provide her Republican foes with fresh ammunition.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said in a written statement that her political opponents are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes but maintained the report shows how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email.

But while the report said there were many examples of staff using personal accounts for official business, they could only find three cases where officials used non-department accounts on an exclusive basis for day-to-day operations: former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Ambassador to Kenya Jonathan Scott Gration and Clinton.

In the case of Gration, the department initiated disciplinary action against him before he resigned. The IG report said of Gration, the Departments response to his actions demonstrates how such usage is normally handled when Department cybersecurity officials become aware of it.

The report noted that by the time Clinton took the helm of the department, internal guidance was considerably more detailed and more sophisticated.

Yet, the report said, Secretary Clinton used mobile devices to conduct official business using the personal email account on her private server extensively, as illustrated by the 55,000 pages of material making up the approximately 30,000 emails she provided to the Department in December 2014. The report said investigators found no evidence that the Secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server.

The report specifically accused Clinton of violating department policy by not giving over emails when she left office.

The report says: "Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records ... At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act."

The report touched on the security risks of this set-up as well, saying that in January 2011, a non-Departmental advisor to President Clinton who provided technical support to the Clinton email system told a department official he had to shut down the server because he thought someone was trying to hack us. The adviser later wrote that same day, We were attacked again so I shut [the server] down for a few min.

While some officials said they were unaware of the extent of Clintons personal email use, the report said they found evidence that various staff and senior officials throughout the Department had discussions related to the Secretarys use of non-Departmental systems, suggesting there was some awareness of Secretary Clintons practices.

The review came after revelations Clinton exclusively used a private email account and server while in office. Clinton is now the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

The audit comes as the FBI is thought to be nearing the final phases of its own investigation into Clintons email use as secretary of state.

Republicans seized on the report to challenge Clintons repeated claims that she was only following precedent.

"Although Clinton has long claimed her practices were like those of other Secretaries of State and allowed, the report states she was in clear violation of the Federal Records Act, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.

Democrats, though, jumped to her defense. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said in a statement: The Inspector General confirmed what we have known all along  that Secretary Clinton followed the practice of her predecessor when she used a personal email account.  Republicans need to stop wasting taxpayer dollars singling out Secretary Clinton just because she is running for President.

The OIG made eight recommendations, including enhanced and more frequent guidance on the permissible use of personal email accounts to conduct official business.

The report, further, said Clinton declined OIGs request for an interview. The office was able to interview others including Powell and sitting Secretary of State John Kerry.

The report said the department issued numerous warnings about security risks across multiple tenures.

In March 2009, after unsuccessful efforts to supply Clinton with a secure government smartphone, a top official sent her a classified memo about her use of the BlackBerry. Clinton told the official she gets it, while apparently continuing to use it.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the agency is "already working" to improve its email and records management system.

Toner said "it is clear that the department could have done a better job preserving emails and records of secretaries of state and their senior staff going back several administrations." He said the State Department also agrees that compliance with its rules has been "inconsistent across several administrations."

On another front, Romanian hacker Guccifer  who recently claimed he breached Clintons server  pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to separate hacking charges.

Under a deal struck with the federal government, he has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the future. The plea agreement does not mention the FBI investigation of Clinton's email practices or his claims that he accessed her private server in March 2013. Such agreements typically do not stipulate how a defendant will aid the government.

Fox News Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Facing no active opposition, Donald Trump easily won the Republican presidential primary in Washington state Tuesday, inching him closer to the magic number of 1,237 delegates necessary to wrap up the GOP nomination.

With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had garnered 76 percent of the vote. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich each earned 10 percent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson earned 4 percent of the vote. In all, approximately 115,000 votes out of 482,000 were cast for former Trump rivals.

Trump's convincing victory came days after Washington state's GOP convention awarded 40 of its 41 elected delegate slots to Cruz supporters. However, under party rules, each delegate is bound to the primary results for the first round of voting at the national convention.



Republicans in Washington were to allocate all 44 delegates to this summer's national convention in Cleveland based on the primary results. Trump had secured at least 27 delegates as of late Tuesday, leaving him 41 short of the number needed to clinch the nomination.

Trump is expected to easily secure the nomination on June 7, when GOP contests are held in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, with a total of 303 delegates at stake.

Washington has both a presidential primary and a caucus system. But Democrats will ignore the results of Tuesday's primary, which frontrunner Hillary Clinton was projected to win, having chosen to use the party caucus system to allocate their national convention delegates.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders handily won the Washington Democratic caucuses in March, receiving 74 delegates to the national convention in Philadelphia to Clinton's 27.

Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute for Public Policy at Washington State University, said even though the Democratic primary is nothing more than a poll, there's still value for the campaign that prevails.



"They're going to tout this as the will of the people," he said.

Clinton is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president. She is on track to do so in early June, even if she loses all the remaining contests.

When superdelegates are included, Clinton has 2,305 delegates and Sanders has 1,539. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

About 1.3 million voters had already sent in their ballots prior to Tuesday's election. Election officials said that as of Tuesday evening, 31 percent of voters have returned their ballot. There are more than 4 million registered voters in Washington state, who can either vote by mail or by dropping their ballot at an election drop box.



The record number of presidential primary ballots counted in Washington was nearly 1.4 million in 2008, according to the secretary of state's office. The record percentage return was 42.6 in 2000. Both of those elections were held in February. Under state law, the presidential primary is held on the fourth Tuesday of May, unless the parties agree to change it, which they did in both of those years.



Last year, Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman pushed to have this year's primary moved to March, but the move, opposed by Democrats, failed to get the two-thirds vote required by the Presidential Primary Date Selection Committee.



The inevitability of the Republican race doesn't sit well with some voters who say they are not ready to support Trump.



Daniel Emborg said Tuesday he voted for Cruz. Emborg, who was depositing his ballot at a drop box in Everett, said if Trump is the GOP nominee, he will vote for a third-party candidate.



However, Tom Lasswell said he voted for Trump because "you need to instigate change."



"I like Ted Cruz, but I believe Donald Trump can pull this together, and I'm willing to give him a chance," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

Buzz Cut:

 Waiting to back Trump gets Ryan nowhere

 Internal email audit gently reproves Hillary

 Power Play: Poll daze

 Team Clinton lays out media strategy

 Code Name: Mongo

You cant be a little bit pregnant and you cant be a little bit Trump, at least if youre a Republican politician.

The agonies of House Speaker Paul Ryan are on full display as he and his staff work to bat down rumors that the Wisconsinite would capitulate to Trump today.

As Fox News Capitol Hill maven, Chad Pergram, reported, Ryan will almost certainly cave, but would like a few more weeks of dignified distance before he bows.

Ryan ought to just get it over with.

If the speaker is looking for a comfortable day on which to endorse Trump  or, in the parlance of our times, support his partys nominee  it surely would not be this one.

Current discussions around Trump include the Republican nominee trafficking in discredited conspiracy theories about the suicide of a White House aide, Trump attacking a female, Hispanic, Republican governor in her home state and Trump under steady fire for refusing to release his tax returns, as Ryans 2012 running mate was forced to do.

Those are all the kinds of things that Ryan asked Trump to temper in exchange for the speakers backing. Not going to happen.

But there is not likely to be a great day for Ryan to go from being Trump curious to publicly identifying as pro-Trump. Trumps strategy, after all, is to keep the media maelstrom roiling, and you dont do that by having sobersided conversations about tax policy and school choice.

Its better now for Ryan to accept the truth: No terms offered, no quarter given. He and others are being frog-marched to the endorsement podium. One can rationalize, as Sen. Marco Rubio tried to do, to argue that Trumps victory was some sort of freak occurrence beyond the boundaries of normal politics. But we know the truth: This is the new normal and the party and its leaders were defeated.

Ryans anguish is understandable since he has envisioned himself as the conservative intellectuals speaker. As he reads the withering words of perhaps the most influential thinker on the right today, Charles Murray, it no doubt pains Ryan to know that as a politician, his choices are not his own.

Now, if Ryan wanted to stake his future and that of his party on fighting Trump, he could do what Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., has done. But Ryan obviously feels he doesnt have that option and has to hand his sword to Trump. So get on with it, already.

And its not that there are no arguments to be made among the big-brained set for backing Trump. David Harsanyi offers the counterargument to Murrays bell curve of opprobrium by saying that Hillary Clinton is bad enough to merit an otherwise unacceptable choice.

But what there is not, is any viable notion that Trump will be contained or constrained by the tut-tutting of the political class. Nor should he be. Trumps only path to victory is as an all-out assault on the broad, bipartisan establishment. Ryan and his fellows are only useful either as prisoners of war or enemies, but not as partners.

[Listen to Fox: In the latest installment of their no-name podcast, Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt lay out the stakes as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump roar into the general election. Listen here.]

WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE

Actor Burt Kwouk died Tuesday at the age of 85. Although Kwouk had several roles over the years, he was best known for his portrayal of Inspector Jacques Clouseaus always-surprising butler, Cato Fong. BBC: Kwouk started acting when he returned to England in 1954 after his familys wealth was wiped out in the 1949 revolution. His big break came 10 years later when director Blake Edwards offered him the part of Cato Fong, opposite Peter Sellerss Inspector Clouseau. His double act with Sellers was hugely popular with fans and he continued in the role of Cato after Sellers died in 1980, appearing opposite Roger Moore and Roberto Benigni when they took on the role of the bumbling French detective. Kwouk said he never expected the part to continue for such a long time, starring in his first Pink Panther film in 1974 and the last in 1992.

Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM

POLL CHECK

Real Clear Politics Averages

General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Trump +0.2 points

Generic congressional vote: Democrats +2.2

INTERNAL EMAIL AUDIT GENTLY REPROVES HILLARY

AP: A State Department audit has faulted Hillary Clinton and previous secretaries of state for poorly managing email and other computer information and slowly responding to new cybersecurity risks. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report by the agencys inspector general Wednesday. It cites longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to communications. These started before Clintons appointment as secretary of state, but her failures were singled out as more serious.

POWER PLAY: POLL DAZE

Polls say Trump is down. No hes up. Clinton holds a big lead. No, she trails. Wait, theyre in a dead heat. Confused? Chris Stirewalt explains why polls seem to speak in many tongues and come to different conclusions, in 60 seconds. WATCH HERE.

Rough and rowdy in New Mexico - Time: Before a rowdy crowd of thousands of supporters, and more than 100 protesters who repeatedly disrupted his speech, Trump found himself on the defensive over his personal and political careerResponding to a new web video criticizing comments he made appearing to celebrate the collapse of the housing market leading up to the Great Recession, Trump explained he was in the private sector. I feel badly for everybody, what am I going to do, Trump said. Im in business. Later he said his business success during that turbulent period should serve as a credential. Thats the kind of thing we need in this country, he said.

Team Clinton lays out media strategy: Dont try to out-Trump Trump - WaPo: Clinton advisers are trying to stitch together an overall narrative that they are confident will destroy Trump, but they are still experimenting with tone and tactics as they seek an effective equilibrium. And even as they launched their first big effort this week, Trumps response to it stole some of their thunder  illustrating vividly that breaking through his barrage of attention-getting words will not be easy.

RACE NOTES

Ted Cruz backers make final bid for relevance - WSJ

John Kasich looks to keep delegates heading into convention - Fox News

Trump predicts hell take 40 percent of Bernie voters - The Hill

Mark Danner reviews Donald Trumps campaign book, Crippled America - New York Review of Books

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Trump are keeping their feud alive - WaPo

Terry McAuliffe denies wrongdoing. Repeatedly. - AP

Real estate firm with ties to Trump enthusiast Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., being investigated for fraud  WSJ

Harry Reid tries to steer Clinton away from red-state Dems for veep options - Atlantic

WITHIN EARSHOT

There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultzs head on  an unnamed pro-Clinton Democratic senator talking to The Hill about plans to oust the Democratic National Committee chairwoman.



CODE NAME: MONGO

Fox 10: A Honduran woman arrested in a drug smuggling bust in southern Arizona also is facing an animal cruelty charge for allegedly punching a border agents horse. Border Patrol agents were conducting enforcement operations near the tiny town of Why last Saturday. Late that night, they spotted nine people in the desert with seven large backpacks. The backpacks contained 374 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $500,000. Authorities say 29-year-old Karla Banegas-Banegas was part of the group and allegedly struck a Border Patrol horse in the face with a closed fist. Banegas-Banegas was booked into jail on suspicion of drug possession and transport plus animal cruelty to a work animal.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES

Trumps appeal is that is he a loose cannon. He is loose on the ship. He can hit anything anywhere, and he has. I mean, if you are going to do a concerted attack on him, you have to find some real stuff to hang on to. This is not it. -- Charles Krauthammer on Special Report with Bret Baier.



Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Earthbound viewers curious to watch NASA deploy the latest addition to the International Space Station can tune in bright and early Thursday morning to the space agencys website. At 5:30 a.m. ET NASA is scheduled to expand the new inflatable room on the station called BEAM, which stands for Bigelow Expandable Activity Module.

The roughly 3000-pound BEAM was first blasted up to the ISS in April aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket. Once NASA astronaut Jeff Williams expands it, the windowless room will be just over 13 feet long and over 10 feet in diameter. Astronauts wont live in it, but they will be able to venture into it on June 2. After that, theyll check in on it over the next two years.

Related: India performs successful space shuttle test launch

This first test of an expandable module will allow investigators to gauge how well the habitat performs and specifically, how well it protects against solar radiation, space debris and the temperature extremes of space, NASA said in a statement.

BEAM is attached to the stations Tranquility section, and was developed by Bigelow Aerospace.

NASA says that expandable modules like BEAM promise to be both lighter and smaller than traditional modules, and are thus easier to transport into space. They could even be used as part of a Mars mission, the space agency says. It will eventually be jettisoned from the station and then burn up in the Earths atmosphere. NASA provides a plethora of information about the module here, including how it intends to monitor radiation levels inside of it.

Related: NASA identifies 1,284 new exoplanets, most ever announced at once

Scientists from NASA hosted a Reddit AMA about BEAM expansion on Tuesday.

Follow Rob Verger on Twitter: @robverger
Negotiating with criminals doesn't always work out, as Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita learned last week. The hospital paid to get files back after falling victim to ransomware, but only got "partial access" and a demand for more money, Techspot is reporting.

That's right: the criminals got their ransom, and then decided they wanted more money. The hospital's president, Dr. Greg Duick says the hospital is not paying up.

Duick won't reveal which malware hit the hospital, or how much money was paid to the attackers.

"I'm not at liberty, because it's an ongoing investigation, to say the actual exact amount," said Duick. "A small amount was [paid]."

The hospital had a plan for this sort of attack, and it's not clear why it didn't work. Without more details from Kansas Heart, it's hard to say. But there's at least one bright side.

More from Digital Trends:

Ransomware is the new hot threat everyone is talking about; what do you need to know?



Hollywood hospital pays $17,000 to ransomware hackers

Ransomware plagues Kentucky hospital, forces total system shutdown

Baltimore hospital group shut down entire network to fight malware threat

Ransomware attacks spread like wildfire internationally, threatening schools, churches, and hospitals

"The patient information never was jeopardized, and we took measures to make sure it wouldn't be," said Duick.

Still, this sort of thing is becoming way too common in America's hospitals, and any money paid to criminals is money not spent on providing healthcare.

Ransomware encrypts files on the victim's computers, then demands a payment for access. Typically users get access to the files after paying up, but in this case it seems like the attackers thought they could exploit the situation and get more money.

There's been a rash of ransomware infections in the U.S. healthcare market for a while now, including hospitals in Kentucky and California. Some combination of high-value, irreplaceable information and lagging IT infrastructure makes hospitals a ripe target.

Regular, air-gapped backups could seriously dull the power of such software. If you've got another copy of your data, there's no need to pay off ransomware. For our money, that's the solution hospitals, and every organization, should be looking at.
Disney has received a lot of flack for raising ticket prices earlier this year.

But one California woman was able to score the deal of lifetime when Disney allowed her to use an Orlando theme park ticket that was originally purchased in 1994.

Over 20 years ago, Chelsea Herline visited Walt Disney World Resort with her family. Her parents had purchased a 4-day park hopper pass for the vacation but on the final day of the trip, Herline got sick and wasnt able to go to the park, reports FOX 35.

Fast forward to present day when Herlines father discovered the tattered ticket while doing a little spring cleaning.

"He was cleaning our basement, and he found the ticket in our safe in the basement, so he had kept it for 22 years, and he knew we had a trip to Florida coming up, so he brought the ticket with him," Herline, who is now 26 and lives in San Francisco, told the station.

The ticket still had her picture on it from when she was a toddler along with her signature, which she posted on LinkedIn.

This girl showed up at Disney World with a ticket from 1994  and they let her in https://t.co/PSNFNe5Wse pic.twitter.com/7ysVHhUrYu  HelloGiggles.com (@hellogiggles) May 24, 2016

The family had already planned a trip back to Florida in late April so Herline decided to bring the old ticket alongjust to see what would happen. She walked up to the front gate and presented her ticket from 1994.

"I walked up, and there was a girl at the ticket counter, and I approached her with a big smile and I said hi, I have a really old ticket, will you let me in, and so she said, 'Of course!'"

After a little Disney magic, the old paper ticket was changed to modern electronic ticket. In 1994, the price of a one-day Disney World park admission ticket was $36. Today, a regular priced one-day pass is $110.

"I was very surprised that it worked, but at the same time, the ticket didn't have an expiration date on it, so I thought there was a small chance they would let me in, but I didn't realize it could be that easy, says Herline of the experience.

And after 22 years, Herline still found herself acting like a kid all over again spending the day riding new rides, taking pictures with characters and enjoying Mickey-themed food by herself.

"This has been a really funny experience. I was not expecting this at all and my parents are loving it that they were able to save the ticket so long, and it's getting this much attention. So, it's pretty awesome!"
It has been more than a decade since the supersonic Concorde jet took its final commercial flight. Since then, the development of high speed air travel has stalled. Now, a successful test flight by a team that wants to build a hypersonic jet has brought new life to this futuristic idea.

A successful first test

On May 18, a team of scientists and designers from the U.S. and Australiatested their ultra-fast jet idea in the Australian desert, launching a rocket that was able to reach a speed of Mach 7.5. That bumped it up from supersonic status (faster than the speed of sound) to hypersonic speed. Hypersonic is generally understood to be above Mach 5. For this particular rocket, the speed was approximately 5,700 miles per hour.

Hypersonic jet engine could power passengers from London to New York in 35 mins https://t.co/9D52HPCZLe pic.twitter.com/knVjrWVPRK  MirrorTech (@MirrorTech) May 19, 2016

The test has understandably earned a lot of buzz in the media. People were quick to point out that if a passenger plane was able to travel at Mach 7.5 for an extended amount of time, it could make a trip from Australia to the UK in about two hours. Transatlantic flights, meanwhile, would be measured in minutes, not hours.

Will such speeds ever really be possible for commercial aircraft?

There will certainly be a military application for hypersonic aircraft before there is a commercial one. In fact, the U.S. and Australian defense departments were both involved in the latest test, as this technology could be a huge advantage on the battlefield. A missile or unmanned plane that could travel at such speeds would mean that the target would not have time to react once the craft was visible on radar.

According to a scientist involved in the project, the Australia test was a big step forward. Alex Zelinsky, chief scientist for Australias DoD, said that the success of this test launch takes us one step closer to the realization of hypersonic flight. It is a game-changing technology and could revolutionize global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space.

Unfortunately, hypersonic commercial flights are probably a very long way off.

Speed doesnt matter for commercial airlines right now

In fact, the air travel industry seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Lighter, more fuel efficient planes are the order of the day. Because these have smaller engines, they do not travel as quickly as past commercial models. At this time, there is little desire to push for the development of faster commercial planes.

Tackling issues one at a time

The first issue that has to be dealt with is not how humans would respond to traveling at such high speeds, but how the craft itself will be able to stand up to the heat generated by moving at more than 5,000 miles per hour. One of the main reasons for the test in Australia was to see if the body could hold up under such speeds. It did.

The development will move forward in baby steps. The next test, scheduled for next year, will involve trying to get the hypersonic jet itself to separate from the rocket.

More from TravelPulse

Making Waves in Barbados

15 Ways To Make Most Of Painfully Long TSA Lines

Traveling The Famous Silk Road

From Coral Reefs to Aquariums: Protecting Tropical Fish

Lighthouse Pointe Up And Running

A final test flight for this initial exploratory project will take place in 2018.

Developing the fundamentals of this new technology

This does not mean that Delta Air Lines will be ordering a commercial version of a hypersonic jet in 2019. Successful tests, however, may convince investors and governments that this kind of project is worth spending money on.

It will probably be decades before these planes are even considered for commercial use. The current tests are only meant to explore the fundamental technologies needed for propelling an aircraft at such speeds. If such a plane is ever created, it will undoubtedly have to go through a long testing and regulatory process before it is deemed safe for commercial passengers.

So, the short answer is "no," most of us wont be hopping on a hypersonic jet in our lifetimes. However, the technology is being developed, and at this very early stage, things look promising.
A Memorial Day cross display honoring fallen soldiers is back up Wednesday along a state highway in Georgia, after it was taken down last week amid controversy.

The 79 white, handmade crosses posted on public property along state Highway 92 in Hiram, Ga., were meant to represent the 79 Paulding County residents who died in Americas wars, according to town officials.

But the crosses were abruptly taken down last Friday after someone called Hiram City Hall questioning whether the soldiers were all Christian.

The moved sparked public outcry -- particularly on social media -- and, after a city council meeting Tuesday night, the crosses were put back in place Wednesday morning.

"It was never about religion -- it was just to honor them," Hiram Mayor Teresa Philyaw told FoxNews.com Tuesday.

"We wanted to make sure that they werent forgotten. We also wanted their families to know that our hearts still bleed for them," Philyaw said.

"The cross is a 'rest in peace' symbol to me," she said.

But not everyone in the Georgia town with a population of 2,332 agreed with Philyaw. Hours after the crosses were posted, an unnamed resident called the office of city manager Barry Atkinson and asked whether all 79 military personnel were Christians.

That phone call prompted the town, fearing a lawsuit, to remove the crosses from public land -- though none of the veterans' families had complained, according to Philyaw.

The cross memorial ignited fierce debate on social media -- with many people saying its removal is political correctness run amok, while others argued all faiths should be represented.

At the city council meeting Tuesday night, many spoke in favor of the memorial and pushed for it to be restored. Tommy Dingler, whose son Joshua was killled in Iraq, held up a photo of the 19-year-old as he addressed the council, Fox affiliate WAGA-TV reported.

"A cross has been used for fallen soldiers from the time of the Red Coats, Patriots, Yankees, Rebels -- they all used it," Dingler said.

Other attendees accused the council of cowering to one complaint, while failing to honor the families who want their loved ones remembered. The city council eventually agreed, voting unanimously to put the crosses back up.

"We just really would love to think this person will understand that it was never a religious thing -- it was just to honor these people who died for him and for all of us, Philyaw told the station.
Documents show the number of medals slain Navy Seal and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle received for his military service is different from what he indicated in his best-selling memoir about his four tours of duty in Iraq.

Navy documents show Kyle earned one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars with valor, instead of the two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars his book says he received.

The documents were obtained by online magazine The Intercept through an open records request, and the Navy on Wednesday confirmed the contents of the documents to The Associated Press.

The Silver Star is the third-highest military combat decoration. The Bronze Star is awarded to members of the Armed Forces for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in a combat zone.

Lt. Jackie Pau, a Navy spokeswoman, told the AP that Kyle's military personnel file states he received one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars with valor. Kyle's discharge paperwork, known as a DD214 form, indicated that he had received two Silver Stars and at least five Bronze Stars, which is what he wrote in his book.

"The Navy considers the individual Service member's official military personnel file and our central official awards records to be the authoritative sources for verifying entitlement to decorations and awards," Pau said in a written statement. "The form DD214 is generated locally at the command where the Service member is separated. Although the information on the DD214 should match the official records, the process involves people and inevitably some errors may occur. "

Kyle, regarded as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, was fatally shot at a Texas shooting range in 2013. His book was also made into a hit movie.

His widow, Taya Kyle, didn't immediately return a phone call Wednesday seeking comment about the military documents. A spokeswoman for HarperCollins, which published Taya Kyle's 2015 book "American Wife," also didn't immediately return a phone call or email.

It isn't the first time something in Chris Kyle's book has been questioned.

Jurors in 2014 awarded former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for unjust enrichment in a trial over a passage in Kyle's book that Ventura claimed was a complete fabrication. Kyle described punching out a man, later identified as Ventura, whom he said made offensive remarks about Navy SEALs. Ventura, a former Underwater Demolition Teams/SEAL member, testified he never made the comments and the altercation never happened. He said the book ruined his reputation in the SEAL community. The verdict is being appealed.
A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that an American deported from Uganda and charged in a massive counterfeiting scheme is a major flight risk.

Tuesday's ruling by the federal judge in Pittsburgh means 28-year-old Ryan Gustafson will stay jailed until trial.

Gustafson has been charged with printing at least $1.4 million in fake U.S. currency in Uganda through Community-X, an encrypted site that allows users to remain anonymous.

Roughly $400,000 in bogus bills were sold and shipped to the U.S., where they were passed. Some were exchanged in the Pittsburgh area.

The judge agreed with prosecutors that Gustafson was a threat to flee to Uganda because his child and wife live there. His wife is the granddaughter of the late ruthless Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Gutafson's attorney declined to comment.
Police say a driver who led officers on a high-speed chase in Ohio earlier this month turned out to be an off-duty officer  and so was his passenger.

Fairlawn police on Monday released footage of the May 7 chase, which shows an on-duty officer's apparent surprise when he realizes fellow city officers were in a sport utility vehicle that was clocked going more than 40 mph over the speed limit and failed to stop.

The chase lasted for about a minute.

Justin Herstich is charged with not complying with police, reckless operation and speeding. The other officer hasn't been charged.

Herstich couldn't immediately be reached for comment. It's unclear if he has an attorney. The case wasn't immediately listed in Akron Municipal Court online records.
The police chief in Portland, Ore. was placed on administrative leave Tuesday amid an investigation into whether he misled authorities about his involvement in an accidental shooting last month.

Chief Larry O'Dea acknowledged this past Friday that he had shot and injured a friend of his with a .22-caliber rifle during a hunting trip on April 21.

However, according to The Oregonian, O'Dea initially told investigators that he believed his friend had shot himself while attempting to reholster his gun.

Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward III told the paper that O'Dea did not identify himself as a police officer to investigators. Deputies were not aware of O'Dea's involvement in the shooting until the injured man was interviewed on May 16.

In the interview with deputies, the unidentified man said the man did not shoot himself, and the bullet that struck him was fired from O'Day's rifle.

The incident is under investigation by the Oregon State Police and the state Justice Department.

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales has appointed Assistant Chief Donna Henderson to serve as acting chief.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from The Oregonian.
A Phoenix man was arrested early Wednesdy in connection with a series of shootings and a carjacking that left at least two people injured and at least five vehicles damaged.

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Damon Cecil told KNXV that the suspect was in his mid-30s. His name was not immediately released.

The violence began late Tuesday night on and around Highway 87, in the northeastern suburbs of Phoenix, Maricopa County Sheriff's Det. Doug Matteson told the Associated Press.

He said that a person in a vehicle opened fire on a passing car and struck a person inside. Then the suspect fled toward a nearby casino, shooting and wounding another person while carjacking a vehicle.



The suspect was "firing rounds into that vehicle and striking another person, who was taken to the hospital," Matteson told KNXV.

The suspect then drove north along Highway 87, known as the Beeline Highway. Witnesses reported the vehicle was traveling the wrong way and shooting at passing cars and law enforcement. A Department of Public Safety cruiser was among those hit by gunfire.

This was an active shooter situation," said Cecil, who added that at least five to six vehicles, including the patrol car, were damaged by gunfire.

Mesa police helicopters eventually located the suspect's abandoned vehicle. The suspect was found in the fetal position a quarter-mile away. He was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries after being bitten by a police dog.

Multiple rifles, including a semi-automatic AR-15, as well as ammunition and body armor were found by the suspect's vehicle, Cecil said.

One of the injured victims was grazed in the head by a bullet and refused medical treatment. The other was taken to a local hospital with a leg injury that is considered non-life-threatening.

Cecil said troopers were investigating reports that more people may have been shot, but did not stay at the scene.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from ABC15.com.
A report from the Colorado Department of Public Safety shows that arrests of black and Hispanic youths between the ages of 10 and 17 for marijuana charges has increased sharply in the two years since the legalization of the mind-altering drug in the Centennial State.

Overall, arrests of minors for marijuana jumped 5 percent from 2012 to 2014, with minority youth accounting for the total increase. While whites saw an 8 percent decline in arrests, Hispanics saw a 29 percent jump in youth arrests  and black youth saw a staggering 58 percent increase.

It is easy to jump to conclusions about the numbers, as many pro-marijuana activists and lobbyists have done already. But the minority youth arrest increases are not because minorities are being targeted by law enforcement more aggressively than whites (although that argument conveniently plays well in urban areas, particularly in the tense aftermath of the Ferguson and Baltimore riots).

More logically  and more truthfully  minority marijuana-related arrests are higher because the same tactics that were used to promote alcohol and cigarettes so successfully are now being used by marijuana pro-legalization lobbies. Its not racial bias on the part of law enforcement, but simple math and a marketing plan that history shows is very effective.

Start in the lower-income communities of color, and work your way out.

Its surprising that people havent stopped to think about how the tobacco and alcohol industries work, Jeff Zinsmeister, executive vice president and director of government affairs for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told LifeZette. SAM is an alliance of physicians, policy makers, recovery professionals, and others who want to see health and scientific evidence to guide any and all marijuana policies.

The Denver Post did a January 2016 expose about this, Zinsmeister said. In low-income neighborhoods of color, there is one marijuana business for every 47 people. The legalization of marijuana has nothing whatsoever to do with the racial justice angle, despite all the rhetoric, he continued. At the end of the day, they are two totally separate issues. If the correlation were true, they would be much more focused on it than they are.

Indeed, legalization of a substance is never the way to end racial disparities in arrests for that substance.

Dr. Kevin Sabet, the president of SAM, said in a press release, The data is in, and it shows once again legalization advocates are only paying lip service to racial justice questions to advance the agenda of the marijuana industry. They sold legalization to the voters as a solution to racial injustice, but more youth of color are now being arrested, not fewer.

Tustin Amole, director of communications for Cherry Creek Schools in Araphoe County, Colorado, said the reports findings accurately mirror their schools experience with marijuana arrests of minorities.

Amole said arrests are made on a case-by-case basis and circumstances are taken into account in each case. But she told Buzzfeed, All I can say is that while it may seem disproportionate, those are the students were catching with the drugs.

The second problem with making an addictive substance legal is the layering-on of plain old human nature. The more common something is, the more it becomes abused by a population.

When you make something legal, it starts to be advertised and promoted, said Zinsmeister. Not a surprise, then, that more minors are being arrested on marijuana violations post-legalization. If you look at the convictions for alcohol compared to pot right now, theres your roadmap. Alcohol is widely accepted in society and has far greater arrests by minors.

A 10th grader in Boston, Massachusetts, who attends an inner-city public high school, said, If Massachusetts legalizes pot, a lot more kids will have it on them, I guarantee. Legalization is sort of the nod from authority that a little is okay  so some will, of course, take that and run with it. Thats the truth.

Marijuana is a highly addictive, mind-altering substance that should not be legalized but instead should be banned by any country that values its youth and its citizens.

"Evidence is clear and mounting that marijuana use has very negative outcomes for kids," said Zinsmeister. "It's associated with a wide variety of mental health issues, including depression. When kids start very young, it is associated with lower IQs, as well as permanent mental health problems. We care about all America's youth  of every color. People can debate marijuana, but it's irresponsible to say it's harmless."

In New York City, meanwhile, Police Commissioner William Bratton said the majority of the Big Apple's drug-related violence is related to marijuana. Two days ago he criticized those states that have legalized the drug.

"Here in New York, the violence we see associated with drugs, the vast majority of it, is around the [sale] of marijuana," Bratton said over the weekend during a radio show appearance. "I have to scratch my head as we are seeing many states wanting to legalize marijuana, and more liberalizations of policies," he added.
The University of Oregon said Tuesday that it would investigate last weekends trashing of Northern Californias Lake Shasta that apparently occurred during an unsanctioned, but traditional, frat and sorority trip.

The Oregonian reported that it has not been confirmed that Oregon students were at the site, but photos from the site show glaring evidence: items with the schools logo were found amid the ice chests filled with food and alcohol and 90 tents left behind.

The manner in which the forest was left was absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful, Robin Holmes, the university's vice president for student life, said. The paper said national fraternity Zeta Omicron Zeta was suspending all of its chapters until the situation is addressed.

Some frats at the school are discussing going to the area to help with the cleanup.
The cost of college has risen so dramatically and the fear of getting into debt has spiraled so much that some young women are doing whatever is required today to take care of business. And some older men (and those who enable them) are more than ready to help them do it.

Some young women have been selling their bodies for college cash  and see absolutely nothing wrong with it. At least at first  and at least that's what they're willing to say publicly.

"So the oldest profession in the world is now a college course?" commented one father of four from New York, who said he was dismayed and saddened by this trend.

The rise of tuition and fees, exponential student loan debt  plus the ease of joining websites that help foster these relationships  are contributing to a hike in the so-called "sugar daddy" and "sugar baby" relationships.

A website called Seeking Arrangement, while not the only dating website around, contains this rather sexually charged promo line: "Relationships on your terms: Where beautiful, successful people fuel mutually beneficial arrangements."

The site is free to join, and its founder and creator, Brendan Wade, claims to guarantee privacy for members: "Unlike other dating websites, it's my commitment to operate our business ethically," he says on the site. "This means caring about your privacy, encrypting identifiable data, and never employing fake profiles or software bots. When we say there are more women than men, we guarantee it."

As for the definition of a sugar daddy, the site gets right to the point. This is about "successful men and women who know what they want. They're driven, and enjoy attractive company by their side. Money isn't an issue, thus they are generous when it comes to supporting a sugar baby."

As for the sugar babies, they are "attractive people looking for the finer things in life. They appreciate exotic trips and gifts. Sugar babies get to experience a luxurious lifestyle, and meet wealthy people on a regular basis."

All by just joining a website and sharing a few details in order to find a companion (and selling their souls and integrity in the process).

A 20-year-old British student who uses the website told Sky News not long ago that she earns about 2,000 a month (close to $2,900) from her "arrangement," which  yes  is sexual. She told that publication, "I've saved quite a lot. It pays for my travel, my books. I haven't had to take out a student loan. I've been quite well off."

But she also admitted the vast dangers that go along with this endeavor. "There's a very fine line between prostitution and being a sugar baby," she said. "Students are so vulnerable because it's quick money and they need money."

A married 62-year-old sugar daddy who is currently paired up with not one  but four  sugar babies told Sky News with apparent glee: "I wouldn't be able to meet girls as young and as beautiful as this through an ordinary dating website." He also admitted that "sex is an integral part of the site." He added that consensual relationships were "really appropriate for students" looking to add to their bank accounts.

"What a great way to get a little bit of extra pocket money, and much better than having to spend eight hours slogging in a bar earning the minimum wage," this man said.

What a great way to corrupt our young people who are just starting out in life  what a great way for them to corrupt themselves. And what a great way for them to be exposed to all kinds of dangers, including physical illness and infection, psychological and emotional confusion, and mental anguish for perhaps years to come. All for the almighty dollar.

We're betting Mom and Dad don't know a thing  or in some cases, might even be looking the other way.
Tight, figure-hugging yoga pants and jeggings  a combo of jeans and leggings  have been co-opted by girls of all ages as standard dress for school  and they are distracting to their male counterparts.

While females of all ages may fuss about freedom of dress and the need for the opposite gender to just get a grip and not notice clothes that are little more than a second skin, dads are a little more definite. After all, thats their little girl wearing next-to-nothing from the waist down.

My wife lets my daughters wear yoga pants to school, and it drives me crazy, said one Boston, Massachusetts, father of four. Thats my little girl! I used to be a boy myself, so I know what theyre thinking. My girls say its no big deal and that theyre so comfortable  and my wife buys that line. But I cant stand it. I draw the line at any writing on the rear end, he added. What dad wants his daughter parading around with the word Juicy on her behind?

This concerned dad is not alone. At the start of the 2015-16 school year, many schools across the nation banned the workout wear from their school day. Montana state lawmaker David Moore, a Republican, even called yoga pants provocative and pushed a bill to make the pants illegal in his state. (The bill was tossed out by a legislative panel.)

In Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Illinois, yoga pants and jeggings have been deemed inappropriate school dress in many school districts.

At Devils Lake High School in Devils Lake, North Dakota, administrators banned yoga pants, jeggings, and skinny jeans due to the clothing being too distracting, according to NBC News. In some cases there will be young male teachers and they cant tell you, of course, that what youre wearing is distracting, one student told the network. So they have to get a female teacher to tell you.

In Harwich, Massachusetts, students at Cape Cod Regional Tech protested the restriction on yoga pants, pegging their school as participating in body shaming.

LifeZette asked some Boston area moms about the great yoga pants debate. Here are some of their responses.

I only allow my daughter to wear tight yoga pants if she has on a long sweater or T-shirt that completely covers her behind, one mom of a 15-year-old girl said. I think its ridiculous to say, I hope she meets a boy that really appreciates her mind and her personality, yet essentially let her put her body on display. That makes no sense.

Im a mother of a 15-year-old daughter who doesnt wear yoga pants by choice, Michelle Goodall Faulkner said. I would be OK with it if they arent too tight and if there are no words on the back. I dont see any reason to draw the eye there.

Barbara Noyes-Vieno weighed in, too, saying, I think yoga pants are completely fine if you wear the appropriate size that fits. A lot of these girls are wearing them too small and too tight.

Gina Moran, also of the Boston area, said the issue was less about appropriate clothing and more about self-control by the boys. Its unacceptable to think so little of boys as to assume they are all distractible or perverted, she said. All girls arent one way, and all boys arent one way. When we tell girls to cover up or change when theyre dressed appropriately for the age and place, we are also putting down the intelligence and choice-making power of our boys.

Interestingly, two young men had a slightly different take on yoga pants.

If were getting really real, they are totally distracting, said one 16-year-old Boston-area sophomore. They are so tight, and, well  were guys. I dont think parents who are saying boys can and should have control of their thoughts understand boys. Me and my friends would never disrespect a girl or be perverted, but to think were not noticing their daughters tight pants  thats insane.

An 18-year-old graduating senior agreed with that. Girls who wear tight pants know theyre tight, so lets maybe focus on that  issues of perhaps needing attention  instead of boys being unable to control themselves. On some level, girls are saying, Look at me. Which is normal, in a way, but so is [the fact of] boys looking [at them]. Moms wearing tight yoga pants isnt right, either  Im just going to put it right out there. If you dont want to be on display, wear looser clothes.
Two capybaras escaped from a Toronto zoo on Tuesday, leading to a community-wide search, Global News reports.

Crews spotted one of the canine-sized rodents making a nighttime return to its enclosure but failed to capture it.



WANTED - With a top speed of 35 km/h this illusive pair from Toronto may have made it north to York Region #Capybara pic.twitter.com/NHzy9XBTtX  York Regional Police (@YRP) May 25, 2016

Zookeepers at Torontos 399-acre High Park Zoo have described the animals, which look like guinea pigs, as quite shy," The Guardian adds.

Officials have warned people who live in the area not to approach the rogue pair, one male and one female. The zoo plans to launch an investigation once the animals are finally caught.



We will obviously be reviewing in detail what happened and if protocols or procedures need to be updated as a result of this  if, in fact, thats what happened, Parks Department Spokeswoman Megan Price told local media.



Residents who spot the 2 capybaras @ large from the #HighParkZoo should contact @311Toronto w/ location details. pic.twitter.com/GMrysxoHGz  City of Toronto (@TorontoComms) May 24, 2016

Capybara are herbivorous and indigenous to South America and can weigh up to 150 pounds, making them the worlds largest rodents.
Egypt contracted two foreign companies to help find the flight data recorders from the EgyptAir plane that crashed last week in the Mediterranean Sea, the airlines chief said Wednesday, as sources close to the investigation claimed the aircraft never showed any technical problems before takeoff.

EgyptAir chairman Safwat Masalam said on Wednesday that a French and an Italian company would be working with Egyptian search teams to try finding the black boxes, which could give clues to what happened in the final minutes of the flight. He didn't identify the companies.

Earlier, Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said a submarine would join the search.

Ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the U.S. also have taken part in the search for the debris from the aircraft, including the black boxes. Some wreckage, including human remains, was already recovered.

Sources within the Egyptian investigation committee told Reuters late Tuesday that the plane did not exhibit any technical glitches before taking off from Paris on a scheduled route to Cairo.

Egyptian state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, citing aircraft logs signed by the pilot before takeoff, also reported that the plane showed no technical problems.

The newspaper published flight data online and reported that ground stations received two electronic messages during the flight that indicated the planes engines were functional.

Three minutes after officials received a third message that showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilots window, the plane vanished off radar.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Palestinian attacker who unleashed a stabbing spree in Israel nearly three months ago, killing an American tourist and wounding 11 others before police killed him, was a "martyr" in the eyes of Palestinian media.

The Palestinian Authority's official TV network reported Saturday the attacker, Bashar Masalha, received a burial described as "a large national wedding befitting of martyrs" -- a reference to the Islamic teaching that a martyr would marry 72 virgins in the afterlife.

The March 8 stabbing rampage in Tel Aviv killed Taylor Force, a 28-year-old West Point grad and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who was studying abroad in pursuit of his MBA. Israeli police were among the wounded.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the Palestinian Authority's official daily newspaper, called him a "martyr" on Saturday as well, Palestinian Media Watch reported. Just one day after the attack, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party labeled Masalha a "heroic martyr."

Force, originally from Lubbock, Texas, was standing on a boardwalk when the killer stabbed him.

He was such a hard worker, an Eagle Scout, and loved by everybody, his father, Stuart Force, said after the attack.

After Israel gave up the killer's body, Masalha was buried in the West Bank village of Hajja, in a "cemetery for martyrs," Palestinian TV reported.
The Russian military suffered a setback in Syria when fires destroyed four Mi-24 attack helicopters last week, but U.S. officials tell Fox News the intelligence community believes it was an "accident," not an Islamic State terror attack.

The fires also destroyed more than a dozen trucks at an air base in Tiyas, roughly halfway between Homs and Palmyra.

On May 14, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russian base, known locally as 'T4.' Fighter jets belonging to the Syrian regime were also destroyed.

On Tuesday, the U.S. intelligence firm Stratfor published satellite images showing the destruction to part of the base including the charred remains of the Russian attack helicopters and a supply depot. Stratfor analysts said they believed the ISIS claims were valid.

U.S. officials told Fox News that intel teams more strongly believed an accidental fuel tank explosion caused the damage. It was unclear what could have triggered the blast, which set off secondary explosions on the runway.

"The Stratfor analysis is wrong," one U.S. official told Fox News. Another official said, "There is no indication that an ISIS attack took place."

When asked about the cause, another official said, "Refueling can be dangerous."

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Tuesday said all of Russia's helicopters were accounted for and the images of the scorched runway wereover a month old, the product of previous attacks by the Syrian regime and "terrorist groupings."

Major-General Igor Konashenkov added, "The rumors about the destruction of a group of Russian helicopters and two dozen trucks were created by the propagandists of [ISIS] who unsuccessfully tried to 'sell' this alleged piece of news about ten days ago," according to TASS, a Russian news agency.

Bombings claimed by ISIS in Latakia and Tartus, Assad regime strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, killed more than 190 Syrians this week.
A Swedish court has turned down a request to overturn the arrest warrant of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The Stockholm District Court says it made the decision because Assange is still wanted for questioning in a case of suspected rape and there is a possibility he might evade prosecution.

The court said Wednesday that no new circumstances had come to light warranting another detention hearing.

Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, is wanted for questioning by Swedish police over rape allegations when he visited the country in 2010.

The court said that it disagrees with an earlier U.N. panel hearing, which found Assange's stay at the embassy constitutes arbitrary detention.
A U.S. Army veteran who lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq became the second combat amputee to reach the top of Mount Everest in the past week, amid a climbing season marred by deaths and bad weather.

Chad Jukes, 32, finished the climb Tuesday with a prosthetic leg, a veterans group that sponsored the expedition told USA Today. Last Thursday, Thomas Charles "Charlie" Linville, a 30-year-old Marine who also lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq, reached the summit, becoming what is believed to be the first combat amputee to conquer the worlds highest mountain, the newspaper added.

Jukes was sponsored by U.S. Expeditions and Explorations, a group aiming to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder and military suicides. Army Capt. Elyse Ping Medvigy, 26, and 2nd Lt. Harold Earls, 23, also reached the summit alongside him.

Bad weather on the 29,029-foot mountain Wednesday prevented the retrieval of two bodies of climbers who died on mountain over the weekend and the search for two who disappeared near the summit, The Associated Press reported.

Most climbers have finished their attempts to reach the summit, but those still trying were having problems with the low visibility, wind and snow.

Pemba Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu said a helicopter waited all day at base camp for weather to clear so it could fly to a higher camp.

A Dutch climber's body was brought to Camp 2 at 21,000 feet, while an Australian climber's body is at Camp 3 located at 23,620 feet.

The Sherpas who are attempting to carry the bodies were struggling because of the weather condition on the slopes of Everest.

Wangchu Sherpa of the Trekking Camp Nepal agency in Kathmandu said his team was searching for two Indian climbers missing near the summit since the weekend and rescuers were also attempting to reach the body of a third Indian died to bring it back to lower camp.

Nearly 400 climbers have scaled the 29,035-foot peak since May 11. However, three climbers have died and two are missing on the unpredictable slopes of the world's highest mountain.

The spring climbing season generally ends in May after which the monsoon season brings bad weather that makes climbing the mountain impossible.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Choice Hotels Announces Leadership Appointments And Transition

ROCKVILLE, Md. - May 24, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) ("Choice Hotels"), today announced the promotion of two executives and a planned transition of the chief financial officer position. Chief Operating Officer Patrick S. Pacious has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. In this expanded position, Patrick will assume a greater role in operational and strategic leadership of the Company as well as global development. The title of President recognizes Mr. Pacious' growing oversight of the Company's business and reflects the integral role he plays within the Executive Management Team.

The Company also announced that Scott E. Oaksmith has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer. Mr. Oaksmith has worked within the Company's financial organization for over 14 years, most recently serving as Controller where he oversaw a large portion of Choice Hotels' accounting and financial reporting operations including SEC disclosure and accounting, planning and analysis and treasury operations.

Stephen P. Joyce, Chief Executive Officer said, "Pat has proven to be an exceptional leader and one of the best operations executives I've worked with. His innovative thinking and vision will continue to enhance the strategic direction, growth, and profitability of our company. We're also proud to promote Scott, who has contributed significantly to the growth of our financial function."

Patrick Pacious, President and Chief Operating Officer said, "I'm honored to receive this promotion and excited about the significant potential ahead for our company. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Steve and the rest of the management team to continue to grow our business and increase the value proposition for our franchisees and guests."

Mr. Pacious has worked at Choice Hotels for over a decade and has held leadership roles in the areas of strategic planning, corporate development, operations, distribution, technology and innovation. As COO, he has overseen reservations delivery across all channels, brand management, marketing, franchise services, information technology, revenue management, performance analytics, loyalty and relationship marketing, and international operations. Previously, he spent more than nine years in senior consulting positions with BearingPoint and Arthur Andersen focused on the hospitality sector. He earned a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from Duke University. Mr. Pacious is a former U.S. Navy officer, serving from 1987 to 1993.

The Company also announced that David L. White will be transitioning from the company and will pursue other professional opportunities. Mr. White will step down as CFO on June 3rd but will remain with the company to assist with the CFO transition prior to his planned departure before the end of 2016. Since joining Choice in 2002 as Vice President, Financial Reporting, he has served in a number of positions of increasing scope and responsibility, including controller, treasurer and, since 2006, CFO. Scott Oaksmith will oversee the finance team during the upcoming CFO transition.

Mr. Joyce stated, "On behalf of the entire company and the Board of Directors, we thank Dave for his leadership, significant contributions and outstanding commitment to Choice Hotels over the many years he has been with the company. He has been instrumental in helping the company achieve many of our key successes and a key steward and strategist behind our strong financial performance. We are pleased to continue benefiting from his guidance during the transition period and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors." Mr. Joyce continued, "I am extremely confident in Scott's ability to lead the finance organization until a new CFO is appointed."

"I thank my colleagues at Choice. It has been a pleasure to work with one of the best teams in the industry," said Mr. White. "I have thoroughly enjoyed our spirit of innovation, our teamwork, and our many successes."

Choice Hotels has hired Spencer Stuart to conduct an executive search for a permanent CFO successor.

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the world's largest lodging companies. With more than 6,400 hotels franchised in more than 40 countries and territories, we represent more than 500,000 rooms around the globe. As of March 31, 2016, 685 hotels were in our development pipeline. Our company's Ascend Hotel Collection, Cambria hotels & suites, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, Quality, Clarion, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Vacation Rentals by Choice Hotels brands provide a spectrum of lodging choices to meet guests' needs. With more than 26 million members and counting, our Choice Privileges rewards program enhances every trip a guest takes, with benefits ranging from instant, every day rewards to exceptional experiences, starting right when they join. All hotels and vacation rentals are independently owned and operated. Visit us at www.choicehotels.com for more information.

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.

Media Contact:

Scott Carman

Director, Public Relations

Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH)

301-592-6361

scott_carman@choicehotels.com

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Hardees Introduces the Grilled Ham N Cheese Thickburger: Its Just as Good as It Sounds

New menu item combines the classic flavors of a gooey, melty grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a charbroiled Thickburger.

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - May 25, 2016 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Starting today, Hardees combines two quintessentially American comfort foods into one with the introduction of the Grilled Ham N Cheese Thickburger, available at participating restaurants.

The Grilled Ham N Cheese Thickburger features four slices of melting American and Swiss cheeses, and thinly sliced ham piled atop a charbroiled, 100 percent Black Angus beef patty, with just the right amount of mayonnaise and mustard, all sandwiched between two slices of grilled bread.

Hardees has a long and successful history of combining the popular tastes of great American sandwiches with the great American burger, said Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for Hardees and Carls Jr. restaurants. From Philly Cheesesteaks to French Dips, the flavors have always paired really well with a charbroiled, 100 percent Black Angus beef patty, but putting a burger inside of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich may be the best marriage yet. Its like a cheeseburger with a whole lot of melted cheese, and the ham provides the smokiness that bacon usually provides on a really good burger. I guess you could even say that we put the ham back in the hamburger.

The Grilled Ham N Cheese Thickburger is available in 1/4-, 1/3- or 1/2-lb sizes, all made with charbroiled, 100 percent Black Angus beef, starting at $3.79, or as a combo meal with fries and a drink starting at $5.79. Prices may vary.

For a limited time, visit www.hardees.com/coupons to download a coupon for $1 off any size Grilled Ham N Cheese Thickburger combo, valid at participating locations.

Follow Hardees on Facebook (www.facebook.com/hardees), Twitter (@Hardees), and Instagram (@Hardees) for the latest product news and promotional offers. Download the Super Star Rewards app from the iTunes Store and Google Play and check in to redeem Hardees products on the spot, save points for a high-value reward, check out the full menu, and use the store locator to find any Hardees in the U.S.

About CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.

CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (CKE) is a privately held company headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif. CKE is not a franchisor and conducts substantially all of its restaurant activities and operations through its subsidiaries. Carls Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardees Restaurants LLC own, operate and franchise the Carls Jr., Hardees, Green Burrito and Red Burrito concepts. Carls Jr. and Hardees operate as one brand under two names, acknowledging the rich regional heritage of both banners. After opening their first restaurants in New York and New Jersey last spring and recent international openings in Japan, Australia, Canada, Colombia and Guatemala, Carls Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardees Restaurants LLC now have a total of 3,684 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 38 foreign countries and U.S. territories. Known for its one-of-a-kind premium menu items such as 100 percent Black Angus Thickburgers, Made from Scratch Biscuits, Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders and Fresh Baked Buns, as well as an award-winning marketing approach, the Carls Jr./Hardees brand continues to deliver substantial and consistent growth in the U.S. and overseas. The Carls Jr./Hardees system is now 93 percent franchised, with international restaurants representing 19 percent of the system. For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com or its brand sites at www.carlsjr.com and www.hardees.com.

SOURCE CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.

Contact:

Kate Franklin

Coast Public Relations

818-606-9784

kate@coastprgroup.com

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Hwy 55 Rewards Top Community-Involved Franchise Owners with $30,000 to Donate to Local Charities

May 25, 2016 // Franchising.com // Mount Olive, N.C.  Staying true to its commitment to community involvement, Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries is rewarding its top fundraising franchise owners with $30,000, which will be donated to the charity of the owners choice.

For the fifth consecutive year, Hwy 55 challenged its business owners to raise money for local causes and is rewarding the top producers with funds from the companys charitable arm, Andys Charitable Foundation. Named after Hwy 55s original restaurants, Andys Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, Andys Charitable Foundation is Hwy 55s most visible commitment to community involvement.

From the very beginning, weve been committed to being a great neighbor and to doing great things in the communities where Hwy 55 does business, said Hwy 55 president Kenney Moore, who founded the company and flipped every burger himself for the first two years. Our foundations purpose is providing financial support to non-profit organizations that are dedicated to improving the communities they serve. This donation from the foundation goes straight to the franchise owners who have shown through their actions and fundraising efforts that they support our companys position on giving back.

Through nearly a decade of service, during which Hwy 55 has raised more than a million dollars for the Miracle League, Make-A-Wish Foundation and other worthy causes, Hwy 55 continues to support Andys Charitable Foundation, which impacts its communities in a positive way.

Hwy 55 franchise owners in Goldsboro, Surf City, Mount Olive, Cheraw, Rockingham, Swansboro, Hampstead, Irmo and Sneads Ferry will receive respective amounts from the $30,000 donation. Check presentation to the charity of the owners choice have either taken place or are planned over the summer.

Continues Moore, Its our way or rewarding the restaurants that are most involved in our foundations mission. Since we started doing this, our fundraising has grown significantly.

With 125 units and growing quickly, Moores Hwy 55 boasts a fresh, All-American diner experience with fresh, never-frozen burgers, premium sliced cheesesteaks piled high on steamed hoagies, and frozen custard made in-house every day. With its open-grill design, the kitchen's dedication and care when hand-crafting meals is front and center.

Hwy 55 has also resonated with the burger-loving public, the restaurant and franchising industries have taken notice as well. Hwy 55 won BurgerBusiness.com's "Best Burger" in 2012 and in 2014, Franchise Business Review named Hwy 55 one of the best restaurant franchises in the country. The brand also was recently named a top 500 franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine and a "Next 20" restaurant brand by Nation's Restaurant News.;

About Hwy 55

Hwy 55, a retro-themed diner that features fresh, never-frozen hand-pattied burgers, house-made frozen custard, and other classic favorites in a unique open-kitchen setting, was founded in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1991. Hwy 55 reflects founder Kenney Moore's commitment to authentic hospitality and fresh food. Widely known in the state for its fresh food and service that exceeds expectations, the chain won BurgerBusiness.com's "Best Burger" in 2012. It also was recently named a top 500 franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine and a "Next 20" restaurant brand by Nation's Restaurant News. HWY 55 currently has 125 locations in 10 states, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates. Like HWY 55 on at https://www.facebook.com/Hwy55burgers or follow us at https://twitter.com/hwy55burgers. For more information, visit https://www.hwy55.com.

SOURCE Hwy 55

Media Contact:

Tom Beyer

150Pr

480-722-1461

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and The Salvation Army Celebrate National Doughnut Day

Free Doughnut And Chance To Donate At Participating Shops

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - May 25, 2016 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Get ready for the sweetest day of the year! Krispy Kreme Doughnuts today announced a partnership with The Salvation Army for National Doughnut Day. On Friday, June 3, customers will receive a free doughnut of their choice and have an opportunity to donate directly to The Salvation Army at participating shops in the U.S. and Canada.

Held annually on the first Friday of June, Doughnut Day was established by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor The Salvation Armys Doughnut Lassies, who served the treats to soldiers during World War I. The Doughnut Lassies are often credited with popularizing the doughnut in the United States when the troops returned home from war.

Customers are encouraged to donate to The Salvation Armys miniature Red Kettles stationed at the registers of participating Krispy Kreme locations. All donations will support the local communities where the donation was made.

Each year on National Doughnut Day, we encourage our customers to celebrate by coming in to get their favorite doughnut for free, but this year, we wanted to make the celebration even more meaningful, said Tony Thompson, President and CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. As founders of National Doughnut Day, The Salvation Army is a natural partner. Were excited to collect funds for the many initiatives they support, especially since all donations will go directly to the local communities.

The Salvation Army celebrated the first National Doughnut Day in Chicago in 1938 to help raise funds during the Great Depression and commemorate the work of the Doughnut Lassies. The doughnut now serves as a symbol of all the social services The Salvation Army provides to those in need. The Salvation Army still serves doughnuts, in addition to warm meals and hydration, to those in need during times of disaster.

National Doughnut Day has become a true American tradition, but many dont realize the historical significance of the day. The partnership with The Salvation Army andKrispy Kreme brings greater visibility to the importance of the day and the idea of helping those who may have fallen on hard times, said Col. Ron Busroe, Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army. With Krispy Kremes generous offer of a free doughnut, we hope everyone will extend that generosity by giving back to support their local community.

Below are a few additional facts about the history of National Doughnut Day and the Salvation Army:

Approximately 250 Salvation Army volunteers provided assistance to American soldiers in France starting in 1917 during WWI.

With limited resources, these treats were fried, only seven at a time. The Salvation Armys Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance cleverly thought of frying donuts in soldiers helmets.

Last year, 30 million Americans received assistance from The Salvation Armys 3,500 officers, 63,000 employees and 3.3 million volunteers.

Share your favorite moments from National Doughnut Day using #KrispyKreme and #DoingTheMostGood.

About Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., is a global retailer of premium-quality sweet treats, including its signature Original Glazed doughnut. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Company has offered the highest-quality doughnuts and great-tasting coffee since it was founded in 1937. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is proud of its fundraising program, which for decades has helped nonprofit organizations raise millions of dollars in needed funds. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts can be found in approximately 12,000 grocery, convenience and mass merchant stores in the U.S. The Company has more than 1,000 retail shops in 26 countries. Connect with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts atwww.KrispyKreme.com, or on one its many social media channels, including www.Facebook.com/KrispyKreme and www.Twitter.com/KrispyKreme.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, established in London in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for more than 135 years in the United States. Approximately 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through a range of social services: food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar donated to The Salvation Army are used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. The Salvation Army tracks the level of need across the country with the Human Needs Index (HumanNeedsIndex.org). For more information, go to salvationarmyusa.org or follow on Twitter @SalvationArmyUS.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160525005815/en/.

SOURCE Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Contacts:

Sarah Roof

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Corporate Communications Coordinator

336-726-8878

sroof@krispykreme.com

Erin Kanter

Richards Partners

For The Salvation Army

214-891-5848

erin_kanter@richards.com

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
New Church's Chicken Opens in San Antonio to Serve Rapidly Expanding Fan Base

Location Becomes Third New Opening in Three Years for Franchisee Owner

ATLANTA, May 25, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Proving that quality never goes out of style, Church's Chicken announced the recent opening of its newest location in San Antonio, TX  the community in which the brand originated 64 years ago. Located at 13323 Culebra Road, the new restaurant is expected to meet an ever-growing demand in the area for Church's signature hand-battered fried chicken, honey-butter biscuits, and home-style sides.

This restaurant also marks the third Church's to open in just three years for local businessman and franchise owner, Sean Nooner. Nooner opened his first new restaurant in September of 2013 with another location following a year and a half later.

"San Antonio is evolving quickly as a major Texas destination to live, work, and play," said Nooner. "We're eager to serve all of these new residents the great taste of Church's Chicken."

Bill Schreiber, Vice President of Worldwide Business Development at Church's Chicken agreed. "Texas matters to us for many reasons  our history, our recipes, our brand experience, and our approach to hospitality are all connected to Texas. Being the first choice for quality fried chicken and signature honey-butter biscuits in Texas is a distinction we want to continue to honor for decades to come."

Besides the always-popular menu, the new Culebra Road restaurant will also feature the Church's brand's new STAR Image design, which includes new interior seating options, new exterior design and color palettes, and contemporary lighting inside and out.

"We believe the strongest brands, the ones with the most loyal followings, are those that know how to adapt to what their customers expect," continued Schreiber. "This new San Antonio location is proof you can be fresh and new without abandoning the classic quality and service that the Church's brand is known for. We think guests will enjoy it greatly."

About Church's Chicken

Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,650 locations in 25 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visitwww.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter atwwww.twitter.com/churchschicken.

SOURCE Church's Chicken

Contact:

Tara Hamp

305-631-2283

Tara@inklinkmarketing.com

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Smashburger Appoints Gregg Koffler As New Senior Vice President of Franchise Sales & Administration

DENVER, May 25, 2016 // PRNewswire // -- Smashburger, the rapidly expanding better burger restaurant known for its fresh, smashed to order burgers, today announced that Gregg Koffler, who was previously overseeing franchise sales for Corner Bakery Cafe, has been appointed to the position of Senior Vice President of Franchise Sales & Administration, effective immediately. Koffler will oversee the company's Franchise Sales teams and will be responsible for continuing the franchise growth of the brand both domestically and abroad.

"Gregg has extensive experience in franchise sales and is particularly good at providing insights and analytical information to his teams to help grow the business," commented Mike Nolan, Smashburger's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We're confident he will be an integral member of Smashburger's growth and development, and will be instrumental for the brand to continue to partner with experienced franchise operators and expand in new markets across the United States and around the world."

Koffler has many years of experience in franchise sales leadership and comes to Smashburger after his tenure at Corner Bakery Cafe where he was in charge of the franchise sales department and added over 400 units to the development pipeline. At Corner Bakery Cafe, Koffler was in charge of expanding the brand internationally, as well as growing its presence in the non-traditional sector. Prior to his run at Corner Bakery Cafe, Koffler held a franchise sales leadership role at Wyndham Worldwide Corporation where he was responsible for overseeing hotel franchise sales for the mountain and coastal west coast, and substantially grew the unit count for the company.

"The Smashburger brand is at a pivotal point in its growth cycle and I'm honored to be a part of the team to help continue to facilitate its expansion around the world," commented Gregg Koffler. "Smashburger has clearly proven itself as a leader in the better burger category and I look forward to utilizing my skills and expertise on the franchising side of the business to continue Smashburger's incredible growth journey."

Smashburger currently has over 365 restaurants across the globe and expects to grow its unit count by approximately 20-25 percent in 2016. In 2015, the company sold more than 187 franchise units, making it the largest year in the company's history of franchise sales.

For more information on Smashburger, please visit www.smashburger.com or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

About Smashburger

Smashburger is a leading fast casual "better burger" restaurant known for its fresh never frozen, 100% Certified Angus Beef burgers that are smashed on the grill to sear in the juices, creating an upscale quality burger packed with flavor and served at a great value. In addition to burgers, Smashburger offers grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, fresh salads, signature side items such as Haystack onions and Veggie Frites, and hand-spun Haagen-Dazs shakes. On each market menu, Smashburger offers locally inspired items like the regional burger, as well as regional sides and local craft beer. Smashburger began in 2007 with the vision of Rick Schaden and funding by Consumer Capital Partnersthe private equity firm that Rick and his father Richard own. There are currently over 365 corporate and franchise restaurants operating in 35 states and seven countries. To learn more, visit www.smashburger.com

SOURCE Smashburger

Media Contact:

Christine Ferris

303-633-1553

cferris@smashburger.com

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Ben Murdock passed away in the home where he and his late wife of 56 years, Lola, shared their lives on Sunday, May 22, 2016, at 9:20 p.m. after battling cancer for more than two years.

Ben was an ordained priest holding the Aaronic priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was preceded in death by his beautiful wife, Lola; son Michael; brothers Mac, Collin, Gary, Ronnie and Karnel; and sisters Gwen, Mary, Shirley and Brenda. He is survived by his sole living brother, Stuart (Rose); sons Tim (Emily) and David (Cheryl); and daughters Penny (late Dennis) and Rochelle (Farrokh). His prosperity included five grandchildren, Katelyn, twins Kyle and Kimberly, Brenda and Sara; five great-grandchildren, Rochelle, Colton, Levi, Owen and Andrew; and one great-great-grandson, Gauge.

He retired from the Department of Interior after 30 years and focused his energy into developing his natural talents, which kept him busy. He became a skilled craftsman in Native American traditional arts, such as silversmithing and flint knapping. He used obsidian, a very sharp rock, to make arrowheads, knife blades, and spearheads. His art work drew much attention as well as his talent for tying knots Fiador, Hackamore, Diamond and Rattlesnake to name a few. Other activities included annual hunting trips to Utah to hunt big game Bull Elk, Deer, Moose, Big Horn Sheep and Bear. The bounties of his hunts were shared with many of his relatives on the reservation. He loved to fish on the dock at his home beside the Potomac River which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. He loved his family and relatives and always made time for everyone. He was very funny and loved to play cribbage unless he was losing, then he didnt like it anymore.

He was a Native American veteran of the U.S. Army and served as a 1st Lt.

There will be a graveside service at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 26, in Quantico National Cemetery. Afterwards, guests are invited to the repast which will be held at noon at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 161 Eustace Road, Stafford, VA 22554. Flowers should be sent to the church before noon.

Please sign the online guest book at nashandslawfh.com.
The teacher crisis is real, and were not going to work our way out of it simply by making it easier to hire teachers.
Europe Air Pump Industry 2016 : Market Growth And Forecast Report By Radiant Insights,Inc

RadiantInsights.com includes new market research report on "Europe Air Pump Industry Size, Share And Trends Report Up To 2016 : Radiant Insights" to its huge collection of research reports.

--

An air pump is a device used for pushing air. Some of the air pumps are gas compressor, bicycle pump, vacuum pump and airlift pump. Gas compressor is mainly used to power a pipe organ, pneumatic tool and air horn. In addition, it escalates the pressure of gas by decreasing its volume.

Browse Full Research Report With TOC on http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/europe-air-pump-industry-2016

Bicycle pump is a positive displacement pump mainly designed for pumping up bicycle tires. The types include foot operated, double action, floor, frame mounted and compact pumps. These pump function via hand - operated piston. Also, Bicycle pump is used to aerate a pond and aquarium through airstone.

Airlift pumps have moderate and low suction expulsion of entrained solid and liquids. It is majorly used in recirculation systems and ponds. Furthermore, these pumps also find applications in underwater archaeology, dredging and aquaculture to pump.

Europe air pump industry consumed for the maximum share in 2014. Additionally, Germany dominated the market. The region chiefly leads the vacuum or air pumps and other compressors. Also, it exported for over 225 million units of air compressor and air pumps in 2014. Germany contributed for over 6,430 million USD in the aforementioned year.

Request A Sample Copy Of This Report at: www.radiantinsights.com/research/europe-air-pump-industry-2016#tabs-4

Germany was the net exporter of compressor and air pumps from 2017 to 2014, thus, driving the Europe air pump industry. The region experienced augmented imports in value of terms. U.S and China were the leading suppliers for air pumps in 2014. China was the rapid exporters from 2007 to 2014. Moreover, Thailand, Italy and Japan followed china is terms of demand. Germany's key trading partners were U.S, China, France, Italy and United Kingdom. These regions collectively contributed for 40% of the German exports.

Browse All Reports of This Category at: www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/automotive

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/europe-air-pump-industry-2016

Contact Info:

Name: Michelle Thoras

Email: sales@radiantinsights.com

Organization: Radiant Insights

Address: 28 2nd Street, Suite 3036 San Francisco, CA

Phone: 1-415-349-0054

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/europe-air-pump-industry-2016-market-growth-and-forecast-report-by-radiant-insightsinc/116444

Release ID: 116444

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)
ReliableSite Becomes One of First Dedicated Hosts to Offer New Xeon E5 v4

New 14nm Broadwell E5 v4 delivers higher performance, new virtualization and security features, and other important improvements, ReliableSite reports

--

ReliableSite has become one of the world's first dedicated hosting companies to deploy and offer servers based on Intel's brand-new Xeon E5 v4 processor. With every server including best-in-class distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) protection at no charge, the new E5 v4-based servers are available now at the company's top-tier data centers in the New York metro area and Miami. With a standard 100% uptime service level agreement and a network blend of premium carriers, ReliableSite focuses on providing the most reliable possible service to every client at attractive prices.

"We're happy to report that we have started offering dedicated servers with the new Xeon E5 v4," ReliableSite CEO and founder Radic Davydov said, "This new generation of Xeons represents a real leap over the successful v3 family, with some attractive new virtualization-related features, higher maximum core and thread counts, and boosted memory throughput, as well. We're proud to be among the first to put these new CPUs into service, and we think many of our clients are going to benefit greatly from this."

Intel's long-running Xeon family of processors is designed, in contrast to its end-user-directed Celeron, Pentium, and Core CPUs, to power data center-based servers and other computers tasked with staying online and responsive no matter what happens. As such, the processors of the Xeon line typically follow the company's other offerings in certain respects, as they are put through even more rigorous testing and certification before being judged fit for market.

At the end of March, Intel unveiled the latest members of the Xeon line in the form of a fourth generation of the E5 family. Making use of their 14 nanometer lithography process for the first time in the E5 line, the new CPUs also include innovative power-saving features that further improve their energy efficiency.

On the performance front, the new Xeons are just as promising, with up to 22 cores per processor now hosting as many as 44 hardware threads, an improvement of over 20% compared to the previous generation. With memory performance also having been upgraded by over 10% and new virtualization and security features likewise attracting attention, the new E5 v4 is already regarded as one of the more compelling Xeon launches of recent years.

ReliableSite customers can now configure their own Intel Xeon server, choosing from the new E5 v4 or any of a number of other attractive options. With a profound commitment to reliability and uncompromising availability, ReliableSite offers free, standard DDoS protection, a 100% service level agreement, and a strategic, high-performing network connectivity blend.

About ReliableSite:

Since 2006, ReliableSite has provided high quality hosting services. With rock-solid, self-owned, carefully managed servers hosted at top-tier data centers in New York and Miami, ReliableSite delivers the best in service at highly competitive prices.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.reliablesite.net

Contact Info:

Name: Yevgeniya Davydov

Organization: ReliableSite

Phone: (866) 932-0001

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/reliablesite-becomes-one-of-first-dedicated-hosts-to-offer-new-xeon-e5-v4/116467

Release ID: 116467

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)
San Antonio SEO Company Mallery Online Marketing Celebrates Its 3rd Anniversary

Mallery Online Marketing is celebrating its 3 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://malleryonlinemarketing.com

--

Mallery Online Marketing is celebrating their 3rd anniversary, which commemorates a few challenging but rewarding years in business. This is a huge milestone for the San Antonio-based internet marketing business, which has provided search engine optimization, video marketing, and more to business owners since 2013.

Mallery Online Marketing got it's start in 2013 when founder Michael Mallery was having difficulty finding work and decided to go into business for himself with the goal of helping local businesses grow within their markets.

One of the earliest challenges Mallery Online Marketing faced was getting people to know that they existed.

While every business faces challenges, some, like Mallery Online Marketing, are fortunate enough to enjoy real successes, wins and victories, too. One such victory came when they signed their first client and helped the client's business grow in ways it never would have otherwise.

Michael Mallery, Owner at Mallery Online Marketing, was also quoted when discussing another big win. "One of the high points of Mallery Online Marketing's history so far was when one of our clients referred another business owner to us. It showed us that our client was happy with our services and was willing to put his name on the line for us."

Mr. Mallery goes on to say, "We're delighted to be celebrating our third anniversary. I believe the secret to getting this far in business today is taking care of our clients and helping them understand what they are missing out on without the services we offer."

Mallery Online Marketing currently consists of 1 employee, just Mr. Mallery, and has big plans for the upcoming year. One of their core objectives is to grow large enough to find office space and hire a small staff.

Mallery Online Marketing would also like to thank friends and clients for their well wishes on this happy occasion.

More information on the business can be found at http://malleryonlinemarketing.com

For more information about us, please visit http://malleryonlinemarketing.com

Contact Info:

Name: Michael Mallery

Email: mike@malleryonlinemarketing.com

Organization: Mallery Online Marketing

Address: 11411 Luckey Ledge, San Antonio, TX 78252

Phone: (210) 570-9027

Release ID: 116146

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)
Grommet Edging Case Study Shows Lower Total Install Costs vs. Plastic Grommets

A case study of Spring-Fast grommet edging vs. adhesive applied plastic grommets proves Spring-Fast gives industry the best of both worlds: the security of knowing cables are protected by best in class grommet edging plus significant savings on their total installed costs.

--

Traditionally organizations have protected wiring and cabling from abrasion and chafing from sharp edges by using adhesive applied plastic grommets. That is changing however as a Device Technologies Inc. client case study shows that the Spring-Fast range of grommet edging which needs no adhesive, not only offers best in class protection but also a significantly lower total installed cost.

All organizations need to protect wiring and cabling from abrasion and chafing. This is true across the broad spectrum of industries from military equipment and commercial aerospace to aircraft seating, telecom switches and food service. Without protection there is a serious risk of data loss, fire hazards and catastrophic loss of control.

The decades old operational solution has been to use plastic grommets with an applied adhesive to cover the sharp edges. "However this is a multistep, time consuming process" noted Nick Petri President of Device Technologies "that not only creates a time and productivity drag it is also fraught with health and safety issues"

Installing a plastic grommet with an applied adhesive requires six steps: 1. Clean the edge of the sheet metal with a solvent 2. Mix the adhesive, 3. Carefully apply the adhesive to get an even fit, 4. Install and fixture the grommet using clamps or tape, 5. Clean up any mess left by the adhesives and solvents and let the adhesive cure for 8-24 hours and 6. After curing, remove the clamps or tape, inspect the grommet and run the cables and wires.

"That long and involved process cried out for innovation especially as we knew it would benefit so many industries" Nick added. So the company, known for its specialty fastener design, manufacture and distribution experience, created Spring-Fast a patented grommet with multi-dimensional flexibility that installs easily and securely with finger pressure -without adhesive- on regular or flanged cutouts and edges. It is made of spring-tempered stainless steel, fusion bonded with a thermosetting polymer resin.

However the best news - verified in the case study with a customer - was that by removing the need to apply adhesives, fixturing, curing and inspecting, Spring-Fast can help any industry make significant savings on its total install costs. With a labor rate of $60 an hour, the customer found he saved 49% of his total install costs even before he factored in any productivity, hazmat or safety benefits. Watch this 4 minute YouTube video to see the data behind these phenomenal savings https://youtu.be/__Qjb14iQfI

"Additionally Spring-Fast solves the three most common operational problems associated with plastic grommets" said Steven O'Loughlin, Technical Sales Application Engineer, "1) installation is quick and easy, 2) the grommet itself does not become brittle and break over time and 3) there is no glue line failure."

Among its many other benefits are its compliance to rigorous standards like ASTM, UL, Military specifications, FAR and Telcordia plus resistance to vibration, shock, immersion and salt spray. It is approved for use by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Thankfully too, the health and safety concerns are removed as Spring-Fast does not use any potentially toxic adhesives and solvents or require any special disposal or handling.

"Frankly our real challenge" added President Nick Petri "is that even though we have built a better mousetrap, industry practices can be slow to change. Our mission is to make key influencers aware of the benefits and, in the case of aerospace and the defense industry, get Spring-Fast onto their approved component lists and into the hands of engineers who can make best use of it."

Order a free evaluation sample kit here Spring-Fast Grommet Edging

Spring-Fast is available in 12 formats to suit virtually any situation including military use and high heat. It works on variable sheet thicknesses of 0.02" thru 0.26" (0.5 thru 6.6mm) and comes in factory pre-cut lengths, kits and 25, 100 and 500 foot reels (7.6m, 30.5m and 152m).

Founded in 1984, Device Technologies, Inc. is ISO 9001:2008 and AS 9100 C Certified. Spring-Fast is a registered trademark of Device Technologies, Inc. Devicetech.com

For more information about us, please visit http://www.devicetech.com

Contact Info:

Name: Karen Towler

Email: ktowler@devicetech.com

Organization: Device Technologies Inc.

Address: 155 Northboro Rd., Unit 8 Southborough, MA 01772-1033 USA

Phone: +1 508-229-2000 ext. 210

Release ID: 116351

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)
2016 Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) Medical Devices Pipeline Market Assessment

"Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) - Medical Devices Pipeline Assessment, 2016" provides an overview of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) currently in pipeline stage.

--

ReportsnReports.com adds "Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) Medical Devices Pipeline Assessment, 2016" to its database. This research report will be available from 1st June 2016.

Inquire more about this research at http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/InquiryBeforeBuy.aspx?name=554591

Companies discussed in this research report at AngioDynamics, Inc., C. R. Bard, Inc., NexGen Medical Systems, Inc. and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The report provides comprehensive information on the pipeline products with comparative analysis of the products at various stages of development. The report reviews major players involved in the pipeline product development. It also provides information about clinical trials in progress, which includes trial phase, trial status, trial start and end dates, and, the number of trials for the key Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) pipeline products.

*Note: Certain sections in the report may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data in relation to the equipment type.

Scope

o Extensive coverage of the Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) under development

o The report reviews details of major pipeline products which includes, product description, licensing and collaboration details and other developmental activities

o The report reviews the major players involved in the development of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) and list all their pipeline projects

o The coverage of pipeline products based on various stages of development ranging from Early Development to Approved / Issued stage

o The report provides key clinical trial data of ongoing trials specific to pipeline products

o Recent developments in the segment / industry

Complete research report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/554591-peripherally-inserted-central-catheter-picc-medical-devices-pipeline-assessment-2016.html

Reasons to buy

The report enables you to -

o Formulate significant competitor information, analysis, and insights to improve R&D strategies

o Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage

o Identify and understand important and diverse types of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) under development

o Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies

o Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying major players with the most promising pipeline

o In-depth analysis of the product's current stage of development, territory and estimated launch date

For more information about us, please visit http://www.reportsnreports.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Organization: ReportsandReports

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India

Phone: +1888 391 54 41

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/2016-peripherally-inserted-central-catheter-picc-medical-devices-pipeline-market-assessment/116255

Release ID: 116255

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)
Mike Jackson Keynotes ProBidAuto.com At 18th Annual National BHPH Conference

ProBidAuto.com - the new concept that will revolutionize the way that automobiles are bought and sold - official pre-launch announced by Michael Jackson, CEO of ProBidAuto.com at National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers May 24th, 2016, Wynn in Las Vegas

--

Salt Lake City, UT - ProBidAuto.com officially went online for dealer pre-enrollment May 24th at 12:00PM Mountain. Mike Jackson, CEO of ProBidAuto.com announced during his keynote address at this year's National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers. The NABD is hosting the 18th Annual National BHPH Conference at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Millennials and car buyers of all ages have demanded a new paradigm in the car buying experience and the Internet lifestyle has consumers searching for online options for their everyday issues from banking, to shopping, and now to car buying. This is particularly true for Gen Y consumers. They are coming of age and demand a certain level of transparency, tech savvy, and barter-free haggle-free buying. ProBidAuto.com provides a holistic approach that will meet the demand of these influential buyers.

At the present time, the consumer can purchase an auto at auction through ebay.com, but this leaves the local dealer out of the loop and many of the good buys and wide selection of vehicles available at dealer auto auctions across the U.S. would not be available for consideration by a consumer purchasing through ebay.

Dealer inventories are advertised through online billion dollar giants cars.com, autotrader.com, and others, but this creates a financial burden that the dealer must pass onto the car buyer. Advertising placed alongside of other dealers can place the local dealer at serious competitive disadvantage...the dealer is competing with numerous other dealers in the same space, while being greatly limited to offering only the vehicles he currently has inventoried on his lot.

The call for a better way has been heard and answered by the genius of three industry experts. The three masterminds have determined that the auto industry is one that has particularly lagged behind in the way it does business and caters to consumers. They felt there had to be a better way.

Beto Paredes, Mike Jackson, and Todd Shepard (http://www.probidauto.com/the-experts/) have spent the last two years collaborating and creating the ultimate experience that culminated with the resultant pre-launch of ProBidAuto.com. This new concept will revolutionize the way that automobiles will be bought and sold in an internet application and in a way never before experienced.

The CEO at ProBidAuto.com, Mikael Jackson, makes a point of saying "things are going to change when ProBidAuto.com launches January of 2017. I have been working deeply in this industry for over 10 years and I have never seen something this powerful come on the scene".

Mike Jackson continues... "All of the automotive marketing services have been revolving around one thing. The dealer's ability to sell inventory. Now the inventory will be sold before it even hits the lot. What that means for dealers is almost unfathomable. The entire industry is going to quickly adapt and I am so excited that we are standing here on the forefront of this prodigious time in history".

ProBidAuto.com's new digital bidding application creates a profitable win/win method of offering the car of customer choice that is beneficial and appealing to both the local automobile dealer and their valuable client.

Once again, ProBidAuto.com is set andr pre-launched May 23, 2016. To find out more, the place to visit is http://probidauto.com

For more information about us, please visit http://probidauto.com

Contact Info:

Name: Dan Seaman

Organization: ProBidAuto.com

Address: Salt Lake City UT

Phone: +1 678-478-4690

Release ID: 116363

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)
Windshield Replacement Go Glass Launches Mobile Repair & Replacement In Corona

Go Glass Corona has been trained to perform windshield replacement efficiently and effectively unlike other companies - their staff is certified. In order to maintain the safety of a vehicle and preserve its interior, Go Glass is the top choice for windshield replacement in Corona.

--

Windshield replacement, according to experts like Go Glass (www.goglass.com), in Corona may be a key factor in the crash survivability of the 6 million accidents that occur annually in America. This is because of the little known fact that according to Leo Cyr (Vice President of the NGA's Auto Division) a "car's windshield contributes to the vehicle's structural integrity by supporting the roof during a rollover." In fact, a study at George Washington University found, bonded windshields actually contribute upwards of 30% towards a vehicle's static strength. Making windshield integrity a priority in a car safety checklists.

Damage windshields is also a common and prevalent problems for road warriors. Insurance providers report that one of the most common claims is glass damage at 7.5 million cases per year. Even more alarming is that 80% of these claims are for windshield damage. Leaving drivers experiencing this risk at higher risk for experiencing ejection from a vehicle, airbag deployment issues, roof crush prevention, and impaired views from behind the wheel.

Windshield replacement, however, is not a worry free process. Over 70% percent of windshields, ABC's 20/20 found, are not properly replaced. This can, furthermore, lead to severe damage to a car's interior. Improper installations can lead to increased wind noise seeping into the vehicle, as well as cause mildew to take root in the car's interior. Damage to electronics built in to the windshields are also becoming a larger issue. The Consumer Electronics Show reported in 2015 that heads up technology (better known as windshield technologies) are now being integrated by car makers and after market enthusiasts alike. Making proper windshield replacement an important part of car maintenance as well as safety.

Go Glass of Corona has been trained to perform windshield replacement in Corona efficiently and effectively as unlike other companies - their staff is certified. In order to maintain the safety of a vehicle as well as preserve its interior, Go Glass is the top choice for windshield replacement in Corona.

For more information about us, please visit http://goglass.com

Contact Info:

Name: Ken Kinsley

Email: contactus@goglass.com

Organization: Go Glass

Address: 2197 Sampson Ave, Corona, California 92879

Phone: (951) 266-0028

Release ID: 116532

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)
Halscott Megaro petitions clemency for Corvain Cooper

Halscott Megaro PA, announced that they have submitted an application for clemency to President Barack Obama, in regards to Corvain Cooper. In June of 2014, Cooper was sentenced to the federal mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

--

ORLANDO, FL - May 10, 2016 - Halscott Megaro PA, Appeals Law Group, one of Florida's most prestigious criminal defense law groups, announced that they have submitted an application for clemency to President Barack Obama, in regards to Corvain Cooper. In June of 2014, Corvain Cooper was convicted of conspiracy to distribute, as well as, possession with intent to distribute marijuana. For this non-violent, drug related offense, Cooper was sentenced to the federal mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The mandatory minimum penalties set for drug related crimes were originally put in place to target kingpins and high-level drug related offenses. The federal sentencing requirement has resulted in a huge number of low-level offenders being sentenced to life for a crimes that are non-violent.

According to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), "In addition to driving up our prison population, mandatory minimum penalties can lead to terribly unjust results in individual cases."

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) agrees. He says, "Our federal mandatory minimum sentences are simply heavy-handed and arbitrary. We should not have laws that ruin the lives of young men and women who have committed no violence."

At the time of his sentencing, Mr. Cooper was 34 years old with three children, 2 of them under the age of 10. He also owned and operated a small clothing and footwear business. Recently, Cooper filed an appeal where he challenged his sentence, of life imprisonment with out parole, as cruel and unusual punishment. However, the United States Supreme Court denied his appeal.

"Shortly after I began practicing law, I noticed that a seemingly large percentage of criminal defendants were at the mercy of a criminal justice system, that quite often, failed to protect their rights. I am extremely passionate about positively affecting the lives of those who have already been convicted," said Jamie Halscott, Appellate Attorney and Managing Partner of Halscott Megaro PA.

"We have submitted an application for clemency with President Barack Obama, asking him to commute this grossly unjust sentence of life imprisonment for a non-violent drug offense," said Patrick Megaro, Appellate Attorney and Senior Partner.

Halscott Megaro has also set up a change.org petition for Corvain Cooper. The public is encouraged to visit change.org and sign the petition that requests for President Obama to dismiss the mandatory life sentence requirement for non-violent drug offenders, and also to commute Corvain Cooper's sentence, specifically.

For more information or to sign the change.org petitions, visit https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-clemency-for-corvain-cooper

ABOUT: Halscott Megaro PA: Halscott Megaro PA, Appeals Law Group, is admitted to practice by 18 different bars and over the past 12 years they have handled more than 3000 cases. Jaime Halscott is the managing partner. He dedicates much of his time to educating clients throughout the appeals process and is licensed in every federal court of appeal in the United States, as well as all military appeals courts. Jaime received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Florida and his Juris Doctorate degree from the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University, where he received awards in Cyberspace Law and Law of War.

Patrick Michael Megaro graduated from Hofstra Law School, at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York and received the Leon Stern Award for criminal defense advocacy from the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association. He began his legal career at the Legal Aid Society in New York City as a public defender and six years later went on to form his own firm in 2007. In 2014, Patrick partnered with Jaime Halscott, bringing more than a decade of experience, in the area of criminal law, to Halscott Megaro PA.

For more information, contact Halscott Megaro PA Orlando Criminal Defense Attorneys

For more information about us, please visit http://www.appealslawgroup.com

Contact Info:

Name: Victor Fuentes

Email: vfuentes@halscottmegaro.com

Organization: Halscott Megaro PA

Address: 33 E Robinson St Suite 210 Orlando, FL 32801 USA

Phone: (407) 255-2165

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZICLvfL7s

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/halscott-megaro-petitions-clemency-for-corvain-cooper/116551

Release ID: 116551

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)
A Unique Anti-Piracy For WordPress Theme & Plugin Developers Has Launched

WP Patrol, a unique anti-piracy service to help WordPress developers track and identify unlicensed users of their themes or plugins and convert them into paying customers has recently launched.

--

A unique anti-piracy service called WP Patrol tailored to help WordPress developers protect their premium themes or plugins and reclaim lost sales by converting unlicensed users into paying customers has launched.

More information is available at http://wppatrol.com.

The WP Patrol service is the newest offering from anti-piracy industry leader Takedown Czar and its popular range of effective, bespoke and one of a kind anti-piracy or digital rights management solutions tailored for specific industries.

The newly launched anti-piracy solution customized for the needs of WordPress developers employs proprietary tactics to identify and locate websites using unlicensed copies of the premium WordPress themes or plugins and help the developers reclaim the lost sales by convincing unlicensed users to purchase a valid license.

During the beta testing phase, the WP Patrol service achieved a 68% success rate at converting unlicensed WordPress plugin or theme users into valid license paying customers.

In addition, the anti-piracy and digital rights service created to help WordPress developers protect and grow their business is offered 100% risk free, operating on a revenue share basis, where the clients - WordPress developers - pay only according to the results achieved.

Developers can request a comprehensive analysis of how many websites are currently using their premium WordPress products without a license. A step by step action plan which outlines how the WP Patrol team will convert unlicensed users and the type of results to expect is also included. More information can be found in the link above.

Al Iver, WP Patrol's lead developer explains that "WordPress product piracy is a huge problem. A popular theme or plugin typically has tens of thousands of unlicensed users. WP Patrol contacts these users and convinces them it is in their best interests to become an real customer."

To this, Iver adds "as a company, we have been successfully battling online piracy as well as providing other digital rights management services since 2009 and we are particularly excited about our newest offering, WP Patrol, as there is zero downside for any WordPress developers who want to grow their business."

For more information about us, please visit https://www.wppatrol.com

Contact Info:

Name: Al Iver

Organization: WP Patrol

Address: 14 Floor China Hong Kong Tower, 8 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Phone: +852 8192 9520

Release ID: 116572

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)
Guildford Plumbing Repair New Surrey Plumbing & Heating Site Launched

Guildford Plumbing Services has announced the launch of a new site to coincide with a business expansion in the Guildford and Surrey area. Its experienced plumbers and heating engineers can repair plumbing and heating units, and replace broken parts or units if required.

--

A plumbing company in the Guildford and Surrey area has announced the launch of a new site to coincide with a large service expansion. Guildford Plumbing Services is now able to take on more customers, offering plumbing and heating services for residential and commercial customers in the local area.

More information is available on the Guildford Plumbing Services site at: http://plumbersinguildford.co.uk.

The full range of plumbing and heating services available is featured on the new site. The company's listed plumbing services include shower, toilet, basin and faucet installations, replacements and repairs, as well as fixing leaking pipes and cleaning of drains. Heating services include radiator and valve repairs, boiler servicing, installation and repairs, and central heating maintenance.

On the new website, the company explains that it can work with both small and large clients, ranging from home owners and landlords to larger commercial properties. This includes work on both large and small plumbing projects, with maintenance contracts for larger businesses and very small projects for home owners, such as fixing blocked drains.

The site highlights that Guildford Plumbing Services has state of the art drain cleaning technology to fix drain blockages in the most effective way. When it comes to repairs, the experienced staff can repair any shower, toilet or boiler, and when repairs can't be made, the technicians can replace existing units with a new one.

Guildford Plumbing Services says: "We have lots of experience in fixing both residential and commercial properties. High customer satisfaction is of the upmost importance to our company. Our expertise can cover all your needs including drainage, plumbing, heating and maintenance."

It adds: "If you live in Guildford or the surrounding areas such as Woking, Shalford, Clandon, Worplesdon, Godalming, Weybridge, Aldershot, Cobham, Dorking and many other Surrey locations and you are in need of a reliable, prompt service from a skilled plumbing company then get in contact with us today."

There is a contact form where potential customers can get in touch to ask questions, or alternatively they can call 01483 802506. Any interested parties wanting to find out more information about Guildford Plumbing Services can also find it on their site at: plumbersinguildford.co.uk.

For more information about us, please visit http://plumbersinguildford.co.uk/

Contact Info:

Name: Ryan Brookes

Organization: Guildford Plumbing Services

Address: 142, 19 Moorfield Rd, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1RU

Phone: 01483 802506

Release ID: 116606

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)
Quantum DS in Columbia, MO Launches Google Street View Virtual Tours Service

Quantum Digital Solutions releases 3 previously unpublished facts about its upcoming Google Street View Virtual Tours service launch. Further information can be found at https://quantumds.com.

--

Along with the launch of its new Google Street View Virtual Tours service, Quantum Digital Solutions is making public 3 as yet unreleased facts about the service, set to go live May 2106, which fans and consumers within the Local Businesses space will find interesting...

The 3 items include nuggets such as how:

The idea for creating the Google Street View Virtual Tours service came about after QuantumDS was looking to enhance it's own Google Business Page and wanted a "See Inside" Virtual Tour when it noticed there were no Google Trusted Photographers in the mid Missouri area and hiring one from hours away was going to cost much more due to travel times. The idea for the service came after determining that the company had the equipment and expertise to do the tours and went through the certification process to become a Trusted Photographer....

The Google Street View Virtual Tours service has actually been in development over six months time in order to simplify workflow and meet certification requirements and had a team made of two members working on it. In comparison to competitors the development team was small and centrally located in Columbia, MO by industry standards. This is important to show the ability to keep costs down on small projects or scale up accordingly for bigger jobs..

Quantum Digital Solutions almost wasn't able to bring the Google Street View Virtual Tours service to see the light of day, while there are tools and tutorials available in limited form, much of the development process was trial and error in key areas determining what equipment and software worked best to achieve a level of efficiency and quality needed to offer the service publicly. The problem was overcome with the perseverance of the team members developing a streamlined and efficient post editing process. .

Quantum Digital Solutions has done something different compared to other businesses in the Local Businesses space. The company went forward with the project, offering it publicly to provide small businesses in mid Missouri with an affordable solution for local Street View Tours by being centrally located, cutting travel costs and streamlining the post edit and induction process of high quality imagery and data..

The Google Street View Virtual Tours service will be released as part of Quantum Digital Solutions's greater plans be an available resource for all mid Missouri small businesses wishing to learn the benefits of being listed and optimized on Google Business, Search and Maps pages and offer the upgraded Virtual Tours at reasonable prices. It's hoped this goal will be achieved by Fall 2016, and the company will be a fully listed Google Partner, offering free workshops for getting businesses online with Google Services and taking advantage of it's benefits.

Quantum Digital Solutions new service got it's start when Founder Al Belcher noticed a growing need for Google Street View and Business Listings. With The founder has 12 years experience working with various google services and tools prior experience in the Local Businesses world, Al Belcher decided to go ahead and start in 2015.

Al Belcher is quoted saying: "We like to do things to connect with our consumers and customers, QuantumDS networks with local area businesses, holds workshops and markets online and through social media., and releasing these little factoids with our Google Street View Virtual Tours service launch are what make a difference."

Quantum Digital Solutions's Google Street View Virtual Tours service is set to launch May 2106. To find out more about Quantum Digital Solutions and the new service, it's possible to visit https://quantumds.com

For more information about us, please visit https://quantumds.com

Contact Info:

Name: Al Belcher

Email: sales@quantumds.com

Organization: Quantum Digital Solutions LLC

Address: 1301 Vandiver Dr Suite C, Columbia, MO 65202

Phone: 573-303-0049

Release ID: 116530

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.
Two advice firms are struggling to pay compensation linked to complaints about Propertybourse investments, amid disputes between advisers and the fund promoter over who was at fault.

Investors complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service they were mis-sold the schemes, and the advice firms look unlikely to be able to meet Ombudsman-ordered redress costs.

If they fail, the bill is passed to the wider financial advice sector via Financial Services Compensation Scheme levies.

Propertybourse promoted unregulated collective investment schemes investing in commercial and residential properties such as leisure parks and shopping centres, in the UK and overseas.

It entered administration in November 2013 following an order issued in the High Court, with the administrator putting investor losses at around 20m, a figure Propertybourse disputes.

One of these firms is Kings Lynn-based Activate Financial Management, which has three upheld Fos complaints against it.

In August the Fos ordered maximum redress of 150,000 plus any interest, after Activate advised a client to invest 200,000 in the Mission London Residential Investment and German Capital Cities funds.

Two similar complaints against the firm were upheld by Fos at the end of November. One client was advised to invest 350,000 of her pension fund in the Mission property scheme.

Activate claimed in its defence that Propertybourse produced misleading documentation, promoted the funds as low risk and that mis-management had increased their riskiness, claims dismissed by Propertybourse and which the Fos said didnt remove Activates responsibility to assess the risks themselves.

Activates evidence to Fos stressed in all these cases its advice was given at a time before the Financial Services Authorities thematic review into Ucis in July 2010.

Stephen Dockerty, principal at Activate, said he is currently battling his professional indemnity insurers to get the claims settled.

If I cant pay then Ill have to look at some kind of voluntary arrangement. Im trying to keep my business going, as Ive got 80 clients and millions under advice.

We reported these funds to the authorities, but theyve done nothing to go after the managers, so it comes down to IFAs; were just cannon fodder.

Another case upheld by the Fos this year involved Financial Aims Limited, which advised a client in 2010 to invest nearly 70,000 in the Opus Propertybourse Performance fund.

Financial Aims PI insurers have refused to cover the claim and the firm is unable to meet the cost itself, so the Fos said it would pass it to the FSCS.

But the FSCS is not currently considering claims against Financial Aims, so the Fos ordered the firm to cover the clients investment losses.

An FSCS spokesman said it is investigating claims against IFAs for negligent advice.

It is yet to formally put any involved firm in default, which would allow claims to be paid.

In the summer of 2014, around 100 financial advisers who recommended Propertybourse funds raised 12,500 for an investigation into the accounts of the business in both Guernsey and the UK, in a bid to find recoverable assets.
Passive investment giant Vanguard has launched four actively-managed global equity funds managed by third-party investment managers as it looks to extend its range of low-cost products.

Two of the funds will invest in global equities, of which one has an income focus, the third will invest in emerging markets equities, and the fourth will comprise global equities and fixed income.

The fresh funds will be managed by a number of sub-advisers appointed by Vanguard, including Wellington Management, Baillie Gifford, Oaktree and Pzena Investment Management.

John James, managing director for Vanguard in Europe, said: Although Vanguard is a globally recognised indexing expert, we have successfully managed active funds in the US for more than 40 years.

We strongly believe that our distinctive approach to active management, which offers a combination of low-fees, top talent and patience, will serve investors well over the long term.

He pointed to historical data which shows that low costs can improve an investors odds of success with both active and index funds.

Fund Sub-adviser Ongoing charge Vanguard Global Equity Baillie Gifford and Wellington Management 0.60 per cent Vanguard Global Equity Income Wellington Management and the Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group 0.60 per cent Vanguard Global Emerging Markets Baillie Gifford, Oaktree, and Pzena Investment Management 0.80 per cent Vanguard Global Balanced Wellington Management 0.60 per cent

Adviser View

Nic Round, managing director of Treowe Wealth Advisers, said: I respect Vanguard. If they can deliver an active solution for investors at minimal cost, then it makes sense.

The key for investors is to understand the funds remit and the risk. If that fits better than a passive, then that is fine. But if you invest it has to be low cost, otherwise there is no point whatsoever.

katherine.denham@ft.com
Vanguard has made its first foray into the UK active management space with the launch of a four-strong range of sub-advised funds.

The launches comprise global equity, global equity income, balanced and global emerging market equity strategies. The former trio each have an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 0.6 per cent, and the latter 0.8 per cent.

The funds will be managed using a combination of four external asset managers, alongside Vanguards own Quantiaitive Equity Group (QEG).

Vanguard managing director for Europe, John James, said it was important for the fund house to offer a choice of both index and active funds.

We strongly believe that our distinctive approach to active management, which offers a combination of low fees, top talent and patience, will serve investors well over the long term. In particular, historical data shows that low costs can improve an investors odds of success with both active and index funds, he added.

The firm manages around $1trn (683bn) in active strategies in the US.

In its UK vehicles, the Vanguard Global Equity Fund will be managed on a 50/50 basis by Baillie Gifford and $904bn US giant Wellington Management.

Wellington will also run 65 per cent of the Global Equity Income fund, with the remainder run by Vanguards QEG.

Baillie Gifford, alternatives firm Oaktree and value investor Pzena Investment Management will equally split management of the higher-charging Vanguard Global Emerging Markets fund.

The Balanced fund  which allocates 65 per cent to equities and 35 per cent to fixed income  will be run by Wellington.
I attended the two-day Morningstar Investment Conference in London recently and a key debate on the fog surrounding investment fees struck home with me.

The conference itself was attended by several hundred financial planners and advisers and was notable for the quality of its speakers, many of them distinguished and veteran fund managers, some flown in from the US and other countries to speak at the event.

The quality of sessions was as high as ever but the debate on fund fee transparency ignited the event and shone much light on the dreadful opaqueness of fees which still surrounds fund management, in spite of many efforts at reform.

The panel, which included ex-Investment Association chief executive Daniel Godfrey, Hermes chief executive Saker Nusseibeh and Gina Miller, a founder of wealth manager SCM Private, concluded the fund management sector has a very long way to go to improve fund fee transparency.

There was much criticism of the innumerable additional fees and charges added to fund purchase or to fund management. Even some industry veterans admitted to confusion when it comes to working out the actual cost of fund acquisition. Platforms and multi-manager approaches have just made things worse.

Their views were backed up by research for MoneyFarm, the digital wealth manager, which found that 81 per cent of private investors still think that investment advice is biased towards generating fees for the industry rather than towards delivering better investment performance.

Worryingly, the research by MoneyFarm also suggests that high fees are now seen as such a problem that a substantial proportion of investors are turning their back on financial advice and trying a DIY approach to investing.

MoneyFarm says a third (33 per cent) of 761 savers / Isa holders surveyed do not seek expert investment advice because they believe commission costs will be too expensive.

I would fundamentally disagree that a DIY approach is better for all investors because I believe that for most people, if they can afford it, financial advice still adds significant value to investment selection and returns, but the point MoneyFarm makes about high fees is a fair one.

So what is to be done? Well, in one sense, the industry has begun to try its hand at reform. Recent changes on platforms with clean share classes have been welcome and help to make different fee elements more obvious, but the Morningstar panel should be applauded for coming up with what is, in essence, an obvious solution  one number.

A single number  agreed by the industry - that covers all costs and fees would make comparisons between fund options far more transparent. It seems the obvious solution, so why does the fund management sector not grab it?

Competition is one factor. Any provider opting for this method alone would risk losing out to competitors who disguised charges. There will inevitably be calls for a level playing field. Here the industry bodies, the Investment Association, and the regulator have a key role to play in influencing change.
The BHS pension scheme has paid more than 14m into the Pension Protection Fund since 2006, including a levy of 5m this year, according to a letter published by the work and pensions select committee.

That compares to the 275m that the PPF  the collective insurance policy for members of defined benefit schemes  has said it may have to fork out to plug the 571m hole left in the pension following the collapse of BHS in April .

The publication of the letter on Tuesday (24 May) coincided with news reports that the PPF was pressuring BHS administrators Duff & Phelps to line up the liquidators so that any remaining assets belonging to the company could be realised.

The PPF declined to comment on the report.

In its letter to the select committee, the PPF disclosed the vast majority of the 14m was paid after 2012.

Between 2006 and 2012, the scheme contributed less than 2m, or around 15 per cent of the total levy payments.

The PPF calculates a pension schemes levy based on how well-funded the scheme is, and the insolvency risk of the sponsoring company.

The less able the scheme is to meet its obligations to members, the more it has to pay into the PPF.

However, an underfunded scheme can reduce its levy by putting up a certified asset against failure.

The PPF said in its letter that Sir Philip Greens Arcadia  former parent company of BHS  took advantage of this rule, putting up one of its other businesses, Davenbush, as a certified asset.

This saw its levy halve from around 400,000 in 2010 to 2011, to 200,000 in 2011 to 2012.

However, when Arcadia did not put Davenbush up as a certified asset in 2012 to 2013, its levy leapt twelvefold to 2.5m.

It also attracted the attention of The Pensions Regulator.

The PPF told FTAdviser currently 5,945 schemes pay the levy. In 2016 to 2017, the PPF expects to raise 615m in levy payments.

That would put the average (mean) levy payment at just over 100,000.

This year the BHS scheme is liable for 50 times that.

Currently the BHS scheme is in the top risk band - level 10 - of levy payers.

The majority (65 per cent) of schemes are in the bottom five bands, with 29 per cent in level one.

The select committee is currently investigating what led to the collapse of BHS and its pension schemes subsequent deficit crisis.

On Monday (23 May) it emerged Goldman Sachs had informed Arcadia that Dominic Chappell, the man who bought BHS off Arcadia for 1 in March 2015, had been bankrupt several times and lacked retail experience.

Sir Philip Green himself is due to appear before the select committee in June.

james.fernyhough@ft.com
Self-invested personal pension provider Curtis Banks has completed the acquisition of Suffolk Life Group from Legal & General.

Curtis Banks and Suffolk Life Group now administers about 68,000 pension schemes with assets under administration of about 18bn.

The group employs more than 500 members of staff in its offices in Bristol, Ipswich, Dundee and Market Harborough.

Curtis Banks is the second largest independent Sipp provider in the UK following the acquisition, having achieved significant growth organicaly and through acquisition since it commenced trading in 2009.

Chris Banks, chairman of Curtis Banks said: This is a very significant acquisition for the group.

My colleagues and I look forward to working with the skilled management team already in place at Suffolk Life in order to develop the potential of the combined group for the benefit of clients, advisers, staff and shareholders.

We are very pleased that Legal & General has chosen Curtis Banks to take ownership of this business and believe this reflects our strong standing and market reputation.

Will Self, managing director of Suffolk Life, said: Joining the Curtis Banks Group, with its strong focus on the advised retirement market will help Suffolk Life realise its strong potential.

Over time the expected improvements will not only benefit advisers and their clients but will play an important role supporting the longer term ambitions of the group.

Rupert Curtis, chief executive officer at Curtis Banks, told FTAdviser: Suffolk Life are very strong on property management.

We continue to have conversations with others in the market place [with regard to acquisitions] and that may or may not go anywhere.

We want to continue to strengthen the business organically by enhancing our existing offering in terms of online processing.

We are defining our brand. It is very much a service driven proposition and that will start to appear in terms of the website. Youll see more happening in terms of a clearer brand.

Paul Lindfield, director and IFA at Manchester-based Sedulo Wealth Management said: I think Suffolk Life customers will benefit from Curtis Banks experience of running property purchases and more esoteric investments and firmly move Suffolk Life away from the platform/sipp provider.

I also think Curtis Banks will benefit from Suffolk Lifes investment solutions and experience and ultimately the combination will make a true Sipp proposition.

ruth.gillbe@ft.com
It comes with no set-up fee, the first transfer is free and the basic annual fee is 100 plus VAT.

Clients introduced through advisers can see their holdings alongside their other investments using Platform Ones service.

Martin Cadman, managing director of MC Trustees, said this was the first time his business has offered a low cost platform Sipp which can be upgraded to a full Sipp, should a client want to make non-platform investments.

He said: Also, should a client wish to move to a Qrops, we can offer this through our company in Malta and transfer the assets at no extra charge.

Adviser View

Dennis Hall, chief executive of London-based Yellowtail Financial Planning, said: It is all very well and good setting up a nice low cost product but if I cant readily get information to do due diligence on the firm Im not going to use them.

Non standard investments could cause problems from a capital adequacy perspective, but it is a good product from a price perspective.

ruth.gillbe@ft.com
Story Highlights U.S. adults split over whether abortion is morally acceptable

Also divided in self-description as "pro-choice" or "pro-life"

Largest segment -- 50% -- want abortion legal, but with limits

PRINCETON, N.J. -- U.S. public opinion on abortion was largely steady over the past year, as Americans remained split on the morality of abortion as well as in their preferences for the "pro-choice" vs. "pro-life" labels. The vast majority of adults continue to believe abortion should be legal to some extent, with 29% saying it should be legal in all circumstances and 50% favoring legality under certain circumstances.

Recent Trend in U.S. Abortion Views May 6-10 , 2015 May 4-8 , 2016 % % Morality of abortion Morally acceptable 45 43 Morally wrong 45 47 Abortion position "Pro-choice" 50 47 "Pro-life" 44 46 Legality of abortion Legal under any circumstances 29 29 Legal only under certain circumstances 51 50 Illegal in all circumstances 19 19 Gallup

Moral Acceptability Has Increased, Longer Term

The public's attitudes on the morality of abortion reflect a recent split, and contrast with a slightly more conservative stance seen in most years from 2002 through 2014. During that period, 50% of Americans, on average, called abortion morally wrong, while only 39% called it morally acceptable. Analysis of the trend by age indicates the shift is mainly because older adults, those aged 55 and older, have grown more likely to consider abortion morally acceptable.

Over the same period, Americans' perceptions of themselves as either "pro-choice" or "pro-life" in their abortion views have bounced around somewhat, but have generally broken fairly evenly since 2010. This contrasts with the period from 2004 through 2008, when the "pro-choice" position held a consistent edge.

Meanwhile, Americans' fundamental view about the legality of abortion has been broadly steady, with the largest segment consistently favoring the middle position of three that Gallup supplies, saying abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances. Of the remainder, more Americans lean to the left than to the right on the issue, with 29% saying abortion should be legal in all circumstances vs. 19% saying it should be illegal in all circumstances.

A follow-up question asked of those favoring the middle position clarifies that most of these -- constituting 37% of Americans -- think abortion should generally be rare, occurring in only a few circumstances. The other 13% think it should be legal in most circumstances or are unsure.

Bottom Line

In contrast with public support for gay rights -- more specifically, same-sex marriage -- which has grown in recent years, Americans' views on abortion have been remarkably steady. Not only have attitudes changed little in the past year, but they also have been broadly steady over the past decade, spanning three presidential elections. While Americans are a bit more likely to call abortion morally acceptable today than they were in 2004, 2008 and 2012, the percentage calling themselves "pro-choice" is similar to what Gallup found in those years. The overall stability provides a predictable political environment for candidates. Additionally, as Gallup reported previously, the 20% of Americans saying they will vote only for a candidate who agrees with them on abortion has also remained steady, with pro-life voters slightly more likely than pro-choice voters to say the issue is critical to their vote.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 4-8, 2016, with a random sample of 1,025 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
Please Note: this series is written in 2020.

I love traveling around the world in my computer. 10 years ago, I would spend hours on Google map, visiting the great cities in panorama mode. And now its exciting to learn that many great museums in the world offer online VR version. Wow, my favorite sites in cities are museums, now I can see them all at nearly no cost!

I have visited so many VR museum in the last few weeks, among them, two give me the deepest impression.

National Museum of China

This is the biggest museum in Asia. It features relics of the unbroken Chinese civilization dating from 6000 B.C.E up to now, and many national treasures.

Last week, my good friend Dr Wong comes back home from Indonesia for a short stay. He had admired the museum for a long time and asks me to give him a tour this time. The museum was undergoing some renovation in the last few months, and there was news that they had reopened with something new. So I first go to their official site to check out open time and admission policy.

To my astonishment, the site says the museum doesnt accept regular visitors in the future, and the only option they reserve for the public is the online VR version. My head is spinning, VR museums are mostly digital version, recreated in 3D, why they took such long time to make big changes to the inside then closed it for good?

Well, this is the first time they offer a VR version, and the site says Google Walker supported, great, so I have my headgear and Google Walker connected, lets go!

Google Walker is my favorite VR accessory, its cheap enough that nearly every household has one. Its a disc of roughly 3 square feet big, you can step on it and then start to walk in the virtual world. you can walk, make turns, the feeling is just right. And physically you will be kept in the same place. Its only good for walking on flat ground, I believe they would have Google Mountain Hiker very soon.

After I logged into the VR museum, it seems take forever to connect me to the virtual place, it says Queuing. So I take off the gears and wait. Some 3 hours later, Im finally in. I find myself at the giant entrance hall of the museum. So familiar, for I have visited the actual site for hundreds of times. And the interior is so real, strangely real.

The entrance hall is modified a bit, some big screens erected, for general introduction of the VR feature of the museum, and some users guide. I read the introduction a bit, and look around, then I start to understand.

What I see is not a replica of the museum in the cyber space, its the real one!

The museum has equipped an army of droids. In the R&D phase, there are a few generation of prototypes. Currently its the Gen 3 in use.

When you visit their online museum, a droid/drone would be allocated to you. The drone is driven by your body move and the cameras are synched to your head gear. Then the drone would take your place to visit the museum.

I expect to see lots of drones hovering in the hall, but I can see none of them. Instead I see lots of people walking around, they are in simple silhouette, with an avatar image on head. Soon I understand those are in fact other peoples drones, simple image processing technique makes them look more human. And going close I can say Hi to them. From the head images I can see there are people from all countries of the world.

As the VR museum just opened for a few days, there are lots of visitors, I understand why it takes me 3 hours to connect. They just dont have enough drones, and I was queuing for one.

I soon realize, to solve the queuing dilemma , the museum needs to be able to accommodate a lot of flying drones at the same time, that the drones should be made as small as possible. By todays technology, a camera carrying drone could be made infinitely small. However, to produce stereo 3D feeling for the VR viewer, there need to be two cameras, and they should be positioned 6.5cm apart. So this might be the most compact design:

As I going around, I see the modifications to the museum is minimal, the permanent displays are still there as in the old days. I first go to the Ancient China show in B1 floor. The artifacts are still in their position, just like old friends welcoming me. I feel something changed, but cant tell at first.

I look into the terra-cotta warrior, I can get so close that I can see the tiny nail head on the armor, and a few faded pigment trapped in small seams, which suggests the dull clay figure was once splendidly painted. I believe there used to be a circle of safety bar around the figure, that we could only see him from 6 feet away. Now the bar is removed, we can get very close. And I find that when Im close enough, the drone would cease to go further. I try with couples of artifacts, the same. I think theres some algorithm prevents the drones from touching the valuables.

And I see not only the safety bars are removed, the glass cases of most artifacts are gone. It makes sense, as theres no actual people in the hall, and with crash-proof algorithm in place, theres no need of those barriers.

I remember that the instruction says I can take pictures with the drone camera. That is great. In the old days, the reflective glass case is my big headache. To my surprise, the drone has a Tripod shooting mode, that is to stabilize the drone in the air while taking the shoot. The lighting in the hall is dim, I tried a 2.5 sec exposure. Fantastic! Very sharp picture with no grains at all.

I hover around in the museum for a few hours, taking pictures, and forget to eat my super. The museum has extended the opening time, 5 hours more each day. Well, the maintenance needed is reduced. I think if the museum is fully digital, it could open 24/7.

This is my feeling in general, the vision couldnt be more real, and the visit is very comfortable, for the Google Walker and goggle synch so well, you wont have the dizzy feeling.

And I fancy this is a very green museum. For the series of interconnected museum buildings are monstrous, each summer and winter they would swallow huge volume of power to cool or heat the interior. Now as the museum is virtually no-mans zone, no need to turn the air conditioners on.

The great thing is, like in the old days, the museum is free for visit. So, what are you waiting for? Connect your head gear and go:

wwww. chnmuseumVR.cn

In the next article, I will take you to the Louvre, there more exciting VR technique and experience await !

I would post regularly--about game and art production.
Microsoft 2016 Latest News: Company Finally Joins Fight Against Terrorism Online

The effort to combat online terrorism has taken in a new ally with word that Microsoft has joined the likes of Google and Facebook in tackling terrorism online. They are considered one of the remaining major tech companies to join the cause though it was not yet mentioned how they intend to do their part.

Though their pledge is a good sign of unity against terrorism, there is no official word yet on their part on how they intend to contribute to the cause. The easy guess that it would be tied up with their web search service but for now though Microsoft has not committed to doing so unless it comes with reason.

"We will remove links to terrorist-related content from Bing only when that takedown is required of search providers under local law," said Microsoft.

From the looks of it, the company will approach it the professional way meaning that it may be done through stages. This is despite admitting that terrorist content has already reached their content services, particularly Xbox Live and Outlook webmail.

With the proper groundwork, Microsoft may follow the lead of other major tech companies like Telegram Facebook and Google.

Telegram has been keeping close watch on terrorist content. The efforts of the secure messaging app company have resulted in the blocking of over 600 channels associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant dating back to November.

Google has done its share by screening anti-radicalism links while Facebook is currently monitoring terrorist-related content on their end.

Though it isnt clear for now, Microsoft seems to be on the move following word that the company is funding Hany Farid. Farid is a professor at Dartmouth College and is being commissioned to develop a technology that scans documents, video, images and audio to properly identify terrorism-related materials only.
'Facebook' Fat Shames Plus-Size Model?: What The Australian Feminist Group Have To Say Over The Social Media Giant's Apology Revealed

Australian women group needs that dislike button now. A feminist group, Cherchez la Femme, grapples with "Facebook" after an apparent fat-shaming disapproval towards one of their ads. A photo of a bikini-wearing plus-size model is rejected by "Facebook" due to strict ad policies.

As social justice warrior and feminism spread in the internet, social media is on a tight leash to keep up with the times. According to Mashable, plus-size model Tess Holliday became the poster girl in Cherchez la Femme protest against Facebook after it inconvenienced a publicity boost for their event called "Feminism and Fat". The issue sparked after its member, Jessamy Gleeson posted a screenshot of "Facebook" notification on the ban that highlighted a preference for the societal standards of beauty.

The group said that "Facebook" guidelines are rather inadequate as it prevents the uploading of materials that they consider as "too perfect" or "extremely undesirable", resulting to the photo of Holliday being banned."Facebook" is quick to issue an apology and offers the millions of content reviews as an excuse for their error.

A representative from "Facebook" clarified that "This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologize for the error and have let the advertiser know we are approving their ad" after receiving flak from women users. However, model Tina Holliday cannot be reached for a comment.

In spite of this, Cherchez la Femme is not backing down and demands to be taken seriously. Beyond the event boost, they seek "Facebook" accountability and wants to engage them in body positivity consultation to properly overhaul their policies.

The Independent reported that the "Facebook" advertisement health and fitness policy reeks of discrimination against this certain body type, citing distaste for muffin tops and hanging fat. Probably created to filter out images that supposedly traumatizes other users, "Facebook" still admits the mistake afte they backpedaled on their image ban on the plus-size model.

Based on Washington Times, "Facebook" is a go-to platform to boost events and spread viral messages. However, unimpressed Cherchez la Femme is firm on the condemnation and states willingness to let go of the platform if their calls go unnoticed.

This is not the first issue that "Facebook" encountered this year as they were accused of manipulating trending topics, prompting CEO Mark Zuckerburg to meet with conservatives and qualify the neutral politics of "Facebook".
Verizon's Strategies In Boston Branded As A Lie; Union Strikers Braces For The Worst?

Verizon strike has led to unprecedented outcomes and scrutiny. The recent marketing strategies that Verizon implemented in Boston were branded a lie. Moreover, the union strikers have also been speculated to brace for the worst things to come.

The Huffington Post relayed that Verizon has formerly mentioned of investing $300 Million for the improvement of the Boston line. It would mean that the region's Internet system would be boosted by fiber-optic FiOS. However, contradictory to what the tech firm revealed, there has not been any confirmation that it was fully done.

Verizon told Boston that they were going to be spending about $300 million over 6 years to upgrade the city to FiOS, a fiber-to-the-home service, but according to Verizon's Shammo, the money really isn't being "spent", as noted by the same post.

"So we will get to this. But we are starting to - we will start this mid-year this year for especially the 5G and 4G LTE densification. We will start the Internet capability with the passing homes," Shammo added.

It is clear that Verizon has not rendered full details to the authenticity of its projects. Along that line, with the ongoing strike from the union workers, the days would continue to dim for the tech company, unless both segments are able to fix their differences.

More report from Game & Guide has revealed that even the union workers children have joined their parents in the picket fence to strengthen their resolve.

Indeed, the eyes of the world are focused on the unfolding outcomes for Verizon. All the more, Verizon needs to address the issues pertaining to their marketing and operations in Boston. Otherwise, Verizon's operations in Boston might be branded as lie and complete hoax. As for the strikers and the union workers, if the fight goes on, it is inevitable but these workforces must brace themselves for the worst things to come.
Angelina Jolie Now a Professor; Brad Pitt Rescues Fan From Injury

Speculations over Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce continue to circulate online, but the Hollywood couple appear too busy to actually care about them. Angelina is appointed as a professor, while Brad continues to work on the upcoming World War II movie "Allied."

Angelina Jolie Becomes a Professor

On top of being an actress and an activist, Angelina is now officially an academic. The London School of Economics, one of England's most prestigious universities, appointed her as a visiting professor. She is expected to provide lectures and participate in public functions, among other tasks.

Angelina will be part of a new master's degree program that focuses on issues involving women. She is appointed with three other people, namely Jane Connors, William Hague and Madeleine Rees. As per Variety, the program will begin accepting applications this fall. It is run by the university's Center for Women, Peace and Security, which Angelina also helped launching in 2015.

Angelina is a vocal campaigner of refugee rights, The Independent notes, as well as an opponent of female genital mutilation and use of rape in war. She is currently a special envoy for the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees.

In a statement on Monday, the newly-appointed professor expressed, "I am very encouraged by the creation of this master's programme. I hope other academic institutions will follow this example, as it is vital that we broaden the discussion on how to advance women's rights and end impunity for crimes that disproportionately affect women, such as sexual violence in conflict."

"I am looking forward to teaching and to learning from the students as well as to sharing my own experiences of working alongside governments and the United Nations," she added.

Brad Pitt Helps Save Fan From Crowd

Also on Monday, Brad Pitt came to help a young girl who was almost crushed by a crowd. Filming "Allied" in the Canary Islands, he was greeting fans when he noticed the girl being pushed up by the crowd against a fence, People reports. With two bodyguards, Brad lifts her away from mayhem. He stood beside her until medics came to aid.

No official word has come from either parties to confirm allegations of their divorce.
Kate Middleton, Prince William Divorce: Prince Harrys Brother the Father of Jecca Craigs Baby? Duchess of Cambridge Devastated?

Kate Middleton and Prince William have been plagued with several nasty rumors ever since they announced that they are officially together. Now, new reports are claiming that the Duchess of Cambridge has been humiliated by Prince William's ex Jecca Craig baby secret.

Jonathan Baillie reveals Jecca Craig has a baby

Celeb Dirty Laundry reported that Jecca Craig had already given birth to a baby boy despite no official birth announcement. Many were confused to see Jonathan Baillie, who is the husband of Prince William's ex, alone during an event.

When asked why he chose to fly solo, Jonathan Baillie said Jecca Craig was at home "looking after our new baby," a Daily Mail reported has divulged. Several fans went berserk upon learning this that they have speculated that Prince William is the father of Jecca Craig's baby.

To recall, Prince William went to Kenya without Kate Middleton's permission to meet Jecca Craig. Previous reports have claimed that the Duchess of Cambridge was really upset with her husband at that time for choosing to spend the Easter weekend in Kenya than to celebrate it with his family.

While the Palace released a statement that the Kenya trip of Kate Middleton's husband was going to be more on the promotion of his wildlife initiative, several fans believed that most of it was personal. It was later learned that Jecca Craig got married with Jonathan Baillie.

Prince William is the father of Jecca Craig's baby

Now, fans are suspecting that Prince William could possibly be the father of Jecca Craig's baby. A lot of Royal watchers have speculated that the baby boy is of Royal birth but every Tom, Dick, and Harry is keeping it a major hush-hush.

While these reports could be true or not, fans should take everything with a grain of salt until either Prince William or Jecca Craig confirms anything. Royal followers have also started the reports that Kate Middleton would surely want to have her third baby now after Prince William was reported to be the father of his ex's baby.

Other news claim that this could be the reason for the impending Prince William-Kate Middleton divorce to push through if proven true. The relationship of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been reportedly hitting the rock bottom for quite some time now.

Do you think Prince William is the father of Jecca Craig's baby boy? If you were Kate Middleton, would you feel hurt after knowing that your husband could have impregnated his ex-girlfriend? Share to us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia was among the right people enshrined on the memorial wall on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Mayor Sharon Konopa said shed never seen so many people at a ceremonial groundbreaking, but the turnout was understandable.

After all, the Historic Carousel & Museum is seen by many officials and other residents as a project that will rejuvenate downtown, draw thousands of visitors and boost business in the area.

A groundbreaking for the carousels new $5.6 million building at 503 First Ave. W. was held on Tuesday morning, and about 150 people were in attendance.

This is one more step in this wonderful journey.  So many people jumped on the bandwagon with us, said Wendy Kirbey, who came up with the idea of the local carousel to draw visitors after seeing the carousel in Missoula, Montana, in 2002.

Dr. Gary Goby, a volunteer who is helping the museum board oversee construction, said that more than 180,000 volunteer hours have been given to the project.

The carousel board hopes the new 22,000-square-foot building is completed by June 1, 2017. The centerpiece of the building will be a 60-foot dodecagon structure with 12 sides.

The first floor will be 14,000 square feet and the 8,000-square-foot basement will include a workshop, storage area and volunteer break room.

And, of course, the carousel will have 50 hand-carved horses, other animals and mythical creatures to ride, as well as two chariots.

Konopa also told the crowd there was plenty of skepticism when Kirbey first presented her grand plans to the Albany City Council.

We just thought, What is she talking about? she said.

"There were bumps along the way, and some people didnt think the carousel project would ever get finished, Konopa added.

The city has contributed about $750,000 in urban renewal funding for the project, which helped the carousel board buy the 1942 building and property on First Avenue.

The old structure was demolished earlier this month, and a backhoe and rubble from the old building remained on the construction site on Tuesday.

Goby said that three semi-truck loads of timber from the former building, including large beams, will be repurposed into the new structure.

Until the new buildings completion, the carousel animals are on display at various locations around downtown, including at Two Rivers Market, 250 Broadalbin St. S.W., where woodcarving and other work on the animals also is continuing.
Having served in the Vietnam War, Dr. Bob Harris has come to focus on post-traumatic stress and survivor guilt, as well as a host of other veteran-related conditions.

The retired counselor and veterans advocate will speak Wednesday at the Albany Public Library at an event designed to help veterans and their families better understand the cultural and psychological challenges veterans face when returning to civilian life.

His three-hour presentation begins at 7 p.m. The Albany-based veterans group Vets Helping Vets HQ will present the talk.

The purpose of his talk, Harris says, is to give veterans and their loved ones the tools they need to better discuss the issues. Harris said this is easier said than done, noting that the military's culture and mission focus leave little room for introspection. Further, returning veterans experience a civilian population incapable of relating to their experiences.

Thats where the title, I Dont Want to Talk About It, came from, he said. Why talk about it and why accept thanks for their service?

Harris said survivor guilt is a large problem among veterans, as is post traumatic stress disorder, especially in an all-volunteer force, where patriotic duty is a driving force. For this reason, he says, not just combat veterans, but every service member can harbor feelings of having not done enough.

Cultural challenges for veterans can also exist beyond the battlefield experience, Harris said. He offers an example of veterans who enroll in universities.

They always sit in the back row and almost never speak in class, he says, and they get angry when they watch the 18- and 19-year-old students taking their education for granted. Theyre there to learn, but they also have trouble navigating the university environment.

Harris said veterans come from a culture where rank, qualifications and experience are displayed on uniforms, so the culture of hierarchy is clear and individual thought is discouraged. In college, by contrast, a professor wears casual clothes and might even wander around the room, asking students what they think. The result for veterans is a cultural shock for which many are not prepared.

Harris said some professors, such as Marshall Thomas at Cal State Long Beach, have designed entire courses around explaining the differences between military and civilian culture.

For its part, Harris said the military as well as the Veterans Administration have made efforts to better accommodate returning service members.

For example, where combat veterans are awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, more and more support personnel are participating in real battles. So the military has created the Combat Action Ribbon to acknowledge their service. This moves beyond the recognition; it also qualifies the service member for counseling sessions when he or she is discharged, as well as a disability rating by the VA. The rating, said Harris and other groups, should be more detailed and descriptive for each veteran.

While Harris felt the VA should give higher disability rating to returning combat veterans, he said the overall effort is a positive step from a culture that has in the past worked to avoid the issue altogether.
Benton Countys unemployment rate of 3.4 percent for April, down from 3.5 percent in March, was the lowest in the state, and another sign of a healthy economy for the area, said Patrick OConnor, a regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department.

Low unemployment rates are a pretty good indicator, he added. Its continuing to be as low as it has been in a number of years, OConnor said. The county-by-county jobless numbers were released on Tuesday.

Perhaps more telling, Benton Countys total employment of nearly 45,000 was up about 2,500 from the areas prerecession employment peak in November 2007.

Somewhat ironically, the low unemployment rate is posing challenges for local companies, OConnor said. There are only so many bodies out there looking for work. Employers are struggling to find the workers they need."

Benton County also has 680 more jobs than at the same point last year, a 1.6 percent increase. The private sector added 380 jobs, while the public sector added 300 jobs.

The Corvallis area, however, lagged behind Oregon and the rest of the nation in job growth. The states job growth was at 3.5 percent, and the United States job growth was at 1.9 percent.

However, statewide unemployment was at 4.5 percent.

Slowing down Benton Countys growth was the loss of 250 manufacturing jobs over the past year.

The fastest growing private sector areas were mining, logging and construction (up 80 jobs or 7.1 percent), financial activities (up 70 jobs or 5.3 percent) and health care and social assistance (up 270 jobs or 4.6 percent).

While Benton Countys unemployment rate is low, the record is 2.2 percent, set in 1995 during the heyday of Hewlett-Packard.

At the height of the recession, Benton Countys unemployment rate was 8.6 percent.

Linn County

Across the Willamette River, Linn County finally has more jobs than it did before the recession hit.

And with a record-low unemployment rate of 5.7 percent for April, the jobs picture looks bright for the county, OConnor said.

Linn Countys total employment for April was 52,704 workers, 20 above the prerecession employment peak in March 2008.

The unemployment rate was down from a revised rate of 5.8 percent in March. Aprils figure of 5.7 percent is the lowest since at least 1990, when the state began tracking county-by-county unemployment data.

During the worst stretch of the recession, Linn Countys unemployment rate was 14.9 percent.

Linn Countys employment has grown by 1,990 jobs over the past year, a 4.8 percent increase.

Thats a great trend for Linn County. Its been a long time since weve had that fast of job growth, OConnor said.

The private sector added nearly 1,800 jobs, while the public sector grew by 200 workers. The fastest growing private-sector industries were leisure and hospitality (up 470 jobs or 14.5 percent), construction (up 240 jobs or 10 percent), and professional and business services (up 190 jobs or 6 percent).
A number of timber sales on the Siuslaw National Forest have been put on hold because they failed to adequately protect two sensitive bird species.

According to Forest Supervisor Jerry Ingersoll, the timber sales in question used outdated field survey data or broad-scale computer modeling without supplemental field observations to define buffers around actual or potential nesting sites for marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls, which depend on old growth forest for nesting habitat.

Both birds are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and protecting them has been a high priority for years in the Siuslaw National Forests management plan, which emphasizes the thinning of Douglas fir plantations to cultivate old growth forest characteristics.

No birds were harmed and no nesting sites were damaged as a result of the problem, Ingersoll said, but the lack of buffers left some pairs of owls and murrelets vulnerable to disturbance from nearby logging activity during nesting season, which could interfere with their reproductive success.

Ingersoll said he wasnt sure how many timber sales would ultimately be affected by the problems, which he characterized as miscommunications between departments or field data being overlooked following the retirement of key personnel. Those mistakes were discovered recently over a period of several months by other Siuslaw National Forest employees, who reported them to their supervisors.

Were still figuring out some of the details, he said. Some of them involve more issues than others.

The contracting problems come just six months after the Siuslaw was honored by U.S. Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell for its success in protecting endangered species while rebuilding timber harvest levels that fell off sharply in the 1990s, when logging all but ceased on many federal lands in the Pacific Northwest to halt the spotted owls decline.

Most if not all of the affected timber sales appear to be in the Central Coast District of the Siuslaw, a 630,000-acre forest that stretches from Marys Peak near Corvallis to Waldport and extends along the coast from Coos Bay to Tillamook. Timber companies that may have purchased problem sales have been notified, and work in sensitive areas has been halted while potentially problematic sales are being reviewed for compliance with Endangered Species Act requirements.

Our first priority is to address those existing timber sales, Ingersoll said. Its a complex process, and were going to be working through that with the purchasers.

Causes and extent

In a four-page memo to his staff on Thursday, Ingersoll outlined the causes and extent of the issue and asked for their help in resolving it. He also laid out the steps being taken to correct the situation.

Among other things, the memo said:

 Existing timber sale contracts will be modified if they would cause unacceptable impact to endangered species. Some units may be withdrawn from sale to protect active nesting areas.

 Planned timber sales will be modified if necessary before they go to auction.

 Where the risk to owls and murrelets is lower, the goal is to strike a reasonable balance between environmental, legal and economic concerns.

There is no way to resolve this situation without impacts, Ingersoll wrote in the memo.

We will have to modify existing contracts, and perhaps pay some contract claims. We will offer replacement volume for units deleted from contracts, which will come from sales we expected to offer in 2017. We will have to modify sales scheduled for this years (harvest) program, and our ability to meet regional target expectations this year is doubtful.

Ingersoll said he hoped to have the problems resolved and be back on a normal harvest schedule by this time next year.

Some of the timber companies affected by the contract issues say theyre waiting to see how the situation plays out.

We have not started harvesting timber in the affected areas, said C.J. Drake, a spokesman for Georgia-Pacific. Therefore, its too early to tell what economic impact this development might have on Georgia-Pacific.

Drake said Siuslaw officials had notified his company promptly about the problems and that G-P expects an offer of replacement timber, but that has not been identified yet.

Levi Beelart, the owner of B&G Logging, said his company is out nearly $100,000 in lost production after being pulled off the Porter Thin, a 5.5 million-board-foot timber sale near Florence. That left his crew of 16 equipment operators, riggers, truck drivers and supervisors idle until they could shift to another logging site.

At 11 oclock one morning they came up to us and said we needed to stop all operations, he said. It took us four days to move to another job, so we lost four days.

Beelart said hes been assured the Forest Service will cover his out-of-pocket expenses, but hes nervous that finding replacement timber for the affected contracts could mean fewer logs available for companies like his a year or two down the road.

Still, he said, the Siuslaw has been a good partner to work with and seems to be doing the best it can to rectify the problem.

I dont think it was their fault, necessarily, Beelart said. No matter who you are, youre going to make mistakes. Its how you deal with them and move forward that matters.

Chandra LeGue, the Western Oregon field coordinator for Oregon Wild, said her organization would be keeping a close eye on how the Siuslaw deals with the contract issue to be sure there are adequate safeguards for owls and murrelets.

At the same time, she said, shes encouraged by the willingness of forest officials to admit their mistakes.

We definitely have concerns about the ramifications, she said, but they do appear to be doing the best they can to correct the issue.
The news was mixed across Oregon in last week's election for local proposals to raise gasoline taxes, and its a good bet that the results were closely examined by that committee of lawmakers charged with crafting a transportation package for next years Legislature.

In Portland, voters approved a temporary 10-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline sold within the city limits. The money is expected to raise about $64 million to help maintain the citys crumbling streets. The city plans to use 56 percent of the money for road repairs and 44 percent for pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements.

Proposals to increase gas taxes were also on the ballot in Reedsport and Sandy. The verdicts were mixed: Voters in Reedsport approved a seasonal 3-cent increase thats meant to run from May to October. Money raised will go to help improve streets and to help shore up the citys levee system; a section of roadway flooded last year because of a failure in a tide gate. (The states constitution mandates that gas tax money can only be used for road projects, so Reedsport officials were obliged to link their levees to their roads.)

Meanwhile, voters in Sandy easily defeated a proposed 3-cent increase in the gas tax. That followed on the heels of a vote earlier this year in Bend, where voters thoroughly rejected a 5-cent increase in the gas tax to help tackle the citys backlog of deferred street maintenance.

Meanwhile, local governments across Oregon continue to ponder increased gas taxes as a way to pay for needed roadwork. A city of Corvallis budget task force, for example, has a regional gas tax on its list of possible budget enhancements  with the idea being that the tax would be in place in cities throughout both Benton and Linn counties to reduce the likelihood that people would just buy gas in areas that didnt have the increased tax.

All this complicates the picture for legislators, who are likely to take a hard look at an increase in the state gas tax as one way to pay for needed transportation improvements throughout the state. Will Portland-area legislators look kindly on an additional gas-tax increase in the wake of the additional dime that voters have just approved for the city? And how can you make the case for an increase in the gas tax to voters in other areas of the state who already have rejected such a hike?

Rep. Andy Olson of Albany is one of the legislators on the transportation committee. Olson has said one key will be making the case to taxpayers (and legislators) that any increase in the gas tax would bring a real return to voters in terms of value.

Another key, Olson has suggested, will be trying to ensure that any gas-tax increase will benefit residents throughout all of Oregon, and not just certain areas.

It also would help if legislators could tell taxpayers that any increase in the state gas tax would be offset, at least in part, by decreases in other areas. One area that could garner renewed attention in the 2017 session is the states Clean Fuels Program, which carries with it an estimated increase in the price of gas that could reach 19 cents a gallon.

It adds up to a complex web for legislators to try to negotiate. The need for improved transportation infrastructure throughout the state is undeniable. The tough question, as always, is how to pay for it.
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.
No go areas : Bad Godesberg Mayor clears up statement

Bad Godesberg Comments about women being out at night in Bad Godesberg created discord. The Mayor says we will not allow No Go Areas anywhere in Bad Godesberg.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

A comment made by District Mayor Simone Stein-Lucke caused a bit of an uproar. General-Anzeiger had reported about a VHS (Community education) podium discussion on Thursday where the topic of safety in Bad Godesberg came up. She had said that women shouldnt be underway in parks after dark.

This was a reaction to some citizens who had expressed their fear of leaving their homes in Bad Godesberg in the evenings. After hearing this message, a murmur went through the audience. Some shook their heads. Marcel Schmitt of the community activist group Burger Bund Bonn (BBB) sharply criticized the statement. He emphasized, No person who becomes the victim of a crime can be called guilty or responsible only because they were out late in the evening.

Asked to comment on her statement yesterday, Stein-Lucke told the General Anzeiger that This sentence is not only false, but also nonsense. If someone understood my message falsely, I want to clearly say that we will not allow to have a No-Go-Area in Bad Godesberg - not in the parks or anywhere. Myself, I am up at 6 a.m. and home at 11 p.m. walking my dog in Bastei Park, or on the Rhine. I have never felt unsafe there. She wanted to make sure that all Bad Godesberg residents had the same feeling.

A first step could be lighting up areas where it is dark or cutting back bushes and other wild growth. She is also in favor of a new discussion about use of video cameras to increase security.
NRW in Iran : Delegation seeks economic ties

Wirtschaftsminister Garrelt Duin. Foto: dpa

Teheran Business ties are being built up again between the state of NRW and Iran following the loosening of economic sanctions.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

A North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) delegation to Iran led by Economics Minister Garrelt Duin scored a first success already. This evening, Dusseldorf based ADKL will sign an agreement of cooperation with Iranian partners. ADKL is a firm which advises German and international businesses on commercial, legal and fiscal matters. Henkel, a German based multi-national company also announced further investment there and a contract to build a mill could be awarded to NRW.

NRW Economics Minister Duin went with 80 representatives of middle-sized companies from the area to investigate market opportunities in Iran following the loosening of economic sanctions. Traditionally, Germany and Iran have had good business contacts. I am positively surprised said Duin on Tuesday evening, our meetings are much more open and liberal than I would have thought. His meeting with the Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry Valiollah Afkhami was unusually concrete for this being our first round of talks.

Bonn firm Axxessio is also represented in the delegation; it is an IT and management consultancy company. We have gained much knowledge commented Duin. Having a good relationship to regional authorities in Iran is clearly important he has learned, When it comes to worker occupational safety and rights, German investors have no way around them (dealing with regional authorities).

It became clear to the German delegation just how large the need is for infrastructure investment there when they viewed the project called Parand. The suburb, 30 kilometers southwest from Tehran, is preparing to grow in the next two years from 180,000 to 480,000 residents. 300 hectares of land designated for industry are still up for grabs. German firms are expressly welcome. Mohsen Vatankhabhi of the Ministry for City Development and Road Construction, says We want to invest in solar facilities, movie theaters, a garbage collection system, and a medical complex with medical technical devices, doctors and hospitals so it can be a destination for patients from the near East.
Long distance buses : Suitcase theft

Bonn. Mix-ups and theft can lead to missing luggage upon arrival. Certain precautions may help.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

Passengers who are traveling on a long distance bus only know if their suitcase has traveled with them when they go to claim it upon arrival. The bus comes, they load in their luggage and climb onboard. They might receive an unwanted surprise when they arrive at their destination and the luggage is missing. This happens around nine times a week at MeinFernbus-Flixbus, Germanys largest long distance bus carrier.

In some cases, the suitcase has not been stolen; it was simply confused with another suitcase. Neutral looking black suitcases are often confused for one another. The bus company recommends putting a colored band on the suitcase so it is easily identifiable. Passengers who book their tickets online automatically receive a colored band when they print out their ticket. This protects the luggage from mix-ups if not from thieves.

A competitor of Flixbus is the Postbus and they have a better system for keeping track. It is the bus driver who loads the suitcases and when he does, a band with a number is attached to the suitcase and the passenger gets a receipt. Only when the receipt is turned in is the suitcase unloaded and released to the passenger. The bus companies warn, however that they are not sufficiently protected against organized crime. Flixbus says police are able to patrol some bus stops, on the lookout for thieves.

Operators of the Postbus and the smaller DeinBus believe the stop at Cologne/Bonn airport is somewhat more secure than other stops. The site is more transparent and open as many buses stop there. As well, there are more security personnel present because it is an airport. This is a good deterrent.

Of course, riding with the Deutsch Bahn, passengers store their luggage in the compartment where they are riding so it is less likely to be stolen. Federal crime statistics show 8,000 purses and carry ons are stolen from trains each year. This is a relatively small number when considering 1,300 train trips daily.
You Will No Longer Face Storage Crunches On Your Phone With Nextbit Robin at Rs 19,999 Features oi -Abhinaya

In the last month, Nextbit, a tech major based in San Francisco, announced that it is the creator of the very first cloud-based Android smartphone to be launched in India. The smartphone, Nextbit Robin, is now official.

Nextbit has priced the Robin smartphone at Rs 19,999. It is exclusive to Flipkart. The smartphone is open for pre-booking from today and it will be available from May 30.

Nextbit Robin... Pretty Impressive Specs

The Nextbit Robin smartphone boasts a 5.2-inch FHD IPS LCD display with 1920 x 1080 pixels that features Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.

Also Read: An Inside Look at Yutopian Playground: Check Out Micromax's Yu Office in Gurugram [PICTURES]

It is powered by a 2 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor that is teamed up with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB native storage space. While there is micro expandable storage support, the smartphone gets 100 GB free cloud storage.

A 13 MP rear camera snapper is present at the back with dual-tone LED flash and phase detection autofocus. At the front, the device features a 5 MP selfie shooter. The connectivity aspects on board the Robin smartphone include 4G, Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth.

There is a USB Type-C port and a 2,680 mAh battery that can be charged quickly with Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0.

Security is Assured with inbuilt Encryption

The Nextbit Robin smartphone comes with built-in encryption that enhances the security on the smartphone. It ensures that data is synced as well as transmitted securely. The data is encrypted on the server for the security reasons.

Nextbit OS is quite smart

The Nextbit OS integrates the cloud and the Android platform. It adapts to the way you use it, so the experience of working with it keeps getting better. It makes the Android platform secure and convenient.

Also Read: Three lakh registrations for Meizu M3 Note in two weeks

Whenever the smartphone is connected to Wi-Fi, it will sync the contents to the cloud in order to free up space on the Robin smartphone. There are four small lights on the back that notify you that the Robin is involved in solving the storage issues.

In fact, the Robin smartphone will get to know that you will run out of storage space months in advance. It will continually sync the apps and photos. As it syncs on Wi-Fi by default, you need not worry about excess data usage or battery drain.

Whenever you need space, the OS will archive things that you use occasionally. This way, it ensures that you have enough space when you need. It can also free up space in the airplane mode as all are synced.

The archived apps can be restored in just a click. This is the case even with the photos you take using the Robin smartphone. The pictures are downsampled to the resolution of the screen and the full-size version of the snaps will be saved in the cloud.

Power button doubles as fingerprint scanner

Nextbit Robin carries an innovative and eye-catchy design. It features a fingerprint scanner that is integrated with the power button. If you press the power button and leave the finger on it for a second, you can unlock the smartphone.

Best Mobiles in India
Top 10 Best HTC smartphones that you can buy in India Features oi -Harish

Taiwanese company HTC is a well known brand in the smartphone world, though it is now going through a rough patch. The company has given us some brilliant smartphones in the past, and continues to cater to its loyal set of consumers.

The brand is best known for producing quality smartphones. It has an array of smartphones that are placed across price range. Now, the company is all set to launch the HTC 10 smartphone in India, which was announced globally recently.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 most trending Smartphones of Last Week [May 16-22, 2016]

For those who are interested in buying or knowing more about the HTC smartphones, we bring to you a list of HTC smartphone that belong to different price category. The list includes HTC phones with dual SIM compatibility, and feature good specifications.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Most-awaited 6GB RAM Smartphones of 2016

You can have a look at this list to know about the latest and best HTC smartphones that are available in India. These phones have good specs and features for their price range, and on top of that, these get the HTC's design and UI.

Have a look at our pick of the top 10 HTC smartphones that you can buy in India.

HTC Desire 828 Dual SIM Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) display

Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with HTC Sense UI

1.5 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6753 64-bit processor with Mali-T760 GPU

2GB RAM

16GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Dual nano SIMs

13MP rear camera with LED Flash, OIS, BSI sensor, 1080p video recording

Ultrapixel front-facing camera, f.2.0 aperture, 26.8mm lens, 1080p video recording

HTC BoomSound, Dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers, Dolby Audio

4G LTE Cat.4 / 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, GPS / A-GPS + GLONASS

2800mAh battery HTC Desire 626 Dual SIM Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display

Android 4.4 with HTC Sense 6 UI

1.2GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU

1GB RAM

16GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 128GB

13MP rear camera with LED Flash

5MP front-facing camera

Dual front-facing stereo speakers

4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, GPS / GLONASS , NFC

2000mAh battery HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display

1.3 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6753 64-bit processor with Mali-T720 GPU

Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Sense UI

2GB RAM

16GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Dual (nano) SIM

13MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/2.2 aperture, BSI sensor, 1080p video recording

5MP front-facing camera, BSI sensor, 1080p video recording

HTC BoomSound, Dual frontal stereo speakers, Dolby Audio

4G LTE, WiFi b/g/n Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with a-GPS

2800mAh battery HTC One A9 Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD AMOLED display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 protection

Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with HTC Sense UI

Octa-Core Snapdragon 617 (4 x 1.5GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz) processor with Adreno 405 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

13MP rear camera with LED Flash

Ultrapixel front-facing camera

Multi-directional fingerprint sensor

24-bit, 192kHz supported by Hi-Fi DAC, Dolby Audio

4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS, NFC

2150mAh battery HTC Desire 728G Dual SIM Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with Sense UI

1.3 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6753 64-bit processor with Mali-T720 GPU

1.5GB RAM

16GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Dual (GSM + GSM / CDMA) nano SIMs

13MP rear camera with LED Flash

5MP front-facing camera

HTC BoomSound, Dual front-facing stereo speakers, Dolby Audio

3G HSPA+, WiFi b/g/n Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with a-GPS

2800mAh battery HTC One E9s Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (1280  720 pixels) HD AMOLED display

1.5 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6752M processor with Mali-T760 GPU

2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with HTC Sense UI

Dual nano SIMs

13MP autofocus camera with LED Flash, 1080p video recording

UltraPixel front-facing camera with BSI sensor, 1080p video recording

BoomSound speaker with Dolby Audio

4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS

2600mAh battery HTC One ME Dual SIM Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.2-inch (1440 x 2560 pixels) Quad HD display

Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 UI

2.2 GHz MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795T) Octa-Core 64-bit processor with PowerVR G6200 GPU

3GB RAM

32GB internal storage

expandable memory with microSD

Dual nano SIMs

20.7MP rear camera with dual LED flash, 4K Video recording

Ultrapixel front-facing camera

4G LTE

WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS

2840mAh battery HTC One E9 plus Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD display

2GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6795M 64-bit processor with PowerVR G6200 GPU

3GB RAM, 16GB / 32GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with Sense 7.0 UI

20MP rear camera with LED Flash

Ultrapixel front-facing camera

Dual nano SIM

4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n (2.4 and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS with GLONASS

2800mAh battery HTC One E9 Plus Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD display

2GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6795M 64-bit processor with PowerVR G6200 GPU

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with Sense 7.0 UI

3GB RAM

16GB / 32GB internal memory

expandable memory with microSD

20MP rear camera with LED Flash

Ultrapixel front-facing camera

Dual nano SIM

3.5 mm headset jack, Dual front-facing BoomSound speakers with Dolby Audio

4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n (2.4 and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS with GLONASS

2800mAh battery HTC Desire 826 Click Here To Buy

Key Features

5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) display

Octa-Core (1.5 GHz & 1.0 GHz) Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with Adreno 405 GPU

2GB RAM

16GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense UI

Dual SIM (optional)

13MP rear camera with LED Flash

4G LTE Cat.4 / 3G

WiFi

Bluetooth 4.0

2600 mAh battery

Best Mobiles in India
Russian Embassy Has No Comments on Detention of Russian Spy in Rome

Sputnik News

23:44 24.05.2016

The Russian Embassy in Italy is not commenting on media reports alleging that a Russian citizen was arrested in Rome on suspicions of spying, an employee of the embassy said Tuesday.

ROME (Sputnik)  On Monday, the Exresso newspaper reported that Frederico Carvalhao Gil, an official of the Portuguese Security Information Service, was detained in Rome on request of Lisbon. Carvalhao Gil was reportedly caught selling state secrets to a member of the Russian intelligence, who was also detained.

"The embassy does not have any comments on this case at the moment," the embassy employee told RIA Novosti.

According to media reports, Carvalhao Gil was passing to the alleged Russian spy political and economic information regarding NATO and the European Union.

Italian media reported that both are currently in Rome awaiting extradition.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. Jails Russian Banker For Conspiracy To Spy

May 25, 2016

A Russian banker has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in what U.S. prosecutors have described as a Cold War-style spy ring.

The defendant, 41-year-old Evgeny Buryakov, also received a $10,000 fine in the case on May 25.

Buryakov has asked to be deported after he is released from prison.

U.S. prosecutors say Buryakov worked undercover for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency for years while posing as an employee for the Russian bank Vnesheconombank in Manhattan and previously in South Africa.

Arrested in 2015, Buryakov pled guilty in March to one count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent while working on behalf of the Russian government.

A second, more substantive charge of actually acting as an unregistered foreign agent was dropped as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ russia-us-banker-sentenced- conspiracy-to-spy/27757410.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Carter: Maintaining Military Superiority Requires Work, Funding, Technology, People

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2016  Protecting the nation and much of the world is a U.S. duty because of the challenges and opportunities that exist, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told service members at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, today.

The secretary toured an operational Virginia-class submarine and said he is confident in U.S. undersea superiority as a great military strength, telling the service members their work reaches far, including the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

"I'm also confident that we'll retain it in the future, but it's not a birth right. We have to work at it," he said of military superiority. "We have to spend money on it, which we're doing and will do. We have to be innovative in technology. And we have to have really good people."

The United States must retain its lead over the capabilities of countries such as Russia and China, he said, adding that the nation also must keep vigilant watch over Iran and North Korea.

Troops 'Insurance' in Uncertain World

"It's an uncertain world, and we have an almost-perfect record of not anticipating what comes next," Carter said. "You're an insurance policy against that uncertain future, because you'll be ready and you'll be an awesome capability [against] whatever comes down the road."

The secretary emphasized two points in his troop talk. The first is that continuing to be the best requires the United States to have a competitive mentality and always think, innovate, absorb the newest technology, look outside the walls and be willing to take ideas.

Secondly, he said, "We are and have the finest fighting force the world has even known, principally because of the quality of our people. And attracting good people to follow you, retaining good people like you in the future, is an important responsibility [that] I and the rest of the leadership have."

The secretary asked the service members to think about what would bring people with their abilities into the military and what would retain for 10, 20 or 30 years.

'Excellent Job Welcoming Women'

"We've got to work at that kind of thing," he said. "That's why it was important to me, and you have done an excellent job with it here, to  welcome women who are qualified into the service."

Carter said he's aware that sacrifices are vital to service, and such matters should be minimized when possible.

"I don't take it for granted that you're here," the secretary said. 'I very much appreciate it. You're talented people." Though they have alternatives to serving in the military, he told the service members, they stick with it because they love it -- the mission, their shipmates and their country.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russian Military Modernization Poses Increased Threat to NATO

Sputnik News

15:21 24.05.2016(updated 15:27 24.05.2016)

Russia's military investments recent increase poses the threat to NATO and the United Kingdom, UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The recent boost in Russia's military investments has increased the extent of the threat it poses to NATO and the United Kingdom, UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon said Tuesday.

"Clearly, Russia has invested in its armed forces and has modernized its armed forces, and to that extent the threat from Russia has increased. That is why we have to take account of that in looking at our own capabilities and our capacities," Fallon said.

Speaking at a UK parliament Defence Committee meeting dedicated to Russia's impact on the UK defense and security, the minister added that NATO had responded by preparing a readiness action plan and is set to prepare a readiness task force by 2017. The force is expected to comprise 5,000 personnel and be able to mobilize within hours, he noted, responding to questions by members of parliament regarding the alliance's readiness to counter alleged threats from Russia.

"Russia has a long history of investment in air defense systems, which requires us to respond in alliance terms for security as well as for defense in terms of electronic warfare. And Russia has a long history of investment in artillery systems. We also have our own artillery systems. But there is not doubt that the level of stockholding is significant," Air Chief Marshal and Chief of Defence Staff Designate Sir Stuart Peach said.

Relations between Russia and the United Kingdom deteriorated in 2014 amid the crisis in Ukraine. The European Union, the United States and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions since Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia in 2014 and Moscow was accused of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US-Georgia Noble Partner Military Drills Wrap Up Near Tbilisi

Sputnik News

14:56 24.05.2016(updated 15:10 24.05.2016)

The US-Georgian military exercises Noble Partner 2016 concluded at the Vaziani airport near the capital city of Tbilisi on Tuesday.

TBILISI (Sputnik)  The US-Georgian military exercises Noble Partner 2016 concluded at the Vaziani airport near the capital city of Tbilisi on Tuesday.

"Every military exercise like this one is a guarantee that the Georgian Armed Forces are becoming closer to NATO but the military proximity is not enough and we need a political consensus. The fact that there is an officially formed NATO battalion here proves fundamental steps forward in this direction," Georgian Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli told journalists.

The Defense Ministry stated earlier that a NATO military unit was deployed in the country and if necessary it could engage in the NATO Response Force.

The Noble Partner exercise brought together 500 Georgian and 650 US servicemen, as well as 150 UK military personnel. It featured a full range of equipment, from US Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry vehicles to M119 howitzers to T-72 tanks and BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles.

Georgia's membership of NATO will be addressed at the alliance's June summit in Warsaw.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO Troops Deployment in Europe 'New Step' to Worsen Regional Security

Sputnik News

14:15 24.05.2016

Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko stated that the NATO's plan to deploy four NATO battalions in Eastern Europe is a new step for the deterioration of the security level in Europe and the deterioration of the regional security.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The deployment of four NATO battalions in Eastern Europe is a new step toward the deterioration of the regional security, Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Tuesday.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States were preparing to deploy four battalions of about 4,000 troops in the Baltics to counteract the perceived Russian threat.

"This is a new step for the deterioration of the security level in Europe and the deterioration of the regional security," Grushko said during a Moscow-Brussels video linkup when asked to comment on the potential deployment of the NATO battalions.

Since 2014, the alliance has been building up its military presence in Europe, especially in Eastern European countries neighboring Russia, using alleged Russian interference in the eastern Ukraine conflict as a pretext.

Russia has many times warned NATO that its provocative actions may harm regional and global stability.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Vietnam May Purchase US Military Aircraft Once Embargo Lifted

Sputnik News

10:55 24.05.2016(updated 11:12 24.05.2016)

The United States may consider Vietnam as a military craft importer after the prolonged US arms sales embargo against the country is lifted.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States may begin supplying military transport and patrol aircraft to Vietnam after the decades-old US arms sales embargo against the country is lifted, Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama during his official visit to Hanoi announced an end to a Cold War-era US arms embargo on Vietnam. Later, the US Department of State said that the decision to allow arms sales to Vietnam is intended to deepen the two countries' bilateral relations.

"The first thing to be supplied to Vietnam once the embargo is lifted will be the P-3 Orion patrol aircraft. Russia has stopped manufacturing basic patrol planes in the 1990s, we have nothing to offer Vietnam in this area. The second thing will be the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. We do not produce any planes in this category, we have the heavier Il-76," Kashin said.

The Lockheed P-3 Orion is an anti-submarine as well as a maritime surveillance aircraft, which is capable of detecting and striking submarines, as well as engaging in anti-surface warfare against ships. The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is used as a military transport aircraft, but can also be used for airborne assault and as a gunship.

Russia, a long-time sole major supplier of military equipment and arms to Vietnam, is unlikely to lose a significant market share to US manufacturers, according to the expert.

"The business competition on the Vietnamese market has been growing even without the US decision. Vietnam is carrying out a policy of diversifying its ties, it is cooperating with Israel, several EU countries and is developing relations with India. For Russia, Obama's decision does not change much," he said.

Vietnam's appetite for arms imports has been among the world's fastest growing. Between 2011-2015, the country became the world's eighth largest arms importer and increased procurement by nearly 700 percent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Russian arms accounted for over 90 percent of these orders, Kashin said.

The Southeast Asian country will be cautious in its approach to dealing with the United States due to negative political connotations, he stressed, adding that Vietnam will seek to maintain its relations with Russia, as the latter is neutral in the matter of the South China Sea dispute and seeks to cooperate with all countries.

Beijing's territorial claims to the Spratly Islands, known as Nansha Islands in China, which are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, run counter to those of Vietnam, as well as the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. China has recently intensified construction works on the reefs it controls around the disputed Spratly Island archipelago.

The South China Sea dispute has been a source of tension between China and the United States, and has influenced relations with Vietnam. The US arms embargo was partially lifted in 2014 as relations between Hanoi and Beijing, the United States' main rival in the region, became strained due to the territorial dispute.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






African Union 'most important partner,' UN peacekeeping chief tells Security Council

24 May 2016  The Security Council today stressed the importance of strengthening the existing cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union (AU), a regional organization described by a senior UN official as "the most important peacekeeping partner."

Adopting a Presidential Statement, the 15-nation Council commended the increased contribution of the African Union to the maintenance of peace and security, and acknowledged the progress made in the ongoing cooperation between the UN and the AU.

The Council also welcomed the development of the new roadmap for 2016-2020 to make the African peace and security architecture fully operational, and noted that the recent reviews of the UN peacebuilding architecture, peace operations and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on 'women, peace and security' provided an opportunity to build a stronger, forward-looking partnership between the two organizations.

The Council, however, recognized that one major constraint facing the AU in effectively carrying out the mandates of maintaining regional peace and security is securing predictable, sustainable and flexible resources. In that regard, it welcomed the appointment of an African Union High Representative for the Peace Fund.

The adoption of the Presidential Statement came during an open debate on this subject, organized by Egypt, the Council President for this month. It featured more than 40 speakers, including Herve Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, who said: "The African Union, directly or not, is the most important partner of the UN in peacekeeping."

He said that nine out of 16 UN peacekeeping operations are in Africa, almost 50 per cent of all uniformed peacekeepers come from African Union member states, and more than 80 per cent of all uniformed peacekeepers are deployed in UN peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Noting that today marked the tenth anniversary of annual consultations on peace and security between the UN and the AU, Mr. Ladsous said a prime indicator of progress is the development of the African Standby Force. The African peace and security architecture roadmap 2016-2020 signals a move away from ad hoc activity-based responses towards a more strategic position, he said.

The role of the UN had changed from "support and capacity-building" to a partnership based on unity of purpose and effort, he said, adding that its key coordination mechanism is the United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force, which has increasingly encouraged proposals on coordinated messaging, shared information, joint analysis and monitoring of upcoming elections and crisis situations in Africa.

However, the most active area of cooperation has been on the ground, he said. It included the development of strategic concepts of operations for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), as well as the planning for operations in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Noting the Secretary-General's call for more predictable and sustainable financing and support for African peace operations authorized by the Security Council, he said that the two organizations will launch a joint review on financing and support for AU peace operations this week.

Haile Menkerios, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, noted that, despite the progress made, "real and numerous" threats to international peace and security remains in Africa.

Recent reviews of the international security architecture recommended strengthening the partnership with the African Union, he said, noting that his Office was a critical bridge in that effort.

Consultations have been enhanced, positions harmonized and volatile situations addressed across the continent, from the Lake Chad Basin to Somalia, Burundi and the Sahel, he said. Recent joint efforts to de-escalate political tensions in Comoros demonstrated the value of having the international community speak with one voice, he said.

Recalling that the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council had held their tenth annual consultations yesterday, he commended the growing relationship between the two entities.

In addition, the UN Secretariat was working with the African Union Commission to systematize working-level consultations, share information, support joint training and carry out joint early warning and conflict-prevention exercises through a new framework that emphasized a holistic approach.

Regarding the recommendations of the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations and the related report of the Secretary-General, he said the collective challenge was to support and strengthen the mutual security architecture, particularly through the African Standby Force and the African Union's capabilities in preventive diplomacy and mediation.

"I am more hopeful than ever that efforts to strengthen the partnership between the African Union and the United Nations will remain critical to the continued quest for security and stability in Africa," he said.

Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union, and Macharia Kamau, Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, also addressed the meeting.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Somalia: Security Council commends advancements, urges accelerated peace- and State-building

24 May 2016  The Security Council welcomed the political and security progress in Somalia during a mission to the capital, Mogadishu, on 19 May, where representatives of the 15-member body met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, regional leaders, Somali civil society and women's groups.

In a press statement following up the mission, they underlined the advances made since the transition ended in 2012, while underscoring the need to accelerate the country's peace- and state-building process, saying: "Holding a peaceful, transparent electoral process in 2016 will mark a historic step forward for all Somalis, and will be fundamental for the country's continued progress towards democracy and stability."

In the context of Security Council resolution 2232 (2015), which laid out that there be no extended electoral process timelines in Somalia, the members welcomed the electoral mechanism in the decree issued by President Mohamud on 22 May 2016, noting that it should "enable necessary technical preparation and implementation without further delay."

They also acknowledged that Somali leaders had worked hard to achieve agreement on the modalities of the electoral model and commended President Mohamud and the Government for ensuring that the electoral process timelines were upheld.

"The challenge now is to prepare and implement the elections and renew their call on all Somali stakeholders to work constructively to that end, without delay," the members emphasized.

The Council members called it "a historic opportunity" to deliver more representative governance to the people of Somalia.

They commended the Government's commitment to reserve 30 per cent of seats in the upper and lower houses for women and emphasised the importance of adhering to the political road map to 2020  in particular to reach one-person, one-vote elections by 2020.

The Security Council members further underlined their determination to play a constructive and active role in the months ahead.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Relative of Slain Taliban Leader Wants to Claim Body

by Ayesha Tanzeem, Ayaz Gul May 24, 2016

Pakistan's interior minister said Tuesday that a blood relative of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had come forward to claim the charred body of the man who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a news conference in Islamabad that although the United States and Afghanistan had claimed that Mansoor was killed in a drone strike on Pakistani territory, it was not possible for Pakistan to confirm the news without scientific verification, like a DNA test.

That test, he added, was now underway because of an unexpected development.

"Only today, an opportunity has arisen when a member of his family, who has a blood relationship with him, has formally requested for the body to be handed over to him," Khan said.

The government, he added, had immediately collected DNA samples from the relative and was waiting for the results to confirm that the body was that of Mansoor.

Criticism softening

Khan said the violation of Pakistan's territory by a U.S. drone could have "serious implications." But he seemed to soften the impact of his comment by adding that internal investigations had revealed that the U.S. drone didn't enter Pakistani territory. It was fired at Mansoor's car from "another country," he said, without naming the country.

Baluchistan province borders both Afghanistan and Iran.

Khan acknowledged that senior Pakistani officials in multiple government departments had played a role in issuing fake documents to Mansoor, although he blamed corruption for it. He said several officers had been either detained or were being probed for facilitating the documentation process for the slain Taliban leader.

"I have been banging my head against the walls," Khan said regarding his efforts to reduce corruption in the authorities that issue national identity cards and passports.

The first ID card for Wali Mohammad, the alias that Mansoor allegedly used on his passport, was issued in 2001 when former military leader General Pervez Musharraf was in power, according to Khan.

The first passport was issued in 2005, again during Musharraf's regime, and was renewed in 2011 during the former government of the Pakistan People's Party.

Questions surrounding evidence

Khan also said Pakistan was investigating how Mansoor's passport survived the drone strike on the car. Pakistan was informed seven hours after the drone strike, according to Khan.

He also said that Pakistan was investigating whether the passport found near the car was in the car at the time of the attack or someone threw it on the ground to mislead authorities. This was the reason he said Pakistan could not confirm whether Mansoor was using this passport when he crossed the border of Iran a few hours before he was killed.

Khan confirmed that the visas on Mohammad's passport included Bahrain, Iran and Dubai. The passport also had stamps that showed it had been used to travel through Pakistani airports. The minister again rejected allegations his country was supporting the Afghan Taliban.

"Mansoor was traveling alone in a car with his driver. If he had the support and surveillance of Pakistani intelligence agencies, he would not have been traveling under these conditions and would have not entered Pakistan through a regular border post without any security and in broad daylight, Khan said.

The Pakistani minister suggested the killing of Mansoor could be detrimental for efforts aimed at seeking a negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict, "because you cannot expect them [the Taliban] to come to the table after having droned their leader."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Coalition Strikes Continue Against ISIL in Iraq, Syria

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 25, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack and ground attack aircraft conducted two strikes in Syria:

-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Mara, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL mortar system.

Strikes in Iraq

Bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 18 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Beiji, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system.

-- Near Fallujah, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL front end loader.

-- Near Habbaniyah, three strikes destroyed an ISIL fighting position, four ISIL weapons caches and an ISIL tunnel and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units; destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL vehicle, three ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL bed-down locations, and an ISIL tunnel; and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed two ISIL mortar systems.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






SCO supports peace and stability in South China Sea

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:36, May 25, 2016

TASHKENT, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Tuesday expressed support for maintaining peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.

In a statement of SCO Secretary-General Rashid Olimov on South China Sea issue, all SCO countries agreed and supported China's efforts made to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

They also voiced support for any country in the Asia-Pacific region to promote a peaceful, friendly and harmonious environment in the South China Sea.

The SCO member states stressed the UN Charter, UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other international laws should be the basic principles when addressing the South China Sea issue.

Directly concerned states should resolve disputes through negotiation and consultation in accordance with all bilateral treaties and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the statement said.

It urged to respect the right of every sovereign state to decide by itself the dispute resolution methods, and strongly opposed outsiders' intervention into the South China Sea issue, as well as the attempt to internationalize the dispute.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a press communique released after the foreign ministers' meeting of the SCO held Tuesday here at the Uzbek capital, particularly clarifying stance on the South China Sea issue.

Foreign ministers of SCO countries stressed all disputes should be resolved through peaceful and friendly negotiations and consultations, according to the communique.

It added that SCO countries are against the internationalization of and external interference into the South China Sea issue, while all related countries should abide by the DOC and the Guidelines for the implementation of the DOC.

Wang stressed that more and more countries support China's stance on the South China Sea issue, which goes in line with the international laws and also protects the international rule of law.

"Any country, that ignores the basic facts, draws lines for allies or intentionally sparks political exploitation over the South China Sea issue, could get no result or support, but only destroy the reputation of itself," Wang said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taliban not to enter into peace talks with Kabul: New leader

Iran Press TV

Wed May 25, 2016 3:20PM

The Afghan Taliban's newly-appointed leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has pledged that the militant group will not enter into any peace talks with the government in Kabul.

"No, no we will not come to any type of peace talks," the man, identified as Akhundzada, said in an audio recording provided by the Taliban's militant group on Wednesday.

"Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks," said the new Taliban leader, adding, "People thought we will lay down our arms after Mullah Mansour's death, but we will continue fighting till the end."

Taliban appointed Akhundzada as their new leader, officially confirming that their former chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike last week.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of a network responsible for a series of powerful bomb attacks across Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, were also named deputies.

On May 21, the US Department of Defense announced in a statement that it had killed Mansour in a drone strike "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region." The Pentagon also announced that the operation had been authorized by President Barack Obama.

The remarks by new Taliban leader come as there have been growing differences among Taliban elements over peace talks with the Afghan government, with some vowing to fight for power instead of taking part in negotiations.

Pakistan, which wields influence on the militant group, mediated the first round of direct peace talks between delegates from the Afghan government and the Taliban last summer, but a planned second meeting was canceled after news broke that Taliban's founder and long-time leader Mullah Omar had died two years ago.

The Taliban has seen a string of defections ever since the news about the death Mullah Omar broke in late July 2015. He died at a hospital in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi in April 2013.

Senior Afghan officials blame elements inside the Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for supporting the Taliban militants and sheltering its leadership, while Islamabad blames the Afghan government for giving shelter to the militants on its side of the border.

Senior officials in Kabul have been frustrated by what they see as Islamabad's refusal to honor a pledge to force Taliban leaders based in Pakistan to join negotiations.

In recent months, a four-member group comprising Afghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan has been attempting to revive the talks.

In April, the Taliban announced the start of its annual spring offensive against Afghan security forces and US-led foreign forces across the conflict-ridden country.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Afghan Taliban Appoints New Leader After Death Of Mansur

May 25, 2016

by RFE/RL

The Afghan Taliban has announced a new leader to replace Mullah Akhtar Mansur, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week.

In a statement on May 25, the group confirmed Mansur's death and named Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of Mansur's two deputies and a former head of the Taliban's judiciary, as successor.

The statement said Akhundzada was appointed after a unanimous agreement in a meeting of Taliban leaders, which was believed to have been held in Pakistan.

Also selected to serve as deputies were Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a network blamed for many high-profile bombs attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Mansur was killed in Pakistan on May 21 when his vehicle was struck by a U.S. drone in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

Mansur was declared the leader of the Taliban in July 2015, just days after the Afghan government confirmed that Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died in the Pakistani port city of Karachi two years earlier.

But a leadership dispute immediately ensued, with some Taliban commanders refusing to recognize Mansur.

U.S. and Afghan officials said Mansur had been an obstacle to efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been waging an insurgency for 15 years.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to a harsh interpretation of Islamic law until the group was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The movement has since been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/afghan- taliban-confirms-mansur-dead-names- akhundzada-successor/27755974.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Rumblings Emerge After Taliban Names New Leader

May 25, 2016

by RFE/RL

The Afghan Taliban has confirmed that leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and appointed as his successor a scholar known for his radical views.

But a breakaway Taliban faction has signaled its rejection of the elevation of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former deputy to Mansur, inviting uncertainty about whether the militant group can unite on key issues, which include its strategic opposition to Kabul's authority and possible peace talks to end years of fighting.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Akhundzada was appointed "after a unanimous agreement" in a meeting of Taliban leaders, which was believed to have been held in Pakistan.

Later on May 25, a suicide bomber killed 11 people in an attack -- claimed by the Taliban -- on a minibus carrying court employees in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Mansur was killed in Pakistan on May 21 when his vehicle was targeted by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

He had been named leader of the Taliban in July, just days after the Afghan government confirmed that the movement's spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died in the Pakistani port city of Karachi two years earlier.

Akhundzada is a religious scholar. He is around 50 years old and was born in Kandahar, the capital during the fundamentalist Taliban's 1996-2001 rule over most of Afghanistan.

He hails from the Noorzai tribe and leads a network of madrasahs, or religious schools, across Pakistan's Balochistan Province.

Akhundzada served as the Taliban's chief justice before his appointment as a deputy to Mansur. His views are regarded as hawkish, and reports say he could be expected to continue Mansur's aggressive line.

In a statement e-mailed to the media on May 25, Taliban spokesman Mujahid denied a Reuters report that Akhundzada had issued an audio recording rejecting peace talks. Mujahid wrote in the e-mail that Akhundzada had not issued any message.



A former foreign minister under the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Ghous, said the choice of Akhundzada was "a very wise decision." Ghous suggested that Akhundzada was highly regarded among Taliban of all ranks and could be a unifying force for the fractured movement.

Breakaway Group

However, a breakaway Taliban group led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, which had reportedly been battling Mansur's fighters for control of drug-smuggling routes in the south, said it would not accept the new leader for the same reason it rejected Mansur.

Mullah Manan Neyazi, a spokesman for Rasool, said Akhundzada, like Mansur before him, was chosen by the same small group of leaders rather than by the rank-and-file.

"He doesn't have wide recognition and he is unpopular among Taliban, that's why his appointment is not acceptable," he told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan.

Rahimullah Yousafzai, a prominent Pakistani journalist who specializes in covering militants, said that "the status quo remains unchanged" after Akhundzada's appointment.

"I don't foresee any shift from Mansur's policies," Yousafzai added. "[Akhundzada] is unlikely to negotiate with the Afghan government."

"Even if [Akhundzada] favors peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus" within the Taliban's main leadership council where many oppose negotiations, said Amir Rana, the director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies in Islamabad.

The Taliban statement also said two deputies to Akhundzada were appointed.

One of them, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the leader of a network blamed for many high-profile bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years. The second one is Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The movement has since been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to a harsh interpretation of Islamic law until the group was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Shortly after Taliban's announcement of a new leader, a suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul during morning rush hour on May 25, killing 11 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosive vest as he walked by the vehicle in the western part of the city, Afghan authorities said.

The attack was the second of its kind on the judiciary this month -- a judge was shot dead by unknown attackers in Kabul earlier in May.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Afghan Service, Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/afghan- taliban-confirms-mansur-dead-names- akhundzada-successor/27755974.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






DRC Opposition to Protest Against Kabila

by William Clowes May 25, 2016

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the opposition says it will go ahead Thursday with demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila. The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to delay elections until he can change the constitution to run for a third term.

The opposition in the DRC hopes to strike back against President Joseph Kabila after two major setbacks this month.

Moise Katumbi, as yet the only opposition leader to declare his candidacy for president, was indicted, accused of recruiting American mercenaries, which he denies.

And the Constitutional Court ruled that Kabila can stay in office if November elections are postponed, as many think they will be. Kabila's term officially ends December 19.

The opposition has reacted furiously, announcing nationwide marches against what one major coalition called the "gravediggers of democracy."

Opposition leader Martin Fayulu told VOA the Constitutional Court is a subservient court, a court that belongs to Kabila. He said we must show the court that we do not agree.

The administrations in many Congolese towns have refused to allow Thursday's protest. But they may still go ahead, since the opposition argue the constitution requires them only to inform the authorities of their intention to demonstrate.

In Kinshasa, however, the march can take place as planned following a meeting between the governor, the police, the opposition and the U.N.

But there is concern about potential violence. Congolese security forces are known for their heavy-handed response to protests. This month, police have violently dispersed several pro-Katumbi meetings in his hometown of Lubumbashi.

And there are also reports that the ruling party is planning its own activities Thursday, which may only heighten tensions in the streets.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada / Akhunzada, one of Mullah Akhtar Mansour's chief deputies, will assume the top spot. In a Pashto language statement on 25 May 2016, the Tailban also formally confirmed Mansoor was killed in a U.S. drone attack last week. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (the supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him, the Taliban statement said.

"All the shura (leadership council) members have pledged allegiance to Sheikh Haibatullah in a safe place in Afghanistan," the statement said. "All people are required to obey the new Emir-al-Momineen (commander of the faithful)."

On 11 June 2016 Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri o pledged support for new Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, in a move widely seen by Western analysts as an attempt to limit the growth of the rival Islamic State militancy in Afghanistan. Zawahiri's endorsement came in a 14-minute video posted online. In it, he described Akhundzada as the "emir of believers" and the "legitimate" head of a Muslim caliphate.

Akhundzada replaced Mullah Akhtar Mansoor three days after he was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan 21 May 2016. Akhunzada pledged to take revenge against foreign forces and the Afghan government for Mansoor's killing. A Taliban statement announcing Akhundzada's appointment said that all members of group's leadership council pledged allegiance to the new leader, which was "a religious obligation." The statement also named his two deputies, Mawlawi Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob. These deputies represent the younger, more militant generation of the organization.

Akhundzada's position on talks with the Afghan government was not known. But some see Akhundzada as a religious scholar known for extremist views who is unlikely to back a peace process with Kabul. And some say the leader of the Haqqani terrorist network, Sirajuddin Haqqani will be defacto leader of the Teleban. Haibatullah is described by some Afghan observers as a typical village type Islamic cleric, like the groups founder, Mullah Omar. Some expect his two deputies to play the central role in Taliban military affairs.

Few details have been given regarding the background of Mawlavi Akhundzada, though he is a well-known figure in the group. He is not a new man in Taliban leadership; he was the second deputy of Mullah Mansoor. He is a religious scholar from the founding generation of the Taliban, and was close to Mullah Omar. He is very respected. He's an old man, definitely older than Mullah Omar, who referred to him Akhunzada as his teacher. The new Taliban leader is known to be 'a Stone Age mullah' who strongly believes in the Taliban.

The new Taliban leader belongs to the Noorzai tribe, is in his 50s -- although the Taliban claim he is 47 years old, while other accounts report he is 56-years old -- and hails from the Taliban heartland in the Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province. Akhundzada was involved in the mujahedeen struggle against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, though he probably did not participate in frontline military activities.

Between 1996 and 2001, the period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, he did judicial work, and following the group's fall from power in late 2001 he worked as Taliban Chief Justic. He had been responsible for issuing most of Talibans fatwas providing religious justification for military and terrorist operations. He issued public statements justifying the existence of the extremist Taliban, and their war against the Afghan government and foreign troops present in Afghanistan.

When the Taliban released a statement 29 July 2015 tconfirming that Mullah Mohammad Omar had died 23 April 2013, Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, Omars deputy since 2010, was elected to replace him. His two deputies would be Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani. With the appointment of Mawlawi Haibatullah, Mansur seemed to be strengthening his Ishaqzai tribes hold over the leadership rather than maintaining a careful tribal balance.

Unlike Mansour, Akhundzada has strong religious credentials as the group attempts to put on a united front. While Mansour had deep roots in the Taliban, joining the movement in its early stages and directing the groups activities during the period that Omars death was kept secret, he lacked the religious legitimacy that Omar had built around himself. Styling himself Amir al-Muminin [commander of the faithful], Omar cultivated an image as a warrior-cleric.

Mullah Mansoor was appointed as the new leader of the Taliban in August 2015 after the announcement of the death of Mullah Omar. The move was rejected by some senior Taliban commanders and led to deadly infighting. A breakaway faction elected its own leader, Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund, and battled Taliban under Mansoors leadership. Commenting on the appointment of Akhunzada, the spokesman for the breakaway faction, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, said the decision was taken just among a handful of senior Taliban leaders.

"Akhunzada was appointed in the same way to how Mullah Mansoor was appointed, without consulting with anyone," Manan Niazi told Al Jazeera 25 May 2016. "Mullah Yaqoob has been promoted as well but is powerless and is not knowledgeable enough to lead the Taliban and our movement." Manan Niazi said his breakaway faction will continue to fight against the Taliban under Akhunzada and will not stand united with "the group that has forgotten Mullah Omar's purpose ... God has taken our revenge and Mullah Mansoor got killed. He was a shame to the Taliban movement and was completely opposite to Mullah Omar."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Tsai Ing-wen

Wang Weixing, who is a council member of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a semi-official mainland body handling cross-strait relations, charged 25 May 2016 that "As a single female politician, [Ms Tsai] does not have the emotional burden of love, the pull of 'family', of children". China's internet censors took the unusual step of taking down the editorial on the official newspaper International Herald Leader, a newspaper run under the auspices of the official Xinhua news agency. The piece prompted outrage for suggesting Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was prone to "emotional" and "extreme" political views because she was unmarried and without children.

The personal attack, which delved into her dating history and family background, suggesting that her father had four wives had made Ms Tsai insecure  was part of a sustained outburst of negative articles in the state media her inauguration 20 May 2016.

In her inauguration address on Friday, Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said she respected "the historical fact that the two institutions representing each side across the Taiwan Strait reached joint acknowledgements and common understandings in 1992 through communication and negotiations."

"Regarding the 1992 Consensus, Tsai adopted a circuitous and indirect stance and in a tricky way, avoided answering the yes or no question [of whether she agrees with the principle]," said an editorial in the China Times newspaper. The new leader's words cannot be seen as acknowledging the 1992 Consensus, said an editorial in the Commercial Times newspaper.

In a statement, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs authority said, Tsai "was ambiguous about the fundamental issue, the nature of cross-Straits relations, an issue that is of utmost concern to people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits" in her inaugural speech. The statement also reads that "She did not explicitly recognize the 1992 Consensus and its core implications, and made no concrete proposal for ensuring the peaceful and stable growth of cross-Straits relations." The statement also says "The current developments across the Taiwan Straits are becoming complex and grave. The Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are following closely the prospect of the growth of cross-Straits relations."

On average, women represent only one-fifth of lawmakers, and out of more than 190 countries, only 20 have women heads of state. Japan set a goal in 2005 to have women occupying at least 30 percent of the seats in the parliament and local assemblies. That goal is still a distant dream. apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to put women in 30 percent of senior posts in all sectors by 2020. Japan does not have a potential woman heavyweight like German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Republic of Korea President Park Geun-Hye on the horizon.

In Taiwan, women traditionally had a very subordinate status in the hierarchical Chinese and Taiwanese society. On the other hand, Taiwan has undergone extensive economic growth and modernization in the past five decades, and women now assume a major role in the labor force. In addition, the emphasis on equality and democracy in Dr. Sun Yat-sen's "Three principles of the people" stimulated the Republic of China to reserve some legislative seats for women according to a formula that guarantees them about 10% of the seats.

Tsai became the first female president in the Republic of China's more-than 100-year-old history when she takes office in May. At the same time, a record number of female lawmakers were elected to Taiwan's Legislature. Among the 113 newly elected lawmakers, 43 are women. That's 38 percent, the highest in ROC's history and the highest in Asia. Women, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed, hold up half the sky. But not half the Politburo. The traditional patriarchal structure of Confucianism still has a large influence on modern society, including the cultural stigma that women inherently lack leadership ability.

A total of 21.3 per cent of mainland China's National People's Congress [NPC] delegates in 2008 were women. But the female proportion of NPC delegates has not significantly changed since virtually the early 1970s, stuck around 21 per cent all this time. Women were even less well represented in the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), making up fewer than eighteen per cent of the NPCs main advisory body.

Since the Communist Party took power here in 1949, no woman has served on its ruling structure, the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. Former Vice Premier Wu Yi, known as the `Iron Lady for her tough negotiating skills and ranked by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world in 2007, failed to advance past the Politburo, the group of about 25 from which Standing Committee members are recruited.

China has 22 provinces, five autonomous regions and four centrally controlled municipalities, but as of 2012 only one  Anhui province in the east  was run by a female governor, Li Bin. And there was only one female Communist provincial chief, Sun Chunlan, the party secretary in Fujian province, on the east coast. In the past 30 years, the Chinese Communist Party had appointed only four women as provincial governors. And Sun is only the second female Party provincial chief in the 63-year history of Chinese Communist rule.

According to the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, China was ranked 91 out of 187 countries. The United States was ranked fifth.

Shengnu, leftover woman, is a term Chinas Ministry of Education has added to its official lexicon. It describes an unmarried urban professional woman over the age of 27. The prefix, sheng, is the same as in the word shengcai, or leftover food. By 35, a single woman is the ultimate leftover, spiritually flawed in thinking she is higher than the mandate of marriage.

By early 2015 DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen had become the undisputed center of power in the opposition party. She was a shoo-in to win the DPP's presidential nomination for the 2016 race. Just over three out of every four people polled believed the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would win the presidency in 2016, according to a poll released 24 December 2014 by a think tank headed by Taiwan independence supporters.

Tsai graduated from the College of Law at the National Taiwan University in 1978 and received a LLM from Cornell University Law School in 1980. She has a PhD from the London School of Economics in 1984. During the 1990s she was one of the key negotiators for Taiwans accession to the World Trade Organization. Her outstanding performance led to her recruitment to the National Security Council as a national security advisor to former President Lee Teng-hui.

Following the DPP election victory in 2000, she became the new governments Mainland Affairs Council [MAC] minister. She joined the party in 2004 and was nominated as a legislator-at-large. As MAC Chair, Tsai helped to promote a pragmatic cross-Strait policy and participated in talks with China to improve economic ties. She has routinely maintained that the DPP does not object to closer economic ties with China so long as agreements are made in a transparent manner and did not harm Taiwan's interests.

Tsai Ing-wen became Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chair in May 2008. Tsai Ing-wen came a long way since spring 2009, when the party was reeling from its mammoth losses in the legislative and presidential elections of 2008. At the time, DPP supporters grumbled about her leadership as the party struggled with funding woes, contentious election nominations, and the corruption trial of former President Chen Shui-bian. The overwhelming KMT electoral victories in 2008 left Taiwans polity lopsided, the opposition effectively crushed. The DPP has been demoralized and decimated further by the political scandals involving former President Chen, who brought the party from a fledgling opposition party to the pinnacle of power.

Since then, Tsai's efforts to retire the party's campaign debts through contributions from individuals and small businesses instead of larger corporate donations began working. Likewise, Tsai successfully managed the fallout from Chen's corruption scandal. Although she initially was criticized by party supporters for either not doing enough to defend Chen or not taking a strong enough stand against him, her middle-of-the-road approach to expel Chen but to press for fair judicial treatment won support from both camps. Chen was found guilty of corruption in September 2009.

The party's strong showing in a September 2009 legislative by-election and the December 5 local elections boosted party supporters' confidence in Tsai as well as her own self-confidence. This strengthened position helped the moderate Tsai advance a relatively flexible and open-minded China policy within the DPP. Tsai had proven herself capable of running the DPP even though she may lack the depth of political experience enjoyed by senior party leaders. Tsai's rising popularity increased the likelihood she will run in one of the high-profile special municipality races in late 2010 that often have been used as political springboards for presidential candidates.

Tsai made inroads reaching out to the DPP masses. Tsai -- then Chair of the Mainland Affairs Council -- was on the campaign trail during the 2008 legislative elections. Tsai hovered in the background, almost uncertain as to what to do. Tsai worked a lot of rallies since becoming party chair in May 2008 and appeared to really enjoy campaigning.

A marked improvement in her Taiwanese language skills bolstered Tsai's abilities to work the crowd. Her limited Taiwanese had been a point of criticism within the party because the dialect long has been the DPP's lingua franca. Previously, Tsai would often begin her speech in Taiwanese but quickly lapse into Mandarin Chinese, her native tongue. How could the DPP have a leader who could barely speak the language of the masses? Tsai heard the criticism and worked to improve her Taiwanese, and her progress was on display at the 20 December 2009 protest when she addressed the crowd mainly in Taiwanese. Her preference to speak Mandarin still remains useful, however, as Tsai and others note that a large proportion of Taiwan youth does not understand much Taiwanese.

As Tsai adjusted to fit the party, she also helped to reshape it in ways that could broaden its appeal. In her previous positions as vice premier and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chair, Tsai put forward solid performances and dealt with legislators regularly. Her professionalism and international experience -- she speaks fluent English -- remained apparent as DPP Chair. She appeared comfortable meeting foreign dignitaries and views relationship with Japan and the United States as particularly important to Taiwan.

As Tsai tried to move the DPP forward, she continued to battle party elders who maintain strong clout within the party. Despite being technically retired, former Vice President Annette Lu and former premiers and DPP chairmen Su Tseng-chang, You Shyi-kun, and Frank Hsieh were active in the 2009 anti-Ma rally and in local election campaigns. They remained a threat to Tsai's effort to develop consensus within the party and maintain a balance between factions.

Tsai has a strong background as an academic and an appointed government official, and winning elective office further solidified her support within the DPP by enhancing her credibility. By 2010 she was considered a possible DPP candidate for president in 2012, when the embattled President Ma was up for reelection.

Since election losses in 2008, opposition DPP party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen had united factions in her divided party. In 2011 the party chose her to run against incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT. If she won, Tsai was expected to lead what has been a historically anti-China party one cautious step closer to Beijing. Tsai was campaigning for increasing trade ties with China but only if Beijing respects Taiwans autonomy. That meant vetting cross-Strait deals through the World Trade Organization and other international bodies. Beijing was likely to resist those requirements, but was expected to work with her administration, if elected.

Campaigning for President in 2011, Tsai acknowledged there was a rough period in relations between Taiwan and the mainland when her independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party was last in power from 2000 to 2008. She said if she is elected in January, her government's policy toward China will be stable and balanced and will avoid radical approaches. She said her party has matured as Taiwan's democracy has developed, and her party is better prepared than ever to govern. She also said Taiwan must do a better job of preparing for its own defense.

The DPP's Tsai lauded her proposed "Taiwan consensus" as a better solution for dealing with Beijing. Tsai held a news conference to say she will set up a task force for cross-strait dialogue if elected. During the debate, she again rebutted the existence of such a consensus. Tsai said there should instead be a "Taiwan consensus" to decide what issues should be discussed between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and how the discussions should be handled. While there was indeed a cross-strait meeting in 1992, no consensus was reached in that year, according to Tsai. Even the late Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman, Koo Chen-fu, who attended the meeting, denied there was any such consensus reached, Tsai said. "The '1992 consensus' is an agreement between the Communist Party of China and the then-ruling Kuomintang, not the Taiwanese people," she added.

Further, Tsai said, the lack of public involvement and parliamentary supervision over the "1992 consensus" has "severely hurt Taiwan's democracy." Instead, the country's first female presidential candidate said that a "Taiwan consensus" -- through a democratic mechanism in which different opinions can be fully presented and evaluated -- is the key to maintaining peace with China.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou claimed victory in the Janaury 2012 vote. opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen conceded defeat and apologized to her Democratic Progressive Party members. Taiwan's election officials said Mr. Ma had almost 52 percent of the vote, compared to almost 46 percent for Ms. Tsai.

Dealing with the islands biggest trading partner, China, and helping strengthen a faltering economy and wage stagnation  particularly for young workers  are some of the challenges Tsai would face in 2016.

Tsai Ing-wen said she would move to help Taiwan's smaller enterprises get ahead in the domestic market and overseas. In May, her party suggested changing laws to raise wages and shorten work hours from 84 every two weeks to 40 per week. She advocates creating jobs through a network of neighborhood caretakers for children. She also wanted to build 200,000 units of affordable housing to ease worries about high land prices. Apartments in Taipei are priced comparably to other major world cities.

According to a TVBS survey, by 2017 the rate of public satisfaction with Tsais authorities reached a historical low of 21%, while the rate of dissatisfaction rose to 63%. As Taiwans economy remained sluggish and cross-strait tension rose, Tsais popularity continued to slide. According to a poll by the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum released on 04 September 2018, 59.3% of the people polled said that they were dissatisfied with Tsais performance and only 29.2% were satisfied. At the same time, 72.4% believed that Tsai should adjust policies toward the mainland so as to improve the chance for Taiwan to participate in international activities.

It was at this time, however, that protests in Hong Kong erupted and gained increasing international attention over time. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to change her political fortunes at home, Tsai began to exploit the Hong Kong protests to her political advantage. On 15 June 2019, she issued a statement on Hong Kong claiming that the democratic protests in Hong Kong not only made Taiwanese cherish their existing democratic system and way of life even more, but also made it clear to them that the one country, two systems model was not viable. In her speech on 10 October 2019, Tsai even said that Chinas one country, two systems proposal for Taiwan would pose a serious challenge to regional stability and peace. The overwhelming consensus among Taiwans 23 million people is our rejection of one country, two systems, regardless of party affiliation or political position.

In Taiwans presidential election in January 2020, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secured 72 percent of the vote among people under 40, according to a poll by Academia Sinica, Taiwans most respected research institution.





NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russian Soyuz Rocket Launched From Guiana Space Center

Sputnik News

14:40 24.05.2016

Russian Soyuz ST rocket carrying two satellites for the European Galileo navigation system was successfully launched at 08:48 GMT from the Guiana space center, according to Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos).

PARIS (Sputnik)  Russian Soyuz ST rocket carrying two satellites for the European Galileo navigation system was launched from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana on Tuesday, Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said in a statement.

The missile was successfully launched at 08:48 GMT from the Guiana space center. Soyuz ST carried the 13th and 14th satellites of the European navigation system Galileo, similar to the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian Glonass system.

By 2020 the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch 30 Galileo satellites to ensure European independence from GPS, Glonass as well as Chinese BeiDou navigation systems.

Soyuz ST is a version of the Soyuz-2 rocket adapted for launches from Kourou. Due to its location near the equator, the Kourou launch site gives the Soyuz greater thrust to put larger payloads into orbit.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China's Bases: Why Beijing is Bolstering Its Military Presence Overseas

Sputnik News

19:37 24.05.2016(updated 20:01 24.05.2016)

China's sweeping economic development has coincided with the growth of the country's military force. Currently, Beijing is considering the deployment of its military contingent overseas. Does it mean the country has rejected its non-expansion policy?

According to Sophia Pale of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, following the 2008 global financial crisis Beijing has jumped at the opportunity to strengthen the international positions of the yuan and pushed ahead with serious reforms in the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

"The global economic crisis of 2008 that shattered the faith in the sustainability of the US dollar and weakened the positions of the US opened up new opportunities for the Chinese yuan. Shortly thereafter, global mass media started talking about new Chinese military doctrine. Its new objectives included not only the reform of domestically stationed troops, but also the formation of an international contingent and establishment of Chinese military bases abroad," Pale writes in her article for New Eastern Outlook.

Indeed, the question now on everyone's lips in the West is whether China is seeking global hegemony.

Paul McLeary of Foreign Policy points out that the latest Pentagon report stresses Chinese military deployments and a growing network of logistical support bases overseas.

"This year's report stresses Chinese deployments overseas for peacekeeping and anti-piracy missions, a growing network of logistical support bases in the Indian Ocean  including China's first-ever overseas base in Djibouti  and technological developments that make it easier for Chinese ships to operate farther from home, including better air defenses on new frigates and destroyers and the country's first operational aircraft carrier," McLeary writes.

It is no surprise that the Chinese 6,000-strong military base in Djibouti is getting on the Pentagon's nerves: the base will be located in close proximity to the US permanent military installation Camp Lemonnier with a contingent of 4,000 US troops.

However, Pale explains that the appearance of Chinese armed forces overseas is quite logical: the Chinese Djibouti base and other installations aim to ensure the security of the New Silk Road trade route.

"In March 2016, Beijing hosted high-level talks between representatives of the Chinese, Tajik and Pakistan military. China then continued the talks with the same agenda in Afghanistan. Since the most promising part of the ground route of the New Silk Road will run through these politically unstable states, Beijing is striving to establish its military presence in these regions to assure the safety of the trade flow. These circumstances suggest that in the near future these countries might have Chinese military bases," she writes.

Therefore the PLA is bolstering its technological and military capabilities to operate farther from home.

Likewise, China deployed its war ships  for the first time ever  to the Gulf of Aden back in 2008 to protect the country's trade ships from pirates. Then, in March-April 2015 Beijing sent its naval forces to evacuate more than 500 Chinese civilians from Yemen.

Pale underscores that the ambitious New Silk Road project is of ultimate importance for Beijing. In this context it is understandable that Beijing is seeking to protect its sea and land trade routes which will cross different countries including hotspots and unstable regions.

However, Beijing has no plans to snatch the global leadership from Washington, the scholar stresses.

"Beijing is trying hard to reduce its military expenditures, employing diplomacy to persuade the US to partially 'foot the bill,' hinting that the money will be spent on a good cause  the protection of trade, the main driving force of global progress," she emphasizes.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Blair Admits UK Underestimated Iraq's 'Destabilization' in 2003 Invasion

Sputnik News

18:01 24.05.2016(updated 18:21 24.05.2016)

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that London miscalculated the strength of Iraq's opposition forces during the United Kingdom's invasion of the Middle Eastern country to topple the regime.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  London miscalculated the strength of Iraq's opposition forces during the United Kingdom's invasion of the Middle Eastern country to topple the regime, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.

"For sure we underestimated profoundly the forces that were at work in the region and would take advantage of change once you topple the regime," Blair said, as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

He added that it was a lesson for the country that "these forces of destabilization" would appear once a dictatorship is removed.

Blair's comments come ahead of the release of a much-anticipated report on the official Chilcot Inquiry into the United Kingdom's role in the Iraq War slated for July 6.

The United Kingdom was part of a US-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003, without a UN mandate, after accusing former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction. However, such weapons were never found in Iraq.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






240516 POLICE TO CONFISCATE EQUIPMENTS

By Tom Kathoa

Home Brew Manufacturers are warned of the possible arrests if caught by police.

Head of the Bougainville Community Policing division, Lesley Meten says once the police finish their general awareness in constituencies anyone found brewing the substance will be arrested and charged.

North Bougainville Community Policing division, Inspector Spencer Aili also says police bail has been increased as deterred to would- be illegal brewers.

Police is very concern about the breakdown of law and order in the communities as a direct result of liquor and other alcoholic beverages.

He explained that police bail is different from court bail and only the courts has the power to order how much police bail should be depending on the offence committed by the offender.

Police are currently out awareness in the six constituencies in Buka. They have yet to cover, Halia, Hagogohe, Peit and Tsilato constituencies.

Ends.


Iraq: UN human rights office urges investigation into use of force against protestors

24 May 2016  The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Iraq to immediately conduct an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the use of force by security forces against protestors outside the Green Zone in Baghdad this past week.

In the regular bi-weekly news briefing in Geneva earlier today, Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that on 20 May, four protestors were killed and up to 200 were injured after security forces used tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and some live ammunition against the demonstrators for close to two hours.

The spokesperson said that it had been reported that up to 200 people had been subsequently arrested in connection with the protest, including a group of university students.

The protestors, including women and children, hailed mainly from different areas of Baghdad that had suffered terrorist attacks, such as Sadr City, were calling on the Government to take immediate action to ensure greater accountability for those attacks and to protect their communities, Mr. Colville said.

OHCHR appealed to the Government to promptly announce an independent investigation to establish whether unnecessary or excessive force was used and to hold accountable by law any security officers who may have acted in violation of the strict standards required concerning the use of force by law enforcement officials.

Additionally, OHCHR urged the Government to ensure that the protection of civilians was paramount in its military operations to retake Fallujah.

On a separate matter, the spokesperson said that OHCHR was concerned at the announcement by the Ministry of Justice that 22 people had been executed in the past month.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pak army chief slams US over drone strike in Balochistan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, May 25, IRNA -- Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif in a meeting with the US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over the US drone strike in Balochistan, a military statement said.

"The situation arising after US drone strike in Balochistan on 22 May 2016 came under discussion," an Inter-Services Public Relations statement said. Hale called on the army chief at General Headquarters.

The US drone strike targeting Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was the first-ever in Baluchistan province which has long been a 'red line' for Pakistan.

"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, the army chief said such acts of sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for ongoing peace process for regional stability," the statement said.

It quoted the Chief of Army Staff as saying that Pakistan's efforts, successes and sacrifices in fight against terrorism have been unparalleled.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also criticized the US drone strike describing it as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. Meanwhile Pakistan summoned the US ambassador to express concern over the drone strike inside its territory.

272**1723**1412

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russia Considers Expanding Its List of 'Historic Waters' in Arctic

Sputnik News

17:04 24.05.2016

The Russian Defense Ministry has prepared and presented to the Russian Security Council suggestions on adding additional Arctic seas to the list of Russian historic waters, according to Deputy Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Adm. Alexander Fedotenkov.

ARKHANGELSK (Sputnik)  The Russian Defense Ministry offered to the country's Security Council on Tuesday to expand the list of Russia's so-called historic waters in the Arctic, Deputy Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Adm. Alexander Fedotenkov said.

According to the United Nations, the term "historic waters" refers to "waters which are treated as internal waters but which would not have that character were it not for the existence of an historic title."

"The Defense Ministry has prepared and presented to the Russian Security Council suggestions on adding additional Arctic seas to the list of Russian historic waters," Fedotenkov said at a session of the government's Arctic development commission.

The Arctic shelf is believed to hold large deposits of oil and natural gas. Five countries bordering the area are particularly interested in the wealth of the Arctic region, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Operation Raqqa: Full Scale Assault Begins to Liberate Daesh's Capital City

Sputnik News

17:03 24.05.2016

A representative of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has told Sputnik Turkey that the SDF has launched a large-scale three-pronged offensive to liberate Syria's third-largest city Raqqa, which has been the 'capital' city of Daesh terrorists for over 2.5 years.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday began a massive three-pronged offensive on Raqqa, Daesh the self-proclaimed capital in Syria and the third-largest city in the country.

The offensive began simultaneously from three flanks under the command of Ehrar Rakka and Liva Tahrir units which are comprised of Raqqa residents and are part of the SDF. Up to 12,000 fighters are reported to be taking part in the operation.

Tackr Kobani, a representative of SDF has told Sputnik that, part of the operation, the forces are launching an offensive from Eyn Issa settlement under aerial coverage of the US-led anti-terrorist coalition forces, which are conducting massive air strikes on Daesh positions in the region.

Syrian Democratic Forces are also conducting air strikes on Daesh positions in the north of Raqqa, using heavy armaments.

Other reports suggest that fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are also taking part in the operation.

Earlier on Monday, member of political division of the Social-Nationalist Party of Syria, Tariq al-Ahmad geopolitically compared the planned liberation of Raqqa to the capture of Berlin during World War II.

"In general, I believe that Raqqa is symbolic due to the presence of Daesh and it is declared as their capital by them. Taking back Raqqa can be compared with the capture of Berlin in World War II. I say this in a political and geopolitical sense," al-Ahmad said.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Daesh Propaganda Fail: Moscow Slams 'Fake' Reports of Attack on Syria Base

Sputnik News

16:27 24.05.2016(updated 16:54 24.05.2016)

There are no casualties among personnel of the Russian base in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Tuesday.

MOSCOW(Sputnik)  The Russian Defense Ministry categorically denied on Tuesday reports of alleged destruction of Russian helicopters operating in Syria and casualties among the personnel of the Russian airbase near Syria's Latakia.

Earlier in the day, US-based intelligence analysis company Stratfor said in a report that Daesh jihadists possibly destroyed four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters in an artillery attack on an airbase in Syria. The firm cited satellite imagery it acquired.

"All Russian combat helicopters in Syria carry out planned tasks aimed at eliminating terrorists. There are no casualties among personnel of the Russian base," the ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov stressed that rumors of alleged destruction of an entire unit of Russian combat helicopters and two dozen of trucks at the Hmeymim airbase originated from Daesh terrorists who fruitlessly attempted to "sell" this so-called "breaking news" some 10 days ago.

According to Stratfor, the attack on the airbase, located in the Homs province near the city of Palmyra, occurred on May 14. On the same day, the Daesh group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries, claimed that its militants had destroyed four Russian attack helicopters and 20 trucks loaded with ammunition.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russian-Syrian Operations Killed 28,000 Terrorists From Daesh, Nusra Front

Sputnik News

14:39 24.05.2016(updated 14:53 24.05.2016)

Since the beginning of joint Russian-Syrian military operations 28,000 terrorists from the Daesh and Nusra Front were killed, according to Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Evgeny Lukyanov.

GROZNY (Sputnik)  Joint Russian-Syrian military operations have helped destroy 28,000 out of the 80,000 terrorists from the Daesh and Nusra Front, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Evgeny Lukyanov said Tuesday.

"According to our figures, since the beginning of our operations the Nusra Front and the Islamic State had around 80,000 militants [in their ranks] and 28,000 have been killedThis is from our operations with the Syrian Army," Lukyanov said on the sidelines of the VII International Meeting of High Representatives on security issues being held in Russia's southern republic of Chechnya.

"Well and the [US] coalition killed another 5,000 over the last two years," Lukyanov added.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Free Syrian Army Blames Government for Breaking 'Silent Period' in Damascus

Sputnik News

13:31 24.05.2016(updated 13:59 24.05.2016)

Syrian government troops violated the period of silence in the Damascus suburbs of Darayya and Eastern Ghouta by trying to capture one area under opposition control, according to the statement of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

DUBAI (Sputnik)  The Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Tuesday accused the Syrian government of violating the period of silence in the Damascus suburbs of Darayya and Eastern Ghouta.

On Monday, the head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria urged the introduction of a "period of silence" in Ghouta and Darayya for three days starting on Tuesday. Russia also urged moderate opposition forces to withdraw from areas held by the Nusra Front terrorist group, which will continue to be targeted by Russian airstrikes.

"Within the first hour of the 'silent period', government troops violated it by trying to capture one area under opposition control, but were repelled with fire and retreated. After that, they opened machine gun fire and fired surface-to-surface missiles on the given stretch of the frontline," an FSA statement, obtained by RIA Novosti, said.

Such actions indicate the lack of a serious approach by the Syrian government to maintaining the period of silence, the statement added, accusing international mediators for government actions and vowing to end the ceasefire if the situation deteriorates.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force across Syria on February 27. The ceasefire does not apply to terrorist organizations, such as the Daesh and the Nusra Front, both of which are outlawed in many countries, including Russia.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russia Denies IS Attack at Syrian Base

by VOA News May 24, 2016

A Russian military official has denied claims by the Islamic State group that it destroyed four helicopters and other Russian equipment at a Syrian base.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters deployed to Syria "are performing their planned mission to destroy terrorists."

Konashenkov rejected the claim that IS had damaged 20 trucks and helicopters at the T4 Diyas air base near the town of Palmyra, calling it "propaganda."

But satellite images from the U.S.-based global intelligence company Stratfor show extensive damage at the air base used by Russian forces.

"We have no reason to believe that the incident at an airfield operated by Russian forces was the result of an ISIL attack," a U.S. official told VOA, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Konashenkov said the satellite images of the base show damaged helicopters and trucks from conflicts that took place in the same area between Syrian government forces and rebels.

'Ordnance impact points'

Stratfor reported that "ordnance impact points are visible" in the images and a Syrian MiG-25 fighter jet appeared to have been damaged.

On May 11, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported shelling at the T4 base after jihadists briefly took control of a route between the cities of Palmyra and Homs.

Though the Islamic State declined to cut off the road for any extended amount of time, it did move artillery within range of the base, which it subsequently shelled," Stratfor said in its analysis.

The report also said "the attack, and considerable losses on the Russian side, stresses the continued threat to supply lines for Russian and regime forces, despite their victory in Palmyra."

An IS-affiliated news agency said Russian equipment had been destroyed at the T4 base, but according to AFP, the agency did not provide further details.

The five-year-old civil war has killed more than 270,000 people and driven millions of Syrian residents from their homes.

VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New Visa Dispute Sours Turkey-EU Ties

by Dorian Jones May 25, 2016

Within a matter of hours of Turkey's new government being announced, a major dispute over visas erupted Wednesday between Ankara and the European Union, threatening one of the main foreign policy achievements of ousted prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing Brussels of double standards and warned he is ready to freeze a key migrant readmission agreement with the European Union.

Turkey has committed itself to accepting back all migrants that enter neighboring Greece illegally, in exchange for billions of euros in aid and visa-free travel for its citizens to much of Europe. The deal was crafted by Davutoglu, who was recently ousted by Erdogan.

Political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners says the dispute with Brussels underlines Erdogan's new authority.

"The whole point of getting rid of Davutoglu and appointing a new one (prime minister) is that policy would entirely be made in Erdogan's palace. I do not think, for instance, the foreign minister will even be able to tell you what Turkish foreign policy vis-a-vis towards the EU is or will be. He will have to consult Erdogan or his advisors," Yesilada said.

Anti-terror law at issue

The latest dispute centers on the EU's insistence that Turkey narrow its definition of terrorism in its anti-terror law, as one of 72 criteria it needs to comply with to gain visa-free travel for its citizens.

Erdogan has made little secret of his distrust of Europe, a stance observers say is empty rhetoric that plays well with Turkish nationalists he is courting before an expected referendum to boost his presidential powers.

Carnegie Europe visiting scholar Sinan Ulgen says that perception may be a mistake, with the country battling Kurdish rebels and Islamic State militants.

"The Turkish president has stated clearly he has no intention to change [Turkey's] anti-terror legislation at a time when it is under an acute threat of terrorism. And therefore we have now reached a situation of stalemate. And if neither party budges, then it's unclear how this deal will be implemented successfully, so right now it's really under jeopardy," Ulgen said.

'Very difficult dilemma'

Since the deal was struck, the numbers of migrants entering Greece from Turkey have dramatically fallen from thousands a day to single digits.

Political columnist Kadri Gursel of Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper and Al-Monitor website warns the migrant deal could be all that is holding EU Turkish relations together.

"Erdogan is becoming a figure in the perceptions of the Western public opinions comparable to any Middle Eastern dictator. So it will be very easy to break up, with this Turkey run by such a leader. But breaking up with Turkey will have unpredictable bitter consequences on Europe's security and stability, especially in the first place the Balkans region, and this is a very, very difficult dilemma."

Ankara has invested millions of dollars across the Balkans courting Muslim minorities. The state-backed programs are part of Erdogan's vision of projecting Turkey's influence beyond its traditional allies.

It's a point underlined by Turkey's new EU affairs minister, Omer Celik, a close ally of Erdogan, who warned Wednesday the European Union is not Turkey's only option.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Savchenko Returns To Ukraine In Russian Prisoner Swap

May 25, 2016

by RFE/RL

Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko has been freed after nearly two years in Russian captivity.

Savchenko, whose defiance in Russian detention made her a national hero, arrived in Kyiv on May 25 aboard Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's plane.

She was reportedly exchanged for two Russians convicted of fighting alongside pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine, in a swap whose details were shrouded in secrecy and confusion.

Savchenko's custody and trial have been condemned by Kyiv and Western governments critical of Russia's role in the two-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Russia occupied and seized Crimea and Moscow has been accused of supplying troops, heavy weapons, and other support in fighting that has killed more than 9,000 people.

"I'm once again ready to offer my life for Ukraine on the battlefield," the 35-year-old Savchenko told a crowd that included her mother and sister as well as journalists gathered for her arrival at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport.

At a later ceremony to honor Savchenko, Poroshenko said Ukraine would regain control of territory in eastern Ukraine that is controlled by Russia-backed separatists along with the Russia-occupied Crimea "just as we have got back Savchenko."

Savchenko claims she was abducted by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014 and smuggled across the border into Russia.

She was sentenced by a Russian court in March to 22 years in prison for her alleged role in the deaths of two Russian journalists in the conflict zone.

Savchenko has denied any involvement in their deaths.

The Kremlin said on May 25 that Savchenko had been pardoned before confirming that the two Russians held by Kyiv -- Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev -- had arrived in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised remarks on May 25 that he had decided to release Savchenko after the relatives of the killed journalists petitioned him to show her mercy.

In some of the first reaction to the news, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Savchenko's release was "long-awaited good news."

While in prison, Savchenko launched a number of hunger strikes to protest her detention, for stretches refusing both food and water.

Western leaders called the charges trumped up, with the United States and the European Union repeatedly calling for her release.

The Belarusian Nobel Prize winning writer Svetlana Alexievich described her as the "Ukrainian Joan of Arc" after the 15th-century French heroine.

Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian Defense Ministry claimed they had resigned from active duty. They were tried in a Kyiv court, which sentenced them each to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

One day after the two Russians were sentenced, Poroshenko announced on April 19 that Kyiv and Moscow had agreed on a possible framework to free Savchenko, who was elected in absentia to Ukraine's parliament in October 2014.

Savchenko's release came a day after Putin, Poroshenko, and the leaders of France and Germany spoke by telephone about ways to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Western officials welcomed the news of Savchenko's release.

"Finally!" Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Twitter. "Glory to Ukraine!"

EU foreign-affairs chief Federica Mogherini hailed the release as "long-awaited good news."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was "happy and relieved" at her release.

Details of the swap emerged through sources and lawyers for Savchenko and the two Russians with little official confirmation, making the story far from clear.

Early on May 25, Aleksandrov's lawyer Valetin Rybin was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying both the Russians submitted petitions to Poroshenko for pardons.

There was confusion as well.

Early reports said Poroshenko's plane was on its way to Rostov-on-Don to pick up Savchenko, only to be contradicted a bit later by a report by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, which said the plane was already in Rostov, arriving overnight.

Hours later, however, all was clear. Savchenko was back in Ukraine and the two Russians were on home soil as well.

Russia's relations with neighboring Ukraine have been hostile since so-called EuroMaidan unrest in 2014 forced out Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia occupied then annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kyiv, but Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Soon after, Moscow-backed separatists began an armed rebellion in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large Russian-speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces has killed more than 9,300 people, according to UN estimates.

A fragile cease-fire has been in place since last year, but there is no permanent settlement to the conflict.

Analysts predict that Savchenko's return will be seen in Ukraine as a rare political victory for Poroshenko, who has been struggling with economic troubles and corruption, squabbles among his allies, and simmering violence in the east of the country.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-savchenko- prisoner-swap-poroshenko/27756328.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delhaize Group discloses information with respect to the acquisition of treasury shares in accordance with Belgian law.

Delhaize Group has recently acquired 254 830 shares pursuant to a share buy-back program with a Belgian credit institution for the purchase of Delhaize Group shares in order to satisfy exercises of stock options:

Purchase date Place of the

transaction Number of shares

purchased Average unit purchase

price (in ) Lowest unit purchase

price (in ) Highest unit purchase

price (in ) May 17, 2016 Euronext Brussels 34 772 91.45 91.32 93.11 May 17, 2016 Chi-X 28 631 91.79 91.28 92.90 May 18, 2016 Euronext Brussels 24 727 90.63 90.27 91.30 May 18, 2016 Chi-X 34 660 90.50 90.22 91.00 May 19, 2016 Euronext Brussels 25 683 90.05 89.12 90.92 May 19, 2016 Chi-X 8 317 89.49 89.60 90.14 May 20, 2016 Euronext Brussels 30 000 91.81 91.00 92.19 May 23, 2016 Euronext Brussels 48 687 92.21 91.48 92.46 May 23, 2016 Chi-X 19 353 92.06 91.49 92.39

More information on the company's share buyback program can be found on the website www.delhaizegroup.com.

 Delhaize Group

Delhaize Group is a Belgian international food retailer present in seven countries on three continents. At the end of 2015, Delhaize Group's sales network consisted of 3 512 stores. In 2015, Delhaize Group posted 24.4 billion ($27.1 billion) in revenues. In 2015, Delhaize Group posted 366 million ($407 million) in net profit (Group share). At the end of 2015, Delhaize Group employed approximately 154 000 people. Delhaize Group's stock is listed on NYSE Euronext Brussels (DELB) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEG).

This press release is available in English, French and Dutch. You can also find it on the website http://www.delhaizegroup.com. Questions can be sent to investor@delhaizegroup.com .

 Contacts

Investor Relations: + 32 2 412 2151

Media Relations: + 32 2 412 8669

PDF-version http://hugin.info/133961/R/2015136/747100.pdf

HUG#2015136
The Chilean team is training for the friendly against Jamaica in Vina del Mar and with a view to the Copa America Centenario.Player Nicolas Castillo said that "the team is eager to show what Chile is and prove we're going to try to win the tournament."He also highlighted his joy of being part of the final roster chosen by Juan Antonio Pizzi."We have worked with three or two strikers, but I'm waiting for my chance. I'm not rushing anything. Jamaica will be complicated because it is a team that will come to win," said Castillo.Francisco Silva talked about the possibilities of Chile in the tournament to be held in the United States."We can win the Copa America Centenario...the player base has been together a long time. Why can't we win? We have the players and attitude to spare," concluded the midfielder.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday announced a new statewide initiative to better understand where Virginia has the largest gaps in broadband coverage.

According to a news release from McAuilffes office, the governor announced the initiative at a ceremony to sign House Bill 912, which clarifies and improves the process for installing communications infrastructure, benefiting rural communities. The new initiative, RUOnlineVA, provides a platform for Virginia residents and businesses to notify the commonwealth whether or not they have access to broadband Internet connections.

House Bill 912 makes it easier to put telecommunications infrastructure in the rights-of-way for state-maintained roads. In addition to these components, the Governors budget includes $2.5 million for the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, which provides funding for infrastructure expansion in unserved areas of Virginia.

Speaking at Tuesdays event, McAuliffe said, Broadband has become as essential as any utility for maintaining a high quality of life in our communities and meeting our economic and workforce development goals. Yet too many Virginia communities lack access to reliable, fast and affordable Internet connections. RUOnlineVa is an important way for Virginia to engage citizens and the private sector in fully understanding the problem and working to find solutions.

This initiative gives citizens and businesses the opportunity to have a direct impact on the future of broadband in the Commonwealth, said Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson. By identifying where the greatest demand is, RUOnlineVA will set a foundation for state-level broadband strategies and policies that will help get broadband to every part of Virginia.

RUOnlineVA, which will run through early August, will leverage an online demand capture tool created by the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) and Virginia Techs Center for Geospatial Information Technology (CGIT). Virginia residents in need of Internet service should log onto RUOnline.virginia.gov or call (877) 969-6685 and answer a few questions regarding where they live and what level of connectivity they have.

Beginning June 1, if you are in need of Internet service and would like to log your demand, visit RUOnline.virginia.gov. If you are unable to access the website at home, you can visit your local library or call toll free at (877) 969-6685.
The Virginia Tobacco Commission on Tuesday morning approved two Halifax County grant applications  a $600,000 grant for the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority that will fund half the cost of a new formulation lab in the Center for Coating Application, Research and Education (C-CARE) and a $200,000 grant that will be used to match other grant funding to extend the existing Tobacco Heritage Trail to Miry Creek.

According to Halifax County IDA Executive Director Matt Leonard, the $600,000 grant will be used to improve the lab in support of ChemQuest Ventures, LLC, a new operator of C-CARE located in the Southern Virginia Technology Park, formerly known as Riverstone.

Leonard noted the IDA will offer matching monies in the same amount -$600,000 - with the combined funding translating into a $1.2 million formulation lab in C-CARE.

Halifax County Industrial Development Authority board members on Friday awarded Dewberry a $101,475 contract for the design, bid and construction administration associated with the new C-CARE formulation lab.

The IDA also approved bond refinancing of existing debt and agreed to enter into a bond purchase agreement with Carter Bank and Trust to advance $616,721.94 in additional funds to pay for the C-CARE formulation lab outfits.

Also on Tuesday the tobacco commission OKd grant funds allowing for the extension of the Tobacco Heritage Trail at no cost to county taxpayers.

Supervisors had applied for a tobacco commission grant to assist in funding 1.6 miles of construction that would extend the existing Tobacco Heritage Trail to Miry Creek at an estimated cost of $428,000.

Last fall, the Southside Planning District Commission staff applied for the Map-21 Grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to fund a possible extension of the Tobacco Heritage Trail, along the Dan River, that extends from near downtown South Boston to Berry Hill.

As part of that grant submission, it was understood that a companion grant to the tobacco commission would be required as a match to keep to a minimum any county funds needed to support the project.

The Roanoke River Rails to Trails and the Southside Planning District Commission requested a Map 21 Enhancement grant they plan to match using the $200,000 tobacco commission grant.

Robin Tuck, the new transportation planner with the planning district commission, explained the Map 21 and tobacco commission grants would each match the required contribution from the other grant, so no local cash match will be necessary.

It is possible that any local match required could come from the Town of South Boston who has pledged to use town staff, equipment and materials as a partial, in-kind, non-cash match, she said.

It is always an option that should a further shortage exist in the local match, the county could provide an in-kind match in the future if necessary.

The grant funding will provide for a possible future trail extension of up to three miles to Rogers Island, with an immediate 1.6-mile construction phase and trail extension to Miry Creek, according to Tuck.

If the grant is successful, construction bid process for the project is anticipated to get underway in the summer of 2017.

Construction of the first 1.6 miles of recreational trail to Mirey Creek is slated to include a Nature Observation Overlook at the Mirey Creek termini. This phase is the first of a three-phase project for the county to extend existing Tobacco Heritage Trail in South Boston, westward past the current termini at Berry Hill Plantation property.

The Tobacco Heritage Trail is a multi-regional, recreational rail-trail that includes more than 150 miles of abandoned railroad throughout five counties of Halifax, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Charlotte and Lunenburg, as well as the towns of Alberta, Lawrenceville, Brodnax, La Crosse, South Hill, Victoria, Kenbridge, Chase City, Drakes Branch, Boydton, Clarksville, South Boston and Halifax.

Construction of this trail system has been in process since 2009, and of the 150 plus miles, to date, there are 21 miles of off-road trail and 29 miles of on-road trail completed throughout several of these localities that stretches across two planning districts, with the end result connecting all localities.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 24, 2016) - Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: FEX) has executed an Option to Purchase Agreement ("Agreement") with CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. ("CanAlaska") whereby Fjordland has the option to purchase a 100% interest in two claim groups recently staked by CanAlaska in the Northwestern Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. See map at http://www.fjordlandex.com/galleries/westa1.html

Under the terms of the Agreement and subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, Fjordland has optioned two claim groups comprising 449 hectares and 2045 hectares respectively. These claims cover anomalous magnetic response targets identified for the 2011 Saskatchewan Government airborne magnetics survey. Claim MC00004307 has two prominent magnetic targets. Claim MC00004306 has seven prominent targets.

Consideration is a cash payment of $50,000 of which $5,000 was paid on execution of the Agreement and the balance is payable on the anniversary date of the Agreement. Fjordland will issue to CanAlaska 4 million shares on TSX- V approval.. CanAlaska reserves a 4% Gross Overriding Royalty ("GOR") for diamonds and a 2% Net Smelter Returns Royalty ("NSR") for other minerals. Fjordland has the right to purchase up to a 2% GOR for $500,000 for each 0.5% GOR thereby reducing CanAlaska's GOR to 2% Aggregate work commitments are $100,000 by December 31, 2017; not less than 40% of expenditures shall qualify as allowable assessment work.

Richard Atkinson, P.Eng., President, comments. "The acquisition of these two claim groups advances Fjordland's exploration phase in this emerging exploration project which seeks to identify diamondiferous kimberlites." (Refer to Fjordland's news releases dated March 16, 2016 and May 19, 2016 and to CanAlaska's news release dated May 18, 2016).

http://www.fjordlandex.com/news/NR16-01.pdf, http://www.fjordlandex.com/news/nr16-02.pdf

http://www.canalaska.com/s/News.asp?ReportID=749539

Victor Tanaka, P. Geo., A Director of Fjordland is a non-independent qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43- 101, has reviewed the content of this news release.

About Fjordland Exploration Inc.

Fjordland Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company, with other assets but currently focused on diamond exploration. For further information visit Fjordland's website at www.fjordlandex.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Richard C. Atkinson"

Richard C. Atkinson, P.Eng.

President & CEO

We seek safe harbour

For further information, please call:

FJORDLAND EXPLORATION INC.

Richard C. Atkinson, President and CEO

1-604-805-3232

info@fjordlandex.com

www.fjordlandex.com

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
Vancouver, B.C. / TheNewswire / MAY 25, 2016 - Avarone Metals Inc. (CSE: AVM) (Frankfurt: W2U1; WKN: A14SVX) (the "Company" or "Avarone") is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed an initial subsurface short auger hole program to test brine sediments on its 100% owned Moab lithium project in the Big Smoky Valley, Nevada.

The geological team conducted a sediment-sampling program, which was completed by hand to test for the presence of lithium in the shallow soil system. Sampling was completed utilizing a grid with north-south and east-west lines. A total of 20 samples were collected to a maximum depth of one meter below surface. Sediment horizons encountered were classified as volcanogenic clay and salt-bearing zones, both of which are favorable for the accumulation of lithium.

All samples are shipped to Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Sparks, Nev., which is a U.S. EPA-accredited independent laboratory. The samples will be analyzed for lithium, potassium and boron using test methods for evaluation of solid waste, physical/chemical methods (SW846). Assay results are expected shortly.

These results, along with historical gravity survey data will be used to develop a detailed exploration plan for the property, which is to include phase 2 Vibracore drilling (up to 50 meters) and, as warranted, leading to our phase 3 deep hole RC drilling.

"We are pleased to have completed our inaugural initial work program at our Moab lithium brine project, located in Nevada near the Tesla Gigafactory. The salt-bearing zones, as well as, the volcanogenic clays encountered at Moab confirm previous observations made by historical USGS surveys as well as those made by Ultra Lithium project which is contiguous with Moab, which is currently drilling within the same enclosed basin," said CEO Marc Levy.

About Lithium in Nevada

Lithium is a scarce and technologically important element produced primarily from brines and pegmatites. Although it is a non-renewable resource, it is used in conjunction with renewable energy technologies and hybrid automobiles, primarily in the form of Li-ion batteries, currently the most widely applied battery technology in many electronic devices. The consumption of lithium carbonate is on the rise and so far global production has kept pace with demand.

Located in the Range Province in southern Nevada, the Big Smoky Valley, which is approximately 3km wide and 14km long, is an internally drained, fault bounded and closed basin. Geological modeling suggests that lithium-rich brines have been transported and deposited in the both the Clayton and Big Smoky valleys since the Pleistocene era. The primary exploration model is to identify and map basins with ground gravity surveys and evaluate the chemistry of salts and sediments therein with RC or rotary-mud drilling. In the later stages of exploration, downhole geophysics and seismic reflection surveys are also utilized to define lithium-bearing aquifers.

The technical content of this news release has been prepared under the supervision of Peter Born, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

AVARONE METALS INC.

Marc Levy

CEO

For more information contact the Company at:

Telephone: (604) 669-9788

Facsimile: (604) 669-9768

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. We seek Safe Harbor.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) ("Cypress" or the "Company") is pleased to announce, further to its news release of April 12th, the Company has received assay results showing the feasibility of extracting lithium directly from the surface claystones without the need for roasting or other costly and complex treatments at the Company's 1520 acre Clayton Valley Project located in Esmeralda County, State of Nevada, USA.

Cypress Clayton Valley Lithium Project, Nevada location map:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg

Cypress has received leach test results of lithium extraction from the surface claystones at the Clayton Valley Project using a dilute acid method. The results show that 95% of the lithium has also been recovered using a dilute acid method, a much less aggressive acid solution compared to the industry standard, caustic, four acid method.

Highlights:

47 samples selected for further study average 1334 ppm Li using 4-acid leach The 47 selected samples average 1276 ppm Li using dilute acid leach The weak acid method recovered 95% of the lithium found by the 4 acid method These data indicate that a readily soluble mineral form of lithium has been found Further work using a pure water leach is ongoing Selected samples cover a 2 kilometer strike length of exposed lithium mineralization

Strong acid digestion assays (industry standard four-acid method) previously reported by Cypress show a continuously mineralized volume of lithium in claystones at surface on extensive portions of Cypress' Clayton Valley property. The compiled results show 2 kilometers of north-south strike of outcropping claystones that assay approximately 1,100 ppm Li on average and include a 1.0 kilometer strike length zone that averages 1350 ppm Li.

Cypress Clayton Valley 2016 sampling sites map, Nevada:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-Phase-2.jpg

The lithium mineralization is contained within calcareous evaporite rocks, dominantly carbonate rich lake-bed claystones with interbedded volcanic ash units. This exposed rock section is part of the basin filling Esmeralda Formation and is believed to represent uplifted portions of the stratigraphy within which the lithium brines of the basin are found and produced, including the immediately adjacent North Resource Area currently being explored by Pure Energy Minerals.

Cypress Clayton Valley Lithium Project, Nevada claims map:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/Clayton-Test-Wells-Plan-Map.jpg

The claystones are very fine grained sedimentary rocks that were deposited directly in to the salty, shallow lake which occupied the Clayton Valley before drying up following the last ice age. The claystones are composed of clay size particles of a volcanic ash origin. The term "claystones" as used here does not imply that the rock contains clay minerals, only that they are very fine grained. The claystone unit could be better termed a very fine grained, calcareous volcaniclastic rock. These distinctions become important when discussing the implications of the new assay results reported here.

Picture of Cypress Clayton Valley Claystone Stratigraphy:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP_Clayton_Evaporite_Stratigraphy.jpg

The additional assays reported below were performed on forty-seven selected samples from the 200+ surface samples so far collected during the Company's January Phase 1 and ongoing Phase 2 exploration of the property. All assaying has been completed by ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada.

The forty-seven selected samples were collected over a 2 km strike length and cover a wide range of initial four-acid ICP (ME-ICP61) assay lithium values. These forty seven samples have now been re-assayed using a Weak Aqua Regia digestion followed by ICP/mass spectrometry analysis. The two assay methods, the industry standard initial four acid method and the subsequent Weak Aqua Regia method differ greatly in the ability of the acid mixture to extract lithium from rock samples.

A four-acid digestion assay method uses an extremely corrosive combination of HCl (hydrochloric acid), HNO3 (nitric acid), HF (hydrofluoric acid) and HClO4 (perchloric acid). Because hydrofluoric acid dissolves silicate minerals, these digestions are often referred to as 'near-total digestions'. A four acid assay will work to extract lithium contained in any known lithium bearing mineral, including pegmatite sourced spodumene hosted lithium and lithium contained within silicate clay minerals such as hectorite (a lithium bearing smectite clay mineral).

In contrast, the Weak Aqua Regia digestion uses a much more dilute mixture of one part HNO3 (nitric acid), one part HCl (hydrochloric acid) and one part water. A much less aggressive acid solution, Weak Aqua Regia will not extract lithium from silicate minerals including spodumene, lithiophyllite and lepidolite. However, Cypress is recovering an average of 95% Li from the non silicate minerals in the claystones.

The Weak Aqua Regia method was used here as a logical next step in our effort to reveal a determination of what the composition of the lithium mineralization is within the very fine grained, calcareous volcaniclastic rock host rocks being explored at the project.

Table 1 below displays the comparison between the original four-acid assays and the new Weak Aqua Regia assays for a selection of samples covering a wide range of lithium assay values (from the initial 4 acid assays previously reported). The original Four Acid assays are listed to the left, the new Weak Aqua Regia assays in the central column and the percentage Li assay comparison between the two different assay methods is listed in the right hand column.

SAMPLE # Standard Four-Acid

Assay Li ppm

(Previously Reported) Weak Aqua Regia

Assay Li ppm

(Reported Here) % lithium extracted

using weak AR vs.

4-Acid 123135 2220 2100 95 % 123136 2100 2080 99 % 123137 3070 2850 93 % 243681 1680 1730 100 % 243687 1300 1260 97 % 243691 1620 1620 100 % 123208 1910 1940 100 % 123209 1170 1170 100 % 123210 1790 1720 96 % 123211 1000 920 92 % 123212 860 800 93 % 123213 900 830 92 % 123214 1460 1380 95 % 123215 1230 1130 92 % 123216 970 1110 100 % 123217 1270 1230 97 % 123218 1060 1020 96 % 123219 770 740 96 % 123220 1610 1570 98 % 123221 1210 1150 95 % 123222 850 820 96 % 123223 900 860 96 % 123224 1430 1410 99 % 123225 1260 1230 98 % 123226 2020 1900 94 % 123227 2120 2000 94 % 123228 950 970 100 % 123229 1320 1300 98 % 123230 1240 1160 94 % 123232 1190 1090 92 % 123233 1330 1350 100 % 123234 1510 1460 97 % 123235 2600 2490 96 % 123236 2250 2060 92 % 123238 710 690 97 % 123239 1010 970 96 % 123240 1100 1080 98 % 123150 1120 1050 94 % 123155 1140 1010 89 % 123158 910 820 90 % 123161 1230 1110 90 % 123170 1290 1180 91 % 123176 860 790 92 % 123183 840 790 94 % 123192 750 620 83 % 123206 860 770 90 % 243674 700 640 91 %

*Notes: 1. ppm mean parts per million. 2. Li=Lithium Metal.

To convert Lithium (Li) to Lithium Carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) multiply Li by 5.323,

For example a 1000 ppm Li assay is equivalent to 5,323 ppm Li 2 CO 3 or 0.53% Li 2 CO 3.

An average of 95% of the lithium assayed with the four acid method was recovered using the Weak Aqua Regia assay method. This result strongly suggests that the lithium mineralization is contained within a readily dissolved, non-silicate mineral or minerals. Given the data in the table above, potential mineralogy of the lithium mineralization includes a complex lithium oxide, a lithium bearing carbonate or complex lithium bearing salt minerals within the calcareous volcaniclastic host rock. Importantly, while the identity of the exact lithium minerals present remains to be determined, the data strongly suggests that the lithium is not contained within refractory, hard to process, silicate minerals.

The implications of the data in Table 1 clearly indicate that the mineralogy of lithium mineralization in the surface samples from the Cypress property differs materially from other known claystone hosted lithium resources including those at Kings Valley, Humboldt County, Nevada where a huge lithium resource is bound in the silicate clay mineral hectorite.

This complicated and expensive processing required to extract lithium from the mineralization at Kings Valley is fairly similar to the processing required in pegmatite lithium deposits which are currently being aggressively pursued worldwide. Cypress is optimistic that the mineralization at its Clayton Valley project represents a unique setting where lithium extraction from rock hosted mineralization can be done using a simple, low cost and environmentally friendly approach.

Cypress is now proceeding with a series of additional studies, including another assay method using a pure water, non-acid leach. The results of these assays will be reported when final results are received and compiled.

Additionally, a series of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) methods are being commenced to more clearly identify the lithium bearing minerals and to continue to explore the potential options for low-cost and low environmental impact lithium extractions options. The XRD work will be conducted at the University of British Columbia (UBC) which is recognized as a world-class mineral research facility.

The goal of the work is to substantiate the indicated potential to produce a lithium rich brine directly from the mineralized host rocks that could be further processed to produce a variety of lithium compounds for industrial applications including storage batteries.

Sub surface exploration of the outcropping mineralization will commence as soon as BLM permitting is received. Reverse circulation drilling and potentially core drilling will commence sometime in July. Drill targets have been selected to test both the surface calcareous volcaniclastic rock hosted lithium mineralization as well as to intersect the Upper Ash Aquifer in a position adjacent to the current brine drilling area of Pure Energy Minerals.

Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Seismic Cross Section map:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-seismic-section-apr.jpg

Cypress is planning to advance one or two of the drill holes deeper past the Upper Ash Aquifer to test other known brine bearing horizons including the potential of a lower gravel aquifer near the base of the Esmeralda Formation.

Robert Marvin, P.Geo, Exploration Manager for Cypress Development Corp. is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved of the technical information in this release.

Private Placement:

Cypress also announces a non-brokered private placement of up to 4,000,000 units at a price of $0.12 per unit ("Unit") to raise gross proceeds of up to $480,000. Each Unit will consists of one common share and one non-transferable share purchase warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share for a period of one year at a price of $0.15 per share from the closing date of the private placement.

A finder's fee of 7% in cash and 7% in non-transferable warrants ("Finder's Warrant") may be paid in connection with part of this private placement. Each Finder's Warrant will entitle the finder to purchase a common share of Cypress at a price of $0.15 per share for a period of two years from the closing date of the private placement.



The Company intends to utilize the proceeds of this private placement for continued exploration on its lithium properties in Nevada.

The private placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded lithium and zinc-silver exploration company developing projects in Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 24.1 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

Cypress Development Corp.

"Don Huston"



DONALD C. HUSTON

President

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Director

Cypress Development Corp.

Telephone: 604-687-3376

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
Calgary, Alberta (FSCwire) - Morro Bay Resources Ltd. (Morro Bay or the Company) (TSX-V: MRB) announces that Mr. Carl von Einsiedel has resigned from the Board of Directors of Morro Bay, with the resignation taking effect as of May 24, 2016.

John Zang, President and Chief Executive Officer stated "We would like to sincerely thank Carl for his time and dedication to Morro Bay. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

About Morro Bay

Morro Bay is a junior mineral exploration company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, focused on the exploration for precious metals in Mexico. Morro Bay's business strategy is to build shareholder value by rapidly advancing the Penoles Project in Mexico through the resource delineation stage.

Further Information

For further information please contact:

Morro Bay Resources Ltd.

John C. Zang Investors Relations: President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Piette E: jzang@morrobayresources.com E: ppiette@morrobayresources.com T: 403 680 9264 T: 416 526 9911

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Information in this news release may contain forward looking information. Statements containing forward looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and are believed to be reasonable based on information currently available to the company.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is as of the date hereof and Morro Bay does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward looking statements contained herein, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/Morro05252016.pdfSource: Morro Bay Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:MRB, OTC Pink:MRRBF) http://www.morrobayresources.com/

Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com

Copyright  2016 Filing Services Canada Inc.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) -

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA

Pancontinental Uranium Corp. (NEX:PUC.H) ("Pancon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed a binding purchase agreement (the "PA") with Firebird Resources Inc. ("Firebird") (TSX VENTURE:FIX), Pageland Minerals Inc. ("Pageland") and Appalachian Resources LLC ("Appalachian"), to acquire a 100% interest in a high-potential, advanced exploration stage gold project (the "Jefferson Gold Project" or "Jefferson"), located in mining-friendly South Carolina, United States.

The Jefferson Gold Project is located within one of the most significant gold trends in the United States, which hosts the nearby Haile Gold Mine. Haile is less than 7 miles away and has a 4 million ounce resource currently being developed by OceanaGold Corp. (TSX:OGC), with initial production scheduled to start in 2017. The region also includes the former Ridgeway Gold Mine (approximately 35 miles away), a 15,000 tons per day open pit mine operated by Kennecott Minerals from 1988 to 1999, which produced in excess of 1.6 million ounces of gold, as well as the former Brewer Gold Mine which forms the western border of Jefferson and mined over 12 million tons during the period 1987 to 1995.

Rick Mark, President and CEO, stated "The Pancon Board believes we are in the early stages of a significant bull market for gold and the Jefferson Gold Project provides us with an excellent advanced exploration opportunity to capitalize on this renewed interest in gold. To reflect this new direction, we are asking our shareholders to approve a name change to "Pancontinental Gold Corporation" at our shareholder meeting on June 22, 2016. In conjunction with this acquisition we plan to complete an updated NI43-101 technical report as soon as feasible".

The Jefferson Gold Project consists of over 1,500 acres under lease from private landowners who own the surface and sub-surface mineral rights. Jefferson is along a nearly continuous northeast-striking structural trend of hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization. The mineralized footprint of Jefferson is similar in magnitude to the footprints of the Haile and Ridgeway mines. The Jefferson properties contain multiple drill targets within a mineralized trend over 2 kilometres wide.

In 2011, Firebird and Pageland drilled four holes at Jefferson with very positive results, providing a base for establishing a significant gold resource. All four holes encountered mineralization, with the best hole averaging 1.27 grams per tonne over 164.3 metres (539 feet - true width unknown).

Assay results are as follows, using a 0.1 gram/tonne cutoff and up to 5 metres of internal dilution:

FRDDJF-103 From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Interval

(ft) g/MT Oz/ST 25.9 190.2 164.3 539.0 1.27 0.037 Including 80.8 85.3 4.6 15.0 8.57 0.250 And 90.5 93.5 3.0 9.8 3.84 0.112 And 105.2 106.4 1.2 4.1 3.20 0.093 And 153.0 153.9 0.9 3.0 19.36 0.565

FRDDJF-102 From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Interval

(ft) g/MT Oz/ST 7.6 13.7 6.1 20.0 0.12 0.004 19.5 21.0 1.5 5.0 0.37 0.011 53.2 57.9 4.7 15.3 0.78 0.023 63.4 134.1 70.7 232.0 0.88 0.026 Including 68.8 70.5 1.7 5.3 7.60 0.222 and 106.7 122.1 15.5 50.7 1.64 0.048

FRDDJF-101 From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Interval

(ft) g/MT Oz/ST 17.3 17.7 0.3 1.1 0.16 0.005 28.1 28.5 0.4 1.2 0.13 0.004 48.8 50.1 1.3 4.4 0.12 0.003 66.1 69.6 3.6 11.7 0.29 0.008 78.0 113.1 35.0 114.9 1.12 0.033 Including 78.0 86.8 8.7 28.7 1.49 0.043

FRDDJF-100 From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Interval

(ft) g/MT Oz/ST 21.3 25.9 4.6 15.0 0.12 0.004 30.7 32.3 1.6 5.2 0.10 0.003 97.2 99.4 2.1 7.0 0.17 0.005 109.4 150.0 40.5 133.0 0.55 0.016

Hole information is as follows:

Hole Northing Easting Depth

in ft Depth

in m Azimuth Angle FRDDJF-100 1031044 2180955 505 153.9 165 -75 FRDDJF-101 1031007 2180973 404 123.1 165 -60 FRDDJF-102 1030875 2181005 451 137.5 0 -90 FRDDJF-103 1030729 2181042 658 200.6 345 -65 SC State Plane Coordinates

Pancon has engaged the services of Dr. Dennis LaPoint, PhD, LGeo, to manage the exploration programs at Jefferson. Dr. LaPoint, who is President of and controls Appalachian, originally assembled the Jefferson property package and oversaw Firebird's and Pageland's 2011 drill program. In addition, Dr. LaPoint has over 40 years of experience in project generation and was instrumental in the discovery of Newmont's 4 million ounce Merian Gold Mine in Suriname.

Dr. Dennis LaPoint (PhD, LGeo), a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects", has approved the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. LaPoint is not independent of Pancon, as he is a Consultant of the Company. Dr. LaPoint has verified all the technical data in this release as he managed and was responsible for Firebird's and Pageland's 2011 exploration program at Jefferson and was their identified QP when the assay results were originally released in Firebird's March 1, 2012 press release.

As consideration for acquiring the 100% ownership in the Jefferson Gold Project, along with all exploration and property information, Pancon has agreed to pay and issue to:

Firebird and Pageland, in the aggregate: cash totalling $100,000, of which $30,000 (non-refundable) was paid on execution of the PA with the balance of $70,000 payable on August 18, 2016, conditional on closing; and, 1,000,000 common shares on closing; and to,

Appalachian, 1,000,000 common shares on closing.

Closing is subject to: Pancon being satisfied with its due diligence and the assignment of the property leases, prior to August 18, 2016; and, regulatory approval. As part of having the property leases assigned, Pancon will be required to settle Firebird's and Pageland's current lease arrears with the private landowners of approximately USD $106,000 for 2015 and approximately USD $77,000 for 2016.

About Pancontinental Uranium Corporation

Pancontinental Uranium Corp. is a Canadian-based mining company listed on the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol PUC.H. In 2015, Pancon sold its interest in its Australian rare earth element (REE) and uranium properties, formerly held through a joint venture, and retains a 1% gross overriding royalty on 100% of future production.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rick Mark, President and CEO

Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

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.
TORONTO, May 25, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. (Xtra-Gold or the Company) (TSX:XTG) (OTCQB:XTGRF) announces it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing of $1,000,000 through the sale of 2,500,000 units at $0.40 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one-half (1/2) of a common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at a price of $0.65 for a period of 15 months from closing.



In connection with this placement, the Company paid cash of $70,000 and issued 147,000 finders warrants. Each finders warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at a price of $0.65 for a period of 15 months from closing.

The securities issued by Xtra-Gold are subject to a four-month plus one day hold period as prescribed by applicable Canadian securities laws.

With the working capital provided by this placement, the Company has commenced drill preparations on its Cobra Creek Discovery with the potential to add significantly to its Maiden Resource (Zone 2 and 3).

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption therefrom.

About Xtra-Gold Resources Corp.

Xtra-Gold is a gold exploration company with a significant land position in the Kibi greenstone belt (Kibi Gold Belt) located in Ghana, West Africa. Our main assets comprise 5 mining leases totaling 55,905 acres.

Forward-Looking Statements

The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This news release includes certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward- looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of the Company's mineral properties, and the Companys financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Companys forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES







Contact Information



For further information please contact:



James Longshore

Chief Executive Officer

416-366-4227

E-mail: info@xtragold.com

Website: www.xtragold.com


Autolyse

Autolyse Photo: Daniel Spellman

The home of sourdough on Lonsdale Street, with fresh loaves and baguettes piled behind the counter. Autolyse's cabinet of handsome takeaway sandwiches is also popular - grab an extra treat like a slab of blondie to accompany your lunch.

21 Lonsdale Street, Braddon

A.Baker

A Baker in New Acton. Photo: Rohan Thomson

A trendy bakery, cafe and restaurant that produces some of the city's best bread and pastry. Stop in for brunch and coffee, and take a loaf home with you. Come back at night for a spot of dinner and a glass of wine.

2/15 Edinburgh Avenue, NewActon

Bean and Grain

Advertisement

Canberrans who love bagels head straight to Bean and Grain's bakery cafes in Fyshwick and Dickson. Grab a coffee and a bagel - or a couple of little tarts and a loaf of David Damour's sourdough.

Fyshwick Markets and Dickson Shops.

Bombolini

The doughnut maestros of the farmers markets - little fluffy doughnuts stuffed with flavoured custards such as Madagascan vanilla with wild flowers and rosewater cheesecake. But you have to get in early, they sell out pretty quick.

EPIC Farmers Markets, Mitchell and Southside Farmers Markets, Woden.



Croissant D'Or



Croissant D'or Manager Gina Carvalho. Photo: Jay Cronan

Behind an unobtrusive green-painted door in the Civic bus interchange is a little Canberra institution. The Croissant D'Or's croquembouches, danishes and French pastries still have a loyal following.

33 East Row, Civic.

Dream Cuisine

Dream Cuisine Patisserie co-owner Owen Saddler. Photo: Mark Sawa

This unassuming little Fyshwick cafe is home to some seriously good pastries and cakes and their macarons are still favourites. Master baker Owen Saddler makes everything from his own butter to Persian love cake.

9/18 Whyalla Street, Fyshwick

Deeks

Quinoa and multiseed gluten free bread at Deeks. Photo: Richard Briggs

Deeks was the original gluten-free bakery in Canberra and is still the place to get your wheat free fix, with date and walnut buns, paleo loaves and biscuits. Or sit down at the cafe in the Pearce shops and have a bowl of warming soup with quinoa toast.

Hodgson Crescent, Pearce.

Dobinsons

Dobinsons in Civic. Photo: Melissa Adams

This Civic stalwart has had a bit of a makeover in recent times, and it's a welcoming spot to meet a friend, in a outdoor dining area with ferns and greenery. The meat pies are popular and the festive fruit flans and chocolate tarts always bring a smile.

The Canberra Centre, and 177 Bunda Street, Civic

Knead

Knead Patisserie. Photo: Supplied

Northsiders head to Knead in the Belconnen Markets for an array of big, hearty loaves, sweet pastries, cruffins and croissants, and the occasional savoury danishes (mushroom, leek and feta anyone?).

Belconnen Markets, Ibbot Lane, Belconnen.

The Flute

The Flute. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Fyshwick is an out of the way suburb but The Flute is worth the trip for row upon row of extravagant desserts, cakes and pastries. Cob loaves and baguettes fill the back cabinet. If you can't make up your mind pick a mini assiette of four tiny desserts. Bring cash - there's no carding it.

8 Barrier Street, Fyshwick.

Patissez

A selection of cakes at Patissez. Photo: Graham Tidy

Yes, freakshakes filled with Nutella and piled high with slabs of cake and cookies are what Patissez is famous for. But Gina and Anna Petridis also have a way with cake - check out their huge layered cakes in red velvet, chocolate, caramel and other luscious flavours.

2/21 Bougainville Street, Manuka and 40 Marcus Clarke Street, Civic.

Ricardo's / Space Kitchen

Ricardo's Cafe. Photo: Jay Cronan

The crazy colourful Zumbo inspired cakes at Ricardo's in the Jamison shopping centre in Belconnen are all kinds of fun. Golden Gaytimes? A Mario Kart style magic mushroom? Injectable cronuts? Get em here, or at his newer offshoot Space Kitchen in Woden.

Jamison Plaza, Macquarie and 12 Furzer Street, Phillip.

Silo Bakery

Silo Bakery. Photo: Melissa Adams

An elegant little oasis in the Kingston shops where you can browse the cakes and pastries on display behind a long glass and marble cabinet. On a warm afternoon sit in the window for a tarte and coffee.

36 Giles Street, Kingston.

Sweet Bones

Sweet Bones Bakery. Photo: Jay Cronan

Vegan bakers can find plenty of inspiration from Sweet Bones - their organic cupcakes, raw cake slices and brownies are perfect for a catchup in their cosy Lonsdale Street bakery cafe. For special occasions they do naked cakes that range from hazelnut cappucino to cherry ripe, and mocha.

8/18 Lonsdale Street, Braddon.
1. Marion

The copper and white-washed interior of Marion Wine Bar is the latest tentacle to spread from Andrew McConnell's empire, making a home next door to its upmarket sibling Cutler & Co. Head chef Josh Fry is a big fan of rare breed birds and makes sure he has a chicken dish, usually from Milking Yard Farm, on the menu every couple of weeks. "Chicken is one of the most affordable meats you can get and to then see something that is quite expensive it is a bit of a shock," says Fry, who describes the taste of Sommerlad birds as "outrageously good". You can buy Sommerlad chickens from Andrew McConnell's boutique butchery Meatsmith (273 Smith Street, Collingwood) for $29.90 a kilogram (a whole bird costs about $90).

53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 03 9419 6262; marionwine.com.au

2. Henrietta's Chicken Shop and Bar

After trialling their ethical, top produce chicken shop at a series of pop-ups, Albert Street Food and Wine alums Ruth Giffney and Stuart Brookshaw have found it a permanent laneway address in the CBD. Henrietta's offers a brined, charcoal-cooked bird from either Bannockburn, or the premium-priced Milawa free-range option. The fitout is "nouveau farm" with plenty of wood, rustic metal pails and big pictures of happy chooks. Your bird comes marinated and rubbed in indigenous spices, such as lemon myrtle and native peppercorn, with sides salads of ancient grains and herby potato. There is Brunswick Bitter on tap and sangria by the jar. And the team is not finished popping up in unusual places, the next one being Dubai.

Sommerlad chicken at Marion in Fitzroy. Photo: Kristoffer Paulsen

Shop 7, Fulham Place, Melbourne, 03 9629 7886, henriettas.com

3. Mr Ottorino

Matt Tine, chef at Fitzroy's new Mr Ottorino, has free-range and rare-breed birds on the Sicilian-influenced menu. Tine is currently researching new suppliers for ethically raised birds for his signature dish, rice-stuffed chicken, a recipe that comes from his nonna.

Advertisement

122 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, 03 9415 6876 mrottorino.com

4. Embla

The team behind the popular Town Mouse in Carlton opened wine bar Embla this year with a wood-fired oven at its heart. Chef Dave Verheul loves a good free-range chick "cooked super simple" and you might find it cut in half and roasted with garlic, salt and rosemary, alongside a jus that is made all the more delicious by the tasty dark meat.

122 Russell Street, Melbourne, 03 9654 5923, embla.com.au

5. Igni

Chef Aaron Turner has a serious poultry pedigree, starting Belles Hot Chicken with Morgan McGlone in Fitzroy before splitting off to launch the Nashville-style Hot Chicken Project in Geelong. Now Turner is going more upmarket with Igni, which opened this year in a simple, modern space of concrete floors with lashings of wood along the prominent bar. It's a degustation-only affair that changes regularly but expect a star chicken dish when he can source the right bird.

2 Ryan Place, Geelong, 03 5222 2266, restaurantigni.com

6. Pretty Mama

Milawa free-range birds get the jerk chicken treatment at this slick Caribbean diner tucked away near Southern Cross Station. This sleek mash-up of a tiki bar by way of Havana is a joint venture from Michael Cotter (Po' Boy Quarter) and bartender Shae Silvestro (ex Brooks, Der Raum).

220 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 03 9034 4355, prettymama.com.au

7. Good Days

A room short on fuss  duck egg blue walls, black and white tiled floor and a wooden bar  turns out an Asian menu big on flavour. Grab a bar seat to watch the open kitchen at work carving up Milawa chickens and McIvor Farm pork. The chicken rice, national dish of Singapore, is a hearty reinvention with Asian greens, a herby green sauce and ginger-stuffed nuoc cham with the roast free-range chicken piled on top, all charred and juicy. It is a fresh, succulent plate that would whip the fussiest diner into a queue-forming frenzy.

165 Sydney Road, Brunswick, 03 9041 2000, good-days.com.au

8. Rude Boy Burger

You'll find excellent produce slapped between two pieces of bread at Rude Boy Burgers, a retro and recycled burger joint tucked under flats in Brunswick West. Try the Fried Chicken Parma Bun where the meaty taste of Milawa free-range chicken still shines or try it with crispy prosciutto, tomato and basil sauce, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and ketchup. A perfect dude-food do-over for a Melbourne chicken classic.

482 Albion Street, Brunswick West, 03 9386 4302, facebook.com/rudeboyburger

Coming soon

Paul Wilson's chicken project

Although it is yet to receive an official title, Wilson is clear on the details of his imminent venture at popular Prahran Market. "Chicken will be the hero," Wilson says. "It's a very small site and it is really giving the market goer an opportunity to drop in and grab a home-cooked meal, prepared by a leading chef who has spent 15 years researching the best way to cook a chicken." Wilson is going to brine, cold smoke, then spit roast his heritage birds. Then they will be cut in a unique method he learnt in Mexico.

TBC, Prahran Market

Philippe Mouchel, rotisserie restaurant project

Taking inspiration from the French rotisseries that he loves, Mouchel is opening his new restaurant in Collins Street in mid-June. The restaurant will be based around a rotisserie, where he will also slow cook a range of proteins, including free-range chicken. "I like to cook them in the simple way," Mouchel says. "I like to roast them in a rotisserie with a good seasoning of salt, pepper, perhaps some fresh thyme and rosemary, lemon and put some herbs under the skin and basting them with a bit of fat, a little bit of butter well it is not really a little bit."

115-117 Collins Street, Melbourne
West Texas to see return of rain, cooler temperatures to start week
SHARE

Financial help, training is offered

By Justin Zamudio

The volatile state of the oil or "black gold" industry has put Cindy Ellis' small energy business in the red.

"We were doing great a few years back," Ellis said about C&R Services, her oil field service company that once had 12 employees. "Come April, I had to lay just about everybody off."

C&R Services is still operating, but barely.

Ellis has had a tumultuous year.

In the past year, her husband, an oil field consultant who started up the family business, died. Then oil prices dropped, leading to a severely decline in the petroleum industry.

Ellis said she and one other employee, who is working for much less than he was, are keeping her business going.

"So far God has allowed us to get this far, and I figured he would put us where he wants us to be," she said. "Right now, it's running on faith."

The decision to lay off her workforce was difficult for Ellis, who said she dearly cared for each and every one of them.

Ellis is grateful she found out about the option of filing a petition to get her workforce and company some economic relief.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced $15.7 million in funding allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance to Texas to assist workers who lose their jobs because of outsourcing or foreign trade.

The massive rig closures, especially in Texas, are a direct result of major changes in foreign trade.

In announcing the assistance, Hilda L. Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor, said money "is for workers adversely impacted by trade.

"Through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, we are leveraging opportunities for displaced workers to acquire new occupational skills, which will help them secure good jobs in emerging areas in their local economies," Solis said in a news release.

Cathy Ballard, director of planning for the Concho Valley Workforce Development Board, said local training can be funded through the grant. She said the affected workers can go to school at Howard College or Angelo State University, or any other learning institution as long as it is certified through the workforce board.

"We would want to train them in anything where we reasonably expect the job to be available after they finish training," Ballard said. "We are not trying to get everybody a college degree, but we're trying to get them some training that will make themselves efficient."

The Concho Valley Workforce Development Board compiles labor market information to gauge what type of jobs will be in demand around the area in the future. Ballard said the booming wind energy market is creating job opportunities.

"We actually poll the general public to see what's out there," she said. "For instance, the wind energy market has brought about a great need for transmission lines. We've gotten a map from the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones that tells us where the transmission lines are going. We talked to the companies that have these contracts and we asked, ?what are you going to need when you come through this part of West Texas?'"

Ballard said aluminum welders, construction workers, heavy equipment operators and transmission linemen are potential career fields.

She said displaced workers need to know this type of information is vital so they can get necessary training to develop the skills to perform those jobs when the work is available.

The petition works in a three-year window, by going back one year and forward two. The benefits from the Trade Adjustment Assistance program also can be used for compensation. Some of the benefits include income support, relocation allowances, a tax credit to help pay the costs of health insurance and a wage supplement to certain re-employed trade-affected workers 50 years or older.

Under the wage supplement provision, a person 50 or older can receive compensation to offset having to accept lower pay. A worker, for example, who was making $12 an hour, but is now making $10 per hour because of foreign trade can be compensated for half of the displaced hourly rate and receive $1 an hour from the program for up to two years.

"It is essential for the (trade-affected) companies to come forward and file these petitions. They can do it any time before a year goes by after layoffs," Ballard said.

She said besides a company, a group of three workers who either have been displaced or know they will be displaced, can file the petition. But she prefers companies to file because groups of individuals might not fully understand how the company operates at the corporate level to file a successful petition.

"If the company files, there are a lot of advantages," Ballard said. "There are no charge backs to the companies like there are with unemployment insurance. The trade act and the benefits under it do not affect the company's trust fund."

The petitions can be filed on the Department of Labor's Web site, dol.gov, or can be picked up at the Concho Valley Workforce Development Board. The CVWDB staff will assist anyone interested in filing.

Ellis said knowing there are viable options for her displaced staff puts her a bit at ease. Her stepson was among the 10 laid off and has been living off unemployment since July.

"I think it's a great thing for him since he's been on unemployment for a while," she said. "He could probably go in a different direction that won't be so volatile."
Graphic Illustration

Enjoy summer weekend meal and remember the fallen

Memorial Day weekend kicks off summer in San Angelo  people dust off their grills, students are giddy about being off from school, people head for bodies of water from pools to rivers. Food-wise people are ready to enjoy picnics, barbecues and pool parties.

The city's Love Municipal Pool, at 18 E. Avenue A, opens with a grand splash Memorial Day weekend with a luau party on Saturday. People who enter between noon and 2 p.m. on opening day will get in free and be treated to complimentary leis, snacks and other goodies.

After 2 p.m., regular admission will be charged: $5 for ages 3 and older; free for children 2 and younger; $3 for seniors 65 and older.

This is also a good weekend for camping out at area parks or gathering for backyard barbecues, so I'll share some recipes you can enjoy with the minimum of fuss.

But first, here's a bit of a history lesson:

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law "The National Moment of Remembrance Act," P.L. 106-579 on Dec. 28, 2000. This was done to ensure the sacrifices of America's fallen heroes are never forgotten,

The National Moment of Remembrance asks Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.

Easy Summer Pie

This recipe is courtesy of allrecipes.com. Feel free to substitute fruits according to your preference. It makes eight servings.

Ingredients

1 9-inch prepared pie crust (Graham Cracker crumbs or Nilla Wafers Crust)

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence (Rashda's note: increase to 1 teaspoon if you like)

1/3 cup white sugar

1 11-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup fresh strawberries, halved

4 kiwis, peeled and sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

1 In a mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, vanilla and sugar, until mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour and spread evenly in the pie crust.

2 Arrange fruit in a decorative pattern over cream cheese layer.

3 Chill until ready to serve.

Cowboy Kabobs

This recipe is courtesy of Kraft.com. It makes six servings.

Ingredients

1/3 cup original A.1. Steak Sauce

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

1 beef top round steak (1 1/2 lb.), cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips

9 pearl onions

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 9 strips

Directions

1 In a mixing bowl, mix first three ingredients.

2 Thread meat onto 18 skewers; place onion or pepper strip at end of each skewer. Place kabobs in shallow glass dish. Pour steak sauce mixture over kabobs. Refrigerate 1 hour to marinate, turning occasionally.

3 Heat grill to medium heat. Remove kabobs from marinade; discard marinade. Grill kabobs 4 to 6 minutes, or until meat is done, turning occasionally.
SHARE Twin sisters J. Ann (Jordan) Lange (left) and Janice (Jordan) Perkins with grand champion Herefords at the State Fair of Texas on Nov. 15, 1951.

By Jerry Lackey

MASON ? Motorists journeying along U.S. Highway 87 between Mason and Fredericksburg will spot three large concrete columns reaching skyward and supporting engraved lettering across the top announcing the entrance of Premier Ranch near Loyal Valley, 15 miles southeast of Mason.

Joyce "J." Ann (Jordan) Lange is the third woman descendant to claim proprietorship to a parcel of the original homestead, which totaled 1,850 acres when Heinrich Friedrich Kothmann acquired the title in 1872.

Kothmann was born February 10, 1835 in Wedelheine, Germany. He was 10 years old when his brother and three sisters left Hanover, Germany, on Sept. 26, 1845, with their parents, Heinrich Conrad and Ilse Katherine Kothmann. Their ship reached the Texas shore on Dec. 20, 1845, arriving at Indianola Port near Galveston. The family settled near Art, east of Mason, on a 640-acre land grant.

"They came to Texas due to unfavorable conditions in Germany," J. Ann Lange said. "My great-great-great grandfather said to his children: ?We have no future here, let's go to America'. So, they came to what we know as the Hill Country through arrangements with the Adelsverein Society."

According to the Texas Almanac, Adelsverein was an association of German noblemen organized "for the purpose of purchasing land in the free state of Texas" and settling German immigrants in the Lone Star State. The organization began work in the early 1840s. Many present day citizens in Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Mason and Castell in Llano County are descendants of German immigrants lured by Adelsverein land grants.

Reviewing her notes submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture's Family Land Heritage program in 2003, Lange said the Premier Ranch was recognized for continuous ownership by the same family for 131 years.

Mason, 100 miles southeast of San Angelo, is located in a pocket of the Hill Country known for its limestone and red sandy soil and topaz minerals.

Heinrich "Fritz" Kothmann and his first wife, Sophie (Hartwig), had nine children ? Fritz Jr., Mathilde, August, Charles, Louis, Emilie, Eli Henry "Lee", H. Dan and Ben.

Kothmann built a two-story rock house on the Premier Ranch and fenced the land with rock fences. Sophie died in 1883, and daughter Emilie died at age 16 in 1886. A year later, Fritz married Mary Miller Eversberg and they had one child, Elgin O. Kothmann.

In 1899, Mathilde acquired approximately 1,674 acres of the Premier. Five children ? a baby girl who died in infancy, Dan, Ida, Frieda and Walter ? were born to Mathilde and F.J. Lehmberg.

Lehmberg died at 31 years of age and Mathilde later married J. D. Eckert. The Eckerts had five children ? Milda, Kinney, Elgin, Ella and Lillie.

Their daughter Ella would acquire title to 116.26 acres of the original Premier land where she and her husband, Frank E. Jordan, raised cattle. The Jordans also owned 3,400 acres of Mason County land.

The Jordan family, which included four children ? J.D., Ethyl, Lois and Willard ? were active in 4-H and the Texas Hereford Association. Willard, known for his talents as an auctioneer and owner of Jordan Cattle Auction in San Saba and Mason, lives on the original property settled by his great-great grandfather Fritz Kothmann at Art.

In 1980, Ella (Eckert) Jordan deeded her 116.26 acres of the Premier Ranch to her granddaughters ? Janice Lynn, J. Ann and Nancy Jean. In 1984, Janice and Nancy sold their share to J. Ann in 1984.

J. Ann and her husband, Aubrey Lange, continue to raise Brangus cattle on the 116.26-acre part of original Premier Ranch. They also own additional ranch property totaling about 2,000 acres in Mason and Irion counties, which they operate with their two children, Kyle Lange and Marsha (Lange) Hahn.

For 29 years, Aubrey has operated Lange Helicopters, Inc., from the Irion County ranch headquarters on Spring Creek, 16 miles west of San Angelo. He built the business by rounding up cattle and aiding in other activities for West Texas ranchers. Kyle has joined his dad in the helicopter business and also operates the Lange Indian Spring Exotic Game Ranch and hunting lodge near Mertzon.

Standard-Times: How did your family get into ranching?

Joyce "J." Ann (Jordan) Lange: My husband and I purchased our first ranchland in 1970 when I was 24 years old. Ten years later, I inherited my Premier Place from my grandmother.

What keeps you in the business?

Determination! I always wanted to own land and because of my grandmother and great-grandmother I have been privileged to fulfill that dream. My husband had the same desire and we have added property to what was passed down by my women ancestors.

The Premier land will be inherited by our daughter, Marsha, and hopefully passed on to our granddaughter, Ashley Hahn, making ownership of lineal descent through five generations of women.

What's the most unique feature of the ranch?

It's dotted with huge liveoak trees and the century old rock fences are unique.

How have you diversified the operation?

Brush and prickly pear control is ongoing. We also added several dirt stock tanks.

We are products of the generation who rode horseback in the 1940s and 1950s to doctor livestock infected with screwworms. So, we believe the advent of the screwworm eradication program in the 1960s was the single-most beneficial event of the ranching industry.

Any new projects?

We are in the process of installing more gates and new fence lines, replacing older fences.
SHARE Gilbert Manriquez

By Staff Report

A San Angelo man was arrested in with the killing of a woman outside her place of work at the Ranch Radio Group offices in Kerrville on Wednesday.

Kerr County deputies arrested Gilbert Manriquez, 36, who was discovered walking along Texas 16 north of the crime scene at 7:15 a.m. The woman has been identified as Sherry Ruth Francis, 52, but details on how she was killed weren't released by Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer. He reported her body was discovered at 5:47 a.m. by a co-worker, according to a story published by the San Antonio Express-News.

During questioning, Manriquez confessed to killing Francis, who is not from the Kerrville area and had "only been an employee of the radio station for one month," according to officials, the Express-News reported.

Heirholzer said Manriquez, who is expected to face a charge of murder, had no known connection to anyone at the station, and that the killing appears to be a "random act of violence." In February, Manriquez was arrested in Kerr County on a warrant charging him with driving with an invalid license, the Express-News reported.

An autopsy is planned to determine cause of death.
SHARE

When President Obama declared in 2011 that he wanted U.S. foreign policy to pivot to Asia, some derided the move as a clumsy attempt to flee the messy conflicts of the Middle East.

But the pivot has actually worked pretty well  as will be evident as Obama travels to Asia this week. Almost every country in the region is clamoring for a closer relationship with the United States.

The most striking case is Vietnam, most of whose leaders are old enough to have fought in their country's war with the United States. The communist regime has been openly courting a deeper military relationship, and has even invited the U.S. Navy to return to Cam Ranh Bay, its base during much of the war. During his visit, Obama is expected to announce an expansion of American military sales.

The impetus for this rapprochement is China, Asia's increasingly assertive great power. Beijing's pursuit of sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea, most of which are also claimed by other countries, has flung China's neighbors into the arms of the United States.

Only a few hundred miles from Vietnam's coast, Chinese construction teams have been dredging the seafloor and using landfill techniques to increase the size of China's territories, then building infrastructure to support military facilities.

The newly built islands aren't much use in a military conflict with the United States; U.S. Navy officers dismiss them as sitting ducks. But as military bases, they could still help Beijing intimidate weaker neighbors such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

Eventually, the islands also could enable China to assert economic rights to the estimated 11 billion barrels of oil beneath the seabed. Even fishing rights are at stake; China's fishing industry, the world's largest, employs more than 14 million people.

On a visit to Washington last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised not to "militarize" the islands, but he never defined what the term meant. Some Chinese officials later said Xi's policy merely banned "major offensive weapons." That created alarm in the Pentagon and prompted the Obama administration to sharpen its denunciations of the construction projects.

This is an asymmetric struggle; there aren't many practical steps the United States can take to stop China's dredging. The Pentagon sends ships near the islands to assert U.S. freedom of navigation, but that hasn't slowed the construction.

The United States does have one asymmetric advantage of its own: its ability to forge stronger alliances with China's worried neighbors  not only Vietnam, but also the Philippines, Malaysia and others as well.

A stronger Vietnamese navy  one that holds joint maneuvers with the U.S. Navy  would deny China some of the military advantage it hoped to gain from building all those airstrips.

The idea, in short, is to raise the long-term cost to Beijing. Of course, that strategy works only if the United States is willing to invest in those stronger relationships  through not only a U.S. military presence, but expanded trade agreements, too.

So Obama faces what former Defense Department official Derek Chollet calls a "reassurance challenge."

"All these countries are looking for reassurance that the United States will be there," he said. "They all want the United States to do more  and we can't possibly deliver everything they want."

Indeed, all three remaining candidates in the presidential campaign have been critical of the Trans Pacific Partnership, Obama's trade agreement with most of Asia except China. Donald Trump, in particular, has promised to scrap TPP if he's elected.

That would be a particularly acute problem for Vietnam, a low-income country which would be a major beneficiary of the agreement. Administration officials warn that if Congress refused to ratify TPP, Vietnam and other developing countries will have little choice but to tie their economies more closely with China's.

In other words, if Trump gets his way, the biggest beneficiary in Southeast Asia might well be China.

Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Contacts him at doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com
This winter, a small group of advocates, teachers, parents and students began meeting each week at a church in Portland, Ore., to figure out how their schools could do a better job of preparing the next generation to fight climate change.Together, they wrote a resolution that, with some changes, was unanimously adopted by the Portland Public School Board on May 17. The district, the board resolved, "will abandon the use of any adopted text material that is found to express doubt about the severity of the climate crisis or its root in human activities."But a few days after the vote, the story took on a life of its own, mostly outside Portland: Some websites called the move a "ban" on specific books, while another claimed that the district would scan its libraries and remove all books that weren't up to snuff. One of the advocates fielded emails calling him an "idiot" and a "d-bag."The Heartland Institute, a conservative group, posted on its blog that the school district was "demanding that their unshakable faith in catastrophic anthropogenic global warming be the only thing taught in school." In an email, Heartland's director of communications, Jim Lakely, said the resolution was harmful because "it teaches kids in Portland public schools the falsehood that the science is settled." He said he's concerned that kids will be "indoctrinated instead of taught how the scientific method works."The story of how an attempt to bring a school district's textbooks up-to-date with modern science turned into something much more politicized shows how touchy it can be to try to regulate how schools teach about an emerging field."It feeds into the more politicized context of climate change," said Josh Rosenau, programs and policy director for the National Center for Science Education. "I certainly think that climate education is important and should be accurate ... but I tend to be a bit leery when a single subject is singled out for any reason."America's culture wars have filtered through school boards for decades. Ground zero was Texas _ it's the second-biggest state and its textbooks were frequently adopted by other states, giving it outsized market clout. There, tensions flared over such topics as creationism and sex education. Recently, a woman named Mary Lou Bruner, who has written that school shootings spring from a curriculum that teaches evolution, made it into a runoff election for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education."Many believe schools will be a place where their children will learn fundamental, core values," said Trey Kay, a journalist who produced a documentary on the Texas textbook controversy and whose podcast, "Us and Them," covers culture wars. "It's possible that a teacher or principal or a whole curriculum is going to teach knowledge and values that are contradictory to what they're being taught at home."Texas, though, has lost some of its clout since many states are teaching the Common Core, which creates a larger market for books that teach similar lessons.Since there are thousands of school districts in the U.S., it's hard to track where each one stands on climate change. Currently, Rosenau said, he is unaware of any other district that has gone as far as Portland.In 2008, the Los Angeles Unified School Board passed a resolution that mandated "environmental awareness education" for elementary school students that included "the concepts surrounding global warming and climate change." California has since adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, a set of common learning goals in science perceived to support the teaching of global warming.So how did Portland come to adopt the resolution? A former Portland public school teacher turned environmental advocate named Bill Bigelow teamed up with teacher Tim Swinehard to write a book called "The People's Curriculum for the Earth." Then they embarked on a project, sponsored by the environmental group 350 PDX, focused on how schools should deal with climate change. They scrutinized their own city, and were appalled by what they found.In two textbooks found in almost every Portland high school, they found passages on climate change that they considered understated and out-of-date. They thought the district should begin looking through its materials systematically.Soon, teachers, parents and students joined their meetings, and began discussing language for a resolution "to deal with this civilization-changing crisis," Bigelow said. Among their suggestions was that the district sever ties with fossil fuel companies and their allies.After a few meetings, Bigelow looped in Mike Rosen, an environmental scientist who joined the school board in July. Rosen helped shepherd the resolution, and along the way, it shed the language about the district cutting those connections.The way Rosen saw it, the resolution called for a "comprehensive curriculum that addresses the issue." Ideally, he said, textbooks would present climate change as the prevailing truth, but still mention that there are skeptics _ who are wrong. "That's what teaching is about," Rosen said.Then the board meeting came, and a few environmentalists, including high school junior Gaby Lemieux, testified. She supported the resolution, saying, "I don't see a whole lot of climate education in my school."The vote passed without controversy, and made few waves in Portland _ an eco-friendly mecca where few question the science behind climate change.Then, the story hit the Internet. Headlines declared, among other things, that the district had banned books. "There's been a huge misconception," said Christine Miles, a spokeswoman for the district. "We're updating scientific materials for our students."The district, she said, was accused of being "un-American."The confusion might stem from Bigelow's testimony. At the school board meeting, he pointed to two textbooks _ a modern history book and a science book _ that he said don't adequately characterize climate change. "The text is thick with the skeptical language of 'might' and 'could' and 'may,' " he said at the time.That could explain why the story took on a life of its own, Rosenau said. And, in fact, Lakely, the Heartland Institute spokesman, said his organization opposed what he characterized as a ban on textbooks that use the words "might," "may" and "could" about climate science. The resolution, however, doesn't actually use those terms.Bigelow and Rosen felt a backlash. Rosen and the other board members got a vulgar email that said: "One can only hope that Mount St. Helens erupts again and spews 'Global Warming' on you morons."These screeds, Rosen said, missed the point. "I'm not saying that we're going to burn the textbooks. I'm not saying that we're going to destroy the textbooks," he said. "What we're talking about is getting up-to-date texts."Lemieux, the student, was excited to see the resolution generate so much interest. "It's wonderful that it made it into one of the top trends on Facebook," she said. "But it's not about taking anyone's freedom of speech away. It's not about that at all."
NEW ORLEANS  A top lawyer for Texas fiercely defended the states strictest-in-the-nation voter identification law on Tuesday in a high-profile case that could ultimately determine at what point states that assert that they are protecting the integrity of elections cross over into disenfranchisement.Standing before all 15 members of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller argued that judges were wrong to conclude in two previous rulings that the Texas Legislature discriminated against minority and low-income voters in passing a 2011 law that stipulates which types of photo identification election officials can and cannot accept at the polls.If those rulings are left as written, all voting laws could be in jeopardy, Keller said before a packed courtroom that included his boss, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.Lawyers representing the U.S. Department of Justice, minority groups and other plaintiffs disagreed, asking the judges to affirm what a lower court  and a three-judge panel in this same courthouse  previously concluded: that Senate Bill 14 has a "discriminatory effect on Hispanic, African-American and other would-be voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.Only a handful of judges asked questions at length on Tuesday, making it difficult to know where the majority stands. But the 5th Circuit is considered among the nations most conservative, with 1o of its members having been appointed by Republican presidents.Paxton left the courtroom Tuesday feeling optimistic that the law, which has worked in preventing voter fraud would survive, he told the Tribune.Theres been no discriminatory effect shown  they never provided any evidence, Paxton said. Weve done everything we can to provide a way for people to vote. Its clear.Asked whether Texas should also strengthen rules for absentee voting, considering that experts say those ballots are far more prone to fraud than those cast in person, Paxton said that was totally up to the Legislature.He added, however: Anything that eliminates fraud is usually good.Chad Dunn, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he wouldnt bother trying to read the judges leanings based on their questions, but he nevertheless felt confident, calling the Texas law indefensible.In the courtroom, opponents of the rule argued that not all voter ID laws violate the federal law but that the states unusually short list of what election workers can accept at the polls is particularly burdensome for certain voters  particularly minorities.The question is whether there are requirements in SB 14 that are needlessly hard for certain voters, Dunn told the judges. The details of this law  which have never been justified  are what make this unconstitutional.The Texas law requires most citizens (some, like people with disabilities, can be exempt) to show one of a handful of types of identification before their ballots can be counted. Those include: a state driver's license or ID card, a concealed handgun license, a U.S. passport, a military ID card or a U.S citizenship certificate with a photo.Texas is among nine states categorized as requiring "strict photo ID," and its list of acceptable forms is the shortest.Experts have testified that more than 600,000 Texans lack such identification, though not all of them have necessarily tried to vote. Those citizens can obtain election identification certificates free of charge, but only if they are able to produce a copy of their birth certificate.Voting rights experts are watching closely, saying this is one of two such battles, alongside one in North Carolina, that the U.S. Supreme Court  currently split along ideological lines  may ultimately decide.In defending its law, Texas points to a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling  Crawford v. Marion County Election Board  that determined that an Indiana photo ID law should be upheld even if it was fair to infer that partisan considerations may have played a significant role in its enactment. At that time, the high court said Indiana had a valid interest in "deterring and detecting voter fraud" and had implemented the law neutrally.The plaintiffs aim here, is to essentially try to re-litigate Crawford, Keller argued Tuesday.Judge Edith Jones, a Ronald Reagan appointee, agreed with Texas that the Crawford decision supports the notion that the state has legitimate interest in combatting voter fraud.But Plaintiffs pointed out key differences between the Texas voter ID law and Indianas, which includes a much broader list of acceptable identification. And they asked why Texas, when drawing up its law in 2011, would not have used the three-year-old Crawford decision for guidance  instead of drawing up its much narrower requirements.Chief Judge Carl Stewart, a President Bill Clinton appointee, also probed that question.Am I missing something here? he asked in discussing the Indiana case. Later in the arguments, he listed a host of states that require photo ID but allow more options than Texas does. Why are you saying 'were like those other states'?Lawyers on each side sparred over what kind of evidence is needed to prove discrimination under the law. Keller argued that voter turnout figures showing a disparate impact on minority owners was needed. Opponents of the law argued that demonstrating that the law disproportionally diminished some Texans' "opportunity" to cast a vote was evidence enough.If that broader view were adopted, Keller suggested, all state election laws would be more vulnerable to challenges under the federal Voting Rights Act.Janai Nelson, arguing on behalf of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund, pointed to the environment under which the Texas law was passed, noting that lawmakers voted for it amid a legislative session that also saw intense race-infused debates surrounding issues like immigration and sanctuary cities  raising questions about their mindset and intent in creating the ID rules.The role of race, she said, simply cannot be ignored.Texas maintains that the law bolsters ballot security and that there is no evidence that it prevents legitimate voters from casting ballots.The point of this law is to make sure that voter fraud isnt occurring, Keller said in an interview on the courthouse steps. Its not to suppress voter turnout. Often times in legislative battles, motives start to be attributed. In this case, they were by opponents, because they disagreed with the policy.Though a federal district court and a panel of 5th Circuit judges have ruled that the Texas requirements violate the U.S. Voting Rights Act,the law has been enforced at polling locations around the state since 2013. The outcome in here could determine whether the rules remain in effect for the presidential election in November. The U.S. Supreme Court set a July 20 timetable for the appeals court to rule.
A federal court ruling Tuesday declaring Ohio GOP lawmakers' voting restrictions unconstitutional could easily wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court -- and generate a 4-4 split decision, a voting-rights expert says.With high-stakes voting cases also working their way through courts in such states as Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin, "There is sorely a need for clarification" of how the U.S. Constitution and the 1965 Voting Rights Act should be applied, said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California at Irvine.But with the high court operating down one member, the status of election law could remain fractured among conflicting federal appeals court rulings for the 2016 presidential election, he said.Judge Michael H. Watson of U.S. District Court in Columbus said the Republican-dominated Ohio legislature violated the federal constitution and Voting Rights Act in 2014 when it reduced the state's early voting period from 35 to 28 days. The move also eliminated the so-called Golden Week in which eligible residents could register to vote and cast an absentee ballot at the same time.Even though Ohio's early voting period is among the most generous in the nation, the reduction disproportionately affected African Americans, Watson ruled.The judge noted that blacks took advantage of Golden Week 3 1/2 times as often as white voters in 2008, and more than 5 times as often in 2012."Based on this evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the reduction in overall time to vote will burden the right to vote of African Americans, who use (early in-person) voting significantly more than other voters," Watson said in a 120-page opinion.The legislature's stated justifications for the cutback -- reducing fraud, trimming costs, avoiding voter confusion -- were weak, said Watson, former chief counsel to Republican Gov. Bob Taft. Watson ordered Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Attorney General Mike DeWine -- the defendants in the case -- to stop enforcing the shortened voting period.A DeWine spokesman said the decision -- which sided with the state on many issues -- will be appealed to the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.Husted said in a release that "for nearly 200 years, Ohioans voted for only one day. If it was constitutional for lawmakers to expand the voting period to 35 days, it must also be constitutional for the same legislative body to amend the timeframe to 28 days, a timeframe that remains one of the most generous in the nation."State Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati, president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, said, "I am pleased that the federal court has affirmed what we knew all along -- that the elimination of the same day voter registration was an unconstitutional restriction on our most basic democratic right that disproportionately affected minority voters in Ohio."Although the effect was a racial disparity in Ohio's voting system, the groups bringing the lawsuit did not prove that the legislature and Husted acted "in order to disenfranchise minority voters," Watson said. He also rejected several other challenges brought in the suit, pushed by the Ohio Democratic Party and Democratic parties in Cuyahoga and Montgomery counties.State Democratic Chairman David Pepper called the ruling "an enormous win for Ohio voters" and chastised Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Husted and other Republicans for ongoing efforts to compromise Ohioans' right to vote."It's a shame that once again our legislature, governor, attorney general and secretary of state cannot figure out how to abide by the constitutional rights of their own voters. The judge found no merit in any of their justifications for the burden they placed on African American voters. How many losses in court, and how many wasted tax dollars, are going to convince them to respect Ohioans' right to vote?"When asked if Golden Week voters could make a difference in this year's presidential election, Pepper replied, "In a very close race, it could actually change the outcome of an election."
City Attorney Stephanie Karr left no doubt about the extent of her influence.In fact, she illustrated it with detailed invoices submitted each month. The bills document conference calls with the mayor, the drafting of news releases and talking points, correspondence with national news outlets, memorandums to the city clerk about records requests, and hours upon hours spent in closed meetings with the City Council.On Monday, Karr resigned, saying in a letter that the decision "is mine alone."Three weeks ago, city officials revealed that they were removing her as city prosecutor, her other role with the city.As Karr guided Ferguson through the intense scrutiny after Michael Brown's death in 2014 and the mass demonstrations it inspired, she watched other influential figures at City Hall -- the police chief, the city manager, the judge -- capitulate to calls for their resignations.Until recently, city leaders gave no hint that Karr's job might be in jeopardy, despite pointed criticism of her in a Department of Justice report published last year. The report included the accusation that she engaged in "retaliatory conduct" against lawyers who challenged the city.Karr's grip seemed to weaken this year, as she made one decision after another that provoked outcry. She was the target of protests, accompanied by signs demanding that Ferguson "Stop the Karr-uption.""It is with a heavy heart that I provide this notice; however, it is in the best interest of me, my family and the City," she wrote.It was the latest in a series of exits of city officials. The city is searching for a city clerk, a municipal court judge, a planning and zoning director and, now, a prosecutor and city attorney.Those vacancies came at a critical time. The city is attempting to enact the terms of a far-reaching agreement with the Justice Department to reform police and court practices. City leaders are in talks with the federal government about selecting a monitor to oversee that process.Ferguson City Manager De'Carlon Seewood said the city had not asked for Karr's resignation, adding that it surprised him."I saw her stepping away from the prosecuting attorney position and that would allow her to spend a little bit more time as city attorney," Seewood said.He said employees were taking on additional duties because of all the vacancies.In her letter, Karr pledged to continue working for the city until her successor was in place "so that the City will not be without legal representation for any period of time."She declined to comment further.Over the past several months Karr has refrained from explaining decisions deemed questionable by her critics and others.In January, the City Council voted 3-2 to appoint Laverne Mitchom, a retired educator who attended some protests, to a vacant council seat. Karr essentially blocked the appointment when she said four votes were needed.She did not provide a public explanation for her advice except to say it was based on case history.At the time, Ferguson was considering whether to approve an agreement with the Justice Department to settle a lawsuit. The council eventually agreed unanimously to appoint Mitchom, who provided the crucial vote to put the agreement back on the council's agenda.The agreement was approved in March. Karr continued to prosecute cases the Justice Department had cited as constitutional violations.In the process, she and her colleagues at Curtis, Heinz, Garrett and O'Keefe -- the area's largest municipal firm -- billed significant legal expenses, including more than $40,000 in prosecutor fees in the first four months of 2016.Those fees resulted largely from trials stemming from the 2014 protests in which defendants were charged with "failure to comply," a charge the Justice Department has accused the city of abusing.In the past few weeks, St. Louis County Associate Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dueker acquitted five defendants tried in April. In two of those cases, Dueker took the unusual step of granting motions for judgment of acquittals, meaning that there was not enough evidence to even consider guilt.Karr did not have a contract as prosecutor, but as city attorney, she worked under a 2006 agreement between Ferguson and her law firm.Ferguson City Manager De'Carlon Seewood said Tuesday that the city would soon advertise for a new city attorney. He said lawyers from Curtis, Heinz could apply, along with others.To Tony Rice, a member of the Ferguson-based activist group Ground Level Support, it appeared that Karr wanted to punish protesters no matter the cost."It looked like she decided to play a zero-sum game," Rice said. "It was her against the protest community. She was all in."Rice said Karr's resignation proved that the demonstrations were effective."Voting didn't get rid of her," Rice said. "It was the pressure."Last week, Karr dropped a failure-to-comply case, stemming from the 2014 protests, 40 minutes before the scheduled trial.In a lengthy memo, she insisted the defendant had "clearly" committed the violation. However, she was not prosecuting "for reasons wholly unrelated to the merits of the case."Once again, she did not elaborate.
On Tuesday, in the afternoon, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey departed Brisbane for an official visit to Mackay.

In the evening, at Mackay North State High School, the Governor, with Mrs de Jersey, attended and officially launched the 2016 Centenary of Anzac Commemorative Tour and addressed guests, before returning to Brisbane.
Description

GIS  25 May 2016: Lovebridge Ltd has so far recruited some 25 technical staff who are currently being trained to coordinate support programmes to the poor households. Forty-six families (220 persons) are already benefitting from Lovebridge Ltd and the number of beneficiaries will increase to 2,500 by December 2017. Lovebridge Ltd has so far recruited some 25 technical staff who are currently being trained to coordinate support programmes to the poor households. Forty-six families (220 persons) are already benefitting from Lovebridge Ltd and the number of beneficiaries will increase to 2,500 by December 2017.

This reply was given by the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth yesterday in the National Assembly to a question relating to the implementation of the Lovebridge Project under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

In the context of the National Parrainage Programme, an amount of Rs 100M has been earmarked as one-off grant to support the Lovebridge parrainage project, out of the amount of Rs 126 million of unspent CSR money collected from the private sector by the Mauritius Revenue Authority during the year 2015, he stated. This amount was disbursed on 26 January 2016, he pointed out.

According to the Prime Minister, the private sector, whose contribution is expected to be above that of Government, has so far mainly contributed in kind, in terms of office premises and staff, equivalent to some Rs 2 million. However, the Lovebridge project is yet to be fully operational, he said.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth also informed the House that as per its project plan, the private sector will be contributing towards the implementation of programmes relating to education, housing, health and food requirements of the poor and needy.

I have given strict instructions to review and strengthen the existing monitoring and evaluation mechanism on the use and the outcomes of the funds allocated for the Lovebridge project, he stated, adding that, in the context of the next budget, the CSR framework will be reviewed in line with the implementation of the Marshall Plan Against Poverty.
Description

GIS - 25 May, 2016: This Wednesday 25 May 2016 is an action-packed day of activities in the context of the National Road Safety Month, being held from 21 May to 21 June 2016, with a view to raise awareness of the population on the importance of road safety as it affects each and every one. This Wednesday 25 May 2016 is an action-packed day of activities in the context of the National Road Safety Month, being held from 21 May to 21 June 2016, with a view to raise awareness of the population on the importance of road safety as it affects each and every one.

In the morning, the Voice of Disabled People International is organising a march from Champ de Mars to the Municipal Council of Port Louis aiming at informing people that road accidents do not only cause deaths but also disabilities. It is noted that the number of casualties (fatalities and persons injured as a result of road traffic accidents) increased by 6 % from 3,592 in 2014 to 3,809 in 2015. Among the casualties, 139 were fatal, 495 seriously injured and the remaining 3,175 slightly injured.

The Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions and the Brahma Kumaris, on the other hand, are holding a half-day workshop on Road safety through self-transformation to be followed by an exhibition at the St Pierre Social Welfare Centre.

For its part, the Mauritius Police Force is making a presentation on road safety to Lafarge Managers at Crystal Beach Hotel. The Police is also using its roll-over simulator there to stress the necessity of using seatbelts to avoid serious injury in a car by making participants experience how their seat belt holds them in even when the car is overturning, rolling over and upside down.

Moreover, the Police will be present on both Wednesday 25 June and Thursday 26 June at Omnicane in Britannia to sensitise the drivers of heavy motor vehicles on road safety practices.

It is recalled that the National Road Safety Month, featuring 36 activities scheduled from 21 May to 21 June 2016, has been initiated by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport with the collaboration of the Mauritius Police Force and various stakeholders from the public and private sectors and the civil society. It was launched on Saturday 21 May 2016 with a march and a roadshow from the Municipality of Quatre Bornes to the Municipality of Beau Bassin /Rose Hill.

Government Information Service, Prime Ministers Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius. Email:

Website:
(TNS) -- Washington County, Maine, found itself Tuesday in the company of Rwanda, Malawi, Indonesia and several other developing nations.They all were recipients of technology grants from Microsoft, part of a new program launched by the software giant to help remote and economically challenged areas make connections to the Internet. Here in Maine, Machias-based Internet service provider Axiom Technologies landed at $72,800 grant to provide Internet access to more than three dozen rural homes in Washington County, where it makes no economic sense to try to extend wired connections to the web.I see this as the beginning of a relationship with Microsoft, said Mark Ouellette, president and chief operating officer of Axiom Technologies. It really does open up the world to small businesses.The Redmond, Washington-based company on Tuesday awarded 12 grants through its Affordable Access Initiative, part of its commitment to invest $1 billion to bring the power of cloud technology to serve the public good. The grant to Axiom Technologies was the only one in North America. One grant was awarded in South America, one in Europe, five in Africa and four in Asia.Axiom plans to use the money to wirelessly connect about 40 buildings, mostly homes, to the Internet using TV white space, which utilizes a portion of the broadcast spectrum that had been used to broadcast over-the-air television before those transmissions were switched to digital high-definition signals, said Ouellette.That technology will allow the company to provide wireless Internet access to homes that are far from broadband wired connections. With the help of the Microsoft grant, the cost will be only $9.90 a month  about a quarter or less than the cost of a wired connection via a cable company  and users will also have access to a suite of cloud-based Microsoft programs, such as Excel and Word.Ouellette said the hope is that the customers will have home-based businesses that will benefit from the access to the Internet and the software.Most of the other projects funded under the grant program are aimed at connecting schools to the web for educational programing. One, in Uganda, will support an expansion of a network of small solar fuel cells to provide electricity to villages so they can power computers with connections to the web. A company in Argentina is working on a mobile platform chatbot using artificial intelligence to enable farmers to communicate with their animals and receive alerts and recommendations.Projects in Philippines, Malawi and Botswana are also using TV white space to expand Internet access in remote parts of those countries.Using the part of the broadcast spectrum abandoned by television stations is important, said Phil Lindley, executive director of ConnectME, a state agency that helps expand access to broadband Internet in Maine.Unlike some other wireless technologies, TV white space doesnt require line-of-sight corridors to allow connections, Lindley said, which is vital in heavily wooded parts of the state, like Washington County. Although the technology does not provide speeds comparable to the faster wired connections, TV white space offers a significant improvement over other ways of getting online, such as a dial-up connection using a telephone, he said. Axioms TV white space routers will connect to the states Three Ring Binder backbone, a 1,100-mile, 20 gigabit spine of broadband service that loops through rural parts of western, northern and eastern Maine completed two years ago, Lindley said.Using wireless is a good solution to connecting homes that are so far off the grid that running a wire is prohibitively expensive, he said. Although a wired connection is still preferred because of the speed it offers, Lindley said, the cost and effectiveness of wireless connections is improving and could be very important in helping more Mainers in rural parts of the state get online,As the technology improves, costs should come down, Lindley said, meaning more parts of Maine could be linked to the web using the wireless connections. Thats important, he said, noting that the state is, at best, in the middle-of-the-pack nationally in terms of home access to the Internet.Maine has persistently finished in the bottom of broadband speed rankings. A study released last year by ConnectME noted 80 percent of Maine doesnt have access to high-speed Internet service, which is defined as having 10 mpsb upload and download speeds.Ouellette said some of the grant money will go toward classes for the new users, to help teach them the Microsoft programs they will have access to, as well as membership for Axiom in the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, a international group of companies and organizations focused on improving and expanding the use of the TV white space technology.That could be a real key to the economic vitality of rural parts of the state, where poverty rates are highest, said Fletcher Kittredge, the chief executive officer and founder of GWI, an Internet service provider based in Biddeford. Kittredge was a key backer of the Three Ring Binder project to expand high-speed Internet access beyond the more developed southern half of Maine.There are places in Washington county that are really, really rural and where the connectivity is hard, he said. Affordability is so important in those areas.Ouellette said Axiom is still trying to decide specifically where to roll out the new connections, but he said the new system could be up and running by this summer.Axiom is an Internet service provider with about 1,200 customers in Washington County, Ouellette said. It has 14 employees.
Developing smart corridors with infrastructure that can connect with vehicles, especially transit. This could allow for better data collection, better real-time coordination of transit and signal prioritization to speed transit through.

Coming up with apps that pull together information about infrastructure and connect it with real-time data to efficiently route trucks and other logistics vehicles and avoid traffic.

Working to bridge the payment gap between citizens who use cash and mobility services like Uber and Lyft, which rely on digital payment.

Providing autonomous shuttles to serve riders in specific areas of town.

Working electric vehicles into the citys smart grid development plans.

Building smartphone applications with information on parking availability, transit options for visitors and more.

If Columbus, Ohio, wins the U.S. Department of Transportations Smart City Challenge, it will receive about triple the amount of money the federal government is promising to dole out to test high-tech mobility solutions.Thats because the city has received word from the Columbus Partnership, a group of local businesses, that it will provide an additional $90 million to Columbus should it win the DOTs $40 million, according to the Columbus Dispatch . Another $10 million is available from the investment firm Vulcan for electric vehicle projects, along with a bevy of free technology and services from companies ranging from Alphabet to Mobileye.Columbus is one of seven finalists for the prize, and the announcement comes just after Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx swung through Columbus on a tour of all seven cities . The DOT expects to announce the winner of the Smart City Challenge in June.Representatives of most of the cities have spoken about their ability to stretch the $50 million prize by leveraging partnerships with local entities, but Columbus is the first to announce a massive effort to raise money to augment the prize.Columbus' plan for the money involves several different systems the city would build to test new technologies, connect underserved people to opportunity and lay the groundwork for more efficient transportation. Among the ideas are:Randy Bowman, assistant director of the Columbus Department of Development, said that the goal would be to make Columbus a center of innovation for transportation systems that could develop lessons to be spread throughout the country. Columbus is nearby several large population centers  not the least of which include Kansas City, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati  and he said the city would want to welcome in people looking to develop better transportation systems elsewhere.We believe that our approach will demonstrate how you can adopt our technology, Bowman said.The other finalists in the Smart City Challenge are Pittsburgh; Kansas City, Mo.; Denver; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco.
SALEM, Ore.  When Targets systems were breached in 2015, it was rumored that the cyber side of the house had the information it needed, but didnt know it was looking at an attack that compromised its clientele's credit card information.In just the last decade, threat vectors have evolved from the standard known perils of the cyber realm to the evolving attacks that change from discovery to detention within systems  and the ever-changing threats are not just a problem for the private sector.During the Oregon Digital Government Summit held May 24, Bob Pelletier with Palo Alto Networks discussed the issues facing IT teams everywhere and how they could better defend their networks from bad actors.According to the longtime security expert, the landscape continues to change despite the best efforts of teams around the world. The popularity of applications has led to threat vectors that experts cant always predict and yet are prevalent within many systems.What it means is that the entire landscape has changed, Pelletier said.The encryption debate has also posed challenges for cybersecurity professionals. To decrypt everything coming or going through networks would not only be time consuming, but costly as well.This creates a real vulnerability for us in IT, he said of modern SSL encryption.In addition to multi-facet security protocols, Pelletier said IT leasers should only be focusing their attention on the unknown, which often presents itself in the form of unfamiliar URLs being accessed by employees  or at least the computers of their employees.The more context officials can add to a certain action, Pelletier argues, the more they will know about a potential breach. He uses the example of two inconspicuous IP addresses communicating; when context is added, he said it may become clear that a local network is sharing files with an IP in China.As more systems migrate to cloud environments, the systems engineer said it is important to carry over security as a built-in feature of the new systems. While data centers had to contend with their own challenges, off premise systems are also at risk.His own company leverages cloud-based threat analysis capabilities, next generation firewalls and state-of-the-art endpoint protections.Code testing within a secure, off-site environment, and subsequent reprogramming of potentially malicious code, allows for the systems firewalls to learn the threat and prepare for it. Despite the additional layer of security, he does not recommend avoiding excellent end-point protections.When all else fails, he added, the physical network is the last place cybersecurity teams can kill a potentially damaging bug before it detonates and affects data and operation
Toto Wolff is heading into Monaco this weekend determined that Mercedes' drivers will not crash again.

From the moment Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg tangled and ended in the Barcelona gravel, the German team's boss has played down the explosive incident.

But now, just a day before track action resumes in Monaco practice, Wolff is insisting it will not happen again.

"The drivers know how we operate," he said. "The team is responsible for giving them the best possible cars and they are responsible for getting the best out of them - and for bringing them home."

That comment was made in Mercedes' official race preview, but in the pages of the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten, Wolff added: "I feel physical pain when I think of Barcelona.

"As a team we lost 43 points and I hope our drivers have learned from it. Obviously something like this happens to us every two years," he added, referring to a collision between Rosberg and Hamilton at Spa in 2014.

Initially, although team chairman Niki Lauda pointed the finger at Hamilton, Wolff insisted that in fact neither the Briton nor Rosberg were to blame for what happened in Spain.

He now says: "They were both to blame.

"Lewis because he was aggressive, and Nico because he should have known that in his engine settings he was missing 160 horse power," Wolff explained.

Mercedes this week rubbished a wild rumour that Hamilton's partying had finally caught up with him and he could be sidelined in Monaco because of a mysterious nightclub incident.

Wolff told Salzburger Nachrichten that the reigning world champion's off-track lifestyle is under control.

"He is the first to know what is good for him and what is not. And if his performance suffers from his lifestyle, he would change it. So he doesn't need us to do anything," he insisted.

(GMM)
Oops! There was a problem! Sorry, but we can't find what you were looking for right now. The content may have been removed, or is temporarily unavailable.

GreatAndhra.com powered by India Brains Infotech, LLC, its owners, associates and employees are not responsible for any errors, omissions or representations on any of our pages or on any links on any of our pages.



We do not endorse in anyway any advertisers on our web pages, links to personal pages, official pages, or commercial pages.



We have no control of the content of external information. Please verify the veracity of all information on your own before undertaking any reliance.



The linked sites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. We are providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by us of the site.



We hereby expressly disclaim any implied warranties imputed by the laws of any jurisdiction. We consider ourselves and intend to be subject to the jurisdiction only of the courts of the state of California.



Greatandhra.com also contains material in the form of inputs/feedbacks submitted by users and Greatandhra.com accepts no responsibility for the content or accuracy of such content nor does it make any representations by virtue of the contents of Greatandhra.com in respect of the existence or availability of any goods and services advertised in the contributory sections. Greatandhra.com makes no warranty that the site contents are Virus -free or anything else, which has destructive properties and shall have no liability in respect thereof.



Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, GreatAndhra.com takes no responsibility for and will not be liable for the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond its control.



If you have any questions or concerns about a published article, please send us email at venkat@greatandhra.com . We will review your request and article will be removed immediatly.




Collectors' Meet At TDP MP's Function Hall!

Controversies continue to dog Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Even as the huge expenditure on his camp offices in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Guntur and his latest decision to stay at a star hotel in Hyderabad along with his family have become a subject of criticism, the two-day Collectors Conference being held in Vijayawada has also become a controversy.

According to reports, the conference is being held at a function hall supposedly belonging to a Telugu Desam Party MP.

It is learnt the government is spending Rs 1 crore on holding the conference at the function hall. Needless to say, the MP makes a good amount of money through the conference.

The question is why the government has chosen this function hall, instead of holding the Collectors conference at Vijayawada Municipal Corporation conference hall or other government office premises.

Moreover, the said function hall is located far away from the city and the government had to make transport arrangements for the Collectors from the hotels to the venue.

What do you call it, if not misuse of official machinery?
The Fast-E project, co-financed by the European Union and nine companies, has officially launched , with the objective of installing 241 fast-charging charging stations in Germany and 37 in Belgium. A sister project between the Czech Republic and Slovakia will add another 30 charging stations.

The 278 charging points set up every 80 km along Germany and Belgiums main motorways, will allow drivers of electric vehicles to refuel and extend their cars range. The total investment of the EU-funded cooperation is approximately 18 million (US$20 million).

Under the leadership of the charging station operator Allego, the project Fast-E brings together nine companies in the industry, including three charging station operators (RWE Effizienz, enviaM and Allego) as well as four car manufacturers (Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, Renault SAS, Nissan Center EUROPE), DB Energie GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn and the Hamburg-based company hySOLUTIONS. The last, a competence center in several charging infrastructure projects, is responsible for the integration of new drive technologies in urban transport.

The quick-charging stations installed as part of the project employ the Combined Charging System (CCS) and CHAdeMO, each with up to 50 kW power output, as well as a type 2 connector with 43 kW power output. The project is expected to end in December 2017 with the completion of the accompanying studies; the charging infrastructure will continue to operate commercially thereafter.

Renault sells more electric vehicles in Europe than any other car manufacturer and had a market share of more than 23% in 2015.
Previous epidemiological studies have shown associations between particle matter and heart disease. It has been unclear, however, how exposure to particulate matter leads to diseases of the cardiovascular system. Earlier studies had been shorter and had depended for their analysis on existing datasets collected for other purposes.

Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, but the biological process has not been understood. A major, decade-long study of thousands of Americans has now found that people living in areas with more outdoor pollutioneven at lower levels common in the United Statesaccumulate deposits in the arteries that supply the heart faster than do people living in less polluted areas. The study is published in The Lancet .

Now, direct evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air), a 10-year epidemiological study of 6,795 people aged 4584 years from six US states, shows that air pollutioneven at levels below regulatory standardsaccelerates the progression of atherosclerosis. The condition, also called hardening of the arteries, can cause heart attacks.

Repeated scans were done for nearly all participants between 2002 and 2005; for a subset of participants between 2005 and 2007; and for half of all participants between 2010 and 2012. Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (a measurement of the thickness of tunica intima and tunica media, the innermost two layers of the wall of an artery) was measured by ultrasound in all participants at baseline and in 201012 for 3,459 participants.

Residence-specific spatio-temporal pollution concentration models, incorporating community-specific measurements, agency monitoring data, and geographical predictors, estimated concentrations of PM 2.5 and NO x between 1999 and 2012.

The researchers found that coronary calcium in the subject population increased on average by 24 Agatston units (a measure of calcium generally included in the results from a CT Test for Coronary Calcification) per year (SD 58), and intima-media thickness by 12 m per year, before adjusting for risk factors or air pollutant exposures.

Participant-specific pollutant concentrations averaged over the years 200010 ranged from 9.222.6 g PM 2.5 /m3 and 7.2139.2 parts per billion (ppb) NO x . For each 5 g PM 2.5 /m3 increase, coronary calcium progressed by 4.1 Agatston units per year (95% CI 1.46.8) and for each 40 ppb NO x coronary calcium progressed by 4.8 Agatston units per year (0.98.7)about a 20% acceleration in the rate of these calcium deposits.

This was the most in-depth study of air pollution exposures ever applied to a large study group specifically designed to examine influences on cardiovascular health. The study provides important new information on how pollution affects the main biological process that leads to heart disease. The evidence supports worldwide efforts to reduce exposures to ambient air pollutants. lead author Dr. Joel Kaufman

The effects were seen even in the United States where efforts to reduce exposure have been notably successful compared with many other parts of the world, Dr. Kaufman noted. Exposures were low when compared to US ambient air quality standards, which permit an annual average PM 2.5 concentration of 12 g/m3. (As noted above, the participants in this MESA-Air study experienced concentrations between 9.2 and 22.6 g/m3.)

In an accompanying editorial in The Lancet, Dr. Bert Brunekreef, a professor at Utrecht University in The Netherlands, and Dr. Barbara Hoffmann, a professor of the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, described the study as exemplary. Noting that the results are sobering, they called for decisive action in controlling pollution levels worldwide.

The MESA Air study was funded in 2004 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project involved researchers at a number of institutions, and characterized air pollutant exposures experienced by people in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The participants lived in six major cities across the United States. The clinics were in Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, St. Paul and Winston-Salem. Of the people in the study, 39% were white, 27% black, 22% Hispanic, and 12% Chinese.

The authors come from institutions that include the University of Washington, Columbia University, University of California, Los Angeles; Wake Forest University, Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, University of Vermont, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin, among others.

Resources
For strategic reasons, PSA Group will manufacture the main electric powertrain components in France, signalling its determination to develop high-tech operations in profitable niche markets. The electric powertrain will be produced at the Tremery/Metz centre of excellence, while the gear systems will be manufactured at the Valenciennes plant.

As part of the energy transition process and in line with the technological offensive spelled out in its Push to Pass strategic plan ( earlier post ), PSA Group will focus on diversifying its offerings with plug-in hybrid gasoline systems and next-generation electric powertrains. The latter will be used in particular to equip e-CMP, its future electric platform developed in partnership with Dongfeng Motors. ( Earlier post .) At the same time, the Group will continue to develop next-generation internal combustion engines, both gasoline and diesel.

PSA Group has also decided to fit its plug-in hybrid gasoline vehicles with engines produced at the Francaise de Mecanique facility in Douvrin, France.

To meet growing demand for gasoline engines, PSA Group plans to double production in France by 2019 of its 3-cylinder EB Turbo PureTech gasoline engine, which in 2015 was named engine of the year in its category by an international jury. (Earlier post.)

The Douvrin and Tremery plants will produce 350,000 additional turbo gasoline engines in 2018, lifting potential output to 670,000 units. As a result of these investments, Tremery is set to become the Groups most diversified engine plant, capable of manufacturing gasoline, diesel and electric powertrains.

In addition, to increase its capacity to produce three-cylinder gasoline engines and move production as close to consumers as possible, PSA Group will install an EB module at the Trnava, Slovakia plant in 2019.

This will enable it to meet rising demand for gasoline engines on entry-level vehicles.

These various decisions form part of Group PSAs technological drive to modernize its plants and prepare for the energy transition.
Animal control officers responded to an address on wilderness Trail in reference to a report of a cat caught in a trap.

Animal control officers responded to an address on Schultz Street in reference to a welfare check on a dog.

Officers responded to an address on Fir Street in reference to a report of a suspicious person.

Animal control officers responded to the address of 705 Uinta Drive in reference to a report of a dog left in a vehicle.

Animal control officers responded to an address on Knotty Pine Street in reference to a report of a barking dog.

Animal control officers responded to the area of Riverview Drive and Locust Street in reference to a report of a dog at large.

Officers responded to an address on Logan Street in reference to a report of a parking complaint. Officers contacted the registered owner of the vehicle and learned the owner had reported the vehicle stolen in Summit County, Utah. Officers contacted the

Summit County Sheriffs Department and made arrangements for the owner to pick up the vehicle.

The GRPD K9 officer was requested to assist troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol on a traffic stop east bound on I-80, mile marker 85. During the course of the traffic stop, the K9 gave a positive alert for the presence of a controlled substance.

Officers responded to an address on Lombard Street in reference to a report of a scam. The reporting party advised they have received two phone calls over the last two days from someone claiming to be with the IRS. The reporting party advised they did not give the caller any information.

Officers responded to a two-vehicle collision at 905 Bridger Drive. It was reported a vehicle backed out of a parking spot and struck a parked vehicle. While investigating the incident, officers contacted Courtney Corona, 28, of Green River, who was arrested for allegedly driving while under the influence, second offense.

Animal control officers responded to an address on Colorado Drive, in reference to a report of a cat caught in a trap.

Officers responded to a report of a crash on Wyoming Drive and Arizona Street. A vehicle was traveling north on Wyoming Drive when it attempted to make a U-turn. A vehicle traveling behind the vehicle making the U-turn, did not have enough time to slow down and struck the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle making the U-turn was issued a citation for inattentive driving.

Officers assisted agents with the Wyoming Department of Probation and Parole at the 140 Commerce Drive, apartment A office.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of a missing person. The missing person was later located and was OK.

Officers met an individual at the police department in reference to a report of suspicious circumstances.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of a runaway. Officers were able to locate the runaway and they were returned to their parent.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a 911 call.

Officers responded to a report of a noise complaint on Cumorah Way. Officers contacted Osman Rodriguez, 20, of Green River, who was issued a citation for allegedly disturbing the peace.

Officers responded to an address on Uinta Drive in reference to questions concerning a larceny report.

Officers were flagged down by a person that wanted to report safety concerns for an individual walking on the highway. Officers contacted the Wyoming Highway Patrol regarding the information.

Officers assisted personnel with Castle Rock Ambulance Service.

Officers responded to an address on Evans Drive in reference to a report of a disturbance.

Officers observed an open gate to a property. Officers checked the area and contacted a responsible party for the property. The responsible party advised everything was OK.

Officers located an open door to a property. Officers checked and secured the property.

Officers secured the door on an open property.

Officers observed and assisted a motorist on Uinta Drive.

Officers observed a chihuahua running at large in the area. Officers were unable to catch the dog.

Officers responded to an address on Bridger Drive in reference to a report of a suspicious phone call. The reporting party advised they received a phone call from a person wanting information about their phone. The reporting party hung up the phone and did not give the caller any information.

Officers assisted personnel with Castle Rock Ambulance Service.

Officers took a report of a stolen bicycle on Hitching Post Drive.

Animal control officers responded to an address on Greasewood Street in reference to a report of a cat caught in a trap.

Animal control officers responded to the area in reference to a report of a dog at large on Virginia Drive.

Officers responded to a report of an altercation at a residence on West Railroad Avenue, in which a shot had been fired. An officer arrived on West Railroad Avenue and contacted the reporting party who had been inside the residence, but left upon hearing a gunshot from a bedroom. Other officers responded to the residence after attempting to make contact with the victim and suspect; both walked out of the house. Officers determined an adult male had suffered a gunshot wound to their upper right leg at the residence. The subject was transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County by ambulance. The investigation is on going. Ted Kalivas, 57, of Green River, was arrested for alleged aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Officers spoke to an individual by telephone in reference to arranging a civil stand by.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a 911 hang up.

Officers responded to an address on West Flaming Gorge Way in reference to a citizen assist. The citizen had questions concerning inappropriate text messages.

Animal control officers responded to the area of Sundance Drive in reference to a report of a stray kitten.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of trespassing.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of a parking problem on North 5th West.

Officers spoke to an individual by telephone regarding a civil stand by on Iowa Circle.

Officers met with an individual at the Police Department regarding problems they are having with a child.

Officers met with an individual at the Police Department regarding problems they are having with a child.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of suspicious circumstances on South 5th East.

Officers responded to the area in reference to a REDDI report on West Teton Boulevard and Monroe Avenue.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of suspicious circumstances on Maple Circle.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of domestic violence. Upon arrival, officers learned there had been a verbal argument at the address.

Officers responded to an address on East Teton Boulevard in reference to a report of suspicious circumstances.

Officers responded to an address on Driftwood Street in reference to a report of a nuisance property. The reporting party was concerned about vehicles parked at the residence.

Officers responded to the area on Wilkes Drive for a report of a minor vehicle crash. No injuries were reported. The driver, Camie Paumer, 44, was issued a citation for inattentive driving.

Officers took a report of threats by telephone. The reporting party advised a person living in Green River had threatened them and was also refusing to return property to them on Elias Avenue.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of domestic violence.

Detectives assisted DFS on a welfare check.

Animal control officers responded to an address on Georgia Way in reference to a report of a dog at large.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a report of a runaway. While en-route to the address, officer located the runaway walking.

Animal control officers met with an individual at the animal shelter that wanted to get their dog.

Officers responded to an address in reference to a traffic complaint. The reporting party advised a group of people made gestures towards them while driving. The reporting party advised the people then followed them home and yelled at them. Officers initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle described in the complaint on South 2nd Street East and East 2nd South. The individuals were advised about traffic laws and not to provoke other drivers.

Officers responded to a business at 59 Uinta Drive in reference to a report of a suspicious person. Officers contacted the individual and determined everything was OK.

Officers initiated a traffic stop on Hitching Post Drive and Anvil Drive and determined the driver had a suspended license. The driver was issued a citation and released from the scene.

Officers responded to a vehicle vs. deer crash on West Flaming Gorge Way. The deer died on scene but no other injuries were reported.

Animal control officers responded to the shelter at 80 E. Teton Blvd. for a citizen assist.

Officers responded to a panic alarm on Bridger Drive that was determined to be accidental.

Animal control officers responded to the shelter for a report of a dead animal.

Officers responded to a complaint of vehicles blocking an alleyway and a parking lot on South 2nd Street East.

Officers responded to the area of East 4th South in order to meet with a citizen who had questions about parking issues.

Officers responded to a residence on Indian Hills Drive to speak with a citizen who had concerns regarding a phone scam.

Officers responded to the area of East 3rd South due to citizen complaints of vehicles driving 65-70 mph in a residential area.

Officers responded to a report of narcotics being used in a public area on Railroad Avenue. The complaint was unfounded.

A nuisance officer responded to a parking violation on North 7th West.

Officers responded to the area on College Drive in order to speak with a citizen who wished to report possible illegal activity.

Officers responded to the area on Shultz Street for a report of a subject screaming and causing a disturbance.

Officers provided an agency assist by attempting to locate a subject at a residence on Uinta Drive.
Ashley Froats smiles to friends and family during the graduation ceremony at Green River High School Monday evening. She was one of many students at GRHS receiving diplomas.

Monday and Tuesday evenings were a time for families to watch Green River's senior high school students in the age-old tradition of graduation.

Monday, seniors from Green River High School received their diplomas, while Tuesday was reserved for Expedition Academy's graduating class. According to Phil Harder, EA's graduation speaker and math teacher at the school, the tradition dates back more than 3,000 years to ancient Greece. While the event itself dates back to ancient times, both students and teachers used the ceremonies to instill some final nuggets of wisdom into the graduating classes.

Harder will move to GRHS in the coming fall and gave what he described as his final lecture for EA. In his speech, Harder gave four pieces of advice to the students, telling them to thank their supporters, celebrate their success, pass it on and to understand the power of story in a person's life.

Harder said the graduates were supported throughout their lives by a number of family members, friends and others and helped them achieve their graduation goals. He said students should thank their supporters and celebrate the success the achieved.

However, Harder also told students to help others out along the way, passing that support and their knowledge on.

For his final point, he said students can use their life stories to benefit others, but warned them against using their stories as a crutch and excuse for the difficult moments they may face in their lives. To drive his point home, Harder told a short story about the Bank of Time and how it gives a person 86,400 seconds each day to spend as the person wants. He said if people receive $86,400 in cash each day, in an account that would zero out the remaining balance at the end of the day and start fresh with the same amount each morning, people would spend every penny of that amount. Like the money in his story, Harder said people should use each second they have to the fullest, because they cannot borrow time and it doesn't carry over a balance at the end of the day.

At GRHS, teacher Colt Klements gave a few bits of advice as well. He said at the end of the week, he always tells students to have a good weekend, make good decisions and make sure to brush their teeth. In regards to brushing teeth, Klements told students a smile has a lot of power, including offering home, lighten a heavy load and soften stone walls. He said graduates will face a number of decisions in the coming days and weeks, some of which can have a lasting impact on their lives. He suggests people seek advice for the tougher decisions and always think it through before making a choice. Finally, despite all difficulties that can be present throughout life, Klements said graduates should make time to have fun and should strive to find a balance between professional time and leisure time. He also said people have the power to change their situations at any time.

"If you're unhappy, do something about it," he said.

Students also offered their takes on what graduation means, as well as the path it took to make it to their ceremony. GRHS graduate Kayla Gibson told students they wouldn't have made the journey without all the guiding hands that helped them throughout their lives. She said they shouldn't take the moment for granted, as it means they're entering the adult world with the power to influence their surroundings.

Star photo by Lillian Palmer The mass of newly graduated GRHS Seniors turn their tassels at the end of the ceremony Monday evening.

"We are adults and we can change the future," she said.

Despite that power and responsibility, Gibson said they still have a lot of growing and learning to do and concluded by saying they should grow up, face the future and cross the bridge into adulthood.

At EA, graduate Jakob Hart said the school isn't the school for criminals and "bad kids" as everyone says it is. He started at the school during his junior year after taking some time to care for his father with ALS. His father died Jan. 6, 2015 and said he would have normally skipped school the following days, but went back to EA the next day because he knew he would get support from EA's staff, especially thanking the school's media support specialist Ashlee Swett.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be talking to you," Hart said.
Its one thing to tell a story. Its a completely different idea to capture that story in the written form for others to read.

Young writers from across Sweetwater County had a chance to put their stories down in written form for the Young Authors competition. Many of those authors showed great potential, while doing well at the state and county levels of competition.

Prior to the Wyoming Young Authors Competition, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 and No. 1 students competed at the district level and then at the county level.

Students who finished first at the district level advanced to the county level. Those who finished first at the county level went on to state.

Nonfiction, fiction and poetry entries were judged at each level. Judges looked at numerous areas including creativity, grammar, sentence structure and the overall creativity of the story.

The district did very well, Fredrick Schwartz, SCSD No. 2 young authors coordinator, said. We had quite a few come out on top at the county level.

A lot of those same winners went on to take honorable mentions at the state level.

All students who participated in the county competition received a feather quill, while the runners up were given medals, while the first-place winners were given a trophy and a certificate stating they were advancing to state.

I would love to take credit for this, but unfortunately I cant, Schwartz said.

A lot of the work is either done in the classroom or at home, he said. It takes family and teacher support for students to excel in this particular program.

This was shown during the county-level awards ceremony. Schwartz said the children time and time again thanked their parents and teachers for helping them out.

A total of 37 Sweetwater County entries advanced to state. Schwartz said this is his first year at SCSD No. 2 and with the program so he didnt know what to expect for the state entries.

We did very well, Schwartz said. We got a lot of honorable mentions.

He said a lot of these same children are in extracurricular activities. It is a real art form for them to put those extracurricular experiences into the written word so everyone can read it. The kids were really putting their hearts into their work. Of course, there were more elementary-level entries than high-school entries, which is normal.

For me, its an expression of creativity, Schwartz said. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the stories.

Schwartz wants to encourage children of all ages to continue writing.

Some are on par with most successful writers, Schwartz said. I see a lot of potential, if they follow it.

State Young Authors Results

Third Grade:

Fiction

Honorable Mention: LIL MISS, by Nate Bailey, Harrison Elementary School, Green River

Fourth Grade:

Poetry

First Place: 9 Lives: A Cats Tale, by Aubrielle Maes, Overland Elementary, Rock Springs

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: The Worst Day of My Life, by Rylie Johnson, Harrison Elementary School, Green River

Fiction

First Place: Monster in a Can, by Shane Meats, Sage Elementary School, Rock Springs

Sixth Grade:

Poetry

Honorable Mention: The Life of Nature,: by Yesenia Vicencio-Delgadillo, Pilot Butte Elementary, Rock Springs

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: The Day My Life Changed, by Victoria Shaw, Monroe Intermediate School, Green River

Fiction

Honorable Mention: Quest to Go Home, by Samantha Demedeiros, Monroe Elementary, Green River

Seventh Grade:

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: Spoons, Stitches, and Sisters, by Shelby Madsen, Farson-Eden Middle School, Farson

Eighth Grade:

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: The Antelope Hunt, by Karson Keeler, Farson-Eden Middle School, Farson

Ninth Grade:

Poetry

Honorable Mention: Life is a Yin Yang of Pain and Joy, by Elizabeth Murdock, Green River High School, Green River

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: Good Morning Princess, Life is Beautiful, by Mary Harris, Green River High School, Green River

10th Grade:

Poetry

Honorable Mention: Behind Every Smile, by Aubie Ellis, Rock Springs High School, Rock Springs

11th Grade:

Fiction

Honorable Mention: Tsunami, by Lacey Hart, Green River High School, Green River

12th Grade:

Poetry

Honorable Mention: These Halls, by McKell Lyon, Green River High School, Green River

Nonfiction

Honorable Mention: Warped Tour, by Mylee Minard, Green River High School, Green River

Fiction

Honorable Mention: Forget Me Not, Sabrina Mora, Green River High School, Green River
Twenty-six heroes were honored by the American Red Cross of the Piedmont Triad at the fifth Salute to Heroes ceremony May 12 at the Hayworth Fine Arts Center at High Point University.

John R. Ryan, president and CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership was the keynote speaker. Major Gen. Dave Richwine, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), represented the Carolinas Freedom Foundation and presented lapel pins to all Vietnam War veterans. Cameron Kent, WXII Channel 12 news anchor, was master of ceremonies.

Nominated by people across the 11-county area of the American Red Cross of the Piedmont Triad, the 26 honorees were:

Danette McNeal, emergency communications Specialist II, Guilford Metro 911, who took a call on Aug. 29, 2015, from a 15-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in South Carolina and was being transported north by her kidnapper. McNeal managed to locate the girls whereabouts at a gas station near the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Police were dispatched, the girl was freed and the kidnapper taken into custody.

Captain James Jimmy Nance and Senior Paramedic Steve Evans, Rockingham County Emergency Medical Services, saved the life of a firefighter from the Eden Fire Department who suffered a heart attack and a head injury while fighting a fire Oct. 19, 2015. Nance and Evans arrived at the scene, administered CPR, treated the firefighter for the head trauma, and then transported the firefighter to a local hospital. The firefighter has since recovered and returned to work.

Jose Chavez, Greensboro Police Department officer, intervened in an exchange of gunfire among individuals leaving a downtown Greensboro nightclub in the early morning Nov. 8, 2014. Despite his own personal danger, Chavez ran towards the gunfire and identified the individual who was shooting at the crowd. After advising the individual to drop his weapon, Chavez discharged his service firearm, striking the suspect and thus ending the threat to both himself and the other people in the area. The individual shot by Chavez has since recovered from his wounds. In 2015, Chavez was awarded the Greensboro Police Departments Medal of Valor.

Josephine (Jo) Williams, volunteer executive director of the Triad Food Pantry in High Point, has worked for many years to address hunger in the community. She coordinates the work of some 45 volunteers who together provide food to 1,200 to 1,500 people every month through the Triad Food Pantry at the High Point Seventh-Day Adventist Church. She also helps organize the distribution of free over-the-counter medicine to those in need.

Frank Tothill, 95, a World War II veteran, served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying the P-47 Thunderbolt against the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre of the war. Tothill was in the air Aug. 9, 1945, about 75 miles from Nagasaki, Japan, when the second atomic bomb was dropped. Tothill stayed in the Air Force until 1955, then had a successful career in the furniture-finishing business.

Twenty men from the Greensboro Fire Department who battled an apartment fire and rescued a family at Ray Warren Homes in Greensboro on Nov. 1, 2015. Three fire-engine trucks and two ladder trucks were dispatched to the fire, where a mother and her three children were trapped on the second floor. All four people, who had stopped breathing, were rescued. Those honored were firefighters Lee Busque, Chris Gaskins, Charles Gunter, Lyle Lance, Kevan Nowling, Mark Osiecki, Doug Patton, Matt Robertson, Matt Shaw and Eric Simmons; fire equipment operators Doug Bast, John Fiery, Jim Johnston and Scott Robbins; Captains Nick Brown, Ken Cockman and Forrest Goff; Lieutenants Mark Bullard and Kevin Gray; and acting fire equipment operator Wesley Brame.
When the West Point Society Piedmont celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on June 1, several hundred people from all over the country will hear Joe Galloway talk about the Battle of la Drang and his best-selling book, We Were Soldiers Once  And Young.

The November 1965 Battle of la Drang was the first major battle of the Vietnam War, and Galloway was the only war correspondent on the ground during the battle. For his bravery in rescuing wounded soldiers under fire, the Army awarded him a Bronze Star.

Joe Galloway has been one of the only people from the media that has been kind to Vietnam veterans, Phil Keith, a helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam, wrote when he registered. He has been a wonderful spokesman for our involvement.

Several members of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), including Medal of Honor recipient Joe Marm, have registered to attend.

While the North Carolina Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and North Carolina Chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association will turn out in force to join their Air Cavalry peers, they will not lunch alone. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard veterans  many who served in Vietnam  will join them.

Officers from second lieutenants to generals will be on hand. At least one command sergeant major will attend. While rank will have no privileges at this gathering  peace and decorum will not be a problem  the groups DNA is built around military courtesy.

One command sergeant major wont be there  Command Sgt. Maj. Basil L. Plumley, veteran of three wars and iconic senior enlisted leader during the Battle of la Drang. He died in 2012 at the age of 92. Galloway will see to it that Plumleys legacy is not forgotten.

A large number who did not serve militarily will also be on hand to share the moment, including spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, friends and some who just want to give Vietnam veterans the Welcome Home, they deserve.

Thanks for opening this up to the public, wrote one respondent. This allows my husband and me to share my grandfathers heritage: He served in Vietnam as an Air Force electronics warfare officer.

A litany of interesting military occupational specialties have surfaced among the registrants, including helicopter pilot, door gunner, flight engineer, mechanic and crew chief.

A Navy SEAL veteran of Vietnam and his wife, whose son is serving as a SEAL, a Riverine boat captain, a naval adviser and an engine man will be among those representing the Navy.

Air Force-wise, there will be the Greensboro reservist whose crew flew to Hanoi in 1994 to repatriate the remains of two servicemen back to the U.S.

Among the Marines on hand will be three brothers  two served in Vietnam, the third is a master gunnery sergeant (retired). Over a dozen registrants are from the Greensboro Marine Corps League  including veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and the Gulf wars.

A Gold Star Wife has registered, as has a 94-year-old Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient from World War II. Several highly decorated Special Forces and Army Ranger veterans will be on hand.

My battalion commander considered We Were Soldiers Once required reading, wrote Andrew Halsey, the human resources director of one of the largest Triad manufacturers and a big employer of veterans. Ive read it more than once, seen the movie, and followed Mr. Galloway and Gen. Moore throughout their careers  I will be at the luncheon, as will a large number of my employees.

The West Point Society will be the majority block at the luncheon  as it should be. Theyve done the heavy lifting to make this a signature event, both for the Triad and for 50th anniversary observances.

The West Point Society Piedmont consists of West Point graduates, their spouses, families and a broad cross section of the community. The organization supports the U.S. Military Academy and members of the Armed Forces. Meetings are open to the public.

The three West Pointers in the above photograph earned numerous personal decorations: Dr. Mike Brennan, Army colonel (retired); and Ted Crichton, Air Force brigadier general (retired), hold distinguished service medals. Bill Trivette, Army lieutenant colonel (retired), is president of the West Point Society of the Piedmont.
GREENWICH  The audience that turned out Wednesday morning to see state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th District, speak before the Retired Mens Association included someone listening very intently  Frantzs opponent in November, Democratic state Senate candidate John Blankley.

On Monday night, Blankley was nominated by the districts Democrats to run against Frantz for the seat. A member of the towns Board of Estimate and Taxation, Blankley pledged to bring bold, new solutions to Connecticut, and that he would work with Hartford Democrats to address the states significant budget issues without gutting protections for those most in need.

And on Wednesday, Blankley listened as Frantz, a four-term incumbent Republican, spoke at an association meeting about Connecticuts fiscal challenges.

Frantz spoke of lower taxes and less regulation as a way to make the state better for business.

I have been impeded in no way in terms of creating a business, Blankley said, claiming reasonable taxes and regulations are necessary. I can walk the talk when it comes to business and taxes and regulation.

Blankleys financial experience includes his time on the BET and the Representative Town Meeting; his business experience creating a computer consulting firm in Connecticut; and serving as a chief financial officer for both BP North America and Stolt-Nielsen, the worlds largest chemical tanker company.

I agree with Scott in that we need to get the budgeting process in order, Blankley said. What we need to do is send someone up there that has dealt with budgets bigger than the state of Connecticut, which I have.

Blankley said Frantz was incorrect in stating budgets keep going up in the state, saying the 2016-17 budget is a cut from the previous years spending plan. He said this years budget decrease showed that there did not have to be an inevitable rise every year, and that the state was adopting zero-based budgeting under the Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Frantz and other Republicans have advocated for zero-based budgeting  starting each state departments budget with no expectation of an automatic increase in funding.

I have dealt with restructuring on a worldwide basis of a major internationals assets and I have raised more money in shipping than any other person had at that time, Blankley said. I did the biggest high-yield bond deal in 1996 that had ever been done. Ive dealt with unions and contracts. When it comes to solutions for issues like pension obligations and job creation, I have big solutions.

Blankley also disagreed with Frantzs remarks that the states economic uncertainty and tax policies led to the departure of GE from Fairfield to Boston. Frantz cited comments made by GEs CEO, Jeff Immelt. GE announced earlier in the month that 500 to 600 jobs would be moved to Norwalk with 200 going to Boston.

GE wanted to be closer to Bostons tech-savvy work force and surrounding institutions like Harvard and MIT; Georgia had said it would outdo any offer another state had made, and yet GE still went with Massachusetts, Blankley said.

That tells you GE is going back to its roots, Blankley said. Thats where they came from and they wanted the technical infrastructure that goes with that area. Shame on us because we didnt do more in Connecticut in terms of innovation and creating a cluster  which we could have done in New Haven if wed done it 10 years ago. Its too late for it now with GE, but we can still do it and there are plans to do it. The whole GE left because of taxes meme is simplistic.

Blankley even rose up during the question and answer session of the meeting to question Frantzs position on business taxes, getting a laugh from Frantz.

You couldnt have a more formidable opponent, Frantz said. I look forward to a spirited campaign. Its going to be good.

kborsuk@scni.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Why does Trader Joe's boxed macaroni and cheese taste like Annie's? Probably because the well-known name brand makes the product for the national supermarket chainat least according to rumors.

Trader Joe's doesn't have a factory where it makes its own products, and instead sources them from well-known brands and sells them under the Trader Joe's sub-brands at a discount.

The privately held grocery chain based in Monrovia, Calif., closely guards this information and is notoriously secretive about its relationships because it wants its customers to develop loyalty to its own brand. The big brands don't want consumers to have this information because Trader Joe's sells their products at discounted prices. If you were Frito-Lay, you wouldn't want people to know they can buy the same bag of Stacy's pita chips for a couple dollars less at Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's can keep its prices down because it doesn't spend big marketing dollars on advertising beyond its own Fearless Flyer, nor does it have a complex coupon program. And buying directly from the manufacturers keeps costs low.

Consumers are often making guesses about Trader Joe's brand relationships based on packaging, ingredient lists and taste. Is Gordon Biersch making Trader Joe's beer? Is Strauss Family Creamery providing the European Style Organic Plain Whole Milk Yogurt? Is Trader Joe's buying its canned tomatoes from Muir Glenn?

We reached out to Trader Joe's to answer these questions and they never got back to us. We also spoke with a few of the big brands and all told us they couldn't discuss this matter with the media.

Double Rainbow supposedly makes some of the Trader Joe's ice cream and so we called the company to ask if this was the case and a woman who refused to provide her name said, "I'm not at liberty to disclose that information. You have to run a taste test. That's what I would suggest."

And so that's what we did. We decided to investigate 11 of those rumored relationships and closely examined ingredient labels and conducted our own taste tests. We also looked at pricing at the big brand purchased at Whole Foods and the similar (or exactly the same) product at TJ's.

You'll find the results above, and we hope you'll share some of your own assumptions about Trader Joe's products in the comments. Together, we might be able to figure this out.
Bow at the feet of your new leader. Photo-Illustration: Grub Street

Its long been a given that the robots would one day rise up against humanity and take control of the world. The only real lingering questions have been When? and Where? And now things are becoming clear. It seems the answers, respectively, are soon and at Pizza Hut.

Former McDonalds CEO Ed Rensi is like our Oracle here. He warns that building robots is cheaper than paying people livable wages and that, as more advocates press for better wages for fast-food workers, the fast-food industry as a whole will instead start staffing shops with $35,000 robots, which can do jobs both more quickly and more efficiently than humans  a.k.a. meat sacks  that require $15 an hour. In fact, that future may already be here. Carls Jr. CEO Andy Puzder has long been advocating for a fully automated workforce, and  perhaps most chillingly  MasterCard sealed a deal with Pizza Hut that will introduce robots, cheekily name Pepper, to stores around Asia by the end of this year.

It all seems innocuous enough for now, but everyone knows this is how effective uprisings begin, when the powers in charge least expect it. First, the robots will happily help lard up the human race with Big Macs and stuffed-crust pizzas until were all too fat, lazy, and complacent to fight back. By then it will already be too late, and well soon be living in some kind of McTerminator wasteland, bowing at the feet of our new leader: Pepper.

[Mirror Online, PCMag]


Any drink you order here is guaranteed to be among the best youve ever had. Photo: Liz Clayman

One thing New Yorkers tend to do a lot: drink. And the city has so many incredible bars that will cater to exactly that need. Frankly, its an embarrassment of riches. Even still, our concern today is the cocktail bar, a sanctuary that specializes in both innovation and familiarity while turning out expertly chilled, exceptionally balanced, deftly mixed drinks of all types. And no matter how many places can do that well  and there are a lot  a few nevertheless do it better than everyone else. These are the best cocktail bars in New York.

The Absolute Best 1. Clover Club

210 Smith St., nr. Butler St., Carroll Gardens; 718-855-7939 Julie Reiners eight-year-old Smith Street staple tops this list for one main reason: the unerring consistency and quality of the drinks. Clovers Sazeracs can go toe-to-toe with any version sold in New Orleans; bartenders here were turning out superlative mai tais long before the modern tiki trend ever took hold; even house cocktails are consistently more interesting  and less overwrought  than they are at lesser bars. And hey, in addition to excellent drinks, the bar is spacious, and the door policy is what youd call very democratic (you can just walk in, and the staff seems genuinely happy to seat you  imagine that), so you wont get stuck standing in line waiting for a bouncer to grant you access. Serious drinkers should avoid the family-friendly brunch hours, but Clover Club nevertheless earns points for that, too, since it means even new parents  who, lets be honest, probably need a stiff drink more than anyone  can seek refuge here.

2. Little Branch

20 Seventh Ave. South, at Leroy St.; 212-929-4360

Sixteen years after opening Milk & Honey  New Yorks proto faux speakeasy  and almost a year after his untimely death, Sasha Petraskes influence still looms large over New Yorks cocktail scene, at excellent bars like Dutch Kills (alongside its charming new Williamsburg spinoff, Fresh Kills), Middle Branch, and Attaboy (itself located in the original Milk & Honey space). But the most appealing option remains this dark, decade-old basement bar. The not-quite-secret entrance schtick still works because it isnt ham-fisted, and the vibe inside  firmly in the Petraske tradition  is as civilized as ever. The menu is bare-bones, and the drinks remain peerless. And all these years later, its still a little too easy to slip into one of the semiprivate back booths, order one or two drinks too many, and completely lose track of time. When it is eventually time to leave, even the cash-only policy feels like a throwback.

Related Stories The Best Cocktails in New York Are Also the Least Intimidating

3. The Long Island Bar

110 Atlantic Ave., at Henry St., Cobble Hill; 718-625-8908

The laid-back atmosphere at Toby Cecchinis revamped Atlantic Avenue diner belies the established talent that works behind the bar. The crew of bartending vets making the drinks draws an industry-heavy crowd that feels instantly familial. The very short cocktail menu only includes a few house drinks  a daiquiri made with pineapple-infused rum is somehow both chic and tropical; the place managed to remind everyone that the Boulevardier is one of the worlds greatest cocktails  but in true excellent-bar fashion, you can order whatever you want and trust that the crack staff will nail it. For anyone whos grown weary of cocktail nerdery and instead just wants a decent place to drink very well, this is the spot. (The food menu, full of bar snacks and a burger, is noteworthy as well.)

4. The Nomad Bar

10 W. 28th St., nr. Broadway; 347-472-5660

First, the bad news: The crowds here can suck (especially after work, when rat-racers pack in), so your best bet is to nicely give the host your name, grit your teeth, and agree to whatever wait is required to get a table. Once seated away from the fray, the bar feels downright civil. In fact, the proceedings are so meal-like that we were tempted to classify this as a restaurant. But even with gracious service and food from Daniel Humm and executive chef James Kent, its clear from looking around that people are mostly here to drink. Luckily, Leo Robitschek has assembled one of the citys great cocktail menus, covering an array of styles  a tiki-influenced Zombie for two people to share sits next to a Chartreuse-fueled martini variation firmly in the pre-Prohibition mold  all of which go a long way toward helping alleviate the stress of cutting your way through the mob of people.

5. Bar Goto

245 Eldridge St., nr. E. Houston St.; 212-475-4411

The city is loaded with bars opened by veterans of Audrey Saunderss almighty Pegu Club: Tooker Alley is an ideal neighborhood watering hole. PDT still turns out varsity-level cocktails (even if the tourists discovered it long ago). The relatively new Suffolk Arms is likely the only Irish-inspired pub that blends world-class pina coladas. Even Slowly Shirley, the quiet bar underneath the annoyingly boisterous Happiest Hour, isnt without its charms. But the spot on this list must go to Kenta Gotos secluded Lower East Side cocktail den, which feels like the most personal take on the classic-cocktail-bar formula. It helps that the relatively austere house drinks are uniformly elegant (even one thats garnished with a Japanese marshmallow), the attention to detail is unrivaled, and the food  okonomiyaki and miso chicken wings that should not go un-ordered during a trip here  feels simultaneously inventive and comforting, which is also a spot-on description for the bar itself.
While we already know that the newly-announced Motorola Moto G Plus will land in Canada by early summer, now we also have some information on the device's pricing in the country. According to a company spokesperson, the device will carry a price tag of around CAD 400, or around $305.

Of course, the carrier variants will be subsidized. Companies including Virgin, Koodo, Telus, Rogers, Wind Mobile, and Sasktel are expected to carry the handset in Canada. Aside from the G4 Plus, the Moto G4 Play is also expected to land in the country, but sometime late summer.

Via
The Nexus Player is no longer available to purchase from Google - its listing on the Google Store has been removed, although the product information page is still there. Co-developed by the Mountain View, California-based company and Asus, the Android TV device was launched Back in October 2014.

For its part, Google has confirmed that the product has been discontinued. "Nexus Player is still available on some retail sites," a company spokesperson said. However, none of the retailers mentioned on Nexus Player's Google Store page currently have the device in stock.

Source | Via
Just days after a Fast Company report claimed that Samsung's association with Google's Android Wear platform is over, the South Korean tech giant has issued a formal statement refuting the claim.

"We disagree with Fast Company's interpretation," the company said. "Samsung has not made any announcement concerning Android Wear and we have not changed our commitment to any of our platforms."

Gear Live

While the statement does clear the air (for the time being at-least) on the issue, any reports/rumors of Samsung's break-up with the wearable platform cannot be just dismiss as hot air given that the company's last Android Wear-powered device was the Gear Live smartwatch which was launched a couple of years ago. Since then, Samsung has been squarely focusing on it's home grown Tizen OS when it comes to wearables.

Via | Fast Company




Haiti - Justice : Hearing of Guy Philippe postponed to two weeks





As part of the investigation into the attack by a heavily armed commando of the police station of Les Cayes https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17467-haiti-flash-an-armed-commando-attack-the-police-station-of-les-cayes.html , Me Roosevelt Zamor, Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance (TPI) of Jeremie invited the former rebel leader Guy Philippe, Senate candidate for Grand'Anse, qualified for the second round, under the banner "The National Consortium of Political Parties" to come to answer some questions, because his name was cited by members of the commando and reported in the press.



Furthermore, Me Zamor rejects the accusations made against him, of political persecution recalling that Guy Philippe was invited as a private citizen, ensuring that the prosecution has jurisdiction since the citizen resides is in its jurisdiction.



However, the delay of two days from the receipt of this invitation and the scheduled day (Tuesday 24 May) was considered too short to examine the file, bt the awyers of Guy Philippe, Me Desharles Joseph and Me Osnel Sejour, who Tuesday sought in person a postponement to at two weeks, request granted by the Commissioner of the Government, which has set the new date of hearing of Guy Philippe to 7 June.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17518-haiti-flash-guy-philippe-is-challenging-jocelerme-privert.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-17478-icihaiti-flash-guy-philippe-denied-his-involvement-in-the-commando-of-les-cayes.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17467-haiti-flash-an-armed-commando-attack-the-police-station-of-les-cayes.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Warning of the Verification Commission

Tuesday, to 5 days of the submission of report of the Verification Commission, Michel Eric Gaillard, the administrator of the Commission warned the population "We worked in full transparency, we gave the numbers of minutes to the leaders of political parties that can download and decide to interpret in their own way. But that no one confuse their opinions with the work of the commissioners," he warned recalling that "he Commission has yet to release any figures on its work [...] because we do not know them yet."



Ambassador Bocchit leaves OAS to London



Ambassador Edmond Bocchit, the Permanent Representative of Haiti to the Organization of American States (OAS) was transferred to London where he will represent the Republic of Haiti. A farewell ceremony was organized by the staff of the mission of Haiti to the OAS where Ambassador Bocchit spent four and a half years, including two and a half years as Deputy Permanent Representative and two years as permanent representative.



Prison for former CEP advisers !

According Rony Timothee activist of "Pitit Dessalin" the resignation of Me Mosler Georges is not enough for the platform, it is necessary that all arrangements are made by the justice in order put behind bars advisers of the CEP. Recall for the record, that the members of the CEP were all chosen by consensus without the Executive and to the satisfaction of political parties before the situation is reversed...



The Minister of Education is seeking funds for exams

Tuesday, Jean Beauvois Dorsonne, the Minister of National Education held a working session with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) around the state examinations and the search for funds to support the holding of exams.



Deputies will investigate the attack

The Commission "Justice and Security" in the lower house, has set up a Commission of Inquiry, composed of 5 members to shed light on the attacks against the police station of Les Cayes Monday. This commission is chaired by the deputy of Aquin, Jean Robert Bosse and must get to work this week. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17548-haiti-security-major-police-delegation-in-les-cayes.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17467-haiti-flash-an-armed-commando-attack-the-police-station-of-les-cayes.html



Youri Latortue urges Privert to dialogue with Parliament

According to Senator Youri Latortue , President a.i. Jocelerme Privert should meet with the deputies n order to find a solution to the political problem, preventing the opening of the session to the extraordinary. He urges the Government to engage with the two branches of Parliament to break the deadlock.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/05/24 | Source

Web-toon "Cheese in the Trap" is coming to the big screen this time.

Advertisement

On May 24, movie and drama production company Mountain Movement along with a Chinese production company will work together to produce the "Cheese in the Trap" movie. The leading actor is Park Hae-jin same as the drama.

The production of "Cheese in the Trap" movie will progress differently than how it was brought to the small screen. It is because the original web-toon writer Soon Ggi made an official contract with the production company. As the original writer has joined the production team, it is anticipated that the movie will reflect more of the original web-toon.

At the time when the web-toon was being produced as a drama, writer Soon Ggi publicly complained through the writer's blog about how the production team did not communicate with her properly. She revealed that she had requested to share the ending of the original web-toon and change the content of some episodes. However, after episode six, the drama production team stopped sharing ideas for the reasons of the confidentiality of the script and some other reasons.

While the drama wrapped up with the open ending, how the story of Hong Seol and Yoo Jeong may conclude in the movie is drawing attention.

Because Park Hae-jin has joined the movie remake after the drama, how he will bring the character Yoo Jeong to life for movie has become another interesting topic. It seems that Kim Go-eun and Seo Kang-joon would not join the movie, who will play Hong Seol and Baek In-ho is also creating curiosity in "Cheese in the Trap" fans.

"Cheese in the Trap" movie will be distributed through China Film and Xingmei. The movie will begin filming in the beginning of next year with the projected premiere date during summer next year.
Published on 2016/05/24 | Source

Actors Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-gum are modeling together.

Advertisement

According to their managements, the two actors are the new faces for the pizza brand, Domino's Pizza.

They will appear on TV commercials together.

Dominos claimed that the actors' good reputations will reflect positively on their brand and the bro-mance should be something new to look at.

Song Joong-ki is currently on an Asian tour fan meeting. He is also getting ready to star in the movie "The Battleship Island" which is based on the Joseon people during the Japanese invasion. Park Bo-gum is coming back "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds".
Hey friends! I am so proud to be a technology advisor for the the White House Foster Care and Technology Hackathon this week!

While I'm participating in this event and advising as a private citizen, there is a Microsoft team. Here is a brief statement about the Microsoft team's involvement in this cause:

The Microsoft team is honored and excited to participate in this years White House Foster Care and Technology Hackathon on May 26th-May 27th. It is a wonderful opportunity for top technical talent across different industries to work together in collaboration with the White House, the Dept of Health and Human Services, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Think of Us, with the goal of improving the US foster care system and outcomes for children and families who experience care.

The hackathon participants are tackling the biggest problems in the foster care system including topics such as empowering foster youth and alum with decision-making abilities, getting more innovative technology into child welfare agencies, and preventing homelessness and unplanned pregnancy for youth.

Another huge area of concern in the foster care system is that of substance exposed infants and children. Each year, nearly 440,000 infants are affected by prenatal alcohol or illicit drug exposure. Oftentimes, the mothers of these children who are battling substance abuse struggle with seeking care and treatment for themselves and the children. Many of these mothers are young and do not have the support system that they need to get advice and help to both overcome their additions, and take care for their children. Even if they have the inclination to get help, where do they start? And how can they do this without being stigmatized?

The Microsoft hacking team is looking to create a streamlined process by which mothers can access the resources they need, and easily ask for help.

Mothers with addiction problems often struggle to keep their addiction and pregnancy secret, and are therefore hesitant to seek the help they and their children so desperately need. The solution must take this sensitivity into account. Locating relevant information about available resources is another problem. It must aggregate resources into a single place that is simple and easy to use but also non-judgmental.

The team seeks to create a marketplace for social services that will be useful to the mothers in need. Rather than solely aggregate data, the marketplace will include a recommendation system based on the anonymous inputs of the users needs, backed by a rating system that is commonly seen online. Influenced by the ratings systems of websites like Yelp, the team seeks to create an atmosphere that younger generations are used to by allowing them to anonymously rate the services they used, and benefit from the feedback of others.

The team is made up of Program Manager, Yossi Banai, along with technologists Paul DeCarlo, Mostafa Elzoghbi, Stacey Mulcahy, Heather Shapiro and tech advisor Scott Hanselman. Several members of the team have been personally touched or affected by the problem of pregnant and parenting mothers dealing with substance abuse and are passionate about improving the current situation for struggling mothers and their children. They will continue their efforts after the hackathon by maintaining the resources and programs created.

I'll take as many photos and instagrams as I'm allowed. Many thanks to Sixto Cancel from Think of Us, Kishau Rogers, and Vida Williams for including me on this project. I'll be speaking on Thursday along with a room full of amazing folks across the Child Welfare System and the Administration.

I'm excited to meet all the teams including the folks from StackOverflow, Slack, Clef, Uber, Twillio, Prek12Plaza, and more!

Sponsor: Build servers are great at compiling code and running tests, but not so great at deployment. When you find yourself knee-deep in custom scripts trying to make your build server do something it wasn't meant to, give Octopus Deploy a try.
A Queensland employer that sacked a migrant worker after he refused to join an office team building exercise has been ordered to pay $8,500 compensation by the Fair Work Commission.



The company fired the 457 visa worker the day after he declined to participate in an afternoon huddle with his colleagues, despite the staff member claiming he was too ill to join in on the meeting.



Brisbane company, East Coast Bullbars, requires all employees to participate in morning and afternoon huddles, which usually take around five to 10 minutes.



The company says this practice gives workers the opportunity to reflect on their work and encourages greater efficiency and team-building.



But that afternoon, the employee, who was engaged as a metal polisher, refused to join the huddle despite being called out to several times by a manager, the FWC heard.



The employee says he had already clocked off for the day and was feeling unwell with a headache due to working in hot and humid conditions.



The next day he told management that he missed the huddle because he was feeling unwell, however his manager refused to believe him and sacked him on the spot.



"What you did was a sackable offence, and now you have been sacked. So you have lost you job right now," the manager allegedly told the employee.



FWC senior deputy president Peter Richards said during the hearing that the worker was "in all probability was being dishonest" by claiming he was too unwell to respond to his manager when called.



Richards labelled the workers' conduct "was a public display of insubordination, exhibiting a lack of respect for the employer's reasonable instructions and procedures and an unwillingness to be candid to his employer in its investigations into the matter".



Despite the employee also being subject a previous productivity warning, the FWC found his employer was not justified by sacking him.



"In my view, (the) conduct warranted counselling and a warning, and if repeated, a more serious response still, Richards said.



However, as an isolated incident, it was not conduct of a kind that was sufficient to cause a repudiatory breach of the employment contract," he said.



The FWC also heard that the worker may face hardship due to his dismissal, since his employment is subject to a section 457 visa.



These consequences were "serious and may affect his capacity to remain in Australia for purposes of building an income stream to support his family abroad and obtaining permanent residency eventually, Richards says.



The worker was awarded $8541 in compensation.






The following information is provided by local law enforcement agencies.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Compiled by Jessica Isaacs

The following were provided by the Watauga County Sheriffs Office.

May 17

INCIDENT: Calls for service were reported at 157 Inn at Crestwood Drive in Boone.

INCIDENT: Simple assault and communicating threats were reported at 120 Campground Road Lot 12 in Vilas.

ARREST: A male suspect, 29, of 650 Moore Road in Farmville, Virginia, was charged with FTA reckless driving to endanger. He was held under a $1,000 secured bond and will appear in court on June 17.

ARREST: A male suspect, 21, of 239 Marich Lane Apt. 101A in Boone, was charged with contempt of court/perjury/court violations. He was held under a $5,000 secured bond and will appear in court on June 8.

ARREST: A male suspect, 28, of 3614 Railroad Grade Road in Fleetwood, was charged with fraud  worthless checks.

ARREST: A male suspect, 40, of 564 Greensboro Road in Crumpler, was charged with failure to pay child support.

May 18

INCIDENT: Breaking and entering and larceny from buildings were reported at 151 Whitewater Run in Sugar Grove.

ARREST: A male suspect, 22, of 9226 Aylesbury Lane in Mint Hill, was charged with simple assault and vandalism.

ARREST: A male suspect, 48, of 1935 Silverstone Road in Zionville, was charged with DWI and will appear in court on June 17.

ARREST: A male suspect, 26, of 309 Meadowhill Drive Apt. 22 in Boone, was charged with felony fraud  obtaining property by false pretense. He was held under a $3,000 secured bond and will appear in court on June 1.

May 19

INCIDENT: Vandalism was reported at 815 Poplar Grove Road S in Boone.

INCIDENT: Harassment and stalking were reported on Greenwood Road in Boone.

INCIDENT: Simple physical assault was reported at 1394 Milton Moretz Road in Boone.

INCIDENT: Fraud was reported at 2418 Friendship Church Road in Boone.

INCIDENT: Lost property was reported in the parking lot at Harris Teeter.

May 20

INCIDENT: Fraud  worthless checks was reported at 2705 U.S. Highway 421 S in Boone.

INCIDENT: Injury to personal property was reported at 119 Valley High Lane in Blowing Rock.

INCIDENT: Calls for service were reported at 5356 U.S. Highway 421 N in Vilas.

INCIDENT: Breaking and entering a motor vehicle and damage to property were reported at 944 Seminole Trail in Elk Park.

ARREST: A male suspect, 26, of 7615 Old U.S. Highway 421 in Zionville, was charged with simple physical assault and communicating threats and will appear in court on June 14.

May 21

INCIDENT: Larceny was reported at 206 Martin Lane in Boone.

INCIDENT: Drug violations, possession of marijuana and DWLR were reported at 4344 U.S. Highway 321 N intersection in Sugar Grove.

ARREST: A male suspect, 24, of 466 Poplar Grove Road in Boone, was charged with FTA criminal summons of citation. He was held under a $1,000 secured bond and will appear in court on July 8.

May 22

INCIDENT: Breaking and entering a motor vehicle and larceny from motor vehicle were reported at 265 Elias Way in Zionville.

ARREST: A male suspect, 52, of 141 Canter Lane in Zionville, was charged with failure to pay. He was held under a $578 secured bond and will appear in court on June 16.

ARREST: A male suspect, 22, of 1377 Blowing Rock Road in Boone, was charged with all traffic except DWI. He was held under a $500 secured bond and will appear in court on June 17.

ARREST: A female suspect, 36, of 326 Milton Brown Heirs Road in Boone, was charged with violation of court order and will appear in court on May 24.

ARREST: A male suspect, 39, of 210 Howards Creek Road Apt. 2 in Boone, was charged with two counts of larceny. He was held under a $1,500 secured bond and will appear in court on July 21.

May 23

INCIDENT: Communicating threats was reported at 132 Poplar Grove Connector Suite C in Boone.

INCIDENT: Simple physical assault and vandalism were reported at 1895 Howards Creek Road Apt. 2 in Boone.

ARREST: A male suspect, 38, of 4827 U.S. Highway 321 N in Sugar Grove, was charged with felony possession of a schedule VI controlled substance. He was held under a $3,000 secured bond and will appear in court on June 17.

ARREST: A female suspect, 62, of 165 Robin Lane Apt. 221 in Boone, was charged with simple possession of a schedule VI controlled substance and will appear in court on June 17.
Point72s hedge fund university overcomes the lack of talent on Wall Street

Wall Street and Silicon Valley are in a war for talent

Yahoo Finance By Jared Blikre

20 hours ago

????

0:06 / 4:59

Check out the new hedge fund university run by Point72

(Yahoo-Finance) Hedge fund mogul Steven Cohen is cutting out the middleman to recruit top talent for his firm, Point72 Asset Management. Friday, the fund launched its inaugural Sophomore Summit to introduce an elite group of 20 college sophomores to the business of stock picking.

The summit is the first step in a new approach to training asset managers. After successfully completing a summer internship and earning an undergraduate degree, entrants into Point72s hedge fund university go through an intensive 15-month program. At the firms Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters, the small class learns to develop and implement investment ideas, working with veteran traders at the firm.

To read this article:
The network equipment manufacturer confirmed that it will trim its headcount in the country by 1,023 as part of a global, almost one-billion euro cost-cutting programme aimed at achieving the synergies arising from its recent takeover of Alcatel-Lucent.

Making lay-offs is cheap and easy in Finland, Jorma Malinen, the chairman of Trade Union Pro, tweeted on Friday after Nokia announced the results of its latest round of consultative negotiations.

It is obvious that employees are afforded special protection in France but not here in Finland. It became obvious after France set conditions for the completion of the corporate transaction between Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, Malinen states in a press release from Trade Union Pro.

Finnish taxpayers will pay the bill for the lay-offs of Nokia, he continues.

Nokia announced early last month that it is intent on reducing its headcount by 1,300 in Finland and by up to 7,000 worldwide as part of a transformation programme the objective of which is to deliver operating cost synergies of 900 million euros in connection with the takeover of Alcatel-Lucent.

The measures are an attempt to reinforce the position of the network equipment maker as an industry leader, said Rajeev Suri, the chief executive of Nokia.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
After working over 20 fascinating years in venture capital, corporate venturing and informal venture capital, it is good to take a step back and figure out where we are, how we got here and where are we heading.

We are getting better, much better

During this decade, many great efforts have been made in Finland, especially in the capital region, to improve the ecosystem of startup entrepreneurship.

Universities have done a great job in creating more practical entrepreneurial and financial education while simultaneously developing their startup accelerators and getting their brightest students involved in remarkable organizations such as Slush and Aalto Entrepreneurship Society. These organizations play an important role as stepping stones for young entrepreneurs-to-be and new members of the entrepreneurial workforce for any organization. On an individual level, new-generation entrepreneurs have become more persistent: trial and error is normal and failure is an option, one accepted more generally than ever before.

Simultaneously, many other key characteristics have developed at lightning speed. A dramatic, positive transformation has taken place in communication and presentation skills, especially among growth entrepreneurs. A talented team can now receive growth funding from anywhere, with or without a local syndicate partner. Yes, it is still tough, but definitely possible for those with exceptional talent. As recently as during the last decade or so, it was very rare for an international investor to make a growth investment without a local partner, or to give smaller venture funding to a promising startup for the reasons described below.
Migri states in a press release that it decided to look into the issue due to concerns that the disappearances of unaccompanied underage asylum seekers are related to criminal activities, such as abuse or human trafficking. The study found, however, that usually the asylum seekers made the decision to leave the country voluntarily.

Roughly thirty unaccompanied underage asylum seekers have disappeared in Finland since 2014, indicates a study carried out by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

The minor may also be dissatisfied with the conditions in Finland or want to join acquaintances or relatives living in another EU country, says Migri.

The applicants may also have previously resided in another member state, most commonly Germany or Sweden, and decided to return there, the press release indicates.

Migri reveals that a total of 70 asylum applications expired due to the disappearance of an underage applicant between 1 January 2014 and 31 March 2016. There were strong indications of the applicant being an adult in 22 of the cases, while in 18 of the cases the applicant returned to their home country voluntarily.

Thirty unaccompanied minors have thereby disappeared, concludes Migri. Some of them have since sought asylum elsewhere in the European Union, while one has returned to Finland.

Most of them are boys aged 14 to 17, says Migri.

The study indicates that a key motive for disappearing is the fear of a decision to deny entry to the country under the Dublin Regulation or fear of a negative asylum decision. Migri reminds that disappearing is not beneficial for asylum seekers as the details of their of their first asylum application are stored in Eurodac, a fingerprint database for identifying asylum seekers.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Jussi Nukari  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
TDA looking at another new logo

The ink was scarcely dry on its last new logo when the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority ordered up a new design. The new edgier edition received a lukewarm reception fron board members on Tuesday.

The logo was presented by members of the company Story Powered  Bill Borg and Mark Wilson. They began by listing the issues with the current Hendersonville logo too cluttered, too disconnected and too literal.

Youre Hendersonville and you make no apologies, Borg said. Youre confident in who you are. The team also pointed out that while the current logo illustrates features of the Western North Carolina mountains, it doesnt emphasize anything specific about Hendersonville.

The Story Powered team presented different variations of the logo, including presenting it on a billboard, with a black background and offered a version with just an H followed by an exclamation point (see photos). Regarding the H and exclamation point, Wilson said, We thought that was edgy, brave, original and exciting.

Chairman David Nicholson expressed both concern and support saying, This is not your Mom and Dads Hendersonville. This looks toward a different type of clientele.  Is that where we want to go with the board?

While the board was reluctant to accept the basic logo, the Story Powered team pointed out that it is not at all set in stone and could be tweaked with different color schemes and backgrounds. On a motion by Nicholson, the board voted to approve the logo in concept.

The board was eager to see how it could be incorporated into an advertising campaign.

I dont want us to lose who we are, Beth Carden, the TDAs executive director, said. We dont want to be Asheville. The TDA still has a large inventory of promotional material with the current logo and is in favor of a slower move toward a rebranding, she added.
Officers responded to a report that a device was found at the Queen of Angels Primary School in Sandyford, and the Drumnigh Montessori school in Donaghmede. Stock picture

Two Dublin schools were one of several evacuated yesterday after a number of hoax calls were made from an automated text to gardai.

Officers responded to a report that a device was found at the Queen of Angels Primary School in Sandyford, and the Drumnigh Montessori school in Donaghmede.

Gardai and the PSNI were last night probing links to calls at seven other schools in the North along with other schools in the Republic.

It was confirmed last night that gardai searched both Dublin schools and no device was found. The schools were later reopened.

Gardai also responded to a report that a device was found at St Angelas Secondary school and adjoining St Ursulas Primary School, Ballytruckle, in Waterford city.

Over 1,500 children in the schools  860 in the secondary school along with about 700 in the primary  were evacuated yesterday morning.

The children from the primary school were allowed home, while St Angelas returned to classes once gardai declared the premises safe.

On advice from gardai this morning, St Angelas School and St Ursulas School were temporarily evacuated as a precaution. Standard protocol was followed by the school, said the acting principal at St Angelas, Caitriona Morgan.

Risk

She was later advised that there was no risk to students or staff so those at St Angelas were returned to class.

Gardai and the PSNI are liaising as their inquiries continue into the bizarre incidents.

Other schools affected include the Milford National School, Castletroy, Co Limerick, the Holy Family Girls National School at Askea in Co Carlow, and Whitegate National School, Midleton, Co Cork.

While investigations are at an early stage, officers said they have no information to suggest a terrorist link to the incidents.

The PSNI described the texts which schools in the North received as malicious communications.

Meanwhile, dozens of similar incidents were reported in Britain on Monday.

No devices were found in any of the incidents and all have been declared hoaxes.

Reports yesterday suggested that hoaxers in the US playing online games recently used similar methods to hide their identities to make threats against schools in six US states.

The incidents sparked a major police operation involving several units of Swat teams.
Cedar House, where a woman and her two young children spent a night

Eight families with children had to be put into emergency accommodation designed for use by homeless adults this month.

In some cases, children were given blow-up beds to stay the night in adult facilities.

Dublin City Council said authorities were managing "a critical and unprecedented situation" in relation to the demand for homeless services on a nightly basis.

The council said that after spending a night in emergency accommodation, each of the eight families was contacted by a member of the Family Homeless Action Team.

It works with Dublin City Council's Homeless Central Placement Service to provide more suitable, alternative accommodation.

The council said the families were accommodated in secure and defined areas that are separate from other adult users.

Crisis

"The placement of families into adult emergency accommodation in Dublin occurs only as a late-at-night last resort," the council said.

A spokesman said this happened only when no other accommodation can be found in the city through family accommodation or commercial hotels.

"The reason for providing this response is to avoid the risk of a family sleeping rough," the council said.

Homeless levels in Dublin remain at crisis point.

In the week from April 18 to 24, homelessness authorities provided accommodation for 888 families with 1,786 children.

Of the 888, 218 were put up in homeless accommodation while 670 were accommodated in commercial hotels.

"This is against the backdrop of the four Dublin local authorities doing everything possible to house families, secure private rented tenancies and pre- vent homelessness," the council said.

From January to March this year, the four local authorities delivered a record number of tenancies, 413, for any quarter recorded to date.

The council also said there was a specific response procedure in place for families to provide a secure environment for children and to prevent the risk of rough sleeping.

The Irish Times revealed how in one case a mother and her two youngest children were taken into Cedar House, a facility for women with "support needs", including addiction issues.

At the same time, the father and three older children were accommodated at Haven House, an adult male hostel, on blow-up beds.

In a separate case, two children and their mother were accommodated in the staff room of Cedar House on blow-up beds.

The woman's sister and her children stayed the night at Haven House.

On a separate night, a family with nine children were taken into a designated room and slept on roll-out mattresses.

This happened at George's Hill, a supported housing facility run by Focus Ireland.

Earlier this week, new Housing Minister Simon Coveney said he wanted "a non-political" approach to tackle the country's growing housing crisis and help build 25,000 homes a year for the next decade.

It emerged in a report from the Housing Agency that 230,056 homes were vacant nationwide.

The State has been spending 46m a year on hotels for families who do not have a home.

Unacceptable

Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said it was simply unacceptable for families to be living in adult emergency accommodation.

He also hit out at the bureaucracy that is holding up the construction of social housing units.

"People living in these conditions, it's just unacceptable," said Mr Lacey.

"The fact of the mater is there is a simple answer to this crisis - build more social housing.

"Until we smash the power of the bureaucrats at the Custom House, this problem isn't going away."

Mr Lacey said councillors have been pleading for the last 18 years for the restoration of a social housing policy, but those pleas have gone unreported and ignored.
Gardai backed up by members of the ERU conduct a checkpoint on Cork Street

Four new Assistant Garda Commissioners have been appointed by the Government  just weeks before responsibility for such promotions switches to the new independent Policing Authority.

Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan is understood to have told the Justice Minister that it was untenable to wait any longer for the gaps to be filled.

As a result the Cabinet signed off on the elevations of chief superintendents Michael D OSullivan, John ODriscoll, Eugene Corcoran and Anne McMahon.

They will fill existing vacancies in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, the Northern Region, Southern Region and Western Region. It is understood that Mr OSullivan is due to retire early next year.

The vacancies arose as a result of a combination of promotions and retirements over the last 14 months.

The successful candidates were selected following an interview process led by Dorothy Scally, chair of the Top Level

Appointments Committee (TLAC).

approve

However, the decision by Cabinet to approve their appointment ahead of responsibility being transferred to the Policing Authority in July will raise some eyebrows.

Sources last night told the Herald that the appointments were seen as critical for the Force. They noted that if the appointments were delayed to allow the Policing Authority make the final judgement then the process would have to be restarted and it would be the latter half of the year before the vacancies would be filled.

The advice from the Garda Commissioner was that such a situation would be untenable, said a government source.

It is anticipated that two further vacancies at Assistant Commissioner rank will open up next year and be filled by the Policing Authority, the source said.

Mr OSullivan was chief superintendent in the Drugs and Organised Crime Division, Mr ODriscoll was with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Mr Corcoran worked at the Criminal Assets Bureau and Ms McMahon was based in the Garda College.

The move comes as armed detectives in the Kinahan stronghold of Crumlin and Drimnagh  where key lieutenants including Liam Byrne and Liam Roe live  have been conducting 24/7 patrols over fears of a spectacular revenge attack.

A spokesperson for Justice Minister and Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said that all necessary resources have been afforded to gardai.

The Tanaiste has assured the Garda Commissioner that all necessary resources will continue to be provided by the Government to enable An Garda Siochana to counteract gangland shootings.

In turn, she has been assured that there has been no let up in the overall resources being applied in this regard, the spokesperson said.

There is no question of the Tanaiste or the Department of Justice and Equality issuing instructions to halt overtime, or on any other operational issue.

The management of Garda operational budgets and deployment of resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner.
The landmark development site at Poolbeg in Dublin should be used mainly for new council and socially affordable homes, a new action group has said.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney was being "completely disrespectful" to the nation's homeless by saying he hoped 10pc of the 3,000 homes to be built on the old Irish Glass Bottle site will be reserved for social housing, said the Irish Glass Bottle Site Housing Action Group.

The group held a meeting yesterday that was addressed by supporters of a new campaign for mostly social housing for the site.

The Government has designated it a strategic development zone to allow 3,000 new homes and 130,000 square metres of offices and retail space to be developed using fast-track planning powers.

Mr Coveney's suggestion that 10pc of homes be social housing showed he did not appreciate the scale of the housing crisis, said group spokeswoman Annette Mooney.

"Nama is already scheduled to make 1bn in profit. Some of this money must now be used for council housing. Nama is supposed to 'contribute to the social and economic development of the State', according to the 2009 Act," she said.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the 10pc social housing proposal was "scandalous".

Deliver

"The people of this country own Nama. The vast bulk of Nama land and houses, including the Irish Glass Bottle site, should be used to deliver council and affordable housing," he said.

"Given the enormous housing crisis, under no circumstances should the vast majority of this site be sold off at market prices.

"Failed policy and a dysfunctional housing market have made housing unaffordable and unattainable for ordinary people."

Architect Mark Price said: "Promises of 10pc or 30pc of affordable housing still means 90pc or 70pc unaffordable housing.

"It is becoming impossible for young people from all classes to acquire a home. Nama must be instructed to develop this site for the public good."

Resident Kevin Berney said families in old established communities in Pearse Street and Ringsend are being driven out by developments of homes that local people simply cannot afford.
Good news for those making early weekend plans as it looks set to be a hot one, according to Met Eireann.

After yesterdays sunny spells, the next few days are expected to be cooler with temperatures on the rise again from Friday onwards.

Temperatures of up to 20C can be expected later in the week, just in time for Bruce Springsteen fans, who will flock to Croke Park to see The Boss in action.

Umbrellas

However, its not time to put the umbrellas away yet, with some unsettled conditions forecasted along with the hotter weather.

Joanna Donnelly of Met Eireann said people could expect slightly cooler conditions in the run-up to the weekend. It will start good today, it will be dry and sunny with some cloud from the east. It will be a degree or two cooler than yesterday, Ms Donnelly told the Herald.

Highest temperatures today will be 12-15C and winds will be light to moderate easterly. On Thursday it will cloudy and some rain in parts, with maximum temperatures between 13-14C, she said.

Friday will be warmer by a degree or so, although there will be heavy showers in the evening. Maximum temperatures are up to 20C.

It is set to be a busy weekend in the capital with Ireland also taking on Holland at the Aviva on Friday night.
Terrific 10: Championship season brings out best in county athletes

Tesla Cup and Central Maryland Conference championships were decided last week, with county teams and athletes rising to the occasion.
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/
Exactly two years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised both Indian and foreign observers by inviting the South Asian heads of government to his swearing-in. For a leader who had barely uttered a word about foreign policy during his election campaign, this dramatic and welcome gesture presaged the first of many foreign policy surprises that Modi would unveil.

His emphasis on strengthening ties with Indias immediate neighbours, his redoubled investment in protecting Indian interests in the larger Indian Ocean region, his remarkable outreach to the United States despite past personal irritants, his intensification of the emerging partnership with Japan, his success in preserving balanced ties with both China and Russia, and his nurturing of important partners in Western Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, and in the Persian Gulf (where he demonstrated a geopolitical adroitness unusual in Indian foreign policy) have all been complemented by an unanticipated investment in building personal ties with Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and in energising a diaspora that stretches from Canada to Fiji.

Read | Modi looks for stronger ties with friend-in-need Russia

Because these efforts have involved much globetrotting, they have often become objects of controversy within India. His critics have charged that his peripateticism betrays an addiction to the glamour of world travel to the neglect of his domestic responsibilities. Such criticism, however, is churlish: Modis engagements abroad are in fact anchored in the astute recognition that Indias domestic success is inextricably linked to how it can shape its external environment to national advantage. All Indian leaders since Jawaharlal Nehru have understood this fully, though their ability to play a winning hand was often hampered by political and economic weaknesses at home.

Thankfully today, Modi is less constrained on both these counts: He enjoys a lofty standing within the country, while the economy steadily recovers despite an unfavourable international environment. For all these assets, however, Modi recognises that, in an era of deepening globalisation, what happens abroad impacts Indias strategic and developmental goals. His efforts at shaping international developments long before they actually affect India are thus completely warranted.

Read | Barack Obama pens PM Modis profile for Time magazine

It is not surprising, therefore, that of the 40-odd trips Modi has undertaken since June 2014, the vast majority have arguably been focused on moulding the global environment to Indias benefit. Whether this has involved shoring up ties with key neighbours such as Afghanistan, Bhutan or Bangladesh, or reaching out to states historically neglected by India, such as Mongolia, or strengthening links with nations that are critical for Indian economic success, such as Germany, or renewing ties with those Asian countries important for Indias strategic interests, such as Australia, Japan or Singapore, and the -stans, or further transforming relations with the United States, Modi has invested time and attention not merely in building personal ties with their leaders but also in persuading them to engage with India in ways that redound to its gain.

Read | An India-Iran-Israel alliance could be Modis legacy

Beyond these geostrategic aims, Modi has focused at least a third of his foreign travels on advancing Indian economic aims. For the most part, these have concentrated on attracting foreign investment to India. By addressing complaints about the ease of doing business and by removing obstacles to investments, Modi has attempted to woo investors in countries as disparate as China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and the US  not to mention the myriad middle powers in continental Europe.

Pursuing closer foreign economic relations is no longer optional for New Delhi, as Modi fully realises: India simply does not save enough domestically to generate high single-digit growth rates consistently over a long horizon. This constraint, which affects everything from employment to investment, can be mitigated by external investment.

Finally, Modi has attempted to use a small but growing proportion of his time abroad to highlight Indias desire to contribute to the production of global public goods as well as to spotlight the contributions of peoples of Indian origin. Benefiting from Indias new ascendency as one of the worlds fastest growing major economies and consistent with his own vision of India as a leading power, Modi has sought to burnish Indias reputation as a good international citizen by increasing its contributions to everything from mitigating climate change to supporting nation- and State-building activities (especially in its neighbourhood) to promoting nuclear security to enhancing peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.

Read | US and India should collaborate to counter China in the Indian Ocean

While these benefactions remain modest relative to Indias potential, Modis emphasis on them as a means of realising the Upanishadic ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the entire world is one family) bodes well for their persistence, as both idealism and realism promise to take India in the same direction. The fact that individuals of Indian origin have widely succeeded in their adopted countries further incarnates this promise.

Viewed at the two-year mark of his term in office, Modis foreign policy achievements have been outstanding. Some of his initiatives have admittedly fallen short, the attempted rapprochement with Pakistan being a conspicuous example. But even this exception does not besmirch the larger record. More than anything else, it signals Indias return to a sensible activism in fashioning the world about it and, just as importantly, is driven boldly by the imperative of securing Indias interests first.

Ashley J Tellis is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The views expressed are personal.
Kolkatas bhadralok (in simple English: The genteel folk) had long concluded that Mamata Banerjee was not a gentleman.

This judgment is not surprising; they were not used to her kind. Even after decades of bhadralok domination, Bengal lacked a woman leader. And then came Mamata. At any rate, the bhadralok verdict made no difference with the voters of Bengal. In the past this intellectual, starched-dhoti-class weighed heavily in all matters, from taste to politics. But this is 2016.

The bhadralok ran a series of campaigns against the TMC and accused it, especially its leader, of murdering democracy. The south Kolkata elite were particularly incensed by Mamata, both for her disdain for intellectuals as well as for her crushed sari look. The bhadraloks as a class, however, were not uniformly upset when other bhadraloks behaved badly.

Read | West Bengal Governor urges Mamata to stop post-poll violence

There was Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who as chief minister was ruthless with college rebels, seeking to settle political scores in the name of fighting Maoism. Or, take the case of Jyoti Basu who, as chief minister again, allowed his men to drag Mamata by her hair. Party differences aside, bhadraloks will be bhadraloks and, if the rumour mill is to be believed, Ray and Basu tossed back gins together in the Tolly Club.

This is not to overlook a brief phase when Mamata was accepted by a section of the bhadralok as their favorite anti-Left rabble-rouser. She was the right person for that kind of job, but then she turned out to have a will of her own. Now, no matter which way they looked at her, she was bad for the brain and for the arts.

The bhadralok felt they had enough ammunition against her. The TMC rule, over the past five years, was blemish-full, what with scandals around Saradha chit fund, Narada cheat fund, a fallen bridge and university interference. Little did they realise that all of these were not equally damaging to Mamata. Only the Saradha chit funds had the turbo to hurt her, but not any of the others. Corruption in high places does not worry the everyday voter, and as long as universities hand out employable degrees, who cares if they are autonomous or not.

Read | Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay will attend Mamatas swearing-in ceremony

For Mamata, the Narada video expose was a minor affair and events proved her right. Those TMC heavies, caught bagging bribes, later won their seats handsomely. In fact, while journalists and the bhadraloks were in a froth over Narada, Mamata calmly announced that no camera zoom would affect her ticket distribution. As far as she was concerned, that matter was done and dusted.

While she let Narada lapse, she acted promptly, and decisively, in the case of Saradha chit fund. This was a theft that stole directly from the poor and many had lost their lifes savings as a consequence. Without attending to bureaucratic niceties and fiscal correctness, Mamata, as chief minister, compensated the victims straight away. There was something very charismatic and endearing in the way she did this.

Above all this gave her a direct connect to the electorate; it was Mamata alone, and up high, with no intermediaries attached. Sentiment beat red tape, and now Ma, mati, manush was in its purest form. As the beneficiaries in this case were largely the poor, the immediate, transparent relief that Mamata delivered was more than a god-send, it was a Didi-send. The bhadralok, whether from the Left or from the Congress, disdained such acts of earthiness, and now they are paying for it.

Read | NOTA fourth largest contender in most constituencies of Bengal

Times are a changing and what India thought a few decades back, West Bengal is thinking today. The combined impact of Vivekanand, Bankim, Tagore, and, more recently, Satyajit Ray, gave the Bengali bhadralok a longer lease of life than their counterparts elsewhere. It took years for Mamata to rise, but in that period an un-intellectual, if not anti-intellectual, political class had already triumphed in other regions of the country.

Lalu Prasad may be a copy book example of this trend, but there are so many more like him. They are not just established, but have now become establishment. It was Bengals cultural heroes who held back the Bengalis from seeing the graffiti on the wall and wising up accordingly. While history can be delayed, it cannot be denied, not even to Bengal. Mamata Banerjee is proof of this and she is about to start her second term as chief minister.

Paradoxically, it is during bad times that one can truly make ones political number. It is easy to be forgotten when the going is good, but bring on a misfortune and a true leader emerges. What counts is the ability to engine up and deliver at short notice, and this is what Mamata did. By setting right what Saradha had done wrong, she won hands down in Bengal.

Read | Maybe Modi will sing Ekla Chalo Re next time in Bengal

The Tamil Nadu story is quite similar, at least in one respect. Help people in times of need and a quick fix goes a long way. If the Tamil Nadu election foxed the most assiduous and earnest poll casters, it is because intellectuals are always looking for big messages. The toss-up, as they saw it, was between a dynastic DMK and a lumbering incumbent government, between freebies against policy, and so on.

In the end, J Jayalalithaa beat the odds because voters rewarded her for the swift efficiency with which she handled the Chennai flood aftermath. She came through as Amma incarnate, reaching out to save her children and most relief packages bore her stamp. No headline message here, just connect. By the same token, when Omar Abdullah was handed a serious flood in Kashmir, he dealt with it horribly and lost everything in an instant.

It is the age of the small message and connecting with the immediate. Big messages and manifestos about futures have lost their bhadralokus standi.

Dipankar Gupta is an eminent sociologist and taught at JNU for nearly three decades. The views expressed are personal.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Diplomacy is a subtle art but times can be fickle.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang was the first foreign leader to call Narendra Modi when he took over as the Indian prime minister two years ago. It was during the 40-minute call that Modi invited President Xi Jingping to India.

When Xi came calling, he was accorded a public reception in a throwback to the Nehruvian era when the two sides shared warm ties that turned frosty after the 1962 war.

President Pranab Mukherjees first visit to China, which began May 24, comes at a crucial time. Indias relationship with its biggest neighbour is being tested again and there is a foreign hand -- Pakistan.

There is no other bilateral relationship where Indias ties with a third country matter so much. China is an all-weather ally of Pakistan and that will remain a challenge every time Beijing and New Delhi want to mend a drift in the relationship.

Two recent developments have reinforced Pakistans presence as the third player. And, Mukherjee will have to summon all his persuasive skills, which served him well in a long political career, to take up these issues with the Chinese leadership.

Read: Prez Mukherjee points to Indias support to Chinas inclusion in global bodies

Beijings recent move to block New Delhis efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar designated a terrorist by the UN has India upset. It has been closely followed by Chinas opposition to India joining the elite nuclear suppliers group (NSG). Two desperate issues tied by a common thread  China batting for Pakistan.

Its scuppering of Indian move at the UN sanction committee stung a lot more this time. It came at the last moment. And, that too after India -- for the first time -- had the support of the US, France and UK for the resolution that would have forced Pakistan to act against a man, who has repeatedly targeted India with audacious cross-border strikes.

Linking Indias NSG membership issue to the non-proliferation treaty is reiteration of Beijings long-held position. But, here the context is crucial -- Pakistan made a formal application for the NSG membership this month.

A club of 48 countries, the NSG is dedicated to curbing proliferation of nuclear arms by controlling export and re-transfer of materials that can be used in nuclear weapons.

A look at the fine print and Beijing seems to be parroting Pakistans lines: The grouping shouldnt discriminate when looking into the membership claims of non-NPT countries. India and Pakistan are not among NPT signatories. New Delhi says the agreement is discriminatory.

Getting Beijing to turnaround will not be easy. Mukherjees visit could be a start. It could revive the practice of senior leaders meetings regularly. The UPA did it. Bilateral meetings were common on the sidelines of every major summit attended by the leaders of the two countries.

India needs to both manage and improve relations with China. The effort will have to be sustained and not a knee-jerk reaction, like hosting people viewed by Beijing as terrorists or dissidents.

Pakistan may be a big factor but the two sides have a lot of shared interests. Fighting terror, trade, climate change and structure of global financial institutions -- to name a few. Frequent interactions will help narrow the differences and build trust. That could well be what President Mukherjees is aiming for.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
With progressively increasing severity of rising temperatures and rain deficits over two consecutive years  2014 and 2015, the Great Indian Drought was always coming. The India Meteorological Department, ministry of home affairs, the ministry of water resources, the Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare office, and the National Disaster Management Authority knew it.

The question is, what did we do with this knowledge?

Six hundred million of Indias 1.2 billion depend on agriculture and related means for livelihood. The sector was already distraught, with 41 farmers reportedly committing suicide daily on an average since 1995. Migration of the socio-economically deprived, from the largely-agrarian rural India to urban locations for survival had touched 15 million eight years ago.

The drought had magnified these issues explicitly, with media reports suggesting more than Rs 14 crore has been pending in wages of labourers under MNREGA, in many villages of Bundelkhand  prompting mass exodus to cities like Delhi.

Read: Prostitution to child marriage: Indias drought hurts women, Dalits more

In December 2015, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Centre and 11 states, seeking their response on the steps initiated to provide relief to the people affected by drought. In March 2016, when finance minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget, seven states had been declared drought-hit.

Fully aware of the impending crisis, the government presented a budget that marginally increased the share of the ministry of agriculture by just 0.24% from last year. Shockingly, for a country with above 60% of its people reliant on agriculture, the investment in agriculture  in terms of the budget allocation of the ministry of agriculture  has not crossed more than 0.5% of the GDP in the last five years.

Read: In times of drought: Overuse of water behind Indias dry days

Declaring drought was never the mandate of the IMD. It is the job of the state government. Our task is to say whether the rainfall is normal or deficient. Interpretation is the job of the state government, IMD director Laxman Singh Rathore said.

Read: Shifting IPL matches or good rains wont end our water woes. Heres why

Yes, the state governments interpreted it, but the question was whether they had enough money to spend on their interpretations. With multiple loopholes plaguing the length of money-flow pyramid, how could one have ensured that the money reached the struggling millions engaged in a range of agricultural and allied activities?

If an institution could stand up and deliver a solution to this, it was the Niti Aayog  which states its first function is to evolve a shared vision of national development priorities sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in the light of national objectives.

Perhaps it might be a profitable exercise to dwell on the question of what the national development priorities actually are.

Agricultural drought is probably the most socially constructed of all disaster risks, says the United Nations. With just a few weeks to go before the IMD-predicted above average monsoon to arrive, the discussions on drought will soon be erased from the public memory.

However, the monsoon session of the Parliament could be an opportunity. Measures to ensure the implementation of Right to Food Act could be the first step. People who had migrated need not have returned after the drought  leaving the families, especially children, in makeshift living conditions and at risk of abuse and deprivation.

To ensure that the affected children have three square meals a day, special budgetary allocations for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Mid Day Meal (MDM) and PDS need to be considered.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) is yet to realise its potential, both in terms of ensuring the guaranteed wages reaching the rural poor, and in terms of creating more water storage structures.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of Indias recommendation to create separate Disaster Mitigation Funds at national, state and district levels should also be considered.

Kunal Shah is Director (Disaster Management) with World Vision India

The views of the author are personal
Despite worldwide shock and indignation, it looks like little Aylan Kurdis tragic death last summer changed little. This is a sad  but brutal  comment on our collective humanity, if such a thing still exists.

The power of images and social media, so effective for celebrity purposes, seems to have fallen flat on its face in mobilising assistance to those less fortunate. Indeed, since Kurdis death six months ago, countless more innocents  men, women and children  have died completely preventable deaths.

It is true that we are faced with major humanitarian crises, unlike anything since World War II. But, there can be no excuse for the global indifference on display.

Read | Dodging IS rockets at night, clearing rubble in morning: A Turkish town

While major natural disasters continue to be a significant cause of death and displacement, what is most alarming today is that a great majority of humanitarian crises are conflict-related and of a recurrent or protracted nature. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Syria.

Beyond Syria, whether in West Asia, Africa or elsewhere, humanitarian crises are transcending borders. Today, 125 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance around the globe. The number of displaced persons, 60 million, has almost doubled in just a decade. These numbers stand as testament to the human suffering caused by the growing complexity of humanitarian crises, our inability and unwillingness to tackle them, and the widening financial gap between increasing needs and limited resources.

Something has to be done and Turkey is leading the way, not only in terms of setting an example, but also in working to galvanise the international community towards action.

Read | Erdogan blasts Europes silence on Bdesh leaders execution

Today, while a major humanitarian donor, Turkey also hosts the largest refugee population  more than 3 million  in the world. This is largely due to the war in Syria. Providing shelter and vital services such as free healthcare, schooling and vocational training for these refugees is a major financial burden that Turkey has had to assume largely on its own.

But our humanitarian diplomacy is not limited to our immediate region. Having received vulnerable persons, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity as far back as in the late 15th century, Turkey today is responding to all manner of humanitarian crises from Haiti to Nepal, Guinea to Somalia and the Sahel to Indonesia. Our humanitarian efforts seek, not only to relieve symptoms but also to treat the disease. This holistic approach covers humanitarian and development assistance, but also seeks to address the root causes and push factors of humanitarian crises. This approach is demand-driven and can best be seen in the countries of the Sahel or in Somalia, where Turkey has pursued an integrated policy conducted with a multi-stake holder approach. It has combined official aid with the active involvement of the business sector and civil society, and has managed to dramatically improve countless lives.

While individual efforts like these of Turkey are crucial, the international humanitarian system is being deprived of available funds and the clock is ticking for those affected by the many crises we are witnessing globally. There are simply too many lives at stake, and inaction is not an option.

Read | 27 killed as Turkish forces hit Islamic State targets in Syria

At this critical juncture that Istanbul hosted the first ever UN World Humanitarian Summit on May 23-24. The choice of Turkey as host was hardly coincidental. It constitutes a timely recognition of the successful humanitarian diplomacy that we have been conducting.

The World Humanitarian Summit provided a vital platform to address the challenges burdening the humanitarian system. It was an occasion for all the nations to take action while millions stand on the brink of life and death. As I remember first seeing Aylans image, I recall the overwhelming grief that came over me thinking about how alone and without protection he was as an innocent toddler. I would like to believe that we learnt something from that image and that we do not need more images like this to compel us into action.

We are all responsible for what happens next to those vulnerable persons looking to us for help.

Mevlut Cavusoglu is minister of foreign affairs, Turkey

The views expressed are personal
Keralas new chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in on Wednesday, ushering in a new term for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

Pinarayi will lead a 19-member cabinet, including himself. His ministers were also sworn in by governor P Sathasivam at the central stadium in Thiruvanathapuram.

Read | Kerala to get its new CM today, Pinarayi, cabinet will take oath

Read | Toddy tappers son is now Kerala CM: The journey of Pinarayi Vijayan

The cabinet has 12 first-time ministers, eight of who are from the CPI(M). Of the remaining seven, four are from the CPI and three from allies Congress (Socialist), Nationalist Congress Party and Janata Dal (Secular).

Read | Left Fronts CPI(M), CPI finalise list of ministers for Kerala cabinet

The LDF won a resounding victory on the May 16 assembly election, picking up 91 seats against the outgoing Congress-led United Democratic Fronts 47 in the 140-member House.

A look at some of Pinarayis notable cabinet picks.

Thomas Issac, finance minister

An academician and economist, Issac is known as a politician with innovative ideas. He was also finance minister in Achuthanandans cabinet in 2006-2011. However, much like politburo member MA Baby, he was groomed by the veteran but later fell out with him. Issac rose from student politics as one of the architects of the peoples planning campaign in Kerala. The four-time legislator is also credited with many innovative ideas, including aerobic waste disposal units and organic farming.

E P Jayarajan, industries minister

A strong defender of party in Kannur, Jayarajan is known for his fiery speeches. A staunch follower of Pinarayi, he was the president of Democratic Youth Federation of India when it was formed in 1980. He received a bullet injury to his neck in 1995 when he was returning from a party meet in Vijayawada. CPM workers later killed the main accused in the attack, an RSS activist. A good organiser, hes also the managing director of party mouthpiece, Desabhimani.

A K Balan, social welfare and SC/ST

A soft-spoken Balan was Pinarayis classmate when at Government Brennen College in Thalasserry. A four-time MLA, he was the power minister in Achuthanandans cabinet. A lawyer by profession, he is credited with many reforms in the power sector. Balan fought for the Athirapally power project and often clashed with then union environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, over it.

Shylaja Teacher, health

An activist, Teacher is known for her stand to uphold women rights. She became active in politics after giving up her profession as a teacher. A post-graduate, shes presently secretary of the All India Democratic Women Association. In the just-concluded election, she defeated former agriculture minister KP Mohanan from the Kuthuparambha constituency in Kannur. Her husband is the Mattanur municipality chairman.

G Sudhakaran, public works

Party strongman from Alapuzha, Sudhakaran is admired for his administrative skills and controlling corruption in the co-operation department during his previous stint. He has however drawn flak from several quarters for his acerbic tongue and his penchant for breaking into poetry to lampoon his opponents.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Congress has asked its newly elected MLAs in West Bengal to sign a written declaration promising they will not leave the party.

In a bid to prevent its MLAs from defecting to the Trinamool Congress, Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury proposed on Tuesday that the 44 legislators sign an affidavit asserting their loyalty to the party.

It was decided that all MLAs will have to sign a memorandum (written on stamp paper) stating that they will not leave the party. If they want to, they must resign from the post of MLA... And they will not talk against the party, Congress leader Manas Bhuniya said.

On Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party aimed potshots at the Congress, saying the decision was demeaning and hilarious.

Read: Left blundered by tying up with Congress: Mamata

The Congress does horse-trading; they believe in buying MPs and MLAs of other parties. Now they have succumbed to their own wrongdoings. And now due to insecurity they are getting these undertaking signed saying that the MLAs will not take an anti-Congress step, BJP leader Rahul Sinha told ANI.

The other thing is the image of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is diminishing, the leaders of the party dont want Rahul Gandhi to be the face of Congress as Rahul Gandhi is like Lilliput in front of Modi. If you ask me it is very demeaning and hilarious that you have to use such tactics to maintain your position and confine your post, he added

While the Trinamool Congress won the elections with 211 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, the Left-Congress alliance was relegated to 76 seats. The Congress is the principal Opposition party in West Bengal after winning 44 seats in the recently concluded elections.

Read: Analysis: Strength to strength, how Mamata kept Bengal

Several Congress MLAs had quit and joined the Trinamool Congress after Mamata Banerjee pulled out of the ruling UPA in 2011, tipping the government into a minority. Banerjee had demanded the government reverse its decision to raise diesel prices and open Indias supermarket sector to investment from foreign chains such as Wal-Mart Stores.
The CPI on Tuesday blamed the lack of clarity in the tie-up between the Congress and the Left Front for the coalitions defeat in the recent West Bengal assembly elections, but said the arrangement needs to be continued to combat the post poll violence unleashed by the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Briefing media persons on the partys poll analysis, state Communist Party of India (CPI) secretary Prabodh Panda criticised LF major Communist Party of India-Marxist for walking the extra mile in cozying up to the Congress.

He maintained there was no alliance between the LF and the Congress, but only seat adjustment for the assembly polls.

Had there been an alliance, there would have been a joint manifesto, a convenor, a joint programme. We had only gone for a seat adjustment with the Congress for the assembly polls. Now the polls are over, he said when asked about the future of the tie-up in the state.

But at the same time, we feel just because the elections are over, the need for the arrangement (with the Congress) has not ended. The peoples issues raised during the campaign are still relevant.

The ruling party has let loose a reign of terror across the state. Theyve started a politics of elimination of all opposition forces. We need to combat that through a united protest movement.

Asked whether the party wanted the Congress also to be part of the protests, he countered: If your house is on fire, will you pick and choose who would come to your aid, or take help from everybody?

However, Panda hedged a question on joining protests convened by the Congress, saying Let them call us first.

The CPI secretary said the LF-Congress understanding failed to earn the peoples trust despite raising high expectations.

He said the masses still have doubts over whether the serious mistakes and wrongdoings seen during the LF regime would not be repeated. We didnt admit our mistakes and apologise during the campaign. Instead, the arrogance of some of our leaders and workers only deepened the peoples doubts.

The CPI leader said there was no clarity about the understanding reached between two conflicting forces. It was variously described as an understanding, seat adjustment, peoples alliance. Initially it was said there would be no joint campaign or platform sharing, but it all happened later.

Panda also took a swipe at former state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis joint election rally where the duo were greeted with a giant floral garland.

The leadership of LF and Congress were even seen sharing a garland on the campaign stage.

The CPI also said the alliance or understanding had been portrayed as one between the Congress and the CPI-M, and not only between the LF and the Congress.

The LF was not given the due importance. Even the state Congress chief (Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) publicly said his party was holding discussions only with the CPI-M, and there was no need for deliberations with other LF partners.

He alleged that the local CPI-M leaderships had sided with the Congress candidates in some of the 19 seats where both Congress and LF constituents were present, and that the Congress failed to transfer its votes in the same proportion as achieved by the LF.

Panda said while the LF was gradually getting its base back by organising mass movements, where even Leftists outside the LF were also taking part, the process got stalled due to the pact with the Congress.

He also accused the Trinamool and the BJP of shifting their votes to each other strategically in some constituencies. The BJP shifted five percent of its votes to the Trinamool. And some confused supporters of the Congress-LF also voted for the ruling party.

The CPI accepted the election results as a peoples verdict, but claimed that the polls were not totally free from terror and fear.

The Trinamool won a massive majority by claiming 211 seats in the 294-member assembly. The LF-Congress got only 77, and the BJP and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha three each.
Seventy two-year-old Pinarayi Vijayan will be sworn in as chief minister for Kerala on Wednesday, bringing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) back to power after five years.

Pinarayi will be sworn in along with his 18-member ministry at the central stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF won the May 16 assembly election, winning 91 of 140 seats in the state assembly. The incumbent Congress-led United Democratic Front was ousted by the electorate in keeping with the states anti-incumbency trend.

The CPM will have 12 berths, followed by the Communist Party of India with four, while the Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party and Congress (Socialist) will get one each.

Read | Left Fronts CPI(M), CPI finalise list of ministers for Kerala cabinet

Though the outgoing Oomen Chandy government had 21 ministers, the LDF has decided to keep its strength to 19 as a part of austerity measures.

Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury and senior leader Prakash Karat will attend the swearing in ceremony.

A pragmatist to the core, the Kannur strongman represents the modern face of Communists. Known for his realistic approach, Pinarayi is often referred to as the Deng of Kerala, after the late legendary Chinese statesman, Deng Xiaoping.

Read | Toddy tappers son is now Kerala CM: The journey of Pinarayi Vijayan

Pinarayis elevation was a relatively smooth affair given veteran VS Achuthanandans claim for the seat. In spite of the well-known acrimony between the two leaders, the 92-year-old graciously stepped aside following gentle persuasion from the partys central leadership.

The son of a toddy tapper, Pinarayi was once aide to Achuthanandan and considered him his mentor. He was even part of Achuthanandans infamous Vettineruthal  the ousting of revisionists from the party  in which senior leaders such as MV Raghavan and PV Kunhikannan, the then LDF convenor, were forced out. Soon, with Achuthanandans help, the economics graduate became party secretary after quitting his ministers post in 1998.

Read | Pinarayi Vijayan will be Kerala CM as CPM tries to pacify Achuthanandan

Eventually the two fell out since both nourished parliamentary ambitions.

In the 2005 Malappuram party conclave, Pinarayi humiliated his mentor by defeating all his nominees in the state committee. This led to two powerful factions emerging within the state unit.

Pinarayi slowly but gradually took control of CPM in Kerala by sidelining or forcing out dissenters systematically.

The longest serving state secretary (1998-2015), he now comes back to power after a long gap.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Seventy two-year-old Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in as chief minister for Kerala on Wednesday, bringing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) back to power after five years.

Thiruvananthapuram: LDF's Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as the CM of Kerala pic.twitter.com/RT7Kd7RK0c  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

CPI treasurer E Chandrasekharan, who won from Kanhangad, takes oath as revenue minister; Thiruvalla legislator Mathew T Thomas of JD(S) takes oath as water resources minister; Elathoor MLA AK Saseendran of the NCP rakes oath as transport minister.

Kadannappalli Ramachandran takes oath as ports minister; AK Balan as law, culture and SC/ST minister; KT Jaleel as minister for local self government; EP Jayarajan of CPI(M) as sports and industry minister; Mercykutty Amma as the fisheries minister; and Kadakampalli Surendran as minister for electricity and Devaswoms.

Kerala governor P Sathasivam also administers oaths of office to 18 cabinet ministers -- 11 from the CPI-M, four from CPI, and one each from the Congress-S, Janata Dal (S) and the Nationalist Congress Party.

This is the second time that the swearing in ceremony is held outside the Raj Bhavan complex -- the official residence of the Kerala governor.

Yes, the people of Kerala have high hopes in our new government and we will also rise to the occasion to make that a reality and deliver, said Vijayan, soon after submitting his list of cabinet ministers to Kerala governor P Sathasivam.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF won the May 16 assembly election, winning 91 of 140 seats in the state assembly. The incumbent Congress-led United Democratic Front was ousted by the electorate in keeping with the states anti-incumbency trend.

Read: Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as Kerala CM: A look at his top picks

A pragmatist to the core, the Kannur strongman represents the modern face of Communists. Known for his realistic approach, Pinarayi is often referred to as the Deng of Kerala, after the late legendary Chinese statesman, Deng Xiaoping.

Pinarayis elevation was a relatively smooth affair given veteran VS Achuthanandans claim for the seat. In spite of the well-known acrimony between the two leaders, the 92-year-old graciously stepped aside following gentle persuasion from the partys central leadership.

The son of a toddy tapper, Pinarayi was once aide to Achuthanandan and considered him his mentor. He was even part of Achuthanandans infamous Vettineruthal  the ousting of revisionists from the party  in which senior leaders such as MV Raghavan and PV Kunhikannan, the then LDF convenor, were forced out. Soon, with Achuthanandans help, the economics graduate became party secretary after quitting his ministers post in 1998.

Eventually the two fell out since both nourished parliamentary ambitions.

In the 2005 Malappuram party conclave, Pinarayi humiliated his mentor by defeating all his nominees in the state committee. This led to two powerful factions emerging within the state unit.

Pinarayi slowly but gradually took control of CPM in Kerala by sidelining or forcing out dissenters systematically.

The longest serving state secretary (1998-2015), he now comes back to power after a long gap.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Filmmaker Omung Kumars recently-released film Sarbjit might be based on the life of the Indian resident who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan, but the film is from Sarabjits sister Dalbir Kaurs (Aishwarya Rai) perspective.

Read: Sarbjit is a dud at BO with Rs 13.9cr earning, X-Men makes a killing

Omung explains that the film wouldnt have been possible from Sarabjits perspective. He (Sarabjit) was cut off from everyone. He did not have access to the outside world and he didnt know what was going around him. My camera would have been stuck in that six feet by four feet jail, if I was trying to explain it from Sarabjits perspective. It wouldnt have moved forward because we wouldnt have any clue about what others are thinking about the situation. We wouldnt know the jailers perspective or the lawyers perspective or what anyone else thought of the situation. Its almost impossible to make a film from his perspective, says Omung.

Read: Sarbjit review: Its got its heart in the right place

The Mary Kom director adds that unavailability of content on Sarabjit was another reason why a film from the inmates opinion is difficult. I was told the story by Dalbir. Thats why I decided to tell the story from her eyes. With Sarabjit, there is almost no content. Apart from a few letters that he wrote, a few photos of himself and some videos of him, theres hardly anything on him. How does one take the story forward? he says.

Follow @htshowbiz for more.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might say sporting a purple lipstick at Cannes was a call taken by her cosmetic brand but Sonam Kapoor believes the Sarbjit actress opted for the shade because she wanted to be talked about. The whole idea of fashion and make-up is for people to discuss it and I guess she wanted to be discussed. She achieved what she wanted to achieve with it, which I think is great, Sonam said.

Aishwarya, who completed her 15 years at Cannes this year, shocked one and all when she attended screening of a film swearing a purple lipcolour. When asked what she felt about Aishwaryas purple lips outing and the flak it received, Sonam said the actress should be happy with the attention she got.

Read: Aishwarya Rai Bachchans purple lips at Cannes make Twitter laugh

Aishwarya Rai on the red carpet as she arrives for the screening of the film Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. (REUTERS)

When told that Aishwarya has called it LOreals prerogative, Sonam, 30, quipped, I dont think she walked for LOreal that day. There was an Amul ad on it, people were discussing it. I think it was great to do it on a 15th year, its cool. She was trending everywhere.

Sonam, who is also one of the celebrity faces of the cosmetic brand, said she liked the colour and felt Aishwarya carried it off with an aplomb. When asked if she would ever try a shade like that, the Neerja actress said, I have done purple lipstick in the past, I have even done black for a shoot... People havent spoken about me!

Sonam Kapoor poses for photographers at the screening of the film Mal De Pierres at the 69th international film festival, Cannes. (AP)

One of Sonams red carpet appearance at the coveted festival, a saree-inspired long white gown, was also poked fun at. Unfazed by it, Sonam, who found the gown her best outfit, said, There were just one or two people (who cracked jokes on the dress) but I think it was my most incredible look. I dont believe in taking anything personally. I dress for myself and I felt beautiful.

Sonam Kapoor at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. (AFP)

Interestingly, the actress stuck to just one designer brand, Ralph & Russo. They (Michael and Tamara) are very good friends of mine. I spent New Years with them. I wanted to do something Indian-inspired and they kind of love India and love me. Thats why I did jhumkas and a saree-gown, which I think was incredible.

While fashion critics and young women keep a close eye on stars red carpet outfits at Cannes, for Sonam, the festival is about broadening her horizon as an actor by meeting international artists. Meeting people across the world always broadens your horizon. Being a part of Indian film industry is like you are living in a cucoon. You dont feel like theres more to life than that.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
NEW DELHI: In the midst of the Panama Papers leaks, a junior minister from Panama came to India, met government officials, and left the country without doing what she had come here to do: make a speech at a conference of women entrepreneurs.

Maria Luisa Navarro, the viceminister of multilateral affairs and cooperation in Panama, arrived in India on Sunday to attend the All Ladies LeagueWomen Economic Forum at Hotel Pullman in New Delhi.

But, sources said, she did not attend. The speculation is that she realised she would attract media attention and grew cold feet. Several attempts to get a clear picture from the organisers of the event failed.

They confirmed that she did not attend the conference on the first day, they were not clear whether Navarro cancelled her attendance. Some said she may have met the entrepreneurs at the event but skipped her speech.

An official at the Panama embassy said: The vice-ministers schedule in India was packed. If she didnt attend the conference, she must have been busy. He did not give details of what kept Navarro busy.

What is known for certain is that Navarro came on May 15 and checked into a five-star hotel in central Delhi. The receptionist at the hotel said she checked out on Tuesday night. The embassy said she left for Panama on Wednesday. So what did she do in India? Navarro did not go to meet anyone in the finance ministry, in fact, there has been no appointments sought from any Panamanian minister for meeting anyone in North Block since the alleged money-laundering leaks started making news.

However, Navarro met VK Singh, the minister of state for external affairs. It was a closelyguarded meeting. The discussions veered around a bilateral agreement for tax information exchange.

Indian authorities need original documents from Panama to proceed with investigation against Indians named in the expose. Panama, earlier this week, had expressed its willingness for a bilateral agreement with India. And sources in the government said that this is the first meeting on that.

The Panama leaks showed how a Panamian law firm, MossackFonseca, helped people to park their money in tax-havens to avoid taxes. India needs an agreement to get its hands on the original documents from the law firm. In the absence of the agreement, the Indian tax authorities are finding it difficult to move ahead with the probe.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: In June, the worlds largest e-tailer, Amazon, will launch its daily essentials business Now in Delhi, after staying confined to Bangalore for more than a year.

By June 25, Amazon will start the grocery business in Delhi. It has already started hiring people for logistics and is also signing up retailers, a company source said.

Amazons expansion of its grocery business comes at a time when many e-grocers, including Snapdeal-backed PepperTap, have shut shop. Other large e-tailers, such as, Flipkart, Paytm and Ola Cabs have also shelved their plans.

Nows biggest rivals include BigBasket and Grofers. But unlike competition, Amazon is yet to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. According to sources, the company is waiting to build the supply chain. Fruits and vegetables contribute 30% to e-grocers revenues. Amazon will need to tie up with farmers to do that.

Now was in the pilot phase and was called Kirana Now for a year. Amazon tied up with neighbourhood grocers and listed the products and the shops on its platform, and delivered orders within two hours in Bangalores neighbourhood.

In March, it formally launched Amazon Now. Kirana Now only tied up with neighbourhood grocers. Now has tie-ups with large format retail chains also, an Amazon spokesperson said.

Now has tied up with Big Bazaar, Foodworld, Spar Hypermarket, Godrej Natures Basket, Reliance Fresh and In-&-out.

Since its for mal l aunch, Amazon has seen a three-fold growth in number of orders, sellers, and order value, the company claimed, but refused to share the numbers.

Customers can shop for basis sellers  big chain or neighbourhood stores, or order from product catalogues, the spokesperson said. It also has company owned brand stores, including family essentials by Patanjali. All put together, Now offer over 6,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs), or unique products. Grofers offers the same number, while BigBasket has 20,000 SKUs.

Amazons entry can become a big challenge for homegrown e-grocers, since founder Jeff Bezos is known to put his financial might behind his bets. In two years, Amazon has overtaken Snapdeal and others to become the second-largest e-commerce firm in India. It hopes to replicate a similar success in grocery.

The e-grocery market is expected to become a $15-billion business by 2020 from a mere $0.08 billion in 2014, according to Morgan Stanley.

We will not talk in details about Now until we have expanded the business beyond Bangalore, the spokesperson said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
HELSINKI: The Nokia name will return to the mobile phone market after a company backed by one of its former executives teamed up with manufacturer Foxconn to buy the rights to the brand for mobile devices.

Nokia, once the worlds biggest maker of cellphones, was wrongfooted by the rise of smartphones and eclipsed by Apple and Samsung. It sold its handset business to Microsoft in 2014 and now focusses on telecom network equipment.

But it held on to its phone patents with a view to striking a licensing deal, though it had to wait due to a non-compete deal with Microsoft.

Nokia said on Wednesday it had signed an exclusive 10-year licensing agreement for newly-formed Finnish company HMD global Oy to create Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets. HMD is owned by Smart Connect LP, a private equity fund run by former Nokia executive JeanFrancois Baril, and its management. The products will be made by Taiwans Foxconn and Nokia will receive an undisclosed royalty on sales, covering both brand and intellectual property rights.

Microsoft also announced it would sell its entry-level phones business to HMD and Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile for $350 million.

Nokia, whose global market share in handsets peaked at around 40% in 2008, said its brand remained widelyrecognised. The areas where we believe the brand is strongest are Asia, South America and parts of Europe. Clearly China will be one of the target markets, said Ramzi Haidamus, CEO of the Nokia Technologies unit.

Nokia seems to have put together a very elegant deal in order to maximise the potential to drive some revenue from the handset business, with no risk in terms of hardware, said Ben Wood, an analyst at research firm CCS Insight. The brand is strong in the feature phone space, but does it stand for a cutting-edge future proof smartphone? Thats unclear... Its a brand that has lost its lustre.

HMD, which will focus on branding and design in the partnership with Foxconn, said it would put $564 million into marketing over the next three years.

Nokia declined to provide revenue targets related to the licensing deal, nor a timetable for new devices, which will use Googles Android platform. The deal between Microsoft, Foxconn and HMD is expected to close in the second half of 2016.

Jukka Oksaharju, a strategist at brokerage Nordnet, said annual licensing revenues for Nokia would likely be in the tens of millions.

Microsoft will continue to develop Lumia smartphones.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday said there have been an encouraging number of serious bids for Indian steel giant Tata Steels loss-making UK assets but warned there were no guarantees for a successful conclusion to save thousands of jobs.

As Ive always said there are no guarantees. We cant guarantee this is going to work, Cameron told reporters while travelling to a G7 summit in Japan.

We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales (Port Talbot plant). The sales process is underway, there have been an encouraging number of serious bids from companies coming through.

Weve got to stick at it to try to bring this to successful conclusion, he said, as his business secretary Sajid Javid arrived in Mumbai for talks with the Tata Group over the potential bids for its UK steelworks.

Cameron said he will use the G7 meeting to discuss the issue with the presidents of the European Commission and Council.

Read: UK minister meets Cyrus Mistry as Tata Steel considers bids for assets

The Tata board is expected to draw up a shortlist from the bids received.

Two of the frontrunners to acquire the UK steelworks  Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta-owned Liberty House and management buyout group Excalibur Steel  are willing to work together.

While Tata has refused to comment on the final bids that had come in before the Monday deadline, it is believed Liberty and Excalibur have submitted separate bids but state in documents that they are willing to work in partnership on a takeover.

Meanwhile, workers from Tata Steel and other British steel producers staged a march in central London on Wednesday to call for a stronger government strategy to support the steel industry.

Thousands of jobs have already been lost in a series of plant closures by Britains biggest steel employer as the sector buckles under pressure from cheap Chinese imports and unions want ministers to do more to fight off the threat.

Market economy access for China is the last thing British steelworkers need. The government must reverse course, Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Frances OGrady said.

Nearly 11,000 Tata jobs in the UK are on the line with the current sale process, including 4,000 at the Port Talbot works in south Wales, the UKs largest.
Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it will trim down its smartphone business by cutting 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the operation.

The US company, which entered the phone business in 2014 by buying Finnish firm Nokias handset unit, said it would streamline its smartphone business and close down its research and development site in Tampere, Finland.

Microsoft said it will continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile platform and support its Lumia smartphones, but declined to say whether it would develop new phones.

We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation, said chief executive Satya Nadella in a statement.

We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms.

Also Read | Microsoft chief Nadella to visit India this month as Cook departs

Earlier this month, Microsoft divested its entry-level feature phones business for $350 million.

It bought Nokias once-dominant handset unit for about $7.2 billion, but it failed to turn the business around and last year announced $7.5 billion writedowns, and 7,800 job cuts.

Also Read | Foxconn acquires Microsofts feature phones biz as Nokia comes to life
Shares of Maruti Suzuki India tumbled 4% on Wednesday after Suzuki Motor Corp chairman Osamu Suzuki confessed that the Japanese carmaker made inflated claims of fuel efficiency. The Maruti stock, however, recovered and closed the day only 1.1% in the red after fervent claims by the company that there will be no impact on India.

Suzuki owns 56.21% of Marutis equity and some of its cars under investigation are household names in India: Alto, Wagon R, Baleno, SX4 S-CROSS, and Swift. Another, Ignis, will soon be here.

Maruti is Indias largest car maker, with nearly half the share of the market. Its market capitalisation is ` 118,324.76 crore on Wednesdays stock price, almost equal to Uttarakhands GDP.

However, a Maruti spokesperson insisted there will be no direct impact on it because India follows a different system of certification done by government-approved agencies, whereas Japan has selfcertification. A Suzuki statement corroborated this, and said: The above issues do not apply to products sold under the Suzuki badge outside Japan.

Sudarshan Shreenivas, director of India Ratings and Research, said the impact on Maruti may not be much. The competition is so tough in India that if Maruti was fudging fuel efficiency data, its sales would have fallen.

In India, vehicles are tested by government-approved agencies, such as, ARAI, ICAT and VRDE. Efficiency levels will vary as the cars are different. The same model will have more airbags, different wheels, and tested in different weather conditions, said Maruti. Another critical difference is in the emission norms followed in the two countries; India has BS-IV and Japan the much more stringent Euro VI.

Some, however, disagree with Marutis defence. Although this will make a major dent in the brand image of Suzuki in first-world countries, there will be some impact in third-world countries, too, said advertising film director Prahlad Kakkar.

Car buyers in India are especially sensitive about fuel efficiency, which has made it a selling point. At the time Suzuki was holding a conference in Japan, Maruti issued a release that the new Alto 800 is 9% more fuel-efficient.

According to SMC, the tests to determine fuel efficiency were done in controlled conditions. Data of individual components, such as, tires, brakes and transmission were tested inside a wind tunnel instead of an outside environment as a part of rolling resistance test and air resistance test.

SMC is the second Japanese company to find itself engulfed in the mileage scandal; Mitsubishi Motors confessed to having cheated customers for 25 years. On Wednesday president Testuro Aikawa announced his decision to step down to take responsibility for scandal
NEW DELHI: Nokia Networks is in talks with Indian telecom operators to start trials of next-generation 5G networks, even as the country is yet to see full-scale roll out of 4G-based voice and data services. The 5G technology will guarantee delivery of 100 megabit per second speed at homes, and will be able to handle 1,000 times more data traffic when it will be commercialised by 2020, said Milivoj Vela, head of mobile broadband, Nokia networks. Meanwhile, the Finnish telecom network equipment maker is likely to cut 10,000 to 15,000 jobs globally, following its acquisition of Franco-American rival AlcatelLucent, a Finnish union representative said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and its partner BP Plc are all set to begin their next phase of expansion at the Krishna-Godavari.

In April, the Mukesh Ambaniled company invited tenders for drilling and recovering gas from three deep-sea clusters off the east coast of India including the R-series, Satellite-series and MJ-1 fields.

But the most important aspect of any gas recovery by RIL and its partners is the pricing of gas.

Sources in the government said that executives from both RIL and BP have met oil ministry officials to initiate talks of withdrawing the gas-pricing arbitration pending in Supreme Court.

These are deep-sea areas and RIL will get marketing and pricing freedom, that is, a higher price for gas from these areas, if they withdraw the litigation with the government, said a source in the oil ministry without wanting to be named. He confirmed that the company has assured the government that it will initiate the process of withdrawing the litigation.

Sources said that BP has been advising RIL to withdraw the litigation and the entire matter will be resolved by the end of the year. RIL did not respond to mails sent by HT.

On March 11, the Union Cabinet had allowed free pricing of gas to developers drilling difficult terrains including deep-sea and high-pressure zones. During this decision it was also made clear that if the developer was engaged in a gas-pricing litigation with the government then this liberal pricing mechanism will not be applicable to them, unless the arbitration is dropped.

According to the new pricing formula, from April 2016 a unit of gas produced from existing wells will fetch $3.15 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), but gas from new deep sea wells will get $7 per unit.

A presentation by the oil ministry said that the recent pricing freedom allowed by the Cabinet, will help monetise 6.5 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas valued at $28.35 billion, or ` 1.8 trillion. Of this, RIL has eight discoveries with 2.5 tcf of gas.

BP is 30% partner in RILs 21 gas blocks, including the KG D6. Canadas Niko Resources has 10% holding in KG D6.

It was in 2014 that RIL proceeded with an arbitration demanding immediate implementation of the gas pricing formula as devised by the previous UPA regime.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Regulators closure of the Swiss BSI banks Asian outpost for failing in its duty to prevent money-laundering has highlighted the risks of hunting wealthy clients farther afield as Swiss banks traditional line in hiding money from foreign tax men is choked off.

The Swiss banking watchdog FINMA has already opened enforcement proceedings against no fewer than six other unnamed Swiss banks in relation to either the Malaysian fund that tripped up BSI or a separate scandal involving Brazils state-controlled oil producer, Petrobras.

Weve made clear over recent years and months that we see money-laundering risk as having risen in our country, FINMA chief executive Mark Branson told reporters.

Were concerned that not all organisations have matched their control processes to this increased risk.

The head of Singapores central bank accused BSI of the worst case of control lapses and gross misconduct ever seen in the city-states financial sector for its dealings with the scandal-hit Malaysian government fund 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Looking for wealth

In recent years, Swiss banks have paid billions of dollars in fines as global prosecutors, led by the United States, chipped away at the secrecy that for decades enabled the worlds wealthy to keep their cash in Switzerland, out of sight of the tax man.

Faced with the prospect of a sharp decline in their wealth management business at home, and an economic slowdown in Europe, BSI and other Swiss private banks expanded rapidly into Asia, where economies - and the number of ultra-rich individuals - were growing much faster.

In 2009, BSI made clear its intentions by hiring around 100 Asian-based bankers from its rival RBS Coutts.

What BSI and perhaps others failed to take account of was the higher prevalence of corruption in the region, and the greater difficulty of making compliance checks.

You end up kicking out clients who suddenly are unacceptable because of tax issues, but you replace them with clients who are far worse, said Carlo Lombardini, a banking lawyer and professor of banking law at the University of Lausanne. They have no tax issues but have corruption issues.

As well as courting wealthy individuals, BSI took on a group of state-owned wealth funds as clients, including 1MDB. They became, according to FINMA, its most profitable client group, paying fees well above the norm.

The wheels began to come off last year when Singaporean and Swiss regulators began questioning transactions linked to 1MDB.

FINMA said BSI had repeatedly missed red flags in various transfers involving 1MDB over several years, and failed to double-check potentially suspect transactions, including a deposit of $20 million described by the client as a gift.

1MDB is now at the centre of a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal, and its transactions have triggered investigations on three continents.

Illegal earnings

While Singapore shut down BSIs branch there, FINMA confiscated 95 million Swiss francs ($96 million) that it said BSI had earned illegally through suspect transactions.

BSIs chief executive, Stefano Coduri, resigned and the bank said it would, among other measures, appoint a new chief risk officer and group legal counsel.

BSI acknowledges that these events are important steps with regard to the regulators to resolve legacy issues and removing uncertainty for clients and staff in relation to 1MDB, it said in a statement.

More than a dozen executives who were associated with the 1MDB account or related accounts have left BSI over the past year, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters - something on which BSI declined to comment.

1MDB for its part said on Tuesday that it had not been contacted by any foreign authority after the Singapore and Swiss actions.

For now, 143-year-old BSIs ongoing business, with total client assets of 84.3 billion Swiss francs at the end of 2015, will be salvaged through an already-agreed takeover by its Swiss peer EFG International.

Swiss regulators said the deal could still go ahead on condition that BSI, currently owned by Brazils BTG Pactual , was fully integrated into EFG and then dissolved.

But Bradley Birkenfeld, an American whistleblower in a breakthrough tax fraud case against UBS who later won a $104 million reward from the US Internal Revenue Service, said it had taken too long to bring the issue into focus.

If you dont fix a problem, it will fester, he said. And this is exactly what we have now. ($1 = 0.9925 Swiss francs)
Hundreds of Tata Steel workers held a rare rally in central London on Thursday as the companys board in Mumbai said it had yet to shortlist any bidders for the sale of its loss-making British assets.

Wearing safety helmets and Tatas yellow jackets, protesters chanted the slogan Save Our Steel! as they marched past the Houses of Parliament.

We want somebody who will invest in the industry, support the industry and preferably keep us together, keep the plants together, Tony Pearson, who has worked in the sector since 1977, told AFP.

Indian Tata Steel is Britains biggest steel employer and the fate of around 12,000 jobs in Britain depends on a sale process it launched earlier this year.

British Business Secretary Sajid Javid held discussions with Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday, a day after a deadline passed for interested parties to submit bids to acquire the assets.

The company said on Wednesday it had yet to shortlist bidders out of the seven who have expressed interest.

Steel workers hold placards as they take part in a protest march through central London on May 25, 2016. Tata Steel, Britain's biggest steel employer, announced in March that it planned to sell its Port Talbot plant in Wales and other assets, putting 15,000 jobs at risk. (AFP)

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances OGrady also joined Wednesdays protest.

The workers are incredibly skilled... They must not be sent down the road, the industry must not be destroyed, and we will make sure it is not destroyed.

OGrady said Tata owe it to the people that theyve made such good profits out of to ensure that this is a responsible sale.

It cant be about asset stripping, she said.

During a parliamentary debate, finance minister George Osborne said the government was doing everything we can to help this industry in a very difficult time including making sure theres tough tariffs on Chinese dumping.

Tata Steel signalled its exit from Britain on March 30, blaming global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe, high costs and currency volatility.

The government has said it will contribute hundreds of millions of pounds (euros, dollars) to any potential deal and take a 25 percent stake in the assets.
NEW DELHI: A 48-year-old man was allegedly shot at by unidentified men in Chawri Bazar area while he was returning home from work. The victim escaped with a bullet injury on his thigh.

Police said that the victim, Mehtabuddin, a can factory worker, was shot by two bikeborne men. Locals rushed him to Lok Nayak hospital, where he is being treated.

Around midnight, Mehtabuddin was returning after having dinner at his friends house. Mehtabuddin told police that the bikers were wearing helmets. Police said they have registered a case at the Hauz Qazi police station and have detained a few suspects. Police said it appears to be a case of personal enmity. The assailants wanted to shoot him but the bullet missed, said a police officer.
The third regulation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) relating to service conditions of teachers turned into a political issue on Wednesday with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress attacking the Modi government for bringing in such a regulation.

Delhi University teachers boycotted the evaluation process. All 13 centres where evaluation was to be held wore a vacant look on the second day.

The teachers have been protesting against the regulation which had increased their workload and could lead to around 5,000 temporary and guest teachers losing their jobs.

AAP Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey along with teachers affiliated to the party held a press conference on Wednesday.

They said that the new regulation by the MHRD and UGC was an attack on the autonomy of the university and an attempt by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to fill academic posts in the universities with its own cadre.

Why should teachers suffer when they are not at fault? There was no recruitment in the university and colleges and now with this regulation they are all set to be out of jobs.The regulation needs to be immediately withdrawn, said SA Jafferi, assistant professor at Rajdhani College.

Read: Stir by teachers in DU set to delay undergrad results

In a statement, the AAP said the Modi government was trying to impose the decision of the previous Congress-led UPA government to introduce points system for promotion of DU teachers.

Similarly, the Congress called the regulation a move towards privatization by the Modi government. DPCC President Ajay Maken with teachers of the Indian National Teachers Congress (INTEC) addressed the press conference.

This regulation would lead to the complete breakdown of the public funded higher education system, said Ashwini Kumar, INTEC chairman.
Delhi culture minister Kapil Mishra has complained to the Delhi Police commissioner that members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) allegedly intimidated artists commissioned by the government.

On May 20, Akhlaq Ahmad was commissioned by the Delhi government to paint the walls along with French artist Swen Simon at the DJB office on GT Road in Shahdara.

Suddenly a mob of over a hundred people gathered around the artists and intimidated them because they were writing in Urdu. These people who were led by several Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members and leaders forced the artists to paint Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan over the text they had been working on. They were shouting slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Narendra Modi and called the artists Lahoris, Mishra alleged in a letter to commissioner Alok Verma.

The wall painting was part of Delhi government-supported initiative called #MyDilliStory.

This was a Twitter-based competition that invited people to post stories, jokes and anecdotes about Delhi using 140 characters. The entries were invited in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and English. 40 winning entries are currently being painted across the city by signboard painters and artists. The basic premise of this project was to popularise the use of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi online as well as to celebrate the dying art of hand painted typefaces, Mishra said.

Urdu is one of the four official languages of Delhi apart from Hindi, Punjabi and English. These men of the RSS neither understand art nor culture, language and religion. They dont understand Delhi and its vibrant citizens. No one in their right mind would have done this to our foreign guests and lovers of Delhis culture, who are actually doing such a great service to the city, he said.

Mishra said the police didnt immediately act as per the law. I am told that the police were rude, took away their phones and questioned their motives once told that they lived in Batla House. I demand that the police take immediate action against the members of the RSS who indulged in such a heinous act against our artists and violated the law, he said.

The RSS refuted the allegations.

A senior Delhi RSS functionary said the AAP government was deploying such tactics to take attention away from its failings. Their policies like odd-even failed, the city is reeling under power crisis, so they tried to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi by making false accusations about his degree. Now, that they have failed everywhere, they are trying to malign the RSS.

The slogan which was being painted in Urdu is written by DU student Zeeshan Amjad. The couplet chosen for the jal board buildings wall refers to the city being destroyed and rebuilt seven times. It says:  Dilli tera ujadna, aur phir ujad ke basna. Woh dil hai toone paya, saani nahi hai jiska (Oh Delhi, you were ruined and built several times. No city has a heart like yours).
The Delhi convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Dilip Pandey, on Wednesday wrote to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, saying he will attend a torch light march that the Congress is planning to hold on May 28 to raise the issue of power and water scarcity in the capital.

I will be present as the head of AAPs Delhi unit. It is very important to tell you two things. Sheila Dikshit (former Delhi CM) and Ajay Maken (Delhi Congress chief) were involved in corruption during the privatization of power. The anti-corruption branch has been snatched away from the Delhi government. Otherwise, both would have faced strict action in the case Maken himself was involved in the privatization scam and he is now pushing you in front and protesting. I will bring all papers related to this when I come to meet you, the letter says.

The rally is scheduled on May 28 and will start from Rajghat at 6.30pm.

Delhi has been reeling under power cuts for the past week and tempers and temperatures have been running high. The government has blamed the discoms for the outages and has also issued an ultimatum to them.

Pandeys letter also goes on to state that the water and power situation in Delhi was much better than that in several other Congress-ruled states.

You should focus on improving water and power availability in those states. The Congress might get wiped out from these states as well otherwise. If you need help improving the water-power situation in any state, please let me know, the letter says.

The Delhi Congress later hit out at AAP and Pandey saying it was natural for the party to be terrified as Congress and Gandhi had been raising peoples issues and AAP had lost 8 out of 13 seats in the MCD bypolls.

Therefore it is genuine of @dilipkpandey to get terrified and rattled to know that we are going to protest for people of Delhi, (sic) the units official twitter handle tweeted.
Water was one of the major poll promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party during the last assembly elections. After coming to power it promised 700 litres of free water to households which receive piped water supply and have a functional meter. However, over the last month, several south Delhi households have received scant or no water supply. Their troubles increased manifold as the mercury breached the 46 degree mark.

Localities reeling under acute water scarcity include unauthorised colonies as well as posh neighbourhoods of the southern part of the national Capital. Vasant Kunj, Lado Sarai, Govindpuri, Masjid Moth, parts of Greater Kailash, Chittaranjan Park, Malviya Nagar, Neb Sarai, Hargovind Enclave, Tughlakabad, Freedom Fighter Enclave, Okhla and Govindpuri have been facing water shortage. Residents said though they have complained several times to the authorities, no concrete solution had been provided.

Fed up with sporadic water supply for days, residents of Sangam Vihar took to the streets last week. They blocked a colony road by placing water containers causing chaos in the locality. Residents said each household barely received 250 litres of water in a week, that too, through tankers.

Read more: Pilot project to improve water service falls flat, Malviya Nagar faces crisis

Jagjivan Kumar, 35, a resident of Sangam Vihar, said, Before each election, political parties promise to provide proper water connections but nothing concrete happens. In Sangam Vihar, people fight, steal and agitate for water. On Thursday, residents captured Delhi Jal Board tankers and raised slogans against irregular and inadequate water supply. The plan to lay a permanent pipeline in the colony is stuck in red-tape.

Sadia Banu, another resident, said, Temporary pipelines have been laid in some areas but the supply is erratic. DJB supplies only 250 litres of water to a family, that too once in a week. During peak summer, the frequency of tankers also reduces. It takes several calls to get a Delhi Jal Board tanker.

An official of the water utility said that temporary pipelines have been laid in 70% of the locality. We are planning to lay permanent pipelines in all households of Sangam Vihar. The target is to finish by next summer, he said.

Read more: Despite a large reservoir, taps run dry in Vasant Kunj

Similar crisis is unfolding in other parts of south Delhi. Several pockets of Vasant Kunj, Lado Sarai, Govindpuri, Masjid Moth and Greater Kailash are dependent on water tankers to meet their daily needs. The rising temperature in Delhi has aggravated the situation in Neb Sarai, Hargovind Enclave, Tughlakabad, Freedom Fighter Enclave, Okhla and Govindpuri.

A leakage in the main supply line of Sarita Vihar puts a question mark on DJBs efforts to stop wastage. Residents said the pipeline was damaged an year ago and the authorities have failed to fix it. (S Burmaula / HT Photo)

AAP water minister Kapil Mishra said the government is working on a plan to connect each locality with Delhi Jal Board water pipeline network. Piped water supply has been given to 238 colonies, there and 300 colonies where it is yet to be done, he said. However, sources in DJB said that there are 407 colonies which are yet to get the connection.

Dinesh Mohaniya, Sangam Vihar MLA who is also the vice-chairman of DJB, blamed leaders of other parties for politicising the issue and provoking people to protest.

The depleting groundwater in south Delhi is also a matter of concern. At some places the water level has gone down to 37 metre below ground level. AAP, in its manifesto, had said that tough steps will be taken to eliminate water mafia and regulate private tankers effectively to ensure reasonable cost to the consumer. Residents, however, allege that tanker mafia works in nexus with low-rank DJB officials.

In many parts of South Delhi, like Tughlakabad, Lado Sarai and Katwaria Sarai, people still have to rely on private tankers. Mahinder S Sejwal, 64, a Lado Sarai resident, said, The tanker mafia has only got bolder and charge exorbitant amounts. Earlier, they charged Rs1,500 per tanker but this year they demanded Rs 3,000. Residents have no other choice but to shell out the extra bucks.

Mishra claimed that his government has tightened the noose around tanker mafia. The tanker mafia is on the way out in areas like Dwarka and Sangam Vihar and the availability of tankers has improved. He said that AAP will soon launch a water harvesting plan which would be another big step in providing clean water to Delhi.

Delhi Jal Board CEO Keshav Chandra said, Most of the areas faced problems due to technical glitches in the last week. There will be no such issues in coming days.

Saket, Masjid Moth feel the pinch

These two colonies have been facing acute water shortage for two weeks. Aggrieved residents claimed to have lodged complaints many times, but their problem has not been addressed yet. Areas suffering the most include Sakets block D and Masjid Moth Village which have more than 12,000 inhabitants.

Although there is a water shortage here, the problem aggravated 15 days ago. There is no supply of drinking water; we have to depend on tube wells. The rise in consumption due to scorching heat has affected the tube well supply as well, said Rajesh Bharal, a Saket resident.

A DJB official said the supply will be restored immediately. He explained that due to a pipeline burst and related repair work at Sarai Kale Khan, the water supply was affected.

Residents said Masjid Moth village is supposed to get water supply from an underground reservoir in Deer Park, but the water fails to reach the village. Hauz Khas, Green Park and Gautam Nagar also receive water from the reservoir.

Chandra said, At present, we can supply water through tankers only. We have to engage a hydraulics expert for a permanent solution. Officials have been asked to provide water through a common point.
NEW DELHI: Lucknow, New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Dharamshala, Agartala and Imphal from six nonBJP states are among the 13 urban centres that were picked up to be developed as smart cities under the Modi governments ambitious plan for an urban overhaul.

Four of the 13 cities  Uttar Pradeshs Lucknow, Himachal Pradeshs Dharamsala, Goas Panaji and Imphal in Manipur  go to the polls in 2017. While the Congress is in power in Himachal and Manipur, the Samajwadi Party rules UP. Goa is under BJP rule.

Chandigarh, Faridabad, Raipur, Ranchi, Warangal, and Port Blair are the other cities chosen on Tuesday through a fast-track competition.

Meant to change the way urban India lives, smart cities will enjoy uninterrupted power and water supply, internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure.

In January, when the first 20 smart cities were announced, the urban development (UD) ministry had come under fire for leaving out cities from prominent non-NDA states UP, Bihar and West Bengal.
NEW DELHI: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday visited the 85-year-old woman who was allegedly thrashed by her 60-year-old daughter. The incident was caught on camera and the video was widely circulated on social media.

DCW officials said the commission had written to the police commissioner, seeking action against the daughter of the woman and measures to prevent her from entering the building where the octogenarian resides.

The panel recorded the statements of the neighbours regarding the incident.

The commission has written to the ADM Senior Citizen Tribunal, recommending penal action against the daughter, provision of maintenance and protection of the mother.

The commission has deputed two counsellors to look after the old lady round-the-clock.
NEW DELHI: An alert issued by intelligence agencies says Delhis legislative assembly could be the next target of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The agencies have shared inputs with Delhi Police and asked them to review the existing security apparatus at the building and other important installations in the city, police sources said.

According to the alert, a top JeM commander, Awais Muhammad  a native of Okara in Pakistans Punjab province  has been given the responsibility of executing terror strikes in Delhi. It says Muhammad has flown to Malaysia on proper documents but he may arrive in India on fake papers.

The alert says important schools and colleges may be targeted.

Security arrangements are being reviewed after the alert. The assembly building is generally secured round-the-clock by 25 Delhi Police and 30 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

The special cell has been asked to monitor movements and activities of suspects and sleeper cell agents. The cell has asked the local police to activate members of the eyes and ears scheme.

Though top Delhi Police officers refused to share any information, sources said Muhammad has direct links with JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his younger brother Talha Saif.

Muhammad has been given the responsibility of setting up a module in north India by indoctrinating Muslim youths, sources said.

We( Delhi Police) are fully prepared to foil terrorist attacks, said Arvind Deep, special commissioner of police (special cell).
Doctors in government hospitals in Delhi will go on a strike on Thursday, demanding an increase in their salaries and allowances.

They also threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 1 if their demands are not fulfilled.

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), an umbrella organisation of 15,000 resident doctors across 41 government hospitals in the national capital, has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to revise the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission that they said were particularly discriminating to doctors.

We will be on strike tomorrow for a day. If our demands are not fulfilled even after that, we will go on indefinite strike from June 1, said Dr Narayan Dabas, convenor, FORDA.

Additional secretary in the health ministry, Arun Panda, held deliberations with medical superintendents of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung hospitals on Wednesday and said our hospitals have put in place contingency plans so that all emergencies, trauma cases are taken care of.

Senior doctors will handle the situation tomorrow. We are still trying to make them (FORDA) see reason. RML has cancelled all leave. Senior doctors have been asked to come and attend patients. Hospitals think they can handle the situation. All trauma and emergency will be taken care of. The MS of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung have also talked with FORDA, Panda said.
The body of a newborn was found at a washroom at Lok Nayak, the biggest Delhi government hospital in central Delhi, on Monday afternoon.

The baby was very small, newly born. It was so small it had gone through the drain pipe, said a person who was in the washroom when the baby was discovered.

The baby was found inside the mens room on the first floor of the casualty around 1pm. The area was immediately cordoned off and the reporter was told the washroom was under maintenance.

The child was probably pre-mature and it is most likely the mother had delivered it in the wash room. A preliminary check does not show any foul play, said a constable posted at the scene.

Doctors refused to divulge the sex of the child. We have reported the details to the authorities. We are not supposed to speak to the media, said the chief medical officer on duty.

The medical director remained unavailable for a comment.
A day after Pappu Vasudev, a 60-year-old eatery owner, was shot dead in Lapat Nagar after an argument over a `1,085 food bill, two Delhi Police constables have been suspended for dereliction of duty.

The constables, armed with their service weapons, were on duty at the police picket opposite the eatery. They, however, neither intervened in the scuffle between Vasudev and the assailants nor challenged the attackers. They didnt even fire at the tyres of the Maruti Swift Dzire car in which the assailants fled, said a police officer.

Mandeep Singh Randhawa, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), said action was taken against the two constables for dereliction of duty. He, however, denied any departmental inquiry was initiated against the two. He said that seven teams led by two ACPs were working on the murder case.

We have identified the accused, who are residents of south Delhi. Raids are on to nab them. The case will be cracked soon, he said.

Read: Eatery owner killed for asking customers to pay Rs 1,000 bill in Delhi

The official driver and wireless operator of Randhawa were also present at Vasudevs eatery and getting their food packed when the assailants arrived and opened fire. Locals alleged that like the two constables, Randhawas staff, too, failed to react.

Asked what action has been taken against his staff, Randhawa said they were off-duty and were 50-60 metres from the spot where Vasudev was shot.

Its not that my staff did not respond. They tried to talk to the four agitated men when one of them went to Vasudev and shot him twice. My staff ran towards Vasudev the moment they saw him holding his abdomen and collapsing on the floor. Vasudev was rushed to the hospital in my official Innova car, said Randhawa.

He claimed that his staff and the constables at the police picket did not fire at the assailants as the area was dark and congested and 60-70 people were running after the attackers. The streetlights were off due to the thunderstorm and firing in a dark lane full of people could have hurt anybody, he said.

Vasudev lived with his family in Amar Colony area. He had been running the eatery, Sindhi Eating House, at Lal Sai Market in Lajpat Nagar for the past 40 years.

He is survived by a child whom he had adopted from an orphanage 11 years ago. Vasudevs murder came as double blow for his son, Mohit, as his foster mother had died only 13 days ago.
GHAZIABAD: A power transmission substation that could help Ghaziabad come out of its power crisis is stuck in a land dispute.

The electricity department officials are banking heavily on the 400KV transmission substations in Indirapuram and Ator to meet out the rising power demand in summer.

The substation in Indirapuram is stuck due to an issue over a 8.5-square metre land required to install a transmission line tower at the Central Industrial Security Force campus. The officials said they were expecting the substation to start by April but it has been delayed due to the land issue.

There have been talks and we expect a positive outcome. If the land is made available, we will start the 400KV Indirapuram substation by June-end. This will provide ample supply to the entire trans-Hindon area, said Yatendra Kumar, superintending engineer, UP Power Transmission Corporation Limited.

Earlier in March, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had written to Union home minister Rajnath Singh to intervene.

Residents, however, continue to suffer. Nearly 8-hour power cuts are reported in new housing areas in transHindon region. Residents say they also foot huge power bills on backup power supply in high-rises. Power backup rates range from ` 15 to ` 20 per unit. Nearly 250 litres of diesel is burnt by power backup generators. For highrise apartments, its even more. It also causes pollution, said Alok Kumar from Arihant Harmony which has 150 flats.

Officials said the trans-Hindon areas have inferior infrastructure and often they need to shut the substations when demand goes up. Local faults also cause power cuts.

We are able to supply nearly 23 hours of supply to city areas and nearly 22 hours to trans-Hindon areas. We were expecting the 400KV station at Indirapuram will start but it is facing land issues. Once stations at Indirapuram and Ator start, they would suffice the city needs for up to 2030, said Arvind Rajvedi, chief engineer (distribution), Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday warned discoms that it would not hesitate from cancelling their licences if they failed to improve the citys power situation. Delhi has witnessed a series of power outages since last week.

The warning was conveyed by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a meeting attended by representatives of the private distribution companies BSES, Tata Power (TPDDL) and the chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).

Power minister Satyendar Jain, who was present, said the policy on getting consumers compensated for unscheduled power cuts will be implemented within a week and that DERC will issue a notification in this regard.

The chief minister has given them (discoms) a weeks time to take corrective measures and made it clear that strict action will be taken otherwise. We will not hesitate to consider cancelling their licences, Jain said.

Theres no shortage of power in the city but the outages are due to local faults. A compensation formula will be implemented within a week. Discoms will decide how to implement it, Jain added.

The number of power outages has shot up since last week, ever since the mercury surged.

A senior government official said the discoms could not offer a single explanation behind the outages, despite no shortage of power for the national capital.

The government has categorically asked them to set their house in order, the official said.

The discoms have not built adequate infrastructure. They say we have put up cables but whenever there is overload those cables snap as they are of inferior quality. We have directed the companies to arrange mobile transformers, Jain had said on Monday.

Delhis power demand hit an all-time high of 6,188 MW on May 20. The power demand is expected to rise by July. Tuesdays peak load was relatively low at 4,834 MW, as the weather slightly cooled down after Mondays rain.

BJP PROTESTS

Workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday staged a protest outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwals residence demanding better power and water supply in the Capital.

Hundreds of party workers, led by Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay, during the protest tried to break barricades placed in front of the CMs house and werepushed back by the police, who used water cannons to disperse them.
KATHMANDU: Hopes of rescuing two Indian climbers who went missing on Mount Everest dimmed further on Tuesday, given the lack of oxygen and delay in sending a team to locate them.

Paresh Chandra Nath, Gautam Ghosh, Sunita Hazra and Subhash Pal  all from West Bengal  went missing with four Sherpa guides near the 8,848-metre tall summit of the worlds highest mountain on Saturday. Though Hazra, Pal and the guides were located the next day, there was no trace of Nath and Ghosh.

Pal succumbed to altitude sickness while descending at 7,500 metres on Sunday night.

A six-member rescue team will leave Kathmandu by helicopter on Wednesday. They will be dropped off at Camp II, from where it should take two days to reach the missing climbers and Pal, Wangchu Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based Trekking Camp Nepal told HT.

However, there was scant hope of finding the two alive because they didnt have adequate oxygen reserves to last them at an altitude that is regarded as a virtual death zone for most respiratory organisms. Earlier, organisers were unable to send a team to locate the missing climbers due to the high altitude and inclement weather.

Meanwhile, Hazra was admitted to a Kathmandu hospital with severe frostbite, chest infection and altitude sickness. The 42-year-old was being attended to by her husband, Sudeb Hazra, and two other relatives.

Sunita is an experienced climber, but she was totally shocked by what happened on the Everest. While her team members perished, she was extremely lucky to have survived, said Sudeb.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Central Information Commission on Wednesday ordered Lt-Governor Najeeb Jungs office to make public his report to the home ministry that formed the basis for the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly in 2014.

The commission rejected Raj Niwas contention that its report was privileged, asserting that the Lt-Governor did not enjoy the constitutional bar on courts from inquiring into the advice tendered by ministers to the Governor of a state.

Jungs report paved the way for holding of fresh polls in the Capital which was under Presidents Rule from February, 2014 after the AAP government quit after 49 days of rule.

In his report to President Pranab Mukherjee, Jung had pointed out that the three main political parties had expressed their inability to form the government and conveyed that they were ready to face fresh election.

The CIC cited nine reasons why the Lt-Governors office was wrong in withholding the information including the need for transparency in the decision-making process regarding dissolving an elected house in public interest.

The commission directed the Lt-Governor and the union home ministry to provide copies of the report along with all documents sent to the Centre to the applicant, a Chhattisgarh resident, within 30 days.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu wondered why the Lt-Governor was reluctant to share the information when many governors and the home ministry -- that is responsible for Delhis affairs  has had no qualms.

Citing specific instances where governors, the home ministry and the Attorney General had positively responded to requests for information, Acharyulu asked: Then, how it is logical or legal to deny the report of the LG advising the Union Government to dissolve the Delhi State Assembly and other related papers.
SRINAGAR: Kashmiri separatists have forged issue-based unity to oppose the establishment of exclusive colonies for Pandits and retired military personnel in the Valley, a first since the 2008 Amarnath land agitation.

They are divided ideologically and politically but the Valleys three prominent separatist leaders  Syed AliGeelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik  met on Monday evening to challenge the PDP-BJP government over plans to rehabilitate displaced Pandits and ex-servicemen of the state.

Hardline Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said Mirwaiz and Malik went to Geelanis home at Hyderpora in Srinagar and held a closed-door meeting for about 90 minutes.

This is the first time after 2008 that all the three leaders have come together to discuss any grave issue regarding Kashmir, he said.

In 2008, the three held a series of meetings to mount a joint attack after the PDP-Congress government of the time transferred a piece of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, with manages the annual Hindu pilgrimage. The agitation and counter-agitation in Jammu shut the state for months.

In a unique show of strength, the trio has now planned a major showdown on Thursday and Friday to prevent what they said was an attempt to change the states demography.
A 13-year-old girl is battling for life at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after allegedly being abducted, brutally raped and dumped near railway tracks in southeast Delhis Pul Prahladpur. The girl is said to be mentally challenged.

The minor suffered bruises on her neck and the abdomen, police said. One person has been detained in connection with the case. The detained suspect lives in a village near Pul Prahladpur where the girl had been living with her maternal aunt, said police.

Police said the girl went missing from outside her aunts home on May 17. The same night a passerby found her lying near the railway track in semi-conscious condition and called the police control room.

We had received a call that a minor girl was lying at an isolated place in Pul Prahladpur area. She was immediately rushed to AIIMS where doctors told us that she was sexually assaulted, said the senior officer.

On Wednesday, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson, Swati Maliwal, reportedly visited the girl at the hospital, met her family members and assured them of swiftest possible action into the case. A senior police officer said that the girls family has given in writing that they dont want to meet anybody and even refused counselling sessions for their daughter.

Mandeep Singh Randhawa, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), said a case of kidnapping and rape was registered in connection with the incident soon after the matter came to their notice.
The CBSE will start the process of online application for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-II (UG) from Thursday for admission to medical and dental courses. The exam will be held on July 24.

The test will be applicable for admissions to the All India quota seats, State Government Quota seats where the state government concerned so opts and Private/Management/NRI Quota seats in all Private Medical/Dental Colleges or any Private/Deemed University, CBSE said in an official statement.

It added that as per the directions of the Supreme Court, left out candidates who could not register or appear in NEET-I (AIPMT-2016) or those having the apprehension that they had not prepared well, subject to submission of an undertaking to give up their candidature for NEET-I, can apply in NEET-II.

The detailed information regarding test, syllabus and eligibility criteria will be available on the website www.aipmt.nic.in, the statement said.

President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the NEET Ordinance on Tuesday exempting state government medical colleges from the Supreme Court-mandated single All India entrance exam for a year.

The states now have the option of either conducting their own exam or be a part of the NEET to fill 85 per cent of the Under Graduate (UG) medical and dental seats. 15 per cent of the remaining seats will be filled through NEET route by all India counselling.
Thousands of devotees throng the mausoleum of 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya every day. However, it is ironical that his chilla or khankah (monastery), where he would spend a significant part of the day, hardly receives any visitors. All its left with now are the echoes of the past.

It shares its rubble masonry boundary walls with Humayuns Tomb on one side and Gurudwara Damdama Sahib on the other. A white-green structure, the khankah, is where Nizamuddin Auliya lived and meditated for almost 65 years. He also breathed his last here. The monument has witnessed many physical changes, but the domed chamber still exists.

Spread over 500 square yards, there are many unknown graves, believed to be of the saints disciples, in the complex. Constructed on a raised platform, the rubble masonry has been painted white partially and the mosque adjacent to the room is where prayers are offered on Urs every year. During his time, there would be many congregations when people lined up to meet him and to seek his blessings. Custodians say that in those days river Yamuna flowed in the vicinity. It was one of the principles of this Sufi saint to serve food to all, so that no one goes hungry. Even the people who lived in the area were looked after by Hazrat Nizamuddin.

The domed chamber remains locked and is opened only when someone requests the caretaker. According to the custodian of Nizamuddin Dargah, Farid Ahmed Nizami, who is writing a book on the life of Hazrat Nizamuddin, said, The khankah was raised by Ziauddeen Wakil, Hazrat Nizamuddins disciple and his grave lies in the courtyard. The saint had warned him that if a person initiates any construction work in the complex, he would die. So he stopped Wakeel many a time from taking up the project. He initially didnt allow him to go ahead with his plan, but after his repeated requests he gave him a go ahead.

After the construction was completed, Wakil died on the night of its inauguration.

On Fridays, people line up outside the mosque which has some niches that show the direction towards Mecca. There is a belief that if one makes a wish while facing these niches, it comes true.

Hazrat Nizamuddin stressed on keeping religion and state separate and said that his monastery had two doors and if a sultan (king) entered through one, he exited from the other.

People dont know much about this place which is why there are no visitors. As it is located past Humayuns Tomb, people dont really come here.We want people to know about it and its historical relevance, said Nizami.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Two years after the commencement of an ambitious supply improvement programme, Malviya Nagar reels under acute water shortage. Residents of blocks G and 90 complain of inadequate water supply, leakages and contaminated water supply.

With an aim to improve water supply in the Capital, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) launched Water Service Improvement Programme in 2012. Under the plan, a public private partnership (PPP) initiative, Malviya Nagar was chosen for the pilot project. The water utility had entered into a contract with Malviya Nagar Water Services Private limited (MNWS), a consortium of French company Suez and infrastructure company SPML Infra Ltd. The agency was to lay a new pipeline network in the areas that received water supply from Malviya Nagar underground reservoir (UGR).

The revamped network aimed to reduce contamination and water losses. New pipelines were laid in Chirag Delhi, Soami Nagar, Savitri Nagar and Khirki Extension. A few of blocks could not be covered, such as blocks G and 90 in Malviya Nagar.

JS Lamba, a resident of block 90 and president of Malviya Nagar Welfare Association (MNWA), said, House no 60-90 have been getting contaminated water for one year. Water pipelines and sewer lines run parallel here and are old and damaged at places. Hence, potable water gets mixed with sewer water. The department has not taken any corrective measure despite our complaints. He said that temporary repair work was done in the past which failed to serve the purpose.

Read more: Buckets full of discontent in south Delhi localities this summer

Unlike block 90, residents of blocks G 9-G 12 are mainly concerned about scant water supply. A tube well, lying defunct for 15 days, has exaggerated the problem. The civic agency is giving priority to unauthorised and Lal Dora colonies over Malviya Nagar for laying new supply lines. Areas like Khirki village and Khirki Extension have already been covered, said NK Malik, a resident of G-11 block.

RS Tyagi, of DJB, put the blame on other agencies which delayed the clearance process. Due to delay in clearances from concerned agencies the project was started about one and half years late. We have completed 36% of the work and targeting to finish it by December 2016.

Aggrieved residents have also approached area MLA Somnath Bharti for concrete solution. Till two years ago, Malviya Nagar used to get water supply through tubewells. But, I pursued the matter with the agency to make sure that Malviya Nagar gets water from Sonia Vihar Water Plant. The work is in progress and by next summer we will complete the project. We also need the support of residents in achieving the goal,  said Bharti

Read more: Despite a large reservoir, taps run dry in Vasant Kunj

An MNWS official said, We have laid peripheral and main pipelines and the work of establishing distribution network is under process. Though priority is given to areas facing acute shortage, we will cover entire Malviya Nagar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday suspended a government school principal for mismanagement and failing to ensure cleanliness on the schools premises.

Sisodia, who is also Delhis education minister, decided to take action against the principal, identified as Rani Chennama, after finding unclean tables and paan stains on walls during an inspection on Tuesday.

Chennama of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Jahangirpuri was suspended after Sisodia questioned the principal about the school. On being questioned the principal said I dont know why I have been posted in such a shabby school, Sisodia tweeted.

A principal who cannot take responsibility for ensuring that the children under her care get to study in a clean environment, does not deserve to remain in that position, he tweeted.

Sisodia inspected five government schools of which four were reportedly clean, well maintained and were holding summer camps and remedial classes very well. Sisodia praised government girls senior secondary school and government boys senior secondary school which are being run from the same building, officials said.

On the contrary, the ambience of school in Azadpur was not only clean and very well maintained but also extremely welcoming. I have issued special appreciation letters to congratulate principals of these schools, he tweeted.

In an open letter to teachers of government schools, Sisodia has warned of strict action if inefficiency on their part impeded the development of education sector.
NEW DELHI: Exam results of undergraduate courses in the Delhi University could be delayed this year as teachers have refused to evaluate the answer sheets in protest against a UGC notification whichincreasestheirworkloadand maylead to around 5,000temporary and guest teachers losing their jobs.

The examinations ended last week and the centralised evaluation process was to begin at 13 centres on Tuesday. But none of the 3,000 teachers on evaluation duty turned up after a boycott call by the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA).

The boycott is for four days. The future course of action will be decided at the general body meeting on Saturday, said DUTA president Nandita Narain.

The association is opposing a notification by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which increased the workload of assistant professors from 16 hours of direct teaching to 24 hours per week. For associate professors, it went up from 14 to 22 hours per week.

DUTA contends that since the Public sector banks could be allowed to recruit directly from business and engineering schools to reduce acute shortage of staff. Bank Board Bureau will come up with a new hiring strategy in consultation with the Centre course material would be covered by overworked professors, the move may lead to the retrenchment of temporary, guest and ad-hoc teachers.

According to the teachers body, the notification would also make promotions difficult. DU teachers are promoted on the basis of the infamous Academic Performance Indicator (API), which follows a point system for different parameters, including student feedback.

The API has been made more stringent and emphasises on research. But now teachers have been assigned extra workload, leaving little time to prepare for quality lectures and research, said Rajesh Jha, who teaches political science at Rajdhani College.
NEW DELHI: Last year, Delhi University started the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). After about a year of implementation, teachers and students across subjects point out flaws in the system.

They say new students who will join the university in July will face a tough time.

The CBCS was the brainchild of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was entrusted with the responsibility of framing the syllabus and preparing guidelines.

Called popularly the cafeteria system, it was supposed to allow students to choose inter-disciplinary, intra-disciplinary courses. The system was to allow easy mobility for students through transfer of credits, which meant a student could study one semester in one college and then pursue the course in another college in any part of the country. But all this has remained only on paper as mobility has not taken place. Teachers say this will not be possible for a set-up like Delhi University.

Students being allowed choices were a pre-requisite of CBCS. This has not happened in all DU colleges and it goes against the spirit of CBCS, said Naveen Gaur, physics teacher at Dyal Singh College.

Students have to study 14 papers of the core course, four papers of GEC, eight papers of discipline specific elective (DSE), two papers each of ability enhancement course (AEC) and skill development course. Of these, in the first year a student has to study four core papers, two papers of GEC and one compulsory (AEC).

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: Girls often outperform boys in the board examinations when they are given equal opportunities.

But for two trafficked girls, who were sexually abused at Delhis infamous GB Road, clearing Class 10 board exam was a special feat.

The girls, aged 16 and 17 and hailing from South Pargana district of West Bengal, secured over 50% marks in their Class 10 board exams. Rescued three years ago by an NGO, Shakti Vahini, the girls had been enrolled in a school in West Bengal and were attending regular classes.

Both of them now want to continue studying. One of them wants to become a journalist, according to activists involved in their rehabilitation.

The girls are among scores of victims of trafficking in the country who have been showing exception willpower to leave their past behind and start their life afresh.

NGOs working for the welfare of such children have recommended to the HRD ministry to include special provisions for such victims in the new education policy being finalized by it.

The recent success has shown that if they are encouraged, victims of trafficking are capable of leading a successful life. The Union government, especially the HRD ministry, should start a plan for such girls and even boys. Once they are rescued, there is no proper rehabilitation plan due to which they are trapped by traffickers again, said Rishikant, an activist with the Shakti Vahini.

Last year, too, three girls  who had been rescued from Delhi  had cleared their Class 12 board exam. One of them, a 17-year-old, had cleared her Class 12 board examination under Jharkhand board. The girl, after escaping from the placement agency where she had been trapped, helped the anti-human trafficking unit of Khunti, Jharkhand, to rescue more girls from the capital.

Officials of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO run by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, said they had suggested to the HRD ministry for putting in place a rehabilitation plan of such victims in the new education policy to be made public soon.

We have recommended that compulsory education be put in place for trafficked victims, said Rakesh Sengar, programme coordinator of BBA.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: A 30-year-old man, suspected to be involved in at least six murders reported from southwest Delhi, was arrested on Monday from Nangloi by the Delhi Police.

The alleged gangster, Pradeep Solanki, was wanted in at least 15 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and carjacking reported in Delhi and Haryana.

Solanki, the police said, is a contract killer, extortionist and an active member of the Manjeet Mahaal gang.

A cash reward of R50,000 had been announced for his arrest, police said.

Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said that his team had been monitoring Solankis movements for the past five months. Various traps were laid in Uttam Nagar and Nangloi for his arrest but he managed to evade arrest every time.

On Monday, Yadav said, a team led by ACP Nishant Gupta and Inspector Sanjay Nagpal laid a trap in Nangloi area following information about Solankis movements.

The team spotted Solanki and asked him to surrender. Solanki, however, tried to flee. He whipped out a revolver and entered into a scuffle with our team members. Head constable Pawan and constable Deepak however managed to overpower Solanki, said Yadav.

He said Solankis revolver, which was loaded with six bullets, was seized.
NEW DELHI: Delhi Jal Board chairperson Kapil Mishra presented the Yamuna Turnaround Plan to Union minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti to ensure that untreated water does not enter the river.

The comprehensive plan will be executed over the next two-and-a-half years.

We have come out with the Yamuna Turnaround Plan and showed it to Uma Bharti. She is very impressed and has accepted the plan. It is the first time that a comprehensive plan has been prepared to clean the Yamuna river, Mishra said.

We have presented them full details of the plan, including the budget and the time limit. I am confident both Centre and the Delhi government will be making a historic move to clean the river.

Mishra said every single sewage and pollution source of the city had been mapped into the plan.

We have included all the best KAPIL MISHRA, water minister available solutions in the world. We have a time frame of two-anda-half years for this plan. We are hoping that by the implementation of this plan, Yamuna will become a role model for every developing country, he said.

The plan will include cleaning the river, developing the river bank as a biodiversity zone, treating drain water and using spaces on the banks of drains as public space.

Mishra had met Balbir Singh Seechewal, a Punjab environmentalist who had helped revive the Kali Bein rivulet in the state, on Monday and discussed the plan with him as well.
The political quagmire West Asia has become today is such that the more things looks better the more it gets worse  the case here being Iraq.

The United States and other western nations emphasise that the situation in Iraq is improving and the Islamic State (IS) is on the backfoot after losing close to 45% of the territory it held two years back. But the enthusiasm depends on whether one sees a glass as half full or half empty.

Read | Wave of bombings hits Baghdad Shiite areas, killing 69

The series of bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and its suburbs last week where more than 100 people were killed, for which the IS has claimed responsibility, is a reminder that not even the capital is safe from terror attacks.

While some experts view the bombings as a sign of the IS nervousness, others say that the Sunni terror group is exploiting the tension between the government and protesters. It should not be forgotten that political uncertainty leads to a decline in security.

Read | Islamic State attack and bombings leave 29 dead across Iraq

The showdown at the Baghdad Green Zone housing the parliament, last month, when followers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the complex and was inches away from attacking rival militiamen, points to the deep rifts within the Shia community in Iraq. This is also the biggest challenge for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadiwho has shown greater promise than his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki. Mr Abadi appears to be earnest in his attempt to rid Iraq of the IS, win the trust of the minorities and root out widespread corruption in the government.

Developments in Baghdad largely depend on the political winds blowing in neighbouring Iran, and while all seems calm for now, events could soon turn for the worse. An all-out confrontation between the moderates and hardliners is expected to unfold closer to June 2017 when presidential elections will be held; and, the rivalry between Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, if it sharpens, will have its effect across the Shia world. The unrest in Syria, the Kurdish resurgence in the north, rebuilding national services and the falling prices of crude oil will also be of concern to Mr Abadi.

Read | Iraqi forces launch operation to retake Anbar town from Islamic State

The recent events are also a reminder to Western forces that before it shifts focus to Libya or other territories, it needs to stabilise the situation in Iraq  where many argue it all began when the US invaded it in 2003.
Maharashtra recorded a success rate of 86.60% (fresh candidates only) in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination results announced on Wednesday. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education released the results statistics around 12 noon and will announce the results online at 1 pm for students.

Mumbai division including Thane, Raigad and Palghar had 86.08% passing in the exam. Among the 2.99 lakh students that had appeared for the exam in the division, 2.57 lakh students cleared. While, out of 13.1 lakh students who had appeared for the exam, 11.4 lakh passed throughout the state.

Konkan division stood first among all the nine divisions with a success rate of 93.29%, followed by Kolhapur (88.10%), Pune (87.26%), Aurangabad (87.80%), Nagpur (86.35%), Latur (86.28%). Mumbai came in seventh. Nashik division registered the lowest result at 83.99%.

This year, once again girls have outshined boys in the result. Original mark sheets will be distributed to students in their respective junior colleges on June 3. Meanwhile, students can take a print-out of their online result. The exams were held from February 18 to March 28.

Click here to access your results on the official website.



Steps to check results:

Click on HSC Examination Result March 2016 to go to the log-in page.

Log in with your roll number and mothers first name to see your result on the screen.

Or

Click here to go directly to the log-in page.

From this year, students can apply for verification of marks from May 26 to June 4. Students can also apply for photocopies of their answer sheets by paying a minimal fee. For re-evaluation of answer sheets, students should submit the photocopy of the answer sheet along with an application within four days of receiving the photocopy.

Read more: Tamil Nadu board SSLC exam results declared, check it here

Students who have passed in all the subjects can retake the HSC exam under the Class Improvement Scheme. For those who fail to clear the exams this year, a supplementary exam will be conducted in July-August instead of September-October.

During the exam, question papers of the HSC book keeping and accountancy paper held on March 4, was leaked on social media, nearly 30 minutes before the paper was distributed to the examinees. But the board refused to conduct a re-exam claiming the paper did not reach a large number of students. Science students are anxious about their performance in physics as they found the paper tough to crack.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON


The wait for students, who appeared for the Maharashtra state education board examinations, has finally come to an end. Results of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams will be declared online on Wednesday, while that of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) is likely to be declared on May 31.

The HSC exam results will be announced online at 1pm and mark sheets will be distributed in junior colleges on June 3.

We are announcing the results earlier than usual so that students failing in exams can apply for the supplementary exams in July, said Gangadhar Mhamane, chairperson, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE).

More than 13 lakh students from across the state, including 3.2 lakh from Mumbai division, took the HSC exams, which were conducted between February and March this year. More than 17 lakh students had appeared for the SSC exams in the state and 3.7 lakh in the division.

During the exam, question papers of the HSC book keeping and accountancy paper held on March 4, was leaked on social media, nearly 30 minutes before the paper was distributed to the examinees. But the board refused to conduct a re-exam claiming the paper did not reach a large number of students.

Read more: Tamil Nadu board SSLC exam results declared, check it here

Science students are anxious about their performance in physics as they found the paper tough to crack. Several students had rung up the board helpline after the paper, inquiring about the minimum marks required to clear it. The paper was based on the new syllabus introduced a couple of years ago. Students found the paper lengthy and difficult. Close to 85,546 students had appeared for the paper from the Mumbai division, which includes Thane, Raigad and Palghar.

Special students were also given more concessions during the exams this year. For the first time this year, the board had allowed special students to avail of adult writers, if they were unable to find younger ones. This provision was introduced after autistic students kin moved the Bombay high court, as younger writers were unable to communicate with the students.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
RJ Khurafati Nitin is not just mischievous on air. Playing pranks has been a favourite pastime right from childhood. In fact, Khurafati (mischievous) is what his mother called him when he was a child. Little did he know that one day, he would be loved by thousands for being what he is, almost naturally  a khurafati chatterbox.

So, how did it all start? This was about 15 years ago. His friends, relatives and acquaintances suggested that he become a radio presenter (now radio jockey of course) or a voice over artiste. He, however, thought it was easier said than done. A theatre lover who wanted to become an actor, Jonathan Philemon Nitin Brady (yes, thats his real name) was awaiting his BA (honours) final year results when his maternal uncle asked him to apply for All India Radio (AIR). As he recounts, I, for kicks, went for the audition at AIR. The set-up of the audition was such that the judges were not allowed to see the applicants. They (applicants) were asked to talk on a four-to-five minute speech on an assigned topic. I started talking; my topic was the deplorable condition of Delhi roads. Suddenly, while a lady came barging into my room saying Whats wrong with you? We have been shouting from the judges room to stop you. Then I realised that I had forgotten to put on the headphone, so I had not heard the judges. The only way applicants were supposed to communicate with the judges was through a headphone and a speaker.

However, as they say, some mistakes are worth making. RJ Nitin got hired at All India Radio as a radio jockey. As he re-lives that day, he says,I was jabbering away to glory without realising that I had talked longer than I was asked to. But, the judges panel told me that they had finally found the chatterbox they were looking for.

RJ Nitin has the funniest and longest conversation with people who probably few interact with  house helps, cab drivers, auto rickshaw drivers and strangers.

Radio jockeying is all about connecting to audiences with your voice. FM and radio is a private medium for communicating with people. As RJ Nitin says, You must think of each individual you are doing the show for, you should be able to talk to a single person in a conversational way, not to a group of people. The listener should feel it is for him/her, instead of referring to a group of audience while talking, you need to talk to one person.

You should also be able to add something unique to your show. For instance Nitin is known for his prank calls that he makes on air. It started in an interesting way. He had a tiff with his mother and decided to punish her in his own fun way. He called up every relative and every family friend and told them mom cannot get through your phone, please ring her up. His mother was bombarded with calls the entire day. She called me at 7 pm and told me that she had done nothing except for speaking to all her relatives. I was already working with a radio station that time, and thought why not put it on radio, may be it will be fun. Thats how he started doing pranks.

So, is radio jockeying all about having a perfect voice? The answer is no. To be able to engage people on your show, you need to make efforts to catch whats going on in the city, what the common people are talking about, especially youngsters.

So, even though he is a senior RJ, Nitin manages to make time for a walk down the crowded lanes of old Delhi, hop on to the Metro for a ride or jump on a public bus as he thinks that is the only way to get a buzz of what is happening in the city, what people are talking about.

However, having said so, a good voice is important too. It is the voice of an RJ that conveys emotions. So, how can you make your voice sound perfect?

A theatre enthusiast himself, Nitin feels doing theatre is the best way to tone your voice. It can help you work on your accent, diction, pronunciation and add emotion to whatever you say. The ability to convey emotions on air is important. For instance, if there is tragic news an RJ needs to break on air does not know how to do it properly, he or she might mess up things.

In fact, Nitin thinks doing theatre, too, is the best way to discipline an RJ. Theatres teach you that everyone on a stage is important. It teaches you that no one is bigger than anyone. It stabilises your ego. It is like being in a theatre  even if someone is standing silently on the stage while the protagonist is delivering a soliloquy, he or she cannot be removed because he or she is adding value to the show in his or her own way.

The biggest challenge for RJs is to keep their own emotions and challenges aside and have a good time when they are on air. If your listeners have made that effort to tune in to your channel and listen to you, you should be able to live up to their expectations and make sure they have a good time listening to you, says RJ Nitin.

Busting the myths of RJying!

Radio jockeys have their hands on the pulse of a city. From entertaining people commuting to work to touching the hearts of househelps and autowallahs, they have to do a lot of talking. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT Photo)

RJs talk a lot: Lot of people think that radio jockeying is all about talking more; listening less. It is not so. Thats a fact. It might sound like an oxymoron. If you dont listen to people, listeners are going to leave you.

Lot of people think that radio jockeying is all about talking more; listening less. It is not so. Thats a fact. It might sound like an oxymoron. If you dont listen to people, listeners are going to leave you. RJs are always happy: As an RJ, your biggest job is to make people happy. So, no matter how stressed you might be, while on-air, you need to keep all your personal emotions aside and make sure your listeners have a good time

As an RJ, your biggest job is to make people happy. So, no matter how stressed you might be, while on-air, you need to keep all your personal emotions aside and make sure your listeners have a good time RJs have a highly lucrative job : The pay depends on the city you are RJying in. However, there are limited jobs in the industry for RJs. But, if radio as a medium excites you, you will be surprised to know that jockeying is a very small section of the industry. In fact, for a team of just five or six RJs, there is a team of about 40 programmers apart from other programme directors, assistants, directors, content producers and others.

: The pay depends on the city you are RJying in. However, there are limited jobs in the industry for RJs. But, if radio as a medium excites you, you will be surprised to know that jockeying is a very small section of the industry. In fact, for a team of just five or six RJs, there is a team of about 40 programmers apart from other programme directors, assistants, directors, content producers and others. RJs work for three to four hours a day: RJs are on-air for three to four hours; they spend a hectic day preparing for the show, starting with tapping the morning news as early as 5 am. They need to spend lot of time tracking social media trends, conversations of people on the road, to be able to plan a show for listeners.

All you need to know about a career as a radio jockey

It is only through interactions with people that you can find out whats going on in your city and what everyones talking about. It then becomes easy to converse with people in your show, about what matters to them. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT Photo)

Expert gyaan: The best way to become an RJ is to go to a regional station, get experience and then apply with an established channel as most FM channels in the metro cities prefer to hire RJs with work experience.

Lowdown: Radio Jockeys (RJs) need to spend considerable amount of time scanning news channels, reading newspapers, discussing topics they are going to talk about on air. Though FM is still not a medium for spreading political news, RJs need to be aware of current affairs, to be able to respond promptly, if someone calls up on the live show and asks something related to some ongoing issue. They also host guests, usually celebrities, on the show.

Eligibility: Students from any discipline can become RJs. Academic excellence is a secondary requirement in the profession. Basic voice modulation training and knowledge of computers is important for entering the profession. Having hands-on work experience through internships can also help one enter the profession. There is a good scope for theatre artists in the radio industry.

Skills and traits:

Ability to speak clearly, fluently

Good command of languages

Ability to adhere to timelines

Good knowledge of current affairs and ability to speak impromptu on topics

Tech savvy

Ability to keep your personal emotions at bay while hosting a show



Institutes:

Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi

Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai

The Radio School, Mumbai

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi



Starting salary: Rs 30,000 onwards

Growth all the way

Basic voice modulation training and knowledge of computers is important if you want to work as an RJ (Saumya Khandelwal/HT Photo)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
According to a new study, taking care of our infants could have a role to play in making the human race smarter than the rest. Human intelligence might have evolved in response to the demands of caring for infants who are born far more immature than the offspring of other species. This theory is based on a novel evolutionary model in which the development of high levels of intelligence may be driven by the demands of raising offspring.

Human infants are born far more immature than the infants of other species. For example, giraffe calves are able to stand up, walk around, and even flee from predators within hours of their births. By comparison, human infants cannot even support their own heads, said one of the researchers Celeste Kidd, assistant professor at University of Rochester in New York.

Read: Intelligence is... what you do with it

Our theory is that there is a kind of self-reinforcing cycle where big brains lead to very premature offspring and premature offspring lead to parents having to have big brains, noted Steven Piantadosi, who is also from University of Rochester.

What our formal modeling work shows is that those dynamics can result in runaway pressure for extremely intelligent parents and extremely premature offspring, Piantadosi said.

In other words, because humans have relatively big brains, their infants must be born early in development while their heads are still small enough to ensure a safe delivery.

Read: Eyes wide shut | Getting more sleep may help you look more intelligent

Early birth, though, means that human infants are helpless for much longer than other primates, and such vulnerable infants require intelligent parents.

As a result, selective pressures for large brains and early birth can become self-reinforcing -- potentially creating species like humans with qualitatively different cognitive abilities than other animals.

Read: Be careful if your BP fluctuates frequently as it can damage your brain

Caring for our young who are born far more immature compared to other species make humans more intelligent, says the study. (Shutterstock)

Their study appeared online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

The researchers tested a novel prediction of the model that the immaturity of newborns should be strongly related to general intelligence.

Read: Smoking during pregnancy can harm babys brain

What we found is that weaning time -- which acts as a measure of the prematurity of the infants -- was a much better predictor of primates intelligence than any of other measures we looked at, including brain size, which is commonly correlated with intelligence, Piantadosi said.
Australias deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce boasted on Wednesday that he had got into Johnny Depps head like fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter after the Hollywood actor quipped that the ruddy-faced lawmaker appeared to be inbred with a tomato.

Read: Johnny Depp continues to troll Australia over Pistol and Boo fiasco

The exchange spanning half the globe is the latest in a war of words that started a year ago when Joyce threatened to have Depps pet dogs, Boo and Pistol, put down. Joyce bluntly said it was time the Yorkshire terriers that had been illegally smuggled into Australia buggered off back to the United States.

A war of words between Johnny Depp and an Australian minister Barnaby Joyce (above) reignited with Joyce claiming he was the Hollywood star's Hannibal Lecter. (AFP)

The 52-year-old actors wife Amber Heard pleaded guilty in a court last month to falsifying documents to conceal the pets when she arrived by private jet to join her husband on the set of the fifth movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

The couple videoed an apology as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed Heard to avoid a conviction.

In this file image made from video released by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources on April 18, 2016, actor Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber Heard speak in a videotaped apology played during a hearing at the Southport Magistrates Court on Queensland state's Gold Coast. (AP)

Depp referred to Joyce as Barnaby Jones, the television detective played by Buddy Ebsen, while discussing the case this week on the US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

He looks somehow inbred with a tomato, Depp told Kimmel. Its not a criticism. No, I was a little worried. He might explode.

Joyce replied by thanking Depp for the publicity he gave Australias tough biosecurity laws through the case that was widely lampooned as a war on terrier. Joyce, who is campaigning ahead of July 2 elections, said he had moved on from his dispute with Depp.

Im inside his head, Im pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after Ive forgotten about Mr. Depp, hes remembering me, Joyce told reporters in his home town of Tamworth.

Im turning into his Hannibal Lecter, Joyce added, referring to the brilliant but dangerously manipulative character best known from the Academy Award-winning movie, Silence of the Lambs.

Depp said he didnt watch the widely-derided apology video - that has been likened to a hostage video with wooden deliveries from the couple - before it was released. No, because I didnt want to kill myself, Depp explained to Kimmel.

Watch the video here
Each night, 18-year-old Ryan Wilcox sleeps under a portrait of himself dressed as Captain America - the pinnacle of human strength and endurance.

The Marvel Comics fan knows a thing or two about those heroic attributes. He is battling cancer for a second time in his life, and so when he recently received some disappointing news about his prognosis, his schoolmates rallied and called in the Avengers.

On Monday, the 70-pound teen answered his front door and was shocked at what he saw: Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. and Captain America Chris Evans had not only put aside their differences on how to save the world, they had teamed up with Iron Man star Gwyneth Paltrow to carry out a mission to lift Wilcoxs spirits.

Read: Read Ryan Reynolds heartfelt tribute to 13-year-old friend Connor

Hey whats up buddy? Evans is heard as Wilcox shakes his head, doing a double take in a video taken by Paltrow outside his home in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon. We were in the neighbourhood and thought wed cruise by.

Hey guys, says Wilcox, wearing a T-shirt featuring Captain Americas shield.

Paltrow, who plays Pepper Potts in the Iron Man films, hugged Wilcoxs mom, as the other two stars plopped down on the carpeted living room floor. The celebrities spent an hour at the home, conversing with the teenager, like they were old friends, his mom, Amy Wilcox, said.

Read: Amitabh Bachchan makes a cancer patients dream come true

She told me this is a gift from one mom to another mom, Amy Wilcox said. She knew how happy it would be for me to see Ryan so happy.

Wearing a blue Stark hat with Downeys autograph on the bill, Wilcox was still reveling Tuesday in what he described as the best day of his life. He joked how his home was worth a billion dollars now and promised to preserve his game chair, where Downey sat at one point.

Robert Downey Jr signs Ryan Wilcoxs wall. The Avengers teamed up to lift the spirits of the teenage fan Wilcox, who has been at home for months battling leukemia. (AP)

It was really cool hanging out with them. That really picked me up, said Wilcox, his voice barely above a whisper. Im going to get through this.

Captain America has been a symbol of strength for Wilcox. The film series has kept him going, keeping him distracted as he has undergone chemotherapy and bone marrow treatments during numerous hospital visits.

Wilcox was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer at the age of 16. His mother said the cancer may be the result of chemotherapy treatments he underwent to fight a brain tumour at the age of three.

In February 2015, he had to leave school because his immune system was too weak. He had a bone marrow transplant from his 14-year-old sister in April of that year, but he later had a relapse. Last month, the family was told the treatments are not working so far and his disease is progressing, his mother said.

Ryan is fighting every single day, she said.

Thousands of students at Grossmont High School held a rally two weeks ago, chanting Ryan Strong. Scores were dressed in red, white and blue in honour of his favourite superhero. Then a group of students made a plea on Facebook for the cast of Captain America: Civil War to visit Wilcox.

Evans responded within days of the posting with a video message telling Wilcox to stay strong.

Evans on Monday signed the shield in the portrait of Wilcox dressed as Captain America above his bed. It reads: Stay strong Brother!! Chris Evans. CAP.

In this photo provided by Amy Wilcox, Captain America Chris Evans signs a photo for Ryan Wilcox, as Iron Man Robert Downey Jr, and Gwyneth Paltrow look on during a visit with Wilcox at his home in El Cajon, Calif. (AP)

Wilcox said Captain America inspires him because he never gives up.

Strength doesnt really come from muscle, Wilcox said, repeating the quote he coined that now is on T-shirts sold to raise funds for his cancer treatment. It comes from your spirit, and your heart and love.

Today I got to shake the hand of a true warrior named Ryan Wilcox. He's cooler than I could ever hope to be. Thanks for the hospitality Wilc  Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 23, 2016

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Eddie Redmayne may be an Oscar winner now, but Ian McKellen has revealed that the actor had auditioned for a part in his 1995 movie Richard III, and he did not get through.

McKellen co-wrote, co-produced and starred in titular role in the British drama film directed by Richard Loncraine. Richard III was adapted from William Shakespeares play of the same name.

Watch the trailer here

The 76-year-old actor, who was speaking at a special screening of the film here last evening, said choosing the perfect cast was a challenge and quipped that in the process he had missed casting The Theory of Everything star.

We missed the chance, when we were auditioning little kids for the film... A little boy came along and I met him not long ago. He said we have met before. I said oh really we did? He said yes sir I came and auditioned and you didnt give me the part. So I happen to turn down Eddie Redmaynes first job, McKellen said.

The actor, best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings, is in Mumbai to promote the British Film Institutes Shakespeare Lives on Film  a global programme in honour to mark the playwrights 400th death anniversary.

Read: When I came out as a gay, my life became easier: Ian McKellen

McKellen has performed Shakespeares plays like Macbeth and Othello at the Royal Shakespearean Company and the Royal National Theatre. The actor says he is more proud of Richard III and feels the work of the legendary writer can transform well on screen.

I think I am more proud of this piece of work than anything else Ive done. May be because it still exists, there are others too like Macbeth which still exist. But Shakespeare works well on screen. You can do it in many ways. Without words, in Hindi or Japanese, he said.

Read: Ian McKellan slams Indian homosexuality laws as appaling and ironical

McKellen, who plays Magneto in the X-Men movies, also spoke about how he had famously returned his 50,000 pounds fee to complete the filming of the final battle sequence in Richard III.

My fee was fifty thousand pounds to play Richard III, to produce it and to write the screenplay. And in the last week of the shoot, Richard (Loncraine) said I am sorry but we cant film the battle scene, we dont have enough money. We need another day, we cant finish the film. He said we need fifty thousand pounds. So I did it for nothing, he said.

Read: Aamir Khan dines with Lord Of The Rings star Ian McKellen

MAMI Film Club has partnered with the British Council and British Film Institute to bring the programme to India. Mumbai is the first stop on McKellens global tour as the BFIs ambassador for Shakespeare Lives on Film.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Three youngsters not only put themselves at risk but also posed a hazard for passengers travelling in the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express  just to have a selfie with the moving train.

To capture a better frame, they placed gravel and stones on the track so that the train slows down on the spot near them. But the train stopped, finding the trio too close to the track. The teenagers were arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and presented before the juvenile court in Firozabad on Wednesday.

The incident took place after the Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express crossed Tundla junction in Firozabad around 5 am on Wednesday, said Anand Kumar, inspector, RPF at Tundla junction (Firozabad).

The three were minors aged 13, 14 and 16. The eldest one was a local from Tundla while the two others  from Agra and Gwalior  had come to their aunt in Tundla for the summer vacation, stated Kumar.

The trio placed gravel and stones on the track so that the Rajdhani Express crossing the spot slows down. They stood near the track with a hand-held camera and were clicking selfies with the train approaching. There are snaps in their camera with the train approaching, added Kumar.

The loco pilot of Rajdhani Express applied brakes as he found these three youngsters too close to the train. The RPF was informed and train had to be stopped for about 15 minutes when in fact it didnt have any halt between Kanpur and New Delhi.

The three youngsters were nabbed and presented before the juvenile court and were later handed over to their parents. They have been booked under Section 154 of the Railway Protection Act and would face case before the juvenile board, said Kumar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bihar police arrested five people in connection with the murder of senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, claiming a major breakthrough in the case on Wednesday.

Among the five, police identified one Rohit Kumar as the main culprit who the additional director general of police (ADG), headquarters, said confessed to the crime.

Ranjan was shot dead on May 13 near the Siwan railway station. The 42-year-old was the bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, a sister concern of Hindustan Times.

Read | Rajdeo Ranjan, bureau chief of Hindustan, shot dead in Bihars Siwan

Chief minister Nitish Kumar is facing criticism over the slide in law and order in the state, with political rivals claiming this was a return of the 90s jungle raj lawlessness. The issue has also caused public fissures in the grand alliance, with some Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders taking on Kumar.

Former RJD MP, Mohammad Shahabuddin, has also caused issues for the Kumar administration with connections emerging between the former legislator and Ranjans murder. Shahabuddin, who has been in jail for the past 12 years, is believed to still hold much political clout in Siwan.

Read | Shahabuddin aide quizzed over Bihar journalist Ranjans murder

Police also arrested Vijay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Vishnu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta. All five, incidentally, are in the 20-25 age group. None of them have any history of crime, police said.

The arrests were made from different parts of Siwan on Wednesday morning and a country-made pistol of 7.65 mm bore and two live cartridges were recovered from the arrested youths, ADG Sunil Kumar said.

The recovered pistol matched the bullets recovered from the crime scene, he added. Three motorcycles were also recovered from their possession and will be sent for forensic tests.

Rohit was allegedly hired by Ladan Mian, who police initially suspected as one of the shooters. Ladan Mian was released from Siwan jail just 15 days before Rajdeos murder. Two hours after the crime, he fled from Siwan with his family.

Read | Professional hit? 4 detained for Hindustan scribe Rajdeo Ranjans murder

ADG Kumar said the police was still trying to ascertain if anybody else was involved in the murder. We are also trying to find out who were involved in conspiracy and the motive behind the killing.

Earlier on May 14, four suspects were detained in connection with the case.

As the issue gained media attention, CM Kumar consented to a CBI investigation in the case.

PK Thakur, director general of police, however, confirmed that the state police would continue its investigation till the top agency took up the case. The CBI took a copy of FIR on Tuesday, but is still to take up the case, he said on May 16.

Read | Journalist murder: Bihars Siwan slipping back into lawlessness of 90s
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Wednesday claimed the main contest for next years assembly election in Uttar Pradesh will be between his party and the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP). Their base is strong. Even their cadre is strong, Shah explained to a select group of journalists here.

Uttar Pradesh goes to poll next year and the high stake battle in countrys most populous state that he won for Narendra Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha election will be litmus test of Shahs organisational capabilities. The BJP is banking on consolidation of backwards and Dalit votes in its favour to spring a surprise on the two principal forces of UP  the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

As in-charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh during 2014 national poll, Shah had identified the BSP as his main rival, but Mayawatis party drew a blank in the polls. It was the SP that could survive the Modi wave to an extent, winning five Lok Sabha seats. Shah remained non-committal on projecting a chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh, saying, No decision has been taken on this.

Asked if BJP would benefit from projecting a face, like it did in Assam, Shah replied that a strategy for one state did not always work in another. Unlike Assam, he argued, BJP has been traditionally strong in Uttar Pradesh and it has a strong network of worker up to booth level.

Shah claimed Nitish Kumars entry in Uttar Pradesh, if it happens, will end up benefitting the BJP because it will eat into its rivals vote base.
The national capital has the most number of bogus school education boards and universities in India, dishing out fake degrees and certificates to hundreds of unsuspecting students each year.

This is worrying considering the admission season is around the corner and thousands of students, especially those who fail to make the cut in popular Delhi colleges, will be looking for options.

The National Institute of Open Schooling, an approved education board under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry, lists 47 fake boards on its website, of which 21 are in Delhi.

Of the 74 fake boards listed in the 2016 prospectus of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, 44 are in Delhi. Also, the Capital has the second-highest number of fake universities in the country, five out of 22, according to the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Whats even more disturbing is that the HRD ministry doesnt maintain any data on fake boards. It said as much in reply to an RTI application by Hindustan Times.

There is no central law or authority to define fake or unrecognised boards, but those boards that havent been recognised by state governments or the ministry of human resource development come under the category of fake board, said advocate Ashok Aggarwal, who takes up education-related cases in the Delhi high court.

So students passing from these boards dont get admission in colleges and face an uncertain future.

The Council of Boards of School Education in India is a registered society of education boards in the country but it lacks legal muscle to declare any board as fake.

Another threat to the future of Delhi students is the legal grey area exploited by institutes to collaborate with recognised institutions and foreign universities.

A case in point is students who completed various courses in 2015 from a Delhi institute affiliated to the Karnataka State Open University (KSUO) in Mysore. They were not aware the UGC had barred all state and private universities, including KSOU, from offering courses outside their respective states from June 2012. This means the degree from the Mysore-based open university was void.

Hundreds of institutes in Delhi still collaborate with universities of other states to offer degrees but neither the state government nor the UGC has penalised them.

Fake degree is a criminal offence, academician and legal educator NR Madhava Menon said. If any educational institution violates any provision, the state can launch criminal prosecution. Quality of university education is as much a function of the state government as the Centre and UGC.

Dozens of foreign universities too have signed memorandums of understanding with Delhi institutes to offer foreign degrees, in violation of UGC Regulations 2012, charging anything between R10 lakh and R30 lakh for a course.

The Association of Indian Universities, the nodal agency for granting recognition to degrees awarded by accredited foreign universities, doesnt recognise these degrees issued in India.

Often students come to us with foreign degrees issued in Delhi or other parts of the country and we refuse to grant equivalence because they are just pieces of paper with no validity, said the associations secretary general, Furqan Qamar.

In its reply to an RTI query, the UGC said it didnt have information on such collaborations as none of the institutes have its consent.

But academicians argued the UGCs failure to check irregularities doesnt absolve the government of its responsibility to protect students.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The BJP and the opposition Congress sparred over an invitation to Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to share the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event on May 28 to mark the NDA governments second year in office.

The Congress targeted Bachchan on Wednesday, saying a wrong signal would go to agencies investigating the Panama Papers if the actor hosted the Modi-led governments anniversary celebrations.

Everyone loves him. We also respect him. I hope his name will be exonerated in the Panama Papers expose. He has himself also denied it. But as of now he is an accused and investigating agencies are probing the matter, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

The actor clarified that he was only scheduled to anchor a segment on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, a government scheme for the girl child.

The Panama Papers, based on an investigation by more than 100 other news organisations around the world, is a global list revealing offshore links of over 500 Indians, including Bachchan and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The megastar has denied any wrongdoing.

But Surjewala feared that Bachchans presence at the event could dilute the fight against black money. What happens to the PMs pre-poll solemn promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and punish the guilty?

Read | BJP defends Amitabh Bachchans association with 2nd anniversary event

The BJP jumped to Bachchans defence, saying the Panama Papers have nothing to do with an event linked with the social issue of protecting the girl child.

Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for the Congress to be jealous about.

Modi and his colleagues are expected to attend the event, Zara Muskura Do (Smile Please), at India Gate that will be hosted by Bachchan  who is also a United Nations ambassador for the girl child. The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan.

Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma said actor is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

Law minister DV Sadananda Gowda agreed. We have seen so many cases against politicians. (Investigating) Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm, he said.

Read | Amitabh Bachchan to host Modi govts 2nd year bash in Delhi
The BJP on Wednesday came out in strong defence of megastar Amitabh Bachchan for his association with an event to mark the second anniversary of the Modi government, despite a probe against him after his name appeared in the Panama Papers expose.

BJP leaders, including Union Ministers, said the probe against Bachchan had nothing to do with the event linked with the social issue of protecting the girl child, which the megastar will attend on May 28. They attacked the Congress for its mental disability in raising a row over it.

Read:Cong targets Amitabh over Modi govt event, actor says party mistaken

BJP leader and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the probe into Bachchans name cropping up in the Panama Papers will have no affect when he attends the event to mark two years of Narendra Modi government on Saturday.

See, practically, the participation of Amitabh Bachchan and the investigation with regards to Panama Papers, certainly, it will not have any connectivity. Investigation will be done by an independent agency, they will take care of things. Even today, we have seen so many cases against politicians. Agencies do their duty independently. There is no harm, he said when asked about Congress charge that the actors presence will not go down well with probe agencies.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the megastar is only hosting a programme and he is not yet proven guilty by any court.

You may have questions, but has he been labelled guilty for that. His name has come. Let the court of law take action.

If somebody is hosting a programme for celebrating our two years and he is not a criminal, he is a respected person of society. If his name has come, let the court of law take action, he said.

BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the superstar has done a lot of good in films and people love him more than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, but this should not be a reason for the Congress to be jealous about.

BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said the row created by Congress only reflects its mental disability as its own leaders are embroiled in corruption and are out on bail.

Party MP Paresh Rawal said the Congress is issue-less and is thus creating an issue and dubbed it a bogus issue, like the row created over the return of awards by writers and litterateurs in the wake of Dadri lynching incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues are expected to attend the event Zara Muskura Do (Smile Please) at India Gate to be hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the NDA government.
An Uttarakhand news channel that stung chief minister Harish Rawat in a secret video went off air on Tuesday night, hours after Rawat appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi. The sudden disappearance of the channel on the local cable network created ripples on social media.

Umesh Kumar, editor of the channel, on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Uttarakhand on Facebook. Soon, Facebook users were debating whether the blackout was an act of vendetta for conducting a sting on Rawat.

Read:Uttarakhand rebels release sting of CM Rawat bribing MLAs for support

But the ruling Congress denied the governments involvement in the blackout.

Meanwhile, Harak Singh Rawat, the rebel Congress leader who has now joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), burnt an effigy of the chief minister and accused him of muzzling the independent voice.

Surendra Kumar, spokesperson for CM, said frustrated BJP leaders were targeting the government for no reason. The government has not banned any channel. We honour the independence of media but it has to be ensured that media forum is not misused, he said. However, the channel came back in some cable networks by noon.

Umesh claimed the channel is still off air in Congress strongholds. He said, I will not bow to the pressure tactics of the government.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to probe the allegation that revenue minister Eknath Khadse received phone calls from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahims house in Karachi.

Both I and the CM wanted the matter to be investigated...So the CM has asked ATS to probe it, Khadse told reporters on Wednesday.

Khadse, the senior-most BJP leader in the state cabinet, claimed he had documents to prove that his mobile phone was hacked to show as if calls were made, and added that he would hand over all the evidence in this regard to the investigating agencies.

Read: Why Maharashtra CM is compelled to keep controversial minister Khadse

The beleaguered minister said the matter was already being investigated by the cyber crime cell and local police, and the director general of police was supervising the probe.

Spokesperson of AAP, Preeti Sharma Menon, had levelled the allegation against Khadse last week.

The minister today also sought to know why no questions were being asked about former AAP leader Anjali Damanias alleged dubious land deals in Raigad district.

Menon had alleged, citing the call records obtained from a Pakistani telecom company by an Ahmedabad-based hacker, that calls were made from Dawoods house in Karachi to a mobile number registered in Khadses name.

Khadse had later rubbished the allegation saying the number was not in use for the last one year.

The minister on Wednesday also said he took the help of BJP MLC Gurmukh Jagwani, who has relatives in Pakistan, to verify Dawoods address cited in documents produced by AAP, but it proved to be fictitious.

Read: No police clean chit to Maha minister Khadse on calls from Dawood
The Central Information Commission (CIC) on Wednesday directed the Lt Governor of Delhi and Union home ministry to disclose the report on the basis of which Delhi assembly was dissolved in November 2014, saying the Lt Governor does not enjoy immunity from disclosing such reports.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said the office of Lt Governor cannot claim immunity given under Article 163(3) which says that the question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the Governor shall not be inquired into in any court.

The Commission agrees with the contention of appellant that Article 163(3) of the Constitution does not apply to Union Territory of Delhi, which could be invoked only in case of a fullfledged and not to the UT with assembly like Delhi, the information commissioner said.

Acharyulu said there is no mention of any provision like protecting the advice given to L-G as available under Article 74(2) (regarding President) and Article 163(3) (regarding Governors). Moreover, Article 163(3) applies specifically to the advice of a Council of Ministers to the Governor. The information sought here is a report sent by the UT Administrator to Union Government or President.

Article 163 has nothing to with this communication. Even in those cases where Article 163(3) applies, there is no immunity from disclosure. There is no bar against citizen from having a copy of the advice/report of LG to Union government, the information commissioner said.

He directed the office of L-G and the home ministry to provide certified copies of report along with all other papers sent by L-G to the Union government, within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order.

In November 2014, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung had recommended to the President dissolution of the Delhi Assembly as major players BJP, AAP and Congress had expressed inability to form government and preferred holding of polls.

Jungs report paved the way for holding of fresh polls in the capital which was under Presidents Rule from February, 2014 when the AAP government quit after 49 days of rule.

Jung in his report to President Pranab Mukherjee had reportedly mentioned that all three main political parties BJP, AAP and Congress expressed inability to form government and conveyed that they were ready to face fresh election.

Rajnandgaon-based Aditya Jain had filed an RTI act seeking certified copies of the request/recommendation to dissolve the Delhi Legislative Assembly sent by Lt Governor to the Union Government or the President and certified copy of all the documents/records, based on which decision to dissolve the Delhi Legislative Assembly was taken.

The Central Public Information Officer rejected the application citing section 8(1)(c) of the RTI Act which exempts from the disclosure the information which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature.

The privilege mentioned in Section 8(1)(c) is Parliamentary privilege, and if the information sought might cause breach of Privilege of parliament or assembly, that alone could not be given.

However, the information commissioner overruled the central public information officers contention, saying there is no way that public authority can say that report given by the Lt Governor to Union Government would cause any breach of Parliament or State Assembly. There is not even iota of justification given by public authority about possibility of such breach of privilege, Acharyulu added.

He said Section 8(1)(i) or RTI Act says the Executive has to disclose the decision, the reasons thereof and the material on the basis of which the decision was taken, after the decision has been taken, the matter is complete, or over.

The advice of the LG to the Union Government was already acted upon when the Delhi Legislative Assembly was dissolved, fresh elections were held and a new Cabinet was installed. Thus, the matter is complete and over. The Executive should publish this information voluntarily as per S 8(1)(i) proviso. At this stage, there should not be any problem in disclosing the report sought, he said.

After citing number of Supreme Court and High Court judgements including Uttarakhand High Court decision in Harish Rawat matter, Acharyulu said Information sought has to be shared, because the immunity under Article 163(3) will not apply to Lt Governor besides such immunity is from probing but not from disclosure.

He also said it should be disclosed because request for information is not probe into advice, it not exempted by any provision of RTI Act, there is no stay operating on disclosure, the information sought is already known, there is need for transparency in decision making process regarding dissolving and elected house in public interest, there is neither executive privilege nor legislative privilege and there is nothing to show that disclosure would case breach of parliamentary privilege.
The government on Wednesday said the report cited by the Chief Justice of India to claim that the country needed 40,000 judges was not based on any scientific research, and added that it had hastened efforts to fill up vacancies in Supreme Court and the high courts.

Addressing a press conference to mark two years of the Narendra Modi government, Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Law and Justice, said the adequacy of bench strength in a country is determined on the basis of workload on the courts and not judge-population ratio.

Virtually breaking down in the presence of the Prime Minister here on April 24, CJI T S Thakur had lamented the governments inaction in increasing the number of judges from the present 21,000 to 40,000 to handle the avalanche of litigations, saying, you cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary.

Read:Chief Justice breaks down before PM over burden on judiciary

Nothing has moved since 1987 when the Law Commission had recommended an increase in the number of judges from 10 judges per 10 lakh people at the time, to 50, an unusually emotional Thakur said.

Responding to a question on whether the government will ever be able to reach the target of 40,000 judges (judges in the lower courts as well as judges of the Supreme Court and the 24 High Courts), Gowda said the Law Commission report given in 1987 was based on the opinion of some experts and the public.

In the report itself they said that this has to be calculated on the basis of scientific data. But no scientific data was available. Even recently, in the Imtiaz Ahmed case, the Supreme Court itself asked the Law Commission to once again look into the matter. They once again said that this may not be possible unless we get the scientific data, Gowda said.

Read:Need more than 70,000 judges to clear pending cases: CJI
The Congress targeted actor Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday, saying a wrong signal would go to agencies investigating the Panama Papers case if the actor hosted the Narendra Modi-led governments two-year anniversary celebrations. The actor, however, said he was not hosting any event and was only scheduled to anchor a segment on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.

The Panama Papers -- based on an investigation by over 100 other news organisations around the world -- is a global list revealing offshore links of over 500 Indians, including Amitabh and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Amitabh has denied links with any of the offshore companies.

Read: 2 years of NDA govt: 200 nerve centres to highlight highs

When there is an investigation against an individual over black money, and the PM takes part in a programme hosted by that individual, what sort of a message does it send to the investigation agencies? There is a need to keep this in mind, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference.

The Congress leader said that although Bachchan had denied his involvement in the Panama Papers controversy and I believe he will be exonerated, but it (invite) sends a wrong signal to the investigating agencies as well as the nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most of his ministerial colleague are expected to attend an event at India Gate on May 28 to mark the second anniversary of the government. Reports had said Amitabh was to host the event, but the actor and his son, Abhishek Bachchan, said they were wrong.

He (Amitabh Bachchan) is not hosting any political event: He is part of a function where he is talking about educating the girl child; thats not a political event, Abhishek said after Surjewalas remark.

The government is organising the event-- Zara Muskura Do -- which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its achievements. The show will be beamed across the country by Doordarshan.

I dont think they (Congress) are aware that I am not hosting the event. I have been invited as the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It is up to the government to decide whether to have me there or not, Amitabh told Times Now, adding he was also a United Nations ambassador for the girl children.
The Indian government is facing tough questions from the African diplomatic community that has decided to stay away from this years Africa Day celebrations to protest against the murder of a Congolese national in Delhi and harassment of African students in various parts of the country.

Even as the Narendra Modi government seeks to woo the 54-nation African continent and wants more African students to study in India, heads of missions said they might ask their governments not to send new students.

Congos Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three men around 11.30pm on Friday after an altercation over hiring an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

Caught on camera: Suspects escape after attack

<span itemprop="name" content="Watch | CCTV footage shows suspects in Delhi attack on Congo man"></span><span itemprop="description" content="A 23-year-old Congolese national was beaten to death in South Delhis Vasant Kunj area. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the incident occurred in Kishangarh area where he came to meet his friend. The Delhi police has detained one suspect Saturday morning and also trying to get some crucial evidence after scanning the CCTV footage installed in a nearby localities. Take a look at the footage that reveals three of the suspects in the attack."></span><span itemprop="duration" content="22"></span><span itemprop="thumbnail" content="http://cfvod.kaltura.com/p/1679921/sp/167992100/thumbnail/entry_id/0_062bt2xx/version/100012/acv/192"></span><span itemprop="width" content="640"></span><span itemprop="height" content="362"></span>

The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years, a statement by Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday night.

They strongly condemn the brutal killing of this African and call on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said she had asked junior foreign minister VK Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries and assure them of Indias commitment to the safety and security of African nationals.

Swaraj also said the government ordered stringent action against the culprits after Olivers death and assured of launching a sensitisation programme to stop such incidents.

I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 25 May 2016

In his statement, Woldemariam said: Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India.

He also called upon the media, civil society, think-tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans.

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 in Delhi, Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the event be postponed.

They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom of Lesotho, the statement said.

From HT archives

Vasant Kunj attack

Woldemariams statement said Oliver and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend and on the way back Oliver flagged an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away.

However, as he tried to board the vehicle, three Indian men standing nearby jumped on to it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed.

They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly, the statement said. One of the Indians picked up a large stone from the roadside and hit Oliver on the head.

According to the statement, a passer-by who stopped to help the Congolese was also beaten up and the attackers fled the scene when they saw that Oliver was unconscious.

Oliver was rushed to a private hospital from where he was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre but he died on the way.

Woldemariam said the African heads of missions have noted with deep concern that several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators.

In January, a mob in Bangalore allegedly attacked and stripped a Tanzanian girl after dragging her out of the car in which she was travelling along with her three friends. Her friends were also beaten up.

(With IANS inputs)
A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved for June 6 its judgement in a case in which a 52-year-old Danish woman was gangraped allegedly by nine persons, including three juveniles, two-years back in the Capital.

Additional sessions judge Ramesh Kumar heard the final arguments of Delhi Police and defence counsel and fixed the case for pronouncement of verdict.

During the proceedings, special public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava argued that testimonies of the woman and an eye witness, medical and forensic evidence, including DNA test reports, clearly nails the five accused in the case.

He said the woman had clearly identified three of the six adult accused in the court while she was not completely sure about others.

Advocate Dinesh Sharma, legal aid counsel for the accused, claimed that his clients were falsely implicated in the case and eye witness Shivji Singh was a planted witness.

He also argued that as it was a sensational case so under the pressure of top police officials and media, the cops implicated his clients who were innocent.

According to the prosecution, the nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers Club near New Delhi Railway Station.

All nine accused were arrested. The five adult accused - Mahendra alias Ganja (27), Mohd Raja (23), Raju (24), Arjun (22), Raju Chakka (23) - are in judicial custody and facing trial. 56-year-old accused Shyam Lal, who was in judicial custody, died in February.

Three other accused were juveniles against whom inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board is in progress.

The prosecution has examined 27 witnesses in support of its case while the accused had opted not to lead any evidence in their support.

During the trial, the accused claimed innocence and denied the charges of raping the woman.

They claimed that a day prior to the alleged incident on January 14, 2014, they had hired a prostitute and had physical relations with her and had not done anything with the Danish woman.
Indian Mujahiddeen activist Mirza Himayat Baig, sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents, on Wednesday allegedly attacked murder convict Rajesh Daware, who is sentenced to death, in the Nagpur Central Jail, jail officials said.

The attack occurred in the kitchen premises of the high security Nagpur Central Jail where Baig hit Daware on his head with a ladle. Security officials immediately rushed to stop the brawl from escalating.

Daware was rushed to the prison hospital while Dhantoli police station lodged a first information report against Baig, the officials said.

The reason for the brawl was not yet clear and police and prison authorities were investigating the incidence.

Baig was arrested for the February 13, 2010, blast in the German Bakery restaurant in Pune and later the Pune sessions court sentenced him to death.

Read: IM getting motivation, strength from Pak: Shinde

Read: LeT wanted Headley to infiltrate Indian defence establishment

However, on March 17, 2016, the Bombay high court absolved Baig of all serious charges pertaining to the terror act and commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents.

Daware and his associate Arvind Abhilash Singh, who were both college students, were sentenced to death by a Nagpur sessions court on February 4, 2016, for the sensational vendetta killing of eight-year-old Yug Chandak on September 1, 2014.

Yug was kidnapped and killed by Daware to take revenge on Dr. Chandak who sacked Daware as office assistant a fortnight earlier.

The rare double death sentence in a single case was upheld by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 5, 2016.
Unidentified militants killed a civilian who was abducted late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district.

The victim has been identified as Liyaqat Ali Chatwal. Chatwal was abducted from Watsar village where he had gone to meet his sister, a senior police official told said.

A probe has been launched to investigate the murder, the official added.
A policeman was killed on Wednesday as militants struck at the security guards of a former MLA in Pulwama district, about 35 kms from Srinagar, two days after three cops were gunned down in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.

The incident took place in Monghama village where the former National Conference MLA Ghulam Mohiuddin had gone to attend a marriage function, police said.

His Personal Security Officer (PSO) Shabir Ahmad and another guard were waiting in a private car outside the venue when three pistol-borne militants struck, a police officer said.

The militants tried to snatch the service rifle from the PSO which led to a scuffle, the officer said, adding in the process, Ahmad received minor injuries on the face.

Militants then fired a few shots, resulting in injuries to constable Riyaz Ahmad Ganie. He was hit in the throat and succumbed to his injuries later at a hospital, the officer said.

The militants fled from the site along with the weapon of the PSO taking advantage of the panic which followed the shooting, he said.

A hunt has been launched to nab the militants and recover the weapon, the officer said.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the incident which comes two days after three policemen were shot dead in twin attacks in capital Srinagar.

While two policemen were killed by militants in an attack at Zadibal locality of the summer capital on Monday, another policeman, who was guarding a protected person, was shot dead at Tengpora locality of the city the same day and his service rifle was also snatched.
The chief of the armys Northern Command raised concerns over the recent militant attacks in Srinagar and feared that Jammu and Kashmir may be set for a hot summer.

The infiltration this year is more than normal and more trained terrorists are being pushed in to join the ranks of local militants, Lt Gen DS Hooda, the Northern Command chief, told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.

The killing of three policemen in the heart of Srinagar on Monday punctured the peace that has been prevailing in the states summer capital.

It is a matter of concern that the attack took place in high tourist season, said Hooda, the senior-most army officer in the state. We will have to wait and watch to see if it is a trend but the attack took place during peak tourist season.

Infiltration figures for 2016 have touched 45 for the first four months, a sharp spike from the 35 terrorists who crossed the Line of Control in 2015, according to the army.

Read | Srinagar: At encounter site, blood stains and allegations of staged encounter

While South Kashmir has seen hundreds of educated Kashmiri youth take to the gun, few of them have set their eyes on Srinagar. Security establishment officials believe that since the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) took credit for the attacks, it was in all likelihood carried out by locals, which means they are expanding beyond their bastion of South Kashmir that is also the stronghold of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It is worrisome that the youth who are supposed to be a part of the nations development are joining the ranks of the militants. They know they will live for six to 12 months once they join militancy but that they still do is worrisome, Hooda said.

Read | Kashmiri separatists say wont allow colonies for Pandits, soldiers

The commander had earlier offered to help rehabilitate young militants if they gave up the path of violence but none came forward to surrender. To the contrary, support for these recruits is on the rise as is evident from the number of people turning up for their funerals.

In a disturbing new trend, the locals agitate and try and curtail the movements of security officials during counter-insurgency operations.

An intelligence official said: Attacks on local policemen will lead to demotivation within the force and that is something we cannot afford, for the local police is key for counter-insurgency ops.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Pinarayi Vijayan, who took oath as the Kerala chief minister on Wednesday, said a new team will investigate a 29-year-old Dalit womans rape and murder which brought back memories of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

Read: Kerala woman raped and killed, intestines ripped out in attack

The law student was found murdered on April 28 at her home near a canal in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district by her mother, a labourer. The woman was beaten up after the rape and her intestines were pulled out using a sharp-edged weapon, according to police officials.

Former state home minister Ramesh Chennithala had asked the Kochi range inspector general to constitute a special investigation team to probe the case.

The National Human Rights Commission recently issued a notice to the Kerala government over the incident.

The commission said it was a matter of utmost concern that womens security was facing a grave threat in spite of several measures taken in recent times, including amendments to the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act.
The Lucknow regional bench of the armed forces tribunal (AFT) has ruled that declaration of oral triple talaq by ex parte proceedings, action or otherwise, may not be given force by the government machinery or the courts while dealing with the subject matter, being contrary to Constitutional ethos, particularly part lll of the Constitution.

It further said, Women of every religion are protected by the Constitution of India and no person has the right to go against the constitutional spirit in the shadow of personal law.

Read:Former MLA moves SC against triple talaq

With this ruling, the tribunal declined to grant any relief to the applicant (an armyman), rejecting his original application against payment of maintenance to his wife allegedly divorced under the Muslim Personal Law. The AFT said the original application did not seem to have merit and did not call for any interference. His wife was entitled to payment of maintenance in terms of order passed by the Army along with arrears of maintenance, in case already not paid, within three months, the tribunal said.

She shall continue to be paid the same till the army order survived, it added. The tribunal directed the army to enforce the order in appropriate manner, deciding the original application accordingly.

Lance Naik/tailor of the army Mohammad Faroor of UP had filed the application in 2012 as he was aggrieved with the order for payment of maintenance to his wife, divorced under Muslim Personal Law.

Read:Husband says talaq via post, Jaipur woman knocks at SC door
Authorities in Kashmir launched a crackdown against separatist leaders, after their joint call for protests against the establishment of exclusive colonies for Pandits and ex-servicemen in the state.

Police detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik on Wednesday afternoon and confined moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in his home. Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani is already under house arrest.

The three separatist leaders forged an issue-based unity to oppose the governments move to set up colonies for displaced Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the valley after militancy erupted in 1989. Reports said at least three sites have been identified for this purpose.

Read:Kashmiri separatists say wont allow colonies for Pandits, soldiers

Though divided ideologically as well as politically, the separatist leaders held a joint meeting on Monday evening and announced a common protest programme. They said they were opposed to the governments plan to create walls of hatred by establishing exclusive townships on the pattern of Israeli colonies in Palestine.

They called for a complete shutdown on Thursday and peaceful protests after Friday congregational prayers.

The police is raiding every place to arrest our activists and supporters across the valley, said Ayaz Akbar, Geelanis spokesman.

Meanwhile, the government has denied that the colonies will be exclusive to the Pandits.

Read:Kashmiri separatists unite after 8 years to halt colony plan for Pandits
Despite a massive electoral mandate, new Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan may very well be faced with a bumpy ride ahead.

Vijayan seems to have fended off his first political challenge by sidelining party veteran  and rival -- VS Achuthanandan. Previously too, in 2006, when Achuthanandan was CM, Vijayan put him in a spot by filling his cabinet with his own supporters. Their bitter rivalry has been the central theme of left politics in the state for almost two decades. In the current fracas, however, judging by his nature, Achuthanandan may not go down without a fight.

The second  and perhaps the biggest -- hurdle Vijayan may face is his alleged involvement in the SNC Lavalin case.

In 1996, when he was power minister in the Nayanar ministry, the state was inked an agreement with Canadian power giant SNC Lavalin to overhaul five hydel projects. The state reportedly lost Rs 260 crore in the deal. Though the CBI court acquired him in the case, the state government later filed an appeal in the high court. The hearing for the case is next month.

Read: Left back at helm: Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as Kerala chief minister

Read: Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as Kerala CM: A look at his top picks

Vijayan may further be inconvenienced by the fact that state coffers are almost empty and the opposition BJP is breathing down his neck over recurring political violence in the state.

Post-elections, Kerala witnessed two political murders: that of a CPI(M) worker and a BJP worker. Upset, the BJP central leadership moved the President, seeking his intervention in the states affairs. Union minister Ravisankar Prasad even went on record saying that his party was in power in 14 states, indicating strongly that the Centre would not brook political intolerance.

The Kannur politician -- the partys longest-serving state secretary (1998- 2015) -- is said to be more feared than loved by supporters. As a state secretary, his dealings with alliance partners were seen as aggressive, with two constituents of the Left Democratic Front (LDF)  RSP and JD(U)  deserting the camp. It would seem now that he has some work to do to rid himself of the image of an iron-fisted leader. However, known for his administrative skills and pragmatic approach, the leader is likely to overcome all hurdles, swear political experts.

Read: Left scrambles to placate VS in Kerala

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj moved swiftly on Wednesday to reassure envoys of African countries of the safety of their nationals in India after they decided to boycott the Centres Africa Day celebrations.

The boycott call was given to protest against the murder of a Congolese national in Delhi last week.

Swaraj deputed minister of state for external affairs, Gen VK Singh, to meet the heads of missions of the 54-nation continent to reiterate the Indian governments commitment towards safety of African nationals, and also reassure students in metro cities of their security.

Read | Congolese mans murder: Govt faces tough questions from African diplomats

The Centre plans on requesting states concerned to ask police commissioners to attend these meetings and interact with students.

Masonda Ketada Oliver, a 29-year-old from Congo, was beaten to death by three men around 11:30pm on May 20. He had got into an altercation over hiring an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in south Delhis Vasant Kunj before being attacked.

Read | 23-year-old Congolese man killed in Delhi, police probe racism angle

In a series of tweets, Swaraj announced that she had spoken to Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung about Olivers murder and asked for the case to be tried in a fast-track court.

Swaraj also said the government ordered stringent action against the culprits and assured of launching a sensitisation programme to stop such incidents.

I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

We will also launch a sensitization program to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

In a statement late on Tuesday evening, envoys of the African countries had announced their decision to stay away from celebrations organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on Wednesday.

The Group of African Heads of Mission also threatened to tell their governments to not send students to India in view of the climate of fear and insecurity unless and until their safety can be granted.

...Several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators, a statement by Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said.

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 in Delhi, Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the event be postponed.

Read | Congolese man killed in Delhi: For African students, racial taunts never end

Calling on the Indian government to take concrete steps, the statement said, The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India.

Woldemariams statement said Oliver and his friend were on their way back home when they flagged an auto-rickshaw. But before he could board the vehicle, three men jumped on to it. When Oliver objected, an argument ensued.

They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly, the statement said.

Earlier this year in January, a mob in Bengaluru allegedly attacked and stripped a Tanzanian girl after dragging her out of a car. She was travelling with friends, who were also beaten up.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A tribal man was beaten to death while trying to rescue his minor daughter from alleged abductors at Sanacheragaon village in Odishas Kalahandi district, police said.

Apprehending abduction of his 14-year-old daughter, Dayanidhi Majhi (50) along with his nephew Tekar Majhi was searching for the girl who had been missing since May 22.

After tracing the girl on Monday, the man confronted the kidnappers and tried to rescue his daughter but he was allegedly assaulted by the abductors, police said.

The man was critically injured in the attack and was admitted to Bhawanipatna government hospital and later shifted to another hospital at Bisam Cuttack in Rayagada district where he succumbed to injuries on Tuesday, they said.

Inspector in-Charge of Kegaon police station, Dilip Kumar Jena said FIR had been lodged about alleged kidnapping of the minor girl and assault on her father whose death was reported in the hospital later.

Investigation is in progress and efforts are on to trace the accused persons and rescue the kidnapped girl, the IIC said.
Tripura governor Tathagata Roy has triggered another potential controversy, using a racist term for Pakistanis and accusing their army of butchering Hindus in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

Yes, 20 May 1971, at Chuknagar, Khulna, Bangladesh, Paki Army & Razakar butchers killed 8000-10,000 unarmed Hindus by bullets, bayonets & stampede, he tweeted on the 35th anniversary of the Chuknagar massacre.

A small contingent of Paki Army with some Razakars confronted them and started shooting. THE DEAD: AN UNBELIEVABLE EIGHT TO TEN THOUSAND!

Chuknagar is a small town in Khulna distt of Bangladesh,then E Pakistan. In 1971 a huge number of Hindus assembled here to escape to India  Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) 20 May 2016

Chukanagar massacre was one of the biggest mass killings during the 1971 war. Nearly 10,000 people were gunned down by the Pakistan army in Dumuria in what is now Bangladesh.

Razakar Bahini was a Bengali-manned auxiliary force of the Pakistan army. Several of its members are being tried for war crimes in Bangladesh. Some have been awarded the death penalty.

Read: I have now installed locks and key in my mouth: Tathagata Roy

An avid Twitter user, Roy has come under fire from opposition parties for his aggressive and political messages. Opposition says the governor continues to behave like the BJP leader he once was.

Though he promised no more political tweets on taking over as the governor, Roy, who has 21,300 followers on the micro-blogging sites, has been busy.

He raised eyebrows when he suggested pigskin burials for militants killed during the attack on Pathankot airbase in January.

I seriously suggest Russian treatment to terrorists carcasses. Wrap them in pigskin, bury them face down in pig excreta. No chance of Houris, he had tweeted.

Last month, Roy came in for criticism after he tweeted about a visit to an RSS shakha, or a daily meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP.

Today is Varsha Pratipada Utsav of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Attended own shakha first time afr becoming Guv, delivered Boudhik. Felt good, he tweeted.

When asked the visit, Roy, who also describes himself as swayamsewak in his Twitter bio, said he thought of the RSS as a social welfare organisation and was committed to it.

Read: History of communal hatred on new Tripura governors Twitter timeline
The Centre has set up a committee to review the previous UPA governments decision at the fag end of its term to transfer 123 wakf or mortmain properties in the Capital to the Delhi Wakf Board.

The single-man committee of JR Aryan, a retired officer of Delhi Higher Judicial Service, will have to submit its report in six months.

The government had inherited these prime pieces of real estate after Independence and their status remained unchanged until the UPA administration denotified them on March 5, 2014, a month before the April-May general elections that the Congress-led coalition lost.

Records say 61 of these properties were with the land and development office under the Union urban development ministry and 62 with the Delhi Development Authority.

These are located in high-value areas such as Connaught Place, Janpath, Ashok Road, Babar Road, Lodhi Road, Mathura Road, Pandara Road, Jungpura, Karol Bagh, and Daryaganj.

The transfer of ownership rights allowed the Delhi Wakf Board to carry out construction and renovation work on these properties.

But the boards nodal officer K Alam Farooqui said the majority of these are built-up properties such as dargah, masjid and graveyards.

Only a handful is vacant land and most of these have been encroached upon. Ownership rights would have allowed us to remove the encroachments, he said.

Immediately after the UPA cabinet ratified the proposal of the Kamal Nath-headed urban development ministry, the Indraprastha unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) challenged the decision in the Delhi high court.

The VHP accused the UPA government in its petition of showing undue favour towards the minority community.

Later, after the NDA came to power, the Hindu right-wing organisation wrote to urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu to review the UPA-era decision.

The ministry had sought legal opinion to verify if the rulebook was followed during the transfer of ownership.

In August 2014, the high court disposed of the VHP petition,  leaving it open to the respondents No 1&2 (Union of India and L&DO) to take an appropriate decision after giving an opportunity of hearing to all the stakeholders, particularly Delhi Wakf Board.

Till such time, the court ordered that status quo must be maintained, meaning the properties remained with the government.

The governments review panel, set up on May 19, will now call all stakeholders or affected parties to record their statements and it has the power to demand relevant records and summon government officials.

The committee will examine the statements and submit its report along with recommendations regarding the 123 denotified wakf properties to the urban development ministry, a senior official said.

Wakf official Farooqui contended that a reversal of the UPA decision will stop the board from using these properties to earn revenue. He said: Revenue from wakf properties is used for welfare of the community.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
US senators questioned on Tuesday whether Indias development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, while a State Department official assured them the administration will closely examine the project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pledged up to $500 million to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar, to try to give his country trade access to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The route is currently all but blocked by Pakistan, long at odds politically with India.

We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran, Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place, she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Read: India, Iran and Afghanistan sign Chabahar port agreement

Developing the Chabahar port was seen as crucial for India because it will not only allow New Delhi to bypass Pakistan and access global markets but also counter Chinas expanding influence in the Indian Ocean region.

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions in January under a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear programme, but some restrictions to trade remain, tied to issues such as human rights and terrorism.

Biswal said she believed Indias relationship with Iran was primarily focused on economic and energy issues, and said the administration recognised Indias need for a trade route.

From the Indian perspective, Iran represents for India a gateway into Afghanistan and Central Asia, she said. It needs access that it doesnt have.

Biswal said she had not seen any sign of Indian engagement with Iran in areas, such as military cooperation, that might be of concern to the United States.

Modi is due to visit the United States next month and will address a joint meeting of Congress, a rare honour.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committees top Democrat, asked if Biswal expected formal security cooperation agreements to be signed during that visit.

She noted that India and the United States have already strengthened their security cooperation in several areas. Were looking at what additional areas we can engage in to deepen that cooperation, Biswal said.

Washington sees its relationship with India as critical, partly to counterbalance Chinas rising power. President Barack Obama has called it one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.

Read: How the strategic Chabahar port may bolster India-Iran ties
A 28-year-old woman, who was allegedly harassed by her in-laws for money, allegedly threw her three minor children into a well and then jumped into it in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

Priyanka Balaji Wankhede, a resident of Betsavangi village in Nanded district, ended her life after pushing her sons Pratik, 3, Kapil, 5, and daughter Sakshi, 7, into a well near the village on Monday, a police official from Sonkhed police station said.

Her brother told police that her in-laws were harassing her and pestering her to bring Rs 1 lakh from her parents, the official said.

Priyankas husband Balaji Wankhede, father-in-law Ganpat Wankhede and mother-in-law Lilavati Wankhede have been arrested, police said.

Read: Delhi: 23-year-old woman found dead, parents allege dowry death

A case has been registered under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498 (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC, he said.

The three accused were produced before a local court on Tuesday which remanded them in police custody for five days, he said.

Priyanka, who got married nine years back, was cremated along with her children on Tuesday on a single pyre.
NEW DELHI: The Foreign Investment and Promotion Board (FIPB)  the nodal agency for clearing investment proposals by overseas companies  has cleared Apple Incs plans to set up retail outlets in the country, but said the iPhone maker must comply with 30% local sourcing rules.

The move comes a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook made his first visit to the country, to capitalise on its growth prospects, and in the face of slowing sales in China, the companys biggest overseas market.

When contacted, an Apple spokesperson refused to comment on the development.

The California-based company had applied for a waiver of the mandatory sourcing norms, and there was widespread speculation that the government would accept its proposal.

Apple currently has Apple-owned stores across the world, including the US, the UK and China. The sourcing norm has been a hurdle for Apple in India, since the market does not have enough vendors to help it meet the norm. It sells in India through distributors, such as, Redington, Ingram Micro and Bettel.

According to Indian rules, a DIPP secretary-led panel first approves a companys application, and then sends it to the FIPB for a formal clearance. Reports earlier said that the DIPP had approved Apples proposal to open retail stores in the country without the 30% sourcing rider.

The government can relax mandatory local sourcing norms for companies, which undertake single-brand retailing of products and have state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology, and where local sourcing is not possible.

Apples case for waiver of sourcing norms came to the finance ministry six days back, but was not justifiable. They (Apple) could not prove through enough merit that the technology they want to sell is cutting-edge technology and state of the art. But they can open stores if they meet the norms, sources said.

The finance ministry has also asked the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to come up with a policy explaining cutting edge, and stateof-the-art technology, sources said.

This is the second blow for Apple, whose application to import refurbished phones was earlier rejected by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

The company recently reported its first-ever decline in iPhone sales, and its first revenue drop in 13 years. Cook had said that India presents a really great opportunity for Apple.

Chinese mobile device makers Xiaomi and LeEco have also applied for the 30% sourcing waiver, and the governments decision on Apples proposal will now bring the spotlight on them .

The Centre currently permits 100% FDI in single-brand retail, but beyond 49%, a company needs to approach the FIPB.
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to train citizens living in areas that have reported the highest number of dengue cases to detect mosquito-breeding spots. The civic body had taken up a similar initiative, covering the entire city, last year, but had failed to find takers.

The BMC officials said they have identified 182 high-risk areas across the city and the training will start from next week. Three wards -- C, E and G (South) -- in south Mumbai have the maximum number of mosquito-breeding sites. Last year, the training programme was open to all citizens, but the participation was disappointing, said an officer from the BMC. So this year we will attend to only those areas where such cases are high.

Of the 17,542 appeals send to various housing societies last year, only 4,363 residents were willing to participate. We had started the training in January last year. By the time the monsoon arrived, people had lost interest. This year, we have decided to start the training towards the end of May, said a BMC official.

The city, however, has already recorded 99 cases of dengue and 1,418 cases of malaria between January and May 2016. Vectorborne diseases are reported throughout the year. People have to be vigilant and not let allow breeding sites at home. No dengue and malaria related deaths have been reported so far, said Dr Minnie Khetrapal, head of BMCs epidemiology cell. The civic officials said that just like last year, the training will include a two-hour powerpoint presentation, followed by a demonstration for possible breeding spots such as open drums, old tyres, tarpaulin sheets in building compounds and potted plants, fish tanks and water containers inside houses.
MUMBAI: Controversy continues to dog senior BJP leader and revenue minister Eknath Khadse: from accusations of irregular land deals in Pune to allegations that an aide sought bribes to the charge that his son-in-law drives around in an illegally modified limousine.

Further, the Mumbai police on Tuesday insisted that the embattled leader had not been given a clean chit over allegations that his phone received seven calls from the Karachi residence of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim.

An ethical hacker, Manish Bhangale, and Aam Admi Party leader Preeti Menon had claimed that calls were made from Dawoods residence to Khadses number between January and March 2015.

However, Khadse wrote to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting him to take action against Preeti Menon, Manish Bhangale and Jayesh Shah (another hacker) for hacking into Pakistani telecom companys database, which is in violation of Section 65 and 66 (F)(1)(B) of Information Technology Act.

Khadse also requested Fadnavis to initiate a thorough probe. The minister also questioned Bhangales decision to make the call records public rather than handing the data over to the police.

The hacker also claimed that the longest call was made on March 23, 2015. Khadse reiterated that this could be a case of  SIM card cloning and told HT he has decided not to give further clarifications and wait till the probe is completed. Menon wanted the police to interrogate all the five persons, including Khadse, whose names appeared in the call log. I felt it was necessary to meet the police commissioner and make him understand the seriousness of the case as nothing concrete has been done by them so far. He has assured us a detailed probe in the case, Menon told HT.

But this is not the only controversy for which the BJP minister is facing.

In the past 15 days, Khadse, who was a chief ministerial aspirant before Fadnavis was hand-picked by BJPs top leadership, has been facing a series of allegations especially since the arrest of his alleged aide, Gajanan Patil, by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Patil was caught seeking a bribe of Rs30 crore from Dr RK Jadhav, former director of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, who had sought government land for setting up an educational campus at Thane. The ACB has given a clean chit to Khadse and his staff in this matter.

Khadse again found himself at the receiving end after his sonin-law Pranjal Khewalkar was accused of possession of an illegally modified limousine. Later, Khadse sent a defamation notice to activist and former AAP leader Anjali Damania and asked her to give an unconditional apology , or face legal action.

The flurry of accusations and allegations against the second most powerful minister in the state did not cease. A Punebased builder claimed that Khadse bought land in a state government developed industrial estate at Pune at throwaway prices. The builder, Hemant Gavande, claimed that a three-acre plot, which was sold to Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation by the original owner 25 years ago, has names of Khadses wife and sonin-law in the land title. Khadse clarified that the plot was bought by his wife, Mandakini Khadse, from the land owner by adopting proper procedure, said a release issued by his office.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Baroda resident Manish Bhangale, 27, the hacker whose work sparked allegations of telephone conversations between fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse, says his mission to help Indian agencies track down Dawood began two years ago, and that intelligence agencies didnt take him seriously at first.

Bhangale, who studied up to Class 12, told HT that he managed to hack into Dawoods call records using his technical acumen and three years of experience in business processing outsourcing (BPO). He said he approached various agencies, including the Research and Analysis Wing, the Intelligence Bureau and the Prime Ministers Office, but got no response.

It started two years ago, when I thought of doing my bit to help Indian agencies track down Dawood Ibrahim. Between September 2015 and April 2016, I went to Dubai to meet my sources, get details pertaining to the gangster and confirm his address in Karachi, Bhangale said.

These details included numbers registered in the name of Dawood and his relatives, and the addresses associated with them.

Bhangale claimed Dawood uses four land lines, and that one of these, registered in the name of his wife Mehzabeen Shaikh, was used to make calls to India. Five numbers were called frequently, he said.

Bhangale added that he is yet to verify whether the people in whose names these five numbers are registered actually use them.

I also got alternate numbers used by the gangster and his date of birth. I needed all this information to complete the authentication process and access the call records. My trips were funded by various people, including builders and others associated with the real estate business, said Bhangale.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee signed on Tuesday an ordinance to keep states out of the ambit of a court-mandated single, all-India medical entrance test this year. The Presidents nod to the ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet last Friday comes after high drama as Union health minister JP Nadda visited Rashtrapati Bhavan with a list of explanations on Monday. Ministry officials, too, answered queries and offered clarifications till Tuesday morning.

Mukherjee sought an explanation for the reasons behind bringing in the ordinance and reportedly consulted in-house experts before clearing it just ahead of his trip to China.

The ordinance is aimed at partially overturning a SC verdict that said all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges would be covered under the single examination called NEET. But the exemption to states is only for the undergraduate pre-medical and pre-dental courses, health minister Nadda said. The postgraduate entrance examination in December will have to be conducted under NEET.

From the next academic session NEET will be mandatory for admission to all medical colleges in the country and will be also held in regional languages. NEET, through this ordinance, has been given a firm statutory basis. The legalities are being worked out right now and it will be notified soon, Nadda said.

All private medical colleges and deemed universities will have to take NEET this year. States will decide on their quota in private colleges, whether to fill them through NEET or state entrance examinations.

Quotas in private colleges  management, sports, NRI etc  will also be filled through NEET.

The SC had ordered a single medical test, benefiting aspirants who juggle clashing exam schedules and differing admission norms by private colleges. The test was allowed to be held in two phases  the first was conducted on May 1 and the second is scheduled for July 24. Nearly 6.5 lakh students took the first test. But many oppose the NEET on the ground that students affiliated to state boards would find it tough to deal with a test based on a central curriculum and conducted in English and Hindi. President Mukherjee too had his doubts.

Attor ney general Mukul Rohatgi was at the Presidents Secretariat on Tuesday morning along with top health ministry officials to respond to his questions.

Different states ear mark anything between 1 2 - 1 5 % seats in various private medical colleges for state quota so that students from one state can get seats in another state. The remaining seats in such colleges are reserved for domicile students. With the Ordinance, the remaining seats meant for domicile students will come under NEET.

More than 15 states were opposed t o NEET and had raised issues such as different syllabus and languages during a recent meeting among state health ministers.

Representatives f rom 18 states met Union health minister JP Nadda a week ago and infor med that NEET would put non-CBSE candidates at a disadvantage as there was too little time left for students to bridge the difference between state board syllabi and the central curriculum.

The next phase of the exam is scheduled for July 24. Nearly 6.5 lakh students have already taken the medical entrance test in the first phase of NEET held on May 1.

Advocate Amit Kumar who represented Sankalp Charitable Trust, that moved the top court in support of NEET, termed the ordinance shocking and said the NGO will challenge it.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
MUMBAI: T he r uling Shiv Sena has strongly opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) ambitious development plan, which proposes opening up of ecologically sensitive zones such as no-development zones (NDZ) and saltpan lands for affordable housing. The Senas stand assumes significance in the backdrop of a bitter tussle between the ruling partners in the Mumbai civic body ahead of next years civic polls.

A delegation of senior Sena leaders met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday to put forth their suggestions. Sena leaders have made it clear that if their demands are not accepted in the final development plan (DP) 2034, they will oppose the blueprint. Trushna Vishwasrao, leader of the house in the BMC, said, The administration should look at other areas to create affordable housing. Opening up ecologically sensitize zones can prove to be disastrous for the city.

Vishwasrao, however, failed to provide solutions to the points raised by Sena.

The party has also opposed reclamation of Cuffe Parade to create a central park. Instead, it has demanded the Mahalaxmi racecourse be developed into an open space, a long-pending demand of the Sena, which has also been a part of their Assembly Elections manifesto.

The revised DP 2034 is set to be published earlier next week. It will be put forth before the general body of the BMC on Friday.

Moreover, the Sena has also opposed the plan to create Metro3 car-shed in Aarey. The party has said that instead of increasing the floor space index (FSI) for restaurants, the BMC should increase it for redevelopment of old buildings. The Sena is insisting the cap on FSI should not affect civic amenities. In the revised DP, the BMC has increased FSI for hotels to 5 from 3. FSI is the ratio of the permissible built area to the plot area.

Some other demands include giving more benefits to tenants in case of redevelopment, incentive FSI for old buildings, a policy on redevelopment of municipal buildings and allowing medical shops and toilets on ground floor. It also states the BMC must provide concession to builders to purchase transfer of development rights (TDR) for creating more saleable component.
MUMBAI: Stating that water is a natural resource that belongs to the entire nation and not to any private entity, the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday directed the government to requisition or take charge of all private wells and bore wells for as long as the state faces water shortage.

The directions came when a vacation bench of the HC led by justice BR Gavai was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations (PILs) on the acute water shortage in the state. The bench also directed the state to take stock of the water available in dams owned by private individuals or corporate groups, and to divert surplus water from such sources for drinking purposes for the general public.

On May 5, a regular bench of the court had directed all IPL matches be shifted out of Maharashtra this year owing to water shortage. At the time, the bench had kept a part of the petition pending. It had directed the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) to ensure adequate supply of drinking water to droughtaffected areas. On Tuesday, it was brought to the benchs notice that the MWRRA had since become defunct, as the members have completed their tenures. The petitioners informed the bench that drought-affected areas such as Latur and Aurangabad had not received water for the past eight days.

The bench then directed the state to revive the MWRRA within a week either by constituting a new authority or by renewing the tenure of the old members.

When the state is going through a dark and grim time such as the current acute water shortage, the MWRRA must be revived to ensure equitable distribution of water, the bench said.

Once revived, the MWRRA should immediately examine the availability of water in dams owned by private individuals or/and corporate entities, and divert the same for public consumption. Natural resources like water belong to the nation as a whole and not just to some individuals or groups, the bench said.

The bench has also issued a slew of other directions to the state and the BMC including creating special wards in government hospitals for those suffering from heat stroke, ensuring drinking water is not diverted for construction activities and to consider whether the BMC needs to restrict water supply to slaughter houses until the monsoon.

The bench has also directed all district collectors in drought- af f ected areas to ensure water supply to hospitals for daily operations.

The state government meanwhile informed the court that it has deployed more than 3,000 tankers to supply drinking water to drought-affected areas. Acting advocate general Rohit Deo also told the court the water train to Latur was facing technical difficulties, but the problem had been resolved and the train will reach latur on Wednesday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
MUMBAI: A 24-year-old woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight by an unidentified attacker at Suman Nag ar, Kurla, on Tuesday.

The police have detained a man she knew. The incident sparked protests in the area and police had to divert traffic until the situation was brought under control. A police presence was retained in the area to keep the peace.

The police said the victim, Karishma Mane, was a resident of Sainath chawl near Priyadarshini circle, Sion, and worked as a salesgirl at a clothes store at Bhomi Plaza in Dadar.

She was on her way to work when she was attacked.

The woman crossed the road and took a shortcut to Kurla station through a secluded lane, where she was attacked. Soon, a crowd gathered in the area, said an officer.

Her father Prakash Mane told the police in his statement, Usually, my daughter leaves for work at 9.45am and returns by 8pm. On Tuesday, she left at 9.50am. I was asleep at the time, and she woke me up to say goodbye. But later, my wife heard neighbours shouting Manes daughter has been attacked and I rushed out.

On reaching the spot, Prakash saw a traffic constable taking his daughter to hospital in a rickshaw.

Together, they took her to Surana Sethia Hospital in Chembur, where doctors initially said she would survive as she had been stabbed just once.

Senior police i nspector Pramod Khoparde from Nehru Nagar police station said, The attacker stabbed her just once in her back, but doctors found that the wound was three inches deep, and may have extended to her heart. She was declared dead at 11.55am.

The police later detained Amol Ghadge, whom Karishma knew.

They have registered a case of murder and dispatched teams to identify and arrest the attacker.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
MUMBAI: Trouble is not over for senior BJP leader and state revenue minister Eknath Khadse, especially after the Mumbai police on Tuesday insisted that the leader has not been given a clean chit yet.

Following fresh claims made by a hacker about seven calls allegedly made on his phone from the residence of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim, Aam Aadmi Party leader (AAP) Preeti Menon who had demanded probe into the allegations on Tuesday met Mumbai police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar and submitted concerned documents that were made available by an ethical hacker, Manish Bhangale.

The hacker has claimed that calls were made from Dawoods residence on Khadses number during January to March 2015. He has also claimed that the longest call among them was made on March 23, 2015.

However, Khadse also came in counter-attack mode as he has now written a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis requesting him to register cases action against Preeti Menon, Manish Bhangale and Jayesh Shah for hacking Pakistani telecom companys database, which is in violation of section 65 and 66 (F)(1)(B) of Information Technology Act.

Khadse also requested CM to initiate thorough probe with the help of Cyber Crime cell of the Mumbai Police and also investigate all the allegations made against him over call logs.

The AAP leader wanted police to interrogate all the five persons whose names appeared in the call log of Dawood including Khadse.

Menon said, I felt it necessary to meet the police commissioner and make him understand seriousness of the case as nothing concrete has been done by them so far. The Mumbai CP has assured us detailed probe in the case.

He (Padsalgikar) too admitted that it was just preliminary probe and detail investigation is still on, Menon added.

Khadse in his letter said, I request to direct the Mumbai Police to book all three  Preeti Menon, Manish Bhangale and Jayesh Dave under IT Act and investigate the matter thoroughly. Also, probe the allegations over use of my cell number when it was not operational, quoted the letter.

Khadse on Tuesday said he will not comment till police probe is completed. I have decided not to make any clarifications further. Let them make all the allegations, I will talk once probe in completed by Mumbai Police, the revenue minister told HT.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The director school educations office issued show-cause notices to 17 senior secondary government schools that have performed poorly in the CBSE Class 12 board examinations.

Confirming the same, DSE Rubinderjit Singh Brar told HT on Tuesday that schools whose performance has declined by 5% or more from the last year have been issued show-cause notices. The school heads concerned are to file reply, citing a detailed explanation behind the decline in the academic standards at the school, by next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, deputy director school education Chanchal Singh said the school heads have also been asked to submit details regarding the teachers of the subject in which the students have performed the worst in the schools. This set of information is to be submitted to the department within three days by Friday, added Chanchal Singh.

The district education officer had prepared a report of the results this year on Monday after which a meeting was held and a decision was taken on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by the DSE and education department officials, including DEO, deputy DEO 1 and deputy director school education were present in the meeting.

Some of the schools whose performance has declined by more than 5% this year include GSSS-Kaimbwala, GMSSS-Dhanas, GMSSS-38(W).

Talking to HT, GMSSS-Dhanas principal Harmeet Kaur said, Students from the surrounding colonies who dont get admission anywhere else come here. Lack of regularity is another reason for behind the drop in marks. She added that they have only one lecturer per subject and there was staff shortage as well, which added to the pressure.

As HT had highlighted in its report on Tuesday, seven senior secondary schools failed to secure even 30% pass percentage of total 39 schools in the city, while another seven failed to record a pass percentage of 50%. The periphery schools have been the worst performers with GSSS-Kaimbwala recording only 5.88% pass percentage. The worst performing government schools continue to be those located on the periphery year after year.

Various reasons have been cited for the poor performance, some of which include continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) pattern, grace marks in Class 11, no detention policy till Class 8, absence of school heads and generally high student-classroom ratio, teachers engaged in non-academic duties and low attendance.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Ludhiana police are all set to question Damdami Takasal head Harnam Singh Dhumma in connection with the May 17 attack on Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadiranwale near Ludhiana.

Six more accused were held in the case on Tuesday, taking the count of those arrested to 14.

Akal Takht to break ice between Dhumma, Dhadrianwale

Ludhiana police commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said they will be summoning Dhumma.

As of now, it has emerged that he might have a hand in the attack. Those arrested are his followers. We will summon him as per need, said Aulakh.

Admitting to the Dhumma link to the attack, Aulakh said police have never hid the fact that some of the accused are from the Taksal. Four of the accused are residents of Mehta Chowk in Amritsar, he added.

Dont miss: Dhumma admits to Damdami Taksal hand in Dhadrianwale attack

Police have also recovered a Mahindra Scorpio (DL3CAS1928) from six accused who were arrested on Tuesday from the PAP Chowk in Jalandhar following a tip-off. They have been identified as Gurvinder Singh alias Goldy, Amarjit Singh Gurpreet Singh, all from Amritsar, Gurmeet Singh, Gurnam Singh and Pritam Singh, all residents of Ferozepur.

The accused were produced in the court that sent them to two-day police remand. The vehicle seized is owned by one Deepak of Kalkaji area in Delhi.

CFSL team visits crime spot

A team from Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh reached Ludhiana on Tuesday and visited the spot where the attack took place. The team has also inspected the vehicles impounded by police.

Eight accused produced in court

Of the eight accused produced in the court on Tuesday, four were sent to 14-day judicial custody. They are: Manjit Singh of Dharampura in Ludhiana, Gagandeep Singh and Jaspreet Singh of Chhandran village in Sahnewal and Hardeep Singh of Kohar village near Malerkotla.

The remaining four --- Sukhwinder Singh alias Sonu of Amritsar, Manveer Singh alias Mahant of Ludhiana, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi of Uttrakhand and Satnam Singh of Faridkot --- were sent to two-day police custody.

Heated arguments were witnessed in court as the public prosecutor sought police remand of the accused. The defence counsel objected and said police have already kept them in remand since five days and having nothing more to investigate.

Police said they have to recover a 30.6 field rifle as two empty shells of the particular rifle were recovered from the crime spot on the Barewal road.

HT Spotlight: Why Punjab Police cant cope with crime
Police on Wednesday nabbed suspected Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Arvinder Singh from Rahon town.

Acting on a tip-off, a team consisting of the CIA and Rahon SHO nabbed Singh from a house that he was hiding in.

SSP Snehdeep Sharma confirmed the development to HT. The police will address a press conference in this regard shortly.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday announced Rs 10-lakh cash reward for information leading to arrest of the accused involved the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village and theft of a bir from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district.

In a statement, the CBI said it needed the cooperation of the people for providing information about persons who had indulged in the theft and desecration the holy book. If the persons involved are traced, the informer will be given a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh by the CBI, it added.

The information may also be given to any branch of the CBI in the country. The name of the informant will be kept secret, read the statement. On November 1 last year, the Punjab government had handed over the probe to the CBI into the Bargari village sacrilege incident in Faridkot. The CBI said any person having information of the whereabouts of the persons involved in the incidents could inform the CBI officers immediately on the address, telephone and mobile phones mentioned below:

Abhishek Dular, superintendent of police CBI/special crimes-III, CBI headquarters Building, CGO Complex, New Delhi. Telephone number: 011-24368644 and mobile number: 9418834911.

N Krishnamurthy, duty officer, additional superintendent of police, CBI/special crimes-III, CBI Hors Building, CGO Complex, New Delhi. Telephone number: 011-24368646, 011-24368646 and mobile number: 9968081143.
The Solan police in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday announced the arrest of three men for the murder of Punjab-based gangster-turned-politician Jaswinder Singh Rocky. However, the police refused to share further details on the arrest of the Punjab trio, identified as Amarinder Singh and Devender Singh, both 25, of Nagri in Patiala district, and Bhupender Singh, 29, of Faridkhera in Muktsar district.

Rocky, who belonged to Fazilka district of Punjab, was shot dead by two men near Parwanoo on the Shimla-Chandigarh highway on April 30 morning when he was going back after a vacation in Solan. Additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Sanjay Kundu said analysis of mobile location and call details revealed that the arrested men were present near the house where Rocky had been staying on April 29. They followed and tracked Rocky before he was killed, said Kundu. Police also found images of Rockys body from the hospital in Parwanoo in their mobile phones, besides images of the blood-stained vehicle.

Read: Gangster-politician Jaswinder Rocky shot dead near Parwanoo

For certain reasons, we cannot share details of their arrest with the media. But certainly there is enough evidence against the three; their role in the killing can be assessed exactly only after investigation, he said, adding that the HP police were seeking input from Punjab Police too. The three men were produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate, Kasauli, who sent them to a week of police remand for interrogation.

Primarily, the police suspected rival gangster Jaipal for the killing.

Read: Gangster-politician Rocky killed: Rivals celebrate revenge on Facebook

Rocky had been shot multiple times by two men, who had tailed him in a car, when his white Toyota Fortuner SUV stopped at a traffic signal near the tourist spot Timber Trail, close to a road bifurcation. While the killers escaped in their car, two men on a motorbike picked up the empty cartridges to remove evidence before fleeing.

Police had said that the assailants overtook Rockys car in their Mahindra Xylo SUV and took positions near the signal, firing at least seven shots from automatic guns. Rocky, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered shots in his head, neck and chest, while his driver Parampal Singh suffered injuries in the neck. Rockys cousin Harmeet Singh was in the backseat and escaped without injury.

Read: Rocky murder: Driver identifies Jaipal as killer; police launch manhunt

Read: Profile of a gangster: Jaipal, ex-cops son, wanted for Rockys murder
In a major embarrassment to police, four armed gangsters fled in a cops car after opening fire at a police team that had come to nab them on Tuesday.

According to sources, a five-member police team of Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) staff, led by assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Pahara Singh, raided a house at Butter Kalan village in Moga district following a tip-off around 5.30am.

The ASI had come in his personal vehicle (Mahindra Xylo). As soon as the team reached the house, the four gangsters overpowered the cops after opening fire at them. The gangsters later fled in ASIs Xylo. The incident has left the force embarrassed with senior police officials feigning ignorance about it.

Moga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harjit Singh Pannu initially denied occurrence of any such incident, but after being countered with facts, he said an exchange of fire took place between cops and some miscreants. However, sources said the police team had failed to fire even a single round.

Later, the gangsters left the Xylo at an isolated place at Umarpura village in Jagraon.

Jagraon Sadar station house officer Vikramdeep Singh said the Xylo was taken away by a Moga police team.

Police have booked four persons identified as Manpreet Singh, Surjit Singh and Ranjit Singh, all residents of Butter Kalan village and Gagandeep Singh alias Gagna, resident of Jagraon, under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Dont miss| HT Spotlight: Why Punjab Police cant cope with crime

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday summoned civil aviation secretary and Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman on May 30 to clarify stand on the delay in start of international operations from the Chandigarh international airport.

The development comes as the Punjab government came out in support of a private petitioner, the Mohali Industries Association, and alleged that someone whose interests will be affected with the international operations at the city airport was trying to create mischief in Delhi.

Somebody in Delhi is playing a game. Forty per cent of traffic from the Delhi airport goes away (if operations start here). We know who is affected, Punjab advocate general Ashok Aggarwal said in open court, without mentioning Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the Delhi airport operator. He hinted the airlines had been threatened that if they agreed for operations from the city, their interest will be harmed at the Delhi airport. Time table is the real game. (They have been told) You will be taken care of, if you start flight (from Chandigarh), he said again without mentioning any name.

In a fresh turn of events on Tuesday over delay in commencement of international flights from the Chandigarh international airport, the high court summoned civil aviation secretary and Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman on May 30.

The development comes as the Punjab government came out in support of the private petitioner, and alleged that someone whose interests will be affected with the international operations at the city airport was trying to create mischief in Delhi.

Punjab advocate general Ashok Aggarwal lamented before the court that besides `1,400 crore investment on the construction of the airport, a large sum had been spent for allied infrastructure surrounding it, of which major portion falls in Punjab.

I cant understand the mystery. Airlines are saying no. Somebody in Delhi is playing a game. Forty per cent of traffic from the Delhi airport goes away (if operations start here). We know who is affected, Aggarwal said in an open court, without mentioning Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the Delhi airport operator.

He hinted the airlines had been threatened that if they agree for operations from the city, their interest will be harmed at the Delhi airport. Time table is the real game. (They have been told) You will be taken care of, if you start flight (from Chandigarh), he said again without mentioning any name.

DIAL is joint venture of GMR Group, Airports Authority of India, and Fraport AG and Eraman Malaysia, two foreign firms. Air India had agreed to start international operations on the last date of the hearing, but it could not produce the flights schedule as directed by the high court, on Tuesday and was also not represented by a counsel. The AAI counsel was also not present. Another airline, which has agreed for international operations, Indigo Airline, said that a requisite Delhi customs department approval was awaited.

Assistant solicitor general of India, Chetan Mittal, who appeared for the ministry of civil aviation, said the ministry had approached customs authorities at Delhi to grant requisite permission to Indigo to carry duty-free liquor into Delhi from the Chandigarh airport onboard international flight.

Air India had submitted a flight schedule to the AAI. With regard to the aviation policy, the matter was pending with the cabinet secretariat, the Mittal told the high court.

Perturbed over handling of the case, the high court bench of justice SS Saron and justice Gurmit Ram observed that it appeared effective steps had not been taken by the government. You are getting wrong impression. We are not begging. Only (what) we are saying, public money is involved, it should be accounted for, the high court observed.

The high court also observed that by commencing operation in Chandigarh, it will help in reducing traffic on Delhi roads and air traffic congestion at the Delhi airport as well.

Later, the court recorded the contention of the petitioner, MIA lawyer, Puneet Bali, that if effective steps will not be taken by the next date of hearing, a CBI or CVC probe should be ordered. The court has now summoned the AAI chairman and the civil aviation secretary to appear on May 30.

The AAI and ministry have also been asked to submit the latest progress reports.
The Haryana government has offered land to the Indian Army for setting up a medical college in Panchkula, near Chandigarh.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar made the offer to lt gen KJ Singh, GOC-in-C western command, while presiding over the Civil-Military Liaison Conference in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Panchkula, 15 km from here, is adjoining the Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir.

Khattar said the land for the armys medical college would be provided by the Haryana government.
Even as the police are still clueless about the killers of Namdhari matriarch Chand Kaur, the Sirsa dera head of the sect, Thakur Dalip Singh, says he is ready to patch-up with his estranged brother Satguru Uday Singh if the door is shown to the bad elements.

Dalip Singh, who was in Ludhiana on Wednesday, said there were people (bad elements) who didnt want unity of the panth. He said the very same people had benefited the most from the murder and to derive political benefits, they were taking out processions to show that sangat was with them.

Read: HT Spotlight: Many intrigues in bitter Namdhari succession war

Neither I want property nor I want to be the successor. We (referring to Uday Singh) can come together in the larger interest of our community provided Uday Singh identifies the black sheep and show them the door. People close to me will accept him as their leader and being brothers we will forget differences, said Dalip Singh.

Lakhbir Singh, spokesperson at Bhaini Sahib, speaking on behalf of Satguru Uday Singh, said they were also willing forget differences provided Dalip Singh distanced himself from people who executed attacks on them.

Read: Murder fallout: Brother trying to align with Akalis to trigger clash, says Namdhari sect head

Dalip Singh is openly supporting the accused in the Jalandhar bomb blast case. We can come together if he stops supporting the elements who want to harm us, said Lakhbir. He said they have so far not received a communication from Dalip Singh with the offer to reunite.

Read: Jalandhar car bomb blast: Satguru Uday Singh was on accuseds target

Both the factions have demanded a CBI probe into the murder of Chand Kaur.

85 year old Chand Kaur was shot dead by two unidentified assailants on April 4. Uday Singh and Dalip Singh are nephews to late Satguru Jagjit Singh, husband of the Chand Kaur. A succession row followed after Jagjit Singhs death in 2012. Chand Kaur had supported Uday Singh as the successor.

Read: Uday and Matas relation was tense: Dalip Singhs supporters

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Not ready to give up their protest against actor-comedian Kapil Sharma for portrayal of their profession in a poor light in his show, nurses met deputy commissioner of police (DCP) J Elanchezhian on Tuesday to enquire as to what action has the police taken on their complaint.

The DCP asked the nurses to give him some more time to act on the complaint. The matter has been brought to my notice. I will look into the legal angle, he said.

Talking to the media, Punjab Nurses Association general secretary Raj Bedi said: The DCP has assured us that he will be taking action on our complaint. We will be waiting for some more time. We will also consult other nursing associations to organise a national-level as well state-level protests against Kapil Sharma.

Nurses have been protesting against the comedian, who hails from the city, for demeaning the medical profession and have also objected to the vulgar uniform worn by actor Rochelle Rao in his show.
Even as Hindu right wing Shiv Sena had called off its Lalkar Rally about three days back, Sikh hardliners assembled at the proposed sitethe Beas bridgeon the National Highway -1 on Wednesday to challenge them.

Amid heavy security arrangements, Sikh radicals from across the state started gathering on the bridge early morning. They raised slogans against the Shiv Sena and the state government.

Named as the Anakh Rally, the rally was addressed by Dhian Singh Mand, acting Akal Takht Jathedar appointed at radicals Sarbat Khalsa, Amrik Singh Ajnala, another jathedar appointed by the radicals and leaders Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Sikh Youth Federation (Bhindranwala) and Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee.

Mand said, Hindu right wing groups want to disturb the peace in Punjab by carrying out provocative activities which will not be tolerated.

He said the Lalkar Rally smelt of a nexus between SAD-BJP government and the communal forces. We will not let anyone to create tension in the state, he said.

They have sent a memorandum to Punjab governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, demanding that activities aimed at disturbing the peace should be stopped in the state.

Though the activists did not block the bridge, but commuters suffered due to a traffic jam.

The cops from Amritsar (rural) and Kapurthala had made unprecedented security arrangements to prevent an untoward incident. Police was on a high alert in Amritsar city and Tarn Taran and kept at track on activities of Shiv Sainiks.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Smart parking, 24x7 water supply, smart metering for power and water, a bicycle track at the Leisure Valley and disabled-friendly sidewalks, all these and more, could be a reality for residents over the next five years with the city bagging the fourth position on a new smart city list of 13 released by the Union urban development ministry on Tuesday.

Lucknow, Chandigarh, Agartala among 13 new smart cities picked by govt

The revised presentation by the UT administration to the Centre in April  after Chandigarh failed to make it to the list of first 20 smart cities last time  projects the city as a hub of innovation, start-ups, and art and culture. In the previous presentation, Chandigarh had scored 54% and it improved the quality of its smart city plan by 9% this year, sources said.

The city now becomes eligible to get Rs 500 crore from the Centre over five years with Rs 200 crore to come in the first year.

Cities were evaluated on service levels, financial and institutional capacity, past record and reforms. The administration had roped in US-based consultant firm AECOM. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed with a French agency to give technical assistance to administration during the project. The agreement was signed on January 24 during the visit of French president Francois Hollande and prime minister Narendra Modi.

New proposals sought

The cities that did not make it to the list of first 20, but were close to the finishing line were asked to send a revised proposal.

What next

Within two weeks, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a 50:50 joint venture between the UT administration and the MC, will be formed and changes will start over the next two years.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Punjab Police have busted two sleeper cells of terror outfits Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) that were allegedly preparing to target different dera (sect) heads, retired top-ranking police officers, and activists of right-wing Hindu organisations.

Top police sources said the month-long and carefully crafted operation reached a decisive stage on Tuesday night when cops arrested Mandeep Singh, an operative of the KTF, from Jagraon near Ludhiana, and Arvinder Singh alias Mitha Singh of BKI from a village adjoining Nawanshahr.

The duo had entered Punjab about two months ago. While Mandeep had come from Canada, Mitha had arrived from Doha in Qatar. Both terror operatives had travelled to Punjab on valid documents and had no history of involvement in crime, said investigators.

Canada-based Hardeep Singh Nijjar of the KTF was Mandeeps handler, said sources, adding that Mitha had developed links with Germany based son of Wadhawa Singh, BKI chief who is presently based in Pakistan.

Mitha was taking instructions from Pakistan- based Karanbir Singh an associate of Wadhawa Singh, said a police source.

BKIs Karanbir Singh, who hails from Hoshiarpur, had escaped from the police custody after he was arrested for killing a dera head in Doaba.

Both modules were working in tandem to prepare strike groups. On the hit list were some dera heads, activists of Shiv Sena outfits and retired police officers who were on the forefront of fighting terrorism in Punjab.

Already, these sleeper cells had done recce of the movements of a politically active and retired director general of police (DGP)-rank officer who owes allegiance to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

Police teams are conducting raids at different places to nab other members of these cells.

The new and disturbing aspect of this case is that the BKI and KTF are now roping in Sikh youth with no criminal record to fox the security agencies. Mandeep and Arvinder were further luring Sikh youths with clean image to launch strikes, an investigator said.

Read I Dhadrianwale attack: Cops to quiz Damdami Taksal head Dhumma, 6 more arrested

Also read I HT Spotlight: Why Punjab Police cant cope with crime
Pearl Academy recently launched the largest design and fashion exhibition in the country, Portfolio 2016, which showcased the talent and creativity of close to 1000 students graduating from Pearl Academy.

The exhibition held across its campuses in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Jaipur featured creative projects conceptualized by graduates from various streams. Students who graduated from a wide range of courses in design, fashion and creative business, including communication design, interior architecture, jewelry design, product design, luxury brands, fashion media communication, photography and fashion design, came together to showcase their creations. The students work successfully showcased an array of innovative yet functional ideas that included a clothing line for people affected by polio, an affordable new-born babies starter kit for mothers, design interventions at public spaces like metro stations and an app for bringing community based palliative care to the elderly.

Furniture design out of waste tyres by Textile Design Student Parth Ajmani. (Pearl Academy)

Apart from the exhibits, the School of Fashion, Styling and Textiles organized vibrant fashion shows that brought out the creative streak of budding designers. One of the innovative ideas on display was that of smart fabrics made of optical fibers that could change colour.

Shri Shivanand Hulyalkar and Sharad Mehra, CEO , Pearl Academy appreciating a creative windmill installation done by the students. (Pearl Academy)

Portfolio 2016 was also a platform where stalwarts from the industry interacted with and guided the students. In Delhi, this included prominent personalities like the FDCI President, Sunil Sethi, and fashion designers, Manish Malhotra, David Abraham, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Mishra and Nikhil Mehra. Rina Dhaka and Jagdish Chandra (CEO of ETV) graced the event in Jaipur and shared their experiences with the young designers. The Jewelry Design students at Jaipur also collaborated with industry professionals and went on to winning placements with these companies.

Manish Malhotra appreciating a communication design students work. (Pearl Academy)

At Mumbai, the event was inaugurated by Shri Shivanand Hulyalkar, Vice Chairperson, Ministry of Textiles, and played host to noted designer Nachiket Barve and Vineet Gautam, CEO, Bestseller India. Also present was Vaishali Shadangule, an accomplished designer and Pearl alumna. The guests of honour appreciated the creativity and design thought of the students. To highlight various forces and trends that drive the industry, a series of panel discussions was also organized by the School of Design and the School of Creative Business.

CEO Sharad Mehra, guest of honour Rina Dhaka and Pearl Academy,Jaipur director Dr Veena Jhamtani Dutta (Pearl Academy)

Apart from this, a landmark collaboration between Pearl Academy and the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) was announced at the event. Both FDCI and Pearl Academy have now joined hands to nurture designers for tomorrow and will work together to offer Indias best fashion programs. In an industry first, Pearl Academys graduating fashion students will get to showcase their final collections at the FDCI India Fashion Week.

Portfolio 2016 ended on a high note with the awards distribution ceremony. The CEO of Pearl Academy, Sharad Mehra, concluded by saying, Pearl Academy has provided the canvas to its students to paint it the way they want to. We hope that we have been able to impart education which will not just make our students a good professional but a good human being as well.

Check out work from Pearl Academy graduating students:

http://portfolio.pearlacademy.com/
As the last of the guests left the shores of Mediterranean Sea in the French Riviera, the Cannes Film Festival -- which ended on May 22 -- must have heaved a sigh of big, big relief. For, this years 69th edition of the festival screened under the mortal fear of terrorism -- the mock drill of a terror attack a fortnight before the festival rolled on May 11 adding to the scare, which was heightened after the March Brussels airport and metro station attack. France itself had been under siege and in a state of emergency following the terror killing of 11 people in the Paris office of the weekly satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, in January 2015.

But strangely, the May 2015 Cannes Film Festival was not held under the kind of security blanket that this years 12-day event was. Sources say that the French intelligence had been tipped of a possible terror strike, and the festival -- with thousands of attendees, including about 4000 journalists -- seemed like a duck sitting to be struck.

Read: British veteran Ken Loach wins Cannes top Palm dOr for I, Daniel Blake

Sources say that the French intelligence had been tipped of a possible terror strike. (AFP)

During the first few days of the festival, it was more than apparent that it was under a heavy security blanket, and this writer did see snipers on the roof of the Palace, the festivals main venue, and heavily armed troops patrolling the streets of Cannes. Against the grim looks of these uninformed men were women cops, sitting prettily on really tall horses, and believe it or not, they appeared so friendly, exchanging pleasantries with passersby, that the Cannes crowds seemed to forget all about terror.

In fact, a few days into the festival, the scanning and frisking at points of entry seemed so smooth and quick that most of us just breezed in and out of the auditoriums. But there were always those invisible eyes in the form of security cameras dotting just about every nook and corner of Cannes. One was even told that dozens of cops had disguised themselves as restaurant waiters, shopkeepers and even taxi-drivers and had fanned out to keep an eye in order to pick the faintest of signals that possible terrorists may be sending.

Read: Cannes 2016 | Who will win the Palme dOr at 2016s disappointing fest?

Sean Penns The Last Face is a love story played out by Spanish actor Javier Bardem and Hollywood star Charlize Theron against the backdrop of the 2003 genocidal wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia. (Cannes Film Festival)

But then soon the topic of discussion veered away from terror to cinema. People were more interested and even exercised over Sean Penns disappointing The Last Face -- a love story played out by Spanish actor Javier Bardem and Hollywood star Charlize Theron against the backdrop of the 2003 genocidal wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Audiences, critics in particular, wondered whether The Last Face was a greater disaster than Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon or Xavier Dolans Its Only The End Of The World. Maren Ades German work, Toni Erdmann, was another hot favourite of debate, and the story about a fathers concern over his workaholic daughter was a fine piece of work, though, that sadly did not make the cut with the George Miller jury.

Read: After Cannes premiere, Jeff Nichols Loving becomes an Oscar frontrunner

A still from Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon. (Cannes Film Festival)

The Last Face went understandably unsung, and the persistent booing -- a Cannes tradition -- at the press show must have rattled Mr Penn more than all the security phobia he must have felt. He went on the defensive to explain his movie, and seemed like a fallen angel at the press conference that followed the screening of The Last Face.

However, Penn must have taken solace from the fact that great masters before him had faced flak from the Cannes press. Michelangelo Antonionis LAvventura (The Adventure) was famously heckled, as was Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver, which went on to win the Palme dOr that year. Today, both works are considered all-time classics.

But then, there were other great films -- written about in these columns -- which made Cannes such a delight, as always. However, the city in the south of France which was once the playground of the rich and famous and also the meeting point of Prince Rainier and Hollywood star Grace Kelly, was certainly quieter this year. And it has been getting progressively quieter, and terror has not been the cause. Rather, steep hotel and food bills have been keeping people away from what is still the queen of all festivals. Why, Cannes, of course.

(Gautaman Bhaskaran has covered the Cannes Film Festival for 27 years.)

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop


On his way down from the top of Mount Everest, Indian mountaineer Nava Kumar Phukon saw the woman sway from side to side - a classic sign of severe mountain sickness - as snow and fog reduced visibility to less than 10 feet (3 metres).

Phukons sherpa guide later told him the woman was 34-year old Australian Maria Strydom, who died last Saturday on the high slopes of Everest after making a failed push for the summit.

The sherpa who was trying to help her told me: She is going to die, Phukon said after returning to Kathmandu from his own exhausting but successful summit bid.

I did not have any extra oxygen, clothes or food, not even water to offer to her, Phukon said. I was so weak myself.

Indian climber Nava Kumar Phukon, who says he successfully climbed Mount Everest, speaks with the media with a bruise on his face, at a hotel in Kathmandu Nepal, May 24, 2016. (REUTERS)

A bruise on the hand of Indian climber Nava Kumar Phukon. (REUTERS)

Reuters could not independently confirm that it was the same woman, although both the sherpa guides worked for the same agency Seven Summit Treks and knew each other.

Three deaths in as many days on the worlds tallest mountain have renewed safety concerns after eager climbers flocked to the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit for the first time since last year when an avalanche triggered by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Base Camp, and all expeditions ground to a halt.

A Dutch national, also with Seven Summit Treks, died last Friday in the notorious death zone where the air is so thin that only the fittest can survive without bottled oxygen, while an Indian perished on Sunday due to exhaustion. Two other Indian climbers have been missing since Saturday, and are feared dead.

Australian climber Robert Gropel, husband of Maria Strydom, 34, who died while descending from the summit of Mount Everest, sits inside his hotel after being rescued form Everest in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 24, 2016. (REUTERS)

Officials from Seven Summit Treks said 13 sherpas bringing Strydoms body down the mountain had encountered heavy snowfall at about 7,700 metres on Tuesday. When the weather improves they will resume the rescue, and her body will be flown to Kathmandu later this week, before the spring climbing season shuts with the onset of the monsoon.

Deaths are not uncommon on Everest and the number of fatalities this year is close to average. But experts say the lure of reaching the highest point on Earth is increasingly attracting less experienced climbers served by agencies hungry for business.

Climbers are careless and confused about their strength and preparedness, said 30-year old Indian Ratnesh Pandey after summiting Everest on Saturday, without naming anyone.

He said temperatures plummeted to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) near the top, while fierce winds closed many of the weather windows in the upper reaches, making this years journey particularly tough.

Indian mountaineer Chetna Sahoo receives treatment for frostbite at hospital in Siliguri on May 24, 2016, after a successful ascent of Mount Everest. (AFP)

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

Scaling Everest is far from the worlds most treacherous climb from a technical perspective. Mountaineering expert Alan Arnette estimates deaths at about 3 percent of attempts, against one in four on Annapurna, a Nepalese massif with its main peak surpassing 8,000 metres.

But less skilled climbers keen to conquer the highest points on each of the worlds continents often fail to appreciate how much more difficult Everest is than the other six, people in the climbing community say.

Competition among low-cost local companies chasing a business that has boomed in recent years and is no longer dominated by international outfits has meanwhile undermined safety standards, they say.

A rescue helicopter prepares to land at basecamp at Everest, in this picture taken on May 23, 2016. (REUTERS)

Some companies, charging around $30,000 a climb, or half that of high-end firms, are known to have sent relatively inexperienced climbers up the mountain without medically trained guides.

There is this exponential growth in organisations offering guiding services on Everest and because there are so few internationally qualified guides in Nepal, it means the companies are engaging less and less in skilled workers, said veteran climber Andrew Lock, the first Australian to lead a commercial expedition up Everest.

Climbing is big business in Nepal, earning the government $3.1 million from 289 Everest permit fees this year.

Critics accuse Kathmandu of failing to enforce rules requiring past experience of high climbs, but Tourism Department official Bishnu Regmi said the government was committed to safety.

Climbers walk towards camp four from camp three at Everest, in this picture taken on May 19, 2016. (REUTERS)

Arnold Coster, who led the expedition for Seven Summit Treks, said his agency was as prepared as any. He said he had personally selected climbers, and that Strydom and her husband Robert Gropel had three experienced sherpas between them.

His team tried their best to evacuate Strydom when she got into difficulty, he said, but her condition deteriorated fatally before she reached a helicopter evacuation point.

An extra sherpa was sent up to help Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold when he complained of weakness but he died later that day.

Climbers descend from camp one to base camp at Mount Everest, in this picture taken on May 21, 2016. (REUTERS)

As far as I am concerned, we were one of the stronger teams on the mountain. It proves how unpredictable this sport is, Coster told Reuters by telephone from Base Camp.

He acknowledged that the industry needed better regulation.

People can just sign up like its tourism, he said. There are a lot of people who still have a valid permit from 2015 and didnt show up this year. I think next year is going to be extremely busy.
A suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul during morning rush hour Wednesday, killing 11 people, Afghan and UN official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives vest as he walked by the vehicle in the western part of the city, said Najib Danish, the interior ministrys deputy spokesman.

The attack came as the Taliban named a new leader following the death of their former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.

The casualties in Wednesdays bombing included both court workers and civilians and the explosion also wounded four people, Danish said. The minibus belonged to the judiciary department in neighboring Maidan Wardak province and was taking the workers there when it came under attack, he added.

Within an hour of the assault, the Taliban, who often target government employees in their war against the state, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The claim came from Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, in an email sent to the media.

This attack was carried out as revenge for the killing of six innocent prisoners in Kabul, the statement said. It was a reference to the hanging early this month at a Kabul prison of six Taliban members convicted of terrorism.

President Ashraf Ghanis office at the time said he had approved executions of six terrorists who perpetrated grave crimes against civilians and security personnel. The executions were the first approved by Ghani since he took office in 2014, promising to end the war. After the hanging, a Taliban statement accusing Kabul and the United States of torture, inhumane treatment and killings under suspicious circumstances.

The suicide attack in Kabul was the second of its kind on the judiciary this month - a judge was gunned down by unknown attackers in Kabul earlier in May.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack.

Since Jan. 1, UNAMA has verified 14 separate attacks targeting judges, prosecutors and judicial staff in Afghanistan, resulting in nine civilian deaths and 19 civilians wounded. Also, there have been four incidents of abduction of judicial staff. The Taliban claimed responsibility for seven of these incidents, said UNAMA.

Attacks against judicial authorities are cowardly and contrary to international humanitarian law, said Nicholas Haysom, the chief of UNAMA, adding that the mission urges authorities to do everything in their power to ensure adequate protection of judicial officials.

The last major attack in Kabul was on April 19, when a massive bomb killed 64 people and wounded hundreds. The Taliban also claimed that bombing.
British Prime Minister David Cameron intervened to seek the extradition of an Indian wanted in the UK on rape and murder charges, it emerged on Wednesday.

Cameron reportedly also told Opposition Labour party MP Stella Creasy that he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in reference to the case of Aman Vyas, who is now living in New Delhi.

In a letter to Creasy, Cameron said his government will do everything possible to secure the swift return of Mr Vyas, so that he may stand trial for the crimes he is accused of, the Evening Standard reports.

Read:London sees march for swift extradition of Delhi murder suspect

Scotland Yard believes 31-year-old Vyas may be involved in a string of late-night attacks in north-east London over five years ago.

The UKs Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised charges over the alleged murder and rape of 35-year-old Michelle Samaraweera, who was attacked and strangled in 2009 when she went out to buy milk while staying with her boyfriend in Walthamstow, north-east London.

The CPS has also authorised charges against Vyas over three allegations of rapes in the two months before Samaraweeras murder and the Metropolitan Police are investigating whether he is responsible for five other sex attacks.

Officers are working with the Indian authorities, the Met Police said.

Vyas was on a student visa in Britain when the alleged attacks took place.

He was arrested in July 2011 boarding a plane at Delhi airport that was bound for Auckland, New Zealand.

He was granted bail in November 2011.

Campaigners and Samaraweeras family members are now planning a protest outside the Indian High Commission in London on June 1 to demand progress.
Pakistans military said on Wednesday the countrys army chief met with US ambassador David Hale to express Islamabads serious concerns over the drone strike that killed the former Taliban leader.

A military statement said army chief General Raheel Sharif denounced such acts of sovereignty violations as detrimental to relations and counter-productive for the ongoing peace process.

Read: Afghan Taliban confirm Mansours death, appoint new leader

Sharif insisted that Pakistans efforts, successes and sacrifices in fight against terrorism have been unparalleled.

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed inside Pakistan in the drone strike on Saturday that hit his vehicle in Baluchistan province. The airstrike strained relations between Pakistan and the United States.

Read: Pakistan denounces US strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief

On Tuesday, Pakistans interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the drone strike and claimed that Mansour was not an obstacle to peace talks.
The drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in Pakistan is being seen as a major shift in US strategy for ending the Afghan war, one that makes Islamabad look terrible, again.

Pakistan has protested, of course, calling it an infringement of its territorial sovereignty, but its chief grievance could be the loss of a claim to a large part of the Afghan war.

The US had so far targeted, with tacit Pakistani permission, only al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban figures and that too along Pakistans northwestern border with Afghanistan.

The strike against Mansour changed that. The New York Times said in a an editorial Wednesday: The United States has for years held off targeting senior Taliban leaders while they were inside Pakistans Baluchistan Province, where Pakistans powerful army has long protected them.

But President Obama crossed that line by authorising the drone strike that killed the Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour on Saturday.

The Afghan Taliban, with its Haqqani network faction, was left to Pakistan to handle, with the understanding that Islamabad would persuade them to join peace talks. But it failed.

The (drone) attack was a sign of American exasperation with Pakistans duplicitous game of working with Washington to combat terrorism while sheltering the Taliban and its even more hard-line partners in the Haqqani network, the NYT said, adding, The Pakistanis have relied on the Taliban and the Haqqanis to protect their interests in Afghanistan and prevent India from increasing its influence there.

Americans expected Pakistan to persuade Mansour, who took charge of the outfit after Mullah Omars death, to join peace talks, but the new leader did not, and stepped up attacks.

There has been a marked increase in frustration and anger with Pakistan among policy makers in the US, with the word duplicitous frequently used for it.

The Baluchistan drone strike, which Obama called an important milestone, marks a significant dip in already troubled US-Pakistan ties.
Britains Prime Minister David Cameron has been asked to follow the example of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  who apologised last week for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident  and apologise for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar during British rule.

Harsev Bains of the Indian Workers Association told Hindustan Times that after Trudeaus apology, the organisation will campaign further and press for the apology for Jallianwala Bagh, and recalled Trudeaus words that some events in history were worth apologising for.

We will continue to press this demand and it will be amplified across the UK as we approach the centenary of the massacre, Bains, who also announced the campaign at an event in Southall over the weekend, said.

Jasdev Singh Rai, director of the Sikh Human Rights Group and the lead interlocutor in talks between overseas Sikhs and the Narendra Modi government to resolve grievances, said the apology was long overdue.

Rai said: It will go some way to restore perceptions about Britain having become more civilised since those days. If Britain is committed to peace and peaceful democratic politics, then an apology would go some way to show that commitment in reality and not simply in rhetorical statements.

He added: As a British citizen, I feel that part of history needs some redemption and as a Punjabi Sikh, I feel that the incidents of 1919 until 1925 in Sikh and Punjabs history continue to be historical wounds. If Canada can give an apology over Komagata Maru, I cannot see why UK cannot offer an apology over this incident.

Read | Trudeau apologises: Making common cause of Komagata Maru

During the recent London mayoral elections, Cameron reminded Sikh voters of his 2013 visit to Punjab in letters addressed by name, seeking support for Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith. He had described the massacre as a deeply shameful act in British history during the visit, but stopped short of an apology.

Cameron had written in the visitors book at the memorial: This was a deeply shameful act in British history, one that Winston Churchill rightly described at that time as monstrous. We must never forget what happened here and we must ensure that the UK stands up for the right of peaceful protests.

Bains, who replied to Camerons mayoral campaign letter, asking him to repeat the same words in the House of Commons, received a response last week on Camerons behalf, reiterating his regret, but again stopping short of an apology and stating that India and Britain had moved on since the massacre.

The response said that Cameron believed that it was important that such tragic events are not forgotten, and suggested that India and Britain had moved on since.

It isvery clear that the UKs relationship with India and its people has moved on and is now characterised by close cooperation and partnership, building on the many positives from our shared history, the response from 10 Downing Street to Bains said.

Described as one of the worst massacres during the British raj, Indian estimates put the Jallianwala Bagh death toll at nearly 1,000, while the colonial government believed the figure was less than 400.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON


An Indian-origin aviation worker in Australia who was sacked last year for posting pro-Islamic State messages on Facebook has told a court that his comments were sarcastic.

Nirmal Singh was facing the Fair Work Commission to argue that his dismissal was unfair by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking $7,000 in lost wages.

The Commission heard Singh had written We All Support ISIS above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney.

There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a secret group.

However, two Aerocare employees who were Facebook friends with Singh, independently raised concerns about the posts with a manager.

Australian Federal Police, Perth Airport and the client airline of Aerocare were also made aware of the posts, and the airline requested Singh no longer be allowed to work around its planes.

After three meetings held over four days last October, Singh was told that Aerocare was terminating his employment for breach of their social media policy, and demanded he return his airside security pass to Perth Airport for cancellation.

At the Fair Work Commission hearing, Singh argued the posts were sarcastic in nature and he did not support Islamic State.

He said he deleted the posts and his Facebook alias profile after meeting with his manager.

There were concerns I understood and I addressed those concerns by offering to delete the posts and the profile but how they breached the social media policy, I dont understand, Singh told the Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.

Hughes asked if Singh was aware Australia was on high alert for a terrorist attack which was currently rated probable.

Absolutely and I support that, Singh replied.

Commissioner Jennifer Hunt wanted to review transcripts and receive some further written submissions before making her decision in writing.

Singh maintained he did nothing wrong by posting We All Support ISIS on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism.
A large wooden fishing boat overcrowded with migrants capsized off the coast of Libya, the Italian navy said on Wednesday, with some 550 people rescued and five found dead so far.

Photographs show the blue fishing boat rocking violently before capsizing, sending migrants tumbling into the sea. Some then climbed onto the hull of the overturned vessel, while others swam for life boats or toward the navy ship.

Navy swimmers are also shown pulling migrants in lifebelts toward the Bettica, according to the navy pictures. Women wearing head scarves and children were among those rescued, but no details of the migrants nationalities have been given.

The Italian navy patrol boat Bettica saw that the vessel was in difficulty and approached it to hand out life jackets, but before it could begin a rescue the boat flipped over due to the sudden movement of the passengers, a statement said.

Several rubber motor boats are being used in the rescue operations, and the navy frigate Bergamini has deployed a helicopter.

Boat arrivals rose sharply this week amid warm weather and calm seas. Italys coastguard said 5,600 migrants were rescued on Monday and Tuesday, and officials fear numbers will increase as conditions continue to improve.

In the past two years, more than 320,000 boat migrants have arrived on Italian shores and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.
A Kenyan military official on Wednesday said Kenyan troops in Somalia killed 21 suspected al-Shabab extremists who were plotting an ambush in southern Somalia.

Military spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said a lone gunman shot at the Kenyan troops on Tuesday and fled while the troops were on the way to Tabda. Obonyo said the troops searched the area and found rebels planning an ambush.

Kenya troops are among the African Union troops bolstering Somalias weak UN-backed government against an insurgency by al-Shabab rebels which are linked to al Qaida.

Al-Shabab espouses the Saudi Arabian Wahabi version of Islam, which follows strict Shariah law and has carried out amputations and executions, including stoning to death.

Despite losing control of Somalias major cities, al-Shabab frequently carries out violent attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries.
Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko returned home to a heros welcome on Wednesday after nearly two years in a Russian prison, drawing a line under a damaging diplomatic spat between Moscow and Kiev.

The 35-year-old army helicopter pilot flew home as part of an apparent prisoner swap with Moscow, with two alleged Russian soldiers leaving Ukraine earlier in the day.

Im ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield, a defiant Savchenko declared as she touched down on home soil, wearing a white T-shirt bearing the Ukrainian trident, a national symbol.

A presidential motorcade was on standby at Kievs main Boryspil airport to whisk Savchenko to Poroshenkos office where she was to be decorated by the president, two sources told AFP.

In Ukraine, she has become a symbol of resistance against what Kiev sees as Moscows aggression in the east and has been elected to parliament in her absence.

While in prison, she launched several hunger strikes to protest her detention, refusing both food and water during her high-profile trial in southern Russia.

She constantly defied the Russian authorities and even raised her middle finger at the court in March.

Kiev and its Western allies view Savchenko as the latest pawn in Moscows broader aggression against Ukraine that has seen Russia seize the Crimean peninsula and fuel the separatist uprising in 2014.

Savchenkos return will be seen in Ukraine as a rare political victory for Poroshenko, who has been struggling with mounting economic troubles, squabbles among his allies and festering violence in the east of the ex-Soviet country.

Savchenko, an Iraq war veteran, was convicted in March over the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine and sentenced to 22 years behind bars. She had been held in captivity in Russia since June 2014.

The crop-haired military helicopter pilot denies any involvement in the shelling deaths of two Russian state television reporters.

Kiev has long been pushing for a prisoner swap to free Savchenko, and Poroshenko said in late April that he hoped she would return home in a few weeks.

Its been a long and complicated road, lawyer Nikolai Polozov said on Twitter.

But we have been able to prove that there are no insurmountable tasks and weve managed to free the hostage from the jaws of Mordor, he added, referring to a savage land in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Earlier in the day, two alleged Russian soldiers, Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, sentenced by Ukraine to 14 years in prison for fighting in the rebel-held east, arrived in Moscow, Russian national television reported.
Religious scholar Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, named as the Afghan Talibans new leader on Wednesday , was a senior judge during the insurgent groups five-year rule over Afghanistan and issued many of its harsh verdicts.

Believed to be aged in his fifties, he hails from Afghanistans southern province of Kandahar like both his former boss -- Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday -- and Taliban founder Mullah Omar, who died in 2013.

Akhundzada went on to become the groups chief justice after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001. He was a close ally of Mansour and was one of his two deputies.

Akhundzada is not known for his prowess on the battlefield, having preferred a life of religious and legal study. He is said to have issued many of the groups rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Talibans extreme interpretation of Islam.

Read: Afghan Taliban confirm Mansours death, appoint new leader

An Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos the former leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was killed in a US drone strike last week, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)

According to Rahimullah Yousafzai, considered the regions foremost expert on the Taliban, Akhundzada was away in Pakistan during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan -- unlike Omar and Mansour, who earned reputations as fighters as part of the US-backed mujahideen.

It is unclear whether he will follow Mansour in shunning peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Analysts believe he will be more heavily reliant on his shura (council) than Omar and Mansour and will need to rule by consensus.

In terms of age and seniority, he was second only to Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, whom many sources had believed was in contention for the leadership despite his reported detention by Pakistani authorities.

Akhundzada was chosen to avoid further conflict and consultation, said Islamabad-based analyst Amir Rana.

Yousafzai, however, projected a rocky road ahead for the new leader.

I think some other sections were not consulted, there is no unification of the movement yet, and I dont see how it can unify under Haibatullah (Akhundzada), he said.
The EgyptAir jet that disappeared last week did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris, sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said late on Tuesday.

The sources said the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the plane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after less than a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace. Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the planes final moments.

Egypts state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday that the plane had shown no technical problems before taking off, citing an Aircraft Technical Log signed by its pilot before takeoff.

Al-Ahram published a scan of the technical log on its website. The paper said EgyptAir flight 804 transmitted 11 electronic messages starting at 2109 GMT on May 18, about 3 1/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66 passengers and crew on board.

In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, a Coptic Christian grieves during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804. (AP)

The first two messages indicated the engines were functional. The third message came at 0026 GMT on May 19 and showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilots window. The plane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Egypts forensics authority dismissed as premature a suggestion that the small size of the body parts retrieved since the Airbus 320 jet crashed indicated there had been an explosion on board.

Investigators are looking for clues in the human remains and debris recovered from the Mediterranean Sea.

The plane and its black box recorders, which could explain what brought down the Paris-to-Cairo flight as it entered Egyptian air space, have not been located.

An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body parts had been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of a hand. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said their size pointed to an explosion, although no trace of explosives had been detected.

But Hisham Abdelhamid, head of Egypts forensics authority, said this assessment was mere assumptions and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

At least two other sources with direct knowledge of the investigation also said it would be premature to say what caused the plane to plunge into the sea.

All we know is it disappeared suddenly without making a distress call, one of them said, adding that only by analysing the black boxes or a large amount of debris could authorities begin to form a clearer picture.

This file still image taken from video posted on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson shows some personal belongings and other wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 in Egypt. (AP)

Scraps of data

Investigators do have a few scraps of data in the form of fault messages sent by the jet in the last minutes of flight, logging smoke alarms in the forward lavatory and an electronics bay just underneath, but they are tantalisingly incomplete.

The difficulty is to connect these bits of information, said John Cox, executive of Washington-based Safety Operating Systems who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks by Britains Royal Aeronautical Society.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, which would normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiple systems failed, he said, and too many of them to tie in neatly with a single significant explosion.

Investigators also need to understand why, for example, there was no message indicating the autopilot had cut off, progressively handing control back to the pilots as systems failed and computers became unsure what to do.

The Frenchman who headed a three-year probe into the 2009 loss of an Air France jet in the Atlantic said the data published so far appeared insufficient for any conclusion.

Egypt has deployed a robot submarine and France has sent a search ship to help hunt for the black boxes, but it is not clear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by the flight recorders, lying in waters possibly 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) deep. The signal emitters have a battery life of 30 days.

Although government officials have acknowledged the need for international assistance, the US Navy said Egypt had not formally requested American support beyond a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, which was deployed on Thursday.

Last moments

Eighteen loads of debris have been recovered, the Egyptian investigation committee said, in a search operation assisted by French and Greek aircraft.

Five days after the plane vanished from radar screens, air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt were still giving differing accounts of its last moments.

In Greece, two officials stood by earlier statements that Greek radar had picked up sharp swings in the jets trajectory - 90 degrees left, then 360 degrees right - as it plunged from a cruising altitude to 15,000 feet before vanishing.

Ehab Mohieldin Azmi, head of Egypts air navigation services, said Egyptian officials had seen no sign of the plane making sharp turns, and that it had been visible at 37,000 feet until it disappeared.

Of course, we tried to call it more than once and it did not respond, he told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims were giving DNA samples at a hotel near Cairo airport on Tuesday to help identify the body parts, their grief mixed with frustration.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla was flying back from medical treatment in France, said the families were being kept in the dark and had not been formally told that any body parts had been recovered.

All they are concerned about is to find the black box and the debris of the plane. Thats their problem, not mine, he said. And then they come and talk to us about insurance and compensation. I dont care about compensation, all I care about is to find my mother and bury her.


The average age of hibakusha, the Japanese term for certified atomic bomb survivors, is 80. Seventy -one years after an American B 29 Superfortress bomber dropped the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, a serving US president will be visiting the city of lingering memories of untold miseries for the first time.

The build-up to the visit on Friday by President Barack Obama, a Nobel peace laureate, also proves that the atomic bombing remains still a raging debate in both countries.

Japanese officials are as much guarded as their American counterparts on the question that many await an answer for: will Obama apologise for the attack? It is a futuristic visit, said Masato Otaka, deputy director general of press and public diplomacy at Japans ministry of foreign affairs.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who would be accompanying Obama to Hiroshima, has already put the visit in context. Japan is the only country to be hit by a nuclear weapon, and we have a responsibility to make sure that the terrible experience is never repeated anywhere.

But the interest the visit has generated across Japan reflects many things. It amply shows the struggle of collective remembrance against forgetting in Japan, and how the people in Japan and the US, closest of allies, remain split over the use of atomic bomb in 1945.

A project to pass on memories of the atomic attack, which killed 140,00 people in 1945, has the traits of a mass movement in Japan. Hiroshima city is training youngsters to become successors to the experiences of the hibakusha, spending time with them, as many as three years to soak in their stories and narrate them to future generations.

The High School Peace Ambassador project in Hiroshima and all across Japan have students collect signatures and bring them to the UN to ask for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The stories of survivors of nuclear attacks, part of the project, brings alive the trauma they went through in chilling detail. In one of such recent projects, Tsuboi, who was 20 years old at the time of attack narrates the experience in great detail. He was on his way to school at Hiroshima Technical School (the present-day Hiroshima University Faculty of Engineering), and was just one kilometre away from Ground Zero when the bomb was dropped. He was in a coma for 40 days, and even after waking up, it was a year until he could stand. Even after the war, he was treated for ailments including multiple cancers caused by radiation from the bomb.

But the atomic bomb attack remains a matter of intense debate. Historians like Akira Yamada, at Tokyos Meiji university stresses that both Japan and the US do not wish to put the focus on facts that are inconvenient to them. Many in the US believe that the bomb that signalled the end of the second world war saved many lives from being perished, had the conventional war persisted. The Japan Times pointed out in a report on Tuesday that the approval rating in the US for the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been on the decline in the US. A Gallup poll in 1945 had found 85% people in the US approved the attack, and the figure came down to 63% in a Detroit Free Press Survey in 1991 and further down to 56% according to a Pew Research Survey in 2015.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
India wants a bigger market for its products from the pharmaceutical and IT sectors in China, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday, adding that expanding bilateral trade would make it more equitable.

There is potential for economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries and the stability of our relationship in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilising these opportunities, Mukherjee said at an India-China business forum.

Bilateral trade was over $ 71 billion in 2015 but the balance of trade continued  like in the previous years  to be in favour of China by more than $ 40 billion, making it increasingly unsustainable for India.

Speaking at an India-China business forum organised by the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, Mukherjee touched upon the problem, pitching for a more equitable trade..

Although the trade balance continues to be in favour of China, we look forward to expanding our commerce to make it more equitable. India would like to see a greater market for our products in China  particularly in sectors where we have natural complementarities  as in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and IT-related services and agro-products, Mukherjee said.

It is a matter of satisfaction that there is emerging focus on two-way investment flows, the President told the gathering.

Chinese companies with inherent strengths in infrastructure and manufacturing can look towards India as an important destination in their going global strategy. On their part, Indian companies can partner with Chinese enterprises in the new domain of Internet of Things which underlines the Made in China 2025 strategy, Mukherjee said.

He pointed out the progress that has been made by Chinese companies in certain sectors in India.

A good start has been made by Chines businesses who are investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India. Bilateral cooperation in Indias railway sector is also progressing well. A good number of premier Indian IT firms and other manufacturers are present in China, Mukherjee said, adding that Indian and Chinese companies were also jointly exploring business opportunities in third countries.

We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from ChinaIndia invites investors from China to be partners in Indias growth story, Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee later attended a reception organised by the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in Beijing.

Addressing that gathering, Chinas Vice-President Li Yuanchao said India and China should strengthen mutual trust and properly handle differences.
KATHMANDU: Madhesi and other ethnic parties agitating against the new constitution of Nepal boycotted an all-party meeting called on Tuesday by the government to resolve the crisis.

Nearly 30 parties belonging to Federal Alliance did not turn up at the meeting called by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to address the demands made by those opposed to the constitution.

Though Oli had sent a formal request on Monday to United Democratic Madhesi Front, which comprises the four main Madhesi parties in the alliance, they said no official invitation was received.

I learned about Tuesdays meeting only after reading the morning newspapers. How can we attend a meeting based on that?, asked Upendra Yadav, chairman of the alliance.

Another senior Madhesi leader Mahanta Thakur informed Oli over phone that members of the Federal Alliance will not take part in the meeting as they need to conduct internal consultations first.

The meeting was attended by leaders of all parties present in the ruling coalition, president Sher Bahadur Deuba of main opposition party Nepali Congress as well as representatives of several smaller parties.

The parties want fresh demarcation of federal states and more opportunities in government for marginalised communities.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The death toll of a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike that hit a familys house in southern Yemen has been raised to 11, including four children from one family, security officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.

The officials said that warplanes, thought to be Emirati, fired two missiles at the familys house in the town of el-Mahala, in the southern province of Lahj. The house was flattened and only one child from the family survived the strike, they said.

The officials said the home is adjacent to a building that is suspected of housing Islamic militants.

A witness, Ahmed Hadash, said he heard explosions for 40 minutes while the warplanes were flying.

The bodies were distorted and the human remains were everywhere, he said.

The governor of Lahij, Naser al Khoubeigi, has called on the Yemeni government and the coalition to conduct an investigation. He denied any communications between the authorities in Lahij and the coalition.

We know nothing about the attack. The coalition conducts attacks without informing us. The responsibility of this operation is on those who provide the coalition with the wrong coordinates, he said.

Security officials claim that the Saudi-led coalition regularly conducts unreported strikes and has detained many people, claiming that they are members of al-Qaeda or the local Islamic State group affiliate.

They have their own prisons, one official said.

Also on Wednesday, a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a mineral water factory in Lahij, security officials said. No causalities were reported.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

Yemen has been mired in a conflict pitting Shiite rebels against the internationally-recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Extremist factions like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have gained ground amid the chaos.

Since the war against Shia rebels, known as Houthis, began, more than 8100 people in Yemen have been killed. The United Nations says more than 80% of Yemenis are in dire need of food, water and other aid as a result of the conflict in the Arab worlds poorest country.
A 38-year-old Sikh woman was found dead at her home in Canadas Saskatchewan province with police arresting and charging her husband for the murder.

The police was called at the residence of Sandeep Kaur Tehara in Regina on Sunday to check on the well-being of the people inside when they found her body inside the home and subsequently determined that it was a homicide case.

Sandeeps husband Jagdish Singh Tehara, 39, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, the Regina Leader-Post reported.

The couple has two young children, who are reportedly staying with Jagdishs brother, Pritpal Tehara.

Jagadish appeared in Regina provincial court on Tuesday, when the court heard he was seeking legal representation. He has been remanded in custody until his next court appearance on May 31.

The Sikh community expressed shock after the murder. (Its a) shock for our community, Nirmal Maur, president of the Sikh Society of Regina, was quoted as saying.

Jagdish and Sandeep had been living in Regina for about 10 years, said Surender Grewal, a longtime member of Reginas Sikh community. We are all very shocked. Never, ever imagined that this could happen, Grewal was quoted as saying.

Jim Azcueta, who lives close to the house where the body was found, said he woke up Sunday morning just to see about a half dozen police cars and his neighbours house taped off. The first thing that came to my mind was that something really serious had happened. Probably a crime. I came out and saw all the police standing right here, he told CBC News.

The police services major crimes and forensic identification units are investigating the murder, as is the coroners office.
An action plan on counterterrorism and a blueprint to spur global economic growth through steps such as infrastructure spending will dominate the agenda of the two-day summit of the leaders of the seven most advanced economies in the world.

The meeting of G7 -- the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada-- starting on Thursday in this picturesque town in Western Japan comes in the wake of falling oil prices and a slowdown in Chinese economy.

A combination of policies including monetary, fiscal and structural measures are expected at the end of the meet. Japan, the presidency of the summit, has already announced spending of $ 200 billion in next five years on quality infrastructure around the world, a measure that would benefit developing countries like India and many African nations.

Japan going for an aggressive push in building infrastructure is seen as a measure to checkmate China, which is undertaking infrastructure projects with strategic underpinnings in countries across the world. Though Prime Minister Shinzo Abes advocacy for bold and large public spending to shore up global economy has support from France and Italy, countries like Germany and the UK have reservations on such a policy. These two countries push for greater structural reforms.

The G 7 leaders are expected to come out with a strong counterterrorism strategy, which would also emphasise on the need to address the root causes of extremism in many parts of the world that includes lack of financial inclusion. On dealing with the threat, the G 7 countries are expected to announce measures such as more stringent cracking on terror financing and greater sharing of information.

Japan has decided to invest in 20,000 youngsters in Middle East in helping them better educate and find jobs.

However, the summit agenda is laced with many complex international issues such as the refugee crisis, policy approach towards Iran, Russias perceived intransigence on Ukraine crisis and an aggressive China in the South China sea territorial disputes.

Especially on China, unanimity eludes the G 7. Western countries seem more worried about decline in Chinese economy that would shrink its market to an extent to create an economic crisis. European countries dont give much credence to the military posturing of China compared to countries in the region. At best, the summit communique is set to mention maritime security and issues related to freedom of navigation in South and East China sea without naming China.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The last remaining UN sanctions on Liberia were lifted on Wednesday, in a decision the United States called a tangible sign of progress in the West African country.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to lift an arms embargo on non-state groups that was imposed 13 years ago, to support a peace deal that ended a devastating war.

It was the last punitive measure in force from a sweeping series of sanctions that had included travel bans, assets freezes and a ban on lumber and diamond exports.

US Deputy Ambassador David Pressman said the decision showed how far Liberia has come in its transition to peace and marked the first time since 1992 that the country was not under UN sanctions.

Liberias charge daffaires George Patten told the council that sanctions had helped stabilise the country and that the government was now ready to take steps to beef up security.

Targeted sanctions in the context of Liberia have been very constructive, said Patten.

With the international measures now all lifted, Liberia has adopted gun-control legislation and is taking steps to strengthen control of its borders, he said.

UN peacekeepers stay for now

The United Nations is also drawing down its peacekeeping mission in Liberia, UNMIL, which now has some 3,700 troops and police on the ground from its high point of 15,000.

On June 30, a security transition will be completed, handing over much of the missions tasks back to Liberian police and army. By then, there will be fewer than 2,000 UNMIL personnel left.

The council is discussing when to end the mission that helped Liberia during the deadly Ebola outbreak and may still be need as the country heads toward elections next year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the councils decision showed the significant progress made by Liberia and the sub-region in maintaining stability.

The end of sanctions on Liberia came a few weeks after the council lifted the last remaining measures against Ivory Coast.

There is a sharp debate within the council on whether sanctions are a useful tool, with China, Russia and Venezuela arguing that they often fail to encourage better behavior.

Pressman argued that the council must be creative and courageous in its sanction design, and pointed to the timber and diamond export bans in Liberia as a pressure tactic that could be applied to other conflicts.

Liberia has spent a decade recovering from two ruinous back-to-back civil wars that ran from 1989 to 2003, leaving a quarter of a million people dead and the economy in tatters.

Liberias ex-president Charles Taylor is serving a 50-year sentence in a British jail for war crimes for his role backing militias that rampaged across Sierra Leone during its civil war.
WASHINGTON: The US senate on Tuesday passed a legislation that will allow American victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to sue the Saudi Arabian government for alleged complicity.

The legislation now goes to the House of Representatives for passage. But it is expected to go no further even if approved as the White House said President Barack Obama will veto it.

His spokesman Josh Earnest said its difficult to imagine the President signing the legislation as it impairs the principle of sovereign immunity, which is critical to US national security.

It will expose America to similar suits around the world, he added, as the US is more engaged in activities in other countries than any other country in the world.

The Saudi government has threatened to pull out all investments in America and sell $750 billion in US treasury securities if the legislation is ever signed into law.

All but four of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, and many Americans have long suspected officials and citizens of that country of involvement, but with no evidence yet.

Much of the suspicion is centered round 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission report that have remained confidential despite repeated calls for their release.

Some families of the victims tried to sue the Saudi government, but without any success as foreign governments enjoy some immunity from lawsuits under a 1976 law.

The Senate bill seeks to make an exception, allowing foreign governments to be sued for involvement in terror attacks that claimed American lives.

These families have lit a candle, Senator Charles Schemer of New York, who is one of the two sponsors of the bill, told a news conference.

He added: Their mission is not just to bring justice to themselves but to send a loud message to foreign governments. If you help create terrorism on American soil, youre going to be brought to justice.

Schumer and Republican senator John Cornyn, the other sponsor, called the Saudi threat hollow. Cornyn said: Theyre not going to suffer a huge financial loss just to make a point.
Chinese state media on Wednesday said the western press was attempting to drive a wedge between India and China by hyping the issue of competition between the neighbours.

Quoting visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, official news agency Xinhua said his visit was the beginning of a new dance between the elephant and the dragon.

The opinion piece was published a day before Mukherjees bilateral meetings with top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping.

The visit, it said, was set to open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations and yield meaningful results for regional peace and stability.

The opinion piece warned about the role that the western media was apparently playing to focus on the differences between the two countries.

Some Western media have attempted to drive a wedge into China-India relations by hyping up competition between the two Asian giants, the Xinhua piece said.

It added: One of the latest targets of their smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Irans southern port of Chabahar. The seaport is about 100 km from Pakistans Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable. Such hype is both untrue and harmful.

Professor Song Dexing with the influential Chinese Peoples Liberation Army University told state media : Indias diplomatic and military interactions with other nations is normal. I dont think Indias actions like signing of the Chabahar port project are targeted at China.

The two sides have reached consensus even on their thorniest issue -- the border dispute. India seeks a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the question," and China is committed to working with India to accelerate the negotiation and solve the issue at an early date, it said.

Criticising western media in sharp language, the Xinhua piece said: Yet the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among Western media. Some just cannot wait to label any nation that has competition with Beijing as China's rival. Such confrontation-addicted reporting speaks volumes for their untold intentions, it said.

For the sake of global peace and stability, it is high time that those irresponsible Western media stopped starting fires and stoking flames and began to cover today's world, particularly those leading developing countries, without tinted glasses and a hidden agenda, it said.
Thoughts on History

In 1907, Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West show paid a visit to Brooklyn, New York. My grandmother, then a child of eight, got to see the panoply of the West-that-never-was that Cody paraded before audiences around the world. It must have been a stirring sight for a little girl from the city who did not get west of New Jersey until in her sixtiesand then no farther than Chicagobecause the impression the show left stayed with her all of her life. In the late 1950s and early 60s, when the television networks devoted most of their prime-time viewing hours to horse operas, she would watch nothing else.

There was for her, and is for most Americans today, an attraction about the loreboth factual and fictionalof the West that is hard to resist. It is the region most often associated with America by people of other lands and has spawned a whole genre of art and literature; an immediately identifiable way of dressing; and a host of characters, both admirable and disreputable, who are a significant part of our national identity. The West has been the site of some of our proudest examples of courage and perseverance, and of some of our greatest failures as a nation, particularly in regard to our treatment of Native Americans.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Ken Burns and his colleague, Stephen Ives, whose new documentary series, The West, promises to keep Americans glued to their televisions for more than 12 hours, as eight episodes unfold on September 15-19 and 22-24. Both men hope that this look at the West will spark the same kind of interest that greeted Burnss 1990 opus on the Civil War. In the wake of that series, people scurried to libraries, bookshops, and video stores to check out or buy anything that might further enlighten them on the conflict that so badly rent the nation. They also visited battlefields and other historic sites to get a firsthand feel for the places where the drama was played out.

As ambitious a project as The Civil War was, The West offered Burns and Ives an even more daunting challenge. As Ives observed when I spoke with him, the story of the West, unlike that of the Civil War, could not be told in a single narrative that encompassed all episodes. It was, he said, like trying to paint one of those Albert Bierstadt canvasses. You have to start with this epic scale, and yet you begin with small stories, foreground and backgroundintimate stories that are based on biographies, based on people, based on events. And ultimately, if you work with the canvas long enough, the larger picture becomes clear to you and is possible to be rendered. [We had] to find the small stories, individual stories, that added up to powerful, dramatic episodes that had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and then find how those larger pieces ended up creating one large narrative of the whole history of the West. More thoughts from both Burns and Ives on the making of The West can be found beginning on page 30.

Complementing the interview on the series are profiles of two of the many fascinating individuals who populated the West in the mid-nineteenth century. The life of the first, Jim Beckwourth, could not have unfolded anywhere but the American West. Like Buffalo Bill and other flamboyant characters, Beckwourth helped to blur the lines between myth and reality by telling outrageous tales about a life that needed no embellishment (page 36).

Seth Eastman, the other person featured, was a U.S. Army officer and an artist who, while stationed in the West during the 1840s, recognized how much the lives of Native Americans were changing and sought to capture much of their daily activities and culture for posterity. We are fortunate to be able to illustrate the article with reproductions of several of his works, which are part of an important collection purchased by Minnesota businessman W. Duncan MacMillan in 1994 with the intention of making them better known and more accessible to the public.

Margaret Fortier is the editor of Womens History and American History magazines and a historian with extensive experience in research and writing for historic sites and museums.
Late in the afternoon of July 2, 1863, on a boulder-strewn hillside in southern Pennsylvania, Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain dashed headlong into history, leading his 20th Maine Regiment in perhaps the most famous counterattack of the Civil War. The regiments sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meades Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat.

For many years, historians and writers have given the lions share of the credit for the 20ths dramatic action on Little Round Top to Chamberlain. Numerous books and even the popular movie Gettysburg have helped fuel adulation for the Union officer. But did Chamberlain really deserve the credit he received? Or, to put it another way, did he deserve all the credit? Answering that question adequately requires taking another look at the Battle of Gettysburg and the hell-raising fighting that occurred among the scattered stones of Little Round Top.

On June 3, 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee began the Army of Northern Virginias second invasion of the North. Lees main objective was to move across the Potomac River and try to separate the Union forces from Washington. When the Army of the Potomacs commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, belatedly became aware of the Confederates movement, he began to force-march his army north, trying to keep Lee to the west and screen Washington from the Rebel troops. On June 28, as the bulk of the Federal troops enjoyed a brief respite near Frederick, Md., Meade replaced Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Meade faced a daunting task. By June 30 Lees forces, including those of corps commanders Lt. Gens. James Pete Longstreet and Ambrose P. Hill, were marching on the Chambersburg Road in southern Pennsylvania, while Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell was leading his corps westward from York. Major General J.E.B. Stuart,directing Lees cavalry, had not returned to the main Southern column from his screening mission around the Union forces. In fact, Stuart would not return until July 2, a crucial error in judgment.

Lacking adequate intelligence from his scouting forces, Lee directed his army to gather at Gettysburg. The general did not want to fight at Gettysburg, but alert Union horsemen had reached the area  a fact that would put a wrinkle in Lees plans. When Confederate Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew approached the town leading a 2,584-man brigade that was part of Maj. Gen. Henry Heths division, he became aware of the Union cavalry force positioned there. Pettigrew withdrew his troops and then reported back to Heth. The next day, July 1, Heth headed toward Gettysburg with four brigades of infantry to drive off the reported Union troopers and secure the town.

To Heths surprise, waiting for him was Union Brig. Gen. John Buford, who had dismounted and deployed his cavalry on McPhersons Ridge, west of Gettysburg. Bufords forces fired first, temporarily halting Heths force and starting the Battle of Gettysburg. Both sides sent dispatches to inform their superiors of the confrontation. Meade reinforced his Union position with the I Corps, which was now led by Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday since Maj. Gen. John Reynolds had been mortally wounded earlier that day. Additional Union reinforcements came from Maj. Gens. Henry W. Slocums XII Corps and Daniel Sickles III Corps. Throughout the morning, Confederate pressure continued to build against the Union line.

Although spread thinly, the Union troopers held their ground with repeating carbines. As the fighting intensified, both sides added more infantry divisions to the battle. The Confederates managed to exploit weaknesses in the Federals deployment, and their attacks caused heavy losses to the Union troops, who were forced to retreat. Confederate General Ewells failure to carry out his orders and attack Cemetery Hill on the afternoon of July 1 wasted a golden opportunity for a quick, decisive victory. The Union had lost 4,000 men by that time  and the town of Gettysburg itself  but Meade quickly moved reinforcing divisions onto the high ground south of Gettysburg. The two armies spent a restless night.

The Union defensive line on aptly named Cemetery Ridge resembled an inverted fishhook, extending from Culps Hill on the north, down Cemetery Ridge and southward toward Big and Little Round Tops. Although the 650-foot-high Little Round Top was overshadowed by its larger neighbor, its position was more important because much of the hill was cleared of trees and it could better accommodate troops. Strategically, Little Round Top held the key to the developing battle. If the Southern troops could take and hold the hill, they could theoretically roll up the entire Union line.

On the morning of July 2, Little Round Top proper held perhaps just a handful of Federal soldiers. Pennsylvania native Brig. Gen. John W. Gearys division was aligned just north of the hill and was the largest Union force in the immediate area. Geary was ordered to rejoin the rest of his XII Corps at Culps Hill after elements of Sickles III Corps took his place. In the confusion of shifting troops, however, Geary pulled his men out too soon, before Sickles men had moved to replace them. Little Round Top was left uncovered. Later, when Sickles infantry did arrive, the controversial general moved his men, without orders, westward toward the Emmitsburg Road. Once again Little Round Top went wanting for protectors in blue.

Robert E. Lee, with his eerie sense of a battlefield, was hastily assembling a force to attack the Union left, but it would take him the greater part of the day to get his men ready to strike. Meanwhile, Meade also sensed something significant about the two adjacent hills to his left. That afternoon he sent his chief of engineers, Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, to assess the situation. To his utter chagrin, Warren found Little Round Top completely undefended. He hastily sent messengers to Meade and Sickles, requesting immediate assistance. Sickles, by that time hotly engaged with el-ements of Longstreets corps, had none to spare. But Colonel Strong Vincent, who commanded the 3rd Brigade of Brig. Gen. Charles Griffins 1st Division of the V Corps, received word from a harried courier about the threat to Little Round Top and led his men to the hill at the double-quick. Vincents brigade included the 44th New York, 16th Michigan, 83rd Pennsylvania and the 358-man 20th Maine under Joshua L. Chamberlain.

The 34-year-old Chamberlain was one of the most interesting figures in the Civil War. A highly cultured, somewhat sedentary professor of modern languages at Maines exclusive Bowdoin College, he had sat out the first year of the war on Bowdoins stately campus. But in July 1862, sensing perhaps that the war was going to last a good deal longer than he had first believed, Chamberlain offered his services to the Union cause. I have always been interested in military matters, he informed Maine Governor Israel Washburn, and what I do not know in that line, I know how to learn. He was given command of the newly formed 20th Maine, a unit comprised of extra men left over from other new regiments. It was not, Chamberlain noted, one of the states favorite fighting units  No county claimed it; no city gave it a flag; and there was no send-off at the station.

The 20th Maine had been organized under President Abraham Lincolns second call for troops on July 2, 1862. The regiment initially fielded a total complement of 1,621 men, but by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg the stress of campaigning had reduced the regiments ranks to some 266 soldiers, and the 20th was considered a weak link in Vincents brigade. Fortune, however, was to smile on Chamberlains regiment in the form of unexpected reinforcements.

On May 23, 1863, 120 three-year enlistees from the 2nd Maine Infantry were marched under guard into the regimental area of the 20th Maine. The 2nd Maine men were in a state of mutiny and refused to fight, angry because the bulk of the regiment  men with only two-year enlistments  had been discharged and sent home, and the regiment had been disbanded. The mutineers claimed they had only enlisted to fight under the 2nd Maine flag, and if their flag went home, so should they. By law, however, the men still owed the Army another year of service.

Chamberlain had orders to shoot the mutineers if they refused duty. Fortunately for the men of the 2nd Maine, Chamberlain was born and grew up in Brewer, the twin city to Bangor across the Penobscot River where the 2nd Maine regiment was recruited. The mutineers were not just soldiers but also Chamberlains childhood neighbors. Instead of shooting them, Chamberlain wisely distributed the 2nd Maine veterans evenly to fill out the 20th Maines ranks and integrate experienced soldiers among the untested 20th Maine. He sympathized with the mutineers and wrote to Maine Governor Abner Coburn, asking that he write to the men personally about the mix-up in three-year versus two-year contracts they had signed. On Little Round Top the 120 experienced combat veterans from the 2nd Maine brought the 20ths ranks up to 386 infantrymen and helped hold Chamberlains wobbling line together.

As he arrived on Little Round Top, Colonel Vincent chose a line of defense that started on the west slope of the hill. When the first regiments reached the rocky outcrops in that area, Vincent put them into line. The 16th Michigan took up a position on the right flank, and the 44th New York and 83rd Pennsylvania held the center. Later in life, Chamberlain wrote that his regiment was the first in line, but it actually took up its position last, curving its line back around to the east and forming the Union Armys extreme left flank.

The last thing Vincent told Chamberlain was: This is the left of the Union line. You are to hold this ground at all costs! Chamberlain ordered the regiment to go on line by file. He deployed Company B, recruited from Piscataquis County and commanded by level-headed Captain Walter G. Morrill of Williamsburg, forward to the regiments left front flank as skirmishers. Company B, with its 44 men, was subsequently cut off by a flanking attack by the enemy, leaving the 20th with only 314 armed men on the main regimental line.

Also helping to defend Little Round Top were Major Homer R. Stoughtons 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters, armed with .52-caliber breechloading rifles. These sharpshooters skirmishing abilities were unequaled in the Union Army, and a 14-man squad was attached to Company B. The men took up a position in a ravine east of Little Round Top.

Shortly after the Federals had taken up their positions, the 824 men of the 4th and 5th Texas regiments of Maj. Gen. John B. Hoods division hammered up the slope of Little Round Top, pushing toward the center and right of Vincents line. During that assault, Captain James H. Nichols, the commander of the 20th Maines Company K, ran to alert Chamberlain that the Confederates seemed to be extending their line toward the regiments left. Chamberlain called his company commanders together and told them his battle plans. With the new information from Nichols, Chamberlain ordered a right-angle formation, extending his line farther to the east.

Meanwhile, Colonel Vincent tried to rally his 3rd Brigade as the 16th Michigan staggered under the heavy assault by the 4th and 5th Texas. Just when the Federals were on the verge of collapse, Colonel Patrick ORorke led the 140th New York Zouaves into the gap to save Vincents brigade. Both Vincent and ORorke paid with their lives for their heroism.

Elements of Hoods division, the 15th and 47th Alabama, then began to smash into the Maine troops. Hood ordered these regiments, led by Colonel William C. Oates, to find the Union left, turn it and capture Round Top.

Twenty-five-year-old Color Sgt. Andrew J. Tozier of the 2nd Maine quickly emerged as an unlikely hero, and he was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery. It had been Chamberlains idea to elevate Tozier to the post of color sergeant for the 20th Maine, a move designed to instill a new esprit de corps in the mutineers. Color sergeant was a dangerous but coveted position in Civil War regiments, generally manned by the bravest soldier in the unit. As the 20th Maines center began to break and give ground in the face of the Alabama regiments onslaught, Tozier stood firm, remaining upright as Southern bullets buzzed and snapped in the air around him. Toziers personal gallantry in defending the 20th Maines colors became the regimental rallying point for Companies D, E and F to retake the center. Were it not for Toziers heroic stand, the 20th Maine would likely have been beaten at that decisive point in the battle.

When their ammunition had almost run out, Chamberlain decided to fix bayonets and charge down into the two Alabama regiments. Chamberlain later said he communicated his decision to counterattack to Captain Ellis Spear, the acting battalion commander of the units left flank. Spear, however, claimed he received no such orders.

Corporal Elisha Coan, a member of the 20th Maines color guard, claimed that 1st Lt. Holman S. Melcher, the acting commander of Company F, actually conceived the idea to advance the colors and that Colonel Chamberlain initially hesitated, fearing that it would be extremely hazardous. Coan said other officers joined Melcher in urging a forward movement.

Chamberlain  whose right foot had been pieced by a shell fragment or a stone chip  then limped along the regimental line giving instructions to align the left side of the regiment with the right. After Chamberlain returned to the regimental center, Melcher asked permission to retrieve his wounded from the front. Chamberlain replied, Yes, I am about to order a right wheel forward of the whole regiment. (Chamberlain himself claimed later to have said, yes, sir, in a moment! I am about to order a charge.)

Chamberlain ordered a right-wheel maneuver and took up a place behind Tozier. There is some disagreement about exactly what Chamberlain said to order the bayonet charge. One story is that he screamed: Bayonet! Forward to the right! Chamberlain claimed later that one word  Bayonet!  was enough and that it was vain to order Forward because no one could hear it over the noise. Nor was there time. Right wheel or Bayonet! Forward to the right was perhaps someones post-war idea of what Chamberlain would have said if time permitted. The state-appointed Maine commission that later gathered facts regarding Maines contribution to the Bat-tle of Gettysburg maintained that Melcher sprang forward as Chamberlain yelled, Bayonet! and that Chamberlain himself was abreast of the colors.

With all the confusion and noise on Little Round Top that day, if anything other than bayonet had been said it probably would not have mattered, anyway. An infantryman who is out of ammunition, faced with being cut down on the next enemy charge, and hearing the metal-to-metal sound of bayonets being put on en masse knows the intent of the upcoming order without actually hearing it. In all likelihood Lieutenant Melcher conceived the idea to advance the colors to retrieve the wounded, but Chamberlain expanded upon the idea, deciding to have the whole regiment conduct a bayonet attack. In doing so, Chamberlain exercised effective battle command.

After Chamberlain ordered Bayonet! the Union line hesitated until Melcher sprang out in front of the line with his sword flashing. Captain Spear said he never received a formal order to charge  he charged only after he saw the colors start forward.

The Rev. Theodore Gerrish, then a private in Company H, stated that Melcher led the men down the slope when the enemy was only 30 yards away. Corporal Coan said the men hesitated when Melcher ordered them forward because they were not sure if the colonel had sanctioned the attack. Chamberlain claimed there was no hesitation and said that the line quivered for the start. Captain Nichols wrote in 1882 that Company K never hesitated. Perhaps Company H did hesitate on the left because they were taking heavy fire when the charge started. Company K probably did not delay since the right side of the regiment was not experiencing heavy fire at the time. Most evidence indicates that Chamberlain ordered the charge, and Melcher was the first officer down the slopes. Melcher was an inspiration to the tiring regiment as he sprang a full 10 paces to the front with his sword glittering in the sunlight.

Another crisis soon faced the Maine soldiers when the left side of the regiment drew even with the right, short of its planned position. Melcher broke this momentary disruption by running down the slope screaming: Come on! Come on boys! with Tozier beside him and Chamberlain not far behind.

Great responsibility also fell upon Captain Spear, whose flank was to start the attack  otherwise the charge would not pivot and work to its fullest potential. But Spear gets curiously little credit for marshaling and organizing the tactics of the left flank of the 20th. Spear literally controlled half the regiment during the climactic counterattack. The lack of credit perhaps helped create the rift that later developed between him and Chamberlain.

During the charge, a second enemy line of the 15th and 47th Alabama tried to make a stand near a stone wall. For a moment it looked as though the Confederates might succeed in halting the Unionists and breaking their momentum. But, using the classic element of surprise, Captain Morrills Company B rose up from behind a stone wall and fired a volley into the Confederates rear, breaking the will of the enemy troops. Confederate reports showed that the Union company had been magnified into two regiments. According to Confederate Colonel Oates, it was the surprise fire of Company B that caused the disastrous panic in his soldiers. Chamberlain, for his part, wrote incorrectly to his wife that his regiment had been attacked by a whole brigade.

Chamberlain seemed to have been blessed with both good timing and luck. He not only had made the right command decisions but also had managed to survive when by all rights he should have been dead. An Alabama soldier twice failed to pull the trigger of his rifle because he had second thoughts about killing the brave colonel. Then a pistol aimed and fired by a Southern officer misfired only a few feet from Chamberlains face.

Without the private stand of Sergeant Tozier inspiring others to close up and bolster the sagging middle of the regiment, the Confederate attacks could have eliminated the 20th Maine as a fighting force. Toziers bravery sparked the 20th Maine and changed the course of the engagement. Without Tozier, there would not have been an opportunity for Chamberlain to attack.

Spear, who would later become a brevet brigadier general, believed that all the officers at Little Round Top shared in the battle fully and honorably, but that the bayonet charge was a success largely due to the spirit of the enlisted men. He was convinced that only the tenacity of the 358 Maine men had enabled Chamberlain to defeat Oates two Alabama regiments.

Captain Howard L. Prince, former 20th Maine quartermaster-sergeant, considered Captain Morrill the coolest man in the regiment  a man who had no superior on the skirmish line. Morrill led his unit at the decisive point of the bayonet charge without orders. His contingent created the impression of two regiments rushing through the woods, though it consisted only of 44 Company B soldiers and 14 U.S. Sharpshooters. It was this group that Oates believed caused panic in his men. Without Morrills up-front leadership, Chamberlains attack probably would have been spoiled and pushed back.

Others who merited more credit than they received were Gouverneur Warren, who conducted one of the best reconnoitering jobs of the war, and Strong Vincent, who unhesitatingly put his brigade on Little Round Top and rallied that brigade under intense fire until he fell mortally wounded. Colonel Patrick ORorke was also one of the heroes, as his 140th New York reinforced Vincents brigade and saved it from early defeat. Both Vincent and ORorke gave their lives at Gettysburg, and if not for those two men and others, Chamberlain probably would be remembered today as only a minor figure in a major Union disaster.

Ellis Spear later suggested somewhat bitterly that the abundance of articles written by Chamberlain himself indirectly led to Chamberlain receiving sole credit for the victory. Much of the primary information about Little Round Top does come directly from Chamberlain, who published 25 separate writings on the battle. Chamberlain also was a member of the official Maine at Gettysburg Commission and wrote the organizations chapter on the 20th Maine.

The problem with becoming a legend is that deeds may become distorted inadvertently due to commercial profits, hero worship and the sheer passage of time. Many American junior officers still look up to Chamberlain. Some take his deeds out of context, however, and mythologize him.

Chamberlains vivid personality overshadows the regiment that made him famous  even though it was the regiment that saved the day. There is a Chamberlain museum in Brunswick, Maine; Chamberlain Pale Ale produced in Portland, Maine; and a Chamberlain Bridge exists in Bangor, Maine  yet no commercial product commemorates the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry. Chamberlain overshadows the 20th Maine in the way that George S. Patton overshadows the U.S. Third Army in World War II.

The valorous defense of Little Round Top will always belong to the 20th Maine Infantry and to Joshua L. Chamberlain as the regimental commander. But after weighing all the evidence, it seems fair to say that without the contributions of the 2nd Maine Infantry, Andrew J. Tozier, Company B and Holman Melcher, Chamberlain clearly and convincingly would have been defeated. Strong Vincent, Patrick ORorke and Ellis Spear also deserve greater recognition for their contributions. Joshua Chamberlain deserves much acclaim, but not to the exclusion of many others whom history has so far  and so unfairly  underrated.

This article was written by James R. Brann and originally appeared in the November 1999 issue of Americas Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Americas Civil War magazine today!
FEATURES

A Shot in the Dark

As P.G.T. Beauregard took aim at Fort Sumter, neither side had a clue what they were getting into.

By Winston Groom

Opening Salvo at Fort Sumter

Our special pullout map lets you see how precarious Major Robert Andersons situation really was.

Lee, Grant and Their Steadfast Steeds

No self-respecting general would just horse around with his mode de transport.

By Ron Soodalter

The Teenage Terrorist of Roane County

The biggest thorn in the side of Yankees in western Virginia was a girl.

By H. Donald Winkler

Survival in an Alabama Slammer

Rats, lice, scraps and muggers. And did we mention the flood?

By Peter Cozzens

The One-Way Voyage of the Stone Fleet

The best way to cut off Southern shipping? More ships.

By Greg Bailey

DEPARTMENTS

Letters

Field Notes

Civil War news and history

5 Questions

Preservations go-to guy

Cease Fire

Virginias schizophrenic memory

Legends

Everythings bigger in Texaseven the consequences of surrendering

A Civil War Chronology

Prologue

Reviews

War news in the New York Times, a look at neo-Cons, and a tear-jerker

Struck!

Heres why you should always turn out the light when you leave home
Prunier pointed out in 1968 that Ho Chi Minh believed the U.S. would help him in throwing out the French and in establishing an independent country

Vo Nguyen Giap had long been retired from the military when he was feted as a special guest at a dinner in Hanoi in 1995. As the 84-year-old retired general surveyed the room full of Vietnamese and Americans, brought together by the U.S. Indochina Reconciliation Project, one man in particular caught his eye. It had taken a moment for Giap to recognize the American, since it had been 50 years since their last meeting. The American, however, immediately recognized Giap and, true to his nature, patiently waited. As he watched, Giap grabbed an orange from a bowl of fruit on the table, cocked his arm back, bent his body and then made a full motion as if he were lobbing the orange. It was the old generals way of telling the American that he remembered himformer Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Deer Team member Henry Prunierthis was the man who had taught him how to lob a hand grenade in the forest five decades before.

Since then, General Giap had gone on to lead the Viet Minh army in defeating the French in 1954. He later commanded the Norths Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Souths Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and its superpower ally, the United States, ultimately achieving victory in 1975. Giap is to celebrate his 100th birthday on August 25, 2011.

Prunier, meanwhile, had gone on to finish his military service in January 1946, got his college degree in chemistry and joined his familys brick and concrete contracting business in Worcester, Mass. It was a far cry from his days as an OSS agent in 1945 when, as a member of the secret Deer Team, he parachuted into Ho Chi Minhs base camp in French Indochina to help Giap and Ho train insurgents to fight the occupying Japanese armya force that would later become the veteran core of the Viet Minh and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). As the Deer Teams translator, fluent in French and Vietnamese, Prunier likely spent the most time in conversation with Ho and Giap, with the possible exception of the teams leader, Major Allison Thomas.

Because much of his work with the OSS has recently been declassified, Prunier, now 89 and the last living Deer Team member, found himself a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal in February 2011. Im really thrilled with the award of the Bronze Star, he told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. I never expected it.

French came easily to Henry Prunier. His grandfather was a French-Canadian who had emigrated to the United States. Raised in Worcester, Henry attended a French-speaking Catholic grammar school, then the Assumption Preparatory School, where he was taught by French priests.

I didnt want to get drafted because the military put you where they wanted, Prunier recalled recently, so in 1942 he enlisted in the Army, which let him finish his junior year at Assumption College. His background and affinity with languages got him placed in the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Berkeley to study Annamese, as the Vietnamese language was then known. The language was difficult, he recalled. It was monosyllabic with six tonal variations, and I had no musical background. To better acclimate the student-soldiers with their intended assignments, in addition to the language studyup to four hours a day, six days a weekthe coursework also included Vietnamese history, geography, political science and culture.

It was at Berkeley in 1943 that Prunier had his first encounter with the Office of Strategic Services. An OSS officer approached him and two others for a voluntary mission into Indochina. Prunier said all three turned the officer down after being told they would only have a 50 percent chance of coming out alive. Completing school at Berkeley in 1944, he was sent to cryptology school in Missouri, where he was slated to join an infantry division prior to the invasion of France. The night before he was to ship out, however, Prunier was ordered to go to Washington insteadto join the OSS. It wasnt voluntary, Prunier said, but at that point, he admitted, I was happy.

In addition to passing a battery of psychological tests, the rigorous OSS training sent Prunier to Californias Catalina Island for survival training and judo lessons. We learned to kill and eat goats and how to find and eat abalone, he said. His training complete, he boarded a ship in April 1945 with 3,000 other servicemen for Calcutta. From there, he flew over the Humpthe Himalayasto the OSS regional headquarters in Kunming, China.

In Kunming, the Deer Team took shape in May and June 1945 under the supervision of OSS Director Archimedes Patti. Team leader Major Allison Thomas, who had been an attorney in Michigan before working with British intelligence during the war, would be joined by Prunier, American radioman 1st Sgt. William Zielski and, to test if the insurgents would accept French assistance, a French officer and two French-Vietnamese officers.

Before the Deer Team parachuted into Tan Trau [formerly Kim Lung], no one knew the mission, said Prunier, other than that a Mr. Hoo was at Tan Trau and that we were to give training to his forces.

Prunier later learned that the mission originated when Ho Chi Minh met months before in Kunming with Lieutenant Charles Fenn, who wanted cooperation in rescuing downed Allied pilots and in sending intelligence and weather reports to the Allies. Fenn and the OSS also wanted intelligence on Japanese troop movements and weaponry. Ho agreed to help them in exchange for U.S. assistance for his nationalist force in Vietnam. Though the OSS was unaware of exactly who Ho was, they agreed to train his small band. The Allies thought the Japanese were using French Indochina as a jumping off point for southern China, Prunier said. Our job was to help resistance groups harass the Japanese. We were there to take out railroads, telecommunications, not to confront them face-to-face. We didnt have enough firepower.

The OSS initially intended for the Deer Team to walk the 300 miles to Tan Trao, where the insurgent training camp was. The Chinese, however, warned the OSS that the Japanese were waiting for any Allied forces along the border. Instead, each team member was flown individually in a Piper Cub into the town of Po Sah, about 50 miles from the Chinese border, which served as a communications center between Kunming and the drop zone in Tan Trao. On the morning of July 16, 1945, the six-member Deer Team boarded a C-47 for the drop, but the pilot failed to find white strips of cloth that were supposed to border the landing zone to confirm that the area was in friendly hands. Finally, after making the jump at dusk, Prunier, Thomas and the others gathered up their parachutes and watched as several dozen men advanced on them, not sure whether the men were Chinese or Vietnamese. Most were simply teenagers, Boy Scouts, as Prunier recalled, except for one older, shorter man wearing a white linen suit, black shoes and a black fedora, known simply to the team as Mr. Van. Only later would they learn his name was Vo Nguyen Giap.

Led to the village of Tan Trao, the team was greeted with a banner proclaiming Welcome to our American Friends. Prunier learned soon afterward that the banner had been prepared not by the Vietnamese but by two Americans: Lieutenant Dan Phelan, who manned the Air Ground Aid Station, which helped extract U.S. pilots downed in the area; and Frankie Tan, an American born in Bostons Chinatown, who was part of an espionage network working for Texaco that had been operating in Vietnam since 1944. They sold the intelligence they gathered to everyonethe U.S., the French, the British, Prunier recalled.

The training site was scarcely more than 200 by 300 yards with a dozen huts around the perimeter. The OSS team lived in huts on the mountain. There was a stream, and they directed some of the water in split bamboo for showers, and we got beautiful, ice cold mountain water, said Prunier.

When Prunier and the team first met Ho Chi Minh, whom they knew as Hoo, he was nothing but skin and bones, suffering from tropical diseases such as dysentery and malaria. Though Ho spoke fluent French, he refused to speak it and instead conversed with Prunier alternatively in English and Annamese.

Ho and Giap immediately distrusted the French and French-Vietnamese officers on the team and demanded that they return to Kunming. It took another week to get their American replacements into Tan Trau: medic Pfc Paul Hoaglund, weapons specialist Staff Sgt. Lawrence Vogt and Sergeant Aaron Squires, who was also a photographer. The last member of the team was Lieutenant Rene Defourneaux, a French expatriate who had become a U.S. citizen.

Upon his arrival, Hoaglunds priority was to treat Ho, who quickly regained his strength. Ho did not appear to be a typical military leader, though the troops treated him with reverence like a grandfather, said Prunier. He didnt impress any of us as a military person or future leader of Vietnam.

I had a conversation with him and told him I was from Massachusetts. Ho said, I remember Boston. The diminutive revolutionary had worked as a chef in London and New York, and aboard a cruise ship that stopped in Boston. One of the funniest things I saw was that he used stationary from Bostons Parker House hotel to write messages, said Prunier. He told me he spent time in New York City and was amazed at the freedom of the colored people and Chinese and Asians.

In contrast to Ho, Giap was far more involved with the combat training the Americans were giving, and was intent on learning the capability and effectiveness of the weaponry. Prunier thought Giap appeared to know dangerously little about the weapons. The 60mm mortar, for example, was a short-range weapon whose range could be changed by powder increments that were added on to the shell, said Prunier. Giap wondered how it worked, so he put his head at the opening of the barrel. I told him not to do that. He could have had his head blown off!

When the Deer Team began training Hos nascent Viet Minh army, according to Prunier the only weapons the insurgents had were musketoons (a musket more similar to a shotgun) and a few confiscated French guns. They were not armed well or able to handle weapons, said Prunier. The OSS dropped in canisters containing M-1 rifles, bazookas, 60mm mortars and light machine guns, just enough to equip the 80 men. The Vietnamese were eager and learned how to take an M-1 apart in a couple of hours, Prunier said.

In total, the OSS team trained the Vietnamese for only a few weeks in July and August. The team was able to provide Giaps fighters with basic combat skills, but, said Prunier, what they learned about guerrilla warfare was only after, because we didnt have time to teach them that.

Although the Deer Team was a military training unit and not a political training force, it became clear to Prunier through his conversations with Giap and the other Vietnamese that they had a purposeto get Indochina back as an independent country. We didnt know until then that Hos primary aim was to get rid of the French, he said. Pruniers proximity to Ho gave him a unique assessment of the man. Ho was a very quiet type of man, he said. He listened to everything you had to say. He would ask you leading questions and draw answers out of you. He was an intense person. When he spoke, it was about bettering the lot of his people.

In addition to Ho and Giap, this core group gave rise to at least two general officers, including Maj. Gen. Quang Trung, who would first vex the French and then the Americans during the Vietnam War. This particular group was a select group from all over Vietnam, said Prunier. They werent a ragtag bunch of farmers.

The Deer Team celebrated with their Vietnamese hosts when they learned of the U.S. atomic bomb attacks, knowing that the end of World War II was near. On August 15, Japanese Emperor Hirohito addressed his nation and announced that they would surrender, essentially ending the OSS mission in Vietnam. The following day, Prunier recalled, Ho Chi Minhs Provisional Government met in Tan Trao. We left that political situation, he said. We saw Ho, and Thomas made it a point to go say goodbye to him. Bound for Hanoi, Prunier said, the Deer Team went with Giap, Quang Trung and 20 to 30 of the Viet Minh soldiers into the jungle.

We bypassed several villages, Prunier recalled. Some of the Viet Minh soldiers told me that we had to avoid them. I heard the villagers were being co-opted by Ho to join him.

There were still a lot of Japanese in the region, said Prunier. Maybe they didnt realize or accept the war was over. On August 19, Giaps unit reached a Japanese garrison at Thai Nguyen. The Viet Minh, eager to practice what the OSS had taught them, planned an assault on the garrison. According to Prunier, the team was ordered by Archimedes Patti in Kunming via radio not to get involved militarily, not to accept prisoners, and to lay low. But that did not stop Major Thomas.

During the fight the OSS team was pinned down and Major Thomas did get involved, said Prunier. He didnt hesitate to tell us about it after the skirmish. A couple of Viet Minh were killed. I dont know how many Japanese were killed. Giap absorbed and utilized everything we taught him. I think they just wanted to prove what they had learned militarily.

After the engagement at Thai Nguyen, the OSS team was given a few guides, and Giap left with most of the other soldiers. The Deer Team marched another 40 miles to Hanoi, arriving on September 9. In the meantime, Ho had preceded them to Hanoi and declared Vietnams independence on September 2the same day that the Japanese formally surrendered to the Americans on the deck of the battleship Missouri. I was somewhat surprised and didnt expect that he would declare his leadership so soon, said Prunier, but we were in the dark on political issues. Ho had cited the American Declaration of Independence in his own declaration, and according to Prunier, he may have gotten the idea from one of his many discussions with Lieutenant Dan Phelan.

Prunier recalled Hanoi as a beautiful city, with wide boulevards and mansions, but as the Chinese had moved in, they were nothing but riff-raffa bunch of crooks. There was hunger in Vietnam, and the Chinese would loot houses in the city, scavenging.

Before leaving Hanoi on September 16, Prunier only saw Ho and Giap briefly. At this meeting, Ho presented a silk tapestry to Prunier in gratitude for his service.

Prunier then flew back to Kunming and was temporarily assigned to an intelligence unit there. A month later, he was back in Hanoi to help set up an OSS detachment headquarters, from where he was to work on cases of Japanese war crimes against the Vietnamese and French. Because there was little organization to the effort, he found plenty of free time to explore the city and located some of the soldiers he had helped train, including Thai Buc, a fellow translator in Tan Trau. He was like a brother, Prunier recalled. The OSS was disbanded in October, and in November Prunier was given his orders to return home to be discharged.

Henry Prunier was never debriefed by the U.S. government about his mission or about the insurgents he had helped to train in Vietnam. Though he did receive several invitations to join the Central Intelligence Agency, which was formed in 1947, he said, I just wasnt interested. Instead he opted to join his familys business in Worcester.

For the next 20 years, Pruniers mission in Indochina was largely forgotten as the nation dealt with global tensions of the Cold War. In the early 1960s, as U.S. involvement in Vietnam escalated, the old OSS training grounds were rediscovered, and stories of the Deer Team re-emerged. Even then, with Ho and Giap on the world stage as Americas archenemies, Pruniers experience with the leaders went untapped. Then, in March 1968, with more than 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, some of the Deer Team photos taken by Sergeant Squires were published in a Life magazine profile of Ho. A couple of people recognized me, so they contacted the local news organizations, Prunier said. In short order, he was interviewed by Worcester TV station WTAG and the Worcester Gazette.

It was during those interviews 43 years ago that Prunier offered what few people, if any, in the U.S. government could providefirsthand insights into the Vietnamese leaders when they were formulating their movements direction. When Ho spoke, it was about bettering the lot of his people, Prunier said. He wanted independence for them.He saw no contradiction in being a Communist and in hoping for a democratic way of life for his people.In many ways he was naive. Prunier pointed out that Ho believed the United States would help him in throwing out the French and in establishing an independent country. When it was suggested to Prunier that he contact Life about his story, true to his humble nature, he preferred to stay out of the national spotlight.

Prunier did do some public speaking afterward, but quickly ended it because it was not his intention to be an anti-Vietnam War activist. When I was interviewed in 1968, I got some nasty phone calls, he said. They thought I was a lover of Ho Chi Minh. I didnt love Ho Chi Minh. I thought the Vietnamese were a fantastic people and eager learners, but I didnt recognize any [of the group we trained] for being Communists.

As the U.S. war effort in Vietnam went from quagmire to ignominious retreat, Pruniers storyand that of the entire Deer Teamfaded further in the American consciousness. But that was not the case in Vietnam, where the assistance given to Ho and Giap in 1945 by the American trainers is hailed as a turning point in the countrys history.

In 1995 the U. S. Indochina Reconciliation Project, which had been established a decade earlier as a nonprofit group to help facilitate relations between the United States and countries in the former Indochina, offered an opportunity for the original Deer Team members to travel to Hanoi, visit the Tan Trao camp and meet the men they had trained half a century before. Two of them were able to go, Prunier and Thomas. It was during their trip to Hanoi that Giap recognized Prunier by displaying his grenade lobbing technique with an orange. I taught Giap. I was floored that he remembered me, Prunier recalled. He came up to me and just kept saying yes, yes, yes! Another Vietnamese soldier from 1945 grabbed him happily by the arm and cried, Prunier! Prunier! over and over. It was the first time that Prunier realized the Vietnamese held him and the Deer Team in such high esteem.

In 2009 Henry Prunier decided to offer all of his papers, photographs, sketches, reports and, perhaps most important, his U.S. Army uniform to the Museum of Military History in Hanoi. Upon receiving his contribution, the museum Director General Le Ma Leung, who was a veteran of Khe Sanh, called Pruniers donation one of the most significant historical contributions that the museum had ever received.

On February 23, 2011, when he received the Bronze Star Medal, Prunier recalled the days of his Deer Teams secret OSS mission in Vietnam. My contribution was small, he said, but the Vietnamese think it was great. And maybe it was. Maybe it had a lot of impact which we didnt realize.It was a small organization which was meant to harass the Japanese. We were not there to meet them head on, but to disrupt their communication system.

For a brief moment in time, in a land few Americans knew of or cared about, the United States played a key role in nurturing the independence-seeking band led by Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap. It was a historical type of thing that happened, Prunier said. I dont know how much impact we had, but I learned about the Vietnamese people.

Perhaps six decades after Henry Pruniers work with the OSS, the respect for the last living member of the Deer Team that is shared by the Vietnamese and Americans alike will symbolize a new understanding between two former enemies. H

Claude G. Berube teaches at the United States Naval Academy and has researched the role of the OSS Deer Team extensively.
During two years at an evacuation hospital in Japan as the Vietnam War raged, Dr. Ronald Glasser wrote 365 Days, an epic collection of searing combat accounts from the severely wounded that he met there. Finally finding a willing publisher in 1971, Glassers book was, and remains, critically acclaimed as one of the most important works of its kind. Getting similar praise 40 years later is Glassers Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds, A Medical Odyssey from Vietnam to Afghanistan which traces the evolution of combat medicine from Vietnam to today and offers an unflinchingly honest assessment of the true damage being suffered by the severely wounded troops, and the nation, in our present wars.

How did Dr. Glasser wind up in the Army?

It was like when Hot Lips in MASH asked about Hawkeye: I wonder how such a degenerated person ever reached a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps? Father Mulcahy deadpanned, He was drafted. Id always wanted to be a physician and went to Johns Hopkins and then to the University of Minnesota in 1965 for pediatric residency training. When I finished there, my Berry Plan deferment was up, and even though the head of the hospital I was at wrote to his senator asking that I get another deferment to care for the indigent, I was drafted in the summer of 1968. The Army was running out of everything, including doctors and Marines. At the induction center, I saw the draftees lined up and there was a Marine sergeant walking down the line saying, One, two, three, Marine. It wasnt necessarily a death sentence, but it was probably not where they wanted to be going. Marines were being killed in Vietnam then platoon by platoon.

As a pediatrician, your orders were to Japan rather than Vietnam?

My orders were for two years at Camp Zama in Japan to serve the children of military personnel, DOD and government officials. However, as we finished basic training, all of us who were not headed for Vietnam but who had orders for outside the United States were summarily given the option of extending our two-year tour to three yearsor being sent to Vietnam. I think everyone extended but me. As one guy in my detachment said to me about the risks: You know, they dont have to kill you. Have you ever seen a one-armed surgeon?

So you were prepared to go to Vietnam?

I wasnt married. I had nothing and I could not bring myself to extend another year just because I was afraid. Well, when I declined to extend, they seemed shocked and tried to talk me out of it. But it turned out to be a big bluff by the Army to get an extra year out of all these doctors. I ended up going to Camp Zama anyway, for just two years.

What did you find when you got there?

A whole new world. We had mass casualties pouring in, and the Army was sending non-surgeons into the operating rooms. When I was ordered inbeing somewhat elitist at this pointI had the nerve to tell our commander, Im a pediatrician and havent been in an OR for years. He didnt want to hear that. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, Thats OK, well just give you the little fucking wounds. I realized then that when they ask you to do something in the Army, they expect you to do it.

Who ended up at Camp Zamas hospital?

Everybody it seemed. One day on the surgery ward, as I looked around, I had this epiphany. My God, the whole war is coming here. I realized if I were in Vietnam, Id be with just one unit or at one hospital, whereas at Zama everyone except Marines were coming here, from LRRPs to chopper pilots, Special Forces, infantry, everybody, from everywhere across Vietnam, having the gamut of combat experiences and suffering from every type of wound.

What led you to start writing about them?

About a quarter of the way through my tour, Life ran a photo story about the evacuation chain in Vietnam. They had decided to follow a second lieutenant, a white guy who had graduated from Princeton, who had a slight hand wound. And here I am, reading this, surrounded by guys with transected spinal cords, penetrating head wounds, guys burned over 90 percent of their body, guys with no face. It was crazy and it just pissed me off. The country just didnt know what was really going on. This war was a lot more ferocious than anyone was willing to admit. I decided I needed to write about this, about who was really paying the price in this war.

How did you start 365 Days?

My first story was about a sergeant in the 9th ID. I asked him to tell me about what it was like in the Delta. I wrote it all up and a couple of days later took it back to him to review, because I wanted to make sure it was right, and found he had died. So I asked the ward master to let me know when the next guy from the 9th in the Delta came in. He did, and I asked the next guy to check the story. Some of my stories were edited by a number of patients. I ended up recruiting a technical adviser, a LRRP Ranger who was a patient. I wanted to make sure every detail was right.

How did combat medicine advance in Vietnam?

We took civilian trauma care to the battlefield. In any trauma injury, what kills is bleeding to death. The evacuation chain focused on the golden hour. If we could get you out to a surgical hospital in an hour, youd probably live. If we couldnt, and couldnt stop the bleeding, we just watched them die. In Vietnam, generally if you died, you died right there. The Vietnam casualties were 2.4 to each death. The medevac flew you to a surgical hospital and they fixed you up and stabilized you. There were huge advances in vascular surgery. Then, when someone decided you could survive four hours on a C-130, it was off to Japan. Thats where you stayed for an average of 30-40 days before going back to the States. The survival rate at Zama was very high.

You recount in your new book about seeing Max Cleland in Zamas ICU.

Max Cleland was sort of the poster boy for the evacuation chain, how he survived and got to Zama with both legs and left arm gone. The ICU was nightmare stuff, really. I can remember the surgeons asking themselves, Should we just let him die? But if you didnt bleed to death or get killed by infection, you were likely going to survive, like Cleland.

How was the Black Hawk Down incident in 1993 pivotal for combat medicine?

In Vietnam, the Army prided itself on saying anyone hit was no more than 10 minutes from the nearest surgical or evacuation hospitalcontingent, of course, on choppers getting in. Medics did what they did there because they understood minutes did matter, keeping soldiers alive long enough for the choppers worked in Vietnam. In Mogadishu in 1993, the choppers couldnt get in, the Rangers died. With that, the military realized it had to change the training of medics. It was time to change from triage to intensive care, to have the ability to keep the severely wounded alive where they were hit, with little chance for immediate evacuation. This requires big-time medicine; basically the city hospital trauma unit moves onto the battlefield.

What has been the key change and what is the consequence?

The use of whole blood rather than IV fluids and plasma to treat shock has made the greatest difference. That has made it more difficult to die on the battlefield than in any of our other wars in our history.

How have the enemys tactics themselves altered combat medicine?

The Taliban arent crazy, they know they cannot stand up against gunships, fighter-bombers, missiles. So when we switched to counterinsurgency rather than counter terrorism, requiring us to win hearts and minds, we had to put troops on foot patrols. The enemy realizes that if U.S. troops are coming into the villages, they can blow them up with what we call IEDs, improvised explosion devices.

And how has our defensive counter to this tactic worked?

Body armor is saving our troops lives now. Largely, they are not suffering the high velocity wounds as in Vietnam. I talked to surgeons in Iraq who were in Vietnam or very familiar with the types of wounds suffered there. They were shocked when they first pulled wounded off the choppers and took off the body armor and found not a scratch from chin to groin. In Vietnam, you were shot up. In Afghanistan you are blown up. Despite the severity of the new wounds, death rates have not increased. The casualty- to-death ratio is now 16-to-1. Injuries that would have killed in Vietnam are being survived. The amputations, wounds to genitalia and traumatic brain injury are the signature wounds today.

What are the implications of the recent findings linking PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI)?

The connection between TBI and PTSD is critical for everybody coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. If you want a medical diagnosis, you need a physical fact. The damage to the wiring of the brain has never been viewable until recently, made possible by the development of diffusion tensor imaging. A large percentage of Iraq/Afghanistan war vets diagnosed with PTSD could actually be suffering from TBI. It seems to me that much of the poor judgment and craziness associated with PTSD could easily be the result of a TBI.

How could that affect treatment, even of Vietnam veterans?

It changes everything. There are some in the VA system who believe all PTSD patients should be given a trial of anticonvulsive medication, which is effective for TBI. What if 80 percent of those diagnosed with PTSD are suffering from TBI? While PTSD is treatable, TBI would be a lifelong disability.

Why do you think 365 Days has been called one of the best books about Vietnam?

The most important thing about that book was that everybody whod been in Vietnam and read it gave it to someone to readso they didnt have to explain it.

As 365 Days was seen as a blistering critique of the Vietnam War, in Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds you have some harsh criticism of the present wars and how we are fighting them.

When the French government wanted to send troops around the world to fight their wars, they knew the French people would not let them send their sons. So they created the French Foreign Legion, filled it with foreign nationals and did just what they wanted to do. And the French population didnt care. In a sense, thats what we have done with todays volunteer Army. It has become our French Foreign Legion. Until there is conscription in the United States, the dialogue about these wars will continue to be flat and stupid.

Do you believe Vietnam vets have a special role to play in the debates about our present wars?

What happened in Vietnam and the truth about what was happening to the troops has been trumped in Iraq/Afghanistan by the insidious silence, the disinterest. No Vietnam vets I know ever thought we would be going through this nonsense again in our lifetime. Yes, we have an obligation. As far as explaining what is really going on, its up to us vets. That is the reason I wrote Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds.
It became a very emotional thing. I started to do drawings of Billy the Kid. It haunted me

For a Philadelphia native who had never seen the famed tintype of Billy the Kid until he was 59, Maurice Turetsky has become obsessed with New Mexicos most famous outlaw, rendering Billy in bronze sculptures, painted steel cutouts, and acrylic and pastel paintings. Visit the Lincoln State Monument and youll find Turetskys pastel portraits of other figures from the Lincoln County War, which launched Billy the Kid into Western history. Step into Due West Gallery in Santa Fe, and chances are youll find a new piece depicting Billy.

Unlike many artists, however, Turetskys fascination with his subject isnt just aesthetic or historical. Its personal.

Turetskys son, Josh, was just shy of his 24th birthday in 1995 when struck by a car in Japan and killed. The elder Turetsky and his wife had planned on moving to New Mexico, and after much soul-searching they decided Josh would have wanted them to follow Turetskys dream of painting full-time. In 1995 they moved to Santa Fe. Soon after, on a trip to Tombstone, Ariz., Turetsky bought photographs of Western figures.

The one picture that really caught my eye was that of Billy the Kid, and its the first time Id ever seen the image, Turetsky says. When I took it back to my studio, I did a little series of drawings of maybe six outlaws. Billy was one of them. Turetsky was working on a portrait of Billy when his daughter walked into his studio.

Thats Josh, she said after seeing her fathers painting.

It never dawned on me, he says. It became a very emotional thing. I started to do drawings of Billy the Kid. It haunted me. Turetsky found similarities between his son and Billy. He was ambidextrous, quick-witted, almost the same age, killed in the middle of the night and didnt even know it. All these things came over me. The last painting I did was the death scene of Billy the Kid, and I thought, Thats the end. But then I went back to the theme of Billy the Kid. Ive got some more ideas on Billy.

Interest in art began in childhood for Turetsky, who graduated from Philadelphias Tyler School of Art. He studied under the dean, Boris Blai, who had been an assistant to Auguste Rodin. Turetskys first influences were Greek and French sculptors and French impressionists before he discovered the American Southwest. He worked in Detroit in the design and health fields before turning full-time artist in Santa Fe.

He has almost this naivete, Due West Gallery owner Thom Ross says. Art to me is something where you interpret something that we both know, and you can see something in it that the vast majority of people dont see. It is a worthy subject of treatment.

Thats what drew Turetsky to depict the players of the Lincoln County War: John Tunstall, Alexander and Susan McSween, Lawrence Murphy, James Dolan, George Peppin, Colonel Nathan Dudley, Sheriff William Brady, John Chisum. His paintings of 31 key players from that 1878 conflict are on display at Lincoln State Monuments Anderson-Freeman Visitors Center.

Each one of these characters has a story behind them, Turetsky says, and I decided to do the portraits of these characters and try to convey the emotional feeling that these people had.

He does more than just Billy: Acrylic on aluminum cowboy hats. Southwestern scenes and landscapes. Sculptures of Indians (including busts of Geronimo and Chief Joseph).

I started to think Im going to do something with [George] Custer, Turetsky says. I tried to put my emotional feeling into Custer being a pompous ass. I want to go on and on. The remarkable thing that Ive come away with is that I grew up in Philadelphia and was transplanted to Detroit, but none of this history is on the East Coast. Its amazing. Im totally blown away by the lack of knowledge. All you get, really, back east is pilgrims.

To see more of Turetskys work visit his Web site.
In the mid-1990s, Jay Leno, commenting on the quick cancellation of Chevy Chases much ballyhooed talk show, offered words of solace to the comedian: By lasting five weeks, Chase at least had survived as a late night host longer than William Henry Harrison had as president. Such is the modern legacy of the ninth president of the United Statesa punch line. In Americas collective historical awareness, the Harrison presidency is usually reduced to a one-sentence summary: An aged war hero stood without hat or coat in inclement weather, made a lengthy inaugural address, caught pneumonia and died a month after taking office. On the surface, at least, this simplified version of events seems adequate. Harrison didnt have time to make an important contribution to the office. There were no court appointments, no acts of legislation and no political agenda to be carried on by a successor. The Supreme Court ruling on the case of the mutiny aboard the slave ship A mistadan action requiring no executive involvementis the sole event during his stint in office that merits mention in modern history books. Otherwise, the 31 days William Henry Harrison occupied the White House remain the forgotten days of a forgotten president.

Reconstructing the events of those days is difficult. Surviving newspapers of the era are more opinionative than reportorial. The last thorough Harrison biography was written three-quarters of a century ago. Yet accounts of the mans activities during his term do appear in the memoirs of contemporaries and in piles of documents researched by scholars. There are vignettes of Harrison buying a cow, greeting a delegation of Indians and escorting ladies to their carriages after Sunday services. While it is difficult to paint a detailed portrait of historys shortest presidency, a rough sketch of his last days is possible.

Harrisons Election and Inauguration

The first morning of Harrisons term in office began March 4, 1841, with the president-elect mounting a majestic white stallion to ride the length of his inaugural parade route. Organizers had arranged for a comfortable carriage to transport the 68-year-old ex-soldier, but he would have none of it. A crowd estimated at 50,000the largest to attend an inauguration since George Washingtonshad traveled to the capital to see the man they called Old Tippecanoe assume the reins of leadership amid military-like pageantry. Harrison, who loved nothing more than basking in the warmth of applause, would not deny them their wish. Riding his horse slowly, bowing with hat in hand, he took care to graciously acknowledge the cheers. The two-hour-long parade featured music, military drills and horse drawn floats. It was the elaborate final leg of a meandering multistate victory celebration that had started 38 days earlier in North Bend, Ohio.

That this affable man of average talents would make such a trip was scarcely imagined five years earlier. During his second term, incumbent Democrat President Andrew Jackson signaled he would not seek a third term and some Democrats began casting about for a fresh war-hero-as-statesman candidate to replace him. They found Richard Johnson, who, like Jackson, had gained fame in the War of 1812.

Colonel Johnson claimed that he had led the successful attack against the British and their Indian allies during the 1813 Battle of the Thames. The Whigs, a new political party organized to oppose the Democrats in the upcoming election, sought out Johnsons old commander, retired Maj. Gen. William Henry Harrison, 63 years old and living in Ohio. Initially, Harrisons assertion that he, not Johnson, had been fully in command at Thames was publicized merely to discredit the Democrat. The unexpected result, however, was that it created an excitement among the Whigs for a war-hero candidate of their own.

Harrison was 25 years past his first glory days, when, as the governor of Indiana Territory, he had led a militia force to squelch an Indian uprising at Tippecanoe Creek in 1811. This earned him celebrity and a nickname. Hed spent the years since that battle and his successes in the War of 1812 cashing in his fame on a succession of political offices. But hed proven mediocre, and, at the time of the 1836 presidential election, his star had fallen so far that the best he could do for himself was as the clerk of the Hamilton County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas. No one was more surprised by his sudden elevation than the man himself. Some folks are silly enough, he wrote to a friend, to have formed a plan to make a president out of this clerk and clodhopper.

The Whigs were so encouraged by Harrisons showing in that electionhe finished second to Martin Van Buren in a four-way racethat they ran him again four years later. The party repackaged this Virginia-born, mansion-owning son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a log-cabin-dwelling, cider swilling commoner. The Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too campaign, with its colorful slogans, songs, rallies and mass merchandising, was transparently superficial. But most voters didnt mind: Old Tip beat Van Buren in the 1840 election rematch.

Vanity was Harrisons weakness. Despite his self-deprecating assessment of his candidacy, he was a man who bought into his own hype. Throughout his campaign, critics had derided the general as too old and feeble to serve as president. The thin skinned Harrison sought to prove them wrong, even though they were right: He suffered a chronic digestive disorder and had lain near death from malaria seven years earlier. Regardless, he took great care at public appearances to project an image of health and vigor. This often meant appearing without cover or overcoat, as he did during his inauguration, a day when it pelted rain on and off while a brisk wind chilled bodies. It was just more of the same miserable weather that had followed Harrison from Ohio. He was possibly carrying a cold already. Riding horseback in the parade, exposed to the elements, only made it worse.

The procession routed the dignitaries inside the warm, dry Capitol, where Vice President John Tyler took his oath in the lower chamber. During Tylers ceremony, Harrison made his rounds in the upper gallery, receiving well-wishers and upstaging the man who, as events transpired, would fill three years and 11 months of Old Tippecanoes term.

Back outside, the old soldier stood on the Capitols east portico to address the crowd. Harrison had penned a lengthy speech during his travels. Ordered by his handlers to say little during the campaign, he aimed to use the address to unleash every thought he had about government and politics. Further, he angled to quell the perception that he was an intellectual lightweight. Pretentious references to the Helvetic Confederacy, ancient Athens and the Roman Republic filled his text. According to incoming Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who was shown the speech in advance, it had no more to do with the United States than a chapter in the Koran. Webster had pleaded for permission to edit the text before its delivery, and the president-elect consented. The secretary of state worked frantically, slashing copy laden with words such as proconsul. After this lengthy editing session, Webster appeared late for supper at his boarding house, looking exhausted. Asked if anything was wrong, he quipped: I have killed seventeen Roman proconsuls. Dead as smeltsevery one of them!

Even with Websters cuts, the 8,445- word text remains the longest inaugural speech in American history. It took Harrison one hour and 40 minutes to deliver. The partisan reports of the day were selective in their accounts. The pro-Whig National Intelligencer complimented it for its thoroughness. Anti-Whig papers pointed out that most of the audience members lost interest as the speech droned on and they began walking around and talking among themselves. After Harrison was sworn in by Chief Justice Roger Taney, a servant stepped forward with the new presidents hat and cloak. Only then did he properly clothe himself from the elements. A brief Senate hearing to confirm his Cabinet selections followed. Then, he remounted his horse and began the parade procession back down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

Arriving at his new home, he was feeling poorly. He rested upstairs for half an hour while his forehead was massaged with alcohol. Then he dutifully stood downstairs for three hours in a receiving line. Guests were disappointed when they learned the new president was too fatigued to shake hands and they would have to settle for a polite nod. The exuberance of the day gave him his second wind. He went out into the night by carriage to three separate balls, and created excitement when he danced at each. Not since George Washington had a president participated in the dancing at his own inauguration. The day ended late, and the new president was exhausted. Climbing into bed, he complained about not feeling well, but brushed aside a servants concern by saying, Its just a chill.

Days in Office

Harrison began his term less prepared than any man before him. In the early years of the presidency, Congress provided the chief executive a salary, a furnished home and little else. It was left to the individual to provide his own personnel and materials for maintaining the White House and the executive department. Stating his preference to give full attention to the pre-inaugural festivities, Harrison ignored advice given months in advance that he should have an administrative infrastructure in place before he took over. Other than selecting a Cabinet, he was content to begin his first day more or less from scratch. He would regret this decision. As many as 18,000 jobs were potentially up for grabs with the change of administration. Citizens who had a stake in these jobs had been pouring into town for weeks: Whigs looking for spoils, ex-officeholders hoping to resume careers after 12 years of Democrat rule, friends of friends bearing letters of introduction. This mob was waiting for the president as he began his first hour on the job. With no system in place to organize or screen these applicants, the White House hallways became a scene of mayhem. Whenever the president was spotted moving from one room to the next, the mob erupted with shouts, each individual desperate to be first with a request lest someone else beat him to it. It was Harrisons nature to want to grant each individual five or 10 minutes of his time. This press of humanity kept him from attending to all other matters during the day, and he and his Cabinet members found themselves working late into the evenings to keep pace with their workload.

The White House remained chaotic for the rest of Harrisons time in office. Witnesses recalled the sad spectacle of the president of the Unites States climbing a staircase to be seen and heard, pleading to the mob to show some consideration. Others tell of the day the hallways were so thick with petitioners that Old Tip, to get from one room to another, was helped out a window so he could walk the length of the building and re-enter through another window.

He had no one to blame for his dilemma but himself. Harrison craved popularity. He seldom said no to a request. Throughout his campaign and the post-election season, he had been handing out promises like candy. In many cases, the same job had been promised to more than one person. One White House dinner guest provided a snapshot of a president stressed by the pressure of meeting so many demands: The poor old man was bursting and fidgeting aboutrunning out three or four times into the dining roomthe dinner was scarcely over before the old man began giving toasts.

Adding to his worries was his own political party. The Whigs platform called for a weak chief executive who would defer to the will of the Whig-controlled Congress. In Harrison they believed they had found their perfect figurehead presidenteager to please, malleable and lacking in political savvy. Yet the new president was an ex-military man used to givingnot taking orders. In the first days of his term, he found himself pushed to a breaking point by the partys two most prominent figures, Secretary of State Webster and Senate leader Henry Clay of Kentucky.

Both Webster and Clay sought undisputed leadership among the Whigs and each angled to undermine the others influence with the new president. Getting their own supporters appointed to key administrative positions was crucial to each mans objective. Harrison was torn between his desire to give both men their due, and yet not provide ammunition to his critics who saw him as nothing more than a Whig puppet.

As a member of the Cabinet, Webster had an advantage, but he overplayed his hand when he tried an end run around one of Harrisons own appointments. The president had no choice but to reprimand his secretary of state, and he did so in front of the entire Cabinet, much to Websters humiliation.

More difficult was dealing with Henry Clay. As a fellow Westerner, the Kentuckian had used his influence to secure for Harrison virtually every political office he had ever held. Both men felt a debt was owed. After his election, Harrison confessed how awkward he felt to now be in a position of authority above the legendary statesman. Clay was offered his choice of any role in the new administration, but declined, believing he could wield more power by remaining in Congress and dictating Harrisons presidency from Capitol Hill.

Notoriously cocky, Clay had boasted to his Senate colleagues that for the next four years he essentially would be president in all but title. He provided the president with listsmore as demands than as suggestionsfor office appointments, and felt betrayed when it became obvious Harrison was giving equal consideration to Secretary of State Webster. Even more important to Clay, however, was using the administration to settle old scores against the party of his longtime nemesis, Andrew Jackson. Indeed, the guiding spirit of the Whig Party had evolved out of Clays unsuccessful challenge to Jacksons reelection in 1832. Now with his Whigs finally triumphant, Clay was like a kid waiting for Christmas in anticipation of dismantling the programs of the rival Democrats. Every chance he had he pressured Harrison to call for a special session of Congress at the earliest opportunity.

When the matter was brought before the Cabinet, they voted no, with Harrison making the tie-breaking decision. Webster had urged the president that such a session should be delayed until the divided Whigs could work out some basic differences, although the secretary of states higher motivation may have been merely to thwart Clays influence. Clay was appalled that the president had refused his suggestion. Like a professor correcting an errant student, the senator shot off a formal letter to Harrison, pointing out how the new president had made a mistake and, enclosing a draft of a proclamation that Clay had written, how he should rectify the matter. Harrison was indignant. You use the privilege as a friend to lecture me, he wrote back, and I take the same liberty with you: you are too impetuous. Much as I rely upon your judgment, there are others whom I must consult. Stung, Clay stormed out of Washington in a huff. Webster likely smiled at this victory, but, regardless of the Kentucky senators methods, Clay had been right: An early session was necessary if for no other reason than to address the economy. Two days later, on March 17, after other Cabinet members prevailed on the president to reconsider, Harrison issued a call for a special session of Congress to convene at the end of May. It would prove to be the only significant executive order of his term.

The Presidents Health Worsens

The Washington, D.C., of the mid-19th century was far from the urban metropolis it is today. The city was described by one contemporary as a great village, with houses scattered here and there. One did not have to venture far from the government buildings before encountering a rural hamlet. A quarter-mile away from the White House, on swampy land between 7th and 9th streets, were the so-called marsh markets, where vendors peddled fresh foodstuffs from the local farms. No one seems sure why the president himself went there several mornings each week to shop for the White House groceries. Some say it was a calculated move by the Whigs to project the countrys leader as a simple man of the people. Others suggest it reflected Harrisons unpreparednessthere was no one else to do the shopping. (This seems unlikely. Harrison had traveled from Ohio with a retinue of cronies and family membersthough not his wife, Harriet. She would wait to travel after the spring thaw.) More probable is that these excursions provided an opportunity to escape the madness at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Strolling with a simple shopping basket on one arm, the president invariably drew a crowd. But it was his kind of crowd ordinary citizens eager to gaze upon the citys newest, most famous resident. A contemporary journalist reported on Harrison as an elderly gentleman dressed in black, and not remarkably well dressed, with a mild benignant countenance, a military air, but stooping a little, bowing to one, shaking hands with another, and cracking a joke with the third. Many mornings he would invite a new acquaintance to accompany his return to the White House and share breakfast. Eventually, though, the office seekers began pursuing him at the markets. It seemed there were few places the president could find peace. Even his attendance at two local churches each Sunday was as much spectacle as spiritual.

The constant pressure from crowds, office seekers and politicians and a lack of rest were wearing the aged man down. Living in a 40-year-old leaky and drafty oversized house did him no favors, either. A rudimentary furnace system installed in the basement during the Van Buren years was not up to the task of warming the second-floor living quarters. A travel writer of the period recorded: [The White House] is built upon marshy ground, not much above the level of the Potomac, and is very unhealthy. All that live there become subject to fever and ague. This situation did not suit well a man who was trying to shake a cold.

Still, the exuberance of being president somehow sustained Harrisons energy. Accounts suggest a very visible, active executive. He kept true to his intention to pay personal visits to each government department. He held a reception for a corps of foreign diplomats. He posed for a daguerreotype, the first known instance of a sitting president being captured in a photograph. Most nights the White House hosted informal gatherings for family, friends and political insiders. Such occasions were described by participants as regular hard-cider affairs. Adhering to the old saw about feeding a cold, the president ate and drank copiously. Writers record him as talking loudly across the table, being full of obscene stories about war and lechery. Eyebrows were undoubtedly raised when Harrison gave dour ex-President John Quincy Adams a hearty slap on the back. Despite his Virginia Tidewater upbringing, 30-plus years of living in the Western states had apparently rubbed off on Old Tip.

President Harrison Dies

March 26, 1841, was the 23rd day of Harrisons presidency. There are varying accounts of his whereabouts that Friday morning. Some have him horseback riding. Others have him walking back and forth between government buildings or, perhaps, shopping at the marsh markets. Regardless of his activity, he was caught in a torrential downpour without cover, and returned to the Executive Mansion drenched to the bone and shivering. Although popular legend has Harrison catching his deadly cold while delivering his lengthy inaugural address, it is equally probable that this late March drenching was the catalyst behind the presidents final illness.

Attempting a normal workday, Harrison felt progressively worse. The following day after dinner, he finally conceded that his critics had been right: The duties of the office were too much for a 68-year-old, ailing man. A physician looked him over. The president was ordered straight to bed, where he was warmed with hot drinks and mustard packs. When his chill continued the next day, additional doctors were brought in.

In 1841 medical science had yet to establish germ disease theory. Instead, the prevailing wisdom was that a patients body needed to be purged of the internal malady that was causing illness. All too often the excessive cures administered by well-meaning physicians only made matters worse. This seemed to be the case with Harrisons doctors, who incorrectly diagnosed right lower lobe pneumonia. His bed shirt removed, the patient was propped on his left side and scalding metal cups were pressed, rims down, on his bare torso. As the cups cooled, a vacuum created suction that, along with the heat, produced blisters on the skin that were then lanced. The belief was that this would draw out the disease in his lungs.

When this painful remedy produced no improvement, the purging moved to other areas of the body. Doses of ipecac were given to induce violent vomiting. Castor oil and calomel were used to flush out his bowels. This only made the president weaker against his infection. In desperation, ancient Indian remedies were tested. A boiled mixture of crude petroleum and Virginia snakeweedan American Indian treatment for snakebiteswas forced down his throat. For his pain, he was plied with opium, brandy and shots of whiskey at regular intervals, all of which kept him inebriated. His speech became incoherent, his mind hallucinated. I cannot stand itI cannot bear thisdont trouble me, he was overheard moaning. It was not clear if he was referring to the doctors with their various remedies, or experiencing a delirious flashback to the persistent office seekers, who so recently had hounded him.

There was no official announcement that Harrison was ill. But the longer this very public figure remained out of view, the stronger the speculation grew. Curious crowds gathered outside the presidents home, awaiting any kind of news. A White House doorman offered unconvincing reassurances. Administration activity ground to a halt. Office seekers were put on hold. Government officials wandered the White House rooms, checking in on a bedridden figure who had trouble recognizing them. His family remained secluded, worried and in disbelief.

On Wednesday, March 31, the National Intelligencer printed a small news item with an optimistic spin, but like so much that had been written about Old Tippecanoe, it was pure fantasy. In his second-floor bedroom, his condition sank daily. Pale and too weak to move, Harrison sensed the end was near. Ah, Fanny, he moaned to a nurse on April 3, I am ill, very illmuch more so than they think me. Later that day doctors informed family members and government officials that the president would not live much longer.

After spending nine days in bed, William Henry Harrison passed away in the early morning hours of April 4, one month to the day after being sworn into office. The cause of death was recorded as pleurisy, but a post-mortem exam suggested that for all their efforts, the doctors had also induced hepatitis in their patient.

The United States was suddenly without a Chief Executive. Never before had the government needed to address the issue of succession in case of a presidents death. The Constitution merely specified that in such event, the powers and duties of the said officeshall devolve on the Vice President. The vagueness of this wording left the issue open to interpretation. Some Whigs believed it meant the office should remain vacant and the presidents chosen Cabinet should continue to govern by committee, with the vice president as acting President. Vice President John Tyler, to the outrage of many dissenting voices, took matters into his own hands: He ordered a judge to administer the presidential oath to him. There was nothing in the Constitution to argue either for or against this maneuver. Lawmakers realized it was necessary to clarify this constitutional oversight. Strangely enough, by dying while in office and forcing the debate on presidential succession to the forefront, President Harrison had made the most important contribution of his administration.

Harrisons Legacy

The news of Harrisons death was greeted with shock as it spread across the country. Many Americans still believed they had elected a sturdy, robust old warrior. Accounts of him vigorously astride his stallion during the inauguration were fresh in their minds. For some in Washington, there was a more philosophical take. Because of the fractious nature of the Whig Party and antebellum-era politics, some believed an early death had done the old man a favor. After the May 31 special session of Congress, called by Harrison before his death, a Virginia representative observed that had the president lived just another two months, he would have been devoured by a divided pack of his own dogs.

However, not everyone was displeased. Andrew Jackson, getting the news in Nashville, Tenn., was ecstatic. The ex-president, who had openly referred to Harrison as the imbecile-in-chief, saw it as a sign that God was likely a Democrat. Providence, he declared, had vindicated his own policies and protected the nation by removing a Presidentunder the dictation of the profligate demagogue, Henry Clay.

In Ohio, first lady Harriet Harrison had only recently received word that the president was ill. She was making hasty arrangements to travel to the nations capital when news arrived that her husband was dead. By the time citizens in the far reaches of the Western territories got the news, the man they called Old Tippecanoe had already been buried.
The Americans operating the radar at Lima Site 85 that night were killed almost immediately. Etchbergers team managed to escape the initial slaughter and take cover on a ledge at about 3 a.m.

Ping. Ping. Ping. Whoosh. Whoosh. It was March 11, 1968, and the incessant sound of automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades shocked the airmen manning Lima Site 85, a top-secret radar station located in the mountains of Laos. Theyd been attacked by the enemy beforewhen North Vietnamese aircraft had bombed them from abovebut this was something entirely new and unexpected, because machine gun fire and grenades meant the enemy was on the ground and getting very near. By the end of the day, the U.S. Air Force personnel at Lima Site 85 had been in the fight of their lives, and one of them, Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger, was dead after saving three of his fellow Americans.

So long kept under wraps, the story of Etchbergers extraordinary heroism in combat demands retelling now becausemore than 42 years after he was killedthe Air Force has finally awarded him the Medal of Honor.

In March 1968, Etchberger and 15 airmenalong with two CIA officers and a forward air controllerwere living at Lima Site 85 in Laos. This was a highly secret radar facility needed by the USAF to direct strike missions in Laos and North Vietnam. Since targets located deep inside North Vietnam were impossible to bomb during darkness and bad weather, the Air Force had built the radar site atop Phou Pha Thi, a 5,600-foot mountain in northeastern Laos. Just 15 miles from the North Vietnamese border, the station was critical to the success of Operation Rolling Thunder, the ongoing bombing campaign begun by the Air Force in March 1965.

The radar sites existence inside Laos was highly classifiedand the operation was arguably illegal. An international agreement, signed by 14 countries in Geneva in 1962, prohibited the stationing of any military personnel in Laos. The intent of the agreement was to preserve Laotian neutrality and prevent the armed struggle between North and South Vietnam from spilling across the border. But the North Vietnamese, who had signed the agreement, were already violating it by transporting supplies through Laos along the supply route soon to become known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Now, the United States, which had also signed the 1962 agreement, appeared to be doing the sameexcept that technically the Americans were actually complying with the agreement because there were no official military personnel at Lima Site 85. Etchberger and the other 15 airmen had resigned from the Air Forcein fact, they were honorably dischargedand were now civilians employed by Lockheed Aircraft Services. They would work at Lima Site 85 as civilians until their tour of duty was completed, at which time they would return to the Air Force and active duty. In CIA parlance, this process was called sheep dipping, after the chemical bath given to sheep to clean their wool prior to shearing.

Born in Hamburg, Pa., in March 1933, Richard Loy Dick Etchberger graduated from high school in 1951 and enlisted in the USAF a few months later. He liked being an airman and decided to make the Air Force a career. Etchberger excelled as a radio and radar maintainer, and his skills were rewarded: He was promoted to the highest enlisted rank, chief master sergeant, E-9, in April 1967.

Handpicked for the Lima Site 85 job (he was a ground radar superintendent), Etchberger traveled by helicopter to the secret radar station in Laos in November 1967. He was wearing civilian clothes and had no rank insignialike everyone else on the mountaintop base. In the months that followed, Etchberger and his fellow Americans used their talents with radar to direct more than 500 bombing missions in Laos and North Vietnam. But the North Vietnamese also knew almost immediately that, if USAF bombers were able to strike despite heavy clouds and poor visibility, it was because the Americans were operating a radar site near the borderand they soon moved to take it out.

Four North Vietnamese Antonov An-2 biplanes attempted to destroy Lima Site 85 on January 12, 1968, by dropping 120mm mortar rounds on the Americans. A CIA-operated Air America UH-1B Huey, which had ferried ammunition to the site, chased two of the makeshift bombers. A crew chief firing an AK-47 from the helicopter managed to hit both planeswhich subsequently crashed. This is believed to be the only time a helicopter shot down a fixed-wing airplane during the Vietnam War.

Their air attack having failed, the North Vietnamese returned with ground forces in March. After hundreds of soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) 766th Regiment had encircled the site, blocking any ground escape routes, members of the 41st Sapper and 923rd Infantry Battalions climbed Phou Pha Thi on the night of March 10-11. The Americans knew that the enemy was coming, but also knew that darkness precluded their being rescued by helicopter until morning. Lieutenant Colonel Clarence F. Bill Blanton, the senior officer at Lima Site 85, intended to destroy the radar equipment before being evacuated, but the North Vietnamese had other plans. Having come up the lone path to the site, they began a diversionary attack. In the meantime, 33 sappers, who had spent two days climbing the cliffs, hit the Americans with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The Americans operating the radar that night were killed almost immediately. Etchbergers team, which was resting nearby, managed to escape the initial slaughter and take cover on a ledge at about 3 a.m. However, the North Vietnamese soon discovered Etchberger and the six Americans who were still alive out of the original 19, and opened fire. Staff Sergeant Henry Gish was shot and wounded; he died after being wounded again a short time later. Technical Sergeant Donald Springsteadah also was hit and killed almost immediately. A third airman, Staff Sgt. John J.D. Daniel, was shot in both legs, but was alive. Captain Stanley J. Sliz was wounded and unconscious. As Daniel recalled in a recent interview, Everybody was either dead or wounded except Dick Etchberger. Though the Americans were in bad shape, those who still could fought back.

Despite withering artillery fire, Etchberger single handedly held off the attackers with an M-16 as he and the others kicked away the enemy grenades being thrown at them before they could explode. At one point, one fell out of reach for him to push it away with his arms, so Daniel pushed Gishs dead body onto the grenade to absorb the blast.

Using Daniels radio, he and Etchberger directed American A-1E Skyraiders against the enemy. They repeatedly bombed the site and the North Vietnamese attackers. As dawn broke, a CIA-operated UH-1H Huey managed to reach the stranded Americans. Ignoring the hail of enemy bullets pinging all around him, Etchberger carried Daniel to a rescue sling, and then he helped Sliz, who was now awake and sufficiently alert, to get into the helicopter.

Suddenly a fifth American, Staff Sgt. Bill Husband, who had been playing possum, jumped up and ran toward the helicopter. Etchberger, who had refused to be evacuated until the others had been rescued, now saved Husbands life by embracing him in a bearhug, and both men were lifted into the helicopter.

As the CIA chopper began to fly away, the North Vietnamese let loose a hail of fire. At least one round struck Etchberger as he was being raised into the aircraft or just after he had been pulled inside. He bled to death before he could reach safetyand medical carein Thailand. A total of 12 Americans had been killed, as well as 42 Thai and Laotian army Hmong personnel, but seven had survivedthree of them as a direct result of Dick Etchbergers gallantry.

Etchbergers extraordinary heroism was recognized at the time as deserving of the Medal of Honor. His chain of command recommended him for the decoration, and Etchberger was restored to active duty so that he would be eligible to receive it posthumously. When the award recommendation reached the Pentagon, however, General Bruce K. Holloway, the Air Force vice chief of staff, advised against approving it. Giving Etchberger the nations highest military award would reveal the existence of the top-secret radar site in Laos, and highlight the fact that the Americans had been operating it in violation of international law.

As a result, President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to award the Medal of Honor, and the Air Force instead presented Etchbergers widow with the Air Force Cross, the second-highest gallantry award, during a private ceremony in the Pentagon. She knew that her husband had been on a secret mission, as she had traveled with him to Washington, D.C., when he had undergone his sheep dipping. Still sworn to secrecy, she did not reveal the circumstances of his death even to her three children, who grew up believing that their father had died in a helicopter accident. Not until 1986, when the Air Force declassified the Lima Site 85 mission, did they learn the truth of what had happened to their father.

In 1999, historian Timothy Castles book One Day Too Long detailed the extraordinary events of March 10-11, 1968, and revealed that it was at Lima Site 85 that the Air Force had suffered its largest single ground combat loss of the Vietnam War. Soon thereafter, a group of retired Air Force veterans requested that Etchbergers Air Force Cross be upgraded to the Medal of Honor for which he had originally been recommended.

While Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley favored the upgrade, the problem was that special legislation was needed to waive the two-year time limit that ordinarily applies to Medal of Honor recommendations. Congressman Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, who represents a district where Etchberger and his family were once stationed, and whose office had submitted the original Medal of Honor upgrade package to the Air Force in 2006, pushed hard for the legislation, and it passed the Congress in late 2008.

On September 21, 2010, more than 42 years after the attack on Lima Site 85 that cost Etchberger his life, his three sons received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. His citation for the medal explains how Etchberger repeatedly and deliberately risked his own life, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to place three surviving comrades into rescue slings hanging from the hovering helicopter. Then, about to reach safety himself, Etchberger was fatally wounded by enemy ground fire.

Dick Etchbergers gallantry, self-sacrifice and profound concern for his fellow airmen has not been forgotten. As President Obama said in his remarks at the White House: Even though it has been 42 years, its never too late to do the right thing. Its never too late to pay tribute to our Vietnam veterans and their families. John Daniel, who was the lone Lima Site 85 veteran to attend the White House ceremony, put it slightly differently: Etchberger, said Daniel, was one hell of an NCO.

Etchbergers Medal of Honor is extraordinary on another count: It is the first Medal of Honor to an individual serving in the highest enlisted grade in any service. No other E-9 has been awarded the decoration while serving as a sergeant major (Army and Marine Corps), master chief petty officer (Navy), master gunnery sergeant (Marine Corps) or chief master sergeant (Air Force).

Author Fred Borch retired after 25 years of active duty as an Army lawyer and is the now the regimental historian and archivist for the Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps. His latest book, For Military Merit: Recipients of the Purple Heart, was published in 2010 by Naval Institute Press.
For most general officers, a headline-making victory accompanied by the abject surrender of an entire enemy army, such as Ulysses Unconditional Surrender Grant accomplished at Fort Donelson in February 1862, would have been quite enough for one career. But Grant would make the most of two more opportunities for practicing the art of surrender, starting 17 months later at Vicksburg. This fortress city was the key to the Mississippi River and very nearly the last Confederate holdout on the Father of Waters by 1863. Federal assaults  two by the Navy and one by the Army  had been turned back three times in 12 months. After mid-May, the town was under siege, with no relief in sight.

Finally, on the morning of July 3, Confederate General John C. Pemberton sent a dispatch through the lines under a flag of truce asking for an armistice and a conference to discuss terms of capitulation. What he had in mind was a traditional negotiating session between commissioners from the respective sides, a process that could drag out for days or even weeks. At the time Grant was preparing for a major assault on the citys fortifications and believed a successful military resolution of the siege was in sight. The Confederate communique was carried by Maj. Gen. John Bowen, chosen specifically because he and Grant had been friends back in Missouri before the war. Bowen was first taken to Union Maj. Gen. James McPherson, who unlike Brig. Gen. C.F. Smith at Fort Donelson, sent the Confederate representative on without comment to Grants headquarters.

In his dispatch, Pemberton spouted the usual rhetoric about wishing to save the further effusion of blood and how long he could continue to hold out, but Grant would have none of it. He did not need Smith to advise him this time. His reply was blunt and identical in essence to what he had told Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner at Fort Donelson: The useless effusion of blood you propose stopping by this course can be ended at any time you may choose by an unconditional surrender of the city and the garrison. The words unconditional surrender came naturally to him now, but he cushioned the harshness of his response by telling Bowen, I can assure you you will always be treated with all the respect due to prisoners of war. He added that he was opposed to the idea of appointing commissioners for the simple reason that I have no terms other than those indicated above, and offered instead to meet Pemberton between the lines that very afternoon.

As at Donelson, old fraternal ties interjected themselves into the proceedings from the start. Not only was Bowen a personal friend of Grants, but Pemberton and Grant had served in the same division in Mexico. When the two commanders met on the Jackson Road a little after 3 p.m., Grant greeted Pemberton as an old acquaintance. The warm greeting did not cover up their differences. Pemberton came in full dress uniform, while Grant, following the pattern established at Fort Donelson, wore his usual fatigue dress under a field jacket. Bowen accompanied Pemberton to add the weight of his influence, while Grant brought along a full house of corps and division commanders plus assorted staff officers. There was no small talk between the two principals on this occasion. Pemberton was sensitive about the position he found himself in and full of bluster, while Grant was his usual taciturn self, showing no emotion while he chewed on an unlit cigar. With nothing but an empty field to host their discussion, the two senior officers sat down on camp chairs. Pemberton misinterpreted Grants casual dress and boyish tugging at the grass beneath his chair as signs of weakness. The Southerner stiffly asked for terms, while Grant took time out from his cigar long enough to reiterate his stock answer  that he had no terms to offer but unconditional surrender. At that, Pemberton sniffed, If this is all you have to offer, the conference might as well end, and prepared to mount his horse. Grant refused to be intimidated and would have let Pemberton go except that Bowen intervened to suggest that the two commanders go off and chat while their lieutenants talked things over. After 30 minutes the subordinates were back with a proposal pushed by Bowen, whose key point was that the garrison be paroled, not incarcerated as POWs. On top of that, they would be allowed to march out with their small arms, artillery and all the honors of war. Grant flatly rejected the proposal, and that ended the meeting. However, Grant promised to contact Pemberton again with his final terms by 10 oclock that evening.

Back at his headquarters, Grant mulled over the parole issue, talking to his senior officers informally. This was the nearest approach to a council of war I ever had, he would later say. Initially, he was totally opposed to the idea of parole, but he allowed his officers to change his mind, and his communique to Pemberton that night contained terms that must have made Pemberton and Bowen smile: As soon as the rolls can be made out, and paroles be signed by officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines, the officers taking with them their side-arms and clothing. The rank and file will be allowed their clothing but no other property.

Obviously, Grant had become less accommodating since Fort Donelson. The mass of Confederates would be allowed to take with them only the clothes on their backs. His decision to parole the Confederates was probably influenced by the prospect that sticking to his unconditional surrender dictum would mean feeding and transporting some 30,000 POWs. Remembering the problems created by shipping some 15,000 prisoners into captivity after Donelson, Grant agreed to parole. He was also looking ahead to the day the war would be over, and was trying to do everything possible to avoid bitter feelings. Unnecessarily humiliating a defeated enemy would certainly foster bitter feelings.

Grants terms for his latest unconditional surrender went off to Pemberton before 10 p.m. as promised. He gave the Confederate commander until 9 oclock the following morning to decide. After that, the armistice was over. Before dawn, the Confederate commanders reply came back: He was willing to surrender Vicksburg on Grants terms. The hopelessness of his situation plus Grants concession on the parole issue were the deciding factors, but he did ask for a few additional concessions of more symbolic than substantive importance. First, would Grant allow the Confederates to march out of their defenses and stack their arms and regimental colors in a formal ceremony? Second, would he allow officers to retain their personal property? And third, would he respect the rights and property of Vicksburgs citizens? On all of these matters, Pemberton was only following the script laid out by Buckner at Donelson, trying to finagle a few last-minute concessions.

Grant, ever the conciliator, was willing to go along with the first request out of respect for the citys defenders who had fought so long and so hard, but he interpreted the second and third points to be thinly veiled references to slaves and emphatically rejected them both. All this led to yet another exchange of communiques, which, since Grant insisted on handling all negotiations personally, kept him up all night and wore out horses sending couriers back and forth. Dawn was coming on before Pemberton gave up trying to wring concessions out of Grant and capitulated completely. The surrender would go forward.

At 10 oclock on Independence Day, the Confederate commander ordered the Stars and Stripes raised over the Vicksburg battlements. After that, white flags appeared all along the eight miles of Confederate trenches. The two commanders scheduled one final meeting to sign the necessary documents. After Union troops had officially taken possession of the shattered city, Grant and his staff rode into Vicksburg under a white flag and headed for Pembertons headquarters in one of the citys old antebellum mansions. Unlike the congenial meeting with Buckner at Donelson aboard New Uncle Sam, this encounter crackled with tension. Pemberton and his officers were rude from the beginning, failing to offer Grant a seat or even fetch him a drink of water when he asked for it. Grant was unperturbed, however, telling one of his staff who bridled at the treatment, Well, if Pemberton can stand it, under the circumstances, I can [too].

Grant on this occasion was not without his famous surrender prop: During the discussion and while the final terms were being drawn up by secretaries, he enjoyed a cigar with his usual composure. Whether he smoked on this occasion out of habit or for effect is impossible to say, but either way it caught the attention of the Southerners present. The Vicksburg newspaper commented on it in its last Confederate edition: We pardon General Grant for smoking a cigar as he entered the smouldering ruins of the town of Vicksburg. A little stage effect is admirable in great captains. This, Grants second mass surrender, was also easier than Fort Donelson in the details. Being a major general with a full staff allowed him to leave transcribing and proofreading duties to others.

Following the signing of documents, Grants next stop was Admiral David Porters flagship, sitting in the river below the town, to share the good news. While all around him Union officers celebrated with cheers and toasts, Grant sat calmly lost in his own thoughts.

Later that day, Confederate troops marched out to stack their colors and muskets while Union troops looked on from their own lines. Word had gone out, and the Northern boys were respectful. There was scarcely a cheer heard and no exulting in the shame of their opponents. In fact, an almost reverential silence hung over the battlefield. Grant would not have had it any other way.

At Vicksburg Grant was on top of things from the outset. He did not have to deal with self-serving subordinates as he did at Fort Donelson. But as at Donelson, he first demanded unconditional surrender, then showed that his ultimatum could be very flexible indeed. Again he showed concern for Johnny Rebs feelings, but he was less comfortable than he had been 17 months earlier with the idea of paroling men who were just a broken promise away from shooting at him again in the near future.

Twenty-one months later at Appomattox, when fate gave him a third chance to dictate peace terms, he had the routine down to an artform: officially, no negotiations; privately, flexibility; compassion for the foe; pragmatism and informality in the details.

By 1865, Grant was war-weary and desirous of bringing the long conflict to a close. He recognized that the Army of Northern Virginia, which virtually was the Confederacy by that point, was on the ropes and looking for an honorable way to surrender. On the afternoon of April 7, Grant told Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright, I have a great mind to summon Lee to surrender. He wrote a note to Lee not so much summoning as asking the Virginian to capitulate, and he used familiar words, stating his desire to prevent any further effusion of blood. He entrusted the note to Lt. Col. Orville Babcock, who went off to find Lee and deliver the message. Lees courteous and exquisitely polite response came back a few hours later, agreeing that it would be nice to avoid the useless effusion of blood, but without conceding that further Confederate resistance was hopeless. He asked for Grants terms, beginning a diplomatic pas de deux that would hopefully end in peace.

As at Donelson and Vicksburg, ties of friendship from prewar days played a role in bringing the principals together. Lee knew Grant only by name and reputation. While awaiting Grants reply, Lee confided to his old warhorse, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, that he was concerned Grant might demand stiff terms. Longstreet, who had been a year ahead of Grant at West Point and considered himself an intimate friend, believed that the Northerner would impose only such terms as Lee himself would if the roles were reversed. This reassurance went a long way toward putting Lees mind at ease that Grant was a man he could work with.

Grants response the next morning set just one condition: that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified [from] taking up arms again, against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. Since Vicksburg, the two sides had terminated the parole cartel that was in place from 1861-63, but an ad hoc revival of that agreement was exactly what Grant was proposing now. He also deviated from his previous opposition to appointing commissioners by telling Lee, I will meet you or will designate Officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received. In this, his last surrender negotiation, most of the detail work was ultimately done by commissioners, who arranged the stacking of arms, the transfer of property and a formal ceremony.

Grant did not threaten dire consequences if Lee refused his offer, as he had done with Buckner at Donelson, but it was his intention to keep pushing the Confederates, hopefully toward the peace table, until terms are agreed upon. Having determined each others whereabouts and willingness to talk, both commanders kept the lines of communication open. Lee blinked first. Late on the night of April 8-9, he sent a dispatch proposing a face-to-face meeting the next morning, albeit for the sole purpose of exploring terms. Grant ignored Lees stubborn refusal to use the word surrender in any of his communications to this point, but he kept the pressure on by waiting several hours before composing a reply. In it he accepted the desirability of a face-to-face meeting while making it clear that he was only authorized to discuss terms for the Army of Northern Virginia to lay down their arms. At 11 a.m., while Grant was inspecting his lines, Lees reply caught up with him. For the first time, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia used the fateful words, speaking of the surrender of this army and requesting an interview with Grant to that end. It was the turning point.

Grant and Lee let their staffs arrange the meeting place, but this time it would be neither commanding generals headquarters. The agreed-upon neutral ground was Wilmer McLeans home in the village of Appomattox Court House. Grant took along his personal staff, plus Generals Philip Sheridan and O.C. Ord. Grant arrived at the meeting place after Lee, and per his habit wore a field uniform, mud-spattered boots and no sword. Lee, accompanied by a single aide, Colonel Charles Marshall, was dressed to the nines. The two men greeted each other cordially, not because they were old friends, but because it was the nature of both. The tension in the room was a product of the situation, not of either commanders behavior.

Grant followed the same script he had with Buckner and Pemberton, starting the discussions by making small talk that recalled happier days when they had fought on the same side. It was Lee who finally brought the conversation around to business. He asked what terms Grant was offering. This was Grants opportunity to demand unconditional surrender, but instead he adopted a more conciliatory approach. Confederates must lay down their arms and go home, promising not to take up arms again unless they were properly exchanged. Those terms were acceptable to Lee, and the conversation wandered off the subject once more, as though the two commanders were relieved at having found common ground for settling this unpleasant business. At some point Grant lit up one of his ever-present cigars and puffed away. Lee again reined the conversation in when he suggested that Grant commit the terms to paper. Grant, taking on the role of corresponding secretary for the two of them, took pen in hand and, after thinking for a few moments, began to write in his order book, not in the flowery rhetoric reserved for historic documents but in clear, simple prose.

Lees ornate sword was very much on Grants mind during the meeting, leading him to the thought that it would be an unnecessary humiliation to require [Confederate] officers to surrender their swords, and so that was omitted from the terms. Along the same lines, he decided to let Lees officers keep their side arms, horses and personal baggage. Unlike at Vicksburg, he no longer believed that personal baggage could be construed to include slaves.

He did exceed his military authority when he wrote that each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes not to be disturbed by U.S. authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. Here, Grant was on thin ice, but he had the confidence of knowing the president felt the same way. He also had the imposing authority of his own immense reputation to reinforce his language. In other words, he had little fear of being overruled by the politicians in Washington.

The final document came to two pages of scrawled talking points. Grant reviewed what he had written, then passed it over to Lee for his perusal. The Southerner read silently until he came to the last two sentences. Then he looked up, visibly relieved, and complimented Grant, saying, This will have a very happy effect upon my army. The only substantive change Lee asked for was that not just officers but men also be allowed to keep their horses, explaining that Southern soldiers brought their own animals when they joined the army. Grant refused to alter the wording of the surrender draft, but said he would issue instructions to provost marshals to permit paroled Southerners to take their horses and mules with them. This concession likewise pleased Lee, who remarked: This will have the best possible effect upon the men. It will be very gratifying, and will do much toward conciliating our people.

With the last details worked out, Grant passed the order book over to Ely S. Parker, his military secretary, to draw up an official copy of the agreement. Even as Parker was transcribing an official copy, Grant continued to make concessions. When Lee commented that his commissary provisions had not kept up with the army, Grant promised to send over 25,000 rations.

Some two hours after Grant had walked through the door into Wilmer McLeans parlor, the surrender was done. Despite Lees presence, the entire thing from start to finish had been pure Grant. Charles Marshall, Lees aide, called it the simplest, plainest, and most thoroughly devoid of any attempt at effect that you can imagine. The two commanders stood and solemnly shook hands one more time, then walked out to their horses. The final act was anticlimactic but revealing of the high regard Grant held Lee in, as opposed to either Buckner or Pemberton: After Lee mounted his horse, and just before he turned to ride out of the yard, Grant lifted his hat in informal salute, and his officers quickly followed suit. Without hesitation, Lee returned the gesture.

Back at his headquarters, when Grant heard the bluecoats begin to cheer and fire off their guns, he issued orders to his officers to stop such celebrating immediately. The war is over, he said; the Rebels are our countrymen again. A little later, he sat down on a large rock and composed a simple telegram to the War Department notifying them what had transpired. As at Donelson and Vicksburg, he refrained from tooting his own horn except to note that the surrender was on terms proposed by myself.

Grant proved himself a master of the art of surrender by developing certain distinctive techniques in his approach to negotiation. First and foremost, he was never vengeful or vindictive. While others wanted a pound of flesh, Grant wanted peace. Compassion and magnanimity were always his watchwords, even when others occasionally took advantage of those traits. Porter Alexander, the reknowned Confederate artillerist, credited Grant with a great and broad and generous mind. Second, he knew how to gain the upper hand with his famous pronouncement of unconditional surrender, but once he had the upper hand, he showed himself willing to negotiate generous terms within reason. He favored personal, informal negotiations over the use of commissioners to hammer out surrender terms. Having secured his enemys capitulation, he eschewed all pomp and circumstance, which meant skipping stylized ceremonies if at all possible. (At Appomattox the surrender ceremony was set up by subordinates.) Yet he insisted on an unequivocal act of surrender that could not be twisted by a defeated enemy later. For example, at Appomattox he would not let Confederates simply drop their rifles and walk away. On every occasion, his simple modesty shone through; none of the men who surrendered to him had any reason to feel bitterness toward Grant personally.

Grant was ever the pragmatist. He was not afraid to break new ground in setting terms and even to exceed his authority if he believed the rewards justified it. He fed the hungry soldiers at Fort Donelson and Appomattox, paroled the defeated garrison of Vicksburg and the remnants of Lees army at Appomattox, allowed the rank and file to take their horses home after Appomattox and promised there would be no reprisals or show trials of members of the Army of Northern Virginia while he was calling the shots. These were things that no victorious American general had ever done before.

Finally, Grant always kept one eye on the future when negotiating the surrender of an enemy force. He looked toward the postwar era and eventual reconciliation, and thus he was able to begin healing the wounds of war even while the war was still raging. Among American military commanders, Ulysses S. Grant was truly one of a kind in his instinctive understanding of the art of surrender. Porter Alexanders comment about Appomattox might well be applied equally to Vicksburg and Fort Donelson: For all time it will be a good thing for the whole United States that, of all the Federal generals, it fell to Grant to receive the surrender of Lee.

This article was written by Richard F. Selcer and originally published in the January 2007 issue of Civil War Times Magazine. Part 1 of this article appeared in the January 2007 issue. For more great articles, be sure to subscribe to Civil War Times magazine today!
Despite the fact that Arctic sea ice is melting, a persistent growth of sea ice is observed in Antarctica. Now, researchers supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claim to have found the answer for the differences in the ice sheet coverage between these two regions.

Arctic sea ice has reached an all-time low and thinned by 65 percent between the years 1975 and 2012. However, Antarctica has shown gains in sea ice coverage despite continued concerns over global warming and glacier melting.

In the current study, the team examines temperature, topographical and bathymetric data to identify why Antarctica's ice is being preserved. They discovered that local ocean depth and continental surface temperatures influence the region's wind and ocean currents, which sustains the production and protection of sea ice. Conversely, conditions in the Arctic are conductive to the ongoing melt that it is currently experiencing.

"Our study provides strong evidence that the behavior of Antarctic sea ice is entirely consistent with the geophysical characteristics found in the southern polar region, which differ sharply from those present in the Arctic," said Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and first author of the study.

NASA's QuikScat satellite provided data that allowed the team to get a look at the formation and routes of Antarctic sea ice and the various types of ice coverage in the Southern Ocean. The team concluded that the winds push building ice out and around the continent from June to September, which is sea ice growth season. The result is a "Great Shield" zone (GSZ) that protects young interior ice.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Arctic's marginal ice zone (MIZ), which is a boundary of thin, new ice that is easily disturbed by wind and waves. Furthermore, it experiences warmer waters more often than the GSZ, which explains the region's ice conditions.

Despite the persistent growth of sea ice in Antarctica, global warming and climate change are still causing record high global temperatures and melting glaciers, and scientists are still worried that the continent could be at a risk of ice loss. Further research should be conducted into the protective ice zones of Antarctica and the Arctic in order to better understand polar ice production and melting.

The findings were published in the May 11 issue of the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today announced that Le Meridien Versailles in Montreal has completed a comprehensive renovation of the intimate 108-guestroom hotel, including two penthouse suites; the debut of the signature Le Meridien Hub, an innovative reinterpretation of the traditional hotel lobby into a social gathering place; and the unveiling of all new meeting and public spaces within the hotel.

"Located in a city with deep European ties, Le Meridien Versailles has a strong connection with our brand's passions for culture, cuisine and the arts," said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader for Le Meridien. "The renovation of this hotel brings to life these passions and unlocks the destination for our creative and curious-minded travellers looking for a new way to experience the city of Montreal during their travels."

Following its complete renovation, the arrival experience at Le Meridien Versailles has been transformed with an engaging and expanded lobby environment. The hotel now features the signature Le Meridien Hub, with innovative coffee and cocktail programming, transitioning from day to night, and stunning arrival art installations, turning the hotel's lobby into the newest gathering spot for locals and visitors alike.

"The transformation of our hotel has been an exhilarating journey," said Massimo Urzillo, General Manager of Le Meridien Versailles. "We are thrilled to unveil our new look and offerings to our guests. The enhancements to the hotel will provide a new perspective to the city of Montreal."

In staying true to the brand's commitment to incorporating local coordinates into its mid-century design aesthetic, the refurbishments of the guestrooms and signature penthouse suites at Le Meridien Versailles complement the rich textures and cosmopolitan spirit of the neighbourhood. The rooms feature new Le Meridien beds, furniture, custom-designed wallpaper, comfortable and functional seating, accent lighting, mirrors and plush carpeting. Guestrooms include new flat screen televisions, plug and play docking stations and an enhanced wireless Internet platform. Renovations also include the addition of low-flow toilets, showerheads and faucets in the bathrooms, reducing water consumption throughout the building. All public corridors and hallways throughout the hotel feature new flooring and wall finishes.

Le Meridien Versailles is ideally located in the heart of the Golden Square Mile, just steps away from the best shopping, venues and attractions in Montreal, including The Museum District. In a nod to Le Meridien brand's Parisian roots, the hotel has partnered with Priority Bicycles to deliver a uniquely active way for guests to explore the city. Stylish bicycles are available for rent from the front desk (complimentary to Starwood Preferred Guest [SPG] members), encouraging guests to discover the gems of Montreal, such as the nearby Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and unlock art partner, The Canadian Center of Architecture.

Le Meridien Versailles is also home to Branzino Restaurant, where executive chef, Alexandre St-Amand-Tremblay offers gourmet Mediterranean-inspired cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The hotel offers more than 2,600 square feet of newly renovated meeting and event space. The meeting rooms feature modern facilities, AirMedia technology and panoramic windows that provide abundant daylight and fantastic views of downtown Montreal. The newly renovated fitness centre provides guests the opportunity to experience an invigorating workout during their stay.

For more information on the Le Meridien Versailles in Montreal, click here.
It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore).

Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net.

Go back to home
How to Get in Shape for Summer Reservations

With the summer season around the corner, conditioning your online reviews is a crucial step to securing more reservations and more time for your guests!

Much like your muscles, your online reputation needs constant conditioning and strengthening to entice travelers to book with you. With the busy summer season just around the corner, conditioning and strengthening your online reviews is a crucial step to securing more reservations and more time for your guests.

As we all know, an essential part of strength building is conditioning to avoid injuries. This is equally important as you strengthen your online reputation. You must condition by constantly requesting reviews from your past guests and responding to those reviews in order to continue your relationship with those and future guests. This conditioning further builds your online reputation and enhances your presence across the web. The more you react and engage with reviews, the more you appear across portals and search engines. Activity is pivotal to getting your property into shape! And the better you and your great reviews can be found online, the less you have to fear about low summer bookings  you are preventing injuries!

How to catch your breath?

A well-conditioned, strong online reputation influences the decision of whether or not to book a room. Guests are more likely to book with a well-ranked hotel than with a poorly ranked one. Moreover, guests prefer when they read first hand accounts of a hotel before committing. This provides a realistic connection between them and you.

Would you like to find out more about how you can strengthen your online reputation in time for summer reservation?

>> Read the full article for free here!

About the company

Customer Alliance is a young, Berlin-based company offering smart solutions for hotels. Customer Alliances Review Analytics is the official tool of the German Hotel Association (IHA) for hotel reputation management. More than 35.000 hotels in over 35 countries are already improving their workflow with the 360 reputation management. software.

Review Analytics helps hoteliers get more authentic reviews to improve their online reputation. Hoteliers can keep track of how they are doing in relation to their competitors, as well as more effectively increase their sales by generating commission-free bookings through their own distribution channels.

Since officially starting in 2009, the fast-growing company has become a 90+ person international team composed of members coming from various backgrounds in the tourism & hotel industry.
John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts (JQH) yesterday announced that JQH veterans Becky Vealey and Jeff Spence have been appointed as regional director of sales for the company.

John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts (JQH) yesterday announced that JQH veterans Becky Vealey and Jeff Spence have been appointed as regional director of sales for the company. Each has been assigned sales and marketing responsibilities for a group of hotels within JQHs award-winning portfolio, with their regions spanning Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Marriott, Renaissance, Residence Inn by Marriott, and Sheraton branded properties. Vealey and Spence will report to Phill Burgess, JQHs vice president of sales and revenue optimization. JQH is a leading private, independent owner and manager of hotels in the United States, including operating more than 1 million square feet of superb meeting space.

With 18 years with JQH, Vealey most recently served as general manager of JQHs owned and operated 243-room/suite Sheraton Sioux Falls & Convention Center in South Dakota. Prior to her successful role as hotel general manager, she was director of sales and marketing for JQHs award-winning Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville SE  Murfreesboro in Tennessee, ranked among the top performing Embassy Suites across the Americas. During her nine years with the Murfreesboro property, she was recognized for many accomplishments, including Embassy Suites Director of Sales of the Year, Murfreesboro Magazine women in Business, and JQH Sales Leadership in Excellence.

Spence brings 25 years of proven hospitality experience to the position of regional director of sales, including seven years with JQH. Most recently, he served as an effective general manager of the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel in Iowa. Prior to his role as hotel general manager, he was director of sales of the Embassy Suites by Hilton Des Moines Downtown, where he and his team exceeded benchmarks and surpassed goals. His career also includes serving as director of sales for TravelCLICK, director of sales and marketing for Meristar Hotels and Resorts, and sales manager for Davidson Hotels & Resorts.

Becky and Jeff bring unique skill sets and leadership qualities that round out our dynamic regional hotel sales teams, Burgess said. They live and foster the JQH culture of service excellence, which is a foundational pillar of our sales commitment.

Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts (JQH) is a private, independent owner and manager of hotels in the United States, representing brands such as: Marriott, Hilton, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Sheraton, IHG, Chateau on the Lake Resort / Spa & Convention Center, and Plaza Hotels Collection. With a portfolio of 35 hotels representing approximately 8,500 guest rooms/suites in 16 states, JQHs properties are dominant in their markets.
The Britain's Got Talent judge and popstar has pulled out of a concert organised by pro-Brexit group Leave.eu. and the tweets are amazing.

Alesha Dixon has joined boyband Five in cancelling her performance at upcoming Bpop gig after discovering it is a political rally.

The Bpop live gig, endorsed by pro-Brexit group Leave.eu is scheduled for June 14th, days before the referendum.

East 17 and Sister Sledge are still set to perform at the show in Birmingham while Five and Alesha Dixon have pulled out, saying they didn't fully realise the political connotations of the event.

Cue internet hilarity:

As more acts pull out of Bpop, Brexit Live release an updated poster pic.twitter.com/wA8RxYeQqF  Mockeree (@mockeree) May 25, 2016

Why is Cliff not at #bpoplive? Because he'd sing "We're all going on a summer holiday (that will cost 230 more after Brexit)"  David Eckhoff (@theroyalfactor) May 24, 2016





Advertisement

If Brexiters' vision of the future is like their vision of a good gig, here's more reason to #VoteRemain #BPopLive pic.twitter.com/GpTnt62KX9  David Jaques (@david_jaques_) May 24, 2016
The American actor and comedian has been ordered to stand trial on charges of sexual assault.

A US judge ruled that Bill Cosby must stand trial on charges of sexual assault.

The 78 year old is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman who worked at Temple University in Pennsylvania in 2004.

The case was reopened last year after a number of women came forward with similar accusations of misconduct by The Cosby Show star.

In all but the current case, too much time had elapsed to bring criminal charges.

The BBC reports that Mr Cosby has maintained any encounters were consensual. No date has been set for the trial.
Andrew Stanley, Jarlath Regan, Joe Rooney and many more are performing

The Comedy Tent at this year's Forbidden Fruit Festival has been revealed and with a lineup that has something for all comedic tastes.

The event will be MC'd be Andrew Stanley, and stars Jarlath Regan with his mix of fantastic tales and over the top observations. Joe Rooney, better known as Fr Damo from Fr Ted, cheeky comedian Gearoid Farrelly, and one of the fastest rising acts in Ireland Alison Spittle.

The international flavour for the event is brought by Canadian JJ Whitehead, American Jim Elliot and Nigerian Emman Idama.

Also performing is Patrick McDonnell, Kevin McGahern, Edwin Sammon, Steve Bennett, Ronan Grace, Ryan Cullen, Paul Marsh, Grainne McKeever and Colin Chadwick.

Advertisement

The Comedy Tent at the Forbidden Fruit Festival runs from

Saturday 3.30pm - 8pm | Sunday 3.30pm - 8pm

Weekend Tickets 119.00

Day Tickets 59.50
Leading the pack are Zayn Malik, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber for the night where tween dreams come true.

The first wave of nominees have been announced and we can imagine tweens all over the States rushing to their mobile devices in order to show their undying devotion and voting for their cherished celebrity.

Not to be taken too seriously, the Teen Choice Awards has a variety of awards along the lines of 'Choice Female and Male Hottie' with the winners taking home a surfboard as prize. They cover everything from Film, TV, Music, Fashion and Comedians and the night is a celebration of everything that makes teenagers (usually girls!) scream at a pitch that only dogs can hear.

Former lovebirds, Justin Bieber and Disney child star Selena Gomez are both nominated 3 times in various categories while ex-One Directioner Zayn Malik also received three nods. While the 'Hands to Myself' hitmaker Gomez is pitted against Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Rihanna and Queen Bey for the Choice Female Artist, Justin Bieber must face off the competition from his fellow Canadian folk Drake and Shawn Mendes to snatch the Choice Male Artist.

The list of nominees is about all that's known presently of the Teen Choice Awards 2016. The hosts and performers of the night have yet to be revealed. However, teens can take to the internet to cast their vote now. You can refer to the list below in your process of choosing your worthy nominee;

MOVIES

Choice Movie: Action/Adventure

Deadpool

In the Heart of the Sea

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Spectre

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

The Jungle Book

Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure

Chris Hemsworth  In the Heart of the Sea

Dylan O'Brien  Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Neel Sethi  The Jungle Book

Ryan Reynolds  Deadpool

Theo James  The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Choice Movie Actress: Action/Adventure

Charlotte Riley  In the Heart of the Sea

Kaya Scodelario  Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Lea Seydoux  Spectre

Morena Baccarin  Deadpool

Shailene Woodley  The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Captain America: Civil War

Fantastic Four

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

The Huntsman: Winter's War

Advertisement

Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Ben Affleck  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Chris Evans  Captain America: Civil War

Chris Hemsworth  The Huntsman: Winter's War

Henry Cavill  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Josh Hutcherson  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Robert Downey Jr.  Captain America: Civil War

Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Amy Adams  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Charlize Theron  The Huntsman: Winter's War

Chloe Grace Moretz  The 5th Wave

Daisy Ridley  Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Jennifer Lawrence  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Scarlett Johansson  Captain America: Civil War

Choice Movie: Drama

Creed

Miracles from Heaven

Point Break

10 Cloverfield Lane

Straight Outta Compton

The Martian

Choice Movie Actor: Drama

Jacob Tremblay  Room

Leonardo DiCaprio  The Revenant

Matt Damon  The Martian

Michael B. Jordan  Creed

O'Shea Jackson Jr.  Straight Outta Compton

Taron Egerton  Eddie The Eagle

Choice Movie Actress: Drama

Alicia Vikander  The Danish Girl

Brie Larson  Room

Jennifer Garner  Miracles from Heaven

Jennifer Lawrence  Joy

Jessica Chastain  The Martian

Tessa Thompson  Creed

Choice Movie: Comedy

Barbershop: The Next Cut

Mother's Day

Mr. Right

Ride Along 2

The Intern

Zoolander 2

Choice Movie Actor: Comedy

Ice Cube  Barbershop: The Next Cut, Ride Along 2

Jordan Peele  Keanu

Keegan-Michael Key  Keanu

Kevin Hart  Ride Along 2

Will Ferrell  Daddy's Home

Zac Efron  Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Advertisement

Choice Movie Actress: Comedy

Jennifer Aniston  Mother's Day

Anna Kendrick  Mr. Right

Chloe Grace Moretz  Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Anne Hathaway  The Intern

Melissa McCarthy  The Boss

Nicki Minaj  Barbershop: The Next Cut

TELEVISION

Choice TV Show: Drama

Empire

Gotham

Grey's Anatomy

Pretty Little Liars

Rosewood

Shades of Blue

Choice TV Actor: Drama

Ben McKenzie  Gotham

Ian Harding  Pretty Little Liars

Jussie Smollett  Empire

Keegan Allen  Pretty Little Liars

Terrence Howard  Empire

Tyler Blackburn  Pretty Little Liars

Choice TV Actress: Drama

Ashley Benson  Pretty Little Liars

Jennifer Lopez  Shades of Blue

Kerry Washington  Scandal

Maia Mitchell  The Fosters

Taraji P. Henson  Empire

Troian Bellisario  Pretty Little Liars

Choice TV Show: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Arrow

iZombie

Once Upon a Time

Supernatural

The Flash

The Vampire Diaries

Choice TV Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Andrew Lincoln  The Walking Dead

Grant Gustin  The Flash

Ian Somerhalder  The Vampire Diaries

Jared Padalecki  Supernatural

Joseph Morgan  The Originals

Paul Wesley  The Vampire Diaries

Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Candice King  The Vampire Diaries

Emily Bett Rickards  Arrow

Danielle Panabaker  The Flash

Eliza Taylor  The 100

Kat Graham  The Vampire Diaries

Lana Parrilla  Once Upon a Time

Advertisement

Choice TV Show: Comedy

Austin & Ally

Jane the Virgin

Liv and Maddie

Modern Family

Fuller House

Scream Queens

Choice TV Actor: Comedy

Andy Samberg  Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Anthony Anderson  Black-ish

Jaime Camil  Jane the Virgin

Jim Parsons  The Big Bang Theory

Ross Lynch  Austin & Ally

Taylor Lautner  Cuckoo

Choice TV Actress: Comedy

Candace Cameron Bure  Fuller House

Dove Cameron  Liv and Maddie

Emma Roberts  Scream Queens

Gina Rodriguez  Jane the Virgin

Laura Marano  Austin & Ally

Lea Michele  Scream Queens

Choice TV: Animated Show

Descendants: Wicked World

Family Guy

Gravity Falls

Over the Garden Wall

Steven Universe

The Simpsons

Choice TV: Reality Show

Mob Wives

Dance Moms

Keeping Up with the Kardashians

MasterChef Junior

The Voice

Total Divas

MUSIC

Choice Male Artist

Charlie Puth

Drake

Justin Bieber

Nick Jonas

Shawn Mendes

Zayn Malik

Choice Female Artist

Ariana Grande

Beyonce

Demi Lovato

Rihanna

Selena Gomez

Taylor Swift

Advertisement

Choice Music Group

5 Seconds of Summer

DNCE

Fall Out Boy

Fifth Harmony

One Direction

The Chainsmokers

Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Artist

Beyonce

Drake

Iggy Azalea

Jason Derulo

Nicki Minaj

The Weeknd

Choice Country Artist

Blake Shelton

Carrie Underwood

Hunter Hayes

Kelsea Ballerini

Luke Bryan

Sam Hunt

Choice Song: Female Artist

Adele  "Hello"

Ariana Grande  "Dangerous Woman"

Demi Lovato  "Confident"

Meghan Trainor  "NO"

Selena Gomez  "Hands To Myself"

Taylor Swift  "New Romantics"

Choice Song: Male Artist

Charlie Puth  "One Call Away"

Flo Rida  "My House"

Justin Bieber  "Sorry"

Nick Jonas  "Close" (feat. Tove Lo)

Troye Sivan  "YOUTH"

Zayn Malik  "PILLOWTALK"

Choice Song: Group

5 Seconds of Summer  "She's Kinda Hot"

DNCE  "Cake By The Ocean"

Fifth Harmony  "Work from Home" (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)

One Direction  "Home"

The Vamps  "Wake Up"

twenty one pilots  "Stressed Out"

FASHION

Choice Female Hottie

Gigi Hadid

Selena Gomez

Demi Lovato

Hailey Baldwin

Kendall Jenner

Bella Thorne

Advertisement

Choice Male Hottie

Austin Mahone

Cameron Dallas

Harry Styles

Jussie Smollett

Justin Bieber

Zayn Malik

OTHER

Choice Comedian

Aziz Ansari

Ellen DeGeneres

James Corden

Jimmy Fallon

Jordan Doww

Kevin Hart

Phew!
Alex Turner and Miles Kane brought the band back to the BBC show.

The Last Shadow Puppets returned to Later... With Jools Holland last night for two powerful performances.

Alex Turner brought the 60's in to Maidstone Studio with the band's track 'Sweet Dreams, TN'. Channeling his inner Elvis, Turner and the string section put on a dynamic show. To follow that Miles Kane took the lead on their new track 'Aviation'.

The Last Shadow Puppets. AVIATION. This is up there with The Smiths best. It's that good. https://t.co/uKfJ1h4tjj  Brianers (@brianlee) May 24, 2016

Advertisement



Both tracks feature on the alt rock band's latest album, Everything You've Come To Expect. They play Dublin's Olympia theatre tonight, May 25 as well as Thursday, May 26 and Friday May 27.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A 30-year-old man has been arrested after he rammed an off-duty officer's car with a pickup, prompting a veteran officer to fire gunshots at him and wound him Tuesday afternoon in southeast Houston.

Lonnie David Giles is charged with aggravated assault of a public servant in connection to the shooting that occurred about 4:30 p.m. in the 6700 block of Joyner, according to the Houston Police Department.

Police said the incident began after Sgt. D. Vega spotted Giles driving a stolen GMC Sierra pickup. While Vega was following him, Giles abandoned the pickup and climbed into a green Dodge pickup driven by another man.

Vega, a 30- year HPD veteran, was off duty and in his personal car as he followed the Dodge until the driver crashed while making a turn at 5700 Corl near Joyner. Vega pulled his car behind the Dodge after the crash and identified himself as a police officer.

The Dodge driver jumped out and ran away. Then Giles, police said, got behind the steering wheel, put the truck in reverse and sped toward Vega and his car, smashing into the car and pinning Vega inside. Fearing for his safety, Vega fired several gunshots at the oncoming truck, police said. Giles sped away in the Dodge pickup after the crash.

Officers later found Giles in the 600 block of Main in Pasadena and took him into custody. He had several gunshot wounds and was taken to Memorial Herman hospital. His condition was not released.

Officers later found the suspect who had run away from the crash. He was taken into custody.

Broken glass slightly injured Vega's right hand when Giles rammed his car. The sergeant was taken to Memorial Hermann hospital to be treated.

As is customary in HPD officer-involved shootings in the city limits, the HPD Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions, as well as the Harris County District Attorney's Office, are investigating the case.
During a 65-minute speech in Albuquerque Tuesday night, Donald Trump laced into New Mexico Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. He blamed her for the state's economic problems, for the growing number of food stamp recipients and for not doing more to reject Syrian refugees. The billionaire even mused about moving to the state to run for governor himself.

"She's got to do a better job," Trump told thousands of supporters, per The Washington Post's Jenna Johnson. "She's not doing the job. We've got to get her moving. Come on: Let's go, governor."

Martinez's press secretary, Mike Lonergan, responded with a blistering statement: "Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the President's Syrian refugee plan. But the pot shots weren't about policy, they were about politics. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate . . . Governor Martinez doesn't care about what Donald Trump says about her - she cares about what he says he will do to help New Mexicans. She didn't hear anything about that today."

Here are seven reasons why Tuesday night's comments are deeply problematic:

1. The riff underscored the hollowness of Trump's promises to unite the fractured Republican Party. He has routinely attacked GOP governors this year. Recall his criticisms of Scott Walker before Wisconsin's primary or Nikki Haley before South Carolina's. But this is the first time he's done so as the presumptive nominee of his party. And this is not just any chief executive. Martinez is the chair of the Republican Governors Association, one of the party's most important organs.

2. Attacking the most prominent Latina in his party will make Hispanic outreach even harder. There are many conservative Latinos who might be willing to hear Trump out, even if they are uneasy with his talk about the border wall and Mexican immigrants being rapists. But showing disrespect for conservative leaders in the community - mixed with tone-deaf outreach (taco salads!) - means that whatever else he may have to say will fall on deaf ears.

3. Tuesday night's rally further illustrates why Trump is on track to get clobbered among women. Martinez is not just Hispanic; she's also the first female governor of New Mexico. Tellingly, she was not the only target of Trump's ire. Several other women were in his crosshairs, as well, and his language was quite gendered.

Trump called Hillary a "low-life" and then went on to imitate the way she talks, raising his voice to a high-pitched yell. "I will never say this but she screams and drives me crazy," Trump said. "I can't listen."

He once again referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as "Pocahontas," a reference to her claims of Native American heritage. "She is probably the senator that's doing just about the least in the United States Senate," he said. "She's a total failure. She said she was an Indian. She said because her cheekbones were high, she was an Indian."

The most offensive language, though, came from one of the warm-up speakers. David Chavez, a former state lawmaker, compared voting for Clinton because she's a woman to drinking bleach because it looks like water. "I've heard people say: I don't know who to choose: Trump or Hillary. Even Bill Clinton chose other women. So you should, too," Chavez said. (Jenna, our reporter in the room, says the crowd laughed and applauded. . .)

4. Even with the nomination wrapped up, Trump remains thin-skinned and lacks self-discipline.

Martinez has been publicly non-committal about whether she will back Trump, repeatedly dodging the question by saying that she will not vote for Hillary. She told local press that she skipped Tuesday night's rally because she's "really busy."

Privately, she's been more critical. At a fundraiser in the Palm Beach mansion of billionaire David Koch last month, a donor asked about Trump. Martinez acknowledged being deeply offended by Trump's language about immigrants. "Noting her years working as a prosecutor on the Mexican border and now as a border-state governor, Martinez said Trump's plan to build a wall and force Mexico to pay for it was unrealistic and irresponsible," sources told The Post's Matea Gold and Philip Rucker afterward.

Trump was obviously irked by these and other comments, which is the only plausible explanation for why he went after Martinez.

Having a stiff upper lip is required of politicians at this level. There are many Democrats who the Clintons dislike, but they carefully avoid saying so in public. Mitt Romney, John McCain and George W. Bush all had to play nice with elements of the party that vociferously opposed them in the primaries. This is not just something you can do for a day or a week. He wears his heart on his sleeve-which makes him attractive to some voters-but makes him an ineffective party healer in this moment.

Trump shows flashes of self-discipline. Then he backslides. That's not the way to win.

5. Party unity is further out of reach than conventional wisdom suggests.

One of the reasons so many GOP elites have rallied around Trump is early polls showing he's locked in a competitive horse race with Hillary Clinton. Those surveys lessen the trepidation. In this very vein, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tried to reassure GOP senators during a private lunch Tuesday that Trump being at the top of the ticket won't be so bad after all. But lashing out at Martinez offers a guttural reminder that the bottom really could still fall out from underneath Trump, and he could become a colossal drag.

Citing sources close to the speaker, Bloomberg reported Tuesday night that "Paul Ryan has begun telling confidants that he wants to end his standoff with Trump in part because he's worried the split has sharpened divisions in the Republican Party." While Ryan aides say nothing has been decided about a possible endorsement, Bloomberg says Trump adviser Paul Manafort told a small group of Republican lawmakers that he expects Ryan to endorse as early as this week. You have to imagine the Martinez comments give him at least some pause or second thoughts.

Meanwhile, John Kasich said Tuesday that "it may not be possible" for him to ever endorse Trump. The Ohio governor said he cannot support The Donald with his current negativity, scapegoating and willingness to "run people into the ditch." "Unless I see a fundamental change in that approach, it's really hard for me to do a merger," he told the Columbus Dispatch in his Capitol office. "Think of it as a merger of two companies. If the values are not somewhat similar, if the culture is not somewhat similar, it's pretty hard to do a merger."

This is not just a disgruntled ex-opponent; he is the governor of a must-win swing state.

6.Trump's willingness to go after Republicans who aren't getting on board showcases the perils for GOP candidates who distance themselves.

Want to see a Republican senator duck and run? Ask them about Trump. The Post's Sean Sullivan tried to ask every vulnerable incumbent whether they'd campaign with their party's nominee. The reactions and non-answers say as much as the quotes.

Republicans in the Capitol and on the campaign trail will this week be asked whether they agree with Trump's attacks on Martinez.

The risk they face is that Trump will begin attacking them in their home state if they, like Martinez, express discomfort with his controversial positions. And this could turn off base voters.

7. As Trump snipes at fellow Republicans, he continues to galvanize the left. Albuquerque police donned riot gear to disband a group of protestors who became violent. Rocks and bottles were thrown at officers. Several were injured in the fracas, and at least one rioter was arrested, per The Post's Kayla Epstein and Katie Mettler. While many progressives may not be enthused about Clinton at the top of the ticket, the scene outside offered another reminder of how much Trump gins up the Democratic grassroots.

More broadly, there are festering doubts about whether Trump can get his act together. "The internal struggle for control of Trump's presidential campaign is getting personal, with allies of feuding campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and chairman Paul Manafort increasingly turning to shadowy tactics to try to sully their rivals," Politico reports Tuesday morning. "Supporters and opponents of Lewandowski say he and his allies have called Trump's attention to articles chronicling lobbying work done by Manafort or his campaign associates for a gambling company, as well as politically problematic foreign clients . . . [Meanwhile], an ally of Manafort's said Lewandowski 'takes all the bad news up to Trump - 'Paul represented this person, Paul represented that person.' . . . 'It's a total cage fight in there now,' said an operative . . . 'Manafort tried to take out Corey, but he didn't succeed. And now, everywhere Corey looks, he sees a threat, so he's trying to neutralize those threats.'"
CHICAGO - Travelers are feeling the effects of long security lines at airports, and the chances of breezing through the concourses during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend seem increasingly unlikely.

Fliers looking for faster ways to get to their gates have options, but some don't come cheap.

At least three major airlines offer credit cards whose perks include shorter lines to get through airport security screening. The annual fees for those cards: more than $400.

American Airlines' Aadvantage Executive Citi card has an annual fee of $450. Its benefits include club access and "priority airport screening (where available)."

American spokeswoman Leslie Scott said the airline's priority security line is always open at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and, while those travelers still must kick off their shoes and remove their laptops, the line to get to security is typically shorter than the line for the masses.

Elite-level frequent fliers and first-class passengers also use the line. Other airports served by American might not have a priority line, she said.

American's Aadvantage Executive Citi cardholders are also eligible for rebates on Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application fees.

Those are government programs in which travelers who pass, in the case of TSA Pre-Check, an $85 background check can move through security quicker by not having to remove shoes, belts and light jackets from carry-on bags.

Is it really faster?

But one travel analyst says the priority security lanes that airline credit cards generally provide access to are neither faster nor more convenient than TSA Pre-Check.

"A TSA Pre-Check lane can process 300 people an hour, and a non-Pre-Check lane processes about 150 people an hour," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst for Atmosphere Research Group in San Francisco. "The wait may be slightly less in the 'priority' lane than the nonpriority lane, but a traveler must still take off any shoes, belts, or jackets they're wearing, and remove toiletries and laptop computers from carry-on bags."

Pre-Check costs $85 for five years, or $17 a year, Harteveldt said.

"That may not be in everyone's budget, but it does seem like a reasonable investment to save valuable time at the airport, along with your sanity as a traveler," he said.

United Airlines' MileagePlus Club Chase card, which also has a $450 annual fee, provides access to airport clubs and to priority security screening at select airports.

'Premier access'

Other select United customers also have access to priority screening. The Chicago-based airline might allow customers not included in those more exclusive groups to purchase "premier access," including the priority security lane, for a particular flight. Premier access on a round-trip flight from Chicago to Newark, N.J., for example, can cost $118.

United's premier access security lanes operate daily at O'Hare from 4 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. After they close, United customer service agents will help guide premier customers through a general checkpoint, said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin.

Delta's credit-card lineup includes a Reserve SkyMiles American Express card that also carries a $450 annual fee and that entitles holders to enter an "expedited" security line, called Sky Priority, with their printed boarding pass at participating airports.

Matt Schulz, senior analyst for CreditCards.com, said a Citi Prestige card carries a $450 annual fee, but will also provide a $100 credit toward the Global Entry application process, which enables travelers to avoid long lines. It also provides access to American Airlines Admirals Club airport lounges, a $250 air travel credit that can be used on tickets, baggage fees, upgrades and more, and triple points on air travel and hotels.

"But you have to make sure you take advantage of the perks offered," Schulz said. "Otherwise $450 is a lot."
WASHINGTON - A House committee said this week that the head of security operations at the Transportation Security Administration has been replaced.

"Kelly Hoggan has been removed from his position as head of security at TSA," the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press obtained a memo sent by TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger that does not mention Hoggan but names a temporary replacement.

"Darby LaJoye will serve as the Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Security Operations," Neffenger wrote in the memo addressed to TSA senior leaders.

"Darby LaJoye is an experienced Federal Security Director with successful leadership tours at two of the nation's largest airports, Los Angeles International Airport in California and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York," the memo added.

The oversight committee said Hoggan received more than $90,000 in bonuses over a period from late 2013 to late 2014.

About a year later, a report from the Homeland Security Inspector General's office revealed that agency employees failed to find explosives, weapons and other dangerous items in more than 95 percent of covert tests at multiple U.S. airports.

That report and allegations of other mismanagement within TSA have drawn congressional scrutiny and promoted multiple hearings on Capitol Hill.

Hoggan's ouster also comes amid growing concerns of massive security lines at airports this summer.

The TSA did not say where Hoggan has been reassigned.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

If you end up sleeping at an airport this summer because the security line was too slow, know that Congress is to blame, not the over-worked Transportation Security Administration screeners.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport provided a preview of what to expect on May 15 when the TSA failed to move people through security fast enough, forcing 450 passengers to miss their evening flights. American Airlines set up cots and rescheduled travelers to depart the next morning, when security lines again took three hours to navigate.

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger happened to meet with the Chronicle's editorial board the next morning. He offered no explanation for why his agency failed so miserably, promising only that he'd sent a team to Chicago to see what happened.

Screeners are under a lot of pressure, and the summer travel season will be difficult, he warned.

"We're a smaller agency than we once were, and we have significant passenger growth over the past years," Neffenger said. Specifically, there are 10 percent fewer screeners than in 2013 and 15 percent more passengers.

TSA has also implemented more thorough procedures since the agency's inspector general found that 95 percent of fake bombs and weapons made it past security checkpoints in 70 covert tests. Neffenger took over shortly afterward and found that TSA supervisors had emphasized quickly moving travelers through the system after Congress and the public had complained about long lines.

"They focused on efficiency over effectiveness," he told the Chronicle.

TSA retrained staff last fall, and now we're back to long lines, missed flights, frustrated travelers and congressional hearings.

Neffenger is too politically savvy to complain about congressional funding. He convinced lawmakers to let him keep 1,600 positions that were on the chopping block and give him an additional $8 million to hire 768 new screeners and $26 million for additional part-time hours and overtime.

Bait and switch

Yet Neffenger doesn't talk about how Congress and the White House is diverting $12.6 billion in passenger security fees to reduce the deficit over the next decade in a classic case of bait-and-switch taxation.

Congress began charging passengers a per-flight security fee in 2012 to pay for the TSA following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Congress and the administration raised the fee to $11 per round-trip in 2013, and then diverted most of the money to Treasury instead of giving it to TSA.

"That decision has come home to roost," said Nick Calio, president of Airlines for America, in a letter to Congress. "If Congress wanted to take constructive and well-justified action, it would immediately pass legislation putting that money, paid by airline passengers, where it belongs."

Both Congress and the White House are responsible for the decision, which allows Republicans to claim they didn't raise taxes and lets the administration avoid cutting government programs. But it's really a covert tax hike that also taxes travelers' time be creating the long lines.

That's a shame, because Neffenger has some good ideas for how to improve airport security. The first is to get people out of the screening line.

TSA needs more people to sign up for the Trusted Traveler program, which allows people to pay for a fingerprint background check in return for expedited processing at the airport. That means more convenient interview locations and lower fees.

Neffenger would also like more technology to accurately rank travelers in terms of risk so they can move them through the system faster. He praised an Israeli experiment using seven levels of screening, depending on how much the government knows about the person.

There are computer programs that can compare airline reservations with intelligence databases to determine a person's risk profile, and companies are developing machines that can scan irises at a distance as a traveler walks down a terminal.

The goal is to put as many people as possible into one of two boxes, trusted and dangerous. It's the people whom TSA doesn't know who slow the security line because screeners must assume they are potentially dangerous.

More sniffer dogs

More sniffer dogs would also help. Neffenger says they not only speed up the search for non-metallic explosives, but also charm frustrated fliers.

"There's lots of technology and capability right now that we could put into place, it's just a matter of will and resources," he said.

Neffenger fired his head of security and reshuffled the TSA leadership in Chicago on Monday. But by all accounts, traveling this summer will be awful because of TSA's increased security posture and lack of funding.

Normally I would say that we get the government we pay for, and we can't expect a Cadillac on a Chevy budget. In this case, though, we are paying Cadillac prices and getting a wheelbarrow. We must demand better.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Firefighters battled a massive blaze overnight at a lumber yard in Pearland.

The fire broke out about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday at M & M Lumber Company at 530 Riley Road, said Chief Vance Riley of the Pearland Fire Department.

Riley said when firefighters arrived the lumber storage facility was engulfed in flames. The structure was a total loss, he added. Crews were still at the scene hours after the fire began.

One employee, a caretaker, was at the lumber yard when the fire broke out, but no injuries were reported.

Investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze.

Firefighters from Houston, Stafford, League City, Manville and Rosharon helped battle the flames.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series about early Houston's six wards.

When Gloria Perez decided to sell the First Ward cottage that had been in her family for almost 70 years, she felt suspicious of the developers who swarmed around her, ready to make a deal.

In her mind, they were too quick to bulldoze 100-year-old homes and majestic shade trees and replace them with stucco townhomes strangely disconnected from the neighborhood and its people. Certainly she was glad to see new people and new energy, but she had to wonder if that explosive growth was improving the First Ward or destroying it.

Both Perez and her husband, Paul, grew up there, and they remembered a neighborhood so close to downtown they could walk or take a five-minute bus ride. They also remembered playing outside until dark, adults who kept tabs on kids up and down the street, and families who grew up and old together.

That spirit of community harkened back to Houston's early days, when city fathers divided the tender shoot of a city into four wards in 1839, then carved a Fifth Ward from the Second Ward after the Civil War and a Sixth Ward from the Fourth Ward in 1876.

Architectural historian Stephen Fox explains the wards were, in effect, city council districts until 1905. With a new city charter, the wards - just lines on a map - vanished, and the aldermen who represented the wards were replaced by City Council members elected at large.

For social, cultural and geographical reasons, some Houstonians still hold tight to the old demarcations. Superstar Beyonce may be a Houston native, but when she gives a shoutout to her hometown, she pays homage to her roots in the Third Ward.

Historian Patricia Prather defines herself by her ties to the Fifth Ward. Ditto former City Councilman Felix Fraga, an icon in the Second Ward.

And even though the Perezes live in the suburbs now, far removed from the city's heart and core, they still want the First Ward to live on, restored, renewed and recognizable.

Near downtown

Back in the day, the crossing at Congress Avenue and Main Street was the intersecting point for the wards, explains historian Betty Trapp Chapman, with the First Ward located in the northwest quadrant. Today the ward's unofficial boundaries are Interstate 10 to the north, Interstate 45 to the east, Washington Avenue to the south and Sawyer to the west.

Perhaps the most visible landmark within those lines is American Statesmanship Park, also known as Mount Rush Hour. Commuters near I-10 and I-45 can't miss it - artist David Adickes has crafted 18-foot concrete sculptures of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Also much talked about are the Elder Street Artist Lofts, a renovation project completed in 2005. Eighty-one years earlier, the handsome red brick building opened for business as the first Jefferson Davis Hospital, a city facility, and before that, the land was used as a cemetery that dated to the 1840s.

Other points of interest within the First Ward include multiple exhibit spaces for arts of all kinds; restaurants; Ecclesia, the church that carved a new home from an old factory; and Richard Brock Park, named after the freed slave who became Houston's first African-American alderman.

The area also offers riveting, backyard views of downtown and five-minute commutes for those who work in skyscrapers.

"This neighborhood is getting very popular," says Theresa Fong, owner of Stanton's City Bites on Edwards. "The younger people, they finish college, they get master's degrees, they want to make a good living and work downtown. And they look for a place to live close by. If they commute from farther away, the traffic is too much."

Fong deftly puts her finger on the main source of friction in the First Ward - explosive growth and the problems that come with it.

At her restaurant, which once was an old-fashioned corner grocery, she has more customers than ever before and she struggles to keep up.

Up and down the residential streets are the sights and sounds of construction, but there are disagreements about what to bulldoze and what to renovate and which factions will prevail.

Protecting the ward

Houston history says developers and the townhomes win out in the end.

But the First Ward also has a hearty band of preservationists who want to establish a historic district in the neighborhood. That would mean, basically, a no-new-townhomes zone. The old homes could be renovated but not bulldozed.

Rob Griffith, president of the First Ward Civic Council, says residents have already voted and approved a district that would include more than 60 contiguous properties, including some existing townhomes.

That's bigger than the developers wanted, Griffith says diplomatically, and smaller than the preservationists hoped for. At any rate, the process is moving along.

The Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission will consider the plan at 3 p.m. Thursday and, most likely, send it to City Council for the final seal of approval. That final vote likely would take place sometime in May.

"I've tried to stay neutral," says Griffith, a Realtor, "but I am supportive of a small district. I'm not trying to shut down the builders, but I do want to see some of the old homes preserved. Of course, the other side says they want a more homogenous look, and they see the older homes as dilapidated. They want the neighborhood 'cleaned up.' "

Fong at Stanton's is neutral, too. But she does have an uneasy sense that major changes are taking place before neighbors really have a chance to mull things over and fully understand the impact.

"I would like to save the historical homes," she says. "In some sense, the townhomes are moving a little too fast. They give us the new a little too fast."

Transformation

The Perezes were wondering what to do with her childhood home on Crockett when they received a flier from Dominic Yap. The geologist by day owns a company called FW Heritage, which specializes in "respectful restoration."

Says Yap, who is trying to save old First Ward homes one by one, "We're losing the neighborhood, a place where people talk over the fence and walk. The old houses are being replaced by three-story townhomes. I call them the Towers of London. They don't allow for interaction. People drive right into their garages and never come out."

In no time, Yap and the Perezes were visiting, and Yap was writing them a check. He promised them they would be the first to see the finished results.

A few weeks ago they had a reunion in front of the home, which was transformed from shabby to chic. On the outside, every board was freshly painted, every window sealed tight. People driving past couldn't miss the sunny yellow cottage with the neighborly porch and red door.

As Yap handed Gloria Perez the key so that she could enter and explore, both had tears streaming down their cheeks. The renovation made the old look not only new but better than anything in a new model home. The wide planks in the old floors had been refinished; the walls were painted an elegant, almost neutral shade of green. The baths and kitchen were totally redone, but recycled materials made the spaces unlike any others.

"My heart is just overflowing," Gloria Perez said.

Griffith was there as a friend and Realtor. The two-bedroom house went on the market that afternoon for $378,000 and was under contract at a higher price the next day.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Editor's note: This is the third in an occasional series about early Houston's six wards.

The Rev. Bill Lawson has championed the fight for civil rights virtually all of his 86 years. Except once.

In March 1960, when a group of black Texas Southern University students asked him, their campus minister, for help in planning a sit-in at a "whites-only" lunch counter, he said no.

Lawson thought about the parents of those Texas Southern students, many of whom worked two jobs to send their children to college. Lawson also worried about the futures of the young activists, who almost certainly were going to be arrested and jailed.

Looking back on that pivotal moment, the pastor says he was wrong.

"I had no idea that a page in history had turned, that the civil rights movement had shifted and was there at my doorstep," he says.

That doorstep was the Third Ward, home to Houston's epic struggle for racial equality:

In 1872, four influential African-American ministers and businessmen pooled $800 to buy 10 acres of land along Dowling Street. That was the birth of Emancipation Park, a safe place to celebrate Juneteenth and freedom from slavery.

TSU, still thriving in the Third Ward today, got its start as the Colored Junior College in 1927. In the next 25 years, the school would grow into a four-year university with its own 53-acre campus and law school. But the intent of state leaders at the time was to preserve segregation and the notion of "separate but equal" in higher education.

The Third Ward grocery store and luncheonette that was the site of Houston's first sit-in is long gone, replaced by a post office. At the edge of the parking lot is a state historical marker that describes the students' nonviolent protests, which eventually led to the peaceful desegregation of lunch counters, department stores, movie theaters and other local businesses.

"I realized fairly soon that ignoring these students was not the best thing to do," Lawson says. "Part of my calling as a minister was to be concerned about the vulnerable. It was not to maintain the standards of the powerful, which included the Ku Klux Klan."

Art blossoms

The Third Ward still is a real place in the hearts and minds of most of its residents and former residents, including the self-proclaimed "queen of the Third Ward," Beyonce. No matter that the geographical and political demarcations that established four wards in 1839, then a fifth after the Civil War and a sixth in 1876, were essentially erased in 1905.

At that time, the city covered only 16 square miles, and none of the wards extended much more than two miles from the intersection of Main and Congress. Roughly, most of the historic Third Ward extended south and east from that dot on the map. Today, what is known as the Greater Third Ward has more than doubled in size and extends south to Old Spanish Trail and east to the University of Houston.

Roger Wood, an author, teacher and student of the Third Ward, can rattle off so many things to do in his neighborhood that it would take visitors days and weeks to do it all.

He mentions the Heinen Theatre, a jewel on the campus of Houston Community College, Central that has a stained glass Star of David on the ceiling. That's because it served as Congregation Beth Israel from 1924 to 1967.

The stained glass windows at Trinity United Methodist Church are also a must-see. The windows depict black leaders including Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King.

The area is rich in museums, and a few not constantly mentioned are the Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and the Houston Museum of African American Culture.

Project Row Houses is another landmark in the neighborhood. Founder Rick Lowe began by giving new life to a few battered row houses on Holman Street in 1993, and his vision has morphed into a one-of-a-kind community resource that combines art, historic preservation, community development and neighborhood revitalization. Today Lowe counts 71 structures that are a part of the project, including the Eldorado Ballroom on Dowling. Many a Third Ward musician played the Eldorado, then went on to national fame.

The list of famous jazz and blues artists who considered the Third Ward home include Sam "Lightnin" Hopkins, Arnett Cobb, Conrad Johnson, Johnny Copeland, Albert Collins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Little Joe Washington.

"I'm a realist about these things," says Wood, who has written about many of the jazz and blues greats, "and everything has its season; nothing stays the same. Not all but many of the great Houston blues artists are memories now, and I don't see them being replaced."

Wood mentions Jewel Brown as a beautiful exception. At 76, she is alive and well and still living in the Third Ward. Her singing career is bustling along, too.

"I grew up at 2904 Anita, in the bottom (poorest section of the Third Ward)," she says. "I remember everything vividly. My mom and dad were such hard workers, we didn't have time to have a hard time. When my daddy retired, they had to hire three people to take his place."

Over the years, Brown sang with Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton.

"I had what you call a little clout," she says.

Brown took a break for several decades to care for her mother and father in their old age and work in the beauty and insurance businesses. But she is back to the musical career she loves, and she just finished a recording session in Japan.

"I can still sing in the same key as I did when I was 16," she says. "If you take care of yourself and respect what God gives you, he lets it last."

Lizette Cobb, Arnett Cobb's daughter, spends much of her time doing oral histories with Houston musicians. "What I'd like everybody to know," she says, "is that my dad loved what he did and he loved the people he did it for. He was proud to be an ambassador of the Third Ward, Houston, Texas."

The conversations Cobb has recorded are available in the Texas room of the Julia Ideson Building, which is part of the Houston Public Library.

Gentrification worries

Problems. Issues. Controversies. Certainly there are plenty in the Third Ward.

Brown says rising property taxes are making it hard for her to stay in her beloved neighborhood. "Those taxes are making it hard for everybody. I don't know if they're trying to push us out."

State Rep. Garnet Coleman is worried about the most often discussed problem in all six wards - gentrification. He welcomes new residents who want to become part of the neighborhood and respect the Third Ward traditions and culture.

For those moving in only because "they're dying to get to downtown as fast as they can," forget it, Coleman says. "We don't need more three-story boxes, either."

Coleman grew up in the Third Ward and so did consultant and volunteer Sylvia Brooks. These days she spends some of her time on Emancipation Park, which is undergoing a $33.6 million renovation. The park should be one of Houston's premiere attractions when it's finished at the end of 2015.

Theola Petteway, one of the driving forces behind the park redo, acknowledges that some people ask if the green space is being redone for the people who live in the Third Ward now - or the people moving in.

It's for everybody, she says, past, present and future.

Rev. Lawson still is working on important Third Ward issues, too. The founder of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church does not consider the fight for racial equality finished. He can't be done, he says, when minorities are disproportionately arrested and sentenced to Texas jails and prisons. Also, he says, he is working to get University of Houston and TSU to work cooperatively. While UH is so focused on Tier One and academic excellence, he says, it's easy for them to forget the minority students and minority contractors who might need a helping hand.

Like Brown and Coleman, Lawson also is worried about gentrification and high property taxes and long-time residents being forced out of the neighborhood.

"Everything is changing, as it has been for a long time," Lawson says. "I'm not sure how much longer we can think of it as our Third Ward."
The east corner of Elgin and Dowling Streets doesnt look like much now. Sitting across from the ongoing $33 million renovation of Emancipation Park, the lot is empty. But Garnet Coleman, a state representative whose district includes Third Ward, is hoping the corner will be part of an emerging vision of the historically African-American neighborhood that resisted what he calls the ills of gentrification.

This is a historic moment, said Assata Richards, director of the community-oriented think tank Sankofa Research Institute, speaking to the OST/Almeda Corridors Redevelopment Authority, a quasi-public agency, this month. There has never been an African-American community in a city this size take on gentrification, she said.

Richards, Coleman and the Redevelopment Authority represent a dedicated group of people, along with community organizations like Project Row Houses, who have worked for years to build partnerships and, perhaps most importantly, purchase land across Greater Third Ward. With new townhomes sprinkling the western edge of the neighborhood, property values rising and the renovation of Emancipation Park, residents have watched the changes with a wary eye. They look at places like Fourth Ward  now more commonly described as Midtown  another historically African-American neighborhood. There, many of the streets are now dominated by luxury townhomes. In Third Ward, they worry that the same types of townhomes could fill blocks where vacant land and neglected properties now stand, rendering the area unaffordable for current residents.

Indeed, a study by Kyle Shelton and Kelsey Walker of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research found that over the last decade, Third Ward buildings were being demolished at a higher rate than buildings county-wide. Meanwhile, construction in the neighborhood lagged behind the county average. The study mapped all of the demolition and construction permits across Harris County, painting a picture of a period of change in Third Ward. Blue squares, indicating a construction permit for the address, fill up the western edge as the infill development of Midtown spreads east. Meanwhile, red squares representing demolition permits dot the northeast part of the neighborhood, almost filling entire blocks in some cases.

Kinder Institute

What will ultimately rise in place of these torn down buildings and homes depends, in part, on this informal coalition of community development groups, which also includes Houston Southeast Management District and many churches.

The role these groups could play crystallized for Eureka Gilkey, executive director of Project Row Houses, when the community-based, non-profit arts organization began working with the Emancipation Economic Development Council and a group of architecture and planning students and professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year. The team determined that the churches, non-profits and public entities in the area owned roughly a quarter of the land in Third Ward.

Were definitely at a critical point, Gilkey said, of the large portion of property owned by public entities and nonprofits. Developers and funders are looking at this and seeing this is a game-changer. And the community is beginning to see a way to hold on to their neighborhood.

Where the teardowns are To better understand development in the entire Houston area, see the Kinder Institute report "Houston in Flux: Understanding a Decade of Bayou City Development." See More Collapse

When we talk to other cities about the work that has already been done, she said, theyre amazed.

Though Third Ward is hoping to do what few similarly-positioned neighborhoods have done on a wide scale  manage the forces of gentrification  its history is familiar. The forces at work today have their roots decades prior.

A historic neighborhood

Because of segregation, Third Ward grew as one of several historically African-American neighborhoods in the city. There, wealthy and poor residents alike went to the same schools and churches, like Ryan Middle School, which opened in the location of the old historic Yates High School and was a staple of the community. They worked at or attended Texas Southern University. They frequented the same businesses along Dowling Street, which counted more than 150 stores in 1950. Some, like Wolfs Department Store and Pawn Shop, held on through the years since.

But after desegregation, many wealthy families settled outside the neighborhood. People began shopping elsewhere. When desegregation happened and folks could run down to Foleys and shop, that area starts gradually dying, said Theola Petteway, executive director of the OST/Almeda Corridors Redevelopment Authority. As the city spread, highways were erected within neighborhoods like Third Ward, funneling people in and out of downtown. [State highway] 288 took out a big swath, said Petteway, who can tell you which families lost homes because of the highway.

Meanwhile, decades of discrimination kept many families from getting the loans needed to fix up their properties and their homes fell into disrepair. People who had moved out of the neighborhood often didnt keep up with the property taxes of their grandparents or parents homes back in Third Ward, explained Petteway. For renters, absentee landlords had little incentive to maintain their units. The housing stock suffered. These are not just old, theyre falling down, said Petteway, of the properties that have been demolished and now sit vacant.

Resisting gentrification

Gary Coronado/Staff

Still, many residents remained invested in and committed to the neighborhood. But as developers rediscovered the neighborhoods ringing downtown, others began to take interest in as well.

Coleman, the state representative, remembers when his constituents began receiving letters in the early 2000s from developers pushing them to sell. It was very clear this was going to go fast, he said. So he sent his own letter to 8,000 property owners in the area asking them not to sell. And then he did something unusual.

Adjacent to the Third Ward, the quasi-public tax increment reinvestment zone that was transforming Midtown  an area formerly divided between the Third and Fourth Wards  was required to dedicate a portion of its revenues for affordable housing. But Coleman saw that property values there were rising so quickly, affordable housing would be a difficult pitch to developers, so he convinced a related agency, the Midtown Redevelopment Authority, to use the money to buy properties in Third Ward instead. The redevelopment authority would then sell the property to developers who were required to build affordable single-family homes and rental units.

Today, the authority owns 3.5 million square feet of land in Greater Third Ward. Coleman started banking land through the authority in the neighborhood he grew up in, hoping to buy up enough to make a sizable percentage of its future housing affordable. That scheme has already yielded a crop of single-family homes and plans for apartment complexes.

At the same time, the citys Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority, created in 1999, made a modest number of property purchases in the neighborhood to build affordable housing. Today, that authority has sold seven homes at affordable prices, with five more under construction, and it owns 12 other lots.

Add to that the land held by the churches, non-profits and Petteways organization and community members see a strategy thats already working.

Every block isnt filled with town homes, and it hasnt spread past Dowling, really, said Coleman.

Instead, theyre crafting a new vision for the neighborhood that honors its history and recalls the days when rich and poor lived together.

A universitys role

What we want, and I speak as someone who grew up in Third Ward, said Elwyn Lee, vice president for community relations at the University of Houston, you want some diversity, you want the history respected. That includes a separate effort to rename Dowling Street, which today honors a lieutenant in the Confederate Army, to Emancipation Street, to recognize the park purchased by freed slaves as some have called on the city do.

Though the university has at times had an uneasy relationship with the neighborhood, Lee said its students and staff are deeply engaged with the community, and chancellor Renu Khator is committed to an equitable vision of its future. Students in education, health and African-American studies programs work with organizations in the neighborhood, like the SHAPE Community Center. And community leaders have high hopes that the university can help fuel job growth in an area badly in need of job opportunities.

The university has a role in changing the landscape of the neighborhood by helping our surrounding community reach its aspirations, Lee said.

It does not mean UH should dictate the transformation of the built environment of the historic Houston neighborhood that surrounds campus. Instead, Lee said, projects like the health clinic thats part of the universitys $145 million master plan would be open to both the community and the campus to help better integrate and serve the two.

Controlling its destiny

With so many stakeholders working together, Richards of the Sankofa Research Institute, said Third Ward has an unprecedented opportunity to control its own destiny. Very seldom do we have the ability to make those decisions for the future of our neighborhood, she said. Shes hoping the Emancipation Economic Development Council, a group of area churches she helped organize, will be an instrumental part of the process.

Our work and our effort is about what we do want, said Richards at a recent council meeting  not just about what they dont want: gentrification. Her group is looking to encourage mixed use development, revitalize Dowling Street and create a community land trust, among other things. For Texas, she said of the land trust proposal, this is a drastic way of thinking. But, she added, this strategy is really meeting the needs we have.

At the same time, the Houston Southeast Management District, whose territory includes the council and redevelopment authority, is drafting a new general plan and running workshops with potential local investors in the area.

What unites these different geographies and groups is a vision of development without displacement, as Gilkey, of Project Row Houses, puts it. This should be a community where theres a mix of socioeconomic backgrounds, she said. That mix will be critical to bringing sorely needed grocery stores and additional retail.

We cant halt gentrification; its already happening, she said, but we have an opportunity to change the way this process works.

Leah Binkovitz (@leahbink), formerly of the Houston Chronicle, is now a staff writer for Rice University's Kinder Institute. This story first appeared in the institute's Urban Edge blog.

Bookmark Gray Matters. It recalls the days when rich and poor lived together.


This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Houston, upon its formation as a city in 1837, was not necessarily a great place to be mayor.

The town of roughly 1,000 pioneering souls consisted of 400 wooden homes and businesses, a few public buildings "and many saloons, but no churches."

"Commerce," historian Howard Platt wrote, "not politics, most impressed Houston's early observers."

Local historian Lynna Kay Shuffield said in a recent interview that the men who came to town in those early days had to be savvy, independent entrepreneurs. "The major commodities in town in those very early days were liquor, gambling and the red light district. It was a pretty rough-and-tumble place," she said.

Still, when the Congress of the Republic of Texas declared the new settlement an incorporated city in June 1837, just months after the town's founding on the banks of Buffalo Bayou, someone had to be chosen to lead its government.

It only made sense that James Sanders Holman, who handled land sales for the Houston Town Company, would wind up with the job.

More Information first mayor Name: James Sanders Holman, who handled land sales for the Houston Town Company, would wind up with the job. Birthplace: Murfreesboro, Tenn., Feb. 7, 1804. Employment: Agent of Houston's founding Allen brothers and their Houston Town Company; handled land sales and other matters. Took office: Aug. 14, 1837 Left office: Nov. 11, 1837 Method victory: Picked up 12 votes, besting rivals who earned 11 votes and 10 votes. Eligibility requirement to run: White male citizens of Texas who had lived in Houston at least six months and owned at least $100 worth of land. Date of death: Dec. 8, 1867, near Bryan. See More Collapse

After all, the Houston Town Company was run by the town's founding Allen brothers, real estate speculators out of New York who were luring settlers to the 6,642 acres they had purchased by gleefully glossing over the region's oppressive climate (not to mention the yellow fever that would kill a 10th of the town in 1839, the first of eight outbreaks to come before the Civil War).

Holman, a Texas Army veteran, took office Aug. 14, 1837, having picked up 12 votes and besting rivals who earned 11 and 10 votes, respectively.

He was joined in his unpaid, part-time civic service role by eight new aldermen, all of them white male citizens of Texas who had lived in Houston at least six months and owned at least $100 worth of land - the eligibility requirements for office. The group met at random intervals at Kesler's Arcade, a popular gathering place.

No city hall would be built until 1841, and even then two of these gathering places burned down over the next century.

The original charter intent appears to have been for officials to serve one-year terms, but Houston's mayors kept seeking higher office or resigning to pursue business elsewhere, and the town went through four leaders in its first three years, as well as nine charter revisions by 1853, which "demonstrated the instability of the government," local historian Betty Trapp Chapman wrote.

Holman himself, a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., served less than three months, until Nov. 11. Rather than seek re-election as mayor, Holman sought a seat in the new republic's Congress, but fell short. Throughout his service to the city, however, he served as district clerk, a post he finally resigned in 1841 to represent Texas businesses on the East Coast.

He returned to Texas during the Civil War, serving on the Texas State Military Board and supervising construction of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad after the fighting had ended. He died Dec. 8, 1867, near Bryan.

City council records from the period have been lost to time, or perhaps the swamp, but newspaper clippings and some other records survive. Holman expanded the city's boundaries to include a tract he owned to improve its market value, historian Priscilla Benham wrote, "the first of many Houston politicians who combined land speculation with political office."

The local newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register, recorded only one apparent controversy during Holman's months in office. In what may seem an irony to Mayor Sylvester Turner, who drew sustained applause at his inaugural address in January for promising to fix reported potholes within 24 hours - including on Holman Avenue, named for the first mayor - this controversy concerned the condition of the city's streets.

"The attention of the mayor and aldermen of the city of Houston is respectfully called to the muddy condition of the streets," read an October 1837 edition of the paper. "The comfort and health of the inhabitants and visitors demand that those streets be well drained of all water that falls on them."

The quality of public services was not Houstonians' primary focus, however.

"The boosters' preoccupation with expanding their market area meant that the institutions of intracity services were left in a comparatively primitive condition," Platt wrote. "The municipal corporation remained a 'weakened spring' of government without the authority to the fiscal resources to respond vigorously to community needs for better public services."

In other words, Houstonians restricted the city'sbusiness to business, investing in roads and bridges on trade routes on the city's edges not in water lines, sewers, and fire or police departments.

"If Houston could become the commercial emporium of all Texas that the Allen brothers had promised, those engaged in commerce clearly had the most at stake," Chapman wrote. "In essence, Houston's government became the instrument of the local business community."

This philosophy persisted for decades. In 1882, a local newspaper described the city as "a huddle of houses arranged on unoccupied lines of black mud." Residents of Fifth Ward, still one of Houston's lower-income neighborhoods, twice petitioned to secede.

One sign of this civic inattention was that, well into the 1950s, there was still confusion over whether Holman or Dr. Francis Moore Jr. had been the city's first mayor.

Moore, a Massachusetts native who came to Texas from New York in June 1836, had studied medicine and law and began publishing the Telegraph newspaper in Houston in May 1837.

He served three stints as mayor, as well as in the Texas Senate.

Moore, who succeeded Holman, took some basic steps his predecessor had little time to handle in his four months, clearly stating his policies in the pages of the Telegraph.

A moralizer who railed against the carrying of weapons and public drunkenness (not to mention Houston's frequent instances of gambling, prostitution, theft and assaults), Moore established the city's first police force - two constables, paid $60 a month - and also sponsored a law to ban dueling. Moore organized a board of health to fight yellow fever and formed Houston's first volunteer fire department, purchasing a town lot and an engine for that purpose.

These doings were all dutifully recorded in the pages of the Telegraph, in between notices about Comanche raids in nearby towns, runaway slaves, missing horses, and musings on "whether or not tobacco smoking is a security against Bronchitis."

It wasn't until 1905 that Houston voters chose to have their mayor serve full time, and not until 1947 that voters adopted the strong-mayor and council system used today.
When Charles Newnam left his life in the Navy after nearly a decade of leading top secret missions and performing national security operations, he struggled to find balance making the transition to civilian life.

He stayed late at work to avoid troubles at home and turned to alcohol abuse. Newnam's experience was not unusual. More than a quarter of veterans have a difficult time shifting to civilian life after time in the military, according to the Pew Research Institute.

But there came a day, Newnam said, when he realized he wasn't the person he wanted to be, and he decided he needed to make a change.

"It came to the point I said, 'This has got to stop,'" Newnam said.

Newnam, now living in Spring and working as a strategy consultant, sat in front of a gathering of veterans and members of the local business community last week, sharing his story as part of a panel question and answer session sponsored by the Warriors Refuge, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans in their post-military transition. On the panel with Newnam was Jeff Presnal, a 25-year Army veteran and a commercial real estate business man in The Woodlands area. In addition to his own experiences in the military, Presnal saw the toll that his son, Ryan's, three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan took on him. He even missed the birth of his own son while he was deployed. Ryan survived a number of close calls and saw violence on a daily basis while on deployment. To make things harder, a couple of his Army buddies committed suicide after returning home.

"We got the full gamut of experiences," Presnal said.

When Ryan turned to his parents to find help dealing with the challenges of post-combat life, Presnal and his wife, Sandra, had the idea to start a ministry to reach out to veterans and their families. The Presnals started Armor of God Military Ministry, meeting at WoodsEdge Community Church, in 2010 as way to give veterans a place where they could come for support.

"One of the biggest things that we find is that (veterans) struggle to figure out who they are," Presnal said. "That leads to a lot of other stuff that are unhealthy - coping things, band aids. They have an identity in the military that gave them pride and camaraderie and security. It's a whole culture of its own  We help them walk through that  figure out what life looks like."

Presnal also partners with Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs, a faith-based, nonprofit that organizes retreats focused on helping veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and adjust to life after combat.

Presnal uses the curriculum from the retreats to work with local veterans who may not be able to take a week off to go to one of the Mighty Oaks retreat lodges. In addition to the programs offered through Armor of God Military Ministry, the Warriors Refuge has hosted a series of group leadership programs, as well as larger events focused on entrepreneurship. Terry Weaver, one of the leaders of the all-volunteer organization, said that the positive response to the programs has grown dramatically since the Warriors Refuge first kicked off in 2013.

More than 400 people have participated in the organization's events in the last year.

"It's been phenomenal," Weaver said. "People have had real breakthroughs."

Weaver, who is a veteran himself, works as a pastor at the Ark Church in Conroe and helps run the Warriors Refuge programs as a volunteer.

In June, Warriors Refuge will start its next eight-week leadership program, which is space limited and application based.

For people like Newnam, Presnal and Weaver, being involved in military outreach is more than just a volunteer opportunity. It's about reaching out to reflections of themselves - to their brothers in uniform.

And they have the same message for all veterans and those who know veterans.

"If you're struggling, ask for help," Presnal said.

"If you know (a struggling veteran), be the one who helps them get help. Have a heart that's willing to help them seek it out  ultimately that will make a difference in everyone's life."
An expanse of blue solar panels stretches across part of the Yamakura Dam reservoir in Japan's Chiba Prefecture.

In two years, if construction goes as planned, 50,904 panels will float atop the reservoir, generating an estimated 16,170 megawatt hours annually, enough electricity to power almost 5,000 homes, according to Kyocera, the company building the solar plant.

The project, once completed, will be the largest installation of its kind in the world. But floating solar arrays are becoming more popular, with installations already operating in Australia and the United States, and more planned or under construction.

The interest is driven in part by growth in the solar market as the cost of the technology has dropped quickly.

Floating solar arrays - often referred to as "floatovoltaics," a term trademarked by one company - also have advantages over solar plants on land, their proponents say. Renting or buying land is more expensive, and there are fewer regulations for structures built on reservoirs, water treatment ponds and other bodies of water not used for recreation. Unlike most land-based solar plants, floating arrays can also be hidden from public view, a factor in the nonprofit Sonoma Clean Power Co.'s decision to pursue the technology.

"Sonoma County boasts some of the most beautiful rolling hills, and people don't want to see them covered by solar panels," said Rebecca Simonson, a power analyst for the renewable energy developer, which has signed purchasing agreements for floating solar arrays to be built on six treated water ponds in the county. The solar panels, she said, would not be visible from the road.

The floating arrays have other assets. They help keep water from evaporating, making the technology attractive in drought-plagued areas, and restrict algae blooms. And they are more efficient than land-based panels, because water cools the panels.

"The efficiencies are what motivated us to look at this," said Rajesh Nellore, the chief executive of Infratech Industries, which has completed the first section of a floating solar plant in Jamestown, Australia, that will eventually cover five water treatment basins. The installation, which went into operation last year, is constructed so that it generates up to 57 percent more energy than a rooftop solar plant.

The panels are specially coated to prevent corrosion, and set on a tracking system that moves them to maximize sunlight during the course of a day. The company is working on a similar project in Holtville, a small city in Southern California, which has suffered from years of drought.

Nellore notes that each floating solar project comes with its own engineering challenges. Floating panels can face stiffer wind than land-based arrays. But he said the biggest obstacle was convincing government water agencies that the technology served their interests.

"It's limited by what incentives there are and what the government wants," Nellore said. He noted that in Los Angeles, the Water Department covered a reservoir with $34.5 million worth of black plastic balls to slow evaporation; floating solar panels might have served the same purpose and also generated energy.

Kyocera, for its part, turned to floating panels because solar power has become so popular in Japan that big tracts of land for typical panel setups are hard to come by, said a spokeswoman, Natsuki Doi.

The Far Niente winery in Oakville, Calif., was an early adopter of floating solar panels, placing 994 on pontoons over an irrigation pond in 2008. Greg Allen, a winemaker at Far Niente who is a mechanical engineer by training, said the company was interested in solar power and wanted to eliminate 100 percent of their energy costs.

Utility rebates and tax credits helped defray some of the $4.2 million cost for the floating array, which took 2 1/2 years to design and build, and another 1,302 solar panels installed on land. The system is expected to pay for itself by 2020 or sooner, Allen said.

"We were nervous about a lot of things when we got into the project," Allen said. But putting the panels on water saved vineyard space, and the floating system, combined with a solar array on land, generates up to 477 kilowatts of electricity at peak production.

At least one other winery has followed suit, and Allen said Far Niente had received visitors from India, China, Singapore and New South Wales who are interested in the technology.

Inhabitants of the pond seem unperturbed, he added.

"The fish are happy, the frogs are happy, the ducks came back," he said. "It's a very healthy pond."
AUSTIN - The Turkish government is reaching into Texas to level complaints against a charter school network it saysis funneling money to a group plotting to overthrow its government.

A group hired by the Republic of Turkey to probe operations of Texas' largest charter school network filed a complaint Tuesday with the Texas Education Agency, asking it to investigate a series of allegations against Houston-based Harmony Public Schools. Among accusations against the 30,000-student school system in the 38-page complaint are claims the charter network employs an illegal visa scheme to place unqualified Turkish teachers into key school positions and that officials strike deals with preferred vendors instead of using competitive bidding. The actions of the charter system ultimately support an exiled Muslim cleric, the complaint alleges.

Defenders of the charter school network say the complaint is a politically-charged rehashing of old issues Harmony has debunked or addressed.

A TEA spokesman said officials have yet to decide whether to investigate the claims, but said that determination relies on whether the state has jurisdiction to probe Harmony.

The complaint was penned by Amsterdam & Partners LLP, alaw firm with offices in London and Washington, D.C., which was hired by the Republic of Turkey at a cost of $50,000 a month to investigate Harmony. After filing a 90-part open records request to the school system last November, which Harmony said would cost $690,000 to fulfill, Amsterdam urged the state to investigate Harmony's practices in light of previous investigations into the network and a coming expansion of 15 new campuses over the next two years.

Harmony operates 46 charter schools across Texas, including 13 in the Houston area, using public funds to manage a school system without the strings attached to traditional public schools. The schools are considered high performing with several receiving national accolades.

Critics allege the school network founded by Turkish immigrants who wanted to focus on science, technology, engineering and math has ties to a controversial Turkish scholar, Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.

Harmony staff see the barrage of complaints as a politically motivated witch-hunt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following his 2014 election in which 90 percent of Turkish citizens in the United States voted against him. Erdogan's vocal critics include Gulen, a Muslim cleric who exiled himself to Pennsylvania in 1999.

Past lawsuits

Lawyers hired by the Turkish government link Harmony to dozens of other U.S.-based charter schools run by Turkish immigrants, claiming those schools are connected to Gulen. They contend the schools are part of a large visa-fraud and money-laundering scheme that aims to undermine and overthrow the Turkish government.

"Gulen uses the schools in the United States to get his followers out of Turkey," attorney Bob Amsterdam said Monday. "It's a massive scheme to, basically, launder money back to the Gulen organization. It's very sophisticated. It's completely non-transparent."

Amsterdam pointed to discrimination lawsuits filed by Harmony employees over the last decade that claimed that Turkish men were paid more and given preference over American teachers. He also noted that Turkish contractors have profited from Harmony and suggested the charter school system makes political donations to stave off scrutiny.

Amsterdam called for the TEA to scrutinize what he characterized as a "mass level of deception."

"The money that they're skimming off American taxpayers finds its way back to Turkey," Amsterdam said. "They've been trying to overthrow the government of Turkey."

Soner Tarim, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Harmony Public Schools, called the claims "bogus," "mind-boggling" and "ridiculous."

"I'd rather be spending my time with principals and teachers. Instead I have to deal with these nonsense allegations," he said while driving to Austin to meet with TEA officials.

Corrections made

Past investigations into his school system resulted in corrections. The system has reduced the number of employees on visas from 20 percent to less than 7 percent and outsourced procurement operations to the Harris County Department of Education, said Mustafa Tameez, a spokesman for Harmony. The system plans to send a note to parents Wednesday briefing them about the complaint, Tameez said.

A 2012 state audit found Harmony had misspent more than $186,000 in federal grant money meant to improve education for students with disabilities or from low-income families, an issue Tameez said has been addressed.

The allegations contained in Tuesday's complaint are "nothing more than a politically-motivated re-hash of old claims and complaints that have been heard and investigated previously and found to be without merit," read a statement from the charter school network.

State Board of Education member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, called the attacks against Harmony "blatantly personal and political."

"We have audited Harmony like every other charter school," he said. "The only thing they are guilty of is having been part of a great American immigration story."

Jennifer Radcliffe contributed to this report.
Evangelicals this week hailed decisions by the United Methodist General Conference, which ended Friday, in backing away from previous "pro-choice" stances, Christianity Today reports.

Delegates meeting in Portland, Ore., voted 445-310 to repeal their 40-year-old resolution supporting Roe vs. Wade, and 425-268 to withdraw from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, whose pro-choice stance extends to late-term and sex-selective abortions.

The votes came in the came quadrennial session in which delegates sidestepped controversy over the denomination's bans on ordaining GLBT clergy and officiating at same-sex weddings by establishing a committee to consider the issues.

Advocates on both sides worry that the controversy, if unresolved, could split the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

John Lomperis, a conference delegate and United Methodist director with the conservative think tank, Institute on Religion and Democracy, hailed the abortion votes as "two MAJOR steps in the right direction," the evangelical magazine reports.

"This is a necessary and good step towards affirming that the unborn are persons of sacred worth," he said. "This also shows that the UMC is moving away from other liberal, declining, 'mainline' denominations to embrace a new faithful, global identity."

Church observers have noted that the denomination, with slightly more than 7 million U.S. members, consistently has lost members, while its foreign churches have grown. The foreign congregations tend to be conservative on sex-related issues.

Joining evangelical cheers for the delegates' actions was Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore, who tweeted "It's a major victory for all gospel Christians. Let's sing some Wesley hymns in solidarity."

Christianity Today reports that conference delegates rejected a motion by the New York office of United Methodist Women to renew support for its former pro-choice position. Under Methodist regulations, such resolutions automatically expire after eight years unless the general conference renews them.

The denomination's 1976 resolution states, in part:

"We believe that continuance of a pregnancy that endangers the life or health of the mother or poses other serious problems concerning the life, health or mental capability of the child to be is not a moral necessity. In such cases, we believe the path of mature Christian judgment may indicate the advisability of abortion. We support the legal right to abortion as established by the 1973 Supreme Court decision.

The entire Christianity Today report may be read here.
The Texas Attorney General was in federal court Tuesday to defend the state's controversial voter ID law, which courts have twice tried to strike down. Both times it has persisted.

So what is all this hullaballoo about, and why does Texas think it needs to fight so hard to required voters to show state approved ID at the polls?

According to Gov. Greg Abbott in March, it's because "the fact is, voter fraud is rampant" in Texas. But that doesn't appear to be true all. PolitiFact rated Abbott's claim "pants on fire," finding just four documented cases of in-person voter fraud between 2000 and 2014, during which time 72 million ballots were cast in Texas.

He and other proponents of the law argue that the burden it requires--showing one of seven forms of state-approved documents in order to vote--should be easily met by any Texan.

Critics of the law, which passed in Texas in 2011, say it disproportionately discourages the poor and racial minorities, the demographic groups least likely to already have official ID, from participating in democracy. Such has been the allegation in front of multiple federal judges. It's against that charge that Texas is defending its legislation in court today.

But this battle is just the latest in a long turbulent history of Texas' voter ID requirements. They took a lot of fight to even get this far.

The idea first emerged in the 2009 legislative session. Texas was in a transformative time, after the U.S. Census Bureau announced just four years prior that white Texans had lost their long-held majority in the population, paving the path toward a more diverse power structure in state government.

Republicans said the state needed to control voter fraud, which was not a documented problem, and Democrats said the burden of acquiring ID would keep minority voters from the polls. The divide was so stark that the session ended in meltdown, largely on account of voter ID.

Back in 2011, state Republicans employed some procedural finagling to push the measure through and it passed, but met swift resistance from above.

Because Texas was a pro-slavery state with a modern history of race-based civil suppression, federal law requires that it submit any changes to voting laws for federal approval.

In 2012, a three-judge panel in Washington D.C. called the law "the most stringent [voter ID law] in the country" and struck it down.

"It imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities in Texas," the judges said.

While procuring ID may seem a simple task from a modestly affluent standpoint in Texas, it can be a discouraging challenge for the poor, as the Washington Post has documented.

Under the law, voting in Texas requires one of seven documents:

Texas driver license

Texas Election Identification Certificate

Texas personal identification card

Texas license to carry a handgun

United States military identification card

United States citizenship certificate

United States passport

The cheapest of those options, the election identification certificate, is free. However getting one requires other forms of ID and proof of citizenship, the cheapest of which is a birth certificate for $22. As the Post reported, many Texans, especially the elderly, face steep challenges in tracking down records of their birth.

Residents of rural parts of Texas or the valley also face a full day journey to and from the nearest Department of Public Safety, where the ID certificates are procured.

Because the lower economic class is disproportionately comprised of non-white people, federal judges said that the heightened complications to casting a ballot would have a racially discriminatory effect. They also nodded at the fact that voter fraud was not a problem in Texas, though Texas officials argued that it was.

Then in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court nixed the law requiring federal approval of voting law changes in southern states, so then-Attorney General Abbott declared Texas' measure would "take effect immediately." And it did so without issue in the November election.

Then in 2014, a federal judge once again struck down the law, saying that it not only would disproportionately affect minorities but was designed to do so.

"Proponents of [the law] within the 82nd Texas Legislature were motivated, at the very least part, because of and not merely in spite of the voter ID law's detrimental effects on the African-American and Hispanic electorate," wrote U.S. District Judge Nelva Ramos in a 147-page opinion.

Texas appealed, and was allowed to keep the law in place for the 2014 election. But a three-judge appeals court in 2015 sided with the previous ruling, and upheld the striking of the law.

Texas again appealed, and is now arguing the issue before a 15 judges of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The decision there could determine whether the voting requirements will stand in Texas for the presidential election.

It could also clear the way for the Supreme Court to eventually issue a final ruling on the long controversy over Texas' law.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Editor's note: This is the fourth in an occasional series about early Houston's six wards.

Dorris Ellis Robinson tried almost everything to stop the city of Houston from digging up the historic brick streets of Freedmen's Town. Phone calls. Community gatherings. Even a meeting with then-Mayor Annise Parker.

The morning contract workers thrust their picks into the street and dislodged the first two or three dozen bricks, Robinson lay down in the coffin-sized hole. All eyes were on her, suddenly the central character in a decades-old story marked by racism and greed.

"I didn't know what else to do," said the 65-year-old, who believes the bricks were laid by former slaves and have spiritual significance. "I thought maybe I'd just lie there and slow the process down."

Robinson succeeded, at least for now. But the battle over the bricks, which has moved to the courts, is just the latest chapter in a long-running conflict over the survival of Houston's oldest African-American community. A long string of city bureaucrats and developers say it's too late to save Freedmen's Town - it's already gone. Activists and preservationists insist there are still historic structures worth saving if the city will mobilize immediately.

Robinson and the group that filed a lawsuit to stop the city and the contractor from further brick removal won a temporary injunction in state district court. The contractor then asked the First Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court. Those justices have heard oral arguments, and a written decision is expected any day.

It's time for black and white Houstonians to pull together and save Freedmen's Town, Robinson says. "You don't have to be African-American to celebrate the idea that even in the toughest of circumstances, you can start a new life. I can take my children and my grandchildren to Freedmen's Town, and say, 'You can do anything, baby.' "

Adds Vanessa Sampson, executive director of the Fourth Ward Redevelopment Authority, "How did we let Freedmen's Town slip through the cracks? If we destroy our history, what are people going to come to Houston to see? A shopping mall? The Galleria?"

Most vociferous is activist Gladys House, who was born in Freedmen's Town more than 50 years ago and still lives there today. Outraged, she watches what may be the nation's only freedmen's community still populated by founders' descendants slowly melting into Midtown and downtown, Houston's bigger and more politically powerful neighborhoods.

"Most white people don't care about black people's history," she says.

Crowding and poverty

Freedmen's Town sits within the old Fourth Ward, which functioned like a city council district between 1839 and 1905. Formerly enslaved men, women and children moved into the area in 1865 and settled on land just south of Buffalo Bayou.

The area was swampy and flooded frequently, but against the odds, it flourished and became the center of African-American life in Houston. Residents inspired by Rev. Jack Yates, the dynamic leader of early Freedmen's Town, built churches, businesses, a school. Recognizing the importance of education, they trained to become the city's first black professionals.

At its peak in the early 1900s, Freedmen's Town was booming, practically a city in its own right. By the middle of the century, though, it was a splintering community divided by Allen Parkway, the old Jefferson Davis Hospital, Interstate 45 and San Felipe Courts, a new public housing project for white defense workers. As the city slowly desegregated, even more families moved away. Freedmen's Town Fourth Ward, as people often said in one breath, became synonymous with renters, poverty and crime.

But that view, if prevalent, certainly wasn't unanimous.

Growing up in the '60s, House understood that she lived in a close-knit and historic neighborhood. What puzzled her was that she couldn't read about it at school or the public library. At age 14, she interviewed family and friends, wrote the community's history herself and scattered copies like seeds.

About a decade later, in 1977, Houston filmmaker James Blue also tried to raise awareness. He made a documentary titled, "Who Killed Fourth Ward? A Non-fiction Mystery in Three Parts."

Blue is dead but Rick Lowe, the founder of Project Row Houses in the Third Ward and a 2014 MacArthur Fellow, remembers the film well.

"The heart of the Fourth Ward (Freedmen's Town) was ripped out, it's truly been ripped out," Lowe says. "In the film, politicians and developers said it was progress. It's progress for some but not progress for the cultural heritage of Freedmen's Town. There are always winners and losers, and in this case, Freedmen's Town lost."

In 1984, not ready to admit defeat, a group of determined activists including House and late Congressman Mickey Leland pressed to have one portion of what remained of Freedmen's Town listed on the National Register of Historic Places, about 45 blocks within West Gray, West Dallas, Interstate 45 and Genesee. But the new designation offered no protection from city officials or developers more interested in building new than preserving the old.

Mother ward

One obstacle in the path of gung-ho developers was San Felipe Courts, the public housing complex that had been renamed Allen Parkway Village. Residents and activists there and throughout Freedmen's Town and the rest of Fourth Ward wanted to save it - not only as an example of early modernist architecture but also as low-income housing.

After nearly a decade of wrangling, 70 percent of the complex was bulldozed in the mid-'90s. The remaining 30 percent was saved and renovated, and new "affordable" housing was built on the same spot. Still, the community viewed the demolition as a major defeat, and the amount of low-income public housing was much reduced.

Around the same time, a nonprofit corporation called Houston Renaissance arrived on the scene, supposedly to facilitate redevelopment.

"That was the downfall of Freedmen's Town," says Parker, the former mayor. "That's when most of the historic elements were moved or torn down so developers could put up townhouses. I fought against it."

Carol McDavid, an archeologist and scholar who works in Freedmen's Town, posed the question "When is 'gone' gone?" in a paper detailing the community's history.

Even after many stalwarts moved away, she wrote, they continue to return to the "mother ward" for church and other special occasions.

Today, only a fraction of the structures listed on the national register are still standing. The population has shrunk to 3,500, an all-time low.

"If we were talking about the Heights, I think it would have been protected," says historian Debra Blacklock Sloan.

Along with Sloan and McDavid, architectural historian Stephen Fox points to the subtle and not-so-subtle racism that has shaped Freedmen's Town.

"For most of the 20th century, this was a neighborhood of poor African-Americans," Fox says. "People had difficulty conceding that the community could have achieved anything of historical significance. Today, most of the historic fabric is gone. It is a cultural tragedy to destroy the neighborhood."

The solution, Fox says, is a city of Houston historic district designation. "It might require gerrymandering to pick up the proper concentration of historic buildings. But it could be done. And it's an effective way to promote preservation."

Historian Patricia Prather regretfully offers an opposing view - that it's time to acknowledge the demise of Freedmen's Town and focus on preserving Houston's African-American history in the Third and Fifth Wards.

The land in Freedmen's Town has become so valuable, she says, poor and middle-class residents can't afford the property taxes. And some of the people moving into tall, skinny townhouses on the eastern edge of Freedmen's Town have no interest in the area's history. All they care about is the proximity to downtown.

"They call themselves urban settlers," Prather says. "But they're taking over and re-creating everything in their own likenesses."

Crossroads

Steve Gonzales

Last year, decades of conflict and angst came to a boil over two bricked streets, Andrews and Wilson, in the very heart of Freedmen's Town.

Sloan says residents paid to have the streets paved with the bricks between 1916 and 1924, after the city refused to pick up the tab.

She and Ken Brown, an archeologist, anthropologist and University of Houston professor, believe the bricklayers likely were formerly enslaved men and their adult sons.

The bricks have spiritual significance, too, Brown says. In the intersections, he says, the workers used a crossroads pattern common in Africa; use of this pattern and belief in the power of the pattern are documented in both archeological and ethnographic records.

"The belief was that if you stood in the center of the cross or X, you and your ancestors and spirits could communicate," Brown says. "It was a way to help you with decision-making. It was a way for both the living and the dead to work together."

That helps explain the uproar when city officials announced plans to dig up the bricks in order to install new water and sewer lines.

No question, the streets need repair, and the city services need an upgrade. But the work can and should be done by tunneling under the streets, which would not disturb the brickwork, Brown says.

Today, Lowe agrees. But 10 years ago he believed a city engineer who told him the tunneling simply couldn't be done. As a result, Lowe says, he wasted time, energy and credibility relaying false information to community leaders.

Ultimately, Lowe apologized to them.

"At the very least Andrews should be restored in a way that honors the history of that street," Lowe says.

Parker wants Houston to do what other big cities have done successfully. "You pick up the bricks, fix the streets and put the bricks down again," she says.

Nonsense, says attorney Ben Hall, who filed the lawsuit to stop the city from moving the bricks. "Those streets are sacred territory, and we can't tear them up."

Hall represents Robinson and the Freedmen's Town Preservation Coalition. "This is history that needs to be taught to our children and their children," he says.

Houston's new mayor, Sylvester Turner, has not jumped into the fray. But as a native Houstonian who grew up in the area, as an African-American and an old-school diplomat, it seems likely he will.

"I don't want to lose Freedmen's Town," Turner says. "The court case is still pending, but I would like to see this as a win-win, not a win-lose."

Series of negotiations

James Nielsen/Staff

Jacqueline Bostic has a dream. The great-granddaughter of Jack Yates, the leader of early Freedmen's Town, wants to see the existing historic structures preserved and renovated. She wants new lights in the community where she was born and raised. She wants new signs erected that explain the neighborhood's history.

As chairman of the board of the Fourth Ward Redevelopment Authority, she knows her organization has established perfect book ends to the neighborhood. On the east side is Bethel Park, a haunting tribute to the old Bethel Missionary Baptist Church that burned in 2005. On the west side is the renovated African-American Library at the Gregory School, Houston's first public school for black children.

In the middle is the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum, yet another landmark in the neighborhood.

Bostic, 77, describes herself as a realist, not a purist. She wants to see the brick streets repaired and city services improved for taxpayers who deserve more and better. She is impatient to see progress, but everything is on hold until the lawsuit is resolved.

"We can't have all these competing interests pulling in different directions," she says.

Standing at the foot of Andrews Street, Bostic charms a street entrepreneur trying to sell her a ham, and then waves to a young woman - a stranger living in a new, three-story townhouse.

She says, "Life is a series of negotiations if you intend to survive."
Loetha McGruder was driving through Jacinto City on May 19 when she was pulled over by a police officer for travelling about 10 miles an hour over the posted 40-mph speed limit.

Instead of getting a ticket, the young pregnant mother of two found herself locked up in the Harris County jail for five days on a misdemeanor charge - failing to present proper ID to the officer - simply because she couldn't afford the bail.

McGruder is the latest plaintiff added to a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that Harris County's bail hearings routinely violate the constitutional rights of people like her.

On Tuesday, Harris County officials took an important step in attempting to address the issue, by announcing a new screening process to help judges determine which suspects awaiting trial can be freed without bail.

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have been monitoring conditions in Harris County jail since 2008. In part because of federal pressure, county officials have been working on reforms.

Earlier this year they announced they had obtained a grant to create a diversion court, revamp pretrial reviews and attempt to urge judges to increase release options for non-violent offenders. But advocates like state Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston have said the county's plans so far have left the flawed bond hearings in place - opening the door for the federal civil rights challenge that he supports.

Proponents of personal recognizance bonds have been stymied in the past by a reluctance on the part of Harris County judges to let suspects out of jail without bail. The conventional wisdom has been that suspects who do not have a financial stake in returning to court will abscond.

On Tuesday, though, county officials touted a new diagnostic tool as a way to move past a decades-old culture that has required every defendant in Houston to put up money or collateral to ensure they would return to court to resolve their cases.

"Obviously, dangerous people need to stay locked up," state District Judge Susan Brown said at a news conference. "For others, the most effective and efficient course of action may be to release them before trial - with conditions such as electronic monitoring or supervision within their community."

Lending their support Tuesday were District Attorney Devon Anderson, Chief Public Defender Alex Bunin, county Court-at-Law Judge Margaret Harris and County Commissioner Gene Locke.

What is still not clear is exactly when the new system will be in place and how many Harris County judges will use it.

"No longer will poverty or race or other factors be driving an assessment, insidiously and invisibly," Locke said. "Now we have a race-neutral assessment that is also class-neutral that will allow defendants to be judged fairly on whether or not they should stay in jail."

Help from foundations

Tuesday's announcement was made by a county committee that has long worked toward reform, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Earlier this year, the committee spearheaded an effort to diagnose and solve problems in the system with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

The diagnostic test announced Tuesday was developed by the Houston-based Laura and John Arnold Foundation. It was described as a neutral-based data tool that would assist judges in gauging the risk that a defendant poses to the community.

Foundation representatives were on hand to explain that defendants do not have to be interviewed and given a subjective assessment. Instead, information about them that is readily available in court documents will be weighed by an algorithm to put each person on a continuum of risk. That assessment will be provided to judges who determine whether a defendant can be released without bail.

The nine factors that are considered include age, prior convictions - including misdemeanors, felonies and information about whether the offenses were violent - and whether they appeared for court in other cases. The assessment does not consider race, gender, past drug use, national origin or income.

Matt Alsdorf, vice president of criminal justice at the Arnold Foundation, said the diagnostic tool was developed using more than 1.5 million cases across the country.

"Our research team figured out the factors that are most predictive of defendants' likelihood of missing court or being re-arrested, and in particular being re-arrested for a violent crime," he said. "There's actually a fairly limited set of factors that are highly predictive of those outcomes."

The tool, which backers said has seen success in cities like Chicago and in the state of Kentucky, is being provided with training to the county for free.

Alsdorf said the assessment will provide judges with two risk scores: one on whether defendants will return to court and another on whether they will commit another offense.

With that information, a judge can decide if a suspect should be freed without bail, offered a bail outlined in the county's posted bond schedule or held without bail.

Screening suspects to figure out, statistically, who can be released on a personal recognizance bond, sometimes called "free bail," is expected to lower jail populations, which represent a major county expense.

But officials said it may take weeks or months to train personnel and launch the new system, which serves suspects who are presumed innocent and awaiting trial.

Added to federal suit

That new tool was not in place in the case of the 22-year-old McGruder.

Court records show that a Harris County hearing officer did not indicate on a form why he set her bond at $5,000 - the maximum amount Harris County designates for misdemeanors. McGruder had no criminal history and two young children, the elder suffering from Down syndrome.

And he never asked McGruder if she could afford to pay bail - though under both federal and state laws magistrates are required to consider individual defendants' cases individually - including their ability to post bail.

She was added to a case filed last Thursday by a Washington D.C. group called Equal Justice Under Law, which has been challenging what it calls money bail practices in federal court cases filed across the United States.

Maranda ODonnell, another young mother recently arrested and jailed after failing to present proper ID at a traffic stop, and Robert Ryan Ford, a Houston man jailed after being charged with shoplifting about $100 in cosmetics, are the other named defendants.

The lawsuit names Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman, who oversees the jail, and the five county hearing officers that generally review such cases and set bond.

On any given day, more than 70 percent of those jailed in Harris County are pretrial defendants who have been accused but not yet convicted of a crime, though typically only about 500 at any one time are jailed for minor misdemeanor offenses like petty theft or trespassing.

An investigation by the Houston Chronicle found that 55 pretrial detainees died in Harris County custody from 2009-2015, including offenders jailed for misdemeanor crimes like trespassing.

Last month, another man detained because he could not post bail after allegedly stealing a guitar - a misdemeanor - was allegedly beaten to death by two inmates jailed on felony charges.

Lise Olsen contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Houston's municipal pension board has pushed the fund's director out of her post without explanation, a move that could require the trustees to buy out her contract for more than $300,000.

The likely payout for Rhonda Smith, which would be paid from the same dollars used to pay retirees, comes at an uncomfortable time for the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System.

Not only are the fund's finances the shakiest of the city's three pension systems, with only 52 percent of the cash needed to pay benefits over the long term, but the board also has joined the city's police and firefighter groups in intensifying reform talks with Mayor Sylvester Turner.

The mayor wants a deal by the end of the year that will reduce the city's large and growing pension bill, which has strained city finances since workers' benefits were increased in 2001. The city's unfunded pension liability has reached $5.6 billion.

Smith's replacement atop the fund is David Long, a key figure behind the 2001 Legislature changes who was criticized when it became clear those changes had blown a hole in the city budget.

While Turner said he knows and respects Smith, he said pension leaders' willingness to negotiate matters more than who those leaders are. Of Smith's severance, the mayor said employees expect him to be prudent and should expect the same of the trustees they choose to oversee their pension fund.

"I don't care who's at the top. I do expect them to come to the table and participate with me in lowering the costs," Turner said. "In terms of who they're paying and how much they're paying, I think the concern is more toward their members and explaining to their members why they're paying maybe more than they could afford."

Former mayors Bill White and Annise Parker, who grappled with Long during the last reform fight a decade ago, were less welcoming.

"It's a huge problem for the city and for the pension that they've brought David Long back," Parker said. "He was, frankly, in my view, part of the problem. He was part of orchestrating the changes in the Legislature, but he was also an obstructionist in trying to move things forward."

White agreed, saying Long "made more money than the vast majority of city employees and managed to leave the pension fund with a large unfunded liability."

A 'curious' reversal

Smith's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said Smith has not been given a reason for her ouster. Though trustees renewed her contract at the end of 2014, she was notified just a few months later that her tenure would not be extended.

Pension system meeting minutes offer no clues, but they do show that Smith was placed on paid leave Jan. 20 and removed from her post on Feb. 29. Long, having resigned his seat on the board, took over as executive director March 1, returning to a role he held from 1993 until 2010; he won his board seat later that year.

The municipal pension board is controlled by retirees, with seven trustees elected or appointed by employees and four members appointed by City Hall. The seven employee-trustees declined comment or could not be reached for comment.

Craig Mason, a city appointee who recently left the board, said it appeared to him that Smith's relationships with Long and with board chair Sherry Mose had cooled. Mason and other city appointees are excluded from personnel subcommittee meetings, so he knew few additional details.

"The question is, what was she doing so poorly that they would have to dip into taxpayer funds for no good reason?" Mason said. "It's curious why we'd renew her contract and then a few months later decide she wasn't doing a good job. I thought she was doing an OK job."

Ric Badger, another longtime city-appointed trustee who resigned his post earlier this month, agreed, saying, "I did not see any reason why Rhonda Smith should have been terminated or let go. I thought she did an excellent job."

In a written statement Friday, Mose said the fund "does not discuss personnel matters."

A controversial leader

Mose's statement stressed Long's experience in the city finance department, as executive director and as a trustee.

"Mr. Long has worked successfully with previous administrations on HMEPS' meet and confer agreements," Mose said. "Mr. Long's considerable knowledge and insight will help HMEPS to skillfully and efficiently work with the city on pension-related matters and help strengthen the system for years to come."

HMEPS did not make Long available for an interview.

Long's role in the controversy centers partly on faulty assumptions. The actuarial firm he hired to project the financial impact of benefits changes in 2001 estimated the city's pension bill would rise only slightly, when in fact it tripled within two years. At the time, Long said he had "no regret," and blamed the problem on the consultant. The consulting firm fought back, saying the assumptions were in fact Long's.

Long also drew criticism for backing a provision that gave city executives - and himself - two years of pension seniority for each year of service. And, when City Council first began airing its outrage over the pension crisis in 2004, Long initially refused to testify.

White blasted Long for taking a $25,000 bonus that year despite the funding crisis, and this week noted the 74 trips that critical council members said Long had taken on the pension fund's dime to attend gatherings in Alaska, the Bahamas and elsewhere, which White called "in the nature of boondoggles."

A generous separation

Hardin now is negotiating Smith's separation from the fund, a process in which he is aided by Smith's lopsided employment contract.

Despite being informed a year ago that the board wanted someone else in her job, Smith's deal entitles her to receive her $223,000 annual salary through August 2017. The deal also entitles her to other forms of compensation, such as a monthly car allowance.

"To me, that speaks to the competence of the HMEPS board, that they would extend her contract and then immediately decide to dump her," Parker said.

"What they're going to be paying out to her would go a long way to cover the pensions of a number of our lowest-paid city employees."
The state's two largest university systems want to run the national laboratory in New Mexico that helped develop the first nuclear weapons.

Texas A&M University and the University of Texas systems have entered a joint bid with the University of New Mexico and private companies Boeing and Battelle to take over management of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, one of three U.S. Department of Energy laboratories responsible for the nation's nuclear arsenal, the universities said Tuesday.

The universities would conduct research, provide workforce training and independent peer review of the work done at Sandia - rooted primarily in the realm of national security and nuclear science.

"In the Texas A&M and University of Texas systems, you have two of the largest, most prestigious university systems in the country with the expertise and resources necessary at Sandia, as you do with the University of New Mexico and its deep ties to Sandia, and I believe we bring an academic prowess that no one in this country can match," A&M Chancellor John Sharp said during the announcement in New Mexico. "Together, with Battelle and Boeing, our nation's defense will be in good hands."

Officials declined to offer many details on how they would run the labs, should their bid be selected. A&M leaders said its faculty and students would have chances to collaborate with the researchers working at Sandia.

"These are very unique, state-of-the-art facilities," A&M Engineering Dean Kathy Banks said. "Our students would have opportunities with this type of partnership that they wouldn't have otherwise."

Those opportunities could include working in the labs where the first nuclear weapons were developed and where America's nuclear arsenal remains. Sandia began in 1945 as Z Division, the design, testing and assembly arm of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which built the atomic bomb. It became Sandia Laboratory in 1949.

The effort to run the labs is as much about service to the country as it is research for the military-oriented A&M, Sharp said.

"Yes, joining the Together Sandia team will provide tremendous opportunities to create new partnerships and expand existing ones. Yes, it will increase our research and educational opportunities. Yes, we want to be at the forefront of preparing the scientific and engineering workforce of the future," Sharp said. "But most of all, it is about service to our country - to ensuring that our nation's defense is second to none."

The laboratory is managed by the Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company that has run the lab for decades. The lab has an operating budget of $3 billion with 10,000 employees.

Competition to run it likely will be stiff.

The Energy Department issued a request for proposals to run the lab this month and is expected to pick the new manager by the end of the year.

Leaders from Battelle, which helps run six national laboratories already, and Boeing said they were confident in the team they've joined for the bid. A&M and UT, working in the bid as the Texas Research and Education Partnership, would sit on the board of directors for the lab should they win.

Running the lab would be an "unparalleled research opportunity" for the Texas universities, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.

"Together, Texas and New Mexico can bring unprecedented research opportunities to our great state universities and would be honored to be entrusted with the management of one of our nation's premier national laboratories," Abbott said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - A judge ruled on Tuesday that Bill Cosby's trial on sexual assault charges could go forward, setting the stage for a potential legal battle over the prosecution's evidence.

The ruling, by Judge Elizabeth A. McHugh, ended five months of efforts by Cosby's lawyers to have the charges dismissed.

The decision, after a 3-hour hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse here, means that a man who was once one of America's most beloved entertainers but has been pursued by allegations of sexual misconduct by dozens of women must face at least one of his accusers at trial, probably later this year. Cosby, 78, has denied the allegations.

"This case will move forward," McHugh told the crowded courtroom. Cosby, who sat flanked by his lawyers throughout the hearing, stood at the end and said, "Thank you." The judge wished him luck.

The entertainer was charged in December with drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University staff member with whom Cosby became a mentor and friend. Prosecutors said he took advantage of his counseling role, gave her pills and assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in early 2004.

Constand was not in the courtroom on Tuesday. During the hearing, Cosby's lawyers attacked the prosecution for not calling her as a witness, relying instead on a statement she gave to the police in 2005. A Montgomery County detective read portions of the statement outlining the allegations.

It was a case that many people, including accusers who had come forward publicly, long thought prosecutors would never bring.

Since the charges were filed, Cosby's lawyers have battled to have them thrown out. They argue that a former district attorney promised never to prosecute Cosby as a way to induce him to testify in a civil suit brought by Constand in 2005. That suit, in which Cosby spoke freely in deposition testimony, was settled confidentially in 2006.

But at a hearing in February, a trial court judge dismissed the defense's challenges, opening the way for Tuesday's hearing, which is standard in the state system.

The ruling is likely to be followed by another battle by Cosby's legal team to challenge much of the evidence that could be used at trial.

Cosby also is expected to fight any attempt to introduce evidence from other women who have come forward to accuse him of drugging and sexually assaulting them.

Significant obstacles to conviction remain, legal experts said, including a lack of forensic evidence. Cosby's lawyers also are expected to ask why Constand waited a year before making her accusations to the Pennsylvania authorities.

In addition to the criminal case, Cosby is a defendant in a number of civil defamation suits.
ILLINOIS

2 agents wounded during arrest

CHICAGO - Two FBI agents serving an arrest warrant suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds Tuesday morning at a home in Park Forest, south of Chicago, and a suspect in the residence was found dead, according to the FBI.

The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the dead man as Melvin Toran, 50.

Toran was a reputed high-ranking member of the Black P Stone Nation street gang, according to a federal law enforcement source. FBI agents had gone to the home in the south suburb of Chicago to arrest him on charges of narcotics trafficking, part of a gang sweep involving several other ranking members of the gang.

The charges alleged Toran had made a heroin sale to an FBI informant, the source said.

Court records show that Toran had a long criminal record in Cook County, including a conviction for murder in 1986.

TENNESSEE

2 pastors among 32 arrested in trafficking sting

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released the names of 32 men and women who were arrested in an undercover sting targeting a human-trafficking and prostitution operation that preyed upon the residents of Knoxville.

Among those arrested in "Operation Someone Like Me": A volunteer firefighter, an engineer - and two church pastors who responded to online ads for what they thought were for girls under the age of 18, according to the TBI.

One of the pastors netted in the three-day sting was the leader of the children's ministry at Grace Baptist Church. That man, identified as 46-year-old Jason Kennedy, was charged last week with patronizing prostitution and trafficking and has since been fired by his church.

During the three-day operation, undercover agents posted ads on Backpage.com, making contact with 300 people, according to the TBI. An ad in which agents posed as a juvenile girl received more than two dozen contacts, the agency said.

CAMPAIGN 2016

Sanders requests recanvass of vote in Kentucky race

WASHINGTON - Sen. Bernie Sanders is requesting a recanvass of the vote in the wake of the tight finish in last week's Kentucky Democratic presidential primary.

Sanders' campaign sent a signed letter Tuesday to Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, requesting "a full check and recanvass of every one of the voting machines and absentee ballots."

Clinton appeared to narrowly win the contest last week by less than a percentage point.

In a news release, Grimes noted that the last recount came in the states' Republican gubernatorial primary and did not lead to a change in the results and the margin in that race was only 83 votes.

Actress Gilbert cites health, ends bid for Congress

HOWELL, Mich. - Former "Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert is dropping her run for Congress in Michigan.

Gilbert was the only Democrat challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop in the 8th District. But in a statement Tuesday, she says health problems are forcing her out of the race.

The 52-year-old Gilbert says she's following the advice of doctors. She says head and neck injuries from two accidents in 2012 "have only gotten worse."

From wire reports
NEW ORLEANS -With a U.S. Supreme Court deadline looming, judges on a federal appeals court here Tuesday questioned whether accommodations could be made to protect minority voters and save Texas' voter-ID law, the strictest in the nation.

Among the 15 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit who heard oral arguments, there did not seem to be much support for striking down the law or blocking its use in November's elections.

But several questioned why Texas did not have more fallback provisions - as other states do - for voters who lack the kinds of identification that the state requires.

Three other courts have said the Texas law discriminates against African-American, Hispanic and poor voters, who are less likely to have the specified ID documents.

Despite those decisions, the appeals court has left the law in place. It is now under pressure from the Supreme Court to decide by July whether Texas' approach is a responsible way to combat potential voter fraud or an impermissible Republican effort to discourage minority turnout.

The appellate judges are considering a district court's finding that 600,000 people, disproportionately minorities, lack the specific kind of identification required - a driver's license, military ID, passport or weapons permit, among them - and that it would be difficult for many to secure it.

More Information Voting Rights Caucusformed in Congress WASHINGTON - Ahead of what's likely to be the first presidential election since 1964 without the Voting Rights Act in full effect, more than 50 members of Congress have joined to form the Voting Rights Caucus. The caucus will work to educate the public about voting restrictions enacted since the Supreme Court struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Seventeen states will have voting rights restrictions in effect for the first time in a presidential election since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Associated Press See More Collapse

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit reviewing that decision put aside the district judge's ruling that the law was enacted by the Texas Legislature with a discriminatory purpose, which would have required striking down the law. But the panel did find the law had a discriminatory effect.

No proof of vote reduction

Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller told the court Tuesday that the panel's finding was incorrect and that challengers have not been able to prove the law has reduced turnout in three statewide or five local elections in which the law has been used.

He said a Supreme Court decision in 2008 upholding an Indiana law recognized a state's interest in requiring voter IDs to maintain a fair and honest voting system.

If the challengers are right that any voting requirement that has even a slightly disproportionate impact on minority voters is unlawful, he said, "all voting laws are in jeopardy."

Keller found support among what is considered the most conservative appeals court in the nation. Ten of the 15 judges were nominated by Republican presidents. Led in questioning by Judge Edith Jones, several on the court wanted to know the challengers' "limiting principle."

"I'm just looking for a place to draw a line" between which state restrictions are acceptable and which are not, Judge Leslie Southwick said.

Attorneys for the law's challengers said the Voting Rights Act requires courts to look closely at the context and consequences of the changes and whether they are "needlessly burdensome."

Janai Nelson, representing the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the Legislature's purpose, in part, was to curb the power of minority voters in the state. The legislature "couldn't change those demographics," Nelson said, so it worked "with surgical precision" to rule out the kinds of identification - government employment cards, for instance, or college IDs - that minorities were most likely to hold.

Texas asked about remedies

Several judges asked about remedies that Texas could provide without a strike-down of the law and whether the court would have to come up with them. Jones said courts usually allow legislatures the first crack at such a task. But Judge Catharina Haynes, who wrote the panel decision that said the law had a discriminatory effect, said a special session of the Legislature was unlikely.

Among the remedies could be accepting other kinds of IDs besides those the law specifies or allowing people to vote after supplying an affidavit that they are registered and qualified.

Chief Judge Carl Stewart, who was also on the panel that found the law discriminatory, said Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia and other states that have enacted voter-ID laws provide "infinitely more options" and that Texas' was the "strictest of all the law enacted."

But Keller said Texas does provide exceptions and that even the individuals challenging the law are able to vote. He said experts for the challengers found that among registered voters, 96 percent of whites, 94 percent of Hispanics and 92 percent of African- Americans had the necessary ID.

Chad Dunn, a lawyer representing some challengers, said courts have found that disenfranchising any voter is prohibited, "whether it is one or 1,000."

The Supreme Court last month turned down a request to stay the Texas law but told the 5th Circuit to act quickly on it.

"The court recognizes the time constraints the parties confront in light of the scheduled elections in November, 2016," it said in an order issued in late April. "If, on or before July 20, 2016, the Court of Appeals has neither issued an opinion on the merits of the case nor issued an order vacating or modifying the current stay order, an aggrieved party may seek interim relief from this court by filing an appropriate application."

Long legal journey

The Texas law has a long legal past. It was passed in 2011 but blocked by a panel of judges in Washington who at the time were required to review any voting changes in states with a history of discrimination.

The Supreme Court in 2013 threw out Congress' designation of which states required pre-clearance of their laws. Within hours, Texas declared that its blocked law was now in effect.

Civil rights groups and the Obama administration then challenged the Texas law under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which forbids changes that discriminate against minorities.

After a trial, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos struck down the law in October 2014. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit lifted the stay Ramos had issued, thus allowing the law to be used in the November 2014 elections.

The Supreme Court agreed with that action, over the strong dissent of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

"The greatest threat to public confidence in elections is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law," Ginsburg wrote.

-
"Hunger Games" is the title of a dystopian novel for young adults and a popular movie series. It's also what Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, dubbed a bill on child nutrition.

It's an apt name, as the bill - which just passed out of congressional committee last week - would make it harder for schools to feed needy students. The bill would leave thousands of students hungry and eating less nutritious meals.

Hungry, desperate children belong in the realm of science fiction, not in our schools. Our representatives should commit the necessary federal investment to combat child hunger and join with groups such as the Houston Food Bank, the American Heart Association, the National Association of School Nurses and the Pew Charitable Trusts, to oppose this bill.

Right now, the community eligibility option for a federal school lunch and breakfast program is an example of government at its best. The option gives schools a way to better provide for students from disadvantaged backgrounds while simultaneously reducing paperwork, staff time and red tape. It allows schools to deliver free meals to the children who need them with minimal stigma to the child.

Rather than have students apply individually for free meals, the option now in use allows schools with at least 40 percent of students who are homeless or enrolled in other programs such as Head Start or SNAP to qualify to serve meals free of charge to all students. The Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, as it's cynically titled, would raise that requirement to 60 percent.

By raising the school eligibility requirements for free meals, the bill would affect more than 7,000 schools educating 3.4 million children, according to the nonprofit National Center for Children in Poverty. In Texas alone, about 800 schools would be ineligible to provide school breakfast and lunch to all their students at no charge. Many of the students who will lose out are children of the working poor, whose families are ineligible for other federal nutrition programs, according to the Houston Food Bank.

Some children at these ineligible schools, particularly the homeless, migrants or those with limited English proficiency, would fall through the cracks and lose access to school meals even though they are eligible. On the other hand, think of the administrative nightmare that a burst of individual re-enrollments would cause.

Proponents argue that taxpayers do not need to pay for wealthy children to eat. This argument demonstrates how disconnected they are from the reality of public schools. Rarely do wealthy children attend public schools, where 40 percent of the children are receiving social services. They argue that parents should feed their own kids. The problem is that not all parents can or will, leaving kids to suffer.

This bill could be devastating for some of the 25 percent of Texas children who live in poverty and for Houston Independent School District's students - 75 percent of whom are disadvantaged - and many of whom rely on their schools to provide them with free lunch and breakfast. Studies have shown that children who reside in food-insecure homes are at higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. Food-insecure households are also linked to negative academic outcomes as well as behavioral and social problems. Then, there's just the basic fact that children who face food insecurity have more trouble learning than their counterparts.

In addition to being morally wrong, the proposed changes will be costly to the taxpayer in the long run. It's a vicious cycle. Kids who get behind in school need extra school resources, or they are more likely to drop out. Dropouts are more likely to commit crimes than individuals with a diploma. Incarcerating an individual is much more costly to society than funding some free school meals.

There's only one Texas member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, retiring U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes. But the influential Texas congressional delegation will have an opportunity to weigh in on the House floor. Our representatives should lead Congress in looking toward the future and voting down this short-sighted bill.
Confederate service

I really enjoyed your special section "Houston - The city that could" (Section N, Sunday). I've lived in the area all my life and still learned some things I did not know. For instance, I learned that George Hermann was a soldier in the Confederate Army.

I guess this means that the Houston City Council will have to come up with a new name for Hermann Park.

Louis DuPree, Magnolia

More than semantics

Regarding "Safety push brings war of words" (Page A1, Monday), in the past, news accounts about traffic deaths and crashes typically attributed speeding as the cause of serious auto mishaps. This, when the real cause was going too fast. There is a big difference between the two.

A rested driver who is focused, sober, operating a well-maintained car in good weather and driving 10 miles over the speed limit is speeding. He is a danger to no one.

A weary driver, a little stoned, trying to find a favorite song on the radio, wishing he had bought new tires because it started raining and driving 10 miles under the speed limit is going too fast. He is a danger to all.

Driving under the influence, distractions, not adapting to weather, poor vehicle maintenance are what kill and maim thousands. All can be grouped under one heading - poor decision-making.

R. W. Baird, Houston

Defining success for kids

Regarding "Future of Texas' children is not a game of hot potato" (Page B11, Sunday), just consider the two main issues used as premises in the school funding debate:

"Our state's funding for schools is not enough to guarantee even a bare minimum education for all kids..." and "Texas' schools still need an appropriate level of funding to ensure student success."

The basic challenge is that before we continue to debate fair, equitable and uniform funding, we must first define what success is. To date we continue to debate and argue that our students are not up-to-par with other states or countries; that our students do not rate high in math, language, writing.

This shows that we do not know how to define success in our education system and what students need to learn and know.

Once we define what success is, then we can figure the cost of achieving it.

Jose Boix, Texas City

Predictable blowback

Regarding "Boycott against anti-LGBT law has wide impact" (Page A10, Monday) North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the law, condemned music acts for refusing to perform in his state, saying the boycott only hurts the people of North Carolina. He is either disingenuous or simply unclear on the concept.

Economic punishment of people is neither unintended nor an unfortunate byproduct of this line-in-the-sand boycott; it is indeed the primary purpose.

Opponents of the law have nothing against the Tar Heel state. Their animus is targeted at the citizens who overwhelmingly elected and continue to support the politicians who enacted this onerous statute.

Larry E. Vecera, Houston
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (Rep.  Mo.) has called for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald to resign after making comments comparing long wait times for our veterans to receive care to waiting in a long line at an amusement park.

Secretary McDonalds preposterous statement is right out of Never Never Land, Blunt said. I call on him to resign because its clear he cannot prioritize getting our veterans the health care they deserve and have earned in a timely manner. Dismissing wait times when veterans can often wait months for an appointment is negligent and a clear sign that new leadership is needed at the VA.

ROBERT MCDONALD

Yesterday, McDonald suggested that Disney does not measure how many hours customers wait in line and that the Veterans Administration should move away from wait times as a primary metric The days to an appointment is really not what we should be measuring, he said.

This is yet another misstep of many with respect to the treatment and care for our veterans, Blunt said. At the VA hospital in St. Louis, theyve had eight different interim directors since 2013 and a recent assessment of the facility found 45 deficiencies in service that needed to be addressed. These concerns are all too common in VA facilities across the country and its time for a change.

Last May, Blunt and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill wrote a letter to the Acting Medical Center Director at the St. Louis VA to express concerns regarding the recent findings in the VA watchdogs Combined Assessment Program report and demanded immediate steps be taken to stabilize leadership and improve veterans care. The CAP report contained 45 specific recommendations to correct deficiencies in areas such as quality management, environment of care, and medication management. The report indicated that the St. Louis VA ranks in the bottom quintile nationally in a number of important areas, and overall performance in some areas has declined from the previous CAP review. The St. Louis VA provides mental and physical health care services to almost 46,000 veterans each year.

ROY BLUNT

Congress took some important steps to address the problems at the VA in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, which Blunt cosponsored and was signed into law in 2014, but more must be done. That measure created the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans to seek care outside of the VA if they are unable to secure an appointment within 30 days, or they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility. Blunt recently cosponsored the Veterans Choice Improvement Act, which would make the Choice program permanent and address some of the bureaucratic hurdles that continue hampering veterans access to care.

Blunt has also cosponsored the Veterans Access to Community Care Act. The measure would amend the 40-mile rule to include circumstances where the local VA facility is not able to meet the needs of the veteran. Under this bill, if the veteran lives within 40 miles of a VA facility, but that facility does not provide the care the veteran needs, then he or she is eligible for the Choice program.

In 2014, Blunt successfully included language from the Caring for Americas Heroes Act in the National Defense Authorization Act to help bring mental health treatment for the nations veterans and military dependents in line with the way physical injuries are treated under TRICARE. Blunt cosponsored the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which was signed into law last year, to improve mental health and suicide prevention resources for the nations service members and veterans.

Blunt previously cosponsored the Mental-health Exposure Military Official Record Act to help service members and veterans better track potential exposures during military service that could later be connected to mental health and traumatic brain injuries.

An online exclusive is an article or story that does not run in the print edition of the Houston Herald. Typically 2-3 are posted online every Wednesday morning. It is another feature for users who purchase full web access from the Herald.

Click here to subscribe for print, digital or both.
Missouri haymakers face unusual spring weather challenges. More problems are ahead.

Making hay is more than working between rains, says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage specialist.

Grass seed heads have a bigger impact on hay quality than wet weather. For best nutrition, hay must be cut before grass transfers nutrients from the leaves into the seed, Roberts says.

If grass was cut and hay removed, this rainy spell with warm temperatures will produce rapid regrowth, he says. After seed tillers are removed, the second growth will be all vegetative. That makes quality hay.

In the weekly MU agronomy teleconference, regional specialists passed on questions from producers. Most reported lots of hay baled last week.

Storing forage in wet weather is better done with haylage than hay, Roberts says. The high-moisture grass is wrapped in airtight bags or wraps. The curing forage ferments and turns into silage or haylage.

Livestock prefer haylage over hay, he says.

A big problem remains for hay that was not cut before grass seed heads set.

One producer planned to cut the tops off the grass, removing seed heads. Then he would cut and bale the remaining grass.

Not a good plan, Roberts says. For most grass, the seed head is not the problem, it is the symptom. The remaining woody stems and low-nutrient leaves dont make good hay.

Overmature grass can be put in big bales, covered with airtight black plastic covers and ammoniated. By applying nitrogen fertilizer gas into the hay pile, the cell walls break apart, making the stemmy hay digestible.

Remove the bad hay, ammoniate it and then let the second growth come on, Roberts says.

Seed heads on toxic tall fescue pose a bigger problem. Seed heads accumulate toxic ergovaline created by the fungus inside tall fescue leaves.

If you wrap toxic fescue, you preserve the toxins. As hay dries and is baled, the toxin decreases about half in a month. The longer the hay is stored the more the toxins decompose.

The wet weather has been good for alfalfa hay production. Alfalfa weevils are over and done, says Ben Puttler, an MU entomologist who tracks biological controls. In this wet weather a fungus took out the weevils.

Puttler noted alfalfa growth has been early. The first cutting of alfalfa was removed just after mid-May at the MU dairy farm.

Now the second-cutting alfalfa is almost ready to harvest.

MU Extension climatologist Pat Guinan showed weather maps for the last week of May. Forecasts call for above-average precipitation and temperatures.

Temperatures will be more like the last week of June, not May, Guinan says.

On average, May rainfall runs a little over an inch a week, he says For the last week of May, forecasts show 1.5 to 4 more inches of rain, with heaviest in far northwest Missouri.

That is good for grass growth, Roberts says.

MU agronomists urged scouting crops for fungal diseases and blights. Heavy white clover growth in pastures calls for bloat watch for grazing livestock, Roberts says. Also, high temperatures could bring a fungus to clover that causes slobbers, especially in horses.

Regional MU Extension agronomists are available through local extension centers. They are backed up by the MU plant diagnostic lab and state specialists.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
When your back is to the wall and you are facing fear head on, the only way is forward and through it.  Stephen Richards, Releasing You from Fear Bonds Neil Lagden, after surviving a life threatening brain tumour, has bounced back to work stronger than ever. His tale is a superb example of how to get life (and death) right within a company. Its also a wake-up call for any business to think proactively about key man insurance, contingency planning, documenting procedures, effective payroll support, and motivating a team through a crisis. Back in June 2015, Bond Payroll Services was in a good position mid-year and on the cusp of launching new strategy. Just going into the summer months, however, the company was turned upside down. Neil Lagden, Bonds Managing Director and the architect of its success over the previous eight years, suffered a seizure that led to the diagnosis of an eight and a half centimeter brain tumour. Words No One Likes to Hear Neil says, At first it was just diagnosed as a seizure and I was removed from being able to drive for six months. This was inconvenient but the company were great and I was fortunate that we agreed that I could homework for two days a week and have a paid for cab ride for the other three days. We had been piloting homeworking of payroll managers so the concept was already proven and the precedent set within the business. With home office support from the company it mea...
Nearly 70 million people in the United States have criminal records. That means you will almost certainly encounter job candidates with records at some point in your career. How you (and the hiring managers you work with) react will likely depend on your understanding of the laws that govern hiring, the candidates openness, and something that cant be overlooked: feelings. A Charged Issue: Criminal Records In Hiring For most people, discussing criminal history is, frankly, uncomfortable. Think about it: The incident probably represents a low point in the candidates life, and few people relish discussing their lowest moments in a job interview. At the same time, even seasoned HR professionals and hiring managers tread carefully when discussing criminal history out of their own unease, concern about applicable laws  or both. Twenty states, including California, and many cities have passed ban-the-box laws that govern how and at what point in the hiring process employers can ask about criminal records. In San Francisco, for example, employers cant ask about convictions until after an initial live interview. As a result, a background check often serves as the first mention of a criminal record. Background Checks: A Useful But Limited Tool Having run tens of thousands of background checks over the past three years, Ive seen first hand how employment screening can help companies build great teams....
Operating in the analytics space, I often find myself mentoring those that are new to this world. One of their most popular questions is: When I tell my internal customer how long the analysis will take, they respond with, It shouldnt take that long! How do I make them understand? When a leader asks you for the answer to a simple sounding business question, they often dont realize, from an analytical point of view, the potential complexities involved in obtaining an answer. Context: First, make sure you actually know the context of the question being asked. While working for a global company, I was sometimes asked the simple question of How many employees do we have in the US? I would respond with, that depends on the context of your question. What is the answer to that question going to be used for? As simple as the question sounded, it actually had three correct answers. Having three correct answers is a very common situation for many global companies. Did you want to know: 1. The number of employees being paid by the US? 2. The number of employees that are part of the US Region organizationally? or 3. The number of employees who physically reside on US soil? Each of these questions yields a different value, so a proper answer cannot be found without knowing the context. HR employees who never asked about the context of the question often contributed to HRs inability t...
Businesses that dont have a distinct social purpose may be missing out on the very best of todays young talent pool after a recent study revealed the majority of new graduates chose their current employer because they were looking for more than a pay cheque.



The report, conducted by PR agency Claremont, found that 60 per cent of millennials surveyed said their employers sense of purpose was part of the reason they chose to work where they do.



The report defines purpose as something that goes beyond corporate social responsibility and is fundamental to how the business thinks and is at the heart of everything it does  how the business makes a difference.



MasterCard CHRO Ron Garrow told HRM that the trend towards valuing social purpose is one that HR simply cant afford to ignore.



We really need to think about our employees as consumers and they have choices  they have choices just like they have choices on the way they shop and do all other things, they have choices on how they work, he stressed. It is about driving a consumer driven HR organization.



Aside from being a key attraction tool, Garrow said major organizations should find a social purpose out of benevolence rather than just business.

I cant say all companies must [support a social purpose] but where I come from I think they should, he told HRM.



Can we benefit from that as a company? We can  but we shouldnt go at it as were only doing this for the sake of making more money, were doing it to make this a better world and if more companies did that, I do think it would progress the world along in different ways.



More like this:



WorkSafe lays charges over fatal Wiri explosion



How HR can stamp out unconscious bias



How staff evaluations may promote workplace lies


MIKE STURK / Reuters A long convoy of farmers and ranchers driving tractors, sprayers, combines and trucks travel from Fort Macleod north on Highway 2 to Okotoks December 2, 2015 where they will be meeting with provincial Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson and Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier. Alberta's government will retool a bill that would overhaul workplace standards on farms in Canada's biggest cattle-producing province, its agriculture minister said, after protests by farmers and ranchers. REUTERS/Mike Sturk

Alberta's controversial farm safety bill is set to be examined by consultants next month  but only 20 per cent of group are actual farm workers.

Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier and Labour Minister Christina Gray announced on Friday the appointees to working groups that will consult on Bill 6.

Advertisement

Bill 6 sparked massive protests last fall after a series of miscommunication between the NDP government and Alberta farmers. It was finally passed in December, after the government moved to limit debate on the legislation.

Six working groups will consult on the bill, also known as the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act.

Farmers under represented in consultations

Just 20 per cent of the 78 people named to the working groups are farmers. None of the six group chairs are farmers, producers or ranchers. Those selected to lead each group are lawyers, mediators or facilitators, a move that has irked members of Alberta's farm community.

Its about big labour, as we said. And we knew that this working would come out sort of one-sided, a little one-sided, but this is just ridiculous," farmer and Alberta vice-president of Western Canadian Wheat Growers Stephen Vandervalk told News Talk 770.

Advertisement

"Theres as many union people in there, not just people, but people who work for actual unions, than there are actual farmers."

Farmers and farm families gather at the Alberta legislature in December to protest the province's farm safety legislation. (Photo: Dean Bennett/CP)

Hundreds of Alberta farmers and their families took to social media to dispute the decision.

"Same old story  farmers do not get a voice on this bill, but unions are there in full force. Unbelievable," wrote one member of a closed Facebook group of farmers against the bill.

"This is an absolute joke," added another.

"It's important that those who are impacted by the regulation have input in it."

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley insists opponents have misunderstood the point of the groups. The premier said they're intended to seed productive conversations with the help of a mediator, according to CBC News.

Advertisement

The premier added that many board members, although not farmers themselves, do own or manage farms.

Alberta Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier and former Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson speak to about 500 protestors, mostly farmers and ranchers, in Okotoks in December. (Photo: Mike Sturk/Reuters)

Gregory Sears, chairman of the board of directors of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, said he hopes those who work in the agriculture industry have a voice in the consultations.

"It's clear that the government will be moving forward with regulation and it's important that those who are impacted by the regulation have input in it," Sears, a member of one of the working groups, said in an interview with the Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune.

The bill requires that all paid farm employees be covered by the Workers Compensation Board.

After a miscommunication with farmers that led to protests in the fall, the government clarified that family members and volunteers on farms would be exempt from the coverage.

Advertisement

Also on HuffPost:
TORONTO  On the eve of the Conservative partys convention in Vancouver, a Draft Brad Wall campaign has begun urging party members to encourage Saskatchewan's premier to join the Tory leadership race.

In a letter addressed to Conservatives, a group calling itself Concerned Middle-Class Canadians says party members need to pick a leader who can grow the movement to its greatest strength, demonstrate to Canadians that their values and aspirations are reflected in their party, and defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals in 2019.

Advertisement

Nobody, they say, can do that but Wall.

Wall, who last month was re-elected with 62.4 per cent of the popular vote, is the only potential leadership candidate who has led a government, they write.

Premier Brad Wall addresses a crowd at the Saskatchewan Legislature in Regina, May 16, 2016. (Photo: Mark Taylor/CP)

The popular premier has not only led a government with a strong record of fiscal discipline, they add, he has upheld the core values of his partys supporters, repeatedly won the confidence of voters and championed hardworking men and women in the energy sectors, farming and ranching.

Advertisement

He is the kind of leader who will speak frankly about his religious roots while maintaining strong support across diverse ethnic and religious communities in his province, they write. He is a compassionate conservative who can defeat Justin.

Be honest with yourself: Is there any other Conservative in our country today who you could imagine winning not just a large segment, but a majority of Canadian voters?

Who can convince Canadians that our party cares about them, their families, and our shared future? And who, on winning power, would be certain to lead our country with integrity, ability, and strength?, the group asks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the press at a meeting with Saskatchewan Premiere Brad Wall in Saskatoon on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. (Photo: Matt Smith/CP)

Advertisement

Wall may not speak French, they add, but he can learn it.

Wall might be understandably conflicted about seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada right after the people of Saskatchewan gave him a majority government and a four-year mandate, so the group says he needs to be encouraged.

The group of concerned Conservatives did not immediately respond to a media request for an interview. Neither did Walls office.

After his re-election in April, Wall told reporters: Im not running federally.

Wall routinely tops public opinion surveys for the most popular provincial leader.

Three confirmed candidates for Tory leader

The Conservative party convention kicks off in Vancouver on Thursday with a speech by former prime minister Stephen Harper.

Interim leader Rona Ambrose will sit down with the three announced leadership candidates  Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong and Maxime Bernier  on Friday. Several other potential contenders, including TV personality Kevin OLeary, MPs Jason Kenney, Lisa Raitt, Tony Clement, Andrew Scheer and former MP Peter MacKay, have let their names float but have not joined the race  yet.

The chatter at the convention is expected to focus heavily on who the next Tory leader will be. Members vote on May 27, 2017.

Advertisement

Also on HuffPost
Getty

New media like Netflix and YouTube have made Canadas telecom rules obsolete, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute that urges the government to ditch Canadian content (CanCon) quotas.

The report also urged the government to wrest some regulatory power from the CRTC and loosen foreign ownership restrictions on media and telecoms.

Advertisement

Canadas communications and broadcasting world has changed dramatically in recent decades. And more changes are coming. But our communications and broadcasting statutes and regulations have not kept pace, authors Benjamin Dachis and Daniel Schwanen write in the report.

The CRTC, Canadas telecom regulator, last year loosened Canadian content broadcast quotas for some local TV stations and specialty channels, but maintained the requirement that broadcasters spend a certain amount of money creating content.

Under the new rules, local and specialty TV stations still have to devote half their prime-time schedules to CanCon, but the quota for daytime programming drops to zero from 55 per cent.

The C.D. Howe report says quotas should be removed entirely, and instead of having broadcasters fund CanCon, the federal government should fund it through Canadian Heritage.

Advertisement

I dont see how you could do what theyre proposing without politicizing the process. -- University of Calgary communications professor Gregory Taylor

No Netflix tax

There has been a push, in Canada and abroad, to collect a Netflix tax to pay for the creation of local content. The C.D. Howe report rejects that idea, saying instead that Canadian Heritage should fund the creation of CanCon directly from tax revenue.

And CanCon efforts should stop focusing on traditional broadcast TV, the report argues.

The key policy goal with respect to Canadian content should shift from pushing it on TV and radio to promoting the connection of Canadian content with Canadian audiences, across any platform, in a context where all offerings compete for Canadians time and attention, the authors write.

Story continues below

CRTC has limited economic reasoning

Not only should the CRTC hand over responsibility for CanCon to Canadian Heritage, it should also defer to the Competition Bureau for enforcement against anti-competitive conduct, the report said.

Thats because the CRTC displayed limited economic reasoning in its recent rulings, the authors argue.

Advertisement

Among those rulings, the report says, are the recent decision to allow pick-and-pay channels, and a decision requiring Netflix competitors like Shomi and CraveTV to be available to all consumers, not just TV subscribers of the companies that own those services.

Many of the rulings they cite were lauded by activists as being consumer-friendly, and criticized by telecom firms as being bad for business.

In all of these cases, the CRTC either did not describe clearly the economic rationale for its ruling or it did not take into account the potential pro-competitive reasons for firm behaviour it forbid, the authors said.

Politicized process?

Some critics say handing over responsibility for CanCon to Canadian Heritage would inevitably make it political.

Advertisement

I dont see how you could do what theyre proposing without politicizing the process, University of Calgary communications professor Gregory Taylor told The Financial Post.

Youd have incredible pressure from lobbyists on the department to get funding for their projects.

Allow foreign ownership

The C.D. Howe report also argues for elimination of limits on foreign ownership of Canadian media. Currently, non-residents can't control more than 46.7 per cent of shares in telecom companies that have more than 10 per cent of market share.

"These restrictions limit the size of Canadian companies and their available investment capital. Removing foreign ownership rules for both spectrum and companies themselves would bring Canadian firms into a more integrated global or North American market, whether through new entry or acquisition by U.S. or other firms."
A new poll suggests the job approval rating of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball has plummeted 43 percentage points since February, making him the least popular provincial leader in Canada.

According to the latest quarterly survey from the Angus Reid Institute, Ball sits at just 17 per cent approval almost six months after capturing a majority government.

Advertisement

Seventy-seven per cent of those surveyed now disapprove of the job he's doing.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball listens to the Speech from the Throne in the House of Assembly in St. John's on March 8, 2016. (Photo: Paul Daly/The Canadian Press)

With the province's economic situation deteriorating, Ball brought forward an austerity budget last month that introduced a number of cuts and fees, including an eyebrow-raising tax on books.

Just last week, Liberal MHA Paul Lane was booted from the government caucus after he said he could not vote for the spending plan because of a controversial deficit reduction levy. The province announced Wednesday that it will scale back the levy, thanks to some funding relief from the federal government.

Advertisement

In February, Ball was riding high with 60 per cent support, making him the second-most popular provincial leader. The honeymoon, it seems, is over.

New premier riding high

And that might be a lesson for new Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who defeated Greg Selinger in April. Selinger previously held the title of Canada's least popular premier.

Pallister's 46 per cent approval in the poll makes him the second-most popular premier, but those numbers could also change once he gets down into the business of governing. He and his Progressive Conservative cabinet were sworn in as the new government on May 3.

Story continues after slideshow:

Least, Most Popular Premiers (May 2016) See Gallery

According to the Angus Reid Institute, Ball, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, and Nova Scotia Stephen McNeil all posted majority approval ratings in their first quarters after coming into office.

Perennial top dog, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, remains the most popular provincial leader with 66 per cent approval.

Advertisement

McNeil now boasts 41 per cent support. Notley's rating is virtually unchanged from the winter at 32 per cent approval, despite some high praise for her performance during the Fort McMurray crisis.

(Photo: Angus Reid Institute)

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is down about four points to sit at 27 per cent approval, perhaps related to questions about the $50,000 stipend she receives from her party on top of her salary.

Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard is at 33 per cent support, while New Brunswick's Brian Gallant has dropped seven points to 26 per cent.

The approval rating of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, which has steadily slid since 2014, now sits at 24 per cent. Wynne has faced controversy in recent months over her party's political fundraising.

Advertisement

Only Ball, it seems, is keeping Wynne from the dubious distinction of being Canada's least popular premier.

The Angus Reid Institute does not test the approval rating of Prince Edward Island Premier Wade MacLauchlan because the sample size for that province is too small.

The survey was conducted online among 5,300 Angus Reid Forum panelists between May 6 to 16. Similar surveys have a margin of error of two per cent, 19 times out of 20.
As the end of my son's first year in kindergarten approaches, enrollment for French immersion is abounding, and so too is the question: "So, is your son going into the French program?"

Because we lived in a different catchment when my first son attended kindergarten, and there was no talk about immersion programs, I hadn't given it much thought before. Now, after having to answer the question enough times, I've started to notice a tinge of self-consciousness when answering, 'No, he's staying in English.'

Advertisement

So why does this feeling of mediocrity wash over me when relaying the fact that my kids will learn to read and write in the language that I speak, along with more than 80 per cent of the country?

"I've started to notice a tinge of self-consciousness when answering, 'No, he's staying in English.'"

There's no question that learning a second language has its benefits. Being multilingual opens many doors and serves as an incredible opportunity for enriching a child's brain.

Corrado Ciapanna, Superintendent of Education for the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board, said that research suggests that "second language learning can also greatly strengthen first language skills by deepening the student's understanding of language function and structure."

Advertisement

So, do I appear ignorant or not as engaged in my children's education, because I'm not taking advantages of these benefits? Is it not enough to say that I dont think its the right fit for my kids? Or maybe it's because we also don't fall into some of the categories that have become increasingly characteristic of the English program families who choose to stay.

According to the Toronto District School Board, children with special needs account for 15 per cent of English stream students, compared to only 4 per cent of French immersion students. ESL (English as a second language) students are also unique in the immersion program, choosing instead to stay within the English stream.

In 2009 to 2010, in Grades SK to 6, about 1 per cent of French immersion students had been in Canada one and three years, compared to 7 per cent of students in the TDSB in general. Regarding socio-demographic background, only 4 per cent of students are from the lowest income bracket in the French immersion stream.

The diversity that should be ubiquitous in Canadian public school classrooms seems to be fading with this division.

I wondered whether the demand for French immersion had created a two-tiered system, and whether other parents shared my curiosity about the impact of this. So, I went to the streets of my neighborhood to ask French immersion and English stream parents about their experiences. Read their views and experiences in the slideshow below, and share your own in the comments.

Advertisement
The worlds heaviest baby girl is here! On Monday, 19-year-old Nandini, from Hassan, India, welcomed a daughter weighing a whopping 15 pounds.

The infant, who has not yet been named, was born via Caesarian section and weighs the same as an average six-month-old, the Daily Mail reports. Both the mother and medical staff were surprised by the babys large size.

Advertisement

In my 25 years of experience, I had never seen such a big baby. She is a miracle, said local health officer Dr. Venkatesh Raju. I believe she is not only the heaviest baby born in India but the heaviest baby girl ever born in the world.

Teen mum gives birth to 'world's heaviest' baby weighing whopping 15lbs (the same as a 6-month-old) #Indiapic.twitter.com/qwQYDLsVJk  RaajjeTV (@Raajje_tv) May 25, 2016

According to the Mirror UK, the first-time mom had a smooth pregnancy and was not diagnosed with maternal diabetes, which can cause newborns to be overweight. As a result, the baby girls big size was highly unexpected.

The average newborn weighs about 7.5 pounds. Besides maternal diabetes, a number of factors can contribute to a babys birth weight, including the parents genetics and the amount of weight the mom gains during pregnancy.

Advertisement

After Nandini welcomed her daughter, the infant was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit for monitoring, as big babies tend to have health complications.

She is really big and beautiful, said Dr. Poornima Manu, who delivered the baby. She does not have any health issues like irregular sugar levels or thyroid and is breathing well. We were initially concerned about her sugar levels but that is normal.

Both mom and baby are expected to be discharged in a few days.

Theres no doubt that Nandinis daughter is a big baby, but an infant born in Daly City, California in 2013 still holds the title of one of the world's heaviest babies to date. The baby boy, who is the biggest ever born in California, weighed just over 16 pounds.

But neither of these babies compare to the heaviest infant in the Guinness World Records. In 1879, Canadian mom Anna Bates gave birth to a baby boy who weighed a staggering 22 pounds. Sadly, the infant passed away 11 hours later.

A healthy baby boy born in Italy in 1955 now holds the record for worlds heaviest birth with a weight of 22.8 pounds.

Advertisement

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
John Oliver says Justin Trudeau's political honeymoon has come to a "screeching halt."

The host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight" weighed in on the prime minister's May 18 "scandal," which led to accusations of manhandling a fellow MP in the House of Commons and elbowing another.

Watch the segment in the video embedded above.

Oliver calls the incident "a brawl by Canadian standards, although to be honest in New York we just call that shopping at Trader Joe's."

Advertisement

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pauses while responding to questions after delivering an apology in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, May 19, 2016 following a physical altercation the previous day. (Photo: Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The comedian then shows the audience Trudeau's apologies after the chaos in the House, adding that footage of the Liberal bench applauding his mea culpa might as well be the new Canadian national anthem.

"Trudeau may be expected to spend the remainder of his term in office apologizing for the existence of his arm wherever he goes," he says.

Advertisement

Two polls released this week paint a different picture, however.

An Ipsos poll conducted for Global News found that 63 per cent of respondents saw the incident as "no big deal" and a "momentary lapse in judgment" from Trudeau

Another survey by Abacus Data had similar findings.

"The reaction inside the 'Ottawa bubble' was disproportionate to the reaction in the country at large," wrote the study's authors, Bruce Anderson and David Coletto.

"It was not, so far anyway, a moment that transfixed voters and shifted the political landscape."

Also On HuffPost:
The Panama Papers have outed a Canadian billionaire and prominent university donor as a key figure in an international bribery scandal.

Victor Dahdaleh, a Jordan-born businessman who holds Canadian citizenship, is named in a 2007 email linking him to companies that helped facilitate a deal for mining giant Alcoa to sell a mineral to officials in Bahrain.

That email was disclosed in the Panama Papers, according to a joint investigation by CBC and The Toronto Star.

Advertisement

Dahdaleh had previously appeared as "Consultant A" in records relating to a 2014 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) case.

Mining giant Alcoa had pleaded guilty to paying "millions of dollars in bribes through an international middleman," which is a crime under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The company also paid a historic US$384 million settlement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it admitted its involvement in a "corruption scheme" that saw at least $110 million paid to Bahraini officials through a then-anonymous consultant.

Advertisement

"The consultant was paid a commission on sales where he acted as an agent and received a markup on sales where he acted as a purported distributor," case documents said, as reported by The Toronto Star.

The Bahrain connection

Court documents show that Alcoa's Australian arm tapped an individual known as "Consultant A" to help it secure a deal to sell alumina, an aluminum-based chemical, to Alba, a Bahraini aluminum-smelting company, beginning in 1989, according to court records obtained by CBC.

Then, by 2002, Consultant A had started routing documents related to the Alba deal through Alumet and AAAC, two companies he controlled. The latter company hiked the price of alumina by $79 million from 2002 to 2004.

Consultant A started buying alumina from Alcoa and selling it to Alba in 2005. Price markups netted the companies $188 million up to 2009, but they never actually handled the chemical itself.

The consultant kept some of the money and paid $110 million to officials in Bahrain, including a member of the Middle Eastern kingdom's royal family.

Advertisement

Dahdaleh's relationship with Alumet is confirmed in a 2007 email sent to Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers.

Dahdaleh registered Alumet in the British Virgin Islands through Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), which has helped to establish approximately 370 offshore companies, according to info contained in the Panama Papers.

Dahdaleh has not been convicted of any offences, his London spokesman Lord Timothy Bell told the Star.

Advertisement

He was acquitted in a separate corruption and money laundering case in the U.K. in 2013, after one witness shifted his testimony and two more refused to testify at all.

Bell would only say that names in the DOJ's case were anonymized in order to ensure "fairness and justice."

University benefactor

Dahdaleh has also been a generous benefactor to Canadian universities.

Last year, York University established the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Institute after he donated $20 million, "the largest gift ever made by a member of York's alumni," the school said in a news release.

He has also sat on the board of the McGill University Trust in the U.K. He helped arrange for ex-U.S. president Bill Clinton, a personal friend, to receive an honourary doctorate from the university in 2009.

Dahdaleh also received an honour doctorate from St. Francis Xavier University last year.

All of the schools declined requests for comment from CBC and The Toronto Star.

Also on HuffPost:
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau is continuing to push her Canadian fashion agenda in Japan.

Accompanying her husband Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the mother-of-three donned a white Lucian Matis dress while meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Tuesday. Gregoire Trudeau previously wore a Matis dress during the prime minister's Washington State visit.

Advertisement

The Canadian-made frock hit just below the knee and featured intricate embroidered details around the neckline and on the edges of the 3/4-length sleeves. The high neck added modesty and created an overall elegant look.

Sophie paired the dress with a handmade clutch by Sidney Molepo, a Montreal-based furniture designer turned fashion designer.

On Wednesday, the Trudeaus are set to take a day off from meetings to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary.

Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter!

Also on HuffPost

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau See Gallery
CP

More than a year after Target abruptly announced its leaving Canada, the Minneapolis-based retailer continues to face fallout from its northern misadventure.

A California law firm says it has launched an investigation into possible violations of [U.S.] federal securities laws in Targets Canadian expansion. It doesnt allege the retailer broke any laws  only that it is investigating the possibility.

Advertisement

Beginning on February 27, 2013, Target repeatedly presented a positive outlook concerning its current and projected operations in Canada, including issuing strong financial and operational guidance for fiscal 2013, law firm Glancy Prongay & Murray says in a press statement.

However, the company allegedly failed to disclose to investors that Targets Canadian expansion had encountered significant operational problems.

Those operational problems culminated in January, 2015, when Target Canada filed for creditor protection and announced it was closing down all 133 Canadian locations it had opened over the past few years.

Advertisement

Some 17,600 Canadian employees were left out of work, and the company took a US$5.4-billion loss on the failed Canadian expansion.

The retailer had struggled particularly with supply-chain problems that often left shelves empty at its Canadian stores.

Target investors suffered harm after the Companys share price declined in value due to the slow revelation of the companys underperformance, the law firm alleges. It urges Target investors to contact the firm.

Target Corp. told BNN it disputes the allegation.

Earlier on HuffPost:
Say Hello to the new Canadian Friend of @Swarovski  Thank you Swarovski I'm super honoured! Swarovski was the first piece of jewelry I bought myself when I got my First job so this collab means a ton to me!

A photo posted by Winnie (@winnieharlow) on May 25, 2016 at 12:51pm PDT
Chris Wattie / Reuters Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose (C) receives a standing ovation from her caucus during a debate on the Speech from the Throne in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, December 7, 2015. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose did something earlier this month that her predecessor failed to do after a decade in power: display genuine emotion.

Fighting back tears as she discussed the plight of Fort McMurray residents in the aftermath of the disastrous wild fires that ravaged that town's neighbourhoods, Ambrose made a permanent connection with the people of Fort McMurray and all Canadians.

Advertisement

Seven months after her colleagues chose her as interim leader, Ambrose has adeptly proven she is worthy of the permanent Tory leadership steering her party into a decidedly more positive direction.

A self-described libertarian and feminist, Ambrose seamlessly appeals to every core constituency within the party, including social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, libertarians and Red Tories.

Ambrose has expressed more liberal views on the legalization of marijuana and strong support for removing the long-standing same-sex marriage ban from official Conservative Party policy.

If Conservatives are shrewd as they convene in Vancouver this week for their party's convention, they will plead with Ambrose to run for the party's permanent leadership while requesting a not insignificant change to the party's constitution that would allow the party's interim leader to contest the permanent leadership.

Advertisement

Conservatives must urge Ambrose to seek the Tory leadership for three key reasons: she represents a new generation of more candid leadership similar to that of the prime minister; she credibly identifies with the many disparate factions of the modern Conservative coalition; and lastly, over the past seven months, Ambrose has skilfully validated her leadership competencies -- both inside the House of Commons and across the country.

With the election of Prime Minister Jsutin Trudeau last fall, a generational shift swept over Parliament Hill, reaching the highest echelons of the PMO. It was Canadian youth -- many of whom were first-time voters -- that delivered the Liberals' majority government on October 19.

If the Tories have any prospect of challenging the Liberals' stranglehold on younger Canadians, they must select a leader from Trudeau's generation. Born two years before the prime minister, Ambrose is the personification of a female political success story. Some of her progressive leanings are no doubt informed by the fact she's a female politician under the age of 50.

For example, shortly after assuming the Conservative leadership, Ambrose told Canadians her party would unequivocally support a federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women -- an inquiry former prime minister Harper refused to call.

Since then, Ambrose has expressed more liberal views on the legalization of marijuana and strong support for removing the long-standing same-sex marriage ban from official Conservative Party policy. Earlier this week, Ambrose said she would support Bill C-16, a government bill introduced by the justice minister that would guarantee legal and human rights protection to transgender people across Canada.

Advertisement

These more enlightened positions give Ambrose immense credibility among key demographics that have traditionally steered clear of her party, including Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ Canadians, millennials and, quite frankly, Canadian women of all ages. As permanent leader, it's evident Ambrose would make further concrete strides with these demographics, wrestling some from the Liberals' fold in the lead up to the 2019 election.

A second reason why Ambrose is the most inspired candidate for the Tory leadership is quite simply that she is the only prospective candidate capable of credibly identifying with the various disparate factions within the modern Conservative Party.

This point cannot be underlined enough.

At 47, Ambrose is a by-product of the "new" Conservative Party that Peter MacKay and Stephen Harper brokered in 2003, not having been actively involved in either of the Conservatives' legacy parties. A self-described libertarian and feminist, Ambrose seamlessly appeals to every core constituency within the party, including social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, libertarians and Red Tories.

Her deep Alberta roots and impeccable fiscal conservative credentials have broad appeal in a party organization that remains anchored in western Canada. While holding some obvious socially liberal views, Ambrose has a firm pro-life voting record and opposed the government's recent assisted dying bill -- two notable positions that would make her candidacy palatable to the party's crucial social conservative base.

But Ambrose's considerable community service involvement with prominent organizations working to end violence against women have special appeal to the party's Red Tory wing, traditionally attuned to social policy concerns and more philosophically aligned with communitarianism and collectivism.

Advertisement

As evidence of her pragmatic side, Ambrose publicly endorsed former Red Tory PC premiers Alison Redford and Jim Prentice over their more conservative Wild Rose opponents in the 2012 and 2015 Alberta elections.

There is no other current or prospective candidate for the Conservative Party's leadership that appeals to so many different kinds of Tories across the conservative spectrum.

As a party still in its infancy, it's incumbent on Conservatives to select a leader in 2017 that is best positioned to unify the party, and ultimately the country.

Lastly, since November Ambrose has ably demonstrated her ability to lead the Conservatives both inside and outside the House of Commons. More telling, she has led the party throughout a gruelling time, transitioning a 10-year government into opposition at a time when the Liberal government remains wildly popular.

And while Ambrose's efforts in Ottawa are commendable, it's her work across the country connecting with everyday Canadians and grassroots Conservatives that have confirmed she has the right mix of good character, retail political skills and sheer determination rebuild a party that faces an uphill battle in the court of public opinion.

Advertisement

The empathy and emotion Ambrose revealed in the House of Commons -- and on the ground in Fort McMurray -- is that of a rare political leader who enjoys an intractable bond with the people.

As the Tory leadership race heats up this summer, the most pressing question on Conservatives' minds ought not be whether or not they'll allow Rona Ambrose to contest their party's leadership, but rather whether or not she'll take them up on their offer.

For the Tories' sake, they'd better hope she says yes.

Andrew Perez is a Toronto-based freelance columnist specializing in Canadian politics and public policy. He has worked on several political campaigns for the Ontario and federal Liberal parties. Andrew currently works as a communications and public affairs specialist in the investment funds industry in Toronto.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

MORE ON HUFFPOST:
Wavebreakmedia via Getty Images Medical students smiling at the camera at the university

The field of medicine is one of the most sought after professions in this country, with admission rates around 26 - 28% of domestic applicants in a given year gaining acceptance to a Canadian medical school. Factors included in admissions decisions for medical schools include a combination of grade point average (GPA), Medical School Admissions Test (MCAT) score, extracurricular involvement, autobiographical sketch, and reference letters and interview.

Many Canadian medical schools have official quotas based on applicants' home province, area within a given province and/ or size of hometown. Competition is especially high for international applicants, for which many medical schools reserve only a handful of entry positions.

Advertisement

Given such a low admissions rate, there are far fewer positions than qualified applicants. How, then, should we choose those who are admitted to medical school?

One group of individuals believes that the opportunity to study medicine in Canada should be given to those who have demonstrated academic ability and display evidence of a track record of dedication. This includes MCAT score, GPA and scholarships, awards and bursaries and extra-curricular activities. In an article published in the Montreal Gazette in August 2013, Montreal-based family physician Dr. Barry Slapcoff states "the admissions process should be blind to any quality except excellence."

Those in this camp believe that students who excel in academics and other fields, regardless of demographics, will be most likely to become physicians who possess the diligence, innovation, and intelligence to propel the profession forward. They are dismayed that many students who display their dedication by earning extremely high grade point averages and prove unsuccessful in gaining entry into medicine. They will be known as the Meritocracy School of Thought on Medical Admissions.

Clearly, a plethora of factors beyond academic achievement has been recognized by those in the admissions process for several years. These people are hesitant to incorporate immutable factors such as an applicant's ethnicity (visible minority or aboriginal status) into admissions decisions.

Advertisement

Those of the Meritocracy School believe that diversity should not trump excellence and merit. Approximately 85% of Canadian Universities are large, publicly-funded, non-profit institutions, while the remaining private post-secondary institutions have less than 15% of Canadian university students as attendees.

A divergent point of view from the Meritocracy School of Thought holds that the fundamental goal of training physicians in Canada is to effectively deliver quality healthcare and improve the health of Canadians who need it the most. It has been well-documented that Canadians living in rural and remote communities are least likely to receive adequate medical care.

Putting this together, it makes sense, according to those of this Social Accountability School of Thought on Medical Admissions to select physicians that are most likely to practice in these in these relatively under-served populations.

The approximately 30% of Canadians living in rural areas suffer from higher rates of injury and premature death than their urban counterparts and have higher rates of chronic cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. Medical school candidates from rural backgrounds are more likely to be prepared for both clinical and cultural aspects of rural practice.

The Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC) report continues attests that "little progress has been made in attracting applicants from First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities and rural areas. Other socio-cultural and economic groups are also underrepresented.

Advertisement

"Many Canadian medical schools have formal quotas reserved for Inuit and First Nations applicants. Further, the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University has explicitly-stated lower academic requirements for applicants from rural and underserved regions. Many subscribers to the Social Accountability School of Thought may find viewing through this holistic lens appropriate.

It is clear that there is a physician shortage throughout Canada and especially in rural and remote regions. It has been documented that exposure to rural practice settings during medical schools will increase likelihood that students will be comfortable to work in these settings.

As proportionally fewer applicants come from rural and aboriginal backgrounds compared to their urban and non-aboriginal counterparts, one way to provide for a diverse pool of qualified applicants is to continue to support measures to increase the proportion of applicants from these backgrounds that apply to medical school in the first place.

Community-based, grassroots measures aimed at recruiting applicants under-represented among physicians and increasing exposure to students after they have began medical training are worthwhile practices that should be acceptable to individuals from either school of thought.

A second way to move forward harmoniously is by increasing exposure to medical practice with rural and aboriginal populations among students that have already been accepted into medical school. Many medical schools have adopted elements of their curriculum to highlight rural medical practice including mandatory rotations in rural settings but there remains room for improvement.

Advertisement

Merit and social accountability should both be considered in medical admissions. I think that being willing and able to see things from two starkly different perspectives is useful in several domains and certainly for those who have the privilege to be involved in the process of selecting future Canadian-trained physicians.
Sheila Paras via Getty Images Yellow police tape says 'police line do not cross' is set against blurry background.

The current inquest into the police killing of Jermaine Carby should serve as a powerful reminder about the deadly consequences of institutional discrimination within the force. Unfortunately, the larger issues raised by this case, specifically, how police deal with blacks and people with mental health issues, likely will not be addressed within the confines of the inquest's recommendations.

We may never know how many black people with mental illness have been killed by cops, since such data is not collected; however, recent reports show that black men are grossly overrepresented. One Toronto study found that more than 66 per cent of fatal police shootings between 2000 to 2006 involved black people, although blacks formed only 6.7 per cent of the population.

Advertisement

Since 2013, police have taken the lives of at least three black men undergoing mental health crises in Toronto and Peel Region alone. This trend reveals that if you are both dark-skinned and mentally ill you may be doubly at risk of police violence.

The highest profile among these deaths was Andrew Loku, a South Sudanese man with a history of mental illness, who was shot and killed by Toronto police inside his housing complex in July 2015. Less than a year prior to that, in September 2014, 33-year-old Carby, a black man with a history of suicide attempts and depression, was shot and killed by a Peel region officer. And before those two tragedies, Ian Pryce, a black man with paranoid schizophrenia, was also shot and killed by a Toronto cop during a confrontation in November 2013.

In addition to training, a preventive approach that incorporates social service provision is needed to reduce such confrontations with police in the first place.

When the inquest into Pryce's death wrapped up in April, one of the recommendations to police was that officers get immediate support from a mental health professional when dealing with someone in a mental health crisis. Had this happened, I wonder if both Carby and Loku would still be alive today.

Advertisement

But Toronto and Peel Region Police are not the only organizations to fail in their obligations. The Toronto Police Association has also missed the problem completely. During the public outcry over Loku's death, the union ignored its responsibility to protect minority communities and the mentally ill, demanding more tasers instead of more comprehensive training for members in community relations and mental health first aid. It is clear from these tragic incidents that police have a shallow understanding of systemic racism and mental illness and that officers would benefit from education on such issues.

In addition to training, a preventive approach that incorporates social service provision is needed to reduce such confrontations with police in the first place. An essential component to this approach would be increased funding for mental health services targeting black and marginalized communities.

Such services function with an understanding of cultural sensitivities as well as the effects of marginalization within these populations. Those who are marginalized by society due to race may have difficulty accessing services, find it hard to obtain housing or face discrimination when applying to jobs. In the case of refugees, they may also have experienced traumas in their home countries and continue to suffer the psychological effects after arriving in Canada. This was likely the case for Loku whose mental illness may have been triggered by living through the conflict in South Sudan. All of these experiences can negatively impact one's emotional and psychological well-being, leading to mental health problems.

While police have been quick to lay to rest the notion of systemic racism within the force, pointing the finger instead at a mental health crisis, one does not preclude the other. A clear association exists between these two seemingly disparate issues.

When Const. Ryan Reid approached Carby's vehicle on Sept. 24, 2014 for the purpose of "carding" (a random spot search by police), instead of identifying and deescalating the situation of a man suffering depression, it seems that Reid only saw a "crazy, angry, black man" and drew his weapon, shooting Carby seven times; three of those bullets entering his chest, forearm and back.

Advertisement

Through ongoing protests Black Lives Matter Toronto have done the most to highlight the interconnected nature of mental health and racism in their protests, and the need to address both simultaneously. Officials and policy-makers must follow their lead.

Carmelle Wolfson is a writer and editor in Toronto who is currently considering a career in mental health services. Her work can be found at www.carmellewolfson.com.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
Ratnakorn Piyasirisorost via Getty Images Spectacular northern lights appear over Mount Kirkjufell in Iceland.

There are 196 countries in the world, but most travellers will only see a small fraction of them in their lifetime. It doesn't have to be this way. While international travel can be more expensive than domestic travel, a bit of research, timing and luck can help lower the cost of trips abroad, meaning your suitcase doesn't have to collect dust this year. Keep your travel dreams alive with destinations from capital cities to off-the-beaten-path locales where the Canadian dollar is holding its own. Cheapflights.ca highlights ten that won't break the bank.

South Africa

Advertisement

Getting to South Africa from Canada might be a long journey, but the loonie has a pretty good edge over the South African rand making it a great time to book a surprisingly budget-conscious trip to an epic destination. Discover a revitalized Johannesburg (complete with thriving arts scene), head to laid back, yet cosmopolitan Cape Town and hike or cable car your way to the top of Table Mountain, or hit the beach in Durban and make time to spot the Big Five (lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo, leopard) on a safari.

Japan

Japan is another far-flung destination where your loonie can go far. You won't be paying backpacker prices, but, if you go this year, you can stretch your travel dollar a lot further as $1 gets you around 84 yen. Japan is a multifaceted destination with so much to see and do in terms of history, culture, food, fashion and nightlife. History buffs will want to head to Kyoto for the impressive 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as numerous temples and shrines. Foodies should take note that UNESCO added Japanese cuisine to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List, an honour shared only with French cuisine. And there are plenty of places to taste the unique food on the cheap. In addition, you can bar hop and shop your way through buzzing Tokyo, hike Mount Fuji and make a visit to the island of Naoshima with its many art galleries, sculptures and public installations.

Advertisement

Iceland

With the Canadian dollar currently having a lead on the krona, plus discount carrier WOW air now offering some low- (and even a few extremely low) priced seats on flights to Reykjavik, a trip to Iceland won't break the bank this year. Spend some time getting to know the country's capital with its plethora of bars, shops, restaurants and cafes, take a dip in the famed Blue Lagoon (children ages 2 - 13 are free), witness the stunning scenery in one of Iceland's three national parks, go whale watching, or get up close and personal with a glacier (Iceland has some of the largest glaciers in Europe). If you go during the right time, you might get lucky and spot the northern lights, one of Mother Nature's stunning free gifts to the world.

Argentina

With a current exchange rate of $1 to 11 Argentine pesos, the loonie can get you far in Argentina should you be craving a South American adventure. Start in Buenos Aires for a European vibe (minus the European prices) and take a tango lesson (or just be mesmerized by a tango show), zip to Mendoza to taste some amazing wines and snap some selfies by wondrous Iguazu Falls or explore the area further via a boat tour.

Czech Republic

Advertisement

While the Czech Republic might be part of the EU, it doesn't use the euro. And your loonies will convert pretty favorably to the local currency, the Czech Koruna. Stick to mid-range hotels (there are plenty to choose from) or even opt to rent an affordable apartment on a site like Airbnb where you can also save money by preparing some of your meals in. Be sure to take advantage of cheap beer between checking out the awe-inspiring architecture of Prague's Old Town, castles in Moravia or laid back Plzen, where you can sample some Pilsner Urquell beer.

Poland

Like the Czech Republic, Poland still uses its own currency rather than the euro, and the loonie can take you farther here than in most European countries. If you've never thought about Poland as a vacation destination you might want to reconsider. Krakow and Warsaw offer a balance of rich history and a cosmopolitan pulse. Get outside these cities and you'll have your choice of mountains, lakes, beaches and forests. While it may seem like an unconventional choice, Poland has something to please almost anyone.

Thailand

The Canadian dollar, no matter how low it dips, always seems to go the distance in Southeast Asia, especially once you're on the ground. Thailand, in particular, is a great destination for budget-friendly travel with your biggest expense being the plane ride over. Getting around is easy and affordable. Food and beer are exceptionally easy on the wallet and accommodations come in a varied range, from hostels and guest houses to larger hotels and resorts. Bask on a beach in the south of the country, shop and eat your way through bustling Bangkok or head north to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai for a more laid back pace and the chance to do some jungle trekking.

Advertisement

To read about other international destinations where the Canadian dollar goes a little farther, go here.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's speaks during a press conference regarding the political fundraising question at Queen's Park in Toronto on Monday, April 11, 2016. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

Over the long weekend, many Ontarians took time to visit friends and family across the province. For many, a topic of conversation over dining tables or dockside drinks was the state of the province and revelations from the past week of the conduct of Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Advertisement

But where to begin? Premier Wynne certainly had a wild week making Ontario a more difficult and expensive place to live.

First there were the leaked cabinet documents that exposed her government's secret plan to ban natural gas in Ontario. Natural gas is used by 76 per cent of Ontarians to heat their homes, and it offers some relief against high electricity costs.

Premier Wynne's plan revealed her intention to force virtually everyone in the province to heat their homes with some of the most expensive electricity in North America. The difference in price between natural gas home heat and electric is estimated to be over $2,000 per year. And that doesn't even include the $4,500 average price tag of converting the home to electric heat from gas.

Then there was the political finance reform legislation that was introduced at Queen's Park last week. Wynne's plan involves a taxpayer subsidy directly to political parties for them to spend on attack ads and flyers. The legislation would funnel $10.7 million in taxpayer money directly to Ontario's political parties.

Advertisement

She certainly needed the long weekend break to recover from her flurry of punches to taxpayers in just five short days.

The Financial Accountability Officer (FAO) also released his report, piling onto Wynne's bad week. The FAO report found that the government's plan to balance the budget would only be achieved if the economy outperforms the past five years, and based on the one-time sale of assets.

After achieving so-called balance -- which is not real balance because it excludes infrastructure expenses -- the FAO found that the province would fall almost immediately back into deficit, and that within five years the provincial debt levels would hit $350 billion.

The government also passed the carbon tax legislation last week, which will increase the cost of all manufactured goods in the province, drive out business and hike the price of fuel -- which is already heavily taxed in Ontario -- by $0.043 per litre just to start.

And who could forget the coup de grace last week, the auditor general's report following her investigation into funds that the Wynne government had secretly paid to teachers' unions. The auditor general found that since 2000, $80.5 million has been given to teachers' union organizations. Of that, $22 million was given with no strings attached.

Advertisement

Indeed, the auditor general found that the $2.5 million that was given to three unions to cover the union's side of bargaining costs was given with no expectation of any expense report or receipts. It was not until the auditor general was empowered to conduct an investigation that the government made receipts a requirement for the unions.

It was a wild week for Kathleen Wynne and she certainly needed the long weekend break to recover from her flurry of punches to taxpayers in just five short days. But the truth is, those who really need the break are the hardworking families across this province whose lives all just became more difficult because of the poor decision of Premier Kathleen Wynne's government.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

MORE ON HUFFPOST:
Many of the world's most powerful leaders gathered in Istanbul this week for the World Humanitarian Summit. Good things were accomplished, with Canada alone pledging $331.5 million in humanitarian aid.

But despite strong representation from government, big business and some of the world's most highly respected aid organizations, a critical group was notably absent from the summit. Children.

Children are the most vulnerable in every situation. When a country is torn apart by civil war, shattered by economic collapse or rocked by a major earthquake, children always hurt the most. They also have the most to lose, with their educations incomplete or barely even begun.

Advertisement

Six things children need in an emergency -- in their own words

Over the past decade, World Vision has collected input from children in 15 different countries facing emergency situations of all kinds. We spoke to more than 11,000 girls and boys, asking them what's most important in times of crisis. Here's what they told us:

1) I want to go to school so I can get a job one day.

In an emergency, school buildings are destroyed, access to schools is cut off and education costs move out of reach. Even when school is available, families with destroyed livelihoods often need their children to work.

Many of the children we spoke with believe education is the best way for them to help their futures and their families. They got upset when they talked about not being able to go to school and worry about what this will mean for them.

Advertisement

Thousands of children in Nepal are still out of school after last year's deadly earthquake. The need to equip children for productive futures as they help rebuild their countries is one reason World Vision is pressing to have education declared a "life-saving intervention" along with food, water and shelter. (Photo: World Vision)

2) I need a safe place to play.

Children say they don't have enough places to play or do not have any fun activities to participate in after an emergency. Being able to play is a chance to escape and ultimately adjust to their new lives.

Samira (in red) joins songs and games at an early childhood learning centre in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Being in a child-friendly space is much safer than hanging out in the back alleys of this informal tented settlement for Syrian refugees. (Photo: World Vision)

3) I don't want to scavenge for food.

Children say lack of food after an emergency means they have to scavenge, beg, or eat rotten food and garbage. Their health suffers from a lack of nutrition. Many are forced to work so they can help pay for food for their families.

Advertisement

South Sudanese refugee children line up for breakfast at a reception centre in Kakuma after fleeing fighting in their country. Most arrived desperately hungry. (Photo: World Vision)

4) I want to hug my mom and dad.

Children talk about feeling stressed or anxious after a disaster. Many lose their families or are separated from them. Others experience an increase in tension at home as the family struggles to adjust to new realities. Receiving affection from their parents or caregivers is something children say makes them feel better.

At a temporary settlement in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Syrian refugee children cuddle with their mothers at a class to teach about sanitation in refugee camps. (Photo: World Vision)

Advertisement

5) I want to be safe when I go to the toilet.

Pressure on resources and facilities mean it can take longer to access vital water and sanitation services. Latrines, for instance, may be further away, crowded or used by groups of people who make children feel unsafe. Children spoke to us about being injured, attacked, robbed or even raped when travelling to collect water or to use the latrine.

In this relief camp in Somalia and many others around the world, the construction of clean water points and safe latrines is a priority for World Vision. (Photo: World Vision)

6) I don't want to hurt anymore.

Children suffer increased risk of injury after disasters due to a lack of secure shelter. They talk about struggling to adjust to their new living conditions and the upset it causes them.

Advertisement

Injuries can happen with greater frequency when children are living in makeshift camps without safe places to play. Little brother Malek (right) fell when playing on uneven rock. The Iraqi children have been displaced from their homes by fighting in their country. (Photo: World Vision)

Placing children first after an emergency

I felt so proud to learn of Canada's contribution at the World Humanitarian Summit and was encouraged by what it could mean for children. Nourishing children, protecting children and educating children -- especially in the most dire of circumstances -- is critical.

In 2015, for instance, emergencies interrupted the education of more than 80 million children. Losing years of schooling can severely hamper a child's ability to earn a job at anything other than menial labour. At present:

Less than three per cent of all humanitarian funding is spent on child protection.

Only two per cent of funding is spent on education.

This is true even though more than half of all people affected by an emergency or crisis are children. The lack of education and protection services is jeopardizing the lives and futures of millions of girls and boys.

Advertisement

Although they didn't have an official voice at this week's summit, I'm full of hope that the world's children will benefit from what happened in Istanbul. Canada must continue to take a leading role for the world's most vulnerable people -- its children.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

MORE ON HUFFPOST:
Mark Horton via Getty Images OTTAWA, ON - JULY 17: Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip performs on Day 9 of the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest on July 17, 2015 in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Mark Horton/WireImage)

Feel good sadness. Nostalgia music. Quintessentially Canadian.

That's what the Tragically Hip was to us when we were in high school in the 90s. Gord Downie's voice was omnipresent, whether it was a bush party, a school dance, on the way to a buddy's cottage, or at the cottage having a few beers and sitting on the dock. The band had a way of seeping into all the nooks of our memories as they were still being formed. Back then, if our lives were a movie, his voice was the theme music.

Growing up in Toronto, or any of the surrounding suburbs, was in many ways an Americanized experience. Our favourite athletes, movies and trends -- they all seemed to come from south of the border. Music was no exception, except for The Hip. There was no other band like them, and in a way we embraced them for giving us a slice of Canadian pride in a country drenched in American culture.

Advertisement

If you travel outside of Canada's big cities you begin to understand what Canadians are really like. That's not to say that Torontonians aren't real Canadians, it's just that the land itself, whether it's the mountains of the West, the coast of our maritime provinces, or just the rustic vibe in downtown Kingston, this place of ours is a blessing. If the land could sing it would probably sound like Gord Downie, reminding us of our brethren in provinces we've never been to, the goodness of people we've never met, and his natural way of explaining to us why it all matters.

I feel guilty right now, as if I am eulogizing a man who isn't gone yet.

I was immediately thrust back to high school when I heard Downie was suffering from terminal brain cancer. Nostalgia is a cunning mistress, vital to our conscious but wrapped in a strange longing to go back to wherever she places us. Wheat Kings makes me wish I could go fishing one last time with my late father. Fifty Mission Cap made me read up on the story of Bill Barilko, a tale I never would have known about if it were not for that track. Ahead by a Century's back up vocals reminds me how the simplicity inside a song is enough to make that lump in my throat reflexively come back, almost every time I hear it.

The Hip belongs to Canada. My god, I can't think of any other domesticated band that even comes close. Stomping Tom Connors is the only other artist I can think of who draped himself in Canadiana and made a career out of it, but to be honest I always thought he was a little too kitsch. The Hip are different. They manage to convey a distinctly Canadian vibe without making us feel like they are selling little maple leaf flags or beaver tails. In fact, Gift Shop, for me anyway, is sort of like a tough love song, reminding us that even in beautiful places, majestic places, we humans have a way of cheapening the meaning. Hell, the song may mean something entirely different to the band, but that's OK. The cliche of art being subjective gives us all a little room to place ourselves within the music I suppose.

Advertisement

I feel guilty right now, as if I am eulogizing a man who isn't gone yet. That's not intentional, and I think something else might be happening as I write this. I think I'm mourning all those memories I haven't thought of in nearly two decades. In a strange way the news of Downie's illness has reminded me to look back more often, to feel all of those fleeting moments before I forget they exist. Most importantly, I now remember I have an usher to help me retrace most of my steps.

Gord Downie is not just the voice of Canada; he's proof that we always had our own culture, separate from our American cousins. Something familiar, if you will.

Feel good sadness. Nostalgia music. Quintessentially Canadian.

Sounds good to me.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
Pawel Gaul via Getty Images

When I looked at my itinerary for California it made me a little anxious. While we would be visiting Yosemite National Park and enjoying all it had to offer, we were staying in a series of remote cabins. Cabins that didn't include a fitness centre, and outdoor terrain which didn't include a running track. As someone who runs or works out six days a week, I was unnaturally concerned. How on earth was I going to get my gym fitness fix in a setting like this? I needn't have worried. I got active, in the most natural way.

Hiking: Hiking through Yosemite is not for the faint of heart. We chose a "moderate" trail which was one of the most challenging I've ever been on. However, climbing to an elevation of 8,200 feet and gazing out over Sentinel Dome onto Yosemite Falls, makes it more than worthwhile for the five miles of hiking a trail which alternates between muddy branch filled trails, and spring snow. Over four million visitors to Yosemite National Park can't be wrong. The toughest stair climber I've been on. Even without my morning 5k run, I hit 32,000 steps on my Fitbit.

Advertisement

Biking: Spin class has nothing on taking a bike through Yosemite down 12 miles of paved trails. There are hills to cycle, waterfalls to ride by, and heart stopping glimpses of climbers on the sheer rock face of El Capitan. The bike trails lead to the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, settled in the heart of the park. Built in 1927 this truly majestic hotel captures both grand resort charm and forest elegance.

Fly Fishing: Fly fishing appears to be a Zen and relaxing experience. This might be true if you are an experienced fisherman. But for me, hauling on hip waders and stepping into the Stanislaus River with its strong current, I found some new muscles. The ones that stopped my boots from slipping on the river rocks, triceps and forearm as I repeatedly flicked the line into the water, and the quick dodging while trying to avoid shooting my (actual) fly and its associated hook into my face. I'm just as stressed out at yoga, myself.

Hill Running: At a 4,000 foot elevation, my breath was not only taken away by the gorgeous scenery at Evergreen Lodge but going for a hill run down and around the paths had me gasping for air long before I'd have felt it on the treadmill in my climate controlled gym. Fortunately the lodge features an outdoor swimming pool. Unfortunately it also features a gourmet restaurant and s'mores basically on-tap.

Kayaking: A real life rowing machine. We paddled out from Pier 40 and kayaked under the Bay Bridge, and then back around AT&T Park in San Francisco Bay. Arm work out? My muscles say yes.

Advertisement

It was with some relief that I finished off at the Westin St Francis in San Francisco, where I welcomed the relative ease of a 5k treadmill run. Fit it all, in.

Kathy visited Tuolumne County, Mariposa County and San Francisco.

An excerpt of this article originally ran in the Metro News.

Watch for Kathy's "Get Set, Go" travel segment on CHCH TV Morning Live on June 23rd, featuring Yosemite National Park, and all you need to take to have a successful trip.
HuffPost Canada

Five years ago, The Huffington Post looked north as a first step towards its ambition of going global. Though Canada made sense in terms of language, geography and culture, Canadians know full well there are distinct differences between our nations. It's with that mindset that we set out to define HuffPost Canada.

Advertisement

Five years ago was a proud moment for a small team who started out here in Toronto, but we knew we were just getting started. There was so much work to be done.

The social era of the Internet had come. Video was emerging as a soon-to-be-dominant force. Trends and virality were still new ways to describe news. There were also exciting things happening. Our launch day  May 26, 2011  saw Jack Layton lay out his shadow cabinet, which we called the Orange Shadow. Politics would prove to be a place where Canadians were interested not only in policy and party inner workings, but in personality.

On our first day, this was one of our first front pages featuring the NDP's unveiling of its shadow cabinet.

Advertisement

Our industry was being disrupted  now seen in the taxi and hotel industry  so we built our newsroom on the notion that newspapers no longer fight against newspapers, portals against portals, television against television. Time was the enemy. We had to fight for your time.

Behind content and how we deliver the news and how you consume it, there are far more important impacts I note on our fifth birthday.

We're proud to add to the Canadian media landscape. There were many things we could have done but we focused on what we could do well. When we set out to create HuffPost, we had visions of how we can contribute to the national conversation in business and politics. We thought we could be part of your daily life, and our growth of coverage in wellness, style, health, fitness and parenting. It wasn't about just about the news any more.

We're proud to be the home for talented journalists... who bring passion to the job with a hunger to know more and experiment often.

We're proud to be operating in both official languages, to be located in cities across this country, from Vancouver and Quebec City, to Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. It's made an impact on the stories we select, the ideas that come to the fore.

Advertisement

We're proud to be a platform that has given a home to so many voices over the past five years. Thousands of bloggers  from politicians, to now household names  have contributed to the HuffPost story. We're proud to push the bounds of storytelling. From writing eBooks to hosting a global town hall with the prime minister, from embracing Instagram and Snapchat to releasing a 40-minute documentary series or a 90-second video, my team knows no challenge they won't embrace.

Thank you for being part of our story.

We're proud to be the first global voice as the HuffPost brand has spread around the world. There are now 15 international editions and when I meet with my colleagues worldwide, I feel like Canada was a natural starting point for the international story  we come from everywhere, yet we are always reflective of where we are.

We're proud to be the home for talented journalists  writers, editors, video editors and producers, graphic artists, reporters  who bring passion to the job with a hunger to know more and experiment often. Our newsroom is young, it is reflective of Canada and it always reinvents itself. It makes us better and our coverage better for it.

When I hear that other newsrooms grapple with diversity and generational gaps, I just look at the faces of my staff and I'm left wondering why other places have that challenge.

Advertisement

HuffPost Canada staff

Finally, we're proud to be part of your daily routine. Over the years, I've been chuffed to see people open apps, share our stories, raise the issues we cover. More so, in conversations, I'm no longer shocked that a person I will come across will have heard of The Huffington Post. That, for all of us, is a sign that we have built something so much more than what a small newsroom started five years ago. Thank you for being part of our story.
The five things you need to know on Wednesday May 25, 2016

1) IFS AND BUTS

David Cameron has landed in Japan for the G7 summit. But back home George Osborne can approach PMQs fully armed with the Institute for Fiscal Studiess howitzer of an anti-Brexit report. Its warning of two extra years of austerity, with the UK up to 40bn worse off, should give the Chancellor even more protection from Eurosceptic potshots than a David Gauke-shaped human shield.

Advertisement

Now, we hacks often prefix the IFS with the phrase highly respected, so it seems something of a PR blunder for Vote Leave to go in with both feet, studs showing today. Calling the IFS the "paid-up propaganda arm of the European Commission, simply because it received some Brussels cash for academic work, is an insult to the integrity of its economists - and to the intelligence of the public.

For although the Treasury and OBR have frequently got their forecasts disastrously wrong in the past, the IFS has a consistent record of exposing the black holes (and Budget blunders) facing both Labour and Tory Chancellors. It shouldn't take long to dig up some pro-IFS quotes by Brexiters who cited it against Gordon Brown in the past.

IFS chief Paul Johnson told Today that 10% of its funding came from European academic funding, but stressed theres no sum of money which would influence its verdicts. John Redwood didn't back off the claim though: I think the IFS are part of this cosy establishment which desperately wants to keep us in the European Union...They do get money from European bodies

All this heavy pounding on the economy is certainly causing jitters among some ministers in the Leave camp. The big poll leads for Remain this week may yet be turned round, but theres dismay from some Eurosceps at how their own side has just had nothing to match the scale of the onslaught on trade and being better off in. Even the Telegraph today criticises the Leave camp for failing to match Remain blow for blow.

Advertisement

Nick Watt on Newsnight last night pointed out that focus groups have shown that Michael Goves speech in April caused real worries among older voters - his talk of contagion being a good thing, plus his Albania model on trade, the causes identified. In the FT today, the blame game has started, with Kippers and some Tories saying the official Vote Leave camp is losing us this referendum.

The PM was sanguine yesterday about the chances of a leadership challenge after June 23. Do I believe at the end of this we can all come together and accept the result? Absolutely. But the damage is deep among some MPs, who warn darkly that the misuse of Govt stats has caused long term toxicity. Expect more criticism when the PM chairs a G7 session on trade tomorrow - and gets other nations to suggest Brexit is a bad idea.

2) SHOTS FIRED

Ex-Para Dan Jarvis hits the political frontline today with a speech warning that Brexit will be a gift to Vladimir Putin and others who want to weaken Europes defences. In his first major speech of the EU referendum campaign, he will say June 23 is the moment to decide whether we want to be Great or little Britain. That last line could also be a reference to Boriss yeah but no but antics on a 2nd referendum. Dan has blogged for HuffPost HERE.

But the Brexiteers have their own battalions lined up today with ex-military chiefs declaring that quitting the EU would be better for our defences. Most notably, General Sir Michael Rose, a former director of special forces, backs Brexit - just three months after Downing Street mistakenly added his name to a letter promoting EU membership. Rose tells the Mail: 'There's a whole raft of bits of legislation that have come from Europe that have impacted adversely on our combat effectiveness.

The Express has two former commanders, Tim Cross and Richard Kemp, warning that the Lisbon Treaty signed by Gordon Brown sets the UK on an irreversible path to a European army. The key clause in the treaty states that states with commitments to each other shall establish permanent structured cooperation within the [European] Union framework and the progressive framing of a common defence policy.

Advertisement

3) FOR FRACKS SAKE

Protestors were furious this week when North Yorkshire County Council made the landmark decision to approve Third Energys application to frack on a site near Kirby Misperton in Ryedale.

Now, ministers have been accused of sitting on a long-awaited report on fracking and climate change in a bid to help the oil industry. HuffPost UK has learned that the independent Climate Change Committees (CCC) study of the environmental impact of the shale gas technology has still not been published despite a legal requirement to do so. See our story HERE.

Meanwhile, the FT casts doubt on the commercial viability of UK fracking. But on Newsnight last night, the ever-sharp Chris Cook pointed out that the Governments plans to reward councils with business rates means they have a new incentive to wave through developments.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

I just love everything about Chewbacca mom. Watch her meet James Corden - and JJ Abrams

4) JEZ MAKES HIS MARK

It didnt get much play play yesterday (apart from in Civil Service World), but Jeremy Corbyn made a significant speech to the PCS unions conference. The Labour leader committed his party to reintroducing national pay bargaining in the civil service, ending a system used by Blair and Brown as well as the Tories since the mid-1990s.

Mark Serwotka, whom HuffPost revealed earlier this year has been readmitted as a Labour member, notably heaped praise on both Jeremy and John too. No wonder rumours are afoot that the unashamedly left-wing union could be close to affiliating to the party, just as the FBU has.

Advertisement

The Guardian has a nice chat with ex-No10 aide Steve Hilton, in which he defends Corbyn from the kind of get your tie on attacks seen from Cameron. Hilton criticises the very bullying ganging-up by the political establishment to say: this guy is not doing it the way we are used to doing it; hes not wearing a tie.

The tie line could be small present for Angela Eagle later in PMQs. Then again, Osborne can hit back with Blairs withering verdict yesterday that its not yet a proven concept that Corbynism can win an election. Then again we heard yesterday Eagles own line about the publics view of Blair: They dont particularly want to hear from people who used to be Prime Minister. They want the facts.

5) MISS THE TAXMAN

Eagle could shoot into an open goal if she raises Googlewhacks and tax. The FT splashes the French authorities raid on Googles Paris offices, as they seek to recover 1.3bn in back taxes and penalties - compared to HMRCs mere 130m, the deal that Osborne was very proud of not long ago.

The NAO today fuels Labours narrative that Coalition cuts undermined tax collection. It has a savage report on how HMRC call service levels 'collapsed' in 2015 as staff were shed to cut costs as part of a digitisation strategy. People phoning the self-assessment tax queries line spent an average of 47 minutes on hold.

As for the wider issue of foreigners trying to use London property as tax havens, the Guardian splash is impressive. It features the largely empty, huge Vauxhall tower overlooking Parliament, with dozens of apartments owned by secretive offshore firms - all while theres a housing crisis in the capital. Labour has long failed to lay a glove on Boris Johnson - could this be the enduring symbol of his reign in London?

Advertisement

If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox.
My father was an immigrant. His father was from upper Egypt, of Sudanese heritage, and my paternal grandmother was of Syrian descent. If my father tried to settle in the UK today, his application would almost certainly fail. He lacked the funds to buy himself residency, didn't have any particularly sought after skills, and lacked the trump card: a European passport. But in 1970, Britain welcomed immigrants from all over the world and my father came from Egypt to settle in London for a better life. Jobs were relatively plentiful and easy to get; you could literally walk down the street, see an advert for a job and start that same day.

I grew up, a mixed-race child in a vibrant London. I rarely experienced the bitterness of racism, and only ever from strangers. In the main, my friends and I were like a Benetton advert; white, black, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, a mix of races, colours, and ethnicity that was utterly irrelevant to our interactions. We were thrown together by the comprehensive school system, but stayed together because race was irrelevant: we liked each other. Never once, when I visited my friends' houses, no matter what their background, did I feel anything but a warm welcome. There was no sense of an immigration divide, no them and us. We came from different places, but were all British.

It saddens me that we now live in a country where immigration has become such a divisive issue. It must be terrifying for newcomers and their children, but also scary for British people who have seen people arrive in such numbers that their communities have changed beyond recognition. Successive governments have handled immigration terribly, doing nothing to manage it, and shouting down anyone who dares to raise the issue as a racist or bigot. But we've now reached a point where the former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips, is warning of the dangers of uncontrolled immigration. Is he a bigot?

Advertisement

Immigration is a raw, divisive issue and it's one supporters of the EU can use to browbeat opponents to distract people from the real problem. Immigration is simply a symptom of that real problem; the fact that we no longer live in a democratic system. It is the most visible one of many symptoms caused by the theft of our democracy.

The right to control our own borders has been taken way from us by the EU. I say taken because we never voted to give that right away. We cannot control immigration because over the years successive governments have ceded power to a supreme legislative body in Brussels, the unaccountable, unelected EU Commission.

The EU referendum is actually a vote about whether we believe in democracy. As I've previously noted, in the UK, if I don't like a law, I know exactly what I need to do to get it changed. I cannot change EU law. There is simply no mechanism. If I don't like the way the British government spends my taxes, I can get rid of it. Short of hiring an expensive Brussels lobby firm, I cannot influence the way the EU spends my taxes at all.

The EU is undemocratic, but it has some vocal champions of democracy lining up to defend it: Barack Obama, Jeremy Corbyn, most Labour MPs, unions - much of the political establishment. I've struggled to understand why, and have only been able to conclude that they have been affected by the corrosive influence of money. I'm not just talking about the prospect of economic harm that EU supporters seem convinced will befall the UK if we vote to leave. People seem to have also been influenced by the prospect of losing direct funding.

Advertisement

The EU uses our tax money to dole out funds to organisations such as the National Union of Students, the London School of Economics, Unite, even the doom-saying Institute for Fiscal Studies. In fact the EU funds thousands of British institutions that one would normally expect to fight for democracy to their very last breath. If we leave the EU, those organisations will no longer be able to apply for those funds and will have to rely on whatever public funding mechanism a UK government decides to replace them with, if any.

It's a scary prospect, but, as I've previously argued, our democratic rights are far too important to be surrendered for a few pieces of silver. If you don't think it's a big deal and that we should just trust unelected bureaucrats to exercise power in our best interests, take a look at Greece, where youth unemployment is close to 50% and an entire generation of people is being sacrificed in the service of the EU ideal. The Greek government is utterly powerless to alleviate its people's suffering because it has ceded most of the principal functions of government to the EU.

And if Greece is too far away, take a look at Britain, where our once tolerant country has been divided by uncontrolled immigration forced on our powerless government by the EU.

Our democratic rights are all we have to protect us from tyranny and poor government. We must not sell them for the illusion of a pot of EU gold. People on both sides will try to use scare stories of immigration, risks to the economy, house prices, war and all sorts of other noisy issues, but, at its quiet heart, democracy is the defining issue of this referendum.

That's the serious stuff. For a laugh, take a look at this:

Advertisement
All students have experienced the financial challenges that accompany the "privilege" of further education. Yes you're given a loan, but what about those extra incremental costs that slowly add up, like a bar tab you underestimated? Ink has quickly become the most expensive liquid on the planet - something you learn very quickly when you undertake an academic degree, which requires printing on a mass scale. Current university fees are at an unaffordable all-time-high of 9,000 a year. You'd think under that extortionate fee your copy needs would be covered, but you'd be mistaken. Ruslan Khazarchiev and his friends realised this problem whilst studying at CASS Business School and were outraged like the rest of us.

After running a study, Khazarchiev and his friends found that 98% of students wanted free printing. They thought there had to be a better way for cash-strapped learners to study economically, which is when they created the Aiwip app.

Through partnerships with university student unions, the Aiwip allows students to print anything for free, by including ads from their sponsors at the bottom of the page. When I first heard this I was skeptical, purely because the word "free" usually comes with some kind of hidden onslaught of T&C's which mean you'll get charged in 12 months time when you've happily forgotten you signed up. But after speaking to Ruslan I came to understand that his company was set up to genuinely help students, in what is arguably the most financially challenging era to attend higher education. I was struck by quite how passionate he was about a problem that most universities seem to ignore. In fact, I found it pretty commendable.

Advertisement

It may seem hard to comprehend quite how annoying printing costs are if it's been a while since you were living the student life, but believe me it's infuriating and frankly akin to day-light robbery. The evidence stands to reason: in a 2012 survey for York University Student Union, printing was ranked the second highest extra cost for students after text books. Even more shocking, according to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills students were found to spend on average 136 a year on printing "services".

The app is a seemingly simple idea: you can print any document using your mobile phone. The website displays the process as follows:

1.Download the app.

2.Upload your document from your laptop or phone.

3.Stand next to an Aiwip printer (map on the app).

4.Press print at the printer.

The app automatically sinks with your laptop, which means your printing is ready to go when you need it. Admittedly not having to use a portable device and therefore not lose my memory stick for the 100th time is an appealing thought, as is the fact that I don't have to pay to print out the endless pages on my required reading list.

I decided to quiz Ruslan on how much the app really has to offer and to my surprise, actually quite a lot. Single or double sided printing, black & white or colour. The latter was music to my ears - I am dyslexic, which meant university was a nightmare in many ways, but predominantly because I find black text incredibly difficult to read. As a consequence I spent an unruly amount of money on colour printing.

Advertisement

Like most free offerings, however, the app has its challenges. I mentioned to Rulsan the obvious potential difficulty; that your University may not accept work with adverts in the footer of the page. They are aware of this issue and seem to be working hard to encourage universities them to help students by accepting work from Aiwip. From the response they've received so far, it seems likely to become a permanent solution to this additional student cost. Most of the universities they've been in discussions with want to help students who are under financial strain.

But universities aren't the only ones that may need convincing. Naturally I questioned how Aiwip would gain the backing of companies who may not want to take part in such "old school" advertising. Quite easily it would seem. Sponsors involved see the prospect as a rare business opportunity to contribute to an easier student life and access a different market audience. Perhaps this comes with the pity felt for today's students by the generations that proceeded. I personally find it pretty refreshing to see a modern technological business incorporate traditional values and methods - something of a rarity in today's high-tech world. After all, there is something authentic about print that far exceeds those annoying pop-up ads.

From my experience as both an undergraduate and post-graduate student, I think I speak for the majority when I say I warmly welcome any company that wants to help reduce student costs. It's certainly true that living the life of a student can be a pretty laid-back lifestyle, often taken for granted until you start a 9-5 job and become a normal human being. But times have changed financially and the expectation of students to pay off a base rate of 27k to pay for our education is unrealistic beyond belief. That alone is shocking, but to then ask us to pay for printing off the work we've already funded is terrible.
On the way to the first of our house calls in central Amman, Lana talked about the Syrian family she had visited the day before. In the years since she had been working as a field assistant for UNHCR in Jordan she had seldom seen such dreadful poverty and such hopelessness as was faced by that particular family.

This was my tenth visit to Jordan since May last year as part of a UK Foreign Office sponsored project assisting with the political reform agenda in Jordan, but it was the first time I had gone out with UNHCR to visit the refugees.

Over the past year I have grown to like and respect Jordan and its people. There are many common bonds and a great many British connections. Frequently when speaking to Jordanian politicians you find that their children are studying at our universities and colleges. In many ways Jordan is a beacon of hope surrounded by conflict - "a ring of fire" - its neighbours include Syria, Iraq, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia. There will be new parliamentary elections in the autumn this year with a new voting system. The country is facing tough economic challenges at a time when it is still on the path to development.

Advertisement

In addition, Jordan is currently having to cope with well over a million refugees, including 650,000 Syrians registered with UNHCR. . Many of the Syrian refugees have been welcomed as they are often highly skilled and educated, and have provided a boost to the Jordanian economy, especially now they are allowed to obtain official work permits.

In Europe the focus has perhaps understandably been on the highly visible refugee camps in Jordan but in fact less than twenty percent of the refugees are in the camps - the vast majority are living in the cities, such as Amman, often in very basic accommodation in basements, attics and wherever they can find.

Our first visit of the day was to a Syrian family living in a small flat in Ashrafiyah in central Amman. Before the conflict Raslan, father of five, had been working as an engineer for a Canadian oil company in Syria. He had previously been earning $2000 a month. Their home town of Deir-ez-zor had been blown to pieces and was now half controlled by ISIL and half by the Syrian Government. When he was talking about what had happened he mimed a long beard when describing ISIL to us. He had managed to flee legally with his passport and the majority of his family had followed.

Their accommodation was basic with some damp problems and the whole family was sleeping in one room, but they did have a living room and a simple kitchen and bathroom. Lana told me that it was one of the better examples of refugee accommodation that she had seen.

Advertisement

They were, however, having to pay 30 JD (approximately 29) per month for electricity which was taking up a disproportionately large percentage of their limited income.

During the interview Raslan emotionally showed us a school photograph of a bright faced young boy. This was their eldest son who they hadn't seen for over four years as he was currently fighting with the Syrian Government Army and had been forced to stay on at the end of his conscription.

Lana conducted a comprehensive interview with the whole family, took photographs of the accommodation and fed the answers back simultaneously via a tablet to the UNHCR Jordan office for processing.

Later, Lana explained that the reason this particular family had applied for urgent UNHCR assistance was that they were deeply concerned about their middle son who had not received any education since arriving from Syria two years ago because all of the local schools were full. As they had a variety of income supplies coming in to the family - one of their sons was working in a clothes shop and their daughter had married a Jordanian - she thought it unlikely that they would all be eligible for additional financial assistance but they would see if they could assist with the educational issue for their younger son. With limited resource, these are the kind of tough decisions to be made by UNHCR on a daily basis.

I met a number of other refugees that day with equally tragic personal stories. Jordan is coping remarkably well with the influx of refugees, but they need further support to make sure the situation stays stable. The London Donors' conference was an extremely positive initiative but the money that was pledged has not all arrived. On the other side of June 23rd I sincerely hope that the British Government can again help to take the lead on these issues within the international community, ensuring that at the very least all pledges are fulfilled. With the prospect of further fighting in Aleppo the number of refugees trying to enter Jordan is likely to increase yet again this summer and with the best will in the world there are limits to any country's elasticity.

Advertisement
Sitting across from the head of academic services, having her peer at me over a desk that looked like a library had exploded over it, in an office larger than my living room, the irony of her telling me that lecturers would no longer have their own offices and that they would have to transition to a paperless campus (no bookshelves, no printing out notes) was not lost on me. No, what was lost on me was the logic in her next response, which went something along the lines of "that's a staff problem- why do you care?".

That was over a year ago, and in the intervening months I've slowly become aware that those of us absorbed in campus life are living under a system completely at odds with the virtues universities aim to distil. Students and staff should be collaborative scholars, partners working together to shape education and search for truth - instead, senior managers are keen to open up a sharp divide between us, one in which we're demanding 'customers', and lecturers are the front-line 'providers', no longer allies but separated by the shackles the 'free' market imposes upon us. More than this though, universities are meant to be hubs of critique- challenging societal norms and venting the unbounded curiosity of the young and old alike. Instead, we increasingly live, study and work in institutions that are shaped by the few, at the expense of the many, that are intensely hostile of criticism and entrench, rather than ameliorate, inequities in society.

Advertisement

A law lecturer at my former university recently penned a brilliant piece explaining the reasons why he was choosing to strike today. Senior managers will be keen to paint this as the action of greedy workers, but it is anything but. Yes, in his piece the senior lecturer talks of how lecturers across the sector have suffered a 14% pay cut in real terms over the last 6 years, whilst VC's salaries only soar higher. But he also talks about a gender pay gap across the sector of 13%, an ethnic pay gap that sees BME staff on average paid 3080 less a year and about part time staff placed on uncertain and unreliable contracts. He talks about how this is already damaging relationships between students and academics and how we are seeing our seminar sizes swell due to poor staffing levels so they are no longer fit for purpose. This is born of an agenda to marketise the higher education sector, where universities are businesses, students are customers and profit, not education, is the primary motive.

These facts alone should be enough to get students out on the picket lines with their lecturers today- these are people that know a thing or two about how education will flourish, but instead of utilising the experts at their disposal, senior managers increasingly ignore and bypass them. Demoralised and mistreated staff, forced to work under intolerable workloads is morally wrong in itself- but it will also lead to a worse education for students. During my time at university, I've seen the disturbing places such an ethos leads.

I've seen passionate, courageous and intelligent academics that instilled in me a fierce curiosity and desire to change the world throw their hands up in despair and grief at the prospect of being able to influence their own university's decisions. I've seen senior members of staff sneer at the thought of student democracy, publicly criticise and intimidate students that have spoken out and brazenly lie to students about university proposals. I've seen vast salaries, private chefs and personal trainers lavished on senior managers who bring little value to our institutions, whilst student support and courses are cut. Our educational powerhouses have instead become sad parallels of the world they are meant to change and improve.

Advertisement

Top pay has become completely detached from performance and often comes at the expense of vital student support. Take my undergraduate university- Northampton. It was recently revealed that the VC there has enjoyed another significant pay rise, whilst his university has shot down the league table. Or how about the 39,000 pay rise for the VC at Queen's, Belfast, where I'm currently studying my masters degree- this juicy bonus has preceded a cut in student counselling services of 37,000 that has led waiting times to rise from 3 days to six weeks. Both cases are just the tip of the iceberg- at Northampton students and staff have been consistently and deliberately ignored when it comes to plans of a new campus that will reduce the size of the SU, shift the majority of lectures online and stick lecturers in gigantic open plan offices. Queen's is much the same, with sociology and anthropology undergraduate courses being cut without a whiff of student/staff consultation, the university has reneged on agreements with students that our new building will be called a Union (I wonder why they wouldn't want a union on campus?) and refuse, despite overwhelming student support, to divest from planet-destroying fossil fuels.

I'm tired. I'm tired of seeing my fantastic lecturers mistreated and demoralised. I'm tired of seeing my passionate student officers patronised and ignored. I'm tired of seeing my fellow students consistently be denied the support, education and democracy they deserve and be forced ever more into the rat race that is the loveless employability agenda. Above all I'm tired of a handful at the top, far removed from the soul of our universities, who preach poverty whilst revelling in their wealth, forcing us into marketised shells of inequality, instead of leading the way of positive change in society.
The dates May 12 and May 19 2016 could go down in history. The moment Northern Ireland politics were normalised or consolidated; the moment the hegemony of DUP and Sinn Fein was either secured or scuppered.

Just as nearly half of the electorate don't vote and don't care about politics, most of Northern Ireland are probably unaware of Momentous May 2016, the month when Ulster politics changed and "changed utterly".

Advertisement

History has been made, a chapter perhaps as grand as any in recent time.

In April 1916 the revolutionaries of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, with manpower from the Irish Volunteers (not Sinn Fein), fired a shot that killed a police officer and launched a rebellion whose deadly legacy rumbles to this day. The Easter Rising reduced Dublin to the state of a town on the Western Front, an Ypres-on-the-Liffey, and changed Ireland "utterly" as W.B. Yeats wrote. Separation from Britain may have been a "beauty" for the Irish, but the terribleness was on a far higher scale - giving to Ireland a rebellion, a war of independence, a civil war, an embryonic Dublin government continually assailed by the IRA, the 1939-1940 S(Sabotage)-Plan, the border campaign of 1956-1962, the Provisional IRA campaign of 1969-1998 and the dissident IRA violence of 1998 to present.

The move by Nesbitt (UUP) and Eastwood (SDLP) in May 2016 could mark a change as "utterly" transformative as Easter 1916 - except this moment of change has been a boring and forgettable beauty.

Nothing "terrible" happened. Nobody was bombed or blown apart, nobody killed, just a momentary growth spurt bookended by stagnant politics. The appearance of Belfast didn't change an iota and its inhabitants were perfectly unperturbed.

Advertisement

As Martin Luther King said of justice, the arc of history is long, but in May 2016 an exception was made.

Martin McGuinness said in his youth that it would be "the cutting edge of the IRA " which would bring freedom to Ireland, but ultimately it has been the tedious partnership-partisanship government of DUP-Sinn Fein that has brought freedom and change. A freedom to live peaceably in a stable and equal society, the freedom to lobby peacefully for whichever constitutional position you think best for the north-east of Ireland.

But the conditions of freedom have been dysfunctional and abnormal, as compared with other western democracies - Identity politics that values access to flags and emblems and parades, as opposed to normal politics that values jobs and health and education.

The move by the smaller parties was necessary, even inevitable. Necessary because tribalism and identity politics have paralysed legislation. Inevitable because the junior parties in the executive, both the UUP and SDLP, were on the inexorable slide towards the dustbin of history

During the Troubles the aspiration was for an "accepted level of violence ". The term today sounds absurd, even Orwellian, but it reflected the uncontrolled passions that existed in Ulster. The Assembly term 2011-2016 and the years preceding it were marked by an "accepted level of dysfunction". Cross-community government was a very good and special thing by Northern Ireland standards, but it was a government that was very bad by normal standards.

Advertisement

Just as violence became unacceptable, so bad government for the sake of government has become unacceptable.

Since 1998 Stormont has been marred by the ugly scaffolding of the peace agreement. Now it is starting to come down.

People now want accountable and responsible government that sets out a programme for government that is held to its promises. If opposition works then promises will be judged against their delivery, not drowned out by the noise of flag and patriot politics.

As Newton Emerson suggested, I believe the recent evolution "will force the executive to up its game."

Advertisement
The hitmen came in a white Polo with a rotating blue lamp on the roof. Two men got out the car and knocked at the door saying they were the police. Sikhosiph 'Bazooka' Rhadebe, the Chairman of a community group opposing an Australian mining venture on South Africa's Wild Coast, was then shot with eight bullets to the head. He died on March 22 this year defending his son.

Trouble has been brewing on the Wild Coast for a decade now. Nelson Mandela's ancestral lands are a region remarkable for their voluminous, thundering beauty arching over bowling green hills. They are also home to vast mineral deposits, and Bazooka Rhadebe's village of Xolobeni in Mbizana municipality sits on the front line. Australian company 'Mineral Commodities Limited' (MRC) has been trying to create a 22 km by 1.5km open cast titanium mine in the dunes that will alter land the Pondo people have inhabited since 500 AD.

Today however marks a global day of awareness where activists in South Africa, Australia and the UK are standing up against the activities of MRC in Xolobeni, and highlighting a rural community's right to prevent mining on their ancestral lands. Protests are taking place outside MRC's offices in Cape Town, while South African and Australian NGO's are orchestrating a media campaign. Meanwhile on-line pressure group Avaaz is targeting UK board member millionaire property investor Graham Edwards to divest from MRC.

Advertisement

The Xolobeni mining proposal has been splitting the community into two blocks ever since its inception; those that support the venture, such as local MRC black empowerment partner 'Xolco' and the Amadiba tribal authority chief, and those that see it as wrecking ball for the pristine beaches, estuaries and endangered flora and fauna.

Violent attacks, arson, attempted murder and night raids on anti-mining community activists in Mbizana have increased dramatically in the last year, while Rhadebe himself called two other members of his Amadiba Crisis Committee hours before his death to warn of a hit list at which he was at the top. Even journalists who attended Rhadebe's funeral ended up hospitalised after being beaten with machetes, while the local police refused to arrest any members of the mob responsible.

Although it has been reported that an employee of one of MRC's other operations in South Africa was implicated in one of last year's murder attempts, there is no evidence currently to suggest that MRC is responsible for Rhadebe's death. However, it is clear that members of the community are furious at the Amadiba Crisis Committee action's in blocking mining licence applications.

Hobson's Choice?

Those in support of the venture point to the mine as a fast track to economic development - Statistics SA's 2011 census reports that 85 percent of Mbizana's adult residents are unemployed and rely on government grants and subsistence farming, while most residents live on R50 (.2.20) a day. If the mine comes, the community have been told that a proper road will arrive, people will be employed, and the mine will help one of the regions of South Africa with the highest rates of unemployment.

Advertisement

The local population therefore seems to face Hobson's choice; take this 22km stretch of mine, or continue with little assistance at all.

However given what people already know about mines in South Africa, large numbers of the community seem to prefer the later.

Murky mining in South Africa

In the last five years, miners in South Africa have seen fellow workers massacred by police at Marikana, a mine shaft collapse in the province of Mpumalanga trapping 100 workers and tens of thousands of miners who contracted the incurable lung disease silicosis, join a class action to sue mining companies for failing to protect their workers from silica dust.

Mining has also lead to environmental degradation across the country, the displacement of communities, the destruction of livelihoods such as fishing and farming, and largescale pollution from the mine dust produced in estuaries and water supplies.

Australia's aid strategy for Africa is unconcerned. It's Foreign Minister has stated that mining makes "a substantial contribution to economic development and poverty alleviation", and as such Australia has cut its aid to Africa and replaced it with a renewed commitment to mining on the continent. Australian mining companies are now the most rapidly expanding of all mining investors in Africa.

Advertisement

However, according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 380 people have died in mining accidents or in offsite skirmishes connected to Australian mining companies in African countries since 2004, while multiple Australian mining companies are accused of negligence, unfair dismissal, violence and environmental law-breaking across the continent.

The Shore Break

An extraordinary South African documentary called The Shore Break has though captured the Samson and Goliath nature of the struggle between Xolobeni's grass roots activists and this big Australian multi-national.

There is a moment in the documentary where a toothless man is inspecting a printed letter posted on a wooden gate addressed to the local community from the mining company. It says please respond by fax or email within 24hrs. The man grins. 'Where do we have such facilities?' he says.
"Now I'm older it feels as though I'm a burden and people aren't interested in me."

These are the words of 86 year old Mariya from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. As someone who lived through and survived the ravages of the Second World War, Mariya now faces another major challenge - the current conflict in Ukraine. And sadly, her experience is not unusual in that too many older people affected by humanitarian crises say that they feel alone and overlooked [1].

At the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders have put forward their views on how the humanitarian system should be improved. I hope that those present felt a responsibility to listen carefully and give special attention to the voices that can be hardest to hear: those of marginalised groups, such as older people.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the need for humanitarian responders, from donors to agencies working on the ground, to ensure that the rights and needs of older people are fully considered.

Advertisement

The UN's own consultation in advance of the Summit found that the marginalisation of older people is a major challenge for the humanitarian system, and one that needs to be addressed [2]. Earlier this month our partner HelpAge International released two reports, Older voices in humanitarian crises and End the Neglect: a study of humanitarian financing for older people, which further highlight the need for a more age-inclusive approach to disaster response.

Older voices in humanitarian crises draws on interviews with older people affected by three of the world's worst current conflicts. Older Syrian refugees across Lebanon, displaced older people in eastern Ukraine, and older men and women in camps for internally displaced people in South Sudan, were asked about their experiences of humanitarian support. Their stories show a continued need for greater consideration of older people's specific needs and vulnerabilities.

End the Neglect, a five-year overview of more than 16,000 proposed humanitarian projects between 2010 and 2014, found that just 5.3 per cent (855 projects) of the projects proposed for funding included one or more activity intended to assist vulnerable groups including older people.

There is a pressing need for these shortcomings to be addressed at the Summit. The world's population is ageing rapidly, especially in low and middle income countries [3] where people are more vulnerable to disasters. That more people are living longer is a cause for celebration but also brings new challenges if it goes unrecognised by the humanitarian community.

Advertisement

Older people are disproportionately affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, 75 per cent of those who died were over 60, even though this age group comprised only 16 per cent of the local population. Filipino Government data from Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 show that 38.4 per cent of the fatalities where ages were recorded were aged over 60 although older people make up just 7 per cent of the population [4]. The same pattern was seen following the 2005 tsunami in Japan and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

Age International and our partners are showing the way through age-sensitive programmes and supporting others to develop more age-inclusive approaches to humanitarian work. One way this is done is through Inclusion Advisors, who work as part of an emergency response programme. The advisor works with other organisations and local governments via UN cluster systems and other coordination mechanisms to ensure that older people's needs are fully considered and included across the board.

Leading humanitarian agencies have drawn up a Charter for Inclusion which sets out the pressing commitments needed to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches the most affected people. This Charter provides a set of five key recommendations covering participation, data, funding, capacity and coordination, for governments, donors and humanitarian agencies.

I remain optimistic that the World Humanitarian Summit is an opportunity to lay the foundations for a reformed humanitarian system which ensures that no one, including people like Mariya, is left behind. But it can only do this if those attending make a concerted effort to listen to all those affected by humanitarian crises and put in place measures to make sure marginalised groups like older people are heard now and in the future.

References

1. HelpAge International, Older voices in humanitarian crises, 2016

2. World Humanitarian Summit secretariat, Restoring Humanity: Synthesis of the Consultation Process for the World Humanitarian Summit, New York, United Nations, 2015, p.40

Advertisement

3. Almost two-thirds (62%) of the 868 million people in the world aged over 60 live in developing countries according to: Population ageing and sustainable development, UNDESA 2014 www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/popfacts/PopFacts_2014-4.pdf
Paying the bill. Holding the door open. Standing so that a woman can sit. These modern realisations of the medieval concept of chivalry are, however 'forward-thinking' our society may wish to seem, values that are arguably still held dear by many.

Chivalry still exists in our society and, whilst is has evolved from knights displaying their military skill and poor damsels in distress being rescued from capture, it is fair to say that chivalry still influences the way men and women act towards one another and the status of women.

The popular Channel 4 programme 'First Dates' is typical of this, with men often insisting on paying the bill and women sometimes more than willing to let them. Indeed, it is often the case that not only are men exponents of this gender-heavy version of chivalry, but women too are often only more than happy to accept it.

Advertisement

Although it is the little things that are affected - such as the aforementioned door-opening or bill paying - it is sometimes these seemingly inconsequential parts of the everyday that paint a perceptive picture of the forces at bay in our society.

Chivalry, from the French word chevalier meaning knight, finds its roots in medieval Europe when it was held as an ideal form of behaviour, involving courtly manners (especially towards women), a 'warrior ethos' and generosity. And the phrase 'ladies first', which is still in considerable circulation in the western world, arguably symbolises our modern attitude towards chivalry, and the expectation that a man should always consider a women's needs before his own.

But surely that sounds good as a woman, on the receiving end of special treatment and particular efforts to ensure her wellbeing? Well, not always.

Although anybody trying to be polite and 'chivalrous' should not be demonised, being the subject of chivalry can be patronising and even embarrassing. I personally struggle to voice my objections for fear of seeming rude or ungrateful. My female friend agrees that chivalry, as a loaded and gendered term, is losing its popularity:

Advertisement

'To me, chivalry is something of an outdated concept. It supports old-fashioned notions that women are fragile objects, in constant need of the protection of men, as well as the idea that men must be 'strong', above all else. It shouldn't be confused with common decency, or generousness; these are universal ideals that can be embraced by any gender or sex.'

A quick Google image search for 'modern chivalry' retrieves image after image of a woman sitting in a chair that a man has pulled out for her, of hand-holding and coat-sharing. Such diplomacy is indeed sometimes we should strive towards. But when the motives for such chivalry depart from the notion of common decency, are these acts any more than a modern interpretation of archaic (and patriarchal) traditions?

A male friend helped me out on the issue, saying 'you should [be chivalrous] because you're decent, not because you want to get into anyone's pants. I think lots of beardy blokes on the internet get frustrated by the whole 'women and children first' aspect of our society's code, but ultimately most men would put the wellbeing and happiness of their loved ones before themselves anyway.'

I know that many men make these small gestures out of common decency and generosity and I by no means want to criticise them. But surely chivalry has too strong an emphasis on gender such is its perception in today's society. Thus, men feel pressure to support a woman beyond the necessary, and such efforts sometimes make women feel like property or commodities, not men's equals. Equally, though, some women who describe themselves as feminists would paradoxically accept a man paying the bill, showing the contradictions and hypocrisies that our modern version of chivalry engenders.
Seventy years on from the conflict which forever changed Europe, we face a choice between two futures for our role within it. The impact of our decision will be profound and permanent for our economy and our security.

That is why I am making the patriotic case to secure our national interest in a changing world. By choosing to lead, not leave.

Serving in the Balkans taught me something about the fragility of peace in Europe. I witnessed the importance of Nato at the side of General Mike Jackson as he led Alliance forces in Kosovo. That challenging time taught me the value and the importance of the team. Of standing with your neighbours and allies, to work in partnership with others to achieve a common goal.

Advertisement

We should be in no doubt that being part of the EU is both a strategic and an economic asset to Britain. From counter-terrorism to intelligence sharing and diplomacy, cooperation with Europe still provides Britain additional influence to further our interests in a changing world.

As the US pivots towards Asia, the G7 expands to the G20, and international institutions face pressure to reform, the status quo will not be an option. That is why I believe that having Britain as a team member of both Nato and the EU makes both institutions stronger.

Enhancing our national security and keeping our people safer. So it is precisely because we put Britain's national interest first that we make the hard-headed case to remain.

Our future is linked historically, geographically, unavoidably, to that of Europe. Threats and opportunities will not stop for us, and we cannot simply opt-out from the world. So let us not compromise our influence to shape that shared future. Because just as threats to our security are spread and shared in today's world, so too must be the solutions.

Advertisement

That is why the EU is a necessary partner to Nato for Britain. Through combining all areas of security policy, the EU provides additional capacity for action. This enables what is often called hard power to be paired with soft power. Through its economic influence, the EU can shape behaviour following a carrot and stick approach. Pairing the threat of sanctions alongside the prize of trade access to the world's largest single market.

This collective influence we project as part of the EU delivers real results. It allows Britain to lead international action as we did to secure an EU oil embargo against Iran. This was an important precursor to the EU3+3 negotiations which ultimately delivered the landmark agreement curtailing Iran's nuclear programme last year.

The EU also bolsters our domestic security. From Peshawar to Paris, too often we have been reminded that terrorist networks pay no attention to lines on a map. It is only through the EU that we can use a networked approach to both reduce our vulnerabilities and attack the terrorist organisations themselves. Acting not through isolationism but through partnership. As the US General Stanley McChrystal rightly argues "it takes a network to defeat a network."

We remember the summer of 2005, when Hussain Osman unsuccessfully attempted to follow the terrorist attacks a fortnight earlier by placing a bomb at Shepherds Bush Tube Station. It was because of the European Arrest Warrant, and co-operation with our EU allies, that Osman was arrested in an apartment in Rome. Today, Osman is serving life in prison because of an EU wide legal framework which ensures evidence is gathered so that it is admissible in British courtrooms.

So the choice we face is between greater security and global influence as part of the EU, or a period of prolonged uncertainty and permanent retrenchment by walking away. For the Leave campaign to assert that both everything will change, but nothing will change is not simply a contradiction. It fails our collective duty to serve the national interest.

Advertisement

That is why the patriotic choice is for a Britain that continues to lead in the world by leading in Europe. To do otherwise would not only limit the opportunities of our children and grandchildren, but their ability to meet the challenges of tomorrow. So this is the moment to decide whether we want to be great or little Britain.

I firmly believe that the strength, stability and security brought by our membership of the EU is the only responsible choice. So with pride and confidence in Britain, we must vote to remain on 23 June.
Waiting in the reception area of a charity supporting sex workers one day, we were drawn to a noticeboard labelled "Dodgy Punters" that listed instances of harassment and crimes against sex workers. These ranged from bizarre examples of throwing boiled eggs out of a moving car to horrific, violent attacks.

Sex workers are often targeted by dangerous individuals but are frequently reluctant to report these incidents to the police. In the face of such violent threats, sex workers have built a strong community that takes care of its own. They often mistrust the police but have a wealth of lived experience that they use to look out for each other and to protect new, inexperienced members who might be unfamiliar with potential dangers.

Advertisement

In the 1980's a British academic came across a group of sex workers sharing handwritten notes and using the term 'ugly mugs' to describe individuals who were unreasonable and/or violent, in order to warn other sex workers. National Ugly Mugs, a multi-award winning national organisation providing greater access to justice and protection for sex workers, developed the concept of handwritten notes into a paper-based, email and SMS alert service. This allowed users to change their behaviour, avoid offenders and be more willing to report to the police as a result.

In conjunction with National Ugly Mugs, and with help from Comic Relief funding, Reason Digital - a leading social enterprise in the burgeoning "tech for good" scene - conceived, designed and developed mobile app, SafetyNets. The app, currently in use in London, helps sex workers notify each other of imminent dangers nearby in real time, in order to reduce instances of violent attacks, rape or murder. The app was co-designed with sex workers and the agencies supporting them including Manchester Action on Street Health and Survivors Manchester. We needed the app to support sex workers of all gender identities and working in all sectors, on the streets, in brothels and privately or independently.

We went out to speak to sex workers, tested and tweaked our designs and app functionality in response to feedback. We were able to release a product that was usable and practical for sex workers because of their involvement at all stages of the development process.

We made a number of useful learnings from the process. The design featured a dark background so the app was less likely to light up their faces at night, which would make them more of a target. We presented a series of pre-selected options in order to speed up the process of submitting vital safety information and built in features to personalise the alerts shown based on gender identity.

Advertisement

It was essential that the app respected the individual's privacy as much as it promoted their safety. As such, the app uses a technical process that enables the phone itself to decide which alerts to show based on its current location. This way, we can send out vital alerts about dangers nearby without building a central database tracking the movements of individual sex workers and therefore protecting their identity.

The app is freely available in Google and Apple app stores, but individuals need to be registered with National Ugly Mugs in order to use the app. This way, we can be sure the only people using the app are sex workers known to the organisation and can't be abused by criminals seeking to compromise the safety of sex workers.

It was also important to choose the right partners to develop and deliver the app - organisations who are trusted by and understand the issues faced by sex workers and who understand the political, social and economic context of sex work, in order to understand what technical solution was likely to work.

SafetyNets wouldn't exist at all without the financial support of funders willing to take a risk on an innovative, untested project that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day.

The initial Manchester pilot and London launch were funded by The Nominet Trust and Comic Relief respectively - two organisations with a reputation for experimenting with "tech for good" projects to find effective new ways of delivering social impact using technology. Promotional work with people aged between eighteen and twenty-five in sex work was funded by The Foundation.

Advertisement

The app is a digital innovation that not only empowers sex workers to make informed decisions about their own safety but is ultimately helping to save more lives.

For more information, visit www.reasondigital.com or www.uknswp.org.um
The first time I ever breastfed in public was in a pub in Central London during the 2012 Olympic Games. I started feeding my 3 week old, sat at a table with friends and family, primed to watch Mo Farah compete in the 5,000m. Within minutes I was told I would need to sit outside as the pub didn't allow children in the bar area. I dutifully sat outside on my own, while Mo Farah flew over the finish line and got his second gold medal of the London Games. I think about that day often - as, I'm sure, does Mo Farah.

Skip forward two years, by which time I was on maternity leave for baby number 2, when I used to be a member of a very active Facebook group called the "Streatham Mums' Network". In December 2014 one post got the most comments ever seen in the group. A Streatham mum had visited Claridges and been asked to cover up while breastfeeding her daughter. The group exploded with comments from people who thought her treatment was unacceptable and others who thought it was fair. It even hit the national press. One thing that was said time and time again, though, was that a woman's right to breastfeed in public is protected by law.

But if that's the case, why are women being told to cover up? Either the law isn't being enforced properly, or it actually doesn't provide the protection people assume it does. Only recently, we hear about a woman asked to stop breastfeeding in a hospital.

Advertisement

The NHS advises women to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months of a baby's life. Short of barricading the door, eating out of cans for 6 months, and slipping into a Netflix-induced coma, a mum will probably need to leave the house at some point in that time. So women have to breastfeed in public.

"Breastfeeding out and about is happening all the time," says Shereen Fisher, Chief Executive of the Breastfeeding Network (BfN), a national charity that wants to see women and families able to make informed choices about how to feed their children. "Occasionally, it attracts negative fuss and attention. The impact of these usually media-sensationalised events is that many women who may be thinking about breastfeeding worry about breastfeeding in public." In the most recent Infant Feeding Survey, over one in ten mothers who had breastfed in public said that they had been stopped or been made to feel uncomfortable doing so.

So what law is supposed to protect public breastfeeding? Most people quote the Equalities Act 2010, which states that a woman must not be treated 'unfavourably' because she is breastfeeding. But what does 'unfavourably' mean? Is it unfavourable to ask a woman to sit in the toilets to feed her child? Almost certainly, yes. Is it unfavourable to expect her to sit apart from her friends and face the wall? Again, almost certainly, yes.

But what about if she is asked to cover up, like in the Claridges case? This is not so clear cut. She can still talk to her friends - still eat her food and drink her tea - so is being treated 'differently' the same as being treated 'unfavourably'? Yes, I believe that making a woman do something she doesn't feel comfortable doing is 'unfavourable' treatment. But that is my opinion, rather than law.

Advertisement

My firm, Hogan Lovells, began working with BfN last year to try and get to the bottom of this uncertainty. We wanted complete clarity on what the position was for women who are told to cover up when breastfeeding in public. We both agreed that this clarity is lacking, and the uncertainty will continue until a discrimination case is brought before the court.

So what would certainty look like? In Scotland they have The Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 making it a criminal offence to "stop or prevent a person feeding milk to a child under the age of 2 years." When asked what should happen if the customer of an establishment complains about a breastfeeding mum, Scottish government guidance on the Act is to "Politely explain to the customer that the [...] Act [...] allows a mother to feed an infant wherever and whenever she wants. Perhaps offer to relocate the complainant."
The seizure of power by Vice President Michel Temer in Brazil, while President Dilma Rousseff fights the impeachment Temer has backed, is deeply troubling. Like the main trade union confederation in Brazil, the TUC considers the regime of Temer to be illegitimate.

We are in regular contact with our colleagues in the CUT in Brazil, and I met with Joao Antonio Felicio, the former Brazilian union leader who is now President of the International Trade Union Confederation, when he visited London last week. What he told me about developments in Brazil alarmed me greatly.

First, the manner in which President Rousseff has been - at least temporarily - been ousted are riddled with flaws. A profoundly corrupt legislature - led by a Speaker of the lower house who has himself subsequently been suspended - has concocted allegations of illegality against the democratically elected President. Her crime is to have given an overly-optimistic appreciation of the nation's finances: a misdemeanour which most political leaders around the world are guilty of at some time or another.

Advertisement

As the Economist - an unlikely ally of the Workers' Party President - has made clear, there is no suggestion that President Rousseff is personally corrupt. But the same cannot be said of her accusers, and Vice-President Temer himself faces far more serious accusations. Many legislators clearly voted against President Rousseff not to stop corruption in Brazil, but to allow themselves to continue to get away with it.

Second, there is the question of legitimacy. President Rousseff has won a popular mandate twice, as did fellow Workers' Party President Lula before her. The appropriate way to punish a democratically elected politician for exaggerating the health of the economy is to put them to an electoral test. But there is every sign that the current impeachment process is precisely designed to prevent President Lula's return at the next Presidential elections, when he will again be eligible to stand. Temer certainly won't be standing, as he has past convictions for electoral malpractice!

The economic elite - which still dominates many of the 25 parties in the national legislature, as well as the country's media - have lost four Presidential elections in a row, and don't seem to want to run the risk of a fifth and sixth under the charismatic former trade union leader, twice President and global figure Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He could prolong their exclusion from power to a staggering 24-year period.

But thirdly, there is the question of what will happen to Brazil's people, and especially the poor, under a Temer government. Despite disagreements, the trade union movement in Brazil continues to back the Workers' Party under President Rousseff because of its achievements in tackling poverty and worker exploitation. Brazil's record under Presidents Lula and Rousseff has been to narrow the inequality gap while it has widened globally. Poverty and illiteracy rates have fallen, as a result of world famous programmes like the Bolsa Familia, increases in the minimum wage and other progressive social and economic policies.

Advertisement

These are under threat from Temer's illegitimate regime. He has moved swiftly to appoint an all-male, all-white Cabinet and abolished the Ministry of Human Rights. But his plans for longer-term reform are even more chilling. Our friends in Brazil tell us that his government is likely to scrap legal rights to maternity leave; annual holiday entitlements; year-end bonus payments; double payment for overtime; and guaranteed redundancy payments for long service.

They also plan to reduce working hours and implement corresponding reductions in wages; end anti-slavery workplace inspections; scrap fines on employers in cases of unfair dismissal and end workers' rights to claim compensation in labour courts; as well as promoting sub-contracting core business activities to reduce wages and workers' rights.

These plans demonstrate the true purpose behind Temer's legislative coup. He and his backers want to roll back over a decade of social progress under the Workers' Party that the trade union movement set up. And they will also take out from global politics a progressive, democratic voice in the south.

That will be the backdrop to the Rio Olympics this summer, along with increasing repression of public opposition to the illegitimate regime, as trade union and civil society organisations speak out and demonstrate against the elite's seizure of the power which should belong to the people.

The British trade union movement has pledged to our sisters and brothers in Brazil that we will not stay silent as their rights are attacked, their democracy dismantled, their social advances rolled back. We will protest at every step the Temer government takes against the poor and the working people of Brazil. And we will use the links between Brazil and the British economy - as well as the public focus on the Rio Olympics and Paralympics - to raise awareness of the coup in Brazil and its effect on ordinary Brazilians.

Advertisement
THE JUNGLE BOOK

Jon Favreau / Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong'o / Adventure / 2016 / PG / 105mins

Middle class mums everywhere will be seething, "A live action Jungle Book???" They'll be fearing a burlesque Mary Poppins before the decade is out.

But do not fret, mothers of the world, Jon Favreau has ensured there is a shred of dignity with this reimagined reboot of the cherished Disney classic.

Advertisement

Disney went a bit overboard with the 'live-action' promo thing because, honestly, it isn't. Only Neel Sethi, as Mowgli, is real. Everyone else is voice acting a CGI animal. Not till Bill Murray's Baloo did it really click. Ben Kingsley admittedly brings gallant stability to Baghera and Idris Elba sounds evil enough as Shere Khan but I think the latter's role has been poorly thought out. He's just 'generic tough guy no.1', a villain identified for his deep voice... and the fact he's tiger. The WWF will be fuming.

Speaking of CGI, the animals look fantastic even alongside Sethi. You almost feel like David Attenborough will pop out a bush and get to it, "Here we have the Lesser Spotted Baghera" - (Shere Khan does not like this) It's nice to see a good deal of effort go into a new vibrant production - a gold star for participation, indeed. Despite this, you just get the feeling that the tech utilised will be outdated within 2 or 3 years, and we'll look back on The Jungle Book with back-breaking cringe.

I'm particularly unimpressed with the 'middle ground' approach. There isn't a song for ages, then Baloo comes along and suddenly we're reminded that, yes, Mowgli loves a good tune. It's a backhanded apology for the anti-rebooters, "Here, have a singalong to take your mind off everything." This seems more irrelevant when you consider the true-to-text plot, a far cry from the 60s storyline. You would expect more creative license from Favreau given the circumstances.

Reminder: this is, ultimately, a film for kids. Suddenly a mouse comes along and it's fucking hilarious that they have a voice like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Why do people assume that the smaller you are the higher your voice? Do dwarves speak like someone's strangling their crown jewels?? NO. It's a lame joke. It doesn't make them cute either - they're infinitely more annoying. But, oh, let's appeal to the kids with something we've always done. The worst part? The kids WILL love it. But that's all that matters: kid flick cliches = bare dollar.

Advertisement

Jungle 'Avatar' for kids: expensive, shiny CGI takes the spotlight. Yet for its failures The Jungle Book is neat, and the new plot is better and darker than the 60s original. Fun for all the family - but destined for Easter TV slots.

Film as a Film - 3 / Target Audience - 4 / General Audience - 3

GRADE

B

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS

Ricky Gervais / Ricky Gervais, Eric Bana, Vera Farmiga, Kevin Pollak / Comedy / 2016 / 15 / 100mins

Ricky Gervais's Netflix exclusive is a comedy. At least, it tries to be...

This film can't decide whether it's satirical or just the biggest pile of screenshit ever.

Adapted from the French film of the same name, Gervais's version sees New York radio journalist bigshot Frank Bonneville (Eric Bana) cover the emerging civil war in Ecuador. He takes sound engineer Ian Finch (Ricky Gervais) who has recently split from his wife (Vera Farmiga). Ian accidentally bins the tickets... gee, how will they get to Ecuador?

TWIST ALERT, they don't. They stay in an apartment across the street from the radio station and fake it... before backtracking and going AWOL from that and making haste for Ecuador (the set design being a lazy copout of Just Cause) with the most pathetic montage this century (a wind farm and a church cross are highlights) to prove legitimate. Soooo half the film could have been avoided. There's nothing I hate more than that. STRIKE NO.1

In reality, the plot could have had potential if the characters weren't so diabolical. I can't relate to anyone. Gervais's character, British for convenience, is a 'bad person' because he plays video games and likes comic books. That was so last decade, Ricky. He also has random and inexplicable spur of the moment decisions that, surprise, go awry. As for the wife: she's a sadistic self-invested cash freak. It's an overkill of villainous characteristics. Oh, and she's a musical genius to boot, because why not? AND ANOTHER - the lovely immigrant couple, Brigida and Domingo, who generously house the lead protagonists, are uncannily dim. Erm, do I detect a slight stereotype card, circa 1950? Immigrants aren't stupid.

Considering the cast, the acting is equally diabolical. The chemistry between Gervais and Bana is weak - safely one of the worst casting pairs in history. Everyone seems to be acting for the sake of acting - getting a nice salary and having fun with mates. Even the last lines are: "This is like the end of a movie", "A low budget movie!" as the camera fades to the sound of laughter. HAR HAR. YES, FUNNY. Is the joke on us? Have we been epically trolled?

Advertisement

At the end of the day, Special Correspondents doesn't know what type of comedy it is: is it Gervais's usual dry, awkward wit, or pathetic screwball lunacy? If the director doesn't know, then God help us.

I think Gervais fans will be more disappointed than someone who stumbles across Special Correspondents. Your mum & dad, particularly, might have an appetite. Shame they don't know what an app is, let alone Netflix. I'm inclined to think that, if this indeed one giant troll, then Gervais is a genius, but I have my doubts. I'm calling his bluff here: this is a terrible film.

Film as a Film - 1 / Target Audience - 2 / General Audience - 2

GRADE

C

For more film & music gossip follow @THEMOVIEGUVNOR on Twitter. Harry also writes for THE MOVIE GUVNOR.
Technology has always been at the forefront of our mission to challenge the London rental market. Born out of a data challenge from the Open Data Institute and innovation charity NESTA, we set up RentSquare last summer to revolutionise the lettings industry.

By connecting landlords and tenants online, and using open and user generated data to find that rental sweet spot, we have since had BGV investment and European funding to promote ethical practices and to help revolutionise the housing industry.

Advertisement

Our passion for technology comes from years' of experience in housing, technology, and service design. Aware that agency fees in England were unregulated and often a little murky, we were conscious of the lack of trust in the industry and in the way some estate agents trade. Therefore, our aim was simple. To shake up the market.

As a data-driven company, we have utilised our online technology to develop an ethical system that is disruptive and service driven, where landlords can earn more by charging less.

How do we do it?

Using publicly available data from the Land Registry, Local Authority's data on housing benefit and rent levels in London, alongside Bank of England economic data, we have been able to calculate and set an algorithm to find the best rental price and start automating the RentSquare experience.

It enables us to introduce a service that isn't focussed on pricing models for huge profit like many traditional estate agents. Instead, we offer a more reasonable flat fee. Providing a unique solution to everyday renters and ordinary homeowners who want to strike a fair deal.

Advertisement

Our online rental calculator is continually developing an algorithm that tells anyone in London who have entered details about their property what a better, and fairer rent price looks like. It gives us a better indication of the type and value of a property based on the affordability of the housing market, what tenants can afford and what landlords need to charge realistically to be successful and profitable.

Currently, a letting agent will ask for around 10% of the annual rental for finding a tenant, increasing to 15% or more if they are managing the property. They may also charge both the tenant and landlord around 200 to cover reference checks plus a further 200 to landlords if the agreement needs to be amended or renewed.

RentSquare charges a flat fee of 180 or 340 if we arrange viewings. We connect tenants and landlords and close the tenancy agreement at those prices. Tenants simply pay 45 for background checks.

Furthermore, because we're not focussed on earning a percentage of commission from a top end rental price point, we can save landlords money in the long term. Landlords and tenants have more in common than one thinks at first - they both want to have confidence that the relationship they are entering is going to be a good one.

There are often extended void periods when a rental property sits empty because it's priced too high, usually until the monthly rental rate is reduced as agreed by the landlord and estate agent. Our data shows we have reduced the typical 21 days of voids generated by the traditional letting agents on average, to 10 days. We suggest to landlords a rent based on more realistic data via our rental calculator; that means the property is rented out in less time.

Advertisement

Although that rate may be less per month than traditional landlords or letting agents set price, based on RentSquare's property case studies, our way of working earns landlords on average 1440.57 more per year and tenants save an average of 2273.20 compared to a traditional letting agent.

Social Impact

We also believe that we are in a unique position to improve the social impact of the industry by using more flexible ways of working.

For example, using our data to match the right tenants to the right property with a matchmaking service. It doesn't make sense to place a family with young children into a property where the landlord will be selling in 12-months' time. Matching the right tenant to the right landlord is always at the forefront of our mind. Equally, offering a more flexible approach to credit checking with overseas tenants in the tenant's country of origin is something traditional estate agents simply won't do or charge an inflated fee for.

The power of information through technology has made this possible. Transparency, and using our online calculator for good, ensures renters and landlords are at the heart of the RentSquare process. In the end, we are about connecting people to people - not properties.

The result? Londoners, have access to a fairer option, within a rental system that craves stability and fairness.

Advertisement

Our mission is to make rent simple, fair and square!

We can help you with tenant-find, on demand property management or contract renewal services that don't cost an arm and a leg.

You can also find the rent sweet spot for your property at www.rentsquare.io
I'm going to lay my cards on the table from the get-go: I am a dyed-in-the-wool pacifist. My views on the military are entirely at odds with the dominant discourse in 21st-Century Britain, which dictates that one becomes an automatic 'hero' upon merely signing up and that anyone devoid of a red poppy come Remembrance Sunday is a traitor. The vast majority of people agree that war is utterly futile, yet so many leap to glorify it, by word or deed. In my view, regretting the devastation caused by war is easy; devoting one's energies to avoiding it in the first place is somewhat more challenging.

Of course, the LGBTQ+ community has an uneasy history with the military. Banned from serving if living openly for so long, progress has been swift since 2000. The past 16 years have seen a shift from legally enforced tolerance of LGBTQ+ people in the military to positive efforts on the part of the armed forces to ensure full equality. We have seen civil partnership ceremonies take place in barracks, out gay servicemen on the cover of Soldier magazine and, as of 2008, army and RAF personnel are able to attend Pride marches in uniform.

All of this explains this week's news that plans are afoot for a fly-past by the Red Arrows as part of Pride in London. Needless to say, this has been met with calls for protest in some quarters, the move described variously as the 'militarisation of Pride' and 'an unnecessary, offensive stunt'. Just as swift were the bite-backs. Scores of people white cis gay men took to their keyboards in frustration at what they perceived as a tendency to 'be offended by everything'. 'We couldn't even serve in the military before 2000', cried one such Outraged-Of-Britain, 'We should celebrate this!'.

Advertisement

I find no fault with that sentiment. Pride is the most natural arena in which to beat the drum in recognition of what our community has achieved. This includes the open door to the military for those with a burning desire to 'serve Queen and country'. As with everything, however, there have to be limits. Just as the Pride in London board judged LGSM and the trade unions' presence at last year's event to be of secondary importance to the spotlight on its corporate sponsors, so the LGBTQ+ community is entitled to express its disquiet at this proposed audacious display of military solidarity. For most represented groups, a simple float suffices. An RAF fly-past may well make many gays look up and whoop in delight; for others, it represents a superfluous gesture and yet another symbol of the disconnect between many members of the LGBTQ+ community with the wider issues of our society.

There will undoubtedly be people attending Pride who have been forced to flee their homelands as a result of war and homophobic persecution. The inconvenient truth is that our armed forces have played a leading role in causing some of the worst global upheaval and instability of the last century. Furthermore, it is with military support that the British Empire was able to impose its own brand of colonial LGBTQ+ oppression on countless peoples across the world, a legacy that continues to blight the lives of untold millions of our brethren. It strikes me as characteristically self-congratulatory and short-sighted of certain sectors of our community to reject criticism of Pride in London's plans. Then again, when it comes to intersectionality, taking a broader view of the world around us, call it whatever you like, LGBTQ+ people are all too often hostages to tunnel vision.

Advertisement

I'm not a spoilsport. I enjoy the sight of a man in military uniform as much as anyone. I welcome the progress made on LGBTQ+ equality in the armed forces. I celebrate the breakneck evolution from outright ostracisation to full, unconditional integration. Sometimes, however, less is more. A less extravagant exhibition of military pride would be more inclusive and, crucially, it would send out the desperately necessary message that when it comes to Pride, it's shouldn't just be a jubilant collective back-pat for the 'haves'. We need to look beyond our own noses and listen to the 'have nots'. That our armed forces as an entity have contributed to that imbalance is indisputable. A little more insight and a whole lot more readiness to listen on the part of the Pride in London board is not only advisable; it is indispensable if Pride is ever to pull itself back from the brink of becoming a self-satisfied, corporate-obsessed smug-fest for the lucky few.
The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit was held this week. It brought together charities, international organisations and world leaders from 175 countries to discuss how we can better deal with the global crises we face today.

At this moment 125 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance; each year natural disasters kill around 90,000 people and over a fifth of the world's population live in conflict affected countries. One in 122 people is either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world's 24th biggest.

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has 17 million volunteers worldwide. This means that the British Red Cross is part of the largest humanitarian network in the world, uniquely placed to deal with these crises. Local volunteers are often the first on the scene - sometimes long before international actors can gain access. They perform first aid, evacuate buildings, drive ambulances, brave flood waters and provide comfort to those in crisis. They are also at greatest risk. In Syria alone, 61 Red Crescent staff and volunteers have lost their lives since 2011.

Advertisement

I was at the summit to call for a greater focus on local response and I welcome the announcement of the Grand Bargain, a package of reforms to humanitarian funding. The bargain represents a commitment for local NGOs to receive 25% of international humanitarian funding by 2020.

This should not be underestimated. It is a key step in ensuring that we refuse to ignore people in crisis and invest in those that risk their lives every day.

Let's meet some of them...

Philippines: Typhoon Haiyan, November 2013

Sustained winds of 147mph and gusts of 171mph

6,300 people died

1.2 million homes destroyed or damaged

4 million people left homeless

16 million people affected

Volunteer: Lenita Macavinta-Diego (49), Philippine Red Cross

Jarkko Mikkonen; FinnishRedCross

When the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall hit the tiny town of Aliputos on Panay island, local Red Cross volunteer Lenita grabbed her megaphone and got to work.

Advertisement

After Typhoon Frank, which tore her home apart in 2008, Lenita received shelter aid from the Red Cross and became a volunteer. During Typhoon Haiyan Lenita made house to house announcements, making sure the most vulnerable and those in low lying areas were evacuated.

"We don't want any casualties", says Lenita.

Aliputos has 571 households, 110 were totally destroyed while the rest were all damaged. Yet not one human life was lost.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Internal conflict, since 1998

7 million people in need of assistance

2 million people internally displaced

4.8 million food insecure

Half a million refugees in neighbouring countries

Volunteer: Lakulu Nkwewa Violette, (47) DRC Red Cross

Aapo Huhta; IFRC

The ongoing conflict in DRC continues to cause massive population displacement.

Ever since Lakulu was a young girl, she was inspired by her older brother's volunteering with the Red Cross. She joined as a junior volunteer at the age of 11 and trained in basic emergency response. Lakulu is now a national trainer and coordinator of the women's brigade for the city-province of Kinshasa.

"Some people were surprised that a woman could serve as a rescue volunteer, but I always told them that volunteering or rescuing was not restricted to men."

Advertisement

Haiti: Earthquake, January 2010

7.0 magnitude earthquake

220,000 people died

1.5 million people left homeless

3.5 million people affected

4,000 schools damaged or destroyed

Volunteer: Ralph Toussaint, Haiti Red Cross

Talia Frenkel; American Red Cross

When the earthquake struck, thousands of Haitian Red Cross volunteers and staff were the first on the ground to help search for survivors and to provide emergency help.

Haitian Red Cross volunteer Ralph Toussaint with Kengo Jean at Camp Simon, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross distributed food and other relief items to thousands of families living in Camp Simon and other temporary camps for months after the earthquake.

Europe Refugee Crisis

Over a million refugees have fled to Europe since 2015

This year almost 200,000 refugees have made their way to Europe, often taking dangerous routes via sea

In 2016 so far, 80% of people come from three nationalities: Syria 43%, Afghanistan 23%, Iraq 14%

35% of refugees entering Europe are children

86% of the world's refugees are hosted in developing countries

Volunteer: Antonello Fama, Italian Red Cross

Advertisement

Carlos Spottorno; British Red Cross

The number of people forced to flee violence and conflict today is the highest since World War Two. Many people are dying on dangerous journeys to Europe. Those who do make it experience immense suffering.

Baby Paolo was just 14 days old when he arrived in Messina, Sicily in July 2015. He had spent half his life at sea. He travelled with his mother by boat from Libya and was picked up by the Italian coastguard along with three other boats, 40 miles off the Libyan coast.

West Africa: Ebola outbreak, 2014-2016

Over 28,000 reported cases of Ebola

11,310 people died from the Ebola virus

Volunteer: Benjamin Wray (34), Burial Team, Sierra Leone Red Cross

Tommy Trenchard; British Red Cross

The Ebola outbreak, predominately across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, was the worst outbreak of the disease in history. Courageous volunteers worked to stop the spread of disease through safe and dignified burials. During the outbreak the Red Cross carried out over 42,400 safe and dignified burials across West Africa.

Volunteer Benjamin used to drive public minibuses before he volunteered for the Red Cross burial team in Sierra Leone. Despite the vital importance in safe and dignified burial to halt the spread of Ebola, this role carried huge stigma within his community.

Advertisement

"My friends don't come around anymore because I volunteered for this job, right down to my own family. But I have new friends now. The team leader is like a father. But I worry we will not find jobs after this is over."

Syria Crisis, March 2011 - present

13.5 million people are in need of aid

11 million people have fled their homes

6.5 million people are internally displaced

Field Officer: Monzer Abdo (25), Syrian Arab Red Crescent

Aleppo Branch Syrian Arab Red Crescent

Humanitarian needs in Syria have reached unprecedented levels.

Monzer is a Field Officer in the first aid team in the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) Aleppo branch. SARC is one of the very few aid agencies able to cross frontlines in Syria. It helps to bring aid to millions of people every month, often in areas that have not been reached in months. It is the biggest provider of aid in Syria today.

"In my city, the size of the disaster is great, we would almost need to have a paramedic in every home, in order to save lives. I began volunteering in 2010... I found in this work the closest way to save others' lives and alleviate their sufferings."

South Sudan: Civil war, December 2013 - present

1.6 million people are internally displaced

Over 600,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries

7.5 million people are in need of aid

3.9 million people are food insecure

Volunteer: David Luate, Volunteer Supervisor, South Sudan Red Cross

Advertisement

Juozas Cernius; IFRC

The world's newest nation has been engulfed in a vast humanitarian crisis since violence broke out in December 2013. Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes, many of whom have escaped to neighbouring countries. People are in desperate need of the most basic support - food, clean water and shelter.

Volunteer David uses mobile technology to assist the national government's Polio vaccination programme in South Sudan. Mobile phones are increasingly accessible to those affected by crisis and can play an important role in delivering rapid, cost-effective and scalable humanitarian assistance.

Nepal earthquake, April 2015

9,000 people died

1 million homes destroyed or damaged

5.6 million people affected (20% of the population)

Volunteer: Sameer Bajracharya, Search and Rescue, Nepal Red Cross

Nepal Red Cross Society

In April and May 2015, Nepal was struck by two huge earthquakes. Over 8,000 staff and volunteers from the Nepal Red Cross carried out evacuations, first aid, and search and rescue operations. Teams also provided relief items and psychological and emotional support to people caught up in the crisis.

Volunteer Sameer self-deployed in the midst of the devastation, donned his Red Cross jacket and helped saved lives. He rescued four people from the rubble in the first 24 hours.

Advertisement

Myanmar: maternal health

200 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births - one of the highest maternal mortality rates in south-east Asia

70% of population live in rural areas

Over 70% of deliveries are home births - 43% are not attended by a skilled health worker

Volunteer: Khin Than, Auxiliary Midwife, Myanmar Red Cross

Gregory Rose; British Red Cross

Mothers in Myanmar face limited access to qualified antenatal and postnatal assistance. Many remote villages do not have access to health facilities at all. The long trip to hospital is a large financial burden on families and, for many, facilities are just too far.

Both Khin Than's children were born with the assistance of a volunteer Red Cross midwife and she has since become an auxiliary midwife herself.

"I gave birth to both of them in the dry season which made it easier than if it happened in the rainy season [when access is difficult]. So I wanted to become a (midwife) to help pregnant women in this area because they do not have the facilities."

Advertisement

Khin has now treated 51 women in antenatal and postnatal care; delivering 2 babies herself.

The Red Cross is encouraging expecting mother to go and see trained volunteers, like Khin, as a way of avoiding that cost. It also ensures mothers and babies get the best care possible, without having to travel for miles.

Yemen conflict, March 2015 - present

21.2 million people are in need of aid

14.4 million people are food insecure

6,300 people have been killed

2.7 million people are internally displaced

600 hospitals have closed due to attack or lack of supplies

Volunteers with the Yemen Red Crescent Society

Yemen Red Crescent Society

Yemen is facing one of the worst crises of our time. Since the conflict escalated in March last year, 30 civilians are killed every day in Yemen . Houses and hospitals are bombed, whole areas are cut-off and under siege; people are fleeing for their lives on a daily basis. Over 80% of its 26 million people need assistance in order to survive.

The Yemen Red Crescent society is one of the biggest humanitarian organisations in the country, and one of the very few able to get aid to hard to reach areas. Volunteers are often first on scene after an attack. In the past year, 10 Red Crescent workers have been killed, eight of them volunteers.
While presidents and prime ministers were getting ready for this week's G7 meeting, young people from the G7 countries came together at the Junior 7 (J7), Summit in Japan last month to decide what action they want to see the world's richest countries take on issues like access to education, climate change and youth unemployment.

Young people have a huge stake in tackling these problems. There are 124 million children and young adolescents not in school. There are 76 million young people unable to find work. There are more than 2.9 billion people under the age of 25. That's nearly half the world's population. It is this group who will have to live with the disproportionate impact of climate change that has been landed upon them for the rest of their lives.

Without the participation of almost half the world's population, can we really expect to achieve the Global Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? To think we can end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality without their involvement is naive, if not arrogant. We cannot move forwards without them - nor should we. They will be the ones living with the consequences of today's action or inaction, and it is right that they decide their own future.

Advertisement

The four British J7 delegates have all been International Citizen Service (ICS) volunteers. They have taken part in volunteering projects in Africa, Central America and Asia, seen first-hand the impact poverty has on young people and worked alongside youth volunteers from the countries they were in to overcome this.

The British J7 delegates meeting with Julia Longbottom, Deputy Head of Mission to Japan at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Photo credit Marc Maringer/VSO.

ICS, which is led by VSO and funded by the UK Government, encourages young people to view themselves as global citizens and shows them what can be achieved by young people working together to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems - which is just what they did at the J7.

Advertisement

The J7 delegates worked with young people from the other G7 nations to create a series of solid, practicable steps that can be taken to reduce poverty, protect the environment and lift some of the barriers standing in the way of youth around the world.

Their recommendations include ensuring education provision makes up at least 4% of the overall humanitarian budget during humanitarian crises, increasing carbon taxes to encourage investment in renewable energies, thus creating more jobs and helping secure the wellbeing of people and planet for the next generation, and expanding internet access in the global south to improve the quality of and access to education.

It's brilliant to see young people's voices being given such a significant platform. But, for the J7 to have been meaningful and not a tokenistic exercise, those attending the G7 must give these recommendations the consideration they're due.

This week, the British J7 delegates will meet with Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Development, to discuss their recommendations. This is a great opportunity for the delegates to directly influence policy, and one I hope is replicated in the other G7 countries.

We must also ensure young people in developing countries agents of change rather than passive recipients. At VSO we are increasingly doing this through schemes like the VSO-led Youth Citizen Service in India, which promotes active citizenship and enables volunteers to develop skills and expertise which stay in country long after their placement has ended. To achieve our goals, we must do this on a global scale.

Advertisement
Some 6 million students attend Californias 10,000-plus public schools -- the largest state school system in the country. Across districts large and small, rural and urban, the knowledge and skills to be good citizens of the world is imparted from teacher to student, thousands of times a school day.

But theyre not just centers of learning; a groundswell of activism and advocacy is taking place at Californias public schools. Many students, and their teachers, are creating positive change through organizing and volunteering, and their budding movements are seeing an impact beyond the walls of the classroom. We partnered with the California State Lottery to bring you their stories.

Advertisement

1. Amy Conley, English teacher at Fortuna High School in Fortuna, Calif.

Teacher Amy Conleys Change the World, which began as a project in an Advanced Placement English course, has turned into an incubator for students who want to do just that. Conley created the program to connect her students with volunteer opportunities within their community. I get to launch children into the future! she says.

When Conleys students begin school in September, they survey their community and research the communitys needs. Then they spend the remainder of the year creating, organizing and running projects for their newly created service organizations. So far, Conleys students have been contributing their time and skills in a variety of ways, from mentoring bilingual kindergarteners to creating a mural, gathering waste materials for the schools composting program, cleaning up rivers in the area, and more.

I get to launch children into the future!

Conley says this program replaces obligatory community service with service thats meaningful and impactful for both students and their neighbors. These students arent just logging hours. Theyre figuring out what will make a real difference where they live. Theyve lobbied and changed city laws. Theyve renewed a teen court and restorative justice program which has been getting kids back on track with school and behavior and helping them stay in school.

Her students also benefit long-term from such work. In English we focus on reading, writing and public speaking, Conley adds. These students put those skills into practice -- theyre writing proposals and then presenting those in front of adults and a larger community. Theyre not just doing it for a grade. Theyre actually understanding that they gain agency and they gain skills to succeed in the real world.

Advertisement

Since its launch, the Change the World program has become a schoolwide initiative, and there are plans to implement its principles throughout the school district.

2. Jamie Goodreau, history teacher at Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Calif.

My students advocate for those in need. Theyll be the next generation for those who need a voice, says teacher Jamie Goodreau.

Students in Goodreaus history class create a final project that takes them into their community, with the goal of giving back. She found that her students thrived when they were given the opportunity to address an issue in their community. After 14 years of empowering her students, one class found a cause that catapulted their efforts to a new level.

There was a local veteran who had been catastrophically wounded and he was in a small mobile home with his two young children, says Goodreau. He didnt have much mobility, and the students voted that rather than just fixing up the trailer, they would build him an actual new home -- one that would meet his accessibility needs.

It was up to the students to source the materials and labor, but they had help from many eager adults in the community, and of course, their teacher was right along with them.

Advertisement

They see the world is bigger than just themselves.

Just as Goodreau and her students rallied around this ambitious new mission, The district said that this project was getting bigger than what the district could handle for a class to take on, she says, so we formed a nonprofit. The class project blossomed into OATH (Operation All the Way Home), an organization to assist veterans in finding housing.

Four students sit on OATHs board, along with five adults in the community, and Goodreau serves as the president. The kids have a vote in how everything is conducted. Through their participation in OATH, Goodreau explains, They see the world is bigger than just themselves.

3. James Van Buren, music teacher and special education instructor at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, Calif.

High schoolers are known for staying up late, a habit on which most teachers would frown. But Mr. V, the moniker of music instructor James Van Buren could offer a valid reason for a set of Grant Union high schoolers to postpone bed time on one particular evening last year. The students in his drum line appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show. Its pretty easy to see why students would agree to participate in Mr. Vs extracurricular music group; his enthusiasm is nothing short of infectious. Music helps us relate as people and as musicians, he says. It brings us all together.

Van Buren says hes always focused on what his students can do to overcome the limitations of their environment. Our kids, a lot of them, are in poor and high crime areas. But we live here. And this is home. And while theyre in the band, there is security and there is guidance and they have this awesome skill they get to demonstrate for people.

Advertisement

Van Buren says he started as a math and science teacher, but quickly realized the drums helped him reach more students.

I used to hold open mics and the kids could come and express themselves and play the drums or the piano. Even students who were emotionally disturbed really took to the music. And this was a way to give them incentive to focus and work in school.

Our kids, a lot of them, are in poor and high crime areas. But we live here. And this is home. And while theyre in the band, there is security and there is guidance and they have this awesome skill they get to demonstrate for people.

Van Buren is no stranger to the hardships and challenges faced by the students hes mentoring: since money was tight and he had to hold down a full-time job, it took him nearly a decade to complete his bachelors degree. This makes it easier for him to stress the importance of education and long-term goals to his students, and to offer his support and guidance every step of the way.

Ever since trading in his microscope and slide rule for drumsticks, Van Buren and his students have been drumming up wild success. Kicked off in 2008, the drum line has been a popular staple of school and community events since its inception. That popularity extends beyond Sacramento -- to other countries, in fact. This year the band members will be touring Japan.

Advertisement

4. Valerie Ziegler, history, social studies and economics teacher and head of the Green Academy at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, Calif.

Teacher Valerie Zieglers Green Academy is a hands-on, project-based course that teaches students to consider their local environment and devise ways to improve it through civic activism.

The students work with the Board of Supervisors and other city officials, Ziegler explains. They learn how to coordinate with one another, how to craft an argument, how to write a coherent email and how to follow up. Theyll be graded, but the students are empowered to achieve real and lasting change in their communities. They go well beyond the coursework!

Her students have worked on minimizing food waste while helping hungry San Franciscans as well as water conservation efforts.

Green Academy students learn to recognize the power in what they are able to get done. We may not be able to cure all hunger or to end global warming, says Ziegler. But here, we focus on small, doable change. We fix one problem at a time.

Advertisement

Theyll be graded, but the students are empowered to achieve real and lasting change in their communities.

Next year looks to be just as active. The current Juniors want to [enact] a ban on disposable plastic water bottles at their school. Thats going to be hard -- its a revenue source, after all. But thats the project theyve chosen. And Ziegler says she has confidence that her students will be able to accomplish whatever they decide.

5. Helen Kassa, Senior at Prospect High School in Saratoga, Calif.

In this era of resume-booster activities and helicopter parents pushing their kids into good looking activities, student Helen Kassa is clearly a born activist who is doing what comes naturally to her. By the third grade shed started a nonprofit to make education more accessible to rural students. A decade later, environmental justice and economic equality are the issues she works to improve.



What Im doing is my passion, says Kassa. I plan to help bring equality to the world.

In recent years Kassa launched a column in her high school newspaper called The Black Voice in order to make sure the publication represented diverse perspectives. She presented a TEDx Talk on the intersection of race, gender and identity, and revived her local community's NAACP Youth Council as well as the Black Student Union at her school. Kassa also established Girls Lead Forward, a program intended to incentivize young girls to stay in school by leveraging their life experiences and their work in global volunteer initiatives as credits toward graduation.

Last winter, she represented the NAACP as a delegate at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The bottom line, as Kassa sees it, is education. Economic development and why some people dont have access to opportunity can all be traced to education. To close the gap between men and women and to close gaps between different races and genders, it all has to do with access to education. Theyre not isolated issues.

Advertisement

Kassa plans to study Economics and Environmental Studies in college. She says shes going to do all she can to empower people to fight for the environment and for access to education with the goal of economic stability.

6. Hector V. Perez-Roman, AP history and geography teacher at Arleta High School in Los Angeles, Calif.

When a student sees beyond their neighborhood, says teacher Hector Perez-Roman, it gives them a world perspective.

When Perez-Roman was a boy, he didnt have opportunities to travel. He loved the idea of using travel to help his students better understand the history and geography they were learning. He established the Student Traveling Club, and partnered with local community organizations as well as national organizations such as Explore America to offer educational trips for all his students, from inauguration trips to journeys to the capitals of Europe.

You see them recognizing their place in the world.

An athlete can see Greece and recognize that this is where the first Olympic games were held, Perez-Roman says. Another student can see the buildings, and it encourages their learning of architecture and engineering.

Advertisement

Though he admits that its hard to travel with young people, Perez-Roman says the experience is invaluable. These students might never go outside of a place where people are all like themselves. And when they do, you see the world make more sense to them. You see them recognizing their place in the world.

7. Christina Owen, career advisor and community service director at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, Calif.

Educator Christina Owen sees volunteering as not only a meaningful opportunity to give back, but as the thing that saved her during a very dark time in her life, when she was battling depression. The best outcome of this personal trial was the discovery of several volunteer opportunities in my community, which on some days were the only bright spots, Owen said in a post for Palo Alto Online.

Motivated by transformative power of volunteering, Owen went on to found a grassroots service-learning program, Get Involved Palo Alto, with the goal of helping students find purpose and meaning outside of the classroom. In the wake of a cluster of youth suicides in her community six years ago, Owen felt strongly that through service-based learning and community engagement, local teens could explore their interests without any grades, school requirements or pressures attached.

The best outcome of this personal trial was the discovery of several volunteer opportunities in my community, which on some days were the only bright spots.

The program now includes an internship program, where 75 students pursue one-month summer internships tailored to their individual interests and skillset. Participating students are also paired with mentors from more than 20 local partner organizations.

Under Owens leadership, Get Involved has helped nearly 400 students contribute over 26,000 hours of service to 187 different organizations.
Paul Ryan is undoubtedly hoping his phone call with Donald Trump will result in a pledge for a bunch of education block grants, though lets be honest, itll will probably just end with the real estate mogul calling him Puny Paul. Trumps campaign spokeswoman accidentally emailed sensitive information to a reporter with the same last name as an RNC official, which is why we are both changing our names to Huma Lewandowski. And some some Democrats on the Hill want to dump Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chair. Previously, Pat Leahys love of comic book characters was the only thing establishment Hill Democrats had in common with Bernie Bros. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, May 25th, 2016:





Good evening! Here is a fly landing on Donald Trump's hair!

TRUMP AND RYAN TRY TO MAKE NICE AGAIN - Still no word on classy trust falls. Michael Bender and Jennifer Jacobs: "Donald Trump and Paul Ryan will talk by telephone on Wednesday night, as the pair of Republican leaders try to break a weeks-long impasse over an endorsement. Two members of Trumps team told Bloomberg that they believe a formal endorsement from Ryan, the U.S. House speaker, is imminent. A Trump aide with knowledge of the call said the conversation was arranged days ago with the goal of resolving the current rift between the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Ryan. The billionaire businessman expected to focus the call on policy areas where he and Ryan are in agreement, but he has no plans to make significant changes to his policy platform, according to the Trump aide." [Bloomberg]

Advertisement

Earlier in the day: "House Speaker Paul Ryan is tamping down speculation he plans to imminently endorse Donald Trump, revealing that his senior aides are in touch daily with the presumptive nominee's staff in an effort to find common ground on bedrock GOP issues. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Ryan would not say if he is moving any closer to backing his party's standard bearer, despite having 'productive talks' with his campaign." [CNN]

Ryan also reminded D.C. residents today that they have no rights.

AWW BOB CORKER'S IN TROUBLE - Brody Mullins and Aruna Viswanatha: "A real-estate firm that has been a favored investment of Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker is under investigation by federal law-enforcement officials for alleged accounting fraud, according to people familiar with the matter. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are focusing their examination of CBL & Associates Properties Inc. on whether officials at the Chattanooga, Tenn., company falsified information on financial statements to banks when applying for financing arrangements, the people said. Law-enforcement officials have talked to former CBL employees who allege the company inflated its rental income and its properties occupancy rates when reporting those figures to banks, the people said. The FBI and SEC officials have also separately asked questions about the relationship between the company and Mr. Corker, who is close with senior executives at the firm and has made millions of dollars in profits trading the companys stock in recent years." [WSJ]

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING ZIKA - Mike McAuliff: "Democrats played the baby card Wednesday in their push to get Congress to pass robust funding to combat the impending Zika crisis, bringing mothers, babies and noted pregnancy author Heidi Murkoff to Capitol Hill to make the pitch. With toddlers scrambling around the Lyndon Baines Johnson room just off the Senate floor, Murkoff, the author of What To Expect When Youre Expecting, chided the legislative body for inaction in the face of an obvious threat. 'I just have to wonder why Congress is not acting promptly and fully to live up to that universal, sacred responsibility of protecting moms and babies, of putting moms and babies before politics,' Mukoff said." [HuffPost]

Advertisement

DAVE DOWNER - You can have your Buffalo Wings with ranch, blue cheese or pain, HuffPost's Dave Jamieson reports: "Reported injuries have decreased in the meat and poultry industry, but plant workers still face grave dangers on the job  and theres reason to believe the safety hazards are worse than they seem, according to the Government Accountability Office. Many workers are unlikely to speak out about health and safety risks for fear of losing their jobs, the office said in a report issued Wednesday. Meanwhile, meat and poultry companies may be underreporting workers injuries to the government in order to avoid higher costs and scrutiny, researchers found. Congressional Democrats asked that the GAO perform the study in order to help the Occupational Safety and Health Administration get a better handle on hazards inside U.S. slaughtering and processing facilities. The GAO says regulators face a number of challenges, not least of all the unreliability of injury data. 'Recent OSHA inspections suggest that more injuries occur than are reported, although the extent of underreporting is not known, and vulnerable workers such as immigrants and noncitizens may fear for their livelihoods and feel pressured not to report injuries,' the report states." [HuffPost]

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

PEE WATCHERS GETTING LITIGIOUS - Unclear whether the Supreme Court will tie this in with the ongoing "Don't Eat Yellow Snow v. Watch Out Where The Doggies Go" case. Mollie Reilly: "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and officials in 10 additional states have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration after it told schools and colleges to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity to comply with existing civil rights laws. The lawsuit was announced Wednesday afternoon. Texas is joined by Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia in the suit. The federal guidance, announced earlier this month, requires public schools to protect transgender students from harassment and allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with the gender they identify with, regardless of whats on their birth certificate. The administration cites Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex." [HuffPost]

Advertisement

HILL DEMS MULLING WHETHER TO REPLACE SCHULTZ - Not their decision, but it would certainly work against the current DNC chairwoman's favor. Alexander Bolton: "Democrats on Capitol Hill are discussing whether Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should step down as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman before the partys national convention in July. Democrats backing likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton worry Wasserman Schultz has become too divisive a figure to unify the party in 2016, which they say is crucial to defeating presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in November. Wasserman Schultz has had an increasingly acrimonious relationship with the partys other presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and his supporters, who argue she has tilted the scales in Clintons favor. 'There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultzs head on,' said one pro-Clinton Democratic senator." [The Hill]

THIS IS EVEN BETTER THAN THAT TIME THAT GUY EAVESDROPPED MICHAEL HAYDEN ON THE ACELA - Not quite as good as Anthony Weiner non-DMing his penis to the world, but still very good. Ken Vogel and Marc Caputo: "Donald Trump, who in recent days has accused Bill Clinton of rape and suggested he and Hillary Clinton may have had a role in the death of one of their close friends, plans to focus next on the Whitewater real estate scandal, POLITICO has learned. Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo on Wednesday morning emailed a researcher at the Republican National Committee asking him to 'work up information on HRC/Whitewater as soon as possible. This is for immediate use and for the afternoon talking points process.' The email was obtained by POLITICO when Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks, who Caputo copied on his request to the RNC, accidentally responded instead to Marc Caputo, a POLITICO reporter who is not related to the Republican consultant." [Politico]

P.S. Hope Hicks, please respond to our email about the Puerto Rico debt deal.

PRO TIP: Hope Hicks probably isn't going to respond to our email about the Puerto Rico debt deal.

APPALACHIA 4 TRUMP - Stephen Wolf: "Trump won a complete landslide in the region and carried 295 county units. He performed nearly 10 points better in Appalachia than he did nationally and narrowly won an outright majority of the vote against badly-divided opposition. Hillary Clinton on the other hand barely eked out a plurality of 49 percent to 47 percent over Bernie Sanders despite leading him by nearly 14 points in the national popular vote to date. That stands in sharp contrast to Clintons dominance in 2008, when she crushed Obama by 32 points in Appalachia and it would have been her fourth best state or territory nationally that year." [Daily Kos]

WELCOME TO DEPORT-LANDIA - Elise Foley reports on how Atlanta excels at throwing people out of America: "Atlanta is one of the worst places in the country to be an undocumented immigrant hoping to avoid deportation. Justice Department-appointed judges in that court denied asylum 98 percent of the time in the 2015 fiscal year, the highest rate of any immigration court that heard more than five cases. Eighty-eight percent of cases that went before Atlanta immigration courts ended with a removal order. Thats way over the national average: In the country as a whole, immigration judges denied about 52 percent of asylum claims, and 69 percent of cases resulted in a deportation order. Atlanta immigration judges have been accused of bullying children, badgering domestic violence victims and setting standards for relief and asylum that lawyers say are next to impossible to meet. Given Atlanta immigration judges reluctance to grant asylum, some immigrants who fear returning to their native countries dont even pursue it." [HuffPost]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a dog stuck in a box.

BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS - Elizabeth Chuck: "A retired Texas schoolteacher who received national attention for her outrageous conspiracy theories and claimed President Obama was once a gay prostitute was denied a spot on the state board of education Tuesday. Only several months ago, Mary Lou Bruner, 69, of Mineola, Texas, had been the front-runner for the powerful seat on the Texas State Board of Education, the second-largest school system in the nation." [NBC News]

COMFORT FOOD

- Elephant falls asleep to lullaby.

- A look at the social media economy.

- "Star Wars: A New Hope" broken down into a giant infographic

TWITTERAMA

@aedwardslevy: RYAN IN WAIT

@nickpwing: Look at Donald Trumps face, is something I say out loud, to nobody in particular, pretty much every day now.



@SimonMaloy: RYAN: as soon as I am in possession of the jade feather and the King At The Edge Of The Water blows his ancient horn, then I will endorse

Advertisement




While the charges relate to one instance of sexual assault in Pennsylvania, over 50 women have accused him of sexual misconduct. These are their stories. [Michael McLaughlin, HuffPost]

"Police in riot gear used smoke grenades on hundreds of protesters who they said hurled rocks and bottles outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday night." [Peter Andrew Hart, HuffPost]

Advertisement

Democratic leaders are considering dropping the DNC chair. [CNN]

"Feeling exiled and frustrated in her Florida condominium, Ruthann Aron decided she needed a makeover. Not of the cosmetic variety but of the cosmic -- a public image redo, which would not be particularly easy nearly 20 years after the trial that put her in a Maryland prison for hiring a hit man to murder her rich urologist husband." [WaPo]

WHATS BREWING

Someone was funding the lawsuits against them, and that someone is PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel. [Forbes]

But when will the changes stop? We still miss the stars. [Twitter Blog]

From "The Night Manager" to "Neighbors 2." [Vanity Fair]

You feel like you can reach out and touch your new polar bear friend. [HuffPost]

"This detail would even feel heavy-handed in a novel about a dystopian future ruled by the libertarian tech elite, but here you go: in San Franciscos Dolores Park, people will be able to reserve chunks of the park as part of a two-month pilot program by the Recreation and Parks Department. " [Deadspin]

Could it be a $60,000 weave? [Gawker]

For more from The Huffington Post, download our app for iOS or Android.

WHAT'S WORKING

"Checking your work email on a weekend or a holiday? In France, where employees have been granted 'the right to disconnect,' thats now against the law." [HuffPost]

Advertisement

For more, sign up for the What's Working newsletter.

BEFORE YOU GO

~ More 18- to 34-year-olds live with their parents than with roommates or partners, according to Pew Research.

~ Trump has finally donated $1 million to a veteran's group, after saying he had done so four months ago.

~ Could the decline of cigarettes be connected to the rise of obesity in America?

~ These folks are reading out every word in the user agreement contacts in the apps people typically have on their phones. It's taking them over 24 hours.

~ Would you like Angelina Jolie to be your professor? Head to the London School of Economics this fall.

~ The Olympics of hairdressing is as absurd as you think it would be.

~ This Texas town has had to boil its water for two weeks, and the end isn't in sight.

~ Jay Z responded for the first time to "Lemonade" in a verse that mentions making millions on his marriage.

Advertisement

~ Google's offices were searched (ba-dum-bum-ching) by French authorities in an ongoing tax evasion probe.
Photo: NOAA

By Robert Glasser and Achim Steiner

This year is already on track to be the hottest on record, beating out 2015 for this unfortunate distinction. Every year, if it's not the mercury rising it's the tangible impacts of climate change.

More and more people are living in harm's way. Some of the most powerful hurricanes and cyclones ever recorded have made landfall in recent years, powered by rising and warming seas. Age-old sources of drinking water are dwindling away because of erratic rainfall patterns. Glacial melt and aquifer depletion threaten a world already overwhelmed with population movements. Disaster preparedness on flood plains and exposed coastal belts will be stretched to the limit in the coming years.

There is no sugar coating the consequences of inaction on climate change and environmental degradation. We are currently in the throes of an epochal shift in our relationship with the planet. This change is one that has been foisted upon us by ourselves.

Advertisement

Unfortunately, regardless of how quickly we move from realization to truly turning the tide, we will live with climate change impacts for some time to come.

But fortunately we are becoming better at dealing with climate disasters, in a twisted way because they are becoming more common. Like a firefighter learning on the job, the more emergencies we encounter, the better equipped we become to respond to a crisis.

And steadily, the international community is improving the way we deal with disasters at the global level.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was endorsed a year ago by all UN Member States. It aims to reduce mortality, numbers of people affected, economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure from environmental, biological and technological hazards, over the next 15 years.

Advertisement

Early warning systems, tougher regulation for urban planning, enforcement of building codes and environmental protection measures: these are areas where much progress has already been made. And this week at the G7 Summit, Japan has indicated that it will include disaster risk management on the agenda for the first time.

The world cannot do without these efforts. The firefighter will always be necessary. But this tactical response needs to be accompanied by a longer-term strategy to address underlying causes. We have the framework for this in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The Paris Agreement points the way to a world that does not suffer from its own obstinacy. For the benefit of all, there is no time to lose in its implementation. Just as many of the negative effects of climate change and environmental degradation can create a vicious circle, improved equity, green economies, and a healthy environment can create a positive feedback loop.

Evidence of these changes is starting to filter through the headlines of disaster. Last year for the first time, investments in renewable energy infrastructure exceeded those in non-renewable. Over the past 25 years, the global deforestation rate has slowed down by more than 50 percent. Today, more than ever before, you are likely to find institutional investors and financial institutions factoring in sustainability concerns in risk. The mere signing of the Paris Agreement is evidence of the shift in public consciousness. The firefighter would see all of this and be cautiously optimistic. But they would be still be extremely impatient.

We are far from out of the woods. Implementation of the Paris Agreement cannot come soon enough.

Over the last two years, the world has experienced the cyclical El Nino weather phenomenon. While itself not specifically related to climate change, El Nino has caused record-breaking cyclone seasons in the Central Pacific and Australia. The lives and livelihoods of 60 million people across the globe face threats to food security from severe droughts associated with the event. In a year rife with talk about the potential devastation that could be wrought by climate change, El Nino has offered a limited preview of what we could be in for without significant efforts to draw down greenhouse gas emissions and create more sustainable societies and economies.

Advertisement

Climate change precipitates crises. Crises precipitate change. Our improving disaster management strategies can continue to help put out fires, but they can't snuff out the match. We need to see that halting climate change is the only way to arrest the ever-increasing global burden of disaster.

__________

Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Mullah Mansoor's Mangled Vehicle (Photo: theguardian.com)

Last year the Taliban's second leader ever, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansoor, succeeded the founder of the organization, Mullah Omar. He was the 2nd in command when it was revealed that Omar had been dead since 2013. A Taliban splinter group called Fidai Mahaz, loosely translated as Fanatics' Front, issued a statement accusing Omar's lieutenants Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and Gul Agha of killing Mullah Omar in July 2013. Fidai Mahaz did not reveal why and how Omar was killed, but indicated that they had evidence to prove their claim as reported by Khaama Press on July 23rd.

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor (Photo: en.wikipedia.org)

Initially, a number of Taliban including the late Omar's son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, opposed Mullah Mansoor's move to head the "Quetta Shura" as the movement is also known. But Mullah Mansoor was eventually able to consolidate power as the leader. However, he ignored the idiom "be careful what you wish for." Mullah Mansoor was a hands on person in running the organization and was even personally involved in operations against other Taliban opposing him. This modus operandi, unlike the reclusive Mullah Omar, exposed him as an easier target. So on Sunday May 22, 2016 while riding in a car in Ahmad Wal Baluchistan, Pakistan, across the southern border of Afghanistan, Mullah Mansoor met his demise. The Pentagon announced that Hellfire missiles unleashed from US drones hit Mansoor's convoy.

There were reports that a Pakistani passport recovered from the scene was issued under the name Wali Mohammad, but the picture closely resembled Mansoor. The passport contained an Iranian visa indicating that Mansoor had traveled to Iran. But none of this comes as a surprise. The Pakistani government has harbored and supported the Taliban for decades. The complexities of events in the Middle East, South Central and South Asia and how they intersect make for strange bedfellows. Iran has had a long standing relationship with the Taliban. From Tehran's point of view, "Good Taliban" do not pose a threat to Iranian interests. On the contrary, they can cooperate to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh. The Taliban have historically been supported by Saudi Arabia, which is in a tug war with Iran for influence in the Middle East. Iran is fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, an interest which they share with certain Afghan Taliban who have been fighting groups in Afghanistan beholden to ISIS. These Taliban do not want ISIS to establish any kind of control in Afghanistan. The enemy of my enemy is my friend fits the situation perfectly. Shia Iran does not share the Taliban's Wahhabi Sunni vision. But this long standing rapprochement gives the Taliban a certain regional recognition and credibility beyond what their Pakistani and Saudi patrons provide. Tehran in return benefits from the fact that ISIS will not have a foothold on its eastern border, Afghanistan. The media have been abuzz about the death of the Taliban leader and its implications for Afghanistan, the Taliban, the US, the peace process, Pakistan and the region. The first important issue is who will succeed Mansoor as the new head will affect other issues such peace talks, increase in attacks, and so on.

Advertisement

1.It is possible that the question of succession will unleash a wave of violence among the Taliban. Mansoor recently arranged an entente with the notorious Serajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Group. As a result Serajuddin was appointed as Mansoor's deputy. Normally the deputy would succeed the head. But Haqqani belongs to the Pashtun tribe of Zardran in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership and foot soldiers are mostly Durani, affiliated Pashtuns from the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, and others. It is not certain that they will accept a Haqqani leadership. Mullah Yaqub, the late Mullah Omar's son, could be a possible alternative. He has the pedigree, but was not strong enough to succeed his father. If Haqqani becomes the Taliban leader, Afghanistan will be the target of more deadly and spectacular terrorist attacks. The Haqqani Group has the experience and capability of carrying out large scale attacks.

2.Any disarray among the Taliban will be, at least in the short term, beneficial to ISIS affiliated groups in eastern Afghanistan. The ISIS expansion until now has been kept in check to a certain extent by the Taliban. There is also a possibility that ISIS might court any splinter Taliban groups, enhancing their ranks and position.

Advertisement

3.Pakistan is one the biggest losers. It has been trying to keep the Taliban together. Pakistan has used the Taliban as a national security tool vis a vis Afghanistan. Pakistan's image has also been a casualty. They can no longer deny that they have been harboring and supporting the Taliban.

4.The Afghan government and the Taliban peace process never took off, first because Pakistan had kept Afghanistan in the dark about Mullah Omar's death. Secondly, Mullah Mansoor was not ready to talk. Therefore peace talks are not a casualty as there was nothing tangible. However, the talks may take place sometime in the future depending on who will be the new Taliban leader.

5.The US has been systematically eliminating Taliban middle commanders and foot soldiers for many years. But going after the number one Talib is a marked departure from past practice. Is this a one off attack or will the US continue to target Taliban leadership in Pakistan? Time will tell.

Serajuddin Haqqani
By Daniel Oakins, Grapeshot, Global Director of Publishing

I realized recently that my online habits have changed. I used to frequent six unique sites on a regular basis. They were a part of my regular routine. Throughout the day, Id check in on these publishers, seeing if there was anything new that piqued my interest. Gradually my loyalty waned. Today this list of six has been whittled down to just two. Do I consume less? Absolutely not. In fact I probably spend more time engrossed in content than ever before.

So what changed? For one, I found more interesting things to read elsewhere. Or rather, more interesting things to read found me. It started innocuously enough; a friend would share an article on their Facebook feed, or I had a spare moment to check out Snapchat Stories. Then I discovered this cool new pre-installed app called Apple News. Suddenly almost everything was happening on a handful of platforms. And the breadth of consumption exploded; Ive now read and watched content produced by hundreds of publishers big and small.

Lets take a step back. Twenty years ago the Internet transformed the publishing industry in ways that no one could have foreseen. Instantly, any content in the world could be had at a click of a button, and for free. We all know that many players were caught by surprise and unsurprisingly were slow to adjust and adapt. It took a long time to master digital content strategies and there were losers and winners. Today represents a new revolution. A new chance to start fresh. Whether you like it or not, we are living in the platform era.

Advertisement

What are platforms? Generally speaking, its the entities that control your eyeballs. Facebook is the social platform, Google is the search platform, Snapchat is the mobile messaging platform, Medium is the publishing platform, Apple News is the IOS news platform, and Quora is the question platform. This list isnt exhaustive and Im sure well be hearing about a platform war some time soon as they are all competing with each other in the zero-sum game for our precious time. Medium, understanding that distribution is daunting and complicated, has armed content creators using their platform with an ultra simple publish-on-Medium- distribute- everywhere functionality, showing that they are willing to play nice with other platforms.

The real winners (other than the actual winners) will be users and content creators who embrace this new landscape. Just like in the web era, there will be new creators native to platforms. Ive been very impressed with the platform first publisher NowThis. I started seeing their snackable video content here and there about year ago and its only gotten better and ubiquitous spanning categories like news, tech and politics. These guys get it. They produce content I want, and deliver it where I am. The losers will be publishers who are slow to act, and those who choose to build their businesses outside of these platforms. Ad networks and others not invited to the party will no doubt struggle.

One emotion that Ive seen in some publishers for a while now is fear. Fear of lost revenue and fear of losing control. I think this is misguided, and sounds eerily similar to the fears publishers had at the advent of the web age. Facebook is not the enemy. Facebook is your friend. The platforms are your partners in this, and their interests, believe it or not, are very aligned with yours.

Glenn Beck rather eloquently shared his experience meeting Mark Zuckerberg in this Medium post where Zuckerberg insisted We are an open platform. And thats just it. They arent in the business of creating or curating content, despite charges to the contrary. They need publishers. Users have an insatiable need to read and watch stuff. The platforms all want that consumption to happen inside their world. And because the best content will invariably rise to the top, its in publisher's best interests to invest in quality content. As content gets smarter at finding users, the need for clicky titles will be finished. A good friend and successful media entrepreneur once told me that if you take care of your readers then they will take care of you. This rings true now more than ever before.

Advertisement

What about the money? I didnt say this was going to be easy, and its still the early innings of this whole platform game. The platforms have already started to show up to help out; Facebooks Audience Network monetizes across their Instant Articles product, and Medium announced a two-pronged strategy of promoted stories and membership, both splitting revenue with content creators. Google AMP allows for more of a comfortable monetization environment familiar to many publishers, just in a cleaner faster package. I think publishers need to get smarter and closer to their brand advertisers. The platforms might have all the data, but publishers still create all the content, and content is a very powerful signal of what an audience wants.
The election of Donald Trump is the single greatest threat our community has faced in recent American history. While Mike Coffman refuses to answer a simple question about where he stands on Trump, his record in Congress and the company he keeps appear to say everything we need to know.
Last Sunday, I drove back to my old 'hood in the Flatbush/Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn to show my son where I was born. It is the same neighborhood where Bernie Sanders and my mother were born and raised and attended James Madison High -- which boasts quite a legendary roster of graduates, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Spielberg, Chuck Schumer, and noted Nobel laureates, too many to mention.

The neighborhood surrounding James Madison has always been deep blue Democratic. My mother was a precinct worker, poll watcher, and canvassed for Democrats up and down the ballot throughout World War II into the '50s and early 60's. She paid her dues as a proud Democrat.

I had my first taste of Democratic electioneering in 1960 handing out leaflets urging Brooklynites to vote for Jack Kennedy. I kept that Democratic tradition alive in my family, serving as a Democratic precinct chair, and elected to Central Committee of my local county Maryland Democratic Party. It was an article of faith that FDR saved the world, and that Harry Truman kept Europe from starving. Robert Kennedy was my ideological hero, as was his brother Ted. No better president than Bill Clinton, in my books.

Advertisement

I am a proud Democrat. I wish Bernie Sanders was. But Sanders chose a different path. To paraphrase Groucho Marx: Sanders refused to become a member of a party that would have him as a member. Unlike my mother who toiled proudly for the Democratic Party from the time Sanders entered James Madison in 1955, Sanders shunned it - and as a result he paid no dues as a member. In fact, from the time he settled in Vermont, Sanders never ran for office as a Democrat, never supported a Democratic ticket, and never raised money for the local Democratic Party. And in virtually every electoral race Sanders competed in, he ran against the Democratic Party nominee - often causing the Democrat to be defeated as a result.

Because Sanders is an unabashed socialist and not a true blue Democrat, he is a guest in my Party that accorded him the gift (and not the right) to run for president on our ticket -- permitting him to borrow its historical brand, even as an insurgent.

I admire Sanders and share many of his progressive values. But the distinguished Vermont senator appears increasingly hell bent on wrecking the Democratic Party for his own less than lofty purposes. With each passing day and each new warning of disruption, he is devolving from a crusader into a grumpy old man -- caring not that he is mirroring Donald Trump in issuing threats and ultimatums to the GOP leadership. Sort of like a guest in the house demanding the silverware and the china and the punch bowl!

Sanders has smelled the greasepaint and heard the roar of the crowd -- and it has gone to his head.

I agree with Sanders that the entire primary process warrants a top to bottom reboot - although them the rules now. Watching him descend into gutter warfare against the leadership of the Democratic Party, threatening and obliquely condoning violence because of grievances - some real/many imagined is inappropriate and destructive. If he were a Democrat he would be excommunicated for such antics. I am reminded what "Uncle Joe" Stalin's infamous adage justifying his bloody Soviet purges that one must break eggs to make an omelet. Sanders' warnings have the malodorous waft of rotten eggs.

Advertisement

Putting aside the impossibility and impartibility of Sanders ever wrestling the Democrat Party's presidential nomination - and I would bet my mortgage and my car on that -- Sanders is treading dangerously close to the red line over which he will be intentionally damaging Mrs. Clinton so that she emerges mauled from a raucous convention. He can't have it both ways - asserting he is merely demanding his due while playing into Trump's stubby hands.

It would be a shame if Sanders' legacy is one of a divider and not a uniter.

I cannot help but conclude Sanders is stealing a page from Trump - surreptitiously attempting a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party...even if Mrs. Clinton is defeated in the process. She falls, he gains - making a post-election play for the Party apparatus. A Sanders zero sum game? Maybe that is campaign manager Jeff Weaver's Machiavellian mischief to avoid having to return to his day job selling comic books for a living.

No self-respecting Democrat should stand idly by and let these shenanigans go on. Democrats who have endorsed Mr. Sanders have a duty to bring him back onto the reservation. At what point does accommodation become appeasement?

Mr. Sanders has vowed to fight for the nomination all the way through the California primary. OK, but it won't change the delegate math, and suggesting otherwise is duplicitous Voodoo. And because California won't change the math he should take the high road and bow out of the process after the California primary, accompanied by a full throttled endorsement of Mrs. Clinton (on a loop that can be heard everywhere/everyday). Thereafter, he can then turn his powers of persuasion to supporting Mrs. Clinton, and to the issues he has transformed into a potential political movement - focusing on reforms that progressives and even moderate Democrats can embrace. There is nothing untoward galvanizing supporters - so long as he and we keep our eye on the real target - defeating Trump at any cost.

No one expects Sanders to embrace all of Mrs. Clinton's ideas or programs; indeed he need not embrace the basic positions and policies which have been the pillars of the Democratic Party for decades - after all, HE IS NOT A DEMOCRAT. But what would a Trump presidency mean for the very youth of America who have embraced him?

Advertisement

Sanders is our 21st century version of the beloved Hubert Humphrey - the happy warrior championing the little guy/gal and the besieged middle class. It has been quite the rodeo ride and he has deservedly earned accolades for his candor and compassion and for the mantle of leadership he has earned from millions of well-meaning Americans. He has inspired me, too, no doubt about it.

But if Sanders is true to his word - that he really wants to defeat Mr. Trump as much as any self-respecting Democrat, then by golly, he needs to show a lot more deference to the Democratic Party and its presumptive nominee, Mrs. Clinton and cease all the rabble-rousing and acting like a sore loser.


Here I am presenting to student attendees at the EF Global Student Leaders Summit which looked at the future of energy from Iceland

By Ann Makosinski

I have half an hour to write this article.

GO.

My name is Ann Makosinski, I'm 18 years old and I'm an inventor. Actually my official bio defines me as "an 18-year-old student, serial inventor and media darling doing numerous global appearances and keynote talks" - but I'm really just a regular teenage girl who likes to make things.

I recently gave a keynote speech at the EF Education First Global Student Leaders Summit, which was held in Iceland this year and explored the future of energy. Having to follow a surprise talk on Iceland's extreme energy efficiency by Iceland's President was quite intimidating, so you can imagine I sounded a bit nervous. Anyway, after my speech a lot of students came up to me and asked the same question that I hear every SINGLE time I give a talk.

Advertisement

The question goes something like this:

"I have all these really cool ideas, but I just don't know how to get started?! How do I start making an invention or project?"

Well, with all my eighteen years of sagely experience on this planet, I am here to answer this question once and for all. Why? Because I like helping people - and especially young people on the brink of prototyping a great idea.

That's actually how I came up with my first two big inventions. My first invention, the Hollow Flashlight, is a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand; and it was inspired by my friend in the Philippines who had no light to study at night.

The inspiration for my second invention, the eDrink, came from closer to home, and addressed a few problems my high school friends had: a) their phones always running out of battery, and b) their coffee taking too long to cool down. Now that I'm in first year university and don't have any friends, I'm not sure what my next invention will be. Just kidding, haha! While I don't know what the exact prototype for my next invention will look like, I know I like to solve problems for people less fortunate than me, or less equipped to come up with a solution for themselves. The elderly, the sick, the poor. That's where I like to focus my inventive energies, so that's likely where my next invention will focus.

Advertisement

Nevertheless, here are my five pieces of advice for would-be tinkerers on how to get your first prototype, or any project or goal you have in life, started and how to get it done. And consider checking out my YouTube channel to get more practical advice for would-be student inventors.

Enjoy,

Andini

1.Look for problems around you or your friends for inspiration.

This is the easiest way to find a potential project to work on. Too often, aspiring makers/inventors take on huge problems that they want to solve, like "world hunger" or "clean water." While you should keep the big picture and main goal in mind, the invention process will be much simpler if you start by focusing on a smaller problem related to the "big" problem. For me, I knew I wanted to help provide light to my friend in the Philippines, and in turn, I could potentially help millions of people around the world who didn't have any electricity or light either.

2.Have someone who will keep you on track and guide you.

This is more important than you think. You need a mentor, a guru, someone to guide you and to learn from. The relationship you have with this person is very important, and the lessons they convey will be integrated into your life forever. Too often, young people nowadays dismiss teachers or professors, saying, "oh, they're only teaching such and such subject because they failed to do it in real life." While it may be true that SOME people will be better teachers of a subject then actually making it their real life career, it is important to respect the knowledge they have acquired over the years and to make use of it. You cannot do it alone. PERIOD.

3.Use what you have; you DON'T need a fancy mad scientist lab to make something.

While any maker's dream is to have the coolest tech lab ever, when you first start off, it probably won't be as glamorous. However, that does not mean you won't be able to make things. A good craftsman does not blame her tools. You can still make the most magnificent inventions with the simplest tools. You can even get great used stuff off Craigslist or at a garage sale. For me, my essentials were wire cutters, a soldering iron, and a circuit board. Sometimes the best inventions come from improvising with a variety of unconventional parts, because the more advanced or even common tools were not available. Check out Summit Speaker William Kamkwamba's story to learn how he took this approach to build a windmill in his small Malawian village.

4.You have MORE opportunity and TIME to create when you DISCONNECT.

Put away your phone and tablet. Close your computer, but keep it nearby for quick "Googles" of definitions or questions you have. Reading books on the subject at hand, and then applying what you've read to real life is one of the best ways to learn. Also, nothing beats sitting down in front of your bench and trying to figure out how individual parts work. I personally believe (ironically so) that to create more advanced technology, you sometimes need to completely disconnect from modern machinery to do so. Technology creates too many distractions.

Advertisement

5.Don't do it for the glory. Do it because you're actually 100 percent passionate and interested in the topic.

I'd like to end on this note. I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of "aspiring entrepreneurs" the past couple of years, and I've learned a few things. I certainly do not like calling myself an entrepreneur, because I simply don't have a company yet, and I am not that interested in the technicalities of maintaining a business. Furthermore, the term "entrepreneur" is thrown around so much by young people nowadays that any loser could be an "entrepreneur."

Social media has bestowed on the world a much more personal view into the lives of others - and interest naturally gravitates towards the flashiest lifestyles, which in turn influences young people to dream big. As a result, I think some young people are into "innovation" and being an "entrepreneur" for the wrong reasons.

If you are trying to invent something because you want to make billions of dollars and coast on your success, you're doing it wrong.

You pursue something because you are INTERESTED and PASSIONATE to LEARN about it. Learn as much as you can while you are young, and when you feel prepared and have the support systems and knowledge you need, then you can start making, founding, and being an "entrepreneur."

Advertisement

END.
A picture with 452 likes. Smiling, leaning against a podium, with my chin tilted up, I looked accomplished and content in the photo from my medical school white coat ceremony. Later, I felt accomplished and content with the amount of attention it garnered. The likes seemed to indicate that people supported my choice of profession, I looked good, or both.



While I often gave likes with no emotion or thought, receiving them meant something completely different. Fewer likes on a photo meant I didn't look as nice, fewer likes on a comment meant I wasn't as witty. Social media had become inextricably linked with my self-esteem in a way that made me uncomfortable and, quite frankly, a little ashamed. Even though I could recognize the ways social media is designed to hook us and keep us coming back for more, I was not spared from its addictive grips.

When I first opened my Internet browser, it became muscle memory to type "F-A" and then hit enter. When I opened my phone, I would be scrolling through Instagram before I was even aware of it. Instantly, I saw lives that looked more exciting than mine, people who looked more beautiful than me, and accomplishments that seemed more impressive than mine. I was constantly comparing myself to others.

Advertisement

Social comparison, an innate human desire to evaluate ourselves by comparison to others, has become available in seconds through social media. With the tap of a finger, we see the lives of our peers, often presented as perfectly as possible to attain "social perfection," and we see the glamorous lives of the rich and famous. Looking around, it all just seemed better than what I had going on.

The more I used social media, the less satisfied with my own life I felt. I wasn't alone in this. A University of Michigan study of 82 participants showed that more Facebook use was correlated with a decline in life satisfaction levels. Instead of relying completely on another study's results, I decided to conduct a personal study of my own. An "unsocial experiment" with the goal of achieving a sort of blissful ignorance.

A month without social media. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Snapchat. If this sounds easy to you and like a ridiculous experiment to blog about, you're probably a more deliberate social media user with less addictive tendencies. If it sounds pretty challenging and you're not sure if you could do it, you're probably more like me.

Don't get me wrong, the utility of social media is tremendous. Facebook allows me to keep up with friends after graduating college and watch my baby cousins grow up across the pond in England. Instagram humor brings me joy and often makes me laugh out loud. Snapchat filters are astoundingly amusing. Getting rid of these outlets would be challenging and I was genuinely going to miss seeing my friend Sebastian's postgraduate journey through Nepal, and TheFatJewish's daily pick-me-ups, and my face distorted to resemble an alien.

Advertisement

What made me most nervous about deactivating was feeling like I was going to be disconnected. It was inevitable to some degree. I would probably miss Facebook events, Instagram moments, and DJ Khaled consistently repeating the same phrases. To me, this solidified the very reason I needed to do it. I didn't want to rely on websites and apps for connections. Rather, I wanted to create and foster them in real life, directly with the people I cared about. I figured I might even find a couple new people to care about along the way.

---

The month brought with it some unexpected emotions. In a lot of ways, it was like a breakup. After breaking up with a significant other, the instinct to text them takes time to fade away. Similarly, when social media and I took a break, I wasn't able to let go overnight. I would take pictures and think about what to caption them, only to realize that I wouldn't be able to. Just as we sometimes cave and text our exes, I would find myself peeking over people's shoulder in class to get a quick look at their News Feed.

Soon, that instinct dissolved. My fingers no longer instinctively dove for the F and A on my keyboard. I no longer yearned to know what was happening in everyone else's life and got a chance to spend more time working on my own. Without being able to use external likes to build my self-esteem, I identified more internal qualities. Instead of using a comment as a proxy for connecting with friends, I had face-to-face time (and sometimes FaceTimed) with the people important to me.

I can't say for sure if I was definitively happier during the experiment, but my priorities certainly shifted. Having the time to reflect and consider my own life and satisfaction, independent of comparison to others' lives, was immensely valuable. After restructuring my life without distraction, I have since returned to social media with a better relationship with the websites that I once felt had a grip on me.

Growing up, "everything in moderation" in my mind was a quick one-liner my mom would use when I would try to eat a few too many cookies. Now that I've got my cookie situation under control, social media in moderation is my new iteration of the saying. Cutting back is no easy feat, but if I can do it, so can you.

Advertisement
Many years ago, the average Arabs would attribute most of the woes of the Middle East to western conspiracies. But since the Arab Spring -- or winter! -- things started changing and youth in Arab countries would mock those who still believe in conspiracy theories and would instead speculate about the internal mistakes that could have possibly led to the situation at hand.

But the conspiracy talk came again to the forefront in Egypt after monitoring the discrepancy between Western media coverage of the tragedy of the Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 and that of the EgyptAir Flight 804.

After the crash of the Russian flight in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on 31 October 2015, all media reports were -- understandably and logically -- questioning the security of Sharm El Sheikh airport. Britain was quick to suspend all flights to the Red sea resort, even before the Russians although none of the victims were British. UK attributed this decision to communications intercepted by British intelligence which showed ISIS extremists had plotted a major terror attack in the region. It remains unknown till today why UK did not share such valuable information with Egypt nor Russia.Egypt was crucified in every possible way by Western media ignoring the fact that the Middle Eastern country was also a victim of this terror act.

Advertisement

The media treated EgyptAir Flight 804 similarly although the circumstances were totally different. The Airbus A320 took off from Charles de Gaulle Airport heading to Cairo on the 18 May 2016 but it never reached its destination as it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.

Mother of Yara Tawfik, a cabin crew member who was on board EgyptAir's MS804, kiss her portrait during her funeral service in Cairo. (Photo by: @aymanarefsaad)

All 66 on board are believed to be dead. 33 of them were Egyptians, and somehow every Egyptian family felt emotionally connected to them. Social media reacted by calling for prayers for the souls of all the passengers, pictures of the victims and their mourning families were widely shared amongst internet users in Egypt. In this heart-breaking atmosphere and while all Egyptians were bracing and waiting for results of the investigations to tell them how this tragedy happened, they were taken aback by the misleading coverage of the incident by Western media. For instance, instead of showing facts about the latest Paris terror attacks and how they may be linked to the tragedy or the security status of Charles de Gaulle airport, stories created were trying to cast responsibility of what happened on Egyptair!

Advertisement

We see that the New York Times built a whole story suggesting that Egypt was aware of terror threats based on an irrelevant incident that took place two years ago when some workers in the airport drew political graffiti on the plane!

In an eerie coincidence, the EgyptAir jetliner that plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday was once the target of political vandals who wrote in Arabic on its underside, "We will bring this plane down."Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti, which appeared about two years ago, had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo Airport.

What was also shocking to victims' families the stories -- like the one by the LA Times -- suggesting that the crash might have been caused by the suicide of the pilot although no evidence nor reports support this theory at all.

More outrageously, a French photojournalist was reportedly fired from her job when she refused to make up a story about the lack of security of the Egyptian airline because she insisted that no evidence till now suggest the responsibility of Egyptair.
The Justice Department in a September 7, 2015, memorandum entitled "Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing," indicated a willingness to focus criminal investigations in general on individual executives. Physicians, health care executives, and entities that obtain Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements must be aware of at least the broad outlines of federal fraud statues especially applicable to them. Always consult an experienced attorney in specific situations.

The Department of Justice memorandum written by Deputy Attorney General Yates has been the subject of much commentary. In summary fashion, the following are quoted memorandum section headings:

1.To be eligible for any cooperation credit, corporations must provide to the Department all relevant facts about the individuals involved in corporate misconduct.

Advertisement

2.Both criminal and civil corporate investigations should focus on individuals from the inception of the investigation.

3.Criminal and civil attorneys handling corporate investigations should be in routine communication with one another.

4.Absent extraordinary circumstances, no corporate resolution will provide protection from criminal or civil liability for any individuals.

5.Corporate cases should not be resolved without a clear plan to resolve related individual cases before the statute of limitations expires and declinations as to individuals in such cases must be memorialized.

Advertisement

6.Civil attorneys should consistently focus on individuals as well as the company and evaluate whether to bring suit against an individual based on considerations beyond that individual's ability to pay.

These points are clear and specific warnings to executives. In particular, points 1, 4, and 5 signal that an executive should not expect reciprocal loyalty and protection from her or his corporate employer. Do not reveal information to the corporation's attorney or executive team in the mistaken belief that such communications will remain privileged and confidential.



In many situations an administrative agency may pursue civil fines and other related remedies while criminal prosecutions are typically unique to the Department of Justice. It is true that diffusion of responsibility within a large corporate entity makes proof of individual criminal intent more difficult for prosecutors. However, a health care entity facing a potential exclusion of eligibility for participation in federal and state health care programs, a "death penalty," may easily conclude that passing responsibility for the fraud to an individual executive is a rational business and legal decision.

The following is a brief and incomplete educational overview in no particular order of federal fraud statutes most applicable to health care.

A.The Stark Law (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1395nn) has been in place for about 25 years.

Originally effective in 1992, it is named for Congressman Pete Stark (Democrat, California) who sponsored the bill in 1989. In broadest overview, one must consider perceived financial conflicts of interest when referring patients. It prohibits physician referrals of Medicare and Medicaid patients to an entity (such as a hospital or rehab center) with whom the referring physician or an immediate family member has a "financial relationship." "Financial relationship" includes a "direct or indirect ownership or investment interest," through equity or debt, by the physician or an immediate family member.

Advertisement

Additionally, "compensation arrangements," direct or indirect and including immediate family members, between a physician and a hospital are addressed. "Remuneration" includes "any payment or other benefit made directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind."

Note that no wrongful intent or culpable conduct on the part or any person or entity is required for a Stark Law violation. Penalties for violations include denial of payments, mandatory refunds, civil penalties of up to $15, 000 per claim, and exclusion from participating in federal or state health care programs. A Stark Law violation may serve as the basis of a False Claims Act suit, reviewed below, that could result in treble damages and mandatory penalties of $5,500 to $11,000 for each filed false claim.

There are some regulatory exceptions to Stark Law violations but one must be certain that every detail of the exception is met. In broad overview, the exceptions address referrals within physician groups, in-office ancillary services, prepaid plans, intra-family rural referrals, academic medical centers, preventative screening tests, immunizations and vaccines, and eyewear following cataract surgery. Consult an experienced health care attorney.

B.The False Claims Act (FCA) (31 U.S.C. Secs. 3729-3733) was enacted in 1863 and signed into law by President Lincoln to address federal contractor fraud. It allows private parties to sue on behalf of the federal government and receive as a reward a percentage of the recovered funds (qui tam). Qui tam is an abbreviation of a Latin phrase meaning "one who sues on behalf of the King as well as himself." Employees aware of fraud might sue; however, this is a technical process requiring an experienced attorney. Retaliation against reporting employees is prohibited.

The False Claims Act broadly prohibits knowingly presenting or causing to be presented a fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government and knowing making or causing to be made a false record or statement material to a false claim.

Advertisement

It has broad application to any person or entity receiving federal funds, including health care providers. In the health care context FCA liability might include:

Claims for services that the provider knows are not medically necessary;

Claims for deficient nursing services and deficient and unnecessary rehabilitation therapy;

Kickbacks to health care providers and physicians to induce the use of certain drugs, goods, and services;



Claims for a higher level of service than was actually provided (miscoding);

Claims for services not rendered.

A provider has 60 days to return overpayments after they are identified. Civil penalties for violations are $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim or statement or record plus treble damages and court costs. "Knowledge" is required to impose liability; however, this is broadly defined to include not only actual knowledge but also deliberate ignorance and reckless disregard of truth or falsity.



C.The Civil Monetary Penalties Law (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1320a-7a) arose from the Social Security Act of 1935 and has been amended numerous times. It allows the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to impose civil monetary penalties upon any entity or person who presents or causes to be presented a knowingly false or fraudulent claim to any federal or state agency.

The following specific actions are prohibited:

Offering something of value to a health care program beneficiary to influence the beneficiary to obtain items and services that may be billed to the program;

Employing or contracting with an entity or individual that is excluded from participating in a health care program;

Advertisement

Billing for services requested by an unlicensed physician or excluded provider;

Failing to timely report and return a known overpayment;



Billing for medically unnecessary services.

Penalties may include significant fines as high as $50,000 for each item billed, treble the amount wrongfully billed, and exclusion from participation in health care programs. Under certain circumstances, individuals may be guilty of a felony punishable by up to a $25,000 fine and five years imprisonment.

D.The Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1320a-7b(b), is related to the Civil Monetary Penalties Law but specifically addresses offering, soliciting, or receiving anything of value in return for a referral that would produce business reimbursable under a federal health care program. A given "remuneration" may be a violation even if there are some non-kickback purposes for the payment.



Because of the potential breadth of the statute, the Department of Health and Human Services has promulgated "safe harbors" for certain transactions. One should have made a good faith attempt to qualify under these provisions. Strict compliance is required; however, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services may evaluate specific arrangements.

The criteria to qualify for safe harbor protection include:

The arrangement is written and signed by the parties;

The arrangement specifies the services to be provided;

The arrangement specifies precise times and charges;

The arrangement exists for at least one year;

The compensation is specified in advance and is consistent with fair market value;

The arrangement is only for what is reasonably necessary to accomplish the stated business purpose.

A violation is a felony punishable by up to a $25,000 fine, five years imprisonment, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs. Additionally, a violation may the basis for a False Claims Act lawsuit.

E.While not a fraud statute, health care executives should be aware of the provisions and fraud-like penalties of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), 42 U.S.C. Sec 1395dd, enacted in 1986. It is designed to prevent hospitals from refusing to treat individuals who are unable to pay ("patient dumping"). Individuals arriving at a hospital emergency room must be provided an "appropriate medical screening" in a nondiscriminatory manner and be stabilized before discharge or transfer.



Individuals may sue a "participating hospital," defined as one that is eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Individual physicians cannot be sued under EMTALA but remain otherwise subject to state medical malpractice law. There is a two year statute of limitation for civil lawsuits and it runs without interruption (no "tolling") from the date of the violation.

Precisely what constitutes an "appropriate medical screening" is often litigated and some courts additionally require proof of an "improper motive" to support a claim. There is limiting statutory language modifying "appropriate medical screening" to actions "within the capability of the hospital's emergency department, including ancillary services routinely available to the emergency department." This allows an individualized review of a facility and removes a patient's ability to demand that a standardized service be provided within a particular time frame. Actual knowledge of an emergency medical condition is required to trigger the "stabilization" requirement. Courts frequently rule that admitting the patient removes the stabilization requirement.



A hospital may be fined up to $50,000 per violation and have its federal health care participation rights revoked under a "death penalty" provision.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch stands during the announcement of law enforcement action against the state of North Carolina in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Clarence Henderson recently wrote a guest commentary in the Charlotte Observer suggesting it was offensive to compare the Civil Rights Movement to LGBT movement today.

Mr. Henderson made clear that he participated in the gallant effort in Greensboro to desegregate lunch counters in 1960, as a student at North Carolina A&T. I applaud Mr. Henderson for his courage, but does that grant him credibility to serve as the official griot for a movement that changed the narrative for American democracy?

Advertisement

Henderson's piece was in response to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who compared North Carolina's controversial HB2 to Jim Crow segregation.

Henderson opined: "During the Jim Crow Era, we stared down the nozzle of firehoses, felt the piercing bite of police dogs, dangled from trees after being strung up by an angry mob, all because of the color of our skin," suggesting that the LGBT community has not endured such torture.

Linear historical comparisons are invariably flawed. Not only is there not a linear comparison to the Civil Rights Movement and the current LGBT efforts, the historical struggle of African Americans cannot be compared with the systematic annihilation of Native Americans.

But in a macro context there is a commonality of struggle and dehumanization. Are we to take slender solace by engaging in "oppression poker?"

Advertisement

"I see your Jim Crow and raise you Japanese interment camps; I see your Japanese interment camps, and raise you Trail of Tears!"

Are not these episodes, as well as others, reflective of dark chapters in American history? What does it matter if the dark corner that one stands appears slightly brighter to others when all inhabit the same suffocating domicile of bigotry?

Henderson's polemic also begs the question: what are civil rights? Are they exclusively black rights? Or are they rights guaranteed to every citizen in a free society?

The myopic terrain that Henderson sits blinds him to the humanity of LGBT brothers and sisters. He cannot see Harvey Milk, Mathew Shepard, or Audre Lorde. Ironically, he cannot see Bayard Rustin.

Without Rustin, who lived openly gay at a time when such things were not done, the March on Washington may not have been the epic moment in history that we remember.

Advertisement

Another irony is that many stalwarts of the movement, who knew intimately the evil of Jim Crow segregation, have no trouble seeing the connection of their efforts with those of the LGBT struggle.

The Rev. James Lawson, who wrote the foreword to my book, "1963: The Year of Hope and Hostility, and was instrumental in training protesters in non violent civil disobedience throughout the movement states: "The human rights issue is not a single issue. It is about all humankind. And all humankind has been endowed with certain inalienable rights."

US Representative John Lewis, who on several occasions was beaten within an inch of his life during the Freedom Rides and Selma campaign, says:

"I fought too long and too hard to end discrimination based on race and color, to not stand up against discrimination against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

But underling Henderson's dissent is the tragic fallacy that the LGBT community is advocating for special rights, or the so-called "gay agenda," which sounds remotely close to the "Red Scare."

Advertisement

The gay agenda, in my view, is the audacious expectation that the nation would make good on the promises made to all citizens. Moreover, the country will not use orientation or gender identification as disqualifiers in order to receive the benefits guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.

Was that not the ethos of the Civil Rights Movement? That movement did not simply improve conditions for black people; it made the nation better. This is why subsequent movements globally cite it as inspiration for their efforts.

No group can co-opt the legacies of Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Jack O'Dell, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, the Greensboro Four, and countless others whose valiant efforts are known only to antiquity, who put their lives on the line for freedom's cause.
Africa's energy revolution, one of the biggest overlooked stories of our time, is poised to change the lives of millions of Africans.

Why has it been overlooked? Coverage of Africa has tended to focus on disasters, coups and terrorism - or on swings in the price of oil and metals. These events have happened. But they do not define Africa. What defines modern Africa is the steady, remarkable progress it has been making for the past 15 years.

Today, on Africa Day, let's celebrate that progress - and the entrepreneurial spirit that is not only applying the latest technology to African contexts, but also generating new ideas and new techniques that can benefit the world.

Advertisement

The best-known example is Africa's "leapfrogging" directly to mobile phones, bypassing landline connections and using mobiles to move money, consult farm prices and much more. The number of mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people soared from 18 in 2006 to 71 in 2014.

A less well-known example is Africa's embrace of renewable energy to leapfrog older power generation technologies, while also reducing the need to extend the national energy grid to remote villages.

From an African perspective, renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind power, have two powerful advantages: speed and decentralisation. They can be rolled out much more quickly than fossil fuel-fired power plants, and they can operate both on-grid and off-grid.

Small-scale renewable energy is starting to deliver the social and economic advantages of electrification to rural communities, helping improve public health, enabling access to education, and opening up economic possibilities to a continent of entrepreneurs.

Advertisement

Renewable energy systems will soon be able to cater to the most intensive and heavy demands of industry and other productive sectors. Kenya, for example, is a leading global producer of geothermal power. Its Olkaria plant is the biggest single-turbine geothermal facility in the world. In Ethiopia, the 1,870 MW Gibe III hydroelectric project has begun generation, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to generate 6,000 MW at full capacity when it is completed in 2017.

The most stunning example of Africa's embrace of renewable energy is the Ouarzazate complex in Morocco, which will be the world's biggest solar facility.

Swift action on energy is vital, because Africa's energy gap is huge, and bridging it is urgent. Two-thirds of Africans - 621 million people - live without access to electricity. Cut off from the grid, the world's poorest people pay the world's highest power prices. A woman in a rural village in northern Nigeria spends 60 to 80 times more per unit of energy than a resident of London or New York. This is a huge market failure.

The lack of modern energy also means that almost four in five Africans rely for cooking on wood, charcoal or other solid organic fuels. As a result, 600,000 people in the region die each year from household air pollution.

Luckily, momentum is building across the continent and the world to support African countries reach the global goal of universal access to electricity by 2030 -- an effort that will require US$55 billion a year.

Advertisement

The African Development Bank (AfDB), a major player on the continent, has made energy access one of its top priorities, and has launched an initiative called the New Deal for Energy in Africa. Many European governments, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, are on board too.

This week the AfBD is holding its Annual Meetings in Lusaka, Zambia. The Africa Progress Panel, The Elders, The B Team, and the AfDB, have co-organized a High Level Side Event which takes place today at 16:30 (GMT +2). The side event, which is entitled Africa's Energy: What's the New Deal?, will focus on how Africa can achieve universal access to power by 2025. Kofi Annan, the Chair of the APP and "Champion" of the New Deal, will be providing the opening remarks.

The Paris Agreement, reached at the global climate talks last December, has added to the momentum by underscoring the need for governments around the world to address the twin challenge of decarbonising energy systems while delivering energy for all.

Major emitting countries should put in place a credible carbon pricing and taxation system, instead of spending billions on fossil-fuel subsidies.

Across the African continent, energy entrepreneurs are vividly showing Africa's potential to leapfrog to a low carbon economy. An enabling environment must now be created to allow this growing pool of energy investors with innovative business models to thrive and reach new consumers.

Advertisement

Africa's leaders must also rise to the challenge. They need to move more decisively to tackle vested interests and break up webs of political patronage in Africa's energy utilities. They should also end subsidies to wasteful utilities, vehicle fuel and kerosene. These funds should be spent instead on productive energy investment, social protection and targeted electricity connectivity for the poor.
Sea World will no longer breed killer whales; Armani discontinued its use of fur; Petco and PetSmart offer shelter dogs and no longer support puppy mills; Ringling Brothers has ended their use of elephants.

The world is becoming a better place for animals thanks to the work of The Humane Society of the United States and its CEO, Wayne Pacelle.



Lisa J. Godfrey for The HSUS



Pacelle's new book, "The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers are Transforming the Lives of Animals," is a detailed account of the success of the animal protection movement worldwide. As technology transforms our world it has also provided alternatives for everything from animal testing by cosmetics companies to the use of animals in films.

Advertisement

Perhaps even more important high tech is enabling us to create products such as a plant-based egg substitute. Soon even our meat will be manufactured in laboratories. Factory farms will become obsolete as consumers demand more humane environments for chickens and pigs and companies like Whole Foods, Chipotle and Walmart embrace animal welfare standards.

What is our moral responsibility to animals? Many of us unwittingly support animal cruelty. We buy parkas or gloves trimmed with rabbit fur. We eat meat from factory farms. Our household cleaning products are tested on animals. Wayne maintains that consumers can give products value or make them worthless in the marketplace. It is all a matter of education. Once consumers learn about animal cruelty, they rail against it.

A good example of this is the movie "Blackfish," which highlights the life of Tilikum, a killer whale at SeaWorld who killed several people and is still there today. The documentary aired numerous times on CNN, where viewers heard the inside story from former SeaWorld animal trainers about how these orcas suffered in captivity.

The backdraft was attendance dropped at SeaWorld and the stock price plummeted. Clearly, the business model of breeding whales to perform silly tricks for SeaWorld was suffering. Wayne was instrumental in getting SeaWorld to end its captive orca breeding program marking the beginning of the end of orcas at SeaWorld. While this happened after his book was completed, it is yet another example of how effective he is at swaying public opinion about the way animals are treated. He is as comfortable in the boardroom as he is in the barnyard.

Advertisement

Even in places as far away as Kenya realize that protecting animals is good for the economy. Wildlife tourism is second only to agriculture as one of Kenya's largest industries. When the tribes there saw that elephants translate into tourism and dollars for their communities then they work to protect elephants.

When Walter Palmer an American dentist and his guides lured a lion named Cecil from the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe by tying a dead elephant carcass to a truck and then killed him there was an international outcry. Palmer hadn't killed just any lion. Cecil was part of an Oxford University research project as well as being a prime attraction for visitors. His death shed light on the despicable practice of trophy hunting. Palmer paid $50,000 to his guides to led him to Cecil so he could add a lion's head to those of other wildlife he had killed over the years. The Zimbabwe Conservation task force found that trophy hunting generated just 0.2 percent of the nation's GDP while nature-based tourism generated 6.4 percent.

Wayne succeeded in getting 45 airlines to pledge that they would not transport lions and other animals killed by trophy hunters. But more remains to be done. We can't ask poor Africans to stop killing elephants for their ivory while rich Americans are killing them for their heads.

One of the best ways to protect animals is through policy change. Wayne has passionately advocated to elected officials that their constituents want to end puppy mills and the use of chimpanzees in experimentation, increase penalties for cruelty to animals, and the protection of wolves and other endangered species. He has gotten countless laws passed that address these issues and more.

Wayne maintains that every business grounded on animal exploitation is ripe for disruption. He notes: "As the humane economy asserts its own power, its own logic, and its essential decency, an older order is passing away, and the near-universal reaction to each new step will be 'good riddance."

Advertisement
Every now and again, fears of pornography are stirred, often by the religious right, under the guise of a "public health" crisis of some sort. Very recently the governor of Utah signed a decree declaring pornography a public health issue. Although claims of the ills of porn are typically far reaching, some of the usual horrors, such as violence toward women, have been largely questioned, in part because rates of such violence have plummeted during the era of internet porn. Teen pregnancy rates, likewise, are declining to historic lows, somewhat inconveniently for the "sky is falling" set.

Claims that viewing pornography may lead some women and teen girls to seek out elective surgery on their labia to obtain a "genital ideal" have been around since at least 2011. The argument is pretty straightforward: Viewing women with perfectly shaped labia leads young women and teen girls to seek out perfect labia of their own through elective, otherwise unnecessary surgery.

The notion that pornography might convince teen girls, in particular, to seek out brutal, painful, unnecessary surgery is intuitively horrifying. And, unlike violence toward women, the numbers appear to be going in the "right" direction, at least as far as the theory goes. As Newsweek in its not-at-all-clickbait titled article "Porn as Sex Ed: Online Smut Warping Teens' Views on Sexuality" notes, labiaplasty among teen girls increased from about 222 cases in the US in 2013 to 400 in 2014. Those numbers (in a country of 320 million people) are obviously very tiny. But are they indicative of a worrisome trend?

Advertisement

Both in the Newsweek article and the earlier 2011 article, claims of a link between such surgeries and pornography are entirely speculative. And they are based on at least a couple critical assumptions.

One assumption is that changes in surgery rates between 2013 and 2014 can be correlated with pornography, easy access to which has been around since the mid-1990s. Few people doubt that teens' access to pornography in modern times is historically unprecedented. But, if pornography were causing a "genital ideal" why would it wait until 2014 to do so? As I've noted elsewhere, the ability to causally link media, in general, to body dissatisfaction among teen girls is controversial, with mixed evidence. But even correlation here doesn't seem to be clear. Why would a correlation wait 20 years to kick in? Particularly, when we're talking about such small numbers (population wise), a year-to-year difference can be little more than a statistical blip. But even if the trend continues, increases in cosmetic surgery interest may reflect little more than increased availability of such surgery, and eased access to it, rather than a media effect.

A second assumption seems to be that teen girls watch a lot of porn and worry about how they compare to the actresses in it. Here's where I was most interested. What evidence is there to directly link, even correlate, girls' consumption of pornography to labiaplasty? The news articles I reviewed they seemed to fit a particular pattern: Clickbait headline, followed by some causal speculation about porn's effects, finally (if you read far enough) concluded with some tacit admissions that there is no actual, you know, evidence to base those speculations on. Despite its histrionic headline the Newsweek article eventually admits (correctly) that research evidence on pornography effects is mixed, and difficult to base causal assertions on.

Advertisement

Curious about this, I reached out to a colleague, Patrick Markey, who has done research on media effects on plastic surgery interest. He told me he was unaware of there having been much research connecting pornography to labiaplasty. Indeed a search of scientific databases didn't turn up anything. I then reached out to Dr. David Veale, who's comments in a 2011 Guardian/Observer article led me to believe he was conducting research in this area: "We haven't completed the research, but there is suspicion that this is related to much greater access to porn, so it is easier for women to compare themselves to actresses who may have had it done. This is to do with the increasing sexualisation of society - it's the last part of the body to be changed."

Dr. Veale informed me via email that he was not, in fact, doing research in this area. But he pointed me to studies by two research groups. Curiously, one of these specifically concluded that pornography was unlikely to be related to labiaplasty noting "We also found that while pornography was associated with openness to labiaplasty, it was not a predictor of genital satisfaction, casting doubt on a linear framework that positions pornography as the main driver for female genital cosmetic surgery." The other article, using self-report surveys, found small correlations between self-reported porn viewing and openness to labiaplasty in Australian women. Like the previous study, no links between pornography and genital satisfaction were found.

So both studies find little evidence to link porn use to genital satisfaction, a key component of much of the speculation I'd read in the news articles. Small correlations seem to exist between porn use and openness to labiaplasty, although this isn't tied to genital satisfaction. It's hard to interpret this. This could simply mean women are more open to labiaplasty for functional health issues rather than cosmetic ones. Or that more liberal women are both more open to pornography and plastic surgery. Overall endorsement of labiaplasty remained low (mean estimated likelihood of seeking labiaplasty in the future was 4.15% in the second study among all women, porn viewers or not.) What is most important is that none of the studies...nadda...zero... have ever linked pornography to actually getting labiaplasty.

What I came away with from all this is that, if society has a problem, it's not pornography. It's awful, misleading newspaper headlines based on zilch. Well, that and the continued abrogation of our responsibility as parents and within our educational system to responsibly educate our young about sexuality. To the extent that porn does teach our teens about sex it's only to the extent we otherwise do such a piss poor job of it as a culture.

Advertisement
EDIT, May 31, 2016: A 2009 contract between West Virginia University and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation required WVU to share credentials of final applicants for Koch-funded professorships before making job offers. The original post was unclear, reading as if Koch assumed control of all professor hiring at WVU. That is not the case, the line has been removed. I apologize for the editorial error. - CG

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA. As the Spring, 2016 semester concluded, George Mason University sophomore Mark Hammond made a daring announcement: he ditched GMU's economics department out of concern that Kansas billionaire Charles Koch's preferences took precedence over his education.

GMU's student paper, the Fourth Estate, apparently forgot to publish Mark's op-ed online. I am republishing Mark's writing here, with his permission. I added references to the text myself.

Advertisement

Last fall, when I first arrived at George Mason, I decided to major in economics. Halfway through the semester, I learned about the large amount of money GMU has accepted from Charles Koch and the power such money has given the Charles Koch Foundation at other universities.

Due to this revelation, and since discovering that GMU is unwilling to prove that Charles Koch does not have undue influence here, I decided to switch out of our economics program. Despite my interest in economics, I refuse to pay an incredible amount of money to receive a degree that has, when considering the precedent set at other universities, likely been shaped by our school's highest bidder.



For context, between 2005-2014, Charles Koch has donated $109.7 million to 361 universities across the country. Of that, $77 million was given to George Mason University alone. Jane Mayer, prominent journalist with the New Yorker, points out in her new book Dark Money that Koch's campus funding is far from philanthropic. Mayer's New York Times best-selling book highlights that Charles' chief strategist, Richard Fink, developed a three-pronged strategy that guides the Koch donor network's political agenda, called the Structure of Social Change. The foundation of this political strategy depends on academics to produce free-market friendly research that offers an appearance of credibility to their public policy pursuits.

In addition to advancing Koch's political agenda through research, Koch Foundation executive Ryan Stowers spoke to the importance of funding academic efforts at Koch's bi-annual political donor summit in June 2015. "Now, these programs also act as a talent pipeline. Professors refer the most passionate students from these programs and graduate programs, so they're training the next generation of the freedom movement."

Advertisement

Put in simpler terms, the minds of the youth are being sold to the Koch's to shape and mold however they please to further their political agenda.



If there ever was a beacon in that talent pipeline, it would be GMU's own Institute of Humane Studies. Mayer notes in her book, "The aim of the IHS was to cultivate and subsidize a farm team of the next generation's libertarian scholars. Anxious at one point that the war of ideas was proceeding too slowly, Charles reportedly demanded better metrics with which to monitor students' political views... Students were tested at the beginning and the end of each week for ideological improvement."



Not only is it clear that Koch is using GMU to advance their political agenda, but we've seen how the cost of accepting Koch money outweighs the benefits on other campuses.

The College of Charleston required the school to give the Koch Foundation private contact information for their students, such as emails and phone numbers, in order for the school to receive the money.

Florida State University, the second largest recipient of Koch donations, was expected to give the Foundation influence over new hires, curriculum, and the publishing of research.

These are clear violations of academic freedom.

Just last week, GMU announced its acceptance of a $30 million donation, $10 million of which was from Charles Koch, to rename our law school after Antonin Scalia. Outrage ensued, and certainly brought much more attention to GMU's relationship with its private donors.

Advertisement

I think it is incredibly important that students, faculty, and staff at GMU, as well as the Virginia Delegates who have raised concerns,, question whether or not donor expectations go much deeper than a name change. If Koch is clearly breaching academic freedom at the other campuses they are funding, is it not appropriate for us to assume that the same violations have happened on the campus that has received more than TWICE as much funding as the other 360 Koch-funded schools combined?

It is time that our university leadership become more accountable to their students than their donors. Until George Mason University proves that we do not merely exist to support Koch's private interests by disclosing all previous donor agreements with the Koch Foundation, we can continue to assume that our university is being guided by the invisible hand of Charles Koch.

See PolluterWatch for more references documenting concern over the Charles Koch Foundation and academic freedom and US colleges and universities.
Silhouettes of people in line to vote

I never want to have the Zika virus. Clearly it would destroy everything that I hold dear. Still, it is out there and I feel obligated to understand what it's all about. Just in case. Which brings me to Donald Trump.

I know he's out there. They mention him a fair amount on the news. Still, honestly, there is not a single person in my social circle who admits they'll vote for our first carrot-colored candidate. This is most likely because I live in lovely, liberal Los Angeles and hang around with people who aren't filled with rage and hatred on a daily basis. (Unless you count my teenagers.)

Advertisement

Still, if for no other reason than self-preservation, I really should try to understand why a large number of voters don't think he's the Anti-Christ with a comb over. He could actually be in charge of our lives in a few months. So, since I have nobody to consult personally, I figured I'd just go public and see what it is I'm not getting:

Dear Trump Voter:

How's your day? I don't mean to upset you - from what I've read, you're pretty upset already - but I have a big favor to ask. I need you to explain your Trump love to me. I realize I'm one of those smug, elitist, graduate school-educated, tree hugging, George Clooney movie-watching, socialist sympathizers your leader isn't fond of. However, I am a middle-aged out of work white guy so we do have some common ground.

I admit that you and I didn't get off to the greatest start. Months ago, I went to a Trump rally in New Hampshire to meet you. However, it was like being surrounded by every character who ever picked on Anthony Michael Hall in a John Hughes movie. And every time the PA announcer urged you to keep your hands off protestors, you booed lustily. So I didn't dare speak to you that night. I'm fine with the idea that a presidential candidate doesn't back down from a fight. It's just manufacturing that fight and then blaming the other side for it seems somewhat dangerous.

There is plenty for us to agree on. From what I can tell, you've attached yourself to Donald Trump primarily because he's not a party hack. He's someone who speaks off the cuff, regardless of how people will perceive his words. And I am totally on board with all of that. In fact, I recently wrote an entire book devoted to the notion of non-traditional presidential candidates - The Can't-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name. I'd love to see a political newcomer seriously contend for the presidency.

Advertisement

However, even the guy in my book who goes by the name Vermin Supreme and wears a boot on his head while promising free ponies to everyone seems less volatile than Trump. Whenever your drunk uncle goes off on a political rant at the Thanksgiving dinner table, you nod politely and hope he passes out soon. And I'm not entirely clear on the difference between his views and Trump's fact-adjacent tirades warning of all the new boogiemen out there eager to destroy us.

Your candidate has not exactly been encouraging to a non-Trump voter like me. Unless I'm reading every single one of his speeches wrong, if you're not with him, you're not only against him. You're the problem. I can't get him to be more understanding of alternate points of view. That's why I'm hoping you'll understand that no matter who wins the election, we're all going to have to learn to peacefully coexist despite our difference. You know, kind of like the Brady kids had to do when Mike and Carol got married.

It would be awesome if at least you and I can focus on our mutual love for a country that lets us adore and ignore whatever we'd like. Movies. Clothing styles. Kale. You go your way and I'll go mine. With respect. I'd also love it if you could explain to your guy that while it's fine to fire everyone who disagrees with you when you run a company, government doesn't work that way. He can't fire every American who dislikes his policies. At least I hope he can't.

Look, the benefit of being liberal is a willingness to allow multiple points of view. And I am happy to temporarily set aside such trivial Trump details as his race baiting or his allergy to truth or the creepy way he talks about his daughter. I mean, there has to be some redeeming quality in the Republican nominee that my evil leftist bias won't allow me to see. And since The Donald probably won't have time to explain himself to me, I am counting on you to show me what I'm missing.

I feel good about this! I think we might be able to make some progress here. We're all in this together, after all. Like we say here in Hollywood, let's do lunch! The taco bowls are on me!

Advertisement

Sincerely,
Liberals and left-leaning individuals in the U.S. trust NPR more than any other news outlet. And, I certainly consume NPR news more than any other mainstream source, usually listening to it at least twice daily, though I abhor its coverage of international events. For these reasons, and with the reader's forbearance, I have chosen to single NPR out to look at how we in the U.S. are collectively misled into ignoring or accepting our own government's atrocities.

This week, NPR has had some significant segments on the world's refugee crisis, the worst since World War II. While Syria is always mentioned in these segments and gets much mention on NPR in general, there is barely a mention of the refugee crisis emanating from Yemen.

And, this is a big omission, for as the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has recently reported, Yemen had more people displaced last year due to conflict than any other country on earth. Thus, 2.2 million people were displaced by the armed conflict in Yemen in 2015, a figure which accounts for over 25% of the 8.6 million people displaced around the globe due to conflict last year. In addition to Yemen's refugee crisis, the IDMC also notes that over 14 million Yemenis are on the verge of starvation as a result of the current conflict.

Advertisement

Yet, the only discussion I have found that NPR gave to Yemen in the context of the world refugee crisis was one, solitary piece back on May 11, and that piece was very telling in what it refused to say about the causes for Yemen's mass displacement problem.

Citing the IDMC report, NPR stated:

Many times people become IDPs [internally displaced peoples] because their government is unable to protect them and keep them in their homes in the first place. At other times their government may have been actively involved in attacking them. The regime in Syria has been repeatedly accused of bombing its own people. The greatest number of IDBs in a single country in 2015 was in Yemen, which is currently in the throes of conflict. "The majority are not living in camps," [Interim Director of IDMC, Alexandra] Bilak says. "There's very little camp infrastructure in Yemen. The majority are living in overcrowded rented accommodations. Many have moved into schools and public spaces. Some are in tents or makeshift shelters. They're exposed to harassment and gender-based violence. They're suffering from food insecurity. Their children are no longer going to school."

The foregoing piece, which seems to me to very typical of mainstream reporting, is quite interesting when broken down and analyzed. First of all, while we are told absolutely nothing about what the Yemen "conflict" is or who the players are there, we are told at least something about the Syrian conflict. Specifically, we are told that "[t]he regime in Syria has been repeatedly accused of bombing its own people." This is, of course, true. But it is also true that Islamic terrorist groups in Syria are responsible for attacking and displacing their fair share of civilians, not to mention the U.S. which itself has bombed and killed hundreds of civilians in Syria, but there is no mention of such trifles in this NPR piece.

Advertisement

In addition, as is typical of most mainstream reporting, the government of Syria is referred to as a "regime." Of course, we always refer to governments as "regimes" to suggest that they lack legitimacy and that they are somehow nefarious. Curiously, though, one will hear the Saudi government referred to as a "regime" with much less frequency than the Syrian government, despite the fact Saudi Arabia is governed by a repressive, unelected monarchy which, as many of us suspected all along, apparently bankrolled the 9/11 attacks against the U.S.

And, of course, it is the Saudi regime which is most responsible for the suffering and massive refugee crisis in Yemen. Again, one strains to hear of this fact, and this fact is indeed notably absent from the foregoing NPR piece which itself relies on the most recent IDMC report. However, the IDMC report, which quite correctly refers to Yemen as "an overlooked crisis," makes it clear that "[t]he upsurge in violence [in Yemen] has largely been attributed to the Saudi-led military intervention in the conflict." The same report also points out that the Saudi-led economic and humanitarian blockade of Yemen is the prime cause of the "sharp deterioration in living conditions" in Yemen. But, apparently, none of this is worth repeating.

Even less will one hear of the fact that it is the U.S. government (or, the U.S. regime if you will) that is playing a key role in arming and giving logistical and diplomatic support to Saudi Arabia in its slaughter, displacement and starving of Yemini civilians. This may explain why, in the words of the IDMC, Yemen's conflict is indeed "overlooked," for Western media outlets, such as NPR, are loath to give too much attention to U.S.-sponsored crimes.

To be clear, it is not that NPR and other media outlets never mention such inconvenient facts, they just do so rarely. So, for example, in the case of Yemen, I was able to find only six (6) occasions this year in which NPR had a segment talking about the link between the U.S. and the Saudi coalition assault on Yemen. This is compared to the coverage given to Syria, and in particular the human rights abuses of the Assad government, which is nearly a daily drum beat.

The result of this disproportionate news coverage is that the listener could very well miss out entirely on any discussion of such issues as U.S.-backed crimes in Yemen. And, even if one does hear a segment or two on this matter, this issue will be easily forgotten and certainly not taken as seriously or treated as urgently as the misdeeds of the U.S.'s ostensible enemies, such as Syria's Assad government, to which NPR gives nearly obsessive attention.

Advertisement
On an almost daily basis, we read stories about how every industry is facing digital disruption. Although a flurry of negative articles warning how we are heading for a dystopian technological future, the reality is that disruption has always happened it is the speed at which it happens that has changed. Way ack in 1942 Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase "Creative Destruction" to describe something new that kills something old.

Dominant and seemingly untouchable brands have disappeared over the years. It was only 15 years ago that Nokia ruled the world of mobile phones. Its ubiquity ensured that people didn't even need to talk about the brand itself and referred to handsets by their number such as the famous 3210 that so many people loved.

Many have questioned if what people are calling the sharing economy will replace the economy we have now. There are also countless examples of businesses retiring roles from our past and replacing with new relevant jobs that transform industries. The disappearance of iconic brands such as Pan Am, Enron and Blockbuster to name a few, illustrate how our world can change dramatically very quickly.

Advertisement

Could a major technology company, one that has been on the leading edge for years, face disruption? Earlier this year, we learned that Google paid Apple $1 billion to keep its search bar on all Apple devices. In addition, the search engine behemoth continues to pay a percentage of any revenue that generates from an Apple device. Although the exact figure is unknown, was revealed in court to have been as high as 34 percent. Google objected and asked the judge to strike the mention of this highly sensitive figure from the record. But the number itself is irrelevant; it's the over-reliance on another platform that provides concern.

Another revealing statistic is that 75% of Google's mobile advertising revenue comes from Apple's iOS devices. This raises several questions around what would happen if Apple suddenly refused to accept the $1 billion and remove the Google search engine from all of its devices Could this high dependency on Apple be Google's Achilles heel?

If Yahoo's Marissa Mayer succeeded in her plan to persuade Apple to replace Google with Yahoo obile earch, would the fortunes of both companies be very different right now? With the majority of mobile ad revenue being generated on a competitor's platform, it becomes very easy to see how even the most powerful search engine in the world has vulnerabilities.

The massive untapped Chinese market, for example, has been troublesome for Google with many of services blocked by government firewalls. Google is uncomfortably dependent on Apple in this area and needs to prepare for the eventuality that could pull the plug at any moment to create solution or sell to a higher bidder.

Advertisement

Both Apple and Google have been using what I call an anticipatory methodology to rapidly grow to the size and power they enjoy today. Apple has been increasingly using its anticipatory strategy to design and leverage its strong position in hardware. An interesting article in Apple Insider went as far suggest that Apple could be planning to "starve Google's core business into irrelevance by targeting the valuable foundation of Internet ads"

As we all know, the devil is always in the details. It's hard to tell if this is strategy at this time. On the other hand, it is relatively straightforward to demystify technological change and find certainty in an uncertain world by focusing on being anticipatory rather than getting good at reacting faster than others. There is already evidence that Google is protecting business by leveraging a number of Hard Trends to shape its future rather than dig in and compete with others.

Google has never been a conventional company and seems to understand that innovation can be applied to corporate structure not just products and services. For example, Google continu to experiment with an everincreasing number of potentially game-changing projects, looked ahead at the predictable problems would be facing regarding current corporate structure and pre-solved those future problems by creating the parent company Alphabet last year. This was a powerful way to turn a future organizational problem into an opportunity. By becoming a modern version of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, will provide a much better way to accelerate growth and extend Google's ongoing influence in our lives.
A well-known writer emailed me when I started my biography of Woody Allen: "Tell! Tell!" She added, "I was shocked! Shocked!" I asked her what she was shocked about. She shared with me the explosive info that she had sat next to Woody's table at Elaine's and that she thought that he and two friends were exchanging notes about threesomes. I assured her I'd heard far worse among my own writer friends over a lifetime. "Writers are not pussycats," I wrote her, "at least none of the hundreds I've known."

Woody Allen is not an angel. As his third and current biographer, I can attest to it. That does not mean he is a pedophile who molested his and Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, as a child.

Twenty-three years after the alleged events, Mia Farrow, aided by her children Dylan and Ronan, continues to wage a campaign against him. They insist that Woody did molest his seven-year-old daughter and that in spite of this, the "old school" media is colluding in protecting him, that major stars continue to work with him, and that festivals like Cannes continue to honor him. The onslaught now seems to occur when there is a major cultural event that Allen is participating in. Another family member, Moses Farrow, Woody and Mia's adopted son, now a family therapist, maintains that Woody is innocent of all charges and that he was a loving father. Moses now has a close relationship with him after years of estrangement. He told People, "Of course Woody did not molest my sister....I don't know if my sister really believes she was molested or is trying to please her mother. Pleasing my mother was [a] very powerful motivation because to be on her wrong side was horrible."

Advertisement

I received the following response to an interview I requested with Moses from attorney Eric J. Broder on January 12, 2015: "I spoke to Moses and he advised me that he does not want to be interviewed at this time and would only say that a terrible and dishonest thing was done to his father. He further explained that he knows this to be true because he was there."

And of course there are a few other facts to dispose of: Woody was never convicted -- not

even charged criminally -- with molesting Dylan Farrow as a child. He was only accused by Mia. After six months of investigation, which included medical examinations, Yale-New Haven Hospital issued its report on March 17, 1993: "Child Sexual Abuse Clinic Evaluation of Dylan Farrow." It was compiled by Dr. John Leventhal, a pediatrician and director of the hospital's prestigious Child Sexual Abuse Clinic, and two clinical social workers trained to detect child sexual abuse. Dr. Leventhal had interviewed Dylan nine times and had met with Allen and Farrow. The interviews were exhaustive, and forensic tests were conducted. Allen had to contribute samples of hair from every part of his body.The report completely exonerated Allen of all charges and recommended that Woody and Dylan be reunited quickly. Referring to Farrow's "very disturbed relationship" with Dylan and Satchel (now Ronan), it said it was "absolutely critical" for Mia Farrow to undertake "intensive psychotherapy to address these relationships." Linda Fairstein, a former prosecutor who headed the Sex Crimes Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from 1976 to 2002, also refuted the charges against Allen. "Dylan may really believe that Woody abused her," she told me in 2015. "I just don't think he did, and I don't think there's any evidence that he did."

Advertisement

But no, he is not an angel. By planting the nude pictures of Soon-Yi where Mia would be certain to find them, he squashed her like a bug and never looked back. The master of compartmentalization, Woody can be a somewhat chilly soul. His warmth is in his films. As his mother said in "Wild Man Blues," she wished he were "a warmer person."

Woody's childhood pal, Dr. Jerry Epstein, a psychiatrist, told me that with Woody, it was "Me real, you shadow." He added, "There's no feeling of guilt in him, nor of conscience. It's always your fault and it's always your responsibility." It was Epstein who got Woody into psychoanalysis at the age of 20. "I used to later meet Lou Lynd, another psychoanalyst I sent Woody to, on the street, and he would schmooze. We would commonly get around to talking about Woody. Lynd said to me, 'Woody did so well with me. But the one thing I missed -- I'm taking responsibility for it -- I didn't seek to socialize him.'"

Allen had a strained relationship with his strict and punishing mother -- who, he has said, hit him every day. Nettie Konigsberg was unintentionally funny, never knowing what the joke was. She cracked Woody up every day. Another boyhood friend, Elliott Mills, recalled for me that Woody's mother "was a hysteric, and Woody drove her to greater heights of hysteria. The angrier she got, the funnier she got. Woody would tell her that she looked like Groucho Marx, and she was both flustered and flattered. `Well, so what?' she said. `He's a handsome man!' Woody said, `But Ma, you're a woman.' We roared, but she did not see what was so funny. He drove her nuts. He knew what set her off. So he would do it."

I think Woody's deliberate coolness may have been influenced by his witnessing his mother's vulnerability due to her lack of control of her emotions. In "Deconstructing Harry," Woody plays Harry Block, who drives his psychiatrist wife to rage and frenzy by patiently explaining that he is having an affair with her female patient because he doesn't meet women anywhere else. He says, "I was merely explaining why my choice of necessity is confined to your practice." Harry baits and incites his wife while pretending that he does not understand his wife's fury. Allen, the writer, of course, has a total awareness of Harry's seeming unawareness. He keeps it up: "I cannot understand why the most sophisticated of women can't tell the difference between a meaningless, hot, passionate sexual affair and a nice, solid, tranquil routine marriage."

He taunted his first wife, Harlene Rosen for many years of his adulthood, making fun of her in his nightclub act and on television. He called her "Quasimodo." He held up a picture of a house with her in front of it and said she was the one who had shingles. He said that on her birthday he gave her an electric chair, pretending it was a hair dryer

And most famously of all, there is Mia and her discovery of the nude pictures of Soon-Yi. I would call Woody's behavior his ultimate taunt, his characteristic fear of confrontation, and I would call it unconscionable. But conflating that behavior with the molestation of his daughter, barring any facts or past patterns of similar conduct, seems to me to be a huge leap.
I've got a book in front of me: According to the cover, it's the "20th Anniversary Edition of the Classic Bestseller." The book is called And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.

It was written by Randy Shilts, who in the book's acknowledgments states, "I would not have been able to write this book if I had not been a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, the only daily newspaper in the United States that did not need a movie star to come down with AIDS before it considered the epidemic a legitimate news story deserving thorough coverage."

It's a striking statement, isn't it, with the benefit of hindsight? What Shilts in 1987 described an epidemic we now know to be a pandemic, a global massacre by infectious disease. According to AIDS.gov, 36.9 million people currently live with HIV/AIDS and, "Even today, despite advances in our scientific understanding of HIV and its prevention and treatment as well as years of significant effort by the global health community and leading government and civil society organizations, most people living with HIV or at risk for HIV do not have access to prevention, care, and treatment, and there is still no cure." Thirty-four million people have died from AIDS to date.

Advertisement

Shilts understood what others did not because, as a reporter in San Francisco, he saw the devastation in a way most didn't. He also acquired HIV himself. His health crisis and the roadblocks that the medical community put before him as a result motivated him to investigate.

A couple of important selections from Shilts's prologue:

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome had seemed a comfortably distant threat to most of those who had heard of it before, the misfortune of people who fit into rather distinct classes of outcasts and social pariahs. But suddenly, in the summer of 1985, when a movie star was diagnosed with the disease and the newspapers couldn't stop talking about it, the AIDS epidemic suddenly became palpable and the threat loomed everywhere.



Eventually, Shilts wrote, "there was a threat to the nation's public health that could no longer be ignored." But:

Advertisement

By the time America paid attention to the disease, it was too late to do anything about it. The virus was already a pandemic in the nation, having spread to every corner of the North American continent. The AIDS epidemic, of course, did not arise full grown from the biological landscape; the problem had been festering throughout the decade. There had been a time when much of this suffering could have been prevented, but by 1985 that time had passed. Indeed, by the time we learned that Rock Hudson was stricken ... hundreds of thousands were infected with the virus that causes the disease.

It's late May. May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Unlike World AIDS Day, which even Google has indexed on its calendar, and likewise unlike Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lyme disease awareness activities don't get much publicity. A lot of people work hard to raise awareness, but sadly it's mostly among themselves -- as was the case before Randy Shilts began to publicly document the HIV/AIDS crisis and, more significantly even in Shilts's admission, before celebrities began to contract HIV or act out in support of AIDS patients. Elizabeth Taylor alone fast-forwarded recognition of the reality of HIV/AIDS by years and saved countless lives in doing so.

I don't know how to make this plainer: Lyme disease is the AIDS of our time. We are, right now, where Randy Shilts was when he wrote And the Band Played On. Yet only 30 years later, the public still can't see what's right in front of them. Health Scares of the Week, from Ebola to West Nile to SARS to bird flu to swine flu come and go and thus far have affected few Americans; meanwhile, one in every 100 Americans each year contracts Lyme, and many of them develop multiple sclerosis-like conditions following prescribed treatment. Patients are desperate, many going bankrupt trying to find help for their disabling condition. They are met with silence. Sometimes even with laughs.

The very title of Shilts's book refers to the obliviousness and disinterest of, well, everyone when the AIDS crisis was emerging -- there was an explosion of illness. The band played on, undisturbed and uninterrupted.

Advertisement

The band is playing on now, as I write this.

The CDC estimates that over 300,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year. The CDC unfortunately also insists that Lyme can be easily diagnosed and easily cured, permanently. So strange for a public health crisis of the sheer magnitude of Lyme disease, relatively little -- $24 million per year -- is invested in researching the disease pathology, diagnostic tests, and treatment.

As with AIDS and Rock Hudson, respectful Lyme disease stories have made the news most often when a celebrity who has Lyme was involved. Avril Lavigne was put on the cover of PEOPLE, and she told NBC's Today that, "This is what they do to a lot of people that have Lyme disease. They don't have an answer for them, so they tell them ... 'You're crazy.'"

And the band played on.

My experience was the same: The first neurologist I saw gave me thousands of dollars of tests (some of which my insurance did not cover, including an MRI I paid out of pocket for) and then concluded, "I wouldn't be surprised if a nice, long beach vacation didn't make all your symptoms go away." A year later, after my leg was going intermittently paralyzed and I had double vision, I saw another neurologist. Two years and dozens of labs later, he concluded that the many lab anomalies, some of which were "very concerning," didn't add up to multiple sclerosis or any other known condition. "Something is definitely going on with you," he said. "Something neurological. But unfortunately, we have no idea what it is." And without a diagnosis, I was dismissed -- that was all they could do. He told me to come back if two of the following three things happen:

Double vision for longer than one week, in consecutive days with no break.

Paralysis of a limb for longer than one week, in consecutive days with no break.

Incontinence. That is, losing all control of my bowels.

Otherwise, it was essentially, "We tried. We looked. We have no idea. Try to take your mind off of it because, unfortunately, that's all that can be done at this time." I appreciated the honesty, frankly.

Advertisement

And I was surprised and disappointed to discover that so many medical doctors today are one hundred percent dependent on existing laboratory tests to determine whether or not anything is wrong. Even if a patient is falling apart, in excruciating pain, even with paralysis, most doctor do not investigate once labs come back inconclusive. In my mind, this lack of medical investigation is a perfect recipe for cultivating a new epidemic such as HIV/AIDS. We now know that AIDS victims may not be symptomatic for 10-15 years, and during its incubation period, those infected can unwittingly transmit it to countless people. Within a decade, the contagion is exponential before anyone even knows the disease exists. This happened prior to the known emergence of the AIDS crisis and the HIV virus in the 80s, and it is bound to happen again if medical professionals refuse to investigate prevalent, consistently presenting medical issues about which not much is known.

Ally Hilfiger, daughter of designer Tommy Hilfiger, has been making the rounds with Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Made Me Crazy, Stole My Childhood, and Almost Killed Me, a memoir of her disastrous young life with Lyme disease. She told New York magazine: "I sat down at my computer and decided one day. I said, 'Listen, enough is enough, I'm going to sit down and write this.' And I started writing. There was something outside of me that was propelling me. It was my duty, and I did it," she added.

Hilfiger said about another prominent case of Lyme, that of Yolanda Hadid (formerly Foster), a star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills whose devastating illness has been dismissed as a mental illness such as Munchausen's by proxy, "It's very sad what they're going through, the Hadids, because nobody should ever be questioned about a disease that they're going through, or what they're telling people that they're feeling ... Nobody should question a disease."

Advertisement

And yet they do. I don't have the space to go into it here, but in an important series of articles called "Deconstructing Lyme Disease -- Room for Debate" (from 2013, and in desperate need of an updated take based on newer science), The New York Times discusses the Lyme disease controversy from multiple perspectives. This includes, of course, a high-profile person -- Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, who describes a horrific Lyme experience that closely reflects my own. She wrote:

Many members of the medical establishment who dictate the official criteria for Lyme diagnosis, treatment and insurance coverage still maintain that Lyme is easy to diagnose. They discount research that shows Lyme bacteria can evade detection by standard blood tests. And they play down late-stage cases like mine, which require intensive, long-term treatment, insisting the disease is always cured with a simple round of antibiotics.

Above, top: A slide used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a May 24, 2016 conference call for medical professionals about Lyme disease, stating that the CDC-recommended Lyme disease blood tests are 100 percent sensitive in late-stage Lyme disease. Above, bottom: 8 discrete studies published in peer-reviewed journals concluding that these tests are 18 to 67 percent sensitive. CDC did not cite sources for its 100 percent sensitivity claim, and did not respond to a request for citation.

This is reality. There is a Lyme Disease Awareness Month because the band keeps playing on. We all know that celebrities and well-respected known people have access to special treatment -- yet in this truly inexplicable trend, even they are told, when they present with devastating health issues, that they are not ill -- Avril Lavigne was lazy, Ally Hilfiger was crazy, Yolanda Hadid has Munchausen by proxy, Amy Tan was told that Lyme is rare and while something may be wrong--something that can't be diagnosed -- it is not Lyme. I was told the same. She started antibiotic treatment and her health improved. So did mine. So did Ally Hilfiger's, so did Avril Lavigne's. If you knew someone to whom this was happening, it would blow your mind. Well, brace yourself, because based upon the sheer prevalence of Lyme, the third most common infectious disease in the country and the fastest-spreading bacterial disease, you'll know someone soon if you don't already. And you will wish that someone had done more about it before it happened to that person, who could be you or your child. While we fondly reminisce about those SARS and swine flu scares, Lyme disease is approaching from the horizon like a tsunami -- a tsunami coming at us from all sides.

The band plays on while countless people go through this same ordeal. Those I mentioned are only a few of the high-profile people who went through this. There's your celebrity. Pay attention. And then there's little old me -- not known to anyone, but screaming out into the world for people to connect the dots because the downplaying of the emerging AIDS virus of the 80s and the emergence of Lyme and associated tickborne infectious diseases.

The band plays on. Randy Shilts wrote that by the time the public caught on to the prevalence and severity of HIV/AIDS, it was "too late." I hate to say this, but the same is true of Lyme. Except that, as we saw with HIV/AIDS, it's not too late to invest in research. It's not too late to develop diagnostic tests that work. It's not too late to support researchers so that they can figure out how this bizarre, misunderstood and miscommunicated disease works and then find a way to manage or cure it.

Silencing conversations about epidemics is extraordinarily dangerous. Yet that is what is happening right now. A reporter from a Salisbury, Maryland news station asked the Centers for Disease Control and prevention to speak with her about Lyme disease, given that it is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. She was told:

Advertisement

At this time, we respectfully decline your request for an on camera interview.



She posted the correspondence on the WMDT47/ABC News website, and it's telling of the way this disease is being handled. Over 300,000 cases per year, dismissed as insignificant and warranting $24 million in NIH funding, in favor of Zika's emergency status (like SARS, swine and bird flus, Ebola), which is the top priority at CDC and to which Congress is considering dedicating $622 million to $1.1 billion in response to the White House's request for $1.9 billion.

CDC Director Tom Friedman was quoted in the New York Times as saying: "Three months is an eternity for control of an outbreak," he said, adding: "There is a narrow window of opportunity here and it's closing. Every day that passes makes it harder to stop Zika."

"This is no way to fight an epidemic," Friedman said.

To date, Zika has affected 544 Americans, not one of whom contracted it domestically.

Annually, over 300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease in this country. Think about those numbers. You can count to 544. Try counting to 300,000.

Denying funding, refusing to revise medical guidelines that are not working, denying media interviews about Lyme disease... This is no way to fight an epidemic, I say.

I have to tell you, thinking and talking about Lyme disease brings tears to my eyes. Not only because of the terror it has brought to my life. Not only because I've now met hundreds of people who are going through similar stories. Not only because, despite so many high-profile cases making the news as blips that come and then are forgotten. But because this has happened before, and histories like this should not repeat.

Advertisement

From And the Band Played On:

Because of their efforts, the story of politics, people, and the AIDS epidemic is, ultimately, a tale of courage as well as cowardice, compassion as well as bigotry, inspiration as well as venality, and redemption as well as despair. It is a tale that bears telling, so that it will never happen again, to any people, anywhere.
Reza Aslan is a frequent commentator on the subject of Islam, having made appearances on CNN, The Daily Show, and numerous other outlets. In many ways, Aslan has become a leading voice in the public conversation. In a clip from the January 11 edition of The David Pakman Show, I dug deeper into some of the claims made by Aslan. He made some claims that are untrue, such as, "Bangladesh and Malaysia are free, open societies for women." Take a look:

More recently, a journalist named Sulome Anderson published an article on VICE titled, "What My Dad's Kidnapping by Muslim Terrorists Taught Me About Islamophobia." In a paragraph towards the end of the piece, Anderson references The David Pakman Show, namely the critique of Reza Aslan I mentioned above. She states that I've "...dedicated several episodes of [my] show to questioning Aslan's credentials and trying to poke holes in his arguments." In addition to this, she says I present my "own stats." As I explain in this clip, the stats I cite are in great part the same as those used by Aslan to affirm his claims.

Advertisement
On May 25 the New York Times published an op-ed by Thomas Friedman with the incendiary title, "Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel-Palestine," which attempts to show just how far the Israeli Prime Minister has gone to destroy any notion of a two-state solution. That Friedman would have only now caught on to the demise of such a possibility should indicate just how far out of touch he is.

Friedman spends his space talking about Netanyahu's purging of Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and his naming of "far-right Avigdor Lieberman" as his Yaalon's replacement. But he begins his piece with this entree: "Israel has recently been under intense criticism on the world stage. Some of it, like the 'boycott, divestment, sanctions' (B.D.S.) campaign, is a campus movement to destroy Israel masquerading as a political critique."

Friedman seems to take always alluding in some way or another to BDS as an obligation. Not only does he do so with remarkable consistency, he also always gets it wrong. More than two years ago, Mondoweiss succinctly captured Friedman's modus operanti: "Not only does he try to obfuscate the origin of the successful movement and the extent of its success but he tries to cut it down to acceptable proportions."

Advertisement

Yes, Friedman persistently misattributes the origins of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, (BDS) which in 2005 emanated not from U.S. college campuses as he suggests, but rather from Palestinian civil society, with over 170 Palestinian political parties, organizations, trade unions and movements joining together to fight for Palestinian rights. Talk about obfuscation.

Besides purposefully erasing the origins of BDS, Friedman constantly ignores its reach. Well beyond the borders of U.S. college campuses, churches, unions, artists, writers, musicians and others, from around the world, have either explicitly endorsed BDS or taken on one or another of its tactics. And they are doing so in increasing numbers.

In April the Alliance of Baptists affirmed the use of boycott, divestment, and sanctions to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land; in May the United Methodist Church passed three measures criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights; in January that same church put five Israeli banks on a blacklist, declaring that the church would do no business with banks involved in the Occupation; previously in 2014 the United Presbyterian Church voted to divest from companies doing business on the West Bank.

In terms of labor unions, Vijay Prashad notes,

a host of US labor unions have decided to endorse the BDS pledge. The United Electrical Workers (UE), a union of over thirty-five thousand members, debated the question of Israel's occupation of Palestine at its August 2015 convention. "Our government is on the wrong side," said Angaza Laughinghouse of Local 150 (North Carolina). "We have to stand on the right side of the Palestine struggle." Laughinghouse's union--UE--decided to unanimously endorse BDS and to actively work "to become engaged in BDS." In October, the two hundred thousand members of the AFL-CIO of Connecticut passed a resolution that called upon the national AFL-CIO to endorse BDS "in connection with companies and investments profiting from or complicit in human rights violations arising from the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the State of Israel."

Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325 comments, "By respecting the BDS picket line, a growing number of U.S. trade unions are honoring the most fundamental labor principle: An injury to one is an injury to all. The refusal by ILWU Local 10 dockers to handle Israeli Zim Line cargo in 2014 shows the unparalleled power of labor solidarity against apartheid Israel."

Artists and musicians such as Junot Diaz, Lauryn Hill, Roger Waters, Chuck D, Boots Riley, and others have come out in solidarity with the Palestinians, and in Augist 2015 over a thousand Black artists and activists signed on. As I reported then:

On the anniversary of last summer's Gaza massacre, in the 48th year of Israeli occupation, the 67th year of Palestinians' ongoing Nakba (the Arabic word for Israel's ethnic cleansing)--and in the fourth century of Black oppression in the present-day United States--we, the undersigned Black activists, artists, scholars, writers, and political prisoners offer this letter of reaffirmed solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and commitment to the liberation of Palestine's land and people. The list of signatories includes scholar-activists Angela Davis and Cornel West, political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sundiata Acoli, rappers Talib Kweli, Boots Riley and Jasiri X, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. Organizational signers include the Florida-based Dream Defenders and St. Louis-based Hands Up United and Tribe X, which were founded after the killings of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, respectively, as well as the 35-year-old Organization for Black Struggle in St. Louis.

Commenting on Friedman's latest, Mondoweiss again has it just right:

Friedman's smear is obviously the establishment litmus test these days. Hillary Clinton says BDS is bad. So does President Obama, so does the French prime minister. But that will soon change. As Israel sinks further into its existential identity crisis, the few remaining liberals among the Jewish elites there will turn desperately to the world to pressure Israel, as Gideon Levy and Larry Derfner have already done. That pressure means boycott, divestment and sanctions. And if it also means the end of Israel as a Jewish state, that prospect will by then no longer be tragic to realistic Americans, including Friedman, who have glimpsed the paranoid Sparta that the Jewish democracy has produced.

Most egregious is Friedman's claim that BDS is aimed to destroy the state of Israel. That again is wrong. What BDS is aimed to do is restore the rights to Palestinians guaranteed them by international law and human rights conventions. It is meant to undo a set of illegal practices which the state of Israel has engaged in historically, and today, with increasing frequency. It is because of its basis in human rights that BDS has gained such popularity.
Just as America's veterans organization are coming together to demand better government protection against deceptive and abusive practices by for-profit colleges, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) seems to want to move in the opposite direction, pushing an amendment that would require the Pentagon to allow any college approved for military tuition benefits to have unrestricted access to recruit on military bases. Veterans and military groups, as well as other Senators, are now working to stop this Manchin amendment.

Senator Manchin's amendment might please, among others, a for-profit college headquartered in his home state, American Public University System (APUS), which runs the online schools American Military University and American Public University. APUS, whose student body has been more than 50 percent active duty military, has more reasonable tuition prices and is the subject of fewer student complaints than some of the worst for-profit schools, but it had a 23 percent student loan default rate in the most recent reported year, 2012 -- a dramatic increase from previous years. APUS saw its student enrollment grow by some 400 percent in the five years leading up to 2012, in a period when for-profit and online education exploded, spurred by reckless deregulation under the Bush Administration.

But beyond concerns about APUS, the Manchin amendment, which was adopted by voice vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee, would allow even the most predatory colleges to recruit service members on bases without restrictions.

Advertisement

The existing Pentagon rules, set in motion by President Obama's 2012 Executive Order, allow all schools fair access to military bases, if they obtain permission and agree to make truthful disclosures to students and avoid over-aggressive and deceptive recruiting.

Last year the Pentagon banned the biggest for-profit college, troubled University of Phoenix, from bases and from tuition aid for alleged recruiting violations that the Defense Department termed "disconcerting" in "frequency and scope." Leading veterans groups, such as Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Student Veterans of America, and Vietnam Veterans of America, had helped formulate the current rules, and those and other groups wrote to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter last fall to thank him for enforcing the rules by penalizing the University of Phoenix and to report that many of their members had "experienced deceptive recruiting" by colleges including the University of Phoenix.

Aggressive pressure from Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain (R-AZ) on behalf of Phoenix, his home state institution, led to a Pentagon reversal of its decision early this year. Now, the Manchin amendment could aid McCain's mission to roll back protections for service members, and increase access for predatory colleges that give generous campaign donations to McCain and other politicians.

Other Senators want to defeat this harmful Manchin amendment. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), another Armed Services Committee member, issued a statement questioning why schools should have this compelled access to bases, when they already can recruit online and can recruit on military posts with the permission of the base commander. The existing rules, Heinrich said, "seem appropriate to ensure predatory recruiting practices are curtailed, which gave rise to those regulations in the first place." Heinrich also questioned as "particularly troubling" an aspect of the Manchin amendment that would require access to be granted in proportion to the number of students enrolled by each school; he said such a shift "has the potential to incentivize predatory conduct." Heinrich added that the Manchin amendment "appears to create a significant security concern for commanders."

Advertisement

Heinrich called for the Manchin amendment to be reconsidered on the Senate floor, and other Senators agree with him and are planning to again highlight the harms of predatory recruiting against U.S. troops.

Veterans groups are also uniting against the Manchin amendment, arguing in letters they have drafted to McCain and to Manchin, "Weakening the existing DOD regulations is the opposite of what servicemembers need right now." They add, "we remain concerned that some educational institutions are still engaged in misleading and aggressive recruiting on military installations, as recent law enforcement actions have demonstrated." The letters, still circulating for signatures, have already been joined by the Air Force Sergeants Association, Air Force Women Officers Associated, Association of the United States Navy, Blue Star Families, Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, National Association for Black Veterans, Veterans Education Success, VetJobs, Vietnam Veterans of America, and at least twelve other veterans or student advocacy groups.

UPDATE 05-26-16 12:15 pm:

Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Ed Markey (D-MA) have introduced an amendment to strip the Manchin provision from the defense authorization bill. "Congress should be defending our military against for-profit colleges' predatory and aggressive tactics, not inviting these companies on bases where servicemembers live and work," said Brown. "We need to keep for-profit colleges off of military bases...."

Advertisement

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights issued a statement supporting the Senators' amendment. It reads in part:

The Manchin amendment is unnecessary, as DOD already sets guidelines for colleges to have adequate access to military installations, especially for academic advising. Also, the Manchin amendment undermines the DOD's goal of ensuring members of the military are able to perform their duties without being subjected to harassment by aggressive college recruiters, a practice often performed by forprofit institutions. The civil rights community has become increasingly concerned about the rise of the forprofit educational industry, and adoption of the Manchin amendment would lead to an increase in misleading and aggressive recruiting by for-profit schools on military bases. People of color represent a significant portion of the military, and oftentimes, they are recruited to enroll at for-profit institutions. Research suggests that for-profit institutions are undermining rather than enhancing economic opportunities for African-American and Latino students. Students attending for-profit institutions have comparatively worse performance outcomes than those at public and private non-profit institutions. Data show that students at four-year for-profit institutions are less likely to graduate and more likely to default on their student loans. At the same time, students attending for-profit institutions borrow significantly more money to cover college costs. Students of color who enter programs of study with virtually-guaranteed poor outcomes are left with crippling debt, few prospects for repayment, and compromised future opportunities. We urge you to help strip the Manchin amendment in order to hold predatory colleges responsible for their fraudulent and abusive tactics.

The Hill and Politico have now written about the controversy.
Having gone to a small women's college, I had a great opportunity to work closely with the math department professors and get all the individual attention that I needed.

Going into college, I had decided on being an English major, though I did take calculus in my first year. That class was taught by an excellent professor, and all of a sudden, math concepts made a lot of sense to me; following my first year of college, that same professor advised me that, although it was fine to be an English major, having a math degree would add career options.

"In her words, employers know that 'people with math degrees can think logically.' So, I ended up majoring in both English and math. Keep in mind that when I went to college, there were few computer science programs, and almost no programming classes taught, except in heavy-duty engineering schools.
Dark Hand in Heavy Chains

Key West is known for sunshine and being a vacation paradise. It is the most southern tip of the United States, 90 miles from Cuba. You can embark on an adventure through a trolley ride, visit President Harry Truman's "Little Whitehouse," walk the legendary trails of Ernest Hemingway, and eat countless slices of Key Lime pie. The warm weather, delicious food, and cultural diversity will have you book the next trip upon arrival. I was fully indulging in the Florida Sunshine experience when my tour guide mentioned the African Cemetery. This sent me on a path of exploration and self-discovery.

A missing chapter of the Key West tourist experience is a memorial site which is nestled on the shores of Higgs Beach. It provides a glimpse into the horrific, human degradation and deprivation of human dignity experienced during the Atlantic slave trade.

Advertisement

During the period between the late 1600s and early 1800s, millions of Africans were enslaved and placed on slave ships headed to the United States, Brazil, and Caribbean. This treacherous voyage from Africa to America could take from three weeks to three months. Many died at sea before reaching the distant land. Slaves were chained together and left to wade in pools of their own blood, urine, and feces. One 18th century ship observer wrote, "The floor of the rooms was so covered with blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of dysentery that it resembled a slaughter house." Notably, you could smell a slave ship before it was even physically visible.

By 1820, transporting slaves across the ocean had been declared illegal. This did not end slavery in the United States but only restricted new Africans from being transported to the United States and Europe.

In 1860, three American-owned ships headed to Cuba were captured in Key West, Florida due their contents- illegal cargo referred to as "slaves." The three ships were the Bogota, Wildfire, and William. Almost 1,500 Africans were onboard when the ships were captured by the U.S. Navy. 295 people died during the eighty five days they were in Key West. The survivors were sent to Liberia for the possibility of re-settlement. Many did not survive and died at sea before reaching Liberia.

The history of the African Cemetery was discovered in 1997 by historian Gail Swanson. The memorial site is located on the shores of Higgs Beach. The center of the memorial is a compass surrounded by a map of the world which illustrates the route of the slave trade from the distant shores of Benin and the Congo to the United States. The backdrop is the clear blue still waters of the Atlantic Ocean. You are greeted by a gentle breeze with the sun beaming in your eyes.

Advertisement

The sayings alongside the memorial help to connect the past, present and the future. The sayings are beautifully engraved into each post. Some of them are featured below:

1.Nkonsonkonson reminds us that "we are linked by blood in life and death." The symbol is a chain which connects the slave experience with a rich legacy of perseverance, tenacity, community, and faith.

2.Gye Nyame sets forth the omnipotent nature of God: "I fear nothing in the Universe, except God." This reflects the African connection with a deep and unwavering faith in holding on to God's unchanging hand.

3.Mate Masie challenges each of us to gain wisdom, knowledge, and prudence through the exploration of history.

4.Osram means "the moon does not hasten on its way around the world." This is a symbol of steadiness, peace, and patience

5.Nyame Birini Wo Soro is a symbol of hope and faith. "God, I know there is something in the heavens." This saying also reflects the Brazilian proverb: "Don't tell God that you have a great problem. Tell your problem that you have a great God."

6.Wawa Aba compels us to look to the Wawa tree as inspiration for its hardness, toughness, and endurance. This unwavering tenacity is reflected in the fact this passage typically was nearly 6 weeks in the most inhumane, unsanitary, grueling conditions.

7.Epa is symbolic reflected by handcuffs as a reminder that "you are the property of the one who handcuffs you were." This is a symbol of justice and equality for all. It also acknowledges human dignity as the foundation of natural law.

8.Sankofa reflects the philosophy of "go back and fetch it." It also means "we must return to the source."



Sankofa marks both the beginning and end of the memorial. As I passed the circle, I was challenged to retrieve and remember what was lost. Not cargo, not money, not slaves but African men, women, and children. Someone's mother, brother, aunt, or husband boarded these fleets at points of no return. Two hundred ninety five individuals with a name, story, culture, and heritage were laid to rest at this site. However, their stories live on as we challenge modern day slavery in the form of mass incarceration, human trafficking, discrimination, bigotry, and hatred.

As I walked to the end of the circle, I made a silent pledge to remember this lost chapter of American history by teaching my students about the African Cemetery and challenging my students to leave the world a better place than how they found it. This is Sankofa. This is a call to Leadership for Social Justice. I could hear the words of Ossie Davis as I departed. When he delivered the eulogy of Malcolm X, he left a message for the ages: "Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all, secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more now a man - but a seed - which, after the winter of our discontent, will come forth again to meet us. And we will know him then for what he was and is - a Prince - our own black shining Prince!"

Advertisement
Laugh. Give. Save a kid. Thursday, May 26 is Red Nose Day in the United States and it's all about lifting kids out of poverty both in the U.S. and abroad. Red Nose Day began in the U.K. and it has raised more than US$1 billion in the last 25 years to provide vaccines, medical services, safe water, meals, and books to children in need.

So, why the red nose? It's not just about fundraising. It's FUN-raising. But, while the day is about using humor to raise awareness about the need to reduce poverty, the problems these kids face are no laughing matter.

Problems like pneumonia. In the United States, pneumonia is a concern for parents and a source of suffering for children but is rarely fatal. As a result, many Americans are often surprised to hear that pneumonia is the leading infectious killer of children worldwide.

Advertisement

It's amazing what a difference geography can make when it comes to health outcomes. For kids in countries like Ethiopia or Pakistan, the risks from pneumonia are very different and have life-threatening consequences. Their families may not have access to emergency health care or even a clinic within walking distance to provide the antibiotics or oxygen they need if they become ill. Similarly, they might not be able to get lifesaving vaccines that can prevent getting pneumonia in the first place.

Clearly where you are born should not determine if you have access to quality health care. Red Nose Day is trying to help change that by focusing some of its efforts on reaching children in the most disadvantaged places with lifesaving interventions.

Vaccines are one of the single best ways to help children survive and thrive. Vaccines save millions of lives each year and are among the safest, most cost-effective health interventions ever developed. And when kids are healthy, they are more likely to go to school and stay in school. They learn more, and grow up to earn better incomes. And their families fare better too, because parents or caregivers are able to be out working, rather than home caring for a sick child. In fact, studies show that every dollar invested on vaccines in developing countries returns a whopping $44 in economic benefits. In short, ensuring that children are healthy helps us all.

Yet one in five children worldwide are not fully protected with even the most basic vaccines, like those that prevent pneumonia. One organization doing tremendous work to change this is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi's goal is to save children's lives and improve their health by increasing access to immunization in the world's poorest countries.

Advertisement

As one of the 2016 Red Nose Day partner charities, Gavi will receive a portion of the Day's donations. They will use these funds to continue helping countries introduce new life-saving vaccines to protect children from diseases that cause pneumonia and severe diarrhea, the leading killers of young children in poor countries.

The great thing about Red Nose Day is that everyone can participate and help. First, check out this silly video featuring my bosses, Bill and Melinda Gates. Second, head out to the nearest Walgreens and buy a red nose and other gear - all proceeds go directly to the cause. Next, take a red nose photo of you, your family, your friends, your pet, and share it using the hashtag #RedNose4Kids - every time #RedNose4Kids is used on Twitter or Instagram with a Red Nose photo, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $25. Finally, make sure to tune-in on May 26 to the Red Nose Day special on NBC featuring celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and more.

Together, we can help make sure life-saving vaccines reach every child, everywhere.
The color of the top I am wearing is black. My shoes are green and the car I will take when I go to pick up my daughter from school in a few minutes is red. Are these just random facts, or is there a deeper meaning behind the color choices I make and what they say about me? That, my friends, is color psychology. So, what is color psychology?

Here, understanding a little of the science can actually help.

Beware though, a quick Google search on the psychology of color will turn up any number of articles full of marketers and branding 'experts' making overblown claims about the magical powers of color. So, how does color really influence website user behavior?

Here's what we know:

1. Color stands out on the page (the "pop" factor).

Since this is undeniable, it makes sense to use color to immediately draw the eye to particular elements on the page. Call-to-action buttons (CTAs) are the most obvious example. Easy, right? But one mistake I see a lot is using the same color for text links, navigation, headings, and action buttons. If some green elements are action items and other green elements do nothing, you risk confusing your users. Stick to one specific color for action buttons and links and only use that color on action buttons and links. See how the CTAs practically jump right off the page on Spring Insight's homepage?

Advertisement

Is there one color that is "best" for increasing conversion rates? Well, this case study claims that simply changing the CTA button from green to yellow increased conversion rates by more than 19%. But before you run off and change all of your action button colors to yellow, keep in mind that there's nothing special about the color yellow. The more likely explanation for the data has to do with contrast, as this study from the Journal of Consumer Psychology shows. What makes the buttons so prominent on Spring Insight is not so much the color in itself, but the contrast of the maize against the purple.

2. Color increases brand recognition.

Picture yourself for a moment shopping in the aisle of your favorite grocery store. You are hosting a party and need to buy drinks. How long will it take you to find the two-liter bottle of soda you want to buy and put it in your cart? Research suggests, about 90 seconds. Did you put the deep red of Coca-Cola into your cart or the Pepsi with its red white and blue? Color is incredibly important when it comes to brand identity and purchasing decisions. But, just as above, there is little evidence to suggest that one color is more likely to induce you to buy than another, just that that the color becomes a strong brand signal.

What does this mean for your brand? If you are considering colors for a new brand, one good tip is to choose a color for your logo that easily differentiates your business from your competition. Also, when I'm working with clients on website design, I always recommend choosing a color palette with a minimum of five complementary shades or hex values. This ensures that you have enough variety to differentiate all of the crucial elements on your website in an attractive way.

3. When it comes to choosing colors, context matters.

Throughout this post, I've been skeptical of giving too much weight to trying to find "the right" color for your brand or your CTA. Still, it's true that, generally speaking, we do associate certain colors with specific traits (e.g., brown is associated with ruggedness, red is associated with sex and excitement), studies show that when it comes to influencing consumers, the more important factor, though, is whether the color is perceived to "fit" the brand. That means using pink bows to market Harley Davidson is probably a bad idea. Pink just doesn't fit with the biker persona (and this is not a gender thing).

Advertisement

Do the same psychological principles hold for websites? The best websites, just like the best branding, convey a business's personality. You have built your business with your core values in mind and the colors you choose to represent you are an extension of those core values. So, while you shouldn't shy away from using earth tones because you read that women don't like greys, browns, and oranges, you also shouldn't use earth tones just because your favorite color is orange.

Ultimately, color theory is best thought of as a good complement to your own marketing instincts. Case in point, my favorite color is red. So then why is purple the dominant color on Spring Insight's website? Purple is associated with luxury and royalty. So what about my black shirt and green shoes? Simple. The black shirt was on top of the pile and the green shoes are comfy. See, understanding our preferences isn't always about cracking the brain's secret code.
All Americans should care about a functioning Supreme Court. Asian Americans have specific reasons to support a fair hearing of the nominee for the current opening, Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, President Barack Obama considered various potential appointees. He has named Judge Garland. Under the Constitution, the Senate has the responsibility of dispensing "advice and consent" for high-level roles within the federal government. That has been interpreted as meaning it holds hearings and then "confirms" an individual to allow them to take office. They are supposed to consider the White House selection, but they could turn down that individual -- in which case the procedure is for another person to be put forward until agreement is reached. It has not been uncommon to set aside partisan differences, respecting tradition and the need for work to be done, and past administrations on both sides of the aisle have designated Justices in an election year.

Advertisement

Asian Americans had hoped that the President would turn to an Asian American, whether a sitting judge, an experienced lawyer, or a noted professor. We should continue to aspire. There will be additional openings soon enough.

Even a generation ago, an observer would not have had much of a basis for denying that there were Asian Americans qualified for the "short list." Now, however, they could make such a statement only if they were willfully ignorant of the dozen or more first-class candidates who are available.

The President has single-handedly ensured that. He has filled the judiciary with a roster of Asian Americans. He has appointed 20 such jurists. To put that in perspective, that is four out of five of the 25 Asian Americans who wear the robes of justice within the federal system; it is more than all the Asian Americans put onto the bench by the President's predecessors combined. (There are Asian Americans in the queue. Judge Lucy Koh, who has been at the trial court in San Jose for several years, is awaiting confirmation to the next level, the appellate court between the district court and the Supreme Court.)

That should be no surprise. President Obama is related to the Asian American community. He has been called our first "Asian American" President. When he appeared at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Gala in Washington, D.C. to honor Heritage Month this year, he talked sincerely about feeling at home: his stepfather was Asian; his half-sister is Asian; and he grew up in Hawaii, with its tremendous diversity of Asian Americans.

Advertisement

The argument for Asian American judges, even a Justice, should be clear. It is based on the abundance of people who are highly capable, including those who are colleagues to Judge Garland. Asian Americans have the credentials and the experience. We have paid our dues. We continue to do that daily.

It isn't an assertion that just anybody should be installed solely thanks to identity. The misinterpretation of the demand -- which for Asian Americans is hardly ever expressed more strongly than as a suggestion, which we might do well to change in tone -- as an ethnic power grab is more than a mistake. It contains the offensive insinuation that some candidates are advanced based on merit, while others are offered for lesser reasons.

The first woman on the high court, the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, explained eloquently the importance of representation. She wrote, "in order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity."

Even before Justice O'Connor articulated it so cogently, that ideal has been invoked by successive groups who were formerly excluded: Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, and even whites who were not Anglo-Saxon Protestants who belonged to the "old stock." They were not given a seat at the table as a courtesy. They had to show they would contribute to the cause.

Our turn has almost come. Asian Americans appear in court as prosecutors and public defenders. We are increasingly among state court judges. We also participate as litigants in civil cases, victims in criminal cases, even sometimes defendants accused of wrongdoing -- whether properly or not. Recent high-profile encounters with the law, such as New York City rookie police officer Peter Liang; falsely accused Professor Xiaoxing Xi and civil servant Sherry Chen; have made it painfully apparent that Asian Americans cannot afford to ignore legal careers and the influence of law.

Advertisement

In a diverse democracy, politics must be based on principles. Among the most important is consensus. That means compromise.

There is a give and take, a back and forth appropriate form of deal-making that ensures we are able to pass laws, evaluate them, and implement them, despite our differences. Cooperation and coalitions are how minority communities achieve success. "Asian American" is intrinsically an amalgamation. The bridge-building is little known in Asia itself.
Years from now, when my half human/half Martian grandchildren (colonization of Mars to begin in October, 2049, while at the same time the six remaining land dwellers of the barren apocalyptic wasteland once known as North Carolina are still focusing all their efforts on banning transgendered bathrooms) ask me, "Grandpa, how could a bully con artist who knew absolutely nothing about government get elected President"? I'll say, "Well, there were a lot of reasons: voter ignorance, an illogical Electoral College system, the BernieOrBust douchebags, systematic misogyny, society's obsession with celebrity over substance. Oh, and Florida cheated. Wait- no, that was sixteen years earlier. When you're my age, everything starts to jumble together. Kirk Cameron was in Game of Thrones, right? But, mostly, it was because the news media gave Donald Trump a free pass."

Last week, our most legitimate news sources reported (and analyzed) a major news story; Donald Trump released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. Meanwhile, these same news organizations are completely ignoring the fact that the actual President of the United States has already nominated a judge for the Supreme Court. And Congress refuses to even meet with the very well qualified Judge Merrick Garland, creating a disastrous Constitutional crisis..

Advertisement

Google "Trumps's Supreme Court Picks." What's on the first page of results? Oh, there's CNN. Oh, here's Reuters. I also see ABC News and Politico and... why did I just get a pop up ad for weight loss pills?

So click on one of the sites. How about- oh, let's say the CNN article, written by CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond. It's a lengthy article. Here's how it begins...

Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a list of 11 judges he would consider nominating to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, an unusual move for a presidential candidate that underscores his efforts to appeal to conservatives.

Yes, this is indeed an unusual movie, considering that the actual President of the United States has already nominated a judge to fill Scalia's seat. Because that's how the process works- the actual President nominates a- not a theoretical, but an actual- person to the Supreme Court. But I'm sure Diamond- who may or may not be the brother of Dustin Diamond, best known for his role as Screech on Saved by the Bell, mentions this later in the article. Let me just check on that... still looking... still looking. Okay, here it is- last sentence of the eleventh paragraph. In journalism class, we learned that's called "burying a story." Most readers lose interest before getting to the last sentence of the eleventh paragraph of an article.

Advertisement

Now let's look for the important Merrick Garland information in the ABC news story, written by reporters John Kruzel and Jennifer Hansler- who may or may not be dating. Okay. Looking for the Merrick Garland stuff. Here we go. Okay. Still looking. And... still looking. And... nope. Not there.

The news isn't about reporting news anymore. It's about talking heads analyzing polling data. And I'm not just talking about cable news channels, like CNN and FOX News and Bravo. Just kidding. We all know FOX News isn't a real news channel. No, I'm talking about the once-reliable, one-time-respectable network news divisions. Watch any of the Sunday morning network news shows: Meet the Press, Face the Nation, Face the Press, Hug the Nation, whatever. It's pundits talking about polls.

Rarely does a day go by without the media telling us the latest poll numbers and what they mean. And if the election was held today, do you know who would win? Certainly not the Constitution, which specifies that the Congress- and not the media- determines the election date. It's the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. And between now and then, as is the case every four years, debates and conventions and unforeseen circumstances will render these current numbers unrecognizable. So what do the current poll numbers mean? Jack shit. (Though I bet it would send less crass coming from CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley.)

Poll numbers are not news. This has nothing to do with news. Summer Presidential poll numbers are a wildly inaccurate prediction of what might possibly happen in the future. "Our top story tonight- celebrities who might die six months from now."

Oh, and the media is also big on "favorability" polls, as in the political pundits' smug, self-righteous analysis of the general election candidates' favorability numbers. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have low "favorability" ratings. How do we analyze this? (Oh, and congratulations. You made it to the final sentence of the eleventh paragraph.)

Advertisement

Here's my analysis. The two candidates who received the most votes in their primary elections have low favorability poll numbers. Therefore, logically, one of reasonable intelligence would surmise that favorability poll numbers are not important. So then why the hell is the news covering something that isn't important? Some of us want to hear about actual news stories that... OMG Kylie and Tyga broke up again?!

side note: Do you know who had really, really low favorability numbers, so much so that they didn't even bother putting him on the ballot in some states? Abraham Lincoln. And Lincoln became the greatest President in our nation's history... until someone shot him. His favorability numbers must've stayed pretty low. (Too soon?)

See, the news media doesn't analyze Donald Trump's ignorant statements and actions. Rather, the pundits explain how these ignorant statements and actions will affect his poll numbers. This is the news now. Of course, Trump's statements and actions are not affecting his poll numbers. But perhaps that's because the news media- whose job it is to explain Trump's ignorance of facts and complete cluelessness of government process- is not doing its job.

My fav? During one of the Republican primary debates, Trump asserted that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito "signed a bill." Yes, the Republican Presidential (soon to be) nominee thinks that Supreme Court judges "sign bills."

There are three branches of government. Trump doesn't know how one of those branches works. But, hey, two out of three is over 66 percent. And that's still a passing grade. Trump passes! But the media does not. Shouldn't these political talking head roundtables be focusing on Trump's ignorance of judicial powers rather than how it affects his poll numbers. (analysis: It doesn't.)

Advertisement

Well, two out of three is 66.6%. I learned that at Trump University, a fake college that conned people out of money. This Trump University thing was kind of a big deal. Trump was asked about it, gave a BS answer, and then the media sort of moved on. Oh, but the media is boldly, fiercely analyzing how this issue has affected his poll numbers. Meanwhile, zero out of three is nothing. In actuality, Trump knows nothing.

The other day, Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton "wants to abolish the 2nd Amendment." Is Clinton running for Congress? Presidents have no authority to amend the Constitution. Here's a simple question any reporter could ask Donald Trump. "Can you explain the separation of powers, as explained in the Constitution?" That the President of the United States wouldn't know what the President actually does is disturbing. No? Follow-up question: "How do you think this will affect your poll numbers?"

Reporters ask Donald Trump about Hillary Clinton. He responds with mean-spirited personal attacks. Reporters egg on Hillary Clinton, in hopes she'll deliver mean-spirited personal attacks on Donald Trump. She doesn't. Then the news media pundits tell us it's going to be a really ugly campaign. Yes, because the media is doing its best to make it an ugly campaign. It's like walking into an assisted living home in December, taking away all the food and supplies, and predicting that it's going to be a hard winter for old people.

The news media wants things to get ugly. The pundits like when things get ugly. This boosts ratings. But it really doesn't. Heck, the TV audience for five political hacks sitting around a table offering worthless psycho-babble is less than the number of people watching re-runs of Suddenly Susan. So you might as well deliver real news about real things. What have you got to lose? And vigilant, unbiased analysis of Donald Trump's virulent nonsense might actually wake us up from the intellectually numb stupor caused by listening to robotic television nobodies evaluating poll numbers. And this could make a real difference come election time, which according to poll numbers doesn't happen for another six months.

Donald Trump is still a reality show star. Only now it's a different reality show. But it doesn't have to be.

Advertisement
Empty prison cell with door open

In an effort to bring more standardized decision-making to our criminal justice system, many courts have turned to "risk assessment tools" to determine whether and under what conditions an accused should be released before trial. But, as a new, in-depth report by ProPublica shows (and what many, including former Attorney General Eric Holder, have long-suspected), risk assessment tools may perpetuate racial bias in our justice system and, perhaps even more disconcertingly, cloak such discrimination in a veil of scientific certainty. The latest news on risk assessments is another example of the vital role that the right to counsel plays in any criminal justice reform: the best way, perhaps the only way, to ensure judges make fully informed decisions concerning pretrial release is to be certain that any person facing loss of liberty has a lawyer.

Advertisement

Risk assessments have been touted as an effective tool to predict whether a defendant will pose a risk to public safety or fail to appear before trial. They consist of a series of inquiries about a defendant that are then plugged in to a proprietary (and therefore, secret) algorithm, which produces a risk "score" for the accused. These tools have become ubiquitous in our national conversation about criminal justice reform and many courts across the country now rely on them to make decisions on pretrial freedom of the accused, as well as sentencing decisions for those found guilty. Without an objective instrument to determine if a person is a safety or flight risk, proponents argue, too many individuals are unnecessarily jailed - a great waste of individual lives and taxpayer dollars.

But, just how accurate are risk assessments?

In its 2015 report, Don't I Need a Lawyer?: Pretrial Justice and the Right to Counsel at First Judicial Bail Hearing, The Constitution Project National Right to Counsel Committee--comprising judges, prosecutors, defenders, and other criminal justice stakeholders--addressed the use of risk assessment tools at the pretrial stage. The committee emphasized that without defense counsel to provide context missing from a risk assessment score, that number alone is not meaningful. The committee also warned that relying simply on a risk assessment tool could lead to disparate outcomes.

ProPublica is the latest entity to confirm the problems with some risk assessment tools. After examining the risk scores for over 7,000 defendants in Broward County, Florida, ProPublica researchers checked to see how many were charged with new crimes over the next two years. Their findings were alarming.

First, ProPublica found that the tool was highly unreliable in predicting future crime: only 20% of people predicted to commit violent crimes actually went on to do so. When misdemeanors and traffic violations were included, the algorithm's accuracy went up to just over 60%--in the words of the report, "somewhat more accurate than a coin flip." But the researchers' most startling conclusion was that the formula resulted in blacks being labeled higher risk at twice the rate of whites, even though those black defendants did not actually re-offend. The reverse was true for whites: they were more likely to be labeled low risk, but then more frequently went on to commit new crimes.

Advertisement

Paradoxically, risk assessment tools were created in an effort to remove much of the subjectivity--including racial bias--that permeates our criminal justice system. But, as ProPublica's findings illustrate, the business of predicting "future dangerousness" is a fraught one. Questions included in risk assessments often resemble those that could easily serve as surrogates for race, ethnicity, or economic status. The accused is often asked whether he or she has a friend or relative incarcerated, or whether the person is employed or has housing. Living in the wrong part of town--or living without stable housing--can create a higher risk score and consequently more onerous and expensive conditions to obtain pretrial freedom.

Our criminal justice system is operated by fallible individuals who bring their experiences, along with overt and implicit biases, to their decision-making. However, ours is an adversarial system in which defense counsel's zealous representation serves as a safeguard. Unfortunately--as the TCP report explains--in the vast majority of courtrooms nationwide, no attorney is present to represent the accused when a judicial officer makes the (often life-altering) decision regarding pretrial freedom.

The right to a lawyer is the right through which all other constitutional guarantees are protected. Without one, judges are more likely to order a financial condition on release before trial, often resulting in an indigent defendant's pretrial incarceration. Defendants jailed from the point of arrest also experience substantial prejudice in their ability to conduct an immediate investigation, prepare for trial and build a defense. Collateral consequences also flow from pretrial incarceration: the accused may lose a job, his or her home, and the ability to support loved ones. As a result, our committee has called for states to provide counsel at bail hearings for every defendant unable to afford one on his or her own.

An algorithm cannot protect constitutional rights. The recent findings on risk assessments, which are so often trotted out as a panacea to systemic bias, provide yet another reminder that no criminal justice reform is effective without states' adherence to the single constitutional imperative in all criminal cases: that the accused be represented by effective counsel regardless of his or her ability to pay for one.

This column was co-authored with Sarah Turberville, Director of Justice Programs, and Madhu Grewal, Senior Counsel, at The Constitution Project.
As a business professor, students often ask me where they should take their careers in order to have the most impact. They are expecting a straightforward answer: that they should work in finance in a large resource-extraction company, say, or in the advocacy department of a multinational non-profit organization. Instead, I am quick to tell them, "Wrong question, try again." The key question is one that only they can answer: "What were you meant to do with your life?"

I write about this in my new book, challenging students to recognize that we all have a goal or purpose to what we do. Where do you devote your energy? How much time do you spend with your family, or in the woods, or pursuing wealth? Are your relationships transactional or relational; that is, do you treat people and the natural world as a community that sustains and includes you, or merely as objects for achieving the success of your own pursuits?

Pursue a Calling, Not a Job

Henry David Thoreau wrote on his time at Walden Pond: "I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his [sic] dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." The word "unexpected" is central to his message and reflects a belief that the pursuit of a calling is about opening up to the unknown. Chances are that if we are genuinely open to the possibilities of a calling, we will find that satisfaction will come from someplace far different from where we expected to find it.

Advertisement

It's about connecting to a purpose that is bigger than you and caring enough to devote your life, energies, passions, and love toward addressing it. Satisfaction comes, not just from some inner feeling, but also from an assessment that what you are connected to and care about is being addressed. It comes, not from pleasure, but from meaning.

None of this is easy, and many do not even try to find their calling. College degrees, fancy cars, big houses, and happy Facebook posts: these can all become ways of projecting to people around you that you have worth. But they are not worth themselves. We live in a world of tremendous pressures for conformity and self-centeredness. I watch my students struggle with these pressures, most vividly at graduation time.

Many start their education with aspirations to eschew big salaries and work to pursue social good no matter their income. But when they look at the salaries that large consulting firms are giving to their peers, they begin to bend and yield. Some have little choice. All too often, their cost of living soon includes homes, cars, retirement accounts, creating chains that hold them back from keeping that promise. But your debt load, cost of living, or resume should not stop you from pursuing a life's work of meaning. It may make that pursuit more challenging, but it does not make it impossible. The key is to be authentic about who you are and what you are meant to with your life's work.

Authenticity and Your Calling

Jim March, an emeritus professor at Stanford University, was given the opportunity to teach anything he wanted to Stanford University. He chose to teach business management by way of the literary classics. In a 2014 interview, he explained how Don Quixote is the most important of them all:

Advertisement

Quixote is hardly a good model for leadership, but he provides a basis for thinking about what justifies great action. Why do we do what we do? Our standard answer is that we do what we do because we expect it to lead to good consequences. Quixote reminds us that there is another possible answer: We do what we do because it fulfills our identity, our sense of self. Identity-based actions protect us from the discouragement of disappointing feedback. Of course, the cost is that it also slows learning. Both types of actions are essential elements of human sensibility, but our usual conversations -- particularly in business settings and schools -- tend to forget the second.... We live in a world that emphasizes realistic expectations and clear successes. Quixote had neither. But through failure after failure, he persists in his vision and his commitment. He persists because he knows who he is.

This is the essence of a calling. Have a vision, see a reality, make it so, even when those around you (like those around Don Quixote) think it is foolish or crazy. You may fail, but you will learn who you are and be your own person. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. When Steve Jobs started Apple Computer in the mid-1970s and predicted a day when every home would have a computer, many thought it an absurd idea.

What Will be Your Mark in the World?

My grandmother was born in 1899 and died in 1995. In the course of her lifetime, the Wright Brothers first flew, indoor plumbing and home electrification became common, the Ford Model T debuted, the first jet engine was developed, man landed on the moon and the computer age had begun. I thought that no generation would see the kinds of changes that she witnessed. But I may be wrong. The average child born today in the United State will live to the year 2094. How different will that world be? And, importantly, what role will these children take in creating the world that they want to live in?

Nobel laureate Dennis Gabor once wrote that "the future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." The future is there to do with as you wish. Be true to yourself, be authentic, be open to the possibilities of your life's work as they reveal themselves, and in the words of Henry David Thoreau, you will "meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

Advertisement

This essay is drawn from Finding Purpose: Environmental Stewardship as a Personal Calling (2016) by Andrew J. Hoffman. Available from Greenleaf Publishing.
Good health is the mainstay of a good life. This may seem like a truism, but for too many people it does not reflect their lives and their children's prospects.

Hundreds of millions of people are currently denied health services or are plunged into poverty because they are forced to pay unaffordable fees. In some situations, women and children are even detained in hospitals because they cannot pay their medical bills.

Advertisement

This flies in the face of human dignity, and is at odds with countries' human rights obligations. Following the agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last September, all countries are now committed to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. UHC means that everybody receives the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.

The World Bank, the World Health Organisation and other international institutions all agree that UHC saves lives, boosts economies and stabilises societies.

This is why The Elders have launched a new initiative to campaign for Universal Health Coverage.

We believe UHC makes political and economic sense. When people's lives are stunted or end prematurely, this is not only a terrible tragedy for them and their families, it is a loss for the community at large. Unmet health needs also reduce economic productivity and stop children and adolescents from realising their full potential in school, at home and later as adults.

Some will say that in a world plagued by conflict, terrorism and economic insecurity, UHC is a utopian dream. But we know this is not true. Before the Second World War, many countries even in prosperous Western Europe did not enjoy universal health coverage and there was a huge discrepancy between the health prospects of the rich and poor.

Advertisement

The post-war human rights revolution changed this forever. Initially across Europe, but then across Asia and the Pacific too, countries launched publicly financed health systems as the bedrock of a new social contract.

In Norway, one of the architects of the public health system, Karl Evang, pioneered this international approach by co-founding the World Health Organisation in 1948. UHC reforms also extended to Latin America and are now spreading to Africa. Poor countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia lead the way.

If this has been achieved in 70 years, how can we possibly say it cannot be achieved in all nations by 2030?

UHC is critical for the SDGs to become a reality. Money should not be the deciding factor for access to healthcare. Heads of state, ministers of health and, crucially, finance ministers must show they have the political will to make UHC a reality. Tough decisions need to be taken and powerful vested interests faced down.

Universal coverage is the ultimate destination but we must get there equitably. Good quality health services should be provided free at the point of use for women, children and adolescents as a first step in a nation's UHC strategy. To improve access to services and maximise efficiency, countries should focus their UHC packages on primary health care delivered close to where people live.

Advertisement

We firmly believe that only public financing can deliver universal health coverage. A free market where medical services are traded like a commodity will never deliver decent health care to the poor and vulnerable.

But UHC is about more than just financing. Countries will need to strengthen their health systems in areas such as human resources, medicines, infrastructure and information systems.

Nelson Mandela, founder of The Elders, once said that there were four basic and primary things people wish for: "to live in a safe environment, to be able to work and provide for themselves, to have access to good public health, and to have sound educational opportunities for their children".

We believe UHC is key to realising this vision, and are encouraged by the growing international consensus that it is an "affordable dream." That is why we urge the G7 nations to show leadership and to make political and financial commitments to UHC at their upcoming summit in Japan. This would be a clear signal from the most powerful economies that "business as usual" will not do if the world is serious about implementing the SDGs.

Access to health care is a fundamental human right. No mother should lose a child, or lose her own life, because she cannot afford health care. When ministers decide their actions and priorities, The Elders will act as a "voice for the voiceless" and campaign for truly universal health care as a human right for all.

Advertisement
Salad chain Sweetgreen announced two menu changes on Tuesday: The fast-growing and deep-pocketed company says it started contemplating how to make food healthier, and it's decided the first step is banning all traces of bacon, as well as sriracha, from its 50 locations. The action kicks off a larger campaign to fix America's "broken" food system that Sweetgreen wryly dubs "Make America Healthy Again." (Yes, there are Trump-style hats.) Everyone's favorite Thai hot sauce had to go because it packs too much added sugar (thanks, Michelle Obama); it's been replaced with dried chiles. As for people's beloved strips of cured pork, the chain says, "Simply put, you can't be a healthy food business and serve bacon."
Imagine this scenario next year.

In January, President Donald J. Trump asks Congress on his first day in office to repeal Obamacare.

The House and Senate oblige and eight months later on Oct. 1 the Affordable Care Act (ACA) goes out of business.

In its place, the seven-point healthcare plan listed on the Trump campaign website is implemented.

What happens then?

The Trump campaign says their plan would spur more competition, lower insurance rates, and eventually lead to more employees signing up for their own individualized plans rather than companywide policies.

"It will make the healthcare industry more affordable and more accessible," Sam Clovis, the national co-chairman and a policy advisor for the Trump campaign, told Healthline.

Advertisement

However, five experts interviewed by Healthline don't see quite as rosy a picture.

Although they see merit in some of the plan's individual components, they foresee higher rates, more uninsured people, and a climate that ranges from uncertainty to havoc to total chaos in the healthcare market.

"We as a nation would go backward," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a nonprofit healthcare consumer organization. "They [the Trump campaign] have precious little understanding of how the healthcare industry works."

"There will be collision and chaos. It won't be a pretty sight," predicted Thomas Miller, a health economist at the American Enterprise Institute and co-author of the book "Why Obamacare is Wrong for America."

"It'll cause dislocation and trauma to the healthcare system," added Robert Laszewski, a former insurance executive who is now president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, LLC. "It's a bunch of loose, stupid, disavowed, half-baked ideas. A bunch of junior high kids could have done better."

Advertisement

The Trump plan eliminates the individual mandate, allows insurance companies to sell policies across state lines, turns Medicaid into a state block grant program, and lets foreign companies sell prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.

It relies heavily on the virtues of the free market as well as the assumption the economy will grow robustly. It also counts on illegal immigrants being kept out of the country and, consequently, out of our healthcare system.

To better understand what would lie ahead in a Trump healthcare world, Healthline presents a look at the main provisions in the soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee's plan and what the experts think of them.

Ending Obamacare

The Trump proposal on Obamacare is pretty clear.

It states Congress must "completely repeal" the healthcare law and eliminate the individual mandate that requires people to sign up for health insurance or face financial penalties.



"Not everybody needs to have health insurance," said Clovis. "Healthy people having to pay the insurance costs of unhealthy people is a nonstarter."

Clovis said, however, a Trump administration would consider keeping the portion of the law that allows children under the age of 26 to stay on their parents' insurance.

Advertisement

He said they would also consider keeping the provision that prohibits insurance companies from rejecting applicants simply because they have pre-existing conditions.

The experts have a number of problems with this scenario.

First, they said, eliminating Obamacare leaves 12 million people who signed up under the law looking for new coverage. It could also affect the 12 million people who gained coverage under the expanded Medicaid rules in 32 states.

There could also be some shifting as people who lose coverage try to switch over to their spouses' plans.

The experts said there would probably be millions of people who can't afford insurance be cause the subsidies under the ACA would be gone.

"There would be enormous losses in coverage. People would be scrambling to find coverage," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Advertisement

They also predict insurance premiums will go up. The reason, they say, is simple.

Without an individual mandate, healthy younger people will be less likely to buy insurance. These folks cost insurance companies less money because they don't require a lot of medical services.

They're needed to balance the higher risk, more costly people with pre-existing conditions that insurance companies would be required to accept.

"If you don't have a balanced pool," said Pollack, "you're going to have premium rates that are going to escalate tremendously."

"It would create havoc in the marketplace," added Kurt Mosley, vice president of strategic alliances for health consulting firm Merritt Hawkins.

"It would blow up the insurance industry," commented Laszewski.

Clovis said the Trump campaign doesn't see things unfolding this way.

He said they expect the economy to expand enough under a Trump administration so that a significant percentage of people will find jobs and leave the Medicaid program or no longer need to find insurance on their own.

Advertisement

That will, he said, reduce the number of higher risk people who insurance companies take on with individual plans.

"We hope that our economy will be so good that we'll be able to reduce these costs dramatically," Clovis said.

He added that providing healthcare to illegal immigrants in the United States costs $11 billion a year. Enforcing immigration laws will cut into that expense, too.

Selling Across State Lines

The second component of the Trump health plan is to allow any company to sell insurance in any state as long as the plans meet the requirements of those states.

Clovis said this free market approach would provide more competition, giving consumers more choices and lower premiums.

Advertisement

He said the vendors would have to offer policies that meet the minimum requirements in each state. People could buy the basic package or add enhancements.

"It's like buying a car with options," he said.

Mosley thinks the idea has some merit. He said you could buy a lot of items, including cars, across state lines, so why not health insurance.

Miller also thinks the program could work and lower premiums if states and insurance firms can coordinate the logistics.

Others, however, see problems.

Laszewski said insurance companies would seek out states with the most lax restrictions. He said that would drive up rates because healthy people would pick stripped down policies from less regulated states while people with higher health risks would have to buy more expensive policies elsewhere.

"It's the dumbest idea ever hatched," said Laszewski. "It's a backdoor proposal for insurance companies to cherry-pick."

Advertisement

Benjamin agrees.

"Unless the packages are the same, you may not be buying apples and apples," he said. "I personally think it would reduce competition."

The Incentives

The third and fourth segments of the Trump plan are designed to encourage younger, healthier people to purchase insurance.

One proposal allows consumers to take the full price of their premiums off their income taxes, much like businesses are allowed to do.

The other is to allow health savings accounts (HSAs) to become part of a person's estate and be passed on to heirs.

Clovis said the policies are the right thing to do, and they would give people incentives to purchase insurance and keep it.

Advertisement

"They're incentives if people think in the long term," he said.

Mosley thinks these proposals might indeed encourage more people to sign up.

"If employers can do it, then why can't individuals do it," he said.

The other experts, though, find this claim a bit of a stretch, saying the reduction in income taxes is still far less than the premiums would cost, so healthy consumers would still save money by not purchasing insurance.

"There's not enough of a tax break to make a big difference," said Miller.

The skeptics also added that the tax breaks would benefit only higher-income people who pay higher premiums and higher taxes.

"People who make the least would get the least help," said Pollack. "It's standing on its head what needs to happen."

On the HSA proposal, the experts pointed out that most of these accounts would probably be minimal when inherited because the estate owner would have been retired and not putting money into them for a number of years.

Medicaid Block Grants

Another component of the Trump plan is to change Medicaid from a federal program into a state block program.

Advertisement

Under this scenario, the federal government would give states Medicaid money to spend as they see fit.

Clovis said this would put the money in the hands of state officials who know better what residents need.

He said other programs, including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, are done through state grants and they seem to work just fine.

"I don't fully understand why block granting money to the states is an evil thing," he said. "The states have a better idea about their people."

Mosley agrees.

"States know better. They can manage it better," he said.

Miller also finds some merit but only if the funding keeps up with the need.

"That would give us an anchor, although not a great one," he said.

Clovis also dismisses as a "false premise" the idea that the federal government will have to keep increasing the grants every year.

Advertisement

He goes back to the notion that an improving economy will reduce the Medicaid rolls.

Others, however, don't think much of the idea.

Pollack said the program is simply a plan to reduce federal spending.

"It would be a disaster," he said.

Benjamin and Laszewski also don't see the math adding up.

"Over time, the money does not grow," Benjamin said.

Prescription Drug Imports

The final provision in the Trump plan would remove barriers for foreign pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs in the United States that are "safe, reliable, and cheaper."

Clovis said the FDA would oversee the imports to make sure the overseas medications are quality products.

"We never said the FDA wouldn't have a role," he said. "The products would have to be safe or we won't sell them in this country."

Clovis said the open market would increase competition and lower prices.

"We want to look at the grip the pharmaceutical industry has on the United States," he said.

Once again, Mosley sees some merit in the idea but only if the FDA assures consumers of the quality of the imported drugs.

Miller noted this is an idea proposed in the past by Democrats.

"It's the first sign of support for a free trade policy Donald has ever embraced," Miller said. "It's easy to talk about but difficult to implement."

Pollack doesn't have a serious problem with the idea as long as there is strict FDA oversight.

"I think it's sensible. I don't think it's a bad thing to do," he said.

Advertisement

The pharmaceutical industry, though, is not a fan of this legislation.

In an email to Healthline, officials at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) said the federal government has repeatedly stated in the past it cannot guarantee the safety of drugs brought in from other countries.

The group has posted blogs on topics such as counterfeit cancer drugs and why drug imports are bad for patients.

"Ensuring patient access to needed treatments is critical, but the importation and sale of unapproved medicines will not help American patients and their families," said Holly Campbell, PhRMA senior director of federal/policy communications. "Without proper FDA oversight and enforcement of laws designed to protect patient safety -- which the importation of prescription medicines undermines -- these products could infiltrate the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain, with life threatening consequences."

All in All

Overall, Clovis says, the Trump plan would use the free market to increase choices and lower rates.

He envisions a day when employees are not relying on employer-paid insurance plans. Instead, they will purchase individual policies that are better suited to them and can be taken with them from job to job.

"The plans would be totally portable," he said. "They'd be much more individualized."

The experts aren't so sure.

Advertisement

They see higher rates and mass confusion on the horizon.

"When there is a situation when everything is up in the air," said Miller, "people wonder what's coming next and that's not good for any market."

They also predict people without insurance will once again use hospital emergency rooms as their doctor's office. They'll also wait until they are seriously sick before going in, undermining the preventative care doctrine in Obamacare.

"Hospitals will see their emergency rooms refilling," said Pollack.

He also worries hospitals, particularly rural ones, will go out of business as they provide care they don't get fully reimbursed for.

Whatever happens, Mosley hopes elected officials keep consumers in mind when making decisions.

"Healthcare in America is not left or right. People get sick regardless," he said. "We can't let patients suffer."

Editor's Note:

Officials in the presidential campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton did not respond to Healthline requests for an interview for this story.

Advertisement

Officials at the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Kaiser Permanente declined requests for interviews.


By Annick Febrey

Today, in advance of this year's release of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, five senior State Department officials will be briefing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a closed-door hearing. Following concerted criticism around last year's report and specific concerns about the politicization of a number of country rankings, this year's report will face additional scrutiny. Consistency in determining country rankings based on each government's efforts to combat human trafficking and supporting evidence for those rankings will be essential for the TIP report to remain a credible and effective tool in combatting this modern day form of slavery that claims an estimated 20.9 million victims each year.

Last year the ranking of Malaysia sparked substantial concern when it was upgraded from Tier 3, the lowest ranking, to Tier 2 Watch List. Malaysia's anti-trafficking efforts during the reporting period were meager at best, and the 2015 TIP report failed to provide substantial evidence that Malaysia had improved its efforts to combat human trafficking since 2014, when the country exhibited a rapidly declining rate of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.

Concerned anti-trafficking organizations, members of Congress, and the media speculated that Malaysia was upgraded for political expedience to allow fast-track negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. It certainly created the appearance as such--and in an economy of credibility, appearances are important.

Advertisement

As the State Department prepares to brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we hope they will highlight how they plan to address four key questions in the upcoming 2016 report to ensure that the report remains a credible and effective anti-trafficking tool:

1. How can the State Department ensure that addressing trafficking is a priority, not dependent upon or subordinate to other U.S. interests?

When it appears countries are upgraded undeservedly because it serves other U.S. political priorities, it sends a strong signal overseas that politics are more important than combating trafficking. The State Department needs to certify that the TIP report remains independent from other political considerations. Countries to watch this year whose time has expired on the Tier 2 Watch List and therefore must either earn a higher ranking or be automatically downgraded include: Djibouti, Namibia, Suriname, Burma, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, and Haiti.

2. What will be done to rebuild the credibility of the TIP report given the widely held perception that diplomatic interests unrelated to trafficking led to inflated rankings for some countries?

Advertisement

The State Department needs a plan for addressing allegations of bias. Making the politically difficult choice would dispel any doubts about the report's credibility. When complaints arise, the State Department should transparently state the methods it used to determine each ranking.

3. How does the State Department address ambiguities in data, across all tiers, to certify that countries are ranked consistently?

For example, Germany has not provided new data in several years, yet it still holds a Tier 1 ranking. Though Germany continues to combat trafficking, how can rankings be uniform without hard data? Another such example: India remains on Tier 2, yet did not provide law enforcement data for the 2014 reporting period.

4. What is the State Department doing to work with countries to increase the risk and accountability for the perpetrators?

Last year, convictions dropped worldwide by 23 percent: 5,776 to 4,443. Considering there are an estimated 21 million victims worldwide and fewer than 45,000 of them were reported to law enforcement last year, plus fewer than 4,500 perpetrators were convicted, trafficking is a low-risk crime for exploiters. The State Department should prioritize increasing trafficking convictions worldwide to elevate the risks for perpetrators.

Advertisement
Men smoke cigarettes at railway station in Jakarta May 24, 2012. Anti-tobacco advocates in Indonesia plan to file a class action lawsuit this month using cases of child addicts in the hope of forcing tougher regulations on a society where one in three people smokes. The suit against tobacco companies and the Indonesian government argues that feeble regulation has left children dangerously exposed to the risks of smoking. Indonesia is something of a paradise for both smokers and tobacco companies, with the world's fifth largest population of smokers. It is a widely tolerated habit and one which even in this relatively poor archipelago most can afford to feed. To match Feature INDONESIA-SMOKING/ REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY)

Thousands of children in Indonesia, some just 8 years old, are working in hazardous conditions on tobacco farms, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Indonesian and multinational tobacco companies buy tobacco grown in Indonesia, but none do enough to ensure that children are not doing hazardous work on farms in their supply chains.

The 119-page report, "'The Harvest is in My Blood': Hazardous Child Labor in Tobacco Farming in Indonesia," documents how child tobacco workers are exposed to nicotine, handle toxic chemicals, use sharp tools, lift heavy loads, and work in extreme heat. The work could have lasting consequences for their health and development. Companies should ban suppliers from using children for work that involves direct contact with tobacco, and the Indonesian government should regulate the industry to hold them accountable.

Advertisement

"Tobacco companies are making money off the backs and the health of Indonesian child workers," said Margaret Wurth, children's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. "Tobacco companies shouldn't contribute to the use of hazardous child labor through their supply chains."

Indonesia is the world's fifth-largest tobacco producer, with more than 500,000 tobacco farms. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that more than 1.5 million children, ages 10 to 17, work in agriculture in Indonesia. Human Rights Watch could not find any official estimates of the number of children working in tobacco farming.

Human Rights Watch conducted field research for the report in four Indonesian provinces, including the three responsible for almost 90 percent of the country's annual tobacco production: East Java, Central Java, and West Nusa Tenggara. The report is based on interviews with 227 people, including 132 child tobacco workers, ages 8 to 17. Most started working by age 12 throughout the growing season on small plots of land farmed by their families or neighbors.

Half the children interviewed reported nausea, vomiting, headaches, or dizziness, all symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning from absorbing nicotine through their skin. The long-term effects have not been studied, but research on smoking suggests that nicotine exposure during childhood and adolescence may affect brain development.

Advertisement

Thirteen-year-old "Ayu" said she vomits every year while harvesting tobacco on farms in her village near Garut, West Java: "I was throwing up when I was so tired from harvesting and carrying the [tobacco] leaf. I threw up so many times."

Many child tobacco workers said they mixed and applied pesticides and other chemicals. Pesticide exposure has been associated with long-term and chronic health effects, including respiratory problems, cancer, depression, neurologic deficits, and reproductive health problems. "Argo," a 15-year-old worker in Pamekasan, East Java, said he felt suddenly ill when applying a pesticide to his family's farm: "Once I was vomiting. It was when it was planting time, and I didn't use the mask, and the smell was so strong, I started throwing up." Some children were also exposed to pesticides when other workers applied chemicals in the fields where they were working, or in nearby fields.

Few of the children interviewed, or their parents, understood the health risks or were trained on safety measures. The Indonesian government should carry out a massive education campaign to promote awareness of the health risks to children of work in tobacco farming, Human Rights Watch said.



Most of the children interviewed worked outside of school hours, but Human Rights Watch found that work in tobacco farming interfered with schooling for some children. "Sari," 14, from Magelang, Central Java, said she dreamed of becoming a nurse, but she stopped attending school after sixth grade to help support her family.



The largest companies operating in Indonesia include three Indonesian tobacco product manufacturers - PT Djarum, PT Gudang Garam Tbk, and PT Nojorono Tobacco International - and two companies owned by multinational tobacco companies - PT Bentoel Internasional Investama, owned by British American Tobacco, and PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk, owned by Philip Morris International. Other Indonesian and multinational companies also purchase tobacco grown in Indonesia.



Human Rights Watch shared its findings with 13 companies, and 10 responded. None of the four Indonesian companies provided a detailed or comprehensive response, and the largest two, Djarum and Gudang Garam, did not respond despite repeated attempts to reach them.

Since 2013, Human Rights Watch has met and corresponded with representatives of several multinational tobacco companies regarding their child labor policies and practices. Human Rights Watch previously documented work by children on United States tobacco farms, and urged tobacco companies to take concrete steps to eliminate hazardous child labor in their supply chains globally. Some have adopted new protections for child workers, but none have policies sufficient to ensure that all children in their supply chains are protected.

Advertisement

Under human rights norms, tobacco companies have a responsibility to ensure that the tobacco they purchase was not produced with hazardous child labor, Human Rights Watch said.

Most tobacco in Indonesia is bought and sold on the open market through traders and intermediaries, with the tobacco often passing through many hands before purchase by national or multinational companies. However, some farmers are under contract with individual companies.

The multinational companies that responded to Human Rights Watch prioritize direct contracting in their supply chains. Yet all also purchase tobacco on the open market, and none trace where open market tobacco was produced, and under what conditions.

Human Rights Watch could not find any evidence that the Indonesian companies take steps to prevent child labor in their supply chains, and they did not correspond in detail or meet with Human Rights Watch.

"When tobacco companies don't even know where the tobacco they purchase has come from, there's no way they can ensure children haven't put their health at risk to produce it," Wurth said.

Advertisement

Under Indonesian law, 15 is the minimum age for work, and children ages 13 to 15 may only do light work that does not interfere with their schooling or harm their health and safety. Children under 18 are prohibited from doing hazardous work, including in environments with harmful chemical substances. Any work involving direct contact with tobacco should be considered prohibited under this provision, due to the risk of nicotine exposure, Human Rights Watch said.

Indonesia has come under international scrutiny for failing to protect children from the dangers of smoking. Though Indonesian law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to children, nearly 4 million children, ages 10 to 14, become smokers each year, and at least 239,000 children under 10 have started smoking. More than 40 million Indonesian children under 15 are exposed to secondhand smoke.

Indonesia is one of only a few countries that has not signed or ratified the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public health treaty aimed at protecting the population from the consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. Indonesia should sign and ratify the treaty without delay, Human Rights Watch said.
As the nation's first UNESCO "City of Literature," the sidewalks of Iowa City feature bronze relief panels with the words of famous writers connected to the area.

A graduate of the renowned Iowa Writers Workshop, Jason T. Lewis is aiming to lay out another role as a writer and musician in his groundbreaking campaign for a seat on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

Currently the director of University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine's Writing and Humanities Program, Lewis has gained a wide range of support across Johnson County for his candor, inspiring new narratives and issues-based campaign.

Advertisement

Running on a host of issues as a progressive Democrat, Lewis has drawn from his long-time role in the Iowa City community as a school PTO president, a youth and justice advocate, to provide new "narratives" for a series of challenges facing the county, including a "housing bill of rights," responsible rural development, child welfare and mental health, and an expanded role for the arts.

''The constitutive power of words,'' former Czech President and writer Vaclav Havel once called it, examining the unique role of writers in politics and ''the power of words to change history.''

"I want to push back with a counter narrative of inclusion, rehabilitation, and bravery," Lewis recently told me in an interview, invoking his rural roots, his work in various cities, and his experience as a socially engaged writer. He specifically addressed the often contentious issue of development.

"At first glance, it's a discussion about urban sprawl and protecting agricultural neighborhoods, but when you pull back focus, it's also about remaining invested in the inner core of our towns and cities and making our community more resilient and sustainable. My house was a Parade of Homes* showcase home in 1968. It was the best the builders in our community had to offer in a brand new neighborhood that delivered new homes to middle class families. Nearly 50 years later the neighborhood has grayed. Many of the homes have turned over to rental units the city decided decades ago to concentrate subsidized housing nearby. IN the ensuing years, as I've said before, the upwardly mobile residents have moved elsewhere, but the municipality hasn't put any focus on rejuvenating the existing housing stock. As a Supervisor, I would seek to limit the options for increasing urban sprawl. I hope one of the byproducts of that limitation would be a renewed interest by the municipalities for rehabilitating the housing stock that have gone untouched in favor of newer, shinier houses around the edges."



Jason T. Lewis: Photo courtesy of Lewis for Supervisor

Here's the full interview with Lewis:

Jeff Biggers: What are some of the "stories" in Johnson County that are part of your supervisor's race, especially in terms of housing, justice issues, the economy, food and land issues?

Jason T. Lewis: The stories in Johnson County are in many ways mirror the stories of early 21st century American life. They highlight the irony that's baked into modern American life. In the past 50 years we have told ourselves convenient tales that have the ring of hopeful truths, but they mask our subtextual, subconscious motives. We have institutional segregation and thinly veiled racism in our schools. We have embraced a real estate development model that constantly builds new landing strips for upwardly mobile, mostly white residents, while we have underfunded and ignored the areas those residents have vacated. We fear the other. We fear the new. We fear the unknown.

This narrative reveals itself in this Supervisor's race in the discussion over land use in the unincorporated areas of the county. At first glance, it's a discussion about urban sprawl and protecting agricultural neighborhoods, but when you pull back focus, it's also about remaining invested in the inner core of our towns and cities and making our community more resilient and sustainable.

My house was a Parade of Homes* showcase home in 1968. It was the best the builders in our community had to offer in a brand new neighborhood that delivered new homes to middle class families. Nearly 50 years later the neighborhood has grayed. Many of the homes have turned over to rental units the city decided decades ago to concentrate subsidized housing nearby. IN the ensuing years, as I've said before, the upwardly mobile residents have moved elsewhere, but the municipality hasn't put any focus on rejuvenating the existing housing stock. As a Supervisor, I would seek to limit the options for increasing urban sprawl. I hope one of the byproducts of that limitation would be a renewed interest by the municipalities for rehabilitating the housing stock that have gone untouched in favor of newer, shinier houses around the edges.

Advertisement

*The Parade of Homes is a yearly tour of the newest homes built in the area.

JB: How would you like to see arts expanded in Johnson County?

JTL: We have an amazing arts community in Johnson County. Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. The Iowa Writers' Workshop is world renowned. Having lived in New York City, in many ways I don't feel like I traded much of my cultural life when I relocated to Johnson County. We have a lot to be proud of. But to truly be the community we perceive ourselves to be we have to do more. We have to weave the arts into the fabric of the lives of our entire community.

The first step in that direction is funding a Johnson County Center for the Arts. We have groups in the community who are already working on such an enterprise, but to this point local governments haven't stepped forward with significant funding. The county government is poised to be a major force for this kind of change. Our county is unique because we have several decent-sized municipalities very close together and that sometimes creates vapor lock when attempting to make wide-ranging changes for the greater community. An overarching entity like the county is the perfect entity to break this cycle. We need to work toward finding the discretionary funds needed to finance an arts organization that will be accessible to the wider community.

When I was young, we had just such an entity in my hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia. As an artsy kid interested only in making music and learning the craft, the Monongalia Arts Center quickly became my homebase, along with many of the other young artists in the community. We had the opportunity to put on theater productions, stage large-scale haunted houses, promote all ages rock n roll shows, I directed a children's choir, and was paid for part time staffing of the building. I learned so much there and those lessons formed the foundation of the artistic life I've led ever since.

Young people in Johnson County don't have such a venue and the need is glaring. How can we have a community so woven into the fabric of the American arts, yet have no venue to grow young artists from within. A Johnson County Center for the Arts could be just the hub we need to connect all the smaller opportunities we have now and transform our community into an arts powerhouse that creates artists deserving of recognition instead of importing artists from elsewhere. I was one of those imports and grateful for the oasis that we have here, but we need to recognize where we fall short and strengthen ourselves for ourselves.

Advertisement

JB: How has your role as a writer/songwriter played a part in your work with young people, schools, the medical community and other projects in Iowa City?

JTL: Being a creative person is about resilience. My work as a musician and writer has been the only constant in a life that has been filled with difficulty, challenges and failure. That's not to say I have had a lot of good in my life, but my creativity has pulled me back into the world so many times. I was adopted as a child, my parents split when I was young, both parents struggled with alcohol and I am an alcoholic myself. I grew up in West Virginia, which is by so many measures a very downtrodden place, but the people are proud, stubborn and resilient.

Over the years I came to understand that being a creative person, having no other choice but dedicate my life to that pursuit, taught me a lot that I can pass on as a teacher, advocate and mentor. Creativity requires empathy. Creativity requires resilience. Chris Offutt, my mentor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop once told our class, "If you can do anything else besides being a writer and be happy, do that." I have spent my adult life finding ways to support myself, be the father and husband I need to be, all the while struggling with a creative career that has never reached the goals I set for myself. But now, at 44 years old, I can look at the work I've done with pride. I've done a lot and none of it was given to me and none of it was what I was "supposed" to do.

So when I work with people in the community in any role, I most often encourage them to embrace the subjective over the objective. There's value in a life lived that minimizes the importance of outcomes and embraces passion in the face of impracticality.

JB: While few writers go into politics, there have been some notable exceptions, including novelist Larry Baker, who served on the IC City Council, or on a global level, playwright Vaclav Havel, who became president of the Czech Republic. What special role can writers play in policymaking and government?

Advertisement

JTL: The easiest answer is being able to intuit the different outcomes any given narrative could bring about. Fund this, implement that--it's all part of a greater narrative structure and writers are adept at following narrative threads to their conclusion. The more you write, the more you construct narratives without turning down blind alleys and then turning back. Look at how urban sprawl has decimated American cities over the past half century. Any writer would have had a better sense of how the story of how fear and greed have been allowed to systematically destroy the fabric of our communities. That narrative is so clear to me and I want to push back with a counter narrative of inclusion, rehabilitation, and bravery.

A less obvious impact a writer can have in government is in the instinctive empathy every writer must have. I've found one of my greatest strengths in public life is my ability to understand and appreciate each person's story and work through the best- and worst-case scenarios, and also to speak to people from an honest, open place of genuine love.

Writers bear witness to the world. A politician at his or her best should bear witness to life in service to the community and then find a way to impact that life in accordance with community values. I've been told good politicians listen 80% of the time and talk 20%. Good writers do this, too.

As a member of the creative class and being politically active, I've concentrated on bringing context to issues through my personal story, whether it be my experience growing up between town and country after my parents split, the diversity and cultural acceptance I experienced while living in NYC, or my own personal journey as an adoptee and now as a foster and adoptive parent. I have also tried to bring my frailty and perseverance to the conversation but being honest about who I am and what I have lived through, particularly as a child of alcoholic parents and as an alcoholic myself.
Take a look at the photo below. See that boat tied up at a marina in Orleans, MA? (And I'm not talking about the fishing charter to the right. But - rather - the modest vessel to the left).

Doesn't look like all that much, does it? When you take a closer look at the thing, it seems like there's barely enough room for the four brave Coast Guardsmen who manned this particular motor lifeboat back in February of 1952.

But then you notice the plaque ...

... and you realize that this is in fact the CG 36500. The Gold Medal Boat that went out in the teeth of a nor'easter in search of the Pendleton, a 504 foot-long tanker which had broken in half off the coast of Cape Cad. And yet when the CG 36500 returned to the Chatham Fish Pier early the next morning, they had somehow managed to rescue 32 men.

Advertisement

Which is extraordinary. Especially when you take into consideration that this 36 foot-long boat - once it's manned by four Coast Guardsmen -- officially only had room for 12 additional passengers. And yet the CG 36500 went out into a storm with 70 MPH winds that were stirring up 60 foot-tall waves and still somehow managed to make it back to shore with 36 people on board.

"That was the thing that initially floored me when I read the script of The Finest Hours, " said Craig Gillespie. "That this story couldn't possibly be real. That these average guys - these regular joes - had suddenly found themselves in this extraordinary situation. And then, against all odds, they somehow managed to pull off the greatest small-boat rescue in Coast Guard history. You just don't often get these sorts of epic cinematic stories that can then be told from the point-of-view of these real human-scale characters."

But Scott Silver's screenplay had done a brilliant job of boiling Casey Sherman & Michael J. Tougias's book, The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Rescue down to an exciting narrative that was then peopled by these very authentic characters which could only exist in 1950s era New England.

"As I read through this script ... Well, it was pretty easy to tell that Scott was from Boston. Because he brings that sort of New England restraint to his writing," Gillespie enthused. "The characters that Scott crafts say so much with just a look or a gesture, as opposed to having them say things out loud."

Advertisement

"I mean, it's a real gamble when you try and make a large action movie like this where your heroes are just regular-sized people. But Disney - to their credit - immediately got this movie's main premise. They were great. They supported us all the way," Craig continued.

Chris Pine - The Finest Hours leading man - also quickly got behind this movie's regular-people-in-an-extraordinary-situation conceit. I mean, anyone who's seen the just-released trailer for Star Trek Beyond knows that Chris has a real gift for playing these larger-than-life characters. But when it came to portraying Bernie Webber (i.e., the petty officer who commanded the CG 36500 throughout the Pendleton rescue operation), Pine eschewed Captain Kirk-sized heroics for more of an average joe approach.

"One of the main reason that Chris did such a beautiful job with this role is that he really did his research. There's this great 30 minute-long recording of Bernie recounting what happened over the course of this rescue. And what really leaps out at you - as you're listening to this recording - is how restrained and under-stated Bernie sounds. To hear him talk, Bernie wasn't a hero because he and his team went out in that storm in search of the Pendleton. That was just a Coast Guardsman's job. That this job might be dangerous was almost a secondary concern," Gillespie stated. "Listening to that recording, I think that it really informed Chris' take on Bernie. I know that he worked really hard to get his mannerisms and an authentic Boston dialect down."

And to make sure that - whenever possible - this film was rooted in realism, Craig and his crew shot on location in and around Boston in late 2014/early 2015. Which - given that New England experienced its worst winter in a hundred years last year - might have been a mistake.

"I remember the night we shot the scene where the CG 36500 returned to the Chatham Fish Pier with the survivors of the Pendleton. for authenticity's sake, we were shooting at the actual Chatham Fish Pier," Gillespie recalled. "Anyway, that night, there was an actual nor'easter blowing off the coast of Massachusetts. And the next morning, I ran into one of our props guys. He's a grizzled old New Englander, maybe 60 years old. A man who's worked on dozens of movies that have been shot in and around Boston over the past couple of decades. Anyway, as I'm walking by this guy, he turns to me and says "Last night? It's now in my Top 5 for all-time worst times on a movie set."

Advertisement

And what was Craig's response to this crusty old props man's complaint? "I said 'Well, we're not done shooting yet,' " Gillespie laughed.

And indeed there were other miserable nights on the set of The Finest Hours. Like when Holliday Grainger (who played Miriam, Bernie Webber's fiancee) gets her car caught in a snow drift as she's driving home from the Chatham Coast Guard Station.

"We shot that scene on the coast of Duxbury on this tiny strip of land that was just a hundred yards wide. So we're being buffeted by the cold wind off the harbor on one side and the ocean on the other. And poor Holliday, she's just wearing a coat for some of this scene. But in a lot of this scene, she's just in a dress. And since the crosswinds just kept hammering us all night, those were some very tough scenes to shoot," Craig remembered. "That particular part of the production was such a long grind. But to their credit, everyone in the cast & crew just buckled down and just suffered through it."

Looking back on the production of The Finest Hours (which was just released on Blu-ray & DVD yesterday), Gillespie was especially proud of the way this film's cast and crew worked together to make some of this movie's more complex shots possible.

"There's this moment in The Finest Hours where these guys who are standing on the deck of the Pendleton have to get information down to the men in the Engine Room who are manning a jury-rigged tiller for this broken tanker. And since I wanted to use this sequence to give the audience a true sense of the scale of the boat these guys were on, how many levels there were to it, the geography of the ship ... Well, that sequence was shot between two sets and an old WWII battleship. Not only that, but because we had to shoot the scene of when the guys were up on deck back when we were shooting all of our deck scenes and the piece down in the engine room back when we were shooting all of our engine room scenes, that sequence is all stitched together from pieces that were shot months apart," Craig explained. "That's a sequence that film buffs are going to want to take a really close look at multiple times because there's a lot of sleight-of-hand going on in there. There are some camera wipes that we use in that sequence that you just don't notice the first few times around."

Advertisement
This past Tuesday circumstances changed profoundly following the ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Grimm v. Gloucester County Public School Board. Gavin Grimm, a transgender student at a Virginia high school sued his school board on discrimination grounds because it banned him from the boys' bathroom. The 4th Circuit deferred to the U.S. Education Department's position that transgender students should have access to the bathrooms that match their gender identities rather than being forced to use bathrooms that match their biological sex. The ruling establishes legal precedent in every state in the 4th Circuit, including North Carolina. The National Center for Transgender Equality issued a press release stating:

Advertisement



This decision makes it clearer than ever that restricting trans students' restroom use is illegal under federal law, and laws like North Carolina's HB 2 are trumped by Title IX. The decision provides especially critical guidance for schools in North Carolina, which is located in the Fourth Circuit and is bound by this ruling. The court has sent North Carolina schools an important message: following HB 2 is discriminatory, harmful and illegal.

Chancellors in the UNC System should have moved immediately to greenlight policy allowing transgender people access to public restrooms that correspond to their gender identity; yet, they have done nothing. The schools they head stand in violation of federal law. Chancellor Folt and her peers at the 16 other UNC campuses now have the unilateral authority -- and the duty -- to comply with federal law. Since the Spellings' memo of April 5th, a law which was not clearcut is now crystal clear. Symbolically, Folt and other UNC chancellors can deal a lethal blow to the most pernicious provision by enforcing the law across a 17-campus system having hundreds of thousands of students, faculty and employees. Will they embrace the courage and conviction one would expect of the highest administrators at institutions of higher learning, or cower behind superficial press releases and bogus excuses?

No doubt Folt and the other chancellors are awaiting top-down approval from Ms. Spellings to give them political cover -- though the issue is one of federal law not politics. Whether out of fear, an abundance of caution or self-interest the fact remains that their schools are violating the legal rights of transgender people. For one, I am uncomfortable waiting for Ms. Spellings to huddle with her Republican handlers in Raleigh. Stakeholders in the UNC system have federal law at their back, history as their guide and the passion to do what students and faculty members in America have done best in times of oppression: dissent, disrupt and demand.
In view of the bizarre exhibition of presidential candidates in the 2016 primaries I believe it's vital to the citizenry to be well-informed in order to be able to assess beyond the statements of the candidates and the analyses of political pundits. The voting public needs to inform themselves about the real issues facing this country, not be misled by the simplistic turmoil being created by the candidates and their bumper sticker solutions. Some of the talking points of Donald Trump are so juvenile that it is hard for me to believe that they are taken seriously, especially since they often address a problem that is no longer a major issue or marginal compared to the truly daunting dilemmas confronting us.

Trump promises to stop the threat of terrorism by closing the border from Mexico into the U.S. and preventing Muslims from entering the country. The threat of illegal immigrants bringing with them drugs and other criminal activities into the US is not as vital a problem as it has been in the past given the current decline in illegal immigration from Mexico. From 2009 to 2014, 1 million Mexicans and their families (including U.S.-born children) LEFT the U.S. for Mexico, according to data from the 2014 Mexican National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID). U.S. census data for the same period show an estimated 870,000 Mexican nationals left Mexico to come to the U.S., a smaller number than the flow of families from the U.S. to Mexico. Certainly there are problems concerning the monitoring of illegal immigrants but it doesn't warrant building a wall between the two countries.

Advertisement

The sad fact is that American citizens, born and raised in this country, such as the teen involved in the Sandy Hook massacres have been the most notable terrorists since 9/11. It is also important to remember that it was Timothy McVey, a "true American," who murdered more people in one terrorist attack than in any other domestic incident in our history prior to 9/11. Trump is proposing an extreme solution to a problem that is resolving itself by making it worse than it is. The issue of illegal immigration is a complex one that deserves thought, not slogans. Since it's likely that the building of a wall, given Trump's propensity to hire undocumented workers, will give them an inducement to return to the US, Trump's solution could cause far more problems than it supposedly solves.



On the issue of Free Trade, Trump promises to bring back to the US jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, which most economists agree are not returning. Moreover, the establishment of tariffs suggested by Trump can get the EU and China into a trade war with the United States where there will be no winners. Further examination on the real trade picture would reveal how complex it is beyond Trump's slogans. We are in debt to China! ". . . China's foreign-exchange reserves plunged by a record $94 billion in August, according to the country's central bank, leaving it with a war chest of $3.6 trillion. Analysts say it's very safe to believe a big chunk of that decline occurred due to a reduction in U.S. Treasury holdings." "The selling and the potential that China will not be buying U.S. debt in the near future raises questions on its potential to increase America's borrowing costs." In other words, as a debtor nation to China, we are not in the position of calling the shots. For Trump to be unaware of the sensitive situation the global economy is in right now indicates his unfitness to be President.

Although I find Bernie Sanders' proposals more promising, as an educator I would question his judgment in the establishment of tuition free college education for all Americans as a road to economic fairness. My reservations are due not necessarily based on the expense involved but because of the sad fact that a majority of college-age students today are not suited to do conventional college-level work . According to a recent Hart survey conducted at over 1300 American schools over the last year:



"Neither university faculty nor employers believe that American public high schools are preparing students for the expectations they'll face in college and career. In fact, compared to 2004, the assessment is even more dismal. More than a decade ago, for example, only 28 percent of college instructors stated that schools were doing an adequate job of readying students for what came next after high school. That count is down to 14 percent in 2015. Among employers, 49 percent in 2004 said that schools were adequately preparing students for what they would need for work; in 2015, the count was 29 percent. Part of the challenge, say students themselves, is that their high schools don't set academic expectations high enough. Fifty-four percent said that they were only "somewhat challenged"; 20 percent said it was "easy to slide by."

Advertisement

With that in mind, Sanders' emphasis should be on developing the kind of pre-college education that enables motivated students to get a decent job wherever they might be, .and be well-educated so that they cannot be so easily manipulated by political promises that have little chance of succeeding. Unfortunately, most schools still use the conventional methods of instruction for educating young learners- which is fifty years out of date. But this is the subject for another blog.



What I find troubling about Sanders' solutions as well as Hillary Clinton's is the mantra-like phrase "income inequality" as if by naming the problem one will be able to solve it. Presently the economic nature of our system increasingly is dependent on lowering costs of labor in order to increase profits. This is even evident in corporations that arbitrarily fire their younger employees for no other reason than to improve their bottom line. Unless there is a true political revolution, it is not likely that our system of government, dependent on wealthy lobbyists to fund their re-election campaigns, will pass legislation that would significantly redistribute income in the interest of economic justice.

For me to take these candidates seriously, they would have to address the following issues, not with slogans but thoughtful suggestions.

1. Pensions for the elderly need to be secured or the near future might find them indigent.

2. Reforms to reduce the number of incarcerated youth need to be initiated by largely decriminalizing most drugs and treating addiction as an illness, not a felony.

3. Recognizing and accepting the responsibility of adjusting the lifestyle of the planet to a level of sustainability is vital. To me, the two most deadly words for the future of the human race are "consumption" and "growth." We must learn the concept of balance and sustainability if we wish to leave a positive heritage to our descendants.

4. A health care system for all residents of the US, not the entrepreneurial chaos that presently exists.

5. Challenging the resurgence of racism not by making an issue over the use of words but through solid and thoughtful educational programs not only for youth but adults.

6. And what must be faced as well is a fundamental change in wealth distribution by giving a "living stipend" to those who cannot earn a "living wage."
In honor of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, I organized a 13-state funeral for the Confederate flag on March 25, 2015--three weeks before the Emanuel A.M.E. Church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina. This in turn led to my call to burn and bury the Confederate flag in all 50 states on the following 4th of July. Both of these actions were very successful, with widespread participation and media coverage across the country, from Alaska to Florida, due to an incredible team of activists, artists, and poets. It was great to see so many Americans of different backgrounds confronting this divisive symbol with a powerful statement of creative resistance. This art project produced several things: a contribution to a national discussion, a group eulogy poem, the Burn and Bury music video, and a free digital kit that included an 8" by 11" printable Confederate flag for folks who would not buy or could not find a Confederate flag. But most importantly, it helped identify a community of folks who understood the intersection of culture, art, and activism as it related to the Confederate flag, white supremacy, and the complexity of Southern heritage.

Advertisement

However, the Confederate flag continues to fly across America, even after the Civil War ended 150 years ago, even after the Charleston massacre on June 17, 2015, and even after my 13 Flag Funeral installation, showing that history, mass murder, and art are not enough to get past the deep national wounds that have divided this country along the lines of race, culture, and geography. But perhaps these wounds are permanent, the price for building a country on a complicated mixture of both virtuous and immoral grounds: religious freedom and slave labor.

After the Charleston Nine tragedy, some will claim that progress has been made: the flag coming down in South Carolina, the city motion to remove a Confederate memorial in New Orleans, or the most recent House of Representatives vote to bar the Confederate flag from being flown at cemeteries operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These are rather small developments, considering that nine people had to be murdered in order to induce a national conversation about something that should have been resolved in 1865. This measured progress is counterbalanced by the recent Mississippi vote to keep their state flag (which has a Confederate flag in its design), the lack of federal legislation that could swiftly resolve this issue, record high sales of Confederate flags, and a strong movement to keep the Confederate flag and its whitewashed history alive. This can be seen with the seven state governments which have designated April as Confederate History Month: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. The Civil War continues on so many levels with a visual terrorism/white supremacy protest on one side and the loss of white privilege protest on the other.

While I don't expect this flag to disappear anytime soon, it must be divorced from taxpayer funding and all government buildings, branding, and support--with the exception of art museums and educational or historical spaces. After all, the secessionist Confederacy and its flag were created to defend Southern states' rights to protect an economy and culture based on slavery. We are beyond the sitcom debates, academic conversations, barbershop banter, and disconnected art spaces. It is time to move beyond the Civil War, the Confederate flag, and limited views of Southern heritage. It is time to face American history directly, intellectually, emotionally, and truthfully so that a real healing process can begin. And if social change is to come, then it is time for some political intervention, federal legislation, and democratic weigh-in.

Advertisement

While politics and art can be very important agents of social change, it is the space where art and politics become ritual, where values and responsibilities are repeatedly shaped, reinforced, and sometimes transformed into a formidable collective consciousness for healing and inspiration. And when ritual, as a dynamic social system, goes beyond a one-time event, goes beyond the abstraction and protection of art, there is an opportunity to integrate the theme of the work into everyday life where it is needed most. From Juneteenth to Passover, we see how sacred rites of passage born out of trauma and pain can deliver a special call for purpose, social responsibility and leadership.

As an artist, I recognize the complexity and limits of art and politics to create and maintain social change. In fact, it is often critical loss, such as death or the fear of death, which motivates such discrete changes. We saw this play out with the Charleston situation. We saw this with Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. We saw this with Kent State. But there must be a better way other than death or silence. Change happens when individuals like Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault stand strong and lead the way. Change happens through education, cross-cultural experiences, and in the ritual space. We see these changes on the dance floor, in the concert halls and college classrooms, and even in the military. We need more cross-cultural rituals that confront the pain of the American past. And more specifically, we need an American ritual to deal with the Confederate flag.

With this in mind, I propose that we Burn and Bury the Confederate flag every Memorial Day as a way to send a powerful message to ourselves as a nation that the Civil War is over, and the days of the Confederate flag and white supremacy are numbered. And, just as we honor the memory of our lost military soldiers, we must also celebrate our soldiers of social justice who fought against slavery, those who fought for Civil Rights, and those who continue to fight against contemporary institutional and cultural white supremacy. It is time to take the Confederate flag and use it as a symbol for cathartic action, giving birth to a new ritual for all Americans to engage in: a space of healing and transformation. So with great resolve, I am proud to present BurnandBury.org, a site dedicated to organizing a nationwide Burn and Bury ritual for the Confederate flag on Memorial Day.

Advertisement
After "Roots" first aired on television in 1977, a number of scholars and journalists questioned the veracity of Alex Haley's story, some even suggesting that Kunta Kinte was simply a fictional character that Haley created. When I took on the job of serving as a historical advisor to the new "Roots," I asked only this question: Could a person named Kunta Kinte have lived in Juffure, a town on the Gambia River, and been enslaved and carried to Annapolis, Maryland, on the Lord Ligonier in 1767? It didn't take much research to answer each of those questions with a resounding "Yes!" So with that in mind I set out attempting to describe what Kunta Kinte's world was like.

Archaeology conducted in 2004 and 2006 by Liza Gijanto, an assistant professor of anthropology at St. Mary's College of Maryland, confirmed that Juffure (in the kingdom of Niumi) was founded around 1400, reached its peak in the 1600s and 1700s, then slowly declined, so that the present town is a mere shadow of its past. When Kunta Kinte lived there, the town probably held 6 or 7,000 people, and it was a very short walk to another town, called Albreda, which had a slightly larger population. Yet another town, Sao Domingo, was located a few miles down the river. According to a French witness from the time, the whole region was a sort of cluster of towns, each with streets, walks, and squares, while some 80% the countryside around it was mostly cultivated fields.

Advertisement

Portuguese who resided in Juffure in the 1500s introduced a house design that was called "Portuguese style" -- rectangular with outside pillars to hold up thatched roofs, and by Kunta Kinte's day this style had become general so that these rectangular houses were the normal housing style of all the towns in the area.

It was a commercial town, and had a cosmopolitan population. In addition to Mandinka, the majority language of the town, people spoke Wolof, Serer, Fulbe as well as Portuguese, French, and English. The remains found by Gijanto showed an amazing array of artifacts from all corners of the globe.

In the 1730s, the town had a Roman Catholic Church, although it's not clear if it was still standing in 1767. The Portuguese (who by this time had intermarried so much with Africans that they no longer had any visible European ancestry) had constructed a new town, Sao Domingo, just down the river. But Catholic church or not, the town was decidedly Muslim. Niumi, in fact, was held to be the most devoutly Muslim region in the whole of coastal West Africa, and both Juffure and Albreda hosted mosques.

The Kintes were relatively new to Juffure, having arrived only about a generation before Kunta's birth. They were a Juula family, and Juulas were primarily known to be merchants and Islamic scholars. Juulas had connections through their trade and scholarship throughout West Africa, and their brightest students might study at regional schools like Jakha, or if they were extraordinary, even at Timbuktu's venerable university.

Advertisement

As merchants, however, the Kintes were involved in all manner of commerce, including the slave trade. Muslims intellectuals had been arguing for half a century over the fine legal points of the slave trade, whether it was legitimate or not, whether Muslims could be sold to Christians, and so on, and the Kintes might have participated in such discussions. In 1758, a Muslim ruler had briefly banned the slave trade farther north; in 1776, another had threatened traders who intended to sell Muslim slaves with execution. But most Juulas sold slaves to whoever would buy them, and the Kintes at least some of them, were in that group.

It is somewhat remarkable that a person of Kunta Kinte's status would be enslaved -- usually middle class people could be redeemed by their relatives, and slave traders would be happy to sell them back to their families for a high price. So, why would Kunta Kinte be sold?

The answer to this lies in the specifics of the time. In the mid-1760s, the English post at James Island was held by Joseph Debat, a young and impetuous man without much sense. He became involved in a dispute with the king of Niumi and the two sides began seizing hostages. In one notable case, English soldiers, engaged in a firefight, accidently blew off three fingers of the queen of Niumi's hand, and in 1768, the year after Kunta's deportation, some 500 Niumi troops attempted to storm James Fort. While the attempt was unsuccessful, it eventually led to Debat's departure and the resolution of the problem.


Working For Voter Confidence

We have 4.9 million registered voters in Los Angeles County, largest local elections jurisdiction in the country. And, you know, elections by their nature are public process and rely on grassroots support through through poll workers, community locations to host the polling places on Election Day, all of those things. So I think we've been on a good path towards voter education and outreach and also preparing to migrate to hopefully more modernized voting system. But that's also been during a period of regulatory instability, both at the state and federal level, and a period of economic issues that meant there weren't the resources available necessarily to fund the elections process.

So, sadly, we work in an environment where, when there's a crisis is when the resources are made available to address the issue. I mean that's the history with elections if you go back to 2000 and the Bush v. Gore election, that the reaction was for Congress to appropriate a lot of money to replace punch card voting systems. That happened relatively fast around the country for legitimate and well-intentioned reasons. That money was spent relatively quickly on new equipment that now we can look back on and say, it wasn't necessarily ready for prime time wasn't designed with the voter in mind, it was designed with a market interest and kind of a quick shift in time to try and address what happened in the 2000 election.

And I think, in retrospect, what we know is that the current system was a symptom to what happened in 2000, but it wasn't the entire issue. So I think the last eight to ten years have really been about really looking at the elections process to identify who does it serve, what are the resources available to address those concerns going forward, and how do we can achieve a level of stability as elections administrators in a time where the process, the nuts and bolts of how elections are run, have become part and parcel to the partisan campaigning process? People have learned how to use questioning the election administration process as a way to question the outcome of an election. It's just a new world.

How We Vote in LA and Why

Here in L.A., to start with, we still vote on a voting system that essentially was first rolled out in 1968 in the presidential election that year when punch card voting was first introduced here in L.A. county. Now that system's been modified over the years, after the Bush v. Gore was modified to an optical scan system but as far as the voter experience, when the voter walks into a polling place, they still use a vote recorder device that was designed for for the punch card, but instead of punching holes through the ballot, they're using an inking device that fills in that bubble with ink. Those ballots all come back here to our headquarters centrally, and are tabulated here.

There have also been the addition of a precinct ballot reader that allows for the voter to have their ballot scanned at the polling place to alert them if it's blank, if it didn't come through, or if they over-voted on a particular contest, to give them the opportunity to correct that before they leave the polling place. And, the addition of an audio ballot booth to provide for accessible voting options for voters with disabilities to vote independently and without the assistance of another person.

But as you point out, I think we're one of two jurisdictions in the country that use a system of this nature, and part of the reason for that is because of our size and complexity, that there really has been since 2000 and 2004 the market of voting systems has shrunk in the country -- it hasn't got larger it's actually shrunk -- there's been public concern about the integrity of the equipment that's used for voting, especially voting systems that were introduced the did not have a paper audit-able ballot, and our system does have that. And, we also are required in L.A. County to provide our voting materials in nine different languages other than English, under the Voting Rights Act, very few jurisdictions have that issue.

The advantage of our current system, which is a pretty solid system and it's served us well in terms of accuracy and productivity. The advantage of it is, it's a small-form ballot, you can get three million ballots back here to our headquarters and count them on election night and have election results to report, which of course is important to the electorate, to the media, and to the candidates. The disadvantages or concerns are, that: it's dated technology, the hardware that's used isn't made anymore; it's been retrofitted. It's not particularly intuitive, from an interactive standpoint. If you're a vote-by-mail voter, you're having to look at a guide and then fill in the corresponding number. There are new, more modern ways to do that, that are much more intuitive.

So, those are the issues we've been working towards, this is what we want, to be sure. And fortunately, we're one of the few jurisdictions in the country where we still have some of that federal money available, and we want to be sure though that when we invest that money that we invest in a system that does offer a better voting experience. And that has the ability, as other systems do today, to adapt and change with regulatory changes as well as voter behavior changes.

So instead of locking us into a system that, if there's a law changed two years from now that we have to scrap it and start all over we want to be sure that we have the ability to adapt, so that's what we've been working toward.

How Many Will Be Voting In The Primary

This primary is unique in a lot of respects. I mean, I've been working in election administration for 25-plus years, and this is a whole new primary cycle. And it's bringing in a lot of new people into the process, so that's a good thing. Hopefully, they'll actually show up and vote. Typically, in primaries, in LA county, we have remarkably low turnout. So, in non-competitive presidential years, it can be as low as twenty-some per cent, in higher active years, still only around 51 percent, I think.

This may be an exception to that. I think predicting turnout is sort of like looking into a crystal ball, so I'm hesitant to give a specific number, because then people ask, well, how did you come up with that? And if you didn't meet it, where did those ballots go? And so, I don't make specific turnout predictions, I'll leave that to the people who are doing polling and all of that. I will say that all indications of the activity leading up to this election indicate that we're gonna see higher than usual turnout, and quite possibly record turnout for a primary. Now again, as we get closer to the election, the dynamics of the presidential contest with the nominees has changed, so that may have a dampening effect on what we saw a surge in turnout.

But, that said, even since the Indiana primary we continue to see voter registration activity going up, and continue to see a lot of vote by mail activity, so I still feel pretty confident that we're going to have higher than usual turn out.

Vote-By-Mail Voters (VBM)

I think the most important thing for people to know about Vote-By-Mail is that that the voter has the most capacity to ensure the security of their ballot. And a lot of that comes to how the voter deals with their ballot. So we have about a third of the voters in L.A. county who are permanent Vote-By-Mail voters. Typically, about a third of the turnout in any given election is by mail. So what I mean by that is, that the voter decides how they're going to return that ballot. Whether they're going to send it in the mail, or drop it off at a polling place, or they're going to give it to a family member to drop off. And we always hear stories about, you know, the speculation that there are people out there canvassing, picking up the ballots and all that.

I always like to remind people that, there are only two places to put a voted ballot in, a mailbox or a ballot box. And voters should know their rights and responsibilities in that process. Now, the validation of the Vote-By-Mail ballot--just like at the polling place where you sign a roster attesting to your qualifications to be a voter--on a vote-by-mail ballot, you sign an affidavit on the outside of that envelope. The signature on that envelope is checked, is compared to the signature on your voter registration record before that ballot is processed. And that's all done in a transparent manner, people can come here and observe that process. So it really is a convenient and secure way to vote that works for a lot of others. It's not the solution for every voter. But it certainly helps a good percentage of our voters.

No Party Preference Voters (NPP)

Interestingly the fastest growing party selection on registration is voters who are choosing not to make a party selection.

This is actually one of the reasons why presidential primaries are the most complex elections that we administer in California, because they have a whole different set of rules since we've moved to the top-two primary system for our state primaries. For new voters, they've never experienced this before, in this primary, for the presidential contest, your ballot is going to be determined by how you register to vote and which party you selected.

So, voters who did not select a party, the No Party Preference voters, won't see the presidential contest on their ballot. At the next level, though, the parties have different rules, so the Republican Party, for instance, as well as the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Parties have what's called a closed primary, which means they do not allow anyone to vote for their presidential candidates other than voters registered with their party.

Contrast that to the Democratic, American Independent, and Libertarian Party, who have a modified open primary that allows for No Party Preference voters to cross over and participate in their primary. But the voter has to affirmatively request that and indicate that they are requesting to vote in that primary.

So, what that looks like for voters, to Vote-By-Mail voters, we sent you a postcard back in March giving you those parameters and said if you wont to crossover, let us know. We understand that's in a pile of mail and in March you're probably not thinking about voting in June. So if you've received a No Party Preference ballot in the mail and you want to cross over for one of those parties, you can still do that, you can contact us, make any requests to declare which party you want. Or, you can go to your polling place on Election Day, surrender that vote-by-mail ballot, and cross over.

If you're a poll voter on Election Day, when you go into sign that roster, the poll workers are instructed, when they see that you're a No Party Preference voter, to go over the choices with you and allow you the choice of which ballot you want.

California's Primary System

The best way to explain that is that the June 7 election is really two elections in one--it's a presidential primary and for the presidential contest, you're voting a ballot that is party-specific. The rest of the ballot, though, because California adopted what's referred to as the Top-Two Primary System, means that voters get all of the candidates on the ballot and the results of the primary will narrow that down to two candidates per contest that will appear on the November ballot. So again, at the top of your ballot, you're gonna see a single party contest for president, but then when you go to the next page for U.S. Senate you're gonna see candidates of all of the parties and you can jump around at your discretion to the rest of the ballot, and then the top two vote-getters, regardless of party--so you could have aa contest where there are two Democrats who proceeded to the general election or two Republicans that proceeded to the general election, depending on the demographics or the political culture of a particular district. It does make this particular primary every four years rather complex.

If Voters Have Concerns

I think our philosophy here in L.A. County is sort of, to steal the line of TSA and say, if you see something, say something. So if you have a question, first and foremost, if you have a question, it is confusing and people don't vote everyday. So don't be shy about asking questions. We have a number of resources on our website (LAvote.net) we have a 1-800 number for voters (1-800- 815-2666). That's what we're here for, is to ensure that voters have a good experience.

On Election Day, same thing, if you're seeing something that seems out of place, has question, let us know that. Oftentimes, the earlier we know about something, the better we can address it, and the better we can explain it. I think we live in an age of social media and because of the politicizing of the elections process I think there is a tendency to, you know, quickly post something on Twitter or Facebook--which is fine, I mean that's certainly appropriate, there's value in that. But take that extra step to let us know, too, because we can, in most cases, address that. And if there is something, we can at least, squelch it early in the process, before it becomes a bigger issue.
The food at Cannes was disappointing this year. It's usually one of the highlights: the fresh Mediterranean salads and gala grilled fish, a reprieve from the humdrum fare in Paris. Yet this year I happened into a restaurant where the fish seemed left over from last year's fest. A nicoise salad----an exquisite specialty in Cannes---came with cold iceberg lettuce. And every time I went to one of the parties, I seemed to arrive just when the chefs were packing up the lobster, so I'd be left with a toothpick.

In contrast, the films this year were excellent! I enjoyed the two Romanian grim films, Graduation and Serianevada, for their serious intensity; the prize-winning Toni Erdmann for its zany creative humor; the Brazilian film Aquarius for its luminous spotlight on actress Sonia Braga in sunny splendid Recife; Jarmusch's Paterson for its deadpan serenity; Farhadi's The Salesman for its theatrical moral conflict; Verhoeven's Elle for its cold perversity; and Almodovar's Julieta for its warm wisdom. I even relished a film few critics did: Nicolas Refn Winding's The Neon Demon, a sublime virtuouso achievement of eerie image and engineered sound, with beauteous model Elle Fanning in haute couture for our gazing pleasure.

The only film that disappointed me was the one that won the Grand Prix: Xavier Dolan's histrionic dejeune adaptation of a Jean-Luc Lagarce play.

Advertisement

What was exciting at this year's festival was the greater preponderance of humorous and entertaining films, as if some drug had entered the cinematic waters. Even Bruno Dumont, notoriously serious, known for his ominous Tarkovsky-like shots on wavering grass in the dunes, with a brutal inexplicable murder to follow, had become light and joyous. His new film Slacker Bay, taking place in the French dunes with cannibals, was a slapstick frolic with aristocrats in frilly shirts, poor urchins in rags and police investigators with big bowler hats, many of whom had a tendency to fall down, plop in the middle of the scene. The film is so light that at one point one of the characters flies off with her billowing skirt into the sky.

Indeed, a rare sight, I caught Bruno Dumont laughing in the press conference!

One of the darkest films in subject--rape and family dysfunction-- Paul Verhoeven's Elle, made me laugh out loud every moment. Another film, Alain Guiraudie's somewhat half-baked Rester Vertical-- featuring a wandering would-be screenwriter with offbeat sexual adventures in French countryside--put me in a good mood.

It was also great to hear the buzz about feminist issues throughout the festival, from the journalists expressing wonder about the exceptional amount of films this year with strong female leads, to Jodie Foster speaking out on behalf of film industry women at the Kering Women in Motion talks.

And seeing Iggy Pop--in the documentary by Jim Jarmusch--cannot but raise one's spirits and inspire an energetic catapult.

Advertisement

In the Director''s Fortnight, even Alejandro Jodorowsky, famed for his dark surrealistic extravaganzas, had a gentler more cheerful offering this year: a nostalgic journey through the director's youth, celebrating his poetic path with colorful scenes and colorful characters, including a wild poet with witch-red hair. The scattering of scenes in Endless Poetry (seemingly haphazard) leads to a pointed finish: a miraculous long-in-coming imagined reconciliation with the director's abusive father, whom Jodorowsky had left behind at age twenty-four and never seen again.

The film ends with a warm hug.

"I want to go with sublime feelings," Jodorowsky told me with a vibrant laugh. "I do not want the ugly. The world is not ugly. The ugliness is inside us. The world is marvelous! It is fantastic. It is spinning!"

He lifted a glass of water, his eyes shining like a child's. "This glass can have either an elixir or a poison!"

Of particular interest to me, in this strong and exceptionally cheerful festival, was Rithy Panh's new film, Exile. Panh, whose career has focused on making films on the genocide in Cambodia, which he and his family suffered, came to Cannes with his latest personal film about the Khmer Rouge experience.

It too had an undercurrent of joy: the joy of vanquishing suffering through art. The film is a collage of artifacts from Panh's past and memories: suitcases, guitars, bikes, typewriters, pots, arranged in a sublime composition. Water drips in a cistern. White flowers blossom on heaps of graves. A nest miraculously fills with eggs. Huge rocks (the symbol of oppression) fly light into the sky.

Advertisement

"Beauty. I will always love it," says the narrator.

The title "Exile", I learned from the director, refers to the fact that one must "exile" oneself into one's own imagination in order to bear up with and overcome the darkness of the planet.

"To survive inside, one must exile oneself from reality," the director smiled. "One cannot live without the imagination! It is important to fly."
Brazilian president Dilma Roussef, accused of violating fiscal laws, was suspended from government two weeks ago and faces an impeachment trial. Supporters of Roussef refer to her removal as a coup d'etat. Former Vice President Michel Temer, who leans to the right, has taken over as Acting President and named a new cabinet.

What does that have to do with the Cannes film festival?

Brazilian film director Kleber Mendonca Filho, at Cannes with his Competition film Aquarius, mounted the Red Carpet with his team carrying signs of protest. The signs read:

Brazil is Not a Democracy

A Coup Took Place in Brazil

Dilma, We Will Resist With You

They turned and faced the cameras.

"They now want to boycott my film in Brazil," Kleber whispered to me on the terrace of the Silencio bar in Cannes.

Advertisement

His publicist took out her cell phone and showed me the Twitter messages that have gone wild on the web.

"Don't go see Aquarius!" read the Tweets.

Hence another good reason to see Aquarius, a wonderful energetic film starring the stunning actress Sonia Braga, with a political angle of its own.

Aquarius is the story of Clara, a gorgeous sixty-five year old retired music critic who lives alone in an ocean-front apartment in Recife and is menaced by developers who want her to leave her apartment, so they can tear down the two-story building to create a high rise. The developers have successfully pushed out all the other inhabitants in the building. Clara is the only one left.

It is a pleasure to watch this nearly 3 hour long film, just to be enraptured by the captivating Sonia Braga, whose dignity, strength and beauty fascinate in every scene. I did not know this actress, who apparently is a longstanding favorite in Brazil. Her eyes are brilliant with life; her body lithe and determined. Her eccentric position, as a woman alone living in an abandoned building ("without even a security guard!" admonish the developers, in a smooth attempt to persuade the iron-staunch lady), does not detract from her glow of happiness.

Advertisement

"It's about resistance, but also about the energy you get from trying to survive, to defend yourself," the director said.

Another great reason to see this film: just to feel the freshness of Brazil. No matter the conflict, one cannot help but marvel at the high spirits and glorious sun that pervade every shot, from the opening scene of teenagers joyfully listening to music in a parked car, to those of Clara strolling down the beach.

I saw this film right after the intensely dark Romanian film Graduation and a greater contrast in cultural spirit could not be found.

Although there was one thing in common: corruption.

I asked the director to help me out with understanding the political context of his film. One issue was confusing to me. Clara protests at one point that it is the elite who run the country of Brazil (the developers pushing for urban sprawl, the politicians in cahoots with them), and that others are powerless to defend themselves.

But Clara seems to be part of the elite.

"She has a large oceanfront large apartment; she is an intellectual and a successful critic," I said to the director. "She is certainly not poor or marginal."

Advertisement

Why does she feel helpless against the elite, when she is one of them?

The director--and other Brazilians at the festival--explained to me that there is a difference in Brazil between the cultural elite and the political elite.

A difference that is being played out right now in the protest, coming from the right, against the director's film.

"Brazil is divided in two right now," said Sonia Braga.

She looked straight ahead, as poised as her character Clara in the film.

"This transition is going to be very hurtful for our democracy, that was hard to get in the first place."

"I fear the right is moving towards fascism," confided the director.
For the past few weeks I have been writing about Artesia High School in Southern California and the remarkable improvement the school has been making over the last 12 years. Today, I'm focusing on the principal who has led that improvement.

When I first began visiting high-performing schools with large percentages of students of color and students from low-income families -- I call them "unexpected schools" -- I didn't know what I would find.

Today, after visiting dozens of such schools, I know to expect a principal who builds a culture of respect and high expectations, and builds the leadership capacity of teachers and staff members.

Advertisement

And that's exactly what I found at Artesia High School in Los Angeles County, where 75 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, and 97 percent of students graduate, most going on to college.

Artesia wasn't always high-achieving, and I wrote in previous columns about the improvement process it has undergone over the past 12 years. (See here and here and here.)

Teachers who have been there since before Sergio Garcia are very clear that he was the driving force behind the change.

"We had a principal who didn't believe our kids could learn," said math teacher Sharon Pollock about the previous principal. "Sergio sets the tone that our kids can."

Advertisement

Part of the reason the teachers say Garcia has been a good principal is because he supported their need for an orderly school. "Years ago, we had gangs in the yard intimidating people," said Gerry Ellis, chair of the physical education department.

They recognize that he has set up systems -- such as scheduling -- that allow teachers to develop systems of instruction that are common through the school, including the way data is developed and shared, lessons are planned, and progress is tracked. "We're all together in making those choices," said Will Napier, chair of the department of special education and one of two union representatives in the school.

Garcia's respect for the role teachers play may in part be because Garcia was himself a teacher, first of physical education and then of social studies. "You shouldn't put someone in this desk who wasn't a good teacher," Garcia said.

He believes that teachers have a "deep need to be successful." He considers it his job to put the systems in place that allow teachers to be not just successful but "masters of their own destiny."

Gerry Ellis, agrees that this is what Garcia has done. "All of us are leaders. Sergio is an advocate for teachers and what's best for kids," said Ellis. "Sergio wants to make this school the best there is based on sound principles of research."

Advertisement

That doesn't mean everything Garcia did was initially welcomed by teachers. When he first opened up all the teachers' data to the entire faculty, it was a little shocking. Teachers had not been used to being held publicly accountable. "Now, the teachers won't take anything less," Garcia says. "They have their own internal accountability clock."

Garcia's route to becoming principal was a little circuitous. He came to the United States from Guatemala when he was 14 to live with an older brother who had come years earlier and was serving in the U.S. Air Force.

He describes himself as not being a particularly engaged student. "As long as I got good grades there were no rules, so I got good grades." But he didn't find school difficult or compelling.

After high school he entered a period of aimlessness, taking a few college classes at different colleges and working as a substitute P.E. teacher in Catholic schools, but not really on track for a diploma. One day when waiting for a bus, a car ran through a deep puddle and drenched him in water. That was a sobering experience," he said, because it made him realize he was on track to never be successful enough to own a car. After that, he buckled down and got his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies.

He went on to get his master's degree in curriculum and instruction in short order and then enrolled in Pepperdine University's doctoral program in educational technology. Finally, he had found himself in a program in which he actually had to work hard, read extensively, and immerse himself in research that he has found useful as a principal. (He has been "all but dissertation" for 10 years.)

Advertisement

He is quick to say, however, that "I don't think any of the degrees fully prepared me to be a principal."

What really helped him, he said, was being mentored by two administrators in Long Beach, California, where Garcia taught and became an administrator. The first was an assistant principal whose "caring for disadvantaged kids was matched only by his knowledge of schools." The other was a principal "whose leadership style I stole from the moment he hired me."

Those mentors helped him understand that high schools are "systems within systems within systems," which gave him the perspective he needed to step back and see the bigger picture and use the levers available to principals to effect improvement.
I asked seven billionaires to give me their No. 1 piece of advice for productivity and time management. To my surprise, many referenced the evils of meetings, and it was Mark Cuban who told me, "Never take a meeting unless someone is writing you a check."

In his usual witty style, Cuban zeroed in on one of the most common complaints among professionals: meetings get in the way of real productivity.

In a research presented by Atlassian, employees attend an average of 62 meetings per month, with half of those considered to be "time wasted" by participants. In a survey conducted by Microsoft among 38,000 workers in 200 countries, people spend 5.6 hours each week in meetings and 69% of survey participants considered meetings as "not productive."

Advertisement

More and more companies are crafting organizational solutions to the meeting problem, including a ban on meetings one day a week.

In an interview for my book, Dustin Moskovitz, the cofounder of team productivity app Asana, said they have a policy of "No Meeting Wednesdays."

Similarly, Kate Kinslow instituted "No Meeting Fridays" when she became CEO of Aria Healthcare.

In a Fast Company article, Moveline cofounder Kelly Eidson explained how meetings are banned on Tuesdays, which are considered "Maker Days"--the one day a week when people can work wherever they want without having to worry about being accessible to others.

When I mentioned this meeting-free day concept to Rory Vaden, cofounder of Southwestern Consulting, he laughed out loud. "We only have meetings one day a week," he exclaimed.

Advertisement

"Really?" I was incredulous.

"Yes, we have Mad Meeting Mondays!"

As the New York Times bestselling author of Take the Stairs and Procrastinate on Purpose, Vaden knows a thing or two about productivity. I had never heard of a company that packs all their meetings into a single day, so in an email interview I asked him for the details. He replied:

"We've decided that the next generation business is one where people will work flexible hours, from multiple locations, on a variety of projects. So...

"Mondays are the one day we ask everyone to come in. We meet. We talk. We discuss. We make decisions.

"Then the rest of the week we scatter all across the world, we deploy those decisions, and we execute the strategies.

"A meeting to us is defined as a regular recurring gathering of three or more people in the company.

"It's not that you're disallowed to "meet" with people or even groups at other times. It's just that everyone knows that Monday is the official day for meetings. We run an insanely tight ship. Everyone comes to the meetings with a "Rolling Topics list", and we crank.

Advertisement

"For us, this strategy is more out of necessity than trailblazing. We've grown from 25 people to 115 people in three years. We're running and gunning and hustling."

So would you rather have more meetings or fewer meetings? Yes, I thought so.

Southwestern Consulting's four days off from meetings culture may be extreme for most organizations, but it suddenly makes taking one day off from meetings each week seem much more realistic.

If you're a small business owner, or you run a business unit in a larger company, perhaps implementing a meeting free "maker day" is a good idea.

Even if you are a manager of a small team in a large organization but can't control the overall company policy, you could still establish the cultural norm for your own team.

Will you have a one-day off from meetings?
Surely you've heard people saying that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are neck and neck?

Or that Bernie Sanders would trounce Trump, meaning the voters (and superdelegates) supporting Clinton are backing the wrong horse.

These aren't mere theories -- they're backed up with polling. So they MUST be right. Right?

Nope.

Here's why you shouldn't freak out about these polls and should probably totally ignore them.

1. History shows party voters come around to their nominee.



Anti-Hillary Bernie supporters. (Sarah Hina/Flickr)

Despite the fact that the delegate math isn't on Bernie's side, there's a passionate #NeverHillary #StillSanders movement. Many Sanders supporters are very angry about how the race is going and how they feel the senator is being treated by the Democratic party -- and saying they'll never vote for the Democratic nominee.

We've been here before. Flash back to 2008, and we had something very similar. A group of Hillary supporters calling themselves PUMAs (for Party United Means Action, or else Party Unity My Ass) were enraged at how things went for Hillary and about superdelegates -- and many refused to vote for Barack Obama.

Advertisement

There was also a group called Heroes for Hillary or Just Say No Deal. They said they refused to vote for Obama.

But, many or most of them did go on to vote for Obama (and some even don't support Clinton this time around). Partly because Clinton herself called for unity.

Advertisement

I guess I should just put my thoughts on the Dem race in one place.... pic.twitter.com/rmKPr01ZPx  Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 19, 2016

Things do shift, and many voters surprise themselves when it comes down to it and they head to the polls with a stark choice in front of them.

2. The attacks haven't really started.

Hillary Clinton has been excoriated since Bill Clinton was first running for president, and Republicans attacked her fiercely when she was a U.S. senator and when she was Secretary of State, as well as since then.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has gotten a pretty free ride. Clinton, his Democratic rival for the nomination, hasn't gone after him too harshly or directly. Neither have the media or Donald Trump or the Republican party.

In 2004, the story and reputation of the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, a Vietnam War hero, were twisted and dismantled by an effective smear campaign that became known as the swiftboating of John Kerry. Many political experts believe that Republicans would unleash a blistering swiftboating attack on Bernie Sanders if he won, and if so, that would certainly affect his poll numbers.

Advertisement

This is why Bernie Sanders does better than Hillary Clinton in polls against Donald Trump For now. https://t.co/M5XNYpbMAX  Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) May 21, 2016

So polling that shows Bernie Sanders does better against Trump than Clinton aren't as meaningful or reliable as they might appear.

Clinton's numbers among Democrats look good/fine. The trick is that many Sanders voters are independents, so easy to miss their importance.  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 19, 2016

Whereas many Sanders voters defect to undecided (and a few to Trump). Of course, that could change if she wraps up nomination. 2/  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 19, 2016

And by the way, the Democrats haven't unleashed their attacks on Trump either, so it goes both ways. Some of those #NeverTrump Republicans are already starting to change their tune.

Advertisement

3. The general election hasn't begun.

In at least four fairly recent presidential elections, the candidate running behind in June ended up winning the White House in November.

Take a look at the polls from spring 2008, showing matchups between Obama and John McCain and Clinton and John McCain. Most polls had either Democrat beating McCain, but not all did, and few showed Obama winning by as wide a margin as he ended up winning in November. Why? Because at that point the general election was only theoretical. Obama was still battling Hillary Clinton for the nomination, and Obama and McCain hadn't debated yet or chosen their running mates. In 2016, we're still at that point now.

4. There is no national election.

There are states, including swing states, and there's the electoral college. There's no popular vote for president. Just ask Al Gore, who beat George W. Bush in the overall popular vote, 50,999,897 (48.38 percent) to 50,456,002 (47.87 percent), but lost the White House. (The popular vote winner has lost the White House three other times in U.S. history.)

This is what the polling average looks like if you whack (just) Rasmussen with moderate smoothing. pic.twitter.com/1aLUFInxwo  Rich Blinne (@rblinne) May 23, 2016

What's going to matter most is what certain constituencies of voters do, and how voters in swing states vote. Will young voters turn out or stay home? How about voters of color? And women? And voters in states like Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, which are battleground states -- states that are more in play than others and have a lot of electoral votes and therefore can help win the election.

Advertisement

So national polls are interesting but ultimately not that meaningful.

5. Polling at this point is inaccurate.

@KaivanShroff @ShaunKing Pew Research Ctr examined polls from 1959-2003 and found them highly inaccurate. Research. https://t.co/7kqxQyjtNN  Politicade (@Politicade2016) May 20, 2016

The final nominees in both parties aren't clear yet. The nominating conventions--which get people fired up- - aren't happening until July. There's still talk about a possible third party candidate (beyond the ones who are already sort of kind of running.)

We still don't know who the VP nominees are. There's no head-to-head race yet. The two main candidates haven't debated each other yet. The general election ad blitz is still ahead of us.

I just, I'm starting to feel like people who say "pick Bernie bc he polls better than Trump right now" have never seen an election before.  Nat Cassidy (@natcassidy) May 23, 2016

In short, it's just too early. There are so many factors that could push voters one way or another.

Asking you who you plan to vote for now is a little like asking you what you want to eat on a specific date six months from now. You might be totally, 100 percent, rock-solid sure you want the chicken or the fish. But maybe you like both choices pretty equally and are really torn right now, but when someone presses you on it, you say one impulsively, then come to regret your decision and want to reverse it when the time comes to sit down at the table. And maybe you're a vegetarian so you can't stomach either one, but will opt for one of the dishes and resign yourself to valuing the side dishes as much as you can -- and to going away a little hungry.

Advertisement

The most dedicated, decisive voters have already made their minds up, but plenty of others are undecided and can be swayed, and polling them right now doesn't really tell us all that much about how they'll feel when push comes to shove.
Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, picnics, a long weekend away from work and a time spent with family and friends. I always knew it was a day of remembering those who fought for our freedoms and were no longer with us. For some reason, I never separated the men and women killed in action from the 85-year-old World War II veteran who passed away last week. They all fought and they all died, but Memorial Day isn't about those who came home to their families. It is about those brave souls who died in a strange land, who never got to say goodbye, never got married, never saw their children grow up. At 41 years old, I finally learned the true meaning of Memorial Day and felt the pain of it.

Five years ago, Memorial Day 2011 was the first Memorial Day in 26 years without my Godson and cousin, SGT Steven DeLuzio on this earth. We didn't spend every Memorial Day together, but I never had to question whether I would see him again. He was a great guy, friend to everyone he met and always there for those he loved. He smiled everywhere he went, brought joy to so many, his laughter was infectious and his dedication to our country was strong. He was a born leader and a true American hero who gave the ultimate sacrifice when he was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 22, 2010 along with SGT Tristan Southworth.



SGT Steven J. DeLuzio

Prior to that, I was like most Americans, spending every Memorial Day weekend without a care in the world enjoying barbecues, parades and time with those I love. We still attend picnics, take advantage of a long weekend together with family, but now we also make a point to reflect on the lives lost so we can have those gifts. We have taught my children that as long as we appreciate the freedoms we have in this country, Steve's death and the deaths of all those fighting for the United States will not be in vain. We celebrate life everyday and to continue to live as if Steve were about to walk through the door, that is how we honor him. He wouldn't want it any other way.

Advertisement

You might have missed Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May honoring those serving) but it is never too late to honor the men and women who are working everyday to protect our lives and freedoms. Anytime you see a veteran, thank them for their service. They deserve more than Veteran's Day (November 11) to be appreciated for all they have done. You've got 364 days in the year in which you can reach out to thank and remember those who came home and are still on the front lines.

But on this one day, Memorial Day, take a moment to pause, raise a glass or observe a moment of silence to remember those we've lost, say a prayer for those families who are missing someone at their gathering. You can also join in the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of American (IAVA) and pledge to #GoSilent for one full minute at 12:01pm ET in remembrance of our fallen service members. One minute is the least we can give for those who gave their lives for us.
Heads turn as she walks into the dry cleaning store and makes her way to the end of the line, her face impassive. Black, gauzy fabric outlines her face, mirroring black eyeliner surrounding defiant eyes. Whispers start down the line. A child openly stares at her until his mother pulls him closer, breaking his gaze. No one says out loud what my gut tells me they might be thinking.

Fifteen years after 9/11 and in the midst of an election cycle where one of the leading presidential candidates proposes to ban Muslims from entering the United States, a hijab, for some, evokes fear and misunderstanding. I say this because I used to feel that way.

The first major news event I can remember is 9/11. It was the day my entire 7th grade class stared uncomprehendingly at the TV, watching planes crash into the Twin Towers, leaving in its trail a new era of fear and animosity towards the Muslim and Arab world. With less than two percent of Americans identifying as Muslim, many Americans go through life without any Muslim friends to help parse through the stereotypes. I was one of them.

Advertisement

It wasn't until I graduated college that my worldview shifted and I started waking up with the call to prayer.

In Niger, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, Islam wasn't just a religion; it was the very fabric of everyday life. I saw the generosity embedded within my neighbors' religiosity. Despite living off of less than USD $2 a day, my neighbors regularly gave zakaat, or charitable donations, to anyone in need. I saw a devotion beyond anything I'd ever experienced, a devotion steady enough to bow down and pray five times a day. A devotion strong enough to cease all eating and drinking during the daytime for the entire month of Ramadan, the desert heat notwithstanding. And a devotion to community and kinship that left me with longing once I'd returned back to my American world of iPhones and Instagram.

I returned to the United States with a yearning to learn more about other cultures and ways of life, which not only enriched my life, but to my surprise, helped me to learn more about myself and the contribution I wanted to make to society.

Because of my experience in Niger, I wanted to explore feminism in an Islamic context and what that would mean for women's empowerment. Many of the Nigerien women I loved had very little power within their society. As is the case in so many rural villages where opportunities for women are limited, the man is the head of the household and has the final say in everything, from whether his girl children attend school to whom they married. Husbands could restrict their wives' travel and who they interact with. Yet despite their limited opportunities, these incredibly strong, powerful Nigerien women encouraged me to pursue an entrepreneurial path. Their encouragement ultimately led to me to start a food company, Kuli Kuli, based on my Peace Corps experience.

Advertisement

A few months ago, I was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Jordan to participate in the Open Hands Initiative's Fellowship for Young Women Entrepreneurs. I traveled with 10 American entrepreneurs to Amman where we met ten Jordanian young women entrepreneurs. We spent a week together learning and collaborating. We dressed differently, spoke different languages, and prayed to different gods (if we prayed at all). But the differences, in my mind, were trivial compared to how similar we were. We were all navigating starting businesses while balancing family and society's limited expectations of us, which did not include being entrepreneurs.

I was amazed by how shockingly similar our life experiences were. All of us had experienced sexism in one form or another. And all of us had found men who appreciated and supported our work. And despite my preconceived notion of the hurdles that a woman in a Muslim society would face, the women wearing hijabs were just as outspoken, assertive, and determined as any of the Americans in their good ol' blue jeans.

One of my new Jordanian friends Malak Al Akiely finally explained the hijab to me in a way that I could understand. "It's like my hair" she said, "I change it depending on what I'm wearing and it feels as natural as changing my hairstyle." When I commented that her incredible sense of style and color coordination between her clothing and her headscarf almost made me want a hijab Malak laughed. She told me that was part of her plan of challenging misconceptions of Muslim women. "I want to prove that a woman wearing a hijab can be beautiful," she said.
Luca Alinovi, Executive Director, Global Resilience Partnership

Johan Rockstrom, Executive Director, Stockholm Resilience Centre

The first United Nations World Humanitarian Summit takes place among the mosques and minarets of Istanbul this week. While long overdue, it will fail to address recurring humanitarian crises. The truth is that the monolithic institutions charged with dealing with these crises -- and the thinking that governs these institutions -- are rapidly becoming obsolete as we enter a new, less predictable era.

Worldwide 125 million people need humanitarian aid. The causes are well known: conflicts and natural disasters. In 2014, violence and conflict displaced 15 million people -- approximately the population of the Netherlands. While natural disasters, of which 90% are weather related, forced 19 million people to abandon their homes -- just less than the population of Australia.

Advertisement

In 2015, OECD nations spend $13.6 billion on humanitarian aid, a rise of 11% on 2014, and $131 billion on overseas development, a rise of 6.9%. Over the last 30 years, one-third of development spending -- $3.8 trillion (USD) -- went on recurrent crises. With war raging in Syria and ten million people in southern Africa requiring food aid this year, there is a clear tension between short-term humanitarian priorities, long-term development goals and limited financial resources. This tension led to Medecins Sans Frontieres abruptly and understandably withdrawing from the summit. The summit must go beyond Red Queen solutions where "We must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place", as Lewis Carroll wrote, not least because the ground beneath our feet is feeling increasingly unstable as a result of human impact on the planet. Very soon, even Red Queen solutions will no longer suffice.

Why? Earth has entered the Anthropocene -- the age of humans. Our impact has now pushed the planet beyond its usual operating state that has provided a remarkable climatic stability for 11,700 years. Increasingly, shocks reverberate globally thanks to interconnectivity from communications, trade, financial systems and politics -- the Arab Spring and global financial crisis are two prominent examples. The people hit hardest, ironically, are those who have done the least to cause them -- the poorest.

The 21st century will be defined by three drivers: increasing complexity where societies and ecosystems become even more intertwined; global interconnectivity, from local to global scales; and, surprise.

Advertisement

This means stability and assumptions of linear, incremental change are history. Shock and stress -- from droughts, to pandemics and violence -- are here to stay. Efficiency and optimisation is not enough, we must invest in diversity and flexibility. And, we must recognize that reactive humanitarian aid is insufficient, we now need an international strategy for proactive action to enable communities to avoid disaster and transform positively through crises.

In short, we must build resilience.

Resilience is often used rather narrowly to refer to how something -- a person, community, city or ecosystem - returns to its original state after being pushed by an external shock -- a virus, flood, civil war or fire, for example. This has led to a myopic focus on disaster preparedness as the catch-all resilient solution. The solution often involves separating human societies from nature to focus on social and technological strategies to resist change. This assumption worked relatively well in the past but in the Anthropocene it is wrongheaded.

Resilience cannot just stop at 'bouncing back'. It must build capacity to avoid abrupt, irreversible change, adapt to change, and transform in situations of crisis -- both society and the ecosystem society lives within. We need social and ecological resilience. We need to actively see unpredictability and surprise as an opportunity -- not just a challenge.

The Global Resilience Partnership (convened by the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID and Sida) is investing $150 million (USD), and leveraging billions more, to apply radical resilience thinking across four of the most vulnerable regions on Earth: the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and south and southeast Asia. The Stockholm Resilience Centre is providing an intellectual anchor point to ensure this investment delivers long-term resilience to chronic stresses and contributes to the transformation and development of these societies and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

This unique partnership is on a mission to redefine resilience for humanitarian and development aid -- as strategies for persistency, adaptation, and transformation -- and provide essential solutions.

Advertisement
Photo: Arzu Yildiz's Twitter account.

Relentless crackdown on journalists and media outlets in Turkey is not news. But the censorship has taken a whole new level last week when a Turkish court stripped a prominent journalist of legal rights over her two children for publishing a video about the Syria arms delivery.

Arzu Yildiz, an unwavering journalist mostly reporting about court battles and a fierce critic of the government, was also given a 20-month prison sentence for publishing the video on YouTube last year. The video is a two-hour long court defense of a prosecutor who intercepted a truck in southern Turkey full of arms heading toward a Syrian territory held by Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamist extremist group.

From Supporter To Critic

Yildiz, a mother of two, was actually a staunch supporter of the government back when tens of thousands of people thronged streets across Turkey to protest against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule in the summer of 2013. She later joined Turkiye, a government mouthpiece paper.

Advertisement

In Turkiye, she broke a story about two senior female administrators within the ruling AKP suspected of spying for Iran. The story led to an investigation and several arrests. But the authorities later sued the newspaper over the story. Yildiz wrote a number of high-profile stories during her time in Turkiye, but her editors refused to publish most of them for being too critical of the authorities. A growing discord over the newspaper's editorial line forced her to resign. Her departure from Turkiye coincided with a corruption scandal involving Erdogan and his inner circle as well as a raucous election campaign viewed as the one of the most heated and divisive political wrangling. Stepping Into Minefield

In a Wednesday night in January 2014, Yildiz published a bombshell story on T24, a news portal she joined after quitting Turkiye. Initially it was several paragraphs long, but it was enough to cause an uproar in the public. She reported that prosecutors from Adana, a southern Turkish city, intercepted trucks carrying arms into Syria. She knew that she was stepping into a minefield, because publicly debating or questioning this issue was off-limits.

That story sparked such an outrage from the country's top leadership that Erdogan made it his life's mission to cover up the scandal. The arms-filled trucks, allegedly administered by the Turkish spy agency, justified rumors that Turkey helped fostered radical groups in Syria and ultimately the ISIS. Erdogan publicly derided prosecutors and law enforcement who participated in an operation to halt the trucks, calling them "traitors" and accusing them of "spying."

The prosecutors were later locked up. They still languish in jails, without any prospect of being released anytime soon.

Advertisement

Erdogan and then-President Abdullah Gul repeatedly asserted that the trucks were carrying humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians, but the content of the trucks were "state secrets." The government, however, could not keep its narrative consistent. Senior AKP official Yasin Aktay acknowledged that the trucks were heading to Syrian rebels. I asked Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin during his visit to Washington last year if this was true. He said he had no idea why that official made such a remark and that the trucks were only carrying humanitarian relief.

But Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu brought into the surface another narrative, claiming that it was carrying arms to Turkmen rebels who were besieged by forces loyal to the Syrian regime. Turkmens fired back: We did not receive any weapons.

While the story slowly ebbed away over the time, the Cumhuriyet daily published photos and footage of medical supplies and arms in the Syria-bound trucks. The revelations infuriated Erdogan. He vowed that Can Dundar, the newspaper's top editor, "will pay a heavy price" over the story. Journalist Dundar was locked up for three months, survived an assassination attempt and sentenced to five years in prison. Erdogan displayed little flexibility in tolerating stories linked to the Syrian arms delivery.

Reporting At a Price

Joining efforts with other journalists who had recently lost their jobs due to the government pressure, Arzu Yildiz co-founded a web-site called grihat, where she continued her critical and exclusive reporting. One of these reporting included the publication of a video of Prosecutor Ozcan Sisman's court defense. The video ricocheted across the social media, revealing details of how Turkish public officials aided radical groups in Syria as well as helped terrorists in bombing attacks such as in Reyhanli and Cilvegozu.

He made clear in his defense that he acted out of fear that these arms could end up in the hands of terrorists and that he did not know that the trucks were administrated by the spy agency, whose agents have an immunity to a prosecution.

Advertisement

Obtaining or spreading the footage of the court defense is illegal in Turkey, but the court preferred to punish the journalist who published it, not the one who leaked it. Turkey recently made it a crime to publish any classified document linked to the spy agency, a law that was widely criticized by global rights groups.

As Arzu Yildiz pleaded not guilty in the court, she told the judge that her publication of the video was a pure journalistic activity and that people deserve to know details of such a high-profile case.
Politicians and the public concerned about how our society perpetuates inequality often assert that "no child's future should be determined by their zip code." But anyone living in a well-heeled neighborhood can look across the street at the new family moving in and know that this is precisely what happens.

A study recently released by sociologist Ann Owens of the University of Southern California showed that access to good schools in the nation's 100 largest cities continues to exacerbate income inequality between neighborhoods. Income disparities in communities increased by 20 percent from 1990 to 2010, largely because of the desire people have to live within the boundaries of top-performing schools. The study also indicates that income segregation between neighborhoods was nearly twice as high among households that have children compared to those without.

Equally disturbing, how the nation identifies and treats low-performing schools perpetuates the reality that where a child lives is still the most reliable predictor of student success.

Advertisement

AdvancED recently analyzed school data in 10 states (Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New Mexico and Oregon). Of the 832 schools listed as "low performing," 92.3 percent are considered high poverty schools (with more than half of students living in poverty). Moreover, the schools with the most extreme poverty comprise about three-quarters (74 percent) of the list.

Further analysis shows that once a school gets on their state's "needs improvement" list, they rarely get off. In fact, only 20 percent do. If a school is removed, there is a 50 percent chance that it will return to the list within three years. And when local districts intervene, more often than not they simply mask the problem by redistributing the children being failed by these low-performing schools.

While it may be difficult to change how or why people choose to live in particular neighborhoods, education policy plays a powerful role in perpetuating the cycle of low school and student performance. By putting so much emphasis on labeling schools as failing, our current educational accountability system, even with the end of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era, reinforces negative outcomes and continues to look at the wrong problem. The fact is: We don't have failing schools; we have students failing in every school.

The root of the problem of school performance is that we do not know how to effectively respond to the impact of poverty on a child's readiness to learn or how to provide more effective instruction to accelerate progress for low-income students who find themselves behind their peers.

Advertisement

Children born into poverty must overcome significant obstacles to their educational success before ever stepping a foot into a classroom or school. And once they do enter school, they encounter a system designed to provide instruction to groups of children that are expected to learn in the same environment and at the same pace. For children in poverty who began their formal schooling already behind other children, this uniform pace and structure assures that they will never catch up to their peers.

To disrupt this dynamic, the nation's whole approach toward school improvement needs to change.

First, we must help schools radically shift their approach to focus on the individualized needs of every student and ensure that every young person is prepared and ready for the next level of learning and/or work with an employable skill.

Second, we must rethink what we measure when it comes to school performance. Every state, district and school must gather far broader evidence, especially about each student's readiness for the next level or transition in their educational journey, rather than look solely on evidence from tests which provide no useful evidence to help educators understand underlying causes of what limits school success. Such factors should include demonstrating academic performance, displaying socio-emotional maturation and willingness to engage the learning environment. Data about these factors can provide educators with actionable information to help adapt what they are doing to address the individual needs of learners to help students pursue a pathway to their own success.

Third, we must rethink how resources are allocated. Currently, school funding provides roughly equal resources to address vastly unequal needs. It is the single greatest point of discrimination in our educational system. Even in affluent districts, concentrated achievement gaps often reflect racial and socioeconomic segregation at the neighborhood level that magnify these unequal needs.

Now that NCLB has been replaced by a new federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), every state has a new opportunity to get things right. As states determine how they will hold schools accountable and determine how they will work with low-performing schools, it is time to include in accountability approaches a broader set of performance measures and interventions that are designed to measure and better support individual student achievement, progress and well-being. By looking at what's happening with students beyond test scores and shoring up what they have been denied, we can ensure that all students can succeed, regardless of zip code.

Advertisement
New Brazilian Minister of Planning Romero Juca speaks during a press conference at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on May 13, 2016.Brazil's interim president Michel Temer was expected Friday to launch urgent economic rescue measures as he kicked off his new administration a day after his predecessor was suspended to face an impeachment trial. The former vice president's new business-friendly cabinet held its first meeting Friday morning, just hours after his boss-turned-nemesis, Dilma Rousseff, quit the presidential palace. / AFP / EVARISTO SA (Photo credit should read EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images)

Transcripts of a recorded conversation between then Senator Romero Juca, and former oil industry executive Sergio Machado, indicate that what many people suspected about the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is true: some of the most corrupt and powerful politicians in Brazil are using impeachment as a means of protecting themselves and their power. It is of course deeply ironic: Dilma, who is not accused of any corruption, is being impeached by corrupt members of Congress whose power is threatened by the unprecedented capacity that she gave prosecutors and the judiciary to go after corruption.

The revelations were best summed up by the Intercept on May 23:

For months, supporters of Brazil's democracy have made two arguments about the attempt to remove the country's democratically elected president: (1) the core purpose of Dilma's impeachment is not to stop corruption or punish lawbreaking, but rather the exact opposite: to protect the actual thieves by empowering them with Dilma's exit, thus enabling them to kill the Car Wash investigation; and (2) the impeachment advocates (led by the country's oligarchical media) have zero interest in clean government, but only in seizing power that they could never obtain democratically, in order to impose a right-wing, oligarch-serving agenda that the Brazilian population would never accept... [The transcripts] are proof: proof that the prime forces behind the removal of the president understood that taking her out was the only way to save themselves and shield their own extreme corruption from accountability; proof that Brazil's military, its dominant media outlets, and its Supreme Court were colluding in secret to ensure the removal of the democratically elected president; proof that the perpetrators of impeachment viewed Dilma's continued presence in Brasilia as the guarantor that the Car Wash investigations would continue; proof that this had nothing to do with preserving Brazilian democracy and everything to do with destroying it.

This could be a game-changer for a government of already very questionable legitimacy, whose standing in the international media has fallen considerably since the embarrassment of the impeachment circus that took place in the Brazilian Congress on April 17. However, Juca, who was appointed planning minister under the interim government, resigned; and as of today, it is noteworthy that international media seems to have moved on rather quickly from these revelations.

It is important to remember that Dilma's removal from office is not a done deal, despite the fact that the interim government is acting as though they had just won a presidential election. The Senate voted to impeach her -- that is, to put her on trial in the Senate -- by a vote of 55-21. This is just one vote more than the two-thirds majority that will be needed to convict her and remove her from office. So, if there is a net change of two Senate votes away from impeachment after the trial, she will remain president. There are millions of people mobilizing against the impeachment, and polling has indicated that only 2 percent of Brazilians would vote for interim president Michel Temer. If this were the U.S., e.g. as in the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton -- which is not a bad analogy since a right-wing opposition was trying to impeach him without an impeachable offense -- one would expect the elected president to prevail. However, the political system in Brazil is structurally much more corrupt, and legislators are much less accountable to their constituents, as compared with the (however oligarchic) United States. Real political reform, in addition to serious economic policy changes, is a dire necessity for Brazil, once democracy is restored.

Advertisement
Opinion by Reboot Illinois' Madeleine Doubek

All over Illinois, it's cramming time. Finals time. Time for tests before the break.

In Springfield, too. Cramming time. Gov. Bruce Rauner reminded everyone Monday. We've got eight days left to get a deal done, he said. One week from Tuesday, the legislative session is supposed to end.

If it ends with no budget and reform deal approved and no school funding compromise worked out, it's quite likely some of our state's grade and high schools will not be opening in August.

It's possible some of our state colleges won't survive.

More of the people who take care of people in our state will lose their jobs. And the people they care for, obviously, will suffer. Human service agencies will close; humans will suffer, as many, many of them already are. Other businesses will close or decide not to locate here. More people will leave Chicago as its schools crumble.

Advertisement

After next Tuesday, getting a budget and changes to our business, government and tax system will require more votes. It will be much more difficult.

So, let's review what we've learned before the big government test in Illinois, shall we?

Chicago is the nation's only city among the 20 biggest that lost population, new data from the U.S. Census bureau show. And when the state's biggest city and the state itself loses people, there are fewer left to pay the tax bills and the bills rise.

At least four of the state's public universities have seen a drop in applications for the coming fall semester: Eastern, Western, University of Illinois-Springfield and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville all had fewer applicants. The University of Illinois, Illinois State University and one other saw an increase in applications, the Associated Press reported.

Alana Reinhardt decided to attend Eastern, the news service reported.

"Everyone shook their heads and laughed at me," she said. "They said, 'You're not going to have a school to go to next year.'"

Advertisement

If there's no budget and deal to freeze property taxes, change future pension earnings and workers' compensation laws in Illinois in the next week, schools in Farmington, Chicago and others around the state very well might not open in August. Dozens more, already struggling because they lack the local property wealth that helps fund them, will limp along at best.

John Asplund, superintendent of School District 265 in downstate Farmington, wrote a letter to his community in mid-April, warning residents that he'd heard the state does not intend to fund K-12 education in the year that starts July 1. That would mean a $4.7 million cut for his district.

Asplund wrote: "This would leave the district (along with almost every other downstate district) with some very difficult choices to make. If the state completely abandons its financial support for public schools, we may be forced to delay the start of school, operate on a reduced number of days, or completely shut down the school."

For the past 11 months, our state's college communities have suffered with no state aid. Our state's vulnerable children, seniors, homeless, disabled and abused have suffered because Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan are waging a political war.

Rauner insisted Monday that rank-and-file Democrats privately are supportive of changes to property taxes, pensions and workers' compensation rules. They know these deals do affect the budget and that such deals have been hammered out for years. The governor named suburban Democratic state Rep. Elaine Nekritz of Northbrook as one who publicly has expressed support for a budget and other changes.

Advertisement

In a phone interview later, Nekritz said she's pointed out since 2009 that digging out of the state's fiscal debacle will require cuts plus revenue plus reforms. She's previously voted for workers' compensation changes, pension changes and property tax changes. Nekritz would not, however, speak for her colleagues when I asked if rank-and-file Democrats might rise up and press Madigan to compromise.

What will an end to this take? "Everybody, and I mean everybody, has to be willing to get together to get this done," she said. "People sitting down in good faith, and not pointing fingers, to make this happen."

Everybody means all of us, pressuring the politicians who are supposed to work for us to pressure Rauner, Madigan and the others to do their jobs. But we don't. Most of us go on with our busy lives, mostly unaffected by the crumbling institutions around us. That will change dramatically if schools don't open in August and thousands of parents are left scrambling.
I have just returned to Helsinki, my current home base, from a ten-day trip with the somewhat unusual itinerary of Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Austria. The four small countries vary widely in virtually every way -- from their topographies to their histories -- but they share one characteristic of contemporary Europe: a struggle to adapt to rapid and wrenching change. This is truly a continent in flux.

My journey began in Tallinn where I participated in the annual Lennart Meri Conference, organized by Estonia's International Centre for Defence and Security. The conference, now in its tenth year, has become the gold standard for such events, bringing together senior political figures, policymakers, and journalists from the Nordic-Baltic area, Russia, Western Europe, the United States, and a few from the Middle East and Asia. A panoply of issues was on the agenda, with three having special emphasis: Russia's ongoing aggressiveness toward its Baltic neighbors; the European Union's simultaneous attempts to cope with a possible Grexit and/or Brexit, and the overwhelming challenge of mass migration; and a morbid fascination with the U.S. presidential candidacy of Donald Trump and its implications for transatlantic relations.

Advertisement

Estonia ranks as perhaps the biggest success story of post-communist Europe. Proving E.F. Schumacher's famous dictum that "small is beautiful," the little land of 1.3 million has weathered the Great Recession, is in the forefront of the digital economy, and is making steady, if slow, progress in integrating its ethnic Russian minority, which comprises one-quarter of the population. I took part in a pre-conference excursion to Narva, Estonia's easternmost city where Russian speakers make up the overwhelming majority of the population. The border there could not be more dramatic. Two medieval castles face each other across a narrow river - Narva on the Estonian bank, Ivangorod on the Russian. Since Russia's capture of Crimea in 2014 by "little, green men" wearing no identifying insignias, there has been much speculation that Narva might be the next target of the Kremlin's hybrid warfare. But in a meeting in Narva, and later at the conference in Tallinn, local experts, while fully expecting Russian provocations against the West to continue elsewhere, downplayed the likelihood of a lightning "grab Narva" scenario. In that context, there was near-unanimous sentiment at Lennart Meri in favor of increasing the rotational or permanent presence of U.S. and European NATO forces in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

Flying between small European countries, especially to the Balkans, can be trying. To get to Sarajevo from Tallinn in one day, I had to change planes in Frankfurt and then Vienna. Three flights and nearly nine hours later I made it to the charming capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having experienced Sarajevo twenty years ago at its war-ravaged worst, I marveled at new hotels (including two Marriotts) and sleek malls, only a short walk away from Bascarsija, the old Ottoman Quarter with its narrow, cobblestone streets and graceful mosques.

I went to Sarajevo to chair a session of a conference on political, judicial, and economic reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, co-sponsored by my Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and the America-Bosnia Foundation. U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was the patron of the event and sent a detailed letter to participants, demonstrating his deep knowledge of the region. I came away from the conference thinking of the old "two steps forward, one step back" metaphor. After having frittered away a decade mired in corruption and endless inter-ethnic and intra-elite squabbling, Bosnia - with prodding from the U.S. and EU -- does finally seem to have awakened to the urgent necessity to change its ways. Yet after hopeful declarations and concrete proposals for reform, one still occasionally heard provincial, ethnocentric re-fighting of past electoral battles. With enlightened political and corporate leadership and the involvement of civil society, Bosnia could show Europe the way to multi-religious cooperation. The jury is still very much out.

Advertisement

Getting to Podgorica made my aerial hopscotching to Sarajevo look simple. Rather than flying back north to Vienna and then doing a 180-degree reversal, I opted to drive to Montenegro. This road between two European capital cities, Sarajevo and Podgorica, is nothing short of amazing in both positive and negative ways. The 150-mile route traverses one of the wildest and most beautiful landscapes on the continent, including breathtakingly deep canyons and snow-capped mountains. Incredibly, however, the last ten miles on the Bosnian side of the border is rutted, unpaved gravel -- in stretches narrower than my driveway in Virginia -- with a thousand-foot drop-off on one side. My driver and I survived.

The purposes of the second half of my trip, in Podgorica and Vienna, were to speak on the U.S. presidential campaign and to give radio and newspaper interviews on that topic and on Balkan and transatlantic affairs. The Montenegrin capital was festooned with red and gold banners celebrating the tenth anniversary of the independence of the Connecticut-size country of 625,000 souls. Only recently a sleepy backwater, Podgorica in the last decade has blossomed. The national economy may still be challenged and society polarized along self-identified ethnic lines (Montenegrins, Slavic Muslims, and Albanians on one side; Serbs on the other), but the overall impression is a vibrant one. Under the leadership of long-serving Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro is poised to become the 29th member of NATO, thereby guaranteeing its borders and solidifying its Euro-Atlantic orientation.

My speech on the U.S. presidential campaign was held at the "American Corner," a U.S. Embassy facility in Podgorica's Cultural Center. Full disclosure: I excoriated Donald Trump. The audience reaction, however, exceeded my criticism. Despite my attempt to elucidate social, economic, technological, and even psychological reasons for Trump's success in winning the Republican nomination, a completely satisfactory explanation remained elusive, both to me and to my Montenegrin listeners, who included Foreign Minister Igor Luksic, a candidate to succeed Ban Ki Moon as UN Secretary-General. Montenegrins - and two days later, Austrians - expressed amazement and disgust at Trump's behavior and were outspoken in their fear that a Trump presidency would have immediate, negative effects in Europe and prove extremely damaging to America's influence in the world.

Advertisement

My speech at the renowned Bruno Kreisky Forum in Vienna occurred only three days before the run-off round of Austria's own presidential election, in which Alexander Van der Bellen, candidate of the Green Party, defeated extreme right-winger Norbert Hofer by the narrowest of margins. Although a frequent visitor to Vienna, I remain somewhat puzzled by the widespread popular alienation in what is surely one of the world's most attractive and prosperous cities. Sophisticated Austrian friends chalk it up to "complaining as the national pastime," but undoubtedly the discontent is more deeply grounded, with resentment against the massive influx of refugees currently the chief factor.

My trip brought home the multifaceted, simultaneous problems that even the smallest Western democracies face. From poor Balkan countries like Bosnia and Montenegro, to middle-income Estonia, to extremely wealthy Austria - all four are grappling with changing economic situations, domestic ethnic and religious tensions, and external challenges (Russia to Estonia, the volume of refugees to Austria, Islamist activism to Bosnia, and Russian-inspired opposition to NATO in Montenegro). Given adequate time to adjust, all four could probably cope. Time, however, is a luxury of the last century. What is clear is that despite chronic anti-Americanism in some quarters, most of Europe still looks to the United States for support, even leadership, and is profoundly concerned about the possibility of an uninformed America-Firster occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January 2017.
We've been in formation. Before Beyonce's ode of unapologetically standing firm, unapologetically being proud, hot sauce in her bag, and more importantly not being controlled by long centuries of negative portrayals and ideologies that have been systematically pushed concerning Black people, there was Lish. Of course we must pay homage to Queen Bey, because what she has done is more than honorable. She set a precedent, a precedent that will open the door for all those who have been standing in formation waiting for their exit. Standing at 5'3 Brooklyn bred MC Lish walks right through that door giving us more than an unapologetic stance, she creates expectancy. Discontent with the overwhelming negative portrayal and lack of representation of positive lyricists within the rap/hip-hop community, Lish gives us a candid, yet inspirational view towards many of the issues that lie within the Black community. Lish is a lyrical beast, an enthusiast who isn't compelled to defend why she and we (the Melanated ones) should feel great; rather she gives us a host of reasons why we are great...and if you forgot she'll remind you.

Her EP is titled Melanated. Interesting. At the BET Music Matters showcase I said to her, "You do know that a lot of people in this great American expansive land will NEVER know or even come close to having the slightest clue to what the term melanated means, right?" I mean, the last time that most Americans heard or even thought about anything remotely related to melanin or being melanated was most likely in a science class. And since we know the state of education in our country and where we are ranked, we know what that means. In one ear and out the other (but we'll save that conversation for another day).

Advertisement

At this point I had already watched her perform tracks "Bigger", "Black Superhero Music (BSHM)", "40 Acres and a Jeweler", and "Feelin'". These tracks are clear chants of empowerment, especially for Black youth. I don't know why I felt compelled to tell her that my statistics and powerful quick calculations would show that Melanated would throw people into some type of deep thought, something that is unfortunately hard for many people to do even with prodding. I'm positively sure that she thought these things through. Anyway, it's not like my statement would have provided her with some type of sound enlightenment or grand revelation towards changing the title of her EP. But her response was simple enough, "They know what it means, they just forgot."
Here's the only rock-solid prediction you'll read in this whole piece: After any big retail show, like last week's Shoptalk 2016, a spate of stories predicting the future of retail will appear.



There. Got one right.

Seriously, retail is in the midst of dramatic disruption, fueled by technology, data and competition from entrepreneurs who are turning to lean startup ideas to launch companies that appeal to an ever-more-diverse and demanding customer base.

When thinking about what retail will look like in the coming years, it helps to think about how quickly the industry has changed in the years just passed.

Advertisement

"It's only been 20 years ago, that the only way that you could actually buy a product, is that you walked into a store, talked to one of the shop representatives, and picked it up," Facebook's Frerk-Malte Feller said during a Shoptalk presentation of Messenger's latest e-commerce capabilities.



Facebook's Frerk-Malte Feller

With that in mind, here are three trends, much discussed at Shoptalk, that are very likely to change the way retailers sell and consumers buy in the relatively near future.

Obsession with customer experience: While not exactly new, the idea of building a fantastic customer experience came up again and again at Shoptalk's inaugural show in Las Vegas.

Magento CEO Mark Lavelle said it would be difficult to overestimate the importance of experience.

"If you're a retailer or brand, or manufacturer, or any kind of service business and you're not really thinking about how you differentiate your experience, using all the available things you have, you're not going to survive," Lavelle said during a panel talking about the future of e-commerce.

Advertisement

The talk about experiences comes with a new urgency and new tools.

One key for retailers will be achieving genuine personalization -- providing individual shoppers with the sense that you know him or her and that you know what it is that he or she wants at any given moment.

Rebuilding consumers' experience on smartphones will also be huge.

Shoppers are rapidly turning to phones as a key way to look for and research products, but actually buying items on phones is still lagging behind. Look for experiments -- retailers throwing things against the wall to see what works -- and a willingness to build in features that don't lead directly to conversions, but might instead inspire return visits and loyalty.

HotelTonight's Amanda Richardson talked about the success that the room-finding app has had with a concierge-like texting service. And Home Depot's Paul Gaffney reported on a paint-color finder that the home improvement store has added to its mobile arsenal.

He said the retailer hadn't yet determined how to tie paint sales back to the app, but that he knows that customers genuinely enjoy the feature, which allows customers to see on their phones how a room would look in a given color.

And retailers are not working strictly on online experiences. Whole Foods Market's Gabrielle Rosi decried the way modern life has eliminated the places and rituals that bring communities together. She said Whole Foods has opened a number of cafes and taverns in its stores, looking to create spaces where people can hang out together.

Advertisement

"In San Jose, California, we did our own brewery," she said. "We hired a really amazing guy, named Guy, from the Russian River Brewing Company, to produce some really amazing beers for us. You sit in this bar on the second floor of this amazing LEED certified building and you can look over the train tracks and see the SAP Center, where all the big stars and the (NHL) Sharks play."

Mobile commerce shake-up: The growth of smartphones as a shopping tool has been nothing short of staggering. The problem for retailers has been that the growth has been largely about shopping -- and not so much about buying.

Demandware's Rick Kenney gave me a preview of the company's upcoming quarterly Shopping Index. He said that by the end of next year, 60 percent of the world's e-commerce traffic will be coming from smartphones. And by March 2017, 40 percent of purchases will happen on a smartphone.

In short, something has to give. Feller, Facebook's director of product management for Messenger, gave a peek at what that something might look like. He demonstrated an API that is creating a fledgling commerce platform on Messenger. It's slick, providing retailers with the ability to provide carousels of products that users can scroll through.

The system handles the entire shopping excursion, from hunting for a product, to purchasing, to customer service, to receiving a receipt, all in the chat environment of Messenger. And most importantly, the purchase can be done with one-touch, presumably after a credit card or other payment method has been linked to the shopper's Messenger account.

Advertisement

The demo had me thinking about China and how far ahead of the U.S. China is when it comes to mobile commerce. eMarketer recently cited research that said mobile commerce makes up almost two-thirds of all e-commerce in China and that by 2019, nearly three-quarters of e-commerce sales in China would be conducted on mobile devices.

The reason? E-commerce in China is dominated by two massive retailers and the mobile-first population relies primarily on chat services, similar to Messenger, as the platform for buying.

"We're very excited about this journey, where we are heading," Feller told the retailers gathered at Shoptalk. "We feel this arc, starting with the conversations that are so crucial for an ongoing customer relationship, can offer a great platform that, in our view, has a chance to really be the next paradigm of how your customers interact with you day to day."

That's not to say Messenger is going to be the product to transform mobile commerce, but you can bet big change is coming. If it's not a new platform that will make buying on smartphones easier, then it will be new, or wider, deployment of existing products -- such as mobile wallets and similar payment systems.

The rate of conversion on mobile has been increasing, Kenney says, and he expects that trajectory to continue.

Advertisement

"If we see Apple Pay actually become part of the mobile web, instead of just mobile applications, if we see higher adoption of other wallet-type technologies, PayPal included, certainly in that, too, that can actually accelerate and drive that order share higher on phone."

Various delivery speeds for different products and customers: Amazon's worldwide vice president of Prime Now scared the hell out of her e-commerce competitors with a brief talk about how the Seattle behemoth designed a service that promises one-hour delivery of online orders.

Her key anecdote? A YouTube video chronicling the story of a guy who woke up one morning hungry for waffles. He ordered a waffle maker, waffle mix and syrup on Prime Now. It arrived in 24 minutes -- and 39 minutes after he ordered, he was sitting down to a hot waffle with syrup.

"The stuff that people want fast, is the stuff of everyday life," Amazon's Stephenie Landry explained. "Bottled water, household paper, tissues, orange juice, ice cream, eggs."

Advertisement

Oh, and in Portland they want organic carrots, Amazon data shows. It's vegan pizza in Seattle; paper towels in New York. And in San Francisco? Cottonelle Ultra-Comfort Care Toilet Paper.

And certainly the Amazon story is a window into the expectations and impatience that consumers today have. But maybe not everyone needs his or her vegan pizza in an hour, or even two. Or maybe there are products other than, say, toilet paper, that someone could wait a few days for.

Bonobos founder Andy Dunn made the latter point in a morning presentation with Re/code's Jason Del Ray. Dunn explained that Bonobos had branched out from its original mission as an online-only retailer. It's now opened stores, which it calls Guideshops.

The shops are places where customers can stop in and try on clothes and find out what items actually look and feel like. If they like what they look at and feel, they place an order, which is later delivered to their homes.

"Everything I've ever been told in the industry about instant gratification is not necessarily true," Dunn said. "The insight was that they didn't necessarily care if we sent them home with the product they purchased."

Advertisement

Yes, food or a personal hygiene item, that might be something a customer wants, or needs, right away. But a shirt? You don't eat a shirt, Dunn said.

Today the market for speedy delivery sorts itself out. If you want fast delivery, even of a shirt, you join Amazon Prime. If you can wait for your clothes, you shop at Bonobos. Or maybe you order your waffles from Amazon and your pants from Bonobos.

But no doubt in the future, it will be much more common for individual retailers to offer more tiers of delivery, for a price. Consumers will simply expect it.
An Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos the former leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The Afghan Taliban has confirmed that its former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and appointed a successor. In a statement sent to media Wednesday, May 25, 2016, the insurgent group said its new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of two Mansour's deputies. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

It is one thing for the US officials to describe Pakistan as the 'ally from hell' and its policies as 'duplicitous' and quite another to actually remove any doubt about it by taking out Mullah Akhtar Mansour right on Pakistani soil.

Mullah Mansour was the Afghan Taliban's current emir, a graduate of the Haqqaniah seminary located about an hour's drive from the Pakistan army's General Headquarters and Pakistan's handpicked successor to their previous leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. Pakistan's military leaders, who have a chokehold on the country's foreign and national security policies, were caught yet again with their hand in the cookie jar.

Advertisement

This past weekend a US drone strike killed Mullah Mansour near Nushki in Pakistan's Balochistan province where he was likely en route to his usual abode near the provincial capital Quetta.

Five years earlier the US had eliminated the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid right next to Pakistan's premier military academy in Abbottabad. The key difference between the two attacks is that Pakistan's current army chief General Raheel Sharif has been reassuring both his countrymen and the world that his outfit has changed tack and is fighting terrorism of all shades.

The fact is that Pakistan's army under General Raheel Sharif has continued to harbor transnational jihadist terrorists like Mullah Mansour and his even more lethal lieutenant Sirajuddin Haqqani, without a pause. Mullah Mansour was chosen as the emir of the Taliban in Kuchlak, which is about half an hour drive from Quetta, in an open assembly under the auspices of the Pakistani intelligence apparatus. Like Abbottabad, Quetta is also a major garrison city and is home to the Pakistani army's Command Staff College, its XII Corps, military selection and recruitment center and the regional office of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate.

A highly active Pakistan Air Force flying base is located at Samungli right outside Quetta. More importantly, the Balochistan province has been under a complete control of the army and the Frontier Corps (FC), which have been conducting a particular brutal and dirty war against the secular Baloch separatists for years. The province, especially Quetta, has been a no-go area for foreign media and journalists for over a decade now. The veteran New York Times correspondent and author of the book The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014, Carlotta Gall was physically beaten up by the intelligence goons when she was reporting on the Taliban activities there. Even the US diplomats are not at liberty to visit Balochistan at will.

Advertisement

It is simply inconceivable that Mullah Mansour could have lived large in Balochistan and was appointed the Taliban leader without the Pakistani army's knowledge, approval and patronage. It is necessary to remember that the Pakistani army is a highly-disciplined organization and the ISI is part and parcel with the ISI chief showing up at domestic and foreign engagements with General Raheel Sharif. The buck for harboring Mullah Mansour stops at General Raheel Sharif's desk not at any lowly intelligence thug. And the question of any rogue elements within the army or its ISI Directorate does not arise because insubordination has never been tolerated in the military's 69-year history. Pakistan's army has dealt with rouge or rebellious elements within its ranks swiftly and sternly.

While some in Pakistan are trying to spin the Mullah Mansour assassination as some sort of cooperation between the US and Pakistan, where the latter tipped off the Americans because the Taliban leader was averse to peace talks, it actually smacks of distrust the size of the Grand Canyon. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already conceded that the US officials informed him and General Raheel Sharif of the attack after the fact. The complete radio silence for 3 days from the Pakistani army's otherwise hyperactive spokesman General Asim Bajwa also indicates that they were stumped and stunned by the strike in an area not too far from where Pakistan had tested its nuclear weapons in 1998. The US had not informed Pakistan of the bin Laden raid either, and rightly so.

While over half a dozen key members of the Haqqani Network (HQN) have been killed in over 90 drone attacks directed against the group, its leader Sirajuddin has managed to escape several times thanks to his Pakistani patrons tipping him off.

Pakistan managed to keep secret not only Mullah Omar's life there but also his 2013 death for a good two years while its blue-eyed boy Mullah Mansour ran the deadly show. It is extremely unlikely that after striving so hard to install, consolidate and project Mullah Mansour's power over the fractious Taliban, Pakistan would simply hand him on a platter to the US.

Mullah Mansour's assassination is a great setback for Pakistan's army and a major vindication for the Afghan government, which has claimed all along that Pakistan, through its Taliban and HQN proxies, is waging an undeclared war against Afghanistan. The Pentagon issuing a formal statement declaring the attack and President Barrack Obama himself confirming Mullah Mansour's death, underscores the fact that it was not a clandestine CIA hit but an act of war for which the US is willing to take responsibility under the international law.

Advertisement

Both the US and the Afghan President Dr. Ashraf Ghani had shown tremendous patience with the Pakistani leadership and have gone through the tedious and fruitless talks, which turned out only a ruse by Pakistan to buy time for the Taliban and consolidate the jihadist group's battlefield position. Unlike what some Pakistani analysts are saying, this US drone strike didn't kill the peace talks; it merely buried a dead process. The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) comprising the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which had met in Pakistan earlier this month, had made no headway at all. Pakistan had promised to deliver the "reconcilable" Taliban to the negotiations table and to take action against the "irreconcilable" ones. But as expected the pledge was a hogwash. In all likelihood Mullah Mansour's replacement will be as much a Pakistani proxy as he was and as averse to the talks.

In the short run the level of Taliban and HQN-perpetrated violence in Afghanistan will go up but the decapitation will have far-reaching benefits in the long run. It will demoralize and divide an already bickering Taliban and stymie the momentum that Mullah Mansour had started to gain. The drone strike may have killed Mullah Mansour but what it has really done is to deal a deathblow to Pakistan's perennial game of plausible deniability after harboring terrorists and unleashing them on its neighbors. From General Pervez Musharraf to General Raheel Sharif, the Pakistani army has claimed that it fights terrorists only for the world to discover them inside Pakistan.

While Pakistan has been promising the QCG that it will bring the Taliban to the negotiations table the country's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has claimed yet again that Pakistan cannot force the Taliban into the parleys. The problem with that excuse is that the Taliban cannot conduct a relentless urgency in a landlocked Afghanistan without outside sanctuaries, which they continue to enjoy as Mullah Mansour's death inside Pakistan shows.


The Fredericks: Erik, Ezekiel, Luke, Emma, Noah, Sonya

As the lone person without medical training on the Mock Stroke Alert team at San Antonio's Baptist Medical Center, Erik Frederick got the only role that didn't need any expertise. He played the patient.

An administrator by trade, Erik took his acting gig seriously, practicing each of the primary stroke warning signs: face drooping, arm weakness and speech difficulty. Over dozens of drills, he mixed up which symptoms he pretended to be suffering to better challenge his colleagues.

The efforts paid off in spring 2009. His hospital, and the other four in its system, earned Primary Stroke Center status from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and The Joint Commission. This means the hospitals met standards to support better outcomes for stroke care.

Advertisement

Now flash forward to July 2010. Erik is the Director of Operations and his wife, Sonya, a nurse recruiter at Baptist Medical Center, have just finished teaching together a class in customer service and patient experience.

They're walking down the hallway near the admissions office when Sonya says, "I don't feel good." A nurse takes Sonya into an office. The emergency room director happens to walk by and Erik asks her to look at Sonya. While this impromptu exam is underway, Erik zips into his office to call Sonya's mom; whatever is happening, they're going to need her to pick up their kids from daycare.

Erik is still talking to his mother-in-law when the hospital's intercom blares: "Stroke alert! Admissions office!"

***

May is American Stroke Month, which makes this a great time to spotlight the No. 5 killer of Americans and a leading cause of long-term adult disability.

Advertisement

As you may recall from the survivor story told in this space a few weeks ago, strokes can interrupt anyone's life at any time. Amazing care and treatment are available, especially for folks fortunate enough to get treated right away. It's even more so for anyone getting immediate treatment at a Primary Stroke Center or a Comprehensive Stroke Center.

And what about someone having a stroke while already at a Primary Stroke Center? And that person being a nurse there, getting treated by her colleagues? And her husband oversaw the effort that turned the hospital into a Primary Stroke Center?

It almost seems made up. Then again, so does much else about the tale of Erik and Sonya Frederick.

***

Each says they knew the other was "the one" from the start.

They met at Baptist Medical Center, which is fitting for Sonya since she was born there and worked there for most of her career. Their paths crossed in a hallway in November 2005; each was smitten right away.

"My first couple of weeks at this job, I found myself a few times wondering what I'd gotten myself into," Erik said. "Then I saw her and I had this minute where I said, `Ohhhh.' I spoke to God a little and said, `So that's why I'm here.' I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true."

They married in October 2006. Both were in their 30s and wanted to start a family right away. When they had trouble conceiving, they began fertility treatments and became foster parents.

Advertisement

They eventually fostered 10 children. At the time of Sonya's stroke, they had two: Noah, who was 18 months old, and Emma, who was 11 months old.

Sonya also was supporting her parents with their health needs. Her dad suffered a stroke in 2000. He remains weak on his right side, has a speech impediment and lost some cognitive ability. Her mother also has had some heart issues, prompting doctors to implant a pacemaker in 2007.

As much as it pained her to see him suffer, what hurts more is the regret of not having recognized his stroke sooner. She'd been called to his house when he began slurring his speech and she let him rest for nearly two hours before calling 9-1-1. Despite her training as a nurse, and despite knowing his father had suffered a stroke, in the heat of the moment she played the role of the dutiful daughter, giving in when her stubborn, stoic dad refused to go to the hospital.

"I have always, always carried the guilt that I could've gotten him treatment to help him have a different outcome," she said. "I can never forgive myself for not doing more."

***

Now we're back to July 12, 2010, at Baptist Medical Center.

Sonya finds herself on a stretcher entering the CT scanner. "This can't be happening to me," she thinks. "I'm 42, I have babies at home and things to do. This is not where I'm supposed to be."

Advertisement

Then Erik takes her hand.

"Baby, I'm right here, he says. "I'll meet you in the ER."

Sonya is quickly moved from CT to Trauma 1 in the ER. The doctor asks Sonya to lift her arm; she can't. She asks Sonya to speak and then to smile; she can't. Colleagues rush in, hooking her up to IV fluids and oxygen.

Tears roll down Sonya's cheeks. Although she's unable to speak, her inner dialogue continues.

Sitting across the room, Erik envisions Sonya's father and grandfather, who also had a debilitating stroke, and wonders, "How am I going to deal with this?" Then his gaze refocuses; he watches the Stroke Team in action, working in harmony at this special skill for which they are so prepared ... the skill he helped coordinate during their preparation ... the one in which he used to be the patient.

"One moment I'm all panicky. And then I'm real calm," Erik says. "The team is doing all this stuff that we've worked on the last two years. It's working! I start to get proud.

"And then I realize again -- that's my wife."

***

Doctors determined that Sonya had suffered a series of mini-strokes known as TIAs, or transient ischemic attacks. In retrospect, she realized that she'd suffered another only a few days before. She'd been at a church function and wound up in the hospital. She'd been given anti-anxiety medication.

Doctors also discovered that Sonya had lived her entire life with a hole in her heart. Known as a patent foramen ovale, or PFO, it was later corrected through a surgical procedure.

Advertisement

Almost six years later, Sonya gets emotional reliving it all. She can even pinpoint her lowest moment.

She was in her hospital bed, listening to nurses talking to patients around her, and it hit her -- I'm supposed to be taking care of people, not being taken care of.

"I need to be well to take care of everyone else," she thought.

She feared that Erik would have to become her caregiver, as her mom had become for her dad since his stroke. She also feared that she and Erik would no longer be allowed to be foster parents.

"I thought I was going to lose babies again," she says, crying.

Once she returned home, Sonya continued to struggle to be a patient. The toughest part was seeing others do the mothering for the children that had finally entered her life.

"But you know what?" she said, returning to present day. "That experience gave me the tools to be a better mom, a better friend, a better nurse, a better wife."

Advertisement

***

Sonya has no lingering damage from her strokes. Although she struggles to control her blood pressure and tries to keep stress in check, she recently got a great report from her cardiologist.

The Fredericks now live in Maine, having left San Antonio for Chicago before uprooting again. Erik is Chief Operation Officer of Pen Bay Medical Center and Sonya is the nurse at the school where Emma and Noah are now first-graders. Their other two children, Zeke and Luke, who came after Sonya's stroke event, will enroll in the fall.

After years of big cities, they love living in a very rural community. They raise chickens and honey bees, eating the eggs from the chickens and savoring jams they make.

"A great life, a wonderful life," Sonya calls it.

They also make time to share their story to increase awareness of the warning signs of stroke, to inform people about Stroke Centers and to encourage donations that support it all.

"It's like a ministry for us," Erik says. "Not everyone has as great of an outcome from a stroke event as we have. It's our responsibility to let people know it can happen, and what more needs to be done to make it happen for more people."

Advertisement
By Benjamin Pimentel

Starting a business is tough enough when you're fresh out of school. Having a huge pile of student loan debt doubles the challenge.

The size of the average outstanding student loan debt has soared, rising 50% from 2007 to 2014 to nearly $28,000, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. But despite the growing debt burden, some determined grads are heading straight into entrepreneurship.

Is that a wise idea?

Starting a business is expensive. Once your company is a year old, you'll find an array of small-business financing choices, but your options are limited when you're brand new. You have to ask yourself whether entrepreneurship is a risk worth taking when saddled with student debt.

Advertisement



Pictured: Brandon Harper, left, Ken Ruiz Hamada and Joanne Danganan.

Ken Ruiz Hamada and Joanne Danganan have wondered the same thing. The pair, two of the co-founders of a company called Ombu, have struggled with the need to work versus the desire to pursue a dream.

They're so passionate about growing their site for booking outdoor adventure trips that they want to devote all their energies to it, Ruiz Hamada says. But he says he is always reminded of his financial burden: "I have student loans and I can't do that."

NerdWallet asked some experts and entrepreneurs whether student loan debt and entrepreneurship are a good mix. Their observations hold four pieces of smart advice:

1. Be daring, but realistic

A love of the outdoors led UCLA students Ruiz Hamada and Danganan, along with co-founder Brandon Harper, to start Ombu.

Advertisement

Student debt hasn't been an issue for Harper. But Ruiz Hamada will graduate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in June with $80,000 in student loans, while Danganan, who graduated with a sociology degree in 2010, is still wrestling with student debt of $60,000 while working full time.

Recently, Ruiz Hamada took the leap. He says he saved up so he could quit his job and devote more time to the business -- while also finishing up his studies. Right now, Ruiz Hamada says he maintains "this delicate balancing act between my finances and chasing this dream."

Meanwhile, Danganan pursues her passion in her spare time. Her advice to new grads looking to start a business but struggling with debt: Go ahead and pursue the idea; there's never a perfect time. But keep your day job if necessary. "Make sure you don't risk your finances being ruined," she says.

2. Be creative with financing and stay lean

Student loan debt can hamper your hunt for capital. Consider refinancing your student loan if possible, which won't eliminate your debt but may ease the burden.

Student debt hanging over your head will likely make potential investors and lenders think twice about financing your small business. Danganan and Ruiz Hamada had to tell potential investors, "We will need to include salaries as part of the investment," he says. Consequently, some investors passed: "Early-stage investors often don't like paying for salaries."

Advertisement

There are other ways to raise money, of course.

"Hitting up friends and family" is one, says Margaret Paddock, senior vice president at U.S. Bank. Crowdfunding is another increasingly popular tactic, especially if you have a product or service that you feel could could draw a lot of attention.

Whatever financing strategy you embrace, Paddock says, you must have a solid financing plan for your business and "keep your expenses really, really low."

Remember that you have advantages as an aspiring entrepreneur fresh out of school, she adds.

"You tend to be more nimble," she tells NerdWallet. "You have fewer responsibilities, like a family or a big mortgage. You have the ability to live simply."

3. Surround yourself with experts

On the other hand, you lack experience. That's why Paddock encourages young entrepreneurs to seek out people who can help.

"Surround yourself with advisers and experts," she says. Go to conferences and other events where you can find business owners who are willing to mentor and share. "Don't be afraid to ask," she says. "A lot of people are so determined to do it on their own -- it's OK to ask."

Advertisement

Think about organizations that can help, including the U.S. Small Business Administration, local chambers of commerce and academic institutions.

For example, Penn State's Smeal College of Business, with help from alumni, is setting up a fund for students who want to start a business. Shawn Clark, a professor of innovation and entrepreneurship, says the goal is to help them "move their ideas forward despite their student loans."

If you're weighed down by student loans, he says, "you're less likely to think about entrepreneurship. ... It kills off the initial decision-making process."

A 2015 report by Smeal and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that enormous student debt burdens have hampered would-be entrepreneurs.

4. Think long term

Here's a sobering thought about starting a business: Many of them fail. But when you're just out of school, you're starting a journey in which failure is not only natural but may also help you in the long run.

Advertisement

James Wang, who just got his MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, has what he calls "a decent chunk" of student loans, but that didn't stop him from joining a team in starting a business -- one that by its very nature makes it more difficult for the company to get financing. He and his co-founders had serious intentions when they came up with a new type of vibrator. They felt that vibrators were being marketed to men "to spice things up" rather than to address the needs of women. They set out "fix those issues" and build a successful business.

The entrepreneur says he thinks about his student loan debt even as he's building his business, "especially since startup life doesn't pay well." But at this stage of his life, he tells NerdWallet, "I should be investing in the most enriching experiences possible, where I can learn as much as I can -- after all, most of my earning potential is still in front of me."

"No matter what happens, I do think all the things I've been able to experience, learn and build have made it worth the opportunity cost," he adds. "There are fairly large potential returns both intangible and financial."

Benjamin Pimentel is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: bpimentel@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @benpimentel
Finally the time has arrived where we can precisely trace future outcomes of adults with what happened in their primitive years. Building blocks start in a brain of a newly born child, neurons begin rapidly connecting (at 700 connections per second!), while connections keep on being made, , most of it is completed by age 2, this is the bases of early childhood development, which entails cognitive development, memory, IQ, linguistic development, a child's vocabulary, ability to read and write, and socio emotional development among others.

Let us go in depth about Early Childhood Development (ECD), also consider two approaches, Abecedarian and Africadarian.

Crucial to mention that for the brain, there is no such thing as too early, as 90% of human brain development occurs by age 5.

Advertisement

Biologically, the brain is prepared to be shaped by experiences that a young child has, it literally influences the formation of their brain circuitry. Key to their development, they need a variety of learning opportunities to explore and figure the world out as Jack Shonkoff from Harvard University observed.

Memory rest on the connections of neurons; each of the 86 billion neurons with which a baby is born will automatically connect to more than 15 000 other neurons at the point of synapses. Note that only if these automatic connections are used do they become permanent. The more they are used, the stronger and faster the connecting axon becomes. Unused connections are "pruned" and can only be restored with great difficulty through remedial education.

This "connectome" is the brain with which we think, remember and make sense of our world. Experts therefore have come to believe that in the area of neuroscience, a "use it or lose it" mentality before the age of three or four seems to come into play - confirming early childhood intervention as all important for optimally developed brain functions.

To leave a baby in front of a television hoping they will learn from various learning programs and cartoons, is not the way to develop their brain, as children at their early age, require human interaction. They need stable, warm, nurturing relationships with a relatively small numbers of adults.

Advertisement

A quick experiment anyone can do with a year old child, is to give them a children's book with stories, then observe their reaction. If they look at pictures, they had an early learning intervention, if they take the book into their mouth, they may not have any early literacy skills.

Inspecting the first approach, Abecedarian requires a highly skilled workforce, as it is recommended that lead teachers possess a bachelor's or master's degree in education and that teaching assistants possess at least a high school diploma.

Africadarian approach is a practical and holistic programme aimed at stimulating the minds of millions disadvantaged children under the age of four. It has a custom designed set of learning materials with academic and non-academic training methods for educarers, including parents, most of it free on the internet.

Methods used by the Abecedarian approach entails learning games, conversational reading, language priority and enriched care giving. The Africadarian model goes further to include child's native language as a mode of communication for the majority of children, numeracy through demonstrations using tokens, introduces basic concepts in isolation, like colour, shape, numbers, position, size and written words, all in a playful, fun way. These are few contrasts.

What we can say about both approaches, first they are gone pass the experiment phase, their aim is to make a generational impact, a systemic intervention to change direction and bring about sustainable change in a community. Africadarian though is a far more affordable and scalable option in Africa than Abecedarian.

Advertisement

Scalability in disseminating the learning model without losing control over quality, is important as there are few organizations globally that are dedicated to spreading this most effective methods.

Government and particularly the business community might like to know the economics of ECD, in USA they found, for every Dollar spent, there is $16 Return on Investment.

Results of ECD are evident in many countries; parental stimulation increased earnings by 25% in Jamaica, and reduced crime by 30%; Mozambique, preschool education improved cognitive development by 87%. In the United States, if low income children went to good preschools, disparities for readiness for primary schools would drop 24% between white and black children, 35% between white and Hispanic children; ECD learnings, levels the playing field.
[Of course, we don't have access to Chevron's internal communications. But if we did, this "memo" is what we imagine we might see. It's hard to peek into the mind of someone who is responsible for massive environmental destruction and human rights violations, but based on John Watson's actions as Chevron CEO this should be about right.] Reposted from the Eye On The Amazon

Dear Chevron Board of Directors and Senior Management:

This Wednesday will mark my sixth Annual Shareholder Meeting as your Chair and Chief Executive Officer. I want to thank you for the complete trust and lack of oversight you have given to me and our legal team headed up by Hew Pate in handling the ongoing Ecuador matter. Regretfully, I must inform you that we will once again have to deal with representatives of the indigenous and farmer communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon and their many misguided allies at the meeting on Wednesday.

As you know, our primary strategy since Chevron merged with Texaco (thanks in great part to my work as chief architect of the merger) is to spare no expense in dragging out legal proceedings as long as possible (and given our hefty bank accounts, that could last longer than all the remaining oil reserves, am I right?). We will continue that approach in Canada and anywhere else, or as our PR team so aptly put it: "until hell freezes over."

Advertisement

However, there are a number of developments since the meeting last year. I have anticipated some of your questions and will endeavor to respond to them below:

Yes, the Canadian Supreme Court sided unanimously with the Ecuadorians to allow their enforcement proceeding to begin there this Fall. Not to worry, we have hired multiple firms in Canada and we fully expect to be able to drag that trial out for many more years in hopes our opponents finally run out of funding to continue the fight.

No, we have not reported this $11 billion liability to the SEC for this case. Of course, we will stand by our claims that Chevron-Canada can never be held liable for Chevron's actions. (Don't worry, we still get to list all the assets of Chevron-Canada as ours in our annual report). Sure, someone at the SEC or Department of Justice might figure out that we're trying to have it both ways. But I'm pretty sure our bylaws allow for having our cake and eating it too.

Yes, there's risk we will have to clean up' and pay up' as the activists say. And this whole Canada thing could affect our existing operations and new upstream development plans. But, no matter what happens, I look forward to receiving a generous bonus and I promise to give you a few weeks notice before I "float away on my golden parachute."

Advertisement

Yes, we are still awaiting the decision of the Second Circuit of Appeals on that RICO case that Judge Kaplan so graciously advised us to file. It is true that if we win it doesn't prevent the communities from continuing their enforcement actions, but we're happy to have paid Gibson Dunn so much money that the firm opened a new international litigation spin-off to help companies like us get off the hook for paying for things like environmental remediation and rights abuses.

No, even though Judge Wesley suggested it, we will not be forced to try the original case all over again in front of the Second Circuit in New York. Ted Olson has assured me that they can't actually force us do that. Quite a relief, what with the pollution, cancers, and stuff.

No, our case is not dead just because our star witness Judge Alberto Guerra admitted to lying on the stand and forensic evidence shows that the Ecuador judgment was indeed written by the presiding judge. I mean, sure, it's not great, but to quote my buddy Don Rumsfeld, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want'. Probably shouldn't have given him a backpack full of cash, though. I'm going to add a note to self here that we've got to be more creative when bribing people.

Yes, in the "bribery" column of your report you will see that we will continue to pay the housing costs and "stipend" for Judge Guerra for at least another year. If we failed to continue this support it might look like we were only paying him to testify in our favor, so his admission of lying under oath in the RICO case actually demonstrates that the $2 million he has received from Chevron can in no way be seen as a bribe. Good news! And of course, we don't want him to turn on us and further, so consider it well invested hush money.

Yes, it is true that our legal team verified the leaked inspection videos from 2005 released by Amazon Watch. (No bonuses for those involved!) Those videos show our technicians finding toxic waste at sites we defended as clean in the Ecuadorian trial. Fortunately, we have successfully kept them off mainstream media in the US with some well written letters from our lawyers and the protection of Judge Kaplan's verdict. As such, they have only been viewed a few million times on the internet.

Advertisement

If you are confronted by any Ecuadorian "natives" at the meeting, I recommend you take my posture of simply dismissing them as naive people who have been manipulated by "greedy New York lawyers". If they have water with them, DO NOT DRINK IT.

Once again, just as we expect this divestment movement to fade away, we estimate that eventually the Ecuadorians and their lawyers will run out of support and be forced to abandon their case. I promise you that day is coming... they can't live forever after all, especially given that water they have to drink.

Let's just get through this meeting on Wednesday and engage as little as possible with people from Ecuador, Richmond, Canada, Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Romania... and anywhere else our operations generate "protest".

Remember what I said last year, "the path to prosperity is through fossil fuels." For most of the world it may be an oil soaked path through a desert world, but just look at how good it has been to all of us!

Sincerely,

John Watson

Chief Executive Officer AND Chairman of the Board
Interior of school classroom.

While functional states may be basically all alike, when it comes to education, dysfunctional states are all dysfunctional in their own way.

In Pennsylvania, we have focused on developing one of the most dysfunctional funding systems in the country. We have a huge gap between rich and poor schools. We have a charter system that allows charter schools to bleed public school systems dry (in one spectacular case, a district actually got negative subsidy from the state because their charter bill is so huge).

Advertisement

On top of that, the legislature messed up the pension system so badly that districts are now making massive balloon payments on their pension obligations.

And the cherry on top of this is our state government's inability to do the whole budget thing. Last year's budget was a full ten months late and several dollars short, leaving districts both to do their own budget decisions in the dark while also holding up any payment from the state at all and triggering massive cash flow problems. Everybody lost, but nobody in Harrisburg learned a damn thing, so we're already right on track to create an equally ugly mess for next year.

How bad is it, really?

Here's how bad. Erie, Pennsylvania-- not exactly a teeming metropolis, but not exactly a one horse town, either-- is considering closing all of its high schools. Yes, at a meeting last week, the district's leaders were asked to consider if it might be more doable to just send all of Erie's teenagers to neighboring school districts.

The district is looking at a $4.3 million gap, and like many districts in PA, it has no possible response except to cut, "including eliminating sports, extracurricular activities, art and music programs, district libraries, and the district's police department." Plus cutting various administrative positions out the wazoo.

Advertisement

PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has taken a look at Erie finances and determined that the crappy state funding formula and the loss of money to charters are a huge part of the problem. DePasquale has actually been saying this a great deal, all over the state, because from Erie to Philadelphia, bad funding and a terrible charter law are guttting school finance.

It is, of course, the same death spiral visible across the country. If Erie does hang in there, how well can the public schools compete with the charters if the public schools must cut all sorts of services? This is one of the most baloney-stuffed parts of the Free Market Competition Mantra-- competition will spur Erie schools to become greater and more competitive by stripping them of the resources they need just to function. Is that how it's supposed to work? That is Superintendent Jay Badams' question-- is it worth keeping Erie high schools open if they can't offer any of the programs available in other region schools?

No, this is how charter eat public schools from the inside out, like free market tapeworms. The more the eat, the weaker public schools become, and the weaker public schools become, the more charters can attack them and eat more.

Erie Superintendent Jay Badams has been trying his damndest to be heard in Harrisburg, and he's been known to fling some rhetoric before (back in February, he was predicting that Erie schools would go bankrupt), so it's possible that he's hyperbolizing a tad for effect, in the vain hope of getting someone in our dysfunctional state capital to a) pay attention and b) care.

But even if he's leaning on the panic button, he's not making this stuff up. Particularly in the long term, closing down the high schools and farming out the students qualifies as a viable solution. It also qualifies as a breakdown of the public education system. If the schools shut down (a process that would take over a year), what happens to the students? While there would be public and charter schools that could, maybe, take those students, there's no guarantee that there would be enough capacity to absorb those students and more importantly, none of those schools would have an obligation to absorb the Erie students (and Erie's only remaining obligation would be to pay tuition-- it would actually be to their benefit if a student is not placed anywhere). Whether the student is expensive to teach or a behavior problem or can't get transportation or the receiving schools are just out of desks and don't want to hurt their own programs through overcrowding, there will be students that nobody takes responsibility for.

Advertisement

The charter- and-finances-induced death spiral, the disaster capitalism approach to gutting public schools, puts us that much closer to a world where we could meet grown adults who say, "Yeah, I wanted to finish high school, but I couldn't find a place that would take me." Instead of drop-outs, we will have push-outs, students who didn't just fall through the cracks, but who were deliberately pushed through them.

The bulldozing of public schools in order to make room for the free market presumes that the free market has the chops to absorb what the public system turns loose. What if we burn down the public school to make room for a shiny charter, and all we end up with is a vacant lot? The biggest danger of a botched conversion to a charter choice system is not that we'd end up with a bad charter choice system, but that a city could end up with no system at all.
On Sunday May 8th, a group of African-American children set fire to a parked school bus in front of a Jewish elementary school in Crown Heights. The incident was caught on a surveillance camera. The New York Police Department arrested one the arsonists that same night and three more were arrested later in the week. Two of the boys are 14 years old, one is 12 and the fourth is 11.

The police initially charged the culprits with arson and criminal mischief, as hate crimes. The media later reported that the hate crime charges were dropped since there was insufficient evidence to prove that the crime was motivated by bias. This prompted an important debate on the perceived spike of anti-Semitic incidents in Crown Heights.

The arson charges will be tried in Family Court due to the young age of the offenders. Judges have huge discretion in Family Court and it likely won't make any difference in terms of sentencing or rehabilitation whether or not these kids are charged with conduct constituting a hate crime. Still, I question the rationale in charging an 11-year-old with a hate crime in the first place.

Advertisement

To be classified as a hate crime, an incident has to be motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual's ethnicity, disability, color, religion or gender. Does an 11-year-old even have the intellectual or emotional maturity to commit a hate crime? We have all heard kids angrily yell at a parent or sibling "I hate you" or even "I want you to die". All fair minded adults would agree that the child doesn't mean or even understand what he or she is saying.

Ironically, in my experience, the New York Police Department avoids classifying attacks as hate crimes since it attracts unwanted media and political pressure. I recall several instances where hate crimes were committed but the police or District Attorney refused to classify it as such. This is why Jewish leaders sometimes rush to call attacks on Jewish institutions, or individuals, hate crimes. There is a distrust in the system that If we don't call it a hate crime then no one will.

It is undeniable that this was a very serious incident. Lighting fire to a school bus is a despicable act. Had the bus exploded, there would have been fatalities. The footage shows the kids entering the bus and lighting the fire from inside, putting themselves in genuine danger as well. But instead of focusing on whether the word "hate crime" should be attached to the criminal complaint, we should be asking what went wrong with society that children, even 10 and 11-year-old, could be so oblivious to the dangers and consequences of torching a school bus? Is there an atmosphere at school that encouraged anti-semitism or vandalism? And most importantly, what educational initiatives can we launch to better address the issue of violence and hate perpetrated by young children?

Advertisement

While the owner of the bus can seek damages from each parents of up to $5,000 per kid, it would be a costly and burdensome process. The parents should pay for the damages to the bus because it is the right thing to do. When parents teach by example that can be more rehabilitating for their kids than any sentence or punishment.
Recent weeks have brought devastating news for many of the shelters coping with a surge of homelessness in cities across the country: The federal funding they have relied on to house, feed, and care for some of the very neediest Americans is going away.



In New York City, well-established and respected shelter operators such as the Bowery Residents Committee, the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, and the Doe Fund are seeing their grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) slashed or zeroed out.



The same is happening to Camillus House in Miami, Florida; to Vincent Village in Fort Wayne, Indiana; to the Center for Women and Families in Louisville, Kentucky, and to the Institute for Human Services in Honolulu, Hawaii.



"This means that, come June, some 700 people who were receiving services to get off the streets will be sent back to the streets. Can you imagine that?" Ron Book of the Dade County Housing Trust told the Miami Herald. The Trust had applied for federal funding for 20 organizations; it won grants for only three.



What could explain HUD's actions?



It's not that the problem of homelessness has gone away. To the contrary, it's worse than ever in some places--with tent cities springing up in places like Los Angeles and Seattle, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, declaring a state of emergency, and New York City's shelter population hovers near an all-time high.



Nor is there a sudden cash crisis in Washington. The grants were awarded through HUD's $2.3 billion Continuum of Care program, which actually got a 5 percent boost in 2016.



No, what changed was the minds of HUD policymakers. They have become believers in the philosophy know as "Housing First," which holds that moving people into permanent, independent housing as quickly as possible is the best solution for homelessness. So they're dramatically ramping up funding for programs that follow that approach, and cutting support for traditional shelters.



"The government is now just giving vouchers out, which puts people in homes and the government pays their rent," Denise Andorfer of the Vincent Villages told the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. "But the behavior doesn't change and most end up homeless again."



"While transitional housing programs play an important temporary role for people experiencing homelessness, permanent supportive housing has demonstrably better outcomes at a lower cost," HUD spokesman Charles McNally told Politico New York.



But prioritizing what he called "evidence-based interventions like permanent supportive housing," this year's grants "should help New York serve more people experiencing homelessness, and with better results," McNally said.



He acknowledged that shifting priorities could put some shelters out of business. "McNally said HUD would provide guidance to projects that weren't funded, to help them wind down and determine how to move their clients from transitional housing into permanent housing," Politico reported.



The apparent basis for calling the money shift "evidence-based" is HUD's Family Options Study. Following more than 2,000 families in 12 communities over three years, it has been described as the largest-ever research project comparing the effectiveness of different approaches to homelessness. An interim report based on the first 20 months' experience was published in July 2015.



But the study is only half-finished. And its complex methodology--which focused on what programs families were offered, as opposed to what they actually used--makes its findings difficult to interpret. Certainly they do not come close justifying HUD's robbing-Peter-to-pay Paul policy.



The solution that came out looking best based on the study's preliminary--repeat, preliminary--results was permanently subsidized housing, i.e., an open-ended commitment that government will pay a portion of families' rent. Of course, that approach gets steadily costlier over time, meaning the cost-benefit analysis at 20 months could look very different at 36 months or 10 years.



Nor is a large-scale expansion of permanent housing subsidies realistically on the table. Federal funding for public housing and Section 8 vouchers has been effectively flat for years. The Housing First programs to which HUD is giving grants provide temporary rent support, typically for two years or less. The Family Options Study's interim report determined that temporary rent subsidies failed to significantly improve the lives of families who were offered them. They appeared less expensive than some alternatives, but the savings diminished over time as families lost their apartments and slipped back into homelessness.



Here's more evidence HUD should be considering: Under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, New York City experimented with an aggressive housing-first approach from 2005 to 2011, using rent subsidies to move 33,000 people out of shelters.
A haircut from a head hunter?

Meyer Berger expresses New York City as well as any journalist I've read on the topic. And there are a lot of distinguished ones, from Walt Whitman to Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill and Tom Wolfe.

What I like best about Berger -- bylined Meyer, called Mike -- is his combination of high- and low-brow, society's upper edge and the people who stoked their furnaces. Berger presents spry and poetic characters and undomesticated scenes from the microcosm of mid-1950s Manhattan in "New York: A Great Reporter's Love Affair with a City," from Fordham University Press.

Berger, a grammar-school dropout who wrote the "About New York" column for The New York Times, bridged that gap.

Advertisement

"Berger brought to spotlight many of those New Yorkers who usually exist on the journalistic margins," Hamill writes in the introduction. "They have neither fame nor notoriety. They never hit game-winning home runs and do not murder their spouses. ... And they know things. Often, they know amazing things."

Berger, who earned a Purple Heart in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for his account of the murder of 13 people by a disturbed war veteran in Camden, New Jersey.

Eclectic characters

In this collection of columns from 1953 to 1959, Berger describes the city's civil service examiners who prepare tests for 2,132 different civil service jobs, mark their papers and grade them.

He tracks down the bus builders -- Overseas Equipment Co. -- who built buses shipped to Saudi Arabia to take pilgrims to Mecca. Each bus was a different color, Berger writes, except green, which, "it seems is sacred to Mohammed."

Advertisement

There were no marriage licenses in New York City before 1908, Berger writes. Up to then, ministers, magistrates, sea captains, aldermen or "whoever" tied nuptial knots and sent a record to the Health Department.

Berger was the only New York City Yankee to chronicle the cemetery for Confederate soldiers in the borough of Queens, where 460 Southern Civil War dead were buried.

In his columns you can read of the between 600 and 800 Mohawk Indians who worked on bridges and skyscraper construction.

Berger writes of the tailor who dressed the Vanderbilts, and an animal called "the soft-eyed Panamanian oligo, kin to the kinkajou."

The last trolley car was hauled out of the city by highway trailer-truck Nov. 3, 1958, he reports.

Fires in mailboxes

Berger's columns consider fires in mailboxes and penetrate the secret society of orchid breeders in Manhattan.

Advertisement

We read about the "grim and fabulously wealthy real estate operator who kept his six sisters imprisoned in their mansion." In later years, two of those sisters sometimes appeared in the neighborhood dressed in "black bombazine."

In one column, Berger joined 1,200 Scottish gentlemen at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel sitting down to "cock-a-leekie, to haggis and to salmon."

On April 20, 1955, he wrote about "grating anglers," treasure hunters who dangled rope and wire for coins underneath the sidewalks. "They're inclined, almost unanimously, to be on the misanthropic side," Berger comments.

Then there's Allan Leonard Rock, the ad man who maintained the archives of the hunter and trapper Pawnee Bill, of Pawnee Bill and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.

Joe A. Munang was a Dusun tribesman from British North Borneo who ran a little barbershop opposite St. John's Cathedral. "There's something odd about this because Joe is descended from North Borneo head hunters," Berger writes.

Advertisement

Cigars for chimps

I laughed out loud reading about the "mostly retired businessmen from Park and Fifth avenues who keep Joe, the Central Park Zoo's chimpanzee, in cigars."

"They unselfishly give him their brand," Berger adds. "They rarely pass him a stinker."
With the new methane standards announced by President Obama in the middle of May, the U.S. moves further towards regulating the largely unchecked natural gas industry. The standards will cut methane emissions from new and modified extraction sites from the oil and gas sector-- in particular from hydraulic fracturing or fracking sites that extract natural gas. The standards are a part of President Obama's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, specifically reducing methane emissions from this industry by 40 - 45% from 2012 levels by 2025. The new methane standards are expected to reduce 510,000 short tons of methane in 2025, the equivalent of reducing 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One, Saturday, May 21, 2016, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. on his way to Vietnam. He'll spend three days in Vietnam, with stops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, before heading to Japan for a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and a historic visit to Hiroshima. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

On May 27, President Barack Obama will become the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the site where the United States dropped an atomic bomb near the end of World War II. The bomb killed thousands of people instantly and thousands more survivors suffered from radiation exposure. Nagasaki was bombed three days after Hiroshima. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the end of the year. Japan surrendered immediately after the bombings.

An American friend of mine, who is a journalist, recently asked me if the people in Japan were feeling uncomfortable with the President's upcoming visit. "The people of Hiroshima must be angry," the journalist said. "Are you guys going to ask the U.S. for an apology?"

Advertisement

My response surprised him.

"No," I said. "People in Hiroshima and Nagasaki will not be furious." The emotions are not the same as they were in 1945. Indeed, the Asahi Shimbun, one of the leading newspapers in Japan, took a poll this week which showed that 89 percent of Japanese people in fact appreciated Obama's visit.

We are not wartime enemies anymore but rather the closest of allies. Japanese people of my generation grew up watching Hollywood movies and listening to Michael Jackson and Nirvana. We drink coffee at Starbucks and get excited when Apple releases a new product.

Although the Japanese people will never forget what happened and how we suffered tremendously from the atomic bomb, we think it is more important for us to work with the U.S. towards a world without nuclear weapons.

We trust President Obama's words at Prague in 2009: "As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act." Because we trust the U.S., we think we can put aside anger and move on.

Advertisement

A non-nuclear world means a lot to the Japanese people. While many Americans say that the atomic bombs shortened the war and saved numerous lives, Japanese people think of it as a supreme tragedy.

Japanese children are taught about the bomb in classrooms and go on field trips to Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Students learn about how the cities were scenes of utter devastation after the world's first atomic bomb attack. Many people were vaporized immediately, and survivors were buried under houses and died, one after another, from radiation poisoning.

When I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with my 8-year-old son three years ago, I did not let him go inside. I felt I could still hear the voices of children screaming. I did not want my son to be shocked.

According to Daniel Sneider, the Associate Director for Research at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, there are three basic narratives in Japan about the war. First there is the conservative revisionist narrative that claims Japan liberated Asia from colonialism, and World War II was an act of self-defense against Western imperialism. Then there is the left-wing narrative that says Japan was hijacked by militarists which led to the destruction of the nation. The third and dominant narrative in Japan emphasizes that war is a horrible thing and that we made a big mistake in choosing the path of war. A mistake we can never again allow.

The third narrative can be seen in the memorial cenotaph at Hiroshima, which says "please rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the error (evil). "Who "we" stands for and who is to blame, are both unclear and unquestioned.

Advertisement

You can argue that this vagueness is one of the aspects of Japanese character. In contrast to Americans who are likely to express their opinions strongly, Japanese people are reluctant to take positions in an argument to avoid being assertively explicit.

In my view, talking about war as a general evil while not naming a particular country depoliticizes the issue. This approach may be helpful if it encourages the leaders of the world to stop pointing fingers and instead work together as a team for world peace and nuclear non-proliferation.

When Obama visits Hiroshima and stands side by side with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese people will not be there to ask for an apology and blame the United States.
This piece was co-written by Lee Green and Sheena C. Howard

Many are fully aware of the controversial directive the Obama Administration issued, stating public schools should allow transgender students access to the bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. Opponents of the directive have created trending memes and anti-transgender slogans stating, "I don't want some MAN in a WIG going to the bathroom with my little girl." This is a simplistic, reductionist counter-argument. Making the main argument against transgender people using restrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity about the safety of girls and women, whilst ignoring the real factors around sexual abuse, physical violence and sexual assault of women and girls is hypocritical.

The safety of all children should be a universal law, however in America 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12, 29% are age 12 - 17 and 44% are under 18 years of age. In addition, according to some studies, about 80 percent of rape victims have been raped before the age of 25.

If we are collectively concerned about the safety of our girls, then transgender people using bathrooms and locker rooms that identify with their gender identity is not the place we should be placing our energy. In fact, a 2012 report by the United States Department of Justice indicates that 69% of the teen sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim, the offender, or another individual. There is no evidence to support that increases in sexual assault, physical assault, voyeurism, and/or exhibitionism takes place as a result of states or facilities letting trans people use the bathroom of their choice. Thus, the focus on the safety of girls and women being assaulted by "men dressing up as women" to gain access to the woman's room is reflective of a destructive American cultural logic that diverts attention away from the actual safety issues for people of Trans experience, as well as women and girls. This is just another example of America's historically moral hypocrisy around social issues and public policy, when it comes to minority populations.

Advertisement

The cultural resistance (See: North Carolina, HB2) to transgender anti-discrimination bills, mandates and directives across the country are just another example of this hypocrisy. This is evident in the framing and public discourse around the Obama Administration's directive, which opponents primarily focus on the safety and concerns of young girls in the bathroom, to the exclusion of the places where young girls and women are actually the most vulnerable - college campuses, residences and relationships with people (usually cis-gendered men) that they know well.

The Obama Administration views a student's gender identity as the student's sex. That is, gender identity, according to the Obama Administration, is protected under federal law, specifically Title IX. This is a controversial interpretation of the law, yet it still remains that the most widely used, morally bankrupt argument against the Obama Administrations transgender anti-discrimination directive is that men will dress up as women in order to go into public bathrooms with the intention of sexually or physically assaulting them. This argument is morally bankrupt because America already, and has for decades faced an endemic problem with men sexually assaulting and abusing women and girls. These incidences are not prevalent in school facilities that already allow transgender people to use the bathroom and locker room of choice.

Advertisement

Within the context of social discourse and material reality in the United States, where nearly 1 in 5 women in this country say they have been sexually assaulted, this attempt to establish a causal relationship between transgender people using the bathroom and sexual assault, is not only a false cause fallacy but it is also hypocritical. Therefore, we sincerely wish people were collectively as concerned and committed to the safety of women and girls as they are about opposing the Obama Administrations directive, under the guise of concern for women and girls.

One can certainly be complicit in the endemic sexual assault and physical violence of women and girls at the hands of heterosexual, cis-gendered men while also being gravely concerned about their daughter being assaulted in the bathroom, however that doesn't logically follow with a fear of transgender people using the bathroom.

We know that bathrooms are a site of anxiety, safety, health concerns and mortality for transgender people. The major premise of the argument that male predators will use this type of mandate or directive to gain access to women is enmeshed in patriarchal and sexist power dynamics, as well as a hypocritical American cultural logic that allows us to further render trans men invisible, ignore the safety of trans people in general and prevent us from having an actual conversation around the pervasiveness of sexual assault and physical violence currently and historically against women and girls (trans women included) at the hands of men. This type of hypocrisy is what allows rape culture on college campuses to persist, sexual assault victims to be shamed and violence against women and girls to remain a public health concern. Not dealing with sexism and patriarchy leads us to having conversations about transgender anti-discrimination laws and directives that ignore the reality of the safety and health concerns trans people experience, and the perpetuation of myths that in reality cannot be supported by any data.

It is a fact that there are predators in the world with ill intentions, however evidence supports that these predators are not gaining access to people in bathrooms (even in places that allow transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity), they are overwhelmingly (not exclusively) intimate partners, neighbors, family members and/or close relatives, in the home. Continuing to vilify peoples of trans experience, rather than dealing with the actual safety concerns that currently exist for women, girls and trans people moves us further away from solving existing problems.

Advertisement

Due to this pending overblown debate and North Carolinas House Bill 2, people of trans experience may now be subjected to harassment and confrontation in bathrooms on a grander scale, whereas they may fear the very notion of using a public restroom.

Society seems to be neglecting the fact that this directive is in place to mitigate unwarranted deaths, beatings, sexual abuse, harassment, and overall confrontations that transgender individuals may experience when using public facilities. A person's gender may or may not align with their sex.

We need to think of the young trans girl as someone's daughter as well as the young trans boy as someone's son, yet much of the public discourse around Trans experience revolves around the former, trans men and trans boys - even across the debate about bathrooms. Enmeshed in the new "consciousness" around LGBTQ issues of which our society is making progress, there is the duality of trans men and trans women. When the word "TRANS" is mentioned, there is a missing association with respect to trans men. Even conducting a cursory analysis of public discourse around "Bathroom Bills" and anti-transgender discrimination laws, we forget that female-to-male trans people are a part of the equation.

It is extremely unsafe for a trans man to walk into the women's bathroom or locker room, which makes the Obama Administrations interpretation of gender identity and Title IX so significant. For example, that single father who is waiting outside the bathroom for his daughter to return does not want to see a trans man, whom by all accounts presents as a man, walk into the same bathroom as his daughter. We should be frantic and anxious about sexual assault and crime against women and girls but not because of a directive that allows people to use the bathroom.

Once the dust settles, other states adopt laws and mandates protecting transgender rights and this directive is in place for some time, this country can only hope that as a collective we maintain the same fierce support and ready-to-act mentality around the safety and health of our women and girls that we seem to be concerned with today in response to the Obama Administrations anti-discrimination transgender measures.



Lee Green has been a resident and local artist of the Tristate, (Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey) area and LGBTQ community for over a decade. Born in Brooklyn N.Y. raised in North Carolina, Lee attended the University of North Carolina for a brief time, finally settling in Philadelphia in 2006, establishing Motivated People LLC. In 2014, which is an artistic consultants collective. Lee began his transition from female to male in 2011, and has worked to provide safe space and open conversation surrounding the Trans community ever since.

Advertisement

You can find Lee Green on Facebook here

Follow Lee Green on Twitter here
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog

On May 4, several environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calling for an end to the regulatory exemption it carved out in the late 1980s for the oil and gas industry with regards to how it handles industrial waste.

Photo Credit: United States Geological Survey

That exemption to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, a recent DeSmog investigation showed, was pushed in the forefront almost from day one of RCRA's passage by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC). IOGCC is a U.S. Congress-chartered interstate compact consisting of U.S. oil and gas producing states, with a membership roll that includes state-level regulators, industry lobbyists and executives.

The EPA, which granted the oil and gas industry the RCRA exemption in 1988, serves as an IOGCC affiliate member.

Advertisement

An ongoing DeSmog investigation into IOGCC has exhibited that it often behaves like an unregistered lobbying node for the oil and gas industry. DeSmog has also obtained more documents, published here for the first time, revealing IOGCC's role in pushing for and creating the RCRA loophole.

IOGCC: RCRA "Is Pretty Scary"

The recently-published DeSmog piece showed that Don Clay, who now works for Koch Industries as its Managing Director of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, headed up EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response at the time the agency carved out the RCRA exemption after years of IOGCC- and industry-wide lobbying. Initially, the exemption existed as part of the Solid Waste Management Act of 1980, called the Bentsen Amendment due to the late U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen's (D-TX) championing of the clause.

Lee Fuller, the lead staffer who worked on that issue for Bentsen at the time of the amendment's passage, now works as a senior lobbyist for the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). IPAA served as the creator and still oversees the controversial fracking front group, Energy in Depth (EID), which has written 144 blog posts in recent years belittling the link between injecting fracking wastewater and the earthquakes this can cause.

Advertisement

EID published a report in November 2015 that attempted to sow seeds of doubt between the link between oil and gas waste injection and earthquakes, which came out just over a month after IOGCC unveiled a similar primer at its annual meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

A letter recently obtained by DeSmog from the Oklahoma State University's Henry L. Bellmon Senatorial Papers collection demonstrates that IOGCC's then-chairman and North Dakota Governor George Sinner faxed a letter on IOGCC letterhead to Bellmon in July 1987, a few months after the EPA published the first draft of its report making recommendations to Congress about what to do about the oil and gas wastes issue, positing that "oil and gas producing states will suffer severe economic damage if this is allowed to happen."

That letter ended with a call to action, with Sinner asking Bellmon to contact the EPA and Congressional members and express this same sentiment. "Henry, this thing is pretty scary -- do what you can!," Sinner wrote at the bottom of the letter.

Image Credit: Oklahoma State University Henry L. Bellmon Senatorial Papers

Within a year, IOGCC had won the RCRA exemption that serves as the subject of the current lawsuit. IOGCC did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Steve Everley of EID told EnergyWire that he believes the lawsuit is a "fallacious stunt."

But that's all just the obligatory backstory. What about the lawsuit itself, who are the plaintiffs and what have they demanded?

Advertisement

The Lawsuit

The plaintiffs for the case -- filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- include groups ranging from the Environmental Integrity Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthworks, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, West Virginia Citizen Action Group d/b/a West Virginia Surface Owners' Rights Organization, Responsible Drilling Alliance, and the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

EPA, say the plaintiffs, was supposed to review and amend oil and gas industry's RCRA exemption every three years under U.S. law.

"Defendant is under a nondiscretionary and continuing duty to review and, where necessary, revise the regulations 'not less frequently than every three years (42 U.S.C.  6912(b))," reads the complaint. "EPA has not reviewed the...regulations for oil and gas wastes since July 6, 1988. Since that time, nine successive three-year deadlines have passed with no further review."

But that didn't happen, largely as it turns out, due to IOGCC's influence peddling.

What exists instead of EPA self-audits every three years is something called STRONGER (State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations), an organization overseen by IOGCC and other stakeholders that since the late 1980s has performed voluntary audits of various aspects of state-level oil and gas regulatory programs.

The plaintiffs have asked the EPA to end the oil and gas industry's RCRA loophole and amend it to reflect the modern-day shale oil and gas exploration and production boom.

Advertisement

Image Credit: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

STRONGER and Weaker Regulations

STRONGER's initial name was the Council on Regulatory Needs, which got off the ground with $300,000 in EPA seed money. Documents obtained by DeSmog from the Archives and Special Collections of New Mexico State University Library show that Jerry Simmons, now executive director for the National Association of Royalty Owners, served as staff director for the Council while also working as IOGCC's associate director.

Further, the New Mexico State University documents also convey that Randy Bruton -- then head of regulatory affairs for Mitchell Energy, the company that pioneered commercial-scale fracking in the U.S. (since bought out by Devon Energy) -- served as one of two industry representatives to the Council.

Fast-forwarding to the 21st Century, 2012 Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama -- the latter heeding the recommendations of his industry-loaded Department of Energy fracking advisory committee -- have advocated for the hands-off STRONGER approach.

A 2004 letter obtained by DeSmog from the State Historical Society of North Dakota's Governor John Hoeven Records shows that, at that point in time, API funded STRONGER to the tune of $250,000 per year.

Advertisement

In a 1990 memorandum obtained by DeSmog from the University of Texas' Briscoe Center for American History, the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners (TIPRO) admitted the real reason for STRONGER (then still the Council for Regulatory Needs): more or less, public relations.

"If the [IOGCC] recommendations convince Congress that states are making a good faith effort to strengthen their rules where strengthened rules are appropriate, then we stand a good chance of keeping our...exemption and avoiding new federal involvement," reads the memo. "TIPRO has been working closely with the [IOGCC] study group. Our hope is that the [IOGCC] recommendations can help Congress make the right decisions and that states will not feel pressured to take actions that could destroy the ability of independent producers to make a living."

In that same memo, TIPRO also said it was "very fortunate" to have Bruton on the Council, who at the time also served as a member of TIPRO's Environmental Committee.

"Toxic Mess"

The complaint also documents the human health and environmental impacts of the RCRA loophole above and beyond just generating record numbers of earthquakes. The ever-evolving RCRA tale, with this lawsuit and the ongoing Sierra Club v. Chesapeake Operating LLC, Et Al lawsuit serving as the latest chapter, provide a good case study of IOGCC's long-term, real world impacts.

Amy Mall, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a press release that it all amounts to a "toxic mess" in need of a legal fixing.

Advertisement
Seattle police officers got the surprise of their lives the day a woman approached with cocaine rocks in her hand and asked to be arrested.

"I want to be enrolled in the LEAD program," she said, referring to a new initiative aimed at diverting people who are frequently arrested into social services and treatment.

Advertisement

Since its debut in Seattle in 2011, the law enforcement assisted diversion (LEAD) program has created nationwide buzz. Under a LEAD program, a law enforcement officer can choose to divert a person who has committed a low-level drug or sex work offense to a case manager instead of incarceration. The case manager then works with the client to create a unique service plan focused on improving quality of life and reducing criminal behavior. In many cases, clients are seeking food, housing, job opportunities or treatment for a drug addiction.

During the second week of May 2016, the first three institutions to launch a LEAD program, the Seattle Public Defender Association (Seattle, Washington); Santa Fe Police Department (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and Albany Police Department (Albany, New York), met in North Carolina for a caravan tour of law enforcement departments interested in learning about LEAD. At each stop, the presenters met with police officers, sheriff deputies, district attorneys, public health department officials, substance abuse treatment providers and concerned citizens. The discussions left a trail of thought-provoking conversation that had everyone excited about change.

The existing LEAD programs started for different reasons. In Seattle, the program was born out of conflict between the police department and the public defenders office over racial disparities in drug arrests. In Santa Fe, the staggering burden of property crimes due to drug addiction led the department to seek alternative solutions. In Albany, neighborhood groups were unhappy with aggressive policing tactics and demanded reform. But what they all had in common was an agreement that the status quo "war on drugs" tactics weren't working. Drugs were cheaper and more plentiful than ever. Drug related property crimes were at an all-time high. Local government budgets were groaning under the cost of incarcerating so many drug offenders. And no one felt safer.

Law enforcement in particular was frustrated at the revolving door in the criminal justice system. Because prosecutor's offices don't always have the money to prosecute for low level drug offenses (choosing, wisely, to divert their resources to more serious crimes), officers often arrest someone on a street corner and spend hours booking them in jail, only to return the next day and see the same person back on the same corner doing the same thing. Some drug users have been arrested over 50 times without altering their behavior in the least.

Advertisement

"We have been fighting against drugs since 1972 and have not gained ground," says Chief Mike James of the Leland Police Department, who co-hosted one of the LEAD events in North Carolina. "We are here to learn about a different approach."

By diverting people BEFORE they enter the criminal justice system, LEAD actually changes behavior and reduces crime. The Seattle program evaluation showed that after 2 years, LEAD participants were 58% less likely to recidivate than their counterparts. While the average incarceration costs $42 per day, participation in LEAD costs only $17.50 per day after the initial high utilization period.

But above the tangible results of reduced recidivism and cost savings, LEAD is about relationships. LEAD brings together law enforcement, district attorneys, public defenders, community treatment and service providers together to talk about solutions to complex problems. As Kris Nyrop, one of the Seattle LEAD's founding members, explains, "LEAD breaks silos and gets people talking to one another who would normally only meet in a courtroom."

But perhaps LEAD's greatest achievement is that it demonstrates that there is hope for people addicted to opiates, a population often written off by traditional abstinence-based diversion programs. LEAD recognizes that working with opiate-addicted clients means that cessation of drug use may not be a realistic goal, particularly in the short term. To that end, the case manager and LEAD client work together to improve the client's quality of life and reduce criminal behaviors, which may or may not involve reducing or stopping drug use.

"Change takes a while," explains Kris Nyrop. "Our clients often start by asking for food, housing and help getting ID cards. After a few months they may start to seek drug treatment - once their basic needs are taken care of. Sometimes they take three steps forward, five steps back, three more forward, etc."

Advertisement

The model can be illustrated like this: Let's say we have a man addicted to heroin. He frequently shoplifts or commits other crimes to support his habit and rotates in and out of jail. Each time he is released from incarceration he runs a high risk of overdosing on drugs because his tolerance level has gone down. After three years, he can't find work or housing because of his felony record. He is still using drugs and committing crimes.

But let's say that this man is enrolled in LEAD. Instead of being arrested for shoplifting, he will be offered food so he doesn't have to steal to eat and housing because evidence shows that having a home can stabilize other aspects of a person's life. The man stops committing crimes, enrolls in a methadone program to manage his heroin addiction and finds a job at a local construction company. After a few months, for whatever reason, he starts to use illicit drugs again, but instead of going on a shame-filled binge of drugs and crime, as so often happens during a relapse, he calls his case manager and asks for help. The case manager responds immediately and the man is once again provided with his basic needs, given naloxone to prevent an overdose, and re-enrolled in a methadone program. He relapses a couple more times over the next three years, but each time he is taken back into the LEAD program and offered resources to get back on track.

Some might say that the LEAD program is a failure or an enabler because clients relapse. But LEAD is far more effective than the business-as-usual approach to the drug problem. Without LEAD, the man only stopped using drugs when he was in jail. Without supportive overdose prevention services, each time he left he was at risk of an overdose. And his journey through the criminal justice system came at a high cost to taxpayers in addition to saddling him with a felony record that may prevent him from ever becoming a productive, working member of society. LEAD isn't a perfect fix, but it does offer hope and periods of stability to people who have long been written off as lost causes, all while reducing crime and saving taxpayer dollars that currently prop up the criminal justice system.

The law enforcement and community members who attended the LEAD events in North Carolina walked away excited at the collaborative opportunities. Captain Lars Paul of the Fayetteville Police Department spoke about the kinds of friendships and collaborations created by LEAD.

Advertisement

"Who would have ever thought that SWAT team cops would be hanging out with harm reductionists?" he joked. "But on a serious note, police are evolving in the way we approach the drug war. Why create felons if we don't have to? Instead of focusing on what to do with people after they get out of prison, we can stop sending them there in the first place and get them help."
A combat ready special operation forces soldier with a MP7 silenced submachine gun and a night vision google.

By Naveed Noormal

When British Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard calling Afghanistan and Nigeria "fanatically corrupt" countries on the eve of an anti-corruption summit in London, the incident was labeled as "embarrassing" and "unfair" by some in both countries.

Afghanistan's president, Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, said he did not have a problem with Cameron's statement, but added that he was elected "on a mandate to make transparency, accountability and rule of law the imperative." Moreover, he said the West's demand for narcotics is one of the major sources of corruption in Afghanistan.

Advertisement

The question that arises is who is responsible? Is it the previous government? The international community? The current government, or a combination of the above? After all, a country does not become "fanatically corrupt" overnight.

In fact, corruption has been one of the biggest challenges in Afghanistan for the past several years. The problem became more widely known after 2008, when Afghanistan was downgraded in the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International. It was further publicized in 2010 during the Kabul bank scandal.

Another question we should ask, this time of David Cameron, is whether his government is able to track the money it has contributed to Afghanistan to see if it is helping to fuel corruption there.

Mutual accountability is an essential element. The international community, including the United Kingdom and the United States, has channeled billions of dollars into Afghanistan, but has not controlled the flow of those contributions. The U.S. alone has contributed more than $107 billion since 2002 to help in reconstruction. According to reports by SIGAR, $50 billion was provided without any strategies or mechanisms that would keep track of the money. In a follow up report in 2013, SIGAR indicated that an additional $46 billion was allocated without any framework to avoid corruption.

Advertisement

Political will is a key factor to successfully combat corruption, but it's been missing in Afghanistan during the past decade. The new National Unity Government has said the fight against corruption is among its top priorities. One example is the re-opening of the Kabul Bank investigation, as well as the implementation of recommendations provided by the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee.

Still, there are many steps to take. Thousands of governmental positions remain vacant while the younger generation is leaving Afghanistan due to unemployment. The country is waiting for a new defense minister and intelligence chief to be approved by parliament, but no high-level governmental positions are filled unless the candidate is affiliated with current leadership. Also, security that is closely connected to corruption is deteriorating. Additionally, Afghanistan lacks the strong legal framework that is needed to fight against corruption. It is both outdated and unaligned with UNCAC requirements. Moreover, the anti-corruption institutions that Afghanistan has developed are facing major challenges. A lack of independence and operational shortcomings are the main gaps at these institutions. Finally, a culture of impunity as it pertains to high-ranking governmental officials has undermined the efforts by anti-corruption agencies. It has made non-governmental organizations stay silent. In general, the NGO's are created to give support to specific groups of people such as women and children, while their advocacy interest in regarding governance issues remains low.

When we consider the multidimensional factors that have contributed to Afghanistan's systematic corruption, it's clear that removing it will take longer than a year or two. There must be a strong political will, the country's legal framework must be restructured, and we must establish mutual accountability. Labeling a country 'fanatically corrupt' while ignoring the contributing external factors will not solve the problem for the Afghan government or the wider international community.
Touching down in Port-au-Prince last month, I was excited to experience a country that is unlike anywhere I've ever been. I was even more excited to see first-hand the work of Resolution Fellow Jess Laporte. Jess and I have been working together for well over a year now, ever since I was assigned as her mentor ("Guide") through The Resolution Project, a nonprofit that supports and empowers socially-responsible young leaders through seed funding, mentorship, and resources.

As a Guide to Jess, I help her navigate the plentiful resources that The Resolution Project offers to Fellows, such as legal support, supply chain advice, and help in strengthening investor and partnership cultivation. I've found the experience of being a Resolution Guide incredibly fulfilling, but getting to see the work on the ground and devoting a few days to working closely with Jess was truly an unparalleled experience.

Jess is an amazing social entrepreneur; as an undergrad at Tufts, she worked with The Archimedes Project to develop the idea for her social venture, Kouzin Dlo. Thanks to seed funding from The Resolution Project, Jess was then able to implement the business on the ground, moving to Haiti just 20 days after graduating. Kouzin Dlo trains women as micro-entrepreneurs to sell clean water products in their own communities. This model not only brings Kouzin Dlo's effective products to communities at a price that's 90 times cheaper than other clean drinking water options, but it also creates economic opportunities in marginalized communities.

Advertisement

While working with Jess remotely is effective--between monthly phone calls and reviewing various documents--I knew this experience would allow Jess to leverage my skills even more, and would give us uninterrupted time to work through some big picture planning. Plus, I've been bitten hard by the travel bug and am always eager to travel to exciting new places. Haiti has always been of interest to me, and I knew that this would be a unique and amazing way to get to see it.

In advance of my trip, Jess and I agreed on an action plan for my visit, which included three major areas of focus: communications strategy, content creation, and goal setting. Once I arrived in Haiti, we got to work on each of these priorities, in addition to having some interesting conversations about Haiti, politics and policy, marketing and communications, global poverty, and much more. Jess and I talked constantly as she also showed me around the country, introducing me to its natural beauty, its vibrant culture, and its hospitable and resilient citizens.

Since Jess is so connected to other social entrepreneurs in Haiti, I had the chance to visit some like-minded organizations and businesses doing great work. To start, I stayed at Haiti Communitere, an NGO that supports community growth and renewal. It's a co-living, co-working space that acts as a hub of connection and innovation. Through this collaborative space, I connected with international and local leaders, like the Soley Leve Peace Prize, which celebrates positive changemakers in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest and most notorious slums in Port-au-Prince.

We also met leaders at Share Hope, a business that places contracts for apparel production in Haitian factories, with profits funding initiatives that benefit the lives of the Haitian workers, such as a high school completion program that we saw in action. I also got to see Jasper House in Jacmel, and three Port-au-Prince based social enterprises: Papillion, Rebuild Globally, and Haiti Design Co-op. Jess also works with the wonderful people at Singing Rooster Coffee Company so I got an inside taste of their operations. It made my trip so special to get such a deep look into this network of thoughtful and impactful social businesses that truly care about expanding economic empowerment and skills-building for local Haitians.

Advertisement

My trip to Haiti was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and a wonderful extension of my work as a Resolution Guide. I got to see a country through the eyes of a young social entrepreneur who is working tirelessly to promote the health and economic well-being of a disenfranchised country. I saw and learned so much, and I felt empowered to see how my expertise and skills were able to contribute to the impact Jess is creating. If you are interested in getting involved as a mentor to Resolution Fellows like Jess, you can learn more on Resolution's website.
By Elizabeth Santiago

UCF Forum columnist

It's official: Florida has been invaded. Not by aliens or soldiers with guns, but by something that has no natural predators within our Sunshine State borders. This danger lurks where few people go, but its disruptive presence affects us just the same.

Responsible for hundreds of human deaths along the Nile River every year, the Nile crocodile ranks as one of the most aggressive animals in the world -- and just recently scientists discovered its ominous presence in the Florida Everglades.

State officials say the reptiles likely were brought to the area by unlicensed dealers and then escaped or were released from captivity. State wildlife officials need to do what they can to eliminate the predators and punish the people who took them illegally to the Everglades.

Advertisement

Once again here is an unsettling story about people's selfish ways creating another obstacle for Mother Nature to contend with. It's distressing to think how an action by a few can impact thousands of people and the native wildlife. It's even more disturbing that these people get away with it.

The Nile crocodile, unlike the American crocodile or alligator, does not try to elude humans. Being an apex predator, it welcomes the challenge from other animals and does not go down without a fight. They can grow up to 18 feet and lay 25-80 eggs just two months after mating.

Though only three have been spotted in Florida, it does not take much for this species to make itself at home. Scientists fear the crocodile will breed with our native elusive American crocodile or alligator and spawn an aggressive hybrid that will disrupt the ecosystem and endanger the lives of the public.

This is not the first time Florida's wildlife has been endangered by an invasive species. From the Burmese python increasing its numbers in the Everglades to the venomous Indo-Pacific lionfish taking over the Florida Keys, invasion has become an increasingly common problem.

Advertisement

I don't understand the desire for people keeping such exotic "pets" and then irresponsibly releasing them when they were no longer wanted. Whether the animals no longer captivated their owner's interest or became unmanageable, they were left at nature's doorstep to fend for themselves.

The state has taken some steps to combat this increasing problem. These initiatives include open hunts where the public can participate in removal of the various species with incentives and rewards. In the Everglades, hunts are targeted at the Burmese python, whereas in the Keys the hunts focus on the lionfish.

The state should be commended for its efforts to tackle the problem, but the initiatives have not leveled the playing field.

For instance, the 2016 Python Challenge removed 106 invasive snakes from the Everglades but it is estimated that after decades of breeding, the Burmese python population is more than 300,000. The annual 2015 Lionfish Derby eliminated 1,141 lionfish, but that doesn't compare to the 2 million eggs per year a single lionfish produces.

The removal of these invasive animals through hunts certainly benefits our ecosystem, but we need to do a better job in preventing these problems before they happen.

Advertisement
A skit in last week's season finale of Saturday Night Live has ruffled a few feathers. If you find it funny that famed western explorer Meriwether Lewis might actually have desired William Clark, the joke was probably hilarious. But if you don't think it's absurd for one (historically important) man to desire another, it's just a very tired anti-gay joke.

I take a particular interest in this skit because I recently published a book about the history of how Americans have traded in stories about the Founding Fathers' personal lives since the founding of the nation. (Spoiler alert: we're invested in the intimate lives of our American history icons. We generally like them to be straight and monogamous and we tend to have a double standard when it comes to what's acceptable evidence for regurgitating myths and what's required to over-turn them.)

Lewis and Clark don't rank as "Founders," but they are pretty close, and their sexuality is recently fraught in our culture. Last summer, We Proceed On, the scholarly journal of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation came under significant fire after historian and archivist William Benemann published two essays that speculated on the homo-erotic nature of the bond between the two men.

Advertisement

As Mr. Benemann explained in his introduction, "So intimately are the two men linked in the popular imagination that they have no independent identity. Clark lived on for thirty-two years after completion of the journey to the Pacific, serving as governor of the Missouri Territory and as Superintendent of Indian Affairs under every president from James Monroe to Martin Van Buren, and yet any mention of a post-expedition William Clark inevitably requires the designation "of Lewis and Clark fame" or the average reader will not make the connection. These two men have been paired in a conjoining that is unique in American history. Certainly the nature of that coupling deserves careful analysis."

Letters to the editor poured in. Selections of them were published in We Proceed On in May, August, November, and have continued into this year. Many letter writers decried the inclusion, calling it gay "propaganda" and an "abomination," -- that it "disparaged" our "American heroes" by suggesting anything other than heterosexuality when speaking of the two men: "I am taking this opportunity to express my outrage and disappointment about the article that besmirched the good character of Captains Lewis and Clark." Good character, in this world view, is mutually exclusive from same-sex desire.

Some of the letters to We Proceed On simply accused Mr. Benemann of having a warped mind, calling his "fantasies and wishful thinking" "disgusting and revolting!" (In the Saturday Night Live skit, the sexually frustrated and perverted middle-aged female teacher of the class similarly appears to take salacious pleasure in the sexually-charged history.)

Members threatened to protest at their annual meeting, arguing that the national reputation of the explorers was at stake. Some called for the editor of the journal to resign and to offer a public apology "for publishing this foul and offensive article."

Advertisement

I'm not invested in Benemann's interpretation of Lewis and Clark. But as I have done in past, I will similarly defend the intellectual and political legitimacy of posing questions about their relationship and even their personal desires.

As one of the supportive letters to the We Proceed On editor argues, we need to continue critically engaging our histories and "rethinking traditional narratives that were comfortable stories with not-so-comfortable alternatives, however inferential in evidence."
Narcissism. It's a basic requirement for many entertainers, actors, television performers and most anyone who works in front of a camera and is successful. This is not a diss on narcissists. It takes a great deal to prevail in their arenas. They endure waves of rejection in the beginning of their careers. There's massive competition for these highly prized on-camera jobs. You've got to have powerful motivation to make it and that fuel can only come from you.

The key to thriving as a narcissist is knowing you are a narcissist and covering it with something more palatable like self-deprecation, humility or humor. People generally don't like people who are all full of themselves with the possible exception of The Trumpeter. Apparently Fox TV anchor Megyn Kelly hasn't quite figured this out yet. In her first prime-time, Barbara Walters-style interview show featuring Robin Wright-style hair, she joked with Michael Douglas saying she how she felt "honored to be on your bucket list."

"Let's talk about us" she says to a man running for president of the United States. And when Trump makes an observation about her, the Vanity Fair cover girl says, "It's not about me" while wearing a bright red dress that says, look at me. She certainly could be the next Barbara Walters if she ever figures out how to get a celebrity to talk with her, not about her.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Advertisement

Conservatives need to find a new way of saying the same thing year after year. 'Smaller'...'less government' is so Fifties. We Americans don't do less or small. McDonalds doesn't call it the Little Mac.

For your consideration, how about the phrase 'minimally invasive' as in 'minimally invasive government,' 'minimally invasive laws,' 'minimally invasive politicians.' It is the go-to phrase for all things medical and sounds so simple, so pain-free, so necessary. By adjusting the rhetoric, don't Republicans have a better chance of adjusting new voters' opinions?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

A jazzy criminal: 'Felonious Monk'

______________________________________________________________________________________

Fine news writing: "While the line separating smart and smart aleck isn't all that thin or blurry, he never could stay on the winning side of it" Frank Bruni, NY Times writing about Sen. Ted Cruz.

_____________________________________________

If the closing airport scene in Casablanca were re-written for today's movie-going audience...

Rick Blaine: Last night we said a great many things

Blaine: We covered a lot of issues last night, right?

Advertisement

Blaine: You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing: you're getting on that plane with Victor where you belong.

BLAINE: So, I'm saying - give up control, Lady. Go with the flow. Vic is the flow. He's beautiful, you're beautiful, believe me. You stay here, you're in deep shit.

Ilsa: But, Richard, no, I... I...

Ilsa: (her bosom heaves)

Blaine: Now, you've got to listen to me! You have any idea what you'd have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn't that true, Louie?

Blaine: Hey chill, you're having a panic attack. Focus. You wanna do time? You stay here, you do time. Check with Big Lou, am I right, Big Lou?

Capt. Louis Renault: I'm afraid Major Strasser would insist.

Renault: The dude is scary times ten.

Ilsa: You're saying this only to make me go.

Ilsa: You're playing me, why are you playing me?

Blaine: I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

Blaine: Whoa, lady, don't get all up in your head. Vic needs you, believe me. You blow him off, you'll be seeing a shrink five-days a week.

Ilsa: But what about us?

Ilsa: So, we're toast?

Blaine: We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.

Blaine: C'mon, Paris was awesome. We were hot. Then not. Then...(he shrugs) Well anyway, here's looking at you, kid.

Ilsa: Looking at me? What does that even mean? You always say crap like that. You ARE looking at me, I'm looking at you, I'm talking, you're talking, that's what we're doing,

right, looking and talking, this is such bullshit....you're right, I am so out of here. (she leaves)

Blaine: (a slight, satisfied smile appears on his face as we...)
Silicon Valley is a place where boundaries of race, color, traditions, religions melt, and the multiplicity of cultures strengthens the fabric which has fueled America's economic engine of innovation. It goes against the grain of Siliconiers, with the upcoming presidential primaries in California, when Donald Trump declares that he "will make America great by building walls, by keeping Muslims out and bringing jobs back to America through reduced work visas." He is okay operating on the edge of legal boundaries, filing for bankruptcies numerous times without remorse, which we find not quite acceptable.

Here is a story, and it's my story. I was raised in India, but I am essentially a product of Silicon Valley. I arrived here for higher education and then followed my dreams in the Valley, like many other immigrants-turned-entrepreneurs. The acceptance, the inclusiveness, the opportunity, and the integrity of the Valley is magnetic and has upheld my idealism and has molded my thinking. When I graduated from UCLA with a master's in electrical engineering, I was the only woman in my class.



"When I graduated from UCLA with a master's in electrical engineering, I was the only woman in my class."



It was not easy for me to assimilate and integrate in America for almost 10 years, both culturally and because I remained one of few women amongst my colleagues for almost a decade. Nine months after my arrival in the US, I completed my master's degree with a 4.0 GPA. Yet it was not easy to find a job, because I did not have a work visa and needed an employer's sponsorship. I went for my job interviews in a sari because that was the most formal article of clothing that I owned. My attire, Indian accent, and lack of work visa were definite impediments, but did not stop me from landing a job at GTE Lenkurt in San Carlos, at the boundary of the then Silicon Valley just two towns north of Palo Alto.



"My attire, Indian accent, and lack of work visa were definite impediments, but did not stop me from landing a job..."



The Valley's culture imbues authenticity which immigrants and locals equally embrace. At GTE, I was told that I was the highest-paid of the 13 new graduates hired that year. GTE did not low-ball my offer even though I could have been had for much less. Later I worked for another company for eight more years but left when I was passed over for promotion which I felt I deserved. In my exit interview, the representative of the personnel department asked me if I thought that I had been denied the promotion because of my gender. I replied, "No, the other guy politically outsmarted me but I was the more capable candidate." They did not hedge or beat around the bush nor did I take advantage of them.

After this disappointment, I started my own technology company, Digital Link, with a coworker. I would become the first Indian woman to take a company public. When I started the company, people came out of the woodwork, people without whose help we would not have succeeded. A product manager at Northern Telecom, took special interest in getting our product approved. Selling the product to Northern Telecom and its customers, alleviated the pressure to raise immediate capital. He is still a great friend, after more than 30 years.

Advertisement

I hired Digital Link's first manufacturing manager with a small advertisement in a local newspaper. He took over the building keys, the day he walked in. Our first accounting manager, a 27 year old white American took over the checkbook. Our first VP of R&D, another young American became my confidant and business partner. Summit Partners, a VC firm, funded the company knowing I was pregnant with my first child. They had the kind of integrity that I did not know existed. Their morality and support along with market opportunity helped propel my company to IPO. As an immigrant, I combined my nimble disposition and my hunger for recognition with American ethics to design innovative products and services.

Silicon Valley is also a hot spot of reengineering an enterprise as technology develops and becomes obsolete just in the span of a few years. Entrepreneurs are die-hard people who refuse to give up. My company suffered a major set back when WorldCom, our largest customer filed for bankruptcy. They cancelled the orders on the books, and no more future orders were expected and we had to eat up their inventory at hand. We never recovered. Yet we struggled for over five years, and when we finally decided to close the doors, we refused to file for bankruptcy. We felt moral obligation to pay our employees, the banks, and the vendors, with some money coming from our own pockets. This is what entrepreneurs in the Valley do.
Fiji came to the first UN World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul with an urgent plea from all Pacific peoples and the citizens of vulnerable low lying nations around the world. We desperately need the global community to assist us to adapt to the greatest humanitarian challenge we have ever faced - the threat to our very existence brought about by the extreme weather events and rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The nations of the world recognised the urgent need to tackle this issue when we all gathered for the UN Climate Summit in Paris last November. On behalf of every Fijian, I urge those nations that have yet to ratify the Paris Agreement to do so as a matter of urgency. Fiji is proud to have been the first country in the world to formally approve the Agreement and lodge the ratification instruments. Because we are acutely aware of the existential threat that this global challenge poses to our way of life in Small Island Developing States the world over.

That threat is ever present. Three months ago, on February 20th, 2016, the biggest cyclone ever to make landfall in the southern hemisphere slammed into Fiji with winds in excess of 300 kilometres an hour. Tropical Cyclone Winston killed 44 Fijians and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Up to 40,000 homes were damaged and destroyed, along with 229 schools and other public buildings and infrastructure.

Advertisement

We were fortunate that Winston spared our main tourism areas, our international visitors kept coming and the overall impact on the wider economy wasn't as great as we first feared. But it has reminded us all of our acute vulnerability to the more frequent and more severe extreme weather events that the scientists tell us will accompany climate change. Our close neighbor, Vanuatu, had a similar experience in 2015 with Tropical Cyclone Pam, which killed more than 20 people. But every Pacific nation is now in a position in which a single event scoring a direct hit on the entire country could devastate our economies for many years to come and reverse all of our hard-won development gains.

In addition, the sea level rises caused by global warming have already forced us in Fiji to begin relocating 45 communities and we have so far identified 830 that are at risk. Yet our own challenge as a nation made up of mountainous volcanic islands pales into insignificance compared with some of our low lying neighbours that are coral atolls. Three of these - Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands - will disappear beneath the waves altogether on current projections.

Fiji has offered permanent refuge in a worst case scenario to the people Kiribati and Tuvalu - our closest neighbours. But Pacific island nations want the world to embrace a lower cap on global temperatures than the two degrees celsius, compared to the pre-industrial age, that was agreed to in Paris. Under the terms of the Suva Declaration at the last meeting in the Fijian capital of the Pacific Islands Development Forum, we are pressing for that cap to be lowered to 1.5 degrees. And I appeal to you all to support this proposal.

Small and vulnerable nations such as Fiji make a negligible contribution to global warming. Our own carbon emissions are 0.004% of the global total and the average Fijian generates almost five times less carbon than the average person in the rest of the world. Nonetheless, we recognise our collective responsibility to humanity and have committed to reduce our own carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 by increasing our use of renewable energy sources.

Advertisement

For countries with low carbon footprints such as Fiji, climate change adaptation is naturally an infinitely more pressing issue than mitigation. We must urgently build our resilience across the board to withstand the frightening new era that is already upon us. And that means persuading the global community to provide us with immediate access to the finance we need to build that resilience.

There are currently far too many impediments to gaining access to finance. For instance, while Fiji is a developing country, it has been designated a middle-income nation and is denied the ability to pursue certain avenues of financial assistance. This clearly needs to change. In a very real sense, we are being punished for our success. And I appeal for a concerted effort to make the finance we need for climate resilience building more available.

Fiji is gratified that the global community is recognising the need for a more proactive approach to disaster management, included pre-committed finance to bolster our capacity to respond to individual events such as Winston. So I am especially looking forward to the Disasters Roundtable in Istanbul and the launch of the Global Preparedness Partnership, which I hope will reverse the current underinvestment in our collective response to disasters, wherever they occur.
I hate to admit it, but I am probably addicted to my every Wednesday morning 8 AM routine when I am invariably seated at the Stanford Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. It is the ritual weekly all departmental get-together of us like-minded souls generally featuring a presentation on a topic of general interest. Often times we have an external professor, but sometimes we rely on our own competence. In my 40 years of attendance I have presented twice.

Until recently it seemed that every lecture would end up with a detailing of the role of such and such a gene in the topic under the discussion. It was, thus, a generic reflection of the gene focus of Stanford. Numerous Nobel prizes attest to the fixation. I have always held that this genocentriam was an overstatement. Genes are important but not that important.

Yet in the last year I believe I detect a change in orientation. Instead of the gene it is now stem cells with the high profile fixation. Now many presentations feature a stem cell reference. Some of these involve a specific reference to cancer, but often times other topics of more remote connection, such as injury repair, "what if?" sort of queries are described.

Advertisement

The gene/stem cell focus of our departmental meetings became a reference point for me as I read an article in the May 13, 2016 issue of Science. The title that of the article was "Confronting stem cell hype; against hyperbole, distortion, and overselling." The authors of the article were Timothy Caulfield from Alberta and three others from Japan, US, and Canada. They write "the risk of harmful consequences, including misleading the public, creating unrealistic expectations, misinforming policy debates, and devaluing methodologic approaches to research," thereby generates premature or unwarranted clinical application. This tendency creates a gap between public expectations, and the actual state of stem cell science and clinical development.



Three years ago the Feds got involved in this area when the FDA told 23 and Me to cease and desist. The meteoric rise in this startup that harvested gene arrays in submitted samples of saliva was artificially prompted by excessive expectation of the implications of miniature data sets.

The Science paper implicates "overly optimistic press releases, commercialization and translational pressure, and media spin. Studies have found widespread use of sensational language in peer-reviewed abstracts, studies, and institutional press releases."

The threat, of course, lies in the possibility that irresponsible reporting leads to inflated expectations of benefit without an accompanying recital of risk, personal and financial. The explosive eruption of the communicative power of unregulated social media compounds the threat.

Advertisement

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has produced specific guidelines for this "hype"issue. It promotes "accurate, balanced, and responsive public representations of stem cell research. As an example the guidelines highlight work on spinal cord injury that has a high emotional pull. Research workers are encouraged to discuss the down sides as well as potential value. "Vigilant self control" is a powerful exhortation.

I recall my wise physician Father's advice

"Flattery is like perfume. It smells wonderful, but it's poison if you drink it".

The article concludes, "Hype is not inevitable".
History is being made this week with President Obama's visit to Hiroshima. He is the only sitting U.S. president to make the trip to the site of the first atomic bombing on Japan during World War II.

Mary Popeo, of the nuclear disarmament group Global Zero, exclaims, "Having spent three summers in Hiroshima and Nagasaki working with the Japanese bomb victims and the Japanese peace movement, I can tell you that Obama's trip is a huge deal!"

The President should use this historic opportunity to build support for the global treaty ending nuclear weapons testing. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the key to unlocking the door to a future without the crushing burden and fear of nuclear weapons.

Advertisement

But the United States, Israel, China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea have yet to ratify the treaty. So it has not taken effect worldwide. It just sits waiting for leadership to act. Most notably is the absence of the United States, the leading nuclear power.

Now Japan has acted. They have ratified the treaty and been outspoken in its support. Japan is taking a leadership role with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, trying to get every nation to join. We should listen to them.

The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended World War II, a conflict which caused so much suffering for Americans, Japanese and many other peoples.

Ever since we have lived with the risk that these weapons could be used again. Only they would be even more powerful. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, quotes a Hiroshima survivor: "the threat of nuclear weapons, created by the wisdom of mankind, is a serious issue of human survival that cannot be ignored even for a day."

Advertisement

In 1946, the United States Strategic Bombing Survey studied the effects of the atomic bomb. Their report concluded: "No more forceful arguments for peace and for the international machinery of peace than the sight of the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have ever been devised. As the developer and exploiter of this ominous weapon, our nation has a responsibility, which no American should shirk, to lead in establishing and implementing the international guarantees and controls which will prevent its future use."

During the Cold War nuclear weapons testing by both the United States and the Soviet Union proliferated, causing major international tension. President Dwight Eisenhower, in his second term, was influenced greatly by his science advisors that a ban on nuclear testing was possible and essential for national security.

Eisenhower, in a 1961 interview with Walter Cronkite, said that not achieving a ban on nuclear testing would "have to be classed as the greatest disappointment of any administration -- of any decade -- of any time and of any party." He thought it was vital to take the expensive burden of nukes off the backs of mankind.

Ike's efforts helped lead to a limited treaty signed by President Kennedy in 1963 banning nuke explosions in the atmosphere, underwater and outer space. It had the support of both Republicans and Democrats. In fact, Eisenhower administration members worked to help Kennedy achieve passage of the treaty in the Senate. But with underground tests allowed to continue the treaty was only a stepping stone. We have not yet taken that crucial next step.

The United States had a chance to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1999 when Bill Clinton was president. They could have slammed the door on nuclear testing for good. Former Eisenhower aide and leading national security advisor, General Andrew Goodpaster, wrote to the Senate urging them to vote in favor of the treaty. The CTBT was rejected by the Senate in late 1999 much to disappointment of the world.

Advertisement

The Republican Party, which had done so much to advance the cause of ending nuke testing, turned against it in that Senate vote. This was a major blow for nuclear arms control, disarmament and peace efforts.



UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calls for all nations to join the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. (United Nations photo)

Today, the United States and Russia still have thousands of nukes each. And China, India, Pakistan and other nations are well armed with nukes.

With no treaty in effect, nations could resume testing nukes at any time. This would cause a major arms race. The risk of nuclear terrorism or accidental launch make nuclear disarmament a very crucial goal for all nations.

Then there is the cost. Global Zero estimates that nations will spend a trillion dollars on nuclear weapons over the next decade. How can we justify pouring money into these weapons when there is so much hunger, disease, and poverty? These issues threaten stability more than anything. Look at the massive number of refugees around the world. We can't ignore their plight.

Advertisement

So all nations share a common interest in getting the burden of nukes off their backs. But reducing nuclear weapons is not something you achieve overnight. You have to build confidence in the process. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a step that the United States can take now. The Republican led Senate could show leadership for peace and ratify the treaty. President Obama would sign it.

We have no need to test nuclear weapons because computer technology under the Stockpile Stewardship program monitors their safety and reliability. Vice President Joe Biden says "our labs know more about our arsenal today than when we used to explode our weapons on a regular basis."

The International Monitoring system of the treaty has detected all of North Korea's nuclear tests. There are stations all over the globe, so it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a nation to cheat.

Japan wants to work with the United States on ending nuclear testing and building a world with no nukes. The visit by President Obama to Hiroshima this week is a fantastic opportunity to invigorate this peace movement.

Japan and the United States, once at war, can now walk together in peace. What more fitting than for the two nations to lead a global movement to eliminate nuclear weapons. The right place to start would be to end nuclear testing by ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Advertisement


Alexandr Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994. (CC)

14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 25 May 2016 - People with whom we share sorrows and joys are a reflection of ourselves, however different they may appear. As friends we choose them to accompany us, but also to complete us, with the diversity and continuity that our human nature needs. The problem is when our choices of coexistence are not based on affinities and preferences, but on interests and alliances focused on annoying others.

In the same week, the Cuban executive has embraced two deplorable authoritarian regimes. A few hours after Cuban Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez met with government functionaries in Belarus, Havana's Plaza of the Revolution hosted a meeting between Raul Castro and a special representative from North Korea's Workers Party. Disgraceful comrades, shamelessly embraced and praised by the island's officialdom.

In a world where civil society, calls for the respect for human rights, and movements that promote the recognition of rights are making themselves heard ever more loudly, it is difficult for the Cuban government to explain his good relations with Europe's last dictator and with the cruelly capricious grandson who inherited power through his bloodline. What united the island's authorities with similar political specimens?

Advertisement
By Elle Kaplan

Google has implemented plenty of methods that have led to their enormous success, but there's no doubt that a lot of their victories can be attributed to their team and work environment. It's no coincidence that Google/Alphabet is the No. 1 place to work for the seventh time in 10 years.

Even if you can't match Google's rock climbing walls, free massages, or nap-pods, there are some underlying principles of their amazing workplace that can be applied to any business.

Here are some ways you can start making your team as happy and successful as Google's:

Make time for passion.

Perhaps one of Google's most famous keys to employee success is their 80-20 plan. They give employees free rein to spend 20 percent of their time on anything they see fit. This not only resulted in successes like Gmail and Google News, but it "empowers [employees] to be more creative and innovative," according to founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Advertisement

The term "personal development" gets thrown around a lot when employers are trying to attract star talent. The problem is: employers often frame it in terms of getting better at one job, not in terms of growing and nurturing unique abilities.

This doesn't mean your team should spend every Tuesday playing guitar, but it does mean your team should broaden their horizons and test out their unique skills while helping the company. By offering actual opportunities for personal development, you're offering development that not only ties to the company, but to your employees' personal and unique skills and passions. As the creation of Google News showed, people can still grow a firm's profits while also growing in ways that actually interest them.

Allow employees to "fail."

It might surprise you to learn that an ambitious company like Google doesn't expect employees to hit all their goals. In fact, Google's Senior Vice President of People Laszlo Bock said, "We look for that 60 to 70 percent success rate across everything we do." A percentage that would earn you an "F" on an exam doesn't seem like something to aim for, but there's some solid reasoning behind it. "In order to set these ambitious goals and have them be credible, you also have to realize they're not all going to be successful," said Block.

Even at Google, no one is perfect. People are spreading their wings and trying new things. Google was able to reduce stress and skyrocket happiness by embracing this idea instead of demanding perfection despite it.

Advertisement

Obviously, not every failure in business is acceptable, so you may want to adjust this for your own firm. At LexION Capital, we need everything involving our clients and their wealth to be done 100 percent correctly. But we're able to be "failures" and have perfection at the same time. We have set guidelines on any mistake I deem inexcusable, but when it comes to a marketing initiative or personal performance, I encourage my team to set "stretch" goals. You should too.

Be utterly transparent.

Google follows a policy they've dubbed "default to open," or following default transparency whenever possible. They recently earned a lot of press when deciding to publish any government requests for information, but transparency has also manifested itself through the team's success.

Google strives to make everything internally open, from every Googler's code down to the ability to ask the founders anything on Fridays. One major benefit is the lack of "backstabbing" and nasty office politics that we're all too familiar with. According to Block, "The way we solve the 'backstabbing' problem, for example, is that if you write a nasty email about someone, you shouldn't be surprised if they are added to the email thread."

Besides not having to look over an employee's shoulder, it also empowers their team. With this system, employees don't have to deal with gatekeepers. Instead, they're trusted with all the knowledge they need to do their job.

Even if you can't be completely transparent, you can strive for openness like Google. For instance, my team and I have found a lot of success through open meetings. Rather than having secret meetings with senior staff, everyone on our team is invited to sit in on meetings, and no one can block an idea. This ensures everyone who works on a project actually has input on its direction. It also avoids creating ideas in a vacuum by fostering input from different departments, resulting in surprisingly great ideas and fresh perspectives from outside teams.

Advertisement
I've thought a lot about what must have been going through my grandfather's head before he jumped. Was he afraid? Was he anxious? Did he have time to, really, have any thoughts at all?

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up. My grandfather, Edwin A. Pearce, was a veteran of United State Army Air Corps in World War II. In 1943, during one of the most infamous air battles of that war (or any war in modern history), known generally as the Schweinfurt Raid or "Black Thursday", my grandfather stood at the door to his B-17 Bomber, lovingly nicknamed "Patches" -- for its roughshod condition -- and prepared to leap into the middle of a still-raging air battle. His plane, upon which he was a rear gunner, had been hit and was going down. He grabbed his parachute which he was issued, but never trained to use, and prepared to leap some 20,000 plus feet in the air.

His 21-year-old body thrashed through the air so violently, his spine would need to be put back into alignment while in the captivity which awaited him on the ground below. The German fighters were encircling the American Airmen spread out in the air, changing the prop pitch of their planes to herd the servicemen, like flying cattle, so they would all hit the ground in close proximity. My grandfather's parachute had the air knocked out of it three times, and he would go in and out of consciousness on the perilous descent to the uncertain future below.

Advertisement

My grandfather would be a prisoner of war (POW) for nearly the next two years of his life in the infamous Stalag 17 prison camp. His German captors would feed him insect-infested soup once a day, a delicacy so tantalizing a young Eddie Pearce would climb above the light in his camp so he didn't have to see what he was eating. Many nights, as my grandfather laid in bed with the cold winds blowing through the bare clapboard walls of the camp -- a single woodstove struggling to provide a semblance of heat -- his body would shiver, violently.

One night, as my grandfather lay there, body quaking, he suddenly stopped, and felt a warm sensation throughout him. He felt drawn to the light so many people describe in near-death experiences, then all of sudden his body was cold again and he was back in that same prison bed he had come to know. He would remark decades later, at his own father's funeral that he didn't fear death, because he knew how "good it felt."

His ordeal concluded with a near-death march through the treacherous European winter conditions which had coated the terrain to meet the advancing Allies and, ultimately, his liberation. My grandfather returned home, to these United States of America, in 1945 and became a Pennsylvania State Trooper for the next 31 years of life, serving his country again, a country which was already forever indebted to him.

Perhaps if that wasn't enough, my grandfather retired in 1976 and spent much of the rest of his life searching for any information about his firstborn son, Edwin "Jack" Pearce, who was, himself, shot down in 1972 and declared Missing in Action (MIA). My grandfather would die before his son's, my uncle's, remains were returned in 2008. But, even in the last days of his earthly life, my grandfather still had the stretchmarks from malnutrition which had their origins from an experience he endured some 60-plus years earlier in that German POW camp, eating that daily culinary critter creation.

Advertisement

Growing up, I heard the story of his odyssey many times; it was an odyssey which made me proud and continues to make me proud of my grandfather and so many veterans like him, who served their country and the cause of this nation so nobly.

See for me, it is without question, that my grandfather, my uncle, the Senator from Arizona, and so many veterans throughout American history who were, and in some cases are, imprisoned or missing, are heroes. It's just that simple. There is no demagoguery which will change that. There is no non-apology which will change that. There is no pandering to the ills of populism which will change that. There is no deferment-patriarch of a posh Manhattan facade which will change that.
U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and Japanas Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, talk during a bilateral meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

BEIJING -- On May 27, President Barack Obama will pay a historic visit to Hiroshima as the first serving U.S. president to visit the Japanese city. Officially, the White House announced the trip will highlight Obama's continued commitment to pursuing a world without nuclear weapons and a strengthened U.S.-Japan relationship during his presidency. However, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe actively shaking off the limit of the pacifist constitution and advocating containing China, Obama's visit could send very wrong messages.

Obama's visit could provide conservatives in Japan an opportunity to highlight their victim image and to obscure the war crimes the Japanese fascist regime committed during World War II. In recent years, Japanese politicians' frequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and a tendency to deny war crimes have sparked strong opposition and alerted many conscientious people all around the world of the risk of a remilitarized Japan.

Advertisement

Obama's visit could provide conservatives in Japan an opportunity to obscure the war crimes committed during WWII.

As the first and only country that used the atomic bomb against Japan, causing huge loss of life and property in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. has been very cautious when handling the issue. That's why, over the past 71 years, no sitting U.S. president visited the Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

It has been reported that Obama will tour the Peace Memorial Park constructed atop the busy commercial district obliterated by the bomb. Fairly speaking, it is all right for Obama to honor the civilian victims of the bombing. But while the U.S. is eager to show the two countries have worked through World War II-era grievances, it should never forget the suffering Japan caused to the world during the war.

Japanese lawmakers, including a senior member of Abe's cabinet, visit Yasukuni in Tokyo on April 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Ma Ping via Getty Images)

For President Obama to keep his promise and continue to promote a nuclear-free world is justifiable, but such a visit to Hiroshima will inevitably highlight the victim image of Japan and be perceived as an apology for using nuclear weapons against Japan. It could even encourage Japanese conservatives who never admitted the war crimes its government committed to act more provocatively. The reconciliation among the countries who were at war with one another is necessary for regional peace and development, but it must be based on a sincere reflection of past wrongdoing.

Therefore, it is not enough for the U.S. to merely point out that the open recognition of history is essential. Obama should also urge the Abe government to face history directly and take concrete measures to earn trust from neighboring countries. If Obama wants to turn the page, he should ask the Japanese government officials to behave responsibly regarding history. For example, the Japanese government should once and for all remove the shrines of class A war criminals from Yasukuni, which neighboring countries and even Americans find offensive and unacceptable.

If Obama wants to turn the page, he should ask Japanese officials to behave responsibly regarding history.

Recently, no country is more enthusiastic than Japan to advocate containing China in Asia, while Obama has made it clear that the U.S. does not intend to contain China. Does a historic visit to Hiroshima mean a reward for Abe's aggressiveness?

Ever since the beginning of this year, strategic competition and cooperation mutually strengthened between the U.S. and China. On the one hand, China and the U.S. maintained very good cooperation on several traditional and non-traditional global security issues -- such as the Iran nuclear issue, the training of Afghanistan security forces, non-proliferation and climate change -- which are beneficial for the world peace and prosperity.

Advertisement

The USS Theodore Roosevelt crosses the South China Sea on Oct. 29, 2015. (REUTERS/U.S. Navy)

On the other hand, the strategic competition between the two is becoming more apparent. In the global economy and international trade, the EU and U.S. denied to grant market economy status to China. In the South China Sea, where China is trying to secure its maritime sovereignty and rights, the U.S. believes China is challenging its regional hegemony and military dominance in the area. As deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said, the U.S. is intensely focused on China's "assertive and provocative behavior." Therefore, the U.S. Navy is pushing for a more aggressive policy of patrolling close to Chinese-fortified islands and causing more dangerous encounters between the U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and Chinese jet planes.

What makes the situation more complicated is that Japan, as an outsider of the South China Sea issue, is trying to insert itself into the issue. At the end of last year, the Japanese foreign minister talked about the possibility of joint patrols with the U.S. Navy in the area. This year, Japan is becoming increasingly aggressive in advocating the so-called "China threat" in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is understandable for the Prime Minister Abe to do so for a domestic audience, to sell his proposal of revising Japan's pacifist constitution, but when he was selling his viewpoint to EU countries, that's too much. It is very interesting to see that Japan is in a close alliance with the U.S., but the latter never restrained Japan's rhetoric of containing China. Furthermore, Japan actively sold advanced weapons to countries around the South China Sea, participated in more multilateral military exercises and conducted more port calls in the area, making the regional situation more tense.

It will embolden Japan to act more aggressively and even drag the U.S. into a war it never intended.

Many commentators criticized Obama's assertion that the U.S. does not intend to contain China as being hypocritical. Believe it or not, the South China Sea is much more militarized than ever, since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized China in the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2009.

Advertisement

Now, at the end of Obama's second term, he would like to highlight a strengthening U.S.-Japan relationship. For sure, the world will witness again a strong U.S.-Japan alliance. But as the U.S. indulgence towards Japan grows, it will embolden Japan to act more aggressively and could even drag the U.S. into a war it never intended.

For quite a long period of time, a successful U.S. Asia strategy must have a balanced policy toward both China and Japan. This time, the scale is well tilted towards Japan. If Obama wants to make a stable U.S.-China relations one of his foreign policy legacies, he should think over before leap.

Earlier on WorldPost:
STR via Getty Images Indian employees of the Mazgaon ship building yard gather around the first Scorpene submarine before it is floated for sea trials in Mumbai on April 6, 2015. The submarine is due for induction into the Indian naval fleet in September 2016. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.

Essential HuffPost

There is a vibrant Dalit movement which challenges the hold of caste. But upper castes also need an anti-caste movement amongst themselves. Where is the Hindu social reform movement?

Advertisement

Model and actress Lisa Haydon has claimed that women's "greatest role ever" is to produce babies. No Lisa, the decision to have a child or not doesn't make anyone more or less of a woman.

Sir Ian McKellen, the English Shakespearean actor best known for his roles in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the X-Men films, slammed India's anti-homosexuality laws. The actor, who is openly gay, is in Mumbai at the moment.

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan is the face of a bizarre new advertisement for a deodorant, 'He Respect'. In the commercial, he tells men to use the product to prove they really respect women. Confused? So are we.

Main News

The Indian government has scrapped a 1,200 crore proposal to buy heavy-weight torpedoes from a subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica for its six new Scorpene submarines.

Advertisement

There are 92 percent chances of India receiving "normal" and above rainfall this season with good amount of rain expected in central India and along the west coast, weather experts believe.

An air ambulance carrying seven people on board crash-landed in a field in Delhi's Najafgarh area on Tuesday. Five were reported to have been injured and were rushed to the hospital.

A survey has found that almost four out of five women in India have faced public harassment that ranges from staring, insults and wolf-whistling to being followed, groped or even raped.

A video clip of a 85-year-old woman being assaulted by her 60-year-old daughter in southeast Delhi's Kalkaji area went viral on the social media yesterday. Their neighbour recorded the assault on camera and reported the incident to police.

Off The Front Page

A medical college in Karnataka has a strange unwritten rule that students have followed over years  the hostel canteen serves non-vegetarian food but students have to go out to the open field to eat it.

Advertisement

A 35-year-old "drunken" man jumped into a lion enclosure at the zoo in Hyderabad on Sunday reportedly "to shake hand with a lion" but was rescued unhurt by the alert animal keeper.

A Shiva temple in Rajasthan offers a certificate absolving you of your sins  for the price of a holy dip and a donation of 11. In fact, the temple's priests have been keeping a record of all those who have been 'certified' since India's independence.

Opinion

Modis outreach to Iran will help pull India out of the narrow straitjacket of South Asia, writes Talmiz Ahmad in The Times of India: "The new corridors will change this situation dramatically: they have rightly been described by Modi as 'new routes for peace and prosperity'."

The Congress needs to clear the confusion over its leadership, writes Vir Sanghvi in Hindustan Times: "The party has an outstanding younger generation that is readying to take over. But nearly every single one of them is a creature of privilege."

The latest round of assembly polls did not see a BJP wave or a decimation of Congress, writes Suneet Chopra in The Indian Express: "Objective realities, often based on subjective papering over of hard truths, are a part of the media-saturated universe we live in. The elections in five states of the country are no exception to this."

Advertisement
Facebook

After a video of a 85-year-old woman being thrashed by her 60-year-old daughter went viral on social media, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) visited Gurcharan Kaur at her residence in south east Delhi's Kalkaji area on Tuesday to find out the situation they had been living in.

Chairperson Swati Maliwal and other members, who visited the 85-year-old, said there was no food in the house except stale kneaded flour and fungus-ridden slices of bread.

Advertisement

'Shocked' at the incident, Maliwal tweeted saying that she will ensure 'action and protection.'

Shockd. Old lady beaten blue by daughter. Neighbor, small girl confirm regular beatin. Wil ensure protection, action pic.twitter.com/ZNh4op4KTF  SwatiMaliwal JaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) May 24, 2016

Called ADM Senior Citizen Tribunal to record statement. Working with SHO to assess legal action to be taken as old lady doesn't want action.  SwatiMaliwal JaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) May 24, 2016

DCW ensuring protection and maintenance of old lady through ADM Senior Citizen Tribunal Court, which has been called on spot by DCW.  SwatiMaliwal JaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) May 24, 2016

Gurcharan Kaurs daughter has regularly been beating her up. The Commission also observed that there was no food in the kitchen. It only had some stale flour and few fungus-laden bread slices, a DCW official said.

Advertisement

Maliwal wrote to the chairman of the Tribunal for Senior Citizens recommending protection and adequate maintenance to the octogenarian lady. In her letter to M K Dwivedi, Additional District Magistrate (south east) and also the Chairman of the Tribunal for Senior Citizens, she also recommended that the daughter be given rare, restricted and supervised entry into the woman's building.

The Commission also observed that there was no food in the kitchen. It only had some stale flour and few fungus-laden bread slices.

The DCW chief also wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, urging him to take suitable penal action against the daughter and ensure protection of the elderly woman.

"In the present circumstance, the Commission recommends immediate provision of protection and adequate maintenance to the senior citizen," Maliwal said.

Advertisement

"It is also recommended that the daughter who has been shown beating up the old lady in the video should be given rare, restricted and supervised entrance to the building. Since, the building is owned by the old lady it is recommended that the rent money should be deposited in her account and a caretaker be immediately appointed to look after her," she said in her letter.

The DCW chief also urged the Delhi Police Commissioner to provide the Commission with the names and address of the children of the old lady to carry out its proceedings. She also asked him to ensure preventive measures against entry of the daughter into the building where the woman resides.

The 85-year-old woman has four daughters and one son.

Trying to trace children of old lady. How can boy in London leave her. Neighbor told one girl took away her pension, other her rent. Shame  SwatiMaliwal JaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) May 24, 2016

During Maliwal's visit to her residence, the old woman told the DCW chief how she was beaten by her daughter severely a month ago which led to injuries in her right arm.

"...Recommended that the daughter who has been shown beating up the old lady in the video should be given rare, restricted and supervised entrance to the building."

The Commission also interacted with the neighbours, including those who prepared the video that showed the octogenarian getting beaten up. Two women, who live in the adjacent building, told the DCW team that the daughter beats the old lady and takes away the entire rent money and refuses to give her mother any maintenance.

Just reached home. DCW counselor staying with old lady. Will ensure proper maintenance, protection. Will summon daughter to explain action.  SwatiMaliwal JaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) May 24, 2016

(With inputs from PTI)

Also See On HuffPost:
ANI

Gyandev Ahuja, the BJP MLA from Ramgarh in Rajasthan's Alwar district, best known for his claim that 3,000 condoms and 500 abortion injections were used in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) everyday, came out with new revelations about the university on Wednesday morning. He has now said that rapes occur in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) daily.

Expressing his reservations about the Gandhi family, he also said that, "The statues of members of the Nehru-Gandhi family should be brought down, then people will spit on them."

Advertisement

"I stand by what I said. Rapes happen daily in JNU. It is hub of criminal activities," Ahuja reiterated to ANI.

I stand by what I said.Rapes happen daily in #JNU. It is hub of criminal activities:BJP Rajasthan MLA Gyandev Ahuja pic.twitter.com/fNvcfa9dWU  ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2016

In February this year, a group of JNU students were accused of raising anti-national slogans at an event to commemorate the death of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. In the wake of the event, some students, including the JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested and charged with sedition.

At the time, Ahuja had said that 3,000 condoms and 500 abortion injections along with 2,000 bottles of alcohol, more than 10,000 cigarette butts and 4,000 bidi parts, and over 50,000 bones, small and big, were to be found everyday at JNU campus.

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also see on HuffPost:
JOSEPH EID via Getty Images A Syrian soldier displays on April 4, 2016 an Islamic State (IS) group flag after Syrian troops regained control the previous day of al-Qaryatain, a town in the province of Homs in central Syria.IS jihadists withdrew from the town a week after the Russian-backed army and allied militia scored a major victory in the ancient city of Palmyra, which is also located in the vast province of Homs. The recapture of al-Qaryatain allows the army to secure its grip over Palmyra, where jihadists destroyed ancient temples during their 10-month rule and executed 280 people. / AFP / JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

An alleged Indian arm of the Islamic State had been planning to extort money from Bollywood stars to fund their terror activities, reports The Indian Express. Janood-ul-Khalifa-Hind also intended to procure arms from the Naxals, but their proposal was not entertained.

IE reports: "According to sources, two alleged top commanders of the module busted by security agencies earlier this year, Rizwan Nawazuddin alias Khalid and Muddabir Sheikh, have revealed this in interrogation."

Advertisement

Nineteen-year-old Rizwan, who has been named the operational head of the Indian wing of IS, had been the one masterminding the plan to extort from Bollywood and had even discussed the idea during a meeting held with other operatives in Lucknow.

Rizwan added that he had been lured to extremist ideologies while surfing the internet to kill time.

"Rizwan, two of whose uncles are in the Army, talked about toying with the idea of attacking an Army base in Meerut too, say investigators. While his father is a revenue official in UP, another uncle is a district magistrate," IE reports.

Bollywood used to be a favourite money machine for the underworld through the eighties and nineties. It was widely reported that while the underworld pumped money into films, some mafia leaders also extorted money from Bollywood producers. T-Series owner Gulshan Kumar was gunned down by the mafia after he allegedly refused to pay them 'protection money'.

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also see on HuffPost:
ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman looks out from the balcony of her house, as a street-art resembling a character from the Hollywood film 'Avatar' is seen on a wall in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 31, 2012. Artists from diverse backgrounds have contributed in the street art festival aimed at building a creative movement in the New Delhi neighborhood. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)

Last week, two artists were prevented by a crowd from painting an Urdu couplet on the wall of a Delhi Jal Board pumping station located in GT Road. The artists were painting the wall as part of a government-supported Delhi, I Love You campaign.

The crowd forced Akhlaq Ahmad and Swen Simon to deface the Urdu couplet in praise of the capital city and replace it with the Hindi words, "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" and "Narendra Modi".

Advertisement

Reportedly, the men in the crowd were shouting "Jai Shri Ram" and other slogans, and addressed the artists as "Lahoris".

They identified themselves as RSS members and said that they could bear anything, but not the Urdu script, reports The Wire. reported.

Ahmad, a signboard painter better known as artist Shabbu and Simon, a French street artist consulting on the project, had painted the first line of the couplet when they were accosted by the crowd.

They told us that we couldnt paint the Urdu line. They told us to write Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan over it. I ended up having to do it. They told us they were from the RSS and that if we didnt leave, there would be dire consequences, Ahmad told The Wire.

Advertisement

The couplet that the artists were painting was penned by Zeeshan Amjad, a post-graduate student of Delhi University. It was one among the 40 entries chosen for as part of the Delhi, I Love You public art campaign launched last September by the Delhi government's art, culture and languages department.

It read:

Dilli tera ujarna, aur phir ujar ke basna. Woh dil hai toone paya, sani nahi hai jiska ."

"(Oh Delhi, you were ruined and you overcame your ruin to settle. No city has a heart like yours)."

"I said my name is Shabbu and they assumed I was Shambhu, a Hindu. So they turned their ire towards my French colleague, Swen Simon, asking him to pay me my wages and go back to Lahore. Swen doesn't know Hindi. I pleaded with them to leave him alone, saying he's French not Pakistani," Ahmad told The Telegraph.

The crowd reportedly hurled abuses at them, and only backed down when someone called the police. The artists were then taken to the Mansarovar Park police station situated nearby. After being interrogated on why they were writing in Urdu, the artists were allowed to leave when they showed the policemen their government permission letter.

The campaign was launched in September, when with the help of Twitter India, over 8,000 stories, couplets and observations through the hashtag #MyDilliStory were collected.

Forty of the best submissions, 10 each in English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi  all official languages of Delhi  were chosen to be painted in public spaces around the city.

Advertisement

We never thought anything like this would happen," Kush Sethi, the chief digital officer of Delhi, I Love You told The Hindu.

Sethi said the artists will not return to the GT Road site but they will paint the same couplet at one of the other DJB sites allotted for the project.

Meanwhile, Kapil Mishra, the DJB chairperson and Delhi Minister for Tourism and Culture and Languages, said that they will look into taking legal action. "The RSS doesnt understand the culture of Delhi, of which Urdu is an integral part. We will launch an awareness campaign and let Delhiites decide what they want, he said.

Also See On HuffPost:
Kommersant Photo via Getty Images MOSCOW, RUSSIA - APRIL 18: Foreign Minister of India Sushma Swaraj during the 14th Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting of foreign ministers on April, 18, 2016 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Pyotr Kassin/Kommersant Photo via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- The Indian government went into damage-control mode today after African diplomats said they would discourage students from African nations to visit India because of stereotypes and racial prejudice against Africans in India.

"I have asked my colleague Gen V.K.Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries in Delhi and assure them of Indian Government's commitment to the safety and security of African nationals in India," external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet. "General V.K.Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security."

Advertisement

I have asked my colleague Gen V.K.Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries in Delhi and assure them /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

India's diplomatic ties with Africa took a beating on Tuesday after envoys of several African nations announced that they would not take part in the 'Africa Day' celebrations that were to be held today. The African Group of Heads of Mission made this announcement in the backdrop of the gruesome murder of a 23-year-old Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver in south Delhi a few days ago.

'Racism And Afro Phobia'

African countries have demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia". The envoys of the African nations said that India must take "concrete steps" to guarantee the safety and security of its African nationals.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said the envoys of 42 African countries met and deliberated extensively on recent attacks against its nationals.

Advertisement

"The Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India," he said in a statement.

He also said that the African envoys have asked for a postponement of the ICCR-organised event to mark Africa Day because the African Community in India, including students, are in a "state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years, including Oliver".

While Oliver was murdered because of a brawl over hiring an autorickshaw, a Tanzanian woman was recently stripped and paraded naked in Bengaluru in a case of "mistaken identity".

Damage Control

Responding to the concerns of the African envoys, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said government has directed concerned authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of the Congolese national.

"When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits," she tweeted. "I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons."

Advertisement

Swaraj said she has also asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the case of murder of Oliver is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals will be ensured.

The MEA said Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha who handles relations with Africa, met a group of African heads of missions yesterday, including the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Eritrea and assured them that stringent punishment will be given to those found guilty.

"Secretary (ER) also pointed out that all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated. Thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues," according to the statement from the MEA.

"Government of India deeply values its relations with foreign students, particularly those from Africa with which India has had a historically close relationship. We will ensure that African students continue to find a welcome home in India and such unfortunate incidents do not recur."

Advertisement

Punishing Oliver's Killers

Sinha explained to them that immediately on receipt of information on the last week's incident, the MEA got in touch with Delhi Police, which acted "promptly".

"Two suspects have already been arrested while one is on the run. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack," said the MEA.

Woldermariam said the envoys have expressed deep concerns that several attacks and harassment of African students in India "have gone unresolved without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators."

"They strongly condemn the brutal killing of the African and calls on the Indian government to take concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India," he said.

He further said, "They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom Lesotho. This is because the African Community in India, including the students, are in a state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years including Mr Oliver."

Advertisement

(with PTI inputs)

Contact HuffPost India
Hindustan Times via Getty Images UJJAIN, INDIA - MAY 21: Pilgrims take a holy dip in Shipra River on the third and the last 'shahi snan' (royal bath) of month-long Simhastha Kumbh Mela, on May 21, 2016 in Ujjain, India. The Ujjain Kumbh is one of the four fairs traditionally recognized as Kumbha Melas. It is celebrated when Jupiter ascends into sun sign Leo's quarter or the Simha constellation of zodiac, which is why it is called 'Simhastha'. Ujjain is also the seat of divine Mahakal, the Lord of all times. Simhastha 2016 begins on 22nd of April and will continue till 21st of May. (Photo by Shankar Mourya/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

In Rajasthan's Pratapgarh district, priests of an ancient Shiva temple offer a certificate that brands you 'sin-free'. The centuries-old practice at the Gautameshwar Mahadev Paapmochan Teertha, in Arnod town, 18 kilometres away from Pratapgarh, requires 'sinners' to take a holy dip in the temple's kund (small tank or reservoir), and pay 10 for dosh-nivaran (removing obstacles) and another 1 for the certificate.

The temple, known as 'Haridwar of tribals', reportedly has maintained a record of all those who have got 'certified' since India's independence.

Advertisement

"People ostracised in their villages come here to take a dip and go back with 'paap-mukti' certificates," temple priest Nandkishore Sharma told The Times of India. The clientele reportedly includes farmers who inadvertently kill birds, insects and animals, and is extremely popular among tribals in the area. It reportedly all began with the sage Gautam Rishi, who, according to legend, was freed from a curse after he took a dip in the temple's kund.

While the practice of taking a dip in holy water is not new to Hinduism, the paper certificates are an interesting addition.

The temple has the most number of devotees during the month of May, when the eight-day Gautameshwar fair is held. However, despite an increase in the footfall of visitors, the total number of certifications have reportedly gone down. During the fair earlier this month, only three people asked for a certificate, even though more than two lakh people took the holy dip, Sharma told TOI.

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also See On HuffPost:
The Kingston Trio comes to Hutchinson

All three current members, have links to and experience with the original group.
Spotify Cuts Dubset Deal To Add Millions Of Mixes

[UPDATED] First it was Apple Music and now Spotify. Dubset is bringing its MixBANK platform that identifies and pays revenue to both DJs and the artists sampled to the worlds largest streaming music service.

________________________________________________

Dubset Media announced today that it has reached an agreement with Spotify to use its MixBANK distribution platform. The deal makes it possible for DJs to upload and legally stream their mixes and single track remixes. In addition, the new agreement is expected to enable Spotify listeners to stream radio shows and other user generated mixes that have not been previously legally available to music fans.

The announcement was made today at the International Music Summit in Ibiza, Spain.

"Our number one job at Spotify is to deliver great music to fans whenever and wherever they want to listen to it," said Stefan Blom, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Content Officer at Spotify. "This deal with Dubset enables us to serve fans of dance music with the mixes they crave while ensuring that artists, labels and publishers get paid fairly." The first mixes under the new pact are expected to be available later this year on Spotify. DJs and content remixers who are interested in delivering remixes to Spotify should visit www.dubset.com for more information.

Share on:
Control of communication is power. To preserve their status quo, many major institutions - state and non-state actors - are using their power to interfere with citizens communications. At times they prevent users from freely using email, social media, telephone, messaging services, broader Internet access, and more. Censorship of electronic communication differs from country to country, however it is more common in undemocratic countries than in open and free societies.

According to freedom house https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/leaping-over-firewall-review-censorship-circumvention-tools, Internet censorship poses a large and growing challenge to online freedom of expression around the world. Censorship circumvention tools are critical to bypass restrictions on the Internet and thereby to protect free expression online.

Electronic communication censorship can happen at several levels. At the individual level, a parent can control access in order to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content. Companies or organisations can set up filters so that their workers cannot access Facebook at work. An Internet cafe can prevent its users from accessing certain online services, which are considered a drain on bandwidth.

Governments can monitor, filter or shut down certain electronic communications services for a number of reasons including national security concerns, maintaining law and order, preventing dissent, and otherwise controlling citizens behaviour. Some states prevent evidence of human rights abuses from getting out to the larger world by censoring electronic communications or in some cases prevent scrutiny of their electoral processes.

State-level interference can occur within a countrys legal and constitutional framework, or in blatant infringement of its laws. For instance, USA Freedom Act (https://judiciary.house.gov/issue/usa-freedom-act/) while Ghana is promulgating a new law Interception postal packets and telecommunications bill, 2016 with provision not only for monitoring postal and electronic communication but undertaking some levels of censorship as well.

Now that we know that restriction of electronic communication is commonplace in our world today, what can we do about it?

Circumvention tools

During Ugandas February 18, 2016 elections, Uganda Communications Commission blocked the use of social media and mobile money. However, some citizens were able to access social media using circumvention tools such as proxies and Virtual Private Networks (VPN).

When you communicate online, your message gets broken up into little packages of data, called packets, which are reassembled when they arrive at their destination so the recipient can understand what you have said. Circumvention tools bypass communications filters that try to prevent you from communicating. Sometimes they work by finding alternative paths for those data packages; imagine that you are sending a parcel to another city and the main road is blocked, so the parcel-delivery service uses a different road or mode of transport. Circumvention tools may also disguise the communication so censors cant decipher what is being said. Circumvention tools are not a perfect solution, but they can offer practical help.

Here are some of the key technologies in the field today.

Proxies

A proxy is an intermediary destination on the Internet. It gets data traffic from a browser in a place where censorship is occurring, and sends it to the destination the user wants; the traffic comes back via that same intermediary location. The location of a proxy is usually in a different country from the one facing censorship, which prevents it from being subjected to censorship there. Some proxy services find ways to use alternative routes if the first one gets blocked.

TOR

https://www.torproject.org is a free service that requires downloading and installing software compatible with most operating systems. It works to provide anonymity for online users, protect users privacy and defend them against network surveillance and traffic analysis. Psiphon grant users open access to the Internet when information controls and limitations are arbitrarily imposed within any given country.

VPNs

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) uses a public network to connect remote sites or users together via "virtual" connections routed through the Internet from one private network to others or a remote site. If a government is blocking your Internet access, you may be able to use VPN to circumvent this by assuming a different geographic location. In other words, I could be using my computer in Accra but by using VPN, I can block my location and assume another geographic address, therefore my computer will not be found in the pool of users in Accra, thereby guaranteeing anonymity and privacy. It is important to note, however, that some governments are skilled at blocking VPNs; China is especially tough on these bypasses.

Encryption

Another important tool to circumvent prying eyes is the use of encryption, whereby users enhance the security of a message or file by scrambling the contents during transmission. When it comes to mobile messaging and voice, there are a number of apps which enable calling and texting encryption, including Signal (https://whispersystems.org/blog/just-signal/), which works on android and apple, easy to install and use.

Governments are not sleeping

In spite of all these circumventing tools and apps, complete circumvention is difficult. Governments are increasingly developing the capacity to block anti-censorship tools but this is an arms race. Some governments even have access to the source codes powering some of the circumvention tools. It is, therefore, important to evaluate tools carefully before making use of them.

Conclusion

Evidently, censorship is of great importance today even in democratic states, because some leaders are falling to the temptation of monitoring and controlling electronic communication of their citizens outside the legal framework. Collectively, citizens must voice their concerns about this negative trend, advocate for laws which will balance security concerns with the right of citizens to express themselves without fear. It is critical for all and sundry to understand key issues surrounding electronic communication censorship, and more importantly learn and invest in tools which can enable them to circumvent these censorship tools when they are deployed to cow them into submission.
IAB Europe commends the Commission on its continuing strong interest in promoting Europes digital economy, as evidenced by the e-Commerce Package of 3 initiatives issued today alongside a Communication on online platforms and a Proposal to revise Directive 2010/13/EU on Audiovisual Media Services. But the Association also cautions against the risk of legislative indigestion.

The Juncker Commission is continuing to drive a broad and energetic digital regulatory agenda, much of which affects online advertising, whether directly or indirectly, noted Allan Srensen, Chairman of IAB Europes Policy Committee. While the EUs focus on the economic opportunities brought by digital is certainly welcome, launching so many initiatives more or less in parallel means that Member States, companies and consumers do not have time to understand the implications of one set of changes to the rules, before a new set is contemplated.



The ink is barely dry on the recently-agreed General Data Protection Regulation  even the data protection authorities say they will need two years to figure out what it all means  yet the Commission has already launched a review of the e-Privacy Directive and predicts a proposal will be adopted by years end. To add to the lack of clarity, a draft Directive on digital contracts amalgamates money and data and introduces new legal concepts that temper with the GDPR.



Todays Communication on online platforms adds to the legislative swirl by placing a set of fundamentally different digital actors  including advertising players  under the aegis of a new EU-level concept of online platform. Strikingly, platforms of user-generated content are also officially called out in the Proposal on Audiovisual Media Services, which thus far only applied to actors having editorial control over content. This opens the door to additional confusion in the market.

An optimal single European Digital Market requires clear harmonised rules and the absence of technical barriers. Whether the current regulatory blitz will deliver the culture of innovation and dynamism that EU entrepreneurs and consumers need remains to be seen.
Bill Cosby was ordered to stand trial in a sexual assault case Tuesday, the first instance of criminal prosecution in the ongoing saga of the comedians alleged decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct. However, unlike several of the civil suits pending against Cosby, his insurer wont have to foot the bill for this one.In addition to the criminal charges, Cosby is currently embroiled in at least seven lawsuits  filed by 13 accusers in three states  charging defamation, sexual assault or sexual battery. In at least three of the defamation suits, Cosbys insurer, AIG , is paying for his defense.AIG is on the hook because Cosbys homeowners policies feature personal injury coverage that includes protection against accusations of defamation. So far, AIG has paid at least $2 million defending the lawsuits, according to a Washington Post report.But that insurance wont cover the costs of a criminal trial, according to the New York Times. While attorneys have occasionally been successful in arguments that insurance should cover criminal defense, its rare. According to a Claims Journal article, three conditions generally must be met before an insurance company has a duty to defend: the policy must contain a contractual agreement to defend, a suit must be filed against the policyholder, and the policyholder must tender the defense of the suit to the insurance company.The term suit is usually defined as a civil action, according to the Claims Journal  meaning criminal cases dont qualify for the same protection.And AIG doesnt even want to defend the civil suits against the comedian. The company has argued that a sexual misconduct exclusion in Cosbys policies should excuse them from defending the suits. However, a judge ruled in November that since Cosby was being sued for defamation, the exclusion didnt apply. AIG has said it plans to appeal the ruling.
by Billy House and Laura Litvan, Bloomberg with Insurance Business AmericaA huge blow for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton could derail her promises to beef up the countrys national health insurance program.A State Department audit found Clintons use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state violated State Department rules, according to the agencys Inspector General.The audit by the State Departments independent investigator found no evidence that she requested guidance or approval to conduct official business via personal e-mail on a private server -- and concluded the agency likely wouldnt have granted the request. The Inspector General also faulted the State Departments handling of electronic records and communications beyond Clintons tenure.Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State, the report, which was delivered to Congress Wednesday, said.Clinton used private e-mail to send or receive about 60,000 messages from 2009 to 2013. She and her aides said about half were work-related and turned over to the State Department. They have said the rest, which they deemed personal, were destroyed. Clinton added that she used the system as a matter of convenience, but said that in hindsight she should have used a government system.The Inspector Generals report adds to Clintons political woes as shes trying to wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination and campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, whos used the e-mail controversy as part of his line of attack. Clinton faces a separate FBI investigation and a conservative watchdog group has sued for access to her messages.As these events take her campaign off-course, Trump could surge ahead in polls, which would dramatically affect the countrys health insurance landscape. Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act  a legislative action that has already been achieved with the current Congress  and replace it with a national market in which insurers may sell across state lines.Clinton, meanwhile, has been supportive of the program and says she will advocate a $250 per month cap on out-of-pocket drug expenses  a provision that would have to be offered by health insurers.She has also criticized major health insurance mergers, such as those between Anthem and Cigna, and Humana and Aetna.The two blockbuster deals comprise nearly $100 billion and could potentially undermine competition in the health insurance space  and thus go against one of the major tenets of the Affordable Care Act, Clinton has maintained.With a more competitive election between Clinton and Trump, the eventual fate of the healthcare legislation remains in the balance.
On Saturday, the World Bank unveiled its plans to launch a $500 million fast-disbursing insurance fund that would provide support to impoverished countries that are tackling pandemics.Called the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, it would immediately release funds to destitute countries and qualified international first-responder agencies once a pandemic meets parametric conditions such as the size of the epidemic, its severity, and its spread.If a pandemic outbreak occurs, the facility will immediately release funds to destitute countries and qualified international first-responder agencies.Japan was the first country to provide capital for the insurance fund$50 million. The high-yield, pandemic catastrophe bond will combine funding from reinsurance markets, Reuters reported.The insurance bond came to be following the Ebola outbreak in 2014 that took more than 11,000 lives worldwide. During the epidemic, it took months to collect enough funds for the affected countries as the number of fatalities related to the virus continued to climb. The disease ultimately cost the world at least $10 billionover $7 in international aid and $2.8 in gross domestic product losses in the affected countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone."The recent Ebola crisis in West Africa was a tragedy that we were simply not prepared for. It was a wake-up call to the world, said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a statement to the media through a conference call.We cant change the speed of a hurricane or the magnitude of an earthquake, but we can change the trajectory of an outbreak. With enough money sent to the right place at the right time, we can save lives and protect economies.The World Bank co-developed the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility with the World Health Organization. Reinsurers Swiss Re and Munich Re were tapped to act as insurance providers. The facility will feature catastrophe bonds , in which purchasers would lose principal if fund flows are caused by a pandemic outbreak.The insurance fund is limited to covering certain classes of infectious diseases that have the potential to cause outbreaks. Such diseases include several types of influenza, SARS, MERS, Ebola and Marburg.The Zika virus was not included among the list of diseases the insurance fund covers for.Kim reasoned that the types of eligible diseases had to be purposefully limited to secure the insurance policy. The World Bank will pay for the policys premiums.
Developer Bart Mitchell; Stacy Townsend, president of Property & Casualty Initiative, a community loan fund; and Town Manager Jason Hoch cut the ribbon at Cable Mills. Cable Mills encompasses 61 luxury units ranging from one to three bedrooms in former Carol Cable mill. A mix of stakeholders, interested residents and current mill tenants attended the event. The renovation of the 1870 mill was 14 years in the making. The mill's old chimney towers above the site. David Traggorth of Traggorth Companies, the mill's real estate developer, opens the event. Former Town Manager Peter Fohlin was there at the beginning, calling the late Bob Kuehn 'a hero' for his vision that led to the project. Stacy Townsend, president of Property & Casualty Initiative, calls out some of the project's participants. Andrae Baly of National Trust Community Investment Corp. spoke of the historic tax credits provide the project. Michelle Volpe of Boston Community Capital said the project was the definition of 'patient capital.' Fohlin, Bart Mitchell and David Traggorth listen to the speakers. Susan Connelly of Massachusetts Housing Partnership spoke to the 'affordable' part to the project. Developer Bart Mitchell, managing member of the development group, said Cable Mill would be 'a place for people of all incomes to fulfill their dreams.' Paul Harsch of Harch Associates, the mill's local broker, talks with Fohlin. More than a dozen people representing management and funding partners line up for the ribbon cutting. The development includes access to amenities such as exercise rooms and dog washes. Attendees view a model apartment on the fourth floor. Elements of the mill's history, including several of its old track doors, are situated through the buidings. A kitchen in a three-bedroom apartment. A view from the top. PreviousNext

Patience Pays Off as Ribbon is Cut at Williamstown's Cable Mills

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  It took 14 years to turn a decrepit hulk of a mill into 61 luxury housing units.



The project was halted by, among other things, the economic crisis of 2008 and sometimes seemed like a victim of bad luck.



But it was a stroke of good luck that sparked the Cable Mills project.



"We invited Bob Keuhn here in 2002 in hopes we could accomplish at [the Photech mill] what's been accomplished here," former Town Manager Peter Fohlin recalled at Wednesday's Cable Mills ribbon cutting ceremony.



"It did not take him very long to realize that no housing could be built at that property."



But after passing on the town-owned former mill on Cole Avenue, Kuehn stopped for a bite to eat on Water Street. Upon leaving the restaurant, he discovered the aging industrial site owned, most recently, by Carol Cable.



"He said, 'What about this building?' " Fohlin told the audience gathered under a tent in the apartments' north parking lot.



Kuehn ended up buying the Water Street property, and the rest is history  a tortuous history that required the fortitude of three separate developers and the forbearance of a variety of funders.



Fohlin, who was able to see the project enter brick and mortar development before his retirement last year, said the project has three "fathers": Kuehn, Bart Mitchell and Mitchell's former lieutenant, Dave Traggorth.



Keuhn, Fohlin said with a cracked voice, died at his desk in Cambridge while working on the Cable Mills project.



"Bob Kuehn was a hero in development and affordable housing across the state," Fohlin said. "And now they extend into Western Massachusetts."



Kuehn's estate put Cable Mills on the market, and Fohlin said 25 different developers kicked the tires before one, Mitchell, saw the property's true potential. As the principal of Mitchell Properties, he bought the mill and continued to make plans for the site. Mitchell secured a promise from the town to commit $1.5 million in Community Preservation Act funds to the effort.



"When we published a guidebook on how to use the Community Preservation Act, there is a depiction of Cable Mills on the cover, and the book is dedicated to Bob Kuehn," said Susan Connelly of the Boston-based Massachusetts Housing Partnership.


We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers.

To unlock this article:
Berjaya Auto Philippines, the exclusive distributor of Mazda vehicles in the country has just launched all-new variants of the highly acclaimed Mazda6 Executive Sedan and the CX-5 compact Sport Utility Vehicle.

Featuring Mazdas latest SKYACTIV-D diesel engine technology, the all-new Mazda6 and CX-5 diesel come equipped with a 2.2-Liter two-stage turbocharged motor that produces 173 horsepower and 420 Newton-meter of torque. More remarkable is lowest in the world diesel engine compression 14:1, the SKYACTIV-D is Mazdas answer to the quest for lower emission, high combustion efficiency, more power and torque and superior fuel economy.

The Mazda Skyactiv-D diesel engine is amongst the most advanced in the world, and with the availability of low-sulfur Euro4 Diesel fuel, we are proud to be able to introduce the engine into not one, but two of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Mazda6 executive sedan and the CX-5 compact crossover. reveals Berjaya Auto Philippines President Steven Tan. SKYACTIV-D is the cleanest and most fuel efficient diesel engine available in the market and our customers deserve the best that Mazda can deliver.

To put the all-new Mazda6 and CX-5 diesel to the test, 30 motoring journalists were invited to the SKYACTIV-Discovery Press Ride and Drive event for them to experience the Skyactiv-D engine in both vehicles. The 114-kilometer drive to the resort town of Mabini near Anilao, Batangas started from the newly opened Mazda Makati showroom. After a brief product overview by Mr. Chiaki Santo of Powertrain Planning Development from Mazda Motor Corporation of Japan, the convoy then drove along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) straight to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Roadway (STAR) to Batangas. The highway legs allowed the journalists to experience the smooth power and torque of the SKYACTIV-D engines to the hilt. With traffic slowing down as the drive reached Bauan, Batangas, both the Mazda6 and CX-5 diesels relied on the highly effective i-STOP ignition start and stop system to reach commendable fuel economy figures despite the distance travelled.

The second day drive to Tagaytay from Anilao took the Lemery route on the way up. The 68-kilometer drive was characterized by a smooth ascent up the Tagaytay ridge via mildly winding roads for the journalists to experience the much praised handling prowess of the two latest diesel-engine variants. After a brief lunch, it was back to Mazda Makati to cap the two-day 246-km drive.

The all-new Mazda 6 and CX-5 diesel are both available at the Mazda showrooms located across the country. Priced at Php1,985,000.00 for the Mazda6 SKYACTVI-D and Php1,985,000.00 for the CX-5 SKYACTIV-D, Mazda aims to target a larger share of the executive sedan and compact SUV market who not only value practicality and fuel efficiency but also put a premium on a driving experience that is unlike any other.

Back to top
Excerpt from a Eurogroup Press Conference on Greece

Transcript of quotes by Poul Thomsen, Director, IMF European Department

Brussels, May 24, 2016

Webcast of the press briefing

Poul Thomsen: We welcome what has been agreed, I think all sides had to compromise, overall, building on the fiscal adjustment over the years, the package will put the fiscal adjustment on a stronger foundation. Of particular importance is the agreement to set up an independent revenue agency, I think this is welcome step forward.

We always said an agreement to be credible needs two legs, policy package and measures on debt. In this regard we welcome that is now recognized that the Greek debt is unsustainable and that Greece needs debt relief to make debt sustainable and cannot do on its own efforts. In this regard we also welcome the agreement on the methodology on how to assess debt sustainability, and objectives on what debt relief should achieve.

The measures outlined by Mr. Regling [ESM] are important and build on measures by Greeces European partners on trying to relieve Greeces debt. We will have to take a look at these measures in the coming months to make sure that, based on a revised Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), they will deliver the necessary debt relief. On the part of the IMF I believe that we have made a major concession. I might as well be open about that. We had argued that these debt relief measures should be approved upfront and we have agreed that they will be approved at the end of the program period, based on a revised DSA at that time. We have all shown flexibility. So how do we take this forward? As Mr. Dijesselbloem said, we, staff and management, we are willing to recommend to our Board that this is a staff-level agreement that can form the basis for IMF support before the end of the year, provided that the revised DSA that we will be producing in the coming months will suggest that the measures that are on the table will deliver the necessary debt relief. I would like to emphasize that this is a recommendation by IMF staff and management, the Executive Board will in the end make the decision about IMF support.

So will the IMF be part of the program?

Mr. Thomsen: Yes, the IMF will participate in this program, this is our recommendation to the Board, provided that the revised DSA suggest that the measures that Klaus [Regling] has outlined are sufficient for us to conclude, that debt is sustainable. There are a number of prior actions that have been agreed, the legislation that has been approved in the last couple of days, still needs to be verified that the prior actions have been met.

The measures are weaker than what you wanted, so is there a chance that you will come back for more?

Mr. Thomsen: We will need to assess the adequacy of the measures and we will only go ahead if they are adequate. Some of the measures are still to be calibrated, and on that basis we will decide if they are adequate to generate the necessary debt relief.

What changed?

Mr. Thomsen: In our DSA that came out yesterday [Monday May 23, 2016] we were precise in quantifying these parameters for the extension and the rollover. What this recognizes is that these measures exist, what it does not do now, it does not provide the quantification. But the measures are there, to be quantified. As I said at the start we have conceded the point that the measures do not need to be approved upfront but will be approved at the end, to be sure that this program will deliver debt sustainability. It will deliver debt sustainability according to our standard criteria, subject to Greece meeting the targets of the program. That is the same as what we gave you yesterday  that yes we had the measures, will have been approved upfront subject to delivery over a three-year period, provided that Greece meets the targets, they will get debt relief. By quantifying these measures here. Yes, it is a change, but I do not see this as a weakening of the debt relief.

Why arent the measures quantified now?

Mr. Thomsen: It is recognized here that Europe can deliver the kind of measures that we have been calling for. Yes, they need to be quantified and before we go to the Board is subject to a test that these measures can deliver the necessary debt relief by the end of the program, consistent with the principle that by the end of the program Greece needs to be able to stand on its own. We will not go to the Board if we are not convinced that we have measures that can deliver sustainability by the end of the period. Unless we are convinced that we have a methodology, we have objective, and we have a universe of measures that can deliver that.
Film expert breaks down summer blockbusters

West Lafayette, Indiana - Super heroes, sequels and animated features are leading this summer's lineup of Hollywood releases, according to Purdue University film expert Lance Duerfahrd.

"Blockbusters once aimed to inspire fear and awe in audiences in original ways. 'Jaws' was so powerful it interrupted our summer rituals and made it difficult to go back to the beach," Duerfahrd said. "The upcoming summer releases reveal how the industry has changed: blockbusters don't bust anything and instead seek to become part of our summer rituals."

Duerfahrd, associate professor of English and director of the film and video studies program, is an expert in film studies, global cinema and bad movies. He is available to discuss the 2016 lineup of sequels this summer including "Independence Day: Resurgence," an all-female remake of "Ghostbusters," plus installments in the "Star Trek," "X-Men" and "Captain America" franchises.

"Maybe blockbusters should be renamed doorbusters since these films merely aspire to get a maximum number of shoppers in to buy their wares," he said. "Continuing well-established franchises and product lines, these films aspire to difference no edgier than a new flavor of Dorito. That Hollywood wants to serve only familiar fare is evident in how we need to talk about the vintage of the reboot: 'Independence Day 2' follows its original installment by 20 years, 'Ghostbusters' by 30."

Duerfahrd's research focuses on film studies, theory and cultural studies, history and theory of film and photography, film noir, and global cinema. He is currently completing a book, "A Semester of Bad Film," on how the worst movies make us into better filmgoers.
USS Mount Whitney Makes History

Washington, DC - USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), U.S. 6th Fleet flagship, made history today as the first amphibious command ship to have an MV-22B Osprey land on its flight deck, Monday.

The MV-22B and crew are part of "The Thunder Chickens" of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (VMM-263), based out of Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.



The aircraft, "Thunder 00," successfully executed four starboard and three port landings, and hot refueling before returning to Morn Air Base, Spain where they are deployed as the Air Combat Element of Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa.

"Today's Osprey landings enhance the afloat commander's agility, range, and responsiveness in moving people and equipment at sea and ashore in support of assigned missions across the 6th Fleet area of responsibility. We are very proud of our Sailors', civilian mariners', and Marines' milestone today, strengthening the Navy and Marine Corps team." - Capt. Carlos A. Sardiello, commanding officer, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)



"The Osprey landing is a great example of the MSC (Military Sealift Command) and Navy coming together and adapting to the ever-changing operational requirements and technology that makes our nation's military so fluid." - Michael Bardoutsos, MSC cargo officer, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)



"VMM-263 and the USS Mount Whitney are working together to exercise shipboard flight deck familiarization. This consists of practicing landings and deck procedures, such as fueling and deck-heat mitigation. This will allow for successful operations between Ospreys and amphibious command ships, like the Mount Whitney, in the future. This is especially important with recent planned acquisitions by the Navy to make the Osprey their new Carrier on Delivery platform." - Captain K.C. "Rooster" O'Malley, pilot training officer / assistant operations officer, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (VMM-263)

Designed for expeditionary assault support, raid operations, cargo lift and special warfare, the MV-22B Osprey has Vertical takeoff and landing, and short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) capabilities.



The Navy has only two amphibious command ships, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) and USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). In 2011 the Chief of Naval Operations extended their service lives to 2039. An Extended Service Life Program (ESLP) is being executed jointly by Naval Sea Systems Command and MSC. ESLP is focused on ensuring the platforms can support the full range of mission requirements for an embarked numbered fleet commander.



Mount Whitney, forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy, operates with a combined crew of U.S. Navy Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners. The civil service mariners perform navigation, deck, engineering and supply service operations, while military personnel support communications, weapons systems and security. It is one of only two seaborne Joint Command Platforms in the U.S. Navy, both of which are forward deployed.



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.
Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Ziad Haider travels to Tunis, Tunisia and Cairo, Egypt for Road to GES 2016

Washington, DC - Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Ziad Haider will visit Tunisia and Egypt from May 26 to June 1 to promote the 7th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (June 22-24) in Silicon Valley, California.

Road to GES: Tunis, May 25-26, will feature events in partnership with the Tunis Business School, Pragma Corporation, and key government officials in the Ministries of Commerce, Industry, and Vocational Training and Employment. Special Representative Haider will also engage with representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and local incubators.

Road to GES: Cairo, June 1, will be among the final international events leading up to GES 2016. In Cairo, Special Representative Haider will host an event with leading private and public sector representatives to celebrate the potential of entrepreneurship and innovation to strengthen markets. He will also visit American Universitys Cairo Campus and Egypts Smart Village to discuss how the next generation can use tech innovations to tackle future challenges.

GES 2016 will showcase over 700 entrepreneurs from 170 countries and 250 investors from around the world to create new opportunities for investment, partnership, and collaboration; connect American entrepreneurs and investors with international counterparts to form lasting relationships; and highlight entrepreneurship as means to address some of the most intractable global challenges. Hosting GES in Silicon Valley will highlight Americas entrepreneurial spirit and allow American investors and entrepreneurs to see the talent, solutions, and opportunities that exist globally.
Fourteen Primary Care Centres (PCCs) are to be built across Ireland following agreement of a new 70 million 25-year loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

This represents the EIBs first support for healthcare investment in Ireland and the first dedicated backing for primary healthcare anywhere in Europe.

The new PPP-based scheme will support the shift from hospital-based healthcare to community-based care closer to patients, according to the EIB and European Commission, which released details of the scheme today (Wednesday, May 25).

The new long-term loan is also the first in Ireland to be backed by a guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments initiative (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe intended to generate 315 billion of new investment across the EU.

The new PCCs are to be built in the west of Ireland in Sligo, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Limerick City; in Waterford City, Tipperary and Wexford Town in the south-east; as well as Kildare and Dublin north City in the east.

They will provide basic health services including GP surgeries, occupational therapy, social work and dietary advice. In some locations, additional services will also be provided, including mental health, dentistry and addiction services and a local ambulance base.

Speaking after his attendance at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank in Brussels earlier today, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, Irelands Governor at the European Investment Bank, said: This project highlights Irelands consistent ability to work with the EIB on funding critical investment in Ireland at high levels of funding and in sophisticated financing arrangements.

Importantly, these facilities will deliver much-needed care across the country, and the package is a great example of the public sector working in unison with a focus on delivering value for money in infrastructure investment for the taxpayer, as it involves the Health Service Executive working with the National Development Finance Agency and of course the Departments of Health and Finance amongst others.

Minister for Health Simon Harris added that the decision of the EIB to invest was a very welcome vote of confidence in our community healthcare plans. It enables us to provide 14 primary care centres in a two-year period, centres that will be of great benefit to the 14 rural and urban areas.

Commenting on the move, Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President, said strengthening local healthcare services was crucial for improving public health and this significant new initiative would ensuring more effective healthcare for thousands of people across Ireland. This represents the European Investment Banks first ever backing for healthcare investment in the Republic and builds on increased support for education, housing and transport investment in recent years.

Financing from the European Investment Bank represents 49.5 per cent of the total investment cost of the new facilities. The project will be co-funded by commercial lenders Talanx Asset Management and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Location of the new primary care centres:

1 Ballymote, Co Sligo

2 Boyle, Co Roscommon

3 Claremorris, Co Mayo

4 Westport, Co Mayo

5 Ballinrobe, Co Mayo

6 Tuam, Co Galway

7 Limerick City, Co Limerick

8 Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary

9 Dungarvan, Co Waterford

10 Waterford City, Co Waterford

11 Wexford Town, Co Wexford

12 Kilcock, Co Kilkenny

13 Summerhill, Dublin North Inner City

14 Coolock/Darndale, Dublin North City

dara.gantly@imt.ie
UK Train Passenger Praised for Refusing to Give Up Her First Class Seat to Old Woman
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 }}

Today is Towel Day, a brilliantly absurd annual celebration that sees people carry towels with them on the street.

Why? Because in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, being able to quickly lay your hands on a towel was the mark of a competent being, giving rise to the saying: There's a frood who really knows where his towel is!

Author Douglas Adams died in May 2001, and each year in the same months fans pay tribute.

This year, Google got in on it, linking to a Hitchhikers Easter egg in its search engine:

42 of course, was the answer to the meaning of life given by enormous supercomputer Deep Thought after 7.5 million years of calculations.

The seemingly impenetrable answer has remained a source of fascination, even leading to the 2011 book 42: Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything which looks at the number 42s role in science and popular culture.

Last year, Google created a pretty spectacular Easter egg for the return of Star Wars.
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 }}

Love & Friendship, Dir: Whit Stillman, 92 mins (U), starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Justin Edwards, Tom Bennett

Love & Friendship is an unexpected delight, a very dry and tremendously witty adaptation of a little known Jane Austen novella. The film boasts surely the finest performance in Kate Beckinsales up and down screen career.

She plays the scheming Lady Susan Vernon, a beautiful single mother in 1790s England. The recently widowed Lady Susan has no money and no husband but these are only minor inconveniences as she pursues wealth, status and sexual satisfaction.

American writer-director Stillman both celebrates and subverts the traditional British country house drama. At times, his approach verges on the tongue in cheek, with more than a touch of PG Wodehouse about it.

The main protagonists are all presented in their own close-ups with subtitles explaining who they are. Lord Manwaring is introduced as a divinely attractive man. The nincompoopish Sir James Martin is a bit of a rattle.

Like the prolific British TV writer Andrew Davies, Stillman is aware that sex and money are the real engines driving Austens plots. For all the attention paid to etiquette and good manners, the characters here are ruthless in their self-interest  and in protecting their families from upstart, money-grabbing outsiders.

Beckinsales Lady Susan is blithely amoral, never losing her poise or her charm as she entices new suitors for herself and her daughter, pretty young ingenue Frederica (Morfydd Clark), who starts off as her pawn and ends up her rival.

My daughter has shown herself to be cunning and manipulative  I couldnt be more pleased, Susan confides approvingly to her American friend and co-conspirator Lady Alicia (Chloe Sevigny).

Depending on your point of view, Lady Susan is either an arch-villainess, wrecking marriages and treating her relatives with contempt, or she is the heroine. She has nothing (Stillman drops occasional hints about her poverty). She is a widow living in a deeply patriarchal society. She has little choice other than to rely on her own beauty and cunning  and the hypocrisy and stupidity of others.

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

Stillman has an eye for telling comic details; for example, the fussing of Lady Susans unpaid companion Mrs Cross (whose only real function is to pack and unpack) or Sir James Martins struggles in remembering the 10 Commandments (he thinks there are 12 of them).

Lady Susans insouciance doesnt disguise the fact that she is fighting a desperate battle for her future. She has a genius for strategy and double bluffing. Beckinsale gives an enrapturing performance as a femme fatale whose deadly glamour lies not just in her looks but in her very winning way with words.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Britain has the highest level of poor water quality bathing sites in the European Union and the number of excellent quality has slumped by more than a fifth since last year, according to an EU-wide report.

The figures prompted the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) to warn that the UK risked returning to the days when it was seen as the dirty man of Europe.

However it added that EU regulations on clean bathing water had seen a significant improvement in quality since the UK joined in the 1970s.

The report, by the European Environment Agency, said: Forty years ago, large quantities of uncontrolled, untreated or partially treated wastewater were discharged into many of Europe's waters.

European legislation and national water policies as well as many years of investment in the sewerage system, better wastewater treatment and the reduction of pollution from farms have led to Europe's bathing water being much cleaner today than it was 40 years ago.

Looking forward, it is important to continue understanding the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy.

Recommended Read more 25 English beaches set to fail EU water quality tests

However the report noted that in some EU Member States more than three per cent of bathing sites were of poor quality in 2015.

This list was headed by the UK with 4.9 per cent or 31 bathing beaches and lakes  up from 0.9 per cent in 2014 -- followed by Ireland on 4.4 per cent, the Netherlands on 3.4 per cent and Bulgaria with 3.2 per cent.

And the number of British bathing sites of excellent quality fell from 485 in 2014 to 377 last year, a decline of more than 22 per cent. This meant 59.5 per cent of UK beaches were excellent for swimming, the third lowest figure in the EU after Slovakia (48.5 per cent) and Romania (32 per cent).

However the total of beaches of at least sufficient quality remained high at more than 94 per cent with a small number of beaches not rated.

The Bathing Water Directive was first issued by European officials in 1976, when popular tourist beaches were notorious for the raw sewage floating in the sea.

A spokesman for the MCS said: The Bathing Water Directive has led to enormous improvements in bathing quality of the UKs beaches, compared with the situation just a few decades ago.

But he added that this years figures for the UK were a cause for concern.

We still need investment in water quality to ensure that we dont become the dirty man of Europe or we dont earn the reputation again as the dirty man of Europe, the MCS spokesman said.

The MCS has also expressed concern about the Governments practice of stripping beaches of their status as designated bathing sites, which has happened to Staithes in Yorkshire and a number of other sites, despite their use for swimming by the public. It warned this could be a way to avoid breaking the standards without actually improving water quality.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA 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

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which deals with water quality in England, said the standards of quality had recently been increased so that the excellent classification was about twice as tough as the previous guideline.

Our bathing waters are cleaner than ever, with 97 per cent meeting new, tougher standards, it said in a statement.

But were not complacent and were continuing to work with water companies, local authorities and communities to drive up standards on beaches and lakes across England.

Defra said in 1988 just 19 per cent of bathing waters were good quality or better compared to 90 per cent in 2015.
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 Chinese startup claims it is going to start selling the world's first bendable smartphone later this year.

Moxi Group, a new company based in Chonquing, says it is planning to ship 100,000 of their flexible devices in China by the end of the year, which will cost around 5,000 yuan (520) each.

The device will look like a long, thin smartphone when unfolded, with a narrow screen and large battery at the bottom.

Recommended Read more Samsung rumoured to be releasing foldable smartphone in 2017

Based on images released by Moxi, it'll be able to bend all the way around, allowing users to fasten it to their wrist like a bracelet.

The screen apparently uses graphene, a futuristic material first developed in the UK which is light, thin and very conductive.

Flexible smartphones have been developed before, mostly by university researchers or as concepts by big electronics companies. The Moxi phone would be the first consumer-ready, truly bendy phone in the world.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Although making the phone is an impressive feat in the first place, it might not be as good as it looks in the promotional pictures. The first version will have a black and white screen, which is easier to produce and uses less power.

The screen is an e-ink display, the same kind used in e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. These displays typically have to refresh when showing different images, making them a little clumsy to use and not very good at playing video.

At least at the start, the pricey Moxi phone won't even have the same features as the cheapest smartphones. However, Chongsheng Yu, the company's executive vice president, told Bloomberg that a colour screen and international distribution may arrive in the future.

Even if the Moxi phone isn't that impressive, its launch will still be a first. Industry giants like Samsung have reportedly been working on flexible screens for years, but the technology has never appeared in a consumer product.

When smartphone sales are falling and every tech company is trying to make a smartphone which isn't just a glass-and-metal rectangle, Moxi might be heading in the right direction.
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 }}

60,000 workers at Apple supplier Foxconn have been replaced with robots, according to reports.

The figure comes from a local government official, who said employee numbers at one of Foxconn's factories in Kunshan, near Shanghai, have been drastically slashed in recent months.

Foxconn is headquartered in Taiwan, but has 12 factories in China, where it produces popular devices like the iPhone and iPad, along with a number of others.

The official told the South China Morning Post: "The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000, thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs."

"More companies are likely to follow suit," the official added.

As the paper notes, this doesn't bode well for Kunshan's 2.5 million residents, most of whom are migrant workers who moved to the city to take jobs in its numerous electronics factories.

While the number of workers displaced by robots is huge, Foxconn denies that the change will result in long-term job losses.

Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics Show all 6 1 /6 Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics The LS3 is a four-legged, intelligent robot with an array of cameras and sensors that allow it, for example, to follow a leader of all kinds of terrain Boston Dynamics via YouTube Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics The eeriest of all the Boston Dynamics robots, the PetMan could - among other things - test chemical suits Boston Dynamics via YouTube Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics PetMan's big brother, Atlas may be used as a first response to disaster situations Reuters Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics RHex has been developed to cross the trickiest terrain and can be controlled from 700 metres away Boston Dynamics via YouTube Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics Built for speed, Cheetah can run at 28.3mph - and can prove it on the treadmill Boston Dynamics via YouTube Meet the robots - the strange creations of Boston Dynamics The remote-control car with a difference - it can jump 30ft in the air (wouldn't you want one for Christmas?) Boston Dynamics via YouTube

In a statement to the BBC, the company says the robots have only taken over the most repetitive tasks, so human workers can be trained to focus on "higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process," like research and development and quality control.

A Foxconn spokesperson said: "We will continue to harness automation and manpower in our manufacturing operations, and we expect to maintain our significant workforce in China."

Currently, robots tend to replace humans in manual, repetitive jobs like those at Foxconn. However, as technology improves, other professions could be at risk of automation.

According to a 2015 Bank of England report, 15 million jobs in the UK are at risk of being taken over by robots in the next few decades.

The robot threat has led to some academics and policymakers to call for the introduction of a universal basic income, which would counter the threat to livelihoods posed by automation.
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 }}

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, has admitted he uses an iPhone, made by rival company Apple.

Schmidt made the embarassing admission at the Startup Europe Fest in Amsterdam, where he said he uses an iPhone 6S on a daily basis.

It's not all bad - Schmidt also says he uses a Samsung Galaxy S7, which runs Google's Android system.

Recommended Read more Eric Schmidt says that UK tech industry can thrive within Europe

When asked which phone he prefers by a CNBC reporter, he said: "The Samsung S7 is better, It has a better battery, and it has a better camera. And to those of you who are iPhone users - I'm right."

Using a Nexus phone designed by his own company might show a little more brand loyalty, but maybe he just likes other firms' phones.

The audience at the event seemed to share his penchant for Apple. After a straw poll showed that more people in the room had an iPhone than an Android device, Schmidt joked: "So much for the Android monopoly in Europe."

Schmidt praised the S7's camera, but hopefully he didn't get any photography tips from Tim Cook. The Apple boss, who also appeared at the event, was roundly mocked on Twitter earlier this year for sharing (and later deleting) an incredibly blurry picture from the Super Bowl, presumably taken on an iPhone.
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 German court has ruled the mass killing of day-old male chicks does not violate their animal protection laws.

Male chicks are killed because they are unable to lay eggs and do not put on enough weight to be reared for meat.

The High Administrative Court said the breeding of male chicks is not in keeping with the stated goal of chicken breeding and its business guidelines.

Recommended Read more Three penguin chicks have been stolen from an aquarium in Norway

It argued the killing of male chicks was part of the process for providing the population with eggs and meat.

Germanys Animal Protection Law allows for lawful killings of animals providing there is sound economic reason to do so.

The Green Party introduced a bill in the German parliament attempting to ban the process, but parliament voted against it in March.

The most controversial animal killings Show all 6 1 /6 The most controversial animal killings The most controversial animal killings Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden The most controversial animal killings Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer The most controversial animal killings Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus The most controversial animal killings Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey The most controversial animal killings The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down The most controversial animal killings Swiss Dahlholzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Berns Dahlholzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook

Following the rulling, one western state in Germany - North Rhine-Westphalia - still wants to ban the killing of male chicks for economic reasons. The states agricultural minister, Johannes Remmel of the Green party said: We must finally stop treating animals like garbage.

Animal Aid, a UK animal rights organisation, estimates around 30m day-old male chicks are disposed of every year in the UK, while worldwide estimates reach 2.5 billion.

The male chicks are either gassed with carbon monoxide or put into a macerating machine which kills them instantly by crushing them. Animal rights activists say the process is the same as mass murder.

The RSPCA lists maceration as one of their permitted method of killing chicks, which also includes gassing and notes chicks must be killed within 15 minutes of being removed from the hatchery.

Germanys national agricultural minister, Bavarian conservative Christian Schmidt wants a practical alternative to the shredding of chicks by 2017.

He suggests this involves laser technology, which could determine the sex of the egg before it hatches. But judges rejected the idea, ruling this practice was not yet ready.
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 }}

The deaths of more than 260,000 people from cancer in wealthy countries that do not provide universal healthcare  like the NHS  have been linked to the global economic crisis of 2008 in a major new study published in medical journal The Lancet.

The researchers found that unemployment and the inability to afford treatment had led to a spike in late diagnosis and poor treatment of the disease.

But they said that the provision of universal healthcare prevented this from happening, so that the increase was only found in countries like the US, where medical treatment is largely paid for through private insurance, often from employers.

Lead author of the paper, Dr Mahiben Maruthappu, of Imperial College London, said: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide so understanding how economic changes affect cancer survival is crucial.

We found that increased unemployment was associated with increased cancer mortality, but that universal health coverage protected against these effects. This was especially the case for treatable cancers including breast, prostate and colorectal cancer.

We also found that public healthcare spending was tightly associated with cancer mortality  suggesting healthcare cuts could cost lives.

If health systems experience funding constraints, this must be matched by efficiency improvements to ensure patients are offered the same level of care, regardless of economic environment or employment status.

The research team, from Harvard University, Oxford University, Imperial College London and Kings College London, used data from the World Bank and World Health Organisation to look at the link between unemployment, public health care spending and cancer mortality in more than 70 countries over a 20-year period from 1990 to 2010.

For every percentage point increase in unemployment, the researchers found there were 0.37 additional deaths per 100,000 people from all cancers. The study also found that cancer mortality increased as public health expenditure fell.

In the Lancet paper, they estimated "that the 200810 economic crisis was associated with about 260,000 excess cancer-related deaths" in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. It has 34 member states including most of the world's developed nations, such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.

Study co-author Professor Rifat Atun of Harvard University explained the link between the lack of universal healthcare and deaths from cancer.

In countries without universal health coverage, access to health care can often be provided via an employment package," he said.

Without employment, patients may be diagnosed late, and face poor or delayed treatment.

Recommended Read more NHS denies being pressured to downgrade how much cash service needed

In article commenting on the research, Dr Graham Colditz, of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, and Dr Karen M Emmons, of the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute in California, wrote that the study added to the evidence that the implementation of universal health coverage would further reduce the toll of cancer by making it possible to implement evidence-based treatments and prevention strategies that are already in hand.

Universal health coverage is  described as the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer, they added.

Although in many countries universal healthcare coverage is seen as an important societal investment, so far this has not been the case in the USA.

The country might find the promise of improving treatments difficult to achieve without first providing coverage to those affected by cancer.

Universal health coverage, specifically for all patients with cancer, would meet the Institute of Medicine recommendation to reduce disparities in access to cancer care for vulnerable and underserved populations. Furthermore, universal cancer coverage would generate a great return on investment.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

Dr Clive Peedell, a clinical oncologist and leader of the National Health Action Party, said he was "not surprised" by the report's findings.

"Poverty increases inequalities in health. The NHS was founded precisely because universal healthcare helps to ameliorate that effect. But its principles are eroded, through cuts, marketisation, privatisation and constant change imposed upon it," he said.

"The [UK] Government seems intent on pushing through cuts to shrink the service beyond its resilience to adapt. We need to restore our NHS to public service as soon as possible. We fear that even a report like this will not persuade the Government, which is intent on the imposition of austerity on one hand and privatisation on the other, to move in that direction.

"Continuing with these policies will lead to further unnecessary suffering and avoidable death."
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 }}

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or is that a work of art on the runway?

British Airways is hoping an alligator at Gatwick airport will encourage visitors to visit Tampa, Florida and is offering a four-night stay in the city as part of a new marketing campaign.

The optical illusion of the alligator - three women who had undergone five hours of body painting - was created by Johannes Stoetter.

Recommended Read more Woman says alligator sounded like a burglar trying to break in

When British Airways asked me to create an alligator I couldnt wait, she said. I normally paint and photograph my artwork in a studio, so to see my artwork in front of one of the airlines planes on a runway was a truly great experience and possibly one of the most challenging yet.

Tampa is enjoying more tourism and is even facing a lack of hotel rooms for rising demand.

In April the region collected $3.5 million for bed tax, as reported by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Santiago Corrado, chief executive of Visit Tampa Bay, said: We thoroughly enjoyed this funny and creative approach to drawing visitors to Tampa Bay and Florida.

Alligators are a real nuisance in Tampa.

Last week a woman said what she thought was a burglar trying to get in her house turned out to be a five-foot long alligator stretched across her doorway.

The alligator is not the only recent marketing stunt from the airline. In 2014 British Airways promoted new flights between Johannesburg and London by pitting South African rugby player Bryan Habana against an A380 plane for a 100 metre race along the tarmac.
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 }}

Eurozone ministers have reached a breakthrough deal to ease Greeces debt burden and extend further bailout loans on Wednesday.

Greeces creditors gave a green light allowing the release of 10.3 billion ($11.5bn; 7.8bn) in new loans to ease the countrys 321 billion (245 billion) of debt, after an 11 hours meeting between 19 eurozone ministers in Brussels.

The bailout cash will be released in tranches, with over 7.5 billion ($8.4bn) to be allocated in June, and another payment expected sometime in the fall.

Recommended Read more Greece back in the firing line as IMF reconsiders bailout deal

We now have global agreement which opens the way for a significant disbursement of much needed funding for Greece and important measures on debt relief, which will be progressively phased in, said EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

"This is stretching what I thought would have been possible not so long ago."

The International Monetary Fund, which previously argued that Greeces programme didnt offer a path to financial sustainability, has stood down from its hard-line stance.

We on the part of the IMF have made a major concession and I might as well be open about that. We had argued that these debt-relief measures should be approved up front and we have agreed that they will be approved at the end of the program, said Poul Thompsen, IMF Director of European Departments.

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, has previously said that the budget targets set for Greece are highly unrealistic and would require heroic efforts by the Greek people to meet the level of austerity required.

The 10.3 billion bailout is the long-delayed second instalment of Greeces third bailout agreed last August, worth 86 billion (67bn; $96bn).

The IMF and the Eurogroup have been at odds for months over the issue of reducing Greece's debt.

The agreement was made two days after the Greek parliament approved another round of spending cuts and tax increases demanded by its international creditors.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said the deal was an important moment for the country and may pave the pave for the nation to end its cycle of recession and austerity.

This agreement underlines the considerable efforts and the confidence we can have in the Greek government today, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said after the meeting.
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 }}

Tobacco companies are not doing enough to prevent child labour in tobacco farming, according to Human Rights Watch.

Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco, two of the largest tobacco firms in the UK, both purchase tobacco from Indonesia. Both firms cant guarantee that their tobacco is not made using child labour, according to a new report by the rights group.

Philip Morris International and four other multinational companies were also named in the research.

Most companies do some monitoring and report on their results, but it is not enough. The industry should get to the farm level and inspect how exactly their tobacco is made and where it is coming from. Tobacco companies should not be profiting from child labour, Margaret Wurth, childrens right researcher at Human Rights Watch told The Independent.

Human Rights Watch conducted research between September 2014 and 2015 in tobacco farming in four provinces in Indonesia and interviewed more than 100 children under 18.

HRW claims that tobacco companies should do more to eliminate child labour within they supply chain through meticulous investigation as well as adequate monitoring and external audit.

(Human Rights Watch)

Indonesia is the worlds fifth-largest tobacco producer, home to more than 500,000 tobacco farms nationwide.

Hundreds of children as young as eight are endangering their health by participating in a range of tasks including planting applying pesticides or harvesting tobacco leaves by hand, HMW said.

Many suffered from nausea, vomiting and dizziness. These are all symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning or 'green tobacco sickness', the group claims.

After too long working in tobacco, I get a stomach ache and feel like vomiting. Its from when Im near the tobacco for too long, Rio, a 13-year-old boy, working on tobacco farms in Central Java, told HRW in 2014.

(Human Rights Watch)

He likened the feeling to motion sickness, saying: Its just like when youre on a trip, and youre in a car swerving back and forth.

Children also reported working long hours in extreme heat and without wearing any type of protective equipment while handling tobacco.

Wurth said it is the companies responsibility to ensure no child under 18 is working in direct contact with tobacco in any form.

All the multinational companies mentioned in the report are committed to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) human rights conventions.

Under these conventions, the general minimum age for admission to employment or work is 15 years old (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work is 18 (16 under certain strict conditions).

Philip Morris International (PMI), which has six of the worlds top 15 international brands including Marlboro, has the best practices when it comes to transparency and monitoring procedures, HRW said.

(Human Rights Watch)

We are encouraged to be recognized for the transparency of our efforts to address hazardous farm working conditions for children on tobacco farms in Indonesia. Our Agricultural Labor Practices (ALP) programme is showing tangible progress to eliminate child labor on all farms where we source tobacco, yet we agree with HRW that there is much work still be to done, Miguel Coleta, PMI sustainability officer said.

Imperial Tobacco told The Independent that the company takes its responsibilities in the purchasing and cultivating of tobacco leaf very seriously and expect its suppliers work practices to reflect the high standards set by the company. But it admitted child labour is a risk in agricultural supply chains.

Given the complexity of this problem of course it not possible to provide this guarantee. We source tobacco from more than 40 countries worldwide, and as just one of the many stakeholders involved, we cannot be everywhere at once it said.

That does not stop us from continuing to work with all out stakeholders, including HRW, to acknowledge and address concerns. Child labour is totally unacceptable, the company added.

British American Tobacco said the company and its Indonesian subsidiary Bentoel, take the issue of child labour extremely seriously.

We do not employ children in any of our operations worldwide and make it clear to all of our contracted farmers and suppliers that exploitative child labour will not be tolerated. In Indonesia, however, children often participate in agriculture to help their families, and to learn farming methods and skills from their elders, BAT said.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) also recognises that in poor communities, often on small family farms, low risk work that doesnt interfere with schooling and leisure time can be a normal part of growing up in a rural environment.

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

British American Tobacco said it is working with the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco growing foundation (ECLT) and other stakeholders in Indonesia to tackle exploitative child labour in leaf growing areas, and are conducting research in to identify existing efforts, and current and ongoing needs.

The insights gained from this research will allow for a new approach to be developed to tackle child labour in the region, the company said.

Wurth said companies have the responsibility to create alternative opportunities for children in the region but not in jobs that put their health at risk.

Businesses are encouraged not only to adopt child labour policies but also to work with government and social partners to promote education and programs to support youth employment and job opportunities for young workers, Wurth said.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Head teachers have called on Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to stop the publication of this years SATs results, warning that marks will be too unpredictable for analysis.

In an open letter to Ms Morgan, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) argued that a series of embarrassing mistakes involving the new curriculum tests this year mean that comparing the results between schools would be very risky.

Lack of preparation time for schools, and variations in teaching approaches to assessment caused by delayed and obscure guidance could undermine confidence in the data, teachers have warned, suggesting that instead primary school league tables should be scrapped.

The letter states: The experience in a large majority of schools has not been a positive one. Teachers and head teachers all agree that a thorough review of assessment is necessary. We hope that you will commit to a fundamental review of assessment to avoid further problems next year.

Earlier this month, an English SAT paper due to be taken by pupils in year six was leaked by a rogue marker thought to be protesting over the controversial new national curriculum tests introduced this year.

Another English paper was accidentally published on the Department for Education website before year two pupils could sit the test, fuelling concerns over the validity of this years results.

Baseline tests for reception pupils also had to be scrapped, when it was found that the different types of tests being used did not produce consistent results

The head teachers union said ministers need to address the growing disquiet about assessment.

It is not just that the marks may be lower overall, which could be addressed, but that they will vary in unpredictable ways. We know of widely different approaches to writing assessment across the country, for example.

And the content and sequencing of the reading test meant that lower attaining pupils had little opportunity to show their progress. This may result in a skewed distribution of marks that simply setting a lower threshold may not solve. Comparisons between schools become very risky.

The letter comes soon after the NAHT announced it would set up an independent panel to review primary and key stage three assessment, which aims to publish interim recommendations by the end of this school term.

The DfE has consistently defended the primary school exams process, saying the reforms introduced this year will help ensure all children leave primary school having mastered the basics.

A Department for Education spokesman said: We are determined to get this right and remain committed to working with teachers and head teachers as we continue with our primary assessment reform. We will respond to this letter in due course.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Alan Rickman reportedly gave 100,000 to charity in his will.

The Harry Potter actor and ultimate film villain died in January from cancer aged 69. In his will, Rickman is understood to have donated to charities supporting dramatic arts and facial reconstruction.

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sponsored Arts for Education, the Facial Surgery Research Foundation and the International Performers Aid Trust were all left with 25,000 each, according to The Mirror.

Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman at the UK premiere of 'A Little Chaos' at ODEON Kensington in London, 2015 Getty Images Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman poses with actress Kate Winslet and actress Helen McCrory as they attend the UK premiere of 'A Little Chaos' at ODEON Kensington in London, 2015 Getty Image Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman signs autographs for fans before the opening ceremony during the Febiofest Prague International Film Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, 2015 Getty Images Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman poses with 'Elle & The Pocket Belles' as he attends on day two of the Qatar Goodwood Festival at Goodwood Racecourse in Chichester, 2015 Getty Images Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman shakes hands with the Queen Elizabeth II during the Dramatic Arts reception at Buckingham Palace, 2014 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman arrives at the Giffoni Film Festival meeting with the jurors in Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy, 2014 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures 'A Promise' film photocall, 70th Venice International Film Festival, Italy, 2013 Rex Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman walks on the red carpet as he arrives to attend the World Premier for the film 'Gambit' in Leicester Square, in London, 2012 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures (L-R) Alan Rickman, Tom Felton, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis attend the New York premiere of 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2' at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, 2011 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman attends the 'John Gabriel Borkman' after party at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, 2011 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman at the Broadway opening night of 'Seminar' at The Golden Theatre in New York, 2011 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Actors Sir Christopher Lee (L) and Alan Rickman attend the Royal World Premiere of 'Alice In Wonderland' at Odeon Leicester Square in London, 2010 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman poses at the Gibson Guitar celebrity hospitality lounge held at the Miners Club during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver attend the photocall for 'Snow Cake' as part of the 56th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Berlin, 2006 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman shares a laugh with Mos Def at the premiere of HBO's 'Something The Lord Made' in New York, 2004 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman attends the UK Premiere of 'Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban' at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, 2004 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Actor Alan Rickman and Lyndsey Duncan attend the '2002 Tony Award' nominees brunch in New York, 2002 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman and Julia Roberts at 'Hollywood Salutes Bruce Willis: An American Cinematheque Tribute' at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, 2000 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Sigourney Weaver (L), Tim Allen (C) and Alan Rickman (R), pose for the premiere of the science fiction, action comedy film 'Galaxy Quest' outside Mann's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, 1999 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman at the Golden Globe Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, 1997 Rex Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman with Laim Neeson, Natasha Richardson in 1997 Rex Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Actresses Cybill Shepherd (L) and Christine Baranski (C) present an Emmy to Alan Rickman (R) for outstanding lead actor in a mini-series or special for his lead role in the HBO production of 'Rasputin' during the 48th Annual Emmy Awards in Pasadena, California, 1996 Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and Phyllida Law at the Premiere of "Winter Guest" in Glasgow, Scotland, 1993 Rex Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman, Juliette Stevenson and Michael Maloney in 1990 Rex Alan Rickman: Life in pictures Alan Rickman in 1984

Rickman attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his stage career soon after. He became a patron of Saving Faces in 2000 and was an honorary President of the International Performers Aid Trust.

The will included all of his assets except those in America and Italy.

The majority of his estate was left to his wife Rima Horton, who he was with for 50 years. Probate records show his net estate to be more than 4 million.

One of Rickmans final acts before his death was to help Oxford University students raise money for the refugee crisis by providing a voice-over.

Saving Faces said it could not comment. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sponsored Arts for Education, the Facial Surgery Research Foundation and the International Performers Aid Trust have been contacted 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 }}

Peter Thiel is secretly funding Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker Media, according to sources who spoke to Forbes and The New York Times on the condition of anonymity.

Thiel, one of Silicon Valleys most powerful investors, once described Gawker as the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda, and was once outed as gay by the publication.

According to people familiar with the situation who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, Thiel, a cofounder and partner at Founders Fund, has played a lead role in bankrolling the cases Terry Bollea, aka Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker, Forbes reported. Hogan is being represented by Charles Harder, a prominent Los Angeles-based lawyer."

In March, Hogan was awarded $140 million in his lawsuit over a private sex tape Gawker published. Before the reports surfaced, Gawkers founder Nick Denton suspected that the lawsuit was being funded by a third party.

We write stories about powerful people in New York, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in New York, he told Forbes, who first reported the story.

We write stories about powerful people in LA, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in LA. Whats unique about Gawker is that were an internet publication and the tech industry is of particular interest to us. There are powerful people in Silicon Valley and the power of Silicon Valley is a relatively new phenomenon.
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 }}

David Camerons former aide has accused the political establishment of bullying Jeremy Corbyn after he was elected as Labour leader in what he described as incredibly unattractive behaviour.

Steve Hilton, the Prime Ministers former director of strategy, criticised the reception given to Mr Corbyn after he was announced as Ed Milibands successor.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Hilton suggested Mr Corbyns kinder, gentler approach was welcomed by voters becoming increasingly disillusioned with a predictable political system.

What I really hated about the reaction to Corbyn at the very beginning was this immediate, very bullying ganging-up by the political establishment to say: this guy is not doing it the way we are used to doing it; hes not wearing a tie; hes not reshuffling his cabinet in the way were used to doing it, he said. I thought it was incredibly unattractive.

I think that is something I feel very, very strongly about, which is for decades now theres been this growing reality that whoever has been in office, the same people are in power, he added. When Corbyn was elected, I found there was a lot to welcome there.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

With his more relaxed sartorial style and refusal to follow conventions, Mr Corbyn has cut a different figure from his colleagues in Westminster, something that did not go unmentioned.

During one memorable exchange at Prime Ministers Questions, Mr Cameron launched a personal attack on Mr Corbyn by suggesting he try wearing a proper suit.

Similarly, Boris Johnson used the Conservative conference in October to make a jibe at his vests while referencing anti-Tory protesters outside the Manchester venue. I know them, he said. They are the London Labour Party. Trots and militants with vested interests and indeed interesting vests.

Mr Hilton has become outspoken on a number of topics since ceasing to work for Mr Cameron and launching his own crowdfunding platform, Crowdpac, in California. He recently backed a Brexit, claiming Britain was "literally ungovernable" while it remained as a democracy in the EU.

Earlier in May, Mr Hilton warned the UK is fantastically corrupt too after the Prime Minister was caught on camera describing Nigeria and Afghanistan as corrupt countries.
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 bizarre feud between a Hollywood A-list actor and Australian government minister shows no sign of slowing down. Yes, Johnny Depp and Barnaby Joyce are at it again.

As many will remember, the feud began when Depps wife Amber Heard illegally brought in her Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into Australia last year breaching the countries strict quarantine laws. Mr Joyce gave the couple 48 hours to bugger off back to the United States or threatened to have the dogs euthanised.

Discussing the ordeal with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, the host said one guy, Mr Joyce, seemed to make a big deal out of the situation, to which Depp responded by saying the Minister for Agriculture looked somehow inbred with a tomato.

Its not a criticism, I was a little worried he might explode, the actor said.

Mr Joyce, who is also Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, answered Depps metaphor by claiming he got inside the acclaimed actors head, likening himself to Hannibal Lecter, reports the BBC.

Im inside his head, Im pulling strings and pulling little levers. Long after Ive forgotten about Mr Depp, hes remembering me. Im turning into his Hannibal Lecter," he said.

This not the first time the pair have traded blows. In September, last year Depp referred to Mr Joyce as the sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia.

Recommended Read more Amber Heard and Johnny Depp release formal apology for dog smuggling

Charges were dropped against Heard in April after she pled guilty to making a false statement on her immigration card concerning the dogs. She received a one-month good behaviour bond and she and Depp released an official apology video on a government websites Youtube channel.

The awkward hostage video was roundly mocked, mimicked and shared, even by Mr Joyce, who said Depp looked like he was auditioning for the Godfather but concluded it wasnt Academy Award worthy.

Depp and Kimmel also mocked the video when the former appeared on the show, with the host asking endless questions about one of Depps greatest performances yet.

Johnny Depp on screen Show all 16 1 /16 Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Preening: Johnny Depp in 'Mortdecai' Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen With Helena Bonham-Carter in 2007's 'Sweeney Todd' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Depp in Richard Burton's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp with Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands back in 1990 Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Depp with short hair in 2009 film 'Public Enemies' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen In 2012's 'Dark Shadows' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen The actor in 'Finding Neverland', 2004 AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars in 2014 sci-fi thriller 'Transcendence' Alcon Entertainment, LLC. Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp in 2006 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp as Tonto in 2013 movie 'The Lone Ranger' Disney Enterprises, Inc Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp and Amber Heard star in 2011 movie 'The Rum Diary' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in 2011 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars with Angelina Jolie in 2010 movie 'The Tourist' Rex Feature Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in a scene from 2010 film 'Alice in Wonderland' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars in Michael Mann's 2009 movie 'Public Enemies'

Explaining the video, Depp said: When someone threatens to euthanise your dog tiny teacup things, clearly dangerous in Australia because of so many poisonous creatures in Australia you could die at any minute. So the dogs were obviously a problem.

Depp said a genius was behind the script and it was filmed on an iPhone but there were a couple of takes first because sometimes you have to giggle a little to get it out.

Asked whether its ok for Depp and Heard to go back to Australia to visit, the 52-year-old sarcastically said he had repented.

I think the choice they made to utilise taxpayers dollars to globally chase down a couple of teacup yorkies and give them 50 hours to live I realised the badness of my ways, I was kind of repenting.
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 Swedish court has upheld an arrest warrant for Julian Assange in the wake of a United Nations panel's finding that the WikiLeaks founder was being subjected to "arbitrary detention".

The 44-year-old is wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over rape allegations dating back to 2010, which he denies.

Mr Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 in an arrangement condemned by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in February.

But judges at Stockholm District Court said it does not consider his stay as a form of detention and has asked for aid from embassy officials to carry out questioning.

In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Julian-Assange.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange2.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' assange1.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' assange.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' westwood-assange.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' assange.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange3.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange3_1.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange-AP.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange5.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange6.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange-AP.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange-REUT.jpg In pictures: Julian Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange-Still-Vimeo.jpg

The district court finds that there is still probable cause for the suspicion against Julian Assange for rape, less serious incident, and that there is still a risk that he will depart or in some other way evade prosecution or penalty, a statement on Wednesdays ruling said.

The district court finds that the interest of enabling investigation of the crime Julian Assange is suspected of by way of questioning him outweighs the intrusion or harm the detention order causes Julian Assange. There are therefore grounds for Julian Assange to remain detained in absentia.

Following the UN ruling, Mr Assange's lawyers had asked the Stockholm District Court to overturn the warrant for his arrest.

One of his representatives, Thomas Olsson, said the decision may be be appealed.

As far as I understand it, the court has not addressed the main issue in the case, whether the delay in the investigation is due to the inaction of the prosecutor, which we mean is a reason to overturn this (arrest warrant), he told Reuters.

Swedish prosecutors want to question the Australian over allegations of rape stemming from a working visit he made to the country in 2010, when revelations made by WikiLeaks on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were reverberating around the world.

 Hammond on Assange

Mr Assange refused to return to Sweden, saying he fears extradition to the United States, where there has been a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks.

In 2010, the website released more than 90,000 secret documents on the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 American military reports detailing operations in Iraq.

Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.

Sweden and the UK have made no move to follow the WGADs call to immediately end Mr Assanges deprivation of liberty'' and compensate him.

The UK Government was formally contesting the findings and denied that his voluntary stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy constituted arbitrary detention, while Sweden's Prosecution Authority said there was no impact on its continuing investigation.
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 }}

Burt Kwouk, a character actor indelibly remembered for his work in the Pink Panther films as Cato, the manservant who sprang comic traps on the bumbling detective Jacques Clouseau with karate chops and nunchaku skill, died May 24. He was 85.

As Cato Fong, Mr. Kwouk (pronounced Kwawk) was a highlight of the slapstick Pink Panther franchise. His boss Clouseau, originally played by Peter Sellers, tasked him with keeping the police inspectors wits sharp through frequent, unexpected surprise attacks whenever Clouseau came home.

Their confrontations inevitably destroyed Clouseaus apartment, where Cato hid behind doors or atop Clouseaus four-poster bed. With the exception of major stunts, such as an 80-foot leap into the Seine, Sellers and Mr Kwouk performed the fights themselves.

Recommended Read more Pink Panther actor Burt Kwouk dies age 85

Cato is a physically very agile human being, Mr. Kwouk said in Mr Strangelove, a 2002 biography of Sellers by film scholar Ed Sikov. In those days, so was Burt Kwouk.

The gag spanned seven films and numerous beatings to Mr Kwouks head and body, and the bouts always ended promptly when a knock came at Clouseaus door or his telephone began to ring.

The Pink Panther films brought Mr Kwouk greater visibility than many other British actors of Asian descent at the time, even as they trafficked in stereotypes. Clouseau referred to him as his little yellow friend with little yellow skin.

Mr Kwouk appeared in sinister or henchmen roles in the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964) and You Only Live Twice (1967), as well as in a spoof of the Bond series, Casino Royale (1967), that starred his onscreen sparring partner Sellers as the ultra suave British secret agent.

On television, Mr Kwouk had stints in the 1960s spy series Danger Man (Secret Agent in the United States), The Avengers and The Saint, and a 1982 appearance in the long-running British adventure series Doctor Who. In the 2000s, he played the electrician Entwistle on the British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.

In what was perhaps his strangest role, he performed exaggerated, heavily accented voiceovers for Banzai, a British spoof of Japanese game shows that aired in the early 2000s. The show urged viewers to bet on how much a mans genitals weighed or whether someone was hiding under the shame of a wig.

Mr Kwouk was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 for his role in paving the way for other actors from the Chinese community.

When I started as an actor 50 years ago, Mr. Kwouk said in an earlier interview with The Independent, every Chinese character had to say flied lice. Now, thankfully, thats finally changing and we are allowed to say fried rice like in real life.

Herbert Tun-Tse Kwouk was born in Warrington, England, on July 18, 1930. He moved to Shanghai a few months later, and his prosperous family sent him to study at Bowdoin College in Maine. After his graduation in 1953 with a degree in government, he settled in England and worked odd jobs until a girlfriend nagged him into acting.

He had a noteworthy supporting role in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), a melodrama featuring Ingrid Bergman as a missionary in China helping guide orphans to safety from Japanese invaders in the 1930s. He played a reformed prisoner who sacrifices his life to aid Bergman.

Mostly, Mr Kwouk was cast in villainous and untrustworthy roles. He found ample work in Hammer studios horror films of the 1960s as the assistant to Christopher Lees Fu Manchu. He debuted as Cato  then spelled Kato  in A Shot in the Dark (1964), the second Pink Panther installment, and continued in the series after it sunk into the doldrums after Sellers died in 1980.

His later credits included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Rollerball (1975) and Steven Spielbergs World War II drama Empire of the Sun (1987).

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Caroline Tebbs, and a son.

In an interview with film historian Barry Littlechild at the London Cinema Museum in 2010, Mr Kwouk acknowledged that the Pink Panther films had brought him an unusual amount of fame  enough that people recognized him, but not enough that they knew who he was.

Im a very familiar face, he said. People dont say, Oh theres Burt Kwouk. What they say is, Isnt he the bloke off the telly? 

The Washington Post
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 news reporter has claimed a viewer complained about his gayness and asked for the journalist to be taken off air.

Mitchell McCoy, who works for Fox and KARK-TV in Little Rock in Arkansas, shared a screenshot of the email on Twitter. I get many emails but this tops it, McCoy wrote. I've dreamt of being a reporter since I was 9 and I won't stop on your behalf.

The viewer called McCoy a disgrace to his hometown and said children should not be allowed to watch people of his sexual orientation on tv.

I have been holding back for months but I cant stand your gayness, the email reads. You are on television every night and our children should not be watching people like you. You are a disgrace to Arkansas and I will be asking your boss to take you off.

Do not be offended but society is not ready for gay men reading news, it concluded.

McCoy, who has received an award from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, told The Independent he was overwhelmed by the global support he had received.

I am overwhelmed by the support from Arkansans and people all over the world, he said. "I felt broken at first but the e-mail gave me strength I've never had before. I chose to use the words as motivation and empowerment. Because of one person's email, It's encouraging men and women all over the world to be who they want to be."

Karks news director, Austin Kellerman, expressed support for his employee. As public figures, our journalists often receive messages from viewers - some good, some bad, Kellerman told Arkansas Online. It's part of our profession. Mitch is a great journalist, and we're happy to have him on our team.

McCoy has also received many positive comments from fellow journalists and viewers.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

Leep on keeping on. Don't let anyone get you down. There will always be haters. Make them your motivators, wrote CNN anchor Don Lemon. While Andy Towle the director of popular LGBT news site Towerload said, Great response Mitchell McCoy. Ignore the haters.
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 }}

Sir Ian McKellen has criticised Indias repressive anti-gay laws and urged the country to repeal its legislation.

The 76-year-old actor and LGBT activist is currently on tour in India and is using his first visit to the country to draw attention to the issue of gay rights. Homosexuality remains a criminal offence in India under a law which stretches back to British colonial times.

Looking at whats happening in India at the moment, it looks very familiar territory, Sir told The Scroll. "Its probably how England was 30 years ago.

You have a repressive law in place for which I should apologise, because its not an Indian law, its a British law that we left behind, he continued. You should have got rid of it, and you tried to, and its come back, but it will go again, Im sure.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

Sir Ian is referring to Indias Section 377 law which was introduced in 1862 under British rule. The law banned same-sex relationships as an "unnatural offence" punishable by a 10-year prison sentence.

Although a Delhi High Court order decriminalised homosexual acts in 2009, four years later in 2013, the Supreme Court reversed the landmark ruling and reinstated the colonial-era law. The law criminalises sexual activity against the order of nature.

McKellen, who is on tour as the British Film Institutes ambassador for Shakespeare Lives on Film, said that he hoped India would realise the repression of gay people was unnecessary.

There must be a lot of people in India who think, There arent any gay people, Ive never met one. They have, he said.

There are many countries where it is worse than India, but that is no comfort. I just hope that soon, with all the other preoccupations of a great democracy, that people understand that this is so unnecessary and this something that the government can do and it costs no money.

Sir Ian has campaigned for LGBT rights since he came out to the British public on BBC Radio in 1988.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Politicians are well known for using body language to convey the impression of power such as George W Bushs infamous gorilla walk  palms facing backwards and arms stuck out from the sides.

But an academic study of the voices of four contenders to become US president  Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and Republicans Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina, who has since dropped out -- has revealed they also change the way they speak depending on the social status of the listener.

And the researchers believe they do so in a way that dates back so far in our evolution that similar behaviour may be found among the great apes today.

In casual chat show-style settings, the politicians were found to speak as they would to a member of their family, but when addressing a large audience of supporters their voices took on an almost sing-song quality, using a range of different pitches from high to low.

But perhaps the most profound change was when they talked to people of a similar status  in these settings they adopted a deeper voice and removed any high notes.

Researcher Dr Rosario Signorello, of University of California at Los Angeless School of Medicine, said there appeared to be similarities in the "vocalizations" by humans in leadership positions, regardless of whether they were male or female or what language they were speaking.

"The results are cross-cultural and cross-gender," he told The Independent, adding that its widespread nature supported the idea that the voice of a leader was developed long ago in human evolution.

He said previous studies had shown that many animals, including humans, interpret a deep voice as being a sign of a "big vocaliser, a big speaker ... as a speaker with dominance".

 10 of the scariest things Donald Trump has ever said

They now plan to study chimpanzees to see if they communicate in similar ways to the humans as they rise in social status.

"We're going to record primates such as chimps and see how the vocal pattern of the established leader changes, acoustically speaking, and how an individual's vocal behaviour changes as soon as the individual takes or wants to take over the leadership," Dr Rosario said.

A statement about the study issued by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), ahead of a presentation at the Acoustical Society of America, said that all four US politicians used a very wide fundamental frequency range when addressing political rallies, a style of speaking that the researchers have previously found is key to being perceived as charismatic.

But when they addressed people they considered to be their peers -- such as Ms Clinton addressing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Mr Sanders speaking to the US Senate, and Mr Trump and Ms Fiorina appearing at the New Hampshire Leadership Summit -- they all varied their pitch from very low to medium, eschewing high frequencies altogether.

Recommended Read more How to use your hands when speaking in public

Dr Signorello added; This vocal profile seems to reflect leaders use of vocalizations to display dominance while addressing speakers of the same social status. They use voice to convey their authoritarian charisma."

On non-political late-night talk shows, their tone changed to what was described as a more healthy or normal, non-varying voice that they might use when speaking to their family.

According to www.primates.com, silver-back and large black-back male gorillas give a call known as a roar that is "low in pitch and is an outburst of sound through the open mouth".

"This call is given when the individual is under stress or threat, and the individual may give false charges and short lunges. The group hides behind the silver-back when hearing this," it adds.

While most people do not pay too much attention to their body language or the tone of their voice, politicians are acutely aware of the importance of such matters.

Mr Trump has even criticised Barack Obama for failing to adopt a suitable walk in public. The way President Obama runs down the stairs of Air Force 1, hopping and bobbing all the way, is so inelegant and unpresidential, Mr Trump tweeted.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

Emma Serlin, director of the London Speech Workshop, which trains people how to speak in public, said she disagreed that politicians were trying to be dominant when speaking to their equals in a lower tone.

In these situations, they are largely speaking to a captive audience who did not need to be entertained in the same way that a large public audience needed to be, so this meant the speakers voice did not need to range from high to low to maintain their interest. And, instead of asserting dominance, they were more likely to be trying to appear like someone who should be taken seriously.

Its about coming across as heavyweight and expert. They need gravitas  they need to be seen as the real deal  we are experts, we know what we are talking about, she said. Its more about saying were bona fide and should be in the room.
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 Nigerian closely connected to a notorious group of British Islamists has been stripped of his UK citizenship amid fears he would return to London to execute a Paris-style massacre, a court has heard.

The man, known only as L2 for legal reasons, was deemed such a national security threat by Home Secretary Theresa May that she personally signed an order removing his British nationality in 2013, it has emerged.

He was in Nigeria at the time, where he remains with family. He is now challenging Theresa Mays decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in London.

At the hearing on Tuesday, an unnamed secret services agent referred to as EZ, told the court that during his time in Britain, L2 had been a member of the now banned group of radicals, al Muhajiroun.

Agent EZ said that through his other experiences L2, who is understood to maintain Nigerian citizenship, was also directly associated with close friends of Lee Rigbys killer, Michael Adebolajo, and Mohammed Emwazi, or Jihadi John.

 Paris attacks suspect caught

He also said L2 had fought for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) against French forces in Mali and it was largely as a result of this assessment that a move was made to prevent L2 returning to the UK.

We were trying to prevent L2 bringing back the expertise he would have learnt with AQIM and so a deprivation order was the best course to take, he told Siac.

Recent events such as last years Paris attacks suggest extremists are returning to conduct their jihad in Europe, he said, including instances where individuals from the UK have travelled overseas and returned to conduct attacks.

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Show all 14 1 /14 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Oxford Street terror plot Lewis Ludlow was jailed for life in March 2019 for planning a 'spectacular multi-victim attack' on Oxford Street in London. He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last year to plotting an attack in the UK and funding Isis abroad EPA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Rosie Cooper MP plot Jack Renshaw admitted plotting to kill his local Labour MP with a machete in June 2018. Renshaw bought a 19in machete intending to use it to kill Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire. His plan was foiled by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, who heard of the plot in a meeting of alleged and convicted National Action members in the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington Hope Not Hate UK terror plots that were foiled by security services 'Poppy terror plot' Nadir Ali Sayed, his cousin Yousaf Shah Syed, and Haseeb Hamayoon, were charged with terrorism offences over an alleged plot to behead a member of public. The trio were arrested in London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 6 November - three days before Remembrance Sunday in 2014 PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services National Action arrests Following the arrest of six men in 2018 on suspicion that they were members of the banned far-right terror group National Action, two were jailed. Christopher Lythgoe was found to be leader of the banned group and jailed for eight years, while Matthew Hankinson was jailed for six years. While it was found that Lythgoe did not encourage Jack Renshaw's plot to kill a Labour MP, the judge noted that he "did nothing to stop or discourage" the attack PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Shane Fletcher A self-described 'loner', Fletcher planned to kill members of the public at a football match in his home town of Workington. He had been referred to the government's Prevent programme nine moths prior to his arrest after stating that he dreamed about "shooting up a mosque" PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Heathrow airport arrests A 19-year-old from Coventry man was arrested at London's Heathrow airport on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism in November 2014 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Extradition of Abu Hamza Radical muslim cleric Abu Hamza was extradited to the US in 2014 after having been jailed in the UK for 7 years for 11 offences under the Terrorism Act Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services South East Counter Terrorism Unit arrests Six people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a series of dawn raids in the south of England in October 2014. Three men and three women were detained separately in two properties in Portsmouth, one in Farnborough and one in Greenwich following an operation by the South East Counter Terrorism Unit. Counter-terror officers said they had disrupted what was believed to be the early stages of what could have turned into a significant plot PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services October 2014 arrests Three men were arrested in central London on 13 October as part of an investigation into Islamist-related terrorism. The arrests come nearly a week after five men were arrested in dawn raids that Whitehall officials said may have foiled the early stages of a plan to attack the UK Peter Macdiarmid/Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Anjem Choudary arrest Anjem Choudary, the radical activist and co-founder of the banned al-Muhajiroun group, was arrested in September 2014 as efforts intensify to disrupt the ideological backers of young British Muslims travelling to fight in foreign conflicts. Mr Choudary was among nine men held on suspicion of supporting a banned terrorist group and encouraging terrorism. The arrests came shortly after Mr Choudary fired off a series of angry tweets after David Cameron called on MPs to back air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria Oli Scarff/Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services North West Counter Terrorism Unit funds seizing Police seize 250,000 of cash intended to fund Isis at Manchester Airport and north-west ports. Using powers under the Terrorism Act, the money was confiscated by officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit in Ocotber 2014 Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Tarik Hassane arrest A medical student who was offered a place at a London university has been named among four men who are being questioned by counter-terror police after a series of raids across the capital. Tarik Hassane, 21, is believed to have been Tasered when he was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a "significant" Islamist terror plot on 7 October 2015 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Abu Qatada removed from UK Radical preacher Abu Qatada will not be returning to the UK after being cleared of terror charges in Jordan in 2013 Reuters UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Haider Ahmed knife plot Teenage Isis supporter Haider Ahmed purchased a 15ins hunting knife and threatened to launch a stabbing attack on the Tube. Prosecutors said he may alternatively have been planning to rob someone with the weapon to fund his travel to fight for Isis in Syria He was jailed for preparing an act of terrorism in June 2019 Counter Terrorism Policing South East

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is covering the case for The Independent as part of a long running investigation into the Governments counter terrorism powers and the use of secret evidence in courts such as Siac.

The second day of L2s appeal today was held in closed session for secret evidence to be presented to the judges by the Home Office lawyers. Neither L2 nor his lawyers are allowed to hear it.

During the open session on Tuesday, the intelligence agent described various links between L2 and known extremists.

He said that in 2007, L2 had been in Turkey where he engaged in terror related activity with Ali Adorus, a close associate of Emwazi. Adorus, now in an Ethiopian prison for terror related offences, was questioned alongside the IS executioner in 2009 when they travelled to Tanzania together for a safari.

After returning from Turkey, L2 spent a chunk of time in a UK prison, sometime between 2007 and 2011 for possessing a handgun, the court heard.

Allegedly, it was while he was in jail that he met Ibrahim Hassan, a known extremist who was friends with Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebolajo. Hassan was arrested two days after the 2013 Woolwich murder and later jailed for three years for encouraging terrorism.

Siac heard that after L2 was released from prison he attended al Muhajiroun meetings and demonstrations.

The agent also said L2 worked at Master Printers in Tower Hamlets, east London  a printing shop raided by police in 2011 over suspicions of links to al Muhajiroun.

He said that at Master Printers, L2 worked alongside Shah Jalal Hussein, who was tried in 2014 for disseminating terrorist propaganda and jailed for three years.

Their association was not just through their employment, the agent said.

L2 and Hussein knew each other because they were both founding members of proscribed terrorist organisation Minbar Ansar Deen.

The court heard how L2 tried to register a domain name for the organisation on the internet.

The security services witness said L2 was also a close associate of al Muhajiroun member Afsor Ali, who was jailed for owning a bomb making guide and al Qaeda propaganda in August 2014.

In cross-examination, Hugh Southey QC, barrister for L2, said his client denied being a member of either al Muhajiroun or Minbar Ansar Deen, merely that he was acquainted with members.

Southey added that Minbar Ansar Deen was essentially just a website which L2 strongly denies ever visiting.

However, the agent said their assessment was that he was a member, but that he could only give their evidence for that in a closed hearing.

Home Secretary Theresa May personally signed an order removing the man's British nationality (EPA)

The agent also told the court of the circumstances leading up to Theresa Mays decision in November 2013.

He said L2 flew to Morocco with his wife in 2012, and then travelled overland to Nigeria  passing through Mali, where he was assessed to have fought with Al Qaeda against French and Malian troops during the civil war.

Southey said L2 denies this. He said L2 says he and his wife went to Nigeria because she was pregnant and it was cheaper for them to go overland to a maternity hospital in Nigeria than to return to the UK.

But the intelligence agent suggested that account lacks credibility its a very very long journey through desert and war torn country for a pregnant woman to make, he said.

Despite being known to the police for five years  and travelling to the US for tourist purposes in that time  it wasnt until L2 lost his passport in Nigeria and applied for a new one so he could return to the UK that the Home Secretary acted.

This weeks case in Siac was almost derailed at the start of the hearing when L2 wrote to the court saying he wanted nothing to do with his appeal and was boycotting the trial.

You can do as you wish with me and grant me no respite, he wrote, according to Jonathan Glasson QC, Home Office barrister, who read aloud from the letter in court.

The case continues.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Five teenagers were violently attacked with acid while waiting on a train platform in Essex, leaving two with potentially "life changing" injuries.

Lee Elliott, 17, suffered horrific burns to his face and could lose his vision, while Tyrone Terry, also 17, has serious burns to his tongue and mouth.

The victims, all aged between 16 and 18, include Billy Milne and Connor Leeman, who suffered burns to their faces, while Kane Richards received burns to his hands, according to local newspaper the Echo.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Gail McKemmie said: "This was a particularly vicious and alarming assault which has left some of the victims with potentially life changing injuries. This was an unprovoked and violent incident and it is essential that those responsible are identified and brought to justice.

"Although our investigation is in its early stages, it would appear that this was a random and isolated incident."

A 17-year-old man from Dagenham contacted the police following an appeal, and has since been arrested in relation to the incident.

According to the British Transport Police, a man travelling to Barking with a group of up to nine others left his train and approached the group of five teenagers who were waiting on the platform at about 12.40am on Sunday.

After a short exchange of words the man revealed a bottle from behind his back and prayed an unknown liquid on the victims, before re-joining his group on the train.

Lee Elliot's mother Tanya, 43, told the Echo: "This has destroyed him and I want justice.

Recommended Read more The Sony World Photography Awards 2016 winners have been revealed

"When I saw him I had panic attacks and I couldnt breathe, it has broken all of our hearts. They were just waiting for a train coming home from a party.

"Elliott said about ten people who were on a train that stopped ... started screaming at them, trying to get them on the train. Then the group went up to the kids and just started squirting them with a fluid."

MP James Berry, who plans to publish a report calling on more action from the government to tackle the rise in acid attacks, told the Independent: "These brutal attacks leave their victims with a life sentence which is often longer than the sentence the perpetrators receive.

"The government needs to consider restricting access to acids and alkalines [sic] because this worrying spate of cases suggests that they are becoming a weapon of choice," he said.

Doctors at St Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, under the leadership of Professor Peter Dziewulski, have also called for tighter legislation to prevent acid attacks.

"The intentional use of acid as a form of assault has increased in recent years and as with any burn, it can have devastating effects both physically and mentally," they said.

Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Show all 12 1 /12 Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 93113.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 101597.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 93109.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94690.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94664.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94677.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94650.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 101598.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94671.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94676.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 94709.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 93114.jpg Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid

"Contributing factors that are responsible for the increased incidence of acid attacks include the increase use of acid in gang-related events as younger gang members are becoming more ruthless.

"There have also been reports of acid being used in cases of intimidation, to show that power has been exerted.

"Ultimately, the main aim of using acid as a form of assault relates to leaving a mark and this in turn, causes great distress for the victim."

Information obtained by the Press Association in January showed a 30 per cent increase in the number of acid attacks in the last two years.

Police reported 242 incidents involving acid or other corrosive substances across 23 police forces between 2014 and 2015, compared to 186 recorded between 2012 and 2013.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Britains thousands of number plate surveillance cameras are capturing up to 34 million images a day, raising concerns over the privacy of motorists.

The number of records held by the national system, which was introduced in 2006, has increased from 35 million to 22 billion over the last 10 years.

Police are also using the database more frequently to carry out inquiries, with more than a 50 per cent increase between 2012 and 2014  from 194,317 to 300,758.

The figures, obtained by Sky News, show that automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras captured around 34 million images each day during one week in October last year.

Jonathan Bamford, head of steric liaison at the Information Commissioners Office, raised concerns over the latest statistics.

"You've really got to ask the question about the extent of ANPR and the amount of records that it's collecting.

"There are a lot of people going around on their ordinary day to day business doing nothing wrong, innocent individuals  those are being acquired at the rate of 30 million or so a day and being retained for a number of years.

"You end up with a picture where there's not a lot of our lives taking place which the state can't gain access to in some ways. So it's very, very important that there's a proper public policy debate about the extent of surveillance in the United Kingdom," he told Sky News.

However, the police say the cameras are a vital tool in the fight against crime.

The National Police Chiefs Council Lead on ANPR, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy, told the Independent: "ANPR has been used by police for over a decade and it is a vital tool both in the prevention and detection of crime including counter - terrorism, homicide and serious and organised crime.

"It also enables police to understand local crime patterns and has resulted in the arrest of some of the countrys most prolific and dangerous criminals."

Martin Lyddon, ANPR manager at Essex Police, told the Daily Mail: "ANPR makes a positive contribution to policing objectives every day, supporting a range of activities from volume crime enquiries to major incidents.

"The blend of traditional policing methods combined with ANPR technology has brought these offenders to justice.

The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage Show all 10 1 /10 The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 10 - Leeds Leeds Town Hall - 46 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Creative Commons The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 9 - Birmingham Birmingham University - 46 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Creative Commons The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 8 - Canterbury Canterbury Cathedral - 47 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Getty Images The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 7 - Bristol A general view of Bristol - 51 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Matt Cardy/Getty Images The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 6 - Wolverhampton St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton - 52 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Creative Commons The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 5 - Exeter The University of Exeter - 54 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Rex Features The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 4 - Hull Hull - 54 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Getty The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 3 - Peterborough Peterborough Cathedral - 54 per cent of people in the town regularly experienced road rage Commons/Wikipedia/Dzlinker The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 2 - Portsmouth The HMS Illustrious sails into her home port of Portsmouth - 60 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Nathan Dua/PA Wire The UK's top ten worst towns and cities for road rage 1 - Lincoln An exterior view of Lincoln Cathedral - the city is the worst culprit for road rage in the UK, with 61 per cent of people in the city regularly experienced road rage Getty

"We know that it can be considered by some to be controversial, but it has proven itself as a crucial tool in both detecting and deterring crime.

"We have extremely stringent processes in place to manage the data that these cameras collect and innocent members of the public have nothing to be concerned about."

According to the paper Essex Police, which currently has 64 ANPR cameras, are purchasing an additional 31.

In the past year, evidence from ANPR cameras has reportedly been used in more than 200 court cases, securing convictions for offences including robbery, kidnapping, drugs and murder.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The population of London is expected to near 10 million people within a decade as the capital remains the fastest-growing region in England.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest population predictions, there will be by 9.7 million residents in the city by the middle of 2024 and the rate shows no sign of slowing.

Suzie Dunsmith, from the ONS population projections unit, said: All regions of England are projected to see an increase in their population size over the next decade, with London, the East of England and South East projected to grow faster than the country as a whole.

The population is also ageing with all regions seeing a faster growth in those aged 65 and over than in younger age groups.

Nine out of 10 fastest-growing local authorities are in London, with the eastern boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham and Newham topping the charts, while the only area outside the capital in the top 10 is Corby.

The Northamptonshire town is forecast to expand by 17 per cent over 10 years, seeing its population rise to 76,000.

The East and South East of England are also growing faster than the national average, at 8.9 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.

All regions of the country are expected to see their populations but the slowest increase expected by the ONS is in the North East, on 3.1 per cent, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

But the number of residents in nine out of 324 local authority areas is predicted to decline, including Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is projected to see its population fall by 2,900 people, or 4.3 per cent in the period.

Overcrowding in London - London Live

Seven of the decreasing areas are in the North West, including Blackpool and Burnley, with one, Redcar and Cleveland, in the North East and another, Richmondshire, in Yorkshire and The Humber.

It should be noted that the projections reflect current trends and do not take into account the ability of an area to accommodate any extra population, a spokesperson for the ONS said.

The primary purpose of the subnational projections is to provide an estimate of the future size and age structure of the population for regions, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups in England. These are used as a common framework for informing local-level policy and planning in a number of different fields.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA

The number of local authorities where more than a quarter of residents are aged 65 and over is projected to increase from 28 out of 326 in mid-2014 to 84 areas in mid-2024 as the population continues to age.

Nationwide, England is expected to house 58.4 million people by mid-2024, up from the 2014 figure of 54.3 million.

The ONS makes its predictions every two years, based on population estimates, fertility and mortality rates and migration.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

UK tourists are steering clear of Tunisia and Egypt following terrorist attacks and heading instead to destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Cyrus.

Travel agents have warned those planning a summer holiday not to leave booking to some areas until the last minute as they may find it more difficult than usual.

Bookings to Spain, Portugal and Cyprus have increased by 26%, 29% and 18% respectively,

Mark Tanzer, chief executive the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said: We are seeing a significant increase in summer holiday bookings to western Mediterranean destinations, so I would urge holidaymakers who are looking to travel not to delay in making their booking.

My advice to those who have left it late is to be flexible when making their booking and seek the advice of a travel professional who will be able to advise them on the best options and destinations still available, as well as recommending less well-known and less crowded areas.

Of the 1,600 people took part in the survey, 65% of those planning a summer holiday this year said they had already booked. Of those yet to book their summer break, personal finances and personal circumstances - such as family illness  were the top cited reasons.

The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe Show all 13 1 /13 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 13. Menorca, Spain 74.40 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 12. Corfu, Greece 72.26 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 11. Marmaris, Turkey 70.81 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 10. Kefalonia, Greece 68.49 Shutterstock The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 9. Porec, Croatia 65.19 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 8. Zante, Greece 64.65 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 7. Crete, Greece 63.16 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 6. Costa Blanca, Spain 62.29 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 5. Gijon, Spain 61.01 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 3. Limassol, Cyprus 51.82 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 2. Algarve, Portugal 47.04 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 1. Sunny Beach (Slanchev Bryag), Bulgaria 41.55

Last June, 30 Britons were killed by a gunman on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia. The country's ambassador to the UK has urged the Foreign Office to relax its travel advice, which warns against all but essential travel.

Flights between the UK and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have been suspended since November after a plane operated by Russian airline Metrojet blew up over the Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people.

However, although the Foreign Office recommends only essential flights to or from Sharm el Sheik, their general travel warnings for Egypt do not extend to the tourist areas along the Nile river, or the Red Sea resorts.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair may have left office almost a decade ago, but he still casts quite a shadow over current events.

As WorldViews has noted, Blair has played an outsize role in the politics of the Middle East in recent years, first as an envoy to the faltering peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, and then as a paid consigliere to a host of regional governments, some more authoritarian than others.

At home, Blair's tenure at 10 Downing Street is still marked by the tarnished legacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, an American enterprise Blair fully backed despite considerable public opposition and has had to live down in the years since.

A direct line can be traced from the chaos spawned by the toppling of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and the failings of the administration established in his wake, to the upheavals of the present  including the rise of Isis

Jeremy Corbyn accused the former Prime Minister of enabling "war crimes" and insisted that Labour under his watch "will never make the same mistake again".

In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings Security forces and citizens inspect the scene after a car bomb explosion at a crowded outdoor market in the Iraqi capital's eastern district of Sadr City, Iraq, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. AP In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings A woman reacts at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings A bulldozer clears the wreckage following a car bomb attack in Sadr City, a Shia area of Baghdad, on May 11, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings Iraqis walk past flowers and shoes left on the ground at Oraiba market a day after it was targeted in a car bomb attack on May 12, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings Iraqis mourn in the holy city of Najaf during the funeral of victims of a car bombing in Baghdad's Shiia area of Sadr City during on May 11, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad hit by 24 hours of Isis bombings Baghdad bombings Mourners carry the coffins of bomb victims during a funeral procession at the holy shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq, on May 11, 2016. AP

Blair has lamented the consequences of the invasion before, but he reiterated his contrition at an event Tuesday in London, organized by Prospect magazine.

"For sure we underestimated profoundly the forces that were at work in the region and would take advantage of change once you topple the regime," he said, according to the Guardian. "That is the lesson. The lesson is not complicated. The lesson is simple. It is that when you remove a dictatorship out come these forces of destabilization whether it is al-Qaeda on the Sunni side or Iran on the Shia side."

In July, the findings of a British government inquiry into the buildup to and decision-making processes behind the 2003 Iraq War will be released. Blair is likely to be in the spotlight once more, though he shied away from addressing its potential charges against his role in the war's execution.

"To be honest, my understanding of the Middle East is a lot deeper today than it was when I was Prime Minister," he said on Tuesday.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria last October, Blair tendered something of an apology for his decision to go to war 13 years ago.

"I can say that I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong, because even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people; against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought," Blair said, referring to Hussein's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction.

He is not, however, all that shy about sending more Western troops to fight wars in the region. In his remarks this week, Blair insisted that the jihadists of Isis would only be defeated by a "proper ground war".

"Airstrikes are not going to defeat Isis. It does not mean it has to be our forces all the time  it could be that our forces are in support, Blair said. But be in no doubt, if you want to defeat these people you are going to have to wage a proper ground war against them. The only question for us is whether we are prepared to."

Despite pointing to the importance of marshaling local forces against the extremist group, Blair was adamant about the need for the United States, Britain and their allies to commit to a sustained war effort.

"In my view," he said, according to the BBC, "defeating them is absolutely fundamental, because if we don't defeat them, they are going to come and attack us here. This is not someone else's fight, it is our fight, as well."

Copyright: Washington Post
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 }}

Public trust in David Cameron over his position on the European Union referendum has tumbled, a new poll has revealed.

It comes amid reports the Prime Minister could face a vote of no-confidence by his own MPs over his handling of the referendum. On Tuesday it was claimed that dozens of Tory MPs are frustrated at the Prime Minister for his conduct during the campaign, including endorsing a Treasury dossier on the effects of Brexit described by Boris Johnson as hoax.

According to the new poll Mr Johnson is now the most trusted on the EU referendum  with 31 per cent  despite being accused of dog whistle racism in the campaign over controversial remarks about Barack Obamas Kenyan heritage. The former London Mayor criticised the US President for his intervention in the referendum debate, adding his attitude to Britain might be based on his part-Kenyan heritage and dislike of the British Empire.

Just 18 per cent respondents said they trust Mr Cameron on the EU and the referendum. A similar poll had the Prime Minister on 35 per cent in November last year.

 What to believe about the EU referendum

The YouGov poll for the Times places Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, in second place on 28 per cent and Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, on 22 per cent. Theresa May and Michael Gove trail behind the Prime Minister on 17 and 16 per cent respectively.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, who has been a vocal advocate of Brexit and has participated in blue-on-blue attacks in recent days, came out in third place with 25 per cent of public trust.

The Times poll also found that the fate of Britains membership of the EU was neck and neck, with both Remain and Leave camps tied on 41 per cent. Around 13 per cent said they do not know how to vote and four per cent claimed they would not vote.

What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence.

Interestingly, the poll also claims that just two per cent of the public believe George Osborne  the Chancellor who is widely expected to stand for leader when Mr Cameron steps aside  is a natural leader. One in five attributed the quality to Mr Johnson while some 33 per cent believe the former London Mayor would be up to the job of leading the country.

The Chancellors leadership hopes have been dashed by a series of controversies in recent months, including the resignation of Mr Duncan Smith, and embarrassing U-turn's on tax credits and disability benefits. But in a test of his potential leadership abilities, he will today step in for Mr Cameron at Prime Ministers Questions and face Labours shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle.
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 }}

George Osbornes tax deal with Google has again been put in the spotlight, after French tax officials raided the company Paris headquarters.

Labour accused the Chancellor of being too easily satisfied by a 3 per cent tax rate or 130 million deal with the search giant  branded disproportionately small by an influential parliamentary committee at the time.

Recommended Read more Google could face a claim for billions of euros in back taxes

Around 100 agents entered the search giants office in Central Paris at 5am on Tuesday morning amid allegations it has not paid 1.6bn in taxes in the country. The probe by French authorities comes just months after Mr Osborne hailed his UK deal with the company to pay a much smaller amount as a major success.

At Prime Ministers Question time Angela Eagle, shadow business secretary, asked Mr Osborne to clarify aspects of the deal, arguing that he was too easily satisfied on tax dodging.

Given the overnight news of the French authorities dawn raid on Google investigating allegations of aggravated financial fraud and money laundering,

does the Chancellor now regret calling his cosy little tax deal with the same company good news for the British taxpayer? she asked.

I note that even [Boris Johnson] labeled his cosy little deal derisory and the British public think its even worse.

 Angela Eagle asks about Google tax

Despite all the rhetoric, on his watch the tax gap has actually gone up; this tax deal with the Swiss raised a fraction of the revenue he boasted that it would, and the OBR blames the lack of resources in revenue and customs.

Why has he sacked 11,000 tax staff since 2010? When is he going to give them the resources they need to do a proper job?

5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Show all 5 1 /5 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Facebook Facebook paid 4327 in corporation tax in 2014, after it made a pre-tax loss of 28.5 million, according to filings at Companies House. That's less tax that new average UK employee pays on their salary. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Amazon Amazons UK business paid just 11.9m in corporation tax last year, even though the online retail giant took 5.3bn in sales from British shoppers. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Google So well known for avoiding tax that it had the 'Google tax' on multinationals that move profits to low-tax countries named after it. Alarm bells started ringing in 2012, when Google revealed it payed only 11.6 million to the Treasury, despite taking 3.4 billion in the UK. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Uber Uber paid 22,134 in UK corporation tax last year despite making an 866,000 profit. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Starbucks In October, the European Commission ruled that Starbucks' tax deal in the EU was illegal, ordering it to pay pay between 20-30 million to the Netherlands.

At the time of the deal the Public Accounts Committee said the 130m settlement with the company seems disproportionately small compared to the size of its British business.

According to analysis by the Independent, Google could owe the UK six times more than it has agreed to pay, or 800 million.

Mr Osborne replied to Ms Eagle that the government had in fact increased HMRC resources. He did not mention specifics of the Google deal.

We increased resources for the HMRC to tackle tax evasion and avoidance. Weve introduced a diverted profits tax so companies like Google cant shift their profits offshore anymore, he said.

Weve made sure that banks pay a higher tax bill than they ever did under the last Labour government.

Ms Osborne and Ms Eagle were standing in for David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn due to Mr Cameron being unable to attend.

A spokesperson for Google said: "We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions."
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 }}

Campaigners to leave the EU have dismissed research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the effects of Brexit, arguing that the organisation is part of a cosy pro-EU establishment.

Conservative MP John Redwood said the IFS was funded by EU bodies and clearly buy into aspects of the EU.

A spokesperson for Vote Leave, the official Out campaign, questioned the respected organisations neutrality, arguing it was a paid-up propaganda arm of the European Commission.

 PM: IFS is 'gold standard'

The IFS warned this morning that Brexit could prolong austerity by two years. Its forecast of the negative economic impact come on the back of similar forecasts by the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, the Treasury, and the OECD.

Recommended Read more David Cameron could face no confidence vote over EU referendum

I think the IFS are part of this cosy establishment which desperately wants to keep us in the European Union, John Redwood told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

They have on this brochure theyve issued today the UK In a Changing Europe logo, they say its paid for by the Economics and Social Research Council, and they clearly buy into this general view that there would be unspecified negatives on our trade were we to leave the European Union.

Weve just heard that they do get money from European bodies and they get money from British official bodies as well.

Tory MP John Redwood said the IFS took EU money (Getty)

Speaking on the same programme IFS director Paul Johnson said funding from European institutions did not impact the approach it took to research.

Its true we get something like 10 per cent of our income from something called the European Research Council which is an independent, arms-length body which funds world-class academic research in countries as diverse as Norway and Israel which are well outside the European Union, he said.

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit Show all 7 1 /7 The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 22 May 2015 In his regular column in The Express Nigel Farage utilised the concerns over Putin and the EU to deliver a tongue in cheek conclusion. With friends like these, who needs enemies? PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 13 November 2015 UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Mike Hookem, was one of several political figures who took no time to harness the toxic atmosphere just moments after Paris attacks to push an agenda. Cameron says were safer in the EU. Well Im in the centre of the EU and it doesnt feel very safe. Getty Images The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 19 April 2016 In an article written for The Guardian, Michael Gove attempts to bolster his argument with a highly charged metaphor in which he likens UK remaining in the EU to a hostage situation. Were voting to be hostages locked in the back of the car and driven headlong towards deeper EU integration. Rex The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 26 April 2016 In a move that is hard to decipher, let alone understand, Mike Hookem stuck it to Obama re-tweeting a UKIP advertisement that utilises a quote from the film: Love Actually to dishonour the US stance on the EU. A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 10 May 2016 During a speech in London former work and pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith said that EU migration would cause an increasing divide between people who benefit from immigration and people who couldnt not find work because of uncontrolled migration. The European Union is a force for social injustice which backs the haves rather than the have-nots. EPA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 15 May 2016 Cartoon character Boris Johnson made the news again over controversial comments that the EU had the same goal as Hitler in trying to create a political super state. Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 16 May 2016 During a tour of the womens clothing manufacturer David Nieper, Boris had ample time to cook up a new metaphor, arguably eclipsing Goves in which he compares the EU to badly designed undergarments. So I just say to all those who prophecy doom and gloom for the British Business, I say their pants are on fire. Lets say knickers to the pessimists, knickers to all those who talk Britain down. Getty Images

That funds some of the more academic end of the research that we do and certainly doesnt impact on this kind of work.

But more importantly, for the last 30 years the IFS has really built its reputation on the independent and integrity of our work and actually there is no sum of money from anywhere in the world which would influence what we said, because if it did then the point of the IFS and the reasons you were referring to earlier  that we are listened to after budgets, and so on  would simply be lost.

Rupert Harrison, a former chair of the council of economic advisors, and a former IFS employee, said the claims of bias were laughable.

As a former IFS employee I can say without any hesitation that the idea they are biased or corrupted by funding is laughable, he said.

A more ornery, independent and unmalleable group of people it is impossible to imagine.

The IFS has built its reputation on providing neutral economic forecasts without including value judgments. Its reports and analyses are a regular fixture after Budgets.
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 }}

George Osborne stood in for the Prime Minister this week. Daves gone to Japan, nominally for the G7 though a quick detour to the local Nissan assembly line for a spot of sleeves-rolled-up Brexit scaremongering cannot be ruled out.

Custom dictates that when the Prime Minister is away the Leader of the Opposition doesnt turn up for Prime Ministers Questions so - just like every week - Jeremy Corbyn didn't. In fact, by marching up and down Whitehall with some steelworkers from Port Talbot, it could be argued he had his most effective PMQs yet.

Maria Eagle took his place. She wanted to know why George Osborne hadnt made Google pay more tax. He wanted to know why she hadnt made Google pay any tax. So that was the end of that one.

Then Ms Eagle asked about Georges omnishambles budget, and a very boring MP called Michael Ellis shouted Boring!

This is the same Michael Ellis who three weeks ago told the house a story about a stained glass window commissioned for the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Unfortunately it is a story that can only be fully appreciated when repeated in full so whether you skip the next four paragraphs is up to you:

Its interesting to note that, during the preparations for that stained-glass window, sketches were made for the design to be used. We got to the last drawing, when it was noticed  not by me, I hasten to add, but by an expert!  that the chain on the unicorn was the wrong way round. And this was noticed just in time, and consequently changed, he said.

Later, when Her Majesty came to Parliament and saw the window in situ, I mentioned to Her Majesty that this had nearly happened  that the unicorns chain had nearly been placed the wrong way round on the stained-glass window.

"Her Majesty smiled broadly. I wont indicate the conversation we had  but if I say that later, somebody else remarked that it was always important to ensure that a unicorns chain is the right way round!

"I dread to think what might have happened if it had been placed the wrong way round! It would have been a story to be told for a long time to come!

By you Mr Ellis, but no one else.

These occasions are always an audition for the top job, and for Osborne it could hardly have gone any better. Hell have known that according to a YouGov poll published that morning, the percentage of the population that considers him Prime Ministerial currently stands at two, which when the standard 3 point margin of error is factored in, could even be less than zero. Having made it through the full half hour without actively attempting to disprove the theory that its impossible to lick your elbows, that number could be well on its way to five.

After Ms Eagle was finished, Richard Drax rose from the backbenches. Drax shares his surname with Bond villain Sir Hugo Drax because his granddad was at Eton with Ian Fleming. Drax doesnt share his full name with a Bond villain because his full name is Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

What a privilege it is to be called by you, Mr Speaker. If the remain team have their day on 24 June, I shall have to apply by email to Herr Juncker to ask a question, he said. Whether this was an attempt at a joke or an attempt at intelligent discourse it is impossible to tell in these rarefied referendum days, but it might be worth noting that, after his expensively acquired education at Harrow School, Mr Drax went on to obtain a Diploma in Rural Land Management from the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.

Normal service resumes next week.
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 }}

Rupert Murdoch made no attempt to lobby ministers to curtail the activities of the BBC during charter renewal process  but The Guardian newspaper did.

At the time and in public The Guardian warned that the BBC seemed at the mercy of a culture secretary who has never hidden his dislike for what he has called a 4 billion market intervention.

But it has now emerged that in private the organisation expressed concerns about the online activities of the Corporation and how it impacted on its own commercial viability.

Recommended Read more Thousands of BBC recipes will still be available to the public

The Culture Minister Ed Vaizey told the House of Commons that he had met with regularly with representatives of the company who expressed concerns about the BBCs reach.

Mr Vaizey was responding to comments from Paul Blomfield, Labour MP for Sheffield Central, who told the Commons on Monday that the government wanted to reshape the BBC in line with the views of the Murdochs  a reference to Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Times, The Sun and The Sunday Times.

But Mr Vaizey replied: I found it particularly surprising that the honourable member for Sheffield Central . . . dared to suggest that we were somehow shaping our approach to the BBC at the behest of Rupert Murdoch.

I tell you this, Mr Speaker, with utter sincerity and truthfulness, that the only organisation that has ever lobbied me to clip the wings of the BBC is The Guardian . . . It comes to me regularly  quite legitimately, I have to say  to say that it is trying to make a living, as it were, digitally in the digital world.

He added: It has been opening websites. It opened an office in Australia and came to complain about the presence of the BBC in Australia taking talent from The Guardian in Australia and paying too much. It lobbied me about the presence of the BBC in the US, where The Guardian also wants to have a presence.

MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media Show all 10 1 /10 MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 10. Sharon White (Chief Executive, Ofcom) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 9. Paul Dacre (pictured) and Martin Clarke (Editor, Daily Mail and Publisher, Mail Online) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 8. Taylor Swift (Musician) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 7. Jeff Bezos (Founder, Chief Executive, Amazon) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 6. Tony Hall (Director General, BBC) 2013 AFP MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 5. Rupert Murdoch (Head of 21st Century Fox and News Corp) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 4. George Osborne (Chancellor of the Exchequer) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 3. Tim Cook (Chief Executive, Apple) AFP/Getty Images MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 2. Larry Page (Co-founder, Chief Executive, Google) MediaGuardian's top 10 most powerful people in the media 1. Mark Zuckerberg (Founder, Chief Executive, Facebook)

A spokesman for Guardian News and Media said: Through the BBC charter review process, Guardian Media Group has made open and public representations to the BBC, BBC Trust, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and multiple parliamentary select committees regarding its concerns about the lack of transparency and openness of the BBCs commercial news operations and the BBCs online presence in the UK.

Were pleased that a number of these views have been reflected in recent reports published by the BBC Trust, the DCMS select committee and in the governments recent white paper.


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 }}

Why are we asking this question now?

On Friday 27 May the Government will go into a period of official "Purdah" that will last for four weeks until the European referendum vote on 23 June.

I thought Purdah was an Islamic practice  whats it got to do with the European Referendum?

The word Purdah is derived from the Urdu and Persian word parda meaning "veil or curtain" and often refers to the practice in certain Muslim and Hindu societies of screening women from men or strangers, especially by means of a curtain.

However at some stage in the early 20th century we appropriated to word and used it in a political context.

In what way?

Purdah refers to a specified period of time (usually three or four weeks) before an election when the Government is banned from making any kind of announcement about new or controversial initiatives or laws that could sway the outcome of a vote. The idea is that the political party who is in Government should not be able to use the civil service in the run up to an election to give themselves a unfair advantage.

Purdah applies not just to Westminster elections but also for council elections and European elections.

In this case it means a temporary respite from Government reports analysing what will happen if Britain leaves the EU. One of these was released ahead of time by the Treasury on Monday, and rang alarm bells over Brexit's supposed impact on output, house prices and employment.

But this is not an election so why have we got Purdah now?

It was a key demand of those in favour of Brexit that Purdah should be imposed before the election to stop David Cameron using the Government machine to make the case for a vote to remain. Mr Cameron conceded and a Purdah period was written in the legislation that authorised the European referendum.

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit Show all 7 1 /7 The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 22 May 2015 In his regular column in The Express Nigel Farage utilised the concerns over Putin and the EU to deliver a tongue in cheek conclusion. With friends like these, who needs enemies? PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 13 November 2015 UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Mike Hookem, was one of several political figures who took no time to harness the toxic atmosphere just moments after Paris attacks to push an agenda. Cameron says were safer in the EU. Well Im in the centre of the EU and it doesnt feel very safe. Getty Images The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 19 April 2016 In an article written for The Guardian, Michael Gove attempts to bolster his argument with a highly charged metaphor in which he likens UK remaining in the EU to a hostage situation. Were voting to be hostages locked in the back of the car and driven headlong towards deeper EU integration. Rex The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 26 April 2016 In a move that is hard to decipher, let alone understand, Mike Hookem stuck it to Obama re-tweeting a UKIP advertisement that utilises a quote from the film: Love Actually to dishonour the US stance on the EU. A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 10 May 2016 During a speech in London former work and pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith said that EU migration would cause an increasing divide between people who benefit from immigration and people who couldnt not find work because of uncontrolled migration. The European Union is a force for social injustice which backs the haves rather than the have-nots. EPA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 15 May 2016 Cartoon character Boris Johnson made the news again over controversial comments that the EU had the same goal as Hitler in trying to create a political super state. Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. PA The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit 16 May 2016 During a tour of the womens clothing manufacturer David Nieper, Boris had ample time to cook up a new metaphor, arguably eclipsing Goves in which he compares the EU to badly designed undergarments. So I just say to all those who prophecy doom and gloom for the British Business, I say their pants are on fire. Lets say knickers to the pessimists, knickers to all those who talk Britain down. Getty Images

What does it mean for civil servants?

It means that their life will be a little less busy. But it also means they are banned from involving themselves in any part of the EU referendum campaign during work time. For example after Friday no civil servants will be able to help Mr Cameron or other remain ministers take part in campaigning visits or assist him writing speeches.

 Cameron's ISIS Brexit warning

All this will have to be done by the Better In campaign. No Government money can be used to help them either. Some civil servants have had to resign to take part in the campaign helping the PM.

What difference will I notice?

For a start there will be an end to the dire warnings of economic, military and social collapse if we pull out of the EU from Government bodies. Thats why we have had so many of them recently  because it will have to stop after Friday.

Mind you, that wont stop Mr Cameron and George Osborne repeating them endlessly until polling day.
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 pair of campers have been treated to an unusual wakeup call after they awoke to find a small group of lions licking water from their tent.

Francie Lubbe and her partner were camping in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana when the three adult female lions began licking the water outside their tent after an overnight downpour.

The lions appeared oblivious to the couple inside and Ms Lubbe was able to capture video footage of what she described as a very special encounter.

Writing on Facebook she said: What a privilege. It rained during the night and 3 lioness licking the water from the tent.

There was no noise, no smell. We tried to be very quiet not to disturb them. It was very special,' she added.

Pictures uploaded onto social media by Ms Lubbe show the three lionesses prowling around their campsite.

The three lionesses prowl around the campsite (Francie Francisca Lubbe/Facebook)

The three lionesses prowl around the campsite (Francie Francisca Lubbe/Facebook)

The pair have been commended by wildlife conservationists for remaining calm throughout the episode.

The filmmakers and wildlife conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert said over Facebook: Too often people panic and behave badly when lions approach in the wild.

I appreciate what these travellers did and how they responded, with calm and appreciation. Well done.

The three lionesses prowl around the campsite (Francie Francisca Lubbe/Facebook)

The lions were licking dew or moisture off the tent apparently and not a threat in any way so the reaction is absolutely appropriate and their appreciation of the absolute privilege is fantastic."

The Kgalagadi is a vast semi-arid savannah where the average rainfall is about 200 mm per year, according to the park's website.

An amalgamation of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa and the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park comprises an area of over 3.6 million hectares  one of the few conservation areas of this scale left in the world.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Officials investigating the cause of the EgyptAir crash have said no technical problems were detected on the plane before it took off from Paris.

Members of the Egyptian investigation committee said the aircraft did not swerve before it disappeared from radar under a minute after entering Egyptian airspace.

There have been differing accounts of the Airbus A320s final moments, with the Greek defence ministers account of it abruptly turning to the left and then in a full circle as it plummeted contradicted by Egyptian officials.

 Egypt army shows objects found among debris of Egyptair plane crash

Sources told the Reuters news agency that although the aircraft did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, they were able to see it on radar and observed no sudden turns before crashing into the Mediterranean Sea.

Searches continue in the area where it is believed to have gone down as analysts investigate wreckage and body parts recovered so far for any clues on what caused the disaster.

The Al-Ahram newspaper has published a technical log signed by EgyptAir flight 804s pilot before take-off on Wednesday, saying 11 electronic messages were transmitted from starting at 11.09pm local time.

The first two messages indicated the engines were functional but the third, at 2.26am showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot's window.

The plane continued transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing, Al-Ahram said.

In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 Show all 5 1 /5 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May

The difficulty is to connect these bits of information, said John Cox, executive Safety Operating Systems, who co-authored a report on smoke and fire risks.

There are too few messages to fit a typical fire, which would normally trigger a cascade of error reports as multiple systems failed, he said, and too many of them to confirm a single significant explosion.

Previous records of the aircrafts Acars system indicated that smoke may have been detected in a toilet and avionics bay, as well as reporting faults with the autopilot and flight control system.

Smoke alerts can also be triggered by condensation that occurs in the event of sudden decompression and there has been no confirmation of widespread speculation over a possible explosion or fire.

The cause of the disaster, which killed all 66 passengers and crew on board the flight on its journey from Paris to Cairo, remains unknown.

Egypts civil aviation minister claimed terrorism was a more likely explanation than equipment failure but so far no hard evidence has emerged and no group has claimed responsibility.

A forensic official who examined human remains recovered from near the crash site told the Associated Press that "there isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head", adding: The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down...but I cannot say what caused the blast.

Candles are lit during a vigil for the victims of the crash, in Cairo (AP)

He was later quoted as saying that at least one piece of an arm had signs of burns, an indication that it might have belonged to a passenger sitting next to the explosion.

But the head of Egypt's forensics authority denied there was evidence of a blast.

Everything published about this matter is completely false, and mere assumptions that did not come from the Forensics Authority, Dr Hisham Abdel Hamid said in a statement quoted by Mena news agency.

EgyptAir said relatives of the victims had given DNA samples to forensics officials and investigators in the hope of identifying their loved ones.

Amjad Haqi, an Iraqi man whose mother Najla died in the disaster, said families were being kept in the dark and had not been formally told that any body parts had been recovered.

All they are concerned about is to find the black box and the debris of the plane. That's their problem, not mine, he said. And then they come and talk to us about insurance and compensation.

I don't care about compensation, all I care about is to find my mother and bury her.

A US Navy plane is among those taking part in searches for wreckage (AP)

A representative of a group representing relatives of the French victims said many did not trust Egyptian authorities following the investigation of a 2004 plane crash that killed 132 French tourists flying from Sharm el-Sheikh.

The head of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministrys investigative committee, Ayman al-Moqadem, told state media a preliminary report of the investigation will be available within a month.

Body parts, luggage and passengers' belongings have been recovered alongside wreckage from the aircraft during searches of the Mediterranean Sea.

But the location of the main body of the Airbus A230, complete with its black boxes and their vital data, remains unknown.

EgyptAir has said it will contract two foreign companies, one French and one Italian, to help search for the flight data recorders in an area roughly halfway between Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria and the Greek island of Crete.

A robotic submarine has already been deployed, along with a ship equipped with sonar, but it was unclear whether either of them can detect signals emitted by the flight recorders, lying in waters up to 10,000ft deep. The location beacons have a battery life of 30 days.
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 seven year ban on the domestic trade of rhino horn in South Africa has been lifted, an industry group has said, after a government bid to protect the ruling was dismissed by the countrys Supreme Court of Appeal.

Legal finality has now been achieved, Pelham Jones, chairman of South Africas Private Rhino Owners Association told Reuters.

There are around 6,200 rhinos in private hands, according to the association, around a third of the national population.

Recommended Read more On the tracks of burglars making a killing out of rhino horn

South Africas ministry for environmental affairs has not yet responded publicly to the judgement but has said it is considering the implications of the verdict.

Sources told Reuters that one possible line of action the department could take is to change legislation or to make the issuing of permits for buying, selling and possessing rhino horn so onerous that domestic trade is effectively stifled.

The courts decision has no bearing on the ban of international trade in rhino horn, though the demand from Asian countries for the animals horn has led to thousands of rhinos being killed in recent years as demand poaching has risen significantly.

Rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine but has increasingly become a status symbol for people to demonstrate wealth and success. According to Save The Rhino, there has been a surge in demand for the horns in Vietnam, where it is used for hangover cures and as treatment for terminal illnesses among other uses.
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 }}

Zimbabwe will lobby to lift the international ban on ivory, claiming the sales would allow the government to gain funds to combat poaching and further conservation programmes. They claim the current population of elephants, around 84,000, have become too much for reserves to manage.

Currently in the midst of an economic crisis, the government said in February it had raised $1m (690,000) from exporting elephants to China. They estimate they have twice the population of elephants they can afford to support with available food and land.

Safeguarding Zimbabwes elephants is wholly dependent on establishing regular open market sales of elephant ivory to fund management and enforcement actions the government have stated in a paper that will be presented during September's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES) meeting in South Africa.

Between 2002 and 2014, Zimbabwe is estimated to have lost 439 metric tons of ivory worth $226m (154m) to illegal hunting, according to Zimbabwes CITES proposal, Bloomberg reports. Zimbabwe views this as a direct result of the ivory trade ban. The countrys current stockpile of ivory weighs about 70 tonnes and is worth an estimated $35m (23m).

National Parks, which cover around 11 per cent of Zimbabwes total land mass, are surrounded by hostile people who are trying to recover their wasted investment in elephants, according to the report, claiming the ban has eliminated incentive to protect wildlife.

The government said in November it would deploy soldiers at the countrys game parks to combat poaching, which resulted in the deaths of 77 elephants due to cyanide poisoning at Hwange National Park. African elephants are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, with poaching being the main threat to their numbers in Central Africa.
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 }}

He has another seven months in office, but it appears that President Barack Obama is already measuring the curtains for his next house - an 8,200-square-foot rental just two miles away from the White House, his home since 2009.

After Mr Obama acknowledged earlier this year that he intended staying in Washington DC with his family for a couple of years at least to allow his youngest daughter, Sasha, to graduate from her school there, the capital has been abuzz with speculation as to what part of town hed choose.

Recommended Read more Malia Obama to attend Harvard in 2017 after taking a gap year

Now, it seems we know the neighborhood and even the address. The large mansion - no longer white, but certainly still impressive - reportedly chosen by the first family is in the Kalorama district in Northwest DC, two miles from the White House and close to several important foreign embassies, including the British embassy and the adjacent Edwin Lutyens-designed residence.

In an exclusive report, Politico said it had confirmation that the Obamas plan to rent the gated house, which is currently owned by Joe Lockhart, a Democratic Party stalwart and one-time spokesman for former President Bill Clinton.

Built in 1928 with nine bedrooms and set on one acre, the luxury property was purchased two years ago, records show, for $295,000, has a two-car garage and courtyard parking big enough for ten cars.

Mr Obama, who will be 55 when he leaves the Oval Office, will be the first sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1921 to defy the usual etiquette of leaving town following the inauguration of his successor. Where the family will eventually settle and how Mr Obama will occupy himself after next January remain unanswered questions.

Of prime importance for the first family, is the proximity of the the Lockhart residence to Sidwell Friends School, the private high school that Sasha, who shortly turns 15, will still be attending.

Her older sister, Malia, will graduate from the school next month and then celebrate her 18th birthday on the Fourth of July. She is expected to take a gap year - more of a British than an American tradition - before attending Harvard University starting in 2017.
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 }}

Arizona police have released footage of the night an unarmed man and father of two begged officers for his life before they allegedly shot him dead.

Daniel Shaver, 26, from Texas, was killed by officer Philip Brailsford at a hotel in Arizona where he was staying for work.

The husband and father of two was ordered to leave his hotel room on 18 January and was reportedly filmed crawling towards officers, tearfully asking the police not to shoot him, before he was shot on his hands and knees in the corridor.

Recommended Read more Concealed gun carrier shot dead after intervening in domestic dispute

Investigators later determined that Mr Shaver was unarmed and had two pellet guns in his room for his work as a pest controller.

Police have been reacting to an earlier report that guests had seen someone pointing a gun out of the hotel window on the fifth floor.

All that can be seen in the video is police surrounding room 502 and ordering guests on the fifth floor to come out their rooms.

The footage does not reveal the moment Mr Shaver was killed.

His widow, Laney Sweet, and various news organizations have petitioned the court to release the whole video.

Officer Brailsford, who was later fired for not following departmental policies, has pleaded not guilty to one count of second-degree murder. His lawyers say the video would threaten his right to a fair trial.

Investigators said in police records that the video shows Mr Shaver outside his room, and he is ordered to crawl towards them.

Police said they believed Mr Shaver was reaching for a gun and they fired at him.

Mr Shavers wife wrote on a website page called "Justice for Daniel", which is dedicated to raising funds to support his family, that her husband had invited a man and a woman into his hotel room for a drink and they had taken turns in holding the pellet guns. She said two guests in the hot tub saw into Mr Shavers fifth floor window and notified reception workers, who called the police.

Mr Shaver, when in the corridor, had made a move with his right arm as if he had lost his balance, she said, and he was shot five times, from his face to his knee.

She said he died instantly.

He was madly in love with his two daughters. He worked hard and sacrificed so he could provide for us. Our oldest, Natalie (6), is a true daddy's girl and they had a very special bond, she wrote. Emery (4) misses her daddy and is crying for him during the night asking me, Why can't people come back alive?
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 police chief in Portland, Oregon has been placed on leave after he inadvertently shot a friend and failed to cover it up.

Mayor Charlie Hales announced on Tuesday that he had placed Chief Larry ODea on administrative leave while the shooting incident is investigated.

We need our police bureau operating at its best, and our officers cant do that when theres turmoil and confusion surrounding their leader, Hales said in a statement.

The Harney County Sheriffs office revealed on Monday that Chief ODea lied to deputies when they responded to his 911 call during an off-duty hunting trip on April 21. The office said that the police chief had a negligent discharge from his .22-caliber rifle, shooting his close friend in the back who was airlifted to the nearest hospital.

ODea, 53, is a three-decade veteran who was sworn in as Portland's police chief last month, told deputies that his wounded friend accidentally shot himself.

Sheriff Dave Ward said that his department would not aid any the police chief in any sort of cover-up.

If he called the mayor and said he had shot his friend, he should have called me as well. I was irritated about that, Ward told The Oregonian. He should have picked up the phone and called our office and said this is what happened.

Ward added that Chief ODea never identified himself as a police officer, and that the victim made it very clear that he didnt shoot himself, The victim knew who shot him.

Several investigations have been opened into the incident by the Oregon State Police, Oregon Department of Justice, Portland Police Bureau Professional Standards, and Portland Independent Police Review.
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 }}

Skinny jeans and other tight trousers are to be banned from a selection of American schools, a decision which has outraged students and parents alike.

The New Hanover County School Board in North Carolina announced that the wearing of excessively tight fitting pants is to be prohibited in schools as part of strict changes to the regional dress code.

Such trousers will only be permitted if they are accompanied by a top or dress that covers the posterior area in its entirety.

Short dresses, skirts and shorts are already banned in schools according to the guidelines.

Jeanette Nichols, vice chairwoman of the school board, reportedly told WECT Wilmington that the proposed policies would prevent some of the bigger girls from being bullied over their looks.

The board was immediately hit by accusations of body shaming from pupils and their parents.

Chris Furner, a parent from near-by Parsley Elementary School told StarNews Online: From my perspective, telling people that they can't wear something because they are being bullied takes away the choice from them.

Inspiring body positivity quotes Show all 12 1 /12 Inspiring body positivity quotes Inspiring body positivity quotes Ashley Graham "And cellulite, I have not forgotten about you. I'm going to choose to love you even though you want to take over my whole bottom half. You're a part of me and I love you." Inspiring body positivity quotes Danielle Brooks "Sometimes I don't like what I see, but I have the power to change the way in which I relate to my body both physically and mentally." Inspiring body positivity quotes Iskra Lawrence "Stop comparing yourself to anybody else. The [pictures of] movie stars, even the Disney characters, thats not real. Thats not attainable. You cant be anybody else. You are you. You cant be them. So you really just have to start embracing yourself and accepting so-called flaws that society has given the name flaws. Its just our body, our patchwork quilt. Inspiring body positivity quotes Beyonce "The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence." Getty Images Inspiring body positivity quotes Kate Winslet "Nobody is perfect. I just don't believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, 'This is who I am and look at me not being perfect.' I'm proud of that." Getty Images Inspiring body positivity quotes Rihanna "You just want something that someone else has, but that doesn't mean what you have isn't beautiful, because people always want what you have and you always want what they have - no one is ever 100 per cent like, 'Yes, I'm the bomb-dot-com - from head-to-toe!" REUTERS Inspiring body positivity quotes Tess Holliday "Never compare yourself with others and celebrate what makes you, you." Inspiring body positivity quotes Demi Lovato "Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features... everyone has them." Inspiring body positivity quotes Kim Kardashian-West "See this little dimple of cellulite here? It was so worth it for that cookies 'n' cream ice cream!" Inspiring body positivity quotes Jennifer Lawrence "It should be illegal to call someone fat." Inspiring body positivity quotes Mindy Kaling "Insults about the way I look cant be the thing that harms me and my heart the most. It has to harm me the least. If I have a daughter, Im going to tell her that. Far too many women are much more hurt by being called fat or ugly than they are by being called not smart, or not a leader." Rex Features Inspiring body positivity quotes Selena Gomez "Im learning that you can be comfortable and still look beautiful. AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the idea was slammed on social media, with one student asking whether the board would purchase her a new wardrobe to compensate for the changes.

Board of Education member, Lisa Estep, said student feedback will be crucial when considering whether the changes will in fact be implemented.
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 middle school student in Virginia was arrested and suspended after being accused of stealing a 65-cent milk carton  despite being on the schools free lunch program.

The Graham Park Middle School student said that he was accused of stealing the milk and grabbed by a police officer while standing in the lunch line.

His mother said that her son is on the school's free lunch program and was not required to pay for it.

They are charging him with larceny, which I dont have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning, Shamise Turk, told WJLA.

Police said they charged the student because he attempted to conceal the milk carton.

This is ridiculous, this beyond embarrassing, Turk told reporters. Im angry, Im frustrated, Im mad. It just went too far.

When the student was taken to the principals office he was also searched for drugs. However, a Prince William County Schools spokesperson said that he students actions determined his punishment.

The need for disciplinary action is determined by how a student behaves throughout any given incident, the school spokesperson said in a statement to WLJA. An appeals process is in place to ensure the fairness of any disciplinary action.

Schools across the country have been shown to punish black students more often than their white counterparts. Forty-percent of students expelled from schools each year are black and 70% of students arrested in school involve black or Latino students, according to the Civil Rights Data Collections 2009-2010 statistics.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump put his name to a business deal intended to prevent the US Government collecting up to $100m in taxes, it is claimed. The Daily Telegraph obtained copies of two letters signed by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in 2007, in relation to a $50m deal between the Bayrock Group, a US property firm, and Icelands FL Group.

In the first letter, the money is characterised as an investment by FL in four of Bayrocks subsidiary partnerships, including the Trump SoHo, Mr Trumps cherished Manhattan hotel and apartment building. But in the second letter, signed several weeks later, the deal is instead described as a loan.

The letters signed by Donald Trump Show all 5 1 /5 The letters signed by Donald Trump The letters signed by Donald Trump The letters signed by Donald Trump The letters signed by Donald Trump The letters signed by Donald Trump The letters signed by Donald Trump

Court papers seen by the newspaper claim that the change amounted to fraud, and that the agreement was altered to avoid millions in prospective tax payments. When partners sell a stake in a partnership in New York, they are liable for more than 40 per cent in tax on their gain  but if such a deal is labelled as a loan, the tax is not applicable.

At the time of the deal, Mr Trump had licensed his name to three Bayrock building projects, including the Trump SoHo, in which Mr Trump had a 15 per cent stake. His children Ivanka and Donald Jr also shared a three per cent stake in the project. Bayrocks ties to Mr Trump were close: the company was based in Trump Tower, and the agreement with FL specified that the billionaires consent was required for the deal to proceed.

Former Bayrock employees, including the firms former finance director Jody Kriss, have alleged in a legal complaint that the loan deal was designed specifically to evade around $20m in tax related to the sale, as well as an estimated $80 in taxes on FLs future profits from the property deal. Experts who assessed the documents told the Telegraph that the deal did indeed appear to be disguised as a loan, not an equity investment, in order to avoid tax.

Mr Trumps lawyer, Alan Garten, told the newspaper that the mogul and reality TV star had nothing to do with that transaction and that signing the letters simply confirmed his participation as a limited partner in the projects. He was not signing off on the deal, Mr Garten said, insisting Mr Trump was not connected to the agreements tax implications because he was not a party to the final transaction between FL and Bayrock.

Bayrock said the allegations in the complaint by its ex-employees were baseless, that the complaint itself was "no longer operative" and that many of the allegations it contained "were based on misappropriated attorney/client privileged information [and] ordered stricken by a federal Court." In a statement, the firm said the US Internal Revenue Service had audited the tax treatment of the FL loan found that it was "entirely appropriate," adding: "The terms, provisions and structure of the FL Loan transaction evolved (as do most such transactions) and its final form was vetted and approved by outside accountants and tax counsel for both Bayrock and FL."

FL Group went bankrupt shortly after the deal, during the Icelandic banking crisis of 2008.

Mr Trump has broken with recent political tradition by refusing to release his tax returns ahead of the presidential election in November, but said earlier this month that he [fights] very hard to pay as little tax as possible.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Elizabeth Warren pulled no punches in her latest attack on the presumptive GOP nominee, who she called a small, insecure moneygrubber who will never be President of the United States.

Speaking at the Centre for Popular Democracys annual gala, the Massachusetts Senator took her rhetorical barbs, normally found on her Twitter page, to the stage and criticised Mr Trump for past remarks he made in anticipation of the housing collapse.

Recommended Read more Donald Trump launched attacks on Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren

Donald Trump was drooling over the idea of a housing meltdown, Ms Warren said, because it meant he could buy up a bunch more property on the cheap.

What kind of a man does that? Root for people to get thrown out on the street? Root for people to lose their jobs? Root for people to lose their pensions?  A man who will never be President of the United States.

Mr Trump explained to the Globe and Mail in 2007 - just before the 2008 US housing crisis - that he expected to make more money should a collapse occur.

People have been talking about the end of the cycle for 12 years, and I'm excited if it is, the New York real estate mogul said. I've always made more money in bad markets than in good markets.

The Senators remarks come after the Hillary Clinton campaign focused on Mr Trumps apparent excitement for the 2008 housing crisis in a California stump speech earlier that day, as the former Secretary of State pivots toward the general election.

Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing-market crash before the Great Recession, he said, I sort of hope that happens, Ms Clinton told the crowd. He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes.

The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Show all 7 1 /7 The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Zed Pod A ZED Pod is a small, low cost energy efficient starter home intended for housing young people within city boundaries over existing areas of parking or garages. This avoids having to purchase land to create affordable homes. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Who is ZED POD for? The occupancy will vary depending on the location of the ZED Pods. The Pods flexible nature allows them to serve as short term accommodation, such as for holiday makers, as well as in a long term scenario for young professionals, or single people wishing to get on to the property ladder in an affordable manner. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Terraced-Pod By minimising the demand for energy and water, and placing a translucent waterproof solar canopy over the space between the homes, it is possible to provide zero energy bills for the these homes as well as providing zero emissions electricity to charge points integrated in the parking spaces zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis The tiny homes could sell for between 50,000 to 60,000 or rented as one bed homes for young couples for around 750 month with around 50 bills on top, according to the architects estimates.The development costs are reduced as there is no need for land acquisition. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Shanghai POD - Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition Further benefits extend to the prefabricated nature of the pod, which significantly increases speed of construction without effecting the durability of the pod. A typical Pod community can be erected and commissioned in under a month, and within a week on sensitive sites. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Shanghai POD - Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition The eco-friendly houses, around 74 square feet of floor space, would be complete with solar panel roofs, water recycling systems and electric vehicle charging. zedfactory The pod homes that sit on stilts above car parks designed to crack the housing crisis Communal space under the canopy It is cheap to live in, gives young people privacy, has good shared communal spaces, has good access to public transport and saves key workers from long commutes into city centres with high property values, Bill Dunster OBE told the Independent zedfactory

Although, the Clinton campaign denied coordination between the candidate and Ms Warren in an appearance on CNNs New Day.

Well I don't think it is about coordination, said Joel Benenson, senior strategist of the Clinton campaign.

Mr Trump did not take kindly to attacks from the Democrats. During his first campaign fundraiser held in New Mexico - rocked by numerous protesters - he called Ms Clinton a low-life for using his words against him in a similar campaign ad aired earlier that day.

Im a businessman, thats what Im supposed to do, he said, defending his remarks.

He also focused on Ms Warren - whom he had previously referred to as "goofy" and a "goofus" - calling her Pocahontas, an allusion to her Native American ancestry. He also criticised her Senate record.

She is probably the senator thats doing just about the least in the United States Senate, he said. Shes a total failure.

She said she was an Indian, he added, echoing attacks Ms Warren received during her 2012 Senate campaign against Scott Brown. She said because her cheekbones were high, she was an Indian, that she was Native American.

Ms Warren has not officially endorsed a Democratic prior to the party choosing a nominee - a spot that Ms Clinton has all but secured - she has become more focused on Mr Trump as the July Democratic National Convention looms.

But Democrats are beginning to expend their efforts on a unified message against Mr Trump, whose campaign ruptured the Republican party. And Ms Warren, whose expertise rests in the US financial sector, is taking the fight to Mr Trumps doorstep - whether or not she endorses Ms Clinton, and without appeasing speculation that she will share the Democratic ticket.

Now that hes sewn up the Republican nomination, Donald Trump is dropping the pretense. Now hes kissing the fannies of poor, misunderstood Wall Street bankers, she said.

But the American people are a whole lot smarter than Donald Trump thinks they are. The American people are not looking for a bait and switch.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took home Washington's presidential primaries last night.

Clintons win was by a wide margin and also virtually meaningless, as Bernie Sanders won the states caucuses in March bringing home 74 delegates. However, she is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination. Even if she doesn't win all of the remaining contests, she can win the nom by early June.

As for the lone Republican, Trump is now 10 delegates shy of officially becoming his partys nominee. The reality television star spoke to supporters inside Albuquerque's Convention Center, while outside the venue, all hell broke loose.

Violence appeared to breakout during the protests, with demonstrators throwing rocks and bottles at police, burning pro-Trump flags, breaking windows and one door at the convention center. Riot police showed up to help prevent further damage, and some pepper sprayed protesters in the street.

Nearly a dozen protesters held banners inside the venue that read: "Undocumented Unafraid, "We've heard enough, and Donald Trump is a fascist.

Trump has still not received an endorsement from his party, and on Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed reports that a Republican party endorsement of Trump is imminent.

There's no update and we've not told the Trump campaign to expect an endorsement, Ryan told reporters.

An estimated 1.3 million voters sent their ballots prior to Tuesday's election. Thirty-one percent of voters have returned their ballot by Tuesday evening, CBS News reports. More than 4 million people are registered to vote in Washington, who are still able to vote by mail.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hillary Clinton violated State Department rules in her use of private email while US Secretary of State, an auditor as ruled.

The agencys Inspector General also revealed that she declined to be interviewed for the investigation

Clinton's use of private email for government purposes, held on a private server at her New York home, has come up in various investigations.

"Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State," the report has said.

"At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act," it added.

The report said Clinton and her deputies, including Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin, declined to be interviewed for the inspector general's investigation, according to Politico.

More than 2,000 classified emails were redacted from Clinton's private email server, but President Obama has said that his former secretary of state would have never intentionally done anything to put the United States at risk.

Heres what I know, Hillary Clinton was an outstanding secretary of state. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy, President Obama said in April. Theres classified, and then theres classified, he added. Theres stuff that is really top-secret top-secret, and theres stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open-source.

More follows
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 }}

Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades.

Authorities responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Centre in what police later called a riot.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages Trump is Fascist and We've heard enough.

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention centre, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to Go home to mommy.

Riot police respond to anti-Trump protests following a rally and speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (AP)

He responded to one demonstrator by asking, How old is this kid? Then he provided his own answer: Still wearing diapers.

Trump's supporters responded with chants of Build that wall!

The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention centre smashed.

People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit!  Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone'

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labelled with Trump's catchphrase, Make America Great Again.

 President Obama digs at Donald Trump's idea of a wall

Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

Anti-Trump protesters block the streets (AP)

We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK? he said, adding: Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going.

The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics, said spokesman Michael Lonergan. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today.

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention centre windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups, he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested from the riot, police said.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.

AP
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 }}

First came the shock and indignation and now the first major legal counter-attack. Two weeks after President Barack Obama told school districts across America to let transgender students use which ever toilet they liked, eleven US states, led by Texas, have hit back, filing a lawsuit challenging him.

The action, which accuses the Obama administration of trying to turn the nations schools into laboratories for a massive social experiment, is the latest convulsion in the transgender bathroom issue that has enraged conservative forces across the country and emerged as the civil rights issue of the moment in the United States.

Recommended Read more Transgender children explain how they feel

On 13 May, the US Justice Department told North Carolina that a law it passed in March requiring all its citizens, including members of the transgender community, only to use the bathroom assigned to the gender on their birth certificate violated federal civil-rights laws.

The directive was couched as guidance to public administrations and school districts to desist from any attempt to follow North Carolinas example and give freedom to transgender students to use the toilets or games locker rooms matching their chosen identities. It also carried a barely disguised threat that failure to heed the advice would lead to a withholding of federal funds.

There is no room in our schools for discrimination, Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney General, said unveiling the directive and evoking the days of racial segregation in the schools system in the US.

This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation, Ms Lynch said. We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation. We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education (which ordered schools desegregation).

This action is about a great deal more than just bathroom. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them  indeed, to protect all of us.

Pressure on North Carolina to amend or rescind its controversial law was already intense amidst a burgeoning boycott of the state. Artists like Ringo Starr and Bruce Springsteen cancelled concerts there, business groups moved conventions elsewhere and some corporations, including PayPal and Deutsche Bank, canceled plans to invest there.

But the move by the Obama administration to force North Carolinas hand was seen by many conservatives as the ultimate provocation in a new culture war they are determined not to lose. Of the eleven states that joined Wednesdays lawsuit, 9 were led by Republican governors.

As well as touching on the latest sore nerve in that culture struggle - the progressive forces in the US have already triumphed in the passing of a national law allowing gay marriage - the action by Washington also spoke directly to the states rights issue, and the contention by conservatives that the federal government is overbearing and needs to be cut down to size.

Filed in federal court in Wichita, Kansas, the suit accused the federal government of attempting to introduce laws by administrative fiat, and named both the government and an assortment of federal agencies as defendants.

The suit is challenging the way that the Obama administration is trampling the United States Constitution, Governor Greg Abbott told reporters. The Lone Star state had earlier said it would be willing to lose $10 billion in education funding from Washington rather than comply with the directive.

In addition to Texas, those joining the suit were Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, plus the Arizona Department of Education and the governor of Maine. It asks the court to declare the federal directive unlawful.

Defendants have conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights, the lawsuit stated.
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 }}

Before we can decide whether to remain in the European Union or to leave it, it is important to understand what sort of thing it is. In doing this exercise, inevitably I find aspects that I dont like, and perhaps many others will share my opinion. This means that in answering the referendum question, there is quite a difficult calculation to be made. We must think in terms of a bargain. On one side there is the price; on the other side, the benefit. We shall have to strike the balance.

Remembering that the characters of institutions, as well as of people, are generally set in their early years, I believe we should start at the very beginning. The EU in its original form was created by six nations (the Six) that had been at war with each other, the victors as well as the vanquished. These were France, which was overrun by the Germans in 1940 without putting up much of a fight; the Netherlands, Belgium and tiny Luxembourg  which were too small to resist the might of the German forces  and the aggressors themselves, Germany with Italy tagging along, both in their turn overwhelmed by British and American forces.

It is worth picturing in ones mind what this meant. When the war ended in 1945, the destruction was as bad as anything we see today in television reports from Syria or Iraq. Gunter Grass, the German novelist, who was 18 years old in 1945, has described the city of Cologne as a pile of debris with an occasional miraculously surviving street sign stuck to what was left of a facade, or hung on a pole sticking out of the rubble, which was also sprouting lush patches of dandelions about to blossom.

7th April 1945: The Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine in Cologne in ruins at the end of World War II. (Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/Keystone/Getty Images) (Getty)

Britain also suffered devastating war damage but not the dispersal of families that Grass also recounts. He has written of the heart breaking efforts of families trying to find their missing children, or parents or other family members. In towns and villages  the corridors of municipal buildings were hung with the names and dates of the missing and, often enough, of the dead  I, too, scoured the lists, posted weekly, for signs of my parents and my three-year old younger sister.

Out of this experience there arose a widespread and understandable hatred for the governments that had led the countries of western Europe into such misery and chaos. Even worse, after the Nazi invasions, the governments in France, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium had sometimes enthusiastically done the Germans bidding. A senior French lawyer, who remained in Paris throughout the war, recounted in his recently published diary, that in the Paris police headquarters, the equivalent of Scotland Yard, the French police constantly flattered their new masters and even gave them Nazi salutes.

Charles de Gaulle, the French general who escaped to London when the Germans arrived and was later to become president, put it clearly: During the catastrophe, beneath the burden of defeat, a great change had occurred in mens minds. To many, the disaster of 1940 seemed like a failure of the ruling class and system in every realm.

Charles de Gaulle in 1946: During the catastrophe, a great change had occurred in mens minds (This content is subject to copyright.)

In complete contrast, the British were proud of their wartime achievement. In June 1940, a month after he became prime minister, Winston Churchill had urged that we therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour. After the war had ended, most British people felt that they had indeed met that challenge. Writer and broadcaster JB Priestley described on the BBC how we began this war by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept to victory.

It wasnt that the British were self-satisfied, as the general election held immediately after the war shows. For they expelled their great war leader, Churchill, and his Conservative Party from office and installed a Labour government with a big majority. But they had no sense of shame about the war itself or its causes. Nor had they lost faith in their political system. Indeed the newly elected Labour government was to create the welfare state.

The British were proud of their wartime achievements, in complete contrast their continental cousins <p> </p>

Because of this difference in attitude, which remains in the DNA of the countries of western Europe, any grouping that would contain Britain as well as the Six would perpetually have an odd-man-out  us. More important, the searing wartime experience that our continental neighbours went through explains why they have willingly, even enthusiastically, built a European Union that takes powers away from the despised nation states that they blame for the calamity.

In addition, and this has also been an enduring characteristic, the French remained terrified of German power. Even though Germany had been laid prostrate by Allied bombing and divided up into four zones of occupation, the French always had this question in front of the minds: how would France protect itself against a re-energised Germany? Frances first thoughts were punitive. General de Gaulle wanted the industrial plants of the defeated Germany dismantled and the country broken up into regional states  thus undoing the unification process of the 19th century.

But in the imagination of a French civil servant, Jean Monnet, now considered one of the founding fathers of the EU, a much more subtle and enterprising plan had been taking shape. There is a story told about him by his biographer, Francois Duchene:

During the Second World War one morning in Algiers, a friend found Monnet deep in thought in front of a map of Europe laid out on his desk and striped with pencil lines. Showing the friend the regions of the Ruhr and Lorraine, he explained that all the trouble came from that part of the world. It was from their coal and steel that Germany and France forged the instruments of war. To stop another conflagration it would be necessary, one way or another, to extract this region from the two countries. And this is in effect what France put forward in 1950, when a degree of stability had returned to western Europe. Nato had been set up the previous year.

Jean Monnet, the 'father' of Europe, then president of the High Autority for coal and steel, attends the first meeting of the ministers of the European Council at Chateau de la Muette in Paris 15 January 1955. (STF/AFP/Getty Images) (Getty)

The French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, proposed that all French and German coal and steel production be placed under a joint High Authority within a framework of an organisation which would also be open to the participation of the other countries of Europe. The historian, Alan Bullock, described the initiative as being as bold and imaginative as any in European history. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg immediately agreed to join with France. These were the same six countries that seven years later signed the treaty that created the EEC, which in turn became the European Union.

This construction was called the European Coal and Steel Community, which sounds very dull. But with its High Authority, where capable public figures would take decisions binding on member states on the basis of the common interest, with its Assembly made up of nominated national parliamentarians, with its Council of Ministers and its Court of Justice and its assumption of legal powers, it was the template for all that followed. The High Authority was even obliged to promote the free movement of workers within the coal and steel industries.

Britain didnt like this at all. The core difficulty was well illustrated by a question posed in the House of Commons by Rhys Davies, a trades unionist and Labour MP: There are three-quarters of a million coal miners in this country who are now employed by the National Coal Board; who will be their employer if the Schuman Plan [for the creation of the single authority] comes to completion? A very good point.

French minister of Foreign affairs Robert Schuman signs the official treaty, 18 April 1951 at the French Foreign office in Paris, of the Schuman Plan which creates the European Coal and Steel Community, France, Germany, Italy and Benelux sharing their mining resources. (Getty)

It went to the supranational nature of what was proposed. Some of the normal powers of a nation state would be transferred to a body that ranked above individual nations. The attraction to the makers of the EU was that it would not be buffeted by national politics. It would be on a different planet. But they failed to recognise how profoundly undemocratic this policy was  another characteristic that has lasted to the present day. The employment of Britains 750,000 miners would have escaped parliamentary control. We rejected the proposals.

There was also an addendum to the Schuman Plan to which little attention was paid at the time. It stated that the new High Authority would be the first concrete step towards the federation of Europe. Indeed the Six quickly got on with creating a precursor institution to the European Union, which was called the European Economic Community, or Common Market.

For amid the rubble, something miraculous had been taking place. Business activity on the Continent had quickly resumed. It turned out that much more plant and machinery had survived the German and the Allied bombing raids and the fighting on the ground than might have been expected. Only about a fifth of German industrial plant, for instance, had been destroyed.

Industrial production in Western Europe began to expand strongly. A study in The European Economy by historian Derek Aldcroft shows that by 1950-51 nearly all countries had increased their industrial output by a third or more above pre-war levels. Trade between the Six multiplied. As a result, European politicians and economists, who had been wondering since the war whether a tariff union between the Six would succeed, became enthusiastic. They argued that an area in which there were no trade restrictions between the member countries but whose industries were protected from outside competition by a sort of tariff wall would work remarkably well.

In 1955 negotiations between the Six  with a British observer present  began. But as these talks followed their formal agenda, something even more important was taking place in private. France and Germany had to do a deal. As Duchene observed of the negotiations: Throughout, the French and Germans were preoccupied primarily with one another. The negotiations between the six community states were shadowed by a bilateral one between the Two, which surfaced at critical junctures.

France decided to extract a price for opening up her markets, and so was born the noxious Common Agricultural Policy <p> </p>

Indeed I would say that France and Germany have been preoccupied primarily with one another since the first day and remain so today.

At issue were Frances concerns about meeting German competition within its home market without tariff protection. However, it was beginning to be argued within France that now was the time for French industry to meet German competition full on; it would be the better for having done so. And so, exhibiting enviable suppleness, France decided to extract a price for opening up her markets.

The price was that the common market arrangements should provide a good deal for French farmers. French leaders toured the countryside promising that Europe could offer farmers a protected outlet for meat, dairy products, grain and sugar beet. And so was born the noxious Common Agricultural Policy (the CAP) that was later to condemn British consumers to paying high prices for their food in order to subsidise French farmers.

French farmers were promised that Europe could offer them a protected market for their produce (Getty)

The negotiations resulted in full agreement and the results were incorporated into a treaty between the six states, the Treaty of Rome. It is the foundational document of the European Union. The Treaty was signed in Rome on 25 March 1957 and became effective on 1 January 1958.

There would be a free-trade area between member states, surrounded by a tariff wall against competition from outside. The EEC would be based on the four freedoms, namely the free movement of persons, services, goods and capital. The treaty also established the governance of the Community. There would be a Council of Ministers of the member countries, with decision-making powers; a Commission with the executive power to make proposals to the Council of Ministers and to implement Community policies; a Parliamentary Assembly with an advisory role; and a Court of Justice to which national courts would submit cases for final adjudication.

To the Six, this seemed the best of worlds. The powers of the nation states would be limited by the supranational nature of the Communitys institutions. And there would be the bonus of belonging to a large free-trade area.

We stood aside. For a second time Britain refused to be present at the creation. Four years later, however, having seen how well the Common Market appeared to be working, we were knocking on the door. We then had to wait 13 long years, until 1973, before being admitted. In the interim, De Gaulle had twice vetoed our application.

15th January 1963: Charles de Gaulle, president of the French Republic, making a speech at his press conference at Paris, during which he stated that Britain was not ready to join the Common Market except on special terms (Central Press/Getty)

On the first occasion, De Gaulle gave his reasons for rejection at a press conference. His words bear rereading: The Treaty of Rome was concluded between six continental states, states which are, economically speaking, one may say, of the same nature. Indeed, whether it be a matter of their industrial or agricultural production, their external exchanges, their habits or their commercial clientele, their living or working conditions, there is between them much more resemblance than difference

England in effect is insular, she is maritime, she is linked through her exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the most diverse and often the most distant countries; she pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities, and only slight agricultural ones. She has in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions.

Tomorrow I shall describe how Germany came to take over the leadership of the European Union from France, a Germany where, according to one expert, there is an increasing scepticism about  and even contempt for  Anglo Saxon ideas, whether about statecraft or about economics
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 family from Russia had a lucky escape after a fire in their home forced them to take drastic measures to exit the burning building.

Parents Elena and Vitaly had no choice but to throw their young children, Zhenyu and Xenia, from the balcony of their fifth floor apartment as smoked billowed from the windows, before jumping themselves.

A group of about 20 people gathered on the street below, in the town of Strunino, 110km from Moscow, to catch the family, Russian website NewInform reported.

Elena told NewInform: My husband realised that we were not locked out. Everything in the apartment was in the black smoke, and we strongly choked. And I have a child with heart disease who is 11 months old.

We got everything on the balcony, and my husband said we will jump, otherwise we cannot escape.

Dramatic footage, captured by onlookers and posted on the news website, showed the parents dropping their youngest child to the neighbours on the ground, followed by the second child.

The mother is then shown climbing over the edge of the balcony and jumping before the father steadies himself and takes a moment to pray before making the leap himself.

Remarkably, the two children and their mother landed safely, however the father - who was seen being helped to his feet in the video - was injured and taken to hospital.

According to the website, the remaining residents were evacuated and three fire engines soon arrived on the scene to deal with the blaze.
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 }}

At least five people have died and hundreds have been rescued after a wooden fishing boat carrying refugees capsized off the coast of Libya.

Some 550 people, including women and children, were rescued by Navy swimmers, the Italian navy said on Wednesday.

Photographs of the incident show the blue fishing boat rocking precariously before capsizing and sending the refugees into the sea.

(Italian Navy ) (Marina Militare)

(Italian Navy) (Marina Militare)

Some of the passengers were pictured climbing onto the hull of the overturned vessel, while other swam for safety to life boats or towards the navy ship.

Navy swimmers are also shown pulling migrants in lifebelts toward the Bettica. No details of the migrants' nationalities have been given.

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.

Reports by Associated Press suggest seven bodies may have been recovered.

The vessel was spotted in a "precarious condition" by Navy ship Bettica while on patrol in the southern Mediterranean.

"Shortly afterwards the boat overturned due to overcrowding. The Bettica, which had arrived nearby, threw life-rafts and jackets to the migrants in the water," the Navy said in a statement.

Several motor boats are being used in the rescue operations which are still underway, and the navy frigate Bergamini has deployed a helicopter.

(Italian Navy) (Marina Militare)

Boat arrivals rose sharply this week in conjunction with warmer weather and calm seas. Italy's coastguard said 5,600 migrants were rescued on Monday and Tuesday, and officials fear numbers will increase as conditions improve.

In the past two years, more than 320,000 boat migrants have arrived on Italian shores and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.

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 }}

Belgian prosecutors have detained four suspected Isis recruiters who they say may have planned new attacks in the country.

Police said they found traces of a plot to launch a new attack in Belgium and that those detained are suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria and Libya.

The Federal Prosecutors Office said in a statement on Wednesday that all four were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutors, told AFP: The four were more involved in the part of recruiting.

And we found traces of plans for an attack in Belgium."

The statement said the four do not appear to have links to the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels Airport and subway on March 22, killing 32 people.

Searches were reportedly carried out in Antwerp and two other locations.

Prosecutors said some of those detained had planned to travel to Syria or Libya and join Isis.

The prosecutor's office said no additional details would be made public in order not to impede an on-going investigation.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The man convicted for the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher is to be released from prison for 36 hours as a reward for his good behaviour.

Rudy Guede, 29, is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence for the 2007 murder of Ms Kercher and has been released following the decision of a probate court in Rome.

Guede is understood to be leaving the Mammagialla prison in Viterbo on Wednesday morning and will return to jail on Friday night, The Local reported.

Recommended Read more Amanda Knox allowed to launch legal action against Italy

I will be able to feel the sun on my skin and look out of the window without bars in front of my eyes, Guede told La Rebubblica after the ruling.

Thirty-six hours, each one of them precious. I thank everybody who has had faith in me, he added.

Guede is the only person to have been convicted of Ms Kerchers murder and not had the ruling overturned. He admitted to being in the Perugia flat on the night that Ms Kercher died but has consistently claimed to be innocent in the case of the 21-year-olds sexual assault and murder.

After being jailed for 30 years in 2008, his sentence was reduced to 16-years following an appeal hearing in 2010. He will be eligible for parole in 2018.

 Amanda Knox: Joy as murder conviction overturned

Both Amanda Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted and jailed for murder and sexual assault in 2009, freed two years later after the DNA evidence used in their trial was found to be unreliable, then had their guilty verdicts upheld by a court in 2014 before they were both acquitted by the Italian supreme court in March last year.

Speaking about Guedes temporary release, Ms Knox told La Repubblica: Im upset by the fact that Guede has never shown any remorse and hope that whoever granted him permission did so only as part of a social reintegration programme.

Ms Knox has recently been granted the right to launch a legal complaint against Italy for violating her human rights in the legal process following Ms Kerchers murder.
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 sunken wreck of a British submarine from the Second World War with 71 bodies sealed inside has been found by divers off the coast of Sardinia.

The P311 submarine mysteriously disappeared 73 years ago in the Mediterranean and was found at a depth of 100 metres near the island of Tavolara by experienced Italian wreck-hunter, Massimo Domenico Bordone.

The wreck was found after Mr Bardone noticed an 84-metre long and 80 metre wide object when he researched depths of 80 metres.

HMS P311 went missing in January 1943, after making its last contact on New Years Eve, along with its crew. The discovery confirms all on board died. The ship sat on the Gallurese seabed, acting as a steel coffin and depriving the crew of oxygen. Experts suggest the inner chamber was not flooded when it sank.

It looks like she probably went down with air sealed inside, meaning the crew eventually died of oxygen deprivation, Mr Bardone told Italian newspaper, La Nuova Sardegna.

Britain during WWII - in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Britain during WWII - in pictures Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: A squadron of Spitfires took part in mimic 'air alarms', during a speed demonstration at Duxford Aerodrome Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: British railway workers fit floodgates below river level at Underground Stations Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: A patient on a stretcher is loaded into a Green-Line coach ambulance when being evacuated from Guy's Hospital in London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: Metropolitan Police Constables wearing gas masks line up to enter a mobile gas chamber at East Ham Police Station, London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: A young female British Navy officer sitting astride a minesweeper's cannon and lighting a cigarette whilst two officers look on Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1939: Schoolchildren crowd Ealing Broadway Station in London, some of the first youngsters to be evacuated to the country during World War II Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1940: Bells rescued from the belfry of St Giles in Cripplegate, London, which was bombed during a night raid Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1940: A projector, operating from its sunken sandbagged emplacement, at a searchlight station in the London area Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1940: Auxiliary Territorial Services personnel sealing and preparing a Churchill tank for export to the Soviet Union Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1940: An Australian soldier leaps from a tank during training exercises in Britain Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1940: A man flies a Union Jack on a bomb site. The area was bombed twice, and the second time it tore the flag in two Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1941: A policeman coaxing his pony to leave an area which is being evacuated due to the discovery of an unexploded bomb Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1941: Charles de Gaulle (C), Chief of the French Free Forces, inspects the French colonial troops during during his visit of a military base in Great Britain Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1941: US politician Wendell Willkie viewing the bomb damage to the Guildhall during the Blitz, London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1941: Men, women and children stand with their belongings on a pavement in Clydeside, in the aftermath of a severe bombing raid Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1941: The famous American 'Eagle' Volunteer Air Squadron, formed during WWI, takes its place in the ranks of the RAF Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1942: Work in progress of the decks of almost completed ships, being built for the merchant navy Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1942: Two London buses passing through thick smoke screens during Civil Defence Service training operations Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1942: A British ship (either the Cathay or the Karanja) on fire in Bougie Harbour (Bejaia), during the North African 'torch' landings. The Luftwaffe bombed three of the Allied ships as they attempted to reach shore Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1943: American soldiers viewing some of London's raid damage during a tour Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1943: A crashed German Messerschmitt is towed past the Houses of Parliament in London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1943: The wreckage of Sandhurst Road School in Catford, south London, the day after it was partially destroyed in a German bombing raid Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1944: Extensive manoeuvres for invasion being carried out by American Sherman tank units in Britain Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1944: Rescue workers searching through the rubble of a block of flats destroyed by German raids in London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1944: Bomb damaged buildings in London's Pall Mall after an air raid Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1945: British officers liberated by the 9th Army from Brunswick Oflag 79, the largest British officers' camp in Germany Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1945: Essex-class fleet carrier USS Franklin after suffering a hit by a Japanese dive-bomber off Japan, during war in the Pacific Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1945: The scene in Farringdon Road, London, after a V-2 rocket had fallen in daylight on the Central Markets Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1945: VE day, held to commemorate the official end of Britain's involvement in World War II, is celebrated by crowds at Trafalgar Square in London Britain during WWII - in pictures WWII 1945: Soldiers from the Women's Royal Army Corps in their service vehicle, driving through Trafalgar Square during the VE Day celebrations in London

The vessel left Malta on 28 December 1942 on a mission to destroy the Italian battleships Trieste and Gorizia in the port of Maddalena, on an island of the same name off the coast of Sardinia. Officials think the ship sunk after striking a mine in the gulf of Olbia, north eastern Sardinia.

Mr Bardone found the wreck in almost perfect condition, save for a damaged area on the prow from the explosion.

The Royal Navy said the wreck would most likely not be moved, despite the bodies inside.
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 people of Tajikistan have voted overwhelmingly to allow their authoritarian president to rule indefinitely.

94.5 per cent of the 4 million people who cast their votes in the referendum on Sunday supported amendments to the national constitution, including a provision to remove presidential term limits.

The former Soviet state has been ruled by president Emomali Rahmon, 63, since November 1992.

 Tajiks vote in referendum seen as cementing president's power

The term limit amendment only applies to Rahmon, owing to the Leader of the Nation status parliament accorded to him late last year.

The minimum age for Tajik presidential candidates is also being lowered to 30, paving the way for Rahmons 29-year-old son to stand in the 2020 election.

Referendum ballots only permitted a general yes or no option, removing the chance to vote for each constitutional amendment individually.

Tajikistan remains the poorest of the former USSR nations and faith-based parties have been outlawed, despite the population being predominantly Sunni Muslim.

Voter Nazir Saidzoda told AFP: Rahmon brought us peace, he ended the war, and he should rule the country for as long as he has the strength to.

Human rights attacks around the world Show all 10 1 /10 Human rights attacks around the world Human rights attacks around the world China Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of national security. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Egypt The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Gambia Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Hungary Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Israel Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Kenya Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Pakistan The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be against the interests of the country. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Russia Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Saudi Arabia Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Syria Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians. Getty Images

The government has been criticised by human rights campaigners in recent years for forcing young men to remove their beards and women to cast off their headscarves.

The autocrat Rahmon has been accused of disregarding religious freedoms, civil norms and political pluralism during his 24-year tenure.

In November 2012 the country banned Facebook to prevent 'mud and slander' being said by critics against Rahmon's regime.

The president came to power amid a brutal civil war which claimed 20,000 Tajik lives.

Previous constitutional referendums held in 1999 and 2003 also focussed on extending Rahmons stay in power.
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 }}

Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko was today heading home on a plane from Russia after being released as part of an prisoner swap for two Russians detained in Ukraine.

Handing over Savchenko, whose release was demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, will ease tensions between Moscow and the West just weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia.

There was no official confirmation of the exchange, but the two sources close to the arrangements said it was already underway.

 Female pilot jailed in Russia proclaimed a hero of Ukraine

A plane was en route from Russia to Ukraine carrying Savchenko home, according to anonymous sources. "They are coming back," said one.

Meanwhile the two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were in the process of being returned to Russian soil, a second source close to the swap said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is due to make a statement later today, his office said.

Earlier, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Mr Poroshenko himself had flown to Russia to collect Savchenko, but there was no confirmation of that in Kiev or Moscow.

Savchenko, a military pilot, volunteered to fight with a ground unit against pro-Moscow separatists who rose up against Kiev's rule in eastern Ukraine.

She was captured and put on trial in southern Russia, charged with complicity in the deaths of Russian journalists who were killed by artillery while covering the conflict.

A Russian court in March sentenced her to 22 years in jail. While incarcerated, she was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament and is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia.

Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict Show all 23 1 /23 Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 30 November 2013 Public support grows for the Euromaidan anti-government protesters in Kiev demonstrating against Yanukovychs refusal to sign the EU Association Agreement as images of them injured by police crackdown spread. EPA Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 20 February 2014 Kiev sees its worst day of violence for almost 70 years as at least 88 people are killed in 48 hours, with uniformed snipers shooting at protesters from rooftops. AFP/Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 22 February 2014 Yanukovych flees the country after protest leaders and politicians agree to form a new government and hold elections. The imprisoned former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, is freed from prison and protesters take control of Presidential administration buildings, including Mr Yanukovych's residence. Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Imageses Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 27 February 2014 Pro-Russian militias seize government buildings in Crimea and the new Ukrainian government vows to prevent the country breaking up as the Crimean Parliament sets a referendum on secession from Ukraine in May. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 16 March 2014 Crimea votes overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia in a ballot condemned by the US and Europe as illegal. Russian troops had moved into the peninsula weeks before after pro-Russian separatists occupied buildings. EPA Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 6 April 2014 Pro-Russian rebels seize government buildings in the eastern cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv, calling for a referendum on independence and claiming independent republic. Ukraine authorities regain control of Kharkiv buildings on 8 April after launching an anti-terror operation but the rest remain out of their control. EPA/PHOTOMIG Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 7 June 2014 Petro Poroshenko is sworn in as Ukraine's president, calling on separatists to lay down their arms and end the fighting and later orders the creation of humanitarian corridors, since violated, to allow civilians to flee war zones. Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 27 June 2014 The EU signs an association agreement with Ukraine, along with Georgia and Moldova, eight months after protests over the abandonment of the deal sparked the crisis. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 17 July 2014 Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 is shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Ukrainian intelligence officials claim it was hit by rebels using a Buk surface-to-air launcher in an apparent accident. Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 22 August 2014 A Russian aid convoy of more than 100 lorries enters eastern Ukraine and makes drop in rebel-controlled Luhansk without Government permission, sparking allegations of a direct violation of international law. Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 29 August 2014 Nato releases satellite images appearing to show Russian soldiers, artillery and armoured vehicles engaged in military operations in eastern Ukraine. Nato Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 8 September 2014 Russia warns that it could block flights through its airspace if the EU goes ahead with new sanctions over the ongoing crisis and conflict EPA Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 17 September 2014 Despite the cease-fire and a law passed by the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday granting greater autonomy to rebel-held parts of the east, civilian casualties continued to rise, adding to the estimated 3,000 people killed Reuters Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 20 October 2014 A 'tactical missile' explosion at a factory sends blast wave across rebel-held cityof Donetsk YouTube Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 16 November 2014 The fragile ceasefire gives way to an increased wave of military activity as artillery fire continues to rock the eastern Ukraine's pro-Russian rebel bastion of Donetsk Getty Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 26 December 2014 A new round of ceasefire talks, scheduled on neutral ground in the Belariusian capital Minsk, are called off AFP/Getty Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 12 January 2015 Soldiers in Debaltseve were forced to prepare heavy defences around the city; despite a brief respite to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, hostilities in Donetsk resumed at a level not seen since September 2014 AFP/Getty Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 21 January 2015 13 people are killed during shelling of bus in the rebel-held city of Donetsk Reuters Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 24 January 2015 Ten people were killed after pro-Russian separatists bombarded the east Ukrainian port city of Mariupol AP Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 2 February 2015 There was a dangerous shift in tempo as rebels bolstered troop numbers against government forces AFP/Getty Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 11 February 2015 European leaders meet in Minsk and agree on a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine beginning on February 14. From left to right: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. MAXIM MALINOVSKY | AFP | Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 13 February 2015 Pro-Russian rebels in the city of Gorlivka, in the Donetsk region, fire missiles at Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve. Fighting continued in Debaltseve for a number of days after the Minsk ceasefire began. ANDREY BORODULIN | AFP | Getty Images Ukraine crisis: A timeline of the conflict 18 February 2015 Ukrainian soldiers repair the bullet-shattered windshield of their truck as their withdraw from the strategic town of Debaltseve. Following intense shelling from pro-Russian rebels, Ukrainian forces began to leave the town in the early hours of February 18. Brendan Hoffman | Getty Images

Yerofeyev and Alexandrov both told Reuters in interviews last year they were Russian special forces soldiers who were captured while carrying out a secret operation in eastern Ukraine.

But Moscow, which denies it had troops in eastern Ukraine, has never publicly acknowledged that the two men were acting on its orders.

Russia's relations with its neighbour Ukraine have been toxic since an uprising in 2014 forced out the Moscow-backed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich and installed a pro-Western administration.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Moscow said it was protecting the local Russian-speaking population from persecution by the new authorities in Kiev, but Western governments called it an illegal land-grab and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Soon after, pro-Moscow separatists began an armed separatist rebellion in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, an area with a large-Russian speaking community. Fighting between the rebels and Ukraine's forces killed thousands of people.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since last year, but there is no permanent settlement to the conflict.

Reuters
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A scathing report by the US State Departments own independent watchdog asserts that Hillary Clinton trampled all the rules when she chose to use a private email server during her tenure as US Secretary of State, contradicting her long-held position that she never did anything wrong.

It said that when she was advised that her set-up might make top-secret information vulnerable to outside hacking, she ignored the admonition and that her own aides twice brushed off the concerns, once telling a technical supervisor that the matter was not to be discussed further.

Delivered on Wednesday to Congress, the bluntly-worded report from the office of the inspector general said Ms Clinton should have sought assistance as well as permission from the relevant cyber-security and archiving supervisors at the State Department before establishing her own server inside her home in Chappaqua, north of New York City, and that she had failed to do so.

Ms Clinton, who has been dogged by the email affair since first declaring her presidential run, failed to demonstrate that either the Blackberry she used to send and receive emails or the private server at home met minimum information security requirements, the report said.

The 78-page document says the then Secretary of State, had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business with those supervisors and the inspector general had found no evidence that the Secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server.

Department employees must use agency-authorized information systems to conduct normal day-to-day operations because the use of non- Departmental systems creates significant security risks, the document concludes.

Had she sought permission, she would not have received it. Department officials responsible for information management and security did not - and would not - approve her exclusive reliance on a personal email account to conduct Department business, the report said in its conclusions.

The unequivocal finding that Ms Clinton violated set practices and protocols when she began as Barack Obamas diplomat-in-chief in 2009 threatens further to destablise her presidential campaign, already bruised by the assaults of the other Democrat in the field, Bernie Sanders.

While Ms Clinton has said she is sorry for any mistakes she may have made she has always fallen back on the assertion that she was never guilty of actual misconduct. Nothing that I did was wrong, she said during one CNN town hall conversation in January.

The report speaks of systemic problems at the State Department regarding the handling of potentially sensitive information, spanning several presidential administrations and the tenures of several of Ms Clintons predecessors, a point emphasised by her campaign on Wednesday.

The inspector general documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email, Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesman said, noting that the report says her use of personal email was known to officials within the department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the secretary's server.

There is nothing in the report recommending either punishment or penalty for Ms Clinton. Nonetheless the vast bulk of it is aimed at her lapses while Secretary of State and the 30,000 email sent using the private server, even though her predecessors in the post going back to Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright also get mentions for falling short in the same area.

But its release will inevitably provide fresh fodder to her Republican foes, including the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

The inspector generals findings are just part of a broader shadow that the email affair continues to cast over Ms Clinton as she seeks finally to dispatch Mr Sanders in her bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and pivot to start attacking Mr Trump.

Potentially more ominous for her is the ongoing FBI investigation into whether her choices while Secretary of State meant that classified information was made vulnerable to outside hacking. She has consistently said that nothing she sent or received contained content that has been designated as top secret or classified.

There is also a looming civil lawsuit that could oblige the former first lady to testify in court on the matter and several Republican-led committees on Capitol Hill are planning new hearings into the affair this summer, ensuring it stays in the headlines through the presidential race.

Among those interviewed for the report were both Ms Albright and Gen. Powell as well as Condoleezza Rice, who also served George W. Bush. It notes however that Ms Clinton declined to be interviewed as did some of her top advisors at the time, Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin. Ms Abedin remains at her side in her presidential campaign.

In criticising the State Department in general for its shortcomings, the report said it had been slow to recognise and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks that emerged in the era of emails, particularly where top officials like Ms Clinton were concerned.

Republicans in Washington were quick to pounce on the reports findings as vindication for their long effort to hold Ms Clintons feet to the fire over the whole email affair.

It was a systemic, plotted-out plan to avoid the security that we should maintain for those kind of records, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a key supporter within the party of Mr Trump, told Fox News on Wednesday.
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 }}

Iraqi government units and their paramilitary allies are edging closer to Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, fighting for control of outlying villages and towns and bombarding the centre from the air and with artillery. The 60,000 civilians trapped inside fear they are facing destruction of their city rather than its liberation from the Isis that has held it for 29 months. It looks as if they are trying to destroy Fallujah rather than Daesh (Isis), said one inhabitant.

Recommended Read more Isis unleashes death squads as Iraqi forces advance on Fallujah

A fighting force of some 20,000 Iraqi soldiers, special forces, Interior Ministry troops, tribal fighters, militia groups known as the Hashd al-Shaabi and an uncertain number of US advisers are tightening the siege of Fallujah. But they are deeply divided politically and as are as opposed to each other almost as much as they are hostile to Isis. The biggest divide is between the Iraqi regular armed forces, including two brigades of Special Forces who usually act as assault troops, and the Hashd, most of whom belong to Shia paramilitary movements, though there are also Sunni units. The US is keen to keep the Shia Hashd out of the fighting on the grounds that they are under the influence of Iran and are seen as a threat by the overwhelmingly Sunni population of Fallujah.

The political, military and sectarian fragmentation of Iraq is reflected in the line-up of the attacking force.

An Iraqi commentator, part of whose family is still inside Fallujah, said that the US-led Coalition will not support the operation launched from north and east of Fallujah, but it will support the Iraqi Sunni forces, including Anbar police and the Sunni tribal Hashd that will start the operation from the south side of Ramadi and the town of Amariyat Al Fallujah 35 kilometres away.

Inside Isis secret tunnels Show all 7 1 /7 Inside Isis secret tunnels Inside Isis secret tunnels Network of underground tunnels was discovered by Kurdish forces after they regained the town of Sinjar in Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels A member of the Peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Isis militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Reuters Inside Isis secret tunnels An entrance to the tunnel used by Islamic State militants is seen in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels The secret tunnels allowed militants to freely move underground Inside Isis secret tunnels The tunnels appear to be wired with electricity Inside Isis secret tunnels Some of the tunnels are 30 feet deep Inside Isis secret tunnels Concerns remain that parts of the tunnels are rigged with explosives

A number of families, variously estimated to number between 20 and 80, did manage to get to Amariyat Fallujah further south on the Euphrates in the last twenty four hours. But Isis has issued a warning that anybody who appears on the street will be targeted by their snipers.

The military problems faced by the forces trying to take Fallujah, particularly they do not want to destroy it, will be difficult. Isis is estimated to have some 900 fighters in the town who are experienced in street fighting using not only snipers but IEDS, booby traps, mortar teams and suicide bombers. They commonly dig a warren of underground tunnels so they can remain hidden or suddenly appear behind enemy forces. What is not known is whether Isis will make a last stand in Fallujah sacrificing experienced fighters or withdraw at the last moment having inflicted maximum casualties on the other side. Though it has lost Ramadi in Iraq, Palmyra in Syria and a string of towns and villages over the last year, Isis has generally tried to preserve its fighters and heavy equipment. So far the ground fighting has not been heavy with 35 Iraqi soldiers and 15 civilians reported killed.

 Fallujah siege leaves thousands of Iraqis without food

But Fallujah may be different because its conquest or loss carries greater political significance. It is a town famous for its religious fervour and for fighting the US Marines in two famous sieges in 2004. It was the first big victory of Isis in 2014, six months before the fall of Mosul. Isis military leaders are reverting to guerrilla warfare in order to prolong the war and because of their opponents vastly superior fire power, but they may well calculate that they cannot afford to lose Fallujah without a long battle. The government likewise needs to take Fallujah to shore up its credibility because people in Baghdad see it as the source of suicide bombings which killed 200 civilians in the capital earlier this month.

Previous successes by pro-government forces in taking cities like Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, and Tikrit have all come with the support of heavy airstrikes by the US-led coalition of air powers. Although these were advertised as victories at the time and Isis fighters were killed or forced to retreat the cities were mostly destroyed. Ramadi, that once had a population of 400,000, is still mostly uninhabited with 70 per cent of its buildings in ruins and only 15 per cent of its people able to return. In the long term, the whole Sunni Arab population of Iraq, about a fifth of the total population, is under threat as their main centres come under attack and a high proportion of their community are displaced and their homes destroyed.

The Shia religious hierarchy is conscious of the danger of the Hashd acting as a Shia sectarian death squad driving out the Sunni. The Shia religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, made it known through his representative Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai that he reaffirms his recommendations that the ethics of jihad (Islamic holy war or struggle) be respected. It was a Fatwah from Sistani in June 2014 that originally raised the Hashd in the days after Isis captured Mosul and was sweeping through northern Iraq towards Baghdad. Don't be extreme, he said in a statement, citing the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed. Don't be treacherous. Don't kill an old man, nor a boy, nor a woman. Don't cut a tree unless you have to.
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 Twitter account believed to belong to the Isis propagandist Sally Jones has issued a series of terror threats against the UK.

Sally Jones, originally from Kent, became infamous after marrying a notorious Isis fighter. She is thought to have left Britain for Syria with her 10-year-old child in 2013 in order to marry Junaid Hussain who was killed in drone strike last year.

Jones, also known as Umm Hussain Birtaniya, referred to drones and suicide attacks in a flurry of Twitter posts on Wednesday.

Recommended Read more Trapped citizens fear destruction of Fallujah as Iraqi forces advance

The so-called white widow also made threats of terror attacks in various UK cities including Glasgow and London and called on British women to carry out attacks in the UK during Ramadan.

Jones allegedly wrote on Twitter: To be honest I wouldnt go into Central London through June or even July well to be honest I wouldnt go there at all especially by Tube.

Further Tweets made statements such as England... Boom and London-Glasgow-Wales Booooom!

Tweet allegedly posted by Sally Jones (Twitter)

Sally Jones now appears to be located in Iraq (Twitter)

She also appeared to mock foreign air strikes saying: U cant just sit there with ur tea & scones ordering RAF drone strikes on UK brothers.

Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence group, appeared to confirm the Tweets had been issued by Jones, explaining that the account avoids suspension by Jones repeatedly taking the account down and deleting and re-tweeting her posts.

The account also uses the avatar of a crying Statue of Liberty previously associated with Jones.

 Palmyra before ISIS

In the Tweets, Jones claimed to be located in Mosul, Iraq with her son and uploaded a photo in front of the Tigris.

Jones has previously used her Twitter account to propagandise for Isis and release provocative statements, including her wish to behead a Western prisoner in Syria and behead Christians with a blunt knife, according to the Counter Extremism Project.

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

Last year, Jones hinted she may be planning to blow herself up after her husband, a jihadi computer hacker from Birmingham formerly in charge of recruiting new hackers to ISIS, was killed in a US drone strike in Raqqa in August 2015.

In September 2015, the United Nations sanctioned Jones as an agent operating on behalf of a terrorist organisation.
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 }}

Eleven people were killed when a Taliban suicide bomber targeted rush hour traffic in Kabul today, including a bus full of judiciary department employees.

The minibus was hit as the bomber approached it in the western outskirts of the Afghan capital at around 8.30am, detonating an explosives vest.

The vehicle was on its way to the local courthouse in Maidan Wardak province, where the staff worked, when the terrorist struck in the district of Bagh-e-Dawood.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry confirmed that a further four civilians had suffered critical injuries in the blast.

A minibus full of judiciary department employees was caught in the bomb blast (Getty Images)

The attack came mere hours after the Taliban publicly named Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader following the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike in Pakistan.

In a statement released to Afghan media the Taliban said: "This attack was carried out as revenge for the killing of six innocent prisoners in Kabul."

Earlier this month May six convicted members of the group were hung at a Kabul prison for planning and committing terrorist acts.

The attack was the second of its kind against the judiciary in the city in the space of a month: a judge was killed by gunmen in the city a fortnight ago.

Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Show all 7 1 /7 Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack An relative of one of the victims who was killed in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 April 2016. (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack An injured girl is carried to safety following the blast in Kabul (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack A man stands inside his damaged shop near the scene of a bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 April 2016 (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan quick reaction forces arrive at the site of a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016 (Reuters) Reuters Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan security forces carry an injured security personnel after a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016. (Reuters) Reuters Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan security forces inspect the site of a Taliban-claimed attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2016. (AP) AP Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Relatives and loved ones carry the coffin of a victim killed in the April 19 Taliban truck bomb attack, at a funeral in Kabul on April 20, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

The UN mission in Afghanistan was quick to condemn the brutality of the attack.

According to a UN report, around 600 civilians have been killed in Taliban-led attacks in the country since the start of the year.

The most recent major suicide blast in Kabul left 64 dead and wounded hundreds injured on April 19, an attack also claimed by Taliban fighters.
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 }}

There has been much talk and reportage of the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects at further and higher education level - and beyond - recently.

Exam results season in the Autumn of last year had business leaders expressing their hope that the number of young students seeking an entrepreneurial career would continue to rise after a successful A-level results day, particularly within STEM subjects.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) - which represents company directors, senior business leaders, and entrepreneurs - said businesses would be pleased to see a rise in the number of entries in maths, which proved to be the most popular for a second year running.

With the number of STEM entries up almost one-fifth from 2010 to 2015, the IoD said students were recognising the need to build skills to compete within a modern economy.

However, one aspect which has been incorporated onto the field of STEM - which people may not be aware of - is the arts. Thats right, the arts.

Referred to as the STEAM movement, it is already being championed across the pond in the US, spearheaded by academics and students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), who have planned out an entire curriculum on bringing all five STEAM subjects together, creating the StemtoSteam.org site in the process.

RISDs dean of faculty, Tracie Costantino, one of the curriculums creators, described how the schools new lesson plans focus on the importance of object-based learning in encouraging the research, close observation and critical analysis that both artists and scientists share in common.

She added in a statement: The demand for STEAM resources has picked up in the past few years as teachers recognise the importance of incorporating creative thinking and visual learning into their classrooms.

The greatest thing about the STEAM movement in America is that young people dont have to wait until further down the line in education to be exposed to it. The iconic educational program, Sesame Street, recently announced its 43rd season will incorporate the arts into its existing STEM focus.

Dr Rosemarie Truglio, SVP of education and research at Sesame Workshop in New York, told the StemtoSteam.org site: Incorporating the arts into our STEM curriculum was an exciting and natural addition, as Sesame Street has always used music, visual, and performing arts as tools to educate and entertain children.

One academic, though, has recently argued that the concept of bringing the arts and science together is not a new one. In her article, Royal Holloways Professor Kate Normington, highlighted how Leonardo da Vinci brought the two together in Renaissance Italy.

She added: It appears that, even within contemporary times, those at the forefront of innovation have been merging arts and science practice. Pomeroy notes that Nobel laureates in the sciences are seventeen times likelier than the average scientist to be a painter, twelve times as likely to be a poet, and four times as likely to be a musician, making reference to the works of science news writer, Steven Ross Pomeroy, who shares the same views in a 2012 essay of his own.

Regardless of when the arts and STEM subjects came together, though, it looks like the collaboration is set to take both education and the world of work by storm - and sooner than you may think.
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 Last week you talked about someone who wanted a stopover in Hong Kong en route to Australia. You said they could use an agent, or you could do it all yourself. But if you do this, then dont you lose Atol cover?

Name withheld

A The Air Travel Organisers Licence, or Atol, is a scheme that was brought in to limit the damage when package tour operators go bust. The idea is to protect holidaymakers pre-payments, and to allow travellers to continue their holiday if the firm goes bust.

Scheduled flights bought direct from an airline are not covered. But looking at the carriers flying between the UK and Hong Kong  British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic  they are all rock-solid companies that are not going to vanish between booking a flight and departure date.

There are some advantages of packaging up the trip  such as buying accommodation the same transaction  but that is because it earns the benefits of the Package Travel Regulations, which basically require the tour operator to deliver the trip as planned or sort out problems when they arise.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a readers question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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 }}

Hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers face disruption and frustration over the half-term holiday, as striking air-traffic controllers and refinery workers bring chaos to the transport network for people travelling to, through and over France.

Members of air-traffic control unions are unhappy about proposed changes to working arrangements and retirement conditions, and what they call The inability of our government to develop a human resources management policy. They also claim their salaries are significantly lower than those of their counterparts in other major providers.

The largest union, the SNCTA, will strike on five further days: tomorrow, from 3 to 5 June and on 14 June. Previous stoppages have caused hundreds of cancellations, with flights between the UK and Spain particularly badly affected.

Recommended Read more France fuel strikes leave petrol stations dry and pose threat to Euros

Tomorrow will be the seventh day of industrial action by French air-traffic controllers in the past two months. Ahead of the strike, Ryanair has cancelled 70 flights , including some services from Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester and Stansted to France, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

The airline warned: Unfortunately, further flight delays and cancellations are likely.

Ryanair sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused by these unjustified ATC disruptions which are entirely outside of our control.

 French government stands firm amid labour protests

British Airways has cancelled at least 20 flights, including six between Heathrow and Madrid, and four each to and from Barcelona, Nice and Paris. Passengers to Geneva, Marseille and Toulouse are also affected. BA is allowing anyone booked to fly to or from France, Barcelona or Madrid tomorrow to switch flights up to and including Wednesday 1 June. The airline said: We are sorry that customers are facing another potential day of delays and disruption, which is beyond our control, and we recognise the uncertainty the situation is causing.

Air France, as with previous strikes, is confident it will operate all its flights to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle. A few services using the other airport in the French capital, Orly, and Lille, may be affected.

The stoppage next week, covering Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will jeopardise the return home for half-term holidaymakers. It could also prove extremely expensive for airlines, which are responsible for providing meals and accommodation until they can get travellers home.

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

Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of the airlines grouping, A4E, said: The overall impact of these strikes will be immense as they are taking place at a very busy time of the year. We are hurtling towards a summer of disruption and frustration for customers.

Airlines are calling for controllers from other countries to take over from the striking French workers.

Travellers who decide to drive instead to or through France face problems finding fuel. Blockades of fuel depots have led to limits on the amount of petrol or diesel that can be bought. In addition, says the Foreign Office: Some petrol stations may have run out of some types of fuel.

Click here to compare flight options with Skyscanner
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 }}

Despite some recent tragedies, air travel is still one of the safest forms of transportation around.

According to Australian consumer aviation website AirlineRatings.com, the world's airlines transported 3.6 billion passengers on 34 million flights in 2015.

AirlineRatings.com recently released a list of the 20 safest airlines selected from a pool of 407 carriers around the world. To compile its list, the website evaluated each airline based on its standing with international regulators, its fatality record over the past 10 years, its result from an International Air Transportation Association(IATA) safety audit, and whether the airline's country of origin conforms with the International Civil Aviation Organization's 8-point safety parameter. All of the airlines on this list passed those tests with flying colors.

The carriers on the list hail from Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe, with no carriers from Africa and South America making the cut.

 9 terrifying things that happen on a plane but passengers know nothing about

This top 20 includes only mainline carriers. Low cost carriers such as JetBlue, Virgin America, Norwegian, and Easyjet were considered for a separate ranking.

AirlineRatings.com didn't list the final finishing order for places 2-20, but did crown a winner.

20) Air New Zealand has made a fine recovery after a period of financial turmoil in the early 2000s. This renaissance culminated with AirlineRatings.com recently naming it the best airline in the world for the third year in a row. Air New Zealand has not suffered any significant incidents in the past couple of decades.

19) Singapore Airlines is universally lauded for its high quality service and efficient operations. Skytrax named Singapore the second best airline in the world. The Changi Airport-based carrier has been accident free since 2000.

18) Finnair, Finland's national airline, doesn't get as much attention in the media as some of its Scandinavian counterparts. But don't discount the Helsinki-based carrier. It has one of the best safety records in the business and hasn't suffered any major accidents since the 1960s.

17) AirlineRatings.com recently named Cathay Pacific the best long haul airline in the Asia/Pacific region. As outstanding as its service may be, the airline is just as competent in terms of safety. Outside of terrorist attacks, Cathay Pacific has not suffered a fatal accident since the 1960s.

16) Since its inception in 1985, Emirates Airlines has grown to become one of the biggest players in the industry. And in more than 30 years, the airline has maintained a near-perfect safety record  not suffering a single fatal accident.

15) Like its neighbor, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has maintained an unblemished safety record. It's truly remarkable how quickly the decade-old airline has grown in scale and reputation.

14) Taiwan's EVA Air was recently named the best long haul airline in Asia by AirlineRatings.com. The airline has not suffered any major accidents since its founding in 1988.

13) Germany's Lufthansa is a European aviation juggernaut. In operation since 1955, the Frankfurt-based carrier was recently named Europe's best long haul airline by the website. It has not suffered any fatal accidents since 1993.

Shares in Lufthansa were up on 2.9 per cent on Thursday morning (Getty Images)

12) It's called Alaska Airlines, but it's actually based in Seattle. The carrier is a mainstay on the West Coast of the United States. Alaska recently made a major splash with the $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America. The airline has not suffered a fatal crash since 2000.

11) Founded in 1954, All Nippon Airways is well regarded for its consistent and high quality service. Last year, Skytrax ranked All Nippon sixth on its best airlines in the world list. ANA has not had a fatal crash in more than 45 years.

10) Virgin Australia, the Australian off-shoot of Richard Branson's aviation empire was founded in 1999 as a low cost carrier called Virgin Blue. In 2011, the company switched to a traditional, full-service business model and was rebranded as Virgin Australia. The airline has no fatal crashes in its history.

9) Coming off a recently completed merger with US Airways, American Airlines now boasts a fleet of more than 900 mainline jets. The Fort Worth-based airline is has not suffered any non-terrorism related fatal incidents since 2000.

American Airlines flights have been grounded across the US (Getty)

8) Founded in 1929, Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines has been consistently regarded as one of the best in the US. Hawaiian currently boasts a fleet of more than 50 wide and narrow-body airliners. Hawaiian has never experienced a fatal accident.

7) Established in 1951, Japan Airlines has been Japan's national airline for more than 60 years. JAL has not had a fatal crash in more than 30 years.

6) Founded in 1920, KLM is one of the oldest and most trusted names in the airline industry. Although KLM and Air France merged in 2004, the two airlines operate under separate brands. KLM has not had a fatality in almost 40 years.

5) Formed in 1946, Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, currently serves as the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The airline's last fatal crash occurred in 2001.

4) Swiss International Air Lines was formed in 2002 from the remnants of the bankrupt Swissair. In 2007, the airline became part of Germany's Lufthansa Group. Swiss has suffered no fatalities in its history.

3) Chicago-based United Airlines took its current shape in 2012 with the merger of United and Continental Airlines. United has not suffered a non-terrorism related fatal crash in more than 20 years.

2) Crawley, England-based Virgin Atlantic is billionaire Richard Branson's original aviation venture. Since 2012, 49% of the carrier has been under the control of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. Virgin Atlantic has not suffered any fatal crashes in its history.

1) The winner is Australia's Qantas. Qantas is the Volvo of the airline industry  a company whose reputation and mystique is built upon its clean safety record. This is for good reason. The 93 year-old airline has not had a fatal crash since 1951.

Read more:

 13 useful life hacks you can learn in a minute

 Why Microsoft's chatbot turned into a racist

 Everyone is worried that the China bubble will pop

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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 }}

Few places can be more life-enhancing in spring than Strumble Head. This huge rocky, raised outcrop pushes north from the Pembrokeshire coast into the sea. As it does so, it acts as a kind of geological butterfly net, catching and halting the progress of some dramatic birds that are on their way north to breed. Arctic skuas, typically associated with Orkney and Shetland, are regularly seen here in May, as are sooty shearwaters, birds that spend our winters on the impossibly remote southern south Atlantic Ocean island of Tristan da Cunha. Manx shearwaters, meanwhile, breed along the coast in large numbers.

Their presence brings a touch of elemental exoticism to these parts, as well as instances of nature red in tooth and claw, for the skuas will sometimes take on mild-mannered puffins, shaking them until they drop their catch, or if they are feeling bold, even attack ducks twice their size. Their even larger and more aggressive cousin, the great skua, has been spotted here tugging at the wing tips of gannets to make them drop their catch..

Strumble Head is far from the lonely fiefdom of the hard-core twitcher and there is plenty aside from avian thuggery to keep walkers busy. The promontory is watched over by a dramatically perched lighthouse and is one of the best places in Europe to see harbour porpoises, while bottle-nosed dolphins, grey seals and even orcas can be spotted from the observation hide. Come here towards the end of summer and in calm seas you have every chance of seeing sunfish, almost four metres in diameter, cutting through the waters. Basking sharks are an added bonus.

Before setting out on this walk you can enjoy all this activity from the relative shelter of the sturdy whitewashed Second World War lookout that has evolved into one of Europes most important wildlife watching observatories. The centre was officially opened in 1988 by Bill Oddie, though apart from a few information posters, it appears to have changed little since its wartime days.

The path winds south-east from Strumble Head, taking time to descend its flanks to become a bracing, classic cliff-top walk. Far ahead, the other side of Fishguard, is the solid lump of Dinas, another headland that hides much of the coast further east. A solitary chough, with its dashing red beak, lurches out of the cliff top edges and floats away on the strengthening breeze.

The coves are sometimes narrow, sometimes broad, all are smothered at their summits in gorse the colour of acid yellow. The landscape around Y Globa Fawr gets even more rugged and here the cliffs are a harsh grey and caves have been hollowed out at their base. Even so, the ups and downs merge into one another and it can be useful to turn to the grid references that have been thoughtfully etched into the many footbridges along the way. Far below, we occasionally spot sure-footed fishermen balanced on rocks in pursuit of pollock.

The gorse-splashed landscape (Shutterstock)

Just beyond Carn Halen we spot what at first glance appears to be an ancient monolith standing isolated at the headland overlooking Carregwastad Point. The weathered wording is hard to decipher but unexpectedly marks the place where in 1797 Britain was last invaded. During the Napoleonic Wars the French launched a substantial if chaotic landing on Welsh soil with a drunken force of 1,200 soldiers  mainly Frenchmen and convicts  led by an elderly American. Their hope was that the common man of England and Wales would join in solidarity with their Gallic counterparts. They got as far as taking over Trehowel farm a mile inland but the invasion quickly foundered: the Welsh peasantry remained unmoved and the Pembroke Yeomanry quickly overcame the disorganised rabble.

From the memorial stone we drop down to a narrow wooded valley. Its an enchanting place; there are swings attached to the boughs of the sycamores and birches and the clearings around the stream suggest people lived here for some time right up to Victorian times.

We turn inland to reach the hamlet of Llanwnda and the lonely church of St Gwyndaf. The bell-tower leans alarmingly away from the roof, adding to a sense of remote abandonment. The French invaders made it as far as the church, broke in and stole the silver, though it did them little good.

The redoubtable Strumble Shuttle bus runs through Llwanda but the weather is good and we return inland, a quick journey along quiet lanes. The drama of the coast remains in close proximity but is for the most part hidden from view. Instead, the walk is characterised by chirruping song and of birds hastening back and forth, beaks full of worms and insects. Its spring and the avian invasion is proving more enduring than that of the French.

Travel Essentials

START/FINISH: Strumble head car park;

DISTANCE: Four miles/ 7km to Llandwnda; six miles/ 10km if return inland to Strumble Head

TIME: 2.5-3.5hours

OS MAP: OL 35 North Pembrokeshire

Directions: Follow the coast path east from Strumble Head car park. Just beyond the memorial stone to the French invasion the path drops down to a stream and woodland. Follow the path uphill for 50m and turn right following fingerpost sign across fields to Llanwnda church. From Llanwnda pick up the track that heads west to Trennewydd and follow lanes back to Strumble Head

Transport: The closest train station is Fishguard Harbour, served by Arriva Trains Wales (08457 484950; nationalrail.co.uk) from Swansea, Cardiff and Newport. The Strumble Shuttle runs to Strumble Head from both Fishguard and St Davids (pembrokeshire.gov.uk).

Accommodation: Mark Rowe stayed at Glandwr Farmhouse at Newport, Pembrokeshire (01437 721674; experience-mor.org), which costs from 975 per week.

More information: visitpembrokeshire.com
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Tunisian ambassador in London has asked the British Government to drop its warning to British nationals not to go to his country for anything other than essential travel. The guidance has led to a 90 per cent drop in British visitors to Tunisia so far this year  a crippling blow to its tourist industry.

The Foreign Office travel advice came after the massacre last summer at the beach resort of Sousse, killing 39 people. It has not changed since, despite the Tunisian government taking extensive security measures and no further major attacks taking place in the country. In fact, more people have been killed by terrorists in Paris and Brussels in the intervening period.

The Foreign Office, however, holds that further attacks in Tunisia are highly likely. The terms used are chosen carefully, in line with structured intelligence assessments, but the fact remains that there are many countries where further terrorist attacks are, and have been, highly likely and even imminent without tourists fleeing.

MI5s assessment of terror threat in the UK, for example, is severe, which it explains means an attack is highly likely.

The British Government has effectively imposed economic sanctions on Tunisia, the only country of the Arab Spring which has emerged without prolonged violent strife or sliding back under authoritarian rule.

 Confronting Isis in Tunisia

Not so long ago, Western governments were praising Tunisia for this achievement. They were right to do so.

I was in Tunisia reporting on the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali five years ago. Compared to the mayhem my colleagues and I subsequently covered, as the Arab Spring turned into the bleak Arab winter, the country has coped remarkably well.

The tourist industry is Tunisias biggest employer and foreign revenue earner. The lack of international visitors is leading to unemployment. This will sow dissatisfaction among those losing their jobs, who happen, mainly, to be young men. A rich seam is being created for Islamist extremists to exploit.

When covering the Sousse murders, I met many of these young men who feared tourism drying up and them losing their jobs. That is exactly what has happened to many of them now.

Some who have kept in touch speak of a sense of hopelessness and increasing bitterness, of friends and colleagues who may become attracted to violent Islam.

In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia A British Government official with British tourists queuing up at the check-in counter at the Enfidha International airport in Sousse In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia British tourists arrive at the Enfidha International airport in Sousse In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia Tourists arrive at the Enfidha international airport, as they wait to leave Tunisia In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia Tourists queue to leave Tunisia at the Enfidha international airport In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia British tourists queue up at the check-in counter at the Enfidha International airport in Sousse,Tunisia. The British Foreign Office advised tourists to leave Tunisia Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, 'Since the attack in Sousse on 26 June 2015 the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia British tourists arrive at the Enfidha International airport in the Tunisian capital Tunis In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia British tourists arrive at the Enfidha International airport in the Tunisian capital Tunis In pictures: British passengers arrive home from Tunisia after Foreign Office warning Tunisia Tourists have their passports checked as they wait to leave Tunisia at the Enfidha international airport

Seifeddine Rezgui, the young student who carried out the Sousse murders, lived with other members of his cell in the Islamic holy city of Kairouan. There, at the Great Mosque of Sidi Uqba, the Imam, Taib al-Gazi, spoke about clerics coming from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states spreading intolerant Wahaabi doctrine.

We were being infected by extremism, it was very damaging, he told me. We have managed to put a stop to that, but these people will try to reappear and, given the chance, they will try to spread their poison again. We know the extremists are here, but in small numbers. Britain should help us get rid of them, not help them by taking away the livelihood of so many young people.

The terrible consequences of an economic collapse will not just be confined to Tunisia.

We know the scope of international jihad. Rezgui was trained across the border in Libya by Isis, as had those who carried out an attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis two months previously.

Recommended Read more What the killing of Mustafa Badreddine means for Hezbollah

Britain is among Western states being drawn back towards military action in Libya. British, western European and American special forces are already on the ground. A UN-sponsored administration trying to establish itself in Tripoli will soon start receiving weapons and training for its troops.

The Western re-engagement is an attempt to combat Isis, which is spreading out from its base in Sirte, Muammar Gaddafis home town.

During my last visit to Libya, officials were keen to stress that Isis in their country was run by Tunisians. This may not be true, but there are certainly quite a few Tunisians in their ranks.

There was a suicide attack while I was there, at the northern port of Misrata; the bomber, with the nom de guerre of Abu Wahid al-Tunsi, was from Tunisia.

So Britain is becoming militarily active in Libya to confront jihad while helping to create conditions next door in Tunisia for further jihad.

There have been mistakes in Western policies in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. This is one of them  and one which will have dangerous consequences.
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 }}

Lord Alan Sugar has long since passed his apprenticeship as a Government business adviser. Though newly appointed as the Prime Ministers enterprise tsar, a quick glance at his CV reminds us that he also, of course, served in a similar role under Mr Camerons Labour predecessor, Gordon Brown.

Unlike some of the wannabes who appear on his television show, Alan Sugar has been given a bit of a second chance. Not that Lord Sugar was exactly looking for a job. Although no longer involved in the firm that bore his initials, Amstrad, he is busy enough with new interests and said to be worth more than 1bn. He hardly needs to circulate his CV. Alongside Sir Richard Branson, he is the most celebrated entrepreneur in the land (Sir Philip Green might also be noted, were it not for some recent unfortunate controversies).

Politically, though, he may have been at a bit of a loose end. Suralan, as his TV contestants used to address him in the boardroom, left the Labour Party last year, citing Ed Milibands unsympathetic policies on business as the main gripe, and has in recent weeks made no secret about his disappointment with the anti-Semitism row that has engulfed Labour.

David Cameron will have been pleased to make use of this former Labour supporter. But Lord Sugar may simply want to make himself useful to the country, and do more than hire one young person on 100,000 a year to instil a spirit of enterprise in the coming generation.

Too many, perhaps, believe that the road to riches lies in show business or the media. There is some irony that many of Lord Sugar's most promising Apprentice proteges, such as Katie Hopkins, Michelle Dewberry and Saira Khan, wound up as celebrities. Lord Sugar himself proves that it more probably starts selling car aerials door-to-door, taking intelligent risks and working hard.

Maybe the Labour Party needs reminding of that too.
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 }}

Prime Ministers Questions? Not today: a line up of deputies saw Chancellor George Osborne take on Labours Angela Eagle at the dispatch boxes, while David Cameron met G7 leaders in Japan and Jeremy Corbyn took a break from pulling questions from his bag of fan mail.

It was, in fact, an Osborne-Eagle rematch, the pair having met once before, and the fight followed a similar course. Eagle stole the show, pinning the Chancellor on his already bruised tax record, describing as cosy his complex relationship with the likes of Google, and exposing how little the Conservatives had done to tackle tax avoidance.

 Angela Eagle asks about Google tax

The grimaces were visible on the Chancellors face. He ducked questions on Tory tax affairs and tried to turn the tables onto Labours and Eagles own achievements, or lack of, in government. Despite being Chancellor for six years, Osbornes instinct under pressure is still to refer to Labours record rather than identifying and celebrating his own sides achievements. It is a weakness that would see him ridiculed as party leader.

Here is a man forever focused on what happened before he came to power, incapable of providing straight answers to straight questions, marshalling information for his own ends. When he faces a threat, the man who may be our next prime minister resorts to poor humour, mounts attacks on his opponent and finds creative ways to deflect the question.

This was Osbornes audition for the top job, but it didnt quite go to plan. Eagles sarcasm proved an effective tool; her quick-witted responses undermined both Osborne and his party, as she spotted that Tory Brexiteers had been banished from the front bench, highlighting the infighting within the party that this week led to cabinet member Iain Duncan Smith name calling Osborne Pinocchio.

Nevertheless, the cheers from backbenchers for Osborne were boisterous. He remains the party favourite to take over from Cameron. But a YouGov poll suggests that just 11 per cent of voters think that he can run the country. His performance today will have done very little to change that.

Osborne is a long way off the standard Cameron has set for PMQs, though Eagle is undoubtedly a significantly tougher opponent than her party leader. This is a serious problem for the two men who have their sights set on Downing Street in 2020, one they are both keen to resolve.

For Labour, the match between Osborne vs Eagle allows the party to really enjoy PMQs, to land more damaging blows that get to the heart of the issues under debate. But Osborne will walk away disappointed that he failed to capitalise on this opportunity and confirm his position as the most likely candidate to take over from the Prime Minister when he finally steps aside.
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 }}

Dear Jesse,

I just finished reading your tacky Taki interview and to tell you the truth, my heart is bleeding. I postponed reading it, thinking: What's the news, can't be worse than the others, we're used to it. It is worse, and there's no way in hell we will ever get used to this.

I love your music, your concerts mostly (such fun, wild shows) and man, I never thought that you would become one of those spreaders of fear. Fox News, Trump, all those guys. You always felt like a maverick, a rebel: we now know that you are not. We (and by that I mean the rebels, the mavericks, the rock crowd) always loved and defended you because you were a lovable fool and kind of a dumb f***, like the Three Stooges or Tex Avery's wolf. You now proved your stupidity to be f***ing dangerous.

Your comments reopened a nasty wound. So you say the security crew was in on it and was warning every Arab they saw. See, as you can see on this picture some guy took at the scene a few minute before your show began, I happen to be an Arab and to look very much like one. I got a big black curly beard and the skin tone to match it. I also happen to live and breathe rock n' roll. It is, my wife's love aside, the single most important thing in my life. So of course, that warm November night, I was among the crowd at the Bataclan. Wasn't gonna miss an EODM concert, and it was only the first of eight rock shows I had lined up that week.

Victims of the Paris attacks Show all 33 1 /33 Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Nick Alexander Victims of the Paris attacks Mathias Dymarski and Maria Lausch Victims of the Paris attacks Anne Cornet Guyomard and Pierre Yves Guyomard Victims of the Paris attacks Guillaume Decherf Victims of the Paris attacks Ciprian Calciu Victims of the Paris attacks Nohemi Gonzalez Victims of the Paris attacks Elodie Breuil Victims of the Paris attacks Asta Diakite Victims of the Paris attacks Romain Didier Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Halima Saadi Victims of the Paris attacks Ludovic Boumbas Victims of the Paris attacks Thomas Duperron Victims of the Paris attacks Germain Ferey Victims of the Paris attacks Marie Mosser Victims of the Paris attacks Fabrice Dubois Victims of the Paris attacks Thomas Ayad Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Djamila-Houd Victims of the Paris attacks Mathieu Hoche Victims of the Paris attacks Justine Moulin Victims of the Paris attacks Anne Guyomard Victims of the Paris attacks Anna Lieffrig-Petard Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Lacramioara Pop Victims of the Paris attacks Alberto Gonzalez Garrido Victims of the Paris attacks Mohamed Amine Ibnolmobarak Victims of the Paris attacks Cedric Mauduit Victims of the Paris attacks Matthieu Giroud Victims of the Paris attacks Michelli Gil Jaimez Victims of the Paris attacks Pierro Innocenti and Stephane Albertini Victims of the Paris attacks Nicolas Classeau

As I said I live and breathe rock 'n' roll, and I could not look more Muslim if I tried. But apparently, the big bad Muslim conspiracy missed me. Damn, they forgot to warn me. They also forgot to warn Djamila, and all the other Arabs who got shot and killed that very night. They forgot to warn my fellow Moroccan Amin, who was shot that very night. Apparently, a few weeks later, the also forgot to warn Leila, another fellow Morrocan, who got killed in the Ouagadougou attack. Silly international Muslim conspiracy. They really cannot do any job well.

I will not dignify you by narrating how I behaved that night. I have and always will refuse to do that publicly: I do not believe that another bloody Bataclan story could be useful to anyone. You can make your own inquiries and I do not think that you will like what you will discover, for it will certainly not fit your narrow minded, boxed-in image of what a Muslim or an Arab (for apparently you ignore the difference between those two words) can do. I believe that the people I helped that night did not care that I was an Arab, nor did I care which origin they where or which imaginary friend they bow to. We all bleed red, brother. And enough about me.

What pains me most is that you do not even realize that a huge number of us who managed to get out alive of this horrible ordeal owe our lives to a Muslim guy. His name is Didi and he opened the left front door most of us got out of. This guy did something that neither you, me, or anyone else I ever met would ever have done.

 Eagles return to Paris

You know what he did, this Arab guy, this Muslim? He opened the left front door, let a shitload of people out, and then, while he was safe and sound in the street outside, HE WENT BACK IN. He turned back, and headed back in to save more people. He opened the upstairs exit and let a number of people out through there. That guy, as I said, was nothing like you. Or me.

He was a fucking hero. An unarmed, red-blooded, real-life fucking hero that you just insulted with your racist, hateful comments. You, who are not a hero. You who are, just like me, just a regular guy who happened to be caught in an awful situation and did whatever he could to get out of it and try to help some people around him. So no, your comments are not OK. How is insulting heroes OK?

You say: Islam is the problem. I say: All you f***ing bigots and your fairytale s*** stories are the problem. Racism and refusal to recognize one another as complex (more complex than ethnicity or race can explain) human beings is the problem. Reducing others to what you think you know is the problem. You saw those guys the other night. Those marble-eye, brainwashed, horrible assassin motherf***ers were unable to even recognize a fellow human face. Dude, don't be like that. Just don't. Don't imagine that you are facing that awful fundamentalist deathwave alone. Because this is the world we live in now, and we're all in this shit together. Muslims and Arabs are caught up in it with you, they face dying a random, stupid death like you.

Recommended Read more I went to the same mosque as Jihadi John

Rock 'n' roll is love, man. LOVE. Look at yourself: you have become a spreader of hate, brother. Try to be more in life like the persona we all love when you are on stage. Try to spread the love. The real love, the kind that sees right through people's beards and skin colors and religious shit and garments, the kind that can unite not only a concert crowd but hopefully a nation, a whole world. I hope you can realize how wrong that shit you spread is, hope you can see all the wrong that you are doing. There's still time to change the road you're on, brother. Zeppelin's words.

Just come back to the real spirit of rock 'n' roll, which is that a good rock show should make you wanna fuck or fight. Not rally a nasty conservative politician.

Pax,

Ismael El Iraki

This post first appeared on Ismael El Iraki's Facebook Page
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 }}

Last night, lesbian and gay activists gathered outside City Hall to protest. It wasn't to confront homophobia or transphobia, or pray for the gay men targeted by Isis, or even to highlight the dangers of leaving the European Union for LGBT Brits.

No, it was to protest London's LGBT Pride parade hosting a flyover by the Red Arrows.

Many would consider this progress. It wasn't so long ago that being gay in the armed forces was banned, and it's still the case that the macho culture of our armed forces harbours homophobia in its ranks.

Yet this set of activists had decided to focus on the supposed militarisation of pride. Their message? You can be gay in the army  we just don't want you to talk about it. Where have we heard that before?

It's the same message that LGBT people serving their country were given for decades: don't ask, don't tell. Yet this time it's the other way around.

The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe Show all 15 1 /15 The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 15. Italy Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 14. Macedonia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 13. Poland Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 12. Liechtenstein The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 11. Lithuania The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 10. Latvia This content is subject to copyright. The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 9. San Marino The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 8. Moldova The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 7. Belarus Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 6. Ukraine Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 5. Monaco The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 4. Turkey Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 3. Armenia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 2. Russia Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 1. Azerbaijan Getty/AFP

Until recently, LGBT service people lost their jobs if they were found out. They have fought hard just to just be recognised, let alone have the same rights and protections as everyone else in the workplace.

Just last week, Carl Austin-Behan was made the first gay Lord Mayor of Manchester. His own career in the RAF had been ended because he was openly gay, not so many years ago.

The protesters say involving the military in Pride, the annual celebration of LGBT life and culture, is deeply offensive. The event is providing a platform for the RAF to sanitise its image and divert attention away from its role in executing British military objectives across the world, and the human suffering that such operations involve," they state.

Recommended Read more Three things you think you know about gay men and HIV

This isn't just a twisting of the progress we have made, it's a re-writing of history. Bigotry and oppression have been actively fought by the British armed forces and their service people. When Hitler took control of Germany in the 1930s, homosexuals were rounded up and sent to prisons and concentration camps. British soldiers were on the frontline of confronting that fascism, as they have been time and again in the intervening years.

As those activists stand by City Hall cloaked with their self-righteous placards, gay men in Syria are facing barbarity of medieval proportions. It is British military and intelligence confronting new forms of fascism, those fascists still so ready to persecute LGBT citizens.

What Pride London has achieved with the first Red Arrows flyover is not militarisation, it is a momentous sign of the standards of decency and tolerance that modern Britain upholds.

The message of Pride is this: if you're young and gay, you should feel as welcome to be a soldier or an RAF pilot as any other job. And as a gay Briton, you should keep safe in the knowledge that Britain is fighting for the rights of LGBT people all over the world.
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 }}

This week global leaders met in Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit. Against a background of headlines reporting gangs taking advantage of the European migration crisis to force people into slavery, it is vital that we better incorporate protection measures against modern slavery and human trafficking into global humanitarian responses.

60 million people are now on the move, fleeing conflict and persecution  a record high. Separated from their economic and social support structures with limited ways to provide for their families, displaced people are highly susceptible to being deceived into exploitation by traffickers promising a better life. This vulnerability can arise overnight, in an instant, as a result of conflict escalation or after a natural disaster. These crisis situations are resulting in increased levels of human slavery across the world. Particularly vulnerable groups include unaccompanied minors and women and girls.

Yet anti-slavery efforts remain at the margins of humanitarian response efforts, and, even when present are very much reactive as opposed to embedded into emergency disaster relief responses.

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.

Traffickers are agile, business minded and opportunistic. They will act quickly to ruthlessly profit on an increasing supply of vulnerable people. If counter trafficking efforts are not implemented as part of a pre-designed emergency response strategy, then the very lives these responses are trying to save are at risk of being lost to criminal gangs.

A response triggered by the presence of victims is a response too late. The donor community often want to see evidence of trafficking to justify funding an intervention. But modern slavery is often a hidden crime and such evidence is scarcely readily available let alone available in an adequate time frame for protective measures to be put in place.

Evidence can be drawn from global trends and risks can be anticipated and prepared for. The International Organisation for Migration has produced a detailed report on Addressing human trafficking and exploitation in times of crisis. The report found that crisis situations such as natural disasters, including the earthquakes in Nepal (2015) and Haiti (2010) and the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2010), and protracted conflict situations, including the wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, not only exacerbated existing vulnerabilities to slavery and human trafficking but also caused new forms to emerge.

The exploitation does not necessarily remain isolated to crisis zones and their surrounding regions. Some of the victims have ended up here in the United Kingdom. Last month the Home Secretary, Theresa May, asked police to investigate claims by newspapers that child survivors of the 2015 Nepal earthquake have been trafficked and sold to British families in the UK.

 Modern slavery in the UK

The protection measures needed against human trafficking in humanitarian responses do not have to cost vast sums of money. Small, targeted interventions and introducing anti-trafficking awareness into emergency relief programmes can go a long way.

An understanding of human trafficking risks should be incorporated into the training of emergency response workers. Trained safeguarding response teams should be rapidly deployed at border posts to identify and support vulnerable individuals at risk. Places where those in need may congregate, such as food banks, should be utilised to inform people of false employment offers and trafficking risks. Law enforcement and the military should be trained and ready to respond to the particularities of trafficking in crisis zones.

Ending modern slavery is now enshrined in the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, placing it firmly on the development agenda for the first time. Now, as global leaders meet at the World Humanitarian Summit, lets make sure protecting freedom is on the humanitarian agenda and becomes as critical in our humanitarian aid response as food, water and shelter.

Kevin Hyland OBE is the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Turkish people, the Vote Leave campaign claims, are on their way, armed to the teeth and ready to bankrupt the countrys public services.

Turkey (population 76 million) Is Joining the EU the new poster from the campaign claims, with a picture of a United Kingdom and Northern Ireland passport as an open door. Not could be joining the EU, is joining the EU.

Westminster will be unable to do a thing about it unless the country stands up and, in their words, takes back control.

 Penny Mordaunt - 'The UK can't veto Turkey joining EU'

Any expert on the European Union and international relations will tell you that the prospect of Ankara joining the EU any time soon is slim to none. The country is far from close to meeting the 35 standards required for membership and still their ascension would need to be unanimously approved by all members. To add the recent claims of President Erdogan that were going our way, you go yours, and the chances become slimmer.

The Leave campaign has little concern for this reality, however. They are falling behind in the polls as experts and the President of the United States warn that the UK outside the EU lacks the power to negotiate its own trade agreements and could see huge economic fallout from going in alone. All thats left is reckless tactics aimed at exploiting Britains xenophobic underbelly and 19th century depiction of Turks as, in Mark Twains words, by nature and training filthy, brutish, ignorant.

In a video released by the group on Friday they show Cameron claiming that membership was not remotely on the cards, followed by a video from 2010 in which he proudly claims he was to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels, to portray him as at best a flip-flopper, and at worse a liar, actively misleading the public.

If you want to save the NHS, the Leave video declares, Vote Leave.

But the true message of the video isnt one of protectionism for the countrys services and resources. In the background the video shows footage of Turkish MPs brawling in parliament during a debate about changes to the nations constitution that would strip MPs of their parliamentary immunity. Its unclear what this has to do with the strain on the UKs NHS or the issue of overpopulation.

 David Cameron responds to Penny Mourdant's comments on Andy Marr's show

The message that the Turkish people are inherently criminal, uncontrollable, and dangerous is not just a message hinted at in a video. Talking about Turkish membership, as well as the potential for Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia joining the EU, Penny Mordaunt, the Armed Forces Minister, said Many of these countries have high crime rates, problems with gangs and terror cells as well as challenging levels of poverty.

The tabloids arguably summarised this position best. "Vote Leave: Murderers and Terrorists from Turkey will head to UK.

Vote Leave isnt shooting in the dark with this new strategy. A poll carried out by Survation of 2000 people commissioned by Leave.EU found that over a third of Britons would be more likely to vote to leave if Turkey was to become a member of the EU. The poll doesnt go into details as to why people feel this way, but the Express gave a hint when they used an image of a woman in a burqa fashioned from the EU flag to portray the point  an odd choice as Turkish women dont traditionally wear the burqa and headscarves are banned for women in public jobs under Ankaras secular constitution.

There are a number of reasons to be concerned about the potential for Turkey joining the EU. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become increasingly authoritative, cracking down on free press and his political opposition through a number of regressive policies. As Patrick Cockburn wrote, the inclusion would also extend the EUs border deep into the Middle East and include the conflicts of the Middle East in its territory as the Turkish army and the PKK continue their long running guerrilla war.

It is for these reasons and more, however, that Turkish membership is unlikely to be completed at any time in the next few years, let alone by the end of the decade. The leave campaign are not only misleading the British people about this fact, but are stoking the embers of xenophobia in British society and helping to normalise some of the countrys most insidious traditions.
The Prince of Wales sampled award-winning sausages made by brothers Diarmuid (left) and Ernan McGettigan at McGettigan's butcher's shop in Donegal town

Butcher brothers are convinced they will be supplying the Prince of Wales with their new artisan sausage creation - the Buckingham Black Banger.

Ernan and Diarmuid McGettigan, of McGettigan's in Donegal town, remained coy about their efforts to secure a Royal Warrant after Charles declined the offer to take some of their specially crafted wares with him.

Ernan said: "He had no fridge. Even though he had everything else in the car, he said he'd no fridge."

The McGettigan brothers have been working on the new sausage for the last six months but only found out six weeks ago they would be meeting the Prince.

Diarmuid revealed some of the recipe - half black pudding with home-cured bacon and pear - which he said was "fit for a future king".

The brothers said an "avenue had opened" to get sausages sent to the Prince in July but remained tight-lipped about whether they were expecting any orders.

The stop-off in the popular shop was among a series of engagements in a whistle-stop tour of Co Donegal.

It is a year since Charles's emotional trip to Co Sligo and the harbour village where his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, was murdered by the IRA in 1979.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Donegal town at around 11am amid tight security.

Although a military type schedule was in place, the royal couple spent more than half an hour on the streets shaking hands with old and young, including groups of schoolchildren.

Callum Sweeney, 12, from Glebe National School in Donegal Town, managed to sum up the visit in a sentence: "The Prince is here in Donegal to get a suit from Magee's and get sausages in McGettigans and he's promoting peace in Northern Ireland."

Church of Ireland Archdeacon David Huss, who is chairman of the school, looked on as the royal visitors spent more than half an hour shaking hands.

"It's fantastic, a brilliant moment for Donegal town," he said.

"The Prince and Duchess are very, very welcome. We are delighted that they chose, of all places, Donegal town.

"The children were very keen to come and see them but definitely we thought it was an important day. It's an historic moment and a moment they will remember forever - it's unlikely they will have another opportunity."

The McGettigans were overwhelmed by the personal meeting with the Prince.

"It was a rollercoaster," Ernan said.

"He's so normal, down-to-earth, one of us - there's nothing different about him.

"He's put out the hand of friendship to us in the north-west of Ireland for the second time in 12 months so obviously what do we do, we put the hand back, straight back to him. We must be doing something right."

The McGettigans also said the Prince was amazed at the story of their father Michael giving up a career as a doctor to become a butcher in the 1950s.

Ernan said: "He was flabbergasted by that - how did my father end up in butchering?

"He ended up killing things instead of saving things, as my grandfather said, but fortunately there has to be somebody to do everything."

And with the butchers hoping they would be called on for some special deliveries in the near future they claimed an older sausage creation had impressed Charles - the award-winning hickory and maple.

"He was wiped away by it," Ernan said.

The Duchess tasted a lamb and rosemary and plum sausage.

Ernan added: "On the way out the door, I said 'I hope you come back' and 'Well,' he said, 'It's taken me 70 years to get here in the first place so I think I'll have to think about that one'. That's as close to yes as we'll ever get."

The royal couple also visited the Magee of Donegal tweed factory and attended a civic reception at Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
A hand is placed on the memorial at a wreath laying ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

British Prime Minister David Cameron stands accused of stonewalling repeated calls to open up files on the indiscriminate slaughter of 33 people including a pregnant woman.

As the Dail unanimously backed the latest demand for official documents to be disclosed on the no-warning 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombings, Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned the case was central to ongoing reconciliation.

"Access by an independent international judicial figure to all original documents related to the Dublin/Monaghan bombings would bring substantial progress to the investigation of the atrocities so far," he said.

"It would give the families of victims and survivors the surety at least of transparency and full disclosure.

"Without that, those affected understandably cannot come to terms with the suffering inflicted on them."

Mr Kenny, who has repeatedly raised the case with his Downing Street counterpart, said it must be "adequately addressed if we are to achieve a genuinely reconciled society."

It is the third time in the last eight years an all-party motion has been passed in Dublin demanding London allow access to files on the Dublin/Monaghan bombings.

Last week, rock stars U2 were among those who left wreaths at the memorial on Talbot Street in Dublin, where one of the three bombs in the capital exploded, in what was the bloodiest day of the Troubles.

It was addressed to Justice for the Forgotten, which campaigns for an investigation into alleged British state collusion in the atrocities.

Two others bombs were detonated on Parnell Street and South Leinster Street in the co-ordinated attacks in the middle of the evening rush hour on May 17.

About an hour and a half later the fourth no-warning bomb was set off in Monaghan town.

The attacks - which also injured hundreds - were blamed on the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, said a number of previous inquiries raised serious concerns about the non-cooperation of the British authorities.

"It is clear from the evidence that loyalist paramilitaries undertook the bloody deed, however the sophistication and co-ordination of the attacks raise serious issues around the potential orchestration of the explosions by elements of British security forces," he said.

Mr Martin said Mr Cameron was "stonewalling" calls for information on "indiscriminate slaughter" that extinguished entire families with the pain still felt in silent homes across the country today.

"The ongoing refusal of Prime Minister Cameron to release the relevant documents is a fundamental barrier to achieving real closure," he said.

"How long do we have to wait for a meaningful response from the British Prime Minster?"

He added: "The whole truth is needed."

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein leader, said Britain has never been open and honest about the role its intelligence services played in working with "unionist death squads".

"It is now accepted that as a matter of fact that collusion was policy and administrative practice," he said.

"This isn't just a passive British government.

"This is an active effort to thwart efforts to get to the truth."
The pair were detained after accessing the runway through a perimeter fence

Two men have been arrested after a suspected security breach at Shannon Airport.

The pair were detained after accessing the runway through a perimeter fence at around 6am.

The ShannonWatch group, which campaigns against the US military using the airport, said the men were "peace activists" taking symbolic action.

It is understood they tried to inspect a Lear jet they believed was being used by the US Air Force, which was parked at the airport overnight.

A red cross was also drawn on a taxi area as part of the protest.

It is the latest security breach by activists at the airport with the most high profile occurring in 2014 when Independent TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace used a rope ladder to scale a fence.

The Galway Alliance Against War, which also campaigns against US military stop-offs in Shannon, claimed a plane was taking off during the incursion.

"This incident not only highlights Ireland's complicity in the slaughter in the Middle East and Central Asia, but how easily security at Shannon warport can be breached. It is time to end this scandal at Shannon," a spokesman said.
The Prince of Wales is greeted by wellwishers as he visits Donegal Town

The Prince of Wales has said he hopes conflict zones around the world copy the Northern Ireland peace process.

On a whistle-stop tour of Donegal in the Republic - a year after his emotional trip to where his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA in 1979 - Charles praised the people of the region.

"As I mentioned in Sligo last year, the relationship between Britain and Ireland is now better than ever," he said.

The Prince was speaking during a civic reception at Letterkenny Institute of Technology after spending more than half an hour on The Diamond in Donegal town with his wife - the Duchess of Cornwall - shaking hands with hundreds of well-wishers.

"The relationship between the communities on this island has changed fundamentally since the peace agreement of 1998 this is as evident here as anywhere," he said.

"The border is of the merest consequence and Co Donegal, Co Derry, or Londonderry, and Co Tyrone operate as a single economic entity to the great benefit of their inhabitants.

"I can only applaud the people of all three counties for proving that it is possible for communities that have been divided for so long to overcome their differences and create a peaceful and prosperous life together.

"I do so hope that the example you have set will be copied in other areas of the world that have suffered so much conflict."

The day-long visit to Ireland is the latest royal bid to solidify transformed relations with the Republic.

The symbolic move comes after Queen Elizabeth's historic visit in 2011 when she became the first British monarch to set foot in the country for a century.

Security was tight for the couple's engagements, with two women protesting on the edge of Donegal town and about 30 republicans making their opposition known with placards a few hundred yards from Letterkenny IT.

Charles and Camilla also toured Donegal Castle, the Magee Donegal tweed factory and local artisan butchers McGettigans.

They also had a private visit to Glebe House, the home for nearly 30 years of renowned artist and friend of the Prince, Derek Hill.

The day trip ended in Glenveagh National Park and Castle.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said the return visit by the royals marked Ireland and Britain's 21st-century relations.

"Last year, your visit was a powerful demonstration of our two countries' shared focus on peace and reconciliation, with many elements in your programme also demonstrating 21st-century links between us - in education, in science and in many other walks of life," he said.

"If I were to characterise your welcome visit today to Donegal, it might be one which marks our 21st-century friendship, and our ever-growing efforts to work together.

"Working together between Britain and Ireland. Working together north and south on this island. Working together across our open border, between neighbouring counties - indeed between good and friendly neighbours."
One of the biggest standalone office blocks in the country is on the verge of being sold after an international fund agreed terms to buy the property.

An overseas investor has agreed to pay close to 240m for the office block at One Spencer Dock on Dublin's north quays. The block, which is almost fully occupied by PwC, is seen as one of the top property assets in the city.

While a deal has been agreed, it is thought to be some time before the sale will formally close.

This is at least the second time the block has been "under offer" in recent months.

Receivers David Hughes and Luke Charleton of EY, acting for Nama, put the building on the block last year. A deal had been agreed with US investor Hines, but that fell apart earlier this year, apparently after a fund backing the deal pulled out.

Hines beat off IPUT and financier Alan McIntosh for the asset last year. Market sources believe an under bidder is involved this time around but the Irish Independent understands neither IPUT nor Mr McIntosh is involved in the present sale.

Savills and CBRE are managing the sale. All parties declined to comment.

News of the deal came as property firm Hibernia Reit said the net asset value (NAV) of its portfolio jumped 17pc in the year to the end of March and boosted its dividend.

The firm, which invests mostly in office blocks around Dublin, said its NAV - the key measure of a property firm's performance - topped 130.8c per share last year.

Hibernia, which is renovating offices across Dublin, said its profit before tax rose 47pc to 136.3m. The final dividend has been increased to 1.5c per share from 0.8c.

The company retains a war-chest of around 265m and chief executive Kevin Nowlan said his company expected to spend that on more properties on a case by case basis.

"We aren't in a place where we must spend all this. Instead we have it there and we will deploy it prudently as the opportunities arise," he said.

The company said the average rent across its portfolio in central Dublin was 33 per sq ft. That is far below current market rates which are closer to 55 per sq ft. However a large number of Hibernia tenants are due to have a rent review within the next two years, which should ensure a much higher rent roll in a short space of time.

Mr Nowlan added that he still sees demand outstripping supply for some time to come.

"We are now seeing indigenous Irish companies looking for more space so it has gone beyond overseas firms.

"Most of the new office blocks being constructed will not come onstream until late in 2018," he added.

The firm is refurbishing the former Commerzbank House in the IFSC and is extending Cumberland House in Dublin 2. Twitter will move into Cumberland later this year.

It is also building new blocks at Windmill Lane and John Rogerson's Quay. Those projects are said to be developing well.

Hibernia shares closed flat at 1.28.
Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara has opened a "strategic" terminal in Cork port as it seeks to increase its slice of the Irish market.

Yara's Irish business manager Nicholas Morrison they began working towards the opening in 2010 and have been building up their Irish business slowly.

"It was an obvious choice that we should go to Cork. The port facilities are fantastic," said Mr Morrison.

"Both Munster and South Leinster are home to over 12,000 dairy farmers alone. Certainly it is a market in the region of one million tonne of fertiliser."

He said the Norwegian firm has so far invested around 500,000 in the facility in the Ringaskiddy Terminal with the investment estimated to climb to 1m within a year. He said they have a sales team of eight, with the port facility also bringing knock-on employment through stevedoring and hauliers.

With price continuing to be a big issue for farmers, Mr Morrison pointed out the fertilisers are specially formulated complex compound fertilisers (CCF's), where every granule contains all the nutrients.

"We can guarantee traceability and the complex compound fertilisers makes us competitive," he said. "It is not just down to price per tonne it is down to quality, consistency and clean products."

John Coughlan from the IFA's inputs team welcomed the increased presence of Yara in Ireland as "positive as it introduces more competition into the Irish market."

However, the IFA which have been campaigning for the elimination of tariffs on all fertilisers across the EU warned the measure was essential to deliver better prices to farmers. "We are in that space in terms of grain prices and we need to access competitively priced fertilisers," he said.

"Yara do believe in going as direct as possible to farmers and that is important," Mr Coughlan said.

"It means a shorter supply chain given where the products and commodity prices are. Both Yara and Target fertiliser have moved towards more direct provision of fertiliser."

The IFA said nitrogen prices should drop closer to 200/t for buyer groups over the coming weeks but it was dependent on the level of stock the trade is sitting on.

Aurivo is offering suppliers a fixed milk price scheme for the first time. Farmers will be able to commit up to 10pc of their milk for 30 months from August at 28.25c/l including VAT for standard solids.

The processor said that average solids would ensure a milk price of over 31 c/l. There will be no administration or cartage charges applicable to the scheme.

The volumes will be allocated proportionately across suppliers that apply, but they must be signed up to Aurivo's milk supply agreement and participate in the dairy assurance scheme.

Suppliers who sign up will also get preferential access to future forward price schemes.

Information packs and supplier meetings are being rolled out this week.
Fixed price milk schemes have proved a valuable tool in helping the large-scale Teagasc Greenfield enterprise to negotiate through the latest milk price downturn.

The dairy project is nearly halfway through its 15 year plan, which saw the three shareholders - Glanbia, Phelan family and Agricultural Trust - invest in the 750,000 conversion of the former tillage farm to a dairy enterprise.

Volatility management has raised its head for dairy farmers in 2015 and 2016. But it is something the Greenfield farm has been coping with since the outset as it was a high cost farm, explained Teagasc's Dr Laurence Shalloo about the enterprise currently milking 334 cows on the outskirts of Kilkenny.

"We are a very high cost farm with a lot of fixed costs. We've a full land lease, full labour and full bank commitments to make," he said, adding the cost of production in 2015 was 37c/l.

On the farm the team has three strategies to manage volatility - reduce the breakeven price, fix milk price where possible, and put away cash in a good year.

However, he said many of these needed to be planned in advance. "Our net receipts are actually up because we fixed price," Dr Shalloo explained to the 1,000 farmers attending the opening day.

Since 2011, bar one year, they opted to fix around a quarter of their milk through the Glanbia fixed milk price schemes.

In 2011, fixing cost the farm 4,000. They gained 5,000 or 0.3c/l in 2012, while it cost the farm around 12,000 in 2013 and again it cost 3,000 in 2014. However, from 2015 they began gain substantially, with 1c/l gained to the tune of 15,000, and the farm is projecting a gain of around 1.8-1.85c/l for 2016.

"The fixed price schemes were designed to fix price and stabilise income and it has done that," he said. "Imagine what 1.8c/l is worth to us in a year like 2016."

How much farmers should look to fix? Dr Shalloo says the decision should be based on the level of drawings, cost structure and level of debt.

Performance

"In terms of our past performance, we probably should have had more milk fixed based on the performance of the schemes to date as they have been that positive in terms of the overall returns," he said.

"Now is not the time to be going into these schemes, the time to be going into them is when you have the choice," he said.

"There was loads of opportunities up to now and they will come again and we need to be ready to go in. Lakelands have just launched a scheme in the last few days, Dairygold had a scheme in the spring and only 70pc of farmers opted for it.

"We can't just stand back and blame the processor around milk price when we don't go for the schemes when they are there."

On managing cash, they have been putting away money in good years with a 'sink fund' now in place of around 125,000 to deal with volatility and poor milk price years.

In December, the team set a budget for 2016 of a base milk price of 24c/l plus VAT, with fat and protein at 3.3pc and 3.6pc. "We will probably pull that a little bit," said Dr Shalloo, with costs expected to grow slightly this year with more feed needed to top up grass. A deficit of just under 10,000 is projected for 2016.

The volume of litres has gone up from 1.3 million to 1.5 million litres which has reduced the costs per litre from 40.5c/l in 2011 to 37c/l total costs last year.

He pointed out the breakeven price dipped down to 23.8c/l last year with good grass growth, with 2016 budgeted on a break-even price of around 24.8 or 24.9c/l.

"It requires financial discipline and it won't just happen if you don't have a plan," he said.

"We all remember 2009 it was a pretty severe time on farms from a weather and a milk price point of view.

"Hopefully 2016 won't be like that but we should never forget these years of the downturn and we should put ourselves in a position that we can deal with it when it happens again," added Dr Shalloo.

Looking after the next generation

Dairy farming must be an attractive career for the next generation, said Teagascs Paidi Kelly. Delivering a work-life balance is key to ensuring that the young people remain on farms, he stressed.

Already a year into post milk quotas we are short labour on dairy farms and there are a lot more cows to be milked on farms in the future, said Mr Kelly, urging farmers to evaluate this springs work practices now and plan for 2017.

We need young people to actually choose dairy farming as a career.

However, he warned the 65-hours per week average working week will not attract the next generation.

The Greenfield farm has two full-time staff including manager Tom Lyng and assistant manager Eoghan Finneran, relief help and a student.

It is labour efficient working on about 14.5 hours per cow per year, compared to the national average of 30 hours per cow per year.

Tom Lyng highlighted some of the measures that ease the workload. These included good accessibility, easy cow flow into the parlour and heifers all contract reared. In addition, they ensure easy calving sires are used. Jobs such as fertiliser spreading, silage cutting and winter feeding are contracted out.
The availability of organic protein crops is a big factor in determining viability for livestock farmers, particularly pig and poultry producers. Organic regulations require a GM-free feed which further increases costs.

Much of the organic feed used in Ireland has to be imported.

While consumer demand for organic pig and poultry continues to grow, farmers are struggling to source feed at affordable prices. Those who import feed from Britain are also faced with the ongoing sterling exchange issue.

While the feed situation is worrying for the sector it also offers an opportunity to cereal farmers to look seriously at converting to organic production.

Soyabean is generally the main protein component in organic feed, this can vary from 15-25pc depending on the animal requirement and particular mix. Pea, rapeseed and potato protein can also be present to varying degrees.

Due to environmental concerns with soyabean production, attempts have been made at EU level to research effective alternatives. 2016 has been declared the International Year of the Pulse, in an attempt to encourage more farmers to consider growing them.

Pulses include the grain legumes - pea, fava bean and lupins - all of which can be grown in Ireland.

Last year Ireland decided to use 3m of the Basic Payment under CAP to provide a coupled payment for protein crops. The Protein Aid Scheme delivered payments of 280/ha to farmers which should make some inroad in redressing the imbalance between production and demand.

It is challenging to grow single protein crops such as peas organically as they do not compete well with weed and pathogen attacks, and as a result many farmers instead favour growing Combicrops.

High production costs for protein crops grown in the EU, combined with variable yields and poor varieties available, means that in the short term it will be difficult to displace imported crops.

However, in the longer term the ability of grain legumes to fix nitrogen by converting soil atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by the plant, should not be ignored in increasing whole farm production.

Producer profile: Margaret McDonnell, Co Kildare

Expand Close Margaret McDonnell, organic poultry producer / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Margaret McDonnell, organic poultry producer

Margaret McDonnell has an organic poultry farm in the Curragh, Co Kildare, where she specialises in table bird production. Raised on a farm in the West of Ireland, she was always interested in the idea of rearing organic chickens.

She began with 50 chickens in 1999 and was very conscious of the idea of starting small and learning as you go along. Then in 2000 she converted to organic production with IOFGA.

Gradually over time, and with continual farm investment production increased, and now she kills approximately 500 chickens a week. "For anyone starting out as an organic poultry farmer there are two things that you must get right, firstly where you are going to get your birds slaughtered and secondly your feed source.

"Eventually we decided to set up a slaughter unit on the farm as it was becoming difficult to find a facility that would deal with a relatively small producer, so it is purpose built and suits our needs. Sourcing a regular supply of organic feed has been difficult, and over the years we tried many things, such as getting farmers to grow crops like wheat for us.

"We also imported directly from the UK however the sterling/euro fluctuations made it too variable. If the exchange rate was poor, it was difficult to pass that price onto customers as I could not change the price from week to week.

"Now our feed is imported from Holland and we get it directly from Redmills, it is good quality and is nutritionally consistent which is important for flock management," said Margaret. The lack of Irish grown feed is a barrier to the expansion of the sector but like most things is a case of supply and demand.

Poultry producers like Margaret are keen to support other farmers growing cereal and protein crops for animal feed. It would be great to have more Irish suppliers on the market as it would give them a premium reliable outlet for their crops and also give farmers like myself more options as it would bring more competition to the market," she said.

Production costs

Every four weeks Margaret brings in approximately 2,000 chicks at a day old, this varies slightly in winter as sales are higher. "We require 300t of feed a year. The birds are initially fed the organic chicken starter which currently costs 680/t, then when they are ready they transfer to the finisher feed at 526/t. These prices compare to conventional systems where the starter feed is currently 470/t and finisher feed is 445/t. So organic production costs more, as the feed is more expensive and the birds generally live twice as long, that is what makes an organic chicken more expensive than a conventional chicken," said Margaret.

Sales for Margaret's chickens have increased steadily. "In the Celtic Tiger years, sales were crazy with many people buying organic chickens as it was seen as the thing to do. Now I find that people are much better educated, they are buying organic chickens because they value the meat, they will use the meat and also the bones to make soups and stock. People are looking for better quality meat and are willing to pay a bit more for it.

"Our business as grown steadily and organically, which is what we had hoped for. It is hard work, you are very tied to the farm but we love what we do here and we are proud to produce a quality organic product, while at the same time we are conscious of making it as affordable as possible," said Margaret.

The majority of the table birds produced by Margaret are sold via three outlets. She wholesales chickens to Coolanowle Organic Farm, Declan Carty and Jim Ryan all of whom sell at farmers' markets around the country.

Margaret also sells to butchers and specialist retail stores, and finally she sells to a small amount of private customers who buy in larger quantities.

Grace Maher is the development officer with IOFGA grace.maher@iofga.org
At first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Mark and Grainne Duffy's tidy little Monaghan drystock farm.

Tucked away in the drumlin hills of the southern half of the county, the young couple, who won the Zurich Farm Insurance Farming Independent Alternative Farmer of the Year category, mix local full-time work with the upkeep of the 10-12 suckler cows on their 21ha farm. The fact that they buy in another 50 weanlings and stores is also fairly standard practice in the area.

But it's the transformations that have taken place on the farm since it converted to organic status in 2008 that make you realise that these are some of the best operators around, even if Mark didn't enter the sector with such lofty ideals.

"It was a purely financial decision and, to be honest, a big attraction of going organic was the grants that were available on farm machinery," admits the 36-year-old.

Mark's dad, John, won awards with Lakeland Dairies before he sold out on his quota in 2004, and reverted to drystock farming. Mark, who was 24 at the time, decided that he would need an off-farm career to keep him going and trained up as an electrician.

However, a few years into the organic system, he realised that there were decent returns to be had out of an organic beef enterprise.

Spurred on by his Teagasc advisor, Dan Clavin, Duffys became a demonstration farm following best practice on grassland reseeding and stock marketing.

"We reseed the ground here every eight years by planting a stubble turnip and forage rape mix which really opens up the ground. The following spring we plough again and reseed with an arable silage undersown with grass-seed. This is closed off for about three cuts of silage for the first year - I don't worry about grass yields - the whole focus is to get it thickened up," he explains.

The subsequent chicory, yarrow, clover and grass mix produces remarkable results, with stock gaining 1.1-1.25kg of liveweight daily during their time on the farm. They are stocked at 1.5LU/ha, and only 4t of a supplementary feed is bought in annually to finish stock indoors. It is an organic pea/oat/barley mix that is grown locally.

"I make about eight or nine batches of baled silage every year. It's handy enough because we've our own kit and I can go out in the evenings after work and knock a few acres. It means that all our silage is over 70DMD, and good enough to keep cattle gaining weight," explains Duffy.

The chicory helps minimise the parasite burden, with calves getting a derogation for dosing only once during their first grazing season, and just before they are let out for their second season. But Mark must be careful to ensure that they have at least three times the standard withdrawal period before slaughter.

The only input the grassland gets is some slag every couple of years.

Volumes

Duffy finds that sourcing certified organic stock is getting easier as the volume of stock grows and more marts host sales specially geared to the rapidly expanding sector.

"It's hard to buy in the lighter cattle at the right prices of say 2.65/kg, but there is always heavier stock available too," he said.

The number of organic producers more than doubled to nearly 900 when increased subsidy payments were announced in 2014. As a result, the land area has also doubled to 46,000ha.

However, the increase in organic producers is a concern for established producers such as Mark Duffy. Organic beef producers are able to secure prices

close to 25pc higher than conventional quotes at the moment.

Fertility is also key to making the most out of his grass, so Mark's calving interval of 371 days, with all heifers calving down at 24 months is a crucial element to making the system work.

But why does he bother with calving cows if he can just buy in the stock?

"It's always nice to have a couple of U grades in the mix to encourage the processor to do business with you," grins Duffy.

An impetus to make the enterprise as reliant as possible on grass has resulted in the Duffy's delivering 546kg/ha of beef, equating to sales of close to 4,500/ha.

From Ballybay to supermarket shelves in Dubai

The Duffys' success at beef was the reason that a local egg packer came knocking on their door two years ago.

"Nestbox had just landed a contract to supply organic eggs to Spinney's in Dubai, so they needed suppliers in a hurry. To put up a house with 3,000 birds you need about 7ac of organic grass for them to roam in. So not many farmers would have had that available," says Mark.

On the basis of industry averages, and a three-and-a-half-year fixed-price and index-linked contract, Mark estimated that he could have the 220,000 investment in a poultry house paid off in less than 10 years, but there was serious pressure to get it up in time.

"We were still nailing down the roof when the birds arrived, but thankfully we got it all going in time," remarks Duffy 12 months on.

Contrary to popular belief, he finds that the hens use every metre of the 7ac available to them.

"They graze out the grass nearest the house first. They'll go for the chicory and yarrow first, followed by the clover and then the grass. But when they develop a taste for it they'll keep coming out further and further into the field."

The 7ac is divided in four paddocks, with the birds able to graze 50pc of it any one time, while the other half is rested and reseeded.

"The area closest to the house is picked bare, but I can take a cut of silage off the furthest bits," he says.

Mark has hired a local man to help him for 10 hours a week with the 3.5hrs per day of chores required with the egg enterprise.

Meanwhile, he has recently recommenced full-time work as an electrician with nearby Lakeland Dairies, while his wife Grainne has left her job at Kingspan to help manage on the farm.

Despite mixing off-farm work with a busy farm, the Duffys have embarked on another major expansion in their egg enterprise.

"Nestbox brought down their customer from Dubai here one day a few months ago, and were so impressed that they turned around afterwards looking for me to invest in another 6,000 layers. I was barely a year into production, but all of our figures are in the top 10pc of what would be expected for free-range birds. Our hens are eating up to 10pc less feed because they are getting so much from the grass.

"In fact, I'm going to trial offering them silage during the winter months to keep their grass intake up. There are farms doing this in England and I spend a lot of time on line researching what the latest thinking is in organic poultry production.

"But I think the time they spend out grazing really helps their health. My flock's laying rate hasn't dropped much at all yet, even though they are nearly coming to the end of their standard laying life.

"This might allow me to keep the birds longer than the age that they would normally be culled at. They are also producing bigger eggs," explains Mark matter-of-factly.

But the canny business man wasn't going to be wooed on just by the feel-good buzz from his good output.

"We've secured another contract for the new houses that locks in a margin for a sizeable part of the pay-back period for the loan on the new houses. So the future looks bright at the moment."
There are few spectacular prices being paid but land is changing hands at a reasonably steady pace throughout the country.

Last week a 138ac farm at Hugginstown, Co Kilkenny sold in lots and made in excess of 1 million under the hammer of David Shee of Shee & Hawe Associates.

The property, which comprises 80ac of grassland, 24ac of forestry planting lands and 33ac of marginal lands was sold in four lots to four buyers.

A parcel of 40ac of grassland with a derelict residence made 480,000 or over 12,000/ac, while a further 40ac of non- residential grasslands fetched 445,000, or 11,000/ac. A lot comprised of 24ac of planting lands fetched 70,000 and the 33ac of marginal lands were sold for 50,000.

"We needed to offer the lands in different ways to give interested parties options. This took a bit of time, but then it became apparent the best way to proceed was with four lots and after that bidding was brisk on each lot," said Mr Shee.

Meath and Westmeath

Meanwhile, Raymond Potterton had mixed fortunes when he brought a number of properties to auction last week.

A large 172ac farm at Ballynameagh, Coole, Co Westmeath described by Stephen Barry of Potterton's as a highly fertile farm under permanent pasture was withdrawn having been bid to 1m, or 100,000 less than its guide.

At auction the property opened at 800,000 and with two bidders in the chase it stalled at 1m and was withdrawn. It is currently under negotiation.

Mr Potterton had better luck with a 46ac parcel at Stonefield, Carnaross that sold under the hammer for 380,000.

The place is described as a good, high farm laid out in eight divisions with frontage on to a cul-de-sac.

At auction proceedings opened at 200,000 and with two customers in the chase the price rose to 300,000 when the property was put on the market. It sold to a local farmer for 380,000. Earlier in the month Mr Potterton sold a 20.8ac farm at nearby Woodpole for 210,000 beating its guide price by 30,000.

Located less than 1km from Carnaross the farm is 5km from Kells just off the M3 Motorway. Divided originally by the M3 it is now located on a quiet secondary road, a cul-de-sac since the development of the M3. The pastureland is in eight fields with extensive road frontage.
Laura Snow's orphaned sport horse foal by Cobra with his new foster mother, a thoroughbred mare who had lost her foal in an accident

With many owners having reported the loss of their broodmares in recent weeks, some are now paying up to 2,000 to 'hire' foster mares to raise their precious foals.

Hand-rearing valuable foals is hugely time-consuming and quite often not an option for owners with large numbers of animals.

Mares will often be unable to rear their foals through illness, injury or death or in some cases when they reject them.

Some sources are now reporting a slight scarcity of foster mares available, hence possibly pushing the prices up as the sport horse breeding season gets into full swing.

"We haven't seen an increase in thoroughbred foals needing foster mares this season but it seems there is a shortage of these foster mares in certain parts of the country," commented equine vet Mark McRedmond of Anglesea Lodge.

One such owner is Toni Donnelly who lost her beloved show jumping mare Majestic Gold to colic last month but who is now able to watch her colt foal thrive each day with a foster mare sourced through the same veterinary clinic on the Curragh.

"I was absolutely devastated to lose my mare 'Fattie' due to colic when the foal, by Mr Big Cat, was two weeks' old. Sadly there are no facilities here in the north to perform such a major operation so we had to drive two hours to Kildare where the mare underwent surgery. They did everything to save her, but she subsequently died of a heart attack. She was 18 and this was her third foal."

Social media

Within hours of the mare dying the team began the process of sourcing a suitable foster mare. Most equine veterinary clinics retain a list of people specialising in the business, but quite often word of mouth or social media can be just as effective.

"Once the mare was found and collected they began the process of getting her to bond with the foal. This was completed within two days, after which we took both of them home. Thankfully the foal is absolutely flying and 'Petal' is doing a great job. The deal is that we can keep the mare for as long as needed as long as she is returned in foal. We will probably use a local teaser stallion," Ms Donnelly added.

Many of the foster mares commercially used to rear these foals are coloureds with little or no pedigree.

In many cases their own foals are bucket-fed from a very young age and donated to people by their owners. Some high-profile stud farms also hold auctions of these foals each year. "This idea of all these foals being shot to accommodate the business is total nonsense," Mark McRedmond commented.

Tom Carney has been providing a hugely respected service of foster mares for over 25 years and currently has a herd of some 100 at his base in Fethard, Co Tipperary. "Most of them are used in the thoroughbred industry and their own foals are all given away to be reared. My daughter is actually hunting a few, and others are also hunting in the area."

In his case owners who have lost mares are requested to take the foal down to the farm where the bonding process takes place. The mare and foal are then returned a few days' later.

Numerous methods to get mare and foal to bond are known to be used, with some smearing the mare's milk over the foal, while others use Vicks on the mare to eliminate all scent present.

When Laura Snow of Drynam Stables in Swords lost her sport horse mare recently, she and the team at Troytown Grey Abbey took to social media looking for a foster mare.

"The mare had ruptured her pre-pubic tendon and sadly there was no saving her. The foal was delivered and the mare then euthanised. It was a very big colt foal by Cobra and after they gave him colostrum he was in ICU for 24 hours. It was touch and go if he would make it but after 24 hours he was standing."

A search for a foster mare soon ensured and vet Warren Schofield was inundated with offers.

One came from an owner of a thoroughbred mare who had lost her foal in an accident. "It was thanks to the loyal followers of the veterinary clinic and the team at the clinic itself that the foal was saved. The mare has since proven to be a fantastic foster mum to the foal we have now named 'Troy," Ms Snow said.

She will keep the mare until the foal is reared. In the meantime she has agreed to drive her to Kildare to have her covered by the stallion chosen by the owner.

While the majority of cases involve foals who have lost their dams, owners with mares who have rejected their foals are also resorting to foster mares before it is too late.

Breeder Jennifer Haverty found herself in this position when her Irish Draught mare began to reject the foal within 24 hours of it being born.

"We couldn't understand it as she even stopped letting down milk. We tried everything but she would have killed the foal if we had left it with her.

"Straightaway we put the word out looking for a mare and luckily found one within a few hours. It was owned by Pat Cross in Limerick.

"Some people are surprised at the cost of a foster mare but to be honest we would have not done it any other way in order to save the foal," she concluded.
AIB has said it will have repaid 6.5bn to taxpayers by mid-July, including 1.8bn due from the Contingent Capital Notes.

At the bank's agm yesterday, chief executive Bernard Byrne said the lender was ready for its partial privatisation, which Finance Minister Michael Noonan said is now likely to occur next year.

In the first three months of this year, the bank increased its net interest margin (NIM), reduced its portfolio of bad loans and boosted lending.

AIB chairman Richard Pym said 2015 was a "milestone" year and a "decisive turning point" for the bank in its recovery.

Chief executive Bernard Byrne said the bank had made a payment to the State of 1.7bn in December following its capital reorganisation, and a further 1.8bn will be paid in July.

Around 3bn has been paid in fees, coupons, dividends and levies.

But a number of concerns were raised yesterday by shareholders, including the rate charged by the bank for standard variable rate mortgages.

AIB has now cut its rate on four occasions, but consumer advocate Brendan Burgess said further cuts are required. He noted the difference in rates charged by First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland, a subsidiary of AIB, and the latter in the Republic.

"Despite the progress that you have made in this country, you're still paying much higher deposit rates in Northern Ireland and you're charging much lower mortgage rates and you're making much better deals available to borrowers. That is absolutely outrageous," Mr Burgess said.

But Mr Byrne dismissed the argument, saying it is comparing apples and oranges, and is deliberately ignoring the differences between the two markets".

He said the Northern Irish market has fees in it. "When you take those issues into account and you look at the fact that the Irish market has reduced pricing from the second quarter of last year to now by 71 basis points, the average market in Europe has been 19 basis points.

"The Irish market has been catching up quite quickly in terms of rate reductions.

"In overall terms, the total difference between a Eurozone average mortgage book and an Irish mortgage book, is six basis points," he said.

"The key characteristic difference is front book pricing, versus overall pricing."

Mr Byrne later told reporters that the bank would not be subject to political pressure to bring rates down further.

"We can't operate the bank at the whim of an ownership construct that is politically influenced, because that would destroy our ability to raise capital," he said.

Mr Pym also dismissed recent whistleblower claims that the bank had exaggerated its success in dealing with problem loans.

He said its reporting of non-performing loans and provisions have been "comprehensively reviewed" and that they were "entirely satisfied that the accounts are accurate".

In a trading update ahead of the agm, AIB said it had increased its core tier one capital ratio to 13.1pc from 13pc under fully loaded Basel III industry rules.

New lending draw downs increased 17pc on the year, while bad loans fell 1bn from the end of December to 12bn.
David Dalton, head of financial services, Deloitte and Martin Shanahan, ceo, IDA Ireland, at the offices of Deloitte in Dublin

Dublin has been selected to become a base for developing services using new blockchain technologies by Deloitte, the professional services and consulting firm.

Dublin has been selected as the base for the creation of its EMEA Financial Services Blockchain Lab as part of its FinTech initiative 'The Grid'.

Blockchain, or open ledger technology, is a system for permanently storing information on networks of unrelated computers, without a central or organising authority.

It emerged from the development of the Bitcoin cyber-currency, but is now seen as a potentially safe way of recording all kinds of financial transactions.

Crucially, the technology is seen as a proof against fraud, because in theory no single institution can control the blockchain, making it close to impossible to falsify records. Financial firms are scrambling to exploit the technology's potential. Deloitte plans to build a team of 50 people over 18 months in the Dublin centre, including blockchain developers, designers and digital specialists to design client and user interfaces. Some will move to Dublin from other Deloitte offices, while others will be recruited on the ground. The Blockchain lab will work with international organisations looking to roll out blockchain-enabled solutions across different countries, the company said.
Here are the main business stories from this morning's papers:

Irish Independent

* One of the biggest standalone office blocks in the country is on the verge of being sold after an international fund agreed terms to buy the property.

An overseas investor has agreed to pay close to 240m for the office block at One Spencer Dock on Dublin's north quays. The block, which is almost fully occupied by PwC, is seen as one of the top property assets in the city.

* European Commission claims that Ireland will miss budget targets this year are wrong, Michael Noonan said yesterday. The Government will make a formal appeal to Brussels over the issue, he said.

The Minister for Finance said the Commission was "mistaken" when it warned Ireland it would miss an interim budget target this year.

* Dublin has been selected to become a base for developing services using new blockchain technologies by Deloitte, the professional services and consulting firm.

It will announce today that Dublin has been selected as the base for the creation of its EMEA Financial Services Blockchain Lab as part of its FinTech initiative 'The Grid'.

The Irish Times

* AIB has insisted it is above political pressure and that it won't cave into reducing mortgage rates. The bank has continually curbed home loan costs over the last year and a half.

AIB chief executive Bernard Byrne told reporters yesterday that the bank was not strong-armed by the Government when it announced a reduction to its standard variable rate earlier this month.

* Google's offices in Paris were raided yesterday by police investigating aggravated tax fraud, who opened the investigation into the company last June.

The investigation centres around the Silicon Valley giant's Dublin offices, which act as its European headquarters.

* Property firm Hibernia REIT has 260m more for acquisitions after the company announced a 17pc increase in its net assert values.

The firm also posted an 88pc increase in its dividend last year up to 1.5c.

Irish Examiner

* Property firm Hibernia REIT is targeting a 50pxc increase in total rent roll over the next two years. Should the firm reach its target it would see its income rise from nearly 40m to 60m.

The company posted strong results on Tuesday, which included increases in new lettings and increases from rent reviews.

* Allied Irish Bank has told shareholders that its provisions for dealing with bad loans are robust and that its accounts were up to scratch after whistleblower allegations.

Chairman Richard Pym moved to dispel the allegations at its AGM, saying the bank satisfied by its provisioning procedures.

* Hailo Ireland has reiterated its stance on ride-sharing and urged the Government not to allow a proposed plan from Uber to trial the service in Limerick.

The firm was speaking after it carried its 20 millionth Irish customer.
Subscribe to The Ready Business show, in association with Vodafone via iTunes or SoundCloud.

This week saw the launch of Vodafones Connected Futures report which looked at the issue of the gigabit society in rural Ireland and why Irish businesses need a much improved rural broadband.

To find out more about the Connected Futures report, the Ready Business podcast spoke to Vodafone CEO, Anne OLeary, Gerard ONeill from Amarach Research, and Jerry Kennelly, the hugely successful Kerry entrepreneur.

Expand Close Rural connectivity / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rural connectivity

Amongst the findings in the report was the fact that one-quarter of Irelands rural population would be forced to move to urban locations if it wasnt for broadband. And while broadband penetration is as high as 90% in some rural locations, one-in-five respondents in the countryside say they still cant get access to broadband at all.

The study is based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults as well as a telephone survey of 100 micro businesses across rural Ireland and uniquely asks respondents about their current experiences and aspirations for a digital future.

This report gives an insight into the views and realities of people living in rural Ireland, explained Anne OLeary. Theyre embracing online but they need better speeds, better quality and a more joined-up approach is needed between telcos, the government, stakeholders and local communities themselves. We need to remove the barriers and restrictions to make it happen. Ireland can be turned into a gigabit society and compete with anyone in the world.

So does this mean the likes of Skibbereen can compete with Singapore?

Ludgate in Skibbereen is a fantastic example of a small town in rural Ireland that said enough is enough, said OLeary. The recession, the boarded-up shops, the young people leaving, they had enough and decided to do something about it.

A local businessman, John field, donated the local bakery for 80 hotdesks and high speed fibre with speeds on a par with Singapore is being used by the businesses in this new digital hub space. People are returning to the area now and creating employment as a result.

But, the digital divide prevails:

- There is a 22% gap between broadband penetration in villages (69%) and suburbs (91%).

- Broadband penetration in small towns is 84%. One in five (18%) say they cant get access broadband at all, rising to one in four (26%) in villages.

- A quarter (24%) of respondents say their broadband speed is too slow (rising to 44% living in detached houses in countryside) and one in five (20%) are currently forced to go to venues outside the home to access the internet.

- One-third (30%) say that slow and unreliable internet speeds currently prevent them and/or family members from working from home and that their internet speed at home isnt fast enough for all their family requirements (33%).

Gerard ONeill, chairperson of Amarach Research which carried out the study, says that it shows just how embedded tech is in peoples lives and by not having internet access it would affect them negatively.

The majority of the population  three million  live in rural Ireland, explained ONeill. But it is extremely difficult for a lot of people to access broadband. It shows the extent to which equality does not exist and how far the digital divide still has to go.

As for SMEs and the improvements they need, ONeill says the economy as a whole would grow if rural businesses were helped with better broadband speeds.

As part of the study, one hundred SMEs were surveyed and over 80% said they would be able to hire more people and grow their business more if they had access to better digital connectivity. Were nowhere the real and full potential that can be achieved until better connectivity is attained.

Jerry Kennelly, who founded Stockbyte and subsequently sold it for $135m to Getty Images says that being based in Kerry was always his plan for his businesses but it does come with difficulties.

It is a challenge basing yourself in Kerry, admitted Kennelly. But doing it in my own place in Kerry is an important part of my psyche and view of doing business. Getting talent is difficult however and you have to diversify in locations around the world. When you take the big vision with a business you can do it from anywhere in the world and you might as well be in a wonderful place like Killorglin.

Kennelly is critical though of government efforts thus far in enabling good broadband connectivity in rural Ireland.

I think the government have rarely taken entrepreneurship very seriously, he said. They fail to understand what it takes and what is needed. A one-person business making a job for themselves are the true entrepreneurs and if they dont have decent connectivity its unfair for what they trying to create in this society and it goes against everything the government says. We need to be inclusive whether its Cahirciveen or Dublin when someone wants to start a business.

The full Connected Futures report can be viewed here.

The Ready Business show, in association with Vodafone , is available via iTunes , SoundCloud and Stitcher or subscribe to the RSS feed of the Ready Business Podcast using your favourite podcatcher.

You can check out the full Ready Business Podcast series here .

In association with:
A new hairdressing app has closed a 1.2m (1.57m) fundraising round from New Look founder Tom Singh OBE alongside other backers, and is hoping to steal customers from the current market leader in beauty bookings, Treatwell.

London-based Rock Pamper Scissors, which allows users to book appointments through its app marketplace, has raised the funding from venture capital groups 500 Startups and Seedcamp, alongside a consortium of angel investors including Mr Singh.

"Over the past few years Ive had many fashion apps presented to me, but Rock Pamper Scissors stands out," Mr Singh said of his investment. "It clearly disrupts an outdated way in which bookings for haircuts can be made, by facilitating choice and with complete ease.

"In my opinion, its only a matter of time before calling for hair appointments will be a thing of the past - why would you when an app like this enables informed, fast and easy bookings?

Founded by the former marketing chief at takeaway giant Just Eat, Mat Braddy, Rock Pamper Scissors drums up custom for local hairdressers by helping consumers to find appointments immediately.

It is currently active in London, Leeds and Manchester.

The business is going head to head with other apps such as Treatwell, formerly Wahanda, which was launched in 2008 to connect local salons and spas with customers online, and allows users to compare prices and book appointments.

Unlike rival sites, which tend to compete primarily on price, each hair stylist on the Rock Pamper Scissors platform can upload a portfolio of work to help customers choose the right salon for them.

"The team is enabling stylists and creatives to build distinct individual identities and personal brands, beyond just being employees," commented Reshma Sohoni, founding partner at Seedcamp.

"Add to this, the combination of appointment data and the photo discovery layer means the company is appealing directly to current trends we're seeing in consumer demands - users want things quickly, but they still want a unique experience."

The new investment will be used to recruit new stylists and acquire new customers across London. The money will also be used to bolster the company's technology team and help tweak the app to generate more business for its hair stylists.

Whilst building Just Eat it really puzzled me that no one had built an excellent app for haircut booking," says Mr Braddy. "We believe less than 1pc of haircuts are currently booked online - that's insane.

"By focusing our brand and thinking on the millennial consumers, Ubers children, who require instant access to services right now, we believe we have come up with a compelling approach which will finally solve this dilemma."

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Irish-based multinational tech firms such as Facebook and Google face new legal trouble as the Irish Data Protection Commissioner says she thinks that key rules they rely on may not be in compliance with European law.

Helen Dixon said today that her office now has doubts over the legality of so-called model contract clauses, data transfer instruments relied upon by many businesses in their transactions with US firms.

Ms Dixon, who is the primary European data regulator of the worlds biggest social media and online firms, said that she will now refer the question to the High Court and the European Court of Justice.

If the ECJ strikes model contract clauses down, as many observers expect it will, it leaves thousands of European companies in a new limbo over their data transfers to the US. Earlier this year, US multinational companies in Ireland warned that a failure to solve the issue would threaten jobs in Ireland.

Last year, the ECJ struck down the Safe Harbour treaty between the EU and US, on the grounds that it was insufficient to protect the data privacy of EU citizens. The court said that revelations by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden demonstrated that US authorities are indiscriminately snooping on European citizens personal communications.

The case came about on foot of a complaint made by Austrian student Max Schrems, who argued that Facebooks transfer of data from the EU to the US fell foul of European privacy law.

We continue to thoroughly and diligently investigate Mr Schrems complaint to ensure the adequate protection of personal data, Ms Dixon said in a statement. We yesterday informed Mr Schrems and Facebook of our intention to seek declaratory relief in the Irish High Court and a referral to the CJEU to determine the legal status of data transfers under Standard Contractual Clauses. We will update all relevant parties as our investigation continues.

Earlier this year, EU authorities announced a proposed successor to the Safe Harbour agreement. The European Commision said that the new Privacy Shield, provided for more transparency and oversight for Europeans and would give certainty to businesses here that transatlantic data flows would not fall foul of EU law.

Under the new deal, an independent ombudsman would be set up to deal with cases of suspected abuse by US authorities.

This protects the fundamental human rights of Europeans and lives up to the [principles set by the] European Court of Justice, said Vera Jourova, the European Unions Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, in February.

It will provide a strong and safe framework for the future of transatlantic data flows.
Sacha Baron Cohen arrives at the LA premiere of Alice Through The Looking Glass (AP)

A new Ali G film could happen "one day" but Sacha Baron Cohen may be too old to return in the role, according to his long-time collaborator.

James Bobin, who was a director and writer on Da Ali G Show before forging a successful career in Hollywood, suggested Cohen, 44, could play the father of his comic creation if he was reprised for the big screen.

The pair, who also worked together on Borat and Bruno, reunited for Disney's latest film Alice Through The Looking Glass, which Bobin directed and Cohen stars in as Time.

Speaking at the film's LA premiere, Bobin told the Press Association: "An Ali G movie? Who knows. He's probably too old nowadays. Maybe Ali G's dad?

"I love all those characters. These days it's harder because everyone knows who he is. One day maybe."

Cohen briefly resurrected Ali G at this year's Oscars when he appeared on stage dressed as the fictional character from Staines.

Despite huge success on television series in both the UK and US, the character's previous film outing in the 2002 movie Ali G Indahouse was panned by critics.

Bobin, who also directed The Muppets and its sequel Muppets Most Wanted, said he believed Cohen was an "amazing character actor" and they remained close friends.

He said: "Sacha lives here in LA and so do I. I've known him for a long time, our kids are a similar age, so we hang out quite a lot. But I haven't actually worked with him for like 10 years.

"Having him back on set was like having an old friend back. It was lovely.

"I knew he could do this because we created those characters - Ali G, Borat and Bruno - together and that was when we had to go into the real world and no one ever said to him 'I don't believe you're these people'."

:: Alice Through The Looking Glass is released in UK cinemas on Friday.
Filming of Trainspotting 2 is under way in Edinburgh

Danny Boyle's Trainspotting sequel and a new biopic of Sir Winston Churchill starring Scots actor Brian Cox have received 800,000 of Scottish Government funding.

The two movies received nearly half of Creative Scotland's 1.75 million production growth fund, funded by the Scottish Government and National Lottery, with Trainspotting awarded 500,000 and Churchill taking 300,000.

The fund aims to stimulate growth in film and TV drama production and encourage international productions to come to Scotland.

The Scottish Government said it has increased support to the screen sector by 30% to 21.6 million, compared to 2007/08 funding levels.

The Trainspotting sequel began shooting in locations around Edinburgh this month.

Churchill is also being filmed in Scotland, with Dundee-born Cox playing the former Dundee MP who went on to lead Britain to victory in the Second World War.

Scottish C ulture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "The Scottish Government and its agencies are working together to maximise the economic, social and cultural benefits of Scotland's screen sector.

"This fund is assisting talented producers to finance their projects, while investing directly in our workforce and helping to grow our creative sector.

"I'm pleased filming is under way on both productions. Film-making, animation and television production make an important contribution to Scotland's rich and diverse cultural life."

Natalie Usher, director of screen at Creative Scotland, said: "The response to the production growth fund has been brilliant and Creative Scotland's Screen Commission has seen a huge increase in inquiries from UK and international productions.

"Since the fund's launch in October last year, we have proved that the production growth fund has significantly increased production levels and provided significant opportunities for Scottish craft and technical talent."
McFly have postponed their current tour after drummer Harry Judd injured his neck.

The 30-year-old star announced on his Instagram page that he had a slipped disc and said he was "gutted" the band's Anthology Tour was delayed. It was unclear how he sustained the injury.

He wrote to his 500,000 followers: "I'm absolutely gutted to say that we've had to postpone the tour as I've herniated a disc in my neck.

"I've honestly tried everything to make it work, but I'd never want to do a tour where I wouldn't be able to give you guys the 110% performance you deserve every night."

He concluded: "I'm going to do all the rehab possible to get myself ready to do the most epic shows we've ever put on."

The band's official website said Judd had "an acute disc herniation" at C6/7 level, the section of the spine near the base of the neck.

Band member Tom Fletcher said: "Sorry we've had to move the tour. Completely Harry's fault.

"All complaints to be sent to @mcflyharry. On a more positive note, it gives Danny more time to learn the words to our songs. See you all in September."

Judd, 30, won the 2011 series of BBC One's popular ballroom series Strictly Come Dancing and earlier this year he took part in Sport Relief which raised 56,838,844 for charities and ventures in the UK and abroad.

Chart-toppers McFly, whose hits include All About You and 5 Colours In Her Hair, have recently started touring in their own right again after a stint with boyband Busted.

McFly's Anthology 2016 tour will see the band, including Dougie Poynter and Danny Jones, play three-night residencies in cities including Dublin, Manchester and Glasgow.

Tickets for the original dates will be honoured at the rescheduled shows.

Expand Close Harry Judd / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Harry Judd
AN all-out strike at 70 Tesco stores tomorrow has been called off after the state's chief industrial relations troubleshooting body issued an invitation to talks.

Mandate has cancelled tomorrow's work stoppage, which was due to begin at 7am. Tesco said it has accepted an invitation to talks.

An indefinite strike was due to take place in a row over a company plan to move long-serving staff onto a lower-paid contract.

It was unclear whether the stores would have been able to open tomorrow.

Mandate had claimed the strike would close the stores but a Tesco spokeswoman said the supermarket giant was confident it would be able to open for business.

She said this was because it expected some staff to pass the pickets, along with managers.

Mandate, which represents most staff, planned to mount pickets but Siptu members were not planning to take part.

Siptu official Derek Casserly said the union had served notice of industrial action on the company if it imposed cuts, but would not act yet as this was still a threat.

Mandate claims staff will suffer a reduction in earnings of up to 35pc under the plan due to cuts to basic pay, premium rates and guaranteed overtime. Up to 1,000 long-serving staff were targeted under the plan, but roughly 700 have left under a voluntary redundancy scheme.

When asked why it is necessary to cut wages if its aim is to achieve more flexibility, a Tesco spokeswoman said that guaranteed overtime is notsustainable as it offers the highest market rates but has to compete against non-unionised retailers.

Although the company does not publish its profits, she said sales dropped by 2pc last year.

She said Tesco is very disappointed that Mandate would not put a compromise tabled at the Workplace Relations Commission to members to vote on it.

Talks broke down at the Workplace Relations Commission earlier this week, prompting Mandate to announce tomorrow's strike.

The companys revised offer means basic pay would remain the same, although guaranteed overtime would be axed and premium pay would fall.

It includes a 2pc pay rise, a 2pc lump sum back payment, a guaranteed 5pc share bonus, and 3,000 compensation.

Earlier today, Tesco rejected Mandates call for it to attend the Labour Court, which the union said was part of agreed procedures. It said such a move would be premature.

Mandate General Secretary John Douglas said the WRC had requested both parties to stand down on their threats. "There are still very difficult issues between the parties, but if we attend talks in good faith, we should be able to resolve them."
CCTV footage captures the moment Gareth Hutch was targeted by two gunmen outside his house

THIS distressing footage shows the seconds leading up to the latest gangland murder in Dublin's inner city - and the brazen gunmen leaving the scene.

The CCTV pictures show Gareth Hutch being targeted outside his home in the capital's north inner city at 10am yesterday morning.

The nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch was shot dead when two gunmen approached him as he walked towards his black Volkswagen Passat.

The footage shows the two murderers sneaking up behind Hutch, who was getting into his car outside his home.

This footage has been edited but the unedited footage shows the father-of-one being shot a number of times, and falling to the ground.

The two men then run from the scene.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Gardai investigating the murder of Gareth Hutch raided a house in the north inner city (Inset: Murder victim Gareth Hutch) Gareth Hutch / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Gardai investigating the murder of Gareth Hutch raided a house in the north inner city (Inset: Murder victim Gareth Hutch)

Mr Hutch was killed as he was preparing to appeal to Dublin City Council housing officers to move him from the Avondale House flats complex because he was in fear for his life and looked after his son four days a week.

He was also concerned that the flat he was living in was an easy target as a balcony could be accessed from the ground and he claimed CCTV did not cover that part of the complex.

The latest murder - and the openness of it, just 300 metres from a garda checkpoint, and in broad daylight - has sparked calls for a state crackdown on underworld gangsters similar to that launched when journalist Veronica Guerin was shot dead in 1996.

Read More

But Taoiseach Enda Kenny, under opposition pressure to ramp up the response to the bloodshed, said yesterday he was assured that gardai had all the resources they needed.

"This is a dispute between two families," he said. "It is a vicious, murderous dispute and I don't think that I can stop that."

He later clarified he was talking about "myself as a citizen" and vowed the government would not lie down under the threat.

Gardai were last night on high alert that a close associate of murdered Gareth Hutch was armed, dangerous and seeking revenge.

Expand Close Above, gardai at the scene of the murder of Gareth Hutch Picture: Collins Dublin / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Above, gardai at the scene of the murder of Gareth Hutch Picture: Collins Dublin

An alert was issued to all garda districts that the man was "seeking out" the killers who shot Hutch (35).

A source warned: "He is armed with a gun, hunting them down."

One man handed himself in to gardai at Mountjoy Garda Station in fear of his life. Another man was still on the run last night.

But tensions in the capital remained on a knife edge amid fears that the murderous Kinahan-Hutch feud was about to explode into even more bloodshed.

One of the suspects lives "just around the corner" in the same area of the north inner city where four feud murders have happened in just over three months.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Above, gardai raiding a home near the scene of the murder Picture: INM The burnt-out Skoda Octavia is removed by Gardai at Dubber Cottages near Finglas. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Above, gardai raiding a home near the scene of the murder Picture: INM

Gardai launched a number of raids in the area in the hours after yesterday's lethal shooting.

Gareth Hutch's uncle, Eddie Hutch, and cousin, Gary Hutch, have already been killed in the feud.

The murder was carried out by the Kinahan drug cartel and is the fourth within a square mile in the north inner city in 100 days.

It's believed that the gunmen were lying in wait for Hutch at the flat complex and approached him from behind.

Read More

The killers then proceeded to fire a number of shots from what were described as handguns. Gardai say two firearms have since been recovered.

The two gunmen jumped into a black BMW 5 series car. The bungling assassins then attempted to start the car twice, but eventually had to flee the area on foot, leaving the vehicle behind. The two men, one wearing a grey hoodie and the other a red tracksuit top, then fled in the direction of Sean McDermott Street.

The murder victim's cousin Ross Hutch (24) reportedly arrived at the scene moments after the killers had struck.

But at that stage the two killers had dropped their handguns and fled the scene.

A second car that the killers used to escape, a Skoda Octavia, was later found by gardai, burned out at Dubber Lane in Finglas.

Gareth Hutch, a father of one, had warned that he was in fear of his life less than 24 hours before his assassination.

Shocked city councillor Nial Ring recounted his meeting with the victim on Monday regarding his wish to move to a more secure flat within the Avondale House council flats complex.

"He was on the first floor where there was access to a balcony from the side, which wasn't covered by CCTV. He felt this was putting him in more danger," he said.

"He was obviously a very dedicated and very devoted father as his concern was for the little guy."

Read More

Mr Ring said both he and councillor Christy Burke were now offering to be mediators to try to bring the violence to an end.

Gareth Hutch was originally from Drumalee Avenue in Dublin's north inner city and was previously cleared of attempted robbery charges.

The charges related to an incident when criminal Gareth Molloy (27) was shot dead by a member of the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) during a raid by a gang on a security van delivering cash to a supermarket in Lucan in May, 2009.

The murder victim's cousin, Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch, was convicted in relation to this crime.

After being extradited from Holland to face the charges in September, 2014, Hutch then spent almost 15 months in Cloverhill Prison, before being cleared of the charges last December.

Gardai are appealing for anyone who may have seen the two gunmen leaving the car park to contact them.

They are also appealing for anyone who witnessed the black BMW 5 series, with a 02-D-39051 registration plate.

The car and another vehicle have been seized by gardai.
The shooting took place in a neighbourhood barely 100 metres from O'Connell Street in the heart of Dublin city centre

The moment when hooded assassins hunted down the latest victim of the drug gang war was captured on CCTV footage.

The savage murder of Gareth Hutch, a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, took place in a neighbourhood barely 100 metres from O'Connell Street in the heart of Dublin city centre.

The CCTV footage shows the two murderers sneaking up behind Hutch, who was getting into his car outside his home.

His uncle, Eddie Hutch, and cousin, Gary Hutch, have already been killed in the feud.

Read More

The murder was carried out by the Kinahan drug cartel and is the fourth within a square mile in the north inner city in 100 days.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Gareth Hutch Above, gardai at the scene of the murder of Gareth Hutch Picture: Collins Dublin Armed gardai at the scene of a raid on a house only hours after Gareth Hutch was shot dead Gardai investigating the murder of Gareth Hutch raided a house in the north inner city (Inset: Murder victim Gareth Hutch) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Gareth Hutch

Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald are now under intense pressure to take decisive action after the seventh murder in the gang war - the bloodiest prolonged period of murder since the Troubles.

Gardai are investigating a possible link between the Kinahan crime cartel and a former senior garda. The Kinahan cartel has been "striking at will", leading officers to fear they have informers in the rival Hutch gang or, more sinister, in the gardai. The ex-garda, who was involved in several serious crime investigations until his retirement, is linked to a key member of the killer gang.

Members of the Kinahan cartel, who live in the same neighbourhood as the Hutch clan, are suspected of carrying out six of the seven murders in the feud so far.

Read More

Details of the retired officer's suspected involvement with the Kinahan cartel emerged as pressure mounted on Garda management to keep a lid on the increasing violence.

Gardai were last night on high alert for a close associate of Hutch who was believed to be armed, dangerous and seeking revenge. A man handed himself in to Mountjoy Garda Station in fear of his life. Another man was still on the run last night.
The demand for Georgian investment properties in north Dublin resulted in intense bidding wars and high sale prices.

An Irish man has appeared in court accused of raping a 12-year-old girl and fathering a son as a result.

Connor Whyte (19), who refers to himself on social media as Conaire Adams Whyte, arrived in court yesterday to be told that he will return again to court in the summer.

The man, also known as 'Mitch', was charged with rape after DNA tests were conducted on the baby by police. Police launched an investigation last year after the girl, who is now 13, became pregnant in July 2015.

The victim, believed to be from west Belfast, gave birth to a boy in April, making her one of the youngest ever mothers in the UK.

Whyte, of Crocus Street, off the Springfield Road in Belfast was arrested in October after police were advised about the young girl's pregnancy.

It is understood that he denied he was the father of the child and was released on police bail.

However, police waited until the baby was born and then carried out DNA tests before charging Whyte with rape of a child under 13.

The results of the DNA tests are understood to form part of the case against him.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that Whyte is now a recent dad of two sons, having fathered another child by a different woman last year.

He is believed to have been in a relationship with the child's mother, but they have since broken up.

The family of the alleged young victim are understood to have been left deeply shocked by the schoolgirl's pregnancy when it came to light last year.

Dressed in a grey hooded top as he entered the dock at Belfast Magistrates Court, Whyte spoke only to confirm he was aware of the alleged offence. Asked if he understood the charge, he replied: "Yes".

No further details of the case were disclosed. A prosecution lawyer asked for a six-week adjournment to allow efforts to prepare for a possible preliminary inquiry hearing at a future date.

According to recent statistics, 98% of teenagers who gave birth in 2014 were over 16. The youngest mother in the UK is thought to have become pregnant when she was still in primary school at the age of 11.

The girl, from London, gave birth in April 2014 aged 12 years and three months. In summer 2014, a north Belfast woman became Britain and Ireland's youngest known grandmother at 29 when her 15-year-old daughter gave birth.

The age of sexual consent in Northern Ireland has been reduced from 17 to 16. It is a criminal offence to engage in any sexual activity with any child, with a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment. Where the sexual activity involves rape, the maximum is life imprisonment.

The number of teenage girls to give birth here has been steadily decreasing in recent years.

Figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed that in 2014, 839 children were born to teenage mothers.

Whyte left on continuing bail, flanked by two blonde females and two males. He will return to Laganside court on July 5.
A man who caused the death of a "dedicated and highly-skilled" nurse in a "horrific" two-car collision has been handed a five-year jail sentence.

Neil McKee (26), from Castleburn Road in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim was also banned from driving for seven years for causing the death by dangerous driving of 53-year-old Heather Steele.

The former G4S employee was told he will spend half his sentence in prison, with the rest on supervised licence after release.

Belfast Crown Court heard McKee's Seat Leon crashed into Ms Steele's Suzuki Ignis in Carrickfergus at around 8pm on August 27, 2014.

McKee was driving well in excess of the 40mph limit on the main Belfast to Carrick road, and caused the collision at the junction of Castlerocklands Road.

Several witnesses observed McKee's driving just prior to the collision, with one describing the speed as "phenomenal".

Another witness, whose car was overtaken by McKee, estimated the car was being driven at speeds between 60-70mph. The witness said: "I thought it was being driven so dangerously it was going to kill someone."

Passing sentence, Judge Gordon Kerr said McKee came before the court with a clear record, and accepted he had shown remorse. It also emerged that since he caused Ms Steele's death, McKee has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Little Ellie Butler's mother has insisted she still loves the man accused of killing her daughter, even though he called her a "disgusted fat dog bitch" during one of his many furious text rants.

Jennie Gray told jurors she stands by Ben Butler and has visited him in prison 190 times since he was charged with Ellie's murder.

The 36-year-old graphic designer was at work in the City of London when Butler allegedly battered the six-year-old to death in October 2013.

The couple have admitted delaying calling 999 over fears that Butler would be blamed for harming Ellie as he had in 2007 when she was a baby.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Gray said she was "absolutely committed" to the man she has referred to as her husband.

She said: "Ben is my family. I do love him. We have been through 2007 together. We have been through a miscarriage of justice together and I was always grateful to Ben because he got me my (baby) back and we have both lost a little girl..."

Turning to the stream of abusive texts Butler sent Gray in 2013, prosecutor Ben FitzGerald said: "You have always maintained that Ben Butler has not been violent.

"You have always been hiding the truth. Because once you have admissions of him being violent, you would destroy any chance of you keeping (Ellie) and maintaining your relationship with him."

Gray said: "Ben was not violent to me and he certainly was not violent to my (daughter) and I maintain that 100%."

She dismissed an angry text exchange over Butler's discovery of her diary in which he told her "you are dead to me" as"just verbal".

And the bump on her head afterwards was caused by slipping on steps and not Butler's violence, she told jurors.

Mr FitzGerald cited one particularly abusive text from Butler in which he told her: "Keep going on about dead babies you mental c*** ... You ain't dying so f*** off.. ... You were warned....f****** rot you childless baron (sic) hopefully for future kids c***....I don't love you at all just hate now you'll see.. And you know it. F*** off you fat disgusting dog bitch c***."

After reading out the text, the lawyer asked Gray: "How did you put up with him?"

The defendant replied: "That's disgusting and I still haven't forgiven him for things he said.

"I haven't forgotten it. I'm not even sure if Ben was out of jail we could be in a relationship again because of what he said to me."

The prosecutor queried: "This is the man who you wanted to raise your (kid)?"

She said: "He was not a nice boyfriend to me but he was a bloody good dad. He was happy to be a stay-at-home husband."

Gray went on to admit she was "out of order" when she wrote a list of 10 points about Ellie's bad behaviour accusing her of lying, being "constantly manipulative" and untrustworthy.

Mr FitzGerald suggested: "Mr Butler saw Ellie's bad behaviour as similar to your erratic behaviour. He thought you were cut from the same cloth."

He read out a series of text messages from 2013 in which Butler blamed Ellie for Gray's "mental" behaviour and said: "I hate you both".

In another, he wrote: "You never listen. Your mouth. The way you react and come across a lot like Ellie. You will end up hurt."

Gray described the suggestion as "bullshit" and "ridiculous".

The trial has heard that Butler, 36, of Sutton, south London, was convicted of shaking Ellie in 2007 but cleared on appeal.

The couple won their custody battle to get Ellie returned to the family 11 months before her death.

Gray has pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by lying to police and covering up the circumstances of her daughter's death.

But she denies child cruelty over the failure to get treatment for Ellie's broken shoulder, and Butler denies murder and child cruelty.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the eggs could not be released from storage in London because A did not give her full written consent before she died at the age of 28 of bowel cancer.

A woman who wants to use her daughter's frozen eggs to give birth to her own grandchild has appealed to leading judges to allow her to carry out the dying wishes of her "much-loved and only child".

The 60-year-old, whose daughter died of cancer in 2011, lost an action at the High Court last year, but is now asking three Court of Appeal judges to rule in her favour.

Her QC, Jenni Richards, told the judges on Wednesday that the woman wants to fulfil her daughter's wishes that her mother should carry a child created from her frozen eggs "and raise that child".

Ms Richards said that if the court did not overturn the High Court's ruling, the "inevitable" consequence would be that the eggs "will simply be allowed to perish".

The woman and her 59-year-old husband are challenging the decision of Mr Justice Ouseley last June to dismiss their case.

During the High Court proceedings, the judge was told that the daughter, who can only be referred to as ''A'' for legal reasons, was desperate to have children and asked her mother to ''carry my babies''.

Her parents, who are referred to as "Mr and Mrs M", launched legal action against an independent regulator's refusal to allow them to take their daughter's eggs to a US fertility treatment clinic to be used with donor sperm.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the eggs could not be released from storage in London because A did not give her full written consent before she died at the age of 28 of bowel cancer.

Mr Justice Ouseley heard that A would have been ''devastated'' if she had known her eggs could not be used.

But he ruled that the HFEA had been entitled to find the daughter had not given ''the required consent''. He declared there had been no breach of the family's human rights.

He said: ''I must dismiss this claim, though I do so conscious of the additional distress which this will bring to the claimants, whose aim has been to honour their daughter's dying wish for something of her to live on after her untimely death.''

Ms Richards argues that there is "clear evidence" of what A wanted to happen to her eggs after she died, and that "all available evidence" showed she wanted her mother "to have her child after death".

She told Sir James Munby, president of the High Court's family division, sitting in London with Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Burnett, that the regulator's refusal decision was not based on "any matter relating to the age of Mrs M, or family connection, or any child welfare issues".

She said the case was not about "scientific or ethical principles". The decision was based solely on an "evaluation of the evidence relating to A's wishes".

The QC said: "This court has a duty to decide for itself whether the decision strikes a fair balance between the rights of the individual and the interests of the community as a whole."

The appeal is opposed by the HFEA, which argues that Mr Justice Ouseley "did not err in concluding that the HFEA's decision was lawful".

Catherine Callaghan, counsel for the HFEA, said in written argument before the court: "It is natural to feel sympathy for the appellants' loss and for their wish to keep their daughter's memory alive by trying to conceive a child using their daughter's eggs.

"However, the court's role is not to decide whether it would have permitted the mother to undergo fertility treatment using her deceased daughter's eggs and donated sperm.

"Rather, its role is to determine whether Mr Justice Ouseley erred in concluding that the HFEA's statutory approvals committee acted lawfully and rationally in exercising its broad discretion to refuse to authorise export of the frozen eggs to a treatment centre in New York for use in the way proposed."

Ms Callaghan argued that Mr Justice Ouseley "was right to conclude that the decision was based on a rational and lawful appraisal of the evidence of the daughter's wishes".

She said the High Court judge was "right to uphold the HFEA's decision that there was no sufficiently clear evidence that the daughter wished her mother to be her surrogate after her death in the particular circumstances which the application entailed, or that any such expression of wishes was properly informed".
Modular housing for students and purpose-built communities for the elderly could free up more accommodation for families, Housing Minister Simon Coveney has said.

With a deadline at the end of July for delivering an action plan to tackle the housing crisis, Mr Coveney wants proposals that will give an "injection of adrenaline" into the system.

An "emergency response" targeted at Dublin and Cork - where the crisis is at its worst - will be the focus of the plan's first six months, he told the Housing Agency's annual conference. Mr Coveney said he "won't be afraid to be radical if that is what is necessary".

Proposals for student and elderly accommodation were areas the Government "need to be more ambitious on".

Mr Coveney said a lack of on-campus accommodation meant that large numbers of properties were taken up by students and he suggested that this could be freed up as rental accommodation for families.

"You can apply fast-build and modular solutions to student accommodation, perhaps in a way that you can't as easily apply when you're building family homes," Mr Coveney said.

In relation to the elderly, the minister told the conference there are "a lot of large family homes that are occupied maybe by a single person now, who may be persuaded to move to a high-quality, purpose-designed accommodation in a secure location as part of a community".

"They are the kinds of projects that I would like to see local authorities bringing forward now as part of their emergency response plans."

In other proposed measures, the minister referred to an estimated 230,000 vacant properties nationwide, saying he would work to find a way to access them that "respects property rights" but which also recognises the opportunity to "source large numbers of houses in the short term".

Mr Coveney noted that the Government had approved a new SDZ (special development zone) for the Irish Glass Bottle site at Poolbeg, Dublin.

"I expect we will be doing more of that in terms of strategic development zoning," he said. This would only work if Dublin City Council is given "the tools and the approval process to actually turn what is a hugely exciting opportunity into actual build."

Mr Coveney told the conference he hoped to "take people by surprise at the pace that we can deliver that".

While the focus of the action plan will be on urban areas, the Government wants to build "sustainable rural communities again in clusters, rather than in single one-off housing units".

Summing up, Mr Coveney said: "If we can build faster, safely and sustainably, we'll do it. If we can streamline processes around decision-making and approval, we'll do it."

Housing Agency chairman Conor Skehan urged the minister to ensure the action plan "avoids the pitfall of having a plan that only addresses new building".

Such proposals, he said, would need to address the management of existing vacant stock as well as the problem of mortgage arrears "to keep people in their homes".

His organisation believes that "affordability is the real challenge facing housing in Ireland". He said a third of people needed State support in order to afford to buy or rent a home.

Meanwhile, Threshold chief Bob Jordan told the Dail's Housing and Homelessness Committee that the amount of rent supplement tenants are paid should "not be the business" of landlords. He said the rates "should not be put up online as a target", saying this practice helped hike rents.

Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd called for an emergency law to stop tenants being evicted if their landlord is selling up.
Gardai have quizzed a number of people behind a series of online death threats made against Prince Charles ahead of his visit to Co Donegal today.

Detectives have carried out more than a dozen searches at homes across Donegal ahead of the arrival of the British royal and his wife Camilla.

While the visit has been widely welcomed in Donegal, dissidents opposed to it have made a number of "vile" threats on social media.

One man promised to "bring a bomb" to Letterkenny, while others threatened to disrupt the visit. Gardai will facilitate a protest by dissidents on the outskirts of Letterkenny today, well outside a security zone.

Hundreds of extra gardai have also been drafted in for an unprecedented security operation in the county.

PSNI officers in Derry have carried out a number of security operations ahead of the visit. Charles is to deliver a major speech on the peace process and cross-border co-operation at LYIT this afternoon.
President Michael D Higgins has committed Ireland to promoting gender equality and reproductive rights.

He condemned a lack of funding provided by world governments to further women's rights.

The President addressed the first World Humanitarian Summit about the importance of women's rights in developing countries, declaring "gender equality is a right and not a gift".

Mr Higgins said women's rights were a "central priority" of his presidency and he described the level of funding provided to end violence against women as "derisory".

He also reiterated Ireland's commitment to promoting women's rights and ending violence against women and girls across the globe.

"We will ensure that the promotion of universal access to reproductive healthcare is included in our humanitarian action," he said.

"What is natural about excluding half of the world's population based on gender?"

His remarks come after his wife, Sabina Higgins, who did not join him in Istanbul, made a strong intervention in the debate on abortion.

She criticised the circumstances in which women were forced to give birth to babies with a fatal foetal abnormality.

However, speaking after the summit, Mr Higgins declined to be drawn on the issue of the controversial Eighth Amendment and whether it was a challenge to the reproductive rights for Irish women. Mr Higgins said he wanted to concentrate on the summit instead.

"I can't, I'm here for the humanitarian summit and I think it's very, very important that I give it its day in the sun.

"These issues are very important for men and women and children in developing countries, so this is what I'm here [for]," he said.
The huge landmark development site at Poolbeg in Dublin should be used mainly for new council homes and socially affordable houses, according to a new action group.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney was "completely disrespectful" to the nation's homeless by saying he hoped 10pc of the 3,000 homes to be built on the old Irish Glass Bottle site would be reserved for social housing, the group claims.

The Irish Glass Bottle Site Housing Action Group held a meeting in Dublin yesterday, addressed by supporters of a new campaign for mostly social housing for the site.

The Government designated it a strategic development zone to allow 3,000 new homes and 130,000 square metres of offices and retail space to be developed using fast-track planning powers.

But the minister's suggestion that 10pc of homes would be used for social housing showed he did not appreciate the scale of the housing crisis, according to group spokeswoman Annette Mooney.

"Nama is already scheduled to make 1bn in profit. Some of this money must now be used for council housing. Nama is supposed to 'contribute to the social and economic development of the State', according to the 2009 Act.

"Instead of living up to this obligation it has become a vehicle for bringing vulture funds to Ireland and restoring Ireland's speculative developers to their former glory," she claimed.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the 10pc social housing proposal was "scandalous".

"The people of this country own Nama. The vast bulk of Nama land and houses, including the Irish Glass Bottle site, should be used to deliver council and affordable housing.

"Given the enormous housing crisis, under no circumstances should the vast majority of this site be sold off for development in the open market at market prices. The whole point of the current situation is that failed government policy and a dysfunctional housing market has made housing unaffordable and unattainable for ordinary people."

Architect Mark Price said: "Promises of 10pc or 30pc affordable housing means 90pc or 70pc unaffordable housing.

"It is becoming increasingly impossible for young people from all classes to acquire a home because of a private property market which the state does nothing to control.

"Nama must be instructed to develop this site for public good and not for private profit," he said.

The group was drawing up a viable alternative plan for the site, he said.

Resident and ex-dock worker Kevin Berney said families in old, established communities in Pearse Street and Ringsend were being driven out by developments of homes that local people could not afford.
Gardai were last night on high alert that a close associate of murdered Gareth Hutch was armed, dangerous and seeking revenge.

An alert was issued to all garda districts that the man was "seeking out" the killers who blasted Gareth Hutch (35) in broad daylight at Avondale House flats yesterday morning.

A source warned: "He is armed with a gun, hunting them down."

One man handed himself in to gardai at Mountjoy Garda Station in fear of his life. Another man was still on the run last night.

But tensions in the capital remained on a knife edge amid fears that the murderous Kinahan-Hutch feud was about to explode into even more bloodshed.

Read More

An armed checkpoint was just 200 metres from the apartment complex when yesterday's murder was carried out.

One of the suspects lives "just around the corner" in the same area of the north inner city where four feud murders have happened in just over three months.

Gardai launched a number of raids in the area in the hours after yesterday's lethal shooting.

The nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch was shot dead shortly before 10am when two gunmen approached him as he walked towards his black Volkswagen Passat.

CCTV footage shows the two murderers sneaking up behind Hutch, who was getting into his car outside his home.

His uncle, Eddie Hutch, and cousin, Gary Hutch, have already been killed in the feud.

The murder was carried out by the Kinahan drug cartel and is the fourth within a square mile in the north inner city in 100 days.

It's believed that the gunmen were lying in wait for Hutch at the flat complex and approached him from behind.

Read More

The killers then proceeded to fire a number of shots from what were described as handguns. Gardai say two firearms have since been recovered.

The two gunmen jumped into a black BMW 5 series car. The bungling assassins then attempted to start the car twice, but eventually had to flee the area on foot, leaving the vehicle behind. The two men, one wearing a grey hoodie and the other a red tracksuit top, then fled in the direction of Sean McDermott Street.

The murder victim's cousin Ross Hutch (24) reportedly arrived at the scene moments after the killers had struck.

But at that stage the two killers had dropped their handguns and fled the scene.

Expand Close Armed gardai at the scene of a raid on a house only hours after Gareth Hutch was shot dead / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Armed gardai at the scene of a raid on a house only hours after Gareth Hutch was shot dead

A second car that the killers used to escape, a Skoda Octavia, was later found by gardai, burned out at Dubber Lane in Finglas.

Gareth Hutch, a father of one, had warned that he was in fear of his life less than 24 hours before his assassination.

Shocked city councillor Nial Ring recounted his meeting with the victim on Monday regarding his wish to move to a more secure flat within the Avondale House council flats complex.

"He was on the first floor where there was access to a balcony from the side, which wasn't covered by CCTV. He felt this was putting him in more danger," he said.

"He was obviously a very dedicated and very devoted father as his concern was for the little guy."

Read More

Mr Ring said both he and councillor Christy Burke were now offering to be mediators to try to bring the violence to an end.

Gareth Hutch was originally from Drumalee Avenue in Dublin's north inner city and was previously cleared of attempted robbery charges.

The charges related to an incident when criminal Gareth Molloy (27) was shot dead by a member of the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) during a raid by a gang on a security van delivering cash to a supermarket in Lucan in May, 2009.

The murder victim's cousin, Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch, was convicted in relation to this crime.

After being extradited from Holland to face the charges in September, 2014, Hutch then spent almost 15 months in Cloverhill Prison, before being cleared of the charges last December.

Gardai are appealing for anyone who may have seen the two gunmen leaving the car park to contact them.

They are also appealing for anyone who witnessed the black BMW 5 series, with a 02-D-39051 registration plate.

The car and another vehicle have been seized by gardai.
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has apologised to patients and their families after water leaked through the ceilings of some of its wards.

The apology came as one staff member revealed that a patient was given baby wipes to clean themselves last week due to another problem with the water supply which meant some toilets could not be used.

The staff member, who did not want to be named, said a patient came from one section of the hospital to another and used the toilet there.

"The patient said the toilets were not working on their ward and headed straight for our bathroom," the staff member explained. "Afterwards, the patient told us that baby wipes were being handed out.

"We have signs everywhere in the hospital reminding us about the importance of hand hygiene and then there is no water. There can be C Diff and contagious diseases in any hospital including the Lourdes. This isn't good enough."

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) representative Tony Fitzpatrick confirmed water leaked through the ceiling of the third floor of the hospital this week.

It is believed there was also a leak on the first floor.

There are no reports of water having a direct effect on patients in beds; it appears to have leaked through a pipe running above a corridor running past the wards. Some floor tiles were also affected.

Leaks

The two incidents come as the INMO attends a hearing at the Workplace Relations Commission today in regard to the dispute over inadequate staffing levels at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. There are more than 100 vacant posts at the hospital.

In a statement, the hospital apologised to patients and families affected by the leaks.

"Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda can confirm that there was an issue on Monday 23, May 2016 with a blocked pipe," it said.

"The blockage at the hospital is a result of a piece of metal becoming lodged in a pipe."

In relation to a patient being offered baby wipes to clean themselves, the hospital confirmed "there was an issue in relation to water services to the east and west wings of the hospital from midnight on Friday evening to Saturday morning.

"Water services were disconnected in order to facilitate the installation of isolation valves on the water system.

"The planned works were routine and were undertaken at a time of least disruption to patients. Water supply was fully restored to the hospital on Saturday morning."

It said this was not connected to the water leaks on Monday.

"The hospital anticipates full services will be restored by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda regrets any inconvenience caused to patients," the statement added.

Mr Fitzpatrick witnessed the leak while he was in the hospital to speak to INMO members about the union's work-to-rule action.
GARDA Commissioner Noirin OSullivan has defended her handling of whistleblower allegations, saying it appropriate to question the credibility of Sergeant Maurice McCabes evidence.

Ms OSullivan issued a much-anticipated statement today in which she confirmed that her legal team had challenged the motivation of Sgt McCabe.

She also revealed that two gardai are to be investigated for possibly attempting to mislead the OHiggins Commission which was set up on following a series of allegations by Sgt McCabe about garda misconduct in the Cavan/Monaghan distict.

Today the Commissioner said she was reluctant to respond to leaks about her approach to the inquiry.

Whatever its source, the net charge that is now being made is that the credibility and motivation of Sergeant McCabe was challenged, Ms OSullivan said.

The countrys most senior officer said she has a duty to all members of An Garda Siochana, both current and former.

Expand Close Sgt Maurice McCabe Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sgt Maurice McCabe Photo: Tom Burke

Having regard to the nature and seriousness of the allegations, and the duty to assist the Commission in its task of establishing the facts and truth, I cannot see how it would be in any way unreasonable, improper or avoidable to appropriately test and cross examine the evidence of all persons giving evidence to the Commission including Sergeant McCabe, she said.

The Commission found, in relation to certain allegations; these hurtful allegations to be unfounded and in at least one case based on a belief, but unsupported by evidence, and that those against whom such complaints were made lived for many years under the strain of those allegations.

Ms OSullivan also revealed that she has asked the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to refer the conduct of two gardai to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSCO) for investigation.

There has been a suggestion in recent reportage that two senior officers had sought to misrepresent before the Commission the contents of a meeting they held with a Sergeant in Mullingar in 2008.

In those circumstances, and in order to resolve any public disquiet, misplaced or otherwise which may arise, and in the interest of fairness to all involved, I have requested the Minister for Justice, pursuant to her powers within the Garda Siochana Act, to refer that aspect to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission for the purpose of investigating it in the public interest, she confirmed.

In her lengthy statement Ms OSullivan said the current controversy was the result of certain selective information be leaked into the public domain.

By selective I mean transcripts of no more than three minutes of what happened at a Commission which ran for 34 ten hour days, generating thousands of pages of transcripts, she said.
A man who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in a house in Rathmines on Monday night has been named locally as 59-year-old Desmond Sullivan.

Gardai have arrested another man after Mr Sullivan was found unresponsive in his house on Summerville Park, off the Upper Rathmines Road, in Dublin.

Gardai had received a call at approximately 11.30pm on Monday that an incident had occurred at the terraced house in south Dublin.

They, along with Dublin Fire Brigade, attended the scene and Mr Sullivan was pronounced dead at the scene.

The body remained in the house until yesterday morning while the building was sealed off and preserved for examination by members of the garda technical bureau.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy attended yesterday morning and later carried out a post mortem on the body at the City Morgue, Marino.

Based on the results of that post mortem, gardai have now launched a full murder investigation.

The cause of death is not yet known.

A 67-year-old man was arrested yesterday morning in Dublin in connection with the incident and is currently being detained at Rathmines Garda Station.

He is being held under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Summerville Park is a small cul de sac of terraced period red-brick homes.

Neighbours were reluctant to comment today except to say that Mr Sullivan had lived on the street for many years and was a quiet and reserved man.

We dont even know what happened. Its hard to believe. Its a very quiet street, but nobody seems to have heard anything or know anything about what happened, said one local resident.

The first we knew about it was when we saw the emergency services and the gardai.

Its very sad, really. Nothing like this has happened here before, said another.

A woman who was a friend of Mr Sullivans called to the house this morning, but was too distressed to talk about him or what had happened.
Killer dentist Colin Howell was reportedly rushed from prison to hospital yesterday suffering from dehydration and stomach problems.

It is believed he had gone on hunger strike in protest at being stripped of a pension worth more than 770,000.

Expand Close Genevieve OReilly and James Nesbitt in The Secret / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Genevieve OReilly and James Nesbitt in The Secret

The double murderer was taken to hospital in an ambulance after collapsing.

He fell ill at around lunchtime at the maximum-security Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn.

Read More

Howell, along with his then lover Hazel Stewart, murdered his wife Lesley and Stewart's husband Trevor Buchanan by gassing them and then making it look like a suicide pact.

The 1991 murders were recently portrayed in the controversial ITV drama series The Secret, which upset the families of the victims and led to questions being asked in Parliament.

Howell was recently told he would not receive his 587,526.27 (770k) National Health Service pension because of sex assaults he carried out on at least five female dental patients after drugging them at his surgery.

He has up until now been described as a model prisoner, but it is thought he may have been counting on the money to live a comfortable life once he is freed in 2030 after serving his 21-year sentence.

The loss of the nest egg coupled with the screening of the drama may have pushed him over the edge and led to the hunger strike.

The Department of Health and Social Services decided to pull the murderer's pension because of fears it would lead to a widespread loss of public confidence in the department.

Read More

Howell's former wife Kyle Jorgensen, who fled to her native America with their five children after his crimes became public knowledge, is also alleged to have been chasing the money.
TAOISEACH Enda Kenny is to get a full security briefing from Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan amid the spiralling gang violence in Dublin.

Mr Kenny is to meet Ms OSullivan along with Tanaiste and justice minister Frances Fitzgerald tonight to discuss what he termed the murderous feud.

He was again responding to questions in the Dail in light of yesterdays brutal killing of Gareth Hutch.

Mr Kenny said: Ive asked the minister for justice and the Garda Commissioner, with the Assistant Commissioner to come this evening for a full security briefing at 7pm particularly in respect of the extra facilities and resources being made available in the north inner city to deal with this issue.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has called for "mini-CABs" in Garda Districts to target drug lords in communities and for powers for Gardai to stop the street trade in prescription drugs.

Mr Kenny said he intends to meet the community in the North Inner City and local public representatives when its appropriate.
Two men have been arrested after a suspected security breach at Shannon Airport.

The pair were detained after accessing the runway through a perimeter fence at around 6am.

The ShannonWatch group, which campaigns against the US military using the airport, said the men were "peace activists" taking symbolic action.

It is understood they tried to inspect a Lear jet they believed was being used by the US Air Force, which was parked at the airport overnight.

A red cross was also drawn on a taxi area as part of the protest.

It is the latest security breach by activists at the airport with the most high profile occurring in 2014 when Independent TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace used a rope ladder to scale a fence.

The Galway Alliance Against War, which also campaigns against US military stop-offs in Shannon, claimed a plane was taking off during the incursion.

"This incident not only highlights Ireland's complicity in the slaughter in the Middle East and Central Asia, but how easily security at Shannon warport can be breached. It is time to end this scandal at Shannon," a spokesman said.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who attended a Vatican news conference yesterday, confirmed that the pontiff wishes to visit Ireland to coincide with the event Picture: Reuters

Advanced plans are under way to bring the Pope to Ireland in 2018, provided he remains in good health.

The Vatican confirmed that the World Meeting of Families will be held in Dublin from August 22 to 26, 2018 - and the Pope is almost certain to attend.

High-level delegations from Rome have already been in Dublin for preliminary discussions on the visit, the Irish Independent has learned.

But official confirmation of the trip is not expected until the end of 2017 or early 2018.

The World Meeting of Families is the largest universal gathering of Catholic families from all over the world. It is held every three years in a different country, after being started in 1994 as an initiative of the late Pope John Paul II.

The Dublin event in August 2018 will feature the theme 'The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World'.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who attended a Vatican news conference yesterday, confirmed that the pontiff wishes to visit Ireland to coincide with the event.

He said: "The Pope has told me that it is his wish to be in Dublin but we all know that the Pope's programme is defined in detail much closer to the event and many things can change."

The Irish church leader said he hoped that a visit to Northern Ireland would also be on the agenda of a papal visit.

He recently told Irish Independent journalist Paul Williams that Pope Francis had told him that either he or his successor would visit Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in 2018. However, he also acknowledged that the 79-year-old Argentinian "knows his health problems".

Dr Martin said: "The Pope has expressed his desire to attend, and such a visit of the Pope would bring great joy to Irish Catholics and others, but the final decision will depend on a number of factors. Given the age of Pope Francis, a possible visit of the Pope in 2018 would inevitably have a more restricted programme than that of the papal visit of Pope St John Paul II in 1979."

For some time there has been speculation that the 2018 papal visit would be a two-stop affair, taking in the World Meeting of Families in Dublin and Armagh in Northern Ireland, which the late John Paul II was unable to visit in 1979 due to security concerns over the Troubles.

Dr Martin said the Pope could bring some gesture of peace and reconciliation to Northern Ireland "in a way that few other people could do it".

The Archbishop also said it was significant that Pope Francis had chosen the family as the theme of the first Synod of Bishops of his Pontificate.
Fianna Fails Barry Cowen said a motion placed by Sinn Fein, seeking the immediate abolition of charges and Irish Water, was a case of Gerry Adamss party reverting to type Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Sinn Fein's attempt to immediately abolish water charges is "simple grandstanding", Fianna Fail has claimed.

The two opposition parties engaged in a bitter war of words across the Dail chamber last night as TDs formally debated the future of Irish Water.

Fianna Fail's Barry Cowen said a motion placed by Sinn Fein, seeking the immediate abolition of charges and Irish Water, was a case of Gerry Adams's party "reverting to type".

He said that in its negotiations with Fine Gael ahead of the formation of a government, Fianna Fail had secured a suspension of charges and a Dail vote on the issue.

Mr Cowen added: "Today's deeply misleading motion wilfully ignores the progress that was made on this critical issue between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Sinn Fein dives for cover in the nearest ditch."

Mr Adams said Fianna Fail's mandate was to abolish Irish Water, adding: "Their manifesto says nothing about kicking it down the road to a Dail committee or a commission of inquiry."

His party colleague, Eoin O Broin, added: "Any suggestion that you are in line with your campaign during the General Election is fundamentally dishonest.

"Deputy Cowen, your manifesto has four references to Irish Water. All of them say, 'abolish Irish Water and end water charges.'"

But Fianna Fail's Shane Cassells said the debate was an "opportunity for Sinn Fein to say thank you" to his party.

Suspension

Amid sometimes rowdy scenes in the Dail, he said Sinn Fein TDs "sniggering from the gallery" confirmed they had "failed to achieve anything".

On behalf of the Government, Simon Coveney, who is now the minister with responsibility for Irish Water, said the Government was "trying to take the heat out of the issue" by allowing a nine-month window for a commission to do its work.

"We're going to get experts from Ireland and the rest of the world to make recommendations," he said, "and the Oireachtas committee that takes those recommendations will be bound by them. An issue as important as water surely deserves that window."

Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath said he wanted to use the debate to "set the record straight" about his position on water.

The Independent TD said he supported the process of a commission, followed by a Dail vote and added: "Judge me when that happens.

"It will be crucial for the review to take into account people who have paid their charges and not let them be disadvantaged."

Hundreds of protesters are expected to gather outside Leinster House at 5pm today when the Dail votes on the Sinn Fein motion and counter-motions by both the Government and Fianna Fail.

The Government's motion is expected to pass.
Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured as they stroll through the walled garden at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath

The PRINCE of Wales has told of his great happiness to be back in Ireland, describing Donegal as a place of dramatic and beautiful scenery, of music and storytelling, of myth, legend and the Irish language.

Prince Charles addressed a civic reception at Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) where he told those gathered that it was always the greatest possible pleasure for my wife and I to visit this wonderful country.

Praising the scenery and rich history of Donegal, he added that it was a place where the link between man and the land is still so well understood.

He said the relationship between Britain and Ireland was now better than ever and the relationship between the communities on the island of Ireland had changed fundamentally since the peace agreement of 1998.

This is as evident here as anywhere. The border is of the merest consequence. And Co Donegal, Co Derry or Londonderry and Co Tyrone operate as a single economic entity to the great benefit of their inhabitants.

So I can only applaud the people of all three counties for proving that it is possible for communities that have been divided for so long to overcome their differences and create a peaceful and prosperous life together.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla pictured with Dave Duggan, Divisional Manager Parks and Wild life Services , on the roof of the Boat house at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured on the roof of the Boat house at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla pictured with Sean O Gaoitin, head gardener , during their visit to the walled garden at Glenvagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured with Cillian Doran [9] from Scoil an tSratha Mhoir, Glendowan during the visit. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured as they stroll through the walled garden at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles pictured with Dave Duggan, Divisional Manager Parks and Wildlife Services on the roof of the Boat house at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured with Sean O Gaoitin, head gardener during their visit to the walled garden at Glenvagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla pictured as they stroll through the walled garden at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Locals wait to catch a glimpse of the Royals amid tight security outside Donegal Castle during the Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla's visit to the Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Irish dancers Ellie Ni Choilin [9] with Ailbhe Ni Loughley [11] and piper Cian Mac Suibhne check their phone before the visit by Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla to Donegal Castle . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla watch Irish dancer Ailbhe Ni Loughley dance a jig for them during the visit to Donegal Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla pictured on their visit to Donegal Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Prince of Wales, Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla pictured their visit to Donegal Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Irish Dancer Ellie Ni Choilin [9] chats with Prince of Wales Charles and Dutchess of Cornwall Camilla during their visit to Donegal Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath Olwyn Enwright and Joe McHugh greets Camilla Dutchess of Cornwall , during the visit by Prince of Wales Charles and Dutchess of Cornwall Camilla to Donegal Castle in Donegal Town. Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath Irish Dancer, Ellie Ni Choilin [9] chats with Prince of Wales Charles and Dutchess of Cornwall Camilla during their visit to Donegal Castle in Donegal town . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath 25/5/16 Irish Dancers, Ellie Ni Choilin [9] with Ailbhe Ni Loughley [11] and Piper Cian Mac Suibhne take a few pictures of themselves before the visit by Prince Charles and Dutchess Camilla to Donegal Castle . Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath 25/5/16 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Prince of Wales Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla pictured with Dave Duggan, Divisional Manager Parks and Wild life Services , on the roof of the Boat house at Glenveagh Castle. Picture Credit: Frank Mc Grath

I do so hope that the example you have set will be copied in other areas of the world that have suffered so much conflict, he added.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were guests of honour at a civic reception hosted by Donegal County Council, focused on cross-border cooperation and development.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan greeted the royal couple on arrival at LYIT for the event.

He said the visit marked the 21st century friendship between the two countries and the ever-growing efforts to work together.

Working together between Britain and Ireland. Working together north and south on this island. Working together across our open border, between neighbouring counties  indeed between good and friendly neighbours, he added.

Minister Flanagan described last year's visit by the royal couple as a powerful demonstration of our two countries shared focus on peace and reconciliation.

He also cited the 21st century links between the two countries, in education, science and many other walks of life.

Today, as we assemble in Donegals centre of educational excellence, we further celebrate those 21st century links. In particular, we celebrate the ever-increasing co-operation all across this island - and specifically cross-border partnerships across a broad range of areas between counties Donegal and Derry, he added.

Minister Flanagan also welcomed the fact that the visit would serve to increase the international profile of Donegal and the north-west as a whole.

During his visit to LYIT, Prince Charles unveiled a plaque rededicating a building to his great friend artist Derek Hill. The Prince will pay a private visit to the artists home Glebe House, saying it would be a very special treat to visit the home of my old friend and artistic mentor.

Prince Charles met with LYIT staff and students and a number of entrepreneurs involved in the Colab incubation and innovation centre for the North West.

The centre currently supports 28 companies at LYIT and works on a cross-border basis. He also met with local food producers involved in the Donegal Coast Initiative and was presented with a number of gifts.
The firm behind a massive Dublin housing development expects that it can rent out properties 10 times faster than they could be sold on the market.

Global real estate firm Hines Ireland believes it can rent out 80 apartments a month to tenants, but could sell only eight properties a month in the current climate.

The firm - which partners in developments with long-term investment organisations like pension and sovereign wealth funds - controls 60pc of the massive Cherrywood development site in south Dublin.

Last November, Hines Ireland submitted the first planning application for a road network to pave the way for a new urban centre there.

There are major plans for a new town along with up to 3,800 apartments and houses at the site.

The proposed building-to-rent development would be at the new town centre, and would comprise of around 1,500 units if it gets the planning go-ahead from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

"We're very much taking the view that if we want to build in volume and scale quickly we have to go down the build-to-rent market," Mr Moran told the Housing Agency's annual conference.

"If we were to sell the units out here we'd be looking at, after an initial flurry - of about eight a month - as what the absorption would be in terms of selling them given all the constraints that people have around borrowing, etc.

"If we were to rent, we'd have 80 a month," he added. "This thing will be successful so we've appealed to the planning authority to work with us on a build-to-rent model just in the town centre."

He outlined how the efficiency of the apartment designs is crucial to making the business model work.

"In the absence of doing that, we are not going to get our cost-base efficiency down to a level that allow us to underwrite this purely off rents, not on sales and that's the critical thing."

He said that the designs comply with new apartment guidelines - allowing for smaller units - which were brought in by former Environment Minister Alan Kelly last year.

Mr Moran showed an example of a 74.5sqm two-bedroom apartment that has no corridors. Instead, the external door opens into the kitchen and living area.

"So the new codes that have come in allow us to look at these models. This is now possible," he said.

He added that Hines has experience building similar units in the United States. The design relies on the installation of a sprinkler system and Mr Moran said that the firm had been working with Dublin Fire Brigade and other agencies in Britain.

He said the company's research showed their design was "10 times safer than a traditional apartment unit built with a corridor" in relation to fire safety.

"So we're hoping to move that process forward with the local council and get this approved."

Mr Moran told the Irish Independent that the Central Bank's mortgage rules have made Ireland a more "normalised market" and that the country is no longer a "credit-crazy bubble".

"People are not in a rush to buy, they make the careful decision," he added, saying this is the basis of the eight sales a month estimate.

Of the building-to-rent strategy, Mr Moran said: "You're bringing a new product to market so it's a shiny new car if you want. It has that new leather smell in it.

"People will often leave another apartment that's run-down and move to your (new) apartment."

The Housing Agency's conference was entitled 'Achieving Affordability' and heard presentations from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, while property pundit Karl Deeter spoke about mortgage arrears.
SC Johnson has become the first firm in the UK to reveal every chemical it uses.

THE UK and Ireland's biggest household cleaning manufacturer has revealed its list of ingredients including potentially "dangerous" chemicals in products such as Mr Muscle, Glade and Toilet Duck.

In a bid to address customers' concerns over "clean" fragrances like lemon and vanilla being linked to respiratory problems, cancer and other illnesses, SC Johnson has become the first firm in the UK to reveal every chemical it uses.

It comes as professors at York University warn that the biggest cause of air pollution in British homes is no longer outdoor pollution in the Eighties and Nineties, but fragranced products.

In a study due to be published next month in scientific journal Indoor Air, Scientists will reveal some poorly ventilated properties are up to 100 times more polluted than other properties in the same neighborhood.

Conflicting scientific evidence around the health impact of chemicals such as Limonene, used by firms like SC Johnson uses to create lemon-like smells, has sparked a public debate over whether cleaners are safe to use in the home.

When used, Limonene produces another chemical called formaldehyde, which has been been listed as a known human carcinogen since 2011 and is thought to be cancer-causing.

SC Johnson insists its usage of all chemicals is always below the safe levels established by regulators and in accordance with the law.

SC Johnson is the first major consumer goods company to publicly release the ingredients in our products, including all fragrances," Kelly Semrau, SC Johnson Senior Vice President, Global Sustainability, said.

"We proactively created this industry-leading initiative, which goes above and beyond to ensure consumers in the UK and across Europe are fully informed about the ingredients in our products. SC Johnson believes that full transparency is the best way to help consumers make educated decisions about the products they choose to use. Were proud to be the first company to take this step.

Professor Alastair Lewis, author of the report and an air quality expert at York University, welcomed SC Johnson's decision and predicted cleaning product manufacturers would soon move towards recommending people open windows when using scented products.

He said: "The concern is over a small group of people that have got the combination of high product usage and poorly ventilated homes. 30 years ago chemicals in homes were mainly those which had come in from outside through leaky doors. But now now fragrances are the main source of pollution in modern air-conditioned homes."

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Sonic youth: Des Geraghty (72), has shown no signs of slowing down since his retirement as president of SIPTU in 2003. Photo: Mark Condren

Are you one of those enviable older people who never seem to stop? Do you race from a morning spent volunteering at your local charity shop to lunch with the ladies to an afternoon minding the grandkids topped off by an evening yoga class? If that sounds like you, it looks as though you could be doing yourself - and your brain - a massive favour. New research has shown that keeping busy may have a protective effect on the ageing brain.

The Dallas Lifespan Brain Study, which looked at 330 people between the ages of 50 and 89, shows that people with a busy lifestyle have improved memory, reasoning and vocabulary, and can process information faster than their less busy peers.

The findings are not a surprise to Professor Sabina Brennan, a psychologist who co-directs a dementia research programme in the Institute of Neuroscience in Trinity College Dublin.

"It is possible to reduce our risk of developing dementia and even delay the onset of symptoms, and there are no secrets or magic tricks involved," she says. "It's quite straightforward, and it's free. Stay physically and mentally active, eat healthily, don't smoke, take alcohol in moderation, and socialise.

"Social isolation is not only bad for brain health, it actually increases the risk of dementia. People with more social ties live longer, have better cognitive function and are less depressed than those who keep to themselves. Loneliness and isolation are as bad for health as smoking and obesity."

So it's not just keeping busy that improves brain function, it's the quality of the busyness - what you do and who you do it with - that can keep you sharp.

"Research shows that social interaction for just 10 minutes a day can increase brain performance and may deliver greater benefits than solving crossword puzzles," says Professor Brennan.

"I don't like to describe it as 'busyness', as you can busy yourself doing mindless tasks. It's more about engaging, challenging, contributing and empowering. Seize the day. The activity doesn't have to be cerebral; it could be singing or dancing, for instance. If you're fond of a particular kind of music, listen to a different genre. The brain gets used to certain patterns, and introducing it to new ones keeps it active."

Since retiring as director of training at Age and Opportunity last year, 65-year-old Helen Campbell is busier than ever. As vice-president of Age Platform Europe, she attends monthly meetings in Brussels and travels to conferences around the globe.

"I have two grandchildren, who keep me on my toes, and I love to write, but I make sure there's always time to smell the roses," she says.

She also speaks French and recently learned Italian, another great way of exercising the brain. Research shows that people who speak a second language get dementia four years later than those who don't.

"We need to stop thinking of education as something you do in school or college, and get into the mindset of lifelong learning," says Professor Brennan.

"Learning generates new brain cells, stimulates the connections between them and opens up new routes that the brain can use to bypass damage. Certain areas of the brain are responsible for specific functions, such as motor function, vision, language and so on.

"However, when one part of the brain breaks down through injury or disease, cells in areas adjacent to the damage can change their function and shape to take on the function of the damaged cells. This capacity of the brain to change itself in response to the stimulation of learning and experience is called neuroplasticity."

She points to 1989 research that described 10 cases of cognitively normal older adults who were discovered to have advanced Alzheimer's Disease pathology in their brains at death. Even though they had the physical signs of the disease, they had no perceptible symptoms of disease. "The brain is the most complex structure in the universe," says Professor Brennan. "We want to keep it functioning at optimum levels as long as possible. When we asked people what they fear most about getting older they said losing memory, losing independence, and getting dementia."

With people living longer - life expectancy is now 82.8 years for Irish women and 78.4 years for men - it's not the days in your life, but the life in your days that makes life worth living.

"Attitude is a key factor. Being busy shouldn't be stressful. Chronic stress shuts off the growth of neurons in the brain, so next time somebody pushes your button, ask yourself, 'Is this worth me getting holes in my brain?' And if the answer is no, then let it go."

For more information see: hellobrain.eu; freedemliving.com; sabinabrennan.ie

'You retire from your job, not your life'

Des Geraghty's schedule is more hectic than ever since his retirement as president of SIPTU in 2003. Now, at 72, there are no signs of him slowing down, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"You retire from your job, not from life," says the former politician and trade union leader who packs more into his average week than many half his age.

He enjoys playing the flute, singing and writing, he's on the Central Bank Commission and the board of TG4 - and that's just for starters.

He's a past Chairperson of Poetry Ireland and the Affordable Homes Partnership and still keeps an active interest in music and arts bodies, affordable housing, social history and equal rights. He tries to walk an hour a day and particularly enjoys walking around Cornmarket in Dublin's Liberties, where he was born.

He's fluent in Irish and has some French. Where does he find the time, or the energy?

"I do things I choose," he says. "Well, I didn't choose the Central Bank job - the late Brian Lenihan, then minister for finance, persuaded me to do that, in 2010, and then the governor, Patrick Honohan, asked me to chair the Risk Committee, which I did for five years.

"It was challenging, but interesting and important. Being a director of TG4 is a special joy. I was excited by that opportunity. As a minority language channel, it brings something different - suil eile - and it delivers.

"It pioneers women's sport, does fantastic history, social and current affairs programmes, and has been the stimulus for a raft of independent production companies who got their grounding in TG4.

"My heart is in Irish culture, language, music and social history. It was cultivated by my mother, and my own children play music too. I have three daughters and five grandchildren, between Dublin, West Cork and Connemara.

"I've written several books, including one on Luke Kelly, who was a personal friend, and one called Forty Shades of Green, which records the important role migrants play in Ireland and celebrates the new ideas and philosophies they bring. I'd like to write more, when I get the time.

"Most of all, I've found that giving is more valuable than taking, and far more satisfying."

- Celine Naughton
Last week's story on the discovery in Italy of a 42-year-old Volkswagen Beetle with just 90kms on the clock sparked a big response generally but from one well-known Irish dealer in particular.

"We've got one with just 26 miles (41.5km) on the clock," Denis Divane, Killarney Road, Castleisland, Co Kerry reminded us.

It is reckoned to be the only non-registered right-hand-drive version of the famous model. It was the last Beetle brought into Ireland. And the delivery docket is still on the window.

The pristine 1977 1,200cc DeLuxe model in Mayo gold (pictured) remains unregistered. Its sticker price was 2,800 when new. No one knows what it's worth today.

The Italian one, to be sold at auction in Denmark this week, is expected to fetch 40,000.

But the Divanes have no intention of selling their golden oldie. It's an institution in the garage; a talking point among visitors (Irish and foreign) and customers.

Some have tried to buy it. But as salesman John Vahey told us: "It will never be sold. You can't put a price on it now. "When you inherit something like this you feel it is not yours to sell."
Premium

Sinead Moriarty: 'Weve got to disconnect to reconnect to our gift of the gab'

Are we losing our world-famous gift of the gab? In an attempt to save our traditional national pastime, a pub in west Cork has banned people from using mobile phones. Billy Fleming, owner of the Anchor Bar, in Courtmacsherry, has said that the locals who drink in his pub support his decision and that mobile phones have gradually killed conversation over the last few years.
Only when money matters more than life can you have six murders within four months. And in gangland, money is all that matters. This happens insidiously when the law of the street subverts the law of the land. It creates a lethal space where decency, humanity, and respect for law and the right to live peacefully, are all seen as signs of weakness. We can not allow such an arid killing zone to be established in the heart of our capital city.

Yesterday's cutting down of Gareth Hutch - which makes him the seventh victim in the gangland war with the Kinahan drug cartel - tells us much about the clinical ruthlessness of the killers.

We have learned once again that the murderers have no fear of being impeded. They will strike at will, where they choose, whether it is in broad daylight or under the cloak of midnight. And they will undoubtedly murder again; unless, that is, they are stopped. It is pertinent to ask what does it tell us about the kind of society that we have become?

Are we to accept that human life is now so worthless and expendable that we are not prepared to resource the gardai to take these gun-toting assassins off our streets for good? We might also remind ourselves that caught in the crossfire is an innocent and terrorised community.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said the killers need to be told that what they are doing is evil and despicable.

Unfortunately, this situation has escalated beyond words - however well intentioned. What anyone says or thinks means nothing. It has moved on to what we are prepared to do to stop the murder cycle.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny - leader of the party of law and order - was challenged yesterday to visit the area where these murders are now becoming sickeningly frequent by Councillor Nial Ring, who said: "We really feel helpless and we need help . . . I don't think there's another part of this city or part of this country where seven people could be shot dead within a short period of time that something wouldn't be done and we are calling on the Minister for Justice and the Taoiseach to get down here."

For her part, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said the murder was an "outrageous attack on law and order". Condemnation is most effective when accompanied by action.

Challenged by Micheal Martin in the Dail on what the Government was doing, Mr Kenny said: "This is a dispute between two families . . .", adding that he does not think he can stop that. Nor would he be expected to, but this unprecedented number of gangland killings - seven in just nine months - has to stop and Mr Kenny must guarantee that there is a policing response commensurate with the level of threat. Last week, we saw gardai march to the Dail in protest. There is a worrying level of dissatisfaction and low morale within the force that must be addressed.

Mr Kenny said: "I think, from the Government point of view, we can provide the resources and the wherewithal that the Garda Commissioner needs to have her forces deal with this in the way they have to.'' Mr Kenny said senior gardai had assured him the resources were available to tackle this issue. But several reports on the gardai have highlighted deficiencies from antiquated computers to outdated fleets.

So while assurances may be genuine, what matters more is urgent action, taking the power to murder and build up billion-euro crime empires away from the gangs.

The drug gangs are waging a war and, by their terms, the only crime is to lose. But lose they must. However hard these thugs think they are, the law must always be harder.
Former ministers for Health and Children, Leo Varadkar and James Reilly, sign the order banning smoking in cars with children, in December 2015 Picture: Tom Burke

We at the Irish Cancer Society would like to thank David Quinn for his contribution to the debate on tobacco control (Irish Independent, Friday, May 20).

Firstly, we wish to thank him for noting the dangers of second-hand smoking, which are classified by the International Agency For Research On Cancer (IARC) as class 1 carcinogens, along with asbestos and plutonium; and, secondly, for detailing the many public health measures that have encouraged smokers (63pc of whom want to stop) to quit, have reduced smoking rates to an all-time low of 19.5pc among adults and 8pc among children, have stopped young people smoking before they started, and have saved thousands of lives.

We're sure he forgot to mention the extra 3,726 people still alive precisely because of the smoking ban.

Instead, Mr Quinn surmises, without evidence, that in spite of the obvious progress in recent years, we ought to have designated smoking areas in restaurants and pubs. Mr Quinn attempts to argue for the economic benefits of smoking, and does get it half-right.

Revenue takes in 1bn per annum from tax on tobacco products, not 2bn. His lethargic and meandering sermon against "neo-puritanism" neglects to mention that each year smoking costs 506m to the healthcare system, over 1bn in lost productivity, and 6m in damages from fires caused by smoking

This is before mentioning the 5,950 deaths caused by smoking each year, the 31,150 inpatient admissions and 300,000 bed days in hospitals given over to smoking-related conditions.

Donal Buggy

Head of Services and Advocacy Irish Cancer Society

Age and childcare

Sometimes one reads something and the brain screams, 'Unbelievable!' Such surely was the case for many people when they read reports in many media outlets that a child has been removed, by a Tusla decision, from their grandparents because they are in their 60s. This is ageism.

Furthermore, when one considers that the current Taoiseach is in his 60s and the current Finance Minister is in his 70s - just to mention two public figures with heavy workloads - then are we led to believe that a precedent has been set for their immediate removal from office.

When one considers that the people involved are grandparents and are therefore already adept in child-rearing, having, one presumes, reared the parent of the child in question, then no case can be made for 'inexperience'. Neither has any criminal activity been alleged, so the decision is indeed 'unbelievable'.

Have we returned to the dark days of even darker forces treating the nation's children like possessions to be traded and thrown around with impunity?

Let us hope not, because that is something that should not be tolerated in the modern age.

Dermot Ryan

Athenry, Co Galway

On hearing the Tusla decision to remove a primary school child from the grandparents, children from other countries must feel so thankful that they are in a place where common sense prevails.

A lot of children in other countries are cared for by grandparents because of the death of their parents. Age is not an issue in Africa, for example, but the care of the children and the love and respect that grandparents provide for them is.

There are many cases of grandparents caring for their grandchildren here in Ireland, not only daily for several hours while parents are at work but at weekends as well, when parents decide they also need to socialise and grandchildren stay the night.

What is the difference between those grandparents all over Ireland and this couple, who had a grandchild removed due to their age?

The only benefit in this decision is for the grandparents who do not want to mind their grandchildren, and can show this age rule now to their own children!

Marlyn McCarthy

Co Kerry

Rise of the far right in Europe

The overwhelming sense of relief being expressed across Europe's established political, social and religious establishment at the failure of Norbert Hofer, the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, to win his country's presidential election seems at best a temporary moment of respite, given half of the voting populace expressed their preference for him.

It is far too simplistic to generalise - as the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has done - and say Austrians have rejected "populism and extremism [and that] everyone in Europe should learn from this". This is clearly an expression of hope rather than reality, a position reinforced by the inexorable ascent of ultra-nationalist parties like France's Front National and Germany's Alternative for Deutschland (Afd), not forgetting the recent success of the Scandinavian and Slavic ultra-nationalists.

The reality is that mass migrations from the Middle East, Africa and Asia have completely broken a post-WWII social and cultural template of Caucasian, Christian European hegemony.

This fracture has facilitated extremism on both sides of the ideological spectrum; a scenario that, in many respects, replicates the continent-wide political and social forces of a pre-war Europe that was polarised by hatred of the 'other'.

This has led to the targeting of existing minorities, whose forebears have been established in Europe for generations.

Consequently, examples of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have become the norm in our daily reality, a fact that the Garda Racial Intercultural and Diversity Office under the stalwart stewardship of Sergeant Dave McInerney, could confirm for any interested party.

Sadly, therefore, I strongly suspect that, like Valls, the overwhelmingly positive statement by Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, "that Europe is beginning to realise hate and fear politics are not the answer to the many challenges we are facing as a continent", is one of naive hope, rather than a realistic appraisal of the insidious and inexorable rise of a continent-wide wave of ultra-nationalist sentiment.

Dr Kevin McCarthy

Kinsale, Co Cork
Police use pepper spray and smoke bombs outside Donald Trump rally at the Albuquerque Convention Centre in New Mexico

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally with supporters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S., May 24, 2016

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump have each won primaries in Washington state.

Mr Trump's win helps him inch closer to clinching his party's nomination for president. He is within 41 delegates of the number needed to become the Republican nominee.

Expand Close Police use pepper spray and smoke bombs outside Donald Trump rally at the Albuquerque Convention Centre in New Mexico / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police use pepper spray and smoke bombs outside Donald Trump rally at the Albuquerque Convention Centre in New Mexico

Mrs Clinton's win might give her some momentum, but it will not get her any delegates. There were no delegates at stake in the Democratic primary. Washington Democrats have already awarded their delegates based on party caucuses.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won Washington's caucuses in March, getting 74 delegates. Mrs Clinton got 27.

Republicans in Washington will allocate all 44 delegates to their national convention based on the primary results.

Mr Trump won at least 27 delegates, with 17 still left to be allocated. The billionaire businessman has 1,196 delegates. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination.

Read More

There are no more Republican contests until June 7, when the last five states vote. With a total of 303 delegates at stake in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, Mr Trump should easily clinch the nomination that day.

He is the only remaining candidate in the Republican contest. But his former opponents, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, were still on the ballot because they suspended their campaigns after the ballots were printed. Ben Carson was also on the ballot because he never submitted the paperwork to have his name removed.

Mr Sanders trails Mrs Clinton in the delegate count and he is running out of contests in his bid to catch up.

Mrs Clinton is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president. She is on track to do so in early June, even if she loses all the remaining contests.

Read More

She has 1,768 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. Mr Sanders has 1,497.

Her lead is even bigger when superdelegate endorsements are included. These are the party leaders and elected officials who can support the candidate of their choice.

Overall, Mrs Clinton has 2,305 delegates and Mr Sanders has 1,539. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Meanwhile protests outside a rally Mr Trump was holding in New Mexico turned violent as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, and knocked down barricades.

Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Centre.

During the rally, Mr Trump was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough".

At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention centre, which was packed with thousands of cheering Trump supporters.

Mr Trump responded by instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "go home to mommy".

He responded to one demonstrator by asking: "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."

The altercations left a glass door at the entrance of the convention centre smashed.

It was Mr Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Governor Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticised his remarks on immigrants and attacked his proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.
Dylann Roof appears via video before a judge in Charleston, S.C., on Friday, June 19, 2015. The 21-year-old accused of killing nine people inside a black church in Charleston made his first court appearance, with the relatives of all the victims making tearful statements. (Centralized Bond Hearing Court, of Charleston, S.C. via AP)

Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses. Authorities have accused him of holding white supremacist views, saying he targeted the victims because of their race.

Expand Close Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month REUTERS/Randall Hill / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month REUTERS/Randall Hill

His federal trial had been delayed while U.S. prosecutors decided whether to seek the death penalty. Defense attorneys have said he would plead guilty if he did not face the possibility of execution.

He also faces the state death penalty if convicted of the shooting.

Expand Close Dylann Roof (R), the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month REUTERS/Randall Hill / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dylann Roof (R), the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month REUTERS/Randall Hill

Roof's attorney, Michael O'Connell, declined to comment on the prosecution's decision when reached by phone on Tuesday.
Johnny Depp, pictured at the LA premiere of Alice Through The Looking Glass on Monday, is locked in a bizarre war of words with an Australian politician (AP)

The Australian politician locked in a bizarre war of words with Johnny Depp has boasted that he got into the Hollywood star's head like fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter.

Barnaby Joyce was hitting back after Depp quipped that the ruddy-faced deputy prime minister appeared to be "inbred with a tomato".

The exchange on Wednesday is the latest salvo in the dispute which began a year ago when Mr Joyce, who is also agriculture minister, threatened to have Depp's pet dogs, Boo and Pistol, put down.

The 52-year-old actor's wife Amber Heard pleaded guilty in a court last month to falsifying documents to conceal the pets when she arrived by private jet to join her husband on the set of the fifth film in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series.

Depp ridiculed Mr Joyce this week on US television, telling talk show host Jimmy Kimmel: "He looks somehow inbred with a tomato.

"It's not a criticism. No, I was a little worried. He might explode."

Mr Joyce replied by thanking Depp for the publicity he gave Australia's tough biosecurity laws through the case that was widely lampooned as a "war on terrier".

The minister, who is campaigning ahead of July 2 elections, said he had moved on from his dispute with Depp.

"I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he's remembering me," he told reporters in his home town of Tamworth.

"I'm turning into his Hannibal Lecter," he added, referring to the brilliant but dangerously manipulative character best known from the Academy Award-winning film Silence Of The Lambs.

Depp and Heard recorded a 40-second videotaped apology as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed Heard to avoid a conviction.

The couple's delivery in the video was oddly wooden, and Mr Joyce said he could have directed it better himself, and that it looked like Depp was auditioning for The Godfather.

Depp himself told Kimmel he had not watched the video: "No, because I didn't want to kill myself."

The actor had poked fun at the quarantine drama during a press conference in Venice last year where he was asked if he planned to take the dogs for a gondola ride.

"No," he replied. "I killed my dogs and ate them, under direct orders from some kind of, I don't know, sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a raft of new measures combining "opportunities and obligations" designed to help Germany deal with the influx of about 1.1 million asylum-seekers registered as entering the country last year, and help those who stay become "good neighbours and citizens".

The package seeks to provide migrants with better access to the German job market and also foresees the creation of some 100,000 government-funded "job opportunities" for migrants.

At the same time, migrants will be expected to participate in expanded orientation and language courses, which will also be made available more quickly and to more people than before.

"Learning the German language quickly, rapid integration in training, studies and the labor market, and an understanding of and compliance with the principles of living together in our society and compliance with our laws are essential for successful integration," the Cabinet said in a statement after the meeting.

"The newcomers are to become good neighbours and citizens, which will enable us to strengthen social cohesion and prevent parallel structures in our country."

In a provision designed to prevent the development of migrant ghettos in big cities, the measures, which still need Parliamentary approval, would mandate newcomers to stay where they have been officially placed for a minimum of three years unless a job is found that takes them elsewhere.

Ms Merkel told reporters that Germany has "learned from the past," when immigrants were frequently thought of as guest workers or otherwise temporary residents and integration measures were not offered. Now that they are, "we expect people to take up these offers so that integration can work better".

"I think it's a milestone that the federal government is passing an integration law that's based upon the principle of opportunities and obligations, obligations and opportunities," she said.

Initial enthusiasm toward migrants - illustrated by Germans clapping new arrivals at railway stations last summer - has given way to wariness and fear among many in the country. Far-right groups have seized on reports of crimes committed by foreigners and a nationalist party has seen a surge in support at the expense of established parties.

"We want to and have to keep hold our society together," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin after the Cabinet meeting.

The residency requirement had been one of the most controversial issues in the bill. Many migrants who have been sent to rural parts of the country or to eastern Germany - where anti-foreigner violence has been a particular problem - have moved to larger cities against authorities' wishes.

Mr d e Maiziere said past experience had shown that migrants need to mix with the rest of society if they want to integrate quickly.

"We don't want parallel societies or ghettos," he said.

Obligatory orientation classes for migrants will be extended from 60 hours to 100 hours, and will include a greater focus on gender equality, a hot topic after attacks on women during New Year's celebrations in Cologne that authorities have said were committed largely by foreigners.

"The role of women, compatibility of work and family life, equality of men and women will get a new emphasis," Mr de Maiziere said.

A group that campaigns for the rights of migrants slammed the bill. Pro Asyl accused the government of including measures designed to prevent people who have passed through countries deemed safe - such as Turkey - from getting asylum in Germany.

It also criticised the decision to backdate the residency requirement to all migrants whose protection status was approved after January 1, saying the measure would lead to "chaos".
North Korea has dismissed an offer by Donald Trump to meet Kim Jong-un as propaganda and "nonsense".

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee offered to meet the North Korean leader in a recent interview with Reuters in New York, saying he "would have no problem speaking to him".

Critics were quick to point out that the North Korean regime would be swift to portray any meeting as a victory for their hard-line stance on nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, as well as serving to legitimise Mr Kim's oppressive rule.

Mr Trump has previously expressed his admiration for Mr Kim's ruthless style of leadership, describing it as "incredible".

Speaking at a election rally in Iowa in January, Mr Trump said: "You're got to give him credit. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. This guy doesn't play games."

His comments came shortly after the North's fourth underground nuclear test.

Sanctions

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva appeared sceptical when asked on Monday whether Pyongyang would welcome a visit by Mr Trump, should he be elected.

"It is up to the decision of my supreme leader whether he decides to meet or not, but I think his idea of talk is nonsense," said So Se-pyong, Pyongyang's ambassador.

"It's for utilisation of the presidential election, that's all," he added. "A kind of propaganda or advertisement. This is useless, just a gesture for the presidential election. There is no meaning, no sincerity."

There have been suggestions that North Korea is attempting to rebuild bridges with some of the states that have supported strict United Nations sanctions, which were imposed in the aftermath of its nuclear test and a rocket launch in February.

That is being interpreted as a sign that Mr Kim's regime is feeling the effects of the embargo.
Hot items should be left to to cool before being folded or stored away.

A stack of hot towels self-combusted in an Australian massage parlour, causing a fire to start.

Emergency services rushed to the scene at Sahara Snow massage parlour in Melbourne, after a passer-by spotted smoke coming from the property.

Luckily, there were no occupants inside the premises at the time.

The fire was brought under control within 40 minutes.

The towels had been pulled from a dryer and left in a pile, before they self-combusted.

Melbourne Fire Brigade urged people to exercise caution when using dryers, The Age newspaper has reported.

Hot items should be left to to cool before being folded or stored away.
An Australian man who kidnapped, drugged and raped a German backpacker has been sentenced to nine years in prison for an attack that has drawn comparisons to the grisly horror film Wolf Creek.

Peter Van de Wetering, 48, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges including rape and kidnapping for the August 2013 attack on the 19-year-old woman two weeks after she arrived in Australia.

"This offending involves an entirely ruthless pursuit of a young and innocent woman for your sexual gratification," Brisbane District Court Judge Terry Martin told Van de Wetering at the sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors said Van de Wetering spent months planning the attack, seeking out a remote location to carry out the crime and buying a wig, fake beard and moustache to use as a disguise.

He picked his victim up at a bus stop in the rural town of Cottonvale after she responded to an ad seeking a nanny and farmhand. He then took her to a sheep shearing shed, where he bound and drugged her, threatened to kill her and sexually assaulted her. She eventually lost consciousness and awoke early the next morning on the side of a rural road.

The case has attracted a great deal of attention in Australia for its similarities to the Australian film Wolf Creek, in which a sexually sadistic serial killer who drugs his victims hunts down a group of backpackers in the Outback.

Despite Van de Wetering's guilty plea, the judge said he had shown no remorse for the assault, which left the woman with physical and emotional scars. Two years after the attack, she remains afraid of the dark, Judge Martin said.
Police in Belgium have arrested four people suspect of being Islamic State recruiters

Belgian prosecutors have detained four suspected Islamic State (IS) group recruiters who they say may have planned new attacks in the country.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Wednesday that all four were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Two were ordered arrested by an investigating judge but one of them was released with an electronic bracelet. The other two were released under strict conditions.

The statement said the four do not appear to have links to the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels Airport and subway on March 22, killing 32 people.

Prosecutors said initial findings of the investigation indicated there may also have been plans for attacks in Belgium but provided no details.

Searches were carried out in Antwerp and two other locations.

The prosecutors said some of those detained were planning to go to Syria or Libya and join IS.

All of the suspects are believed to have wanted to recruit people to go to those conflict zones, the statement said.

Belgium has been one of the most fertile recruiting areas in Europe for the extremist group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels as well as the November 13 attacks that killed 130 victims in Paris.

The prosecutor's office said no additional details would be made public in order not to hamper an ongoing investigation.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander used a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday to make a plea for unity less than a month before Britain's referendum on whether to remain in the 28-nation bloc.

Willem-Alexander told politicians in Brussels that the "European bouquet" is not complete "without the English rose".

The king also highlighted shortcomings that have strained relations in Europe and fed growing scepticism toward the bloc among its 500 million citizens. British citizens will vote on whether or not the country should stay in the EU on June 23.

Willem-Alexander said that by concentrating on "essential issues which truly require a common approach", the EU will become more effective and can address concerns that its powers are too sweeping and centralised.

The Netherlands is a founding member and strong supporter of the EU, but it also rejected the bloc's proposed constitution in a 2005 referendum.

The monarch's message was generally pro-Europe.

"Great things are rarely achieved at purely national level," he said, adding that EU members need to join forces to tackle pressing problems such as the refugee crisis, violent extremism, and climate change.

"In all these challenges, we need each other," he said.

The speech prompted a sharp response from populist anti-Islam and Euro-sceptic politician Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party is riding high in Dutch polls. Mr Wilders asked prime minister Mark Rutte in a written question to Parliament: "Is it correct to conclude from these words that the King is opposed to a possible exit of the United Kingdom from the EU?"
Rudy Guede arrives at the Perugia courthouse for the sitting of his appeal against the sentence he received in the Meredith Kercher murder trial Getty Images

The man convicted for the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher is to be released from prison for 36 hours as a reward for his good behaviour.

Rudy Guede, 29, is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence for the 2007 murder of Ms Kercher and has been released following the decision of a probate court in Rome.

Expand Close Meredith Kercher was killed while studying in Italy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Meredith Kercher was killed while studying in Italy

Guede is understood to be leaving the Mammagialla prison in Viterbo on Wednesday morning and will return to jail on Friday night, The Local reported.

I will be able to feel the sun on my skin and look out of the window without bars in front of my eyes, Guede told La Rebubblica after the ruling.

Thirty-six hours, each one of them precious. I thank everybody who has had faith in me, he added.

Guede is the only person to have been convicted of Ms Kerchers murder and not had the ruling overturned. He admitted to being in the Perugia flat on the night that Ms Kercher died but has consistently claimed to be innocent in the case of the 21-year-olds sexual assault and murder.

Expand Close Amanda Knox / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Amanda Knox

After being jailed for 30 years in 2008, his sentence was reduced to 16-years following an appeal hearing in 2010. He will be eligible for parole in 2018.

Both Amanda Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted and jailed for murder and sexual assault in 2009, freed two years later after the DNA evidence used in their trial was found to be unreliable, then had their guilty verdicts upheld by a court in 2014 before they were both acquitted by the Italian supreme court in March last year.

Speaking about Guedes temporary release, Ms Knox told La Repubblica: Im upset by the fact that Guede has never shown any remorse and hope that whoever granted him permission did so only as part of a social reintegration programme.

Ms Knox has recently been granted the right to launch a legal complaint against Italy for violating her human rights in the legal process following Ms Kerchers murder.
'We didn't want to hide or let go of each other's hand. After all we are living in a free country' @LunaNegra1976

A fearless gay couple stood up to the homophobic and racist shouts of 800 far-right protesters by kissing in front of them and giving them the finger after accidentally stumbling across a far-right protest in Madrid.

Gregor Eistert had been unaware that far-right organisation Hogar Social de Madrid, which is known for campaigning to keep refugees out of Spain, was staging a protest in the city as he walked hand in hand with David Fernandez, looking for a place relax.

El beso gay que desafio a los neonazis en Madrid, una historia de @jjoaquinvera https://t.co/VUyN5tFgHY pic.twitter.com/ExbxUNNltR  El Espanol (@elespanolcom) May 22, 2016

"It was a beautiful day, so we wanted to find a table outside," Mr Eistert told The Independent.

"When we came to Plaza del Dos de Mayo in Malasana, we noticed a crazy amount of police. I asked one of the people who had stopped to watch what was going on. They said something about a protest."

The primary purpose of the protest was to challenge the welcoming of refugees to Spain, but after seeing the two men holding hands, protesters allegedly began to shout abuse, using homophobic slurs.

"When they marched towards us, David and I were standing in the front row holding hands," said Mr Eistert, who was born in Austria and is currently studying in Madrid on the Erasmus programme.

"First we caught some disgusted looks from some people of Hogar Social Madrid (those who were marching), and then they started insulting us. We knew it wouldnt help much screaming back. Thats when David suddenly grabbed me and we started to kiss."

When asked if he was afraid, Mr Eistert said: "I was a bit intimidated, and we both were quite nervous when we saw the huge crowd watching us.

"But we didn't want to hide or let go of each other's hand. After all we are living in a free country.

Above all, Mr Eistert said he felt sad that there is still so much intolerance: "We're in 2016  it should be the most normal thing to kiss someone when you feel like kissing them."

The peaceful act of defiance was sadly interrupted when a policeman approached them and requested they leave the square.

"We kept on kissing until the police said we'd have to stop now and leave," said Mr Eistert.

"I guess the police just wanted to secure the area and avoid riots and/or fights... However, in removing us from where we were the police acted rather harshly."

Luckily, Mr Eistert has not previously been a victim of any kind of homophobic abuse and says he generally feels safe in Madrid.

"I've never had bad experiences when I was out in the street walking hand in hand with David. But I know that, very sadly, incidents against gay couples in Madrid are increasing lately."
French police have raided Google's Paris offices as part of an investigation into "aggravated tax fraud" and money laundering.

The raid is the latest regulatory headache for the American search engine and email company. Like other Silicon Valley firms, it faces increasing questions about its complex tax arrangements.

France's financial prosecutor's office said the raids were carried out with the assistance of the police anti-corruption unit and 25 information technology experts.

French newspaper 'Le Parisien', which first reported the news, said the raid took place at dawn and involved some 100 investigators.

"These searches are the result of a preliminary investigation, opened on June 16, 2015, relative to aggravated tax fraud and organised money laundering, following a complaint from French fiscal authorities," the prosecutor's office said.

"The investigation is aimed at finding out whether Google Ireland Ltd is permanently established in France and if, by not declaring some of its activity on French soil, it has failed to meet its fiscal obligations, in particular with regard to corporation tax and value added tax."

Google and other American technology companies typically base their European subsidiaries in Ireland or other low-tax jurisdictions, such as Luxembourg, allowing them to do business with customers across the continent while minimising their fiscal obligations - a technique known as profit-shifting.

European regulators have increasingly pressed the firms to pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they do business.

Google is under pressure elsewhere. Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay about 130m (170m) in back taxes to the British government, a deal which drew the attention of European investigators.

Following yesterday's raid, Google said: "We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions."

The Paris raid is the latest in a number of moves in Europe against US multinationals that dominate the technology sector.

As tensions mount, a group of senior US senators yesterday warned they could impose retaliatory taxes against European firms operating in the US.

That was a response to what they claim are "improper" European Commission investigations into Apple and other American multinationals.

The senators , including chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Orrin Hatch, called on the US treasury secretary to consider punitive taxes on European companies as a response to ongoing EU state aid probes into US tech giants.
A teenager has appeared in court charged with murdering a baby girl.

Seven-week-old Ezmai Martin was taken to hospital following an incident at a flat in New Road, Bordon, Hampshire, just after 5pm on June 28 last year.

After being admitted to the Royal Surrey Hospital, she was then transferred to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, where she died. Her cause of death has not been disclosed.

Joshua Martin (19) of Salisbury Close, Alton, has been charged with murder.

At Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, he was remanded in custody to appear at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, a court official said.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman declined to confirm the relationship between the accused and the baby girl.
The death toll of a suspected Saudi-led coalition air strike that hit a family's house in southern Yemen has been raised to 11, including four children from one family, security officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.

The officials said warplanes, thought to be Emirati, fired two missiles at the family's house in the town of el-Mahala, in the southern province of Lahj. The house was flattened and only one child from the family survived the strike, they said.

The officials said the home is adjacent to a building suspected of housing Islamic militants.

A witness, Ahmed Hadash, said he heard explosions for 40 minutes while the war planes were flying.

"The bodies were distorted and the human remains were everywhere," he said.

The governor of Lahij, Naser al-Khoubeigi, has called on the Yemeni government and the coalition to conduct an investigation. He denied any communications between the authorities in Lahij and the coalition.

"We know nothing about the attack. The coalition conducts attacks without informing us. The responsibility of this operation is on those who provide the coalition with the wrong coordinates," he said.

Security officials claim that the Saudi-led coalition regularly conducts unreported strikes and has detained many people, claiming that they are members of al Qaida or the local Islamic State group affiliate.

"They have their own prisons," one official said.

Also on Wednesday, a suspected Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a mineral water factory in Lahij, security officials said. No casualties were reported.

Yemen has been mired in a conflict pitting Shiite rebels against the internationally-recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Extremist factions like al Qaida and the Islamic State group have gained ground amid the chaos.

Since the war against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, began, more than 8,100 people in Yemen have been killed. The United Nations says more than 80% of Yemenis are in dire need of food, water and other aid as a result of the conflict in the Arab world's poorest country.
Isil execution squads have appeared on the streets of Fallujah, the city 40 miles west of Baghdad, with orders to kill anybody trying to flee or surrender as Iraqi government forces advance towards the Isil stronghold.

"Groups of Isil fighters are saying they will kill anybody in Fallujah who leaves their house or waves a white flag," says Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a political activist who spoke by phone to relatives and friends in the city.

Iraqi forces shelled Isil targets in Fallujah yesterday, the second day of an assault to retake the militant stronghold just west of Baghdad, as international concern mounted for the security of civilians.

Residents reported sporadic shelling around the city centre, but said it was less intense than on Monday.

"No one can leave. It's dangerous. There are snipers everywhere along the exit routes," one resident said.

UN refugee agency UNHCR said women and children died while trying to leave, but more than 80 families have managed to escape since May 20.

About 100,000 civilians are estimated to be in Fallujah which, in January 2014, became the first Iraqi city to be captured by Isil, six months before the group declared its caliphate.

The population was three times bigger before the war.

The US-led coalition "is providing air power to support the Iraqi government forces in Fallujah," said spokesman, US Army Col Steve Warren.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have issued statements appealing for the warring parties to protect civilians, who have limited access to food, water and healthcare and who now risk being used as human shields.

Resourceful residents have begun appropriating solar panels affixed to street lights to generate power in their homes.

The loss by Isil of Fallujah, a Sunni commercial hub on the main road to Jordan, would be a serious blow.

Its capture of the city, so close to Baghdad, at the beginning of 2014 was the extremist Sunni movement's first spectacular military victory.

An interesting development yesterday was a report that three Isil gunmen were killed inside Fallujah, which would be a first sign of armed resistance to Isil by local people.

The Iraqi prime minister Haidar al-Abadi claimed a "big success" by his troops within hours of the start of the operation.

Wearing the black uniform of Iraq's counter-terrorism forces, he said that it had already achieved "more than was planned" as he met with commanders of the Fallujah Operational Command. Earlier, in a television address on Sunday, he pledged to "tear up the black banners of strangers who usurped the city".

Mr Abadi is under intense popular pressure in Baghdad to drive Isil out of Fallujah after bomb attacks on civilian targets earlier in the month that killed at least 200 people.

"Rightly or wrongly, people in Baghdad believe these bombs are coming out of Fallujah and they want the city taken," says a retired senior Iraqi official.

The failure of government forces to expel Isil from a city so close to the capital for over two years has for long discredited its claims that it is defeating Isil. (The Independent)
Hiroshima following the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6 1945

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe says he does not have specific plans to visit Hawaii's Pearl Harbour to reciprocate for President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Hiroshima.

Mr Abe said he marked last year's 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War by visiting the United States.

Mr Abe said that trip included a speech to a joint meeting of Congress and a visit to the Second World War Memorial in Washington, where he laid a wreath.

Mr Obama plans a historic visit on Friday to Hiroshima.

He will become the first sitting American president to visit the place where the US ushered in the nuclear age by dropping an atomic bomb in the closing days of the Second World War.

Some 140,000 people were killed.

The White House said Mr Obama will not apologise for the decision to drop the bomb, but will reflect on the cost of war and his vision for a nuclear weapon-free world.
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights said on Wednesday the country's presumptive president-elect violated a law protecting women's rights by making a rape joke during the election campaign.

The commission said in a statement on its website that it found the "words and actions" of mayor Rodrigo Duterte of southern Davao city "to be discriminatory of women" under the law, named the Magna Carta of Women.

It asked the civil service commission and the interior department to consider taking "appropriate measures" against Mr Duterte.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Duterte can appeal against the decision or what punishment he might face under the law. The rights commission monitors violations and could recommend punitive actions but has no prosecutorial arm.

Chairman Chito Gascon said his commission "has the sacred constitutional duty to protect human rights and to call out persons when these rights are violated no matter what their position in society may be.

"This mandate does not exculpate mayor Duterte from acts committed or words uttered in the course of the electoral campaign when it involves breaches to fundamental rights, in this case, the prohibition of gender-based discrimination and violence," Mr Gascon said.

Women's groups filed a complaint against the brash mayor last month for what they said were offensive acts, including a campaign joke about wanting to be the first to rape an Australian missionary who was gang-raped and killed by inmates in a 1989 Davao jail riot.

The joke was criticised by the Australian and US ambassadors in Manila, and Mr Duterte reacted by telling them to shut up.

Mr Duterte captured attention on the campaign trail for profanity-laced speeches and sex jokes, but said after the election that his rhetoric was part of an election strategy.

A former government prosecutor, the longtime mayor won the presidential election by a wide margin, based on an unofficial count, on a promise to wipe out criminality and corruption within the first six months of his presidency.

The pledge has resonated among crime-weary Filipinos but has also sparked alarm and doubts.
Nadezhda Savchenko smiles to journalists from a glass cage in court, in Donetsk. The Ukrainian pilot has been freed by Russia in a prisoner swap (AP)

Russia freed Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko on Wednesday after holding her for nearly two years, with President Vladimir Putin pardoning her as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen jailed in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president sent his plane to pick up Ms Savchenko in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and bring her home to Kiev, where she received a hero's welcome.

"Thank you everyone for fighting for me!" she told a scrum of journalists at Kiev's Borispol Airport. "You fought for everyone behind bars. Politicians would have kept silent if people had been silent. I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me well: I have survived because of you."

The two Russians were also freed on Wednesday, and Russian state television showed them being greeted at a Moscow airport by their wives.

Ms Savchenko was captured by Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and sentenced in March to 22 years in prison for her alleged role in the deaths of two Russian journalists in the conflict zone. Her refusal to bend after nearly two years in Russian custody has made her a national hero in Ukraine.

The two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were captured last year. They acknowledged being Russian officers, but the Russian Defence Ministry claimed they had resigned from active duty. They were tried in a Kiev court, which sentenced them to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty of terrorism and waging war in eastern Ukraine.

Both of the Russians submitted a petition to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for a pardon, Mr Alexandrov's lawyer Valentin Rybin announced Wednesday morning, indicating a swap was imminent.

Ms Savchenko's lawyers have refused to say whether she also filed for a pardon. However, suggesting that she did not, Mr Putin said he decided to pardon her after the relatives of the killed journalists petitioned him to show mercy for Ms Savchenko.

Mr Putin was shown on state television on Wednesday meeting with the widow and sister of the two Russian journalists who were killed in a mortar attack in eastern Ukraine in June 2014.

"I'm not going to go back to that tragedy in which you lost your closest ones," Mr Putin said. "I would like to thank you for your position and express hope that such decisions, driven by humanity, will help to alleviate the stand-off in the conflict zone and help to avoid such terrible and pointless losses."

Ms Savchenko's release came a day after Mr Putin, Mr Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany spoke by telephone about ways to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Western leaders had long been calling for Russia to free Ms Savchenko.

Keeping Ms Savchenko in custody clearly had become a liability for the Kremlin. Mr Putin, however, would have looked weak if he had backtracked on her case and could only release her in a swap once she had been convicted. Once her trial and that of the captured Russians had run their course, Mr Putin and Mr Poroshenko made a deal.

Mr Poroshenko announced last month that he and Mr Putin had reached an agreement on the swap, but there had been no confirmation from the Kremlin.
SHARE

By Abe Hardesty of the Independent Mail

At least five traditional Memorial Day observances are scheduled in Anderson County in the upcoming week.

The Veterans Memorial Services, sponsored by the Anderson County Veterans Association, is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Monument on McGee Road.

Purple Heart honoree Jeremiah Parker is the keynote speaker for the event, which will include a roll call of 19 active military organizations in the Anderson area. The Hanna High Navy ROTC will present colors.

Representatives from four American Legion posts are scheduled to participate, along with the Disabled American Veterans, Korean War Veterans Chapter 244, Marine Corps League Detachment 1106, Purple Heart Association, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1016, three Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, and the Military Officers Association of America.

Also on Saturday, a 1 p.m. program at the Rucker-Hall VFW Post 6089 on Scarborough Road in Anderson will honor those who were killed in action.

The Rev. Mashon Nance, pastor at Salem Presbyterian Church, will be the guest speaker at the event, which is sponsored by the VFW Post. His mother was a charter member of the VFW Auxillary 60 years ago.

American Legion Post 14 will serve as the host for the traditional Sunday observance of veterans who have died in the past year. That program is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

The eighth annual Memorial Day service at M.J. "Dolly" Cooper Veterans Cemetery is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.

Stanley A. Foreman, a deputy director in Veterans Affairs, will be the guest speaker. Cemetery staff member Phyllis Brown will provide the roll call of those buried at the cemetery in the past year.

The Marine Corps League Upstate Detachment will post colors and volley salute, and Cemetery Superintendent Jeff Fultz is scheduled to offer closing remarks. The DAV Auxillary Unit 40 will place wreaths on the veterans who have died in the past year.

That ceremony will be followed at 11 a.m. by the annual Memorial Day observance at the Richard Campbell Veterans Nursing Home, hosted by American Legion Post 184.

On Tuesday at 10 a.m., the Holy Lutheran Church on Highland Street in Anderson (near the Krispy Kreme store) will serve as host for a new "Open Mic" event.

As part of a Golden Kiwanis meeting, any veterans who would like to share military experiences are invited to speak. The group includes six World War II veterans.

Follow Abe Hardesty on Twitter @abe_hardesty.
Membri ISIS condamnati la cate sase ani de INCHISOARE in ITALIA 25.05.2016

25.05.2016 Membri ISIS condamnati la cate sase ani de INCHISOARE in ITALIA Doi membri ai retelei teroriste Stat Islamic au fost condamnati la cate 6 ani de inchisoare de catre autoritatile italiene, dupa ce acetea au descoperit ca teroristii planuiau un atentat la o baza NATO din



Membri ISIS condamnati la cate sase ani de INCHISOARE in ITALIA

Doi membri ai retelei teroriste Stat Islamic au fost condamnati la cate 6 ani de inchisoare de catre autoritatile italiene, dupa ce acetea au descoperit ca teroristii planuiau un atentat la o baza NATO din Italia.

Membri ISIS condamnati la cate sase ani de INCHISOARE in ITALIA

Stiri Evenimentul Zilei

Stiri pe aceeasi tema:

Pentru fluidizarea traficului inregistrat in perioada sarbatorilor, autoritatile bulgare au anuntat restrictii pentru masinile de mare tonaj care circula pe ruta

Jucatoarea Patricia Maria Tig, venita din calificari, locul 134 WTA, a acces in optimile de finala ale turneului de la Madrid, dupa ce a invins-o, luni, cu scorul de 6-2, 6-3, pe sportiva americana Sloane Stephens, locul 21 WTA si favorita

In maximum doua saptamani, va fi deschis satul pescaresc de la marginea orasului Tulcea, amenajat pe drumul spre

Anul acesta se implinesc sapte ani de cand la Urziceni exista atelierul de pictat icoane Sfantul Apostol Luca. 10 copii de toate varstele picteaza aici icoane pe sticla si lemn pe care, in fiecare an in perioada Pastelui, le daruiesc

Senatorul PSD Serban Nicolae a depus o propunere legislativa prin care dezvoltatorii imobiliari vor fi scutiti de plata impozitului pe cladire, in cazul ansamblurilor imobiliare pe care le finalizeaza, si pe care nu le-au valorificat inca, prin

Administratia Nationala de Meteorologie (ANM) a emis, luni, prognoza meteo pentru urmatoarele doua saptamani, respectiv 2  15 mai. In prima perioada a lunii mai se asteapta ploi in toata tara. Tot in aceasta perioada, in majoritatea

Un jurnalist francez s-a infiltrat intr-o celula de candidati la jihadism si i-a filamt cu o camera ascunsa in timp ce planuiau un atac in numele gruparii Statului Islamic, inainte sa fie arestati, a declarat acest jurnalist pentru

Constantin Budescu a petrecut romaneste Pastele in China, insa spune ca nu si-a cumparat miel de teama sa nu fie cumva caine. "Am petrecut romaneste de Paste, am facut chiar si sarmale. Miel nu am avut, mi-a fost

Cosmin Olaroiu l-a laudat pe Marius Sumudica pentru strategia pe care a avut-o in acest sezon in care a castigat in premiera titlul de campion al Romaniei cu Astra. Tehnicianul Astrei a dezvaluit ce mesaj i-a transmis

Peste 35.000 de fani s-au jucat de-a selectionerul pe EuSuntPuiu.ro. Si cei mai multi dintre ei vor o "nationala" curajoasa, cu 4 mijlocasi ofensivi si Alibec varf impins! Iata cea mai votata echipa, conform statisticilor de

Ifeany Emeghara (31 de ani), a fost unul dintre cei mai iubiti fotbalisti de la Steaua, dar viata lui s-a schimbat intr-un timp scurt la 180 de

Numarul atacurilor intreprinse de combatanti ai Statului Islamic a crescut in acest an, mai ales in Siria si in Irak, organizatia jihadista incercand sa raspunda astfel la pierderile

In ziua de Paste a avut loc o editie speciala Ferma Vedetelor la finalul caruia inca un concurent a iesit din cursa pentru marele premiu al competitie. Citeste mai

Cinci politisti au fost raniti si noua persoane au fost retinute in urma confruntarilor violente izbucnite in timpul manifestatiilor de 1 mai in orasul Seattle din statul american Washington, anunta

Marsul Invierii a fost initiat de pastorul Petru Dugulescu, imediat dupa Revolutie. La procesiune participa reprezentantii tuturor cultelor religioase din

Organizatorii turneului de la Madrid au anuntat programul zilei de marti, cand vor evolua si ultimele doua reprezentante ale noastre din turul

Coincidenta sau nu, in acest an electoral autoritatile brailene au alocat un buget de zece ori mai mare decat de obicei pentru repararea drumurilor judetene. Astfel, daca pana acum se dadeau pentru drumuri, din fondurile Consiliului

Dupa ce in luna aprilie au fost anulate trei spectacole, Opera Nationala Bucuresti a anuntat, vineri, si anularea reprezentatiilor din zilele de 6 si 8 mai ale baletului Giselle. Tensiunile s-au accentuat, ducand la un vid de putere la

Presedintele Klaus Iohannis a mers, duminica, in prima zi de Paste intr-o vizita la militarii romani aflati in Afganistan. Politologii traduc optiunea liderului de la Palatul Cotroceni drept o incercare de a intari angajamentul pro-NATO al

Nava de croaziera Adonia, a companiei Fathom, filiala a Carnival, a sosit luni la Havana si a deschis prima linie de croaziera dintre SUA si Cuba in mai bine de jumatate de secol. Acest lucru a fost posibil dupa ce cele doua state si-au
Asia Briefing Bookstore through the month of March. The new issue of India Briefing magazine, titled  Pre-Investment Due Diligence in India , is out now and available as a complimentary download at thethrough the month of March.

Contents

Unique Characteristics of Due Diligence in India

Key Considerations When Conducting Regulatory Due Diligence in India

Navigating HR Due Diligence in India

Case Study: Sidestepping Due Diligence, Uber Exposes its Liabilities

Indias economy has been averaging a steady seven percent growth over the past few years. Amid the declining optimism among other emerging economics, Indias outlook remains positive. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has introduced a multitude of economic programs since 2014. Make in India remains the flagship initiative, while all other development programs seek to complement it. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects an optimistic 7.5 percent growth rate for India in the fiscal year of 2016-2017  up from 7.3 percent in 2015-2016.

India has replaced China as the top location for foreign direct investment (FDI) by attracting U.S. $63 billion worth of FDI projects in 2015 with FDI increasing by 30-40 percent in the past two years, according to Finance Minister Arjun Jaitley. However, while India represents a promising future as an emerging market, it has various regulatory and tax issues that strongly contrast with other emerging economies. Red tape and bureaucracy can further contribute to delays, adding roadblocks to a companys growth. In such a market, it is imperative for companies to conduct due diligence to safeguard their assets and reputation.

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we examine issues related to pre-investment due diligence in India. We highlight the different regulatory, tax, and socio-economic issues that a company should be aware of before entering the Indian market. We also detail some of the topics related to entry structures while investing in the Indian market, as well as cultural and HR due diligence, which may differ from state to state.

Foreign companies should be quick to notice the various idiosyncrasies of Indias laws and regulations; this India Briefing Magazine aims to prepare and guide companies to mitigate such issues.

About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email india@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2015 (Second Edition)

Doing Business in India 2015 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes. We discuss a range of pertinent issues for foreign businesses, including Indias most recent FDI caps and restrictions, the key taxes applicable to foreign companies, how to conduct a successful audit, and the procedures for obtaining an employment visa.

Using Indias Free Trade & Double Tax Agreements

In this issue of India Briefing magazine, we take a look at the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that India currently has in place and highlight the deals that are still in negotiation. We analyze the countrys double tax agreements, and conclude by discussing how foreign businesses can establish a presence in Singapore to access both the Indian and ASEAN markets.

Passage to India: Selling to Indias Consumer Market In this issue of India Briefing magazine, we outline the fundamentals of Indias import policies and procedures, as well as provide an introduction to engaging in direct and indirect export, acquiring an Indian company, selling to the government and establishing a local presence in the form of a liaison office, branch office, or wholly owned subsidiary. We conclude by taking a closer look at the strategic potential of joint ventures and the advantages they can provide companies at all stages of market entry and expansion.
Why businesses shouldn't stop investing in employees?These are the people who plan, process & propel a business and help to achieve its ultimate goal; Profit Maximisation. Every person in every department works for this supreme objective, directly or indirectly. Apparently it seems that only sales & marketing people are responsible for revenue generation, but it is just a presumption. In practice, be it a production engineer or account manager, a market analyst or an HR executive, all contribute immensely to maximise business profit. Only those organisations, where all people work with solidarity, achieve annual targets and get success in the long run.As per the, companies that invest $1,500 per employee annually on T&L activities, earn 24 percent more profit margins than organisations with lower training budget. A similar study that has been conducted by The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), reveals that out of 2500 companies, firms which had provided comprehensive training to their employees availed 218 percent more income per employee than companies with less aggressive and non-comprehensive training approach. Now, it is a firm belief of a majority of corporate giants all over the world that by leveraging technical and professional skills of the employees, businesses can make higher profits without endangering their sustainability.Trainers and change managers should try to improve three personality attributes of the employees through a training programme, these are - willingness to take initiatives, keenness to learn new technologies/methodologies and eagerness to improve productivity with the help of the two. Here, the HR manager should choose an appropriate leadership style only after diagnosing the development level of her/his team. Frequent meetings and conversations with the team members, facilitating group communication, active listening, feedback, problem anticipation and finally resolving the problems with smart solutions are the qualities of a good HR manager that are pretty much essential to bring desirable changes in employees personalities.Strategic training assures magical results in the productivity, performance, quality and behaviour of the human capital. It narrows down the gap between managers and team members, accentuates communication between them and motivates the employees for active participation in group activities, reinforces peer-to-peer coordination and instils a feeling of solidarity among the team members.T&D has a great importance in making the employees ready for a concentric task, understanding the importance of collective responsibility, accountability and teamwork. Various types of T&D activities help to strengthen teams efforts for enhanced productivity and organisational growth. Innovative training approaches only raise the employees competency level, but also leverage a culture of accountability, commitment, self-actualisation and satisfaction. Scientifically developed yet crispy and engaging content, interactive games, role plays, informative videos, game cards, conversation starters, and streamlined simulation activities bring desirable behavioural changes and improve the overall productivity of an organisation. Thats why organisations all over the world are realising the increasing demand of human resource (HR) training in the constantly evolving business world and for a majority of entrepreneurs employees training is the fuel of enhanced productivity and growth. HR leaders are adopting novel approaches to employee training in the line of changing economic scenario and business objectives.
NEC Corporation, in collaboration with Thailands National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), has conducted a trial of its flood simulation system to predict the inundation areas in the event of flood. The trial was conducted in Uttaradit Province in Northern Thailand during the period from November 2015 to March 2016, and has confirmed the effectiveness of the system.Flooding is a frequent occurrence in Thailand. In particular, the 2011 Chao Phraya River flood caused large-scale flood damage to many industrial parks and urban areas, including Bangkok. As a result, global supply chains were disrupted, which had a significant economic impact not only in Thailand but worldwide. Flood disaster prevention is therefore an urgent issue in Thailand.In April 2015, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication and Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology issued a joint statement announcing that the two countries would cooperate in a wide range of areas, including the development of more sophisticated disaster prevention ICT and the use and application of the technologies. As a country that experiences frequent natural disasters, Japan is expected to contribute to disaster prevention in Thailand through provision of its advanced technologies.This trial is NDWC's first disaster prevention cooperation project between Thailand and Japan. NEC conducted this trial as part of the "Research and study for the development of a flooding simulator in Thailand" project commissioned by Japans Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication.The flood simulation system is one of the modules of NECs "integrated risk management system." The integrated risk management system consists of a shared platform that has functions such as data integration, visualization, and early warning, and disaster modules specialized for particular disasters such as flooding, landslides, and earthquakes. The disaster modules or functions can be selected individually as required, or several disaster modules can be combined in order to predict multiple disasters simultaneously.The flood simulation system performs a simulation based on meteorological data (observed rainfall and forecast rainfall), topographical data (elevation values, land use purposes), and watercourse data (river networks, water levels, sewer systems, etc.), making it possible to predict inundation areas, maximum flood levels, and other flood-related information.Further, the system can perform detailed simulations using a triangular mesh measuring 50m on each side, and provide hourly-basis prediction for a period of up to seven days in advance. This allows NDWC to issue warnings to threatened areas before the flooding occurs, helping to reduce potential damage. Moreover, even during periods when no disaster is forecast, areas at risk of flooding can be identified by performing simulations using previous rainfall data, which enables hazard maps to be prepared."I firmly believe NECs flood simulator, which is one of the most effective disaster simulation systems forNDWC, will help us improve our operational efficiency. In order to benefit more from the system, we are considering to further expand the coverage area of the simulator,""As our country is also facing risks of landslides, we have a high degree of interest for NECs landslides simulator. We are committed to mitigate damages from natural disasters and to save our citizens lives by continuously implementing these innovative ICT technologies.""NEC will continue to contribute to the development of more sophisticated disaster prevention ICT and the use and application of the technology for preventing disasters in Thailand, such as flooding and landslides,""Further, we will harness the experience and knowhow gained through this trial to actively promote the system to other countries in Asia that experience frequent damage from flooding."
Public Sector Banks Q4 GNPA (Rs. Cr) PNB 55,818 Bank of India 49,879 Bank of Baroda 40,521 Union Bank of India 24,171 Central Bank of India 22,721 UCO Bank 20,908 Allahabad Bank 15,384 Oriental Bank 14,702 Corporation Bk 14,544 Andhra Bank 14,444 Syndicate Bank 13,832 Bank of Mah 10,386 United Bank 9,471 Indian Bank 8,827 Dena Bank 8,560 Vijaya Bank 6,027 Punjab & Sind 4,229 State Bank of Mysore 3,635 SBBJ 3,603 State Bnkk of Travan 3,200 IDBI Bank 246

Private Banks Q4 GNPA (Rs. Cr) ICICI Bank 26,221 Axis Bank 6,088 HDFC Bank 4,393 JK Bank 4,369 IDFC Bank 3,058 Kotak Mahindra 3,017 Federal Bank 1,668 South Indian Bank 1,562 Karnataka Bank 1,180 IndusInd Bank 777 Yes Bank 749 City Union Bank 512 Lakshmi Vilas Bank 391 DCB Bank 197

Mounting Non Performing Assets (NPAs) continue taking a toll on Indian banking sector. With Punbaj National Bank (PNB) reported the worst ever quarterly loss in the history of Indian banking sector, the gross NPAs of banks are spearheading towards north, while their profitability is marching southward in Q4FY16 so far.The ghost of bad loans continued to torment Indian banking sector in the quarter ended March 31, 2016. 35 out of 40 banks have announced their Q4 FY16 financial results so far and their combined gross NPAs grew 51% from Rs. 2,64,368 crore (Q3 FY16) reported to touch Rs. 3,99,290 crore in Q4 FY16.Among public sector banks, 21 banks combined gross NPAs touched Rs. 3,45,108 crore for Q4 FY16, as against Rs. 2,19,805 crore in Q3 FY16, reflecting a sharp rise of 57% qoq. Till date, gross NPAs of 14 private sector banks surged 22% to Rs. 54,182 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as against Rs. 44,563 crore reported in Sep-Dec 2015 period.The intensity of worsening bad loans among public sector banks is far scary than their private peers. PNB reported a quarterly loss of Rs. 5,367 crore for Jan-March 2016 period, whereas the lenders gross NPAs shot to Rs. 55,818 crore - the highest among public sector banks. Similarly, Bank of Indias gross NPAs rose to Rs. 49,879 crore in Q4FY16 at a time when the banks net loss widened more than double to Rs. 3,587 crore during the period.Bank of Baroda, the second largest public sector bank, narrowed its qoq loss by 3% to Rs. 3,230 crore in Q4 FY16 as against Rs. 3,342 crore in Q3 FY16, but this didnt help its gross NPAs skyrocket by 10,316.70% to Rs. 40,521 crore. The lenders gross NPA stood at Rs. 389 crore as on December 31, 2015.Similar is the case of ICICI Bank. Owing to mounting bad loans, Q4 net profit of the largest private sector bank in India tumbled to Rs. 701.89 crore as against Q3 FY16 net profit of Rs. 3,018 crore, reflecting a steep fall of 76.74% qoq. For the Jan-Mar 2016 period, ICICI Banks gross NPAs expanded to Rs. 26,221 crore at 23.98% as compared to Rs. 21,149 reported in Q3 FY16.The aforementioned instances adequately explain how Indian banking sector is plagued by bad loans.The three-month ended March 31 has been worse for the public sector banks (PSBs) compared to Q3 FY16. Led by Punjab National Bank, 12 PSBs have posted a combined net loss of Rs. 18,506 crore in Q4 while collective net profit of nine PSBs stands at Rs. 783 crore. The State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) leads the chart with Q4 net profit of Rs. 193 crore among the PSBs. Ironically; SBBJs net profit declined 6.20% qoq.Till date, the Q4 highlight among private sector lenders is Federal Bank: its gross NPAs have reduced in Q4 to Rs. 1,668 crore as against gross NPAs of Rs. 1,684 crore in Q3 FY16. But the tragedy is that the banks Q4 net profit plummeted heavily to Rs. 10.26 crore as against a net profit of Rs. 163 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2015.The combined net profit of 14 private sector banks declined to Rs. 8,770 crore as against Rs. 11,346 crore, with a qoq fall of 25%. Of 14 private banks, 7 banks net profit tumbled in Q4.In absolute terms, HDFC Bank reported the highest net profit of Rs. 3,374 crore followed by Axis Bank with Rs. 2,145 crore.On bad loans front, IDFC Bank saw its gross NPAs shooting up by 137% to Rs. 3,058 crore in Q4 as compared to Rs. 1,290 in Q3FY16. Heres the Q4 snapshot for private sector banks:At the end of the third quarter of the previous fiscal, analysts had opined that Q4 FY16 too would bear the brunt of bad loans despite a series of banking reforms initiated by the government towards a market-oriented economy. With the money cycle seemingly slow due to disappointing macro economic data; the banking sector is expected to take some more time in dealing with mounting bad loans. Now, its crucial to see how the capital restructuring of banks works out and what key measures the RBI will adopt.
Ministry of Civil Aviation expects to place in a few weeks the civil aviation policy before the Cabinet for its approval, according to reports.

The policy seeks to bolster the domestic aviation sector.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey reportedly said that the ministry expects to send the final policy to the Cabinet in the next couple of weeks.

The draft policy has suggested tax incentives for airlines, maintenance and repair works of aircraft, increasing FDI limit for foreign airlines, setting up of no-frills airports and providing viability gap funding.
Monsanto rejected Bayer's $62 billion takeover bid, calling it``incomplete and financially inadequate.'', according to reports.

The company reportedly said that a higher bid might be accepted.

Monsanto Co. Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant stated that the initial offer failed to address potential financing and regulatory risks.

Earlier, the company said that it planned to finance the acquisition with a combination of debt and equity.
Government today expressed the hope that Parliament would continue to function effectively with growing demand from the people for the same as evident in recent social media campaigns. Speaking to media persons on the occasion of two years of the Government in office here today, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M.Venkaiah Naidu said After some avoidable disruptions of Parliament and particularly, during the Monsoon and Winter sessions last year, both the Houses have evolved to a new equilibrium i.e balance. Opposition is raising some issues with all the might they can muster but legislative work is going on. I hope this balance will continue to stay in the days ahead.

Naidu stated that during the last two years, number of sittings of both the Houses, Bills introduced and Bills passed by the Lok Sabha have increased in comparison to that of previous ten years.

Referring to 44 Bills pending in Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that he would like to take up this matter with Chairman of Rajya Sabha and leaders of other parties so that there could be more synchrony in the transaction of legislative business by both the Houses.

Elaborating on improvements over the last two years, Shri Naidu said that 101 Bills were introduced in both the Houses of Parliament i.e 96 in Lok Sabha and 5 in Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha passed 96 Bills @ 48 per year marking an improvement of 3 Bills per year over the previous ten years. Rajya Sabah cleared 83 Bills @ over 41 per year marking a decline of 4 Bills per year.

Lok Sabha held a total of 149 sittings @ 75 per year while the Upper House held 143 sittings @ 71 marking an increase of 4 sittings per year in both cases over the previous ten years.

From now on, any disruptions and delaying tactics will invite a price. I am sure all political parties will read the writing on the wall and enable effective functioning of both the Houses of Parliament said the Minister.

Replying to a question on the feasibility of change of composition of Rajya Sabha and passage of GST Bill, Shri Venkaiah Naidu said Finance Minister has over the last one year clarified the governments position on the Bill and the Government has the numbers.
Union Bank of India, one of the leading public sector banks in India, will announce its financial results on May 26 for the fourth ended March 31, 2016.IIFL estimates the banks net profit to decline to Rs. 331 crore, at a rate of 25% yoy; however, the same is likely to skyrocket by 319% qoq.As per IIFLs forecast, the banks net interest income for Q4 FY16 is expected to plunge to Rs. 2,012 crore, at a rate of 5% yoy; however, the same is likely to soar 1% qoq.Net interest margin is estimated to be at 2.1%, with a yoy fall of 27 bps.Our preview coverage universe of 374 companies, representing ~75% of Indias equity market cap is expected to report 4.2% yoy drop in net profit in Q4 FY16. On a qoq basis, profits will rise by 17% on account of low base of preceding two quarters, which had witnessed sequential PAT declines.Other key quarterly results on May 26 include Banco Products India, Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals Corporation, EIH Ltd, Finolex Cables, Hathway Cable, HT Media, IngersollRand India, Mphasis, Natco, ONGC, Rashtriya Fertilizers & Chemicals, Sagar Cements, Salzer Electronics, Shipping Corporation of India, Shree Cement, Sterlite Technologies, Subros Ltd, Tata Chemicals, Trent, and VA Tech Wabag.
The scrip opened at Rs. 260 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 291 and Rs. 253 respectively. So far 18076764(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2875.08 crore.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 478.7 on 01-Sep-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 275.6 on 03-Jun-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 415 and Rs. 315.1 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 69.57 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 23.72 % and 6.71 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading below its 200 DMA.
China which has already established a road and rail network in Nepal through Tibet, is now looking to stretch its railway link to Bihar to improve connectivity with India and South Asia.

BCCL

A cross-border railroad link to the Rasuwagadhi area in Nepal has already been discussed between the two countries. China's railroad is expected to reach Nepal border by 2020, an article in the state-run Global Times said.

Google Map

Also Read: Indian Railways All Set For The Trial Run Of Its First Ever Solar Train!

This rail line makes it possible to connect China to India as from Rasuwagadhi to Birgunj, which borders Bihar is only 240 km, the article said. For Bihar, trade with China through the rail link will be easier along this route than through Kolkata, saving time, cost and distance, it said.

BCCL

The article said:

"The railroad connection to China not only is important for Nepal and Nepalese people's future development, but also has the capacity to build connectivity with the whole of South Asia. The government of Nepal has the chance to make history."

BCCL

It also criticised attempts to block major projects in Nepal. the article said:
Some 30 B.Com. Semester IV students from ASC Degree College, Rajajinagar in Bengaluru can now breath a sigh of relief, thanks to an alert auto rickshaw driver.

cu.edu/ Representational Image

The students' futures would have been affected after their answer scripts went 'missing' on Monday. Having no clue where the papers disappeared, the college authorities had filed a police complaint.

But to their surprise an auto rickshaw driver turned up at the college office on Tuesday with the missing answer scripts. Umashankar, an auto driver in the city, found two sealed covers left behind on his vehicle on Tuesday morning while cleaning it.

The Hindu

"I realized these were answer scripts. Two men had flagged my vehicle outside ASC Degree College, Rajajinagar, on Monday afternoon, saying they wanted to go to Central College. I remembered them mentioning the bundles contained B.com answer scripts," said Uma Shankar.

Over the past 12 years, I have returned many things, including mobile phones, but this time I knew it was very important, he added.

Google Plus

He took the covers to the college authorities who handed it over to the police as a missing complaint was already lodged. The papers will be soon be transferred to the Bangalore University once the formalities are completed.

College authorities said the papers went missing when they were being transferred from the college to Central College, Bangalore University by two non-teaching staff.
Without the benefit of tuition or guides, a boy from industrial town Bhadravathi in Shivamogga district on Monday produced a scorecard every student - and teacher - is proud of: a 100% score. With 625 out of 625 marks, Ranjan BS has become the first student to score cent percent in the SSLC examinations conducted by the Karnataka State Secondary Examination Board.

hindustantimes

Ranjan's joy knew no bounds when he checked the result on the web around 3pm. The student from Poornapragna Higher Secondary School, Bhadravathi New Town, had scored 100% in all subjects. Bhadravathi - home to a paper mill and an iron-and-steel factory - is 270 km west of Bengaluru.

Ranjan worked hard to get a good score. His target, he says, was 600 marks. "I studied one subject for six hours daily. I studied till I was thorough in every aspect of all the chapters. I didn't go for tuitions or refer to guides. I solved question papers of previous years, so it supplemented what I studied," he told TOI.

thebetterindia

Once he had written the exams, there was no postmortem. "All my friends would discuss the question papers. I never did that. I thought I may have made some mistakes, but realized there was no point in talking about it after I had walked out of the examination hall." He has a piece of advice for students: have a positive attitude before writing exams. "My achievement has given me a push to achieve excellence in medicine. I was expecting around 600 marks. But scoring cent per cent has given me a sense of fulfilment. It is due to the support given by my parents and school teachers," Ranjan said.

Son of TS Shankara Narayana, a tiles merchant, and SN Triveni, a homemaker, Ranjan studied at Poornapragna Higher Secondary School from LKG to class X. A favourite of all his teachers, he was praised for his interest level, skill in grasping and commitment to achieve excellence. His teachers said he always stood first in the class.

We never forced him to study extra during exam time," his father told TOI. Ranjan's friends presented him a statuette of former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

Read Also: 22-Year-Old IAS Topper Tina Dabi Wants To Be A Role Model For Girls Across India
Suresh Prabhu sure knows how to save the day and that too with so much promptness that it inspires the rest of us to do something equally helpful.

In a most recent incident, where two Bengal girls ran away from home after scoring poor marks in CBSE, one distressed father tweeted to the Railway Minister, seeking his urgent help.

Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Tanisha Chandranath Chatraj and Anindita Swapan Bhowmik - both aged 18 - had run away from home together. A formal police complaint was lodged by the families after the girls failed to return home, Mumbai Mirror reports.

The local police tracked the girls' phones and found that they were aboard a train that was travelling to Mumbai. After gaining this information, Tanisha's father tweeted to Suresh Prabhu and was not disappointed.

Mumbai Mirror/Twitter

The Railway Minister lost no time in alerting all departments and ordering them to be on a lookout for the runaway girls. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) had their personnel stationed at CST as well as other stations, especially looking out for the trains that had origin points in West Bengal.

The police found the girls aboard Gitanjali Express in Nashik. Tanisha's father had already reached the city where he was reunited with his daughter. The girls, upon interrogation, confirmed that they had indeed run away because of their results.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured the African community in India of strict action against those behind the attack on Masonda Ketanda Olivier, a Congolese national who was beaten to death in Delhi last week.

PTI

Through a series of tweets on Wednesday Swaraj reached out to the African community which had expressed deep concern over racially motivated attacks.

I have asked my colleague Gen V.K.Singh to meet the heads of missions of African countries in Delhi and assure them /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

of Indian Government's commitment to the safety and security of African nationals in India./2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

General V.K.Singh will also hold meetings with African students in metro cities to assure them of their safety and security.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

We will request State Governments to depute Commissioners of Police in all such meetings.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

When I came to know about the unfortunate killing of a Congo national in Delhi, we directed stringent action against the culprits.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

I would like to assure African students in India that this an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

I have already asked Lt Governor of Delhi to take steps and ensure that this case is tried by a Fast Track Court.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 25, 2016

"The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years," said Eritrean ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who is also dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, in a statement.

As a mark of protest, envoys of African nations have also decided to keep away from this year's Africa Day celebrations in India which is scheduled for Thursday.

29-year old Olivier and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend, and while on their way back, he flagged down an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away. However, as he tried to board it, three Indian men standing nearby boarded it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed. Oliver was hit on the head with a brick, leading to his death.

Oliver was the latest African to face what appears to be racially motivated attacks in India.
After sparking a controversy by alleging that the Jawahar Nehru University (JNU) is a hub of sex and drugs, where over 3,000 used condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles are found daily earlier this year, the BJP MLA from from Ramgarh in Rajasthans Alwar district, Gyan Dev Ahuja once again created a fresh storm by alleging that the rapes take place every day in campus of the premier university and the university is full of rapists and characterless people.

Firstpost

Calling JNU a hub of criminal activities, the BJP MLA claimed, "Rape happens there every day because Jawaharlal Nehru University is a center of heinous crimes."

Reacting to the incident of a second-year student allegedly raped his classmate in his hostel room on the campus six months ago, Ahuja further added that the prestigious university is full of rapists and characterless people.

BCCL

"It's true that the students who were arrested in the recent rape case ... there are many rapists and characterless people who commit such heinous crimes. This rape case is not the first, there have been many such criminal activities taking place," Ahuja said.

(Also Read: BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja Stoops To New Low, Says JNU Students Dance Naked And Consume 2,000 Bottles Of Liquor Daily)

Earlier this week, Ahuja also blamed the Nehru family for all social problems in the country urging that all statues and monuments named after the Gandhis should be immediately demolished like it was done in Iraq where hundreds of agitators uprooted the statue of dictator Saddam Hussain.

"The statues of members of the Nehru-Gandhi family should be brought down. Then people will spit on them," he said.

With inputs from Agencies
As many environmentalists feel, the social adversity weighs heavier than that of the ILR dream of Water Resource Minister, Uma Bharati. ILR is an old dream of Sir Aurther Cotton, an engineer of the British rule (who planned and executed the Dowleswaram Barage on the Godavari), who proposed interlinking of rivers, in 1858, for navigation and also to fight floods and droughts. Later, KL Rao, Indias Irrigation and Power Minister for three consecutive terms, in 1972 mooted to have 2,640 km-long canal to transfer monsoon flood waters from the Ganges near Patna to the Cauvery in the South.

River was not a bundle of pipes which can be cut, turned pipes and welded at will, says Rama Swamy Iyer, Former Water Resource Secretary, vehemently opposing the inter-linking of rivers (ILR).

Press Bureau

What we've learnt from previous efforts

Lessons from the past show the plight of millions displaced to make way for the water projects, despite the governments rehabilitation policies. Massive displacement of the tribals and the poor in the proposed ILR will face similar fate.

As per the records, 10,500-km long network of canals would displace about 5.5 million tribals and farmers.

IPS News

Besides, environmentalists express their concern over the seismic hazards in the Himalayan area. Interlinking of rivers will reportedly reduce the amount of fresh water in to the seas and this will cause a serious threat to marine life systems and will lead to ecological disorder.

However, according to NWDA, the overall implementation of ILR programme under National Perspective Plan would help 35 million hectares of irrigational land, raising the ultimate irrigation potential from 140 million hectare to 175 million hectare and generation of 34,000 megawatt of power, apart from the incidental benefits of flood control, navigation, water supply, fisheries, salinity and pollution control etc.

Interlinking of rivers is definitely a good solution for the scarcity of water but interlinking has to take place after a detailed study so that it does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life.

Will constructing large dams across our rivers help?

When it comes to the question of food security, according to the World Commission on Dams, big dams contribute to an insignificant percentage (10 to 12) of food grain production in the country, while groundwater is the real lifeline contributing to 70 percent production.

Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People says this needs to be sustained by protecting the traditional recharge of ground water system. ILR would seriously endanger the very resource that sustains the countrys food security.

Wikimedia

Many of the conservationists strongly say that ILR entails environmental tinkering on an epic scale destruction of natural rivers, aquatic and terrestrial bio-diversity, salinity ingress and a significant increase in methane emissions from storage reservoirs. Activists say the cumulative devastation from the 30 ILR projects proposed by Uma Bharati will be irreversible.

Dissenters to the proposal include Maneka Gandhi, Women and Child Welfare Minister; Devendra Fednavis, Maharashtra Chief Minister, who calls for promotion of watershed management and conservation instead of ILR. Navin Patnaiak, Odisha Chief Minister, has expressed his concern over extensive submergence and has asked for alternative strategies.

It is important for the Government to build a consensus among all the stakeholders  which should most importantly include the people who are going to be affected by this project.

mnonline.org

It is often said and has been seen many a time that the most affected stakeholders have the least say, due to a variety of reasons - the indifference of their elected representatives, the Governments and the PPP partners who have invested big money or even the officials who toe their higher-ups' line. It isnt like there are no pros; every project does and so does this inter-linking of rivers, but it has to go through a proper democratic process of hearing out the stakeholders, making changes if need be, in a fashion that causes the least amount of collateral damage.

However, for decades, this open forum based project development has only been a dream for the people for whom the project is apparently being commissioned. Nor are they fully heard or their fears completely addressed. It has become a one-sided affair  whether it's for political compulsions, ideology or to showcase to the world that we are capable of magnanimous projects.

The baseline still remains that the final benefactors, - the commoners (a farmer, a boat owner, fisher man or the people who will be displaced) - have to benefit in the long run. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed in a comprehensive and scientific manner before the project takes off.
A 30-year-old Hyderabad fashion designer's Gulf dream turned into a tale of horror, misery and hell. Husna Begum's effort to help her family financially by travelling to Saudi Arabia for a job led to her being kept as a slave at Hafar Al Batin, about 490 km from Dammam.

section498/Represenatational image

She has become one of the many victims of greedy agents exploiting gullible people with job offers in the Gulf, prompting the state government to plan against unscrupulous agents and recruiters. Recently, a maid from the city was tortured to death in Saudi Arabia.

A resident of Hasan Nagar locality in Rajendranagar, Husna has in the past two weeks sent two WhatsApp videos to her family and appealed to the Indian government to rescue her from her employer Abu Saif. The family lodged a complaint at Kurla police station in Mumbai against one Shafi, an agent, who had promised her a job in a Riyadh hospital, where she was to design costumes for nurses.

livemint/Represenatational image

"She was promised a job in Riyadh by the agent, but Husna was given a ticket to Dammam and she was told to be there for some time as the hospital inauguration is due. After a few days, she realised that she was sold to Abu Saif. She now desperately wants to return home, but is being held captive," she added.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments are making efforts to put in place systems to check complaints of harassment and non-payment of wages by employers in Gulf nations.

haryanapolice/Represenatational image

The Andhra Pradesh government has proposed to send a team of officials to Arab nations to study the living conditions of Telugu workers there after complaints by migrant workers of torture and non-payment of wages spiked. The state government received over two dozen complaints -- mostly by women -- of wrongful confinement and physical abuse in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Read Also:Shocking! Women From Andhra Are Being Sold For 4 Lakh Rupees In Saudi Arabia!

jagran/Represenatational image

AP information and NRI affairs minister Palle Raghunath Reddy last week wrote to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj seeking the Central government's intervention. The Telangana government, through the Telangana Overseas Manpower Company Limited (Tomcom), has drawn up a plan to crack down on unscrupulous agents and recruiters.

Tomcom general manager Bhavani said, "Though Tomcom is not directly involved in rescuing employees trapped in the Middle East, the company, a government-owned entity, works with police and labour departments to take up cases of victimisation of workers"
Two months prior to her wedding, 31-year-old Megha, a software engineer, was asked to undergo a virginity test so that her husband-to-be, a scientist, could assess her "honour". She felt humiliated, but instead of refusing to undergo the discriminatory test, she agreed. And soon enough she was taken to a hospital in Rajajinagar by her two to-be sisters-in-law. The results showed that she had "passed" the test and the marriage took place. That was in 2011.

latincorrespondent

The fact that her husband was responsible for her ordeal should have alerted her of his distrustful ways. But Megha, by undergoing the test, had, perhaps, emboldened him.

He continued to suspect her of cheating on him. His insecurity manifested itself in several ways and he constantly harassed her mentally. Almost five years later, Megha approached the police seeking action against her husband and her in-laws for supporting him.

The police have now booked a case of dowry harassment against them. According to the police, the couple got in touch through a matrimonial website in 2011. The scientist was pursuing his PhD at a university abroad. He had come to India on a holiday and the two were engaged.

scoopwhoop

After their engagement, Megha's fiance, she says, saw some of her pictures on Facebook  she had posted many photographs with her friends. After seeing those pictures, her fiance insisted she undergo the virginity test if she wanted to get married to him, Megha said.

"I was shocked at first. I wanted to tell them that I was a virgin. But had I refused to take the test, they would have doubted me. And since I was engaged to him, I agreed to undergo the test,"

(Also Read: After Being Stalked & Harassed, This Actress Turned A Mumbai Beach Into Kung Fu Classroom For Girls!)

After the wedding, Megha moved abroad to live with her husband. But he continued to suspect her. An officer who is part of the investigation told Mirror on condition of anonymity.

"She has alleged that harassing her would give her husband some kind of sadistic pleasure. She has also alleged that her in-laws harassed her for dowry,"

trendsnhealth

Megha also told the police that her husband had a habit of stealing valuables while shopping and at hotel and resorts. He also allegedly forced her to steal items. The police have sent notices to Megha's husband and the other accused.

(Also Read: 50% Of Indian Girls Are Groped, Pinched And Harassed On Their Way To School)

The officer added.

"In such cases, there are clear directions from the Supreme Court to hear the version of those against whom allegations have been levelled. The final call will be taken only after statements of both the parties are recorded. We are contemplating counselling for the couple so that the wedding is not called off. The woman can still withdraw her complaint by approaching the court,"
Sanjay Tidke, a 42-year-old farmer from a small village in Maharashtra's Akola district is on a mission to build a dam, which will end the water crisis for him and his village.

TOI

And how is he doing it? Tidke, who along with his brother owned 30 acres in Sangvi Durgwada village in Murtizapur, sold 10 acres for Rs 55 lakh.

The dam which is being built at a cost of Rs 20 lakhs has a storage capacity of 3 crore litres.

Tidke, who grows soyabean and cotton in his fields, said he took the step because people from the village were getting little help from the government.

macp/ representational image

He said even on the construction of the dam there was hardly any support from the government other than the agriculture department, which helped Tidke with expertise on how and which type of dam to construct.

On the contrary, Tidke said government officials were harassing him over the sand he was using for the project and filed complaints against him for allegedly buying sand illegally.

dowrorissa/ representational image

After the construction began in March and the news about it spread, Tidke said many farmers groups have approached him and pledged support.

The construction is expected to be completed in the next 2 weeks and will be ready to hold water from this monsoon.
Last year's June heat wave scorched and killed about 2,000 people from dehydration and heat stroke in Pakistan, and it's so hot in Pakistan they're already digging mass graves for people who will die. Day time temperatures easily touch 44 degrees Celsius - yet business can't stop, even if it means that daily wage labourers die. Business owners don't care; labour is cheap, a life is cheaper.

But Pakistani students do care - they're installing a refrigerator on Peshawars University Road, a busy transit point, and filling it with cold beverages and fresh fruits. For labourers who often can't afford a glass of cold water.

afp

Set on the premises of a CNG station opposite the Islamia College, Peshawar building, a refrigerator filled with fruits and fresh juices provides welcome relief to these workers. Talking to The Express Tribune, Hasher Mehsood who heads the team, says, We have installed it on humanitarian grounds to provide relief to the needy in this hot weather. He adds it is aimed at facilitating labourers who work without fans or air conditioners.

Tribune Express

The fridge cost Rs 35,000 for which three people have donated, he says. He adds the team regularly visits better off people in the city to collect charity to ensure the fridge remains stocked each day.
Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details.
A delayed first review of the Greek program (third bailout) was finally concluded after yet another all-night session at the Eurogroup in Brussels , with the highlights being a set of newactions demanded from Athens in order to disburse the loan tranche and a modest road map for Greek debt relief.
Our Prospects Against The Russians And Chinese In World War III

By Paul Craig Roberts Americans need to pay attention to the fact that their government is a collection of crazed stupid fools. Continue

=========

The Speech Obama Should Have Given in Hiroshima

By Matt Peppe Not only was there no justification for the bomb, there was little justification for the war against Japan in the first place. Continue

=========

Nuclear Attack on Japan was Opposed by American Military Leadership

Video President Truman used the A-bomb to make a "diplomatic" point to the Soviet Union, not out of military necessity. Continue

=========

U.S. Aggression Is Never Challenged By The Presstitute Media

By Gerald Celente Gerald Celente reflects on the horrors of war and the cowards who lead us to war with lies and deceptions. Continue

=========

Blair, not Corbyn, was Dangerous Experiment

By Jonathan Cook By God, how Tony Blair and his ilk have degraded the public discourse. Continue

=========

Faith in Big Trade Deals Keeps Crumbling

By Murray Dobbin Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of globalization? Continue

=========

In Nine Democratic Debates, Not a Single Question About Poverty

By Adam Johnson U.S. residents are a million times more likely to live in poverty than be killed by Islamic terrorism since 9/11. Continue

=========

Here Comes Donald!: Duck.

By Fred Reed Mexican cops, soldiers, and reporters are dying in Americas drug war. Americans are not. Continue

=========

70 killed as battle for Fallujah rages on after US strike kills local IS group commander: Weve killed more than 70 enemy fighters, including Maher Al-Bilawi, who is the commander of ISIL (IS) forces in Fallujah, coalition spokesman Steve Warren said.

Fallujah: 50,000 Iraqis trapped by assault on ISIL: Conditions rapidly deteriorate as city completely surrounded by Iraqi government forces and militias, aid groups say

80 ISIS members killed by aerial bombardment north of Ramadi: The international coalition aircraft bombarded a tunnel belonging to ISIS in Albu Bali area in Khalidiya Island north of Ramadi, killing 80 ISIS members.

Obama admits US troops died in combat in Iraq : US President Barack Obama has acknowledged that three American troops who recently died in Iraq were killed in combat; despite claims that US forces deployed to Iraq and Syria are on a mission to support, train and equip local forces.

Turkish and coalition forces kill 104 Daesh terrorists in Syria : Turkish and US-led coalition forces have killed 104 Daesh terrorists in northern Syria on Friday, military sources said, in retaliation for weeks of rocket attacks on Turkey's southern border province of Kilis.

ISIS-rebel clashes rock northeast Syria town: Isis said in a statement circulated online that it launched the offensive on Thursday night after intelligence pointed to an impending assault by US-backed rebel factions in northern Aleppo. The advances brought the militants to within three 3 kilometers (2 miles) of the rebel-held town of Azaz

ISIS enters Syrian rebel stronghold near Turkey : ISIS militants entered a Syrian opposition stronghold in the countrys north on Saturday, marking the extremist group's most significant advance near the Turkish border in two years, Syrian opposition groups said.

More than '100,000' Syrians flee as ISIL advances: MSF "terribly concerned" about thousands caught in crossfire as ISIL battles rebels near closed Turkish border crossing.

The last remaining Pentagon-trained rebel group in Syria is now in jeopardy: Im not saying the Americans let us down, but there is dereliction of duty. They are not doing what they could, he said. We dont want the Americans to disrespect the lives of our men.

U.S. special ops troops in Syria ordered to remove Kurdish insignia : American commanders have ordered U.S. special operations troops in Syria to remove patches affiliating those forces with the Kurdish rebel group Turkey has labeled as a terrorist organization.

Saudi King will not receive more Cluster Bombs from US to Kill Yemeni people : The United States has reportedly suspended the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia amid growing concerns that the kingdom has used the weapons in its bombing campaign in Yemen, a report says.

Netanyahus government may be near collapse, report says : Netanyahus surprise move to bring the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party into the coalition may be backfiring on him.

Niger military kills 10 Boko Haram extremists; Nigers army has killed at least 10 Boko Haram militants after they tried to attack a military post in the countrys southeast near its border with Nigeria.

Trump suggests U.S. should bomb Libya: Claiming that ISIS controls oil fields in Libya, the presumptive Republican nominee questioned during a rally here why the United States isn't "bombing the hell out of" ISIS in Libya.

Afghanistan Security Forces Kill Over 70 Militants in Past 24 Hours: The operations were held in 14 of Afghan provinces, including Nangarhar, Paktia, Herat and Helmand, the statement added.

2 Taliban leaders killed in an airstrike in north of Afghanistan; At least 6 Taliban insurgents were also wounded during the airstrike which was carried out in Kata Qala village.

Reduction of Nuclear Arsenal Has Slowed Under Obama, Report Finds : The new figures, released by the Pentagon, also highlight a trend  that the current administration has reduced the nuclear stockpile less than any other post-Cold War presidency.

Greatest threat to peace & stability: Beijing criticizes US China has termed the flexing of muscles by outside countries the greatest threat to peace and stability and the reason for tensions in the South China Sea. It promised never to relinquish the disputed territory, through which billions of dollars of trade pass annually.

Putin says Romania, Poland may now be in Russia's cross-hairs: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

Poland Has 80,000 Militiamen Training for War with Russia (Video) : In the grip of paranoia, Poles live every day believing the Russian invasion could come at any moment

1,400 US soldiers & 400 vehicles head to Baltics for Saber Strike drills (PHOTOS) : US forces have been seen on the Dragoon Ride II tactical march across central and Eastern Europe in massive military drills, which this year are in the Baltic States. Over 1,400 soldiers and 400 vehicles displayed their dynamic presence.

Tony Blair will not be accused of breaking laws in Iraq War inquiry : Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has already said that he will push for Mr Blair to be prosecuted if he is found to have broken any laws.

Italy navy: 135 saved, 45 bodies retrieved from migrant boat: The navy said earlier it was aiding the partially sunk boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, a route smugglers' boats use in a lucrative business to transport those fleeing wars and poverty onto European shores.

Virginia Cabbie Faces 48 Years in Prison After Driving Aspiring Terrorist To Airport: A federal grand jury charged a 26-year old Virginia taxi driver with helping provide support for terrorists after he transported one of his associates, a would-be member of Islamic State, 90 minutes to the airport.

Clinton Clinches Democratic Nomination: MSNBCs Chris Matthews has revealed that the major television networks plan to call the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton during the day on June 7th  hours prior to the close of polls in California

Goldman Sachs Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving... To The Clintons: Whether it's paying millions out for speeches, investing in family member's failing hedge fund ventures, or donating hundreds of thousands to the Clinton Foundation, Goldman seems to be keeping a close relationship with the family.

Like Clinton, Trump Chickens Out of Debate with Sanders: 'Well, I say to Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?'

Scuffles break out as Trump holds rally in San Diego : Riot police sent in and pepper spray fired as presumptive presidential nominee speaks in city close to Mexican border.

Trump tells California 'there is no drought ': Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought."

Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric 'sparks rush' for American citizenship before election : Donald Trump's tough talk on immigration has coincided with a 28 per cent jump in foreigners applying for naturalisation  and a surge in the number of migrants trying to reach the US illegally from Mexico.
Obamas Hiroshima Visit Will Give New Meaning to Meaningless Publicity Stunts By Riley Waggaman May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Huffington Post " - Americas trusted political pundits are all hot and bothered by Barack Obamas upcoming visit to Hiroshima. Will our Nobel Peace Prize-bedazzled president apologize for his nations pragmatic decision to drop an atomic bomb on a city with no real military value? (No.) After all, as the National Review was quick to point out, we killed far more Japanese in World War II the old fashioned way. So saying sorry just because we melted two cities  killing an estimated 200,000 and causing long-term environmental and health problems which lasted long after the war  would just be plain silly. Another reason that Barack Obama will not apologize during his visit to Hiroshima is because Barack Obama is really good at killing people, according to a book which quotes a rather boastful Barack Obama. This is coming from a president who sends heavily-armed flying robots to far away lands in order to hunt nameless military-aged brown people. Its a bit unpleasant, but its all for the greater good  much like the atomic payloads we dropped on Japan all those many years ago. So apologizing to the people of Hiroshima (and the entire world, for starting the nuclear arms race) is clearly off the table. What will Obama do instead? Simple: With the end of his last term in office approaching in January, Obama will highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons, the White House said in a statement. He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future, Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser, wrote in a separate blog. And as he reads from the gospel of nonproliferation in Hiroshima, Obama will continue his $1 trillion upgrade of Americas nuclear arsenal. Say what you will, but the man is a seasoned multitasker. Like his non-barrier breaking visit to Cuba (his handshake with Raul Castro says it all), Obamas historic visit to Hiroshima will be yet another meaningless photo op that will give new meaning to meaningless photo ops. If Obama really wanted to mend our complicated and tragic past with Japan, he would order American soldiers to finally leave that peaceful island nation for good; sexual assaults and rapes in Okinawa might decrease tenfold overnight. And just think, 75 years from now people are going to be debating whether apologies should finally be issued for Obamas various crimes against humanity. Isnt kicking the can down the road fun? Follow Riley Waggaman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rileywaggaman
Is Scarborough Shoal Worth a War?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Creators " - If China begins to reclaim and militarize Scarborough Shoal, says Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III, America must fight.

Should we back down, says Aquino, the United States will lose "its moral ascendancy, and also the confidence of one of its allies."

And what is Scarborough Shoal?

A cluster of rocks and reefs, 123 miles west of Subic Bay, that sits astride the passageway out of the South China Sea into the Pacific, and is well within Manila's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Beijing and Manila both claim Scarborough Shoal. But, in June 2013, Chinese ships swarmed and chased off a fleet of Filipino fishing boats and naval vessels. The Filipinos never came back.

And now that China has converted Fiery Cross Reef and Mischief Reef into artificial islands with docks and air bases, Beijing seems about to do the same with Scarborough Shoal.

"Scarborough is a red line," says Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International studies. To allow China to occupy and militarize the reef "would clearly change the balance of power."

Really? But before concluding that we must fight to keep China from turning Scarborough Shoal into an island base, there are other considerations.

High among them is that the incoming president of the Philippines, starting June 30, is Rodrigo Duterte, no admirer of America, and a populist authoritarian thug who, as Mayor of Davao, presided over the extrajudicial killing of some 1,000 criminals during the 1990s.

Duterte, who has charged Aquino with treason for abandoning Scarborough Shoal, once offered to set aside his country's claim in exchange for a Chinese-built railroad, then said he might take a jet ski to the reef to assert Manila's rights, plant a flag and let himself be executed to become a national hero.

In a clash with China, this character would be our ally.

Indeed, the rise of Duterte is yet another argument that, when Manila booted us out of Subic Bay at the Cold War's end, we should have dissolved our mutual security pact.

This June, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague will rule on Manila's claims and China's transgressions on reefs that may not belong to her. Beijing has indicated she will not accept any such decision.

So, the fat is in the fire. And as the Chinese are adamant about their claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands and virtually all the atolls, rocks and reefs in the South China Sea, and are reinforcing their claims by creating artificial islands and bases, the U.S. and China are headed for a collision.

U.S. warships and reconnaissance planes passing near these islets have been repeatedly harassed by Chinese warplanes.

Vietnam, too, has a quarrel with China over the Paracels, which is why President Obama is being feted in Hanoi and why he lifted the ban on arms sales. There is now talk of the Navy's return to Cam Ranh Bay.

But before we agree to support the claims of Manila and Hanoi against China's claims, and agree to use U.S. air and naval power if needed, we need to ask some hard questions.

What vital interest of ours is imperiled by who owns, or occupies, or militarizes Scarborough Shoal? If U.S. rights of passage in the South China Sea are not impeded by Chinese planes or ships, why make Hanoi's quarrels and Manila's quarrels with China our quarrels?

Vietnam and the Philippines are inviting us back to our old Cold War bases for a simple reason. If the Chinese use force to back up their claims, Hanoi and Manila want us to fight China for them.

But, other than a major war, what would be in it for us?

And if, after such a war, we have driven the Chinese off these islets and destroyed those bases, how long would we be required to defend them for Hanoi and Manila?

Have we not enough war guarantees outstanding?

We are moving NATO and U.S. troops into Eastern Europe and anti-missile missiles into Poland and Romania, antagonizing Russia. We are fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, and, if the neocons get their way, we will soon be confronting Iran again.

Meanwhile, North Korea is testing nuclear warheads for long-range missiles that can reach the American homeland.

And no vital U.S. interest of ours is imperiled in the South China Sea.

Should Beijing insanely decide to disrupt commercial traffic in that sea, the response is not to send a U.S. carrier strike group to blast their artificial islands off the map.

Better that we impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods, and threaten an embargo of all Chinese goods if they do not stand down. And call on our "allies" to join us in sanctions against China, rather than sit and hold our coat while we fight their wars.

This economic action would send China's economy into a tailspin, and the cost to Americans would not be reckoned in the lives of our best and bravest.

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book "The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
US Cooperating With Al-Qaeda : Former US Diplomat



By RT



May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " RT " - After the Al-Qaeda 9/11 attack on America the US is cooperating with the terrorist group as it did in Libya, Bosnia, and Kosovo, says former US diplomat Jim Jatras. A senior figure from a Syrian rebel group Ahrar Al-Sham with links to Al-Qaeda reportedly visited the United States at the end of last year, according to an American news website. Syrian militant group leader Labib al Nahhas, who calls himself chief of Foreign Political Relations at Ahrar al-Sham, allegedly arrived in the US capital for a short visit in December. RT: Whats your take on the visit to the US by a key Ahrar Al-Sham figure? What do you think about the State department response when they were asked about this? They seemed to be quite evasive, didnt they? Jim Jatras: It is clearly tap dancing. And frankly it begs credibility that a fellow like this could come to the US. What  we dont have visa controls? We dont pay attention to who is coming into this country from a war zone? And they expect us to believe that officials of the US government were not aware of the visit? Mark Toner said that he [the Ahrar Al-Sham figure] didnt have any meetings here, meaning the US State Department. I would infer that maybe he had meetings elsewhere with some other agencies. RT: Do you have any idea what was behind the visit to the US? JJ: My sense is that that they were operational meetings. We are hearing more and more noise about this so-called Plan B if the Russian and the Syrian governments do not knuckle under and agree that at the end of the transition Assad will go. We are getting these threats from the Saudis and the Turks, and frankly they are being backed by the Obama administration, that some kind of forceful action will be taken to secure a victory for these terrorist forces if we dont get our way on what we demand from a supposed transition. And this worries me very much... They will step up their support for these terrorist groups. And I think Ahrar Al-Sham is one of the key components here despite their very close connection with Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra Front and their participation in this massacre at Zarah. RT: Why do US officials keep working with this group which has been linked to Al-Qaeda and claim that they are not terrorists? Do you think that the US would be forced to sort of backtrack on their position or will they dig their heels in? JJ: I think they will dig their heels in. This is not a mystery to anybody in Washington. They know very well that Ahrar Al-Sham and other so-called moderate groups are closely connected to Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda. And they dont back away from them because they know without cooperation with Al-Qaeda, which is what it boils down to, they have no policy options in Syria; that they have to accept the fact that Assad is going to stay in power and the terrorists must be defeated. And they cannot accept that. RT: With more evidence showing there is a link between Ahrar Al-Sham and Al-Qaeda  doesnt it become more difficult for the US to deny that there is a link? Wouldnt they have to reevaluate at some point? JJ: No, I dont think so at all. They know very well there is a link. And they also know most Americans simply are not paying attention. And here we are  how many years after the 9/11 attack on the US by Al-Qaeda and we are cooperating with Al-Qaeda as we did in Libya, as we did in Bosnia, as we did in Kosovo. They simply do not care because most Americans dont seem to care. RT: So, where does this lead the peace talks? Because obviously Russia does care, Assad does care. JJ: I am not optimistic. I really am not. If the US and the Obama administration had a rational policy, we would be backing up, we would be rethinking our policy and the evidence is all to the contrary. Every once and a while you hear somebody say: Looks like there is a deal between Washington and Moscow. But all the evidence to me seems to suggest that they are still taking their marching orders from Riyadh, from Ankara and the Gulf States. And they are still bent on by hook or by crook securing a victory for the terrorists. Jim Jatras, a former US diplomat and foreign policy adviser to the Senate GOP leadership, comments on financial and foreign policy topics and on U.S. politics in his publication TheJIM!gram. Tweet him at @JimJatras.
Will The November US Presidential Election Bring The End Of The World? By Paul Craig Roberts May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - We have been watching for nearly a month a steady buildup of American and NATO forces along Russias borders  on land, on sea and in the air. There has been nothing like this on Russias borders, such an amassing of hostile military force, since the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. So concludes Americas leading Russian expert, Professor Stephen Cohen (Princeton and New York University). Professor Cohen asks if Washington is sleepwalking and needs to wake up or whether Washington has gone crazy and intends war. Pepe Escobar advises Washington to beware what you wish for: Russia is ready for war . Escobar reports that recently the Rand Corporation, essentially a CIA outpost, concluded that Russia could overrun NATO in a mere 60 hours, if not less. On the level of nukes and missile systems, Russia is four generations ahead of the US military/security complex, which is mainly interested in inflating profits with cost overruns. US weapons systems are simply outclassed. Nevertheless, the Russian high command is concerned with the Russian governments low-key response to Washingtons aggression. The generals blame the Atlanticists Integrationists who infect Putins government. This faction is believed to be organized around Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and believes Russia should make concessions to Washington in order to be accepted as part of the West. The incompetent Russian central bank and neoliberal economists are part of the faction whose goal is to be part of the West regardless of its impact on Russian independence from Washingtons Empire. Stephen Cohen and Alastair Crooke, a former British secret agent, almost alone in the West have noticed that the Russian military and predominant part of the government that emphasizes national sovereignty are putting pressure on President Putin to eliminate those in the government who are willing to compromise Russias independence in order to gain acceptance by Washington. This has been my own opinion for some time. It is impossible to adequately stand up to an external threat when unreliable elements are part of the threatened government. If Putin is forced to remove Washingtons agents from his government, as he must do if Russia is to survive Washingtons plots, he must not let them leave Russia. If they escape, they will end up in Washington to be used as Washingtons Russian government in exile. If Putin doesnt want to put them on trial for treason, then a form of national house arrest would be a solution. Alastair Crooke writes that Washington is miscalulating by seeking unipolar hegemony and, thus, is forcing Putin into the camp of the nationalists who value Russias sovereignty more than Western acceptance. Washingtons use of NATO in an effort to corner Russia with military buildups on Russias land and sea borders is forcing compromise out of Russias response to Washingtons aggression. Regardless of Escobars description of Russian military superiority over the West, Russian independence is between a rock and a hard place. The rock is the American neoconservatives determination to achieve hegemony over Russia. The hard place is those within the Russian government who are more Western than Russian in their orientation. If Trump becomes US president, there is some possibility, perhaps, that the neoconservatives will cease to dominate US foreign and military policies. Should this turn out to be the case, the Russian nationalists might ease their pressure on Putin to remove the Atlanticist Integrationists from the government. If Hillary becomes US president, the neoconservative threat to Russia will escalate. The Atlanticist Integrationists will be eliminated from the Russian government, and Russia will move to full war standing. Remember what an unprepared Russia did to the German Wehrmacht, at that time the most powerful army ever assembled. Imagine what a prepared Russia would do to the crazed Hillary and the incompetent neoconservatives. As I have previously written, pushing Russia to war means the demise of the US and Europe and, considering the destructive power of nuclear weapons, most likely of all life on earth. The main cause of this danger is the arrogance, hubris, and utter stupidity of the American neoconservatives who are ensconced in positions of power and influence and in Hillarys presidential campaign. A secondary cause is Europes vassal status, which deprives Europe of a sensible foreign policy and forces Europe to enable Washingtons aggression. What this means is that no matter what you think of Trump, if you vote for Hillary you are definitely voting for the end of the world. 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 .
By Ben Kamisar

May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Hill " - Top Bernie Sanders supporters Dr. Cornel West and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will be among those on the Democratic Party's important Platform Drafting Committee after the Vermont senator won a key concession as he looks to leave his mark on the party's platform.

The roster of the drafting committee, released by the Democratic National Committee on Monday, reflects the party's agreement that Sanders would have five supporters on the committee, compared to six for Hillary Clinton.

Sanders previously panned DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who appoints all of the committee members, for failing to include enough of his supporters on an initial list. But the latest statement notes that Wasserman Schultz allocated the campaign's seats "proportionally according to the current vote tally."

Along with West and Ellison, Sanders supporters on the committee are author Bill McKibben, Arab American Institute head James Zogby and Native American activist Deborah Parker.

Clinton loyalists on the committee are Ambassador Wendy Sherman, former Clinton staffer and current Center for American Progress head Neera Tanden, Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece, environmentalist Carol Browner, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez and union head Paul Booth.

The remaining four members were chosen by Wasserman Schultz.

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, who has endorsed Clinton, will lead the committee and called Sanders's outsized role on the platform "pretty unusual" for a candidate that likely will not be the party's nominee during a Monday interview on MSNBC.

And California Rep. Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the war in Afghanistan, will also sit on the committee. She has not endorsed either candidate.

Former Rep. Howard Berman and philanthropist and former CEO of Claire's Stores Bonnie Schaefer were also appointed.

Clinton's almost 300 pledged delegate lead has made her nomination likely, but Sanders has not given up the fight and has said he'd fight to the convention floor.

His selections foreshadow the possibility of a fight over some major tenents of the platform, including minimum wage and the relationship in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We believe that we will have the representation on the platform drafting committee to create a Democratic platform that reflects the views of millions of our supporters who want the party to address the needs of working families in this country and not just Wall Street, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and other powerful special interests," Sanders said in a statement released by the campaign.

Zogby is likely the most controversial of Sanders' picks thanks to his activist work on behalf of pro-Palestinian causes. He's repeatedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself hasn't always been the favorite of pro-Israel Democrats, and he's compared the "plight of the Palestinians" to the Holocaust in a 2010 column for The Huffington Post.

While Sanders, the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history, supports Israel, his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict don't mesh with that of the party's establishment.

He's argued that Israel took "disproportionate" actions against the Palestinians in the 2014 conflict and has called on Israel to pull back on settlement building and trade restrictions.

Zogby is not the only name that potentially telegraphs potential platform fights by Sanders' supporters.
The Greek Surrender

Finance As A New Means Of War



By Sharmini Peries - Michael Hudson May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Real News " - SHARMINI PERIES, TRNN: Its the Real News Network, Im Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. Greeces economic crisis has perhaps been eclipsed by Europes refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, and by the forthcoming Brexit referendum. But it has not gone away. Greeces Syriza coalition faced violence on the streets and a 3 day general strike last week that had brought much of the country to a halt. In spite of the protests the government of Alexis Tsipras pushed through legislation to amend the countrys tax and pension system with the backing of 153 MPs, a measure required by the lenders in order to continue the debt negotiations. Addressing the 300 seat house, Prime Minister Alex Tsipras said we are determined to make Greece stand on its 2 feet at any cost. To discuss these developments, Im joined by Michael Hudson. Hes joining us from New York. Michael is a distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His latest book is Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroyed the Global Economy. Michael, many thanks for joining us today. MICHAEL HUDSON: Its good to be back. PERIES: Michael the International Monetary Fund is pushing for comprehensive measures to tackle Greeces debt burden. They want the lenders to get creative in terms of debt cancellation and the measure that they\re proposing seems to be fairly progressive compared to what the lenders are talking about. Tell us more about the IMFs proposal and how the lenders are reacting to it. HUDSON: The IMF says it will not reduce Greeces debt by a single penny. It will keep the debt in place. The problem is the way that the European central banks keep their balance sheets, if it breaks down Greeces debt owed to the IMF, then the countries Germany, France and other countries whose banks are bailed out will have to take a loss and they refuse to lose a single penny. So the IMF has not made a creative proposal. It has repeated what it said a year ago without changing a single word. It says okay, were going to keep every penny of debt in place but were going to give you a fudging number. Wee only going to charge you 1.5% interest and you wont have to pay the debt for 25 years. So you dont get a debt markdown, but you wont have to pay interests for 25 years and well charge you only a little bit of interest. Theres only one kicker. Youre going to have to cancel your pensions, write them down, impose austerity, privatize your government, and youre going to have to shrink your economy so that it will shrink by about 1, 2, 3% a year so that the 1.5% interest that were charging as little as it is, is going to absorb all the income growth you have. Every penny of growth of have from the next 25 years ,youll have to end up paying the German banks. Now we know you cant do it. We know that when you cancel the pensions youre going to shrink. We know your labors on strike. We know theyre going to emigrate. But theres a way out. You can sell your ports, your land, your public utilities, your railroads, your airports, anything you have you can sell to the Germans and at the end of this time you wont have a single thing and all we ask is that all you Greeks get out of our country, now that we own you. Thats what the IMF is saying. Its not creative; its absolutely brutal. Thats why the Greeks are out on strike. PERIES: Now why are the lenders then acting the way they are? HUDSON: Because theyre using finance as the new means of war. There is a war going on in Europe but its not a military war anymore. Theyre now using finance instead of war and theyre using finance to say, we can grab your country. We can put you out of work. We can control you and we dont have to kill you, we can just make you immigrate by taking away your pensions and taking all your money. Theres a land grab just as if it were an invasion to grab Greeces ports, to grab Greeces railroads, and to grab everything else. This is war. PERIES: Now the international press has been reporting on Mondays meeting with the finance ministers as if it was a success and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the finance minister came out of it with smiles, why? HUDSON: Because they sold out. Because youre supposed to smile before a camera, thats the polite thing to do. Youre supposed to smile as if youve somehow defended your constituency. Mr. Obama always smiles whenever he does another giveaway to Wall Street. But the smile does not reflect anything thats good for the great people and the great people obviously know this as you can see by their political reaction. PERIES: And these attack reforms and pension reforms that now they have to swallow, the people of Greece. What does it really mean for the people? HUDSON: It means, the opposite of what reforms used to mean. For the last 100 years the whole reform movement meant you give more authority to government. You give more emphasis on economic growth. Reform used to mean making the economy fair. But today were in a Orwellian doublethink world where we reform means wiping out the reforms that Greece did after WW II. Wiping out the pension reforms, wiping out the tax reforms, and wiping out the tax reforms apparently. Its a rollback to what you could call neofeudalism. Its the opposite of the reform movement. So the newspapers use the word reform but its exactly the opposite. PERIES: Alright then the left wing and the Syriza party. What are they saying in light of what we just heard? HUDSON: Well theyre appalled and as you know Yanis Varoufakis, whom youve had on your show resigned rather than become the undertaker imposing austerity on Greece. Theyre simply appalled and think nothing could be worse and that they realized there is a war going on and theyd hoped that theyd be supported by other left wing movements and France and Spain and Portugal. But theres a bitter class war of debtors against creditors or creditors against debtors going on in Europe and all they can do right now is expose the hypocrisy of the IMF. If youre talking about Greece, lets juxtapose the IMF supporting a really insolvent economy of kleptocrats in the Ukraine. The IMF is preparing to bail out Ukraine, to say you dont have to pay your debts that you owe to Russia or any governments that the U.S. doesnt like. You have to sell off your land to George Soros and the people whom the U.S. government does like. Look at the duel standard that the IMF is imposing on Greece compared to what its doing for the Ukrainian government. You see that the IMF has become a tool of the New Cold War and the Syriza people and the Greeks can do is point out how unfair this is and to try to let the world know that what is happening is a movement way to the right wing of the political spectrum and that finance is war. PERIES: Finally, Michael, what choice does the Greek government have? What can they do? HUDSON: Mr. Tsipras says they have no choice. He says the choice is only to surrender and in fact the argument now is not between Greece and the IMF. Not between Greece and Germany or Europe. The arguments that keep going on are solely between the IMF and Germany as to whether the IMF is going to break its traditional rules and make a loan in violation of all of its principles. Under its articles of agreement, the IMF is not allowed to make a loan to a government that cannot afford to repay the loan. All of the staff of the IMF have unanimously found that Greece cannot pay the loan because the terms of IMF loans, the conditionalities, shrink the economy and make it impossible to pay. So the IMF says that were going to break the rules of that and were going to lend, essentially because the U.S. tells us to do that and Greece is going to have to pay so we can demonstrate that if Spain tries to stand up and pay its pensions to people, if France pays its labor, if Italy pays its labor, were going to smash their economies, were going to smash their labor unions, and were going to smash their labor just as we do to Greece. Greece is a demonstration very much like when the Nazis bombed Spain, in the Picasso drew the great drawing for. This is the IMFs version of the Nazi bombing of Spain to say, this is whats going to happen to labor throughout Europe if you dont surrender. PERIES: Alright Michael as always, such a pleasure to have you on and well be back on the Greece trails so I hope you join us again. HUDSON: Thank you so much Sharmini. PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real New Network.
Hillary Clinton Now Losing To Donald Trump By Cenk Uygur

May 24, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Donald Trump is now ahead of Hillary Clinton by two points. They cant seem to believe their own poll. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.



"A slew of surveys have come out over the past few days, exploring the state of the presidential race and the extent to which Americans are fed up with the two options that are likely be on the ballot in November. But its worth introducing a bit more context to the polling across the board...



As it stands, registered voters prefer Trump by a narrow two-point margin. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/22/why-donald-trumps-polling-lead-is-a-bit-misleading/
Drone for Obama  Anyone? By Peter Koenig May 25, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Thousands of extra-judiciary drone killings, all personally approved by Peace Nobel Laureate, Obama, and all with casualties and so-called collateral damage, costs the affected, mostly poor communities, tens of thousands of lives and destroyed properties and public infrastructure valued at millions of dollars; an assurance to keep them poor and submissive. Do not such horrendous criminal acts by the self-declared western caliph Obama beg the question  who will eventually send a drone to neutralize the killer?  Or for that matter, anyone who dares following in the murderers footsteps, Democrat or Republican, two faces of the same coin? It could be a pretty long chain, because none of the potential successors have a mind of their own. All of them are spineless miserable puppets, bought by the a globalized Anglo-Zionist led Corporate Empire. But no matter how long the chain of official governmental murderers, stopping them has to begin at some point. Lest, it becomes like everything else, normal daily business. Imagine!  We are living in a world where open killings, open assassinations by an Uber-Mensch, the proclaimed and admitted leader of the Exceptional Country, the self-proclaimed Master of the Universe, becomes the order of the day. And nobody blinks an eye. We, The People, are silent, when news reports of drone killings are flung around the world. No proof of guilt, no accusation, no trial, no conviction  nothing. Its the new normal. Worse even  the puppets of the assassin-in-Chief, NATO and those who lead NATO, are doing the same by impunity. No morals left. The financial army  the Wall street tanks of money are killing entire countries. Nobody blinks. Elite imposed violence just grows exponentially. And so does fear. The more fear, the more police and military violence is justified  and even asked for by the people, whose minds have been utterly manipulated with false flag attacks, blaming of course always  the Islamists  who else? Greece is being fed to the dogs; the country that once upon a time gave the world the intellectual capital of philosophy that many of us are still thriving off, and the political principle of Democracy, the original concept of equal rights among people  a term widely abused today by the western world. Greek strangulation is drone killing by debt. Nobody blinks an eye. It has become the new normal. Tomorrow it may be Spain, or Portugal, or even France. Nobody blinks an eye. In fear and in lockstep behind the sledgehammer-wielding Monster. That makes you safe. Back to Obamas drones. The latest such killing has targeted and apparently killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, by an Obama-approved drone in Pakistan. Obama has already confirmed it in a Press Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, saying that Akhtar Mansoors death will bring Afghanistan closer to peace.  Can you imagine, killing a leader of a large portion of a countrys population is bringing peace? What an outright falsehood. Is there anybody who believes such crap? On the same occasion of the Assassin-in-Chiefs visit to Vietnam (officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam), he proudly declared that the US will now graciously lift the weapons embargo to Vietnam. In other words, Vietnam, the arch-enemy of only four decades ago has now become a friend and partner  possibly a partner in crime, with occult and vicious purpose behind it, as is always the case, when an initiative comes from Washington. In this case, its clearly part of encircling China with whom Vietnam gradually normalizes relations. In Washingtons wicket mind there are plans for military bases in what used to be North Vietnam as part of dominating the South China Sea. Washington will not be stingy when it comes to offering incentives to the Vietnamese in order to achieve their military objective in the region. China is certainly aware of this. The question begs any healthy mind, how can Vietnam, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, acquiesce to deal with Washington on Washingtons terms and initiatives, after the US has devastated friendly Vietnam that was never a threat to anyone and least to the Unites States, killing about 3.1million Vietnamese (1955-1975  British Medical Journal), of which up to 50% civilians and another 350,000 in Laos and Cambodia? How many people are going to swallow such preparation for conflict and war in Vietnam may have, without blinking an eye? Without even thinking? On the extra-judiciary murder by Obama of the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the public at large seems to cheer and congratulate Obama. To such an extent that random killing, because we can, has become a normality. What a testimony to human degradation!  Unthinkable only 30 years ago. This assassination may have devastating consequences against peace in the region. Not only is such an act totally unethical under human standards and a criminal act under any international law, it may most likely prompt a succession of leaders who will seek revenge and simply not accept interference in their countrys affairs; leaders who may want to take back by whatever means  and rightly so, their countrys sovereignty, viciously and violently stolen by outside forces  the US and a group of ally-stooges to satisfy an insatiable greed for resources and world hegemony. Well, such leaders would merely be another justification for eternal war. Thats precisely what Washington wants. Not peace. Never peace. Who is next? If drone killings have been tacitly accepted, if they become the new normal, there is no limit to murder by government impunity  license given by us, the Silent, We The People.  For how much longer do we want to remain silent onlookers of human atrocities? Drone killings are anonymous. Its almost impossible to find out who pulled the trigger on the PlayStation  a pure computer game is what remote killings have become. Opening your mouth may cost your life. Is this the way we want to live?  Is this what we want for our children and grand-children, for the future generations  subjugation to slavehood  or else, killing by Anonymous? Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He is the author of Implosion  An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed  fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution!  Essays from the Resistance .
Brazil: The Provisional Banana Scoundrel Republic By Pepe Escobar



May 25, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Sputnik " - Every political junkie on the planet has to be glued to the ongoing Brazilian House of Cards, consistently offering an unparalleled feast of cheap thrills. The latest cliffhanger was the leak of a conversation between one of the key operators involved in the oil giant Petrobras corruption scandal and a senator and short-lived Minister of Planning in the usurper interim government currently replacing President Dilma Rousseff while she is undergoing an impeachment trial by the Senate. Call the leak a short autopsy of what from the beginning should have been defined as golpeachment; a mix of coup (golpe, in Portuguese) and impeachment, which took place in a one/two sequential vote in the Brazilian Congress and Senate, as a notorious congregation of crooks investigated for myriad offenses and crimes seized power in Brasilia in a full-fledged Buffons Opera. I call their scam Provisional Banana Scoundrel Republic (PBSR). Meet the interim Walking Dead The leak/autopsy duly unveiled how the PBSR cancer progressed. One of the key plotters outlines the coup; stresses how it should protect Brazilian plutocracy/kleptocracy from unintended consequences of the ongoing, two-year-old Car Wash corruption investigation; and how the Left  from President Rousseff to Lula and the Workers Party  should be criminalized for good. The rest would be history, including the demolition of recently acquired social and workers rights via the imposition of a neoliberal restoration; total reversion in foreign policy, with geopolitical and geoeconomic relations back to a colonized mindset; and the reestablishment of a conservative, neoliberal, rentier hegemonic class lording over a socially-oriented, democratic society. That fits in with the current Brazilian Congress and Senate dominated by BBB interests. BBB stands for Beef (the powerful agribusiness lobby); Bullet (the weapons and private security complex); and Bible (evangelical fanatics), all supported by corporate media. Many of these unsavory characters are connected and/or represent the toxic Brazilian rural aristocracy  which are in fact heirs to nobility titles handed over to slave owners. It was going all so swell after only a few days  even with the former head of the lower house, notorious crook Eduardo Cunha, temporarily sidelined; Cunha  the ringleader of a campaign financing scam inside Congress  de facto had become the Prime Minister of the puppet former Vice-President and current, interim President Michel Temer. Temer The Usurper  who might actually become Temer the Brief  has been under siege since he took power. His unpopularity index is reaching reverse Kim Jong-Un levels, standing at almost 99%. The overwhelming majority of Brazilians want him impeached. Hes mentioned in several corruption scandals while serially nominating ministers mired in corruption scandals themselves. The problem is the PBSR cabal simply cant afford to let him go  and let power slip away. The Dialogue of the Crooks leak conclusively proved that the Car Wash investigation was instrumentalized to criminalize the Workers Party and bring down Rousseff while the golpeachment scam advanced in parallel, making sure certain key political forces would not be caught in the Car Wash web. The Dialogue of the Crooks took place over two months ago  and at least three weeks before the golpeachment farce reached its apex in a ghastly voting session in the lower house. Which lead us to a key question; why the attorney general and the provincial judge in charge of the Car Wash investigation did not previously reveal its contents, and why did they not take immediate action? If the Dialogue of the Crooks was revealed already in March, golpeachment could not possibly have taken place. The fact that there was no leak two months ago raises all serious eyebrows. The senator featured in the Dialogue of the Crooks is a notorious node in a historical corruption link inside oil giant Petrobras since the Cardoso administrations in the 1990s. He happened to have been ensconced in the political leadership of all Brazilian administrations for the past 22 years. This means he was always the go-to Crook-in-Chief for his political party, the PMDB. Yet nothing gets as serious as the admission that the hidden agenda of golpeachment has always been to ditch all corruption probes as part of a broader agreement involving selected Supreme Court judges. If this was not the Brazilian House of Cards, the whole golpeachment scam should have been declared null and void by now. Yet, as I have been stressing from the get-go, this is a sophisticated, Hybrid War-style, judicial-political-financial-media coup. And it will be very hard to unravel it. The logic of perpetual scandal So future historians already have their story line  furnished by the Dialogue of the Crooks; the 2016 golpeachment was a scam concocted by a bunch of political scoundrels willing to do anything to stay out of jail. Temer the Brief, a lowly puppet, is now under siege. His two manipulators  the former leader of the lower house and his short-lived Minister of Planning  are now forced to be in the shade. Practically, that means approving deeply unpopular economic policies in Congress will be much harder. Temer The Briefs is a certified illegitimate reign. Not even privileged actors  the Goddess of the Market, assorted businessmen, even some mainstream media sectors  are buying the farce. Meanwhile, the Brazilian street wont be quiet; thats Rousseffs and the Workers Partys strategy (although thats not enough). So what next? The only way Rousseff would be reinstated is if she and the party could concoct a credible narrative of the priorities for the country up to the 2018 presidential elections. That implies a lot of back room political negotiation  and Rousseff is really lousy at it. What has been aptly described as a presidential condominium  the new normal in Brazil  envelops conflicting agendas with no consensus in sight. So one should expect the nation to be mired, for a long time, in the logic of perpetual scandal. The key variable from now on is how the PBSR gang will maneuver  possibly illegally  to cling to power. The Public Ministry and the Federal police are totally politicized. Increasingly there are no mediation powers. The PBSR gang will take no prisoners. The Public Ministry will go after Lula while the attorney general will try to block any chance of Rousseff being reinstated. Meanwhile, the social democrats turned neoliberal enforcers  key associates of the PBSR  will keep advancing their own agenda; hardcore privatizations; handing over the exploration of the pre-salt oil deposits to US Big Oil; and dutifully prostrating as Washington vassals. One just needs to examine the extreme interest by the US Department of Justice on all things related to the Car Wash investigation to infer how Washington is deeply involved in smashing leading Brazilian corporations. And what about the BRICS? Brazil is now globally isolated. Vulture fund-friendly Argentina President Mauricio Macri has been the only leader to recognize the illegal PBSR government. The PBSR worships Macri as if he was Beyonce; they absolutely love his role of Slasher of a socially inclusive cycle of governments in Argentina. Washington has not had the balls to do it directly  relying on minions such as the State Department spokesman and the interim ambassador to the OAS. But the message is unmistakable; golpeachment is legal, and Washington trusts Brazilian democratic institutions. Compare it to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which alerted to foreign interference in Brazilian affairs. The new Brazilian Foreign Minister  a sore loser (twice) in presidential elections won by the Workers Party  took no time to launch his glorious Vassal of Washington/US Big Capital policy. He already issued a veiled threat to Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and El Salvador. Mercosur will be sidelined to the benefit of the Pacific Alliance  where Mexico, Peru and Colombia are under Washingtons wings. Unasur will be ditched. And then theres the stale ice cream in the scoundrels tart; the B in BRICS is now dormant. This means the role of Brazil in the BRICS bank will be seriously compromised. Granted, the BRICS were never a homogenous group and have been riddled with conflicting interests. For instance, Indias nuclear-sharing agreement with the US effectively ties it up with Washington. The next BRICS summit is in India, in October. Brazil risks the ignominy of being represented by the PBSR gang. Meanwhile, make no mistake; as much as the Car Wash investigation was revealed to be a totally politicized drive  where fighting corruption was just a convenient cover  the PBSR gang and their allies will do everything to get rid of the 2018 direct presidential elections. So heres the sorry Brazilian road map up to 2018; total political, economic, social and juridical chaos.
Everyone had that one primary or secondary school mate that was totally clueless in all the subjects and no matter how much the teacher explains, they never ever get it. INFORMATION NIGERIA in this very funny piece brings you 8 photos that totally describe the struggles of that student.

When the teacher asks a question in class and you have absolutely no idea but you raise your hands with the others so the teacher will think you know

But how you react when the teacher randomly picks you to answer the question

Your excuse when they pick you too represent your class for a debate

When they suddenly move you from the seat near your scholastic friend in an exam

And take you to sit in front where all eye are on you

How everyone else goes home on report card collection day

But how you go home

And when your very strict dad asks you to bring your report card

The struggle is real
As the osun state Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola clocks 59 years old today May 25th, INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together 9 interesting facts about the Governor.

1.Aregbesola was formerly an activist.

2.Did you know that he was Lagos Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure before he ran for election in April 2007 on the Action Congress platform? Yes he was.

3.In May 2008, Aregbesola called over 100 witnesses and tendered 168 exhibits in his petition before the Election Petitions Tribunal, alleging violence and ballot boxes stuffing in the election.

4.In an October 2008 interview, he described Oyinlola as a bully who came from a reactionary military arm, stating that Oyinlola had done nothing for the people of Osun state. He also claimed that 12 people had died in the election violence

5.In August 2009 the police arrested Aregbesola, apparently for involvement in the alleged forgery of a police report on the conduct of the elections. Later that month he sought bail so that he could perform the lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia

6.In August 2010 the police summoned him to make a statement about a 14 June 2007 bomb explosion near the ministry of water resources. Aregbesola denied any involvement, stating that he was in Abuja at the time

7.Justices of the Federal Appeal Court, Ibadan finally declared Aregbesola the winner of the 2007 election, ordering that he be sworn in as governor by noon on 27 November 2010

8.Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, was on Saturday 12th of April 2014 endorsed as the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the states gubernatorial election slated for the 9th of August 2014.

9.He was to seek reelection for a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress on the 9th of August,2014, contesting against Sen. Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party and Akinbade of the Labour Party, who has now been declared wanted by the EFC. Having satisfied the requirement of the Law and scored the highest number of votes. He was declared the winner of the August 9th,2014 election and returned elected for another term of 4 years.
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the sum of N3.2 billion was spent by the state government in preparing for the aborted visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the state on Monday.

President Buhari was scheduled to commence a two-day working visit to Lagos State on Monday but had to cancel due to what the Presidency termed scheduling difficulties.

The president, who promised to personally visit the state after the month of Ramadan, was subsequently represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who commissioned various projects embarked upon by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

In its reaction to Buharis no-show, the Lagos PDP said the purported preparation for the visit of the president to the state was a fraud and another expose that the APC is too haphazard in governance, hence the total disconnect between the state governor and the Presidency, thereby causing the state not to know that the president had changed his mind on visiting the state.

The party, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Taofiq Gani, said Governor Ambode must account for the over N3.2 billion claimed to have been expended in what it called botched visit of the president.

The PDP spokesman said it was a mismanagement of public funds, misplacement of priority and propaganda to have invited the Presidency to commission ordinary rehabilitation of roads, which are not even more than seven in a state with 245 Wards.

We demand that the over N3.2bn claimed to have been spent to welcome the president to Lagos must be accounted for. The beneficiaries of the contracts and the costs of the contracts involved in the ceremonies must be made public for Lagosians to know. This is needless waste of public funds, Mr. Gani said.

When contacted, the Lagos APC spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, said the PDP should not be taken seriously as a party in Lagos.

He said, Let them wait until they take over leadership in Lagos; until they win election in Lagos and sit in Alausa, then they can decide on what to do. Ambode is hitting every corner of Lagos, working hard in every corner of the state; they dont know what to do. Whats their business if he spent N20bn? Lagos is working, everything is working.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the decision of the Federal High Court to deny a bail application by Radio Biafra Director, Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr. Kanu, who is also the leader of the secessionist group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, was arrested by the Department of State Services last October and subsequently arraigned on charges bordering on treasonable felony.

He is standing trial alongside two others, Benjamin Madubgwu and James Nwawuisi, at the Federal High Court Abuja.

Delivering judgment on Wednesday in an appeal filed by counsel to the IPOB leader, Chucks Muoma, a three member-panel, led by Justice Abdul Aboki, held that the lower court was right in relying upon Mr. Kanus dual citizenship, as a basis for denying his application for bail- Kanu is a dual citizen of Nigeria and Britain.

The court held that the appellants chances of jumping bail was high and that the laws of his other country may prevent the trial from reaching its logical end.

Justice Aboki also ruled that the charge against Mr. Kanu and the other defendants was grievous and involved a threat to the state, therefore, an application for bail would not be entertained.

He also stated that the Federal High Court acted within its jurisdiction in the said ruling, and hence affirmed the ruling of the court.
The organised labour in Bayelsa State, has suspended its three days old strike over unpaid salaries and pension arrears.

The decision to suspend the strike was reached after a meeting involving representatives of the state government and leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), a communique by Dr. Peter Singabele, (Head of Service), Obuebite Jonathan, (Commissioner for Information and Orientation), John Bipre Ndiomu, NLC Chairman and Tari Dounana, TUC Chairman, said.

The communique said that labour accepted the governments position to pay 50 percent of monthly salaries with effect from February 2016 and expects the government to effect full payment of workers salaries as soon as the allocation from the Federation Account accruing to the state improves.

In line with the ongoing payment of January 2016 salaries to workers, government should facilitate the process of payment of salaries to the outstanding MDAs and parastatals, including pensioners without further delays.

That a monthly meeting should be scheduled between labour and government, in order to have a joint review of the economic recovery of the state.

In view of the state governments policy on the payment of primary school teachers, labour should commence the process of negotiating with the Government on the way forward.

That the Bayelsa State Government should negotiate with banks to suspend deductions arising from loans until the economy of the state improves or otherwise direct payment should be made to workers, the communique read.
President Muhamadu Buhari led federal government just appointed Bayo Onanuga, editor-in-chief of TheNEWS, as the managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) .

This new appointment was disclosed in a statement issued by Segun Adeyemi, special adviser to Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture on Wednesday, 25th May. If you wonder who the man, Onanuga is, INFORMATION NIGERIA brings you 9 interesting facts about him.

1.Mr. Onanuga is the Managing Director/CEO of The News/PM News newspapers

2.He declared interest in Ogun senatorial seat contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

3.He was the former Editor of the now rested African Concord magazine, which was popular in Nigeria in the 90s

4.He attended Moslem Primary School, Isoku, and Ijebu Muslim College, both in Ijebu Ode for his primary and secondary education before heading to the University Of Lagos.

5.He was among the pioneer staff of Ogun State Television, OGTV, in 1982, where he worked for a year and a month before he resigned to pursue career in print journalism.

6. He joined The Guardian as one of its pioneer staff and later left to start his own newspaper, The Weekly Titbits, which exited the scene after two editions.

7.He later joined the National Concord as a Senior Features Writer in 1985 and rose to become the Editor of the African Concord magazine, where he resigned in April 1992 and teamed up with Seye Kehinde (now publisher City people magazine), Dapo Olorunyomi (now Editor-in-chief of PREMIUM TIMES), Sani Kabir, Idowu Obasa (ex- chairman, Onigbongbo local government in Ikeja), Babafemi Ojodu (now Senator representing Ekiti State) and Kunle Ajibade (Executive Editor, The News and PM news) to establish The News magazine in 1993.

8.Mr. Onanuga was among many journalists who suffered persecution during the military era in the country. For instance, in August 1996 Amnesty International reported that Editor-in-chief Bayo Onanuga was thought to be held by the State Security Service at their Lagos headquarters, and may have been ill-treated in custody.

9.Onanuga fled from Nigeria in 1997 after hiding from state security forces for months. He returned home to resume work at ICNL in 1998, after the sudden death of Abacha and the start of the transition to democracy

10.Did you know that Bayo Onanuga and some other writers like Babafemi Ojudu and other former staff from the African Concord resigned in protest over a request by M.K.O. Abiola, the publisher, to apologise to President Ibrahim Babangida over a critical story about the military regime.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission today, 24th may declared wanted a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore. According to the anti-graft agency, Omisore allegedly received N700m from a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.). INFORMATION NIGERIA in this piece brings you 8 interesting things about Omisore you should know

1.Omisore served as Deputy State Governor of Osun State from 1999  2003 under Governor Adebisi Akande.

2. In December 2002, Omisore was eventually impeached as Deputy Governor to Akande and soon after arrested in connection with the murder of Ige and was in detention until he was formally charged to court in March 2003 along with five of the 11 persons detained over the murder.

3.Even though he was still on trial and while in detention, Omisore contested the senatorial election for Osun East district on the platform of the PDP and he won. he was elected in April 2003 running on the platform of the PDP and served till the expiration of his term in 2007. He was reelected in 2007 and appointed to committees for Police Affairs, Housing, Culture & Tourism, Aviation and Appropriation.

4. Omisores trial ran through jerkily, starting and stopping several times, and in the process, two judges resigned and attributed their withdrawal to pressure and threats.

5.In the course of the trial, the Oyo State Government applied to the court to drop murder charges against four associates of Omisore, but in July 2004, it withdrew the application. On July 30, 2003, Justice Moshood Abass, the third High Court judge to handle the trial, also withdrew, citing untold pressure from unexpected quarters. Before withdrawing, however, the judge had ordered Omisore to be remanded in prison.

6.Eventually, Omisore and the others on trial for the Ige murder were acquitted in November 2004.

7.Omisore holds two engineering degrees and a postgraduate certificate from Brunel University Uxbridge, as well as a Ph.D in Infrastructure Finance from the International School of Management, Paris, France. He is currently undergoing his DBA programme at the same institution.

8.Iyiola Omisore was born 15 September 1957, into a royal family in Ile-Ife, where he also grew up.
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday ruled that erstwhile spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, must answer to charges of money laundering leveled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The ruling was sequel to an appeal filed by counsels to Metuh and Destra, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN) respectively, challenging the March 9 ruling of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that the prosecution has established a prima facie case against the PDP chieftain and his company, requiring them to enter defense.

Rather than open defence, Metuh and his company chose to make a no-case submission, which Justice Abang rejected in the March 9 ruling.

The PDP chieftain and Destra Investment Limited are standing trial on seven count charges of money laundering and alleged unlawful receipt of N400million from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

A three-man bench of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the objections raised to the two appeals by Metuh and his company, dismissed the appeals having also considered them on merit.

Justice Abdul Aboki, who led the three-man panel, read the lead judgments in both appeals, which Justices T. Y. Hassan and M. Mustapher (other members of the panel) concurred with.
Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru, has said his administration is not owing any worker salaries or retirees pension, as they are always paid as at when due.

He made the assertion in Dutse, the state capital on Wednesday when he played host to members of Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NICCIMA), led by its National President, Dr Bassey Edem.

Badaru noted that in spite of dwindling revenue, his administration had ensured prompt payment of salaries and pensions to civil servants and retirees in the state.

He said the state was able to achieve this feat by introducing cost-saving measures in all public spending even as he disclosed that the state pension board has N17 billion in its account.

Badaru, who emerged governor last year on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, sending the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, parking from the Jigawa Government House, however, lamented that he took over the state at a very challenging time.

According to him, as at the time he assumed office, Jigawa was indebted to the tune of N117 billion while only N16 million was left in the retention account.

He, however, said he has been able to manage the situation by cutting down wastages and blocking loopholes in governance.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, declared a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore wanted, in connection with alleged N700 million paid to a company in which he has interest by the Office of the National Security Adviser(ONSA).

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: The EFCC today declared a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore wanted.

The former senator is wanted in connection with a case of receiving and misappropriating the sum of over N700, 000,000.00 from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) between June and November, 2014.

Omisore has been elusive and refused to report to the Commission after invitation was extended to him on April 7, 2016 requesting him to come and make clarification on the ongoing investigation.

Instead of responding to the Commissions investigation Omisore had approached the Federal Capital Territory High Court for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights.

Justice Husseini Baba Yusuf consequently ordered that Omisore should only be arrested through a due and legal process.

The EFCC thereafter obtained a warrant to effect the arrest of the politician, the EFCC said.

As part of the N700 million probe, the EFCC had invited Omisore for interrogation in connection with a N442, 600,000 security contract which was awarded to a firm linked to him by the ex-NSA.

The gubernatorial aspirant in Osun State was a director of the company as at the time of the award of the contract and a payment of N370 million out of the project sum was effected, part of which was allegedly paid into the account of the ex-deputy governor.
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II is totally against child marriage. He voiced his opposition on Tuesday, saying its time to peg marriage age in Nigeria.

Sanusi, who was addressing a conference of Northern Muslims Religious Leaders Forum on Primary Health care in Kano, explained that the reproductive health challenges associated with such practice is enough to discourage the tradition.

I believe the time is ripe to take a stand on this age long practice of early marriage, and coincidentally we subscribed to Malikiyya school of thought like Morocco, Malaysia and Egypt who had since pegged marriage age to 17, 19 and 18 respectively, the Emir said.

Sanusi II also frowned at cultural practices that encourage polygamy, noting that most of those who engage in this practice do not have the necessary economic power to support himself.

In the past, cities like Kano, Katsina, Aghadez, and Timbuktu hold economic power of the Sahel region, and this economic prospect had since shifted to coastal cities around the globe.

Also commenting on the issue of wife battery, the emir said that Islam abhors assault on women. He enjoined those involved in the act to desist from such practice.

I dont expect my in-law to lay his hand on my daughter, but I have since urged her to retaliate any form of assault from her husband, he said.
The Head of the Continuous Audit team of the Federal Government, Mr Mohammed Dikwa, on Tuesday said N50 billion was saved so far through the audit of security agencies payroll.

Dikwa said this in Abuja at a meeting between the Continuous Audit team, Minister of Finance and Heads of Para-Military agencies to discuss ways to clean up the payroll of the security agencies.

President Mohammadu Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit team to look into the payroll of all Federal Governments Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The team had already embarked on the audit of the Military payroll and enrolling them on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Since we started the continuous audit programme, we have saved about N50 billion and over 43,000 ghost workers have been removed from the payroll of the federal government.

And as we go on, we are very sure that we will continue to reduce the cost of federal government payroll.

Please note the cost is not related to ghost workers alone but with allowances which we believe have to be trimmed down so that we can manage the cost of governance, he said.

Dikwa said that the officers from the account departments of all the para-militray agencies were currently undergoing training on IPPIS and the Government Management Information System (GIFMIS)

He said the plan was to have all the agencies enrolled on the IPPIS and GIFMIS at the end of the month once the training was completed.

Similarly, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, said the audit of the para-military payroll would focus mainly on non-regular allowances of security officers.

She said initial investigations had revealed that these allowances had created avenues for unscrupulous persons within the system to steal money.

The president has given the directive that all ministries and agencies of the Federal Government be enrolled on the IPPIS latest December, 2016.

This meeting is to discuss the modalities of how this will be achieved; specifically, there are number of allowances described as the non-regular allowances.

We have to make sure that these non-regular allowances are paid directly to those who are serving. And the best way to do that is through an automated system.

This system will be linked to BVN so the money is going to specific individuals rather than being diverted elsewhere.

Whoever is paid irregular allowances for hazard, risk or other extraneous factors, it is important that the money gets to them.

The people taking the risk should be paid, otherwise the service they are expected to render will be in jeopardy, she said.

Adeosun said that one of the advantages of the IPPIS was that delays in payment of salaries and allowances of security personnel would be a thing of the past.

She reassured members that the details gathered through the IPPIS would be kept safe so that identities of security operatives would not be compromised.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mr Bassey Akpanyung, pledged the ministrys support to ensure that all the security agencies under its control complied for the success of the process.

Heads of Customs, Immigration, Prisons, Police, Fire Service and Civil Defence were present at the meeting.

Source:NAN
The Federal Government will today resume negotiation with the Ayuba Wabba-led faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), following Sundays suspension of its nationwide industrial action to force government to reverse the pump price of petrol to N86.50 from the current price of N145 per litre.

The negotiation between the Federal Government and Comrade Ayuba Wabba-led NLC will reconvene tomorrow (today) by 2:00 pm and the venue is the conference hall of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director, (Press), Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment confirmed in a statement yesterday.

The government had earlier reached an agreement with both the Joe Ajaero-led faction of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
The Federal Government has saved over N185 billion since the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr Joe Abah stated this yesterday while presenting the Status Report of Reforms at a five-day Specialised Reforms/SERVICOM Training Programme in Abuja.

Mr. Abah said a lot of remarkable reforms had taken place in the civil service, including removal of 65,000 ghost workers from IPPIS.

We started off with a completely inaccurate and unreliable payroll system since we put IPPIS in 2007, government has saved in the region of N185 billion and weeded 65,000 ghost workers.

Recently, the Work Efficiently Unit has seen the identification of another 23,000 people that were collecting multiple salaries.

IPPIS has been a great success but it has some challenges and it has some weakness.

One of the weaknesses is that as soon as BPE put in place IPPIS after piloting it for a couple of years, it was basically taken over by accountants and they started with payroll instead with the HCSC  Head of Civil Service Commission.

It is possible to get on the payroll without being known by the Federal Civil Service Commission that is why we still have issue with IPPIS but we are working on that and we hoping that complete HCSC switch will come on board in July.

He said that BPE was also working with the Efficient Unit to ensure that the salaries were linked with the Bank Verification Numbers.

Abah said that the civil servants shouldnt allow people to accuse them of not doing well, saying that some of the reforms were working in spite of challenges.

He said one of the reforms that had also worked in the civil service was the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Before 2004, if you retire; you will be entitle to a pension whether you actually get it, it is another matter because at 2004, we had Pension deficit of N43 billion.

So, the really chance is that you could retire but wait for 10 years and you will actually not see the Contributory Pension Scheme; our pension pot is now credit of N4.8 trillion as at 2015.

However, there are still challenges  we are still not managing our PFA  Pension Funds Administrators very well.

There is still a big gap between when you retire and actually when you start to get a Pension sometimes a gap of about nine months  that is still a gap, we still need deal with.

Abah further said that in terms of procurement, government was losing 10 billion dollars annually as result of fraudulent procurement practices.

He said of every one Naira you spend, 60 Kobo went into fraud.

According to him, since putting in place Procurement Act in 2007, the government has saved more than N650 billion.

He, however, said that there were issues with what was provided in terms of budget and what was released, which made procurement planning a little difficult.

You dont know when the release of fund will come; you dont know whether is coming in full or not, it is difficult to plan your procurement properly.

There is still challenge with contract splitting that we need to deal with in procurement.

(NAN)
The hike in pump price of petrol has been described by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State as one of the wicked gifts of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians to celebrate his one year in office, which he termed a colossal waste.

In a personally signed statement titled: Petrol Price Increment as Buharis 1st Year Anniversary Gift to Nigerians, Fayose claimed that the All Progressives Congress-led federal government was indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu on May 11, 2016 announced the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, effectively ending fuel subsidy. The move resulted in increment of pump price of petrol from N86.50 a litre to N145.

Last week, shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told State House correspondents that Nigeria was broke and one of the ways the administration could raise money in order to keep the country running, was to remove subsidy.

In his statement made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Wednesday, Gov. Fayose, a renowned critic of Buhari and his party, APC, said despite the presidents electoral promise to reduce price of petrol from the N87 per litre that he met it, he (Buhari) instead jerked it up to N145, further impoverishing Nigerians.

The statement reads; Nigerians should be reminded that on April 14, 2015, President Buharis ally and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Tam David-West, told Nigerians that Gen. Mohammed Buhari (who was then President-elect), will reduce the fuel pump price from N87 to N40 per litre. Buhari did not debunk this statement made by his friend and major supporter.

Also, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan reduced the petrol pump price from N97 to N87 per litre in January 2015, former Lagos State Governor who is now Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola said N10 reduction of the petrol pump price was too low and that Nigerians will get a better deal under Buhari. Fashola tweeted on January 18, 2015; On PMS price reduction by N10. Now they listen. Oil the raw material drop over 50%, N10 is just about 10%. Good try but Nija can get a beta deal.

In rewarding Nigerians for electing him as president, President Buhari opted to increase petrol pump price by N58.50!

The first justification of the increment was removal of subsidy. But Nigerians were later stunned when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo said pump price of petrol was increased because Nigeria was broke!

In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

Simply put, the Federal Government is indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy. Buhari is no doubt acting like the proverbial Agbalowomeri Baale Jontolo (A king that exploit his extremely poor subject to further enrich himself).

It is on record that on May 2 this year, the federal government, in the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Template released in Abuja, told Nigerians that it was subsidising petrol at N12.62 per litre.

In 2012 when the Dr Jonathan removed fuel subsidy and increased petrol price to N141 per litre, crude oil was selling at $111 per barrel.

If not wickedness, how can petrol price be increased to N145 per litre when crude oil is now selling at $49 per barrel?

Increasing petrol pump price by N58.50 when the federal government claimed it was subsidising the product at N12.62 per litre is clear wickedness on the part of President Buhari.

In the history of Nigeria, increase in price of petrol has never been as high as it was done by Buhari, putting Nigerians in severe hardship as the product affects every sector of the economy.

Nigerians, remember I warned you before Buhari was elected; I have been warning you since Buhari became president and I am warning now that if nothing is done urgently, the economy of Nigeria will collapse.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State yesterday set aside his political differences with the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani as he paid him a condolence visit over the death of his mother.

Hajiya Fatima Abubakar Sani, mother of the All Progressives Congress Senator, passed away after a brief illness on Saturday at a private hospital in Kaduna at the age of 75.

She has since been buried in accordance with Islamic rites. Since her demise, Senator Sani has been receiving condolence visits from Nigerians from all walks of life especially politicians, among them former governor of Kaduna State and caretaker national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

The visit of Malam El-Rufai yesterday was one highly anticipated by keen observers of political events in Kaduna as both politicians and their supporters for several months were in the trenches on account of political disagreement.

It was also the first time the governor and senator, who appeared to be allies during the campaigns for the 2015 general elections, will be meeting since the current administration was inaugurated in May, last year.

El-Rufai, who arrived Senator Sanis family house in Tudun Wada, Kaduna, at 8am, was received by the bereaved, who took the governors hands and led him into the house where prayers were offered.

The governor was accompanied by some of his close aides including Samuel Aruwan (spokesman); Bala Yunusa (deputy chief of staff); Awwal Yahaya (special assistant on youth matters) and Abdullahi Bayero (special assistant on stakeholders).

After the prayers, Sani accompanied El-Rufai to his car, as the governor paused to acknowledge cheers from a crowd that had gathered and led them to offer personal prayers for the repose of the soul of Hajiya Sani before taking his leave.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to halt manual voting in the 2019 general elections.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said this during a meeting with executives of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs), who visited him at the commissions headquarters in Abuja.

We can no longer continue to conduct elections manually in Nigeria. We must introduce modern technology as being done in other countries. Very soon, the use of technology for the conduct of local elections in the country will be mandatory, Prof. Yakubu said.

It will make the process transparent and very open as it should be. The use of smart card, otherwise known as Card Reader machine, has come to stay, though it requires a lot of resources. We see we can do it because it adds value and more credibility to the electoral process in the country. Some states have been using it in the conduct of their elections. We are seeing how we can make it to go round, he added.

He assured the SIECs of the commissions collaboration during his tenure as part of efforts to deepen democracy.

We will continue to collaborate and cooperate with SEICs and other organisations in improving election management in the country, he said.
A 26-year- old builder, Lucky Anyali, has been sentenced to death by hanging by the Delta State High Court, sitting in Asaba for killing one Emeka Ashibuogwu.

Anyali, who was convicted on a one-count charge of murder, committed the offence on February 18, 2014 at Ogwashi-Uku within the Ogwashi-Uku Judicial Division.

The offence is punishable under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap C. 21 Volume 1, Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2006.

The convict was said to be having an affair with the estranged wife of the deceased. The deceased and his estranged wife had a three-year old daughter before the relationship went sour.

On one of the occasions when the deceased reportedly visited his estranged wife and daughter, he had a scuffle with Anyali.

Also, on the night of the incident, the deceased had also gone to see his daughter, who was said to be ill when Anyali became furious on sighting him.

He was said to have picked a kitchen knife and descended on his opponent, stabbing him in the chest region, leaving him in the pool of his blood before he was rushed to the Ogwashi-Uku General Hospital where he was confirmed dead.

After committing the crime, Anyali reportedly fled into the bush that night, but was later fished out at dawn by youths in the area who handed him over to the police at Ogwash-Uku.

The convict told police investigators in his voluntary statement that he committed the act in self-defence, a position he maintained during trial but was dismissed by the court. He was sentenced to death by hanging having been found guilty as charged .

Source:TheSun
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has disclosed that Nigeria is on the verge of repatriating 300 million stolen by former Nigerian public officials from Jersey.

He made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja at a press briefing organized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry as part of activities to commemorate the one year anniversary of President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

According to Onyeama, the stolen money stashed in Jersey, an independent English-speaking territory with a blend of British and French cultures, would have long been repatriated but for what he termed a last minute objection by the people, who were supposed to forfeit it.

We are just in the process of repatriating that in the UK itself. Sometimes very often what happens is that the people, who have ownership or who claim to have ownership (of the money) might bring up a defence.

Like if you take the one in Jersey, it is like 300 million pounds or thereabouts; now everything had been done to repatriate the money.

It was no longer contested; and then at the last minute, an objection was raised by the people, who were supposed to forfeit those funds.

So, of course the authorities in Jersey were obliged  as much as they would have liked to just go ahead and repatriate it  to go through certain legal procedures, because the other party would have a lawyer and there were legal issues.

And then we have to now start going through that all over again; so that is really the challenge, he said.

The minister, however, said it was a major achievement that the process has been triggered, adding that Nigeria would not relent in efforts to repatriate stolen funds.

He also said that the process of repatriation of looted funds stashed in other countries like Switzerland and U.S. was in progress.

It is something that takes time  repatriation of stolen funds  because very often, you have to have an idea; you have to work on lead.

According to Onyeama, the repatriation of all other funds is in progress even though the Western countries where the stolen funds are stashed are creating barriers that will make it difficult to repatriate the monies.

However, the minister said the Federal Government would consider some mechanisms that would be deployed to make it a bit easier for Nigeria to get back the stolen funds.

That is why the anti-corruption summit and the initiatives of Mr President are really focused on these Western countries to remove some of those barriers, some of those lengthy procedures that are in place, that make it possible for these people to delay and delay and delay.

And that is what we are looking at; they are coming on board now these Western countries, more and more.

And so, we just have to look at mechanisms to make it a bit easier when its more or less clear, that the stolen funds require us providing all the evidence and it is never easy.

Its never an easy task, Mr. Onyeama stated.
A tricycle rider identified as Johnbull Dike is presently being wanted by the police in Lagos following reports that he impregnated his 12-year-old niece. The man was said to have connived with his wife, Happiness, to carry out the abortion on the young girl after it emerged that they could not hide the secret of her pregnancy which was occasioned by the mans consistent defilement of the girl.

Favour after the nurse and her aunt had been arrested. Photo credit: The Punch The Punch gathered that it was during the abortion process that Dikes wife and the nurse carrying out the act were arrested by the Akinpelu division of the Nigeria police in Mafoluku area of Lagos state.

A worker with the Child Protection Network, Ebenezer Omejalile, explained that the girl did not inform her sister of the molestation for fear of being killed. The case was brought to my attention by a community development committee secretary in Oshodi, Mr. Mamora.

The victim was raped and impregnated by her aunts husband. I went to see the girl at the place where the aunt had taken her with the connivance of a nurse to abort the pregnancy. The girl underwent a scan before the abortion. It was a failed process because she began to bleed at the nurses place. The police were informed on that Wednesday and the two women were arrested, while Johnbull fled.

The policemen took Favour to a proper hospital to get rid of the remaining foetus. As it is, the suspect is on the run because he knew that the girl is with the police, he explained. Happiness also explained that her husband has since been missing since she was arrested, adding: He has not called me since that day. His phone numbers are also switched off. According to police sources: Our investigation shows that the nurse is a quack.

She is not trained and she proceeded to do abortion for a 12-year-old girl. The suspects wife has a two-year-old son who is being treated for an infection. So, she has been granted bail. She did not deny that they wanted to abort the pregnancy.

The story they painted to the nurse was that the girl was raped by an unidentified hoodlum. Confirming the incident, police spokesperson in Lagos, Dolapo Badmos said: There is a case of defilement against Johnbull. His wife and the nurse have been arrested for aborting a pregnancy.

The Commissioner of Police has ordered that the case be transferred to the Gender Unit of the command. The suspect is on the run, but efforts are on to arrest him. Meanwhile, the wife and the nurse will both be charged to court.

Source:Naij
Punch

There is a twist to the story of a 13-year-old girl, Grace Buba, who was allegedly abducted by her uncle, Dauda Buba, and converted to Islam in Bauchi.

Vanguard

THE controversy that preceded the recent announcement by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of governments decision to scrap the Petroleum Support Fund, otherwise known as fuel subsidy, raises questions as to the economic value the people derive from the acclaimed payment.

Thisday

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, wanted over alleged misappropriation of funds.

The Sun

An appeal has been made to prominent individuals in different communities to lend a helping hand and empower other people who are into productive ventures so as to fight poverty and crime, especially in Igbo land.

Daily Times

The Hon. Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), is one of the shining lights of President Buharis cabinet.

Guardian

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has challenged Governor Ayodele Fayose to explain how he got N650 million to purchase a land in Abuja allegedly transferred to the retired Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh, currently facing trial over alleged misappropriation of defence vote.

Daily Trust

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that the party will organize a national convention within the next three months to ratify the amendment made in its constitution, especially as it affects the Board of Trustees (BoT).

Leadership

Governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Tanko Al-makura has inaugurated a 23-man committee to review the salary structure of workers in the state.

Tribune

NIGER government has arrested scores of Boko Haram militants and will hand them over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for trial, President Mahamadou Issoufou has said.

The Nation

The former Borno State Governor claiming to be chairman after being sacked by the convention. The Federal High Court in Lagos says he is chairman. In Port Harcourt the same court nullified his chairmanship
As the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, assumes a conflicting turn, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party has said it will take over the national leadership of the party.

The BoT said it will swiftly roll out policies and programmes aimed at electing credible officers to reposition the party, which has experienced one form of internal wrangling or the other since finding itself in the opposition for the first time in 16 years.

Notable among the crises currently bedeviling the former ruling party is the status of its leadership as there are two conflicting court judgments as to who between Senators Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi, should pilot the affairs of PDP.

While a federal high court sitting in Lagos recognized Sheriff as the PDP national chairman on Tuesday, another federal court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State same day, upheld the dissolution of the Sheriff-led National Working Committee, recognizing the Makarfi-led caretaker committee instead.

Wading into the crises that is threatening the existence of the party, the BoT Secretary, Ojo Maduekwe, at a press conference last night in Abuja, said the board could not sit back and watch the PDP go into oblivion as a result of internal wrangling.

He said that the BoT, also known as the conscience of the party, was consulting with the PDP governors and the Makarfi-led caretaker committee to save the party from imminent collapse.

Maduekwe, who was Nigerias former Ambassador to Canada and a former national secretary of the party, also said the current crisis is too useful to be wasted, adding that the party elders have decided not to allow the embattled Sheriff to burry the party.

The BoT scribe said the party lost valuable time since its defeat at the 2015 general elections because of impunity pointing out that the party needed to learn from its past mistakes in order for it to regain power at the centre in 2019.

Mr. Maduekwe further said the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, was in need of a very strong opposition that would keep it in check, adding that if there are two conflicting judgments, the BoT must wade in.

We wish to appeal to our members who as a matter of ensuring their morale and political health of the party will be in receipt of announcements by the BoT of programmes and policies that will see to the election of credible officers and reposition the party to meet the yearnings of millions of Nigerians, he said.

The BoTs position tallies with that canvassed by the Prof. Jerry Gana-led Concerned Stakeholders, which rejected both the Sheriff-led NWC and Makarfi caretaker committee.

The Concerned Stakeholders had after their parallel convention in Abuja last Saturday, held that in the event of crisis, the legal thing to do was for the partys BoT to take over the affairs of the party.

Co-chairman of the Concerned Stakeholders and former Deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, who addressed journalists after the parallel convention in Abuja, said There is a body that is constitutionally mandated to take over the affairs of the party. And that body is the conscience of the party called BoT. It is the only legal organ that is constitutionally empowered to actually takeover the affairs of the party.
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Nyesom Wike to apologise and refund the N10 billion he allegedly took from the State coffers to host last Saturdays inconclusive National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The APC made the demand in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and issued on Tuesday in Port Harcourt.

The well advertised PDP National Convention in Port Harcourt has come and gone with its disastrous outcome. With the party now factionalised into three, the demise of the once greatest political party in Africa is not far from sight, the statement read.

As much as we sympathise with the endangered party of the torn umbrella, we hereby unreservedly condemn Chief Nyesom Wike for wasting a whopping sum of N10 billion belonging to the good people of Rivers State on this charade, especially in these lean times. This is not only condemnable but also abhorrent and unacceptable to the good people of Rivers State. We therefore request Chief Wike and his cotravellers to account for and return this huge sum to the Rivers State treasury as we cannot continue to fold our hands and watch him mortgage the future of Rivers State through his shocking financial recklessness.

Rivers APC also berated PDP leaders who turned up for the ill-fated convention, saying that they should have known better.

Those PDP leaders who gathered in Port Harcourt to waste the scarce resources of Rivers State are as guilty as their host, Chief Wike. For crying out loud, they should have known that the so called National Convention would be a charade in view of the court order barring any such exercise and with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stating from the very beginning that it would neither participate nor recognise the outcome of the purported convention, Rivers APC said.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to be patient and give the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration more time to achieve its objectives.

He made the appeal while answering questions at a forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

We encountered challenges; were we expecting to encounter those challenges? yes; did we think that we will meet the quantum or volume of those challenges?

We didnt anticipate that things were this bad. We thought you go to government and there would be money for you to run government and others.

Now you have the situation where there is no money to run government. I hate to use the word difficult; I hate to use the word impossible but we met things close to difficult and impossibility.

That is why Nigerians are impatient; they want to see results and for them, change is not about change in structure, it is about change in their pocket.

Because their pocket is getting dried and they wanted us to put some more resources in their pocket.

Because of the structural changes that we want to put in place is not getting all that they want to get.

What I usually say to people is that we beg you to give us time; we will achieve our objective if you give us time and we will both thank God for that opportunity, Amaechi said.
On this day in 2011, former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, and five others were arraigned at the state High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which accused them of defrauding the state government of over N1 billion through road contracts not executed.

The 15-count charge brought against the former governor and outgoing Senator representing Enugu East all bordered on road contracts said to have been awarded but not executed after contract sums were allegedly collected by the contractors.

Also on this day in 2011,the large cache of arms and explosives recovered from militants under the Niger Delta Amnesty programme of the Federal Government were destroyed at Lokpanta, near Enugu State.

The weapons include 1,798 rifles, 1,981 guns of various types, 70 rocket propelled grenades, 159 pistols and one spear recovered from Bayelsa, Edo and Delta states.

The destruction according to authorities became imperative in order to show the success of federal governments amnesty programme.
We have it on good authority that Toyin Aimakhus estranged husband, Niyi Johnson is having a romantic affair with fast-rising actress cum producer, Seyi Edun.

NET has learnt that the duo have been dating for a while now but wanted the affair to be kept a secret. The lovers, we are told, are very fond of themselves at the moment.

A trusted source told our correspondent that he has spotted them together in a suggestive manner at different movie locations.

They are always together. People in our industry know that they are now an item. Theres nowhere you will see Seyi that you wont find Niyi, the source said.

Another dependable source said that they are currently in Dubai together.

As we speak, they are in Dubai together. They left Nigeria over a week with Seyis closest friend in the movie industry, Bidemi Kosoko and one other actress Tawa Ajisefini, the source revealed.

They have been dating for a while now. They look good together but have been keeping it on the low, our source added.

Niyi Johnson, who parted company with his wife of two years, Toyin Aimakhu after the latter accused him of infidelity, was recently romantically linked with fast-rising Nollywood actress Nkechi Sunday, but the duo denied the rumour.

An insider, however told us that Niyi never dated Nkechi Sunday as it has been widely reported.

Its absolutely not true. No romantic relationship exists between him and Nkechi. They are friends. Its Seyi that hes dating and I think they are happy together, the insider revealed to NET.

Meanwhile, Toyin Aimakhu who left Niyi Johnson last year for the waiting arms of popular movie producer cum socialite, Seun Egbegbe has also parted ways with the Ebony Films boss after a messy fight.

Seyi Edun is one of the upcoming young Yoruba actresses at the moment. The petite lady came into limelight through her self-produced movie, Eja Nla.

Source: The Net NG
National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, whose trial was to continue on Tuesday, was absent from court as his lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), stated that Metuh was on bed rest at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Ikpeazu, also tendered to the judge a medical report signed by a neurosurgeon consultant at the National Hospital, Dr. O.O Olaleye, confirming that Metuh was in the hospital for a bed rest.

This pattern of falling sick with a life threatening ailment has become an interesting pattern adopted by many Nigerian politicians facing trial or about to face trial for looting our common wealth.

Today also, the trial of Patrick Akpolobokemi, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, for an alleged fraud of N2.6bn scheduled to continue on Tuesday couldnt because his lawyer, Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN), told the court that his client had fallen ill and prayed the court for an adjournment to enable his client to recover before the trial would continue.

We have seen cases in the past where alleged looters like former Petroleum Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, former National Security Adviser Mr. Sambo Dasuki, and former EFCC Chairman Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde claimed to be too sick to face trial or questioning and this tactics of buying time never gets old.

We have always complained of the epileptic nature of our judicial system and many reforms have suggested to change the way things are being done but shouldnt there be a provision in our court system where accused persons are made to face trial dead or alive
Nigeria has begun the process of appointing a new set of ambassadors in various countries of the world.

The news comes almost one year after the President Muhammadu Buhari administration recalled 26 non-career ambassadors, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary on tour of duty abroad. The 26 were among 93 envoys posted out in 2012.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja to mark the first anniversary of the Buhari administration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, explained the delay in replacing the recalled envoys.

It is a work in progress; it is being done and may be in short time we will have the list of ambassadors going to various countries. Sometimes, it is on the approach of getting the best hands.

So we want to be very clear of the ones we send out to represent the country; we want to be sure we have representations that will reflect real vision of this government, he said.

Onyeama also said that the federal government was set to implement all the pacts it entered into with various countries to achieve the goal of signing such pacts.

According to him, government had set up an inter-ministerial committee to work on them to ensure effective implementation of the agreements.

So far, what we have done is to set up inter-ministerial committee and identified all the follow up actions and set up timeline for them.

Mr. Onyeama also stated that government had identified the ministries, departments and agencies that would be responsible for different aspects of what was required in the agreement.

That is a very concrete follow-up mechanism put in place to actualise the agreements, he said.

(NAN)
The Drain Game Continues The PRICE Futures Group - 40 minutes ago The drain game continues as it is reported that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released yet another 3.4 million barrels last week to lower supplies to 401.7, the lowest level since the 1980s. Yet, this...

Cotton Bouncing Into Tuesday Barchart - Tue Oct 25, 7:26AM CDT Following Decembers 3c drop to start the week, cotton is trading 30 to 48 points higher into Tuesday. Cotton continued to sell off into the new week, with December going home limit down. The other front... CTZ22 : 78.88 (+3.61%) CTH23 : 78.50 (+3.64%) CTK23 : 77.85 (+3.04%)

Cattle To Follow Monday Rally Barchart - Tue Oct 25, 7:26AM CDT December live cattle printed another new LoC high, now at $154.20, Feb also printed a new high on Monday, but the April and June contracts remained under their mid-Sep levels. Feeder cattle futures traded... LEV22 : 151.675 (+0.05%) LEZ22 : 153.200 (-0.60%) LEG23 : 156.450 (-0.33%) GFV22 : 176.875 (+0.68%) GFX22 : 178.800 (-0.20%)

Morning Wheat Trading Lower Barchart - Tue Oct 25, 7:26AM CDT Wheat prices working lower through the morning session of Tuesday. The winter wheat contracted had Monday losses of >10 cents.. h MGE futures were down by 3 to 3 3/4 cents on the day. CBT prices dropped... ZWZ22 : 834-2 (-0.54%) ZWH23 : 853-4 (-0.55%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.6768 (-0.73%) KEZ22 : 930-2 (-0.83%) KEPAWS.CM : 8.8845 (-0.86%) MWZ22 : 950-0 (-0.81%)
Nestled in Buzzards Bay is the tiny town of Marion, Massachusetts, home to 5,000 or so people and a foundation that gives about $3 million a year with a big focus on New Englands coast and wildlife.

These days, the funders getting attention for work in marine conservation and ocean wildlife tend to be juggernauts based in West Coast tech money. But the Island Foundation, with wealth from the family behind Avon Cosmetics, has been a big supporter of such work in the New England coastal region.

This small family foundation has been operating since 1979, and has been a champion for the right whale and coastal birds for many years. Its funding has also taken some interesting turns lately, focusing on environmental justice, sustainable agriculture, and climate change.

Island was founded by Mary H. Clark and W. Van Alan Clark, Jr.an industrialist and grandson of the founder of Avon. The Clarks have had a business and philanthropic presence in the region and beyond for many years, with Van's brother James Clark and his wife Ruth Clark being major benefactors for the nearby Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Their parents founded and ran the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Today, Island Foundation is still in the family, with the next generation serving on the board.

Island has assets around $60 million and has given about $3 million annually in recent years to a combination of support for nearby New Bedford, education, various special projects, and the environment.

Marine conservation is a daunting issue for a small family funder to take on, with Island giving around $800,000 to the cause last year and nearly $4 million over the past five years. This funder has done so by giving to decidedly regional topics, but also issues of both national importance and regional relevance, such as sustainable fisheries, nitrogen pollution, and climate resilience in Buzzards Bay.

Related: MacArthur Funds Team Bracing for Climate Change on the East Coast

For example, the foundation has given regularly to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale, through groups like the New England Aquarium, Wildlife Conservation Society, Associated Scientists of Woods Hole, and research universities. Right whales are critically endangered due to collisions with ships, pollution, fishing industry, and ecosystem degradation, and have had a recovery plan in place since 1987.

Other major causes include conservation of seabirds in the area, other wildlife like gray seals and harbor seals, and general land and marine conservation in New England.

The family foundation has been in this game for a while now, but one other interesting thing worth noting about the funder is that its not been shy about delving into trending and progressive environment issues.

For example, in recent years, the foundation has supported work in climate and energy, with more than a half-million in the past five years going to related causes such as helping fisheries adapt for climate change, resilience in the face of sea level rise, and promoting clean energy in the region.

Island has also ventured into sustainable agriculture, and environmental justice work, in line with its funding to support New Bedford communities. And its one of the backers of a partnership between the EGA and University of Michigan to bring more diverse leaders to the environmental movement. So Island Foundation continues to be a New England conservation stalwart, but also one to watch for some new twists.

Related:New Fellowships Take on Lack of Diversity in Environmentalism and Philanthropy
In the run-up to the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, a U.K.-based nonprofit that works on poverty and humanitarian crises released its annual Global Humanitarian Assistance Report2016. In that report, by Development Initiatives, there was some good news and bad news.

But before we get to that, lets back up for a seconddid I say "first-ever World Humanitarian Summit?" Yes. This year marks the first time in the United Nations 70-year history that it has convened world leaders and delegates from some 175 countries to gather on this issue. The meeting has been taking place this week in Istanbul, Turkey.

President Obama has sent a delegation that includes Gayle Smith, Administrator of USAID; John Bass, Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey; Sarah Sewall, the Department of States Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights; and Anne C. Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, at the Department of State.

German Chancellor Angel Merkel will also be there, although predictably, Vladimir Putin will not attend, nor is the Russian government sending a delegation.

Private donors also figure in the mix, which I'll get to a moment.

So why, for the first time in the UNs history, has Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a call to humanitarian arms?

Because the world is bearing witness to the highest level of human suffering since the Second World War," that's why. And because, according the U.N. Secretary General, "The human and economic costs of disasters are escalating. Climate change, inequality, conflict and poverty are putting more people at risk and threaten to overwhelm the global humanitarian system."

Meanwhile, in related news, the collective humanitarian aid system is failing. And its failing in a massive wayeven as donors do more.

According to the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report, international humanitarian aid reached a record $28 billion in 2015. This is a $2.9 billion increase from 2014 and marks the third consecutive year in which funding has been on the uptick. Some $21.8 billion came from governments. The remaining $6.2 billion was composed of private donations, which marks an increase of around 13 percent from 2014.

This is good news, right? Private donors are paying increased attention and major governments like the US and the UK, which provided 89 percent of the regional North and Central America total, and 27 percent of the European total, respectively, are writing bigger checks.

But lets put this into perspective. A less than $3 billion increase in total humanitarian aid is nominal at best, given the scale of today's worldwide humanitarian crises. And while private donors, who collectively put in for an additional $700 million in 2015 should be applauded for the increase, a less than $1 billion increase is certainly no cause for congratulatory back-slapping.

To be fair, a handful of private donors are working hard to close the ever-widening humanitarian aid funding gap, and some will be attending the World Humanitarian Summit. Last year, the UPS Foundation, which is becoming well-known for its full package of disaster and crisis assistance, pledged an additional $10 million in planned support to humanitarian relief, recovery, and preparedness efforts around the globe. As well, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation allocated $1.2 million so far for Syrian refugee related work and Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish-born founder of Chobani yogurt pledged $2 million to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and International Rescue Committee (IRC) to aid Syrian refugees.

The Open Society Foundations and the Ikea Foundations are constants here too, donating millions to agencies such as the UNHCR and like-minded organizations around the world. The Western Union Foundation is also a big player in the humanitarian aid space as is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which recently gave 1,750,000 in emergency relief grants to various NGOs responding to the European refugee crisis. The Gates Foundation has been another major player helping out.

Related:

So good intentions are clearly there. But there's even more anger about how badly the ball has been dropped, as millions of people have been forced out of their homes in recent years. There's a fair of amount of cynicism, too, about the World Humanitarian Summit. Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an organization that has never shied away from criticizing big actors in the humanitarian aid world, calls the meeting a fig leaf of good intentions. MSF posits that the summit wont put pressure on countries that violate humanitarian laws and no real change or significant commitments will result from the global meeting.

Whats more, Loretta Minghella, the CEO of Christian Aid, stated, "Words are not enough to solve the escalating needs of people whose lives are blighted by crisis, and the success of the summit depends on how we collectively deliver against the promises that we are all launching.

Harsh. But those criticisms are not unwarranted.

A study conducted by the nonprofit Concern Worldwide regarding the ongoing crisis in Syria, took a deep dive into the progress that has been made since the 2016 London Conference. The conference, which took place in February of this year, raised over $12 billion in commitments of which $5.8 billion was earmarked for 2016 with the remaining funds allocated to planning efforts from 2017 to 2020. Granted, not that much time has passed since those pledges were made. However, of the around $6 billion pledged for this yearwhich is nearly half overonly $1.16 billion has been committed. And, according to the report, as of mid-April, 94 percent of London Conference donors have not made good on their pledges.

To add insult to injury, last year, the U.N. experienced a 45 percent funding shortfall. Its biggest funding shortage to date.

The scale and scope of human suffering in todays world is so unfathomable. Even so, most top US foundations and corporate philanthropies haven't lifted a finger to address the worst humanitarian crises of recent decades.

Criticisms aside, the World Humanitarian Summit, which is described by this BBC article as aiming to mobilize "more funds for humanitarian aid, improve their distribution, and consider transferring money from larger national NGOs to smaller aid agencies operating on the ground through non-binding commitments from attendees, is surely a step in the right direction.

Regardless of what results from the summit, perhaps it will light a fire under the ass of world leaders, private donors sitting on the sidelines, and humanity in general. Because that match should have been struck a long time ago.
Update 9/19/16  Police have arrested a woman they believe helped coordinate the May robbery of a CubeSmart self-storage facility in Antioch, in which a tenant was shot five times. Jessie Parker was charged over the weekend with especially aggravated robbery and later admitted to police she had been involved in the incident, according to the source.

The victim told police a woman was present on the property before the robbers came into his unit and shot him, and then left when the other men fled. Police obtained a search warrant to examine Parkers phone, which investigators said contains incriminating evidence, the source reported.

6/16/16  The man who was shot five times in his back, chest and stomach last month while inside his self-storage unit at a CubeSmart facility is suing the REIT for insufficient security. The alley, for lack of a better term, where the unit is, is dark, Roland Mumford, the victims attorney, told the source. The front gate is only five feet high, and security cameras werent working.

It absolutely could have been prevented, added the shooting victim, identified only as J.K. I dont want someone else to experience what I went through. A spokesperson for CubeSmart withheld comment to the source, citing pending litigation.

When the victim returned to the Murfreesboro Pike facility to pay his bill, he learned he had been evicted and was given 10 days to move out his belongings. How can I move in this condition? he said. I cant lift anything over five pounds.

The man said he had gone to his unit for a recording session when the four men stormed in and shot him. I remember the left side of my face on the concrete floor, he told the source. I could feel the wetness of the blood. I just kept telling myself, Im not going to die here.

Police havent made any arrests in the ongoing case.

5/24/16  A man was shot multiple times in the back early this morning while he was inside his unit at a CubeSmart self-storage facility in Antioch, Tenn. The 26-year-old victim drove to a nearby Shell gas station for help. He was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center by respondents from the Nashville Fire Department, where he was listed in stable but critical condition, according to a source.

The victim told police he was inside his unit when four men fired shots at him, according to police Capt. Gregory Blair. Police questioned a man who was trying to leave the area but later released him, a source reported. Investigators didnt immediately comment on why the man was in his unit around 2:30 a.m.

Police are encouraging anyone with knowledge of the incident to call Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.

CubeSmart is a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm. It owns or manages 708 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises 47.3 million square feet.
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 portfolio of five self-storage facilities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi was sold. The transaction included:

Dawnadele Self Storage in Baton Rouge, La. The seven-building facility comprises 80,628 square feet of storage space in 559 units. It was built in 1980 and expanded 1985.

in Baton Rouge, La. The seven-building facility comprises 80,628 square feet of storage space in 559 units. It was built in 1980 and expanded 1985. Harrells Ferry Self Storage in Baton Rouge, La. The five-building property includes 35,850 net rentable square feet of storage space in 330 units. It was built in 1980 and renovated in 2009.

in Baton Rouge, La. The five-building property includes 35,850 net rentable square feet of storage space in 330 units. It was built in 1980 and renovated in 2009. Slidell Self Storage in Slidell, La. The five-building facility comprises 79,740 net rentable square feet of storage space in 523 units.

in Slidell, La. The five-building facility comprises 79,740 net rentable square feet of storage space in 523 units. Gulfport Self Storage in Gulfport, Miss. The 11-building facility offers 465 units. Two annex sites were constructed in 1977, and then renovated in 1993.

in Gulfport, Miss. The 11-building facility offers 465 units. Two annex sites were constructed in 1977, and then renovated in 1993. Mobile Self Storage in Mobile, Ala. The 13-building facility comprises 130,059 net rentable square feet of storage space in 762 units and 34 office/retail spaces as well as an annex site. It was constructed in 1974 and renovated in 1990.

This group of properties, which had a combined physical occupancy at the time of the sale of approximately 87 percent, gives the new owner the opportunity to enjoy substantial cash-on-cash returns and the ability to add value, said Michael A. Mele, senior vice president of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Tampa, Fla., office and senior director of the firms National Self Storage Group. Mele and Luke Elliott, a senior associate also in the firm's Tampa office, represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.

AR Storage Centers IV LLC acquired two self-storage facilities in North Little Rock, Ark., for $1.8 million. The purchase includes North Little Rock Storage Center at 103 E. Spriggs Road and Remount Storage at 6140 Remount Road. The sellers were KMA Realty LLC and KMA Realty I LLC, which are led by Phillip and Tina Davis, and Gina and Terry Hartwick. AR Storage Centers is headed by Bud Finley, Ryan Holder and Stuart Finley.

Callaway Mini Storage in Panama City, Fla., was sold to an out-of-state investor for $850,000. The property at 633 S. Tyndall Parkway includes 23,260 rentable square feet of storage space in 207 units. The seller was represented by Bill Barnhill and Shannon Barnhill Barnes of Omega Properties Inc. Both are broker affiliates for the Argus Self Storage Sales Network in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Denton Tap Self Storage, an 85,106-square-foot facility in Lewisville, Texas, was sold to a national operator with facilities in the vicinity. The property at 2710 Denton Tap Road was built in 2008 and sits on nearly 4 acres. The buyer and the seller, a private investor, were represented in the transaction by Brandon Karr, vice president of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Fort Worth, Texas, office.

Dominion Mini Storage in Richmond, Va., was sold to an unnamed real estate investment trust. The property at 8610 Midlothian Turnpike comprises 29,375 square feet of storage space as well as 1,000 square feet of office space in five suites. Built in 1978, it sits on just over 2 acres. The buyer and the seller, a limited-liability company, were represented in the transaction by Mele and Robert Bloch, an associate in the Marcus & Millichap Washington, D.C., office.

An Extra Space Storage facility in Centennial, Colo., was sold for $11.3 million. The property at 7059 S. Kenton St. is 16 miles southeast of downtown Denver. Built in 2009, it features 533 drive-up and interior units. The buyer and seller in the transaction were represented by Adam Schlosser, vice president of investments, and Charles Chico LeClaire, senior vice president of investments, in the Marcus & Millichap Denver office, and Brett Hatcher, vice president of investments in the companys Columbus, Ohio, office.

The two-property Marys Magazine Self Storage portfolio in Canon City, Colo., was sold for $2.2 million to a local investor. Together, the facilities at 1035 Field St. and 1935 High St. offer 66,850 rentable square feet of traditional and boat/RV-storage space. The seller was represented in the transaction by Joan Lucas of Joan Lucas Real Estate Services. Lucas is also the Argus broker affiliate in Colorado.

Pelican Storage in Powell, Tenn., was sold for $1.7 million to a limited-liability company. The property at 2629 Clinton Highway comprises 50,229 net rentable square feet of storage space in 283 units. It has expansion possibilities through the conversion of three retail and warehouse buildings on the nearly 5-acre site. The buyer and the seller were represented in the transaction by Hatcher and Gabriel Coe, investment specialists in the Columbus, Ohio, office of Marcus & Millichap, and Anne Williams, the firms broker of record for Tennessee.

Pikeville Mini Storage in Pikeville, Ky., was sold for $3.8 million to a limited-liability company. The property at 278 S. Mayo Trail comprises 79,585 square feet of storage space as well as boat and RV parking spaces. The site also has a 3,000-square-foot office and four apartments. The buyer was represented in the transaction by Williams. The seller, a limited-liability company, was represented by Mele, Aaron Johnson, vice president of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Louisville, Ky., office, and Eddie Greenhalgh, senior associate in the firms Birmingham, Ala., office.

Sentry Self Storage in Athens, Ga., was sold to an out-of-state investor. The nine-building facility includes 102,775 net rentable square feet of storage space in 700 units, nearly half of which offer climate control. Built on 8.4 acres in 2006, the property was continuously expanded through 2011. Midcoast Properties Inc. President Dale C. Eisenman represented the seller.

Space Relief Center in Newton, N.J., was sold for $5.2 million to a private investment group. The property at 106 Hampton House Road has been rebranded as Moove In Self Storage. The 17-acre site consists of 11 single-story buildings containing more than 500 units. The buyer and the seller were represented by John Gilliland, CEO and president of Investment Real Estate LLC.

This sale was finally consummated after numerous years of cooperative work between the seller and the broker to maximize the value of the property, Gilliland said. The seller realized that prices are at all-time highs and he took the initiative to liquidate the asset.

Storage Pros  Airport, a 39,050-square-foot facility in Grand Rapids, Mich., was sold for $2 million. The property at 4570 36th Street S.E. includes 254 drive-up and interior units in eight single-story buildings. The seller, a limited-liability company, was represented in the transaction by Hatcher. He was assisted by Steven Chaben, senior vice president in the Marcus & Millichap Detroit office.

A Storage Station portfolio consisting of five facilities in Tulsa, Okla., was sold to a Florida-based limited-liability company. The properties are less than 10 miles apart, and each is less than a mile from highway access. The portfolio features 53 buildings, 232,836 net rentable square feet of storage space, 1,876 units and 122 parking spaces. The facilities are:

1615 W. 37th Place: 10 buildings, 393 units, 47,200 rentable square feet

4530 S. Peoria Ave.: 17 buildings, 512 units, 64,555 rentable square feet

705 S. Elgin Ave.: one building, 200 units, 31,661 rentable square feet

2916 E. 51st St.: 20 buildings, 465 units, 57,401 rentable square feet

3210 S. Yale Ave.: five buildings, 306 units, 32,019 rentable square feet

The buyer and the seller, a private investor, were represented in the transaction by Mele and Trey Hammond, an associate in the Marcus & Millichap Tulsa, Okla., office.

Wallkill Valley Self Storage in Hamburg, N.J., sold for $2 million to a private investment group. The property at 75 State Route 23 has been rebranded as Moove In Self Storage. The 16-acre site consists of 13 single-story buildings with more than 400 storage units as well as outdoor parking spaces. The buyer and the seller were represented by Gilliland.

Argus is a Denver-based network of real estate brokers who specialize in storage properties. Formed in 1994, the company has 36 broker affiliates covering nearly 40 markets.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space is a real estate investment trust that owns or operates 1,371 self-storage properties in 37 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico. The companys properties comprise approximately 910,000 units and 103 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.

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.

Moove In Self Storage operates 15 facilities in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
University Self Storage in Pensacola, Fla., was sold to University Storage Pensacola LLC. The seller was WCBB Investments & Management Inc., a Florida-based company founded in 2011.

The property at 8802 N. Davis Highway sits on 3 acres. It comprises 42,400 square feet of net rentable storage space in 334 units, 173 of which offer climate control.

"This off-market deal provided the buyer the opportunity to expand [its] footprint in the Florida Panhandle and continue to grow [its] self-storage portfolio, said Thomas A. Doyle, senior vice president for SkyView Advisors, which helped broker the deal. Doyle and SkyView managing Partner Jay J. Crotty represented the seller in the transaction.

This was an undermanaged facility, which provides a value-add opportunity for the buyer to implement [its] management team to begin to grow revenue right away, Doyle added.

Florida-based University Storage Pensacola is led by principals Scott Myers, and Matthew and Scott Smoot.

Launched last year, SkyView is a boutique firm specializing in self-storage acquisition, development, facility expansion and renovation, refinancing, and sales. It has offices in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Tampa, Fla.
In her previous role as a senior economist with Chinas two largest brokerages, Hu Yifan spent much of her time expounding on the countrys prospects. Since she joined UBS Wealth Management late last year as CIO and chief economist for Greater China, Hu does far more listening.

I meet many high-net-worth individual clients at my new role, she explains, noting that they tend to be entrepreneurs. She says she has much to learn from these clients, many of whom want to preserve and grow assets for the next generation: I listen a lot these days besides sharing UBSs global perspectives and asset allocation strategies.

These encounters leave Hong Kongbased Hu feeling optimistic. Though Chinas economic expansion is slowing, wealth creation continues at an unprecedented scale. We expect a golden decade of wealth management in China going forward, Hu says.

China is home to some 2 million families with $1 million or more in investable assets, double the total of 2013, according to Hu; as of last year those assets were worth a combined $6 trillion. Most high-net-worth Chinese families grew wealthy by building manufacturing, high-tech and real estate companies and by investing in the stock market. They then accumulated more riches by taking their companies public on the mainland or in Hong Kong.

By 2020, China could have 4 million wealthy families who control as much as $15 trillion in investable assets, Hu reckons. Many families want diversification in terms of assets and geographies, she says. Many want more than cash equities and cash income. Many want trusts, insurance and alternative investment. Many also are gaining risk appetite.

When it comes to counseling clients on investing abroad, Hu brings international experience to the role. A native of Hangzhou, a picturesque eastern Chinese city that once was the capital of the Song dynasty (960-1279) and is now home base for e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, she earned an economics degree from Zhejiang University, followed by a Ph.D. in the same field from Georgetown University in 2003. Staying in Washington, she worked as an economist at the World Bank Group and think tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics before returning home to take a post as an assistant economics professor at the University of Hong Kong.

Hu left academia in 2006 for investment banking, becoming chief international economist at Citic Securities Co., Chinas biggest brokerage firm. In 2011 she joined Haitong International Securities Co., the global investment arm of Chinas No. 2 brokerage, as chief economist.

Hu says she took her current job because she wanted to start putting her ideas to work. A member of UBS Wealth Managements investment committees overseeing strategy in Asia and emerging economies, shes gone from a market prognosticator to a sought-after adviser.

The vast sums of money leaving China  as much as $1 trillion in 2015 alone, by some estimates  may pose a threat to the countrys financial system, but Hu remains upbeat. Capital flows are dynamic in China, she says.

Although outflows of money put downward pressure on the renminbi, UBS continues to view China as an attractive investment destination for the rest of the world, she adds. Hu expects Beijings capital controls to be temporary: Chinas capital account openness is a long-term goal, and the government is actively encouraging more two-way movements of the exchange rate.

For UBS and other Western financial institutions, Hu sees no shortage of upside. With more Chinese money in the global markets, China will have a louder voice in international capital markets, she says. Managing Chinese money, both individuals and corporates, is becoming a new opportunity for global wealth management players.
After a day of heated discussions in Brussels on Tuesday, Eurozone finance ministers and representative of the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement over freeing up more than $11 billion in aid for Greece, in a deal endorsed by Moodys Investors Service. Critically, a plan for debt relief has taken shape, although the restructuring may not begin until 2018 and only under conditions of further austerity measures. While the most recent deal is far from a fix for Greeces economic woes, it buys time for the rest of the Eurozone and potentially aids the remain voting bloc in Britain by alleviating one major concern.

Monsanto rejects offer, Bayer to press on. On Tuesday, the board of directors of St. Louis-based agrichemical company Monsanto formally rejected a $62 billion buyout offer from German chemical firm Bayer. Monsanto declared that the price was insufficient but did not dismiss the advantage of a merger. Within hours of the announcement, Bayer executives said that talks with Monsanto would continue, setting the stage for a higher offer price.

SEC investigates Alibaba. In a statement issued on Wednesday Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an investigation into accounting practices at the company. According to the statement, the investigation is in preliminary stages and the SEC has not made any claims of malfeasance.

Yuan slumps against dollar in face of possible U.S. rate hike. The Peoples Bank of China lowered the yuan reference rate by 0.3 percent earlier today to the lowest level versus the U.S. dollar since 2011, as the central bank seeks to get ahead of a possible Federal Reserve rate hike in June. On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that Chinese officials intend to use the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled for June 6 as a venue to get further clarification on the timing of upcoming Fed hikes in an attempt to calibrate a policy response.

Citi remains leading foreign-exchange trading house. In a survey published by Euromoney Institutional Investor on Wednesday, Citigroup was ranked as the leading liquidity provider for global currency markets with a total market share of nearly 13 percent. Notably, Deutsche Bank slid from second place in last years ranking to fourth as the German lender unwound trading operations and banks overall saw their share of transactions in the market shrink in favor of electronic venues.

Shell to cut more staff. In a statement released on Wednesday, Royal Dutch Shell announced that total headcount will be reduced by an additional 2,200 bringing layoffs for 2016 to more than 5,000 as the company continues to cut costs because of lower oil prices. The move came as Shell digests the operations of BG Group, which significantly increased its reserves but also added debt to its balance sheet.

Tiffany earnings signal hardship for luxury retailers. First quarter financial results issued by Tiffany & Co. on Wednesday included sales that were weaker than consensus analyst targets, with total revenues that declined by more than 7 percent year-over-year. A combination of a stronger U.S. dollar and declining demand in Asia and Europe were cited by company executives for the shortfall.
This content is from: Research

In a tumultuous year, new analysts rise to the top as their firms compete for leading spots in the 51st annual ranking.
The World Bank has announced the worlds first insurance fund for pandemic risk at a Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Sendai, reported Reuters.The $500 million, fast-disbursing insurance fund is aimed at combatting deadly pandemics in poor countries, after a recent Ebola crisis in Africa which caught the world unprepared, killing more than 11,300 people and costing some $10 billion in losses.Said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a media conference call: The recent Ebola crisis in West Africa was a tragedy that we were simply not prepared for.It was a wake-up call to the world.We cant change the speed of a hurricane or the magnitude of an earthquake, but we can change the trajectory of an outbreak. With enough money sent to the right place at the right time, we can save lives and protect economies, said Kim.The so-called Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) will cover 77 least developed countries. The facility will quickly release up to $500 million in funds to affected countries and qualified international first responder countries to fight a pandemic. Funds will be disbursed once parametric triggers based on the size, severity, and spread of an outbreak are met.Kim said that to secure the insurance policy, for which the World Bank will pay premiums, the facility had to be limited to types of qualifying diseases to specific classes of infectious diseases highly likely to cause major outbreaks, including several types of influenza, respiratory diseases such as SARS and MERS, and other deadly viruses such as Ebola and Marburg.Not included in the insurance scheme is the mosquito-borne Zika virus currently spreading in Latin America. Kim explained that a separate cash window would be made available for Zika and other outbreaks not covered by PEF.The pandemic fund was developed in partnership with the World Health Organisation and reinsurers Swiss Re and Munich Re , which are acting as insurance providers.First to lend financial support towards the facility is Japan, with a $50 million contribution, though more contributions are expected from G7 and other donors. This will combine funding from reinsurance markets with the proceeds of a new type of World Bank-issued high-yield pandemic catastrophe bond, said the World Bank."If we had had the PEF up and running in mid-2014, the Ebola outbreak would have looked very different," said Kim.According to World Bank estimates, an initial release of $100 million as early as July that year would have severely limited the spread and severity of the Ebola virus. Instead, it took three months for that scale of money to begin flowing, in which time, the Ebola death toll had already increased ten-fold."The countries and the world, and the insurance industry, have the same incentives to prevent the spread of pandemics," said Kim.
ANZ is reportedly looking to sell off all or part of its life insurance business.Reuters has reported that the major bank will look to ship its insurance business, alongside its pension product development unit, valued at $4 billion in a bid to raise funds and boost capital.The bank has already held informal discussions with investment banks, Reuters reports, as the business looks to secure a bigger capital buffer due to increasing regulatory pressure.Reuters note that the business could attract interest from insurers in Japan and China, amongst others, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The business currently holds a 8.5% share of the Australian life insurance market which is currently valued at $86 billion, according to IBISWorld.
Federal prosecutors say six Connecticut residents have been charged with staging car crashes so they could make fraudulent insurance claims.

U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said Tuesday that five Norwich residents and one New London resident have been indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud and conspiracy offenses.

Daly says the men staged about 50 accidents, many of them single-vehicle crashes on remote roads and with no witnesses other than the driver.

Authorities say after each crash, the defendants filed fraudulent property damage and personal injury insurance claims, leading to insurance payouts ranging from about $10,000 to about $30,000.

Prosecutors say five of the defendants are citizens of Haiti, three of whom are legal U.S. residents. Three are free on bond, two are detained and one remains at large.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Auto Personal Auto Connecticut
All of the Canadian oil-sands facilities that workers fled last week as a wildfire spread are being allowed to prepare for restart as cool, humid weather has helped contain the inferno.

Alberta lifted mandatory evacuation orders for the last of the accommodation and production sites on Monday, which started the process of inspections by forestry and health officials to make sure theyre safe for workers to return. Since late Friday, the province has removed orders that had prevented all but critical staff from remaining on sites connected with the operations of Suncor Energy Inc., Syncrude Canada Ltd., ConocoPhillips and CNOOC Ltd.s Nexen unit, among others.

Oil-sands operators took more than 1 million barrels a day of output offline this month as a wildfire forced the evacuation of workers and the shutdown of pipelines and power supplies. More than 80,000 people fled the blaze from Fort McMurray and surrounding areas initially, and another 8,000 workers were forced to clear out last week as the fire turned back north of the community, thwarting some production restarts. Officials say industry facilities are no longer under threat as firefighters take advantage of better weather to keep the flames at bay.

Good Progress

Fire behavior has certainly calmed down, Laura Stewart, an Alberta wildfire information officer, said by phone on Monday. Cooler, calmer conditions are definitely helping firefighters make good progress.

Suncor, Canadas largest energy company, has started mobilizing workers for a staged restart of its operations in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, according to a statement from the company. There has been no damage to Suncors assets, it said. The company had cleared out three sites that account for the bulk of its upstream production: the base plant mine, MacKay River and Firebag facilities.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has begun ramping up output at its Albian Sands mine. While the wildfires are still continuing to burn in the region, we are now able also to safely and securely start the mine again, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said Tuesday at the companys annual meeting.

Critical Staff

Syncrude, the joint venture controlled by Suncor, is making progress on a plan to return to operations and will be able to give an update later as to timing for production restart, Will Gibson, a Syncrude spokesman, said Monday in an e-mail. The company had evacuated all but critical staff from its Mildred Lake and Aurora mines.

ConocoPhillips had shut down production at its Surmont project south of Fort McMurray on May 5 and began the process of bringing workers back on Monday after getting approval. Some have already left for the site and by the end of the week about 350 people will have arrived, Rob Evans, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. Theres no estimated date yet for production restart. The project was producing at about 30,000 barrels a day before the blaze.

Athabasca Oil Corp., which shut down its Hangingstone project on May 5, resumed operations and expects the reservoir to re-pressurize to normal levels over the next several weeks with no long-term effects, the company said Tuesday in a statement. Hangingstone had been producing more than 9,000 barrels a day before the fire-related shutdown, the company said.

Rain Forecast

The Fort McMurray fire that began May 1 and destroyed about 10 percent of buildings in the energy town hasnt grown in recent days, and the clearing of heavy smoke has allowed officials to get a better handle on its size. The blaze covered an estimated 5,229 square kilometers (2,019 square miles) on Monday, more than four times the size of New York City. The region had received about 5 millimeters of rain over 48 hours through mid-day Monday, not as much as anticipated, though humidity was at about 50 percent and more showers were forecast, Stewart said.

The fire is expected to be Canadas costliest disaster for insurers and is dealing a blow to Albertas energy-dependent economy, already reeling from a market downturn for oil. Evacuation orders remained in place on Monday for the communities of Fort McMurray and Anzac. The province has a phased re-entry scheduled for both communities, starting June 1.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Energy Oil Gas Canada
Chubb has appointed Ruth Polyblank, currently head of Marketing and Customer Strategy for the UK and Ireland, to the new role of head of SME (small and medium sized enterprises) for the UK and Ireland.

Polyblank will have overall management responsibility for Chubbs SME portfolio in the region. She will also focus on digital engagement and new technologies, working with brokers and other business partners to target new business.

Polyblanks career spans 16 years in insurance and financial services, including five at Chubb. She joined legacy ACE as UK and Ireland Marketing and Communications manager in 2010 before assuming her current customer strategy role in January 2013. She previously held marketing roles at Equity, Fusion, CLS and EY.

Polyblank will continue to be based in London and will be reporting to David Robinson, executive vice president, Europe and president, UK and Ireland.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Chubb
The state hasnt tracked insurance companies payments of death benefits to Ohio residents to see if they are getting what they are owed since a national probe revealed large insurers were holding onto billions of dollars meant for beneficiaries, according to a newspapers investigation.

Insurers have made settlements in Ohio and other states and paid billions to beneficiaries across the country since Floridas insurance office began a probe in 2009, the Dayton Daily News reports. The newspapers subsequent investigation found Ohio has collected $7.1 million in settlements from insurance companies since the national probe was launched, but has made no effort to identify how much insurers have paid directly to Ohioans.

Since the probe, about 20 insurance companies have paid to settle with states and seek beneficiaries for payments, but havent acknowledged any wrongdoing.

The newspaper reports that Ohios insurance office has done little to reach out to consumers to let them know they may be owed money.

David Hopcraft, a spokesman with the Ohio Department of Insurance, said a check of department files indicated no notices to the public or Ohio beneficiaries about the settlements with the state.

The department is mindful that the companies involved did not violate Ohio law in this matter, and has let the issue find its resolution through the effort led by Pennsylvania and Florida as lead negotiators, he said in a statement.

Ohio Rep. Michael Henne, a Republican on the House Insurance Committee, said the state should re-examine its process to ensure that beneficiaries are getting what theyre owed.

A spokeswoman with the government watchdog group Common Cause Ohio said there should be discussion about what the state is doing to help people get their money.

Beneficiaries need to have information, and not everybody knows they are a beneficiary, said Catherine Turcer, a policy analyst with Common Cause Ohio.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Ohio
A jury has awarded more than $500,000 to a motorcyclist in South Charleston, W. Va., who was injured in a lumber spill wreck.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports jurors reached the verdict last week in Larry Keeling Jr.s case.

Keelings attorney Ben Salango says his client was riding his motorcycle on Corridor G in August 2014 when lumber that had spilled across the roadway caused him to crash.

Salango says Keeling, who was injured, had to retire from his job after undergoing two surgeries.

He filed a lawsuit against Kevin Hanson, who was driving the truck pulling the trailer full of lumber, and Hansons insurance company, Travelers.

Keelings lawyer says Travelers refused to accept responsibility for the accident.

Attorneys for Hanson and Travelers couldnt be reached for comment by the newspaper.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Auto Personal Auto Virginia
Wyoming authorities say the number of people killed in crashes on state roads has decreased by more than half this year compared to the same time in 2015.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported that there have been 18 fatal crashes on Wyoming highways since the beginning of the year.

During the same time last year, 46 people had died in collisions.

Capt. Shawn Dickerson attributed the decrease to more troopers stationed along the roadways, fewer drivers following layoffs in the energy industry and increased efforts by the Wyoming Highway Patrol during winter storms.

Troopers are participating in a national effort to encourage more drivers to wear seat belts from Monday through June 5, and will issue citations to those found not

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
At Novarica, weve noted that many emerging tech advances are implemented in banking first, followed in five years or so by property and casualty insurers, then after another five year lag they begin to appear at life and annuity carriers. In fact, at the recent LOMA Life Insurance Conference I mentioned that implementation of core systems in the cloud appears to be following a five year lag between P/C and L/A carriers and vendors.

With this in mind, I recently attended a conference kickoff session by Suresh Ramamurthi, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of CBW Bank and former Google executive. Suresh and his wife, also a tech leader with experience at Lehman Brothers, purchased CBW (Citizens Bank of Weir (Kansas)) in 2009 and have been using the tiny bank as a platform for disruption of the banking industry. Suresh and CBW are on the forefront of the Fintech movement in banking, and the presentation provided some insight into possibilities for the future of insurance and Insurtech. Here are some thoughts from Sureshs presentation:

In the age of Fintech startups, it no longer makes sense to be a fast follower. New technologies are being introduced at a fast pace, taking two years or so for implementation. Banks that adopt a wait and see approach to innovations in products and technologies are in danger of falling too far behind the curve.

We are in the age of the individual  companies that cant personalize the tech experience for customers and for employees risk being considered behind the times.

The two most significant opportunities for transformation are in digital and data  companies need to consider not only changing their architecture for digital delivery of products and services, but also transforming their data and data management.

Suresh pointed out that the biggest obstacle to transformation is not technology, but knowing where to start, how to minimize disruption to the business, how to accelerate time to value, and how to ensure both stability and agility.

Suresh and CBW bank are demonstrating the importance of organizational transformation, proving that disruption can be applied from outside by a company inside the banking industry. CBW is a very small bank with relatively few resources, yet it has created a culture that allows rapid change and agility. CBWs focus on emerging Fintech that provides advanced customer experience with strong data and digital capabilities is establishing them as a new leader in banking.

These lessons are important ones for insurers to note. As many carriers wait for disruption to occur in a risk-averse, slow-to-change industry, the best way to prepare is to create organizations that can adapt and implement quickly. Insurance leaders need to look at personalizing products and customer experiences. To enable these, they need to consider how they are architecting data and developing digital solutions that are stable and agile. Insurance carriers who want to lead in a new age of Insurtech need to prepare for disruption by being proactive, and not just reactive.
Papa Francesco visitera Milano il prossimo anno. Ad annunciarlo, con gioia, il cardinale Angelo Scola, arcivescovo del capoluogo lombardo, in una nota che recita: Bergoglio sabato 25 marzo 2017 sara in visita a Milano. Questo del Santo Padre  si legge  e un segno di affetto e stima per la Chiesa ambrosiana, la Metropoli milanese e la Lombardia tutta. Vogliamo dire al Papa la nostra gratitudine perche verra a confermarci nella fede. Viviamo fin da ora lattesa del Pontefice nella preghiera, in preparazione a questo grande dono.

Anche la Sala Stampa della Santa Sede ha confermato lannuncio dato dalla diocesi di Milano. Nei prossimi giorni il Consiglio Episcopale Milanese iniziera il lavoro organizzativo costituendo e coordinando una apposita commissione. Nei mesi scorsi era prevista una visita del Pontefice nella citta meneghina, ma a causa dei continui impegni dovuti al Giubileo Straordinario, voluto dallo stesso Francesco, la visita venne rimandata a data da destinarsi.
National payment systems are the conduits through which buyers and sellers of financial products and services make transactions and are an important component of a country's financial system. Global financial liberalization and advancements in information technology have enabled significant updates to the architecture of large-value, retail, and securities payment systems, as well as the processes and procedures carried out by operators, administrators, regulators, and users of the systems.

In a large number of countries, a significant measure of responsibility for the integrity of the national payment system exists within the central bank. This article will provide an overview of financial payment systems and the role they play in the modern global financial system.

Key Takeaways A country's payment systems are the financial technology infrastructure that allows commercial and financial transactions to operate efficiently and unimpeded.

These payment systems also connect a country's financial activity to the global economy.

Because of their critical nature, these payment systems are maintained by a country's central bank and overseen by government regulators.

Defining Payment Systems

A national payment system is a configuration of institutions supported by an infrastructure of technology-driven processes and practices to facilitate commercial and financial transfers between buyers and sellers. A country's payment system reflects its banking and financial history and the development of supporting communications and technology platforms.

The market for payment system services operates according to supply and demand as with any market. On the demand side, users seek easy availability of payment instruments and services to meet their various financial transactions, from large-scale bank transfers to point-of-purchase transactions with retail credit instruments, such as credit and debit cards.

Users favor low transaction costs, interoperability between different systems, security, privacy, and legal protection. On the supply side, payment services provide a source of revenue for banks and other financial organizations and open up markets for providers of technology and communications products and services.

Institutions and Infrastructure

A typical national payment system includes the following institutions and infrastructure:

Image by Julie Bang  Investopedia 2020

Banks and other depository institutions communicate with each other through a messaging and routing system. If you have a checking account with a U.S. bank, you are probably familiar with the nine-digit number on the bottom left-hand side of your checks: this is the American Bankers Association (ABA) routing transit number (RTN), which is used to identify the financial institution on which the check is written.

If your U.S. employer pays your salary via direct deposit, the transfer instructions (the messaging) are going to your bank via the automated clearinghouse (ACH), a system administered by the nonprofit National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) and operated by the U.S. Federal Reserve System (FRS) and Electronic Payments Network (EPN), a private-sector payment network.

European Structure

If you happened to work for an employer in Europe but still wanted your salary paid to your U.S. bank account, the process would be similar to that described above, but rather than routing through the U.S. ACH system, the deposit message would most likely post through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network, a Belgium-based cooperative society linking financial institutions in more than 200 countries.

The SWIFT code is similar to the ABA RTN number as a means to identify the bank initiating the transfer as well as the correspondent banks with which the bank has pre-existing agreements to facilitate international transfer and settlement of funds. The SWIFT platform is used by all central banks that are part of the Eurosystem, the monetary authority for the 19 European Union countries that are part of the Eurozone, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

Clearing and Settlement

Clearing refers to the transmission and reconciliation of payment orders and the establishment of the final positions to be settled. Settlement is the event that actually carries out the obligations  the respective debiting and crediting of the accounts of the parties to the transaction. The integrity of the global financial system relies on the proper accounting for each transaction that takes place in the system; therefore, stability depends on the reliability and accuracy of the clearing and settlement systems.

There are three main types of clearing and settlement systems.

Retail systems are responsible for the processing of small-scale financial transactions. While there is no globally accepted definition of "small-scale," it often denotes individual transfers of less than $1 million.

Large value systems are responsible for the clearing and settlement of larger transactions.

Securities systems handle the clearing and settlement of securities, such as common and preferred stock, bonds, and other types of instruments.

Clearing and settlement systems may settle on a gross or a netting basis. Gross settlement is when the settlement of funds or securities takes place individually, one transaction at a time. Netting is when large numbers of individual positions (both credits and debits) are netted together into smaller batches for processing so that settlement takes place at specified times during the business day rather than on a continual basis.

Some payment systems may operate more than one clearing and settlement platform, incorporating both netting and gross settlement. Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) has become the most widely adopted method for large value systems. Real-time in this context means that transmission, processing, and settlement of a transaction takes place as soon as it is initiated.

The U.S. Fedwire system, the primary large value component of the U.S. national payment system, settles on a real-time gross basis, as does the TARGET (TARGET2) system, which is the main large value platform for the European Central Bank and its networks of Eurozone national central banks, such as the Banque de France and the German Deutsche Bundesbank.

Payment Systems and Systemic Risk

One of the major risks in a clearing and settlement environment is that one of the parties may default. If settlement takes place on a real-time gross basis, then the effect of a default is limited to the single transaction being processed. However, if the default takes place in a netting arrangement, then all of the parties in that arrangementpotentially hundreds or thousandsmay also be at risk, and thus so may their counterparties in other transactions taking place at the same time and so on throughout the system.

This is an example of systematic riskthe risk that a failure in one part of the system will spread like a contagion throughout the system. Technology has facilitated the ability to process trillions of dollars every day through the global financial architecture. Yet each country has only a small number of individual systems, and these systems interact with each other around the world, so the ramifications of a systemic failure are dramatic.

One institution responsible for the study and development of guidelines for financial system risk management is the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a Geneva-based institution that acts as a bank for central banks and uses various initiatives to promote cooperation between international financial and monetary systems.

In 2001, the BIS Committee for Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) introduced a set of guidelines for high-importance payment systems called Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems. This sets out 10 principles for the prudent operation and risk mitigation for those systemsin particular, the large value clearing and settlement systems described abovewhere a failure in one part of the system could spread rapidly.

The Core Principles also set out recommendations for the particular responsibilities of the national central banks in operating, supervising, and using the critical systems in their jurisdictions. The sound operation of national payment systems is often explicitly set forth in the organizational mandate of a central bank. For example, the organizational mandate of the U.S. Federal Reserve System consists of five activities:

Conduction monetary policy

Promoting financial system stability

Supervision and regulation of the banking system

Facilitation of smooth functioning of the national payment system

Development and administration of laws and regulations governing consumer credit and community development.

The Bottom Line

National payment systems are vital to the integrity of the global financial system. Technology and globalization have facilitated the rapid growth of systems for processing noncash electronic transfers between parties located anywhere in the world.

The payment system in any country will consist of a small number of retail, large value, and securities settlement systems that link into the systems of other countries through various linkage platforms and correspondent relationships. The actualization of risk, such as a party defaulting on a large value transaction, has the potential to spread throughout and thus imperil the system's integrity, making the payment system a major priority for central banks and other key institutions in the financial community.
Top News - Investor Idea

Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Continues Acquisition Path With Purchase of ELMS Assets Including Factory in Mishawaka, IN., Enabling EV Production for Retail and Commercial Vehicle Lines

BREA, Calif. - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces the US Bankruptcy Court approval on Oct. 13th, 2022 of its acquisition of electric vehicle company ELMS's (Electric Last Mile Solutions) assets in an all cash purchase.

Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea

Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Announces the I-GO, New Urban Commercial Electric Delivery Vehicle Available Now for European Markets

BREA, Calif. - October 24, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces today it has secured exclusive sales, distribution and branding rights to the new compact urban delivery electric vehicle, the I-GO, which is fully EU Standard homologated and certified for sale in select European Markets.

Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea

EV Stocks Driving Higher: (NASDAQ: $MULN) (NASDAQ: $TSLA) (NYSE: $NIO) (NYSE: $F)

Vancouver, Delta, BC - October 20, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering EV and automotive stocks releases a special report featuring Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), covering the continued growth of the EV market as government policy and infrastructure plans sync up with consumer and investor interest in the EV space.

Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea

Breaking AI Stock News: FatBrain (OTCQB: LZGI) Acquires Confidential Computing Platform ZeroTrust to Protect Data Privacy and Accelerate Innovation for Millions of Growth Businesses

NEW YORK, NY - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, has acquired the confidential computing and privacy intellectual property (IP) plus software assets of Zero2A PTE LTD ("ZeroTrust Platform"), a software company based in Singapore.

Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas:

Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by

Investorideas.com Newswire:

Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire
Fox News pundit Bill OReilly is suing his ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy for $10 million claiming she cheated on him and misled him about the terms of their divorce, in order to finance an existing extra-marital relationship.

The 66-year-old political commentator filed the lawsuit against his ex-wife McPhilmy, claiming she used money obtained in the divorce to finance her relationship with the man she is now married to, Jeffrey Gross, a Nassau County, Long Island, police detective. OReilly wants the lawsuit to proceed in secret.

Bill O'Reilly and Maureen McPhilmy separated in 2010 after 14 years of marriage and divorced a year later. They have just emerged from a prolonged custody battle, during which it was claimed that OReilly dragged McPhilmy down a set of stairs by her throat. McPhilmy was granted full residential custody of the couples children, 13 and 17-years-old, in March 2016.

According to the legal papers, filed in Nassau County, New York on April 1, and obtained by Gawker, OReilly claimed that his ex-wife made false representations and material omissions of existing fact ... for the sole purpose of inducing Plaintiff to agree to a consensual divorce and to obtain money and real property to finance an existing extra-marital relationship.

McPhilmy (50) had 20 days to respond or the judgment will be entered by default for the sum of $10million.

It seems that OReilly and his ex-wife could be headed back to court after six years of contention. During the custody battle, the court heard that the couples daughter had watched her father drag her mother down a staircase, at home, by the neck.

OReilly later released a statement saying, All allegations against me in these circumstances are 100 percent false. I am going to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect my children and will not comment any further.

In April 2010 OReilly and McPhilmy separated. She began dating, Nassau County Police detective, Jeffrey Gross. The pair has since married.

OReilly had previously helped raise money for his local police department. Having heard about McPhilmys relationship with Gross, OReilly allegedly had an internal affairs investigation launched into Gross.

In March 2013, O'Reilly was accused of running a smear campaign against his wife. According to Gawker he even attempted to have her banned from the Catholic Church. He allegedly told the Church that his wife was continuing to receive communion despite being a divorcee and that she had told her children that her second marriage was valid in the eyes of God. McPhilmy was allegedly reprimanded by her parish in writing.
Good news for any east coasters planning a summer trip to Ireland! Delta Air Lines restarted nonstop service between Shannon Airport and New York-JFK on May 2. The U.S. airline, which marks its 30th anniversary of service to Shannon this year, has transported nearly 1.7 million passengers since its inaugural flight to the airport on May 8, 1986.

We are proud to mark our 30th anniversary of service to Shannon, which remains a popular destination for our customers, with around 43,000 flying on our Shannon-New York flights in 2015, said Nat Pieper, Deltas senior vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa. This year we will be offering over 3,000 weekly seats on our Shannon-New York route, an increase of 38 percent over last year, and we look forward to flying thousands more U.S. tourists to this region of Ireland, helping to support the local economy.

Congratulating Delta on their 30th anniversary of operations at Shannon, Mary Considine, Chief Executive, Shannon Group said: The connectivity to the U.S. provided by Delta over the past 30 years has been, and continues to be, pivotal for business and in-bound tourism. Deltas New York-JFK service provides us with a vital gateway to reach global export markets, attract Foreign Direct Investment and bring international visitors to the West of Ireland  all of which help drive economic activity.

We are proud that Shannon was the first Irish airport that the airline chose to operate to in 1986. The fact that they have increased their capacity by 38% this year is testament to the strong demand for Deltas service to and from this region. I thank and congratulate Delta for providing that connectivity and reaching this important milestone and as a valued partner for us, we look forward to continuing to work with the airline to assist them grow further.

Delta has scheduled a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 225 seats on the route, which is Wi-Fi equipped so customers can stay connected at 30,000 feet. From New York-JFK customers can conveniently transfer onto more than 60 destinations, including Los Angeles, Orlando and San Francisco. Customers wishing to spend more time in the Big Apple, or are connecting at New York-JFK from other Delta destinations, benefit from a late evening departure to Shannon. Deltas flight is operated in conjunction with joint venture partners, Air France KLM and Alitalia.

Customers wishing to book travel on Deltas services from Ireland can call Deltas dedicated reservations team on +353 (0) 659 0298, see their travel agent or visit delta.com.
A Dublin man has been handed a life sentence for the murder of an elderly man at a senior citizens complex in Dublin.

Kenneth Cummins of Ringsend Park, Dublin 4 tried unsuccessfully to have his guilty plea withdrawn.

Sabrina Cummins is serving a life sentence for murdering Thomas Horan at the Cambridge Court complex for senior citizens in Ringsend, Dublin in January 2014.

Her brother Kenneth, who also went on trial for murder, changed his plea to guilty just before the jury was sent out, but later applied to have it withdrawn.

That application was rejected and his sentence hearing took place today.

Thomas Horan tortured during the robbery. The siblings beat him, broke several of his ribs with a stick, suffocated him with a plastic bag and strangled him with a belt.

Kenneth Cummins initially tried to blame the crime on his older sister.

In her Victim Impact Statement, Mr Horans former wife Marge said she would not be in a home if Thomas was still alive. She said she still dreams about him.

Both siblings are now serving the mandatory life sentence for murder.
Ulster Bank is to sell off 900 distressed mortgages as part of a larger 2.5bn loan portfolio.

Some 95% of the mortgages are two years or more in arrears and all of the loans are the subject of legal action by the bank.

The bank also said it will sell about 2,000 buy-to-let mortgages.

The bank said that customers' existing rights will be transferred with the loans.

The 900 loans represent 0.5% of the bank's mortgage book in the Republic of Ireland.

Yesterday, Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said it was his understanding that Ulster Bank will sell the loan book to a vulture fund.

Deputy Doherty wrote to Minister Noonan and to Ulster Bank to ask them to stop the sale.

If true, I am disgusted by this move from Ulster Bank especially the inclusion of family home mortgages in distress, he said.

I am calling on the bank to stop this sale.

At the very least the element of this sale which includes distressed mortgages should be stopped. I believe all political opinion can be united behind that call on Ulster Bank.

The new law brought in so belatedly last year is not providing adequate protection to homeowners.

Until it is revised all responsible Irish banks should not be selling any loans but especially ones in distress to vultures.

Sinn Fein argued at the time for more teeth to be put into the law but after lobbying from vulture funds and others this was diluted.
Slovakia's prime minister says his country is not a suitable place for Muslims to live because they could change centuries-long traditions.

In an interview with the local press agency TASR published on Wednesday, Robert Fico said he does not want to have "tens of thousands of Muslims" in Slovakia.
The allegations of the AIB whistleblower were first aired last month after regulators were approached about issues over the way the lender allegedly dealt with corporate loans in arrears.

The claims raised concerns about the process of supervisory oversight by external regulators.

However, Richard Pym, the banks chairman, told shareholders yesterday AIB was confident about its provisioning procedures.

Some questions have been raised in the media on the accuracy of our reporting of non-performing loans and provisions as included in the financial statements, Mr Pym said.

These have been comprehensively reviewed by management and auditors and we are entirely satisfied that the accounts are accurate, he said.

The whistleblower had approached outside regulators, but the lender had no concerns about its internal whistleblowing system.

In its update, AIB said it had further boosted profitability, with its net margin rising to 2.09% in the first quarter.

It looked forward to paying down its costly 1.6bn of so-called contingent capital, or CoCo, notes later this summer. Its core tier one capital ratio rose slightly to 13.1%.

Significantly, new lending increased 17%, while bad loans were down by 1bn, though remaining at an elevated level of 12bn.

The good news is your bank is doing very well, Mr Pym told a shareholders meeting, which attracted the smallest gathering for an AIB agm in many years.

Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland said the results were good and showed increased lending and a lower level of non-performing loans.

Bernard Byrne, chief executive, robustly defended the bank from claims by some shareholders it was still charging too much for its home loans.

The bank had led rivals in announcing cuts to its standard variable mortgage rates, he told reporters. The Irish market was catching up with rates charged by fellow eurozone lenders. EBS and Haven would make separate announcements, he said.

The AIB units had not cut their mortgage loan aggressively. Mr Byrne said rates Irish SMEs are charged for their loans are not directly comparable to others in the eurozone because Irish SMEs tended to be comparatively smaller.

Shareholders praised the late Niall Murphy, a veteran shareholder who had vociferously questioned AIB directors over many years.
The owners of the refinery in Whitegate Co Cork, Phillips 66, have confirmed that there is significant interest in the facility with negotiations believed to be at an advanced stage.

The future of the refinery and its 290 or so full-time and contract staff remains up in the air with Phillips 66s obligation to operate the refinery expiring in July 2016.
Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital, said the CSOs Quarterly National Household Survey published yesterday was again very positive, as 46,900 more people were in work in the first quarter this year than a year earlier.

The CSO figures showed there are now over 1.97m people at work, still short of the record of over 2.2m set in 2007.

The CSO also revised down its estimate for Aprils unemployment rate to 7.9%. Employment rose in 12 of the 14 industries the CSO tracks.

Long-term unemployment fell, but still accounts for just over 56% of all people out of work. The youth jobless rate  defined as 15-to-24 year-olds out of work  fell sharply, to under 17% from 21.5% a year earlier.

The South-East, at 12.5%, has the highest jobless rate. It is followed by the Midlands, at 11.6%, and the Borders, Midland, and Western area with a rate of 9.9%.

The West region has a jobless rate of 10.2%; the Border region has a rate of 8.6%; while the State-wide average is at 8.4%.

Unemployment in the Mid-West region is at 7.9%, the Southern and Eastern area is at 7.8%, and the South-West has a jobless rate of 7.7%.

Dublin competes with the Mid-East for the lowest jobless rates at 6.9% and 5.9%, respectively. Mr McQuaid said parts of the country outside the capital are lagging the Dublin experience.

You would expect that given the levels of FDI in Dublin. Its an area that the Government is aware of and needs to address, the economist said. The issue includes broadband provision in rural Ireland, which is a must have, he said.
Hailo marked the milestone of carrying 20m passengers in Ireland by reaffirming its support for the National Transport Authority and Department of Transports position, which does not allow ride-sharing.

The Hailo app connects passengers with registered taxi drivers whereas competitors such as Uber, which opened a Centre of Excellence in Limerick in January, lets non-professional drivers carry passengers.
In a wide-reaching interview with German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, published today, Mr OLeary said we want to be the second largest airline in Germany behind Lufthansa, adding that so-called low fares rivals in the country are only going in the opposite direction.

He predicted Lufthansa will ultimately close down its low fares offshoot, Eurowings, which is doomed to fail because it cannot compete on price with us.

Mr OLeary also said he believes Air Berlin will be sold to Lufthansa, by its majority shareholder Etihad Airways in the next couple of years and that he hopes there will be a price war in the German air travel market.

Air Berlin doubled losses and lost eight million passengers last year despite being the markets number two player.

Last year Ryanair said it would begin focusing on the German market as a means of fuelling short-term growth, at the expense of long-haul routes to the likes of Russia and Israel.

While the German travel tax has hampered growth, its appetite has been renewed on the back of it expanding its fleet in Italy and Spain  popular destinations for German travellers  and Air Berlin haemorrhaging passengers.

Ryanair recently said it wants to boost its share of the German market from 5% to 15%-20% within five years.

We still object to the German air traffic tax, Mr OLeary told Die Zeit but what has fundamentally changed in the last two years has been the implosion of Air Berlin whereby we now have most of the German airports actively offering us discounted airport services.

Somebody needs to step into that breach; otherwise the Germans finish up paying overpriced domestic and short-haul air fares because they are left at the mercy of a duopoly of Lufthansa and Air Berlin.

He said that via its Always Getting Better product improvement programme, Ryanair has copied the best of what other airlines are doing, but without copying their high-fares structure.

Low cost is our philosophy. Our average fare was 47 last year, but we dream that in the next five years we can drive that down to maybe 25. Lufthansas CEO Carsten Spohr has no interest in lowering air fares. He must put air fares up, he added.

Ryanair recently said it is expanding in Germany particularly out of Cologne and Berlin faster than anticipated and could reach 10% market share this year. Overall, the airline wants to double in size in the next five to eight years.

Earlier this week, Ryanair reported a 43% rise in annual profits to 1.24bn and an 18% jump in passenger numbers to 106.4 million.

Mr OLeary replied God no when asked by Die Zeits Claus Hecking about having any plans to retire before his contract is up for renewal in 2019 and spend more time with his family.

No. My children think I am an idiot anyway, they think I am stupid, so that is fine. If your children do not think you are stupid at this age, then they will be useless anyway.

"Id like to spend more time with my wife  but not while she has four children under the age of 10. So, Ill wait until the children have grown up a little bit and then I will spend more time with my wife. (www.zeit.de)
Guido, who turns 34 tomorrow , has spent the last half of his life struggling to cope with irreversible injuries after he was struck over the head in Dublins Fairview Park in 1999.

The attack left the teenager partially sighted and no longer able to walk or even feed himself. It was his first trip to Ireland.

And over the past year, family friends have admitted they are increasingly worried about Guidos mental health,.

The Italian, who lives with his 74-year-old mother, Simonetta, in a small apartment in Turin, is wheelchair-bound. In the early years following his attack he used to trawl the internet endlessly looking for a cure for his condition.

He has increasingly suffered bouts of depression, as he was finally forced to accept the truth that there is no chance of a cure.

To make matters worse, Guido, who requires round-the-clock care, faced another huge fight in recent months when he was rushed to hospital after feeling ill.

He underwent emergency surgery for a blocked intestine  a condition triggered by his inability to control his muscles following the attack  and spent almost two months recovering in hospital.

Although Guido has since recovered from the surgery, the setback has left his mother, his only carer, increasingly worried about her ability to look after him.

Bernadette Kelly, a Dublin-based victim support volunteer who built up a close friendship with the Nasi family following the attack, said: Its been a difficult time for Guido and Simonetta.

Since his surgery hes gone back home with his mother and shes finding it harder and harder to cope.

Simonetta isnt getting any younger and shes now looking to employ a carer to help her look after Guido. Shes interviewing people at the moment.

He was just a boy of 17 when the attack happened and changed everything forever, she said.
Two complaints were made to the Broadcasting Association of Ireland (BAI), one upheld and one upheld in part.

In a complaint lodged by June Twomey, it was claimed the programme  aired on October 15 and which featured an interview with Graham Linehan and his wife, Helen  was unfair and biased.

In the second complaint, lodged by Brendan ORegan and upheld in part, it was claimed the programme was an attack on the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution.

The complainant claimed the attack came from the Linehans and that it was a soft interview which was impartial and lacking in balance.

RTE said the programme focuses on human interest stories rather than the hosting of debates between antagonists and that the focus of the interview was primarily on the personal trauma endured by the couple.

RTE said the context for the interview was a video in which the couple recounted their experience of a diagnosis their first baby would not survive beyond birth.

The BAI upheld the complaint in part and said it did not find that Mr DArcy had not acted in a manner that amounted to advocating a partisan view.

Regarding Ms Twomeys complaint, the BAI found the other perspectives provided were insufficient and that treatment of those other views were cursory.

An RTE spokesperson said it accepted the ruling.

There is no further comment, they said.

Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Group said: This is the second time in the space of six months that the BAI has upheld a complaint of media bias against The Ray DArcy Show on the issue of abortion.

Its not acceptable for Irelands taxpayer-funded broadcasting station to continue to provide a platform for people to promote their own personal agendas.

Last December the BAI upheld a number of complaints against The Ray DArcy Show following an interview conducted by the host with Colm OGorman of Amnesty International.

Mr OGorman was on the show last June regarding the publication of Amnestys report, She Is Not A Criminal: The Impact Of Irelands Abortion Law.

Complainants claimed Mr DArcy showed a lack of balance in the interview and that he did not challenge Mr OGormans view.

RTE defended the item but of the six complaints regarding the content of the show, three were upheld; two in part; and one rejected.
Yesterday, the mayor, Sinn Feins Chris OLeary, criticised the company for failing to acknowledge his correspondence, ahead of the closure, last week, of its North Main St outlet.

Mr OLeary said he expected better from the company, given its historic links to Cork City  its first store was on St Patricks Street, having opened in March 1944, and founder, Ben Dunne, raised his family in the citys historic Ringmahon House. This was refurbished by the Dunne family for the citys Capital of Culture celebrations in 2005.

I wasnt acting on my own behalf, I was acting on behalf of the people of Cork. I listened to traders who had approached me, and who had asked me to step in, and I said I would, so I wrote to them. I felt that would be the least I could do, said Mr OLeary.

Mr OLeary wrote to management at the North Main St branch, which closed on May 21, and to senior management at the company headquarters in Dublin. He asked them to delay the closure of the store, pending a meeting with city officials to explore potential ways to save it. He pointed out the companys historic connection to Cork, over the last 80 years, and said the people of the citys northside had been good customers.

I also said if they couldnt meet me in Cork, I would travel to meet them. I wanted to sit down with them to see what we could do. But I didnt get any response. The silence was poor  its almost two fingers up to the people of Cork, he said.

Mr OLeary said he felt the company owed the people of Cork an explanation for the closure, and that he was extremely disappointed that they had ignored his request.

He said that he planned to write to the company again to outline his disappointment, and to again request a meeting. But, this time, the mayor said he now wanted to discuss with Dunnes Stores their long-term plans for Cork, including their presence in Merchants Quay shopping centre and their stalled plans for the redevelopment of their original store in Bishopstown, in the western suburbs.

FG councillor John Buttimer also raised questions about Dunnes Stores plans for its site on the Curraheen Road, in Bishopstown.

Senior planner, Ann Bogan, said a 2008 conditional grant of planning for the demolition of the existing shopping centre, and for the development of a mixed-use scheme, was extended in December 2015 to December 2019.

She said officials in the councils development management section wrote to Dunnes Stores a number of months ago, enquiring about the companys plans for this site. But there has been no response, to date, she said.

The company did not respond to queries from this newspaper, either last week or yesterday.
Barry Cowen, Fianna Fails housing and local government spokesman, lashed out at the bid to remove the charges as soon as possible, as 39 left-leaning TDs insisted a mere suspension is not what Februarys election result demanded.

In one of the first Dail private members motion debates since the Government was formed, Sinn Fein last night tabled a motion calling for charges to be immediately abolished and for a referendum on the public ownership of water to be confirmed.

The motion was placed during the partys speaking time on behalf of 39 Right-2Water TDs from Sinn Fein, AAA-PBP, Social Democrats, and Independents.

They insisted an immediate scrapping of fees is what people voted for and accused Fianna Fail and Independents in Government of turning their backs on voters.

Mr Cowen said this view is untrue and wilfully ignores the progress that has been made in suspending the charges.

Labelling the motion as political opportunism, point scoring, and simple grand-standing, the Offaly TD said the reality is that charges are coming to an end.

His view was repeated by colleagues Shane Cassells and Timmy Dooley, who said Fianna Fail will not vote in favour of the motion  sparking heavy criticism from the opposition on the first of a two-day debate.

Describing the anti-water campaign as one of the most important social movements in recent history, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said Fianna Fail had flip-flopped on its pre-election anti-water promise.

Colleague David Cullinane said that Irish Water is dead, you should give it a decent burial now in this chamber, while AAA-PBP TD Mick Barry criticised Independent Alliance TDs Finian McGrath and John Halligan for crossing the line.

The opposition motion  which Mr O Broin insisted yesterday morning was not designed to embarrass Fianna Fail  is almost certain to be defeated in tonights vote, which will follow a Right2Water Dail protest at 5pm. Fine Gael will vote for its own counter- motion in support of the programme for government plan and Fianna Fail for its separate but similar motion, meaning the opposition will not have enough TD support.
Gardai received calls claiming devices had been placed in the school campuses. The automated calls originated from an untraceable number. Pupils were evacuated from schools in Whitegate, near Midleton; Limerick; Waterford; and Dublin as a precautionary measure.

Milford primary school in Castletroy, Limerick, was among the schools affected. Up to 500 boys and girls were evacuated.

One parent, John McGrath, a 39-year-old quality engineer with a multinational company at Plassey Technological Park, located near the school, described the distress and disruption caused to his two sons, aged six and eight.

Mr McGrath said he got a text from the school at around 10.50am saying it had to be evacuated and that all the children were safe and out in the sunshine.

He decided to go to the school to check on his two sons: One of the boys gets upset and when I met him after the children were led from the school, he was visibly upset and there was a tear in his eye, said Mr McGrath.

You try to prepare children for things, but when something happens some children can get very upset. The school handled it very well and it was a bizarre thing to happen.

However, as I saw how one of my sons was after the incident, there was no way I could allow him back to school for the rest of the day. I have had to arrange with the creche where they go after school to take them a few hours earlier.

Another parent, who has twin boys aged 11 and a girl aged seven attending Milford, said: The way the school handled the whole thing was fantastic. The school were brilliant. We got a text saying there had been an incident and not to contact the school. While the gardai carried out searches in the school and in grounds, the children had a great time out in the sunshine playing in a field. It was a bit of excitement for them.

Shortly before noon, parents were told by text that all the children were happy back in school, enjoying their lunch.

Chief Superintendent David Sheahan of Henry Street Garda Station oversaw the security sweep carried out at the school. It involved a search team of gardai deploying sniffer dogs.

As part of the search, all the childrens schoolbags had to be searched and cars parked adjacent to the school were also checked.

St Angelas secondary and primary schools in Ballytruckle, Waterford, were also evacuated due to similar reports. Hoax calls were also made about a device at Scoil Colmcille in Donaghmede in Dublin.

Meanwhile, authorities are trying to establish if there is a link to threatening calls at seven other schools in the North, which were reportedly made from an automated system.
A number of bridges, roads and culverts have been seriously damaged in the region; and despite their best efforts council engineers are only getting to grips with some of them now.

However, councillors have asked for some repairs to be postponed because they fear that some works will hinder tourism in the region.

Independent councillor Danny Collins asked that work on replacing the causeway bridge at Barleycove be postponed until late October because local tourism businesses would suffer during their peak season.

Tom Stritch, the county councils director of roads, said he did not want to leave the start of construction go any later than the end of September, as work could become difficult later.

Five other bridges were also very badly damaged in the region and need to be replaced. Several other need significant repairs. Contractors have been appointed to carry out repairs at Kilmacsimon/Kildarra bridge in Bandon; Clashduff and Caherkeen bridges in Bantry; Kilbrittain bridge; and another in Enniskeane.

Meanwhile, Mr Stritch said landslides caused by torrential rain are also being addressed. A contract has been awarded for the stabilisation of the Reenmeen embankment in Glengarriff, which slid into the river. Additional stabilisation works will have to be carried out on an embankment at Ballylickey in the Borlin valley near Bantry.

Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy said replacing bridges seemed to be very slow work and then said that several months later many people still have lengthy detours to travel to work or make school runs.

Mr Murphy also said there is a lot of subsidence on streets in Innishannon which needs to be addressed. He said up to 18,000 vehicles pass through the village every weekday.

James ODonovan agreed with his party colleague. He said the subsidence, possibly caused by the winter storms, is causing a good bit of hassle in Innishannon.

Council officials said the main street in Innishannon is the responsibility of Transport Infrastructure Ireland as it is a national secondary road and said it would contact the body about it.

Mr Stritch also provided councillors with a long list of roads which need to be repaired. Several councillors spoke about the state of the road in Leap, which like Innishannon is on the N71. Mr Stritch said tender documents are ready for that project.
The preliminary estimates, published yesterday, show family farm income increased by 6% in 2015, bringing the average figure to 26,526.

According to the report, there was a 6% increase in average farm income, despite the considerable milk price fall.

Teagasc attributed the income rise to increased milk production, combined with higher cattle prices, good weather, and reduced input expenditure due to lower fuel and animal feed prices.

The annual survey gathers financial data from over 1,000 farms, representative of more than 100,000 farmers, and provides a detailed analysis of family farm income for different enterprise groups.

Milk price was down almost 20% in 2015, but income on dairy farms fell just 4% to an average of 63,020. The EU milk quota system, which had been in place for 31 years, was removed in April.

The results show considerable efficiency gains on dairy farms last year, with input expenditure declining despite the output increase.

Almost one in three dairy farms increased milk production by 20% or more, with one fifth choosing to reduce levels.

The lower milk price in 2015 meant that dairy farmers had to increase their milk output by at least 20% to just maintain their income at the 2014 level, said Dr Thia Hennessy, the Teagasc survey head.

Cattle prices increased by between 6% and 16% depending on animal type. Combined with reduced input expenditure, it meant the average farm income on cattle farms increased in the order of 29% to 34%, depending on the production system.

The report notes while this magnitude of increase seems substantial, it should be borne in mind that average incomes were still quite low at just 12,904 on cattle rearing farms in 2015.

Teagascs Brian Moran said cattle farmers are still reliant on direct payments which comprise a large proportion of income.

However, 2015 represents the first year in recent times where cattle farms generated a profit from production before they received these payments, he said.

Lamb prices increased 2%, but incomes on sheep farms rose 8% to an average of 15,791 on the back of strong cattle prices and reduced input expenditure.

Despite a modest reduction in cereals value, income on tillage farms rose by 16% to an average of 33,731, mostly due to strong cattle prices and lower fuel prices.

The report reveals over 800m was invested by farmers in their businesses in 2015, with 300m of this invested in dairy farms.

Almost two thirds of farms have no business-related debt, with many choosing to fund new investment from working capital.

On the remaining one third of farms, the average debt level is 60,607 or 1.47 times the income level.

Farming continues to remain highly reliant on direct payments, according to the report. The average direct payment per farm was 17,000, comprising 64% of farm income in general and almost 100% on cattle and sheep farms.

The Irish Farmers Association president, Joe Healy, responding to the results, said the outcome for 2016 would be significantly worse as the farm income crisis deepens across sectors due to falling prices and poor weather conditions.
Steve had disappeared six days previous and had told his parents that he was going to the Jersey Shore.

Instead, the 32-year-old booked a one-way ticket from New York to Dublin and took his life at the Cliffs of Moher in July 2005.

West Clare woman Josephine Ryan was at the other end of the line to Mrs Davaris after she and her husband found Steves washed-up ruck sack on Seafield beach at Quilty on July 12, 2005.

Yesterday, Mrs Davaris said: Mrs Ryan was just as shocked as I was. When she said this is Ireland I could not imagine what was happening.

Steves body has never been found and, at an inquest in Ennis on Monday, Clare coroner Isobel ODea formally pronounced him dead.

No member of the Davaris family was present and the only two witnesses in the court were Josephine and John Joe Ryan.

From her New Jersey home yesterday, Mrs Davaris said: The pain of losing Steve has not diminished, but I have gotten used to it. Waking up and hoping it was all a bad dream is gone and the reality of everyday life sets in. Having the inquest is the last formality and I will have a piece of paper.

Steve was a good young man, he wasnt on drugs, didnt have any debts, wouldnt hurt a bug, and he was a very sensitive caring person.

Mrs Davaris said Steve grew up in an Irish environment, as his Roscommon grandmother was a big part of his early childhood and teenage years.

Steve always said that he loved Ireland, said Mrs Davaris.

Steves one-way ticket, along with his rented car being found at the Cliffs of Moher, clinched it for Mrs Davaris in believing that her only son took his own life, rather than suffering an accident.

Mrs Davariss husband, Stephen Sr, died last September after a long illness which prevented the couple from travelling overseas. However, Mrs Davis finally made the trip to the Cliffs of Moher on March 29 this year.

March 29 would have been Steves 42nd birthday and Mrs Davaris said: It was a healing experience for me and I felt a sense of peace and beauty just being there. I plan to visit the Cliffs of Moher again and again, just as one visits a loved one.

The day before her emotional visit to the cliffs, Mrs Davaris met with the Ryans, who had kept in touch through Christmas cards with the Davaris family over the past 11 years.

She said: We chatted as if we had known each other for years. I am forever grateful to the Ryans for getting involved and activating Steves mobile phone, otherwise I dont how long it would have taken to unravel this matter.

Mrs Davaris has attended a support group in America, Survivors After Suicide.

She said: Mental health has become a tragic issue which has been swept under the rug. Someone who is going through a bad spell can find the help they need, thereby preventing another family from having to deal with an outcome like ours.

Pieta House www.pieta.ie Samaritans freephone 116 123
A 15th quarterly drop in a row in the numbers of people unemployed means that, in the space of just two years, the percentage of the labour force out of work has fallen from 12.1% to 8.3%.

According to the latest figures from the CSO, there were 1,976,500 people in employment as of the first quarter of this year. That is an increase of just under 47,000 or 2.4% over the course of the last year.

The Department of Finance said: At just shy of the 2m mark it [employment] will likely break this threshold in Quarter 2. Despite the rapid increase in the numbers in work, Irelands employment rate of 63.9% still lags behind the EU-28 average of 66%.

Furthermore, while Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the Governments ambition is to help create 200,000 jobs by 2020, including 135,000 outside of Dublin, and that supporting a balanced recovery across all regions and all sectors will help workers and their families feel the benefits of recovery, Savills pointed out that 57% of the 47,000 new jobs created in the last year were in the capital.

A positive can be seen in the fall in the number of long-term unemployed  those who have been out of work for more than a year. That has fallen from 6% of the workforce to 4.7% in just one year. According to the CSO, long-term unemployment accounted for 56.1% of total unemployment in Q1 2016 compared with 59.7% a year earlier and 60.5% in the first quarter of 2014.

Alan McQuaid, of Merrion Capital, said: Although emigration has been a factor to some degree in keeping unemployment down, the labour market has improved dramatically over the past two/three years, reflecting the strengthening of the economic recovery.

The CSO figures showed that employment rose in 12 of the 14 economic sectors including construction which was up by 7.8% or 9,500 over the course of a year. Mr McQuaid said the pick-up in the construction was particularly encouraging given that it was the building industry that suffered the worst in the downturn.

Consecutive gains in employment have been posted in the past three years and the Department of Finance is projecting that Ireland will pass the two million people in employment mark in 2016 and replace all of the jobs lost during the downturn by 2018, he said.

All in all, it is hard to disagree with this assumption. As regards unemployment, we are looking for an average jobless rate this year of 7.7% as against 9.4% in 2015.
He was speaking at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul yesterday during a roundtable discussion entitled Women and girls  catalysing action to achieve gender equality.

At this moment, rape continues to be persistently used and has increased as a weapon of war; shameful rates of maternal and infant malnutrition persist in many countries; in others, women have no rights or means to control their own fertility, said Mr Higgins.

At the beginning of his address, he suggested those at the summit had an opportunity to create real change instead of just talking or writing about it.

We can, by delivering these principles into policy, ensure that the commitments made here today constitute much more than elegant words on a page, he said.

We must unequivocally recognise that gender equality is a right and not a gift.

He said the deep structural problems that underpin gender inequality must be addressed. Issues such as land ownership and control, and access to credit, water, and fuel are all associated with womens vulnerability to violence in many countries.

Speaking on the issue of protecting women in areas of conflict, Mr Higgins said everyone, from governments to individuals, can do much more. Only 43% of women in emergencies have access to reproductive health services, despite the fact that 60% of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth are found in crisis zones. This is simply not good enough, he said.

We all  governments, their peoples, and representative institutions must do so much more.

Mr Higgins comments came on the day researchers from Trinity College Dublins Centre for Global Health secured 3.3m to study people exposed to trauma. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is also involved.

Twelve doctoral researchers will study the psychological effects of exposure to trauma such as gender-based violence and fleeing from a conflict zone.

Noeline Blackwell, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, hopes the research will make a difference to people traumatised by violence. She expects the study will discover rich new learning which will make a positive difference to traumatised victims of sexual violence.
Jean-Pierre Filiu, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Sciences Po in Paris, says Isis wants to trigger violence against European Muslims to fuel recruitment and their narrative of them against us.

Speaking in Dublin, Prof Filiu called for a coherent and strong European policy to tackle Isis and said the only way to defeat the terror group is through supporting local armed forces in Syria: I think Isis is envisioning Europe far more European than Europe is.

For them, there is no border, just a question of opportunity. For them, the whole of Europe, no matter the cultural, national or historical differences, is the home of the Jews and the Crusaders in their propaganda. The author of From Deep State to Islamic State spoke to the Irish Examiner after he delivered a speech to the Institute of International and European Affairs.

He said Isis terrorists are very opportunistic. He said he understands Garda authorities rate the direct threat here as moderate: Probably they are right, but the whole continent is threatened.

And he pointed out: Youve had fellow citizens killed on the beaches of Sousse, referring to the three Irish people murdered in the Isis-inspired massacre in Tunisia last June.

He said Ireland along with all other EU member states should take part in drawing up a more robust policy towards the Islamic State in Syria: It is certainly a foreign issue [for Ireland], because it is over there. But it is a foreign issue that can have a deep impact on domestic policy and also where this society, like other European societies, are evolving.

This includes, he says, the rise of Islamaphobia: We cannot believe what is happening over there, will stay over there, he said.

The historian and Arabist said a particularly dangerous aspect of Isis strategy is to drive a wedge within Europe against its Muslim population: They want to trigger violence against European Muslims and every time Isis strikes in Europe what they want is civil war  civil war on a small or large scale, civil war because it will fuel recruitment and fuel their narrative of them against us.

He likened Isis to a postmodern cult, one that is proficient in the use of media and propaganda: Like all cults they have a coherent vision of the world and the chosen few are part of the vanguard.

He said the actions of Russian President Vladamir Putin  through his indiscriminate bombing campaign  have given a new intensity to the prophesy and to Isis recruitment.

They are saying look, the whole world is against us and we are still winning, so the prophesy is happening. As a French diplomat for more than 20 years, he said: You cant contain jihadi totalitarianism. If you dont defeat it, it will expand and thats what its doing  Isis is recruiting and expanding.

Prof Filiu called for solidarity at EU level to really tackle it as a European challenge and that a strategy and coalition similar to that after the 9/11 attacks is needed.

He said no war was ever won by aerial bombardment and said you need local forces, not foreign ones, as the latter is exactly what Isis wanted.
The latest victim, Gareth Hutch, had expressed fears to a local councillor on Monday that he was in danger and did not want to be shot in front of his son.

Community groups and politicians have demanded firm and urgent action from Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to end the senseless cycle of violence.

Mr Hutch, aged 35 and a father of a six-year-old boy, was shot dead by two gunmen outside his home at Avondale House flats complex in Dublins north inner city at 10am yesterday.

He is the second nephew of Gerry The Monk Hutch to be killed by the Kinahan cartel, after the murder of Gary Hutch last September. The feud has also claimed the life of The Monks brother Eddie and friend Noel Duggan.

Of the seven murders in the feud, four have taken place in Dublins north-east inner city.

Theres no immediate end in sight in this, said one senior garda. The Kinahans are not going to give up until they get all of them. You cant predict what form the next attack will take  all you can do is give crime prevention advice and flood the place with gardai.

Armed checkpoints and patrols were in operation at the time, but a separate garda source said the area was down 140 officers: The place is like a powder keg. Members are doing extra shifts. but there just isnt enough of us.

Assistant Commissioner for Dublin Jack Nolan described the murder spree since February as relentless and said further Kinahan violence was a fear: It is certainly a worry. I have no guarantee that something else wont happen.

He said the Garda Siochanas appetite for resources was insatiable and there will never be enough resources at any particular point in time.

But he said the full capability of the force was being brought to bear and was showing results, with one man charged with murder, 13 arrests in total, 17 firearms seized, 3,000 checkpoints, and 1,800 stops of suspects.

He said four people were currently in custody  three in relation to the murder of David Byrne and one for the revenge murder of Eddie Hutch.

Gardai recovered two handguns at yesterdays scene and removed two cars for examination. Later, a 29-year-old male was arrested.

Local councillor Nial Ring said Gareth Hutch called into his clinic on Monday looking to move from the flat he was in to a more secure flat in the same complex. I wrote him a letter to bring to the welfare officer this [Tuesday] morning, said Mr Ring.

He said Mr Hutch was very concerned for his safety and particularly his sons: His concern was he was in danger and didnt want to be shot in front of his son.

Mr Hutch told him that gardai had advised him he was in danger. Mr Hutch had his son half the week, while his ex-partner had the boy the rest of the time.

This would not happen in Frances Fitzgeralds constituency or the Taoiseachs, said Mr Ring. There is a feeling of anger and helplessness of what will come next. People just feel helpless.

A statement issued on behalf of community networks in the area condemned the shooting in the heart of the community.

It said it was a tragedy for the mans family and friends and further trauma for an already frightened and vulnerable community.

It had this message for Ms Fitzgerald: We are calling on the Tanaiste for firm and urgent action to end this senseless cycle of violence.

The statement also demanded that the Tanaiste convene a summit of community leaders, politicians, statutory bodies and government departments to put in place a sustained and long-term response to the root causes of this crisis.

Ms Fitzgerald condemned the unprecedented cycle of evil and said every necessary resource was being made available and that there had been no scaling back in operations.
However, Diarmuid Martin has forecast that if Pope Francis does come, he will bring a gesture of peace and reconciliation to the North.

Confirmation of the dates for the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) was made in a press conference in the Vatican yesterday morning.

The Pope has traditionally attended the event in whichever country it has been held  and has indicated that either he or a successor will attend the Dublin meeting.

Last week, his attendance appeared to have been confirmed with even an itinerary being detailed in media reports.

However, following yesterdays press conference, the Archdiocese of Dublin issued its own statement: It is too early to know if Pope Francis will attend the WMOF. His programme is normally announced just a few months prior to any event. The Pope has expressed his desire to attend, and such a visit of the Pope would bring great joy to Irish Catholics and others. But the final decision will depend on many factors.

It added that, given the age of Pope Francis, a possible visit of the Pope in 2018 would inevitably have a more restricted programme than that of the papal visit of Pope Saint John Paul II in 1979.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin later told RTE: I have been asked a lot will the Pope come to Ireland, and especially will the Pope go to Northern Ireland. I dont know. I have a feeling that, knowing Pope Francis, who is a great master of a gesture, that he could bring some sort of gesture of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland in a way that few other people could do it.

His gestures are always spontaneous ones and ones of great surprise. I was asked if I had any idea what the gesture could be. I said leave it to the Pope and he will surprise us.

According to the Catholic Communications Office, the World Meeting of Families is held every three years and seeks to strengthen the bonds between families and to witness to the crucial importance of marriage and the family to all of society.

It was first celebrated in Rome in 1994 and since then meetings have been hosted in Rio de Janeiro (1997); Rome (2000); Manila (2003); Valencia (2006); Mexico City (2009); Milan (2012); Philadelphia (2015); and now Dublin (2018).

An estimated 17,000 pilgrims from about 100 countries attended the event in Philadelphia.

The Dublin meeting will begin with a major conference which will last for three days at which international speakers will address the challenges of the family.

On Saturday, August 25, a larger function of testimonies will be held to celebrate the place of the family in the Church and a final Mass will conclude the meeting on the early afternoon of Sunday, August 26.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said Ireland despite what many think, has a strong family culture and is a young country.

That said, Ireland is a very open country and is open to all the pressures of Western secular culture regarding marriage and the family.

The theme chosen for the World Meeting of Families thus wishes to stress the role of the family within society and the contribution of families to the overall health and stability of society.
Deputy county mayor Councillor Joe Carroll (FF) said he feels insulted by the fact that the names, addresses, and contact numbers for tourist offices in Bantry and Skibbereen are missing from the new publication.

He said both tourist offices are manned by volunteers who are doing the work Failte Ireland should be doing and to leave them out of the list is not just insulting but very damaging to the West Cork region.

I want this council to protest to them [Failte Ireland]. This is an insult. Then theres the name of Skibbereen, its hardly legible on the map, he said.

They [Failte Ireland officials] should go down to these tourist offices and apologise to the volunteers running them.

Bantry-based Councillor Mary Hegarty (FG) was also annoyed by the omissions.

She said a couple of years ago there was a real threat Bantrys tourist office would close.

But it was kept open by local volunteers. They open it seven days a week from 9am to 6pm. They had a 14% increase in Irish tourists visiting it last year and theres been a huge increase in tourists from continental Europe, she said.

She was also critical of the large number of roads signs in West Cork which point to Killarney. Im really appalled by this and its totally unacceptable. Its horrendous that there are signs in Cork City sending tourists to Killarney.

Councillor Christopher OSullivan (FF) is based in Clonakilty and its tourist office is listed on the brochure.

While he is delighted with the inclusion he also joined in with the criticism levelled against Failte Ireland.

He said the existence of the tourist offices in Bantry and Skibbereen is vital to help people visiting the west Cork peninsulas find accommodation. Bantry and Skibbereen are being hard done by in the brochure, he said.

Kinsale-based Councillor Kevin Murphy (FG) said: This [the omissions] just blows my mind and its absolutely unacceptable,

Councillor Paul Hayes described it as a dreadful oversight which needs to be addressed.

Councillor Danny Collins (Ind), a member of Bantry Development, said his organisation helped to keep that towns tourist office open. Bantry has 30 voluntary staff working in the tourist office. This brochure has to be redone.

After some debate, it was agreed council officials would send a letter to Failte Ireland bosses outlining the concerns raised by a number of councillors and asking for new brochures to be printed to address the matter.
Currently, there are over 100 vacant nursing positions. More than half are permanent vacancies which have been advertised but not filled.

The work-to-rule, which started on Monday, followed a breakdown in talks between the parties at the WRC last Friday.

INMO industrial relations officer in the northeast Tony Fitzpatrick said the work-to-rule will continue and could be escalated.

He said bed capacity remained an outstanding issue that needed to be resolved because nurses needed to be able to deliver safe care.

We are willing to reconvene at the WRC, primarily to talk about bed capacity because, pending the recruitment and retention of staff, the hospital needs to curtail the service to reflect the staff that they have, said Mr Fitzpatrick.

We have said that our dispute remains in place and we willing to engage with the WRC in the morning [today] to see if we can get a resolution.

He said there were no immediate plans to escalate the work-to-rule that would be reviewed if no progress was made in the talks.

It could be escalated further, if necessary.

Mr Fitzpatrick said Our Lady of Lourdes was not the only acute hospital in the country experiencing a significant staff shortage.

The Government and the HSE needs to address the shortage of nurses or else there will be a significant curtailment of services throughout the country.

Nurses at the Drogheda hospital are limiting themselves to core care duties.

They are not attending non-clinical meetings, inputting computer data or answering telephones.

Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, Mr Fitzpatrick said patients would have better care during the work-to-rule because nurses would be able to concentrate on taking care of them rather than doing other work.

A spokesperson for the RCSI Hospitals Group would only confirm yesterday that both the hospital and the INMO had been invited to engage with the WRC this morning.

The group confirmed on Monday the hospital would implement a contingency plan to minimise, in so far as possible, the impact of the industrial action on patient care.

It said the emergency departments would remain open over the course of the industrial action to continue to meet patients urgent medical needs.

However, under the contingency plan, all planned, non-urgent, elective procedures, were cancelled yesterday. An exception was made for cancer-related procedures.

It said the hospital continued to be an extremely busy one with 52,000 attendances per year, 13,000 emergency admissions, and more than 22,000 inpatient discharges.

The HSE confirmed yesterday that critical posts would be exempted from a recruitment pause.

It also said existing contractual agreements and agreed funded posts would be honoured.

It said hospital groups were asked to submit a funded workforce plan and, pending agreement and approval of the plans, each had been advised of the need to pause on any further payroll additions.

While existing contractual commitments will be honoured, the groups have been advised that no further offers should be made without the signed agreement of the hospital group chief executive officer, the HSE stated.
FILMMAKING can be a precarious business  even if youre Jim Sheridan. Hes one of our most lauded and loved writers and directors, and film lovers the world over are waiting to see his take on Sebastian Barrys bestseller, The Secret Scripture.

Sheridan is also waiting to show it to us. The films US distributors encountered financial difficulty, leaving the film, starring Rooney Mara and Jack Reynor, in limbo for much of the past year.

It went into Chapter Eleven which is the equivalent of bankruptcy. It was in there for, like, nine months, and we eventually got it out just last week, says Sheridan . Itll be sold to a new American distribution company in June, hopefully.

Sheridan says this is a period of huge change in the film industry. Everythings breaking into smaller pieces. The internet is such a disruptive force that nobody knows where it leads. Everythings free  and when everythings free nothings worth anything. Youve got to find ways of adapting, of changing.

The studios have decided on these dumb ass big action movies that play big in China and India, and they dont care whether theyre eradicating their own audience, I think. Its a weird industry now  theyve pushed all the dramas on to TV, and everybody talks about the golden age of television. In many ways it is  there are lots of great shows  but its at the expense of the golden age of cinema, which has been decimated.

Sheridans frustration is understandable  he simply wants his film to be seen. And he says that following an enormously successful year for the Irish film industry, its vital that we build what we have achieved.

With so much transition and financial challenges in the movie business, is the director, who brought us such hits as My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father and In America finding it more difficult to get films made?

Not really for me because I have a bit of a name, Im always able to get something moving but at half the budget [compared to before]. Id be more thinking of people starting out.

Jim Sheridan with Theo James on the set of The Secret Scripture.

He called on the State to provide more funding so that Irish filmmakers can continue to thrive. In relation to our overall national budget, what the movies get is miniscule. The rewards are way greater in proportion than what the Government gives.

Back in the day when I did a deal with a Hollywood studio, theyd allow me to develop stories and Id have a discretionary fund of three quarters of a million to develop scripts that they didnt like. Today you could get one per cent of that  they just dont develop anything.

So the fact that the Irish Film Board has discretionary development money puts them in a very powerful position. We can continue to be competitive  were going to have a much better chance.

Later this week, Sheridan heads to Schull in West Cork for the Fastnet Film Festival, which opens today. The festival is growing in size and status and is quickly becoming a key event on film lovers calendars. Guests this year include Sheridan, director Paddy Breathnach whose film Viva is getting international acclaim, and renowned costume designer Joan Bergin.

Pauline [Cotter, one of the founders] will rope me in to do a load of things  Ill probably be opening the local supermarket! he laughs.

I go down there to meet people I dont meet in Dublin, like John Carney and Lenny Abrahamson. Its a fun, open village, it feels very different to Dublin: contained, big hearted. Its just easy to be around, he said of the villages festival experience.

Sheridan is full of praise for the new generation of Irish filmmakers who stormed the Oscars this year.

I thought Viva was great, Room and Brooklyn, Sing Street too. Im not just bullshitting, saying it because Im trying to be nice to those guys. It was a really exceptional year for Irish film. I think Viva was the least recognised and probably one of the most interesting because it was such an unusual subject matter, Cuba and the transsexual world.

Theres a quantum leap that can happen. It could happen with the Irish film industry. Hopefully it does. We can push out and change things.

Sheridan has a number of projects in development, including the semi-autobiographical Sheriff Street, named after the Dublin neighbourhood where he grew up.

Hes also been working on a documentary series about the Sophie Toscan Du Plantier case, the unsolved murder which occurred near Schull in 1996. Sheridan has met former suspect Ian Bailey quite a few times as part of the project.

Its a documentary about the families of Sophie Du Plantier, Ian Bailey, the whole thing. Were trying to examine a cold case, figure out what happened... I think itll be three or four documentaries. Im making it with Donal McIntyre, the journalist. Hes making it for the BBC and TV3.

Sheridan has also enjoyed working with his brother Peter on Meet the Quare Fellow, a play about Brendan Behan, which recently showed at Clontarfs Viking Theatre.

Revisiting the seafront suburb has him reminiscing about his first ever performance in a play there as a boy.

My dad did a show which he wrote, produced and directed. He had the good sense to have all the girls in the neighbourhood in bikinis and hula hoop skirts. And he was the king of the island! That was my first appearance on stage in Clontarf.

His parents were steeped in theatre and very active within the inner city community where he grew up  an area that has recently been rocked by gangland crime.

I often think of them in relation to whats happening, he says.

For now, however, Sheridan has the wild beauty of West Cork to look forward to.
CELEBRITIES have repositioned their frow status from the catwalks of Paris and Milan to the runways of the worlds international airports. With the paparazzi snapping at every turn, disembarking from a long-haul flight is the new street style of the fashion weeks. As they stroll through Arrivals, celebrities put their best foot forward as there is no room for a fashion faux pas.

Weve become accustomed to the Starbucks run, or model off-duty looks, where celebrities pretend their stylist had the morning off, and they just threw together any old look with no outside input. The same applies to the airport run which has been brewing its own style status over the past few years.

It all began with the queen of the heel, Victoria Beckham. Not even flying Heathrow to LAX could deter Posh from wearing those stilettos, so dissing the trackie for skinnies and heels seemed the only option. Other celebs have followed suit but with a less dramatic look. While comfort is key, think chic too.

Ax Paris multi print shirt dress, 37 from www.dresses.ie; Button-down tropical print dress, 80 from www.dresses.ie

The Kardashians/Jenner clan are airport royalty. When theyre not being shot wearing Balmain, theres a good chance theyre been papped at an airport terminal. As a high-flying supermodel Kendall Jenner is the leader of the pack. In keeping with her off-duty model persona Kendall does airport chic while staying on the down low, as in without heels. Jenner has given our feet reprieve by bringing kudos to the sneaker. And shes given us options from the Adidas Stan Smiths to black or white Converse the choice is there. Match with skinny jeans and Amazonian long legs for the complete Kendall look.

Adidas Stan Smith runners. 87 in The Athletes Foot, Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork.

Fellow reality star come supermodel Gigi Hadid is another frequent style flyer. Gigi is a fan of the oversized approach to airport wear where comfort is paramount. Like Hadid keep the bagginess for on top. When it comes to this style opt for a boyfriends shirt or the duster style coat that repeals against form fitting. As with this look and all airport style the key is the skinny jean. Forget the rumours of the flare or 90s Levi style sneaking their way back in. Nothing compares to the skinny, its casual yet chic and matched with an oversized shirt and vans being mistaken for Gigi is a given.

River Island sweatshirt, 33

In keeping with the over-sized trend, the sweatshirt is having a style moment. Thanks to fashions obsession with all things 1990s, the logo has been revived and with it comes the sweatshirt. Celebs from Kristen Stewart to Cara Delevingne have rocked the sweatshirt airport look. It screams comfort with an edge but only when teamed with the ever-faithful skinnies, kohl eyeliner, and a touch of I-fell-asleep-on-the-plane hair.

Topshop bomber jacket, 117; New Look black and white striped embroidered bird bomber 59.99

Ironically another 1990s favourite taking to the airport runways this season is the bomber jacket. While the original can be found basking in its fashion glory, the high-street has created its own edit. What was once worn by fighter pilots has now been given a feminine revamp with bomber styles being found in shades of dusty pinks or adorned with butterfly motifs. Channel your inner Rita Ora or RiRi with a failsafe piece which will bring you from a chilly Irish summer to sunnier climates.

Armor Lux Navy and White Stripe Cotton Tee @Scoutdublin.com, 65

If the 1990s conjure too many painful fashion disaster memories, then taking a style note from the Parisian woman may be the answer. There is nothing more chic than the Breton stripe. Since styles most famous icon, Coco Chanel, took notice of the French Navys uniform back in 1917, the Breton stripe has been an integral part of every fashionistas wardrobe.Take inspiration from Alexa Chung or Diane Kruger who was recently spotted matching the nautical top with denims and a fedora hat.

Kate Spade New York Cobble Hill Hallie Tote 335 at Brown Thomas; Penneys black straw fedora hat, 5

If all else fails on the runway, turn to accessories to champion that celeb style. The must-have travel trimmings include every celebs go-to disguise, the sunnies. Flying can play havoc with our tresses so opt for a fedora or a floppy wide-rimmed to hide any birds nest. Stay true to the over-sized theme with a large tote. It not only holds all those flying beauty essentials but can also act as a cover-up to creases etc which may have occurred during the flight.
A Staffordshire University research group put together the program, according to a report by the BBC, which uses VR headsets, cameras, and green screen effects. This puts a juror into the middle of a crime scene, while an attorney is able to guide them through the scene and its connected evidence.

The head of justice services at Staffordshire Police, Simon Tweats, told the BBC that, it can bring complex scenes to life. "Doing that in a way that is far easier for juries to understand and appreciate  which can only be good for everybody, for prosecution and defence," he said.
We are four weeks from the EU referendum  the most far-reaching decision the UK will make about its future for a generation.

On Thursday 23 June, the British people will decide whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union. The outcome, whichever way the vote goes, will affect Ireland.

A vote to remain would mean that the present basis for so much of the co-operation that takes place between Ireland and Britain would stay in place. There would be no risk to the common travel area.

Our two countries could continue to work together as partners and close allies in the EU to expand the single market to include more services and digital commerce, to reduce the burden of EU regulations and to pursue market opening trade deals with countries outside Europe.

A vote to leave would change the relationship that the UK has with the remaining 27 EU member states, including Ireland. We dont know now what that new relationship would look like. But the same trade rules that would apply in future between the UK and the EU would also have to apply between the UK and Ireland. Britain and Ireland could not have a separate side deal on trade.

According to a report published this week by the Treasury in London, the uncertainty that would be caused by a vote to leave would put the brakes on investment in the UK, cost over half a million jobs there, and cut peoples wages too. A weaker UK economy would have major implications for Ireland as our economies are so closely linked.

Over 40% of all exports from Irish-owned businesses in Ireland go to the UK. Ireland is the 5th most valuable market for exports of goods from the UK. Our two-way trade is worth over 1 billion each week and growing. So there is a lot at stake, depending on the new terms of trade to be negotiated in the event of a vote to leave.

Irish people living in the UK have the right to vote in this referendum. And so do many thousands of British people living in Ireland. There are an estimated 288,000 British-born people in the Republic. In Munster alone, we believe there are now more than 80,000 Brits resident in the province, many of whom may be eligible to vote on June 23.

Brits living in Ireland appear to be more interested in this poll than any before. We have now nearly double the number of overseas voters on the register than we had for the UK general election. But there are many who have not registered.

We are encouraging all British expatriates living in Munster and other parts of Ireland to register to vote for the referendum. The deadline for doing so is Tuesday, 7 June. So there is still time for people to act and have their say by registering to vote before that date.

As long as they have lived in the UK and been registered to vote there within the last 15 years, Brits living in Ireland are eligible to vote in the referendum.

The process to register online is straightforward and only takes five minutes. People need to have their passport and UK National Insurance number to hand. Then simply search online for UK register to vote or go to the website www.gov.uk/register-to- vote. The instructions are quick and simple to follow.

Its probably too late now for British people living in Ireland to register for a postal vote. But theres still time to vote by proxy. This involves nominating a trustworthy person to vote in the UK on their behalf. Alternatively, Brits can travel back to the UK to vote in person in their constituencies, as so many Irish people did for the same-sex marriage referendum last May.

This referendum matters  for the UK and for Ireland. The decision will affect people in both countries. The widespread coverage of the UKs referendum in the Irish media shows how much concern there is here. There is a recognition that Ireland has a unique perspective in this debate.

For the Irish in Britain, as well as a diaspora of some 5.5m who have recent Irish ancestry, there are 500,000 Irish-born people who may be eligible to vote.

They also need to register by June 7 and can do so via the British government website. (www.gov.uk/register-to- vote).

European Movement Ireland is also asking people in Ireland to contact their relatives and friends in Britain via our #PhoneAFriend voter registration drive. We have online graphics and postcards available from our office and on www.europeanmovement.ie.

We are delighted to have the support of the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and other members of the Oireachtas, as well as people from all walks of life, who are updating their online profiles and sending postcards to their loves ones in Britain to urge them to register to vote.

Most people living in Ireland will have deep ties with both our countries. On an issue that affects us both, we urge everyone who has a vote  the Irish in Britain and the British in Ireland  to exercise it. No one who has a voice in the referendum should miss the opportunity to have their say in this historic decision, which will affect all of us and our families for decades to come.

Noelle OConnell is the executive director of the European Movement Ireland

Dominick Chilcott is Britains ambassador to Ireland
THE silly German expression, peace, joy and pancakes  friede, freude, eierkuchen  could have been the European Unions motto. It refers to glossing over problems.

It can also describe the blithe optimism with which most Europeans marched into the glorious future of a unified Europe. Today, that promise seems to have evaporated.

As the European Union grew, it looked like a party that was never going to end. Most of the continents nations were invited. Those left out got rain checks.

The euphoria didnt last. The 2008 financial crash, and ensuing Greek-debt crisis, were the first harbingers of doom. Then, Russias 2014 attack on Ukraine became the clearest sign that the party was over.

Ukrainians had occupied central Kiev for months, to demand that their government sign an association agreement with the European Union. When the protests turned violent and the president absconded to Russia, the Kremlin started tearing off pieces of Ukraine to wreck any chances for European integration.

Ukraines new, pro-Western government signed the association treaty, anyway. Its no longer certain, however, that Europe still wants Ukraine. In April, 61% of Dutch voters rejected the association agreement with Kiev, in a clear-cut, if non-binding, national referendum.

The Dutch no vote is emblematic of the continents malaise. In Western Europe, perceptions of freeloading foreigners, and an unaccountable EU leadership, are fuelling nationalist tendencies.

Britains coming referendum, on Brexit  whether or not to leave the European Union  is the most drastic example. The rise of far-right parties in France and Germany, which both hold general elections next year, stems from a similar unhappiness with the status quo.

Hard-line nationalists already hold ministerial posts in Finland and Norway, and Austria has just come close to electing its first far-right president since World War Two.

The disappointment is mutual among the newer, eastern EU members. They signed up for a white, Christian Europe  and got a meddling, multicultural bureaucracy, instead. Hungary and Poland, once the wunderkinder of the regions democratic transformation, are led by politicians braying 1930s-style chauvinism.

In the Czech Republic, home of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, there is talk of a Czexit. In Germany, the Islamophobic Alternative for Germany party is strongest among former East German citizens who never found their voice in reunified Germany.

In the 1990s, Germanys wish to export stability to its eastern neighbours drove the European Unions expansion. As more countries joined, European integration seemed both historic and inevitable.

For the collective West, it was a way of making amends for having abandoned Eastern Europe to Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, in World War Two. Economic disparities would be smoothed over. Inextricable trade ties and a common currency would make future conflicts impossible.

Today, the feel-good machine that was the European Union appears as kaput from within as from without. Ukrainians, the first Europeans to die holding the EU flag, are stuck at the very back of the line. The membership prospects of Balkan nations, like Albania and Serbia, are almost as remote.

Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is using the refugee crisis to squeeze concessions out of the European Union, which his country has applied to join. As for Russia, President Vladimir Putin views the 28-member union as a rival worthy only of self-destruction.

The promise of Europe looks to be over. Liberal democracy  even in England, its home  looks weak and flabby. German hubris carries a good deal of the blame.

The political class of post-reunification Germany pursued European integration with a curious mix of economic imperialism, cultural arrogance, and heartfelt contrition for Nazi crimes against Eastern Europe. This kinder, gentler Germany has lost none of its ambition. But rather than dominate Europe through military might, it invoked the laws of the market and democratic bona fides earned over two generations.

Demanding that new member states share its democratic values was the European Unions right. It was also a smart way to persuade former communist dictatorships to overhaul their political and legal systems. Yet, values cannot simply be passed into law.

The refugee crisis put those values to the test. Eastern Europeans were almost unanimous in rejecting the newcomers. But there were plenty of people in Denmark, Germany, and France who felt the same.

German chancellor, Angela Merkel, deserves credit for having averted a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe, last autumn, by keeping her countrys borders open. There was no telling how far Hungarys pugnacious prime minister, Viktor Orban, would have gone in mistreating refugees trying to cross into his country.

Only Germany was rich and strong enough to save them.

Merkels calls for European solidarity, in sheltering refugees, largely fell on deaf ears, however. After all, Germany hadnt shown the same solidarity a few months earlier, when Italy and Greece were overwhelmed by thousands of migrants arriving on their shores.

Rules about returning asylum seekers to safe third countries were designed to keep them out of wealthy Northern European states. When Merkel decided to welcome Syrian war refugees stranded in Hungary, her unilateral action took her neighbours by surprise.

The European Unions autopilot works when there are clear skies. In times of turbulence  Greek debt, Russian aggression, refugee treks  Europe needs a captain. Merkel took over the controls, not because shes a natural leader, but because she governs Europes most powerful country.

Merkel is a pragmatist. She takes pragmatic steps to clean up a mess. The chancellor often explains her decisions as being alternativlos, or without an alternative. Just as there was no alternative to bailing out the Greeks or to sending Putin to the doghouse, sealing Germanys borders was never a realistic option.

In the world according to Merkel, refugees can be prevented from reaching Germanys doorstep by stopping their flow at the source  namely, by cutting a deal with Erdogan to take back all migrants crossing Turkey.

The dilemma of German leadership is that when Berlin moves decisively, it gets accused of acting alone. Yet when it dithers, the rest of Europe squabbles and does nothing.

Germans are discovering what Americans had to learn after World War Two: No matter what you do (or dont do), somebody will hate you for it. Germanys historical burden of Nazism makes leading Europe even more difficult. Because leadership isnt just about a country ready to lead. Its about individuals who have the stuff of leaders. Europes problem, today, is that it has no visionaries who know where the continent should be heading.

As the Soviet Union began to crumble in the late 1980s, Kremlin leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, had the courage to imagine a Europe undivided. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the duo of French president, Francois Mitterrand, and German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, pointed Europe in the direction of unity. Vaclav Havel, the playwright-dissident who became the Czech Republics first post-communist president, inspired millions of people in Europe.

Merkel, the European Unions default leader, inspires few. Her biggest challengers are Putin and Erdogan, who share an unerring vision of the retrograde Europe they want to live in.

When US president, Barack Obama, visited Germany in April, he sought to encourage his hosts. He reminded them that the European Union remains the hope of the many and a necessity for us all.

Obama also warned that if Europe began to doubt itself, it would empower the enemies of democracy around the world.

When Air Force One took off, Merkel was again left alone with Europes problems. With US presidential candidates questioning the usefulness of sticking up for European allies, its not even clear she will be able to count on America anymore.

Lucian Kim has been reporting from Germany, eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union since 1996. He covered conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Georgia, and Ukraine. He is now based in Berlin. Follow him on Twitter at @Lucian_Kim.
The leader of our country, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said the current spate of gangland murders, which has claimed seven lives in just 100 days, is beyond him.

He can do nothing to stop it, he said.

This is a vicious and murderous dispute between two families and I do not think I can stop that, is precisely what he told the Dail.

It is not overstating it when I say there were gasps in the chamber when he made his comments.

This is the man who is the head of almost 300,000 state employees and who oversees an annual budget of 55bn.

The Taoiseach was speaking following the daylight murder of Gareth Hutch, a relative of renowned criminal The Monk, who was gunned down in Dublins North inner city. That the murder happened within 200 yards of a Garda checkpoint on Mountjoy Square added to the sense of disbelief.

Mr Kennys comments were not a slip of the tongue or the off-hand comments of a leader under pressure.

He was speaking clearly, unusually for him. There was no ambiguity to his comments. I do not think I can stop that, he said.

This was from the leader of the so-called law and order party, Fine Gael.

His admission of defeat was immediately seized upon by the opposition.

No Government should admit defeat to these criminal gangs and there is an obligation on Government to do everything it possibly can across the board through an inter-agency response to stop it and put an end to it, said Micheal Martin, the Fianna Fail leader. Governments should be clear and determined in the messaging going out to these groups that this will stop.

Realising what he had done, Mr Kenny was forced to speedily retreat.

I made the point that this is a vicious, murderous campaign between two families which I, as a person, cannot stop, he said. However, I assure Deputy Martin, the House, and the people that, as head of Government, whatever resources, facilities and backing the Garda Commissioner requests from Government to protect our citizens and to deal with this will be made available.

But that damage was already done.

Surely, it is clear that the States response to the wave of killings has not been effective. Those responsible for the killings have shown their contempt for the State, for decent members of the public, and for the police, who they clearly do not fear.

Mr Martin was completely correct in his criticism of Mr Kennys comments that no government or state can admit defeat in the way the Taoiseach did.

Speaking to me last night, he called for the introduction of a series of mini Criminal Asset Bureaus in the areas where the drug lords loom large.

He and his colleague Willie ODea called for interventions similar to what happened in the wake of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin and in Limerick.

The arrest last night of a 29-year-old man in connection with the murder showed signs that the gardai have some idea who is involved.

But the willingness of youths as young as 12 and 13 to act as drug couriers for the chance to earn 200 shows that the battle that needs to be fought in the communities in Dublin that have been affected by this latest spate of killings.

Limerick has shown that a victory is possible, but, whatever way you look at it, yesterday was the day crime won.
BETWEEN the Battle of Culloden and Brexit, Irish nationalism, or, more accurately, Irish separatism, was the dominant, disruptive threat to the union of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Since 1922, the Ireland in question was, in effect, Northern Ireland. Irish separatism took the forms of political movements for repeal of the union, Home Rule, and violent nationalism. With Brexit, English nationalism has now replaced it. The issue for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is no longer Irish separatism, or even Scottish nationalism, but English nationalism. In Brexit, the eventual threat, which may not be far off, is not to the United Kingdoms membership of the European Union, but to the unity, internally, of the United Kingdom itself. More than Brexit, it is this which will have an ultimate consequence for Ireland, North and South.

Scottish nationalism may seem the greater threat to the United Kingdom. It is the more defined. There is the political fact that the defeat of the referendum for independence, in September, 2014, and, ironically, the entrenchment in government, in Scotland, of the SNP, might have seen peak Scottish nationalism for now  barring Brexit. Since Margaret Thatchers heyday, there has been a pronounced lack of empathy between the Conservative Party, formerly the Conservative and Unionist Party, and Scotland. Decades of entrenched majoritarianism by Labour, north of the border, led many Scots to the view that it no longer had the aptitude to govern the northern kingdom. Too long a tenure in safe seats at Westminster allowed them go native and become indolent and arrogant. Ceding effective power internally, within Labour, to London, which, in return, ineffectively supervised the party in Scotland, saw it become feral  and even corrupt  in local councils and constituencies there.

What Scottish nationalism fundamentally lacks, however, is a history of oppression, as distinct from a cause for complaint. Even if it is colourful, the Stuart cause is too old to be even remotely relevant and, in any event, is extinct. Culloden is historical mist; 1916 is political fact. There is the inconvenient truth that the dynasty was the first of the unionists. Bonnie Prince Charlie might have landed in Scotland, but he was headed south. When his great great grandfather, King James VI and I, inherited the English throne, in 1603, he went south, and only returned to Scotland once before his death, in 1625.

It is this dynastic origin of the union, buttressed and bound, over centuries, by the twin forces of Protestantism (as a unifying cultural force) and colonialism (as a shared political enterprise) that is ultimately threatened by Brexit. The union of the United Kingdom will not ultimately survive the disconnection of the UK from the EU.

In an unchurched era, we miss the context of Protestantism in the construction of British identity. In its biblical roots, it succoured the notion of a chosen people. That is extant, in the Ulster protestant identity, even now. It bound Scotland and England successfully, though Ireland much less so, in internal unity. The notion of an island people, separated from a Europe characterised by strife or popery or both, grew over centuries.

The rhetoric of that defiant stance, of self-preservation from superstition and tyranny, is rich indeed. From Queen Elizabeths speech at Tilbury, on the eve of the Armada, to Churchills soaring defiance, it is the distilled synthesis of component parts of xenophobia, pride, English nationalism, and British identity. In 1940, as the Battle of Britain was about to begin, Churchill prophesied it would be their finest hour and said: Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.

Brexit doesnt quite rise to it, but, for its proponents, it is the successor to it. The problem for the union is that Ireland is now almost absent and Scotland cant be conscripted to the Brexit crusade to save Britain again. In broad, historical terms, the European Union may be a successor to popery and superstition in xenophobic myth-making, but, warts and all, Brussels bureaucrats are pale imitations of the Spanish Inquisition. The potency of myth, and its recreation as comedy, is exampled by Boris Johnsons claim that on the creation of a European super state, Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. He might have added to his litany the Spanish Hapsburgs, and Louis XIV, for completion. Brexit is a complex, multi-faceted distillation, not of Britishness, but of its profound dislocation. With the awkward exception of Ireland, Britain, from 1603, was increasingly a political fact, and culturally felt by most as a unifying identity. It didnt eradicate its constituent parts, but, when successful, it subsumed them.

As the overlaying glaze of British identity thinned with time, the underlying fact of English exceptionalism emerged ever more prominently. Secularism, immigration, end-of-empire, and dwindling global status all contribute, now, to the continuation by other means of forces that only recently, and over centuries, united these islands by might or conviction, and accumulated an empire on which famously the sun never set. Now, the sun has set and Brexit is the twilight.

You can stand in graveyards in places as far apart as Aswan, Kuala Lumpur, or around Ireland, and see not just remnants of empire, but the extent to which, out of either conviction or opportunism, Ireland played a part. Unlike in Ireland, the vote on Scottish independence demonstrated that a clear majority of Scots see that their best opportunity, for now, is still in Britain. What is markedly absent, however, is an ideological or national conviction. It is pointedly a calculation, not a principle.

In those circumstances, Brexit would, over time, and perhaps only a little time, shift opinion in Scotland as to which union serves its interest best. Given a choice between the European Union and the union of the United Kingdom, there is good reason to think Scotland might opt out of a union of 400 years and choose, instead, an even older arrangement. The auld alliance with what was then France, but which in political terms is now the EU, would look more attractive in the 21st century. Ironically, the last thread of that was savagely severed at Culloden. English nationalism is a reaction to diminishment of status, and, if successful, via Brexit, is destined to be an accelerator of it. The obvious issue of Brexit, for Ireland, is economic and immediate. The greater issue will be political. The unravelling of the United Kingdom, which it would likely propel, in a scenario of serried dislocations and economic disadvantage, will force an eventual reckoning, on this island, of a future in which not only has Britain no selfish or strategic interest in Northern Ireland, it has no interest at all. After Brexit, the UK will go the way of the USSR.
The confirmation came at a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report in which a woman said the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor, unable to stop his advances.

District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial, setting his arraignment for July 20, at which time the TV star will enter a plea and a trial date will be set.

Cosby, 78, could get 10 years in prison if convicted.

Mr Cosby, good luck to you, sir, said the judge.

Thank you, he replied.

Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee who said Cosby violated her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004, was not in the court-room and the judge ruled she would not have to testify.

Instead, prosecutors had portions of her statement to police read into the record.

She told police in 2005 that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers after giving her pills that made her dizzy, blurry-eyed, and sick, with her legs like jelly.

I told him, I cant even talk, Mr Cosby. I started to panic, she told police.

In his own statement to police, also read in court, Cosby portrayed it as consensual sexual activity, saying Constand never said no as he put his hand down her trousers.

Cosbys lawyers argued unsuccessfully that reading Constands statement instead of putting her on the stand would be hearsay and would deprive him of his right to confront his accuser.

Prosecutors reopened the case last year after dozens of women levelled similar allegations against Cosby.
Planning minister Romero Juca is under investigation in the multibillion-pound kickback scheme at state oil company Petrobras.

Even some allies of acting president Michel Temer called for the firing or resignation of Juca, also a senator, who seems in the recording to be plotting how to remove Dilma Rousseff.

Juca initially said he would remain in office only to announce a few hours later that he was taking a leave of absence.

Ms Rousseff, Brazils first female president, was suspended from office by the Senate earlier this month for allegedly using accounting tricks to hide deficits in the budget to bolster support for her embattled government. She has repeatedly said she did nothing wrong.

This shows the true reason behind the coup against our democracy and president Rousseffs mandate, said Ricardo Berzoini, former minister of political relations who lost his post when Rousseff was suspended.

Their objective is to stop the Petrobras probe, to sweep the investigations under the rug.

The day began with a published transcript of a conversation between Juca and Sergio Machado, a former senator who until recently headed another state oil company, Transpetro.

Soon after the transcripts were published by the newspaper Folha de S Paulo, Juca called a news conference and said that his comments were taken out of context.

By the afternoon, the newspaper posted on its website the hour-plus recorded conversation broken up into two parts. Juca never mentions the economy.

The recording is sure to deepen Brazils political crisis. Rousseff supporters and the president herself have long argued that her administration was the victim of a coup orchestrated by opposition politicians, in large part to dilute the Petrobras investigation.

Over the last two years, dozens of the countrys elite, from MPs to wealthy businessmen, have been tried and jailed.

Rousseffs popularity was hit by the investigation. Much of the alleged wrongdoing took place while her Workers Party was in power over the last 13 years, though she herself has never been implicated.
Ask yourself, the likely Democratic nominee told the Service Employees International Union international convention in Detroit, how can anybody lose money running a casino, really?

Trump has accused Clinton of using the the womans card to win votes.

Clinton said if fighting for equal pay, paid family leave, a higher minimum wage, and affordable child care is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

Trumps call to deport millions of people living in the US illegally and the end of automatic birthright citizenship also drew Ms Clintons ire.

She criticised sending a deportation force to schools, workplaces, and homes to round up moms, dads, grandparents  even children.

In Trumps world, a good result means Trump gets his and working families get hurt. We're better than that.  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 24, 2016

Hes talking about kicking children who are born here out of the only country they know, Ms Clinton said.

The union endorsed Ms Clinton in November. She thanked its members  who include child care workers, home health aides, janitors, and others  and called them unsung heroes who deserve a living wage.

She said there has never been more at stake for working families than in the 2016 election, noting that she supports raising the federal minimum wage and protecting the right to organise.

Your fights are my fights, she said.

Ms Clinton, pointing to the nearing end of the Democratic primary, applauded Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and his supporters for challenging us.

We need a president who's fighting to raise incomes for all Americans, not one who tries to profit at their expense. pic.twitter.com/8kwnvVKp9v  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 24, 2016

We are going to get unaccountable money out of politics. We are going to take on the crisis of income inequality, she said to loud applause.

And we are going to unify the Democratic Party and stop Donald Trump. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.

Meanwhile, at a rally in East Los Angeles, California, Mr Sanders predicted he would win Californias June 7 primary  the nations largest with 475 delegates  through the strength of his rallies across the state. He said that, by the end of the states primary, he will have spoken to more than 200,000 people at his rallies.

It is a grassroots campaign, not a fancy campaign, said Mr Sanders.

He has pushed for the party to adopt a progressive platform at the Philadelphia convention in July.

The Democratic National Committee announced a 15-member platform drafting committee, the first step in that process, which will put together the first draft of platform.

The panel will be led by Elijah Cummings, who backs Ms Clinton, and include allies of Mr Sanders, such as civil rights leader Cornel West and environmental activist Bill McKibben.
German development minister Gerd Muller said the EUs approach to responding to the refugee crisis was not working.

We need to respond to this with new instruments and my proposal regarding the refugee crisis is that 10% of the EU budget be shifted in order to respond to this crisis, said Mr Muller.

Yesterday, it emerged that fewer refugees are dying as they try to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, which may reflect better management of refugee flows and swifter rescues, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

This year 1,370 migrants and refugees have perished at sea, nearly 25% fewer than in the same period last year, IOM spokesman Joel Millman said.

An estimated 191,134 people have arrived by boat this year in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain.

The death toll included 13 in May, none of them on the eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece, where arrivals have slowed to a trickle since the EU struck a deal with Turkey to get it to curb the flow.

This compared with 95 deaths in May a year ago and 330 in May 2014.

More than 3,770 people are estimated to have died in the whole of 2015, most of them by drowning after their flimsy, overloaded boats capsized.

Obviously now that the Turkey-Greece route appears suspended for the time being, we hope that this is the beginning of a sound management policy of refugees and migrants who wish to make the crossing and dont take these enormous risks, Mr Millman told a news briefing.

Some 2,725 migrants were rescued attempting to reach Europe from Libya over the past 24 hours by various vessels, he said. IOM also had reports that Libyas coastguard had turned back 850 migrants.
The raid is the latest regulatory headache for the US search engine and email company, which like other Silicon Valley firms, faces increasing questions about its complex tax arrangements.

Frances financial prosecutors office said the raids were carried out with the assistance of the police anti-corruption unit and 25 information technology experts.
Mayka Kukucova was escorted from the courtroom at the Ciudad de la Justicia in Malaga on the second day of her trial, where she is charged with murdering former jewellery store owner Andrew Bush, from Bristol.

The 26-year-old said Mr Bush began to shout at her, hit her and shot at her when he returned to the house unexpectedly after a trip while Kukucova was collecting her things on April 4, 2014.
Human remains from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 have burn marks and are small in size, suggesting there may have been an explosion on board, a senior Egyptian forensics official has said.

The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down, the official said.

The official, part of the Egyptian team investigating the crash that killed all 66 people on board the flight from Paris to Cairo early last Thursday, has personally examined the remains at a Cairo morgue.

However, the head of the governments forensic agency later dismissed as speculation all media reports about human remains from the crash indicating an explosion.

Whatever has been published is baseless and mere assumptions, Hisham Abdel-Hamid told Egypts state Mena news agency.

A statement from the governments investigative committee also warned media outlets to be cautious about what is published to avoid chaos and spreading false rumours and damaging the states high interests and national security.

The Egyptian expert said that all 80 pieces that have been brought to Cairo so far are very small.

There isnt even a whole body part, like an arm or a head, said the official, adding one piece was the left part of a head. He said the body parts are so tiny and that at least one piece of a human arm has signs of burns  an indication it might have belonged to a passenger sitting next to the explosion.

But I cannot say what caused the blast, he said. He did not say whether traces of explosives were found on the human remains found so far.

The experts comments mark a new twist surrounding the crash, which remains a mystery.

The planes black boxes have yet to be found and photographs of retrieved debris published by the Egyptian military over the weekend were not charred and appear to show no signs of fire.

Egyptian officials have said they believe terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure, or some other catastrophic event, and some aviation experts have said the erratic flight reported by the Greek defence minister suggests a bomb blast or a struggle in the cockpit.

Yesterday, the investigative team led by Ayman al-Moqadem issued its second report on the case, saying that so far pieces of the wreckage have been taken to Cairo in 18 batches.

It added that the priority is to locate the black boxes and to retrieve more bodies.

Frances aviation accident investigation agency would not comment on anything involving the bodies or say whether any information has surfaced to indicate an explosion.

Family members of victims have been arriving at the Cairo morgue forensics department to give DNA samples to help identify the remains of their relatives, a security official said.
Asia Activists Urge Inquiry After Rohingya Shot in Thai Detention Center Breakout

Rights groups call for an independent investigation into the shooting of a Rohingya Muslim who was involved in a mass breakout from a Thai detention center.

BANGKOK  Rights groups called on Tuesday for an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of a Rohingya Muslim from Burma who was involved in a dramatic mass breakout from a detention center in southern Thailand.

Twenty-one Rohingya men escaped from the Phang Nga Immigration Detention Center in the early hours of Monday after sawing through an iron bar in their communal cell.

One was shot dead and three caught after they kicked, pushed and threw stones at police and immigration officers who chased them up a nearby mountain, police said.

Eleven more Rohingya were arrested on Tuesday and will be charged with fleeing detention, police said. Another four are still missing.

Police are investigating the shooting but several rights groups called for an independent inquiry.

The police need to demonstrate that a legitimate cause existed to justify the use of lethal force against a group of refugees, said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights based in Southeast Asia.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled poverty and persecution in western Burma since sectarian violence erupted there in 2012.

Many have been arrested by Thai authorities or ended up in human trafficking camps in the jungles of southern Thailand as they tried to reach Malaysia.

Most Rohingya are stateless and unrecognized by the two countries they call homeBangladesh and Burma.

This complicates repatriation and can lead to lengthy spells in overcrowded Thai detention centers, which Rohingya often try to escape.

Rights groups urged Thailand to end the indefinite detention of refugees and human trafficking survivorssome of whom have been in detention for two yearsand warned there would be further breakouts.

This will happen a second time, a third time, said Siwawong Suktawee of the Migrant Working Group Thailand, a network of non-profits advocating for migrants and refugees.

During Ramadan, which begins in June, that is when families normally get together, and I think the pressure of their detention may cause the situation to explode again, he said.

The Migrant Working Group Thailand said more than 400 Rohingya were held in Thai detention centers.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it would work with the Thai authorities to find alternatives to detention.

Its deeply tragic that a refugee life should have been lost. This incident underscores UNHCRs serious concerns on a worldwide basis over the use of detention for dealing with people forced to flee war or persecution, UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan said by email.

Col. Chote Chidchai, deputy chief of police in Phang Nga province, said the officer who fired the shots was under investigation.

It was an intentional shooting, but he was doing his job. Right now were in the process of investigating, he added.
Burma Forthcoming Govt Body Aims to Get More Aid to More People

Burmas government intends to form a donor coordination body to scrutinize the countrys foreign aid so that it flows to where it is needed most.

MANDALAY  Burmas government intends to form a donor coordination body to scrutinize the countrys foreign aid so that it flows to where it is needed most.

According to the Presidents Office, this new government body, set to be established soon, will be responsible for reviewing all international aid intended for use by the government for projects relating to national development and national planning.

The donor coordination body will be formed by the government to ensure that aid, especially aid in the government sector, reaches its intended recipients, said Zaw Htay, Presidents Office spokesperson.

He added that this is also to avoid overlap and poor management of funds.

There are many effective projects, but there are also many ineffective ones, where the aid only reaches 30 to 40 percent of the people [who need it] while the other 60 percent is used for the projects staff, logistics, transportation and so on, Zaw Htay said.

He explained that much of the foreign aid that has gone toward government development projects in recent years has been hampered by a lack of coordination between ministries.

Thats why this body will operate according to the direction of Daw Aung San Suu Kyito make sure that aid goes, effectively, to where its needed most, Zaw Htay said, adding that, at least initially, the body will accept only that aid which is necessary to spur Burmas growth in order to avoid a situation in which development is driven too prominently by foreign players.

Zaw Htay added that the duties and functions of this new body are not yet set in stone.

Its still too early to say whether the donor coordination body will also investigate the foreign aid received by many NGOs and CSOs in the private sector, Zaw Htay said. But if [this sort of oversight] is needed for the good of the country, then the body might try to coordinate with them as well.

Kyaw Thu, from local NGO Paung Ku, expressed support for the governments latest move to address Burmas perennial challenge of processing foreign aid.

A similar donor coordination body and NGO guidelines have existed since 2006, but NGOs capabilities have been limited. From what we understand, the aim of this new body isnt to control foreign aid but rather to promote cooperation and increase efficiency, he said.

Sometimes, such as when collecting data and researching, its necessary [for an NGO] to hire foreign experts, and its costly to arrange the logistics and transportation. We cant afford for money not to go to locals. To ensure effectiveness, the donor coordination body must understand these various projects and generate better cooperation with donors.
Burma Government to Relocate Rangoon Squatters

The Rangoon divisional government plans to relocate the citys estimated 400,000 squatters and provide them with temporary housing.

RANGOON  The Rangoon divisional government plans to relocate squatters and provide them with temporary housing, said Rangoon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein on Wednesday at a press conference.

He warned against trespassing and living on vacant, private or government land from Wednesday onward, and said that people who seek government housing dishonestly would be punished harshly under the existing laws.

Phyo Min Thein emphasized that only real squatters who legitimately need housing in Rangoon would qualify for this type of assistance. Other types of squatters he listed and described as landlord squatters, local property owners who also trespass onto government property; professional squatters, who may have purchased and re-sold land illegally; recognized squatters, who are understood as those living illegally on others farmland; and anarchist squatters, known to fight back against the authorities and offer protection to other squatters.

He added that there were ethnic armed organizations co-opting land and that the other groups were trespassing or leasing land illegally for their own benefit.

The minister said squatters emerged in Rangoon after the 2012 by-election, when former chief minister Myint Swe bulldozed houses in Tha Mee Kalay village, which was previously army property. The land was then developed by local businessman Zaw Zaw (no relation to tycoon Zaw Zaw of the Max Myanmar Group conglomerate) when he brought workers to staff his rubber plantation, and later sold, leaving the workers as illegal residents on the land.

Htun Naing Ko, deputy director of the Rangoon administrative body, said there were over 400,000 squatters in the greater Rangoon area.

The local government will form committees at the district and township levels to investigate the squatters backgrounds, print 200,000 application forms and decide who qualifies for housing.

Squatters dont need national registration cards [to apply for housing], said Phyo Min Thein. They just need to show up. Well take their photographs and record their names to avoid repetition.

He explained that about 45 days after the committees had sorted through applications, approval cards would be given. Those who qualified would be relocated to temporary camps, and regulations would be enforced against handing cards off to others once someone is relocated.

If applicants arent real squatters we will take action against them, said Htun Naing Ko.

The chief minister said the government would identify jobs for the squatters in factories and he expects that new foreign investment should help to address unemployment in the region. When asked by reporters about the costs of his approach, Phyo Min Thein did not give an estimated or allocated budget for the plan.

Yan Aung, 28, a squatter originally from Magwe Division but surviving as a laborer in Rangoons Hlaing Tharyar Township said that relocation would not work because many squatters lived near where they could find jobs. He added that squatters would be unable to move without having first secured proper employment, and if they were forcibly removed it would only exacerbate the problem.

Yan Aung said he might be on the governments resettlement plan list, as he was asked to provide his information to an administrator in April and is currently living on Rangoon municipal land.

We dont want to be the citys trash. Everyone who lives in this quarter is a citizen and authorities should listen to the voices of the squatters, he said.
Burma Report Reveals Unending Struggles for Political Prisoners

A new report documents torture suffered by Burmas political prisoners under the military regime and the challenges they face when rejoining society.

RANGOON  Than Than Htay, a 50-year-old former political prisoner, feels insecure whenever one of her family members yells at her cat, a companion she brought with her upon her release from prison five years ago.

They would say Put that cat back in prison! and I felt really insecure because I sometimes wondered if they wanted my cat or me to be back in prison again, she told The Irrawaddy at the report launch of After Release I Had To Restart My Life From the Beginning in Rangoon on Wednesday.

The report gathered data from more than 1,600 former political prisoners from January 2014 to July 2015, and was published by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP) and the Former Political Prisoners Society (FPPS). It examines the life experiences of Burmas former political prisoners and the mistreatment that they encountered in prisons under the military regime.

According to the report, Burma has had between 7,000 and 10,000 political prisoners since 1962.

I felt very sensitive to even such little things, Than Than Htay said. Interactions with family, friends and my community became very different to me after I was released, and I felt very left out.

After 11 years of imprisonment, she is now working as a counselor at a rehabilitation program run by the AAPP, a Thailand-based organization founded by several of Burmas former political prisoners.

The primary objective was to examine the life experiences of former political prisoners in Burma, including the human rights violations encountered during interrogation and in prison and the difficulties faced since their release, the report said.

The AAPP put together the publication to reveal the widespread mistreatment and systematic use of torture perpetrated against political prisoners by state interrogators and to encourage those who committed such crimes to admit their wrongdoings.

This report shines a spotlight on the situation of the political prisoners and what they have gone through, Tate Naing, the secretary of AAPP said at the launch event.

According to Tate Naing, the report documents human rights violations that former political prisoners suffered while in detention and is crucial to rehabilitation and reparation.

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the AAPP, told The Irrawaddy that the report is an initial step toward seeking justice for all who suffered and sacrificed their lives during Burmas path to democracy.

We are not talking about revenge, he said. We just want to reveal the truth so that we can heal the wounds of those who suffered.

For me, this report is about documenting an unjust system, he said referring to the military regime that governed Burma for over five decades since a coup detat in 1962.

The report also made recommendations for the government and Parliament: Release all political prisoners unconditionally, adopt an internationally recognized definition of the term political prisoner and guarantee and contribute to reparations for former political prisoners and their family members.

The report was funded by the Project 2049 Institute, the US Department of State and the University of California, Irvines School of Law.
Burma USDP Sets Sights On 2020 Comeback

Former president Thein Sein blames the USDPs election losses on party members, and aims to launch a comeback in Burmas 2020 election.

RANGOON  Chairman of Burmas previous ruling party, Thein Sein, urged the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to reform in order to win the election in 2020a clear statement that the USDP is trying to make a comeback after a humiliating election defeat at the hands of Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) last year.

Despite the many reasons [for our loss], the main cause is weakness in the partys central and lower levels. We all have to collaborate to review those weaknesses and reform the party to achieve success in the next election, said the former Burmese president during his meeting with more than 500 party members in Rangoon on Monday, according to the partys mouthpiece, The Union Daily.

Thein Sein left office in late March when he handed over power to President Htin Kyaw of the NLD government. The USDP, mostly made up of high-ranking former army officers, contested seats in more than 1,000 constituencies but only won 116.

After five years in the presidency, Thein Sein returned to the daily business of party politics in late April.

I feel responsible for the loss. At same time I feel I have to help [the party] win again. Thats why I am back talking to party [members], said the ex-general.

The 71-year-old said the loss in the election could be blamed on the people responsible for carrying out the USDPs platform, arguing, Since our policies are suited for the past, present and future, we only have to improve [the party members implementation ability].

Starting earlier this month, village- and quarter-level USDP branches across the country have selected new committee members and have held conferences prior to the higher level gatherings and the Central Committee meeting scheduled for July or August, when the partys top members are expected to be reshuffled, according to sources close to the USDP.

On Tuesday, Thein Sein also had a meeting with Union-level ministers who served during his term. The attendants included peace broker Aung Min, Presidents Office Minister Soe Thane, Immigration Minister Khin Ye and Livestock and Irrigation Minister Ohn Myint.

Ohn Myint wrote on his Facebook page that during the meeting, Thein Sein implored party members to shape the USDP into a party the people love.

But not everyone is convinced.

Rangoon-based political commentator Yan Myo Thein said, Thein Sein is daydreaming.

He added that the USDP expects to gain votes if Htin Kyaws government, which they assume is inexperienced, fails to meet the peoples expectations.

What they dont understand is people are already tired of them. At the same time, the NLD still gets strong popular support, Yan Myo Thein said.
Commentary Embattled Ethnic Armed Groups Cast Doubt on Suu Kyis Peace Drive

The Burma Armys refusal to halt its offensive campaigns has fueled skepticism and undermined the trust required for peace with ethnic armed groups.

The varying approaches of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing towards the peace process do not inspire confidence in its speedy resolution. But equally worrisome is the growing doubt over Suu Kyis mooted 21st Century Panglong Conference displayed by key ethnic armed groups that have come under considerable attack from the Burma Army in the last six months.

Suu Kyi has signaled her desire to include all of Burmas ethnic armed groups in the looming peace talks, but troops serving under Min Aung Hlaing have conducted intensifying campaigns against ethnic armed groups that refused to signor were excluded from signingthe Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in October last year.

The NCA was signed by eight ethnic armed organizations, who represent only a minority of such groups in Burma, and do not include many of the most well-armed and influential.

One such non-signatory is the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the second largest ethnic armed group in Burma, operating from Kachin State near the Chinese border. The KIA has publicly expressed doubt over Suu Kyis planned 21st Century Panglong Conference.

The political wing of the KIA is the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which engaged in sporadic bilateral talks with the government after a 17-year ceasefire broke down in 2011. These talks eventually floundered, providing no relief to the 100,000-plus people displaced by the conflict between the KIA and the Burma Army in Kachin and northern Shan states.

The 21st Century Panglong Conference seeks to draw all of Burmas ethnic armed groupsboth those inside and outside of the NCAinto a political deal to resolve half a century of armed insurgency fueled by ethnic minority grievances. It is so named in reference to the 1947 Panglong Agreement signed between Suu Kyis father Aung San and leaders representing some of Burmas ethnic minorities, prior to Burmas independence from Britain in 1948.

Daung Khar, who heads the KIOs Technical Advisory Team based in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina, told The Irrawaddy: We have lost trust with the government and the army and we doubt their motives. He noted that the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government had kept quiet after the Burma Armys recent assaults on the KIA in northern Burma.

We did not gain our ethnic rights from the first Panglong agreement. We have doubts whether we would gain them from this second Panglong, Daung Khar said.

Daung Khar contended that Burma is effectively still ruled by the military, which he said had successfully retained its influence and power despite the transition of executive power. As long as this lasts, the prospects of obtaining our political goals [of federalism and self-determination for the Kachin people within the Union of Burma] remain dim.

Recent clashes between the Burma Army and the KIA have made for a very difficult working environment, in terms of building the trust necessary to resolving the conflict, Daung Khar continued.

Whoever formally leads this countryDaw Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi] or any other personwe are no longer interested. Politics in Burma cannot move forward..

The Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), whose political wing is the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), has also publicly expressed doubts over Suu Kyis 21st Century Panglong Conference. The Burma Army has waged a prolonged offensive campaign against the SSA-Ns core positions since the NCA signing last year, which the SSA-N refused to take part in.

Last week, the SSA-N lost a temporary base in Noung Ma village, in northern Shan States Hsipaw Township, after clashes with the Burma Army.

We have suspicions that the Burma Army is trying to destroy the second Panglong conference, the SSPP/SSA-N said in a statement issued last week.

This is the time for trust-building between ethnic armed groups and the Burma Army, but the recent activity of the Burma Armylaunching strong military offensives against Kachin, Palaung (Taang) and Shan armed groups, after the NLD assumed formal control of the governmentsuggest that Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing is intent on destroying the necessary conditions for trust.

On a May 19 meeting in Naypyidaw, Min Aung Hlaing told a Chinese special envoy that all ethnic armed groups must abide by the peace principles of the Tatmadaw (as the Burma Army is known), and stick to their designated areas to avoid clashes, so that peace can be achieved through the current political system, according to a post on the army commander-in-chiefs Facebook page from the same day.

Min Aung Hlaings words suggest no softening on his core position: that peace should be achieved on the Burma Armys terms.

He has also reiterated that three ethnic armed groups engaged in current or recent conflict with the Burma Army, and who were excluded from signing the NCAthe Taang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Armyshould disarm before joining formal peace talks with the government.

This is a condition that these three armed groupswho are closely allied, and whose participation in the peace process is crucial to quelling ongoing fighting in the west and north-east of the countryare unlikely to ever accept.

[Min Aung Hlaings] words just fuel civil war in the country and we condemn him for it, said a statement released jointly by the three groups.
Wednesday, May 25th, 2016 (2:07 pm) - Score 724

The Hayton Parish Council in Cumbria has criticised local wireless ISP Solway Communications after the provider allegedly failed to honour a pledge to withdraw its claim on a number of postcodes in the Parish, which has prevented Openreach (BT) from building a new fibre broadband (FTTC) cabinet in the area.

The situation appears to be related to the story that we ran last Friday, which saw residents of another Cumbrian community (Welton) complain that they too had been excluded from the countys state aid supported Connecting Cumbria project because Solways network was already alleged to be available in the area (here).

At the time Solway, which does offer a 30Mbps residential family package on their website, acknowledged that they didnt cover the area and blamed the local authority. Solway claimed that they only informed the council of their antennae locations and capacities and did not determine what areas would be represented by BDUK.

Nick Kittoe, MD of Solway, said: The maps which BDUKs management consultants produced for this purpose are, in our opinion and that of our independent radio-propagation consultants  both of which we have expressed vociferously  wrong as to method, based on incorrect assumptions and, therefore, largely valueless.

The situation in Hayton appears to be very similar and its claimed by the local authority that Solway made a commitment to withdraw the related postcodes in March 2016, which was announced as part of a meeting that had been organised by Connecting Cumbria and Governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

However the Hayton Parish Council complains that this still has not happened and that they are thus again at risk of being overlook for a fibre broadband upgrade. Under rules governing the superfast broadband roll-out, state subsidies cannot be applied to the roll-out in areas where a qualifying service is already claimed, and Cabinet no.3 is caught by this rule.

The parish council further claims that a survey was then undertaken to understand the extent of the problem, which found that almost 75% of properties surveyed were likely to be unable to receive a Superfast broadband service from Solway Communications.

Raymond Tinnion, Parish Council Chairman, told ISPreview.co.uk: The position were in is extremely frustrating. The survey suggested a majority of properties cant receive a Superfast broadband service, yet they are prevented from benefiting under the Connecting Cumbria initiative because Solway Communications still claims to serve their postcodes. We felt reassured by Mr Kittoes agreement at our meeting in March that he would act to rescind his claim if evidence was forthcoming that these properties couldnt be served by his company. Having had that evidence presented, we are now asking him to honour his pledge without further delay. Rural Cumbria faces many challenges, and the provision of a modern and capable communication infrastructure is a vital part of ensuring that the Parishs businesses remain competitive and our communities are viable and attractive for the future.

One way or another the situation will need to be resolved soon because the next phase of Connecting Cumbrias project is imminent and the window for inclusion is rapidly closing.
It appears that Microsoft has seen the need to strengthen the screws on terrorists posting online. Along that line, many are insinuating if other corporation such as Apple and Google will follow the trend as well.

Last week, Microsoft announced its plans to crack down the terrorist content. It is perhaps in response to the Obama administration's intense effort to get Silicon Valley's help in preventing organizations like ISIS from using social media as a recruiting and fundraising tool, reports Tech News World.

In addition, Microsoft has amended its terms of use to prohibit the posting of terrorist content on its various platforms, extending the existing prohibition on hate speech and advocacy of violence against others, as noted by the same post.

At the same time, Microsoft is categorizing terrorist content if a material posted by or in support of any organizations in the Consolidated United National Security Council Sanctions list, which the U.N. Security Council branded as terrorist organizations.

Russia Allies With France Against ISIS in Raqqa Thanks #BeBeingHuman US, Russia and France are all bombing Syria pic.twitter.com/dcU5F0gfzl  Microsoft Love (@LumiaVoice) November 18, 2015

In a separate post, it has been noted how ISIS has been using the online world to target children, particularly those that used iOS powered handy phones. To prove the latter, "ISIS's use of technology has helped it attract more militants around the world. With its latest mobile app, ISIS is apparently now trying to get young children invested in its mission long before they've grown to adulthood," Fortune reported.

The gravity and threat that ISIS has brought to the company is real. It has affected all ages and without restrictions. It can affect the overall operations of the company as well.

Nevertheless, "What's noteworthy about Microsoft and what you're seeing from the other social media giants is that not only are there efforts to remove content or limit access to content, but also ... opportunities for counter content. That is also a very important aspect of this as well," said Todd Helmus, senior behavioral scientist at the Rand Corp.
Rumors, news and updates pertaining to the iPhone 2017 lineup is causing ruckus in the mobile world. It appears that one of Apple's suppliers have hinted at vital information on the features of the new iPhone. Speculations of the device having a new screen are escalating, as well as the idea that the fresh spec is Apple's saving grace.

At least one company in Apple Inc.'s supply chain is already reaping the benefit from plans to outfit next year's version of the iPhone with a brighter, higher-definition screen. And the first evidence came last week when Applied Materials Inc. reported an almost fourfold leap in orders for equipment to make displays, according to a post by The Times of India.

The move is an early sign that producers are retooling their manufacturing to meet Apple's demand for a new kind of organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, screen. The technology will allow Apple to upgrade the biggest component of its main product, reports the same post.

2017 iPhone May Feature Edge-to-Edge Display With Embedded Touch ID Sensor and Front Camera https://t.co/okJvXfui8y pic.twitter.com/CKK4Bq2KZ1  MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) May 11, 2016

"Some tooling or machinery orders now set up suppliers for the fall of 2017," said Gene Munster, a Minneapolis-based analyst at Piper Jaffray. "It sets up the iPhone in the fall of 2017 to be more of an impactful upgrade than the fall of this year." Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller though declined to comment.

It seems like the notion of Apple gearing up to produce one of the highlighted segments for the tech firm is finally raising the alarm and awareness for its competitors. Apple needs new features to rekindle growth while the smartphone market slows down, as consumers take longer to upgrade their handsets, Bloomberg reports.

The company's quarterly sales fell for the first time in 13 years in the three months through March as iPhone demand dwindled. Investors are divided over whether the decline shows that smartphone sales have peaked or whether current customers are waiting for the new iPhone model before they buy.

Meanwhile, "It's not a peak or a one-time event," said Applied Materials Chief Executive Officer Gary Dickerson. "This is going to be sustainable growth. We all know who is the leader in terms of mobile products."
Recent updates do not bode well for Verizon and the strike. Many speculations that the union strike would usher staggering impact have arise. Also, it appears that Verizon is facing another crisis as the promise of installing Fiber optics in Boston was rumored to be unreliable and a complete hoax.

The union workers, the dismay and the strike have brought negative image for the company. Public distrust surmounts against Verizon. To prove the latter, Verizon faces another scrutiny that demands clarity from the company.

The issue began when Verizon stated that it would be spending about $300 million over 6 years to upgrade the city to FiOS. It is a fiber-to-the-home service that aims on improving Internet connectivity in Boston, but it seems like the plan was just mere words.

Huffington Post cited Verizon's CFO & EVP Francis J. Shammo statements on Verizon's First Quarter 2016 earnings call, April 12, 2016. According to him, "So the $300 million, you're not even going to see it in the Wireline capital numbers. It's already there."

However, the issue that persisted was that Verizon has had a change of heart. In this First Quarter 2016 earnings call, Shammo said that the build out is for another Verizon company -- Verizon Wireless. And it is going to be paid for by the wireline, state utility, Verizon Massachusetts, reports the same post.

It appears that Verizon may have to explain its recent actions and clear its name and legacy. Moreover, Verizon should brace itself for more scrutiny and storms along the way. iTech Post mentioned that the union workers and the strikers are not backing down and will fight for what they believe is rightfully proper and ethical.

It remains uncertain on how the recent Verizon 2016 strike would end. However, it is unquestionable that there would be a staggering impact from the union strike. In addition, if Verizon does not clear the issues regarding the fiber optics in Boston, the union workers may once again brand the plan as a failure in Verizon's part. At the same time, the notion of hoax projects regarding the Boston operation might fuel more doubts and uncertainties for the consumers and workers as well.
Facebook has apologized after accidentally banning an ad featuring a photo of plus-size model Tess Holliday wearing a bikini.

The social network originally said that the photo depicted "body parts in an undesirable manner," but later told the BBC that banning the ad has been a mistake and it has now approved it.

The image featuring Tess Holliday wearing a bikini was used by the Australian feminist group Cherchez la Femme to promote an event called "Feminism and Fat." Holliday is size 22 and 5 feet, 5 inches tall. She has a contract signed with MiLK Model Management in London, being known as the first model of her size and height of having a contract with a major modeling agency.

Business Insider reports that Facebook prevented the photo from being used in a Sponsored Post rather than removing it from the site. According to a copy of the message received and posted to the Facebook page of the group Cherchez la Femme, the Facebook ad teams declared that the image violated the company's "health and fitness" advertising policy.

Jessamy Gleeson, an organizer of the feminist group, told The Guardian that they believe Facebook's attitude was isolating, horrible and alienating. She added that Facebook needs to understand that the group is using photos "of fat women to promote women being happy."

The event organized by the group Cherchez la Femme was aimed to promote body positivity for people of all sizes. The feminist group asked its followers to promote the event on June 7 by sharing their post.

Facebook said in its message that this kind of ads are not allowed on their social media network "since they make viewers feel bad about themselves." However, later on Facebook backtracked and issued an apology.

The social media network said in a statement that their team has to process millions of advertising images each week. For this reason, they incorrectly prohibit ads in some instances. They apologized for the error, saying that the photo in cause did not violate their ad policies; therefore, they are approving the ad.
The launching of the much anticipated Android N is still several months away this year, and some of the popular smartphone devices, such as Samsung Galaxy and HTC units, have plans of getting updates with the latest operating system from Google.

According to Gotta Be Mobile, the search engine giant company Google officially announced earlier this year that it is going to release a new Android operating system, Android N. It is currently in beta and will be will be available on newer Nexus devices this summer.

Samsung has not yet announced its confirmation that its devices will have Android N updates, however, it does have plans. The company plans to release some of its popular devices, including Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, and Galaxy Note 5, with the upcoming OS. Samsung's newest slate tab, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, was also added to the list of devices to receive the update.

HTC made the annoucement regarding its plans of getting the upcoming Android OS and its stunning features. Android Authority reported that the Taiwanese smartphone company confirmed it through a post on Twitter, stating that its HTC 10, HTC One A9 and HTC One M9 will be getting Android N. However, it is still unclear as to when this will happen as HTC is also waiting for Google's release of Android N. The Taiwan-based smartphone company is known for its speedy updates for their units.

Android N is just a codename released by Google and they are still deciding its official name. The company also wants the public to help them come up with the name. However, in spite of this, Google confirmed that Android N already has a great list of features. Among its known new features is having multi-tasking modes, redesigned notification shade, Doze power saving mechanism (which was introduced in Marshmallow) and improved performance.
A nine-number password  123456789  can be cracked 431 times in the blink of an eye through a brute force attack. Substituing one number with a letter from the alphabet  A23456789  increases the time taken to crack it to more than 40 years.

Privacy Awareness Week has come and gone and yet I will bet that most of you did not change all your passwords or take any steps to protect online privacy.

A majority of bad things happen to people who dont have safe, strong, unique passwords  credit card fraud, identity theft and others generally making your life hell.

The team at Better Buys found that in 2014 around half of US citizens had personal identifiable information exposed by hackers  and that excludes massive corporate and government data breaches.

They analysed character types and lengths in common passwords to discover the ideal combination for the best security. They found out just how long these passwords are safe from hackers, and how cracking times have changed over time. They have a really interesting Password tester and tips and tricks here. I strongly suggest you read it.

The following table shows password strengths:

Their advice is simple.

As time goes on, it only becomes more likely that your password will be hacked, putting your most personal information at risk. By taking a few steps to enhance your password, you can exponentially minimise the risk of a breach.

When it comes to passwords, size trumps all else  so choose one thats at least 16 characters. And be sure to choose a mix of character types (numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols) to further enhance its security.

Steer clear of words found in the dictionary, pronouns, usernames, and other pre-defined terms, as well as commonly used passwords  the top two in 2015 were 123456 and password (yes, you read that right).

Never use the same password in different places (that forgotten account at a site you never use could lead to a bank account breach). Consider using a free password generator and vault like LastPass in order to get a complex password with no discernible pattern to help thwart password crackers.
Google's Paris offices have been raided by authorities who are pursuing the company for a reported 1.6 billion in unpaid back taxes.

Media reports said the raids, launched early on Tuesday, involved at least 100 personnel.

Many countries, including Australia, have expressed concern over the tax arrangements made by huge American multinational technology companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft, in order to avoid paying the correct amount of tax for their earnings in countries outside the US.

In the UK, for example, Google was until recently paying tax in Ireland for sales made in the UK. A deal that allowed Google to pay an extra 130 million in tax to make up unpaid tax since 2005 was described by the UK Public Accounts Committee as "disproportionately small".

the heads of Google, Microsoft and Apple appeared before a Senate committee which was inquiring into their tax structures and seeking to understand why they steadfastly refused to pay what they had to under the law.

Google is facing issues on more than one front at the moment. The Paris raids come amid reports that the EU will hit the search giant with a massive 3 billion fine for using unfair tactics to dominate the search engine market.

And in California, Google is battling database giant Oracle in a trial to avoid paying damages for using more than 11,000 lines of code from Java in its Android mobile operating system.

The Paris raid follows the EU's announcement of plans to force firms to reveal details of their tax affairs. These new rules will make it compulsory for firms doing business in any EU jurisdiction to specify the amount of tax paid in each EU nation. They will also be required to come clean about activities carried out in tax havens.
Jurors in the Google-Oracle case in California came up against a roadblock on Tuesday in the course of considering the evidence that has been laid before them: they were unable to look at source code which is part of the evidence in the case.

The jury retired on Monday to deliberate on the two weeks of hearings and closing statements by the lawyers from both sides.

Oracle sued Google in 2010 shortly after it purchased Sun Microsystems and became the owner of Java, claiming that the search engine company had violated its copyright and patents. That case ended in 2012 with Google being largely the victor. Judge William Alsup ruled that APIs cannot be copyrighted.

But an appeal gave Oracle what it wanted: a ruling that APIs can be copyrighted.Thus, all that the jury has to decide is whether Google's use of 37 Java APIs in its Android mobile operating system is covered under fair use or not. The APIs total 11,500 lines of code.

However, when jurors attempted to look at some of the source code which the lawyers have loaded on the court computer, they were unable to access the files. This got Justice Alsup's goat.

According to a report, Alsup told the lawyers: "They're in the middle of deliberations. You lawyers should have tested this out yourselves."

At another point he said: Go print out those 15 million lines of code! You have no right to overload the courts system with this.

The matter was finally resolved with both sides providing instructions to the jurors on how they could read the code.

With Oracle said to be planning to ask for something in the region of US$9 billion in damages  if things go its way  the judge's irritation can be understood for he would not want either side claiming that the jury came to what they consider a "wrong verdict" because they could not examine all the evidence presented.

The trial will move to a damages phase only if the jury decides that Google's use of the APIs is not covered by fair use. But no matter what happens, the question is likely to be resolved only after further appeals which will ultimately go all the way to the US Supreme Court.
You either love or hate the subscription economy. On the one hand it gives instant gratification  get it now and pay as you go  and on the other hand opponents like to add terms like "forever" and "pay though the nose" to the end of that statement.

What is clear is that more and more consumers want it and businesses are adopting it for cash flow reasons (called OPEX) over the traditional pay upfront (CAPEX) model. In the end it is all about convenience and not being locked into non-scalable, hardwired models.

Zuora, a leading global provider of subscription billing, commerce, and finance solutions has announced results from a new survey of 104 technology, media and retail executives at the recent Ad:tech summit event in Sydney. While results may be a little skewed due to the audience make-up they are reasonable findings.

Consumer preferences are changing. They have an increasing  perhaps insatiable  desire to rent or subscribe to goods and services on a recurring basis, meaning companies must adapt their business models to remain competitive, protect market share, and ensure future growth.

The survey clearly highlights the increasing pressure coming to bear on Australian businesses as a direct result of changing consumer demands, said John Kearney, managing director, APAC, Zuora. The shift to subscription, rental, and sharing models is clearly gaining traction and will represent a significantly larger proportion of overall revenues in coming years.

Key findings from the Adtech Summit survey:

78% said that they were experiencing changes in the way in which consumers wanted to source goods and services.

31% indicated their businesses were changing or re-thinking the way they price and deliver goods and services by integrating new subscription packages.

76% expect revenue gains from new delivery models of goods and services to either increase or significantly increase during the next two years.

33% said the two major challenges they faced were finding ways to effectively launch new products and services, and building long-term customer relationships.

The three biggest business drivers for adopting new delivery models were:

16% creating new revenue opportunities

12% competitor differentiation

10% stronger brand affiliation

The results echo earlier findings of a survey of Australian, UK and US business in 2013. The Economist Subscriber Index Study found 80% of five businesses were experiencing changes in how their customers preferred to access their goods and services  40% were reacting to the trend by implementing subscription services as part of their core business operations.

An April 2016 report by MGI Research estimated the global market for subscription economy Software-as-a-Service tools would be more than US$100 billion through 2020, with 20% of Fortune 1000 companies adopting these solutions. The same report found a US$820 million total Australian market for subscription economy software tools emerging in Australia. The report suggests that because these new SaaS services and tools can support rapid scaling for top-line growth and increased customer engagement via data and analytics, spending for these solutions is now being prioritised. Similarly, companies seeking to improve their efficiency by consolidating a number of out-of-date and disparate systems through a new monetisation platform will also benefit, fuelling additional demand.

Comment

While you would expect Zuora to be bullish about the subscription economy  frankly all it is, is a recurring revenue model  the world seems to have embraced it with gusto over the past few years. In part, that has been driven in business buy the ready take-up of cloud (subscription) and resultant things like Software/Infrastructure/everything as a Service.

But fundamentally it fulfils a basic need for both the customer and the supplier  a symbiotic relationship develops where the supplier has to prove its worth every "month" and the customer has to assess if the goods or services are doing what they were supposed to  or if they need to scale up or down their consumption. Its a win-win "sticky" even if it may cost a little more in the long run.

If you want to read a little more on the subscription economy, Tien Tzuo, CEO of Zuora has an interesting article here.
The board of ICT services giant CSC has given the green light to plans for the proposed merger with Hewlett Packards enterprise services business, HPE, with the newly merged company expected to have annual revenues of US$26 billion.

CSC says the two complementary businesses will create one of the worlds largest pure-play IT services companies, uniquely positioned to lead clients on their digital transformations, with more than 5000 clients in 70 countries.

Following completion of the transaction  expected by the end of the March 2017  current chairman, president and chief executive of CSC, Mike Lawrie, will become chairman, president and chief executive of the new company and Meg Whitman, HPEs president and chief executive, will join the new companys board of directors, which will be split equally between nominees of CSC and HPE.

Wednesdays announcement comes six months after CSC separated into two publicly traded companies  CSC, to serve commercial and government clients globally, and CSRA, which serves public sector clients in the United States.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, CSC says both CSC and HPEs Enterprise Services segments have been on upward trajectories, showing significant improvements in financial performance and client satisfaction scores.

Our proposed merger with HPE Enterprise Services is a logical next step in CSCs transformation, Lawrie said.

As a more powerful and versatile global technology services business, the new company will be well positioned to innovate, compete and serve clients in a rapidly changing marketplace. We are excited by the great potential this merger brings to our people, clients, partners and investors, and by the opportunity to strengthen our relationship and collaboration with HPE.

According to Whitman, the spin-merger of HPE Enterprise Services with CSC is the right next step for HPE and our customers.

Services customers will benefit from a stronger, more versatile services business, better able to innovate and adapt to an ever-changing technology landscape. As two companies with global scale, strong balance sheets and a focus on innovation, both HPE and the new company will be well positioned as leaders in their respective markets.

In just the six months since separation into two separate companies, Lawrie says CSC has taken decisive steps to equip the company to take clients on this digital journey, positioning itself as a true next-generation leader in the markets, industries and practice areas it serves.

To back-up his statement, Lawrie lists activity since the merger including:

 Stood up vertically integrated businesses in healthcare and insurance to take full advantage of its IP and existing market leadership

 Created CeleritiFinTech, a joint venture with HCL, to do the same in banking

 Acquired UXC, making CSC one of the largest IT services companies in the Australia-New Zealand region

 Acquired Xchanging Plc, a UK-based provider of insurance software and business process services, creating the number one provider of core insurance solutions globally, and

 Acquired Fixnetix and Fruition Partners to bolster its leadership in banking and capital markets and service management, respectively. Together, Fruition and UXC make CSC the world leader in service management solutions. Yesterday, the company also announced its acquisition of Aspediens, Europes leading provider of technology-enabled solutions for the service-management sector.

Clients are feeling the pressure to digitally transform their enterprises to meet new business demands and customer expectations, Lawrie noted. They need a partner with the innovation, scale, leadership and dependability to answer the challenge.

As a pure play, the combined company will be built to lead digital transformations using next-generation technology solutions from both companies. It will be able to operate independent of any single hardware provider, while partnering with the worlds leading technology providers, including HPE.

Gartner view of the CSC/HPE merger proposal:

Gartner vice-president, IT services sourcing and vendor management, Jim Longwood, says potential synergies the CSC/HPE merger would deliver in the Asia Pacific region are:

 HPE brings a broader geographic spread that CSC doesnt have;

 CSC brings a strong consulting and SI capability to add to HPEs capabilities;

 Both have some regional offshore capabilities in India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines giving them more critical mass to service regional clients;

 Both have a good overlap of verticals with HPE strongerin Telecommunications and CSC with good presence in Healthcare and Utilities;

 In Government, the combined entity will have over $500m in joint professional services revenues, substantially increasing their market share here; and

 Potentially improved critical mass in their BPO operations.

According to Longwood, both companies were facing challenges with dropping traditional revenue streams and gaining traction in the cloud and other disrupted IT services markets.

Whilst somewhat unexpected, it is nonetheless a reasonable merger of two traditional competitors in the IT professional services marketplace.

And, Longwood says that marketshare wise for Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, the merger from a professional services revenue perspective, will see the combined entity coming in at number 4 behind IBM, Samsung SDS and Deloitte and ahead of Accenture and TCS with just over US$3.6 billion in ITO, AO, consulting, SI and BPO revenues".

Longwood says government clients in the region have already been marginally impacted by CSCs global break-up into federal US government and private enterprise and overseas government.

As well, in January 2016, the corporation announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to separate and combine its Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business segment with Leidos. So many government clients are getting used to the flow-on effect and disruptions of mergers in the professional services markets.

Generally this is positive for both companies to improve not only growth potential. Execution of the integration of the two companies will be critical to achieving the synergies and benefits expected. Whilst consolidating both organisations will lead to some economies of scale, it will also lead into some staff reductions and service and some disruptions to their existing client base which will need to be managed carefully by all parties.

On other effects from the CSC/HPE merger on the two companies, and more broadly across the total market, Longwood says:

 Potential benefits for customers

The increased critical mass regionally by country, by vertical and in areas like their consulting and SI businesses will be of benefit to their mid to larger scale clients in terms of operational and cost efficiencies and improved access to a better knowledge base. The merged entity will be better equipped to service smaller, mid-size and larger clients but the smaller clients may become disenfranchised by the combined entities' new deal sweet spot and business focus. It should assist positioning the combined entity to be able to assist clients to address the ongoing digital disruption that is going on in the market and focus on other disruptions coming through via social, mobility, analytics and cloud.

 Likelihood of further market consolidation

With traditional service provision, becoming a contracting market, further consolidation, particularly at the smaller end of the market is inevitable. We see the likes of NTT Data expanding globally by incremental acquisitions and similarly for the larger Indian providers. Some of the smaller Indian firms also becoming takeover targets as per the recent acquisition of Igate by Capgemini. With cloud coming in as a services markets, being in high growth, this means that the MAD mergers, acquisitions and divestitures will be a feature prominently in the professional services market for some time to come.

 Market trends

The disruptive impact of non-traditional services, along with entry of many new players like AWS, Google, Microsoft and VMware into the cloud services market and large volumes of small and niche focused service providers, has provided challenges for all traditional IT service providers to balance growth in the new services versus cannibalisation of the traditional services as the emerging as a services offerings coming to the fore. For most of the mainstream traditional managed service providers including CSC, HPE and IBM, this has led to decreasing market share in high single to low double digits in the past two years in constant currency terms with currency fluctuations exacerbating this trend in Asia Pacific.
Australia has a bright future as a leader in Fintech innovation but to reach that leadership position requires concerted effort from government agencies and established financial institutions, as well as partnerships and research collaboration between banks and start-ups, according to global research company, Frost & Sullivan.

In its positive outlook for the Fintech sector, Frost & Sullivan says that Australian Fintech opens up vast opportunities for ICT companies in security, cloud, managed services, blockchains, artificial intelligence, biometrics and data centres.

And, according to the firm, data and connection security will be the most significant challenge for Fintech companies in Australia, largely because mobile payments make up the majority of the revenues of all Fintech segments.

Saranga Sudarshan, research analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand, cautions that reliable security will be a key issue and an important selling point to ensure success, as this will allow Fintechs to build consumer trust in order to grow and compete with established institutions.

Sudarshan suggests that Australian Fintechs need to partner and collaborate with security vendors and ICT companies to improve the security and connectivity of increasingly mobile-centric financial services and to protect a users financial data.

Frost & Sullivans study also highlights the fact that as Fintech success depends on security vendors, many ICT and telecommunications opportunities will be security-focussed.

And, the research firm says that APAC revenues for cyber security in the banking and finance security technology market are expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.31% over the forecast period of 2015-2020.

Established institutions already have large security expenditures, with security systems and protocols built over many years, Sudarshan says.

Attacks against these institutions are highly unlikely and more unlikely to be successful. However, the sensitivity of financial data, unlike any other kind of personal data, will mean security will be a concern at every other stage of a products delivery chain.

End-user attacks are the highest priority given that the decentralisation of personal smart devices, whether they are wearables, smartphones or personal computers, will make storage of end-user credentials the most vulnerable to security attacks. Uniform security protocols will not be implemented without significant standardisation of operating systems and version updates.

According to Frost & Sullivan, biometric security will be the future of mobile security and Fintechs will drive the expansion of biometric security.

Explaining that biometric security protects an individuals financial data and reduces vulnerability to cyber fraud or physical fraud as well as weak or misplaced passwords, Frost & Sullivan says that biometric security will make the user themselves the strongest element in a security measure.

And, the research firm anticipates that biometric authentication will be the future of mobile security, with extensive biometric security features developed or announced for implementation in all new smartphones over the next 18 months.

Audrey William, head of research, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand, says blockchain development for financial services has attracted various ICT companies to develop blockchains with different revenue models.

He says some companies have opted for a blockchain-as-a-service model, while others have opted to sell cryptocurrencies.

ICT companies involved in blockchain development include Ripple Labs with their direct partnerships with international banks, and their Interledger project, Microsoft and Ethereum with their EthBaaS, or Blockchain-as-a-Service product, IBM working with Digital Asset Holdings, to develop Business Logic Engines to embed blockchain technology into a businesss exiting transaction systems  and Intel is developing blockchain technology with internal trials for the benefit of the Hyperledger Project.

William cites analytics as one example of a software suite that is available to Fintechs and established financial institutions.

The cloud computing capability of Watson Analytics presents a possible model for other AI platforms aimed at the financial services sector. AI hardware architecture is the foundation for customised AI software, and Facebooks Big Sur is an example of an AI hardware architecture that allows Fintechs and established financial institutions to build their own AI systems.

Customised AI systems would allow a range of AI solutions to compete in a market of 'off-the-shelf' AI analytic packages.

According to William, data centre requirements will be unique for Fintech, and there will be huge opportunities for data centre providers offering tailored co-location services, managed hosting services and cloud storage.

He points to the fact that the rapid growth of Fintech companies offering personal and business finance will present opportunities for both wholesale and specialist data centre providers.

Telecommunications companies and system integrators have the opportunity to offer managed services across security, cloud, data centre in areas such as digital payments, blockchains, biometrics and artificial intelligence.
The NBN Co has stood down two members of its staff alleged to have leaked information to the Labor Party. It has declined to name the two employees or comment further.

This comes following a raid by the Australian Federal Police last Thursday on the office of Labor Senator Stephen Conroy and the home of one of his staff members, Andrew Byrne.

NBN Co called in the police last December to investigate the alleged theft of commercially-sensitive information.

The AFPs investigation was thwarted by Conroy asserting Parliamentary privilege over the documents from his office and the staffers home. These were immediately seized under the privilege provisions, and secured inside the office of the Clerk of the Senate in Canberra  safe from the AFPs eyes.

Senator Conroy wrote to AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin telling him that he intended to seek a ruling from the Senate on whether the documents should remain privileged. I expect the seized items to remain in the Clerks possession until the Senate rules on my privileges claim. Note that the scope of my claim of parliamentary privilege extends to all words spoken, and act done, in the course of, or incidental to, parliamentary proceedings, it stated.

The letter also makes plain that Labor will pursue the privilege claim in the Senate as opposed to pursuing a court action. That will delay the matter until after the election.

The content of the documents is unknown, but Labor refers to issues including a cost blowout to $56 billion for the project which it claims the government tried to keep secret. The Coalition denies that stating that NBN access is now available to 2.4 million homes and businesses, and there are around one million active users.

In essence, the posturing by both sides is not so much of the provision of faster broadband but the delivery mechanism  fibre to the premise (FttP) or the supposedly lower-cost fibre to the node (FttN) and multi-technology mix that relies on re-use of copper and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) networks owned by Telstra and Optus to make the final connection to the home.

What is for sure is that NBN has had two masters and lots of politics. It is the biggest public infrastructure project ever undertaken.

Due to the controversial nature of the topic and the diverse views held, iTWire welcomes comments from readers.
Optus quest to grab a greater share of the small business market from its competitors has been boosted by the appointment of former Blackberry Australia chief executive, Matthew Ball, as head of its SMB division.

With its avowed aim of becoming the prime market player in the small business market, Optus managing director Rob Parcell says Ball's appointment is a coup as Optus ramps up its focus on the SMB segment.

Ball takes on the title of head of Optus small and medium business (SMB), and will commence on 30 May. He replaces Reid Meldrum, who left last year to join as chief of Sqware Peg.

When iTWire sought further information about Balls appointment, Optus confirmed its renewed focus on its small business strategies with a company spokesman saying, "we have had a number of requests for comment outside of the reactive statement. However, we can only provide reference back to our SMB focus announcement last week."

Announcing Balls appointment, Parcell said that with a wealth of SOHO, SMB, consumer and enterprise experience, coupled with retail distribution and marketing expertise, Ball would lead our team as Optus refocuses our priority on the small and medium business segment.

As the backbone of the Australian economy, small and medium businesses need a guide to assist them adopt and adapt to technology as it evolves in the digital age."

According to Parcell, small business no longer needs a simple land line and fax machine. They need the tools to analyse their customer bases' spending patterns, they want digital displays, content and customer Wi-Fi in their shops, or the seamless fulfilment of stock. They want to be able to store data in the cloud and enjoy a service experience that is tailored to their needs.

We know we are doing a lot of great things for our SMB customers and we know Matthew will continue to drive our momentum in the SMB space.
OPINION: I have an admission to make  this is my first opinion piece on the national broadband network (NBN). Perhaps I left it so long as IT journalists are not supposed to be political commentators  let them report the tech. Perhaps because I felt there were so many who could write more authoritatively on the subject than me? And perhaps I feared the flames it may cause.

Today I am prepared to offer an opinion  courtesy of a strongly opinionated, left-leaning, taxi-driver this morning and an article by Terry McCrann of the Daily Telegraph that brought a certain clarity to this issue.

Australia is 48th in the global broadband connection speed rankings published by Akamai Technologies  at an average of 8.2Mbps we are even behind NZ (ouch) and under a third of South Korea at an average of 26.7Mbps. In real terms that translates to "perceived/advertised" speeds of 39.3Mbps against 95.3Mbps in South Korea.

There is no question that the provision of a reasonably ubiquitous NBN offering speeds from 12-100Mbps (and with future technological advancements beyond that) will help accelerate Australia from a manufacturing to a knowledge economy. If not, we can all be poor and support a fast Netflix habit.

Ubiquitous is the term we all stumble over  does that mean every home and business in Australia? The answer, of course, is no, and there are some areas that will remain serviced by satellite, 2/3/4G, or ADSL because it is simply not economic at this time to run fibre to every premise. In this case, a "service guarantee" of at least 12Mbps is not too bad. I mean is it really up to NBN Co to provide 100Mbps to one house in Woop-Woop at a cost that will bankrupt it?

But be under no false impressions  in the past any business that has needed more speed has had access to fibre or other technologies. Some lucky consumers have also had access to 100Mbps via Telstra BigPond Cable. And some have had to do with lower speeds because they were born or elected to live somewhere out of "range".

Which is better? Fibre to the premise (FttP) or the supposedly lower-cost fibre to the node (FttN) and multi-technology mix (MTM) that relies on re-use of existing copper and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) networks owned by Telstra and Optus to make the final connection to the home? Of course, FttP is best  no one, not even Prime MInister Malcolm Turnbull, disputes that. The argument is twofold.

If Labors FttP vision  originally the Rudd/Conroy plan was costed at $30 billion  had carried on the same way it would likely cost $100 billion in todays money. And whether it could have been delivered on time and to all is another realistic question.

Turnbull et al., know the MTM approach is a stop-gap, and FttP will continue to be rolled out and connected to the NBN FttN by private suppliers long after the NBN has finished. So the "leaked" documents referred to today may show the NBN currently costing $56 billion  thats not too bad a saving in todays money.

There is also confusion over rollout figures under Labor and the Coalition. In the end, under Labor, about 250,000 premises were "connected". Under the MTM process, it is now up to 2.5 million.

Now to speed. The entire underpinning of the Rudd/Conroy blank cheque FttP fantasy was that users would embrace it, flock to it, and use really high speeds. Wrong. Of the 2.5 million eligible households today, about one million are active users. The remainder either dont have or want the internet, or use 4G or ADSL. There is no way the FttP plan could stack up with those connection rates.

And here is the real kicker  of that one million, 33% have opted for the 12Mbps service, 47% are on the 25Mbps service, and the remaining 20% are using 50 or 100Mbps. Look, it is not about speed but need. Netflix addicts are happy with 12-25Mbps at $30-50 per month. As seems to be the case, it is the included data allowance that seems to be the motivation  not so much the speed.

On average Tier 4  50Mbps will cost from $60-90 per months and Tier 5  100Mbps from $70-140 per month. And if you need higher upload speeds or have other needs there are plans for that too.

As Terry MCCrann said of FttP and speeds Its like having a Rolls-Royce in the driveway when most wanted an SUV. As the taxi-driver said, Mate, this election is about food on the table and a debt-free future for the kids  not this NBN rubbish that will all be sorted anyway.

Comment

Everything above the line is fact. Sure, FttP is better if we could afford it. Sure, technology will advance too. There is talk of wireless broadband outperforming fibre, or of community mesh schemes, or ethernet over power, and so many more potential technologies. If I have learned one thing as an IT journalist it is that technical advances never cease to surprise  it is entirely possible that IP networks and every limitation they have will be gone or completely replaced in the next decade.

My advice is that the NBN is not a hot election issue  at least not for the Coalition. If they win, then by 2020 almost everyone will have 12-100Mbps, MTM access. Let's call it a reasonable NBN.

If Labor wins, it will be bound to revisit the FttP process and the question is how much it will cost and how long it will take. Pundits are saying it would extend the rollout by 10 years and bankrupt the country. Not to mention, it's pretty well imposible to unscramble the egg, let alone cancel contracts. I shudder at the thought.

On election day, vote for the party that you have the most confidence in to manage the country, get debt under control, and the one that aligns with your vision for our great country  albeit under threat from New Zealand with its faster broadband and, perhaps, better-looking sheep! There are bigger fish to fry, I say.
An employee of NBN Co, who accompanied the Australian Federal Police during the recent raid on Labor Party functionaries, was allowed take 32 pictures of documents seized.

As reported by iTWire, a formal letter has been sent by Labor shadow defence spokesman Stephen Conroy to the AFP, claiming parliamentary privilege over all documents seized.

A letter from the ALP's lawyers, Galbally & O'Bryan, to the AFP Commander Paul Osborne, cites three individuals as having taken photographs during the raid.

The letter was written by partner Paul Galbally, after a meeting with Osborne, and refers to what they agreed to during the meeting.

Galbally wrote that it had been resolved that the digital photographs taken by Mr [name redacted] and Mr [name redacted] would be put on an USB stick and provided to the Clerk of the Senate.

He then made reference to a Mr S who had taken photographs on a mobile phone, and asked for these to be put on the same USB stick. It was also made clear that they should be deleted from the smartphone on which they were taken - which appears to be an iPhone, as there was a further reference that they should not be stored on iCloud.

The NBN staffer who accompanied the AFP on the raid has been identified as Simon Lee-Steere, NBN Co's general manager for security investigations.

Galbally also wrote that the AFP's technical advisers had said that the images could not be retrieved from the phone.

He wrote that he had been advised during the meeting that Mr S had disseminated the photos he took of documents and said this act was wrong and had the potential to undermine his clients' claim for privilege.

"I would be grateful if you could advise me why Mr S disseminated the documents when a clear claim for privilege had been made and acknowledged by the officers present. Further, under whose authority did he take such action?" Galbally wrote.

Coming as it did during an election campaign, the raid has raised many questions as to the neutrality of the AFP and exactly why NBN Co, a company constructing a public broadband network with no competitors in sight, has a need for commercial confidentiality.
360 video is the next big thing, and 360fly intends to become the generic name  as Kleenex is to tissues  to Go what?.

360fly launched its newest 4K camera to a gaggle of salivating IT journalists and gamers today  it will be available online and in 250 Australian stores including JB Hi-Fi later this week.

360 photography  at least in 360flys case - is about using a single lens and some really smart hardware and software to capture a single, seamless, stitchless, image that is 360 "around" and 240 "over" (or under) the lens. In simple terms, what you could see if you were the Exorcists Linda Blair and could turn your head around 360  minus the goo.

Its motto is "live life uncropped" and if you have ever taken a still picture you will understand that there is so much happening outside the 6x4 photo you captured.

With 360fly, you can place it in the middle of a round table, and it will record video and audio of everything the lens can see. Or attach it to a helmet, bike handlebars, ceiling and more  you need to rethink photography and picture composing because this can do so much more.

It stores this in an editable file that, if you show it on a flat screen  a tablet  it will appear as the whole image "rounded" into one. It has an app to "flatten" that image where it looks like a fisheye lens was used.

Or you can display it via VR  simply put your smartphone into a 360fly VR headset (a kind of upmarket Google Cardboard VR costing A$69) or you can use a Samsung Gear VR headset (and S6/S7/Note 5/6 phone) at $159.

I look forward to reviewing the camera soon  following are a few details.

The 16MP, 4K, 2880 x 2880 pixel, f/2.5, camera looks like a geodesic billiard ball  see the images at the end of the article. At the top is the lens, at the bottom is a standard tripod screw mount (for mounting accessories) and some subtle LED lights to show recording mode, etc.

Inside the non-slip ball are the electronics, 64GB storage, stereo microphones, GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer (motion/audio activate), Wi-Fi N dual band, Bluetooth LE, and 2-hour, 1710mAh battery. It is hardy  water resistant sans "plug" to about 10 metres and droppable from 1.5 metres.

I am not going to kid you  there is a lot happening for $849.95, but if money is an object then its HR 1080p older brother costs about $200 less (and has fewer features). 4K, however, is worth the extra and offers the much needed extra pixels to do so much more.

As first looks I liked:

The elegant simplicity  it is really plug and play

The excellent, easy to use, Android and iOS app as well as Windows and Mac desktop editors

Video is extremely crisp and clear

It can be used as a standard 16:9 video and still camera

It has full and seamless integration with Facebook and YouTube

Accelerometer for motion recording

It is hardy

And the future?

360fly has been a little pre-occupied getting the camera to market  now it is time to flesh out the offerings, and there are some amazing features coming soon via firmware and software.

Additionally, the 360fly 4K camera will offer the following upgraded and advanced features:
The well-meaning advice to not carry a grudge certainly didnt come from anyone whos wrestled with a computer for a living. Toil for anytime with the infernal logic of a programming language and youll know the horrors of the inky void where the worst bugs dwell.

Sure, everyone loves a computer language when they first encounter it. And why wouldnt we, with all those hello world examples that show how powerful the language can be in three lines of code. Programming languages are defined to be implicitly logical, but that doesnt mean they spread logic everywhere they go. A pleasant barkeep may make the lives of everyone at the bar happier. A brave firefighter radiates bravery. But the logical mechanisms of programming languages often breed illogic, confusion, and doubt.

Its not, well, logical to say that languages are -- Spock pause -- illogical, but we say it anyway because we know that logic has its limits. From Godel and Turing, weve learned that logical mechanisms have edges where scary things occur. Sure, maybe its our own fault, we humans, for misusing or misprogramming. But if the programming languages force our brains into weird yoga poses, its hard not to blame them for our ills.

And we often cant do anything about it. The installed base may be too large for us to jettison the language that irks us. The boss may love a stack so much he cant hear the screams coming from the cubicle farms. The cruel truth is that there may be no better options. Were already using the best tools that humans can build.

Following are seven programming languages we love to hate but cant live without.

Language we love to hate: C

There are so many issues with a language that might better be called portable assembler than a full computer language. Does anyone like writing separate header files? Has anyone used the preprocessor for something elaborate without going slightly mad?

In theory, were supposed to be able to use the power of the pointer arithmetic to do superclever feats, but does anyone risk doing more than allocating data structures? Is it even a good idea to be too clever with pointers? Thats how code starts to break. If youre able to be clever, it often requires writing a very long comment to document it, pretty much sucking up all the time you saved being clever. Can anyone remember all the rules for writing C code to avoid adding all the possible security holes, like buffer overruns?

But we have no choice. Unix is written in C, and it runs most cellphones and most of the cloud. Not everyone who writes code for these platforms needs to use C, but someone has to stay current with the asterisks and curly brackets, or else everything will fall apart. Then there are the device drivers and other embedded programs. Someone has to shoulder the load of keeping the Linux/Unix code base moving forward.

Language we love to hate: JavaScript

JavaScripts creators tried to make something modern. Its too bad that in their cleverness theyve forever doomed us to a life of counting curly brackets, square brackets, and parentheses -- while ensuring that theyre properly nested. Between the anonymous functions, the closures, and the JSON data structures, our pinkies get a real workout hitting those keys.

Then there are the weird details. If x is a string that holds the character for 1 , then x+1 will produce the string 11 and x-1 will produce the number zero. Does anyone remember the difference between false , null , NaN , and undefined ? They sound similar, but why does JavaScript have all four of them? And why dont they behave consistently?

It doesnt matter how much we complain. The Internet, the World Wide Web, and a bazillion browsers arent going anywhere. Then the clever Node.js team came along and forced us to write JavaScript on the server. Holding out on principle will last a few seconds until we need to check our email or buy something. Well run JavaScript for a long time.

Language we love to hate: PHP

Its not really a computer language. Its more of a tool for adding a bit of smarts to static HTML. You can store information in a database and concatenate it with static tags. There might be a few more features, but it seems like all we do with PHP is glue together strings we grab from a database.

Arguing about toyish code or baby syntax isnt worth the trouble. Most of the Web is built with PHP. Between WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, most of the content on the Web is delivered through PHP code. Then theres a little thing known as Facebook that was written in PHP and continues to suck up a larger and larger percentage of the time of people on the Web. We should be happy that Facebook built the HipHop Virtual Machine, inspiring Zend to create PHP 7.0. These new PHP engines are often twice as fast, an irresistible speed bump that will save millions in electricity and ensure well write PHP long into the future.

Language we love to hate: Cobol

Cobol began in 1959, long before most of us were born. It should be obsolete with its complex syntax filled with hundreds of restricted words. Yet the Cobol lovers keep generating new versions, borrowing ideas from other languages, and bolting them onto a frame thats almost 60 years old. Did you know theres something called Cobol 2014? It includes dynamic tables, an idea that people have been trying to get into the language since 2002. Thats not all thats new. Did you think it died in the 70s? You are so wrong.

We may have better tools for writing business logic to manipulate databases, but no one seems to bother because its easier to buy a bigger computer and keep the Cobol code running. As I type this, there are 543 jobs listed on Dice.com with the word Cobol in them. There are Cobol jobs in insurance companies and defense contractors everywhere. The early adopters of mainframes still use Cobol -- and get the job done. Computer scientists may recoil in horror, but as long as customers are lining up, the bosses will say, If it aint broke, dont fix it. Just buy another mainframe.

Language we love to hate: XSLT

Everyone starts off loving XSLT, a functional language for transforming XML. Its a clever solution that works very well when you need to extract bits and pieces of large XML documents. But once the boss asks for something more complex than a simple search and replace, the development bogs down. The language is explicitly functional, and soon we discover that when the documentation says variable, it is using the word like an algebra teacher not a programmer. Ponder this Zen-like sentence from XSLT expert Bob DuCharme: XSLT variables actually have a lot more in common with constants in many programming languages and are used for a similar purpose. If you want to use a variable that behaves like a variable in other computer languages -- that is, it can change -- you better be very clever.

XML may be losing ground to more efficient data formats like JSON, but its still a powerful foundation for many big data processors. You dont need to use XSLT. You can always write basic code that parses the text itself. However, writing all that code to parse the XML can be more work than grokking the XSLT structure.

Language we love to hate: Java

The virtual machine and the libraries may date from the 90s, but the syntax is stuck in the 1970s when C was created. The automatic memory management seems like a big step forward until your code decides to take a knee while the garbage collection takes control. The Android developers exchange tips on when to politely request a garbage collection in advance to ensure that the garbage collector doesnt start up in the middle of an important event, like a phone call to 911.

Java programmers have complained for a long time about many issues, some of which have been fixed or at least addressed by Oracle. But this creates a new problem. Some of the newer code and libraries cant work with the old VMs. I spent a day trying to wrangle java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError but could not find a permanent solution. Its almost as if each version of Java after 1.4 is a different language.

None of these issues matter. Java is a foundation for the Web and mobile phones. Its the first language taught in many high schools. The collection of libraries is deeper and more valuable than almost any other language. Why would anything use anything else?

Language we love to hate: Python

Its a modern language that the younger kids dig. The punctuation is sparse, and the code looks a bit cleaner. Whats not to love? Well, theres the gap between Python 2.7 and 3.0. It was the only choice they had for moving the language forward, but the leap is large enough that you need to keep track of which syntax youre using. We will forever be checking to see which version of Python is installed.

And how many people like counting all of the spaces used to indent blocks of code? Counting curly brackets is painful, but counting whitespace requires a monospace editor.

None of this matters because the soft science crowd has fallen for Python with all the warm, fuzzy emotions that kept them out of the hard sciences. Biologists and economists think Python is the only thing. Some even propose requiring Python code in new prospectuses for stocks and bonds so that investment bankers will be able to bamboozle us with Python instead of fractured lawyer-speak.

The good news is that Its easier to read Python than the so-called English coming from the fingers of lawyers. Thats an improvement -- even if it means counting all of those spaces. The bandwagon has left the station, and its full of soft scientists.

Related articles
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lashed out at the H-1B visa program Tuesday while campaigning in Anaheim, Calif., the home of Disneyland. He drew attention to Disney's layoff of about 250 IT workers last year after the firm brought in technology contractors that rely heavily on visa users.

Sanders was seizing the opportunity of talking about Disney to a crowd of people that included its employees. But it may well have been an effort to force the visa issue in advance of the California primary on June 7.

Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, who, along with Sanders, is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, has been silent on the H-1B issue during this campaign. Her lack of comment was seen as a tacit sign of support for the visa in an op-ed that appeared this month in the Economic Times, a Mumbai, India-based newspaper.

"Disney replaced 250 workers with low-wage foreign workers who came in what is called the H-1B program," said Sanders, to the affirming cheers of the crowd in Anaheim. (Video segment begins at about 23:50).

"So in order to save money, what they did is replace workers," said Sanders. "They got rid of them and brought in other people and had the tech workers train the other people."

It will be hard to avoid the high-skilled immigration issue in California. It's a top policy issue for Silicon Valley's tech giants. But the state is also the home of some high-profile displacements, notably Southern California Edison's use of H-1B contractors and the subsequent cutting of some 500 IT workers. The parent company of the Los Angeles Times, a critic of Edison and the H-1B program, has since hired one of the same India-based contractors the utility used. The newspaper chain's IT employees are training their replacements.

Meanwhile, Sanders highlighted Disney CEO Robert Iger's 2014 total compensation of $46.5 million (It was $44.9 million in 2015) to illustrate a disparity in the workplace.

"That's what we're talking about in a rigged economy," said Sanders, "people working at very low wages while the people on top are doing phenomenally well."

Iger is co-chair of the Partnership for a New American Economy, an organization that advocates for increasing the H-1B visa cap.

If Clinton doesn't raise the issue in the California primary, it's likely that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, will bring it up in the months ahead. Trump sketched out a visa reform position early in the campaign, and has the backing U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of the program's top legislative critics.

Disney, in an email response to Sanders comments, said it rehired more than 100 people impacted by our parks IT reorganization, have hired more than 170 other U.S. IT workers roles and are currently recruiting candidates to fill more than 100 IT positions.



This is not a new statement by Disney. Former IT workers at the company have previously said that rehires could have been for other jobs at Disney, not necessarily IT. Its claim that it is recruiting for 100 IT positions doesnt address the complaint that Disney used H-1B contractors to lay off IT workers.
Last week, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission called cybersecurity the biggest risk facing the global financial industry.

"Cyber risks can produce far-reaching impacts," said SEC chair Mary Jo White.

For example, cybercriminals recently stole $81 million from a bank in Bangladesh by using Swift, the global money transfer network.

The SEC promises to step up regulation and Swift itself is expected to launch a new cyber security initiative this week that includes independent security audits of its customers. Meanwhile, top finance officials from G-7 nations met in Japan to discuss plans to improve global cybersecurity coordination.

It's a historic moment for global financial cybersecurity, said Tom Kellermann, CEO at Washington, DC-based Strategic Cyber Ventures and former member of the World Bank's security team. A decade ago, he wrote a prescient report for the World Bank outlying potential cyber risks that was ignored by many financial companies.

"They pooh-poohed the reality, that this would never be a wide-spread problem," he said. "But the criminals have caught up to the worst-case scenario espoused in that report and have operationalized them."

But three aspects of the financial system will make improving security more difficult, experts say. One is that the security of the system as a whole depends on its weakest member, who may be located anywhere in the world. Second, some victims might not even be aware they were hacked. And, finally, the move to real-time processing reduces some of the checks and balances that used to be in place.

Who's the weakest link?

The global financial system is highly interconnected but the level of security varies significantly among the member organizations, said Vikram Bhat, principal and Global Financial Services Leader, Deloitte Advisory Cyber Risk Services at Deloitte & Touche LLP.

"The bad actors work through the weakest link in that ecosystem," he said. "The institutions that don't have cyber programs up to the level that they should be need to be shored up."

And it's not just financial organizations that are potential targets. These organizations use outside vendors for everything from legal and marketing services to trade processing.

"They often outsource all kinds of activities by giving outside parties a real-time way to access internal systems," said Gary Roboff, senior adviser at Santa Fe Group. "If systems aren't properly segregated, once somebody is in the system, they can access all kinds of data."

Banks, particularly large global banks, typically have the strongest cybersecurity.

But according to a KPMG survey released today, 12 percent of CEOs of large banks didn't know whether they were hacked in the past two years, and neither did 47 percent of vice president and managing directors, and 72 percent of senior vice president and directors.

This awareness gap makes security less of a priority for the bank as a whole, and creates vulnerabilities, wrote Jitendra Sharma, KPMGs Advisory Line of Business Leader for Financial Services.

Hacked? Who, me?

For some cybercriminals, a few million dollars is chump change. They've figured out how to make a lot more and not even be noticed.

"If you had the capacity to transfer 10 million out of an account that's one thing," said Keillermann. "But if you understand the position a major brokerage house will take in the market is much more lucrative."

The recent financial recession left many financial experts unemployed, and some of them found a new calling educating cybercriminals about front running and market manipulation.

A criminal who gets into a firm's system and finds trades that are scheduled to occur at a certain time, for example, can get to the market early and make a killing.

The cybercriminals pass the information to investors, who are often overseas. Regulators don't notice, or put the results down to luck, especially because there's no visible connection between the investors and the financial company.

And the victimized firm might never know it was hit, since the only thing that happens is they make less money than they hoped.

"They expected to make a multiple of five, and they only make a multiple of three," he said.

It's hard for a company to make big investments in cybersecurity when there are no visible losses.

"There's an awareness in the criminal community that these private equity firms and hedge funds have weak technology infrastructure," said Kellermann. "And with straight-through processing and transactions happening in real time, it's very difficult to stop yourself from being front-run if you've already allocated the transaction, so this has become a systemic risk issue."

Who's watching the numbers?

Algorithmic trading is another tool that allows Wall Street firms to eke out every penny that they can from every transactions. And those pennies, or even fractions of pennies, add up quickly, so firms are in a race to be the first to make the trade.

Clearing houses and other intermediaries do their best to reduce the processing time to a minimum in order to attract and keep customers, who are also increasingly price sensitive.

"They've been trying to cut costs and automate as much as possible," said Justin Harvey, chief security officer at Fidelis Cybersecurity.

That doesn't leave much time to examine individual transactions, and it might be time to take a step back, he said.

"It doesn't have to be every single transaction, but you'd think that for an $81 million transaction someone would be looking at it," he said. "I know it costs more money, but I don't know of any other institution that would process that large amount of money without a second or third level of scrutiny."
Debugging code is a perennial headache for software developers, but scientists have announced a new technique that could make the process significantly easier.

Developed at MITs Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the University of Maryland, the method essentially bridges the gap between the traditional technique of symbolic execution and today's modern software, making it possible to debug code far more efficiently.

Symbolic execution is a software-analysis technique that can be used to locate and repair bugs automatically by tracing out every path a program might take during execution. The problem is, that technique doesn't tend to work well with applications written using todays programming frameworks.

That's because modern applications generally import functions from those frameworks, which include huge libraries of frequently reused code. Analyzing just the application itself might not be a problem, but the process becomes prohibitively time-consuming if the analyzer also has to evaluate every possible instruction for, say, adding a button to a window, including the position of the button on the screen, its movement when a user scrolls up and down, the way it changes appearance when its pressed, and so on.

Forty years ago, if you wanted to write a program, you went in, you wrote the code, and basically all the code you wrote was the code that executed, said Armando Solar-Lezama, an associate professor at MIT, whose group led the work. Today, you go and bring in these huge frameworks and these huge pieces of functionality that you then glue together, and you write a little code to get them to interact with each other. If you dont understand what that big framework is doing, youre not even going to know where your program is going to start executing.

To get around the problem, computer scientists often go through a time-consuming and error-prone process of creating models of the imported libraries that describe their interactions with new programs but dont require their code to be evaluated line by line. In the new study, presented last week at the International Conference on Software Engineering, the researchers created a system that constructs those models automatically.

Dubbed Pasket, the system produced promising results.

"The scalability of Pasket is impressive -- in a few minutes, it synthesized nearly 2,700 lines of code," said Rajiv Gupta, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California at Riverside. "Moreover, the generated models compare favorably with manually created ones."
Some U.S. government agencies are using IT systems running Windows 3.1, the decades-old COBOL and Fortran programming languages, or computers from the 1970s.

A backup nuclear control messaging system at the U.S. Department of Defense runs on an IBM Series 1 computer, first introduced in 1976, and uses eight-inch floppy disks, while the Internal Revenue Service's master file of taxpayer data is written in assembly language code that's more than five decades old, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Some agencies are still running Windows 3.1, first released in 1992, as well as the newer but unsupported Windows XP, Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, noted during a Wednesday hearing on outdated government IT systems.

The government is spending more than US$80 billion a year on IT, and "it largely doesn't work," Chaffetz said during a House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. "The federal government is years, and sometimes decades, behind the private sector."

U.S. agencies now spend about spend about 75 percent of their IT budgets maintaining existing or legacy systems, with only about 25 percent going toward procuring new systems, said Dave Powner, director of IT management issues at the GAO.

The GAO told lawmakers that the Department of Veterans Affairs' payroll system and its benefits delivery network is written in COBOL, a programming language dating back to the 1950s, as is the Department of Justice's federal inmate tracking system and the Social Security Administration's retirement benefits system.

Committee members pushed tech officials from three agencies to update their IT systems. Agencies are working to modernize, but in some cases, the old systems still work and are low on the priority lists, the agency representatives said.

For example, the DOD's Strategic Automated Command and Control System for nuclear forces, running on an IBM Series 1, is a "tertiary" system that maintains 99.99 percent uptime, said Terry Halvorsen, CIO for the agency. The system is slated for replacement, but not until year three of a five-year modernization plan, he said.

Budget cuts in recent years have also slowed agencies' ability to update their IT systems, added Terry Milholland, CTO at the IRS. The IRS has about 650 fewer IT workers now than it did in 2011, said Representative Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat.

Republican committee members questioned the impact of recent budget cuts. In the early to mid-2000s, the IRS received significant budget increases, said Representative Mick Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican.

"When you're still using technology and computer systems from the '70s and the '80s, this is not a problem that started in 2012," he added. "How can you really sit here and tell us this is money?"

Several committee Democrats called on Congress to pass the Information Technology Modernization Act, a bill that would establish a $3.1 billion rotating fund to help agencies update their IT systems. An independent panel would review agency fund requests, and agencies would be required to pay back the money after their projects are complete and they presumably achieve cost savings.

The GAO's Powner also noted agencies could see more cost savings by continuing to consolidate data centers, an effort ongoing in President Barack Obama's administration since 2010. While agencies have closed about 3,100 data centers, another 10,500 remain in operation, he said.

Closing an additional 2,000 data centers, in some cases moving to the cloud, could save $5.4 billion, he said. "We need to definitely get more modern," he said.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's decision to use a private email server ran afoul of the government's IT security and record retention requirements, according to a report by the department's inspector general released today.

This use of a private email server did not go unnoticed within the Department of State's IT department. Two IT staff members who raised concerns about Clinton's use of a private server were told not speak of it.

Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 and during that period she used a private email server in her New York home.

This report by the Department of State's Inspector General about Clinton's use of a private server makes clear that rules and regulations were not followed. It says that Clinton would not have received approval for this server had she sought it.

Clinton had an obligation, according to this report, to consult with the IT department, which is called the Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM).

Investigators said in 2010 two IT staff members "each discussed their concerns about Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email account in separate meetings" with a top-level IT official.

They were told the director stated that the mission of the Executive Secretariat, Office of Information Resources Management "is to support the Secretary and (an official) instructed the staff never to speak of the secretary's personal email system again." The people involved in these discussions were not identified.

The IT staff members were told "that the secretary's personal system had been reviewed and approved by department legal staff and that the matter was not to be discussed any further." But the inspector general "found no evidence" that a department legal adviser reviewed or approved Clinton's personal email system.

The report also found "no evidence that the secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server."

According to the current CIO, the report said, "Secretary Clinton had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business with their offices, who in turn would have attempted to provide her with approved and secured means that met her business needs."

However, the report notes, according to these officials, The Bureau of Diplomatic Security and IRM "did not -- and would not --approve her exclusive reliance on a personal email account to conduct Department business, because of the restrictions in the FAM [Foreign Affairs Manual] and the security risks in doing so."

The problem of not involving IT in the decision-making seems obvious. In a footnote, the report relays this security incident:

"On May 13, 2011, two of Secretary Clinton's immediate staff discussed via email the Secretary's concern that someone was "hacking into her email" after she received an email with a suspicious link. Several hours later, Secretary Clinton received an email from the personal account of then-Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs that also had a link to a suspect website. The next morning, Secretary Clinton replied to the email with the following message to the Under Secretary: "Is this really from you? I was worried about opening it!"

The issue with this, the report explained, was multifaceted. "Department policy requires employees to report cybersecurity incidents to IRM security officials when any improper cyber-security practice comes to their attention... Notification is required when a user suspects compromise of, among other things, a personally owned device containing personally identifiable information... However, OIG found no evidence that the Secretary or her staff reported these incidents to computer security personnel or anyone else within the Department."
Here we have a good candidate for this year's Father's Day gift, either for yourself or a dad you know. This handy gadget is a 600A portable power supply capable of charging your laptops, tablets and phones. However, this one can also boost most cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles and tractors as well. The Rugged Geek INTELLIBOOST is truly designed for all of the critical batteries in your life. In an emergency, just connect the included jumper cables and attach to your vehicle's dead battery. It will start gas engines up to 6.0l and diesel engines up to 3.0l. It also features 2 USB Charging ports to charge your devices, a laptop charging port with 8 included laptop tips, and a powerful LED flashlight with emergency modes. All while maintaining a footprint similar in size to most smartphones, and a weight of under 1 pound. It currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 140 reviewers, many of which have posted videos of themselves successfully boosting their own vehicles including a 6.0l Cadillac (see reviews). With a regular price of $199.99, this 55% off deal puts it at just $89.99. Jump over to Amazon for more information and to explore buying options.

This story, "55% off Rugged Geek Portable Power Supply and Vehicle Jump Starter - Deal Alert" was originally published by TechConnect .
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.
Library bond unanimously approved Voters waited in line for 45 minutes Tuesday to participate in an eight-minute meeting that resulted in the unanimous approval of a $600,000 bond to help renovate the North Road...

Ferryboat business told to halt operations The ferryboat company operating from the municipally owned docks at East Ferry is illegally using that space, according to correspondence mailed to business owner Bill Munger. Town Administrator Jamie Hainsworth...

A DOGGONE NEW BUSINESS A former business that used to clean peoples clothes is reopening as a groomer to tidy up the fur of those peoples four-legged companions. The defunct laundromat at the McQuades...
What is a Jew? Israeli museum attempts an answer

JERUSALEMI was on a short visit to Israel and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli...

When anti-Semitism rears its head, we must be ready to fight it

Anti-Semitism is a force that is persistent as well as pernicious. When it occurs, it must be fought both by being confronted in real time...
Leadership communication skills are important not only for leaders but for their teams as well. It's imperative in both giving details on what you want to achieve and motivating your members on how to attain it.

Brent Gleeson, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Internet Marketing Inc. (IMI), wrote an article for Forbes about ways to improve one's leadership communication skills. As a Navy SEAL combat veteran, he revealed the three things that they need to do to be effective operators: Move, Shoot and Communicate.

According to Gleeson, communication is of utmost importance. He added that it is vital that leaders understand that their position is a privilege.

Moreover, communication is so much more than the words said. It is also about engaging your listener's emotions. Gleeson shared five tips on how we can improve our leadership communication skills.

First, he advised that leaders need to be present. Engage with your audience regardless of what you are talking about. Whether it's a casual chat with a colleague or a client call with team members, you need to be actively present in the moment.

Another effective leadership communication skill is to ask the right questions. This will usually result to productive and intelligent communication between you and your team.

Third, Gleeson urged leaders to speak less and listen more. Tech Republic offered the same advice when it wrote about putting yourself in your recipient's shoes to make sure that you use the right language to express your message.

Fourth, know your emotional intelligence and work on it. The former Navy SEAL combatant explained that incorporating emotional intelligence is not "softer-side leadership." Be self-aware, disciplined and empathetic on yourself and towards your team.

Fifth, choose to be calm and positive. "Calm is contagious. And so is panic," he wrote. Gleeson added that effective leadership communication is less about the words we say but more on body language, tone and delivery.
"Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. is known as one of the world's highest-paid actors. He is also said to be one of the best of his generation.

In GQ's feature, the "Avengers" star talked about "Iron Man" and what his younger self would think about the film. Downey Jr. also gave his advice to young actors aiming to achieve his level of success.

"Well, first of all, back then, the reference would have been Christopher Reeve. And Michael Keaton," he said. "So I'd have been somewhere in the middle of either having a judgment on it or saying, 'All right, cool people are doing it.' But I know that I must have read those comics before, or they were in the atmosphere."

"If you always talk about all the cool stuff you're gonna do, and you don't understand why it hasn't already happened for you, because, you know [snaps fingers]," he added. "The fumes of that will get you over the first hurdle, and nothing else. You must learn to put your nose to the grindstone for years and not look up, no matter how much rejection is heaped on you."

When asked on which movie set he had the most fun, Robert Downey Jr. admitted that his movies with Marvel were great. He also enjoyed 2008 action comedy film "Tropic Thunder."

"The first 'Iron Man' was great. Third 'Iron Man' was great," the actor told the publication. "As a matter of fact, you know what? 'Captain America: Civil War' was a blast."

"[On 'Civil War'] we happened to be, by our own volition, shooting on what must have been one of the three hottest tarmacs in the history of North America, all suited up, just going, 'This is crazy! We shouldn't be outside!' And there was something so funny about it."

"Captain America: Civil War" effects supervisor Dan DeLeeuw told The Wrap about how Robert Downey Jr. worked twice as hard for the part where Tony Stark's younger and older self were in one frame. "It's even more difficult watching him do it," he added.
Recent Verizon strike 2016 rumors claimed that the company is in dire need of temporary workers. This comes after nearly 40,000 employees walked off their jobs last Apr. 13.

Motherboard reported that the company has announced an urgent call for temporary employees as the Verizon strike 2016 continues on its seventh week. It has put up ads for Temporary Service Technicians for Massachusetts, New York and Virginia, among others.

"Verizon is hiring full-time temporary Technicians to replace those employees who are on strike," the company wrote in a job post. "Technicians are the people who keep our fiber-optic network rolling."

"Develop your skills and gain hands-on experience. You'll be out and about in the neighborhoods we serve, installing, testing, repairing and maintaining the technology that keeps millions of customers connected."

The Verizon strike 2016 began last month when about 40,000 workers protested the terms of the new contract given by the company. They are being represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

The protesters argued that Verizon wants to freeze pensions, slash benefits as well as outsource their jobs to Mexico, Philippines and India. Unions also claimed that the telecommunications company has refused to improve wages, benefits and working conditions.

According to Montclair Patch, union leaders emphasized that the average salary of Verizon strike 2016 participants is about $74,000 a year. This is far off from the company's claim of more than $130,000 a year.

As the Verizon strike 2016 escalates, the company is aggressively looking for temporary workers to repair pole attachments, customer equipment and phones. There are service interruptions also need to be solved.

"Verizon's attempt to hire thousands of scabs is an assault on the middle class," Dan Cantor, national director of the Working Families Party, told the publication by email. "The company is tremendously profitable, but they want to carve more away from working people, just because they can. It's unacceptable."
It's happening yet again. It's nothing were unfamiliar with. It's the age-old exchange between claims of UFO sightings and official denials of such claims.

This time around it's another alleged sighting of a hovering Unidentified Flying Obect (UFO) near the International Space Station (ISS).

UFO enthusiasts believe that such footage indicates heavy UFO traffic near the station. Conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, believe that NASA shuts down the live stream from the station whenever sightings occur to cover up such incidents.

NASA, after having given a statement to explain such sightings, is still nonetheless challenged by UFO Hunter and UFO Sightings Daily among other UFO hunters on what they claim to be one of the best sightings near the station.

NASA, once again, denies such claims explaining such sightings as mere reflections from the station's windows, overhanging portions of the facility or lights from Earth. Skeptics of such sightings tend to agree, dismissing sightings as Russian spacecraft, supply modules or other equipment from the station itself.

The sightings continue as the denials. The questions shall keep coming and so shall the explanations - with both sides getting better and more creative at it. And so shall it continue.

Claims, Denials. Thrust, Parry. The duel continues.
Email

Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday.
GREENSBORO  It's a father's nightmare come to life: watching the man with whom his then- 11-year-old daughter was last seen meet police at the front door of a stranger's house sweating with his pants unzipped.

That father testified in front of a 12-member jury Wednesday in Guilford County Superior Court that that is how he and Greensboro police officers found Ronnie Lee Ford, 52, of 1025 W. Barton St. in Greensboro on Dec. 16, 2013  the day that man's daughter went missing.

Ford is on trial this week on charges of first-degree sex offense, sex offense with a child, sex offense of a minor, attempted sex offense with a minor and first-degree kidnapping.

After the father's testimony Wednesday morning, he endured watching Moses Cone Health Systems forensic nurse and medical examiner Jackie Perkins hold up photographs of his daughter's injuries from the alleged sexual assault and read statements she took from the young girl the day of the assault.

Family members encouraged the father to leave the courtroom as he closed his eyes and tried to hold back tears, but he refused.

The News & Record is not naming the victim's parents because doing so could identify the child. The News & Record does not identify child victims of sexual assault cases.

Wednesday morning's testimonies were full of emotion.

The victim's father listened as his wife testified that Ford told her he needed help to pick up a mountain of gifts from a Walmart on Wendover Avenue and asked her to meet Ford and his wife at the store. She said Ford also asked her to leave her 11-year-old daughter at his apartment to babysit Ford's 2-year-old son and the girl's 2-year-old brother.

She said she agreed and left to meet the couple, believing Ford was five minutes behind her.

She testified that after an hour, when neither showed up at Walmart, she asked the store's customer service department to verify Ford's purchases at both that store and one nearby, but employees told her the orders never had been placed.

She told jurors she raced back and found Ford's apartment empty, except for her 2-year-old son, who was looking terrified and had tears dried to his face.

"Fear hit me," she told the jurors. "I thought, 'This is crazy.' I thought he did something to my daughter and she was cowering scared somewhere."

She told the jury she searched the apartment looking for her daughter, and when she couldn't find her, she ran to her husband, who was sick in bed at their nearby apartment, and told him their daughter was missing.

"My baby wasn't there," the father said.

Greensboro Police Officer R.P Uzenski testified Tuesday afternoon that he found the couple's daughter naked and shoved into trash bags in a bedroom closet of a house, where the girl's parents and the police found Ford after being told that a neighbor had taken him and a girl to that address.

Ford's defense attorney, Robert McClellan, asked the father if he was still angry at Ford.

"Wouldn't you be?" the father said, his voice rising with each syllable. "Wouldn't you be?"

He calmed down for a minute before answering, "Absolutely."

The trial recessed at 12:30 p.m. and is set to resume at 2 p.m.
All Politics Blog From Milwaukee, Madison and beyond, a daily dose of political news and glimpses behind the scenes SHARE

By of the

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and County Executive Chris Abele were among a group of Wisconsin officials who traveled to Washington, D.C., Tuesday for a gun violence prevention meeting hosted by the White House.

The event, part of President Barack Obama's initiative to combat gun violence and increase mental health treatment, featured a speech by Vice President Joe Biden.

Tuesday's meeting included governors, attorneys general, state lawmakers, city and county officials and tribal leaders from around the country. Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, state Sen. Chris Larson and state Rep. Mandela Barnes were also in attendance.

"This was an effort to deal with state and local leaders, as to how they can be part of the solution," Barrett said.

The mayor praised efforts to combat gun violence in places like Connecticut, while criticizing moves to ease gun control laws in Wisconsin.

"It was in stark contrast to Wisconsin, where we're seeing our police now seizing more guns off the streets since the Legislature and the governor loosened up gun regulations in the state," Barrett said.

Abele had similar praise for the City of Boston and its mayor, Martin Walsh, calling it one of the "stand out success stories."

Last year, Boston launched a study tracing data from crime guns recovered by the Boston Police Department and has been working with others in the area to reduce trafficking of illegal firearms.

Barrett previously traveled to D.C. in January to attend the president's speech unveiling his gun violence prevention plans.

In that speech, Obama said he would use his presidential powers in the absence of legal changes he has been calling on Congress to pass. Obama also accused the gun lobby of taking Congress hostage, and urged lawmakers to do something to tackle the frequency of mass shootings in the U.S. that he said had become "the new normal."
UW-La Crosse chancellor Joe Gow, shown speaking during a UW Board of Regents meeting last year, says he has withdrawn his name for consideration to become president at Northern State University in South Dakota. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

School Zone The Journal Sentinel education reporters offer news and notes from their beat SHARE

By of the

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow is staying.

Gow sent an email to the campus community Tuesday night after traveling to Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., where he was one of three finalists for the job of university president, according to the La Crosse Tribune.

Gow withdrew his name from consideration after interviewing with the Board of Regents and members of the campus community, the newspaper reported.

Gow has been chancellor of UW-La Crosse since 2007, and currently is the longest-serving chancellor in the UW System. Half of the 14 chancellors in the UW System have held their posts for less than three years.
Milwaukee Made Jerry Lynn's blog is part of our Purple Wisconsin project. Lynn is a Democrat who views political issues through a Milwaukee lens filtered by his hometown values. SHARE

By

When I was a kid I asked my moderately Republican dad what he thought when the candidate he supported lost an election. His answer echoes a way that many people feel about partisan politics. He said, Whether the President is a Republican or a Democrat I still need to go to work, you still need to go school, and we wont experience big changes in our day to day lives. Usually, thats true. Republican or Democrat, many people are just trying to deal with the daily challenges and struggles of their own lives.

I realize today that part of that feeling stemmed from being a white man working a stable, middle class job and raising a family in a safe neighborhood. But that was also a time when party politics were not as polarized. Politicians were not so divided that compromise was synonymous with selling out. Elections were not decided in primary contests where candidates imposed ideological purity tests on one another. The leaders of the opposition party in Washington didnt make blanket proclamations to obstruct the agenda of the democratically elected President. And Donald Trump wasnt the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

Over the last few years, my dad grew sick of watching Republican candidates base their entire platforms on who was the most conservative or who would compromise less with the other party. My dad cares about the environment, as many dads do, and he got tired of hearing Republicans deny global warming . More and more, issues began popping up where he just felt that the Republican stance was too hard lined, too conservative, or just flat wrong.

As his views evolved, he supported Tammy Baldwin over the former governor that he had once helped elect. He had enough with the current governor and supported Mary Burke. Now, he is looking forward to casting his ballot for a woman whose husband he voted against in the 90s.

He and I dont agree on everything but the causes that we share are enough to vote the same way. Today, the issue at the top of our agenda is stopping Trump.

The Republican Party has reached a boiling point and effectively nominated a candidate who has made it impossible for many moderate Republicans to support the party they once felt aligned with. Even Mitt Romney said, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence.

If you cannot support Trump, if you believe that the Republican Party has driven too far to the right, if you believe that our elected officials should prioritize working together over ideological purity then this is an invitation for you to support a Democrat in 2016.

I get it. Youve probably never voted for a Democrat in your life. Thats okay! There is a first for everything.

You probably never thought of yourself as a liberal. No problem! You dont need to be liberal to think that things like protecting the environment is important, that we dont need a wall on our southern border to reform immigration, and that we dont need to denounce an entire faith to keep our country safe from foreign threats.

You possibly heard that Democrats arent true patriots. Youre wrong. I hang a flag on my house because I love this country. I recognize that patriotism means different things to different people. Sometimes it means embracing the changes and challenges of modern society. Despite our problems, America is better today than it has ever been and we can all support that. But that progress doesnt mean that the wrong president could bring back the worst policies of our past. Loving your country does not mean denying that in our past the government made some decisions that hurt people. No matter the situation, we dont need to make America flawed again to be patriots.

You might not have any friends who are Democrats. Well, consider me your first! Not all Democrats wear berets and spend their time extolling the virtues of veganism. In fact, not including our shared eating habits, Im sure that there is more that unites us than divides us. At the very least, we share a mutual opposition to reality TV egomaniacs running for president.

You may never vote for a Democrat again. I hope that you do, but no pressure! At least this time you wont be voting for a reckless billionaire who is openly supported by white supremacists.

You may still want to support some local Republicans, but if Trumpism scares you, be careful. The local politicians who support Trump are exposing their political opportunism. They are saying that they would rather sacrifice their ideals than protect their party and their country from the toxic rhetoric of their nominee. The alternatives to Trumps elected supporters want to hear what you have to say and they want to back you up for not supporting Trump at any level of government.

Take it from my dad, who said that for this election, it does matter who wins. It will affect our day to day lives. Trumps rhetoric inspires violence in his supporters. His behavior is unbecoming of the nations highest office. His proposals will negatively affect the lives of millions of Americans. His foreign policy positions are dangerous and threaten to the core Americas standing in the world.

The alternative might mean voting for someone you never imagined supporting. You might feel forced to vote for someone whose policies are too liberal or whose supporters have nothing in common with you. You might feel alone. But youre not. We are here with you. We understand what you are going through and want to support your decisions.

Democrats everywhere are extending an open invitation to all of you who dont support Trump. We are here with open arms. Dont worry, we dont bite. Welcome to the party. Stay as long as you want.



Editor's Note: Purple Wisconsin is a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum. The Journal Sentinel hosts these blogs as a way to encourage thoughtful debate about the important issues facing Wisconsin and the Milwaukee region. The opinions voiced here are those of the individual bloggers alone; they are responsible for their posts. The Journal Sentinel does not edit or direct the bloggers in any fashion.
SHARE

By ,

U.S. airlines and airports are spending millions of dollars on added workers to avoid a repeat of long security lines, as the coming Memorial Day weekend kicks off what is expected to be a record year for summer travel.

"We are concerned for this weekend, where we'll see higher than normal flight loads," said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines Group Inc. "That will just continue into June and pretty much all the way to September."

American, Delta and United Airlines will spend as much as $4 million each for extra workers at their busiest airports to help manage lines and shuffle bins at checkpoints  freeing up Transportation Security Administration officers to focus on screening. Carriers and airports also are diverting some of their own employees to take the load off TSA staff.

The efforts follow waits of as much as three hours in security lines starting last month that caused thousands of travelers to miss flights and led to hearings in Congress this week on the agency's woes. Summer air travel is forecast to climb 4% this year to a record 231.1 million passengers, according to the Airlines for America trade group.

At Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, staffers are closely watching the security line situation, said Pat Rowe, marketing director for the airport.

While summer travel in the U.S. is expected to reach a record, Mitchell International's traditional peak travel period  spring break  has already passed.

In terms of adding employees to help passengers navigate security lines, Mitchell's market share leader Southwest Airlines already has employees who help direct travelers at the entrance to the Concourse C security area.

A summer internship program at the airport also will create the opportunity to have additonal workers available to help guide travelers through security lines if needed, Rowe said.

U.S. travelers are being lured to the skies by relatively low air fares. In addition, inexpensive gasoline makes driving more attractive. AAA, the auto club, predicts that more than 38 million Americans will travel by air and road this weekend, which would be the second-highest volume on record and the most since 2005.

Yet 22% of 2,500 people surveyed said long airport lines would prompt them to avoid air travel or delay their trips, according to research conducted last week by the U.S. Travel Association. The lost travel spending would total $4.3 billion from June through August, the industry group said.

The TSA advises passengers to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours in advance for international travel, and the busiest airports are the most vulnerable to delays. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Los Angeles International, Chicago's O'Hare International, Dallas-Fort Worth International and New York's John F. Kennedy International are the five busiest U.S. airports, according to Airlines for America.

American, Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. each are spending about $4 million at their busiest hubs to assist TSA agents, in part by hiring contract workers. JetBlue Airways Corp. also is hiring third-party staff, while Southwest Airlines Co. and other carriers are assigning some of their own employees to help expedite security lines.

"At this point it's all hands on deck, and we're thinking about everything we can do to help our customers make their flights on time," Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly told reporters last week.

Airlines may hold flights to allow passengers time to clear security and prioritize travelers in lines according to scheduled departure times.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is spending $3.3 million to hire 90 contract workers to help manage security lines through September.Charlotte Douglas International Airport has contracted for more than 30 workers who will checkcarry-on bag sizes and boarding passes and direct travelers to shorter lines. The $1 million annual cost is being paid by carriers, according to an airport spokeswoman.

Other airports are making similar arrangements, Kevin Burke, president of the Airports Council International-North America trade group, told reporters on Monday.

"It's voluntary and it's temporary," he said. "It's really not the role of airport workers to do the TSA's job. We need to get through this."

Security lapses by the agency last year sparked criticism from lawmakers and the TSA's Inspector General. That prompted the agency to allow fewer people into streamlined security lanes and to search all passengers more carefully. Such moves and declining numbers of screeners combined to make lines longer.

On Monday, the TSA ousted its security chief, and a push is under way to persuade Congress to increase funding to hire 5,400 agents that the agency has said are needed to reach full staffing. TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger is appearing before a House committee on Wednesday to address ways to shorten lines.

"TSA officers are doing a great job, there just aren't enough of them," said Christopher Bidwell, vice president for security at the airports council. "That's the bottom line."
SHARE

By of the

A Pewaukee man first investigated 18 months ago has been charged with stealing trade secrets from Rockwell Automation, where he was employed as a software engineer.

Tan Liu, 45, is the third Chinese citizen charged by the FBI with taking proprietary information from major Milwaukee area employers since 2013.

A federal indictment issued Tuesday charges Liu with six counts of stealing trade secrets in 2014 and six counts of possessing those secrets, about new Rockwell products then in development. It was unclear Tuesday whether he was in custody.

Darice Brown, external communications director for Rockwell, said the company doesn't believe the stolen information ever made it into the wrong hands.

"We take very seriously the trust placed in us by our customers, investors and employees to safeguard intellectual property," Brown said. "No confidential customer information" was lost.

Rockwell, which employs some 20,000 people, makes control and information devices used in a variety of industries worldwide. The company told the FBI in 2014 that it had invested more than $100 million in the new products it expected to be worth billions to the company

According to federal court records, Liu informed Rockwell on Nov. 4, 2014, that he was resigning to take a job with a Colorado company. Liu, who had permanent U.S. resident status, had been working as a senior embedded software engineer since at least March.

According to his online resume, Liu earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Tianjin University in China, and two master's degrees, one in computer science, from Kansas State University. He lists work in the software field in the Milwaukee area starting in 2004.

Because Liu had access to critical company information, Rockwell immediately did an audit and discovered Liu had copied more than 3,500 files to a flash drive, most of them in the preceding 60 days, another 1,300 between March and August 2014.

The files included code and designs for next-generation, unreleased Rockwell products.

Liu admitted to Rockwell officials that he had copied the files, despite rigorous protocols against the practice, and having access to a company notebook computer so he could access files directly through the company's secure network without having to copy files to portable storage devices.

He told Rockwell he needed the files for his job interview at the Colorado company, but also said the company did not compete with Rockwell and that he did not give the files to anyone else.

Though Liu offered to turn over a flash drive and 2 terabyte external hard drive on which he said he copied the files, Rockwell contacted the FBI, which obtained a warrant to search Liu's Pewaukee home Nov. 6, and seize other computer and digital storage equipment.

The warrant, which had been filed under seal, suggests that investigators believed others may have been engaged with Liu in the theft of trade secrets. No one else is named in Tuesday's indictment.

Days before Liu said he was leaving Rockwell, another Chinese engineer had pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing trade secrets from a GE Health Care subsidiary.

Liu's online profile indicates he formerly worked for GE Health Care several years before joining Rockwell.

In 2013, a Chinese cancer researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin was charged with economic espionage before later pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Jake Buttles, owner of a custom manure-hauling operation in Manawa, uses a service called Farmobile on his iPad to monitor the machinery used by his employees. Modern agriculture, like other industries, has become plugged into the world of big data. Credit: Mark Hoffman

By of the

As Wisconsin farmers plant crops this spring, perched in the cabs of big tractors rolling through their fields, the words "capturing data" probably wouldn't be used to describe the bucolic scene.

Yet increasingly, that is what's happening as farmers monitor in real time the planting and harvesting of their crops  capturing data that is analyzed for the purpose of boosting production and profits.

Modern agriculture, like other industries, is plugged into the world of big data. Moreover, some farmers are capitalizing on the information gleaned from their fields by selling it to agribusinesses such as seed and chemical companies.

"That's probably the main reason we are on board with this, to try and figure out how to market our data," said Lee Bushman, who plants and harvests about 6,000 acres of crops for farmers in Buffalo County.

That's where the Farmobile Data Store enters the picture. The Overland Park, Kan., firm collects a farmer's electronic field records and markets the data to agribusinesses  splitting the revenue evenly with the farmer.

"Our business is built on the conviction that the data farmers generate is inherently valuable," said Jason Tatge, Farmobile's founder and chief executive officer.

How valuable are electronic field records that include information such as planting dates, the number of seeds planted per acre and when a crop is ready for harvest?

It depends on how much a buyer, such as a seed company, is willing to pay. However, the data could put a few thousand extra dollars into a farmer's pocket, in addition to being a crop management tool.

"We believe it will be a significant revenue stream," Tatge said.

Getting paid for data that's captured by planting and harvesting equipment anyway is a worthwhile goal, Bushman said.

The Farmobile system uses a small device, called a passive uplink connection, that gathers planting and harvesting data from field machinery in real time.

Data can include seeding rates, crop yields and other variables.

The device, which a farmer leases for $1,250 a year, can be installed on a variety of equipment in five minutes, according to Tatge.

It's like a Fit Bit for farm machines. Once plugged in, the device captures information from planting and harvesting for viewing in real time on an iPad. Also, the data can be analyzed later on a computer.

A farmer can choose what electronic field records he wants to sell, and to what buyers. Farmobile is the custodian and marketer of the data but never owns it.

"We do whatever the farmer tells us. Our contract terms ensure that farmers own their data outright, forever," Tatge said.

Farmers can share, rather than sell, their electronic field records. That could be the case if they are working with an agronomist, a business consultant or banker who needs the information to help with the farmer's own business.

Farmobile devices also help farmers keep track of multiple farm machines running in various fields at the same time, said Jake Buttles, who uses the technology for his custom manure-hauling operation in Manawa.

Privacy fears

For a variety of reasons, some farmers won't sell their data. They will use it for their own management purposes, however, such as negotiating land rent prices based on the profit that is expected from a particular crop.

Privacy, and how field records are used by others, are concerns.

Some farmers worry that GPS-linked data could be obtained by government agencies and environmental groups or that a hedge fund could use planting and harvesting information to speculate in commodities markets.

So farmers are careful about how they release their information, said Tom Thieding, spokesman for the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association.

"If you are a grower, you are always kind of peeking over the fence to see what your neighbor is doing. This is a little more sophisticated way of doing it," Thieding said.

Earlier this year, the American Farm Bureau Federation launched an online survey to collect feedback from farmers about field data.

When the Farm Bureau did a similar survey in 2014, nearly 3,400 farmers responded. That survey found that 77% of farmers were concerned that their data could be used for regulatory purposes. More than 80% said they were unaware of all the ways a company intended to use their data and with whom it was being shared.

The data revolution

Still, harnessing farm data has the potential to be the next big driver in agriculture productivity gains, similar to the transition more than a century ago from horses to tractors.

The number of new equipment and data technologies deployed by farmers is going to more than double in the near future, according to Caledonia Solutions, a Minneapolis research and consulting firm.

"This is not what you would expect to see, with farm incomes projected to stay low for the next few years. Farmers aren't waiting to make moves for improving their operations," Robert Hill, principal of Caledonia Solutions, said in statement.

3rd year in business

Farmobile is in its third growing season, with about 400 farms enrolled in the system, including 56 in Wisconsin.

Tatge says farmers are like authors, using land instead of paper, and crop inputs instead of ink, to create something that's unique to their operation.

He grew up on a farm in Minnesota and through his business has visited more than 200 farms in the last couple of years.

"They all have these unique recipes...and the data being collected is an insight into their recipe," Tatge said.
L.L.Bean Inc. plans to open its first Wisconsin store at The Corners in Brookfield. Credit: Associated Press

By of the

L.L.Bean Inc., known for selling traditional, functional fashions, plans to open its first Wisconsin store at The Corners mixed-use project under construction in the Town of Brookfield.

L.L.Bean plans to operate a store of around 15,000 square feet, according to a source familiar with the plans who asked not to be identified.

That would be among the larger retailers so far announced for The Corners, which is being developed between I-94 and W. Blue Mound Road, east of N. Barker Road.

A spokeswoman for L.L.Bean, based in Freeport, Maine, could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Kris Naidl, spokeswoman for The Corners, said it was inappropriate for her to comment on potential retailers until there is a formal lease agreement or an announcement from the retailer.

"We appreciate the interest in and excitement building around this project," Naidl said, in a statement, "and we look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available."

L.L.Bean bills itself as a seller of "quality outdoor gear and apparel." That includes hunting, fishing and camping gear.

But its shirts, pants, skirts and other clothing for men and women have also found their way into workplaces as "corporate casual" has become the new office dress code.

The company was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, and began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe, according to its Internet site. It is still family-owned.

L.L.Bean for decades sold the bulk of its items through catalog orders  with that business later expanding to llbean.com. The company's online sales surpassed phone orders for the first time in 2010.

The retailer long operated stores in Maine and expanded beyond that state in 2000.

Outside Maine, L.L.Bean now operates 33 stores in 13 states, with four more stores opening soon, according to its Internet site. The company's closest stores to Milwaukee are in South Barrington, Ill., and Skokie, Ill., both near Chicago.

The Corners is to open in spring 2017 and will be anchored by a 140,000-square-foot Von Maur department store.

Other larger tenants so far announced for the $200 million development include a Sendik's Food Market and Arhaus Furniture. Along with stores, restaurants and other retail businesses totaling 400,000 square feet, the project will include 244 apartments on its upper floors.

The Corners is being developed by Chicago-based Bradford Real Estate, IM Properties PLC, based in the United Kingdom, and Milwaukee's Marcus Corp. The property once was the site of a Marcus cinema, a Menard's home improvement store, Applebee's restaurant and other smaller retail stores and offices.

Facebook: facebook.com/JSBusiness

Twitter: twitter.com/TomDaykin

To track this project and others, check out the Land & Space Development Database, at jsonline.com/business
SHARE

By of the

An Islamic group representing Muslim employees at Ariens Co. in Brillion has filed a religious discrimination complaint against the company for not allowing prayer breaks.

Earlier this year, the manufacturer of snowblowers and lawn mowers fired seven Muslims for taking unscheduled prayer time, while 14 other employees resigned over the issue.

More than 50 Somali immigrant Muslims at Ariens protested the company's enforcement of a policy of two 10-minute breaks per work shift -- without accommodations for unscheduled prayer time.

Fifteen of the Muslims are now represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) that on Tuesday filed the religious discrimination complaint with the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

By law, an employer must provide "reasonable accommodations" for religious practices, provided they do not result in a hardship for the employer.

"Prior to January 25, 2016, Ariens permitted Muslim employees to individually leave their workstations one at a time to pray after notifying and receiving permission from their supervisor," CAIR said in a letter that accompanied its complaint to the EEOC.

Ariens Co. could not be reached for comment on the complaint Tuesday.

Earlier, the company said it had prayer rooms for workers on their regular breaks and that it provided reasonable accommodation for religious practices.

Federal officials could take months to investigate the employees' claims of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs.

Once the investigation is complete, regardless of the outcome, CAIR will have the right to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of the 15 Muslims, said Maha Sayed, attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based organization.

Should there be a lawsuit, Sayed said, CAIR would seek back pay for the fired employees. Also, it could seek other compensation for the fired employees and punitive damages against Ariens.

A lawsuit could seek to get the former employees rehired, but that's not practical if they have moved on to other jobs, or if Ariens is hostile to their return, according to Sayed.

Earlier, the company "created a hostile work environment" where Muslim employees were subjected to a pattern of adverse work terms and conditions, according to CAIR.

The EEOC could offer to mediate the dispute between Ariens and the fired Muslims, or the two parties could settle it on their own.

In similar disputes, CAIR said, out-of-court agreements were reached with employers.

The Muslim employees wanted Ariens to continue a previous, more lenient practice of allowing them to leave their work stations at different times  such as at dawn and sunset  to pray as their faith requires of them.

Ariens said it was sticking with a policy that does not accommodate special prayer breaks, despite having bent the rules earlier.

With more Muslims on the assembly line, the company said earlier, unscheduled work breaks of more than a few minutes could cost it a considerable amount of money in lost productivity.
SHARE

By of the

Eau Claire-area lender Citizens Community Federal Bank is looking for a new chief executive.

Edward H. Schaefer, who has led the bank and its parent company, Citizens Community Bancorp Inc., for the last seven years, told the board of directors he plans to resign July 29.

The board has created a search committee and hired Jon C. Bruss, chief executive and managing principal of Fortress Partners Capital Management Ltd. in Hartland, to assist in the search process.

"We thank Ed for his leadership over the past seven years as the company and the bank have continued to grow in its current market footprint as well as entering new markets," Chairman Richard McHugh said in a statement. "While we are disappointed with Ed's resignation, we understand his decision to move forward with other opportunities and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

Schaefer will assist in the transition to a new CEO, the company said.

Citizens Community Federal, based in Altoona, operates in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. It has 21 branches.

The bank, which has $602 million in assets, posted a profit of about $2.9 million in 2015, regulatory records show.
SHARE Skylight artistic director Viswa Subbaraman

By of the

Skylight Music Theatre artistic director Viswa Subbaraman will step down from that post July 31 "to focus on his conducting career and commitment to new opera works," the Skylight announced in a statement released Wednesday.

Board president Alec Fraser said the Skylight will conduct a national search for a new artistic director.

After Subbaraman's departure, associate artistic director and Milwaukee theater veteran Ray Jivoff will serve as interim artistic leader.

Subbaraman will serve as an artistic adviser to the Skylight through Jan. 1.

Subbaraman joined the Skylight in September 2012. He opened his artistic tenure here with a Bollywood-influenced production of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio."

His Skylight accomplishments also include the world premiere of Somtow Sucharitkul's opera "The Snow Dragon."

He came to Milwaukee from Houston, where he had been founder and artistic director of Opera Vista, a contemporary opera company.
Twin sisters Andi & Alex from Green Bay, featured on the fall season of The Voice and featured as one of the Journal Sentinels Wisconsin Bands to Watch this year, will be performing at the Lakefront Festival of Art June 18. Credit: Michael McLoone

SHARE

By of the

Two of the Journal Sentinel's Wisconsin Bands to Watch this year  twin-sister folk duo Andi & Alex and experimental rapper WebsterX  are among the local artists set to perform at the 54th annual Lakefront Festival of Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, June 17 to 19.

The museum fundraiser, taking place on the MAM grounds, also features Painted Caves, a blend of Palestinian music with alternative rock, and scene veteran Paul Cebar with his band Tomorrow Sound. Ace guitarist Shonn Hinton, who's toured with Mary J. Blige and John Legend, will perform with his own band Shotgun.

Other performances include eclectic folk acts New Boyz Club and Grasping at Straws. WebsterX will be performing as part of New Age Narcissim, a local hip-hop collective that also features Lex Allen,Siren and Lorde Fredd33. The event will also feature work from more than 175 nationally-regarded artists.

Tickets range from $10 (for advance purchase and museum members) to $17 for adults. Admission is free for children ages 12 and under, veterans, active military and Wisconsin schoolteachers.

For tickets, the full lineup and more information, go to lfoa.mam.org.

More on Music

Find out about the week's must-see shows, concert tickets and more in the newsletter "Piet Levy's Music Picks." Subscribe at jsonline.com/newsletters.

Piet talks about concerts, local music and more on "TAP'd In" with Jordan Lee, 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9).
Mequon resident Jacquelyn Ranallo went missing in November. A body found in the Milwaukee River in River Hills has been positively identified as that of Ranallo. Credit: Mequon Police Department

SHARE

By of the

A body found in the Milwaukee River in River Hills on Tuesday has been positively identified as that of Jacquelyn Ranallo, who mysteriously disappeared from Mequon in November.

Ranallo, 53, was identified through dental records provided by Mequon police, according to the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office.

Mequon Detective Chuck O'Connell said the autopsy revealed nothing suspicious or any signs of foul play. He said the medical examiner, for now, has labeled Ranallo's death to be of undetermined cause.

There will be toxicology tests done, but the results won't be known for six to eight weeks, O'Connell said.

Police also released a statement from Ranallo's family. "We are saddened to learn that the body found in River Hills on Tuesday was our family member and friend, Jacquelyn Ranallo," the statement read in part.

"While we are devastated by today's news and wait for more information in hopes of learning what happened to Jackie, we are comforted knowing she is finally at peace," it stated.

The family also thanked the public, the news media, Mequon police and the FBI for their efforts in trying to find Ranallo.

Mequon police were notified about 1 p.m. Tuesday of the remains found in the area of Range Line Road and the Milwaukee River in River Hills, according to a news release from the Mequon Police Department.

Police searched the river in the days after Ranallo first disappeared, but not as far south as where the remains were located.

Several aspects of Ranallo's disappearance baffled her family, friends and police. She had no apparent physical, mental or emotional problems. She wasn't in bad financial straits.

She signed in to visit her mother at a Germantown nursing home Nov. 18, but missed a scheduled dinner at her friend's house three days later.

At a nephew's request, police broke into her home on Mequon Road just west of the police station and found her purse, wallet, car keys and cellphone  fully charged, but turned off. Her car was in the garage.

Extensive searches were done in the area, but despite those efforts, widespread media attention and a $15,000 reward for information, no solid leads emerged about her whereabouts.
By of the

A Milwaukee man was charged Wednesday with shooting a 16-year-old Sussex boy during a failed drug rip-off earlier this month near the Bug Line Trail.

London D. White, 22, faces counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, being a felon with a gun and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, as party to a crime.

According to the criminal complaint:

The 16-year-old victim, identified only as G.E., planned his side of the of rip-off with three friends  ages 16, 17 and 18  who all walked along the trail from G.E.'s house to meet White and his friend on the afternoon of May 14.

White had texted G.E. about buying a quarter-pound of marijuana from him for $1,000.

G.E. told his friends he would get into White's car, take the money for the marijuana, but leave an empty backpack. G.E. told his friends they would split the proceeds of the rip-off four ways.

G.E. and one friend took a path from the trail to a Pick 'N Save parking lot. G.E. got into the back seat of a burgundy Impala with tinted windows. The other friend hung back and then saw G.E. exit the car running. White got out of the passenger seat, fired several shots at G.E., and then recovered most of the cash  which police later learned was counterfeit  G.E. had taken from him, according to the other man in the car, Niikwame Bell, 19.

One friend still on the trail ran home. A second ran toward the shots and found G.E. on the ground, bleeding from his hoodie and asked other witnesses to call 911.

G.E. was taken to a hospital, where he remained in critical condition Wednesday.

After the 911 call, about 3:48 p.m., a Butler police officer saw a car matching the description speeding east on Silver Spring Drive. After a short pursuit, police stopped the chase for safety reasons but also noticed objects being thrown from the Impala.

Waukesha County sheriff's investigators later recovered a .357 caliber revolver, a bag of what "appeared to be marijuana" and the bogus $50 and $20 bills. Police found a half of a fake $50 bill next to G.E. on the ground.

Meanwhile, Bell, who owned the Impala, had called Wauwatosa police to report that he had been carjacked. Unconvinced, they turned him over to Waukesha County investigators to whom Bell later admitted that he had driven White to Sussex.

Bell told investigators that as White was counting out the money, G.E. pulled the .357 from his waistband, pointed it at White's seat and grabbed the money.

Bell said they drove off and later abandoned the car near N. 84th St. and W. Capitol Drive. Along the way, he said, White also threw his own gun, a black semiautomatic .380.

Bell was charged last week with two drug felonies and remains at the Waukesha County Jail with bail set at $5,000.

The complaint does not indicate the caliber of shell casings and bullets recovered near the shooting scene or whether investigators recovered a second gun.

The 18-year-old who approached the car with G.E. told police that his friend did not have a gun and was only going to trade the empty backpack for the money.

White was arrested the following Monday and insisted that he had been with his girlfriend all day Saturday. But investigators recovered a series of text messages from one of White's phones in which he admitted shooting somebody who "robbed for g I got back."
Danta D. Rowsey confers with his attorney during a trial on charges he directed the killings of three men and the attempted killing of a fourth as part of a plot to eliminate witnesses to an earlier crime. Credit: Journal Sentinel photo

By of the

After just 90 minutes of deliberating, a jury on Wednesday convicted a Milwaukee man charged with ordering three murders and an attempted fourth killing, as part of a brutal plot to eliminate anyone who could implicate him.

Danta Rowsey, 27, was convicted on four counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of reckless injury, all party to the crime, for the four shootings. He faces life in prison. His sentencing is set for July 22.

Over the past 10 days, the trial opened a window into the ruthless criminal world in Milwaukee and highlighted what prosecutors describe as the growing scourge of witness intimidation.

In his closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Grant Huebner said the case started with a robbery gone wrong in December 2011, resulting in the death of Joseph McBeath.

What followed in the next nearly two years, he said, was a methodical, murderous hunt to eliminate anyone who knew that Rowsey was there the night of McBeath's death and was part of the robbery.

Irven Hale, who killed McBeath, himself was killed a few weeks later by Emmanuel Carter, who testified he was dispatched to do the killing by Rowsey. Isreal Gatlin, who also was part of the McBeath murder, was executed by Carter in late 2012.

Carter himself was next. He was shot in September 2013. He was shot through the back as he ran and was paralyzed. The gunman moved in to finish him off. He put the gun to Carter's head and pulled the trigger but it jammed, twice.

"One by one by one, any person who could connect the defendant to what happened at Ralph's Coffee was eliminated," Huebner said of the McBeath homicide scene. "One man who talked to police lost his life and another man who talked to police lost his legs. And another man who didn't even talk to police, he lost his life, too."

The government's case lacked strong physical evidence, but rather knit together the testimony of Carter and another man who was in Rowsey's inner circle and used cellphone records and vehicle information to place Rowsey at the scene of the slayings.

Carter testified in a wheelchair. He has pleaded guilty to the murders and received lesser charges in exchange for cooperation. He faces 30 years in prison.

After indicating he might testify, Rowsey announced Wednesday morning he would remain silent. His attorney, Mark Rosen, put on no witnesses, but rather focused on discrediting the state's case as depending on criminals lying to help themselves.

"They are rats, coldblooded killers," he said. "They are on the Titanic and there is only one lifeboat, one life vest and it's him (Rowsey)."

Huebner agreed his star witnesses were no angels, but argued that Rowsey must be held accountable for the deaths.

"You don't get to not care. You have to care. The law requires it," he told jurors.

During much of the trial, a juror appeared to be sleeping. He was talked to several times. Judge Thomas McAdams decided to strike the juror before deliberations. Huebner supported removing the juror while Rosen objected, noting he was the only African-American male on the jury.

The jury had 15 members, and three were supposed to be randomly eliminated before deliberations. The black male juror, who also appeared to sleep through part of Rosen's closing, was removed with two others who were randomly selected.
By of the

Bomb threats Wednesday at schools in Germantown and Franklin come as schools nationwide deal with a wave of threats made by automated phone calls.

The threat made to Franklin High School was by a robocall, and the building was evacuated while a search was conducted. The students have since returned to classes.

In addition, classes were canceled for the day at County Line Elementary School in Germantown because of a bomb threat, the Germantown district said in a message to parents. The school was evacuated so a bomb sweep could be conducted.

Across the country, school districts reported receiving automated calls Monday that included a bomb threat, while others just described the calls as "threatening."

The calls were reported in California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Ken Trump, a national school security expert and president of a school security consulting firm, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that Monday's nationwide bomb hoaxes have the hallmarks of swatting.

Swatting, according to Trump, are "highly disruptive" hoax threats that are intended to trigger massive police response. Trump said they are often described as robotic, computer-generated voices that call in threats to schools or police departments.

A single swatting case can impact multiple states, jurisdictions and even travel across international borders, Trump said.

There has been no confirmation that the threats are connected.

Alison Dirr of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin contributed to this report.
MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver address members of the Wisconsin State Assembly urban education task force in January. MPS has come under fire over the last two weeks for its plans to spend $471,000 next year on programming inspired by and named for the national Black Lives Matter movement but received unanimous support at a budget hearing this week. Credit: Rick Wood

SHARE Larry Miller Supreme Moore Omokunde INGRID JACKSON

By of the

A Milwaukee Public Schools budget proposal intended to improve outcomes for minority students and disrupt what many deride as the school-to-prison pipeline drew widespread support this week, despite an internet-fueled effort to discredit it.

Conservative bloggers and talk-show pundits, including Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., have skewered MPS over the last two weeks for its plans to spend $471,000 next year on programming inspired by and named for the national Black Lives Matter movement, which some see as radical or anti-police.

But dozens turned out for a public hearing Tuesday night to support the initiative, which would bolster, among other things, the district's ethnic and cultural studies offerings and programs that teach students respect, bridge-building and nonviolent resolution of conflict.

"You are the stopgap for the school-to-prison pipeline," Milwaukee County Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde told board members at a public hearing on the 2016-'17 budget.

"If I'm a young person and learning about myself in school, it sparks my ability to learn about anything and everything else in the world," he said. "And it may keep me off a path of desperation."

School Board Vice President Larry Miller, who co-authored the resolution proposing the initiative with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Robert Smith, defended the expenditure in an interview before the hearing.

Miller said the initiative was not intended to push a Black Lives Matter agenda, but to address some of the issues the movement has laid bare, such as institutional racism, poverty, inequities in education and police practices.

"We're not saying only black lives matter. Of course, we say all lives matter. But we are a district that is over 80% black and brown students, and some of our students have a greater chance of being incarcerated than going to college," Miller said.

"At the heart of this, this is about racial justice in education," he said.

The budget proposal

As part of the budget proposal, MPS would hire three social studies teachers who would develop a new cultural studies curriculum that would be implemented in as many as three schools next year.

In addition, it would provide training for staff around culturally responsive educational practices and so-called restorative practices designed to build relationships, empathy and a sense of community among staff students.

One technique already used at some MPS schools is "the circle," in which students and staff come together to discuss concerns and solve problems.

MPS Spokesman Tony Tagliavia said the goal was to improve attendance, academics, education rates and school climate.

"Wisconsin and Milwaukee are home to some of the largest educational and economic disparities in the country," he said.

The restorative practices initiative would "create spaces for staff and students to dialogue about and develop solutions to challenges faced by young people in their communities every day."

The initiative aligns with other work the district is already doing related to President Barack Obama's My Brother's Keeper program and trauma-informed education.

The controversy surrounding the line item arose this month after MPS released its proposed 2016-'17 budget.

Some critics initially misunderstood the proposal and accused MPS of funding the Black Lives Matter movement, a loosely coordinated collection of organizations across the country that emerged after the 2012 killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.

Others took issue with the decision to name it for the Black Lives Matter movement, including Clarke, who was quoted in one report as saying it was "insulting" to police officers.

Milwaukee activist Jamaal Smith, who chairs the NAACP's education committee, questioned why anyone would take issue with the moniker.

"We're not negating that all lives matter," Smith told the board. "But this is to say black lives matter, because black lives are the ones we're seeing laying in the streets. Black lives are the ones we're seeing behind bars," he said.

"This resolution is just the start of something that could be greater."
The Estabrook Dam on the Milwaukee River just south of Hampton Ave. Credit: Michael Sears

SHARE

By of the

The Milwaukee Riverkeeper is opening a new legal front in its battle to demolish the dam on the Milwaukee River at Estabrook Park.

In a lawsuit filed this week, the environmental group is asking a Dane County judge to block the state Department of Natural Resources from issuing a dam operating permit this spring to Milwaukee County that would become effective after proposed repairs are made. The county owns the dam.

The county parks department on Wednesday advertised for bids to do an estimated $3.4 million worth of work, officials said. The project includes $2.3 million for repairs of the crumbling 1930s-era dam and $1.1 million for construction of a fish passage around the north end of the dam.

Repairs could begin this summer if DNR officials approve all permits and design plans.

In March, the Milwaukee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court asking a judge to block the Milwaukee County Board from spending several million dollars of public funds on what the environmental group calls a private purpose: repairing the dam.

The March lawsuit says repairs will enable dam gates to be closed so that a large, shallow pond can be restored upstream solely for the recreational enjoyment of a small number of adjoining property owners.

After repairs are made, it would cost the county an additional $2.2 million in operating and maintenance costs over the next 20 years, according to the lawsuit.

A June 13 hearing is scheduled on the complaint.

Cheryl Nenn of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper has said dam removal guarantees several environmental benefits. Among them: better fish passage than repairing the dam; reduced flood risk to upstream property owners; elimination of the shallow, stagnant pond that would be held back by the structure; and improved water quality for fish, mussels and other aquatic life.

In its Dane County lawsuit, the Milwaukee Riverkeeper also is asking a judge to order the DNR to rewrite an analysis of the impacts of repairing the dam because the department did not require the county to show how it would pay to maintain and operate the dam for the next 20 years.

The DNR also failed to require the county to prepare and submit a fish passage design before the department completed work on its environmental impact study, according to the lawsuit.

Among the group's other allegations in the complaint: the DNR failed to fully study the environmental impacts of removing the dam on the river, and the DNR did not consider City of Milwaukee and Village of Shorewood objections to repairing the dam.

The department is reviewing the lawsuit, but there will be no comment on pending litigation, DNR officials said in a statement.

County Executive Chris Abele, the Milwaukee Common Council, Shorewood Village Board and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's commission support removal.

County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. has justified the repairs for the purpose of restoring the artificial pond for upstream property owners, including about 40 properties in Glendale. Loss of the impoundment also would restrict public recreation in Estabrook and Lincoln parks, according to Lipscomb.

The dam has two structures: a dam with floodgates north of an island in the river and a fixed spillway south of the island. A line of ice barriers protects the gated dam.

Dam gates have been fully open since 2008 inspections found numerous safety problems and confirmed the need for extensive repairs.

The Riverkeeper subsequently sued the county. In 2012, a county circuit court judge declared the dam a nuisance and required the county to repair the problems or demolish it.

The DNR gave the county a deadline of December 2016 for work  repair or demolition  to be done.
Libertarian candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson leaves the Utah State Capitol after meeting with legislators May 18 in Salt Lake City. Credit: Associated Press

For years, the Libertarian Party in America has been a dumping ground for the politically disaffected, ideologically homeless and conspiratorially inclined. But Libertarians may want to put on a tie, comb their hair and shine their shoes, because they may soon be getting the bright spotlight they've always wanted.

According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 47% of Americans would consider a third-party candidate in the 2016 presidential campaign. This is up from 40% in 2012 and 38% in 2008, owing much to the fact that for many voters, choosing between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is like deciding which eye they'd rather pour salt into.

The Libertarian Party is attractive to conservative Republicans who have been left without a freedom-minded soul mate to support. Enter former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate and front-runner for that post in 2016 (there are currently 18 announced candidates, including one who was formerly on the run from Guatemalan and Belizean law enforcement who wanted him for questioning in the murder of his neighbor).

As his vice presidential choice, Johnson has tapped former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. The Johnson/Weld pairing is polling upward of 10% in recent three-way presidential polls.

But Libertarians are still left having to fight the perception that they are a motley band of purist misfits, endlessly proselytizing about drug legalization, Ron Paul and the gold standard. Yet in its purest form, libertarianism can claim strong roots in America's founding and popular appeal in the modern electorate. In many ways, Libertarians reflect where many Americans are politically  fiscally conservative and socially liberal. The party's "live and let live" ethos is an attractive message against politicians who promise to be the salve for every one of our problems.

Wisconsin is an apt microcosm of both the Libertarian Party's successes and challenges. In 2002, Libertarian Ed Thompson won 10.5% of the vote in the gubernatorial election that year, leading many to believe he swung the election in favor of the victor, then-Attorney General Jim Doyle.

But Thompson was no doubt buoyed by his famous last name and relation to his brother, the popular former governor, Tommy Thompson. And Ed Thompson's strong showing wasn't exactly a victory for small "l" libertarianism. As mayor of Tomah, he governed as if he were any mayor of any small town in Wisconsin. His gubernatorial platform included more environmental regulation and more money for the University of Wisconsin System, and he complained about not receiving enough public tax money to run his campaign  a concept anathema to philosophical libertarians.

In 2008, former UW-Madison lecturer Kevin Barrett ran as a Libertarian for Congress against U.S. Rep. Ron Kind. Barrett caused an uproar in 2006 when he taught his UW class conspiracy theories asserting the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job" by the federal government. When he ran for Congress, Barrett promoted universal health care and expanded Social Security and Medicaid programs  things conscious Libertarians rail against.

And even when Wisconsin Libertarians do get a philosophical libertarian to run, things can quickly get supernaturally weird. Robert Burke, the party's 2014 gubernatorial candidate (who received 0.8% of the vote) now produces YouTube videos explaining how the federal government is withholding information about aliens.

It is perhaps ironic that the small government-centered Libertarian Party would get such a popularity boost from a pair of big-government candidates in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But in order to take advantage of this newfound interest, the party needs to shake its reputation. If it does, it might incentivize more conservatives to come to the polls and save down-ticket Senate and House seats for the GOP.

The Onion once ran a story headlined, "Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department." It may be Republicans calling their oddball neighbors on the right to save their house.

Christian Schneider is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger. Email cschneider@jrn.com. Twitter: @Schneider_CM
Voters cast their ballots during the April primary election: Redistricting during 2011 was unfair to Democrats, 12 members of the party allege in a federal lawsuit now at trial. Credit: Angela Peterson

SHARE

By

A crucial trial got under way this week in a federal courtroom in Madison. The outcome could have a huge impact not only here in Wisconsin but across the country.

What's at stake is whether it's OK for partisan politicians to draw electoral maps in such a rigged way that incumbents basically put a padlock on their power. The case, Whitford vs. Nichol, is being brought by 12 Democratic voters in Wisconsin who contend that Republican legislators in 2011 gamed the system in a highly manipulative way by drawing district lines that would give Republicans a huge advantage. One method was to stuff as many Democrats into as few districts as possible, thus giving Republicans a leg up in the other districts.

Adam Foltz, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, acknowledged on the stand that the Republican leadership consulted with a political scientist who used sophisticated computer modeling to draw a variety of maps that predicted an increase in GOP seats. The leadership could manipulate the maps to see how a line drawn here or there might expand their base. The leadership ultimately chose one of the maps that would give them the most seats. It predicted a gain of strongly Republican and leaning Republican seats from 40 to 52.

The lawsuit says this kind of monkey business with Wisconsin maps was one of the worst in modern American history.

A strong point of the lawsuit is that it establishes a nonpartisan yardstick for measuring whether one party is taking undue advantage over another in the drawing of district maps. This yardstick can be applied against Republicans in power (in Wisconsin, for instance) and against Democrats in power (in Massachusetts, for instance).

Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court has been looking for just such a yardstick, so the lawsuit has a good chance of prevailing, no matter which side appeals. If the plaintiffs win, it would benefit democracy across the country, as voters everywhere would get an equal say in local elections instead of being herded into districts where their votes barely count.

Politicians shouldn't be allowed to choose their voters; voters should choose their politicians.

In Wisconsin, not only were the maps manipulated, but the process itself was the opposite of transparent. Republican leaders huddled behind locked doors in a private pricey Madison law firm. They wouldn't let the public in on the process. They wouldn't let any Democrats inside the door. They wouldn't let Republican members see any but their own districts. And then they even swore their own members to secrecy about these rigged maps.

In a previous court challenge to these maps, three federal judges denounced this assault on a fair and impartial process. They wrote that "the people of Wisconsin deserve better" than this "peculiarly furtive process adopted by the majority party."

There is a better way. In Iowa for the past 35 years, nonpartisan staff members of the Legislative Services Bureau have been drawing the electoral maps according to strict guidelines that favor neither party. If it works in Iowa, it can work in Wisconsin.

Yes, the people of Wisconsin deserve better. And the current lawsuit finally offers us some hope of obtaining it.

Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
SHARE

By of the

Right to work is back on the books in Wisconsin, at least temporarily.

Late Tuesday, a state court of appeals judge granted Attorney General Brad Schimel's request to reinstate the law while the appeals court decides whether it's constitutional.

The ruling was issued by Lisa K. Stark, the presiding judge for the District 3 Court of Appeals in Wausau.

"We feel confident the law will ultimately be found constitutional, as it has been in more than half the states across the country," said Johnny Koremenos, spokesman for Schimel.

Last year, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led Legislature made Wisconsin the 25th right to work state. The measure bars businesses and unions from reaching labor deals that require workers to pay fees to the union.

In April, Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust found Wisconsin's law, known as Act 1, violated a clause of the state constitution that says the government can't take property from individuals or organizations without fair compensation. He later declined declined to put on hold his ruling and Schimel, a Republican, appealed.

Stark, in her five-page order, concluded the lower court overstepped its bounds in not putting its ruling on hold. The record, she said, did not indicate the unions would suffer substantial harm if the law stayed in effect while on appeal. She said "there is sufficient likelihood" that the law will eventually be upheld.

Supporters of so-called right to work laws argue no one should be forced to pay union fees if they don't want to belong to a labor group. Unions contend such contracts should be allowed because federal law requires them to represent all employees in a work unit  meaning that they all benefit from the protections and higher wages unions provide.

The case will likely end up at the state Supreme Court, which conservatives control by a 5-2 margin.
SHARE

By ,

The district attorney responsible for reviewing criminal allegations of inmate abuse at a Northwoods youth prison now under federal investigation will not seek re-election.

Don Dunphy, Lincoln County's top prosecutor for more than a decade, notified state elections officials of his plans Friday.

Dunphy did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. No challenger had filed papers to run against him as of Tuesday, state election records show. The deadline to declare candidacy is June 1.

The move came as a surprise to at least some residents. Lincoln County board member Bill Zeitz said Dunphy had recently met with the county's law enforcement committee to discuss budget matters and everything seemed normal.

Related: About Wisconsin's youth prison scandal

"This is the first I've heard of it," Zeitz said Wednesday.

When Dunphy first successfully campaigned for district attorney on the Republican ticket in 2004, he called cracking down on violent crimes, especially those against children, a top priority. But as he leaves office, continuing federal investigations into the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls cloud his oversight of youth safety.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office submitted at least a handful of inmate abuse allegations to Dunphy's office for review in recent years, and Dunphy's office declined to pursue charges against prison staff in those cases, according to records obtained by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin under government transparency laws.

Little explanation of those decisions was typically offered to the Sheriff's Office in writing, records also show. Dunphy's office often cited insufficient evidence to prove charges in court or provided no written explanation.

In one March 2013 case, records show the Sheriff's Office determined that a youth inmate being assaulted by another inmate was mistaken by security staff as the attacker and taken to the ground by his neck. The youth told investigators his mouth hit the ground so hard that it started to bleed. A staff member also said she saw staff "push on (the youth's) head" as he was lifted off the ground.

Prosecutors declined to press charges in the case, writing they "would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (the guard) intended to cause pain to (the youth) as opposed to pursuing a legitimate security objective."

FBI and U.S. Department of Justice authorities are now investigating numerous allegations of prisoner abuse, child neglect and possible civil rights violations at the prison. No one has been charged since the investigation expanded last fall, though top-ranking prison brass have stepped down and others have been fired in the investigation's wake.

Dunphy has not commented publicly on the scandal. In October, he and Attorney General Brad Schimel opened a John Doe probe looking into the youth prison but then allowed it to expire in April as federal officials took over the investigation. At the time, Dunphy said he had not been involved in the probe for several months.

Keegan Kyle is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. He can be reached at kkyle@gannett.com or on Twitter @keegankyle.
Five stats that say the Brewers will be better in 2023 (and five that say they won't)
Oakfield teacher Jodi Schmidt has a kidney removed Tuesday by a surgical team led by Christopher Johnson (center left) at Froedtert Hospital. Credit: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

SHARE Karrie Cox carries her daughter Natasha Fuller to an elevator at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin prior her kidney transplant Tuesday. Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

By ,

Excitement.

That's what Jodi Schmidt, an Oakfield Elementary School teacher in Fond du Lac County, said she was feeling this morning as she sat in a hospital bed being prepared to donate a kidney to 8-year-old Natasha Fuller.

The ongoing transplant is happening at Froedtert Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

"I knew she was sick and has been on and off the (transplant) list. It's been a long road for them," Jodi Schmidt said shortly before the surgery. "She has a sweet family and she deserves it. She deserves to be happy."

Schmidt and Fuller were both bound for operating rooms shortly before 8 a.m. Just before noon, Schmidt's kidney was wheeled down a tunnel connecting Froedtert with Children's Hospital where it will be transplanted to Fuller.

For months Schmidt, who teaches third-grade, and Fuller have looked forward to the day when the teacher would donate a kidney to the student.

Natasha's options are running out. The first-grader has been on kidney dialysis for the past five years because of the ravaging effects of prune belly syndrome, a condition that causes urinary tract disease. She was added to the national donor list late last summer, and due to medical conditions, has been on and off the list a number of times.

Natasha has been living with her grandmother in Oakfield the past two years to be close to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin where she can receive specialized care. The transplant had been scheduled for late April, but was called off just days before it was to happen when Fuller came down with a cold.

Schmidt and her husband, Rich, said they both hope Natasha is able to live a full and happy life following the transplant.

"Health," Jodi Schmidt said her hopes for the outcome for Natasha. "That she's swimming, having a summer, sleepovers and having friends over."

nphelps@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @nathanphelpsPG or Facebook at Nathan-Phelps-Gannett-Media-Wisconsin; sroznik@gannett.com, 920-907-7936, and on Twitter @sharonroznik.
By of the

Will Sherard, one of Milwaukee's most notorious inner city landlords, has long taken advantage of the system by routinely paying the bare minimum on fines for hundreds of building code violations, even as he pays cash to acquire new properties.

That game may be ending.

City attorneys have asked the Municipal Court to make Sherard prove he cannot afford to pay his fines, including $48,800 that was due last week. Presiding Municipal Court Judge Philip Chavez scheduled a hearing on the matter for next week. The city took the step after a Journal Sentinel investigation exposed ways that landlords, including Sherard, game the legal system.

"We're going to get this done," Chavez told Sherard during a Monday afternoon court appearance, in which the landlord repeatedly pleaded for more time to prepare. "I want this done."

The Journal Sentinel investigation found that Chavez and other municipal court judges have allowed landlords  who in some cases owe tens of thousands of dollars in fines  to take advantage of payment plans that allow them to pay as little as $100 every three months. In Sherard's case, it would take him between 17 and 25 years at the current pace to pay his largest fines of $10,000 each.

In the wake of the Journal Sentinel investigation, Mayor Tom Barrett and other officials said they would be cracking down on the practice. Officials from the City Attorney's Office said they had filed a standing objection to challenge payment plans sought by landlords hit with fines for code violations.

"Our office has met with Chavez ... to lodge a standing objection on a going-forward basis to installment plans and (is) asking for hearings if that's going to happen," veteran assistant city attorney Gregg Hagopian said during an April 25 interview, in which he was joined by Barrett.

Deputy City Attorney Adam Stephens, who oversees building code enforcement matters, confirmed later that day that a standing objection to the payment plans had been made.

But no such motion had been filed until Thursday  the day Sherard's bill came due.

Asked about the discrepancy and lack of action despite the promise, Stephens said what he had meant to say is that he had met with Chavez and "we were talking about coming up with solutions."

Chavez, for his part, said he met with Stephens several weeks ago and the subject of objecting to payment plans came up, although nothing was filed and no firm request was made. The judge added that he was unsure whether it was even feasible for the court to approve a standing objection to all payment plan requests.

Thus the city now plans to focus on about a dozen landlords with the most in outstanding fines and file motions on their individual cases.

City Attorney Grant Langley did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Stephens said seeking payment hearings is one of several steps the city will be taking to crack down on landlords who do not pay fines.

"Our goal has always been code compliance and the collections have always been a secondary consideration," Stephens said. "I don't think they are mutually exclusive."

A policy gone awry

Sherard and other landlords have long taken advantage of the Municipal Court's walk-in policy. The court allows people who are cited with municipal ordinance violations to come to court and deal with certain matters without an appointment  and without a prosecutor in attendance. For example, scheduling a hearing date or seeking an extension to pay fines may be dealt with during the walk-in periods.

The policy is designed to help people with busy schedules appear before a judge, but the Journal Sentinel investigation showed Sherard has used it to repeatedly get more time to pay his fines.

On Oct. 25, 2011, Chavez fined Sherard $45,184 for about 100 building code violations on six properties he owns. Since then, Sherard has come to court every 60 to 90 days when the fines were due, paid $100 on each of six fines and asked Chavez for payment extension  a request that has been routinely approved.

As a result, Sherard has paid only $5,584 on those fines without ever being considered delinquent.

During the same period, Sherard or his Morocco Investments LLC has paid $636,000 in cash to buy 63 houses at weekly sheriff's sales. Sherard has been a landlord for a half-century and has twice been convicted of misdemeanor unfair rental practices. Records show he or Morocco owns more than 100 Milwaukee rental properties.

In 2011, Sherard came up with $700,000 in one week when a federal judge jailed him for contempt after he repeatedly failed to produce the cash needed for lead paint abatement on his properties. Last year, in a separate matter, instead of seizing 31 properties on which Sherard owed delinquent taxes, the city sued him in Milwaukee County Circuit Court and won a $119,429 judgment.

The suit was filed because city officials said some landlords buy properties on the cheap  often at weekly sheriff's sales of properties foreclosed when borrowers fail to pay their mortgages. When buyers don't pay property taxes, the city typically seizes the homes after three years. That erases the owner's debt and sticks taxpayers with the deed to an often dilapidated property.

Chavez has said he hasn't considered how much in assets Sherard  or other landlords who seek extensions  have because city prosecutors have never brought the matter up. The judge has said he can only consider the evidence before him.

City attorneys have said they don't present the evidence because they never know when a defendant will appear to seek an extension due to the walk-in policy.

The practice has been going on for decades, said David Halbrooks, who was an assistant city attorney in the 1990s and then served briefly as a municipal judge.

"It was frequently frustrating because defendants would be able to come in on their own without the city being represented," Halbrooks said.

As a result, "the payment plan would become a legal strategy," he said.

He noted that instead of payment hearings after the fact, "it might be more efficient to have the discussion regarding a payment plan at the time of sentencing" when the fine is imposed and a when a prosecutor is present.

Motion filed on Sherard

On Thursday, the day that 14 of Sherard's fines  including the six spotlighted in the Journal Sentinel story  came due, the city filed a motion asking to be notified so it could object to a new extension.

"We don't want any more partial payments," said Patrick Leigl, the assistant city attorney who filed the objection.

The motion cites 22 Sherard or Morocco cases with fines totaling nearly $70,000. Sherard "has surpassed a reasonable time to satisfy the total forfeiture judgment," Leigl wrote in the motion. The fines cover infractions dating to 2009.

Although the fines were due Thursday, the Municipal Court automatically grants defendants a 10-day grace period before enforcement action is taken. Enforcement steps can include sending the debt to collection, issuing warrants or imposing property liens.

Sherard came to the walk-in court Monday, presumably to make nominal payments and seek a new extension to pay his fines. Instead, he was greeted by the city motion.

Chavez ordered a hearing for June 3, rejecting requests by Sherard  who frequently represents himself  for more time to prepare a case.

"I don't know what that means," Sherard said, referring to the city's action.

Chavez responded: "You know what this is about. Can you pay or not?"

Sherard complained that the city and court were taking the actions because of the Journal Sentinel stories.

Sherard rushed out of the courtroom after the Monday court session. Reached by phone Tuesday, Sherard told a reporter "let me get back to you." He has not called back.

Kevin Crowe of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Read the investigation

To read the Journal Sentinel's investigation into how landlords have been gaming the system when it comes to paying fines, go to jsonline.com/landlordgames.
05/24/2016





The JSU campus will be closed in observance of Memorial Day on May 30, 2016. Classes will not meet and offices will be closed. American flags have been placed on Highway 21 - stretching from the International House to Stephenson Hall - to honor our nation's fallen.

The campus bookstore, located in the Theron Montgomery Building, is hosting a Memorial Day Sale on May 23-27. All clearance items are an additional 50 percent off.
05/25/2016





By Heather Greene

Looking for some great outdoor activities to do with the kids this summer while they are out of school? Or would you, perhaps, like to learn a new hobby, such as pottery making or preparing herbal remedies? Then get ready to have an EPIC summer with JSU!

The JSU Environmental Policy and Information Center (EPIC) leads environmental, cultural and heritage-based protection programs that foster both economic development and growth. The centers work has led to the federal designations of places like the Little River Canyon National Preserve, the Dugger Mountain Wilderness and the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge.

Through the JSU Field Schools, EPIC provides nature-based educational programs for all ages. Make a trip to the Canyon Center in Fort Payne or the Mountain Center in Heflin this summer to see why our state is called Alabama the Beautiful  and be sure to mark your calendar for the EPIC summer events listed below. For more information or to register for any of these events, please contact EPIC at 256-782-5681.

Essentials of River Safety: Terrapin Creek

June 18, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Terrapin Creek Outdoor Center

Experienced canoeist Mary East will lead this adventure, organized by the JSU Field Schools, Terrapin Creek Outdoor Center and Anniston Outdoor Association.

The cost is $50 per participant.

Canyon Center Creative Kids Days: Adventures in Nature

June 8, June 22 and July 13, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Little River Canyon Center

Bring the kids (ages 5-10) to the Canyon Center for hands-on outdoor adventures as follows: June 8, Canyon Bugs & Plants; June 22, Canyon Culture and Heritage; July 13, Canyon Wildlife. The fee is $5 per child. Pre-registration is required.

Canyon Camp for Children

June 21-24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Little River Canyon Center

Geared for kids ages 6-9, this nature camp offers hands-on environmental education, outdoor fun, arts and exploration led by experienced educator Mary East. Participants will learn all about Little River Canyon and DeSoto State Park  the river, plants and animals! The $150 registration fee includes lunch and supplies. Pre-registration is required and slots book up fast. Call today!

Native American Pottery Workshop

July 9, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 1-3 p.m., Desoto State Park

Join nationally renowned potter Tammy Beane to learn how pottery was made on Lookout Mountain thousands of years ago. The staff of DeSoto State Park will provide clay and bone needles and paddles so you can make designs on your pots. This workshop is very popular and always sells out. Register early to guarantee your spot. The class fee is $15 for adults and $5 for children. For registration and details, call 256-997-5025 or email Brittney.Hughes@dcnr.alabama.gov.

Guided Archaeology Tour of Calhoun & St. Clair Counties

August 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Departs from Jacksonville

Come along with JSUs Dr. Harry Holstein for a guided archaeological tour of various sites throughout Calhoun and St. Clair Counties. Stops will include a visit to Janney Iron Furnace, a 19th century battlefield and river locks, a prehistoric Indian village, and much more. Participants should bring their own lunch and drinks. Transportation is provided. The tour will depart from Jacksonville (you will be notified of meeting location upon registration). The fee is $15 per person and the event is open to ages 14 and older. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required.

Third Annual Dog Daze: A Furry Fun Festival for Dogs and Their Humans

August 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Little River Canyon Center
Reddit Email 0 Shares

By William D. Hartung | (Tomdispatch.com) |  

Now you see it, now you dont. Think of it as the Department of Defenses version of the street con game, three-card monte, or maybe simply as the Pentagon shuffle. In any case, the Pentagons budget is as close to a work of art as youre likely to find in the U.S. government  if, that is, by work of art you mean scam.

The United States is on track to spend more than $600 billion on the military this year  more, that is, than was spent at the height of President Ronald Reagans Cold War military buildup, and more than the military budgets of at least the next seven nations in the world combined. And keep in mind that thats just a partial total. As an analysis by the Straus Military Reform Project has shown, if we count related activities like homeland security, veterans affairs, nuclear warhead production at the Department of Energy, military aid to other countries, and interest on the military-related national debt, that figure reaches a cool $1 trillion.

The more thats spent on defense, however, the less the Pentagon wants us to know about how those mountains of money are actually being used. As the only major federal agency that cant pass an audit, the Department of Defense (DoD) is the poster child for irresponsible budgeting.

Its not just that its books dont add up, however. The DoD is taking active measures to disguise how it is spending the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars it receives every year  from using the separate war budget as a slush fund to pay for pet projects that have nothing to do with fighting wars to keeping the cost of its new nuclear bomber a secret. Add in dozens of other secret projects hidden in the departments budget and the Pentagons poorly documented military aid programs, and its clear that the DoD believes it has something to hide.

Dont for a moment imagine that the Pentagons growing list of secret programs and evasive budgetary maneuvers is accidental or simply a matter of sloppy bookkeeping. Much of it is remarkably purposeful. By keeping us in the dark about how it spends our money, the Pentagon has made it virtually impossible for anyone to hold it accountable for just about anything. An entrenched bureaucracy is determined not to provide information that might be used to bring its sprawling budget  and so the institution itself  under control. Thats why budgetary deception has become such a standard operating procedure at the Department of Defense.

The audit problem is a case in point. The Pentagon along with all other major federal agencies was first required to make its books auditable in the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. More than 25 years later, there is no evidence to suggest that the Pentagon will ever be able to pass an audit. In fact, the one limited instance in which success seemed to be within reach  an audit of a portion of the books of a single service, the Marine Corps  turned out, upon closer inspection, to be a case study in bureaucratic resistance.

In April 2014, when it appeared that the Corps had come back with a clean audit, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was so elated that he held a special ceremony in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon. It might seem a bit unusual to be in the Hall of Heroes to honor a bookkeeping accomplishment, he acknowledged, but damn, this is an accomplishment.

In March 2015, however, that accomplishment vanished into thin air. The Pentagons Office of Inspector General (OIG), which had overseen the work of Grant Thornton, the private firm that conducted the audit, denied that it had been successful (allegedly in response to new information). In fact, in late 2013, as Reuters reported, auditors at the OIG had argued for months against green-lighting Grant Thorntons work, believing that it was full of obvious holes. They were, however, overruled by the deputy inspector general for auditing, who had what Reuters described as a longstanding professional relationship with the Grant Thornton executive supervising the audit.

The Pentagon and the firm deny that there was any conflict of interest, but the bottom line is clear enough: there was far more interest in promoting the idea that the Marine Corps could pass an audit than in seeing it actually do so, even if inconvenient facts had to be swept under the rug. This sort of behavior is hardly surprising once you consider all the benefits from an undisturbed status quo that accrue to Pentagon bureaucrats and cash-hungry contractors.

Without a reliable paper trail, there is no systematic way to track waste, fraud, and abuse in Pentagon contracting, or even to figure out how many contractors the Pentagon employs, though a conservative estimate puts the number at well over 600,000. The result is easy money with minimal accountability.

How to Arm the Planet

In recent years, keeping tabs on how the Pentagon spends its money has grown even more difficult thanks to the war budget  known in Pentagonese as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account  which has become a nearly bottomless pit for items that have nothing to do with fighting wars. The use of the OCO as a slush fund began in earnest in the early years of the Bush administrations war in Iraq and has continued ever since. Its hard to put a precise number on how much money has been slipped into that budget or taken out of it to pay for pet projects of every sort in the last decade-plus, but the total is certainly more than $100 billion and counting.

The Pentagons routine use of the war budget as a way to fund whatever it wants has set an example for a Congress thats seldom seen a military project it wasnt eager to pay for. Only recently, for instance, the House Armed Services Committee chair, Texas Republican Congressman Mac Thornberry, proposed taking $18 billion from the war budget to cover items like an extra 11 F-35 combat aircraft and 14 F-18 fighter-bombers that the Pentagon hadnt even asked for.

This was great news for Lockheed Martin, which needs a shot in the arm for its troubled F-35 program, already slated to be the most expensive weapons system in history, and for Boeing, which has been lobbying aggressively to keep its F-18 production line open in the face of declining orders from the Navy. But its bad news for the troops because, as the Project on Government Oversight has demonstrated, the money used to pay for the unneeded planes will come at the expense of training and maintenance funds.

This is, by the way, the height of hypocrisy at a time when the House Armed Services Committee is routinely sending out hysterical missives about the countrys supposed lack of military readiness. The money to adequately train military personnel and keep their equipment running is, in fact, there. Members of Congress like Thornberry would just have to stop raiding the operations budget to pay for big ticket weapons systems, while turning a blind eye to wasteful spending in other parts of the Pentagon budget.

Thornberrys gambit may not carry the day, since both President Obama and Senate Armed Services Committee chair John McCain oppose it. But as long as a separate war budget exists, the temptation to stuff it with unnecessary programs will persist as well.

Of course, that war budget is just part of the problem. The Pentagon has so many budding programs tucked away in so many different lines of its budget that even its officials have a hard time keeping track of whats actually going on. As for the rest of us, were essentially in the dark.

Consider, for instance, the proliferation of military aid programs. The Security Assistance Monitor, a nonprofit that tracks such programs, has identified more than two dozen of them worth about $10 billion annually. Combine them with similar programs tucked away in the State Departments budget, and the U.S. is contributing to the arming and training of security forces in 180 countries. (To put that mind-boggling total in perspective, there are at most 196 countries on the planet.) Who could possibly keep track of such programs, no less what effect they may be having on the countries and militaries involved, or on the complex politics of, and conflicts in, various regions?

Best suggestion: dont even think about it (which is exactly what the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex want you to do). And no need for Congress to do so either. After all, as Lora Lumpe and Jeremy Ravinsky of the Open Society Foundations noted earlier this year, the Pentagon is the only government agency providing foreign assistance that does not even have to submit to Congress an annual budget justification for what it does. As a result, they write, the public does not know how much the DoD is spending in a given country and why.

Slush Funds Galore

If smokescreens and evasive maneuvers arent enough to hide the Pentagons actual priorities from the taxpaying public, theres always secrecy. The Secrecy Project at the Federation of American Scientists recently put the size of the intelligence portion of the national security states black budget  its secret spending on everything from spying to developing high-tech weaponry  at more than $70 billion. That figure includes a wide variety of activities carried out through the CIA, the NSA, and other members of the intelligence community, but $16.8 billion of it was requested directly by the Department of Defense. And that $70 billion is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to secret spending programs, since billions more in secret financing for the development and acquisition of new weapons systems has been squirreled away elsewhere.

The largest recent project to have its total costs shrouded in secrecy is the B-21, the Air Forces new nuclear bomber. Air Force officials claim that they need to keep the cost secret lest potential enemies connect the dots and learn too much about the planes key characteristics. In a letter to Senator McCain, an advocate of making the cost of the plane public, Ronald Walden of the Air Forces Rapid Capabilities Office claimed that there was a strong correlation between the cost of an air vehicle and its total weight. This, he suggested, might make it decisively easier for potential opponents to guess its range and payload.

If such assessments sound ludicrous, its because they are. As the histories of other major Pentagon acquisition programs have shown, the price of a system tells you just that  its price  and nothing more. Otherwise, with its classic cost overruns, the F-35 would have a range beyond compare, possibly to Mars and back. Of course, the real rationale for keeping the full cost estimate for the B-21 secret is to avoid bad publicity. Budget analyst Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggests that its an attempt to avoid sticker shock for a program that he estimates could cost more than $100 billion to develop and purchase.

The bomber, in turn, is just part of a planned $1 trillion splurge over the next three decades on a new generation of bombers, ballistic missile submarines, and ground-based nuclear missiles, part of an updating of the vast U.S. nuclear arsenal. And keep this in mind: that trillion dollars is simply an initial estimate before the usual Pentagon cost overruns even begin to come into play. Financially, the nuclear plan is going to hit taxpayer wallets particularly hard in the mid-2020s when a number of wildly expensive non-nuclear systems like the F-35 combat aircraft will also be hitting peak production.

Under the circumstances, it doesnt take a genius to know that theres only one way to avoid the budgetary equivalent of a 30-car pile up: increase the Pentagons already ample finances yet again. Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Brian McKeon was referring to the costs of building new nuclear delivery vehicles when he said that the administration was wondering how the heck were going to pay for it, and probably thanking our lucky stars we wont be here to answer the question. Of course, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag when all those programs cloaked in secrecy suddenly come out of hiding and the bills come fully due.

At this point, you may not be shocked to learn that, in response to McKeons uncomfortable question, the Pentagon has come up with yet another budgetary gimmick. Its known as the National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund, or as Taxpayers for Common Sense more accurately labels it, the Navys submarine slush fund. The idea  a longstanding darling of the submarine lobby (and yes, Virginia, there is a submarine lobby in Washington)  is to set up a separate slush fund outside the Navys normal shipbuilding budget. Thats where the money for the new ballistic missile submarine program, currently slated to cost $139 billion for 12 subs, would go.

Establishing such a new slush fund would, in turn, finesse any direct budgetary competition between the submarine program and the new surface ships the Navy also wants, and so avoid a political battle that might end up substantially reducing the number of vessels the Navy is hoping to buy over the next 30 years. Naturally, the money for the submarine fund will have to come from somewhere, either one of the other military services or that operations and maintenance budget so regularly raided to help pay for expensive weapons programs.

Not to be outmaneuvered, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has now asked Congress to set up a strategic deterrence fund to pay for its two newest nuclear delivery vehicles, the planned bomber and a long-range nuclear-armed ballistic missile. In theory, this would take pressure off other major Air Force projects like the F-35, but as with the submarine fund, it only adds up if a future president and a future Congress can be persuaded to jack up the Pentagon budget to make room for these and other weapons systems.

In the end, however the specifics work out, any fund for such weaponry will be just another case of smoke and mirrors, a way of kicking the nuclear funding crisis down the road in hopes of fatter budgets to come. Why make choices now when the Pentagon and the military services can bet on blackmailing a future Trump or Clinton administration and a future Congress into ponying up the extra billions of dollars needed to make their latest ill-conceived plans add up?

If your head is spinning after this brief tour of the Pentagons budget labyrinth, it should be. Thats just what the Pentagon wants its painfully complicated budget practices to do: leave Congress, any administration, and the public too confused and exhausted to actually hold it accountable for how our tax dollars are being spent. So far, theyre getting away with it.

William D. Hartung, a TomDispatch regular, is the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy and a senior adviser to the Security Assistance Monitor. He is the author of, among other books, Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.

Copyright 2016 William D. Hartung

[Note for TomDispatch Readers: I hope those of you who want to ensure that TDs voice stays strong in this grim world of ours will think about donating to the site. Remember that, for a contribution of $100 or more ($125 if you live outside the United States), you can get a signed, personalized copy of Nick Turses powerful, up-close-and-personal new Dispatch Book on a country that has become a war-crimes zone, Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan, or Rebecca Gordons American Nuremberg, a riveting account of who should (but never will) be in the dock in future war-crimes trials here, or a range of other books on offer (including mine). Just check out the details at our donation page. Tom]

Via Tomdispatch.com



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Wochit News from late last month: U.S. Lawmakers Debate Defense Policy Bill
TORONTO, May 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM, FWB: WC7) ("Wallbridge") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") dated May 24, 2016 (the "Agreement Date") to acquire 100% of the Fenelon Gold Property ("Fenelon Mine Property") from Balmoral Resources Ltd. (TSX:BAR; OTCQX:BALMF) ("Balmoral") for a purchase price of $3.6 M. The Fenelon Mine Property is an advanced stage project with near-term production potential, as well as drill intersections suggesting exploration potential for resource expansion. The project is located in West-Central Quebec, within the same geological belt that hosts the large Detour Gold mine in Ontario.

"This acquisition is an important step forward for Wallbridge as we implement our strategy of becoming a sustainable producer. Having completed our Broken Hammer open pit mine last year, where we achieved production substantially in excess of the resource estimate in the prefeasibility study and received recognition for safety, this new project allows us to leverage our experience and knowledge as a proven operator to create value for our shareholders. Over the last year we have evaluated over 100 acquisition opportunities against our established criteria of being in a mining friendly jurisdiction, having a short timeline to a potential production decision, having an initial minimum 1-3 year mine life, having a manageable capital cost and most importantly having the potential to generate a high margin return for our shareholders. The Fenelon Mine Property meets every one of those criteria with historic resources, existing infrastructure at site including over one kilometre of underground development, provincial and local road access, reasonable proximity to a number of gold milling facilities with available capacity as well as drill indications for potential resource expansion," stated Alar Soever, Executive Chairman of Wallbridge. "In the next few weeks, Wallbridge will be evaluating the financing alternatives for the completion of the transaction as well as completing technical reports."

President and CEO of Wallbridge, Marz Kord added, "Based on my review of the Fenelon Mine Property using my 30 plus years of experience as mine operator and engineering consultant working on small and large projects in Northern Ontario and Quebec, I am convinced we can move this project forward rapidly and be in a position to make a production decision in the first half of 2017. During our due diligence period, we have done a lot of work on all aspects of the project including an in-house review of the geology and resources, and estimated preliminary capital and operating costs based on quotes from potential mining and transportation contractors, camp operators, and gold milling facilities. Based on this preliminary work we believe we are in an excellent position to move forward quickly and to complete the work necessary to confirm project feasibility and make a production decision within the time frame stated above. A positive decision would mean that the Fenelon Project would meet our stated criteria of being a high margin asset. We have received expressions of interest from mining and transportation contractors who would assist us with bridge financing the working capital by waiting to get paid for their work until we receive payment for product from the processing facilities."

"Exploration opportunities at Fenelon include open mineralized zones close to the existing underground workings as well as high grade drill intersections at depth and along trend. Our initial focus will be on expanding the deposit close to the existing workings," stated Joshua Bailey, Vice President Exploration of Wallbridge, "Recent high grade intersections reported by Detour Gold and Balmoral support the potential for larger high grade systems proximal to the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone."

The Fenelon Project covers 1,052 hectares and is located in West-Central Quebec proximal to the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone which hosts the Detour Gold Mine in Ontario (514 million tonnes reserves grading 0.99 g Au/t, 16.4 M ounces) as well as the Martiniere gold project being explored by Balmoral (Figure 1).

The Fenelon Project contains the Discovery Zone gold deposit (Figures 2 and 3) which was discovered in 1994. A total of over 50,000 metres of drilling have been completed and, very significantly, two bulk samples have been mined and processed from the deposit. In 2001, a 13,835 tonne bulk sample mined from a small open pit at the Discovery Zone was test milled at the Camflo mill in Malartic and returned 132,039 grams (4,245 ounces) of gold giving a reconciled grade of 9.84g/t gold using a calculated recovery of 97%. A second bulk sample, mined from underground and also milled at Camflo was comprised of 8,169 tonnes and returned 80,731 grams (2,596 ounces) of gold giving a reconciled grade of 10.7 g/t gold. The open pit and underground workings are currently flooded, with de-watering expected to take no longer than 6 to 8 weeks after all permits are in place.

Historic resources were last estimated in September 2004 and were updated in January 2005, by Carl Pelletier, B. Sc., P. Geo. and Yves Gagnon, M. Sc., P. Geo., based on all the results available at the time of writing, to take into account the volumes extracted during the underground bulk sample. The January 2005 Technical Report was filed on SEDAR on March 2, 2005 and can be viewed on the SEDAR website under the company name of American Bonanza Gold Mining Corp. The in situ historic Measured and Indicated Resources were estimated at 47,927 tonnes grading at 19.61 g/t Au (including 3,098 tonnes of on- site broken ore). An additional 27,245 t grading 12.79 g/t Au of historic inferred resources were also estimated.

The historic resource estimate is considered reliable, and the report was prepared in accordance with NI-43-101, but cannot be considered current as about 16,000 metres of additional diamond drilling has been completed since that time. This data will need to be incorporated into an updated resource estimate.

The area for which the historic resource estimate was compiled is located between sections 990 E and 1150 E, and from the surface (El. 5250) to a depth of 175 m (El. 5075). No data was incorporated in the estimate outside this area as no geologic interpretation was available at the time. The interpretation will have to be extended to incorporate material for the surrounding ground (Figure 3).

The historic resources were estimated using the polygonal method from sections, longitudinal sections and level plans. All data were compiled and are presented on cross-sections, longitudinal sections and level plans. The authors based their estimate on a 5 g/t Au cut-off. High-grade assays cut at 50 g/t Au for the underground chip and muck samples and at 75 g/t Au for all drill assays.

The historic Measured Resources were calculated from mineralized material outlines of the zones as defined by geological mapping of the underground mine workings. The historic Indicated Resources are supported by the diamond drill results. The area of influence of each drill hole is limited to a ten metre radius from its intercept or the mid-distance to the nearest hole or underground working. For the historic Inferred Resources, the area of influence of each DDH extends from 10 to 20 metres from its intercept or the mid-distance to the nearest hole or underground working.

At this time, in accordance with NI-43-101, Wallbridge is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, as an independent qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current. Work is currently underway to incorporate the results of the 16,000 metres of additional drilling completed since the time of the historic resource estimate into an updated current resource estimate.

Initial work plans for the project include:

Completion of an updated resource/reserve estimate and a NI 43-101 report

Consultations with First Nation communities

Initiating permitting for dewatering the pit and underground workings for the purpose of underground rehabilitation, underground diamond drilling, and eventual development/mining

Firming up costs for a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") or prefeasibility study by securing firm bids for mining, transportation of the ore to a mill, and custom milling at a toll milling facility.

Completion of a PEA or pre-feasibility study

Contingent on positive results, making a production decision

It is expected the above plans can be completed within 8-12 months.

"We look forward to rapidly moving this project forward following completion of the transaction," stated Marz Kord, President and CEO of Wallbridge. "We are very encouraged by the grades that were mined during both the surface and underground bulk sampling campaigns, and with the exploration potential in the immediate vicinity of the existing underground workings."

The LOI outlines the terms of the proposed transaction which are as follows, for reference the LOI Date is May 24, 2016:

Wallbridge shall immediately upon receipt of TSX approval, issue to Balmoral that number of common shares in the capital of Wallbridge as is equal to $200,000 based on the 20 day volume weighted average trading price of Wallbridge's common shares in the 20 days immediately prior to market close on May 20, 2016 ; said payment equalling 2,381,575 common shares of Wallbridge. The shares issued will be subject to standard 4 month hold provisions.





that number of common shares in the capital of Wallbridge as is equal to based on the 20 day volume weighted average trading price of Wallbridge's common shares in the 20 days immediately prior to market close on ; said payment equalling 2,381,575 common shares of Wallbridge. The shares issued will be subject to standard 4 month hold provisions. The parties shall, using their respective best efforts, prepare a purchase agreement (the " Purchase Agreement ") to confirm and expand on the terms outlined in the LOI. It is the intention of the parties that the Purchase Agreement shall be signed within 60 days of the LOI Date.





") to confirm and expand on the terms outlined in the LOI. It is the intention of the parties that the Purchase Agreement shall be signed within 60 days of the LOI Date. Under the terms of the LOI the purchase price for the Property, if paid by Wallbridge to Balmoral within 60 days of LOI Date, will be $3,400,000 cash.





within 60 days of LOI Date, will be cash. Should Wallbridge not be in a position to make the required cash payment within 60 days of the LOI Date the cash purchase price will increase to $3,500,000 . Wallbridge may extend the final deadline for payment to 120 days from the LOI Date by making two non-refundable cash payments to Balmoral of $500,000 each on or before the 60 th and 90 th day from the LOI Date. Both payments will form part of the final purchase price.





. Wallbridge may extend the final deadline for payment to 120 days from the LOI Date by making two non-refundable cash payments to of each on or before the 60 and 90 day from the LOI Date. Both payments will form part of the final purchase price. Should the Purchase Agreement not be completed and/or the purchase payment(s) not be received by Balmoral under the terms outlined above, then the LOI and/or the Purchase Agreement (if completed) shall automatically terminate. Upon termination of the LOI and/or Purchase Agreement Wallbridge will retain no interest in the Property and Balmoral will be entitled to retain any payments previously received under the terms of the LOI and/or Purchase Agreement.





under the terms outlined above, then the LOI and/or the Purchase Agreement (if completed) shall automatically terminate. Upon termination of the LOI and/or Purchase Agreement Wallbridge will retain no interest in the Property and will be entitled to retain any payments previously received under the terms of the LOI and/or Purchase Agreement. In all cases Balmoral shall retain a 1% NSR on any future production from the Property.

Financing for the project has been initiated and will proceed over the next several weeks, with a focus on supplier financing, equity, and debt, with the objective of optimizing potential project returns.

The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Alar Soever, P.Geo., Executive Chairman of Wallbridge, in his capacity as a Qualified Person as defined in NI-43-101.

About Wallbridge Mining

Wallbridge creates value through the acquisition, discovery, development, and production of metals. Wallbridge is working to establish a portfolio of projects that will support sustainable production and revenue as well as organic growth through exploration and scalability.

Wallbridge is currently in discussions regarding several advanced stage projects which could become the Company's next production platforms. These discussions benefit from the operating capabilities Wallbridge demonstrated by safely and efficiently mining the Broken Hammer deposit, which was completed in October 2015.

Wallbridge is continuing active partner-funded exploration on its large portfolio of nickel, copper, and PGM projects in Sudbury, Ontario. Most of this work is funded by joint venture partners and has led to the discovery of numerous mineral occurrences including the Broken Hammer deposit.

Wallbridge has further exposure to active exploration for copper and gold in Jamaica and British Columbia through its 16.8% ownership of Carube Copper Corp. ("Carube Copper") (CUC:TSX-V, formerly Miocene Resources Limited). Carube Copper's activities in Jamaica benefit from the funding by OZ Minerals Limited ("OZ Minerals"), with whom Carube Copper has two joint ventures.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements (including "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to, among other things, the operations of Wallbridge and the environment in which it operates. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Wallbridge has relied on a number of assumptions and estimates in making such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the costs associated with the development and operation of its properties. Such assumptions and estimates are made in light of the trends and conditions that are considered to be relevant and reasonable based on information available and the circumstances existing at this time. A number of risk factors may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or outcomes of such exploration and/or mine development to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, whether such discoveries will result in commercially viable quantities of such mineralized materials, the possibility of changes to project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the ability to execute planned exploration and future drilling programs, the need for additional funding to continue exploration and development efforts, changes in general economic, market and business conditions, and those other risks set forth in Wallbridge's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in its other public filings. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and such information is inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of Wallbridge. Although Wallbridge has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements in this press release are given as of the date hereof.

Wallbridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this disclaimer.

SOURCE Wallbridge Mining Company Limited
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 25, 2016) - Avalon Advance Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the 2016 work program on its 100% owned Separation Rapids Lithium Project, near Kenora, Ontario. Since the last update (provided in the News Release dated April 5, 2016), the Company has initiated its lithium hydrometallurgical process development work at the facilities of Thibault and Associates Inc., Fredericton, New Brunswick ("Thibault"), utilizing the bulk concentrate sample produced in the winter. Thibault are experts in applied process chemical engineering, with considerable experience in rare metals including lithium. The work is scheduled for completion in late June, following which the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") will be finalized.

Lithium Hydrometallurgical Process Development

The focus of the hydrometallurgical process development work is to produce a lithium hydroxide product from a petalite (lithium mineral) concentrate suitable for use in lithium ion batteries. Preliminary work demonstrated that this product could be achieved employing a flowsheet using sulphuric acid as the primary solvent.

Recent work has successfully produced a very high purity lithium sulphate solution from the petalite concentrate. This is currently being converted to lithium hydroxide solution via an established electrolysis process using another service provider. Preliminary observations indicate a lithium hydroxide conversion efficiency matching, and possibly exceeding, original expectations.

Avalon personnel recently visited with a number of key equipment suppliers and technology experts in Europe in order to review alternative processes and technologies in key aspects of the proposed flowsheet. One such area is the use of fluidized bed roasting in place of conventional processing via rotary kilns. This technology offers significant reductions in energy requirements as well as better operating control. Other potential opportunities for optimization were also identified with regard to up-front ore sorting, modularized flotation plant design and acid roasting equipment.

Avalon has been active in finalizing the logistics for piloting the complete process flowsheet from optical ore sorting through to battery grade lithium hydroxide production. To this end, Avalon is in discussion with vendors and technology centres both in Europe and North America and plans to proceed with these programs later in 2016.

Feldspar and Silica By-Products

Avalon is awaiting the results of testwork being conducted in Europe to evaluate the suitability of the feldspar by-product as a paint filler product. Discussions with vendors of suitable mills for the fine grinding requirements both in Europe and North America are already in progress. Results of testwork evaluating the potential production of a high purity silica by-product are also awaited and should be available by the end of May. Successful inclusion of one or both by-products into the final project will potentially improve overall project economics and reduce the environmental footprint.

Avalon is also awaiting further feedback from potential glass industry customers interested in the petalite concentrate as an industrial mineral product for glass-ceramics.

Other Project Activities and Future Plans

Engineering work continues for the PEA, which is currently scheduled for completion this summer. The Company is advancing capital and operating cost estimates and evaluating various production scenarios. Samples of products from the flotation plant process have been sent for environmental testing as part of the project permitting process.

Avalon continues to investigate the possibility of developing a clean, low cost "run-of-river" hydro-power supply to the mine site with potential development partners. At least three sites have been identified along the English River near the deposit that offer this potential. Clean, low-cost hydro-power generation could provide environmental benefits and economic benefits both to the project and to local business partners interested in this opportunity.

A diamond drilling program is tentatively planned for August/September with the objective of demonstrating potential for significant additions to the historical mineral resources originally delineated in 1997-2001. The known resource remains open for expansion to depth and along strike.

Lithium market development work continues, with the Company attending the 8th Lithium Supply & Marketing Conference this week in Las Vegas. Avalon will also be presenting a paper entitled "Electric Vehicle Growth Dependent on Lithium Supply" at the Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (http://www.evs29.org/) in Montreal, Quebec June 19-22.

Following the completion of the PEA this summer, Avalon intends to proceed into a full Feasibility Study and environmental assessment work with a target date for completion in Q2 2017.

The technical information included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Senior Vice President, Metallurgy and Technology Development, Mr. David Marsh, FAusIMM (CP), who is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (formerly Avalon Rare Metals Inc.) is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones.

For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that the [development] work is scheduled for completion in late June, following which the PEA will be finalized, that preliminary work demonstrated that this could be achieved employing a relatively simple flowsheet, that preliminary observations indicate a lithium hydroxide conversion efficiency matching, and possibly exceeding, original expectations, that use of fluidized bed roasting in place of conventional processing via rotary kilns may be an alternate, that this technology offers significant reductions in energy requirements as well as better operating control, that other potential opportunities for optimization were also identified with regard to up-front ore sorting, modularized flotation plant design and acid roasting equipment, that process flowsheet programs are planned to proceed later in 2016, that results of testwork evaluating the potential production of a high purity silica by-product are also awaited and should be available by the end of May, that successful inclusion of one or both by-products into the final project will potentially improve overall project economics and reduce the environmental footprint, that the PEA is currently scheduled for completion this summer, that clean, low-cost hydro-power generation would provide environmental benefits and economic benefits both to the project and to local business partners interested in this opportunity and that following the completion of the PEA this summer, Avalon intends to proceed into a full feasibility study along with environmental assessment work with a target date for completion in Q2 2017. . Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
VANCOUVER, May 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Rye Patch Gold Corp. (TSX.V: RPM; OTCQX: RPMGF; FWB: 5TN) (the "Company" or "Rye Patch") is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement (the "Acquisition Agreement") to acquire 100% ownership of the Florida Canyon gold mine (with the Standard gold mine) located in Pershing County, Nevada, for total consideration of US$15 million in cash and 20,000,000 common shares of the Company payable at closing, subject to adjustment for outstanding liabilities, plus certain contingent payments . The Company has also signed a commitment letter for a US$27 million credit facility (the "Credit Facility") with Macquarie Bank Limited ("Macquarie Bank") to fund the proposed redevelopment of the Florida Canyon mine. The Company has engaged Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. ('Macquarie Capital") and Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord Genuity") with regard to a proposed equity financing to fund the cash portion of the purchase consideration.

Florida Canyon Mine and Proposed Restart

The Florida Canyon gold mine is fully permitted, has been in continuous production since 1986 and is currently producing gold from its existing leach pad facilities. The Company proposes to redevelop the mine, including constructing a new heap leach pad and waste storage facility as well as mining a planned expansion of the Florida Canyon ore body. Rye Patch expects Florida Canyon to achieve commercial production from the new leach pad in Q1 2017.

Mine Development Associates ("MDA") completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Company with an effective date of March 16, 2016, (the "PEA") for the Florida Canyon gold mine. The PEA was completed based on a US$1,000 per ounce gold price for the first two years and a US$1,150 per ounce gold price for the remaining life of mine and will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this news release.

PEA and Acquisition Highlights:

Average production of approximately 75,000 ounces of gold per year for 8 years;

US$1,000 per ounce of Au for years 1 to 2 and US$1,150 per ounce of Au used for years 3 to 8;

per ounce of Au for years 1 to 2 and per ounce of Au used for years 3 to 8; Pre-tax NPV (7.5%) of US$65.43 million , with a 41.5% IRR;

, with a 41.5% IRR; Cash cost per gold ounce is calculated at US$759 per ounce;

per ounce; Fully permitted expansion;

Commitment letter executed for a US$27 million Credit Facility;

Credit Facility; Significant potential synergies with existing Oreana Trend assets; and

assets; and Tremendous exploration and further development potential.

Table 1: PEA Gold Price Sensitivity Analysis (AFTER TAX) % of Base

Case NPV 7.5% (US$mm) IRR (%) Gold Price Yr 1 & 2 US$/oz Au Gold Price Yrs 3 - 8 US$/oz Au 100% $45.845 34.4% $1,000 $1,150 110% $80.194 53.8% $1,100 $1,265 120% $114.543 73.4% $1,200 $1,380

See "Preliminary Economic Assessment on Florida Canyon Mine" below for further details on the PEA and, specifically, the cautionary language regarding the preliminary nature of the PEA in that it is based on Inferred Mineral Resources and not mineral reserves. The Company's decision to place the Florida Canyon mine into production is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and the Company cautions that historically such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

All mining and ancillary equipment required to operate the Florida Canyon mine is in place together with a team of high quality experts experienced in mining a lowcost operation with a successful 30year history.

Following the restart of Florida Canyon, Rye Patch will have cash flow from both a producing mine and from its existing NSR royalty along with a pipeline of nearby, advanced-stage projects to ensure future growth. Significant operational synergies exist with Florida Canyon and the nearby Lincoln Hill and Wilco resource projects. Oxide resources at Lincoln Hill and Wilco represent additional volume that would contribute to increasing future gold output.

William Howald, the company's President and CEO, commented, "This is truly a unique and transformational opportunity that has fantastic synergies with our existing projects at Lincoln Hill, Gold Ridge and Wilco located 30 kilometres to the south. We are creating a new and exciting company with anticipated initial annual production of 75,000 ounces gold expected to begin in 2017 with the potential to expand the existing Measured and Indicated Resource of 1.1 million ounces. Florida Canyon provides Rye Patch with a solid foundation from which to grow and significant exploration upside in and around the mine and throughout the district."

Mr. Howald concluded by saying, "This acquisition represents a tremendous opportunity for both existing and new Rye Patch shareholders to realize significant value."

Macquarie Bank Credit Facility

To partially fund the proposed redevelopment of the Florida Canyon gold mine, the Company has executed a commitment letter with Macquarie Bank for a US$27 million Credit Facility for the Company's wholly owned US subsidiary, Rye Patch Mining U.S. Inc. ("Rye Patch U.S."). The Credit Facility will bear interest at LIBOR plus 8% per annum and includes a hedging facility. Repayment of the Credit Facility will be amortized over the first four years of production following the restart of the Florida Canyon mine, subject to prepayment from a percentage of excess free cash flow from the mine, with the final repayment date expected to be no later than December 31, 2020.

In connection with the Credit Facility, Rye Patch is to issue Macquarie Bank warrants with a five year term for the purchase of such number of common shares of Rye Patch that is equivalent to conversion of 10% of the Credit Facility amount at an exercise price equal to the lesser of (a) a premium of 25% to the volume weighted average price of the shares traded on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") for the 20 days preceding the issue date of the warrants, and (b) the most recent price of which shares of Rye Patch were issued. The Credit Facility is subject to customary fees and covenants.

Rye Patch U.S.'s obligations under the Credit Facility will be guaranteed by the Company and certain material subsidiaries. In addition, Macquarie Bank will be taking a first ranking security interest over all of the properties and assets of the Company and its material subsidiaries, including the Florida Canyon mine property and assets as well as shares of the subsidiary companies that hold the property and assets.

Acquisition Agreement

The acquisition of the Florida Canyon mine is being made pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement dated May 24, 2016, among the Company and Rye Patch U.S., and Jipangu International Inc. ("JII"), Imlay Mining Co., Ltd. ("Imlay") and ADMGold Co., Ltd. ("ADM Gold"), whereby Rye Patch U.S. will acquire all of the outstanding shares of the companies which own the Florida Canyon mine and related assets (including the nearby Standard gold mine). The Acquisition Agreement includes the following provisions:

Consideration payable under the Acquisition Agreement to ADMGold and/or affiliated entities on closing is comprised of US$15 million payable in cash and issuance of 20,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch, provided that approximately US$6.55 million of the cash consideration will be held in escrow pending the determination of outstanding tax and other liabilities.

payable in cash and issuance of 20,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch, provided that approximately of the cash consideration will be held in escrow pending the determination of outstanding tax and other liabilities. Within 60 days of commencement of commercial production at the Florida Canyon mine by Rye Patch U.S. as operator: Rye Patch U.S. is to pay additional consideration to ADMGold of US$5 million in cash (the "Cash Contingent Consideration"), subject to adjustment depending on the amount of outstanding liabilities to third parties that have not then been settled or waived and postponement in certain circumstances, and Rye Patch is to issue to ADMGold warrants exercisable for 15,000,000 common shares of Rye Patch at US$0.50 per share for a twoyear term from date of issuance. The Cash Contingent Consideration payable to ADMGold may be alternatively satisfied by the issuance of: US$2.5 million worth of common shares of Rye Patch at a price per share equal to the greater of U.S. $0.20 and the volume weighted average trading price of the shares for the 20 trading days prior to the commencement of commercial production, and An unsecured debt obligation for US$2.5 million (subject to adjustment for outstanding liabilities) maturing five years after commencement of commercial production, subject to mandatory prepayment from certain levels of uncommitted free cash flow from the mine, and bearing 4% interest per annum in the first year and 9% interest per annum thereafter with interest to be paid quarterly in cash. Should this debt obligation not be fully paid when due, ADMGold may elect to convert the amount owing into common shares of Rye Patch at a price per share equal to the greater of U.S. $0.20 and the volume weighted average trading price of the shares for the 20 trading days prior to ADMGold's conversion notice.

The contingent consideration will be subject to intercreditor agreements between ADMGold and Macquarie Bank, including ADMGold having a second priority security interest (to the extent of US$2.5 million ) over the same property and assets that will be subject to Macquarie Bank's first ranking security interest.

) over the same property and assets that will be subject to Macquarie Bank's first ranking security interest. Closing of the acquisition is anticipated to occur on or before July 31, 2016 , subject to regulatory approvals and satisfying conditions of closing under the Acquisition Agreement. Conditions in the Company's favour include completion of the Credit Facility for not less than US$25 million and completion of an equity financing of not less than US$30 million which the Company is currently negotiating.

Florida Canyon Mine Location and Background

The Florida Canyon mine is located half way between Lovelock and Winnemucca, Nevada, and approximately 30 kilometres north of the Company's Wilco, Lincoln Hill and Gold Ridge projects. The mine sits immediately adjacent to Interstate 80 and is located approximately 210 kilometres northeast of Reno, Nevada.

Currently, the mine is producing from its existing leach pad facilities. The Company proposes to construct a new heap leach pad and waste storage facility to complete a planned layback of the existing pit area. Initial production from the new leach pad is expected within six months and commercial production growing toward 75,000 ounce of gold per annum is expected three months later. The expansion is fully permitted, and the Credit Facility from Macquarie Bank will be used for the build out.

Rye Patch expects to have cash flow from a producing mine and from its existing NSR royalty along with a pipeline of advanced-projects to ensure future growth. Significant operational synergies exist with Florida Canyon and the nearby Lincoln Hill and Wilco resource projects. Oxide resources at Lincoln Hill and Wilco represent additional volume that could contribute to increasing future gold output. The infrastructure at Florida Canyon is capable of reducing capital and costs for the Lincoln Hill and Wilco projects by utilizing the existing assay lab, carbon stripping plant, refinery, and management, thereby potentially reducing the timeline to production for these assets.

Preliminary Economic Assessment on Florida Canyon Mine

Table 2 summarizes the base case production and financial parameters used in the PEA.

Table 2: Summary of Base Case Assumptions Gold Price (US$) $1,000 (yrs 1&2) $1,150 (yr 3 to 8) Average Annual Gold Production (ounces) 75,000 Pre-Production Capital Costs (US$) $25.2 million LOM Sustaining Capital (US$) $23.9 million Strip Ratio 1.47:1 Pre-Production Period (years) 0.5 Mine Life (years) 8 Cash Cost per Gold Ounce (US$) $759 PRE-TAX Life of Mine NPV at 7.5% Discount Rate (US$) $65.4 million Internal Rate of Return 41.5% AFTER-TAX Life of Mine NPV at 7.5% Discount Rate (US$) $45.8 million Internal Rate of Return 34.4%

The Company cautions that the PEA is preliminary in nature in that it is based on Inferred Mineral Resources which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be characterized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The Company's decision to place the Florida Canyon mine into production is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and the Company cautions that historically such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

PEA Overview

MDA prepared the PEA as an open-pit mining project based solely on the Measured and Indicated Resources reported in the March 16, 2016, PEA. Caterpillar 992 and 993 wheel loaders and 785 haul trucks will be used to mine the ore body. Material would then be transported and processed through a two-stage crusher and crushed to -38 mm (-1.5 inches). The ore will be placed on the newly constructed South Heap Leach Pad Facility ("SHLP") using 777 Caterpillar haul trucks. Metal would be recovered onsite and sold as gold-silver dore. All necessary mine infrastructure and equipment is on the mine site.

The average annual production is expected to be 7.2-million tons (6.5-million tonnes) at a contained gold grade of 0.013 ounces per ton (0.445 grams per tonne). Based on gold recovery, it is anticipated that the mine will produce and sell an average of approximately 75,000 ounces of gold annually for an eight-year period.

Certain metric references in this news release have been converted from imperial amounts indicated in the PEA.

Mineral Resources

In March 2016, MDA completed a National Instrument 43-101-compliant PEA report for the Florida Canyon mine titled "Technical Report - Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Florida Canyon Mine, Pershing County, Nevada USA. In their analysis, MDA reported mineral resources at a cut-off grade of 0.006 oz Au/ton (0.2 grams of gold/tonne) for oxide material and 0.034 oz Au/ton (1.16 grams of gold/tonne) for sulfide material (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). Sulfide resources were restricted to an Inferred only classification. These reported resources, in the form of the resource block model, were used as the basis for determining mineable gold in the PEA.

Table 3.1: Florida Canyon March 16, 2016 Measured and Indicated

Oxide Resources (0.006 oz Au/ton cutoff grade) Item Tons X (000's) oz Au/t Ounces Au X (000's) Measured 79,635.4 0.013 1,035.3 Indicated 4,566.7 0.02 91.3 Measured + Indicated 84,202.1 0.013 1,126.6

Table 3.2: Florida Canyon March 16, 2016 Inferred Resources (0.006 oz Au/ton oxide and 0.034 oz Au/ton sulfide cutoff grades) Inferred Item Tons oz Ounces Au X (000's) Au/t X (000's) Oxide 350.8 0.015 5.3 Sulfide 7,115.0 0.055 391.1 Total Inferred Resource 7,465.8 0.050 396.4

The current resources at Florida Canyon are based on a grade block model produced by Reserva International LLC ("Reserva") in 2009. The oxide and sulphide resources were re-calculated in 2012 using a change in resource cut-off grade and an updated topographic surface. The current Measured, Indicated, and Inferred oxide resources were recalculated for this report based on an updated December, 2014 topographic surface and a $1200 gold price, and are restricted to that material above the 0.006oz Au/ton cut-off grade that occurs inside an optimized pit using the PEA estimated costs and process recoveries.

Florida Canyon drillhole spacing is generally 100ft x 100ft (30m x 30m) or less, and the gold domains are based on 20ft (9.1m) drill hole composites generated from capped sample interval gold assay values. The polygons were drawn enclosing two or more pierce points of the grade being modeled in a manner consistent with the orientation of mineralized bodies at Florida Canyon based on experience. These polygons were assigned a rock code based on the grade and location (Main or RTE) and validated for preparation of a block model.

The bench interpretations were used to code the drill composites and model blocks to each particular domain using the 50% majority-rule. The full block model has been re-interpolated using the new gold domain definitions, the complete drillhole data set through February 2009, and revised variography. A three-dimensional block model was built using Gemcom software by Mr. Tim Carew, P. Geo., principal of Reserva International LLC. The 2009 block model contains 333 columns, 261 rows, and 135 levels; the model block size is 30ft x 30ft x 20ft (9.1m x 9.1m x 6.1m) vertically.

The Measured oxide resource for Florida Canyon is classified as those model blocks defined by at least five composites within one-half the distance of the variogram range, and use a maximum of two composites per drillhole. This implies a minimum of three drillholes is also required.

The Indicated oxide resource for Florida Canyon is classified as those model blocks defined by at least three composites within the full distance of the variogram range, and use a maximum of two composites per drillhole. This implies a minimum of two drill holes is also required.

MDA did not audit the sulfide model as it is not part of the current mining plan. Some material modeled as sulfides were included in the optimized pit, but were treated as waste in the mine schedule.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Mine Planning

A PEA provides a basis to estimate project operating and capital costs and establish a projection of the potential mineable resource including measured, indicated and inferred categories as permitted under National Instrument 43-101. A Whittle pit optimization was performed using estimates of operating costs typical of operating surface mines using heap leach processing in northern Nevada and using metallurgical recovery based on 30 years of recovery history and column leach test work performed on material from the Florida Canyon mine. The ultimate pit shell was determined using a gold price of US$1,150 per ounce and only the Measured and Indicated oxide resources shown above in Table 3.1 were used for production scheduling.

No inferred material was used in the financial modeling. The strip ratio for the economic pit is 1.47 tons of waste for every one ton of ore.

Metallurgy

The Florida Canyon mine has been in continuous operation since 1986, and a total of 2.2875Mozs of gold have been produced from the operation. For the 30-year period, gold recoveries have reached an average of 68.3% on a combination of crushed and run-of-mine ("ROM") material (recovery of 50% for ROM and 71% for crush). The Company's PEA contemplates placing only crushed material on the new heap leach pad, thereby increasing the average recovery from 68% to 71.1%. Approximately 63.8 million tons (57.9 million tonnes) of new ore will be sent to the new SHLP, and 93.7 million tons (85 million tonnes) of waste will be stored in the new South Waste Rock Storage Facility. The ore material will be placed on the SHLP at a rate of 7.2 million tons (6.5 million tonnes) per annum and will be the basis for recovering metals from the Property. The crushed material gold recovery is expected at 71.1% of total placed. Recovery is expected over 30 to 45 day period, on a declining curve, from the date placed on the pad.

Capital Costs

Each capital item has an associated quote or bid to substantiate the cost. The capital required to build the expansion includes US$5.834M for mining equipment and deferred maintenance, US$2.735M for a crusher move and upgrade, US$7.208M for new leach pad, pond and piping construction, US$3.781M for contingency and US$0.9M for miscellaneous. The total capital requirement is US$28.985 million including contingency.

Operating Costs

Operating cost assumptions were based on similar scale surface mining operations using heap leach processing in northern Nevada, and process cost estimates for key consumables are based on the available metallurgical test data, power consumption data and prevailing costs for key materials in similar Nevada mining operations. Operating cost per ton of material processed are summarized as follows:

Table 4: PEA Pit Optimization Parameters Item Item Value

(dollar amounts in US$) Mining Cost Rock $1.35 to $1.65 per ton depending on location Mining Cost Fill $1.35 per ton Processing Cost Crushing and Pad Placement $1.10 per ton processed Processing Cost Leaching $2.60 per ton processed Processing Cost G & A Cost $0.50 per ton processed Process Recovery 68% Minimum Grade 0.006 ounce per ton Gold Price $1150 per ounce of gold Royalty 5.75% Selling Cost $5.00 per ounce sold Interamp Pit Slope Rock 45 degrees Interamp Pit Slope Fill 37 degrees

Economic Analysis

MDA chose US$1,000 per ounce for gold in years one and two, and US$1,150 per ounce for gold for years 3 through 8 as the base case economic scenario. The base case pre-tax economic results for the metal price assumptions are as follows:

Table 5: Pre Tax Projected Economic Results Base Case

(dollar amounts in US$) Gold Price $1,000 (yrs 1&2); $1,150 (yr 3 to LOM) Net Cash Flow $117.2 million NPV @ 5% Discount Rate $79.3 million Internal Rate of Return 41.5% Operating Costs per Ounce of Gold

Produced (Life-of-Mine) $759

Infrastructure

Everything needed for a mine is on the mine site. The Florida Canyon mine is adjacent to a major transportation and services corridor. The mine is within one mile of Interstate 80, the Union Pacific Railroad, and NV Energy transmission lines. All requirements for energy, water and process materials are available, and services are established. Nevada has a large, well-established gold mining industry. Services, supplies, manpower, housing, equipment and venders are readily available within the state.

The existing waste rock storage facilities are in the process of closure and have been reclaimed, and the existing leach pad is at capacity

A new 300 acre (121.4 hectare) heap leach facility (SHLP) is fully permitted. The SHLP is divided into three cells each covering 100 acres (40.5 hectares). The first cell will be constructed with initial production anticipated in late 2016. The pad location and attendant facilities are fully permitted.

The process facilities consist of five sets of carbon in columns with a maximum capacity of 9,000 gpm. An ARD plant, carbon acid wash, an elution and stripping circuit, electrowinning and refinery circuit, carbon handling and regeneration circuit and an assay lab with a metallurgical lab are on site. The facility has the capacity to produce over 180,000 ounces of gold per year.

A crusher and an agglomeration and conveyor plant are presently located at the Standard Mine. The crusher and associated facilities will be moved and upgraded. The crusher capacity will be increased from 5.0M tons (4.5M tonnes) per annum to 7.2M tons (6.5M tonnes) per annum. A new lime silo for lime storage and dosing ore will be constructed.

Ancillary facilities include a maintenance shop with offices. The maintenance shop has two bays with room to work on four Cat 785 haul trucks within the bays. An administration building includes offices, meeting rooms, and a training room. There is an assay laboratory with a metallurgical lab, a technical services office for the geological staff, a security office and guard shack, and lay down yards.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The Florida Canyon mine PEA was prepared by Mine Development Associates under the direction of Neil B. Prenn, PE, and incorporates the work of a number of industry-leading consultants, all of which are Qualified Persons (as defined under National Instrument 43-101) and are independent of Rye Patch. Neil B. Prenn has reviewed and approved this press release.

Regulatory Approvals

The Acquisition Agreement, Credit Facility, and the transactions contemplated therein are subject to applicable regulatory approvals, including TSXV approval.

On behalf of the Board of Directors|

'William Howald'

William C. (Bill) Howald, CEO & President

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the timing and completion of the Acquisition Agreement, the Credit Facility and an equity financing, future plans and objectives of the Company, proposed operations of the Company including mine development, future events and conditions and other statements that are not historical facts, all of which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results, programs and financial position could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Company's control. These factors include: the failure of the Company to satisfy the conditions in the Acquisition Agreement or the Credit Facility including mine redevelopment plans and production results to complete the contemplated transactions; the availability of funds; the financial position of Rye Patch; the timing and content of work programs; the results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; the reliability of calculation of mineral resources; the reliability of calculation of precious metal recoveries; the receipt and security of mineral property titles; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; fluctuations in metal prices; currency fluctuations; and general market and industry conditions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that the Acquisition Agreement, the Credit Facility and an equity financing and related transactions will be completed on the terms and within the time disclosed herein or at all.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Rye Patch Gold
VANCOUVER, May 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (TSX.V: NEE) (the "Company") is pleased to announce a Non-Brokered Private Placement (the "Private Placement") of unsecured convertible debentures ("Debenture") for gross proceeds of up to Cdn$7,500,000. The proceeds from the Debenture issuance will be used for the advancement of the Company's Moss Mine Gold-Silver property located in Mohave County, NW Arizona, USA and general corporate purposes.

Dick Whittington, the Company's CEO & President commented "This is a significant step forward in our funding plans for the development of the Moss Mine. At the same time, it is a vote of confidence in the project, the development plan for the mine and the State of Arizona. We are continuing to implement our funding plans with a view to being able to initiate final development and construction planning in the near term."

Each Debenture will have an issue price of Cdn$100, a term of five years from the date of issue and will bear interest at a rate of 5% per annum, payable semi-annually, which subject to regulatory approval may be at the option of the Company be paid in common shares. The Debentures and common shares issued upon conversion thereof will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issuance of the Debentures in accordance with applicable securities laws and, if required, the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. A cash finder's fee within TSX Venture Exchange policy guidelines may be paid in connection with the Private Placement.

Each Debenture is convertible into common shares at the option of the holder at any time prior to redemption or maturity (as the case may be), at the price of Cdn$0.50 per common share(the "Conversion Price"), which is equivalent to 2,000 common shares for each Cdn$1,000 principal amount of Debentures, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances. Debentures must be converted in minimum amounts of Cdn$1,000.

The Company may redeem the Debentures in cash on and after the second anniversary, in whole or in part from time to time without bonus or penalty, upon required prior notice at a redemption price equal to their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, provided that the volume weighted average trading price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange for the 20 consecutive trading days prior to the five trading days on which notice of redemption notice is given is at least 125% of the Conversion Price.

Additionally, the Company has the option, to repay the principal amount of the Debentures in common shares, provided certain circumstances are met including but not limited to: no default has occurred and is continuing at such time, and the trading price of the common shares for the 20 consecutive trading days ending five trading days prior to the date of the redemption notice or maturity date (as the case may be) is at least 150% of the Conversion Price.

The Company shall use its reasonable commercial efforts to apply to list the Debentures on the TSX Venture Exchange immediately upon the expiry of the four-month hold period applicable under Canadian securities laws, which listing is subject to compliance with applicable TSX Venture Exchange policies. Once listed, the Debentures (and the common shares issued upon conversion of the underlying such Debentures) shall be freely tradable under applicable Canadian securities laws without notice to the Company.

The Private Placement is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, regulatory approval, the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Private Placement has received approval from the Board of Directors of the Company.

The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. federal and state registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States.

About Northern Vertex: Northern Vertex Mining Corp. is a Canadian exploration and mining company focused on the reactivation of the Moss Mine Gold-Silver Project located in NW Arizona, USA where the Company has earned a 70% property interest and will form an LLC joint venture with Patriot Gold Corp. The Moss Mine Gold-Silver Project is an epithermal, brecciated, low sulphidation quartz-calcite vein and stockwork system which extends over a strike length of 1,400 meters and has been drill tested to depths of 370 meters vertically. It is a potential heap leach, open pit project that has been advanced to the Feasibility Study stage to ensure that technical, economic, permitting and funding requirements are met prior to proceeding with the development of the mine. The Company's management comprises an experienced management team with a strong background in all aspects of exploration, development, operations and financing of mining projects worldwide. The Company is focused on working effectively and respectfully with our stakeholders in the vicinity of the historical Moss Mine and enhancing the capacity of the local communities in the area.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF NORTHERN VERTEX

"J.R.H. (Dick) Whittington"

President & CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: The information in this news release has been prepared as at May 24, 2016. Certain statements in this news release, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", constitute "forward-looking statements" under the provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. These statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expected", "may", "will" or similar terms.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, known and unknown, could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. More particularly, this release contains statements concerning the anticipated Private Placement. Accordingly, there is a risk that the Private Placement will not be completely sold or completed within the anticipated time or at all.

Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such Statements.

SOURCE Northern Vertex Mining Corp.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 25, 2016) - Forum Uranium Corp. ("Forum") (TSX VENTURE: FDC) announces that it has acquired a 100% interest in two claims totaling 6,530 hectares in the Russell Lake area, 20 kilometres northeast of the Cameco/AREVA Key Lake Mine and Mill in the eastern Athabasca Basin (Figure 1).

Ken Wheatley, Forum's Vice President, Exploration stated, "Forum is always on the lookout for quality exploration prospects in the Athabasca Basin. The Wham property fits Forum's exploration criteria of being well located to existing infrastructure and with uranium potential at shallow depths. Rio Tinto Exploration and AREVA Resources Canada claims surround the Wham property and they are actively exploring in the area."

AREVA Resources Canada's Mam Lake Uranium Zone is located along an east-northeast electromagnetic conductor that contains a strongly tectonized, 10km long graphitic meta-pelitic gneiss unit. It is interpreted that this graphitic unit and a sub-parallel graphitic unit to the north extend on to Forum's Wham property, located 2 kilometres on trend to the east of the Mam Lake Uranium Zone. The Mam Lake Uranium Zone was drilled in 1978/79 and outlined a 600 metre long by 100 metre wide zone of uranium mineralization. The strongest drill intersection was a 4.5 metre interval from 171.8 metres to 176.3 metres grading 1.1% U 3 O 8 with a 0.3 metre interval at 173.3 metres to 173.6 metres grading 6.8% U 3 O 8 .

The depth to the unconformity on the Wham property is interpreted to be approximately 200 metres. The regional airborne magnetic map shows that the entire Wham property is situated within a broad magnetic low zone. Additional electromagnetic, magnetic and gravity surveys are recommended to explore the possible extension of the Mam Lake Corridor on to Forum's Wham property.

Forum will pay $7,500 cash and issue 25,000 shares for the claims, subject to TSX Venture Exchange Approval. A Finder's Fee may be payable in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Ken Wheatley, P.Geo. and Forum's VP, Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.



Figure 1: Location Map of the Wham Project, northeast of the Key Lake minesite.

About Forum Uranium

Forum Uranium Corp. is a Canadian-based energy company with a focus on the acquisition, exploration and development of Canadian uranium projects. Forum has assembled a highly experienced team of exploration professionals with a track record of mine discoveries for unconformity-style uranium deposits in Canada. The Company has a strategy to discover near surface uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan by exploring on its 100% owned properties and through strategic partnerships and joint ventures with Cameco, AREVA, RTX, NexGen and Uracan.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Tuesday urged [press release] EU officials to adhere to a 2013 suspension on arms transfers with Egypt in order to prevent human rights violations. According to AI, the suspension was put in place after hundreds of protesters were killed [JURIST report] in a show of grossly excessive force by security forces in August 2013, but a dozen member states are still participating in arms deals with the country. AI pointed out the reckless nature of transferring all types of weapons to Egypt with no assurance of how they will be used despite the vast evidence of human rights violations. AI also stated that by continuing to provide weapons to Egypt, member states are risking complicity in the countrys actions. Adding to the suspension being ignored, there is also talk among member states of abandoning the suspension altogether following last years decision by the USA to resume military aid to Egypt to the tune of $1.3 billion annually. AI stands against this, calling on the EU and all member states to:

Impose and fully implement a binding embargo on transfers of security and policing equipment to EgyptImpose a presumption of denial policy on transfers of arms intended for use by Egypts armed forces and air forceMaintain this embargo and presumption of denial policy until the Egyptian authorities put in place effective safeguards to prevent further serious violations by security forces.

AI cited the Arms Trade Treaty [UN materials] and the EUs Common Position on arms exports [text, PDF] as supporting a suspension to prevent and deter Egypts actions.

Egypt [BBC profile] has been internationally scrutinized in recent months over allegations of human rights infringements and free speech violations. Earlier this month Egyptian officials announced the conviction and prison sentences of over one hundred demonstrators who were peacefully assembling without a permit [JURIST report]. Also this month three UN rights experts urged [JURIST report] the Egyptian government to end its oppressive response towards human rights advocates in the country. In early May an Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] six people, including three journalists, to death for allegedly leaking state secrets to Qatar. Last month Egypts Court of Cassation overturned the five-year prison sentences of 35 Al-Azhar students, ordering a retrial [JURIST report]. Earlier in April three UN human rights experts urged Egypt to cease its cease [JURIST report] its ongoing crackdown on humans rights defenders and organizations.
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official website] on Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that the 2014 elimination of the states early in-person (EIP) voting was unconstitutional and in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) [DOJ materials]. While the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] reached a settlement agreement in April 2015 reinstating one day of Sunday voting and providing evening hours on weekdays [JURIST report], the so-called Golden Week process was not reinstated as part of that agreement. Golden Week is a period of time in which Ohioans could both register and vote on the same day. This helps create more opportunity for voters who may not have the time or resources to register and vote on separate days, as well as providing more voting time to prevent long lines. Judge Michael Watson stated in his decision:

The elimination of the extra days for EIP voting provided by Golden Week will disproportionately burden African Americans, as expert and anecdotal evidence reflects that African Americans vote EIP, and specifically EIP during Golden Week, at a significantly higher rate than other voters.  [Additionally,] it may be more difficult for voters with time, resource, transportation, and childcare restraints to make two separate trips to register and vote, and Golden Week allowed individuals to do both at once.  The elimination of [same-day registration] means that voters must now register and vote at separate times, which increases the cost of voting, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

Statistical and anecdotal evidence cited by Watson showed support for the claims that African Americans utilized this procedure greater than other groups, and that the elimination of this inevitably places a disproportionate burden on them to the point of violating constitutional rights and the VRA.

Ohio was also in voting news in March when a judge for Ohios Franklin County Court of Common Pleas [official website] granted an emergency order [text, PDF] allowing 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election to vote in the Ohio primary [JURIST report]. However, voting rights remain a controversial legal topic across the entire US. Last week a judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] that Virginias voter identification law, which requires that voters have a valid form of ID either before voting or within three days after voting, is constitutional [JURIST report]. Also last week a federal judge ruled that Kansas cannot require voters to provide proof of citizenship [JURIST report] when registering to vote. Last month a federal judge upheld [JURIST report] North Carolinas voter ID law. Earlier last month a federal appeals court held that a Wisconsin voter ID law needs to be re-examined [JURIST report]. In March a federal appeals court agreed to reconsider [JURIST report] Texas voter ID law before the entire court. Last May the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a 2012 law requiring voters to be state residents, not just domiciled in the state. In March of last year Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new law [JURIST report] that made Oregon the first state in the nation to institute automatic voter registration.
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official website] on Monday temporarily blocked [order, PDF] an Ohio law [JURIST report] defunding Planned Parenthood. The judge ruled in a lawsuit [text] filed [complaint, PDF] by Planned Parenthood on May 11 and issued a temporary two-week restraining order preventing state officials from terminating funding and declining to order the reinstatement of certain contracts out of concern for disrupting ongoing care and services. The law was to take effect on May 23 and would divert approximately $1.3 million in state funding from the organization.

Planned Parenthood has recently been fighting against many laws seeking to defund the organization. In January US President Barack Obama vetoed legislation [JURIST report] that would have defunded Planned Parenthood. In August Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, alleging that Alabama Governor Robert Bentleys termination of Medicaid provider agreements for the facility violates a federal law that requires Medicaid beneficiaries to have a choice in provider for family planning. Also in August the Alaska Superior Court struck down [JURIST report] a state law it says would have unfairly burdened low-income individuals by limiting Medicaid funding for abortions.
[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] delivered a speech [text] in Vietnam Tuesday pressing the government on human rights concerns in the nation. Stating that he was not intending to single any one nation out, Obama commended Vietnam on its progress in recent years in committing to bringing its laws in line with its new constitution and with international norms. He then discussed how more could be done and why it was necessary to uphold, what he called, universal rights. He discussed how freedom of speech can lead to innovation and freedom of religion can allow faith groups to serve their communities through schools and hospitals. He further stated that upholding these rights is not a threat to stability, but actually reinforces stability and is the foundation of progress and the fullest expression of the independence that so many cherish. During his speech, Obama also touched on how the Trans-Pacific Partnership [JURIST report] will help the Vietnamese economy and strengthen the bond between the US and Vietnam. Obama ended on a note of optimism for the US and Vietnam to work together in the future.

The Vietnamese government has faced criticism from the international community over its human rights policies. In August 2014 the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief reported serious violations [JURIST report] of religious freedom persist in Vietnam. In March of that year the Hanoi Supreme Peoples Court sentenced [JURIST report] blogger Oham Viet Dao to 15 months in prison for posting articles criticizing the government. A month earlier the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam upheld [JURIST report] the conviction of US-trained lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a known anti-government activist. In the autumn of 2013 Amnesty International [advocacy website] accused [JURIST report] Vietnamese authorities of using repressive laws against anti-government activists and Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] the National Assembly of Vietnam [government website, in English] to bring the countrys constitution in line with international human rights standards.
Track product launches by FMCG companies to get an understanding of the product-level strategies including geographic concentrations, innovation types, product claim, category focus and more

Monitoring the advertising strategies of various brands and gain insights into channel focus, regional focus, and more

Perform company-level analysis to understand business model, size, and geographic focus

Unilever product advertising is mainly through mainstream TV channels. Out of the products advertised so far at least 50% (over 850) of ads have been run on TV, while print media comes second with 496 ads. Unilever also utilizes social media platforms for advertisement. Unilever products are categorized by innovation ratings and tags in our product launch database. The North American region consists of almost 74 products with innovations related to the formulation of the product. Europe and other regions also have more products categorized under formulation-related innovation, followed by the packaging and positioning of the products. Most Unilever products are tagged with High Vitamins, Recyclable, and Natural tags to understand what the product differentiator is from other products available in the market. The majority of products belong to the personal care industry with a total of 5,788 products to date. This report, through the Unilever Example, illustrates how GlobalData Explorer enables you to:Dont miss out on key market insights that can help optimize your next investment  read the report now.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Three brothers are their friend were arrested after they teamed up top rob a Musina Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza at gun point.Learnmore,Enock and Fredrick Mubengwa all of Epworth were taken to Harare magistrate court facing armed robbery charges.They are jointly charged with Tawanda Maregere and they were not asked to plead to the charge before magistrate Tendai Mahwe who remanded them in custody to June 3.The four allegedly committed the offence n April 22 this year at 3am when they went to the shopping centre armed with a rifle and robbed the
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

First Lady Grace Mugabe is headed for Bulawayo this weekend for a two-day Bulawayo Zim-Asset Conference.Grace has been out of public space for more than a month.She had been holed up in Singapore attending to her daughter and newly born grandson.Fifteen out of the 17 invited ministers had confirmed their attendance by yesterday for the Friday and Saturday event at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair's Hall 3.According to the Chronicle, the ministers will explain how the city was and can continue to benefit from the Government's programmes.The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Bulawayo Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo said Grace will lead cabinet ministers at the much anticipated conference."Everything has been set up. We're ready to host the First Lady who is our guest of honour. Of the 17 invited ministers 15 have confirmed their participation."Three of the 15 ministers will be represented by their deputy ministers."The three Ministers apologised for not attending as they are out of the country," said Moyo."This conference will be attended by people from the grassroots so we expect ministers to bring some of their officials who will interact with residents and demystify some of the technical terms," she said.Minister Moyo said the conference will run under the theme "Consolidating Bulawayo's Growth through Zim-Asset."
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

An effective national food control system is essential to protect consumers' health and to ensure fair trade practices, according to FAO.Hazards in the food supply chain can have serious public health and economic impacts.It is against this background that the Government of Zimbabwe with technical support from FAO will - over the next few months - assess its national food control systems as part of the pilot testing of a new draft FAO/WHO national food control assessment tool."Zimbabwe is among the first five pilot countries used to test and refine the tool. The tool, developed by FAO and WHO, is part of the Organizations' efforts to protect consumers through the use of national food control systems. The tool will ensure locally produced and imported foods are monitored for safety and quality standards," FAO reported."The launch of the food safety tool in Zimbabwe demonstrates FAO's continued commitment to providing assistance and technical expertise in the area of food control and safety in the country."Launching the tool on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe (26 April 2016), the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Retired Brigadier General Dr. Gerald Gwinji, emphasized the importance for government and partner agencies to ensure that food which comes into the country as well as that which is grown locally is safe for human consumption.The Permanent Secretary expressed his confidence in the tool and said that the initiative will strengthen the national food control system, "The Government of Zimbabwe fully appreciates FAO's efforts to strengthen and ensure efficient food safety in the country," said Dr. Gwinji.The tool, which applies to food of both plant and animal origin, is based on CODEX principles and guidelines for national control systems, as well as other relevant guidelines to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in trade. The tool further covers controls by competent authorities on food safety attributes of food and also essential quality attributes as defined in the food law.Speaking at the launch of the tool, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa and Representative for Zimbabwe Chimimba David Phiri expressed his gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe for taking part in the pilot testing, which is an important global public good initiative."With the contribution of Zimbabwe, we hope to have a world class instrument which will be used not only by Zimbabwe but also by other countries of the global community to assess national food control systems, identify gaps and chart a way forward," Phiri said.Other countries, which are already testing the FAO/WHO food control assessment tool, are Sierra Leone, Zambia, Gambia, and Afghanistan.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

A political commentator Mlungisi Dube has expressed dismay over the continued corruption which saw $15 billion disappearing and rampant poaching syndicates which see many of the special species being killed under the noses of the ruling Zanu PF."Whenever you see a headline each day your heart sinks as you read about Zanu PF corruption.You start wondering what will be left for the ordinary Zimbabwean after the massive looting?$15 billion dollars diamond revenue never remitted, poaching syndicates involving senior government ministers and top security officers, Senior Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) executives in smuggling scandals," " he said. "Senior Anti Corruption officers in implicated in corrupt deals."Dube said energy tenders were being given to criminals without any trade references or known legitimate businesses and energy deals were being inflated by half a billion dollars obviously to cater for kickbacks for government officials."(President Robert) Mugabe was taking the only remaining Air Zimbabwe plane for his private trip. The list is endless.The only way out is tackling the regime head on, and sparing no means.We have a responsibility to stop this madness and get this country working.This is totally unacceptable," he said.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Zanu PF youth league leaders are doubting whether they will get one million youth for the march today.This comes amid fears of disease out breaks in the capital.Harare is facing water shortages and has inadequate public ablution facilities.Zanu PF deputy secretary for youth affairs, Kudzai Chipanga yesterday said "It's not possible for us to predict how many people will come, but we gave a target of 100 000 per province. I am not in the provinces, so I may not know."He said since the million-man march was a one-day event, participants would not stay long in the capital, relieving pressure on the organisers.Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba told NewsDay that they are in deep trouble as they only have 4000 police officers in Harare."Police are prepared for those one million people. We have made arrangements for that," she said.
News / National

by Walter Mswazie

THE Roman Catholic Diocese of Masvingo has closed Mukaro High School in Gutu with immediate effect in protest against the continued presence of two teachers accused of having masterminded pupils' protests in 2012.The girls only boarding school has an enrolment of more than 700 pupils.Pupils were yesterday caught unaware by the action and were ferried home by buses, some from Catholic schools in Masvingo.In a statement, the Education Secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Masvingo, Father Raphael Zindova, said the school has encountered challenges since 2012 and the situation remains tense due to the two "stubborn teachers."Zindova did not name the two teachers, but four years ago Martin Matenhere and Musana Chirikure were suspended for allegedly inciting pupils to strike but they appealed to the High Court and won their case.The High Court ordered the school to lift the suspensions and interdicted the institution from transfering them.The teachers have been reporting for duty but the relationship between them and their employer is said to have irretrievably broken down."Mukaro High School has encountered challenges since 2012. The situation has continued to be untenable, tense and disruptive due to the two stubborn teachers at the school. The responsible authority has been co-acted to close the school with immediate effect. Any query should be directed to Mr Zedius Chitiga, the Provincial Education Director of Masvingo Province," reads the statement.Chitiga was said to be out of office and his mobile phone rang unanswered yesterday.His deputy Andrew Chikwange said they were still trying to ascertain the reasons for the school's closure."Mukaro High School has been closed but we're yet to establish the goings-on at the school. We're currently seized with the matter. I hope we'll have a position when my boss, Chitiga is in the office," said Chikwange.Sources said church authorities led by the Vicar General, Father Walter Nyatsanza, went to the institution yesterday morning and announced that the school was closing.They allegedly cited the continued presence of Matenhere and Chirikure as the reason for the closure.Parents with children at Mukaro High who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday expressed outrage at the decision to close the boarding school over the stand-off with two teachers.The parents said it was shocking that their children were ordered to return home from school yet they had paid full fees.They said the fight by the school authorities was not supposed to infringe on their childrens learning activities.Problems at Mukaro have been brewing up since July 2012 when over 700 girls staged a protest and walked on foot to Mpandawana Growth point to meet ministry of Education authorities over a plethora of grievances.The students were unhappy with the quality of food served at the school that was also chronically beset by water problems as three boreholes that supplied the institution were overwhelmed.
The Kearney Post Office is very happy to announce that it more than doubled the total pounds of food collected in the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This years number was 8,035 pounds of food, which betters last years total of 3,800 pounds.

The Post Office would like to take this time to thank everyone who donated all of this food and also thank the people who came down to help collect the food.

There are many people Id like to give a personal thanks. Ken Nickerson was very instrumental by ordering the cards and basically making sure that everything was in order. He went above and beyond and did an outstanding job.

Another person was Taylor Worden from the United Way. She helped by finding volunteers. We possible had the most people ever to show up that morning. She did such an outstanding job, and it was her first time.

Another person deserving of tribute is Richard Weiss from Mid-Nebraska. He has been helping us for many years. We say thanks to Rich and his staff. He has been very important to our community, so thanks for all of the years.

The Kearney Post Office has been a part of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive for 23 years. This years drive will always stand out for the amazing amount of food that was collected. Thats proof of peoples awareness of the need to donate and collect food to feed people in need. If you missed this drive but want to donate, keep alert for other drives in the future.

There are many people who have made Kearney a better community in many fields. Im sure we all know that weve been given a lot in our lifetimes. I feel like Im surrounded by people who bring me joy.

Lets all remember to thank the men and women who are serving our country. My dad served in World War II in Europe, but there was fighting everywhere  the Pacific, North Africa and all over the world.

The Americans who fought and won WWII go down as the Greatest Generation, but to all the Americans who served after WWII, we say thank you.

So join in and thank and pray for all those who lost their lives protecting us. May God be with each and every one of them.

Once again, thank you from all the people at the Kearney Post Office. You did make a difference and we will always be grateful.

Daryl Kozel, Kearney
FILE - This Sunday, March 2, 2014 file photo, shows Azeri Khadija Ismayilova, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's court has ordered investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova released on probation. In September 2015, a court in Azerbaijan convicted Ismayilova of several financial crimes and sentenced her to 7 years in prison. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov, file)
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

ZANU PF UK Chapter has said all those who are calling for their end to Zanu PF lip service in curbing corruption are the real revolutionaries."Here is the modest truth comrades; Whoever is hooting and hollering about the need for Zanu PF to stop paying lip-service to the fight against corruption is the real revolutionary," Zanu PF Uk said. "Whoever finds this anti-corruption campaign uncomfortable either has dirty hands or is a counter-revolutionary."The chapter said now, revolutionaries will not apologise for being endowed with a patriotic spirit."Arresting those suspected of serious malfeasance is the only serious confidence builder for the party," said the chapter. "The people will lose faith, in fact have already lost faith with this big talk. Our talk against corruption if not followed by action is the Biblical "vain-babbling or a tinkling cymbal" in short Vuvuzela lip farts.""We should not allow our party to be so tainted because of the actions of a few and the failure to act by an opposing few. Crooked politicians are betraying the masses. That is counter-revolutionary," added the chapter.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has said it joins fellow Zimbabweans and the rest of the African continent in marking Africa Day but how ever expressed reservations over the citizens' freedoms in the continent.Africa Day which is commemorated annually on 25 May and is set aside by the African Union (AU) as a celebration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), presently recognised as the AU, provides an opportunity to audit and acknowledge the efforts and hard-fought achievements of the peoples and governments of this great continent to build a healthier life for citizens and create a better future.ZLHR commended African citizens and their leaders' efforts to consolidate peace and security and to reject unconstitutional changes of power within the continent.In a statement the ZLHR said it salutes the progressive people of Africa and Zimbabwe working towards fostering a culture of human rights, democracy and sustainable peace on the continent."We salute them for their courage, determination and tireless struggle to liberate the continent and Zimbabwe from all forms of discrimination and oppression in spite of a repressive environment where the exercise of fundamental rights is curtailed. However, it is perturbing that 53 years after the adoption of a collective responsibility to further the objectives of the AU by founding leaders some African governments continue to trample on the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders through acts of intimidation, harassment, arrests, prosecution and persecution," reads the statement."It is regrettable that in Angola, 17 Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) are currently incarcerated and serving jail terms ranging between two years and eight years after being convicted on trumped up charges of mounting a rebellion against the government. The incarceration of the Angolan HRDs is a testament of the shocking levels and extent of intolerance of dissenting views by the Angolan authorities. The conviction illustrates the manipulation of rule of law institutions such as the judiciary to suppress dissent and is testament to the continuing repression and targeting of peaceful human rights activists."ZLHR said closer to home and being an organisation that is deeply committed to fostering a culture of human rights and respect for the Rule of Law, ZLHR regrets that the majority of Zimbabweans do not have anything considerable to celebrate on such a significant day as the State and other non-State actors continue to undermine the fundamentals of democracy in the country."Although there were high hopes for the improvement of political, economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe following the adoption of anew Governance Charter in May 2013, constitutionalism remains elusive as duty bearers continue to violate the Constitution through acts of commission and omission with impunity while the ordeals of human rights defenders have not subsided," reads the statement."Ordinary citizens continue to be subjected to flagrant violations of their fundamental rights by State and non-State actors. Arbitrary arrest, assault, torture, abduction and detention of human rights defenders continues three years after the adoption of a new Constitution which expanded civil liberties.""It is distressing that the government and all the powerful State security organs cannot account for the whereabouts of Itai Dzamara, a well known pro-democracy campaigner, 14 months after he was abducted and disappeared," ZLHR added.The organisation said while the Dzamara family and other human rights defenders are agonising over the disappearance of Itai, ZLHR is outraged that relatives seeking information have themselves been persecuted as what happened to Patson, a brother of the missing Itai, whom state security agents targeted and brutally assaulted and tortured on 18 April 2016, simply for his untiring efforts in the search for the truth about the fate of his disappeared brother, in circumstances that point to involvement or acquiescence by government agents in the disappearance of the human rights campaigner."ZLHR reiterates its call for Itai's immediate release as well as that of other missing human rights defenders, who include Patrick Nabanyama and Paul Chizuze, who have been missing since they were abducted and disappeared in 2000 and 2012 respectively. Events in the past three years have proven that the mere adoption of a Constitution and political rhetoric has failed to usher in a new and improved method of governance," said ZLHR."While the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) has been constituted, ZLHR is worried that the NPRC has a finite mandate and three out of 10 years have passed without being put to good use to deal with the past and bring Zimbabweans closer together. National healing and transitional justice processes have failed to materialise or to contribute meaningfully to rebuilding of the lives of those who have suffered such grave violations in Zimbabwe throughout history."The organisation said impunity remains a blight on the nation through failure to prosecute perpetrators of grave human rights violations." Law enforcement authorities continue to misinterpret and selectively misapply laws to suppress freedom of association and assembly despite the Constitution broadening the powers for people to peacefully gather and express themselves," said ZLHR"Power, authority and resources have not been devolved to the provinces while local authorities and central government have not diligently respected duty to progressively realise the rights to education, health services, potable water, and freedom from arbitrary eviction, particularly for the most vulnerable."The ZLHR said there has been slow progress in enacting legislation required to give effect to several provisions of the new Constitution or to amend or repeal existing incompatible legislation."Any legislation or regulations that are not in line with the contents of the Constitution are immediately null and void. Delay in alignment is not a valid excuse to be used by authorities, but it has certainly contributed to the continued disregard of constitutional provisions by certain arms of government and their officials. This does not absolve the executive, the legislature and legislative drafters from speedily ensuring that harmonisation occurs," said ZLHR."It must be noted that harmonisation of laws with the new Constitution is not the end of the matter. Honest and firm compliance, respect for constitutionalism and political will is required if people are to be empowered to assert their constitutional rights and freedoms."The organisation said despite committing itself to the celebrated and progressive African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Zimbabwe is still afflicted by serious violations of its fundamental provisions and shortcomings in democratic processes."As we reflect on progress in attaining and maintaining the tenets of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, it is worrying that the government continues to procrastinate in implementing recommendations of the AU organs such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) which in 2013 delivered a landmark ruling directing the Harare administration to allow its citizens in the diaspora to vote in national elections," ZLHR said."There also continues to be a deafening silence and no significant progress towards accepting through ratification and domestication of one of the key instruments that will advance democracy, peace and security in Zimbabwe, the region, and the continent as a whole, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance (The African Charter on Democracy) that came into force in February 2012. The African Charter on Democracy seeks to promote adherence by African states to the universal values and principles of democracy and respect for human rights premised upon the supremacy of the constitution and the respect for the rule of law."ZLHR reiterated the need for the government to reflect on its shortcomings in relation to adherence to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and its obligations to implement recommendations from the ACHPR which is a body of African specialists in human rights chosen by African governments themselves."Only a country which respects its obligations, institutions and people will, in turn, be respected by its citizens. It is imperative to appreciate that the state has primary responsibility for ensuring that the Constitution is respected, protected and fully enforced and must exercise its duties diligently," said the ZLHR."As part of its civic duty and motivated by its desire to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe, ZLHR will continue to contribute to the struggle for democratisation, peace and observance of the Rule of Law in our country and ensure that the Constitution is respected and becomes a living document that is useful in improving our society.""ZLHR hopes that a day will dawn when the practice of undermining democracy, constitutionalism and human rights will be completely eradicated in Zimbabwe and on our beloved African continent," ZLHR added.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE ruling Zanu PF party has been accused of disrupting educational activities around the country after ministers ordered schools to handover buses for the so-called 'million-men march'.Party youths will march in Harare in support of the 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe who was, over the past week, away in Singapore with his family following the birth of his grandson.The demonstration appears to be a response to the recent jobs protest staged in the capital by opposition MDC-T leader and former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai.It is also suspected to be directed at a ruling faction said to be fed up with Mugabe who refuses to step down even as he struggles with failing health and other challenges that come with old age.The march has been widely condemned by opposition parties which say it is incredible that the ruling party is celebrating its ruinous three-decade-plus stranglehold on power since independence in 1980.
1K Shares Share

During our dermatology section in medical school, a classmate recounted having had Henoch-Schonlein purpura as a child. Over a holiday break, he visited his primary care physician and asked if he could review his records out of curiosity. His family physician pulled out the index card that served as this mans medical record. Yes, you read that correctly. It was not a chart or computer printout; rather a 4 x 6 white index card, exactly like those we used in grade school.

My classmates name was written at the top of the card and on each line were dates and diagnoses. Halfway down were the words: HSP  classic rash. My classmate was disappointed he could not analyze his clinical presentation in more detail; nonetheless, he brought back a copy to show us. An index card as medical record tool is so extraordinarily simple; it is awe-inspiring. No insurance company to satisfy, no chart to be audited, and no computer screen between the physician and patient. Back then, a physicians time was spent taking a history, performing a physical examination, and having a conversation.

My father has been a practicing pediatrician for the last 46 years. When I told him about the index card, he smiled and reminisced how much he loved index cards too; when physicians were compensated for practicing medicine and not just documenting their practice. Combining the art and science of medicine is what many of us love most about being physicians. Why have we allowed bureaucrats and EMR systems to take away the very thing that brings us the greatest joy?

75 percent of diagnoses can be made on the basis of history alone, 10 percent from physical exam, 5 percent from basic tests, 5 percent from more invasive testing, and 5 percent cannot be answered by any of the above. This family physician was so confident in his diagnosis, he wrote it on one line. As physicians, we have completed 11 years of post-high school education at a minimum. The information we accumulate during a decade spent immersed in science, and the human body is vast. Our mind is our most valuable asset, yet we are not paid based on what our minds can do. We should be compensated for completing thorough histories, physicals, and making diagnoses. We should be reimbursed for listening to patients, providing comfort and conversation; especially when it results in a trusting relationship, with improved patient compliance and better outcomes, which will be inevitable.

As pediatrician in my hometown, I attended high school with my patients parents: I know them. Does it improve my diagnostic abilities to inquire about their family history at each visit? Has any physician actually found anything informative after a review of systems? I have my doubts. Why do I have to prove my diagnosis required a high level of decision making on a computer screen to be adequately compensated for my depth of thought when my time is better utilized listening to patients and sharing my knowledge?

My father and I are still using paper charts; I am not certain he could handle an EHR. He still has difficulty sending email. Our charts are pink and have four dividers: The first section holds dictations, the second lab results, the third has radiology results, and the back section contains consult notes from specialists and records from other physicians. It is easy to review quickly, allows us to provide comprehensive care and be efficient at the same time. How on earth does clicking boxes on a computer screen improve actual medical care, increase a patients trust, or improve their compliance?

My favorite part of being a physician is using the history and physical exam to diagnose, problem solve, and treat my patients. Disease can often be diagnosed on the basis of history alone, which is a notable feat after years of training and experience; however, we must have time to ask the right questions to be successful. In reality, a focused history and physical are essential to the delivery of high-quality medical care. They are cost-effective and avoid unnecessary waste of resources at the same time.

So many physicians are frustrated with the health care system today, with high levels of dissatisfaction and burnout running rampant. We rescue this profession by standing up and forcing insurers, politicians, and administrators who control healthcare delivery to make changes that specifically benefit physicians and patients. Do not forget, we have more years of education and experience than those individuals who are making the rules. Why have we allowed them to essentially manage our profession?

Physicians revel in listening, comforting, teaching, and healing others; in fact, we flourish in these circumstances. Maybe the best place to begin taking charge again is by insisting on documenting care our way: whether using old-fashioned white paper or EHR systems better suited to meet our needs. Since meaningful use standards are being revamped, let us indeed throw the baby out with the bathwater. We might rediscover the tangible reward of being healers along the way.

Let us go back for a moment to ponder this ingenious idea of using an index card as a medical record tool. Low cost, top quality medical care is the Holy Grail for which everyone in the field of medicine is searching. Is it conceivable we already found it, used it for more than a century, and abandoned it in light of its simplicity? Possibly. Nevertheless, it is a reminder we should only settle for a system that allows physicians to determine our own destiny and practice medicine in a more fulfilling way.

Niran S. Al-Agba is a pediatrician who blogs at MommyDoc.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
5K Shares Share

When nurses stand on the steps of our nations capital, it is a warning that something is seriously wrong in health care. Much like a canary in the coal mine, nurses are the barometer of the health of our hospitals, nursing homes and health care facilities.

On May 12th 2016, nurses from around the United States convened on our nations capital for the first time in 20 years to call for safe staffing. This event was not organized by any nursing union: It was organized by regular nurses from grassroots nursing organizations like Show Me Your Stethoscope, Nurses for National Patient Ratios, and Voices for Nurses Now. They came on their own volition and finances to call for safe staffing to save patient lives.

The conditions in our nations hospitals, nursing homes and health care facilities are demanding that nurses take more patients with fewer resources than nurses can safely manage in the name of profit over care. Nurses are being forced to carry eight patients on medical surgical floors (12 over the course of their shift between admissions and discharges), four patients in the ICU, 40 patients in long term care units and the numbers are growing daily across the United States in every health care facility, hospital, and nursing home. Nurses are constantly being asked to do more with less. The result is patients are dying.

Medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Without significant change and attention to this problem, more people are going to die due to medical errors and unsafe staffing.

Currently, there are two bills in Congress to address safe staffing limits that model Californias nurse staff ratios (the only state in the United States that mandates safe staffing ratios for nurses to patients.

Please call and write your federal representatives and ask for their support of H. R. 1602 and S. 864.

Nurses Take DC 2016 was a wonderful success and just the beginning: Nurses Take DC 2017 is already scheduled. Please follow at Show Me Your Stethoscope.

A special thank you to the nurses who took the lead on organizing this event: Janie Harvey Garner, executive director, Jalil Johnson, national director, and P.J. Allen Thomas, graphic designer, Show Me Your Stethoscope; Melissa Brown, Cathy Stokes, and Doris Carrol, Illinois Nurses Association (the only nursing association to sponsor the event); and Andrew Lopez of Nursefriendly.com

Nurses took to DC because we can no longer do our jobs as nurses to safely, effectively and responsibly care for those who are sick and infirmed. We need the publics help to change the future of health care. Please stand with nurses. Support us in our fight to protect the lives of patients. Call your federal representative today.

Rebecca Love is a nurse.

Image credits: Rebecca Love, David Miller
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Zanu PF youth deputy chairman Kudzi Chipanga has deplored ministers extravagance by embarking on a spree of changing cars.Addressing a one million man march Chipanga said ministers are undermining Mugabe as he does not change cars: "We see our leaders competing to get the biggest cars. Ministers change cars like they're changing shoes""I have known you President closely when I became youth league executive member and you don't change cars."But your ministers do that. It's insubordination'.Chipanga also said the youths are deeply concerned about the collapsing economy. "They want government to create opportunities for them" he told Mugabe who responded by nodding.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

President Robert Mugabe has warned warring party members who engage in factionalism saying they are trading on treasoners territory."There is one Zanu-PF. All those in little groupings are treasoners, treasoners," thundered Mugabe while addressing participants to the One Million Man March."Yes, criticize the party leaders from within."Why go to this Daily nonsense (Daily News)?"You give them stories to survive, nonsense."Party was founded on principles of harmony not disharmony".Zanu-PF is torn between Team Lacoste and G40.
1 of 5

Nokia plans to launch 5G network in India



Nokia Networks is in talks with Indian telecom operators to start trials of next generation 5G networks even as the country is yet to see full-scale roll out of 4G technology based mobile voice and data services.



The Finnish telecom equipment maker is already testing the fifth-generation networks with global telecom giants like US-based Verizon, Korean SK Telecom and Japan's NTT DoCoMo. The 5G technology will guarantee delivery of 100 megabit per second speed at homes and will be capable of handling 1000 times more data traffic when it will be commercialised by 2020, Nokia Networks Head of Mobile Broadband Milivoj Vela said on the sidelines of an event Tuesday.



In India, Nokia Networks is part of Telecommunications Standards Development Society which is working on 5G, and is in discussion with telecom operators to start 5G trials. Read More...


Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford local councils have each unanimously endorsed their counties coming together as Three Sisters in a bid to win the European Capital of Culture 2020.

The three local authorities have adopted a Regional Cultural Strategy which they will work to roll out together between now and 2025. The councils have also voted to approve the budget for the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) 2020 bid.

The historic agreement comes as the Three Sisters enters its final weeks of preparation for the ECoCs panel visit. Once it has visited the region, the panel will make its decision on July 15th. Should Three Sisters be awarded the title, the 31 million to be invested in the cultural programme will yield 170 million for the region. Three Sisters is competing against Galway and Limerick for the title.

Significantly, even if Three Sisters is not successful in its bid to become the 2020 ECoC, the three local authorities will use the priorities and goals of the Regional Cultural Strategy to work towards regional partnership through cultural initiatives, with each other and and with a wide range of stakeholders.

"We will become the place to visit in Europe and a unique example of what a partnership approach can achieve, said Cathaoirleach of KCC Mary Hilda Cavanagh.
The recent trip to Formigine in Italy had economic, social and cultural benefits to be reaped in the years ahead, according to the two local councillors who went on it.

At the May meeting of the Kilkenny City Municipal District, Mayor Joe Malone  one of the two councillors  said that some people questioned the merits of such a trip, but said there are 'huge benefits'.

"You are going to see a lot of activity starting to take place in the months and years ahead," he said.

The mayor, along with engineer Seamus Kavanagh and Cllr Malcolm Noonan were in thenorth Italian town and comune in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, last month. It also boasts a Medieval castle among its attractions.

Cllr Noonan showed the members a presentation, including photographs, of their visit.

"Certainly, it was a very successful trip and we were overwhelmed by the welcome we received," he said.

"The whole city came out to meet us."

They were greeted with the Irish tri-colour and by a local choir singing Amhran na bhFiann.

While there, Mr Kavanagh gave a presentation about Kilkenny City to their hosts, detailing the various developments taking place, along with possible projects on which the two could collaborate.

Cllr Noonan also said that 'serious meetings' had taken place, and the delegation visited schools and the local rugby club. There are plans in the works to arrange a game between them and Kilkenny RFC.

He said a number of proposals had been discused, and that there could be many mutual beneits.

They put in an amazing effor - they are taking it very seriously," said Cllr Noonan.

They want a serious engagement, not just signing a charter. They're very committed.

For people who question the benefit [of these trips], there is no doubt that there is an economic benefit. But also there is a social and cultural benefit.

Cllr Noonan said there was a significant Italian community in Kilkenny, some of whom have expressed an interest in the process. He thanked the mayor, and praised him in particular for one speech he had made over there.

I would also like to thank the council and the twinning committee," he said.

I think this is really going to bear fruit.

Cllr Andrew McGuinness commended the delegation for the trip and for the report. He said it was even useful for boosting Kilkenny's t0urism appeal.

A lot of people don't see the importance, but it is hugely important, he said.

I see the pictures of you all in the schools and communities who would never have heard of Kilkenny; now they know exactly where Kilkenny is.
The next Mayor of Kilkenny will be revealed on Monday, June 20, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Kilkenny City Municipal District.

If more than one candidate is proposed, a vote will be taken by the 12 elected members.

Councillors paid tribute to their colleague Joe Malone at the municipal district's May meeting, as it was his final meeting as mayor. The Fianna Fail councillor is the second person to hold office here since Phil Hogan's controversial Local Government Reform Act (2014), which abolished Kilkenny Borough Council and expanded the 'municipal' area out into the county on both the east and west.

Mayor Malone's term of office featured a number of different distinct themes, three of which stand out in particular.

Firstly, his military background played a role right from the beginning, with his first public event as mayor held in the James Stephens Barracks. He took part in a number of different army-related events during the year, with the 53rd Infantry Group's parade through the city before the Lebanon mission a recent example.

Secondly, Mayor Malone talked at length about mental health and made it a cornerstone issue for his year. He championed various causes and events from Darkness into Light, Teach Tom, Taxi Watch, and others.

A third key theme was the concept of 'community', to which many of his colleagues alluded in their tributes.

He encouraged people to get involved in local groups and eevnts in their communities, and he brought various clubs and organisations to receptions in City Hall. Uniquely, he also brough statutory meetings out of their traditional City Hall venue and into communities, including Thomastown and Callan.

In a time when the roles of Cathaoirleach and Mayor have become increasingly blurred or overlapping, he was happy to share the stage with Cathaoirleach Mary Hilda Cavanagh.

His predecessor, Cllr Andrew McGuinness, led the tributes to him at the recent meeting.

"It really does take over - your family life, your private life does suffer, he said.

It's not easy, and it's not just about cutting ribbons or standing in for pictures."

Cllr Malcolm Noonan said it was 'only right and fitting that [the members] pay tribute'.

You've done an exceptional job, representing Kilkenny both here and abroad, he said.

"And you've brought a community element to it in bringing the meetings out. It is important that we try to retain the importance and significance of the role of mayor in this city.

Cllr Breda Gardner agreed.

[Cllr McGuinness] was a hard act to follow, but I want to say you have been fantastic," she said.

"What I observed was you brought meetings out into the communities, and brought councillors together. I felt very inclusive and I felt part of the system.

"I have great respect for you and I know you are a great advocate for mental health. You gave one of the best speeches I ever heard at Grennan College. They are still speaking about it, and the students looked at politics in a totally different way after, because it was from the heart."

Cllr Michael Doyle said that the mayor's door was always open and he had left party politics outside.

"You should be proud and your family should be proud," he said.

Cllr Pat O' Neill said it had been a good year in 'a tough time for mayorships around the country'.

"I recently saw how much of a community worker you are," he said.

Cllr David Fitzgerald said that Mayor Malone had made his own mark and achieved 'an awful lot', while Cllr Matt Doran said he had included everyone in each of their roles.

Cllr Patrick McKee congratulated the mayor on a successful year.

"What stood out for me was your constant respect for the military and the James Stephens Barracks, and its role in our city's life," he said.

"I'm sure you've a lot of good memories going forward. You defended the city and the role of office where there has been difficulties with it after the Local Government Reform Act.

Cllr Sean Tyrrell congratulated the mayor on his year, and said he looked forward to working with him. Senior executive officer Brian Tyrrell also congratulated Mayor Malone.

It never ceases to amaze me where mayors get their energy from, he said.

Mayor Malone thanked everyone for their words, and paid tribute to all the council staff with whom he had worked. He made special mention of local TD John McGuinness, who he said kept him going and had been very good to him. He said he would have fond memories.

"It was a great honour and a privilege," he said.

"We have to keep the mayoralty going for the sake of the city."
Pink bales are set to be dotted around the Kilkenny countryside as Glanbia is asking farmers to to get behind their eye-catching m iniative in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland.

Glanbia is once again hoping to raise money for breast cancer research by launching a special edition of its Mastercrop Agristretch silage wrap.

For every roll of limited-edition bright pink silage wrap purchased, a donation will be made to Breast Cancer Ireland which will be matched by Glanbia Agribusiness.

Glanbia Agribusiness and CountryLife has local branches in Bennetsbridge, Ballyragget, Ballyhale, Castlecomer, Freshford, Glenmore, Goresbridge, Graiguenamanagh, Kilmanagh, Kells, Piltown, and Windgap.

Commenting on the initiative, CEO of Breast Cancer Ireland Aisling Hurley, says: We are delighted to partner with Glanbia Agribusiness in this initiative and hope the #PinkBales campaign will raise awareness of breast cancer in rural communities.

After the success of the campaign last year, which raised over 7,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland, we are delighted to once again be supporting breast cancer research, said Glanbia Agribusiness Retail Marketing Manager, James Byrne. Women in the farming community lead especially busy lives. The big pink bales are sure to be noticed and are an extra reminder to take time for routine health checks that could save your life.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe has declared that Zimbabweans are "angry" at talks about him stepping down, as the youth wing of the ruling party says he should rule until he dies.The battle to succeed the 92-year-old President may be decades in the making, but its outcome is far from settled. The situation is further complicated by the incumbent's refusal to publicly identify a favoured replacement, instead opting to hang on to power indefinitely, and keep his potential successors guessing."You just go to Zimbabwe now and ask the people whether I should stand down. They will be angry with you," Mugabe told Japanese media on Tuesday, on a five-day visit during which he secured 600m (US$5m) in financial assistance from the Japanese government.During the interview, Mugabe claimed the demands for him to step down were coming from outside of Zimbabwe. "If they don't like my long stay in power they should criticise my people, I do not vote for myself into power," the head of state, who has been in power for 36 years, was reported as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.The nonagenarian insisted that he would run for another term in office in the 2018 elections  health permitting. "At the moment I am the president, that's why (I am here). Do you see me as not fit? Why not contest two years later?He added: "Two years later is no time but only God knows what will happen in two years' time, 2018, I don't know, it will depend. If I am fit enough, yes, but If I am not fit enough I will not. My people will want me to be a candidate and they have already nominated me as a candidate for 2018."Mugabe has found support in the youth wing of the ruling Zanu-PF party, who have vowed to stand by their ageing leader, claiming Mugabe must rule until he dies.To show their support, the youth aligned to Zanu-PF's Generation 40 (G40) faction are planning a million-man march in the capital, Harare, in May to show their support."Our main aim on the one 'million man' march is to show the president that we are fully behind him. We want him to be our president for life and those that do not agree are free to go to ZEC and remove their name there or vote otherwise," says Zanu-PF Youth League political commissar, Innocent Hamandishe, according to local news agencies.Zanu-PF national political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, meanwhile, is reported as having accused a number of Zanu-PF bigwigs as eyeing the top seat.Referring to Team Lacoste  the faction rallying behind vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who appeared to confirm his position as Mugabe's presumed successor Kasukuwere said: "There is no vacancy for the presidency both in Zimbabwe and in Zanu-PF. There is only one leader and one centre of power."War veterans 'rebellion'This comes days after Mugabe accepted to sit down for a crunch meeting with disgruntled war veterans  who have been calling on the president to step down.The freedom fighters are described as being the largest rebellion against Mugabe's rule, and government forces responded to a meeting in Harare last month with tear gas and water cannons.Officially, the 7 April meeting is aimed at discussing the veterans' welfare issues, but a party member told news outlet New Zimbabwe.com last weekend that this was "nonsense", as the War Veterans Act already details the benefits that former fighters, their widows and children are entitled to."As he did with the civil servants' bonuses, Mugabe simply needs to instruct treasury to pay them what they are due (...) You don't need to call a national meeting including security services chiefs to discuss what is clear under the law. The fact is that Mugabe realises the scale and depth of the rebellion against his rule."The official added: "That is why he promptly apologised for teargassing the veterans. He will use the April 7 meeting to try and buy the disgruntled veterans and the security services chiefs off."
Editor's Note: This column, originally published in 2018, remains a useful guide to establishing or contributing to a scholarship fund to honor a hero in your life. We like to share this resource with our readers on Memorial Day and encourage you to do the same.

Question: My family would like to establish an engineering scholarship in memory of my late uncle, who was an engineer and a veteran of World War II. How do we set up a scholarship, and how much do we need to contribute?

Answer: You can set up a scholarship directly with a college or through a charitable organization, such as a community foundation. Either can award the scholarship to students who meet general criteria you specify, such as local engineering students. You'll generally need to contribute at least $25,000 or $50,000 to set up an endowed scholarship, which will provide an award every year in the future. "That can be a wonderful way to leave a lasting legacy," says Tod Pritchard, of the Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association. Or you may be able to contribute a smaller amount and provide scholarships for a few years.

Subscribe to Kiplingers Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Save up to 74% Sign up for Kiplingers Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sign up

It's usually easiest to work directly with a college. Contact the development department to find out about its minimum contribution requirements, how many of the criteria you can specify and details that might make the biggest impact. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, you need to contribute at least $25,000 to endow a scholarship, but you can spread that payment over several years. An endowment of that size would only pay out a small amount every year (about $1,125), but an endowment of $125,000 would create an annual scholarship of about $5,600 in perpetuity. "That scholarship would cover half of a student's in-state tuition costs each year, which is a tremendous gift to UW's promising students who have financial need," says Pritchard.

At the University of Wisconsin, donors may specify many award criteria, such as a field of study, geographic area and other possibilities. "In some cases, we encourage donors to limit the number of criteria for a scholarship to ensure that there will be a large enough pool of students who meet those criteria," Pritchard says. Sometimes, for example, donors will consider awarding based on financial need alone.

At San Diego State University, you need to contribute at least $50,000 to set up a scholarship that will last in perpetuity. Or you can set up a scholarship named for your uncle that will pay out over several years with a commitment of at least $5,000 per year over five years. Scholarships at SDSU need to support University-approved scholarship priorities, which include merit, financial need, leadership and international study. The donor can recommend the award value, number of awards, minimum grade-point average, academic major and class level. For example, you could set up a scholarship named for your uncle to be awarded to engineering students.

Another option is to work with a community foundation to set up a scholarship that isn't tied to a particular school. For example, the scholarship can aid local high school graduates who plan to study engineering in college. See the Community Foundation Locator (opens in new tab) to find one in your area. Some community foundations have more experience than others with managing scholarship funds. Ask about how the scholarship will be advertised, how the recipient will be selected and how the money will be managed.

The Arizona Community Foundation, for instance, manages many memorial scholarships. You need to contribute at least $50,000 to set one up. The money could be awarded over several years, or a scholarship amounting to 4.25% of the total endowment could be given out annually in perpetuity. You can set the award criteria for the scholarship yourself, or you could contribute to an existing scholarship fund. "Donors should check with community foundations and colleges to see if a fund is already established for a particular group, such as veterans or first responders, that they may contribute to," says Jennifer Foley, of the Arizona Community Foundation. "This can be done in memory of a loved one but would not result in a named fund or be subject to annual minimum balances or fees."

You may also be able to set up a scholarship fund or support educational programs through a charity that specializes in helping veterans and their families. Check out the charity first; some are much more effective than others. See Charity Navigator's list of highly rated charities (opens in new tab) that support veterans and active duty service members, including charities specializing in wounded troops' services, military social services and military family support. You can also look up charities at www.give.org (opens in new tab) and www.guidestar.org (opens in new tab). If you have a donor-advised fund, you may have access to additional resources to check out charities.

You can give money from a donor-advised fund to a charitable organization to set up a scholarship. This can be a good way to build up the funds to meet the minimum funding requirements of a college or organization. (Whether you use a donor-advised fund or donate directly to a college or foundation, you will get a tax deduction if you itemize.) For more information, see Fidelity Charitable's Funding Education guide (opens in new tab) for supporting scholarships through a donor-advised fund. For more information about donor-advised funds, see Charitable Giving Can Begin at Home With a Donor-Advised Fund.

Another option is to donate to a military emergency relief fund that provides financial support for service members and their families and helps with educational expenses, too. Army Emergency Relief (opens in new tab), for example, provides scholarships to military spouses and children, in addition to other financial assistance. Each branch of the military has an emergency relief fund or aid society (see the Air Force Aid Society (opens in new tab), the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (opens in new tab) and Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (opens in new tab) to find out more about making a donation in memory of your uncle).

For more information about the new rules and strategies for charitable tax breaks, see Charitable Giving Under the New Tax Law.
SHARE

Donald B. Payne

of Bremerton

Aug. 21, 1922

to May 14, 2016

The Reverend Donald Berry Payne was born on Aug. 21, 1922 in Centralia, Washington to Charles and Myrtle (Berry) Payne. The family moved to Chehalis, Washington, where Donald attended school, graduating from Chehalis High School in 1939. Following high school graduation, he attended Centralia Junior College and drove school bus for the Chehalis School District, where he met Nettie Nancy Bennett, daughter of Dewey and Dolly (Massingham) Bennett of Chehalis, Washington.

Donald and Nettie were married on June 16, 1943, beginning a 61-year marriage, ending when Nettie preceded Donald in death on Aug. 15, 2004. After their marriage, the couple moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where both attended Texas Christian University. Upon graduation from TCU in 1944, Donald was ordained into the ministry of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ on Aug. 13, 1944, at his home church in Chehalis, Washington. Following Nettie's graduation from TCU in 1945, they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where Donald attended Yale Divinity School, graduating with a Masters of Divinity degree in 1947.

Following graduation from Yale, Donald served at First Christian Churches in Tacoma, Washington (1947-1948), Corvallis, Oregon (1948-1952), Salem, Oregon (1952-1954), and Pendleton, Oregon (1954-1960), before beginning a 26-year ministry at the Bremerton First Christian Church in November, 1960.

During his ministry, Donald was always involved with youth activities, which included leading the local church youth groups and participating in regional church youth convocations and summer camps. While in Bremerton, Donald combined his love of youth and boating activities by developing and leading Aqua Camp, a summer youth camp for regional church high schoolers centered on boating activities in southern Puget Sound.

Donald was also very active in civic affairs. He was a driving force in the founding of the Bremerton Foodline and Crisis Clinic. He was elected to the Bremerton School Board and served for eight years, two as president. He was active in the Bremerton Lions Club and belonged to several ministerial associations. He was also instrumental in establishing Head Start Day Care Centers in several Bremerton churches After preaching 1,963 sermons, performing 361 baptisms, and marrying 708 couples over his 42-year ministry, Donald retired from active ministry in July, 1986. He continued as a visiting minister to several area churches, preaching his last sermon on May 23, 2010 at the age of 87. He had an active retirement, serving as a supervisor with Habitat for Humanity, as an instructor with the AARP 55 Alive driver education program, working in son Colby's construction business, and participating in Mason County land use planning activities. Donald and Nettie also enjoyed trips in their motorhome with family and friends to favorite Northwest destinations as well as several extended trips in the western United States.

Donald is survived by three sons and a daughter: Bryant and wife Gail of Fort Bragg, California, Colby and wife Kathy of Silverdale, Washington, Timothy and wife Diana of Port Orchard, Washington, Hollis Dye, of Grapeview, Washington, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. The family would like to express our deep appreciation for the exceptional care provided to our father by the staff at the Baypointe Retirement Community and Bremerton Hospice.

A celebration of life /memorial service for Donald will be held on Saturday, June 11th at 11 a.m. at the First Christian Church, 9th and Veneta, Bremerton, Washington. Donations to the Bremerton First Christian Church or Bremerton Foodline are requested in lieu of flowers.
Opinion / Columnist

The predicament of some Zimbabwean women who are reportedly stranded in Kuwait is a very unfortunate result of this country's sanctions-induced poor socio  economic condition.They are said to have gone to Kuwait in response to some advertisements by some persons or media that have not been identified for jobs as either domestic employees or waitresses in some restaurants or hotels.The women took up the offers out of obviously either desperation or an adventurous urge or both.An element of ignorance about Kuwait's socio  economic and cultural conditions played a role in their decisions to go to that distant Middle Eastern country.Kuwait is primarily an Arabic, Moslemic, crude oil  producing nation.The major language spoken there is Arabic; the only religion practised is Islam, a religion that is much more restrictive and gender  discriminatory than Christianity, Zimbabwe's socio  cultural basis.That country is known for its crude oil wealth.Its indigenous people rely on foreign domestic employees for virtually every household and family chore, from the making of beds to the scrubbing of toilets.A popular joke in the pubs of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in the early and mid  1960s was that Kuwaitis were so rich that they could afford to wear a new pant every day, 365 days a year!Most of that country's domestic workers are Eritrians, Somalis, Ethiopians, Sudanese, Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrians, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Afghanistanis, a few Ugandans, Tanzanians and Kenyans.There is also a large group of South Sudanese and various West Africans, especially Nigerians, Nigeriens, Gambians, Sierra Leonese, Malians, Chadians and Central African Republicans.The overwhelming majority of the people employed in menial jobs in Kuwait are foreigners but Moslems who are quite at home with the country's social life.A few foreign people from either the Christian world or from Hindu Indian provinces or from Japan find Kuwait's social life most boring, and occasionally fly across the Red Sea to spend a few days in Cairo or Alexandria where there are numerous holiday resorts roaring with pulsating night club life throughout the summer season.Kuwaiti social life is less liberal than those of other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Christianity and the Baha'i Ulla.Most, if not all, Moslemic nations attach high religious and economic value to virginity.In some regions, such as Upper Egypt a girl who is found to have had sexual intercourse before she is married may be killed and by her own brother whom she would have deeply shamed according to custom and tradition.Because of traditions and customs such as that mentioned, foreign women employees, especially black domestic ones, may be turned into sexual slaves for teenage sons and middle aged males of the employing family.That may inevitably lead to unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions, resulting in tragic deaths.Such a situation can also spawn transmittable sexual diseases which can be very easily taken back to the victimised women's countries of origin.Consequences of cases of that kind are likely to be far reaching in social as well as economic terms for the victims and their respective governments.In addition to the above factor, the Arabic language is very remote from any tongue spoken by most Zimbabweans.Even the culture is so foreign to Zimbabweans that anyone wishing to work in Kuwait will necessarily have to be oriented culturally before starting to work as a domestic servant or waitress in that country.Unlike in Egypt where a pidgin type of Arabic called Cairese is commonly used between non  Arabic foreigners and indigenous Egyptians, in Kuwait, there is no such means of communication.Life can be every miserable in such a social and cultural environment.Zimbabweans should seek advice from informed or knowledgeable people first before they fall for some of the advertisement on jobs, scholarships, marriages and/ or medical treatment abroad.Some of the advertisements do not make any common sense.An advertisement for hundreds of waitresses in Kuwait should make an informed reader wonder why a non  tourist country such as Kuwait should require such a large number of waitresses.If it was Egypt, one could take the advertisement seriously because of that country's viable hotel and tourism industry. But even that fact could not easily make an informed person quickly fall for such a piece of trickery.Why? Because employers do not usually seek workers in countries that are several thousands of kilometres away.High expenses in transporting such employees for menial jobs does not justify the recruitment campaign.A common consideration we should make about menial jobs is that there are usually done by local or indigenous people.But for professional positions, including, nursing, foreigners may be required. However, the knowledge of the local or national language or language is a decisive requisite.Those women who fell for whatever advertisement could have saved themselves a lot of trouble had they thought seriously about the matter before taking up the unfortunate job offers.They could have also helped themselves by going to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to acquaint appropriate officials about the fact that they were due to leave for Kuwait to take up jobs they had seen in some advertisements.That should, in fact, be made compulsory for every Zimbabwean who is leaving the country for a job they aspire to take abroad.It could give them security, and Foreign Affairs information about the whereabouts of at least some Zimbabweans abroad.Meanwhile, it is most advisable for anyone who intends to go to a foreign country for whatever purpose to research about the country's social economic, political and cultural practices so as to have some idea about that country's life before leaving for it.It can be a traumatic experience to leave for any foreign country with high hopes only to find on arrival that the people of that land are short of water to such an extent that they bathe at most once monthly!A story used to be told about a missionary who left England for one of the South Pacific Ocean islands in the 19th Century, and was received by his host, a chief of one of the indigenous tribes of the island.A day after his arrival he was told that the chief would entertain him to a state lunch that evening, and that the main dish was to be of human flesh.The flesh was to be of a war captive who would be slaughtered by the chief at a ritual in the missionary's presence.The missionary was utterly flabbergasted, and after a great deal of pleading with the chief, it was agreed that the missionary would replace the war captive with a wild boar he would shoot in the marshes before noon.The war captive would be freed at the spot where the wild boar was shot.The missionary had not been aware that these South Pacific Ocean islanders were cannibals.That experience may be rather extreme, but with Zimbabwe now seeking succour in literally every corner of the world, it is advisable for them to research and to leave a record with Foreign Affairs about their destinations.The writer, Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu, is a retired, Bulawayo  based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0734 328 136 or through email. sgwakuba@gmail.com
Opinion / Columnist

Africa is arguably the most blessed place on this entire globe, and naturally this should have translated into the people of this continent being the most prosperous - however, a rogue leadership has ensured that the opposite is true.Africa - endowed with most of the world's precious minerals, a great climate, soil that is perfect for agriculture, and a very hard-working people - deserves better leaders than what we have today, so as to ensure that these vast treasures truly benefit the people of the continent.Unfortunately, the people of Africa have been stabbed in the back by their own rogue leaders, and have been rendered destitute in their own land of 'milk and honey'.No one is expecting a perfect leader, who would create a perfect paradise for all - as only Jesus Christ can do that - but the people of Africa expect them to do their best.Africans expect their leaders to be genuinely concerned for them and to put the people first.However, instead of doing their best to uplift the lives of African people, these leaders have been doing their utmost best to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.African leaders have become some of the world's wealthiest people - although they usually do not make it on the Forbes Magazine's world's richest people list, due to the fact that most of their wealth is ill-gotten and not openly declared.A quick look at the lavish lifestyles of leadership cliques in these African countries leaves one dumbfounded.In Zimbabwe, those in leadership live extravagant lifestyles, from wealth acquired through less honourable means.Holidaying in Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Monaco, and so forth, flying in their private jets, giving birth in the Far East (because they do not trust their own country's doctors!), and obtaining their education overseas.On the contrary, the people of Africa are some of the poorest in the world - faced with insurmountable challenges, such as hunger, homelessness, unemployment, despair and hopelessness.African leaders have more than surpassed our erstwhile colonial masters, in their greed, repression, and dishonesty - the pupil has certainly become better than the teacher.More innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of their leaders on the African continent than anywhere else in the world.Most of the world's most repressive regimes are found on the African continent.In Zimbabwe, immediately after attaining independence from Great Britain in 1980, the ZANU PF government went on a massacring spree that resulted in over 20,000 deaths - just because the leadership wanted to establish a one-party state, and as such sought to exterminate the opposition ZAPU.This repression has continued up to today.Is it not always embarrassing that each time there is a leader who is seeking to amend his country's Constitution in order to prolong his stay in power, nine out of ten times, it would be an African leader - Burundi's Pierre Nkurunzinza, Rwanda's Paul Kagame and so many others being typical examples?A significant number of laws enacted in African countries clearly have nothing to do with improving the lives of the ordinary people, but are there solely to prop up leaders.A continent where a nonagenarian leader can hold on to power, by any means, for 36 years - and still craving for more!Most wars that have been fought on the continent, similarly, have nothing to do with the welfare of the African people, but are mostly over the continent's rich mineral resources, which the leaders want for themselves.Never in the history of mankind have such greed, cruelty and repression been witnessed.These leaders deserve to be facing justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC) than leading nations.In Zimbabwe, since the discovery of diamonds at Chiadzwa in the Manicaland province, how many people residing in that area can honestly say that they have benefited from them?Based on reports, the lives of the Chiadzwa people have actually become worse off, and most of them regard the diamond discovery as a curse, as this has resulted in them being evicted from their homes, and dumped in areas that are unproductive.None of the promises made to them concerning an improvement in their wellbeing was ever fulfilled.In fact, they have become ever more destitute.The same modus operandi of the colonial regime.The only people who benefited from those diamonds were those in power - with a whooping US$15 billion not being accounted for (I still can not get my mind around this)!How could the people of Zimbabwe have benefited from that US$15 billion?In order to feed the more than 4 million people who are facing starvation, only US$2 billion would have been enough.Another couple of billions would have been enough to rejuvenated the ailing industrial sector in the country, thereby creating the much needed jobs, as well as enabling the country to earn vital foreign currency through exports - which would, in turn, rectify the cash crisis we are facing.With employment, parents would have been able to feed their families, and send their children to school.From that US$15 billion, Zimbabwe could have paid off its external debt, thereby, opening the way for further assistance from all the major international financiers.This would have led to an overall improvement of the economy for all Zimbabweans.However, the Zimbabwe government decided otherwise.The US$15 billion ended up benefiting a few individuals, whilst the nation continues to wallow in poverty.Do these leaders not feel any shame - stealing from the poor and suffering, just to add to their already fat bank balances?Is it then not ironical that today on Africa Day, Zimbabwe's ruling party ZANU PF, sees it fit to celebrate their leader who has presided over such a mess?The Zimbabwean leader is truly an epitome of African leadership - no wonder ZANU PF is celebrating him!This should clearly show what type of leadership we have on the continent.With all the abundant resources we have in Africa, tens of millions of children do not attend school, either because the government has not built enough schools, or their parents are so poor that they can not afford to pay the fees.Most of these schools do not even have any decent and adequate learning material.Most people on the African continent do not have access to any safe, clean, and potable water, due to their governments' incompetence.Despite the droughts, Africa does have significant rainfall, and one would expect governments to put in place measures that would ensure that every drop of rainfall is harvested and stored for future usage.When it rains, it is always so painful to watch all that water just flowing away, instead of being captured.In times of drought, there should always be enough water to irrigate crops and for household usage.Africa should never be a 'drought' continent.African leaders should know that they are quickly running out of time.The era of repressing their fellow Africans has come to an end, as Africa is rising.The time for the real African renaissance has come, as this is the time for her to reclaim her place on top of the world.However, this can never be achieved as long as we continue to tolerate most of the leadership we have today.We have a few shining examples to learn from - such as Nelson Mandela, and others, especially the presidents of Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, and a few others.Africans can do it, as long as we are willing to be firm and resolute in standing up for our rights, no matter what it takes.God did not abundantly bless Africa so that a few in power can benefit, but so that all of us can benefit - and it is time for us to boldly demand a fair share of the African cake. Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist and commentator, writer, and journalist. He writes in his personal capacity, and welcomes all feedback. Please feel free to call/WhatsApp: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com, or follow on Twitter: @Tendai_Mbofana
The Casual Pint at Northshore Town Center in West Knox County. (CARLY HARRINGTON/NEWS SENTINEL)

By Don Jacobs of the Knoxville News Sentinel

KNOXVILLE  A statewide effort to stem human trafficking snared the co-owner of a West Knoxville tavern that could face loss of its beer permit if the accused man is convicted of patronizing prostitution.

Jeff Sweeney, 63, is co-owner of the Casual Pint, 2045 Thunderhead Road in the Northshore Town Center, records show. He also is one of 32 people charged in the Knoxville version of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's "Operation Someone Like Me."

Sweeney was cited to court on a misdemeanor charge of patronizing prostitution. The charge's penalty is enhanced upon conviction because the alleged offense occurred within 100 feet of the Gospels Voice Russian Church. He is scheduled to appear June 1 to be booked by correction officers who will take his fingerprints and his picture. He then is slated to be arraigned.

"Patronizing prostitution is one of those offenses considered a crime of moral turpitude," said Knoxville Law Director Charles Swanson.

Swanson said the Knoxville Police Department's inspection office, which is tasked with assuring businesses comply with the law, will track the charge against Sweeney.

"If there's a conviction, we'll take it before the Beer Board for a determination if they want to hold a separate hearing," the law director said. "It's up to City Council's discretion if they want to have a hearing, but I suspect they would."

Sweeney and co-owner Chris Owens received approval Jan. 21, 2014, for the Casual Pint beer permit. Sweeney lists himself on his LinkedIn page as co-owner and referral marketing manager for the Casual Pint, which specializes in craft beers.

Sweeney did not respond to calls seeking comment left on his cellular telephone and at the Casual Pint.

Rob Frost, who serves as legal counsel for the Beer Board, said the city law department is responsible for bringing the conviction before the beer board. City Council also serves as the city's beer board.

Frost, who has been counsel for the Beer Board for four years and served eight years on City Council, said he doesn't "recall a permit suspended or revoked because of a prostitution charge."

This was the fifth human trafficking sting the TBI had arranged. Other operations netted 66 arrests or citations in Brentwood, Jackson and twice in Chattanooga, according to the TBI.

For three days agents with the TBI and investigators with the Knoxville Police Department conducted an undercover sting at a North Knoxville motel. They announced results of the operation on May 20.

Authorities advertised sex for sale at the online website Backpage.com. More than 300 people responded to the advertisements, according to the TBI. More than two dozen people responded to the bogus advertisement of a juvenile girl offering sex for cash.

Two men accused of seeking sex with juvenile teenage girls are church ministers. Jason Kennedy, 46, of Knoxville, was the children's minister at Grace Baptist Church until his arrest last Thursday on charges of human trafficking and patronizing prostitution. Both charges are enhanced because the alleged actions occurred near the Gospels Voice Russian Church.

Kennedy allegedly offered $100 to have sex with a woman and a 15-year-old girl, records show. He remained Tuesday in the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility where his bond was set at $50,500.

Zubin Percy Parakh, 32, of Oak Ridge was the creative pastor at Lifehouse Church in Oak Ridge when arrested last Wednesday. He was fired from the volunteer position after his arrest on charges of human trafficking and patronizing prostitution. Both offenses occurred near the Russian Church, according to records.

Parakh was released at 7:18 p.m. Monday from the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility after posting a bond of $100,000, records show.

Both ministers are slated to appear May 31 in felony court.
The Temperance Building on Roane Street in downtown Harriman. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE

By Bob Fowler of the Knoxville News Sentinel

HARRIMAN  A city referendum for voters to decide whether to approve a quarter-cent increase in the local option sales tax has been moved from August to November because of a change in state notification time frames, City Manager Kevin Helms said.

The option for Roane County to later call a separate referendum on a countywide tax increase and supersede any city-approved hike will be studied by a committee, County Commission Chairman Ron Berry said.

But County Executive Ron Woody said he doubts the commission will take any action on a referendum.

Harriman City Treasurer Charles Kerley disagrees, saying he expects the commission to consider a countywide vote but forecasts such a move "would be kind of a hard sell at the polls."

If Harriman voters on the Nov. 8 presidential election ballot approve a sales tax increase, the levy would increase from 9.5 to 9.75 percent, or the maximum allowed by state law.

City officials have been studying alternative revenue sources as a way to boost funding for infrastructure improvements.

"Our priority is street paving at this time," Helms said.

Officials said a sales tax hike would also help keep a lid on the city's property tax rate, which has remained stable for years.

Kerley said a quarter-cent sales tax hike would generate about $400,000 per year for Harriman.

If the city referendum passes and voters later approve a countywide sales tax levy, it would slash in half the city's proceeds, while the other half would go to the county school system, officials said.

Helms said the city referendum was moved from the Aug. 4 election ballot to the Nov. 8 election cycle because the General Assembly during its recent session changed the time frames for notifying election commissions of referendum requests.

"We could have held a special election between August and November, but it made more sense to wait until November," Helms said.
The main portal at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE y12.MP#9189 MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL Sign for the Y-12 NationalSecurity Complex and in the background is the entrance portal on Bear Creek Road.

By Frank Munger of the Knoxville News Sentinel

OAK RIDGE  Decades after discharges from the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant polluted local waterways, the state has decided to post a do-not-eat-the-fish advisory on Bear Creek because of increasing public access to a lower stretch of the creek.

"Eating fish with elevated levels of mercury and PCBs is a risk Tennesseans can avoid," Tisha Calabrese-Benton, director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Water Resources, said in a statement. "Fish consumption advisories give fishermen and their families the information they need to make informed decisions about limiting their intake or avoid fish from specific stream segments or bodies of water."

Bear Creek originates on the west side of Y-12 before flowing through a valley to join East Fork Poplar Creek, which has been posted as hazardous since 1982.

Even though authorities knew about pollution in Bear Creek at the same time East Fork was posted decades ago, "it was considered unnecessary to include it in the advisory since there was no exposure route to the public."

With some land around Bear Creek now accessible to the public with development of a greenway system over the past decade, the state decided to post the warning signs.

The city of Oak Ridge was consulted on location of the signs.

Unlike East Fork, which is posted with warnings against water contact, Bear Creek will only receive the fish advisory, TDEC officials said.

The risk is associated with eating fish with elevated tissue concentrations of mercury or PCBs, according to the state agency.

"Swimming and wading in these waters or catching and releasing fish are activities that do not expose the public to an increased risk," TDEC officials stated.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, mercury is a naturally occurring element and can be found throughout the environment.

The primary way people are exposed to mercury is by eating fish containing methylmercury, the most toxic form that accumulates easily in organisms.

Many tons of mercury were discharged or otherwise lost to the environment at Y-12 during Cold War development of thermonuclear weapons in the 1950s and '60s.

Among other things, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists are studying the ways in which elemental mercury or other forms of the metal are converted to methylmercury in the environment.
SHARE

By Joel Ebert, The Tennessean

An ongoing discussion about leaked emails between House Republican lawmakers has led one member to say whoever provided them to the media has betrayed their own party, another to suggest a colleague should "grow up" and a third to raise the possibility of asking the attorney general to look into the matter.

On Monday, Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, sent out an email to the House Republican Caucus asking "whoever released our email discussion of whether or not to hold a special session" to out themselves.

Lynn's comments came after The Tennessean obtained a series of emails between the caucus that revealed politics was factoring into the discussion about whether to hold a special session in response to an Obama administration's new guidelines directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match with their gender identity.

In the initial set of emails, Lynn said the federal directive was nothing more than "bait" and attempt to "jerk us around."

In an email sent on Monday morning, Lynn rebuked the person who leaked the initial conversation. "Whoever did this  you know who you are  I implore you to act with more honor than that  to behave with Christian ethics," she said. "I felt that I could trust each of you so I spoke freely and obviously so did others. I had no thought that one among us could not be trusted  but now you have let us know that we cannot trust you."

Lynn, who sponsored and later withdrew legislation requiring students to use the restroom that corresponds with their sex at birth, said she knew more about the issue than other caucus members.

Explaining her decision to halt the measure, Lynn said she was simply trying to do what was "best for the children of our statenot for our campaignsnot for our fundraisingnot for the possibilities of gaining more seats in the Housenot for the pressbut for the safety of our children."

In an email sent on Wednesday morning, Rep. Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, said he agreed with Lynn and expressed disappointment about the leaked emails, even suggesting the use of the state's public records laws to find out which emails were used to send out the initial correspondence.

Legislative officials believe that previous court rulings make state lawmakers exempt from the public records act and "internal records," including emails, aren't subject to disclosure.

"Possibly, we should ask the TN (Tennessee) Attorney General to offer assistance to determine how this conversation or email was sent to the media outlets," Brooks said. "Just my thoughts. And possibly soon everyone else in TN will know them if this email is leaked too."

Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said, "Trying to find out the sources of a leak is clearly another way to try to shut down access to information about what government is doing."

Fisher warned that lawmakers shouldn't try and "chill" the media from doing its job. "We shouldn't be trying to stop truthful information from coming out about our government," she said. "There are more pressing problems to address than trying to restrict information."

Replying to Lynn on Wednesday, Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, said any information that lawmakers issue  whether it is verbal or written  should be expected to be made public.

"You better have the courage to stand behind those comments, rather than whine about who released them," Womick wrote. "If I am opposed to an individual's position and that individual is foolish enough to put it in writing, then they should expect it to be used against them."

"Time to grow up and accept responsibility for loose lipscan't handle that then maybe time to leave the political arena," Womick concluded. "People are fed up with whining, insincere politicians."

When The Tennessean contacted Lynn on Wednesday morning to discuss the leaked emails, she simply said she was "shocked that the email about the leaked emails was also leaked."

"I think it's reprehensible that somebody leaked this," she said, before sending another email to her Republican colleagues, which began, "We have a new low standard."

In her latest email, Lynn said the entire situation was an attempt to silence the caucus's discussion and to create division among the members.

"Let's not let that happen but let's commit to be united in our respect for and our love of our Caucus as an institution," she said.

While noting that the caucus had still not found out who leaked the initial email chain, Lynn finalized her thoughts, saying, "Whoever you are, you have not merely betrayed each of us who responded but you betray our Republican Party, our Republican Caucus and also your own seat."

House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, said Wednesday he was frustrated that the initial emails were released but ultimately said the conversation was nothing more than a public discussion.

"At the end of the day, our stuff is open," he said, noting that the caucus does not perform or discuss legislative business using lawmakers' personal email addresses.
Opinion / Columnist

The so-called million men march that was staged by the faction-ridden and crumbling Zanu-PF regime on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 was a spectacular flop. A few thousand people, most of whom had been commandeered to travel to Harare to attend the puerile and utterly purposeless march, turned up for this non-event. In fact, less than 5,000 people turned up for this march, whose main agenda was to massage the ego of a nonagenarian who has run down the former jewel of Africa. What a big yawn, the march was!The MDC has always stated that Robert Mugabe can afford to rig the economy but he can never successfully rig the economy. In fact, the Zanu-PF regime forced public schools and other institutions to provide transport for their thoroughly undeserved march. The following statistics from Mashonaland West province provide an insight into how how the fascist Zanu-PF regime commandeered schools to provide transport for their uncalled and undeserved march :Chegutu District :1.Dudley Hall Primary School - one 63 seater bus2.Musengezi High School - one 66 seater bus3.Martindale High School - one 63 seater bus4.St.Erick Primary School - one 48 seater bus5.Bryden Primary School - one 30 seater bus6.Presbyterian School - one 76 seater bus7.Sandringham High School - one 76 seater bus8.Vimbai High School - one 66 seater bus9.Moleli High School - one 76 seater busMakonde District :1.Sinoia Primary School - one 66 seater bus2.Nemakonde High School - one 76 seater bus3.Manyame Primary School - one 66 seater bus4.Hope Tariro Primary School - one 66 seater bus5.Chinhoyi High School - one 42 seater bus6.Lomagundi College - one 76 seater busKariba District :1.Nyamhunga High School - one 63 seater bus2.Nyamhunga Primary School - one 30 seater busHurungwe District :1.Karoi Junior School - one 65 seater bus2.Chikangwe Primary School - one 30 seater bus3.Magunje Barracks High School - one 65 seater bus4.Karoi High School - one 30 seater bus5.Chikangwe High School - one 30 seater busSanyati District :1.Jameson High School - one 64 seater bus2.Rimuka 1 High School - one 28 seater bus3.Rimuka 2 High School - one 75 seater bus4.Chiguvare School - one 28 seater bus5.Rubatsiro School - one 28 seater bus6.Sir John Kennedy School - one 28 seater bus7.Sanyati Baptist High School - one 75 seater busMhondoro Ngezi District :1.Ngezi High School - one 76 seater busZvimba District :1.Banket Gvt Primary School - one 63 seater bus2.Darwendale Primary School - one 69 seater bus3.Inkomo High School - one 65 seater bus4.Sodbury Secondary School - one 63 seater bus5.Cornway College - one 63 seater bus6.Mutorashanga High School - one 37 seater bus7.Kutama High School - one 65 seater busWhen the MDC staged the "mother of all demonstrations" in Harare on April 14, 2016, no less than 20 000 people voluntarily took part in the historic march. No single school or public institution was commandeered to provide transport to ferry our supporters to the march. Put simply, the MDC never coerced and/or extorted money and any other material resources from anyone. Zanu-PF operates like a bandit commandist organization. For example, all vendors operating from Mbare Musika in Harare were forced and commandeered to participate in the spurious and fascist march that took place in Harare on May 25, 2016. The long- suffering people of Zimbabwe should resolutely refuse to pay homage to a brutal and totalitarian political system that has pauperised and traumatized them over the past 36 years. We should say a very big NO to the Zanu-PF dictatorship! We should stand up for our rights and refuse to be intimidated and threatened by an illegitimate and corrupt regime that is in the sunset of its life.Zimbabwe has now reached a defining moment.Never again should we allow the brutal, extortionist and corrupt Zanu-PF dictatorship to hold the people of Zimbabwe at ransom. Enough is enough! The people of Zimbabwe should appreciate the fact that the Zanu-PF regime is now living on borrowed time. No matter how much repression and suppression is brought upon the toiling masses of Zimbabwe by the crumbling Zanu-PF regime, the MDC urges the people to democratically and fearlessly fight for the establishment of an equal and egalitarian society in which the rights of all citizens are upheld and respected.President Robert Mugabe, as expected, gave a thoroughly banal speech at the so-called million men march. The old man has nothing new that he can offer the people of Zimbabwe. He has superintended the total collapse of a country that used to be an economic giant in Africa. The address by Grace Mugabe was coarse and provocative. How can she contemptuously announce to the world that Robert Mugabe will rule from the grave? This woman should be taught a little bit of decency. She shouldn't be allowed to continue insulting the people of Zimbabwe. The time has come for all patriotic and peace-loving Zimbabweans to join hands and ensure that the Zanu-PF illegitimate regime is lawfully and constitutionally removed from power. No other option will do.MDC : EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALLObert Chaurura GutuMDC National Spokesperson
By Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert, USA TODAY NETWORK, The Tennessean

Tennessee is one of 11 states that filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Obama administration over recent guidance issued regarding which bathrooms transgender students may use.

The states filing suit argue the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education are usurping local control and trying to create a national social experiment by telling districts to allow transgender students to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender with which they identify.

"Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights," states the lawsuit.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery is listed as the official suing on behalf of Tennessee.

"Our Office has consistently opposed efforts like this to take away states' rights and exclude the people's representatives from making these decisions, or at a minimum being able to engage in a notice and comment period under the Administrative Procedures Act," Slatery said in a news release.

"As the complaint describes, it is a social experiment implemented by federal departments denying basic privacy rights and placing the burden largely on our children, not adults. Sitting on the sidelines on this issue was not an option."

On May 13, the federal government issued a guidance that said to not allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their chosen identity could violate what is known as Title IX, a federal law frequently cited as a means to prevent discrimination.

"The Administration is incorrectly interpreting Title IX to include self-proclaimed gender identity," Slatery said in a release announcing the lawsuit.

That comes after Slatery issued an opinion in April, when lawmakers were considering a bill introduced during the 2016 session that would have required students to use restrooms that correspond with their sex at birth.

"There well may be valid legal arguments against DOE's interpretation, but there is no settled precedent to provide guidance as to how a court may ultimately rule; this is a new, undeveloped, and evolving area of the law," Slatery said, noting that the legislation might have violated federal law.

Gov. Bill Haslam and state Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, chairman of the state House Education Administration & Planning Committee, both said they support Slatery's action.

"The governor fully supports Gen. Slatery's action on behalf of our state," said Jennifer Donnals, Haslam's press secretary. "He disagrees with the Obama administration's overreach and heavy-handed approach. Congress has the authority to write the law, not the executive branch."

Said Brooks: "I support that effort 100 percent. We should respond to the federal government's overreach in dictating policy to states that is outside the federal government's scope legally and constitutionally."

State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said the Senate Republican Caucus is "pleased that Tennessee will join with other states in challenging the Obama administration's actions regarding the redefinition of the term 'sex' in connection with Title VII and Title IX and local education, and state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, also applauded Slatery's move and said it's a challenge of the federal government's "overreach."

"Really, the law has been interpreted one way for a number of years and then all of a sudden, where it should be the legislature that re-interprets it, they (the Obama administration) are taking on that role. To me, the general makes a good point: they have overreached.

"It kind of reminds me of a movie, I forget which one, but they asked one of the officials about doing something and he made the comment: illegal we can do right away; the unconstitutional, it might take a week or two. And it seems that that's sort of the attitude of the current administration in Washington."

The federal guidance was immediately blasted by Southern conservatives after it was announced, with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick saying the Lone Star State would not be blackmailed into compliance.

Other states joining the lawsuit include Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texas.

Tennessee lawmakers were considering holding a special session over the issue while also calling on some sort of action from Gov. Bill Haslam or Slatery after the guidance delivered by the administration.

A spokeswoman for Haslam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, said talks over the special session have been halted in light of recent indications that Slatery and Haslam oppose the federal directive.

That opposition was clarified this week after it became clear that the attorney general would provide assistance to Sumner County Public Schools, which was recently named in a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee over the issue of transgender bathrooms, if it became necessary.

"We stand with Sumner County and will help them in any way we can after the recent overreach by the Obama administration," Leslie Hafner, a senior adviser to the governor, told lawmakers in an email on Tuesday.

Slatery and the others suing have a list of demands. They want the court to declare the new federal guidance unlawful, "arbitrary and capricious," invalid and a permanent injunction stopping the federal government from enforcing the rules.

Supporters of the Obama administration's action were disappointed in the attorney general's action. Tennessee Equality Project Executive Director Chris Sanders said, "The downside is that Tennessee has joined the fight on the wrong side. But the silver linings are that the legislature probably won't call itself into special session and that we may get resolution on these important issues sooner than we thought."

And Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said:

"Title VII and Title IX have long prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, and federal courts and agencies have recognized that this includes protections for transgender people. Like guidance issued by federal agencies for decades, the guidance in question does not change the law, but explains what agencies think existing law requires.

"The Supreme Court has made clear that you cannot sue an agency just because you disagree with the agency's non-binding guidance. Moreover, because the guidance is nonbinding, this lawsuit appears to be nothing more than politically-motivated. But underneath all of the political bluster are real students -- young people who should not have to live in fear of punishment or harassment every time they use the restroom like their peers, or be made to feel like second-class citizens merely for being themselves. We will continue to work toward a day when all students in Tennessee are treated fairly under the law," Weinberg said.

David Fowler, president of the conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee, who lobbied heavily for a bill requiring students to use the school restrooms and locker facilities of their birth gender, applauded Slatery for joining the lawsuit against what he called "the attempt by the Obama administration to use Title IX to tell parents that their children have to be exposed to a member of the opposite sex while in a state of undress.

"His office is doing exactly what it should be doing, fighting to protect the rights of parents to protect their children's privacy and the right of our state to set its own domestic policies," said Fowler.

The legislation Fowler sought was withdrawn late in the Tennessee legislative session. Fowler also said the need for a special legislative session to consider a response to the federal guidance "has been abated."
SHARE

Tennessee law has recognized the right of low-income criminal defendants to have court-appointed attorneys at least as far back as 1858, more than 100 years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution demands it.

However, Tennessee pays its court-appointed attorneys so little that it threatens to undermine the right of their clients to a fair trial. According to the chairman of a task force on indigent defense issues, that is unlikely to change. Apparently too many legislators perceive all defendants as guilty and are loath to protect the rights contained in the Constitution they have sworn to uphold.

The Indigent Representation Task Force, formed last year by the Tennessee Supreme Court, is taking a look at all aspects of the state's system for protecting the Sixth Amendment rights of its poorest citizens. It is a system in need of improvement.

There are 31 public defenders' offices in Tennessee, one in each judicial district. Public defenders, however, cannot represent criminal defendants in some cases  those involving multiple defendants, for example. In those instances, judges will appoint attorneys to represent indigent defendants.

The rates paid to court-appointed lawyers are ridiculously low. They are allowed to charge $40 per hour for work outside the courtroom  the lowest in the nation  and $50 per hour for time spent in court  second lowest in the nation. Those rates have been unchanged for more than a decade. Unlike many states that pay based on hourly rates, Tennessee places caps on compensation  $1,000 in misdemeanor cases and $1,500 in felonies. In contrast, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers reported in 2013, the hourly rate paid in federal court is $125 an hour.

The state spends about $36 million a year on legal representation for the poor. Of that amount, approximately $19 million goes toward criminal indigent representation.

The Indigent Representation Task Force is reviewing the state's system, both civil and criminal, including how defendants are classified as indigent, the delivery of services and the administration of funds. Members were in Knoxville last week as part of a statewide listening tour.

Retired state Supreme Court Justice William C. Koch Jr., who now is dean of the Nashville School of Law and chairman of the task force, wrote in a letter to Knoxville lawyer Christopher L. Seaton obtained by the News Sentinel that funding indigent representation is unpopular among legislators. He wrote that any proposal that merely increases the rates paid court-appointed attorneys would be "dead on arrival." Instead, he wrote, only "significant structural changes" that provide accountability, efficiency and effectiveness would stand a chance with lawmakers.

The task force's mission is important and members need to take compelling proposals to the Legislature. The Sixth Amendment guarantees that every American  rich and poor alike  has the right to be represented by legal counsel. Tennessee must improve its indigent defense system, including compensation for court-appointed lawyers, so that its poorest citizens receive a fair shake in the courtroom.
SHARE

Guest columnist John Stewart had an unenviable job of speech writing for Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 campaign. His guy had to explain away four years of solid support for Lyndon Johnson's policies to a Democratic base that had become increasingly against the Vietnam War. Humphrey's long support of civil rights, not to mention voter concerns over urban rioting, meant he would likely lose several Southern states, which he did, to George Wallace. He also faced battle-tested Richard Nixon, with gifted speech writers like Pat Buchanan and Ben Stein. Notwithstanding that Humphrey was doomed to fail, Stewart somehow suggests Sen. Eugene McCarthy's silence after the convention was a big factor in Humphrey's loss.

For younger readers, McCarthy was the first Democrat to challenge Johnson in 1968, and his principled, dignified campaign had considerable success in New Hampshire, chasing Johnson from the race. Had Bobby Kennedy not been killed, the convention would have been a real battle royal. I recall the protesters in Chicago, who may have been influenced by McCarthy's (as well as Kennedy's, Muhammad Ali's and Walter Cronkite's) views on Vietnam, but whose violence was more "inspired" (Stewart's word) by the likes of Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale. Sen. Abraham Ribicoff spoke openly at the convention about Mayor Richard J. Daley's "Gestapo tactics," while others called the scene outside the convention a "police riot." To link McCarthy to any Chicago violence is simply shameful and makes me wonder if some old Minnesota score is being settled here.

Humphrey lost, not because McCarthy held his tongue, but because Humphrey hitched his wagon to the unpopular Johnson, because two Democrats ran in 1968, because he came out timidly against Johnson's war policies too late, and because his team was outmaneuvered and outflanked by a skilled and talented Nixon team. Some grievances are best left unaired.

Frank Letchworth, Knoxville
SHARE

In 2010, a group of military leaders informed Congress that obesity rates are a threat to national security. At the time, 75 percent of all young Americans were unfit for military service. Over the previous 10 years, the number of states where more than 40 percent of young adults were overweight or obese went from 1 to 39.

When I enlisted in 1990, few recruits struggled to meet the Navy's fitness requirements. Since then, gym memberships have increased dramatically. However, 65 percent of those who joined the Army in 2009 failed their first fitness test. By 2012, up to 70 percent of Navy recruits failed their first fitness test. A year later, 55 percent of female Marine recruits couldn't meet the new requirement of three pull-ups, instituted as part of the process of equalizing standards to prepare women for combat. As a result, the Marine Corps postponed that requirement. The Army is considering replacing running with yoga.

When I entered SEAL training, the minimum pull-up requirement on the screening test was 11. It's now six. The military has to fill its ranks from a population that's overwhelmingly and increasingly unfit. There's not a single school or command in any branch of the military that hasn't lowered its physical standards. There's simply no other option. The situation in law enforcement is undoubtedly no different.

If this trend continues, we'll soon have a nation of military personnel and first responders who can't even run or do a pull-up. Meanwhile somewhere, a true believer is training to kill us. He trains with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, day and night. He doesn't worry about what his gear weighs. His runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. He's not concerned about how hard it is. He knows only the cause.

Brian Sheely, Knoxville
LOS ANGELES, CA  After wrapping up her latest shooting spree in Los Angeles and Las Vegas this week, Anna Bell Peaks will be heading East for one explosive night of feature dancing in New York City.



Friday night she will take the stage at Sapphire on East 60th Street in Manhattan. This will be her second time at the club. She made her stage debut there last August.



I really wanted to end this month with a bang, she said. To return to New York City is about as big as it can get. Ill be pulling all my rabbits out of my hat that night, so I hope everyone comes out to Sapphire!



For West Coast fans, shell be featuring in San Diego next month. She will also be attending Exxxotica Chicago in July.



Her latest Brazzers scene, One in the Pink, Under the Sink, was the sites most-watched last week. Its her seventh scene for the company. Check it out here.

Sapphire NYC is located at 333 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022. For more information call 212-421-3600 or visit NYSapphire.com.

Check out her website at AnnaBellPeaks.xxx.
Female Iranian university students pose in a K-Culture Experience Zone during the Korea Expo 2016 at Namayeshgha ye Beine Melli in the Iranian capital Tehran, Monday. / Courtesy of KOTRA



By Jhoo Dong-chan

TEHRAN, IRAN  Korean Expo 2016, a three-day exhibition for Korean products, was held at Namayeshgah ye Beine Melli in the Iranian capital city of Tehran, Monday. Organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the event was part of a follow-up to President Park Geun-hye's historic state visit to the country earlier this month.

On the first day of the event, over 4,000 Iranians including some 200 businessmen came to see the Korean-made goods, with strong hopes for potential investments and technology transfers from Korea.

Iran's Vice President Sorena Sattari participated in the exhibition's opening ceremony, expressing his expectations for the transfer of technology between Korea and Iran.

"Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East with a highly educated population of 81 million," said Sattari during his welcoming speech. "With Korea's technology transfers and investments, the two countries will enjoy a win-win situation in the global market."

In a bid to satisfy Iranian demand, a total of 81 Korean companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including 20 power-related material suppliers, 17 machinery makers, 8 steelmakers and 12 automotive suppliers, participated in the event to meet potential business partners.

"Korean-made goods offer high quality with a competitive price. Many companies even started to imitate Korean products," said local tire dealer Seyed Afshin Sadegi.

"I don't want to sell imitations inferior to the quality of Korean tires. So, I came here to meet Kumho Tire officials. I will come here tomorrow as well to further develop the agency deal I'd like to have with Kumho."

Ehsan Shoarian, chairman of Iranian market researcher Niktadbir, said more Korean companies should do business in Iran.

"Korea has become one of the most industrialized countries in the world in a relatively short period of time. Iran should learn from Korea's experience," said Shoarian.

"The synergy of the two countries will be enormous. Iran offers quality human resources that Korean companies can put to work. If Korean companies transfer their technologies and build plants here, there will be more job opportunities for Iranians as well."

Mojtaba Mousavian, director of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization, strongly emphasized the need for sharing technology from Korea.

"President Park Geun-hye's state visit promised a 25 billion dollar investment in Iran, but the more important thing Iran is looking for is to learn from Korea's technological knowhow," said Mousavian.

"Since economic sanctions were lifted by the West, Iran has been trying to reduce its dependency on oil and natural gas exports. The country is now putting its utmost efforts into developing manufacturing. I believe Korea is a good partner for us in these endeavors."

Following the lifting of economic sanctions, Iran has established plans to become the manufacturing center of the Middle East, enhancing cooperation on energy and overseas plants with other countries.

It chose to focus on petrochemicals, automotives and steel as its strategic industries, as currently global industrial powerhouses including Korea and China are jockeying to win advantageous positions in the country's markets for these three.
By Nam Hyun-woo



Korea's No. 3 life insurer Kyobo Life Insurance said Wednesday that it is participating in preliminary bidding in the sale of ING Life Korea.



According to a Kyobo official, the company submitted a letter of investment (LOI) intent to Morgan Stanley, which is managing the sale, Monday, the initial deadline for preliminary bidding.



China Life Insurance also sent an LOI; while Anbang Insurance Group, another Chinese giant which acquired Allianz Life Korea for a mere $3 million, did not participate.



"Kyobo tried to buy ING Life Korea about three years ago," said an official. "This time, we participated in pre-bidding so that we can conduct due diligence."



Sources said only companies shortlisted as preliminary bidders can conduct due diligence, meaning it is "a great opportunity to observe a rival, or a potential acquisition target."



According to Kyobo, it will first conduct due diligence and then its board of directors will decide whether it will join the actual auction.



In December 2013 Kyobo vied with Hanwha Life, Tongyang Life, MBK Partners and the Bogo Fund Consortium to buy ING Life Korea, but later withdrew. MBK, a local private equity company, acquired the firm for 1.84 trillion won. MBK then pledged to the government that it would not resell ING Life Korea for two years.



As of September last year, ING Life Korea has a 4.06 percent market share. Should Kyobo acquire ING Life Korea, its market share will grow to 15 percent, overtaking Hanwha Life's 12.39 percent to take the No. 2 spot behind leader Samsung Life with 23.68 percent.



However, the chance of Kyobo joining the actual auction is low, according to market watchers.



Kyobo's available amount for investment is capped at 1.6 trillion won, while the expected price of ING Life Korea is hovering around 2 to 3 trillion won. To meet the price, Kyobo would need to form a consortium with financial investors. However, the insurer said, "it is premature to talk about that."



The introduction of new accounting rules will also be a burden to Kyobo Life.



From 2020, Korea will embrace the International Financial Reporting Standards 4 Phase II, which obligates insurers to build up reserves to cover losses they are expected to incur. This means they will have to have trillions of won on hand for savings-type policies that will continue to cause them losses in the coming years. A number of domestic financial giants have dropped their bids, fearing having to build up reserves.



"The company is aware of the potential burden, but it is inappropriate to calculate the amount (of additional reserves) or make other predictions," said the official.




By Kim Rahn

A local court has dismissed a petition by film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo who demanded the court legally recognize his marriage with his male partner Kim Seung-hwan.

The Seoul Western District Court on Wednesday rejected the petition filed by the first gay couple to marry openly in Korea.

Kim Jho, 51, and Kim, 32, CEO of film production company Rainbow Factory, married in September 2013 and attempted to register the marriage with Seodaemun District Office in Seoul in December that year. But the office refused to make it legal, saying same-sex marriage is not a conjugal union recognized by civil law.

The couple then filed the petition, claiming the civil law does not "ban" same-sex marriage and such marriage should be recognized according to the Constitution that guarantees freedom and equality of marriage.

The court, however, rejected the claim, saying the current legal system says marriage is a union between a man and a woman and thus a same-sex union cannot be recognized as "marriage" unless the law is changed.

"Even though social recognition about marriage has changed, related laws, including the Constitution and civil law, are based on the premise that marriage is a union between a man and a woman," it said. "So, we can't interpret this arbitrarily that marriage is a union between two people regardless of sex."

The court also said that not recognizing same-sex marriage does not violate the principle of equality. "Considering that marriage, childbirth and childcare build the basis for society's sustainable development, a union between same-sex people is not fundamentally equal to that between a man and a woman."

It added that the recognition of same-sex marriage should be decided through public opinion, multiple discussions and considerations and the legislative process at the National Assembly.
/Courtesy of Twitter



By Lee Jin-a, Park Si-soo

Police questioned a New Zealand diplomat on Wednesday for allegedly obstructing officers who tried to arrest his friends on suspicion of molesting a female bar worker.

Yongsan Police Station in Seoul said two companions of the diplomat, whose identity remains unknown, allegedly molested a female employee at a bar in Itaewon Tuesday night and assaulted a security guard who tried to take them to police. As police tried to arrest the two, the diplomat allegedly pushed them and kicked the patrol car.

The diplomat and his friends were taken to the police station that night. But the diplomat was freed under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which gives foreign diplomats here immunity from civil or criminal prosecution.

The New Zealand Embassy in Seoul said it is aware of the diplomat's alleged involvement in the incident but refused to give detailed information about him.

"We will actively cooperate with the police investigation about the case," the embassy told The Korea Times. "If his problem is confirmed, we will make him pay the price by stripping off his diplomat privilege."

A foreign ministry official said although foreign diplomats are usually exempt from criminal charges under the Vienna Convention, this does not apply to those involved in serious cases.
By Choi Sung-jin



One in 25 Korean college students has committed date-rape or failed in such attempts, a survey shows.



Up to 35 percent of collegians, more than a third of the total, have also committed verbal sexual harassment, according to an opinion poll of 1,441 students conducted by the Ajou University, on the commission of the education ministry, in November.



According to the survey, 58 students, or 4 percent of respondents, said they had made date-rape attempts, successful or not. Men showed nearly twice the ratio of such attempts than women, 5.4 percent to 2.9 percent.



Date-rape is sexual violence made forcefully and without mutual consent, during dating. It is usually committed in a loving relationship, and assailants often tend to regard it not as a sexual assault but as just morally wrong.



"The survey shows rapes occur in intimate relationships, which points to the need for reeducating students, male or female, to renew their consciousness about date-rape," said Professor Kim Hye-suk of Ajou University, who conducted the research.



Among the 35 percent of respondents who said they been involved in verbal sexual harassment, 57 percent said they had made remarks or acts emphasizing womanliness or manliness, while 45.6 percent said they had made sexual ratings, insults or obscene jokes. One in every 40 students said they made representations in classes that gave sexual displeasure to others.



More than a tenth, or 10.7 percent, of respondents had the experience of non-verbal sexual harassment.



Among them, 41.2 percent said they had looked others up and down as if in appreciation or fixed their eyes on specific parts of the body. Sixty of them, 4.2 percent, showed undue interest or adherence to people who did not want it, or made phone calls and visits repeatedly. Other acts belonging to this type were sexual insults or games degrading women (3.3 percent), forcing others to fill their cups while drinking (2.7 percent), and coercing them to watch nude photos and pornography at offices or circle rooms (2.2 percent).



Some 2 percent of college students confessed to physical sexual harassment, such as unwanted kisses and embraces, sometimes by exerting their authority.



Barely a fourth, or 25.6 percent, of respondents said they took part in sexual harassment-preventing classes, pointing to the urgent need for improving their wrong sexual consciousness, the survey said.



Worse yet, 42.98 percent answered such classes were of "no or little help" in terms of changing their wrong perceptions and practices concerning sexual harassment.



"The students' desires and violence that have been oppressed since their childhood seem to be erupting after they become adults," said Professor Kwak Geum-ju of Seoul National University. "This problem is not limited to college students but widespread in society, demonstrating the importance of early education, which puts fostering good personality ahead of acquiring knowledge."




Outgoing speaker warns of turmoil if Park vetoes bill



By Yi Whan-woo





Chung Ui-hwa

Outgoing National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa said on Wednesday that President Park Geun-hye should approve the "hearings bill" or will face serious political consequences.

Chung raised concerns over media reports that Park has already decided to reject the bill, saying such a move will throw the political arena into turmoil.

Proposed by Chung, the bill was approved by the National Assembly last week to empower parliamentary committees to hold hearings on state affairs at their own discretion.

Chung urged the President to "leave legislative affairs to the parliament," and criticized the government for opposing the bill.

"I don't' think the President will exercise her right of veto," he said during a press conference. His term as the parliamentary speaker will end when the 19th National Assembly ends on Sunday.

"People want the legislature to bolster its role of checks and balances against the government. And it would be against the principle of democracy if the government opposes the bill just because it is annoys them."

Cheong Wa Dae and Park's loyalists in the ruling Saenuri Party have raised concerns that the bill will "paralyze" the administration if implemented. They claimed that the opposition parties may abuse the hearings for political purposes, citing that the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and minor opposition People's Party will collectively outnumber the ruling party in the upcoming 20th National Assembly.

"I'd say the government is only highlighting the negative aspects of the hearings to justify its claim," Chung said.

The legislation will take effect if Park endorses it by June 7, according to the Ministry of Government Legislation.

However, it is speculated that Park, who embarked on a 12-day trip to Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and France, Wednesday, may veto the bill after she returns home or while she is abroad.

Chung, a former Saenuri Party member, was against the President's intervention in legislative affairs after he was elected as the parliamentary speaker in May 2014 and quit the party in line with the National Assembly regulation.

He has not decided whether to return to the party.

"My primary concerns are whether the Saenuri Party officials are capable of reforming the party," he said, referring to prolonged factional struggle within the party after its defeat in the April 13 general election. "I will wait and see what I can do."

Some political sources speculated that he may join hands with Sohn Hak-gyu, a former advisor to the MPK, and set up a new party.

"I'm open to establishing a new party although I have not made up my mind yet," he said.
By Choi Sung-jin



North Korea is not interested in Donald Trump's reported intention to talk with its leader, Kim Jong-un, as the remark was just for the election campaign, a top diplomat from Pyongyang said Tuesday.



"We regard the comment as an election strategy that has not much importance," said North Korea's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hyun Hak-bong.



Noting that Pyongyang is well aware the presumptive Republican candidate has made a comment on having dialogue, Ambassador Hyun said: "We don't regard this as a meaningful move, however. It is like a theatrical gesture by a popular actor wanting to create a favorable momentum for his electioneering."



Hyun said history shows U.S. presidential candidates say they would do this or that during campaigns. But once elected, they pushed ahead with a hostile policy against the North, pressing and sanctioning its socialist system. Hyun's remark came a day after a similar interview Ambassador Seo Se-pyong, the chief of North Korea's representative office in Switzerland, had with Reuters.



North Korean diplomats' downplaying of Trump's offer of dialogue might be aimed at foreshadowing possible talks between the United States and the reclusive regime, depending on the results of the latter's presidential election, diplomatic watchers here said. "Pyongyang may be justifying its possession of nuclear weapons to a potential U.S. leader, wanting to lead the initiative if talks resume," an analyst said.



Hyun provided a delicate nuance in this regard, saying: "This is not the right time to have talks, because North Korea has not prepared a package for improving the relationship between Pyongyang and Washington, and neither has the United States. And this is why we pay little attention to Trump's remark."



Hyun said one should trace the cause of an illness to cure it, and the cause in the case of the North's nuclear armament is America's hostile policy and its nuclear threats against the isolated regime, trying to justify Pyongyang's nuclear development program.



"The six-party talks are dead, something the South Korean experts also acknowledge," he said, insinuating the North would try to solve the problem through bilateral negotiations with the U.S.




By Jun Ji-hye



The website of the Air Force has remained shut down since it was hacked about two weeks ago, officials said Wednesday.



The military has not ruled out the possibility that North Korea was behind the hacking attack.



"Malignant code was found in the website program, so the Air Force stopped operating the website from May 12," an Air Force official said on condition of anonymity.



"The Air Force is currently operating a temporary website to provide public services such as information on conscription and other notices that affect the public."



The Air Force and the Cyber Warfare Command are carrying out an investigation to find out how the site was hacked, and whether there has been any leakage of classified information.



"Authorities are analyzing the type of the malignant code to find out who planted it in the program and why," another official said, adding the hacking could have been carried out by North Koreans.



The Air Force said that there have been no reports about damage incurred from the hacking so far, adding that a leakage of military information is impossible because the Air Force's website is separate from internal networks.



Recently, there has been a rise in hacking attempts targeting the military and military-related organizations, which led critics to call the military's cyber capabilities into questions.



In April, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, a South Korean builder of naval warships, including the nation's largest military transport ship, the Dokdo, was hacked.



Korean Air, which produces unmanned aerial vehicles, has also reportedly suffered a hacking attack.



On May 12, the military launched an investigation after it received a report that unknown emails were sent to local defense companies and arms-trading agencies. Investigators said that the sender impersonated an official from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.



legislative affairs after he was elected as the parliamentary speaker in May 2014 and quit the party in line with the National Assembly regulation.



He has not decided whether to return to the party.



"My primary concerns are whether the Saenuri Party officials are capable of reforming the party," he said, referring to prolonged factional struggle within the party after its defeat in the April 13 general election. "I will wait and see what I can do."



Some political sources speculated that he may join hands with Sohn Hak-gyu, a former advisor to the MPK, and set up a new party.



"I'm open to establishing a new party although I have not made up my mind yet," he said.




Members of animal welfare groups CARE and PETAasis hold a rally to protest sales of ostrich leather handbags by luxury brand Prada in front of a Prada store in the posh Gangnam district in southern Seoul, Wednesday.

/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Lee Kyung-min

A half-naked animal rights activist protesting in Seoul on Wednesday called for luxury fashion brand Prada to drop ostrich skin from its product material list.

Ashley Fruno, Asia-Pacific regional manager of international operations for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), stood in lingerie with "Skin Is Skin" written on her torso, during a protest in front of a Prada shop in Apgujeong, southern Seoul.

Members of Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE) also joined the protest, holding signs reading "Shop Vegan."

"We are asking Prada to act like a real leader in the animal welfare industry, as they are leaders in the fashion industry, and raise the bar on animal welfare," she said.

"We are asking them to drop the ostrich skin from their lines."

The groups' protest follows footage obtained by U.S. PETA members last year showing cruel treatment at some of the world's biggest ostrich slaughterhouses in South Africa.

In the video, ostriches were hit and plucked while alive and fully conscious, in order to create the bumpy texture considered highly fashionable.

It also showed the birds slipping and falling as they watched their mates ahead of them being killed.

Luxury brands Prada and Hermes were the biggest clients of the slaughter firms which account for the majority of the world's ostrich skin products, according to PETA. Their products include watchbands, boots, wallets and belts, with Hermes' Birkin bag being sold for up to $150,000.

Fruno said raising awareness is important because people simply do not know that so much animal cruelty is involved in making such expensive bags.

"People  not just in Korea, but all over the world  simply don't know that behind every ostrich skin bag, an ostrich faced a lifetime of deprivation and a cruel slaughter. Once they learn about the cruelty involved, they don't want to support it," she said.

Fruno urged consumers to "shop vegan," asking them to avoid purchasing wool, fur, leather and exotic skins.

"With an array of luxurious, high-end vegan materials available, there's simply no justification to support this cruelty," she said. "Animals are not ours to wear."

PETA purchased a single share in Prada last month, in an attempt to influence company policy from the inside as a shareholder.

Fruno and other PETA members protested against other cases of animal cruelty in 2012, such as the practice of mulesing, a technique of removing wool-bearing skin from the rears of Merino sheep to prevent flystrike, an infection spread by insects. Merino wool had been a top-selling material for the winter clothing line of Japanese brand Uniqlo.

But following their action, Uniqlo pledged to phase out the use of wool from farms that continue to use the cruel technique.
Korean Federation for Environmental Movement members urge people to reduce the use of diesel-powered vehicles to lower air pollution, during a protest in Seoul, May 16. / Yonhap



This is the first in a three-part series on fine dust that is becoming more and more of a serious threat to Korea's environment.  ED

By Kim Se-jeong

Air pollution is a growing problem in Korea.

According to a study by Columbia University and Yale University, Korea's air quality ranked 173 out of 180 countries measured.

Fine dust and ultrafine dust particulate matter (PM) are at PM10 and PM2.5, respectively, and blamed the most for pollution, with the latter said to be a serious cause of cancer by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The government says 40 percent of the fine dust in the atmosphere comes from diesel fuel. Out of 21 million vehicles in Korea, 8.8 million run on diesel, or more than a third. Diesel produces nitrogen compounds, a greenhouse gas blamed for climate change and air pollution.

As a solution, the Ministry of Environment is pushing to increase the price of diesel fuel. The price of diesel is currently 85 percent of the price of gasoline, and diesel has been popular among consumers because of its affordability.

"Reducing diesel-run vehicles will be critical to alleviating air pollution, which is mainly brought on by fine dust," an environment ministry official said.

The drive gained momentum after President Park Geun-hye said earlier this month that "fine dust is a serious problem threatening people's safety and health and thus a national-level measure is necessary."

Environmental groups also welcomed the move. Kim Dong-eon from the Korean Federation of Environmental Movements said that the number of diesel-fueled vehicles keeps increasing and they play a big role in air pollution. "The most effective way to discourage people from buying diesel-powered cars is to make the fuel more expensive. The price of diesel fuel is set low in Korea. It's time to adjust the price."

The plan, however, is facing strong opposition within the government.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy oppose the move, saying the price hike will put more financial pressure on the automobile and energy industries as well as on consumers.

The relevant ministries were supposed to meet on Wednesday to consult on the price hike, but the meeting was put off at the last minute for unknown reasons.

The environment ministry is also devising other measures to reduce diesel use.

It plans to encourage owners of diesel vehicles 10 years old and older to give up their cars, as the older diesel engines emit more greenhouse gases than newer ones.

The ministry is also considering imposing an extra tax on diesel fuel to oblige drivers to install anti-pollution devices in diesel engines.

Some argue that rather than impose such measures, the government should stop providing subsidies for diesel buses.

The government now provides a 380 won subsidy per liter of diesel fuel sold to bus operators. The subsidy is driving more operators to choose diesel-powered buses rather than CNG-powered buses which are known to be environmentally friendly.
FERNDALE, Mich.Adult novelty distributor Nalpac is the first American distributor to carry the full line of Nexus products.

Nexus, a British adult toy brand, has been a designer of high quality toys for men and women since their establishment in 2005. The company has built a reputation within the industry for their high-end luxury prostate massagers and vibrating toys.

Nexus continues to build upon the success of the Vibro and now boasts a full range of vibrating and non-vibrating medical grade silicone and stainless steel toys, a rep for Nexus said. They all adhere to the same fundamental concept behind Nexus: beautifully designed adult toys in quality materials with optimum functionality.

Nalpacs full line of Nexus products includes more than 30 different products from prostate massagers and cock rings to electro-stimulators and lubricants. Some of their flagship products include the Nexus Revo 2, Ridge Rider, Ace Plug and Vibro.

This is the latest full-line addition to Nalpacs always-increasing inventory, which now exceeds more than 20,000 items. Headquartered in a 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Ferndale, Mich., Nalpac celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. The company prides itself on providing excellent customer service and cutting-edge products since its establishment in 1971.

Nalpac is now accepting pre-orders on all of the new Nexus additions. For more information, visit Nalpac.com or contact an account manager at [email protected] or (800) 837-5946.
By Lee Kyung-min

Son Kil-seung

Former SK Group Chairman Son Kil-seung was booked without physical detention Tuesday over allegedly sexually harassing a bar worker.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police questioned Son, 75, after reviewing surveillance camera footage it seized earlier.

Son, currently the honorary chairman of SK Telecom, allegedly touched the female worker, whose identity was withheld, on the leg and forced her to massage his shoulders at the bar in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on May 3.

The woman allegedly left the bar afterward, but was ordered to return to work by the bar owner. Son then allegedly massaged the woman's shoulders and left, according to police and SK Group.

Two weeks later on May 16, the woman filed a complaint with police against Son.

Son told police that he had known the bar owner for decades and came to the bar to celebrate its opening, adding he was there for only 10 minutes. He said he does not remember exactly what happened and was unaware that his behavior made the woman feel uncomfortable.

"He said he meant to encourage the woman, saying he would have apologized to her sooner if he had known how she felt," a police official said.

The former president of the Federation of Korean Industries, a powerful business lobby group, resigned from company management in 2004 after being convicted of tax evasion, accounting fraud and attempted bribery. He was released by presidential pardon in 2008.
Former National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-oh, left, and Kim Hee-ok, former chairman of the Government Public Ethics Committee, are among candidates for the interim leader of the ruling Saenuri Party.



By Kim Hyo-jin



The ruling Saenuri Party will select an interim leader by the end of this week, party officials said Tuesday.



The person selected, who will serve as head of the party's emergency planning committee, will head the party until it holds a caucus to elect a new chairman and members of the decision-making Supreme Council in July or August.



On Monday, the party's floor leader Chung Jin-suk agreed with former party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung and former Finance Minister Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan to recruit an interim leader from outside the party.



Choi is the de-facto leader of a faction affiliated with President Park Geun-hye and Kim represents the voices of those who are not.



The committee is tasked with getting the party back on track following a defeat in the general election last month.



Potential candidates for the interim leader are Park Sang-jeung, president of Korea Democracy Foundation; Kim Hee-ok, former chairman of the Government Public Ethics Committee; Kim Jin-hyun, former minister of science and technology; and Kim Hyung-oh, former National Assembly speaker.



"It's highly likely that the announcement will come within this week," a party official said.



The party had been adrift without a leadership since pro-Park lawmakers boycotted a party meeting convened by Chung to approve his reform plans, saying he excluded pro-Park lawmakers from major committees.



Park loyalists reportedly recommended Park Sang-jeung and Kim Hee-ok.



Park served as a co-head of the Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), the liberal civic group, and the first executive director of the Beautiful Fund, the philanthropic organization.



Kim, who started off his career as a prosecutor, is a former vice justice minister, judge of the Constitutional Court, and president of the Dongguk University.



They have not engaged in politics but have long been talked as potential aides to President Park Geun-hye in the governing bloc.



However, lawmakers not affiliated to Park reportedly preferred former National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-oh. Kim is a former journalist who won a parliamentary seat in Yeongdo, Busan for five consecutive terms.



Kim Jin-hyun, the former minister, was reportedly recommended by Kim Moo-sung. Kim, a journalist-turned-public officer, also served as president of the University of Seoul in the 1990s.
South Korea and China will hold high-level talks this week on nuclear energy cooperation, the government said Wednesday.

The bilateral Nuclear Power Joint Committee meeting, the 13th of its kind, is scheduled to open in Beijing on Thursday.

In the two-day session, South Korea will be represented by Hong Nam-ki, vice minister of science, ICT and future planning. His Chinese counterpart is Xu Dazhe, the director of the China Atomic Energy Authority. Other government officials and civilian experts will join the meeting.

The two sides are set for a broad range of discussions on a total of 43 agenda items in six fields, focusing on ways to promote partnerships in research and development (R&D), according to the Seoul ministry.

South Korea plans to propose cooperation on R&D related to risk assessment and radiation measurement with regard to the possibility of nuclear reactor accidents and terrorist attacks, it added.

Also high on the agenda are nuclear fuel and waste management, as well as nuclear security and safety.

"This week's meeting is expected to serve as a chance for South Korea and China to affirm the importance of bilateral nuclear cooperation and develop partnerships toward a mutually beneficial direction," Hong said.

South Korea and China signed an accord on nuclear energy cooperation in 1994 and launched the joint committee in 2000.

South Korea operates 25 nuclear reactors for the supply of around 30 percent of its total electricity generated.

China, which has 32 reactors and is constructing 22 others, is expanding investment in the nuclear energy sector. (Yonhap)


By Yi Whan-woo

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left open the possibility of running in the 2017 presidential election, Wednesday, saying he will contemplate his future after finishing his tenure at the U.N.



"When I finish my term and return home next year, I'll decide then what I should do and will ask for your advice if necessary," he said during a meeting with a group of senior journalists in Jeju Island.



The remarks are viewed as indicating that he could be considering a bid for Cheong Wa Dae.



"I have never thought about becoming the president. As for now I should complete my job in the U.N.," he said. "But I'm really proud of being cited as a potential presidential candidate."



Ban arrived in the island for a six-day trip that includes some controversial activities that opposition parties claim are linked to a possible presidential bid.

Opposition parties poured harsh criticism on Ban, who is rumored to be backed by President Park Geun-hye as a ruling Saenuri Party candidate.

"It will be appropriate for him to stay away from politicians and observe U.N. regulations," Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a member of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), said on a radio program.

Park, who is also considered a probable presidential contender, cited the U.N. General Assembly's Resolution 11, which states the U.N. chief's responsibilities after retirement. Ban's term at the U.N. will end in December.

According to the resolution, "it is desirable that no member should offer him  at any rate immediately on retirement  any governmental position in which his confidential information might be a source of embarrassment to other members."

It also states that "a secretary-general should refrain from accepting any such position."

The progressive mayor said, "The resolution seems to be aimed at preventing a U.N. chief from exploiting information obtained while they were in office. In this sense, Ban should stay away from politics after retirement."

Rep. Min Byung-doo of the MPK predicted that Ban will not reveal his presidential ambitions until next year.
Elementary, middle and high school students from North Chungcheong Province pose in front of San Francisco City Hall in January 2015. They participated in the Ban Ki-moon Global Leadership Overseas Training program Jan. 7-15. The North Chungcheong Province Office of Education has run the program since 2007 to promote global leadership education. / Courtesy of the North Chungcheong Province Office of Education





North Chungcheong education office offers global leadership training







Kim Byong-woo, superintendent of the North Chungcheong Province Office of Education

By Chung Hyun-chae



Kim Byong-woo, superintendent of the North Chungcheong Province Office of Education, said he is strengthening cultural exchange programs for students to become global leaders.



"I think it is especially important for students to experience various cultures overseas," Kim told The Korea Times in a recent interview, citing the office's unique program called Ban Ki-moon Global Leadership Overseas Training.



Given that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, the education office began the program named after him in 2007 to give students opportunities to meet with Ban in the United States and be inspired by him.



"We select about 30 students every year through a competitive three-stage selection process and send them to the U.S. for eight days," said Jeon Yeon-hwa, senior supervisor of the office's career and character education division.



She said sixth graders in elementary schools, middle school seniors and high school juniors can apply for the program. Applicants go through a personal statement screening, Korean and English essay tests, an interview and training camp that lasts over three months.



"The reason why we choose students through a highly selective process is because they need to possess good character and teamwork as well as English proficiency to become world leaders," Kim said.



His office allocated 300 million won for the global leadership program.



"More than 1,000 students applied for the program last year because of its high quality," said Kwon Oh-jang, supervisor of the same division.



In addition to meeting with Ban, the selected students work on their own projects during their visit to the U.S.



"I remember a team that investigated a possible link among Americans between social status and obesity," Kim said. "I heard that they went out on the streets to interview people randomly to figure out if there was a correlation between the two."



Kim expressed satisfaction with their activity. "This is what I believe global leadership education should be," he said.



He said he will change some parts of the program, as Ban finishes his second term at the end of this year.



Kim has strived to form cooperative ties with educational institutions abroad to enrich cultural exchange programs.



"I went to Australia a few days ago to take a close look at environmental education there and find ways of boosting cooperation in this field between Australia and Korea," Kim said.



During his visit to Australia, he signed a memorandum of understanding with South Australia's Education Minister Susan Close to begin a student exchange program.



"I was happy that South Australia took an enthusiastic attitude to promote a cultural exchange with us," Kim said, adding that Australia is not the only country that showed an interest in developing relations with his education office.



Kim noted that Academie de Creteil, an education office in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, also wanted strongly to interact with North Chungcheong Province.



"We signed an MOU with the French education office in January to exchange students, teachers and staff," Kim said.



Integrating foreign language and culture education



Kim has a big plan to establish an institute of international education by combining the Chungchungbuk-do Foreign Language Institute for Students, five English centers in North Chungcheong Province and a multicultural education support center that was established in 2009.



"I hope I can realize the plan by the first half of 2018 at the latest," Kim said.



He wants the institute to take charge of all cultural exchange programs.



Kim also stressed that foreign language education should shift away from too much focus on English learning.



"I will encourage students to learn other languages including Chinese and Vietnamese," Kim said.



The education office plans to expand the role of the multicultural education support center, as the number of biracial students in elementary, middle and high schools in the province is on the rise.



According to the office, the number stood at 3,389 in April, up 13 percent from a year before.



"We will offer a better education for students from multicultural families so that they can learn more about their mothers' countries and feel pride in them," Kim said.
/Courtesy of Twitter



By Lee Han-soo



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is setting up a matchmaking contest to marry-off his younger sister, Kim Yo-jung, 29, according to The Sun, a British daily tabloid, quoting anonymous North Korean defectors.

The news contradicts a report from South Korea's spy agency last year that she was married to politician Choe Ryong-hae's son and expecting a baby. The report's credibility also came into question with Kenji Fujimoto, personal chef to Jong-un's predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il, who said in an interview after visiting the North Korean leader last month: "Yo-jung was still single."

The British daily reported that there had been moves to find Yo-jung a husband in 2012 but the man failed to live up to her expectations.

Big brother is said to have decreed a set of rules for any North Korean who wants to be considered a candidate to become his sister's husband.

They must have graduated or attend Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung University, be 178 centimeters or taller, good looking and must have served in the North Korean People's Army.

But even if the candidates pass the rigorous vetting process, obstacles remain, because one defector revealed that Yo-jung is an egotistic woman with exacting standards.

"Kim Jong-un once chose 30 university graduates and students enrolled in master's programs who served in the North Korean People's Army," the defector said. "They were all members of the Workers' Party, with outstanding appearance and height taller than 175 centimeters."
By Benson Kamary

President Park Geun-hye embarked on her maiden trip to Africa in her presidency Wednesday. President Park is scheduled to make stops in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya. Of the three nations, the president's visit to Nairobi will perhaps be the most interesting, owing to the coincidence it unveils.

Picture this. In February 1964, Korea's former president, Park Chung-hee, and Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, established diplomatic relations between Nairobi and Seoul. About 50 years later, Park Chung-hee's daughter (Park Geun-hye) and Jomo Kenyatta's son (Uhuru Kenyatta) are the presidents of their respective countries. If your guess is as good as mine, we can predict the context of their first light moments  their fathers!

Beyond the coincidence, President Park's visit to Kenya is significant. Kenya and Korea have progressively expanded their bilateral engagements, diplomatically and economically. Park's visit is therefore a gesture that the two countries remain strategic partners five decades on.

In fact, Kenya and Korea share a history of supporting each other. It is said that Kenya aided Korea's reconstruction by donating some funds after the 1950-53 Korean War.. According to some scholars, Kenya's economy was better than Korea's at the time.












By Park Yoon-bae

Deputy managing editor

I still remember that Pyo Chang-won, a former professor at the Korean National Police University, described the Sewol ferry tragedy as a "massacre by the state" right after the nation's worst maritime disaster took place on April 16, 2014.

He made the description during a roundtable discussion organized by The Korea Times and Transparency International Korea (TI-Korea) three weeks after the ill-fated ferry sank off Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, killing more than 300 passengers including 250 high school students.

I realized how serious he was in criticizing the government, which he held ultimately accountable for the shipwreck. He made it clear that the government should get the blame for its rampant corruption and incompetence.

I cannot and will not forget what he said during the discussion not least because little has changed to build a better society by establishing watertight safety systems and breaking the corrupt ties among entrepreneurs, regulators, bureaucrats and politicians.

Pyo, chief of the Pyo Institute of Crime Science, was elected to the National Assembly representing Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in the general election last month on the ticket of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea.

I hope he will work together with other lawmakers to get rid of corruption in officialdom and look after the safety of the people through active legislative efforts.

I am sorry to bring up the Sewol issue again, as many Koreans are going through fatigue from the disaster. But I have to do so because no one has yet been found to be culpable of the maritime disaster after more than two years have passed.

It is hard to forget that President Park Geun-hye and her policymakers vowed to bring justice to those responsible for the calamity as well as clean up what she described as the "accumulated evils" of Korea.

Now, she has proven that she and her policymakers have just been long on words and short on action. This has been all the more so when looking at the shocking case of mass deaths caused by toxic humidifier disinfectants.

The biocide case, one of the worst scandals involving a consumer product in Korea, occurred in 2011 after four pregnant women died from unknown lung problems. It has so far claimed 146 lives.

But regrettably, the prosecution belatedly began a full-pledged investigation into the scandal in February this year, deepening the agony of the victims' families and those still suffering from lung damage caused by the harmful products.

The biocide crisis has thus far failed to draw much public attention although it happened well before the Sewol episode. It is apparent that the government and law enforcement authorities have turned a deaf ear on the immeasurable pain and suffering of innocent consumers who inhaled the hazardous sterilizers.

The disinfectant scandal is no less shocking than the Sewol shipwreck. And the two cases have much in common.

First, the two tragedies were triggered by the total disruption of the safety system designed to protect the lives and health of the people.

Second, the calamities were also derived from deep-rooted corruption between bureaucrats, regulators and businesspeople.

Third, the blind pursuit of money is the common denominator for the ferry sinking and the biocide.

Fourth, a long-held disregard for life is also responsible for the mass killing of the Sewol passengers and the disinfectant consumers.

Last but not least, no one is being held responsible for the tragedies. Furthermore, the administration, the legislature and the judicature have shown no strong will to bring to justice those responsible for the catastrophe to prevent such a manmade disaster from happening again.

Sad to say, Koreans have failed to learn a painful but valuable lesson from the Sewol calamity.

Can the prosecution get to the bottom of the biocide case and get tougher with the manufacturers and distributors of the deadly humidifier disinfectants?

It is difficult to come up with a clear answer. But I still hope that the authorities will conduct a thorough investigation into those who caused the biocide deaths.

First of all, the prosecutors should prove that Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, Lotte Mart, Homeplus and other disinfectant makers and sellers had knowingly sold the toxic products.

The investigation must also focus on confirming allegations of Oxy's fabrication of test results on the harmful effects of its product in collaboration with a Seoul National University professor who reportedly accepted bribes from the company.

It is also necessary for the prosecution to confirm whether the U.K. headquarters of Reckitt Benckiser is implicated in the alleged cover-up of the biocide scandal.

Finally the government is required to set up a stricter regulatory system to properly manage and control toxic chemicals. Policymakers should realize that no one wants to see more people die again due to negligence, lack of supervision, corruption, the blind pursuit of profits and a blatant disregard for life.
By Andrew Hammond



The 2016 G7 leadership meeting, which starts Thursday in Japan, comes at a moment of heightened international concern about the global economy, with significant downside risks on the horizon, including the UK's EU referendum next month. While the summit thus has a sizeable economic agenda, geopolitical issues will also be top of mind from North Korea, the South China Sea, Ukraine, and the Middle East.



For the third year running, it will be only the G7 (Japan, United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy) rather than the G8 (which includes Russia) which meets. Russia joined the summits from 1997 to 2013, but following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Moscow has been told it can only rejoin if "it changes course and an environment is once again created in which it is possible for the G8 to hold reasonable discussions".



The prominence of geopolitical issues in the Japan-hosted meeting underlines the G7's often under-appreciated importance as an international security lynchpin. This is despite the fact that the group was originally conceived in the 1970s to monitor developments in the world economy and assess macroeconomic policies.



With Japan hosting this year's summit, multiple Asian-centric geopolitical issues, including North Korea and maritime security in the South China Sea and will be discussed, not just in the G7 but also in a bilateral US-Japan Summit between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On the North Korean front, the G7 will seek to send a message of defiance to the Pyongyang regime which conducted its fourth nuclear weapon test in January.



Earlier this month, Admiral Harry Harris, Head of the US Pacific Command, asserted that no threat in the region is "more dangerous than North Korea" and that Pyongyang is on a quest to develop nuclear-armed ballistic missiles that could strike, inter-continentally, as far as the United States. The G7 is expected to discuss potential new sanctions against the country, and doubling down on US cooperation with key countries in the region, especially Japan and South Korea, including plans for stronger trilateral information sharing arrangements, and the possibility of deploying a US THAAD missile defence system on the peninsula.



Maritime security in Asia will also be raised, not least in the South China Sea which is believed to have large deposits of oil and gas, and where it is estimated that over 5 trillion dollars of sea-borne trade passes each year. G7 foreign ministers have warned of "any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions" in both the South and East China Seas given the territorial disputes over several archipelagos there involving countries such as China, Vietnam (where Obama will visit after the G7), Malaysia and the Philippines.



China, which claims much of the South China Sea, is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims, and has strongly condemned the G7's consideration of this issue. It asserts that the group should focus instead on its founding mandate of global economic cooperation against the backdrop of sub-par performance of the international economy.



The Middle East will also be a key area of G7 dialogue from Iran, to Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Ahead of the summit, Japan has pledged 6 billion dollars in aid between 2016 and 2018 to help tackle violent extremism and bring greater stability to the region, especially in the context of the ongoing migrant crisis which will be a top discussion item for European leaders.



New measures to tackle terrorism financing will also be finalised following increasing use by extremist groups, including Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), of a broader range of financing methods to raise and transfer money. These span the use of digital or virtual currencies, through to the trading of sometimes very expensive antiquities.



This discussion will build on agreement amongst G7 finance ministers on May 21 of an "action plan" which includes increased exchanges of information on financial intelligence, reducing the level of cross-border transactions subject to disclosure, and collaboration on targeted sanctions for financial networks of outlawed groups.



Ukraine also remains high on the G7 agenda. In recent years, the body has played a significant orchestration role in the West's response to the crisis, and the leaders will use the summit to reiterate their support for the Kiev government.



The G7's involvement in this multitude of geopolitical dialogues, from Asia to the Middle East and Europe, has met with some criticism, as the comments from Beijing about the South China Sea indicate. It is sometimes asserted, for instance, that the G7 lacks the legitimacy of the UN, and/or is a historical artefact given the rise of new powers, including China and India.



However, it is not the case that the international security role of the G7 is a new one. An early example of the lynchpin function the body has played here was in the 1970s and 1980s when it helped coordinate Western strategy towards the then-Soviet Union.



Moreover, following the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the then-G8 (including Russia) assumed a key role in the US-led campaign against terrorism'. This began with coordinated activities helping to tackle sources of terrorism finance and, later, a Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction'.



Another key security role came over Kosovo in 1999. Following unsuccessful efforts to resolve the crisis in the UN Security Council, compromise was reached between the West and Russia in the G8. Foreign ministers then drew up a resolution that was agreed at the UN.



Taken overall, the G7 summit will have a significant geopolitical dialogue, despite criticism of its actions in this area. The body's longstanding track record as a security actor underlines this role is not only likely to continue but could yet grow in significance.



Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS (the Centre for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy) at the London School of Economics, and a former U.K. government special adviser.




By Shin Sung-won

North Korea seems to be taking all measures to show off its nuclear capabilities and delivery system. At the beginning of this year, the repressive country carried out a series of provocative actions, including its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, as well as the launch of an intercontinental rocket on Feb. 7. Coping with North Korea's dangerous actions, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed Resolution No. 2270, accusing North Korea of these acts and sanctioning it for them. Even after the UNSC resolution, North Korea continues to take provocative actions, such as an ICBM engine test on April 10 and test-firing mid-range missiles which ended in failure on April 15 and 28. Pyongyang test-launched a ballistic missile from a submarine off the country's east coast on April 23. The submarine, apparently built in secrecy some time before 2010, appears to be a modified version of a Yugoslavian sub design from the mid-1970s. North Korea's nuclear-missile subs are rudimentary and unreliable but Kim Jong-un wants the world to think he is just crazy enough to use them in an attack.

Running counter to North Korea's military provocations, South Korea and the United States which have been treaty allies since the end of the Korean War in 1953, have exercised regular defensive military drills. North Korea's threat combined with an inexperienced leader who acts rashly makes it an urgent priority not only for South Korea and the United States but increasingly for China. The then North Korean Foreign Minister, Ri Su-yong, made an offer in New York to halt nuclear testing in exchange for an end to the annual American-South Korean military exercises. It was swiftly dismissed.

The Kim Jong-un regime test-fired a nuclear device in 2013 successfully after two nuclear tests failed in 2006 and in 2009 during his father's era. Since then, Kim, who took power after his father's sudden death on Dec. 17, 2011, has made every effort to modernize his country's nuclear arsenal and delivery system. He even instructed his subordinates to write in the preamble to North Korea's 2012 constitution, that the "nuclear and a militarily powerful state is indomitable."

The May 2016 labor party convention was a coronation of Kim Jong-un. At the convention, which was last held in 1980, the current North Korean leader reconfirmed the "byeongjin" line, of pursuing nuclear weapons and economic development in tandem. Through the May 6 convention, Kim Jong-un wanted to show the successful completion of power transfer to him and show the world that North Korea has finally become a nuclear power. The May 6 Congress may be less of a turning point than a dead end.

In April 2016, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization produced a chilling report on persistent food shortages in North Korea. It estimated that 10.5 million people  two-fifths of the population  were undernourished and that 2.4 million pregnant or breast-feeding women and children under five were at risk of malnutrition.

In order to better the odds of North Korea's survival, the international community should continue to put pressure on Kim and his regime through U.N. and bilateral sanctions until Kim feels threatened that his regime could collapse unless he changes his provocative and threatening behavior and attitude. It is past the time that North Korea should make a strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons and join the international community as a normal state.

Shin Sung-won is the director-general of the Department of International Economy and Trade Studies at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.
VAN NUYS, CA  Pure Play Media and Naughty America release Anal MILFs 3. Cover model Julia Ann, along with four other MILFs, are showcased in this third installment of the studios series dedicated to experienced women who love anal sex.

All of Naughty Americas lines are super popular, and its easy to see why, says Pure Play Media sales representative Hyland C. They consistently select the most beautiful women in the industry, who know how to put on the best performances for their viewers. For fans of MILFs and anal, this is going to be a sure bet. Retailers, get this release on your shelves as soon as possible.

Anal MILFs 3 stars Julia Ann, India Summer, Ava Addams, Mellanie Monroe, and Francesca Le. To view the box cover, cast list, and synopsis, click here.

Retailers interested in stocking Anal MILFs 3 are encouraged to contact Hyland C. at [email protected] or 818-989-1570 (x3256) or your IVD Sales Representative.

For more information on Pure Play Media, visit PurePlayMedia.com and PPMb2b.com.
Obama mustn't revive old Cold War policy



There is no mistaking that the United States is trying to revive George F. Kennan from his grave.



To put a conclusion first, the originator of the Cold War-era containment policy should best remain dead, and the U.S. shouldn't repeat the policy that caused distrust and confrontation.



The issue in point is U.S. President Barack Obama's ongoing Asian swing including stops in Vietnam, and then in Japan for his swansong appearance in the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities that the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on to hasten the end of World War II.



During his visit to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, Obama elevated the status of ties with a former foe to that of an extensive partnership, lifting a 41-year-old ban on the exports of weapons in place since the U.S. withdrawal prior to the signing of a peace agreement that led to the fall of the Washington-backed South Vietnam.



The old foes making it up should be a heart-warming scene, but only if it doesn't ignite a new rivalry between the U.S. and China, much in the same manner that the U.S. and the now-defunct Soviet Union fought the hegemonic Cold War. We may well remember how the entire world was consumed by this low-intensity but still costly continuation of military and political tension.



The Korean Peninsula was the battleground of a proxy war from 1950 to 1953 at the start of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry that cost millions of lives. The capitalist South and the communist North still confront each other in a technical state of war. Korea is just one of the uncountable examples that saw the worst of this international order.



The pivot to Asia or rebalance, the Obama doctrine, basically boils down to the encirclement of China in a long stretching cordon from Japan to the east and the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and India to the south and west. Of course, there is a fine line between containment and friend-making diplomatic initiatives.



But the above-mentioned nations have one fear or another over the return of a big China that ruled this region for centuries. Now China's power projection in the South China Sea is the latest bone of contention.



The U.S. has exercised internationally recognized freedom of navigation to protest China's construction of ports and airfields. Manila, also in a dispute with China over islands in this sea, is allowing the U.S. to use air and naval bases it was forced to vacate. Myanmar is now in the U.S. embrace as its China-leaning military rulers have lost much of their power with the victory of political forces led by the Western-educated Aung San Suu Kyi. Japan has long assumed the role of deputy for the U.S. to contain China. Narendra Modi, India's business-oriented Prime Minister, also appears on the U.S. side  India and China having fought wars along their shared long border. Of course, marshalling these nations together is enough to make China feel pressure and react.



We should not make the same mistakes again, knowing for sure that they would be accompanied by a great deal of human agony and enormous material losses.



The alternative is clear: choose the path of peace. As a senior superpower, the U.S. should make the first move to propose to China replacing a competition for hegemony with a move for world peace and lead the way. Obama may imitate JFK and deliver such a peace proposal during his controversial Hiroshima visit.




By Yoon Sung-won



LG Chem said it has been chosen as one of the world's top eco-friendly businesses, Wednesday.



The company said the eco-friendly business operation at its factory in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, has been recognized during the first Energy Management Leadership Award, provided by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).



"The award means a lot to us as we have made continuous efforts to become one of the world's most energy-efficient businesses," LG Chem CEO and Vice Chairman Park Jin-soo said in a statement. "We will actively foster new growth businesses in the energy sector such as electric vehicles (EV), energy storage systems (ESS) batteries and new technologies that save energy."



The CEM is a ministerial meeting of 23 countries worldwide as well as three international organizations  the International Energy Agency, the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation and the International Renewable Energy Agency  to foster development of clean energy.



It was begun in July 2010 and the seventh meeting is scheduled to be held in San Francisco next month. LG Chem said it will receive the award at this meeting on June 2.



The CEM Energy Management Leadership Award is an international award that is given to businesses that have contributed to the reduction of energy consumption by boosting energy efficiency at industrial facilities and commercial buildings. A total of 35 enterprises from more than 20 countries including the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and Korea have competed for the first award.



"We believe that our efforts to save energy and boost energy efficiency have been recognized by the CEM such that we have been chosen as one of the first recipients of the award," an LG Chem official said.



The company said it has acquired the global energy-efficient business management authentication ISO 50001 for all of its manufacturing facilities in Korea since December 2014. In particular, the Ochang factory has put in operation an in-house power generation system based on renewable energy sources and adopted new energy-saving technologies to boost energy efficiency.



To that end, it has built in-house power generators connected to solar power generation and ESS systems on factory rooftops and residual sites, it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing heat energy generated while burning solid wastes and built waste heat recollection systems.



Such efforts have resulted in a 9.39 percent reduction of yearly energy consumption in 2014. This means that it could save about 11.4 billion won in energy expenses, the company said.



LG Chem has also received accreditation during an assessment by Korea Energy Agency, run under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, in December last year.




Chinese sales representatives wait for customers at a Huawei retails shop in Beijing. / AP-Yonhap



Tech giants in legal dispute over patents



By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it will file a countersuit against Huawei Technologies of China over patent disputes involving mobile devices and communication technology.

Huawei filed a suit against Samsung, Tuesday, claiming that the Korean company infringed on 11 standard essential patents (SEPs) it owned.

It said Samsung reaped huge gains without paying royalties for the use of the patents.

In reaction, Samsung called the allegation by the Chinese telecommunication equipment maker "groundless."

"We are going to file a countersuit against Huawei," Ahn Seung-ho, an executive vice president of Samsung, told reporters.

He said the company is reviewing legal documents filed by Huawei with the United States District Court, Northern District of California, and China, suing Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Research America.

"Samsung and its affiliates have earned billions of dollars by selling UMTS and LTE-compliant products that use Huawei's technology," Huawei said in the documents. "The sales have propelled Samsung to be a market leader in the smartphone and tablet markets."

It is not known whether Huawei is seeking a complete sales ban on Samsung products using its patents in the United States.

Samsung Electronics did not comment on the background of the lawsuit.

Huawei Korea said that it has no authority to issue statements or to make comments about the issue.

The Chinese company is one of Samsung's major clients buying memory chips and displays.

Legal officials said the patent dispute reflects a breakdown in licensing negotiations.

All LTE-enabled mobile devices use some form of SEPs that are usually cross-licensed between companies.

In the lawsuit, Huawei said it notified Samsung of the patent infringement on July 19, 2013, but the Korean firm did not respond to requests for discussions on licensing.

"Huawei hopes to strike a comprehensive cross-licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics, allowing it access to some Samsung patents," said one local expert.

He said Samsung faces a dilemma as it doesn't necessarily need Huawei patents; but China is the world's biggest single market for the company, he added.

Huawei said that all Samsung's latest mobile lineup from the Galaxy S2 to Galaxy S7 edge, as well as the Note series, used its patented technology.

This is the first time that a Chinese company has initiated a lawsuit against Samsung.

The action comes after U.S.-based mobile chipset titan Qualcomm signed patent licensing deals with HiSense and Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (also known as Coolpad), and agreed to lower the royalties paid by them.

This agreement came after Qualcomm was investigated by China's anti-monopoly regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

"The situation will be very complicated as there is a chance that Samsung will come under the scrutiny of the NDRC if the patent dispute with Huawei ends up without results. Samsung is urged to find a solution that will be beneficial to both," said the expert.

Samsung Electronics share prices closed up 24,000 won or 1.89 percent at 1,295,000 won, Wednesday. The benchmark KOSPI closed up 1.18 percent at 1,960.51 points.

Huawei said it spent 10.8 trillion won on research and development (R&D) projects last year, which accounted for 15 percent of its sales in 2015.

As of last year, Huawei owned 50,377 patents. It filed 3,898 patents in 2015, becoming the top patent filer for a second straight year.

Huawei was late in the smartphone industry; however, it is the global leader in the telecommunications equipment arena.

Huawei has licensing agreements with Ericsson, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, as well as other major telecom companies.


By Park Si-soo



The U.S. presidential race is becoming a one on one showdown between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton after the two scored decisive wins in make-or-break nomination contests in "Super Tuesday 2,"last week.



In this climate, Trump is under increasing pressure from conservative mainstreamers to drop  or modify  his aggressive attitude that has stirred controversy even within the conservative bloc and adopt a more generous approach to encourage millions of swinging voters and ethnic minorities.



Korean-Americans are one of these groups, comprising about 0.6 percent of the U.S. population, or around 1.7 million people.



It remains uncertain how Trump will appeal to them in the lead-up to the Nov. 8 presidential election. No matter what he does, however, it seems that it will not be easy for the real estate developer-turned-politician to win the hearts of Korean-Americans.

"I really don't give s**t about him. I'm not voting for him," said a voter with ethnic roots in Korea in an email interview with The Korea Times. Living in Los Angeles, she wanted to remain anonymous. "I still can't believe that there are so many ignorant U.S. citizens out here who support him  It makes me sad."



Another Korean-American living in San Francisco echoed her view.



"I think any reasonable person with an ability to sustain basic life functions would be against Trump," he said. "He is a bold, smart man, exploiting the secret, unspoken, politically incorrect views that Caucasians must harbor against minorities. Otherwise, Trump would not have come this far."



He said Trump had "verbalized what most white Americans may feel but cannot and will not say in front of their minority friends and neighbors." He said that if Trump was elected, it would be an embarrassment to the U.S. as well as the world.



Erica Oh in New York called Trump's presidential bid "pure comedy."



"This presidential campaign is a gift to me. It's a pure comedy and I am entertained as hell," she said.



Another Korean American in Michigan called Trump a "business man" whose political ideas would only create more conflicts in and outside the U.S.




The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has called for beefing up the Air Force's seismic technologies program to better detect nuclear tests.

"The committee notes with concern the continuing threat of nuclear proliferation as evidenced by North Korea's recent fourth nuclear weapons test," the committee said in a report attached to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.

"The committee feels the Air Force Research Laboratory's seismic technologies program is a key component in efforts to identify and monitor nuclear activity," the report said. "The committee strongly supports the laboratory's efforts to continue to develop seismic technology needed to sustain and improve the capability of the United States to monitor nuclear tests."

The committee also recommended the Air Force ensure the laboratory's seismic technologies program participates fully in the Air Force's Small Business Innovative Research Program.

"The U.S.'s monitoring capability will benefit greatly from the innovative ideas and research that small businesses can bring to bear to advance the U.S.'s capability to detect and characterize small nuclear tests in rogue countries to help ensure the Air Force continues to meet its operational monitoring requirements," the report said. (Yonhap)
A noodle restaurant in Hanoi has soared in popularity after U.S. President Barack Obama made a spontaneous visit there two days ago.



Bun cha Huong Lien in the district of Hai Ba Trung was bustling with at least 70 patrons well past the rush hour of 1 p.m. on Tuesday.



"We have at least 30 percent more customers now that Obama was here," said a 60-year-old employee at the shop that specializes in the traditional Vietnamese dish "bun cha" consisting of grilled pork served in a broth or with dipping sauce, flanked by rice noodles and fresh herbs.



Obama, who arrived in Vietnam on Sunday, dropped by the next day along with chef Anthony Bourdain, who hosts CNN's "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown."



The owner of the joint, which has been around for 23 years, said she was contacted by the White House and the local police just hours before his visit.



"I don't know why they chose our restaurant, but I was happy to serve traditional Vietnamese food to a global VIP such as the U.S. president," the 58-year-old woman said.



Some of her patrons were taking photos of the second floor where Obama sat. A mom-and-pop establishment, the restaurant has a humble interior with no ornamentation. An old air conditioner whistles in the corner, barely keeping the place at a tolerable temperature.



A 39-year-old office worker said she waited 10 times longer than normal to get seated.



"Normally it takes five minutes, but today, I waited 50 minutes to get a seat," she said.



She also spoke favorably of Obama's visit, saying the future between Vietnam and the U.S. was more important than fuming over the Vietnam War, which "ended decades ago."



During his visit, Obama lifted a decadeslong ban on weapons exports to Vietnam as part of deepened cooperation between the U.S. and Vietnam.



An American tourist, Annie Hahn, said she was incredulous at first that she and her country's leader missed each other by only a couple of days.



"I hope relations between the U.S. and Vietnam improve down the road," the 27-year-old said. (Yonhap)




A delay in delivery of x-rays continues to slow down court action for a Rapid City man accused of killing an infant.

Kristopher Michael Houchin is charged with second-degree murder in the July 2015 death of 6-month-old L'Naya Love White.

A tentative trial date has been set for mid-November so that x-rays from a hospital in Colorado may be examined by both sides.

Houchin originally faced rape and child abuse charges but authorities say the autopsy did not support those charges.

Another hearing in July will determine whether testimony from some witnesses will be allowed at trial.

Houchin remains in the Pennington County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
CIFNET Kochi Bachelor of Fishery Science and Nautical Science Entrance Test 2019 https://career.webindia123.com/career/dates_and_events/cifnet-kochi-bsc-fisheries-science-admissions.htm Details of CIFNET Kochi Bachelor of Fishery Science and Nautical Science Entrance Test 2019 2019-4-16 2019-5-16 https://career.webindia123.com/career/images/exams.png India India CIFNET Kochi Bachelor of Fishery Science and Nautical Science Entrance Test 2019 Science/ IT

CIFNET, Kochi : Bachelor of Fishery Science (Nautical Science) Admissions 2019

CIFNET Kochi Bachelor of Fishery Science and Nautical Science Entrance Test 2019 Category : Science/ IT Admissions 2022 Published : On April 16, 2019 By Webindia123 Editor

Important Dates

Last date of Receipt of filled in application 16th May 2019 Entrance Test 8th June 2019

Applications have been invited by Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET), Kochi, for admissions to Bachelor of Fishery Science (Nautical Science) course affiliated to Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kochi and approved by Directorate General of Shipping for the year 2019.

Eligibility

10 + 2 with minimum 50% marks in English 50% marks in Mathematics and 50% aggregate marks in other Science subjects. In the case of SC/ST students only a pass is required in the qualifying examination with above subjects. The candidates, who are appearing 10 + 2 examination during March, 2019 are also eligible to apply. However the selection will be made only through marks obtained in 10 + 2 and entrance examination..

Duration : 4- year programme (8 semesters) with integrated practical & onboard training on ocean going fishing vessels

Age Limit: Minimum 17 years and Maximum 20 years as on 1st October, 2019

Intake capacity:

33 seats (General  31, NRI 1, Foreign National  1)

Mode of Selection : Common Entrance Test(CET), Academic Merit & Interview

CET Centers : Kochi, Chennai & Visakhapatnam

The Common Entrance Test will be of objective type, which covers the topics of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English language. For each correct answer, 1 mark will be awarded and for every wrong answer, 0.25 mark will be deducted.

System of Teaching: Semester system of instruction with theoretical and practical exposure and a special continuous Onboard training on ocean-going fishing vessels in each semester.

Application Procedure :

Application form and Prospectus can be obtained from the Director, CIFNET, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi - 16, on payment of Rs.500/- (Rs.250/- for SC / ST) by Demand Draft drawn in favour of Senior Administrative Officer, CIFNET payable at Ernakulam and a self-addressed and stamped (Rs.20) envelope (A4 size) or by cash from CIFNET Office.

Application forms can also be had in person from the Institute HQ at Kochi and Units: CIFNET Unit, 59, S.N. Chetty Street, Royapuram, Chennai - 600 013 OR CIFNET Unit, Beach Road, Visakhapatnam - 530 001 OR can be downloaded from the website : http://www.cifnet.nic.in

More Details can be available from the institute website.

Contact Details Address : Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET)

Fine Arts Avenue, Fore Shore Road , Kochi - 682 016 (Kerala) Phone : 0484-2351610, 2351493, 2351790 Fax : 0484- 2370879 Mobile : 9488706945/ 9447982008/ 9447576137 E-mail : Contact I Website : www.cifnet.nic.in

Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online

Comments and Discussions
Every day the legislative session drags on, Alaska lawmakers get bonus pay, costing the state $14,500. An array of other expenses, incurred during a protracted battle over government spending and taxes, is also adding up.

The voter-approved limit to regular annual lawmaking was exceeded by a month and within hours of a constitutional limit, and now a special session is two days old. Infighting among legislators, and between GOP leaders and Gov. Bill Walker, leaves no apparent end in sight.

While the true impact of extended lawmaking on the state's bottom line will remain unclear until all payments have been processed, a rough estimate of the daily cost from here on out is $26,475, according to records provided by the Legislative Affairs Agency.

Legislators receive a $50,400 base salary. They also get per diem pay based on federal standards, payouts that jumped to $247 at the beginning of May because Juneau is more expensive during the summer tourist season. Because the final phase of a multi-million renovation project is under way at the Capitol, temporary offices are being rented in the Bill Ray Center for $15,000 per month. During a nine-day period in April, $10,555 was spent on personal services which includes payments to nonpartisan support staffers.

Overall, $535,690 dollars worth of payments have been tallied from the month long extended session, according to LAA finance manager Jessica Geary.

That spending pales in comparison to the enormity of the state's financial challenges: the bills counted so far amount to roughly one hundredth of one percent of the state's $4.1 billion deficit.

House Minority Leader Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, acknowledged frustration at the gridlock but said the impact of policy decisions justifies going slow and getting it right.

"We are faced with a situation where the decisions we make today can either build our economy or hurt our economy," Tuck said in an interview. "Many of us lived here during the mid-eighties when the economy was in a deep recession, and we don't want to see that happen again. We're at a critical point. If there's any one year where we need to spend time to get it right, this is the year."

Asked why spending for overtime lawmaking is worth the cost, House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, did not provide an exact explanation. Instead, he pointed to the biggest task at hand, which takes no increased importance as the clock ticks closer to a new fiscal year.

"We need to pass a budget," he said in an interview. "That's the number one item that's out there. We also need to look at the revenue measures proposed to see if there's support to pass those."

Under union contracts, layoff notices are scheduled to be sent from the Department of Administration to most state workers on June 1 unless an operating budget has been approved.

June 1 is also important because it is the final day to file as a candidate for the state Legislature, meaning it is the day lawmakers will know definitively if they have a primary opponent. Some have suggested policymakers are delaying tough votes until that deadline has come and gone.

Tuck said pink slips weigh heavier in his mind and, he believes, in the minds of most colleagues. "I think there's motivation from the minorities and majorities to try and get done much sooner because we don't want layoff notifications going out to state employees," he said.

Still, in the first two days of the special session there has been little action on the budget, oil and gas tax credit reform, bills proposing various tax hikes, or other legislation taking aim at the deficit that was put up for consideration by the governor. Nearly a quarter of representatives and senators were absent during the first floor sessions on Monday, and on Tuesday three of four scheduled committee hearings were canceled.

Looking out at the Terry Miller Building gymnasium, acting as makeshift chambers, the speaker expressed frustration at the poor attendance toward the end of Monday's floor session.

"I'd just like to remind people that we are in a special session," he said. "If you don't have an excused absence, I expect you to be here. We need to get the people's work done, and we need to get out of here."

Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said it is typically tough to get everyone back at work day one after a break.

"The longer these sessions go, the more commitments people have made, more family events, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime event," Meyer said. "But we got our break. Now it's time to work. We're going to stay focused, and we're going to try to narrow the topics. It was a little bit of a disappointment that the governor put 11 different things on the call. It's easy to get scattered if there's that many items."

On the second day of the special session, the biggest public accomplishment was the passage of resolutions in each chamber that revive bills from the regular session singled out for consideration by the governor. Without the move, nine bills would have been sent back to the very beginning of the process, with legislative committees holding hearings on the bills.






Minister of Science, Technology & Research of Sri Lanka, Susil Premajayantha said that there is a sense of urgency in Sri Lanka today over moving towards a knowledge based society. Underlining that Sri Lankas ability to facilitate a scientific culture that encourages innovative thinking will determine the countrys ability to effectively use knowledge for growth, he said emphasis has been laid on developing strong research and development culture and the methods of ensuring quality of research in the country.

Minister Premajayantha made the above observations at the 18th Annual Session of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) held from 9-13 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the High Level Segment on Implementing the post 2015 development agenda: moving from commitments to results.

He said that Sri Lanka having an excellent track record with MDGs, is confident about making breakthroughs in meeting the 2030 goals as per SDGs. He further highlighted that the Western Megapolis in Sri Lanka is envisioned and conceptualized as Sri Lankas Grand Strategy to propel the countrys drive to achieve that status of a high income developed nation by 2030. He said Sri Lanka is working on Googles loon project in transforming the country by enabling Wi-Fi across the width and breath of the country, understanding the critical role that ICT can play in realizing the newly established SDGs.

He stated that Sri Lanka is truly committed towards the upliftment of peoples lives in a fair and an equitable manner, being fully aware of the value of Science & Technology and innovation in supporting an economic transition with a strong competitive edge towards achieving SDG goals.

Addressing the High Level Segment of the CSTD on the topic of progress made on the implementation of an follow- up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Minister Premajayantha highlighted that Sri Lankas telecommunication sector is one of the most vibrant in South and South East Asia, mobile and wireless Broadband has reached 100% average in the 65,000 sq. km geographic territory of the country with 3 G becoming the standard service and 3G LTE services fast rolling up. He also expressed Sri Lankas commitment to the common vision of building a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society as declared in Geneva phase of WSIS as well as to the Tunis Agenda on the Information Society.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Additional Secretary (Technology Research Development) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research Mr. H.M.B.C. Herath and Second Secretary Ms. Dilini Gunasekera were associated with the Minister during the Session.

Press Release in PDF

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva

17 May 2016
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
PRESS RELEASE

Italys Abruzzi Regional Council Approves Glass-Steagall Draft Legislation

May 24, 2016 (EIRNS)The Abruzzi regional council became the fifth Italian regional legislature to approve a Glass-Steagall draft legislation today. The bill, 179/2015, was filed by a Democratic Party member of the regional government, Marinella Sclocco, and was modelled on the text approved by the Tuscany regional council in 2013. Besides Tuscany, the other regions which have approved a Glass-Steagall draft bill are Lombardy, Piedmont, and Veneto. In Italy, draft bills can be introduced by members of Parliament or by Regional Councils, or by popular initiative, with a set minimum number of signatures.

The Abruzzi bill was voted up by the Democratic Party (PD) and Forza Italia; but the M5S group abstained, claiming that the draft bill they presented in the Parliament is better and also includes regulation of the Bank of Italy. However, the M5S voted in favor of its own amendment, which was approved. One opposition councilman voted against the bill but specified that he agreed with the text; however, he protested because, in his view, it should have been first discussed in the committee.

In the debate leading to the vote, Forza Italia spokesman Gianni Chiodi, a former regional governor, declared that his group is in favor of banking separation and therefore would vote in favor; however, he downplayed its usefulness as, he said, there are already draft bills introduced by all parties in the national Parliament and the Abruzzi resolution would not change anything.

Chiodi was rebuked by Abruzzi region president Luciano DAlfonso (PD), who insisted that an Act by the Abruzzi Region can be influential if a difference emerges in a parliament debate. DAlfonso cited historical cases in which, facing opposition in their own ranks, faction leaders confronted dissidents with what regional constituencies had expressed in formal acts, thus convincing the dissidents. He cited two cases, one involving legislators from the Basilicata region and another one from Sicily.

The unspoken implication of the examples DAlfonso gave is that both the Abruzzi and the Tuscany draft bills, voted up in Democratic Party-controlled regional councils, can be used against the draft bill introduced by the Democratic Party in the Senate, which is a Dodd-Frank hoax. Another councilman from Forza Italia Paolo Gatti called on all sponsors of bank separation bills in the Parliament to make an effort to come all together and finally agree to vote on one text.
PRESS RELEASE

Iranian President Declares May 23 To Be the Day of Chabahar

May 24, 2016 (EIRNS)Yesterday, Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani declared that May 23 will henceforth be called the "Day of Chabahar" to commemorate the signing of the historic trilateral Chabahar agreement by India, Iran, and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port and related industries in southeastern Iran. Speaking at a trilateral summit, Rouhani underscored that "this is a very important day for Iranians and from now on it is going to be even more important, because today is going to mark the day of cooperation among the three of us, Iran, India, and Afghanistan." Both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani were present for the signing.

On Monday Rouhani said Indias relationship with Iran starts with Chabahar today, but will end with all-out comprehensive development, economic, and cultural cooperation. "Of course, the symbol of such cooperation is Chahbahar and Bahar means Spring and it is a Spring for the three of us," he added. President Rouhani emphasized that with the joint investments in Chahbahar, his country could connect India through a reliable route to Afghanistan and also to those countries in central Asia and even to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

"Todays document is not just an economic document. It is actually a political and regional one, and its message is that countries need to utilize the opportunities provided by the region in order to develop and also expand regional cooperation,"

Rouhani added.

Adding another dimension to the discussion, Prime Minister Modi emphasized the important cultural ties which India and Iran share. Speaking yesterday at the "International Conference on Retrospect and Prospect" of Indian and Iranian relations, where he released a Persian translation of the Sanskrit Panchatantra, he said that,

"a part of Iranian culture lives in Indian hearts. The richness of Persian heritage is an integral part of the fabric of Indian society and the time has come for us to regain the past glory of traditional ties and links between India and Iran."

(The Panchatantra is a collection of Sanskrit fables, in prose and verse, written around 200 B.C.ed.)

Modi asserted that as two ancient civilizations, New Delhi and Tehran are known for their ability to be inclusive and welcoming to foreign cultures, and went on to discuss the Persian manuscript Kalileh-wa-Dimneh, a translation of the Panchatatra done a by Ibn al-Muqaffa.

"The great medieval poets of India have called Persian and Sanskrit two sisters," Modi explained. He also highlighted the Sufism connection between India and Iran, explaining that

"Sufism, a rich product of our ancient links, carried its message of true love, tolerance and acceptance to the entirety of mankind."

The spirit of Sufism, he added, "is also reflected in the Indian concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the World as one family."
PRESS RELEASE

Saudis in a Panic over 9/11 and 28 Pages

May 24, 2016 (EIRNS)The Saudis are in a panic over the mounting pressure on the Obama Administration to release the 28-page chapter from the original Joint Inquiry into 9/11, and the building momentum for passage of the JASTA (Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act) bill in the House of Representatives.

The Hill published a lengthy account, today, of the frantic battle playing out on Capitol Hill, where Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) held hearings Tuesday on whether there is evidence of Saudi complicity at any level in the 9/11 attacks. The Hill reported that Senators Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn are aggressively working with House counterparts to make sure that the JASTA bill comes to a vote before the Congress recesses this summer, and passes it with a veto-proof majority. The Senate recently passed JASTA by unanimous consent.

The New York Times today published an interview with former Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the Joint Inquiry and has been the driver behind the effort to declassify the 28 pages. He told the Times Carl Hulse that he is worried, following his recent meeting with Director of National Intelligence Gen. James Clapper, that the Administration is engaging in an elaborate stall, aimed at ultimately blocking the release of the devastating chapter. I am just worried, he told Hulse. We have been at this for 13 years now.

At the Poe-chaired hearing today, former 9/11 Commissioner and Republican Member of Congress Tim Roemer testified,

I am strongly in favor of declassifying this information as quickly as possible. The 9/11 families deserve it. The American people deserve it. We have the right to transparency and sunlight, not the darkness.

Both subcommittee chairman Poe and Democrat Brad Sherman came out during the hearing demanding the release of the 28 pages. Republican Dana Rohrabacher was blunt:
Author Maxine Hong Kingston wanted to talk about fame. The award-winning author of the 1976 seminal book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts leaned forward and asked author Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer) how his life has changed since being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction last month. She spoke on her own experience and the tax thats imposed when you become a celebrated author. I was called a liar and a race traitor, she said.

Maxine Hong Kingston, my former teacher, & me speaking on war & peace at @ALOUDla, LA Public Library. A real honor! pic.twitter.com/Hji0Y60y4J  viet thanh nguyen (@viet_t_nguyen) May 25, 2016

Nguyen responded that he recently made the mistake of reading the online comments for an interview he gave on NPR. People always tell me not to read the comments, but I did, he said. They complained how I could not write about the Vietnam War when Ive never experienced it. (Nguyen was a small child during the war when his family left Vietnam during the war as refugees).

Advertisement

Brought together to discuss writing about war and peace as part of Central Public Librarys Aloud literary series, the two authors engaged in a lively conversation that spoke on representation and the effects of war and memory.

Nguyen, a former student of Kingstons creative nonfiction class when he attended the UC Berkeley, recalled how horrible a student he was. There were only 14 students, and I would fall asleep, he said. But he pointed out that it was a note from Kingston to stop writing cliches that would eventually leave an impact on his writing life and helped with the completion of his new nonfiction book, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, out now from Harvard University Press.

To write the truth of war, Kingston said that she always used realism but that there is always an underlying layer of myths and archetypes. When she wrote about peace, the text always comes out as poetry. After Nguyen asked what it was like to be a writer when there were so few writers of her ilk at the time, Kingston countered that she found her role models in African American authors like James Baldwin as well as work from the Beatniks.

Nguyen, who teaches at USC, read an excerpt from Nothing Ever Dies which tackles how war is remembered not only by the participants but by those affected by it. When an audience member asked what his first recollection of Vietnam was, Nguyen responded that he only had fragmented images of his time in Vietnam but that his first vivid memory came from when he lived in Pennsylvania at a refugee camp. He was separated from his family and taken to live with a white family. I was 4 years old, and that was a consequence of the war, he said, how civilians in wars are forced to flee from it.

When asked by the audience how to continue to write peace stories in the face of constant disappointment, Kingston returned to her memoir, I Love a Broad Margin to My Life, to read another excerpt, but before she did, she explained a Chinese belief of karma and time. You have to constantly make peace because the perfect reader will come a thousand years from now, Kingston said.

The evening ended with a question that circled back to how the authors felt to read such negative comments. The two had similar reactions. Nguyen spoke on the burden of representation and living in a narrative scarcity and how that is tied to an economic scarcity. Kingston added that the expectations are just too high. Readers expect you to tell a story that flatters them, she said. They expect you to do a PR job. Theyve accused me of exploiting them, but the line between honor and exploitation is really mixed.
Heres the irony of Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiels role in bankrolling the legal campaign waged by wrestler Hulk Hogan against Gawker, the celebrity-trolling website: Thiels gripe about Gawker was that it invaded his privacy (by outing him as gay). But his actions against the website have made him more famous than he ever was before. And not entirely in a good way.

Its a reminder to news organizations and civil libertarians how billionaires can help put sources of critical information out of business, if only for spite. One doesnt even have to win a lawsuit, only sustain litigation long enough to wipe out ones target financially. It also raises questions about who should have access to the courts, and for what ends.

And it points to an ever larger issue  the spreading business of litigation finance, in which investors put up money to support a lawsuit in exchange for a piece of any recovery.

Advertisement

Maintenance inspired by charity or benevolence (may be legal, but not) for spite or envy or the promise or hope of gain.  Then-New York Judge Benjamin Cardozo, 1929

The former wrestling stars lawsuit, which sought damages from Gawkers publication of a sex tape, already has yielded a $140-million trial award in Hogans favor, large enough to jeopardize Gawkers survival. A Florida judge last week denied Gawkers appeal, but the website will appeal further.

Gawker founder Nick Denton and others long had speculated that a deep-pocketed source was secretly standing behind Hogan. Some of that speculation focused on Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and sits on the board of Facebook, in which he was an early investor. Thiels hostility for Gawker emerged after its now defunct website Valleywag supposedly outed him as gay in 2007. Though Thiels sexuality wasnt a secret, he later called the site the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.

Thiels involvement in the Hogan case remained a secret until last week, when he owned up to backing Hogan with $10 million, calling it one of my greater philanthropic things. This was based, in part, on widespread distaste in his circle for Gawker, which on occasion has displayed a notable lack of respect for the rich and famous, and has been known to pick on innocent targets, too.

Yet even if one believes Gawker deserves its comeuppance in court, the most noxious aspect of Thiels activities shouldnt be overlooked: he chose to hide behind Hulk Hogan instead of suing Gawker on his own behalf. Thats what sets Thiel apart from other plutocrats who have used their wealth to harass adversaries in court.

Donald Trump threatens to sue people all the time, but typically over supposed injuries to himself and always publicly (so far as we know). Idaho billionaire Frank VanderSloot pursued  on his own behalf  a three-year defamation lawsuit against the progressive magazine Mother Jones, which seriously damaged the publications financial position but was eventually dismissed. Thiel, as it happens, is slated to a Republican convention delegate for Trump, who has himself spoken in favor of loosening U.S. libel law so public figures like himself can do better in court.

Thiels support of Hogans case places him in the category of third-party litigant, whose interests generally have been frowned on by the courts because typically only those directly injured should have standing to sue. The exceptions generally involve cases where the injured parties cant protect their own interests, or when plaintiffs can show a close relationship with the injured person. Neither exception would seem to apply here. If Thiel felt he had an actionable claim against Gawker, he could have filed suit. Instead, what he felt was anger and resentment, and he made Hulk Hogan his instrument of revenge.

Lawmakers and judges have wrestled for decades with the possible motivations of those who provide financial backing for others lawsuits. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo, writing as a New York state judge in 1929, deemed that financial support inspired by charity or benevolence was acceptable, but not so maintenance for spite or envy or the promise of hope of gain.

Indeed, the latter practice long was held to be illegal, as the ancient common law crime of champerty, which amounted to buying an interest in the gains from a lawsuit. Eventually, however, legal prohibitions against champerty and related offenses fell away. That was largely because the development of professional ethics in the law was thought to have the same effect of discouraging frivolous lawsuits.

As litigation became more complex and costly, new methods were needed to cover the expense and keep the courthouse doors open to more than just the wealthy. Contingency fees, for example, arose as a way for lawyers to cover their clients expenses by granting the lawyers repayment out of any recovery.

In recent years, litigation finance has become institutionalized. Investment firms have sprung up with the explicit goal of investing in litigation for a share of the outcome. In January, the largest such firm, Chicago-based Gerchen Keller Capital, launched a $400-million fund aimed at institutional investors. The fund would bring Gerchens capital to $1.4 billion. Gerchen says it serves litigants as well as law firms by fronting legal fee receivables and settlement payments. (In other words, providing loans to be repaid from future fees and legal settlements.)

But the American Lawyer reported in December that growth in the field has outstripped the legal professions grasp of the ethical issues it raises. Big investors could influence case strategy or settlement negotiations to advance their own interests in conflict with those of the actual clients. Some have made alliances with particular law firms, which may or may not be the right firms for the job.

Some financing terms may be so onerous that the clients prospects of recovery even from a successful lawsuit may be much reduced. That could have occurred in a huge case pitting Ecuadorean peasants against the giant oil company Chevron, Fortune reported in 2011.

The plaintiffs case was backed by Burford Capital, a British litigation finance firm that in turn was backed by hedge funds and mutual funds in Britain and the U.S. Burfords potential investment of $15 million would entitle it to up to 5.5% of any award.

The question Fortune raised was whether the group of largely illiterate Ecuadorean plaintiffs understood Burfords arrangement. According to documents and testimony, the magazine said, Burford was entitled to a minimum of $55 million from a $1-billion plaintiffs recovery  5.5%. But that $55 million was the minimum, even if the plaintiffs recovery was less than $1 billion. In the case of a $70-million recovery, in other words, Burfords $55 million would amount to nearly 80% of the take. After other investors, attorneys and assorted other hangers-on got their cuts, the plaintiffs could be left with a handful of centavos. (The Ecuadorean court hit Chevron with a judgment of $18 billion in 2011, but that has been blocked by a U.S. court, which found that it was the product of fraud and racketeering by the plaintiffs lawyer.)

The problems of litigation finance are magnified when the identity of financial backers, along with their terms, often remain concealed. How then can anyone know what their motivations are?

Theres no point in seeking a solution from the American Bar Assn., which tackled the field of litigation finance in a 2012 white paper. The ABA paper explicitly disavowed any consideration of such social policy issues as the desirability of this form of financing, or ... the systemic effects of litigation financing on settlements, or its effect on the incidence of litigation generally or unmeritorious (frivolous) lawsuits specifically. All that was left was the question of the duties of lawyers to their clients when someone else is footing the bill.

Thiels involvement in Hulk Hogans case raises many of these issues. Litigation can be so financially ruinous that a lawsuit funded out of spite or envy or even mere profit can effectively silence almost any individual or business that a wealthy investor finds annoying.

Whats the remedy? Attempting to ban any third-party financial support wont work: That would only shut the courthouse door to low-income litigants and shift the balance of power to corporations or other defendants with the money to wait out their adversaries.

The identity of anyone and everyone with a financial investment or stake in the outcome of a lawsuit should be public. The motivations, investment terms and involvement in decision-making of anyone not a named party to a lawsuit are relevant considerations to a jury or judge.

Civil courts exist to enable those who have been injured to recover damages and those accused of injury to defend themselves. To allow anyone else to skulk in the wings, pursuing their own private goals in secret, is to turn the courts over to the rich, even more than they have been already. Few developments could be more frightening.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

UPDATES:

7:40 a.m., May 26: This post has been updated with Thiels admission of his role in backing Hogans lawsuit.

3:03 p.m., May 31: This post has been updated with recent developments.
A new wave of natural gas power plants planned for Southern California has stoked a high-stakes debate about how best to keep the lights on throughout the region.

Green groups believe renewable energy has received short shrift by utilities proposing these facilities from Carlsbad to Oxnard. But operators of the states electrical grid have warned that maintaining a stable power supply requires a delicate mix of energy sources  including fossil fuels.

The biggest showdown of late centers on an envisioned gas-fired facility in seaside Carlsbad, which advocates of renewable energy are trying to block. If a state appellate court agrees to hear the case, the granting of judicial review could encourage similar challenges against at least four other projects in Southern California.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories this hour >>

If the court denies the request for review, it would help cement the construction of fossil fuel power plants slated to operate for decades.

Theyre selling a myth about what we must do to go green and clean that rewards the usual suspects with multibillion-dollar projects and a guaranteed profit, said Bill Powers, a mechanical engineer who serves on the board of Protect Our Communities, a nonprofit fighting a number of proposed gas-fired plants.

The states energy strategy is a rapid transition to clean energy  and that is completely doable with rooftop solar, with battery power, and its completely doable in a cost-effective way without some gas-fired transition, said Powers, a former consultant for the energy industry.

Officials with San Diego Gas & Electric, which would buy power from the Carlsbad plant, disagreed that new natural gas projects should be eliminated. The utility said the fuel is a necessary complement to alternatives such as green power and battery storage  a strategy of diversification also pursued by the regions other large utilities.

You cant really say that you need all of this and none of that, said Stephanie Donovan, senior communications manager for SDG&E. We need wind and solar and storage, and the flexibility of the quick-start [gas-fired] power plant.

Energy standards in California call for 33% of the states power to come from renewables by 2020 and 50% by 2030.

SDG&E has a portfolio that includes about 33% green power. Southern California Edisons level is roughly 24%.

Right now we have a lot of renewable energy generation. Were going to continue to add to that, Donovan said. One way to do that is to ensure that we have the flexible capacity that a plant like Carlsbad provides.

The latest round of proposed gas plants comes in the wake of the 2013 closing of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, as well as the phasing out of older power plants that use ocean water to cool internal systems.

The states Public Utilities Commission has moved swiftly to bring new projects online to replace the lost electricity generation by San Onofre  a challenge ostensibly compounded by the massive methane leak at a natural gas storage facility in Aliso Canyon.

In the several years it took for the commission to approve the Carlsbad project, costs for solar power and battery storage plunged. The price decline has emboldened opponents of fossil fuels to push for new facilities that would use renewable energy.

Still, how aggressively to invest in such technologies remains a significant question for some advocates of renewables.

The alternative energy industry is innovating at a phenomenal rate, said Rajit Gadh, founder and director of UCLAs Smart Grid Energy Research Center.

But he urged patience: I would love to see higher and higher renewables, but I think we have to take the correct steps to get there. And as an engineer, I would like to make sure we do the data measurements and we do the right things so that utilities and everybody else are satisfied that this can be done.

These struggles are playing out in the Los Angeles basin, where three gas-fired plants are proposed for construction: the Huntington Beach Energy Project, the Alamitos Energy Center and the Stanton Energy Reliability Center.

Although environmental groups plan legal challenges against all three proposals, theyre currently concentrating on the Carlsbad Energy Center. That coastal facility would replace the existing Encina Power Station, which is slated for retirement next year.

After the state utilities commission greenlighted the Carlsbad project, critics began seeking a reversal by the 1st District Court of Appeal. The court is expected to soon announce whether it will take up the case.

The Carlsbad decision will be a harbinger for the other last-gasp gas plants, said Loretta Lynch, a former president of the utilities commission and now a private energy consultant.

While those other cases are different procedurally [from the Carlsbad project], they all raise the question of why is the [commission] saddling Californians with unneeded fossil plants for 30 to 40 years at platinum prices, she said.

In Orange County, opponents of a 98-megawatt peaker plant in Stanton are watching the Carlsbad case closely. If built, the facility would operate under a 20-year deal between Southern California Edison and Wellhead Energy Systems.

The utilities commission has granted permission for the Stanton project to move forward, and its considering a request from the Sierra Club for a rehearing. The environmental group asserts that investments in battery storage could replace the need for the gas-fired plant.

The facts of the [Carlsbad] case are somewhat unique, but it will send a signal and it will get us to our goals much more quickly, said Matthew Vespa, an attorney for the Sierra Club who is contesting both projects.

Southern California Edison, which didnt respond to inquiries for this article, has contracts for more than 260 megawatts of energy storage, including a 100-megawatt project that would be the largest grid-connected battery system in the nation.

ALSO

Trump protesters clash with police in Anaheim; several arrested after debris thrown at officers

Condoms, tampons and feces: Oregon fraternity suspended after disgraceful trashing of Shasta Lake

Mark your calendars: Bike-share will launch in downtown L.A. on July 7

This story originally ran on the San Diego Union Tribunes website on May 24.

joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
Shanghai Disneyland wont swing wide its gates to the general public until June 16, but pre-opening visitors to Walt Disney Co.'s first theme park in mainland China already have found something to complain about amid operational tests for a dazzling array of attractions: the prices, particularly for food sold in the park.

Food in Shanghai Disney is really not cheap, groused Cao Xinting, a 24-year-old Shanghai resident who participated in a test run on May 7, joining about 1 million visitors from all over China who are getting an early look at the park.

Its not that Cao is strapped for cash. She works for a state-owned enterprise and her annual salary is around $15,300  nearly double Chinas gross domestic product per capita, which reached $8,000 in 2015. But Cao said she was disappointed with a latte that cost around $5.

Advertisement

SIGN UP for the free In the Loop theme parks newsletter >>

It costs as much as the coffee in Starbucks, but it tasted far worse than that in Starbucks, Cao said. Im fine with the pricing system of Starbucks. But for the coffee in Disneyland, its just not worth the price.

On Weibo, Chinas answer to Twitter, a topic titled Shanghai Disney is too expensive received 9 million clicks and more than 9,000 comments in early May. An article headlined The first group of Shanghai Disneyland visitors have wept to the point of fainting inside the park, because its too expensive went viral on WeChat, a Chinese messaging platform.

The article said the Shanghai soup dumplings, or xiaolongbao, were priced about $1 each in the park, which many visitors believed was too expensive. In Shanghai, xiaolongbao typically sell for about 15 cents apiece. The article also showed a receipt for a hamburger with fries and Pepsi bought at the park for about $11.50. An equivalent meal at McDonalds costs about $5.80 in China.

Admission to the Shanghai park starts at $57 for adults, but can reach $76 during peak periods. At a news conference in Shanghai on Thursday, Shanghai Disney Resort spokesman Murray King said that tickets are the cheapest among all Disney parks around the world and affordable for middle-class Chinese consumers.

Asked about complaints regarding food and drink prices, he said that Disney had included a range of restaurant types in the park, and noted that guests can bring commercially packaged meals with them.

Disney spokesman David Jefferson noted Wednesday that over 90% of the participants who have attended our trial operations period had a wonderful experience at our park, giving high ratings for everything from our attractions to our live entertainment and food and beverage offerings.

Earlier, Fan Xiping, chief executive of Shanghai Shendi Group, which owns 57% of the Shanghai Disney resort, told the Paper, a state-run outlet, that the test run is to listen to customers complaints and correct our mistakes. At the same time, it is also trying to lower public expectations.

Yang Tianjiao, a graduate student at the Shanghai East China University of Science and Technology, said she heard about the high prices of food at Disneyland, so she brought boxed food to eat inside the park.

I saw my friend eating lunch served by Disneyland  and a plate of rice with pork chops cost her 90 yuan or around $14, Yang said. Her almost-identical boxed food was only about $5.

When we dine out, 100 yuan [around $15] per person is acceptable, but the problem is that with the same amount of money, you cant have the same good food in Shanghai Disneyland, Yang said.

Some Web commentators denounced the grumbling about price, arguing that if you cant afford Disney, why go there? Still, according to a survey conducted by the Shanghai Consumer Council, the less one earns, the more one is fond of Disneyland.

In the survey, more than 86% of the people whose annual income is between $7,660 and $10,700 expressed interest in the park, whereas 78% of people who earn over $15,300 a year showed fondness for Disneyland.

The result is interesting, and beyond my expectations, Yang Xiong, director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said at a news conference Monday.

People with lower income regard going to Shanghai Disneyland as a dream, so they will seize the opportunity to go the fairy-tale- and American-styled theme park at their doorstep. But for the rich, if they want to go to Disneyland, they can always go to California, Tokyo or Paris, Hu Xingdou, professor of economics and China issues at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said in an interview.

Disneyland is a symbol of luxury and creativity, a symbol of American culture, which is what the poorer die for, Hu said.

The survey found strong brand awareness of Disney among Chinese consumers  more than 90% of Shanghai residents and 80% of non-locals were aware that the park will open in June. The survey included 1,880 locals and 3,500 out-of-towners.

More than 960,000 visitors have tried out Shanghai Disney so far during the test period, according to Liu Zhengyi, deputy director of the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone. King, the Disney spokesman, said more than 90,000 people visited the park on May 1, a holiday in China.

The price complaints arent going to keep Shanghai resident Shen Fenping, 45, from visiting the Disney park in August with her husband and son.

I heard this park isnt only for little kids, adults can have fun too, so Im curious to visit, Shen said. Not only me, some of my colleagues at my age are also going with their husbands and children.

Yang and Liu are special correspondents.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

MORE BUSINESS NEWS

Obamacare is helping millions get needed healthcare, new survey finds

Did a billionaire Silicon Valley investor fund Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker?

Why Obamas overtime rule may barely dent the economy

business@latimes.com

UPDATES:

6:47 p.m.: The article was updated to include an additional comment from Disney.
Peter Thiel, whose early stakes in companies like PayPal Holdings Inc. and Facebook Inc. made him a billionaire, has reason to hate online media company Gawker.

Thiel compared Gawkers sardonic tech blog Valleywag to the terrorist group Al Qaeda in 2009. Valleywag had taken every opportunity to bash tech companies, including Facebook, for privacy, security and cultural issues. It also published a story describing Peter Thiel as gay before he had publicly discussed his sexuality.

Now, it turns out, Thiel may have found a way to get back at the media company. Thiel at least partially funded a lawsuit against Gawker that could cost the New York company $140 million, Forbes reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. Thiel did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Advertisement

The case involves former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who said he was stricken and humiliated when Gawker published a sex tape showing him in bed with a friends wife. In March, a Florida jury sided with Hogan and awarded the damages. Gawker is challenging the ruling.

On Monday, Gawker founder Nick Denton told the New York Times that he suspected a bigwig in Silicon Valley had bankrolled Hogans case, but he did not name Thiel.

If youre a billionaire and you dont like the coverage of you, and you dont particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, its a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases, Denton said.

Denton said the suspicions grew out of the fact that Hogans legal team dropped a claim that would have enabled their client to get damages from Gawkers insurer. The decisions are expected to lead to a smaller payout to Hogan, but one bankrolled entirely by Gawker. This tactic suggested to Denton that money wasnt the only thing Hogans team was after.

Since the verdict, Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea also has sued Gawker for releasing sealed court documents in which he is quoted making racist remarks. Hogans Los Angeles-based lawyer, Charles Harder, didnt respond to requests to comment.

Thiel is far from the only person who might consider Gawker an enemy. Information leaked to Gawker has helped its family of websites take shots at politicians and corporate executives. Denton himself has acknowledged that Gawkers confrontational approach and snarky tone have at times gone too far; last year he pledged to make the companys flagship site 20% nicer.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

ALSO

Toyota invests in Uber; Volkswagen backs Gett

As apps make it easier to seek refunds, Amazon limits its reimbursement policy

paresh.dave@latimes.com

Twitter: @peard33
When journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore set out to report an investigative series on the garment industry and sex trafficking, she said she immediately discarded the idea of doing traditional long-form articles in favor of something more visual  specifically, comics.

Ive been writing about the garment industry and worker conditions in Cambodian factories and worker conditions at fast fashion factories for years, she says. But people have read that story already. It doesnt process anymore. With comics, we could present the information in a different way. Its about being able to depict the heretofore unimaginable.

Threadbare: Clothes, Sex and Trafficking, released this month by Microcosm Publishing, gathers a collection of monthly reports that were originally featured on the news site Truthout.org as part of Moores comics journalism series Ladydrawers.

Advertisement

The book isnt the first comics journalism effort to land on bookshelves. Artists such as Joe Sacco, Susie Cagle and Sarah Glidden have long used illustration to report in-depth stories on political tumult in locations from the Balkans to Syria to Israel.

Moores series, which was launched in 2011, has examined everything from sweatshop labor to food access in ways that make those difficult topics accessible.

Threadbare looks at the garment industry  what is essentially one of the top employers of women on the planet, and one with a generally poor track record when it comes to wages and conditions.

The collected reports look at the history of the trade, the lives of those employed in it (from sweatshop workers to retail staff to models) to the high human cost of fast fashion  which has put pressure on manufacturers to churn out ever cheaper clothes at ever faster rates.

People faint on the factory floor, Moore says. They physically cannot keep up with the workload.

Threadbares drawings by Leela Corman, Julia Gfrorer, Simon Haussle, Delia Jean, Ellen Lindner and Melissa Mendes allow Moore to engage with readers about complex (and often dry) material that would be infinitely more difficult to communicate with words alone.

A story called Zoned, for example  told in five comic book pages and fewer than a dozen cells  looks at the complicated role of foreign trade zones in the international garment trade. (These zones allow companies to keep prices low, since goods that are moved through them dont accrue tariffs.) Its a simple, graphic depiction of something that could otherwise take several thousand words to explain.

With comics, Moore says, you get a picture of it right in front of you.

Some of the books more intriguing chapters look at the connections between clothing manufacturing and sex work.

For poor women in countries such as Cambodia and Bangladesh, professional options are limited  often to an excruciating rock-and-a-hard-place choice between poorly paid sweatshop work and better remunerated sex work, which comes with its attendant legal consequences and social stigmas.

Well-meaning nonprofits geared at eradicating human trafficking (many funded, in part, by the garment trade) succeed in getting some women out of prostitution. But once theyre out, often the only professional choice they have is the garment industry.

Sex trafficking happens, no question, Moore says. But what some of these efforts do is take women who have already worked in the garment industry, and often by force or social pressure, put them back in the garment industry  criminalizing the only other option they have.

Its a vicious cycle that the author chronicles in a number of stories in Threadbare, including a pair titled Out of the Factories, in which Moore is seen touring one nongovernmental organizations rehabilitation efforts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia  in a space that looks startlingly like a garment factory.

As long as garment wages remain low (a worker in Cambodia earns around $140 a month), its a circle that poor women will continue to inhabit. The industry, Moore says, is the largest employer of women worldwide. And it is probably the foremost responsible for the gender wage gap.

Threadbare is not light reading. But the comics format makes an opaque topic artfully illuminating. We may never visit the inside of a sweatshop. But the drawings take us right inside, amid the dusty piles of fabric and the whir of sewing machines.

All of it will get you thinking about the true price of that $20 dress at the mall. It may not be as much of a bargain as you think.

Threadbare: Clothes, Sex and Trafficking

Anne Elizabeth Moore

Microcosm Publishing: 160 pp., $13.95

MORE:

Naked Burt Reynolds and man-hunting in Vietnam: Helen Gurley Brown biographer Brooke Hauser on how the Cosmo girl came to be

Afghan woman risks all to bring color to war-torn Kabul with her street art and feminist murals

Groundbreaking sculptor Eva Hesse finally gets a documentary that tells the story of her life and work

How Southern California became the backdrop to an opera about a hysterical woman

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. You can find Anne Elizabeth Moore @superanne.
In March 2015, an Australian researcher published a statistic that drew both laughs and gasps in the business community there: Fewer large Australian companies were run by women than by men named Peter.

The damning statistic prompted some introspection in the Australian film industry in particular, where women represent 17% of directors, a number that hasnt budged since 1970.

Weve got this wonderful networking psyche here called mateship,  said Fiona Cameron, chief executive of Screen Australia, the nations government-funded film board. It typically involves men helping like-minded men. Theres been an informal quota in the Australian film business forever. That made our filmmakers stop in their tracks and say, What are we going to do? 

Advertisement

In December, Screen Australia committed $5 million to changing the number, setting a goal that its money would go to films with creative teams at least 50% female.

Australia is one of several countries that have launched such programs in recent years -- Canada, Ireland and Sweden have also started aggressive, state-financed initiatives aimed at increasing the number of female directors, writers and producers on their films.

The programs stand in stark contrast to the American film industry, where a controversy is roiling over the same issue, but where there is no comparable government agency that finances movies. Here in Hollywood, change is mostly taking a different path, with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launching an investigation into gender bias in the hiring of female directors last fall.

In the U.S., women are even less likely to be in the directors chair than they are abroad -- women direct just 4% of the 100 top-grossing Hollywood movies, according to a USC study, making filmmakers like Elizabeth Banks (who directed Pitch Perfect 2,) Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Ava DuVernay (Selma) the very definition of outliers.

At the urging of the American Civil Liberties Union, the EEOC began interviewing female directors in October, and is now meeting with executives, agents and others to determine whether a pattern of bias exists.

Internationally, the film industry is in the midst of a kind of feminist awakening, with the inciting incident being slightly different in each country.

In Ireland, a protest in the theater world last fall kicked off the discussion, when a planned centenary celebration of the 1916 Easter Uprising at the countrys national theater included just one female playwright, and nine men.

We went, Hang on a minute, were just as bad,  said Annie Doona, chair of the Irish Film Board, where 20% of the movies financed between 2010 and 2015 had female directors. We need to know whats happening here.

In December, the agency set a target of achieving 50/50 funding within three years, as part of a larger program that also includes mentorship, training and film school initiatives.

Weve said to production companies, Were looking to you to find that female talent,  Doona said.

In Canada, the National Film Board announced a similar program in March -- going forward, the agency will devote 50% of its $65-million annual budget to projects directed by women.

Were funded equally by Canadians who are men and Canadians who are women, said board President Claude Joli-Coeur. The talent of women directors is there. We just decided to make it so.

Many countries are looking to Sweden as an example. When Anna Serner, an outspoken chief executive from the advertising world, became head of the Swedish Film Institute in 2011, 26% of the movies the agency financed were directed by women. Due in large part to Serners aggressive advocacy, by 2014, 50% of the films the institute financed were directed by women. Female directors now win about 60% of the prizes at Swedens version of the Oscars, and the majority of Swedish directors invited to international film festivals are women.

Swedens programs, which are partly funded by a 10% tax on movie tickets, would seem unthinkably interventionist in the market-driven American film industry, and have even been controversial in a country that considers gender equality a cornerstone of its identity.

Some male directors have been very upset, Serner said. They still get 50% of our financing, but they feel were manipulating the arts. People say they want equality, as long as it doesnt affect them.

Each of these new foreign programs will have an effect on the number of women employed in film overall, but many of the movies, and even the film boards, have far smaller budgets than the major studio productions that dominate the American industry.

Finance is the area where we see the largest impediment facing females, so any system that can facilitate women getting access to capital is promising, said Stacy Smith, director of the Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative at USCs Annenberg School. But where is the lever and the pressure on the multinationals?

In the U.S., the closest parallel to the state-financed film programs abroad is probably a bill currently in committee in the New York Legislature that calls for allocating $5 million of the states $420-million tax rebates for the salaries of female and minority writers and directors. The bill has bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by high-profile Hollywood writers including Tina Fey, Tom McCarthy and Michael Arndt.

And given that those state-by-state tax rebates factor greatly in the Hollywood decision-making process, that is real leverage state governments have to incentivise change.

As the gender equity debate wends its way through U.S. agencies and institutions, Serner said she is increasingly meeting female American producers, executives and agents frustrated by the pace of change. She described a conversation she had last fall with a high-ranking female production executive from a major studio at the Toronto International Film Festival.

She was a bit desperate, Serner said. She kept bringing up examples of women directors she tried to get hired and couldnt. She said to me, Im really trying. But she was also afraid of losing her job for being too outspoken.

rebecca.keegan@latimes.com

MORE:

Its illegal to discriminate because of sex. But what does that actually mean?

Threadbares investigative comics explore the hard choice some women face between sweatshops and sex work

Welcome to the mad circus of the Cannes market

Feminism, Spielberg and a German showstopper: Times staffers make sense of Cannes
A Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to jail in connection with the deaths of two Russian journalists and became a symbol of her nations resistance to Moscows aggression was freed Wednesday as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen.

Nadiya Savchenko, Ukraines first female combat pilot, spent almost two years behind bars in Russia after being captured by pro-Russian separatist militants in June 2014 amid a bloody conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in southeastern Ukraine.

A Russian court convicted her in March of complicity in the death of the two journalists by directing the artillery fire that killed them and sentenced her to 22 years in jail. She denied the charges and insisted she was kidnapped and forcibly taken to Russia shortly before the journalists were killed.

Advertisement

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

I am free, Savchenko said in televised remarks while standing next to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the Boryspil airport near the capital, Kiev, minutes after a presidential plane flew her from Russia. Im always ready to go back and fight for Ukraine until the victorious end.

Savchenko was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin early Wednesday and exchanged for Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, two Russian nationals whom Ukrainian authorities had accused of being officers from Russias military intelligence agency.

Moscow claimed the men were on vacation when they were captured in eastern Ukraine in May 2015. But a Ukrainian court in April found them guilty of terrorism and waging war and sentenced them to 14 years in jail.

Savchenkos release was a rare political triumph for Poroshenko, who has failed to deliver on his election promises to fight rampant corruption in Ukraine and whose approval ratings fell below 10% in May.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

For 709 long days we worried, prayed and did everything we could to make this day possible, to return Nadiya to Ukraine, Poroshenko said in televised remarks.

Savchenkos trial became one of the most visible manifestations of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that followed Moscows March 2014 annexation of Crimea, a strategic Black Sea peninsula, and a separatist war in southeastern Ukraine that is dominated by Russian-speakers who opposed Ukraines pro-Western course.

Ukraine accuses Russia of sending weapons, military troops and advisors to help the separatists, while Moscow claims that only volunteers from Russia have joined the rebel ranks.

Savchenkos assertive demeanor and hunger strikes during her trial made her a national hero in Ukraine, where she was elected in absentia to the Rada, the lower house of parliament.

Analysts predict a bright political future for Savchenko amid Ukraines deepening political and economic crisis.

Before becoming a helicopter pilot, Savchenko joined the Ukrainian military and volunteered to serve in Iraq as part of Ukraines peacekeeping mission. She claimed she had been helping evacuate wounded Ukrainian servicemen when she was captured and taken to Russia with a sack on her head.

Russian officials maintained she slipped into Russia as a refugee and accused her of illegally crossing the border.

Western governments had repeatedly urged Russia to free Savchenko, and a top European Union official congratulated Ukraine upon her release.

Long-awaited good news that the EU celebrates together with her country, Federica Mogherini, the European Unions high representative and vice president, said in a tweet.

Germanys Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was relieved to hear about her release and expressed hope that the prisoner swap will contribute to building confidence between Ukraine and Russia, the Associated Press reported.

ALSO

Far right falls short in Austrias presidential election; leftist wins

Greece begins clearing thousands of refugees from border tent city in Idomeni

More than 500 migrants saved in dramatic Mediterranean rescue; at least 5 die

Mirovalev is a special correspondent.
Over the last dozen years, L.A.s civic leaders have pursued a painstaking makeover of Grand Avenue, the downtown corridor adorned by an array of cultural venues.

Real estate developer Related Cos. put $50 million into the construction of Grand Park, a collection of open spaces and walkways that opened in 2012. The company opened the Emerson, a luxury apartment building, two years later. And last fall saw the debut of the Broad, the boulevards newest contemporary art museum.

Yet one piece has stubbornly gone unfinished: a pair of hotel and residential towers, planned across from Walt Disney Concert Hall and designed by world-renowned architect Frank O. Gehry.

Advertisement

On Tuesday, a Los Angeles City Council committee took a major step toward restarting the project, offering a financial aid package worth up to $198.5 million over 25 years. Those funds, they said, would help Related construct a four-star Equinox hotel and hundreds of residential units, along with other amenities.

Under the proposal, Related would keep nearly half of the $396.9 million in taxes that would be generated by the Grand Avenue project for the city over a 25-year period. That money would normally go to the general fund, which pays for police, firefighters and other city employees.

Councilman Curren Price, who heads the committee, acknowledged that downtown has become an economic powerhouse in recent years. But he argued that help is still needed for key developments.

I want to keep [downtown] doing well, and I think subsidies do that, he said.

City officials said the plan closely resembles a financial aid arrangement first approved in 2008. They estimated the present-day value of the financial aid package at up to $66.6 million, because the value of a dollar declines steadily over time.

That amount represents about half of the funding gap faced by the Grand Avenue project, according to John Wickham, the analyst who prepared the citys proposal.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Wickham attributed part of the funding gap to the decision to bring on Gehry, the architect responsible for the iconic Disney Hall.

Frankly, theres a Gehry factor in the design, he said. It changes the costs of the project.

A Related representative declined to answer questions from The Times about design costs. Instead, the company issued a statement from Kenneth A. Himmel, president and chief executive of Related Urban, saying that Tuesdays vote sends a positive message for the future of Grand Avenue.

The companys project is expected to create 1,914 full-time jobs and 3,597 temporary construction jobs. In addition to the 305-room hotel, the project would offer 301 apartments, 128 condominiums and assorted restaurants and stores.

When completed, one tower would rise 38 stories, while the other would be 16 stories, a city report said.

Related has been working on its hotel and apartment project since 2004, when it was selected by a city-county agency devoted to transforming Grand Avenue. The project stalled a few years later amid a global economic downturn. Since then, Related has repeatedly reworked the project, changing hotel operators and offering new designs in response to demands from local elected officials.

Under the citys latest financing proposal, Related would retain more than $185 million in tax revenue generated from the project over a 25-year period, said Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council. The company would also be required to pay back $12.7 million in parking tax revenue loaned by the city, she said.

The city has provided similar assistance to several other downtown hotel projects.

The council is expected to vote on the Grand Avenue financing proposal next week. Construction is expected to start next year.

MORE DTLA

Downtown L.A. isnt vibrant, its a gritty melting pot. And that makes it even more compelling

How much house does $930,000 buy around downtown and central L.A.?

Pershing Squares new design is flat and simple  and thats a good thing

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidzahniser
Donald Trump is focus of Bernie Sanders pitch in San Bernardino, no mention of terrorist attacks

'Donald Trump will not become president of the United States,' says Bernie Sanders at outset of San Bernardino rally pic.twitter.com/VkihFAt3xB  Kurtis Lee (@kurtisalee) May 25, 2016

Bernie Sanders delivered a blistering denunciation of Donald Trumps candidacy at the outset of a raucous rally in San Bernardino on Tuesday night, insisting the billionaire businessman will be doomed this fall.

Donald Trump will not become president of the United States, Sanders said. The American people are not going to support a candidate who insults Latinos ... who insults Muslims, who insults women.

Applause erupted among the roughly 5,000 supporters gathered in an events center here.

Sanders, who trails Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the popular vote and the delegate tally, has barnstormed throughout California in the run-up to the June 7 primary. The rally on Tuesday night followed events during the day in Anaheim and Riverside.

Sanders has largely avoided overtly criticizing Clinton and focused on Trump, assailing him and Republicans as out of touch with the American people.

Still, citing a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that showed him beating Trump in a head-to-head matchup, Sanders insisted that hes the best candidate to defeat the New York real estate mogul.

If the Democratic Party wants a candidate to defeat Trump and defeat him bad, we are that campaign, he said.

Noticeably absent from Sanders hourlong address was the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino in which 14 people were shot to death by a married couple inspired by Islamic State extremists. During debates this spring and on the campaign trail, Clinton asserted that Sanders lacked experience in foreign policy and national security.

Sanders supporters remain committed to his underdog campaign.

Among them is Arthur Moore, a 61-year-old retiree.

Ill write his name in if hes not the nominee, Moore said outside the events center before the rally. Im done with the Clintons.
When the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released the 2016 homeless count earlier this month, the takeaway was grim.

Homelessness was up 5.7% across the county. In the city of Los Angeles the change was even greater: a year-over-year increase of 11%

The numbers suggested that the homeless population was still growing, even after a year of increasingly intense measures to reduce it, and that the city experienced an increase last year almost as great as in the previous two years.

Advertisement

But neither of the numbers was correct.

The actual growth in homelessness in the city and the county is much less than indicated in the report, based on a Times analysis and corrected figures provided by the homelessness agency. Agency officials concurred that homelessness grew about 5% in the city and less than half a percent across the county.

The figures are considered estimates because they are based on a street count supplemented with statistical extrapolations.

The 5.7% and 11% increases released by the agency during a May 3 news conference  and reported by The Times and several other news outlets  reflected a change in methodology that included a special count of homeless people under 25 in hard-to-find places.

Because a separate youth count was not included in 2015, it should have been subtracted from the 2016 count to make a valid comparison of the two years.

The revised year-over-year comparison doesnt change the authoritys estimate for the total number of homeless people in 2016: 28,464 in the city and 46,874 countywide.

It is my expectation that all departments will be thorough in collecting and cleaning any data before it is presented to the public.  Mayor Eric Garcetti, in a statement, after certain numbers were revised by the L.A. Homeless Services Authority after the agency released results of this years homeless count

Peter Lynn, the government agencys executive director, said the youth count makes the 2016 tally the most accurate estimate of total homelessness yet, providing a good baseline for future years. But he acknowledged that comparing the two years without removing the youth counts would yield an exaggerated increase.

In essence, the 2,388 youths added to the countywide total represented a measurement adjustment, not a real increase.

During the news conference, Lynn noted that the new youth count made up a large portion of the increase in the city, and one chart in the visual presentation showed an increase of only 2.7% if the youth count was excluded.

But the chart headline stated boldly, City of Los Angeles saw an 11% increase in total homelessness, without a clear disclaimer that it was not an apples-to-apples change.

No similar apples-to-apples calculation was included at all in the chart showing a 5.7% increase for the entire county.

Lynn focused his comments on the brighter portions of the count  decreases of homeless veterans and families that he attributed to intensive efforts by the city and county.

For Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Lynns acknowledgement of the lower number for the city represents a validation, if only a partial one.

On the day of the presentation, Garcettis staff released an analysis suggesting that, after adjusting for the youth count, the most reasonable year-over-year gain was about 3%.

Though the logic behind that figure was right, the number itself turned out to be wrong.

After discovering a math error, the homeless authority has since nearly doubled the apples-to-apples change for the city from 2.7% to 5.2%.

Garcetti took the change in stride.

Solving our homelessness crisis is a top priority for me, and having accurate data is fundamental to helping us better understand the scale of the problem and finding smarter, more efficient ways to get unsheltered Angelenos off the street and into homes, the mayor said in a statement after learning that LAHSA had changed the number. It is my expectation that all departments will be thorough in collecting and cleaning any data before it is presented to the public.

The conflicting interpretations of the count highlight some of the foibles inherent in tracking homelessness from year to year. Though the authority reports the homeless numbers down to the individual person, they are, in fact, only estimates.

The methodology has been evolving since the first count in 2005, and every change adds to the potential error in year-over-year comparisons. One of the biggest changes has been the homeless agencys expanding volunteer base, allowing counters to cover more streets for each January survey.

The 2015 count reached nearly 90% of the census tracts in the county minus Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena, which conduct separate counts. That was up from barely a quarter of tracts in 2005. The agencys statistical consultant at the University of North Carolina uses mathematical models to extrapolate numbers in the tracts that were not counted.

This year, volunteers made counts in 100% of the tracts  a change that could have raised or lowered the homeless tally in tracts where statistical modeling was used the year before.

Another element of uncertainty comes from the estimates of people living in tents, cars and recreational vehicles. Volunteers are instructed not to look inside. The statistician uses a separate homeless survey to create a multiplier for each type of habitation. In 2015, each car was multiplied to 1.17 people, for example, and each tent to 1.55 people. In 2016, the factors changed to 1.48 people per car and 1.56 per tent.

The youth count was added this year to address a long-known problem with counting the homeless  that minors on the street are harder for volunteers to find because they tend to shun adults, taking refuge in more secure places such as rooftops.

Volunteers trained in identifying youth canvassed only about one-sixth of the census tracts. Their tallies were employed in statistical modeling to come up with numbers for the uncanvassed tracts.

The melding of the two counts raised the problem of duplication. On the big count, volunteers were asked to identify unaccompanied youths and minors in families. Those tallies were then removed from the youth count.

Because the counts are estimates, they come with a margin of error, like a poll. Even an unusually small margin of error could mean that homelessness countywide actually declined slightly in this years count. But the agency has not published a precise margin of error.

Times staff writers Gale Holland, Peter Jamison and Jon Schleuss contributed to this report.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

ALSO

Two L.A. councilmen want you to vote for $1-billion measure to house the homeless

Killings in L.A. are still on the rise, but police chief sees a turn of the tide

Californias teacher tenure battle is reignited by Vergara appeal and a new bill
A 36-year-old man was charged Tuesday in the killing of his grandmother, who was beaten to death with a hammer this month in her Lake View Terrace home, police said.

Local authorities detained Joseph Joey Kushner in the Bakersfield area Friday, and detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department brought him back to the Los Angeles area, LAPD Det. Rich Wheeler said.

Kushner was charged with one count of murder along with an allegation that he used a hammer to kill 78-year-old Armida Custodio, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

Advertisement

Investigators believe Custodio was killed between May 2 and May 4.

On May 4, a family member requested a welfare check for Custodio and officers went to her home in the 11300 block of Terra Vista Way, police said.

Coroners records show that Custodio was discovered on her bedroom floor. She died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

Two days after the killing, police held a news conference and said they were looking for Kushner, who they said was the last person to see Custodio alive.

At some point, Kushner called his father and told him where he was, Wheeler said. The father then called police and relayed the information, the detective said.

Wheeler said that in an interview with investigators, Kushner confessed to the crime, but he claimed it was in self-defense.

Her injuries are not consistent with his claim of self-defense, Wheeler said.

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For more crime news follow @nicolesantacruz and @VeronicaRochaLA
A decade ago, Anabel Garcia Romo, then a 17-year-old attending Garfield High School, took part in the epic May Day march through the streets of downtown Los Angeles.

She was drawn to the protest because she had friends and family who were in the country illegally and she opposed a proposal in Congress that would have made them felons.

Garcia called the day a defining moment in her life. But in the years since, nothing  not even Donald Trump  has compelled her back to the streets.

Advertisement

The day kind of came and passed like nothing for me, she said. I think I was more concerned with the second episode of [this season of] Game of Thrones than May Day.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

That 2006 march  with more than half a million people showing up  was by some measures the largest immigration protest in U.S. history, and many saw it as the beginning of a bigger social movement.

But that didnt happen. The controversial legislation that inspired it was killed. The larger efforts at immigration reform also faltered, and the promised new era of Latino activism appeared to lose some of its vigor.

Enter Donald Trump, who has made attacks on Mexican immigrants and building a border wall a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Trump faced disruptive protests when he rallied in California several weeks ago. But the numbers were small compared to the huge protests of the past.

And many people both inside the movement and who study it question whether Trumps rhetoric alone is enough to reignite the passions of the past.

There would have to be another imminent threat or federal anti-illegal immigration legislation, said Chris Zepeda-Millan, a political scientist in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. This is why people protest. People protest against something  not for something.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

May 25, 1:07 p.m.: An earlier version of this article identified Chris Zepeda-Millan as a UC Berkeley professor of political science. He is a political scientist in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley.

------------

The next test will come Wednesday, when Trump will hold a rally in Anaheim. While some activist groups plan to be out in force, few expect mass rallies there or when he speaks Friday in San Diego.

Garcia said the one thing that would probably motivate her to protest again would be if Trump were to become president.

Zepeda-Millan, who studies the effects of the 2006 protest wave, said although significant legislation hasnt passed on a national level, the mass mobilization eventually led immigrant rights activists to refocus their efforts toward the 2008 election to help elect the nations first African American president. The hope was that Obama would use his political capital to pass some sort of immigration reform that would legalize the more than 11 million in the country without legal status. Instead, his legacy among immigrant rights circles is one of a record number of deportations, winning him the label of deporter-in-chief.

For now, Zepeda-Millan said protests are not necessary. Instead, he said, he believes Latinos will just take their concerns to the ballot box.

There are indications that Trumps candidacy is helping spur an uptick in naturalization applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data show an increase in applications filed between June, when Trump announced his candidacy, and January, compared with the same period in recent years.

Data from previous years show that applications tend to increase when anti-illegal immigration efforts gain the spotlight, such as Proposition 187, a 1994 initiative resoundingly approved by California voters  later legally struck down  that would have denied most public services to those in the country illegally, including children.

In 2006, immigrant rights organizers were hopeful after millions took to the streets against the Sensenbrenner bill, which would have made it a felony to be in the country illegally as well as to offer humanitarian assistance to someone in the country without legal status.

Garcia said she had expected more change to come from the massive protests. Afterward, she became more heavily involved in organizing around immigrant rights, but eventually became disillusioned.

We were all waiting for something to happen. We were waiting for the movement to create some change and it didnt. The only thing it did was manage to stop the bill, she said.

Instead, every few years, immigration reform would get close to passage only to be defeated. Some immigrant rights leaders got burned out and dropped out of the movement. Not as many people showed to May Day rallies in the years going forward.

Immigrants and their supporters gather at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on May 1, 2006, during a massive protest of U.S. immigration policies. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times )

When Garcias immigrant rights group proposed non-peaceful actions, she said she decided to exit.

There was a difference of opinion on how to move forward, she said.

Many youths stayed and took the reins of the movement, participating in more bold tactics to call attention to their cause  from participating in sits-ins at congressional offices to even self deportation. Sometimes their strategies were met with unexpected consequences, such as a dissent within the movement  especially among old-guard traditional activists afraid of alienating establishment allies.

However, it was the sit-ins, acts of disobedience and other in-your face tactics by young immigrant rights leaders that helped spark President Obamas executive action in 2012, which shielded a group of young immigrants from deportation and gave them work permits. Its the most significant immigration move in the last 30 years.

But the immigration relief is temporary and could be overturned by the next presidential administration. An extension of the program that includes the parents of U.S. citizen children is also stuck in the courts.

The recent incarnation of the immigrant rights movement is relatively young, and it generally takes several decades to see substantial results, Zepeda-Millan and other experts contend. Ten years from now, they said, its quite possible that immigration reform will come to pass and the 2006 marches will be credited as a pivotal moment.

But in the meantime, some experts say that Latino activists have yet to come up with a strategy to move forward.

Its a lost decade, said Roberto Gonzales, a Harvard University sociologist who studies immigration. I think the big question moving forward ... is what is the strategy?

Two years ago, an immigrant rights protest in Washington, D.C., that included blocked traffic and arrests gained national headlines.

When a group of religious leaders marched down the streets of downtown L.A. chanting We Shall Overcome during Holy Week earlier this year, they hoped to generate attention to their cause by blocking traffic in front of the federal immigration courthouse. They formed a circle and were arrested after refusing to budge.

But the publicity they hoped their protest would generate was not forthcoming.

The muted response to the action was indicative of what many are describing as a stalemate in the immigration debate, where the escalating rhetoric from the right and protests from the left became the steady routine of an issue where opinions have become entrenched -- with neither side really getting what it wants.

No massive, impenetrable wall has been built and the mass deportations of millions in the country illegally desired by some have not materialized. But neither has comprehensive immigration reform.

You escalate and you escalate and you build power, but then what? asked Noel Andersen, a grassroots coordinator with the Church World Service who helped organize both the Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles protests.

Three years ago, Lizbeth Mateo was part of a group of immigrants who deported themselves to Mexico and then demanded to be let back into the United States during an unorthodox demonstration at the Arizona border that was criticized by some advocates. Soon after, she took a break from organizing to focus on school, graduating from Santa Clara University in May.

For Mateo, the focus on Trump detracts from the attention on the Obama administrations handling of Central American mothers and children who are currently in immigration detention. She hopes that the outrage toward the billionaire Republican candidate can be channeled toward the current administration.

If we can build an entire campaign around Trump, why the hell cant we do that around children who are being detained? Mateo said. Why are we not holding the Democrats accountable? If we cannot hold our so-called friends accountable, how are we going to hold our enemies accountable?

Gloria Carrasco, a 55-year-old who lives in Los Alamitos, joined the May Day protests this year, marching with the American flag over her neck as a scarf.

Looking back, she expected that dramatic immigration reform would have happened by now, giving people such as her legal immigration status. Instead, time passed and her father fell ill and then died in Mexico, leaving her to mourn from a distance. Carrasco said shes disappointed by the rise of Trump and what she sees as a lessening of the spirit that inspired hundreds of thousands, including herself, to protest in the streets 10 years ago.

Although she cant vote, she has approached all her friends and family members who are eligible to register to vote and show up on election day. She begs them to cast a vote against Trump.

I urge them to participate. They have to vote, she said. He cannot be president.

CAMPAIGN 2016

With Trump to speak in Anaheim, police brace for protests

Bernie Sanders is a socialist? Some on the far left say sellout is more like it

Protesters clash with police outside Trump rally in Albuquerque; authorities call it a riot

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

Twitter: @thecindycarcamo
Two key members of the Los Angeles City Council say they have decided to push for a November ballot measure authorizing a bond of at least $1 billion to build housing for the citys growing homeless population.

Councilmen Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Jose Huizar, the chairman and vice-chairman of the councils homelessness and poverty committee, made their announcement Tuesday armed with a new poll suggesting that such an initiative would enjoy broad support among city voters. Their statements mark the first time city officials have committed to a specific plan for generating most or all of the money needed to carry out their adopted strategy for reducing homelessness over the next decade.

Voters are prepared to make an investment, Harris-Dawson said in an interview with The Times. Whats different now than what I think its been in the past is that theres no part of the city that doesnt experience homelessness.

Advertisement

Huizar, whose district includes skid row and the citys most extreme concentration of the homeless, said the campaign for the bond would depend on city officials ability to detail specifically what they would do with $1 billion or more in borrowed money. However, he said he doesnt doubt that Angelenos are willing to underwrite a long-term solution to homelessness, even at a high cost.

We have a lot of explaining to do, Huizar said. I dont think its a lot of persuasion.

The pair said they have begun working with prominent L.A.-area political consultants Parke Skelton and Mike Shimpock on the preliminary details of a bond campaign. The full City Council must vote by the end of June whether to place a measure on the November ballot.

Connie Llanos, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said in a statement that the mayor is open to any - state, county or city - initiative that brings our community more resources to tackle this crisis. She declined to say whether Garcetti thinks the bond measure proposed by Harris-Dawson and Huizar is the best approach.

For several months, city officials have been debating how to fund their homelessness plan, which calls for spending at least $1.8 billion over the next 10 years on new housing and shelters for the estimated 26,000 people without a home in Garcetti has commissioned a study for a potential fee on developers that according to budget analysts could generate between $38 million and $112 million a year toward that effort.

But with the citys budget still recovering from the economic downturn that followed the 2007 collapse of the housing market, most agree that an additional new revenue stream -- either a bond or tax -- is necessary to house the homeless. In California, such initiatives must be approved by a two-thirds popular vote when intended to pay for a specific policy or project.

Voters are prepared to make an investment... theres no part of the city that doesnt experience homelessness.  City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson

With high and predominantly Democratic turnout expected here for the presidential contest, November should theoretically offer an electorate hospitable to public spending on social services.

However, it also offers a crowded ballot, with voters potentially being asked to weigh in on other measures including a county sales-tax increase to fund transportation, a county parcel tax to pay for expanded parks and a statewide extension of Proposition 30, which hiked income-tax rates on the wealthy to pay for education.

County officials are also considering placing some form of new tax on the November ballot in order to fund homeless services.

A poll performed for Garcetti and City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana in March suggested scant appetite for one more ballot measure asking for money. That poll found that fewer than half of city voters would back a bond, sales tax or document-transfer tax to help reduce homelessness.

A new poll delivered to Harris-Dawson and Huizar late last week found similarly low support for new taxes but significantly higher support for a bond, with 68% of those surveyed -- just above the two-thirds threshold for approval -- saying they would probably or definitely vote to approve a bond.

Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, seen last year. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

An additional 6% said they were undecided but leaning toward voting yes; only 17% said they would probably or definitely vote against such a measure.

It is unclear what might account for the wide disparity between the two polls when it comes to voters support for a bond measure.

Although both surveys questioned respondents about a $1-billion housing bond, the more recent poll went into more detail about how the money would be spent, asking about support for a bond dedicated to emergency shelter and housing for homeless people including veterans, seniors, families and the disabled... with citizen oversight, annual audits, and all funds locally controlled.

Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said it wasnt necessarily unusual for two polls to reach such different conclusions about voters preferences, especially when different versions of the same question were asked.

Youre only talking about two polls, which seems like a lot of information. But when youre looking at the presidential race, people will average 20 or 30 polls, Sonenshein said. Even assuming the higher level of support, he added, city officials still have their work cut out for them in campaigning for an initiative, since opposition to ballot measures typically grows as time passes.

Its going to be a test of the ability to sell an altruistic measure in a tough, competitive political environment, Sonenshein said. I think it will be closely watched.

peter.jamison@latimes.com

Follow @petejamison on Twitter
A former San Diego dental technician accused of groping female patients while they were under anesthesia pleaded guilty Wednesday to 13 felony and misdemeanor charges, including sexual battery and sexual penetration.

Luis Alfonso Ramos, 36, admitted charges related to incidents involving 13 victims at the Park Boulevard Oral Surgery office who ranged in age from 17 to 63, a prosecutor said.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth scheduled a sentencing hearing for Aug. 26, when Ramos could be sent to prison for up to 15 years.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories this hour >>

He was charged in February with seven felony counts of sexual battery of an unconscious person, all of which were linked to a Jan. 21 incident that occurred when a teenage girl underwent a dental procedure.

The girl told police she was waking up when she realized someone was touching her inappropriately. The crime was captured on security video, prosecutors said.

After that, San Diego police sex crimes detectives began reviewing hours of video from the surgery office and identified 13 victims. The incidents took place between January 2015 and early this year.

There were more complaints than we were able to charge, Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin Doyle said Wednesday, adding that some people werent sure what may have happened to them while they were anesthetized.

Ramos did not administer the anesthesia. His job as a technician was to clean up after the dental procedures were completed, the prosecutor said.

Ramos case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, when a judge was expected to hear from witnesses and determine whether there was enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Instead, many of those alleged victims sat quietly in the courtroom as Ramos pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual battery of an unconscious person, one count of sexual penetration, one count of attempted sexual penetration and two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

ALSO

Moms car burns after Vacaville girl plays with fire

Condoms, tampons and feces: Oregon fraternity suspended after disgraceful trashing of Shasta Lake

Son of Shield actor Michael Jace says he heard the shots that killed his mom
After years of planning and delays, Los Angeles will finally see the launch of its own bike-sharing system.

Starting July 7, nearly 1,000 bicycles will be available for short-term rentals at 65 kiosks placed near downtown Los Angeles transit stops and destinations, including Union Station, the Arts District and the Broad museum.

The $11-million program, backed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, will add Los Angeles to the growing number of cities that have welcomed bike-sharing as an affordable, convenient way to make short trips without a car.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Like other bike-sharing systems, L.A.'s program is designed for short, point-to-point trips, rather than all-day rentals. Users will pay at a kiosk, pull a bicycle out of an adjacent rack, hop on, and drop the bike off at a rack near their destination.

Its really going to help people combine transit trips and bicycle trips, Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said.

The program could translate well to sprawling Los Angeles County, where many residents dont live or work within easy walking distance of a bus stop or rail station.

Closing that so-called first mile, last mile gap could make the system more efficient for current users and more attractive for commuters who arent using the growing rail system, officials say.

Riders will be able to pay to rent bicycles with their Metro fare cards. A one-way ride of a half-hour or less will cost $3.50. Users who buy a monthly or annual pass will pay lower rates.

To boost membership sales, Metro will make bicycles available only to pass holders until Aug. 1.

As might be expected in a region that includes 88 cities, bike-shares rollout took longer than expected. Los Angeles has been discussing the idea since 2012, when then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced plans for a system that were scuttled less than a year later.

In 2014, Metro began its own plans for a system that would have a more regional scope.

Last year, Santa Monica and Long Beach moved ahead with plans for their own systems rather than wait for the planned Metro system to reach them. Santa Monica has said that launching ahead of the debut of the Expo Line extension was critical to the light-rail lines success.

That raised some concern that dual systems could confuse tourists in areas like Venice Beach, where Los Angeles brushes against Santa Monica.

Metro officials plan to add bicycles in Pasadena next year, and are considering expansions to Hollywood, East Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

Bike-share will also come to USC after Los Angeles finishes a curb-separated bicycle lane along Figueroa Street, planned for 2017, said Metro deputy executive officer Laura Cornejo.

Metro and Los Angeles shared the $5.2 million cost to set up the downtown program, including buying 1,000 bicycles. Operating the system will cost an estimated $2.6 million a year for the next two years.

Officials also hope a corporate sponsor could underwrite some costs, but havent publicly named one. Santa Monicas program is sponsored by Hulu. The New York City system, CitiBike, is partially funded by CitiBank.

For pass holders paying $20 per month, trips shorter than a half-hour will be free. Each half-hour period after that will cost $1.75  the same as a one-way Metro bus or rail fare.

For $40 per year, trips shorter than a half-hour will cost $1.75.

Riders who dont want to sign up for a membership will pay $3.50 for each half-hour period.

MORE LOCAL NEWS

Condoms, tampons and feces: Oregon fraternity suspended after disgraceful trashing of Shasta Lake

Expo Line, meet the real world: A car on tracks, a broken-down train

The huge price tag for missing warnings of L.A. teachers abusing students: $300 million and counting

laura.nelson@latimes.com

For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter.
California State University trustees named Ellen N. Junn as the new president of Cal State Stanislaus, marking the fifth time in a row that a woman has been appointed to lead a campus in the largest university system in the nation.

Junn, currently the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Cal State Dominguez Hills, will succeed Joseph F. Sheley when he retires June 30.

Once Junn takes office, there will be 11 women serving as Cal State presidents, more than at any time in the systems history.

Advertisement

Her appointment will also increase the number of Asian American presidents to four.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

The appointment reflects Chancellor Timothy P. Whites push for more diversity in hiring throughout the Cal State system, which educates about 460,000 students at 23 campuses.

Junn is widely published and has written professional journal articles on topics such as supporting the success of underserved students, the importance of university-community engagement and strategies for supporting non-tenure-track faculty -- especially women and minorities, White noted Wednesday when he introduced her to the board of trustees during its meeting in Long Beach.

Junn, 58, is the fifth female Cal State president named this year. Mary A. Papazian and Judy K. Sakaki were selected in January to head the systems San Jose State and Sonoma State campuses, respectively, and Gayle E. Hutchinson and Erika D. Beck were named in March to lead Chico State and Cal State Channel Islands.

In recent years, Cal State has come under criticism for a gender imbalance in top leadership roles. White said that since he became chancellor in 2012, a number of retirements have offered him the opportunity to recruit and reshape the systems leadership to make it more diverse.

The appointments already have had a ripple effect by encouraging more women to apply for leadership positions. That, in turn, has created a larger pool of women who are qualified for top jobs at Cal State and elsewhere.

I think success breeds success, White said.

Education experts applauded Junns appointment and noted how far the Cal State system has come, especially compared with the rest of the country. Although more than 57% of students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities are women, they account for only 26% of college presidents, according to the American Council on Education.

Cal State is an incubator for higher education leadership, said council President Molly Corbett Broad. The rest of us can learn a lot from watching how California does it.

Broad added that in recent years, women have taken the helm at schools such as Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University. At Penn and Brown, in fact, two women presidents were appointed in a row.

I think this is one of the most important yardsticks for the future  when we see women following women into these important jobs, Broad said.

Cal State officials on Wednesday praised Junn for her long-term commitment to public education and the Cal State system.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

She began her career as an assistant psychology professor at Cal State San Bernardino. Over the last 25 years, she has also taught and held numerous leadership positions at the Dominguez Hills, San Jose State, Fresno and Fullerton campuses.

At Dominguez Hills, she oversees more than 835 faculty members and is responsible for academic policy. At other campuses, she was recognized for establishing initiatives such as the African American Student Success and Hispanic Student Success task forces at San Jose State and the Womens Campus Connection and the Asian Faculty and Staff Assn. at Cal State Fresno.

Cal State Trustee Hugo N. Morales, chairman of the selection committee, said Junns visionary leadership and experience at multiple campuses made her an ideal candidate.

She has a long history of always putting students first, and has expertise in working to increase academic achievement among students from underserved communities, Morales said.

Junn said she was eager to lead Cal State Stanislaus, which serves more than 9,000 students and operates in both Turlock and Stockton.

I look forward to coming back to the Central Valley and am honored to have the opportunity, she said in a statement. Under the leadership of President Sheley, Stanislaus State has become an academic powerhouse in the Central Valley.

Junn will be the second female president in Stanislaus States 59-year history. Her salary was set at $283,662, the same as her predecessor. She will also receive a $50,000 housing allowance and a $1,000 monthly car allowance.

She holds a bachelors degree in experimental and cognitive psychology from the University of Michigan and earned her masters degree and doctorate in cognitive and development psychology at Princeton University.

ALSO

Son of Shield actor Michael Jace says he heard the shots that killed his mom

Trumps backers and critics square off in Anaheim; 1 protester ejected as police urge calm

Inglewood cooked its books to lure NFL team, former accounting manager says

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Follow @RosannaXia for more education news

UPDATES:

This story has been updated with additional comments from Cal State chancellor Timothy P. White and the American Council on Education.

This story was originally published at 12:09 p.m.
After Wednesdays noon rally in Anaheim, Donald Trump is expected to appear in Hollywood for a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The shows website listed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as Wednesdays guest, a day before Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders was scheduled to sit down with Kimmel.

TRAIL GUIDE: All the latest news on the 2016 presidential campaign >>

Advertisement

Wednesdays appearance will mark Trumps third on Jimmy Kimmel Live and his second as a presidential candidate, the show said.

Trump is also scheduled to appear at his first official GOP fundraising dinner Wednesday night. Tickets to the Westside event start at $25,000, according to The Times Essential Politics blog.

ALSO

Trumps backers and critics square off in Anaheim as police warn against violence

Inglewood cooked its books to lure NFL team, former accounting manager says

Oregon fraternity suspended after disgraceful trashing of Northern California lake
Two Palo Alto police officers used lawful force when they fatally shot a schizophrenic man with a knife during a standoff last Christmas, prosecutors in Northern California said Tuesday.

The killing of 31-year-old William Raff outside a transitional housing facility was also found to be another instance of suicide-by-cop, when a suspect does not surrender and induces police to use deadly force, according to the conclusions of the Santa Clara County district attorneys office.

The totality of the evidence leads only to the conclusion that William Raff was intent on dying at the hands of police officers, Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Gillingham wrote in a 31-page review of the shooting.

Advertisement

Raff called 911 that night to create a fake emergency and draw an armed response from the police. Raff then committed suicide by attacking the officers, who shot him in self-defense.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Prosecutors said that Raff falsely told a police dispatcher that a violent man named Andre Seal was present at La Selva House, a transitional housing facility for those with addiction issues and mental illness.

Several officers who responded that night later said that they were aware of the home and had handled previous calls to the facility.

Three uniformed officers arrived shortly after 9:15 p.m. and spotted Raff coming from the side of the building, carrying a silver knife and screaming.

Officers ordered Raff to drop the knife, but he kept a fighting stance, bouncing on his feet and jumping in the air, they said. Officers again ordered him to drop the knife, but he raised it in his hand and charged, they said.

One officer fired a Taser, but it was ineffective. The other two officers opened fire.

The standoff and shooting lasted less than 20 seconds and were captured on dash cameras. Prosecutors released a clip of the video in a bid for transparency and to show what led to their conclusions about the shooting.

Four bullets struck Raffs body. He was rushed to Stanford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Investigators spoke with Raffs father, Garold Raff, who told police of his sons mental health troubles. In addition to schizophrenia, Raff suffered from paranoia and grandiosity, his father said, and often had difficulty relating to the real world.

Twice before, his father said, Raff had tried to kill himself; once he rammed a car into a wall, and on another occasion he stabbed himself three times in the neck.

Raff arrived at the transitional housing facility just a few days before the killing. Hed previously been housed in a locked psychiatric facility in Fremont. Its unclear why he was moved to La Selva House, an unlocked facility.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

ALSO

Anaheim police warn Trump protesters: We wont tolerate violence, disobedience at rally

Inglewood cooked its books to lure NFL team, former employees lawsuit alleges

Mistrial declared in case against man whose murder conviction was dismissed after 16 years in prison
A man who was convicted of raping two 15-year-old girls near Los Angeles was sentenced to 100 years to life in prison.

While handing down the sentence, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry Hall denounced Joseph Kenneth Cornett, 42, as a monster, according to media reports. The judge also ordered Hall to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

A jury found Cornett guilty in March of 15 felony counts including kidnapping to commit rape and forcible rape of a child. During the four-week trial, prosecutors told jurors that in April 2015, Cornett offered a 15-year-old girl a ride but then blocked her from exiting the car.

Advertisement

Cornett then drove the girl to a remote area on the east side of Lancaster and sexually assaulted her two times, prosecutors said.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

Two weeks later, Cornett came upon another 15-year-old girl as she walked home from school. Posing as a police officer, he threatened to arrest her for jaywalking, prosecutors said.

Cornett then took the girl to an abandoned mobile classroom in Lancaster and sexually assaulted her, prosecutor Jon Hatami said. She managed to free herself and get help from parishioners at a church.

Before police reached the scene, Cornett attempted to drive away, but his car became stuck in the sand, authorities said.

As seven Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies tried to arrest Cornett, he became hostile and even spat on deputies, authorities said. He was eventually taken into custody.

ALSO

L.A.'s homelessness math is a bit off  totals are the same but increases are smaller

Mistrial declared in case against man whose murder conviction was dismissed after 16 years in prison

Prosecutor says Shield actor Michael Jace taunted wife before killing her

For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at matt.hamilton@latimes.com
Supporters and critics of Donald Trump squared off Wednesday as the presidential candidate held a rally in Anaheim, with police making several arrests after some demonstrators threw objects at them.

After Trump departed, a small group of protesters remained in the area, ignoring orders by police to disperse. One trash can was set on fire, some protesters threw rocks, and large throngs of police were trying to push the remaining demonstrators away.

At least seven adults and one juvenile were arrested over the course of the day, with many taken into custody after police declared an unlawful assembly.

Advertisement

You cant arrest all of us, one woman shouted. Another group of anti-Trump demonstrators continued to linger, yelling, Mexico! Mexico!

Around the Anaheim Convention Center, lines of mounted police moved through the streets, with several dozen protesters in front of them. Some had scarves covering their face, others taunted police officers. By 3 p.m., only a couple dozen protesters remained, with one person tearing down a stop sign near Katella Avenue.

Inside the center, after his speech was interrupted at one point by a protester, Trump paused for a moment and said: The safest place to be in our country is a Trump rally. He ended his speech to loud applause.

Earlier in the afternoon, a small crowd of Trump supporters who had been hurling racially charged remarks at a large group of demonstrators was escorted away in the interest of public safety, according to Sgt. Daron Wyatt, an Anaheim police spokesman. The group of about five people was asked to leave by police and did so voluntarily, Wyatt added.

Two people were ejected from the rally by Trumps security personnel, but Wyatt did not know why. Of those arrested, one person was arrested outside the arena for allegedly illegally selling shirts without a license. Two others were arrested on suspicion of urinating in public, Wyatt said.

A shoving match between a different crowd of Trump supporters and protesters was broken up by Orange County sheriffs deputies.

I think a lot of it was the planning and preparation. We had a very strong uniformed presence from the beginning, which I think set the tone. It helped by keeping the protesters away from the attendees as well, Wyatt said.

One person was ejected from the rally for causing some sort of disturbance, according to Mike Lyster, a city spokesman.

It wasnt clear whether the person was a Trump supporter or opponent, or exactly what he did, Lyster said.

Outside, the anti-Trump crowd marched in a circle around the group that had been hurling insults at protesters. A large group of sheriffs deputies in riot gear stationed behind police lines was there on standby, Lyster said. The deployment was organized weeks in advance and was not in response to an incident at a Trump rally in New Mexico on Tuesday night, Lyster said.

WATCH: Scenes from the Trump rally in Anaheim

Before the rally, two men were positioned at the main entrance of the convention center, holding a sign calling for an end to abortion and Islam while a few people holding signs denouncing Trump looked on.

One man with a loudspeaker was pacing in front of a police line, screaming a series of pro-Christian, anti-gay messages, and a small crowd of people chanting against Trump began trying to shout him down.

One Trump backer engaged in a verbal exchange with protesters.

Are you an illegal? the man repeatedly asked the anti-Trump crowd members.

Nearly two dozen Anaheim police officers looked on as the confrontation between the two crowds was confined to shouts and chants.

Rogelio Banuelos, a 26-year-old Costa Mesa man holding an anti-Trump sign, said he came to Anaheim to stand up against what he perceived as Trumps hate speech.

I feel his language is problematic. Its meant to incite fear of the other, said Rogelio, who described himself as an undocumented immigrant. I dont believe a human being can be illegal.

Near the entrance, a crowd of four Trump supporters holding Bibles and religious signs were trading insults with a large anti-Trump crowd.

Two of the Trump backers repeatedly asked whether the protesters were illegals.

Youre all going to burn in hell, shouted one Trump supporter who repeatedly hurled anti-gay slurs at the protesters.

Another member of the Trump crowd, 55-year-old Ruben Israel of Los Angeles, said the billionaire wasnt his first choice but he believed Trump was the only candidate who could restore order in America.

Asked why his group was questioning the demonstrators citizenship, Israel argued many of the demonstrators who incited violence in New Mexico on Tuesday night were probably in the country illegally.

Why would they cover their faces? he asked of some of the masked protesters. Are they going to commit a crime?

Lets see some ID. Are you here legally? Israel shouted at another protester moments later.

Darius Davelius, a 22-year-old from Riverside, said he couldnt score a ticket inside the convention center but decided to come anyway so he could engage in peaceful conversations with anti-Trump protesters.

He said he believed Trump and his supporters were misunderstood, especially about illegal immigration.

Davelius spoke with Alejandro, a 19-year-old from Anaheim who didnt want to give his last name.

Im against the rhetoric Donald Trump uses, Alejandro told Davelius.

Alejandro especially takes issue with Trumps anti-illegal immigration rhetoric.

Davelius said Trump never said all people coming illegally from Mexico are rapists and drug dealers, just some.

We dont need people coming here illegally, Davelius said.

Trump also has rallies scheduled later this week in San Diego and Fresno.

Video: I support Trump all the way

Trump has drawn fierce criticism by claiming that Mexico was sending rapists over the border. Later, he called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S. Those comments have drawn angry protesters to his rallies, many of whom are upset by what they say is a campaign fueled by bigotry and fear-mongering.

TRAIL GUIDE: All the latest news on the 2016 presidential campaign >>

In several states, protesters have been assaulted at Trump rallies. The businessmans last California event on April 28 in Costa Mesa descended into chaos after demonstrators blocked traffic and hurled debris at motorists.

Seventeen people were arrested, and one Costa Mesa police officer was struck with a rock. Five police cruisers were damaged, officials said.

Orange County seems fertile ground for opposing views on Trump. Although the county is still considered one of the last conservative strongholds in a state that increasingly leans left, an influx of Asian and Latino residents in recent decades has also created a base of people likely to oppose Trumps rhetoric.

A City Council debate over whether to formally denounce Trump also led to an ugly clash outside Anaheim City Hall last month, as protesters and the candidates supporters exchanged obscenities and fired pepper spray at one another. Television news footage also appeared to show one Trump supporter lunging at a protester with a stun gun, and three women were treated after they were stung by pepper spray.

The council ultimately voted 3 to 2 to take no action on the resolution.

Another racially charged protest turned violent in Anaheim two months earlier, when a planned Ku Klux Klan rally in February ended with three people suffering stab wounds and several others arrested.

Officers dispersed the crowd shortly after a group of protesters swarmed the Klan members, but the Police Department was heavily criticized for not doing more to prevent the violence. The agency did not have a visible presence at the park that day despite advance notice of the rally, and dividers were not erected to keep the counter-protesters separated from the small Klan group.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

1 / 28 An anti-Trump demonstrator lies at the intersection of Fair Drive and Fairview Road near the Pacific Amphitheatre, where the candidate made his first appearance of his California campaign. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 28 Protesters try to overturn a police car at the Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 28 Chaos on the streets outside the rally. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 28 Protesters outside the rally. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 28 Protesters in the streets. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 28 Police try to quell a protest against Donald Trump on the streets outside the Orange County Fairgrounds. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 28 Presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to the crowd during a rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 28 Protesters outside the Donald Trump rally. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 28 Law enforcement authorities line the street where protesters had gathered. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 28 Anti-Trump protesters take over an intersection near the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 28 A protester waves a flag before a phalanx of police officers in riot gear. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 28 A protester and law enforcement officers amid the raucous scene. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 28 Guadalupe Verdugo in front of a police line outside the Orange County Fairgrounds. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 28 A protestor, second from right, is escorted out of the amphitheatre before a rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 28 A wall of police and sheriffs deputies opposite demonstrators in Costa Mesa. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 28 Donald Trump with supporters at the rally. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 28 Donald Trump greets supporters at the rally. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 28 Donald Trump onstage in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 28 Donald Trump speaks at the rally. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 28 A Trump supporter yells build that wall before the start of a rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 28 A protester clings to a traffic signal at the intersection of Fairview Road and Fair Drive, which was taken over by anti-Trump demonstrators. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 28 Orange County sheriffs deputies separate protesters from supporters at Donald Trumps rally in Costa Mesa. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 28 A protester outside the Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 28 A Trump supporter at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 28 Trump supporters grab signs before a rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 28 Esvin Rivers waves a flag as he waits in line to attend the rally. (Barbara Davidson/ Los Angeles Times) 27 / 28 Sheriffs deputies patrol between the rival groups at the Trump rally. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 28 A Trump supporter, right, confronts a protester outside the event. (Barbara Davidson/ Los Angeles Times)

Wyatt said security measures Wednesday probably would mirror those in place for a Bernie Sanders rally at the convention center Tuesday. That event, however, attracted a crowd of just 1,100, said Wyatt, who added that there were no arrests or demonstrations.

The convention center holds 7,500 people, and there have been few empty seats at Trump events during his march to the nomination.

On Tuesday night, some protesters smashed windows and threw objects at police outside Albuquerques convention center, where Trump was speaking.

james.queally@latimes.com

ALSO

Live coverage of Trump rally

Could anger over Donald Trumps rhetoric reinvigorate the push for immigration reform? Advocates hope so

Bernie Sanders is a socialist? Some on the far left say sellout is more like it

Column: Polls show Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a virtual tie. Should Democrats be worried?

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

5:10 p.m.: Updated with confirmation that eight people were arrested during the course of the day.

3:52 p.m.: Updated with additional details from Anaheim police on the number of those arrested during protests.

3:31 p.m.: Updated with additional details from the post-rally protests.

2:46 p.m.: Updated with end of rally and arrests made.

1:40 p.m.: Updated with Trump speech and incidents outside.

12:50 p.m.: Updated with more details from protests outside.

12:01 p.m.: Updated with more details from the scene, including on demonstrators being detailed by police.

11:20 a.m.: Updated with more details from scene.

10:30 a.m.: Updated with more details from scene.

9:30 a.m.: Updated with statement from Anaheim police chief

9:15 a.m.: Updated with scene in Anaheim.

7:30 a.m. Updated to note Trump appearances in San Diego and Fresno.

6:27 a.m. Updated with information on New Mexico protests.

This story was originally posted at 4 a.m.
President Obama is racing against the clock to cement a massive Pacific Rim trade deal that all of his potential successors oppose, with his administration eyeing a looming fight on Capitol Hill while starting to implement as much of the complicated pact as it can.

The effort begins in Vietnam, where Obama spent the last three days touting the merits of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership, which would link 40% of the global economy, and reassuring Vietnamese leaders key to the deal that Congress will ultimately overcome the thorny politics of trade and ratify the agreement.

Nothing is easy in Washington these days, Obama assured participants at a round table discussion with business leaders Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City, the heart of what is one of Asias fastest-growing economies. But despite sometimes the lack of cooperation with Congress, I seem to be able to get a lot of things done anyway.

Advertisement

Ordinarily, a presidential administration would wait until Congress ratifies a trade agreement before putting it into force with member nations. But with just eight months left in office and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders all against the deal, Obama and his advisors appear to have concluded that they must speed up that lengthy process to preserve the trade pact.

In this case, weve decided to accelerate that, U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman said. In consultation with Congress, we are already working with the countries in the region on the various steps that theyll need to take to bring themselves into compliance with TPP.

He cited Vietnam as an example, saying U.S. officials have traveled to the country over the last couple of months to discuss its obligations under the deal.

TPP would create the worlds largest free trade zone, deepening economic ties between the U.S. and fellow signatories including Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia and Singapore. The administration says it would eventually eliminate more than 18,000 tariffs that other nations impose on American imports such as textiles, chemical goods, fruit, beef and wine and beer.

Last weeks release of an independent report analyzing TPPs economic impact on the U.S. cleared the way for Congress to begin formal consideration of the final agreement. The White House says it is in regular consultation with congressional leaders about the best legislative strategy going forward, and wants to see it approved as soon as possible.

But both Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have said they are reluctant to bring the measure to a vote during the heat of a presidential campaign in which the three remaining presidential contenders are avowed opponents.

The White House says neither the U.S. nor the other signatories are willing to reopen the agreement to make changes that might bring additional political support here. But by beginning the implementation work with countries like Vietnam, they can take steps that could help make wary members of Congress more confident that U.S. partners will abide by the terms of the agreement reached last fall.

Some critics in Congress were particularly skeptical of what they saw as overly generous terms for Vietnam to comply with new labor and environmental standards of the deal, as well as an extended timeline that it was granted to begin setting up independent trade unions.

And a report from the International Trade Commission released last week, which found that the deal would boost U.S. annual real income by only a modest $57.3 billion by 2032, gave ammunition to opponents in organized labor who said its potential impact on U.S. manufacturing was too severe.

"[The] report is so damaging that any reasonable observer would have to wonder why the administration or Congress would spend even one more day trying to turn this disastrous proposal into a reality, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.

The administrations ability to continue addressing lawmakers concerns will be key to the timing of any vote, said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who supports what he calls an imperfect agreement.

We cannot move forward until the administration has addressed member concerns on key aspects of the agreement, he said, demanding reassurance from the White House that trade partners comply with the deal and that it will benefit the U.S.

To win support in Congress, the Obama administration is making a familiar case that boils down to one question: What will China do?

During its full-court press on Capitol Hill to secure passage of a key preliminary measure, administration officials found that raising the specter of China writing the rules for international trade was among their most successful arguments.

Their case goes like this: The pact as written raises standards in places where the U.S. already does significant business, while dropping tariffs that inhibit the sale of U.S. goods in those countries. And if the U.S. were to back away, China would likely swoop into the void and forge its own accord, potentially expanding its influence while diminishing the United States.

Vietnams burgeoning middle class is a fertile market for U.S. goods, particularly for machinery and automotive exports. On Monday, Obama was on hand as U.S. firms including Boeing and GE signed commercial deals worth $16 billion in Vietnam.

In an address to the Vietnamese people, Obama said he strongly supported the deal so that youll also be able to buy more of our goods, made in America.

Without mentioning China by name, he alluded to the pacts important strategic benefits, saying it would allow Vietnam to be less dependent on any one trading partner and enjoy broader ties with more partners, including the United States.

So we now have to get it done  for the sake of our economic prosperity and our national security, he said.

Obamas argument makes use of the political climate, pitting Donald Trumps harsh criticism about China against Trumps nationalist and anti-trade rhetoric, an odd political dance but one that congressional supporters of the deal have also embraced.

You hear a lot of the rhetoric from the presidential candidates, that they want to create Fortress America, they want to build walls, said Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, leader of a bloc of the trade pacts Democratic supporters in Congress. We can be at the table, shaping the rules of globalization or it will be done to us. And thats really the decision we face.

The most optimistic timeline in Congress appears to be for the deal to come to a vote in the lame duck session. Obama predicted recently lawmakers might vote after at least the primary election season had ended.

Not so fast, warned one Democratic leader.

He has a more optimistic view of the [deals] chances than I do at the moment, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the minority whip, adding that the agreement would have a difficult time passing the Senate now.

Anything can happen in the lame-duck session after the November election, Durbin said. But when I think of how many issues are being saved for the lame duck, youre putting a lot of burden on those frail wings.

Administration officials are heartened, though, by the fact that Democrats in particular who have supported the TPP so far have not suffered political consequences, despite a vow by labor groups last year to challenge them in primaries. Ten of the 28 Democrats who voted to support the preliminary fast-track legislation in June have already won primaries, all by significant margins or without any opposition at all. More than half of the remaining Democrats face no opposition in primaries to come.

Until theres a vote scheduled, it would not be surprising that many members will hedge their bets and stay neutral, or maybe nitpick certain provisions, Kind said. But I think when judged in its totality, thats when reality comes home.

Memoli reported from Washington and Parsons from Ho Chi Minh City.

For more White House coverage, follow @mikememoli and @cparsons on Twitter.
Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive that schools must allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify.

The president continues to violate the Constitution by trying to rewrite laws as if he were a king, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. The states serve as the last line of defense against an unlawfully expansive federal government.

The suit marks the latest skirmish in the growing divide between the federal government and some states over LGBT rights.

Advertisement

Texas officials filed suit Wednesday against the departments of Justice and Education, among other federal agencies and officials. They were joined in the lawsuit by Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as Maine Gov. Paul Lepage, Arizonas department of education and two school districts.

Texas Atty. Gen.Ken Paxton said he filed suit after hearing from parents in Fort Worth and a school district along the Oklahoma border opposed to the directive. School officials at the Harrold Independent School District approved a policy Monday that would block the federal directive, risking the loss of $117,000 in annual federal funding, according to the superintendent, who joined Paxton at a briefing in the capital. The district includes a hundred students, he said, none of whom are transgender.

They want to make sure the safety of their children is protected, Paxton said. Were willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court.

The attorney general said he had not spoken to parents of transgender students, but added, I represent the entire state, so Im open to meeting with anybody.

North Carolina also has been battling the federal administration over transgender bathroom access, passing a law that triggered the federal directive.

Paxton said that while North Carolina didnt join this lawsuit, Texas officials were sympathetic to their cause.

North Carolina has been punished for its stance, as celebrities, potential employers and trade shows have boycotted the state in the wake of its stand against transgender bathroom access.

Paxton said that after hearing from concerned parents and school district officials, he was not worried about a boycott in Texas.

Advocacy groups quickly condemned the lawsuit.

This lawsuit is an attack by the Attorney General on transgender Texans, plain and simple. While ... Paxton sued the Obama administration, the real targets are vulnerable young people and adults who simply seek to live their lives free from discrimination when they go to school, work or the restroom, Rebecca L. Robertson, a policy director with the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.

Paxton said officials have not estimated the cost of pursuing the lawsuit, but that the cost of defending the Constitution is always worth it.

He noted that Texas previously filed suit with more than two dozen states to block Obamas executive action on immigration, a case that made it to the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule.

Just like they did with issues of immigration, the Obama administration has chosen to exclude Congress entirely, on transgender access, Paxton said, accusing the president of using executive fiat to rewrite the law.

Harrold Supt. David Thweatt said, Washingtons mandate doesnt fit our schools.

He called the policy created to block the federal directive necessary to protect the safety, dignity and security of the children.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Other opponents of the federal directive in Texas also praised the lawsuit, including Jonathan Saenz, president of the Austin-based conservative advocacy group Texas Values.

Our state leaders have been forced to respond to protect the safety of our children. And we know what voters think about this: a very similar issue was pushed in Houston and the voters rejected it, Saenz said, referring to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which failed by a wide margin in November.

Transgender advocates immediately condemned the lawsuit and Paxton, noting that he is facing federal securities-fraud charges on top of a similar state criminal indictment.

Kathy Miller, president of the Austin-based nonpartisan religious liberties watchdog group Texas Freedom Network, called the lawsuit shameful and accused Paxton of bullying transgender students in our public schools.

Foolishness and fear have taken center stage, Manny Garcia, deputy executive director of the states Democratic party, said in a statement, adding, Hate has no place in Texas.

Dena Iverson, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that, While the Department will review the complaint, the federal government has strong legal foundations to uphold the civil rights of transgender Americans.

This month, the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over the states law curbing transgender access to public restrooms.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

ALSO

U.S. attorney general defends lawsuit aimed at overturning North Carolinas bathroom law

Ahead of California primary, Clinton focuses on Trump as Sanders seeks to prolong the Bern

White House will showcase school arts program and feature Los Angeles students

mhennessyfiske@tribpub.com

UPDATES:

9:02 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from a Justice Department spokeswoman.
U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch visited North Carolina on Tuesday and vigorously defended her decision to sue her home state over its so-called bathroom law, saying the statute amounted to state-sanctioned discrimination against a vulnerable group of citizens.

In a news conference and interview, Lynch refused to yield to complaints cast hours earlier by about three dozen black pastors who sharply criticized her for linking the fight over transgender rights to past civil rights struggles.

While the civil rights movement, certainly in this state, focused on racial discrimination, civil rights and human rights are not limited to any one particular issue or any one group of people, Lynch told reporters.

Advertisement

Where there are people who feel victimized and are in fact victimized and made vulnerable simply because of a physical characteristic over which they have no control, that is exactly what the civil rights laws are meant to cover, she said.

North Carolina in March became the first state to pass a law that said multiple-occupancy public bathrooms or changing facilities must be designated for and only used by individuals based on their biological sex.

More than half a dozen states are weighing similar restrictions.

The law also blocks local governments from allowing transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their sexual identity.

The statute applies to bathrooms in state government offices and facilities, including libraries, airports, universities and schools, and highway rest stops. It does not apply to bathrooms in private businesses.

The Justice Department filed a federal suit on May 9 to overturn the law, saying it violated federal civil rights and education equality laws.

The law and federal lawsuit have ignited intense controversy and exposed a cultural rift over the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender individuals.

In announcing the lawsuit two weeks ago, Lynch highlighted its significance to the Obama administration by linking the legal action to the civil rights movement.

Lynchs position irked some civil rights activists, and about 40 black pastors held a rally Tuesday in Raleigh, the state capital, calling the attorney generals comparison offensive and disrespectful, according to local media reports.

The rally occurred as Lynch was in Fayetteville, about 60 miles south of Raleigh, to assess progress made by local police in response to a Justice Department report encouraging it to improve use-of-force policies, community relations and record keeping.

During the daylong series of meetings, she spoke with high school students, toured the police departments headquarters building and was briefed on crime-tracking databases and body cameras.

She also held an hourlong forum with local police officials, law enforcement experts and community leaders at Fayetteville State University.

The meeting was in a building where state law barred transgender men and women from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.

Its important we are in a school, she said in an interview. As we all know, schools are a time of transition. Its hard enough to go through the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood dealing with all of the issues that kids face. Overlay that with being transgender and trying to find your way in this world and society when all you want to do is figure out who you are and be the best person you can be.

Twitter: @delwilber
Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades.

Authorities responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in what police described as a riot.

During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers.

Advertisement

The banners included the messages Trump is Fascist and Weve heard enough.

At one point, a female protester was dragged from the stands by security officers. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Albuquerque on Tuesday. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

Trump responded as he often does, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to Go home to mommy.

He said of one demonstrator: How old is this kid? Then he provided his own answer: Still wearing diapers.

Trumps supporters responded with chants of Build that wall!

The altercations left glass smashed at the entrance of the convention center.

During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trumps catchphrase, Make America Great Again.

Tuesday marked Trumps first stop in New Mexico, home to the largest Latino population in the U.S. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Assn. and the nations only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.

We have to get your governor to get going. Shes got to do a better job, OK? he said, adding: Hey, maybe Ill run for governor of New Mexico. Ill get this place going.

The governors office responded, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.

The potshots werent about policy, they were about politics, spokesman Michael Lonergan said in a written response. And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today.

Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.

Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.

This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups, he said of the demonstrators.

Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was arrested, police said.

Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in the protests because she believes Trump is attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she thinks he is using them as scapegoats for the nations problems.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

MORE ON CAMPAIGN 2016

Bernie Sanders: Disney is not such a happy place for its workers

Donald Trump has done the unthinkable: Unite Silicon Valley

Tommy Chong goes from harsh to mellow after Bernie Sanders snub

UPDATES:

May 25 12:09 a.m.: This story was updated with details from the protest scene.

This story was originally posted at 8:22 p.m. May 24.
Clinton says Trumps words endanger Americans

Hillary Clinton hammered Donald Trumps foreign policy on Wednesday, saying the presumptive GOP presidential nominees rhetoric endangered Americans, served as a recruiting tool for the Islamic State terrorist group and showed a profound lack of understanding of global affairs.

Here is where Im especially concerned about Donald Trump, Clinton told hundreds of supporters at a union hall rally in Buena Park. Just in the last few weeks, hes attacked our closest ally, Britain. He has praised the dangerous dictator of North Korea. He has advocated pulling out of NATO, our strongest military alliance. He has suggested its OK with him if more countries get nuclear weapons. Hes even gone so far as to say well maybe he would use nuclear weapons against ISIS, which is not even a state. He has said we should return to torture, and he wants to ban all Muslims from coming into our country, a country founded on religious freedom. And thats just the beginning.

Clinton said Islamic State has used Trumps condemnations of Muslims in propaganda videos, putting Americans and their allies abroad in jeopardy.

These words have consequences, Clinton said. The reality show doesnt end and the new show comes on. People remember; they listen.

Clinton described her own role in helping negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and said it would have been near impossible if a politician were using the kind of language Trump does. She also recounted advising President Obama to send a Navy SEAL team to kill Osama bin Laden, a decision the president ultimately made after listening to several points of view among his advisors. She described the presidents decision-making process as thoughtful and deliberate, traits she called crucial at a time of global crises.

We live in a dangerous world, Clinton said. We need a steady, strong hand in order to make the best decisions.

Clinton also criticized Trumps plan to build an enormous border wall, saying the money should be spent on a massive new infrastructure program that would create millions of jobs while fixing crumbling roads, bridges, airports and schools.

Campaigning in California in advance of its June 7 primary, Clinton never mentioned Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic nomination. Nor did she mention the State Department inspector generals report that faulted her for her email practices while secretary of State, an ongoing controversy that Republicans have bashed her for.

Clinton was accompanied by actress Jamie Lee Curtis and was interrupted at one point by two men in the audience who had took off their shirts to reveal Clintons campaign logo and Hillary is perfect! painted on their chests.

As a police officer approached to ask them to leave, they called out to Clinton asking to stay.

As long as they dont take anything else off, she said, as the crowd laughed. You got to make split decisions, thats what leadership is all about.

She later took a picture with the men, but declined hugs.
When the four-month-long leak from the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field was finally plugged in February, Los Angeles County health officials expected that Porter Ranch residents would no longer suffer from the nausea, headaches, nosebleeds and skin rashes that had forced thousands of people from their homes.

But weeks after the gas stopped flowing and the odor diminished, residents were still experiencing symptoms. County health officials commissioned tests of 101 houses in Porter Ranch and 11 outside the Porter Ranch area. The standard air quality sampling found nothing out of the ordinary. But tests of dust in houses near Aliso Canyon found metal contaminants consistent with those found in the well-drilling fluid that was used in attempts to plug the leaking well at the Aliso Canyon facility.

Even though the contaminants, which included barium, manganese, vanadium, aluminum and iron, were found in low levels, they could still be causing short-term problems, according to a county health analysis. For example, barium can cause eye, nose, throat and skin irritation  the very symptoms that many Porter Ranch residents have been complaining of. Health officials believe the chemicals used to try to stop the leak were spewed into the air and settled as dust in surrounding homes, and that their lingering presence is making people sick.

Advertisement

FULL COVERAGE: Porter Ranch gas leak >>

Last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Southern California Gas Co., which owns the Aliso Canyon facility, to pay to clean the insides of up to 2,500 homes in Porter Ranch. On Sunday, the county health department ordered the utility to halt clean-up work because its contractors were not following protocols, which include using specialized vacuum cleaners, wet cleaning the walls and clearing ductwork. One resident told the Los Angeles Daily News that the cleaners hired by the gas company were dusting with dry cloths and didnt have special filters to absorb the dust.

County officials have been focused on the Aliso Canyon catastrophe, and their vigilance in protecting residents is commendable. But why stop at Porter Ranch? The fact is, people living near oil-drilling sites throughout Los Angeles County have experienced the same symptoms as Porter Ranch residents, year after year. Yet there has been little investigation into what, specifically, is making them sick or how to alleviate their suffering.

Despite the obvious risks of living next to oil and gas operations that use and emit toxic chemicals, there has been surprisingly little investigation into the potential health effects. A state-mandated study last year found that the public health impacts associated with proximity to oil and gas production have not been measured in California. Health officials said that usually when residents complain about pollution from industrial operations, regulators look for elevated levels of chemicals in the air around the site and homes. If the air quality is OK, the investigation typically ends. But the Porter Ranch situation shows that air sampling doesnt necessarily tell the whole story, and that more extensive testing can reveal that residents might still be living with contamination that can make them ill.

Porter Ranch was an extreme case; the damaged storage well was the worst methane leak in U.S. history, and gas company contractors tried unconventional ways to stop the flow of gas, including using barrels of heavy drilling mud in an attempt to plug the leak. County officials think that the mud was spewed out at high pressure, dropping oily residue on cars and homes as far as three miles away from the well, and depositing the contaminated dust in peoples homes. But what health officials are learning in Porter Ranch could have implications for oil-drilling operations elsewhere in Los Angeles County, where similar drilling fluids and chemicals are used and homes are much closer, sometimes just 100 to 400 feet away.

Now that health officials have evidence that chemicals associated with oil and gas drilling can accumulate in indoor dust and cause short-term effects even at low levels, they need to take seriously the complaints of residents living next to urban oil sites elsewhere and investigate whether they too are exposed to contamination in their homes. Regulators ought to be as attentive and vigilant to the impacts oil and gas operations have on neighbors throughout Los Angeles as theyve been to the residents of Porter Ranch.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

MORE:

Southern California Gas Co. ordered to stop cleaning Porter Ranch-area homes

Protesters stage sit-in at Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility

80 attorneys in one courtroom help Porter Ranch residents defeat gas company in one battle
The United States is not friendly to women who get pregnant. It has the worst record among advanced nations on mandatory maternity leave, and in most American cities, child-care costs now exceed a familys rent. The Economic Policy Institute divided the nation into 618 budget areas; in 500 of them, child care for two kids costs more than housing.

Family leave programs and child-care support are energetically backed by liberals. Hillary Clinton just wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post pledging to provide incentives to improve the situation. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced federal legislation mandating paid family leave. If conservatives are wise, they will join in the effort. This is especially true for those who are antiabortion: They should want mothers to have the resources to help them keep their babies.

Most women who have abortions already have a child, and many millions report some combination of financial and work concerns as a significant factor in their decision to terminate a pregnancy. More than 40% of women who head families have incomes below the poverty line. If you are choosing between having a child and having the resources to support your family, is it any wonder that abortion becomes a desperate option?

Advertisement

At least some Republicans seem open to finding solutions to these problems  we might call them pro-life first, small-government second. Marco Rubio, for instance, proposed both increasing child tax credits and incentivizing businesses to provide paid family leave. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress, also has proposed more work/parenting flexibility  including allowing private-sector workers to access comp time as paid family leave.

Paul Ryan, speaker of the House and de facto leader of the Republican Party, is in the process of evolving away from a makers versus takers approach to the role of government. He suggests generously funding social programs administrated by nimble local governments rather than the distant, one-size-fits-all federal bureaucracy. This approach puts him in a good position to express his Catholic faith  which insists that economic structures must be changed to permit mothers the opportunity to pursue their vocations at work and at home.

Programs that do help women as mothers and workers are sometimes criticized by conservatives as actually undermining that very goal. For instance, when mandatory unpaid family leave was passed by Congress in the 1990s, some believed it would lead to companies hiring fewer women. In reality, rates of hiring women increased. Would paid family leave be any different? It has worked out well for such economic powerhouses as Germany and the United Kingdom, and for California, which has had mandatory paid family leave for nearly a decade. A study by the Center for Economic Policy Research found that 96% of employers said the state law had been cost-neutral or saved them money.

Despite such evidence, these kinds of programs violate the extremist small-government orthodoxy of the Republican Party. Even if Democrats were to win the presidency this year, and a majority in the House and the Senate, the GOP would almost certainly filibuster bills that meaningfully addressed paid family leave and child-care costs.

That means that Democrats who want to see such bills pass need to come up with a carrot to get moderate Republicans on board. A nearly perfect one exists: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which was passed by the House last year but filibustered by Senate Democrats.

The bill would ban elective abortions past the 20th week of pregnancy. The United States is extreme in allowing such abortions in the first place; it is one of only seven countries in the world that permit abortions beyond 20 weeks. Though there is legitimate debate among biologists about when a fetus can feel pain, the Pain-Capable Acts 20-week ban is common-sense legislation that would catch up our abortion policy with France, Britain, Germany and most of the rest of the civilized world.

But Democrats are also trapped by party orthodoxy, and any action that curtails abortion rights is forbidden. Clinton used to emphasize that abortion should be rare; Democrats now parse her words, ready to attack if shes seen to stray from a no restrictions stance.

If there is one thing this election cycle has shown, it is that the orthodoxies of both parties are being challenged. Indeed, a political realignment may be underway that will dramatically change the structures and assumptions of U.S. politics.

This political realignment also could free moderate Democrats and Republicans to dissent from their parties hidebound positions and work together to enact legislation that reflects what Americans want to see done. Most Americans  81%, according to one poll, including 65% of Republicans  want help with child care and paid family leave. And a 2016 Marist poll found that 77% (including 79% of women and 71% of those who are antiabortion) say the law can protect both mother and baby.

Charles C. Camosy, an associate professor at Fordham University, is author of Beyond the Abortion Wars and a board member of Democrats for Life.

MORE ON THIS ISSUE

Message to Oklahoma: Give up on your unconstitutional abortion ban

When do fetuses feel pain? Question puts Utah abortion law and doctors at odds

Why insurers oppose a fantastic proposal to let California women have a years supply of birth control

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Democrats hoped this presidential election would be a cakewalk. In their eyes, the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, spent most of the spring alienating big chunks of the electorate, beginning with women. Meanwhile, the presumptive Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has run a careful, well-funded, well-honed campaign. What could go wrong?

And yet, in a spate of reputable surveys Trump has suddenly erased the advantage Clinton had held all year. The average of major polls compiled by the website RealClearPolitics shows the two candidates tied with 43% each. In at least three polls, Trump has even pulled ahead  although by a slim margin. Thats been enough to send some Democrats into a swivet. But they shouldnt panic.

First of all, polls in May dont have much predictive value about an election thats more than five months away.

Advertisement

Four years ago, in May 2012, Mitt Romney was tied with President Obama in the RealClearPolitics average, just as Trump and Clinton are tied today. In November, Romney lost by four percentage points.

In May 2008, John McCain was only a little behind Obama, according to the same index. In November, McCain lost by seven percentage points.

Or go all the way back to May 1980, when then-President Carter held a forbidding 12-point lead over Republican challenger Ronald Reagan in one survey. In November, Reagan won by a wide margin

Theres one big reason Trump is doing better than expected in the polls: Republican voters have rallied behind him faster than some analysts expected.

Many GOP leaders, beginning with Romney, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and presidential runner-up Ted Cruz, have refused to endorse the apparent nominee  but that hasnt stopped rank-and-file conservatives from closing ranks. In an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released this week, Trumps support among Republicans in a head-to-head contest with Clinton jumped to 86%, up from 72% a month earlier.

Democrats, by contrast, are still divided between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In the same poll, only about two-thirds of Sanders voters were willing to say they would vote for Clinton in November if she wins the nomination. Her support among Democrats has actually declined slightly, from 87% a month ago to 84% now, and so has her backing among independents.

That depresses Clintons overall number and makes her look weak  but its probably only a temporary weakness.

If history is any guide, almost all of those Sanders voters will move into Clintons column once she is actually the nominee  especially if Sanders keeps his promise to campaign for Clinton (or against Trump) in the fall.

Sanders people say they wont vote for her now, but theyll get over it, predicts William Schneider, a pollster and political scientist at Virginias George Mason University who has been analyzing presidential campaigns since 1976.

One more factor that should help Clinton: Obama has regained some of his lost popularity. In recent polls, the presidents job approval has reached 51%, its highest level since his second inauguration in 2013. That means Obama would be an asset to the Democratic nominee in the fall.

All that said, Clinton still faces serious challenges.

After six years of political gridlock, many voters are yearning for change in Washington, and that should help Trump.

After six years of political gridlock, many voters are yearning for change in Washington, and that should help Trump. In the NBC-Journal poll, 53% of voters said they would prefer a president who would bring major changes to Washington, even if it is not possible to predict what the changes may be. Only 43% said theyd prefer a steady approach [with] fewer changes.

She has become the candidate of the status quo, and thats not a happy place to be, Schneider said of Clinton.

Clinton also has a problem with independent and moderate voters (two different but not always distinct categories). Several polls have shown her losing to Trump among independents. Among moderates, who ought to be a natural constituency for her, the NBC-Journal poll found her running roughly even with the Republican.

The more she pulls to the left because of pressure from Sanders, the less appealing she is for independents in the center, said David Winston, a former advisor to Newt Gingrich. She has to find a way to appeal to Sanders supporters and also build a majority coalition. Thats not an easy task.

Guy Cecil, who runs the biggest super PAC supporting Clinton, disagreed. Obama lost independents in 2012, but he still won the election, he noted.

Finally, a problem both candidates face: Theyre the least-popular candidates ever to win their parties nominations. Both are viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters  the first time that has happened in the history of modern polling.

Democrats and Republicans alike appear driven this year by what political scientists call negative partisanship: They may not like their standard-bearer much, but they loathe the other sides candidate with a passion.

So far, both candidates appear to accept that glum sentence. Both Clinton and Trump are running as the lesser of two evils.

The polls that show Trumps support rising and Clintons slipping are neither mirages nor predictions. Theyre snapshots of a moving target. Its too early to panic. But its never too early to worry.

doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com

Twitter: @DoyleMcManus

MORE

State Department audit faults Hillary Clinton on email security

Trumps backers and critics square off in Anaheim; 1 protester ejected as police urge calm

Hillary Clinton is ready to take on Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders supporters say not so fast.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Donald Trump isnt the only presidential candidate with credibility problems. The State Departments inspector general delivered his report on Hillary Clintons emails on Wednesday -- and it wasnt good news for the presumptive Democratic candidate.

In spare bureaucratic language, the inspector general, an Obama appointee, said the former secretary of State clearly violated State Department policies when she insisted on using a personal e-mail server instead of the governments email system.

On several points, the inspector generals findings refuted claims Clinton has made about the way she handled the issue.

Advertisement

Three examples:

Clinton has long said she used a personal email server solely as a matter of convenience. But the result wasnt very convenient; because of State Department spam filters, Clintons emails werent getting through to her own department. According to the report, when an aide proposed giving her a government email address, Clinton agreed, but added: I dont want any risk of the personal being accessible.

Clinton has emphasized that the law did not prohibit her from using personal email for official business  and thats true. But the inspector general notes that State Department rules required her to get permission to use a personal server, and she never complied.

And Clinton has said she turned over all her business-related emails as soon as the State Department asked for them. The inspector general says her submission of documents was incomplete and later than the law requires.

The inspector generals report did not examine whether Clintons use of personal email had compromised any highly classified information; thats the subject of an FBI investigation thats still underway. But the report did note, rather dryly, that the use of non-departmental systems creates significant security risks.

One more thing: Clinton and several of her top aides refused to submit to interviews with the inspector general.

Most of those findings arent surprising. Its been clear for months that Clinton skirted the rules. She has even acknowledged, once or twice, that using a private server wasnt a good idea.

And thats why the official response to the report from the Clinton campaign was so surprising  and disappointing.

An official statement from campaign spokesman Brian Fallon stopped just short of claiming that the inspector generals report was actually a vindication.

While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the inspector general documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email, the statement said. (Actually, the report said there were significant differences in those other cases.)

The statement included no direct response to the inspector generals main findings, and certainly no acknowledgement of error.

Instead, the campaigns message boiled down to: Everybody did it, and most of the criticism is just politics.

It read like spin. And for a candidate with a credibility problem, it probably didnt help.

MORE

State Department audit faults Hillary Clinton on email security

Trumps backers and critics square off in Anaheim; 1 protester ejected as police urge calm

Hillary Clinton is ready to take on Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders supporters say not so fast.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
The party hats and confetti have turned to dust in the California GOPs pantry.

The last Republican elected to the U.S. Senate was Pete Wilson, in 1988. No Republican has held statewide office since former muscle man Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sneaked out of Sacramento in 2011 with the ratings of a weakling.

The percentage of Republican voters is shrinking, and by many measures, the GOPs IV bag is almost empty.

Advertisement

But UC Irvine student Peter Van Voorhis refuses to believe it.

Im a 20-year-old Republican currently on the ballot for public office, he said in a recent email, in which he promised to shake up his party.

Im running because I want to get more young people voting and engaged in politics.

Thats a confident young lad, I thought. And he wasnt asking whether I wanted to sit down with him, but when.

My beliefs are important enough to meet face to face, he wrote. What time is best for you to meet today?

I called to ask what hes running for.

Orange County Central Committee, Van Voorhis said.

Thats when I knew I had to meet him.

Id guess that more people can tell you the name of Richard Nixons dog than can tell you what a county central committee is, or does.

You see the names of candidates on your ballot, along with something like pick no more than six, and lets be honest about it: You toss a coin, or close your eyes, or vote based on a first name thats the same as your cousins.

But heres a kid who wants to be a part of the undercarriage of the party machine, aspiring to an unpaid job in which hed join other loyalists to register voters, man the phones, knock on doors and get out the vote for candidates and ballot measures.

So I motored down to Irvine to meet him. It was Monday morning, and he was about to decorate the UC Irvine campus with 200 fliers  printed at a copy shop  asking for the vote of fellow students on June 7.

Social and fiscal conservatism are what I stand for, said Van Voorhis, who greeted me in the student center lobby with two buddies and fellow members of the college Republican Club.

Van Voorhis was plainly dressed, hair chopped to the wood on the sides. On his flier photo, he stands before a California flag like the Chamber of Commerce man of the year, perfectly folded pocket square poking out of a smart blue blazer.

The Carlsbad native said his parents are Republicans, but not as aggressively as he is. He told me he started an instructional video company  how to ride scooters  at 14, and hes working on two start-ups now with a roommate.

Ronald Reagan is one of his heroes. Ted Cruz was his man in the GOP presidential primary.

Social conservatism just means believing that were one nation under God, and believing in American exceptionalism and traditional American values, Van Voorhis said when I asked for a definition.

Hes pro-life, neutral on gay marriage.

I asked about a recent flap on campus involving an upcoming event, Social Justice is Cancer, featuring a speaker sponsored by campus conservatives. Van Voorhis said he believes diversity of thought is important on a college campus and free speech is imperative.

As for fiscal conservatism: It means believing in free markets and believing government should be limited.

Those arent exactly fresh ideas, but theyre among his core beliefs. And he thinks the splintered Republican Party, with its libertarian, tea party, old guard and Donald Trump factions can solidify around its traditional principles -- as well as around opposition to a Democratic Party that is itself currently splintered between centrist and leftist wings.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

I think hes spot-on, said Sean Walsh, who worked under Govs. Schwarzenegger and Pete Wilson. Preserve the core and move on.

None of that will be easy given the Democrats grip on minority support and the growing Latino electorate in California. But Fred Whitaker, chair of the Orange County Republican Party, sees some positive signs, including participation by Van Voorhis and other upstarts.

Theres hope, Whitaker said, if youre willing to be like Peter and look at the long haul, and build from the ground up.

Van Voorhis is no cinch to grab one of six open seats in a 16-candidate scrum in the 74th Assembly District, Whitaker said. Older candidates whove been engaged for a while are better known to party faithful.

But hes doing all the right stuff, said Whitaker, who has been impressed by Van Voorhis volunteer work for the central committee and for the Lincoln Club. Whether he wins or loses were going to keep him plugged in. The next time seats are open, the ones who are known are the ones who can get elected.

And thats exactly what Van Voorhis is thinking. He wants to climb the ladder in politics and this is just the start.

The candidate forgot scissors on his campus leafleting trek, so he had to bite off pieces of tape to slap his mug on walls.

His helpers were George Novshadyan and Gino Yu, both of whom are Trump-ets.

Van Voorhis deflected questions about Trump as a seasoned politician might, saying he wanted to concentrate on his own campaign.

When courting young voters, Van Voorhis told me, its not enough to say you believe in free markets and limited government, as the older generation might.

Its better to ask if theyre buried under student loan debt and say: Having a healthy economy that works for everyone will mean having jobs so you can pay off your loans.

Van Voorhis said he couldnt bring himself to date a Democrat whos extreme enough to be a Bernie Sanders supporter, though he wouldnt rule out a Hillary Clinton supporter.

But Id definitely want to marry a Republican, he said as he pasted about 20 fliers onto the wall of a bridge.

He explained to Novshadyan that a single flier is easy for a passerby to miss, but if you do volume, youve got a fighting chance.

I wonder how many votes per poster well get, Van Voorhis said. If we get one vote per poster, thatd be pretty solid. Wed just need to put 10,000 of them up, and we win.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATstevelopez

READ MORE

Professors are overwhelmingly liberal. Do universities need to change hiring practices?

Portland schools tried to change how they teach climate change  and ignited a firestorm

How to pass federal paid family leave and limit abortions
As the primary season whirls to an end, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are two planets occupying orbits that only occasionally cross.

Both presidential candidates have coursed across California in recent days, pleading with voters to give them the victory each needs in the June 7 Democratic primary. Both warned of challenges ahead that are fraught with danger.

But they are different challenges, as their recent California events show.

Advertisement

Clinton is aiming at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and the threat she says he would pose to the nation. She has honed her pitch to emphasize what she says are his failings as a candidate and would-be president. She is running on her merit, to be sure, but also as the only alternative to Trump winning the White House.

Sanders is focused on the nearly impossible task of overtaking Clinton between now and the summer convention. If he is not yet crafting an elegy for his presidential hopes, he increasingly is describing his goals as the tenets of a movement that could outlive his candidacy. He scaldingly targets both Republicans and Democrats as consumed by corruption.

I think its important that people look and compare, Clinton said Tuesday, speaking from a stage in a UC Riverside gymnasium. Because were going to take on Donald Trump. He can go ahead and engage in insulting and scapegoating and demeaning and bullying people, but I think the American voter is a lot smarter than to fall for that, dont you?

She returned to the theme on Wednesday in Buena Park, where she said that in Trumps world, he gets his, and you get hurt.

TRAIL GUIDE: All the latest news on the 2016 presidential campaign >>

A few miles away and a few hours before Clinton spoke, Sanders closed his speech at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium with an emphatic cry for persistence among his avid followers.

My point is: What seems impossible today, 20 years from now people will say Oh, no big deal, he said after a long explication on the social struggles in Americas past. What the system always tried to make us feel is that real change is impossible.

Bottom line, he said a moment later, is if we have the vision and if we have the courage, we can transform this country and make it into the country that all of us know it can be.

Sanders reiterated that thrust Tuesday night in San Bernardino and Wednesday in Cathedral City.

The challenges they confront differ, and so do the reasons the candidates need a California victory.

Clinton needs only a handful of additional delegates to clinch the nomination, but big wins on the last major day of the campaign would hasten the party unification she will need if she is to defeat Trump in November.

Sanders received some good news Wednesday night when a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found Clinton leading by a mere 2 percentage points among likely primary voters in the state.

A Sanders win on June 7 would revive at least in part his long-shot argument that party superdelegates should flip to him to increase the odds of a Democratic victory over Trump. More realistically, a solid victory would strengthen his hand in debates over the Democrats future.

For both, the divergent paths at the end of the primary season echo a campaign in which they have presented themselves all along in very different ways, based on their strengths and their needs.

Clinton is the establishment candidate in a non-establishment year, the policy nerd in a campaign that so far has favored bombast.

But if her toughness is not questioned by voters, her humanity and trustworthiness has been. And that has driven her to spend much of the campaign in coffee shops and bakeries and other cozy settings where she can more intimately demonstrate both knowledge and compassion.

Sanders has struggled to win over minorities and other key Democratic groups but, even so, has captured young and liberal Americans. His provocative call to political revolution has drawn giant crowds, which he has used to stoke further momentum, like a wildfire creating its own weather system.

Those differences mask abundant similarities when it comes to their positions and the issues they emphasize.

In their back-to-back speeches Tuesday, both candidates pledged to overturn the Supreme Court decision that allowed almost unfettered fundraising from interest groups and promised to push for immigration reform that includes citizenship for those in the country illegally.

Both said they would work to reverse pay inequity for women, fund more addiction treatment centers, protect abortion rights and increase spending on roads, water systems and other basic government functions.

On other topics they have differences in approach but not goals: expanding healthcare coverage, raising the minimum wage and pursuing policies to limit climate change.

Sanders events have had a curiously split personality in recent days. The candidate has curbed his criticism of Clinton, going through his litany of policy proposals without the lancing critiques of her he prominently featured in states whose contests occurred earlier in the primary season. But his supporters retain a confident enthusiasm that he will defy electoral math to become the nominee.

Starting hours before his arrival at the Riverside event, the crowd that reached into the thousands spiraled for blocks adjacent to the 1929 auditorium. Inside, they chanted: What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like, and Feel the Bern, among other slogans, as upbeat music blared from the speakers.

Deafening applause greeted Sanders arrival and broke out in regular spurts. His speech included a fusillade at bipartisan targets.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

The political establishment and another favorite targetthe corporate media  arent asking the right questions, he said, and then commenced asking them.

How does it happen that in America for the last 35 years, the middle class has been shrinking, shrinking and shrinking? he asked, defining a period that included the tenures of the last two Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

How does it happen in America today we have 47 million people living in poverty  we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any other major country on Earth? And yet at the same time we are seeing a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires?

The answers, he said, lay in a bipartisan acquiescence to moneyed special interests.

What is going on in Washington and state legislatures is that elected officials are beholden to the billionaire class, he said. They couldnt care less about what happens to working people, or poor people or the elderly or children or the sick. Thats not their interest. Their interest is hustling for campaign contributions from the wealthy and doing the bidding of the wealthy.

Sanders, who was a longtime independent, has spent most of his political life untethered to a party, and Clinton her entire adult life inside the Democratic structure, so her argument has a far more partisan cast.

She credited Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama  both of whom, she noted wryly, she knows well  for boosting the economy. Trumps policies would push the nation into another economic downturn, she said.

Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Track the delegate race | Sign up for the newsletter

When I think about the 90s, I think about  new jobs and incomes that went up for everybody, not just people at the top, and thats important because thats what we need again, dont we? she said. We need more good jobs with rising incomes.

Trump lacked an understanding of Americans economic struggles, she said, and would represent a threat to the country and its allies as commander in chief.

Weve got to produce positive results, but weve also got to protect America, she said, and then raised the specter of the terrorism visited upon a nearby city last year.

Were not that far from San Bernardino, are we? Weve got to protect the American people, and we have to continue to lead the world with strength and steadiness  and when you think of what Trump has done just in the last few weeks, it should give anybody pause.

Both lavished praise on the state that may deliver a final judgment on June 7.

I hope very much that this incredibly beautiful and progressive state, our largest state, tells the entire world  and the world will be watching  that California believes in the political revolution, Sanders said Tuesday.

And on the importance of a victory here, at least, Clintons orbit crossed with his.

I need your help in this upcoming primary because we want to finish strong and we want to send that message that were going to fight every day, she said. I will fight for you, I will fight for us, every single day.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker. For more on politics, go to latimes.com/decker and subscribe to the free daily newsletter.

ALSO:

Hundreds of thousands more Californians have registered to vote, but what does that mean for June 7?

Two white-haired politicians--Bernie Sanders and Bill Clinton--signal a California truce

Updates on California politics

Live coverage from the campaign trail

UPDATES:

9:13 p.m.: The story was updated with information about a poll on the California Democratic race.

2:23 p.m.: The story was updated with information on campaign events Wednesday.

The story was first published at 6:52 a.m.
As Los Angeles activist and aspiring officeholder Mimi Soltysik ponders the Democratic ballot in the race for the White House, the words he blurts out include warmonger, imperialist and status quo.

And thats before he even turns his attention to Hillary Clinton.

Not every leftist is enamored with Bernie Sanders. Some see him as a sellout.

Advertisement

He has had a long history of support for war, said Soltysik, who is running for president under the banner of the Socialist Party USA. And he has also had a healthy support for Israel, which we tend to see as an apartheid state. Some things he has done and advocated for are completely incompatible with a responsible socialist program.

Sanders may have burst into the countrys consciousness over the last year as the unlikely socialist presidential candidate, but some on the far left still find he has too much in common with Clinton, the establishment favorite. Yet even the absolutists like Soltysik, who envisions a collectivist state in which there is no private ownership, no military and no centralized police force, are scurrying to seize the momentum Sanders has built around the idea of a political revolution before he closes ranks with Democrats.

Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Track the delegate race | Sign up for the newsletter

This is such a critical moment for the U.S. left, Soltysik said as he leaned forward in a threadbare, leopard-print chair that sat in the middle of an apartment cluttered with alt-rock memorabilia and cat toys. I dont mean the Democratic Party left. I mean the left. He has opened the door for the country to hear from radical-slash-revolutionary perspectives.

Sanders finds himself in an awkward place as such activists seek to lure the political neophytes he mobilized their way. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein implored Sanders in a letter last month to ditch the Democrats and explore an historic collaboration to keep building the revolution beyond the reach of corporate party clutches. She said in an interview that Sanders never responded.

Asked before he took the stage at a Santa Monica rally Monday whether he was considering the offer, Sanders reply was curt with a hint of grumpiness: No.

Stein is undeterred. She envisions a migration toward the Green Party, whether Sanders is on board or not.

This is going to be a huge game-changer for the Green Party, she said. We have seen many former Greens coming back, and new Greens coming in that have been dismayed by the treatment of the Sanders campaign at the hands of the Democratic Party.

Stein, a Massachusetts physician who won about half a million votes while running as a Green in the 2012 presidential race, points to the chaos at the Nevada Democratic Convention, where Sanders supporters became so enraged by the way delegates were awarded that vulgarities were shouted, a scuffle broke out and graffiti was spray-painted on the party headquarters building.

Cops are being called out on his supporters amid the outright and outrageous manipulation of the system, Stein said. Bernie is learning firsthand, in a painful way, why it is that the social movement needs an independent political voice. That voice will not be allowed inside of political parties funded by predatory banks, war-profiteering companies, fossil-fuel giants and the usual suspects.

The Green Party harbors few illusions about winning the White House. But if even a small portion of Sanders voters cast ballots for Stein, it could prove transformative for the organization. It has struggled to meet the threshold for public financing of its campaigns. Green Party U.S. co-founder Howie Hawkins has been doing back-of-the-envelope calculations that conclude if 1 of every 5 Sanders supporters votes Green in November, the party will get there.

Hawkins said the wrinkle in the plan, though, is Sanders himself, who is determined to keep his supporters in the Democratic Party. Hawkins, an upstate New York UPS worker who has known Sanders since handing out leaflets for the Vermonters 1972 gubernatorial campaign on the Liberty Union Party ticket, calls Sanders bid to move the Democrats to the left a fools errand.

Sanders may get pilloried by the right for his policy agenda, but it is on the far left where there is the most skepticism for his motives. Hawkins still resents Sanders maneuvering in Vermont, where he accuses the democratic socialist of a political nonaggression pact with the local establishment. He says those on the left who are disappointed with Sanders plans to stay aligned with the Democrats do not know Bernie that well.

Some of us are not surprised or angry because we did not expect anything else from Bernie, he said.

But even if Sanders decided to go Green, some of the activists assembled at a Stop LAPD Spying Coalition gathering last week across from MacArthur Park still would not vote for him. The small event was a big draw for Socialists (with a capital S) who first came together to fight plans by the city to use small drones for police business and now organize against what they charge is unlawful surveillance, intimidation and abuse by law enforcement.

Hes still a capitalist, said Samuel Williams, a 33-year-old union iron worker who was visiting from St. Louis. Classic socialism has nothing to do with capitalism.

After the group feasted on a tray of samosas, it broke into pairs for an exercise in which each person announced his partners hopes for the coalition. The goal of Soltysik, whose T-shirt that day implored Kill Your TV, was the full dismantling of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Back at his apartment, Soltysik had said that the Denmark socialist model that Sanders advocates leaves Socialist Party voters wanting. They are not fans of the Soviet system, either.

Asked to explain what exactly it is they are seeking, Soltysik displays one of his heavily tattooed arms. Nestled among Funkadelics Maggot Brain album cover and a screenshot from the 80s arcade game Tempest is a quote about revolutionary speech from Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the leftist Zapatista rebellion in 1994 seeking rights for indigenous Mexicans.

The Zapatista movement is the closest to an ideal for Soltysik. They have that radical democracy where community is directly involved in decision-making, he said.

So then what would Soltysik do if he were to actually win the presidential race?

We would have to fire ourselves on the first day, he said. You cant do that job without becoming a war criminal.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

ALSO

Evangelicals are the kind of Latinos the GOP could be winning. But probably not with Donald Trump

Analysis: Hundreds of thousands of Californians have signed up to vote, but what that means is anybodys guess

Two white-haired politicians  Bernie Sanders and Bill Clinton  call a California truce
Im Christina Bellantoni, the Essential Politics host today. Lets get started.

Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to send a message to Washington with the results of Californias June 7 primary election. He released a new television ad urging Californians to do just that less than two weeks from now.

What choice do Californians have in this election? Sanders says in the 30-second ad, over footage of workers and students. The biggest one of all. You have the power to choose a new direction for the Democratic Party.

Advertisement

Seema Mehta reports that the campaign wouldnt say how large of an ad buy is behind the spot, but that it would air first in Los Angeles and then in Sacramento and San Francisco. (Sanders told The Times in late March he wouldnt be waging an air war in California, and would instead try to win using the types of rallies hes been holding here all week.)

In Anaheim on Tuesday night at an event across the street from Disneyland, the Vermont senator asked his crowd of fans if they make a living wage working for Disney.

Its an example of what were talking about when we talk about a rigged economy, Sanders said. Disney pays its workers wages that are so low that many of them are forced to live in motels because they cannot afford a decent place to live.

For her part, Hillary Clinton has continued to campaign all but ignoring Sanders.

Speaking at a union hall in Commerce on Tuesday, she attacked Donald Trump as loose cannon whose economic plans would only help billionaires like him.

TRUMP ARRIVES IN CALIFORNIA

Trump today holds a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center and tonight will attend his first big fundraiser to help the Republican Party raise money. If you need a refresher, tickets start at $25,000.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti got in on the action by criticizing Trump ahead of the visit, saying the candidate cant get a free pass for the things hes previously said.

What we cannot do with Donald Trump is normalize him as a candidate, Garcetti told reporters Tuesday. Hes a racist. Hes a bigot. Hes sexist.  He cant just turn into a normal candidate who says some kind of crazy things.

Well cover the Trump rally  and the expected protests  live on our Essential Politics news feed and via @latimespolitics.

INDEPENDENTS ARE WONDERING

Non-partisan voters, the so-called independents who make up 4.1 million of Californias registered voters, might need a little tutorial for the June 7 primary. Its actually sort of complicated  they can vote in the Democratic presidential primary, but only if they request that ballot. They are not allowed to vote in the GOP primary.

John Myers crafted a Q-and-A to help independent voters figure out what they need to do.

SOCIALIST OR SELLOUT?

Evan Halper finds that not every leftist is enamored with Sanders. Some see him as a sellout, particularly card-carrying members of Socialist Party USA.

LABOR UNIONS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS AGAINST BROWNS HOUSING PLAN

At first glance, labor unions and environmentalists wouldnt seem to have much of a direct interest in Gov. Jerry Browns proposal to make it easier to build affordable housing. But as Liam Dillon reports, the two powerful interests are coming out against it.

The main reason? The plan allows housing developments to sidestep some review under the states primary environmental law. Brown, for one, has recently criticized labor for using the laws strict rules to leverage union-friendly deals on construction projects.

In other housing news, state legislators are continuing to push Brown for more affordable housing subsidies, even though the governor has been reluctant to add funding.

AUTHORS AGAINST TRUMP

Stephen King, Junot Diaz and Dave Eggers are among the 600 American authors who came out against Trump in a letter posted on the website Literary Hub.

They wrote that Trump deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society and denigrates women and minorities.

TODAYS ESSENTIALS

-- Sanders is seeking a recount in Kentucky. On May 17, Clinton beat him by 1,924 votes and they each won 27 delegates. You can always track the delegate race in real time here.

-- Trumps rise has put evangelical Latinos in a difficult position.

-- A state transportation funding deal continues to face delays.

-- A proposed ballot measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana could generate more than $1 billion annually for state and local governments, the state Legislative Analysts Office said Tuesday.

-- Assemblyman Ian Calderon has spent $41,500 in political funds to support Proposition 50, an anti-corruption measure put on the ballot in response to issues raised when his uncle, former Sen. Ronald Calderon, was indicted in a bribery case.

-- Two Californians will help to shape the Democratic Party platform

-- Sen. Barbara Boxer will sit down with Merrick Garland Wednesday.

-- What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

LOGISTICS

Miss yesterdays newsletter? Here you go. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.
Trump tosses out red meat in blue California

Donald Trump showed no sign of letting up on his harsh immigration rhetoric Wednesday as he returned to California with a message decidedly out of step with a state that has roundly rejected a hard-line approach to the issue.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee no longer faces a competitive California primary on June 7, but he nonetheless played to his partys base of conservative white voters at a campaign rally in Anaheim.

Build that wall! Trump chanted with the crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center, playing up his vow to seal the border with Mexico.

Trumps rally came as he prepared to tape an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday afternoon in Hollywood, followed by a private campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles. He plans to return to the state Friday to meet with farming executives in Fresno and hold rallies there and in San Diego.

In Anaheim, Trump took shots at his presumed Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who faces a tight California contest against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

She doesnt have the temperament to be president, Trump told a few thousand supporters. Shes got bad judgment. Shes got horribly bad judgment. And that was stated by none other than Crazy Bernie.

Trump criticized Clinton for voting to authorize the Iraq war when she was a U.S. senator and called her handling of Libya as secretary of State a catastrophe.

If she wins, you better get used to it, because youll have nothing but turmoil, he said. And youll have nothing more than four more years of Obama, and you cant take that. Our system and our country cant take it.

Trump suggested Clinton had recently broken her habit of shouting in an attempt to appear more presidential.

Ill be honest with you, I cannot listen to her, he said.

Most notable, however, was Trumps emphasis on illegal immigration at a time when he is trying to broaden his appeal for the general election, particularly in a state where Republicans have paid a heavy price for their tough rhetoric on the issue. The opening speakers at Trumps rally were family members of those allegedly killed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

On stage a while later, Trump pointed to a sign saying, Latinos for Trump.

Youre all here legally, he said. You have houses. You have homes. Were going to keep your houses and your homes. Youre going to have them forever. And your jobs arent going to be taken away by people that are just coming across the border. You dont know where theyre coming from.

Later, Trump said he loves Mexicans.

Theyre going to vote for me like crazy, the ones that are legally in this country, he said. Look, all these Mexicans, theyre voting for Trump.
Political tension ramps up at legislative hearing on Newsoms gun control initiative

Backers of a gun control initiative proposed for the November ballot argued during a legislative forum Tuesday that it is needed to make California safer, while opponents said it will unfairly harm law-abiding gun owners and is primarily aimed at getting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom elected governor.

Newsom turned in 600,000 signatures last week for an initiative that would require background checks for ammunition purchasers, ban large-capacity magazines, make gun thefts a felony and require those convicted of serious crimes to give up their firearms within 14 days.

The Assembly and Senate Public Safety committees held a joint hearing on the proposal Tuesday in anticipation of the measure qualifying.

Craig DeLuz, head of the Firearms Policy Coalition, told lawmakers that most of the provisions in the initiative have been rejected by the Legislature or the governor as too extreme or unworkable.

He said the real purpose of the initiative is to get Newsom elected as governor in 2018.

Its for one individual to get his name in the paper so he can run for higher office, DeLuz told the lawmakers.

That drew a rubuke from state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), chair of the Senate panel.

I do take offense at the personal attacks on the proponents of the intiative, Hancock said during the hearing.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) responded, saying the initiative is unnecessary.

I am equally offended that the person who came up with this initiative isnt here today to address this body, she said. Thats incredibly disrespectful.

Newsom, who has fueded with legislative leaders who are pursuing their own gun control bills, did not attend the hearing, instead participating in a memorial service held for California Highway Patrol officers, a representative said.

Attorneys for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which co-wrote the initiative, told lawmakers it will plug serious loopholes in Californias tough gun laws.

We believe reasonably that more can and should be done to protect California families and keep lethal weapons out of dangerous hands, added Ari Freilich, a staff attorney at the center.

The initiative was criticized by Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michele Hanisee, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles, who predicted many people will not obey the new laws requiring them to get rid of high-capacity magazines.

The initiative places additional burdens on an already overburdened court system, she added.

None of the lawmakers at the hearing commited to endorsing the initiative.

Lawmakers raised questions about the cost of enforcing the initiative, but the Legislative Analysts Office said the bulk of costs may be recovered by fees authorized by the measure.

Hancock said she is interested in alternative approaches to addressing gun violence, including a look at improving mental health services.
Deep in a dark cave in southwestern France lie half a dozen mysterious structures that scientists believe were built by Neanderthals 176,000 years ago -- about 140,000 years before the first modern humans arrived in Europe.

The structures, described Wednesday in the journal Nature, are located in what is known as the Bruniquel Cave. They are made of roughly 400 pieces of stalagmites, all roughly, almost eerily, the same size.

Archaeologists say these mineral formations were probably broken off the cave floor by ancient hands and then deliberately arranged into two large rings and a series of four round piles up to 15 inches high.

Advertisement

If all the pieces were gathered up and placed on a scale, they would weigh 2.4 tons.

See the most-read stories in Science this hour >>

Red and black soot smudges and other evidence of fires can be found inside the structures, but not outside them. That suggests they may have been used to contain fire, perhaps to light the cave.

Experts say the assemblages are unlike anything else in the historical record. It is still unclear exactly what purpose they served -- whether some type of domestic use or a ritual or symbolic behavior.

Regardless, they represent some of the earliest known constructions made by hominids, as well as the earliest known evidence of cave use by early humans. They also suggest that early Neanderthals may have had better control over fire than was previously thought.

And perhaps most intriguingly, the study authors say that the group responsible for the mysterious construction must have had a fairly sophisticated social structure.

Building these structures was a project. It required an objective which has been discussed among several people and enough social organization to assign tasks, said Jacques Jaubert of the University of Bordeaux in France and the first author on the study. Certainly, it was a collective work.

William Rendu, an archaeologist with the French National Center for Scientific Research, who was not involved in the research, said the peculiar arrangement of broken stalagmites, as well as their association with fire, makes it clear that the structures could only have been made by early humans, and not by bears or other animals that probably also used the cave.

In addition, he said, they must have been made by Neanderthals because they were built during a time when only Neanderthals were present in Europe. Modern humans would not arrive in these parts for another 140,000 years.

Finally, because the structures are located in a dark and difficult-to-access cavern 300 yards from the entrance of the cave, this early Neanderthal group must have already mastered the underground world.

This was a big surprise to archaeologists because until now, there has been no evidence of Neanderthals making their way so deep into a cave. Indeed, before this study, the earliest known evidence of hominids occupying deep caverns came from the Chauvet Cave paintings that date back a mere 36,000 years.

It is, in all aspects, a truly extraordinary discovery, said Emmanuel Discamps, an archaeologist at the University of Bergen in Norway who was not involved in the work. Comparable behavior is known for Upper Paleolithic modern humans -- younger than 40,000 years old -- so it bridges the gap between them and us.

Archaeologists know that Neanderthals lived in Eurasia from around 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, but evidence of how they lived has been difficult to find. In a commentary accompanying the study, Marie Soressi, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, explained that part of what makes the finding so thrilling is how the chemistry of the cave ensured that the assemblages were preserved over so many millenniums.

These structures are among the best-preserved constructions known for the whole of the Pleistocene epoch, probably because they were sealed by calcite very soon after they were erected, she wrote. When the best evidence is found in the best-preserved context, it serves as a reminder for archaeologists of how much we depend on preservation.

The site is not new. It was discovered in 1990 by local cavers who had dug through its entrance, which scientists say collapsed sometime in the Pleistocene, a geological epoch that stretched from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. Before those 90s cavers made their way into the darkness, no person had set foot in it for many thousands of years.

The first academic study on the cave was published in 1996 and included a detailed plan of the structures, as well as a single carbon date taken from a burned piece of bone found in the larger of the two ring structures. That particular dating technology suggested it was at least 47,600 years old, but was not capable of looking deeper into the past.

Nearly two decades later, in 2013, a new team of archaeologists including Jaubert, Sophie Verheyden from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and Dominique Genty of Frances National Center for Scientific Research went back to the cave for a closer look.

This time around, they dated seven stalagmites from the two ring structures using a method called uranium series dating. By sampling the calcite that had grown both before and after the stalagmite fragments were broken, the researchers could constrain the date when the structures were built to roughly 176,000 years ago, give or take 2,000 years.

Now that the authors can say with more certainty that these structures were indeed built by Neanderthals, and that they were constructed in the Middle Paleolithic era, they say their next step is to determine how the structures might have been used.

Other experts say the newly published findings bolster the idea that Neanderthals may not have been that different from modern humans. This notion, once considered unthinkable, has been steadily gaining acceptance in archaeological circles.

For me, this, as well as other evidence, seems to support the idea that Neanderthals developed symbolic behavior way before they encountered us, Discamps said. We have to acknowledge the fact that these long-lost cousins did not simply copy us, as some argue. In many aspects, they had a mind shaped just like ours.

Do you love science? I do! Follow me @DeborahNetburn and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

MORE FROM SCIENCE

Meet some amazing animals and plants that are new to science

A single hormone shot put diabetic animals into long-term remission, study says

Found: First-ever evidence of comets beyond the solar system orbiting a sun-like star

Why male spiders need to get their game on -- or die

UPDATES:

6:07 p.m.: The story was updated with comments from Jacques Jaubert of the University of Bordeaux in France, the lead author of the study.

The story was originally published at 10:05 a.m.
Memorial Day looms large in my familys psyche.

My dad served in World War II, my great uncle was gassed in the trenches of France in World War I, and great, great, great uncles represented both sides in the Civil War.

Thats not unusual for citizens of this democracy. My familys journey through two centuries of American history is typical of stories youll find in countless families.

My father was 19 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. And he was there.

It was not only a day that would live in infamy, but would also insure that my parents would meet in 1943. And that I would follow before the wars end. I cant look at those historical occurrences with detachment or indifference.

But thats water under the bridge. Were all tied to earth-shaking  and not so earth-shaking  events.

My dad was an Army PFC that Sunday morning in 1941. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Oahu. A Japanese fighter plane strafed his barracks.

He was a member of the Greatest Generation, a product of the Depression and World War II. When I was in school, it seemed that all my friends had fathers who were veterans. It was so common as to be almost irrelevant.

I dont recall anyone ever going up to Dad and thanking him for his service. That was just assumed, and we were plenty appreciative. No one in my fathers generation ever made a big deal about it.

In recent years, Ive attended many public functions in which members of the audience who served in the Armed Forces were asked to stand and be recognized.

Had that request been made of almost any audience when I was 10  in 1955  a huge percentage would have stood. Not so nowadays.

I was at a Veterans Day church service a couple of years back with about 2,500 other folks. The pastor asked veterans in the audience to stand and be acknowledged. Dads generation, for the most part, wasnt there. Only a couple of dozen of us stood. I was stunned.

It seems to me fewer and fewer Americans take time today to serve their country  in any capacity. But its such an invaluable experience. It leads to greater selflessness.

A few months ago, Hedy and I attended Grandparents Day at our 6-year-old granddaughters private school. Several hundred grandparents were in attendance.

Veterans were asked to stand while the children sang a military medley. I was surprised at the small number of vets in the audience: three ex-GIs, a couple of Marines, two sailors and three Air Force vets.

Serving in the military can be life-changing. It was for me. While serving, I learned to appreciate and love this great country, to value its history, to appreciate the sacrifices and service of its people, to be a team player, to cherish our shared story, to relish our diversity.

And I learned of the huge honor and responsibility of wearing my countrys uniform, particularly overseas. I served as an ambassador of my country, and I took that responsibility seriously.

National service is beneficial to the nation and to the individual.

I joined the Army because countless others in my family had served before me. I never felt my service to be an obligation, and no one in my family pressed me to enlist.

But the pattern was set. I knew I owed America a huge debt. It was my wish to give back to the nation that had so blessed my family.

I joined the Army in 1964 at age 19. I was discharged three years later, a mature and disciplined 22-year-old. After my service, I returned to school to pursue and complete a associates, bachelors and masters degrees and embark upon a deeply satisfying career.

It was the Army that introduced me to my eventual profession. And it gave me the skills and G.I. Bill benefits that I needed to succeed.

This Memorial Day, thank someone for his or her service. And honor America for its generosity.

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Tuesdays.
If youre considering a last-minute trip to Las Vegas this Memorial Day weekend, a small, luxury jet may get you there for less money and less hassle.

Irvine-based JetSuiteX is launching service between Burbank Bob Hope Airport (BUR) and McCarran International Airport (LAS). Its part of a larger charter service called JetSuite.

The difference is that JetSuiteX allows you to book one seat rather than the entire plane. The inaugural flight departs Burbank at 8:50 a.m. Thursday morning

Advertisement

The service will operate three scheduled flights Sunday through Friday (Saturday service is limited) with fares starting at $129 each way, excluding taxes. There are no membership fees either; thats the entire price you pay. Regular fares between Burbank and Las Vegas typically range from $77 to $300 each way.

(JetSuiteX also flies between Burbank and Concord, Calif., in the Bay Area.)

An added bonus? No long TSA lines at small airports.

Were trying to bring speed back to aviation, Chief Executive Alex Wilcox says. He pointed to statistics showing that 1 million fewer passengers now fly annually between L.A. and Vegas than in 2000. Wilcox attributes that to rising fares and long waits at busy airports.

During roughly the same period, according to Wilcox, traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada state line increased by half-a-million cars a year.

If its literally five hours to Vegas, whether you fly or drive, then whats the point, right? he says. "[With JetSuiteX], you can actually fly it in an hour and a half from the time you hit the airport to the time you hit the hotel room.

Embraer 135 jets that seat 30 passengers depart from Burbanks private Hangar 2, with valet parking just steps away.

You can show up 15 minutes ahead of time and get on the airplane without breaking a sweat, he added. With fewer passengers, Wilcox said the line at airport security screening moves quickly.

And the private terminal in Las Vegas where you land is convenient too. Passengers arrive in Sin City at Atlantic Aviations private terminal along Tropicana Avenue, less than five minutes from the MGM Grand resort.

The jets feature electrical outlets, free Wi-Fi, complimentary drinks (including alcoholic beverages) and plenty of legroom. JetBlue fliers earn TrueBlue loyalty points on these flights too.

Its an airliner that thinks its a private jet, Wilcox says. You have 36 inches of pitch to every row, and 40 inches at the exits. Im 6-foot-1 and I can cross my legs in any row of the airplane.

Those $129 fares for last-minute travelers are a great price.

As a comparison, one-way fares on Friday from Bob Hope to McCarran start at $264 on American Airlines, according to a Tuesday search on Kayak.com.

Info: JetSuiteX, (800) 435-9579

MORE

Summer pool season opens in Las Vegas! 11 resorts that rock it

If you want to stay in a pop-up apartment in Paris Eiffel Tower, answer this question

Deal: $109 premier seats on Eurostar trains from London to Paris or Brussels
The Afghan Taliban has officially named a successor to its former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan last week.

Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate after a unanimous agreement in the shura. All the members of shura pledged allegiance to him, said a statement from the group released Wednesday, referring to the meeting at which the appointment was made.

The statement, which also called for three days of mourning, marks the groups first public acknowledgment of Mansours death since the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by a U.S. drone in Pakistans Baluchistan province Saturday.

Advertisement

Mansours killing and Akhundzadas election as the new amir al mumineen, or commander of the faithful -- as the groups leader is known -- marks the second major transition in less than a year.

Mansour came to power last summer after it was confirmed that Mullah Mohammad Omar, the groups founder and former leader, died in 2013.

During his brief tenure, Mansour oversaw a Taliban that managed to make major battlefield gains while faced with high-profile divisions and infighting.

The most notable conflict has been with Mullah Mohammad Rassool, who has headed a splinter group since November.

However, one former Taliban official said Akhundzadas tribal affiliation could help lead Rassool back into the fold.

Rasool is a Noorzai and so is Akhundzada -- as such, Rassools forces would have no choice but to accept and work with the new Taliban leader, said Wahid Mujda, a former Taliban member that led Afghanistan until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Mansour also had to contend with opposition from the family of the late Mullah Omar. Shortly after he was named the new leader of the group, Mullah Omars brother and son expressed their disapproval.

But on the battlefield, Mansours Taliban managed to be a formidable foe to both the Afghan National Security Forces and the U.S.-led international coalition.

The Kabul government used the announcement as an opportunity to once again urge the Taliban to embrace peace.

In a tweet issued shortly after news of Akhundzadas election broke, the presidential palace said:

Taliban groups have yet another opportunity to end and renounce violence, lay down their arms, and resume normal & peaceful life. Otherwise they will face the same fate as their leadership.

The tweet is a clear reference to the killing of Mansour in Pakistan.

The government of President Ashraf Ghani has made several attempts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table over the last year and a half. The Taliban, however, has repeatedly refused to engage in the process, citing the withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces as pre-condition to talks.

At a meeting in Islamabad last week, the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, tried to get the Taliban labeled an irreconcilable group.

Zakhilwal was the only Afghan representative present at the fifth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group -- a four-nation body consisting of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States -- which has been working on regional efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Only months after Mansour took over the reins, the Taliban managed to capture the northern city of Kunduz for nearly two weeks last fall.

Though the Afghan National Security Forces, with assistance from foreign troops, were able to retake the city, the fall of Kunduz marked the first time since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 that the Taliban was able to take over an urban center.

According to the United Nations, 2015 saw the highest civilian casualty rate in Afghanistan. Most of the casualties were said to be inflicted by the Taliban or their affiliated groups.

In a seeming bid to thwart the divisions that plagued Mansours rule, the Taliban called on supporters to unify around Akhundzada.

The new leader had previously served in the Talibans legal commission.

Haji Din Mohammad, a member of the High Peace Council, the group charged with negotiating with the Taliban, described Akhundzada as a teacher who stood out from his two predecessors.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

He isnt a fighter and hes not a politician, he has a madrasa [religious school] where he teaches, Din Mohammad said.

Whereas sources have described Mansour as mercurial, Din Mohammad said Akhundzada has none of that fiery temperament. He isnt cunning or conniving.

Din Mohammad said its too soon to tell which direction the new leader will take the Taliban into, but these traits give a sense of overall optimism for the peace process.

The Taliban statement also named Akhundzadas two deputies. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who had served as Mansours deputy, will take on the same role under Akhundzadas rule. Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, the group believed to be responsible for some of the most deadly attacks in the country.

Mujda, the former Taliban official, said there is likely an additional strategic angle to keeping Haqqani as the deputy.

Haqqani is from the southeast and by keeping him as the first deputy, its their way of telling people in the southeast that they have representation and a say over the decision-making going forward, Mujda said.

The second deputy, however, is a new name. Mullah Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, will also serve as a deputy to Akhundzada.

Both Haqqani and Yaqub were thought to be contenders for the top job.

Latifi is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Taliban leader Mullah Mansour believed killed in U.S. drone strike in Pakistan

Human rights groups say Saudi Arabia misused U.S.-made cluster bombs

Mohamed was a good pilot, father of EgyptAir captain says. And he knows God

UPDATES:

May 25, 4:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from the government in Kabul.

2:51 a.m.: This article was updated with more reporting.

11:52 p.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 10:10 p.m. May 24.
When a drone strike killed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour last week in Pakistan, analysts expected the Taliban to be plunged into a period of infighting as it sought to select a new leader.

Mansour, after all, had only recently been named the Talibans leader, years after his predecessor had died.

The swiftness of naming Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada may speak to basic diplomacy, an effort to hold the Talibans rank and file together. At times, the movement has strained under the weight of factions and tribes that have felt unrepresented or have shown signs of breaking away.

Advertisement

Seen as more teacher than a fighter, Akhundzada has gained respect and influence within the Taliban over the years, often designing the religious justifications behind the Talibans insurgency and its goal of expelling Western forces from Afghanistan.

When Mansours death was confirmed last week, Afghanistans Ministry of Interior predicted that the loss of its leader would spell the end for the group.

Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada in an undated photo. (AFP./Getty Images )

He may not have spent much time on the battlefields himself, but he has taught many of the Talibans field commanders, said a source in Pakistan.

Akhundzada is a Pashtun, a member of the Noorzai tribe who grew up near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, according to Seth Jones, a former U.S. counter-terrorism official now with Rand Corp., the Santa Monica-based think tank.

Coming from a large and influential tribe in the region gives him a pedigree that may help him unite several distinct factions of Taliban loyalists.

He is viewed as a serious, legitimate leader and religious figure and for the Talibans leader, that is a lot more important than battlefield experience, Jones said. They have a lot of people who can fight. They dont have a lot of people who have legitimacy to run the organization.

His ascension to amir-al-mumineen, or leader of the faithful -- as the group refers to its leader, took many by surprise. The leading candidates, analysts had believed, were Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqub -- far more high-profile figures in the movement. Both ended up becoming Akhundzadas deputies.

An official in the administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that with Haqqani maintaining his role as deputy, Akhundzada may in the end become nothing more than a figurehead.

The expectation is that Akhundzada will be the public face, but that the tactical decisions determining the ground realities will be made by Haqqani.

During the Talibans six-year rule over Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, Akhundzada served in the judiciary, both in Kabul and his native Kandahar province. While his knowledge of Islam won the respect of top-level Taliban officials --- including the groups founder and former leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar -- Akhundzada was not among the groups 33 founding members.

Pakistani Sunni Muslim supporters of a hard-line pro-Taliban party torch a U.S. flag during a protest of the drone strike that killed the Talibans leader. (AFP/Getty )

Haqqani had served alongside Akhundzada as a deputy to Mansour and is the leader of the Haqqani network, the group responsible for many deadly attacks in the nation in recent years.

As the Taliban has made increasing use of violent and complex attacks involving suicide bombers and gunmen, Haqqani and his associates are increasingly seen as the masterminds behind the groups war strategy.

A high-level Afghan security official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said the audacity of attacks targeting the nations urban centers proved that Haqqani had moved up the ranks in the organization.

The Haqqani side of the Taliban has definitely gained in power and influence over the last year, the security official said.

U.S. officials expect Haqqani will maintain a major role in military planning and will seek to keep rival commanders working in unison to oust the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.

Bette Dam, an Amsterdam-based author who has spent years researching both Mullah Omar and former President Hamid Karzai, said the acceptance of Haqqani into the Taliban fold is also a departure for the group.

In the past, everyone knew the Taliban and the Haqqanis were working together, but never publicly acknowledged [it]. The fact that Haqqani has been given such prominence in the last year is a significant shift.

The other name that quickly surfaced after Mansours death was Mullah Yaqub, the twentysomething son of Mullah Omar. Yaqub and his uncle had vehemently opposed the election of Mansour last year.

Yaqubs selection as deputy is probably a signal to other Taliban factions that they must now rally behind their new leader.

Dam said the two deputies also serve a strategic role.

Its a way to appeal to other groups within the Taliban who may have previously felt underrepresented.

In the end, Dam said, Akhundzada may have served as a consensus candidate.

Taliban is defeated, said Sediq Sediqqi, Interior Ministry spokesman. This year is the year of their end. Whoever succeeds Mansour will face the same fate.

In response to the news of Akhundzadas selection, the presidential palace issued a similar warning to the new Taliban leader.

Taliban groups have yet another opportunity to end and renounce violence, lay down their arms, and resume normal & peaceful life. Otherwise they will face the same fate as their leadership, the spokesman tweeted.

However, Dam said Mansours death -- which was ordered by President Obama -- says more about Washingtons view of peace than anything else.

For years there has been a split about whether the U.S. wants peace or to eliminate the Taliban, Dam said. With Mansours death, it seems as if the pro-peace segment lost out.

Latifi and Sahi are special correspondents. Times staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report from Washington.

MORE NEWS ON TALIBAN

Afghan Taliban appoints new leader after Mansours death

No more peace talks with Taliban, Afghanistans president says

Taliban leader confirmed killed in U.S. airstrike as focus turns to his successor
While President Obama pressed his Vietnamese hosts Tuesday to ease their human rights abuses, as if to illustrate his point, some dissidents were barred from meeting with him in Hanoi.

Speaking to university students, Obama urged Vietnams government and people to insist on freedom of speech, assembly and religion, not least as a way to allow new ideas to gain hold and innovations to help the economy thrive.

Upholding these rights is the fullest expression of the independence that so many cherish, including here, in a nation that proclaims itself to be of the people, by the people and for the people, Obama said, citing a line from the Vietnamese constitution that echoes Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address.

Advertisement

But human rights advocates were outraged that three dissidents were barred or discouraged from meeting with Obama, pointing to their absence as a sign that Vietnam hasnt earned the warming of relations and strengthened business relationships that Obama is in this country to promote.

Its like the government is putting on a demonstration for Obama of their repressive governance, said John Sifton of the group Human Rights Watch.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

The day provided a vivid illustration of the conflict at the heart of Obamas mission to the U.S.'s former Cold War enemy this week, as well as to other authoritarian nations he sees as on the brink of possible reform.

Though nations including Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos are expanding their economies rapidly and presenting themselves as potential U.S. partners in trade and global security, Obamas decision to engage with their governments links him with leaders at odds with dearly held American values like freedom of speech, religion and assembly.

On Tuesday, government agents reportedly pressured the three activists to keep them from sitting down with Obama, according to U.S. officials and Human Rights Watch.

Journalist Doan Tran was arrested on Monday, Sifton said. Nguyen Quang, an economist and candidate for National Assembly, was detained and prevented from leaving his house. And Ha Huy Son, a lawyer who has represented dissidents, was also prevented from traveling to meet Obama.

White House officials confirmed that the civil society leaders were stopped from attending the meeting but did not detail how.

Sifton said the episode was more evidence that Obama never should have taken the dramatic step Monday of dropping the Vietnam War-era arms embargo against the communist government without exacting concessions on human rights violations.

The Vietnam regime has demonstrated today that it doesnt deserve the closer ties the U.S. is offering, he said. Detaining or preventing civil society from meeting President Obama is not just an insult to the president, its also a human rights abuse in itself, a deprivation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of movement.

But Secretary of State John F. Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran traveling with Obama this week, said the incident showed exactly why U.S. engagement with the country was so critical. He said the meeting with dissidents, albeit without the full participation the U.S. had sought, could not have been imagined 20 years ago, when the U.S. first took steps to normalize relations with Vietnam. And it only could have happened because of Obamas direct advocacy with his counterparts.

Thats at the center of President Obamas foreign policy, Kerry told reporters, noting the approach here was also being applied to Cuba and Myanmar as well as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The kind of transformation Americans might expect will not take place overnight, he added. The Vietnamese have had to be able to learn to manage and exercise certain rights and freedoms.

We have to recognize the road that theyre on is going to be a roller coaster ride to some degree, he continued. But as long as its moving in the same direction, thats what is important, as long as the United States itself remains faithful to our values, and were always pushing in the right direction.

It was significant, White House aides noted, that Obama himself publicly acknowledged the absence of some dissidents from the meeting. He said it showed that while there has been some modest progress on human rights, many still lack the full freedom to express dissent.

Its my hope that the government of Vietnam comes to recognize what weve recognized and what so many countries around the world have recognized, and that is that its very hard to prosper in this modern economy if you havent fully unleashed the potential of your people, Obama said, adding that it was a message he brought directly to the four leaders he met with separately on Monday.

The deepening of ties seen on Obamas visit, including his lifting of the ban on the sale of lethal weapons, was an important step, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), even if he would have liked to see more done on human rights.

Hopefully, this, over time, gives us more leverage to influence how Vietnam treats its people, he said.

Obama must continue to press the Vietnamese on these issues, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former Vietnam prisoner of war who, along with Kerry, helped pave the way for normalization of relations.

I was hoping that the president would insist before he went to meet with the dissidents of his choice. And he didnt do that, McCain said.

The Vietnamese government has not made enough progress on human rights, said McCain, who has repeatedly traveled to Vietnam and has regular contact with its leaders.

Every time I meet with them, I mention that, he said. And strangely enough, they seem to acknowledge it.

Staff writer Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this report.

ALSO

Off the (failing) grid in North Korea, where solar energy is a hot commodity

Human rights groups say Saudi Arabia misused U.S.-made cluster bombs

North Korea is building something other than nukes: architecture with some zing

Follow @cparsons for news about the White House.

UPDATES:

1 p.m.: This story was updated with new details and comments from Obama and reaction from Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain.

This story was originally published at 12:05 a.m.
A 23-year-old transgender activist died at a northern Pakistani hospital Wednesday after a shooting and delays in medical care that her friends blamed on discrimination in the South Asian country.

Shot seven times in an altercation Sunday, the activist -- who went by one name, Alisha -- was brought to Lady Reading Hospital, one of the largest medical facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where staff dithered over whether to place her in the ward for male patients or female patients.

A friend and fellow activist, Farzana Jan, said men at the hospital taunted them outside the emergency room.

Advertisement

One asked whether Alishas blood was HIV-positive, while another asked for Farzanas phone number and invited her to dance at a party.

Alisha underwent medical procedures Monday and Tuesday to stanch heavy internal bleeding but died Wednesday morning, according to hospital spokesman Zulfiqar Babakhel.

At least five transgender activists have been attacked in recent months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a socially conservative province next to the countrys northern tribal areas.

All the victims, including Alisha, were members of Trans Action, an advocacy group that has been increasingly vocal in seeking equal rights for transgender people in the province.

The group estimates there are at least 45,000 transgender people in the province, and at least half a million nationwide. Although most live in the shadows, some are hired to dance at weddings and parties, where they are viewed as novelty acts and harbingers of good luck.

Others have little way to make a living, except through begging or sex work.

Qamar Naseem, a member of Trans Action, said that about 45 transgender people had been killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last two years.

Though Pakistans Supreme Court has enshrined equal rights for transgender people, they say that local governments deny them access to education and healthcare.

Until 2009 transgender people could not even obtain national identity cards.

Transgender people are not accepted in society, Naseem said. People take them to marriage parties, rape them at gunpoint and subject them to extortion.

Alisha had been especially outspoken, participating in a December protest outside the Press Club in Peshawar, the provincial capital. Alisha told reporters at the time that she was ridiculed at government offices when she went to apply for a job, despite having 12 years of schooling.

She said she danced to earn money to support herself, her mother and her sisters. Friends said she had been shot at least twice before Sunday.

There were conflicting reports about the circumstances leading to her deathundays incident. Friends said that Alisha got into an argument with an acquaintance, who shot her seven times outside a building in a busy section of Peshawar.

According to news reports, the shooter was part of a group that extorts money from transgender people. Farzana said the assailant warned her over the phone not to pursue a case against him or she would face serious consequences.

I dont know the nature of the dispute, Farzana said. But transgender people are easily targeted because they are physically weak and have no social support.

Farzana and others rushed a bleeding Alisha to the hospital, where a crowd including male hospital workers encircled and taunted them , Farzana said in an interview. In Facebook posts, she wrote that a doctor asked how much she charged for a dance and that male operating room staffers demanded her number.

For several hours, staff members at the 1,750-bed hospital told them Alisha could not be treated in either the male or female patient wards. Finally, Farzana said, the hospitals medical director intervened and assigned Alisha a room in the VIP wing.

On Wednesday morning, Trans Action posted a Facebook update that said Alisha had died. In a message to local authorities, the post said: Kill all of us.

Ali is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Bengali reported from Mumbai, India.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

ALSO

This school in India saves girls as young as 12 from the family business: prostitution

Greece begins clearing thousands of refugees from border tent city in Idomeni

What you need to know about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
An issue currently facing those of us who live in Tennessee is the opportunity to vote on Constitutional Amendment 1 to preserve Tennessees 1947 Right to Work law, which ensures that people cannot be forced to join a union and pay dues against their will. Please Vote Yes on Amendment 1 to add the law to the state constitution. I work for a manufacturing company where the team ... (click for more)
They are a common sight even well before noon: groups of men huddled around plastic tabletops at canteens along the highway north of Mumbai, guzzling beers.

Then they get back in their cars and drive on for a few miles into Gujarat, an Indian state where alcohol is prohibited.

As the beer-soaked travelers near the Gujarat state line demonstrate, it is difficult to get determined tipplers to stop drinking in India. Yet a growing number of states are clamping down on the consumption of booze in an effort to stop social ills officials say come with it.

Advertisement

The southern state of Tamil Nadu this month became the latest to impose at least a partial ban on alcohol, with recently reelected chief minister J. Jayalalithaa closing 500 state-run liquor shops this week and restricting the operating hours of others.

The closures represented just 7% of the estimated 7,000 such stores in the state, but more could follow. Jayalalithaa made phasing out the sale of alcohol a campaign promise and blamed her rival party for lifting the states prohibition laws in 1971.

One-fifth of Indias 1.2 billion people live in states where alcohol consumption is banned or restricted.

Three other major states have similar laws, meaning about one-fifth of Indias 1.2 billion people live in places where alcohol consumption is banned or restricted.

The trend toward prohibition in India has cheered many womens rights groups, who say alcohol abuse contributes to domestic violence and plunges poor families deeper into penury.

In April, Bihar, an economically depressed northern state with 100 million people, implemented a total ban on alcohol. In raids, police seized nearly 4,000 gallons of locally made liquor and arrested more than 1,300 people.

The states chief minister, Nitish Kumar, shrugged off reports that the policy would cost the state more than $900 million in annual revenues.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

I feel this is the right time for social change in Bihar, Kumar said. People will now use the money invested in liquor to add nutrition to their plates, avoid disease and economic ruination.

In socially conservative Bihar, experts say Kumars policies have widespread support among both men and women.

There is not much liquor culture in Bihar, said Shaibal Gupta, a social scientist in Patna, the state capital. If such an idea were proposed in Punjab, a northern state near the Pakistani border known for big drinkers and flamboyant partying, the government would fall, Gupta said.

But there are reports that shacks selling booze have sprung up just over the lightly policed border in Nepal, where it is easy for Bihar residents to cross over and have a drink. Seventy Indians were reportedly arrested and fined by Nepalese authorities last week for patronizing the illegal establishments.

The policies have made alcohol sales a rare soft spot in Indias booming economy. Alcohol sales nationwide of 5.1 billion liters were flat in 2015 after several years of growth of 5% or higher, according to the market research group Euromonitor International.

Looking at 2016, with two states having already implemented whole or partial bans, this is going to be another low year for the alcohol industry, said Euromonitor analyst Sanjeev Raikar.

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1947, India has gone through periodic phases of teetotaling. Alcohol was banned from 1949 to 1963 in the western state of Maharashtra, which includes the commercial capital, Mumbai.

Just like in the United States in the 1920s, prohibition gave rise to a huge underworld business. Bootleggers set up brewing operations in swampy slums, and organized crime networks grew out of the trade in illicit hooch.

Even years after the ban was lifted, the crime syndicates continued to operate, having moved on to more dangerous work.

The massive profits from the illicit liquor trade would act as the launchpad for a parallel economy with tentacles in everything from prostitution and gambling to Bollywood and, eventually, gun-running and terror, Riddhi Doshi wrote recently in the Hindustan Times.

In Gujarat, which has been a dry state since its inception in 1960, small local suppliers and bootleggers do a brisk business, often with a wink and a nod from local authorities. The living room cupboards of upper-middle-class households are so well stocked with imported whiskey, gin and vodka that Gujaratis are often described as Indias heaviest closet drinkers.

Alcohol in Gujarat is merely a phone call away, said Ghanshyam Shah, a sociologist in the state capital, Ahmedabad. Bootleggers and police work hand-in-glove. It is a very lucrative black market. Plus, politicians also get their cut.

Illicit brews are common, too  and dangerous. In one case in 2009, 136 people died in Gujarat from drinking spurious booze. Last year, Babubhai Patel, an activist and addiction specialist, dropped pouches containing alcohol from the visitors gallery of the state assembly chamber to demonstrate how easy it was to obtain liquor.

In the sparsely populated northeastern state of Nagaland, where prohibition was enacted in 1989, alcohol smuggled across state lines is common. The interstate trade caused two other northeastern states, Manipur and Mizoram, to repeal prohibition last year, saying it had failed.

In Kerala, a seaside state popular with tourists, sale of liquor is restricted mainly to five-star hotels, although beer and wine remain legal. The state has among Indias highest rates of alcohol consumption, collecting $1.2 billion  about one-fifth of its revenue  from alcohol taxes and fees in 2013, before the ban was implemented.

The mixed results have prompted many experts to question the wisdom of prohibition laws as a solution to violence.

There are many people who commit domestic abuse even without getting drunk, Shah said. Focusing on gender sensitization and rational thinking would bring down domestic violence. A liquor ban alone cannot ensure that.

Parth M.N. is a special correspondent.

MORE WORLD NEWS

Chinas dream of a new Silk Road runs into hurdles at its first stop: Pakistan

Pakistani transgender activist who was shot, then taunted at hospital, dies of injuries

Brazils new opposition: Artists, musicians and filmmakers

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
National oil companies such as Pemex and Petrobras will look to government support to meet funding needs this year
A Pennsylvania judge has ordered Bill Cosby to stand trial on sexual misconduct charges.

During a recent hearing, the judge found sufficient evidence exists for Cosby to stand trial on three counts of felony indecent exposure that date back to a 2004 case involving former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

Over time, more than 50 women, including Constand, have stepped forward to allege they were sexually assaulted by the famed comedian in acts that go back as far as the 1960s.

Cosby Could Spend at Least Decades Behind Bars

If convicted, Cosby could face up to 30 years in prison. After the judge rendered his decision ordering the former Temple alum to stand trial his attorney slammed the ruling as misguided.

"The evidence presented today was evidence of nothing," said defense attorney Brian McConagle. "They had 12 years to bring an accuser to confront Mr. Cosby. They chose not to."

McConagle went on to describe the case against his client as being riddled with inconsistencies.

"This case should end immediately," he added.

The 78-year-old entertainer clutched the arm of his spokesperson as he walked into the courtroom and intently listened throughout the proceedings.

Constand was not in the courtroom, but statements made by her introduced to the court indicated she claims Cosby invited her to his home in 2004 and immediately offered her pills to help her unwind.

After taking at least two pills, Constand alleges that she was sexually assaulted by the former "Cosby Show" star.

Case Reopened Despite Parties Reaching Civil Settlement

Cosby and Constand reached a civil settlement in 2006, but the case has since been reopened as new evidence has been uncovered, including the total number of accusers that have come forward alleging similar treatment by the man once revered by many as America's Dad.

Back in December, Cosby was charged with three felonies and arraigned, before being released on $1 million bond. He has denied all the allegations levied against him.

A federal judge recently released testimony given by Camile Cosby at a deposition hearing where she indicated she had "no opinion about her husband's admission to gaining drugs such as Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
On May 22, popular Spanish language news journalist Maria Elena Salinas was at California State University, Fullerton, making a commencement speech for the College of Communications when she was booed by students.

Salinas received a negative reaction from some students after speaking in Spanish and for criticizing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

 they blame us so much for so many things, that now theyre even blaming us, the media, for creating Donald Trump. Imagine that," she said during her speech.

This, along with her request to speak a few words in Spanish to the large Latino student body and their parents, was met with disgruntled responses from students.

"It's really sad," said the Univision anchor. "And it's a testament to what has happened in our country. Our country is really divided."

The journalist has received some hateful comments on her social media accounts that included being told to "go back to Mexico." Salinas was born and raised in California.

Regardless of the incident, Salinas didn't let the negativity ruin the experience and had positive things to say soon after making her speech, as proven by her Instagram post.

"Couldn't leave the school of communications graduates at @csufofficial without taking a selfie with them / congrats!!! Congratulations to the future journalist and advertisers of Cal State Fullerton," she wrote.

A photo posted by Maria Elena Salinas (@mariaesalinas) on May 22, 2016 at 6:41pm PDT

After the graduation ceremony, a spokesman for the University, who presented the journalist with an honorary degree, released a statement supporting Salinas while also promoting inclusion and diversity.

We believe that higher education thrives when diverse perspectives are shared and discussed, including views expressed by guest speakers. The Universitys inclusive environment demands that an array of viewpoints be voiced, and that resulting discourse is honored and supported."

Watch the moment Salinas got booed below.
BEST, an acronym for Business & Education Serving Together, is a program of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce that fosters relationships between businesses and selected schools to enhance the quality of life for our community and provide business support for educational programs.

Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church has been a partner with Yates Primary School for years, and as a church we wanted to take our commitment to the next level and become BEST partners, Amy Mott, the churchs administrative assistant explained. We feel that children are our future, and Wesley wants to invest, appreciate and work together with the staff, students and families of Yates to make our community and world a better place.

Ms. Mott shared that among other activities, Yates students write cards and letters monthly to Wesley shut-ins and provide treats for the church staff at Christmas. Wesley has provided food for Carolyn Ingrams retirement party, treats for the teachers and staff, and cards throughout the year, she said.

In 2016-17 schoolyear, Wesley plans to help with school supplies, fill in for students that do not have someone special for Grandparents Day, Muffins With Mom and Donuts for Dad, read with students, and volunteer when needed.

This is a wonderful partnership that helps us show the love of Christ to the staff and families of Yates Primary School, Ms. Mott concluded.

Principal Carolyn Ingram welcomed Wesley Memorial as a BEST partner with the primary school.

Wesley has been our faith partner for several years, and we have already established a good relationship with them, Ms. Ingram said, adding, they have provided some tutors for our children, prepared breakfast for our faculty and staff on in-service days, and sent us goodies on holidays. Many of our children go to church there, and we have teachers who are members. We look forward to continuing this kind of partnership.

Sherry Crye, Chamber of Commerce coordinator of the BEST partnership program, pointed out that several faith partners are taking their partnerships to the next level.

We instituted this program 24 years ago as a workforce development initiative to help our local schools do what they do not have the staff or funding to accomplish on their own, she explained. However, BEST partnerships are not all about giving money to the schools, although that is often beneficial. They are also about giving time and skills. Several Chamber-member churches are reaching out to schools in our community, demonstrating that they too are good corporate citizens and are helping to ensure we have a prepared workforce.

According to Ms. Crye, most schools in the Bradley County and Cleveland City School Systems have one or more local business partners as part of the BEST program. Private schools that are Chamber members may also participate in the program. While we have many partnerships in place, we still have schools that need an active partner.

For information about getting involved in the BEST partnership program, call Crye at 423-472-6587.
Motorists wont be slowed down by road construction as they travel Tennessees highways this Memorial Day weekend. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will suspend all construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes beginning at 12:00 noon on Friday, May 27 through 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31. This will provide maximum roadway capacity for motorists expected to travel in the state this Memorial Day weekend.

Were expecting nearly 700-thousand drivers to travel on Tennessees roadways this Memorial Day weekend, TDOT Commissioner John Schroer said. To help travelers reach their destinations safely, we are suspending construction-related lane closures to reduce congestion and delays on our major highways.

Motorists may still encounter some lane closures or restrictions while traveling through long term construction projects. Drivers should be aware that reduced speed limits will be in effect in work zones. Drivers convicted of speeding through work zones where workers are present face a fine of up to $500, plus court fees and possible increased insurance premiums.

Our primary focus is to reduce the number of traffic fatalities across Tennessee, Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons said. Currently, we are seeing an increase in unrestrained fatalities. We hope seat belt enforcement will help positively affect driver behavior and increase voluntary seat belt compliance across the state.

AAA estimates more than 38 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day holiday, a 1.8% increase over last years numbers. This marks the second-highest travel volume on record since 2005 for the holiday and includes a record setting 89% travelling by automobile. In Tennessee, AAA predicts that 690,180 will travel by automobile and 56,876 by air.

From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest traffic information and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras atwww.TNSmartWay.com/Traffic. Travelers can also dial 511 from any land-line or cellular phone for travel information, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TN511 for statewide travel.

As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for your destination. Drivers should never tweet, text or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel.
The Tennessee Housing Development Agency is getting back in the business of visiting and monitoring federally subsidized apartment developments, and properties in Memphis will be the agency's top priority.

Starting in July, THDA will resume on-site Management and Occupancy Reviews (MORs) at multifamily properties in Tennessee that participate in the federal government's Performance-Based Contract Administration (PBCA) program, which supplements the rental income of developments that serve low-income residents.

There are 49 PBCA properties in Shelby County, some of which have been the subject of intense public and government scrutiny in recent months.

"There is no substitute for having compliance officers on the ground, physically looking through the files and seeing property conditions with their own eyes," said Ralph M. Perrey, executive director of THDA. Perrey, executive director of THDA.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended the authority of THDA and similar agencies in 41 other states to conduct MORs in September 2011 as the result of a lawsuit filed against HUD over how inspection contracts were awarded. There are 394 PBCA properties in Tennessee.

"It's a bad idea to leave these properties uninspected for years at a time, as we've seen right here in Memphis," said Mr. Perrey. "We're in the process of hiring compliance officers right now so we can resume our work as quickly as possible."
Hamilton County Emergency Medical Service hosted a family day for Region 3 for the State of Tennessee Emergency Medical Services and First Responders during National EMS Week. The national theme for 2016 is Called to Care.

Each year, the third week of May, Emergency Medical Services is celebrated for its professionalism in providing emergency care to the sick and injured. This years Hamilton County celebration was held at the Vulcan Recreational Park on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga. All of Region 3 Emergency Medical Services were invited by HCEMS to take time from their busy schedule to enjoy a free cookout style lunch that provided them with freshly cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, desserts and soft drinks.

HCEMS Director Ken Wilkerson said, The men and women in emergency medical services dedicate their lives in providing professional quality emergency care to the citizens in their time of need. This is just a small token to show appreciation for their professionalism and the many hard working hours they spend working, and training away from their families on a daily basis. This is an event that was made possible by the service for the service."

A volunteer committee of two persons from each of the three A, B, and C shifts along with four administrative personnel was formed to plan and schedule a two day cookout event for all agencies in district three. The HCEMS committee also planned an entire day on Saturday for a day dedicated to the families of the over 134 paramedics, and advanced EMTs employed by HCEMS. This day gave the family members with EMS personnel the opportunity to enjoy special time with various activities, games and prizes for the entire family.

This event was supported by generous donations from two local hospitals, Erlanger and Parkridge, who provided all products of meat, produce and trimmings for the celebration meal. Local businesses also provided various door prizes, and funding for the special games, and activities enjoyed by the family members of the EMS providers attending this event.

Deputy Chief John Combes said, We wanted to allow the HCEMS personnel to enjoy a special day with their family, for their many hours of hard work providing quality care for our citizens in Hamilton County and to let them know that they are truly appreciated for what they do. It was also to say thank you to the families of the men and women of HCEMS for allowing them to be who they are and their many hours away from their family. The committee did an excellent job in planning and coordinating this three-day celebration, and I congratulate them for their efforts in providing a quality event that was enjoyed by all who attend."
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to attend a panel discussion and battlefield tour about the commander of the United States Army of the Cumberland, Major General William Starke Rosecrans, on Saturday, June 4. Presenting their views about the leadership of General Rosecrans will be three prominent Rosecrans scholars: David G. Moore, Dr. Frank Varney, and David A. Powell. The one-hour panel begins at 11 a.m. while a special 45-minute car caravan tour about General Rosecrans begins at 1 p.m.Both programs start inside Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center."General William S. Rosecrans was a brilliant general. He graduated 5th in his West Point class and up to the time of the Battle of Chickamauga never lost a battle in which he commanded. However, his one defeat in Northwest Georgia would see his ruin and exile to what was essentially a backwater of the war. Today, Rosecrans leadership and legacy is undergoing resurgence due in large part to the recent writing s of David Moore, author of William S. Rosecrans and the Union Victory, Dr. Frank Varney, author of General Grant and the Rewriting of History, and David A. Powell, author of The Maps of Chickamauga, Failure in the Saddle, The Chickamauga Campaign: a Mad Irregular Battle, and The Chickamauga Campaign: Glory or the Grave," officials said.The authors will also conduct book signings from 10-11 a.m. and throughout the afternoon.For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit parks website at www.nps.gov/chch
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and Russ Mayo

Superintendent Russell Mayo speaks during a press conference held by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale at the Allentown School District administration building Wednesday. (Sara K. Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

The Allentown School District was in a "no-win situation" as it fought the opening of a new charter school that had hired Mike Fleck as a headhunter to enroll students to show community support for the school, according to the state auditor general.

The situation highlights why Pennsylvania's charter school law is the worst in the nation and it must be reformed, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Wednesday.

It was completely legal for the charter school to pay Fleck's now-defunct consulting group $30 a head to enroll students to show community support, but that's clearly fake support, he said.

The district gave up its opposition to the school in January 2015 and cut a side deal with developer Abe Atiyeh because they feared losing on appeal, he said.

"They cut a deal to try to limit their losses," DePasquale said of the district during news conference in which he emphasized the need for charter law reform.

The district's state audit was accelerated in the summer of 2015 after allegations arose that school board members may have violated the Sunshine Act when dealing with Atiyeh.

The district was the first in the state to have its charter school application process reviewed as part of its state audit, a practice DePasquale plans to continue with all districts going forward.

Allentown's audit turned up one state transportation reimbursement problem but found the district had sound charter school application processes in place.

Fleck is a political consultant and former Easton councilman at the center of the federal government's probe into pay-to-play practices in Allentown and Reading. His name turned up in the audit but DePasquale said there's no evidence the charter school is part of the federal investigation. He forwarded all the information collected to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Fleck pleaded guilty last month to charges of extortion, conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion. The government says Fleck and others solicited campaign contributions and steered city work to donors of Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who has not been named in court paperwork or charged.

As for the Allentown School District audit, DePasquale said it is a "coin flip" whether the board actually violated the Sunshine Act but his office always errs on the side of transparency.

"Our board and our administration want to be as transparent as possible," district Superintendent Russell Mayo said. " There are things occasionally that are discussed privately that may ultimately have some impact on decisions. But our interpretation of the Sunshine Law at least is that not every single thing has to be brought out."

The audit found that the board did not follow the spirit of the act and was not fully transparent to the public at the Jan. 29, 2015, meeting.

At that meeting, the district dropped its opposition to Atiyeh's Arts Academy Elementary Charter School and also voted to enter into a five-year building lease with one of Atiyeh's companies.

The school board knew when it voted that the district had made a side deal with Atiyeh, who pledged to not open any new charters in the district.

DePasquale said the board was forced to approve the school because it believed the state Charter Appeal Board would overturn the denials eventually, resulting in hefty legal bills.

"The school district was put in a no-win situation with that," DePasquale said.

The school board denied the second application in May 2014 because Fleck Consulting Group was hired to enroll the students.

"The appalling part of this is that under Pennsylvania's charter school law this is entirely legal," the auditor general said. "...I understand why they made the decision."

The audit did find that the Pennsylvania Department of Education overpaid the district by $1.7 million for busing charter and private school students between 2010-14. Allentown did not keep accurate records, resulting in some double billing, the audit found.

But the district had already taken steps to resolve that when the audit began, DePasquale said. And it had much fewer issues than other districts of its size, he said.

Mayo said the district is now busing 6,000 students. The district has added staff to handle the transportation reporting and its 2014-15 reports were accurate, he said.

"We're pleased with the outcome of the audit," Mayo said.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Easton resident Gordon Carver knows what it's like to grill a steak.

A grill master at LongHorn Steakhouse in Lower Nazareth Township, Carver has been a chef at LongHorn for three years.

This year, the 24-year-old competed in the inaugural Steak Master Series, a cooking competition for chefs who work for LongHorn Steakhouse. Carver won first place in the regional contest. He is just one of 60 team members nationwide to do so.

The Steak Master competition was created by the corporation and tests grill masters on their knowledge and the specifics of cooking in their job. Grill masters are evaluated on how well they cook three separate steak recipes. They are also subject to a written portion of the competition.

Carver outperformed his peers at his Easton area restaurant during the first leg of the competition. He then competed during a semi-regional contest and another regional contest in New Jersey. Each time, Carver he captured first place.

That allows Carver to compete in the final contest on June 15 in Orlando. Carver will be competing with six other top grill masters from LongHorn throughout the nation.

"Essentially, Gordon is among the seven top grill masters out of 6,000 others in our company in the nation," said Joe DiGiacinto, managing partner at the Lower Nazareth restaurant.

Each contest has been judged by managers and other higher-ups at the company, DiGiacinto said.

Carver began his tenure in cooking when he was working at a restaurant as a 15-year-old. When he went to college, he was promoted to assistant manager at a college pizzeria after two months.

Carver was hired at LongHorn Steakhouse in August 2012 when the steakhouse off Route 248 in Lower Nazareth Commons first opened.

"At LongHorn, I've learned the love of cooking and how to cook steaks the way they're supposed to be," Carver said.

The competition was a way for him to showcase his skills in a competitive way as well as an opportunity to meet new people within the company, Carver said. Carver's long-term goal is to eventually assume a management position.

Ideally, he would like stay within LongHorn restaurants.

"Gordon is one of the most level-headed people I've ever worked with in this business," DiGiacinto said. "He always focuses on standards of quality."

Neither DiGiacinto nor Carver are Easton area natives, but through the restaurant have learned to call the Easton community their family, DiGiacinto said.

"This Easton restaurant really introduced me to the community here," Carver said. "Meeting so many regulars opened up a lot of things for me."

DiGiacinto said Carver consistently helps team members learn in their kitchen. He has helped cooks learn the "LongHorn way" at the restaurant in Whitehall Township and has traveled as far as Colorado to help people learn to cook.

Carver is looking forward to competing in Orlando, and says he will be happy regardless of the result.

"No matter what I place, I'm looking forward to meeting new people in the company and getting to know them, making some more connections and friends," Carver said.

Ashleigh Albert is lehighvalleylive.com's Russell J. Flanagan Memorial news intern. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A stream running under Route 33 where a crossover crash occurred Monday evening appears to have escaped any significant pollution, said Todd Weaver, Northampton County's acting director of emergency management.

About 25 gallons in all of diesel fuel and motor oil spilled as a result of the crash in Palmer Township, Weaver said Tuesday. Responders set up absorbent booms on the waterway, called the Schoeneck Creek, as a precaution.

Very little of the spill was believed to have reached the stream, he said.

"If anything, it was a very minimal amount," Weaver said.

County Emergency Management Services notified the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to coordinate cleanup, Weaver said.

The crash occurred when Christopher R. Fehnel, 22, of Kunkletown, Monroe County, lost control while headed south between the Tatamy and Route 248 interchanges and crossed over the grass median into the path of a northbound tractor-trailer, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Fehnel was the only one injured, and was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's University Hospital, Fountain Hill, police said. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday she had no information on Fehnel to provide.

He faces a traffic citation, police said.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Erlanger Health System received unanimous approval on Wednesday from the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency for a Certificate of Need (CON) application to expand neonatal intensive care services at both Childrens Hospital at Erlanger, at the main downtown campus, and at Erlanger East Hospital on Gunbarrel Road.

The CON approval allows for the establishment of a 10-bed Level III NICU at Erlanger East Hospital. The Level III neonatal center at Erlanger EastHospital will be the first in the region designed with all private rooms, allowing the mother stay in the room with the newborn.

In addition, Childrens Hospital at Erlanger, one of five state-designated Regional Perinatal Centers, will be classified as a Level IV Neonatal Center, the highest designation of neonatal care in the state.

Since our NICUs frequently operate at full capacity, obtaining CON approval for this request is a key step to improve access to neonatal care in this region and meet the needs of this community. This means we are establishing a system of neonatal care comprised of Level IV, Level III and level II NICU services appropriately distributed between downtown andEast Hamilton County for easy accessibility in our service area, said Joseph M. Winick, FACHE, Erlanger Senior Vice President of Planning, Analytics, and Business Development. Winick estimates the cost of the initiative at $7 million.

This is an incredible opportunity to lay the foundation for a new Childrens Hospital and establish an expanded system of care for our neonatal patients, said Donald J. Mueller, CEO of Childrens Hospital at Erlanger and vice president of the Erlanger Health System.
HACKENSACK - Forty-five people in three states have been arrested and $2 million cash seized in what investigators are calling a large-scale criminal enterprise involving gambling, money laundering and racketeering.

Three of the accused are from Hackettstown.

Investigators say Robert Elvis DAlessio of Totowa operated an illegal enterprise in and around Bergen County, employing a hierarchy of more than 50 gambling agents who oversaw about 320 bettors, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

Dante Monaco Sr., of Hackettstown, is led to a car by police following his arrest Tuesday at a home in the first block of Saxton Drive in Hackettstown. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor)

The agents or "package holders" oversaw individual bettors and collected money from gambling losses. They also paid out winnings, the prosecutor said.

"These package holders managed 22 different gambling accounts," Grewal alleged in a statement.

D'Alessio allegedly ran the operation with the help of an off-shore wire room in Costa Rica, the prosecutor said.

Grewal said agents and bettors used offshore 1-800 numbers to place or check on bets.

"The entire gambling operation is estimated to have processed tens of millions of dollars in wagers per year," Grewal said.

In addition to dozens of "package holders" identified throughout the New York/New Jersey area, the investigation revealed that D'Alessio's former brother-in-law, Esteban "Steve" Cueli, "played a key role in the enterprise," Grewal alleged.

In addition to managing several "packages" relating to the bookmaking operation in and around the South Florida region, Cueli is charged with conspiring with D'Alessio to launder the proceeds of the illegal gambling operation, the prosecutor said.

The investigation also revealed that D'Alessio and Cueli conspired with Enrique Larach, a businessman in Miami, Fla., to launder proceeds from D'Alessio's illegal gambling operation, according to the prosecutor.

Dante Monaco Jr., 20, of Hackettstown, is also taken into custody following his arrest in the first block of Saxton Drive early Tuesday in Hackettstown. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor)

Robert Beatty of Wayne, Alfonc Pilinci of Franklin Lakes and Dante Monaco, 53, of Hackettstown, have been charged for their alleged roles as managers within the enterprise, Grewal stated.

Monaco's 20-year-old son, Dante Monaco Jr., also was charged.

The elder Monaco is charged with promoting gambling, conspiracy and racketeering. The son is accused of conspiracy to promote gambling. They were arrested Tuesday in a raid at their home. The father remained jailed Wednesday but the son was released, authorities said.

Also arrested from Hackettstown was Thomas D'Alessio Jr., 66. He is charged with promoting gambling and conspiracy to promote gambling.

In addition to the prosecutors office, the following agencies assisted in the arrests: New Jersey State Police, Bergen County Sheriffs Office, Broward County, Fla. Sheriffs Department, the Miami-Dade Police Department, and the New York City Police Department.

D'Alessio, Beatty, Monaco, Pilinci and Gregory Farace wer taken to the Bergen County Jail. Others arrested out of state were released on their own recognizance, pending extradition to New Jersey, the prosecutor said.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Solar-power flight into the Lehigh Valley going 'smoothly'

A handout picture obtained Wednesday, May 25, 2016, from Solar Impulse 2 shows the solar-powered airplane taking off from Dayton, Ohio, to Lehigh Valley International Airport, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls. (Getty Images | For lehighvalleylive.com)

UPDATE: Solar-powered flight around the world touches down in Lehigh Valley (PHOTOS)

The Solar Impulse 2's anticipated flight into the Lehigh Valley was going smoothly as of late Wednesday afternoon, according to the solar-powered airplane's Twitter account.

Mission flight update at the Mission Control Center in #Monaco  , the flight goes smoothly  pic.twitter.com/QG2AP37ckU  SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) May 25, 2016

Swiss aeronautical pioneers Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are looking to make aviation with the nation's first fully solar-powered flight around the world.

It is scheduled to land about 9 p.m. Wednesday at Lehigh Valley International Airport for a stopover before continuing on to New York City.

The crew was circling Wednesday afternoon roughly over the Interstate 81 corridor in south-central Pennsylvania in a bid for better flying weather.

We will be waiting around this area for 3 hours waiting on good weather condition on the ground ! #futureisclean pic.twitter.com/qW8AV7Sddq  SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) May 25, 2016

Solar Impulse 2 can fly during the day or at night, and was conceived as a "symbol which would attractively promote a pioneering and innovative spirit, particularly in the field of renewable energy and clean technologies," according to background on the flight.

"If an airplane can fly day and night without fuel, everybody could use these same technologies on the ground to halve our world's energy consumption, save natural resources and improve our quality of life," Piccard said in a statement. "Our hope is to motivate everyone to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels in their daily lives and encourage concrete actions for sustainability."

The plane took off Wednesday from Dayton, Ohio, for the 13th leg of its flight around the world.

The flight into the Lehigh Valley had been delayed by a day when the aircraft came in contact with fabric in its mobile hangar.

Discover the #solarimpulse ground crew packing the mobile hangar in Dayton #Ohio pic.twitter.com/PgyxGWsB3S  SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) May 25, 2016

Here is a look at some of the Solar Impulse 2's specifications, according to background provided to media about the endeavor:

Lehigh Valley International Airport will be closed to the public during Wednesday night's Solar Impulse 2 landing, but the crew provided this map showing the best areas for viewing. (Courtesy image | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Single-seater aircraft made of carbon fiber.

Unpressurised and unheated cockpit of 134 square feet.

Wing span: 236 feet (larger than a Boeing 747's 223 feet).

Length: 82 feet.

Weight (empty): 5,100 pounds (roughly equal to an empty family car).

Cruising Speed: 28-34 mph (25-30 Knots-Indicated Air Speed at sea level).

Max. Altitude: 28,000 feet.

17,248 solar cells built into the wings power the four batteries (38.5 kilowatt-hours per battery) that in turn power the four electric engines (13.5kW /17.5 horsepower each) and the propellers.

The propulsion system is 93 percent efficient, i.e. only 7 percent of energy is lost, compared to a car that loses 70 percent.

The crew invites the public to visit www.solarimpulse.com for a live broadcast of Wednesday night's landing.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Teresa Scalzo, a former Northampton County assistant district attorney, died Monday after a battle with cancer.

Teresa Scalzo

She is survived by her brother, Carl Scalzo, the police chief of Easton.

Her sister-in-law posted this message on her Facebook page on May 23:

"It is with profound sadness that Carl & I share with you that Teresa has lost her hard fought battle with cancer.

"We share in our grief with her circle of friends who have shown our family unconditional love and support. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for and supported her during this difficult journey."

Carl Scalzo said the cancer was aggressive and there wasn't much her doctors could do.

"She fought it, and she was as courageous as anyone could be," he said.

Teresa Scalzo served as a law clerk to Judge Jack Panella when he served on the Northampton County bench. The Palmer Township resident now serves on the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

"Teresa, we will always hold you close in our hearts. Although you have only been gone a short time, we miss you immensely already," the judge wrote in a letter to the editor on lehighvalleylive.com.

"I was very saddened to hear this news," said her former boss, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli. "Teresa was an excellent and dedicated prosecutor. She worked for me for many, many years. She was one of the pioneers in the child sexual assault division. She will be sorely missed by many."

Scalzo was an assistant public defender when she met Jacqueline Taschner, who also worked in the Northampton County public defender's office. Taschner would later become an assistant district attorney before winning the election to become district judge in Palmer Township.

"Teresa was just an amazing, dedicated, determined accomplished person. When you think about Teresa, you think in terms of superlatives. She was most kind, most witty, most caring and most passionate about what she did and what she believed in."

Scalzo left the Northampton County district attorney's office for the National District Attorneys Association in Washington, D.C. She also worked as a civilian attorney for the U.S. Navy as a sex crimes prosecution expert.

She was a 1986 graduate of Easton Area High School.

She collaborated with Panella in 2007 on a book for judges and lawyers about crimes of sexual violence.

"Her work supporting the prosecution of perpetrators of violence against women for the National District Attorneys Association, U.S. Navy and Department of Defense led to numerous awards and national recognition. She also wrote many of the leading publications that assist prosecutors and law enforcement officers dealing with sexual and domestic violence," Panella said.

SPREAD THE HAPPY

Donations in Scalzo's memory can be made on gofundme.com to a fund set up for charitable causes as determined by her friends and family. The page encourages donors to "spread the happy," a phrase Scalzo embraced.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
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.
The 200th anniversary of Dublin's iconic Ha'penny bridge was celebrated last Thursday, May 19.

The legendary bridge is crossed by approx 30,000 people daily in the capital and has featured in some of the most iconic photos and films from Dublin over the decades.

Many may not know that the iron for the significant bridge originated from Leitrim.

The cast iron bridge is made from iron which was mined from Sliabh an Iarainn over 200 years ago.

The Iron mountain still bears the scars of it's mining days but has since become a popular destination for hillwalkers and climbers eager to experience the breathtaking views from the top.

The bridge built in 1816 was named the Wellington Bridge, in honour of the Irish-born Duke of Wellingtons defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo the year before it opened.

But it was always known to Dubliners and visitors as the Hapenny Bridge after the toll of a Half penny to cross it. The bridge was built to replace leaky boats that ferried people across the Liffey at that point.

In 1913, a proposal by Hugh Lane to replace it with an art gallery spanning the Liffey at that point received considerable support, but nothing came of it.

Control of the bridge was handed over to Dublin Corporation in 1916 and tolls were eliminated in 1919.

The bridge was officially renamed the Liffey Bridge in 1922 as the new Free State began to remove colonial names, but Dubliners continued to call it the Hapenny Bridge.

It was widened and renovated in 2001.
The Morning Pointe Foundation hosted an educational training through its REC-FAST aging care partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga. More than 70 personal trainers, program experts, customer service representatives and leadership from five area YMCAs attended the training in Chattanooga.

The foundation established the REC-FAST partnership with a mission to lead the conversation about aging-friendly and memory care communities. The seminar addresses the right for people living with dementia to have care providers that are adequately trained in dementia care.

The "Aging and Dementia Friendly Community" training was led by Lori Hoeger, director of the Morning Pointe Foundation. Carla Guthrie, The Lantern at Morning Pointe Program specialist, Best Friends Master Trainer, and Certified Teepa Snow's Positive Approach Trainer, followed with the "Best Friends Approach to Aging and Dementia Care" presentation.



"The Morning Pointe Foundation is committed to creating partnerships that help expand senior services and serving as a resource in each community we operate in by providing continued education for families and caregivers," said Greg A. Vital, president and CEO of Independent Healthcare Properties and Morning Pointe Senior Living.


On Monday, Shirley Williams came out of retirement to give a speech on why Britain should remain in the EU at the National Liberal Club.

The party made very good use of Facebook Live to broadcast the event  and you can watch the speech again here.

It was a very good speech. It has been widely reported that she used the occasion to say that the referendum campaign was too male dominated. From the BBC:

In a speech at the National Liberal Club, Baroness Williams said: The EU debate has turned into a conversation between two white middle-aged gentlemen on one side and two white middle-aged gentlemen on the other. It is a very private debate. But Baroness Williams, who is backing a vote to Remain in the EU, told the BBC the conversations so far had been dominated on both sides by people mostly talking about economics. We really havent talked much about the prospects of peace breaking down, she said. We havent talked much about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We havent talked much about the issues of nuclear proliferation and so forth. Were stuck very much to comparisons between one set of figures and another set of figures which leaves the public feeling that theyre sort of in a huge confusion.

Shirley said that it was crucial that Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green supporters went out and voted to Remain.

She said that Jeremy Corbyn should be talking about how so many other members of the European Union are much fairer societies than ours. She also talked about how the Danish EU Commissioner has been taking on the large multi-nationals and making them pay their taxes. Amazon and the like are outwith the scope of any one national government, she said, the only way to take them on was to tackle them as one of a group of nations to make them pay their way.

She also made it clear that the EU is one of the most effective forces in the world against climate change.

She also took on Michael Goves claims about the NHS. Our precious institution is in trouble because we dont spend enough money on it, not because a few foreigners are treated by it. In fact, she pointed to the 135,000 NHS employees who come from abroad, keeping it functioning.

It was a typically thoughtful speech from Shirley. She outlined the dangers of Brexit, but also put forward a very positive case for the EU.
HUNDREDS of cannabis plants at various stages of growth were seized by gardai who raided a number of grow-houses across West Limerick, a court has heard.

Details of the operation, which involved around 50 gardai, emerged last week during a sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Court.

Grzegorz Jacniak, aged 40, who has an address at Market Court, Newcastle West has pleaded guilty to four charges relating to offences at a house at Coolagowan, Castletown Conners and at Arra View, Newcastle West.

In her evidence, Garda Claire Hanrahan said the searches were conducted on February 4, 2015 after confidential information was received in relation to one of the grow-houses.

She told Michael Collins BL, prosecuting, that 375 plants were seized at the house at Coolagowan which had been adapted.

She said additional lighting, heating and ventilation had been installed and that in addition to the plants, a large amount of cannabis was located in a chest freezer at the house while a smaller quantity was found in the defendants car.

A further 142 cannabis plants were seized during a follow-up search of a house at Arra View, Newcastle West which had been rented by Mr Jacniak a number of months earlier.

It was accepted that following his arrest, the defendant made full admissions and indicated that he would be pleading guilty.

Garda Hanrahan said during interview he described in detail his role in the operation and admitted that more than 10,000 had been spent adapting the two houses.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told the operation was a sophisticated commercial operation and that the defendant admitted he had intended selling the drugs for commerical gain.

Mark Nicholas BL, defending, said the father-of-three, who has been living in Ireland for some time, cooperated fully with gardai and immediately took responsibility for the drugs, which had a street value of more than 200,000.

He said Mr Jacniaks family have returned to Poland since his arrest and that his client already has an offer of work for after his release such is the the quality of his work as a mechanic.

Adjourning the matter to July, Judge Tom ODonnell commented that the operation was as sophisticated an operation as Ive seen.

A bench warrant was previously issued for the arrest of Mr Jacniaks co-accused - Artur Pietrziak  after the court was told he had disappeared and could not be located.
THE editor of the Limerick Leader, Alan English, is to take up a new role as group editorial director of Iconic Newspapers, which owns 13 local newspapers around the country, including the Leader.

He will be succeeded as editor of the Leader by current deputy editor, Eugene Phelan, who joined the paper as a junior reporter in 1975.

Both will take up their new roles on July 4.

Alan English has been editor since March 2007, and is the third longest serving editor in the Limerick Leader's history, after Con Cregan (1910-1960) and Brendan Halligan (1970-2006).

A native of the city, he began his career at the Leader before moving to England and spent 12 years at The Sunday Times.

In his new position he will oversee the print and digital operations at all Iconic titles, which also include the Limerick Chronicle, Kilkenny People, Leinster Leader, Leinster Express, Longford Leader, Leitrim Observer, Tipperary Star, Clonmel Nationalist, Donegal Democrat and Dundalk Democrat.

"Being editor of my hometown newspaper for the best part of a decade has been an incredibly rewarding experience," he said.

"I've been extremely fortunate to have worked with so many talented and committed people.

"I also feel very grateful to the readers, advertisers, correspondents and all who have supported the paper throughout my time as editor. I'm optimistic about the future for Limerick and I'll still be based here, so I look forward to seeing our great city and county flourishing in the years ahead.

"A lot has happened since I first started as editor, but I think Limerick is now in a much better place. The one story I'd love to have overseen was our hurlers winning an All-Ireland, but I suppose you can't have everything!

"I'm delighted Eugene will be taking over as editor. He has been a fantastic deputy editor and he's a highly respected and much liked journalist."

Eugene Phelan, also a native of Limerick city, said: "I am really looking forward to the challenge of being editor of one of the best provincial newspapers in the country, with some of the finest journalists around. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with and learning from Alan English for nearly 10 years.

"Journalism is evolving at a rapid pace and we're determined that the Leader will continue to be the No 1 source of local news and sport, both in print and online."

Last week, the Leader claimed two prestigious honours in the inaugural Local Ireland Media Awards and was shortlisted in more categories - six - than any other title.

Anne Sheridan won the Best News Story award for her coverage of the University of Limerick story which led to High Court proceedings by UL against the Leader and Alan English. The university dropped the action last week, after almost nine months.

The Leader also won the Best Digital Coverage award for its general election blog, which featured 16 hours of rolling coverage provided by a 12-strong team at the count centre.

Aine Fitzgerald was shortlisted for Best News Feature and the Leader was also a finalist in the Best Designed Newspaper category, which was won by the Mayo News, and two categories for advertising features.

See our weekend editions for further coverage.
A MEETING will take place next Monday to determine the future of the Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) in Limerick.

MABS and the Citizens Information Board (CIB) which oversees it, will meet next week on the instruction of the Department of Social Protection, which funds both agencies.

The Limerick Leader understands that the MABS service is under threat, along with the seven staff that work in it, because its funding has been suspended, with a source claiming that it will close by the end of the month if the situation is not reversed.

This is happening for petty reasons, minor issues like returns being a day or two late. The service actually underspent its budget for last year, they said.

Staff will lose their jobs and the service will be lost to Limerick if someone doesnt do something to restore the funding.

MABS works with around 550 people who are in financial distress and receives annual funding of around 400,000. Daire O Criodain, Chairperson of MABS in Limerick, told Live 95FM that there was no financial mismanagement.

There is no doubt that there has been a tetchy and arguably dysfunctional relationship between CIB and Limerick MABS going back for several years, he said.

But my sense, after four months, is that a lot of it is about this; MABS is a professionally and prudently run organisation and CIB has a legitimate role in overseeing it, which CIB quite rightly takes seriously. But, I would say, based on my experience, (that) I have never seen such a micro-managerial level of oversight as CIB applied to MABS.

Senator Kieran ODonnell and Limerick TDs Willie ODea and Maurice Quinlivan are aware of the situation and have tried to resolve it, including raising it with the new minister in the department, Leo Varadkar.

Senator ODonnell said he had contacted Minister Varadkar's office about the situation requesting that an immediate meeting be facilitated between CIB and MABS Limerick to discuss the issues. I wish to ensure the continued provision of a MABS service here in Limerick and to secure jobs in this service.

The Department contacted both CIB and MABS about such a meeting taking place and I have been informed that this will now take happen next Monday, May 30.

A query to the department was met with the following response: The CIB is the statutory authority with responsibility for MABS. The matter with Limerick MABS is being dealt with by the CIB. The Department is not making any further comment at this time.

Deputy ODea said the Limerick agencies seem to be at loggerheads.

The position here, as I see it, is that, in the past, due to personal circumstances of a few of the staff, I think they were a little bit late in getting in their returns. But I think they are fully compliant this year, to the best of my knowledge, he said.

I think this is very regrettable and the Minister is going to have to sort it out and I will be calling on him directly to do so. If I have to raise it in the Dail, I will. I will be raising directly, or indirectly, because it is very, very worrying.

It is worrying for the staff, whose lives are on hold, and it is equally worrying or perhaps even more worrying for the unfortunate clients (of the service), some of whom are in desperate financial straits and need the assistance of MABS, which is a vital service.

Deputy Quinlivan said he had been assured that there would be no closure of MABS and the staff will not be affected. Trade union Unite has also called for MABS funding to be restored.
Logan Square's Analogue Is Losing Its Co-Founders And Chef

By Stephen Gossett in Food on May 25, 2016 6:03PM



(Fried Chicken Sandwich courtesy of Analogue)

Chicago isn't exactly bursting with quality Cajun food optionsand now perhaps the best destination in the city has taken a major hit. Analogue founders Robert Haynes and Henry Prendergast will no longer handle restaurant operations at the celebrated Southern-inspired spot, Eater reports. Chef Alfredo Nogueira is also departing.

The Logan Square restaurant and cocktail bar has been a neighborhood favorite and critical darling since it debuted in 2013. It drew initial accolades thanks to generously bittered cocktails. (Haynes and Prendergast previously directed Violet Hour.) But their New Orleans-flavored brunch and dinner menus garnered widespread accolades, too, with beignets, Scott eggs and fried chicken sandwich among the standout dishes.

Current sous chef Danny Kaplan will take over as executive chef this week, and Nogueira plans to visit his hometown New Orleans before plotting his next move, according to DNAinfo.

We reached out to Analogue about the departures and will update this post as more information becomes available.
May 24, 2016, 11 PM

By Michael Baadke

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, philosopher, lecturer and poet, was born in Boston, Mass., on May 25, 1803. He would become a leader in a philosophical movement known as American Transcendentalism, which Emerson described as idealism.

Principles of transcendentalism embrace the power of thought and personal consciousness, a belief in free will and the importance of nature.

Emerson studied at Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School, and was ordained as a junior minister in Boston. He resigned from his position in 1832 and traveled to Europe, where he met with philosophers and poets including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. He began lecturing the following year, and in 1840 became a writer for The Dial, a journal of transcendentalism, of which he would later become editor.

His lectures were revised and published as essays, and Emerson became an important influence on later writers, including Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

Emerson was honored on a 3 stamp in the American Authors set of the 1940 Famous Americans issue (Scott 861).

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Chicago Public Schools Faces Devastating Cuts Next Year

By aaroncynic in News on May 25, 2016 5:05PM



Photo credit: Justin Carlson

"You're going to lose some quality teachers that come here and sacrifice for these kids daily," Jeff Dase, principal at Coles Language Academy told ABC7. According to Dase, the school is looking at a potential $400,000 in cuts, which could mean laying off seven of the 34 teachers at the school.

Gregory Jones, principal at Kenwood Academy High School, told the Hyde Park Herald his school faces a 26 percent cut, a loss of $2.8 million. Due to previous cuts from earlier in the school year, the school has already had to lay off 10 people.

In total, WGN reports CPS is looking at $700 million in cuts if lawmakers in Springfield cant reach a deal to assist the financially beleaguered district, which has a $1 billion budget deficit.

If we dont get any funding from the state to help close that gap, youre looking at significant cuts in staffing and students, said Jones.

In a statement to the Tribune last week, CPS spokesperson Emily Bittner said the district was working with schools to understand how cuts would impact students.

"Even as we continue to seek equal funding in Springfield, we must continue to plan for the worst  higher class sizes, loss of enrichment activities, and layoffs of teachers and support staff, Bittner said.

The Chicago Teachers Union and other community groups have put the blame on Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Bruce Rauner and CPS CEO Forrest Claypool for being unwilling to use other revenue to boost cash-strapped budgets. Policy suggestions include closing corporate loopholes, creating a progressive income tax or taxing LaSalle Street trading.

Chicago Public Schools are broke on purpose, CTU reps wrote in a statement on Monday. "Claypool wont dare approach his boss or his wealthy backers for the funds our students desperately need.

Wednesday morning, more than 100 parents of CPS children held what they called a million dollar bake sale in front of District headquarters to illustrate parents frustration and determination to keep the pressure on elected officials throughout the summer and demand appropriate and equitable funding for CPS schools, according to a press release.



The CTU has also called for support for its  revenue recovery plan , which includes repurposing the TIF surplus, a tax on ride-share services and other revenue boosters they say could raise up to $502 million.

Emanuel has rejected this and other plans and instead, is looking to Springfield. While he has yet to make a trip to lobby legislators in the Capitol, he hasnt ruled it out and has said hes been in regular contact with them.

"I've been personally in touch with them, in person, and there's a lot of ways, you can FaceTime people on cellphones, if you're worried about that personal touch, OK?" Emanuel told the Tribune. "I'm going to continue to be, not just on the phone but in person. This weekend I was meeting with legislators from the Chicago area."
We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.
6 Things To Know About Navy Pier's New Ferris Wheel, Opening Friday

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on May 25, 2016 8:40PM



Photo courtesy of Navy Pier

Navy Pier's new, 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel opens to the public on Friday at noon, and we have some updates on what you can expect from the Centennial Wheel. (It's so named because it's part of a larger remodel, or "reimagin[ing]," of the to the Pier for its 100th anniversary, a project called the Centennial Vision.)

1. The rides are more epic.

The new wheel is 50 feet taller than its predecessor (whose new home is in Branson, MO). Its rides also last longerfor 13 to 15 minutes, a Navy Pier spokesperson told Chicagoist. A ride on the old Ferris wheel took seven minutes, according to the Tribune. Rides on the new wheel cover more terrain, too: three rotations, a Navy Pier spokesperson said. Riders only got one rotation on the previous wheel, the Tribune reported.

2. It's more expensive to ride.

A ticket for one adult will be $15 now, compared to eight dollars on the previous wheel, according to a Navy Pier spokesperson. Visitors can also buy a $35 day pass for unlimited rides on the wheel and assorted other Pier rides.

3. It's probably more expensive to ride because it cost $26.5 million.

Yep. It cost $26.5 million. Don't worry, thoughit wasn't built with taxpayer money. (The Tribune reports it was financed by a private loan to Navy Pier.)

4. It's from the same company that built Navy Pier's first-ever wheel.

The new modeltitled, dully, the DW60comes from Dutch Wheels, the same Netherlands company that built the Pier's original wheel.

5. It has higher-tech gondolas.

This Ferris wheel has swanky, high-tech gondolas42 of them, to be exact, each of which can hold up to ten passengers, according to Navy Pier's spokesperson. The gondolas have both air conditioning and heat, and they're equipped with TVs (though those TVs will only play Navy Pier promotional materials).

6. It even has a higher-tech middle part.

The giant black circle at the center of the wheel is also a "video screen" and "digital board," a Navy Pier spokesperson told Chicagoist. The screen will show "special light shows, Navy Piers logo at times, historical images of the Pier over the past 100 years [and] tributes on special occasions and holidays. (Editor's note: It is so ugly.)

You can pre-purchase tickets to ride the Centennial Wheel here.
Takin' It To The Streets Fest Will Celebrate MLK's Legacy, And Rakim Is Headlining

By Mike Ewing in Arts & Entertainment on May 25, 2016 6:39PM



NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: Rakim performs at the Apple Store in Soho on November 20, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

This year's Takin' It to the Streets fest in Marquette Park will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march against segregation in Chicago, according to organizers. The music festival and summit will also include a headlining performance by legendary MC Rakim.

MLK and hundreds of activists marched to Marquette Park, then part of an all-white housing area, as part of the Chicago Freedom Movement's protests against segregation on Aug. 6, 1966. The march is seen by many as a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement.

Festival organizers plan to recreate the march and unveil a memorial commemorating the MLK's work 50 years later to the date. Takin It to the Streets, hosted by the Inner-City Muslim Action Network since 1997, is seen as a way to bridge cultural divides in Chicago.

Takin' It to the Streets is free and takes place in Marquette Park from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 6.
US actor Bill Cosby has been ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges.

The ruling comes after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report in which a woman said the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor, and meant she was unable to stop his advances.

Bill Cosby walks into court. [Photo / CRI]

The District Judge said prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial, setting his arraignment for July 20, at which time the TV star will enter a plea and a trial date will be set.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele says he is confident in getting a trial date.

"We just conducted our preliminary hearing. All charges were held. We're here because we want to seek the truth. We are here to serve justice. The evidence in this case that was presented at the preliminary hearing is of a limited basis, a preliminary hearing is a situation where we only have to show that a crime has been committed and that the defendant is connected to the crime. We did that through the victim's statement and the defendant's admissions to much of the crime. Consequently, we are going to move forward on the case and look forward to getting a trial date."

Cosby faces three counts of felony indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University.

She is the first of more than 50 women who have accused the comedian of sexual misconduct, which Cosby has claimed was consensual sexual activity.

Constand was not present at the hearing, and the judge ruled that she would not have to testify. Her statements to police were read into the record.

The case was reopened by prosecutors last year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosby's sealed deposition in the Constand's lawsuit was made public.

He settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying about his extramarital affairs, his use of drugs to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

Cosby has not entered a plea since his December 30 arrest. He is currently free on bail of 1 million US dollars.

If convicted, Cosby could face up to 30 years in prison.
With Rodrigo Duterte winning the presidential election in the Philippines and the ruling on the South China Sea issue being delayed, the world is wondering how the incoming Filipino president will treat the issue.

Mending ties and maintaining alliances

A major diplomatic challenge for Duterte is to elevate the military ties between his country and the United States while mending its political relationship with China.

During his campaign rally in late April, Duterte said that he would ride a jet ski and plant the Filipino flag on a disputed island in the South China Sea if the Filipino navy failed to safeguard the island sovereignty. But he also remarked that it would be a dead end for the Philippines to fight China on the South China Sea issue. The president-elect said he was open to bilateral talks with China and willing to explore possibilities regarding the energy assets in the contested area. He seems to subscribe to the principle of "shelving differences and seeking joint development" proposed by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

On May 19, Duterte told American President Barack Obama that he supported the alliance built between the Philippines and the U.S., but added that he would opt for bilateral talks with Beijing if current efforts don't resolve the disputes in the South China Sea. According to him, President Obama urged him not to engage in a bilateral dialogue with China before a ruling on the South China Sea issue has been reached.

Duterte seems keen on mending Filipino-Chinese ties. In a number of public speeches, he has made it clear that he would maintain the sovereignty of the Philippines in the South China Sea, but also pledged to restore bilateral talks with China.

Based on what we've seen, the incoming Filipino president will stay away from the pro-U.S. policies promoted by outgoing president Benigno Aquino III. He is more likely to promote reconciliation with China, but he will also find himself under pressure due to the presence of the U.S. military in his country. Therefore, he needs to improve the ties with China while at the same time embracing his country's old ally, the U.S.

Opportunity for Chinese-Filipino ties

People in the Philippines didn't endorse the strong attitude that outgoing president Aquino III took on the South China Sea issue. An opinion piece in the Filipino newspaper Manila Standard on May 14 denounced Aquino III as a "stooge" for the U.S. and said that his "confrontational approach has pushed [the Filipino people] to a situation where [they] practically stand just one step closer to a state of war' with China."

After the presidential election, Duterte was asked again how he would treat the dispute in the South China Sea. "I would say to China: 'Do not claim anything here and I will not insist also that it is ours'," he told reporters.

Duterte's actions and remarks are an adjustment of the current Filipino-Chinese ties, which have been going astray for some time now. His efforts to stay away from Aquino's diplomatic policies and his intention to cement ties with China demonstrate his pragmatic spirit.

Duterte is a tremendously pragmatic political figure. The fact that he made his stance on China and the South China Sea clear before and right after winning the presidential election  instead of waiting till the end of June when he will be officially sworn in office  demonstrates the attention he will give to. But, of course, he will not unconditionally accept China's claims on the South China Sea issue. He said he was willing to have a direct dialogue with China to formulate a joint exploration plan in the contested waters and avoid war. He will adopt a strategy similar to that of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the predecessor of Aquino III  treading a middle course between China and the U.S and not choosing sides.

The Philippines will be the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2017. Duterte's stance will have a concrete impact on the growing disputes in the South China Sea. His diplomatic policies are highly unpredictable and can be an opportunity to improve Chinese-Filipino relations.

The writer is a professor of the PLA National Defense University.

This article was translated by Zhang Lulu based on the original unabridged version published in Chinese.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
The sperm-storage tubule of the fruit fly <em>Drosophila bifurca</em> is nearly 8 centimeters long. The size of this organ drives the size of mega sperm in males.

Picky females have driven the evolution of mega sperm in males as a way to ensure that the gals will get only the best mates, new research finds.

Tiny fruit flies have record-breaking sperm cells. The sperm of Drosophila bifurca can reach lengths of 2.3 inches (5.8 centimeters), for example. Researchers have long known that the peculiarities of the female fruit fly's reproductive tract are responsible for these enormous sperm, which take a huge amount of energy to produce. Female fruit flies have a sperm-storage organ in which they hold sperm from multiple matings. In this organ, the sperm cells jockey for access to an egg in a process of postcopulatory competition.

Now, researchers have found out why this sperm-versus-sperm competition benefits females. Essentially, the need to produce huge sperm pushes low-quality males out of the mating game, leaving only the fittest males for females to choose from. This means giant sperm are similar to heavy antlers or flashy feathers: a costly expenditure to ensure males have a chance to pass on their genes. [In Photos: The World's Oldest Fossilized Sperm]

A sperm paradox

Sperm are the most varied and fastest-evolving cells in the body, said Scott Pitnick, an evolutionary biologist at Syracuse University in New York and an author of the new research, published today (May 25) in the journal Nature. Sperm cells are also unique among body cells in that they spend much of their life span in a foreign environment  the female reproductive tract. But the conditions of the female reproductive tract have been understudied, Pitnick told Live Science.

"If you want to understand all that variation, you have to look at what sperm are doing inside of females," he said.

Sperm competition is a major part of reproduction for many organisms, Pitnick said, but biologists mostly thought of this process as being like a raffle: the more tickets you buy, the more likely you are to win. In that case, males should produce massive amounts of cheap sperm in order to have the best chances of reproduction. [7 Interesting Facts About Sperm]

Fruit flies in the Drosophila genus mating. (Image credit: Stefan Luepold, University of Zurich)

Giant fruit fly sperm didn't fit that mold at all. These sperm are very expensive to produce; they should also theoretically reduce competition, Pitnick said. Because fruit flies that produce mega sperm can produce only a few sperm cells at a time  as few as six per every egg females produce  this should decrease the number of sperm vying for fertilization and ease the selective pressures driving sperm size upward.

But that wasn't happening. Now, it's clearer why that is the case. Pitnick and his colleagues bred multiple lines of fruit flies with sperm "tagged" by fluorescent proteins, so researchers could tell which sperm came from which flies. In doing so, the researchers were able to determine the factors that influence when and how sperm are successful.

They found that there are strong genetic correlations between the length of the female sperm-storage organ and the length of sperm in a species such that when females evolve longer sperm-storage organs, males automatically produce longer sperm.

Meanwhile, females with longer sperm-storage organs also evolve to mate more frequently, which heightens the sperm war going on in their reproductive tracts. This means that even bigger sperm are likely to win the battle and go on to produce offspring. Only the highest-quality males can keep up in this cycle of sperm competition, so low-quality males get pushed out of the mating game. Females thus get the pick of the litter as far as genetics for their offspring.

Antlers, feathers and  sperm?

The coils of the female fruit fly's sperm-storage organ. Giant sperm are more likely to displace the competition and are less likely to be displaced themselves in these labyrinthine organs than smaller sperm. (Image credit: Scott Pitnick)

The findings explain why competition continues even as there are fewer sperm to compete, Pitnick said.

"As sperm length evolves, you get all this weird self-reinforcement that keeps driving it further and further along," he said.

The findings also reveal that though female fruit flies "choose" sperm simply based on the size of their own storage organs, the process works much like the sexual selection that occurs for flashy male ornamentation such as peacock tails or deer antlers, the researchers said. In fact, the selection is stronger than for many classic sexually selected traits such as lizard horns or the enormous jaws of stag beetles.

The parallel between sexual selection for giant sperm and sexual selection for other traits is useful, Pitnick said, because the mechanism by which females "pick" sperm is simple anatomy, not complex cognition.

"We have a simple physiological basis where you can actually look at the genetics of female choice," he said. "When people think about sex differences, they should be thinking about not just plumage and antlers and courtship dances. They should [also] be thinking about sperm and female reproduction tracts."

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
In April, climbing season for Mount Everest opened after two years of disasters shuttered the mountain earlier than usual. In that time, there have already been four confirmed deaths. Two more climbers are missing and are unlikely to be found, experts say. One worker died while fixing a route near the summit. The other three deaths were climbers, all suspected of having altitude sickness.

In 2014, Everest expeditions almost completely halted following the deaths of 16 Nepali mountain workers in an avalanche and subsequent protests for improved work conditions. Then, in April 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake and avalanche caused nearly 8,500 deaths in Nepal and resulted in 19 fatalities at Mount Everest Base Camp, leading to the cancellation of the climbing season, a choice made on the Tibet side by the Chinese government and by individual teams on the Nepal side.

So what makes Mount Everest such a dangerous place? In addition to the capriciousness of Mother Nature and the treacherous terrain on the lofty peak, the altitude can take a real toll on the human body, scientists say.

Altitude sickness on Mount Everest

At 29,029 feet (8,848 meters), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world in terms of altitude. However, the tallest mountain is actually Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which measures 33,480 feet (10,205 m) from its underwater base to its peak, according to Guinness World Records. (Most of Mauna Kea is underwater.) [Photos: The World's 10 Tallest Mountains]

Mauna Kea, seen here on Nov. 1, 2015, from the International Space Station, is Earth's tallest mountain, measured from base to peak. (Image credit: NASA)

Altitude sickness, also called acute mountain sickness, can begin once a person reaches an altitude of about 8,000 feet (2,440 m). Symptoms include nausea, headache, dizziness and exhaustion. Many Colorado ski resorts surpass this altitude.

If climbers remain below 12,000 feet (3,600 m), they are unlikely to experience the more severe forms of altitude sickness, which may cause difficulty walking, increased breathlessness, a bubbling sound in the chest, coughed-up liquid that is pink and frothy, and confusion or loss of consciousness, according to the U.K.National Health Service (NHS).

Oxygen insufficiency is the root of altitude sickness. The barometric pressure decreases at high altitudes, which allows oxygen molecules to spread out, according to Dr. Eric Weiss, a professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and founder and former director of the Stanford Wilderness Medicine Fellowship. At Everest Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier, which lies at an altitude of 17,600 feet (5,400 m), oxygen levels are at about 50 percent of what they are at sea level. That drops to one-third at Everest's summit, which reaches about 29,000 feet (8,850 m) above sea level. [Infographic: Take a Tour Through Earth's Atmospheric Layers]

"The marked reduction in barometric pressure and oxygen you get has very deleterious effects on the brain and the body," Weiss told Live Science.

At Everest Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier (shown here), oxygen levels are at about 50 percent of what they are at sea level. (Image credit: Creative Commons via Wikipedia)

If someone is experiencing mild altitude sickness, they should not go any higher for 24 to 48 hours, according to the NHS. If symptoms don't improve, or if they worsen in that time, the NHS advises descending 1,640 feet (500 m). Severe altitude sickness is a medical emergency that requires immediate descent to a low altitude and attention from a medical professional.

Altitude sickness can lead to pulmonary or cerebral edemas, which are buildups of fluid in the lungs and brain, respectively. These symptoms often occur together and are the body's attempt to get more oxygen to these vital organs in response to the decreased oxygen environment at these high elevations, said Weiss. Because blood vessels and capillaries are porous, this increased flow can cause leakage and fluid retention. Fluid buildup in the brain may result in loss of coordination and problems with thought processing, said Weiss. It can lead to coma and death. Weiss said that fluid buildup in the lungs can make it hard for someone to breathe and physically exert themselves. It can eventually cause death through a process similar to drowning.

Researchers reporting in 2008 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) looked at deaths on Everest from 1921 to 2006 and found that "profound fatigue and late times in reaching the summit are early features associated with subsequent death," they wrote in the BMJ.

Weiss has a similar view on the safest way to climb Everest: "When people climb Everest [], the mantra is that you have to get up to the summit by a certain time so that you can get down while you still have oxygen left and while you still have daylight," he said. Too often, people refuse to turn around when they should because they can see the summit and think it's close enough to justify continuing, he added.

Why Sherpas survive

Overall, the BMJ study found that the total mortality rate for Everest mountaineers was 1.3 percent. The mortality rate for climbers is 1.6 percent, compared with 1.1 percent for Sherpas. The most common cause of death for climbers was falls, whereas the most common cause of death for Sherpas was "objective hazards," which included avalanches, falling ice, crevasses and falling rock, and were likely related to the extended time they had to spend in more treacherous areas of the mountain as part of their employment. The researchers noted that neurological dysfunction, which could be related to altitude sickness, also could have contributed to fatal falls.

Sherpas, shown on April 13, 2014, at the Everest Base Camp, may be more adapted to breathing at high altitudes, compared with other climbers. Here the Sherpas are building a Budhhist puja altar before their ascent. (Image credit: Kondoruk / Shutterstock.com)

There are no distinct reasons why altitude affects one person more than another. The National Institutes of Health notes that speed of ascent and physical exertion often play roles in whether someone develops altitude sickness. Acclimatization is often touted as a vital step in attempting Everest with reduced risk.

Living at high elevations, such as the elevations at which Sherpas grow up, may give certain people an advantage in climbing Everest, according to a study detailed in 2015 in the journal F1000Research. That study, which involved Sherpas and lowlanders at various elevations, including Base Camp, suggested that Sherpas may be protected from altitude sickness due to various physiological processes, including mitochondrial function and microcirculation. The mitochondria, often called the powerhouses of the cells, take in oxygen and convert it to fuel. It's possible that Sherpas' mitochondria process oxygen more efficiently, making them better suited to high-altitude environments that other people. Microcirculation is the movement of blood to the smallest blood vessels, which also includes the delivery of oxygen to bodily tissues. Research has shown that Sherpas maintain better microcirculatory blood flow in low-oxygen environments than people who are from low elevations.

The BMJ researchers noted that Sherpas may be less likely to die at the highest elevations because they spend more time up there preparing routes, further increasing the time they have to acclimate. The competitive process involved in becoming a mountain worker likely also means that only the people best suited for the job are working on Everest, the researchers added.

Tips for surviving altitude sickness

Bringing someone to a lower elevation is the best way to treat altitude sickness, but doing so can be very challenging. "Prevention is paramount, because once those changes occur at those kinds of extreme altitudes, it is very hard to assist someone to a lower altitude," Weiss said. Climbing downhill is more challenging than trekking uphill because it often requires increased coordination and technical skills, he said. Other factors  such as exhaustion, dehydration and a low supply of supplemental oxygen can add to the difficulty. People experiencing altitude sickness also may be struggling to walk or may be unconscious, Weiss said.

There is medication that may help to prevent, and partially treat, the buildup of fluid in the brain, but it is not effective in treating the buildup of fluid in the lungs, Weiss said. Supplemental oxygen can help, but it isn't always available.

In Nepal in 1989, Weiss and his colleague Dr. Ken Zafren, also of Stanford, were the first people to field-test another potential treatment for severe altitude sickness, called the Gamow bag. The inflatable bag, which looks a little like a closed sleeping bag, can essentially create a lower-atmosphere environment for the person inside. A foot pump is used to inflate the bag, creating higher pressure inside than outside. The extent of descent this bag can simulate depends on where it's being used. At the top of Everest, it could simulate a descent of about 9,195 feet (2,800 m), according to a manual provided by the American Mountain Guides Association. Weiss said the bag is helpful but is not practical to use at Everest's summit because it weighs nearly 13 lbs. (6 kilograms) and requires a lot of physical exertion in order to inflate it and keep it inflated at extreme altitudes. A Gamow bag is almost always available at Base Camp, but the sick person must be brought to it, Weiss said.

So far this year, approximately 400 climbers have made it to the top of Mount Everest. According to National Geographic (opens in new tab), they include Melissa Arnot, who summited for her sixth time and is the first American woman to do so without supplemental oxygen; Staff Sgt. Charlie Linville, the first combat-wounded amputee to reach the summit; and Lakhpa Sherpa, a Nepalese woman who summited for the seventh time, breaking her own record as the most accomplished female Everest climber.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to correct the description of cerebral edema.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
 Flash

Rescue workers carry the body of a miner in Hpakan, Myanmar's Kachin state, May 24, 2016. A total of 13 people were killed, 20 injured and 100 others missing on Monday night due to a collapse of land waste from a jade mine in Hpakan township in Myanmar's Kachin state. [Xinhua/Zaw Moe]

A total of 13 people were killed, 20 injured and 100 others missing on Monday night due to a collapse of land waste from a jade mine in Hpakan township in Myanmar's Kachin state, U Tint Soe, representative of Hpakan township, told Xinhua Tuesday.

The land waste was from a jade mine undertaken by Yadanar Sin company and located near Gwe Kha Hmaw village in Hpakan township. The victims were searching pieces of jade on the land waste when the land waste collapsed.

A local emergency worker said that the missing people were feared dead.

It is difficult for emergency workers to rescue as there is no machines. Moreover, a small collapse of land waste had occurred Tuesday morning 7 a.m. local time when the emergency workers were searching for the missing people, he added.

A total of 13 people were also killed and four others injured due to a landslide in Hpakan in early this month.

At least 100 people were killed in a landslide in Hpakan in November 2015. Over 40 landslides occurred in this town in 2015.
 Flash

The U.S. Justice Department had decided to seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof, a white gunman charged with killing nine black churchgoers in South Carolina last year, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Tuesday.

"Following the department's rigorous review process to thoroughly consider all relevant factual and legal issues, I have determined that the Justice Department will seek the death penalty," said Lynch in a brief statement.

"The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," the statement said.

Roof, then 21, started a shooting spree at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, a historic black church in the coastal city of Charleston, on June 17, 2015. After his arrest, Roof reportedly told police that he wanted to start a "race war."

Roof had been charged by state attorneys on nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

He was also indicted on 33 counts of federal charges, including hate crimes.

The racially motivated murder at that time fueled debates of racism in the United States as the country was still recovering from widespread protests and riots in the wake of a series of high-profile police shooting of unarmed African-American men.
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.
A young musician from Longford town raised the alarm which helped 12 people to escape unharmed from a burning building in Atlantic City last week.

Seventeen-year-old drummer Kian Johnston was on tour in the United States with Kildare-based rock band Dissension Rising when they visited the east coast city to perform at a local venue.

We had played a gig at a venue called The Boneyard and then followed a friend of ours back to his house, which was about 15 minutes outside the city, where we were staying for the night he explained.

At about 5.30am I woke up and asked our manager 'do you smell smoke?' and she said she did. I got up and walked into the kitchen and when I got there it was engulfed in smoke.

Firefighters battled the blaze for two hours before bringing it under control.

Kian and his bandmates are due to arrive back in Ireland today, Wednesday.

For more on this story, see this week's Longford Leader.
Despite the regular, heavy showers of rain that fell on Sunday, the Mall in Longford town was busier than usual, as the family, friends, and supporters of the late Albert Reynolds gathered to rename the space 'Albert Reynolds Peace Park'.

A tribute to one of Longford's most famous sons, the turnout on the day showed the esteem in which the former Taoiseach is still held following his passing in August 2014.

Opening the event, Cathaoirleach of Longford Co Council, Cllr Gerry Warnock admitted that it was an honour for him to officiate.

I never had the privilege to work at close quarters with Albert but I didn't need first hand knowledge because the respect and the esteem which Albert Reynolds was held in by the people of Longford and indeed by the people of Ireland for his commitment to his country is second to none, Cllr Warnock stated.

Revealing that he had proposed the tribute, Cllr Seamus Butler, Cathaoirleach of Longford Municipal District, pointed out that Fine Gael Cllr Micheal Carrigy had proposed the name, another nod to the respect earned by the late Longford man throughout the political community.

Referring to the former Statesman as the original architect of the peace process in Northern Ireland, Cllr Butler paid tribute in particular to Albert Reynolds' local contributions.

He was part of the Longford Development Company that delivered the first indoor heated swimming pool outside of the cities in Ireland in the late sixties, Cllr Butler explained, revealing that Mr Reynolds had been a member of the Mall Development company and had been instrumental in acquiring the land.

After encouraging locals to adopt Reynolds' 'get up and go' attitude, Cllr Butler then directly addressed the Reynolds family, saying; I know Kathleen and the family must feel their loss every day and I hope that it may be some comfort here today that we have a permanent and lasting memorial, the Albert Reynolds Peace Park.

Speaking on behalf of his family, Philip Reynolds, son of the late Albert, said it was a great privilege and a great honour to attend the occasion.

Indeed, he told the Leader that his father would have been thrilled to be stuck in the middle of such a beautiful, lively place in the heart of Longford.

He also thanked Cllr Butler for sharing the information on Longford Swimming Pool, which he had tried to research prior to the weekend.

Addressing the crowd gathered, the local businessman described the tribute as truly remarkable.

For us and for our generation Im sure this will always be the Mall. For future generations - who knows? Maybe theyll call it Alberts Park, you wouldnt know.

But the lovely part about it is that itll be here for future generations and some people will cross that bridge and wonder who was Albert Reynolds and in the same way I tried to Google about Longford Swimming Pool, maybe theyll Google and find out who Albert Reynolds was.

So thank you very much to everybody in Longford.
There was a deep sense of sadness throughout the county last week when it emerged that Bertie Moorhead, Rhyne, Killoe had passed away on May 16, 2016.

Bertie was very well known in local political circles having served as a local area representative on Longford Co Council throughout the 1970s.

Starting out as a Fine Gael representative, Bertie served alongside many of the greats including Mickey Doherty (FF) RIP; the late Albert Reynolds and Joe Kelly (RIP).

Indeed it can be said that there was great political rivalry between Bertie and Mickey who both served in the same locality and who were both passionate about politics and the communities in which they lived.

Bertie later became an Independent and continued to win many a hard fought election throughout the 1970s.

The late Bertie Moorhead was also very well known and widely respected in the farming community.

A highly-regarded cattle dealer, he was known the length and breadth of the country and held close affiliations to Skibbereen in Co Cork and its people.

Regarded as a colourful and honest man, Bertie ran his farm in Killoe for a long number of years alongside his brother Willie.

Bertie Moorhead was laid to rest in the adjoining churchyard at St Catherines Church, Killoe after Funeral Mass on Tuesday, May 18.

He is deeply regretted by his sister-in-law Hazel, nephews, nieces, relatives, friends and neighbours.

May he Rest in Peace.
School & Education, Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 25 2016

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Masters-in-Education Teacher Incentive Scholarship Program will begin accepting applications on May 26.

Albany, NY - May 24, 2016 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Masters-in-Education Teacher Incentive Scholarship Program will begin accepting applications on May 26. The program provides a full SUNY or CUNY tuition scholarship to high-achieving college undergraduates or professionals for their masters studies in education. Up to 500 new awards will be granted annually for two academic years of full-time study.



Expanding access to higher education today will help foster top notch talent to be the educators of tomorrow, Governor Cuomo said. This program will help ensure that our future teachers have access to the resources necessary to become leaders in the classroom and continue to shape and inspire students across New York for years to come.



Honorees must be New York State residents and have maintained a grade point average of 3.5 or higher at a college or university located in the state. Recipients must agree to teach at a public elementary or secondary school in the state for five years after completing their degree. The application deadline is July 10, 2016, and awards will be announced in August.



The launch of the Governors Masters-in-Education scholarship, coupled with the launch of TeachNY, offers our future teachers unprecedented financial and professional support to ensure their success, said New York State Higher Education Services Corporation Acting President Elsa Magee. This scholarship will help provide a pool of top teacher candidates at the time the States need for teachers is growing.



The need for teacher recruitment and retention is at an all-time high in New York State, as we face a significant  and growing teacher shortage, said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. Governor Cuomos Teacher Incentive Scholarship Program is an excellent complement to TeachNY, one that is certain bring more excellent teachers to New Yorks classrooms and students. SUNY is proud to be a part of this important initiative and we look forward to welcoming the inaugural recipients to SUNY campuses throughout New York State.



"I commend Governor Cuomo for this timely and important initiative to support New Yorks future educators, said CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken. The City University of New York has long recognized the importance of teacher preparation and retention, and CUNY is the largest provider of public school teachers for New York City. The Masters-in-Education Program demonstrates the States commitment to supporting high quality preparation for the next generation of New York teachers.



For more information, visit here.



About New York State Higher Education Services Corporation:

The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation is the States student financial aid agency that helps people pay for college and a national leader in providing need based grant and scholarship award money to college-going students. At the Corporation's core are programs like the Tuition Assistance Program, numerous state scholarships, federal college access grants and a highly successful College Savings program. The Corporation puts college within the reach of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year through programs like these and through the guidance it provides to students, families and counselors. In 2013-14, the Corporation helped more than 388,000 students achieve their college dreams by providing more than $984 million in grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness benefits, including $935.5 million awarded through the Tuition Assistance Program.
Family & Parenting, Local News, Health & Wellness, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 25 2016

If signed into law, New York will join California, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Utah and Washington D.C. in providing insurance coverage for donor human milk.

Albany, NY - May 23, 2016 - Today Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Health, Kemp Hannon, and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages were joined by Chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Health Richard N. Gottfried and Assembly member Steve Englebright in calling for the passage of A9353A/S.6583. This bill would ensure adequate financial support for the use of donated, pasteurized breast milk  a life-saving, cost-effective treatment for high-risk, premature infants born at less than 3  pounds. If signed into law, New York will join California, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Utah and Washington D.C. in providing insurance coverage for donor human milk.

Equal access to donor breast milk will positively impact the life chances of our states tiniest and most critically ill babies, said Assembly member Michaelle C. Solages.

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to provide a child a healthy start in life. While a mothers own milk is the optimal nutrition for her baby, donor breast milk is the next best option for mothers who are unable to produce breast milk or infants who are unable to receive maternal breast milk. This legislation will ensure infants in need of such nourishment are able to receive donated, pasteurized breast milk. stated Senator and Senate Health Committee Chair Kemp Hannon

Providing Medicaid coverage of donor breast milk is a health equity issue, said Assembly member and Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. More than 70% of pre-term births in New York State are covered by Medicaid, he added.

Based on New York State live birth data, approximately 3,500 infants would be eligible for this treatment under the new legislation. Access to affordable donor breast milk for these infants could save the state an estimated $10.5 million in direct hospitalization costs, said Assembly member Englebright.

Of the approximately 250,000 births in New York State, roughly 3,500 (~1.5%) are born at very low birth weights. These infants spend months in neonatal intensive care units. Very low birth weight infants suffer primarily from respiratory, neurologic and nutritional disorders. And for mothers who cannot provide breast milk for medical or other reasons, donor milk is simply better suited to the fragile digestive systems of these newborns than commercial formulas.

Today, due the high costs associated with securing donor breast milk, some hospitals allow parents to purchase donor human milk from a certified donor human milk bank. The purchase option creates an unjust, significant healthcare disparity as wealthy mothers can afford this treatment while babies to poor mothers on Medicaid are denied this best quality of care.

"Passage of A.9353A/S.6583, providing insurance coverage for very sick and very small newborns will help some of our most fragile babies from low income families survive." said Elie Ward, Director of Policy & Advocacy for the NYS American Academy of Pediatrics. "This legislation addresses a life threatening health disparity, and should be passed this session," she continued.

Providing coverage for donor milk from a certified milk bank for use in feeding extremely high risk, very low birth weight infants, whose moms cannot for medical reasons provide breast milk, will provide New Yorks neonatal physicians with a successful, cost-effective method for helping our states babies prevent complex infection, illness and even death.
Local News, Crime, National & World News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 25 2016

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that he has joined a multistate coalition urging Congress to immediately fund research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into the causes and prevention of ...

New York, NY - May 24, 2016 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that he has joined a multistate coalition urging Congress to immediately fund research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into the causes and prevention of gun related injuries and death.

In 1996, Congress included a provision in the annual appropriations bill prohibiting the use of any CDC funds to advocate or promote gun control. In an effort led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, Attorney General and 11 other attorneys general, sent a letter today calling for Congress not only to eliminate the annual rider that blocks gun research efforts, but also to direct funding for the CDC to study the causes of gun violence. The goal is to help determine the most effective prevention strategies.

Gun violence in the United States is not a political issue; its a health epidemic, said Attorney General Schneiderman. It is unacceptable that while we are forced to bury 33,000 people every year, Congresss only response is to direct the CDC to bury its head in the sand. The CDC should once again study the causes, effects and strategies to prevent gun violence, and Congress should fully fund this potentially life-saving research.

Analyses of prevention measures, such as counseling by healthcare providers, and scientific research into the root cause and psychology of gun violence are needed to help reduce the number of gun violence victims. Unfortunately, while more than half a million Americans have died by firearms over the past twenty years, federal funding for gun violence research has been cut by 96 percent. In their letter, the attorneys general state that sidelining the CDC severely limits data collection and discourages public health professionals from working in this field.

According to the letter, nearly 33,000 people die every year in the United States from gun violence. Unintentional shootings account for 600 more deaths annually. Gun violence also disproportionately affects communities of color, as African Americans are nearly twice as likely to be injured or killed by guns as white individuals.

Quelling the gun violence epidemic has long been a priority for Attorney General Schneiderman, whose office has seized 355 guns and arrested 24 gun traffickers. His office drafted a set of "Model Gun Show Procedures, which covers every known gun show operator statewide. The Model Gun Show Procedures are the result of an investigation which involved undercover work at six gun shows in Erie, Genesee, Saratoga, Schoharie, Suffolk and Washington counties. Undercover investigators told ten gun sellers that they had orders of protection against them and could not pass a background check. Despite this, all ten were able to purchase guns at the shows and leave the show grounds without being subjected to a background check.

In September 2013, the office launched a statewide gun buyback program. To date, there have been ten events across the state, and over 1,100 firearms have been turned into law enforcement. In March of 2014, the office reached agreements with Facebook and Instagram, who agreed to remove reported user posts that seek to circumvent gun laws, take action to prevent minors from viewing posts that aim to sell firearms, and provide education to better inform law-abiding private sellers of guns.
Local News, Arts & Culture, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 25 2016

Assembly Member Solages (Elmont-D), Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages (Elmont-D), and the United Haitian Artists, Inc. teamed up to host An Evening of Haitian Art at the Nassau County Museum of Art.

The Nassau County Museum of Art showcased a one-night-only exhibit comprised of Haitian artists in honor of Haitian Heritage Month. (L to R): Leg. Carrie Solages, Laura Lynch, Patricia Brintle, and Philippe Solages enjoy the culturally significant art gallery.

Roslyn Heights, NY - May 23, 2016 - Assembly Member Solages (Elmont-D), Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages (Elmont-D), and the United Haitian Artists, Inc. teamed up to host An Evening of Haitian Art at the Nassau County Museum of Art. The museum showcased a one-night-only exhibit comprising of Haitian artists, in honor of Haitian Heritage Month.

Over 150 guests came out to celebrate the beauty and historical significance of Haitian culture through the medium of art. Attendees marveled at the talents of Haitian artists, while learning about the tenacity and vigor of Haitian people in their fight to gain independence.

Leg. Carie Solages discusses the history of Haitian Flag day to attendees.

HealthFirst Insurance of New York was a key factor in making this event a success. Several local businesses from Elmont to Roslyn also contributed to the event. Small businesses included: Sophias Diner in Elmont, Avli the little Greek Kitchen in West Hempstead, Mimis Kitchen & Cocktails in Roslyn Heights, Maximus Salon in Carle Place, Frankly Thai and Green Turtle in Franklin Square helped to celebrate this culturally significant night. JcPenny of Valley Stream also helped to make this night a success.

If you wish to find out further information about upcoming events from the Office of Assemblywoman Solages, please call 516-599-2972 or email. To contact the Office of Legislator Carrie Solages, call 516-571-6203.
Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com

Columnists Press Releases
The American airstrike in Baluchistan, Pakistan that targeted and killed Taliban emir Mullah Mansour was unprecedented as the US military and CIA have not launched an attack in the province since the drone program began in 2004. All but one of the 392 strikes recorded by The Long War Journal occurred in Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas (the other strike occurred on the border of the FATA). But Baluchistan province, which has been left alone until last weekend, has long been a major hub for the Afghan Taliban, replete with training camps, madrassa, mosques, and command and control centers.

The US focused its drone campaign in Pakistans FATA, primarily against al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and allied groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. However the Haqqani Network, a dangerous Afghan Taliban subgroup that is closely allied with al Qaeda, was also the target of numerous drone strikes; 93, or nearly 24 percent of the strikes, hit Haqqani Network assets.

While the US honed in on jihadist groups operating in the FATA, the Taliban was left to operate in Baluchistan province without any repercussions. Baluchistan borders the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimroz, all major areas of Taliban operations and its traditional strongholds.

While Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, is well known for its role as a Taliban haven  the Talibans Rahbari Shura, or central leadership council, is also called the Quetta Shura  a host of cities and towns such as Zhob, Killi Nalai, Qila Saifullah, Loralai, Chaman, Pishin, Kuchlak, Ahmad Wal, Dalbandin, Chagai, and Girdi Jangal host the Taliban and provide vital support for the groups activities in Afghanistan.

Well-developed Taliban networks in these cities and towns play a vital role in ensuring the group can recruit, train, and arm new fighters; provide safe areas for existing Taliban units to regroup as well as give their fighters and commanders an opportunity to visit their families; and gives Taliban leaders a chance to regroup and organize new offensives. Taliban recruiters, fundraisers, financiers, training camp commanders, and ideologues operate unmolested, and often with the support of Pakistans military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

After the US invasion of Afghanistan following al Qaedas 9/11 attacks in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, and the rout of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly regrouped and reestablished networks used by the Mujahideen during the Soviet occupation. Taliban training centers were immediately opened in Dalbadin, Chagai, Qila Saifullah, Kucklak, Loralai, and Quetta, Ahmed Rashid wrote in Descent into Chaos.

Towns such as Zhob and Killi Nalai became major centers for Taliban activity. In June 2007, after British special operations forces killed Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the Talibans military emir, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the pro-Taliban Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam political party organized the Martyred Mullah Dadullah Conference at the Shamsul Uloom Madrassa in Killi Nalai. More than 10,000 Taliban supporters attended the conference. The audience chanted Long live Mullah Omar, Long Live Osama bin Laden and the Taliban movement during the conference. Mullah Mansour Dadullah, Langs brother, addressed the gathering via teleconference.

Mullah Mansour Dadullah was captured by Pakistani security forces during a raid in Zhob in early 2008. While this was hailed as Pakistani cooperation with the Taliban, Mansour Dadullah was ejected from the Taliban by his emir, Mullah Omar, in late 2007 because he carried out activities which were against the rules of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. So in effect, the Pakistani military and intelligence removed a Taliban commander who no longer was part of the group from the playing field.

Zhob has been a key hub of Taliban support. In 2003, Imam Maulana Hayee ran a madrassa that trained what Der Spiegel described as a soldiers of faith, while at the home of Mauli Allah Dad Kahar, a friend of the founder and first emir of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, the recruits of Allah are dispatched to the various fronts of Islam.

Islamabad looks the other way, Der Spiegel noted.

The border towns of Chaman and Girdi Jangal serve as key forward command and control centers for the Taliban. Two of the Talibans four regional military shuras are named after the towns (three of the four regional military commands are based in Baluchistan, the third being based in Quetta, while the fourth is in Peshawar).

Chaman and Girdi Jangal also serve as transit points into Afghanistan. Additionally, Girdi Jangal hosts an Afghan refugee camp that is fertile recruiting ground, and borders the Afghan town of Baramchah, which is also known to host Taliban and al Qaeda training centers. The Taliban has run its shadow government for Kandahar province from Chaman while the town has served as an important finacial hub. The US Treasury Department has designated a Taliban hawala, or money exchange, and its owner as well as two financiers who operate from Chaman as terrorists or terrorist entities.

The city of Kuchlak functions as a haven and command center for the Taliban, CBS News reported in 2013. In 2007, the Taliban openly flew their white banner in the city. Senior Taliban leaders have been spotted in Kuchlak. In January 2016, Maulvi Muhammad Alam, a Taliban commander in Afghanistans Zabul province, was gunned down by rivals, while Mullah Mansour, the Taliban emir who was killed in the Baluchistan town of Ahmad Wal, is said to have been appointed by Taliban leaders who met in Kuchlak.

In addition to the Afghan Taliban, terrorist groups such as the Movement for the Taliban in Baluchistan, al Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi also operate in the province. The Pakistani military targets these groups as they wage war against the state. The Movement for the Taliban in Baluchistan, al Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are sheltered and supported by the Afghan Taliban, which is ignored by Pakistans intelligence service and the military.

It is unclear if the US military will continue to target the Talibans top leaders in Baluchistan, or if the the May 21 strike that killed Mullah Mansour was a rare target of opportunity as well as a pointed message to the Taliban. President Obama has said he hopes Mansours death will bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. If the US does decide to step up attacks against the Taliban in Baluchistan, there will be no shortage of targets.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, mourned the death of former Taliban emir Mullah Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike in Paksitan on May 21.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrars spokesman, Ishanullah Ihsan, emailed a eulogy for Mansour which included a banner mourning his death.

With regret the Muslim world has lost a great mentor, Ihsan said, referring to Mansour. He urged the Mujahideen and all Muslims not to grieve too long, and to focus on fighting their enemies.

While the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar never publicly swore allegiance to Mansour, the Pakistani Taliban have routinely referred to him as their leader. Jamaat-ul-Ahrars euglogy for Mansour makes it clear that he was revered as a mentor and a leader.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has been responsible for multiple high profile attacks inside Pakistan. The group split from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the summer of 2014 after a leadership dispute emerged in the wake of the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the previous emir of the Pakistani Taliban alliance. But Jamaat-ul-Ahrar reconciled and rejoined the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in March 2015.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The Afghan Taliban appointed Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the groups top judicial officer, as its new emir after confirming Mullah Mansour was killed by the US. Siraj Haqqani, the Talibans military commander, remains one of the Talibans top two deputies, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoub, Mullah Omars eldest son, has been elevated to serve as a deputy to Haibatullah.

Haibatullah replaces Mansour, who was killed by the US in a drone strike in Pakistans Baluchistan province on May 21.

With heavy heart, but full belief in Allahs will, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announces that the Commander of the Faithful Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was martyred in an American invading and evil forces drone strike on Saturday, the Taliban said in a statement released by its spokesmen on social media.

Haibatullah was named to lead the Taliban after senior commanders and members of the Quetta Shura, the Talibans executive leadership making council, met in Pakistan shortly after Mullah Mansour was killed.

All the members of the leadership council [Quetta Shura] pledged allegiance to the newly appointed leader, the statement continued.

Haibatullah has a long history with the Taliban. He served as a religious scholar and judge when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and previously headed the Talibans judiciary branch, an important position within the group. As the top judicial figure, he issued fatwas, or religious decrees, that justified all aspect the Talibans operation, including suicide attacks.

After the Taliban admitted in July 2015 that Mullah Omar, the groups founder and first emir, died in 2013, it appointed Mullah Mansour as its emir and Haibatullah and Siraj Haqqani as his two senior deputies. Haibatullah managed legal and religious affairs, while Siraj managed the military. Under this leadership, the Taliban made its greatest gains in Afghanistan since the US invaded in 2001. The Taliban are thought to control more territory today than at any point in time since 2001.

President Obama and the US government hope that the unprecedented airstrike in Baluchistan that killed Mansour will bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. However, under the leadership of Mansour, with Haibatullah and Siraj as his deputies, the Taliban went on the offensive and rejected peace talks. There is no indication that Haibatullah, with Siraj and Yaqoub as his deputies, will alter the Talibans current strategy.

Haibatullah may serve as a uniting force within the Taliban movement. Mansours appointment caused discord within the Taliban, with some mid-level commanders defecting to the Islamic State, and a significant faction led by Mullah Rasul forming a parallel branch. But with Mullah Yaqoub and Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, a brother of Mullah Omar, returning to the fold and receiving senior positions with the group two months ago, there are indications that the rift with the Rasul faction may be mending.

Haibatullah is considered to be widely respected within the Taliban, and his previous position as top sharia official gives him the religious and legal credentials to lead the group.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Rates of teenage pregnancy in England have halved since the implementation of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) in 1999, and the greatest effect is seen in areas of high deprivation and areas that received the most TPS funding, according to research published in The Lancet.

Led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with UCL (University College London), the study is the first to show the long-term effect of a nationwide strategy launched by the Labour government in 1999, aimed at reducing under-18 conception rates by 50% by 2010 and limiting social exclusion among young parents.

The TPS had several components including providing high-quality sex and relationships education, youth friendly contraceptive services, support for young parents to take part in education, employment, training and coordinated action, at government and local level. Local implementation grants were allocated according to teenage pregnancy rates in each area.

The observational study reports the long-term independent evaluation of TPS. The team used data from 148 local authority areas in England to model changes in under-18 conceptions, abortions, and birth rates in relation to TPS funding, deprivation, and region between the five-year periods, immediately before (1994-1998) and after (2009-2013) implementation of the strategy.

Their findings show that, from its peak in 1998, the under-18 conception rate showed a moderate decline until 2006, when it fell more sharply. Between 1998 and 2013 the conception rate dropped from approximately 47 to fewer than 25 conceptions per 1,000 young women aged 15-17 years. The most deprived areas, and those where more strategy-related resources were targeted had higher under-18 conception rates before the TPS was implemented, experienced greater declines.

Between 1998 and 2013, the conception rate dropped by 34 conceptions per 1,000 young women aged 15-17 (from 65 to 31 per 1,000) in areas receiving the highest TPS funding, compared with just 16 per 1,000 in areas with the lowest level of funding (from 36 to 20 per 1,000).

Professor Kaye Wellings at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine led the study. She said: "England's under-18 conception rate has fallen to its lowest level since the 1970s. What's more, progress has been made towards halting the cycle of inequality that has long been associated with teenage pregnancy."

The team used data from the National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) to assess changes in factors associated with under-18 conception between the periods of fieldwork for Natsal-2 (1999-2001) and Natsal-3 (2010-12). The researchers also assessed changes in young mothers' participation in education, work, and training over the period.

The study shows that participation in education and work has improved for women who conceive under the age of 18, but rates of participation still remain lower than their non-pregnant peers. A decline in teenage pregnancy rates has been seen in other countries though the evidence suggests it has been less marked.

Professor Wellings said: "As young people globally spend longer in education and settle with a partner later we're now seeing a near universal trend towards fewer early pregnancies. But the more striking decline in under-18 maternities in England compared with other European countries, and its close link with government investment in reducing teenage pregnancy rates, appears to reflect the intensive and sustained efforts of the strategy to address the problem by changing social norms and increasing access to education and reliable contraception."

The proportion of young women who conceived before age 18 who were engaged in work, education or training nearly doubled between 1999 and 2013 (from 20% to 36%) despite the less favourable economic climate. Furthermore, the authors estimate that the conception rate dropped by 11.4 conceptions per 1,000 young women for every 100 spent per head, or 8.2 fewer conceptions after taking into account deprivation and region

Despite the achievements in reducing under-18 conception rates, further reductions are still needed to bring them in line with other high-income countries. England's teenage pregnancy rates are still high by comparison with countries in Scandinavia or the Netherlands.

Professor Wellings said: "Our findings suggest that shifts in the educational aspirations of young women and the increasing use of highly effective contraception are both driving the trend towards fewer early conceptions. One provides the motivation not to get pregnant, the other the means."

A separate study also published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health by the University of Bedfordshire identifies lessons from the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy that may apply to other countries.

Publication
Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. Luton is home to Championship team Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport and The University of Bedfordshire. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. For all the latest news from Luton sign up to our newsletter here.
The last time we took a look at extra tools and accessories to help you get more work done on an iPad, the iPad Pro was nothing more than a glass slab of rumors.

As we now know, the iPad Pro is very real. Whether youre thinking of picking up an iPad Pro, or already have one and want to get more out of the tablet, heres some accessories Ive found that make working on the iPad Pro a breeze.

Apples Smart Keyboard

There are a several Bluetooth enabled keyboards available for both sizes of iPad Pro, but theyre often bulky and require charging. It only makes sense to use a keyboard that takes advantage of the iPad Pros Smart Connector. Apples Smart Connector provides power to the keyboard, and provides two-way communication between the keyboard and iPad Pro.

Adam Patrick Murray The Smart Keyboard never needs charging and pairs automatically thanks to the Smart Connector.

Unfortunately, right now theres only two options for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro: Logitech Create and Apples Smart Keyboard. For the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, so far only Apples keyboard uses the Smart Connector.

Ive tested Logitechs Create keyboard and found it to get the job done, however it was bulky and difficult to take the iPad Pro out of when needed.

Apples Smart Keyboard is currently the best Smart Connector-enabled typing accessory for either iPad Pro model. The 12.9-inch model retails for $169, while the 9.7-inch model can be had for $149.

Adapters

With only one port on the iPad Pro, its only natural youll need to purchase an adapter or two.

When it comes to official adapters from Apple, you can choose between the $39 Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, the $29 Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, or the $29 Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader.

Apple Apple call it the Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, but it can be used to connect a variety of USB devices to your iPad Pro.

With that said, if you own the 12.9-inch iPad Pro you should limit your options to the SD Card Reader and the Lighting to USB 3 adapter. Why? Because those two adapters offer USB 3.0 support, and only the larger tablet is equipped with the same technology. A USB 3.0 connection will decrease the amount of time you spend waiting for photos and videos to transfer from your camera or card to your iPad Pro.

I currently carry the Lighting to USB 3 adapter. Not only can I connect USB devices to my iPad Pro using this adapter, I can continue to charge the iPad Pro through the Lightning port on the adapter. Plus, you can use it to connect USB microphones, keyboards, and Ethernet adapters to your iPad.

Faster Charging

As I mentioned in my last column, you can cut the amount of time it takes to fully charge the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in half when using Apples 29W power adapter and a USB-C to Lightning cable.

Apple This Lightning-to-USB-C cable lets you use the 29W USB-C power adapter (that typically comes with the 12-inch MacBook but is also sold separately) to charge your iPad Pro in half the time.

Its something Apple should include with every iPad Pro, but until then its something every iPad Pro user should pick up.

The adapter itself is $49. In addition to the adapter, youll need a USB-C to Lightning cable. You can get a 1-meter cable for $25, or double the length to 2 meters for $35.

My tests have shown the standard 12W power adapter will charge the iPad Pro in 5 hours, whereas the 29W adapter cuts that time in half, to 2.5 hours.

Apple Pencil

Im not sold on the Apple Pencil as a must-have accessory. I rarely every use mine, save for the occasional jotting of notes and game of SketchParty TV after its latest update.

Apple Since the iPad Pro is the only iPad that can use the Apple Pencil, thats your best choice for a smart stylus.

Still, the Pencil is easily the best digital writing and sketching experience available on the iPad Pro. And for those who often need to sign documents, sketch product designs, or take notes in class, the Apple Pencil is the tool you want to have on hand.

With WWDC just around the corner, hopefully we will learn more about Apples future plans for iPad Pro, not only in terms of software, but also in allowing access to its Smart Connector. More importantly, hopefully Apple will begin giving more than just Logitech access to the connectors tech.

As we recently saw with the Logi Base charging stand, were only beginning to learn just how many tricks the connector has up its sleeve.
Ah, the heady days after Google I/O but before WWDC. Its a fun time of looking over what Google announced, wondering what Apple will unveil, and trying to connect the dots to understand what it all means. And were here to help unpack it all, starting with an excellent essay by Marco Arment about what happens to Apple if we go from mobile-first to AI-first.

Elsewhere, Google wants to learn how we talk to our friends, which is going to stink when brands start mimicking us in ads. iPhone 7 rumors are flying fast, along with rumors for next years iPhone, yes, already. Glenn uncovered the reason your iPhone and iPad ask for your passcode in the morning. And Apple got a new store in Macworlds hometown, with a public plaza and a really cool fountain from the 70s that matches the messy, complicated, intricate, patchwork aesthetic of San Francisco far more than it resembles anything Jony Ive would choose.

Show notes

You can subscribe to the Macworld Podcastor leave us a review! right here in iTunes. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/58576458-macworld/tracks

To find previous episodes, visit Macworlds podcast page or our home on Soundcloud.
The great Gold Rush Music Festival returns to the township of Waihi, with the first nuggets of gold dropping for the highly anticipated return of the 2023 festival.
The latest Trademark Law made several changes designed to speed up the examination and opposition procedure. Have the changes achieved the goal so far?

Lily Changxin Lei: According to my far-from-being-exhaustive research, at least more than 80% of cases (trademark applications, non-use cancellations, oppositions, review applications on rejection/opposition decision/cancellation and etc. filed after May 1 2014) have been examined and concluded within the statutory time limit. Yet it is noticed and assumed that of the 80% and more concluded cases, extensions of time (varying from three months to six months depending on the nature of the case) have been applied a lot. According to the law, where special circumstances arise, extension of time can be applied upon approval of the competent authorities.

Trademark applicants or their agents will not be able to know if and for what reason an extension of time is applied. They may only make assumptions based on the time when they receive Office Actions (Notification of refusal, Notice of publication, Review decision, opposition decision etc). According to the law, the time for responding to a Notice of Amendment, supplementing materials, pending other procedures etc shall not be counted in. It is noticed that time for waiting in the queue for handling at the Trademark Office Mail Room, which can be months, will not be counted in either.

Multi-class application is one of the key changes in the revised Law. What are the pros and cons of multi-class application? What issues need to be considered when agents file trade marks in multi-class?

Lily Changxin Lei: From where the trademark applicants stand, the cons of a multi-class application are way more than the pros.

Cons: a multi-class application does not save money at all, as opposed to class-by-class applications. The official fee for filing, assigning, recording change, licensing renewing etc is still charged class-by-class.

Division is only possible between the rejected part and the approved part when the application is partially rejected by the Trademark Office. This means it is not possible to divide an application (or later a registration ) anyway in case of assignment and renewal.

When division happens in the case of a partial rejection, it takes money and time. Meanwhile such division will delay the process of the approved part of the application.

When a Notice of Amendment (for instance on non-standard description of goods) happens, handling the Notice will delay the process of the whole application. Even worse, a mis-handling of the Notice may result in invalidation of the filing date of the whole application. The non-problematic part will be seriously affected by the problematic part.

Pros: It is easy to manage the portfolio since only one registration number and date is allocated, especially for companies with a large trademark portfolio.

Weighing the pros and cons, we would advise our clients to stick to single-class applications. Although it is a trend to do multi-class applications, we think it better to wait until further complementary rules and systems on charging and division of cases come into being.

Should an applicant insist on filing a multi-class application, the agent had better have an overview of the trademark and descriptions of goods in a way to solve evident problems prior to filing to avoid entanglement affecting the whole application.

New provisions have been added to tackle trade mark squatting. What has been the result so far?

Wen Zhong: Speaking of newly added anti-squatting provisions, we are mainly talking about Articles 15 (against agents or representatives application), 58 (protecting prior use) and 59 (prohibiting third partys use as trade name of the others registered/unregistered trademark). Acting as practicing attorney on IP contentious works, we have this conception that China trademark examining attorneys and judges have taken a comparatively hard line against trademark squatting ever since the amendments to the Trademark Law.

For example, within the past year and a half, we have received quite a few winning decisions from CTMO or TRAB where the similarity of goods and marks may be not as well-established as the bad faith of squatting would be, but we won the cases, and we have seen quite often even not-commonly applied Articles 10 and 44 are applied now to reject obvious squatting applications. Our deep inside feeling is that if a trace of squatting can be detected, then the application may face many more difficulties in approval; we contribute this to the spirit of the new law which stressed the prohibition against trademark squatting.

Moreover, from our unofficial source of IP case data, and from May 1 2014 to date, we noticed the following court precedents:

1) in relation to Article 58, there have been 10 court judgments found nation-wide made after the effective date of the new Trademark Law, where the plaintiff claimed on prior use right of the registered trademark, and half of the claims were supported by courts at different levels, up to the high court level. The unsupported claims are basically due to insufficient proof of the alleged prior use.

2) in relation to Article 59, 24 court judgments have been found and the support rate is 75% protecting the registered or unregistered well-known trademarks from being used as trade name by the other party.

3) in relation to Article 59 (agents application), five precedents are spotted, and the supporting rate is 100%. We think the said unofficial data may say something in support of our aforementioned feelings about the result of the new provisions against trademark squatting.

How does the revised law determine a bad-faith registration?

Lily Changxin Lei: In practice, it has been difficult to prove bad faith, which usually expresses itself in malicious intention, ill purpose and possible harm. Malicious intention and ill purpose may have some overlap. If evidence can be produced to prove some of the following, there may be a case for claiming bad-faith:

 The registrant has access to the real owners trademark through previous negotiation/cooperation/employment/etc;

 The registrant has no intention or capacity to use the trademark at all;

 The registrant offers to assign or license the trademark at unreasonable high price;

 The registrant uses the registration to force the real trademark owner into commercial cooperation;

 The registrant fakes information/document obtaining the registration;

 The real owners trademark has been used in Mainland China and has established a reputation.

In addition to the above, evidence proving the following may also help:

 Registrant is in the same industry as the real owner;

 Goods of the parties have the same sales channel, geographic coverage etc;

 Registrant has registered large amount of trademarks that obviously belong to someone else.

 Taking advantage of famed (or well-known) marks, confusing the public and disordering fair competition and market are possible harms.

Does the latest Trademark Law bring any changes to the area of well-known trade marks?

Lily Changxin Lei: In my understanding, the amended Trademark Law is meant to bring the well-known mark back to its original and appropriate status and position. Well-known mark, being a category in the Law, means to be entitled to some special, wider and stronger legal protection against unfair competition. It should not be an honor. Also, well-known marks do not necessarily refer to high quality.

Previously, due to misinterpretation and inappropriate practice, some trademark owners made every effort and tried everything, including faking cases, to get their trademarks designated as well-known marks. Now the amended Law forbids using the title of well-known marks in commercial activities and even imposes an administrative fine upon such use. Most trademark owners believe it fair, as nobody shall be allowed to use the well-known marks as an honorable title in propaganda, and everybody has an equal chance to fair competition with their own products and services. In this regard, the amended Law does not have any large impact on trademark owners.

On the other hand, however, as well-known marks are entitled to special, wider and stronger protection, a large number of trademark owners are still quite interested in their marks being recognised as well-known marks, though under current circumstances, administrative authorities and courts having jurisdiction on recognizing well-known marks are super cautious in well-known mark recognition. Unless in an extremely necessary cases, the authorities and courts would rather apply to other Law articles or finding other facts to reach the same judgment than deciding that a mark is well-known.

Do trade mark holders get sufficient compensation as expected, after the revised Trademark Law increased damages granted in infringement cases?

Wen Zhong: We think that the trademark holders now have the reason to expect a reasonable compensation determined by the China courts for trademark infringement. The Beijing IP Court is the first set-up IP court specialized in hearing IP cases, and is the base of the China Supreme Court for establishing a nation-wide Case-Guidance System. So the judgments made by the Beijing IP Court are of reference value to the general compensation level after the Trademark Law was revised in this regard, or at least can give the indication on how it will go in the future.

Take 2015 statistics for instance: the Beijing IP Court accepted and heard six trademark infringement cases in 2015, and the total compensation requested amounts to 4.74 million ($750,000); on average, 790,000 requested for each case. Among those, 3.72 million are supported by the court, and on average 620,000 for each. Compensation supporting rate is 78.48%. What is more, compensation requests were fully supported in three cases and in one of the three cases, the amount of compensation requested was 3 million which was fully supported by the court, too.

It is the trademark infringement case that gets the highest average compensation amount and highest supporting rate with respect to all the IP-related infringement cases being heard by the Beijing IP Court. So, to our review, the compensation level is increased considerably compared with the past; for ease of reference, from 2008 to 2012, a well-recognized academic institute had made a survey on the compensation level of trademark infringement litigations; the result revealed that among 488 cases litigated before the court, the average compensation amount was only 62,000, while the average request was 330,000.

Lily Changxin Lei

Lily Changxin Lei, attorney-at-law, is a partner of Liu, Shen & Associates, heading the firms trademark practice.

Lily obtained her BA degree from the Institute of International Relations, majoring English literature and international relations. She also has a Certificate of Incompletion of graduate from Beijing Foreign studies University on United Nation subjects. Part of her legal training is on a Young Chinese lawyers training Scheme in London University, Clifford Chance and Chambers of Christopher Morcom QC.

Lilys expertise includes advising corporate clients on trademark filing strategy, trademark portfolio management, providing fullrange service on trademark prosecution, including clearance search, trademark filing, trademark licensing and assignment, opposition and invalidation, administration litigation and the like. She advises US, European and Japanese companies on trademark protection strategies in China. She also advises Chinese companies on trademark protection in China and abroad, through national, Madrid and EU registration channels to obtain greatest protection at the least cost. As a team leader, she supervises the practice of the firms trademark team.

Lily makes presentations on INTA Forum and seminars sponsored by corporate clients and firm clients, on trademark issues in China.

Wen Zhong

Wen Zhong is an attorney at law and partner of Liu, Shen & Associates. He has two Masters of-law degrees, from Law school of Liaoning University in China, and Law School of Toin University of Yokohama in Japan as a Government-financed student, and up to 2016, he has handled more than 550 trademark opposition and invalidation cases, over 30 trademark infringement cases, about 10 copyright infringement cases, over 15 unfair competition cases, and jointly handled several patent infringement cases, etc. The companies he has represented are mostly multi-national companies such as Realnetworks, ABB, BASF,LEGO and Schneider Electric, etc.
The Supreme Court held that: So long as the other ordinary elements of issue preclusion are met, when the usages adjudicated by the TTAB are materially the same as those before a district court, issue preclusion should apply.

Moderator David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton in the U.S. noted that the consequences for a refusal to register may now be much greater because of the risk of preclusion being found. He asked whether applicants are now more likely to seek de novo review at the district court instead of taking an appeal right up to the Federal Circuit.

Absolutely, said Anthony Dreyer of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in the U.S. There are far greater consequences now. The circumstances where a likelihood of confusion determination will have a preclusive effect is rare but certainly findings about priority of useas we have seen already being appliedand other potentially important factual issues that could be dispositive on a subsequent infringement case, now scream for de novo review if you are on the losing side.

Peter Harvey of Harvey Siskind in the U.S. agreed but added: My concern is that the original conception of what the TTAB its court proceedings was designed to do will morph into something much more than that. I worry that we will see ourselves putting more resources than was even thought about in the past.

Harvey noted that there was not much guidance in terms of cases yet. He gave a presentation revealing that seven district court trademark cases have cited B&B.

Bernstein said one of the great benefits of litigating at the TTAB is it is much more limited, with little discovery and no actual trial in many cases.

The TTAB itself may also have to adjust. Gerard Rogers, its chief judge, said the B&B ruling was positive for the Board. It is not true that judges ran around high fiving each other, but thats mostly because they work at home so I had no one to high five, he joked. He said the TTAB is not planning any changes as a result of B&B, including to its recently-published proposed rule changes.

The Supreme Court recognized that preclusion will be very rare in confusion cases, but it is more likely in other issues such as priority, fraud, genericness and functionality. Theres no doubt that, at minimum, B&B changes the calculus for those involved in Board proceedings, said Rogers.

He added, however, that increasing the discovery taken was not necessary or useful, and neither was having more evidence on us: So there is little reason to change the trial strategy.

Anna Carboni of Redd Solicitors in the U.K. gave an overview of similar case law in Europe. Her conclusions were that: oppositions proceedings are not binding but they may influence a later tribunal, so practitioners should be careful not to contradict themselves; invalidity proceedings may be binding, even where you dont expect it, so think carefully about the possibility of a later attack on use; and IPO proceedings remain much more streamlined and cheaper than court proceedings, but dont be too reluctant to treat them like litigation in an appropriate case.
The conference will be co-chaired by INTA Past Presidents Toe Su Aung and Mei-lan Stark, who says it will cover the changing landscape of business and take a holistic approach. She adds: These issues will impact your business and are already doing so. While people in the trademark field get exposed to issues such as domain names and Whois, they dont often get the opportunity to explore other facets.

There are many challenges, but all challenges present opportunities, says Aung. And unless you have a specific e-commerce counsel, its often the IP counsel who has to deal with these issues. She adds that the two-day program, which is now being put together, will feature panels, discussions and keynotes from experts in their fields, including some from outside the familiar IP world. As the conference is being held in Brussels, senior Commission officials and MEPs are also expected to attend.

The conference comes as European member states are discussing issues such as territoriality in the context of the Digital Single Market. Aung says that topic will be addressed, but the conference will range much more widely, looking at the role of brands in the digital economy in many different respects: In many ways, the Internet is really a global single market.

That means brands will become more important, rather than less so, says Stark: The brand is how you navigate content, and you will be relying on it more than ever before. So I believe people will be more cognizant of the power and efficacy of brands.

Registration for the Digital World Conference opens on September 14.
On Thursday, staff and parents of students at Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District received a letter from Jeffrey Holmes, Superintendent about active shooter swatting calls taking place at multiple school districts across the state. Swatting calls are hoax reports of threats made to police which insight panic.

Police say similar types of false threats have occurred at multiple schools across the state Thursday. These threats included 911 calls to police across the state claiming that schools had an active shooter.
Mondays session entitled Anticounterfeiting Strategies in South East Asia and Africa explored this. The session was moderated by Lara Kayode of O. Kayode & Co.

Kingsley Ejiofor of NAFDAC (Nigeria) said international and regional collaboration is crucial in the fight against counterfeits in Africa, and that his agency has benefitted from this approach. When they escape from one place we can catch them where they go, says Ejiofor. He said conflict between various public authorities in a country can hinder efforts, and that engagement with local communities helps. Weve come to realize that awareness is key in this fight, he said. Ejiofor also informed registrants about next months public hearing in the Nigerian Senate on the issue of counterfeiting.

Nick Redfearn of Rouse said the IP regimes and justice systems in ASEAN countries vary. For example, Thailand and Malaysia have specialized IP courts whereas Vietnam and Cambodia do not. Redfearn said strategically important ASEAN countries need to take the lead on IP enforcement in the region, picking out Singapore as a leading light. He noted the Internet has worsened counterfeiting in the region. This is because of the boom in e-commerce. Governments are not yet able to understand where e-commerce is going, he said. For brand owners facing major counterfeiting problems in the region, Redfearn advised: Self-help is the only way for now. He said the branded goods industries need to collaborate, just like the copyright-based industries, to deal with this problem.

Redfearn said the best way to approach the issue is through customs, but unfortunately most Southeast Asian countries do not yet have strong IP protection at customs. He believes Thailands authorities operate well in this area, but it remains to be seen when others will get to that level. China, he said, has made progress due to health concerns. Corruption and smuggling can also affect anticounterfeiting efforts but this is not something the IP community can do anything about. This is a failure of the legal system, he noted. He said the narrative should be that counterfeiting is part of general illegal activities.

Dont put all your efforts into the administrative system. You need the criminal system to work too, he warned. His action points were: (1) act immediately, do not wait; (2) registration is critical, so do not come late to market, as trademark squatting is rife; (3) participate in organizations and be in the position to know what is happening on the ground in each country; and (4) be assertive, and do not take no for an answer.

William Mansfield of ABRO Industries Inc. urged Western brand owners not to give up on certain markets even though it is tough. If you work in the right way you can be a success story, he said. He highlighted that the approach in developed countries is unlikely to work in developing countries. In most of these countries lawsuits dont work. Let go of the lawsuit mentality, he warned. These are different countries with different problems, he said, adding: You have to adapt to the environment. Be prepared to think how they think. Lastly, he urged brand owners to venture out into these countries and present their cases to the government.
Tiki Dare of Oracle Corporation offered a war story from Oracle in Chile. The technology company did not have a registration in Chile when a watch notice turned up for textile and clothing.

To prove it was famous, Dare was able to bring in a lot of evidence including from social media and the companys involvement in the Americas Cup. It didnt hurt that we were in Iron Man 2, she said.

Mauro Santos of Dannemann Siemsen Bigler & Ipanema Moreira in Brazil gave an overview of well-known trademarks and famous trademarks in his country.

Well-known trademarks give a trademark owner the chance to attack a third party independently of whether it has previously filed or registered in Brazil. The general conditions needed are evidence in Brazil, evidence in the field of activity and evidence prior to infringement. Actual use is not a pre-condition, however.

Famous trademarks get a higher level of protection. The Brazilian PTO is very stringent on evidence for these, said Santos. It is a very high standard. He said an applicant would likely need a survey showing brand recognition with more than 60% of the public. When taking on trademark hijackers, bad faith is a strong tool in Brazil because there is no time limit for requesting cancellation.

Spring Chang of Chang Tsi & Partners in China said that famous is an interesting concept in her country. If you dont have a registration, you have to claim you are famous within the class at issue, for example.

The panel, moderated by Rachelle Dubow of Morgan Lewis & Bockius in the U.S., shared some practical tips. The number one thing is to build a fame binder, said Dare. I have found it very important to maintain some kind of record. This would include items such as the companys welcome book, InterBrand rankings, and lists of licensees and worldwide partners.

David Gooder of Jack Daniels Properties urged registrants to update constantly. He advised being mindful of how far back they will need evidence. He said Jack Daniels once had to prove fame in a country going back 20 years.

Another tip was to consider unconventional evidence. One example is the Wayback Machine Internet archive. It is not always easy to search but you can often find a website from a long time ago, said Dare.

Another is citing product placement. Gooder said to consider the impact of paid compared to unpaid product placement. My feeling is it doesnt really matter, he said, because people are exposed to the product either way. Other examples of unconventional evidence were being referenced in competitor advertising, mentions on social media and evidence in the country of counterfeits and take-offs of the brand.
His co-chair, Brenda M. Wood Kahiri of B. W. Kahiri in Zimbabwe, added that the conference comes as investment in areas such as the cleantech, Internet and mobile phone industries is increasing, and it complements INTAs Africa Rising initiative. There are some huge opportunities in Africa and with the right expertise we can overcome the challenges, she says. The program for the two-day conference is already finalized and it will include sessions covering practical filing strategies, brand valuation, design protection and regulatory issues. The keynote speaker will be Robbie Brozin, co-founder of popular resturant chain Nandos.

While the conference is expected to attract IP practitioners who are interested in Africa from all over the world, Gerber says it will also hopefully draw a new local audience who may not be able to attend events further afield. We will also be looking at areas where Africa is ahead of the curve, for example in using mobile phones for marketing, said Gerber. What lessons can the rest of the world learn? Early bird registration is open until Friday June 10.
LAKE HALLIE  Dick Larscheid is trying to understand why a group of veterans is upset over how the village of Lake Hallies Parks, Recreation and Tourism Commission is running Hallie Peace Park, off of Business 53.

We just got blindsided by this, he said of a Wednesday news conference called by Rolling Thunder Chapter 4 Wisconsin at the park.

Ronald Perry, president of the Rolling Thunder group, said the parks condition is deteriorating. He also is concerned the parks commission will remove some of the parks 25 flag poles, which give the area its signature look. He said many of the flagpoles are sponsored by groups and some by families.

They are going to destroy things of significance, Perry said.

However, Larscheid said the commission never talked about removing any of the flag poles.

Perry charges the village hasnt done anything with the park.

For the past few years, they havent done diddly squat. Well, who is supposed to do it?

Perry, who is from Augusta, also said the U.S. flags being flown in the park were bought not by the village but by a member of a student veterans organization based out of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He said the young veterans raised donations to buy the flags, which also puzzles Larscheid.

We purchased the flags, Larscheid said, adding the flags are replaced each year. We are kind of dumbfounded where that information came from.

The park was unveiled in the late 1990s, said former state Sen. David Zien, who attended the news conference. He said the state sold the land across from a Mega Holiday station and a Burger King for $1.

Larscheid said the maintenance of Peace Parks flags and flag poles was done privately for many years, but the people who were in charge of that all aged. The group talked to the village about taking over those responsibilities, which happened about 18 months ago.

Zien said the combined size of the flags flown at the park should be 1,776 feet to honor the year of the nation's Declaration of Independence. Instead they are at 505 feet, and are flown six months out of the year instead of year-round.

When we took it over, we put the exact flags that were there, Larscheid said.

Rose Oyer of Lake Hallie, an Army veteran, said she was told by village personnel that Lake Hallie would not replace a flag honoring prisoners of war and missing-in-action soldiers.

It made me furious, Oyer said.

Boat landing

Larscheid said the parks commissions main project for 2016 is one by the Lake Hallie Sportsmans Club. The village secured a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources grant to build two boat landings accessible by people with disabilities.

Then, sometime next year, the commissions focus will go to the Hallie Peace Park.

The commission hired consultants CBS Squared of Chippewa Falls to look at improvements in the park, but thats in a preliminary stage and no plan has been selected.

It is on our radar but its nothing that we are even close on deciding on, he said, adding this year the park is near a major reconstruction of Business 53.

Larscheid said the village commission would like to work with the veterans group and encourage them to attend a meeting and address the commission or the village board.

We want all the support we can get, he said.

Perry said a representative of Rolling Thunder did attend the commissions last meeting, but he was all but snubbed.

He said the veterans group would like to join with the commission in making upgrades to the park, such as having a place to honor Gold Star mothers, or mothers who have lost a child in the military service.

We want to work with the parks commission so we can bring (the park) up to snuff, Perry said.

Village President Wayne Walkoviak said: The village recognizes the need to update Peace Memorial Park. He said the village looked at a plan last year, and he hopes Perry with recognize that.

Walkoviak said the village will listen to the concerns of the veterans. Were all ears, he said.

Correction: This story has been changed to reflect the veterans advocating the combined total size of the flags flown at the park should be 1,776 feet.
Sierra Leone was holding 11 Guineans including military personnel in custody on Wednesday following a confrontation at sea involving the two West African neighbours' navies, Sierra Leonean officials said.

The incident occurred early on Monday morning off the coast of northern Sierra Leone near the countries' border, the officials said.

Vessels from the two countries exchanged gunfire after Guinean naval forces illegally boarded a Chinese fishing vessel in Sierra Leonean waters, said Al Shek Kamara, Head of Operations for the Sierra Leone Police.

He said the Guineans had been holding the vessel's crew at gunpoint demanding money.

Guinea rejected that version of events.

"There was a Chinese boat that was being pursued by the Guinean navy and entered into Sierra Leone's territory. During the manoeuvre, the Guinean navy entered into Sierra Leone's territory," said government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara.

He said the Guinean personnel had disembarked to carry out administrative formalities and would return home soon.

"There was no gunfire or arrests," Camara said.

West Africa, home to some of the world's richest fishing waters, loses up to $1.5 billion worth of fish each year to vessels fishing in protected zones or without proper equipment or licenses.

Under-equipped West African maritime forces are struggling to clamp down on illegal foreign vessels, many of them Chinese.

One fifth of China's distant water fishing fleet now operates in Africa, Greenpeace said in a report published last year. Beijing rejected the accusation.



(Reporting by Umaru Fofana; Additional reporting by Saliou Samb in Conakry; Writing by Joe Bavier; editing by John Stonestreet)
With the launch of a new rail shuttle and inland shipping link, connections between Northern France and the port of Rotterdam are now better than ever. Five times a week, a train leaves Rotterdam for Dourges, and the inland shipping schedule also includes a number of departures per week.

These connections, which were launched this spring, serve as a hub from and to other destinations in the South of France.

France is an industrial center for the automotive, electronics, pharmaceutical and food processing sectors. On top of that, the countrys agricultural sector is the largest of its kind in the EU, and France stands as one of the worlds foremost wine producers. To import and export all this cargo, the Port of Rotterdam aims to ensure that connections are optimal.

Besides the new rail shuttle and the new connection for inland container vessels, there is another new development on the horizon. The financing for the new Scheldt-Seine connection has been green lighted. This project will kick off in 2018 and be rounded off by 2021. Its realization will expand the countrys existing inland shipping options even further.
Maritime vessels are under significant threat of cyber-attack because many are carrying outdated software and were not designed with cyber security in mind, according to new research.

But operators could easily mitigate against such dangers by updating security systems, improving ship design and providing better training for crews, the study led by Plymouth Universitys Maritime Cyber Threats Research Group suggests.

Traditionally, attacks on marine vessels have included piracy, boarding, theft, and/or destruction, and while these attacks have often been successful and continue, they are well understood.

In contrast, the article says, cyber-attacks are much more stealthy, but have a range of potential implications including business disruption, financial loss, damage to reputation, damage to goods and environment, incident response cost, and fines and/or legal issues.

Professor Kevin Jones, Executive Dean of Science and Engineering, is lead author on the paper which also involved Dr Maria Papadaki, Lecturer in Network Security at Plymouth University, and staff from the Security and Management Lab at HP Enterprise in Bristol. He said:

In an increasingly connected and technologically dependent world, new areas of vulnerability are emerging. However, this dependency increases the vessels presence in the cyber domain, increasing its chances of being targeted and offering new vectors for such attacks. Longer term, there needs to be a fundamentally different approach to security of the entire maritime infrastructure meaning there is great need for specific cyber security research programmes focused on the maritime sector.

The article  published in Engineering and Technology Reference  suggests maritime cyber-attacks would most likely target systems responsible for navigation, propulsion, and cargo-related functions, with many incentives for attackers given that over 90 per cent of world trade occurs via the oceans.

It also illustrates the potential severity of the problem by providing scenarios to demonstrate possible attacks, and examples of where successful cyber-attacks have been launched.

But it says there are easy mitigations to help prevent attacks, by increasing awareness and good practice in the industry, enabling the crew and providing them with the necessary tools to prevent and stop some attacks. The paper adds:

As things stand, there are fundamental issues with securing the technology used in the maritime industry and the sector is probably the most vulnerable aspect of critical national infrastructure. Both security firms and hackers have found both general flaws and specific, real-world, flaws within the navigation systems of ships, and it seems plausible that similar outdated systems for propulsion and cargo handling may also be compromised and abused by cyber-attackers.
Kongsberg Maritime has been chosen to deliver an integrated subsea technology systems package including two HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for a new Peruvian Navy Hydrographic & Oceanographic research vessel. The 97 meter BAP Carrascois built at Construcciones Navales P. Freire shipyard in Vigo, Spain.



The advanced new research ship will have Polar capability and be classified with PC7 notation to perform research in Peruvian waters, in order to fulfill Perus commitment under the Antarctic Treaty. The Kongsberg technology on board will form the platform for the Peruvian Navy to perform missions within Hydrography, Oceanology, Geology, Biology and Geophysics.



Following the launch of BAP Carrasco in Vigo on May 7, 2016, KONGSBERG will fulfil the equipment delivery in collaboration with Robinson Marine Electronics in Callao, Peru and Simrad Spain SI. The full scope of supply includes:

Hydrography: Kongsberg EM122 1x1 deepwater multibeam echo sounder, Kongsberg EA600 12,38 & 200 kHz single beam echo sounder

Geophysics: Kongsberg SBP 120 3 Sub-bottom Profiler

Biology: Simrad EK80 18, 38, 70, 120 & 200 kHz scientific single beam multi-frequency echo sounder

Enhanced medium water operations: 2 x Kongsberg HUGIN AUV with Hydrographic, Geology and Geophysics configuration for high resolution survey depth rated to 3,000 meters, Kongsberg HiPAP.



All Kongsberg technology on BAP Carrasco will be fully integrated.



Kongsberg said it will manage the proper installation of the acoustic transducers for ice water operations and the integration of various subsystems including the K-Sync synchronization unit, an advanced Position, Heading and Motion reference system and the MDM500 Marine Data Management system.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a deal to develop the Chabahar port in Iran for which India will extend $500 million. The historic pact makes Chabahar the first foreign port which India is involved in developing to such a large extent.

India and Iran, along with Afghanistan, have agreed to develop the southern Iranian port of Chabahar, giving India vital access to Central Asia, as well as highlighting regional rivalries and burgeoning friendships.

The main contract on Chahbahar port was supplemented by a contract between the Ex-Im Bank of India and Irans Ports and Maritime Organisation with a capital back-up of $150 million for developing the port.

With our joint investments in Chabahar, we can connect India through a reliable route to Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said. The agreement today is not only an economic document: Its also a political and a regional one.

Speaking at the event to launch the Trilateral Transport and Transit Corridor, Modi said, The arc of economic benefit from this agreement could extend to the depths of the Central Asian countries. When linked with the International North South Transport Corridor, it would touch South Asia at one end and Europe at another.

The Chabahar port is situated in South Eastern part of Iran, and on the northern coast of Gulf of Oman. It is surrounded by Afghanistan in the North, Pakistan in the North-East and India in the East. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the ocean.

The location of the Chabahar port is of strategic importance to India in linking trade routes from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan, Central Asia and also to Europe; thereby avoiding a land route through Pakistan.

From a strategic point of view, Chabahar is situated just 100 km from Pakistans Gwadar port, the centrepiece of a $46 billion economic corridor that China is building.

"The distance between Kandla and the Chabahar port is less than the distance between New Delhi and Mumbai, and so what this agreement does is to enable us quick movement of goods first to Iran and then onwards to Afghanistan and Russia through a new rail and road link," said Nitin Gadkari, India's shipping minister said.

However, U.S. senators questioned whether India's development of a port in southern Iran for trade access risked violating international sanctions, and a State Department official assured them the administration would closely examine the project.

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said. "We have to examine the details of the Chabahar announcement to see where it falls in that place," she testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Group of Seven (G7) leaders will call for respect for the rule of law and peaceful resolution to conflicts in a joint statement to be issued Friday at the end of their two-day summit, taking a swipe against China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, reports Nikkei.

The leaders, without singling out China, will dismiss unilateral actions that could alter the status quo in a declaration to be issued after their summit, the sources said.

The document will not explicitly name Beijing. But it will strongly criticize unilateral actions to change the maritime status quo, in reference to Chinese provocations and military buildup in the East and South China Seas.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about US$5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.

"Basically Japan and the U.S. are trying to get the Europeans on board to express concern about Chinas actions," Bloomberg quoted Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan as saying. "Even a veiled statement would be a victory for Tokyo and Washington. It puts Beijing on notice that even countries which first and foremost care about making money in China are worried."

China reacted with anger to an April statement by G-7 foreign ministers expressing opposition to any "intimidating, coercive or provocative" actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and calling on all parties to act in accordance with international law. Thats even as the statement did not mention the country by name.

G7 will seek to reaffirm the importance of rule of law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (Unclos), according to Masato Otaka, deputy press secretary of Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

In spite of the implications of the wording, considering Chinas refusal to acknowledge UNCLOS in the overlapping claims over the South China Sea, the Japanese diplomat said the discussion was not meant to antagonise the East Asian giant.
Danelec Marine, along with distribution partner Elcome International, is to supply Danelec DM100 Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) for 14 ships in the Middle East.

The new VDR orders include seven new offshore support vessels (OSVs) and five tanker retrofits for an oil and ga companies based in Abu Dhabi. In addition, Elcome has recently completed retrofit of Danelec DM100 VDRs on two tankers of a major Danish shipping company.

Introduced in 2014, Danelec Marines DM100 VDR complies with all the latest IMO and IEC performance standards, and incorporates Danelecs exclusive SoftWare Advanced Protection (SWAP) technology for ease of shipboard service as well as built-in cyber protection technology.
Primeline Energy Holdings Inc. announces that it has sent a letter to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and CNOOC China Limited (CCL) (together CNOOC Group) giving formal notice of its intention to commence arbitration proceedings against CNOOC Group under the provisions of the Petroleum Contract for Block 25/34.

The CNOOC Arbitration relates to Primelines continuing disputes with CNOOC Group with regard to the development, production and sales of gas from the LS36-1 Gas Field (LS36-1). Primeline has appointed an arbitrator and will file the formal Notice of Arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976 and the arbitration agreement under the Petroleum Contract for Block 25/34.

The CNOOC Arbitration is separate from the previously announced China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) arbitration proceedings by Primeline against Zhejiang Gas Natural Gas Development Company Limited in respect of claims for payment of unpaid and partially paid gas sale invoices.

Subsequent to the commencement of the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration, Zhejiang Gas filed a request with the Zhejiang Province Hangzhou Intermediate Peoples Court challenging the validity of Primelines reliance on the arbitration provisions in the contract relating to the sale of gas from LS36-1 (Gas Sales Contract).

The basis of the challenge is that, as Primeline is not a signatory to the Gas Sales Contract but sells through CCL as agent, there is no jurisdictional basis for Primeline to initiate the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration and only CCL could institute such arbitration.

Primeline has received a notice from CIETAC that the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration has been suspended until this challenge is resolved by the court. Primeline considers that it has a clear right under Section 402 of the Chinese Contract Law to institute the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration in view of the failure by its agent, CCL, to institute arbitration proceedings in accordance with the Gas Sale Contract and therefore considers Zhejiang Gas move to be simply an attempt to delay the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration.

Primeline has filed a defence against the application by Zhejiang Gas. A wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC owns 30% of Zhejiang Gas and CNOOC, together with its partners (including Primeline), supplies a substantial proportion of the natural gas market in Zhejiang Province.

Following the challenge, Primeline wrote to CCL to reaffirm its position that had CCL enforced the terms and conditions of the Gas Sales Contract and led the Zhejiang Gas Arbitration, Primeline would not face the same jurisdictional challenge from Zhejiang Gas. However, CCL has failed to file arbitration against Zhejiang Gas upon Primelines numerous requests made after CCLs attempts to settle the disputes with Zhejiang Gas failed.

The subject of the CNOOC Arbitration include claims in respect of CCLs mismanagement in relation to the development of LS36-1 and breach of fiduciary duties as agent under the Gas Sales Contract. Further details will be disclosed at a later stage by a separate announcement once the full Notice of Arbitration has been filed.
With new rules regarding the declaration of the accurate gross mass of a packed containers due to enter force, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) answers the industrys frequently asked questions (FAQ).

What are the new rules?

On July 1, 2016, new requirements to verify the gross mass of a packed container enter into force under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).

Why have the requirements for verification of the gross mass of the container been introduced?

Knowing the accurate gross mass of a packed container is critical to ensure correct stowage and stacking and avoid collapse of container stacks or loss overboard.

This is an important safety measure, which is aimed at saving lives and preventing injury and the destruction of property.

Is declaration of gross mass a new requirement?

There has always been a requirement in SOLAS to declare the gross mass of cargo and containers. The new requirement adds an extra level requiring verification of the mass.

This is to ensure that the mass declared is a true reflection of the gross mass of the packed container, in order to avoid injury, cargo damage, loss of containers, and so on.

How can the gross mass be verified?

The SOLAS regulation allows for two methods to verify the gross mass of packed containers:

Method 1. Weighing the packed container using calibrated and certified equipment; or Method 2: Weighing all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other securing material to be packed in the container and adding the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses, using a certified method approved by the competent authority of the State in which packing of the container was completed.

Method 2 will not be practical for shippers of bulk commodities like iron ore, grain, etc.

Who provides the verified gross mass?

The shipper is responsible for providing the verified gross mass by stating it in the shipping document and submitting it to the master or his representative and to the terminal representative sufficiently in advance for use in the preparation of the ship stowage plan.





Who is the shipper?

The shipper is defined as a legal entity or person named on the bill of lading or sea waybill or equivalent multimodal transport document (e.g. "through" bill of lading) as shipper and/or who (or in whose name or on whose behalf) a contract of carriage has been concluded with a shipping company. The shipper may be a manufacturer, ship agent, freight forwarder, etc.

What will happen if the verified gross mass is not provided?

The verified gross mass is a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship. A packed container, for which the verified gross mass has not been obtained sufficiently in advance to be used in the ship stowage plan, will be denied loading onto a ship to which the SOLAS regulations apply





Who decides on the certified method of weighing?

This is the responsibility of the competent authority of the State in which packing of the container was completed.





Who will enforce the regulations?

Like other SOLAS provisions, the enforcement of the SOLAS requirements regarding the verified gross mass of packed containers falls within the competence and is the responsibility of the SOLAS Contracting Governments. Contracting Governments acting as port States should verify compliance with these SOLAS requirements. Any incidence of non-compliance with the SOLAS requirements is enforceable according to national legislation.





Who pays if the gross mass of a container is not verified?

A packed container, for which the verified gross mass has not been obtained sufficiently in advance to be used in the ship stowage plan, will be denied loading onto a ship to which the SOLAS regulations apply. Any costs associated with the non-loading, storage, demurrage or eventual return of the container to the tendering shipper of the container should be subject to contractual arrangements between the commercial parties.

What if a container arrives for onward transportation without a verified gross mass?

While the shipper is responsible for obtaining and documenting the verified gross mass of a packed container, section 13 of the Guidelines regarding the verified gross mass of a container carrying cargo (MSC.1/Circ.1475) contains contingencies for containers received without a verified gross mass.

In order to allow the continued efficient onward movement of such containers, the master or his representative and the terminal representative may obtain the verified gross mass of the packed container on behalf of the shipper. This may be done by weighing the packed container in the terminal or elsewhere, but whether and how to do this should be agreed between the commercial parties, including the apportionment of the costs involved.

What will happen with regards to containers loaded prior to July 1, 2016 for transhipment?

The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) at its 96th session in May 2016 agreed that while there should be no delay in the implementation of the SOLAS requirements, it would be beneficial if Administrations and port State control authorities could take a practical and pragmatic approach when enforcing them, for a period of three months immediately following July 1, 2016. This would help ensure that containers that are loaded before July 1, 2016, but transhipped on or after July 1, 2016, reach their final port of discharge without a verified gross mass and it would provide flexibility, for three months immediately after July 1, 2016, to all the stakeholders in containerized transport to refine, if necessary, procedures (e.g. updated software) for documenting, communicating and sharing electronic verified gross mass data.

The MSC agreed MSC.1/Circ.1548 Advice to Administrations, port State control authorities, companies, port terminals and masters regarding the SOLAS requirements for verified gross mass of packed containers.
Davie Shipbuilding has cut first steel for the Resolve Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessel.

The project consists of converting a containership into an Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ship to support the operations of the Royal Canadian Navy. This type of conversion has already been performed a number of times by international navies.

Todays ceremony shows Davie at its best. We are uniquely able to deploy significant resources to the production of large-scale shipbuilding projects like Resolve. Davie is the biggest shipyard in Canada, with the highest production capacity in the country and with the continents very best shipbuilders. We stand ready to deliver said Jared Newcombe, Davies Chief Executive Officer.

With the presence of the Mayor of Levis, Gilles Lehouillier, Jean DAmour, Minister for Maritime Affaires, and Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and deputy of the Quebec region, the event marks the launch of a major project for the region, Quebec and Canada as a whole.

Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services, the owners of the Resolve-Class AOR, said, Through this program, Davie will provide Canada with the biggest vessel in operation for the Royal Canadian Navy and with its greatest humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capability
The shipbuilding group STX France has offloaded its Lorient shipyard to a naval consortium.

The shipyard, which has produced civil and naval vessels, will be purchased by Kership, a joint venture between French industrial shipbuilder Piriou and naval manufacturer DCNS.

"We are extremely happy with this decision," a statement from Kership said, adding that it "reinforces the consolidation of French shipbuilding industry."

STX France Lorient, based at the mouth of the river Blavet in Brittany, has operated since 1993 and is capable of producing ships of up to 120 m in length.

STX had also received a bid for the facility from Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie (CMN), which also offers a mix of naval and civilian vessels.

Unions remain alert.
Classification society ClassNK has released printed versions of its 2016 Rules and Guidance for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships.

ClassNK regularly reviews and revises its technical rules and guidance in order to ensure that they are relevant and up-to-date.

The 2016 edition contains requirement amendments made between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015 related to structural strength of container carriers, fire safety measures for vehicle carriers transporting motor vehicles powered by compressed hydrogen or compressed natural gas, welding procedures and related specifications, material factors of rolled stainless steel and stainless clad steel plates, propeller shaft and stern tube shaft surveys, propeller shaft condition monitoring systems, means of escape from machinery control rooms and main workshops, and scope of application of fire-resistant cables, installation positions of fixed hydrocarbon gas detection systems.

Printed versions are available for purchase on the ClassNK website, with CD-ROM and PDF versions are scheduled to be made available in late June.
Marine reservists from Marine Corps Forces Reserves recently took advantage of a new administrative order that allows them to conduct annual training in an imminent danger pay area, during Exercise Eager Lion 2016, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, conducted May 15-24.



MARADMIN 016/16 announced a change to DoD policy for Reserve Component and allows MARFORRES personnel to perform their Annual Training (AT) and provide individual or unit readiness training; support to mission requirements, (i.e., Operational Support) as may occur as a consequence of performing AT.



"Exercise Eager Lion was a fantastic opportunity to work at the operational level in an environment that reflects the way we as Marines have conducted warfare over the past 25 years, said Lance Cpl. Colton A. Thompson, a Force Protection Intelligence Analyst and native of Lakeland, Fla. Eager Lion has not only exposed me to working in a joint-operational setting with our other U.S. military branches, but it has also allowed me the privilege of getting to work with our allied forces.



Eager Lion 16, one of U.S. Central Commands premiere exercises, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, About 3,000 U.S. military personnel  representing USCENTCOM headquarters and its components  are currently supporting the exercise, mirrored by an equal number of Jordanian Armed Forces soldiers.



To fill the number of billets to support an exercise of this magnitude, military planners had to think outside of the box, and MARADMIN 016/06 provided the manpower Eager Lion needed to roar.



"When shortfalls were published in January by 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, as part of Force Headquarters Group operations, we took it for action to fill critical billets from within the MARFORRES community, said Master Sgt. Michael J. Decker, EL-16 Current Operations Chief, and a Kingston, N.Y. native. This enabled our major subordinate elements to be gainfully employed while fulfilling several shortfalls within 5th MEB in support of EL-16 due to concurrent real word operations... a win on all fronts."



The MARFORRES Marines with FHG out of New Orleans, were quick to provide pivotal billets such as: Embarkation NCO, Current Operations Chief, Intelligence Analyst, Manpower/Protocol Officer, Surface Movement Coordinator and Civil Affairs Operations Officer.



"This annual training has been the most beneficial AT I have been part of. I was able to gain hands-on experience within my MOS, executing real-life tasks alongside the notional tasks supporting the exercise, Lance Cpl. David A.Thigpen, an Embarkation NCO, and native of Jackson, Miss. I was able to learn more from being a part of Eager Lion, than I have doing any homesite AT since I have moved into embarkation."



Eager Lion 2016 consisted of a 10-day series of simulated scenarios to facilitate a coordinated partnered military response to conventional and unconventional threats. The scenarios developed will include border security, command and control, cyber defense and battle space management.



"This was a unique opportunity to train with our sister-service and Jordanian counterparts in a joint environment and realize functioning as one team, one fight, said Capt. Samuel K. Kennedy, a Manpower/Protocol officer, and Robertsdale, Ala. native. The Marine reservists participating in Exercise Eager Lion came hungry to validate their capabilities while contributing to the greater whole."


BARABOO  The trouble with ridiculing Wisconsinites is we dont realize were being put down. In fact, we take most insults as compliments.

We can be a backward lot. This explains why we call freezing January temperatures fishing weather.

It also explains why, when our neighbors to the south derisively dubbed us cheeseheads, we didnt know enough to feel hurt. Instead, we embraced the nickname and started wearing foam cheese wedges on our heads.

Wisconsinites accepted with that same lack of self-consciousness last weeks news that Americas Dairyland is home to more than half the drunkest cities in America. I wonder whether people in Appleton, the city anointed drunkest of them all, are spilling out of the taverns and onto the streets, wearing foam fingers and chanting Were No. 1!

No doubt the authors of the report on Americas drunkest and driest cities, published by 247wallstreet.com, would be perplexed by such a reception. And by Wisconsinites fascination with accessories made of foam.

The report used statistics on binge drinking, alcohol-related deaths and overall health to rank cities weakness for the bottle. Wisconsin claims 12 of the 20 drunkest U.S. cities. Some might view such a showing as abysmal, but Wisconsinites would call it dominant.

The Milwaukee metropolitan area came in at No. 17, with 23 percent of adults admitting to binge drinking. Sure, they couldve lied, but the secret is out on us: Cheeseheads are known to take a second drink. And sometimes an eighth.

The twin cities of Janesville and Beloit were No. 16, but they deserve a pass. If you lived in Janesville or Beloit, youd drink, too.

Racine ranked 15th, due to a high rate of driving deaths involving alcohol, as well as obesity and premature death. Sheboygan ranked 12th, topped by Wausau at No. 11. Despite its high binge drinking rate, Wausau ranked above-average in overall health. Perhaps this is true because Wisconsinites exercise as they imbibe, curling or playing softball or shooting darts to burn some calories. Someone should tell Racine to get with the program.

Eau Claire ranked ninth because its home to 6.4 bars for every 10,000 residents, the second-highest in the country. They say that like its a bad thing.

Fond du Lac ranked seventh, but overall passed its health test. The city has one of the lowest premature death rates, a fact the studys authors attribute to Fond du Lacs financial health. Less than 10 percent of residents live in poverty. Theres something to be said for $1 rail mixers.

The La Crosse area came in at No. 6, because there are nearly 7 bars for every 10,000 people. In our states defense, significant capacity is needed there to accommodate Minnesotans sneaking across the Mississippi in search of real beer.

Our capital city came in at No. 4. The only surprise there was that Madison wasnt higher up the list. The University of Wisconsin traditionally ranks among the top party schools in America, another dubious honor cheeseheads regard with pride rather than shame. Hey, Badgers fans are just happy to have beaten Ohio State at something.

Next up was Green Bay at No. 3, but another pass is in order here. Until youve tried to survive a winter along the icy lakefront without carrying a fifth of brandy in your pocket, dont judge.

Oshkosh-Neenah was ranked second, topped only by Appleton. Nearly 27 percent of adults in Appleton report binge drinking, highest in the nation. Id raise a toast to you, Appleton, but youre already on the floor drooling. Just think what that percentage might be if Appleton had more than 4.4 bars per 10,000 residents. In Wisconsin we call that a dry town.

Speaking of dry towns, Provo, Utah was named the least-drunk U.S. city. People there might ask, why would cheeseheads want to drink excessively, when it leads to risky behavior and unknown outcomes? Theyd be answering their own question.

Its no accident the drunkest cities are in the Upper Midwest. The winter is dark, the summer is short, and there isnt much else to do here. So we have a few pops and throw caution to the wind.

You may say we should be ashamed of ourselves. But we say were No. 1.
Wisconsins voter ID law, instead of widening racial disparities, as critics charge, actually reduces possible racial gaps in who has ID cards, according to an expert who testified in federal court Wednesday.

The number of Wisconsinites who lack voter IDs also may be far less than previously estimated, according to M.V. Hood III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

Hood is a witness for the states defense against a lawsuit challenging voter ID and other recent election-law changes by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers.

Plaintiffs in the suit say the changes illegally restrict voting access for minorities, urban residents, the very poor and college students. Their challenge rests in part on a few eligible voters who lack ID cards and have tried, unsuccessfully, to get free ones from the state.

A judges decision in the case could determine if there will be new changes to Wisconsins voter ID requirement, which is among the nations strictest.

Hoods report to the court says he knows no reason Wisconsins recent election changes have, or will have, a detrimental impact on the ability of Wisconsin voters to cast a ballot, including minority voters.

Hood cites the states free voter ID program as an example of how voter ID actually reduces racial disparities. The program offers free IDs to eligible Wisconsin voters who lack other forms of ID, such as drivers licenses.

Data provided by the Department of Transportation show it issued about 128,000 original free voting IDs through April and more than 420,000 total IDs, including duplicates and renewals. About 37 percent of the original IDs went to blacks or Latinos, who make up about 9 percent of Wisconsins citizen voting-age population.

To the degree that a racial gap in ID possession may exist in Wisconsin, it is clear that the no-cost state ID program is acting to alleviate any such disparity, Hood wrote in his report.

The lawsuit focuses in part on a petition process, which the plaintiffs describe as flawed, for people who lack IDs and cannot get free ones from the state because they lack required documentation. Those people, too, are disproportionately minorities  as are the handful whose petitions have been denied, according to evidence provided in the trial earlier this week.

The Walker administration earlier this month announced a stopgap measure aimed at helping those struggling to get an ID to vote in November.

In his report, Hood gave the court an estimate of how many Wisconsinites may not have IDs that meet the voter ID law.

The estimate, devised by comparing lists of registered voters from the states election agency with ID records at the state Division of Motor Vehicles, is less than about 153,000. Earlier estimates pegged that number at about 300,000.

Hoods report notes the U.S. Constitution charges states with handling voter qualification and election administration. Within constitutional parameters, states have the ability to try and safeguard the ballot box, Hood testified.

Voter ID proponents say the requirement is needed to prevent voter fraud. Critics respond that the type of fraud that ID requirements can prevent  voter impersonation, in which a prospective voter assumes anothers identity  is extremely rare and that voter ID often doesnt stop it.

Hood also pushed back against another change at issue in the lawsuit: new restrictions in access to early, or in-person absentee, voting. Despite those reductions, use of that type of voting has increased, Hood reported.

Also challenged in the trial are new requirements for voters to prove where they reside and the elimination of straight-ticket voting and corroboration, the process by which a voter can vouch for anothers residency when they register.
The winds of revolution are once again blowing over the African continent. From Burkina Faso to South Africa, from Burundi to Nigeria, we have seen a radicalisation of the workers and the youth and the rise of mass movements that have challenged corrupt capitalist regimes in one country after another.

As part of this revolutionary reawakening, there is also a seeking out of revolutionary theory, and in this context historical figures such as Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Chris Hani and Amilcar Cabral are making a comeback. Cabral was an important anti-imperialist figure to emerge from the convulsive decades of decolonisation in Africa, and as Africa is entering a new period of revolutionary upheaval it is important for Marxists to understand what these historical figures really stood for.

As we will see, although Cabral played an important role in the revolutionary movement of Guinea-Bissau, in the last analysis the isolation of the revolution to one small extremely underdeveloped country, combined with the nefarious influence of Stalinism, meant that the movement he lead was doomed to failure. Todays generation of revolutionary workers and youth in Africa need to learn the lessons, both positive and negative, from those historical experiences, as they prepare for a new wave of revolution in the coming period.

The Portuguese empire and Guinea-Bissau

Amilcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was born to a middle-class family on September 24, 1924, in the town of Bafata, in the small Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa. His parents were Cape Verdeans who had moved to the mainland, where his father, Juvenal Cabral, worked as a primary school teacher and his mother as a shopkeeper.

Portugal was the most backward and despotic of the European imperial powers. Despite having entered a prolonged decline after the sixteenth century, this small country still held on to large swathes of land in Africa and Asia. But Portugal was not a classical imperial power like Britain or France. While controlling numerous colonies on two continents, it was simultaneously dominated by British imperialism, which saw in Lisbon a pliable underling that administrated its colonies in the interest of British capital. The Portuguese empire, both dominator and dominated, was thus held together with the invaluable help of London. As Lenin explained:

Portugal is an independent sovereign state, but actually, for more than two hundred years, since the war of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), it has been a British protectorate. Great Britain has protected Portugal and her colonies in order to fortify her own positions in the fight against her rivals, Spain and France. In return Great Britain has received commercial privileges, preferential conditions for importing goods and especially capital into Portugal and the Portuguese colonies, the right to use the ports and islands of Portugal, her telegraph cables, etc., etc. Relations of this kind have always existed between big and little states, but in the epoch of capitalist imperialism they become a general system, they form part of the sum total of divide the world relations and become links in the chain of operations of world finance capital.[1]

In later years, Cabral makes a similar appraisal of the Portuguese empire:

Faced with the power of the main imperialist nations, one is forced to wonder how it was possible for Portugal, an underdeveloped and backward country, to retain its colonies in spite of the redistribution to which the world was subjected. Portuguese colonialism managed to survive despite the sharing-out of Africa made by the imperialist powers at the end of the 19th century because England supported the ambitions of Portugal which, since the treaty of Metwen in 1703 had become a semi-colony of England. England had every interest in using the Portuguese colonies, not only to exploit their economic resources, but also to occupy them as support bases on the route to the Orient, and thus to maintain absolute domination in the Indian Ocean. To counter the greed of the other colonialist powers and to defend its interests in the Portuguese colonies, England found the best solution: it defended the 'rights' of its semi-colony.[2]

Guinea-Bissau was one of the most underdeveloped of the Portuguese possessions. Lacking the raw materials of Angola and Mozambique and the strategic and commercial importance of Cape Verde, Macau, Timor, or Goa, it was a backwater in the decrepit Portuguese empire. An outpost in the slave trade until its abolition in the nineteenth century, the province had been languishing. At the time of Cabrals birth it had a population of around half a million, with the presence of some 15-20,000 Europeans, principally Portuguese soldiers. A brutal system of racism and apartheid prevailed in the towns where the white minority dominated and blacks were divided between assimilated and non-assimilated, while in the countryside Portuguese power rested on relations of tribal oppression.

Much of Guinea-Bissau were marshy lowlands where cultivation was difficult; arable land comprised only 12.2% of the province. Around 99% of the native population (according to Cabrals estimates) was illiterate. Whatever education was available to the indigenous community was monopolised by the Catholic church. The rural population comprised two main groups. On the one hand were the Fula, who were Muslim and who Cabral classed as semi-feudal, owing to the degree of class differentiations that existed among this community, dominated by a layer of wealthy chiefs that were closely connected to the Portuguese imperialists. These chiefs ruled over the peasants, who had to pay tribute in kind, and also owned slaves. There was a middle layer of artisans that were subordinated to the chiefs. The Fulas also oppressed other, less advanced tribes, a relationship of oppression that the Portuguese exploited. The other major ethnicity was the Balanta, animists who Cabral defined as primitive communists by token of their rudimentary egalitarianism. Off the coast, the situation on the islands of Cape Verde was not much better. Lack of investment by the Portuguese and the poverty of the soil resulted in devastating famines. Between 1941 and 1948, as many as 50,000 people died of starvation.

In the 1960s the province only had 14 native university graduates (including Cabral). Lacking any industry, the working class of the province was virtually non-existent, and was limited to a few hundred wageworkers in the transports and construction sectors. These workers, who Cabral hesitated to refer to as a proletariat, had recently migrated from the countryside and maintained close connections with their villages. Despite their political rawness, this budding working class played an important role in the revolutionary movement, especially the youth that had recently transferred to the towns. It proved extremely dynamic in the struggle. Many of these people joined the struggle right from the beginning and it is among this group that we found many of the cadres whom we have since trained, commented Cabral in 1969.[3] In the towns there was also a mass of declasse and lumpen elements living on the margins of society, always ready to sell themselves to the highest bidder and who became a great help to the Portuguese police in giving them information.[4]

However, even Guinea-Bissau was exposed to the revolutionary convulsions that were shaking the world in Cabrals formative years. A stratum of native intellectuals and educated professionals, who staffed the colonial administration and the service sector, was beginning to emerge that became particularly receptive to radical ideas. While a layer of the petty bourgeoisie was conservative and supportive of the imperialists, another sector, particularly the more poorly-paid strata, were hospitable to revolutionary ideas. In themselves, petty bourgeois intellectuals cannot become a driving force of revolution; their position in society as a small middle layer and their detachment from production prevents them from playing an independent role. Their alienation from society also implies that, when isolated, petty bourgeois intellectuals tend towards impatience, eclecticism, and vacillation. The vast majority of the petty bourgeoisie, said Cabral in 1960, were undecided and are certainly still undecided today. However, in the context of a mass movement of the workers, the peasants, and the oppressed, as individuals they can provide the most revolutionary elements as organisers and ideologists. Cabral acknowledged this, and observed that the petty bourgeoisie of the colonial countries was torn between continued subjection to imperialist domination, its aspiration to displace the colonialists and become a national pseudo-bourgeoisie, and rejecting bourgeois inclinations and organising the revolutionary struggle of the masses.

First steps as a revolutionary

Cabral belonged to this radicalised stratum of petty bourgeois intellectuals. As he said, We were just group of petty bourgeois who were driven by the reality of life in Guinea, by the sufferings we had to endure, and also by the influence events in Africa and elsewhere had on us, in particular the experiences some of us acquired in Portugal and other countries in Europe, to try and do something.[6]

Cabral studied at a secondary school in Cape Verde, and then, in the 1940s, went to study agronomy in Lisbon, where he mingled with nationalist African students and circles of Portuguese anti-fascists. He involved himself in the activities of the youth wing of the Movement for Democratic Unity (MUD), where the Communist Party had a strong presence. Cabral started to become influenced by Marxism in this period, when he began to read the classics by Marx, Engels, and Lenin that were published by the underground press. It must be noted, and we will return to this later, that the type of Marxism Cabral was exposed to while in Portugal, was, unfortunately, the rigid and mechanic Marxism of the Stalinist parties. They showed contempt for the national liberation struggles; the Communist Party of Portugal, echoing its French counterparts line towards Algeria, did not support the independence of the colonies until the 1960s. For these reasons, Cabral felt lukewarm towards official communism, although he was able to gain an understanding of the fundamentals of Marxism and began to imbibe the materialist and dialectical worldview that would influence his writings.[7]

In Lisbon, Cabral befriended Eduardo Mondlane and Agostinho Neto, who would lead the anti-imperialist struggle in Mozambique and Angola. At the same time, he cut his teeth as a poet and a writer, always conscious of the importance of culture in revolution. Cabrals thesis was on soil erosion in the poor, rural province of the Alentejo, in south-western Portugal, where a handful of rich landowners owned massive estates while the peasantry suffered in misery and hunger. This experience convinced Cabral of the revolutionary potential of Portuguese society and of the interest of the Portuguese working class and peasantry to overthrow the dictatorship.

In 1951 he returned to Guinea-Bissau, where he worked as an agronomist, compiling lengthy surveys of the local economy, society, and geography. He also travelled to Angola on research missions. These travels familiarised him with the problems of colonial society and with the inability of imperialism to genuinely develop these countries. He became increasingly radicalised as he witnessed the poverty and backwardness of the countryside, but also the ingenuity and creativity of the peasants, and was appalled at the plundering schemes of the Portuguese empire. His interest in revolutionary theory began to take shape in this period as an agronomist.

The ferment that existed in the colonial world after the Second World War, with the outbreak of revolutionary movements and wars of independence in China, Korea, Cuba, Algeria, Vietnam, etc., had a catalysing effect in the Portuguese colonies, and influenced Cabrals increasingly militant stance. The disappointment after the first round of decolonisation in the aftermath of World War Two, where colonial administrations in a whole series of countries were replaced with bourgeois, pro-imperialist governments, drove the anti-colonial movement further to the left, highlighting that formal independence was not synonymous with genuine emancipation.

Some African leaders, like Ghanas Nkrumah, French Guineas Toure, and Congos Lumumba, veered sharply to the left. The Soviet Union, despite its Stalinist degeneration and the pernicious role it played in the international socialist movement, continued to be seen as a beacon for many in the colonies, who saw how the planned economy had developed the former Tsarist empire, a backward, mainly agricultural country, into an advanced superpower, which in 1961 launched the first expedition to space. Influenced by all this, Cabral soon began to involve himself in the protests against the Lisbon dictatorship that were taking place in the colony.

The creation of the PAIGC

After several failed attempts to set up anti-imperialist organisations, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded in September 1956 under the leadership of Cabral and his brother, Luiz. They initially tried to mobilise the working class of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde and to challenge Lisbon through mass protests rather than through clandestine or guerrilla methods. The PAIGC scored some successes and won the support of the colonys urban workers. The 1950s had been a decade of industrial strife in Guinea-Bissau where an embryonic workers movement had begun to crystallise, and the PAIGC was initially able to tap into this agitation, leading several strikes and demonstrations for better working conditions and democratic rights. As Cabral explained:

And so this little group [the PAIGC] began. We first thought of a general movement of national liberation, but this immediately proved unfeasible. We decided to extend our activity to the workers in the towns, and we had some success with this; we launched moves for higher wages, better working conditions and so on. I do not want to go into details here, the only point I want to make is that we obviously did not have a proletariat. We quite clearly lacked revolutionary intellectuals, so we had to start searching, given that we - rightly - did not believe in the revolutionary capacity of the peasantry.

One important group in the towns were the dockworkers; another important group were the people working in the boats carrying merchandise, who mostly live in Bissao itself and travel up and down the rivers. These people proved highly conscious of their position and of their economic importance and they took the initiative of launching strikes without any trade union leadership at all. We therefore decided to concentrate all our work on this group. This gave excellent results and this group soon came to form a kind of nucleus which influenced the attitudes of other wage-earning groups in the towns - workers proper and drivers, who form two other important groups. If I may put it this way, we thus found our little proletariat.[8]

However, the orientation towards the labour movement was contested after the massacre of Pijiguiti on August 3, 1959, where 50 dockworkers who were striking under the leadership of the PAIGC were killed by the Portuguese police.

The programme of the PAIGC

The PAIGC had a hybrid programme, that combined socialist and bourgeois-nationalist features. This was not an accident, but reflected the problems of revolution in a country like Guinea-Bissau, which will be discussed in depth later. The main stress of the programme was on national unification and modernisation: to bring together the country socially and economically through education, culture, language, and literature; with the development of industry, communications, and infrastructure; with a land reform to modernise the countryside; and through the creation a strong, modern democratic state. In short, the aim was to create an advanced, secular, sovereign democratic republic. The PAIGC also envisaged the ever-greater cooperation of the country with other African states and with the socialist bloc, and the unification of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. In a country like Guinea-Bissau, populated by isolated and backward peasant communities and dominated by tribal and localist sentiments, and which had been trampled and brutalised by a racist, oppressive empire, this programme for national unification and national independence was entirely progressive. It corresponded to the national-democratic tasks of the revolution that had been accomplished by the bourgeoisie in the West.

However, the programme also included socialist, proletarian elements, albeit in a confused and muddled form. As we will explain later, a genuine bourgeois-democratic revolution in the colonial world could not be carried out on the basis of capitalism, of bourgeois rule. It required the socialist transformation of society, and the combination of national-democratic reforms with socialist measures. The PAIGC called for the nationalisation of all major enterprises and for the establishment of a planned economy. Small private enterprise would be allowed and the creation of cooperatives encouraged. The ultimate aim of the PAIGC was communism (although it never referred to itself explicitly as a Marxist party): the progressive liquidation of the exploitation of man by man, of all forms of subordination of the human being to degrading interests for the profit of individuals, groups, or classes.[9]

The planned economy would be directed according to the principles of democratic centralism.[10] This is an odd use of the term democratic centralism, which was developed by the Bolsheviks to refer to the unified work of the revolutionary party. The confused use of the term here in reality envisages the management of the economy by an enlightened bureaucracy that runs the countrys wealth in the interest of the people, which in a nutshell sums up the problems of revolution in Guinea-Bissau: the need to carry out a socialist revolution without a genuine working-class movement and under a petty bourgeois leadership. We will return to this question below.

The turn to the countryside

The repression against the workers in the towns impelled the PAIGC to turn to a guerrilla struggle based in the countryside. This coincided with the success of the Cuban Revolution, which increased the appeal of guerrilla warfare as a means to seize power (few remembered the importance of the mass mobilisations and strikes of the Cuban working class and the insurrections that shook Cuban cities in the late 1950s and which were vital to the overthrow of Batista). Cabral and his men set up a cadre school in Conakry, in neighbouring Guinea, which had won independence from France in 1958. Worker-activists and intellectuals that had become steeled in the first years of struggle in the towns were sent to Conakry to receive political training and then transferred to the interior of Guinea-Bissau to organise the guerrillas. The PAIGC was rapid to establish a foothold in the woodlands south of the Geba River, and began a successful attrition war against the imperialists.

The road to revolution differs depending on the economic and social composition of each country. Marxists in general reject guerrilla warfare, and base themselves on the mass struggle of the workers in the cities. However, this is a general premise that says little about concrete struggles. The essence of Bolshevism is the flexibility of its tactics and its adaptation to the real needs and the real march of the revolutionary process. As Lenin put it:

Absolutely hostile to all abstract formulas and to all doctrinaire recipes, Marxism demands an attentive attitude to the mass struggle in progress, which, as the movement develops, as the class-consciousness of the masses grows, as economic and political crises become acute, continually gives rise to new and more varied methods of defence and attack. Marxism, therefore, positively does not reject any form of struggle. Under no circumstances does Marxism confine itself to the forms of struggle possible and in existence at the given moment only, recognising as it does that new forms of struggle, unknown to the participants of the given period, inevitably arise as the given social situation, changes. In this respect Marxism learns, if we may so express it, from mass practice, and makes no claim what ever to teach the masses forms of struggle invented by systematisers in the seclusion of their studies.[11]

In an overwhelmingly agrarian society like Guinea-Bissau, controlled militarily by a foreign oppressor, the peasantry was bound to play a central role in the movement, and the use of guerrilla tactics was indispensable. The Guinea-Bissauan peasants, especially the classless Balanta, had a long tradition of struggle against Portuguese imperialism, which had been unable to fully pacify the countryside. Lisbon had launched a series of campaigns into the hinterland to crush the rebellious natives, the last one being as late as 1936. The problem with these early forms of peasant resistance was that they were kneejerk risings against the oppressor that lacked a programme and a strategy to overthrow the imperialists and transform society. It was correct for the PAIGC to try to give a conscious expression to the inchoate rebelliousness of the peasants, bringing a socialist, anti-imperialist programme and organising and unifying the spontaneous risings of the peasants into a nationwide movement.

As Lenin explained, even if guerrilla tactics and terrorism can under certain conditions become a useful auxiliary for the socialist movement, it should prioritise the movement of the workers in the towns, and at all times subordinate the military struggle to political considerations. It should not pander to the prejudices of the masses, particularly the peasants, but always strive to raise the political level and instil a comprehensive, many-sided view of the struggle, shaking selfishness, narrow-mindedness, and localism from revolutionaries. In conditions where the guerrilla struggle becomes necessary, Lenin said, it must be ennobled by the enlightening and organising influence of socialism. Under Cabrals leadership, the PAIGC attempted to do this, and with some success.

It must be pointed out, however, that although the PAIGCs efforts to mobilise the peasantry were correct, its turn to the countryside after the massacre of Pijiguiti was too categorical. The turn had elements of impatience and of impressionism after the defeat of the dockworkers. The PAIGC threw all its weight behind the guerrilla, turning their backs to the towns, where the Party organisation remains underground, in general under the leadership of a very small number of individuals.[12] The correct approach should have been to combine the two tactics, the urban and the rural struggle, and to prioritise the clandestine struggle in the towns. A general strike of the dockworkers as the one of 1959, for example, was much more damaging for the imperialists and a greater and less costly propaganda success for the movement than a series of armed raids. As admitted by Cabral itself, the small working class of the province was much more receptive to radical ideas than the peasantry and was more consistent and bold in its commitment to the revolution.

Furthermore, and we will expand on this later, because of the position it occupies in society and the collective character of its exploitation, the working class is the only class in society which can developed a socialist consciousness.

Revolutionary war

The Guinea-Bissauan revolutionaries faced daunting problems: economic under-development, the consequent social and cultural backwardness of the popular masses, tribalism and other contradictions of lesser importance.[13] The PAIGC set itself the task of combatting these problems. The organisation set up schools teach the masses to read and write, Portuguese was taught, basic culture and literature were promoted. By 1968, 127 primary schools were being operated by the PAIGC in liberated areas. Cabrals men set up medical clinics and tried to improve the hygiene of the villages; in 1968 four hospitals were in operation. Doctors who had deserted the Portuguese army and volunteers from other African countries and Cuba staffed the hospitals and clinics. Armazens do povo (peoples stores) were set up as trading centres to substitute the old Portuguese markets.

Cadre schools were created, and worker-activists and intellectuals were brought in from the towns. Fighters, despite the backwardness of the province and their heterogeneous social background, were inculcated a socialist, working-class mentality:

We were faced with another difficult problem: we realised that we needed to have people with a mentality which could transcend the context of the national liberation struggle, and so we prepared a number of cadres from the group I have just mentioned, some from the people employed in commerce and other wage-earners, and even some peasants. So that they could acquire what you might call a working class mentality. You may think this is absurd - in any case it is very difficult; in order for there to be a working class mentality the material conditions of the working class should exist, a working class should exist. In fact we managed to inculcate these ideas into a large number of people - the kind of ideas which there would be if there were a working class.[14]

Elsewhere, Cabral wrote:

Educate ourselves, educate other people, the population in general, to fight fear and ignorance, to eliminate little by little the subjugation to nature and natural forces which our economy has not yet mastered. Convince little by little, in particular the militants of the Party, that we shall end by conquering the fear of nature, and that man is the strongest force in nature. Demand from responsible Party members that they dedicate themselves seriously to study, that they interest themselves in the things and problems of our daily life and struggle in their fundamental and essential aspect, and not simply in their appearance. Learn from life, learn from our people, learn from books, learn from the experience of others. Never stop learning.[15]

Strict equality between men and women was propounded. Initially, sexism was a blight in the movement, but it was steadily combatted through patient propaganda and discipline: At the start, the men did not want meetings with women. We did not force the pace, while in some areas women soon came to the meetings without difficulties.[16] In the course of the struggle, sexist prejudices were gradually overcome and women began to play a prominent role in the movement: We want to emphasise in particular that the women of our country are winning an independence for which so many have fought unsuccessfully. You saw, surely, how there were women in charge of the committees in tabancas and the zones and even of inter-regional committees.[17]

Liberated areas were administrated by democratic village committees, where the local population elected new representatives. Although PAIGC cadres often played an active role in the committees, the choice of the villagers was generally respected. It was often young members of the community and women, who had been traditionally held back by the elders, who took a leading role. The committees organised the war effort, propaganda activities, and the management of the new social services that were being set up by the guerrillas. By 1970, there were some 400 village committees in liberated areas. As historian Patrick Chabal from Kings College London observed:

There is little doubt that at the village level itself the system devised by the PAIGC worked satisfactorily and with the support of the population. This was largely due to the way in which the party, the armed forces, and the village committees were able to work together. Cabrals writings and speeches constantly re-emphasised the necessity to develop and maintain this harmony. Party political control over the armed forces, and the PAIGC policy of respecting the villagers and of seeking to improve their living conditions, did much to ensure cooperation between the population and the party.[18]

Although religious freedom was enshrined by the PAIGC, all forms of religious discrimination were forbidden, and superstition and backwardness were contested with scientific, secular education: we avoid all hostility towards these religions, towards the type of relationships our people still have with nature because of their economic underdevelopment. But we have resolutely opposed anything going against human dignity.[19]

The rejection of tribalism was an important element in the line of the PAIGC: tribal politics were correctly seen as an element of backwardness that had been used by the Portuguese to divide the people. They [the Portuguese imperialists] exploited tribal contradictions. They even exploited racism on the basis of lighter and darker people. They exploited the question of the civilised and the uncivilised, etc., as well as the privileged position of the traditional chiefs.[20] The rule of the tribal leaders, particularly among the more advanced Fula people, was a rudimentary form of class exploitation that had become enmeshed in the colonialist system. A struggle against the imperialists was also a struggle against the tribal chiefs; even while the struggle is going on we must begin to exploit the contradiction between the Fula people and their chiefs, who are very close to the Portuguese.[21] However, the PAIGC was careful to respect local customs and languages, insofar as they did not divide the people or contribute to its exploitation: we would not impose on the Balantes the customs of the Fulas or the Mandingas. We defended these cultural differences with all our strength, but we also fought with all our strength all divisions on a political level.[22]

Cabrals overall line to culture was balanced and flexible. He based himself on the most dynamic and progressive aspects of local culture, and combatted its oppressive and backward elements, while trying to draw from and adapt Western culture and science, in a way that recalls Lenins approach. Proud of Guinea-Bissauan and African culture, he never fetishized it, and approached it from a dialectical and materialist standpoint. It is worth quoting Cabral at length on this question:

But we must consider our culture carefully; it is dictated by our economic condition, by our situation of economic underdevelopment. We must enjoy our African culture, we must cherish it, our dances, our songs, our style of making statues, canoes, our cloths. All this is magnificent, but if we rely only on our cloths to clothe all our folk, we are wrong. We have to be realists. Our land is very beautiful, but if we do not struggle to change our land, we are wrong. [] We must have the courage to state this clearly. No one should think that the culture of Africa, what is really African and so must be preserved for all time, for us to be Africans, is our weakness in the face of nature. Any people in the world, of whatever status, has gone through the stage of these weaknesses or has to go through them. [] We cannot believe that to be African is to think that man has no mastery over the flooding of rivers. Anyone who leads a struggle like ours, who bears responsibility in a struggle like ours, has to understand gradually what concrete reality is. [] On the cultural plane, our party has tried to derive the best possible result, the best possible benefit from our cultural reality. It does so by not banning what is possible not to ban without prejudicing the struggle, or by creating new ideas in the comrades spirit, new ways of seeing reality. And further by making the best possible use of those who already have a little more education, both to lead the struggle itself and to be sent to study how to train cadres for the future.

Political considerations were given priority over military ones; as Cabral put it, the political and military leadership of the struggle is one: the political leadership. In our struggle we have avoided the creation of anything military. We are political people, and our Party, a political organisation, leads the struggle in the civilian political, administrative, technical, and therefore also military spheres. Our fighters are defined as armed activists.[23] Political commissars were deployed to oversee the functioning of the different armed detachments. To back the struggle with the weapon of theory and to adapt the line of the party to the existing social conditions, to start from the reality of our land  to be realists and not to confuse the reality you live in with the ideas you have in your head, were the main tenets of Cabral.[24] As will be discussed below, the party also engaged in a constant battle with careerism, opportunism, and isolationism and to raise the level of the cadres: this vanguard we are creating, this instrument we have forged to build the independence of our land, as a man builds his house, must be constantly more honed, more sharpened, more perfect, and our people must constantly embellish it.[25] Cabral summarised the tasks and tactics of the movement in 1968 thus:

a) constantly improve and develop political work among the popular masses and the armed forces, and preserve at all costs our national unity;

b) further strengthen organisation, discipline and democracy within our Party, continually adapt it to the evolution of the struggle, correct mistakes and demand from leaders and militants rigorous application of the principles guiding our actions;

c) improve the organisation of the armed forces, intensify our action on all fronts and develop the co-ordination of our military activities;

d) increase the isolation of the enemy forces, subject them to decisive blows and destroy the remnants of tranquility which they still enjoy in certain urban centres;

e) defend our liberated areas against the enemy's terrorist attacks, guarantee for our people the tranquillity which is indispensable for productive work;

f) study and find the best solutions to the economic, administrative, social and cultural problems of the liberated areas, increase industrial production, however rudimentary, and continually improve health and education facilities;

g) accelerate the training of cadres;

h) fight and eliminate tendencies towards opportunism, parasitism, careerism and deviation of our action from the general line laid down by our Party, at the service of our people;

i) strengthen and develop our relations with the peoples, states and organisations of Africa, and tighten the fraternal links which join us with the neighbouring countries and with the peoples of the other Portuguese colonies;

j) strengthen our relations of sincere collaboration with the anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist forces, for useful cooperation in the common struggle against colonialism, imperialism and racism.[26]

Using these tactics, the PAIGC won the sympathy of tens of thousands of peasants and townspeople. Our mountains, said Cabral, referring to the difficulties of waging a guerrilla war in the Guinea-Bissauan lowlands, are the people. The liberated regions of the country, where we are developing a new society, are a constant propaganda force for the liberation of other parts of our country.[27] This is a correct approach to this form of struggle that separates it from Blanquism, where impatient minorities throw themselves into armed expeditions without taking into consideration the mood of the masses and the concrete historical situation. Elsewhere in Lusophone Africa the national liberation movement displayed elements of Blanquism: in Mozambique the FRELIMO, in the belief that the masses would rally behind them, threw itself into several reckless offensives in 1961, of which it only recovered in the early 1970s.

On this basis, the PAIGC made rapid gains, and by the early 1970s controlled as much as 60% of the country, leaving the occupiers trapped in their compounds and in the main towns. And this despite the brutal tactics used by the Portuguese, who were provided with the most advanced and deadly weaponry by the Americans. The areas of rebel control, commented worryingly the US ambassador to Dakar, like inkblots, spread over the country and ever closer to the Bissau region itself.[28]

Internationalism and the Portuguese Revolution

We have always clearly proclaimed that we never confuse the people of Portugal with Portuguese colonialism, said Cabral.[29] Undoubtedly, one of the most important aspects of Cabrals approach to the revolution were his constant appeals to the Portuguese soldiery, workers, and peasants, and the attempts to build bridges of solidarity with the people of the metropole. Cabral understood that Portugal was a class society, and one that was also ripe with revolutionary ferment. Portugal was oppressed by a brutal dictatorship that was sending tens of thousands of young men to their death in a war against their class brothers and sisters in the African colonies, waged not in their interest but in the interest of the capitalists and the imperialists. Unlike other anti-imperialist thinkers like Frantz Fanon, for whom the European working classes were inescapably reactionary, Cabral had an internationalist approach to the struggle, and saw the peoples of Europe as an ally in the revolution:

If, as would seem from all the evidence, imperialism exists and is trying simultaneously to dominate the working class in all the advanced countries and smother the national liberation movements in all the underdeveloped countries, then there is only one enemy against whom we are fighting. If we are fighting together, then I think the main aspect of our solidarity is extremely simple: it is to fight.[30]

For the PAIGC, internationalism was not simply a question of words but of deeds. The guerrillas avoided any form of unnecessary brutality against Portuguese soldiers. Prisoners of war were treated with respect, and they were often released soon after being captured, having had the aims of the revolution and the need to struggle together against the dictatorship explained to them. No systematic attacks against the white civilian population were made. Agitation was carried out among the Portuguese soldiers. A significant number of Portuguese soldiers deserted to the rebels and fought in their ranks, and some anti-imperialist white settlers joined the PAIGC. It is useful to reproduce one of the pamphlets Cabral addressed to the Portuguese soldiery:

Portuguese soldiers, NCOs and officers!

Why did your comrades and so many others die? Why is there mourning and misfortune for so many homes, above all so many poor homes? Why? Because your government and your military chiefs act against the interests of your people and force you to take up arms against our desire for freedom and to destroy our people, who like all peoples want to be owners of their own land and masters of their own destiny. Because  the truth must be told  you have accepted and go on accepting the shameful and unworthy role as unconscious tools in the service of colonial oppression and repression instead of being with bravery conscious being in the service of the true interests of your people. For what did your compatriots die, for what do you go on running the constant risk of dying in our land? For what? To serve the criminal interests of the CUF [industrial company union], of the Overseas Commercial Society, of the Overseas National Bank  of the Portuguese colonialists and their imperialist bosses. In order to serve, in point of fact, the interests of some rich families in Portugal, which have nothing to do with the true interests of your families and people.

Portuguese soldiers, NCOs and officers!

You know that your people, who must struggle for freedom and democracy in their own land, need your help. Your families, who mostly belong to the poor classes of Portugal, are longing for your return in order to ensure their future  the future of your fathers, mothers, sisters, brides, sons and daughters. It is essential to act. As young men, you have the sacred duty to fulfil in your country, namely to struggle to be able to build a worthy future for your people, who are still living in misery, ignorance, and suffering. As conscious human beings you have the duty to do everything to keep safe the potential for friendly co-operation between the African peoples and the peoples of Portugal, between our people and yours, on the basis of equality of rights, duties, and advantages.

Give up serving as tools of colonialism, refuse to take up arms against the freedom and independence of a peaceful people!

Bravely refuse to fight against our people!

Do not seek to serve as watchdogs of the unjust interests of the CUF and other colonial companies, which are not your interests nor those of your people!

Do not seek the wretched fate of your people who fell ingloriously in the service of an unjust and irreparably lost cause!

Rise in revolt against your Fascist and colonialist chiefs who are sending you to death!

Show that you are conscious beings determined to serve the true interests of your people!

Follow the example of your brave companions who refuse to fight in our land, who rose in revolt against the criminal orders of your chiefs, who have co-operated with our Party or who have deserted the colonial army and found in our midst the finest welcome and fraternal assistance!

Demand the immediate return to be with your families in Portugal!

Long live the peace, friendship and co-operation between all peoples!

Long live the struggle for national and social liberation of all oppressed peoples!

Long live the African Independence Party!

Down with Portuguese colonialism and its lackeys![31]

This propaganda had a powerful effect over the Portuguese soldiery. According to Patrick Chabal:

The Portuguese armed forces, especially towards the end of the war, were particularly impressed by the PAIGC professional military conduct which contrasted so markedly with their own. The fact that wounded or deserting soldiers were well treated and ultimately released filtered back to the barracks in Guinea. Carlos Fabiao, who was appointed Governor of Guinea after the April revolution, recounted the story of a Portuguese soldier who had been left for dead by his own unit. The PAIGC found him, transported him to safety and provided medical assistance which saved his life. He was later released by the nationalists. Such stories and the statements made by Portuguese deserters who had been well treated by the PAIGC had an enormous influence over the Portuguese conscripts. [] Colonel Fabiao added that the Portuguese army were in the process of losing the war not so much because of strictly military factors, but because of the PAIGCs psychological victory.[32]

We are certain that the elimination of Portuguese colonialism will bring about the destruction of Portuguese fascism, said Cabral.[33] It is a pity that Cabral did not live to see his internationalist vision play out. In April 1974, a year after Cabral was killed by the Portuguese imperialists, left-wing army officers, organised under the Movement of the Armed Forces (MFA), staged an uprising in Portugal, starting the Carnation Revolution, one of the greatest revolutionary experiences in the twentieth century. The revolution in Portugal ended the colonial war and ensured the independence of the colonies. The officers uprising was not only the product of war weariness, but also drew inspiration from the revolution in the colonial countries, whose emancipatory ideas had infected many Portuguese soldiers and officers. It is no coincidence that the most radical, left-wing officers in the MFA had served in Guinea-Bissau. Most of them acknowledged the influence that Cabral had had over them. It was the Guinea-Bissauan wing of the MFA that had the most radical line. Officer Otelo de Carvalho, possibly the most revolutionary and anti-capitalist of the figures that emerged from the MFA, at times referred to as the Portuguese Fidel Castro, claimed to have been radicalised as an official in the information and propaganda bureau of Portuguese Guinea-Bissau, when he had to read the propaganda of the PAIGC and the writings of Cabral.[34]

Sadly, despite the weakness of the Portuguese bourgeoisie in 1974-75 and the drive towards socialism of the masses, the Carnation Revolution was kept in check by the leadership of the left-wing parties, which ensured the survival of capitalism in the country. Had Portugal moved towards socialism, it could have provided an additional impetus and point of support to the socialist transformation of the former colonies.

The PAIGC also built connections with revolutionary movements across the world. They participated in the Tricontinental conference in Havana in 1966, where Cabral delivered one of his most famous speeches. Together with the MPLA and FRELIMO, they set up an international body to coordinate the struggle in the three Portuguese colonies in Africa, the Conference of Nationalist Organisations of the Portuguese Colonies (CONCP).

The role of Cuba in the war of liberation and the fraternal relations between the Guinea-Bissauan and Cuban revolutionaries should be stressed. Although the Soviet bloc, China, and other left-wing African governments did send weapons and material aid to the PAIGC, their backing was overshadowed by the enthusiastic support provided by Havana: it sent hundreds of fighters, doctors, mechanics, and advisors as well as weapons and material. Guinea-Bissauan and Capeverdian revolutionaries were given training and medical treatment in Cuba.[35] Cabral befriended Fidel Castro, who referred to him as one of the most lucid and brilliant leaders in Africa, who instilled in us tremendous confidence in the future and the success of his struggle for liberation.[36]

This was in the initial period after the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959, when the Cuban leadership pursued a policy of spreading the revolution internationally, even coming into conflict with the policy of peaceful coexistence of the Soviet leadership. Later this was to change of course.

Obstacles to the revolution

Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde were poor, underdeveloped rural economies, a feature they shared with most of Africa at the time of decolonisation. Colonial capitalism, particularly under the retrograde and nefarious Portuguese empire, had failed to harmoniously develop these economies, turning them into providers of cheap raw materials. They invested into a few export-oriented sectors and disregarded the rest of the economy, failing to raise the standard of living of the peasants, which represented the overwhelming majority of the population. The villages subsisted on a rudimentary agriculture, with a low cultural level and dominated by age-old traditions and superstitions, and with deficient or non-existent infrastructures and communications. Moreover, unlike the rural labourers of the Angolan and Mozambican commercial estates, the Guinea-Bissauan peasants, as in much of Africa, were small landowners to whom it was difficult to appeal on the basis of collectivist, socialist slogans, and who inevitably tended to have an individualistic, narrow vision of politics. As Cabral conceded, contrary to the workers, the main desire of the small peasants was to see their taxes reduced and to have better prices for their products and a better access to the markets, not to build socialism:

[In Guinea-Bissau] it must be said at once that the peasantry is not a revolutionary force - which may seem strange, particularly as we have based the whole of our armed liberation struggle on the peasantry. A distinction must be drawn between a physical force and a revolutionary force; physically, the peasantry is a great force in Guinea: it is almost the whole of the population, it controls the nation's wealth, it is the peasantry which produces; but we know from experience what trouble we had convincing the peasantry to fight. [] In Guinea the peasants are subjected to a kind of exploitation equivalent to slavery; but even if you try and explain to them that they are being exploited and robbed, it is difficult to convince them by means of an inexperienced explanation of a technico-economic kind that they are the most exploited people; whereas it is easier to convince the workers and the people employed in the towns who earn, say, 10 escudos a day for a job in which a European earns between 30 and 50 that they are being subjected to massive exploitation and injustice, because they can see.[37]

The peasants support for the revolution is more muddled and irresolute than that of the working class. The working class in countries like Guinea-Bissau was minuscule  even smaller than in Russia in 1917. On this basis it was difficult to build a healthy socialist system. This can only be attained on the basis of the urban working class, with its collectivist instincts, its geographic concentration, its higher cultural level, and, especially, with its central role in industrial production and distribution, which allows it to overthrow the capitalists through mass struggles and later to run the economy democratically in the interest of the whole of society.

The peasantry, particularly in backward countries like those of the former Portuguese empire, is too fragmented, divided, and formless to spearhead a democratic, socialist revolution. It can become a powerful force in the revolution, but always under the guidance of another class in the urban areas. In Cabrals Guinea as in much of the post-colonial world that was gripped by social upheaval, the absence of a proletariat left the peasantry without genuine revolutionary guidance. Leadership was provided instead by militarised organisations headed by radicalised petty-bourgeois intellectuals, like the PAIGC, the MPLA, the FRELIMO, or ZANU. As Cabral admitted in the late 1960s, foreshadowing the problems that would arise after liberation:

Our problem is to see who is capable of taking control of the state apparatus when the colonial power is destroyed. In Guinea the peasants cannot read or write, they have almost no relations with the colonial forces during the colonial period except for paying taxes, which is done indirectly. The working class hardly exists as a defined class, it is just an embryo. There is no economically viable bourgeoisie because imperialism prevented it being created. What there is, is a stratum of people in the service of imperialism who have learned how to manipulate the apparatus of the state - the African petty bourgeoisie: this is the only stratum capable of controlling or even utilising the instruments which the colonial state used against our people. So we come to the conclusion that in colonial conditions it is the petty bourgeoisie which is the inheritor of state power (though I wish we could be wrong).[38]

Waging protracted guerrilla wars, these guerrilla organisations with petty bourgeois leaderships were inevitably hierarchical and undemocratic, and had nothing to do with the workers councils and soviets of proletarian revolutions, which are democratic organs for discussion and decision-making. Even the democratic ethos of Cabrals PAIGC was unable to overcome the need for top-down centralisation of military organisations. This was inevitable to coordinate the struggle organisationally and politically and to avoid isolationist tendencies and the emergence of rogue elements. Indeed, in some areas, guerrilla leaders operated autonomously and even used their authority to enrich themselves. Therefore, the PAIGC had to carry out frequent purges: certain tendencies towards isolation developed, tendencies to disregard other groups and not to co-ordinate action. In view of this, we decided to hold our Congress in 1964, and this marked a crucial turning-point in our struggle. At this Congress we took a series of disciplinary measures, among these being the detention, trial and condemnation of certain guerrilla leaders.[39]

Proletarian Bonapartism

In other post-colonial African countries, such as in Burkina Faso with Thomas Sankara, in Somalia under Siad Barre, in Ethiopia with Mengistu, the abolition of capitalism was carried out from above by the army, under the leadership of left-wing putschist officers. What we see again, however, is the absence of the mass, democratic impetus of the proletariat. All these revolutions also tended to display a tendency towards the centralisation of power and influence in the hands of single individuals. Some introduced despotic, tyrannical regimes, such as Mengistu in Ethiopia or Mugabe in Zimbabwe; others, like Sankara in Burkina Faso or Amilcar Cabral in Guinea, played a more heroic role and that is why they remain a source of inspiration for many today. However, be they heroes or villains, the emergence of dictatorial charismatic leaders reflects the absence of an organised labour movement that could have replaced or subsumed these figures. Indeed, the disunity of the peasantry and the heterogeneity and vacillation of the petty bourgeois intellectuals and army officers resulted in disunited, heterogeneous, and vacillating revolutionary movements that opened the door for the centralisation of power in the hands of Bonapartist individuals.

It is no accident that all these revolutionary processes ultimately failed. Radical left governments were either overthrown, as in Burkina Faso, Somalia, or in Ethiopia, or rapidly became bureaucratised and corrupt, and ended up reintroducing capitalism, as in French Guinea, Mozambique, or Angola. What Cabral referred to as the cancer of betrayal, after the toppling of left-wing Ghanaian president Nkrumah, spread rapidly. The absence of the solid social basis for the revolution that could have been provided by the working class, and the petty bourgeois leadership of the anti-imperialist movements, ensured their rapid degeneration or overthrow. The failure of the first wave of socialist revolutions after decolonisation in the 1960s-1980s paved the way for a long counterrevolution, characterised by civil wars, the collapse or fragmentation of the new states, the thriving of tribalism and fundamentalism, the rise of brutal dictatorships, and the continued domination of Africa by imperialism.

Amilcar Cabral was assassinated in January 1973 in Conakry by rogue elements of his own movement, led by disgruntled guerrilla leader Inocencio Kani, who had been demoted under charges of gross misconduct. They had attempted to stage a coup within the PAIGC with the active help of the Portuguese. Although tragically Amilcar Cabral was killed, the coup failed and his brother Luiz Cabral took over and oversaw the liberation of the country. He tried to carry out the PAIGCs programme, nationalising the commanding heights of the economy and launching an ambitious programme for development and national unification. However, Luizs attempts to industrialise the country required the heavy taxation of the peasantry and a concentration of investments in the towns, leading to a drop in agricultural production and to food scarcity in urban areas. Thus the villagers became disenchanted with the PAIGC and the party became increasingly ossified and centralised in Luizs hands. In 1980 he was overthrown in a military coup detat that brought to power the regime of Joao Vieira that gradually reintroduced capitalism.[40] In the 1990s the country was devastated by civil war as ambitious petty bourgeois factions within the state apparatus tried to topple the ruling clique. Today, Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world, and is defined by many as a narco-state, since it has become, with the connivance of the ruling elite, a central hub for global drug trafficking.

It was clear that capitalism was unable to develop these countries and bring them out of their backwardness. Not only that, it was also clear that on the basis of capitalism no genuine national sovereignty could be attained. The national bourgeoisies of these colonial regions, insofar as it existed, could not play an independent role and would become a corrupt crutch for imperialism, which would continue to dominate indirectly. Only a socialist planned economy could modernise these countries; therefore, a genuine anti-colonial revolution for national liberation had to be socialist in character. At the same time, the working class in these countries was extremely small (in some places virtually non-existent), and the material basis to build socialism was very feeble. This gave rise to a phenomenon that South African Marxist Ted Grant referred to as proletarian Bonapartism: the overthrow of capitalism was carried out under the leadership of radicalised sectors of the petty bourgeoisie, who, however, would not be able to build healthy socialist democracies.[41]

Cabral was well aware of the problems of proletarian Bonapartism, and much of his writings are devoted to these questions. He was well aware that: In our present historical situation [] there are only two possible paths for an independent nation: to return to imperialist domination (neo-colonialism, capitalism, state capitalism), or to take the way of socialism. However, only the working class could build socialism on the basis of its control over the commanding heights of the economy; either imperialist capital dominated, or the working class took over: political control (the state) is based on the economic capacity of the ruling class, and in the conditions of colonial and neo-colonial society this capacity is retained by two entities: imperialist capital and the native working classes. The revolution needed the existence of significant vanguard classes (a working class conscious of its existence and rural proletariat) which could ensure the vigilance of the popular masses over the evolution of the liberation movement. However, Cabral was confronted with the absence of a genuine working class and the subsequent centrality of the petty bourgeoisie in the revolutionary movement:

The petty bourgeoisie, as a service class (that is to say, a class not directly involved in the process of production) does not possess the economic base to guarantee the taking over of power. In fact history has shown that whatever the role  sometimes important  played by individuals coming from the petty bourgeoisie in the process of a revolution, this class has never possessed political control. And it never could possess it [].

Cabral foreshadowed the fate of many African revolutionary movements:

To retain the power which national liberation puts in its hands, the petty bourgeoisie has only one path: to give free rein to its natural tendencies to become more bourgeois, to permit the development of a bureaucratic and intermediary bourgeoisie in the commercial cycle, in order to transform itself into a national pseudo-bourgeoisie.[42]

Elsewhere, he noted:

We must, however, take into consideration the fact that, faced with the prospect of political independence, the ambition and opportunism from which the liberation movement generally suffers may draw into the struggle individuals who have not been reconverted [i.e., who have not shaken off their petty bourgeois mind-set]. The latter, on the basis of their level of education, their scientific or technical knowledge, may attain the highest positions in the liberation movement. On the cultural level as well as the political level vigilance is therefore vital.[43]

Not only did the risk of opportunist tendencies exist among the assimilated, Portuguese-speaking petty bourgeoisie that had been spawned by the colonialists, but also among the traditional tribal elites:

Several traditional and religious leaders join the struggle from the start or in the course of its unfolding, making an enthusiastic contribution to the cause of liberation. But there again vigilance is vital: holding strongly onto their class cultural prejudices, individuals in this category generally see in the liberation movement the only valid means for using the sacrifices of the mass of the people to eliminate colonial oppression of their own class and hence to re-establish their complete cultural and economic domination over the people.[44]

Indeed, Cabral augured the use of tribalism by opportunist bourgeois leaders that would lead to so much bloodshed in subsequent decades:

Only political opportunists are tribalists: individuals who even attended European universities; who frequented the cafes of Brussels, Paris, Lisbon, and other capitals; who are completely removed from the problems of their own people - they may be called tribal, these individuals who at times even look down on their own people but who, out of political ambition, take advantage of attitudes still existing in the minds of our people to try to achieve their opportunist aims, their political goals, to try to quench their thirst for power and political domination.[45]

In his view, the survival and consolidation of revolutions that in the absence of a genuine labour movement were led by the radicalised petty bourgeoisie depended on the suicide of the petty bourgeoisie as a class after having taken power: to betray the revolution or to commit suicide as a class  constitutes the dilemma of the petty bourgeoisie in the general framework of the national liberation struggle.[46] As became clear with hindsight, this suicide did not happen. Particularly as the mass movements ebbed after independence, the opportunist elements that had made themselves strong in the liberation movement were able to assert themselves and displace the honest revolutionaries. Control over the state produces the danger of bureaucratic degeneration that can only be curbed through the democratic control of the working class and through the revolutionary vigilance of the leadership. In underdeveloped countries with a small or non-existent working class, where the general cultural and material level is low and poverty is widespread, bureaucratic degenerations emerge faster and more destructively, since there is an unchecked temptation among petty bourgeois officials to exploit their positions of power.

Cabral and the permanent revolution

Cabral understood many of the challenges of revolution in a country like Guinea-Bissau. On the one hand, he knew that the national bourgeoisie, which he referred to as a pseudo-bourgeoisie owing to its weakness and backwardness, could not play the progressive role the European bourgeoisies had played in the Early Modern period, developing, unifying, and modernising the country: the local pseudo-bourgeoisie, however nationalist it may be, cannot effectively fulfill its historical function; it cannot freely direct the development of the productive forces; in brief it cannot be a national bourgeoisie.[47]

The indigenous bourgeoisie would fall under the influence of the old imperial masters and become a middleman for the continued plundering of the imperialists  independence under capitalism would only give rise to neocolonialism. Cabral shared Lenins understanding of imperialism: it was the monopolistic stage of capitalism, produced by the objective need for the productive forces to break through the fetters of the nation-state.[48] To truly combat imperialism one had to combat capitalism. Indeed, Cabral correctly believed that the independence of the colonies did not contradict the aims of the imperialists, and they were content to give power to local bourgeoisies to administrate their interests. What the imperialists were concerned about was that the national liberation struggle could mutate into anti-capitalist, socialist revolution:

[] We think there is something wrong with the simple interpretation of the national liberation movement as a revolutionary trend. The objective of the imperialist countries was to prevent the enlargement of the socialist camp, to liberate the reactionary forces in our countries which were being stifled by colonialism and to enable these forces to ally themselves with the international bourgeoisie. The fundamental objective was to create a bourgeoisie where one did not exist, in order specifically to strengthen the imperialist and the capitalist camp. This rise of the bourgeoisie in the new countries, far from being at all surprising, should be considered absolutely normal, it is something that has to be faced by all those struggling against imperialism.[49]

Consequently, the PAIGC adopted a socialist programme for the expropriation of the commanding heights of the economy, the only means to genuinely develop the country. Cabral, says his biographer, sought to establish a state structure which would pursue socialist policies effectively and without recourse to political oppression. His ambition was to give life to a regime which would be less repressive and more democratic than in most of Africa. The viability of such a project, however, must depend essentially on the gap between the countrys intended social and political objectives and its available political and economic resources.[50] Indeed, Cabral was haunted by the absence of a working class on which to base the revolution, and the subsequent dependence of the revolution on the petty bourgeoisie. Indeed, he tacitly predicted the rapid restoration of capitalism in countries like Angola, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, or his native Guinea-Bissau:

Likewise, we have to face the question whether or not socialism can be established immediately after the liberation. This depends on the instruments used to effect the transition to socialism; the essential factor is the nature of the state, bearing in mind that after the liberation there will be people controlling the police, the prisons, the army and so on, and a great deal depends on who they are and what they try to do with these instruments. Thus we return again to the problem of which class is the agent of history and who are the inheritors of the colonial state in our specific conditions.[51]

This made him hesitate about the character of the revolution and the feasibility of socialism in non industrialised, colonial countries. Indeed, although his socio-economic analysis of Guinea-Bissau was based on a Marxist interpretation, and his general philosophical standpoint was close to a Marxist outlook, believing in the ultimate victory of socialist revolution, he refused to label the PAIGC a communist or a Marxist-Leninist organisation. Cabral was in fact influenced by Stalinism and Maoism, and that explains why he flirted with the two-stage theory of class collaboration:

We are therefore faced with the problem of deciding whether to engage in an out and out struggle against the bourgeoisie right from the start or whether to try and make an alliance with the national bourgeoisie, to try to deepen the absolutely necessary contradiction between the national bourgeoisie and the international bourgeoisie which has promoted the national bourgeoisie to the position it holds.[52]

However, the corruption and weakness of the national bourgeoisie made him sceptical of this idea. Despite his doubts and unresolved questions about the nature of the revolution, Cabral came to a key conclusion: the ultimate success of socialism in the underdeveloped colonial countries was connected to the overthrow of capitalism in the advanced countries, and the national liberation movements could stimulate and accelerate revolution in the industrialised world:

As we see it, neocolonialism (which we may call rationalised imperialism) is more a defeat for the international working class than for the colonised peoples. Neocolonialism is at work on two fronts - in Europe as well as in the underdeveloped countries. Its current framework in the underdeveloped countries is the policy of aid, and one of the essential aims of this policy is to create a false bourgeoisie to put a brake on the revolution and to enlarge the possibilities of the petty bourgeoisie as a neutraliser of the revolution; at the same time it invests capital in France, Italy, Belgium, England and so on. In our opinion the aim of this is to stimulate the growth of a workers' aristocracy, to enlarge the field of action of the petty bourgeoisie so as to block the revolution. In our opinion it is under this aspect that neocolonialism and the relations between the international working class movement and our movements must be analysed. If there have ever been any doubts about the close relations between our struggle and the struggle of the international working class movement, neocolonialism has proved that there need not be any.[53]

Cabral saw that the combined and uneven development of capitalism allowed backward countries to leap the bourgeois stage of development making use of the enormous technology and wealth that existed in the more advanced countries. The emergence of a socialist camp potentially allowed states to pool resources and for poorer countries to benefit from the help of richer ones. His views on the uneven development of humanity and the capacity to skip historical stages is outlined here:

At the level of humanity or of part of humanity (human groups within one area, of one or several continents) these three stages [primitive communism, capitalism and socialism] can be simultaneous, as is shown as much by the present as by the past. This is a result of the uneven development of human societies, whether caused by internal reasons or by one or more external factors exerting an accelerating or slowing-down influence on their evolution. On the other hand, in the historical process of a given socio-economic whole each of the above-mentioned stages contains, once a certain level of transformation is reached, the seeds of the following stage.

We should also note that in the present phase of the life of humanity, and for a given socio-economic whole, the time sequence of the three characteristic stages is not indispensable. Whatever its level of productive forces and present social structure, a society can pass rapidly through the defined stages appropriate to the concrete local realities (both historical and human) and reach a higher stage of existence. This progress depends on the concrete possibilities of development of the societys productive forces and is governed mainly by the nature of the political power ruling the society, that is to say, by the type of state or, if one likes, by the character of the dominant class or classes within the society.

A more detailed analysis would show that the possibility of such a jump in the historical process arises mainly, in the economic field, from the power of the means available to man at the time for dominating nature, and, in the political field, from the new event which has radically clanged the face of the world and the development of history, the creation of socialist states.[54]

It is unclear what influence Amilcar Cabral might have had had he lived to see the success of the PAIGC. He would undoubtedly have had a major influence not only on the revolution in Guinea-Bissau, but across the world. He had a more balanced view of the path to socialism than his brother Luiz, who was in power from 1974-1980. He understood that industrialisation had to go hand in hand with the raising of the economic level of the peasants.[55] However, as Ted Grant pointed out, in a colonial country like Guinea-Bissau, even under the most far-sighted Marxist leadership,

The conquest of power by the proletariat and the firm establishment of a workers democracy could only be an episode, to be followed by deformation or counter-revolution in the Stalinist form, if it were not followed, in a relatively short historical period, by the victory of the revolution in the advanced capitalist countries. It would, of course, even as an episode be of enormous historical significance for the proletariat of the advanced capitalist countries as well as the peoples of the underdeveloped areas of the world. But even the greatest revolutionary theory cannot solve the problem without the necessary material base.[56]

In a confused and hesitant manner, Cabral was approaching the theory of the permanent revolution, developed by Trotsky to study the revolution in backward Tsarist Russia. Undoubtedly, the negative influence of Stalinism held back Cabrals ideas. The Stalinists distortion of Marxism and Leninism, the obliteration of Trotskys legacy, their class-collaborationist policies, their opportunist volte-faces, their bloody record, dictated by the interests of the bureaucracy; and the corruption of the systems they defended, created a thick ideological and organisational crust that honest revolutionaries like Cabral had to try to painstakingly break through. Cabral hesitated to identify openly with the Marxist-Leninist doctrines of the Soviet bloc; according to his biographer, bourgeois historian Patrick Chabal, he came to view Marxism as a methodology rather than an ideology. [] Although the main thrust of his argument is undoubtedly Marxist, what is more interesting are the qualifications and innovations which Cabral makes.[57]

The Sino-Soviet split and the squabbles between the bureaucracies only added to the confusion and the distortions, and made it difficult to envisage the solidarity and harmonious integration of the socialist camp. This was compounded with the delay of revolution in the industrialised countries of the West with the post-World War Two economic boom, and the conservatism of the working-class organisations in these countries, which stopped these countries from playing the leading role in world revolution they should have played. The delay of revolution in the West helped give rise to proletarian Bonapartist movements in the colonial world.

In light of all this, it is unsurprising that the main theoretical limitation of Cabral was to try to resolve the problems of the anti-colonial revolution within the narrow confines of Guinea-Bissau, within which they could not be fundamentally overcome. Echoing the Stalinist regimes, he tended to see internationalism as a loose form of solidarity rather than as the interlinking of revolutionary movements and the genuine and harmonious integration of the socialist countries that was envisaged by the Third International in its early years. But this attitude was undoubtedly shaped by the conservatism and opportunism of the Stalinist parties in Europe and the governments of the Soviet bloc. It also reflected the conditions of a national liberation struggle, when the priority is to expel the imperialists from the country. Yet as Ted Grant explained in 1964, talking about the socialist national liberation movements in Africa and Asia:

Internationalism was not conceived as a holiday or sentimental phrase, but as an organic part of the socialist revolution. Internationalism is a consequence of the unity of the world economy, which was capitalisms historical task to develop into a single economic whole. If Russia, with all her immense resources, and a most highly-conscious proletariat, with the finest Marxist leadership, could not solve its problems despite its continental basis and resources, it is ludicrous for Marxists even to think that in the present world conjuncture it would be possible in any of these backward countries, in isolation from any healthy workers state to maintain anything but a Bonapartist state of a more or less repressive character.

Internationalism and conscious leadershipthe two go together  are an organic part of Marxism. Without them, it is impossible to take the necessary steps in the direction of socialist society. Not one of these states is, in proportion to population, even as industrially developed as was Russia at the time of the revolution. Industrial development of a backward economy with the pressure of imperialism and Soviet and Chinese Bonapartism, the pressure of internal contradictions which a developing economy would mean, inevitably, in an economy of scarcity, would lead to the rise of privileged layers.[58]

For Trotsky, the Russian bourgeoisie could not play the progressive role its counterparts had played in Western Europe. A historical latecomer, it had entered the world at a time when an organised labour movement, with ideas and a programme of its own, was already in existence, throwing the bourgeoisie into an unholy alliance with the feudal elites and the autocracy. Moreover, with the rise of financial and monopoly capitalism, the old, feudal order was subsumed into the capitalist system: the landlords invested in industry and the factory owners invested in landed property; the Church mortgaged its estates; the imperial armies struck lucrative contracts with industrialists; the old dynasties accumulated massive debts. Therefore the sharp divide between bourgeois and feudal classes that had existed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries became blurred. The tasks of the bourgeois revolution (dismantling the feudal order, unifying the country, democratisation and secularisation, land redistribution, developing the country and overcoming backwardness, etc.) fell on the shoulders of the small labour movement, which would be able to rally the peasantry behind it. However, it would not be able to stop at the bourgeois stage of the revolution, but, spurred by the opposition of the propertied classes and the incapacity to carry out basic reforms on the basis of capitalism, would have to overthrow the bourgeoisie and move towards socialism. Of course, the material basis for socialism in a country like Tsarist Russia was insufficient, and the long-term survival of the revolution and the consolidation of genuine socialism depended on the revolution in the advanced countries on the West. Revolution in backward countries could provide a powerful push to revolution in the industrialised world.

In the former Portuguese empire, socialist revolutions spearheaded by the petty bourgeoisie could survive and take root if they spread to more advanced countries, that could have provided the technology, guidance, and expertise to modernise and develop less developed societies. The revolutions in the colonial world had a radicalising effect in the whole of Europe and North America. In Portugal, they contributed to create a revolutionary situation that could have toppled capitalism. Perhaps more importantly was the impact of these revolutions on the African continent. In these years the role of spearheading the African revolution undoubtedly fell on the shoulders of South Africa, the most industrialised, modern, and urbanised country on the continent, with a powerful and well-organised working class. If Cuba, a small, poor island on the other side of the Atlantic, was able to provide an extraordinary political, material, and military stimulus to the revolutionary liberation movements in Africa, the role of a healthy socialist South Africa could have been decisive for the building of socialism across the continent. In the 1980s South Africa was ablaze with revolutionary agitation, partly under the inspiration of other revolutionary movements in the region and the world. In the early 1990s the South African working class could easily have taken power peacefully. It was the betrayal of the leaders of the ANC and the SACP that prevented this from happening.

The potential for a socialist Portugal to spearhead the socialist transformation of Lusophone Africa should also be pointed out. As said above, in 1974-1975 capitalism was hanging from a thread in Portugal, and it was only the treacherous role of the socialist and communist leaderships that saved the system. Cabral believed that after fascism had been overthrown in Portugal, the country could play a powerful, constructive role in the former colonies, helping develop the former colonies on a fraternal basis.[59] However, this could only have been done by a socialist Portugal, where the economy is democratically planned for the general interest. Capitalist Portugal has continued to play an imperialist role in its former colonies: today, Guinea-Bissau imports most of its manufactured goods from Portugal (20% of its imports come from the former metropole), while it remains an exporter of groundnuts, as was the case in the days of the empire.

The African Revolution today

Much has changed since the days of Cabral and the PAIGC. In 1966, Cabral foreshadowed that, if the first round of socialist revolution were to fail in Africa, and if the new independent states were to fall once again under the boot of imperialism and capitalism, the gradual industrialisation of these countries would spawn a working class that would rally the other oppressed layers of society behind it and spearhead a new, more powerful revolutionary wave:

[] The necessarily repressive nature of the neo-colonial state against the national liberation forces, the sharpening of contradictions between classes, the objective permanence of signs and agents of foreign domination (settlers who retain their privileges, armed forces, racial discrimination), the growing poverty of the peasantry and the more or less notorious influence of external factors all contribute towards keeping the flame of nationalism alive, towards progressively raising the consciousness of wide popular sectors and towards reuniting the majority of the population, on the very basis of awareness of neo-colonialist frustration, around the ideal of national liberation. In addition, while the native ruling class becomes progressively more bourgeois, the development of a working class composed of urban workers and agricultural proletarians, all exploited by the indirect domination of imperialism, opens up new perspectives for the evolution of national liberation. This working class, whatever the level of its political consciousness (given a certain minimum, namely the awareness of its own needs), seems to constitute the true popular vanguard of the national liberation struggle in the neo-colonial case. However it will not be able to completely fulfill its mission in this struggle (which does not end with the gaining of independence) unless it firmly unites with the other exploited strata, the peasants in general (hired men, sharecroppers, tenants and small farmers) and the nationalist petty bourgeoisie. The creation of this alliance demands the mobilization and organization of the nationalist forces within the framework (or by the action) of a strong and well-structured political organization.[60]

Cabral was right. In recent decades most African countries have undergone processes of industrialisation and urbanisation, and a powerful working class has come into being in many formerly peasant countries, particularly in places like Nigeria and Ethiopia. Even in Guinea-Bissau, which remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, 50% of the population now lives in the cities, and 40% is now literate. Spasmodic capitalist industrialisation has also exacerbated class contradictions, increasing inequality, unemployment, and throwing entire sectors of the population into marginality and destitution. It has done little to resolve the fundamental problems of African societies, but has rather exacerbated them. These contradictions are now being aggravated by the capitalist crisis and by the slowdown of China. Africa is ripe for revolution. The conditions exist for the overthrow of capitalism which would open the way for the rapid transformation of African societies, and would send shockwaves across the world. Indeed, a successful socialist revolution in Nigeria or South Africa would undoubtedly have a domino effect not only in the region but across the world. We have seen the example of the Burkinabe masses effortlessly bringing down the stooges of French and American imperialism. After the Burkinabe Revolution of 2014, the prestigious bourgeois newspaper The Financial Times spoke about the perspectives for revolution in Africa in these words:

But the events in Ouagadougou should give them pause for thought, for two reasons. First, sub Saharan Africas young and urban population, suffering from high unemployment, could be a force for change, through violent protests if necessary. In recent months, they have taken to the streets in Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan on an unprecedented scale. The spread of mobile phones, and the easy access to social media, is helping to increase mobilisation. ()

The black spring of Burkina Faso shows how the demands of an impatient young population, by 2020 three out of four people in Africa will be 20 years old or younger, are growing. After a decade of strong economic growth enthusiastically branded Africa rising most young city dwellers feel left behind. It is hardly surprising that some are following the advice of Thomas Sankara, the late Burkinabe leader killed during the 1987 coup that propelled Mr Compaore to power: The future is revolutionary. The future belongs to those who struggle.[61]

This new wave of the revolution in the African continent comes at a time of global crisis of capitalism and the beginning of the revolutionary stirring of the masses of working people and the youth in the advanced capitalist countries. The weak, rotten, and dependent national bourgeoisie in the African continent has proven to be completely unable to develop any of these countries on a progressive basis. The lesson to be learnt is clear: only with the abolition of capitalism, led by the young working class which has developed in recent decades, and linking up with the revolutionary movement in advanced capitalist countries can any perspective for the future be offered.

Armed with the ideas of revolutionary Marxism and the legacy of Amilcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara, and other revolutionaries, it is time to hoist the flag of the African revolution once again and to struggle until victory. A luta continua!

[1] Lenin, Division of the world among the great powers, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, 1916.

[2] Amilcar Cabral, Guinea and Cabo Verde against Portuguese imperialism, 1961.

[3] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[4] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[5] Amilcar Cabral, Party principles and political tactic, 1960.

[6] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[7] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: revolutionary struggle and peoples war, 1983, pp.39-41.

[8] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[9] PAIGC, Statuts et programme, 1962.

[10] PAIGC, Statuts et programme, 1962.

[11] Lenin, Guerrilla warfare, 1906.

[12] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[13] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[14] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[15] Amilcar Cabral, Tell no lies, claim no easy victories, 1965.

[16] Amilcar Cabral, To start from the reality of our land  to be realists, 1960.

[17] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[18] See: Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, pp.108-09.

[19] Amilcar Cabral, Towards final victory, 1969.

[20] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[21] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[22] Amilcar Cabral, Towards final victory, 1969.

[23] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[24] Amilcar Cabral, To start from the reality of our land  to be realists, 1960.

[25] Amilcar Cabral, Not everyone is of the Party, 1960.

[26] Amilcar Cabral, The development of the struggle, 1968.

[27] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[28] Quoted in: Pietro Gljeises, Conflicting missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959-1976, p.192.

[29] Amilcar Cabral, Message to the people of Portugal, 1969.

[30] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[31] Amilcar Cabral, Message to the soldiers, officers, and NCOs of the Portuguese colonial army, 1970.

[32] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.148.

[33] Amilcar Cabral, Guinea and Cabo Verde against Portuguese imperialism, 1961.

[34] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.149-150.

[35] See: Pietro Gljeises, Conflicting missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959-1976, 2010.

[36] Quoted in: Carlos Martinez, The revolutionary legacy of Amilcar Cabral, 2014.

[37] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[38] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[39] Amilcar Cabral, Towards final victory, 1969.

[40] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.164-165.

[41] Ted Grant, The colonial revolution and the Sino-Soviet dispute, 1964.

[42] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[43] Amilcar Cabral, National culture, 1970.

[44] Amilcar Cabral, National culture, 1970.

[45] Amilcar Cabral, Practical problems and tactics, 1968.

[46] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[47] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[48] Amilcar Cabral, Guinea and Cabo Verde against Portuguese imperialism, 1961.

[49] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[50] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.154.

[51] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[52] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[53] Amilcar Cabral, A brief analysis of the social structure in Guinea, 1969.

[54] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[55] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.155.

[56] Ted Grant, The colonial revolution and the Sino-Soviet dispute, 1964.

[57] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.169.

[58] Ted Grant, The colonial revolution and the Sino-Soviet dispute, 1964.

[59] Patrick Chabal, Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and Peoples War, 1983, p.144.

[60] Amilcar Cabral, The weapon of theory, 1966.

[61] Africas leaders wake up to the Black Spring in Burkina Faso, The Financial Times (03/11/2014).
In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used.

This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly.

The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. However, without providing us with your personal data, you will be unable to (as appropriate): contact us; subscribe to our mailing list; subscribe to any of our publications; or receive information about In Defence of Marxism.

We collect information about you:

(1) When you give it to us DIRECTLY

You may give us your personal data in order to subscribe to a newsletter or publication, when you contact us by phone, email or post, when you sign a petition / statement, and/or when you donate money to us.

(2) When you give it to us INDIRECTLY

Your information will also be provided to us when you follow us or otherwise interact with on or via Twitter, when you like and/or join our page on Facebook or interact with us in other ways on or via Facebook.

(3) When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share it or it is AVAILABLE PUBLICLY

We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external publicly available sources. Depending on your privacy settings for social media services, we may also access information from those accounts or services. We use this information to gain a better understanding of you and to improve our communications and fundraising activities.

(4) When you visit our WEBSITE

We use cookies to identify you when you visit our website. Please refer to our Cookies Policy for details on the way our use of cookies affects your personal data.

What information do we collect?

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:

(1) We will typically hold your name and contact details, including telephone number, location, and e-mail address. However, we may request other information where it is appropriate and relevant, for example:

Your bank details or debit/credit card details (if making a donation).

(2) any communication preferences you give;

(3) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website including your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views; and/or

(4) any other information shared with us as per clause 1.

Do we process sensitive personal information?

Applicable law recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, including political opinions and trade union membership. In limited cases, we may collect sensitive personal data about you. We would only collect sensitive personal data if there is a clear reason for doing so; and will only do so with your explicit consent.

How and why will we use your personal data?

Personal data, however provided to us, will be used for the purposes specified in this Policy or in relevant parts of the website.

We may use your personal information to:

(1) Enable you to subscribe to our hard copy publications;

(2) Send you information about our work, campaigns, organisations and any other information, products or services that we provide (this will not be done without your consent);

(3) Provide you with the services, products or information you have requested;

(4) If you request, put you in touch with other supporters in your area (who have also provided such consent);

(5) Handle the administration of any donation or other payment you make via credit/debit card, cheque, standing order or BACS transfer;

(6) Collect payments from you and send statements and/or receipts to you;

(7) Conduct research into the impact of our activity / campaigns;

(8) Deal with enquiries and complaints made by you relating to the website or us in general;

(9) Make petition submissions to third parties, where you have signed a petition and the third party is a target of the campaign to which the petition relates; and/or

(10) Audit and/or administer our accounts.

Supporter Analysis

Google Analytics

We may use some of your personal information to analyse our digital performance, for example to see how our website can be improved to help us achieve the purposes set out in section 9 below, to record how you are using our website or to assess the popularity of different articles / campaigns.

For more information on how we use your personal information in relation to Google Analytics, please view our cookie policy by clicking this link cookies policy



You can opt-out of the collection of information for such purposes here: http://www.aboutads.info/choices

Communications, updates, fundraising

Where you have provided appropriate consent, we will contact you by telephone and e-mail, with targeted communications to let you know about our events and/or activities that we consider may be of particular interest; about the work of In Defence of Marxism; and to ask for donations or other support.

Donations and other payments

All financial transactions carried out on our website are handled through either:

PayPal (Europe) S.a r.l. (PayPal), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read PayPals privacy policy (available at https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full?locale.x=en_GB ) prior to effecting any transactions with us through PayPal; or

GoCardless Ltd (GoCardless), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read GoCardlesss privacy policy (available at https://www.gocardless.com/legal/privacy) prior to effecting any transactions with us through GoCardless.

We will provide your personal data to PayPal / GoCardless only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments for transactions you enter into with us. We do not store your financial details.

Childrens data

We do not knowingly process data of any person under the age of 16. If we come to discover, or have reason to believe, that you are 15 and under and we are holding your personal information, we will delete that information within a reasonable period and withhold our services accordingly.

Security of and access to your personal data

We endeavour to ensure that there are appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures to prevent the loss, destruction, misuse, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or of access to your personal information.

Your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff and volunteers.

We may also use agencies and/or suppliers to process data on our behalf. We may also merge or partner with other organisations and in so doing transfer and/or acquire personal data.

Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal data, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. We may transfer and/or store personal data collected from you to and/or at a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Such personal data may be processed by agencies and/or suppliers operating outside the EEA. If we transfer and/or store your personal data outside the EEA we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate measures to protect your personal data.

Otherwise than as set out in this Privacy Policy, we will only ever share your data with your informed consent.

Your rights

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes or to be unsubscribed from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights:

(1) Right to be informed  you have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This Policy and any other policies and statements used on our website and in our communications are intended to provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used.

(2) Right of access  you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we have 30 days to comply.

(3) Right of erasure  as from 25 May 2018, you can ask us for your personal information to be deleted from our records.

(4) Right of rectification  if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated.

(5) Right to restrict processing  you have the right to ask for processing of your personal data to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

(6) Right to data portability  to the extent required by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) where we are processing your personal information (i) under your consent, (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact or (iii) by automated means, you may ask us to provide it to you  or another service provider  in a machine-readable format.

To exercise these rights, please send a description of the personal information in question using the contact details in section 15 below. You can also unsubscribe from our email list by sending a blank email to news-unsubscribe@marxist.com

Where we consider that the information with which you have provided us does not enable us to identify the personal information in question, we reserve the right to ask for (i) personal identification and/or (ii) further information.

Lawful processing

We are required to have one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. Only 4 of these are relevant to us:

Personal information is processed on the basis of a persons consent Personal information is processed on the basis of a contractual relationship Personal information is processed on the basis of legal obligations Personal information is processed on the basis of legitimate interests

(1) Consent

We will ask for your consent to use your information to send you electronic communications such as newsletters and and fundraising emails, and if you ever share sensitive personal information with us.

(2) Contractual relationships

Most of our interactions with supporters are voluntary and not contractual. However, sometimes it will be necessary to process personal information so that we can enter contractual relationships with people. For example, if you subscribe to one of our publications, or purchase merchandise online.

(3) Legal obligations

Sometimes we will be obliged to process your personal information due to legal obligations which are binding on us. We will only ever do so when strictly necessary.

(4) Legitimate interests

Applicable law allows personal information to be collected and used if it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate activities (as long as its use is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact individuals rights).

We will rely on this ground to process your personal data when it is not practical or appropriate to ask for consent.

Achieving our purposes

These include (but are not limited to) promoting socialist policies

Governance

Internal and external audit for financial or regulatory compliance purposes

Statutory reporting

Publicity and income generation

Conventional direct marketing and other forms of marketing, publicity or advertisement

Unsolicited messages, including campaigns, newsletters, and fundraising appeals

Analysis, targeting and segmentation to develop and promote or strategy and improve communication efficiency

Personalisation used to tailor and enhance your experience of our communications

Operational Management

Maintenance of suppression files

Processing for historical, scientific or statistical purpose

Purely administrative purposes

Responding to enquiries

Delivery of requested products or information

Communications designed to administer existing services including subscriptions, administration of petitions and financial transactions

Thank you communications and receipts

Maintaining a supporter database and suppression lists

Financial Management and control

Processing financial transactions and maintaining financial controls

Prevention of fraud, misuse of services, or money laundering

Enforcement of legal claims

Reporting criminal acts and compliance with law enforcement agencies

When we use your personal information, we will consider if it is fair and balanced to do so and if it is within your reasonable expectations. We will balance your rights and our legitimate interests to ensure that we use your personal information in ways that are not unduly intrusive or unfair in other ways.

Data retention

The length of time each category of data will be retained will vary depending on how long we need to process it for, the reason it was collected, and in line with any statutory requirements. After this point the data will either be deleted, or we may retain a secure anonymised record for research and analytical purposes.

In the event that you ask us to stop sending you direct marketing/fundraising/other electronic communications, we will keep your name on our internal suppression list to ensure that you are not contacted again.

Policy amendments

We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and reserve the right to update from time-to-time by posting an updated version on our website, not least because of changes in applicable law. We recommend that you check this Privacy Policy occasionally to ensure you remain happy with it. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

Third party websites

We link our website directly to other sites. This Privacy Policy does not cover external websites and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website.

Updating information

You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at webmaster@marxist.com

Contact

We are not required by law to have a Data Protection Officer  however we have a Data Protection Manager.

Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com
A series of changes to Wisconsin election laws including a voter ID requirement hasn't negatively affected voting in suburban communities near Milwaukee, city and county clerks testified in federal court Tuesday.

"From the start, we have had virtually no problems at all," said Waukesha County clerk Kathleen Novack.

Their testimony came as the state began its defense in a trial challenging voting policies signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker between 2011 and 2015 including restrictions on early voting hours and locations, the elimination of straight-ticket voting and the photo identification requirement.

The lawsuit contends those changes place a disproportionate burden on non-white voters. Tuesday marked the seventh day of the trial, which is expected to last almost two weeks.

Attorneys for the state argue the plaintiffs are using anecdotal, "one-in-a-million" cases as an argument to strike down the laws. They have noted the state's increased turnout in elections that have occurred since the voter ID law was passed in 2011 and emphasized that the state Department of Motor Vehicles provides free IDs to those who need them.

Cedarburg city clerk Constance McHugh testified that a policy limiting in-person absentee voting to one location allows her to have more control over the process, and said she believes more than one location would be confusing for Cedarburg voters.

McHugh said she hasn't seen long lines or other complications as a result of the photo ID requirement, and said voters in her community have been pleased to have it in place.

Port Washington city clerk Susan Westerbeke agreed that the provision barring municipalities from having more than one location for in-person absentee voting is a good policy.

Westerbeke also spoke favorably of a provision limiting early voting hours and eliminating weekend voting, arguing statewide consistency can limit voter confusion.

Voters in Port Washington generally receive their news from Milwaukee media, she said, and might be confused if Milwaukee offered weekend voting while Port Washington didn't.

Cedarburg and Port Washington are both cities of about 11,000 in Ozaukee County, not far from Milwaukee's population of 600,000. Cedarburg is 96 percent white, and Port Washington is 95 percent white, compared to 45 percent of Milwaukee.

Ozaukee County as a whole is about 95 percent white and neighboring Waukesha County is about 94 percent white. With Washington County  96 percent white  they make up the state's deep-red "WOW counties." The deeply conservative counties form an arc around Democratic Milwaukee County, which is 65 percent white.

Novack said she believes eliminating weekend voting "level(s) the playing field" between large urban areas and smaller suburban and rural communities that lack the resources to staff weekend hours.

"If theres an office open 30 days versus an office thats only open 10 work days, there are obviously voters that have a lot more access than someone else," Novack said. "There has to come a point where its just giving over-access  to particular parts of the state."

Asked whether she thought voters in Milwaukee and Madison  communities that previously used weekend voting  had too much access, Novack said, "too much access to the voters as far as opportunities."

If long lines start to form at a polling place, Novack said, it would make more sense to add more staff and open more lines within that location rather than opening a second one.

"For instance if youre in the grocery store and theres a long line, they open up another line," she said.

She also argued long lines could be evidence that access is not an issue in urban areas.

"Apparently access is an easy thing or they wouldnt have long lines," she said.

Plaintiffs in the case include One Wisconsin Institute, Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund and six individuals. The first week of the trial included testimony from elections experts, DMV employees, a former Republican legislative staffer and several witnesses who faced difficulties obtaining photo IDs.
Earns Bank of America 71415

In this photo taken, Monday, July 13, 2015, customers use ATMs at a branch office of Bank of America in New York.the bank is closing its Westfield branch.

(Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)

WESTFIELD -- Bank of America has notified customers of its Westfield branch at 10 Main St. that the branch will close by Aug. 30, Bank of America spokeswoman Tara A. Burke said Tuesday.

Customers are being told to go to the nearest Bank of America branch on Memorial Avenue in West Springfield. Bank of America will continue to have an ATM within 1.25 miles of the soon-to-be shuttered location.

The news comes just days after Bank of America, the nation's second-largest bank, announced it would close its offices in Monarch Place in downtown Springfield, also in August.

Bank of America has been cutting branches around the country and the region in recent years, having already eliminated the drive-thru in Westfield and having shut down branches on North Main Street and on St. James Avenue in Springfield.

Burke said more Bank of America customers are doing their banking - even depositing checks - remotely through the use of smartphones and computers.

"Our teller transactions are down. Our foot traffic is down," Burke said. "When we do see traffic in our banking centers, it is more of a sales activity. It might be a mortgage sale, or a small business loan."

Meanwhile, competitors are opening branches in the area, including Farmington Bank, which built a branch in a one-time Bank of America location on Elm Street in West Springfield. Greenfield Co-Operative Bank opened a branch in a former Bank of America location in Turners Falls.
Three brew festivals await beer lovers in the months ahead.

While the Ubeerfest in Easthampton moved to the spring this year, and two festivals are not taking place this summer - White Lion's Summerfest in Springfield and Greenfield's Green River Brewfest - there is much to celebrate.

A new festival at Northampton's Look Park has been added to the summer schedule and two favorites return to the area:

The next beer festival of the year will be the annual Summer Brewfest that takes place at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton on Saturday, June 4. This is a wide-ranging and popular event that is now in its ninth year. It runs from 2-6 p.m. and tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Parking at the fairgrounds is $5.

Some of the brewers featured there will be locals such as Amherst Brewing Co., Lefty's, White Lion and Iron Duke, as well as national brands such as Sam Adams, Peak Organic and Leinenkugel's. For more details, visit thesummerbrewfest.com

June 18 sees the return of the popular Worthy Craft Beer Showcase in downtown Springfield. This festival, now in its fifth year, is a bit different from most others in that it is more intimate (only 1,000 tickets are available) and asks brewers to bring not just their flagship beers, but also specialty brews and one-offs. It's held in a cordoned off block on the west end of Worthington Street and runs that Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

Tickets are $45 or $55 for VIP tickets, which include official T-shirt, a complimentary food item, and unlimited non-alcoholic beverages from Theodores'. For more information, check out theworthybrewfest.com

There's not much hotter of a time locally than the end of July and that's when you can slake your thirst in fine fashion at the inaugural Look Park Pioneer Valley Beer & Wine Festival on July 30. This new event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. in the bucolic Pines Theater at the park. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

The focus will be on local brews, such as South Deerfield's Berkshire Brewing, Turner's Falls' Brick & Feather, Easthampton's Fort Hill, and Holyoke's Paper City. Tickets are limited. Food by Sierra Grille and La Veracruzana. Leartn more at http://www.lookpark.org/Flyer%20Website.bmp
403 Forbidden 403 Forbidden Code: AccessDenied

Message: Access Denied

RequestId: C0DD3E2744CBAB34

HostId: bTwoEIcdnPmXYw1mycOm01Tlw85Bwzrw47nqtDX1PM649RlG2QNDK50zSBLZyJJD/jJpJqyPzp8= An Error Occurred While Attempting to Retrieve a Custom Error Document Code: AccessDenied

Message: Access Denied

LONGMEADOW  Sitting in front of her birthday cake, Cyril Goldenberg smiled and waved as staff at the Leavitt Family Jewish Home took photos.

"I'm overwhelmed," she said in an interview after the photo-op.

In order to get to Wednesday's birthday party, Goldenberg had to first live through everything from two world wars and the Great Depression to the advent of the Internet and the rise of Justin Bieber.

Wednesday afternoon's party at the JGS Lifecare facility celebrated the 100th birthdays of Goldenberg and fellow residents Annette Chernick and Amelia Mazzoli.

Staff members brought residents to their seats at tables adorned with multi-colored balloons in the nursing home's auditorium, as Center Stage, an East Longmeadow/Westfield-based musical duo, encouraged residents and family to clap and sing along with "Under the Boardwalk," "Not Unusual" and other tunes.

Goldenberg, who will turn 100 on June 1, was born in Philadelphia, and married her husband Cyril, "Cy," after meeting him through a mutual friend who introduced them because they shared the same first name, according to a bio from JGS Lifecare. They hit it off, indeed, and were married for 52 years until he died. Goldenberg, who has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, moved to Leavitt Family Jewish Home in 2010, and says the secret to longevity is living a good life.

Chernick was born May 12, 1916 in Hartford, Connecticut. After running a hair salon in downtown Hartford for years, she married her husband, Sidney "Chet" Chernick in 1948. The two moved to Springfield and had two children. Chernick now has four grandchildren, and chocks much of her long lifespan to a loving family and good genes.

Born in Springfield's Indian Orchard neighborhood May 20, 1916, Mazzoli moved to East Longmeadow when she was 8 years old. She was married to her husband, Gilbert, for 65 years until he died at age 94. Mazzoli has two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren in addition to an 18-year-old cat, who she says "will live to be 100, like me."

As Center Stage continued playing classic hits, seniors smiled and clapped in their seats. Staff members put a birthday tiara on Goldenberg's head as she watched the performance.

With cake on the way, Goldenberg had one word to describe her 100th birthday.

"Delicious."
HARDWICK - Officials have condemned a Church Street home infested with feces, urine and fleas after finding the decomposing body of a cat along with over two dozen unhealthy felines and a turtle with a cracked shell.

Police confirmed the property owners, Charles E. and Barbara L. Rogers, are being investigated for animal cruelty and said they are in the process of filing charges against the couple at East Brookfield District Court. Police documents indicate each be charged with one count of cruelty to animals.

The investigation began with a report of water problems at the two-story home at 18-20 Church St., located in the Gilbertville village. The May 13 response came to include members of the public health, fire and police departments, as well as the town's animal control officer. Officials immediately condemned the home as unfit for human habitation, according to Hardwick police documents.

Documents show the bevy of town officials found "several feet of water in the basement," "a large amount of chicken feces" on the first floor, and "a large amount of cat feces in all rooms of the house, as well as an overwhelming odor of ammonia from the urine of cats."

In addition to trash and filth on floors and furniture, authorities discovered "what appeared to be a decomposing dead cat which was laying up against the side of the house," the documents state.

Officials also found a turtle that "had a cracked shell, was covered in slime and had algae growing on its shell."

The turtle has since been treated at Tuft's Animal Hospital and released to Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

A total of 28 cats were removed from the home. One died the next day.

"Ear mites and fleas were found on most of the cats, some of which were so severe the cats suffered hair loss and had scabs and wounds from scratching. Ocular and nasal discharge was listed to be an issue with most of the cats," the documents state, "due to the severity of the upper respiratory infections."

The report says town officials were told by workers at an animal shelter assisting with housing the cats that in some cases the animals had upper respiratory infections "so severe and went untreated for so long, that it spread to the eyes of the cats."

As a result, the report states, "it was likely that several of the younger cats would have to have eyes removed."

The couple purchased the property for $80,000 from Wells Fargo Bank in 2005, according to the Worcester County Register of Deeds.

Several attempts to reach Charles Rogers via telephone were unsuccessful.

The Rogers home is adjacent to a building at 22 Church St. that once housed the former "No Place" bar. That building was condemned many years ago.
Dunkin Donuts sign

(File photo.)

Dunkin' Donuts franchises in Western Massachusetts are celebrating the company's Iced Coffee Day with a deal for customers and a benefit for Shriners Hospitals for Children in Springfield.

Stores in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties are selling medium iced coffees for 99 cents today, with 50 cents from each sale going to Shriners Hospitals for Children.

"We are proud to partner with Shriners Hospitals for Children once again," a Dunkin' Donuts franchisee said in a press release. "It is such an important institution, caring for the children in Western Massachusetts and beyond. We hope this Iced Coffee Day partnership will give both our guests and the children and families served by Shriners Hospitals the boost they need."

Last year, Western Mass Dunkin' Donuts franchisees raised $30,782 for the hospital, according to the press release. The fundraiser has been an annual event since 2012, and has funded a Pediatric Simulation Clinical Education System to help train the hospital's doctors.

"We are so grateful to the Dunkin' Donuts franchisees and all the people who supported Iced Coffee Day and made the purchase of a simulation system possible," Karen Motyka, Director of Development for Shriners Hospitals for Children in Springfield, said in the release.
easthampton memorial day.jpg

Elinor Kwolek, Frank Picard, Marcel Vandal, Ronald Laurin wait for the Easthampton Memorial Day parade to start.

(Mary Serreze photo)

EASTHAMPTON -- Easthampton's Memorial Day parade kicks off Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Cottage and Clark Streets. Participants will start lining up around 10 a.m.

The procession will make its way down Cottage Street, bear right on Union, travel onto Main, and go around the downtown rotary before concluding with a ceremony at the veterans memorial near the Emily Williston Library, according to Kevin Miller of the city's Veterans Council.

The wreath-laying ceremony, which will take place around 11:15 a.m., will feature a gunshot salute, the playing of taps and remarks from dignitaries, including Mayor Karen Cadieux.

Starting at 7 a.m., members of the American Legion Dalton Lavallee Post 224 will tour the community's cemeteries and memorial sites, playing taps, laying wreathes, and lowering flags to half-staff.

The parade will be preceded by a veterans' breakfast at the Easthampton Community Center at 12 Clark St. After the parade, the public is invited to feast on hotdogs, beans and pasta salad at the American Legion at 190 Pleasant St.
Ludlow residents.jpg

Ludlow residents at a public meeting opposing the project.

(Republican file)

LUDLOW - Happy Valley Ventures of Newton has withdrawn its application with the state Department of Public Health to locate a marijuana cultivation and production facility at 84 Westover Road here, a spokesman in the selectmen's office said.

As a result, a public hearing which had been scheduled for May 31 at 6 p.m. at Ludlow High School to hear residents' opinions on the proposal has been cancelled.

About 200 residents packed a selectmen's meeting on May 17 to express their opposition to the proposal.

Because of the large numbers, selectmen postponed the meeting until May 31 because a larger venue was needed so residents could hear the proposal and to abide by fire code regulations.

Selectman William Rooney said he was pleased to hear that Happy Valley has withdrawn its application for the Ludlow location.

"They seemed to have listened to the will of the people," Rooney said, adding that many residents in town were strongly opposed to the project.

Rooney said that after the Board of Selectmen on April 19 agreed to send a letter of non-opposition to the project on a 3 to 2 vote, he felt that more "due diligence" was needed in terms of the impact on public safety, for example.

Rooney said the town has worked strongly to combat some deaths from its young people as a result of opioid use.

Two non-profits in town, the Ludlow Cares Coalition and the Michael J. Dias Foundation, have been out front in educating the town's young people on the dangers of drug use, Rooney said.

The location of a marijuana cultivation facility in town "seemed to fly in the face of this message," Rooney said.

School Committee member Michael Kelliher who was opposed to the proposed marijuana facility, said he is "very proud of how the community came together on this issue."

"By voicing our concerns, we prevented the Board of Selectmen from making a grave error," Kelliher said.

In April the Chicopee City Council voted 9 to 0 to grant a special permit for Mass Alternative Care Inc. to open a dispensary and cultivation facility at 1247 East Main Street.

In addition to receiving real estate taxes on the property, Chicopee also will receive a host payment that will be a minimum of $50,000 a year and will increase depending on the earnings of the company.

In Springfield, Hampden Care Facility Inc. of Chicopee is seeking to open and operate a medical marijuana dispensary at 506 Cottage Street in East Springfield.



The proposed site for the marijuana dispensary would be one section of a building that also houses Fontaine Bros. Inc. and is within an industrial A zone. The facility needs a special permit from the City Council.


home World Colombia judge bans civic prayers and fraternal hugs in Cartegena, Christians react

A judge in Colombia has banned prayers at local educational institutions and also at the beginning of city council sessions in Cartagena. Moreover, he prohibited people from engaging in fraternal hugs just about everywhere, something that has sparked fierce opposition, with people calling it a violation of human rights.

"No one can prohibit us from praying and giving hugs," said pastor Lida Arias, as quoted by the Catholic News Agency. "This city and this country need more prayer and less absurd laws."

The first article in the 2007 accord says that a prayer is to be said at "the beginning of all daily activities in local government entities as a basic approach to recovering the religious principles of the city." According to CNA, a lawsuit was filed against this by Autonomous University of the Caribbean's Miguel Angel GarcAs. On May 10, Judge Alejandro Bonilla Aldana overturned the accord, thereby effectively removing prayers at the start of local government sessions.

"The custom of prayer cannot be taken as a widespread cultural element and the civil authorities cannot impose its obligatory exercise, disregarding freedom of belief," Aldana said.

The judge further ruled that fraternal hugs are not to be allowed at the beginning of activities. It, however, encompasses more than just local government meetings as it also includes many other places, specifically in "public and private businesses, educational institutions, police command posts and stations, military battalions, assemblies, the boards of businesses, shopping centers, and taxi stations, trade organizations, associations and in the family."

The Archdiocese of Cartagena issued a statement that says it is a violation against the rights of "of all the Catholics in Colombia," while council members, including AngAlica Hodeg, Erick PiAa, Duvina Torres, and Jorge Useche, have reportedly expressed their disagreement toward the decision.

The Association of Evangelical Ministers in Bolivar, meanwhile, is urging Christians that "a peaceful protest of prayer and fraternal hugs be held in every area of Cartagena," as "prayer and a fraternal hugs break down the barriers between people and allow us to forgive one another."

Many Christians groups, according to the report, are already conducting massive prayers.
As Montana Code School classes begin in Bozeman and Missoula, Montana, on May 23, 2016, we are excited to announce two new additions to the Montana Code School team. Nicholas Marucci, new lead instructor in Bozeman, and Nathan Smith, new lead instructor in Missoula, Montana. Montana Code School, a 12-week intensive computer programming bootcamp located in Bozeman and Missoula, Montana, continues to creates a pipeline of talent for the technology community. It is our mission to address the acute and immediate need for computer programmers for Montanas booming tech sector by training the next generation of tech talent.

"After an extensive search for an instructor for our inaugural Bozeman cohort," states Kelly Nash, Executive Director of Montana Code School, "we landed an amazing candidate, Nicholas Marucci." Nicholas is no stranger to the intensive bootcamp method of learning, having atted DevMountain in Provo, Utah in 2015. His career started with the United States Marine Corps, making him well rounded and sensitive in all aspects of learning skills quickly.

Having graduated from University of Buffalo, State University of New York with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2012, Nicholas realized a few years after being employed by Parker Hannifin Corp, Parflex that the manufacturing industry was conservative and old fashioned. This led to his transition to DevMountain. Nicholas states, "I had always been good with computers, and I wanted to find myself in a more forward thinking and experimental environment. So, while working as a new product development engineer, I took on an online HTML and CSS class." This class hit a passion that had yet to come to alive for Nicholas, he says, "With that being said, I was hooked. I wanted to learn more, and possibly change my career. I was considering a move West, since I have lived most of my life on the East coast. Salt Lake City seemed to be a good central option, and there I found DevMountain."

Montana Code School is also welcoming a new lead instructor, Nathan Smith, for our third cohort in Missoula. "We are excited and lucky to welcome Nathan to our team. He has a vast amount of industry experience in web development that will greatly benefit our students." Currently employed by General UI in Seattle as well as Montana Code School, Nathan is living his passion. His fascination with computer science and coding started at a young age. He states, "I think I started programming computers because I was naturally curious about just about everything. I just sort of read and learned whatever was around when I was a kid. I started programming on an Apple IIgs back in middle school. I think Ive kept with it because its one of the best career paths for people that like making things but who also love the power of ideas."

Nathan graduated from Grinnell College in 2005 with a Bachelors of Art in Computer Science. He has been a professional software engineer in Seattle for the last ten years working in bioscience, finance and web development. Working in software has allowed him to work remotely all over the world in places like Buenos Aires and Bali. In addition to web development he maintains an active interest in machine learning, functional programming, DJing with vinyl records, and restoring old sound systems. He has previously worked as a professional Argentine Tango dancer.

Both instructors are excited to start their Montana Code School experience as not only instructors, but as mentors to students. Nathan states, "Ive always loved teaching and Im excited to mentor students (getting away from the big city is also a plus)." Nicholas chimes in agreement saying, "I am excited to join the team, and I am excited to start my career in Bozeman as the lead instructor. It looks like I will have a substantial influence on the future and growth of Montana Code School."

Co-founder and CEO of General UI, Jason Thane states his enthusiasm to be involved with Montana Code School by saying, "Its great to see how Montana Code School is teaching not just the skills and tools of our trade, but also how to work in collaborative teams to build software, which is extremely important."

Kelly Nash, Executive Director of Montana Code School says, "I speak on behalf of the entire Montana Code School team when I say we are extremely fortunate and thrilled to welcome Nicholas and Nathan to our team. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience with them. Both are proven teachers with industry experience who will deliver excellent value to our students. As Montana Code School continues to serve Montanas business community, we welcome them both and look forward to what they have to bring to the table".

Montana Code School is currently accepting applications for fall sessions in Bozeman and Missoula, Montana.

CONTACT: Kelly Nash, Executive Director

Phone Number: 406-948-CODE (2633)

Email Address: [email protected]

Web Site Address: http://www.montanacodeschool.com
"The university is unequivocal that we will never condone an injustice of any kind on our campus," Ellig said. "The university doesnt discriminate."

By Gail Schontzler Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/qsa-students-criticize-gianforte-naming-msu-s-cruzado-willing-to/article_ec81e9d3-a407-5eb5-8850-538ba90e253f.html
Whats it like to be a female entrepreneur raising money in the male-dominated venture capital industry? Its a question Katherine Hays, the co-founder and CEO of venture-backed Vivoom, an ad tech startup, is often asked. Hays led her first startup, Massive Incorporated, a video game advertising company, through several rounds of funding, before eventually selling the company to Microsoft for a reported $200 million-$400 million.

Full Story: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/vcs-arent-funding-women-led-startups/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2016-05-25
Le Board of Racing Stewards de la MTCSL compose de S. de Chalain (Chair), Ms J. Keevy, Messrs H. Maigrot et A.Rousset a publie leur Racing Stewards Report de la journee des courses du 16 octobre 2021.Racing Stewards' Report de la 27e journee de 2021



Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
Pravind Jugnauth a repondu a cinq questions lors de la seance parlementaire du 14 Mai 2019 a lAssemblee National alors du PMQT.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
Entries are now open for the 2023 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards, which this year are offering even more chances to win with the launch of another new category.
by Richard Whitman , Columnist, May 24, 2016

As only Business Insider can, the upcoming American National Advertisers report on the advertising agency rebate situation has been reported to be an "explosive" "bombshell" that could lead to "jail time" for some unlucky souls in the ad agency business. Of course, after that bombastic lead, the admittedly well-written, in-depth, well-reported piece dives deep into the murky world of agency rebates.

The ANA report, set for release next month, is a follow up to a similar report the ANA fielded back in 2012. That report didn't seem to rock the boat too much, but if Business Insider's take is any indication, all hell is going to break loose next month. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend while you can, people.

Following a well-presented explanation of the problem and a recap of the drama to date, the article details three possible outcomes -- from worst to best -- following the report's release. First, there could be a "jail time" scenario, bringing things back to reality and away from BuzzFeed-style headlines, the article states: "Most people we spoke to about the report do not think agencies will end up in court." Of course there is a marketing consultant WHO ASKED NOT TO BE NAMED, who said there could be a federal investigation. So, yeah, it could go either way.

advertisement advertisement

The second scenario posits an outcome that will have clients and investors punishing agencies by coming down on them real hard during contract negotiations. Hey, McDonald's has basically already decided that agencies should work for free, so why wouldn't other brands demand the same; especially if they, in fact, have been misbehaving?

The third scenario, which is said to lead to positive conversations between involved parties, will likely end up akin to a parent telling their child: "I won't be mad if you get drunk as long as you don't drive." Actually, no. It will be like a come-to-Jesus, self-esteem club where the politically correct will gather to share their feelings and mutually admire each party's plight in the situation. Yeah, like that.

Much to the chagrin of Business Insider, Graham Brown, who is a director at media advisory firm MediaSense, said he hopes the report doesn't result in a "tabloid press issue." Heh, not if Business Insider can help it!

Perhaps bringing some levity to the situation, Brown was quoted as saying, "It doesn't matter how severe the report is; it's all about the level-headedness of how people read it and respond to it because, at the end of the day, these are high-quality service providers that clients need."

Yes, the train needs to keep moving. No matter how many fools try to derail it.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, May 25, 2016

Political slogans are among the pillars of any campaign. In just a couple of words or a single memorable, fates are decided.

It's all in the branding.

Donald Trump co-oped Ronald Reagan's 1980 slogan, Let's Make America Great Again. And it has become the rallying call for a new reactionary movement within the Republican Party. The motto fuels nostalgic voters, many who long to return to a time when they believed America was great.

While inspiring, and on its face relatively positive, Trumps signature slogan is framed by a darker undertone. Coupling the slogan with his xenophobic and aggressive comments about Hispanics, Muslims and women, some perceive a more troubling message.

Joy-Ann Reid of MSNBC, for example, gave her take on "Meet the Press" this Sunday: What Donald Trump sort of hit upon with his Make America Great Again message is this sense of nostalgia, that a certain kind of white, particularly white voter has for a bygone era, and it gets right to it.

advertisement advertisement

The vagueness of the words great and again work perfectly for a candidate who is more a personality and less an ideologue; one who comes without a robust set of policies. Instead, Trump has marketed himself as a proponent of nativism, a political position that preserves a country for established citizens, not immigrants.

Thus, the policy prescriptions that Trump has touted loudly, i.e., a wall on our Southern border and a ban on Muslims entering the United States, may prop up his "great" and "again" claims.

Hillary Clintons experience with media slogans in 2016 has been rockier.

Im with her and Hillary for America have now made way for Stronger Together, a sign that the campaign has yet to find a slogan that sticks. Whereas Clinton has the substance, with a track record to back up her candidacy, she lacks an inspiring quality seen in Barack Obama or that some experience with Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Still, Hillary Clinton will need to motivate Democrats and millennials to win in November -- and a catchy slogan can help brand her as a unifier. Stronger Together sounds like a plea to the Sanders supporters who refuse to leave the primary stage. While many agree that Democrats can only succeed together, a smaller contingent disagree on Clinton to carry that banner.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 25, 2016

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, The New York Times Company, Huffington Post and other media and advertising organizations are supporting Gannett in its privacy battle with a mobile user over the USA Today app.

The outside organizations are asking the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its recent ruling that Gannett may have violated a federal video privacy law by allegedly transmitting information about Android users to Adobe.

"The distribution of free and low-cost video content is threatened by the panels decision," the IAB and others argue in a friend-of-the-court brief. On Monday, the 1st Circuit agreed to allow the organizations to weigh in on the case.

The battle dates to 2014, when Massachusetts resident Alexander Yershov alleged that Gannett's USA Today app violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing information about him, including his device identifier, geolocation data and video viewing history, with Adobe.

advertisement advertisement

Gannett argued that the case should be dismissed at an early stage for several reasons. The company contended that Android device identifiers -- a string of numbers unique to each device -- are not personally identifiable information. The company also says people who download a free app aren't "subscribers."

A trial judge dismissed the case, but a three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit unanimously revived the potential class-action lawsuit. The appellate judges said in the ruling that device identifiers combined with geolocation data could be personally identifiable.

The opinion pointed to allegations that Adobe has additional information enabling it to link data like GPS addresses and device identifiers to particular names, addresses and phone numbers. But the judges also noted that additional development of the case -- including whether Adobe "foreseeably can identify" users -- might result in dismissal at a later date.

Earlier this month, Gannett asked the court to reconsider its ruling.

The IAB, New York Times and other Gannett supporters are backing its request, arguing that the ruling marks an "unwarranted and unprecedented expansion" of the Video Privacy Protection Act. They add that the decision "risks exposing companies to broad class action liability for routine digital transactions that are essential to online content distribution."

"American consumers today enjoy access to a vast and diverse array of free or low-cost digital content from content providers big and small, established and new, precisely because their non-personal data can be analyzed and then used to provide them with advertising and content that is better suited to their interests," the companies argue.

The IAB, New York Times and others also contend that the law was aimed at preventing public embarrassment, and not the kinds of behind-the-scenes data transfers at the heart of the battle over Gannett's app. Lawmakers passed the Video Privacy Protection Act in 1988, after a newspaper obtained and published the video rental records of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

"Scores of companies contract with service providers to analyze anonymous data about their users, often sharing some sort of numerical user or device identifier to facilitate that analysis," the groups write. "The analytics provider here is not provided with the name of the user, or with other information that is typically considered personal information, and certainly has no incentive to determine (let alone publish) that identity. Congress could never have anticipated in 1988 that the VPPA would be violated by such an exchange."
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 25, 2016

Google has been experimenting with adding more information and ads to Google Maps, driving online searches to in-store purchases. The new local search ads across Google Maps will use beacon technology to support targeted ads and information.

Consumers using Google Maps may begin to see promoted pins for nearby coffee shops, gas stations or lunch spots along their driving or walking route. Search results in maps will begin to serve prominent ads for nearby businesses.

When consumers type "coffee near me" into the Google Maps app search bar, a business that paid for an ad would appear first in the search results. Now Google will add beacon technology, with the ability for ads to serve on the phone based on location and proximity to a specific store and advertiser.

advertisement advertisement

Tim Krozek, CEO at Boost Media, said the beacons that trigger advertisements based on location on Google Maps are great, when they work. Knowing the consumer is part of the challenge, and it has become obvious that the challenge becomes making certain the beacons trigger the correct advertisements to the correct person at the correct time.

"If I am looking for a cup of coffee and Google shows me a gas station, which might sell coffee, thats annoying," he said. "Chances are I want a Starbucks or Philz, and not instant coffee from AMPM."

He said the technology and the results remain nascent. It sometimes works correctly -- and when it does its good, but when it doesn't, it's annoying.

Google estimates that monthly, people visit 1.5 billion destinations related to what they searched for on Google, and 30% of searches are related to locations.

Several leading U.S. retailers have deployed beacon networks, with Macy's installing more than 4,000 in its stores, according to Juniper Research. The research firm forecasts marketers will deliver nearly 1.6 billion coupons annually to consumers via beacon technology by 2020, up from just 11 million in 2016, as retailers seek to develop proximity marketing campaigns in and around their stores.
by Larissa Faw , May 25, 2016

Watches are a classic Father's Day gift, which is why Timex is using the holiday to launch its new global campaign.

Developed with agency Toth + Co, the campaign ads show a group of gorgeous 20something friends -- selected to represent Timexs diverse, global audience -- as they come together for a weekend getaway singing, swimming and having fun.

Each guest wears a Timex watch from its current collection, including classic analog styles, activity trackers and Timex Ironman GPS-enabled sport watches. Notably, these product placement shots aren't obvious or seen on the screen for very long.

The campaign runs across print, digital, TV and online video. The first phase will roll out via a combination of newspaper and digital in support of the weeks leading up to Father's Day.

advertisement advertisement

The print ads will appear in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York and New Jersey, as well as via a variety of digital properties, across publishers, ad networks and social channels. The creative will also be used globally, including nearly 6,000 branded point-of-sale displays in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

The creative is targeting "modern-minded customers who increasingly reject so-called 'status' brands" in favor of time-tested brands with rich stories of authenticity and heritage." They also expect modern styling and up-to-date technology, says the agency.

"These are consumers who understand that timelessness, quality and style doesnt require a high-price, says Zack Toth, Toth+Co director. They choose Timex because it has everything you need and nothing you dont.

The new work is an extension of Toths 2013 Timex Wear it Well campaign and is designed to reposition the Timex brand as an updated, young lifestyle brand.

West Coast-based husband-and-wife team, We Are The Rhodes, who worked on the original 2013 campaign, shot the latest effort in Portland, Oregon.
Over the years, humans have built up a collection of stock answers to medical queries that have become so ingrained in our common psyche that they are now regarded as facts. Here we will bust five frequently repeated myths. Share on Pinterest Splitting truth from myth can be a challenging pastime. Old wives tales and superstitions have become part of the fabric of human understanding. Today, with the endless information that the Internet has to offer, questions can be answered at the click of a mouse. This, you might think, would spell the end of scientific and medical misinformation, but the sheer quantity of information that is now available is so bewildering that common knowledge has been left largely in place. Most people are too busy to fact-check details that dont directly impact their lives. Here, we will briefly run through five medical facts that most people have taken for granted since they were children. Firstly, we will tackle the pervasive rumor that waking a sleepwalker is a terrible idea.

1) Waking a sleepwalker is dangerous Sleepwalking can be an unsettling event for the person doing the walking and anyone who happens to witness the event. Somnambulism, as it is also called, occurs in the deepest part of sleep, normally a few hours after onset. Affecting an estimated 1-15 percent of the general population, sleepwalking is surprisingly prevalent, particularly among children. It is common knowledge that waking a sleepwalker can give them a heart attack or put them in a coma. However, according to the National Sleep Foundation, the reverse is, in fact, true: it is dangerous not to wake a sleepwalker. Waking a sleepwalker might confuse them, but not waking them might leave them free to fall down the stairs, smash a glass, or get in their car and take a drive (worse things have happened). That said, waking a sleepwalker can occasionally be dangerous for the person doing the waking  somnambulists have been known to act violently. Where possible, simply guiding the sleeping wanderer back to bed is the best option. But if the sleepwalker defies being shepherded, this is how the National Sleep Foundation suggest awaking them: Use loud, sharp noises (from a safe distance) to wake up the person [] This will most likely startle the sleepwalker, but its better than shaking the person in close range because that might trigger the sleepwalker to feel attacked and lash out and hurt you. They go on to remind us that the individual is likely to be confused, disoriented, and scared, so it is best to explain gently that they have been sleepwalking.

2) Eating before swimming, cramps, and drowning Never go swimming on a full stomach  wait at least 1 hour  otherwise you face cramps and potential drowning. That statement is repeated so often that it has been indelibly marked as true. Share on Pinterest Eating before swimming causes cramps, or does it? The basis of the myth is that, after eating, blood flows to the stomach for digestion. This leaves less blood for the muscles to use while swimming, causing them to descend into pulsating cramps. When asked whether there is any truth to this old wives tale, Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, a gastroenterologist at the New York University School of Medicine, said that if one was to swim incredibly strenuously, minor cramps might occur. However, for the standard swimmer, there are no worries, and drowning because of a cramp is even less likely. A report carried out by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council looked at multiple relevant studies and asked a number of experts in the field; they concluded: There is no correlation between eating and drowning or near-drowning events. A note of caution: if alcohol is involved in the pre-swimming meal, the likelihood of drowning certainly is increased.

3) Blue blood? If youve ever glanced at the thin veins on your wrist, you could be forgiven for thinking that the blood within them is blue. We are taught this from an early age: deoxygenated blood is blue, and once the lungs have furnished it with oxygen, it is red. However, when we cut ourselves, the blood is always red. This, we have been told, is because the blood is oxygenated as soon as it touches the air. Share on Pinterest Deoxygenated blood is blue, right? Despite the way things appear, none of the above is true. Blood is never blue. When it is deoxygenated, it is a deep shade of red, and, once oxygenated, it is cherry red. So why do the veins look blue? Its actually a rather complex answer that involves at least four factors: The way in which the skin scatters and absorbs light is complicated. Because the skin is made of numerous compounds with a variety of optical properties, the way that light travels through it, or bounces off it, is difficult to predict. Bloods oxygenation state affects the way that light is absorbed. When it is deoxygenated, its absorption coefficient is altered. The depth and diameter of the blood vessels has an effect. For instance, smaller vessels near to the surface appear red, whereas a larger vessel, at the same depth, will look bluer. The way in which humans perceive color. So, why veins look blue is a very simple question with a very complicated answer. Another blood-based misconception is that the iron within the hemoglobin gives blood its red color. In fact, it is hemoglobins interaction with other molecules, such as porphyrin, that produces the redness.

4) How many tastes can you taste? Most people will be familiar with the classic tongue map, where the sections of the tongue responsible for detecting sweet, sour, bitter, and salty tastes are described. This theory is taught widely at schools and is considered to be a fact by most people. However, in reality, we taste different flavors using taste buds spread across all parts of the tongue. So where did the tongue map come from? It was actually a mistranslation of a German thesis, written by Edwin Boring in 1901, that was disproven in 1974. But, for some reason, the map has persisted. It is true that certain areas of the tongue are more sensitive to certain flavors  for instance, sweet or sour  but the differences are small, they vary between individuals, and are not as neat as the famous tongue map. Also, many of us were taught that there are just four primary tastes: bitter, sour, salty, and sweet. In fact, there is a fifth  umami  a savory, meaty taste associated with monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Researchers say new term offers more precise definition of non-psychotic behaviors.

In the aftermath of violent acts such as mass shootings, many people assume mental illness is the cause. After studying the 2011 case of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers are suggesting a new forensic term to classify non-psychotic behavior that leads to criminal acts of violence.

"When these types of tragedies occur, we question the reason behind them," said Tahir Rahman, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the MU School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Sometimes people think that violent actions must be the byproduct of psychotic mental illness, but this is not always the case. Our study of the Breivik case was meant to explain how extreme beliefs can be mistaken for psychosis, and to suggest a new legal term that clearly defines this behavior."

Breivik, a Norwegian terrorist, killed 77 people on July 22, 2011, in a car bombing in Oslo and a mass shooting at a youth camp on the island of Utya in Norway. Claiming to be a "Knights Templar" and a "savior of Christianity," Breivik stated that the purpose of the attacks was to save Europe from multiculturalism.

Two teams of court-appointed forensic psychiatrists later examined Breivik. The first psychiatric team diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. However, after widespread criticism, a second team concluded that Breivik was not psychotic and diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder. Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

"Breivik believed that killing innocent people was justifiable, which seems irrational and psychotic," said Rahman, who also conducts forensic psychiatric examinations but was not involved with the Breivik case. "However, some people without psychotic mental illness feel so strongly about their beliefs that they take extreme actions. Current clinical guides, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, offer vague descriptions of alternative reasons a person may commit such crimes. Our suggested term for criminally violent behavior when psychosis can be ruled out is 'extreme overvalued belief.'"

Rahman defines "extreme overvalued belief" as a belief that is shared by others and often relished, amplified and defended by the accused. The individual has an intense emotional commitment to the belief and may act violently as a result of that belief. Although the individual may suffer from other forms of mental illness, the belief and the actions associated with it are not the result of insanity.

"In courts of law, there are not clearly defined, standard methods of diagnosing insanity for legal purposes," Rahman said. "This new term will help forensic psychiatrists properly identify the motive for the defendant's criminal behavior when sanity is questioned."

Rahman said that more research on extreme overvalued beliefs is needed to understand how they develop. Identifying those at risk will give mental health professionals an opportunity to intervene before violent behavior occurs.

"Certain psychological factors may make people more vulnerable to developing dominating and amplified beliefs," Rahman said. "However, amplification of beliefs about issues such as immigration, religion, abortion or politics also may occur through the internet, group dynamics or obedience to charismatic authority figures. We already warn our youth about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, teen pregnancy and smoking. We need to add the risk of developing extreme overvalued beliefs to that list as we work toward reducing the violence often associated with them."

The study, "Anders Breivik: Extreme Beliefs Mistaken for Psychosis," recently was published in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Research reported in this publication was supported by the MU School of Medicine and the MU Department of Psychiatry. The researchers have no conflicts of interest to declare related to this study.

Article: Anders Breivik: Extreme Beliefs Mistaken for Psychosis, Tahir Rahman, MD, Phillip J. Resnick, MD and Bruce Harry, MD, The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, published March 2016.
The number of people in the UK who have tried e-cigarettes has almost doubled in just two years, according to a new study.

The research, from scientists at Imperial College London, examined e-cigarette use - and attitudes to the devices - across Europe between 2012 and 2014.

The paper, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that the proportion of people in the UK who had tried an e-cigarette had increased from 8.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent - higher than the European average.

The research also showed the proportion of people across Europe who considered the devices dangerous had also nearly doubled, from 27 per cent to 51 per cent.

E-cigarettes work by delivering nicotine into the lungs in the form of a vapour. The devices contain nicotine in a solution of either propylene glycol or glycerine and water, and sometimes flavourings. When a person sucks on the device, a sensor detects the air flow and heats the liquid inside the cartridge, causing it to evaporate.

Experts fiercely debate whether the devices help people give up smoking, and if they are safe - with some studies raising concerns about the toxicity of some of the ingredients. Dr Filippos Filippidis, lead author of the research from the School of Public Health at Imperial said: "This research shows e-cigarettes are becoming very popular across Europe - with more than one in ten people in Europe now having tried one of the devices. However there is debate about the risks and benefits associated with e-cigarettes. For instance we don't know whether we may start to see diseases emerge in 10-20 years' time associated with some of the ingredients. We urgently need more research into the devices so that we can answer these questions."

The research, which used data from over 53,000 people across Europe (at least 1000 people from each country), also revealed France had the highest use of e-cigarettes - with one in five people saying they had tried the devices.

The nation also saw the largest rise in the proportion of people who had tried an e-cigarette - nearly tripling from 7.3 per cent in 2012 to 21.3 per cent in 2014.

The average number of people across Europe who had tried an e-cigarette increased by 60 per cent between 2012 and 2014, from 7.2 to 11.6 per cent.

The nation with lowest number of people who had tried an e-cigarette was found to be Portugal, with 5.7 per cent. The reason for the variation between nations is unknown, says Dr Filippidis, though possible reasons include the differences in the number of cigarette smokers, the types of smoking bans that exist in different countries, and also the levels of advertising for the devices.

Most of the people who had tried e-cigarettes were former or current smokers, though the number of people who had never smoked cigarettes, yet had tried e-cigarettes, had also increased from 2012 to 2014.

Dr Filippidis added: "Although this data shows most of the people who use e-cigarettes are current or former smokers - which suggests the devices may be helping some of them quit smoking - it is worrying that some people who have never smoked are using them. This raises the question of whether they could be a 'gateway' to smoking conventional cigarettes."

The research also found that being in the age range 18-24, living in a town or city, and being more highly educated were linked to increased odds of ever having tried an e-cigarette.

The team analysed responses to two Special Eurobarometer for Tobacco surveys carried out in early 2012 and late 2014, on the perceptions and use of e-cigarettes, among a representative sample of adults (15+ years) from 27 EU member states, excluding Croatia.

Article: Two-year trends and predictors of e-cigarette use in 27 European Union member states, F. Filippidis et al., Tobacco Control, doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052771, published online 24 May 2016.
Advertisement

Those drops were accompanied by reductions in behavioral problems, including fighting, property crimes and selling drugs. The researchers found that the two trends are connected. As kids became less likely to engage in problem behaviors, they also became less likely to have problems with marijuana.The study's first author, Richard A. Grucza, an associate professor of psychiatry, explained that those behavioral problems often are signs of childhood psychiatric disorders."We were surprised to see substantial declines in marijuana use and abuse," he said. "We don't know how legalization is affecting young marijuana users, but it could be that many kids with behavioral problems are more likely to get treatment earlier in childhood, making them less likely to turn to pot during adolescence. But whatever is happening with these behavioral issues, it seems to be outweighing any effects of marijuana decriminalization."The new study is published in theThe data was gathered as part of a confidential, computerized study called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. It surveys young people from different racial, ethnic and income groups in all 50 states about their drug use, abuse and dependence.In 2002, just over 16% of those 12 to 17 reported using marijuana during the previous year. That number fell to below 14% by 2013. Meanwhile, the percentage of young people with marijuana-use disorders declined from around 4% to about 3%.At the same time, the number of kids in the study who reported having serious behavior problems - such as getting into fights, shoplifting, bringing weapons to school or selling drugs - also declined over the 12-year study period."Other research shows that psychiatric disorders earlier in childhood are strong predictors of marijuana use later on," Grucza said. "So it's likely that if these disruptive behaviors are recognized earlier in life, we may be able to deliver therapies that will help prevent marijuana problems - and possibly problems with alcohol and other drugs, too."Source: Eurekalert


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 dramatic landscape change warrants a rethinking of past tobacco control strategy, from an all-or-nothing approach to a harm-reduction approach," adds Kozlowski, who has written extensively on the need for including a harm-reduction approach in tobacco control efforts.Kozlowski wrote the paper with David B. Abrams, executive director of the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the Truth Initiative in Washington, D.C. Abrams is also professor of health behavior and society at Johns Hopkins University, and an adjunct professor of oncology in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center.The researchers write that the long-held tobacco control strategy that lumps all tobacco products together - regardless of the differences in harm - is negatively impacting public health."In the past few years, more smokers now wrongly believe that Alternative Nicotine Delivery Systems, including electronic cigarettes, are as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes and are thus less likely to switch to them to quit smoking," says Kozlowski.They argue that, while there is some risk in using any product that delivers nicotine, dramatic differences in harm exist between deadly cigarettes - by far the most lethal - and other products like e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and that these differences need to be communicated to the public."Smokers who cannot, or do not, wish to quit smoking can now switch to a substantially less harmful, but reasonably satisfying, alternative way to get their nicotine. People smoke for the nicotine but die mostly from the tar," said Kozlowski.In their paper, Kozlowski and Abrams trace the history of tobacco control strategies in the U.S. since efforts began in 1964. They discuss the push that year toward low tar - or so-called 'light' - cigarettes, sales of which boomed. At the time, public health officials believed that a smoker''s risk of lung cancer could be reduced by lowering the amount of tar in cigarettes.The utter failure of these low tar/light combusted cigarettes to actually be less harmful does not mean that the same is true for modern non-combusted products like e-cigarettes, the researchers say.In the 1980s, broader bans on cigarette advertising were proposed, and the dominant theme was that smoking is bad and there are no other product options to consider."Since 1964, major themes missed a core principle: The substantially greatest harm is from the toxic smoke of combusted, inhaled tobacco," Kozlowski and Abrams write.At the same time as a harm reduction stance is adopted for smokers of deadly combusted tobacco, it is important to complement the decades of successful tobacco control, to minimize the use of any nicotine-containing products by underage youth, they say.The new tobacco rules the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed earlier this month now include the regulation of previously unregulated cigars of all types, e-cigarettes and hookah."Despite our best efforts to prevent youth tobacco and nicotine use, most adult users will still likely have begun in their youth, and these adult users need legal options that are much less harmful than cigarettes," Kozlowski warns."Regulation should be used to strike the balance so urgently needed between protecting non-users, especially youth, while maximizing benefits of newly regulated non-combustible e-cigarette products that have been shown to help current smokers either to switch or, ideally, to quit," Kozlowski added.The regulations need to be reasonable and proportionate so as not to stifle innovation or make the least harmful products subject to the most burdensome regulations, while allowing the most harmful combustible products to be subject to the most regulations, according to the researchers.Source: Newswise
On May 25, 2016, the Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which is known for its support for Hizbullah, published a front- page article celebrating "Liberation Day," i.e. the 16th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon. The article, which appears without a byline, analyzes the current situation of Hizbullah (which it calls "the resistance") as well as its combative actions on the Syrian and Israeli fronts. It claims that this year's Liberation Day celebrations are mixed with heartbreak for Hizbullah supporters, due to the large number of Hizbullah casualties in the Syria war. It adds that in its fight in Syria, Hizbullah currently faces the toughest challenge since its establishment, greater even than its conflict against Israel, because the price thus far paid by Hizbullah in this war - both in capabilities and casualties - is unprecedented, and no solution in Syria is on the horizon.

The article assesses that Hizbullah may expand its theater of operations even further in the future, in response to new challenges, and that this will turn it into a "regional power" that "formulates new equations in the region."

Adding that alongside its fighting in Syria, Hizbullah is continuing its activity against Israel, the article also reports that resistance fighters work day and night along the Israeli border, "conducting observations, preparing, and digging tunnels that cause the settlers and enemy soldiers to lose sleep." It also states that in fighting "tafkiri organizations," Hizbullah has encountered an enemy that excavates tunnels, after becoming accustomed to being the only one digging them; in fact, it was Hizbullah that taught other resistance fighters, particularly Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the tunnel doctrine.[1]

The following are excerpts from the article:[2]



Funeral of Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria (image: Safa.ps)

"[Since its founding], the resistance [i.e. Hizbullah] never found itself deployed on several fronts and facing more than one challenge and more than one danger at once [as is happening today]. These four years since it became involved in the war in Syria represent the greatest trial it has [ever] faced... The movement has never paid in flesh, blood and abilities as it has paid [during the Syria war] and as it may continue to pay in the future, in the open confrontation with the takfiri [groups, i.e. the groups fighting against the Assad regime in Syria].[3] [So far] over 1,000 [fighters] have died and thousands have been wounded and disabled, and many others may meet [the same fate] in the ever-expanding confrontation that is becoming more difficult and more aggressive every day. This, especially since the horizon of a political solution seems to have been eliminated for the foreseeable future.

"Amid all this comes the 16th [anniversary] of the liberation [of South Lebanon], which underscores an element that Israel cannot ignore, namely the strengthening of the security and stability equation on both sides of the Palestine-Lebanon border. [This is] thanks to the deterrence system, or more accurately the balance of terror, which is an equation that has turned South Lebanon into the most secure region in the entire Middle East. Though we must not ignore other factors, no less important, [that contribute to this security], including [UN] Resolution 1701, UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.

"The celebrations of liberty are held amid heartbreak mixed with joy. Heartbreak [at the sight of] the processions of martyrs crossing the boundary south of the Litani every day [i.e. bodies of Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria being returned to Lebanon for burial], and joy [at the sight of] the processions [of people] rejoicing over [Hizbullah's victory in some of] the local elections [that have been held in Lebanon in recent weeks]...

"The heartbreak over the martyrs is a necessary tax [that must be paid] in the struggle, [a struggle] which the Lebanese, of all sectors, regard as existential, even though they are divided on whether the preemptive war against the terrorists outside the borders of the homeland is justified. This heartbreak is present in every home in South [Lebanon]... When Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah speaks at Liberation Day ceremonies [today] in the town of Al-Nabi Shayth in the Bekaa [Valley], he will be speaking to a public that has contributed to the resistance [by supporting Hizbullah's activity in Syria] just as residents of the South have contributed [in fighting against Israel], and perhaps even more, since [Bekaa Valley residents] face a danger today on their eastern border that is just as bad as the Israeli danger.

"It is right to say that the men of resistance on the eastern border complement the mission of the first men of resistance [who operate against Israel], who work day and night [along the border, from] the last border point in Al-Naquora to [the one in] Kfar Shouba, conducting observations, preparing, and digging tunnels that cause the settlers and enemy soldiers to lose sleep. [All this they do] without abandoning the [other] tasks of the resistance, which stands ready, openly and secretly, throughout Lebanon, and especially in the Southern Dahiya, in order to prevent any terrorist attack by the takfiris, in full coordination with the Lebanese army and Lebanon's other security apparatuses. There might be further expansion of Hizbullah's battle front, in accordance with future challenges, and this expansion turns this Lebanese group [Hizbullah], which was established 34 years ago in Sheikh 'Abdallah's base in Baalbek, into a regional force that formulates new equations in the region...

"In all of its rounds of fighting with the Israeli enemy, the resistance never faced what it has been facing for years in confronting the dark [elements] armed with the Prophet Muhammad's Koran and Sunnah, who receive funding from tyrannical regimes and innumerable intelligence apparatuses, and are armed with military [equipment] that only armies possess."

"The resistance also never experienced a four-year war in an area several times larger than Lebanon [itself]. It never experienced [war] against groups that imitate its methods and ways of warfare, but [who] instead of blowing themselves up against an Israeli convoy terrorize innocent people in the cities and villages, without batting an eyelash, as happened in the southern Dahiya or yesterday in Tartus and Jableh.

"The resistance never experienced war against groups fighting in caves and in the hills, mountains, wadis and even deserts, as happened at Tadmor and in the rural areas of Homs and Aleppo... Before [the war with Syria], the resistance did not storm cities and did not fight armies deep in the mountains. Before this, no one lay in wait for it in tunnels like the ones that only it used to excavate, and [the doctrine of which] it spread to the rest of the men of the resistance, particularly to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"All these have been the unique characteristics of the resistance throughout the 16 years since May 25, 2000. All these [characteristics] and others will cause Hassan Nasrallah to declare that defending the achievement of liberation will end only with the defeat of the terrorists..."

Endnotes:
The Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, will meet at the Foreign Ministry, at 12:00 on Thursday, 26 May, with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjrn Jagland.



Following the meeting, statements will be made to the news media.
Pursuant to earlier announcements on the same subject, the Foreign Ministry announces the following:



As programmed, recent weeks have seen the culmination of the implementation of the plan drawn up in January 2016 for bolstering consular missions. The focus of these plans was the bolstering of the Moscow Consulate General with additional personnel and equipment, expansion of the visa issuing area, upgrading of the digital communication line with the Schengen authorities, and improvement on all levels of the software being used.



These actions have resulted in the full and speedy servicing of applicants for visas, with the time required for issuing now reduced to under ten days from the day the application is submitted to the Consulate.



The objective is for visa application processing time to be even further reduced throughout the peak season. Exceeding of this time limit can now result only in cases where the application is submitted with erroneous data or incomplete documentation. Attention is required because some of the cases of delay reported in the news media were due to just these reasons.



There have been isolated instances of delayed transport and delivery of applications by the private Provider to the consular missions. In close and ongoing cooperation with the Provider, an effort is being made to ensure that the technical issues resulting in such instances  which are in no case the fault of the consular missions  are eliminated.



Consequently, the full normalization and timely issuing of visas on the part of the consular missions in Russia eliminates any concerns of travel agents and Russian citizens as to the scheduling of their holidays in Greece.



This coming Sunday, 29 May, the Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, will be travelling to Moscow for a series of meetings.
I. KASOULIDES: It was with great pleasure that, at the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Greece, Nikos Kotzias, I had a unique, innovative meeting today with the representatives of all the parliamentary parties of Greece on issues of foreign policy, during which I briefed them on the process and the progress that has been made and the difficulties in the negotiations on the solution of the Cyprus problem.



I want to tell you that, when we, Greece and Cyprus, achieved the major feat of accession to the European Union, we achieved it, first, thanks to very close cooperation between the governments in Athens and Nicosia, regardless of which party was in power here or there, and we also achieved it because the Hellenic Parliament stood by Cyprus firmly, showing that it was unwilling to ratify any enlargement in the wave of 2004 if it didnt include Cyprus. So you can understand that now, too, in Cypruss efforts to free itself from the Turkish occupation, it can achieve it only in close, brotherly cooperation with Greece, the Greek government, the representatives of the Greek people and the Greek people themselves.



N. KOTZIAS: It is a great pleasure for me to converse with and hear the thoughts of Ioannis Kasoulides. I thank him very much for accepting my invitation to participate in the meeting of the National Council on Foreign Policy, as a follow-up to Mr. Anastasiades visit and his meeting with the President and the Prime Minister. We love Cyprus, the occupation wounds us, but we are filled with hope by the common course of Greece and Cyprus.



Thank you.
The 90-minute film, scheduled to air Sept. 20, tells of Unitarian minister Waitsill Sharp and his wife, Martha. The Wellesley, Massachusetts, couple helped save hundreds of people in 1939 and 1940, risking imprisonment and death if discovered by the Nazis.

Burns called it "one of the most incredible tales of compassion, sacrifice and heroism" he'd heard of, and was unaware of them until the Sharps' grandson, Artemis Joukowsky, told him. Joukowsky has written a companion book that will be out Sept. 6.

Tom Hanks provides the voice of Waitsill Sharp in the film.
BAD AXE  Two health departments in the Upper Thumb will lose more than 30 years of experience due to retirement come November, county commissioners learned this week.

Gretchen Tenbusch will be retiring from her position as the health officer for Huron and Tuscola County health departments, she told the Huron County Board of Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday. Tenbusch has provided public health services to residents in the Thumb for 31 years.

I am ready to start the next phase of my life, she wrote in her letter of resignation.  I am providing a large window of notification due to the complexity of filling the associated health officer position.

The process to fill the soon-to-be vacant slot involves the state of Michigan and can take an additional two to three months.

According to the board health bylaws, the implementation of policies and procedures for finding a new health officer falls to the executive committee of the board of health, Tenbusch told commissioners.

The executive committee will work with the personnel and finance committee of the board of health in Tuscola County to jointly select a person.

When a candidate is selected, it has to go back to both boards of commissioners  Huron and Tuscola  to approve the hiring to go to the state and the state has two months to approve or deny the appointment.

If an internal candidate is selected, you have rearrangement or infrastructure in one of the departments, Tenbusch said.  We do have a meeting set up for the first full week of June with the two board committees to determine the selection procedures.

Tenbuschs retirement will officially begin Nov. 18. Before she exited the meeting, commissioners applauded and thanked her for the services she provided while in the Thumb.

Ive worked with you the last six years and I really appreciate your dedication, your belief in what you do and youve done a heck of a good job, commissioner John Bodis praised. Id like to thank you for your service and may you enjoy your retirement.

You run a good outfit Gretchen, commissioner John A. Nugent echoed.  I was really impressed with the professionalism of the entity, courtesy and kindness shown by your employees. It shows good leadership.
HURON COUNTY  National Safe Boating Week is being recognized in the United States and Canada this week, which is a good time to remind local boaters the importance of being safe while taking to the waters.

During all recreational water activities, its important for everyone to remember proper safety precautions. But before even going out, there are steps operators can take to further ensure the safety of themselves and their passengers.

The Huron County Sheriffs Office recommends boaters have their vessels checked at the beginning of each boating season. The sheriffs office will perform a free vessel safety check, where examiners will check the boat for mechanical safety as well as verifying the proper safety equipment is on board.

By taking the proper precautions now, you can prevent tragedy later, said Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson. Take personal responsibility for your safety and enjoy the summer on the water.

Although mechanical failures can happen to even the best maintained equipment, boaters are reminded to make sure they always have proper safety equipment, which includes a life jacket for everyone on board.

In 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard counted 4,158 accidents that involved 626 deaths, 2,613 injuries and about $42 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents. Where cause of death was known, 76 percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims, 85 percent were not wearing a life jacket.

Thats why boating safety advocates continue to push for increased and consistent life jacket wear on the water.

Its tempting to boat without wearing a life jacket, especially on nice days, said Rachel Johnson, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council. A life jacket not worn cant save your life. Always wear it.

Michigan ranks No. 5 in the nation for boating fatalities, with 90 boating mishaps causing 24 deaths in the state in 2015.

Locally, the sheriffs offices Marine Division handled 41 complaints in 2015, including four boating accidents, three search and rescue cases and two drownings. Those incidents resulted in about 18 hours devoted to boating accidents, 30 hours on search and rescue efforts and 110 hours on the drownings.

Additionally, the division executed 270 compliance inspection checks during the year, issued 152 warnings and wrote nine tickets.

For more information on boating safety inspections, which are done each weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day, contact the sheriffs office at 989-269-6500. For more information on boater safety, visit SafeBoatingCampaign.com.
BAD AXE  Making a decision, or narrowing down options, can be tough for seniors exiting high school. But starting next year, students at Bad Axe High will have a little more guidance to help make those decisions.

During Mondays school board meeting, board members learned the high school recently received a $5,000 grant from the Michigan College Access Network  an organization that works to increase college readiness, participation and completion for students.

The three-year program will provide advisers to help support students as they transition from high school to postsecondary education or certification programs.

Its so critical in todays world, Superintendent Greg Newland told the Tribune. Our district needs to make sure that our students have all the options in front of them and piece together what their interests are.

Newland said the $5,000 grant will go toward paying for the adviser for the first year and the rest of the funds will be covered by MCAN.

This benefits the school to help open those career pathways to our students, Newland said. Were very excited to have this in place going into next year.

In other news, the board approved next years calendar, which includes students beginning Sept. 6 and ending June 13, 2017. To view the entire calendar and list of important dates, visit the districts website at www.badaxeps.schooldesk.net.

Other items approved at Mondays meeting include:

 Approved to participate in Schools for Choice for the 2016-17 school year. Roughly 25 percent of the districts students take advantage of the option.

 Accept the retirement of high school teachers Steve Varner and Rita Wencel; and the resignation of paraprofessional Michelle Bachman.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe publicly chastised President Barack Obama on Wednesday for the alleged rape and murder of a young Okinawan woman by a Marine veteran that has re-ignited protests on the island against the American military presence there.

This case shocked all of Japan, Abe said with Obama at his side for a news conference following private bilateral talks at which the alleged homicide by former Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato topped the agenda.

At the onset of our small group discussion, I have firmly lodged a protest against President Obama as the Japanese Prime minister with regard to the most recent case in Okinawa," Abe said through an interpreter.

"I feel profound resentment for this self-centered and despicable crime, Abe said, according to the White House pool report.

In response, Obama said, I extended my sincere condolences and deepest regrets for the tragedy that took place in Okinawa and resulted in the death of 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro, whose body was found in a wooded area near the Kadena Air Force Base where Franklin Shinzato was a civilian employe.

"The US will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation," Obama said. "This has shaken up people in Okinawa as well as people throughout Japan. We consider it inexcusable and we are committed to do everything we can to prevent any crime of this sort."

Obamas remarks echoed those of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last Saturday in a phone call to his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, in which Carter also pledged action to prevent crimes associated with the presence of U.S. bases and personnel in Japan.

Neither Carter nor Obama have as yet spelled out what steps might be taken. However, Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the chief government spokesman, said earlier this week that Abe expected the U.S. to take strict measures against U.S. service members and civilian employees working at American military bases in Japan.

Abes unusually candid public remarks on the incident followed private meetings with Obama and a U.S. delegation that included Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes. Kennedy was expected to visit Okinawa soon to highlight the U.S. concern.

About half of the more than 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan are based in Okinawa, where Shimabukuros death has renewed protests against the U.S. presence.

The immediate issue for both Obama and Abe was the potential impact of the crime on the long-delayed plan to move the Marine Air Station at Futenma on the island to a less-populated area in the Henoko district. Japan has also pledged $3 billion for the proposed shift of about 10,000 of the Marines on Okinawa to Guam.

Abe said that the murder on Okinawa put those moves in doubt. When it comes to "proceeding with the realignment of U.S. forces," Japan "will not be able to make progress" against the rising anti-American sentiments of the Japanese people, Abe said.

"There is a tough and challenging road ahead of us as we seek to regain confidence which was lost in the most recent case," Abe said.

Shimabukuro, an office worker from the Okinawan city of Uruma, went missing on April 28 after leaving a message for her boyfriend saying that she was going for a walk.

Last Thursday, 32-year-old Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a former Marine who had been stationed on Okinawa and now was working as a civilian employe at Kadena, was arrested on suspicion of raping the woman before strangling and stabbing her to death. The suspect reportedly served in the Marines from 2007-2014 as Kenneth Franklin and then married a Japanese woman named Shinzato.

Abes protest overshadowed the G7 (Group of Seven) economic summit in Japan attended by Obama and other world leaders. During his stay in Japan, Obama will also become the first sitting U.S president to visit Hiroshima, site of the atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945.

"Our visit to Hiroshima will honor all those who were lost in World War II and re-affirm our shared vision toward a world without nuclear weapon," Obama said.

White House officials have said that Obama will not make an apology for the bombing.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is on the defensive again in the wake of news reports that question his claims of raising $6 million for wounded veterans in a fundraiser and of contributing $1 million personally to veterans' causes.

Donald Trump's latest comments were the tipping point for Marine veteran Alexander McCoy, a former embassy security guard who staged a protest with fellow vets outside Trump Tower in New York City on Monday, rallying under the slogan #VetsVsHate.

"It's particularly galling that [Trump] would use the good will Americans have for men and women in uniform and try to ride their coattails," McCoy told Military.com. "It isn't about how much money he raised; obviously, we're thankful to get any money at all. What's troubling to me is the way he was doing it and the fact there seems to be no rhyme or reason to what happened to this money."

For McCoy, questions about Trump's fundraising for vets are the latest concern in a series of troubling and incendiary statements about defense policy and insults to those who served.

McCoy cited Trump's 2015 putdown of Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war -- "I like people who weren't captured;" his March statements endorsing torture and criticizing the Geneva Convention; and his support of nuclear proliferation as examples of things that make Trump a "uniquely terrifying" presidential candidate, particularly for troops.

"Just being a military veteran does not make someone necessarily have a deeper understanding of foreign policy, but it does give you a somewhat closer relationship to the stakes of foreign policy," McCoy said.

But according to the results of a Military Times survey published earlier this month, McCoy may be in the minority among troops and veterans.

The survey of 951 active-duty subscribers to the publication found 54 percent supported Trump, while 25 percent supported Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders did only slightly better, with 38 percent of the vote against Trump's 51 percent.

While the polling data isn't scientific and is pulled from a self-selecting subset of active-duty troops, the numbers are striking. Why does Trump appear to have such a decisive advantage with the military?

Peter Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke University and the director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, told Military.com that the tendency of the military to skew conservative played a role.

Previous Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney held about the same advantage over incumbent Barack Obama in 2012 as Trump does over Clinton now, and McCain had a margin of support that was some 5 percentage points wider in 2008, according to Military Times survey data.

Just as instructive, Feaver said, was the high number of troops in the Times survey who indicated they would refuse to vote given the options. In a Trump-Clinton contest, 21 percent of troops said they would not vote. If Trump faced Sanders, according to the survey, 11 percent of respondents said they would abstain.

"Another truth about the general public [that is also true for the military] is that neither of these candidates is very popular," Feaver said. "You have unusually high numbers of people saying, 'well, neither,' or something like that."

Even though Trump has weathered a series of scandals related to his McCain comments, his policy remarks, and the revelation in late 2015 that he "always felt like he was in the military" because he had attended a military-themed prep school, Clinton has not capitalized on the outrage, Feaver said.

With no clear military ties and a record tainted in the minds of many conservatives by the death of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 while she was secretary of state, she may be especially ill-poised to cash in on her opponent's missteps, he said.

"[Clinton] has a team of advisers who would earn high marks from senior military, and so if you were talking to general officer or flag officers and say, 'How comfortable would you be with interagency policy-making in a Clinton administration?' they would say, 'Yeah, we can live with that,' " Feaver said. "But that's different from inspiring the rank and file to enthusiastically endorse her."

McCoy, while critical of the Military Times survey's limitations and methods, had his own theory about what might be driving Trump's support in the military.

"Members of the American military are justifiably frustrated with the challenges of being at war for so long, the challenges of budget cuts and personnel cuts. And there's a lot of anger over the lack of promotion opportunities and the lack of other opportunities that are no longer available because of those challenges," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if that frustration is manifesting in people saying they support Donald Trump."

On the other side of the spectrum, Trump's comments have prompted some conservative veterans to galvanize against him.

Sarah Feinberg, a former Marine logistics officer who left the service as a captain in 2012, launched the Facebook page "Marines Against War Crimes" in March with another veteran to protest Trump's comments regarding the Geneva convention and torture. With little promotion and maintenance, the page quickly collected nearly 450 supporters.

In conversations with other veterans, Feinberg said, "generally we thought that Trump was a buffoon because he wasn't putting forward any type of policy."

Those conversations changed, she said, when Trump started to discuss banning the travel of Muslims to the United States, and then saying he would "take out" the families of terrorists in retribution for the terrorists' actions.

"At that point it changed, completely," Feinberg said. "We were in shock."

For her, Trump's rhetoric should matter most to troops who may serve under him if he becomes commander-in-chief.

"He's saying publicly he does not respect the rule of law, he does not respect our military," she said. "It's scary that there are 18-year-olds out there who are listening to this rhetoric."

A staunch conservative, Feinberg said she planned to vote for Clinton if no third-party candidate emerged as a legitimate contender.

While Trump has so far seemed immune among the general public to pushback from his more outrageous comments, Feaver pointed out that in civilian polling groups, information about his business failures that hurt working-class people seemed most damaging to his support.

It remains to be seen whether investigations into Trump's claims of veterans fundraising prove a crack in his armor for troops.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.